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((I think it's best that I tell you that Amadeus (the scarred one) and Theonidas (aka Tank) are two different people, and I believe that Shi was referring to Tank, who is pinned under Rien, not Amadeus. If you want to tackle Amadeus, that's fine too, but be aware that he's a different person that your previously loved bartender.))

Amadeus found amusement in the fact that all these people that Theonidas had once called friends were now turning on him, murderous intentions taking over what had not-so-long-ago been endearment. He hadn't exactly planned on a lot of people being around when he approached, and he certainly had not expected Theonidas, of all people, to have made any friends. Yet, there they were, and Amadeus took a particular pleasure in seeing Tank's life blow up. Slowly, very slowly, he could see that Tank was giving way to the man he had once been. He was becoming Theonidas.

When the elvish girl flung herself at Theonidas, Amadeus had expected her to be thrown off, but Tank still held onto what little humanity he thought he had left, and he let her pin him. Not that she was weak by any stretch of the imagination. Amadeus was pretty sure that she could hold down a grown man twice her size, but she did not yet know Theonidas's true power. He was not your average man.

Theonidas was death in every sense of the word. These people would find out eventually, and when they did, there was sure to be hell to pay. When the vampire woman rose from her previous comatose state, Amadeus was shocked. For the first time in his life, he was completely blindsided. What was all this rubbish? Who was she? She watched as the vampiric mistress, now glowing a brilliant white held a hand out to Theonidas, bidding his company.

Once again, Amadeus was caught off guard. Now that was twice. This trend couldn't go on, he decided. He made a silent vow to never be distracted again. The flying boy hit him hard, and the two of them tumbled back. Amadeus used his wings, pumping them hard against gravity until they two men were upright. The momentum had not let up, so Christophe was successful in slamming Amadeus into the wall of the building across the street from the Tavern.

"Fiesty, aren't we?" Amadeus choked the words out past his loss of breath. "Look you, boy. All grown up."

Meanwhile, Rien was still pretty much sitting on top of Theonidas, who was momentarily seeing stars due to the impact of his head against the ground. The blood tricked away from him, getting caught up in the thin streams of water that were running along the ground thanks to the rain. The wound healed immediately, as wounds always did, and Theonidas finally became aware of Shi, and her beckoning to him.

Before any one else could move, Theonidas raised a hand in front of him, and suddenly, everything stopped. Everything included everyone. While conscious and fully aware, no one could move. This was part of his ability. He took what he'd seen Amadeus do to the rain and applied it to everyone present. Everyone but himself and Shi. With a sound that resembled electrical interference, he disappeared from under Rien, only to reappear a few feet away, using his wings to flutter to his feet.

Energy drained, he stumbled a few steps, nearly falling to his knees. It appeared that stopping humans was equivelent to stopping a speeding freight train barehanded. The rain was no big deal, but people...they resisted. He caught Shi's hand, just as his hold on time failed. Everything came back to life.

"Wow..." he breathed...

((Thank you. Names confuse me sometimes. I fixed it though, so it makes a bit more sense now.))

Christophe snarled when the man he had pinned against the wall called him boy. He was about to teach him what this "boy" could do when he felt time stand still and he went into a hazy cloud. He could sense that time was passing, but yet he couldn't move and time seemed to be standing still.

When time started to move again, Christophe saw a frustrated Rien groping for someone to put a knife too, so when she started to move for them, Christophe let her have the man. When she had him neatly pinned, Christophe looked to the sky at the floating Tank.

"No," he reprimended himself, "Not Tank, the Reaper." But even as he thought it, he still couldn't imagine that the man who had at least shown him spots of kindness was really the Reaper.

"Fightings not going to get this figured out," he muttered. He pulled a vial of greenish-blue liquid from his belt and attached a needle to the top. He then stabbed the needle in the killers forearm and with a deft movement inserted all the liquid.

"Thanks for holding him Rien, but in a few seconds he'll be out, and then I suggest you and Elure tie him up so we can question him and figure out what's going on. I dont' know what he's doing here, but I can tell you from experience that it's no good." He tossed the empty shot to the side and looked up into the sky again.

Theonidas realized that hanging from Shi's hand was probably causing her a lot of stress. He wasn't exactly the smallest man in history, so he pumped his wings a bit, helping her out by lifting himself into the air, still gripping her hand. Looking at her, there was something vaguely familiar in her. Something that told him that he knew her from sometime far back in his past. Shi, if that was really who she was now that she'd transformed into this beautiful irridescent creature, was leading him away from the others.

Some part of him wanted to stay behind, to explain himself for what he had once been. But that wouldn't work, because he only remembered clips and phrases. There was only so much he could recall, and the way that Rien and Christophe had reacted, he figured they would not be a very understanding audience. If everything was as Amadeus had said it was, then he was truly a killer. It was too bad, really, because it was beginning to become accustomed to life without violence.

Even so, a man should never deny himself for who he really is. To pretend that was merely "Tank," a nickname given to him by an innocent would be a lie of massive porportions. To confront the people he'd thought of as friends and tell them that it'd be all right was to deceive them. Grim Reaper or otherwise, Theonidas didn't have the heart to lead such a facade. No, he'd have to take this as it came to him. If he really was a ruthless killer...

So be it.

Theonidas allowed Shi to lead him higher above them, shaking his head, his conscience torn, his eyes watering. Demons weren't supposed to cry. That was a prerequistite, wasn't it? But Theonidas wasn't all demon. He was part angel...and angels...they did cry. Filled with remorse, he allowed tears to flow, but then...

Then something happened that he never thought ever would. Something in him felt like it was burning. His head pounded, his stomach ached. He let go of Shi's hand, supporting his flight with his own wings. His fist clenched, and he squeezed his eyes shut. With a burst of crimson light, the entire sky lit up in a dangerous red hue. Quarterstaffs extended in his closed hands, his canine teeth grew into sharp fangs, and when he opened his eyes, the humanity had drained out of them. They were wholly red, burning with the fires of Hades.

So if he was the murderer Amadeus had said he was...

So be it.

He grinned.

**

Amadeus was suprised by Rien's strength, and even though hie wriggled around half heartedly, she still held him steadfast. His wings were beginning to cramp painfully from being pressed up against the wall under all this weight for so long, and he growled something unintelligable. He watched as Christophe inject the sleeping serum into his blood stream and narrowed his eyes.

When Theonidas finished his trasnformation, he smiled, his eyes still narrowed into his slits. "The Reaper has risen again. And my power, dear friends, is nothing compared to his now."

He felt himself succumbing to unconsciousness. "Blast you, you idiots. Don't you know anything? Haven't you heard the stories? He can't be stopped. Not him. And I'm your only shield against him. You're crazy, the lot of you...Look, I hadn't counted on you being here...no one was supposed to get hurt...I had my orders...but you...you just..."

He trailed off and slumped foward, completely blacked out.

Elure laughed out loud at Christophe's question, while Rien lowered Amadeus gently to the ground.

'Can either of us shoot a bow?' he repeated the question slightly sarcastically. 'Ha, I'm the best in the land! Closely followed by Rien, of course.'

Rien snapped out of her trance, and went from looking at Amadeus with a slightly bemused frown to scowling at her brother. 'So how come I beat you in the finals? He's wrong Christophe, I'm the best in the land. He's just a second place,' she scorned at her brother.

'Am not,' he retaliated, pushing Rien backwards.

'Yes you ARE!' she cried, shoving her brother so that he almost fell over.

'Well you wouldn't know now, would you? Seeing as you ran off! I'd beat you any day,' shouted Elure, grabbing Rien's wrist and twisting it so that she faced the opposite direction. She struggled, kicking backwards until she found his shin. 'Ow!' screamed Elure, letting go.

Rien lunged at him and they were on the floor fighting, not listening to Christophe and not noticing him roll his eyes.

Theonidas watched the childish antics of Elure and Rien and rolled his eyes. You would think after thousands of years that sibling rivalry would have fizzled itself out. Apparently not. He figured that Christophe probably had something up his sleeve with trying to get the elves to shoot him down, but unfortunately, it appeared that he'd brought up a debatable subject. Well, if these two weren't going to present any threat, then there was really no use satnding around idlely.Now that he was in true form, he didn't have the patience for such pretty annoyances.

He laughed under his breath. "Well guys, it's been fun, but I really can't stay." He had watched Shi pick Amadeus up and take in him into the Tavern, and that made him smile. "Good luck with Amadeus when he wakes up. There'll be hell to pay. I don't think the guy likes to be drugged."

"I can run faster than you!"
"No you can't!"
"Yeah I can! I can outrun you anyday!"
"Nuh uh!"
"Yeah huh!"
"Nuh uh!"
"Shut up!
"You shut up!"
"I told you to shut up first! So shut up!"
"No you shut up!"

The memory popped into his head without warning, and he paused to think about it, unsure of what it meant. It was obviously triggered by Elure and Rien, but he couldn't remember who had been speaking. He supposed it didn't matter much, and if he stuck around here any long, he just might go insane.

"Bye." And with that same sound of electical interference, he was gone.

(skip over to the Aeris Buliding for the rest of this.)

Rien and Elure looked up in embarrassment. Rien may be a strong, confident and independent elf, but when Christophe shouted at her she just hung her head in shame.

When he flew off to look for Tank, she and Elure shook hands. 'Truce?' he asked her. She nodded.

'Come on, we need to get our weapons if we want any chance against Shi at all,' cried Rien. She ran towards the Inn, grabbed her bow, arrows, sword and long daggers and ran back outside, closely followed by Elure. As they returned, they saw Shi leave the Tavern.

'Um Elure? What now?' asked Rien a little timidly. She didn't want to hurt Shi, but she didn't want her in that form.

'I reckon our best bet is to get Shi and Amadeus BOTH out cold... so...' he began whispering in her ear. She nodded silently and ran towards Shi head on, drawing her long daggers from the sheaths on her bag just before she reached the creature. Shi jumped in shock, flying into the air and Rien swiped with her blades underneath Shi.

With Shi's eyes on Rien and her flailing daggers, Elure pulled an arrow, place it on his bow and shot at the white being. The arrow pierced into her arm, as planned, so as not to kill her but to injure her. Rien got ready to catch Shi, as Elure ran closer to close the gap between them.