Gasping, Alois filled his lungs with musky air, rebooting his system. It took him a few moments to wake up completely, but he awoke with a fright, his heart racing as his eyes adjusted. Now where was he? It looked as though he was in one of the round table's meeting rooms, only this time, it felt like a trial. The circular table seemed smaller than usual, and he was now inside of its hollow center. Then, he realised he was restrained.

Frantically, he tried to free himself from the chair, but his arms and legs were bound fast. He couldn't even move his shoulders, as his torso was strapped to the back of the chair. It felt as though he was fastened in with leather straps, but he should have been able to break them!

The room was silent aside from his panicked breathing, and empty, too. The only ones there was himself and the partially transformed nightmare-Kristopherson, sitting slightly off to the side from being directly in front of him. The beast appeared to be patiently waiting for something.

"What the fuck?" demanded the menace, his voice hoarse. "What's going on? Untie me! Now!"

No matter how the lion roared, the wolfman refused to hear him. Instead, Alois was forced to sit there, snarling while trying to figure out how to escape. The fear, however, was making it difficult. Alois thrashed about and flexed his muscles, trying to snap the straps and free himself. His breathing was rapid as he struggled, yowling like a wild animal that was stuck in a trap. Soon, however, he wore himself out, and was left panting. Now he had to use his brain despite the fact that it was foggy.

He didn't get the chance. Alois screamed out as he felt a pair of hands rest on his shoulders. Turning his head, he was able to see them. They were hard and shiny like polished, black, stone that was carved into a pair of beautifully grotesque hands. Long fingernails gently dug into the blonde's jacket while another pair of hands ran through his hair. Their owner was apparently amused by Alois' reaction to this, as the man heard a chuckle coming from behind him. Then, when the hands let him go, the one behind him bent over so that they were looking right into each other's eyes. Icy blue stared into warm gold, albeit distracted by how the whites of the man's eyes were blackened just like the armour that covered most of his body.

"Boo." Preston said teasingly with a chuckle. He then stepped out into view, looking much different than he did during their last encounter. The black growth that protruded from the wound on his torso had spread, covering most of his front, but it also seemed that he had covered himself deliberately in places. His shoulders were covered and so was his neck. His lower jaw and the sides and back of his head were covered, too, with intricate designs covering the armour. It looked as though he was wearing masks on the sides of his head, as faces covered where his ears should be. The man's arms were concealed similarly, with two other pairs protruding from his back just like when he fought against the Watchdog. His hair was visible from the top and front, as was most of his face. The expression he wore seemed less angry and more amused. Preston was monsterous.

He continued to laugh as he leapt over the table and took a the next seat over from Kristopherson's nightmare-duplicate, folding two sets of arms and placing the hands of the third being his head as he leaned back. His grin and stare made the blonde's blood run cold. Just his appearance was shocking enough, but the way he was presented made the menace shake.

"Preston…" Alois said aloud, starting at the other man with wide eyes and a horror-stricken face. Then, he shook his head and furrowed his brow, regaining some sense of determination.

"No," he said, "you're not Preston. You're not real."

"I'm real enough." The nightmare said. "You feel enough guilt to allow me to manifest."

"Get the fuck out of my head…" the menace growled. "That's none of your goddamn business…"

"It is, now." Replied Preston, leaning forward and pacing his primary set of hands on the table while keeping the others folded. "Whether you know it or not, it's you who made us manifest. You're afraid of what will happen next. You're afraid of what you couldn't do, and that you won't be able to do anything again."

"Shut up!" barked Alois.

"You couldn't save me." Continued the man. "You couldn't save me from loneliness. You were just too busy to help, weren't you? While your friend was suffering. How selfish!"

"I didn't know! How was I supposed to know?! I had to do my job first!"

"Ah, yes… Your job… That job which 'saves lives' by killing supernatural beings."

"We've reformed since then!" argued the menace. "We're redoing the policy."

"That's not good enough." Said Preston. "While you're doing that, more people are being killed because they're not human. It's genocide of the supernatural and you know it."

"You think I don't care? Of course I do. That's why you're picking at it." Alois accused. "You wouldn't be talking about it if you weren't! Stop trying to rile me up already! It's not going to work!"

"You seem pretty riled up to me." The nightmare replied. "You can't save everyone, you know. You can't stop it."

"Neither can you." Growled the blonde. "Don't give me that self-righteous bullshit. It doesn't work outside of me, and it won't work inside my head, neither. Get the fuck out of my face!"

"I know how guilty you are! I wouldn't be here if you weren't! Neither would he!" shouted the nightmare in return, pointing to the wolfman. Kristpherson's likeness looked at the Phantomhive sadly before looking down at the table again. Alois watched this and his expression faltered. The other smirked as the guilt showed on the menace's face, even though it was just for a moment. Tsking, the blonde looked down as well, furrowing his brow and gritting his teeth.

"You could have saved him if you hadn't decided that you needed to be working on that investigation instead. Surely you could have taken the time." Said Preston, standing up slightly. "What were you really doing, exactly? Chatting idly with your husband while only working on the case a little bit? That's some important work, there! Certainly worth allowing your friend to venture into Gehenna with only a half-reaper as a bodyguard on a full-moon. You knew it was dangerous werewolf territory, too, didn't you?"

"I didn't know he was going to be out that late…" Alois hissed. "He was supposed to be in and out in no time… That's what he said…"

"Blaming the victim now, are we? Typical. Nothing's ever your fault, is it? Always someone elses'."

"Shut the fuck up!" the lion roared, the intensity and anger behind his words actually startling the beasts for a moment. He breathed heavily, trying to calm down enough to say what he needed to. When he did, his icy blue eyes were on fire as he stared back at the nightmares, baring his teeth.

"At least stay consistent." He said. "First you say I blame myself, and then you say I don't. Which is it? Bastards. You claim to know everything, but you can't even keep your own damn lies straight. Try harder or fuck off!" Pausing, the blonde looked down for a brief moment, collecting his thoughts once more.

"Of course I blamed myself for what happened." Alois continued somberly. "Part of me still does, even though I know that there was no way I could have possibly known. Even if I did, how could I be sure I could stop it?" Then, he looked up with that same intensity once more, only this time, it was advancing twofold! "It's not my fault! It's nobody's fault! I've been trying and trying with everything I have to see that! I'm not going to let you push be back again! Get the fuck out of my face, and get the fuck out of my head!"

The beasts looked back at him with wide eyes. They were shocked at the determination of the blonde menace. They hadn't counted on it. Suddenly, their eyes fell on the restraints that held the menace to the chair. The straps were beginning to complain. Alois was regaining his strength. Quickly, the nightmare needed to adapt.

"What about him?" asked Preston, gesturing behind Alois. The menace turned his head to glance over his shoulder, straining his eyes as he tried to see more. Alois' eyes struggled to see the outline of the Westley, but the brunet eventually stepped into view. He was dressed sloppily with stubble on his chin. His hair wasn't parted, and he looked like a mess.

"Have you even talked to Daniel recently? How do you know he isn't suffering?" the nightmare inquired.

"You're reaching." Alois answered. "Travis talked to him a couple days ago. He's doing fine. We're trying to arrange for all of us to hang out together soon. Try harder." The corners of the blonde's mouth turned upwards just a tad as he observed hesitance on the impostor's faces. "Quit wasting my time."

His haughty smile shook the resolve of his captors, causing them to recoil in astonishment. Then the two in front of him furrowed their brows, as did the one behind him that he could not see at that moment. Their frustration only made the man more confident, and they knew it. Taking a deep breath, the golden-eyed nightmare stood up, frowning deeply.

"You had your chance to give up…" he said. "We gave you so many chances…"

Alois' expression faltered as the beasts directed their attention toward the door. He squinted, trying to figure out what was going on, and waited patiently as the door slowly opened. Then, his brow furrowed. Through the door came a very familiar face.

The sight of the Watchdog made the blonde's cockiness vanish, and it was instead replaced with searing anger. Ciel walked into the room, perfectly alright and looking even better than he did when he was at the hospital. He wore a dark blue suit, black dress shirt, and white tie with his hair slicked back. It annoyed the menace that he actually found the man attractive.

"Jim." The man greeted, his low voice reverberating in the blonde's ears. The bluenette then turned to the others with a confused expression on his face. "Why is he still tied up?" he asked.

"We can't convince him to stay." Preston answered. "No matter what we try, nothing's been working."

Alois looked down at his lap, hiding his face from the Watchdog. His spouse simply watched him for a moment, puzzling over his reaction. He then advanced toward him, jumping over the table in order to make his way to the chair. The menace refused to look at him, instead keeping his gaze down.

"Jim…" the watchdog began. "What's wrong? Why don't you want to stay here?"

"It's not real… There's no point in it…" answered the blonde. "It's not living."

"Sure it is. It's just as real as the outside world." Reaching out, the bluenette delicately touched Alois' hand. "I can still touch you. We can still be together here. We won't have to work for H.E.L.L.S.I.N.G. anymore. We can just be together all of the time and not have to worry about anything."

"Stop…"

"Jim, I can finally stop being stressed and can just be with you." Ciel said, reaching up to tilt the other's chin up in order to look at him. Once he did, he saw the swirling storm of emotions that Alois was feeling. There was sadness, longing, temptation, and a few others. There was one that bubbled beneath the surface that Ciel couldn't quite recognise as tears streamed down the blonde's cheeks. "Jim, it's going to be okay… Nothing bad is going to happen to you…"

Alois clenched his fists as his tears fell, unable to look directly at the other. How dare he? How dare he use that voice, that face, those hands? How dare he toy with the menace so? The absolute worst thing was how it all affected Alois. That made him angry.

His brow furrowed and his teeth grit. He closed his eyes altogether, scrunching his face. The Watchdog was too close. Suddenly, Alois tilted his head back, causing the other to raise his eyebrows in confusion. Then, just as abruptly, he thrust his head forward and downward, striking the bluenette directly on the nose.

The Watchdog yelped in surprise and clasped his face. Blood dripped between his fingers and off of the blonde's forehead. He watched in astonishment as the menace simply sat there in the same place, still looking down while his shoulders shook.

"You piece of shit…" he growled. Steam escaped from between his teeth as he seethed. His breath was coming out rapidly and the air around him distorted. Black sparks began to flicker off of his body as he looked up. His eyes stared straight through the bluenette. They were as crimson as the blood that stained the man's face.

"Bastard…" the menace fumed. The leather restraints complained much louder now, and seemed to be slacking somewhat. "Using that face… that voice… even the feeling of the hand is the same… Piece of shit… How dare you use Ciel's likeness like that? I'll kill you."

Veins protruded from the lion's forehead as more flame dusted his shoulders. He began to stand. The leather straps strained, being stretched to their maximum capacity before finally giving way. The nightmares took a few steps back from the man as his presence filled the entire room with dread. Even the one of the Watchdog cowered before him.

"I'll kill you!" he roared, baring his fangs. "Get out of my way!"

"Jim, please, I-!" The impostor couldn't get another word out before the blonde swung his arm, sending him flying across the room. He hit the doorway with incredible force, and didn't get up again. The others, however, sprang into action, despite their hesitance. Kristopherson's likeness pounced, extending his arm forward to grab the Phantomhive's neck again, only to have the man dodge and aid him in his falling to the floor. The heel of the menace's foot came down hard on the nightmare's spine, causing it to cry out in pain at the sound of a gut-wrenching snap.

Preston watched on in horror at the scene. Alois was strong. He was strong enough to cause nightmares to feel fear. Without another word, the menace propelled forward and cocked back his fist. There was no time for Preston to dodge. He could only block. He put all six arms out in front of him to cushion the blow, but two of them didn't make it. They cracked and crumbled before shattering from the force. Eyes widening, the nightmare was stunned. He should be in control of this world, not Alois! Alas, the demon was too much for him to handle.

"Don't use their faces!" Alois roared, swinging again. This time, the other tried to dodge, having his armour scratched as he was slightly nipped. Alois was far beyond his control, grabbing his wrist with one hand and striking upwards with the other, hitting the nightmare's elbow. Preston cried out, scrunching his face in pain as the arm broke off at the joint, and he was struck over the head with the limb. The armoured piece shattered over his head as the Phantomhive relentlessly attacked.

"How dare you?! You bastard! Piece of shit! Just die!" Somehow, Alois felt as though he was fighting for his friends' honour and integrity. Part of him was fighting for himself and what he knew to be true. He was fighting to accept reality, rather than the harsh whispers of his own doubt. Alois did not like lies. He did not want to give into them. He wouldn't allow himself to.

Grabbing the sides of the nightmare's head, he saw the impostor's eyes go wide before he brought his face downward and struck his teeth with his knee. There was no concern or remorse for felt by the blonde. Even the pain from the nightmare's teeth cutting his knee was drowned out to him as his toes tapped the ground before his knee was brought up again.

"Guh!" the nightmare let out, followed by the Daniel impostor taking a few steps forward. Alois couldn't see him. He was far too busy dispatching Preston. He didn't notice Daniel at all until he heard the screaming of the man accompanied by barking. Quickly, the menace whipped his head around to see a massive dog attacking the nightmare—a pitch-black great dane with red eyes. Suddenly, the animal looked toward Alois.

"Go!" it barked, the voice sounding like a certain butler. "Head through the doors! Quickly!"

Alois stared blankly after the animal for a moment longer, attempting to process everything. Once he realized it, he nodded. "Thanks, Fido!" he called, turning heel and darting toward the door. Busting it open, he had to shield his eyes as he was met with an almost blinding light. The doors closed behind him, and he was now alone again.