It had been an entire week since Shelly had told her about who she had gone to see, and since then, the disowned Labolas had been trying to make sense of it all. She knew she felt something familiar about Princess Octavia's bodyguard back at the Triton Resort and only now, after all this time, did she finally know WHY!
As such, after going on a small drinking binge to ease the shock and then taking a few days to pull herself back together, she eventually picked up her courage and made her way over to the Goetia Mansion to face the source of her anguish. However, of all the things Clara had expected to see as she walked through to the front gates that afternoon… a gaping hole in the front wall and a big pile of rubble sure as hell wasn't one of them!
"Uh… hello?" she hesitantly called out, feeling a strong wave of unease as she made her way closer to the house. "Anyone home?"
Obviously, she realized that simply walking over to the house wasn't the best idea given how the house belonged to Demon Royalty, but given the circumstances, it wasn't as if she could ring the doorbell. Suddenly, the Goetias' family Butler popped his head out of the hole and made his way over towards the unexpected guest.
"Can I help you, madam?" he asked, remaining prim and proper despite the situation with the house.
"I hope so," Clara replied hesitantly. "This IS Prince Stolas's place, yes?"
Pringles, of course, couldn't help but let out a heavy sigh at that.
"I'm afraid it is," he replied with a small stoic roll of his eyes. "If you have any deliveries, the servants' entrance is right around- Oof!"
Suddenly, before Pringles could even finish his sentence, he was pushed aside with the force of a speeding train. Blinking in confusion, Clara was surprised to see that the culprit was none other than Buzz, the Imp responsible for the destruction of the Triton Resort and one of the Demons who had helped Shelly reunite with her son. What's more, Buzz clearly recognised Clara just as easily.
"Oh hi!" the deranged Imp greeted excitedly. "You're that bartender from the Triton Resort, right?"
Needless to say, Clara was a little disturbed by both Buzz's sudden appearance and the insane twitch in his eye. Of course, that was but the tip of the iceberg considering what she remembered about what this Imp was capable of if push came to shove.
"Well… I was," she answered awkwardly and honestly before she quickly recollected herself. "I was hoping to speak to the Prince, if that's alright?"
Hearing that, Pringles swiftly dusted himself off and stepped in front of Buzz with his usual stoic expression, albeit one that was hiding great annoyance aimed at the Gardener for his behaviour.
"I'm afraid the Prince is unavailable at the moment," he said bluntly. "Though I'm sure you made an appointment, we can-"
"I'm sorry but this can't wait," Clara said sternly, not even having the slightest bit of patience to be turned away at the door after coming all the way here. "I realize the Prince must be busy-"
"Yeah, you can probably say that," Buzz commented with a chuckle, pointing a thumb towards the nearby damage to the house. "Ya know, considering the giant hole in the wall!"
"-BUT I wouldn't be so insistent if this wasn't important." Clara continued, much to Pringles's further irritation. "I'm willing to wait if that's what it takes."
At that moment, it took me every ounce of willpower for the Butler to keep in an annoyed growl, biting his tongue all in hopes of keeping up decorum. If there was one thing he despised, it was pushy guests who didn't know how to take a hint.
"Look, Madam, even if you were to wait, the Prince isn't even-" he tried to say, only for Buzz to once again shove him to the side.
"Of course, you can wait!" the deranged Gardener declared, much to Pringles's astonishment. "Come in, have a drink, make yourself comfy. I'm sure the Prince'll be back soon."
As unnerved as Clara seemed to be with the small Imp's grin and enthusiasm, it was still nice to see that someone was willing to be cooperative. Perhaps this won't be so difficult after all.
"Thank you so much," she said gratefully. "You have no idea how much I appreciate this."
"Bah, it's no trouble," Buzz replied indifferently as he led Clara into what was left of the foyer. "Watch your step and mind the debris."
Once again rising to his feet and dusting himself off, Pringles could only stare in disbelief at the complete lack of discipline and respect. Granted, Buzz was certainly one of the more… challenging Imps under Prince Stolas' employ, but even so, this wasn't the first time this had happened lately. In the last few months, he had felt like all the other members of staff were respecting his authority less and less. In fact, at times he felt like the others preferred to pretend that he didn't exist and seemed to exclude him from certain situations, allowing them to know more about what was happening around the house than he did. And as someone who was supposed to be head of the household staff, that was certainly a bad sign. Just when the fuck did he lose all control of his position!?
"I suppose, you wouldn't happen to know when his highness will be back exactly?" Clara asked as Buzz continued to lead her through the house. "Don't get me wrong, I'm more than happy to wait but I don't want to overstay my welcome."
"Meh, your guess is as good as mine, hot stuff," Buzz replied with an indifferent shrug. "One minute he's on the phone, then BOOM! Out he goes! … I'm sure it's fine though. Why do you ask? You need to be somewhere?"
Clara, of course, shook her head at that question.
"No… I have time," she said.
Little did Buzz realize, such a statement was far more accurate than Clara was letting on. After all… she had already waited 7 years for this moment… What's a few more hours compared to that?
Back in the Living World, before the shit truly hit the fan for her, Linda continued to run through the crowd of people, her small size actually proving to be useful for once as she hid among the horde of multicoloured shirts and elaborate costumes. Unfortunately, her pursuers turned out to be a stubborn pair of loons!
"Blast it all!" Lord Mingeworthy snapped as he and his wife pushed their way through the crowd. "How could someone so small be so quick on her feet!?"
"Never mind that!" Lady Mingeworthy retorted. "We need to find her before she alerts the fuzz!"
Of course, neither of them could possibly be aware of how inaccurate they were in their assumptions. Since one of the conditions for Dominique and Desiree lending their Asmodean Crystals to Princess Octavia's servants was to keep away from all forms of authority, alerting the police or even the Convention Security of her kidnapping wasn't an option for Linda at the moment. True, it wasn't as if it was an enforced rule or anything, but the backlash from having to explain who she was to the cops would not go well. As such, all Linda could do was try to avoid her pursuers for as long as she could until she could find Mick and Wimzy again. However, between the chase and the crowd of people around her, it was proving to be extremely difficult.
"Oof!"
Suddenly, before she even realized what had happened, the disguised Imp had unintentionally bumped into someone and ended up ass-first on the floor.
"Oh my goodness! I'm SO sorry!" she suddenly heard, much to her surprise.
Daring to look up, she saw that the person she had bumped into was a young girl with tan skin, freckles around her cheeks and long dark hair that reached her waist. She also appeared to be wearing big round glasses like Linda was, along with an attire consisting of a bright blue T-shirt, light brown khaki shorts and dark brown sandals. Given the numerous tote bags and the lanyard around her neck, it was obvious the girl was an avid attendee of these Conventions.
"No, no, it's fine!" Linda replied, somewhat shocked by the stranger's kindness given that it was her that caused the collision. However, she remained frantic over her current situation, even as the girl helped her back to her feet. "Sorry, about the bump but I gotta go!"
However, before she could even move a step, the stranger suddenly halted her attempt with a light grip on her shoulder.
"Whoa, hey, what's the rush?" she asked, a clear look of concern across her face.
"They're after me!" Linda suddenly blurted out, her mind too filled with fear to show even the slightest hint of restraint.
Before the stranger could ask what Linda meant by that, however, she quickly got her answer in the form of one particular voice echoing from the crowd.
"I say, I do believe she went this way!" she heard, raising an eyebrow at the voice's odd accent.
Quickly piecing together what was going on, the stranger knew this had to mean trouble. Not even hesitating for a moment, she quickly pulled Linda in close, much to the latter's further surprise and snapped her head in all directions before her eyes fell upon a nearby merchandise table with a thick purple cloth draped over it.
"Quick," she said, swiftly ushering the confused Imp over to said table. "Get underneath here!"
Before Linda even had a chance to protest, the stranger suddenly forced her to her knees and pushed her under the table, allowing her to disappear beneath the cloth just in the nick of time. Just before the Mingeworthys managed to finally close the gap and make their appearance, the girl quickly straightened herself out and pretended that nothing was out of the ordinary… of course, that last part proved to be a little tricky given the couple's choice of attire. True this was supposed to be Comic Con, but no cosplayer could ever dress up THAT badly.
"I say, young Miss," Lord Mingeworthy suddenly said, noticing her look of unease and choosing to address her. "You wouldn't happen to have seen a little lady run nearby? Orange jumper, round glasses? Talks with a sissy squeak and looks like a nerdy bimbo?"
Hearing that from under the table, Linda gaped at such an insult. In fact, she almost felt the urge to speak up and give the prick a piece of her mind. Alas, her survival instincts easily won over so all she could do was sit there and pout. Thankfully, her newfound saviour seemed to take care of the rest.
"Oh, yeah," she said, feigning ignorance as she pointed towards a random direction. "I think she went through there, towards the QnA panels."
"Ah, much obliged, young lady," Lady Mingeworthy replied in gratitude, the pair of them seemingly buying the fib hook line and sinker. "Come dear! We have a slag to catch!"
"Tallyho!" her husband cried out, following his wife back into the nearby crowd.
Watching the two weirdos disappear, the stranger soon let out a relieved sigh and poked her head under the table.
"It's alright," she said. "They're gone."
Hearing that, Linda let an exasperated groan escape her lips as the stranger helped her back to her feet, which was soon followed by a swift hug around the stranger's waist.
"Thank you!" she exclaimed gratefully, giving herself a brief moment before she released the stranger from the embrace. "Thank you so much."
"Oh, it's no trouble, really," the stranger replied bashfully. "I mean, normally I hate lying to people's faces like that. But in their case, I think I can count that as an exception."
Hearing that, Linda couldn't help but twiddle her fingers in embarrassment.
"Sorry," she squeaked, causing the stranger to suddenly giggle over how cute she was.
"It's fine, really," she insisted, quickly clearing her throat as her face turned serious. "What was all that about, anyway?"
Linda, of course, let out yet another exasperated groan at that.
"Mistaken identity," she answered bluntly. "They think I'm some celebrity they're big fans of."
Obviously, Linda couldn't risk telling this stranger the whole truth, regardless of how guilty she was going to feel later about lying to someone nice enough to help her. Still, at least the explanation she gave was as close to the truth as possible, and thankfully the stranger seemed to accept it.
"Oh, I see," she uttered, rolling her eyes in disbelief. "You know, I'm surprised about how often that actually happens at these things."
"You… don't say," Linda replied, somewhat surprised that the exchange seemed to be going so well.
Suddenly, the stranger gave Linda yet another surprise when she suddenly smacked herself in the forehead.
"Oh, sorry, I'm being rude," she said. "I haven't even introduced myself. I'm Em… uh?"
For some reason, the stranger's words seemed to fail her towards that last part. Did she somehow forget her own name, or was this just a Convention thing where you needed to use avatar names or something?
"Emma?" Linda offered, basing her guess on the tiny bit she did hear.
"Yep!" the stranger suddenly confirmed… albeit a little too quickly. "That's me!"
Clearly, the stranger didn't want her real name to be revealed. In any case, it wasn't any of her business as far as Linda was concerned. Whatever secrets "Emma" was keeping was hers to keep.
"Oookay," Linda replied hesitantly before quickly shaking her head. "Well, it was nice to meet you, Emma. And again, thanks for the help, but I really should get going."
However, hearing that, Emma couldn't help but feel a little concerned,
"Are you sure you're going to be okay?" she asked gently. "I can help if you need it."
"No, no, it's alright," Linda respectfully declined with a light shake of her head. "I'm just looking for my friend."
At those words, Emma gave the disguised Imp an understanding nod.
"Got separated, huh?" she asked, giving Linda cause to nod back.
"You could say that," she answered, though obviously not willing to explain the circumstances of said separation.
"I see," Emma replied. "Happens a lot more than you think at these Conventions. Well, my offer to help still stands, if I can."
Linda, of course, felt a little surprised at that.
"Really?" she asked, somewhat baffled by the further example of the stranger's unconditional kindness.
"Sure," Emma replied with a smile. "What does your friend look like?"
Given the circumstances, Linda felt like this was almost too good to be true. Still, risky or not, she had to find Mick and Wimzy and get out of this place if they were ever going to find Octi. Wanting to reunite with her friends quickly, she saw no harm in giving Emma the information she needed.
"Well, he was wearing a hoodie, and a weird smiley face mask that covers his entire face," she said, describing Mick in particular seeing as how the stranger obviously wouldn't have seen Wimzy at all due to her ability. "I don't know if that's any help but-"
"Oh yeah, I think I saw someone like that a little while ago," Emma interrupted before she pointed in a certain direction. "I think he was heading towards Anime and Gaming. Had a bit of a strange smell coming off him though."
The moment she heard that, Linda almost jumped for joy, her little smile stretching out into a giddy grin in seconds.
"That's him!" she declared, knowing exactly what smell Emma was referring to. "I better head over before he gets too far. Thank you again!"
With that final word, Linda dashed off into the crowd, leaving a befuddled yet happy Emma behind to wave her off.
"Good luck!" she called out.
As soon as the disguised Imp was gone, Emma's smile somewhat faded, but nonetheless, she seemed content.
"Sweet kid," she commented. "I hope she finds her friend alright."
With that, she then began to feel the weight of her tote bags and nodded her head in satisfaction before heading towards the nearest exit.
"Yeah, I think I have enough here. Time to head back."
Meanwhile, Linda continued with her search, though not without caution, lest she end up running into those two weirdos again. Then again, even amongst a room filled with cosplayers, they would stand out in a crowd, so avoiding them shouldn't be too much trouble as long as she stayed vigilant.
"Okay, Anime and Gaming should be… Oof!"
Of course, while she kept her focus on trying to spot Mick and Wimzy, while also trying to avoid the Mingeworthys, Linda failed to notice a chunky leg suddenly blocking her path, causing her to stumble back. Looking up, her eyes shrank in horror upon seeing the person and face attached to the leg… a very familiar… very ANGRY face.
"Ooooooooooooh, shit,"
BANG! BANG!
The instant those gunshots were heard, everyone within earshot was understandably terrified and chose to run away from it. However, two individuals in particular chose to rush directly towards them.
"It came from over there!" Wimzy cried out, pointing towards one particular direction just off the edge of Anime and Gaming.
Fearing the worst, Mick was, of course, the first to head towards the source of the noise. Pushing his way through the crowd while Wimzy flew overhead, the pair of them refused to let anyone block their path as they continued their charge. If anything happened to Linda, Mick would never be able to forgive himself.
"Liddy," he uttered. "Please be alright."
Little did Mick realize, Linda was doing a lot better than he knew. True, seeing Jerry again sent a surge of fear rushing through her, but it wasn't enough for her to freeze in place. Just when the pissed-off, injured human tried to make a grab for her, she in turn reacted on instinct and bit down on his hand HARD.
"AAAAH!" he screamed. "Fucking BITCH!"
With that one swift act, not only did she injure Jerry even further, but she also forced him to drop his gun in pain. Of course, since they were in the middle of NovelCon, the surrounding bystanders didn't really question Jerry's beaten-up appearance or the fact that he was carrying a weapon, all of them due to the assumption that he was just another cosplayer donned in some elaborate makeup and a high-quality prop… needless to say, that assumption instantly flew out the window the instant the gun went off as soon as it hit the floor.
BANG! BANG!
By some miracle, the gun managed to land at an angle where it was pointing straight up and thankfully, both shots ended up going through the ceiling so no one was hurt. However, it still resulted in a mass panic, causing everyone to flee the scene. Without even a second thought, Linda quickly let go of Jerry's hand, gave him a quick kick to his bruised shin and ran off with the fleeing crowd.
"You little…" the furious Human snarled, reaching for his gun and attempting to shoot the disguised Imp in the back.
CLICK! CLICK!
Alas, Jerry couldn't even fire a single shot due to the fact that Linda had somehow managed to waste the only two bullets he had in the gun to begin with.
"Fuck!" he snapped, tossing away his now useless weapon and giving chase.
Back with Linda's travelling companions, they weren't having much luck in regards to finding her. Between the panicked crowd and the Imp's small size, actually managing to spot her was proving to be a near-impossible task. Thankfully they had the means to get a bird's eye view.
"Do you see her!?" Mick called out to Wimzy as she flew a few feet above the crowd, his voice almost drowned out by the panicked masses.
Scanning the area below, Wimzy desperately searched for any sign, a tiny glimpse of her lost companion. Then, just as she was about to give up and move on to a different area, she saw it. A tiny blur of an orange sweater swiftly rushing through the crowd… followed by a familiar tattooed head.
"Over there!" she cried, pointing a finger towards the direction of her find. "She's being chased next to the stage!"
Having a strong idea of who could be chasing her, and furthermore, who could have shot off the gun, Mick's eye instantly shrank in panic.
"Come on!"
As for Linda, she continued to flee from her pursuer just as frantically as ever. Before she even realized it, she had managed to make her way towards a large stage that she could only assume was for the Convention Performances, like those Cosplay Parades. With Jerry quickly closing in, she tried to change direction… Only for that to prove to be a bad idea due to the OTHER lunatics charging at her from said direction.
"There she is!" Lady Mingeworthy screamed, rushing ahead of her husband as they both came rushing out from the crowd.
Left with no other choice, there was only one direction Linda could take now… and that was straight up. In a moment of terror, Linda quickly began to scale the 35 ft. high metal truss that framed the stage. Climbing each bar like a tiny monkey, she quickly began gaining a little more distance from her pursuers, who suddenly all gathered at the very base.
"You little shit!" Jerry snarled, attempting to climb up after the disguised Imp despite his injuries, only to suddenly get pulled back by Lord Mingeworthy.
"I say!" the wigged man snapped, waving a finger in Jerry's face. "You, sir! That there is OUR catch, thank you very much!"
Of course, needless to say, Jerry wasn't in the mood for whatever bullshitery the idiot in the powdered wig was blabbering about.
"Piss off," he growled, his intense glare immediately causing Lord Mingeworthy to flinch.
Suddenly, the furious bus driver spotted the weapon in the weirdo's hand. A little old-fashioned maybe, but he could at least tell that it wasn't a prop. And frankly, any gun would do now that he had lost his own. At that moment, Jerry reached out and grabbed Lord Mingeworthy's flintlock pistol. But the man wasn't going to let go of it that easily.
"Oi!" he snapped, refusing to let go of his weapon despite how much Jerry tried to pull. "MY pistol!"
Now, normally a man of Jerry's muscular frame would have easily been able to take the gun and shove Lord Mingeworthy to the floor without any problems, but thanks to the injuries he received from the crash, particularly in his arm and head, he wasn't exactly in peak condition. In fact, it was because of his mild concussion and his possibly broken arm that Lord Mingeworthy was able to keep hold of his weapon long enough for his wife to sneak up behind him and grab the nearest blunt object.
CLUNK!
One whack of a dropped Harley Quinn mallet later, Jerry was once again face down on the floor, hopefully long enough for security to pick him up this time.
"Pft!" Lady Mingeworthy scoffed, looking down at her fallen foe. "Wanker."
"Jolly good show, sweetums," her husband praised, before turning his attention back to the disguised Imp climbing the truss. However, unlike Jerry, he wasn't too keen on climbing up after her. "Uh… up you go, dear?"
"Fuck off, YOU go!"
Given how high Linda had managed to get, it wasn't really a surprise that neither of them wanted to climb up after her. After all, it wasn't as if such a structure was going to withstand all the extra weight swinging about on it… at least that's what the Mingeworthys told themselves. Linda, on the other hand, had no such reservations… at least not at first.
By the time she had managed to make it to the top, hanging on to one of the spotlights fastened to the corner, she regretted her decision almost immediately. It wasn't as if she were scared of heights; in fact, it was one of the few things she had eventually managed to get over since working for Prince Stolas. But FALLING from them was another story! After all, there was a fair distance between her and the stage and there was no giant Hellhound to catch her this time.
BANG!
CLINK!
As if things weren't already bad enough, those damn weirdos suddenly had the bright idea to SHOOT at her!
"Blast!" Lord Mingeworthy exclaimed as he reloaded his pistol while he and his wife got into a better viewing point on the stage itself. "She's still clinging on tight."
"Do try not to damage her too much, dear," his wife stated.
"I won't," Lord Mingeworthy reassured her, "Just be ready to catch her when she falls."
BANG!
CLINK!
"Aaah!"
While the first shot may not have been successful, the second shot, however, appeared to have yielded better results. One hit towards the bar just below her foot, and Linda instinctively jumped back in terror. Unfortunately, her sudden movement immediately caused her to lose balance and she was tumbling off the truss in a matter of seconds. It was only by some miracle she was able to grab a hold of one of the cables connected to the spotlight to stop herself from falling off entirely. However, now she was in a terrible position, hanging off the light like a frightened squirrel clinging onto an extremely thin branch.
"One more shot ought to do it," Lord Mingeworthy commented with a smug grin as he once again reloaded his gun and took his aim.
However, just before he could fire the shot, something even more dangerous came flying towards his face.
"HEY!"
POW!
Before the man in the powdered wig could even register who called him out, a swift flaming fist collided with his jaw and sent him flying off stage-left the instant he turned his head. Shocked by what had just happened to her husband, Lady Mingeworthy quickly snapped around to face his attacker with an angry glare.
"What the bloody hell!?" she yelled… only to instantly regret turning around as soon as she saw the burning eyes melting through the plastic smiley face mask to give her the most hateful glare possible.
ROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAARRRRRRRR!
Between the literal fire in the person's eyes, and the feral roar bellowing in her face, there was only one reaction Lady Mingeworthy could respond with.
"Oh, dear… I do believe I just shat myself,"
Those would be the last words the woman would say her eyes rolled back and she collapsed right at Mick's feet, much to the latter's contentment.
"Bitch," he said with a scoff.
CREAK!
"GAH!"
"Hang on, Liddy!"
Quickly returning his attention towards the Imp hanging several feet above his head, the rage in Mick's eyes was instantly replaced with panic as he tried to figure out how to get to Linda in time... Alas, luck just wasn't on the Sinner's side in this case.
SNAP!
"Gaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhh!"
"LIDDY!"
Before Muck could even move an inch, the cable Linda was hanging on snapped in two, sending her flailing like a ragdoll to the stage below, much to Mick's horror. As she fell, all the Sinner could do was stand below her in an attempt to at least break her fall… at least that was the initial idea.
"Mick!" Wimzy suddenly yelled as she swooped down from above. "Throw some fire at me!"
"Wha-" Mick uttered confusingly, only for Wimzy to yell at him with a lot more ferocity.
"Just do it!"
With no time to even think, Mick unconsciously followed the Cherub's command and shot a ball of blue flames from his palm directly at the Cherub… only for her to somehow manage to catch it with her tail and hold on to it just as she caught Liddy in her arms.
"Got you!" she declared, carrying bridal style as she slowly swooped and flew downward in a cone-styled pattern.
Though the two Demons didn't understand her reasoning at first, they would later come to understand why the Cherub demanded Mick shoot flames at her after thinking back on their adventure at a later time. To Mick and Linda, it appeared as though Wimzy was just doing some fancy airborne tricks, but to any humans who were somehow still around to watch, they wouldn't see the Angel but rather a magical event where a falling young girl was being caught in a fiery magic spell to safely carry her to the ground. After that, it would soon come to be known as one of the most spectacular NovelCon performances to date.
"There you go," Wimzy gently said with a smile as she finally stood the disguised Imp on her own feet. "All safe now."
"Uh… th-thanks," Linda said with a small blush, still somewhat overwhelmed by the fall as well as suddenly being carried like a Princess by a literal Angel.
"Liddy!" she suddenly heard, before suddenly being tackled into a hug by her masked friend. "Are you okay!?"
"I-I'm fine, Mick, really!" Linda squeaked, pulling herself away from the literal bone-crushing hug just before her face started to turn blue. "Thanks to Wimzy here, I'm all good."
Upon hearing her name, Mick gave the Cherub a stern glance, though it swiftly melted into a gaze of gratitude if the look in his eyes behind the mask were anything to go by.
"Thanks, little kitten," he said, his soft tone actually managing to catch Linda and Wimzy off guard for a brief moment. "But… how the hell did you even do all that with my flames?"
Obviously, this was an understandable question, one that Wimzy was all too happy to answer.
"I may be just a Cherub, but all Angels are still resistant to Hellborn substances and the like," she said with a casual shrug with a slight hint of smugness in her voice as she blew off a little bit of smoke from the tip of her tail. "Well… that's what I was told during my orientation at least."
Needless to say, this answer only serves to fill Mick's head with even more questions. Sadly, however, this was neither the time nor the place for such matters.
"Well, whatever," the Sinner declared, picking Linda up and slumping her over his shoulder. "Let's just get out of here before things get any worse."
"Hey!" the disguised Imp protested. "Put me down!"
Alas, Linda's pleas fell upon deaf ears as Mick turned to leave the stage. Undoubtedly, he feared that if he were to let Linda walk through the crowd, they'd only get separated again. But as sweet of a sentiment as that was, Linda only found such a display both completely embarrassing and unnecessary. Before Mick could even take a step, however, he was suddenly halted in his tracks when a spotlight shone over the three companions and the sound of cheering rang through their ears. Daring to turn their heads, they found themselves gaping in horror when they saw a large crowd of people had gathered in front of the stage.
"Aaaaaaaaand it just got worse,"
As much as Linda and Wimzy wanted to believe otherwise, neither of them could deny the situation literally staring them in the face. In all honesty, neither of them had any idea of how they were going to worm their way out of this one. With this many eyes on them, they were basically screwed!
"Woo!" a voice suddenly cried out from the nearby speakers. "What a show, am I right!?"
"Let's give it up for today's surprise stunt show performers!" a second voice added from the same speaker, causing a massive uproar from the crowd.
Stunt show performers? So THAT's why all these people were still here!? At some point during the chaos, they actually misinterpreted the gun violence, the screaming kidnap victim and the unholy fire display as some kind of elaborate stunt show for the Convention!? Okay, sure it's not like bystanders were actually hurt, the flames Mick shot out could have just as easily been mistaken for special effects and the Mingeworthys' choice of attire alone was silly enough to not take them seriously, but still… things must have REALLY changed since Mick had died because he didn't remember people ever being THIS stupidly gullible.
Whatever the case, this turn of events seemed to be working in Mick and Linda's favour. If they managed to play their cards right, they and Wimzy might just be able to slip away after a small bow to the audience… and yet, something about this still felt a little off. To be specific, neither of them actually claimed to be stunt performers to anyone… So who exactly was covering for them? And more to the point… why did Mick find those two voices strangely familiar?
Suddenly two women carrying wireless microphones emerged hand in hand from the curtains behind the Cherub and two disguised Demons. One, a blonde woman in blue overalls with her hair tied up in a short ponytail and the other, a slightly taller lady with dark skin, a large Afro and a small purple t-shirt with a skull on the front of it. The moment he saw the two women, Mick realized instantly why he felt such a familiarity. They might be currently disguised as Humans, and it's true that he only ever met them once, but he knew these two Succubi anywhere.
"Wait… Coco and Apple!?"
AUTHOR'S NOTE:
Hello all. Thank you all once again for being patient in this difficult time for me. I shall try to get back into the usual 2-week uploading schedule soon enough, however, for the time being, I shall be extending it to 3 weeks until I feel like I am capable of keeping up with the writing due to my current emotional state. Once more, I thank you for your patience and hope you continue to enjoy this story.