"Hey! I was saving that!" Arackniss groused, clearly miffed that Angel Dust was helping himself to the liquor cabinet, which made Angel only grin devilishly as he grabbed the bottle before Arackniss could get to it.
"Aw! Is my little, big brother upset that I swiped his stash of booze, again?" Angel taunted in a tone meant for babies, making Arackniss's frown deepen as he leered at Angel as he tried to snatch the bottle away, but was stopped by one of Angel's hands, using his immense height to his advantage. "Face it, Shorty! Ever since I fucking hit that growth spurt, you've been stuck playing catch up with me ever since!"
An angry look passed over Arackniss's face before he spat a wad of poisonous webbing at Angel's face before successfully grabbing the bottle, starting a brawl. Angel pulled the webbing off easily from his face as he started pummeling his brother, Arackniss giving what for as he aimed for Angel's kidneys before a shot rang off in the room, blasting the bottle they'd been fighting over to smithereens. The two anthropomorphic spiders froze mid-punch as their father loomed large over them holding a large magnum in one hand that he'd pulled from the gun cabinet, locking it up as quickly as it had appeared as he lumbered over to his sons and physically separated them from each other roughly before forcing them to sit down on the large, black, toothy couch in one corner of the room. Both Arackniss and Angel Dust looked incredibly foolish as they refused to look at one another, while Aria, Alastor, and Damian found either a chair to sit on or a corner to lurk in as the Big Boss muttered a slew of Italian curses before clearing his throat.
"My apologies for the gun's appearance, but my children need a bit more...persuasion when they forget themselves," their father growled apologetically in a booming voice that held power behind it as his milky, white eyes turned to look at Aria, Alastor, and Damian in turn before addressing them again. "Where are my manners? The name's Henroin Ragno, head of the Ragno family. You've met my son, Arackniss. The other is Venter."
"It's Angel Dust, Pops!" Angel interjected rudely as he gave his father the middle finger, looking angry and annoyed as he huffed and ran a hand through his pink hair while he kept his legs in a very feminine position, making Aria feel a bit impressed by his knowledge of womanly body language before she caught Alastor staring at her with a raised eyebrow, making her smile nervously as she quickly looked away from Angel Dust to concentrate back on Henroin.
"As you can see, Venter refuses his given name and proud ancestry, and so has lost his rank and standing as my son," Henroin growled again, the bass of his voice rumbling like a small earthquake as Aria realized a great deal of anger was suppressed behind his words as he forcefully put out his cigar by digging it into the blood red ashtray on his desk before pulling another one out of his desk, cutting the end off, and lighting it, the noxious smell of it filling the room, making Aria cough badly as Angel Dust chuckled at her expense. "However, despite his exile, I need the faggot for this job. I made him graciously remember his loyalty when it comes to Molly, at least. I assume ya know why you're all here, given the report Arackniss gave me from the day before. You were quite adamant that I wait an extra day before I could start preparations to protect my daughter from that nasty fucker, Valentino, who's already made me lose a son to his twisted business ventures. I sincerely hope your business was fucking important, since losing a day could make or break this mission depending on your prowess, Miss Aria."
"Me?" Aria asked in surprise, a bit taken aback by how direct he was as he loomed large over her, given that she'd taken the only other seat in the room, which was a dinky, wooden chair right in front of his massive, gnawing wooden desk full of carved teeth and too many demon eyes.
"Harry and Marv gave me their personal accounts of your abilities, and it sounds like you're good enough for what we need," Henroin continued as he sat down across from her, but it barely made him slightly less massive as he placed two, beefy hands in front of him in an easy, clasped gesture, while one hand held his cigar, and the other gestured an open hand to her conversationally. "However, despite being bullet proof, I find your lack of aggression towards my men both admirable and fucking stupid. I need someone to be able to attack Valentino, if the need arises, and with what I'll be insisting ya do for me, I'd rather ya live long enough to see it through to its end before he even knows what hit him."
"Forgive the interruption, but what exactly do you intend for Miss Aria to do, exactly?" Alastor suddenly piped up, popping in right next to Henroin with that cheeky smile on his face, making the large, gray, spider man growl a bit as he looked steadily at Alastor as his old-fashioned, radio background suddenly played music that felt suspenseful and full of energetic curiosity.
"She's to infiltrate the Hellraiser as a potential candidate for replacing some of Valentino's cleansed fuck fodder," Henroin said unapologetically like he wanted to know how Alastor would react to the frank statement, his long, black eyebrows raising up a hair in curiosity, but otherwise not revealing much else through his enigmatic frown. "It also may include changing into my daughter as a body double. I want to lure Valentino into an audio video trap to reveal his true intentions with my daughter so she can finally realize what a fucking asshole he is. As it stands, the fucker has such a way with words that my naive, little spiderlet actually thinks the shit he wrote her is legit. It's enough to make a grown man puke, but I need proof that he's playing with her fucking emotions to nab her away from me to fucking screw her over, and that's where Miss Aria comes in."
"Ha! Princess, here, is going to fucking audition at the Hellraiser tonight? Ha ha ha! Oh, this I gotta see!" Angel Dust declared with deep amusement on his face, laughing his head off, while Alastor's smile looked surprisingly unamused, while Damian scoffed at Angel's outburst before looking at Aria with some concern.
"You'd be surprised," Aria answered with the sound of a sigh in her tone, since she was getting tired of people here in Hell taking her for granted as she sat straighter in her chair and rolled her shoulders back a little before looking at Henroin with a serious look. "I could probably do most of that, but impersonating someone I don't know is risky. If I run into anyone who remotely knows your daughter, it's going to be incredibly obvious. Not to mention I can think of three ways this could end badly for myself and your daughter."
"Only three? I can think of at least a dozen ways this ends in a complete slaughter or in such abject humiliation that the offending party would never be able to live it down!" Alastor quipped with a snide smile, his red eyes glowing a little for emphasis as he turned his smile and charm up to eleven as he sat on the edge of the desk and tapped on it loudly with his staff, making the desk growl in annoyance, which spooked Aria so bad that she jumped out of her chair, which got Angel Dust laughing, again, making her flush scarlet with embarrassment as she quickly sat down and glared at Alastor. "Mr. Ragno, was it? Is there even a remote chance in Hell my client would even be able to get out of this trap you're insisting she be a part of? She's already made a deal with me, and frankly, I want to make sure I'll be able to be paid in full! That requires her to remain alive, so I can assure you that, if she doesn't get out of this alive, well, neither will you."
Alastor's voice went very dark at the end of his last sentence, the eerie radio feed spiking for a moment as Henroin merely stared calmly back at Alastor's violent smile and glowing, radio-dile eyes before breathing out a plume of cigar smoke thoughtfully.
"Is that a threat, Radio Demon?" Henroin asked calmly as he took the cigar out of his mouth, the smoke wreathing around his face and hand as he gestured cooly at The Radio Demon with one, beefy hand almost as large as Alastor's face.
"Could you even respect me if it wasn't?" Alastor quipped with an even darker smile of humor, making his black gums really stand out against his sharp, yellow grin as the radio background pitched a bit higher, squealing in everyone's ears as Damian, Angel Dust, and Arackniss visibly winced at the sound.
"...Heh heh heh," Henroin chuckled softly to himself as a small, side smile appeared on Henroin's face as he slapped his desk suddenly, making Aria jump, again, which drew a snicker from Angel before Henroin spoke up. "I like you. You've got guts. I can respect a man who can handle himself, which is why I figured you'd tag along for the ride to make sure the dame could make it out of there unscathed. Every fucker in town knows your reputation and I haven't forgotten what ya pulled near the end of your blitzkrieg. To say I was impressed is a fucking understatement. That being said, what's the gal to you?"
"An investment," Alastor cut to the quick as he snapped his fingers, which made a bunch of red and black ribbons suddenly appear around Aria, snaking around her until she was wrapped from head to toe in ribbon like a birthday present, leaving her with only what was above her nose exposed as she screamed against the ribbon in protest! "You could say she's the gift that keeps on giving! Ahahaha! All joking aside, I need her to survive her encounter with Valentino, which is why I added some hired help to go along with her for the time being. I'm not one to fraternize with such distasteful demons like Valentino and his ilk! I'd be a sure give away that something's up, so I'll be keeping my distance the best I can. That being said, I need you to guarantee her safety or I'll just be taking my gift, and be on my way!"
"Mmm!" Aria cried out through the ribbon, but it was no use as she sent a thought to her choker and tried to burst out of the ribbon with a larger form, but cancelled it quickly when she almost got strangled, switching to a much smaller form as the ribbon slid off her now serpentine body as she rose out of the pile of ribbons in the form of a large red and white snake with a black, scorched tail, hissing in protest before transforming back into her original form, blushing angrily with embarrassment! "Hey! I'm not completely useless, Alastor! I survived this long and frankly, you already know what I have up my sleeve, remember? So give the guy a break and let me take care of myself! I'm sure it'd be really obvious if a bunch of fly guys just hung around me like...well, flies! No thanks, if you ask me!"
"No one was asking you, my dear, but even so, you do make a fair point!" Alastor commented with a smile of approval as he got off the desk and twirled his staff as he pinched her nose and shook her head by it, making her pull away and rub at her nose awkwardly as Angel Dust just shook his head and laughed as he suddenly stood up from the couch and made his way over to Aria and Alastor.
"You know, this would be so much easier if you had a guy on the inside, ready to get you in and out as easily as a dick slides through me!" Angel Dust suddenly piped up with a swagger and a confident smile as he sidled over to Aria and caught her in two of his arms like they were best buds, making Aria push him off her instantly, which only made him feign being hurt, making her roll her eyes at him. "Ouch! Oh, so rough, but I'd like it if you were a man! You know, I bet you wouldn't be such an uptight bitch about the idea of working with me if you just got good and fucked before the mission. I know a guy! A real looker, too! Swings both ways, if you know what I mean, so all three of us could all hook up, and you could see what I have to offer as tips for your undercover story! It'll cost ya double for me, since you're a girl and all, and the regular asking price for my friend, but I can guarantee you'll be more than satisfied when we're through with ya! You might even learn something that'll help your audition, since I fucking doubt you'll even pass the preliminaries!"
"I'd rather take my chances with your boss," Aria said snippily before she face-palmed, realizing the innuendo that could easily be read into that remark as she shook her head quickly as she watched Angel's smile broaden lasciviously! "No! No! That's not what I meant to say and you know it! I just, I mean...you know what I meant to say!"
"No, I don't know what you meant," Angel teased her as he towered over her, his girlish pose getting into her space as he got too close to her face, making her blush uncomfortably. "Why don't you explain it to me in full detail, hmm?"
"Ugh! Someone help me," Aria mumbled to herself pathetically as she put her hands over her face, wishing her foot-in-mouth syndrome hadn't gotten her this badly as a blue hand suddenly snaked around her waist, pulling her in close as Aria found her face mashed into a rather muscled, toned chest that smelled strongly of brine.
"I'd prefer to be the one to teach her how to handle herself around a man, Angel Dust, and, really, if anyone's going to help 'sooth' her aching mind and body, we both know who'd she pick," Damian insisted with a smug, sparkling grin, the arrogance of it really starting to irritate her as she transformed back into a snake to escape Damian's grasp, making the grown man squeal like a little girl as she slithered over to Alastor, and appeared behind him to get away from both Angel and Damian with her face so red, she felt like she was practically melting with the audacity of it all! "Yikes! By the devil and his angels, Lady Aria, don't do that!"
"I do believe Miss Aria has her own merits in handling the situation, given her past experience! All she needs is a little cleaning up and a more feminine look that's sure to catch the eye!" Alastor declared good-naturedly as he disappeared in a puff of night and reappeared behind her with a dark, amused grin before he grabbed her, forcing her to the forefront of the small group, again, before waving his hand over her, changing her appearance!
Aria watched helplessly in shock as a slinky, flapper girl ensemble appeared where her conservative outfit had been! The red beading on the black dress that reached just above her knees was exquisite as black tassels danced around her knees, while she felt her flower clip change into a red headband complete with a large, black feather as Aria spied a full length mirror hiding behind the large, wooden gun case. As she shakily felt at her throat, she only felt a simple, black choker there. She immediately felt incredibly uncomfortable as she became very aware of how bare her shoulders, back, and lower legs felt despite the black stockings that covered her legs. She was at least thankful for the black flats she wore with red beading on her feet, since she'd kill herself just by walking in heels. As she lost her long hair, though, she really began to feel a whole different level of unease as she realized it was really, really short as she felt a flat, auburn, red-tipped curl form on either side of her head. It revealed the full extent of how bad her need to cover her unwanted tattoos was as her entire back was now exposed, revealing nothing but a sea of black with just one, small space in the middle of her back that sported the tiniest, white heart. The white heart was the last avenue of virgin skin left on her back that her nightmare tattoo experience had missed.
"Well...you certainly were right about your need to cover up those unwanted tattoos, my dear!" Alastor commented with a smile as he snapped his fingers and added a gauzy, red boa that barely covered her shoulders, while his music played a slow, jazzy number more fit for an old noir movie as Aria blushed, but this time from shame and fear as she tried and failed to make the boa cover her better, but she felt almost naked as she tried to understand how Alastor had gained access to her choker's disguise ability as she fought to not panic!
"Heh, nice try, Smiles, but if ya were going for hooker, I would've gone for a much sexier number that showed a helluva lot more skin!" Angel scoffed with a laugh, as he looked her over before running a finger over the open back of her flapper dress where the white heart stood out, tickling her spine as Aria jerked away from Angel, only to bump into Damian and realize someone was REALLY happy to see her, making her squeak out in alarm!
"I think the dress suits her," Damian commented huskily, making Aria instantly feel unsafe around Damian just then as she recognized the heavy lust in his tone as he tried to grab her, but Alastor grabbed her hand and spun her quickly away, making her feel really dizzy as he put a protective hand on her shoulder as he simply smiled at Damian and chuckled at Angel's comment.
"It may be a bit old-fashioned for the times, to be sure, but if there's one thing I've learned here in Hell is that clothes make the man, or the woman, if you will!" Alastor piped up conversationally as he energetically tapped his staff on the ground and gestured to her for emphasis as his radio feed tuned to an old-time, blues number that really made Aria think of the roaring twenties as he grabbed her hands and pulled her into a small dance number before letting her go, leaving her feeling incredibly helpless, breathless, and flustered! "I believe the outfit will do for what we need, and deciding on her wardrobe now saves us so much valuable time, wouldn't you agree, Mr. Ragno?"
"Pbbbt! Ahahaha! Are you fucking serious? I wouldn't be caught dead in that getup you've got her in!" Angel said with a laugh, clearly enjoying himself at Alastor and Aria's expense as Henroin suddenly coughed, making everyone turn to him as he tapped a middle finger on the desk impatiently while he smoked his cigar.
"As amusing as this all is, we should focus on the matter at hand," Henroin insisted as he pulled out a drawer that was full of black files before he chose one and tossed it on his desk. "That's got the plans, the info, and the know how to get into the Hellraiser and end this cluster fuck with my daughter if you're really interested in helping us."
Angel snorted, but one look at Henroin shut him up before Henroin took a long drag on his cigar before he continued.
"Angel Dust will be your man on the inside as long as you play by the book," Henroin stated pointedly as he tapped the black file with the hand that held the stinking cigar, leaving ash trails on the desk before leaning back into his leather chair that groaned under his weight. "I've marked a map of Porn Studios on places Angel has set up surveillance and video with the help from a pal of mine that works for the electric company that does Valentino's building. I've also made sure Angel has been keeping tabs on Valentino's schedule for the Hellraiser tonight. He'll have an ear piece and a hidden mic that'll be linked to our own ear pieces to give us updates as the night goes on. Arackniss will be in charge of guard movements and will update their locations as needed, and I'll be keeping tabs on my daughter, since she insisted I be with her this evening to help with her fucking charity work, which will give me the excuse to keep tabs on her. I wasn't planning on your scaley, fish friend, however, so you're going to have to make sure he fits the bill when things get put into motion."
"Heh, that shouldn't be too difficult," Damian said with a confident sneer, the sparkle behind it dark and mysterious, making Aria stare at him uneasily, while Angel looked like he was ready to murder Damian on the spot.
"Oh, fuck no! I am not going to have this fucking backstabber anywhere near me on this fucking mission!" Angel spat out aggressively as three of his hands pointed at Damian accusingly, while one had an open palm towards his father like he was trying to get him to listen to reason! "I don't have a fucking death wish, and I'm sure as Hell that he doesn't give a flying fuck about Molly or our mission to fucking get her out of there in one piece! Damian ain't nothing but a fucking time bomb ready to screw us over the first opportunity he gets! He ain't safe, Pops, and I'm fucking surprised your so fucking stupid to trust the fucker so quickly, Smiles, on account of being some sort of big, fucking Overlord or something! Ain't you heard of The Two-Faced Killer?"
"The one who can change personalities on a whim, can mind control anyone he's come in contact with, and can make any liquid inside you dry up, leaving you a husk? Nope, never heard of him!" Alastor said with an easy grin, completely at ease as he shook his head at Angel as he sidled up to Damian and gave the large man a sound pat on the back as an upbeat tune started up around Alastor as he twirled his staff carelessly. "He's had every opportunity for thirty years to kill me, if he's who you say he is, and yet not once has my mind been taken over or seen my body drained of any fluids! Apart from his strange transformation, I believe in all honesty that he's harmless, and you just have a personal vendetta against him for reasons I really don't care to know! He makes the best coffee in all of Hell, and I, for one, am not keen on judging people on hearsay! Bring me unequivocal proof, however, and I'll kill him myself, if you wish!"
"Not if I can fucking help it! If anyone is going to fucking off this Two Faced Killer, it's gonna be me!" Angel huffed out angrily, his body language defensive as two arms flipped Alastor off, while one pointed at Damian! "As for proof...well...fuck if I know where it is! He destroyed or stole what was left of any fucking proof I had the last time I had to deal with him! You better fucking listen, though, when I say that if you don't fucking kill him right now, he's going to either let Valentino know we're fucking coming for him, or he's going to fucking screw us over before the night is out, and I don't mean the fun kind of screwing!"
"Look, if it makes you feel any better, I'll make sure to watch your back and his, while we lure Valentino into this trap of yours," Aria suddenly said in an irritated tone as she struggled to try and ease the situation as Damian just looked at Aria with a wide, sparkling grin like he'd just won her over, but Aria reserved her judgment for the time being as she rolled her eyes at Angel Dust's drama as she thought of her own insecurities about all this. "Besides, this mission is way more important than your petty squabbles with Damian! I have my own reasons for needing to get into Valentino's good graces long enough to get information on him and what he's been up to for the last one hundred years. If doing this gets me into his private office and access to his files, then I say it's worth the risk! This might be my only chance to fool Valentino long enough to get what I need, and give you what you need at the same time without causing suspicion."
"Hold on one fucking second!" Arackniss interrupted, his multiple, pink eyes glaring at her suspiciously as two of his hands pointed at her accusingly. "I thought ya were doing this out of the fucking goodness of your heart! If you're not fucking with us on this, and I find out that you put your priorities over ours, it'll be your last mistake! I'm not gonna fucking let some shape-shifting bitch screw us over because of some sort of personal grudge!"
"It's no grudge, I can promise you that, my tiny fellow!" Alastor commented quickly, making Aria pause in her need to defend herself as she waited to see what he'd say wearing that enigmatic smile of his as he sauntered over to Arackniss and rubbed the tiny spider's hat into his scalp like he was some tiny child, making Arackniss look like he was about to explode with anger as Alastor chuckled at Arackniss's expense. "If there's one thing you can rely on when it comes to Miss Aria, it's her intentions! Despite her personal mission, I can assure you she will make sure your dear sister gets home safe and sound! All you need to worry about is making sure every step of your plan goes off without a hitch!"
The look Alastor gave Arackniss only lasted a second and it was while Alastor's face was only facing the tiny spider. Aria didn't get a good look at it, but from Arackniss's body language, he knew all too well what Alastor was referring to. Aria frowned as she fought off a wave of anger at Alastor's manipulation of herself and Arackniss, but the damage had already been done. As Arackniss nodded tensely, Henroin raised a long, black eyebrow, but otherwise, his body language suggested that they'd come to an agreement.
"Then it's a deal, then," Henroin said firmly as he stood up and offered a hand to Alastor, who shook it agreeably as Aria looked at Arackniss with an apologetic smile, but it felt more like a grimace as Arackniss gave her nothing but a cold frown for her efforts. "Let's get down to business, then."
"Yes, indeed! Let's get down to the brass tacks, shall we?" Alastor asked as he began to open the file and ask questions about the layout of Porn Studios and how much Henroin knew about their opponent as they got into a deep discussion Aria listened to with nervous tension as she restlessly paced around the office glancing at different people at different intervals.
She just hoped she'd get through all this in one piece as everyone in the room save Alastor frowned suspiciously at one another before preparations began for their mission. With Alastor's okay, the guns were brought out, cleaned, and armed with ammo, while the file that had been offered to Aria was perused more fully by Alastor as he chatted about its contents, leaving her feeling like every man in the room was dictating what she should do without thinking to ask her about what she thought about it. Despite the good advice from all the men, Aria couldn't help but feel that she was being left out on purpose as she felt a sense of helplessness momentarily wash over her.
Shrugging it off, she tried to pay attention to what was being said, while Angel Dust watched Damian, Damian watched her, and Arackniss fought between watching her and keeping an eye on Alastor as Henroin answered questions and gave feedback while he pulled from his cigar, making Aria cough violently all over again as his words came out in wreaths of smoke.