Part 14: Grim and Evil vs. the forces of Hell

Mephisto's eyes widened by just a little. Still smiling, he asked "Now what makes you think I'd have a little something like that?"

Junior remained unreadable. "You're a powerful demon, no doubt, but you're only all-powerful in your own dimension. You're significantly weaker elsewhere. Not to mention that you were not the only one clamoring for Hell's throne after the war. For you to have bested all those others, you'd need to have "a little something" backing you up. Something like the Devil Essence, the power Him created."

Mephisto picked his teeth. "You've been sticking your fingers in a lot of pies these past few years, haven't you, bone boy? You've known for a while now that I've had the essence."

"I haven't felt the need to point it out to anyone since I don't tend to care about what you mongrels do down here."

"And yet you come to me late into the mortal night asking for it." Mephisto pointed out. "Now why do you want it?"

"I have my reasons."

"Yes, one of those reasons I'm sure being that the pure ancient evil of the essence is one of the few things that can bring harm to a being as powerful as you, as your sister proved I believe. And if it were to fall into the hands of someone who hates you, which is a lot of people, things could go downhill for you quite quickly."

"I have my reasons." Junior stated again. "I'm sure you of all people can understand that."

Mephisto eyed the Reaper carefully. "Yes…I suppose I can. But do tell me one thing, young Reaper, why would I give you the Devil's essence? After all, you yourself pointed out that it's made me the new ruler of Hell. What do you have to offer that could possibly make me want to give that up?"

"You'll find I can be very persuasive when I make deals." Junior said.

Mephisto laughed a little. "Yes, I've heard about some of the deals you've made. I'll admit I'm a little envious I didn't think of a few of them myself. But since I'm the one this time with something that you want, perhaps I should get a say in what you offer me."

Junior said nothing. Mephisto remembered the tales Him used to tell him about the boy's mother, how she always hid herself behind her an unbreaking expression, right up until the moment she struck.

"Now let's see…" The demon pondered out loud. "The scythe? Useful, but too cliché. Information perhaps? Ever since I took over this dump I have found myself wondering where your mother's soul ended up. No one's seen her since her death and if there's anyone who'd know where she got sent, it'd be the Death of her."

Junior didn't change his expression. Mephisto decided to push a little bit more.

"Or maybe I could go with an oldie but goodie and take your first-born. From what I hear that child could grow up to be quite the interesting creature."

Junior finally spoke, but did so still very calmly. "You're not getting my kid. Nor anything else you ask for."

"You're really convinced that you have something I'll gladly give up my claim over the essence for."

"I'm not offering you anything because the essence would be useless in my hands, which is something you already know." Junior stated.

Mephisto raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

"I know how the essence got here. When Mimi died it searched out for the source of greatest sin. Minnie was under my protection during that time and it wouldn't dare go after my mother, and with the beating the Land of Tainted Souls was taking, the only place it had left to go was here. It spread out like a virus and made this piece of crap an even bigger piece of crap. That is until you conned and made deals with all the infected until you became its sole holder."

"Nosy, nosy, little Reaper." He jokingly wagged his finger at him. "People won't like you very much if you keep spying on them."

Junior wasn't amused. "That stuff has only gotten worse since it's been here. It's been wallowing in so much sin that if I were to meld with it I wouldn't be able to control myself after very long and just hack, slash, eat, and bang everything in sight. The council would certainly have to take action against me then and, believe it or not, war is something I'm trying to avoid."

Mephisto steamed a little internally over how Junior had seen so far ahead of him as the Reaper continued talking. "Basically, the only people who might not be overtaken too much by that power are demons and sadly, Demon Reapers don't count."

"Then why did you come here?" Mephisto asked, dropping his playful façade. "If you knew you couldn't use it, then why did you come here to make a deal over it? Were you hoping I'd reveal it to you and you could try to destroy it?"

"No, no, no…" Junior shook his head in a condescending manner. "You can't destroy pure evil any more than you can destroy pure good. The universe can't exist without it. Besides, just because I can't use it myself doesn't mean I can't still use it."

Mephisto almost growled in anger at the Reaper, tried to being the one on this side of the game.

"And one more thing, Mephisto," Junior said. "Though I brought up the subject of deals, I never said I was making a deal with you."

Before the demon could question this remark, a series of loud and rapid explosion shook the ground under them, knocking him out of his chair. Getting up and looking behind him, he saw demons from across Hell running from the source of the attack: a fat grey, green, and pink blob flying through the air, blasting everything in sight.

"HAIL TO YOUR DEMON GOD, BITCH!" He yelled as he curved through Hell with the beam erupting from his hands.

"Dumplin?!" Mephisto exclaimed as he watched the destruction the former Majin was causing. "What the here does he think he's doing?! How dare he-!" A realization hit Mephisto and he turned sharply in anger to the Reaper, who smirked at him.

"Like I said, I can be quite persuasive."

Mephisto gritted his teeth in anger. "You've just declared war against Hell, Reaper."

"Me?" He said innocently. "I haven't done anything. I just happened to be taking a walk in another realm because I couldn't sleep, maybe even drop off a batch of freshly reaped souls for you, and it just so happened that I took my walk during the same time our resident Demon God decided to cause trouble in Hell, as all demons are allowed to do if they're powerful enough."

Junior turned the scythe in his hands, toying with the demon. "And in all the confusion, some of Hell's demons thought I was an enemy and attacked me, meaning that I of course had to defend myself. Especially when their leader made the same mistake."

Mephisto saw his reflection in the scythe's blade.

He snapped his fingers and in poofs of black smoke several large armored demons and ogres circled around the Reaper. Junior could barely contain his smile.

The moment Hell's guards attacked, hundreds of soul chains burst forth from the Reaper's body, impaling the monsters and tearing the souls out from their bodies. It didn't take long for Junior consume them.

Junior wiped his mouth with his sleeve. "Tastes a little overdone. Got anymore?"

Suddenly massive stone fingers burst forth from the ground, as a giant creature of lava and stone tried to grab the Reaper. Junior dodged out of the way, remembering Mimi once mentioning a similar creature that Him kept.

The creature lunged forward at the Reaper, but before Junior made a move to defend himself the creature found himself without a head as a bright yellow beam shot straight through it.

Dumplin landed right beside the Reaper. "Hey Grim, how ya doin?" He asked in his gruff voice.

"You sure took your time getting here." Junior pointed out.

"Not everyone has sticks that can tear holes in reality, ya know?"

"Fair enough. You remember our deal?"

"Yeah. Now which one of these guy is Mephisto?"

Junior pointed. "The red guy next to the throne. The one who looks like he's about to wet himself."

"Ok, cause I thought it was one of these other guys."

Junior looked around. While they'd been talking all the residences of Hell had gathered around them. The crowd stretched on for miles with no end in sight. Those Mephisto had sent at Junior before were just meant to momentarily stall him.

Mephisto, having recovered from the shock of the sudden attack, said "It was a pretty ballsy plan, the two of you coming down here. I suppose the two of you together might have been able to overpower me. But the throne of Hell is mine, remember? I control all of Hell's inhabitants. The greatest sinners of all time all bow to my will. Do you think even your powers are enough to take on the wrath of an entire dimension?"

Junior glared at him. "Easily."

The demon smiled at the two. "Let's hope you at least put on a good show." He snapped his fingers. All Hell broke loose and attacked.

Dumplin prepared his fighting pose. "Ya ready, bonehead?!"

Junior's eyes glowed green and a bladed tail burst out from behind him. He twirled the scythe in his hand before grasping it determinedly. "Ready."

To call the battle that ensued epic would be an understatement. The Lord of Death and the Demon God tore through waves after waves of Hell's minions. Every move the two made took out entire legions. The scythe cut down row after row while Dumplin's "Pizza Time" discs did the same. The two swam through the oceans of red and green demon blood as more fools attempted to stand in their way.

The entire time, Mephisto stayed seated on his throne, watching the carnage.

"So, uh, is he ever actually going ta join the fight?" Dumplin asked as he put his fist through another demon's skull.

"He's not really a hands-on kind of guy." Junior said, kicking a body off the blade of his scythe. "He's likely pondering how to turn all this in his favor. Which is why we're not letting him leave here alive."

"He doesn't seem all that worried." Dumplin pointed out the demon's smug nature.

"That's because he's not. He's got something else up his-" Something fast and pink struck Junior and sent him flying.

"Junior?!" Dumplin exclaimed before two more unidentified objects, one blue and the other green, struck him and knocked him over.

Junior got to his feet only to be struck again. It was too fast to be seen, but he could feel the presence of three souls dashing around them. Junior spun the scythe in his hand and struck the ground fiercely, creating a bright energy barrier around him and Dumplin. Barrier shot outward and knocked back everything around the two.

When the barrier faded Junior looked over to Mephisto's throne, where three men stood next to the demon. A blond, a brunette, and long-haired red head in a baseball cap. The Reaper knew of these three from the tales he heard growing up. Three of the only mortal beings just as powerful as Megaville's three greatest heroes.

The Rowdyruff Boys.

Mephisto smirked at the Reaper. "I won these boys off Him years ago in a poker game. They're good at maintaining whatever order I want to keep down here, but they tend to get a tad restless. It's been a while since they've been able to get some decent exercise."

"You should have called us sooner." Butch said, cracking his knuckles.

"Yeah." Boomer agreed. "We haven't gotten to have any real fun since we helped you take over this dump."

"Well Hell was feeling a little overcrowded." Mephisto commented. "I felt trimming the fat wouldn't hurt."

"More where they came from." Butch said.

"Indeed. Now then, the Grim Reaper has been kind enough to pay us a visit. I'd like you boys to make him feel right at home."

"Heh heh…you got it boss." Boomer said.

"No." Brick said. "I'll handle the Reaper. You two take care of fatass."

"Who you callin fat, L'oreal?" Dumplin asked.

The other two Rowdyruffs argued with their self-proclaimed leader. "No way!" Butch yelled. "Why do you get to fight him?!"

"Because we can't let them fight together." Brick explained. "The Demon God is physically unmatched in terms of power. That's why he's a Demon God and why the Reaper brought him here to fight with him. You take him out first, we can beat the shit out of bone-bag with no interruption."

The other two thought about it and reluctantly agreed. "Alright, but he better be worth our time." Boomer said.

"I'm gonna dump ya, kid." Dumplin gleefully said in a somehow threatening manner.

Mephisto stood up and placed his hands on the shoulders of Butch and Boomer. "Play nice kids." He said as redness started to spread through the two from where he touched them. Their smiles became wide and sharp and their eyes glowed red as dark power emitted from them.

"Boy this is all kinds of famil-" Dumplin started to say before Butch jump kicked him in the jaw and sent him skywards, Boomer rocketing up to join him. As the Demon God exchanged blows with the two essence fueled transhumans, Junior stared down Mephisto and Brick.

"You know, while it's not a bad plan, it really only works if you can actually kill me or him." Junior pointed out. "Frankly I don't see that happening."

Mephisto patted Brick on the back and the Devil's essence spread through him. "We'll see." Brick said and dove at the Reaper.

Junior had to admit, for as rough and unpolished as the Boys were known to be, Brick used his superior strength and speed with great efficiency. He moved in a perfect zig-zag pattern, dodging the Reaper's chains with ease and striking him hard when he got close enough before zooming away again. Junior felt his bones shatter upon every hit the transhuman landed.

The armies of Hell had long stopped in their attacks and had all gathered around (at a distance of several yards of course) to watch the fighting. Dumplin was faring better than the Reaper, able to roll with the other two's hits and blast back with considerable force. But the two-on-one battle was still causing him some trouble.

Junior spread out his chains again, only to have Brick gather them all together and fling Junior around the battlefield, repeatedly smacking him against the ground. When Junior finally vanished the chains, Brick shot energy beams from his eyes and flattened him into the ground.

"Is this really the best you've got?" Brick mocked as Junior slowly got back up. "I've been beating you senseless for five minutes and you haven't even touched me. How'd someone as pathetic as you take out that bitch of a woman Mandy? Shame Mephisto kept me locked away during the war or I could have just taken her out like that! If someone like you could beat her, then I'd have crushed her!"

Junior picked up the scythe from where it had fallen and cracked his neck back into place. "You done hyping yourself?" He asked, sounding a bit bored.

"Hype?" Brick said, surprised at Junior's attitude. "In case you haven't noticed, I'm one of the most powerful beings in the universe. There's never been any hype with me."

"Oh good, now I get to deal with this." Junior said sarcastically, putting Brick a little off. "Superiority complexes were old hat even back in your day. So what is it? Trying to compensate for the fact that your female counterpart became known as one of the world's greatest heroes while you and your brothers are stuck as Him and Mephisto's eternal bitches?"

He struck a nerve.

Brick slammed into him at the speed of sound, knocking the Reaper through the stalactites of the realm.

"Don't you bring up that bitch with me!" He roared as he punched Junior all around Hell. "She only ever beat me because of that stupid kiss! I've always been better than that bimbo! Better than everyone! Than her, than you, your mother, everyone!"

Brick's skin grew redder as the essence fed his anger and jealousy.

Junior finally was hit back down into the ground, the crowd quickly moving away from where he landed.

"And here I though envy used more of a green col-!" Junior was silenced by the giant slab of rock Brick slammed down into him.

Brick lifted the slab up and down with ease, repeatedly smashing the Reaper while he talked.

"You hear that crowd of demons?! They've all come to watch me crush you! You think Death is a big shot? My brothers and I have come back more times than I can remember, each time stronger than the last! I'm more powerful than you'll ever be!"

The slab finally shattered from the impacts, the rubble falling down around the banged-up Junior. Bricks hands grew bright red and energy exploded forth from them, leveling the entire area in a single blast.

"Compared to you, I'm a f#%king God!"

When the blast ended, the smoke cleared to show Junior lying on the scorched ground. He let out a breath of smoke. "Really?" He asked dryly.

"Really." Brick said, landing in front of the Reaper's head.

"Really?"

"Really."

"Really?"

"Really!"

"Really?!" Junior asked as he suddenly bolted upward, severing the transhuman's arm right off at the shoulder with his scythe. It was the second that his blood spurted forth that his brain finally registered what happened.

Brick howled in pain as his remaining arm clasped itself over the opening to keep the blood in. In his pain he glared at the Reaper standing before him and his eyes grew bright red, preparing to fire. But with the claws of his Nergalized hand, Junior slashed at Brick's right eye, forcing him to close both on instinct. In the second it took Brick to reopen his remaining eye, Junior swiped with his scythe and cut off both his legs.

Brick fell to the ground and cried out in pain. Junior towered over him.

"What's the matter, God boy? You were talking all that good shit a moment ago. Right up to the point where I started cutting your f#%king limbs off."

Brick threw up his hand to try and blast him, but Junior was faster and casually cut the hand right down the middle. Brick added another scream to the many he'd given already.

His body mutilated, Brick tried to crawl away, unable to concentrate enough to fly. He inched along on the ground, leaving a wide trail of blood.

"Help…me…" He begged the demons of the crowd. None aided him. All were too shocked by the turn in events. "Help me!"

Brick noticed the redness leaving his body, but it wasn't from the blood loss. The Devil's Essence was leaving him, likely to go back to Mephisto.

"No…! I can still…"

"Would you look at that?" Junior commented as he advanced on the man he crippled. "Even your evil booster rocket doesn't think you're worth spending any more time on. That's just how it goes, isn't it? You talk a big game, you bring in the power to back it up, and yet, at the end of the day, the truth is…"

Junior picked up the remains of Brick and held his head between his hands so that the Rowdyruff could see him eye-to-eye.

"…I eat punks like you for breakfast."

Brick's eyes were nothing but terror. "Please…no…!"

Junior opened his mouth wide, showing his teeth, all like rows little green scythes. He ripped out the Rowdyruff's soul the messiest way he could.

Brick's final screams echoed throughout the realm of Hell, instantly catching the attention of the other two flying high in the air fighting Dumplin.

"Brick?" Boomer asked, recognizing his brother's voice. He and Butch had never heard their brother in terror before and without any hesitation left their battle go find him ("Hey! Where ya goin?!" Dumplin yelled to them).

The two landed in the open area the demon's crowded around just as Junior dropped Brick's fleshy remains on the ground.

"Tastes like escargot." Junior commented as he licked his chops. "Who'da thought?"

Butch and Boomer looked in horror at what was left of their brother. "You…you killed him…"

"Did you forget that you're in Hell and already kind of dead?" Junior asked.

The speechlessness of the two ended and they roared in rage. "BASTARD!" they cried, diving at the Reaper at full speed.

Junior inhaled a deep breath and then let loose the Ghostly Wail, one of the first tricks the Demon Reaper had ever learned. A powerful attack and the Rowdyruff's took it head-on. With the essence aiding their invulnerability the worst that happened was that they were knocked back several yards and made it incredibly hard to think clearly.

As they got back to their feet Junior spoke. "If your brother really did act your leader, then I'm sure he's said a couple of those old clichés to you. You know: Don't let your anger blind you. Let your opponent think they have the upper hand. And most important of all, mind your surroundings."

Junior pointed up. The dazed Rowdyruffs looked skywards and saw Dumplin hovering high in the air, placing his hands together to form a triangle.

"ADVANCED GEOMETRY!" cried the Demon God.

The blast hit them (and half the demons surrounding them) before they even realized what happened.

When the dust settled, Junior flew to the bottom of the large, perfectly square crater. There he found the broken bodies of Butch and Boomer.

"Be proud of how strong you are." Junior told them. "Most people would have just been obliterated by a blast like that. You two just have near fatal wounds, ruptured organs, and every single bone in your bodies broken. Take it from me, if you weren't already dead, you'd be pretty close to it right now."

The two tried to utter swears at the Reaper through their broken jaws as the Devil's Essence faded from their bodies.

"If it makes you feel any better…" Junior said, raising his scythe. "You won't have to deal with those injuries for much longer."

…

Dumplin was inspecting the empty throne of Hell when Junior reemerged from the crater.

"Uh, Junior, I think Mephisto ran away."

"Of course he did." Junior said as he landed next to him. "He did just watch us kill half the people who serve him, including three of his most powerful ones."

"Any idea where he went?"

"One. He wasn't prepared to deal with such raw power here, so he'll probably go to the one place he knows we'll lose that advantage if we follow him."

"Where's that?"

"Home."

…

"Well…that certainly could have gone better." Mephisto commented to himself as he sat in his original dimension. It was uncanny how much it looked like Hell and he supposed that occasionally was what bugged him about the place. He'd done quite a lot over the years to make his realm just as feared and powerful as several others, perhaps even more so. But imitations are never quite as good as the real thing, especially when you've actually conquered the real thing.

Mephisto looked at his hands. The battle had shaken him more than expected. Even back in the old days he'd always been prepared for when Norse Gods and superheroes came knocking at his door with a bone to pick with him, but for the Grim Reaper himself to launch an assault out of nowhere…what could the bonehead possibly be thinking?

The demon pondered his next move. If Junior was so quick to strike at him then he must have a plan in place for if Mephisto went to the council and exposed him. Unless of course the Reaper is counting on the sheer power of his empire to keep them out of his way, but that would mean things are even worse than the council feared.

At least for now he had time to plan his next move to counter the Reaper. Mephisto was untouchable in his dimension and a wise ruler like Death would know better than to come here.

A scythe portal then ripped open in front of him.

"…Or perhaps the Reaper is dumber than he lets on…"

Junior and Dumplin stepped out of the portal, drops of demon blood speckled throughout their clothing.

"I'm not leaving without the Devil's Essence." Junior said.

"You're either very confident or very stupid." Mephisto responded. "You know that in my own dimension I'm all-powerful and that's not even factoring the Devil's Essence that allowed me to conquer Hell. What makes you want the essence so badly that you'd risk war with me and then follow me here? Are you really that hungry for power? I mean, that I can understand but you're being very vague about it and I'm still trying to figure you out."

"Not really much of a war, since we've killed pretty much all your guys." Dumplin commented.

Junior stared dead at Mephisto. "This is the only chance I'm giving you. No talking. No negotiations. No deals. Just surrender the essence or I will make you suffer a very cruel fate."

Mephisto only worried because, as far as he could tell, Junior wasn't bluffing. He was convinced he'd win.

"I've always been more of a dealer than a fighter. You're not giving me many options here, Junior."

"What's it going to be, Mephisto?"

Mephisto paused to think. And then blasted fire at the Reaper. Junior slipped past the fire with ease and decapitated the demon.

Junior saw the head smile as it hit the ground.

He and Dumplin were then slammed into the ground by the palms of a giant Mephisto that appeared from nowhere.

"If it makes you better, there's rarely anyone who doesn't fall for that." He said as he held them down.

Junior sliced through the hand pinning him and flew up the side of the demon's arm, the scythe cutting through the arm as he went. Junior finally got to the head and slashed upwards through his eye. Mephisto made no cries of pain and instead smiled widely. From his wounds emerged hundreds more Mephistos, all of whom leapt from the giant and piled on Junior.

"Dumplin!" Junior called out through the numerous Mephistos restraining him in the air.

Dumplin finally squeezed himself out of under the giant's palm and place his hands in the triangle position once more, aiming at the floating mass of Junior and the Mephistos.

"ADVANCED GEOMETRY!"

The blast incinerated the multiple Mephistos and left a nice square hole through the giant Mephisto's neck and chest. Junior had used the dogpile as a shield and came out of the blast just a bit singed.

Just as Dumplin was about to fly up and help Junior take out the still moving and smiling giant, a second giant Mephisto erupted from the ground and grabbed Dumplin in his fist. The giant then began to slam the Demon God into the ground and the walls of the dimension.

Junior tried to come to his aid but his path was blocked by a third, normal sized Mephisto that appeared in front of him.

"This is my world, Reaper. You're welcome to stay but you need to follow the rules just like everyone else."

Junior tried to swing at him but Mephisto put his middle finger and thumb up to his forehead.

"First rule…" Mephisto flicked and Junior was knocked straight down into the ground. Mephisto landed in front of him. "…I rule."

Mephisto took Junior's scythe as the Reaper slowly got back up. "Tell you what, Junior. Since I'm such a nice guy, I'll extend the curtesy to you that you refused to extend to me and make you a deal. Swear your eternal loyalty to me and I'll only beat you within an inch of your Afterlife. Refuse, and I'll take everything you have anyway. What do you say?"

Junior glared fiercely at the demon, making his answer clear.

"Willful." Mephisto commented. "Your mother would be proud." And blazed flames from his mouth at the Reaper.

His jaw was then unexpectedly punched shut. It was unexpected because of who punched it.

"Brick?!" Mephisto exclaimed as he saw the pale gassy figure of the redheaded Rowdyruff. He tried to swing the scythe at the spirit but it suddenly flew from his hand and back into Junior's.

Tentacles burst forth from Junior and spread all around him. The tentacles had green lights emanating from them, and from these lights emerged the other two Rowdyruff spirits and hundreds of demon souls. Junior pointed his scythe at the stunned Mephisto. "Get him."

All the souls summoned attacked the demon. Mephisto tore through many with ease, though the sheer number allowed for many to assault and grab onto him. "Are you honestly attacking me with souls?" The demon laughed. "I literally deal with souls every day! Especially corrupt ones!"

More souls emerged from the Demon Reaper and attacked Mephisto, including the two giant versions, finally allowing Dumplin to get free. As more and more souls latched onto Mephisto, Junior said "The Devil's Essence went to Hell because that's where it could find the greatest sin. You only got it all because of your deals and it only choose to stay with you because why not? But you'd be surprised how fickle that stuff can be, especially when its current host is hit with so much sin at once."

Mephisto realized what Junior's plan was as soon as some of the assaulting souls started turning red. He struggled even harder to get them off.

"Feel that tugging?" Junior asked. "That's the sin of an entire realm calling out to the essence and inviting it to jump ship. I ate them, I control them, and I can make them all remember the worst they've ever done. And the essence likes it."

Mephisto's great power while in his realm was enough to knock several souls away from him, but the sheer number that kept emerging from Junior and the strain of having the Devil's Essence pulled out of him from different directions was weakening him as more souls turned red and violent.

"I should thank you for the all-you-can-eat buffet you left me when you ran away. I didn't know how many I'd need or who you made deals with already that wouldn't be able to take in the essence again, so I took them all just to be safe."

Mephisto's eyes went wide at the Demon Reaper's statement. It wasn't an exaggeration. Junior had killed and eaten every last soul in Hell.

"WHAT ARE YOU?!"

Junior smirked. From his tentacles exploded the millions of Hell souls, all of which swarmed the three Mephistos.

All the souls turned red at once and Mephisto collapsed to his knees from the pain of the essence tearing itself from him.

Soul billions of angry and violent souls stormed through Mephisto's realm, him being too weak to stop any of the damage they were causing. Junior then raised his hand into the air and all the souls then began to get sucked into the space above his palm. Every last one of them was collected and compressed together into a single solid red sphere, no larger than a Rubik's cube. Energy crackled from it as Junior talked.

"In case you were wondering, Mephisto, I didn't bring choose to bring Dumplin just because of his power and status. I brought him because of what he is..."

Junior tossed the sphere over to Dumplin, which he then ate.

"…Hungry." Junior said as he got out of the way.

Wind flew wildly around the Demon God as he glowed violently and the earth shook around him, Dumplin exclaiming "RHEEEEEEEEEEEH!" as his power increased immensely. His hands lit up with incredible energy that begged for release. Dumplin threw his hands in front of him.

"Dumplin's….Last…BLAST!"

The deafening blast lit up the entire realm as it mowed down all the Mephistos and almost literally blew a hole through the dimension itself.

When the blast ended and Dumplin stopped glowing, Junior walked up to his side. When the smoke cleared both could see the remaining normal sized body of Mephisto, nearly cauterized into the ground, but still alive.

"How the hell did he survive that?!" Dumplin exclaimed, a little pissed.

"He is all-powerful here." Junior guessed. "He wants to survive, he'll use every last bit of his power to do so, even if it just barely works."

"You think another blast would do it?"

"I'd say we just do the original plan. He's probably got some of the essence still clinging to his soul. Just absorb him like the rest and we'll be done."

"If we were just going to have me absorb him in the first place then why'd we fight through all that crap? Not that I mind of course, but just sayin."

"You were the one who started the fighting. I told you not to do that." Junior reminded him.

"I didn't like the way Hitler looked at me, what can I say?"

"Just eat the damn demon."

Mephisto coughed in pain. "…Junior….Junior, please wait…" Mephisto begged hoarsely. "We can…we can still make a deal…"

"You have nothing to offer me." Junior said. "Have some dignity in your last few seconds."

"I have information!" Mephisto coughed out. "Information you don't know…information I know that you want …I'm a demon lord…I make it my business to know what people want…"

"I don't care what you have to say." Junior stated. "Dumplin, if you'll do the honors."

"With perverse pleasure." The Demon God said as he strutted up to the demon.

Before Dumplin even touched him, Mephisto yelled out desperately "There were survivors! Your mother's bomb had survivors!"

Dumplin stayed his hand. Junior went quiet for a second. "That's impossible. Nothing could have survived that."

"You did." Mephisto pointed out. "And someone else did too. And I know who it is! Let me live…let me go…and I'll tell you everything I know. I'll tell you who it is and where they've been hiding for all these years."

Junior said nothing for the longest time. Eventually he finally said "Dumplin, what are you waiting for?"

"Honestly, I'm wondering what you'll do." The Demon God responded.

"It's a fool's bargain. He's a demon. He lies."

"I'm not lying." Mephisto insisted. "I'm on my last breaths and I am offering you the one thing that you want most in exchange for my continued existence!"

"Dumplin, do it." Junior said.

"You sure?" He asked.

"If this person survived then maybe your sister did too!" Mephisto cried.

"DO IT!" Junior yelled.

Dumplin looked at Mephisto and shrugged. He then put his hand on Mephisto's forehead. Both glowed bright red and Mephisto and his screams vanished, the energy from where he once was traveling into Dumplin.

"How do you feel?" Junior asked.

"Honestly, after the evil sphere thing he didn't have much to- HOOOOOOOOOOOOOLY CRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAP!" Pure power and purple light erupted from the Demon God, causing Junior to shield his eyes and shaking the entire realm. When it stopped, Junior back to Dumplin and saw something quite different. The man before him was taller than Dumplin but wider and pitch black in color. He was in a turban and a red sleeveless jacket than exposed his chest. His face was…disturbingly happy. The man's eyes however were the exact same as the Demon God's.

"Dumplin?"

"It's Mr. Popo now, maggot." The man said to him in a voice much smoother than Dumplin's.

"Why?"

"Bitch, cause I said so." He replied simply.

"…Ok." Junior accepted. "You still remember our deal?"

"Yeah, yeah, the other maggots start messing with you, help beat them back into submission. Until then, just make everyone suspect I'm on your side without actually confirming it."

"Not how I would have phrased it but yes."

"And your end of the deal?"

"I'm a man of my word, Mr. Popo. I extend and pass on the title and position to you. You are now the ruler over the Land of Tainted Souls."

Mr. Popo looked around at Mephisto's realm. "I suppose this is as good a place as any to set up shop. Not like he'll be using it anytime soon."

"Now the only Devil's Essence that remains that's not trapped within the eternal abyss that is you is in my wife's sword and that we'll leave be. Something like that could always be useful down the line."

Mr. Popo nodded. "So, now that you've got me on your side, what's next? You going after the Nightosphere? Complete the rest of the collection?"

"No." Junior said. "Hunson Abadeer has nothing to fear from me."

"Really?" Mr. Popo asked, still smiling sadistically. "I doubt it's out of the kindness of your heart considering we just massacred an entire realm to get what you wanted, save for a few choice witnesses."

"We leave Hunson and his realm alone." Junior reinforced.

"Yeah, sure, whatever." Mr. Popo said, not really caring either way. "Welp, now that that's all over, I'm going to find me some bitches. This place could use more bitches."

As Junior was about to leave the man who quite frankly creeped the hell out of him, he paused and turned back to the Demon God. "Mr. Popo?"

"Hm?"

"You wouldn't happen to be able to find out what Mephisto was going to say now that you've absorbed him, would you?"

"No. Doesn't work that way. And I don't think I'll be able to ever get him to talk. He's far too busy with what he's doing now."

"Which is?"

"Screaming."

"…Ok then, see you at the council meeting." Junior said as he quickly turned and left.

Junior's really sudden and seemingly out of character actions in this chapter will be explained in the next chapter, so please bear with me.

Also, the line about escargot was a reference to snips and snails and puppy dog tails, which all little transhuman super powered boys are made of.

Also also, I really hope people caught the lines that were inspired/taken from/ripped off from Hellsing Ultimate Abridged.