Revamped. Spelling, punctuation, and grammatical errors edited, as well as a tiny bit of new material.

HitokiriKurisuta - Tri-Klops is THE finest character in the entire show (next to Mech and Buzz Off……yes I think the giant insect was drool worthy) and deserves to be given much glompage.

Eva91 - Oh don't worry, they will most definitely "get it on."

Disclaimer: I own nothing except Jamie/Reaper.


Chapter Two

The Reaper


­­­­­­­­­­­­­ "AAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGHHH!" The man held onto the severed stump which had ended in a perfectly healthy hand only seconds before. The aforementioned digit lay on the ground a couple feet from the rapier which it had once wielded. Blood covered the grass and the leaves, marring the otherwise beautiful forest clearing.

"Oh……….oh……….oh my god……….you……….y-you bitch! Dammit……….my……….m-my hand! Ah……….I……….you……….oh god………." The man, who seemed to be in his mid-twenties, curled into a ball around his damaged arm, as if shielding it from further harm. Opposite to the man's body sat a young girl who looked like she was in her late teens. She was perched on the edge of a tree stump, her legs crossed and a bloody long sword in her right hand. Her white eyes danced in the fading sunlight with unholy glee and her lips were curved upwards in a mischievous smile.

As the man continued to whimper in pain, the girl reached into a hidden pocket of her tunic and withdrew from it a bloodied piece of paper. She scanned the writing on it, looking for some sort of clue. She had obtained this scrap of parchment from the man whose hand she had cut off, and it was painfully obvious that whatever the paper had said, it wasn't good news for him.

"You know," she said snidely, her voice scratchy and strangely guttural, "when you first arrived at my village, I was ready to welcome you into our close-knit circle." She stood up, and pocketing the scrap, said, "But now, because of your damn curiosity, I have to leave and start all over again! Have you any idea how you've ruined my life?! I hate busybodies like you!" With inhuman speed, she picked up the man and shoved him against the nearest tree, holding him aloft by his throat. "Any last words?" she asked mockingly. The man's pupils dilated in fear, but the intense grip on his wind pipe prevented him from screaming. "Say goodnight then."

The relentless pressure on the man's neck decreased, allowing him to breath, but not by much. Curiously, the pressure seemed to travel to his chest, where it began to build up, pushing against his ribcage with considerable force. "Uuuuuuuhhhhnnnnnnn!" he moaned as he watched his torso expand. The flesh stretched and twisted, as if something was attempting to claw its way out from the inside. For a moment, there was only the disgusting sound of skin being misshapen and distorted; then, after a minute or so, the pain hit.

Despite his lack of sufficient oxygen, the man screamed in agony. "AAAAAAARRRRRRRRGGGGGGHHHHHH!" The girl smirked as she released her grip on the man's throat and took a few steps back. With her arms crossed and her hip cocked to the side, she actually looked interested in what was happening.

Somewhere in the farthest regions of his mind the man registered that he had been let go, but his body was still shackled to the tree by some unseen force; his legs and arms were spread out, like some horrific sacrifice. Briefly, he wondered what type of magic was being invoked. That was all he had time to ponder before another wave of pain struck. He screamed again, louder than the first time. His skin was stretching out, farther and farther, revealing the intricate web of veins and nerves that were spread throughout his body.

SNAP!

He howled in renewed anguish as his ribs began to snap like twigs.

SNAP! SNAP! SNAP!

"AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" He screamed yet again, but this time in absolute horror as the broken shards of his ribs forced their way through the many layers of his epidermis. Like blood riddled spears they advanced, puncturing organs and tissue and anything else that got in their way.

SNAP! SNAP! SNAP! SNAP! SNAP! SNAP!

The ribs continued to break, pulling him deeper and deeper into the drowning pool of pain. Blood spurted from his wounds in horrid amounts, staining his clothes and skin. It cascaded off of his body in minute waterfalls, mixing with the dirt of the ground. His body began to convulse and he thrashed his head from side to side.

The girl, who had been watching thus far with an expression of sadistic joy on her face, moved in a little closer. Leaning up to the mangled body, she whispered, "Hurts, don't it?" The man tried to scream as another contraction of pain hit, breaking more ribs, but his lungs weren't functioning properly, due to blood loss.

SNAP! SNAP! SNAP! SNAP!

More bone fragments ruptured through his torso, impaling both his already malfunctioning lungs and allowing them to fill with bodily fluids. He coughed as his lungs filled up with blood and stomach acid, spraying the liquids everywhere. The majority of it landed on the girl, tarnishing her clothes and hair. For one second, there was absolute silence; the calm before a storm. Then, with the same unnatural speed as before, she grabbed the man's face and forced him to look into her eyes. She seemed to hover several inches above his head; she was levitating.

The man shrunk back as far as he could from the girl's daunting stare. Her eyes, an intense white, were glowing in such a manner that they appeared to be charged with electricity. The man actually felt his hair begin to stand on end. She chuckled. "What's the matter?" she taunted. "Surely you aren't afraid of a girl"

She held the gaze for a few seconds, as if wondering what to do with him. Unexpectedly, she grabbed him by the hair and yanked upwards, forcing his neck into an uncomfortable position. "You are about to die," she stated with a neutral, blasé tone. "My face shall be the last thing you see, my voice the last thing you hear, my name the last thing on your mind, and this pain the last thing that you shall ever feel………."

As she said this, the muscles in the man's body began to constrict, putting an unbelievable amount of pressure on his bones. He struggled against the force, but it was useless.

SNAP! SNAP! SNAP! SNAP!

Four more ribs broke. Once again, he was overwhelmed by pain and he opened his mouth to scream, but the only thing he could produce with his tortured lungs was a rattling breath. Seeking some form of mercy, he raised his head to look at the girl, pleading for his life with his pain glazed eyes. She stared back, unimpressed by his pathetic look; pity was not one of her many qualities, and neither was mercy.

However, she reached out and stroked his cheek softly; the man shuddered. When she pulled her hand away, it was covered in blood. Making sure that her victim was watching, she slowly licked her fingers clean. The man moaned in both horror and disgust at the spectacle. Satisfied with her performance, the girl lowered herself back to solid ground, collected her long sword, and turned to walk away. "Oh, she called out, her voice disturbingly cheerful, "before I forget, I'm the Reaper!" The man barely registered that fact before the pain returned with renewed vigor.

SNAP! SNAP! SNAP! SNAP! SNAP!

The last of his ribs snapped as his muscles continued to shrink. The poor man took a shuddering breath (as much as he could with his lungs in the condition that they were in) and his eyes rolled back, revealing their white undersides. His body began to thrash, this time having nothing to do with magic. After a few moments of spasmming, he grew still and his eyes glazed over.

He was dead.

The Reaper, who had stopped to watch the death throes, noticed that one of the man's ribs remained unbroken. Smiling, she walked over to the corpse and, grasping the bloodied bone in one hand, pulled downwards.

SNAP!

"Heh heh heh." The Reaper threw the splinter to the ground and cocked her head back. Looking at the dark sky, she whispered, "I'm coming to kill you, dear brother; you're next on my hit list!"


A/N: I still like this chapter