Ciel had a pained look in his eye when I admitted to helping the crazy mortician with his experiments. I did feel a bit guilty for putting that look on his face, but I wasn't sure why he was looking at me like that. We had never spent any time together, so I felt frustrated over the fact that the young Earl looked like I had killed his puppy. The man behind me gave me a comforting squeeze as he watched the two of us.

"Hmph. The more I hear of all this…we can't let this go." Grell was the one to bring my attention back over to the two active reapers. The red reaper had finally decided to act like a professional, and wanted to take the older man in to the Council like we had planned. Ronald had finally snapped out of his daze, and moved his lawnmower to a more battle ready position. He looked a bit unsure as he sized Adrian up.

"It's wrong for a grim reaper to warp life and death, but he's not wearing specs. Miss Sutcliff, is he one of those 'deserters' we get every now and then?" The younger of the two death gods asked the redhead at his side. The silver haired man straightened as he smirked over at the younger reapers. He let me go, and I stepped back behind the man. I could feel the excitement coming off the strong man in waves.

It had been a long time since he was able to challenge himself in such a fight.

"I don't care what he is. It's against the rules for a grim reaper to interfere with the cycle of death in the human world. Turning him over to the Council would be the best way to reveal the workings of those corpses." Ronald looked over to the red reaper in shock over his words. Grell went on, not seeing the blonde reaction.

"Not only have you broken several rules, but you committed a grievous sin by harming a girl's face! It doesn't matter how handsome you are, I won't forgive you!" The redhead roared at the silver haired reaper. Adrian paused and blinked a bit, before looking over at me with a frown on his face.

"Did a piece of glass cut you? Did I scratch you, love? I don't think I did…" He said with a bewildered tone as his chartreuse eyes traced offer my facial features. I saw the smallest of smirks on his face as he ignored the shout of outrage that came from Grell. I saw Ronald groan when the silver haired reaper looked back over to the other long haired soul collector in the room.

"There's not a mark on her face," Adrian said. His false perplexed tone had me giggling into my sleeves as the redhead's face took on an impressive flush of anger. The sharp teeth in his mouth were gritted together in a sneer as his eyes blazed. The silver haired mortician slowly rose an eyebrow as he continued.

"Oh! You mean your face! I thought I had accidentally caused my angel harm, but it was just you. I thought you were a man, but I can see you're just a very masculine female... My mistake!~" I had to bite my lip to keep from bringing attention to myself by laughing at Grell's very pissed off expression. The redhead was shaking in his anger as the mad man just waved his hand in a dismal way as he spoke.

I watched the red reaper boil over in his anger. He took a running start and jumped up to attack my companion with his chainsaw. Adrian brought his sotoba up, and the saw slid off the side of the wood with that Cheshire grin on his lips. The move caused his hair and loose robes to flutter around his lean frame.

Ronald tried to come up from behind the mortician, but just as he was about to land a hit, a black blur kicked him out of the way. Using the momentum from knocking the blonde ways, Sebastian aimed a kick for the silver haired man's head, and Adrian ducked under the demon's leg.

The duel hair colored reaper slid on the ground to slam in the wall next to me with an enraged shout. The lawnmower was flung from his grip and ended up resting at the foot of the farthest set of stairs from me. Grell turned to look at the demon with a surprised expression.

"Bassy, what do you think you're doing?!" When he landed a few feet from my partner, the black haired man just pulled his gloves tighter on his hands as he calmly told the redhead that the reapers can't take Adrian away. The red reaper had a look of shock on his face. Ciel just hopped forward with an injured leg I hadn't noticed before.

"We are also tasked with investigating the moving corpses by Her Majesty, The Queen. We will be taking the Undertaker in our custody, and present the truth to the Queen," Ciel said in a tone that made no room for augments, but the red reaper just glared at the demon and his master. Grell and Sebastian glared at each other while Adrian set the sotoba back on his shoulder with a grin on his face as he observed the tension around him with a bowed head.

Ronald pulled himself up from the wall with a glare aimed at the demonic butler. He dusted himself off as he stomped past me to get his weapon. The duel hair colored was muttering under his breath about how he was gladly going to work overtime so he could rip this particular 'noxious beast' to shreds for such an underhanded move. He flung the lawnmower over his shoulder as he snarled at Sebastian.

"Then it's simple. The first one to get to the manic wins! I have no intention to lose to you, old man!" The silver haired man started to chuckle as more insults were thrown around him. The sound snapped all eyes back on him as he spoke.

"So yoooou are going to go rabbit huuunting?" The words held a lethal edge as he lifted his head and gave his pursuers a sharp grin with a predatory glint in his eyes. The intense look made me shiver with excitement as he took a quick glance at me. "Which one is the hunted rabbit?"

All three men leapt toward the mortician at the same time. Sebastian had his silverware out, but Ronald nearly took his head off with the blades of the lawnmower. The demon growled at the younger man as he ducked under the mower. Ronald had a cocky grin on his face as he tried to swing his modified death scythe at the black haired man.

"You have very poor eyesight, hm?" There was irritation in the black haired man's tone. The blonde almost lost his balance as the demon moved out of the machine's path. A flash of red caught my eye, and I saw Adrian jump back to avoid the chainsaw. Sebastian took his chance and threw the knives at the silver haired man. The aged reaper twirled the sotoba, blocking the knives as he chuckled.

"Reapers are all verrrrry nearsighted!" Grell came up from behind him claiming that the older man had a disadvantage. The chainsaw met with the wooden stake and unexpectedly sliced right through. Using the surprise the move made, Adrian leered at the redhead and kicked him in the back. The blonde reaper rushed over to try and hit the older man, but the silver haired man just knocked his glassed off and used the younger one as a springboard.

The mortician ended on the main floor when he landed. His hair swirled around his body as he leaned back to avoid the chainsaw, and the demon butler came after the aged reaper with his knives at the ready.

I looked on as my partner easily dodged and parried the attacks that came his way. Every now and then, I saw the older reaper looking over at me through the corner of his eye to make sure I wasn't harmed. Sebastian must have noticed this as he used one of the knives he carried to slice through the wooden stake Adrian had in his hands.

When the silver haired man skidded back over to where the majority of his sotoba were in the floor, the black haired demon turned his purplish gaze on me with a calculating gleam in those inhuman depths. I stiffened as the butler came my way. Adrian's eyes narrowed dangerously at the demon as three large wooden stakes were thrown at the demon, but he just flipped in the air dodging the large pieces of wood.

Sebastian landed on the rail just a few feet from where I was standing. The mortician pulled another sotoba out of the ground and tried to chase after the black haired man, but his path was blocked by the bloodthirsty red reaper. His sotoba parried the chainsaw, and the older reaper's eyes flew over to me.

The butler, seeing his chance, came after me with his hands changing into claws as he got closer. I uncrossed my arms and took a deep breath, feeling the warmth of my powers. As soon as the demon was in striking distance, I let the barrier keeping my inner flames down. The look of utter shock was priceless, and I gave an amused smirk at catching the monster by surprise.

Fire raced down my leg as I planted my combat booted foot right in the middle of the black haired man's sternum. The air was knocked out of his lungs, and my flames ignited the tailcoat he wore. I caught the scent of burning flesh as the fire made quick work of the garments on his body. My kick sent him flying into the red reaper who was charging at mortician, sending them both into a wall.

I had put my full strength into that hit, and Adrian took a hand and held it over his eyes as he looked over to where the tangle of demon and reaper landed on the far side of the room. When looked back over to me, the silver haired man and in impressed look in his eyes. I gave him a cheeky smile as he began to applaud me.

Ronald looked over at me in shock as set my foot back on the floor. I lifted my eyebrow at him in a challenge that made the young reaper narrow his eyes at me. The wavy haired reaper's eyes darted between the mortician and me, trying to see which would be the easiest to attack. I made the decision for him by using the stair rail to launch myself at him. Ronald was not expecting the move, and I flung him into a column with an elbow to his face.

A loud rumble came from the hole where Sebastian and Grell ended up. I quickly got into a fighting stance as the demon bursted out of the wall. The long tailcoat and gloves had mostly been burned, and the black haired man had a nasty burn on the side of his face and down one of his legs. The glare he aimed at me was terrifying, but I didn't have to worry about facing him in his anger.

Adrian landed beside me and threw the last three sotoba he had embedded in the ground. One caught the demonic butler in the arm as he twisted his body. I looked back over to the hole, and saw Ronald pull Grell out of the rubble. The redhead shook his head as he stood up with a groan holding a hand to his head. The reapers gave me a wary look as they readied their weapons.

"We're out of time. With the ship listing this bad, we need to finish this." The younger reaper nodded with his superior's words as he glanced at the watch on his wrist. Both soul collectors charged at the mortician with their death scythes at once. My companion stepped in front of me with a mad grin in his face as he held the two death scythes at bay with the wooden stake in his hands.

"This is not possible! The death scythe is supposed to be able to cut through anything! How can you block our attacks!?" Ronald yelled at the retired reaper. It looked like the manic was enjoying himself immensely if his smile was anything to go by.

A dark chuckle came from the silver haired man as he balanced the active death gods on his sotoba. The sound sent a chill down my spine from my spot behind my partner. The lethal tone he used made the room feel a bit colder, and I wasn't the one he was talking to at the moment.

"Iiiiiiisn't it a fuuuuuuuny saying? The weapon that can slice through everything." Grell and Ronald looked at Adrian in confusion at his words. He looked up at the others with a dangerous glint in his eye. "I don't fiiiiiiiind it very amusing at aaaaaaall! Hehehe! There is one thing the death scythe can't cut, isn't there?"

Horror dawned on the younger beings, and with a flick of his wrists, the mortician's sotoba transformed into the skeleton death scythe. The blade ducked under the other modified weapons and gave both active reapers a deep wound on their abdomens. They landed several feet away from us. Grell pushed himself up on one of his elbows with a look of shock on his face.

"It can't be! That's a…"