This is a scary oneshot set in Hell, just after the 'Unhappy Campers' episode; featuring Moxxie and Striker!
Moxxie is sent by Blitzo to have the rifle they stole from Striker in Wrath checked and primed for use. What could possibly go wrong?
I do not own anything belonging to Helluva Boss; the credit for story and characters goes to Vivziepop! I hope that you guys like it!
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In a dark alleyway, in Imp City, one night ...
Moxxie crept slowly along the alleyway, his entire body tense and his ears pricked right up. The small imp also carried his best rifle, and was constantly looking warily around him.
Moxxie wished under his breath that he had his beloved Millie with him ... or even Blitzo! The problem was that, in these parts ... groups of demons usually attracted more attention and trouble than was worth!
Even on his own, the little imp was on high alert for any muggers or greedy thieves ... who might try to steal the thing in the box that he held under his right arm.
The blessed carmine rifle I.M.P had 'obtained' from Striker at the Harvest Moon Festival. Lately, Blitzo had decided to have said gun undergo a checkup to make sure it was completely 'gunworthy'.
Edgy of drawing unwanted attention, the boss imp sent Moxxie to a shady, black market gun-shop earlier ... to have the checkup done. Blitzo knew the owner of the aforementioned shop, and assured Moxxie that he should be fairly reliable.
Well, fairly reliable-ish ... as reliable as anyone can be in Hell! Turns out, the bird demon shop owner was a really sleazy and suspicious sort; who did a complete check on the gun, but immediately asked where and who Moxxie got it from!
After receiving wilful silence for those questions, the shopkeeper then demanded extra cash for not telling the entire black market underground about the carmine rifle!
Luckily, Blitzo had thought up a contingency plan for that in advance! He'd given Moxxie some separate funds for 'persuasion purposes', and instructions to call him if further problems arose with the shop owner.
The smaller imp was thankful towards Blitzo for his resourcefulness and assistance for the matter ... but was feeling rather cross towards him, concerning other matters.
Like that incident that happened recently; the one involving Barbie Wire. The boss imp had been bogged down in self-loathing and heartbreak for weeks after being disowned by his own sister.
Unfortunately, instead of dealing with his negative feelings in a healthy way; Blitzo took out his irritation on everyone, except for Loona.
For the first time, Moxxie had seriously thought about just quitting the business ... after Blitzo's cruel treatment, when they'd got back from the camp.
Millie though had persuaded her husband otherwise ... because she partially empathised with their boss.
Being part of a large and loving family, the female imp understood how the action of being alienated permanently from one's loved ones could be deeply traumatic for that person!
Through deep, therapeutic talks with his wife, Moxxie eventually relented and released most of his anger ... but he still hadn't talked to Blitzo him much lately ...
The smaller imp's ears suddenly twitched as he sensed movement ahead of him, and behind. Sinister chuckling and sniggering accompanied the flickers of movement as well!
Moxxie instantly skidded to a halt, narrowing his eyes. He also cocked and readied his rifle.
"Come out, you cowards!" the small imp ordered ... after taking a deep breath. The creepy laughter continued as two mangy-looking, cackling hellhounds suddenly loomed into sight ahead of Moxxie.
Both of them were lean, wild-eyed, and armed with huge pistols. The smaller imp grimaced at the sight of his instant enemies, and then heard more sinister cackling ... this time, behind him.
Moxxie whirled around to see two other imps closing in on him from that direction. They were beefier, and taller than him though ... and also holding big pistols.
The would-be muggers then stopped menacingly in their tracks, smirking at the smaller imp. Moxxie then aimed his gun at the ones in front, and every so often ... swung it around to point at the ones behind.
"Hey there, buddy! What are ya doing out in these parts ... all by yourself?" one of the hellhounds jeered across at Moxxie. The aforementioned imp just scowled at him.
"None of your business! Don't you jerks have something better to do?" Moxxie snapped. You usually had to be tough and stand your ground with hooligans like these!
In response, all of the muggers snorted with vicious laughter ... like it was some kind of dark joke to them?
"Actually, we do!" the other hellhound said sweetly, but dangerously. "As a matter of fact, a 'little birdie' told us that YOU are in possession of an angelic weapon! More specifically: a genuine carmine rifle!"
Moxxie's heart sank at that statement, and he inwardly cursed. Reliable, my pointy tail! Thanks for the recommendation, Blitzo! the smaller imp thought sourly.
Seems like that shopkeeper had been far worse than the boss imp expected him to be!
"He wants to have it, you see; it would look great in his collection! That old bird was willing to pay us quite a pretty penny to 'retrieve' said gun, and take care of any 'troubles' we might encounter along the way!" one of the other imps stated ... in a very reedy, shrill voice.
Now Moxxie had a very good idea of what the muggers meant by 'troubles', and was prepared for a probable fight by all means! He just inwardly wished that he had better odds!
"Although, thinking about it ... we might just keep the gun for themselves?" the second mugger imp said suddenly, looking thoughtful. "What do you think, guys?" she suggested.
"We could say that it was stolen by others ... and keep the rifle for our own use!" The aforementioned mugger then turned and shot a disdainful look at Moxxie.
"We'd still have to get rid of this pathetic loose end though!" she muttered. Her comrades all grinned slyly and nodded in approval.
"Sounds good to me!" the first hellhound boomed.
"Yeah!" agreed the second one.
"Super idea!" the first mugger imp stated happily, clapping the second soundly on her back.
Moxxie just glared across at her, feeling anger and digust for the second mugger imp's greed. It reminded him horribly of his dad's.
"Well, since I'm a professional assassin and fighter, you're going to find it tougher than you think! I'm not the patsy you think I am!" the smaller imp retorted, raising his weapon.
"Oh yeah?" the first hellhound jeered again. His comrades in crime just sniggered and started to approach Moxxie.
Suddenly, a loud gunshot rang out and one of the hellhounds (the second one) howled in pain. She immediately dropped her pistol, and cradled her injured, right arm.
It now had a glowing gunshot wound on it. Moxxie's eyes widened in disbelief at the implication, as did all the muggers' eyes! Only a few weapons had the side effect of leaving 'glowing' wounds ... and they were mainly ...
A slow, clicking sound behind the hellhounds instantly made them turn to face the source of it. Moxxie and the other imps were staring past the hounds at it too!
The source was a tall, hatted figure with glowing yellow eyes standing in the shadows some distance away. They couldn't see much of the stranger, but the 'locked and loaded' angelic pistols in his hands were DEFINITELY visible!
Before the muggers and Moxxie could think to react, the mysterious figure fired again ... this time; hitting the wall right next to the left mugger imp. The one behind Moxxie.
A missed shot ... but a clear warning!
The aforementioned mugger imp promptly yelped in shock, turned around, and took off in the other direction.
"Let's get out of here, guys! Quickly now, before we get killed off for good!" she yelled. The other muggers quickly followed, and soon the alleyway was empty ... except for the stranger and Moxxie.
The smaller imp relaxed a little at the departure of his foes, but still gripped his gun tightly. The smaller imp frowned warily as he eyed his shadowy rescuer.
Moxxie didn't know why the stranger had done what he'd done ... and he was very suspicious.
The aforementioned mystery figure merely whirled his pistols around flamboyantly, and then put them back on his belt. Moxxie just rolled his eyes, and sighed in exasperation.
"Cut out the theatrics, okay! Why did you save my life here!" the smaller imp demanded. "And why did you spare those jerks that fled? You had them at your mercy just now?"
The stranger just chuckled quietly, and then started to walk towards Moxxie ... accompanied by a very familiar sound. The sound of a rattlesnake's tail shaking.
The smaller imp's frown also started to slowly change ... to a look of sudden realisation and horror.
"Always asking curious questions, aren't you ... little Moxxie? As I said before, 'little things' ... like them ... aren't worth the cleanup!" the mystery figure quoted.
The strange demon then finally came fully into view ... stepping out of the shadows. It was Striker.
Moxxie momentarily reeled in apprehension and shock at the discovery, but very quickly came to his senses!
The aforementioned imp immediately aimed his gun at Striker's chest; while beginning to mentally calculate his options.
Escape was currently not possible at the moment ... not unless the cowboy imp was incapacitated in some way.
Fight was a probable and very likely option, but Moxxie would rather be the one to make the second move ... to avoid rushing into any possible traps of Striker?
Talk ... now THAT could potentially buy some time for the smaller imp to think of a plan to get away from Striker, and back to Blitzo with the carmine rifle!
A nerve-racking thought suddenly struck Moxxie hard! Wasn't this particular carmine rifle the one that they STOLE from Striker when they first met him at the Harvest Moon Festival?!
The smaller imp felt sweaty with anxiety, as he hoped in his heart that Striker didn't realise what Moxxie was carrying!
Moxxie then took a deep breath, and drew himself up to his full height ... trying to look confident and assured. The cowboy imp's lip curled slightly at what he viewed as a 'pathetic' attempt at bravery.
"Why are you here anyway?" the smaller imp asked, firmly, and pointedly. Striker merely chuckled again, as he slowed to a stop ... right in front of Moxxie.
The cowboy imp then stared down menacingly at the smaller one, with his usual evil smirk on his face. Striker's golden, spiral eyes also were glowing brightly.
Moxxie frowned slightly as he looked into them, a faint thought coming to mind. Were Striker's eyes glowing brighter than usual? The smaller imp just shook his head, quickly dismissing the query ... from his mind.
"Oh, I was just in the neighbourhood", purred the scurrilous, grinning outlaw. "There I was; minding my own business ... and then I saw some of the local trash running stealthily past me. They were talking loudly an about some dumb idiot carrying an unprotected angelic rifle."
Moxxie stopped breathing for a moment, his eyes beginning to dilate in fear. It was just as he feared. Things were going from bad to WORSE!
"I, of course, followed them ... being a collector and great admirer of angelic weaponry myself", Striker continued smugly. "I don't suppose you've seen the 'dumb idiot' those goons were talking about?" he sarcastically asked the other imp.
Trying to keep his calm composure together, the scared Moxxie quickly shook his head.
"No, no, I haven't seen any dumb idiots or carmine rifles around these parts!" the smaller imp lied through his teeth.
The cowboy imp's grin then broadened into a larger, KNOWING one! Instantly Moxxie knew that he made a mistake! Striker hadn't mentioned anything about a CARMINE rifle!
Darn it, Moxx! You really let the cat out of the bag on this one! the smaller imp inwardly cursed.
Also ... Moxxie felt rather strange at present, as he kept looking deep into Striker's eyes. A little woozy and ... lightheaded?
"How's my dear friend Blitzo going these days?" the cowboy imp inquired, abruptly changing the subject. He snickered under his breath.
"And that fierce, charming wife of yours?" Flushing red with irritation, the smaller imp just scowled deeply at Striker.
"None of your business, cowboy!" he snapped, feeling more and more unsafe by the second. "As a matter of fact, I'm downright sick of your flairs and dramatics! I'm going ba-ack?"
Moxxie's words trail off into silence as he attempted to turn around and walk away ... but failed. Somehow ... the smaller imp didn't know how ... his entire body (apart from his face) had become paralysed.
He couldn't move a single muscle! Moxxie's pupils shrank to pinpricks as a look of utter terror and panic came over his face!
It then got worse as Striker began to laugh again, but louder than before! The cackling cowboy imp then casually reached out and removed Moxxie's gun from his grip with unnerving ease.
"What ... what kind of devilry have you DONE to me?" the smaller imp whispered, not even able to muster up fake courage or anger in his frightened state.
Striker just ignored that question though. The cowboy imp then whistled slowly as he leaned in and shot Moxxie a fiendish smile.
"As much as I hate to admit it, I'm kind of impressed with your willpower, Moxxie. Most victims fall under in about 10 secs!" he said.
The smaller imp's eyes quickly widened in horrified realisation at Striker's words, as he finally knew the truth! Moxxie struggled to speak ... even as his vision blurred and total numbness spread across his body.
"Y-You ... You h-h-have ..." The sentence unfortunately trails off into silence again. The smaller imp's eyes suddenly go blank, his expression goes slack, and his whole posture stiffened.
Seeing this, Striker cackled in sadistic triumph and satisfaction.
"Hypnotic eyes?" he asked rhetorically, finishing Moxxie's sentence for him. "Why, yes." The cowboy imp mischievously flicked his victim's nose hard. "Yessssss, I DO ... hehehe."
Straightening up, and taking a step back; Striker then glanced down at the gun he'd taken from Moxxie.
"Hmmm. Quality gun. Ah well, waste not, want not", the cowboy imp said as he slung the rifle across his back. The impish wimp before him wouldn't be using it anytime soon.
Striker then carefully removed the special box from Moxxie as well, and opened it. The familiar glow of the carmine rifle was a comforting sight to the cowboy imp, almost like it was an old friend.
"There you are, I've missed you dearly. Striker's been quite lonely without his 'special' pal on his little missions", he cooed to the weapon. "Don't worry, we'll have fun again! You'll see!"
Striker then closed the box, and slung it over his back ... to join the other rifle there. The cowboy imp smirked. Perfect! All was right with his Hell again!
There was just one last thing to take care of ... Striker turned slowly back to the hypnotised Moxxie, a thoughtful expression on his face.
"I could kill you, you know ... right here, right now!" the cowboy imp declared in a hiss, narrowing his eyes. In a second, Striker whipped out one of his angelic pistols and put it against Moxxie's forehead.
The smaller imp just gazed blankly up at him. The cowboy imp then sighed, and rolled his eyes.
"But seriously, where's the FUN in that?!" Striker muttered, putting the pistol back on his belt. "It'll be like shooting fish in a barrel! No, no, no! The real fun is in the HUNT, hehe!" the cowboy imp purred as his eyes glinted with wicked delight.
"Besides, it might upset my long-term plans for your little group", he continued, poking Moxxie in the chest a few times. "So, lucky you! You get to live another day! There's just two final things that we need to sort out though."
Striker abruptly lashed out with a huge punch at the smaller imp's face ... the force of which left Moxxie staggering a little.
"THAT one was for HUMILIATING me in MY own hideout!"
The cowboy imp then followed up with a second, even harder punch to Moxxie again!
"And THIS one is for smashing my STATUE!"
Dizzy from all the blows, the smaller imp swayed around for a few seconds. Then Moxxie quickly collapsed to the ground ... still blank-faced and hypnotised.
Striker smirked widely at this, and delivered a gentle kick to his victim with his right boot. This sent Moxxie rolling into the right side gutter.
The smaller imp just lay there on his back, looking up with the grinning outlaw with his glowing, spiralling eyes.
"Now ... why don't you curl up and have a nap in the rubbish there, like the flea-bitten cur you are!" Striker suggested ... but it was basically an almighty order to Moxxie.
"In fact, why don't you sleep for an hour? A good, long hour. After that, you will wake up and return directly to Blitzo and the others.
You will only remember that you were attacked by the muggers you met previously. THEY beat you up, and stole the carmine rifle you were carrying. You will not remember me being here, or involved in all of this."
The cowboy imp's fangs all showed in a VERY toothy grin as he relished the thought of Moxxie getting into big trouble for losing the angelic rifle!
The hypnotised imp just took his master's orders in, yawned, and then obediently curled up. As Moxxie drifted off to sleep, he could faintly hear Striker's last words and laughter.
"I sure am looking forward to seeing 'that rodeo clown' again! One way or another, 'this cowboy' won't be riding into the sunset without his partner!" the cowboy imp jeered, and then cackled with evil glee!
A lot of people have talked about, and written stories where Striker has hypnotic eyes ... so I thought that I would write my own fanfic on this theory!
What do you think? Vote and comment if you like it!