Crossover Together ~クロスオーバ 一緒に~

If one thing could be said for each pawn in this game, it was one of pure chance. Nagisa and his group tried to enjoy their vacation, but they still kept trying to find Twilight time and time again, only to come up a bit empty. They didn't have any clue other than she was somewhere in London, and without much other aid they were just running around like chickens without heads trying to find her. Nagisa worried sick over where his childhood friend could've ran off to, especially considering the circumstances. To think, not too long after Ciel got kidnapped just to find Twilight no longer around. Ciel Phantomhive was trying his best to locate Sebastian as well, but he was just left empty. Not a singular clue was left behind for him, or his other workers for over a week now since his disappearance. Knowing that many people were also missing all over London just made the situation all the more urgent. Not only was Twilight and Sebastian were up and gone, but so many others were also missing it's terrifying! Every person who heard Undertaker's news were left with more questions: where were these missing people? Why are they disappearing, and who is behind it? At least they know that their personal missing persons were still alive and somewhere around London. Where exactly they just couldn't get it. Twilight probably had more to go on if Grell did actually say something to either Ciel or Nagisa. But, the humble servant was trying to keep promises and keep quiet until Twilight was 'ready' as she put it. Out of all the people involved in the search, Grel was actually the only one who actually found one of these persons, so it will be only a matter of time before someone somewhere would get it out of him. Just a matter of time.

Anyway, today the process went on as normal for London's local population. But in the heat of the local rush through the afternoon, prominent posters still hung up all around town. These posters of missing locals were plastered up all over the place wherever one can put one: the windows of local stores, lamp posts, even right on building walls like they were wanted posters (except not as crowded together). Unfortunately not a soul around had any clue, and barely a few even paid any real attention to them at all. A strong wind gust dislodged one of the posters off a lamp post, making it toss about in the sky. It spun, tossed and tumbled in flight until one hand got a grab of it, and the figure took a look at the poster. She had been roaming around town, doing her own bit of progress on her work for the past week and a half, all of which was away from the blessed humans, and put undercover in the local crowds. While probably getting some eye candy on her appearance, she was doing wonders in fitting in with the people. Looking the most human from her friends surely helps.

"More missing, huh? Seems like the numbers had been going up each time I find one of these," she commented, just tossing it into the air, and allowing the poster to fly off on its way. She easily saw a few more as she passed by a store's window, and she couldn't help but glance at each one of them.

"Gluttony must've gotten hungry," Lust thought. These all were fairly new, and up to date as she read the dates of each of the missing posters put up. After checking them out, Lust strolled off on her way down the London streets, the residents giving the apparent aristocrat her space so they wouldn't be in the way of her walk. Lust found their humble nature towards her rather entertaining to see, and it was a bit more fun to toy with some of the male locals with a few good sways of the hips. Such gullible, predictable creatures.
Lust continued going on her way until she took sight of another fellow aristocrat going through his day, the sexualized Homunculus going over to the man. The middle-aged man seemed to be getting a packaged tuxedo from the local tailor, Lust taking an immediate interest. The man seemed like the typical high-rich kinda guy, but Lust took a close look to the man's back pocket. It was only just visible, but Lust did manage to just catch an object of interest. It seemed small, only showing the corner, and a sort of goldish color to the paper.

"Not usually up for pick pocketing, but there's a first for everything," Lust thought. Lust began to near the man, the man a bit too distracted by the outfit and getting ready to go to even notice her. As Lust got closer, the Homunculus got a better look at this object, looking more like a invitation or a ticket. All it took was a slip of her extended clawed finger to scoop out the paper, and once she did that it became fully clear.
According to this, the object turned out to be an invitation to a sort of Royal Ball. A rather old term by today's standards, but it was a little intriguing anyway. Lust strolled off with the invitation in hand, and got a very interesting detail. Apparently, with the name written out at the top, the Queen herself will also be attending this fiasco - as the host. Anything involving that kind of royalty must be important. This Homunculus started to get her own mind running on this opportunity, and with the sort of chances they've been having lately, perhaps this could be a good benefit to the Underworld.

"A royal ball for the Queen, is it? I suppose some important heads will suffice," Lust figured, putting the invitation away from sight before strolling on her way. Tonight will be interesting indeed.

.......

Phantomhive Manor was getting its own schedule running. And for Ciel, that meant a bit of paperwork to fill out, and some further solo investigation. With Grell, Mey-Rin, Bardroy and Tanaka busy already, Ciel was stuck alone in his office to handle things. Even if he had nothing for Sebastian to do, the least it could be considered a fair companion, but Ciel didn't even have that right now. Sebastian was NOT the type to run off on his master, even if it was important. So whatever reason that demon must have, it better be a good one to tell the young master the second he comes back around. He was an excellent butler, probably the finest, and now he was up and missing. This just left Ciel with so much extra work to handle, it wasn't fair. On his desk, stacks of papers laid, enough to easily be an all day job.

"Sebastian, goddamnit. You better be alright when I find you, so I can wring your neck," Ciel thought, his pen trembling in his hand. Eventually, Ciel gave a loud groan and laid down on his desk. He may be mature for his age, but in the end he was still a kid. And this was getting slightly overwhelming: missing people, the demon and angel business, and with Sebastian unable to help to top it off. ...

*tap**tap*

"Ugh ... Sebastian - ... Oh yeah," Ciel groaned, forgetting for a moment that Sebastian wasn't around anyway (he'd grown too use to getting his butler on these things).

*tap**tap**tap**tap*

"Alright, alright," Ciel said, stopping his work and turning to the noise. The tapping came from Ciel's window, and it turned out to be a sort of bird, to be exact a carrier owl. Ciel didn't know why a owl would show up, but the message on its leg was enough to say that it was sent to him. The young earl opened the window, just for the bird to fly into his office and land on his desk. It took some work on the carrier on the bird, but Ciel got the message out to look over.

"An invitation to the Royal Ball. That time of year already?" Ciel commented, as the owl took its leave right out the window and flew away. It wasn't the first time the young earl had been invited to this sort of event, but seeing that there were two tickets enclosed inside to go, it was just another reminder that Ciel didn't have Sebastian to accompany him. Who else would the other ticket be for anyway? Ciel took a moment to think about it, his eye looking over to each of the papers he had to do.

"Well I still got five hours before the party. Might as well make the most of it," Ciel decided, taking another paper and starting to work on that. He could get this done in an hour or two, so it should be enough time afterwards to get to this Royal ball.

.......

"One, two, three, four."

Back at their hotel, Nagisa and company were still going on their own days. At the moment, it was just Karma, Aladdin and Nagisa; Blair and Pinkie already out. If they can guess it was either searching or shopping, but either way they didn't have anything else to do. Karma took the time to handle some swordsmanship (without breaking anything in their room), as Nagisa and Aladdin looked on. Each swing of the miracle sword was fast and better timed, though it was just swings all the same.

"You've been doing great with that, Karma," Nagisa said.

"Well, it helps when you've had extra assassination practice," Karma commented, pausing his own swordsmanship for a moment. Karma had been getting slightly better at the art one way or another.

"How is it at that class anyway? Did they give you a hard time, or no," Aladdin asked. It had been a while since Karma actually thought on it.

"Hmm ... nah, they're cool. Korosensei's the only teacher I met who's got a literal death wish, I'll tell you that much," Karma summed up.

"Huh? What do you -"

Before Nagisa could even get his word in, their door suddenly swung right open. Appeared Pinkie and Blair had returned from their run around, plenty of bags full of clothes and fancy outfits, a bit more than seemed to be needed. Pinkie went all out this time: dresses, some fancy accessories, leggings, shoes, you name it, so long as it's something fancy it seemed Pinkie Pie had it in stock. Blair also carried in some bags, which were filled with an assortment of beauty products (blush, eyeliner, that sort of thing). Aladdin had to jump out of the way before he would end up getting buried under the bags. Pinkie looked excited about it anyway.

"OOOOO, we're gonna make this happen!" Pinkie beamed, already digging into the bags and getting some of the stuff out, some of it being tossed onto Aladdin and Nagisa. Nagisa pulled off a legging from his head, as Aladdin tried to get a dress off of him. Karma caught a flung over top hat, and actually went on to put it on, before turning to Pinkie.

"Hey Blair, what's going on?" Aladdin asked, pulling off the dress.

"You're not going to believe this one, guys. Pinkie, show them," Blair said. Pinkie popped up to her feet, and suddenly she had what looked like a invitation. About five invitations total, all for the same thing. Pinkie Pie looked hyped about the event, but when the others saw this (Blair being the exception because she saw it already) the three of them were left more bewildered than anything. They've been in London for weeks, and already they're being invited to the Royal Ball, hosted by the Queen herself.

Nope. Nope, they weren't buying it at all.

"This is so exciting! I'm going to give them the best Royal Ball shindig hullabaloo they've ever had! My treats will lighten their taste buds to the moon!!" Pinkie went on, as she happily got out her party outfit.

"Seriously? Pinkie, this is clearly a trap by those Homunculus. Why would we get a invitation to this kind of thing?" Nagisa cleared up, seeing the obvious flaws in this random invite. For one thing they never met the queen, and while they did save Ciel in a way, it wouldn't be enough for the queen to remotely notice them. Pinkie popped her head out from one of the bags, already having a monocle on her face.

"Because those meanies will trash the rest of the Ball if we don't show up. They'd come in, won't find us anywhere and think 'Whatever, let's eat the rest of these fancies' and next thing you know: Feast for the freaks on the front newspaper!!" Pinkie explained, lack of logic not withstanding. Pinkie knew that this was a fake invite, but she was still up to go either way, and still was trying to get ready.

"And you think we're still going?" Karma questioned.

"YES! And Pinkie's already got your solution RIGHT HERE!" Pinkie announced, throwing the full outfit to Karma. Karma looked it over a little bit, but he quickly got the idea rather fast, and a smirk began to show on his face.

"Disguises. K, that'll work. We can check in on those things and still keep outta sight," Karma summed up, getting the outfit out from its plastic bag, and unraveling it out completely.

"But wait a minute, what about Yugure? She's still missing," Nagisa reminded.

"We'll have to check that later. For now, we got a party to guard," Karma replied, as Pinkie Pie was still getting outfits out for the rest of the group. She was going a little too fast for them to really keep up, stuck with outfits just laying on top of them. Pinkie was more than giddy about the whole thing, and she suddenly went on to the next little surprise: getting out a phone and quickly dialing up a storm to get the signal through. Didn't take more than a minute to get through to her caller.

"Hello?"

"HeyCielHeywegottabigplanfortonightandweneedyatocomebyforsomedisguisesbecauseweneedtostayundercoverfromthemeandemonsthat'llbestoppingby-"

"HOLD ON. ... How'd you even get this number?"

Before Pinkie could even answer that, Karma grabbed the phone out of Pinkie's hand, and answered it himself.

"Hey, young earl."

"Akabane. How did you manage to get this number?"

"Don't ask me, Ciel, Pinkie Pie's special like that. Anyway, did you get an invitation to that Royal Ball?

"... Royal Ball ... I can assume your group had retrieved invitations as well."

"Got that right. And we got to thinking that those Homuculus might show their asses there too. So unless you want to get your own ass torn up by either one of those guys, then Pinkie's got her disguises over here if you wanna pick it up."

"I have the feeling that it'll have to be that way."

"Then stop by whenever and we'll get you suited up. See ya in a bit."

With that, Karma hung up, and it would only be a matter of time before Ciel would show up, so they had time to get ready themselves for the event. However, by the time they were done with the call, Aladdin found Nagisa already looking for something in one of the drawers by the bed, working off memory himself. It was only Aladdin who noticed him, and he was right by his side by the time Nagisa pulled out the Future Sight list (thank goodness Twilight didn't take that with her when she left). Nagisa quickly went through down, and he found the next part of this list down a ways. Didn't take too much time before the others saw him.

"Future sight triggered again. Which one is it this time?" Karma asked.

"This one here," Nagisa replied, showing the list to Karma. This one was a bit more specific by what Nagisa wrote for it aside from just the main concept like most of the others.

"Hmm ... confront a Demon. ... President. ... Balcony. ... Picking favorites, Nagisa?"

"I just remember that one a bit more clearly," Nagisa admitted, though it still seemed to trouble Nagisa more here.

"No worries, my disguises will keep you safe!" Pinkie assured him.

~~

With his mind currently at ease, Sombra sat down in a larger room of his palace, currently silent as a mouse, hands clasped together and legs crisscrossed. The room actually opened up outside, the light coming in from the Underworld sky. The skies of the underworld are drastically different, and while harder during the night to tell, the daytime showed a crimson, dark yellow sky with a northern light show effect that varied around like the clouds of the Overworld and Human world. Sombra relaxed, and the light reflected off the gemstone on both his crown and his forehead. In fact, the gemstone on his head almost seemed to glow with the light going off of it. As he was sitting there, one demon showed up over at the door, opening it slowly so to not completely bother the demon lord. Sombra heard the door, clear as the crystal on his person, but the lord didn't even waver at first.

"My lord? I brought your evening beverage," said a familiar voice. Sombra stayed still, hearing the sound of footsteps coming closer to him. When he heard the figure about a foot behind, Sombra opened one eye and turned his head to see who came in. Turned out his newest addition Sebastian was in there, and holding a tray with a kettle, and tea cup, all made from a gothic violet glass design.

"You don't have to do this, Sebastian," Sombra sighed, though he did take the cup from Sebastian anyway, the substance looking to be blood again. Sebastian have a gentleman's bow to the demon lord.

"My new role is to serve you, my lord. I thought it would be inconvenient of you to halt your meditation," Sebastian said. Sombra took a sip of the liquid red substance, as Sebastian readied to give Sombra some space. However, as one hand sipped the drink, the other hand reached out and grabbed Sebastian by the arm, making him stop altogether. Sombra didn't utter a word until he finished sipping his blood from the tea cup. And even then he stood up first so his eyes lined with the butler.

"Sebastian. Don't try to fool anyone. I know your priorities are still connected to that human child the second I saw you," Sombra said, almost disappointed with Sebastian as Sombra slipped off Sebastian's glove to show the Faustian Contract. Sebastian stayed quiet and turned to face Sombra.

"It wasn't my own choice, you fully understand," Sebastian made clear.

"Not your own choice? How do you mean?" Sombra quizzed, ready to see what the butler had to say. Sombra knew his magic when it comes to the Underworld, and he knew damn well what this contract is mainly about.

"Well, being the current king of Tartarus, I'm sure you would understand the process of the Faustian Contract."

"That's not what I asked, Sebastian. Clearly your Ciel Phantomhive is alive and well, and you only told Envy and Lust that white lie to keep him that way. That, and the Faustian Contract is a mutual offer you gave to that child. So, how is this not your choice if you're the one who gave your services?"
Sebastian knew Sombra had him by the neck there. Clearly this king knew everything there is to know about the process. Anyway, Sebastian had to think on what to say next, and he had to think of something to prove who's side he's on towards the demon king. It took him a little bit, but Sebastian did eventually figure something out.

"Alright my lord. I admit it. My services still tie into Ciel Phantomhive, but you and I both know of the exchange after the contract is completed. Am I right?"

Sombra paused for a moment, but allowed Sebastian to continue on.

"I told your Homunculus about his 'death' because if the young earl were to die, then my contract will never be completed. ... I will never have his soul, you see. On completion of the contract, then the demon is rewarded with the soul of the human involved in the contract. I've put years into that, and I'd hate to have my dinner simply taken from me. ... Of course, if there's a way to get his soul faster, then I'd be more than willing to take it over this servitude Phantomhive had put me under."

Sombra stayed quiet for a moment or two, letting the information sink in. Once he got it all down correctly, then Sombra simply nodded to the demon butler.

"I see. Simply trying to keep your meal around until your contract is handled. And I can assume your contract has yet to be completed?"

"No lord," Sebastian responded. Sombra gave Sebastian's glove back to the demon before speaking again.

"I suppose I can find a quicker method to get you Ciel's soul, but it's going to take some time. When I manage that, nothing will keep you up there on the human plain anymore. Will that satisfy you?" Sombra asked, Sebastian slipping the glove back onto the hand. Sebastian was more than glad that Sombra understood it the way he wanted him to. Any different and there will be complications on Sebastian's expense. With a smile, Sebastian nodded to the demon lord, as Sombra handed him back the tea cup.

"Now, pardon me saying so, but I heard that the queen of London is currently holding a Royal Ball, planning to start in the next following hour. Would it help if I attend as well?"

"Why would it help for you to attend that event?"

"The royals of London are to be there, and considering how those other humans had rescued Ciel Phantomhive: a fellow royal icon, chances are they will also attend. Could be a chance to gain some information about your adversaries," Sebastian suggested. Sombra had Envy already spying on them, but with the current track record, this may not be such a bad idea to try out. Sombra gave a nod to the demon butler.

"You have me convinced, Sebastian. Very well, BUT, you are not to reveal anything to any of those humans. Not a word about me, not a word about Tartarus, and make sure this Ciel does NOT know what you're doing. Is that understood?" Sombra cleared up.

"Of course, my lord," replied Sebastian.

... Not too far away, Sebastian and Sombra's talk was not entirely ignored. Just hidden off outside of the door, Hellgar had overheard everything about the event. Now, it would normally not be a bother to the hellhound, but this time it made him upset more than anything.

"What? Why didn't I hear about this?! Where's Twilight?" Hellgar growled, before slipping away.

~~

The time drawed near now, the sun just setting down along the horizon. And for London and many of its higher class, it was nearing the time for the Royal Ball to get underway. The event was to be taken place over at the queen's palace. If she is to be the host, she might as well take it at her place rather than some other spot in London. The palace mirrored the Phantomhive house in overall structure, though more up to date and better maintained for publicity sake: a strong silver color along the walls, four stone pillars just above the front door, and a large iron bar fence and gate bordering the property. The palace bordered the road, and just ahead of it by twenty feet stood a prominent statue, colors mirroring the palace. The top stood an angel made of what appeared to be gold, the statue encircled by the road, and beyond that a well-maintained flower garden that stretched 180 degrees around. At the moment, the palace was live with activity, as various guests were starting to arrive to the Royal Ball. Many of the guests all had a similar look one way or another: the men and sons all had their finest tuxedos on, and the women and daughters all had formal dresses. They had their own looks to signify eachother thanks to accessories, but the guests still seemed to follow the main dress code. With these many guests coming in time and again, amongst them, It didn't take much trouble for Ciel, Nagisa, Pinkie, Karma, Blair, and Aladdin to arrive at the front steps to the palace. Their disguises did make them fitting to the dress code, and to the crowd of people as they began to head in from there.

Starting with Karma first, the boy took the look of the adult of the group, with his red tuxedo suit. The suit was similar to the one he had on before, with a few little extras to it, which included a prominent top hat with a feather of an Unfezant bird in it, and Pinkie had the courtesy to even add some fake sideburns to show a older appearance, despite his shorter size compared to the rest of the adults. It seemed to be to pay off to the other guests coming in, anyway.
Blair was next, and by the looks of it posed as Karma's wife. Blair got her own outfit together, though dress code made her have to wear the average long dress. Not the same as the dress Blair had before, not by a long shot, and it was bugging the cat witch a little bit. Her hair was dyed a black color over the purple color, and even some hair extensions to appear having hair that went down to the base of her back. Her cat eyes also were covered by eye lenses to appear as blue, normal human eyes. She also had a 'wedding ring', alongside Karma just to drive the point home.
Next to come out was Aladdin, and the little lad had a full makeover to his outfit. He had on a brownish tuxedo on, a basic outfit really (brown formal pants, dark overcoat, etc.). With his long hair though, Pinkie had just managed to get it all under a grey, british flat cap. Not really London, but it'll work for the sake of the disguise. Aladdin was also given a pair of small glasses, though they were mainly for show rather than sight aid.
Then came out the one responsible for the disguises herself: Pinkie. The party gal got her outfit together, and while formal like the others still had its own flair. Pinkie's outfit fitted a blue color with a pink flair at the rim of it. Pinkie's hair was put in a smoothed out ponytail, stopping at her shoulders. She dyed her hair from her usual pink color, to a more mellow brown.

"K, gang, let's get this show on the road. Come on, dear," Karma said, going along with his gimmick as he takes Blair by the hand like a proper gentlemen.

"We still have to wait for our lovely nieces, honey. Come on out, don't be shy," Blair said, turning back.

... Then came out Nagisa and Ciel.

For Ciel, his outfit mainly consisted of a formal dress, a pale pink with two vertical lines down its length. Over the chest region showed white flairs on his arms and chest, the very center a pink fake rose. He also wore a pair of black, arm length gloves, and an extra flair around his neck, made in a similar way to his other flairs on his arms tied in a bow. Like Blair, Ciel too had a number of hair extensions to mimic a set of ponytails on each side of his head, and the main extension reaching the base of his back. On his head Pinkie had him a pink lady's hat, lined with the same fake pink roses, and cocked to the side in order to cover his signature eyepatch better along with the hair.
As for Nagisa, he too gone through a bit of a change in his look. He too had on a formal, sleeveless dress, all smooth and colored silver, with the bottom half a more darker grey color. His hair was tied up in ponytails, but since he had fairly long hair already, extensions weren't needed to give a female appearance to the hair, but it was still dyed to match Ciel's hair color. Amongst his accessories given to him, he had a black ribbon tied to one of his ponytails, and a set of white gloves to match the silver theme to his outfit.

Both were not amused.

"This is not funny," Nagisa groaned.

"Come on, sweetheart. What Homunculus would suspect you two in this disguise?" Pinkie said, petting Nagisa's head.

"Why are we dressed this way, dare I even ask," Ciel asked.

"Because someone's gotta pose as my two daughters. Korosensei assured me that it'll be perfect for the image and he's RIGHT: Karma and Blair are the rich couple with their little son Aladdin, joined by their fun-loving cousin (that'd be moi), with her young and beautiful twin daughters," Pinkie explained, psyched as ever. Too bad the feeling was one sided with Pinkie and the twins here.

"Korosensei decided this?"

"Yeah, like how he decided to get your phone number."

"THAT FREAK!" Ciel thought. However, ciel quickly corrected himself.

"Let's just go in and get it over with. If it means to stop these Homunculus, then so be it," Ciel made clear. Nagisa still was not as up for such things as Ciel, but at least the Homunculus might be taken off guard if they are here somewhere.

~~

And with that, the group went into the Royal Ball with identities all in check, and blending into the crowd with ease. The interior of this Royal Ball appeared to look like the layouts of some sort of catering. The large main room of the palace here was about large enough to fit in a decent sized cottage, including property as well. The exact build up here was a large area for dancing, borderline by smaller tables. A similar build possibly to a school prom or something. Decorations were simply put all out just as well, with a large rug that stretched in from the front door, and a treat table catering to the guests. Many of the guests were scattered around and enjoying the festivities one way or another, be it either small talk with eachother or enjoying a drink and/or snack at the treat table. Since there wasn't too much to truly do in particular here, the others in the group simply went around just went along with the show. With that, the group split apart and merged into the crowds. It was a good thing that the group wasn't caught during this, or at least questioned by the other guests there. Within this crowd, Ciel was probably the most uncomfortable. He may be familiar with the Royal Ball, and a common visitor during the Royal Ball as well, but he was at least accompanied by some sort of older acquaintance. Not only was this year with Ciel alone, but also in such a questionably ridiculous outfit for something only he and a few others know of. Not even the queen knows about the Homunculus, and if she catches him like this, then he's got some explaining to do.

"Good lord, I feel like a complete idiot in this dress. I swear to god, this better be worth it," Ciel thought. It was a miracle that none of the other people remotely recognized Ciel in this disguise, or it'll be even worse for him. He had his parents, and after that Sebastian helped him out, but now he had neither of those things. It was himself, and only himself in this sea of patrons. Hell, maybe the Homunculus can be found straight away and this can be finished up quick. If they weren't here at all, then the rest will feel his rage.

"Oh, greetings my dear.~"

"Oh god no," Ciel thought. Ciel turned around and found one of the guests checking him out. Pure white outfit, snow silver hair, basically the Snow White of Prince Charming. That wouldn't be a problem if Ciel really was a girl, but nope, just some kid cross dressing. If he finds out about his true identity, who knows what'll happen?!

"Oh, darling. Your eyes positively glow, like the stars in the night sky. A pleasure to make your acquaintance," he said, already advancing on poor Ciel (rather uncomfortably might I add). To the point when the man was right in Ciel's face. Ciel shivered, but he had to keep his composure.

"Endure it. Ciel, you can do this. After those horrible, horrible, horrible lessons, you can handle it," Ciel thought. A few hours of practice between his arrival to get said outfit and the actual Royal ball, let's just say, weren't the best time Ciel ever had. If one word wrong came out of this child's mouth, then he'll be a dead man!

"V-Very charmed," Ciel got out, making his voice higher pitched and more feminine (his best attempt at it). That just got the man to come even closer, a arm around Ciel.

"What might be your name, my sweet flower?" He asked.

"... I-Izzie. Izzie Florahorn."

Best he could do on short notice. Better than shoving his true identity down this man's throat. Good thing it sounded legit for a name.

"A lovely name. Now, how's about we head somewhere more ... alone.~" the man offered, his hand sliding down Ciel's back down to his waist! Ciel's blood started to boil.

"When this is all over, I swear I'M GONNA KILL THIS CREEP!" Ciel thought. Getting flirted with so forward like this was rough enough, but it was just even worse this way!

"Excuse me, but there will be enough of that. Can't you see that the lady is not interested? Now off you go," instructed a stern voice, a hand cutting in between Ciel and the charming freak. Thank god! The man was another guest to the party, looking fairly average in attire, and fairly middle age. The charmer was easily sent off from there, though his eyes still seemed to charm up to Ciel before going off. Ciel could only breathe a sigh of relief, and he looked over to his supposed savior. He still had to keep up the act, though.

"Thank you," Ciel simply said, again with his feminine voice.

"Happy to oblige my dear. I do hope you enjoy the rest of your evening," the man said, as he went off back to the party himself. Ciel wiped the sweat off his forehead from the close call. Still, Ciel then started to walk off away from that position to find a different spot to make his observations.

"I do hope the queen doesn't find me like this," Ciel thought.

"Excuse me?"

It wasn't his night. Ciel froze up on the voice. O, he knew that voice. Not the queen directly, but someone just as regal and just as important as the queen of England herself. Ciel only got a glimpse of the girl before she came over, but one glimpse was all Ciel needed to know who it was. Gothic had only some description to describe this girl. For one thing, she was a bit taller than Ciel, looking a few years older as well. The girl's dress was a regal black, a dark bow around her neck, connected together by a pearl. It seemed that every part of her outfit was black in someway, from the flairs on her dress to the gloves on her hands. Still, her skin was pale and fair, her hair silverfish-white and flowed down her back in waves, and her eyes calm and a dull turquoise. She took a step closer to Ciel, but Ciel couldn't dare to face her. The girl tried to see Ciel's face, but everytime she moved one way, Ciel turned the opposite way.

Again ...

And again ...

And again ...

Suddenly, the girl grabbed Ciel by the shoulders, and Ciel found himself looking right at her. Well, Ciel had nowhere to go now, and Sebastian wasn't anywhere for help. The girl looked Ciel in the face, and seemed to give him a fair look over. Ciel kept quiet and still, hoping -

"Phantomhive?"

Nevermind.

"N-Not so loud, if you don't mind," Ciel insisted. Well, so much for keeping his identity secret.

"What in the world are you doing in such a ridiculous outfit? And during the Royal Ball no less," she asked. While hushed for Ciel's sake, the words still were hard for Ciel. What was he supposed to do? There was no other reason to be dressed up in such a embarrassing outfit for HIM to wear, and even then the reason was hard to swallow for anyone decent. Ciel got himself together after a bit.

"Easy, Ciel, you can handle it. You're a Phantomhive: you should be used to talking to people like her. Victoria: the granddaughter to the queen. Yes, you can handle this ... even if dressed like a crossdressing lunatic," Ciel thought.

After getting his thoughts together, Ciel looked right to Victoria, the older girl waiting for an answer. Ciel looked around, and there was no sign of the others, so he just went on with it.

"Well, your highness. I have reason to believe that this year's Royal Ball is ... under threat. I'm only in disguise as undercover for the perpetrator," Ciel quietly explained.

"The perpe - oh, the kidnapper. You think he'll be arriving here, don't you?" Victoria figured. Ciel slyly nodded to her.

"Indeed. The disguise is so he won't try to remain hidden if he does find me. My apologies for not informing first," Ciel explained. Victoria took it into small consideration, but eventually saw the reasons behind it.

"In future, try a less ... humiliating disguise for yourself, will you?" Victoria advised, a small smile showing on her face at her own remark to Ciel's disguise. Ciel could only nod, and with that Victoria went off away to the rest of the event. Ciel also walked off the opposite way.

"The others better keep out of trouble."

~~

Time ticked on by in the Royal Ball. With the guests within, it all seemed fairly normal with the continuing night. Nearby one of the tables, Nagisa and Aladdin had taken a seat to observe the event, and having a pretty good spot to do that. The table was set up just at the border of the other tables lined up, by the main dance floor, so they had a decent view of the crowds that are going about the party, including Pinkie, Ciel, Karma, and Blair. Each one of them were basically doing their own thing, which mainly consisted of talking with the guests. Nagisa could see Karma chatting it up with some of the female guests, Blair flirting with some of the boys (reactions a bit mixed on them), and Pinkie somehow managing to get a batch of her own treats on a plate, and offering samples to the guests like a happy servant to the queen. Ciel seemed a bit quiet by what he could see, but that was about it. For Aladdin next to him, the Magi was chewing away at some of the party treats that were available. On his plate were quite a number of treats too, ten in fact, and all some fruit or dessert of some kind.
Nagisa looked through each member of this party, but he just couldn't seem to sense much of anything. He wasn't too sure if the demon sense actually works on Homunculus or not, but so far his demon sense was oddly quiet tonight. Even if they have reason to think that they'd arrive here. Then again, a Homunculus wasn't technically a Demon in true nature, but his demon sense worked on Blair just fine and she was more of an Underworld witch than a demonic entity.

"Sensing anything?" Aladdin asked at one point, swallowing a bite of cake.

"No, I don't think so. I'm actually wondering if they're even coming or not," Nagisa admitted, leaning on the table as Aladdin took a bite out of another piece of the cake.

"Your Future Vision said it was going to happen, right? So it has to be."

"But that same vision had me with the president of Japan. What're the odds that would happen? ... And with me looking like this?" Nagisa pointed out, tugging on the fabrics of his dress. It was probably best of Seitenshi didn't come to this event anyway: she'd be in danger of the Homunculus were here, and even if not, Nagisa did NOT want his first impression on her to be a cross dresser.

"You wanna bite?" Aladdin offered, a fork with a strawberry on the end floating over near Nagisa's face as a temptation.

"Nah, not hungry," Nagisa simply said, as Aladdin gobbled up the strawberry. Well, at the least with this stupid disguise and the place he was in, he can stay quiet and no one would really think different of it. Some might look their way by Aladdin's taste-testing the many treats of said party, but that was really about it.
Anyway, Nagisa went back to quietly observing the crowds of people going about. If he wasn't in disguise, Nagisa would probably feel extremely out of place here, being more of an average joe. The people shifted around, and some of his friends started to go away from his sight, leaving mainly Pinkie out in view serving her cupcakes to the guests. However, one guest that got served one of these treats was especially interesting. Or if not interesting, more like confusing. The figure, with her completion of perfection and blue formal outfit made this girl unmistakable.

And the sight of her made Nagisa more tense than ever. His hands gripped the dress, his eyes wide open in shock, and he was left awestruck. Aladdin glanced to Nagisa and saw his shocked expression.

"Nagisa, your demon sense is acting up. Where's the devil at?" Aladdin asked, frantically looking around. Actually, Nagisa's demon sense was just fine, but the odds that this girl would just pop up was enough of a shocker. Nagisa only got Aladdin in the right direction when he grabbed his head, and turned his head so it aimed the same direction. Aladdin needed a bit before seeing the same girl in the crowd, to him looking oddly familiar somehow.

"President Seitenshi. Oh god, what the hell is she doing here?!" Nagisa thought in pure shock. He had doubts on his Future Vision, but now that she was here, it was turning more plausible. Nagisa suddenly found himself laying on the table by the time Aladdin figured it out.

"Oh. Oh! Isn't that the Seitenshi lady from Japan?"

"Yes. Yes she is. But why's she here? Japan is half way around the world, she has no reason to come all the way over here!" Nagisa said, freaked out about the situation. And to make matters worse, it seemed that Seitenshi was starting to walk near their way. Either from Nagisa laying on the table, or all the food Aladdin had, something would catch Seitenshi's attention during her walk by. No way in heaven or hell would Nagisa have his identity be exposed to the president of Japan!

"Hello, mam. A nice party, is it?" Aladdin suddenly said, Nagisa shuttering.

"Don't call her over!" Nagisa pleaded. But it was too late: Seitenshi was heading their way, and Nagisa couldn't do a thing to stop them. Still, Nagisa had Aladdin by the arm (Seitenshi's safety more than most from this pervert), and Seitenshi was soon right at their table.

"Suppose it is. You have ... a lot of food there," Seitenshi noted, Aladdin more than happy to offer a slice to her.

"Sure do. Want some?"

"No thank you," Seitenshi simply replied. Aladdin didn't mind it too much, and just took a bite himself. Nagisa tried to keep quiet, and let Aladdin do the talking. However, the president was already looking over to him, Nagisa trying as much as he can just to keep it together.

"Is everything alright?" Seitenshi questioned. Nagisa didn't answer. If he said even one word, his own voice would put a lot of suspicions at Seitenshi. However, the longer the silence went, the worse the situation would be. Aladdin quickly saw what was going on, and he remembered what disguise gimmick a they were supposed to be.

"S-She's just shy, mam. N-Not much of a talker," Aladdin said, trying to help Nagisa out. Nagisa played along and just kept his mouth shut in front of her.

"I see. Alright then," Seitenshi said. Seemed that was all it took, and she went off on her way from there. Nagisa stayed quiet until he was for sure that Seitenshi was far enough away.

"Thanks, Aladdin," Nagisa said, breathing a sigh of relief.

"No problem," Aladdin replied. Even if Seitenshi didn't suspect him or Aladdin, Nagisa was sure that this was a step closer to that vision coming to life on him. It was all the matter of when at this point.
Seitenshi didn't go too far away from them before she stopped for a second, turning back to them both. Even if she walked off, she was sure that she heard Nagisa's voice from that girl. Being in such a crowd though she really couldn't be too sure about that. ...

"Seitenshi. You made it after all," said another voice. Seitenshi turned herself away from the other two, and found Victoria walking up to her.

"Ah, Victoria. I was wondering where you were. How's your grandmother?"

"She's still alive. Good enough really," Victoria replied with a smile on her face. Not a typical response, but an honest one anyway. Victoria looked behind Seitenshi, just to see Aladdin and Nagisa at their table. Seitenshi followed her eyes back to them, Victoria taking interest.

"Interesting people," Victoria simply stated.

"Do you know them?" Seitenshi asked.

"No. But I have a feeling we're going to."

~~

Time ticked on slowly, and still no one seemed to even notice much of anything. It was starting to get more and more bothersome on some of them (Ciel and Nagisa especially for obvious reasons). During the night, the group managed to meet up with eachother by the same table, as the musicians for the evening were starting to tune up. Some of the guests (couples especially) were already preparing for this part. It wasn't exactly a Royal Ball without at least one moment to dance, it just wasn't. With this cool time with eachother, it gave them time to fill in on what's going on.

"So, none of you found anything even remotely demonic here?" Nagisa asked.

"Nope. I gave one cupcake to every single peep here, and that proves they're all humans. I mean, who but the meanie devil would avoid such perfect gifts in a little frosted package?" Pinkie said, showing an empty plate in her hands, nothing but crumbs left on the surface. For a random guest giving out treats, that's pretty good.

"Any demon can accept your treats, Pinkie - OH, I mean 'Diana'," Aladdin said, referring to Pinkie by her cover name. Pinkie quickly thought about it.

"Eh, yep, you're right."

"That aside, it's been oddly quiet considering somebody said demons were to show up. Note that I don't want them to be in here ... but they better be in here," Ciel warned.

"You're just pissed for being the Florahorn twin for the evening," Karma joked, making Ciel and Nagisa shiver. Nagisa may seem fine with it all, but Ciel was already figured out by Victoria of all people. Well, Karma wasn't wrong about it.
After a little bit, the music started to pick up from the players nearby, and it only took a minute or two before couples were starting to dance the night away. The music was lovely, slow-paced, and perfectly fitting for a romantic slow dance with the gentlemen and the ladies. Pinkie Pie, despite not having a partner, just couldn't resist and soon disappeared out on the dance floor. Karma and Blair took hands, and they too decided to just go off out. Now it was just 'the kids' sitting there. Aladdin just watched in curiosity at the slow dancers, but both Nagisa and Ciel just sat side by side, embarrassed as ever.

"I can't believe I even agreed to this," groaned Ciel.

"How do you think I feel? I get embarrassed enough at school dances," agreed Nagisa. Aladdin kept watching the dancers around, but suddenly it seemed the three had company coming their way. Turned out, it was the same man that tried to flirt with Ciel before, coming back for round two. This time, it was for both of them.

"Ah, there you are my moon blossom.~ would you care for a evening dance?" the man cooed. Just the sight of this creep made Ciel's skin crawl. Like he really needed to run into this guy again. Ciel's face turned red, and he turned away.

"No thanks," Ciel said, trying to sound feminine like before.

"Well then how about you madam? Let's dance through the night, you and I.~" the man cooed, this time turning his attention towards Nagisa. That just made it clear that this pimp of a man was just trying his luck with whoever. Aladdin observed this stud constantly trying his luck with either girl, but he looked around his body for a moment or two before he made his decision. The man had quite the outfit on, but apart of the getup seemed off at the hip. The pants just barely showed some skin, but Aladdin was starting to see something within. Something red, and too prominent to be just skin. ...

"I'll take you on that offer sir!" Aladdin suddenly said, rushing right in between the man and his two friends. They weren't going to dance with this stud, not if he had anything to do with it! All three of them were taken by surprise.

"You? Oh I'm charmed, good sir but -"

"Correction. I'm not 'sir'. I am ..."

In a sort of revelation, Aladdin took off his hat, and his fingers quickly undid his ponytail as it unraveled. Aladdin even slid his fingers through his blue hair for some extra charm effect, as it fully unraveled behind him. The display and charm overwhelmed the man, and Nagisa and Ciel didn't have any clue what to really say. Though, Nagisa was a bit more surprised about it than Ciel was. Once Aladdin's long blue hair settled, the young Magi looked to the man, now with a cuter expression and smile to his face.

"My word. An angel in disguise,~" the man gasped. Aladdin took the man's hand from here.

"Shall we dance now?" Aladdin asked, acting all cute and smiling. It was a look and offer this man couldn't refuse, and soon the man was guiding Ciel out to the dance floor. Aladdin looked back to Nagisa and Ciel and gave them both a wink, and a thumbs up. As out of nowhere that may be, the two cross dressers were glad they didn't have to go out with that kind of man to dance.

It didn't take too much time before Aladdin was slow-dancing with this man for the sake of Ciel and Nagisa. Aladdin didn't have any single clue how to slow-dance like this, but the Magi seemed to be doing a pretty good job in going with the motions. The man had Aladdin by the hand, and one gently wrapped around him, as the two gently swayed and turned with the musical strings of the orchestra. Aladdin couldn't see the others too well, though he did catch the other couples doing similar dancing. Two steps forward, one step back, keeping his eyes on him during the whole charade. Aladdin kept trying to keep an eye out during the dancing, and he kept seeing that small part on the man's skin time and again. Nagisa and Ciel both continued watching Aladdin and his dance from farther away, but Nagisa began to look a bit closer and seeing that Aladdin's eyes were a bit more focused on something else rather than the man's face.

"My dear, your hair flows with such perfection. Your beauty overwhelms me," the man cooed, as they danced along.

"Same to you, sir," Aladdin replied. Aladdin suddenly began to feel the man advance on him, pulling him closer. While the advance made things uncomfortable, Aladdin got a closer, more clearer look at that one part. Now, he was seeing that this red area was more detailed up close, patterns of a dragon's head lining the hip just enough for Aladdin to see.

"I knew it. And I bet he wants us alone too ..." Aladdin thought, thinking as if he was the enemy for a moment. To get a target from a group, you're going to have to isolate them. So, Aladdin continued to dance with the man some more, but as they were, Aladdin suddenly felt someone touch his back. Turning around, both he and the man saw another women standing right there, and one that Aladdin vaguely recognized.

"And what are you doing, dear?" She asked.

"Just enjoying the night, sweetheart," the man replied, not as flirty as before though. The women looked to Aladdin, but then smiled.

"That lady ... she must be ..."

"You know. I did hear that the queen was getting curious about you."

"Say no more!" Aladdin suddenly said. He knew what was coming, and this Magi wasn't going to waste any time with it.

"Excuse me?"

"Sure, I'd like to see the queen. ... You know where she is?"

Both smile down to Aladdin.

"Right this way," the women said, beginning to guide him along. When they both weren't looking, Aladdin just got the sight of Nagisa and Ciel sitting over farther away. Aladdin only had a short moment to give some sort of signal to the two, and the only one he got was a wave. Not very much, but it was just enough to catch Nagisa's eye, as he watched Aladdin being escorted away. Nagisa tapped Ciel on the shoulder, and he too saw what was going on.

Time to get together.

~~

Going away from the main room, and main event of the palace, Aladdin followed the other two guests off through the different parts of this place. Since most of the guests (and by extension the royal family of the palace) were at the Royal Ball at the moment, much of the rest of the palace was close to silent, and rather dark at that with many lights off. The main source of light came from the various lit candles, and the light from outside in the city, but interior wise the hallways were pretty much like the dark halls at Phantomhive manor at night.
Aladdin kept his pace to the middle of the line, with the lady behind, and the man in front, supposedly guiding him to meet the queen. Still, with just how many twists and turns they were making in the hallways of the palace, it was safe to say that the guests were leading him astray. The walking around finally came to an end when he and the guests stopped over near the edge of the palace, just stopping a hall away from the back exit. Pretty far away to meet the queen of all people.

"Is ... this where the queen is?" Aladdin questioned, looking around the area from here. The other figures stood behind him, and quietly looked around to be sure they were alone this far into the palace.

"Not at all."

Aladdin's reaction was almost instinctive: turning himself around on the raspy voice, Aladdin focused just enough to activate his orb shield. And not a moment too soon, as he found a lunging Envy Homunculus now tackling his protection! Envy bounced off the shield, but quickly got onto his feet for the landing. Rather than getting upset, or pissed, Envy was chuckling maniacally at Aladdin, as Lust removed some of her disguise.

"I can't believe how much of an idiot you are! Anyone tell you not to follow strangers?" Envy mocked, Aladdin keeping his shield up.

"I'm the idiot? Who revealed who? The others will tear you up when they find me here!"

"So the others are here after all," Lust said.

Well, Aladdin screwed up. Seemed that Envy and Lust didn't know they were even there after all. While that did prove that the disguises did work, what's the point now? All Aladdin could do was get his hand over his big mouth, as Lust turned to Envy.

"Do you want to deal with them, or shall I?" Lust offered. Envy smirked.

"Keep the brat still for me," Envy said, before running off. Aladdin readied to run, but Lust's claws shot out her hand, and blocked his way. Any attempt to run after him, and it'll trigger Lust like a bear trap. Lust smiled to her new prey item, the fem fatale Homunculus moving in closer to him. Aladdin had only his shield for protection here: no staff for combat, no turban to fly away, and Lust had every advantage on him.

"Well. It's about time I come face to face with an angelic Magi. You even have that shield working."

"I have plenty more where this came from, lady!" Aladdin warned.

"Go ahead then. I wanna see you do it."

Damn she's good. Aladdin just stood still and that was enough to get the point across, Lust leaning on Aladdin's shield, her breasts pressing against the surface. Aladdin was ... kinda lost for a moment there, and Lust couldn't help but smirk.

"Even angels lack purity, I see. Enjoying the view, little Magi?~" Lust cooed, seeing her sin's namesake gripping Aladdin's mind. The magi snapped back to reality after she finished talking, and Aladdin tried to ignore that.

"S-STOP IT. What're you going to do with me anyway?" Aladdin asked.

"you'll see.~"

~~

Meanwhile, the rest of the group was off and going around within the palace halls. Soon after Aladdin was gone, Nagisa, Karma, Blair, Pinkie, and Ciel were all on it and on foot to catch up. They may not have exact weapons on them at the moment, but a full group can make all the difference over just one alone. They were still in disguise as well, going through the halls.

"Damn this place is like a maze. Ciel, you know where to go?" Karma asked.

"Nevermind that, why're you even going through with this? None of the public is supposed to be back here!" Ciel retorted.

"Well you gotta break some rules sometimes. Besides, everyone's too busy at the ball to give a crap anyway," Karma pointed out. While they may be busy at the Royal Ball, that still didn't mean they should be running around the palace like this.
The hard part now was trying to figure out where the hell Aladdin was at. He could be anywhere in the palace, and with the size of the place it could be all night.

"Did you catch sight of who else went with him?" Pinkie asked.

"Not too well, but two did escort him away back here," Ciel said, him seeing the two with Aladdin the same time as Nagisa earlier on. Hard to forget such a weird flirt out at the Royal Ball, especially with him flirting with Ciel.

"Anyway, let's try to handle this fast before we -"

"Get caught?"

So much for not getting caught. Nagisa couldn't help but jump at the voice, spinning around fast to see that they weren't alone in this little hunt. To make matters a bit more surprising, the one who did end up finding them was the resident of the palace, Victoria! Accompanying her was Seitenshi, who was a bit humbled by seeing the group there (and Nagisa freaking out even more).

"Hello, Phantomhive," said Victoria.

"Uh, V-Victoria?" Ciel said.

"Hi Victoria! Neat night isn't it?" Pinkie beamed, taking it in stride more than anything, even if childish about it.

"Who's that?" asked Ciel, humbly this time. Victoria turned to Seitenshi, stepping aside.

"Seitenshi, the president of Japan," Victoria introduced.

"Um ... My pleasure," Seitenshi said.

"N-Nice to meet you. Now, if you excuse me -" either to add insult to injury or for a laugh, as Nagisa tried to pass, Victoria slipped her hand to his ponytails, and untied them both with a delicate finger. Nagisa's hair flowed down, and suddenly he was looking right to Seitenshi again. Did his first ever meeting with Seitenshi HAVE to be this way?!

"Hey, we don't have time for this little introduction, so you two just head back to your party and we'll handle things here," Karma instructed. He knew who he was talking to, but with the situation, it wasn't the time for it. Ciel and Nagisa were shocked he would say that so bluntly.

"This is my home, you understand."

"AND this is our business. Come on, niece," Karma said, grabbing Nagisa and taking off on their way. Pinkie and Blair were ready to go, but Ciel was more troubled about what Karma did.

"What business? If it's something involving me, you have to tell me," Victoria insisted calmly.

"Allow me to say this as a retort," Karma said. Instead of saying, he grabbed Ciel, and they all went off away from Seitenshi and Victoria. Ciel couldn't believe he was running away from Victoria like this, and both leading ladies were left a little dumbfounded. Still, it only peaked their curiosity on the situation these people were doing in Victoria's home.

"Karma, are you mad?! You can't run off on them like this," Ciel snapped as they ran.

"Really? Cuz we're doing it," Karma replied. Seriously, they didn't have any time to even talk to them. They needed to find those Homunculus AND Aladdin before things get worse.

.......

The group went off down the next hallway from here, leading off to another corner, and off past another arch amongst the. It was really just a matter of luck by this point, but none of them were going to risk splitting up in this maze of a house, especially with Aladdin missing somewhere and presumably by the Homunculus. They've been trying their best, but they just couldn't find much of anything in this place.

"Come on, how big is this damn place?" Blair wondered.

"Just keep looking, he's got to be here somewhere," Nagisa said, as they continue to go around.

*MMMM! MMMmmm!!*

Finally they got it. The group just managed to hear some sort of muffled voice farther away. It was just when they pass an opening archway when they found their answer.
The opening lead to an opened balcony, looking out to parts of London. It wasn't right out front, but it still showed plenty of the place either way. Lined with a stone fence, it looked rather authentic. It wasn't the balcony itself though that got their attention, but moreover who was on it. There, laying on the floor in a heap, was Aladdin! He was still in disguise, but now he was bounded and gagged up, and appearing to be beaten up in a way, bruises on him from some sort of struggle.

"Aladdin!" Pinkie gasped, immediately heading over to him. Nagisa and Blair joined, but Karma and Ciel kept their distance, checking the surrounding area. This clearly looked like a set up, but when they looked around, nothing was around except for Aladdin.

"Damn, dude. Here, we'll get you cleaned up," Blair said, as she started to untie him and remove the gag. With the combined effort from them, it didn't take long for Aladdin to get his gags and ropes removed, but Aladdin didn't move much, or even speak for that matter. It did look like he was beaten up pretty badly, as a few groaned escaped him.

"Aladdin? Aladdin, you okay?"

Aladdin stayed quiet at first, getting up to his hands and knees slowly, as the others waited for some sort of response from him, anything to say that he was alright. ...

"... Got you."

Then it happened: one quick motion was all it seemingly took for their supposed friend to make his move on them, and not the move they remotely expected. The motion brought out a bladed arm from Aladdin, jabbing it right through Blair's stomach! It was no simple knife either, but an extension of his arm sharpened into a spike, and now stained with Blair's blood as it shot out of her body, and onto the floor. Nagisa and Pinkie stumbled back in sheer horror, Blair hanging limp off of the spike. 'Aladdin' got up, raised Blair's dead body, and threw it off the balcony like trash!

"A-ALADDIN! W-What the hell?!" Nagisa stuttered, the young Magi smiled in such a sinister way to the rest of them, giggling and soon laughing, as he raised the sharpened extension of his arm for another round. They all may be shocked, but Karma got himself snapped out of it first. And just in time. The second Karma got himself together was the moment Aladdin charged him, his blade narrowly missing him. This was the side of Aladdin none of them could even guess about. Karma landed not too far away from Aladdin, the bloodthirsty Magi turning back to him.

"I can't believe you fell for that so easily! What dumbasses!" Aladdin mocked, laughing at them.

"So this is the real you?" Ciel asked.

"You bet it is. You humans are so easy to lull I swear. All it takes is some cute faces and some fancy innocent words to get you trusting me to no end. You know that kind of trust can get you killed," Aladdin said, rather cocky by the way, and referring to Blair. Who'd of guessed that this Magi would go and murder so easily, and with such enjoyment. His targets changed over to Nagisa and Pinkie, and he went right over to them like a assassin on a mission. Nagisa got out of the way in time, but Pinkie ended up stumbling a little, and got a severe cut into her shoulder! The girl screamed in pain as Aladdin slammed Nagisa to the ground, blood gushing out of Pinkie's wound and onto the floor. Karma rushed over, but suddenly Nagisa had the blade up to his neck, inches from getting decapitated!

"Aladdin. W-What happened to you? T-This can't be the real you," Pinkie wept.

"You don't know me at all you pisshead. Time to go bye-bye," Aladdin cleared, starting to bend Nagisa at the back. For a Magi, he was very strong, and it didn't take long until Pinkie Pie saw the pain shooting through him. Karma grabbed Aladdin, and yanked him off Nagisa fast before he could snap Nagisa in two. Aladdin's arm altered from a blade into a whip, and whacked Karma right in the face, making him let go. The whip stings, but Karma didn't lose anything important from it except for a flawless face. Aladdin swung the whip around like mad at Ciel, Karma, and Nagisa, Pinkie staring on in horror for a while. ...

"How's it feel? Tell me which feels worse: this -" Aladdin whips Ciel in the chest. "- or this?" And again, hitting Karma in the leg, knocking him over. Aladdin seemed to really enjoy himself, torturing his friends like this with his whipping madness.

"Homunculusssss.~"

"Huh? What Homun -"

The second Aladdin saw Pinkie, everyone went quiet. This gal was pushed just a little too far. Her eyes were shadowed, and her gaze ominous like an actual demon. The girl stormed right up to Aladdin, and grabbed his whip arm, held Aladdin in place, and with all the strength she had, tore the arm clean off! Blood shot out from the arm, but then they all saw what Pinkie saw here.

And the red lightning and arm regeneration proved it.

"That's not him," Nagisa thought. Pinkie grabbed this fake by the neck, threw him around, and he found himself underneath Pinkie Pie and her foot, both his arms held back, and her foot pushing down on his spine!

"WHERE'S ALADDIN, HOME-WRECKER?" Pinkie hissed. This fake didn't answer right away, and in his position, he couldn't get himself up so easily. Karma got Nagisa up from his injury, the blue kid lucky his back didn't snap or anything. Ciel, a red mark still on his cheek, went over to the fake at this point, staring down the killer kid.

"Get off me!" he yelled.

"You took the life of one of their friends, and whipped every one of us already. And you expect us to let you go?" Ciel said firmly. It may not be Sebastian, but it was someone on his side just as well for the job.

"Oh, I think you'd want to.~"

Time for another opponent to step up to the plate. They all turned around to the entrance of the palace, and sure enough someone else had come around to join in this brawl game. Their newest opponent: Lust. And in her hand, Lust had the reason for them all to just stop what they were doing. Hanging there by her hand like a guilty dog, it was the real Aladdin. He was tied up and gagged much like the fake was, except that he didn't look as beat up, and powerless. This brief moment of realization gave the fake enough time to yank his arms free, and with a power thrust, launched Pinkie off of him.

"Aladdin! For real this time!" Pinkie said, pointing to him.

"Put the child down," Karma demanded.

"Just a minute. Envy, mind bringing in the rest of the catch?" Lust instructed. Envy, turning himself back after the official name reveal, only took another look inside the hall to figure out what she meant, and Envy was right on it. Soon, there was Envy with the other catch.

Seitenshi and Victoria tied up!

"God damnit! They brought them here too?! Oh god, how are we going to get out of this with our skins in tact?" Nagisa thought. Ciel was worried too on seeing the princess of England in Envy's grip. Envy lifted and moved both ladies with fair ease, tossing them both right over to them. With their disguises torn up, their identities weren't so concealed to the two leading minds at all.

"What's the meaning of this?" Victoria demanded.

"You may be a bit new to this whole thing, but, maybe you should know better than to show up inside their business unannounced. You oughta get torn up," Envy said, a foot on her head.

"Get us out of here this minute, or -" Seitenshi was cut off when Lust stared her down with killer eyes.

"Or what? Let's say your personal guards are on break," Lust said, extending her long claws to prove her point. It explains where she was the whole night, anyway, but it just made Seitenshi upset.

"You two had been busy, haven't you?" Victoria groaned, still feeling Envy's foot on her back. Lust started to step in while bringing Aladdin, but suddenly Nagisa stood in the way. His nerves were a bit shaky still, but he wasn't going to let the president of Japan die in front of him.

"Not a step closer," Nagisa said, though Lust could tell that Nagisa was still a bit nervous, not to mention powerless. Lust didn't need to step closer, as she tossed Aladdin their way, and her claws struck Nagisa. It was more of a mock hit than an actual one, and one that tore Nagisa's dress off completely, leaving nothing but threads in ribbons on the ground. A surprisingly accurate strike, only leaving a few hairs cut off and nothing else on his actual body. Nagisa stood completely still, but he didn't move away at any point.

"So you'd rather die than run, huh? You humans, you throw away your lives for nothing huh? Just like back in Japan," commented Envy.

"Be careful, Homunculus. You've been off lucky twice now, and you know what they say about three strikes," Karma warned. Normally Envy would get upset for his number of fails, but this time he just started walking back, away from the others alongside Lust until both Homunculus were inside the palace, everyone else out on the balcony. What they said next shook them.

"... Envy?"

"I thought you'd never ask."

Before any of them could do anything, Envy turned around, raised his leg, and slammed his foot down with all his force. Not only did that stomp made the floor crack a bit, but this also split the entire balcony right off the building! Just enough power in Envy's focused strength to pull that off if Lust didn't weaken it before they showed up, something obvious when she showed her claws again and winking at them.

Too little too late.

Envy and Lust watched as they all fell down, little time to even scream as they all suddenly plummeted. They had pretty much nothing to help, and nothing to stop their plummet, with the entire balcony crumbling and breaking up once it smashed into the earth in a loud crash. Lust and Envy both watched with immense satisfaction as they heard the sudden cut off of the screaming as the entire balcony turned into nothing but a dust cloud of smashed concrete and stone. Envy felt far more satisfied than Lust, seeing his adversaries all die in the fall. Both Homunculus even heard the sound of squashed flesh, and splattered blood. Envy cherished the screams and gore they both laid witness to, and the Homunculus giggled.

"OH, you were right, Lust. bunch of dumb shits," Envy giggled, a devilish grin stretching across his face.

"Indeed. Let's be on our way before the guards catch up with us," Lust suggested.

And with that, both Envy and Lust were off on their way, and disappeared into the night. A job well done as far as they knew.

.......

And they didn't know far enough. When the dust cloud did clear, it showed the devastation of what they just did. An entire balcony of the queen's palace, now left with nothing but silver stone, and the cracked concrete underneath. Rubble laid everywhere, and smashed up floor, border fencing, and brick laid in heaps around a area about twenty feet around, or fifty if you include the smaller pieces. Red stained the ground around, underneath the rubble specifically, but this sort didn't truly match up blood. In fact, this splatter turned out to be no more than red juice from a lot of well-placed Razz berries, tomatoes, and other sorts of red fruits. As for where they've gone? ...

"*cough**cough* What just happened?" groaned Nagisa, poking his head out of where fell. Rather than the ground itself, bizarrely, they all somehow ended up not only alive, but safely inside a strangely conveniently placed hay wagon. Not only was the hay wagon a bit low tech by today's standards, but WAY too far away from any typical area for it to just casually be sitting there. Others of the group pulled themselves out of the hay, straw covering their clothes, but otherwise unscathed from the fall, although still hurting from their other injuries.

"We were set up, that's what happened," Ciel said, dazed but fine, as he pulled himself out of the hay wagon. Everyone else managed tog et themselves out, and Pinkie Pie had another surprise: helping Victoria and Seitenshi both out of the wagon, and out of the ropes and bindings. Looked like they were alright as well. Aladdin was helped out too by Nagisa and Karma, some taking a moment to see just how much damage was actually done. Not a single soul was harmed in the freak accident, thank god.

"How unfortunate," Victoria said upon seeing it.

"K, everyone alright? President, you -" Karma was cut off when Seitenshi raised her finger. She would normally be calm in these situation, and at first glance it would seem that, but she was still trying to contemplate what the hell just happened. Homunculus, kill attempts, magic, this was all a bit much to take in especially with her falling from a balcony and nearly dying altogether!

"Before we can even go another minute, WHAT IS GOING ON HERE? You know what's going on, and you WILL tell me," Seitenshi firmly stated. She wasn't going to go any further until she was told that at least, and considering what just happened, they owe her that much.

"In a bit. One thing though: how'd we end up in a hay wagon? It's too far away for us to just fall in," Pinkie wondered.

"We were nearly killed and THAT'S what she wonders about?" Seitenshi thought, not believing her ears. All the same though, how they even ended up in a hay wagon was just a little too convenient for them to really push aside.

"A fine question, young miss. And as a creature with speed beating your finest jet planes, I can tell you."

Whelp, there's their answer. Looking to the front of the wagon, their answer came in the form of Korosensei! The Demon King had both his arm tentacles wrapped around the wagon's hitches, like they were tied rope. As to his nature, Korosensei's outfit changed into that of what looked like an English cabbie: similar brown outfit with a England wool hat included on top of his head. They were slightly used to him popping up at this point, but only slightly.

"Yeah, that makes more sense. I owe you one. Again," Karma said, as the cheeky Demon King made his signature chuckle, his face turning striped green.

"Was there any doubt? Nothing can slow down this Demon King," Korosensei boasted, though really he was glad that he got there when he did, otherwise they'd all be nothing but splattered meat in clothing.

"Did you do this?" Seitenshi finally asked.

"Of course! Call it a little service from the fastest Demon this side of the Underworld. But, boasts aside, good thing you're all okay. That was a close shave, don't you think so?"

"Not quite everyone. Unfortunately, Blair was killed before the balcony collapsed," Ciel said, though his tone wasn't filled with much sorrow over it. In fact, it was less emotional, and more like a business report than much else. Korosensei took a look over at the wreck, and suddenly he was checking the area with lightning speed. In just under five seconds, the rubble and rocks were all neatly stacked up in a sort of pyramid shape not too far off from the initial location, but nothing was left except from the splattered red juice.

"Nope, that's just my berry juice decoys. Pretty groovy, eh?"

"But Blair's -"

"Nyaa! Hey guys, what's up?"

"BLAIR?!"

And just like that, Blair suddenly popped her head out of the hay wagon, same way the others did. She shook off some of the hay from her head, but her appearance alone made them all freak out. Blair didn't sound hurt, or even sore, but good as good can be. Too much of a surprise for the others to just take in. They ALL saw her get skewered and tossed off the balcony, and here she was good as new.

"W-Wha?! B-B-But Blair, y-you died up there! ... Didn't you?" Aladdin asked, shaken up.

"Nine lives, babe," Blair simply said. ...

"She did not just say that," Nagisa thought. There will be time to explain later, they were sure. (she'd better, anyway). Then the attention went back to the damage done, Seitenshi and Victoria looking over the damage as the other consorted. This attack by a duo of magical, demonic creatures was something neither of them could ignore, especially when they both were used basically as extras to get killed. ...

They need to be ready.