Chapter 3

Meanwhile, Striker in his bear form roamed around the hilltops in Wrath, growling ferociously as his newly formed paws touched the sandy ground.

As he continued to walk, he looked around to see something he didn't want to see: he saw multiple wanted signs of him nailed onto each tree.

Each of the posters that read: WANTED: DEAD OR ALIVE! TRAITOR! Above the words was a picture of his once imp-self, glaring ruthlessly as if he'd been caught by the police.

He carefully pulled one sign off the tree with one of his paws without ripping it and when he glanced at the sign once more, he moaned sadly, realizing how much he screwed up with I.M.P and Stolas.

Sighing, he let go of the sign, letting it blow away in the wind and started to find a place to sleep in the woods, so no one would find him in his monstrous form. He went deeper and deeper into the forest until he came to a den.

The den in question was surrounded by grass and there was a large opening. Striker went inside to investigate to see if anyone lived there, sniffing as he'd done so. Inside, it looked deserted and empty, but it looked fairly decent.

Now that he finally found a place to stay for the night, he chose to make himself feel at home. He crawled into the cave and lay down in a comfortable position. He let out a small roaring yawn before nodding off.

That night, four female imps lay in four separate beds in the same room.

"Is it true that Stolas actually turned Striker into a bear?" Kore asked.

"I'm afraid so," Kaitlin replied, "Yeah, he'd been out on his own at such a young age ever since his mom died and was taken in by this Bathory bitch, who did nothing but sexually abuse him. However, that's no excuse for him to abuse us or treat us like shit, especially since we wanted kids, but he didn't."

"Exactly. Whatever he'd gone through gave him no right. If he really was unwilling to compromise, then he should've let us take care of our kids by ourselves."

"Maybe that's good that Striker was turned into a bear because if I didn't know better, he acted like one earlier." Kaitlin snickered at her remark.

Kore laughed along with her. "A petty one, nevertheless."

"All that talk about us and our kids being the only good things in his life, what a joke! Since he only saw the worst in I.M.P, I can now see that the very worst part of him is us and our children."

"Yeah and like you said, now that he's gone, he'll never control us again."

In another room, Blitzo and Moxxie were lying in separate beds.

"You know, Mox? I agree with Kaitlin that Strike was mean to us, he insulted us, and didn't appreciate anything we did, not even for his kids. He always pushed us around and pushed us away."

"Yeah, how selfish, ungrateful, and irresponsible is that?"

"Exactly. Now that he's gone, we sure as hell would treat his kids better than he can. Pity he won't be around to see it now that his wives have them in their custody."

"True that."

The next morning, Striker opened his eyes, looking round his dark surroundings. When he came up, he stretched his new back out and strutted towards a glowing heap of light that was from the outside of the den. Despite his heated argument with his wives, kids, I.M.P, and Stolas, he had a good night's sleep.

Outside the den, he came to a berry bush. Striker took a sniff of them before eating them to see if they were safe enough to eat.

"Looking for berries?" a familiar voice asked, startling him. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to startle you, Striker."

Striker calmed down a bit, realizing it was just Stolas.

"Very good. Now, these berries are safe to eat in case you're wondering." He showed him the bush of berries the latter sniffed earlier.

Now knowing the berries were safe to eat, Striker lapped them right up.

That morning, while I.M.P and Striker's wives and kids were eating breakfast, something was blown into the house. Blitzo got up and went to see what it was. He saw that at the doorway was a wanted sign of Striker and bent down to pick it up.

Before Blitzo could scrutinize it further, his phone rang so loudly, it scared everyone on the table. He ran over to pick it up. "Hello?"

"Oh, Blitzy, I'm in the forest," a familiar voice said on the other line.

"And what are you doing in the forest exactly?" Blitzo asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Oh, Blitz. He's not doing anything to hurt me." Stolas assured on the other line.

Blitzo blinked his eyes in surprise when he heard this before he leered over the phone in a suspicious manner.

"Striker?" Blitzo asked suspiciously.

"That's right. I gave him a little scare when I came into the woods when I asked him if he was looking for berries, but I spoke gently to him to let him know it was me."

"So, he's not planning on eating you?"

"Not at all."

Striker shook his head, agreeing with Stolas.

"Even Striker knows that."

"Good, I guess. I hope he's willing to make amends."

Hearing this, Striker nodded.

"He says yes."

"Alright, but it's going to take a good long while for his wives and kids and my company to forgive him."

"I understand that, Blitzy." Stolas looked over at Striker, who nodded with acknowledgement. "And he's willing to give you time."

"Good. Meet me in the woods."

"Done." Blitzo hung up his phone. "Alright, gang. We're going into the woods."

He led Moxxie, Millie, Loona, and Striker's wives and kids into the garage and Blitzo pressed a button to open the garage door. They all stepped into the van.

Blitzo started the engine as the garage door opened and he drove backwards. He pressed a button on a remote to close the garage door and they were off.

Stolas used his magic to levitate honey to give to Striker. When finished, Stolas set it on the ground and Striker hungrily lapped it up as if he hadn't eaten in weeks.

Striker's ears perked up when he heard a vehicle pull near the forest, stopping him from eating his meal.

A group of imps and a hellhound stepped out of the said vehicle and one imp pressed a button twice on his car keys to lock up the vehicle.

"Oh, Blitzy, I knew you'd come," Stolas said giddily.

Striker took his eyes off the honey and eyed the group. This made him nervous considering there were a lot of demons surrounding him. He backed away from the group with a nervous roar.

"It's okay, it's just us, Strikes," Blitzo assured him.

"It's just us, Dad," Seth said.

Striker's roars quieted and he stopped walking backwards, upon hearing their familiarly calm voices.

"Do you want pets, Daddy?" Maria asked.

Striker smiled and nodded.

Maria placed her hand on Striker's head, petting it with Striker moaning with contentment.

Seeing Maria pet Striker, Seth, Jake, and Adeline decided to join her.

Blitzo took his phone out of his pocket and started filming the adorable scene. Even Stolas was touched to see Striker being pet by his children.

Striker nuzzled his children with his huge head.

"Hey, Dad, do you want to go fishing?" Jake asked, changing the subject as he broke out of his embrace.

Striker nodded.

Moxxie used a crossbow to catch fish. He'd done so by shooting arrows to off fish.

"Cool!" Seth and Jake exclaimed, watching Moxxie in action. Even Striker smiled with delight, impressed with Moxxie's skills.

Knowing bears catch fish with their fangs or paws, Striker decided to give it a try in his bear form. First, he swiped his paw to grab a fish and tossed it on shore. The result was the fish flaying about on the grasslands. Next, he dipped his head into the water and put the fish right in his mouth.

After Moxxie caught fish, Stolas used his magic to pick up twigs to make a rotisserie to cook fish in. With his magic, he'd built a rotisserie and created fire underneath said rotisserie for the fish to cook.

Once the fish was cooked, Striker, Stolas, Loona, and the imps ate fish they made for lunch.

"Impressive work on the rotisserie, Stolas," Blitzo said, "Congrats."

"Thank you, Blitzy," Stolas replied.

"No problem." Then Blitzo remembered something. He pulled out something from his pocket and showed it to Stolas. "Since Striker seems harmless now, how are we going to explain this?" He touched the wanted sign with one finger.

"Hmm…" Stolas put his finger under his chin, deep in thought. "I'll tell them I tamed him."

"I think it's a good idea," Kaitlin said and turning to Serenity, Kore, Jane, Moxxie, Millie, Loona, and the kids, she added, "What do you think, guys?"

"Yeah, I think it's great," Serenity agreed.

"It's a go," said Kore, giving Kaitlin a thumbs up.

"My thoughts exactly," Jane agreed.

"Yeah," Loona said in a monotone voice.

"Yes!" Millie chirped.

"I don't see why not," Moxxie agreed.

"That might work," Jake said.

"It wouldn't hurt," seconded Adeline.

"It's worth a shot," Seth agreed.

"Let's do it!" Maria cheered.

"Then it's settled," Blitzo announced as he, Loona, Moxxie, Millie, and Striker's wives and kids returned to the van.

Stolas got on Striker's back, so he could ride on him.

Blitzo and Stolas gave each other a thumbs up and Blitzo started his engine.

"Follow them, Striker!" Stolas commanded as he kicked Striker's flank, urging him to follow and Striker ran as quickly as he could to catch up to the van.

But little did they know that behind our fellow heroes was a shadowy figure that growled in the shadows.

AN: Maria asking if Striker wants pets is dedicated to LittleDragonLioness (KiaraWildeHopps15), who finds it adorable. Maybe LadyAnaconda would find it cute, as well. Not to mention Jake suggests fishing.