Author note: thanks for everyone who read, followed, favorited, or commented on this story! Next chapter we start where the main series begins, which excites me. Enjoy!
Chapter 12: Let's get down to business
Taylor sat before the ancient computer, waiting what seemed like eons for it to boot up. After seeking out Alastor to start editing the commercial, Taylor had asked if the hotel had a computer or laptop to do that. Alastor sneered at the request, but snapped his fingers and a boxy computer appeared. Taylor was assured that the necessary software was there to get the job done and left the fire demon to the task. As they waited for the computer to warm up, they mentally planned out the order of the shots they took and the script they'd propose to Alastor for the voice over. As the computer chimed to life, Taylor hooked up the video camera, opened the editing software, and imported the video data. They then got to work slowly cobbling the video snippets into a coherent stream to promote the hotel.
Taylor was so engrossed in their work that Nifty had to shout to get their attention and announce that dinner was ready. The fire demon thanked the housekeeper and saved their work before heading down to the dining area. As they dove into a bowl of red beans and rice, Charlie asked how the commercial was coming along.
"It's slow going, but I think in a few days, we might have something to show you." Taylor said optimistically. Charlie beamed and preemptively thanked Taylor and Alastor for helping out with the hotel's PR.
Taylor felt their phone buzz, and checked their messages. It was from Antonio, so Taylor thanked Alastor for the meal and excused themselves. In the parlor, they opened Antonio's message.
"Hey kid, I got some clients ready to get consultations. You free tomorrow morning to get started?"
Taylor smiled and quickly responded.
"Hey Antonio. That works for me, just send me the time and place and I'll be there."
After a few moments their phone buzzed back.
"Here's the address, make sure you aren't followed and be discrete. The clients will do the same. See you then."
Taylor noted the address and pulled up a map of Pentagram City on their phone. After confirming, they stashed their phone away as they heard static and looked up to see Alastor standing before them, grinning mischievously. Taylor stared back, a little suspicious.
"Hello Alastor. Did you need something? I'm almost done with the editing and then we can talk about scripting your voice over tomorrow."
"I was just curious on who you could be in correspondence with, seeing as the only people you know were at dinner."
"He's my employer, but he also helped me find the hotel when I first arrived here. He passed by, but you were out on business" Taylor responded plainly.
"What a shame the timing didn't work out! But do be sure to not neglect the commercial, our dear Charlie is depending on our efforts!"
"Yeah, yeah, I won't. I'll find you sometime tomorrow to start the voice over portion."
"Splendid! Do take care!" He chuckled as he sank into the shadows and left.
Taylor sighed as they made their way back to the computer space. They worked for a few more hours and finished editing before saving and heading to their room. As they showered they felt the pull of the stitches and winced a bit. Then the day's events crashed upon them with a wave of dread coming down. 'What happened during the white out period? Why do I feel like things were more serious than it seemed? What if it happens again?' they anxiously thought. They shook their head as they tried to divert their attention. 'Stop it! I have to focus on helping folks out tomorrow!' They quickly got out of the shower and finished getting ready for bed, repeating the prospect of breaking soul contracts. They must have been more tired than they realized, as they fell asleep as soon as their head hit the pillow.
Taylor awoke the following morning and dressed in an understated outfit: jeans, sneakers, a button up long sleeve shirt and a gray hoodie on top. Too anxious to eat, they left the hotel and made their way to their destination. Pentagram City still looked like a war zone, but the streets were thankfully quiet and empty. They put their hood up as they checked for anyone looking. Seeing the coast was clear, they snuck into an alley and crouched behind a pile of trash bags. Summoning the blue flames, they shifted their appearance to that of a red fox and stumbled to their feet. 'Whoa, having a tail is gonna be an adjustment.' they noted. Putting their hood back up and slinking out of the alley, they hoofed it the rest of the way to the meeting spot.
When Taylor arrived, Antonio was leaning outside an abandoned store front smoking a cigarette. Taylor walked up and leaned beside him, to which the dog demon snarled,
"You got a death wish, shithead? Move your ass!"
"Vinny, it's me, Taylor." they grinned back.
"T-Taylor? Holy shit, I didn't know you could change your own appearance!" he exclaimed.
"Keep it down! Are we all set?" Taylor hissed.
"Yeah, we were just waiting for you to get here. Let's go inside."
Taylor followed Antonio around the corner and into the side entrance of the building. Inside was a long hallway with three closed doors along it and one more at the end. Taylor could hear voices in the first room but Antonio indicated to the last door. Taylor entered and the room was sparse, with only a small table and three chairs around it. Taylor sat down as Antonio closed the door and faced the disguised fire demon.
"This actually works out better than I had planned. Clients already know the deal, but my plan was to have each client go into the second room and take a deal of secrecy, specifically that they won't be able to recall details our dealing with them. Like if they tried to remember what we look like, they will get it wrong each time. But since you can change your own appearance, that adds another layer of protection for us. Then I'll bring them in and you do your thing. Then they will file out and we do this for all the clients. We then leave separately and I'll contact you when I'm safe. Got it?"
Taylor nodded, finding the precautions adequate. Before Antonio left, they had an idea.
"Antonio, I'd like to add something I want the clients to do. Before they leave, I want them to list out their bosses and any higher ups they have had contact with."
"Why would you want that info?"
"I think I get stronger with each soul contract broken, and I might have to go after dealmakers with more souls under their control in the future. Think of it as an independent project of mine that won't involve you. Can you add that detail to your secrecy deal? That way it doesn't get out someone is asking around."
"Sure, but be careful, ok? I'll be back with the first client in a bit." Antonio left and closed the door behind them, leaving Taylor waiting and listening.
Taylor craned their ears and heard Antonio go down the hall, say something, and two sets of footsteps moved to the adjacent room. More muffled conversation could be heard before they heard a loud whoosh of wind blowing. 'Huh, this is actually the first time I've heard a deal being made.' they mused. Taylor perked up as they heard the footsteps approach and the door open. Taylor rose as Antonio and a timid looking rabbit demon walked into the room. They glanced at the fox demon before them and shrunk back behind Antonio.
"Hey, it's alright Melanie, my friend here is the one who's going to help you." Antonio soothed.
Melanie peeked out, stared at Taylor for a moment before nodding and taking a seat. Taylor sat down as Antonio stood to the side. Taylor took a breath and began.
"Hi there. To start, I need to know who you made a deal with and why you want out of it. The more details the better. You might see me reach out, but don't worry, I'm not going to touch you. At some point I'll make the soul chain appear and you'll see what Antonio was talking about. You got that, Melanie?" they explained gently.
The rabbit demon nodded gravely and started talking about how they arrived after a car accident and their dealmaker found them and tricked them into a deal where they were ultimately forced to perform in adult shows and "take care" of clients in the back room. They couldn't refuse customers or they'd receive severe beatings, some even resulting in her being killed, only to come back a few days later to return to the abusive situation.
Taylor started to get heated listening to the unfairness and abuse, but held in their anger so as to not scare Melanie. As the story continued, Taylor saw a glimmer of a pink light appear around Melanie's neck and a chain that trailed out of the room. Taylor started to reach over to gently grab the chain and kept listening as the chain started to solidify in their hands. As Melanie started to cry about wanting to run away with her small savings, the chains got heavy in Taylor's palms and they gripped them hard and started to pull gently. Melanie started to panic as the pink chain and collar manifested in full view and looked back in terror as Taylor was focusing on the task. Taylor kept pulling and squeezing the chains, seeing flashes of Melanie's beatings, abuse, and exploitation as they concluded this deal was one-sided and enough was enough.
With a collective gasp, the chain splintered into several chunks as the pieces clattered on the table before dissolving into smoke. The smoke tendrils coalesced and Taylor gripped it, feeling the familiar rush of energy as they suppressed their smile. They felt their stitched wounds and cuts close up with a jolt as they sighed contentedly. They looked back at the two other demons, looking awestruck, as Taylor tried to settle the immense amount of energy they felt coursing through them. With a final deep breath, then stared back at the rabbit demon as the atmosphere returned to normal.
"T-t-that was it, wasn't it? It's gone?" Melanie said shakily as they grabbed their throat in disbelief.
"Y-yeah, your contract has been annulled. You're free, Melanie." Taylor stammered as they still felt the energy thrumming through them. The rabbit then started to cry in relief and jumped across the table to hug Taylor, peppering them with kisses and thanks. Taylor gently pushed her back, not used to physical affection, and calmed her down. Taylor then asked about her former dealmaker and if they were involved in any dealings with Overlord higher-ups or the Overlord themselves. Melanie didn't know, as she was part of a small strip club, but would get into contact with her former co-workers. Taylor thanked them for being forthcoming and asked one final question.
"Would you like me to change your appearance?"
"Y-you can do that? Is this fox magic or something?"
Taylor chuckled, "something like that. I can give it a go, if you want. Would give you a fresh start."
"Can I make a request?" she asked excitedly.
"I can try, but no guarantees I can make it happen." Taylor admitted.
"I used to love little white fluffy dogs when I was alive. Can you try to do that?" they pleaded.
"I'll try my best. This involves fire but it won't hurt. Close your eyes if it's better."
Melanie nodded and closed her eyes as Taylor brought their flames to life, pictured the fluffiest white dog they could think of, and gripped Melanie's shoulders. The blue flame spread across, spooking the rabbit as their features stripped away until a white dog demon was left.
Taylor winced. "I'm afraid I couldn't get the fluff quite right, but you are a cute small dog demon now."
Melanie grabbed a compact out of her pocket and gasped in shock. Taking a moment to look, they closed the compact and started to hug Taylor again in happiness.
With a final round of thank yous, Antonio reminded Melanie of their deal and led them out of the room and down the hall. Taylor took a moment to try to settle the buzzing energy in them, but they felt amazing for multiple reasons. Antonio came back after a bit and asked if Taylor was ready for the next client. Taylor nodded confidently and steeled themselves.
By early-afternoon, Taylor had successfully annulled five more soul contracts and amassed a small list of low-level goons in a few Overlord networks. Taylor could hardly think straight or sit still as they were brimming with pent up energy. Antonio brought in some to-go boxes with gyros as they talked next steps. They were going to lay low for several days to make sure any unwanted attention died down, and then Antonio would begin making arrangements with the next batch. Taylor agreed and after wishing the other a safe week, parted ways. Taylor walked with their hood up and a few blocks from the hotel, they hid again and returned to their regular fire demon form. They kept an eye out for anything suspicious as they made it back to the hotel without incident.
Taylor walked into the lobby and greeted Charlie and Vaggie. After updating them on how the next step of the commercial is Alastor's voice over, the deer demon materialized out of the shadows as if summoned. The two demons then moved to the computer space as Taylor showed what they had made and what they thought would be best for Alastor to emphasize. The Radio Demon seemed willing to take direction, with requesting a few alterations to the script, which left Taylor feeling both encouraged and suspicious of him. After a few practice sessions to correct the timing of the voice over with the visuals, Alastor gave a charismatic and elevating promotion of the hotel and the redemption program. Taylor complimented the Radio Demon, which they took far too well and started to get smug. Asking if they want to help finish things up, Alastor gave a contemptuous smile and outright refused to work with anything meant for television more than required. Taylor shrugged and let him pout as the Radio Demon left in a swirl of shadows. They checked their phone and a message from Antonio was safe, making Taylor relax a bit.
They synced the audio and saved the production, heaving a sigh of relief that it was done. They transferred the commercial to a drive stick in a roundabout manner and held it aloft proudly. Charlie was gonna love it!
Taylor went downstairs for a celebratory drink with Husk and Angel, who seemed to humor the fire demon's accomplishment. The three talked well into the evening. Taylor avoiding Angel's intrusive questions about their sex and several propositions while Husk practiced a card sleight trick and used Taylor as a guinea pig for a new mixed drink he wanted to make. The final result was delicious and Taylor tipped the cat demon well before heading off to bed a little buzzed but feeling great.
Taylor felt too energized from the day to sleep right away, so they got out of the books their patron left for them on pyrokinetics and practiced in their bathroom to avoid burning the carpet. Before long they tired themselves out and got ready for bed. The last thought they had before dozing off was how things were finally going their way.
Late into the night, Husk held Taylor's thumb drive out guilty as Alastor picked it up with contempt. He laid it on the counter, raised a heavy bottle of liquor, and smashed the drive with the bottom until it was in pieces. Smiling evilly, he patted Husk's head condescendingly.
"Good work Husker! Now if you excuse me, I have one more loose end to tie up!" With that he melted into the shadows and laughed maliciously. Husk stood at the bar and looked sadly at the broken drive. He had snagged it while showing Taylor his sleight of hand trick and they hadn't even noticed.
"Sorry kid." he muttered as he closed up the bar for the night.