//------------------------------// // The new assignment // Story: The Truth about Reapers // by MineLittleDashie //------------------------------// Eastern Manhattan; June 4, 2013; 11:30 pm I leaned against the alley wall and waited. They would be here soon. Their kind valued punctuality even more than they valued the night. I examined the area. As of now, I stood in an alleyway between two eight-story buildings. There was a half moon shining though a partly clouded sky, providing enough light to see by, but not enough that it would banish the shadows and reveal my hiding place. I would have loved to immerse myself more into the peaceful night, but my attention was drawn to the noise of footsteps on the street. I drew further back into the shadows, watching. Sure enough, several figures came into view. I checked my pocket watch. 'Right on time.' There were six figures. Five of them wore long black cloaks with hoods, all with the same symbol; a red drop of blood in front of a pentagram. I narrowed my eyes. So it was The Society. Things just got a bit more complicated. The sixth figure was the one I was most interested in. She was about eight years old and wore a pink hello kitty shirt and a matching pink skirt. She appeared to either be unconscious or sleeping, as she was draped over the shoulder of the tallest figure. I watched as said figure, probably the leader, gave orders to the others, who then jumped to the tops of the buildings around the street. 'So he means to ambush me, hmm? Need to be careful about this then.' Silently, I leapt up onto the roof of the building to my right, keeping low to avoid being seen. Sure enough, there was one near the edge of the roof, far enough away that you wouldn't be able to see him from the ground. I took a quick look around, but saw none of the others. 'Time to even the odds.' I thought. I silently approached the figure before me. However, it appears I was not as quiet as I thought, for he swung around and attacked. Too slow. With one swift movement, my scythe had gone through his head and ended his life. I watched as his body turned to ashes. One down, four to go. ----------------------------------------------- The second and third figures were too easy. Clearly they had fallen so far out of practice, that they hadn't even heard me approach. The fourth offered a bit more trouble, as she was older, and probably had more experience fighting. She got close to biting me several times during the fight, after which I swore that I would start hitting the gym again. Finally, it was just tall dark and scary, and me. The former seemed to be getting impatient, so I decided to get down to business. I dropped back down into the alley where I had waited for them, took a moment to compose myself, then stepped out into the street. His eyes were on me instantly. "You're late." He snarled. I shrugged. "Can't be that late, can I?" "You're ten minutes late! Be glad that I didn't cut the deal and leave!" (See what I mean? So punctual.) "Oh come now! Only ten minutes? Humans would consider that being fashionably late, it's allowed of course." "Ah, but I'm not human now am I?" I shrugged again, before dropping my hands and shaking my head slowly. "I will never understand you vampires obsession with being on time." "It's an honorable thing to do!" He cried. My face turned serious. "And it's honorable to ambush someone when they come to give you the ransom?" By the look on his face, I'd caught him off guard. He scanned the rooftops, probably looking for his comrades. Too bad he won't find them. Quietly, he set the girl down on the street, then turned back to me, rage etched on his face. "How dare you!" He hissed. "There will be no deal!" "I don't think you have a say in the matter." I said calmly, grabbing my scythe and allowing it to extend to its full length. A 67 inch (5 ft 7 in, for clarification) pole with a 30 inch curved blade, infused with both iron and silver (the two main weaknesses of most monsters). The vampire hissed at the sight of it. He knew he had to be careful. And considering that the reaper had killed four of his best fighters, he was good. But the vampire's mind was clouded by rage, and he leapt. I brought my scythe around and, "off with his head!" as the Queen of Hearts would say. I waited a moment, watching the vampire disintegrate into ash, before rushing over to the child and checking her vitals. 'Heart beats fine, breathing is normal' I turned her and examined the skin. 'No breaks in the skin. Now, the final test.' I pressed the flat of my blade against her arm and waited. 'Nothing, that's good. She hasn't been turned.' I sighed in relief, retracted and holstered my blade, then gently picked the girl up before walking away down the dark street. ------------------------------------------------ Empire State Building; 53rd floor; June 5, 2013; 10:00 am I waited. I was wearing my usual: a black, button-down shirt with dark gray pants, jacket, and shoes, and to top it all off, a red tie. My scythe, as I had no need of it at the moment, was safely tucked away in its holster as a nine inch sickle. The reason I was here, well, you'll see in a moment. I looked at the clock. 'Perhaps we could learn something of time management from the vampires after all.' I thought, still waiting. The sound of footsteps registered in my mind moments before the door opened and my superior, one Arthur Cartwell, entered. He nodded to me, before making his way over to another chair and placed his feet up on the desk at an angle, so that we could see each others faces. (It was his office, he can do what he wants). Arthur adjusted his wire frame glasses before speaking. "First of all, I must congratulate you on rescuing the young girl last night. Her family asks me to pass on their gratitude." I waved it off. "Second, I'd like to remind you about the promotion test, and I strongly recommend that you take it." "Why? So I can be stuck behind a desk like you?" I asked, not caring in the least. "Unlike others, I value my freedom." "That may be..... Look, George..." Arthur rubbed his forehead in exasperation. "You're going to die out there one day, and when you do, we're going to lose one of our best reapers. Also, I'm too old to train your replacement, so please George, for my sake!" I paused. He's right of course, I'll probably take it a step too far one day, but I'll retire before that happens. "All right, I'll think about it." He smiled tiredly. "Thank you George. By the way, this came for you." He handed me an envelope, "your next assignment." I took the envelope and instantly noted the color. Red. I looked up at my superior. "Urgent?" I asked. He nodded. I tore the envelope and read the letter, my eyebrows getting higher each line I read. Finally, I looked back up at Arthur and whistled. "Urgent and transfer." I said. Arthur raised an eyebrow, "Where to?" He asked curiously. I shrugged. "Some place called Equestria." The reaction was not what I expected. Arthur's face went pale and he let out a gagging noise. If he had been drinking something, I swear he would've spewed like they do in the cartoons. He snatched the letter from me and read it himself. "Equestria! Are you sure?!" He asked. "Yeah." I didn't see what the big deal was. Apparently Arthur had guessed this, because he looked at me and said, in a low voice, "You know nothing of Equestria do you?" "Nope." Arthur turned his chair and rummaged around in one of his filing cabinets for a minute, before pulling out a manilla folder. He tossed it onto the desk. "Read up, and expect for the worst." He said, dismissing me with a wave of his hand. Confused, I took the folder and my letter and left the office, wondering if my day had already come. ----------------------------------------------------- I spent the rest of the day reading the information on Equestria. And what I read wasn't good. Apparently, the ponies who lived there, (I know right?), had the same beliefs about reapers that Earth did, however, they had one thing that Earth didn't have. Magic. Real magic. Also, they had two insanely powerful goddess queens, Celestia and Luna, who had taken it upon themselves to rid their world of the reapers. By the time the reapers of Equestria were able to flee that world, over 2/3 of them had been destroyed. The Reaper's Council had declared the place a 'no go zone' for the last few thousand years. So Equestria had gone millennia without reapers of any kind. As a result, monsters had been increasing in population at an incredible rate. Sure, the ponies could keep them somewhat in check, but there were still too many to exterminate completely. And apparently now, the Council had found my spotless track record and decided, 'Hey, let's do some spring cleaning!' In other words, I would basically be committing suicide unless I was able to change what ponies thought of my kind. I re-read the letter, and took notice of a post-it note at the bottom. I was to gather my things and report at the transport center tomorrow at noon. "Shit."