"Well, I was wonderin' when you'd get here-"
Striker's gaze fell slightly at the sight of the two smaller imps who were not accompanied by their boss. God damn it. He must've taken the other tunnel with that Hellhound of his. The one with the dead fucking end.
"Little ones!" Stolas called from his current spot, dangling over a large drop in the dry earth.
Millie had already pulled her axe out, taking a fighting stance in front of Moxxie.
They had already formed a battle plan; she'd be on the offensive while he covered his wife with gunfire. The sounds of a struggle along with rapid fire would soon alert Blitzo and Loona to their location and they could take care of Striker's slithery ass.
Then they could rescue Stolas with no trouble.
Moxxie's hands trembled the second he met the hypnotic rings of Striker. The larger imp grinned menacingly, directing his attention on the imp that had managed to fuck him over back in Wrath and he clenched his clawed hands tightly in anticipation.
He was going to enjoy putting both the runt and his wild little wife in their places.
Striker pointed one of his revolvers towards Stolas and fired one shot, the bullet hitting one of the nearby metal carts rusted to the rail track. The owl Goetia winced at the sound and Millie sprung into action; rushing Striker while the blade of her large weapon sliced against the dry dirt.
The snake imp moved at the same time; leaping from his current spot and keeping a distance as Mildred began swinging her weapon toward him. He squinted one eye, sliding his revolver toward the middle of her body, only to recoil when a bullet pierced through his jacket.
Moxxie was aiming straight at him with a crimson-glowing glare, sharp little teeth bared in anger looking more like an angry kitten than remotely threatening.
Striker sneered at the pair of them angrily. This was going to take longer than he'd imagined.
"You too weak to take me on alone, vermin?" The larger imp goaded, enjoying the slackening expression on the weakling's face, though his wife didn't take the bait.
"Says the bastard who attacked the Prince from behind," Millie sniped back, sharp as a polished blade. "And is now holding him hostage so Blitz doesn't plug your ass full of bullets."
"Little lady." Striker's attention was now on the female imp. "What would your Pa say if he heard his little Mildred using such coarse language?"
The spitfire immediately snarled at the mention of her family. Like her pathetic husband, she was also easy to rile up and Striker enjoyed it immensely each and every time.
"He'd tell me to plant a bullet through your fuckin' eyes."
Striker's grin widened. Dangerously.
Moxxie's heart leapt as Millie instantly dove at Striker once again; this time her axe did manage to land a hit and sliced into his jacket, her eyes shining scarlet at the delightful sight of the snake's blood beginning to leak through the light material.
Striker gripped the fresh wound with a grimace. His eyes turning into slits as his teeth flashed at the foolish woman.
Shoulda thrown her headfirst into that fucking beartrap.
.-.-.-.-.
.-.-.-.-.
"Well he got us good." Loona stated casually, shining the flashlight of her phone at the brick wall staring back at them. Blitzo groaned, rubbing his temple with two clawed fingers.
As much as he didn't want Loona caught in any crossfire with that cowboy, he was just as concerned about his two employees being the ones to take the correct route.
"So…Uh," her ears drooped when she'd shone the light on her adoptive-father's face and read his expression. "What do we do now?"
Blitzo kicked a stone across the ground. "We go back and take the tunnel M and M went."
He hoped to hell that nothing had happened-
Loona seemed to pick up on his nerves and she awkwardly shifted on her feet, not really knowing whether to pat her father on the shoulder or continue juggling with her phone.
"Maybe they found a dead end too?" She tried. "Perhaps your buddy did this on purpose to delay us? He seems like the type to fuck with people, right?"
Blitzo grimaced, though Loona did have a point.
But his gut was telling him otherwise-
A collection of gunshots rang out faintly, Loona's ears standing upright while Blitzo whirled around in the direction of the path back to the entrance. They met each others' eyes.
"Loonie, we're running."
.-.-.-.-.
.-.-.-.-.
A kick from Moxxie connected against Striker's smug face, causing the much larger demon to stumble backwards with a snarl. Instantly, he began firing rounds, with Millie quickly turning her offensive weapon into a defensive one as the bullets pelted her large blade instead of her husband.
Moxxie fired a few rounds of his own from the side of his wife's blade while Striker twisted his body backwards into an uncomfortable position to avoid being hit.
Damn pests!
Striker's longer tail darted out while he was busy dodging the vermin's rapid fire. It latched on to the blade and pulled as hard as he could. Shocked, Millie was briefly pulled along before releasing her grip and falling to the ground. Somewhere in the background, Moxxie cried out his wife's name as Striker's claws dug into her scalp.
Millie was flung aside, letting out a cry of pain as Striker threw her into the air like a ragdoll. Her back hit the dirt, knocking her across the ground like a skipping stone. Moxxie screamed her name, instantly trying to rush to her side, only to stop when a bullet pierced where he would've stood.
He growled at Striker, not caring that the snake's firearm was now aimed at him. He wasn't Moxxie's main concern right now; his bleeding wife on the floor was.
"Ya know," Striker drawled, toying with his gun. "It's damn sickening watching you bleedin' hearts. Especially you , Mildred," he shot her a cocky smirk. "Gotta say, I'm disappointed in you."
"Glad t'be of service," the female imp grunted, gripping her head from her spot on the ground.
While their attention was elsewhere, Moxxie slowly moved his hand toward-
"Ah , ah. No you don't ," Striker ripped out another firearm; this time being one with familiar glowing markings that Moxxie faltered at, his hand paused in mid-air from grabbing another gun from under his coat.
Another angelic weapon?! Moxxie's heart began thudding under his shirt. One hit from a holy bullet and they were dead.
"Choose wisely, vermin-" Striker's threat was prematurely cut off by a small knife sailing past his face, lightly slicing the side of his cheek and only missing his eye by a few centimeters. Millie was half-way up again, now kneeling on the ground with her arm outstretched; having been the one who had thrown the weapon. In her free hand, was another small blade.
Moxxie made his move, rushing past Striker with his attention set on the heavy bonds entrapping Stolas. Perhaps if he aimed a bullet in the right spot, he could break the chain? That way Striker would definitely back off if his Goetian prisoner was free.
The wind was knocked out of him when a heavy force slammed into him and he hit the ground face first. Instantly he began panicking, his mind racing at the memory returning of how Striker had almost choked the life out of him back at Millie's family home.
Oh fuck. No, no, no-
His throat clamped, tears stung in his eyes.
Hands beginning to shake-
A groan.
A feminine-sounding groan.
The fear washed away. Millie?
That asshole had thrown his wife at him?!
"Sorry hun," she mumbled, still half-dazed from Striker's earlier violent treatment. Moxxie slid himself out from underneath Millie's body, gently setting her down. He tried not to cringe as Striker advanced on them, that damn tail rattling as the larger imp growled darkly.
"You have to make everything harder than it has to be, dontcha?"
An odd feeling of deja vu suddenly hit Moxxie like whiplash as Striker's tail wrapped around his neck, lifting the smaller imp into the air with a choked gasp, his eyes squeezed shut from the pain.
"This seems familiar, doesn't it, little dude." Striker purred, yanking Moxxie closer so he could meet the weakling's eyes, taking pleasure at the sight of tears forming in the runt's eyes.
No. Not again- Moxxie dug his claws into the thick, leathery appendage.
Throat being crushed, hand slammed across his mouth in turn both silencing him and cutting off any chance of gasping for air. Moxxie used all the strength he had and dug his claws into the thick tail as hard as he could, pushing it closer to his face. In one quick move, he sank his sharp fangs, ignoring the furious shriek from Striker as he felt the grip on his throat slacken.
Striker flung his tail into the air, trying to shake the smaller imp off while Moxxie bit harder, trying to blot out the taste of iron on his teeth. In one harsh movement, Moxxie was thrown into the air just as his wife had been. Unfortunately, Moxxie's head connected with the ground first as he let out a yelp of pain.
Vision blurring, Moxxie attempted to lift his head, suddenly feeling like it weighed a ton. His neck ached something fierce and it felt like he'd been spun around in circles. Everything was spinning and he forced his eyes to remain open.
In the background, Millie was crawling toward Stolas while Striker's full attention was completely on him.
He could not pass out.
Blitzo and Loona were trusting in him to hold Striker off.
Prince Stolas was relying on Moxxie to protect him.
Eyes watered.
"Millie…" Needs you.
Striker gripped one of his horns, ripping him into his eyeshot with a snarl. Moxxie kicked out feebly, still half-awake as his eyes tried to focus on the much-stronger imp cruelly holding him in the air.
"I'm gonna enjoy our time together," Striker hissed, his words a jumbled mess in Moxxie's head. He spat the words out like a toxic venom. "Days and days of it. You pathetic little weakling."