Well, this was a fucking monster. Seriously, epp. I get rid of two major projects and move this story to a more convenient place (my laptop) and it still took all of forever to make. I'm sorry, I really am. I got about half of it done before I suddenly lost interest or something and I forgot about it. Hell, the only reason I didn't drop it with my two LoZ stories was because this series needs more love. That's the only way we could ever hope to get a sequel, right?

By the way, to averyshortreview, thanks for telling me the name's fine. I still think it sounds odd, but what other name is there beside 'MURDER THE DEMONS!'

Chapter 3

Over the course of the week after releasing the demons, Raphael and Charlie trained with their powers at the duchess's manor at every opportunity. The two improved immensely in their skills. While Raphael had issues flying above the roof of the manor, he had learned to wield his sword with significantly more ease than when he first used it, and it actually had a proper width. As almost an exact contrast, Charlie still had some issues with having to get up close to her enemy, but was an unbelievable flier, commonly almost doing an Icarus and flying to the point where it was probably hazardous to her health. Not that she cared. True flight like that of the birds was amazing to her.

During that week, they were told very strictly to avoid intentionally picking a fight with any demons, rather, they were to send a message to one of Elisabeth's servants, who was keeping a record of the known possessed people, should they see anyone exhibiting signs of possession.

Unfortunately, there were a lot more lesser demons that weren't constantly fighting over Marie's soul than even Elisabeth expected. There were very few people wandering about the city after just the first day that didn't have creepy red eyes. Even some animals had them. It was rather unnerving. The two teens, upon their second meeting, traded phone numbers for the sole reason of wanting know they could contact someone they knew for a fact was human.

Luckily, or perhaps not depending on how you looked at it, word quickly spread about contacts. In just two days, the number of red eyed people dropped drastically. Anyone that wasn't possessed or privy to the invasion was left to guess that it was simply a fad that only lasted about a day before most sane people realized it looked odd.

Also rather unfortunate was the fact that a good chunk of the two teens' friends were possessed. Despite the fact that most of the demons tried to fit in so much to the point where they dived into their hosts' memories to make conversations less awkward, and to seem more convincing to the few remaining non-demons, it was still rather unnerving to know that you were talking to a demon that had possessed your best friend against their will. Not to mention that, true to Elisabeth's word, they were significantly ruder than their hosts.

Back on the brighter side of things, though, despite the bad personality they exhibited, the demons, almost all of whom had restless energy to burn, (and had to figure out as much about the human race's changed culture, since the last time they glanced at it, it was much different) actually spent their time doing work or studying, depending in if they were in school or not, and people were bound to wake up after being freed to find they had inexplicably gotten a raise or better grades.

Anyway, back to the (mostly forgotten) story, it was a week after the demons were released. Raphael and Charlie sparred in the duchess's backyard, clad in their armor.

"So, think you two are up for your first co-op fight?" Elisabeth asked as she watched the two fight.

The teens paused in their attacks to look over at the duchess. They relaxed in their stances and their helmets retracted.

"Ok, again, you've taken this game thing too far," Raphael commented. Indeed, ever since the two had noted that it seemed too much like a real life game, Elisabeth had taken to referring to it as such. Whether she was doing so intentionally or not just to irk them was up for debate, as she almost didn't seem to notice how they had quickly gotten tired of her jokes. For the most part, they tolerated it because they were rare and also because they suspected that she rarely got to let loose in any way, and because Marie was now gone, she was using them to get out all of her unprofessional behavior. How she survived without Marie for 16-17 something years was a mystery.

"Yes, I know I have," she admitted with a small shrug. "Anyway, who do you want to free first?"

"Father," Charlie said instantly.

"Oh right, he got possessed," Raphael laughed.

Rather unfortunately, it was true. The inspector had indeed been taken over by a rather odd demon. He had figured out about the eye color changing contacts so early that if it wasn't for the personality change, they wouldn't have realized anything had happened.

Despite being as much of a workaholic as its host, the demon was either really smart, or really lucky. It plowed through the inspector's work with apparent ease, so much so that almost every day for the past week he had returned home at the time he was supposed to be home according to his work schedule. Instead of having an incredibly rude personality, though it did have its snarky moments, it, at least around Charlie, seemed to be making an honest effort to right the wrongs that its host had done.

At first it was simply having dinner together and having a pleasant conversation, which had been a nice change of pace, though it had made her raise an eyebrow. Three days in, though, was when the true red flags started popping up, even if it would seem a bit weird to those who didn't know of the two's tense relationship. Up until that point, the demon had been sure to keep a fatherly air about him, though still somewhat distant to avoid suspicion, which had worked quite well. That day, though, when she had muttered that she was going to bed, the demon got up out of its seemingly comfortable, though somewhat odd looking, position situated in front of the TV to go give her a hug and kiss. This severely alarmed her, and she sped off to her room to silently freak out over a series of text messages alongside Raphael. At first he told her that she was overreacting to an extreme degree, but then she relayed all of the changes that had taken place during the week. This successfully convinced him.

Since then, Charlie had made a point to remain out as long as she could to avoid the demon and ensure that when she got back there was an angry parent-demon waiting. She had never liked getting scolded, as with most sane people, but it was the closest she could get to the relationship with her father that she was used to. She had been eagerly awaiting the point whereas Elisabeth would give the OK to start sealing the demons ever since.

"Yes, he was possessed, and it's really fucking weird. Can we please purge him of that freaky ass demon now?" Charlie requested.

Elisabeth let out a chuckle. "Sure," she replied. Turning to Alfred, she said, "Please get demon number 50 here." Alfred bowed and left the yard.

"You're numbering them?" Raphael asked.

Elisabeth shrugged. "It's easier for me to keep track of everyone, OK?"

The two soon-to-be-demon-hunters stared blandly at her before muttering, "Yeah," and, "Makes sense."

10 minutes later, the possessed inspector arrived, looking thoroughly confused.

"To what do I owe the pleasure of being invited here, duchess?" He asked upon being greeted.

"That is awaiting you in the backyard," Elisabeth told him cryptically.

Vergier looked skeptical, but nonetheless followed the duchess and her bodyguard to the backyard.

There, he found two people standing there, clad in full body armor, their faces concealed by their helmets. The shorter of the two, in golden colored armor, had his/her arms crossed and seemed to be giving him their best death glare. The other, in red armor, seemed plenty more uncaring, though he/she still seemed somewhat bothered and as such appeared to be frowning.

"What's going on here?" Vergier demanded.

The two remained silent, and when the inspector turned to ask the duchess, he found that she and her guard had backed up considerably and were watching with stone-cold expressions.

Immediately on the defensive, Vergier reached for the guns hanging by his thighs. He didn't manage to remove them from their holsters, though, before the gold warrior formed a ball of light in their hand and launched it at him. He managed to get out of the way, but was met a moment later by the red warrior right in front of him holding a similar orb.

Red, as the inspector settled on naming him/her (and Gold for the other one), tried to shove the ball of light onto him, but he just barely dodged. Still holding the ball, Red tried another attack. Vergier managed to get out of the way again.

Gold joined in, and seemed to mock-attack at his side. There seemed to be no real intention of harm behind the assaults, though. It was clearly a distraction. And it worked.

Red finally got the ball of light to connect to the inspector's body. The force put behind the attack was enough to send Vergier flying a couple of feet. He landed with a grunt of pain, which soon evolved into shrieks of extreme suffering as the light from the ball, which had magically stuck to him like glue, spread throughout his body in an attempt to purge all evil.

Charlie grimaced. It wasn't fun watching her father writhe in agony, but she reminded herself that it was necessary.

Raphael took a deep breath. "That looks..." He paused in an attempt to describe it as they watched the inspector.

"Unfortunate? Painful? Not what you would commonly consider a good time?" Charlie offered up a multitude of various words was would fit.

"Yes," he said lamely. "All of the above."

The two watched as the darkness was extracted from the body it had inhabited. It flopped unceremoniously to the ground and morphed into its true form, a large purple humanoid with red glowing eyes. Its skin seemed to be akin to scales, like that of a dragon's.

It seemed to revel for a moment in being free of the stuffy body, but quickly focused its attention to the situation at hand. It seemed to sniff the air like a dog. It focused in on Charlie. With a voice that sounded as rough and cruel as its appearance suggested, it growled, "You."

It jumped forward with shocking speed, knocking Raphael all the way across the expansive backyard in one swift kick. It grabbed Charlie by the throat, though she was unharmed thanks to her armor.

"You," it repeated, its eyes seemingly narrowing. Its grip tightened, starting to bend the metal.

"What do you mean 'you'?" Charlie growled, struggling to get out of the creature's grasp as her airways were slowly cut off.

"I tried to fucking help you and this is how you repay me?!" It yelled.

"Why would you help me?"

"Because I felt pity for your dumbass father!"

Charlie paused, and her struggles ceased. "Why would you pity him?" She asked.

"Because he was pathetic."

"That's not too hard to figure out. Tell me something I don't know."

"Ok then... He realized I was there. He awakened. And he requested my help."

Charlie stared at him, trying to figure out if it was the truth.

"When he wakes, ask him."

"Maybe I will. But why would you help him? What would you have to gain?"

"I would be allowed to inhabit him, duh."

"What do you mean 'allowed?' You forced yourself in anyway."

"If the original soul of the body awakens or returns, it can easily force out the interloper, you know."

"No, I didn't know that. I only got this job a week ago, and it's not like I've been studying."

The creature seemed to frown, even though its expression remained the same. "You're hopeless."

Charlie laughed bitterly. "I guess it must run in the family. You know, I must ask, why did you bother to pity him? Besides getting to remain possessing him, of course."

The creature shrugged. "I had nothing better to do. To tell you the truth, I could very well be partaking in the contests that my brothers have set up to determine who gets to tear into that girl's soul. I'm more than strong enough. But she's not the one any of us wish to harm. Those souls could be halfway across the world, they could be currently reincarnating, or they could be two blocks down. No one knows; they just want something to direct their anger towards. Me? I'm just doing something a little more productive with my time."

Charlie stared at him, dumbfounded. "So you're just trying to waste time, effectively?"

"Yep."

"Now you're making me feel bad. I mean, yes, I figured not all of you demons were all that bad, most of you try to fit in with society since there aren't enough to fully possess the city. But it just feels weird to hear that you're just trying to do something productive with your unending life."

"How about we strike a deal?" The creature asked.

Charlie looked at it skeptically. "What?" She asked.

"I get to remain in your father's body and assist him in figuring out what the fuck he's doing. In return, you get my assistance in finding locating any of the demons that I don't like. Which is most of them. Being shoved in a tiny, old, smelly box isn't fun, I'll have you know, and those dumbasses only made it worse. It works out for us all."

Charlie glanced at Elisabeth, who was watching with interest. "What do you think?" She asked.

The duchess thought for a moment before sighing. "I don't see why not."

The creature smiled. "Good, good." He finally dropped Charlie, who had long since gone limp since she was being held up, and as such flopped on the ground rather pathetically.

Standing, and glancing at the fallen body of her father, Charlie asked, "Will he actually remember any of this?"

The demon shrugged. "Most likely not. He usually sleeps while I'm doing his work for him."

"Why would he be sleeping?"

"Not like he's got anything better to do. Can you think of any person who works for any reason besides the fact that they get currency?"

"I don't know anyone like that, but let's face it; at least one person in this world truly enjoys their work, and wouldn't give it up for anything."

"Fair enough."

"So," Raphael, who had at some point dragged himself back from the other side of the backyard, interjected, "do you have a name? I don't really want to just call you 'the demon' or anything. That just sounds weird."

"Yes, it does," the demon agreed. "I'll have to come up with a name that you humans can pronounce, then."

"What do the other demons call you?" Charlie asked.

The demon made a series of quick growls and grunts.

Raphael clicked his tongue. "Yep, can't pronounce that," he concluded.

"Exactly."

"So what would you like to be called? Besides… whatever that was?" Charlie asked.

"You're the ones that are going to be referring to me, why don't you pick it?"

"You're the one that has to respond to it, though," Raphael said. "What if we decide to call you 'Lord McFluffybuns'?"

"Then I will rip your face off," Lord McF… er, the demon snarled.

"Annnnd that name is off the table."

"Though, I do want to keep the 'Lord.'"

"We are not keeping the 'Lord,'" Charlie said immediately.

"Why not?" Raphael whined.

"Because he is not royalty, nor has he done anything to deserve such a title."

"Then what do you suggest we call him?"

"Anything without 'Lord' or 'McFluffybuns.'"

"Are you against 'McFluffybuns' too?"

"No, I just don't want my face ripped off."

The demon chuckled. "No, your face will remain where it should. Your father would be pissed otherwise. Only your partner will lack a face if you choose that name."

There was a pause. "I take it back; I want him to be known as 'Lord McFluffybuns.'"

"How rude," Raphael said, offended, but not really, having expecting such a reaction from her. "Why don't we go with Thanatos?"

"Thanatos?" Everyone present questioned at the same time.

"Yeah, we've recently gone through the Greeks in school. I like the name. Plus he's the bringer of Death. I feel it's appropriate."

"Are you sure you aren't just trying to get away from 'Lord McFluffybuns'?" Elisabeth asked.

"Well, partly. But in all seriousness, we need a better name than that."

"Agreed," Charlie said. "And Thanatos does seem to stick with him pretty well."

"Any other names you want to add to the mix?" Elisabeth asked.

After a moment of thought, the teens shook their heads.

"Then Thanatos it is."

The recently named Thanatos smiled. "I like it. It sounds tough. Now then, as much as I'd love to stay, I must be getting my host back to work. Best to not leave him lying there, you know?"

Thanatos changed form into a simple soul and dove back into Vergier. After a moment, he got up and said, "Have fun. Don't kill too many things until I can get a chance to watch! Oh yeah, and don't die."

"We'll try not to," Charlie assured him as he left.

"OK, shall we try this again?" Elisabeth asked.

"Yeah, let's," Raphael said. "I'm choosing this time!"

"And your choice is…?" Charlie asked.

"My neighbor, Paula. It's really weird not saying good morning to her anymore."

Elisabeth nodded. "Alfred, bring in demon 182."

"One… eighty two, did you say?" Raphael asked as Alfred left the scene, slightly frightened at the thought that they had actually found 182 demons in the city.

"Sorry, the numbering system got screwed up at one point or another. She's really around 65."

"If you say so. But aren't there nearly 200 demons running around? What's the real number 182 labeled as?"

A small smile appeared on the duchess' face. "The screwed up demon."

Charlie snorted. "Seriously? Was it that difficult to just fix the numbering?"

"Not at all. The person keeping track just thought it was funny and left it."

"How do you screw that up to begin with?"

"You know, I'm not sure. Talent?"

"That's a lot of talent…"

"There's a reason I hired her!"

"Because she screws up your number systems and then just leaves it when it has a humorous outcome?"

"No… Though that does keep things from getting dull."

Raphael laughed. "Dull? With me around, I'm surprised you even know the meaning of dull."

"Narcissist," Charlie muttered.

"Excuse me?!"

"I'm saying you're a narcissistic asshole!"

Elisabeth sighed as they began to argue.

Alfred popped his head through the door. He was about to say that 'demon 182 has arrived' when he saw his employer giving the two teens she was working with death glares. Said teens were in two separate corners, sulking and avoiding the duchess' gaze.

Confused, the butler asked, "Might I inquire as to what is going on?"

Elisabeth glanced at him with a briefly softened gaze before returning it to the children before her. "These two idiots couldn't stop their arguing. So I've put them in timeout."

"You aren't our mother!" Charlie shouted.

"Your mothers are gone, so I will take over that role!" Elisabeth screeched. "Now make nice and I'll cut your timeout short!"

The two scooted closer to each other.

"I'm sorry I called out a narcissistic asshole," Charlie apologized.

"And I'm sorry I beat you over the head with a stick," Raphael replied.

Elisabeth smiled and nodded, allowing them to finally get up.

Alfred stared at the three people in front of him. "Uh…" was all he could say for a moment before he snapped out of it. "Demon 182 is here…"

Elisabeth looked to him. "Thank you, Alfred. Bring her… them, it? Uh, bring 'them' in."

Alfred nodded and rushed away from the scene.

A moment later, he arrived with the possessed Paula in tow.

The teens donned their armor, prepared for a fight.

I found that ending fun to write. I realized I have a tendency to give Raphael a narcissist attitude at times. So I decided to poke some fun at.

I kind of imagine Thanatos as a scaly version of that one robot the main character pilots in Neon Genesis Evangelion. Don't ask me why, though. I never even watch that anime, I just love the opening theme. Also, as soon as I thought up the name for him, it stuck like glue. So that's his name.

I'm wondering, how long should I drag on this 'hunt down the people' portion before I move onto the next big event? I don't want to bore you guys to death.