Lord Reaper burst through the doors of Black Hat's office, uninvited as usual.
"The girls are in bed, Black Hat, but I need help figuring out Melanie's outfit for tomorrow," Lord Reaper said, hovering off the ground over to where he was.
"As long as it's not anything ridiculous," Black Hat said, annoyedly pouring his drink.
"Of course not," Lord Reaper said. "I just wanted to know if you had any preferences."
Black Hat sipped on a glass of what appeared to be blood, "Don't say you want my assistance on something so meager."
"I just wanted to see if you had any preferences," said Lord Reaper. "Melanie is in no state to bother with it right now and getting the photo shoot was your idea. Even if she was, she'd purposefully choose something terrible to make everyone look stupid or something to make a statement, knowing her."
"Well, that's teenagers for you, no matter what species they are," Black Hat said. "Something formal enough will suffice. Since you're here, I'm hoping you'll keep her in line for something as simple as a photo."
"You don't need to worry about that," said Lord Reaper. "I'll make sure she behaves. I just need to figure out how she should look."
"She should look like a reaper," Black Hat said with an eye roll. "Problem solved, idiot."
"I suppose that or something black," Lord Reaper said, summoning a goblet of his own and holding it out for Black Hat to pour blood into. "Oh, Black Hat! I'm so happy. I've wanted you to take interest in one of my descendants for centuries now. You've barely acknowledged them for so long. But I must admit. I never expected you to choose the one girl who wants nothing to do with us much less take her away from her parents to raise yourself. Not that I'm complaining, but Melanie is not the one I would have expected you to go this far for, if you know what I mean. For you, it's shocking. I mean, why go so far?"
"Must I keep repeating myself? I told you. The girl is gifted but she's far too heroic and that needs to change. I find great pleasure in rooting the weakness of heroism," Black Hat's frown turned into a grin. "And it will be a treat for her to know true darkness going forward."
"So, you chose her because you wanted to make her miserable enough to be yours?" Lord Reaper asked incredulously as he took the robot head and filled his own wine glass with blood. "I had hoped you'd chosen her for the dark power she keeps suppressing. Or because you worried her parents would keep neglecting her and let her squander her potential like they have been since she was born? Or maybe because you wanted to give her the parenting she has been lacking?"
"Not to worry," Black Hat said. "I do plan on keeping my end of the bargain. After all, the girl has power. Too much power for her to waste on heroes. Any form of pathetic heroism in her will be destroyed, and she will come to realize her true evil heritage! I wouldn't be exerting this amount of effort on her if I didn't have anything to gain from her or this situation, Reaper."
"Obviously not," Lord Reaper said, sipping at his blood wine. "It's just a pleasant surprise is all. Oh, my poor little Melanie. I blame her parents for not paying enough attention to her and allowing her to get mixed up with such savory friends. Re-parenting her will be a heavy task. Are you sure you're up to it? I originally offered to take full custody of her for a reason."
"Sometimes, you need a steady but firm hand," Black Hat fired back. "You wouldn't be hard enough on her to get her to drop her heroic ways. Besides, compared to everything else I've done, parenting should be child's play."
"That's what everyone says about parenting before they actually do it," Lord Reaper said with a chuckle. "Which is why I plan on getting that condo."
"Do whatever you wish, Reaper," Black Hat waved him off, annoyed as usual.
"You know what I wish?" Lord Reaper asked, his smile turning into an evil scowl. "I wish I could make Kasumi Yamaguchi pay. She has brought so much misguidance and misery into my girl's life. What nerve she has, convincing Melanie to defy her background just because she defied hers!"
"You will soon have your revenge," Black Hat assured him.
"What are we gonna do when she gets here?" Lord Reaper asked, flashing an intimidating smile with blood sticking on his teeth. "What are your plans for her anyways?"
Black Hat stirred his drink slowly, "We could eat her, but perhaps, I'll test her to see what truly matters to her."
"What do you mean, my dark lord?" Lord Reaper asked with a twisted smile and sadistic eyes.
"She will tell us everything we need to know for the sake of her girls, and then she'll get the brainwashing she was always meant to get," Black Hat said.
"Wonderful," Lord Reaper said.
Just then, a message came from Flug.
"My lords," Flug said over the intercom. "Come in. Please! This is urgent. We're getting a video call from an unknown source! The woman said to tell you that she was the yuki-onna you've been looking for!"
Black Hat pressed a button on a device on the desk and replied, "Send the transmission through, Doctor!"
A large screen descended from the ceiling. A projector popped out in front of it and began projecting the transmission.
On the large screen was a Japanese woman in a white kimono. Her long black hair flowed around her shoulders freely. She was paler in appearance and more youthful looking than her years. Her gray blue eyes were colder than ice and her lips were painted red.
Black Hat knew who she was before she opened her mouth.
"Good evening, Black Hat-sama," she said formally yet venomously and shinigami-sama."
"Greetings, dear," Black Hat said passingly with his hands clasped together on the desk.
"It has been a long time," Lucy said.
"And yet here you are, reaching out to me," replied Black Hat. "To what do I owe the pleasure?"
"You know why I'm here," Lucy replied venomously. "You have two of my girls, and I want them back."
"I'm sure you do," Black Hat said calmly. "But I'm keeping them."
"Why?!" Lucy asked, struggling to keep her composure before forcing herself to remain calm.
"One is with me," answered Black Hat. "The other is a trespasser. So, why should I?"
"Because we both know I'm the one you really want," Lucy replied with a bit of a snarl. "That's the only reason my sweet Sadie is still alive. You kept her to bait me. I'm not stupid."
"I'd beg to differ," Lord Reaper added.
Lucy ignored the Reaper and said, "And as for Melanie, we know how strong she is and who her soul belongs to and it's not with you, 'dark majesty.'"
"Only time will tell of that," said Black Hat.
"Particularly since Black Hat has full custody of Melanie now," Lord Reaper added.
Lucy tried to look surprised and said, "Be that as it may, you're doing this primarily because of me. Aren't you? You couldn't accept that I had escaped from you, so now, you're taking out that rage on my girls. Right?"
"Perhaps I'm just feasting on their despair," replied Black Hat. "Even if it was because of you, what would you do for them?"
"What would you want me to do for them?" Lucy asked. "To help my girls, I'm willing to do anything."
Black Hat flashed a large sinister grin, "Anything?"
Lucy took a deep breath and said, "Yes."
"Then you will come to Hat Island," Black Hat commanded. "Alone, no help, no plan. Then, I'll talk to you about what I want you to do next."
"It'll take me until tomorrow afternoon to arrive," Lucy said. "Can you wait until then?"
"I hope you wouldn't be taking such time to prepare a pathetic attempt to defy me," said Black Hat.
"There's nothing I could do against you anyways, so I can't imagine you'd have a reason to worry," Lucy said in resignation. "Then again, I guess you have underestimated me before. Haven't you? No, I don't plan on going back on my word a second time. I've had a wonderful life away from you and I've been able to give that life to Melanie and many other girls. I've lived well and I'm more than prepared to die."
"So be it," Black Hat said, trying to dismiss her. "See you soon."
"Wait," Lord Reaper interrupted. "How could you do it? Take Melanie away from a life and a family where she was secure and plunge her into heroism. My baby is so misguided now. How could you do it? Was it revenge?"
"No," Lucy replied angrily. "I had no ulterior motive in taking Melanie in. She came to me. She was a miserable young girl who desperately wanted a way out of the dark and confining life you set out for her. She wanted real freedom, real love, and real happiness. Just like I once did. So, I showed her the One who showed me the way out like my mentor once showed me and Melanie chose that way for herself. You dark creatures can't comprehend the light. That's why you don't get it. You don't understand why it's something Melanie will always cling to. I just wish I got to her before her parents did so she could have the life that I've had."
Lord Reaper shook his head in disbelief and asked, "Are you hearing her, Black Hat? Can you believe this?!"
"I believe this is something she would say, and it still makes me want to vomit," Black Hat answered in disgust. "Have a good night, Kasumi. We will see you soon."
Lucy nodded her head and the transmission ended.
"So, what do we do first?" Lord Reaper asked. "Should the girls know about this?"
"No, we'll leave it a surprise," Black Hat said with a nasty grin. "Nothing they can do about it anyway."
"Then, what should we do now?" Lord Reaper asked, taking another sip of his blood wine. "Did you have any plans specifically or shall we just wait for the morning when my beautiful granddaughter wakes up?"
"You leave the planning to me," Black Hat said with a sinister grin. "We'll keep the girls as far away from her as possible until I choose to reveal her presence. We'll need to be careful. I know the woman can be sneaky."
"The yuki-onna can turn into icy vapor," said Lord Reaper. "Which reminds me, I'm surprised she got away from you the first time. Your assistance then wasn't as exceptional as yours is now, but all the same, I'm amazed that these heroines were able to smuggle Kasumi away. You were in Japan when it happened. Weren't you?"
"I hope you aren't accusing me of failure, Reaper," Black Hat growled with his monocle turning a shade of red.
"I'm not," Lord Reaper said. "I'm just amazed they could do it is all. But like I'm one to talk, Melanie kept her double life in the shadows for 3 years right under my nose. Cracking into the Nunjas will be a relief.
"Soon enough, they will be eliminated," said Black Hat, his glare turning into an expression of malicious glee.
"Yes. Our grandchild will be protected from their holy influence forever and then we can just return her friend for a ransom or something," Lord Reaper said. "Oh, Black Hat, I feel happy enough to bring out a glass of chardonnay."
Black Hat's face changed away to one of annoyance and mild disgust, raising his hand to block off the Reaper's flamboyancy, "Yes."