Hazbin Hotel: The Million Year Old Sinner

by SenoirNathaniel

Stumbling into the undergrounds of Hell, Vaggie and Charlie meet a towering behemoth of a caveman named Oogar, who had spent most of his years beneath the surface. Oogar joins the two and enters the redemption program at the Hazbin Hotel, where he goes down a perilous path to redemption against powerful demons and his own primordial fears.

30. The Battle on Blood Lake, Part 1

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

Hello everyone, Senior Nathaniel here. I am fully aware that this story has been sitting in dormancy for half a year now and I figured I'd might as well explain why it's been like that.

The reason why mainly stems from the fact that a lot has been going on in my life that it's been getting hard to focus on MYOS ranging from work and personal issues. That along with a general lack of motivation and procrastination. It's not that I don't care about this story anymore, it's been my passion project for basically two years now and I don't plan on abandoning it any time soon. But the thing is that my motivation has been waning for a while and my mind has also been eyeing other projects, making it difficult to focus on one and stick with it.

I'm also writing this because of the fact that I'm generally disappointed in myself for letting everyone wait this long for the new chapter. I've always made it a priority to keep things consistent with a monthly update to the story. However, with more personal stuff piling up, monthly updates just didn't seem too feasible. For a while, I've been harsh on myself over this but I've come to accept that I'm not really on a deadline nor should I put this kind of pressure on myself either. I'd rather work on my passion project at my own pace than force some kind of tentative deadline.

My sincerest apologies to all of my followers/readers, I'm genuinely sorry for keeping you waiting this long. But with that out of the way, I hope you enjoy this new installment and I hope to continue on with MYOS in the future.

---

Millions Of Years Ago...

The only sounds that echoed from the gorge were the screech of hundreds of mammoths whose numbers were chipped away by the seconds. Neanderthals had their spears lodged into the flesh of the great beasts, with some falling from a lucky shot to the head while others still managed in spite of a jagged stone blade pierced into their hide.

Though, this was anything but a one-sided battle, as tribesmen who weren't careful enough, found themselves being slammed against the surrounding canyon walls or crushed beneath the foot of an enraged mammoth. The Matriarch who had led her herd into this ambush did her best to guide her remaining troops to the end of the ravine. A spear or two was lodged into her back while trails of fresh blood ran down from her massive body, although she was more than capable of trekking on without it.

Feeling his body being wildly trashed about in the air, Oogar kept his grip on the spear shaft with all of his might. The mammoth that he was lucky enough to hitch upon bucked and whipped its body around, even going so far as the slam itself into the neighboring rock walls, causing snow and debris to tumble down from the cliffs. The mammoth's falling resulted in Oogar's body sliding forward as he desperately held onto his spear. However, as the spear tilted forward, the blade began to unstick itself from the mammoth's back.

Oogar tried to slowly crawl his way back on top of the megafauna but the mammoth's constant thrashing resulted in the spear slipping right out of the wound. Before he made his tumble, the young Neanderthal snatched onto the spear as he slid down the pachyderm's body, bouncing off the top of its head and flipping right in front of the mammoth's face with one arm grabbing onto its crown while his body carelessly dangled in the wind. The mammoth's eyes widened, seeing the hunter was now latched onto his face as it screeched with rage before wildly shaking its head.

With the mammoth wildly bucking its head around, it motivated Oogar to hold on tighter. Due to the hunter impairing its vision, the pachyderm had trouble seeing what was up ahead as it began to run in a zig-zag formation, crashing right into gorge walls that reverberated along the cliffside.

As Oogar, the mammoth that he was dangling onto rammed itself into the adjacent cliffside yet again, striking it with double the force. Sizeable rocks and heaps of snow made their descent from the cliff's peak as a result of the mammoth while Oogar looked on with terror from the approaching landside. Fortunately for the young hunter, he took notice of another mammoth that was a good few feet away from the one he was riding. Knowing he had little time to avoid the falling rocks, he used all his muscle to spring himself off from the mammoth's face before hitching a ride onto its brethren's tail.

The mammoth felt a heavy, uncomfortable weight pull down on its tail as it forced out a screech while slightly stumbling off to the side while the hunter, Dag, on its back tried to maintain a grip on its hide. Oogar managed to climb his way onto the elephant's hind legs, his strength seemed to have faltered from the altercation with the last mammoth, with him struggling to keep himself holding onto the behemoth. His grasp was beginning to wane and matters only grew dire when the mammoth's stumbling resulted in the spear slipping from his other hand.

Dag tried to keep himself fastened onto the megafauna, repeatedly jabbing his spear into the monster's back as blood spurted from its wounds. While the giant didn't seem too fazed by his attack but Dag was certainly unwilling to let up. Right when he was about to score another blow, a cry for help from behind caught his attention as he turned to see his fellow tribesman dangling from the hindquarters of the beast.

"DAG!" Oogar cried out as loud as his lungs could muster, amidst the screeching of mammoths and the cries of a dozen more hunters.

"OOGAR!" The skull-headed hunter exclaimed, forgoing his hunt to save his brother from plummeting. Dag wasted no time as he crawled across the mammoth's back, fighting against the harsh wind currents and the pachyderm writhing its gigantic body around. Oogar was gradually losing grip to the point that the only thing stopping him from falling down and getting crushed from below was but a few strands of mammoth hair. Just as it seemed his life was about to meet an abrupt end, he felt something clutch at his wrist before being hoisted onto the mammoth's back.

Dag was able to help his comrade onto the beast's back, giving him a brief moment to properly orient himself. The sleeker Neanderthal had no time to scold him for his sloppiness as he tugged at his brother's arm with a firm yank before carefully leading him to the center of the mammoth's back. Dag figured that he could use this to his advantage with Oogar whittling down the mammoth's stamina by impaling it in the back while he inched toward the megafauna's head to ensure a killing blow. The mammoth wasn't planning on making it easy, however, as it started to buck itself around in a wild frenzy, desperate to get the hunters off of him.

Both hunters had clung onto dear life with Dag coming close to falling over had he not gripped onto a clump of mammoth hair. The behemoth didn't intend on stopping as it repeatedly rammed against the cliffside as snow and debris rained down from above, but the hunters were still latched onto its body like a pair of leeches. The mammoth began to veer to the opposite side in order to get some momentum in for this next ram. Dag, meanwhile, saw this as an opportunity to come into the kill as he pushed himself forward and managed to straddle himself right onto the mammoth's neck, preparing to skewer the beast's brain with one good strike.

However, this never came to fruition as the mammoth charged right into the cliff with a potent shoulder check, one that threw both hunters off their balance while the spear in Dag's hand slipped from his hands. The jagged dropped to the floor where it was subsequently stepped on by the mammoth, the stony blade inserting itself beneath its right foreleg. The megafauna unleashed a pained wail, bucking its head back as it stumbled right into its brethren, the result of which knocked the mammoth and a hunter on its back off course. This led to another mammoth getting rammed and then another for a chaotic chain reaction ensued in a frenzy of pachyderms knocking into each other and Neanderthal's being thrown off their rides.

Dag and Oogar, acting fast, quickly leaped from their target, favoring their own lives over their game, and onto a mammoth up ahead while the beast they were riding toppled to the ground upon colliding with its kin. They didn't stop there, however, the chaos was soon spreading as mammoth came charging from the right-hand side. The duo made sprung themselves from opposite ends, Oogar landing on the left shoulder while Dag landed on the right. Dag and Oogar both parted ways from one another, by leaping to the next mammoth in order to outrun the throng.

The youngest of the two found himself landing right onto the tusks of a moving mammoth, gracefully swinging himself back and forth for extra leverage before catapulting himself into the air, avoiding behind smashed in between two megafaunas that came colliding with one another. The airborne Neanderthal found himself sailing over the madness before landing right on top of the back of a juvenile mammoth, one that was dwarfed by its fellow herd members. While the young calf was already in a panic, the hunter mounted onto its back and prompted the juvenile to go into full overdrive as it frantically sprinted through the gorge, narrowly avoiding being stampeded by larger members.

Oogar found himself ducking and weaving around larger mammoths, trying to maintain control over the calf by grabbing a hold of its ears in an attempt to steer it. This only seemed to exacerbate the mammoth calf, who charged right between the hindlegs of a mammoth and darted underneath the beast. Oogar ducked his head down, feeling its shaggy torso hairs graze along his back as the calf made it to the other end, hurrying out from between the charging beast's forelegs and past its elongated tusk. The juvenile neared the tusk's tip but in its panic, it failed to see a pot embedded in the craggy ground beneath and stumbled forward as a result.

With a sudden jolt, Oogar was flung off the juvenile, losing his spear in the process. The adolescent Neanderthal would have been dropped to the ground and met a subsequent demise by the foot of a stampeding mammoth had he not reached out and grabbed onto the tip of the tusk. He narrowly straddled his legs onto the tusk, awkwardly dangling from the pachyderm's tooth similar to a monkey holding onto a tree branch. Glancing from the side, Oogar realized that not only was he in the lead of the stampede but he also took notice of Urgora, situated atop the mammoth's matriarch, only a few feet away from him.

Oogar tried to call out to his tribe leader but his screams were dulled out by the surrounding cacophony of mammoth screeches. The boy felt his arms start to ache but he refused to let go as he started to readjust himself. Unbeknownst to him, the mammoth took notice of the hunter hanging from his trunk as the beast swung its head to the side before swinging it in a hasty motion, launching the boy right into the matriarch's direction, the boy screaming in a panic the whole way.

Urgora was relentless in her assault on the herd's matriarch. Furiously jabbing at her neck and back in order to weaken the beast. But her bombardment of spear jabs came to a sudden halt when she heard a faint and familiar scream slowly enter her field of hearing. Cocking her head to the side, the chieftain's eyes widened to see Oogar soaring through the air and grasping onto the mammoth's thigh. The boy shakily pulled himself onto the megafauna's back but halfway through it, he felt the iron grip of his leader clamp down on his wrist before pulling him close.

The two Neanderthals met eye-to-eye, the tribal leader was perplexed as to how Oogar managed to get to her in the first place. Not only that but she also took notice of his discerning lack of a weapon, hitting him with an aggravated glare. Behind his helmet, Oogar sheepishly smiled while giving an awkward shrug as Urgora reached for her sash and drew forth a jagged knife, promptly handing it to Oogar.

The Matriarch noticed that just up ahead, the herd was nearing the end of the gorge with a spacious land waiting on the other side. Without hesitation, the Matriarch picked up in speed while the remaining mammoths followed suit with some hunters who were unable to react in time being jettisoned off their game. Dag was not too behind the matriarch albeit with a considerable gap between him and the lead mammoth, having already jumped from beast to beast to get this far. The mammoth he was riding tried its best to shake him off but with a burst of energy, he graciously darted onto the mammoth's head and slid down the trunk.

The pachyderm whipped its trunk upward, unintentionally allowing Dag a boost as he took the air. He soared across the gap like a hawk in flight with a couple of onlooking hunters impressed by his agility before the young man perfectly landed on the matriarch's hindquarters. Urgora was already processing Oogar's sudden appearance when Dag caught her attention, wondering how in the hell these two managed to catch up with her. Though, questions were better saved for later when the three realized that the matriarch was nearing the threshold.

Soon enough, mammoths stampeded out from the opening and onto the snow-caked plains with hunters who had managed to get back on their feet chasing after them with spears and knives. What was once an organized hunting strategy soon devolved into pure chaos.

As the gorge emptied there was all but a trail of bodies, both Mammoth and Neanderthal alike, to lay in the gorge to marinate in their own blood while shattered spears littered the rocky floor.

The falling snow gently fell upon the lifeless corpses, the cold had arrived to collect the dead.

---

The Dark Forest...

Crashing against the dirt with a loud 'BOOMPH', Oogar landed feet-first onto the soil while trees shook from his thunderous entrance. Though his landing may have been perfect, the mammoth demon nearly stumbled on his first step. He gazed down at the garbs still clung onto his muscular frame along with his blood-caked hands, snarling with dejection and fury as he haphazardly tore his clothes off. The only thing remaining of his clothes were mere strands of fabric that dangled from his shoulders. The beast stormed off into the brush, smashing his way through the forest in a blind rage, knocking over trees with mere swings of his arms while logs were kicked miles away.

As he viciously cleared a path for himself, Oogar couldn't help but roar out with burning anger. These growls weren't out of ferocity and towards being humiliated, it was solely anger towards himself. Tears flew from his eyes as his rampage lead him to a noticeably larger tree compared to the rest that he had so easily bulldozed right through. As his knuckle crashed against the trunk, the tree flinched slightly as branches snapped off from the impact.

Furrowing his brow, the caveman wrapped his arms around the bole before digging his nails into the bark. With all of his strength, Oogar began to heath the tree from its roots as it was pulled right off the ground. With the tree hoisted over his head, Oogar prepared to launch it into orbit when out of nowhere...

"That seems quite unnecessary, wouldn't you say." a deep, firm voice called out to him. Oogar cocked his head in the direction of where he heard the voice, being met face to face with Raum, unintimidated by the gargantuan behemoth and his showcase of freighting strength.

"May you please put that down? You're going to startle the wendigos." He politely asked, the caveman's rage slowly but surely subsiding as he let the tree roll right out from his hands and onto the ground. The whole forest quaked the second it struck the soil, both demons perfectly standing still in midst of the tremor. Completely unmoved before the trembling ceased.

"What you want...?" Oogar grumbled, turning away from Raum while tightly clenching his fist.

"I was merely taking a walk when I noticed, or better yet, felt your outburst," Raum said, briefly looking around to take in all the environmental damage Oogar had caused. "I don't mean to pry but if it's not too much to ask, what's the meaning behind all this?"

"Why should Oogar tell you!? Crow just laugh at Oogar like everyone else!" Oogar shouted with anger, the Goetia could already sense hurt resonating from his words.

"Now why would a stranger's plight be my amusement?..." Raum said, taking a couple of slow, relaxed steps forward though he made sure to keep a good distance from the caveman so as to not provoke him any further.

"Though, as I said before, I don't wish to pry and if you prefer to be alone, I will leave you be." The crow offered, giving Oogar a moment to ponder. The mammoth demon's instincts favored that he'd be alone, however, he knew that this was an associate of his mother, one who pledged unshakable loyalty to her. Despite going against what he told himself internally, Oogar figured he could offer a small bit of trust to the Goetic demon.

"...Oogar would like to talk." Oogar huffed.

"Very well then, why don't we take this elsewhere? It's a bit stuffy in these woods and I would much prefer discussing matters by the lake. What do you think?" Raum proposed, the caveman giving a slight nod in response. "Follow me then."

Raum gestured for Oogar to accompany him as the caveman trailed the Goetia from behind, the two demons making their way through the dense forest with only the crackling of sticks and leaves behind their feet and the haunting screeches of wildlife disrupting the silence. In their brief walk through the woods, they happened up on a set of bones jutting from the soil. Raum carefully stepped over them, not paying any mind to it. Meanwhile, Oogar was too caught up in his own mind to notice them, resulting in him accidentally stepping onto a bone or two, crushing them into a fine powder.

"Hey!" A muffled voice called out, Oogar looked down to see an imp skull sporting an axe embedded in its cranium pop out from the dirt and leaves. "That's my ribcage 'yer steppin' on!"

"Oh... Sorry..." Oogar sighed with despondency before trekking onward, another mistake added to his laundry list of tonight's embarrassments. Continuing their way through the dark forest, Oogar and Raum found themselves emerging from the treeline and stepping into the lakefront. Before the two demons laid a vast bed of gleaming crimson blood that seemed to go on for almost an eternity while the light of the dark, pentagram-engraved moon bounced off of its reflective surface. Oogar stood in awe at the grim yet mesmerizing sight, Raum, on the other hand, merely drew closer to the lake before stopping near the shoreline.

"Beautiful isn't it?" Raum commented, his gaze fixated on the lake as the bloody waves crept along the terra-firma and splashed against his talons. "Normally, there'd be an ominous fog filled with the screaming souls of the damned but it seems that tonight's a lot clearer than usual."

"Yeah... It nice." Oogar replied, traipsing toward the shoreline, leaving behind sizeable footprints in the damp sand. Oogar stood beside Raum, enjoying the serenity after such a harrowing ordeal. Far from that madhouse of invasive eyes, sneering faces, and biting insults of scorn and ridicule. The caveman looked down at his feet, seeing the blood flow around his ankles before retreating back into the murky redness. The moonlight shimmering off the blood provided a wavering, shadow-esuqe reflection of the behemoth, leaving a silhouette of himself.

"Oogar don't understand..." The caveman quietly said, watching his undulating reflection dance in the blood.

"Understand what?" Raum asked, cocking his head over to the larger demon.

"Oogar don't understand that... that..." He brought up his shaky, blood-caked arms. Serving as a reminder of his horrific outburst, he could still make out the horror on both his mother's faces. "...Why no one wants Oogar..."

"And what do you mean by that?" Raum pressed with another question, his full attention concentrated on what his neolithic acquaintance had to say.

"Oogar tried to be like them. Fancy, smart, proud. But no matter what Oogar do, they still don't want Oogar..." Oogar lamented, his eyes beginning to well up with tears.

"Oogar not good enough! Never good enough! Oogar is Oogar and everyone has problem with it!..." The caveman indignantly exclaimed before reaching down to pick up a stone from the ground and hurling it across the scarlet red lake, letting it skip along the blood with high speed and momentum causing it to catch on fire before striking right into a tree that was situated near the shore on the farther side of the lake. The caveman had watched the tree collapse almost immediately, watching it unfold before his eyes as he breathed a saddened sigh.

"Did... Did Oogar do something wrong?" He said, glancing over to Raum.

"No, you didn't do anything wrong," Raum assured before setting his sights back on the blood lake. "You're you and no one should dictate what you should or shouldn't be. It all falls on you."

"Oogar know that but... Why do they not accept Oogar? It's like Oogar shouldn't exist..." The caveman expressed his frustrations in the best way he could, despite his primitive dialect, it seemed as though Raum understood just what he was saying.

"Unfortunately, there are those who are unwilling to accept others based upon mere differences. Whether it be how they speak, look, or any mere piece of trivia for that matter..." Raum solemnly expressed, having witnessed many of his supposed 'peers' demean and berate those they considered below them. "...But your differences are what make you."

"Make Oogar what?..." Oogar questioned, cocking his head over to Raum.

"You, that's who" Raum replied.

"Me?" The caveman tilted his head, confused by the crow demon's response.

"Yes, you." Raum said with a slight chuckle. "Personally find it ridiculous how those who are different are treated with hostility. To me, it should be celebrated and understood. Why hate someone that you barely know?"

"...Well, what does Oogar have to do to make them... not hate me?" The bigger demon asked, raising a brow. His mind had never pondered such questions, it was almost as though Raum held the answers to all his questions.

"Simple, nothing." Raum deadpanned, confusing Oogar with such a minuscule and fairly underwhelming response. "Why must one hide under a mask imposed by the forces around them when you are the best you there is?"

"But, they don't like Oogar..." Oogar lamented.

"Why do you want them to like you so much?" Raum questioned, prompting the caveman to avert his gaze slightly as if to avoid embarrassment.

"I embarrass mamas if they don't..." He shamefully mumbled.

"Why? They already love you, do they not?" Raum replied.

"Y-Yes... But Oogar has to change so everyone else can like Oogar... Oogar must change..." The caveman explained to the best of his ability, looking back at his bloody reflection.

"You're right about one thing. Change is inevitable but it can't be imposed by others or how one may look at you." Raum said, the caveman perked his head up slightly. "Change is only through self. There's no such thing as a perfect you, but there is a better you."

"...So, Oogar must be better?" Oogar said, shifting his gaze back to the crow-like demon.

"No. Oogar must be happy. Tell me, did being someone that you weren't make you happy? Did it make your mothers happy?" Raum said, Oogar looking back on his actions in the ballroom and the looks of discomfort on both Charlie and Vaggie's faces.

"...No..."

"If you want to make people happy, start with the people that you love. People that love you in return. No one else has to matter if you don't want them to." Raum elaborated on his statement, his words resonating in Oogar's mindscape. The caveman pondered for a moment before backing away from the scarlet shore until reaching dryer terrain, before sitting down without uttering a single word. Curious, Raum followed him, anticipating a response.

"Oogar... would like to be alone. Need time to think." Oogar said, resting a hand on his cheek.

"Very well then, but before I depart, there is something I'd like to do for you." Raum replied, kneeling down at the caveman's level before extending one arm out and moving his wrist back and forth in a gentle swatting motion. The caveman was unsure what the Goetic demon was trying to accomplish but suddenly, he felt a warm air breeze against his fur. The Von Eldrich blood that grafted to his body dried up when exposed to this air before shedding itself into nothingness. Even the fresh blood from the lake dried and blew off from the caveman's ankles and feet before his body was immaculate, fur and all.

"There we are. I figured you needed that." Raum said with a nod while Oogar looked at his newly-cleaned hands and down his chest, amazed at what the crow had done for him.

"...Thank you, Raum..." Oogar expressed with genuine gratitude and a shaky voice, genuinely moved that someone of his status took the time in his night to help someone like him.

"And like that, you're kinder than any of the people that you were trying to impress. You're very welcome, young man." Raum replied with an honorable smile before parting ways with the paleolithic demon. "Farewell, Oogar. I hope to see you again soon."

"You too." Oogar replied, a spark of hope had ignited within him from this discussion. He watched as Raum trod off into the forest, leaving the caveman alone with his own thoughts once again. With nothing left to do, Oogar simply sat along the shoreside and reflect on this troublesome night, though his exchange with Raum allowed for his mind to be in a state of tranquility. A calm sigh blew through Oogar's scruffy beard, the behemoth slumping forward with his hands placed under his cheek, getting his upper body sloppily suspended.

As stinging as the insults thrown at him were, coupled with the Von Eldritch's attempt to defile his image, he knew amongst all the vitriol, his family still believed in him. Although that may have been true, Oogar still looked back on that moment with much shame. Disconcerting the ones who had loved him with all his heart with a foolish masquerade before letting his bestial rage get the better of his judgment.

He hoped that he had not incurred the wrath of his grandparents but what worried him most was his mothers. As far as he knew, they were mortified at what he did and were probably worried sick given how far he had disappeared off into the hellish wilderness. Despite his demonic nature, Oogar could only pray for what he could do to make things right. Grabbing onto another stone that was close to his side, the caveman chucked it right into the blood lake with an underhand pitch. He figured he could still find a way to entertain himself to clear his mind. The rock soared through the air before splashing right into the murky redness with an audible 'plop'.

Ripples formed along the blood's surface as the stone sunk into the depths, the aquatic life inhabiting the scarlet lake didn't seem to mind as monstrous fish swam along through the redness without a care in the underworld. As the rock made it to the lakebed, a smaller guppy-like fish curiously scurried up to it in order to inspect the sudden appearance of the stone. While its tail was turned, a large predatory fish crept up from behind and prepared to make a meal out of its smaller prey. Suddenly, both fishes noticed something coming their way, a colossal writhing figure that easily eclipsed both of them in size. The two fishes shrieked with terror and swam away in a hurry, not wanting to end up in the stomach of a leviathan.

Back on the surface, Oogar hurled another rock into the lake with much of the same results. It made a moderately-sized splash and sank to the bottom as expected. Oogar was about chuck another stone when all of a sudden, the rock that he had previously thrown into the lake shot right back out of the surface and bounced towards the caveman, stopping when struck against his foot. Bewildered by such a turn of events, Oogar quickly picked up the rock that had been launched from the crimson depths, carefully examining it.

The caveman was certainly not expecting something like this to happen and he wondered who or what could have caused this. Looking up, he noticed wavelets beginning to take form on the blood's surface. They started off as minor undulations but gradually evolved into rapidly splashing waves while bubbles arose toward the surface. Through turbid depths, an elongated figure was beginning to emerge into sight. Most alarming was that it seemed to be heading straight toward the shore.

Hastily standing up, Oogar's flight or fight mode had kicked in. He debated on whether to separate himself from this potential danger or stand his ground. As the figure drew closer to shore, its gargantuan body breached from the surface as blood ran off its scales. It was here that the creature finally revealed itself to be a gigantic serpentine creature with crimson scales that matched the same color as the bloody lake that it emerged from and protruding from its snout was a horn that resembled that of a rhinoceros' horn. The serpent's slender body stretched at an astounding length, almost spanning at least two to four miles. Its eyes glowed a fierce, bright orange glow, it was like staring into two suns at once.

Blood ran off the snake's scales while its disgustingly long tongue protruded outward from its mouth as it produced a spine-chilling hiss that sent chills up Oogar's spine. The caveman remembered the day at the creek when he was but a boy when he was attacked from the brush by that anaconda. He could still feel its scaly coils sliding down his shoulder and wringing around his neck.

As the snake fully emerged from the shallow redness and slithered its way onto the shore, it gazed down upon Oogar with his fiery eyes, the caveman stunned at a beast as enormous as this.

"Ah, Guten abend, homeless man. Could you point me in ze direction of King Lucifer's mansion? Zhat vould be great." The serpent politely asked in a thick German accent.

"W-who are you?..." The caveman asked, stunned by the serpent's imposing figure. A faint smirk could be seen on the gigantic snake's face, almost taking pride in leaving the sinner awestruck.

"Vwell, I'm glad you asked! I am ze most feared lake monster in ze Blood Lake! Perhaps you've heard of me..." The serpent replied arrogantly, wiggling the upper portion of his body in a cocksure manner before stopping, awaiting a response from the caveman.

"Uuuuh..." Oogar didn't have a proper response to this, he had just laid eyes on this monster and he was expecting him to know his name.

"...Start with ze letter 'J'...~" The massive snake added, giving Oogar a clue as to what his name was. However, this wasn't enough as Oogar merely scratched his beard in confusion. Letting out a sigh, the snake pushed its body to a higher level while striking a fierce pose, much akin to a cobra about to strike.

"I am ze nightmare of ze red depths! Ze serpent zhat vould make even Levitan hide avway vwhith fear!" He proclaimed proudly, looking off into the dark crimson skies with a cocksure smile. Despite his flair, it still didn't seem to wow Oogar, who stared blankly at the snake without much of a reaction to his flashy titles. Leering back down, the snake began to grumble something under his breath, most likely an obscenity in his mother tongue.

"Have you ever heard of Jurgen?..." He said, finally exchanging his name with the caveman as he leaned further toward the caveman. "...Ze son of ze World Serpe-"

"Oooh! Oogar know him! Grandpa told me story about how he fought giant snake!" Oogar exclaimed, Jurgen gave out a defeated sigh before his tail slithered up and wrapped around his snout as the serpent shook his head in disapproval.

"Mhm. Ja and zhere it is. It alvways goes to zhat, IT ALWVWAYS GOES TO ZHAT!" Jurgen cursed with genuine ire. "It's never 'Look out, here comes Jurgen!', it alvways got to be 'Oh hey, your dad is Jörmungandr! Zhat's SOOOO cool'..."

"Well... Oogar thought you coming out of the lake was cool..." Oogar replied with partial sympathy, hoping to cheer Jurgen up with flattery.

"Look, I get it. I'm not as good as my father but zhat's going to change! Anyvways, I'm gonna go destroy Lucifer. Take care." Jurgen said, slithering off. Oogar would have simply let the serpent trail off but upon hearing that last comment, he knew he had to step in.

"Wait! No!" The caveman yelped, quickly stepping in front of the massive serpentine, who stopped dead in his tracks and looked down at the sinner with mild annoyance. "Oogar won't let you hurt grandpa!"

"Oooooh... Ze King of Hell is your Opa? Ja, I TOTALLY see ze resemblance. As a matter of fact, I almost thought you vwere him for a moment!" Jurgen sarcastically remarked, obviously incredulous to Oogar's claim. Using his tail, he politely nudged his small annoyance aside before continuing onward. However, this didn't stop Oogar from climbing over the snake's tail and stepping in his way again, further chipping away at his temper.

"He is Oogar's family! Oogar won't let you harm family!" He roared, hoping that the snake would back down. Instead of yielding, Jurgen rolled his eyes before reaching into his white mane with his tail. He proceeded to pull out a crinkled-up twenty-dollar bill before handing it to the caveman.

"Look, I get it. Ze housing crisis is getting vworse and it's hard for a sinner like you to get around. Just don't spend it all in vone place, ja?" He said half-heartedly, condescendingly patting Oogar on the head with his tail before slithering near the treeline. But right before he reached the forest, a large stone pillar erupted right in front of him, catching the serpent off guard.

"Snake not know this, but Oogar not having good night. Oogar don't want any more of this!" Oogar protested while Jurgen looked at the stone spire and merely pushed it aside with a bump of his coils. The pillar collapsed onto the floor with a loud crash echoing through the forest.

"Look, can I level vwith you here? I NEED zhis vone. I've done everything I could to start an intense battle and NOTHING has vworked!" Jurgen relayed his frustrations with a sense of genuine exasperation.

"I leave doors and vwindows open vhwen zhey shouldn't be, he zhinks it's a draft. I steal his rubber duckies, he buys seven more units of zhem! I write you smell on zhe vwalls and VWHAT does he do!? He takes it to heart and has a bubble bath!" The serpent cursed, angrily slamming his tail onto the floor. "Look, just let me have zhis. Kay? Kay, glad to have zhis talk."

But just when Jurgen could continue on, he was struck right in the face by a sizeable rock that shattered into small fragments upon impact. The giant snake recoiled his head back and shouted with discomfort, shaking off the impact before glaring daggers at the caveman, who was responsible for hurling the boulder at him. Oogar showed no signs of timidness or regret for what he did, he looked Jurgen back in the eye with a glare of his own. Enough troubles had plagued this night and he certainly didn't want another problem to worry about.

"...Okay zhen." Jurgen sighed, reeling his tail back before whipping it forward. The snake's body slammed right into Oogar, sending the behemoth crashing through the forest. He cleared through the trees, snapping right through them as though they were twigs. Oogar's flight through the forest came to a smashing end as he collided back first against a humongous tree sturdy enough to withstand his body striking against its trunks. Leaves and branches fell from the canopy while little cherubs fluttered around the caveman's head before he shook himself back into reality. Letting out a snarl, the caveman carefully positioned himself on the tree, facing the direction where he came smashing in before planting his feet against the bole...

BWOOOOOSH!

And with a push of his own two legs, Oogar launched himself back at speeds that were unlike that of a fighter jet. On the other side of the spectrum, Jurgen crept his way through the bleak woods, contemplating how he was going to carry out his attack on the king of hell.

"Now zhen, how vwill I got about zhis... Should I sneak up on him vwhen he least expects it OR should I just smash my vway in? Ze old unexpected entrance alvways seems to do ze trick..." Jurgen said to himself aloud before suddenly stopping when his columella picked up on something. Going off sound, it was a faint scream drawing ever so closer to the serpentine.

"Vwhat is zha-"Jurgen was given no time to process when he was stricken by Oogar, his feet slamming right into the enormous serpent's jaw. The Son of Jörmungandr's son was sent reeling back, his lengthy body crashing against the nearby trees that buckled down from his colossal weight striking against their boles. Oogar, meanwhile, flipped back onto the ground and cracked his neck, easing up his tense muscles for a potential battle.

"Snake leaves now. Stays away from Grandpa's home. Oogar won't ask again!" Oogar roared, putting his dukes up in a defensive stance. Jurgen lifted his head off the ground, shaking off sticks and leaves that had gotten stuck in his mane. He proceeded to turn his attention to Oogar, letting out an enraged hiss as he menacingly slithered towards the caveman, glaring down upon his source of frustration.

"Okay, fine zhen. I tried to be nice, I tried to be reasonable but fuck me for being cordial!" The serpent cursed, if peace was off the table then he certainly knew what his next step had to be. "Might as vwell get you outta ze vway, after all, you'll for a PERFECT vwarm up..."

Baring his fangs and emitting another hiss, Jurgen lunged toward Oogar at high speeds with the sole intention of gobbling him. The caveman dove right out of the way, letting the serpent and his massive slender body pass him by but Jurgen quickly made a swift U-turn and made a second strike. Oogar stomped his foot onto the ground, resulting in a stone wall shooting out from the ground in order to block off his serpentine fore. Jurgen, however, weaved his body upwards, scaling up the wall and slithering over it as he continued trailing toward his adversary.

With a twist of his ankles, Oogar sprung himself high into the air with a small stone pillar erupting from behind his feet to evade being swallowed by the approaching snake. Jurgen wasn't without a plan despite his adversary evading his second charge attack. As he slid along the ground, the serpent raised his tail and swung it in a downward motion, effectively swatting the caveman out of the air. Oogar crashed against the detritus with a loud 'BANG', leaving a fairly large crater in the dirt behind. Slowly lifting himself off the ground, Oogar gave out a disoriented groan as he struggled to maintain a proper stance.

The caveman sadly didn't have time to fully orient himself as he was met with Jurgen charging full force at him with his maw wide open. Oogar didn't have time to avoid the attack but he did, however, put his hands out right in front of him in hopes of stopping the snake in his tracks. This was proven ineffective because the next thing Oogar knew, he was being dragged through the forest while hanging onto Jurgen's lower jaw.

"Ack! Get off!" Jurgen cursed, thrashing his head around while his body continued trailing through the forest, leaving behind a fresh groove in the soil. Oogar's body was violently thrown about in the air, the caveman refusing to let go of the snake's jaws. In a gambit to free himself from his smaller opponent's grasp, Jurgen deliberately turned right into the nearest tree and rammed headfirst into it with Oogar smashing through the trunk. The tree collapsed to the side but Oogar still held on, only motivating Jurgen to smash through several dozen acres worth of foliage. Effectively clearing a path through the woodlands.

Clenching his teeth and gripping tighter, Oogar fought through the pain of nearly a thousand splinters poking into his back like acupuncture needles. After breaking the umpteenth tree, Oogar suddenly thrust his whole body downwards with his feet jabbing into the dirt below. Jurgen's whole body came to screeching to a halt, his tail awkwardly recoiling from the sudden stop as he tried to force himself forward but Oogar miraculously managed to hold him back. Just as it seemed as though Oogar had the advantage, the horn on Jurgen's snout began to crackle with bright electrical streaks.

"LET... GO OF ME... BIZNATCH!" The serpent roared, his horn glowing brighter before striking Oogar with a fully charged blast of pure electricity. Oogar roared with pain from the burning zap while the energy output forced the caveman back, sending his body careening against a tree trunk. The tree collapsed from the sheer impact hitting against its bole as the crackling wood filled the air followed by the earth-shaking thud of the tree. Laying on the tree with smoke resonating off his body, Oogar slid its trunk and flopped onto the ground as a pained wheeze blew through his beard.

"Oogar smell like burning..." The caveman commented, slowly picking himself up, unaware that his larger opponent was looming over him. Sneering with both disgust and annoyance, Jurgen swung his whole body down to crush his opponent. Oogar was suddenly ripped out of his haze when he felt several tons of scales and flesh crash down upon him, the lower half of his body nailed into the ground like a tent stake.

"Zhere vwe are! Vone more and zhen vwe are done~" Jurgen said with a chuckle, bringing his body down a second time to effectively bury his foe alive. Oogar wasn't going to let this slide as he raised his arms outward, letting the serpent slam his body on top of him. Jurgen did slam himself onto the ground but something felt off, he felt like part of his underbelly wasn't fully connected to the soil. This was further confirmed when felt part of his body being lifted off the ground, catching the giant snake off guard.

"Was zur Hölle!?" He exclaimed, trying to force his slender body down but to no avail. From underneath the serpent's stomach, Oogar partially held his massive body over his head. Oogar knew he only had a small window of time to hold off his serpentine foe and in that opportunity, he pushed both arms upward to keep the snake's underbelly airborne for a split second. Oogar brought down his two fists onto the surrounding soil and in doing so, a pillar of rock rocketed out from beneath his feet, shooting the massive caveman out from the dirt, essentially turning himself into a living bullet.

BANG!

Upon smashing into his underbelly, Jurgen gave out a loud, pained gasp as though the air in his lungs had been forcibly punched out of him. His attacker quicky descended back to the ground, moving out of the way just in time for the snake's mid-section to fall back onto the ground. Jurgen coughed and wheezed, lowering his head onto the forest floor in order to catch his breath.

"Ooooh... I zhink I'm going to... URK..." The snake's cheeks puffed up and his eyes rolled into the back of his head as he vomited out a small wooden boat containing an elderly imp with a long beard and thick glasses holding a fishing rod.

"Dagnabit, Unice, keep it down! I almost caught ding dang leviathan!" The imp turned around, shaking his fist at his nonexistent wife before resuming 'fishing'.

After vomiting up a poor unsuspecting fisherman, the giant serpent lifted his upper body back up while wiping away excess saliva dribbling down his chin. However, he immediately realized that he had forgotten all about Oogar as he swung his head around left and right in an effort to find him. However, he didn't have to look for long enough for his smaller, hairier adversary for the caveman had launched himself right into the serpent's left eye and struck him dead on with a heavy punch.

"GACK! CHEAP SHOT, CHEAP SHOT!" Jurgen screeched, swinging his elongated body in a frantic motion, his coils accidentally bumping right into the fisherman's boat, sending the old imp flying off into the distance.

"HOOOOH BOY, THIS ONE'S A FIGHTEEEEEEEEEEeeeeeeeeerrrr..." The fisherman shouted, disappearing beyond the hellish horizon.

Returning to the fight, Jurgen angrily lunged himself at the caveman with one eye closed but Oogar was quick enough to maneuver over the snake's head to avoid his snapping jaws but didn't account for an electric blast right in the chest, effectively swatting the mammoth demon out of the air. Jurgen didn't stop there as he briskly spun his lengthy body in a counter-clockwise movement, raising his tail high into the air as it smashed into the caveman down to the forest floor. As Oogar made his rapid descent, the son of Jörmungandr maneuvered his body into a striking formation and fired himself at the falling caveman, preparing to chomp down on him mid-air.

"OHOHO!~ YOU'RE MINE NOW-AURRAUCK! ARE YOU THERIOUTH…"

While having been walloped and throttled thoroughly by the serpent, Oogar managed to react in the nick of time as he grabbed onto Jurgen's tongue. The snake's eyes widened at the sudden weight of the caveman grabbing onto his tongue, stopping dead in his tracks while the mammoth demon dangled from his forked tongue.

Jurgen flailed and jittered his head around, oscillating his smaller adversary back and forth. The serpent's thrashing unintentionally assisted Oogar, giving him some good momentum for him to swing off the snake's tongue. As Jurgen's tongue swayed rightward, Oogar released his grip from it and swung right over the right-hand side of the serpent's head, managing to reach out and snatch a strand of silvery hair from the gigantic serpent's mane.

"Blegh! Oh, mein dark lord, zhat vwas DISGUSTING! Your caveman hands taste like dirt, svweat, und ass…" Jurgen gagged with disgust, wiping his tongue with his tail to rid his mouth of lingering demonic germs. Just then, he took notice of the caveman dangling off his mane from the corner of his eye, the snake giving out an irritable hiss in response.

"Hey, hands off ze hair! I just shampooed!" Jurgen exclaimed, violently swaying his head from side to side but Oogar had quite the grip on his mane. Jurgen brought down his head and slammed it right down onto the ground, sending dirt and twigs scattering in every direction like a hailstorm. The caveman winced from the sudden impact with his grip weakening slightly while his serpentine opponent sporadically rolled around, leaving deep grooves into the forest floor. Despite thrashing and bucking as wildly as he could, Oogar still dangled off his mane.

Jurgen lifted his head back up for another bid to get the behemoth off of him but the caveman took him by surprise by tugging at the hairs of the snake's mane. This resulted in his head jerking back at an uncomfortable angle while Jurgen struggled to yell out with pain, only sputtering out a series of grunts. Oogar proceeded to slam his feet against the nape of his neck, pushing all of his weight down onto the serpent's neck, resulting in the beast suddenly collapsing onto the detritus.

Oogar didn't seem to let up as he had his feet firmly pressed down on the snake's neck, the serpent gagged and coughed with his breathing reduced to a significant degree while his tail frantically jittered about in the air. It was here that Jurgen's body began to slowly curl up in an arched formation, trying to keep his breath through his nose in spite of the crushing weight pushing down upon his neck. Oogar began to angrily pull at the handfuls of hair on Jurgen's mane as a way to get him to tap out, his opponent's face even starting to turn visibly blue.

Jurgen could feel himself gradually faltering but he refused to give in now, he still had a nonexistent score to settle with Lucifer and this neanderthal wasn't going to put a damper on his harebrained scheme. The caveman didn't seem to notice that Jurgen's body was slowly recoiling back and right when he noticed, it was too late for him as the massive serpent took off in a burst of impeccable speed, almost breaking the sound barrier as he fired himself through the dark forest with Oogar haphazardly dragged along with him!

CHOOOOOOM!

"OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOH CRUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUuuuuuuuuuuuddd..."

---

Somewhere else in the forest...

"OOGAR! OOGAR, WHERE ARE YOU!? BANG TWO ROCKS IF YOU CAN HEAR MY VOICE!" Vaggie desperately called out at the top of her lungs, her voice echoing throughout the forest. Though, no matter how loud she screamed, there was nary a response. Sighing with a mix of annoyance and worry, Vaggie turned her head up to the canopy of a nearby tree.

"Do you see him, Charlie?..." She asked, Vaggie's girlfriend high off the ground and standing atop a tree branch to get a better view of the forest with a small plume of hellfire emanating from her palm, acting as a sort of illumination to improve her sight as well as a beacon to draw Oogar towards her. Unfortunately for the demonic princess, there was no sign of her son much to her dismay.

"No..." Charlie replied with a dishearted breath, the Hispanic demoness pinching the bridge of her nose in response.

"Que me jodan..." Vaggie grumbled to herself before perking her head up to Niffty's shrill voice.

"Excuse me, sir? Have you seen a demon around here? Very big and hairy, wearing a monkey suit?" Niffty asked aloud, seemingly to herself at first glance.

"Hoo."

The hotel manager turned her head around to see the cyclopean demon was talking to an owl, standing within a tree hollow.

"My friend, Oogar."

"Hoo."

"I just told you my friend, Oogar! Have you seen him?"

"Hoo."

"I ALREADY TOLD YOU! HAVE YOU SEEN O-"

"Hoo."

"YOU DIDN'T EVEN LET ME FINISH! WHERE IS-" Right before Niffty could finish, the owl merely closed its eyes before turning its head at a one-eighty-degree rotation, effectively shutting her off.

"Oh. Wow. Okay. WOW. Okay fine, if you're gonna be rude then be that way because I'm not even gonna bother with you anymore. Also, just to let you know, your tree looks trashy and you smell!" Niffty immaturely insulted before angrily kicking a small cloud of dirt against the bottom end of the tree trunk.

"Try cleaning that up without a vacuum! Hmph." She shook her first at the owl before storming off with a huff, approaching Vaggie. "It's no use, Vaggie. The locals here are jerks, I guess we're on our own."

"Niffty, can you PLEASE stop screwing around and try to help us!?" The Hotel Manager groaned, putting her hands on her temples before slowly rubbing them.

"Hey, I'm doing the best I can!" Niffty replied defensively.

"Well, talking to animals and trees is NOT helping at all." Vaggie retorted.

"You don't know the kinds of dark secrets some animals may be hiding! ESPECIALLY, Dolphins..." Niffty said before grabbing Vaggie by the collar and pulling her down to her level, the cyclopean looking her dead in the eye morbid, stonefaced expression. "The things they do to their own kind..."

"Oh, for the love of-THAT'S ENOUGH!" Vaggie shouted, ripping Niffty's hands off her dress collar before angrily shoving her back. "Everything would have been perfectly fine hadn't you tagged along in the first place, Niffty! You're fucking lucky that you're affiliated with us, otherwise, King Lucifer would've had your ass on a guillotine!"

"Oooooh, I always WANTED to be executed via guillotine..." Niffty remarked with amazement before switching back to the main topic at hand. "Anyways, I had to come! Oogar looked nervous and I figured me, being the biggest bestie I am, would tag along!"

"And look what happened, you spoonfed Oogar heaps of useless information that lead him to humiliate himself before having a panic attack, and now he's lost in the woods all thanks to you!" Vaggie went on a scathing tirade, furious with the maid's actions.

"I-I was just trying to help!" Niffty replied with a faint stutter in her voice, her lips quivering and her singular eye looked as though it was welling up with tears.

"Yeah, you did and you made things worse..." Vaggie hissed back with venomous anger before Charlie descended from the canopy to prevent this argument from escalating any further.

"That's enough, both of you!" The Hotel Owner exclaimed, putting herself between Niffty and Vaggie. "We'll discuss all of this later, right now Oogar is out there somewhere and we need to put aside what happened and find him."

"Fine..." Vaggie groaned while Niffty hung her head in shame, racked with guilt over this whole ordeal. "So, how are things at the mansion?"

"Well, my mom and dad are currently bandaging up but once they're done, they'll come in to help us. Everyone else should be gone now and the Von Eldrich's are all being sent off to the hospital though they needed a helicopter and a seamstress for Frederick." Charlie explained to the best of her ability.

"Why a seamstress?" Vaggie replied, raising a brow.

"So that they could reattach his limbs," Charlie said, unfazed by the notion of her father's sheer brutality. "In all honesty, it's not the worst thing that's happened to him. You should've seen his face on my sweet sixteen. Nobody could recognize his face for a whole week..."

"Oh yeah, saw that on the news actually. I thought it was a horror movie until halfway through..." Vaggie recalled before shifting her focus back to the situation. "Anyways, let's just keep looking. Hopefully, Lucifer and Lilith will help us out once they fully heal up."

"Right, now let's keep going. We have a lot of ground to cover so maybe we could-"Right before Charlie could make her suggestion, she overheard a sniffle and looked down to see Niffty, a dejected look in her eyes and a wavering frown. She was on the verge of tears with

"Niffty…" Charlie said with a compassionate whisper, kneeling down to meet her at eye level as she put her hands on her shoulders. "I know this isn't what you wanted but you can still help us by finding Oogar."

"I-I know but I just wanted to help him but all I did was mess things up completely…" Niffty lamented with a sniffle, only to be pulled in for a gentle embrace from her employer.

"It's okay, Niffty. I certainly know what it's like to mess things up..." Charlie admitted, reflecting on the many blunders of her life. "But the important thing to do is pick yourself up and see what you can do to improve."

"O-Okay..." The cyclopean murmured out with a sniffle, wiping the tears away from her singular eye. "I-I'll do whatever I can."

"That's the spirit! Now let's get a move on, we'll find Oogar in no ti-"

RRMMRMMBMBRLRLBMBMBMBMBRLRLBLBLBLRRRMMBBL...

Right when Charlie could finish her statement, the ground violently shook in a tremor, catching all three demonesses off guard. Vaggie was quick to draw out her spear, readying for whatever came while Charlie tightened her embrace around Niffty in a protective manner.

"What the hell is that!?" Vaggie questioned, tensing up as the rumbling drew nearer. In a matter of seconds, Jurgen came blitzing through the forest with Oogar helplessly dangling from his serpent's mane.

"looooOOOOOOOOOOK OUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUT!"

And as fast as he zipped in, Oogar was carried off by the colossal serpent with his screams echoing throughout the forest. Charlie quickly flung herself to the side to avoid the oncoming danger, narrowly evading being rammed by the speeding serpent, dragging Niffty out of the way. Vaggie, however, caught a fleeting glimpse of her son and realized the peril he was in, despite how fast everything was unraveling. As Jurgen briskly slithered down, she hastily latched onto the serpent's body by stabbing into its scales and holding onto her spear's shaft as she was whisked off into the wilderness.

"W-what was that!?" Charlie said, darting her head from side to side, still processing what had just happened.

"I think I heard Oogar, he was on that snake and it took Vaggie as well!" Niffty exclaimed, wriggling her way out of Charlie's arms before pointing in the direction that Jurgen left. "Quickly! After him!"

Charlie had no need for any rebuttals or objections as her body lit up with a blinding red glow and sparkling hellfire as her wings unfurled. She proceeded to snatch Niffty off the ground, who was still in a dramatic pointing pose, before taking off into the woods with a fiery trail cascading from her demonic wings. As Jurgen sped through the hellish forest, he sensed a light sting down at the midsection of his body. It was quite hard to notice given that he had a prehistoric sinner holding onto his mane but he couldn't help but feel bothered by it.

"Huh, vweird. I zhink I felt somezhing got into my scales…" Jurgen commented, turning his head over to the side to see whatever had latched onto his elongated body. Much to Jurgen's surprise and annoyance, he was met with Vaggie slowly climbing onto his back, using her own spear as leverage.

"M-Mama?!" Oogar exclaimed.

"Hey, get off! Vwere having an epic battle here!" The serpent whined before jerking his mid-section up and down sporadically but Vaggie proved to be much more of a nuisance than Jurgen anticipated, the moth-like demon gripping onto her spear with the harsh wind blowing through her silk white hair. While Jurgen was temporarily distracted with trying to shake Vaggie off, he felt something painfully tug at his lion-like mane that forced out an agonized screech from the serpent.

Turns out, Oogar managed to only manage a grip on the serpent's mane but carefully climbed his way onto the nape before grabbing two large handfuls of hair for him to yank at. Jurgen lifted his head off the ground and wildly shook his head around but try as he might, he was unable to shake off the caveman. The serpent came to an abrupt stop, swinging his tail in a swiping motion, accidentally cleaving through a few trees as Vaggie slid down to the snake's side just in the nick of time.

"Vwhy is it zhat you alvways pull on ze hair!?" Jurgen cried out with a mix of pain and annoyance.

"Sorry!" Oogar said, respecting the snake's wishes by unhanding the two strands. For a moment, Jurgen thought he was safe, unaware that his adversary was reaching for both his eyelids as he yanked at both of them, forcing his eyes wide open. Jurgen gave out a screech of discomfort, basal tears flying from his eyes.

"Ack! I take it back! I take it back! Go back to zhe hair pulling!" Jurgen gasped out, his tail helplessly flailing around with Vaggie still trying to cling ahold of the near-mile-long beast.

"Oh, okay!" The caveman said, unhanding Jurgen's eyelids as they snapped back into place like a rubber band, stinging his eyes in the process. Before Jurgen's vision could have the proper time to readjust, he was nearly blinded by an orange glow that made him wince the first time seeing it. It seemed as the glow began to glow brighter and brighter, the snake believing it to be his eyes playing tricks on him. But he was thoroughly proven wrong when said glow turned out to be a fireball courtesy of Princess Charlie.

BOOMPH!

Said fireball combusted right into Jurgen's face, the snake let out a pained shriek as he reeled his head back and jittered his tail around. His whole face, save for his face and horn, was covered in black soot. Oogar, meanwhile, slid down the snake's neck when he saw the oncoming fireball, letting his foe take the whole brunt of the projectile.

Hovering over the singed serpent from a safe distance, Charlie looked down upon the massive serpent with one arm outstretched and smoke resonating off her palm. Tucked underneath Charlie's other arm, Niffty was eager to teach the son of Jörmungandr a thing or two for attacking her best friend as she glanced over to her boss with a hard look.

"Charlie, Code Drop Bear! Code Drop Bear!" The cyclopean exclaimed, though her attempt at a battle strategy only served to confuse the everloving hell out of Charlie.

"...Code what now?..." Hell's Princess questioned with a raised brow, an annoyed look surfaced on Niffty's face with her cheeks swelling up slightly in a huff.

"Drop me so I can bite the snake's face off! Didn't your father you ANY of this growing up, especially on how to maul unsuspecting patrons a the local gas stations!?" The one-eyed demon expressed with slight exasperation. Despite the cleaning lady having raised several questions, all of those would have to wait as Charlie lessened her grip around Niffty which resulted in her slipping right through the hotel owner's arms and plummeting towards the serpentine. In the midst of her fall, she unsheathed two dual Carolingian swords.

"THE BLOOD QUEEN SHALL RISE ONCE MORE!" She screamed, following her declaration with a war cry during her descent.

"Augh, by Odin's nose hairs, zhat vwas NOT cool..." Jurgen murmured, wiping away the ash with his tail. While he was in the process of rubbing his eyes, an ear-piercing shriek filled the snake's ears and sounded as though it was getting louder. He craned his head up to see a shrieking, four-foot-tall, sword-wielding cyclops careening towards him with a crazed look in her singular eye.

"NO MERCY! RRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAUUUUGGGGH!" Niffty roared at the top of her lungs, Jurgen responding to this ambush with a squeaky gasp as he haphazardly fired a bolt of electricity into the descending cyclops' direction.

Niffty reacted to the oncoming attack by spreading her arms outward before rapidly spinning her body around, essentially turning herself into a living propellor. Thanks to the speeds at which her body was pivoting, Niffty cleaved right through the electric projectile as it fizzled into mere sparks, prompting Jurgen to drop his jaw, dumbfounded by the fact that a sinner that was as tall as a speck to him managed to power through his attack.

"YOUR BLOOD IS MIIIIIINE!" She screeched, her body violently rotating at the same speed of a circular saw. Not wanting to lose an eye or part of his face, Jurgen quickly delivered a tail swipe, whacking the spinning cyclops off into the woods where her blades dinked right off the bole of a tree, sending her sailing back towards the gigantic serpent. The snake was already in the midst of evading fireballs being flung at him along with Oogar pulling at his mane.

He haphazardly ducked out of the way of an oncoming fireball, unintentionally avoiding Niffty, who whizzed right over the serpent's head, only trimming a few measly hairs off of his mane. The spinning cyclopean reached the treeline, only this time, she came into contact with a tree that was thick enough to stop her blade, its sharp tip embedding deep into the trunk.

"I'm okay!" Niffty reassured while giving a thumbs up but heard a faint rustling from above. She looked up to the canopy and dropped a dog-sized, horned creature from the branches that appeared to be a hybrid between a squirrel and a bear.

"EEK! SQUIRREL BEAR!" Niffty shrieked as the creature landed on the sword handle, angry that its rest had been disturbed as it clawed and hissed at the cyclopean. Thankfully, she came prepared as she drew out a dagger with her only free hand and wildly swayed it at the beast. "BACK! BACK I SAY!"

"...Err… Sorry, can you give me a second? I need to make a quick rescue. Think you can handle the giant snake while I'm gone, Oogar?" Charlie asked.

"Yes, mama. Oogar will be sure not to be too hard either." Oogar said with a nod, attempting to wrangle his serpentine adversary.

"Good boy." Charlie replied, instilled with confidence in her son before flying off to save Niffty from either losing a limb, plummeting to her doom, or a mix of both. As for Oogar, he continued to wrestle with the snake, angrily yanking and jerking his head around.

"Good! Now it's just you und me…" Jurgen said in between grunts, whipping his body around in swift, brief motions to get his adversary off of him. "And without any further interruptions, prepare to meet your ma-"

Doink!

"YEOOOWWWW! OWIE! OWIE! STOP! ZHAT HURTS!" Jurgen wailed like a toddler who had just scraped their knee, despite the fact that he was a thirty-foot-long serpent and was stabbed by the equivalent of a thumbtack. Oogar raised a brow, wondering why his foe was sobbing like an infant before a familiar voice called out to him from below.

"Mi Hijo!" Vaggie's voice rang out, just loud enough to get the caveman's attention as the behemoth looked down to see his adopted mother, who had pricked her spear right into the nape of Jurgen's long neck.

"Oh, hi mama!" Oogar waved hello to his caretaker before resuming throttling the serpent.

"Hold on sweetie, let mamá help you with that!" Vaggie then pulled down on the spear's shaft, using all her momentum to catapult herself upwards whilst pulling her spear from the snake's flesh. She reached the top of the snake's head, letting gravity pull her down as she prepared to strike Jurgen in the head.

"¡Esto es para mi hijo, bastardo!" The moth-like demon cursed in her mother tongue as she made her plunge. However, Vaggie would not hit her intended target for not only did Jurgen's thrashing lead to him moving out of the way from Vaggie's blade but his coils hastily whipped forward and struck the Hispanic demoness out of the air.

"Mama!" Oogar exclaimed, quickly pushing himself up Jurgen's neck, running across the serpent's snout before leaping right off of his head with his arms held out. Fortunately for the caveman, his adopted mother fell into his arms before the two demons closed their eyes and braced for impact.

His body tensed up, anticipating to crash right into hard ground but much to the caveman's surprise, the terrain was oddly soft. The earth beneath him had a muddy-like texture, one that was mushy enough to break his fall and provide a smoother landing. Vaggie opened her eyes, bewildered by the fact that not a sound was made during the landing apart from the squelching of mud.

"Oogar! Vaggie!" Charlie's voice rang out as the demonic princess flew towards her son and lover with Niffty in one arm and a squirrel bear in the other. Charlie softly landed beside the two before letting the cyclopean and the critter onto the floor.

"Hey, no hard feelings about disturbing your nap?" Niffty said to the squirrel bear, extending her hand out in friendship. However, the creature didn't seem to share the same sentiment as it blew a raspberry at the cleaning lady before scampering off back into the woods.

"Wow! Okay, after having a civil, dignified, and emotionally intelligent reconciliation, you're still going to be like that?! Well, sorry for being diplomatic you… you… POOPYHEAD! " The cleaning lady shouted as the squirrel bear rushed off, folding her arms and turning her head to the side before letting out a dramatic huff. "Yeah, I said it…"

"Are you two alright?! Do you need first aid? A cup of herbal tea? Leeches? Oh dear dark lord, tell me you don't need leeches?!…" Charlie said, running up to Oogar and Vaggie to check and see if they had sustained any injuries while her back was turned.

"It's alright, babe. We're both safe." Vaggie reassured her lover, giving her a gentle peck on the cheek. Just then, the four demons directed their attention to the gigantic snake, who was currently back first on the ground, rubbing himself against the soil as he grumbled with a mixture of pain and aggravation.

"Vwhat is vwhith you people!?" Jurgen whined with indignation, rolling back onto his stomach while caressing the tiny perforation on his neck with his tail. "I never tried to stab you like a lunatic and zhat's not just because I don't have arms you know! Zhat really, REALLY hurt..."

"What's with us? What's with you!?" Vaggie shouted back, holding her spear up in case the serpent tried to attack. "You're the one that attacked our son!"

"Vwell your son foiled my plans to wreak horrible vengeance upon King Lucifer and above all else, he got mane dirty!" Jurgen bit back with a petty argument as Charlie stepped forth to defuse this situation.

"Look, Jörmungandr, I understand that you're angry with my father for what he did but right now is not a good time!" Charlie exclaimed.

"Yeah, und-Vwait a minute, vwhat did you say?" The gigantic snake was about to make his retort when he realized that Charlie had mistaken him for his father. Matters weren't helped when Vaggie and Niffty chimed in.

"Wait, THIS is the 'world serpent' your dad fought?... Huh, I thought he'd be A LOT bigger than that." Vaggie commented, her size remark irking Jurgen.

"N-no! NO! I'm not zhe-"

"Wait, if you're a Norse beast then why do you have a German accent?" Niffty pointed out.

"Okay, first of all, I get it from my mother's side so shut up. Secondly, I am NOT zhe vworld serpent! I am his son!" The snake cried out with exasperation, hoping that at least one of them would know his name.

"Ooooh, right... You're his son, uh... you..." The demonic princess said, putting a hand on her chin while trying her best to remember his name. She glanced over to others, hoping they'd fill in for her only to get a resounding silence alongside an awkward shrug from all three of them.

"It also starts vwith a 'J'..." Jurgen replied with clenched teeth, his coils tightening with suppressed rage.

"Oh, right! How could I forget!..." Charlie responded right away only to fall silent for a brief few seconds. "...Johan?"

"…Oh, by ze nine realms-IT'S JURGEN! JURGEN, JURGEN, JURGEN!" The serpent roared with anger as he swung his tail onto the forest floor in a fit of anger, the surrounding trees trembled from the sheer force of his outburst. Jurgen bellowed out his name on repeat, continuing to bring down his tail onto the soul. Had he not been a nearly thirty-foot-long snake, this would have been laughably embarrassing.

"I am so SICK of zhis scheiße! My father keeps getting all of ze credit for terrorizing Midgard just by existing but do you hear anyone telling tall tales about me?! NEIN! Let's all as a society ignore Jurgen, it's not like he has feelings too right?!" The snake lamented his frustrations, his voice cracking at the end of his sentence. It didn't seem clear to Charlie at first but she swore she saw a few tears start to shed. "Fuck Jurgen, zhat's ze common consensus, ja?! He's just a vwhiny little vworm, who cares about him!?"

"J-Jurgen, listen! I'm really sorry for mispronouncing your name and I understand why you're upset. But attacking my father's castle is not going to prove anything. As a matter of fact, you're only going to make things harder for yourself!" Charlie said, hoping to talk sense into the gigantic serpent.

"Charlie's right. You're only going to get yourself hurt, maybe even KILLED, if you go through with this. Is this REALLY what you want!?…" Vaggie added on to the conversation. Jurgen made it clear that he was unwilling to reason with the demonesses as he menacingly leered his head forward with his fiery yellow eyes gleaming down at them.

"…I'd rather die in glory zhen live as a disgrace." The serpent responded coldly, finally given the chance the reply with a one-liner that he had kept repeating to himself to help build up confidence. Said confidence was immediately shattered when Niffty spoke up.

"You're nutty." The cyclopean demon deadpanned with a blank expression. To anyone who didn't fragile ego, this could have been easily shrugged off as a minor insult at best. But to Jurgen, this was a personal attack on his pride. He slammed the forest floor once again and barred his fangs, hot smoke even started to flare up from his nostrils.

"ZHAT IS IT! I'M THROUGH WITH THESE FUCKING GAMES!" Jurgen screamed in a bout of fury, preparing to strike at a moment's notice. Charlie and Vaggie prepared to retaliate only for Oogar to step right in front of the two, gesturing them to stay back as he glared at his serpentine foe.

"Let Oogar take care of this…" The caveman said with a grumble before slowly approaching the enraged serpent. Charlie and Vaggie glanced at one another momentarily before carefully backing away without saying a word. Niffty also decided to fall back but not before giving her neolithic friend two thumbs up as a show of support.

"Give 'em figurative hell, Oogar!" She cheered on the mammoth demon, who brought both his palms onto the hellish soil with his knees bent down, much akin to a sumo wrestler. The ground underneath him started to soften, taking on a muddy-like texture while the demon simply waited for his foe to attack.

"I'm done playing second banana, second rate, second fiddle, sloppy seconds, or any kind of seconds zhere is!" Jurgen exclaimed, looming above Oogar, who was unmoved by his menacing appearance. "I am going to make Hell history and no dirty caveman or psychotic knife-totting gremlin will hinder my path to glory!"

And with his proclamation, Jurgen snapped forward with his jaws hanging wide open with his trajectory set on the awaiting caveman. The caveman didn't move a muscle while Charlie and Vaggie tensed up and closed their eyes whereas Niffty looked on with anticipation.

"MY NAME SHALL BE IMMORTALIZED!" Jurgen screamed at the top of his lungs, making his lunge toward the mammoth demon. Oogar closed his eyes and pushed his arms against the softening earth, the sudden pressure caused the ground around him to mold and bubble before a muddy projectile erupted from the earth like a canon ball. The mudball found itself launching right into the gaping maw of the snake, whose slender body slipped forward along with the mud.

"BLURK! GLACK!... OUGURLGU..." The serpent's war cry was reduced to a series of suffocated murmurs with mud running down from his lip. However, the momentum carrying did stop him from careening right into Oogar and thanks to the ground softening, it only seemed to increase the serpent's speed.

"Not again..." Was the only thing Oogar had to say before he was whisked off yet again by the uncontrollable serpent moving faster than a bullet train, his body wiggling uncontrollably. The caveman managed to grab onto the lower jaw as he was haphazardly carried off.

"Shit! Oogar!" Vaggie yelled, springing into action to save her son with Charlie and Niffty promptly following behind.

"WE'RE COMING FOR YOU, SON!" Charlie shouted but sadly for the trio, their attempts were foiled when Jurgen's coil knocked right into all three demonesses. This lead Charlie, Vaggie, and Niffty to be sent flying off into the wilderness with their shrieks disappearing further into the horizon.

"NOT GOOD! NOT GOOD! NOT GOOD!" The caveman shouted, hanging from the snake's jaw once again, fighting against the fierce gusting wind. With what little motion he had in his body, Oogar pulled himself up to the snake's cheek. Jurgen was still coughing and choking, globs of mud were ejected out from his mouth with some of the lumps even being forcibly pushed back thanks to the speed with one splattering right against Oogar's face, hitting with enough force to push him off Jurgen's face.

Thankfully for Oogar, his body smacked into a neighboring tree that stopped him from soaring off into the hellish wilderness, hitting against the trunk with a loud 'THUNK'. Shaking off the dizziness, Oogar quickly returned to the chaos but with a new plan in mind. Rather than holding onto the snake, he decided to follow the snake from the canopy so that he could put a stop to this insanity. Reaching into his chest hide, Oogar pulled out his chain hook and whipped it at a bough of the closest tree in front of him. The hook snatched onto the branch as Oogar took in a deep breath and took a leap of faith, gracefully swinging forward...

...Just to have the branch break mid-swing.

"OH COME O-WOAH!" Oogar didn't have time to curse his blunder when he fell right into the end of Jurgen's tail with one hand, grabbing onto the scaley tip before the harsh wind could carry him off yet again. The caveman reached out with his other hand to further pull himself closer as he looked just up to see that the enormous serpent was a fair distance away from the blood lake and he was nearing the shore. Jurgen could barely open his eyes, forced to close them from the levels of G-force combined with his senses being dulled out from the muck stuck in his throat.

In an act to put a stop to Jurgen, Oogar climbed along Jurgen's back, resisting the harsh force that viciously beat against him, just reaching halfway along his body. The caveman started to squeeze the snake's body numerous times in an act to upchuck the mud out of him. However, it seemed to prove ineffective as evident when Jurgen gave out a disgusting croak, the hellish soil carrying his lengthy body down to the crimson shore. Thankfully, on their ride to the lakeshore, Oogar spotted something up ahead, a massive tree with a long bough jutting from its trunk.

It was here Oogar had an idea as he started to spin the chain over his head as if it were a lasso before whipping it as far it could reach. The chain wrapped itself around the branch with the hook's tip burrowing into the wood. Oogar yanked on the chain, and the tree's bole crepitated from the sudden weight and pressure pulling down onto its tree. Oogar pulled harder and harder as Jurgen slid closer to the tree and with one final tug, the tree snapped and collapsed. The tree landed right onto the middle portion of the snake's body, the weight squeezing down on his abdomen along with stopping the serpent dead in his trail.

KRNNNCHHH!

The sudden jolt of having his midsection pressed down by a dead tree resulted in Jurgen's upper half instinctively twitching with his tail flailing forward with Oogar being jettisoned right into the air with the chain unraveling itself from the branch before freeing itself, taking a chunk of dead wood along with it. The caveman landed right onto the shore, just mere inches away from the lake, his landing kicking up spackles of blood and dirt.

As for Jurgen, he hacked and gagged for a solid minute before his cheeks bloated and soon enough, spewed out a muddy torrent from his maw. He gasped out for air, taking in several frantic breaths before plopping his head onto the ground.

"Urugh… Zhis is zhe night in ze Pizza Slut bathroom all over again…" Jurgen murmured with disgust, heaving a little from that foul recollection. "Never again…"

The Son of The World Serpent tried to slither forward but realized that the weight of the chair was hindering his movement, prompting him to recoil his whole upper body before pushing himself forward. However, the tree was simply too heavy for him to squeeze out from as the snake writhed and squirmed around, grunting with exasperation. Admittedly this would be a lot easier for him if he had limbs.

"Nngh! C'mon! Fuckin'... move!" He cursed aloud before looking up to see the caveman just up ahead by the shore. "Erm... A little help please?..."

"Hm? Oh! Oogar can help!" The caveman replied, putting both hands on the soil before promptly softening the terrain. It seemed to be doing its job quite well as sludgy ground allowed him to squeeze under the tree.

"Oogar suggests you do this slowly." The mammoth demon recommended as he was softening the earth.

"Don't lecture ME on how to get unstuck underneath a tree! I can get out just fine!" Jurgen retorted, still moving sporadically, putting in plenty of strain in order to free himself. Oogar rolled his eyes at the snake's stubbornness, so much for helping him out. As the ground became muddy enough, the second banana serpent squeezed right from underneath the tree with a 'POP', and slid straight toward the shoreline.

"VWAIT! NO! YOU VWERE RIGHT! YOU VWERE RIGHT! STOP ME, STOP ME!" The serpent cried out while Oogar hastily stamped his feet causing a large pillar to shoot out from the ground. It didn't take long for Jurgen to smash head-first into the rock wall, his head bashing against the hard surface with his body awkwardly scrunching inward.

BONK!

"Oooh... FUCK! That hurt so bad I think I lost my accent..." Jurgen whimpered as a multitude of cracks started to form along the pillar, resulting in Oogar leaping off spire before it crumbled into a heap of pebbles that partially buried the snake's head. "...No vwait, zhere it is..."

As Oogar made his landing, he cricked his neck just a bit before preparing himself for whatever his serpentine foe would throw at him. A pounding headache overtook Jurgen as a large comical bump had formed atop his head, one that he pushed down with his own tail. The gigantic snake slowly rose his head off the ground with a careful, strained movement. Jurgen realized that he had been brought back to where the fight had all started, the crimson waves of the shore splashing against his scales. His breathing was labored and heavy, it was almost as though the snake was on the verge of collapsing right then and there.

"M-My father... vwas a feared legend..." Jurgen said between breaths, his head slightly lowered in shame. "He battled zhe greatest gods of ze Norse pantheon and all of Midgard quaked vhenever he slithered... He vwas truly ze greatest beast to have ever lived."

Oogar remained vigilant, believing that Jurgen was trying to lull him into a false sense of security. That was until he noticed something starting to run from Jurgen's eyes. The caveman couldn't believe what he was seeing, out of all the possible scenarios that played out in his head, never once did he expect his opponent to... cry?

"I-I vwanted notzhing more in ze vworld than to follow in his trail..." He muttered, choked up to the point that he struggled to manage his sentence. "Und here I am, getting my ass beat by a sinner who can control mud. I zhink it's pretty obvious now..."

Jurgen's eyes welled up with tears as he pathetically sniffled. He couldn't keep it in for much longer. Turning to the nearest tree, Jurgen began to slam his head right against the bole in a bout of anger and melancholy.

"I'M BIG."

BRAKK!

"FUCKING."

BRAKK!

"JOKE!"

KRCCCCCHHHHHHH!

Upon bashing his head against the tree for the third time, his head busted a hole through the trunk with his whole head getting stuck. Jurgen angrily began to repeatedly pull his head back with harsh force before successfully yanking his head out from the hole, shaking off any splinters that had gotten stuck in his mane. The giant snake, still overwhelmed with emotion, pathetically flopped onto the ground, sobbing like an infant whilst curling up in shame. Tears ran from his eyes and a stream of snot started to seep from his nostrils, he his face in his own coils to spare himself from the humiliation of making eye contact with his adversary in such a state.

"VWHAT ZE HELL VWAS I ZHINKING! I'M NOTZHING LIKE MY FATHER, I'M NOT EVEN BIGGER ZHAN A FUCKING MOON!" Jurgen wailed, slapping himself on the head with his own tail out of self-hatred.

"I'm a clown... A sham..." He murmured between sniffles, ashamed for making fool out of himself. "...I amount to notzhing..."

Jurgen's beastly persona had been broken, his true colors now on full display for the caveman to see. Once thought to be a monster seeking malice was little more than an unfortunate soul attempting to live up to impossibly high expectations only to slither in the shadows of their predecessor. Written off as a mere afterthought by many as a nobody and no matter how many times they could attempt to rise up, they were met with ridicule and failure.

Oogar reflected back to the ball and his outburst, viciously torn down by those higher than him despite his best efforts to find his place amongst the affluent. Backed in a corner and humiliated by just his mere existence alone. The caveman lowered his guard and traipsed towards the weeping serpent, who was overwhelmed in the throes of sorrow to notice his opponent approaching him.

"...Oogar know how you feel..." The caveman softly said, his voice just audible enough for the snake to hear him. The serpent craned his neck up slightly to see his prehistoric adversary standing at least a few feet away from him.

"Oogar felt like Oogar never belonged either. Oogar couldn't be smarter or better like everyone else." He continued, taking one careful step forward. In spite of the mammoth demon's primitive dialect, Jurgen was able to articulate what his former foe was putting down to him.

"Oogar wanted to be like the rest of family. Wanted to be someone Oogar wasn't." Oogar relayed his insecurities to the gigantic snake, extending a hand out for him to place upon a scaly coil. Jurgen instinctively drew back slightly, a slight fear lingering in the back of his head that this could've been some kind of ruse. "But Oogar wants Snake to know something..."

Wiping away the tears and mucus that dribbled from his face, Jurgen looked into the caveman's yellow eyes. He was unsure of what to say, he believed that Oogar was merely giving this talk about pity but when he locked eyes with him, he could see that in that gleaming stare, this wasn't some shallow commiseration. Instead, what he saw was a soul who was as lost as he was sharing with him a piece of empathy.

"You are the best you there is." The mammoth demon softly spoke with a relaxed breath. "Sanke shouldn't fight to be like father. Snake fights for who Snake is..."

Jurgen couldn't remember the last time that he had done something for himself, everything he did either revolved around living up to his father's legacy or trying to be like him, all attempts ending in a humiliating failure. He had kept pushing himself to become a legend that he had practically forgotten who he was. Now that his eyes had been open, an epiphany had shone on him.

No longer would he wallow within the shadow of his father nor start petty conflicts in his name, he would instead fight for his own person. He would no longer let his whole world revolve around his father and only his father and all it took was an unexpected skirmish with a primordial stranger. However, even with this breakthrough, Jurgen had but one question to ask.

"…Vwhat do vwe do now?" Asked the giant serpent, the prehistoric demon paused for a moment and placed his hand on his beard. After some consideration, the caveman had come up with an answer.

"We finish what we started. Fight for no one but ourselves." Oogar proclaimed and while his beard may have concealed his mouth, Oogar had a proud and determined smile, one that Jurgen could still sense behind that shaggy wall of facial hair.

"...Ja. Zhat vworks." The serpent responded with a grin of his own, his head rising off the ground while his coils started to unfurl. He could feel the motivation to continue this battle course through his cold-blooded veins. Oogar, meanwhile, cracked his knuckles in preparation for a second round as he took several steps back to even the battleground despite the fact his foe was several feet larger than him.

Neither one was fighting to defend a castle or for a petty vengeance scheme. It was for themselves and only themselves, with no ties to anybody and no reputation to uphold for the cynical masses. Nothing more and nothing less.

"Ready?"

"Ready."