Heart racing, blood pumping, and adrenaline rushing through Alois' veins, the man ran through the base while trying to find his sworn nemesis. He had to think. He had to think! The man was having trouble, however. If he thought, it would fully register who he was up against, and if he did, he may become fearful to the point where it would hinder his progress.
Still, his more practical side was able to reason a possible lead, despite his lack of reading into it. Alois' legs carried him to the parking garage. Last time someone attacked H.E.L.L.S.I.N.G. from the inside, it was through here that they escaped. From this, it was a reasonable guess and from what he was sensing up ahead, it was going to be a correct one.
Alois burst through the door and came across a desolate garage. On the surface, it appeared as though the only ones here were himself and a sea of parked cars and trucks, but the menace knew better. He could feel that monster's presence around here somewhere. It was just up ahead. The man's ears piqued when he heard the jingling of car keys, causing his head to whip around to face that direction.
"TRANCY!" he bellowed out, only to see a head peek out from between two cars.
The man looked nothing like Araneus. Instead of long, flaxen hair, this man had short, dark brown hair and a goatee. He wore a labcoat with a few red stains on it. He looked like an ordinary worker who was heading to his car, but Alois' sixth sense knew better. Looking unsuspecting is precisely how he was able to walk out of the building without being caught.
"Shit!" the man said before hurrying to his car. As soon as this was uttered, Alois was heading his way and quickly. Frantically, Araneus tried to match the emblem of the car keys he found in his victim's pocket to the correct car. That's how he managed to narrow it down to a specific brand. With a stroke of luck, Araneus was able to get in the driver's seat and start the vehicle just as the menace appeared on his tail.
Quickly, the villain backed up the car. He had tried to hit Alois with it but failed. Regardless, he had to flee. Unfortunately for him, Alois was still after him. The Phantomhive quickly grabbed the rack that was attached to the roof of the car for sports equipment and hung on for dear life as Araneus sped away.
Alois managed to climb on the roof of the car, and now dangled from the front of the rack as he laid down on his stomach. He could see the front gate approaching rapidly. Ordinarily, guards would stop the car, but Araneus drove by, smashing through the metal bars. It almost made the menace let go. Demons were resiliant, however, so getting struck in the head with metal was no problem for the menace. The wounds healed up in seconds, although the ache remained.
At least the organization was now alerted that the escapee was outside the building. Now all Alois needed to do was stop him. It was difficult to think of a solution with the way that Araneus wove in and out of traffic. It was an intentional move to evade any pursuing parties and shake Alois off of the roof. There were many times that it almost worked.
Hanging on with his right hand, Alois prayed to whatever force that rules the universe that the bar would not break on him. In his left hand, fire erupted from his hand, consuming the appendage in black flame. Then, the barrel of a gun peeked out. Soon it was followed by the rest as Alois gripped the handled tightly.
Clumsily, he tried aiming the barrel down on top of the roof, but was only able to hit the passenger seat with the position he was in. He would have to switch hands, but he couldn't now, as they were full. For the time being, he simply held fast. Araneus would either stop or be stopped eventually. With how erratically he was driving, Alois assumed that he was going to crash. Still, he tried his best to aim his gun. With two bullets left, he fired one through the roof once again, causing the car to swerve before being righted.
The revving of a lighter motor could be heard approaching the vehicle, causing Alois to struggle and twist himself so that he could see behind the car. A black motorcycle was following them closely. Despite the danger, Alois smiled all the same.
"Ciel!" he called out and the bluenette pulled out his own pistol and aimed it at the back of the car. Ciel shot out the back window, but couldn't seem to land a hit on the driver. So, the blue Phantomhive tried to get closer.
Through the shattered window, the driver turned around to face the Watchdog. His hair was blonde once more and just as long as the last time they saw him. He had reverted back to his original shape and aimed his own weapon at Ciel. Pulling the trigger, he fired several shots at the other demon, forcing him to dodge. A bullet hit his bike, however. The front tire was punctured and Ciel was about to wreck, so he ditched it and stayed in pursuit.
With a mighty leap, he latched on to the back of the SUV and gripped the back rack on the roof. Quickly, he tried to pull himself up. Alois stretched his leg out as far as it could go for his husband to grasp.
"Grab onto me!" the blonde shouted. Ciel obliged and gripped the man's ankle tightly as he hoisted himself up. His grip only tightened as he was shot in the calf and stomach in the process, forcing from him a loud grunt. Steam seeped from the wounds, as the bullet was blessed. The injury festered as the bullet stayed embedded in his body, impeding his advancement.
While the bluenette pulled himself up onto the roof, the blonde took it as an opportunity to look ahead of the car to see what was coming next. Icy eyes widened as they were met with blue water approaching swiftly on the horizon. Even though this was impending, Araneus was showing no signs of stopping.
So this was how he was going to make his escape. He was just planning on throwing himself into the river and heading out to sea? Demons don't need to breathe, so in theory, he could simply walk along the floor. Even better, he could swim for hours without getting tired. Unfortunately, one person on this car could not. Ciel was proficient at swimming, but he still had a tendency to sink. Once he did, he had to be manually pulled up to the surface.
"Ciel! Let go!" the blonde shouted out, confusing his spouse.
"What?!" demanded Ciel. "Why?!"
"He's going to sink the car!" Alois answered. "You can't swim! You're hurt, too!"
"Doesn't matter! We have to stop Araneus!"
"Dumbass!" the blonde accused. He couldn't let Ciel get in the water. The man would have been a sitting duck! There was no way that the Watchdog could move quickly enough to evade any sort of attack with that leg. With his free leg, Alois attempted to kick Ciel's hands away.
"What are you doing?!" the bluenette called out.
"Saving your ass!" Alois answered, giving once last kick. It wasn't working. Ciel's grip was too strong. At this rate, Ciel was going to end up even worse.
"Jim?" Ciel questioned, staring up at the blonde as the menace pointed the barrel of his gun at him. "What are yo-?"
With his last bullet, Alois struck Ciel's hand and forced him to finally let go. The bluenette was rolling against the pavement as the car still barreled toward the river. It hit a concrete barrier, forcing the menace's grip on his gun and the bar to loosen. The weapon fell and Alois was launched into the Thames along with the vehicle, striking the water hard. Immediately, the man was ready to fight, however.
Floating amoung the waves just below the water's surface, Alois watched as the car slowly sank. Then, when a body hit the water, he immediately started swimming toward it. His foe was attempting to flee, but he was not going to allow that to happen without a fight.
On the surface, his husband was trying to recover from the fall as quickly as possible. Ciel could not believe his spouse for doing such a thing! His body ached, his wounds burned and festered, while his head spun uncontrollably. Still, he was on a mission, and clumsily tried to wobble to his feet. With his bad leg, it took him multiple tries. He stumbled and his flesh felt as though it were on fire. He was determined, however, as his beloved was in danger. Gritting his teeth, the Watchdog tried to walk, but was left with no other option but to crawl.
Ciel Phantomhive crawled on his bleeding belly to get to his husband. He had endured worse for the menace. Far worse. He would do it all over again as many times as he needed to, however, if it was for Alois' sake. There was no way that he would let the blonde fight Araneus alone! There was no way! Not after what the man did to him. Not ever! Ciel was determined to protect his beloved no matter what. He had promised him years ago that he would. They even had several contracts! One was of a diabolical nature, while the other was in holy matrimony. Thus, the Watchdog trudged onward despite the pain and the humiliation, leaving a trail of blood as his wounds were dragged along the rough concrete.
He came across the menace's gun along the way and paused to check it for ammunition. Sure enough, it was completely empty, which didn't help anyone. This was especially so as he dropped his own weapon during the chase.
Eventually, his moment of rest came to a screeching halt as he felt a massive pain in his chest. It was as though his heart had sunk into his bullet hole-ridden abdomen. Anxiety ran through every fiber of his being, forcing him forward at three times the pace he was going before. The contract on his tongue was burning. Something was severely wrong. Alois was hurt and Ciel knew it.
"Jim!" he shouted out, grunting as he managed to hoist himself into a kneeling position at the water's edge. Frantically, his eye scanned the water for any sign of the menace. There was nothing. He could still sense the menace out there, but he wasn't returning to the surface. He was hurt and he was hurt badly. Ciel's worry only grew as he sensed his husband moving further away, changing into horror.
"JIM!" he called out, even louder this time. "Jim! Where are you!? JIM!"
The sound of helicopters approaching to scan the area was deafening, but Ciel did not register it. He was too busy searching for his beloved, even as the armoured cars pulled up behind him. His fear only continued to grow.
It grew, and grew, and grew, and grew; warping the Watchdog's face and mind. The sound of the commotion around him aggitated him, as the menace would not be able to hear him as he called out for him. Even still, he called out anyway.
"JIM!" Ciel roared, his voice barely registering above the sound of the helicopter from where he was standing. His throat hurt.
H.E.L.L.S.I.N.G. soldiers began searching the area, but hardly anyone took notice of the terrified bluenette. Araneus was out there! Ciel didn't even want to think about what he could do to Alois! He couldn't think at all, really. The bluenette was desperate to protect his spouse and began crawling again. This time, he was closing in on the edge of the pier and intent on leaping off of it in pursuit of his husband. He was stopped despite his wishes, however, by a pair of hands firmly grasping his shoulders.
"Ciel! What are you doing?!" Elizabeth asked. Her voice was riddled with concern as she witnessed her cousin in such a state and she tried her best to maintain her hold on the man as he struggled against her.
"Jim is in there!" the Watchdog shouted. "I have to go get him! He's hurt! Araneus is in there with him! I have to help him!"
"We'll send in a team! Don't risk it! You're hurt, too, you know!" the woman argued. "You can't help him like that!"
"And what are your humans going to do against a demon?!" protested the other. "If can hurt Jim, he can tear them to pieces! Let me go!"
"I will not! You're in no condition to-"
A loud smack rang out as Elizabeth's cheek was harshly slapped by the back of a bloodied hand. For a moment, it looked as though Ciel was going to slip out of her clutches, but in a second, she recovered. Her foot stomped the pier as she wrapped her arms around the Phantomhive and attempted to pick him up. She lifted him, but he flailed and flailed and flailed. Ciel spat venom at her, saying things he really didn't mean and that he would surely regret later. For now, however, he showed no signs of calming down.
Once she got him a reasonable distance away from the water and the rest of the agents, she called over one of her troops and demanded a rosemary bomb. She specifically asked for a small one, but it was still effective. Quickly, she pulled the pin and held the device up to Ciel's face. The gas filled his lungs within a matter of seconds.
His anxiety lingered, but his mobility weakened and his speech began to slur. His wounds were healing slower as well, but he could hardly feel them. Within minutes, he was unable to speak at all and just sat there, staring out at the water with a dazed expression.
He needed to go. He needed to go help his husband. In his mind, he was still screaming, but he could not make a sound. Ciel could still see the copters scanning the waves and soldiers running about even as his vision blurred and his eyelids grew heavy. The gas eventually forced the Phantomhive to lose consciousness as he cursed Araneus and he cursed his cousin's supposed betrayal. All the while, his fear plagued him, even in his dreams.
A/N: meh... I'm not too thrilled with this chapter, actually...
I'm seeing a theme when it comes to events, here... It'll pick up, I promise. Just bear with me.
In a way, I think my plans this time are worse than the Kastle Krampus arc in DLTD...
Just in a different way, y'know? Everything is horrible in it's own special way...
I hope this doesn't suck too bad...
Anyway...
Unrelated to this, but a couple of you have asked Character Shet questions to Ciel about the Panama Leaks. It's an impossible question to answer, because in DLTP-Time, it's January, when the leaks surfaced in March. Same year, but still hasn't happened.
Also I just tend to stay away from that kind of stuff when writing... Too real...
Until the next chapter, my duckies~!
CHARACTER SHET
Question: "Revy: is there someone in gehena who is a particularly nice person and you fancy, crush?" by socially awkward
Revy: "First of all: most of the people I work with in Gehenna are way older than me. Second of all: No."
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Question: "Kris, do you lllllike (nudge nudge wink wink) logan?" by blegh
Kristopherson: "Well... He is cute and really sweet, but I'm not sure if I'm ready for a new relationship, yet."
