A/N: It's the climax people~! Though just a heads up here soon that Eric and Allie will disappear for a bit after the next chapter~! And I apologise in advance for both Will and Grell...but anyway! I love all of your reviews everyone! They've been so sweet and charming~! -hot beverages for all-
"Aaaaahhhhh, god that smarts..." William cringed and glanced around slowly, panicking slightly when all he saw were dark blobs. He sat up qickly and saw a Grell shaped blob curled up between...well two other reaper shaped blobs. He rubbed the side of his head again and perked up when everything suddenly came into focus.
"You don't stay down for very long at all, do you kitten~?" Undertaker grinned and stepped away from the brunette, nudging the other three awake gently and returning their glasses to them. They looked to be in as much pain as William, though Ronald was the only one dazed by the looks of it. "Don't rip those stitches, Ronnie~" Will looked back to the old man and saw he had a nasty cut peeking out from under his bangs.
"Uh...Sir? Are y-"
"Where's Alan, Professor? He's not...I mean, is he?" the sliver haired reaper stared through his fringe before looking at the ground. "Professor...?"
"I don't know, little one. He took off after Eric, all we can hope is that he found him and is still alive. He said he's only got one more...but I feel that the demon in his head will kill him before he gets that chance. If that happens..."
"Slingby will be dead and that bloody beast will have a new body. Demons corrupt and invade a reapers mind until there is nothing left. Memories, fears, emotions...everything that makes that reaper who they are, is slowly burned away..." Both Ronald the Undertaker were staring at William quietly. William was almost an expert on demons, if for no other reason than to be aware of the creatures he hated so passionately. Grell cleared his throat after a moment, pulling his hair back into a loose braid.
"It's a scorched earth basically. The demon rages through the brain and burns everything behind it. Whatever body that demon was in before-"
"He's not a demon, boys. I'm afraid he's a smidge holier than that," Undertaker pushed his hair out of his eyes and giggled when he saw the looks on their faces. "William, you remember Paradise Lost, right?" The brunette nodded and furrowed his eyebrows.
"Regarding the Angelic War, correct? What are you driving a—you mean to tell me Slingby is possessed by an angel?"
"A fallen angel. He said something about the opportunists. He's a little more dangerous than your standard demon I should say. Tommy..." The pink haired reaper looked up and shook his head.
"I can't do that to-"
"Boss. That nun just showed up on my death list. We need to go!" William stared at him and nodded slowly, standing when Thomas pushed him back down.
"I'll go. I have to kill Mr. Slingby anyway...let me do it Mr. Spears," William continued to stare and shook his head.
"No, Barker. This is a job for an experienced reaper, not a kid from the Glasses Department," Undertaker pushed him back down and grabbed a handful of grave markers.
"You're absolutely right, ducky~! I'll go with him! You kids stay here and rest, especially you Ronnie. You need to heal and Grell needs to also unless she wants to get wrinkles~" Grell squeaked at the mention of wrinkles. "Come along Tommy-dear~!"
"Eric please, I know you're still in there! That demon can't have completely taken you away!" Eric glared at the brunette, eyes glowing crimson.
"Not for much longer, reaper! You need to realise that the price of long life is heavy. You will live and I will have a new body! Slingby is an idiot who has been blinded by love for far too long!"
"That's not true! I...I know him...he's kind and compassionate and would never...Nnnnngh!" He gasped and went wide eyed, clinging to his scythe enough to turn his knuckles white and coughing heavily, spitting out a bit of blood. The nun stopped sobbing and saw his suffering, watching silently before she took off running again. "Eric...please...I know you're in there...please...help me..." Eric blinked and saw his eyes become darker, vines creeping out further.
"Alan...please...don't be—AAAHHHH! Just one more...please Al...I'm so close...d-don't give in..." He cringed as the demon took over again and stared at him silently. Alan looked up and blinked, his vision much darker than it was moment ago. For a moment longer the blond stared and wandered off after the nun, leaving the brunette to sob on the dirty pavement.
"Where are they, Professor?" Thomas looked around silently and bit his lip, not sre where exactly they would be. "I mean wouldn't we be able to—wait a second...Al?" He went wide eyed and ran over the limp reaper, shaking him slightly. "Alan? A-alan...? Alan wake up! Please don't be dead! I swear I'll help you! Don't be dead, please don't be dead!"
"Don't cry Tommy...you go after Eric. I'll make sure Allie's ok...now go!" Thomas stared up at the older reaper with tears in his eyes, sniffing and looking back at the heap that is Alan Humphries. He sniffed as a few tears fell on the smaller reaper. He stood slowly and wiped his eyes before nodding slowly, looking around and sniffing. Undertaker looked up at him as he knelt by the young reaper, smiling. "Go find Eric. We'll be along soon enough," Thomas nodded slowly and ran off.
"Now to get you back on your feet~"
"Sir, please... I beg of you! Let me go, I swear I won't tell the police or the Arch Diocese! Please, I beg of you!" The nun collapsed on the pavement and started crying desperately, praying once again. Eric stopped and twirled the pole around until the blades were above her heart.
"You lost your chance, holy woman. The reaper is too afraid to kill you himself..." He growled and brought the scythe down to her, hitting the pavement instead. He hissed at her as she rolled away and stumbled to her feet, taking off again at a mad dash. "...I will make you suffer, holy woman."
The nun didn't look back as she ran, hoping to get as far away as possible. She gasped when she ran into a wall and looked around, sobbing when she realised she'd run into another alley. She pulled her hood off and cried heavily into it, gasping for air as it hit her that she would die suffering. She had never planned to die at the hands of a dangerous man, but as an old woman warm and safe in her bed.
"Say your prayers."
"Boss, Grell...I'm fine, I swear! Now get off of me!" Ronald stood up quickly and walked away from the older reapers. He was lying through his teeth of course but it was all he could to get the two off of him. William kept an eye on him and righted his glasses, glancing over to Grell before walking to the door and furrowing his eyebrows.
"...Where's my scythe?" Both Grell and Ronald shrugged before the blond cringed from moving his arm wrong. Grell went wide eyed when he saw a small patch of blood appearing at his shoulder.
"Oh my god, Ronnie~! You need to rest! We're not going anywhere away from here, now just lay down and relax!" He grabbed his overcoat and pressed it into the wound on Ronald's shoulder, biting his lip hard and looking back at Will every so often. William adjusted his glasses and sighed, returning to the door. "Will...what are you doing? Didn't you hear me? Ronnie ripped his stitches! Go find something to-"
"Sew up his arm then follow me, Sutcliff. We've got a possessed reaper to chase down." William narrowed his eyes for a moment before he left the shop, door slamming behind him. Both reapers stood silently and stared after him, a confident smirk crossing Grell's face. Ronald furrowed his eyebrows at the redhead's sudden change in expression, watching him walk to the storage cabinet and grab some thread.
"Ow! Grell please, not so rough!"
"You don't know rough, little boy! I know rough, thanks to dear Will...he loves to play hard. I know him, better than you could ever dream to, and I know what he wants. So why don't you go back to chasing girls on your mower?" Ronald stared back at him and winced when the redhead finished and forced him up. "Will never wanted you, Blondie. He just wanted you to stop following him around like a lovesick puppy, understand?"
"W-why are you saying this...? Are you that jealous that you would spread lies like that? Grell, that's just sick! It's sick and di—oi! What was that for?"
"I never lie, little boy. William never wanted you, and you know that! You can see it in his eyes, haven't you ever wondered why he's never showed any sort of affection~?"
"How did you know about that? What goes on betw-"
"You mean what isn't going on? He tells me everything, Ronald. He'll tell me how pathetically needy you are, how you're so desperate for him to even hold you, tell you a kind word, how you beg for him to tell you his feelings are mutual. And you know what we do after we have a good laugh about it?" Grell snatched his coat away and shoved the younger reaper into a coffin, standing over him and holding him down with a heel digging into his stomach. Ronald was far too shocked to say anything, Grell instead kneeling down close to his ear. "He'll shove me down and have his oh so wicked way with me. He loves it when I scream for him, Ronald. Drives him crazy when I beg for him to make it hurt, you can only dream about the absolutely wretched things he does to me..."
"S-shut up. Y-you're lying! William wouldn't do something like that! He told me so himself! He said that he was done with you!" Grell smirked and stood up, grabbing a heavy book.
"He doesn't love you, Ronald. You're just an inconvenience to him, now go back to sleep~" Ronald went wide eyed as Grell shifted and slammed the book hard against his head, knocking him out once more. "Stupid little boy. Never stood a chance," He stood and slammed the coffin shut. He stuck his tongue out and nailed it shut quickly. "Sweet dreams, Ronnie dear~" He shook his hair out of his eyes and hurried off after William.
"We can...deal with that demon...let's just...run away...please?"
"It's not that easy...I don't want to run only to lose you..."
"You won-"
"Alan! Thank god you're alright~!" Thomas dropped his scythe and hugged him tight, sighing heavily. Eric snarled and his eyes glowed red, shoving the two out of the way. "E-eric? What's—Oh my god..."
William and Grell caught his wrists and pinned him against the wall, stepping away from risking the older reaper trying to attack. The other reapers stared silently before Alan cleared his throat, pushing his hair out of his eyes and shaking slightly. He made to say something to William and Grell but instead grabbed his chest, hissing.
"Aaaahhhhh! Oooohhhh...Oh no..." He gasped and collapsed, holding his scythe tight. He cringed and glanced up at Thomas and Eric, both gasping when they saw his eyes become darker and darker. "I'm sorry..."
"Let go of me! I'm not going to lose him!" Eric growled and tugged his wrists away from the younger reapers, picking William's spear p once more and dashing over to the nun. He grabbed the sobbing girl and forced her to her feet as she held on tight to the wall, begging once more for him not to kill her. "I'm so sorry...but I don't have a choice anymore..." The girl stopped crying and stared at him for a long moment, looking to Alan slowly rising to his feet.
"I..."
"Don't do it, Slingby. You'll lose yourself to that creature if you do..." Eric stared at him before aiming the scythe at the girl's heart, Thomas summoning his own and slowly advancing to strike on the older reaper. He didn't see Alan trying to run over to them or William and Grell trying to stop them. And then...
"...!" It was like time had stopped. Thomas stood in shock as the nun went limp and the small remainder of life left the reapers eyes. He swallowed and his grip on the scythe faltered as he fell to his knees, still shocked at the sight before him. William grabbed the handle jst as he looked up at the other two.
"Oh...my...god..."