We reach the climax!
Everyone gathered in the middle of the cul-de-sac and waited for the two travelers to speak.
"As I said before, there was a spell over this place that kept you here." Jane spoke clearly. "It's strength came from whether or not you believed in it. One brave soul's courage to question it's validity is what weakened it. Your determined spirit is what lead you to watch him challenge it, and your hope is what made you stay to witness it for yourselves. Finally, your belief is what destroyed it. Together you can accomplish anything. You are strong as a whole."
"Wherever you go, we ask that you take each other with you." Piff spoke. "Everything happens for a reason. You're being together was no accident. You all have a working system, here, that makes you strong. You aren't just neighbors, you are family. You are your strongest when you are together."
The spirits looked at one another, smiling, some hugging each other and holding hands.
"I am going to retrieve a tool with wich I will help you crossover." Jane smiled. "I'll return shortly. Piff will stay here while you wait."
Jane smiled at them and glanced at Piff, who nodded. She walked towards the end of the road, holding her scythe up. With a swift motion, she cut a hole in the air, making a portal. She stepped through it and vanished, leaving the world.
Piff looked back at the spirits, who were all huddled together happily.
"Are you guys excited?" Piff asked.
"Yea." Nazz smiled, leaning into Kevin and her arm around Double D.
"It's going to be rather intrigueing to see other sights." Double D looked over at Eddy and Ed, who sat on his other side, their arms around each others' shoulders.
"Yea, I can't wait to see it!" Jimmy giggled.
"It'll be great." Sarah smiled, holding Jimm'y hand and sitting next to Ed.
"I'm glad you're all excited." Piff smiled.
"We owe it to you and the reaper." Kevin spoke up.
"Yea!" A few others called.
"Nah, you guys did all the work." Piff chuckled. "We just helped you here and there."
"But we never could've done it without you two." Nazz smiled.
"Plank says you two were a miricle!" Johnny laughed, sitting at Rolf's side.
"Rolf agrees." Rolf nodded.
"It wont be long until you all get your reward." Piff smiled. He looked at the ground where his shadow laid, his mind wandering from thought to thought, when suddenly, his shadow vanished. His brows knitted together and he looked up at the sky along with the others as dark, sinister clouds rolled in. He then looked at the group, who were suddenly panic stricken.
"... We have company..." Eddy gulped.
Piff looked at him for a moment and then turned to look down the road. A dark mass was approaching them aggressively, tendrils of darkness snaking around them and a large metal scythe in their right hand.
"Oh no..." Piff whispered.
The portal opened again and Jane stepped through, a lantern hanging from one of the notches in her scythe blade. She began walking back down the road when she realized something wasn't right. The sky was sickly and dark, the atmosphere around her had changed, and there wasn't a soul in sight.
Her pace quickened as she walked down the road, a pit in her stomach.
"I warned you." A familiar voice rang out from the area around her.
She stopped dead in her tracks and looked around.
"But you didn't listen to ol' Grim."
"Come out, you boney bastard!" Jane yelled.
"As you wish." He chuckled darkly as he manifested a few yards away from her.
"Jane!" Piff cried out from behind one of the houses. He ran out and joined her side, ready to face Grim. "He showed up while you were gone. The others are hidden."
"No need to hide de children." Grim chuckled. "I wouldn't hurt a hair on der little heads. Der my battery, afterall."
"Not for long, you lanky son-of-a-bitch." Jane snarled. She unhooked the lantern from her scythe and handed it to Piff. "Take care of this, it's their way out of here."
Piff took the lantern and ran back to the house with it nestled in his arms like a baby.
"Little girl, stop dis madness." Grim pointed his scythe at her. "You're endangering all de ones you love, don't you see that?"
"All I see is a wretched, washed up ol' bag of bones begging for an ass whoopin'." Jane hissed.
"I tried to help you." Grim glowered. "But you've left me no choice. You did dis to yourself."
Grim gripped his scythe with both hands as he readied for conflict. Around him, he could feel the new reaper's energy surging like waves in the ocean. A boney smirk crawled across his white face as his shadow expanded and sent out a wave of energy. A loud boom echoed through the skies as it hit the area around them. She readied her scythe, the air around them charged with the energy of anger and high emotions. Suddenly, a pair of large feathered wings grew out of her back, not tearing the uniform as it seemed to creep out of the way. She looked up at him, a skull pattern on her face, and glared.
"Cute." Grim cracked a wicked grin.
He raised his scythe and plunged it into the concrete below him, splitting it like tissue paper. An electric red energy shot up from the crack in the ground and crept up the scythe blade, down the hande and to his hands where it climbled up his arms and to the rest of his body. Suddenly, two sharp boney appendages shot from his back and spread, revealing themselves to be bone bare wings.
Jane watched, her eyes wide as he looked up at her, his once hollow eyes glowing with the feirce red energy. He opened his mouth and smiled as the glow exited from every opening on his face.
Before she could react, he leapt into the air and flew at her with inhuman speeds. He plowed into her, sending her flying down the road. She hit the concrete, digging it up in the process, until she finally came to a stop.
She was baffled and dizzy. She honestly had no clue what had hit her. She struggled to get up and she saw Grim standing back a few yards, smirking.
"Is dat all you got?" He asked. "I thought a younger reaper like yourself would put up more of a fight!"
"You ain't seen jack, yet, old man!" Jane hissed as she flew up out of the rut her body had created and flew at him full speed.
She swung her scythe blade and it collided with his, making a loud sound and sending sparks flying everywhere. She managed to push him back a good way before he finally forced her back a little.
Grim swung at her, but she used the staff of the scythe to block the blade from making contact with her flesh. She barely had enough time to block the next swing he took or the next. She could feel herself being pushed back as he bared down on her.
Behind the house, Piff watched with Double D, who was panicy and figiting.
"She needs help..." Piff spoke sternly. "Here, guard this."
He passed the lantern to Double D, who almost screamed. He looked up at Piff to protest, but didn't have time, as he had already taken off.
Double D looked around for a safe place for the item. Then it hit him. He ran over to the tree in his back yard and wedged the item between the two trunks before running back to the house to see if he could see what Piff was doing. As he peeked around the side of the house, he was horrified to see tha older male running to Jane's aid.
"Hey!" Piff yelled from behind Grim, who had pushed Jane back a good ways. "Remember, me?! I'm the guy who spit in your ugly face!"
Grim paused momentarily to look at Piff, his sinister eyes glowing an evil red as he locked onto the purple haired goth boy. With one swift motion of his hand, he sent Jane flying down the street.
"I recall you, insolent boy." Grim hissed, the tendrils around his malignant form snaking about violently with anger. "You have disrespected me for de last time."
Piff braced himself as Grim approached him. Suddenly, he felt himself being lifted up by the back of his shirt and being brought up to eye level.
Grim smirked and spit a flaming ball of sparks into Piff's face, the embers melting through the lenses of his shades. Piff reached up and removed the now useless glasses.
"Not so funny, is it?" Grim chuckled darkly, looking into Piff's terrified green eyes. "Dos eyes wont see de living or de dead for very long."
Piff snarled at him and bared his teeth, defiance in his eyes. Grim reached up with his boney fingers and traced around the green orbs, his sharp finger tips making a stinging circle around them.
"It is a shame." Grim continued. "Green eyes are rare around here."
Piff shut his eyes tightly as he felt Grim's sharp finger tips beginning to dig into the creases of his eyes.
"Put him down!" Jane called, running down the road, tucking her wings in, and tackling the older reaper across the cul-de-sac and into a home at the end of it.
Splintered wood and shingles flew all over the place as the house gave in to the massive force that had slammed into it. Shattered glass littered the area and nails rolled out over the concrete.
"They'll never beat him like this!" Nazz bit her nails, looking at the others who were hiding with her on the other side of the lot.
"There's gotta be something we can do!" Jimmy paniced.
"But what?" Kevin looked around, his mind racing. "Hold on... I got it..."
Jane picked herself up from the debris and looked around for Piff. She found him half concious up against a wall that still stood a yard or two away from her.
"Piff!" She ran towards him, but a large black mass cut her off and slapped her away.
Grim spun and looked at the boy, walking towards him, his scythe drawn back.
"Time to die, boy." He growled.
Piff opened his eyes to see the reaper standing over him, the blade that would end him held high above his head. His green eyes widened, the pupils shrinking, as he awaited the end. Though, it never came.
"HEY!" A shrill female voice screeched. "STAY AWAY FROM MY MAN!"
Grim spun around to see Sarah standing there, her fists balled and her face snarling up at him.
Jane was just picking herself up when she saw the girl confronting Grim.
"Sarah, don't! Get away from him!" Jane warned.
Sarah ignored Jane and continued to stare Grim down. The old reaper smirked at the little spirit before him and turned to address her face to face.
"Littl girl, why do you oppose me?" He asked, amused.
"BECAUSE, YOU'RE A LOW DOWN DIRTY RAT WHO TRAPPED US HERE SO YOU COULD FEED OFF OF US!" Sarah yelled.
Grim chuckled, adjusting his cloak.
"You don't like serving dear old Grim?" He asked. "It is an honor, you know?"
"IT'S A PAIN IN THE BUTT!" Sarah retorted.
Grim straightened up, his face unamused by her comments.
"Very well." Grim positioned his scythe. "I can make do with one less spirit."
Jane leapt towards her as Grim drew his blade back, ready to strike her down for good. Suddenly, Sarah dispersed into a ball of light pink energey and flew up at him and into his face, blinding him momentarily.
Grim stumbled backwards as the pink energey swirled about inside of his skull, her shrill voice echoeing in his head.
Jane took the opportunity to retrieve Piff from the debris. She put his arm over her shoulder and wing and dragged him to safety and out of Grim's line of attack.
"What was that?!" Piff asked. "I've never seen ghosts do that!"
"It's gotta be because of the creek." Jane spoke, looking back at Grim, who was still struggling with her. "They're manifesting in other forms."
"That's insane!" Piff coughed, some blood hitting his lip.
"Stay put." Jane warned.
She stood and looked back at the reaper.
"Jane, I gotta say..." Piff smiled up at her from his leaning spot at the back of Double D's house. "You look pretty wicked from this angle."
Jane smiled down at him and rolled her eyes before taking off towards Grim.
She spun her scythe around and took a well aimed blow at his spine, momentarily crippling the old reaper.
He screamed and fell to his knees, Sarah evacuating the area as her energy ran out.
"ENOUGH!" He bellowed. He snapped his back into place once more with a grotesque series of cracks and pops before standing up, looming over the others. "I HAVE HAD ENOUGH OF DES GAMES! IT IS TIME TO END DIS FOR GOOD!"
"Is that right, old timer?!" Kevin yelled from the side of the cul-de-sac.
Jane turned to see him standing there, all the others behind him, all looking rather angry and determined.
"KINDERGARDERN IS DISSMISSED, CHILDREN." Grim's voice echoed as the red electric energy increased around him, making crackles and pops in the air. He balled his fists and the black handle on his scythe began to crack, revealing a snaking red energy all over it. It crept up to the blade, making odd designs in the metal as his energy charged.
"NOW!" Kevin yelled.
Suddenly, the spirits in the cul-de-sac began to glow, a thick and powerful energy releasing from their forms. It crept like colorful fog over to Jane and swirled about her scythe, wrapping about the handle all the way up to the blade where it left a glowing, oil-like sheen. She could feel static at her fingertips as the energy transfered to her from the spirits.
With barely anytime to spare, she lifted the glowing blade and blocked Grim's attack as he bared down on her once more.
"C'MON!" Eddy yelled as the spirits stepped forward, their energies becoming stronger.
Grim could feel the strength of Jane's defense increasing. He barred down harder, determined to slice the young reaper in two, but it had little affect.
Jane stopped shaking and she gripped the handle of her scythe harder. With one hard push, she threw Grim off of her and swung the blade around, ready to attack.
She lunged at him, the scythe blade alight like a colorful fire, and swung, cutting a bright white hole in his stomach.
He looked down, stunned, and then back at her as she drew the blad back once more. With another swipe, she sliced another hole in his shoulder, then his thigh.
The holes grew larger, swallowing him slowly. He screamed, the red energy fading back as the white light consumed him. With one final bright flash, he vanished without a trace.
The area grew silent, the clouds fading slowly over head. The energy retracted and Jane felt drained suddenly. She collapsed to the ground, the blade making a racket as it hit the concrete.
"Are you okay, dude?!" Nazz called as she, and the others, ran to her side.
Jane opened her eyes slightly, the skull design fading from her face and smiled gently.
"I think... I'll live." She chuckled.
"... OH! I get it!" Eddy laughed loudly. The other caught on and began to giggle as they helped her up to a sitting position. She looked over her shoulder to see Piff limping towards her, smiling.
"You suck at jokes, too." He laughed, sitting next to her.
"Thanks, that's just what I needed right now." Jane laid back with a laugh.
Everyone sat around, taking a moment to calm down and relish their victory with one another, being thankful it was finally over.
The next chapter is our finale.
