"You shouldn't have come here." Alois informed, taking on a fighting stance. "That was one of many mistakes you made. Another was ever believing that a mere spider could ever paint a lion black."
"A lion? Is that supposed to be you?" scoffed Araneus. "A whore like you could never be one. You're just a doll for other people to play with! And you think you're some kind of 'lion'?"
Wordlessly, the blonde solidified his stance, his eyes never leaving his opponent's. "Come see for yourself" they said in silence, inviting the other demon to advance. Alois couldn't be moved; his posture and gaze was already proof enough, but his foe was not convinced. Rather, he didn't want to be convinced. In his mind, the Macken should be just as powerless as he was before, and even the mere thought of him acting so defiantly angered him.
"Piece of filth!" he shouted, charging at the menace with his arm cocked back. His anger grew more and more with every step closer he took, as Alois didn't move even an inch. This man—this boy was supposed to obey him! Such an act of rebellion must be crushed.
It wasn't. Instead, it was the arm of the Trancy that was broken as their fists collided. Alois struck the Trancy's hand with his own with such force, that it broke the older man's bones. A sound of surprise escaped his opponent as it fully registered what exactly happened. Then it became a scream as he felt the pain of his hand being shattered. His skin wrapped loosely, no longer being able to conform to the shape of the appendage. In mere minutes, it would heal, but he didn't have that long as the Macken struck him again, and again, and again. Hand, knee, ribs, eye-socket; all broke as they were impacted with the full force of the menace's blows.
When his hand and knee healed, Araneus attempted to strike a counter attack, swinging his arm again, only to have it blocked by the menace, their eyes meeting for a moment, blue on blue. Even with current situation he was in, even with the damage done, it wasn't until that moment that the Trancy was afraid. It was then, after having looked into the eyes of his foe- at how his own visage reflected back at him through glassy orbs that tore through him—that he understood the gravity of his situation. The way Alois looked at him was with nothing but hatred and malice. He wanted to destroy his opponent entirely. To crush him. To break him, just as the Trancy had try to do unto him. He stared through the man, gazing upon him as if he didn't even register his foe as a person.
And he didn't. He saw his opponent as a monster that needed smiting. The tables had turned to where the Trancy Earl was the prey and the stray animal that was Jim Macken, was the predator that would tear him to shreds; with fangs. With claws. With everything he had. Alois wanted his enemy to know that his plight was hopeless. There was no chance of escape. Araneus was trapped, and he would soon feel the despair and agony of being that way.
Cocking back his arm, the menace took advantage of how the other man left himself completely open. His eyes glowed crimson and he grit his teeth, focusing his power. In a flash, he released the tension in his muscles and sent his arm forward, stabbing the tips of his fingers into his foe, breaking the skin. While the Earl's mind was trying to keep up, Alois quickly stabbed him two more times in the same manner before the menace tore himself away, creating some distance between them. Straightening his back, he watched as the other demon stared down at his chest and abdomen with a confused expression.
It soon contorted painfully as the man dropped to his knees, his hands trying to clutch at his injuries. A scream escaped his lips while he bent over, trying to dull the pain as it continued to bore further into his body. Soon, he lifted his head and tore open his shirt in order to inspect the damage, only for his eyes to widen in horror at the sight.
"Wh-wha-?!" he forced out, his eyes glancing up at the demon in front of him. Alois simply stood and stared, making sure to look down on him with his chin held high.
"They're seeds." The Macken stated flatly. "Y'know, I spent a long time trying to decide on the perfect punishment for you. I wanted you to feel agony. I wanted you to feel violated. I wanted your skin to crawl." He paused, beginning to walk toward his foe with a bizarre calmness about him that caused the other man's blood to run cold.
"While thinking about it, I remembered the predicament of someone I fought only a couple years ago. We still have fragments of silver from them in the memorabilia room." He informed, a smirk appearing on his face. "And that is why you now have thorn-covered vines spreading throughout your body. They won't stop until either you're completely full of them, or I decide to let you go. Don't count on the latter, though. That's probably not going to happen."
He was right. The vines pierced the flesh of Araneus, snaking around his internal organs and crawling beneath his skin, tearing it from muscle and giving off a grotesque vein-like appearance. They began to branch off, spreading further and further, reddening his skin and slicing it open. When that occurred, it merely healed back in order to accommodate the parasite. Spreading, wrapping, tearing, piercing—the older demon screamed, but his cries of pain couldn't be heard over the sound of the clocktower bells signaling a new hour.
Alois merely looked down at him with a wide grin devilishly forming across his face. His greatest foe was doubled over in pain before him, screaming, crying, and begging for him to make the torment stop. But he didn't. He let it persist, occasionally letting out a small sound of amusement at a particularly loud scream.
"Jim!" Araneus spouted in a woeful voice. "Jim, please! Let me go…"
"Nah." Said the menace with a shrug. "I don't think you've had enough yet. Squirm more, and I might think about it."
"I'm sorry…" sobbed the older demon, having lost the ability to move. The vines had reached his arms and legs, stabbing through muscles and tearing tendons while separating skin from meat and meat from bone. His eyes hastily darted about for any means of escape, but there were none. The only thing that was out of the ordinary was the appearance of another figure in the background.
"Phantomhive!" the Trancy called out, struggling to move his neck so that he could look up at the watchdog. "Please! Call him off!"
As Ciel walked forward, the menace's resolve shook a tad from the expression on his face. It was cold as it was angry, forcing a chill to run down Alois' spine. Had he gone too far? Was this wrong? No, he was the one in the right, here, wasn't he?
He soon found out the bluenette's thoughts as his beau finally stopped at his side, staring down at the Trancy man at their feet. He glanced at Alois, then back to Araneus. It was then that a smirk of Ciel's own appeared on his face while his arm wrapped around the menace's waist, his hand resting on the blonde's hip.
"I am merely an observer, here." He said finally, his voice smooth, with a little bit of a playful tinge to it, causing a smile to grace Alois' face once more.
"No! Please! Make it stop! I'll do anything!" cried the Trancy, but his captors only laughed in response.
"Long live the king." Spoke Ciel, planting a small peck on the menace's cheek.
Eyes widening, Araneus realised once and for all that there was no saving him. He sobbed pitifully, screaming until the vines finally bound and pierced his lungs, preventing any air to flow either in or out. He was completely paralyzed, but perfectly aware of what was happening to him. Blood-soaked vines began seeping through cuts in his skin, peeking out and twisting about as if they weren't sure where to go from there. His body began to swell, slightly, from all of the plant matter inside of it. Crimson-coloured spit seeped from his mouth, and tears of a similar hue dripped from his eyes. The vein-like protrusions in his skin had reached his face, giving it a grotesque appearance. The plants then started peeking out of his mouth, nose, and eyelids as strained gurgling noises escaped his torn throat.
Before his eyes stopped functioning, he looked up at the duo, registering their smiling faces. This was retribution. They were wicked people punishing and even wickeder being. The lion and dog had brought a formerly gargantuan spider to the ground. When he started bleeding, they grabbed his wrists and ankles and dragged him over to a tarp they had tapped to the floor so that it wouldn't stain. There was no need to be inconsiderate to the school, after all. The point was to remove trash from their campus, so leaving stains was a tad counterproductive.
Hours went by. The gurgling sound stopped. All sounds did, except for the grinding of gears in the background. Two people stood up in the room, staring down at a human-like figure that was completely engulfed in plant life from the inside out. Even its eyes and the inside of its mouth couldn't be seen as it hung open in a silent scream. The Earl of Trancy wasn't dead. Not yet. He was still trying to heal himself, as neither his brain nor his heart had been pierced with an antifreak weapon. Alois' rapist was still alive.
Now the menace was stuck with a troublesome dilemma. Did he kill the Earl, or let him live? If Alois killed the man, the world would be rid of him until his next life came around, but by then he would be a new person. If he didn't, then the Trancy would have to endure the mental scarring that the menace's torture inflicted. He would live in fear for the rest of his long, miserable life.
"Now what do I do?" he asked aloud to his beau, leaning against the other man's shoulder. "Should I kill him?"
"Isn't that what you came here for?" the bluenette asked.
"Yeah, but… Part of me feels like that's the easy way out…" Alois answered. "I mean, whether he lives or dies, what he did to me… It's still going to affect me for the rest of my life no matter what…" He paused, furrowing his brow a bit. "Wouldn't 'getting even' be ensuring that the same goes for him as well?"
Ciel frowned deeply at the first part, a pang of sadness running through him. It was true. Even the Phantomhive had to be mindful of his beau's trauma in order to make sure that he's always comfortable. Goodness knows what it must be like for Alois. His expression changed, however, at the addition of the second part. A wicked grin crossed his visage as he thought about the genius of his beau. This was also true. Indeed, for things to truly be equal, the Earl of Trancy would have to live with his newfound scars.
"If you think that's the right course of action to take, then do it." The bluenette replied, his grip tightening on his boyfriend while planting a kiss on his forehead. "I won't stop you. This is your mission, after all. I have no right to interfere."
"Something tells me that you're enjoying this just a tad…"
"Sorry… I want him to pay, as well… Anyone who would ever harm a single hair on your head should face some severe retribution…"
"So in other words, because you love me?"
"Yes."
"You're so romantic." The menace jested, turning his head to look at the immobile body on the floor. His facial features stiffened and he quieted himself, his mood immediately dropping. What was he going to do? Slowly, he tore himself from his beau and walked over to the Trancy, his feet crumpling the tarp in places as he did. The man simply stared over the other demon, looking down at his miserable form.
"Part of me wants to let him suffer…" he softly stated. "But then… part of me is afraid. Would that make me the same monster that he is?" For a long time, the pair remained silent. That was a tough question.
"I don't know." Ciel answered finally. "I don't think so. You were merely repaying him for the damages done unto you. That is justice. You are punishing him for a crime that has been committed. I don't think that's monsterous at all."
"They say you shouldn't fight hate with hate…"
"That's something monsters tell their prey so that they won't fight back."
"I see…" Alois replied, averting his gaze from the bluenette again and back down to his "father". He remained quiet a while longer before asking: "What do we do with him, then?"
Ciel stopped to think for a moment, furrowing his brow and rubbing his chin. He then walked over to the blonde in order to join him. "Well," he began. "The right thing to do would surely be to return him to his rightful owners."
"And how do we do that?"
"Oh, I'm sure if we wrap him up, they'll come looking for him, eventually." The bluenette stated. "If they're wandering around campus, still, they're bound to sense his presence near the clock tower."
"Let's get to work, then." Smiled the menace. "I've got that end, you get that one."
"Yes, your highness."
A/N: This turned out longer than expected... I was hoping for a cliffhanger earlier in, but that didn't happen...
Oh well...
I was reading the reviews and some of you thought it was Claude? Maybe I wasn't clear enough... Then again, I did say he was the "Earl of Trancy" several times before this chapter... I also said that he was blonde...
Anyways, it ain't Claude.
I've said over and over again that Claude can't be brought back, and I have no intention of going back on that...
Sorry, folks. This will have to suffice...
Ah... Maybe I should've killed him...
I dunno... He might be useful or something later...
I have no idea what I'm doing...
Until the next chapter, my duckies~!
