1997

Sitting on a brown wooden bench somewhere in the Greed Ring sat Blitzo and his close friend Fizzarolli. They were currently finishing snow cones in front of them. Blitzo had cherry and Fizzarolli had lime. Barbie Wire had gotten her blueberry snow cone earlier. The colors reminded Blitzo of their favorite Rings they had visited during their many travels in the circus. Barbie's was Lust, Fizzarolli's was Greed and Blitzo had become fond of Imp City in the Pride Ring.

The traveling trio were now teenagers…and official professional members of the Helluva Hooligans. They could do nearly any circus act, even ones with cannons, fire, weapons, and wild beasts. The only downside was the constant scrutinization by Blitzo's father. Donner had aged into a vicious sinister showman who could manipulate his staff and audiences alike. Fortunately, the twins had toughened up to the point where they brushed off Donner's scathing remarks with middle fingers and swears.

Fizzarolli was known for his stunning crude comedy and graceful flips. Plushies of himself were sold to children all throughout the Rings. Fizzarolli was amazed at how popular he was becoming. He was often nicknamed "Holy Moly Rolli," by fans.

Barbie Wire was an expert in tightrope walking and seductive belly dancing, along with doing tricks in hoops and leaping among barbed wire, hence her name. She was often seen wearing revealing clothing and smoking cigarettes during breaks. Males and females would watch her closely with lust in their eyes. Barbie seemed pleased by the attention, but she was picky with her partners.

Blitzo, of course, performed proficiently at singing, cannon blasting, weapon use and animal taming. He had bonded with all the circus horses over the years, unafraid to show his affection. He and Barbie became known to the public as "The Amazing Imp Twins."

After they finished their snow cones, they stood up and posed for a selfie, using a rectangular camera. Blitzo had braces on his sharp fangs and a black spiked collar around his neck. His tank top was black with "Mammon" on it written in large yellow letters. Fizzarolli had his arm around Blitzo, yellow bracelets hanging from his wrists. He wore a yellow torn shirt with a black "M" and a money sign on it, also referencing Mammon. White eye makeup was over Fizzarolli's red and yellow eyes. The black circus mark was prominent on his forehead and black dots were on his crimson cheeks.

The two imps smiled arm in arm as they made their way around the Greed Ring. They reminisced over pranks, drives around the Rings, shows, and various shenanigans.

"Remember when we were little, we'd watch 'Mammon the Magnificent' every Saturday morning?" Fizzarolli asked.

"Oh yeah!" Blitzo smiled as the memories flashed back. Fizzarolli, Barbie and Blitzo were little kids and had watched the show on an old-fashioned television and ate popcorn from a bowl. "Mammon would tell the audience different jokes and show us the many ways of slaying those vicious demon-wolves!"

"Oh!" Fizzarolli called. "Remember that catchy House of Mammon song?"

Fizzarolli soon sang some verses, which Blitzo quickly followed.

"Come one, come all, denizens of Hell

To greener pastures oh so swell!

If you ever feel poor, depressed, or low,

The kingdom of Mammon is where you can go

A land full of treasures, greatness indeed

Amusement and games for your every need

Plenty of goods for you to feed

Experience that and more in Mammon's House of Greed!"

A splendid golden circus had appeared on the TV screen, gold coins and dollar bills raining from the sky. Demon children were laughing and playing in piles of gold coins.

In the present, Fizzarolli and Blitzo did a fun random dance number along a brick wall. They held hands and leapt from building to building.

"Demons and implings great and small

Join the fun and have a ball

You know who to call…

Mammon! Mammon! (He's the one!)

He'd be slammin'!

He'd be jammin'!"

(Greater than the sun!)"

"Feed, feed, your every need

In Mammon's House of Greeeeed!

In Mammon's House of Greeeeed!"

Mammon on TV had ended with a pose, a wink and a "Cha-ching!" followed by maniacal laughter.

On a rooftop, Blitzo and Fizzarolli spun around in a circle, hands together. They found themselves staring into each other's eyes. Fizzarolli was a lot like Blitzo in many ways; energetic, bold, and always ready for a good time. Although Blitzo loved his sister, Fizzarolli provided a sense of relief from his family life and the stresses of the circus.

Fizzarolli had such a sweet, genuine look on his face, with or without makeup. They had gone through countless routines and adventures together over the years. Blitzo couldn't imagine having anyone else as his best friend.

"Ah those were the good times," Blitzo mentioned.

Blitzo and Fizzarolli laughed as they harmonized and finished their song. Blitzo and Fizzarolli slowly leaned their faces toward each other, the world fading away. Their lips briefly grazed before Fizzarolli excitedly pulled back.

"Speaking of good times…" Fizzarolli said.

Blitzo smirked. "Going for more than a kiss, are we?"

"Maybe later," Fizzarolli declared, returning a smirk. "But I almost forgot! Tomorrow, we have a grand opening performance in the Greed Ring at the Big Top! And Lord Mammon's supposed to be there!"

Blitzo's eyes shined, and his grin grew wide. "No fucking way!"

"I'm serious, my friend! The Big Man himself will finally get to see us in person!"

Blitzo and Fizzarolli jumped for joy and hollered in excitement.

"I'm so nervous, I might shit my pants!" Fizzarolli admitted.

"Me too!" Blitzo added.

The imps ceased their jumps.

"I've been waiting years for this moment," Fizzarolli explained. He strode toward a Mammon poster between two fliers that read, "Blitzo and Barbie at the Big Top: One Night Only!" Like "Ozzie" for Asmodeus, Mammon's common nickname was "Mamoney."

Fizzarolli tenderly touched Mammon's face on the poster with his sharp, black-painted nails. "All these years of working our asses off, worrying of failing and going broke on the streets. I'm so glad I signed Mammon's special contract last year. This could finally be my big moment!"

Fizzarolli giggled until he saw Blitzo's glare.

"Uh…our big moment I mean."

"And mine as well," called a familiar voice. Barbie Wire strut forward, wearing a black dress with a yellow Mammon jester face on it. "Anything with Mr. Mamoney in it is great enough for me."

Fizzarolli's cheeks turned pink as he walked toward her. "Hi, Barb," he said sheepishly. Barbie Wire smiled at him, wearing red lipstick. "Fizzy." Barbie rang a slender finger down one of Fizzarolli's striped horns.

"Barb?" Blitzo asked, eyebrow raised.

"That's her nickname," Fizzarolli stated. "Close friends can have nicknames, right?"

Fizzarolli pulled Barbie Wire close, and she batted her eyelashes. Blitzo made a disgusted face.

"But she's my sister!"

Barbie Wire smirked and did a brief middle finger at Blitzo. "But you're my brother!" she retorted.

Fizzarolli pulled both twins close. "So, who says I can't have the best of both worlds?"

He winked before separating the hug. Blitzo groaned in frustration as Barbie rolled her eyes.

Fizzarolli added, "I've known you two for a long time, already. Love is love, even in Hell, right?"

"Whatever, Fizz." Then Blitzo fired at his sister. "But he's known me the longest, bitch!"

"Guess what, shit clown?" Barbie responded, hands on her hips, "He and I have done more performances together. And it appears you're falling behind on your annual fan ratings, brother."

She winked and stuck out her forked tongue.

Fizzarolli held a piece of paper that showed their faces next to stars. Fizzarolli's face had 4.5/5 stars, Barbie had 4/5 while Blitzo only had 3.

"So, what if I'm not as fuckin' famous right now?!" Blitzo shot back, his face red, eyes angry. "My jokes are still legendary!"

Fizzarolli whispered to Barbie. "They are getting kinda stale."

"I can hear you!" Blitzo spat.

Fizzarolli rolled his eyes. "Jealousy does not look flattering on you, Blitzo."

"It really doesn't," Barbie added.

"Will you two cum-suckers shut the fuck up?" Blitzo glowered, jealousy raging in his veins. Blitzo enjoyed spending time with Fizzarolli alone and Barbie alone, but whenever the two of them got together, things got heated fast, in multiple ways.

Blitzo looked away from their perplexed faces. "Let's just get ready for the show."

"Good plan," Barbie called. She and Fizzarolli held hands as they faced a downward road.

"Hey, where are you going?" Blitzo called as Fizzarolli and Barbie Wire began to wander off.

"To bed," Barbie replied with a laugh.

Blitzo crossed his arms, his tail swishing from side to side slightly. "If you perverts come back and I find any babies, I'll kick your asses to the pentagram moon."

All three of them laughed out loud before going quiet.

"Seriously, no funny business," Blitzo warned, narrowing his eyes.

"Will do, Fast as Lightning," Fizzarolli joked as he and Barbie did cartwheels down the road. Blitzo did two middle fingers at them before sulking away.

0 0 0

The next evening had arrived, the green sky of Greed revealing a moon and shining stars. All three imps were in their respective changing rooms backstage. Barbie Wire was putting the finishing touches on her costume: silver barbed wire-like sequin designs on a red and black unitard. Barbed wire spiraled harmlessly around her black ram horns, while she wore a wire collar and bracelets to match. There was even barbed wire snaking around her tail. The silver sequins emphasized the shape of her seductive breasts. Her lipstick was red, and her sharp nails were black. She smiled a sharp-toothed grin while looking in the large circular mirror decorated with round bulbs on the rim.

"Are you ready, Barb?" called a serpent-like demon with rainbow-colored hair.

"Ready as ever," Barbie replied, before taking her place behind the velvet red curtains.

With some effort, Fizzarolli got into his new jester outfit. It was black, white, and green with yellow money signs on the bottom near the green trim. His striped pants were red and white, and his high shoes were black with dollar signs on the tips. The yellow and black jester hat had three folds with bells hanging from the ends.

Fizzarolli looked in dismay in the mirror near his hat. One of his horns had caused a tear in the fabric covering it, the horn tip visible.

Although dozens of demons around Fizzarolli actively praised him for his performances, there were many others who turned their noses up at the mere sight of him.

"Look at that imp scum, trying to buy himself into showbiz," one demon had whispered before Fizzarolli had arrived backstage, just enough so the imp could hear.

Another joined in. "Imps can't do anything except nasty pranks, murders and squatting in their own filth! Little bitch probably caters to inbreeds."

"Good riddance to you, low-class clown!" sneered a third.

Fizzarolli briefly touched the hard horns under his hat, briefly glancing at a nearby knife laying on the table. The blade shone under the round overhead lights.

How simple could it be…to get rid of his imp features altogether? Sure, it'd be painful, but that was surely not the worst he had experienced. How different would demons treat him if they didn't know he was an imp in the first place? After all, he had received praise on stage, whereas in the streets, he received nothing more than passing glares that burned his core.

Fizzarolli found himself slowly reaching for the knife…

But…no. Not now. Especially not before the show. Even if the horns had become a mental hindrance in the past several years…wait, what the fuck was he even thinking?!

With a sigh, Fizzarolli retracted his hand from the knife, getting his thoughts back to the blissful world of escape and entertainment.

Time to prove to Mammon how devoted he really was.

At last, Blitzo had finished prepping himself for the show. He recited a few lines, while staring at himself nervously in the mirror. Unlike Fizzarolli, Blitzo and Barbie had no qualms about being seen as the true imps they were. If anything, proving to the world what they could do made things all the better.

Blitzo currently looked dashing in a sparkly red body suit decorated with gold and green lightning bolts. He even had a small Mammon jester accessory pin attached to his front for the occasion. Decorated on the back of his outfit was a gold horse head. Despite not associating himself with Donner anymore, he couldn't help but imagine him shocked when Blitzo would blow the Rings away with his comedy and tricks.

Blitzo had looked up to Mammon deeply for many years…now was his chance to properly introduce and prove himself.

The three imps took their places behind the curtains.

"Presenting your favorite stars…you know em', you love em'…Fizzarolli and the Amazing Imp Twins!" Donner announced under the spotlight.

Fizzarolli, Blitzo and Barbie Wire posed as they stepped out onto the stage. The arena stands surrounding them were filled to the brim with cheering and hollering demons. Some were holding up signs reading "We Love You Blitzo and Barbie!" Other signs read "Fizzarolli, Our Stunning Star!" A few more signs had drawings of barbed wire and a heart, a jester with money signs, and a horse with lightning bolts making up the mane.

"Thank you all for coming!" Blitzo recited in his showman voice into a microphone. "Your minds will be blown, and your eyes might miss some things, because I'm fast as lightning!"

Chuckles erupted.

"Barbie Wire, high on the wire, with a new spark up her sleeve," Barbie trilled with a pose. Decorative sparks flew from her horns and hands.

"Holy moly, I'm Fizzarolli!" the imp added. "If you don't hear any sex jokes right away, don't be dicks about it! Because we have lots of acts cummin' to ya, first!"

More laughter.

Blitzo then cast a wary eye at a seated figure up above.

Mammon sat in a high VIP section, scrutinizing every detail down below. Menacing Mammon was at least eight feet tall with a pale white face, glowing eyes, and a three-pointed black and dull gold jester hat with bells on his head. His jester outfit had matching colors and elegant designs on it. Wolf bodyguards and a few clowns with spears stood guard beside him. Mammon's sharp gold toothed grin was enough to send shivers of fear and excitement down Blitzo's spine.

Donner began: "Welcome one and all, to this spectacular night featuring Hell's all-time favorite circus thespians: The Helluva Hooligans!"

More imps and demons dressed in bold costumes spread out and posed around the arena.

"And I'd like to formerly welcome His Greedy Marvelous Majesty, Lord Mammon, who has decided to witness the signature acts of my prized prodigies!"

More cheers as Mammon stood up, trumpets sounding as he waved. The three imps briefly lowered their heads in bows. He appeared to be staring straight into Blitzo and Fizzarolli's souls as he sat back down.

"Now without further ado," announced Donner, arms spread wide in the spotlight, cane in hand, "Let the spectacles commence!"

Blitzo, Fizzarolli, and Barbie Wire gave affirmative nods to each other as circus music blared.

This was going to be their best performance yet.

0 0 0

Their first act consisted of a welcoming musical to honor Mammon. As sinister circus music played, Blitzo, Barbie, and Fizzarolli broke out into song, singing Mammon's "House of Greed."

"Come one, come all, denizens of Hell

To greener pastures oh so swell!

If you ever feel poor, depressed or low,

The kingdom of Mammon is where you can go

A land full of treasures, greatness indeed

Amusement and games for your every need

Plenty of goods for you to feed

Experience that and more in Mammon's House of Greed!"

Fizzarolli danced with both Barbie and Blitzo, the imps spinning in a circle. The audience clapped and tapped their feet to the music as confetti and streamers sprinkled to the ground. Mammon himself was enjoying the musical but was also anxious to see the imps do their signature tricks.

"Now that's what I call a fucking masterpiece," Mammon remarked. "Now let's see what else you amusing little jokesters can do…"

0 0 0

The rest of the performances went off without a hitch. Fizzarolli came up with the crudest, most hilarious jokes that even caused Mammon to wheeze with tears in his eyes. Fizzarolli then proceeded to impress the crowd with a series of backward flips around raging snakes and bats. He bent his body completely backward and blew kisses to his fans. A fangirl in a jester costume squealed in delight and tried to race toward him. An aged Bailey yanked her by the tail and tossed her back into the stand.

"Idiots," he scoffed.

Barbie leapt from hoop to hoop, doing graceful flips and using her tail to help with momentum. She waved upside down to her cheering fans and did some bows after landing on stage with a triple flip.

"Who brims with fire and desire?" she called out.

"Barbie Wire!" chorused the crowd.

Fizzarolli and Barbie shared passionate looks of triumph as they stood together under the blaring spotlights. Mammon and Donner were grinning at each other in the VIP and exchanging bottles of alcohol.

"You're gonna be filthy rich, my friend," Mammon praised Donner. "Thanks to your incredibly talented spawn." Donner's deepest wish was almost in his grasp.

"I look forward to my reward, and doing more business with you, my lord."

Meanwhile, Blitzo was calming the fire-breathing three-headed white horse. He ducked from a blast of flame, before giving a cue to them. After flipping onto their back, he did a victory ride around the arena. After the horse reared on hind legs and came to a successful stop, Blitzo popped pieces of hay and flesh into their three mouths.

"Blitz! Blitz! Blitz!" chanted the audience as Blitzo waved. Mammon seemed impressed with him as well. Blitzo smiled and joined his fellow imps. A few members of the crowd tossed coins and money at the other Helluva Hooligans. All three of the imps smiled…here was where they belonged. Even Donner was quite pleased at their professional status. Fireworks boomed into the night sky.

"Here it is," Donner announced. "The last and most thrilling act of tonight! Prepare to have your hearts and minds blown to smithereens!"

Just then, something moving in the distance caught Blitzo's eye. Almost blending in with the shadows was a tall skeletal black horse with a voluminous moving mane, tail, and glowing teal eyes. It was Spindle the horse, a being who could travel through the fabrics of space. Its aura glowed red and static-like black blocks danced in and out around it. The horse gave off a divine, enigmatic presence. Blitzo thought he heard a faint whisper of a woman's voice.

Blitzo thought back to the last time he saw that being. He had calmed and befriended Spindle many years ago when he was little at another show. It had vanished soon after.

That's when it came to him. He had not seen Spindle since…

"Fuck…"

Flashes of his mother's blank stare lurched into his mind, tightening his gut, and filling his core with a sense of dread.

Just before he could make sense of the omen, the horse had vanished into the shadows once more.

"Blitzo! Bro!" Barbie barked into his ear. "Let's go! Our final act!"

Blitzo followed his sister and friend up a ladder high above the crowd. There they were faced with their hardest and most dangerous challenge yet.

"Good luck, assholes! Hahahaha!" Donner called in a drunken craze. An empty bottle of Greed Mead sat next to him, drowning out any last sense of humanity he had for his children.

Blitzo gulped at the obstacles ahead of him. A precarious tightrope hung in the air, with several large hoops lit on fire, just enough for an imp to squeeze through. Instead of a safety net down below, there lay a pit of sleeping deadly fire snakes. A large portion of the floor had mechanically slid to the side to reveal the hidden pit underneath.

"When the fuck did they install that?" Barbie asked, aghast.

"We'll be the first ones in all of Hell to do this stunt," Fizzarolli breathed in realization. He pointed with a shaking finger ahead. "Once we complete this…we're set for life!"

Up on a platform on the other side was a large bag of coins and three medals for each of them. A contract taped to the bag declared the imps would, indeed be blessed and rich for life, signed Mammon.

Blitzo's eyes grew wide, his face pale. He could barely comprehend the sudden cruelty designed on the spot by Donner and his menacing jester boss. There was a very good chance that they would fail…

…and not survive.

When Blitzo thought things couldn't get worse…

"Blitzo, you're up first!" Donner called.

Blindfolds were placed on their three heads and small balancing sticks were placed in their hands.

"Good luck," Fizzarolli assured. "We'll be right behind you."

Blitzo gulped and lifted his foot. He took one hesitant step forward. His breath caught in his throat when he felt empty air. Maneuvering his foot, he finally found the thick rope. He slowly lifted the other foot and put it in front of him, using the stick to keep himself upright.

"Slowly now," he told the others.

Fizzarolli and Barbie took deep breaths as they inched their way forward behind Blitzo. The minutes dragged on and on. Blitzo tuned out the cheers and gasps of the crowd, focusing on his objective.

Step, balance to the right, step, balance to the left, pause, step, step again…

Blitzo felt the heat of the first hoop, centering himself and trying not to get too close.

"Steady now."

Blitzo and the others walked along the rope through the first large hoop. They were met with the crowds "oohs," and "ahhs."

They inched forward carefully before reaching the second and last hoop.

"Halfway there!" Blitzo declared. The announcement pressed the trio forward.

Blitzo soon felt the fiery heat of the second hoop.

"Almost…almost…"

The sound of a crying baby down below in the stands caused Blitzo to inadvertently lean toward the right in distraction. His hand grazed the hot metal of the hoop and he cried out.

"Arrrgh!"

Stumbling, he ripped off his blindfold, telling the others to do the same. Three black blindfolds fell into the pit. Several sinister hisses sounded as the fire snakes woke up. Blitzo then made the terrible mistake of looking down.

"Shit! Shit! Shiiiiiit!"

Blitzo fumbled off-balance and screamed in terror, leaning backward and bumping into Barbie.

"Aaaaahhh!" she yelped, ramming backward into Fizzarolli.

The three imps struggled to maintain their balance, waving their arms, frantically grabbing at air.

"What the fuck, Blitzo?!" Fizzarolli cried as Blitzo found himself hanging upside down from the rope, his boot catching under Fizzarolli's tail and taking him down as well. Barbie maneuvered out from between the two males, wrapping her tail around the rope to keep her balance.

Fizzarolli was pulled down and ended up clinging onto Blitzo's waist. Blitzo held onto the rope above for dear life.

"Barbie!" Blitzo yelled. His sister held his hands tightly, trying to pull him and Fizzarolli up. Barbie leaned forward to try and get a better grip.

"Hold on!" she called.

To their horror, the rope was slowly falling apart under the weight. The snakes snapped at Fizzarolli's dangling feet.

"Help!" he cried.

The rope got thinner and thinner on the side where they had started at.

"Run, Barbie!" Blitzo pleaded. "It's gonna break!"

With a heavy sigh, Barbie stood on her feet and sprang forward, flipping over the flaming hoop. She managed to barely grab the platform on the other side.

In a panic, Blitzo accidentally kicked Fizzarolli in the face, sending him down into the pit.

"Fuuuuccck!" Fizzarolli wailed in terror as he plummeted into the flames.

"Fizz!" Blitzo cried.

Just as Blitzo leapt on all fours, the rope fell away with a snap.

"NOOOO!" Barbie screeched with wide eyes.

Blitzo plummeted to the ground in a heap.

The flames rapidly climbed and progressed, causing the flaming hoops to fall as well. The crowd soon screamed and scrambled to escape the spreading hellfire. The fire consumed the rest of the tent, leaving only charred remains of fabric, stands, the money bag…and several bodies. The decorated Helluva Hooligans trailer tipped over and exploded.

Further outside, a wheezing Bailey grabbed a drunken Donner and shoved him off a ledge out of harm's way.

"Don't bite the dick that quenches ya," Bailey mumbled with a glare at Donner.

Bailey then collapsed to the ground and did not move again. The glow of the flames cast a hellish orange against the night sky.

Blitzo coughed and gagged at the suffocating smoke around him. Miraculously, he had not fallen into the fire pit, but instead landed a few feet away. Through the haze, he could make out the struggling, seizure-like figure of Fizzarolli squirming in the pit.

The screams coming from his best friend would haunt him for life. Fizzarolli's eyes rolled back as the snakes bit into his arms and legs. The flames only increased the pain; blood and bone became visible.

Fizzarolli spotted a fallen ax nearby. His horns suddenly felt heavy on his head.

"Wimp imp!" he heard imaginary voices mocking him. "Cum-sucking low-life!"

Some of those voices sounded like his lost parents.

Weakly, he took the ax in his right hand and with a wince…began to slice off his own horns.

He screamed through the pain and smoke, as muscles and bones cracked. One horn finally snapped off, before the other one fell off a few minutes later. Fizzarolli stared at his discarded, asymmetrical bloodstained horns next to him with a mixture of horror and relief.

He shouted deliriously, "I'm an imp no more! Bahahaahaahhh!"

Blitzo was nowhere to be seen. Fizzarolli had seen Blitzo fly above the fire pit and knew that he had abandoned him right then and there.

If only Blitzo hadn't fucked this performance up!

Perhaps Blitzo had been jealous of his rapid fame and caused the accident on purpose. Yes, that had to be it! With his thoughts jumbled up, he couldn't think clearly through the agony.

In his head, he could almost see Blitzo with a smug expression on his face as all the demons cackled over his battered imp appearance.

Just as Fizzarolli was about to embrace his death in the flames, a looming figure stood above the pit in shadow. He waved his hands and the flaming snakes shriveled up into embers. Fizzarolli smiled deliriously into the face of his savior. Just before Fizzarolli fell unconscious, Mammon picked him up and proceeded to brutally rip off the remains of his burnt arms and legs. Now there was nothing but bloody burnt stumps where his horns, arms and legs used to be. The sizzling and odor of burnt flesh reeked of decay and death.

"Pathetic," Mammon spat with disgust as he carried Fizzarolli's limp form away.

The animals burst out of their cages, trampling demons and imps in their path in their attempt to flee the flames. More screams and the sounds of thuds and crunching. Blitzo started to sob out loud when he saw the fallen body of his three-headed white horse friend beside a tipped over cage. He crawled toward her side in agony, feeling her limp charred body in the smoke.

Tears spilled from his eyes like waterfalls.

"I'm sorry…"

He leaned his head onto the horse's coat.

After saying a sad goodbye, Blitzo crawled back to the pit, smoke consuming the air. He wailed in pain at every movement, sure that some of his bones were broken. He looked on in horror at the remains of Fizzarolli's horns and limbs in the pit. Blitzo suspected that Fizzarolli inwardly hated the kind of demon he was…but thought nothing of it until he had heard Fizzarolli's haunting cry, "I'm an imp no more!"

To throw away his identity while so close to death…it was worse than suicide.

In his blurred vision, Barbie was screaming his name, frantically looking around and coughing near the pit. The remains of the tent started to crumble down above him. The remaining Helluva Hooligans grabbed Barbie and carried her to a nearby ambulance just as she spotted Blitzo.

Blitzo's lungs constricted, and his body crumpled to the ground. Blitzo heard the faint cries of his sister and the wail of an ambulance before everything faded to black.

0 0 0

"Blitzo?"

Blitzo heard a voice that almost sounded like his mother. He had several dreams of riding Spindle across a flaming wasteland, the sky filled with psychedelic colors. He was hugging and kissing a smiling Fizzarolli. Both of them were naked. They were about to caress each other's dicks, when Fizzarolli vanished. Then his father's face loomed over him, mouth opening wide and swallowing him in darkness. Blitzo then found himself sinking into a pile of balloons as Barbie Wire and Fizzarolli kissed passionately above him. Distorted music played as Imp City was destroyed in a pile of confetti before Blitzo slowly opened his eyes.

A stark whiteness made his eyes hurt and he found himself in a hospital bed. An imp nurse stared at him with concern. His body was nude, and the burnt areas were wrapped in white gauze.

"Thank Satan you're alive," the nurse remarked.

"If this is double hell, I think I want death," Blitzo deadpanned as pain and awareness rushed back to him.

"Take it easy," the nurse said when Blitzo tried to sit up.

"How long have I been out?"

"Four days."

"The fuck?"

Blitzo looked around. "Where's…where's Barbie?"

"At another hospital," explained the nurse. "Thankfully she only had a few minor burns on her tail and scratches on her arms."

Blitzo blinked and sighed softly in relief. "What about Fizzarolli?"

The nurse lowered her head. "I'm…sorry. We don't know where he is."

"He's…gone?"

More silence.

Blitzo instantly felt a twinge of guilt. If anyone had to die, it should've been him. His distraction had caused the disaster in the first place.

"I have to go back and tell the others…"

"Don't bother," said the nurse. "I'm afraid your circus has been…disbanded."

"What?"

"It's sad, but true. At the other hospital, my colleague told me that Mammon had visited Barbie. He told her, 'Come visit me anytime in my mansion, baby,' and kissed her on her hand."

"Gross," Blitzo scowled.

"And I hate to say this but…your sister is scheduled by Mammon to perform on her own next week once she's recovered."

Blitzo was speechless.

"Apparently, Barbie's popularity got out and Mammon wanted to make sure her shows would continue."

"Why hasn't he visited me?" Blitzo asked.

"Well because of…well…"

The accident. Of course.

Not to mention Donner badmouthing him to Mammon probably had played a part in that.

Fear spread through him. As soon as he was better, he'd be left out on the streets. No mother, no father, no sister, no…

Fizzarolli no longer felt like a close brother friend anymore. Already, his time in the circus was fading away like a fleeting memory. He missed Fizzarolli's charming antics and hugs.

They could've had a lot of fun alone together…

"I have nowhere else to go," Blitzo pleaded. "Please…is there anywhere else I could work?"

"Not that I know of," said the nurse. Then she pondered in thought.

"Although, Mammon has just finished his Loo-Loo Land theme park in central Greed. I'm sure you could find a job there, given your showbiz experience."

Blitzo sighed. It was worth a try.

"Get some rest," said the nurse. "Sorry again for your loss."

She wandered away to tend to other patients, leaving Blitzo alone with his thoughts.