FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

~~Casper~~

"What's going on?" The fat bloodhound shouted into the walkie-talkie as screams came from every corner of the building. All the screaming and death made me laugh. It was good seeing these weaklings get their much deserved comeuppance. This made the bloodhound turn towards me and snarl. "You said the Reaper's don't kill mortals! My men are being slaughtered out there! You lied!" The man continued to shout as I picked at my claws. "Are you even listening to me?! You said you would give us the power to fight the reaper's if we helped you get that wolf boy! You tricked us!" The man shouted even more and would have continued if i hadn't frozen his mouth shut.

"Shut up will you? You were merely a pawn in our little game. You mortals are so gullible and power hungry that you would ally with your natural predators in hopes to gain powers. Hmph, you're so ruthless that you would commit mass acts of terror and kill dozens of people in hopes to get closer but here you are, trapped with me while your men are being taken out like the pests you are. You had to know kidnapping the housecat would result in some form of retaliation." I said as I patted the man on the cheek, freezing it as I did so. "You have fulfilled your usefulness. Now, you're just dead weight." I said as I summoned my scythe Tempesta Congelato. The man gave a muffled scream and tried to run but before he could get far I swung, effectively cutting off his legs.

"Running away are we? Oh Don Marino, don't be a coward. Face your death like a man!" I shouted as I swung my scythe once again, slicing one of his arms off, blood spraying everywhere. "Now I want to hear you scream!" I said as I let the ice around his mouth thaw and he let out a pleasing sound to my ears.

"Please, Casper! Stop! Don't kill me! I don't want to die!" He cried as he tried to crawl away from me, which made me chuckle and slam my foot down onto his back, stopping him from moving. Frowning, I grabbed him and brought his face up to mine. He audibly gulped as he saw my scowl.

"I bet those people you killed didn't want to die either Don, but you killed them anyway. Even children weren't safe from your cruelty. You are far more evil than I am Don, you are a soulless monster and that's coming from someone who is literally soulless." I said as I spat in his face. "Have a nice death my old friend...you will sit right well inside me." I said as I threw him up in the air and with a flick of my weapon, the man was sliced right in half from head to groin, blood going positively everywhere. A single pitch black soul popped out of the slaughtered remains, which I plucked at before it could fade away and with a dark chuckle I put it in my mouth and swallowed it whole. "Yummy, now what to do next." I said as I plopped down on the seat where the now deceased Don sat before looking at the monitors. "Don't disappoint folks, I expect a good fight. Hmm...why don't I make it more interesting?" I said as I summoned countless of my Assassino. "Go, give our guests some challenge. Can't make things too easy can we?" I said with a laugh as they vanished into the shadows.

~~Hope~~

Hope gave a sigh as she cast another lightning tempest to fry some more of the spirit mafia goons. Just how many of them were there? 'So much pointless death. If it wasn't for them being mass murderers, it would have been a shame that we had to wipe them from this world.'

Such a large loss of life is always regrettable ma'am but it's our duty to do so if we wish to find Dillon,' A voice in her head replied, the tone being soft and feminine as a beautiful harpy woman appeared next to her head; her guardian Electra.

"You have a point Electra." She said, then stopped briefly as dozens of shadows opened up and out of them came tall, deformed snow-leopards with their eyes covered by an ice-blue cloth. "Assassino's! That must mean Casper is here as he's never far from his Servo's." Hope muttered as she summoned her staff. "There must be thirty of them here. Guess he didn't want us to have an easy time." She said as she began to fight. She started with a stone first, crushing a few of them underneath but others were too fast and several got close enough to strike her. Thinking quickly, she put up a small barrier to block them from harming her and retaliated with a bolt of lightning, wiping out several but they kept on coming. Unlike normal shadows, the souls coming out of the Servo's did not pass on and instead went back to their master, giving them an unlimited amount of soldiers to send at their enemies. She continued to fight, killing dozens at a time but it wasn't enough.

"There's so many of them!" Hope cried as she sent out another massive lightning tempest, clearing half the room. For a moment, it looked like she had an advantage, then suddenly another wave of shadows sprung, completely surrounding her. She was slowly getting tired and with the barrier gone, the shadows had gotten a few good hits on her. Blood slowly poured out from the cuts she received on her body. She wasn't sure how much longer she was going to hold out but she kept going to help her friends. "Just die already!" Hope shouted as she sent spell after spell to wipe out the shadows. She had to be getting close to something as she felt some energy getting stronger and stronger the closer she got.

Eventually she found herself in front of a massive, ornate door and behind it, she could sense the same power she had felt earlier. She could feel the chilly edge from it and frowned. This must have been Casper. She shivered as she got closer to the door. She knew she was probably in no shape to fight the Rinato but she felt the need to confront him and see if she could get some answers from him. With that in mind, she got even closer to the door and forced it open, showing a lone snow leopard sitting lazily in a large chair with a bloody bisected body at his feet. "Ah, so you are the first to make it here! Good." He said with a sly smile. Hope scowled and summoned her staff, brandishing it towards the cat which made him laugh.

"Easy there girly! You've wasted a lot of energy getting here, we both know that. Now, you can say a lot about me but it's no fun to fight someone who isn't at full strength. I just want to talk. The others might take awhile to join us so until then, why don't we chat? You don't really have anything to lose, do you?" He said while summoning another chair. "Don't mind the body, it was just the leader of this whole motley crew. His soul has already been devoured so there is no saving him but then again, his soul would have been damned if he did pass on so maybe I did him a service."

"He was your ally wasn't he? Why did you kill him?" Hope asked as she reluctantly took the offered seat. It was cold, given it was made of ice but she just ignored it, thankful that her cloak was keeping her warm.

"Simple, really. He outlived his usefulness. He served his purpose on getting all of you here and you were nice enough to bring our real target." He said, waving at the tv where it showed Ben clashing against a familiar face.

"Donnie?! What is he doing here? Why is he fighting Ben?" Hope exclaimed, not wanting to believe the truth. While she had known there had been a traitor amongst them, it just couldn't be Donnie could it? She had looked up to him all her life. He couldn't have betrayed them. She knew he had changed when he lost his arm but he hadn't changed that much. At least, not in her eyes. Her denial made Casper chuckle, making her focus back onto him.

"You know the reason girlie, he's the traitor. Losing his arm left him bitter and allowed darkness to grow in his heart." Casper said with a grin as he grasped his own chest. "He hasn't yet become so corrupted that his soul would be consumed by said darkness but it's not far off. He felt betrayed that he had given so much, only to lose a limb so he decided to help us in secret. He doesn't have much left to give I'm afraid. His soul is being eaten away more and more as time goes on and soon, all there will be left is an empty husk with a blackened heart and no soul to pass on for reincarnation."

"What do you mean? He's going to become a Shadow?" Hope asked horrified, having never seen the actual process of how a soul was devoured by darkness. All she knew is that when it happened, the being faded away and the heart and body wound up in the Shadow Realm as a feral beast of whatever species it was. However, if one were to survive long enough and fed on enough souls, it would change into a Rinato; a reborn shadow that regained some semblance of their past lives.

"Yes, a quite powerful one. He could even become be reborn as a Rinato if he keeps himself together enough." Casper said as he leaned back in his chair and smiled. He would have been cute to Hope if she hadn't known he was a soulless abomination and a slite to the order of the world. But something he said intrigued her. Reborn as a Rinato? Could that actually happen?

"I thought all Shadow's were born in their feral form. You're telling me that some of them can just be reborn? How is that possible?" Hope asked confused as she subtly put her phone on record.

"Yup! That can happen. You see, in my group, every single one of us were born as we are now. Our souls were powerful enough for us to regain a lookalike of our former selves and that makes us so much stronger than the Rinato that had to do it the old fashioned way, which is why Regis chose us to be his direct servants." Casper said as his face scowled.

'He must not like this Regis.' Electra said as she popped out of nowhere. 'Don't look at me, I'm not an expert but it must be something similar to what you said. However, it seems he really does not to like his superior.'

"But either way, it doesn't matter. Right when he reaches his weakest point I'll drag him to our realm and see why Regis wants this boy." Casper said, then rolled his eyes in annoyance. "Now can you please stop recording? It's rude." He said which made Hope jump up in surprise. Reluctantly she did as he asked but continued to ask him questions. Even if she couldn't record anything she could still learn it and hope all this would remain in her head long enough for her to right it down in her own report.

"What do you want with Ben? What use could he offer you?" Hope demanded in frustration. "What do you have to gain by going after him?"

"Did you not listen to a word I said? I don't know! Regis keeps his secrets close to him but that doesn't matter. A theory most of us have is that he could use the boy to restore our souls. I'm not sure if you noticed but Ben is a very special wolf. His level of adaptation is unprecedented." Casper said as he got up and walked around the room. He looked a bit bored but he didn't seem like he was going to pull anything so Hope decided to try and get more information from him.

"So he could return your souls? How would that work? You can't really believe that, can you?" She inquired, confused. "I never heard of a shadow regaining their soul. Is that even possible?" Casper just shrugged as he continued to pace.

"I don't know, it's just an assumption that me and the others have made. It probably is a pipedream to regain our souls but it would be better than what we are now." He said in a miserable tone. "This accursed half-life sucks. We have incredible powers yet we are incomplete. Funny thing is, I don't want to go back to being my whole self. I like being me but at the same time it would be nice to have this void filled." He said as he grasped his chest. "Living in darkness gets lonely even if you are made of the stuff." He sighed. "I don't know why I'm even saying anything. You wouldn't care. You kill our kind by the hundreds and you can't even do THAT properly! I was stuck in the mortal realm for over a month before I fell to darkness! Where the fuck were you? How many souls are lost to the darkness daily?" He said with a glare.

"We try our best Casper. I'm sorry that we failed you but there are only so many of us and so many mortals that some inevitably fall through the cracks." Hope said sadly. It was always hard doing her job, knowing she and the rest of the reaper's weren't always able to save everyone but it was a fact they had to deal with and hope they would be able to end their suffering so they could be restored in the afterlife.

"It just isn't fair..." Casper said with a sigh. "I had a good life ahead of me but look where I am now, stuck in this mansion with some blond bimbo." He said without any real malice in his tone. "The other members of your group should be here soon so we won't be alone for long." He said before opening a portal. "Stay here and wait. Don't interfere." He said as he stepped towards it.

"Wait! Where are you going?" Hope asked as she tried to stop him but was stopped when she saw him summon his scythe and point it towards her, making her stop in her tracks.

"I said stay here. I have my own plans going on. So just sit and watch the show in front of you. Enjoy the fight and know I have no intention on letting Ben die so just see how he will do against an opponent he has no real chance of winning against." He said before stepping through the portal, leaving Hope alone. With a sigh she went back and slumped down in the chair in front of the screen, staring at the fight going on in front of her.

"Please be safe Ben," She said to herself as she continued watching.

~~Ben~~

"Fuck!" I shouted as I was thrown into a wall which knocked the breath out of me. 'What have I gotten myself into? I never faced someone so strong! I haven't even landed a single hit on him.' I slowly managed to get myself up, using my sword as a cane. This made the bull chuckle, seeming to be enjoying himself, which was good I guess since I certainly wasn't.

"You just don't give up, do you?" He said with a smirk. "How many times do I have to knock you down until you stay down?" He said as he ran towards me and smashed his bolas onto my body before I could even summon a shield, sending me flying into a massive stone pillar.

Thankfully I managed to set a shield to stop the force of my impact but it still hurt like a bitch. I wasn't sure how much more I could take but I knew I couldn't give up. Dil needed me and I would never leave him in trouble. So once I again I got up onto my feet and aimed my blade at him. "Air Slash!" I shouted out as I sent out a massive air blade from my sword towards the bull before continuing with my assault. "Meteor Crash! Firestorm!" I said, sending flaming meteors and then a flame tornado against him and finally I charged up my blade with energy and began to run towards him. "And now, Flame Blitz!" I said as I ran up towards him, my sword completely on fire but before I could finish my attack, he reached out and caught me and I saw that the bull was actually bleeding and had a cold hard snarl on his face.

"Are you done boy?" He said as he grabbed the sword from me and threw me once again towards a wall. "So, this is your weapon? How quant." He said as he grabbed the hilt and tip of the sword. Wait was he going to...?

"No, don't!" I shouted as he bent the blade with all his strength and I watched in horror as my sword shattered right in front of me. 'Suzaku!' I was worried about the bird and was relieved when I saw him appear unharmed from my weapon being destroyed. 'Are you okay?' I asked him in a worried tone, fearing for the bird. As annoying as he was, I didn't want him to be hurt.

'I'm fine Ben. My form is not tied to the weapon as I'm part of you, but this is isn't good, you can't fight without your sword." Suzaku said as he fluttered around in a panic. 'You need to get out of here Ben! You are no match!' I shook my head and got up to summon my sword back to me, but when I did, all I had was the hilt and part of the shattered blade that remained. It wasn't much but I would just have to make do with it.

"Bastard!" I said as I charged, taking the bull by surprise and stabbed him with the shattered blade in the stomach which made him roar in pain as he threw me aside once again and gasped as he grabbed at his bleeding stomach. He glared at me with such hatred that I was surprised I didn't just burst into flames. But I noticed something strange. I saw darkness seeping from his body. 'What's going on? Something isn't right.. Something's changed.' I thought to myself as the darkness began to envelop him. He seemed to notice this and frowned.

"What's this?" He cried out as he gasped and grabbed his chest before falling to his knees. "No! This can't be...this darkness..." He said as the shadows enveloped him fully. I watched in horror as I saw a pitch-black soul slide out of his mouth and dissolved into nothing as his body began to change and twist into something horrible and profane. "What did you do to me?" The man cried as the darkness turned him more and more bestial as he finally became solid. I could only watch in horror as a massive multi-horned and multi-limbed beast stood on two limbs, his black eyes staring down at me burning with even more hatred. "You!" He roared, his six twisted gnarled horns glowing as he created an energy beam and fired it at me which made me put up a shield up in defense. It held but the impact knocked me back several feet.

'He became a Shadow!' Suzaku said in shock, staring at the twisted abomination before us. 'His heart must have had a lot of darkness if he became corrupted so fast.' He observed passively which made me give him a confused look, not sure what he was talking about. Suzaku seemed to notice this and he sighed and started explaining things as I ran around so I could dodge around the monster as he thrashed around. He might have gotten stronger but he had also gotten more reckless and less focused as his attack were far more random.

'A mortal and Reaper are made up of three things; the Body, the Heart, and the Soul. The Body is of course the physical and spiritual bodies that make up the form of the person. The Soul is what gives the person their identity which is why most Shadow's are feral monsters as they lost their identity. The heart is the center of the being and what makes the person a person. Without a heart you would have no emotions or will and merely be an empty shell. However, the heart can be corrupted and when that happens, darkness grows into it until it swallows the heart and forces the soul out and thus corrupting the being into a shadow.' I just nodded and kept dodging, sending blasts of fire and wind at the newly shadowfied bull, but without my sword I wouldn't be able to purify him.

'Is there a way to save him?' I asked the bird but he gave a sad headshake.

No, once a soul is gone there is no restoring it back. Which is why the Reaper's hunt the Shadows, not only to protect mortals but to put them out of their suffering. It's a sad thing but he's damned and he will have to be purified but we can't do that without your sword and that that little thing you have won't cut it.' Suzaku said. I frowned at that but kept myself focused. Maybe I couldn't do anything but hopefully one of the others would come along and put him out of his misery. He was a Reaper so he deserved to be slain by one, but I wasn't sure I could hold him back so I hoped help would come soon.

~~Casper~~

'So, I was right. He did fall to the darkness. Such a shame, he was quite powerful. I was hoping he would become a Rinato but that doesn't seem to be the case.' I thought as I watched the battle from the shadows. The wolf seemed to be doing better now that his opponent was half mindless but he was helpless without his reaper weapon. His magic wouldn't be strong enough to defeat the monster before him. Shaking my head I stepped away and into the corridor behind the fight and walked in. I noticed the guards were all gone, having either fled or had been slaughtered in the massacre. Finally I found myself at the end of the long corridor; a massive, ornate door made of gold with a powerful seal made by the mafia that I opened with ease and inside, I found a filthy and hurt panther boy reeking of piss and other unmentionable odors.

"Wakey wakey housecat!" I shouted as I walked closer to the boy, waking him from a restless sleep. The boy looked even worse than he had when I last saw him. He had numerous festering cuts all over his body and one particularly nasty cut on his face below his eye. All of those wounds were bleeding and from his eyes, I could see a broken soul. I honestly felt sorry for the boy. I abhorred torture and the mafia seemed to have went out of their way to harm the boy as I walked around and saw even more cuts and wounds on his back. I winced as I saw he was also violated in other ways that I wasn't comfortable saying. "If you don't mind me saying this kiddo, but you look like shit." I said bluntly which didn't get a reaction out of him. "You still in there housecat?" I said as I blasted a bit of cold blast of air into his face that seemed to stir him a bit as he glared at me and tried to send a bolt of lightning at me but it fizzled from the cage before it could get even close to me.

"Easy there, housecat! I'm not here to hurt you!" I said, putting my paws up in a defensive manner. "I want to help you. The assholes who hurt you are gone. Listen, it might sound weird but I'm sorry for what happened to you. This is my fault of course. I was the one who suggested they take you but I didn't think they would go so far." I said with a sigh as the glare intensified and sparks scattered around him. "I'm not helping, am I?" I said with a face-palm. "Hate me all you want but I still want to get you out. I just need to know you won't attack me. Your wolf is in danger and we still need him alive." I explained calmly.

"Why should I trust you? Like you said, you are the reason I'm here in the first place! As bait to get at Ben!" He shouted, his voice hoarse from constant screaming I guessed which made me feel some pity towards the housecat. He really had to have suffered quite a bit.

"You really don't have a reason." I stated honestly. "We are enemies. After all, my kind has hunted your for millenia and we did use you as bait because we really do want your wolf or Regis, my boss, does. We don't know what his true plans are but I can't just disobey him. I like existing after all." I said with a frown. "Listen, even if I take Ben I can't just leave you here. I did put you in this position in the first place after all. I at least owe you your freedom." I said as I got closer and winced as even more sparks gathered around him before fizzling out once again. I sighed once again. This wasn't going to be easy but was it ever?

"You can't take Ben! He's a person, not a pawn in your personal game!" The housecat shouted before he started tearing up.

'Oh god... he's not going to cry is he? I can't handle crying people.' I thought as I backed away as the cat started to outright bawl, making wince even more. 'Oh god why, what do I do?' I asked myself in an attempt to figure how out to calm him down. God, I sucked at this.

"Please! Don't take him, I can't lose him!" He said with a desperate plea which made me even more uncomfortable.

'What did I get myself into? Why do I care so much about this cat? He's just a Lumiere! I could kill him easily and be done with this, so why do I pity him?' I let out another frustrated sigh and shake my head. Would I really be able to take Ben now? I mean, I would probably have to face a whole execution force of Reapers and given what I saw, they had two high ranking Reaper's and a high level Lumiere so I wouldn't have much of an actual chance in any fight and as I said numerous times before, I liked existing. Even this half-life was better than not existing at all. I could easily justify my not grabbing Ben as being too risky given the circumstances. Surely Regis would still want me around right? If we didn't grab Ben now then war was likely and he needed all he could get because I was the last born Rinato in over a hundred years so he would need me.

"Alright." I said with a pout which made him stop crying. "I won't take Ben, at least not now. I can't promise in the future because Regis will stop at nothing to get the wolf if it comes to it. There will be a war to get the wolf and we will have to fight, but at the moment I have no desire to hurt you. I think you've been through enough right now. But I promise I will let you keep the wolf for now." The housecat just gave me skeptical look and I let out an annoyed huff, slightly insulted. "I don't lie...usually..." I said before hitting myself in the head in irritation. I just kept fucking up didn't I? Why did this cat fluster me so much? "I don't lie unless I'm ordered to in pursuit of a mission. What I'm doing is going completely against my said mission so I'm the loser in this situation so how about it? You get out and keep Ben. I don't see what you have to lose. Do you?"

"You better keep your promise..." was all the housecat said as he stopped the sparking energy. I approached the cage and took out my scythe and with a swish, the entire cage broke apart and with caution I approached the boy and unchained him. I was both surprised and pleased that I didn't get zapped but he was far too weak to stand as he collapsed as soon as he was let free but I caught him before he could fall on the floor and harm himself.

"Easy there, kitty..." I said as I sat him down gently before removing my cloak and throwing it at him. "Cover yourself up though. Can't go running around naked, now can you?" I said, thankful at the underclothes I wore underneath them. He quickly took the offered cloak and covered himself, embarrassed and apparently just now realizing he had been completely nude the entire time.

"Thanks." He said in a shy voice before he tried getting up but was too weak to do so. I just shook my head and picked him up easily.

"You clearly are too weak to walk so let me help you." I said as I carried him out of the way. I was SOOO going to get punished by Elwyn for this but fuck it, I didn't really care right now.

~~Hope~~

Hope could only watch in horror as she saw her old comparient slowly turn into a monstrous shadow creature. So this was what happened when a soul became a Shadow? She let out a few tears for her former friend. She tried to rush to Ben's aid but when she tried to open the door her palms almost froze solid, causing her to leap back before her entire paw was frozen over. 'Casper must have enchanted the door with his ice magic Lady Hope. We are stuck here until someone else comes.' Electra mumbled from behind me, fluttering her wings in worry.

"Well that sucks. Casper said he wouldn't let Ben die but if he gets him, he'll steal him away. We can't allow that to happen!" Hope said while attacking the door, trying to knock it down with her spells but the door didn't get a scratch on it and she fell down to her knees in exhaustion as she cried out in frustration. She had never felt so helpless before! She was about to give up until she saw the light behind the door started to get brighter and she quickly moved out of the way figuring out what was coming next

"Flèche Sacrée!" A male voice shouted from the other side of the door and it exploded just as she got out of the way in time, but fell on her bottom from the sheer impact. Wincing and cursing to herself, she failed to notice a panther man holding a large white bow. The man walked in and smiled, greeting her and then offering a paw to help her up. "Sorry, I heard you on the other side of the door and decided to break you out. I should have given you a warning first though. I didn't hurt you, did I?"

"No, I got out of the way! Where are the others? Are they still fighting?" She asked the priest. She had wondered how the man was feeling right now, given that this mission was to not only save his son, but kill mortals as well.

"I believe they are but they should be here in a bit since all of the shadow monsters have began to dissipate." He said before looking around the room. "So what's going on? I guess Dil isn't here?" He said with a sad sigh.

"No, Casper was here. The Rinato I told you about earlier. But that's not the point! We need to get to Ben, he's in danger!" She shouted as she pointed to the lone active screen that showed the wolf's fight. "That monster used to be a high level Reaper named Donnie Hoffman. Ben is out of his league with this fight and we need to get to him before he gets himself killed." Hope said as she ran off towards where she could sense Ben's energy. The halls twisted around and she took out several of the Assassinos on the way, eventually running into both Lydia and Luther on her way with Mr. Patterson following close behind her along with the others. She had to get to the wolf. He was her responsibility and she cared about the grumpy wolf. She kept on running until she heard Lydia call her name which made her stop.

"What's going on Hope? Explain! That's an order!" Hope wanted to scream that there was no time but she knew better than to talk back to a superior. She took a deep breath as Luther also reached them with the panther following behind, having tripped a bit of a ways back.

"It's Donnie. He was the traitor Lydia...when he lost his arm he just snapped." Lydia let out a gasp and Luther could only shake his head in disgust.

"I knew there was something off about that Bull. He had a dark look in his eyes after what happened. I knew the darkness was growing in his heart and I should have done more to get him help but he kept on rebuffing me. Please don't tell me..." Luther asked but wasn't able to finish and Hope just nodded sadly. He let out a frustrated sigh and started to run ahead. "I'll go ahead and help Benedict! You guys get what you need but hurry, I'll do my best to help hold Don off!"' The human shouted as he vanished from view, leaving the other three alone for now.

"So he..." Lydia said in a sad tone. Hope could tell all of this was bothering her greatly. She was the second-in-command so all the Reaper's below her was her personal responsibility and if Donnie fell to darkness, it meant she failed in her duty. But Hope couldn't blame her, not really, as nobody knew how deep the corruption went in the man's heart.

"He fell to darkness and lost his soul. He's a Shadow now and is beyond our saving. He also broke Ben's sword before his corruption so we need to get to him now. Casper said he had no plan on letting Ben die but we can't let him take him because if they do it could be disastrous." Lydia just nodded and shook her head sadly. "But it isn't your fault Lydia! Nobody knew how dark his heart had become. So don't blame yourself." Hope said as she approached the tigress.

"But it's my job to look after all of you! I failed him. I should have been more involved in his recovery and been more attentive to how his mental state was!" She said before Alexander went up to her and patted her back.

"Don't blame yourself, you couldn't have known the extent of the corruption in his heart. It's his own fault he let himself fall into the darkness and he will answer to his maker when he dies. The death of many innocent people. He is a damned soul and sad to say, he is evil. The man you once knew is long gone and the monster he became was revealed to the world." He said, his voice firm. Hope guessed this was the tone he used when preaching at his church, though she had never seen the pastor in his work but it gave her that vibe.

"He was lost the day he let the darkness fill his heart. His soul is gone and there is nothing anyone can do now. What if's are a dangerous thing but reality is a harsh mistress. You did your best in what you could do Ms. Dunn, so learn from this and don't let it happen again." He said as he walked towards Hope. "Same for you dear. His sins are his own, not yours, so just pray that God has mercy on his soul when he faces him." Hope could only nod. What the panther said was true but the fact she would have to face her former friend hurt. However, everything stopped when they heard Ben let out a bloodcurdling scream which made them all run towards the source of the sound and arrived just in time to see his arm be torn right off of his body.

"Ben!" Hope shouted out in horror as she saw the torn limb be obliterated as the monstrous vestige of Donnie threw Ben aside, crashing onto the ground barely conscious and right next to his was the horrifically maimed body of Luther. She couldn't tell if he was even alive or not. With an enraged yell, she ran towards the monster attacking him with numerous spells to stop him from finishing the wolf off. "Get away from him!" She shouted out. 'I got your back Ben! I won't let him hurt you any more!'

~~Ben~~

"Fuck!" I cried out as I got nailed by one of Shadow Donnie's claws. I managed to get away before he did any serious damage but my shirt was torn and I could tell there was some bleeding going on down there but I would have Hope patch that up later. I hope she and the others arrived soon because I don't know how much longer I could fight him without my sword. I could tell my body was getting tired and I was beginning to run low on spirit energy since I was relying entirely on my magic which drained me fast.

'You don't have much strength left Ben! If you keep this up, you'll pass out and be left helpless.' Suzaku said with a worried tone as his feathers got dimmer from the lack of energy. I just shook my head and kept going. I could at least hold him back long enough for backup to get here and then I could get Dil and hopefully sleep for the next few days.

'I don't care, give me more. I need to hold him off until Hope and the others get here. I know I can't defeat him on my own but give me more power. I know you still have some in reserve.' Suzaku just shook his head angrily at my request.

'Idiot! The energy I'm holding back is your damn LIFE ENERGY! If you try and tap into that it will wind up killing you if you aren't careful and if you die so do I! I'm not giving you any more than what you have now!' I just snarled in frustration but I knew I wouldn't be able to convince him so I gave up and refocused my attention on the monster. I was about to charge up another flame burst before I saw someone from behind the monster.

"Piercing Bullet!" The voice shouted and the monster cried out in agony as part of his shoulder exploded and he turned around to glare at a scruffy human holding two massive pistols.

'Reaper's have spirit weapon guns?' I asked Suzaku in confusion. I had honestly thought Reaper's just had normal weapons but I didn't know they could have more modern-ish weapons like guns and Suzaku just confirmed my question.

"Decided to lend you a hand mate! Now stand back and let me handle this baddie!" He said as he kept on shooting at the monster and they kept fighting for several moments. Luther seemed to have an advantage as he kept doing massive damage with his bullet attacks but was caught off-guard by an energy burst. He got a full on blast from it and I winced as I could tell his body was badly burned by the attack and he collapsed in a heap on the other side of the room. The monster then ran towards his former comrade and proceeded to try and attack him but I managed to quick-step right at the moment where I was able to cut him off so he wouldn't reach the injured human. I gasped as the monster grabbed me by the waist and lift me up to his face.

"You..." the monster shouted making me gag at his rotten breath. "This... is... your... fault..." the monster let out slowly as he squeezed me, making me yell in pain as my ribs felt like they were going to crack. "I... will... make... you... feel... the... same... pain... I... feel..." the monster moaned out as he grabbed my right arm.

"What are you doing? Let me go!" I cried out as he started pulling at it with his other arm and gripped it tight. I couldn't move since he was holding me far too tightly and I was basically helpless. He pulled more and more and my muscles began to tear. I tried to keep it in but when I heard the rip, I couldn't hold it in anymore as I felt my arm be literally ripped off from me. The agony consumed me and I didn't even notice my body crashing down onto the ground until I felt my body land right next to Luther. Thankfully I could still sense some life in him. On instinct, I grabbed the stump and did my best to stem the bleeding but it wasn't doing much and I would bleed out if I didn't get medical care quickly. I began to pass out from the sheer amount of pain coursing through me until I heard Hope's voice screaming for the monster to get away from me.

I blearily looked up and saw her attack the monster in furious assault. I don't think I had ever seen her so angry before. I saw the tigress Lydia run to join the assault on their former comrade and I saw Alexander run towards me with worry in his eyes.

"Don't move Ben!" He shouted out as he used a light blade to rip apart my shirt to get to where my arm once was. I almost threw up when I saw the bloody stump and cried out in agony as he laid a hand on it. "Sorry, I just need physical contact for this. I'm going to stop the bleeding so just stay strong okay?" He said before closing his eyes and taking a deep breath. "Lumière De Guérison," He said as bright light enveloped my stump and I felt the pain slowly fade away and when the light faded I saw the stump was fully healed but my arm was still gone. He seemed to notice this and gave a sad sigh. "I'm sorry...I can't restore a lost limb. Not even the greatest healers can manage that. But I will make sure you get the help you need." He said as he patted my head and I could feel his hot tears come down on my face. "I'm so sorry Ben... we should have gotten here sooner." I was about to tell him not blame himself before I heard two cries as both Hope and Lydia were knocked back from an assault and landing on the ground, unconscious.

"I guess I'm the last defense here then..." Alexander said as he summoned his bow but before he could make a shot, another masculine voice came from behind the monster bull and shouted.

"Taglio Congelante!" A massive ice blade cut right through the monster cutting him in half as he faded. I could only feel pity at what he had become and when he was gone for good I gasped as I saw Casper with his weapon brandished, holding a heavily injured Dil over his shoulder.

"Dil!" Alexander shouted out as he ran towards the snow leopard who said nothing as he handed the boy over to his father. "Who did this to him!?" He shouted out angrily but the other feline was unphased and calmly replied.

"The Brotherhood did this to him. They are the ones who hurt him. I'd get him to the hospital if I were you." He said before he noticed me and frowned. "Well, looks like he did a number on you didn't he wolfie? Thankfully we just need you alive so your physical state doesn't matter too much." He said as he walked up towards me but was stopped by Alexander who had set Dil down next to me and aimed an arrow at him.

"Step any closer and I swear to God I will obliterate you right where you stand! All of this is your fault!" He shouted out angrier than I had ever seen him or ever cared to in all honesty because his fury honestly was scaring me a bit. But to my surprise Casper did nothing but raise his paws up in surrender and gave a wan smile.

"Easy there, pops! I made a promise to let the wolf go this time, but be warned. This isn't the end. A war is brewing and we will stop at nothing to get Ben so be prepared." Casper said as he opened a portal. "But I would advise you take them to a mortal hospital. I'm sure the wolf's parents would want to know about what happened. But I'll see you folks later!" He said as he walked into the portal with it closing behind him, leaving us alone. I let out a sigh of relief and was about to give Dil a hug before I heard him sob which made me turn my focus to him as he stared blankly at where my arm was as if trying to deny the event ever happened.

"Your arm... your arm is gone..." was all he could say as the tears came and he was letting out ugly sobs that I was helpless to do anything as I slowly felt myself fading away. I didn't have any energy left so as I felt myself fall into sleep I only said one thing.

"It's not your fault Dil..." as I faded into the land of sleep.