The Coronet Theatre—it was hard to understand why on earth it was still standing. There were bullets embedded in the blood-splattered walls, and residue of left in the shape of humanoid figures lying on the ground where ashes seeped into the carpets. The hallways smelled like death and rot; the only thing particularly out of place were the wires that trailed along them. They were followed by the bluenette as he trekked through the familiar place, ignoring the wretchedness of it all and the memories of the events that happened only a month ago.
It was barren. It hardly seemed as though anyone was there. Occasionally Ciel would run into a Jack and prepare for combat, but the flunkies would only stand at attention and stare at him until he left. That was odd, but Ciel had faith in what he was doing. Soon, he made it to the room where the torture-spectacle was held by the Gentlman vampires before, finding four demons and a flock of fresh vampires inside.
Voros and Araneus grinned at the bluenette's appearance, while Verdigris seemed neutral about it and the same went for Blackjack. The moment that the bluenette set foot inside the room, the doors closed behind him. It was to be expected, however. The most logical way to prevent someone from escaping was to remove all potential paths.
"So you came after all." Grinned Voros. "I didn't think you wouldn't. I was just getting a little impatient."
"I'm sorry to keep you waiting." The bluenette answered. "You didn't give me a specific time for my appointment."
"Yeah, but we like to keep you guessin'." The eyebrowless demons said with a shrug.
"Isn't it at least the proper thing to tell me exactly what it is you want with me?" questioned Ciel, raising an eyebrow. "You've done all of this to get my attention, so now that you have it, what do you want?"
"To play." Said Voros. "Y'see, a while back, while playing with a bunch of vampire chumps, the party was crashed by H.E.L.L.S.I.N.G. Now, that's not weird, but when getting away, I spotted a demon working amoung their ranks. So, I captured her and asked her who she was and how she got there 'cause I was curious." The demon stood up from their seat in order to circle the Phantomhive, baring their teeth in a wide grin as they did.
"She said her name was 'August', and she said that she was freed by a demon and given a name before being allowed to work alongside humans." Continued the Cerberus head, brushing a hand against the man's back. "That demon was pretty powerful. She said that he defeated a dragon on his own, and bested a wielder of the hand of Akeldama. So of course, me and my friends thought it would be good fun to play with him a bit."
"That's a nice story, but it didn't tell me anything about your intentions." Ciel stated, staring straight ahead, completely unfazed by all of this. His enemy huffed before putting their hands on their hips.
"Wow, y'know? You're not as fun as I thought you'd be." Voros stated, walking back over to their seat. "Well, if you must know, we were planning on capturing you, maybe torturing you a bit, at least until you begged us to stop. We wouldn't, though. Then, maybe force you to join us like your friend, here."
"Is that right?" the bluenette asked, placing his hands behind his back.
"Yeah, but since today's Christmas, we might reconsider. After all, today's the day where everyone is supposed to be with the ones they care about, right? Since that's the case, we might just skip to that last part so you can be with BJ, over there. Howzzat?"
"Not bad, but I think I have a better idea." Ciel proposed, tilting his head as an arrogant smirk crossed his visage. "How about I just take my friend back, and we both go home—not before taking care of you, of course."
"HA!" barked Araneus, placing a hand on Alois' shoulder. "Did you really think we'd let that happen? We have an army."
"Perhaps, but not for long." The bluenette said. "You said you wanted me to entertain you, yes? How about a magic trick? With a few magic words, I can make your 'army' disappear."
A small twitch appeared at the corner of the Macken's mouth at this, going unnoticed by the other demons. Was that supposed to be a joke? It was easy to scoff at such an arrogant claim, but Voros and Verdgris weren't laughing. It was Araneus who egged the man on.
"Really?" he snorted. "Let's see it then! Show us a trick, watchdog!"
To this, the watchdog's grin did not waver. "Potentia Regere." He murmured, snapping the Jacks to attention. With a snap of his fingers, their backs straightened and their posture resembled the sort of stance a soldier would take in front of a commanding officer. The eyes of the other demons widened at the sight.
"What are you doing?!" demanded Voros. "I didn't tell you to move yet!"
"That's because they don't take orders from you." Informed the Phantomhive. "For the time being, they are mine."
"How did you-?!"
"I hear you had a bit of an accident." The bluenette mused. "The mold you used to make the amulets broke, didn't it? That's a shame…"
The eyes of the Cerberus demons quickly fell on their favourite underling, their faces adorned with shock. Ciel was right. The mold did break. Rather than doing it themselves, they had left their minions with the instructions on how to make a new one. They hadn't left just any minion up to the task. Ciel held out his hand toward the others.
"'Blackjack'." He called. "You really are a stubborn one, aren't you?"
"You-!" began Araneus, reaching toward the lion to grab him. Before he could, however, he found a fist harshly introduced to his face. With that, the menace leapt into the air, pulling out his guns and showering the trio with a hail of bullets before they could make another move; landing on the other side of the room next to his beau.
"Guilty as charged, mister policeman." He said. "I don't much care for playing the damsel in distress, you know."
"I know too well." The Phantomhive replied with a grin. "It really doesn't suit you."
"How did you escape my hold?!" demanded Voros, flaring their nostrils with a dangerous look in their crimson eyes.
"Well, it was a little tricky at first." Admitted the menace. "Fortunately, I already have a contract, so placing another symbol just superficially on me isn't going to have much of an affect. My head was a little foggy for a bit, but after meeting Ciel again I was able to snap out of it the rest of the way. That's when I broke the mold. How could you seriously not notice that your symbol was only painted on the front?"
"That was when you broke the mold and put my seal on the back, wasn't it?" asked the Phantomhive.
"Yup~!"
Voros growled at the information. The demon hadn't noticed. They hadn't noticed a thing. Even after how careful they were to capture the bluenette, they hadn't calculated for Alois! Clenching their fists and baring their teeth, they scowled.
"Bastard!" accused Araneus, pulling a gun out of his pocket.
"Araneus." The eyebrowless demon said. "Just give it up… It's pointless."
"But—"
"I suppose it's time to make our escape, then." They went on, leaning back in their chair. "Good thing I made a plan, just in case." With that, Voros reached into their cloak, pulling out a remote control. Ciel's smirk fell as his eyes locked on it.
"What? You didn't really think we wouldn't have a backup, right?" the other demon said.
"Right." Alois replied with a grin. That's why I rigged it so that the bomb would go off in this very room." He declared, shocking both parties. He couldn't be serious. There was no way on earth Alois Trancy was so crazy as to blow himself, his lover, and a bunch of civilians sky high. He smirked as his beau looked at him with concern. Perhaps his head wasn't as clear as he had thought.
"You…" began his opponent. "You fucker! Piece of shit!" Voros declared, raising their arm and slamming the remote down on the ground, busting open the plastic covering. With that, the browless demon turned, facing the wall against their back. Cocking their arm back once more, the demon sent it smashing through the wall, creating an opening for them to leap through. Their associates did the same, fleeing the scene. In response, the menace turned to the Jacks.
"Everybody out!" he ordered. "Go to the trucks outside!" With that, the Jacks started filing out of the room, opening the door and heading toward the exit. He then turned to look at the bluenette, grabbing his hand.
"Let's go." He said. "They really are going to get away if we let them."
"What about the bombs?" the bluenette asked.
"I may or may not have fibbed." Alois replied. "I really did suspect that they'd try something, and I did move the bombs."
"Where are they now?"
"Well…"
BOOM!
An explosion went off somewhere else in the building, shaking the earth beneath their feet. Quickly, without a word, the duo followed the sound, following the trio of demons through the make-shift exit that they had created. Together, they scurried toward the back of the building. As they got closer and closer to their destination, the temperature began to rise and the smell of fire invaded their nostrils.
Not just that. Flesh. Burning flesh. Upon seeing what had been done, Ciel was genuinely shocked. The building was on fire and in the midst of the flames, what did he see? An arm. A severed arm, one who could only belong to a demon who appeared to be around the age of fourteen.
