Billy and Mandy of the Night

by I Am The Night

Mandy is on her path to power when her world is turned upside down, forcing Grim, Billy and her into hiding. Isolated together Mandy will question her choices as Billy begins to show a different side, all the while their hunter begins its long search.

37. The Great Demon Prince

Hello again, another fortnight another chapter.

This one was a real killer to get together, but I think it pays off. You're lucky I'm such a perfectionist about timetables and such. It also sucks that my attention span is so short it would have run out by the time you're done reading this sentence. Oh well, you guys are worth it, not that I'm doing it for you.

In this one we start by basically recapping everything that's happened so far, which you can skip if you want. Also Mandy finds peace with her parent's deaths, we catch up with some old characters and places from the series, and Billy gets something very special.

---

The Great Demon Prince.

Later that evening.

"Alright, what's been going on since we went down with the freaks?" Harold asked the two as plates of spaghetti bolognaise were set down before them by Gladys, Billy and Grim, who had returned earlier without saying much of anything, only that he was attending to minor duties. He never spoke much for the rest of the night. Planting his nose into the rich mix Harold took a sniff, and a smile came upon his face. "Thanks honey."

"You mean the Nergals?" Mandy corrected as a plate was put in front of her. She lowered the severe scowl on her features momentarily. "Thank you."

"You're welcome, and no, he means what he said." Gladys responded as she sat beside her husband and began to eat. Pausing Mandy looked across to Billy who sat on her left, seeing him looking back with a heap of spaghetti in his mouth, and nod his head.

"… Yeah that's true. Maybe not Junior though." She relented and stuffed a forkful of meat and pasta into her mouth. As the taste worked its way through her mouth she paused. Gladys watched as her scowl melted and her eyes became glazed over and distant.

"Is something wrong?"

She shook her head. "No. It's just, I remember this from before." The taste of the familiar dish bought back memories of their past lives, and how she had eaten this very dish here many times before. The memories bought feelings of a homely nature. It felt as if this place had been her home close to home long before it had all been taken away.

"So what have you two been doing since you've been gone? You both seem so much more…" Gladys searched for the right words to convey how proud she was of the two. "… mature. You've both grown up so much since you left."

As if to back up her statement the two smiled softly under her praise. Mandy in particular relished in the warm feeling that came over her from her new guardian's appraisal. It wasn't that Claire and Phillip hadn't done so, she had just never payed any attention or care. Now though she wouldn't take such a feeling for granted.

Billy looked across to her. "Should you start or should I?" He asked, more inviting her to talk for him. Usually it was her who did the talking, though Billy was more than capable of pitching in when he had something to say. Still as the leader she felt it best to explain it from the beginning, and she was more adept at explaining events such as this anyway.

"Okay, well…" She started to think back to where everything began. It took effort to go back through so many memories as the beginning to their 'adventure', if you could call the nightmare they had gone through that, stretched back several years. She sighed as she recalled how long they had been living in the presence of a monster, and had never suspected a thing. "Do you remember Max?"

Harold and Gladys frowned and shared a glance between each other, perplexed by what he of all people had to do with any of this.

"Of course, you three were good friends." Gladys remembered the charming and polite boy who had come over here so many times since they had first met years ago. He had always been such a model person that she had absolutely no trouble in dealing with him even on bad days. Whereas Billy could admittedly be incredibly impulsive and random, and Mandy had been so domineering and harsh, he was, almost by definition, the perfect child.

"Well he wasn't exactly as friendly as he seemed. This whole thing revolves around him. He was the one who was trying to kill us all along." Mandy told them, seeing their eyes widen in disbelief.

"What! Max was the one…" Gladys found herself largely lost for words, almost unable to believe Mandy had just said that. She thought maybe she had heard her wrong as Mandy would never joke around on something as serious as this. She didn't really joke around on anything, something Harold had forgotten.

"Heh heh. You mean goody two shoes of all people was a cold blooded killer?" Harold scoffed at the notion. Max was just too nice to do something so diabolically evil. "I'd like to see-"

"Uh dad, I don't mean to shoot you down in flames and all, but we had to fight Max off with everything we had and in the end we still only got away by the skin of our teeth. So trust me when I say that goody two shoes wasn't exactly as sweet and innocent as we thought he was. He tried to kill us, and we had to go through hell and back to stop him." Billy replied gravely.

"But Max was always such a good boy. Why would he… How could he just turn around all of a sudden and do all this?" Gladys stammered out as she started to stress over what she was being told, and was starting to sink in more now.

"Max was never the person we all thought he was. He was always a murderer, before he came to us." Mandy explained to them as the two sat in silence. "Max came from the far future, created by myself with supernatural powers and sent back here so he could help me in a… political revolution. Unfortunately he had other ideas. He chose to go rogue, working towards his own goals by helping me rise to power, so he could then kill me and take my place. He only acted like a friend to gain our trust."

Harold and Gladys sat in shock and rapt interest as Mandy began to explain how she and Billy had first met him near the ice cream store, and how he had started going to their school the following day. She told them about what she had seen of how he had easily overpowered Sperg, sparing his life so he could be a servant and source of income for him.

"When he looked at me…" Mandy leaned her head into her hand as she recalled the moment she had first seen the true side of Max, feeling the hairs on her skin stand on end. "It was like he was devoid of any compassion or care, like there was nothing inside him except cold logic. He was so… absolutely cold and unfeeling. He didn't even take pleasure in what he was doing, he just did it out of logic, like a robot. I should have seen it then that he was dangerous, but he was just so much like me that I sort of respected him. He was like a mentor to me because he shared my beliefs so closely."

She continued on to how he had set out on his killing spree, purging those deemed a threat by his previous master, of which Irwin was one.

"I don't really know why he killed Irwin. I suppose it was because he had something to do with trying to oppose me when I began to find my own success. It must've had something to do with me bruising his pride. Anyway Max was the one who killed Irwin and his family. He killed them using a demonic energy he had been created with, sort of like a living weapon of mass destruction."

"Wait, demonic power? How could he have kept something like that hidden for so long?" Harold asked, unable to identify one piece of evidence to suggest…

"The TV." Gladys spoke up. "Remember how the TV always used to flicker every now and then? Ever notice Max was always over here when it happened, and it never happened unless he was here?" She had noticed this strange occurrence long ago, but had simply dismissed it as more lunacy. She couldn't imagine how he could have interrupted the signals to their house and all nearby just by being in the area. Now she knew.

Moving on she regaled them about how the night following Irwin's demise Max had taken her to the Doolin house to propose an ominous deal, entailing him helping her in her rise to power as her second in command, in return for her leaving Billy. Said boy was interested to hear how she had turned his offer down despite herself at that time wanting to leave him as well. It was due to this, the fatal error in Max's plan of Mandy not taking the bait like he predicted she would, that had set him on a new path, one that had devastating results for everyone.

"On that Friday afternoon we were leaving the mall when he attacked us in the parking lot. We couldn't see any part of him because he was wearing a cloak, but we knew he was powerful because he turned the place into a vision of the moon."

"You mean a beautiful silver disk held high in the night sky surrounded by a billion brilliant stars?" Harold asked.

"I think she means more a pockmarked landscape of lifeless desolation." Gladys interjected.

"Right. We only just managed to fight him off when Billy distracted him long enough for me to score a glancing hit. But before I got him he broke Billy's right arm, so we had to get him to a hospital. Because there was a good chance he was waiting for us at the local one, we had to steal a minivan and go out of town for awhile to get his arm in a cast."

Mandy continued on how they had spent a good few hours at the hospital, from where Billy had called them to warn them of the danger. She told them she had called her parents, but no one answered, and fearing the worst they had made their way back to Endsville. Gradually Billy moved closer to her as they neared the part they were all dreading. Her explaining about the night she had come home was enough to wound the hearts of all present.

"When I found them… mom was looking up at me from the floor." She took on a trance like state as she found herself in the moment once more. "Her eyes were… I can't explain it. It was like she was crying out to me in her last moments, as Max took her. Like she was asking me why, why has this happened to us?"

The five sat and listened in solemnly silence, as she regaled how her family and their close personal friends had met their end. There was a deep pain evident in it, a regret that she would not be able to forget as long as she lived. Beneath the table Billy and she wrapped their hands around each other for support.

She hardened her features again a few moments later and soldiered on as they each took small bites out of their dinner, loosing interest in it as Mandy continued on what they had been through. She told them about their miraculous getaway, staying at the motel, telling them about the cabin, Billy's phone call home and buying the not so new car and taking off northwards on a grand tour from south to north. She regaled them about their new home amongst the cool northern forest, and their utopian life of luxury far from their concrete and pollution-filled home. It was the first time they, especially Mandy, had ever come to appreciate the beauty in nature.

"Grim taught us both how to drive, as well as use guns while we were there. Billy had to wait for a few weeks until the cast came of, but he picked it up easily… enough…" She ground to a halt upon noticing the outraged look in Gladys's face.

"Oh hell."

"YOU TWO WERE USING GUNS!" Gladys shrieked and panicked over her kids being allowed to wield such dangerous weapons.

"Where did you get them anyway?" Harold asked incredulously as his wife hyperventilated in her seat.

"Grim has a case full of them, enough to fight off a Soviet armoured thrust." Billy explained. "And Mandy has her own from a while back. It's gone now but, well yeah, we used lethal instruments of death. Why?"

"Wh…" Gladys turned to Grim at the end of the table. He inched back in his seat fearfully under the woman's enraged glare. "Grimey, did you teach my kids how to use guns?" Her eye twitched noticeably as she prepared to bellow a vengeful mouthful of outrage at the deity of death. Reaching down under the table she procured a large battle axe, holding it outstretched in her arms pointed at him. Why she had stored a battle axe under the table only she knew.

"Uh, I really think you should give him a break just this once." Mandy said. Gladys turned to her, all her livid outrage still plain in her face.

"You want me to what? He could've gotten you both killed!"

"If he hadn't taught us to fight we wouldn't have been able to make it through everything that happened later. If not for Grim, we would be dead, and Max would now be standing over the ruins of the world. So with all due respect, I strongly recommend you rethink your judgement." Mandy hardened her features into her old scowl, evident that though she would respect her new guardian she was still going to take a stand for what she believed in, regardless of how angry Gladys was.

Gladys could see the reasoning behind Mandy's words. If they had to face Max without the ability to fight back she wouldn't have seen her son again.

"Uh mom." Billy interjected. "Just so ya know I actually offered to let Grim go at one stage. But he didn't go, he stayed right by us the whole time. And he almost died trying to protect us, but he still kept on fighting. So just remember, you should thank him that we came back to you alive."

Gladys couldn't keep up her fury under the pressure. She relented in her accusation as a sense of guilt began to well in her at having proverbially spat in Grim's face for saving her kids. She turned back to him apologetically. "Sorry. Thanks for taking care of them Grim." She admitted meekly. It wasn't much, but it was enough for Grim, especially considering she was lowering the axe back under the table.

"Eh, t'was nothing. Don't worry about it."

With that little issue settled she continued on how Grim had spent the time researching on the other victims in search of anything that would shed light on who their enemy was. She told them about getting the computer, their run in with a gang of neo-Nazis, and then spending the next month largely as a break from all the stresses of life in paradise, and all that had transpired since, the twin hourglasses, and their encounter with the army in the town. They had stayed there for another month, towards the end of which their paradise was lost due to the fight they had together. She found it difficult to talk about what transpired over the next few days, and of Grim telling her to give up her pursuit of power and control and to open up to others. She had to pick and choose her words carefully to avoid letting her real plans slip.

Moving on she told of how she and Billy had made up, and how Grim had found out about the effects of time travel on the hourglasses, calling Mandark, who later told her their enemy had come from the future. Later they had left, burning the cabin so as to cover their tracks, which it seemed didn't work out in the end. Upon their arrival at Mandark's new laboratory in Chicago he showed them to a machine capable of sending them where they needed to go to find information. They used it, going through to what was, in essence, an alien world.

She went on to describe the dystopian nightmare world they found themselves in, where people had begun to feed on each others decaying corpses. A world of black skies and lifeless soil, watched over by a mechanical army which could barely keep itself functional. She told of how they had begun to realise they were being watched, to being captured in a surprise attack, until they woke up in a prison cell, and what followed.

"They… tortured you? Oh Mandy…" Gladys stammered out, horrified at the concept of one so young being put through something so horrible.

Mandy nodded downcast, clearly uneasy with the feelings of fear and sheer anguish the memories bought up. The care and support she was receiving from her family made it all the easier to endure though. "They drove nails through my hands and shocked me for a few hours. I was dropped back into the cell just before Grim and the resistance came and broke us out. We escaped with them and they took us into their base."

The three continued on describing their few days there, meeting the general, the bleak history of the collapsing Night Empire, and volunteering to be their trump card in the imminent revolution.

Grim smirked. "Did you wanna tell them about your little drinky-drinky or should I?" Immediately Billy and Mandy's eyes went wide and they all turned to him.

"What?" Gladys asked.

"You swore you'd never tell!" Mandy shouted, only for Grim to smile.

"I said I'd never tell anyone that you got drunk."

Billy waved him to stop talking while Gladys faced the two kids angrily. "Did you get drunk while you were away?"

"No they didn't." Grim added. "Don't worry woman, I made sure to remove every last drop of alcohol in deir drinks. Dey were none the wiser."

Billy and Mandy looked at each other wide-eyed. Gladys and Harold looked back and forth between them, and a smirk began to form on their lips.

"You mean… we got drunk on non alcoholic beer?" Mandy asked quietly horrified. At that Grim burst out laughing at their expense, along with Gladys and Harold. Looking back at each other mortified as a huge embarrassed blush worked its way across their faces at the memories of what they had been like afterwards.

Mandy then explained about how she had been taken to where they were holding the officer who had tortured her, and after her original mercy was mocked with a sneer she had sent him to hell. They then spoke of the congregation where their battle plans were announced, as well as the underlying real agenda of the resistance. Mandy felt it better to keep the discussion between Billy and her a secret. Such personal feelings were best left personal.

She moved on to how they had attacked the fortress, going up against an army of machines and a mechanical leviathan. Then came the revelations of what she had done, and how she had ultimately destroyed herself through her isolation and loneliness. Mercifully Billy cut in just after this, explaining about how she had simply left him behind to go it alone. God only knew what would happen if they found out what she had really done. They also omitted the personal details of their little moment together afterwards.

At some point during the explanation Billy found himself holding Mandy's hand under the table again.

Billy went on to speak of how he had called the general out on all his hypocrisy. He felt the sense of power and rage rising within him, daring him to just rise up and go on a rampage then and there. It was a feeling like no other, yet he kept himself under perfect control.

Soon they summed up how they heard as Max wiped out the resistance behind them, how he had caught up to them in a stolen car, and his being rammed off the road and shot by Mandy. The confrontation after he came back to life was surreal, almost as if they couldn't believe it themselves as they spoke it. He knocked out Grim, knocked out Billy, tried to get Mandy's scythe, realised he had failed, was almost defeated by the three together, took the scythe, realised he had won, and was finally destroyed by the Empress after hitching a ride back in her scythe.

Mandy's head was in a tired whirl by the end of it. 'From now on I have to choose my friends better.' Her disoriented daze was shared by the entire family regardless of wether or not they had been through it.

"I think dinner's gone cold." Harold commented.

"Well it was around five when we started talking, and it's now ten, so it makes sense." Grim remarked noticing the time on the clock. They had been talking for five hours non stop.

"Okay you two, Grim and I'll clean this up. You get ready for bed. You've got a lot more to do tomorrow. Mandy you're in the spare bedroom." Gladys spoke. They both left their half-eaten dinner and went upstairs.

---

A few minutes later as the three adults cleared the table below the kids were already lying in their beds, letting the day's exhaustion take them. Mandy, dressed in the short pink top she had taken to wearing to sleep, was quietly staring up at the darkened ceiling, while a multitude of unorganised thoughts roamed through her head. She found the spare bed to be far better than the one she had slept on during their time with the resistance. Not quite as comfortable as the one she slept in last night though. Now that her fear and aversion towards love had been lifted she found she could not stop thinking about him. The memory of feeling Billy's arms wrapped around her danced in and out of her mind, and suddenly she found she couldn't get comfortable without the feel of his presence nearby.

Everything she had recently opened herself up to was still new and unexplored territory for her, and she was still finding it an awkward process getting accustomed to these new feelings. Absent-mindedly she thought back to the feel of his body heat when she had been in bed with him last night, and suddenly she found her face growing very warm and a new nervous tension fill her, causing her eyes to dart around from one end of the darkness to the other.

Grizzling irritably she pushed those thoughts from her mind and rolled onto her side, trying to assess what she would have to do next. Though she wasn't going to deny herself of those feelings anymore, she disliked feeling lost and powerless. She still had to carry herself to her own professional standards. It was part of the reason she feared these feelings in the first place, and something that she and Billy would both need to deal with.

'I still have to tell him how I really feel about him.' The thought still felt like a weight on her stomach.

But there was much work to be done outside of their relationship though. 'Mandark's dead. I doubt he'll t be able to provide me with the research I need now. He said about that friend of his Dexter, but he was always against what Mandark and I were involved in, he'll never agree to help. The guy's probably in a prison cell or dead by now. There's Skarr, but he and I were never on good terms either. Plus he's too personally ambitious, he might betray us later.'

Mixed in with that however was the fact neither of them had any good idea what had happened to Endsville or the rest of the nation since the suspension of the constitution was declared. What did the new dictatorship look like outside these walls, and how would they need to approach it? That though was a side note, and could be dealt with easily enough tomorrow when they saw Junior. She knew what her priorities were.

'My first task is to find another genius capable of developing the machines and finding genetic immortality for Billy and I.'

With the vague plan set Mandy sighed and settled down into the soft little nest of pillows and blankets she found herself in. 'But I need one who could easily be swayed to my side. Someone smart, but weak-minded and arrogant. I could use their arrogance to lure them to my side, and once they are of no more use I'll get rid of them.' It occurred to Mandy this was the exact same thing Max had been planning, to use people and then do away with them in the end. Then again, she had to admit Max and she did share many traits and behaviours, if not the same moral compass.

'But if their arrogant they're likely to turn on me as well by the end of it, so I need to ensure that they can only profit from any deal after I'm done with them. Oh well, I can deal with that later.' Putting aside such matters she let herself sleep for the night, turning her mind towards the comfortable warmth of the bed. She wouldn't be asleep long before the traumatic memories from earlier invaded her unguarded mind.

---

She felt cold, and profoundly uncomfortable.

Before her stood a tall, thin man in a black overcoat, along with two massive robotic guards. Her arms were spread out beside her, locked in a vice-like grip facing them upright. Looking to the guard on the left she saw a pair of razor sharp steel spines held in its armoured hand. She recognised it all too clearly, and a faint gasp of dread tore at her lungs.

'Oh no.'

The officer stood watching with a slight smile as the machine advanced on her. All at once her composure fled her and she tried to sink back into the rig holding her. She couldn't face this pain again. Just the memory made her feel sick.

"No! Don't!"

Watching horrified the machine closed in on her, and positioning the spine against the centre of her left palm reared its hand back and drove it through, along with the other hand in the same moment. At the same time the memory of what it had felt like came back to her, along with the image of the spines sticking out of her hands. She shut her eyes.

"Aaaahhhh! No, it hurts! Mom! Mommy!"

Instantly though she kept her eyes shut the man and the guards both vanished, leaving her alone in the rig, dripping blood from her aching wounded hands as she hung her face, a stream of tears running down her cheeks. She sobbed quietly to herself.

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry, for everything I did to you. Please hear me. I wish you were here. I wish you were here for me."

"Its okay sweetheart." Came the voice of her mother from inside of her.

"We're here now." Her father's voice spoke.

Throughout her pained body a warmth and comfort washed over her, like they were holding her close. Mandy clenched her eyes ever tighter and a renewed stream of tears and sobs broke out as every ounce of guilt and remorse and grief came out.

"Mommy… Daddy… I failed you!"

"No Mandy. We've seen how you've grown up, what you've been through and done. You've made us both so proud." Her mother spoke softly, and a cry of heartache escaped her mouth. After a moment her racking sobs lessened, and she gathered herself for her last words to them, to tell them what she wished she had told them long ago.

"I love you." She spoke shakily but with conviction. "I always loved you, even when I never showed it."

"We know sweetheart." Phil responded. She sensed a smile from him. "And we're not the only ones, isn't that right?"

Mandy remained silent and still, knowing they had seen right through her and to what she and how she felt for her opposite. Again she sensed their smiles.

"We want you to know that your mother and I support you in your relationship with Billy. We always had an inkling."

"Don't hold back. You and Billy need each other. You always did, right from the beginning. And you know he feels the same way for you." Claire told her, knowing she would need her guidance here more than anything. "Soon the time will be right to tell him. You'll know it when it comes."

Mandy nodded. "I will." She faltered as another thought came to mind. "You know what it is I'm doing right? You've seen what's happening to the world, and what I have planned for it. I honestly feel I have to do this, but I can only do it if you are okay with it."

"We have seen what you have planned, and we support you whole heartedly." Phil responded. "Those evil people out there need to be punished, and the innocent need to be protected and honoured. You have to do what you believe is right. Just don't lose sight of it along the way."

"I won't." She swore to them. "I'll make it a place you can be proud of. I promise."

"Thank you." He whispered in reply. She felt their presence leaving her, along with the pain in her hands and the rack holding her upright. This was to be the last time she would ever speak with them. She was sure to make it count.

"Mom, dad. I…"

But there was nothing else left that needed to be said. She had made her peace with them. She closed her mouth and smiled to them as they smiled back.

"Goodbye sweetheart. Know that your father and I will always love you, and we'll always be watching over you."

And it was done.

Mandy's eyes open and she found herself lying in her bed, her face and pillow wet with tears. Her breaths were calm, and she felt warm. Sitting upright she reached over and switched the bedside lamp on, illuminating the room a soft yellow. Pausing to calm herself and clean her face with the back of her hand she wondered if anyone had heard her, or if she had spoken out loud at all. She listened and waited for the sound of footsteps coming up to her door, but heard nothing.

Sitting back against the bed head she thought of what she had just experienced. Quickly she felt an awful tension growing inside herself, a kind which could only be resolved by one person.

Slipping out of the bed she made her way shakily to the door, careful to not alert anyone to her activity. Opening the door slightly she could see the lights in the hallway were out, but there was still light and the sound of movement downstairs. No one had noticed.

Carefully she emerged from the door towards Billy's room, hoping that maybe he was still awake. Maybe she would stay with him, or maybe they could just talk. Either way she just needed his presence. Opening the door to his room she noticed his form lying asleep in his bed. She watched his features cast into a still mask of calm as he lay on his side facing her, so unlike the usual bubbling force of anarchy that welled from within him, the moon shining in from the window.

The pail light caught her attention. Turning her eyes from the sleeping form she froze, staring agape at the image of her old house. The moonlight shone down on its bone white walls, lighting it in a chilling relief that was exactly like the night she came home to find her mother and father dead. She found herself completely overwhelmed by the piercing image of the haunting house. Stuck deep in its chilling embrace she made her way through the door, closing it behind her as she walked towards the window in a trance-like state.

As she stood at the window, staring blankly out at the world beyond, she could see it clearly, the geometric shaped building standing stark in the darkness, the full moon high overhead. Police tape, torn and abandoned as it was could still be seen out the front of the overgrown lawn. While the yard showed the appearance of a lush jungle in development the ghostly white walls couldn't be more different. They were pail, pail 'like my parents skin when I walked in and found them both dead. I saw them dead. The dead bodies of my parents. The lifeless…'

Billy stirred from his sleep, having dimly heard someone entering his room and stop somewhere close, only to stay there. Concentrating he could hear laboured breathing coming from near the foot of the bed. He raised his head up and opened his eyes, finding Mandy's form illuminated in the moonlight. She was staring out into it almost as if under some curse.

She vaguely recognised his activity to her side even in her daze of trauma as he got out of bed to walk up behind her. To feel him place his hands softly on her shoulders though eased her out of the pit of anguish she had fallen into. Lowering her eyes away from the haunting visage she let herself fall back slightly into the boy's presence. He moved one hand to wrap it around her small bare waist to comfort her in her vulnerable state, knowing what was going through her mind as he looked out to the white building. Mandy let her gaze return to the house, remembering the good life she once had in there, with two people who loved her.

"I miss them Billy." She said softly as he continued to comfort her. "I wish I could have valued them a bit more when they were alive, that way maybe I wouldn't have made so many mistakes. I wish I could turn around and undo everything. But…"

Mandy broke off as she stepped out of Billy's embrace, moving in towards the window again. She pressed her hand up to the frame as she looked out across to the front window of her house, looking into the darkened living room where she had found them that night.

"… I have to wonder, if they were never killed, would I still want to take it all back? Would I still love them if they were still alive?"

She continued to watch the house for a moment more, until she lowered her head to rest down on the glass before her, all the grief and loss she had suffered coming to the surface within her. She closed her eyes as her heart contorted once more, a stream of hot tears spilling down from her eyes. Stepping in Billy pulled her away to wrap his arms around her back as she turned and buried her face into his shoulder. He held her there as she cried softly for the loss of her late mother and father.

---

Grim thought quietly to himself as he leant against the wall outside the door, having heard everything of Mandy's way of grieving. Whereas before she would have crushed the pain, writing it off as weakness, now she was able to open up and let it out, and be supported by someone who loved her. In addition he had been able to give Phil and Claire the last words they deserved so they could properly say goodbye to each other, and Mandy could find her peace. He smiled vaguely.

'Dose two are gonna be just fine.'

Smiling he made his way down the stairs towards the front door. Checking no one was watching he stepped out the door to the front lawn, waiting by the roadside. He summoned his scythe, looking up and down the street impatiently.

'Don't tell me he's gonna be late.'

But 'he' wasn't. Seconds later a deep rumble could be heard coming from up the street to his left. Turning to face it Grim saw a headlight appear in the distance, coming up quickly towards him. Gradually the rumbling sound grew louder and lower, and a menacing black Suzuki Boulevard pulled up on the opposite side of the road, the rider wearing a silver-grey full face helmet. Switching off the engine the man disembarked, walking calmly across the road towards him, reaching up to undo the chin strap and lift the helmet off, revealing a mane of orange hair and an eye patch.

"Did you get a good sample of his personality?" Hoss asked as he stepped up. Grim reached into his coat and withdrew the empty Tokarev Billy had taken to using and handed it over.

"Like I said, do dis for me, and I'll give you yer old legs back, plus give you low level regenerative healing." Grim spoke to which Hoss nodded. "Alright. I gotta pick up some other people first."

He swung the scythe, a portal forming to the Nergal's cavern which they both stepped through before closing. He would have to talk to Nergal, as well as his old friend-enemy Velma Green first, before taking them all down to Level F, and hopefully starting on a special project he'd had in mind for a certain red-headed maniac.

---

Upstairs Mandy stilled her sobbing after a minute. Billy continued to hold her as she dried her eyes on his shirt. She let herself linger there in his arms as she bought her face up to his. The blue eyes looking back held all the care she had ever wanted, and set her in a state of perfect comfort as he held her close. She laid her head against his collar as she just enjoyed the moment, feeling the warmth of his embrace against the cold night air.

After a moment she was ready to go back to her bed. But before she left she couldn't help but look back up at his caring face again. She almost wanted to tell him how she felt then, but knew it just wasn't the right time. So instead while still in his arms she leaned around and gave him a soft little kiss on the side of his cheek. Billy seemed to shrink in on himself as an enormous blush spread across his face as she slipped out of his arms, feeling his hands brush across her soft waist as she withdrew.

"Goodnight Billy."

Looking back as she opened the door she saw him turn around to look back to her with a small smile.

"Goodnight Mandy."

She smiled awkwardly in return before she closed the door to go back to her own room, feeling like she was on a high. As she made her way back under the covers of her bed, letting herself relax from the rough emotional night, she found that she simply couldn't suppress the little smirk on her face.

'So this is what it's like to be in love. This is stupid, but I could get used to it.' She thought contentedly to herself.

Her thoughts returned to that of her parents. Though she was at peace with their loss the pain was still there. It occurred to her that this was what hundreds of thousands of people all over the world were going through because of the depravity of those around them. For the first time she had a real sense of wanting to protect others from what she herself had suffered, just as much as she wanted to make the ones responsible suffer ten fold for what they had done.

'In my future the people should respect and fear me, not criminals, murderers, rapists and the scum of the earth. I'll create a world of order and respect, where people can live in safety and security so long as they obey my orders and are responsible for their own actions.' She hardened her features as a determination came to her as she thought of how it felt to lose her parents again. 'No one should go through that.'

Mandy meditated on her desire for order and stability for her new world order before she let herself fall into the darkness encroaching on her consciousness from within. As she slept she wouldn't have known that her decision would ultimately affect the nature of her rule in the future, leading to an orderly civilisation that was both a dystopia and a utopia to the people within it.

It seemed the future Night Empire had just found a dawn.

---

The next morning.

Billy opened the door and emerged from the bathroom, newly showered and dressed for the day. Drearily he ran a hand up across his face and through his hair. His friend in the bedroom nearby may well have slept soundly after their emotional encounter, but he hadn't. The thought of what awaited Mandy and him kept him awake early into the morning. He stepped down the stairs out into the living room, where Mandy already sat eating a sandwich. She turned to see him descend and make his way over to where she sat at the table.

"Good morning." He spoke in a soft, welcoming voice, his bright side shining through for her.

"Morning." Mandy's voice still held an authoritarian tone to it, despite the widespread reforms she had implemented following their trials together. Just the sound of that stern, controlled voice gave rise to an electrical storm of enthusiasm inside him. It had always been a drug to him, capable of controlling his very mindset, and that was how he liked it. She watched as his kind smile twisted into a satisfied smirk as he sat down facing her. "What?"

"Nothing." He hummed in reply and seized a box of colourful cereal, tipped it up and began to devour its contents dry from the open end, still smiling to himself. Mandy glared at him, and his smile grew as he swallowed a mouthful. "I never told anyone this, but I always liked your scowl. I think it's cute."

He chuckled to himself as Mandy paused caught off-guard, looking absently at his collar before a flush of warmth swept her face. Billy watched as she tried and failed to stop the ends of her mouth curling upwards, and a wide smile broke out across her features.

Billy watched her happily. "I like your smile even more."

"How can you like both?" She retorted eager to retain some sense of dominance.

"Because your smile is so rare, it's precious."

Crossing her arms Mandy pouted, puffing her cheeks out as Billy up ended the cereal box into his mouth, reached across and grabbed the cardboard milk carton, and poured some in. Attempting to look cross she turned away with a huff, before spluttering out a laugh.

"Moron."

"Heh heh…" Billy swallowed the mass and faced her again. "So what're we gonna do today?"

"Didn't Junior say he wanted to talk to us at the ice cream shop today?" Mandy asked returning to her usual stern self.

Billy nodded as he set aside the noxious sugary breakfast. He relaxed back in his seat with contemplation on his features. "Did you notice how he reacted when we mentioned the Freezing Brain?"

"I noticed." Mandy remarked and threw down the last of her sandwich as they sat at the table and looked out the window, taking note of everything happening outside. It didn't seem too different to what they remembered it had been from before they'd left save for the black cruiser parked outside. But surface appearances could be deceiving. "Something happened to him while we were away, and it would have to be something in Endsville that did it." She frowned at the view, the lawn badly needed to be cut, a job for Grim to do today.

"Grim!" She barked out waiting for the spectral form to appear from somewhere. She continued to wait for another few seconds, with no skeletal being appearing anywhere.

"Hey Grim, Mandy's got a surprise for you!" Billy called out, hoping to lure the oftentimes gullible reaper out. Again they were puzzled when no one came.

"Oh Billy? Mandy?" Came Gladys's sing-song voice as she stepped in from the hallway. "Grim's not here. He left a note for you." The two turned to face her as she came and delivered the piece of paper to Billy's hand. He and Mandy looked over the writing in black texta.

'Going out for a few hours with some old friends. Be back with something special.'

"Something special?" Billy raised his eyebrows in wonder as he and Mandy tried to imagine what their servant had planned for them. After that they'd make him do the lawn.

"Well he'll be back later so, I guess we have some time to spare." Mandy said as Gladys continued on upstairs, leaving them alone. Billy looked across to her with a somewhat solemn look.

"Are you alright?" He asked, referring to last night.

Mandy nodded. "Yes, thank you." She spoke quietly. "I mean, it'll take time, but I couldn't confront this without you there for me." She answered him as he leaned forward on the table towards her. All the grief and anguish she had felt in loosing them had now come out, and now that she had someone with which to share the burden she could be certain that she was going to get through it just fine. "I'll be alright. I just gotta work through this at my own pace."

Billy nodded his head as Mandy leaned forward, putting her finger against the table.

"Look, if we're gonna get settled down again we're gonna have to know what we're up against here, from Endsville, National Unity, all of them. I need to know what happened to him, and who did it, and what we have to look out for." She spelled out. Billy sat back with a troubled visage.

"We're gonna have to break it to him about Max." He spoke soberly. "Junior never had many people he could call friends. I think Max was a lot more important to him than either of us."

They thought in silence, until their attention was drawn to a flash of green taking place out front. They watched as a pillar of spectral green flame rose up out of the lawn, searing a small part of it brown as it dispersed, revealing Grim as he exited the vortex, followed by Nergal and Junior, as well as Hoss Delgado behind him. He looked over from his place on the patch of brown grass through the window where Billy and Mandy sat watching them arrive.

"This is very odd." Billy said as he jumped from his seat to head out the front door. Mandy followed after him at as they confronted the group standing in front of the fading portal.

"Good morning Billy. How are you two?" Grim asked as he stepped up to him. Billy frowned up at him in wonder as Gladys and Harold came out to join them.

"We got your message. Where were you? What the hell is this?" He asked guardedly with a strain of aggressive over-confidence derived from the former childishly pompous way he used to poke and prod at Grim and Mandy's tempers. Grim grizzled as he looked across to Nergal.

"Little arrogant, but managed. Aggressive, but managed. You were right, he's got real potential." He answered him with a smirk, drawing Grim's gaze back to the baffled youth before him.

"You know when you said Billy I didn't believe you at first, but you weren't kidding, he's definitely got something going on here." Hoss remarked bending down to scrutinise him. "No bullshit, from what you've told me he's got demon lord material written all over him, even if he's just a punk now."

"Excuse me, but will one of you shit-for-brains talk like I'm actually here." He demanded, Junior smirking. He was looking forward to what was coming. Billy stopped and frowned. "Wait a minute, demon lord?"

"Billy, during our time in hiding you proved to me dat you were more than worthy of wielding great destructive power, both for the vanquishing of the depraved and protection of de righteous. You also showed dat you also possessed the correct… how shall I put dis… 'frame of mind' with which to use it properly." Billy nodded in understanding as Grim laid it out to him. "So yesterday evening and last night Nergal, Hoss, Velma and I took a little trip down to research and development on Level F in the underworld, and…"

He pondered over how to introduce the boy to the new horror he had created specifically for him. Listening and waiting on edge Billy noticed Grim and Nergal's faces morph into a pleased grin. "Remember how we made that deal, dat if you could safely master a gun, den you could master the dark forces of the universe?"

Billy's eyes widened in anticipation and his mouth went dry.

"Guys, you know it's not a good idea to keep a maniac like me hanging."

"Alright den. Close your eyes and hold out your hands."

Billy looked questioningly up to Grim and Nergal, then across to Mandy, and back to their servant. He relented, closing his eyes as he extended his arms out with his hands upwards and focussed on his hearing and touch. A few seconds later he heard the sound of something being summoned from the underworld in a rush of flames, followed by the feeling of an object being placed into his hands. As soon as he felt the staff-like shape touch his palms he picked up on a sense of prickling energy that flowed like a ripple throughout his skin, like static electricity. From what little he could discern from it the object in question felt heavier at the left end, with a strange texture which while rock hard tended to give ever so slightly under his grip, as if the material was slithering out to form temporary hand grips for his fingers. It was slightly cold, and damp, like it had been pulled out of a swamp.

He also noticed the faint tingle he felt a moment ago was still there in his hands, having grown in intensity to a mild sensation of pins and needles. He tightened his eyelids as he felt the prickling pain suddenly shoot up his arms, washing across and throughout, dispersing into every cell of his body. He almost gasped when he realised he could feel himself all the way through, and became acutely aware of his own organic existence. His cells were dividing, dying, and there were electrical currents running through his nerves. He quickly got used to the awakened sensation as the buzzing rapidly faded.

In the following few seconds after the wave had washed through him, he felt subtly though profoundly different. Something throughout his entire body had changed, though he could not say what. Through the faint buzzing the first thing he recognised was the heavy beating of his heart in his ears, along with the rushing of the storm going through his lungs. As he tuned out from the sound of his own existence he next noticed an uncomfortable tightness throughout his body, and felt as if he had suddenly grown in muscle mass and strength. He felt a strong need to be active, to run and jump, and below that a desire to hunt.

'What's happening to me? I feel… powerful all of a sudden. I wanna go destroy something. But why?'

"Okay Billy, open yer eyes." He heard Grim say. Though he knew he had said it no louder than normal the voice sounded clearer, as if he were able to pick up on every minute vibration in the air with acute precision. His senses had been tuned and improved. He could hear Mandy's shallow breathing next to her, shallower than normal he noticed.

She must be staring in surprise at whatever it is I'm holding. But how do I know all this? And how can I pick up on her breathing anyway?'

Letting his eyes open they quickly adjusted to the brutal sunlight, taking in his surroundings in perfect clarity in an instant. He felt said eyes widen as he looked down to his hands. Sitting there grasped between his two hands lay a ferocious demonic green scythe.

He gaped openly in stunned amazement as he studied the weapon. The shaft was black with flakes, veins and seams of a glowing green crystal within it. The glow moved and fluxed across the length of the shaft from within, while the veins themselves stayed perfectly still. In amongst the green veins lay flickers of yellows, oranges and reds, each flake giving off an overpowering, empowering rage and bloodlust, even as it lay sedate and at peace in its young masters hold. Despite the shaft being cold and damp to the touch, it felt almost welcoming in his presence, and he could make out where the crystal had moved to form grooves for his fingers to rest in whilst still retaining their diamond hard quality.

Turning his gaze towards the end as he raised the weapon upright, a satisfied grin formed on his face as he took in the twisted, primal and sadistic shape of the blade. Whereas Grim's onyx scythe was a simple curve, and Mandy's was a hard geometric shape taking the same overall pattern as Grim's, his was a shining steel blade with a faint green hue, cut in a malicious set of jagged edges and large teeth-like projections. It curved downwards in a jagged fashion like the other two, only at the end it rose back up slightly.

A dark sneer crept across Billy's face as he felt his powerful new weapon. Grim smiled, seeing this was probably worth more than a lifetime of Christmas and birthday presents to the boy as he fantasised about all the destruction and anarchy and slaughter he would cause with it.

"Okay listen up. Dis scythe is powered by the same basic energy as all demons, angels and supernatural artefacts are, but it also imbues special strains of this energy unique to various races, hence why Nergal was instrumental in creating it." He gestured towards the demon as he gazed with pride on their master craft. "Like Mandy's it is primarily a weapon for destroying your enemies, but it will create just as willingly if you want it to. Its primary powers are control of all elements, in particular those related to earth, summoning demons to do your bidding, raising vast structures for whatever purpose from scratch, creating portals to the most far flung regions of the universes, and being able to change the form of different objects, creatures and people. Basically in return for sacrificing some fighting and reaping potential, it'll do just about whatever you will it to do. So while it won't be as devastatingly overpowered as Mandy's, it can do much more." Grim explained while the boy nodded, never taking his eyes off the thing for a moment.

He smirked at how he took in every detail as if he were looking at it under a microscope. "One ting you'd be especially interested in is de effect it has on its master. Because it holds the power and abilities of demons in it in many different forms, as well as being bound to your own consciousness, not only can you channel that power to use it as a weapon, but you yourself can, on a whim, become one."

Billy looked up perplexed, unaware of how Mandy beside him was looking at him with shock.

"Didn't you feel it when you took hold of it? Didn't it feel like something had just changed inside you? Did it feel like you suddenly became stronger and much more powerful, like a monster disguised as a human?" He taunted his mind with these eerie suggestions. Billy remembered the feeling exactly.

"You now hold within yourself a small portion of the power of all the races of demon. On a whim you can turn yourself from being ordinary human Billy, to a fully fledged demon lord, with or without de scythe."

Billy gaped in shock as he once again felt the subtle change in his being. Patting his hands across his body he searched for anything out of the ordinary. As he searched he bought his hands up to eye level, seeing the fingernails held a very slight green pigment in addition to the skin tone underneath. Grim lowered his own scythe for the boy to look in the reflection of the blade. As Billy looked into the reflection his eyes centred on themselves. Staring back was a pair of slightly feral blue-green irises, surrounded by whites that now held a green tinge to them. Baring his teeth he saw that they too were a pail green.

"Whoa…" He spoke in a daze. Raising his hand again he gave it a flex, enjoying the tightening of the muscles and tendons.

"Its personality was designed from the outset as an offshoot of its masters, so together you and it will serve to unconsciously fuel each others fury in battle or when confronted by corruption. If you want to return to human again it's as simple as focussing on being human. The scythe's presence inside you will recognise your will and make all the changes disappear so you go back to normal, whatever normal is for you." Grim instructed.

Billy considered what he was saying and followed suit, focusing on going back to his semi-normal human form. Before he even knew it his reflection had changed to that of his human self, and he felt all his extra strength and sharp sensed return to their normal relaxed form. He continued looking into the reflection as he willed his demonic features to activate, and as such they immediately returned, giving his eyes and parts of his body a faint green hue again. The changes gave him a feeling of power, like he had become a living natural disaster. He smirked again madly.

"Why don't you give it a try?" Nergal suggested eager to see how their work performed.

Billy locked his enhanced gaze on a tree in his front yard. They remembered the Taking Tree which had over time caused many inconveniences for the family, and anyone passing nearby, due to its occasional bouts of kleptomania following the death of his favourite baseball player, eaten by mutant squirrels while imprisoned in its trunk. Billy sneered viciously at the possessed tree, making his way towards it with the savage new scythe glowing green in anticipation for destroying something, Mandy and the others following close behind. Mandy couldn't help but feel slightly inspired by the presence of savagery and destruction the boy exuded as the annoying tree noticed his arrival.

"Well hey there Billy. What's that ya got there huh, something new for me?" It asked of the scythe, eager to snatch it out of his hands at first chance. It barely even noticed the demonic changes in the boy's body even as he grinned maliciously at it.

"No my thieving little friend, but I do have something for you, just to say thanks for stealing our stuff for all these years." He answered in a sadistic mocking tone.

"Huh?" The tree only just noticed the malice in the young man's voice as Billy reared back with the scythe, swinging it in and ramming the jagged blade into its side. Instead of stopping there he felt the blade's momentum lessen with the impact, then rise again, eating its way through the trunk in just a moment as he swung the scythe through. Looking at what it had done he saw the scythe had ripped apart a wide band across the front that rained shards of plastic from toys, broken gadgets and the occasional piece of clothing.

The tree gaped in shock as Billy recovered from the swing, levelling his new scythe at the opening of its mouth. With a thrust he blasted out a wave of green energy that landed inside the tree, spreading throughout it in an instant. It barely had time to react before a mass of razor sharp black crystals shot out from its surface, tearing it to sawdust in a microsecond, leaving a demonic abstract sculpture in its place.

Gritting his teeth through a thin smile Billy twisted his fingers across the staff with satisfaction. He had only just touched on its power, and already he was deeply enthralled with it. The thought of what madness he could reign down on the debase people around him filled him with an eagerness to unleash its potential some more.

"Wanna get to know it some more?" Grim asked behind him. Turning around with a slightly crazed glimmer in his distorted eyes he faced them.

"You read my mind."

Reaching out Grim called on his own blade, channelling its energy into creating a portal beside the group facing the road.

"We know a place where you can do just that."

Stepping up to and through the portal Billy, Mandy, Gladys and Harold all looked about their surroundings in wonder. Billy and Mandy quickly recognised it as the same place they had gone to years ago after Billy and Irwin's videogame addiction, the group standing amidst a clearing in a barren rocky mountain range beneath the walls of the menacing barbarian castle. They both gazed in surprise as before the group stood two people, Velma Green, queen of the spiders, and F, head of supernatural research and development, both waiting for them.

"Hello Billy. Hello Mandy. It's good to see you all again." Velma spoke as Billy stepped forward.

"Velma? F? You're part of this too?"

"That's right." The eccentric scientist replied. "We'd been collecting a compendium of supernatural energies for some time, but when Grim came and gathered us all together for this, out of his own wanting to do so I might add, we all figured it was the right thing to do."

"What are we doing here?" He asked of the dark landscape, Velma moving forward to take over.

"This level of Limbo is one of several used as a dumping ground for supernatural beings deemed too corrupt and dangerous for their natural realm. Normally they all tear each other to pieces on sight, but recently a warlock has taken control and has built his own small army out of the lowlife scum. We've observed them in advance. Some of his creatures are powerful, and we know he has some level of magical ability, but they are no match for you and your new scythe."

Grim stepped in and took over. "This is really for you to get to know what you can do now. Take your time and explore the scythe's abilities. If you need to escape just form a portal back here." Reaching into his robe he drew the old Tokarev and handed it back to him, along with two full magazines. "This is just as much about your own new abilities as it is about de scythe so it be good to try fighting without it as well."

Nodding Billy dug the gun into the back of his pants and the magazines in his back pocket. Looking over them all he gave a smirk and took off in the direction of the castle before them.

His family and friends watch tensely as he took off up the long flight of stairs ahead of them, running and bounding up with noticeable vigour as he stretched his newly upgraded muscles. Nearing the entrance he skidded to a stop, setting himself on guard and alert as the gate opened upwards, and a dozen or so short, bony grey creatures rushed out to greet him. Billy regarded them intrigued as they snarled and snapped with animal aggression. They were deranged goblins, he realised, armed with a multitude of crude swords and spears, and clothes made out of rags, if any.

Readying the scythe he grinned crazily at the small horde as they roared and launched themselves down the stairs at him, by which time Billy had already figured out a plan. Backing away down the stairs to draw them all out beyond the cover of the gatehouse he slashed right and left, severing the heads and limbs of the first two, waving the scythe to deflect a round of hacks, breaking several of their swords in the process. Stepping across their front he dealt a long diagonal slash that tore through another four, severing them from their legs all the way to their necks, splattering the ground with their blood and body parts.

Watching as the first half lay in pieces before him either dead or screaming mindlessly in pain, the gazed on as the remaining half edged towards him more cautiously with spears and swords at the ready. Dropping low to the ground on all fours he flexed his muscles and leaped up, soaring over their dumbstruck faces as he dropped down behind them, bisecting the skull of one on the way, and immediately went to work. Gleefully he hacked and slashed at each of them, the demonic blade chewing through their bodies like a chainsaw causing blood and gore to fly. After several short, brutal seconds of slaughter he left them lying dead on the stairs behind him as he made for the doorway, examining the bloody blade and staff with a happy-go-crazy smile.

Heading inside he held the staff in his right hand as he looked about intently. The stone corridor was poorly lit, but strangely his eyes could see easily, taking note of everything around and ahead of him despite the gloom. Looking to one of the few flickering torches he noticed something interesting. Though he could see the flames as they rose and died away a few inches above the burning surface, he could make out the hot air rising up away from it, seeing it as a mysterious red-white glow that dimmed as it dispersed.

'I can see heat.' He realised with a start.

Continuing on through the hallway between the square supports, in the darkness ahead he could see momentary flashes of soft heat peaking out from behind the base of the columns, and quickly realised they were more creatures hiding in wait for him. Stepping off to the side he took cover behind the nearest column to his right. Training his ears he could make out their convoluted breathing and shuffling, and estimated he was facing much the same group as he had hacked away at before. But now that he had caught wind of their ambush he could experiment with bringing his own tactics into play.

Aiming the scythe behind him he formed a small portal, calling forth a small force of a dozen of Velma Green's spiders. Gesturing his orders with his hands he sent them scurrying silently around the other side of the columns towards the enemy's position. He shuddered momentarily; he was still slightly edgy about spiders. Waiting until they began their attack he listened as the enemy soldiers suddenly shouted out in alarm and began fighting and snarling in grating voices. Watching the carnage from behind cover he saw they were more goblins.

Rushing out he began hacking his way through the remainder. His naturally fast and honed reflexes helped him deflect and side step every slash and stab from their crude swords, butchering the remainder while being careful not to harm his spiders. In seconds it was over, their bodies littering the ground, though sadly three spiders had died with them. Looking towards the end however Billy saw two survivors fleeing in terror; a chance to test his scythe's magical capabilities. Aiming it at them he called on his weapon's affinity for earth and solids, raising a high wall of the same stone of the floor to block them off. For a moment he watched as they hit the wall, bashing mindlessly against it, before they began to turn on each other with their swords. Before they could kill each other altogether Billy focussed the blade on them, calling on the air element to send a string of invisible blades of gas towards them, cutting them both into several pieces. With them dead the wall burst and dissolved away into energy. Turning he formed another portal for the spiders to return them to their realm.

"Thank you." He spoke reverently, unsure of what he really could say knowing that three of their number had died for him. They each looked to him surprised at his show of respect, bowed and filed into the portal before it shut after them.

Continuing along the hallway at the end he stoped and listened around the corner to the right. He could hear soft groans, slowly shuffling feet, and along with them the ghastly smell of rotting meat. Peeking out cautiously he saw the hallway was littered with twenty or more zombies, noticing they emitted little or no heat signature. They were spread out along the corridor. Though he'd longs since been immunised against zombie bites, it would take time to clear them manually. Raising the scythe he drew its power out, gathering a mass of fire in the air. Ahead the undead abominations turned towards him as he sent it rushing down hallway, pouring across the zombies and searing them. Watching as it cleared however he was displeased to see them still standing, the burns going no deeper than the skin.

'Fire doesn't work.' He surmised, seeing it was also drawing the zombies towards him. Trying again he drew on ice, sending a current of freezing cold air down over them. This time it worked to good effect, causing everyone ahead of him to freeze solid. Stepping out into the open he raised the scythe over his head, charged the blade and swung it down into the stone floor, causing an earthquake to spread out ahead of him, travelling up their legs and into their bodies, shattering them all.

Their destruction cleared the pathway to the end, revealing a lone zombie-like creature left, larger and stronger than the others and without decay, wielding a drum-fed Russian RPK machine gun. His eyes widened in surprise as it locked its bloodshot eyes on him, gave an ugly snarl and opened fire. Acting on adrenaline Billy jumped up over the line of fire, bounding back and forth off the walls and ceiling, all the while wondering in the back of his head how they got a gun in the first place. Dodging the continuous fire he raced in for the kill, bringing the blade in on the abomination's right shoulder, ripping it in half all the way across through to the left side of its abdomen. Gurgling momentarily the two halves fell over, spilling congealed blood and pieces of organs on the floor as he stepped over the two pieces of carcass, blowing the wooden door behind it to pieces with a blast of energy and descended the winding stairs down.

Exiting the stairs he found himself in the grand chamber. He recalled this as the place he had confronted a giant red insect. Standing at the other end was a small, ugly little man wearing a tattered old piece that looked like this garbage dump realm's equivalent of a regal robe, who turned to gaze at him in alarm. Looking at the yellow eyed man he was not sure if he was another goblin or a mutated human, but he quickly sensed mad delusions of grandeur and a lust for power and cruelty. In his right hand he held a large wooden staff topped by a ram's skull, and in the left a bag of belongings. Accompanying him however were two enormous grey-skinned trolls, standing nearly ten metres tall. The hunched creature turned around and glowered at him hatefully.

"Going somewhere?" He grinned at the delusional sorcerer.

"How dare you trespass upon my kingdom! You shall pay for insulting my splendour!" The ugly creature cursed at him, causing Billy to grin even harder and let out a snigger.

"Says the man dressed like a hobo."

Snarling the warlock raised his hand to point at him. "Kill him!"

At once the trolls stepped around him to attack, while the man raised his staff towards them, uttering a short chant in some supernatural tongue and casting a spell on them both as they move in to kill him. Grinning with excitement Billy jumped up as they brought their fists down. As he fell he slashed at the larger one, however finding the blade wouldn't cut as easily as before, hacking a long ravine through the skin on its shoulder and back, and realised the spell was a kind of protective shield. Dodging left and right he darted out of the way as they landed blows on the ground, frustrating them and keeping them from getting too close. Lashing out at their hands he found the same result, giving them long but shallow cuts across their fingers and arms that only served to fuel their rage. Jumping up again he touched down on the smaller one's arm, bounding again up onto the top of his head. As he'd predicted the larger of the two landed a crushing blow to the other's head just as he leaped back, knocking it off balance. Acting fast as it fell towards him he levelled the scythe at the ground, raising a bed of razor sharp green crystals under it and jumped off to the side as it fell, impaling and killing it.

Racing back at the remaining troll he jumped up and dealt a hard slash across its chest, though failed to do enough damage, with the result of him getting brutally hit by a back hand that hammered him into the opposite wall, the troll staggering back holding the wound.

Groaning as he fell back to the ground he searched for injuries, and aside from some cuts to the right side of his face where he'd hit the wall and soreness he was okay, putting it down to his recent demonic upgrade. Recovering he quickly began searching for a way to get around the physical barrier protecting his enemy. Looking back to the warlock he noticed not only had he not continued in fleeing, but he was still standing with his staff raised. The realisation dawned on him; he had to manually keep it active. Casting out a billowing stream of purple energy from the blade he formed several of Grim's mindless frenzied monkeys that immediately attack the troll, distracting it as he turned back to the corrupt old man.

Running back towards him the warlock cowered in fear as he attacked. Turning his staff the creature jabbed in his direction, emitting a blast of fire. Side stepping it at the last moment Billy scowled and swung the scythe down in a perfect arc, cutting off both his hands. The man staggered back screaming as he held up his stumps, blood spurting from the arteries as Billy took the staff with his hands still attached and crushed it through the middle with his powerful grip, disabling the low level spell. Checking on the troll he saw the remaining three furious monkeys now starting to cause real injuries as they tore at its flesh, and each other.

Turning back he lashed out with a kick that hit the warlock in the chest and dropped him over on his back.

"NO! PLEASE HAVE MERCY! PLEASE! IT WASN'T MY FAULT!" Begging for mercy he cowered and whimpered. Billy however just grinned crazily, lowering the bloody blade to his face, increasing his mindless terror. Screaming and thrashing about he tried to push away with his legs, only for Billy to step in and cut them off below the knees, causing him to scream in pain further. Raising the blade he opened a portal directly to one of the underworld's more horrific hells directly behind him.

"You call yourself superior, this is what ya get." He remarked and kicked him in contemptuously.

Turning back to the troll as the portal closed and it destroyed last monkey in a burst of purple he withdrew his Tokarev, lining up the sights with its head and firing all eight rounds one after another into the side of its face and neck. The bullets blew deep wounds through its skin and flesh, opening holes through the blood vessels in its throat, but none penetrated its thick skull. The wounds caused blood to fly and spatter down across his shirt and face as he walked calmly in, watching grimly as it clutched the side of its throat. Releasing the barrel and returning the gun to the back of his pants he flexed his ready hold of the staff, and uttering a slightly feral roar he jumped and swung the toothed blade of the scythe straight upwards, bisecting the creature from its hips up through its brain. Turning over in the air he fell in a crouch facing the monster. Standing he opened his arms to revel joyfully in the rain of blood as it fell in halves.

"KYAHAHAHAHAHAA!"

When the blood ceased to rain down on him he smiled and flexed his neck, turning around and opening a portal out of the castle, stepping through back to where the group stood looking intently, beaming happily despite being splattered all over with red blood.

"Enjoy yourself?" Mandy asked, to which he gave a creepy laugh and nodded, returning to his normal full human.

"Oh I'm gonna have a lot of fun with this." He replied, all the while noticing Grim holding a crystal ball, showing everything he was seeing as he saw it. His smile fled as he moped slightly, he hadn't quite intended for all of them to be watching, especially his mother and father. Looking to them they saw they both seemed okay with it. "So what'd you guys think?"

"THAT WAS THE MOST HARDCORE THING I HAVE EVER SEEN!" Gladys suddenly screamed out madly before recovering. They each looked to her strangely for a moment, seeing her standing calmly as if nothing had happened.

"Velma, about those three spiders that died, on my orders…" He lowered his face slightly. Velma held her hand up for calm.

"Do not worry Billy. My soldiers have no fear of death. Their minds are limited in scope, and will sacrifice themselves willingly. But I saw how you thanked them. For someone like you, who respects them for their sacrifice, they will fight with zeal to the end of the world and beyond." That set his mind at ease.

"Okay then." Billy spoke as Grim formed another portal that took them back to the front lawn they'd been moments ago, cleaning Billy of all the blood that had coated him moments ago. He turned to face him.

"Now Billy there's two things you need to know. First, I expect you to use dis power with responsibility for de betterment of those who have concern for their fellow man. I don't expect you to just cut loose and destroy everything in your sights." Grim spelled out to him seriously. He nodded in response.

"I won't. It'll be good to be able to do something constructive instead of just destroying stuff." Harold and Gladys smiled quietly at that, seeing how responsible he had grown up to be.

"Secondly, though your body and abilities have all been enhanced significantly as you have seen, this is only a halfway stage in your transformation." He spoke, causing Billy and Mandy to frown in wonder. "At this stage you're really more of a vigilante street punk, but as time passes and your personality becomes that of one worthy of the title of demon prince the transformation will complete. You will still be able to turn back to human on a whim, but what you will eventually become will be infinitely more powerful than what you are now."

Billy nodded in thought. "Okay. I guess I'll get used to using what I got now first."

"Wait a minute." Hoss spoke up suddenly stepping to the fore and turned to Grim and them. "I held up my part in putting this together, now I want my payment." He announced, drawing everyone's attention. He lifted up the bottom hems of his jeans revealing his prosthetic metal legs. "I want my old human legs back. My arm I'm fine with, but I want my legs. And I want to be able to regenerate from injury like him."

Billy and Grim turned to each other. "Sure, but my scythe can't regrow tings like dat. Yours can though."

Looking between them nervously he relented. Carefully he levelled the scythe at his metal legs, willing to his scythe what he wanted to happen. Acting as if it was on autopilot a thin stream of calm green energy leaked from the blade, drifting across and into Hoss's body. He froze, looking down to his legs as the metal component quickly vaporised, and a new pair of limbs formed to replace them in only a few seconds. Raising his new right leg he reached forward and touched his ankle, smiling at being able to feel human cells again. In addition he could feel a buzzing flurry of cellular activity throughout his body that slowly calmed, sensing his new survival ability had taken effect. He turned to the boy with a restrained smirk.

"Kid, you ever need anything and you can count on me to deliver." He spoke, to which Billy nodded back.

"One more thing." Mandy spoke up beside him. "What's its name?"

Billy looked from her up to Grim who only shrugged. "It's your scythe Billy. You name it."

Turning his eyes down onto its savage blade he thought. He remembered the brutal glee with which he had slaughtered his depraved enemies, of watching them scream and run and fall in a pool of their own blood. He had felt so alive in battle, so perfectly at home in slashing left and right across his opponents numbers, like a Viking warrior gone to Valhalla.

Suddenly his eyes flickered and widened, and a dark smile crossed his features.

"Berserker."

All of those present around of them gave an evil little smirk at the predatory conviction in his naming.

"Ooh, ooh, hockey stick! I want that hockey stick! I think it's important that I have that… stick… thingy! Yes!"

Instantly the ominous moment was disrupted. Scowling flatly they turned to see the chubby green demon waddling up towards them from down the road, eager to get his grubby fingers on it, while Gladys and Harold gaped frightfully. Billy didn't wait another moment as he opened a portal underneath Fred's pads, immediately sucking him down into the underworld like had been done for years now. And like all the times before he knew he wouldn't stay down long.

"Okay friends, I'll see you later." Nergal said as on a whim a gaping hole formed in the street, collapsing down into their cavernous abode far below. "Junior's going to stay up here for a little while so if you could send him back down when you're done would be great. Enjoy the scythe Billy!"

"I will, and thanks!" He called as the demon stepped back, falling into the hole. He was immediately followed by a car and a street light knocked over by said car as the driver swerved in a vain attempt to escape certain death. Far below a crash could be heard, followed by Nergal's voice before the hole closed, sealing the sounds within.

"OW! Stupid piece of god damn mother fu…" The remainder looked on as the ground reformed into the way it was, minus one car and a street lamp.

"Oooookaaay." Billy said as they each looked at one another quietly. After him Hoss took his leave, putting his helmet back on and riding away on his Boulevard, while Velma created her own portal back, leaving Harold and Gladys to return inside.

"So, you guys wanna go get some ice cream?" Junior asked with a noticeable hint of despondency.

"Yeah alright, let's go." Mandy said as they began to make their way down the footpath into town. She turned back to where Grim was following behind. "Grim, the lawn needs mowing, and Billy's sculpture needs to be put in the garbage."

"What! After all I… Grrr stupid…" Grim snarled disdainfully as he turned around to begin his chore. Billy caught the sleeve of his cloak in his hand.

"Wait Grim, I'll do it." He said. Grim blinked in surprise before a smile crossed his bony features.

"Well thank you Bil… What are you doing with that?" He asked concerned as Billy levelled Berserker at the centre of the front yard nearby.

He didn't have time to yell out for him not to as he charged it up and blasted a bright bolt of green plasma at the ground. It exploded with a brilliant flash and searing heat, and enough force to blow the group backwards with the shockwave, knocking out windows throughout the neighbourhood. They each recovered from the blast, looking to where a stout mushroom of choking black ash and dust rose from the sight of the ground burst, drawing a trail of blackened smoke with it as it rose into the sky. Billy sniggered madly as he stepped back from the supernaturally radioactive cloud, his hair and clothes billowing slightly in the breeze as the cloud tried to suck them in towards the centre, where a large crater could be seen through the slowly clearing dust.

Watching from their position by the pathway Mandy smoothed out her hair and clothes as she saw that the windows of their house were unbroken, due largely to the fact that they had fitted thick glass after years worth of small supernatural disasters such as this one. Ironically they were the ones with the lowest insurance premiums despite it being ground zero for just about everything. The crater had cut into the water lines, and was having predictable results in turning the small chasm into a pool.

"Oh well, good enough." Billy commented, seeing that much of the surrounding lawn had been seared brown. He looked in towards the dirty liquid pooling in the crater with interest. "Muuum." He called out in his best Aussie bogan accent. "I dug another hole. It's filling with wauda."

"Okay sweetheart." Gladys called out unaffected from within having not particularly listened.

The group each began to make their way down the damaged street towards the centre of town, ignoring the radioactive mushroom cloud as it dispersed overhead, dropping glowing green fallout around them which would probably fade to nothing in the next few hours.

Mandy waited and counted. "Four… Three… Two… One…"

"Wait what! Filling with wauda?" She shrieked, noticing the rain of ash following the nearby explosion. "What's all this fallout falling out?"

They each continued on, but stopped as Fred waddled on past them towards the house. They stared in interest as he made his way past the pool to the front door, where he began knocking to the chant of…

"FredFredburger FredFredburger FredFredburger FredFredburger FredFredburger FredFredburger FredFredburger…"

Billy and Junior both looked deadpanned upon the pitiful display of lunacy before them while Mandy regarded it with apathy. She abandoned the green demon to his incessant knocking as she continued. Junior watched on as Billy and Grim followed her on down the path, watching and waiting for any sign that he would turn around.

"… FredFredburger FredFredburger FredFredburger FredFredburger FredFredburger…"

He wasn't going anywhere. Turning he hurried to catch up to them. Mandy led the way towards the business district in the distance, hurrying her steps as she made her way onwards away from the fallout, Junior pulling his black jacket up to cover his neck, ducking his face into his collar to shield himself from the dangerous invisible rays until they passed. Billy and Grim kept going largely unconcerned with the ash as he kept pace with Mandy. They each walked on through the drizzle of fallout as the mushroom cloud started to dissipate overhead.

As Fred continued knocking and Gladys cowered neurotically, Harold unwittingly moved to answer the door. Upon opening the slightly scorched wooden door he was met with the greeting of…

"Yes."

---

What'd ya think? I think I overdid the whole Fred thing but I really like how Billy's bloody unleashing turned out. I actually wrote that and Mandy's final conversation with her mother and father in the last few days. Also what did you think of Berserker? It took months just to figure out the name.

Next time, it's what you've all been waiting a very long time for. Right now though I won't go into details. I just hope it lives up to expectation.

Be sure to review. Thanks!