Crossover Together ~クロスオーバ 一緒に~

Things were getting tense back at the queen's palace. While it may had been rather violent over back at the Phantomhive manor, so far the palace had been given some down time in that regard. That didn't mean that the palace had been quiet all night. Throughout the many halls, rooms, and such, guards were on high alert for the safety of those that lived there. A mixture of Seitenshi's forces, with the English royal guard, both which patrolled the area and kept a sharp eye out around the palace to be sure that any deities didn't go in, or out. Many groups kept their guard up, senses high, and eyes and ears open during their routes. As for Team Harmony, they were keeping their own routes around more close to eachother, and mainly around the throne room. Nagisa, Karma, Twilight, Pinkie, Blair, Aladdin, and Ciel had kept their own guard up in their own way as they were keeping an eye out within the throne room, some more persistent about it than others. Pinkie Pie was on the highest alert out of all of them, even more than the demon-sensing Nagisa was, as the girl was doing a constant march, back and forth, around the throne room door like an actual guard (if not a bit overly dramatic in her steps, and constant 'hup' she made with each one). Twilight and Blair were over by the throne itself, Blair actually asleep from this boring task, being the cat that she was. Ciel wasn't present at the moment, keeping his focus on other guards and their status on things. Karma and Nagisa just stood in different parts of the room, though while Karma was more casual about it, Nagisa was calm yet prepared himself for his demon sense to go off at any moment. With the luck they've had when it came to these, Nagisa grown to expect a demon to pop up here, if anywhere, and with their track record it would be surprising if they didn't try for the big score at this point. Nagisa eventually moved his gaze over to Twilight after a while, seeing how she was feeling a bit nervous about things herself, so he decided to go over to her.

"You're worried about Hellgar, aren't you?" Nagisa asked quietly, walking over to her. With what she'd gone through during her time out, that would be the case. Twilight turned to him as he neared, some of the others seeing her

"VERY. He forced me to be his spy. Who knows what he'll do the second he finds us again," Twilight said, shivering at the thought. She could still remember the horrid warning Hellgar gave to her about the deadly bite of Houndooms. If what he said was true, then they had an even deadlier creature to deal with than they imagined.

"I promise, we'll protect you. You've gone through enough trouble with him," Nagisa promised, sitting next to her.

"It's not me I'm worried about! He may have threatened me, but he also threatened all of you, and I can't live with that. I didn't want anyone else hurt because of me -" Twilight stopped when someone gripped her shoulder to get her attention. Both Nagisa and Twilight turned to see Blair standing right behind Twilight.

"Come on, Yugure, those hell guys are after us anyway. I'm looking forward to seeing that hellhound again," Blair revealed.

"What? Why?" Nagisa asked.

"BECAUSE I WANT TO TEAR OFF HIS HORNS FOR LIGHTING MY HOUSE LIKE A FLAMBE!" Blair yelled, hands twitching in anticipation and anger. Of course, Twilight and Nagisa moved a foot away, but they could at least see the slight logic behind it.

"Calm down, kitty bitch. With the luck we have, he's sure to pop up somewhere, right Nagisa?" Karma commented.

"I guess. I mean, we've all seen at least one demon since this whole thing started," Nagisa admitted, though he wished they weren't so common towards them. During their chat, Ciel managed to come back around from one of the hallways, and went over to the others.

"Hi, Ciel. how'd it go?" Aladdin asked, going over to him.

"The guards hadn't reported anything suspicious over the last three hours. Be that as it may, you should still keep watch," Ciel advised, speaking in a tone like he would to his own servants back at the manor.

"What do you mean 'you should still keep watch'? We're all watching," Blair pointed out.

"I'm handling my fair share, thank you," Ciel responded, not really looking to the catgirl. Being put on watch wasn't something Ciel was used to, and seeing how tired he was just proved that, but orders are orders especially from the queen.

"Getting tired there?" Aladdin asked, seeing his eyes.

"No, I'm not!" Ciel quickly retorted. Aladdin jumped, but he could see in his eye that he just was one burst away from falling asleep on them. ...

"GOT IT," Pinkie suddenly said. And before anyone knew it, Pinkie's hands went right to work, and suddenly started to tickle Ciel. The sudden tickle attack made Ciel jump back, almost squeaking in surprise, and quickly rushing away from the cheeky girl.

"If you need anything else, just call," Pinkie said with a smile. Ciel simply gave Pinkie a glare before moving away from her. He wasn't going to risk another sudden attack by this girl.

"That girl. Why does she always act so naive to everything? She can't be that much of a lunatic," Ciel thought, keeping his distance as Pinkie went straight over back to her 'hup' patrolling over by the door. Soon, Twilight went over to his side.

"So, you said the guards didn't see anything?" Twilight asked him, trying to be sure.

"For now, but the night's still young you know."

"I know," Twilight said meekly.

This was going to be a long night.

.......

Ten. Twenty. Thirty minutes ticked by, and still nothing happened. This either meant the enemy was biding their time or they were having a free night, much to Twilight's relief. It still felt a little bit ominous though, being inside the palace so late. Not the same as Phantomhive Manor, but still having that similar, dark, empty feel too it, especially in larger rooms like the throne room. A few guards checked in on them once or twice, but that was about it. Victoria and the queen sleeping and safe was what they all were hoping to accomplish tonight. This time got some thinking over about the demons they're dealing with, especially now since they got their 'boss' properly labeled as Sombra. They could hardly imagine what kind of power Sombra could have to take control over what they've faced so far.

"COME ON already," Karma sighed.

"Why're you complaining? You should be grateful nothing's happened," Ciel pointed out, yawning afterwards.

"I'm not staying up all night for nothing to happen. If those demon bitches are gonna come around, I don't want to be half-asleep. Can't clobber them like that," Karma replied. Nagisa watched them from afar with his usual observant expression. He'd been watching his friends interacting with Ciel more than actually watching out for any enemies, and by the looks of it, things seemed to go well.

"Well at least they're getting along. Just like that vision said it would. ... That Future Sight is accurate after all," Nagisa thought. Yes, one of his visions showed a similar scene play out here, and Nagisa could at least say that this one wasn't as bad as some others would have it. Tonight surely seemed like a calm one. All the same, one must never assume ...

AAAHHHHH!!

Here it goes. That scream was just the first of a number to follow, each one getting closer to the throne room. Each one of Team Harmony suddenly became active and focused on the increasing onslaught of screams. The screams were followed by the sense continuously increasing with each one, Nagisa becoming more apparent thanks to it. The screams were accompanied by the sounds of cuts, tears, gushes, along with animalistic growls, howls, and barks. If this wasn't the enemy, who would it be? Nagisa pulled his blade out of his pocket and aimed it at the ready for wherever the danger is from, the others doing the same. The sheer amount of the onslaught unnerved Twilight, Aladdin and Pinkie, but the others tried to keep firm. As for where, the noise mainly came over from the main throne room door, to which Pinkie moved away from fairly quickly.
Then came open the door. The door was suddenly bashed open, both doors slamming down to the ground, the other side of each door stained red, as three bodies were flung inside. One rolled in, and two thrown inside hard. Each body had horrid gashes and wounds, blood pouring out of each body. The third body thrown in almost landed on top of Aladdin, leaving him severely stunned and shocked. Whatever was here was in no mood to play around. After the bodies were tossed in, enter the murder responsible. Stepping into the limelight, bloody but fierce was the demonic Houndoom himself, Hellgar! As if enter with tossed bodies wasn't enough of a nerve-jerker, Hellgar walked in with the body of another soldier, holding him by the neck which bled profusely. Hellgar wasn't alone this time, as several Houndour followed him inside, also bloody and growling. Twilight kept herself back as far as possible, the others standing to protect her. Hellgar smirked and tore open the neck of his own captor before tossing the body away, eating some human meat before fully confronting them.

"Pleasant night," Hellgar said, licking the blood off his stained teeth and muzzle. Hellgar moved closer, but Aladdin and Nagisa plucked up courage and moved in towards him.

"Stay back! You don't belong here," warned Aladdin.

"Don't give me that. I can see you're all scared witless," Hellgar noted, which was true for most of them. Ciel took note of the other demon dogs behind him.

"So. You came in strength," Ciel noted, getting Hellgar's attention. This was the first time Hellgar had seen Ciel face-to-face, but he knew the Phantomhive earl when he sensed one.

"Ciel Phantomhive. You too have your followers, such as they are," Hellgar replied. Nagisa got his blade out and drawer it out right in front of Hellgar's face. Hellgar didn't react until his snout bumped the blade, making him jerk back on feeling his muzzle burn.

"No followers. Only friends," Ciel said. A rather interesting surprise to hear from the young earl. Still, Hellgar straightened up.

"They're going to rue the day they ever met you."

Hellgar then gave a quick bark, and several Houndour charged in at them, teeth barred and ready to shred. Nagisa had to react first, his halo blade already slicing at a dog's body. The wound stung and more blood met the ground, but not enough to stop it altogether. Hellgar himself sat and watched his Houndour go in and fight, giving him a front row seat to what he was sure to be another bit of carnage. Yet, Karma Akabane was giving many of the opponents a run for their money thanks to the miracle sword he kept using, whatever dog coming his way having to keep their distance each time he swung it around. Nagisa was in a similar boat, but his swings made less distance, giving the Houndour more room to get dangerously close to him. The others tried their best to fight off the dogs as well, though aside from Blair, they weren't doing as well. During the scuffle, suddenly two Houndour finally got over to Ciel from behind, and slammed him down hard. Karma turned to Ciel, just for three Houndour to knock him over as well, one grabbing him by the neck! This was the table-turner, and the others knew it.

"Ciel! Karma!" Aladdin gasped, just to have one Houndour grab him by his ponytail, and swing him around like a ball on a chain. The Magi ended up landing on top of Nagisa soon after that. While the fight seemed mundane to Hellgar, he did look intrigued after seeing that display of strength.

"Why don't you get in here?!" Blair yelled, angry to see their boss just sitting there.

"As if I'm wasting my breath over you. You couldn't beat me then, you can't now."

Well that didn't take much for Blair to get riled up. This was the same creature who made her homeless in the first place, and she wasn't going to let him walk out of here without some form of comeuppance. Blair began to get her own bag of tricks together, and started to charge up her magic energy.

"Pum-Pumpkin-Pumpkin Cannon!" blair said, leaping up in the air. In her hand, her magic then formed what appeared to be a pumpkin of sorts, one lit by a magical orange fire, before shooting it straight for Hellgar! The hellhound got out of the way just in time, as her projectile slammed down the hall and exploded, the explosion being heard by everyone in the palace! Any guard, and the royals were sure to come running down.

"Tough luck," Hellgar simply said, charging at Blair. Blair got herself out of the way fast, just avoiding Hellgar's deadly fangs, landing her right by Karma.

"Impressive! Where've you been hiding that?" Karma commented, slicing another Houndour as it lunged.

"Oh you know, bag of tricks," Blair replied, kicking another Houndour back into another dog.

Aladdin and Twilight kept close to eachother, the others seemingly handling the fighting and getting the overall attention of the Houndours. Far as fighting would go, Twilight and Aladdin were probably the biggest disadvantage. Even if Twilight had practiced her magic, it wasn't enough to do full combat, and their saving grace was Aladdin's main shield. Two Houndour found them both alone, and while Aladdin summoned his Magi shield, the two demon hounds charged forward anyway. Both dogs couldn't break the shield, but they still tried to get to them anyway. While the Houndour dealt with the main adversary, Hellgar slipped along the wall shadows, and began to loom over behind them. Something only Pinkie Pie and her Pinkie Sense caught.

"FLY!!" Pinkie shrieked, charging into the round shield as hard as she could. Hellgar hesitated for that split second, enough time for Pinkie to shove the shield with Twilight and Aladdin inside out of the way. Hellgar's teeth narrowly missed them all, but the sudden charge made the spherical shield suddenly roll off, rolling over about five other dogs before it disappeared, leaving five Houndour dazed and not fighting. Hellgar tried biting Pinkie, but his jaws only sank into Pinkie's hair rather than any skin, Pinkie bolting out into the throne room. As he was coughing up pink hair ...

"What's going on?!"

"It came from the throne room!"

"Everything okay?!"

"Oh, damn it," Hellgar growled, as more guards came in from the main hall too see the result. About time they got backup for this, and soon ten more guards came in, some already wounded by the Houndour already and many unnerved by their fellow guards dead on the ground. Ciel, ruffed up but still standing, turned over to Hellgar next, alongside Nagisa. Nagisa was slightly cut up, but not too bad overall.

"Seems like you're at a disadvantage, hellhound," Ciel stated.

"Gave me more food, you only did," Hellgar growled, charging at the other guards. Many of them had guns, so they were blasting away, Hellgar dodging most of them apart from a selected few which only grazed him. Karma and Nagisa, being in the way, grabbed him by the back legs and made him fall to the ground. As for the other Houndour, the other guards made short work of them, shooting them down mostly while a few got the privilege of getting their necks snapped on close combat. By the time Hellgar got himself up, his pack was decimated down to just two Houndour. However, in the guards, one particular figure, Victoria, also came down and noticed the situation herself.

"Interesting. Did they give you too much trouble?" Victoria asked.

"We're going strong over here," Karma said, swinging his sword over his shoulder. Then they all confronted Hellgar himself. Him and his Houndour on one side of the room with everyone else now together on the other side of the room. For the first time in a while, Team Harmony felt a strong advantage over their opponent thanks to the guards showing up. Hellgar only had two dogs compared to the guards and Team Harmony as a whole.

"You've had your chance, and you've been beaten. Make your choice: you can leave now with what demon hounds you have left. Or stay and have your execution take place," Ciel Phantomhive said, calm and collected more than ever now. Hellgar examined the whole crowd out ahead of him, and started to snarl. But even with all the threats, he was backing up alongside his Houndour, all the guards having their weapons drawn at them for the second they charge forward.

"You're all so desperate to get rid of me. Why can't any of you just submit already, and make it easy on yourselves? They did there," Hellgar growled, referring to the dead guards on the ground.

"They never asked to die, and you know it!" Aladdin yelled. Hellgar snarled again.

"They don't need to ask. THERE ISN'T A POWER ON HUMAN EARTH THAN CAN DEFEAT HELLGAR!"

"HIT THE DECK!" Pinkie screamed, feeling a deadly Pinkie Sense about to happen. Before any could try, Hellgar began to charge up a attack of his own. Many a human went for cover on the charge, and Hellgar released the flames of hell from his muzzle in a horrifying howl, the flamethrower blasting everywhere around him! The fire was so bright, and spread so quickly that they barely reacted apart from bracing for impact. Aladdin's shield managed to save a number of them, but not all of them as the blast launched them back. Not on fire, but the force itself was strong enough already.
When the light faded enough so they could see, they were all treated to a horrifying sight of the throne room on fire. The rugs, curtains, the throne itself, anything that wasn't stone was set ablaze in a display of orange flames. The only ones who weren't launched back were protected by Aladdin's shield: Ciel, Victoria, and Twilight specifically. The rest were launched out of reach, a barrier of fire in between them and those left in the makeshift hells arena. Hellgar and his Houndour were unharmed by the fiery blaze, though some guards were suffering from minor burning from the blast. It took them a little bit, but Twilight and Aladdin noticed first what happened to the rest. Ciel himself just stood there, silent and eyes wide at the carnage around him.

"Oh dear. How dare you!" Victoria said, staring a disappointed gaze to Hellgar.

"You brought this all on yourselves. May not be all of them ... but you'll do fine," Hellgar hissed, licking his muzzle as he and his Houndours closed in on them. No rush this time for them, but now the main task was getting away from the demon hounds. They could try to defeat them, but this fire set off was more dangerous than a single hellhound. All Aladdin could do was keep his shield up, but he could only do it for so long.
The others quickly saw the deadly situation from their end, and they too thought they should get out of there.

"My lord! She's trapped in there," one of the remaining guards said in panic.

"T-Twilight! come on, Nagisa, think, they'll be dead if you don't think of something. Come on, come on ..." Nagisa thought, trying to remain calm. They only had the main hall to deal with, but there wasn't much around to use. Their objective was to get them out, and not a drop of water was anywhere within reach. And even if there was, it won't be enough to take out this fire. All Nagisa could see was bordering décor pillars leading to the throne room. ...

Stone pillars. ...

"Karma, ready your sword," Nagisa suddenly said.

"What for, I can't chop heads over here."

"Not there, there," Nagisa corrected, pointing to the nearest stone pillar. Clever Karma quickly got the idea fast, a smirk on his face, and he rushed right over to it with sword at the ready. The other guards watched as, with as much strength as Karma could muster, he swung his miracle sword straight towards the bottom of it. The sword was far more powerful than he thought it would, because it only took one swing to give a clean slice through the pillar, dislodging it from the floor and making it movable.

"Come here and give me a hand!" Karma ordered. With the situation, there was no time to argue, and everyone outside the arena went straight over to the fallen pillar. With their combind strength, lifting the stone pillar was done quick and efficiently, and they all moved it from its fallen spot, and with one combined shove, moved it straight to the fire barrier. It didn't take long until the others inside noticed the towering pillar being toppled their way. When they saw this, all they could do was jump aside as the pillar fell forward like a mighty tree, slamming over a part of the blaze in a single collapse. The slam made cinders spread out all over the place, and once they looked, they got themselves a stone bridge over the fire, and heading to the only exit left.

"Hurry over, come on, we're going!" Nagisa yelled, trying to get them moving. Hellgar was stunned for a moment from the pillar collapse, but the humans were more than willing to get off on their way. Aladdin hoped up first, helping Victoria up and over with Twilight following behind. While Aladdin and Victoria went over fine, Twilight looked back and stopped, just to find Ciel still standing there!

"CIEL, COME ON!" Twilight yelled. But Ciel was not moving. Twilight rushed back to him, but Ciel Phantomhive didn't even acknowledge her yet. Ciel's eyes were still wide in horror to the scenery of fire around him, the room burning up everywhere and smoke building fast. The feel of heat, the sound of scorching settlement, all of this left Ciel in a cold sweat, and almost paralyzed in horror. Frozen in absolute fear. Twilight had never seen him like this before, and this was the most terrified she'd seen him in.

"Oh no you don't," Hellgar roared, suddenly rushing straight towards the pillar. Just as Aladdin and Victoria just made it across, Hellgar rammed into the pillar hard with his set of horns, the impact powerful enough to smash up the pillar to pieces! now there was no way out.

"Shit! now what?" Karma asked.

"I-I'll think of something, just give me time," Nagisa replied in panic. Obviously Hellgar wasn't taking chances anymore.

Twilight and Ciel were trapped. Both of them were now standing in a fiery hellhole, with three demon hounds all ready to tear them apart, one of which destroyed their only way out.

"Ciel! Ciel, wake up!" Twilight pleaded, but Ciel wasn't waking up from his horrifying state. This was to the point when he was trembling, he was so scared. Twilight only had one option left: she grabbed him and ran off to the otherside of the arena as one Houndour tried to lunge at them. Once she gained some distance, she looked Ciel right in the face, seeing a terrified human child in front of her.

"T-They're gone ... T-They're gone ..." Ciel repeated, voice strained and breathing heavily.

"Ciel, you're going to be alright! I promise you're going to be alright!" Twilight said, trying her absolute best to bring him back around. Ciel stared right into Twilight's eyes, and tried his own to calm own. In the world of hell, Twilight ... she seemed safe. Someone he could trust. Someone who'll protect him. ... Eventually, Ciel managed to get himself back around.

"Where're the others?"

"It's only you and me now, they're all out," Twilight told him, happy to see him back around. And not a moment too soon. Hellgar and his remaining hellhounds were right there, and slowly closing in. ciel, now brought back, got at the ready for them thisd time, alongside Twilight. They had nowhere left to go, and all they could do was fight. There was no going back now.

However, this little turn of events did present something to Hellgar that made him grin.

"Poor, poor Ciel. This won't take long. I'll end your suffering," Hellgar promised, stepping closer. Ciel was a bit frazzled, but he wasn't going to leave off this time around.

"There is no need for that, Hellgar. Your sly remarks don't fool me."

"Is that so?"

"It is. She and her friends had saved my life. And it wouldn't be fair to leave any of them now," Ciel said, taking a step forward towards Hellgar. However, the demon hounds know that words weren't going to help them here, and advanced closer.

"Tough talk from a armless human pair. You have no weapon, your magic barely works, you're surrounded by hellfire, and all aid is out of reach. ... And don't expect any sympathy from me."

"Talk all you want to. I'm not leaving him behind," Twilight announced.

"And I'm not leaving her," Ciel added.

"We're all in this together, and we're not going to take any orders from the likes of you. Not now, not ever."

Hellgar just scoffed. "We'll see."

.......

"A fine display of bravery, my lord. Though word of advice: I'd say my words with a loaded arm. Wouldn't you think so?"

Ciel, Twilight and Hellger aimed their eyes to one of the windows of the throne room, one that was opened up over near the back, flames and smoke billowing outward from it and giving this new coming contender his proper entrance. One look from Ciel was all he needed to recognize him.

Sebastian.

"Stop your blabbering and get us out of here," Ciel ordered. It had been too long since Ciel had seen his butler, but he still wasn't going to take any cheeky chat from him, even after all this time. Sebastian adjusted his glove and stared down at the opposing danger. The whole room on fire, scorched bodies on the ground and demon hounds ready to kill. A decent job for a Phantomhive Butler.

"Assuredly, my lord."

This attack came in fast, and came in strong. Sebastian leaped into the frey with weapons he sealed away within his coat: kitchen knives. Not your typical blade, but still a weapon all the same and having multiple weaponized kitchen utensils. Hellgar had prepared himself for many a attack from Team Harmony and what not, but the second Sebastian threw those knives from the air down, Hellgar was caught off guard. The demon hound bolted off back, yet his only aid was not so lucky, both killed with a single knife through the head. Quick and painless. One kitchen knife lodged in Hellgar's horn during the rain down, and one struck him in the back leg, but injuries didn't go beyond that for him. Twilight and Ciel now had Sebastian on their side once more, and Hellgar had more than enough with it.

"You traitor! How dare you turn your back on your allies?"

"I'm a full blood demon. Would you expect any different?" Sebastian stated, the hellhound growling again. The demon butler turned to Twilight and Ciel, picking them both up. Hellgar got up and blasted more fire at them. Sebastian quickly made a side step to avoid it, all three of them avoiding being scorched.

"Shall we go?" Sebastian asked.

"Yes, let's," said Ciel. They couldn't do anything about the fire, so all they could do was rush off out of there, from the window Sebastian came in. Hellgar lunged for them, but Sebastian stood at the window sill, and pulled out one more knife to throw. In a simple, accurate throw, the knife zoomed straight for the demon hound, and skewered him right down his throat! Hellgar coughed up the knife, but with blood coming out it was obvious it struck home. Hellgar only watched as they made their escape. flames were all around him, and he was choking on his own blood. ...

"Go ahead and run! Your world will suffer the wrath of the Underworld! You'll. ALL. Burn!"

Hellgar charged up one more time, aiming his fire blast straight up to the heavens in a exploding inferno! He'd been tricked, backstabbed, and now left for dead. He wasn't letting any more souls get away from him, not tonight. The explosion shook the palace, fire and smoke blasting out of every opening in the room; windows, to halls, to the main hall where the rest stood.

"What the hell happened?!" a guard shrieked.

"No time. It's time to make our leave," Victoria advised.

"But Yugure's still in there!" Nagisa gasped.

"It's too late for her. You should know that by now," Victoria stated, not making Nagisa feel any better. They began to hear creaking from above, the fiery explosion weakening the room itself.

They had no other choice.

~~

.......

The next morning revealed the devastation. As if the incident at the Royal Ball wasn't enough trouble, the morning revealed a horrid manslaughter. Police that had arrived that morning laid witness to bodies of human and animal alike, alongside tons of property damage leading to the scorched throne room, which now looked completely burnt up on investigation. Curtains, sheets and rugs were turned into black ash more than much else, and remains of burnt flesh laid in heaps within the room as well. The fire itself had been and gone, but the remains were left for any and all to see. It may not show much on the exterior apart from a broken window, but for those that remained, it was a traumatic experience. Out front, ambulances were well on scene to aid those that had injured during the attack, including Victoria herself for cases of slight burns and cuts. The queen herself, lucky to not be injured, stayed by her granddaughter as she was being treated. Blair, Nagisa and Karma were also being treated for cuts by the Houndour they faced. Lucky for them Hellgar didn't leave any lasting marks on any of them. However, not only was Twilight still missing since the fire, but Ciel Phantomhive as well.

"Ow, ow, ow, ow, ow," Nagisa said as the last bit of bandage were wrapped around his arm. His wounds were minor, but his emotions were still stabbed since he had to watch Twilight disappear on him, AGAIN. Eventually, Karma went over to him once he was done, Karma only getting small bandages on his body. He probably suffered the least injury thanks to the miracle sword, though he still got hurt either way.

"See you're better Karma," Nagisa said, as he got up.

"Yeah true. I just heard over a few guards about the head count: Sounds like about fifteen to seventeen ended up kicking the bucket in that hellfire. Honestly thought there would be a lot more," Karma said, catching Nagisa up with the current status. That body count alone troubled him, but he mainly wondered who in particular actually managed and who died in there.

"Damn. Any news on -"

"Yugure? Nope. That's what I wanted to tell ya: Ciel and Yugure weren't found anywhere in there."

At this point the others soon came around. Blair, Pinkie, Aladdin, and Victoria surprisingly, soon went over to them. Some looked more damaged than others. While Aladdin and Victoria appeared without a scratch, Pinkie did have some of her hair shortened slightly and Blair had a few cuts from the Houndour attacks.

"There you are! How're you holding up?" Blair asked.

"Just a few cuts, but I think I'll be alright. I did get a nasty bite on my arm though," Nagisa said, looking to his bandaged right arm as he said that. Lucky for him that was his worst injury, and they all knew it could've been a lot worse in there. Victoria looked to her home for a moment, replaying what she had witnessed in her mind.

"I have to wonder. Is this something you've always had to handle?" Victoria asked, intrigued more than most.

"Well, it's not as hellish, but yeah pretty much," Karma said. Victoria took note of it and then turned to some nearby guards and officers.

"I decree a full-scale search for the assassin who did this. Search all of the United Kingdom if you must, but make sure you have him under arrest," Victoria instructed. They were just about to agree to the terms, but someone else was deciding to come on by to check in.

"That wouldn't be needed, Princess," said a familiar, eerie voice.

"Undertaker. ..." Nagisa noted. Undertaker had easily heard about this strong fire, to be sure, and the second he got it to his ears he decided to head to the situation himself. They hadn't seen him at all since visiting his coffin shop for questions, but then again why wouldn't he come around here? At least it was someone who wasn't going to hurt them any further than they were.

"Undertaker? What're you doing here?" asked Aladdin. Undertaker then showed them a small list he had with him, in the form of a small note book and feather pen.

"Just thought I'd stop by and see the situation. Plenty of bodies for my business, there is. Might need to work overtime,~" Undertaker said, followed by his signature snicker. Of course, it was unnerving to hear that, and so calmly no less, but it made sense for any undertaker to do, though probably not as much enjoyment as Undertaker himself was (go figure).

"You said we didn't need a search, Undertaker," restated Victoria. Undertaker nodded, and went through his notes a little bit until he got to one of his pages.

"Oh yes. I'll say this: it's been a long time since I've made a canine coffin," Undertaker joked.

So, that was it then. The implications were easy to interpret for them to understand, as they looked to the palace again. With such a large fire and little escape routes, it was come to expect really. On the bright side, they didn't have to deal with Hellgar anymore. Regardless of that, Nagisa then got his own idea and went over to Undertaker.

"Uh, Undertaker? Can I see those notes?" Nagisa asked. Undertaker, already getting why he wanted it, gave Nagisa the notes he made and he started looking through them alongside Aladdin and Victoria. The notes mainly involved a list of names and measurements of each one of the victims that had died in there, which there was a lot of by the way. Each went with the first and last name, and exact measurements of height and width right next to each one. Seeing a high body count reminded them how lucky they were to get away with what they have. Nagisa took a few more moments to look it over, and eventually it came down to one interesting conclusion.

"Yugure's not in here," Nagisa concluded.

"I told you they didn't find her, nor Ciel. It's still anyone's guess -" Blair was interrupted by Undertaker's snickering again. Before he spoke, he then pulled something else out from within his sleeves: a letter.

"You underestimate me, little lady. I keep very good track of my work here in England. I never miss one. There's only one reason for their names to be missing. ..." Undertaker explained. That sure sounded hopeful from an Undertaker like him. Nagisa quickly opened the letter up and looked over what it had to say. It took him a short little moment to get what was going on, and a smile began to show on his face.

.......

Pretty soon, it was off into the forests of England, and moving off away from the main city. The flight was made easy thanks to Aladdin's own magic turban. It was probably the quickest way they could do to get to the next location at this point, and they were more than happy to take it. What Undertaker said and what the letter told them was more than enough to convince them to get to the Phantomhive manor on the double.
The whole group arrived over to the front yard in no time at all, landing comfortably on the ground. Compared to last night it appeared as if nothing happened at all, but they were more focused on other matters right now. The second they landed, they got up and went right over to the front door. It was actually Aladdin who went up to the door, and gave a knock to it, good and loud. It seemed that they were expected here, for it took less than a minute for the door to open up. The one who answered it though was Tanaka.

"Ah, I see you've all made it. A pleasure to have you arrive."

"Thank you Tanaka. Now, where's -"

"Nagisa. You're alright."

A voice he was hoping to hear. The whole group looked over to the front stairs, and saw a familiar few faces started to come down the stairs to see them. One of them was Ciel Phantomhive, and the other was Twilight herself! The whole group were more than happy to see them alright, even after the supposed suicide explosion Hellgar had made in the palace. Ciel was scratched slightly, but it didn't show too much, and Twilight didn't have any injuries at all to her. Not a cut, nor any burns, saying they got out before the explosion occurred. Nagisa rushed over to her, and hugged her tight, grateful to see her alive.

"Yugure! We all thought you were dead, you alright?" Nagisa asked.

"I'm fine, but what about you? You're the one hurt," Twilight said, referring to his bandaged arm.

"It's not too bad, don't worry about it. I'm just glad you're okay after that," Nagisa replied.

"YAY, WE'RE BACK TOGETHER AGAIN!" Pinkie beamed, arms wrapped around both Nagisa and Twilight. Well, seemed they were a bit preoccupied, so Aladdin turned his attention towards Ciel and Sebastian. Nagisa began to feel his demon sense become active, though this was a more familiar sense over before, and soon they all saw the source, Sebastian, step down from behind Ciel and Twilight.

"Sebastian! Ciel, you got your friend back."

"Indeed. And we're hoping to keep it that way, right?" Ciel said, the reminder being aimed at Sebastian himself.

"Yes, my lord."

"He actually saved our lives back in the palace. Ciel and I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for him," Twilight said. She couldn't be more grateful to Sebastian for doing so.

"So that's what happened. Well thanks, Sebastian, you're quite the miracle worker," Blair said. Sebastian just smiled.

"I'm simply one hell of a butler."

So from there, it was catch up time for both Team Harmony and the Phantomhive house. It was a full night of action, and the different stories were both captivating as they were action filled. On one side was the servants and their fight with Envy and Lust, and the others out in their time back at the palace with Hellgar, including what happened from both Nagisa and Twilight's point of view. It hadn't been until now that they were telling these stories to one another so they had a pretty eager crowd. They all met up over in the dining hall for this, the whole group sitting side by side as Bardroy and Mey-Rin actually sat down on the other side, Ciel sitting at the front seat as usual, and Sebastian standing and serving as before. He was servant once again and he was glad to be working for Ciel again. The only one who wasn't in the room at the moment was Grell, who was strangely absent during the story telling. Here it was Aladdin explaining their side of the story to the servants.

"There we were. I just managed to get Victoria out of there when, KABOOM! The pillar smashed up into tiny pieces. We thought it was all over but - oh ... Uh. Wait. ... Yugure, tell me what happened in there," Aladdin said, passing the spotlight over to Twilight. Twilight didn't expect it right away, but she eventually regained herself. She took a glance over to Ciel, the young earl silently waiting to hear what she had to say. The trauma-triggered freeze didn't sit well with Ciel, and Twilight could read that off of him.

"Oh, well Ciel and I continued fighting them as much as we could. Ciel took on Hellgar head on, and crippled him, just before Sebastian came in and helped us escape. If it wasn't for Ciel, I probably wouldn't be here right now."

Ciel paused for a moment and looked to Twilight. If anything it was Twilight who did the heavy lifting during their isolated moment, even if not fighting. Twilight gave a friendly, yet secret smile and wink towards Ciel as the servants and Team Harmony were impressed with Ciel. Sebastian stayed quiet too as to not break anything.

"You took on Hellgar all by yourself?!" gasped Aladdin.

"WOO, epic Phantomhive!" put in Pinkie.

"Didn't think you had it in you, Ciel. Good on you," Karma finished.

Ciel knew it wasn't entirely true, but if they heard what really happened back there, then his pride would be dealt a pretty stinging blow. So rather than correct, Ciel just nodded.

"Much appreciated," Ciel simply said. Nagisa saw the reaction they all had and was impressed with Ciel himself, though curious over Twilight a bit. He still remembered how she ran back for Ciel before the stone pillar smashed up, but Nagisa kept his comments on that for himself as they looked to the servants.

"Now, Bardroy, Mey-Rin. Sebastian informed me of some mischief happening last night."

"Eh, a little issue it was, my lord. Nothing too much to worry about," Mey-Rin insisted. Probably not a good idea to say how bad of trouble happened while he was away. At least it seemed to be. ...

"OH, no need to be bashful!" A voice suddenly cried out as the doors swung open. Their missing guest had arrived, and Grell Sutcliff was in his full, red glory. He showed his form to servants, might as well amp it up to the rest of the crew. Ciel and Team Harmony were left a bit dumbfounded on sight of Grell, not seeing him like this before.

"... And who're you?"

"Oh my I introduce myself: Grell Sutcliff."

"GRELL?!?!" Gasped Ciel and Team Harmony.

"Wait. Grell. That suicidal clumsy dunce Grell?" Stated Aladdin.

"A fun little act I know, I'm a natural! You should take up acting, little earl, it can do you good," Grell said, moving right over to him. Ciel was still trying to process this, but recovered slightly.

"I assume this is the real you then."

"Very much so. Anyway, about last night, we had such a lively dance with some pesky Homunculus. Made short work of them, of course."

"Homunculi? That's what that hellhound meant," Karma commented. It was then that Grell turned his attention to Sebastian.

"Oh Bassie.~ You had a lovely view of the dance did you not? I'd be glad to let you join if only you'd let me.~"

Response: a shove away from Sebastian, pushing Grell to the floor nearby Blair and Pinkie. Grell was alright, though Sebastian needed a moment to gather himself.
So that was Grell's feelings towards him, huh?

"Homosexual. That's unexpected," Karma said, smirking as Grell sat up.

"Nevermind him. Grell, you said Homunculus came to the manor."

"Of course! They were perfect practice for Bardroy and Mey-Rin here. Let's be real, you two were smashing out there," Grell said, a arm around Bardroy and Mey-Rin.

"What did they look like? Who were they?"

"Oh? ... Well, let's see now. One was a women, pretty tall too and wearing a long dress. And the other one was smaller, long strands of green hair, and some two piece leather outfit."

"Envy and Lust. I might've known," Nagisa thought upon hearing the details. What other Homunculus do they know of anyway?
Before they could continue on this, Tanaka stepped in from the open door.

"Do pardon my intrusion my lord. But there's someone here to see you."

~~

As the others were busy inside the manor, Ciel followed Tanaka over to the front door, as where any guest would show up. Though with what just happened back at the palace, it was a wonder on who it would actually be. Most of London was more focused on the queen's palace over the Phantomhive Manor anyday, so it was intriguing that he would get a guest at this point in time. It didn't take far too long until Tanaka brought him to the front, and Ciel himself went on ahead and walked up to the door.

"Do you happen to know who is expecting me, Tanaka?" Ciel asked, his hand on the doorknob and ready to open.

"He's requested to remain anonymous until you open the door, my lord," Tanaka informed. Ciel was unsure about it, but after last night's little fiasco, he was up for anything. Whatever was behind that door he was ready to face head on. He already faced a demon hound, what else was there? After a bit, Ciel then went ahead and opened the door.
Out standing there was basically a unlikely set: the queen, and Korosensei dressed as a British guard.

"Phantomhive. It's grateful that you're alright after last nights excursion," said the queen.

"Hey there kiddo. Doing better I hope," added Korosensei.

Needless to say Ciel was having no words to say. It was surprising enough seeing the queen of all people, but it was her and a demon king as well. A king of the underworld, and a queen of the human world right at Ciel's doorstep. Ciel needed another second before he could properly correct himself and get his nerves together.

"M-My lord. How, uh ... unexpected," Ciel managed to say.

"I have to agree, but It'd be better to talk to you in person rather than send another letter," said the queen.

"And, I assume he brought you here?" Ciel assumed, looking over to Korosensei.

"I couldn't deny such a noble women of her wishes, especially one of such loyalty!" Korosensei said, flattering the queen. Ciel wasn't feeling much easier about the situation. The queen smiled to the demon king, but turned her main focus towards the young earl.

"Now. Ciel Phantomhive. I know this may seem a bit unorthodox, but I've been thinking at late about these happenings. Your current task to locate the missing persons of London is being replaced. I have a more important task for you, if you choose to accept it."
The last part, honestly, was not needed. Ciel would more than willing accept whatever task the queen had for him. That was his purpose of being the queen's guard dog, after all. To follow the orders of the queen, and follow through without trouble and with pure devotion to said task.

"I'll follow whatever order you give me, my lord."

"Good. ... I want you to join Team Harmony. Help them however you can."

"Pardon?" Ciel asked, legitimately confused.

"The guards reported me this morning how ... 'straight-minded' they were about Team Harmony in general. Judging by what this demon hound had said just before his demise, I've come to believe that there's something far more world-effecting at work, far more than locals going missing. Whatever is going on. Whatever those entities have planned for our world. You are to help Team Harmony stop them however you can. Do you understand?"

Ciel held onto every single word, though it was with a slight grain of salt. He had a demon butler with him, and this task involved him stopping the very thing he constantly was working with since gaining the Phantomhive Manor in the first place. All the same, demons like Sebastian, and Korosensei for that matter, weren't the problem here. It seemed the queen trusted Korosensei to bring her here, in spite of being a demon king anyway, so she had that going for her. Ciel stayed quiet to consider it, but eventually the answer came forth.

"I'll do all that I can, my lord."

~~

Things were rather quiet down in the underworld, Sombra himself taking his walk through his own palace. It had been a bit of an interesting time, though Sebastian had been rather gone as of late, something Sombra was soon to notice after a little while. The afternoon light of the twilight amber sky lit into the halls during his walk about. He hadn't heard much out of Lust, Envy, or Hellgar either since last chatting with them, and the previous Tartarus demon king's words still echoed too clearly in his ears since he last encountered him in his cell. Basically speaking, a lot was on his mind, including a meeting planned out this afternoon.

"Damn that Demon Lord. He doesn't know what he's thinking anymore," Sombra hissed under his breath. As the demon lord reached to the throne room, Sombra went right over to the throne itself, and had a seat, awaiting the next visitor to come along. But, before any guest could come in, another little animal popped in from the window, and flew right over to him. Usually, any aviary creature would be a bird or something, but this Underworld resident didn't resemble too well to any normal animal. Blue fur, stiff twin tails, a set of bat wings, two large ears, a big mouth, and no eyes to speak of. The bat dropped off a report note for Sombra, and quickly took off from where it came from before Sombra could do anything. Sombra looked over the letter, and read down every detail. ...

"Hellgar. How unfortunate. ..." Sombra sighed, setting the letter down aside just as he began to hear the front doors open up. Soon, a single figure then began to enter the palace from the front door. The figure looked tall, and female in appearance in the silhouette of the lights. Talk about good timing. Sombra tucked the letter away, and looked to the newcomer with a smirk on his face. The light in the room revealed a slightly green figure, her eyes almost glowing in the dim light like neon green lights.

"Welcome madam. Nice of you to join us."

"I'll do my absolute best.~" she coos.