Sector $, Part £6: The Earl’s Punishment

"SOMEONE! ANYONE!" Young Ciel's screams were barely audible through those of the dying children on the table. His eye absorbed every moment of torment his fellow captives were enduring until their last breath. "I don't care who! Just kill these heathens! Put a stop to this nightmare! ANYONE! ANYONE!!"

A mass of darkness shrouded the room, slaying all the adults. By this time, unfortunately, all the children but Ciel had been sacrificed. The demon that had revealed himself faced the helpless child with brimming red eyes. "Now that you have issued your first order… our contract is established."

They had finally left the darkness and were out in a sunny, grassy field. "Very well. I shall help you attain revenge on those who disgraced the Phantomhive name. And once My Lord is satisfied… I shall devour your soul. So is the law of the Black Butlers."

"And what is my butler's name?"

"What does my Young Lord wish to name me?"

"Hmm… How about… Sebastian?"

"Was that the name of your previous butler?"

"No. It's the name of my old dog." This put a disgruntled frown on the demon's face.

"Good morning, My Lord." Ciel awoke in the darkness of his black-curtained bed, in his room alit by purple candlelight. "Did you sleep well?"

"Vividly. I dreamt about the past again."

"Oh, yes. Such wonderful times we had." Sebastian began to help Ciel get dressed, slipping black socks over his black-painted toenails and up his legs. "We hunted so many criminals in your quest for revenge. You showed no fear, knowing it was inevitable that I would take your soul." Sebastian served him a tray of Sanzu Tea. "And at the last moment, the Fates decided to play me and make you immortal. Or perhaps the Fates were trying to save you… in spite of all the heinous crimes you committed."

Ciel finished his tea and walked out to the living room, seeing rain outside. "When do you plan on actually telling them, My Lord? I'm certain they would not detest you if they knew the truth. After all, if the Uno kids are allowed to be here…"

"It's not that I mind them finding out I'm a demon… it's that I expect them to ask me why I joined the KND. And the truth is, I'm still unsure."

"At first, I thought it was to make up for the children you ordered me to murder. Hm, but then you nearly repeated your actions at Kelvin's manor."

"That act was meant to put them out of their misery, because as I said, there was no way to-"

"Yes, My Lord, I still remember your reasons, you do not need to remind me. Unless you mean to remind yourself?" Sebastian smirked.

"Ergh." Ciel felt his head swell a tad. "Fine, think what you will. Anyway, stay here and guard the treehouse. I'll be elsewhere." Ciel walked toward the hangar.

"As you wish, My Lord."

"Uwaaaaaaahhhh…" Carol moaned as she walked out into the living room. "It almost never rains in Poshley Heights, why does it have to rain nooooooww? Huh?" She noticed Sebastian cooking breakfast in the kitchen. "Hey, Sebastian. Where's Ciel?"

"My Young Lord is out on a walk. Or, a 'flight' as it were."

"Like he does every week. Where does he go?"

"He never tells me." Of course, I can sense his location.

"Well, I guess everyone enjoys their alone time." After all, there's always at least one operative in each sector with a mysterious past. I wonder what his is…

Sector SA Treehouse

"Welcome to St. Index's First Church of the KND." The young nun spoke with hands folded. Her room was modeled exactly like a church. "Here is where operatives confess their sins in safety and in secrecy. Rest assured, the Lord will forgive you, but your priestess makes no promise that she won't bite you in the arm. What sins would you like to confess to me?"

Ciel was the only one in this big, vacant room. "Does anybody even actually do this nonsense?"

"Yes they do, actually." She gave a wry smirk. "Why, our very own Supreme Leader once came here to practice confessing a sin to someone else."

"Well, I've got nothing to confess. I was only wondering something and thought I should get a nun's opinion."

"Ask me anything."

"Lately, I've been hearing a lot of talk on what constitutes good and evil. So, now I want to hear your thoughts on the matter."

"My thoughts, huh? Well, I always believed that everyone has light in them, and some people need more time for that light to grow. I pray for any soul that has met their demise, be they hero or villain. And just because a person listens to their darkness more than their light, it doesn't mean they should be abandoned. But I used to be skeptical about demons like yourself, and I never counted the Unos because they were human-born. But I can tell, inside that heart of darkness is a soul, awash in agony."

"What do I have to be ashamed of? It wasn't my choice to become a demon, and I only punished evil humans like Baron Kelvin."

"You take all the time you need." Index came up and patted him on the head. "Lots of people have a hard time admitting their sins. Just know that you have complete trust in me."

"Don't get a swelled head-" Ciel pushed her arm off- "OUCH! !" He burned his hand on her habit.

"Oh yeah, don't touch my habit." Index said casually. "Its holy fibers are meant to repel dark spirits and energy."

Ciel shook his reddened hand of the heat. "Very funny."

"'Scuse me?" a voice spoke from the doorway. The two looked and saw Lola Stork enter the cathedral.

"Oh, hello, Lola." Index greeted. "Have you come to confess your sins?"

"'Guess so." She was about to take a seat when she noticed, "Oh, it's you." Lola vaguely recognized him. "Yyyyou're…?"

"Ciel Phantomhive, Sector $." He stood up. "The church is yours, I was just finishing up." And he began to leave.

"Hey!" Index chased him. "You can't just leave without dropping some guilt off your chest!"

"I only wanted to ask the question."

She rushed in front of him, "Because you feel depressed inside and you're fighting with your internal demons (hehe, irony), and I'm the only nun you can trust with your heart. After all, I made a solemn vow as a nun to keep your secret."

"You made a solemn vow that if you told anybody, you would become my slave."

"And you will as well if you reveal my true name." Index poked his nose. "So, I think we have a mutual understanding."

"Look, can I just 'admit my sins' or not?" Lola asked, walking up. "I didn't even do anything, I was just sleepwalking, went into MaKayla's room, and… bit her in the leg." She licked her teeth. "Sigh, ever since Halloween, my blood addiction's come back. When I was little, I used to bite people all the time. It's why Terry sleeps in a different room."

"I have just the cure for that!" Index raised a finger. "Borrowed this from a different church. The Blood of Christ breaks any vampire's addiction."

"I got a better idea." Ciel pulled up his right sleeve. "Suck on my blood, it can't taste very good."

"Your loss, dude." Lola sunk her teeth in. "!!!!" Her pupils grew wide, and Lola began sapping him like a straw in chocolate shake. "Sooooooooo gooooooood…"

When she finished, Ciel studied his shriveled arm. "Well, that probably didn't help." He took out and drunk some Sanzu Water, refilling his arm.

"Dude, I never tasted blood as good as yours! …Boy, that isn't a sentence you hear every day. Like, what's it made out of?"

"Sanzu." Ciel's eye turned red. "I'm a demon."

"Well, THAT was casual." Index remarked.

"Wow, and I'm a Nightmare. We should be buddies!" Lola grabbed his arm and pulled him in. "Come on, let's ditch this temple and go someplace breathable!"

"Sounds like a plan. Later, Index." Arms around the other's, the two left the treehouse, watched by a disgruntled Index.

Forest of Darkness

In the heart of the darkest forest on Earth, ghosts of all forms lived in harmony, unseen by the authority of the reapers and spirits. Lola purchased a blood shake at a stand while Ciel bought a pizza with unsavorable ingredients. "Mmmm, nothing like hanging out with your fellow monsters. So, what were you doing there, anyway? Your teammates kick you out, too?"

"No, I just needed a break from them." Ciel answered.

"Why, they treating you bad?"

"No, I… sigh, I don't even know."

"I bet I do: you wanna embrace your inner demon, don't ya? You can't do it around your friends 'cause they might judge you, huh? Well, Dr. Stork has just the treatment for that!"

Lola brought him to a "restaurant" with no building or roof, only tables and a counter selling plates of ghost food. "A demon's favorite food is souls, right? Well, welcome to the Soul Buffet, where animal spirits are captured and reformed into edible pieces! We also got ghost plants in case you're vegetarian. You ever had somethin' like this before?"

"Well, no, actually. I mostly eat food from the Underworld."

"Then have a bite! I mean, I can't eat it myself, but I'm sure you'll love it."

They bought some Ghost Beef Sirloin, but Ciel had no forks or knives to cut it. "Dude, just eat it the old-fashioned way; you know, like Sheila does!" Not bothering to remark at the primitive suggestion, Ciel bit a chunk out. "Soooo?…"

A feeling of pure delight came across him. "It's… delicious." He quickly dug into the intangible meat, Lola giggling as he wolfed the whole thing down in minutes. "I need to have MORE of this!"

"Oh, we can do a little more than that, dude!"

There were moose grazing in an open field of the forest, and they stuck their heads up at hearing a twig crack. Lola grinned, waving at them. From behind the moose, Ciel raced out of the darkness, his eye shining red as he tackled one and began to suck out its soul. The other moose were fleeing, but Lola spanked their bottoms from overhead and swooped down to suck on one's blood. Ciel grabbed Lola's arm and treated her to a dance as they finished the last of their meals.

They later went to the Underworld to swim in a local Sanzu pool. The earl had taken off his eyepatch so that it wouldn't get soggy, and Lola could see much joy in his unusual star symbol eye. Lola put her foam noodle in the water and blew it at Ciel, and he returned this by shooting her with a water gun.

Afterwards, they met out in a field, where Lola was now in her Fury Form, her wings spread wide. She unleashed an array of Spank Hands, Ciel dodging with demon speed and charging at her. He swung kicks that she blocked with her wings, then they grabbed each other's hands. Lola gnashed at his head, but he dodged it left and right and headbutted her, squishing her nose and kicking her back afterwards. The battle lasted for several minutes, and they enjoyed every moment of it.

Sector $ Treehouse

"Ciel sure has been gone a long time, hasn't he?" Raleigh asked, playing fetch with his Pichu and Togedemaru. "You don't think he's run into trouble?"

"Nonsense, I'm sure my young master is having a wonderful time." Sebastian said. "Why, I don't think he's had this much fun for a long time."

"You say that like you know exactly what he's doing." Pacifica said.

"What kind of a butler would I be if I didn't have keen instincts? Speaking of which, they should be getting back in three seconds."

"YAHOOOO!" cheered Lola as she and Ciel kicked open the door, hugging each other and swaying.

"Oh, Ciel!" Carol greeted. "And… uh, the Sector IC girl. Was her name Lala or Lola?"

"She looks like a Lola." Pacifica said.

"I swear I know a Lala from somewhere… Anyway, how've you been?"

"I feel GREAT! Like I can go another 200 years!" Ciel danced away from Lola and over to Carol, looking her in the eye. "And YOU look positively ravishing this evening."

"Hehe! It's only 2 in the afternoon."

"The moon can come crashing down for all I care, and it would still be a wonderful evening. You, Schnee! Play me 'Once Upon a Dream'!" He tossed Weiss a strange, blue horn-like device.

"W-What's this?"

"It's a Holophonor, I bought it from Coruscant."

"But I don't know how it works!"

"That's perfect, just play it!"

"Okay…" Weiss put the reed to her mouth and maneuvered her fingers over the holes. Ciel and Carol danced under the unpleasant, distorted music. Carol barely had control over her own feet, for Ciel led every step of this dance. The Holophonor projected an unsightly hologram of a prince and princess, their faces morphing like frogs.

Ciel was still joyous as he led the dance, his eye brimming. "C-Ciel… was your eye always red?"

"Which do you like better?"

"Eh, hehe. Well, I thought the blue kind of reflected the moon pretty well, but…"

"Lola, what exactly did you do with him?" Raleigh asked.

"Just some goth kid stuff."

"I knew Ciel was dark, but I didn't think he was into that."

"WHOA!" Carol was off her feet and whirling around and around. "Ciel, take it easy! I'm flattered, but I don't really love you this way."

"Then how about a kiss?" Ciel stopped and brought her lips into his. Lola moaned "OOOOOOHHH!" and the others shared equal expressions of shock. Carol remained frightened by this sudden development, and when Ciel pulled away, her very soul was flowing from her mouth into his.

"MMMMMM! NNNNN!" Carol panicked, reaching back for her laptop and then BASHING him in the head. Her soul returned, but she whacked Ciel again for safety. "What the HELL was that, Ciel?!"

His eye became blue and he covered his mouth in shame. "Ulp… I…I'm sorry…" He stood and fast-walked out.

"Yeah, we probably jumped the ball on that one…" Lola said sheepishly.

"Ciel, where are you going?" Raleigh called. The earl ignored him and shut the door to the treehouse's balcony. He was beginning to climb his way down. "Just… what was that just now?"

"Sebastian?" Weiss turned and noticed the butler gone. "Hmm… Lola, what exactly were you doing with him?"

"Sigh… I feel kinda bad about telling you, but I feel like this is sorta my fault, anyway."

"Did you learn about his past?" Pacifica asked.

"Kind of, but I don't know all the details. Basically…"

Poshley Outskirts

Ciel had retreated to the field at the base of Poshley Mountains. He was a soggy gray rock in the middle of this muggy grassland, seeming to hope the rain will wash him away. "When are you going to drop this hapless illusion, My Lord?" The rain no longer touched him as his butler held a black umbrella overhead. "Feeling guilt like a common mortal… What kind of demon are you?"

"Stop saying that. I already know what I am, you fool."

"And I still find it hard to believe. You joined the Kids Next Door, made yourself mortal friends, and for what? All to convince yourself that you were still human. Face it, Master, no matter how you try, your heart is forever consumed with darkness. The curse on you can never be broken. Even before you received it, you had willingly followed the path of darkness. You had given your soul to a demon. And to this day, that demon has remained your only friend."

"That…That's not completely true… I…" Ciel looked up at the barren field ahead. Through all the rain and mist, he could make out a vision of himself, dancing with a girl with curly golden pigtails and a red dress. He could still hear her cute childish giggle.

"…" Ciel trembled. "Hmhmhm… haha… BWAH ha ha ha ha ha ha!" His face was suddenly beaming. "What a fool I was, thinking I belonged with them! Joining this foolish organization! No matter what they say, these mortals have a firm sense of justice that has no room for someone like me! I am a demon that has murdered children and adults alike because I believed in my own twisted ideals! In my heart, I was never human! And now I am a washed-up demon who's so bored, I'm pulling this childish prank!" He stood. "Well, if I am such a loyal operative, there is only one thing I can do."

He faced up at his butler, "Sebastian, just put an end to me! End my miserable existence in this universe once and for all!"

"My Lord, if I kill you, you'll just reform in the Underworld."

"Then do something! Anything! Throw me in the Sanzu River, have me tortured for eternity, anything to punish me for all my sins!"

"…" The butler was silent for a moment. "Very well, My Young Lord." He raised his hand, ready to penetrate Ciel's brain.

His arm was wrapped in chains, along with his body. He looked back and saw Pacifica, who pressed the buttons and tightened the chains. Weiss swooped by on an ice path and grabbed Ciel. "You're one hell of a butler, Sebastian, but attacking your master is where we draw the line!"

"My Lord's orders are absolute." Sebastian used his superior strength to rip off the Chains of Judgment.

"Let me go, you fool, I ordered him to kill me!"

"We never gave you permission to die!" Weiss stated.

"YOU'RE not my leader!"

"No, but you're my teammate!"

"Please do not make this difficult, kids." Sebastian said, but was immediately electrocuted by Pichu.

"But that's just how we like it!" Raleigh said. ("Pichu!")

"Stand down, Sebastian!" ordered Carol. "Or pay the price!"

"…" Sebastian sighed and closed his eyes. "Mortal children are so annoying." The butler zipped behind Carol and tried to K.O. her via karate chop, but Mr. Game-and-Watch popped out of her laptop and bashed him with a "3" hammer, shocking him. Pacifica wrapped chains around his legs, hauled him overhead, and smashed him against the ground, but he quickly spun and unwrapped himself, spinning Pacifica as a result. Weiss skied over and jabbed her Myrtenaster at Sebastian, the butler swiftly dodging her stabs and kneeing her in the stomach, then punching her away.

The Game-and-Watches formed a cylinder around the butler, stacking ever taller to ensure there was no climbing out. Raleigh's Magnemite floated above the top and struck thunder down, but Sebastian easily broke through the Game-and-Wall to escape. Weiss quickly froze the ground at his feet, then willed icicles to sprout up around him, and while Sebastian tried to cut them down, Magnemite was given a second chance to strike lightning at him. The butler endured the attack, then quickly chucked a knife up with bullet speed up to Magnemite's eye. "Bronzor, use psychic!" Raleigh's Pokémon was hasty to follow his order and catch the knife.

Pacifica grabbed Sebastian again in her chains and tightened the grip, and he spun around in attempt to undo these binds, but the Northwest had detached those chains to keep from going dizzy, and Sebastian was nearly caught unprepared when Weiss threw icicles at him. He swiftly grabbed and threw them back, but Bronzor had the chance to throw the knife, which ended up piercing Sebastian's left eye when he instinctively looked up. Weiss froze his feet, Carol tossed a Game-and-Watch that fortunately landed on "9" and nearly blasted him across the field, but Pacifica was quick to catch him in her chains. She twisted and tightened them, hauled Sebastian overhead, and down at Weiss as she threw her arms up and pierced the butler with a giant icicle.

Ciel was mortally horrified by the sight. There were too many things he couldn't believe… with Sebastian defeated being the lowest on the list. "Sigh… Are you okay, Ciel?" Carol asked.

"OKAY?!" He jumped to his feet in a rage. "You think you had any right to save me?! I am a FOUL DEMON! Anything short of death is—OOOOUUUH!" Weiss silenced him by kicking him in the nuts. It was a lot more painful in high heels, so he fell to his knees.

"We don't care if you're a demon or a mortal." Weiss stated. "You're not getting out of it by killing yourself."

"You wanna get punished for all the terrible crimes you committed?" Carol asked with hands on her hips. "That's the responsibility of your teammates, got it?!"

"Nnnn…" Ciel had to hold his privates. "This isn't a joke. It isn't a simple matter of disobeying orders. You could never understand… the pain I had to go through. The decisions I had to make. The types of hardships you had to face were nothing compared to-"

"Maybe you're right." Pacifica stated. "Ciel… I don't know how you're a demon and I'm not even gonna ask. You've probably faced nightmares worse than any of us could imagine. And there's no point telling you to forget the past, either. But you kept your pain to yourself because you couldn't trust us!" She tugged on one of her chains like a whip. "So, I guess we have to show our love the hard way!" She caught Ciel with the chain and pulled him over, embracing him in a hug.

Before he could ask about this, Carol hugged him, then Raleigh, and Weiss. The rain began to subside; perhaps the heavens were touched by their warm moment. Ciel felt an unusual warmth inside his heart, and it was nothing that a demon ever experienced before. His eyepatch came loose, and tears leaked from both eyes. "WAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH…!"

"Sigh… Every sector's got one." Lola shook her head in disbelief, floating overhead. Sebastian remained dead in his icicle trap, though his half-awake eyes observed everything. It was a very unusual sight indeed for his young master…

Sector $ Treehouse

Raleigh dropped a plate of broccoli, beans, and carrots in front of Ciel. "You're not leaving this table until you finish every bite." Raleigh said scoldingly.

"But I hate mortal food, it makes me sick…"

"Too bad, it's good for you."

"And when you're done, our clothes are on the bed in your room." Pacifica said. "Make sure you wash them all to our specifications, and fold them perfectly."

"Don't forget to polish our weapons and refill our ammo." Weiss winked.

"The bathrooms could use a bit of scrubbing, too." Carol said.

"Why do I have to do all the choooores?" Ciel shrunk in his seat.

"Well, someone has to be the butler until Sebastian recovers. And since you have centuries of punishment to make up for, we'll help you every step of the way!"

"It's what friends are for!" Raleigh patted his back.

"Hmmm…" Ciel cracked a smile. "You silly mortals…"

After Ciel finished stomaching his toxic human food, he began polishing Carol's shoes on the couch. The girl was reading on her laptop. "Oh, hey! Mikoto decided to sign up for CND Training! She even brought a few friends, too, ohhhh they'll be so amazing! Hm?" She looked around at him. "Oh, yeah… you still wanna be leader?"

Ciel flushed; his current predicament was very unleaderlike. "You know what, you can be leader. I don't care anymore."

"Oh… hmm." Carol smiled. "You know what, how 'bout we just stay as a leaderless sector? In a way, all of us are good at leading."

"Are you serious? The more we bicker about it, the less focused we'll be."

"Yeah, but we can wait until everyone has a fair shot at winning." She winked. Ciel flushed again and resumed polishing.

Lola smiled, happy for her new friend. Her wristwatch rang, and she answered to, "What up, Terry. Is Kayla still mad?"

"No, she wants to apologize… but listen, Lol', you should probably get over here ASAP. We received an invitation to a party."

"A party? Wicked! What kind? Who's having it?"

"Uh… well, it's a family reunion. A… Linlin family reunion."

"Wait… isn't Linlin…"

Stork Household

"Y-Yeah…" Terry nervously glanced back at his parents, who were being held at gunpoint by a three-eyed woman and a band of pirates. "You should probably just come over."

Sector $: Cast:

Kerry Williams as Carol Masterson

Brina Palencia as Ciel Phantomhive

J. Michael Tatum as Sebastian Michaelis

Casey Lee Williams as Weiss Schnee

Laurie Hymes as Prince Raleigh

Jackie Buscarina as Pacifica Northwest

Sharon Mann as Cheren Uno

Tara Strong as Sheila Frantic, Melody Jackson, Eva Jackson, Anthony McKenzie, and Maddy Murphy

Monica Rial as Index and Tsuyu Asui

Brittney Karbowski as Wendy Marvell and Mocha

MaKayla Rogers as Aranea Fulbright

Lindsay Seidel as Nagisa Shiota

Apphia Yu as Hat Kid

Lauren Tom as Lola Stork

Jason Douglas as Jacques Schnee

Howard Wang as Whitley Schnee

Robert McCollum as Don Quixote Doflamingo, Jr.

Cristina Vee as Killua Zoldyck

Lori Phillips as Hoopa

Dan Green as Vaati

Riley Joseph as Princess Kimia

Tress MacNeille as Mom

Mike Judge as Ted Wassanasong

Characters owned by their respective owners.

Published by Webnovel

Presented by Gamewizard2008

Sector $: END

…

Cheren Uno had been in his office all day, blissfully unaware of any happenings going on at the moment. "CHEREEEEEEEN!" In came a screaming Goomba girl, bouncing on his desk and making him fall backwards in fear. "Cheren, have I got a present for yoooo-oooouuu!"

"Nngh… what is it, Goombella?" he asked, his glasses askew.

"Well, after hearing about Sector $'s little exploit, I decided to take some initiative myself and try to research these Newborn. Voila!" She grabbed a book from her backpack in her teeth and threw it on his chest.

Cheren held it and read the title. "The… Winter Apocalypse of the Terminan Sea?"

"One of the Newborn is an Ice-type, correct?" Goombella said proudly. "If that isn't a juicy lead, I don't know what is."

Cheren skimmed a few of the pages. "This…This book has pictures of… Link."

"Feel free to thank me."

Cheren couldn't deny… this was a juicy lead. If Link had actually bore witness to a Newborn… then… His face beamed as he thought of the perfect person to help him on this new mission: "Hat Kid."