Previously:

Sebastian gasped. His red eyes were open wide. His young master's hand was so close, yet he couldn't reach it.

"Sebastian!" Ciel yelled. He was flying through the air. He would be falling soon. Sebastian was also in the air, reaching for him despite the terrible wound he had just received, spurting blood.

"!" Sebastian furrowed his brow and gritted his teeth as he continued to reach for Ciel. "UWOOOO!" he shouted with desperate determination, forcing himself forward as his teeth grew into fangs and his eyes glowed. Blood came out of his mouth.

WHAP.

Sebastian grasped Ciel's hand.


That Butler, Gravely Wounded


"UWOOOO!" Sebastian yelled as he grasped Ciel's hand in his. He pulled Ciel close and protected him as they fell.

WHAM!

Sebastian slammed harshly into the ground and slid across the floor, holding Ciel tightly in his arms.

"!" Lacey said, watching them with concern. When Undertaker jumped down to their level, she jumped too and put herself between them.

"I knew you of all people would protect the earl," Undertaker told Sebastian. "Just what one would expect of his butler, hmm?"

"Ngh…!" Ciel grunted, straining to push himself up. Ciel looked at his hand. It was sticky with Sebastian's blood, which was also on his face and clothes. He furrowed his brow, a little shocked. Sebastian's eyes were closed, and he wasn't moving. There was blood around his mouth. "Sebastian…? Hey!" He shook him. "Sebastian!" He yelled.

"Do keep it down..." Sebastian said with a furrowed brow as he opened his eyes, breathing hard.

"!" Ciel said when Sebastian pushed himself up into a sitting position. The demon glared at Undertaker with glowing eyes, spitting out the blood in his mouth.

"Your cinematic record was quiiiiite entertaining!" Undertaker said. "It's a shame we didn't get to see more about why you married Missus Maid, yes?" He looked at Lacey. She stayed between him and Ciel and Sebastian. "… But… all the same, it appears you will only bring misfortune upon the young earl here."

"!?" Ciel gasped.

"So why don't we have you disappear?" Undertaker asked Sebastian, drawing back his scythe, preparing to attack.

"!!" Ciel exclaimed. Lacey prepared to block him.

"!?" Undertaker said when the whole ship shook. They were all surprised.

"Uwah!?" Ciel cried as the ship swayed and tilted.

"Don't tell me it's already..." Grell said.

"Blimey!" Ronald exclaimed

"UWAAAAAA!" Ryan screamed as he slid down the floor.

"My, my," Undertaker said with a grin. "Will it be anytime nooow, hmm?"

"Oh no..." Sebastian said. "The bow is pitching upward from the weight of all the water we have taken on!!"

—^—^—^—

The ship was lifted almost halfway out the water at a forty-five degree angle.

"Uwaaaaah!" people screamed on the deck as they fell and scrambled madly to catch hold of something.

—^—^—^—

Lacey and Sebastian, holding Ciel, quickly grabbed hold of part of a broken railing to prevent themselves from falling. Rian was not so lucky.

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaah—!" he screamed as he slid down the floor.

SPLAT!

His broken body lay impaled on sharp debris.

"Rian stoker. Born August 24th, 1854," Grell said, landing on what was now the top of the railing Lacey and Sebastian were holding onto. "Died April 20th, 1889 due to a fall. Additional remarks, none." The Reaper looked from Sebastian to Undertaker. "Sebas-chan. As you can see, I haven't a moment to spare. I hope you'll forgive me, but I'll be taking that Undertaker fellow for myself. You just stay right there and watch me in action."

"!" Sebastian furrowed his brow. "I cannot allow y..."

VREE! VREE! VREE!

Ronald tried to take Sebastian out with his scythe, but the demon dodged.

"You're much stronger than me, Mister Sutcliff, so that Undertaker's all yours!" Ronald told his senior. "I'll put this weak, worn-out, old dog over here out of his misery! " he added, looking at Sebastian, who had grabbed a sturdy column for support. Sebastian was panting, his face cast in shadow.

WHAM!

Sebastian's eyes widened in surprise when Lacey nailed Ronald with a kick in his ribs. Lacey grabbed hold of another column.

"I don't think so," she said. Ronald quickly grabbed onto another column, even though his pained expression made it obvious that he was suffering..

"Ow! What the hell was that!?" Ronald asked her incredulously. "Ugh, I think you broke a rib or two… I thought you were staying out of this?"

"The situation has changed," Lacey said. "I can't let you kill him." Sebastian almost smiled. He never thought he'd see the day when a Reaper defended a demon.

"…..Hmph," Ciel said. "Kill? I won't have you making light of my butler. Do you really think that this is enough to wear him out? That he's going to lose to you?"

"!?" Sebastian said.

"Your jokes aren't amusing in the least," Ciel told Ronald. "Aren't I right, Sebastian?"

"… Yes, most definitely," Sebastian replied, despite the pain he was in. "Ugh! Koff! Koff!" he coughed.

"!" Ciel said. Ronald frowned.

"Aww, brother. Now I can't help feeling like I've turned into a bully picking on the weak…" Ronald said.

WHAM!

Sebastian hit Ronald with a punch that would've killed an ordinary human. He had left Ciel sitting safely on top of the column.

"Eh!?" Ronald said. It was so fast that for a moment, he didn't know what hit him. "…!" he gasped when he saw Sebastian's glowing red eyes. "Hey—!" The punch had sent him flying, but Sebastian was on top of him in seconds.

WHAM!

Sebastian kicked Ronald hard in the gut.

"GAHAH!" the Reaper grunted as he had the wind knocked out of him. Ronald hit the floor and bounced up again. Sebastian leaped after him and grabbed him by the front of his shirt, pulling him close so he could look his prey in the eye.

"What was that you were saying… about picking on the weak?" Sebastian asked him with the hint of a smirk.

WHAM!

Sebastian nailed Ronald with another vicious punch.

"GAH!" Ronald cried.

SCREE. SCREE.

Ronald's scythe made a strange noise when Sebastian landed on it. Sebastian jumped around the Reaper to deliver another attack from behind.

"Kuh…!" Ronald said, gritting his teeth as he swung his scythe around to hit Sebastian with it. Sebastian gracefully jumped up and flipped over the sweeping attack. He landed back on the tilted floor and delivered a powerful kick to Ronald, knocking him back so hard that he let go of his death scythe.

SMASH!

Ronald crashed into a bunch of tables and chairs.

"Okay, so maybe he doesn't need my help," Lacey said, making a 'not bad' face. "Just don't over do it and die!" she called down to Sebastian.

"… Wai—! H...ow are you… still moving—!?" Ronald asked the demon. With a major wound like that, he should be too weak to move. Sebastian stomped his foot down on Ronald's shoulder, pinning him in place, while he cracked his knuckles.

"If my master issues an order, I cannot very well fail to carry it out, now can I?" the demon said.

"Even though you can barely stand up, there you go showin' off..." Ronald said, looking very beat up himself. "You make me s—ick…!" Sebastian aimed another savage punch at him.

SCREEE!

Grell's death scythe collided with Undertaker's. They were both standing on a column.

"You! Why, if it isn't the little Reaper who was playing at being Madam Red's butler!" Undertaker said. "I knew I'd seen you before! So you've been seduced by the lives of humans too, haven't yooou!?"

"Nosy men never get anywhere with the ladies, I'll have you know!!" Grell told him, swiping at him with his death scythe again.

VREEE! VREEE! VREEE!

"Aren't you little Reaperlings about to run out of time?" Undertaker asked as he jumped back to stand on another column.

"I'm no Cinderella," Grell said with a grin. "You won't catch me running off home when there's a fine prince among men right before my eyes!" He leaped at Undertaker. Ronald came flying at him. "!!?" Grell's eyes widened.

BOOM!

He and Ronald both crashed into the railing and the tables and chairs behind it. Undertaker jumped away to avoid getting caught up in the mess.

"Ow…!" Grell groaned. He opened his eyes and saw the state of his junior. He had been beaten to a pulp, so much so that he was unrecognizable except for his glasses. "Ronald!?"

"I say! How soft the youth of today are!" Sebastian said, leaning against Ronald's death scythe, with Ciel and Lacey behind him. "Is it not a little behind the times of you to depend solely on your death scythes?" He looked at Undertaker. "Now! The only one who remains is..." The whole ship shook.

"Th-This is bad!" Ciel said.

"Damn!" Lacey said. "If it's like Titanic, the ship will sink until it's bobbing straight up and down and then break in half!"

—^—^—^—

"L...Look!!" one of the crew members manning a lifeboat said, pointing up. "The ship—!!" It was almost completely vertical. They could hear it creaking. "The ship's sinking!!"

"Kyaaaah!" a woman on the ship screamed as she fell. The wooden deck was cracking.

—^—^—^—

Inside, water began pouring in, showering Sebastian, Ciel, and Lacey in ice cold water.

"Uwah!" Ciel exclaimed, hanging onto Sebastian.

"Well, the time has come to say our farewells at last," Undertaker said. "I must say, it's been cracking good funnn!" Grell and Sebastian started. They couldn't let him get away. Sebastian held Ciel while he two of them charged at Undertaker.

"!?" Undertaker said, dodging Sebastian's kick while blocking Grell's death scythe. Sebastian's kick hit his chain of mourning lockets and sent them flying into the air. Undertaker's eyes widened. He tried to catch them, but they were beyond his reach. They flew towards Sebastian and Ciel. Instinctively, Ciel snatched it from the air as it passed him. Undertaker was surprised. He stared at Ciel with wide eyes, then smiled. "—Lord Earl. I entrust that to your keeping for the present," he told him. "Please take it with you and treat it with care." Undertaker landed on higher ground. "For it is my treasure."

'Treasure?' Lacey thought.

"!?" Ciel gasped. "Wait, Undertaker!!" he called as the Reaper turned to leave.

"So long, milord," Undertaker said. He raised his scythe and swung. "Let's meet again."

—^—^—^—

BOOM!

Outside, there was a huge explosion as the whole ship was cut in half.