Reaper the Necromancer; The Trick to Reforming Another Soul
6 foot-tall, red, humanoid creatures huddle together behind the parked car.
As the owner of the car exits the building across the street they creatures hush their strange communication. The woman reaches into her pocket book to grab the car keys. Then she unlocks and opens the door. Seeing their chance, the tiny creatures scuttle around the back of the car. One of them climbs into the driver's seat as the woman closes the door behind her.
The creature jumps over the front row of seats before the woman adjusts her rear-view mirror and spots it. Then, it climbs into the back of the car and forces the back door open, letting in the other 5 creatures. They shut the door behind them as the woman takes off away from the city.
While the woman drives, oblivious to the creatures behind her, another group of strangers follow. Reaper twirls his scythe over his head and soars through the air above the car. Chibi hangs over his shoulder. Down below. Grims and Janine ride two stolen bikes while Orgog runs, hidden between them.
After 10 minutes of driving, the woman pulls into her secluded house in the country. The car stops as Reaper lands on the roof of her three story house. The lights and laughter echoing from the second floor window indicate this woman has a family. Grims and Janine stay at the base of the driveway and conceal themselves behind the bushes.
The woman opens the car door to exit as the creatures make their move. Reaper's muscles tighten in fear and 6 pairs of claws rake the woman's back. She never gets a chance to scream, the poison on the nails acts too fast. Her blue soul floats out from her lifeless body.
"We're too late," Moon sighs.
"I hate it when we're too late," Reaper frowns. "But it takes any twinge of guilt out of taking the kishin egg!"
The creatures hop out of the car and circle around the woman, murmuring something in their strange language. One of them reaches up and grabs the soul. His claws split the soul in 6 even pieces. Each of the creatures get a slice to eat.
"Sickening," Reaper growls. Chibi begins to tear up on his shoulder at the unpleasant sight.
"It's alright little girl," Moon says.
"You wait here," Reaper says.
"We'll be back in a minute, Chibi," Moon says.
"No, Moon, I mean you."
"What!? Why?"
"I want to do this alone," Reaper says as he drops the scythe onto the shingles and lowers Chibi from his shoulder. Then he leaps off the edge of the building and becomes a silhouette in the moon.
One creature glances up and sees the meister fall from the air. He yells something to the others and they all step back as Reaper lands on the hood of the car on one knee and one fist on the metal.
"You disgusting gremlins," Reaper grits his teeth. "Your souls are mine!"
One creature launches itself at Reaper with its claws raise. The meister reaches up with one hand and grabs the gremlin by the neck. It flails its claws at Reaper but he holds on.
"Stein has his Soul Purge, Black*Star has his Soul Force," Reaper mutters. "I have Soul Tremor!"
Sparks fly from Reaper's fist as he swings the gremlin down. The car metal buckles under the force of Reaper smashing the creature into pieces. It explodes in black smoke and leaves its kishin egg behind. Reaper shovels it in his mouth.
"Who's next!?" Reaper yells as his soul stripe illuminates through the darkness.
The car alarm goes off and startles the remaining gremlins. They step back in fear. Moments later, a man pulls open the front door holding a long shotgun. He gasps as he sees his wife's dead body, 5 strange creatures, and a boy on his car.
"Get back inside!" Reaper yells. "This is dangerous!"
The man fires a bullet from the shotgun. In the same instant, Reaper raises a hand towards the man, "Solid Soul Wavelength!"
The bullet is intercepted by sparks in the air around Reaper.
"Please," Reaper cries. "Your wife is gone! I'm sorry! Keep your kids safe! I'll protect you!"
The man gasps and hurries back inside.
One of the creatures growl and bring Reaper's attention back to it. He hops off the car.
"Oh no!" Grims gasps as he jumps out from behind the bush and runs up the driveway to help Reaper.
Reaper sees this as he ducks under the attacks from the gremlins. "No, Grims!" He yells. "I need to do this alone!"
"How!?" Grims asks as his arm transforms into a spotted scythe blade.
Reaper plants his foot on the ground as he dodges another attack. The gremlins are circled around the meister now and are preparing to strike again.
"Kid has his Stance of Crime," Reaper mutters. "And I have that too. But I also created this variation!"
A gremlin launches itself at Reaper from behind. He kicks his left leg forward and bends the other. The gremlin soars over his head. Next, Reaper crosses his left leg over his right so the foot rests on his right thigh. Reaper then holds his right arm in an arch over his head and bends his left arm in towards his center, extending two fingers.
"Stance of Gang Crime," Reaper says.
Another gremlin throws itself at Reaper from the front. He unbends his folded arm and strikes the gremlin. It spirals backwards. Immediately, Reaper returns that arm to its position and kicks his crossed leg out at it. The meister hits the gremlin at Grims, who slices it in half with his scythe arm. Its kishin egg hovers in the air.
Reaper returns his left leg to its position as the remaining four gremlins jump at Reaper. He jumps into the air and stays in the Stance of Gang. The gremlins slam into one another and crumple to the ground. Reaper turns in the air so his extended right arm faces down. Then he falls to the ground and lands on that hand. Finally, Reaper kicks his legs in a circular motion and hits the gremlins with his metal boots. They all disintegrate leaving behind red kishin eggs.
Grims stands stunned for a moment, then he transforms his arm back.
Reaper then stands back up normally and grabs a soul. As he puts it in his mouth, Moon and Chibi climb down from the house. Janine and Orgog come up the driveway as well.
"Why didn't you want our help?" Moon asks as Reaper swallows another kishin egg.
"I mean, that was really awesome, but why did you do that?" Janine asks.
Reaper raises a finger as he chews the third soul. He gasps for air as it goes down his throat.
"Because I wanted to try something," Reaper says, placing another soul in his mouth.
"With this?" Grims asks holding out the final kishin egg.
Reaper nods and grabs hold of it.
"I wasn't able to reform Janine by myself since it wasn't a soul I had in my own," Reaper says. Janine lowers her head. "I've been thinking, and I have a solution to that. The Way of the Necromancer."
The soul keeper clenches the kishin egg in his fist, "If I can resonate with this soul then maybe I can get control of it to reform it. That might be how necromancers do it."
"Brilliant!" Janine raises her head again and smiles.
It doesn't take long for Reaper to sense and sync with the kishin egg. Reaper can feel he now has power over the egg. He lets it back into the air and it begins to bubble and throb.
"It worked," Moon grins.
Quickly, the souls grows arms and legs. The gremlin's head and body take shape and it falls back to the ground.
Grims cuts through the creature again with his scythe arm, causing it to disintegrate again. "Congratulations, Reaper," Grims says. "You're a necromancer!"
"That was fast," Reaper says. "It takes a while for Juniana to reform souls. Maybe it just has to do with being a soul keeper?"
"Maybe," Grims says, turning his arm back to normal.
Reaper grabs the kishin egg and swallows it whole. His souls stripe glows and then dims.
"That's soul number 97, right?" Moon asks.
"Yep. We're so close," Reaper smiles.
"What are we going to do about the guys inside?" Grims asks.
"What can we do?" Reaper sighs. "Let's just get out of here before we all feel too guilty."
