Daniel's Dangerous Dynasty

Mina is now three months into her pregnancy and she, the Queen of Hell, and Embodiment of Evil... is feeling sick. No, not like the average, every day, "sick of having to deal with this shit" kind of sickness, but rather, the "fall asleep for sixteen hours a day and execute whoever fucking gets between her and her bed" kind of sickness.

And so, she asks Daniel to spend a few days in Hell to help her get through it.

Mina was sitting there on the throne, as the Royal Diplomat began reading out the list of subjects she would be addressing for the day... the same old Pre-Court Routine that she's been doing for a bit over a year and a quarter, now. It was beyond dull just listening to him ramble on about them, though... it was dull, boring, and had she no obligations on restraining herself for the sake of her kingdom, she likely would've just drawn her Cleaver out to shut this fucker up for good.

He was an Imp Noble, and a Stereotype. He valued wealth over life, possessions over family, and long lists of things to do over the freedom to just do whatever the fuck you want to do.

She might've been a psychopath in her time, but she still at least valued life! She loved watching it be drained from her victims' eyes very slowly. She loved ruining it for everyone that crossed her in the wrong way. She savored the threats of her own life brought up by pissed off individuals that she can harvest with her Cleaver.

This guy, though? He just plain sucked at everything! Including being Evil!

Then again, he was evil enough to bore the Queen of Hell to the point of falling asleep, so she guessed she would give him some credit, at least.

Luckily for her, Death was by her side this time. Ever since the past three days ago, she's been having trouble sleeping. As such, on the second day that she fell asleep during court, she decided to adjourn it early, and seek out some help. To her relief, Death was on vacation, so she asked him to help keep her awake.

She wanted to ask Daniel first, but then she remembered that he's been super busy with a huge project that he had to finish up... and she'd damn herself if she got in the way of something big to him. His happiness was her Kryptonite, she swore.

Then the sound of her Diplomat's annoying voice... Harold's annoying voice... began to make her ears start twitching.

"... and then later on in the evening, there's a shortage of Soul Fragments in the Everstream Forest Inn that we must deal with. After all, they agreed to pay their taxes, yet they've fallen 5 whole fragments short of their agreement! Why, the nerve of those rabscallions, I swear! Your Highness, might we go ahead and raise the taxes for the town surrounding it by ten fragments to raise their awareness?!" he asked, only to pause and look at the sleeping form of Mina. "Erm... Y-Your Highness?"

"Zzzzz..." she snoozed, as a stream of drool started to fall from her lips.

He straightened out his monocle and cleared his throat. "Your Highness!"

"Z-wha?! Oh, fuck off, Harold, I'm trying to sleep here!" Mina whined, before reaching around for her nonexistent blanket.

"Wait... this isn't my bed." she said out loud, causing Harold to deadpan at her.

"Your Highness, please. We must ensure that in order to keep the Chaos in check within Hell's Border, you must be in peak, prim, perfect condition!"

"Jeez, you sound like my Math Teacher... I hated that woman." she murmured and deadpanned.

"Your Highness! Listen, I know that you've been having trouble sleeping these past three days, but that's no excuse for utter rudeness! Master Death, mind explaining it to her, since you're more appreciated by Her Royal Highness?" Harold asked the skeletal man next to her.

He just stood there, leaning against the throne's backrest, with his head tucked away on his fist.

"Zzzzzz..."

"Humph! Well, I never!" he said, before wrapping his list and holding his nose up high in disdain.

Mina sighed, before standing from her throne. "Look, dude, just hand me the list. I'll put a check on the things I might slightly give a shit about, and make your life easier."

He thought about it for a moment, before nodding his head and handing the list to her.

"Okay, so... we'll go over the case here on the Devil's Bread Cafe first, since it's a hundred fragments short. While personally I don't give a shit about fragments, we do still kinda need it for the repairs on the bridge to Grogar's Graveyard." she said, before her eyes grew a bit half-lidded, and she wiped some sweat from her forehead.

"Oof... okay, I'm okay..." she huffed, as her breathing began to intensify.

This caught Harold's attention, and for a brief moment, he started to look concerned. "Your Highness, what's wrong?"

She started to breathe even heavier, before her eyes rolled up on top of her head and she fell to the ground, unconscious.

"YOUR HIGHNESS!" Harold shouted, snapping Death back to the waking world.

Upon looking around, he first saw Mina on the ground and gasped loudly, rushing to her aid. "BOSS!"

He knelt down to help pick her up, but failed to do so. He then turned towards the guards who were rushing in at once to help their Queen in her time of need.

"SOMEONE GET HER TO HER ROOM! NOW!" he ordered. They saluted him before doing as instructed, having never actually heard Death actually give serious, concerning orders like that.

As the strong demon guard hurriedly carried Mina to her room, Death quickly pulled out his phone, and called Daniel.

"Daniel? Hey, man, it's urgent! The Boss, she... she fell unconscious!"

...

"Man, I wish I could say she is alright, but she really, really needs you here, like, right now!"

...

"Aight, I'm on my way to pick you up now!"

Mina's eyes slowly opened up. She groaned in pain, as she felt the impact from her head crashing down on the floor earlier... but to her relief, she also felt the comfort and warmth of her bed below her right now.

Though what was odd was that she felt a weight on her hooves. She looked down and saw Daniel sleeping there with his head in his arms.

"D... Daniel?" she mumbled, which was loud enough to make him raise his head up and stare at her. Red rings could be seen around his eyes, where he had been crying for quite some time.

"Oh, thank goodness you're okay, Mina... we were all so worried about you!" he told her, rushing up to give her a warm hug.

"Daniel, what... what are you doing here? Shouldn't you... shouldn't you be doing your project?" she asked.

He shook his head and frowned. "Fuck the project, Mina. Death told me everything."

She sighed and looked away. "Great... fucking great..."

"No, it isn't, Mina! Why didn't you tell me this was happening to you?! You know I would've come in to help you!" he said, raising his voice in anger.

"Yeah! I do know you'd come to help! That's why I didn't fucking tell you!" she spat back, raising her own voice in response.

"Why?! Do you just want to hurt yourself?!" he asked.

"Your damn right I love to hurt myself, but that's irrelevant!"

"Then what about me, huh?! Are you trying to hurt me here, too?!"

"WILL YOU JUST FUCK OFF, ALREADY?! I DIDN'T WANT YOU HERE, ANYWAYS!"

Then they went silent. Daniel just stood there, while Mina's glare soon dropped, and she started to look worriedly at him.

He smirked and shook his head, looking away from her for a bit. "I see, then..."

"Daniel, wait, I... I didn't mean it like that!" she said, as tears fell from her eyes.

He raised a hand and looked at her. To her shock, he wasn't even crying back at her. "I know, Mina.... I know. You're just... under a lot of pressure, right now."

Her lips quivered, and he walked closer to her. When he was within reach, she quickly wrapped her arms around him and cried.

"I... I-I just didn't want you to worry, that's all!"

He rubbed the back of her mane. "Shh... I know, I know... but you missed an important detail."

"W-what was that?" she asked.

He rubbed her chin and gently pulled her head up to face him. "You didn't call in three days. I was already worrying about you, before I even knew what happened."

She sighed. closing her eyes. "Oh... right..."

"Mina... you need to just rest. Let me take the reigns for a bit. Okay?"

"Daniel, like I said, you need a Heart of Obsidian to run a court here in Hell. I asked you what to do, and you basically screwed it up!"

"You're right, Mina. I did, and I still don't have the heart for that. That's why I have a different idea in mind."

She raised an eyebrow. "Oh? And what's that?"

"How about I just sit on the throne and address the subjects, while you tell me what to say over the phone?"

"That's..." she began, before she hummed, rubbing her chin in thought. "That's... actually pretty clever, not gonna lie..."

He smiled. "So... are we in agreement here?"

She thought about it for a moment, before weakly smiling back at him. "Y-yeah... I guess we are."

Harold soon burst through the door. "Your Highness, are you alright?!"

She sighed and rolled her eyes. "Yes, Harold, I'm fine."

"Oh, thank goodness! Because the subjects have finally arrived, and are awaiting your response!"

She nodded her head, while Daniel stood up and approached him.

"Good... let's get this over with." he said, to which Harold raised an eyebrow.

"Oh? Uh... begging your pardon, but... who are you?" he asked, having not been invited to the wedding prior.

Mina was quick to reply, "He's your King, dumbass... bow before his glory, or else!"

Harold yelped before quickly falling to the ground. "OH! A thousand pardons, Your Majesty, I had no idea!"

Daniel smiled and reached a hand down to help him back up. "Eh, hey, no sweat, bud. Just, uh-"

"Daniel, if he pisses you off, I give you every right to kick his fucking ass!" Mina interrupted. "And for the record, he's a fucking tool, so use him up as much as you can!"

Harold harrumphed before pulling the list from his suit jacket. "Humph! Well anyways, Your Majesty, shall we get going, then?"

Daniel nodded his head. "Sure thing, Harold! Lead the way, please!"

As they made their way through the hallway, Daniel couldn't help but admire the scenery. There was a series of portraits of various figures of different species and gender... but each one had something in common... glowing red eyes.

"Hey, uh, Harold? Who are all these people in these paintings?" he asked.

Harold looked up and smiled. "Ah, why this is the Hall of Devils, of course! And these are all the ones who came before our present Ruler, and the ones who came before them, as well!"

Daniel looked at the last few pictures. One was of a shadowy figure that almost looked human. "And who's he?"

Harold adjusted his monocle. "That, Your Majesty, is... or rather was... Lord Lucifer, himself."

"Lucifer... huh... not gonna lie, I kinda pictured him to be red with horns." Daniel admitted.

This made Harold chuckle. "Ha! Oh, my dear King, I didn't know you were such a jester! Why, it's such a basic misconception, really, that so many thought Lucifer to be a mere Demon! The truth is, he was even clarified by Abba himself to be one of the most handsome, powerful Angels of his creation!"

"I see... guess I didn't pay enough attention in Sunday School." Daniel admitted.

The next three were Equestrians: two of which being his wife, and the one in-between being a yellow mare with a fiery orange mane. She was wearing a blue and yellow jumpsuit with lightning patterns on it.

"And who's that?" he asked. To be honest, he already knew she was the one that defeated his wife the first time, but he kinda curious to know who she was, at least.

Harold looked at the picture and shook his head. "Ah... that one is Captain Spitfire of the Wonderbolts. She was only a ruler briefly, and not by choice. You see, after defeating Lady Pinkamena, the powers went into her head, and caused her to lose control of herself, seeing how she wasn't truly evil enough by nature. Upon being bested by our Dear Leader and her companions, she was freed from the curse, and sent back to her world, wounded and drained. I hear her memories of the encounter were wiped from her head, and that she doesn't even realize she was, for the briefest of times, a Devil!"

"Yeah... I'm just glad she could at least be freed from it." Daniel admitted, remembering that fight all too well.

Daniel looked up at the cracked crevices of the battlefield, where he finally managed to reach the top of the plateau-like ground. Once there, he saw the two mares fighting heavily against each other, while Death was staring at the scene in shock.

"Dude... I know that look... she ain't takin' no prisoners!" Death told him.

Upon hearing that, Daniel rushed ahead, in an attempt to hopefully save an innocent life from his friend, Mina.

"Mina!" he called out, as the battered, bruised, and horribly cut up mare limply hung in Mina's grasp.

Mina smiled her Cheshire smile, as the redness in her eyes glowed brighter, with the powers once stolen from her now restored into her body.

"Hahahahaha..." she laughed, before reaching her right hand up, and snapping her fingers. Immediately, her signature Cleaver appeared from the void, and she held it up to Spitfire's throat, while Spitfire coughed up blood, and made choking sounds.

"P-please... d-don't..." Spitfire began, only for Mina to pull her victim's face even closer to her own.

"Yes... beg for your life! It makes it all the more delicious, while I watch it drain from your eyes!" Mina replied, pressing the Cleaver even deeper into her opponent's neck. A small stream of blood trickled from her neck, and she hissed in pain.

"MINA! STOP!" Daniel suddenly called out. This caught Mina off guard, and she pulled the Cleaver back a bit, then looked at Daniel dumbfounded.

He was panting heavily, and looked like he was worried... concerned... scared.

She savored fear, yes... but now, when she saw him in fear... she felt a sudden pang in her heart. Here stood her true love... and for this one moment, he was actually afraid of her... afraid FOR her! She was losing him... she was losing him!

"Daniel... I... I..." she began, only for him to shake his head and weakly smile at her.

"Mina... it's alright, now! You've won... you did it! You... you've gotten your power back, now! You don't need to kill her, though... she didn't know what she was doing... please, Mina... please spare this one person, at least! Just... just look at her!
She can barely even walk, now!" Daniel clarified, pointing at the figure in Mina's hand.

Mina looked at Spitfire again, and saw the tears in her eyes... her Pinkie Senses began to go off, with loud alarms in her head.

Spitfire... a mare who was expecting so much in life... and she was cheated of it, by a false promise made by someone... or something. Mina could sense it... and she knew, right there, that in a strange way, they were both in the same boat. And so, she released her throat, causing her to fall to the ground and cough, as she breathed heavily.

Mina then glared at Spitfire and pointed her Cleaver inches away from her neck. "You will forget this ever happened, Spitfire... but you better remember this, at least! Should you ever return to Tartarus again, then so help me, I will not hesitate to harvest your limbs, and feed them to Cerberus, until you're nothing more than dog shit by the end of the day! Then I will get Death to reap your soul, and throw you into the Pits of Endless Fire, where you'll burn for Eternity! Is that understood?!"

Spitfire could only manage a weak nod.

"Good... then by my decree, you will live. Know that I don't say that very often... so leave, before I change my mind!"

Spitfire quickly got up and limped her way into a nearby portal, where she escaped back to Equestria.

Daniel sighed in relief. It looked like the Spitfire person would live to see another day, after all...

"I wonder how she's doing now..." Daniel wondered out loud.

Harold cleared his throat, causing Daniel to look over at him while Harold, in return, just blinked owlishly.

"Erm... Your Majesty? You've, umm... you've been staring at that painting for about a few minutes, now... shall we proceed to the Throne Room?"

"Oh! Uh... of course, Harold! Sorry, I was just, uh... lost in thought, that's all."

And with that, they made their way over to the Throne Room.

Daniel sat there and relaxed, with his hand on his head, and a focused expression on his face, while the imp approached him cautiously. Then, the imp bowed his head quickly, while Daniel listened to Harold explain the situation. Mina was on the phone, and the phone was on the left arm of the throne. Daniel had an earpiece in his left ear so that he could hear Mina clearly.

"Here stands Dui, owner of the Devil's Bread Cafe, who was summoned here because his company failed to bring up an alarming ONE HUNDRED Soul Fragments, which was promised by the end of last month!"

Daniel raised a hand up and ushered, "Dui, rise." he said, to which the imp complied. "You may speak."

The imp tapped his claws together and frowned. "W-well, Your Majesty... we were short a hundred Soul Fragments, simply because business was slow!"

Mina whispered in the phone, "You know COVID cases are going strong on Earth, which means several more souls are coming in by the day. He's lying, and trying to deceive you!"

Daniel nodded his head and made a stern face to the imp, before slamming his right fist on the throne's arm, which made the imp jump back.

"Dui... you are speaking not only to your King, but your Queen as well, you know. I understand slow days, but this? Have you forgotten that COVID is going around on Earth?"

Dui began to shake, and cowered in fear. "I-I'm sorry! Y-you see... t-the thing is..."

Harold glared at the imp and pointed at him. "Guards! Seize him, at once! He has lied to the King, and must be punished!"

"W-wait! I'll talk, I'll talk!" Dui begged, but Harold crossed his arms, as guards approached Dui.

Then Daniel raised a hand up. "Wait." he commanded.

Mina asked on the earpiece, "What is it? He just committed a crime against us, and does actually have to be persecuted!"

"Just trust me on this." Daniel replied to her.

"Okay... but remember! You have to be hard on them here! It's a requirement!"

"Understood."

He then looked at Harold. "First of all, Harold isn't your King here... I am. And Mina is the one in charge, not him. As such, the guards will obey her, and me, only. Understood?"

Harold glared at Daniel. "Sir! To allow him to speak a lie to you is an insult, and a major crime to Hell's Laws!"

Daniel glared back at him. "Yes, and I'm not going to let it slide... but he still has some explaining to do, and I intend to hear it out, before making a Judgement Call!"

"Humph... very well, then, Your Majesty." Harold agreed. He and the guards all backed down, and Mina listened intently.

"Dui. Why do you claim that your business was slowing down, when we know that many souls have arrived due to the COVID Outbreak? According to the list here, it says your place is usually one of the first few that the souls arriving from Purgatory Road could see. Hell, I even saw it myself once!"

"Y-yes, Your Majesty... a-and I promise you, it's not a lie! T-there have been strange disappearances going on in the Ninth and Seventh Circles, the ones between where my business is!" Dui explained.

"Circles? Uh... Harold, care to elaborate, please?" Daniel asked.

Harold nodded his head. "The Circles of Hell, Your Majesty. The Seventh and Ninth are, in that order, the Circle of Violence, and the Circle of Treachery. However, might I add that between them would be the Circle of Fraudulence, of which lies and deceit are the customs? How are we to trust one who is an innate liar, anyways?"

Daniel rubbed his chin in thought, before replying, "By looking at the evidence, and comparing his claims."

"Evidence?" Harold asked.

"Yes. For instance, he mentioned missing souls. How many are there that have gone missing?" Daniel asked.

"Hundreds, Your Majesty! Thousands, perhaps, though I wouldn't push my luck that far!" Dui replied.

"Again, he's a liar, Your Majesty." Harold added.

"I am, but only where I work, honest! I agreed to drop the customs of my circle at the entrance of this castle, so that Her Majesty would hopefully understand the seriousness of the situation!"

"HER Majesty?! You're talking to your KING here!" Harold shouted.

Daniel raised a hand up. "Wait... he isn't lying about that."

Harold and the guards looked confusedly at him. "Umm... pardon?"

"He said her Majesty, only because he wasn't expecting me to be the one on the throne. He was expecting Queen Pinkamena. That's why he said her there."

Harold stood down once again.

Daniel then tapped on his earpiece. "Mina, what do you think of this?"

Her voice showed concern. "Well, he's talking about missing subjects from within the Violence and Treachery Circles. If, Hell Forbid, he is telling the truth, then it's a really, really bad sign."

"How bad are we talking?" he asked her.

"Like, someone's raising a Rebel Army kind of bad."

"Damn... that's not good." Daniel said, before looking at Harold.

"Your Orders, Your Majesty?" he asked.

Daniel then looked over at Dui and pointed at him. "Dui... I will give you the benefit of the doubt this once."

Dui smiled, while Harold gasped. "What?! B-but Your Majesty!"

Daniel looked over at a guard and motioned towards him. "You there! I want you to send a message to the General. We want two small groups sent into the Seventh and Ninth Circles at once! Bring as many 'Missing Persons' Reports and any potential witnesses here, for immediate questioning."

They soldier saluted and bowed his head. "Yes, Sire!" He then hurried out of the Throne Room quickly.

Daniel then looked at Dui and gave him a determined look. "Dui. If what you said is true, then you'll be excused of your debt this time, and will continue with the normal payments after. Furthermore, you will also be rewarded for your efforts, and commended as a Hero among the people. However, you will be punished and prosecuted by the law's decree if you're caught lying."

Dui smiled at him and bowed his head. "Th-thank you, Your Majesty!"

Daniel nodded his head. "However, until we have a definitive answer, we will hold you in until the investigation concludes, then release you if all holds true. You are to be treated as a Guest of Honor until then, and will be given free meals and a Guest Bed."

"Y-yes, Sire! Th-thank you for g-giving me the benefit of the doubt, Your Majesty!" he said, bowing his head once more.

Daniel nodded in response, smiling a bit at him. He then motioned for the remaining guard to escort him to where he needed to go.

Daniel then tapped on his earpiece. "So, how was that, hon?"

She replied in a casual tone. "Eh, a little too nice for my taste, but hey, it's fair enough, at least. Though maybe the 'Hero' bit was a stretch..."

"He seemed legitimately worried to me."

"Yeah, but don't forget you're in Hell. Lots of 'em can convince a loving mother to sell them their first child for a dollar."

Daniel nodded his head. "I'll be careful, don't worry."

Harold sighed. "Your Majesty, while it's admirable that you take a stand for our sake, you need to be a bit more ruthless! After all, the Devil mustn't be kind and gracious like the opposition!"

Daniel nodded his head. "You're right... but I'm not the Devil. I'm just the King. The 'Devil' title goes to my wife, need I remind you?"

Harold harrumphed, before going through the list again. "Humph. Of course, Your Majesty..."

The rest of court went by without a hitch. Most of it was just complaints and arguments that Daniel and Mina had to fix up. By the end of the session, he had to follow Harold into the Royal Winery.

Though tempted, Daniel decided against drinking any of it... albeit mostly because his wife was on the line and kindly told him that if he drinks a single drop of it without her, she'd castrate both he and Harold with a rusty spoon, then force-feed both of their nut sacks to him, with a noose tied so tightly on his neck, they wouldn't be able to go all the way down his throat, and he'd have to spend eternity tasting them.

"Umm... she was kidding, right?" Daniel asked Harold, who shuddered to think about it.

"Personally, Your Majesty, I wouldn't test it with a thousand-foot pole." Harold replied.

So all they did was check the supplies, and to their relief, they matched the previous chart to a T.

After exiting the Winery, Harold sighed in relief. "Well, that about wraps things up for the day, Your Majesty!"

Daniel chuckled, before tapping on the earpiece. "Hear that, hon? It looks like that's it for the day!"

"Good... now get your ass back in here! I need to talk to you about something!" she ordered.

He smirked. "You got it, hon." Then he looked up and saw Death approaching him with a smile. "Oh! Death, hey, what's up?"

Death shushed him and motioned for him to follow. This made Daniel raise an eyebrow, until he noticed a note in Death's hands, which read, "I've got something for you to give Mina!"

Daniel mouthed an "Oh" before adding, "Actually, hon, Death's here. He wants to show me something real quick."

"Heh... typical. Alright, but tell 'em that he better not keep me waiting long, or he'll have to answer to me!" she threatened.

He chuckled. "Don't worry, he's got it."

And with that, he hung up and followed Death outside the castle.

Mina placed her phone on the nightstand and sighed, before closing her eyes for a moment. Then she heard a knock on the door.

"What?" she asked.

"Just me, Boss!" Death's voice called out.

Mina raised an eyebrow. "Death?" she asked.

Death opened the door and smiled brightly at her. "Surprise!"

"I... am surprised!" she said, before leaning over to look behind the open door. "Where's Daniel?"

"Daniel? Ain't he still doing your work for you?" Death asked.

"No, he just... left with you..." Mina said slowly, before a look of realization dawned on both of their faces.

She quickly threw the blanket off of her hooves and rushed towards the door while Death, looking confused, followed behind her.

"Boss? What's wrong?!"

Daniel crossed the front gate, and saw the black limo sitting there in all its glory. Death opened the back seat and motioned for him to enter, when something quickly caught Daniel's eye.

The chain details, for instance, was missing.

"Hey, hold on a sec." he said, as he leaned over to check the license plate. It read "DESPAIR" on it.

Then, things started to finally click in Daniel's mind.

Death was sitting next to Daniel on the couch at his home. He just lost another game.

"Ah, dammit! Come on, again, man?!"

Daniel smirked, before his phone rang.

Death then asked, "Is it the Boss?"

Death was hurrying past the portal and leaped onto Daniel's bed.

"Hide me!" he squeaked.

Daniel looked confusedly at him. "What is it?"

"I... might've pulled a prank on the Boss!"

"DEATH! GET YOUR ASS BACK HERE, OR ELSE!" her angry voice echoed through the house.

"I've got something for you to give Mina!" the piece of paper said, mere moments ago.

Daniel took a step away from the car and pointed at him. "... Who are you?"

Death tilted his head confusedly. "Daniel, it's me! Death!"

Daniel shook his head. He sounded just like him... but no. The evidence points otherwise.

"No... I know Death. He's my friend!" He then glared at the figure. "Again! Who are you?!"

Death sighed, before taking a step forward. "Again, I am Death!"

Then he gripped Daniel's mouth and lifted him up. "... Just not your Death."

"DANIEL!" Mina's voice called out from behind him.

Death's eyes glowed with a blue fire, and Daniel felt his energy draining rapidly. Everything became a blur, before his arms fell limp. Then, he slipped into unconsciousness, as he heard Mina's voice echo in the distance.

Mina rushed towards the impostor, followed by a platoon of twenty well-armed Demon Guards.

The Death Impostor quickly raised his free hand, and exposed his palm, which emitted a blue fire. Immediately, the guards and Mina felt a heavy sleep spell, and fell to the ground instantly.

Only one continued to rush towards them, as the impostor tossed Daniel's sleeping form into the back of the limo.

Death was glaring daggers at the impostor, and snapped his fingers, conjuring his scythe from the void.

"ABEL! STOP!" he shouted, but it proved pointless. His brother, and the car, vanished in a black smoke, taking Daniel with them.

Death stood there for a moment, before roaring in defeat. He slammed his scythe on the ground, and fell to his knees.

Then he began to search the spot for any tracks, clues, anything he can use.

He touched a particular spot, and stopped his movements. There, he sensed an increase in temperature, as the area around his hand started to emit steam.

Then he leaned closer to the spot, and noticed a strange liquid on the road. No doubt, due to its temperature, it can only be one thing.

"... Holy Water..."

To Be Continued...