Days had passed since his… whatever the hell happened to him. Raziel didn't quite know what was going on, but that would come later. Now, it was feeding time.

It hadn't taken him long to realize that the only way he was going to regenerate any ectoplasm would be to devour some souls, which he didn't feel too comfortable testing to see if he could do it on randos in the street. Instead, he had risked a peek into the Spectral Realm to see if he could sneak in a few bites. Thankfully, it seemed Death had decided to vacate the area for the time being, leaving him alone to feed as he pleased.

Currently, Raziel stood atop one of the many corrupted buildings within the Spectral Realm. He crouched on the ledge, staring down below as he tried to look for any obvious clusters of mutated souls. Nothing of the sort popped out to him, but he did catch a glimpse of his reflection in the glass of a building next to him.

More than just his outfit had changed. His skin, once a nice brown, was now an asphyxiation blue (if that even was a color) and his dull black eyes had become a vibrant green. And not just the iris, but the sclera and pupil too. His ears had elongated and sharpened near the end, and his hair had gone from coal black to ashen white as it stood atop his head almost as if it were in water. He could even feel sharpened fangs in his mouth, replacing his once normal teeth.

He looked like a vampire, though thankfully the change only occurred when he was in his… reaper form? Spirit body? Going ghost? He wasn't sure. All he knew was that his powers were at their peak when in this form, as compared to the pitiful amount of it he had when in his normal state.

The biggest downside was that he was forced to use a hood if he ever wanted to explore the rooftops of Vale in this form. Something that his outfit had helped with, allowing him to pull down a hood from the cloth of his cloak.

There was also the energy downside, but that only happened if he damaged his suit.

Standing up to his full height, Raziel stepped off the ledge and felt the rush of gravity pull him towards the ground. Grabbing onto the edges of his tattered cloak with both hands, he tugged on the fabric and felt it stretch as it caught on nonexistent wind as he began to glide across the city.

Flying, though cool, was incredibly expensive energy-wise. Though he could do it freely in the Spectral Realm, he was heavily limited in the Material Realm due to the fact that using any of his powers drained his ectoplasm there. Gliding on the other hand, used a fraction of the energy and could be used much more liberally. The downside of that was that it was much harder to control than flying, hence why he was practicing here.

Seeing the street was empty, he began to whistle softly in the air, hoping the noise would attract some attention. It didn't take long for the telltale groans of some mutated souls to reach his ear. Whistling still, Raziel turned his head to see a small crowd of souls shambling towards him. Giving his fingers a quick flex, he moved.

The first few fell without issue, unaware that they had been attacked in the first place before their souls were swiftly devoured. Those around the recently eaten barely had time to process what had happened before he was upon them as well. His claws tore through them like wet tissue paper, ripping through the bodies before they could even hope to defend themselves.

One remained, having been near the back of the pack and having the chance to run. Raziel eyed it, before rushing forward in a burst of speed in order to shove his hand through its back. Grasping at the cloth covering his mouth, he pulled it back to reveal his fangs as he opened his mouth wide and bit into the mutated soul.

Wiping his mouth, Raziel brought his lower mask back into place and leapt towards the nearest building. His claws dug into the brickwork, holding him in place as he threw himself up towards the roof. He grabbed into the ledge, flinging himself over it as he twisted his body around and landed on top of the building.

His control over his own body was unreal these days.

"You've gotten stronger."

Raziel reacted before he could think, transitioning back into the Material Realm and whipping his head around. Death stood before him, as translucent as she had been before but no less present.

"And you are just as arousing as before."

She tilted her head, coming closer as he took an instinctive step back. She stopped right beside him, staring down into ongoing traffic and pedestrians. "Your infatuation with me is… unusual but refreshing."

Her voice was less booming than before, now more like a low whisper as she spoke. It was almost sultry, and he dared not look down to see how strained his pants were. "What can I say? A woman who wants me dead just really gets me going."

The lack of rage or any other form of wanting-him-eaten was throwing him off. He had no idea what she was doing or what she wanted, only that she was here and talking to him.

Fuck it, may as well play ball. "So, what brings you here in a decidedly much nicer mood?"

Death didn't bother looking for him, instead continuing to observe the people down below even as she answered his question. "Hunting you brings me no further to devouring your soul, as your vexing ability to travel into the Material Realm keeps you free of me. I have instead been observing these… mortals. Humans and Faunus, a strange mutation those animals are."

Still on-guard, Raziel gave a quick peek towards the ground below. "And what's your verdict on them? Pretty neat, right?"

Her face held no expression, but he could feel the narrowing of her eyes. "No, they disgust me. They lack foresight, too worried about making an enemy of themselves to do anything of any worth. Science may advance, and culture may flourish, but a society built on a foundation of sand is doomed to collapse."

He frowned, finding something innately wrong about her perception even if he couldn't quite put together what it was that he felt ruined it. "But we persist regardless, right? I mean, we aren't perfect but is anyone?"

Now she faced him, eyes burning as she regarded him. "You are not them. You are like me, better and free from the shackles of mortality. Your pesky humanity may linger, but that will fade with time, and you will see the world as I do."

Whatever arousal he had vanished in that moment, an edge rising in him as he stood strong. "And what does that look like?"

A long and bony finger pointed towards a group of cyclists riding down below, a sense of foreboding crawling up his spine as she gave her answer.

"A feast."

One of the cyclists all the way near the back began to swerve, his bike chain having snapped. Despite the man's efforts, he somehow managed to get turned into the road right where a massive eighteen-wheeler was plowing through. His eyes widened, mouth agape with fear as his life flashed before his eyes.

But he did not die, as Raziel's body acted on pure instinct.

He swooped in from above, cloak outstretched as he grabbed the cyclist by the arm and yanked him onto the sidewalk just as the truck crashed into the bike. The cyclist grunted as he hit the floor, face pale as he gazed upon Raziel's hooded form.

"Wh-What are you?"

Raziel didn't have the opportunity to answer, as the cyclist's friends came riding back and stole the man's attention.

"Fucking hell, Kent, are you okay? What happened?"

"M-My bike chain broke, a-and I swerved into traffic. I'd be dead if it weren't for him."

The cyclist turned to look back at him, and he gave a short wave to the man. "Sup."

"Huh? Where'd he go?"

What? Squinting his eyes, Raziel waved his hand once again over the man's face. "Hello? I'm right here dude."

"Uh, Kent? There was nobody with you. You just kinda leapt out of the way. Are you okay man? You know what, don't answer that. We should take you to the hospital."

The group helped their friend up, ignoring his protests that someone had saved him and leaving Raziel all alone on the sidewalk.

"What the hell?"

Getting to his feet, he quickly ran in front of someone else and began waving his hands in their face hoping to garner their attention. Not that it did anything, as they ignored him and instead walked through him as if he weren't even there.

"Don't bother, they won't be able to sense your presence."

Death floated beside him, scythe in hand as she moved her hand through the walking pedestrians. "Only those near death, or on a direct path to their demise may see you. You are like me, a manifestation of the end."

Not one to give up, Raziel focused a bit on his finger and poked a rando on the neck. They jumped, eyes darting all around as they rubbed the back of their neck before hurrying away.

"Like you, but different."

Giving the specter his full attention, he crossed his arms and leveled his frustration the best he could. "So does that make us both Death?"

Annoyance flashed in her eyes, the grip she held on her scythe tightening. "In a manner of speaking, I suppose so."

"Hm… so does this make you Lady Death and me Lord Death? Mr. and Mrs. Death?"

She scowled further at him. "Do your sad attempts at witticism never end?"

He shrugged, affixing her with heated glare as he jabbed a finger in her direction. "I dunno, do your attempts at fucking over people's lives never end?"

Letting out a haughty scoff, she floated up towards the rooftops once more. Giving chase, he clawed his way to the top and came face to face with her once more.

"What does it matter if they die? They are food waiting to be harvested, no different than pigs. If I happen to pull a few strings and expedite the process, who is going to stop me? You?"

His jaw tightened at the mocking tone she took with him. There really was no way he could stand up to her, not with how much stronger she was than him. And it wasn't as if there weren't people out there who deserved it, he could admit that. But at the same time, it didn't sit right with him. He had never met the gods, in fact he doubted they were even real. However, at least they had the right idea and left humanity to their own devices. They didn't play, well, god and fuck over everyone else just 'cause they could.

What the hell kind of world was this? One where Death herself wanted it to end?

"I'll do my damndest if I have to, you fucking sexy ass sociopath."

She was insane, but damn if that didn't make her hotter though.

"Oh? Well then, how about this."

Death began to grow in size, easily passing the tops of every building around as she towered over the city. Her head all but scraped the sky as she stretched her arms to the side and gave him her challenge. "The sun will set in three hours. Until that happens, I will be causing whatever chaos I so choose across the city. You can attempt to stop me, or you can simply bow your head and give up. It matters not, but do try and make this interesting for me!"

She pointed her finger, and the sound of screeching tires hit his ears just as he began to move. He ran across the rooftops, following where she had pointed to find that a wheel had somehow popped off from the car it was attached to. The car was spinning around as its driver attempted to gain control, and the wheel was bouncing across the road and ready to hit a few pedestrians.

He needed to act fast.

Launching himself from the roof down into the street, Raziel caught the tire right before it could hit anybody and shoved it into the ground. Pushing off of the tire, he flipped through the air and landed on top of the spinning car. Grabbing the edge of the car roof, he held on tight as he pushed himself off and dug his heels into the concrete. The ground cracked and gave way as he slowed the car down to a crawl, grabbing the front door and pulling it right off as he went to check to make sure the driver was alright.

"W-Wha-"

Not caring to chit chat, Raziel let go of the car and went to walk away, only to stop as his foot landed on some sort of liquid. He looked down and swore as he saw that somehow the car's fuel had managed to leak, fire Dust infused liquid dripping from it and making a beeline towards some dude lighting a cigarette. The smoker fumbled with the lighter, dropping it on the ground with its flame still lit as the dust liquid made unnatural turns to reach it.

"You have got to be fucking kidding me."

Placing his hand on the puddle of fuel, he rushed forward and met the incoming fire before it could reach the car, his hand catching fire but nothing else as he managed to successfully block it from spreading. Letting out a sigh, he watched as a single ember floated through the air next to his head.

"Son of a-"

He cut himself off as he tried to catch the ember before it could meet the remaining dust liquid which was still connected to the car. Managing to slap it out of the air, he swore once again as several more embers began to make the same path. Realizing inevitability when he saw it, he instead turned his attention to the pedestrians near the car. There weren't many, only a few which were helping the man out of his car.

Smacking as many embers as he could, Raziel sprinted towards them and all but threw them to the sidewalk just as the fire reached the car. He braced himself, waiting for it to explode, only to realize that it wasn't going to. Instead, the car simply caught fire, and not even that much to be honest.

"Huh, guess those DVDs at the library lied to me."

Wiping his hands the best he could, he walked around the car to check for any other damage and then noticed that the fire hadn't stopped spreading. Following the trail behind the car with his eyes, he saw that it was leading straight to a Dust shop nearby, customers and nearby pedestrians rushing away from it as the fire seemed to resist being put out.

"Fuck."

Raziel braced once more, and this time there was an explosion.

Glass and stone were launched all around from the force of the explosion, deafening the eardrums of those around it as smoke billowed from the wreckage of the store, blinding those around it. But his ears worked fine, his eyes were untouched. And he saw and heard everything.

"MOMMY, IT HURTS! MOMMY, WAKE UP!"

"HELP!"

"SOMEBODY, PLEASE!"

The screams were inescapable, bouncing all over the inside of his skull as he watched the carnage. A grieving daughter screamed as several large shards of glass punctured her body, crying for a mother who lay dead and burnt beyond a crisp. A man clutched at his leg buried beneath rubble, unable to free himself as he bled out. Bodies lay everywhere, either burnt or frozen or electrified, it didn't matter. They were all gone, just like that.

"Dramatic, aren't they?"

Raziel spun around to face her, whatever humor that had typically danced around him now gone as a white-hot fury settled in his gaze. "What the fuck was the point of that!? What was the fucking point!?"

She tilted her head, almost confused at his question. "To kill them."

He grabbed the back of his head, holding back a scream of rage as he stomped closer to the colossal form of Death. "Why!? They were going to die of old age anyway, why did you need to do that!? What is the fucking goal here!?"

A sigh escaped her, almost as if she were disappointed in him. "Goals. You speak as if I'm mortal. What need do I have for goals? I am a force of reality. More certain than the setting sun and more real than time itself. Death is my prerogative, always has been and always will be. What need is there for more, and what need is there to hold myself back?"

He stared at her, unable to process the sheer callousness within her words. What were those people to her, blades of grass to be stepped on? What sort of inhuman fucking-

And then he understood the true gravity of what she was. He had been applying human logic to something which didn't compute. What use did she have for what humans considered to be normal or moral? She had lived before such concepts and would likely live well past them. She wasn't like him at all. He still retained some measure of his humanity, his morality. Her?

She was a cold and merciless Death.

"Now you get it."

He focused back onto her, still livid but now realizing that his anger meant nothing to her. "Yeah, I guess I do."

Her mood seemed to flip to amusement as she chuckled at him, almost as if she were laughing at his frustration. "Good, then we can continue."

"Continue?"

A pit formed in his stomach as she pointed towards the sun, which had yet to set. "I told you, three hours. And it has only been five minutes. You have a lot of work to do, Lord Death."

Her mocking tone felt like ice down his spine as he took a step forward. "Wait wait-"

But it was too late, for Death had already lowered her hand and pointed to her next victims.

… … …

Chaos. That was the only word that she could use to describe it.

Velvet ran across the street, dodging out of control cars as she did her best to push people out of the way. Already she had been hit a few times, unable to move in time as car after car lost control and crashed. It was madness, not helped by the occasional explosion of Dust which had been stuffed in the trunks of some cars.

The Commercial District of Vale burned.

"Get inside! Get inside!"

She rushed everyone she could into the nearby mall, away from the fiery streets. At no point today had she thought that her evening would turn out like this, but she'd be damned if she let these people die. Not today.

She stood by the door, holding it open as she ushered in as many people as she could. Panic surged within every person, as they pushed their way into the mall with reckless abandon. Having been a part of protests before, she knew the dangers of a mob pushing one another. And so, she leapt into the fray and did her best to keep the civilians from knocking one another over.

"Please, walk in an orderly fashion!"

Her hands were shaking, a nervous energy traveling up and down her bones as she did her best to take control of the situation. And yet people fell. People got stepped on, and some began to cry out. She tried to help them but pushing against the sea of people proved too much for her, not without hurting someone else in the process.

Instead, she moved to the side and grabbed her scroll, dialing her team leader's number and praying that she would pick up.

"Bun Bun, are you seeing what's going on now? The whole district is just on fire!"

Grateful that Coco had picked up, she all but screamed into the receiver. "Coco! I-I'm in the Commercial District right now! I'm trying to help, but there's so many people and they're all panicking, and I think I'm panicking, and-"

"Shit. Bun Bun, stay tight. I'm already on my way to help, I'll track your scroll and meet you wherever you are. I'll call Fox and Yatsu, you just do what you can."

"G-Got it."

Hanging up her scroll, Velvet took a deep breath before shoving her anxiety down. Panicky people were probably a lot like Grimm, and she was fine with Grimm. It'll be fine. She'll be fine.

And that was when she heard an explosion from deeper within the mall.

Her legs were pumping before her brain had a chance to catch up, and she sprinted through the mall to find the source, almost swearing when she did. One of the Dust shops within the mall had blown up from a fire that looked to have come from a curtain from the candle shop, which had seemingly caught fire from a single candle that had somehow fallen while still burning.

What were the odds of that!?

Getting closer, she began to do whatever she could to help those who had been too close to the shop. She helped civilians to their feet, tore bits of their clothes in order to stop the bleeding from those who had been injured, even pulled some glass out of people. All of her first aid knowledge was put into effect, and she was eternally grateful that Yatsu had convinced her to take that class.

"Stay away from any Dust, or fire, or anything that looks dangerous!"

She screamed out commands that felt redundant but gave her a measure of comfort to say. Eyeing the Dust shop, she gasped as her eyes locked onto a crack which seemed to run from the ground all the way up one of the nearby support pillars. Her head whipped about, and this time she did swear as she saw more and more cracks form from seemingly out of nowhere.

The mall had transformed from a sanctuary into a tomb.

"GET OUT!"

Those nearby her saw the damage to the pillar and followed her order without question. The others turned and looked at her with confused eyes, and she was forced to all but throw them out as dust began to fall from the roof.

"THE MALL IS COLLAPSING!"

It was then that a Dust shop on the second floor exploded, and the civilians still inside finally got the memo. Unfortunately for both her and them, that second explosion had been enough to send the entire structure down on them. Chunks of the ceiling fell from above, concrete and steel raining like water as the mall began to fall apart.

But Velvet couldn't leave yet.

Picking up an injured woman and throwing her over her shoulder, she grabbed another person and held them under her arm as she used all her strength to carry them to safety. Bringing them to the front entrance, she set them down and ran back inside to make sure no one else was stuck. She leapt over fallen steel beams and slid under falling concrete as she searched the whole mall, occasionally lifting up whatever rubble she could to help those who had been trapped.

Up and down, back and forth, to and from. Her legs never stopped moving, her arms never stopped carrying, and she never stopped trying. There was always someone else stuck inside, someone else who had been pinned by rubble or were unable to move because of injuries or because someone they loved had died. It didn't matter, as she used the speed and strength she had worked her whole life for in order to grab them and drag them out, kicking and screaming if she had to.

It was that desire to preserve life which made her a huntress. And it was also what led to her fall.

No matter how good her spatial awareness was, she wasn't perfect. A stray steel beam not caught by her eyes sent her tumbling to the ground, skidding across the floor until she bumped into a bit of concrete. Rolling onto her stomach, she pushed herself up and attempted to stand, only to fall to a knee once her ankle screamed at her for doing so.

Aura was great, but not even it could stop everything. The speed at which she was moving proved too much, and her foot catching the steel beam had been enough to almost shatter the bone. It was only thanks to said Aura that she hadn't broken the foot entirely, but there was no denying the damage that had taken place.

Velvet looked up as she hobbled towards the nearest exit, her heart stopping as she saw a monster right outside a hole in the ceiling. It was tall, standing over the city like a shadow ready to consume it in its entirety. Its face was just a skull, no skin or muscle anywhere to be seen, and its eyes were two crimson dots which seemed to glow in delight. In its hand was a scythe of some kind, bony fingers holding on tight as it turned its attention to the mall and locked eyes with her.

Its hand lifted up, and Death pointed a single finger at her.

More explosions, one after the other all at once. The crumbling mall fell entirely, concrete and steel coming down on top of her. She tried to hold on, to use what strength she had to hold the rubble up, but she wasn't as strong as her teammates were. Her arms shook as she was slowly forced down to a single knee, body failing her as more and more rubble piled onto her.

At some point, she had stopped pushing against the rubble and instead found herself being crushed by it. Concrete pressed against her body, her Aura flaring as it attempted to resist what must have been literal tons of stone. The sharp ends of several steel beams pressed against her, Aura flickering and eventually giving in as they punctured parts of her body.

Ah, she was dying.

Yes. Yes, she could feel death on her now. Like two cold hands grasping at her arms and lifting her from the rubble. Her vision was blurry, and ears ringing like school bells, but she could feel death as it lifted her away.

Her head rolled as the coldness spread all over her, almost like she was flying away. Then death's hands left her, and she felt the coldness retreat as a rough sensation hit her back. Her vision, though blurred, could scarcely make out an odd green color staring down at her, before it flew away.

Voices then tried to reach her, but her ears were too damaged to hear properly. Blobs of color bounced around in her face, reminding her of a piece of chocolate as it tried to talk to her. She tried to think, to put together a coherent thought to relieve it of the worry she could feel.

"It's okay, I'm already dead."

That was what she said, or perhaps what she thought she said. It was hard to tell, and thinking was becoming too difficult to care. Instead, she decided to close her eyes and rest instead.

And darkness claimed her.

… … …

The chaos stopped just as the sun set, fires still burning as the sounds of ambulances and fire trucks rushing through the streets filled the sky. Raziel stood atop some random building, staring down into a hospital as the events of the past three hours finally began to settle in.

"That certainly was a spectacle. Though I will admit, it did get boring by the two-hour mark. I suppose that's what happens when I get involved for too long, it loses its thrill very quickly."

He was too mentally exhausted to be angry, though that didn't stop him from being bitter. "Because that's what fucking matters, your enjoyment."

Death hovered beside him, uncaring of his attitude as she simply nodded. "What else is there? People die every day, with or without my intervention. What is a tragedy among thousands anyway? A footnote? It isn't as if this sort of thing doesn't happen every day outside of the cities, humanity just ignores it."

"Your point?"

She accepted his bitterness with a measure of grace he would have been impressed by if he didn't want to strangle her. "I don't have one, I was just pointing out a fact. Really, you are rather dramatic for a manifestation of death. Is a little blood all it takes to take you out?"

"Just leave."

"Very well. I'll even do you a favor and leave all those new souls for you. I've found a new field to harvest, with some rather fiery people."

He didn't care, and simply observed the hospital some more as she left. Her. Death. His face twisted into a snarl. To call her Death felt like an insult to the idea. As if her being the status quo was the right state of things. What a fucked idea. Her idea of death was an insult to life. What was the point if everyone suffered in the end? Why bother living if death was cruel?

Raziel stared into the window of one particular hospital room, where a certain library buddy of his rested.

If death was supposed to be cruel, then he would have to change that. He'd do whatever it took, if only to defeat Death, Lady Death. Yes, a distinction had to be made. She could not be Death; it was too absolute. She was Lady Death, and he would be Lord Death.

Adversaries, if not the lovers he had initially imagined.

Opening the book at his side, he grimaced as he saw a "Vel" written on one of the blank pages. He had no logical reason to know what that meant, but a measure of understanding graced him still. This was the Book of the Dead, a record of those who had died or were about to die. Slowly but surely, Velvet's name was being inked on the page with every passing moment. A victim of circumstance that shouldn't have even come to pass. Lady Death should not have interfered with humanity, that much he was certain. It felt wrong on an intrinsic level, and he would follow his instinct. He always did.

Even if that meant interfering himself. If only to set things right.

… … …

I do hate slow burns. Really, why bother with them? I mean, I guess some people like it. In the same vein as people like being edged. Whatever, I don't care for it. Plus, the idea felt cool and really should highlight how fucking terrifying Lady Death is as a villain. Literally Final Destinationed a whole fucking city district.

Anyway, I started rewatching a few episodes of Danny Phantom for both research and entertainment purposes. I think it holds up about as well as I remember, though I haven't rewatched anything from the third season yet so I guess I'll hold my breath. I don't think I have anything else to say, a problem with writing these endslates at the, well, end. All the notes I was originally going to cover just vanish from my mind. Crazy. I guess I could say that I originally had Qrow be the second POV in this chapter, but scrapped it 'cause Velvet made more sense and Qrow would have just made things worse. Also, he wouldn't even have been there at this point in time. Would've made no sense. Glad I abused the bunny instead.

This has been A Decent Hoonter, and I remain a near-killer of waifus I guess.