Chapter 12 - The Reaper Cometh

One Hour to Sunrise

Sheshiro let his blades do their work as he dodged multiple hits from the soul reapers scythe. He had managed to chip some fifty to a hundred HP off of it, but the thing was a tank when it came to damage. Everytime he swung at it, it simply dodged with an elegant grace.

“Dammit, this thing is tougher than I imagined. It’s so fast, it's basically just floating on air.”

He swung his blades around and let them stretch to meet the reapers cloak, but its scythe blocked the blow and pushed Sheshiro back. With a skid, he came to a dead stop and looked above him as the stairways began to go back to their normal places along the walls.

“I guess they’re in all out battle right now with that man. Maybe I should just ditch this thing and….”

He was cut off when the soul reaper raised one bony hand towards the stairway and raised a sort of bluish barrier around it, preventing Sheshiro from reaching it. Sheshiro looked back at the soul reaper and muttered to himself. “Well, I guess that ends my concerns about helping them out….”

He ran towards the soul reaper again as it began to bring its scythe down on him, forcing him to jump away at the last second as quickly as possible. As he dodged the scythe, he attacked a bit of its tattered cloak, enabling him to render some points of damage to it. With a sly grin, he side stepped away from the reaper and prepared for another wave from his foe.

“This thing can soak in hits for sure, but nothing can stand in my way for too long!”

The reaper outstretched its arm, extending the weapon in its bony hand. Sheshiro smirked even more than usual, and began to all out rush the creature, his blades pointed towards it. The reaper stayed completely motionless. As if it was calculating something within its mind. Sheshiro just took it as a sign of weakness and prepared his blades when from within its dark cowl, the reaper's eyes sparkled. Sheshiro’s eyes went wide as a blast of yellow light seared his entire body, causing him to come to a complete standstill. Trying to move his body, Sheshiro panicked for first time in the fight, genuinely fearing for his life. With a startled voice, He cried aloud.

“Hey, let me go dammit! This isn't how I like to roll!”  

Deep laughter came spilling out from within the reapers cowl, the laughter of a familiar voice. Sheshiro recognized it instantly as the voice of Yurei, who was at the very top level battling Kazama and Yuko.

“It’s not as easy as you thought now? Ka-hahaha! That's a thrill for me, and I can taste the fear sweating off of your body...it only makes my reaper stronger. The more fear you have, the greater hold it has on you.”

Sheshiro was sweating as the reaper inched closer and closer to him, the maniacal voice spilling out from within its cowl as it mocked him.

“Your pathetic...weak….and most of all, you are fearful of death! You fear it even more so now, being trapped within the walls of this game, where death can come at any moment. Ka-hahaha, don’t worry, soon all of your worries will be gone from your mind….you will never need fear again….”

Sheshiro began to feel shivers run up his spine involuntarily, and no matter how much he tried, it was impossible to shake off the feeling of dread as the cackling reaper got closer and closer to him. As the reaper stalked its way towards him, Sheshiro could almost feel his very soul melt away from his body, the feeling growing greater with each step the reaper took. As the feeling got greater and greater, something told him within his mind to slow himself down. Fearing it was the soul reaper, Sheshiro thought to himself, “I won’t let you take control of me, not like you did with that other girl!”

“No,” Started the voice, a voice very unlike Yurei’s, “I have no wish to enslave your mind, but I rather wish to help you defeat that foul creature that unjustly holds you here. No more should fall to its and its masters gaze anymore…..”

Sheshiro shut his eyes tightly, concentrating on the conversation with the unknown voice. The conversation with someone else helped ease his mind from his fears of the soul reaper and made him think more clearly.

“How can we defeat him? Hes uber strong, even among PC standards….”

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“That is only because of the code,” Began the voice, speaking softly within Sheshiro’s mind as the soul reaper came closer. “And because of the code, many have grown strong through its sometimes...unstable conditions……”

“Code?...”

“The code of the game, the very life blood of the game server of NWO. Everything around us is made of the life blood, right down to the clothes you wear. Without it, none of this would exist, and we wouldn't be trapped within its confines.”

“You're a PC too, just like us?”

The voice paused for a brief second, as if trying to decide the right answer. Sheshiro thought it had left him, but the voice quickly returned in the same soft and gentle tone as before.

“Yes….I am just like you….but as to how I live now, that has changed. I also have the code within me, but I have been granted it for much different purposes….and now I will use it to save you from its clutches….”

Yurei began to speak to Sheshiro again, laughing as he mocked him more.

“Are you ready for the end? You're so afraid, I could just eat all of the fear off of you! Any last words before you are mine?...”

Sheshiro slowly opened his eyes and looked at the soul reaper with a look of vengeance in his eyes.

“No...no last words for me...but for you. I will end what you have done to so many…”

The soul reaper stopped in its tracks and spoke to Sheshiro again, but without any mocking laughter.

“You're…..different...your fear…..it’s as if it's melted away completely…..what a shame.”

The reaper outstretched its free hand and pointed a bony finger to touch Sheshiro’s forehead. As it did, a sudden force cut the very tip of the finger off. The reaper pulled back its hand in agony as it stared down at Sheshiro in shock, motionless over what had changed. Sheshiro now stood with both of his blades pointed downward at the floor, grinning ear to ear as he looked into the reaper's eyes.

“Like the good voice through me said, I’m gonna end you for all the pain and suffering you have caused. And did I forget to mention it's going to be very fun?”

The soul reaper began to twist and turn its body in ungainly positions, as if hearing its victim having fun and not being afraid anymore made its skin crawl. Yureis voice spat out from within the cowl with a slight tone of anger as the reaper prepared itself for the ensuing battle.

“So you have lost your fear of me? Then I have no choice but to kill you outright, as a man with no fear has no right to serve our noble purpose!”

With a wicked swing, the reaper brought its scythe to cut down Sheshiro. Sheshiro had managed to duck his head with only losing the very top of his hair to the scythe. The blade of the scythe cut though the very bricks of the the walls, causing them to rupture and shatter into pieces, raining down on the room.  Sheshiro regained his posture and stared down the reaper with laser like eyes, not daring to shift his focus from it, least it do something damaging to him. Sheshiro shouted aloud to the voice that had helped him break the reaper's powers.

“Hey ominous and mysterious voice! If you're still here, how about helping me out some more? Like, tell me how to attack its vitals...maybe?”

The reaper began to pound its skeletal hands down on the ground, causing floor to shift and in turn causing Sheshiro to lose his balance. As soon as he was caught off guard, the reaper shot forward with its scythe. Sheshiro managed to catch it at the last possible moment he could, and with a smirk, he batted it aside while he used his free blade to send another attack towards the cloak it wore. Bit of tattered old gnarled cloaking began to fall to the ground as he sped up his attack. As soon as he finished, he ran backwards to avoid any side effects the reaper may cause him for damaging it. Sheshiro frowned as looked at the hulking reaper.

“Aw man, that thing is a tank for hits. I can anticipate it with my lightning like thief reflexes, but if the battle takes too much longer, I think I will be the one losing this fight.”

“No,” began the voice that had spoken to him within his mind, “There is a method to defeating the reaper.”

Sheshiro put a hand over his head and glances around, looking for the source of the voice.

“Where are you? I can’t see you….”

“I am right here beside you, but not in a very noticeable way at the moment.”

Sheshiro was about to ask what the voice meant by that, when he felt hands run up his arms. HE began to redden in the face when he felt the soft touches on his arms, and with a hurried voice, she shouted to the voice.

“I-is that you?! Cause you have like…..really soft hand! I mean, how are you doing that?!”

The voice could be giggling at him like a little girl, and the person was obviously laughing over Sheshiro’s sudden nervousness.

“It’s really complicated,” The voice answered, “But I’m here with you Sheshiro...and I hope you don’t always tense up like that when a girl touches you, teehee.”

“Y-your a girl?!”

“The last time I saw my actual body I was. But don’t worry, I don’t bite. But we will have to leant more about each other later, seeing as you and your companions are in desperate times…”

Sheshiro held his blades up and spoke aloud to the voice of what apparently was a girl.

“And how am I supposed to defeat this thing?”

He began to feel tingles all over his body as he asked her the question. He was about to complain when the voice spoke again in a soft and caring tone.

“I will guide you to its weak points Sheshiro, you adorable little thief. Teehee.”

Sheshiro reddened up in the face and gulped as the reaper began its attack once more. With a slight twitch, he smiled and spoke to the voice.

“Well, then after you I guess…..”

End Chapter 12