In what is early morning, Hodr is now shown to be inside of a forge of some sort. The smell of burning charcoal and the sounds of molten metal are heard all over the place, as weapons, armors, tools, and all sorts of pieces of metal hanging all over the place, as Hodr stood before Xaphan, who is hosting the holy arrows that he had gotten from the Cherubs inside of some rather large jars, just so that he can avoid intentionally hurting his own hands. Xapahan smiled, as he spoke out.
"Heh...this is exactly what I need, in order to fuse heavenly weaponry with the metals and alloys of hell itself. It didn't work last time, because it was most likely insufficient and is a bit too strong for the metal to hold, although this is because the metal I used is very weak, but this...this will work. Thank you, Hodr. I needed this."
Hodr nodded his head, as he puts his hand inside of his pockets.
"You're welcome. Besides, I had no idea what to do with it. Especially with the Cherub feathers that I've given you."
Xaphan nodded, as he held the feathers of the Cherubs in his other hand, as he then spoke out.
"It's a good thing that you got these for me. They maybe pretty weak, but they will be useful for me to use, even if it had some uses in it. Kind of thought that you would use it for that old ritual you used along with demon horns to go to that...y'know, that 'other' place."
Hodr nodded, as the sounds of roaring fire were heard, Xaphan looks and smiled, stuffing the feathers into his coat and chuckling sinisterly. He opened his hand, the flames are so white that it is almost as bright as the sun, yet Hodr can look at it without issue. He throws it at one of the furnaces, as the furnace caught fire, and crackles to life. He then goes to a drawer, and takes out a container, filled with demonic alloys that would take an entire day to melt, all of which are in the form of lumps and ingots. He then held the jar, and puts the arrows onto the metal heap inside the container, before he than goes to the flames, and stuffed the container inside of the furnace, his hands consumed by the fire, yet feels no pain from it whatsoever. He took his hand out, and closed the furnace, before he then spoke out.
"This shall work for me. The cherubs' arrows will melt a little bit faster then the alloys that I have, but it will still mix well when they are all in liquid form. Lucifer will be so pleased to know that we will have weapons that we can use against the angels. By the way, do you also have the piece of that spear that the nun tried to kill you with?"
Hodr flinched, and nodded, as he took out the 2 pieces of the spear from the Nun from the previous couple of days, and needless to say, it is very broken, but only because the Spearhead has snapped off. He didn't like that he had taken such a weapons, but he feels like Xaphan could find some use in it. Xapahan took the 2 halves of the spear in his hand, and looks at it, before he observes it, his sight looks critically at the former weapon with an analytical eye that does not miss a single detail, and Hodr waited, until he then spoke out.
"Hmm...this spear is indeed powerful. Not as powerful as the weapons used by the higher ups such as the archangels and all of that, but is powerful enough for those from either the Dominion or the Throne rankings. And both of whom are the equivalent of the Overlord and the Goetia demons. Whoever made this must have impressive craftsmanship, imbuing it with Angel magic and metal powerful enough to breach your magic Sigils, just like the exorcists are more then likely able to to. I think I have just the metal I need for this. But, before I rush to use it, I'll wait until the other 2 weapons are done melting. However...Hodr...I need your spear. Perhaps I can use it."
Hodr nodded, as he then held out his right hand, and Xapahan took it, as he took the spear out of Hodr, disconnecting it for now, as he the ring marking on his ring finger vanished. As he puts the 2 spears down, he then looks to see Phenex arrived.
"Oh, hello Phenex. Did something happen?"
Phenex nodded his head, as he spoke out.
"Yes, something did. An Ars Goetia, he spoke to Furfur, wanting to see Hodr. He somehow knows of him."
This made Xaphan look curious at Phenex, as he spoke out.
"Really? Who is this Ars Goetia that came now?"
Phenex looked a little uneasy, as he then spoke out.
"He's a President of Hell. And he...he calls himself, Caim."
This made Xaphan freeze, before he then spoke out.
"Caim...bring him in."
This made Hodr confused. Xaphan's nervous for some reason. Phenex nodded, as he left, and a few minutes later, he brought in a Goetia into the forge of Xaphan, and the bird made Hodr confused, because he looks like a bird in between a raven and a thrush, and it is confusing, due to the black color of his feathers, and the beak...it almost looks like a cross between the 2 species. The eyes of the Goetia are a blue color, and he is wearing a black coat, brown vest, and black pants made from silk, his break grey and being almost as long as Malphas' beak. And Hodr...he sees that there is something on his forehead, but Hodr can't see what it looks like, because it is obscured by the Goetia's hood. Both Xaphan and Phenex see it...but they seem...nervous. But why, especially since Phenex is a few ranks higher then this president of Hell? Why is he nervous?
"So...you are the human called Hodr."
Hodr nodded, as he stepped forward. Caim looks at the other 2 demons, and pushes his hand back, and instantly, they both backed away. Hodr was confused. How can he command both Xaphan and Phenex. He doubts that it has anything to do with his authority, especially since he is very low in the rank. No, it's something else. He touched his fingers under his chin, and made Hodr look at Caim into the eyes. Hodr feels...nervous, like Caim could see him in ways that not even the most powerful demon can see in him, with the exception of the Kings of Hell. Caim continues to look at him, and his eyes widene, almost like he recognizes something in Hodr, as he then spoke out.
"I can see it...the blood of the first sinful runs through your veins...a sin that I know very well. And it is very special, a bloodline that is of the human that is the first...attuned to the magic of hell itself from the long distant past. The bloodline of the first sinner to ever descend to Hell itself."
Caim continues to look at him, before he then slightly backs up a little bit, before he then spoke out.
"Tell me, Hodr...have you ever been told of your bloodline."
Hodr then spoke out.
"Countless times. I've been told it has been special and all of that, but I never got any answers, only descriptions and personal thoughts of what it is like to them."
Caim looks down at Hodr, as if to know that he is telling the truth. After a little while, he nodded his head, as he realizes that Hodr is indeed being truthful to him, in which he later then spoke out to him.
"And they are not wrong, for there truly is something special about it, a spark of creation and life residing from the old times, descending since the era when humanity is a relatively new to the world that you belonged to...but I cannot tell you the answer to this directly...for you will not believe in me. You must find out the answers of your own. But there is one thing that I will say to you, for it is very important for you remember this by."
Hodr looks up at Caim, and with a confused look on his face, spoke out.
"And what is that?"
Caim looks down at Hodr with a mysterious glint in his eyes, before he then spoke out to him.
"Child...if there is one piece of advice that I can give you...it is this. Sometimes...the darkest and most sinful hearts...are the ones that are the sweetest to you, the most merciful and kindest to your soul."
Caim then steps back, before he then spoke out.
"I am off to my duties now. Good day, Hodr."
Caim left with one hesitation, disappearing in a flock of Ravens, as Hodr looked a little bit spooked out at had just happened. Even both Xaphan and Phenex are a little bit spooked out by what it is that happened. When that happened, Hodr got a phone call from Blitzø, a phone that Blitzø was able to buy for him, because he needs to stay in touch with him, and he answer.
"Hello?"
Them, Blitzø quickly spoke out.
"Hodr, where the fuck are you?! I'm inside your room and you are nowhere in sight!!"
Hodr then spoke back.
"I'm in Xaphan's forge, in order to help improve my weapons. What do you need?"
Blitzø then spoke out.
"Well, get the hell back to I.M.P right the fuck now! I need your for something very important!"
Hodr looked confused, as he then spoke out.
"And what is that, whatever important...thing...you want me to do?"
But Hodr is not gonna like what is about to happen next, especially the answer that he will hear.
"You can't be serious."
Hodr said, as he is in the I.M.P can, wearing what seems to be a cowboy outfit, with a hat, red vest with stripes, orange t-shirt, jeans, and black leather boots, as well as a red scarf that he can use to cover his nose and mouth. And he is not the only one. Blitzø, Moxxie, Millie, and Loona are wearing their own unique outfits. Millie has a red vest and short pants, Moxxie is wearing and white shirt with a grey vest, and it is clearly no cowboy outfit, Blitzø wear's a white buttoned shirt with brown pants that has black overalls, as well as red and black boots, and Loona, she is wearing a red vest, back tank top that exposes her stomach, and wears a her black shorts still, but with red underneath it. Hodr is sitting in the back with Loona.
Hodr sighed, as he pinched his nose and shook his head.
"What am I, from the old west?"
Loki appeared, wearing black versions of the clothes, as he then spoke out.
"Well, on the bright side, at least you'll be an effective cowboy, partner."
Hodr looks at Loki with an unamused expression.
"Don't go joking in me like this, Loki. Very bad time. Especially since we are going to the ring, that is the territory of Satan himself."
As the van drove, there is a sign above that says, Rough n' Tumbleweed Ranch, in which the van passed under, and after that, they stopped in front of 2 imps that are waiting at the end of the road, and in front of the house. One is a male, and very burly Imp, having muscular arms and a pronounced torso. He has red skin, yellow eyes, white hair and matching mustache, along with black and white striped horns. He also has white marks all along his left shoulder, and wears a sleeveless black vest over a brown sleeveless shirt, a black belt with silver buckle, and gray pants with black boots.
Beside the male Imp is most likely his wife, and surprisingly, she bears a striking resemblance to Millie, having red skin covered with white spots, although hers are a lot more numerous, in addition to dark wild hair, yellow eyes, and black horns with thin white stripes. She has a full-figured body with thick thighs, wide hips and plump breasts but a slim waist. Her attire consists of a white shirt with rolled up sleeves, crimson ascot around her neck, faded blue jeans, and gardening gloves on her hands. It is obvious to Hodr what they are. Millie, excited at this, jumped out of the van, and shouted out to them.
"Mama, Papa!!"
Millie gets out of the van and happily runs toward her parents. Her father, Joe, hugs her and spins her around before placing her down. And it seems her father is also happy to see her.
"Yeeeee-hawwww! How's my deadly little pumpkin spice doing?"
Joe said, as he runs Millie's head affectionately, as if she is still a little kid in his eyes, as Millie smiled happily at this.
"I'm good, Pa! Thanks for lettin' us stay here for the harvest jamboree."
Lin, her mother, smiled, as she then spoke out to her daughter.
"It's no trouble. We know you aren't making as much anymore since y'all went 'freelance.'"
Millie then spoke in a rather joking way.
"Freelance pays fine, Ma! We're doin' fiiiiine!"
But Millie then coughed a little bit, and spoke out in a much more serious tone.
"we're fine."
Hodr stepped outside, hat over his head and scarf over his nose and mouth, in order to hide his face, as he helps Moxxie with the luggage that he has. But as Hodr helped with that, Millie goes to Moxxie, and spoke out to her parents.
"Anyway, y'all remember my husband Moxxie?"
Before Moxxie can protest against Millie for this, she shoved her husband in front of her parents, and they both looked at Moxxie with an expression of disapproval on their faces. Moxxie, nervous, then spoke out to her parents, almost as if his is doing this for his wife.
"Greetings, Lin! Joe! How have you been, uh, with all the… flaming twisters and stuff around here?"
Joe, remembering some old memory that involves that sort of stuff, and clearly not happy about that, then spoke out to Moxxie with frustration in his voice.
"We lost our old farm hand to one of them terrors last week."
Moxxie, thinking that he had offended Joe in saying this, then spoke out.
"Hehehehehehehehe...Oh, crumbs. My bad! I am so sorry. I- I didn't mean to open that wound... sir."
But Blitzø, who heard that, spoke out to Moxxie in a rather annoyed way.
"Hey, watch it! I'm the 'sir' here, bucko!"
Then, Hodr bonked his fist onto the top of Blitzø's head, an annoyed look on his face, as he then spoke out.
"Shut up, Blitzø. Sir can be used by any guys, not just bosses."
Blitzø looked annoyed at Hodr, as Millie then spoke out to her parents.
"Oh yeah! Y'all haven't met my boss Blitzo! And his hellhound!"
Loona, annoyed at this, spoke out to Millie.
"I'm not just his hellhound."
Blitzø then pulls Loona to his side, as he then spoke out to the parents.
"Yeah, she's my daughter!"
Loona, being as cynical as she is, scoffed.
"Only on fucking paper. Y'all don't deserve to know my name."
Hodr looked a little annoyed at Loona, but does not protest, as Blitzø decides to initiate a conversation with Joe and Lin, while also shoving Moxxie away.
"It's a pleasure to finally meet the sperm and egg factory! that popped out this little gem of an assassin. You two raised a study bitch."
Joe laughs a bit, and shook Blitzø's hand, as he then spoke out.
"That we did! So... Blitzo, is it? Heh heh. That's a fine name."
Lin nodded, as she spoke out.
"It almost reminds me of war."
Joe flexes his arms, as he then spoke out.
"Nothing like a little war to make a strong man!"
Blitzø smiled, seeing a kinship in the 2 of them, a friendship between them both.
"I like you people."
Moxxie, heari this, decides to go all science talk on this sort of thing.
"Y'know... more battles were won by technological advances in warfare. I've researched the history of weaponry extensively, and it's inspiring how… for example-"
But Hodr immediately covered Moxxie's mouth before he can ramble on and more, and Hodr then spoke out.
"Moxxie, I don't think the people of the ranch are that much science people."
This made Moxxie stop, as he looks at the trio of Imps, who are looking at him with an unamused expression. Moxxie, now thinking that he is making himself look a bit more stupid then before, spoke out.
"I mean…war's fun!"
Hodr smacked face a bit, and shook his head, as he thought to himself.
'What is inside of his head? Did he forget where we are?'
Joe and Lin then took notice of Hodr, and they approached him.
"So, you're this human that my baby girl has mentioned, huh?"
Hodr looks at the old married couple in surprise, as he spoke out.
"What? Your daughter talked about me?"
Lin nodded.
"Yep, she send us letters involving a human that is now working with her boss' place, saying that he is different from the rest, especially in behavior."
This made Hodr spoke out.
"Yikes, didn't think she'd tell anyone about me. Name's Hodr, by the way. It's a pleasure to meet you."
Joe crossed his arms and spoke out with an approving tone.
"Has manners, too. You're a one of a kind type of human."
Hodr deflected a bit, knowing what he means.
"Wish I wasn't the only one."
Joe nodded with a smile, before turning to Moxxie, and spoke out.
"Guns get the job done... but a man ain't nothin' if he can't tear the head off a hellish beast with only his bare... hands!"
Blitzø then decides to take the time to mock Moxxie a little bit, and does a bit of baby voice.
"HAAAA! He's right, Moxxie! You got cute wittle baby hands like your baby dick!"
He attempted to reach for Moxxie's crotch, but Hodr summoned ice chains and wrapped it around Blitzø's hand, and threw him away. He shook his head, as Lin spoke out.
"Woah! How did you do that?"
Hodr spoke out to Lin.
"I had been practicing Hell's magic with someone I knew about."
Joe spoke out.
"Well...now that is somethin' ya don't see everyday. Speakin' of strong hands, y'all should meet our newest help. Hey! Striker!"
All of a sudden, black flaming hooves clop rapidly on the ground. An Imp's spiky tail whips a black horse's flank. The animal is a dark gray horse with black stripes on his body and a flaming mane and tail. He has two pairs of orange glowing eyes, a set of glowing fangs, and what appears to be orange horseshoes. His lower body possesses a lava-like appearance. But it is the person riding it that got Hodr's attention.
On top of the horse is an Imp, rivaling Blitzø in terms of height, possesses a serpentine-like face with a large gold tooth in his sharp-toothed mouth. He has pale red skin, bright yellow eyes with green rings, a small black mustache, ivory white hair with a pair of black and white-striped horns. He has horns point upward and has stripe patterns that are a bit more jagged then normal Imps, with eight spines lined up on them. His tail has four black stripes at the base, with eight spines lined up on them, and one on his tail fork.
The outfit is of a large grey sun hat, cowboy boots, and a light red bandana around his neck, almost resembling a cowboy in the southern states, with a black turtleneck shirt accompanied by a dark grey vest and a light gray jacket with dark gray cuffs and black tassels below. He wears black fingerless gloves and ivory white pants that are ripped by the thighs. Astral of wheat is present in his mouth. The horse roars in front of the group, as Hodr stepped back a little bit, and the Imp, Striker, spoke out.
"Well, howdy!"
He turns to look at Millie.
"Oh, lookie here! You must be the famous Mildred!"
He then gets off of his horse, Bombproof, and goes to her.
"Heard some good things about you from your folks, little lady."
He winks a little bit, and Millie was flattered, as Striker shook her hand.
"What're y'all doin' so far away from Imp City? Heh. The free workin' finally slowin' down?"
Millie then spoke out to Striker.
"Oh, no! Freelance isn't free! It's a--... Never mind. We're just visitin' for the festival. The prince is our boss' boyyyyfrieeeend!"
Blitzø, looking annoyed at this, spoke out to Millie.
"Millie, I am not above hitting a female in front of her daddy."
Hodr then spoke out to him.
"Despite how accurate it is."
Blitzø for frustrated, but that feeling disappeared when Striker spoke out.
"Boss, huh...? Ohhh, so YOU'RE the bold imp to start his own killing biz?"
Blitzø looks at Striker and nodded.
"Yeah, well if you're good at somethin', you should probably capitalize."
Striker smiled with respect, as he then spoke out
"Not many Imps start businesses on their own. That's pretty impressive, sir."
'Also a flatterer, I see.'
Loki said, as Blitzø seems to be bashful at this level of flattery.
"Oh...! Yeah? It is-- I- I- I guess- I guess it is, isn't it?"
Striker then felt curious, as he then spoke out
"So you even conned that ditzy blueblood into gettin' you to the surface?"
Blitzø, knowing that he is talking about Stolas, spoke out.
"Well, it's long and complicated, but the short answer is yes. But he's not like, you know-- W- We're y- We're not, like... We're not doing it... We w- What's betw- It's a transactional fucking, you see."
He insert an index finger into a circle made by his other index finger and thumb together to make a hole. Hodr smacked himself in the face, as he shook his head. Striker then turns to Hodr, and spoke out.
"So...you're the human that Joe and Lin talk about. I oughta say...it never thought an actual live human wound be living in Hell itself."
Hodr spoke back.
"You tell me. I embed thought that would happen as well. Mind if expected Hell to kill the moment I set foot into there."
Striker smirked, and extended his hand, as he spoke out.
"Nice to meet ya, partner."
Hodr was hesitant, but shook Striker's hand, with Loki speaking out.
'Hodr...something ain't right about this Striker guy.'
Hodr nodded, as he then spoke out.
'I hear you. He is giving me very bad feelings on him. Something is wrong about him. I'll need to ask Moxxie to watch over him.'
After Striker and Hodr are done shaking hands, Joe spoke out.
"Y'know... you boys should enter the Pain Games!"
Blitzø, hearing this, scuttles sideways to Joe like a crab.
"I heard games! What games? I'm in!"
Lin then decided to speak out of this Pain Game.
"Every harvest festival, there's a competition to be the roughest, toughest bastard in Wrath!"
Millie then has an annoyed look on her face, as she then spoke out.
"Yeah! Wish I could play!"
Lin then decide to speak Millie onto this.
"Millie, you know you get too carried away. The last competition ended in fifteen separate funerals."
"I'm aware, but I only caused nine of them! How come Sallie May still gets to compete?"
"Your sister doesn't have a neighborhood head count."
"She so does!"
Then, another female Imp arrived, having a sack in her hand, and again, rivals Blitzø's height. She has a white streak over the eye that shows and long dark hair like her sister covering the other, though she has a splotch of white hair coming from beneath her red bandanna. Her horns are designed with thick white stripes like her father's. She wears tan short shorts and matching heeled boots, along with ripped black leggings and a black crop top with various tears in them. She then spoke out in a sing-song mocking tone.
" It doesn't count if they don't find the bodyyyyyy!"
Millie seethes with rage, and Hodr looked weirded out at Sallie May, in which he then speaks out.
'Okay, did Sallie May seriously sound like a male?'
As he though that to himself, Sallie May looks at Hodr, and spoke out.
"So you're the human my sister wrote about, eh? Nice to meet ya."
Hodr nodded and spoke out.
"Ditto."
Lin decides to at least give Millie some comfort for not being allowed to go in.
"Still, you get to root for her and your brothers, and now you can cheer on your boss!"
Moxxie, with confidence in his voice, spoke out to the parents.
"Moxxie: Y'know, she can also cheer for me."
Joe laughs and slapped his leg, as he then shouted out.
"Wait, you?"
Moxxie then spoke back.
"Yeah! I can compete, can't I?"
But Lin decides to try and prove him wrong, and elbows him, which made him hiss in pain. Joe then spoke out.
"Sorry, boy. But, I don't think sensitive, thespian types would last very long in the games."
Moxxie, now annoyed at being called, boy, spoke out.
"I was born here, too! I have some fight in me!"
But Striker, with a mocking smirk, puts a hand into his shoulder, and spoke out.
"Huh. Well then, little fella... Why don'tcha help me wrangle one o' them hogs for dinner?"
How points to a large sleeping hell hog in a pigpen, with black spikes and tusks, as Moxxie then spoke out.
"Simple. Watch me!"
But Striker, seemingly wanting to humiliate Moxxie, then hands him a dagger and some rope, before he spoke out.
"Nah... with these. Bullets can't pierce the shell. You gotta get the knife underneath and pry yourself an openin'."
Hodr can see that Moxxie is afraid, as he spoke out.
"Y-Yeah, I knew that."
Blizø then began to approach Moxxie and say something, and Hodr looks at Loki, in which he then spoke out.
"This is gonna end badly, right?"
Loki nodded his head, as he spoke out.
"Yeah, totally."
Sure enough, just a few moments later, Moxxie is shown to be having trouble worn the Hog, as he has a lasso on home, and the Hog is acting out of control, too much for Moxxie to handle. Loona, being a bit of a jerk to Moxxie as usual, spoke out.
"This is fucking beautiful."
Hodr shook his head, as he then turns around and looks and sees that Moxxie is off, and is almost ready to be killed by the Hog.
"Oh no you don't!"
Running as fast as he can, he got in front of the hog, and grabbed at the Tusks, and tries to push it back with all of his might. The Hog grunted, but Hodr then takes out his Sword and stabbed in the head, and it died with a squeal. Hodr looks down and spoke out.
"You okay, Moxxie?"
Moxxie nodded, as Hodr helped him up, as Striker then carried the hog.
"Heh...not bad, human. Seems you've got a lot of strength into. And as for you, little man...you never stood a chance."
Hodr glared dangerously, looking at him, as Blitzø helps Striker, seemingly seeing someone he can employ for I.M.P. Annoyed, Hodr spoke out.
"I really don't like that guy."
Loki then appeared, and narrowed his eyes, and he then spoke out to him.
"Think we can beat him up later?"
Hodr then looks at Loki and spoke out to him.
"If he decides to kill them, yeah."
Hodr is now at the stand, in his demon disguise, and he looks down to see the games about to start, and for some reason, Wally Wackford is now at another job again, this time, acting as the announcer, and uses drama in his tone.
"Welcome, I say-a, welcome-a... all to Wrath-a Ring's-a annual-a Harvest-a Moon-a... a-Festival! To kick things up, we have the great prince Stolas-a, here to usher in this here Pain Games!"
Stolas then appeared, taking Wally Wackford's microphone in his hand, before he then spoke out.
"How kind, Wackford. Greetings, tiny... Wrath Ring Imps! I hereby welcome you all to another year of celebrating the spoils of your labor that continue to feed the citizens of Hell!"
But the Imps...they don't seem to like Stolas, as they flared and a few booed at him.
'Guess they don't like Ars Goetia at all.'
Stolas pays No attention to mind, as he continues on.
"I'm happy to kick off the start of these games that will challenge the toughest Imps to show their skill in dominance. Good luck to you all! Especially that sexy little one there~... Yoo-hoo! Blitzy!"
Blitzø, looking annoyed at this, then spoke out in an annoyed tone of voice.
"Ugh. Fuck me."
Phenex then appeared beside Stolas, and he raised his hand, before firing a small fireball, which made the sound of the gun, and the games began. And throughout the games, Moxxie has very bad luck. First, he gets trampled by other Imps, then he gets chewed by a black and white shark when trying to climb, then Loxxie goes against a muscular Imp, which Hodr does not a a to describe what happened, and then, during a tug-o-war match, he gets bitten by sharks again. Finally, he gets dogpiled by other imps during a football-like game, and a shark, somehow, elbow drops him out of nowhere.
"MOTHERFUC--!!"
'Poor Moxxie. He is not having the luck of his life.'
Hodr thought to himself. Loki nodded, as he then spoke out.
"Yeah, he's been getting a lot of bad luck all of a sudden. And all because Striker decides to act like a big damn ass to him.
The game is then over, as Stolas appeared on stage, and Wally Wackford, taking the time to announce again, then spoke out.
"I say, I say, for the first year ever, we have a tie for winner of the Harvest Moon Pain Games!"
Stolas, taking back the spot, then looks at the winners, and spoke out to the crowd.
"The winners are… Striker, aaaaand my darling Blitzy!"
n does a pose to Blitzø, as the crowd cheered, and Blitzø, seeing and hearing what Stolas said, spoke out to the Prince of the Goetias.
"Just say my name RIGHT! Fuckin' dick!"
Blitzø gets off of the stage, and has an annoyed look on his face, as Moxxie and Millie are shown to be on a Woden bench. Millie puts her hand onto her husband's shoulder, as Hodr made a portal and went to them.
"Bad luck, huh?"
Hodr said, as Moxxie nodded, and Millie, deciding to take the time to comfort Moxxie, and is about to speak out to him. But Moxxie decides to speak out about this.
"Alright. So, he has the "physical advantage." I'm better at other things, like singing!"
But Striker, deciding to act like an utter bitch, comes out of nowhere and spoke out, a guitar he pulled out of nowhere.
"I'd like to take this opportunity to sing a quick song I wrote just now, about me winnin'."
Moxxie, shocked by this, shouted out.
"Oh, WHAT THE FUCK?!!"
Striker begs to strum his guitar, and began to sing, all just to mock Moxxie.
Striker: Sweet victory, I smell the smell
An imp then got close to Striker, hearts all over her head, which Hodr can tell is a fan, before Striker kicks a squealing fangirl Imp in the face, sending her back to a group of Imps.
From up in stinkin' Heaven, To the rugged rocks of Hell, Sweet victory!
Striker: With everything I do,
with every talent, I'm so much more talented than you
Blitzø then came out of complete nowhere,
"Isn't this guy great?"
Striker: Every time I try
Moxxie denies this, as he shouted back at his boss.
"False!!"
"It's gonna be nice workin' with him."
Blitzo pours hot sauce on his cheese and takes another bite. Millie, angered and shocked at this, spoke out with a shout at the end.
"Working with him...? WHAT?!"
Striker: I push it and succeed!
Blitzø then spoke out to the 2 Imp Couple.
Yeaaaah! I asked him if he wants to join I.M.P.
Moxxie: You asked… But…
Moxxie looks visibly hurt as Blitzo looks at him in confusion. Hodr looked annoyed and mad at Striker and Blitzø.
Striker: Every first attempt of every single deed,
Me! I'm totally the best!
Millie, as she looked at this, is very unhappy at the way Striker keeps on dissing her husband, spoke out to her Moxxie.
"Mox, I think you've had enough, for now. Let's head back to the house and get you clean."
Striker: The super cool me, handsome guy Ahem, Moxxie, go fuck yourself!
Moxxie tears up at this, a glare present on his face, as Millie drags him away from the singing
Striker: Did you hear something? It was just the wind...
The crowed cheered at this, as Striker bowed at the crowd, and spoke out to them.
"Thank you. You're too kind."
But Hodr is not done yet. He clenched his fist, and made a portal to Moxxie's location, and goes through the portal, and walks beside the couple. He looked down, seething in anger, as he spoke out, his disguise vanishing.
"The nerve at that Striker. I can't believe that he would do this. Same for Blitzø, how inconsiderate is he towards how Striker acts?"
He tries his best to keep his tone lowered, as he had not felt mad in quite a long time. Millie nodded, as she then spoke out.
"I hear ya. Striker made this some to insult my Mox-Mox, and Blitzø has the nerve to try and recruit him. I hate that fucker so much!"
Millie shrieked in pure fury, and Hodr looks down at the ground for a bit, as he then spoke out to Millie.
"And that is not all about him, Striker...there...there's something very...off about him, that I don't truly put my finger on.
Moxxie then wipes his tears away, as Moxxie then spoke out.
"What, do you mean by that?"
Hodr looks at Moxxie, and spoke out.
"I looked at how he has acted, and I saw that his body gesture does not match with his tone, and he almost looks like he is trying to hide something. Not only that, but before the game, I saw that he has a case of some sort, and spoke on the phone about some sort of, job that he has been given. This is suspicious."
Moxxie and Millie looks at Hodr, and he spoke out.
"I might be wrong...but Striker smells even more bad stuff then what I had seen. I'm gonna go check it out."
But Moxxie then spoke out.
"No...no. I'll do it."
This made Hodr look at Moxxie, and spoke out.
"Moxxie, you shouldn't-"
But Moxxie then spoke.
"No, I insist. Besides...I want payback at Striker for what he has put me through."
Hodr looks at Millie, hoping that she would go against it, but Millie instead looks at Moxxie with approval, and spoke out.
"Yeah, go get 'em, Moxxie!!"
Moxxie nodded, and ran back to the area, in order to find this case that Striker had, and Hodr spoke out after a few minutes of seeing him leave.
"You are gonna make sure that he is safe, right?"
Millie nodded, as she spoke out.
"Ya bet I will. After all, the woman's gotta protect her man!!"
Millie then ran as fast as he could, in order to make sure that her husband. Hodr sighed, as he then took out his book, and began to read the 4 Horsemen of the Apocalypse again, as he looked down at the book on his hand. As he read, Joe and Lin came to him and spoke out.
"Howdy, Hodr! Did you enjoy the games?!"
Hodr looks at them both, and spoke out.
"I guess, it is at least entertaining."
That was a lie. Hodr did not actually enjoy it. He only said it because he does not want to give off a bad impression towards the couple. The couple nodded, and Lin spoke out.
"What's that on your hand?"
Hodr looks down, and spoke out
"I'm read the 4 Horsemen of the Apocalypse. Or details 4 Horsemen that literally causes an apocalypse in the world, named after 4 concepts."
This made Joe spoke out.
"What kind?"
Hodr spoke out.
"They are Conquest, Famine, War, and Death."
Now this made both Joe and Lin intrigued.
"Really, there is a horseman that is made for War?"
Hodr then shook his head and spoke out.
"More like, the physical embodiment of War. He was the one that brought such a concept into existence. He symbolizes mass slaughter, conflict, and strife, a sort of Civil War that is out in the open, for everyone to see. Of it wasn't for that Horseman, War would never have existed."
Now this made Joe and Lin intrigued, as he spoke out.
"Well I'll be. If I were to meet that Horseman, I would thank him for giving us War in the first place. Other wise, we would never have enjoyed our lives the way we did!"
Hodr nodded his head, as he then spoke out.
"Yeah, I bet."
Lin then goes to Hodr, and spoke out.
"Mind of me and my lovely Cup of Joe take a look at the book in your hands?"
Hodr looks at it, and with a shrug, slowly holds it in front of her.
"Go nuts."
Lin smiled, as she took the book, and she and Joe walked off somewhere, ready to read the 4 Horseman of the Apocalyose, more on the part involving the Horseman of War. Hodr sighed, as he stood up, and he began to walk away, going back to the town, where the Harvest Moon Festival is taking place at. It took a few minutes to walk over to the town. As he walked, hands on his pants pockets, he then hears something, whistling. He turns around, and sees that the whistling is coming from Millie's house. Hodr looked confused, but then, shots are heard. And a familiar laughter was heard from within the house.
"Striker..."
Hodr said, as he then ran to the house as fast as he can.
Hodr crashed onto the house, and he goes up the stairs, in order to race up there and see what's going on. He then kicked open the door, and he is angered at the sight. It is none other then Striker, who is fighting against all 3 of the Imps at Blitzø's company. Hodr narrowed his eyes, and spoke out.
"I knew there was something off about you!"
Hodr then charged at Striker, and before Striker coins reach, Hodr punched him in the face, kicked him in the knee, and he then tackled him as hard as he can, and when that happened, both Hodr and Striker made a hole in the back top part of the house. Hodr punched Striker in the face, but Striker kneed him in the gut, before Hodr rammed his head into Striker's nose, making his nose bleed, before Striker pushed him away with his foot, as both Hodr and Striker crashed into the ground. Hodr and Striker began to stand up, and Hodr looked at Striker, as Striker smirked, as he then spoke out.
"Ya know, I've never killed a human before! Oughta be a first time for me!"
Hodr narrowed his eyes, as he ran up and tried to fight him, as he took his Sword, and tried to slice at him with it. But Striker then uses his knife to counter the blade, as Hodr is having trouble keeping up with Striker's speed. Hodr tried to stab, but Striker dodged it and sliced Hodr in the worst. But the second he felt his wrist being sliced, he jumped back and healed himself as fast as he can, before Hodr then launched fireballs at Striker. But Striker dodged the fireballs coming his way, and when goes up to Hodr, he and Striker then resort to hand to hand combat. But no matter what Hodr does, no matter how many times he tries to hit him, Striker is able to counter him, and even is able to block, and land some good blows on him. He is just that skilled in Hand-To-Hand combat against him, even against I.M.P, with Millie and Blitzø skilled in it as well. He then tries block with a shield shaped as a Sigil, but Stirker shot at the Sigil with a rifle, and too Hodr's shock, the sigil instantly got destroyed. He then tired to jumped out of the way, but Striker shot Hodr in the torso, thankfully away from any serious organs...but when Hodr kept his Demonic Aura raised...instead of reducing the shot's agony, the Sigil Armor broke like glass, as Hodr is shot under the kidney.
"AAAAAAGGHHHHHH!!!"
Hodr cried out in pain, as he held onto his wound, and Striker spoke out.
"Ya like that, partner? This little beauty's from when Exorcists, and left their holy weapons behind. I was originally gonna use all my shots on Stolas...but on you, that's a plus for me."
Hodr narrowed his eyes, as Striker then raised his hand, ready to fire the gun, when all of a sudden...
"GET THE FUCK AWAY FROM HIM!!!"
Loona shouted, as she claws Striker in the back. Needless to say, Striker was caught off guard, as Loona then bites him and swings at him from side to side, before launching him away. Hodr smiled, as he spoke out.
"Took you long enough."
Hodr looks at his wound, and tries to heal it, but for some reason, he can't, as the Angel bullet is interfering with his healing.
"Damnit, I can't heal."
Loona then goes to touch the wound, but then, a voice spoke out.
"Well, what do ya know, the Hellhound has arrived. A plus for me again."
Hodr then raised his Sword, and spoke out.
"Ready to go at him?"
Loona nodded her head.
"Ready?"
Hodr and Loona ran at Striker, as Striker then began to try and shoot both Loona and Hodr. But Hodr used his fireballs, to stop the bullets, as Loona then began to claw and slice at Striker, as Striker began to punch and kick at Loona, which Loona got hit with, but not as painfully or as badly as Loona's strikes. But Striker then wrapped his tail around Loona, and she began to struggle breathing, and Striker then throws Loona away with his tail, sending her crashing into the house.
"Loonie!!!"
Blitzø said, as he, along with Moxxie and Millie, jumped down and landed onto the ground. Blitzø checked on Loona, as she snarled out.
"I'm fine, but that son of a bitch, he is gonna pay!!"
Loona got up from the ground, as Hodr is shown to be in combat against Striker, with his Sword attempting to slice at him. But as Hodr is not as skilled in combat as Striker, because he did not learn proper hand to hand combat, and the fact that he only had a year of experience in using his weapons. While Striker, on the other hand, is skilled in both. But Hodr has magic, but it is going to be canceled by the holy bullets, except the fireballs, but only to try and stop it. It does not destroy the bullets. Hodr attempted to stab at Striker's head with his sword, but Striker avoided it, and used his knife to sliced at Hodr's chest, making a large cut, although it is not deep, as Hodr's chest began to bleed. Hodr winched at the immense agony, as Hodr jumped back, and launched icy chains at Striker, but he easily avoided them, before he then raided his rifle and fired at the chains, which then shattered like actual ice. This caught Hodr completely off guard, as Striker then raised his gun again, and fired at Hodr again, who barely reacted in time to raise his Sword to block the attack. And the sword...while it may have successfully block the attack...the sword, before Hodr knew it, then shattered like glass. This made Hodr shocked, as this never happened before. His weapons are supposed to be nearly indestructible, and yet, somehow, the bullet from the exorcist's weapons are able to break the sword without any trouble! Hodr looked in shock, as he looked at Striker, fear present on his face, who then fired his bullet at Hodr. But Hodr ducked, and the bullet missed. Hodr, deciding to fight back, launches his fireballs again, as he then jumped into the air, a Sigil formed underneath him, and he jumped, and fire more fireballs at Striker. But Striker dodged the projectiles, and the fireballs hit the sandy ground, turning spots of it into glass. Striker stamped his foot into a spot and broke the glass, as Hodr narrowed his eyes dangerously at Striker, before he then launched more and more fireballs, and he then summoned Bran into the air, in order to fly, but Striker fired at the fireballs and hit Bran in the neck, which kills him, although temporarily, as Bran is directly connected to Hodr's soul, and is thus able to still live.
But Hodr landed painfully on the ground, as Hodr struggled to stand up, and when he looks up, he saw that Striker then spoke out.
"Now to take out one of you."
Striker then quickly changed the direction of his hand, and Hodr, realizing that Striker is about to hit Loona, reacted fast. He ran as fast as he could, and extended his left hand out, just at the holy bullet struck him in the hand. This made Hodr cry out in pain, as he held onto his head, the holy bullet lodged into his palm, and burning hot with the agony that he has now. But Hodr is not giving up, he stands up, and glares at Striker, as he still tries to attack. But Striker dodged the attack, and launches a Whip at Hodr and wrapped it around his neck, almost like he is ready to snap it. But Hodr, reacting fast, grabbed onto the Whip, and made fire erupt, as it spreads onto the whip, and Striker is forced to let go, but not before throwing Hodr to the side, and making him land onto the ground.
"Heh, painful for you, isn't it partner?"
Hodr began to stand up, albeit weakly, as Hodr felt his limbs shake, hand and torso burning with the Holy Bullet inside of him, causing immense agony, and Hodr felt his muscles on fire, the adrenaline coursing into him, now beginning to fade. He looks up, his vision blur, and can hear a ringing inside of his head, as he tries to stand up, and he looks to see that Striker now has his rifle out again, his vision began to clear up completely, as he then spoke out.
"The fight was fun n' all...but I have a schedule to keep. And thankfully, I still got a lot of bullets left to pump you full of."
Loki appears, now being panicked at what he is seeing, and he then shouts out.
"No, you can't fucking give up now, Hodr!! Use your magic or some shit to fight Striker, don't let him shoot!!!"
Hodr tries to raise his right hand to summon a fireball, but he is exhausted. He is too drained to do it. He cannot go on with the fight anymore, as Hodr felt too exhausted to use magic. And Hodr looked tired, as he knows what is going to happen. He is going to die, and Striker finally has him in the corner. He knows that this time, there is nothing that he can do. Hodr silently hopes for this to be quick and painless, as Loona then shouts out.
"No you fucking don't!!!"
Loona and the others began to run as fast as they can, as they all attempt o try and save Hodr from being killed by Striker. But as Striker is a good distance away from the members of I.M.P, and Hodr is a bit closer to Striker, this made the entire effort pointless. And Striker, he has all the room and space that he needs in order to fire one bullet at Hodr. One that will take him down, for good. Striker smiled, his golden tooth glint under the sunlight with such malice and cruelty, as he then spoke out.
"Sleep well, you pathetic little bastard."
Striker then fired the bullet at Hodr's head, and Hodr, looking at this, he felt his life flash before his eyes. He remembered his brothers, he remembered meeting Malphas, Phenex, and Xaphan, he remembered how happy he was when he was with his childhood friend when they were kids, before they reunited again when they were older, although still young. And Hodr...there was nothing that he can do...but accept his face. He believes that he is truly going to die...
...or so he thought.
Hodr...he sees that the bullet is slowing down, and he is confused at what is happening. But then...something happened. He feels his body began to against his will. His feet began to be more grounded then before, he feels his fingers curled and balled into fists, and he then felt his arms beginning to raise up, and it is not by his own doing.
"Huh?"
Hodr looked confused and frightened at this, as he felt himself being tugged at his entire body against his will. He then felt his head shake, as another presence, he feels another presence beginning to enter his mind. He tries to move his hands, but they won't move, and instead, moved to do something else. He then looks, as he sees his vision began to warp and collapse in on itself...and before he knew it...he sees nothing...but blackness.
Hodr is now shown to be falling down, as he seen the entire place in his vision became a black place...before he landed onto the ground. But he quickly stood up, and sees that he is back inside of the Dreamscape again, as Loki appeared, before speaking out.
"What the fuck?! What happened?"
Hodr looked around, as he spoke out.
"Wh-What happened to me? This is not supposed to...how did it..."
As Hodr began to speak out...he then felt something...and he frozen. Hodr and Loki stopped, as Hodr then spoke out.
"Loki...do you feel that?"
Loki nodded, as he then spoke out.
"I do. It's that feeling again. Back at the fight with the cherubs."
Hodr nodded his head, as he remembered that feeling. It is the same rage and murderous feeling back then. The feeling is now far more stronger and much more apparent then before. But why is it here now? Then...a voice spoke out.
"Well...it seems that you both had made this entertaining for me..."
The voice made Hodr and Loki feel a chill up their spines. The voice sounded warm and pleasant, but it made them feel scared, like it is something else that is hiding as a pleasant tone. Something so horrible and cruel that almost no demon could match it. Then, plants erupted from the Dreamscape and wrapped around the both of them in the limbs and ankles and neck, as they are held to look at the darkness, and the same voice spoke out.
"As much as I would love to see you all deal with it...I have something I want to do now..."
Then, a pair of menacing red eyes appeared in the darkness, large enough for the both of them to notice, as the eyes began to cry out blood, making Loki and Hodr frightened, but they could not scream, almost as though otherworldly force is preventing them from using their mouth, before the voice spoke out.
"I will show Striker...what it means...to be a murder. You had your fun...but now...it is my turn."
Hodr and Loki felt fear at the sight of this entity, at the demon that is now controlling them, as both Hodr and Loki thought the same thing at the presence of this being.
"Who...is that?"
Before everyone knew what was about to happen...all of a sudden, Hodr's hand swiped at the bullet at an extremely fast reaction, catching the bullet which is almost about to pierce his face by a single centimeter away, as he gripped the holy bullet with his barehand. He held it out, and red demonic energy surrounded the bullet, as it dissipates like nothing. Hodr looked up at Striker, his eyes hidden...but there is something off about Hodr that is really...odd. The members of I.M.P stopped in the tracks, and looked stunned, and even Striker was stunned, but he then shrugged it off, thinking that it wasn't that impressive.
"Huh? Guess you got lucky, partner! No matter, this next shot won't miss!"
Striker then raised his hand and got ready to fire his gun. But all of a sudden...Hodr vanished, and this made Striker shocked at what he is seeing, never seen a human that can move so fast he disappears. But then...a voice spoke out.
"Too bad I'll make you miss...partner."
A voice said behind him, and before Striker could react, he is suddenly hit from behind, punched in the back that caused him a lot of pain. He then looks, and he sees that it is none other then Hodr himself, his fist outstretched, and a smile crept onto his face, but the smile is...creepy. It didn't feel like a genuine smile, it almost felt...ruthless, cruel, sadistic, murderous, almost like he is the scariest murderer of all time, a murderer that no one can surpass.
As everyone else looked in shock at what Hodr had done...Loona, she began to sniff at Hodr...and she realized something that nobody realizes.
"Hodr...he doesn't smell right."
Moxxie then spoke out.
"What do you mean, he doesn't smell right?"
Loona spoke back with annoyance.
"I mean, he doesn't smell like his usual self, fatty. In fact, he smells almost like he is a different type of person. Like that is not Hodr at all. It smells like blood, that aged to shit so much."
Blitzø, looking at Hodr, spoke out.
"Uhh...guys...I think Hodr's having a seizure or whatever shit humans call it."
Everyone turned around, and they see that Hodr is beginning to Twitch, as his head flicked from side to side. The wounds on his torso and hand began to heal, as the holy bullets inside of Hodr disappeared. His smile began to grow more and more wider by the passing second, until it reached the limit, almost as if some unknown force is pulling onto it. Hodr raised his head, and his head twitched even more. His eyes changed color, the sclera becomes black, and the irises became red, with light blue pupils present. Then, blood began to come down, and everyone looked up to see that his forehead is beginning to but carved by some unknown force, almost like an invisible knife is cutting it. And then, blood came down from above the nose, getting close to the eyes, but still goes to the mouth. The marking on his face, it resembles the 7th Hebrew number, Zayin, but with some differences, as the top horizontal part curved upwards similar to that of an animal jaw, and at the middle part of the vertical line, are a pair of Raven wings present, each of them an inch longer then the horizontal top part. And his eyes, they are beginning to tear up a black liquid, demonic blood, but Hodr does not have any demonic blood. His veins also began to bulge out from his body, being noticeable on the face and hands, as there veins took on a black color. He looks up at Striker, and he spoke out, in both his normal voice...and yet, at the same time...in another voice, one that is very different, speaking pleasantly and cordially, as if he is speaking to an old friend, despite the intimidating feeling he gives out.
"This won't take long to bring you down, you pathetic imp."
This made Striker and the others present shiver...but not at the voice. It is at the symbol on the forehead. For some reason, despite the fact that no one knows what it means, and the fact that it is not familiar to them...they feel themselves being afraid of it, a fear so great that not even an Ars Goetia could resist such a fear on their own. And Striker, he usually doesn't feel fear, and never had before in his life. So why, why is he feeling fear now?
"You think you can take me on?! You're nothing but a shitty human compared to me!!"
Striker fired his holy bullets at Hodr. But shockingly, the bullet got deflected the moment it got to close to Hodr, even though it penetrated his demonic armor from before, but he does not have it around him now! What's going on?! Then, the voice spoke out.
"Who said...you are dealing with the human?"
He then raised his hand, and vines erupted, as they tried to wrap around Striker, only for Striker to avoid the attack, and tried to attack Hodr, only for Hodr to keep smiling, as he grabbed Striker by the neck, and spoke out.
"The human, you are not dealing with him, for he is my vessel to use. But me...I am something else, something far beyond even your feeble strength, pathetic weakling."
He then threw him away, and despite how weak the throw was, Striker was sent back by 10 feet. The demon, turning Hodr's head to look at Striker, and then opened his left hand, before speaking out a language, the same one that Hodr spoke in when he first met I.M.P, but sounding more dangerous, as spikes molded from rock tried to attack Striker, only for Striker to get out of the way, but Striker could tell that the demon is missing him on purpose, but for what? Then, the demon clenched Hodr's left fist, revealing the third weapon that Hodr had with him which materialized in his hand, a Knife, having the same material as the Sword and Spear, the blade itself is red, and it is curving upwards like an animal's jaw. He then ran to Striker, who fired bullets at the Demon continuously, but the Demon then swung his Knife at inhuman speeds, slicing through the bullets, and did not have any protection on, not even using his true form. He did it with just his mere body alone. This shocked Striker, as he fired a bullet at Hodr's body, only for the bullet to bounce off again. This made Striker flabbergasted, as he then spoke out.
"The fuck?! That's not even possible! Even an Ars Goetia could be killed by this!!"
The Demon smirked, as he spoke out.
"That's too bad...because I am more then that, for Stolas is a mere joke compare to what I am. While I...I was born before the Ars Goetia came into existence, before it was even a ranking. Your bullets are weak against my might, for my power rivals the 7 rulers of Hell itself."
Striker has an expression of disbelief, thinking that what the Demon saying to him is not possible, as he spoke out.
"You speak nothing but bullshit! No fucking demon, regardless of their power, cannot rival the demon kings themselves!"
He then tries to shoot the demon, but he moved Hodr's body out of the way, as he spoke back to the imp hybrid.
"Except for me."
Wanting to use of his immense power, taking advantage of Striker's feeling of fear, the one that he is trying to suppress and hide from him, but still seen and noticed by him, the demon puts Hodr's hands inside of his pocket, and walked towards him, before he then uses mouth to speak.
"You think that you know how to end the life of a person, to slaughter those that dare stand in your way, to assassinate the lives of those you are disgusted in so much, to kill them for the sake of pleasure and amusement. But the truth is...you don't. You know not of how to truly Murder someone."
"Shut the fuck up!!"
Striker said, now losing it, as he fired at the demon, who slices away at the bullets with the knife in his hand, and Striker sees, the demon is toying with him, not even using all of his powers, before the demon then spoke out.
"You merely wield the concept of murder, use it for your own ends, to kill those that you want to kill. To believe that you are the one to master such a concept in the first place. But you believe that it would aid you. But such a concept is so pathetic and weak in your hand. But I..."
The demon vanished, and before Striker knew it, he is stabbed in the torso by the demon, using one of Hodr's hand, as the demon looks at Striker, and spoke out.
"I have been the one that made Murder possible. I am the one who gave birth to that concept in the first place, before hell was ruled by the seven kings of sin. That Murder lead me to descend, the First Sinner to ever exist in the depths of Hell itself, the strongest among the rest of my kin. While you...you are nothing compared to me. Nothing more then a small nuisance, an ant that I could simply crush...a lamb, that I can easily gut up."
He then yanked his hand out of Striker's torso, causing Striker to howl in pain, a pain unlike any he has felt before, a pain that is completely indescribable.
"AAAAAAAAAGGGGGGHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!"
The demon, using one of Hodr's hands, is shown to be holding one of Striker's kidneys, before he then clenched his fist, and exploded the kidney without even trying, as the pieces splatters all over the ground. Striker looked, as fear is now shown on his face for the first time. A fear that the demon takes immeasurable pleasure in seeing, smiling grimly at Striker's expression, before speaking out.
"Allow me to show the difference in strength...between you...a pathetic imp...and me...a demon with the might of hell's rulers."
He is then grabbed in the neck by the Demon, and lifted off from the ground, and he gets to see Hodr's face, as black bulging vein-like markings surround the symbol on his forehead, and a smile far more dangerous then any other demon, formed, making Striker's smile look like a mere pathetic silly joke in comparison, he then forced him to stand up, and slapped him, his golden tooth knocked out. Despite his weak movement and the fact that it did not look as though he isn't moving that fast, the slap hurt, more painful then even a bullet, but not as painful as the kidney wound, and Striker tried to hit him, but the punch did nothing, like a toddler trying to hit a fit adult, as he is then struck in the stomach before he even knew it, causing him to spit out blood, but tried another punch, only to be grabbed by the arm, and has his arm resting on the demon's raised knee, and then hammered by Hodr's elbow, almost breaking it, and Striker tried to scream, before he is then slapped again, nearly sent back to the ground, and he is then grabbed by the neck again, and the demon then spoke out, his eyes staring into Striker's own again.
"Run along now...and remember this moment."
He then throws Striker to Bombproof, and Striker, in his fear, scrambled to his feet, trying his best to ignore the ungodly agony that the demon had given him in removing his kidney and almost breaking his arm, before Bombproof galloped away as fast as possible, in order to save his owner from the murderous demon that has come and horrible injured him. The demon smiled, seeing Striker flee from him, and taking immense pleasure in the suffering that he has been given thanks to him. He then turns to I.M.P, who flinch at his sight, and Blitzø, admittedly, he is pants-shitting scared at the sight of the demon, having possessed Hodr. Then, the demon spoke out to him.
"Do not worry...I won't do anything bad to all you. I just came to reach Striker as lesson. And...do me a favor...and keep my blood alive. Okay?"
He then looks forward, and then, he began to shake, as the symbol wound on Hodr's began to disappear and heal quickly, first becoming hardened blood, and then a scar, and then it vanished, like it never existed in the first place. The black liquid also began to vanish from Hodr's eyes and mouth, and then, when they are gone, Hodr collapsed, and he almost looks like he is struggling to stand up, due to being in pain from what it was that has happened. Loona wasted no time and ran to him, as she then helped Hodr up by grabbing his arm and out it behind her neck, and Hodr was able to stand up a little bit, and spoke out.
"Ghhh...geez...what just...happened?"
Loona then spoke out, awe present on her face, due to what it was that had just occurred.
"I was gonna ask you the same thing. And what happened...it is absolutely fucking insane! I almost thought it was just my shitty imagination, seeing what happened to you!"
Hodr looked at Loona, before looking down...and remembering what he had seen, through the eyes that was before no longer his one to control. He was trapped, restrained, chained inside of his mind...by whatever force that had taken him over. But Hodr...he knew what must have happened. A demon came...and it possessed him...the feeling being the same as when he fought the Cherubs. The demon had came back...and he showed himself. Dean clenched his fist...the one that is dangling, as Loona and Hodr walked back to the members of I.M.P, in order to get treated with any potential wounds that the possession had done to him. But what demon...was that? And more important...why does he feel...familiar with it?
Looking between the plants that are near the location of the I.M.P members...Caim is shown to be looking at the scene that has happened to him, and Caim smiled, an amused one formed on his face, due to what had happened. After all, it is someone that he knows very well. He chuckled a little bit, and he turns away, before going back. But as he did...in the sunlight, the Ars Gotia changed into another form, resembling a more humanoid demon, but with horns on his head resembling that of a Bighorn sheep, as well as another pair of horns on top of his head, and a pair of Raven wings present onto his back, with a symbol on top of his forehead, although it is hidden behind his hair, and is not seen clearly. He changed back to his bird form, and he disappeared in a flock of Ravens, as he left the Wrath Ring, seemingly doing his own business.
Hodr is shown to be leaning against the I.M.P van, having used his magic to change him back to his normal gothic clothes that Loona had given him, and needless to say, he is not having the time of his life. He became a little bit dizzy and felt confused with his surroundings, and even threw up a couple of times, due to the big headache that he had gotten from what the demon before had done to him. Luckily, Joe and Lin had given him back his book, and speaking of, Hodr shook his head, and turns to see Millie on the stairs of her home, having bandages wrapped around her left leg, as Lin then spoke out.
"I can't believe you let him trap you, Millie! Haven't we taught you better?"
Millie, with a pained and irritated expression on her face, spoke back
"I was seein' red, Ma! And he was slippery!"
Lin, however, did not seem to care about that, as she then spoke back.
"Excuses! You're better than that, Mildred!"
Moxxie, however, tired of their attitude and acting mad at Millie instead of themselves for hiring Striker, slammed the trunk with pure frustration present, and stomps to them, before deciding to chew them out on this.
"Y'know, she protected me. And maybe I'm not a strong beefy dickhead, but Millie has the strength enough for both of us! You two are getting on her case about being hurt by a psychopath you hired?! Shaaaaame on you!"
Blitzø, now very impressed by Moxxie's lecture towards the 2 Imps, with Millie, having a very lightened up expression on her face, spoke to him.
"Aw, Moxxie, look at you! Speechin' like a big boy with his big paaaants!"
Moxxie looked annoyed, as Joe walked up to him, and Moxxie expects him to do something bad. But unexpectedly, his nods his head at Moxxie, albeit begrudgingly, before leaving inside the house along with Lin. Millie was impressed at this, as Moxxie walked up to her and spoke out to him.
"Wooow! He nodded! He's never acknowledged your input before!"
Moxxie had a bit of a bashful and proud grin on his face, before Millie used her crutches to move with Moxxie, and Moxxie then spoke out, as they went to the van.
"Soooo, is that progress?"
When they began to drive away, Hodr sat in the front of the van again, with Loona and Blitzø between him, as Blitzø spoke out.
"I oughta tell ya, big man! What you did back there, that was badass! I doubt even Stolas could do that!"
"That...that wasn't me, in control though."
Blitzø shrugged his shoulders, as he then spoke out.
"Ehh...who cares? You still did it in a way, and y'know what, I'm proud of ya for that!"
Hodr looks down, and held his head, feeling the stringing of when the mark carved into the front of his head. Although he was inside of his Dreamscape, he still felt the agony, the worst agony that he had ever felt in a very long time. He has no idea how else to describe this. And the way that is body moved against his own will, he felt himself grabbing against Striker's skin, he felt the kidney and the blood in his hands, despite the fact that he was trapped inside all of this time. He felt like a puppet on strings, as it rugged and pulled at his joints and jaws, especially when he speaks, a voice that spoke through his one voice box, despite not being his own...it felt very uncomfortable. He hugged his body, and he closed his eyes, as he sends himself back into the Dreamscape, and looks around, seeing that it has changed back to its original self. Hodr sighed, before Loki appeared inside of the Dreamscape as wel, and he then spoke out to him.
"Hodr, thank goodness, you're alright."
Hodr looks and nodded at Loki, seeing that his form is kind of being static-like in movement, before he then spoke out.
"Yeah, I'm glad to see that you are alright as well. Are you doing good?"
Loki spoke out.
"Sort off. Unfortunately...what happened...that possession from before, it may have disturbed my form a little bit. And because of this, it's gonna take me an entire day until I recover the form of my body, changing it back to its normal self."
Hodr nodded, as he held his head, and Loki, concerned, spoke out.
"Woah, you okay, Loki? You look like you're about to double faint."
Hodr then spoke out.
"No, I'm not okay. That possession from...whatever demon it was...it strained my body badly. I've not gotten a headache, I can't see my surroundings outside clearly, everything is all blurry, and I've have to wait as long as you in order for my senses to stabilize and go back to normal."
He turns around, and looks at the memory of him fighting Striker inside of his mind, before he then spoke out.
"And I have a feeling, this is not the last that we have seen of Striker. He'll come back, and we need to be ready for him again."
In a building that has a sign that says, 'Hideaway Motel Vacancy. The Guy That Tried 2 Kill U Def Isn't Here,' Striker is shown to be inside of the Motel, having stitched his wound in his chest, which was a very painful process for him, as he does not have anything to numb the pain. So he is forced to stitch his chest while being forced to feel it. He is on his phone, and is talking to a familiar voice at the other side of the phone.
"Huh... I failed to kill the target at the festival. Had some demon interfere with me, and even took a kidney from me. Made Stolas look cute for even trying to be powerful."
Then, the voice shouted back, belonging to none other then Stella.
"How can that fucking be, Striker?! Did you try and shoot him?!"
Striker spoke back to Stella.
"I tried that. But the bullets, they didn't even land a hit on him, not even a tiny fucking scratch. They were simply bouncing off, like he has metallic skin. But don't worry...this time...I will be ready to kill him again."
Then, Stella began to rant, as she began to raise her voice at Striker on the phone.
"It better not! I want this cheating prick dead! I don't care who you have to go through! MAKE IT HAPPEN!!"
Striker shut his eyes a little bit, before he looked annoyed at the shouting that Stella had done.
"Understood."
He ended the call, and gripped onto his gun, but held his chest in pain, before he snarled a little bit, the thought of what the demon, using Hodr had to him. He'll make him pay.
"I'll get him next time. And that fucking human as well, he'll pay for this shitty humiliation that he had given me."
Striker then looked down, before he then spoke out.
"But that demon...the one that took over the meat bag...who the fuck was that? And why...why do I feel like I should run from him? Well...it doesn't matter. The next time we meet...it'll be the last fucking time for him. I'll make sure, it does not end the same."
