Prelude

Before the echo of the gunfire could dissipate and even before Jay Evan's body fell into the ground, Ciel had already thrown himself into a side roll. Although his attack was swift, the two Red Tigers retaliated almost immediately. 

Just an instant after Ciel had taken evasive action a deafening electric bang spread forth. A blast of raging blue currents then pierced the empty space where Ciel had just stood. The blast seemed to heat the air as it soared and impacted the pristine parquet which forged the casino ground. 

What followed was a violent explosion of vicious electric currents which spread forth in all directions. 

Meanwhile, the moment Ciel had taken action to evade the devastating power of the TM-9's charged blast, he heard another much softer gunfire echo and then felt a bullet pierce his side abdomen. As he was currently within full motion he was forced to wait until his roll was complete before he aimed his weapon towards The Red Tiger responsible, then…

BANG!

With a thud, the first Red Tiger fell to the floor, joining Jay Evans side as a fellow corpse. Ciel's decision to attack The Red Tiger nearest to Jay Evans gave the second Red Tiger enough time to fully recover from the intense recoil of his first shot and finish pumping his weapon.

The moment the TM-9 was pumped its rotating barrel had a burst of sudden speed while a steaming metallic battery shot out from its side. All the while, the weapon emitted a sound of unwavering electric fury. 

Ciel had come out of his roll not far from where the second Red Tiger stood, furthermore he was now in a knelt position, making evasion through another roll too slow to perform. All Ciel could do now was face the terrible danger head on. 

He immediately shifted his position, along with the aim of his gun. Ciel did so swiftly, equaling the second Red Tiger's own time to aim at him. Both had their weapons pointed at each other, it was now a race to pull the trigger faster. 

BANG!

In the end the winner was Ciel… But not by much. 

The second Red Tiger received a clean bullet to his head giving him a violent jolt back which slightly tilted his aim. Regardless of its lethal touch however, the bullet arrived just a millisecond too late as the Red Tiger had already pulled his own trigger. 

BANG!

A deafening blast echoed once more, its fury now unleashed upon Ciel's knelt figure. 

Ciel was then illuminated by a bright blue glow as a raging electric orb was sent his way. He could only shift his upper body to the right as best as he could, betting his life on the slight tilt of the Red Tiger's aim.

Luckily, he was not hit by the powerful blast head on, however he did not come out unscathed either. The entire upper area of his left arm, from shoulder to elbow, was caught by the speeding sizzling orb of electric frenzy. 

Upon contact, his skin, tissue, muscle, and bone were all incinerated by its flawless tyranny. Ciel then heard what remained of his charred left arm falling to the ground; however he could pay it no mind as intense agony engulfed him due to the many currents of raging electricity which were scattering throughout all of his left side. 

It was an insidious experience to be sure, yet Ciel remained calm even as he endured it. After all, this marked the end of his struggle within The Royal Casino. 

For a moment after the currents passed, Ciel gave himself a bit of respite. As he did such, he briefly considered taking the TM-9 with him; however he quickly discarded the idea. The alloy beast was simply far too large to remain inconspicuous. 

Not that Ciel could talk, with how he was now perhaps only the blind would fail to notice him. 

We will have to relocate…

He thought simply before at last forcing his aching body to obey his will, his expression that of utter indifference as his leg muscles squirmed to pull his body up. 

However, just when he managed to properly stand, a voice suddenly reached his back. 

"Leaving already? I'd rather that you didn't." 

The moment Ciel heard that unknown voice he rapidly shifted while raising his gun its way. He did so in spite of his body's protesting. 

It was already too late though. 

BAM! 

Before he even managed to see his new foe, much less raise his gun at them, Ciel experienced the violent sensation of being sent flying by a devastating blow. Beyond just the sheer force behind the attack, many small threads of sizzling electric currents spread forth from the point of impact and tore into his flesh and bones. 

Ciel landed hard on the casino floor not long after, his body now utterly mutilated and charred. Not only was he missing an arm with most of his left side scorched, but his clothes were torn and wet with blood, and his entire body bore many bullet wounds. And yet it was he alone which was somehow not a corpse. 

Ciel tried to command his arms to pull his body up and his legs to support them, intending to continue on fighting, however his body failed to even flinch. Regardless of how little he cared for the pain and damage of his body, it could only do so much. This final blow had at last placed him upon his limit. 

He did not will it, yet in the end he collapsed and not long after his consciousness followed. 

*****

For an unknown amount of time, there was only darkness. Ciel experienced nothing, did nothing, thought nothing, and knew nothing. Had this been his death, he would be none the wiser to it. However, Ciel's time was not yet upon him. A truth of the world which he discovered when suddenly an oppressive coldness enveloped his body. 

Ciel's green eyes then snapped awake along with the rest of his body. Disorientation assaulted his senses for a moment before his mind cleared and he remembered what had occurred just before he blacked out. 

I was not killed huh… 

Ciel began examining his surroundings with an aloof expression. He was in a dark room, one illuminated only by a single light which hung in the ceiling. The light was pure white, its glow overwhelmingly centered above him yet insufficient to properly bask all which surrounded him. 

However, Ciel could still make out a few things despite the poor lighting. For starters there were many broken machines scattered about, along with tables and other furnitures of different shapes and sizes. There were also a plethora of sealed steel boxes and wooden crates scattered about. 

When that cursory glance was complete, Ciel then focused upon himself. His body was wet, drenched by freezing water, however that did not surprise him, what did was that his body appeared completely healed. Even his severed left arm had returned, seemingly untouched by its previous trauma. Furthermore, he was situated upon a steel chair, completely unrestrained. 

Despite having the ability to move freely, Ciel instead chose to remain still. It was then that a voice rang out from behind him. 

"Oh? You're not scared then?" 

It was the same voice which he heard before he received that devastating blow. With it also came the sound of something plastic being discarded and impacting the ground. 

Ciel held onto his aloof expression as he answered the unknown voice. 

"Should I be? If you wanted me dead, I would have already been. Me waking up to this can only be to my benefit. And besides…"

Ciel adjusted himself upon the steel chair, taking on a relaxed demeanor. 

"Aren't you scared of leaving me unrestrained?"

The voice chuckled. Then calm steps began to reverberate within the dark room. 

"What is there to be scared of? Kid, you have accomplished something impressive tonight, however half of that accomplishment goes to the guns that you used. What are you without them huh? What can you even do to me without a weapon?" 

The voice said, devoid of any discernible arrogance. 

The steps could now be heard on Ciel's left side. Ciel then felt a hand ruffle his wet hair. 

"What? So passive now… Go ahead, kill me. Like all the others that you did tonight. Do it." 

The voice provoked, its tone calm and collected. However, Ciel remained motionless. 

"See… You don't always need elaborate tools to restrain a person." 

The ruffling of Ciel's wet onyx hair intensified for a moment before the hand swatted it away. The action jolted Ciel's head to the side slightly, yet the force used remained a step or two behind being considered violent. 

Ciel continued to do nothing, his vision firmly aimed ahead. 

The steps then continued once more, the source of the voice entering Ciel's clear line of sight not long after. Previously, Ciel had refrained from turning towards the source of the unknown voice as doing so would only inform his foe that he perceived them as a threat. 

Before Ciel now was a tall man with dark brown eyes, a beard of the same color which wrapped around his well defined jawline, and a head devoid of any hair. His lean body was covered beneath a distinctive red suit, one perfectly tailored for his figure. What made the suit a distinctive one was, ironically, the fact that it was a uniform. The same one worn by all of The Royal Casino's dealers. 

The man possessed a calm temperament, and with him was a sense of elegance. His demeanor made his sighting upon this poorly lit, clustered room quite unfitting, as if it was wrong. 

Ciel immediately took note of his features and merely returned the man's calm glance with that of his own. However, his situation was less than optimal and with what this unknown person had just done to him moments prior, Ciel felt that the important conversation to come had already tilted against him before it even began. 

And so he at last spoke once more. 

"This room, is it storage? Hmm a place for trash perhaps? Considering the ruckus I caused the police must be swarming all over the casino so you thought this was the most optimal place for an interrogation, yes? Then could it be that we are actually beneath The Royal Casino? You know, within one of its large underground mist powder factories?" 

Upon hearing Ciel's words the man's calm expression was interrupted at last, however, it was not by surprise, rage, or irritation, but rather amusement. A subtle curve appeared at the edge of his lips.

"You know a lot, kid. Too much even. Want to tell me where all that knowledge comes from?"

He asked, as if it was an unimportant matter. 

"No… No, I don't believe I want to." 

The man's subtle amusement seemed to rise slightly as he nodded.

"Then how about I end this conversation short then? After all, what is the point of a talk with only one participant?" 

The man showed no signs of murderous intent, yet his threat was an obvious one. 

"What is the point of a shallow talk either? Can we get to what it is you really want? Who cares where the knowledge came from, isn't all that matters in the end is that I have it? And let me tell you, I have a lot of it." 

Despite the seemingly unfavorable situation, Ciel was rather certain that he knew not just who stood before him, but what it was that he wanted as well. 

The man chuckled slightly. He then walked to the corner of the room and pulled out a dusty wooden chair which was adorned by elaborate carvings yet appeared aged and battered. He allowed its back legs to hiss upon the ground's surface before he placed it just a few steps away from Ciel.

The man then straddled the chair, resting his elbows upon its back before joining his ten fingers. Doing so entirely with a leisure decorum. 

"What a strange one you are, smart enough to recognize the situation yet too bold or stupid to not keep your mouth polite. Those like you always fall victim to their tongues. Let's see if you join them today."

With those words, Ciel understood that the prelude was over and the true conversation had begun, one which would determine his fate upon this night. 

"Let's start with an introduction. No proper talk can be done with a stranger after all. You go first…" 

Ciel did not linger to answer, doing so with a calm tone that rivaled that of the man. 

"My name is Ciel Adams, a nobody from the slums." 

The man repeated his name in a murmur, doing so twice for his surname, seemingly attempting to recall if the name was familiar to him or of any note. Upon seeing such, Ciel inquired.

"Do you find my introduction to be a valid one?" 

"No. The name maybe, but the second part is a lie. A nobody couldn't have done what you did tonight. Makes one question why exactly you came to us to begin with… But before we get to that I suppose it's my turn. I wonder though, do you already know who I am?" 

The man asked, however Ciel merely remained silent. Seeing such, the man dropped the probing and spoke once more. 

"My name is Wilson Francis, and I am the boss of The Red Tiger Gang."