Case #2-Zach Reaper vs his Guilty Conscious

One week after Zach fought Crimson…

"So what's the plan for today, Zach?" Evelyn asks me as I stroll out of school with Evelyn and Raiden in tow. Koga is still back home, too wounded from our battle against Crimson to assassinate me.

"Here, let me see what we've got," I reply as I pull out my phone with my left hand (my right arm is still in a cast).

"Are you sure that we should be going on a case?" Raiden asks. "You're still wounded, Zach."

"Only cash and victory can get the taste of defeat out of my mouth," I spit.

"But we won?" Raiden asks.

"My father won," I correct. "If he wasn't there to stop Crimson…we all would have died."

"I didn't do anything that he couldn't."

Raiden frowns.

"Sooo…what's our case?" Evelyn asks with a smile, trying to lighten the mood. She's always been good at that.

"Alright so for today, we have-" I begin to say. But then, I get a message, causing me to pause, as my eyes widen.

"No way, this again?" Evelyn groans as she hops up on her tippy-toes and peers over my shoulder at my phone, seeing the message on screen.

"Douchebag wants you home…IMMEDIATELY?!"

"Douchebag…is Zach's father, right? His contact name on Zach's phone?" Raiden asks. His eyes then widen. "Will I…be killed for saying that out loud?!"

"Don't worry, you'll live," I sigh. "Come on, let's go see what this is about. You two can come again."

And so, I lead Evelyn and Raiden back to my place. But this time, before she enters, I hand Evelyn the special glasses that I gave her before so that she can see Purgatory for what it truly is. This time, I told Evelyn to just hang on to them. After greeting Gasper, the three of us head inside to see my dad sitting on the living couch comforting…

"CRIMSON?!"

"Wh-what is she doing here?!" Raiden cries as he aims his wand at Crimson. His entire body is trembling, so it's hard to take his threat seriously. Crimson slowly lifts her head and aims a gloomy, weak eye at Raiden. "She tried to kill us?!"

"Yeah, what does she want?!" Evelyn snaps as she places her hands on her hips.

"Dad…" I ask, my voice trembling as I do so. Am I…afraid of Crimson…? "What is the meaning behind this…?"

"I found Crimson while I was in Hell," my dad begins to explain with a sigh. "Alone and abandoned, a group of her fellow Devils were torturing her. These wounds that you see all over her…aren't from your battle against Crimson. They're from her own people."

My eyes widen. And surely enough, as my dad said, Crimson is littered with fresh wounds and her body is soaked with blood. Wet blood, not dried blood. Crimson's clothes are torn to shreds as well, and she is covered in dirty, red bandages.

"After I was defeated by you and Grim Reaper, my father…Satan…kicked me out…" Crimson coughs. I can't help but to cringe at how weak my formerly strongest foe sounds. "Ever since then, I have been tormented and berated by my fellow Devils. Of course, since my wounds from our fight cleared up as fast as yours have, I could handle those Devils all on my own. But my sisters however…have been attacking non stop. Especially my eldest sister, Sapphire."

"You have sisters?!" I cry.

"The daughter of the Devil isn't an only child?!" Evelyn gasps.

"Scary…" Raiden winces.

"I found Crimson while she was being attacked by her sisters," my dad explains. "But I scared them away."

"Why were you in Hell in the first place?" I ask as I raise an eyebrow at my dad.

"Satan and I were old drinking buddies," my dad answers with a short, sad chuckle.

"I know, I was surprised too," Crimson chimes in, and I can feel her gaze on me.

"So what did you bring her here for then?" I ask as I cross my arms at my dad. "You could have just left her in a bloody heep in Hell and went on your merry way."

"I couldn't just leave her!" My dad shouts as he jumps out of his seat, causing me to recoil in surprise. "I just…can't bring myself to leave a child behind. Afterall, she reminded me of you."

"What's that mean?" I ask as I raise an eyebrow at my dad, but he ignores my question.

"So Zach, please," my dad pleads as he takes a seat again. "I know I ask a lot of you, but you never listen to me anyway, so please, just this one time listen, and you never have to listen again."

"Ever again?" I ask with a smirk.

"Err…that's not important, but yes," my dad replies.

"It is to me!" I exclaim. "Either way, continue."

My dad takes a deep breath in…then out…

Crimson looks away in shame.

"PLEASE ALLOW CRIMSON TO JOIN REAPER'S PARANORMAL!"

***

******

"HUH?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?"

"WHY WOULD I DO THAT?!" I cry. "SHE'S THE ENEMY. DID YOU SEE WHAT SHE DID TO ME?!" I motion to my cast.

"Did you see what you did to her?" My dad asks as he raises an eyebrow at me, causing me to wince.

"I know I'm out of line here, sir-!" Raiden begins to say. "But, Mr. Reaper…this is crazy! She tried to kill all of us, and destroy the town!"

"Well…you let Koga join and he's the enemy," Evelyn says, earning her a murderous glare from me. "What, I'm just playing Devil's advocate here!" Evelyn exclaims as she holds her hands up in surrender. "Literally!"

"Koga is not on our team!" I reply.

"Raiden was your enemy at first, and now look at you two, BFFS!" Evelyn continues.

"BFFS…" Raiden softly says to himself with an embarrassing grin.

"We weren't really enemies!" I reply.

"Crimson isn't the enemy," my dad interrupts. "Satan is. Poor Crimson was only forced to do his bidding, she had no choice. Isn't that right, Crimson?"

My dad elbows Crimson in the ribs, causing her to perk up. "Err…right!" She exclaims. "Well…sort of. It is true that I was merely following my father's orders, but it's not as if I cared enough to disobey him anyway. On one hand, I am too scared to go against my father's wishes, but on the other hand, I have no desire to fulfill my own. Even if I refused to fight Zach, he would have sent my older sister, Sapphire, after him. And she's almost as strong as me…almost"

"Well…I don't care!" I snap as I turn my nose away from Crimson. "I'm not letting her in, and that's that! We're not a charity case here, nor do we believe in the power of friendship. Listen, Crimson, I feel bad for you, I really do. No one should be kicked out of their home, and no one should feel unwelcomed there," I begin to say, and I can't help but peer at Evelyn who shifts nervously from foot to foot and frowns. She knows that I'm talking about her. "But-" I then continue as I turn face Crimson again. "-Quite frankly, I don't see how any of this is my problem.

"I understand," Crimson replies as she struggles to get off of the couch. She winces as she does so. "This was your father's idea anyway, I didn't expect you to say yes. Farewell." And with that, Crimson begins hobbling to the door so feeble that it's hard to watch.

"Good lord," I sigh as I roll my eyes. "It's like you're flashing me puppy dog eyes." I make my way over to Crimson and drape my good arm around her for support. "Here, at least let me help see you out."

"Oh, how the times have changed…" my dad sighs as Crimson and I begin hobbling to the door. Raiden opens it for us, as if to say "get out, Crimson!" "You two used to be such good friends…"

Crimson and I pause.

"Huh…?" We simultaneously ask we turn around to face my dad.

"What?" My dad asks as he peers up at the two of us. "You two don't remember one another?"

Crimson and I remain stone-faced.

My dad looks back and forces between Crimson and I's dumbfounded expressions. "Well…judging by those blank faces, I'll assume no," my dad continues. "Remember how I said that Satan and I are old drinking buddies? Well…when we'd go out to the bar together, I would always bring Zach and Satan would always bring his favorite daughter, Crimson."

"HUH?!?!??!" Crimson and I simultaneously cry.

"You two brought your children to a bar?" Crimson cringes.

"Looking back at it, it wasn't that smart," my dad admits as he rubs the back of his head with an awkward chuckle.

"So I've been in Hell before, huh…" I softly say to myself under my breath. Crimson and I then take a look at one another. I blush, because due to my arm draped around her, Crimson's face is now all too close to my own. I can see just how beautiful she is.

"Well…" I sigh as I turn away from Crimson. "It would be wrong to turn my back on an old friend who has fallen on hard times…"

Crimson's eyes widen, and my dad flashes me an approving smile.

"To be honest, Crimson…you sort of remind me of myself," I begin to say. "We both don't really like who our dads are and who they made us become. Thanks to them, we've had our entire lives laid out before us, instead of being able to choose our own path."

"Hey!" My dad snaps as his smile quickly fades.

 "But just because our dads are enemies…doesn't mean that we have to be, too," I continue, causing Crimson's eyes to widen. "I'm a Reaper and you're a Devil…but I don't have to be the Head Reaper and you don't have to be the Queen of Hell! I can just be Zach, and you, just Crimson." I then let go of Crimson. "And there's one thing that I've realized about my merry band here," I continue as I begin pacing around the room. "Evelyn…Raiden…myself…we all sort of have our own daddy issues," I explain as I point to my two friends in turn, and then to myself.

"Zach…" my dad angrily grumbles.

Gasper floats into the room and laughs.

"So if you join Reaper's Paranormal…then you'd be a perfect fit! I'm doing things that no Reaper before me has done. I go to school, I make friends and I work as a Paranormal Investigator. Stuff like that," I continue as I stick my hand out to Crimson. "I can see the potential inside of you, Crimson, the will to choose your own path. Now…if I let you join Reaper's Paranormal, do you promise that with every fiber of your BEING that you will fight?! Fight to prove your father wrong and fight to become your own person?!"

Crimson's moist eyes look down at my hand and then up to me. And then…she smiles. The first time I've seen Crimson smile and certainly the first time I've seen a Devil smile. And I'll tell you what, even though there was a Devil standing before me…

All I saw was the smile of a beautiful fallen Angel.

"I promise," Crimson whispers, her voice all choked up. "I promise."

And with that…Crimson takes my hand.

Reaper's Paranormal has officially gained its fourth member.

"Great," I smirk. "I need a fighter other than me now that you took Koga out for a bit, Raiden just hasn't been cutting it."

"HEY!" Raiden snaps, causing Evelyn and I to laugh.

"Welcome to the team, Crimson," I say."

"Thank you, Reaper," Crimson replies.

"But before you cna officialy join, I must tell you the three rules that you must abide by!" I exclaim as I hold up three fingers. "First, is that I am your boss now, so you will listen to everything I say!" I exclaim as I point to my first figner. "Second, is that if you reveal my secret identity, you're off the team!" I exclaim as I point to my second figner. "And third-" I begin to exclaim as I point to my third figner. "We're friends now, so just call me Zach!"

"Err, okay, Z-Z-Z-Z-Z-" Crimson stammers.

"I think…you broke her…?" Evelyn asks.

"Z-Z-Z-Z-Z-Z-"