Alice

I was in a pain like no other that I had felt before. It radiated throughout my whole body, each pulse bringing more and more agony to me. But I could not scream to let anyone around me know that I was not well. Anytime I tried, it caught in my mouth, and only came out as a quiet whimper.

Help also would never come for me, because there wasn't anyone around me. All I was able to see, was blackness. I was floating in the darkness, my hair and dress moving around as if it was water I was in, rather than air. Everything I felt around me, was cold and unforgiving.

What had happened to me? Had I died? I recalled drinking Murucho's tea, and that was all. The rest, was all a blank. Although, I heard the sounds of sobs and yelling after I blacked-out. Far above me, was a light. It was….Nice. I could feel it calling to me, beckoning for me to go to it and join its serenity.

But I could not move. I was bound to float in this black abyss forever it seemed. Was this really what is was like to die? To be in this much pain and agony? I felt an icy cold tear roll down my cheek. I just wanted this to end. If dying again meant that I would be free from this, then I would have chosen it.

Please, somebody have mercy on me. Anybody….Please. My pleas fell on deaf ears, and I knew that nobody was going to come and help end my suffering. My eyes, half open, continued to stare at the light above me. At first, the call it gave to me was welcomed, now it was taunting me, making a fool of me because I could not embrace its warmth.

I hated it now. I wanted it to be absorbed in this darkness of death like I was being. How was it fair that it was there, not helping me but wanting me, and not being absorbed in the pain that floated in the air around me?

Go away. Go away, I silently begged it, no longer wanting to be in its judgmental eyes. If I were to die in this place and in pain, I did not want something so peaceful to be there with me.

Shun

Pure shock was all that could have described what I was feeling the moment the cloaked figure revealed himself to be Dan, my best friend. His eyes were wide, the pupil all but a small dot in the center of a vast whiteness, and they glowed red like Rogue's. "Dan…." When did all of this happen?

It was obvious just by looking at him now, that he was a Reaper. But when did he die? And how? It then occurred to me that Rogue must have done this somehow. "What did he do to you, Dan?" I asked softly. My friend only snarled at me like a rabid animal, then charged at me.

The double-bladed scythe swung at me with attacks that refused to let up, and I felt the edge of one of the blades cut into my leg. It wasn't a deep cut, but it stung to no end. "Dan! Stop! It's me!" I shouted, hoping to bring back any that may have been left of my friend. Dan charged at me, and I quickly summoned my scythe and blocked the attack. While keeping Dan at bay, I caught a glimpse of Death and Rogue.

They were locked in a combat more fierce that what I was being faced with. I pushed Dan away from me. He only took a step back and narrowed his wild eyes at me. "Please, Dan! Snap out of it! This isn't you!" I shouted at him again. He then swung the scythe at me, the handle leaving his hand, and the blades spinning end over end. Seeing the weapon coming right at me, I dove to the ground.

The scythe continued on its path, and one of the blades cut into a streetlight, slicing the steel pole right in half. I then watched as the scythe did like a boomerang and returned to Dan's hands. I think that was when fear really took over me, and I began trembling.

It was clear to me now that Dan's only goal, was to kill me. I stood up, staring at me friend as if he had suddenly transformed into some kind of monster before my eyes. But I wasn't going to fight him. This was my best friend, who obviously wasn't right in the head now. "I'm not going to fight you, Dan!" I told him and lowered my scythe to my side.

He bared his teeth in a snarl and growled, "Then this won't be nearly as fun!" The first words he had said since all of this started, and he sounded like a mad animal. It shocked me. How had my friend become something like this? He then broke the scythe in half, revealing the chain that was inside and held the two pieces together. He swung one of the hand scythes at me, and I just barely dodged it.

Behind me, it dug its way deeply into the brick wall of a building. The chain now hung beside me right at shoulder-level. Then, Dan gave the chain one good tug, ripping the embedded scythe out of the wall behind me. And somehow, the momentum of the scythe, made the chain wrap around my neck.

Dan held both scythes in his hands, the chain loosely around my neck as if it were a leash for a dog. I knew my eyes had to be wide. "Dan….Don't," I begged. He then let a sadistic smirk grace his lips, and he pulled on the scythes, causing the chain to rip into my neck and cut off my air.

I began to claw at the chain to get off, all while gasping. But with each breath I took, the chain only got tighter. I was trying anything I could to break free; stepping back in hopes that I would yank one of the scythes away from Dan, and pulling at the metal around my neck.

Neither of those things were working. "Stop…..," I gasped. The edges of my vision had started to turn fuzzy. Dan narrowed his eyes at me, then looped the chains around his hands once and gave them another tug. They tightened even more around my neck, and I was suddenly yanked down onto the ground. Dan ran over to me, and hand even more of the chain looped over his hands.

He then pinned me down by putting his foot on my chest, making it all the more difficult to breathe. His cold and unwavering eyes stared down at me, and their only want was to see me die slowly. This…..This isn't Dan…. Tears were starting to spill over from my eyes as the chain got tighter and tighter.

"Please….," I begged through an increasingly raspy voice. I wasn't even struggling to get the chain off my neck anymore, for almost all of my strength was now gone. Dan then lifted the hand scythes and swung them at me. The back of the blades lightly grazed my skin with each swing, leaving behind burning cuts and gashes in my body.

He was going to make me suffer till the end. Now, I laid there, a chain still tightening around my throat, and bloody gashes littering my body. Through teary eyes, I saw Dan lift one of the hand scythes above his head, and I had a feeling that this would be the end of me.

I shut my eyes and braced myself for the final blow, but it never came. Suddenly, I heard the sound of something like metal hitting against metal. Able to slightly open my eyes, I saw Grim had extended the end of his cloak out and had blocked the arc of Dan's attack. Dan stood there dumbfounded.

"That should have cut through your cloak!" he snarled and swung at Grim again. I saw as the blade skidded off of the Reaper's tattered cloak, sending an array of sparks flying off as if the fabric had been made of steel. Grim cackled. "Young Reaper, I know more tricks than you can possibly count. Like this one for example." Grim held up two fingers on each hand, his index and middle fingers, then stabbed Dan several times in the sides with them.

My friend gasped and collapsed onto the ground, not moving a single muscle. Around my neck, I felt the chain loosen up some, but I was left too weak to take them off. Grim knelt down beside me and unwrapped the chains. He helped me sit up, and the whole world spun out of control around me.

Once things started to return back to normal as blood and oxygen rushed back to my brain, I brought my hand up to my neck. There was a warm liquid where I touched, and when I looked at my hand, it was soaked with blood. The chain had been tight enough to cut into my neck, and thankfully, not enough to sever an artery.

Dan was still lying on the ground, his teeth bared in a snarl. "What did you do to me, Reaper!" he wailed. Grim snickered and said, "Don't worry, young Reaper. You'll be able to move sooner or later. Little Reaper, are you okay?" I was staring at Dan. He was trying to move, but was only able to move his head and neck around.

My friend kept snarling like a wild animal and shouting. "That's not Dan…," I said, my voice still raspy from the damage the chain had done. Grim gazed down at my friend and said, "It is your friend on the outside, just not the inside. Don't worry, little Reaper. When this is all over, we'll get him some help."

Grim helped me up to my feet; something I would have been too weak to do on my own. "No! You can't have possibly taken out my pawn!" a voice shouted from above. Suddenly, Rogue flew down and landed in front of us, his eyes blazing with fury.

I then started to look around for Death, who he had been previously fighting. I asked, "Where's Death!" He smirked and said, "I don't think he'll be bothering us for a little bit." Grim then stepped in front of me, extending his arm out to keep me behind him. "I've got him, little Reaper," he told me sternly.

I nodded and was about to take a step back when Rogue leaped at Grim. The Reaper pushed me out of the way, causing me to land on the ground and nearly shout out from pain. Grim quickly summoned his scythe and was countering each attack from Rogue, but even I saw that the experienced Reaper was having trouble.

I was able to stand up on my feet, and began to look around for Death. I couldn't find him anywhere on the ground, or on the rooftops. "Watch out, little Reaper!" Grim shouted as he and Rogue made their way over to me. A scythe swung over my head, and I ducked just in time and fell back on the ground.

Now, the two Reapers were fighting right in front of me; Grim closer to me and Rogue in front of him. I was about to try and sit up, when I heard a sickening sound of flesh being torn open. Then, a warm substance flew into the air. When I touched some that had landed on my face, I saw that it was blood.

Terrified, I looked up and gasped. A blade pointing upwards, stuck out of Grim's back. Rogue held the handle of the scythe and got near Grim's face and hissed, "Losing your touch, old timer." He then pushed the blade even deeper into Grim, causing the Reaper to whimper

. Then, much to my surprise, Grim chuckled lightly. "Oh, really? Never knew I had any touch to begin with," he said weakly with a cackle. This only angered Rogue, and caused him to push the blade even further into the Reaper. Grim stood there, blood soaking his clothes, and said, "You know what the difference is between you and this little Reaper, Rogue? He's accepted what he is, and you still won't admit you're a monster."

Grim then spit in Rogue's face. Rogue's expression turned into a fiery rage and he jerked the scythe out of Grim's body, causing a flood of blood to escape the wound. Grim wobbled a bit, then fell to the ground. I stared at the fallen Reaper for a moment, then remembered what loomed over me.

Slowly, I looked up at Rogue, knowing that fear was visible on my face. He wiped his face off, then he began to examine me. "Looks like you've been cursed with that damn eye like me," he said coldly and lifted his scythe up, then back of the blade right in front of my right eye and where my scar was.

Death

Rogue had proven to be a bit more than I could handle, even though neither of us had landed a single cut on the other. Our battle went from roof to roof, the blades out our scythes hitting each other, causing sparks to shoot into the night air.

"You know, that's a lovely scythe, Death. I might have to make it mine after this," Rogue purred and swung at me again. I dodged and retorted back, "In your dreams. You have illegal scythes to play with, like the one you gave your Reaper." I then glanced down below to see how my Reaper's fight was going.

He was pinned down on the ground, being savagely strangled by Rogue's Reaper. The sight caught me off guard, and Rogue slammed the handle of his scythe into my back, temporarily stunning me. I held onto my back with one hand and said through gritted teeth, "I really hope that when I turn you into the Reaper council, they show you no mercy."

I was trying to keep the image of my student Reaper out of my mind. He'll be fine, I told myself. Rogue chuckled darkly, "And you say in my dreams? It seems that you are the one dreaming, Death." Our scythes clashed again, but they were muffled by the shouting and screams from below. They weren't from my Reaper though. Rogue and I both looked down to see that Grim had stepped in and saved his 'little Reaper' by stunning the other.

Now, Rogue's pawn laid on the ground and writhed like a enraged animal. Rogue's eye widened with rage. "No! You can't have possibly taken down my pawn!" he shouted. He was about to leap down to where Grim and my Reaper was, but I tried to stop him.

"I think this is between you and I!" I shouted. Rogue swung the handle of his scythe at me, catching me in the side of the head and knocking me out. I feel down on the roof, trying to clear the dots from my field of vision. Laying there until everything came back into focus and returned normal, I stood back up and looked down below.

That was when I saw Rogue impale Grim with his scythe. I felt my eyes widen with shock at the sight of my old teacher having the hook-like blade of Rogue scythe go deeper and deeper into his chest. The blade was then pulled out of Grim's chest and the Reaper collapsed.

I stared down at the scene, not sure what to make of it all. Then, I saw Rogue turn his attention down to my Reaper and pointed the end of his scythe at him. My emotions got the better of me, and I leaped down to the ground below and threw my scythe at Rogue.

The weapon spun end over end and knocked Rogue's scythe out of his hand. Commanding my scythe, I had it return back to my hands. My enemy stood there for a moment, then slowly turned to look at me. "Persistent….," he snarled and called his scythe back to his hands.

Then, he started to laugh. "What's the matter, Death? Upset that I hurt your old teacher? Well, get over it, cause you're next, my friend." Rogue lifted one of his hands up behind his head and unlatched the eye patch that covered his right eye.

It fell onto the ground, revealing the ruined eye and scar that ran down his face. I lowered my scythe to my side and said, "This is getting in the way." Then, I tore my cloak off my body, sending it flying up into the air.

Shun

I was still sitting on the ground, completely frozen after having Rogue almost take my head off of its shoulders. That was when Death stepped in, and they bantered for a bit, but not much of it registered. When I started to come back into focus, I saw just as Rogue took off the eye patch-like device that covered his right eye.

Underneath, there had been a scar and damaged eye that looked just like mine. "Looks like you've been cursed with that damn eye like me." That had been what Rogue told me before putting me in the line of fire of his scythe. I then turned my attention to Death as he sent his cloak flying up into the air above him.

And at long last, I saw what he looked like. He was tall and skinny, and tangled, thin brownish hair fell almost to his shoulders. Overall, he was nothing like I had expected Death to look. He and Rogue then locked themselves back into a fierce combat. I remained seated on the ground, then looked over to my side to see that Dan was still rendered immobile.

He had stopped shouting and snarling like an animal, and now just laid there, his shoulders and chest moving as he breathed. Cautiously, I made my way over to him. I then knelt down beside him. "Dan?" I braced myself to see the same mad being that had almost killed me earlier, but I noticed that he didn't move.

When I looked closer, I saw that his eyes were closed and he appeared to be unconscious. I wasn't sure what was going on with him, other than Grim might have landed a hit on him a bit too hard. Grim…..Crazy fool, I thought to myself and tried to suppress the sadness that was starting to build up.

He had put himself in harm's way and lost his life cause of me. I then tore my thoughts away from that and returned my attention to the battle taking place before me. Rogue was flying above Death, and was about to bring his scythe down onto my mentor.

Death jumped out of the way at the last moment, causing Rogue's scythe to stick into the asphalt street. Death then tried to land a hit onto Rogue, but the evil Reaper freed his scythe at the last minute and blocked it. I could see the aggravation in both of their eyes; they wanted each other dead.

Rogue then vanished into a cloud of black mist. Death started to frantically look around for his opponent. Suddenly, Rogue materialized behind Death and grabbed him by the throat. The winged Reaper then ascended into the air, still holding Death by his neck. Acting quickly and out of instinct, I grabbed the scythe that Dan had been using, and broke it into its two halves.

And timing it just right, I let one half of the scythe fly, the chain shooting past me as I held the other end. Then, the blade of the projected scythe stuck right into its target; Rogue's wing. He shrieked out in pain and stopped his ascent.

Then, I tugged on the chain, causing the scythe to rip through his wing and making it useless. Death, who still had his scythe in his hands when Rogue grabbed his neck, was able to slice the blade into Rogue's side. The two Reaper's then began to plummet back to the ground.

Death finally freed himself at the last minute and landed a few feet away from Rogue. I ran over to both of them, my scythe in my hand and ready if needed. Death pushed myself up onto his feet, a thin line of blood dripping from somewhere on his forehead.

Rogue, on the other hand, laid there and groaned in his puddle of blood. Up close, the damage I had done to his wing was much more savage that I thought it was; I had literally done all but ripped it off. "You'll both burn for this!" he bellowed.

Death pointed the end of his scythe at Rogue and said, "As much as I'd love to watch you continue to wallow in your own blood, I have a duty to take you into the Reaper council. So, sadly, I can't put you out of your misery, Rogue." The blade of Death's scythe began to glow a soft, light blue, and a collar and handcuffs appeared on Rogue's neck, wrists, and ankles.

"There. Your powers won't be of any help to you now," Death said and lowered his scythe. He then turned to me and grinned lightly. "I owe you a bit of thanks for helping me out back there," he told me. His eyes then adverted over to where Grim laid, and he hurried over to the injured Reaper.

I followed him and stood back a bit. Death loomed over Grim, then sighed and nudged him with his foot. "Wh-what are you doing?" I asked, surprised that he wasn't poking Grim with a stick after that. "Get up you drama queen," Death said calmly and with a slight smile.

Grim's eyes then flew open, and the Reaper jumped up to his feet. "The world's best actor, at your service, Death!" Grim shouted happily. I stared in disbelief. "You….You weren't dead!" Grim chuckled and told me, "Like I said before, I have a few more tricks than you can even imagine. Besides, it will take a bit more than some Reaper's scythe to take me down…..Although, that did hurt quite a bit. I don't recommend doing it again."

I found myself staring at where the hole had been in Grim's chest, and was surprised to find it gone now. I then smiled and told him, "Thanks for saving me back there, Grim." If he hadn't, then I surely would have been killed by Dan, and if I had survived that, then Rogue would have most definitely would have been the one who would have ended my life.

I then looked over at where Dan was laying. He was starting to move around and come to. I was afraid to know if he was still insane like he had been earlier, but I also wanted to know if I had my friend back. Dan then sat up and wrapped his arms around himself. His eyes darted around in a paranoid manner, and he then let out a scream.

chapter title based off the song Enemies by Shinedown. do i deliver, or do i deliver? ;) cause i think i delivered. also, within an hour or so, check out my profile because i finally got my story cover and link to the pictures of Grim, Rogue, and Death on my profile. for the characters, go to the link that is under my photobucket link (it should say link to The Shadow Of Death look-a-likes) my story cover is with the others further down on the profile. also, at about...oh, sevenish (which is four hours away from where i'm at) THE POLL WILL BE CLOSED DOWN! VOTE IF YOU HAVE NOT! read, review, and other things. ~Copperpelt~