Dan Vs. The Demon Sisters
-Chapter Eight-
It had been a couple of hours since Panty had left, and Chris and Brief were both sitting at the kitchen table, both lost in feelings of worry and anxiousness for their friends. Stocking had been pacing around the kitchen, also feeling somewhat concerned with her sister's tardiness, though not to the same degree as the two at the table. They had tried contacting them roughly twenty minutes ago, but Panty wasn't answering her phone, and Dan wasn't repsonding over the walkie talkie, which only added to the thought that something happened to them.
Suddenly, the three of them heard the sound of the front door opening, and they all rushed into the front room. Panty strolled into the house, followed by Dan, who walked with a bit of a dizzy tiredness. Panty looked at the group as Dan flopped onto the couch. "What?" She said. "Nobody's going to say 'hey'?"
Brief and Stocking both looked like they had figured out what had kept the two of them, but Chris seemed to still be completely oblivious. "What happened?" he asked. "What kept the two of you for so long?"
"We, uh, got a little sidetracked on the way back," Dan said from the couch. "It's not important though. What is important is what I called you about before I was so rudely interrupted by the Demon Sisters. Show 'em the note, Panty."
Panty handed the note to Chris, and he began reading it, Stocking and Brief peeking over either shoulder. Panty continued talking as they read. "It looks like those bitches figured out that we're hot on their trail, so they're stepping up the pace and getting the place torn down in just a couple of days."
"Which means," Dan continued. "That we need to act tomorrow, or they'll be able to pull this whole scheme of theirs off without any interference whatsoever."
"Please tell me this is a joke," Chris said. "We're not even close to ready to going up against them!"
"Speak for yourself," Stocking said. "I've been itching to get at those sluts ever since we heard they were all the way out here!"
"That's a great attitude you've got there," Dan said. "Just hold onto that thought until tomorrow. Panty and I have been talking over how we're going to pull this off, and we think we've got a plan that's foolproof."
"That's right!" Panty said, driving her fist into her open palm. "Those bitches won't know what hit them!"
"Well, it's good that you two have taken the initiative," Brief said, looking at the clock. "But we'll have to discuss it tomorrow morning. I think it's time that we all went to bed. We'll have to be well rested if we're doing this tomorrow."
"Brief's right," Chris said, stretching and yawning. "It's almost midnight, and we'll have to get up bright and early if we want to pull this off." Chris turned around and headed for his bedroom. "Good night, everybody," he said, giving a wave. Brief followed suit, headed for the guest bedroom, while Dan stretched out on the couch, and rolled over to face the back. As Panty went to follow Brief, however, she was pulled aside into the kitchen by Stocking.
"Panty, you really didn't do what I think you did," Stocking whispered, "did you?"
"Stop being such a nosy bitch," Panty hissed. "What happened happened, I'll tell you about it some other time. Right now I want to get some sleep." She turned and walked into the guest room. Stepping around the cot that had been set up for Brief, she knocked on the door to the bathroom. "You in there, Geek Boy?"
"Just a minute, I'm changing," Brief said.
"Stay in there, I don't want you walking out on me while I'm changing," Panty said. Stocking walked into the room shortly afterward. Panty was in the process of changing into her pyjamas (consisting of nothing but a t-shirt and panties), while Stocking fished her black nightgown out of her bag.
"That's so typical of you, Panty," Stocking said. "You're left alone with a guy for one fucking second and you're all over him."
"Would you shut it?" Panty said, discarding her dress on Brief's cot. "At least I'm not the one who started gorging herself on cake the second it came into view."
"That's a different situation entirely," Stocking said, climbing into the bed. "Besides, it wasn't even that good."
"Whatever, let's just drop it," Panty said, climbing in beside Stocking. "Move over, you're hogging all the fuckin' sheets."
As the two drifted off to sleep, a voice came from behind the bathroom door. "P-p-panty?" Brief said. "Can I come out now?"
-The Next Day
The five of them pulled up in front of the two apartment buildings at around noon in Chris's car. Yellow caution tape had been put up around Casa Paridisio, and a few people in construction gear were milling around it, taking various measurements and marking spots around the building. Dan's car still sat outside of the building, three of the tires deflated. They noticed that Scanty herself was having a heated conversation with someone who they assumed to be the foreman.
"What are they saying?" Dan said. "It could be important, and we're missing it!"
"Hold on for a second," Chris said. He reached over and opened the glove compartment, where a number of gadgets lay within. He rummaged around, and pulled out what apeared to be a microphone with a dish around it. "We should be able to hear them with this."
"What's with all the gear?" Stocking said, peeking over Dan's seat.
"Elise keeps it in there in case of emergencies," Chris explained. "I've never really understood why, there's a accident kit in the trunk with a first aid kit and other stuff in the back, and I can't see any real use for most of this other-"
"Will you shut up?" Dan said. "We're wasting time!"
"Oh, right!" Chris said. He rolled down the window and aimed it at the two arguing across the street. They could hear the two of them over the speaker on the device.
"-know who you're talking to? I could buy your company and have every single one of you fired if it struck my fancy!"
"Look lady, I'll explain it to you again. We can't bring the place down until that apartment is empty. It unsafe to the workers, somebody could be seriously injured if that fridge fell on the, for instance. Now, we can reschedule so you can have somebody come in and clean the place out-"
"We've already rescheduled once, you neanderthal! It has to be done tomorrow, end of story!"
"The job ain't gonna get done any faster if you keep shouting at me, ma'am. If you don't want to be reasonable, you'll just have to find someone else to do it for you."
A sigh was heard over the microphone. "Alright, I have a proposal. What if I paid you double your rate to simply look the other way and tear down the building with everything still inside."
It was silent for a moment, the foreman seemed to be considering the deal. "Alright, you've got yourself a deal. I'll need it in cash though, and if anything happens to my workers, though, we'll be seeing you in court."
"That won't be a problem. It's been a pleasure doing business with you." The two shook hands, and Scanty turned and headed back to the Démon Arms. They all ducked down to avoid being spotted by her.
"Okay, so it's definitely going to happen tomorrow," Chris said.
"Let's get a move on," Dan said. "I'm sure that those guys are going to go in there and start stealing my stuff at some point."
"Alright, so everybody remembers what they're doing?" Panty said. Everybody nodded, and Chris and Brief stepped out of the car. They ran around to the back and pulled out two bags embolized with a logo from the costume store. They ducked into a nearby alley, and after a few minutes, they walked back out. They two of them were both dressed up as construction workers, and both wore false facial hair, Chris with a short beard, and Brief with a small mustache. They walked across the street, and they took their positions. Chris walked up to the foreman Scanty had been talking with earlier, while Brief simply made himself look inconspicuous.
"Are you sure this'll work?" Panty whispered to Dan as they watched.
"Trust me, Chris knows what he's doing," Dan said. They all watched intently through the car windows.
Chris walked up to the foreman and tapped him on the shoulder. "Hey, boss, what was all that about?" He inquired.
The foreman gave a jump. "Don't sneak up on me like that!" He shouted. "You nearly gave me a heart attack!"
"Sorry about that," Chris said.
The foreman sighed. "Nah, it's my fault. Shouldn't have snapped on you like that, it's just that those Démons've been on my case all day. Some idiot left his apartment full o' junk, and they want us to tear the place down anyway." He shook his head. "Ah well, we'll probably just have someone clear it out and dump it all in a dumpster somewhere."
"No kidding," Chris said. He looked at his watch. "Hey, you know it's almost lunch? Why don't we all take a break. You seem like you could use it."
"Yeah, maybe you're right" The foreman agreed. He picked up a megaphone. "Hey, time for lunch guys!"
"Hey, I've got an idea," Chris said. "Why don't we all go out and grab a bite to eat down at the burger place? It'd probably help get your mind off the Démons. I'm buying!"
The foreman thought for a moment. "Yeah, sounds like fun. We need someone to watch over the equipment, though."
"How about him?" Chris said, pointing over to Brief. "Between you and me, I think he's kind of been slacking off today."
"Sounds like a plan," He picked up the megaphone again. "Hey, you! With the red hair!" Brief looked up at the foreman. "Yeah, you. Stay here and watch the equipment, the rest of us are going to go grab a bite to eat down at the burger joint!" There was a short cheer from the rest of the workers, and they all began piling into the trucks, Chris with them. He gave a short signal to Dan and the girls as he climbed in with the foreman, and they pulled away, leaving Brief alone surrounded by construction tools. Dan, Panty, and Stocking all climbed out of the car, and they made their way over.
"Excellent," Dan said, rubbing his hands together. He unclipped the small walkie talkie from his collar and handed it to Brief. "Here, you hold onto this. Chris'll give you the signal once they're headed back. Make sure you're finished and gone before then."
Brief gave a nod, and started loading all the equipment into one of the trucks that had been left behind. Dan then rushed over to his car, and popped open the trunk. Panty and Stocking looked confused. "What're you doing?" Panty asked.
"You remember yesterday, when you dropped me off to get my car back?" Dan said, rummaging within. "Well, like I explained then, it costed more than the Demon Sisters gave me, so I used Chris's credit card. That left me with $2,000 to spend on whatever I wanted. There was a shop just by the lot that claimed to sell paraphernalia related to demon hunting, so I figured it'd be worth a look." He seemed to find what he was looking for. "That's where I found this baby." He pulled out his purchase, and Panty and Stocking gasped, while Brief nearly dropped the toolbox he was carrying.
Dan was holding a large metal hammer with ornate carvings all over the head and handle. It was rusted, chipped in places, and seemed to be stained with what appeared to be blood. On the face of the hammer was a familiar symbol.
"Hang on a second," Brief said. "That's the same symbol that was scratched into the wall in your apartment!"
"Sure is," Dan said. "The guy in the shop said it belonged to an ancestor of his who had conquered some great evil thousands of years ago. I didn't believe him, of course, but I figured I could at least cause some massive head trauma to those Demon Sisters with it. So, I bought the thing for just short of two thousand dollars, and brought it back with me."
"So let me get this straight," Panty said. "That's the same hammer that your ancestor used to beat the shit out of the Ghost under your building?"
"Probably," Dan said. "And now I'm gonna use it to show the Demon Sisters that they messed with the wrong guy!"
Dan rushed over to the Démon Arms with the hammer in tow, while Panty and Stocking followed in hot pusuit. Soon, Dan thought, as he burst through the doors. Soon I'll finally have my revenge!