Two shady figures loitered on campus at King's college, circling the clock tower. The lamps outside were lit, bouncing off of the snow on the ground, so one could clearly see. The grounds were desolate, however. It was late enough at night that the campus should be closed, and most people were either asleep in their dorms or partying. No one would notice as the two characters casually opened the door to the building and waltzed inside. There was no lock. It had been busted days prior.
"I'm sure I sensed him around here." Said Verdegris as she ventured deeper into the structure, her associate in tow. "He hasn't moved in a few days. He's still alive, but Phantomhive and Blackjack probably got to him."
The other figure advanced as well, hobbling slightly. Their arms and legs didn't match one another, as one of each on the same side were miscoloured—blackened as they regenerated themselves after being lost in an explosion. Reattaching a limb or two wasn't much of a task, but creating new ones? That took some time. Voros had already finished, but was still a bit sore.
"How cruel." They said. "I didn't think they had it in them to do something like that, with all of their talk about 'saving people'." The younger demon looked around with their partner, scouring the area for their other comrade.
"Voros." Called Verdigris. "I found him. He's wrapped up in a tarp. He's not moving…"
"You said he was alive, didn't you?" the other questioned. "Unwrap it. Let's see what they did."
With a nod, the other woman did as instructed, and began to carefully unravel the tarp. Blood leaked from the new openings, pooling on the floor at their feet as each layer came undone. Voros looked on, grin widening as their associate came into view. Whistling a flat note, they took in the handiwork of the Lion of London in awe.
A body, almost completely engulfed in damp, red vines. They had started to decay in some places, revealing bits of flesh that attempted to heal. Araneus' form was stiff, locked in place by his restraints and otherwise unwilling to move. Verdigris roughly dropped him to the floor, forcing him to lay down on top of the soaked tarp before wiping her hands off on her shirt. She took a few steps back as the two demons stared at the man's frame, taking in the grotesque sight.
"Fantastic!" declared Voros with a grin. Their accomplice simply blinked.
"He's… Still alive?" the woman half-stated, half-questioned.
"Yeah. Looks like they only wanted to torture him. Man, they did a well good job of that!" the other replied, walking toward the body on the floor and poking it, wincing as the thorns cut the still tender flesh of their brand new hand. Voros sucked on their finger for a moment, cleaning the blood away as they healed the wound. "I like it. A-plus for creativity!"
"It would appear that the watchdog and his partner are much stronger than we thought once again…" Verdigris speculated. "Just how many tricks do they know?"
"Who's to say…" answered Voros, trailing off as they spoke. Their eyes wandered, staring straight ahead as they were dreamily lost in thought.
"I hope they never run out…" they added, leaning back and sitting down, closing their eyes and grinning with a very pleased expression on their face. "We've finally found some fun toys to play with. I don't want it to ever end…"
"What happens when they get boring, though?"
"I'll do away with them and find more, then." Voros stated, looking up at the woman. "Easy."
"Works for me." Stated Verdigris. Scanning their associate's body, a new question came to mind. "What do we do with him? Should we off him?"
"Nah. He still could be useful." The other demon stated. Returning to a couching position, Voros opened their eyes before reaching out and gripping the vines. Their face contorted as they felt the sting of their palms and fingers being torn open from the thorns, but they didn't care. It was apparent from the smile still adorning their face.
"Help me tear them off." The demon instructed, beckoning their accomplice. As Verdigris complied, Voros' grip tightened before tearing off a handful of vines, causing the body to jerk and blood to splatter out from new wounds. Araneus wasn't capable of making a single sound as his compatriots tore, ripped, and shredded, removing chunks of skin and flesh along with the parasitic growths. All the while, Voros grinned, and grinned, and grinned, thinking about the ones who did this.
What fun toys were they! Someone so ingenious, strong, and cruel would undoubtedly make for great fun! They had outwitted Voros once already, but now, they had tortured one of theirs? Diabolical! The thought almost made the demon tremble with excitement. How clever. How beautiful! Toys of this quality were hard to come by, and they would definitely be hard to break. This only made Voros want to do so even more. How would they one-up each other next time? What about the next? Would there be another time after that? The demon without eyebrows certainly hoped so! Their hands quickly tore at the vines embedded in the flesh of their associate, completely rendering the assistance of Verdigris unnecessary.
Soon, there was a mound of flesh resembling a humanoid figure laying in a pool of blood on top of the tarp with a wide-eyed, ecstatic demon peering down at them with a grin. Their hands and clothes were stained with crimson, but they didn't mind in the slightest. Their thoughts were far too preoccupied to worry about this, the twitching body before them, or their somewhat startled compatriot off to the side.
"…Voros?" the woman called, snapping the other demon to attention.
"Toys…" Voros said. "I want to play… Oi! Araneus! Get up, you cur! We've got work to do!"
Ligaments reattached, and patches of skin started to heal along with internal organs, festering, pulsing, and bleeding. Eventually, the man's lungs and vocal chords were functional again. His eyes were dead as he laid there, what parts of his face that were completely renewed contorting.
"Lions…" he said. "Lions… keep them away… their fangs… claws… tearing into me…"
"'Lions'?" echoed the younger-looking demon. "What the hell are you talkin—" Voros cut themselves off as a thought occurred to them. If Phantomhive was a "watchdog", then the other one must be…
"Oh." The browless demon said aloud. "He's the one who did this to you…" A wicked grin crossed Voros' face and the demon at their feet flinched, beginning to violently shake what there was of his body at the mention of the name.
"'Jim Macken', was it?" Voros mused. "Seems like he's going to be lots of fun…"
