Oh yeahs, time for chapter SIX. Um, I've pretty much run out of things to say. I hope you enjoy this chapter.

A Grim Apprenticeship

Chapter 6: Grim and Hoss in Sin City

Fire and hot magma surrounded two skull shaped thrones in the center of the Underworld. On each throne sat Billy and Mandy, the new rulers of the realm of the dead. A small, hideous creature flew over to Mandy with a cold drink in his hand.

"Here's the lemonade you wanted, your highness." He said as he handed her the drink.

Mandy inspected the beverage, "Too many ice cubes." She said as she threw the glass at the creature, sending him into the magma below, where he burst into flames.

Billy was also being pampered by his demon servants as he relaxed in his throne, which sat right next to Mandy's. One demon hovered in front of Billy, massaging his nose with both claws. Another demon was clipping Billy's fingernails with his old scythe. Two huge bodyguards stood behind Billy, holding bottles of root beer and other snacks, waiting to stuff them into Billy's mouth at his request.

"Could you hold on to that lint between my toes, I might get hungry later." Billy said in an unusually quiet and relaxed tone to one of the demons that was cleaning his bare feet. The demon looked disgusted, but obviously obeyed his master.

Billy motioned towards one of his bodyguards, who quickly walked over and shoved the bottle of root beer into his mouth. Billy gulped down the bottle, burping loudly afterwards. His servants backed away as he sat up with a yawn and stretched his arms. Billy was in paradise, though he couldn't help but be a little melancholy.

"I wish Grim were here to see this." He said sadly.

Mandy looked over at him with an irritated expression, "Why do you still care about that useless bag of bones." She said harshly. "He could be in pieces for all I care. Besides, I have plans now that I'm ruler of this place."

That didn't appear to cheer Billy up at all, in fact he looked even more depressed. Mandy noticed this and decided it was time to show him something. She whistled loudly and a series of loud footsteps could be heard immediately afterwards. Billy almost fell out of his throne as the ground shook violently with each foot step. Cerberus, the source the commotion, stepped in front of the reapers and sat down. There was a large machine that resembled a vacuum cleaner strapped to his back.

"You got Cerberus a new dog sweater!" Billy exclaimed, right before Mandy slapped him.

"It's not a sweater, you idiot. It's a new device I've been working that's going to revolutionize reaping as we know it."

"What's it do! What's it do!" Billy asked anxiously, interrupting Mandy before she could explain any further.

"It has the ability to suck people's souls right out of their bodies, from a distance of over two football fields." Mandy continued, annoyed at being interrupted. "This thing could take out a whole town in seconds."

Billy stared at the machine in awe, "What's it called?"

Mandy didn't reply. She hadn't come up with a name yet.

"Oh! Oh! I wanna name it the Soul Sucky Thingy!" Billy shouted.

"We're definitely not naming it the soul sucky thingy." Mandy said as she lowered her eyes. She felt stupid just saying it.

Billy jumped down from his seat and sprawled himself out on the floor in front of Mandy's throne, "Please, Mandy! Let me name the machine, I want to help revolutio-mah-nize reaping, too!" He begged.

Mandy rolled her eyes, "Whatever. We'll call it…whatever you said you wanted to call it." She said in a low voice. She couldn't think of another name anyway.

Billy's face lit up and he jumped back into his throne as his body guards rushed back to surround him.

"More root beer, sir?" One of the demons asked in a deep voice.

Billy tilted back his head and opened his mouth as he guzzled more root beer. Mandy pointed a finger at one of the lingering creatures around the two thrones.

"You! Get me some lemonade." She ordered. The creature bowed nervously and hurried out of sight.

Billy sat back in his throne; he seemed content again, but still looked a little worried.

"I still miss Grim, though…" He said quietly to himself.

Hoss' monster truck sped through an endless desert under the scorching sun. A group of vultures hastily followed the moving cloud of sand below them, hoping to get a meal.

"We've been driving through this desert for hours." Grim complained. "I have sand in between every bone in my body! We're obviously lost…"

"Hoss Delgado doesn't get lost." Hoss said stubbornly, referring to himself in the third person.

"Let's just ask for directions." Grim suggested.

Hoss started to get angry, "We don't need to ask for directions."

"Why do you have a problem with asking for directions?" Grim asked, his voice becoming more high-pitched.

"Because there's no one around for miles and even if there was I wouldn't ask them for directions because we're not lost!" He shouted as he swerved into some cactuses, which hit against the windshield.

"Stop yelling at me!" Grim cried, his voice sounding more effeminate.

Hoss stared out in front of him, trying to ignore Grim as he sobbed. He couldn't help but feel guilty for yelling at him.

"Grim, I'm sorry I got angry at you." He said as he put his arm around Grim's shoulder. "How about this: tomorrow night we'll go to a restaurant and have a nice steak dinner. Just you and me."

Grim wiped the tears out of his eyes, "Really?" He asked as a smile began to form on his face.

Hoss smiled and nodded his head. Grim smiled back, but his smile quickly turned into a frown. Something wasn't right.

"Wait a second…get away from me you creep!" Grim shouted as he pushed Hoss' arm away.

Both of them stared angrily out the window for a few minutes, until Grim broke the silence.

"I thought you knew about another way into the Underworld."

"Why me? You're supposed to be the Grim Reaper." Hoss retorted.

Grim felt too angry to even speak to Hoss, but then he remembered something.

"What about Las Vegas? I heard something about Las Vegas being an alternative entrance into the Underworld. Or was it Los Angeles?"

"Sin City sounds about right." Hoss agreed. "I just don't know how to get there if I don't know what part of the country we're in."

"I have no clue where we are right now." Grim said as he looked out at the desert, which seemed to go for miles in every direction.

"What state is Endsville in?" Hoss wondered.

Grim thought about it for a while, "You know what, I've never looked into it."

"What do you mean you've never looked into it, what is wrong with you!"

"I just didn't think it was important!"

Hoss muttered angrily to himself as he continued driving, trying not to get angry again.

"Well, we must be near the west coast if we're in the desert…" He said between clenched teeth.

"You're forgetting about the great deserts of the east coast." Grim reminded him.

Hoss was trembling in rage, but he managed to control himself.

"I guess we'll get to Las Vegas eventually…" He said as he turned the truck around and drove in the opposite direction.

It took hours (or maybe days, it depends), but Grim and Hoss Delgado finally arrived in Las Vegas. They were greeted by the 'Welcome to fabulous Las Vegas Nevada' sign as they drove into the city. It was already nightfall, and the thousands of lights and signs that covered every building in sight made it seem as if the entire city were glowing. Hoss drove down the congested main road, parking on top of two small cars, which were crushed under the weight of his truck. Grim's eyes widened as he stepped down to the sidewalk and stared at the colorful casino buildings that lined the streets.

Hoss didn't pay attention to the sights around him, "Alright, now that we're here it's time to-"

Grim interrupted, "GAMBLE GAMBLE GAMBLE!" He screamed as he ran full speed into one of the many casinos.

Hoss had no choice but to follow him as they weaved through security guards and gamblers. Grim shoved innocent people to the ground as he made his way towards the slot machines. He stopped running to admire the endless rows of golden slot machines that sat in the back of the casino. He ignored Hoss, who was running close behind him, and stuffed some money into the machine. He pulled the lever and watched the three spinning reels in the center, hoping to get the jack pot. He didn't of course, so he inserted more money and tried again.

"I really think we should look for a portal to the Underworld…" Hoss said as he tried to catch his breath.

"You go do that." Grim said quickly, not taking his eye sockets off the slot machine.

Hoss looked at him as he pulled the lever again (still no jack pot). He shook his head and walked off, leaving Grim behind. As he moved farther away he could hear Grim say 'darn it' and then the sound of a lever being pulled again.

Hoss returned a few hours later being carried by two security guards.

"Does he belong to you?" One of the guards asked Grim, who was still glued to the slot machine.

Grim didn't reply, so the guards simply dropped Hoss to the ground. Hoss was covered in bruises and cuts, as if he had been in a fight. He coughed weakly while he tried to stand up, almost falling back on the floor again.

"I've been beaten up, mauled by tigers, and married four times, but I think I've found the portal." He said slowly, revealing some missing teeth.

"Yeah, that's great Hoss. Do you have some cash I could borrow?" Grim asked, continuously tapping Hoss on the shoulder.

"Umm…no."

"That's fine, just help me get my femur into the coin slot." Grim said as he tried to jam one of his leg bones into the machine while balancing on one foot.

"Look pal, I think we should be going now." Hoss said fiercely as he smacked the femur out of Grim's hand.

"Do you think I got a gambling problem!" Grim shouted angrily as he tried to put his leg back together.

Hoss just stared at him as one of the security guards returned.

"Alright buddy, it's time to go." The guard said as hepulled Grim away.

Grim started to get hysterical, "Wait! It's my lucky day! STOP! THOSE KIDS CAN HAVE MY JOB, I JUST WANT TO GAMBLE! I NEED IT! I CAN'T LIVE WITHOUT THAT MACHINE!" He continued to shriek as the guard dragged him out of the casino and threw him onto the street, where he landed in a pile of bones.

As Grim calmed down and slowly began to put himself together he noticed a large building across the street that had smoke coming out of it. The building was surrounded by police cars, fire trucks, and ambulances; all with their sirens and lights on. Firefighters, paramedics, police officers and even a SWAT team surrounded and patrolled the area.

"What happened here?" Grim asked.

Hoss wasn't even paying attention, "What? Oh, that. I had to take care of two aliens while you were gambling. They were trying to raise an unholy army of mutated white tigers, but I put a stop to that." He replied.

Grim looked at the billboards and posters that covered the building, "They weren't aliens! They were…" Grim stopped suddenly. "Never mind…"

"Whatever. No human I know would dress like that…" Hoss said coldly.

They both crept passed the scene of the crime and moved down the sidewalk. Hoss pointed towards a small bar on the corner of street. There was a large red-neon sign in front of the bar that read, 'The Devil'. There was a small, neon devil next to the lettering on the sign.

"This is the place." Hoss said as he opened the door.

Inside the bar was dimly lit and filled with cigarette smoke. There were a number of suspicious looking people sitting at the barstools and tables, each one glaring at Grim and Hoss as they stepped inside. Their eyes followed them as they moved towards the back of the room. A scantily clad woman with heavy makeup approached Grim as he walked past one of the tables.

"Hey, honey. What's your name?" She asked.

Grim stopped walking and smiled stupidly at the woman. Hoss quickly pulled him away from her and into the bathroom, which was even more disgusting than the bar itself. The walls were covered in mold, the mirrors were shattered, the floor was covered in mud (or worse), and Grim swore he saw a rat jump out of one of the toilets.

"I think this is it." Hoss said, stopping in front of one of the overflowing toilets.

"I'm not going in that thing!" Grim shouted as Hoss lifted his boots into the murky water of the toilet bowl.

"I've seen scarier things than this." Hoss said in a melodramatic voice as he flushed the toilet, which pulled him down into the pipes.

Grim walked over to the toilet and looked into it. Hoss Delgado was nowhere to be seen.

"This is disgusting." He muttered to himself.

As Grim looked closer, Hoss' metal hand burst out of the toilet and grabbed Grim's eye sockets. Grim was helpless as he was pulled into the toilet, which was about to lead him to his old home.

Arg, I don't really like this chapter. There's something wrong with it, I'm just not entirely sure what it is. To tell you the truth, I'm starting to get nervous about this story. It started out well, but now that I'm coming towards the final chapters I'm starting to get worried. It's not that I don't have an ending in mind, it's just that I don't know how I'm going to write it or how good it will be. I got the same feeling about the later chapters of my last story, too (I was worried about that story from the beginning, though). I'M GETTIN' NERVOUS, MAN! Oh well, who cares.

Response to almostinsane's review: No, God probably won't be in the story. At least I don't plan on putting him in. I'm not really sure why I mentioned him in the last chapter. WAIT, FORGET I SAID THAT! I might put him in one of the later chapters, but only briefly. He wouldn't be a major character in the story or anything like that. By the way, what did you think was creepy? The Underworld scene or the fact that Hoss Delgado used to be a woman? Just curious. Thanks once again.

Thank you all for reading.

HOORAY, NEW EPISODE TONIGHT! (god I hope it's a good one)