WARNING: This chapter contains mentions of the Holocaust. If you feel uncomfortable with this topic, please read until you reach the first line split (I will put a little heads up there). There will be some foreshadowing during the chapter itself, but it will appear in later chapters if you wish to skip most of the chapter.
Thank you.
And I'm sorry that this story doesn't really get updated as often as my other stories. And this chapter took even longer cuz I needed to use the original script so that I knew what I was doing. (Yes, there is an original script to this story – this is the remake version. And no, I will never post the original script. It's too embarrassing… ^^; Funny thing is that I'm sort of dying on this story…EXACTLY WHERE I DIED OFF FROM THE ORIGINAL SCRIPT TOO. And yes, there's more. LOTS more to this story. But – of course – it's all in my mind.)
Okay, I'm done ranting. See you at the bottom.
Danny sighed as he flew over the harbor, bored out of his mind. He really wanted some action after doing all of his homework for a week and a half straight, plus the ghosts have been quiet, plus Sam, Tuck, and Val were out and about.
He aimlessly floated above the carnival on the harbor docks, scanning the crowds just in case someone was in trouble or somebody was committing a crime when something caught the attention of his neon green eyes.
A black shadow with red eyes zoomed between people's feet.
A demon! Danny thought to himself as he descended towards the ground. He landed a short ways from the demon, noting that the demon was being occupied with something. He might as well destroy the thing before it causes any trouble. Danny prepared a ghost ray; about it hit the demon when…
"Crud!" Danny yelled when the demon suddenly took off, flying fast through the air. Danny jumped into the air and sped off after it, his hands still glowing with that otherworldly green. "Come back here!" Danny shouted towards the demon. The demon either ignored his shout or couldn't hear it as it sped towards the beach. Danny pushed himself to go faster as the demon landed on the sand.
Danny fired a ghost ray at the demon; and just like the first time, the attack went harmlessly through the demon. The demon noticed the halfa, spinning to face the half ghost. It was then, did he realize that the only way how he could destroy the demons was to use his ghost powers with the Grimm.
Which he doesn't have with him anymore.
The demon scrunched its hind legs ready to pounce onto the half human. Danny tensed, knowing that the demon already has the upper hand in this fight. Just as the demon was about to spring onto the boy, a wave of sky blue energy engulf the demon, completely destroying it. A grinned spread across Danny's face.
"Thanks, Uncle Max." Danny cried out happily as he faced the cloak wearing Reaper. The Reaper, who was right by the water line, smiled.
"You're welcome." Max replied as his nephew landed in front of him. He messed with Danny's snow white hair. The boy scoffed, pulling away from his uncle. "Well, I better go." The Reaper announced, turning away from the half-dead boy.
"Wait! Uncle Max!" Danny called. "I-I wanna help you!"
It was comedic how the Reaper stumbled from his black robe. He turned to face his nephew.
"What did you say?" Max asked. Danny rolled his neon green eyes.
"I said that I would like to help you…with your Grim Reaper duties."His uncle gave him smiled at him, before a dazed glare flashed across the dead man's eyes. Danny frowned, stepping closer to his uncle.
"Max?" the teen called out tentatively. "Max? Are you alright?"
Suddenly, the dazed look disappeared as a more dangerous one appeared. His smile turned twisted, making goose bumps rise on Danny's skin.
"You said you wanna help me?" His uncle asked in a sing-song voice, rocking back and forth on his heels. It took Danny a moment to realize that his uncle is having one of those 'insanity moments'.
"Um…Yeah?" Danny said a little worried about his uncle.
"Good." Said his uncle, a twisted expression still glued onto his face. "Make your hands intangible."
Danny blinked.
"What?" The half ghost asked, bewildered from the order.
"You heard me." Max said, pulling the powerful scythe away from his side. "Make your hands intangible. Trust me." Still bewildered, and wondering if his uncle's mental insaneness is getting worse, he did as his uncle told him. A glint of pure pleasure sparked from the Reaper's eye. "Alright. Now…" He began, moving the Grimm in front of him. "…stick your hands inside Grimm."
…
"What?" Danny asked arduously. Max frowned.
"Just do it." He muttered darkly.
Shaking his snowy hair, Danny's hands reached for the Grimm, easily passing through the wooden surface of the staff. He knew that his hands would just continue to pass through until they reach the other side…
So his face lit up in shock when his hands suddenly halted just passed the staff's surface.
"Wha-?" Danny questioned, trying to push against the wall that seemed to appear out of nowhere. His hands curled around something smooth, his face still in utter shock. The Reaper smiled with morbid glee.
"Okay, now I want you to pull out whatever you're holding." He told his nephew. Danny, still staring at the staff in awe, vaguely nodded his head. He felt his fingers tightening against the smooth surface; and with a breath and eyes shut, Danny tugged with all of his might. At first, he was struggling until whatever was holding him back suddenly let go, allowing Danny to rip whatever he has in his hands to come out of the staff. He felt a dark power release itself as something wrapped itself around the halfa's frame as Danny stumbled backwards to a stop. Only then, did he open his eyes.
"Wha?" Danny gasped, shocked to see his version of the Grimm in his hands. His jet-black tattered robe hung from his shoulders, the long sleeves covering his arms. Danny glanced back at his uncle, awed that his own Grimm was still in the dead man's hands. "How?" Danny asked, unable to form a complete sentence as he looked back and forth between the two scythes. The Reaper chuckled at the halfa's confusion.
"How? Simple." The Reaper began that cocky expression on his face. "Grimm. Well, this Grimm." He shifted the scythe in his hand. "He gave you some power to become the Grim Reaper…again."
"Oh." That was all Danny could respond. He still has some trouble getting his mind wrapped around the idea of the Grimm being more than just some ancient scythe; an actually living being. He shivered in discomfort.
"Mind you; I still have the real Grimm. You just have its power." He added, as if knowing how awkward his nephew was feeling.
"Oh." Danny repeated, not wanting to think too deeply into this matter.
All of a sudden, a tug nearly caused all of Danny's air to escape. The Reaper grinned devilishly.
"Time to get to work." His uncle said. Danny nodded, still feeling uncomfortable with his uncle acting this way. With a small smile, Danny disappeared, heading towards the recent death. The Reaper's grin turned into a sneer, and then he began to laugh manically when he sensed where Danny had reappeared.
"He's in Germany!" He cried out insanely as he continued to laugh. "Dachau, Germany!" He laughed, and laughed, and laughed. Slowly his insane laughter began to die as his more reasonable mind resurfaced, shoving away all of the 'mental instability' away. Only then, when his mind was completely clear, did he stop laughing; his face paler than usual.
"Dachau…" He muttered, looking utterly worried. "That's where one of those…" The words died, the Reaper feeling a little uncomfortable with the knowledge that his nephew would be very close to a nest of demons. "B-b-but he has no reason to go in there. … Right?" He asked himself. Then he shook his head in disappointment over himself. "I'm worrying too much. There's absolutely no way that Danny would be that stupid to go into a nest full of demons. Feh. I need to trust his common sense a bit more." He muttered to himself before vanishing from Amity Park and reappearing at a bus accident far away from where the halfa was currently at.
And everyone knows how great Danny's – Fenton or Phantom – common sense can be.
HERE IS WHERE YOU CAN SKIP.
Danny reappeared, his black hood covering his hair and face so that only his glowing eyes could be seen. Automatically, he knew that he's in Dachau, Germany. He immediately tense as the auras of many demons entered his senses. He turned, facing towards where the auras were coming from.
A building loomed beyond an ivory iron fence. A sense of forbearing filled Danny's core with freezing cold fear – and that's a feat itself cuz the halfa's core is always cold.
A sniffle dragged the apprentice's attention from the abandoned building complex to the humans in front of him.
Two young boys were bent over an adult man – which one could only guess as the father. All three of them had the same dark brown hair color, their skin just lightly tanned from being outside so much. Danny realized that the two boys were crying, their bodies shaking as they spoke their native tongue to their dying father – whose breaths were shallow and pitiful. The halfa felt bad for the two boys but what could he do? He's the Grim Reaper's apprentice, and he has a duty to do…
Even if he doesn't want to do it…
Danny approached the group of beings, the boys' mourning reaching his ears.
The father bathed in a faded golden light, his soul about ready to move on. Danny rustled closer to the family, waiting for the man's one last breath when…
"Who are you?!" Cried out one of the boys. Danny jumped when the kid had screamed at him, for he wasn't expecting to be seen...
"Err…" Danny began to say, a little unease about dealing with a child whose parent is dying. The boy – who appeared to be older than the other – glared distrustfully at Danny. His blue eyes moved over to the scythe in Danny's hand.
Oh shinz.
"You're-!" The boy shouted fearfully, scrambling back away from the halfa. His younger brother, turned to look at his elder, only for his eyes to land on Danny too. Again, the same fear appeared on his face as he too scrambled away from the Reaper. "You're-!" The elder boy began again, but died once more.
And then, to everyone's surprise.
"Adelelmo…" The father whispered hoarsely. Immediately, all three of the boys turned towards the dying man. Adelelmo shot Danny one last look of distrust before he turned his attention onto his father.
"Father?" Adelelmo whispered, kneeling down the man who had raised him for thirteen years of his life.
"Where's…Hubert?" The father asked. Hubert immediately dropped next to his father, tears freely flowing from his eyes.
"H-h-here…f-father." Hubert sobbed out; he grabbed his father's hand and held it in his own.
"Please…don't cry…" The father choked out, almost like an order. "You two…have to be brave…for your mother…"
At that moment, something flashed in Adelelmo's eyes. And Danny recognized it immediately.
It was the signal of determination…and of protection. There was also a thirst for something…but a thirst of what? Danny vaguely thought to himself before the father said something that made Danny turn his attention back onto the dying man.
"What?" Danny asked in German. Adelelmo glared harder at the Reaper, but the father weakly repeated what he had said.
"Take me…quickly….Reaper…" He mumbled. Danny stood there, a little shocked before he nodded his head.
"Of course," he said, complying with the man's wishes.
Danny edged towards the man, keeping a warily eye on Adelelmo. As he bent over, the man gestured Danny to get closer. Danny obeyed and was within a breath's away when he whispered into the halfa's ear…
"Help my children…and save my wife…" He whispered into Danny's ear. Danny paused in utter shock as he processed the man's words. Help his children and save his wife? Danny thought to himself in bewilderment, what does he think I am? An angel or something?!
Danny stared at the man, the man returning the stare back with his own harden stare. What should he do? What should he say? Out of all of the souls that he has moved onward, this is the first one that had asked him to do something for him. Should he respect the man's wishes or should he lie and ignore it?
The man was waiting for the young Reaper's answer.
"O-of course," Danny whispered into the man's ear. The man smiled softly at Danny before his one last breath died in his lungs. Hubert wailed, shaking his father's body as if he was just pretending to be dead. But Danny knew…
That the man was dead.
Quickly, the Reaper's apprentice did his job, releasing the man's golden soul. In a second, the soul was gone – to where ever the souls disappear from the Earthly plane.
The only sounds that split the deathly still air was Hubert's cries and Adelelmo's sniveling. Danny wasn't really paying attention, for the father's words were still echoing in his head…
Help my children….and save my wife…
Danny still felt conflicted with this. On one hand, of course he's gonna help his children and save his wife! (Where ever she was.) He's a hero! That's what hero's do! But, on the other hand, he's a Reaper… He's not supposed to feel pity for the dead… But…wasn't he supposed to honor their last wish? He felt so conflicted…so at lost at what to do…
"Come on, Hubert," Adelelmo said, snapping the attentions of both his younger brother and the halfa, "let's go find mother." Danny and Hubert stared at Adelelmo, who was moving away from his dead father. Hubert glanced with sorrow at his father before getting up and following his brother. Danny stood beside the dead man, watching as the two sons amble away from him…
And towards the building surrounded by an iron fence.
Danny frowned, watching them go towards the place where he sensed lots of demons hiding there. And again, he felt conflicted with whether or not he should obey the man's last wish.
Danny shook his head and let out a long sigh.
"Whatever," he said, stepping away from the dead man.
"Why are you here? Gonna take your souls too?" Adelelmo spat at Danny as he approached the two brothers. Danny snorted but didn't say anything as he stood beside them at the front gate of the complex.
The halfa's neck hairs stood up straight in response to the air, so thick of demons. Danny tensed, gripped his scythe tighter.
"Why are you guys going in there?" Danny asked his eyes trained inside of the courtyard. It was a while before one of them answered, and it was the younger one who did.
"Mama is still in there…" Hubert whispered. Danny blinked at the younger boy, a little worried by his soft and fearful tone. Adelelmo let out a puff of air, his eyes hard at the building complex in front of him.
"Yes, she is," the older brother agreed with the younger, "and we're gonna save her." His hand shot to grab his brother's and both walked into the complex, with Danny following on high alert right behind them.
The three kids cautiously made their way passed the gate, slowly inching themselves closer to the buildings themselves. Danny couldn't remember the last time that he was this aware, so alert that even the brothers' steps were unnerving him. The air is so dense with demonic auras that Danny was literally sweating, waiting for a demon to pop out of nowhere to attack.
"I wonder where Mama is…" Hubert squeaked quietly, still clutching to his older brother's shirt. Adelelmo gave his younger sibling a glance before his eyes steadied on a particular building.
"She's smart Hub," Adelelmo said softly. "She's probably in the chambers." Danny cocked an eyebrow.
"The chambers?" Danny asked, a sense of dread stirring inside of him. The brothers kept on walking, and Danny was beginning to believe that they weren't gonna answer him until Adelelmo spoke up.
"The gas chambers," the kid said in monotone. Danny felt his legs froze, his body coming to a grinding halt.
"Wait… Gas chambers?! Like, THE gas chambers!" Danny shouted, sounding horrified with the idea of nearing one of those dead-end rooms. The two brothers continued to walk as if nothing was wrong with that statement. Confused by the brothers' reactions, he flew up to the pair, his feet touching the ground once more as he begun to walk. "H-how… How are you guys taking this in with a straight face?! Shouldn't you be ashamed or something!?"
Hubert frowned at Danny. "What do you mean?" he asked the young Reaper. Danny stared at him, his face paler than usual. Adelelmo huffed.
"Danny, there's no reason to be afraid of Dachau's gas chambers," Adelelmo began, earning an even paler look from the Reaper, "because they were never used to kill people." Danny continued to stare at the brother, not quite believing him.
"And what if you're wrong?" the Reaper questioned. The color from Adelelmo's face drained, but his eyes were still set on the building.
Footsteps echoed as they neared closer to the building. Danny was still on edge, but a question was nipping at the back of his mind.
"Say…why would demons attack you guys?" the apprentice asked. Adelelmo's eyes narrowed as he gripped in younger brother's hand tighter.
"Because…" Adelelmo began, his eyes shifting everywhere, as if he was ashamed of something.
"Our grandfathers were Nazis…and they were the ones who murdered the Jewish people."
It was as if a dam collapsed, all of the stillness broke into chaos as demons of every shape and size materialized out of nowhere. Danny didn't even have time to gasp in shock as a demon flew towards the frozen brothers, a wicked claw ready to tear into their flesh.
Instinctively, Danny swung, the scythe easily slashing through the tiny demon's body like butter. Little pieces of the said demon disappeared, vanishing from existence. However, more demons were making their moves on the brothers, causing Danny to rush after each evil soul.
He swung his scythe almost like a bat. Whipping the weapon back and forth so fast that it appeared that Danny had a wicked sharp piece of reflective cardboard instead of a scythe. But no matter how quickly Danny destroyed the demons, only more came. Never ending waves, crashing upon him, and eroding him away like a cliff.
There's no way that all of these demons live here, Danny thought to himself. His lime green eyes strayed towards the brothers, who were standing so close that they appeared to have only one body and two heads. I gotta get them to a safe place, but I don't see a break between these demons. And there's no way that I could destroy enough to create an opening for these two… He destroyed another demon before an idea came to mind.
"Adelelmo, Hubert," Danny called, blocking a demon that strayed to close. He received no answer; he tried again, "Adelelmo! Hubert!"
"Y-y-yes?" Adelelmo asked.
"I have a plan!" Danny shouted, swinging his scythe, but only injuring a demon instead of destroying it. Danny gritted his teeth, exhaustion tugging him. He back stepped closer to the brothers, beginning to block more instead of attacking. "Listen to me and do what I tell you."
"And why should we do that, Reaper?" Adelelmo huffed out. Danny gritted his teeth as a demon landed on his blade.
"Because!" Danny yelled, swinging the scythe in order to fling off the demon. "It's a matter of life or death! So listen to me or else he will end up dead!" Danny took Adelelmo's silence as a 'yes'. "Okay, here's the plan. I want you guys to ran straight towards the…the…chambers when I say 'Go'."
"And what about those things?" Adelelmo asked, nodding his head towards the demons.
"Just run straight through them," Danny told them.
"What? Are you crazy-?"
"Listen!" Danny roared, actually destroying a couple of demons before all he could was harming them but not more. "They'll be caught off guard! So shocked that you guys could run straight towards them that they would be momentarily frozen!" Adelelmo's face twisted but did not say anything. Danny made a few more swipes before he decided it was time.
"Go!" Danny yelled. The brothers bolted underneath Danny's scythe and straight towards the demons. True to Danny's word, the demons were frozen in pure bafflement, allowing the boys and the young apprentice to almost reach the chambers before the demons recovered and attacked. This downtime allowed Danny to rest enough to start using his powers with his scythe.
He poured some of his power into the scythe, not realizing that it was glowing sky blue instead of the usual lime green. With a mighty heave, Danny swung the blade.
His glowing sky blue eyes widen in shock as ice cold blue power poured from the blade and slammed into the demons, instantly freezing them. Danny blinked, momentarily frozen with surprise. However, his surprise died when the demons easily broke through their prisons and lunged after the living humans.
Danny cursed and swung the scythe again and again. A few demons would disappear, but those were the ones that were the size of lizards; the more human-like ones were getting scratches, but nothing more. Those demons were constantly straining the halfa as they beaten down on him.
The sound of a squeaking door reached Danny's ears. He turned to see the brothers entering the building right behind him. Sending one quicker wave of power, Danny flew after the boys and slammed the door shut the second he entered the room.
The apprentice panted a bit, his back leaning against the sealed door. He was still tense, waiting for the demons to seep through the walls and attack them. But it seemed that no demon wanted to enter the building, leaving Danny a sense of relief but yet full of forbearing. Why wouldn't a whole horde of demons dare enter a building?
"Reaper?" called out a scared Adelelmo.
"I-I'm here," Danny answered, his neon eyes allowing him to see better in the pitch darkness, however he could not see the wall on the other side of the room. He took a few steps toward where he had heard the boy's voice. "Where are you guys?"
"Over here," Adelelmo said quietly. Danny followed and soon saw the pair. Hubert appeared to try to choke his older brother to death, but Adelelmo didn't seem to notice nor care about his brother's grip.
"Are… Are we safe?" Adelelmo whispered in that same fearful voice, his eyes locked onto Danny's unearthly ones. Danny sighed, closed his eyes, and did a quick aura check before his eyes reopened.
"Yeah, we're safe," Danny replied. He knew that wasn't quite the truth, but it allowed Adelelmo to relax a bit. Danny glanced around, making sure that there weren't any demons and also wondering about how they are going to escape from here. He could teleport them, but he had never teleported a large group before. In Rome, it was just him and Benetto, plus they were chasing a demon, but being overcome by dozens so it wasn't such a problem then.
"W-why are there so many of those monsters?" Hubert asked shakily. Danny was caught off guard by that question.
Hubert was right. Why are there so many demons here? Out of all of the places Danny has traveled to, he has never seen so many in one condensed spot… Why is that? Did a Reaper not do a good job during the Holocaust or something? Did they left behind a few souls to rot forever? Heck, who was the Grim Reaper back then? It couldn't be his uncle… Max was born in the same decade as his older brother Vlad and Danny's parents…and that's a good decade after WWII… So who was the Reaper back then? And why didn't they help the entire souls move on?
A moan dragged Danny away from his thoughts.
"Mother!" Hubert screamed, immediately abandoning his spot from his brother as he darted into the darkness of the room. "Mother!" Adelelmo ran after his brother while Danny followed shortly behind the brothers. Danny heard another groan, and then a cry of relief.
"Mother!" a brother said happily with a hint of worry. Danny frowned as he followed the voices until he caught sight of the family.
The mother was in the same state as her husband. Claw marks ran along her body. Blood was splattered everywhere on her blouse and skirt. There was a faint golden aura surrounding her…
She's close to death.
"We have to get her to the hospital," Danny said urgently. Adelelmo turned around.
"But how?" he asked. The apprentice smiled, instantly grabbing Adelelmo's hand. "Hey!" the kid shouted as Hubert's shoulder was also grabbed. "What do you think you're doing?!"
"I'm getting us out of here," Danny said, smirking. He turned towards the younger brother. "Make sure you're holding your mother tight." The child nodded, clinging to his dying mother for dear life. Adelelmo let out an impatient huff.
"And how is us holding each other gonna get us out?" Adelelmo demanded. Danny only smirked more.
"Simple. I'm gonna teleport us," he answered. Adelelmo's eyebrows knitted together.
"What are you-" but he didn't finished as the foursome vanished from spot-
-and reappeared outside. Danny instantly opened his eyes in horror. Sure he had teleported them out of the building, but not out of the camp! Danny glanced behind him, watching as the demons realized that their prey were behind them. He glanced back in front of him. The gate was only two football fields away. It wouldn't be a problem for Danny to run to safety, but as for the brothers and their injured mother, the distance was much farther than Danny wanted.
"Go!" the halfa shouted at the brothers while he faced the demons. "Get out of here!"
The brothers immediately began to drag their mother across the ground, trying to hurry towards the gate. Danny kept his eyes on the fast approaching demons. He gritted his teeth together as they got closer and closer to them.
There must be a way to slow them down, Danny thought to himself as he moved his scythe to the side. Danny's gaze was so intent on the demons; that he did not realize that where the lime green once shown proudly on his scythe was now an icy blue.
Once the demons were within attacking range, Danny swung his scythe.
Utter shocked appeared on his features as a wave of ice descended upon the demons, instantly freezing them. He glanced at the scythe, watching as the ice blue disappeared beneath the usual lime green color. He blinked, still frozen with shock.
"What the heck-?" he mumbled to himself, not noticing the demon heading towards him. He saw the demon at the last second, but it was too late to react. The demon slammed its fist into Danny's face, the impact sending Danny several yards towards the family. The brothers paused in terror as the Reaper's apprentice landed face down on the concrete, his scythe skidding just beyond his reach.
"Reaper!" Adelelmo shouted as Danny shakily got up. He dragged his mother and brother the last foot or so to the Reaper. "Are you alright?" Danny sat up, wiping his face with his sleeve.
"I'm fine," he replied.
A roar emitted from the demons as they flew towards the boys. The brothers yelped as Danny grabbed his scythe, intent to protecting them even though he had no energy left to do so.
"StoP," a man's hollowed voice, resonating throughout the entire camp. Every single demon froze in their spots, and immediately reeled backwards. Danny felt like the pit of his stomach just fell.
There stood a man that wasn't human, but looked exactly like one. His skin was too gray to be called sickly. Hair once held an elegant flair, but looked patchy and uncared for. The whites of his eyes ran red, giving the brown irises a darker appearance. His business suit hung on his sickly frame, moving as if it were alive.
The demon walked over to the escapees, his aura was suffocating Danny.
"WeLl, wELl, WeLL," the demon man chided. "wHaT Do wE HAvE hEre?" he asked, enjoying the looks of fright on the children's faces. "A rEaPER and NaZIs CHiLDreN. hMmmmM." He leaned forward, sniffing the humans as if they were freshly baked desserts. "I wONDer," the man amused to himself, his fingers morphing more claw-like, "whAt A FrESh YOuNg rEAPeR," his claw extended towards Danny's throat. Danny was paralyzed with fear, "WOuLd taSTe lIKe?"
A blade appeared, blocking the claw from piercing its target.
"Sorry," said the owner of the wooden staffed-scythe, "but I would rather have you not eat my apprentice." Max finished with a harsh tone. Danny blinked, looking up.
"Uncle?"
"Go," the man said his eyes only trained on the demonic man in front of him.
"But-"
"I said go!" Max shouted at his apprentice. Danny flinched, but rose up. Grabbing the two brothers – who were still clinging to their mother – pulled them away from the horde of demons and closer to the gate.
The demonic man tried to move around the Reaper, but the scythe's blade appeared by the demon's throat.
"Sorry," Max said in a tone that was barely above a growl, "but you're not going anywhere." The demonic man blinked before he sneered.
"I sEe," he whispered. His fingers snapped, and the army of demons shot passed the two frozen men. Max cussed under his breath and turned towards the escaping humans, however, one of the demonic man's claws stabbed the Reaper's shoulder.
"Ack!" Max yelped with pain as muscles seized in his inflicted shoulder. He heard the demon man behind him crackling with amusement.
"iF i Can'T gO AnYWHeRe," the man said darkly, "tHEn NeiThEr cAN yOu."
"Hurry!" Danny cried out as he flew over to the family. The brothers were huffing and puffing as they tried to drag their mother to safety. Danny turned around and was met with a wall of approaching demons.
Ignoring that sick feeling in his stomach, Danny forced his power into his scythe and attacked. The wave of ghostly energy destroyed a layer of demons, but more laid underneath. Danny gritted his teeth as he strike again.
The wave of demons pressed closer and closer to the living. Danny was exhausted as he tried to swipe again, but only a pathetic crackle made it out of the scythe. Dread filled the halfa as the demons decided to pounce. The brothers saw the demons launching at them and screamed.
Max paused in his barrage of attacks, the screams reaching his ears.
Oh no, he thought to himself in worry as he dodged a lightning-fast attack from the demon man. He gritted his teeth, shooting a bolt of lightning from the scythe. It struck the man, leaving a hole; however, that hole was healed within a second, the man humming to himself.
"FuNNy," he began, his fingers like claws, "i ThOUGhT DeATh'S sUCceSoR wOUlD bE MORe PoWErfUl tHeN THiS." He attacked, his claws caught by the Grimm's wooden staff. Max gritted his teeth more as he shoved the demon away and shot another wave of electricity at the man, who only laughed once his recent wounds healed.
"FoRGet It REApER!" the man cried out as he struck again. "YoU CanNOt dEFEat mE WiTH tHOsE PItIfuL aTTAcks! OnLY a dEMoNIc POwEr caN sTop Me!"
Max quickly dodged the attack, sliding a few yards away from the demon man.
The Reaper gritted his teeth; he would rather not use his other power. Frankly because he's fearful that it may overwhelm him to the point that he loses his sense of self. But then again, he never was able to destroy these powerful demons without at least three more spiritual people beside him. Thing is, it's just him and Danny. No one else can help them. It's either Max chances it or ends up letting the demons kill the living.
"Master," a hollowed voice choked out of the scythe. Max ignored it, but the voice continued. "If you wish to save their lives, you must use the power he speaks of." Max's pupil-less eyes were still trained on the demonic man.
The Reaper took a breath.
"Fine," he said with no emotion in his voice what-so-ever as the demon man leapt into the air to attack from above. He stilled, his eyes closed as darkness swirled inside of him.
The demon man stilled midair. A questioning look crossed his face. The Reaper's aura had suddenly changed dramatically. It was more like…
…a demon's.
The demon man watched as the Reaper's eyes snapped open, swinging the Grimm in an arch, but his eyes were trained on the Reaper's eyes – more like where the white of the eyes are.
Instead of the sclera being white, it was pitch black, giving the eyes a sinister, demonic look. The demon man could only stare at the demented face before his vision was covered by darkness. Noticing the demonic power, he dodged it; the tainted power rippling passed him; however one part of his body wasn't so lucky. His hand was cleaved off by the black demonic power.
The man screamed, his voice hollowed and echoing like a thousand people being tortured as he stared at the stump. He turned to face the Reaper, only to find the dead man gone.
He roared with anger.
Danny thought he was gonna die, the brothers' screams were about to be the last thing he'll ever hear.
Of course he wasn't prepared to have a cloak had up of shadows to block his vision. It took him a moment to realize that he wasn't gonna die, but his senses screamed that a demon was right in front of him. His uncle glanced at him, his eyes wide with fear.
"Run!" he commanded Danny. The halfa only blinked.
"But-" he began to say, only for the dead man to interrupt him.
"I Said GO!" he roared at his nephew. Danny jumped and burst into action, dragging the brothers along with their mother with him. The teen peeked over his shoulder, watching his uncle as lightning clashed against the demons. Danny frowned to himself. For some odd reason, his uncle's aura was…different; more sinister, more…demonic; but…it can't be…
Danny and the living brothers cross the threshold of the gate. Danny twisted and looked back at his uncle, who had landed right beside him.
"Uncle?"
"Teleport them away from here," the Reaper told his apprentice.
"But-"
"I will tell you later," he snapped at Danny. Danny looked uneasy, but he followed instructions as he disappeared along with the family. Max breathed in and out, staring at the spot where Danny had disappeared.
"Looks like I missed," the Reaper noted as he turned around.
A wall of demon sat on the other side of the gate, stirring in irritation. The demon man stood at the forefront, clutching the arm that was missing a hand. The demon was staring intently at the Reaper as if he couldn't believe his eyes.
"You know you can leave the nest," Max told the man, but the demon didn't seem to hear him. Max looked at the man a bit more before he turned away, about to teleport to where his apprentice was when the demonic man spoke.
"YoU'rE The oNE…" his hollowed voice cracked with disbelief.
"yOu'RE DEAtH's sUcCEssOr," he finished.
"And?" Max asked, seeing no point of either denying or agreeing. "I thought we've already agreed to that." The demon man showed no signs of listening, taking a step closer as he crossed the threshold of the gate.
"tHEn wHY dO yOU hIdE?" the man asked quietly. Max blinked.
"What?" he asked as the man neared closer. Any sane person would walk away and not continue speaking to a demon that could rip that person to death.
"WHy Do YOu pREteNd tO bE A hUMan, wHeN yOu aRE A dEMoN?"
If Max still had a beating heart, it would've died.
"What?" he asked now thoroughly confused. "I…. I'm not a demon."
"wHy FIgHt iT?" the demon continued, his head closer to the Reaper's ear. "LeT thAt hAtREd cOnSUme You. LEt iT gROw. yOu KNoW whAt DEaTh tASteS lIkE. DrOWn In iTS pOWeR. sEIzE iT, bOY." The man leaned his mouth towards the Reaper's ear and whispered, "aND LeT tHE WoRLd CrUMBlE iN yOur WAkE."
Max stumbled backwards, fear showing on his face. The demon man looked mildly in disappointment.
"sTOp DelUDiNg yoUrSeLF," the man said calmly. "iT wOUld HUrT LeSS ThAT waY."
"I'm not deluding myself," Max retorted. The man laughed, pulling away from the Reaper as he walked backwards towards the gate.
"SuCH a cHiLD," the man noted, stopping at the threshold, staring with bored eyes at Max. "cOMe BaCK wHen yOU'vE WoKEn uP."
Max gave the demon man one last glare before he disappeared from sight.
The Reaper reappeared next to his apprentice, watching as the emergency people loaded up the dead man and the injured wife. The brothers glanced at the Reapers once more before they were escorted into the back of a police car.
"So," Danny began, watching as the emergency vehicles left the scene. "What the heck happened back there?"
"You mean when you tried to teleport out of there?" Max corrected. Danny nodded. The Reaper continued, "Whenever you're in an area where there are a lot of demons, it's called a demon nest. Usually, an upper-level demon – called a devil – runs the nest."
Danny blinked.
"You mean…" the halfa began to say. "That man that looked like a demon…is the devil?"
"Not the devil," Max corrected casually, "but a devil. I don't even know if there is the devil."
Danny nodded. "But why can't we just teleport out of the demon nest then?"
"I don't really know the reason why," Max said in a strained voice, "but we just can't. It has something to do with the devil. I'm not exactly sure." The Reaper then smiled at his nephew. "Ready to go home?"
Danny looked back at his uncle.
"Yeah, home sounds good right now."
And the two disappeared from sight.
Okay, so I've decided to end this chapter here. I was planning to go a bit more, but it's already over 6,000 words so I'll save the rest as a little flashback for the next chapter. ^^
Also, I would to have your guys' opinion about this story. I've been toying around with the idea of a non-fanfic version of this. Of course, many MANY things would be different. Obviously, the main character cannot be half-ghost; he's either dead or not. Another thing would be the nonexistence of the Master of Time. This leaves me how the main character would learn about Grim Reaper (maybe Maxy stays and helps?). I don't really know, but do tell me if it's a good idea or not. Thank you.