//------------------------------// // Betrayal // Story: Reaper: Grand Charade // by Ise no Kami //------------------------------// Gramarye Lulamoon was slightly startled by a knock at his study door. He put down the book he was reading, and closed a drawer he had left open, before addressing his visitor. "Come in." The door opened, and in walked his daughter, Trixie. "There you are, Father!" Trixie exclaimed. "I've been trying to contact you all day!" "Is there a problem?" "Haven't you heard?" Trixie asked. "The government closed down Canterlot High because of all those magical incidents." "Hmm. That is rather troubling," Gramarye noted, pondering something. "We can't have that, now can we?" "Wait. Why is that so big a problem for you?" Trixie asked. Gramarye got up from his seat. "Because, my daughter..." He walked over to Trixie and hugged her. "I just want what's best for you. We can't let a few government agents get in the way of your education, can we? Don't worry, Daddy's gonna take care of everything." "Can you really do that?" Trixie asked. "Sure, I'll find a way," Gramarye responded. Though Trixie couldn't see it, his expression changed. "I have to." Daniel and Shimmer his behind a building across from Canterlot High. As Daniel peered around the corner, he saw exactly what he expected: the premises was still under heavy guard by federal agents. A little late for you to be up, wouldn't you say? he thought, before knocking the guards out with swift shots of astral mist. Off to bed with you. He motioned for Shimmer to follow him, and they made their way to the school. "Not so fast!" Just as they approached the entrance, Lockheart came up behind them and pulled a gun on them. Daniel silently chastised himself for missing her. "Thatch told me about his little run-in with you. I can't let you go free." "Then surely he told you that your little pea shooter's worthless against me, right?" Daniel chucked without even turning around. "So then...what was your plan?" "True, guns don't seem to be very effective on you," Lockheart noted. "However..." She adjusted her aim slightly, and fired at Shimmer. As Shimmer turned around in surprise, a small cloud of astral mist formed in front of her, stopping the bullet. Lockheart was shocked. "Yeah, no," Daniel told her. "You were seriously gonna hurt an innocent girl just for a chance to stop me? Go to hell." "I don't understand," Lockheart wondered. "Why are you interfering with us?" "Let's see, we've got a bunch of federal agents trying to kidnap a bunch of high school girls," Daniel noted. "I'm not the only one who raises an eyebrow at that, right? Oh, while I'm at it, you might as well pack up and go right now. Now that you've got my attention, there's no hope for you." Angered, Lockheart raised her gun...only to find an astral spike mere inches from her face. "If you pull that trigger, I will shove this spike through your skull. Are we clear?" Lockheart gave in, and lowered her gun, leaving Daniel and Shimmer to simply walk into the school. "Would you really have killed her?" Shimmer asked, horrified. "Only as a last resort," Daniel replied. "I mean, she's just doing her job. Gotta cut her some slack." The two made their way through the empty halls of the school, until they arrived at Shimmer's locker. "Alright, just get that journal and we can get out of here," Daniel reminded Shimmer. She twisted the combination lock, opened her locker, and... "It's gone!" Surprised, Daniel rushed over to the locker. Sure enough, the locker was empty, and the magic journal wasn't in sight. Where did it go...? "Looking for this?" Daniel and Shimmer looked down the hall to see Azrael, holding out the magic journal. "Azrael? Why are you here?" Shimmer asked. "I had a feeling you'd be coming for this," Azrael explained. He tossed the magic journal into the air, then pulled out a black katana, slicing the book in two with a single strike. "Sorry about this, but my old man asked me to bring you in...and to kill your friend here." "No... You're with Charade?" Shimmer realized. Just then, Daniel got in front of her, and summoned his scythe. "You really think you can take me on? Then come at me!" "You're a bit too cocky for your own good," Azrael noted. He closed his eyes, and he began to glow with a faint light. His ears disappeared, and were replaced by pony ears. A glorious set of white wings, the edges lined with black feathers, sprouted from his back. "Impossible!" Shimmer explained, shocked to see someone outside her circle of friends who was capable of "ponying up." Azrael held out his free hand, and quickly amassed a huge sphere of brilliant white energy in front of his palm. By the time Daniel realized what he was doing, it was too late. He shot forth a concussive magic blast, sending Daniel flying down the hall, straight through the wall, and into the side of the building across the street. That power... Daniel ruminated as he picked himself up. This guy's an alicorn! But how is that possible? Azrael pulled out a second katana, and rushed toward Daniel. The grim reaper pre-empted the assault, and shot forth numerous astral spikes to halt the alicorn's advance. Azreal slashed at each spike in turn, breaking the mist apart and stopping each blast in its tracks. That...shouldn't be possible! Daniel thought in horror as the white alicorn quickly got closer. He snapped himself out of his shock just in time, jumping high into the air and keeping himself there with astral mist, as Azrael finally reached the crater Daniel had made in the side of the building, and sliced straight through the solid stone like it was butter. Daniel took this opportunity to fire off another astral spike while Azrael's guard was down, but the alicorn was too fast, and simply broke it like the rest. He looked up at his target, and rushed into the air. Daniel blocked the incoming katana strikes with his scythe, which thankfully didn't get sliced to ribbons. Azreal kept trying to push his blades through, sending them both higher and higher into the air. As they approached the heights of the city, Daniel finally broke free of the blade clash and swiped at his assailant. Azreal swiftly dodged out of the way, and flew into the city, firing back at Daniel with his own blasts of pure white magic. Now it was Daniel's turn to give chase. He took one giant bound toward a nearby building, and began running along the wall toward his opponent. Azrael continued firing magic blasts at Daniel, decimating the buildings behind him. As he closed in, Daniel sent forth his own astral spikes. Azrael broke these spikes like the rest, but they were meant to be mere distractions, breaking up the magic barrage and giving Daniel the opening he needed. While the white alicorn was busy, Daniel leapt off the wall toward him, ready to plunge his scythe into his chest. However, Azrael simply blocked his assault with one katana, and slashed at him with the other one, sending him flying up to a nearby rooftop. He flew up to Daniel's level, and charged up another massive magic blast. This time, Daniel was prepared, and raised a powerful barrier of astral mist. The blast came, and Daniel's barrier struggled to hold it back. He barely had time to register how screwed he was before the attack finally broke through his shield and blasted him to the next rooftop. Azrael rushed over to where he was set to land, and prepared to cut him down. However, Daniel managed to pick himself up mid-flight, and responded to Azrael's attack with his own. The two blades clashed hard enough that sparks started flying all over the place. Azrael took this opportunity to slice at Daniel with his other katana, but the grim reaper saw this, and pulled out of the blade clash. The force of Azrael's push sent him flying into the air, leaving him hanging by a large cloud as he got his bearings. All right, now where is he- A single flash as Azreal passed him by, and it was over. Daniel floated there for a while, motionless...and then half of the nearby cloud slid off, as it was rent in two. A couple seconds later, a fountain of blood erupted from Daniel's body, causing a torrent of blood to paint the street below crimson. He then fell hundreds of stories into a pool of his own blood...on top of concrete. Azrael landed nearby, just outside the pool of blood. "If it makes you feel any better," he told the writhing figure in the crimson liquid, "you were a worthy opponent. Farewell." Shimmer arrived to witness the horror just as Azrael flew away. "Azrael... Why...?" Shimmer wondered in shock as she beheld the half-dead boy in a pool of his own blood, shock and terror on his face as he clung dearly to life. The next day, Daniel woke up to the monotonous beeps of a cardiogram. As he regained consciousness, he realized he was all but tied to a hospital bed. As his vision fully cleared, he noticed Shimmer sitting in a corner of the room. "Shimmer...? What happened?" he asked. "After Azreal..." Shimmer paused, clearly uncomfortable with what she witnessed. "Anyway, I rushed you to a hospital as soon as I could." She looked away. Clearly, there was something else that was bothering her. "Daniel...the doctors said your injuries should have killed you almost instantly. I thought maybe this was some sort of miracle, but then I remembered what that agent said about guns not really working on you. Just...what are you?" A long moment of silence passed before Daniel responded. "You're right to be suspicious. You see, I'm not completely human. My father...he could only be described as a demon. I have no love for the man, but it's thanks to his blood in my veins that I'm alive today." With that, he effortlessly broke free of the medical equipment keeping him bound to the bed, and got to his feet. "Woah, are you sure that's a good idea?" Shimmer asked, worried. "Half-demon, remember?" Daniel reminded. "Trust me, the wound's healed already. Now, I've got a winged @#$#@#$ to kill." "No you don't," Shimmer denied him, grabbing his arm to stop him. "If you fight him again, you'll end up right back here. Or you could die." "You got a better plan?" Daniel argued, pulling back his arm. "You saw what he's capable of. I'm the only one remotely in his league. If Charade sends them after anyone else, they're screwed. I need to take care of him personally." He finally took note of the hospital gown he'd been dressed in. "Where are my clothes?" "About that," Shimmer replied, resigning herself to Daniel's choice. "Your old clothes got shredded...and soaked in blood...so I went out and got you new clothes. Wasn't sure what your tastes were, so I hope you like them." She handed Daniel a bag of clothes, and he brought it into the bathroom to change. A few minutes later, he came out fully clothed. He now wore jet black pants and shoes, as well as a black jacket that accentuated the pale blue shirt underneath. He also wore gloves and a scarf of the same shade of blue. He looked over to Shimmer, and gave her a cocky smile. "They're perfect." He headed for the door, then turned back to Shimmer. "I'm gonna make sure to come back from this alive. So don't worry, you'll see me again." With that, he left, giving the nurses heart attacks as they tried and failed to get their "critically injured" patient back to his bed. After a brief moment of silence, Shimmer pulled out her phone and made a call. "Hey there, Rainbow. You girls got all your stuff together?" Rainbow groaned, but told her they were ready. "Good. I'll be right over." She hung up, and left to see to her friends.