The moon hung over Novaria like a watchful eye, its pale light catching on the festival lanterns strung between buildings.

  Against this backdrop, two figures bounded across rooftops with supernatural grace - Angelo propelling himself with glowing orange tendrils that moved like living smoke, while Bill rode currents of wind that swirled around him like invisible wings.

  Their muscles prickled from half an hour of sustained movement, fatigue clearly started building.

  Red's presence erupted in Angelo's mind like a firecracker. "Un-fucking-believable!" his voice crackled with frustration.

  "That perfectly polished housewife just sent us on a wild goose chase to the ass-end of nowhere! And you two idiots are just happily playing along!"

  The constant criticism frayed Angelo's already strained nerves. "Will you shut up?" he snapped aloud, the words escaping before he could stop them. Bill shot him a concerned glance, worry creasing his young features.

  Red's essence swirled with sarcastic energy. "Oh, I'm sorry, am I interrupting your lovely evening stroll to literally the other side of town? Please, don't let my completely reasonable concerns stop you from walking right into whatever this is!"

  Blue's calming presence cut through their shared consciousness like a cool breeze. "Your sudden development of common sense is both fascinating and suspicious," he observed with clinical detachment. "Though perhaps these insights might have been more valuable fifteen minutes and several miles ago."

  His timing proved impeccable as Angelo and Bill touched down at Wine Street's entrance, their feet stirring up clouds of dust from neglected pavement that sparkled in the moonlight.

  The abandoned development stretched before them like a forgotten movie set - half-finished houses stood in various states of decay, their empty windows staring out like hollow eyes. The few working streetlights cast sickly yellow pools that seemed to emphasize the darkness rather than banish it.

  The metallic click of Angelo's flashlight cut through the silence like a gunshot. A small smile tugged at his lips as an idea formed. "Wanna see something cool?" he asked Bill, rare pride coloring his voice. An energy tendril materialized from his body like orange mist shaped like a rope. He mounted the flashlight at its tip, creating a floating beacon that swept across the skeletal buildings.

  Bill's eyes lit up with undisguised wonder. "Holy shit, that's amazing!" he exclaimed, watching the dancing beam with childlike fascination. "And here you were downplaying this technique earlier. Man, what I wouldn't give to do something that precise." He demonstrated by creating a small whirlwind in his palm, the air visibly distorting like heat waves. "Wind's great and all, but try getting it to hold still for more than half a second. It's like trying to nail jelly to a wall."

  Angelo shrugged, though pleasure at his student's enthusiasm warmed his chest. "Give it time, rookie. Maybe your aura will evolve into something that can pull off party tricks like this."

  They picked their way through the construction graveyard, Angelo's floating flashlight casting dancing shadows across broken walls and exposed beams. Bill kept stealing glances at the hovering light, his earlier exhaustion forgotten in childlike fascination.

  "That's seriously cool," he said, gesturing at the energy tendril setup with undisguised admiration.

  Angelo allowed himself a small smirk. "Eh, it has its moments."

  Blue's measured thoughts cut through their shared consciousness like a teacher calling attention. "Angelo, while I hate to interrupt this charming exchange, I feel compelled to point out that your investigative approach lacks... strategic efficiency."

  "Oh really?" Angelo's mental voice dripped with exaggerated patience. "Please, Professor Blue, enlighten us with your superior investigative wisdom."

  "Consider the psychology of clandestine meetings," Blue pressed, ignoring the sarcasm with his usual detachment. "If you were arranging a secret rendezvous, would you conduct it in the middle of an exposed street where any passerby could witness it?"

  "Under normal circumstances, no..." Angelo began internally, "... Unless you do it in an abandoned street!" The words exploded from him with enough force to make Bill jump.

  Red's presence surged through their shared mind, tension making his usual playful energy sharp as broken glass. "For fuck's sake, there's nothing here but rats and rubble! We're being played morons!"

  "Well, well," Angelo prodded, trying to lighten the oppressive atmosphere. "Look who finally rejoined the conversation. Getting scared of the dark, Red?"

  Instead of his usual biting comeback, Red merely grumbled something unintelligible. The uncharacteristic response sent chills down Angelo's spine - Red being serious was like seeing a cat enjoying a bath.

  The beam from Angelo's suspended flashlight cut through the darkness like a sword, but the shadows seemed to grow deeper with each passing moment, as if the night itself was gathering around them. Their bickering died as the light caught something - a dark shape that drank light like a black hole.

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  "Wait." Red's voice sliced through their shared consciousness, every trace of his usual playfulness burned away by dread. "Light that bench again..." His tone carried such raw fear that Angelo's stomach clenched like a fist.

  The beam swung back, revealing a figure that seemed born from the shadows themselves. They sat motionless on the bench, wrapped in a black robe that absorbed what little light touched it, hood drawn forward to hide their face. Bill's heart plummeted as his wind aura flared defensively around him like a shield.

  Angelo's eyes narrowed to dangerous slits as the figure rose with unnatural grace, their movement fluid as water. The hood tilted up, and delicate hands reached to pull it back, revealing Jill's perfect features caught by the flashlight beam.

  "Shit," Angelo muttered, the word heavy with sudden understanding.

  "Don't wanna say I told you so, but..." Red's ominous thought trailed off, for once finding no satisfaction in being right.

  Jill's smile remained fixed in place like a porcelain mask, more terrifying than any snarl could have been. The silence stretched between them tight as a tripwire, waiting to snap.

  "Alright," Angelo broke the tension, his energy vision scanning her form like a living radar. Her power signature registered deceptively low - the kind you'd expect from someone who'd never thrown a punch, let alone fought an Auron.

  "You've successfully lured me here. But something doesn't add up. How did you beat us here?" His orange eyes glowed as he studied her, like a detective spotting inconsistencies. "You're clearly an Auron, that much is obvious. But the speed required-"

  "I don't usually converse with my prey," Jill interrupted, her melodic voice making the word 'prey' sound like a lover's endearment. Her perfect smile widened a fraction, like a predator baring its teeth. "But you... you're special. I want to savor your reaction..."

  Bill edged closer to Angelo, his voice barely above a whisper. "Boss, I really don't like where this is going."

  "Me neither." Angelo's response was hard as stone. "Bill. When I give the word. Run." The command carried the weight of absolute authority.

  Jill continued as if they hadn't spoken, her voice taking on a dreamlike quality that made the hair on the back of Angelo's neck stand up. "I had a son... he was seventeen... he died a year ago..." Her expression shifted like ice cracking, beauty fracturing to reveal something monstrous beneath. "Because of you!" Her finger stabbed toward Angelo like a physical weapon.

  "That's impossible!" Angelo shot back, trying to recall anything of the sort. "I've never crossed someone that young!"

  "Not you specifically!" Her composure shattered like glass, rage twisting her perfect features into something inhuman. A red-pink aura exploded around her like a bloody sunrise, her eyes igniting with an unnatural pink glow that pierced the darkness like laser beams.

  "The police! My boy fell in with the wrong crowd, yes. Their influence led him to that chase. But it was the police who killed him! They wield their power without consequence, deal death without repercussion!" Her voice rose to a fever pitch that echoed off abandoned walls.

  "That officer went home to his family while mine was destroyed! Though 'went' is the operative word now."

  Her cackling bounced off the buildings like broken bells, setting Angelo's teeth on edge. His orange aura flared in response to the growing threat, casting wild shadows across decaying structures.

  "You..." Angelo's voice shook with barely contained fury as realization hit him like a train. "Are you saying..."

  "I took my revenge," she purred, satisfaction dripping from every word like honey mixed with poison. "And I kept going, delivering judgment under the mantle of The Grim Reaper. Reaping your putrid souls - it's exactly what you deserve."

  The revelation struck Angelo like a physical blow.

  Bill cast increasingly worried glances between his mentor and the monster wearing a housewife's face, backing away on instinct.

  "You're lying!" Angelo's denial carried desperate hope. "We would have heard about this!"

  Jill's laughter cut through the night like shattered crystal. "Oh, but you did! I left a calling card each time. Your superiors just kept it quiet - too ashamed to admit they couldn't catch one grieving mother!"

  "No... that's impossible," Angelo's voice grew hoarse as his last hopes crumbled like dried leaves. "A civilian can't possibly overpower trained Auron division officers..."

  Her chuckle turned dark and predatory, like a wolf's growl dressed in silk. "A civilian? No, they couldn't." She clenched her fists, muscles tensing like coiled springs.

  "But you see, when my son died..." Her aura began to shift and writhe, transforming from a simple glow into what looked like living flames of pink-red energy. The color deepened as the flames danced around her form, each flicker seeming to bend reality like heat waves over hot pavement.

  With a grunt of effort that seemed almost pleased, she released a shockwave that kicked up dust and debris in a perfect circle. When it cleared, her transformation was complete - and any trace of the grieving mother had vanished like morning dew.

  "Evolved..." The word fell from Angelo's lips like a lead weight, reality crashing down around him.

  "Angelo, we need to abort - NOW!" Blue's voice cracked through their shared consciousness like breaking ice, his usual analytical calm shattered by genuine panic. "This situation has escalated far beyond our capabilities!"

  "God, I want to tear her apart so badly..." Red's essence vibrated with violent desire before deflating like a punctured balloon. "But fuck me, we're completely outmatched here. We stay, we die."

  "That's how she beat us here..." Bill's voice quavered as understanding clicked into place. His eyes darted between Angelo and the transformed monster before them, pupils dilated with fear.

  "Boss, what's the play?!" The desperate question bounced off abandoned buildings like a frightened bird.

  Jill's perfect features twisted into something inhuman, her smile stretching too wide for her face.

  "Oh, what a glorious night this has become!" She raised her arms skyward in mock celebration, and the air itself seemed to shiver.

  Metal conjured around her skin like twisted vines, forming skeletal gauntlets that ended in wickedly sharp talons. "The Angel of Death himself, soon to join my collection of putrid souls!"

  The metal continued to grow and shift like living mercury, coalescing into a massive scythe that she caught with practiced grace.

  The weapon's blade caught what little light remained, its edge promising nothing but pain. Combined with her flowing black robes and skeletal gauntlets, the transformation was complete - the grieving mother had become death incarnate.