Striker is on a secret mission and things happen.
Vol 7: The Harvest Moon Festival
It was 8 AM and Striker and Kore were sleeping together in the same bed, while Seth slept in his own bed.
Suddenly, Striker's phone buzzed loudly, startling Striker and his wife awake. Striker looked around, getting ready to strike. He looked over to see that his cell phone was buzzing so loud that it almost was about to fall off the dresser. Striker rolled his eyes and groaned in annoyance before he grabbed his phone and saw the name of his caller. He reluctantly answered it.
"What the hell do you want, Blitz?" Striker demanded.
"Oh, it's the Harvest Moon Festival Stolas told me about," Blitzo replied.
"The Harvest Moon Festival?" Kore asked.
"Yep, bring your hubby and son over because Millie's parents invited all of us to their house."
"Alright. I'll go over and get my son." Just when Kore was about to leave the bed, she saw someone up and about.
"What is it, Mom and Dad?" Seth asked, rubbing his tired eyes.
"Oh, we are invited to the Harvest Moon Festival and Mildred's parents invited us over," Striker replied.
"Looks like our son is already up, Blitz," Kore told Blitzo.
"Alrighty. Now, why don't you all get dressed and I'll pick you guys up."
Suddenly, someone dropped between Striker and Kore.
Striker rolled his eyes. "Wow. Look who's here."
…
That morning, Kore, Seth, and Striker as usual rode Bombproof as they followed the I.M.P. van to visit Lin and Joe. Kore and Striker used to work with them and Seth sometimes joined in the work. After deciding that Seth worked hard enough, they let him play with Millie's siblings, especially when there were tasks he couldn't handle.
The I.M.P. van drove underneath the sign that read Rough 'N Tumbleweed Ranch and parked in front of a farmer and his wife.
The farmer was a brawny and muscular red imp with white hair, mustache, matching his hair, yellow eyes, and white scars or tattoos on his left arm. He had white and black striped horns just like any other male imp, but his were bulky. He wore a black vest with a sleeveless red shirt underneath, black belt with a gray squared buckle, gray pants, and black boots.
His wife strongly resembled Millie since her hair style was similar to hers and had white spots on her red skin. However, she had more white on her tail and big white spots on her cheeks and her hair is a lighter gray. She also had yellow eyes, thick breasts, wide hips, a slim waist, bare feet with crimson heart shaped hooves, and black horns with thin white lines. She wore a white shirt with rolled up sleeves, red ascot around her neck, blue faded jeans, a brown belt with a circular silver buckle, and brown gardening gloves.
"Mama! Daddy!" a female cheerful voice chirped as she leapt out of the van to greet the farmers in question.
Her father carried her and spun her around. "Yeeeee-hawwww! How's my deadly little pumpkin spice doing?" He set her down and affectionately rubbed her hair.
"I'm good, Pa," Millie replied, "Thanks for lettin' us stay here for the harvest jamboree."
"It's no trouble," the farmer's wife told her, "We know you aren't making as much anymore since y'all went 'freelance'." She used her fingers as quotes for emphasis.
"Freelance pays fine, Ma! We're doin' fiiiiine!" Millie then added in a serious tone, "It's fine." She went over to her husband, who struggled to carry the luggage. "Anyway, y'all remember my husband Moxxie?" She shoved him over to her parents, who stared at him in disapproval.
"Hmph!" The farmer glared at his daughter's husband.
"Greetings, Lin! Joe! How have you been, uh, with all the… flaming twisters and stuff around here?" Moxxie nervously extended his hand to his in-laws.
"We lost our old farm hand to one of them terrors last week," Joe grumbled.
Moxxie laughed nervously. "Oh, crumbs. My bad! I am so sorry. I- I didn't mean to open that wound... sir."
"Hey, watch it! I'm the sir here, bucko!" a voice scolded.
"Yeah, Mox and I'm the mister!" Striker called.
"Striker?" Joe asked, "How is your family?"
Striker rubbed the back of his head. "Uh, good. Very good."
"Hi, Lin. Hi, Joe," Seth said, waving his hand at Millie's parents.
"Oh, long time no see, Seth," said Lin, "Last time you were here, you were a little tot."
"And we've joined I.M.P. since," Kore added.
"Wow, you and your family have come a long way, Kore since you all went freelance like our Mildred."
"Oh yeah! Y'all haven't met my boss Blitz and Loona!" Millie told her parents, who shifted their attention to Blitzo and Loona.
"Hi, what's up?" Loona asked, waving her hand.
"Ooooh, someone's opening up!" Blitzo said excitedly.
Joe turned his attention to Kore and Seth. "How's the little man doing?" He ruffled Seth's hair, making Seth smile. Striker chuckled fondly at the sight.
"Pretty good, Joe."
"And how's the strong hand's wife?"
"I'm good, too."
"It seems like yesterday that your son was a tot."
"Until we taught him how to use weapons properly," Striker told Joe.
"Like father, like son."
Bombproof grinned at the two farmers as his fiery tail whooshed this way and that.
"Hello, Bombproof," Lin said as she and her husband rubbed the horse's forehead.
"Hey, all, what's up?" a female voice asked. She was a tall imp with the same color hair as Millie, but with much longer hair in a ponytail, which covered her one eye and a white splotch under her red bandana that had holes. She had a white streak over her eye. Like Joe, she had white striped horns, which could be possible that she was either bisexual or transgender. She wore tan shorts that matched the color of her heel boots, black holey leggings, and a black crop top with holes on it.
"Sallie?" Kore and Seth gasped.
"How's the little man?"
"I'm good. Dad, Mom, and I are visiting for the Festival."
"Oh, cool."
Suddenly, a car parked next to the I.M.P. van and three figures stepped out of the car. The said figures were a succubus, a cat sinner, and a young hellhound.
Striker looked behind them to see who they were. "Kore? Seth? What are they doing here?" he asked under his breath.
"We told them they could come," Kore said.
"Yeah, and you said we can invite them," Seth added.
Samantha wore a blue and green flannel top with rolled up sleeves, gray shorts, a black belt with a golden circled buckle, light gray holey leggings, and black boots.
Tara wore a pink bandana around her neck, a red vest with a dark gray crop top, faded blue jean shorts, gray leggings, and black boots.
Dexter wore a brown vest with a purple shirt underneath, and gray shorts.
"Oh, and who would those three be?" Joe asked.
"I'm Samantha," Samantha greeted, shaking hands with Lin and Joe.
"And I'm Tara, her best friend and this is our adoptive son, Dexter," Tara said as she scratched Dexter's head.
"Hi and I'm Seth's best friend," said Dexter.
"How long have you and Seth been friends?" asked Lin.
"A week ago, in the I.M.P. building," Seth answered for her, "And we talked on the beach. Then Blitzo brought him over to my house and we played together."
"We climbed a tree."
"And he's my first ever friend I've had outside of work."
"Aww, kids grow up so fast," Lin said, wiping a happy tear from her eye.
"Tara and Samantha are my friends outside of work, as well," Kore said, "No worries, they're friendly."
"Yeah, I don't, you know…" Tara said nervously, "Although, I'm a succubus, I have standards. I don't want to hurt anybody."
"What she's trying to say is she's not like most succubi," Samantha told them on her behalf.
"It's alright, sweetheart," Lin assured Tara, "We understand."
"Yeah, I get nervous thinking people would get the wrong idea of me."
"Hey, girrrrrls," Sallie Mae greeted.
"Hey, what's up?" Samantha asked. "I'm Samantha."
"Sallie Mae."
"My name's Tara."
"And the name's Dexter."
"So you must be the little man's bestie? Ain't that right?" Sallie Mae ruffled the little hellhound's hair.
"Yep. We see each other weekly."
"Awesome. I'm goin' in the Pain Games. Do you want to watch me compete?"
"Yeah!" Seth and Dexter replied.
"And we're cheering for my husband," Kore added.
"And I get to cheer for my Moxxie," Millie said, hugging her husband.
"Of course, we'll cheer for you, Dad," Seth said, which made his father smile.
"Hey, Seth, do you see that hog over there?" Striker asked, gesturing to a giant, pink, clean sleeping hog in a pen with hay and mud.
Seth gulped, as he glanced at the giant animal which snored so loud that it could wake up anybody far away from them. Its smell was putrid and foul from the mud it slept in despite the clean appearance it had.
"Yeah, why?" Seth asked
"How about you skin one of those for dinner?"
Silence befell the imp child upon hearing the request, he turned back to the sleeping animal for a second before turning over to Striker.
"By…myself?" he asked hesitantly.
Striker shook his head. "No. Your mother can join you and show you how it's done." He took out a blessed knife and a rope from his pocket. "Here, bullets can't pierce the shell." He handed them to his son.
"Thanks, Dad."
"Let's go, son." Kore led him to the pig pen.
"Alright, Seth!" Blitzo cried, "Way to be a man and kill things outside the living world!"
Moxxie and Millie gave him a look, making him shut up.
Seth climbed up the fence and jumped into the pig pen. Kore did the same and they were now both inside the pig pen. They slowly approached the sleeping hog and Seth drew out the rope and blessed knife his father gave him.
Seth attempted to make a lasso out of a rope, but failed. So he offered it to his mother to show him how to make a lasso. Once she made the said lasso, the two put the rope around the hog's neck.
Kore showed Seth a good spot to pry an opening in the hog and the boy readied the blessed knife and pierced the animal in the back.
"Woo! Hoo! Go, Seth!" Blitzo cheered and gave him two thumbs up.
"That's my boy!" Striker chuckled proudly.
Loona was filming the scene on her phone.
And just like that, the hog had been killed.
"Great job, Seth," Kore said as she started to carry the hog, but to no avail. So, her husband jumped in and took over her task.
"Good work, my boy," Striker said, ruffling his son's hair with his free hand and the hog in the other, "You've done us a solid and thanks to you, we're going to have a nice dinner."
"Awesome!" Millie's little brothers exclaimed, thrilled to see Seth's performance and everyone walked in the house to get the hog skinned for dinner.
…
At the Harvest Moon Festival, Wally Wackford made an announcement on stage, "Welcome, I say-a, welcome-a... all to Wrath-a Ring's-a annual-a Harvest-a Moon-a... a-Festival! To kick things up, we have the great prince Stolas-a, here to usher in this here Pain Games!"
Stolas took the mic from him and chuckled, with a hint of being flattered and nervous.
"How kind, Wackford," he said. "Greetings, tiny... Wrath Ring Imps! I hereby welcome you all to another year of celebrating the spoils of your labor that continue to feed the citizens of Hell!"
The crowd glared while some members booed at him, but Stolas paid no mind to them.
He continued, "I'm happy to kick off the start of these games that will challenge the toughest Imps to show their skill in dominance. Good luck to you all! Especially that sexy little one there... Yoo-hoo! Blitzy!" He waved at Blitzo, who glared at him.
"Oh, fuck me," Blitzo groaned, while Striker smiled, amused by his annoyed expression.
A gunshot sounded off as a sign that the games had begun.
On the bleachers, although Seth and Kore were delighted to see Striker in the Pain Games, they couldn't help but gasp when Moxxie when got trampled on when he and the other imps ran through the trail, failed to follow Blitzo and Striker on the tall wooden ramp, landed in the water as he and the imps played tug-o-war, and when he almost got killed by a shark a couple times.
Even Millie uttered, "No!" at seeing her husband hurt.
When the games were over, two feet loudly jumped on stage.
"I say, I say, for the first year ever, we have a tie for winner of the Harvest Moon Pain Games!" Wally Wackford announced on the microphone.
Stolas took the mic from him again. "The winners are… Striker, aaaaand my darling Blitzy!" Stolas did a pose as he walked on stage and the crowd cheered.
Striker was the first winner on stage, sticking up his index finger and thumb as if pointing a gun.
"Just say my name RIGHT! Fuckin' dick!" Blitzo snapped as he walked on stage in frustration.
"Hey, Mox, even though I'm too young to enter the Pain Games, I'm sorry you had to go through that," Seth said as he, his mother, and Millie rubbed Moxxie's back.
"Me, too, Moxxie," Dexter said.
"Thanks, guys," Moxxie said gratefully.
"No problem," said Kore, "We're always there to help a friend in need."
"On the bright side, you survived," Tara said.
Moxxie, although touched by the succubus's words, glared as he saw Striker with Blitzo on stage. "Alright, so he has the 'physical advantage'. I'm better at other things, like singing!"
"I'd like to take this opportunity to sing a quick song I wrote just now, about me winnin'," Striker announced as he took out a guitar and started to strum it, much to Moxxie's chagrin.
"Oh, WHAT THE FUCK?" Moxxie yelled in disbelief.
Samantha facepalmed, just as annoyed as Moxxie. "What the fuck, indeed."
"Oh, great, here we go," Kore complained.
"Oh, no," Seth groaned.
Striker started to sing:
Sweet victory!
I smell the smell…
Most imps were watching him perform and some of them had tears streamed down their faces, including a girl imp, watching him sing with delight. The girl imp had long black wavy hair, red irises, yellow eyes, white cheeks and hands, an orange bee pin in her hair, orange buttoned sleeveless shirt, black skirt, black holey leggings, and a heart shaped tail with a white heart on it.
She squealed happily as she ran over towards the singer, only to be kicked in the face and be mauled by other imps.
From up in stinkin' Heaven
To the rugged rocks of Hell.
Sweet victory
With everything I do.
With every talent,
I'm so much more talented than you.
Blitzo joined Moxxie, Millie, Kore, Seth, Dexter, Samantha, and Tara up on the bleachers with a stick of cheese. He bit into it. "Isn't this guy great?" he asked with his mouthful.
Striker: Everytime I try, I push it and succeed.
"False!" Moxxie retorted.
"Why?"
"Because he's singing this stupid song to rub it in Moxxie's face," Kore answered for him.
"And Dad's making an ass out of himself."
Striker: Every first attempt of every single deed.
"He's reverting back to his mean-self," Samantha added, "And it's pathetic."
"Blitz, are you listening to them?" Moxxie asked.
"Uh, yeah."
Striker: Me! I'm totally the best!
"Mox, I think you had enough for now," Millie told her husband gently, "Let's head back to the house and get you clean."
Millie and Moxxie started to get up.
Striker continued his song:
The super cool me, handsome guy.
He coughed then added:
Moxxie, go fuck yourself!
Moxxie's eyes welled up with tears of hurt, anger, and betrayal as he left the scene with Millie.
Kore, Seth, Samantha, Dexter, and Tara joined them, as well, but not without Samantha giving Striker the finger.
Striker concluded the song with these lyrics:
Did you hear something?
It was just the wind.
After finishing the song, the crowd cheered.
"Thank you," Striker said, "You're too kind."
…
Inside Lin's and Joe's house, Striker's phone rang.
"I'll be back, guys," Striker said as he made his way into a bedroom to answer it in private. He saw a phone number that was unfamiliar to him and there was no contact name, but he answered it, anyway. "Hello?"
"Oh, Striker is it?" a female classist voice asked.
Striker left the door slightly ajar behind him. "How did you know my name?" Striker replied.
"I saw you at Loo Loo Land, remember?"
"Yeah, and I said I wasn't interested."
Little did Striker know that when his wife and son walked past the hallway, they stopped to overhear him talk on the phone.
"So, were you at the Festival?"
"Why do you ask?"
"That's where imps of Wrath celebrate with corn obsessed fucks and my husband announces it every year."
"Why does it matter to you?"
"I want him dead for cheating on me. You hate overlords, don't you?"
"That I do, considering I was abused by them in the past."
"You want money, don't you? I'll pay you to kill him."
"Done." Striker hung up.
Just then, Moxxie walked in the hallway and saw Kore and Seth.
"Oh, Mox, thank Satan, you're here," Kore whispered.
Moxxie gasped, trying to catch his breath. "You scared the shit out of me."
"Sorry. Striker's going to kill Stolas."
Moxxie blinked with confusion. "He what?" He couldn't believe one of his co-workers would do such a thing to the one who hosted the Harvest Moon Festival all those years.
"Please, Moxxie, we got to warn Blitz and the others."
"Alright. I'll catch up with you in a bit."
Kore and Seth quickly dashed downstairs.
"Why in the fuck would he want to kill the one who hosts the Harvest Moon Festival every year?" Moxxie asked himself.
"Maybe you should ask me, little dude," a voice from behind him answered, startling him. He stood by the door.
"Why would you want to kill the Prince…Mister?" Moxxie demanded.
"Those weapons aren't just made to kill humans in the human world or animals."
"They're also known to kill…"
"Demon royalty?"
"Yes…that."
"No shit." Striker threw his straw on the floor. "That's kind of the point." He scratched the door before closing it as he advanced himself on Moxxie, who was now trapped inside the same room as him.
"While I'm relatively concerned by what you're doing here, but I'm glad I was warned about what you're about to…" Striker's tail wrapped around his neck, strangling him. "...Do to him!"
Striker threw him across the room.
"Millie!" Seth cried as he and his mother ran over to her outside.
"What's going on, Seth?" Millie asked.
"Dad's going to kill the Prince!"
Just then, a loud noise was heard from inside the house.
"Hold that thought. I must find Moxxie!"
Seth sighed.
"Don't worry, son," Kore said, placing a hand on his shoulder, "I know another person we haven't spoken to yet."
Then they headed back in the house to warn Blitzo about Striker's plot.
"Blitzo!" Kore shouted.
Blitzo spilled his drink. "What?"
"My husband's going to kill Stolas!"
"What the-" Then Blitzo got an idea. "Kore. You and Seth get Samantha, Dexter, and Tara. I'll get my weapons." He left the table.
Just as they were about to leave the kitchen to find Samantha and the others, they saw Striker throw Moxxie and Millie down in the cellar from inside the window.
Once Striker shut the door, Kore and Seth immediately exited the kitchen Samantha, her adopted son, and her best friend.
Kore knocked on a door.
"Yeah, who's there?" a female voice asked.
"It's us, Kore and Seth," Kore replied.
"Come in."
Kore opened the door and invited herself and her son inside.
"What's wrong?" Samantha asked.
"Dad's going to kill Stolas," Seth explained, "And we need your help."
Samantha groaned. "Oh, great! This asshole has gone too far!"
"He also threw Millie and Moxxie in a cellar," Kore added.
"Oh, shit!" Tara cried, "What's his deal?"
Seth and Kore didn't answer. They just left the room.
"Stay here, guys," Seth told them.
"WHAT?!"
SLAM!
Seth and Kore entered the hallway once again to find Striker, who walked upstairs to see them. When he saw his wife and child, he saw that they were both giving him a deep death like glare that could freeze him in a block of ice. Striker gulped and he felt sweat pour from his face the moment he saw his angrier look from Kore and Seth that shot at him from where he was.
Striker chuckled nervously. "Seth. Kore."
Kore grabbed onto Striker's coat and dragged him into a room like a mother would to her naughty son's ear.
"Seth and I heard what you're going to do and that's not going to happen!" Kore fumed.
Seth slammed the door behind him.
"What?"
"Don't play dumb with us, Dad!" Seth retorted, "We know what you're up to and you didn't think to tell us you were working with someone on the phone to kill Stolas?!"
Striker gasped, trying to figure out the right words to say, but all that came out was, "She…uh…she knew I hated overlords and so she paid me big money to kill the target."
"Look, we both know you had bad experiences with overlords in the past, but this doesn't justify your actions!" Kore scolded.
"What do you think Blitz would think? Moxxie said you almost killed him and Millie!"
"Millie's probably hurt because of you!"
Now, Striker was starting to get really mad, losing his patience with his wife and son, so he snapped, "Well, things were so much easier until you came along!"
Kore and Seth gasped in shock, hurt, anger, and betrayal for they couldn't believe he'd say such a thing to them.
Striker gasped in regret, realizing what he'd just said.
"Kore. Seth, I-"
"No, forget it! Just go!" Kore snapped, on the verge of tears, opening the door for him. "'Cause I'm tired of hearing how everything you had in your life wasn't good enough... including me and Seth."
Striker exited the room with a sigh of guilt leaving her and their- no, her son alone.
…
An hour later, Striker was in another room, chuckling darkly as he watched from the window as the Prince of Hell gave his speech for the Festival just like he'd done every year and readied his blessed-tipped rifle when all of a sudden…
"Uh, excuse me?" a familiar voice demanded as he clicked his gun, stopping the cowboy imp from doing his task. "The fuck?!"
"Stay right there!" a familiar voice said as she pointed a gun at Striker.
Recognizing the voice, Striker turned around and said nonchalantly, "Bliiitz! I thought you were still at the ceremony! As for you Samantha, I thought you, Tara, and Dexter were hanging around with Millie's family."
"You thought I wanted to stand around with a buncha hillbillies excited about corn n' shit with a thirsty owl on stage?!" Blitzo retorted.
"Not to mention, you nearly killed Moxxie and Millie from what I've heard!" Samantha snapped.
Striker stood up. "Huh. And now you both seem disappointed in me."
"Duh! Isn't it obvious, Striker?"
"Yeah, I'm not a fan of someone I hired about to off my easiest ticket to Earth behind my back."
Striker spat out the wheat straw from his mouth. "Blitz. Samantha, come on." Striker said as he began to advance himself onto Blitzo, making the latter shirk in worry.
"Oh, and Blitz, you know, the two of us are superior than most of our kind. And you were so above suckin' on a disgusting, rich, pompous Goetia, only to sneak topside for scraps and work for bitter sinners, who could care less who you are, when you could be slaying Overlords," Striker said as he circled around Blitzo like a vulture around his prey.
Blitzo wanted to hold up his gun and shoot him there, but the silver tongued imp's words began to cloud his mind with doubts.
"Blitz, don't listen to him!" Samantha begged.
But Blitzo remained standing, conflicted as his eyes moved across the room. He trusted Striker. He was one of the best members of I.M.P, a real gunslinger, a friend. But now with everything he'd just heard from Seth and Kore, he had no idea if he should trust him again. If not...EVER. He aimed his gun at Striker who was now in the shadows.
"Why struggle to run a business that is rigged against you?" Striker continued, "When you could partner up with me and kill... the unkillable?" He pinned a terrified Blitzo against a wall. "Starting with the one that treats you like a plaything?"
Blitzo grinned with lust, starting to like the idea. "Ooh, that's kinda hot."
"We could be the most dangerous beings in Hell, Blitz."
Blitzo gulped. "Wow. That was a good fuckin' pitch."
"Been workshoppin' it." Striker moved Blitzo's flintlock pistol away from him.
"What about Samantha, Dexter, and Tara?"
"Well, since Tara is Samantha's bodyguard, that means they could be backup in case shit gets out of hand."
Samantha gasped at Striker's decision. "Blitz, no!"
"Y'know what? Fuck it. I'm in." Blitzo smiled.
Samantha facepalmed and shook her head.
Striker smirked back until he heard a click from behind him.
"Huh?" Behind him, he looked back briefly to see that it was Moxxie, holding his blessed rifle in his hands.
Tara and Dexter stood beside Samantha in case something were to happen to her.
"Took ya long enough, Mox!" Blitzo laughed. "Wow, you should've seen your dipshit face!"
Striker glared at him and held his blessed knife in his other hand behind Blitzo's back.
Blitzo looked behind him fearfully as he saw a knife in the cowboy's hand. He turned back to Striker, saying, "Wow... Woah, okay. Cliché much?"
Striker punched Blitzo in the stomach and pointed Blitzo's pistol at Moxxie, making Blitzo almost shoot his companion.
"Mox!" Samantha, Tara, and Dexter shouted with concern for Moxxie's safety.
However, Moxxie dodged the bullets with the blessed rifle to avoid being hit.
Seeing his friend nearly getting killed enraged Blitzo. "Oh, you daddy fucker!" Blitzo bit into Striker's arm, resulting in the cowboy roaring with pain.
With that, the fight started with Blitzo elbowing Striker's face and the two exchanged blows.
Seeing Striker getting the upper hand over Blitzo, the little hellhound pup lunged at the former, biting him on the arm, making him yelp with pain and throwing him across the room.
Dexter accidentally knocked down Moxxie next to Blitzo, resulting in Moxxie dropping the rifle.
"Dexter!" Samantha and Tara cried, seeing their adoptive son hurt.
Moxxie saw the rifle was on the floor, but his arm was stepped on by Striker before he could grab it.
"You dumb fucks lost the upper hand fast, huh?" Striker taunted, aiming his rifle at his victims.
Dexter growled at Striker.
"HA! You seem to have forgotten something, fucko!" Blitzo sneered back and whistled for Loona. Striker looked away to see if he could find Loona.
Blitzo sighed with frustration knowing there was no answer from his hellhound. "Ugh! Fucking dammit, Loona!"
Striker smiled. "It's a damn shame, Blitz, Samantha, Tara, and Dexter. We might actually've made a good team... Ah well." He shrugged.
"As if!" Samantha snapped.
"Don't count on it, pinhead!" Tara retorted.
"No can do!" Dexter barked.
"Yeah, in your wet dreams, you honky-tonk GOAAAAT!" Blitzo yelled as he swung his foot under Striker to trip him.
Striker hissed in surprise at what just happened. Before he could figure out what was going on, Blitzo kicked him in the stomach, making him lose his rifle.
Moxxie caught it in his hands and hissed.
Dexter bit Striker's arm again and Samantha laughed at the sight. She went behind him and positioned her gun on his back, remembering what he'd done to Dexter earlier. Before he could try anything with her, a boot was thrown at him.
"Hey! You must never hit girls!" Tara scolded.
"Thanks, guys!" Blitzo said and the girls and Dexter went out of his way for him to charge at Striker with a lamp, hitting him on the head. He almost punched his face, but instead, he hit a wall. He also swiped his tail at him and wrapped his tail around him, tossing him aside.
BAM!
A warning shot was heard, but Striker dodged the bullet before it could hit his head. Then, he saw it was Moxxie glaring at him with the rifle in his hands.
Moxxie, Tara, Dexter, Samantha, and Blitzo began to close in on Striker and Blitzo, Tara, and Samantha withdrew their guns, aiming it at Striker.
"I still think it's embarrassing. You're wastin' a lot of potential relyin' on a weak little-" Striker mocked, but before he could finish, a gunshot silenced him.
"You gonna finish that fucking sentence... pard'ner?" Moxxie sneered.
"Asshole," Samantha said to Striker under her breath.
Striker hissed. "Vermin."
"Who's weak now, BITCH?!" Moxxie was unexpectedly slammed against the wall for being too close to the door.
"'Kay, I'm here." It was Loona.
Tara glared at the hellhound. "It's about damn time you showed up, Loona."
Striker narrowed his eyes, figuring out a way to escape. He got up and kicked Blitzo's gun as a distraction as he headed straight for the window.
"Maybe you'll get me next time…Blitzy," Striker teased, "And you, too, Samantha!" He jumped out the window.
Blitzo and Samantha pointed their guns outside the window, seeing their enemy escape into the dark night, worried about the Prince's safety.
"We'll get him soon, Samantha," a voice said from behind Samantha.
Samantha turned to see who it was and sighed. "I hope you're right, Tara."
…
The next morning at the ranch, Millie sat on a chair as Lin bandaged her arm with a bandage wrap. Not to mention, her foot was in a cast from the bear trap she got herself caught in during her battle with Striker.
Moxxie had trouble fitting his clothes into his suitcase.
Blitzo, Millie, Moxxie, Loona, Tara, Samantha, and Dexter were back in their regular clothes, while Kore and Seth were in their usual attire.
"I can't believe you let him trap you, Millie!" Lin lectured.
"I was seein' red, Ma!" Millie insisted, "And he was slippery!"
"Excuses! You're better than that, Mildred!"
Just then, Moxxie had enough of his mother-in-law blaming his wife for something she had no control over. So he went over to confront her.
"Y'know, she protected me," Moxxie told her off defiantly and added with a drawl in his voice, "And maybe I'm not a strong beefy dickhead." In a normal voice, "But Millie has the strength enough for both of us! You two are getting on her case about being hurt by a psychopath you hired?!"
Millie was all smiles to see her hubby defend her.
"Not to mention, we heard he was going after the Goetia prince," Seth told Lin.
"And he took the job," Kore added.
"Not to mention, he hurt my sweet Dexy for defending Blitz," Samantha chimed in, petting Dexter.
"Yeah!"
"I threw my boot at him before he did anything to hurt Samantha," said Tara, "I'm her bodyguard, by the way." She put her hand on her hips.
"Shaaaaame on you!" Moxxie concluded with a drawl.
"Aw, Moxxie, look at you! Speechin' like a big boy with his big paaaants!" Blitzo praised and to Seth, Kore, Dexter, Samantha, and Tara, he added, "And you, too, boys and girls."
"Thanks, Blitz," Tara said.
Joe glared at his son-in-law, but curtly nodded in acknowledgement and left the scene.
Millie stood up on her crutches and walked over to Moxxie. "Wooow! He nodded! He's never acknowledged your input before!"
"Soooo, is that progress?" Moxxie asked.
Lin frowned at Samantha and spat, "You bitch!"
"Sorry assholes," Samantha feigned sympathy to Millie's parents before walking away, "You should've chosen your employees more carefully." She gave them the double bird and walked away.
…
Night had fallen at a rundown motel Striker was staying in for the night.
The sign outside read with neon letters all allow: Hideaway Motel Vacancy. The Guy That Tried 2 Kill U Def Isn't Here.
Inside one of the rooms, Striker was lounging on a bed, talking to someone on the phone. As he was lounging on the bed, his tail rattled calmly.
"Huh... I failed to kill the target at the festival," he said to the other person on the other line as he continued holding his blessed pistol in his hand. "But don't worry, ma'am... It won't happen again."
Little did he know that three figures were watching him from outside.
On the other line, someone was drumming her fingers on a table impatiently. "It better not," a familiar female shrill aristocratic voice spoke on the other line. As she said this, Striker heard her drumming her fingers before she slammed down on a hard surface.
"I want this cheating prick dead!" she snapped, making Striker cringe and look down in shame, "I don't care who you have to go through! MAKE IT HAPPEN!"
Seeing Striker being yelled at on the phone made a cat sinner, succubus, and little hellhound gasp in shock.
"Understood," Striker said on the other end.
The aristocratic woman hung up her phone and Striker did the same.
"I'll get him next time," Striker said as he twirled his pistol around and turned off the lamp, chuckling darkly into the darkness coupled in with ominous snarls.
Just then, he felt something land on top of him.
"What the fuck?" he demanded.
Tiny paws pulled a lamp chain, turning on the light.
"We felt bad when some bitch yelled at you before, but now that you're so above killing Stolas, not so much!"
Samantha! he thought. "So, what are you going to do about it, bitch?! Smother me in my sleep?! Because I have a job to do tomorrow and I don't want to wake up in a pissy mood!" The swirls in his eyes thickened along with his red eyes showing with anger as if he were going crazy.
"Then maybe you should've thought of that before you decided to try and kill Stolas!" Tara snapped back.
Samantha clicked a pistol, aiming it at the snake imp's face. "Don't tempt me to kill you, Striker. You know I will do it!"
Striker gasped fearfully. My blessed pistol! he thought, How did she get it? It must've come out of my hands!
"You mess with my moms, you mess with me!" Dexter growled and bit into Striker's arm.
Striker roared with pain.
Samantha ran around the room, finding that Dexter bit Striker as a distraction and looked for something to knock the snake imp out with. Glowing in a bag was Striker's guitar he used when he humiliated Moxxie in song form. This caught her eye, so she took the guitar out of the bag and slowly walked over to Striker.
"Samantha, don't-"
WHACK!
Too late, Samantha swung the guitar, hitting him on the head.
…
Striker opened his eyes to find his vision very blurry. Gradually as he began to gain consciousness, his vision began to clear. By the time he looked around, he saw that he was inside a living room. The snake imp looked down to see that he was lying on a soft leather couch.
Striker moved to get up, but he found that he couldn't move except if he were moving like a fish that had just landed in a boat. He struggled a couple of times and each struggle he felt his wrists were burning from something bristly. Striker quickly narrowed his eyes behind him. To his shock, he found out that he was bound with ropes with his hands tied to his back!
He sighed with shame, recalling the argument with Seth and Kore from last night. For all he knew, they'd probably never forgive him. This was just like the times he refused to accept the fact his wife was having their first child, and him kicking out Blitzo and Seth's new friend.
He started to sing a melancholy song.
I know your favorite song;
I hear it everyday.
Whoever made your smile
Made it to get in my way.
And every time you laugh,
You make that little sound.
It's just the hardest thing
To love you but not know how.
He watched out from the window.
So I spend all my nights in the dark and afraid
'Cause I've tried to forget you, but these things just don't go away.
He looked away and lowered his head in shame.
I hate that you're perfect, perfect for me.
If I didn't know better, then I would believe
We were made for each other, but I'd know the truth:
You're no good for me, I'm no good for you.
And I hate that you're perfect,
You're perfect for me.
I hate that you're perfect,
You're perfect for me.
Kore watched out from her bedroom window, remembering how her husband treated her and her son. She sang along with Striker.
What good are words when they always just get in our way?
And it hurts the most just to know that you don't feel the same, the same.
So sometimes I get down on my knees and I pray things will change,
But life is what happens when things they don't work out our way, our way.
Striker felt a tear trickle down his cheek.
So I spend all my nights in the dark and afraid, mm.
'Cause I've tried to forget you but these things just don't go away, away.
Kore and Striker continued their duet.
I hate that you're perfect, perfect for me.
If I didn't know better, then I would believe.
We were made for each other, but I'd know the truth:
You're no good for me, I'm no good for you.
And I hate that you're perfect,
You're perfect for me. (yeah, yeah, hey)
I hate that you're perfect,
You're perfect for me.
Striker sighed and started to lie down, sadly going to sleep.