Theme Song: "Ticking Bomb" by Aloe Blacc
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In The City Streets...

There was a high-speed chase happening in the streets. Traffic was conveniently light and it was mid-day.

"Suspects are armed" said an agent.

"Fire!" yelled another.

From the truck's window, two agents poked out, carefully aiming at the white car they were chasing after. Someone poked their head out of the white car's sun-roof and was carrying a rocket launcher over his shoulder, aiming towards the black truck chasing after them. Before the truck driver could act quick enough, there was already a large explosive flying at them, exploding and flipping it over on its roof. The truck burned wildly, with its passengers trying to escape the inferno.

Luckily, one of them was able to crawl out. His face was smothered with ash and blood from one of his other partners.

He held a finger to his ear, "Man down-...well, men down. We need immediate back-up."

The receiver responds, "Alright Agent Peterson, good work. We'll send them in now." Then, faintly in the background, the agent heard, "Send in the Loose Cannons."

Agent Peterson's face contorted in confusion and just a few seconds later, an aircraft flew in just above the agent.

He saw two shadowed bodies leap out of it; one had wings and the other was massive in size. The big one crashed down in front of Agent Peterson and the winged one landed peacefully on his feet with the help of his wings.

"Sir-"

"Just call me Nathan." said the winged one, interrupting the agent.

"Nathan, they turned right at the intersection ahead. It's a white Chevrolet Malibu, 1998." the agent reported.

"You guys couldn't chase that piece of shit for a car?" said the big one.

"Joseph has a point Agent. Nonetheless, you all sacrificed your lives. May your comrades rest in piece."

"Comrades? What, are we Soviets now?" Joseph interrupted.

"That wasn't funny, Joseph. Let's get moving!"

Nathan flew after car and Joseph leaped onto a building, creating indents under his hands and feet, allowing him to better quickly climb onto the rooftops.

Nathan dipped right at the intersection and saw the car from far approaching another intersection.

"Shit Joseph, it's gonna turn in your direction! Can you catch it?" said Nathan, holding the receiver in his ear.

"I'll try!" Joseph responds.

"Don't lift it, whatever you do. You just died last week, remember?"

"Let's not talk about that. Don't worry about me, I know what I'm doing."

"Alright then. Did you pick up a scent back there?"

Luckily, Joseph passed his hand over some of the ashes of the truck explosion and rubbed it onto his shoulder. He sniffed his shoulder and traced the scent of the rocket launcher. He grinned, and began to pick up his running pace. He ran straight down through the rooftops and when he reached the end, he leapt off to find the white car was approaching his landing spot.

"Nathan, get over here!" said Joseph.

The hood of the car was just under Joseph- so when he landed, he slammed his fists down onto the front of the car, launching it high in the air, about thirty feet. The car flipped forwards multiple times as a flipped pencil would- and from above it, Nathan dive-bombed towards the car. With expert timing (while the vehicle was still in a flipping motion), he dove through the car roof, grabbed the passengers by their military vests, and escaped by breaking through the belly of the car, with both criminals in hand. All in just three seconds.

"Shit, are you three alright? You dove head-first through the car and dragged those two through too!" Joe called above.

Descending, Nathan shook the criminals in each hand to see if they were conscious.

"Yeah I'm fine. I believe our orders were 'Dead or alive.'" Nathan replied.

Suddenly, both of the crooks started to cough and choke, one of them spitting out a black-red substance.

"See, they're fine!" said Nathan, dropping them on the ground.

One of them tried to resist and grabbed Nathan's leg. He tried tugging at it to make Nathan fall, but he was too weak. In response, with his free leg, Nathan stomped his spiked cleats onto the arm of the criminal- making him cry out in agony. His partner behind him was struggling to reach for his gun that was just a few feet away, until Nathan sprayed bullets in front of the man's hand, making him flinch away from his gun. While that was happening, the man at Nathan's feet was pulling out his gun with his other hand. Joseph from behind clenched the man's leg, breaking his ankle, and on reflex, the man pulled the trigger on his own thigh. He then fainted, giving up on his mission.

"Weakling." the man's partner murmured.

A Few Hours Later At A Bar...

"Then the guy tries to shoot Nathan, so I break his ankle, and he winds up shooting his leg! What an idiot!" Joseph chuckled, Nathan following along.

"I need a refill. Joseph, how about you? It's on me."

"What do you mean it's 'on you?' Your money is my money! And no, I'm good."

"Adrianna?-...Where the hell she go?"

"Do you mean to tell me that I told that story when I didn't even know she wasn't here to listen?"

"Sucks for you."

"Sorry, I was in the bathroom!" said a voice from behind. It was Adrianna, "What were we talking about?"

"Never mind!" Joseph exclaimed.

"Do you need a refill?" Nathan replied.

"Can't, first day of work tomorrow."

"Hey! Congrats!" Nathan and Joseph praised at the same time.

"Thanks, and guess where?"

"Sesame Place! Dorney Park! Dr. Wang's Beauty Shop!" Joseph rapidly spoke.

"No, no, and...was that last one even a real place?"

"Nope."

"OK then...Nathan?"

Nathan thought critically for a moment. "McDonald's?"

"Wrong! The Flow! I'm a waitress!"

"Whoa, nice! Do we get discounts?" said Joseph.

"Good question...Actually-" she checks her phone, "I have to get going guys, it's a little late."

"Aw, come on! Alright, I guess that's it for tonight...I'll just get drunk another night..."

Nathan laughed, "Alright, thanks for coming though."

"No problem. Later guys!" she said, picking up her cell phone and exiting the bar.

"So when are you two gonna start dating again?" Joe teased.

"That's none of your business. I told you we were just friends!" said Nathan.

"Mm-hm. Yeah, just know if you ever need a best man-"

"OK, OK! Don't wanna hear it!"

Joseph laughed, but quickly lost his attention towards the door. He started sniffing with a look of worry on his face.

"Joseph what's wro-" Nathan began, but stopped because he too sensed what was outside.

"Blood." Joseph muttered.

"Drake!" Nathan hissed.

They both leaped out of their chairs and stormed out of the bar.

The bartender noticed and hollered at them, "HEY! You forgot to pay!"

Joseph bursted through the entrance again, carelessly threw his wallet across the bar, and stormed back out.

When he reached outside again, he found Nathan and Drake having a standoff; Adrianna head-locked by Drake, as if ready to snap her neck.

"I'm warning you, let her go!" Nathan barked, pulling out his two pistols that morphed into dual-wield, fully-automatic, submachine guns.

"What a choice of weaponry Nathaniel! Would you really risk the scattering of bullets to hit Adrianna?"

Nathan's grip loosened on his guns, as they both liquefied, mixed together, and became a bolt-action sniper rifle.

"Well, you know me- I never miss." smiled Nathan, raising the rifle higher to assure his shot will be for the head.

Drake sneered his fangs, "Then I hope you don't miss this."

He tightened his arm a bit around Adrianna's neck, and with his free hand, he quickly twisted Adrianna's head- chin behind shoulder, with multiple snaps and cracks resonating through the night. The sound echoed through Nathan's ears; his eyes widened, adrenaline ceased, anger born. Nathan hit the trigger on his sniper and its bullet boomed out of its chamber.

Mostly, Nathan's bullets were normal, but on the rare occasion, Nathan would simply alter his bullets to his liking, just by thought. This bullet retracted quills all over it and were set to disperse in an explosive fashion upon penetration- an angry bullet made perfectly for Drake.

Yet, what a waste of a creation, for the bullet froze in midair. It hovered still and then began to disappear into dust. Nathan was too infuriated to realize what just happened, so he disregarded this, dropped his rifle, and began to charge after Drake, fists engulfed in flames.

Again, he was stopped where the bullet had froze. It was as if he bumped into an invisible object, almost like a force-field. Still ignoring the oddities, he started throwing burning punches at the "force-field" violently, screaming out of rage, yet also confusion. His mind slowly was starting to process what was stopping him. Joseph reanimated himself into a werewolf and tried charging Drake as well- but he too was stopped.

Whatever was stopping them then started to show itself, fading into existence, and revealed to actually be a force-field wrapped around Drake's area. It was transparent, but you could see a glossy glare on it as if it were glass. Upon a spontaneous "thump" within the barrier, the barrier itself became a force wave as it expanded outwards, its force of impact sending Nathan and Joseph flying and falling back.

"Ow, my ass!" Joseph groaned, trying to stand up.

Him and Nathan looked to Drake's direction, and there standing in front of him and above Adrianna's corpse was a black hooded robe, its hood hiding the face. The only visible body part was its hand, which appeared to be all bone. It was also holding a scythe as tall as its wielder.

"Whoa...Is that-?" Joseph paused.

"The Grim Reaper." Nathan finished.

Death stood above Adrianna, raising its hand, palm facing the body, as her soul in the form of a green energy was being absorbed into the Reaper's hand, and it channeled through his body, to his scythe. He then rotated to face Nathan. He lifted his head a bit and revealed a skull visible through the hood.

"Reaper, what is your business here?" Nathan demanded.

"I've no reason to answer to you any longer! As far as I know, you're no longer the heir to Satan's throne."

"Nate, what's he talking about?" asked Joseph.

"The Grim Reaper was banished from Hell by Satan, but as much as he desires revenge, his power is nothing compared to Satan's, so he confides to stealing souls before Satan does, just to piss him off. I was once Satan's prince, so the Reaper couldn't touch me, but that isn't the case anymore."

"I'm not here for you Nathaniel! Adrianna has escaped death too many times, the previous juncture was supposed to be her final time; the day you met her in the alleyway. But you came and changed fate, so now I am here to settle my own business with the help of Dracula." said the Reaper.

His voice was deep and scratchy, a voice that would send chills down your spine, a voice fitting to his better known alias: Death.

"If anything, Drake has escaped death countless times! Why don't you take him?!" Joseph challenged.

"The Reaper was supposed to take my soul centuries ago, but he granted me immortality under the condition that I bounty for his more complicated souls." Drake answered.

"How?" Nathan questioned.

"What do you mean 'how'?" Drake confused.

"How are you working for the Reaper if you are allied with Satan?"

Drake's worried eyes flicked to the Reaper, who was already ogling at Drake.

"You WHAT?!" the Reaper scoffed.

"Reaper, let's be reasonable here-"

"Reasonable?! You disrespected my trust for you by working with Satan! The only reason you lived all these centuries is because you work for me! ME! Not the enemy!"

The Grim Reaper had nothing but a stone-hard face; you couldn't see emotion in the skull, but his voice displayed a piercing rage. He walked closer to Drake as he spoke, and Drake followed by stepping back.

"How long?" the Reaper growled.

"Hmm..." Drake thought.

"HOW LONG?!" the Reaper adjuring again.

"Two! Uh, t-two...hundred years?"

The Reaper raised a hand as if choking someone and Drake levitated off the ground gasping for air. He then began to float closer to Death's cold hand.

"Two hundred years. Two centuries, seventy-three thousand days- you've been a traitor!...Now, no longer will humanity have to fear the name, Dracula."

Without intention, Drake turned into his natural, monster-like form, and even so, the Reaper held him by the throat in a tight grip, as Drake was now literally in hands of Death.

"Spare me Reaper!" Drake croaked.

"Spare you? Spare me! Spare me of your worthlessness!"

The Grim Reaper raised his scythe behind Drake, the blade curving around Drake's neck, ready for decapitation. But before so, the Grim Reaper caught a split-second of a rocket missile coming from Nathan soaring towards him, but by the time he could react, he was already struck by it, followed by an explosion sending Drake and the Reaper flying back.

Joseph took a great leap forward, about to pounce on Drake. But before landing on him, Drake disappeared into a colony of bats, each scattering in their own direction.

"Dammit!" Joseph grunted, pounding his fist on the ground.

Then, Joseph started to cough and choke trying to gain air. His body flew forward and was caught by the Reaper's hand. The Grim Reaper's abnormal strength was evident, as he was able to maintain a grip around Joseph's hulking wolf-neck. Upon contact, Joseph turned back into his human form, his skin paling.

"You too have escaped Death, Joseph Luno. If Hades couldn't do it, then I will..."

The Grim Reaper noticed Nathan's attack this time; a vertical flame was aimed for the hand holding Joseph. He quickly reacted by deflecting the Blazer with the handle of his scythe. The Reaper tilted his head towards Nathan, and finished his sentence.

"...But not now. Until next time, Blackwood and Luno."

He then vanished into a cloud of black smoke, expanding and fading into the wind. Joe's skin color immediately replenished and he dropped to the ground, regaining air back into his body.

"We need to get her back!" said Nathan.

"How?" Joseph coughs, "How can we?"

"The Reaper never stops until he's claimed his soul. He will hunt you down no matter where you go."

"So...what if I go to another dimension?"

"The Grim Reaper of that dimension will claim your soul."

"Ffffuck!"

"Why would you want to go to another dimension?"

"I just wanted to know the extent of his abilities."

"I'm not afraid of anything besides myself, you know that, but I sure as hell wouldn't want to challenge him to a fight for so much as fun."

Joseph walked over to Adrianna and lifted her up over his shoulder.

"What about this one?"

"We'll have to keep her body in Heaven. As for her soul...we'll have to fight him for it." Nathan answers.

"Can we beat him?"

Nathan hesitated for a bit.

"Nathan?" Joe again.

"Can we stand in the face of Death with confidence in defeating him is the question...The answer: I don't know..."

The Next Day In Heaven...

"Joseph asked if he could join us next time?"

Nathan is in Heaven to learn how to control his inner power- the Black Phoenix. Today, he is under the supervision of Jesus Christ.

"You know the risk he would be under if I were to allow that." said Jesus.

"Yes, I know, and I told him. He's too stubborn to listen."

"Hmm...Anyway, are you ready?"

"Yeah, what are we doing today?"

"Our previous meeting was the last time we focused on meditation. Now I'm going to tempt your emotions to the fullest and you have to try your hardest to not transform. This will teach you to have more control of the entity, so you can unleash it at the appropriate moments."

"If I do transform?"

"You try and turn back."

Nathan stood up from the cold porcelain ground. They were on the outskirts of God's territory, far past St. Peter's Gate; there was nothing but a sea of porcelain and infinite clouds, so any catastrophe could be avoided.

"Are you ready?"

"Lay it on me." Nathan replied.

With a simple wave from Jesus' hand, Nathan's eyes glowed violet, his large shadow-wings flicked out from his back, and a black-violet aura surrounded him. Obviously, Nathan was powerless on trying not to transform.

Nathan's arms lit up its flame-blades and with no hesitation, he lunged forward to attack. Jesus stopped him telekinetically before he even made another motion.

"Nathan, can you hear my voice?" asked Jesus.

"There is no Nathan here." the Black Phoenix projected through Nathan's vocals.

"Nathan, I know you're in there. Hear my voice!"

"I'd honestly rather not."

"You have no power here Black Phoenix, you rely on the host to survive!"

"Is that so, Christ?"

Nathan's Blazers died out, and he slowly began to straighten his posture. Struggling, he took a step forward. Shocked, Jesus increased His telekinetic hold. Even so, the Black Phoenix was able to power through with another step forward, even though it was weaker.

"You question me? About power? Believe me, you Gods wouldn't know what power was even if it was personified in front of you!...In which case, consider this moment as an example."

Nathan's arm started to raise, shakingly and slowly, as his hand began to form gun chambers on his palm.

"Nathaniel, control yourself." Jesus tried to reason.

"And you think I rely on the host?"

"Nathaniel-"

"Well let me tell you something Christ,-"

Nathan's hand now raised towards Jesus, charging to full power:

"The host relies on me!"

"NATHAN!" Jesus boomed.

Just then, Nathan's eyes shut, his face cringed, and he yelled in agony. He fell to his knees and the violet eyes started blinking in and out again. Then, the voices of Nathan and the Black Phoenix began to debate through the shared body.

"Stop fighting it Nathan! Embrace your power!" said the spirit.

"As far as I know, you're in my body!" Nathan fired back.

"Wrong, I chose this to be my body! I've owned every host and I own you too!"

"Fuck you!"

"Nathan, watch your tongue!" Jesus interrupted.

His interference was to provoke a conversation with Nathan so that Nathan may have dominance over activity.

"Silence Christ!"

"No, I think He has a point. We're in Heaven, so whatever He says, goes!" Nathan added.

"SILENCE!"

"Listen Phoenix-"

"Black Phoenix!"

"Sorry, Black Phoenix! Let's make a deal."

"No!"

"Ok fine, but listen. You are a Spirit of Vengeance, correct?"

Nathan's body eased now.

"Correct."

"What vengeance is there to reek?"

"You fool! I am vengeance embodied!"

"Exactly where you're wrong!"

"What are you babbling about?!"

"You claim to be the embodiment of vengeance, but you're using me to portray it. You don't have a body, you can't 'embody' anything then! Thus, I embody vengeance."

"NO! I AM THE BLACK PHOENIX!!! "

"Actually, I am the Black Phoenix."

"Shut up, shut up, SHUT UP!"

"You are nothing without me! You'd just be another bodiless spirit awaiting to curse someone else!"

"STOP! What are you doing?!"

A white light formed over Nathan's eyes.

"I'm simply embracing my power- while taking control of it!"

"Your fear! It's gone! I have nothing to feed from!"

"The prophecy states that a demon will be the one with the spirit and it will be he who shall be named the Black Phoenix! You've tried to play me, but that's...o-over now, Ph-Phoenix!"

A violet aura surrounded Nathan, the white light in his eyes beamed brighter as he fought his inner-self to an end.

"NO! STOP NATHANIEL!" the spirit pleaded.

"I AM THE BLACK PHOENIX, AND YOU ARE UNDER MY CONTROL!!" Nathan declared, his eyes now burning so bright, the light became his aura and he illuminated the sunset tinted sky, making the golden hue subside within the light.

Then the light began to fade, gold and orange color restoring in the area. Jesus unshielded His eyes from the light and found Nathan standing there; he was still as the Black Phoenix. Every feature did not diminish, but he did seem calmer.

"Nathan?" Jesus called.

"That's Black Phoenix to you...my Lord." Nathan said, still with an echo in his voice. Jesus was relieved to hear Nathan's control over the spirit.

"How do you feel?" Jesus asked.

"Powerful. In control, with a sense of a...bond."

"With the spirit?"

"I-...I suppose...I sort of feel like I am the spirit."

"Then the hardest part is done. It only took you your third time."

Nathan's body immediately turned back into its white-themed Heavenly form.

"Third time's the charm;" said Nathan, his voice normal now, "What's next?"

Jesus thrusted His hand forward, telekinetically pushing Nathan back a few feet.

When Nathan began to stand, Jesus answered, "Combat. But not today. Farewell Nathaniel."

He waved His hand and in that instant, Nathan transported away to Earth.

On Earth...

It was Sunday, and Joseph had just came back home from church. He opened the door of his apartment to find Nathan wasn't home. He unzipped his blue-gray hoodie and hung it up on the coat hanger by the entrance. He shut the door behind him, plopped himself on the sofa, and turned on the TV. The news was on:

"Breaking News: A mysterious 'blue blur' is terrorizing the city! Reports say it moves at the speed of sound, which causes sonic booms that damage any nearby glass in the city! Police squads from all over are trying to chase it down, but are struggling to do so."

There were two beeps heard in the room. Joseph raised his hand and clicked a button on his watch.

"Agent Luno, do you copy?"

"Luno here."

"Where's Agent Blackwood?"

"Wait, this is Agent Raul speaking, right?"

"Yeah."

"He's in training."

"Did you hear about the 'Blue Light?'"

"Is that what they're calling it? The news just said 'Blue Blur.'"

"Whatever it is, do you think you can try to get it?"

"Yeah, I'll try. GPS me to it."

"Roger that. Agent Raul, over and out."

Joseph shut his watch off and hurried out of the apartment. Several minutes pass and Nathan arrives in the apartment in a flare of light. He looks around to find Joseph isn't home.

"Church, so draggy." he murmured.

He walked upstairs to his room and changed out of his usual battle uniform, as a fire was summoned around his body, and the clothes disappeared with it. He went over to his dresser and pulled a drawer out. He grabbed a blue T-shirt and put it on, but was interrupted by two beeps in the room. He finished putting his arm through his sleeve and walked over to his bed where the watch resided.

He answered the call and it was Agent Raul again. "Blackwood, do you copy?"

"Blackwood here. Where's Joseph?" Nathan responded.

"About that, I just sent him on a mission minutes ago."

"What's wrong?"

"Don't worry about it. Follow Luno and he'll fill you in."

"Agent Blackwood, over and out."

Then the communication cut off. A flame danced around Nathan again and his uniform appeared around him. He ran down the stairs, out the door, and to the sky.

In The Streets...

Joseph awaited on the side of a building wall, his claws gripped to the brick to hang on to.

"Are you sure it's coming this way?" asked Joseph via his watch.

"Our experts believe it is now avoiding as much damage as possible. There's too much traffic on the nearby intersections, so it'll most likely take the alleys." Raul answered.

"OK, but what do I do? Is it like a light, or a blur?...How do I catch it?"

"Is there some kind of container near you?"

Joseph jumps down into the alleyway and looks around.

"There's a trash can." he reports back.

"What's it made of?" Raul asks.

"Solid steel. It's a dumpster."

"Perfect, hurry up and grab that, it should be there...in several seconds- go!"

Joseph speeds over to the dumpster, lifts it up, and lays it on its front, the opening facing down the alley. The lids of the dumpster then flip over and close on the opening. A glimmer of a blue light glows down the alley and it slowly began to glow brighter.

"No, no, NO!" Joe panics.

He kicks off the dumpster covers, tosses them over, jumps upon the dumpster, and as soon as he lands, the flash of blue was already there. Unexpectedly, it went into, then through the dumpster- its force making Joseph lose his balance and fall off it. Joseph quickly regained his balance and saw that the blur had already gone too far. He turns around to find a large gaping hole torn through the steel dumpster.

"Holy sh-...What the f-..."

"Joseph, did you catch it?" Raul tunes back in.

"Uh...we have a problem. That's not a light."

"What do you mean?"

Joseph put out his arm and his watch holographically scanned a picture of the dumpster and sent it to Agent Raul.

"What am I looking at here?" he asked.

"It happened really quick, but I noticed that...thing slowed down a bit to sort of 'ball-up' and break through the dumpster with ease...and come to think of it, I sorta picked up a scent. It smelled like rodent-blood."

"Was it bleeding?"

"No, I mean,-" Joseph paused to examine the rim of the hole, "Surprisingly it wasn't, that was a hell of a hit it took. But I meant that I can distinguish the smells of animals by their blood- even if it's still in their body. This one is definitely a rodent."

"Interesting...Alright, we have enough details now, good work Luno."

"Agent Luno, over and out."

"What happened here?" said a voice from behind.

Joseph turned around to find Nathan crouched down on the dumpster, just retracting in his wings.

"Have you heard about the Blue Blur?" Joseph asked.

"Yeah, everyone's talking about it."

"Well, it's not a blur, nor a light. It's some kind of rodent."

"A running rodent?"

"I guess. Could be flying. Whatever it does, it can also ball up to smash through stuff apparently."

"Are you guys OK?" another voice from behind Joseph.

Nathan and Joe turn their attention to a man in a flashing blue suit. It was Geo.

"Aww...I can't call you Pistachio anymore!" said Nathan.

"Did you guys teleport out of here?" Geo asked, more seriously.

"Uh...we wouldn't be here if that were the case."

"OK, but did you teleport then come back?"

"We never went anywhere."

"Did you see something strange? Maybe something, or someone else disappear?"

"Well...sorta...I didn't think it literally disappeared, it was just running really fast, and I took my eye off it for a second, then it was gone." said Joseph.

"Which way did it go?"

Joseph pointed behind Geo. Geo turned around and began to walk with his hand out. He began moving his arm in a circular motion as he walked, almost as if he was trying to feel something.

"What are you doing?" Joseph called down the alley.

"Waxing on and off?" Nathan now.

"Shh! I'm trying to-..." Geo started.

He stopped walking and motioned his arm slower. As this happened, a force wave that looked almost gelatin-like in the air was traced from his hand and it revealed the presence of some kind of wormhole. But it looked inactive and it began to fade away. Geo released his hand and the portal disappeared.

"He left by this portal. I knew I felt a departure from the planet."

"You sure it wasn't an astronaut?" Joseph chuckled.

"Not that kind of departure, you fool! This is serious! If that thing can access dimensions with such ease, imagine what else could come!"

"So you're saying it can move at warp speed?" Nathan tuned in.

"No...I mean, it might be able to, I wasn't there to measure its speed upon entering our world. But then again, the being's speed potential was as fast as the speed of light, but resorted to the speed of sound- thus, the sonic booms destroying the city."

"So..."

"There's something wrong with the dimensions. It's been like this for a while now. I've been trying to keep our planet out of all this, but it appears to be beyond my abilities...Don't worry about this 'Blur,' I'll deal with it if it comes back. Anyway, so I hear the Grim Reaper is after you guys?"

"Let's not talk about that..." said Nathan.

"Alright then. Good luck with that, farewell!" said Geo, disappearing in a flash of light.

"You know, I really hate when he says that!" Joseph complained.

"Says what?" Nathan asked.

"Farewell! Like, he'll be back some time! Just say, 'See you later!' 'Farewell' is like...depressing."

"Aw, do you miss already?"

"Not as much as you miss Adrianna!"

There was a short silence.

"That wasn't funny, Joseph." Nathan growled.

"I know, I'm sorry."

Later That Night...

"Oh and by the way, Jesus said no." said Nathan.

"Aww man." whined Joseph.

"Well hey, He's saving your life."

"What a life worth saving...Hey, is this even a good spot? I feel like this is sorta...childish."

Nathan and Joseph were in an empty soccer field at midnight, waiting for either the Grim Reaper or Drake to hunt them down.

"How is this childish? Look at all this space!" Nathan retorted.

"Well first off, that's exactly the problem: too much space means I can't use objects to whack people with! Second, this is like some middle school crap: 'Oh, meet me at the soccer field after school so I can kick your ass!"

"Well, I never went to school- I'm naturally smart."

"Yeah of course you were, you spoiled brat."

"I was not spoiled!"

"Yeah you were. Where'd you get the Blazers?"

"...They were given to me...as a gift..."

"Spoiled!"

"No!"

"OK, who gave you those clothes? And those guns?"

"The clothes...OK yeah, they were made for me."

"SPOILED!"

"But I made the guns!"

"With what materials?"

"I gathered them."

"With whose permission?"

"No one's."

"With whose supervision?"

"...No one's?"

"S-P-O-I-L-E-D!"

"Whatever!"

"Where are these two?!" Joseph bursting out.

There was nothing in the area, but the wind that blows, the trees that reached high enough to block half of the moon, and the plentiful green and brown grass on the field.

"All who await Death are ever so foolish. They should know that Death is always listening and is always waiting for its darkest chance to claim another life."

The grueling voice channeled through the now harder blowing wind, as the air grew much colder. It was the Grim Reaper standing from a safe distance behind the duo.

"Death is worth waiting for if you have nothing to lose." Nathan fired back.

"I'd like to test that, Demon Prince."

"That I am no longer, you know that."

"Ah, yes. That's right. You do know it's the werewolf I want, not you Nathaniel?"

Joseph responded to him by morphing into his werewolf. "You can come get him."

The Grim Reaper broke a stiff grim, to then conceal it as his cloak seemed to wrap around and absorb him, thin itself flat on the ground, and disappear in a smoke. In an unnoticeable instant, the Reaper was already behind Joseph. He mercilessly swung the scythe for Joseph's cranium, but Nathan quickly lit his Blazers, turned around, and parried away the attack. The scythe was knocked out of the Reaper's hand and believing he was distracted, Nathan spun around with both blades parallel to one another, and swung both of them for the Reaper's skull- but the Reaper blocked both Blazers with his fleshless, yet rock-like forearm.

With his other arm, he tried to summon his scythe. Usually it would fly to his hand almost immediately. This time, there was a delay.

He glanced over to where his scythe fell and saw it was dragging someone. The person was on his feet sliding through the grass trying to lift the scythe. This person was Drake. Drake tried to lift and pull with all his might, his shirt even ripped as his muscles maximized, his skin turning blood-red and solid as he was transforming into his true monstrous form.

But, Dracula's power did not even par with the Grim Reaper's, as the Reaper strengthened his telekinesis and the scythe was yanked out of Drake's grip, pulling him forward to fall on the floor.

Nathan was still trying to power through the Reaper's block while all this was happening, but the Reaper retrieved his scythe and slammed the bottom of the handle on the ground, quaking the ground and sending Nathan, Dracula, and Joseph falling backwards.

Drake promptly regained his balance by rolling back onto his feet, his wings spread open, and with one push off the ground, he flew to the Reaper- a blocky fist ready. Seeing this, the Reaper dismissed his scythe in a green flame. He pulled back his hood and it revealed a full skull with scattered strands of long, silver hair connected to where the scalp appeared to be at some point. It was a surprise enough that the Reaper revealed his full head, but to see him fighting without his scythe was much more stranger.

He too balled up a hand, pulled back, and by the time Dracula was close enough, Dracula and the Reaper launched their punches, but were both stopped by the other's fist. The collision was so powerful, the impact made a thunderous roar, quaking the ground beneath them.

And as if things couldn't get any more bizarre, between where the fists met, a blue wormhole spinned into existence. The Reaper and Dracula took a few steps back and out from the wormhole came the 'Blue Blur' again. The wormhole closed behind it and the fading blue trail of the Blue Blur followed its creator to where it had skidded to a stop.

This "blue" appeared to only be an aura, for this mysterious runner was a darker blue than its sky blue aura, which now vanished. It was revealed to be correct to Joseph's assumption- it did appear to be a rodent, but it was anthropomorphic with white gloves and bright red shoes, with white cuffs. They had a white strap going across from side-to-side, fastened by a gold buckle on the outer sides. This being had quilled hair, but was styled to spike backwards like it was blown back by the wind.

It turned around to show its face; emerald-green eyes and a peach muzzle attached with a frown. Its abdomen wasn't colored with its blue fur, it was also peach and hairless, making a circular shape.

"Either something's definitely not right or I'm just too fast for reality!" it spoke.

Joseph started taking whiffs from where he stood, and he whispered to Nathan, "That's it! That's the running rodent!"

Nathan's face tightened in confusion, "Rodent?! It looks like a cat!"

"Hey, I heard that!" the creature struck out.

"You cause a lot of trouble for being a little rat!" Nathan again.

"I'm no rat either! I'm a hedgehog! And you can call me Sonic!"

"Well Sonic, you're under arrest! You've caused enough trouble in this city!" Joseph declared.

Sonic gave a sly smirk, "Sorry, but I don't rest!"

"I said arrest, not rest!" Joseph exclaimed.

"Same difference! You're gonna have to catch me first!"

"I'll be back." Joseph now to Nathan.

"I'll be waiting." Nathan replied.

Joseph charged over to Sonic and with a bountiful leap forward, he went to pounce on Sonic, but as soon as his hands were close enough, Sonic sped away into the forest in a blue blur. Missing, Joseph fell face-flat into the dirt.

He stood again and tried to follow the speedster, but the Reaper used his powers to pull Joseph flying towards him. While airborne, Joseph rotated around to face the Reaper who was readying his scythe to kill Joseph.

"You'll regret that." Joseph muttered.

He approached the Reaper in the air, weighed his body down to land on his feet in front of him, caught the Reaper's swinging scythe, and countered with an uppercut to the Reaper's chinbone- cracking some of his teeth, and sending him up and airborne. Nathan was already flying in the air above the Reaper, rocket launcher ready to rebound Joe's attack. Nathan fired a rocket, blasting the Reaper back to Joseph. Joseph caught the Reaper by the neck-bone, but he vanished within Joseph's hand.

Joseph looked around to where he could have gone, but he saw Drake hurdling in, tackling him to the ground. Drake was now above Joseph, restraining his arms by his head, meeting face-to-face with his longtime enemy.

"Let go of me!" Joseph barked.

"I don't want to fight you Luno! We share a common enemy; you, Nathan, and I should unite against the Reaper!"

"That's where you're wrong!"

Joseph head-butted Drake, untrapping himself, and rolled backwards out of Drake's reach.

"You killed Adrianna! Now you will pay!" Joe continued.

Drake's wings flung out, attempting to escape, but when he took flight, Joseph grabbed onto his leg, and flew away with Drake, still continuing the fight in air far away.

"Good, Joe gets to live another day...Dammit, Drake gets to live another day!" said Nathan, cautiously descending back to ground level.

Suddenly a steel-linked chain coiled around Nathan's throat and it pulled him back so rigorously, his neck-bone cracked. He fell back, then felt a stone-like foot kick him forward to where he was at first- his spine now snapped. Nathan was kneeling down trying to re-heal his broken bones, but was yanked again at the throat, now being dragged closer to the enemy like a ragdoll.

Trying to free himself from the cold burn of the chains, he pulled and wriggled, but the chain tightened. His eyes widened at this and there was now a warm sensation seeping from his throat to his body- but of course, his body responded by trying to heal the wound. When Nathan's eyes diverted up, he saw the Grim Reaper standing above him holding the other end of the chain that was wrapped around his arm.

The Reaper moved over to stand above Nathan at his feet. He summoned his scythe and hacked it right into Nathan's beating heart. Nathan spat out a cry of pain, blood oozing from his mouth. Fighting The Grim Reaper for Nathan was like fighting Hades again; the situation he was in reminded him of when his body tried to heal itself around the stalagmites and the massive skeletal hands restraining him. This time, he was healing around a blade and was being held in the chains of another skeletal hand.

"Joseph and Dracula were supposed to die today and because of you, I have to wait longer! So now, I'm going to bump your Death Date to today!" the Grim Reaper snarled, his scythe now glowing green, trying to absorb Nathan's soul.

Nathan was naturally pale, but now his veins blackened and his face was now greying. His eyes rolled back and his mouth hung open as he groaned to the pain of his soul being sucked out of him.

Something wasn't right though. The Reaper's scythe was still trying to take the soul from his paralyzed body.

"Hmm, you're a tough one." The Reaper said, pressing his scythe deeper as Nathan's groan turned into a howl of pain.

The aura in the scythe grew more vivid with this, pulling his soul with more effort. Still, it wasn't enough. Frustrated, the Reaper dismissed his arsenal again and clutched Nathan from his collar, bringing his face closer. The Reaper's empty eyes then shined with a neon-white light, then they projected themselves out into tunnels of energy, bridging itself into Nathan's eyes. This was the Reaper's ultimate technique when stealing a soul- and it never failed. He looks into the soul through the eyes of his victim and fixes the problem that was restraining his power.

Nathan was still paralyzed in this process, but was alive for all of the pain- and it was that pain exactly that fueled the Reaper's anger- Nathan refused to die. The Reaper's work was supposed to be quick and painless, unless challenged. Nathan endured every punishment.

"Your soul is stubborn! WHY?!...It-...It's-..." there was a hesitation. His anger quickly turned into tranquility, as if he just understood something. "...Powerful. Your soul, it's powerful...I see...You've bonded with a spirit...The Black Phoenix? Such a power to harness is-...is an honor."

The Reaper released his grip on Nathan, the channel between their eyes dwindling.

"Is the spirit that menacing?" said Nathan, regaining his breath while the Reaper loosened the chain constricted on Nathan's throat.

The cold slither of the serpent-like chain made Nathan go tense.

"Relax Blackwood, I'm not going to steal your soul today. And hopefully not ever...It's not that the spirit is menacing (although it is), it would be difficult to restrain it and after seeing what I saw today, I am in no interest right now for such a battle. As much as you deserve an early Death Date, I'd rather make you a deal." the Reaper offered.

Nathan lifted a leg and stood up with his one knee, now listening attentively.

"Go on." he said.

"I will let you, Joseph, and Dracula-"

"Drake has a part in the deal?!"

"Yes, do not interrupt me!"

"Hmm...continue."

"I will let the three of you live, on one condition: I tried to foresee how you would die and it was quite interesting, but I cannot disclose such information with you. What I can say is that your future overall will be promising and its rewards are...beneficial to me."

"What do you want Reaper?"

"Remember, my ability to see the future can be inaccurate at times, just as I couldn't foresee you saving Adrianna in the alleyway that night- so I cannot guarantee such a bright coming. But, if you ever find yourself face-to-face with your father again, and if you so defeat him, you must promise me the position on Hell's throne."

Nathan grinned at this, "Reaper, let's negotiate! I like this deal, really, but...it's missing something."

"I'll say what is and what isn't in this deal! What's your cost Blackwood?" The Reaper now desperate.

"You took Adrianna's soul and I would like it back. Also, she must die on her own terms too! And if that were to happen, may only Heaven claim her soul!"

The Reaper sliced a bright purple portal through the air with his scythe.

He turned back to Nathan and offered his hand to him. "Nathaniel Blackwood, you have yourself a deal. Here,-" he said, pulling out from his cloak a small, two-inch jar with green smoke fogging inside, "-this is her soul. That glass is delicate, so be cautious not to drop it. Shatter the jar upon her corpse and the soul will make its way in."

He tossed the jar to Nathan and Nathan carefully caught it with cupped hands.

"Thank you." said Nathan.

"Until the day comes Nathaniel. Goodbye." said the Grim Reaper, shaking Nathan's hand, and floating back into his portal as it closed behind him.

"You know, it's moments like these that make me wonder why we're considered 'anti-heroes.'"

Nathan turned around to find a normal Joseph; black hair, tanned skin, and toned arms and legs, with no shirt and mesh shorts. He had just finished healing a large gash across his cheekbone.

"Do you remember what we did on Monday with the-"

"OK, OK! Yeah, I remember now! Never mind!" Joseph interrupted Nathan, both laughing now.

Nathan showed Adrianna's jar to Joe, "Got her soul!"

"Nice, now you just need to get her heart."

"Excuse me?"

"Never mind- GABRIEL!" Joseph hollered to the Heavens.

A cloud formed in the sky above the two, creating a ring-shape with a golden light shining in the center (even though it was at night). A ray of light radiated its way towards the duo until it kissed the ground beneath them. Upon contact, the light slowly brightened and the two disappeared as its brightness engulfed the two with a quick fade-out.

In Heaven...

Nathan and Joseph awaited outside of St. Peter's Gate as Archangels Gabriel and Raphael went to retrieve Adrianna's body. Up in the sky below the clouds, were two winged-men carrying someone in a giant cloth resembling a hammock. When they descended, they landed their feet first and then ever so gently placed the body-blanket on the ground and uncovered it. Her skin was greyed, and she still had the same clothes on from her last night.

Nathan fished out the jar from his pocket, glowing even brighter, almost as if it knew its body was near. With a flick of the wrist, Nathan flung the glass on Adrianna's corpse. The small billow expanded around her body, making a green aura around her, and it faded through her- along with the glass pieces of the jar; they too seemed to diminish out of thin air.

Her crystal eyes glared open a few seconds later and her mouth opened up as she heavily inhaled to catch her breath again.

As she was hyperventilating, her skin color slowly began to restore. "H-H-How? How...am I...alive?"

"We made a deal with Death, let's just say." said Nathan.

"We? No, you made the deal! You saved all four of our asses!" Joseph corrected.

"Four?" Adrianna confused.

"Originally, in order to save Joe's life, I had to also let Drake be a part of the deal."

"Oh OK...but...was I really that worth it? Not ungrateful, just...shocked."

Nathan stood frozen at the question. There was no other way to answer it.

But thanks to Joseph, he cut in, "OK, well, you're alive! How about that drink?"

"OH NO! I missed my first day!" Adrianna groaned.

"I have an idea..." Archangel Raphael chimed in.

At The Break Of Dawn On Earth...

"Mr. Kowalski, I know it sounds weird, but you have to believe me!"

"Listen, employees that lie to me are of no use to me. If you have an excuse, you have one more chance to give me one, or you're out."

Adrianna was at The Flow trying to explain to her boss of her absence on the first day of her job. In the knick of time, Nathan barged into the restaurant holding a slip of tan paper. He was wearing regular clothes: a blue T-shirt and dark blue jeans with black boots.

"Ms. Schultz, I thought this man was banned from this restaurant?" said Mr. Kowalski.

"Was I?" asked Nathan.

"I thought we agreed on my contract that this ban be lifted?" Adrianna shot back at her boss.

"I was on your contract? Did I even get the right to sign for myself?! This is racist!" Nathan exclaimed.

"Nathan, you're as white as we are, really." Adrianna again.

"I know, but I'm not human!"

"But whatever you are, your human-self is undoubtedly white."

"Actually, I'm part Mexican!" Mr. Kowalski cut in.

"Alright, whatever, here!" said Nathan handing the papers to Adrianna, as she then handed it off to her boss.

Mr. Kowalski's face twisted as he read, "'Death Certificate?' So...how-..."

"I told you, I died! I'm sorry I couldn't make it, but you know I told you I wouldn't mess up this chance, 'unless I died, or something.'" said Adrianna, addressing an earlier joke she made when trying to get the job.

"Well,..." Mr. Kowalski sighed. He scratched his head thinking for a moment. He looked to Adrianna for a second and noticed the dark circles around her eyes. "OK, go home and get some rest. You'll start tomorrow- and NO MORE EXCUSES!"

Her face lit up with joy as she threw out her hand for a handshake, "Thank you soooo much! I will not let you down, sir!"

"I sure hope not. Go, get some sleep."

They both parted ways and Nathan walked with Adrianna out of the restaurant.

"I'm surprised he didn't ask who signed the papers." said Nathan.

"Yeah, who's 'J.C.?'"

"Jesus Christ."

"Oh, well, tell Him I said thank you."

"He hears you."

"Right, right."

They continued down the sidewalk in silence for about a minute.

"You know, I never really gave you a proper thank you." Adrianna breaking the ice.

"What do you mean? The paper? That wasn't-"

"No, no. I mean for a lot of things. You've usually always been there for me, you and Joseph."

"So why are you thanking only me then?"

She paused for a moment. "I'd like to take you out, this Friday."

Nathan was confused at first, but slowly began to form an impression around this supposed hint.

"Really, is that so?"

"Mmhm..."

"You mean just me, right?"

"Joseph already knows."

"What? Wait, you both planned this?!"

"What do you say?"

"I-...sure. Why not? So, is that my 'thank you?' A date? What about Joseph?"

They both stopped walking to face each other. They were at a bus stop and the bus should be scheduled to arrive at any moment.

"Here, this is Joseph's. I bought it for him." she said as she handed a necklace with a wolf-fang as a charm.

"That's my thank you to him, give it to him." she continued.

"How'd you get this?" Nathan asked.

"With the money you gave me a while ago."

"When we first met?"

She nodded, "I've been saving it...just in case."

"Just in case? In case of what?"

"In case I've made up my mind about us."

"...Oh."

"Yeah..."

The bus slowed down next to the sidewalk where Nathan and Adrianna were. It skidded to a stop and the door opened, waiting for someone to board.

"As for your thank you, Nathan, part two will be on Friday."

"OK...wait, 'part two?' What's part one suppos-"

He was interrupted by Adrianna plucking a kiss on his cheek. He stood in awe, holding his cheek, as Adrianna jumped on the bus, and waved goodbye before the doors shut. Even as the bus drove away, he still stood there speechless and mindless.

"What the f-...I-...no words. Forget it!"

Without any further thought, his wings shot out and he took to the skies to head back home.

Meanwhile...

"Alright, naptime is over! Now, to get back home...Ugh, I'm marooned on this planet with no way out!...Wait, if I teleport every time I run, maybe I should keep doing it!"

He boomed through the forest he was in, trying to test his theory. He bursted through the olive green trees in a blue blur, the world flying by him at the speed of sound. He exited the forest the same way he went in; through a playground- as the trees now flew behind him and all there was was a sea of green grass.

It was a beautiful scene- at least until a pillar-like rock formation sprung up from the ground in front of Sonic. Too late to react, he braked his velocity, skidding into the pillar head-first, and bouncing back onto the ground. At such a speed he was running, he could've broken through that rock, but it was too sudden, so he resorted to trying to stop.

Sonic stood up rubbing his head, as the rock formation shrunk back into the ground.

"Well, that's new- whoa, hey!" Sonic exclaimed as he was held in mid-air like he was in telekinetic paralysis. He slowly rotated facing behind him as a man in a blue suit stood there."

"What's the deal? Who are you?!" declared Sonic.

"My name is Geo, I am the Guardian of this Earth. What is your purpose extraterrestrial?"

"I have no purpose! I keep winding up on this planet!"

"Is that so? Because it seems intentional when you run faster than the speed of light to teleport through dimensions! I've been watching the dimensions surrounding ours, they're all connecting together because of the space gaps you leave!"

"I don't know what you're talking about, I can't run at warp speed! I can measure my speed, I've only clocked in as fast as the speed of light, but I prefer sonic speed!"

"So how-"

"I wish I had that answer for you pal, sorry! Now, could you release me so we can settle this like civilized aliens?"

Geo released his hold and Sonic's feet met the grass.

"So this is 'Earth,' huh?" Sonic added.

"So you have been here before?" Geo frowned.

"Not my Earth. This is a different Earth from where I come from."

"Interesting."

"I guess. So what were you saying about the dimensions? They're connecting?"

"Correct. For two years it's been happening and the energies I feel are mostly from your planet. It started when the Black Aliens were wiped out."

"Are you saying it was that?"

"No, but some outer force must be causing it. Have you had trouble with dimensions, time, and/or space before?"

"Dimensions, definitely. But we've managed to fix them ourselves."

"Really, how?"

Sonic pulled out some kind of blue jewel the size of hand, and it was glowing too. He continued:

"This is a Chaos Emerald, there are seven of them. One alone can grant the power to control space and time. There've been countless times where all seven have been misused at once, but we fixed it the same way."

Geo frowned again at this, but with more fury:

"You fool! Do you mean to tell me you've been using these to control time and space for your own reckless uses?!" he bursted.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, I wouldn't say reckless. Trust me, we can handle the Emeralds."

"Obviously you can't if you keep ripping through dimensions!"

"You don't even know if that's the cause of all this, so don't-"

Sonic was interrupted when a bright light formed, creating a portal in his place- and it consumed him from this reality.

"So it isn't running, it's those Chaos Emeralds!"

Geo stepped over to where the portal was and he felt the space in front of him.

He rotated his arm again as before and he again felt the dead force of where the portal was.

"If this keeps up, our planet will be scarred with these blank holes- or even worse, our dimension can merge with theirs....I need to put an end to this...but I need to be granted jurisdiction...then I can think of some plan..."

Meanwhile In Hell...

"The Grim Reaper almost stole what was mine, but at least he provided another demonstration of what was to come. Dracula is no longer of any use to me. I'm all out of options. Are you willing to take this sacrifice, Fiona?"

"I've been waiting for this day the longest! I'll make him regret his betrayal, my Lord."

THE END.....

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