If there was ever a time or a way that Mick ever wanted to die a second time, being crushed to death by a giant Hellhound was DEFINITELY not one of them! Feeling Bruce's gloved hand slowly wrap around his entire body, threatening to shatter his bones and squeeze both air and blood out of every orifice, Mick took a glance at Linda, who looked as though she were about to burst out crying at any given moment.
Why was Bruce being so slow about this? Not that Mick was complaining about still being alive, but the pain was… wait, where was the pain? Looking down at the Hellhound's hand, he could feel it shaking around him but not much else. Was Bruce… hesitating? Why? What reason could he possibly have to do that? Then again, if he WAS hesitating, this was no time to ask questions. For all they knew, this just might be the only chance Mick and Linda were going to have to get out of this!
"W-wait!" Mick suddenly yelled, instantly grabbing the Hellhound's attention as he blurted out the first thing that came to mind. "C-come on, big guy. You don't have to do this!"
"Y-yeah," Linda added, jumping on whatever bandwagon Mick was trying to get underway. "And you don't actually WANT to do this, right?"
However, both their pleas were met with a dead-eyed glance. Thankfully, Bruce didn't seem to do much else, something that irritated Seth to no end when he finally sat up from his blow to the head.
"What are you waiting for, you oversized fleabag!?" he growled, ruffling his feathers. "Kill them NOW!"
"You shut your trap!" Googoo snapped, her eyes glowing furiously as she waited for her desired outcome. "Bruce! I'm waiting!"
Standing among the onlookers at Bruce's feet, Octavia could only look up at her friends in horror. Just what was she going to do now!? Attack Bruce and force him to let them go? No, that won't work. Even if she did know any offensive spells, her magic wasn't that strong yet. As she desperately tried to rattle her brain for a solution, the pressure escalated to no end… and then she looked at the mark on her hand.
"WAIT!"
Hearing Octavia's scream, her voice finally reaching his giant ears, Bruce looked down at the Goetia Princess with curiosity. Despite the circumstances, both Mick and Linda couldn't help but feel curious themselves as they turned their heads and saw Octavia stepping forward, somehow looking pretty regal in her approach.
"Bruce, you are to stop at once… by order of your new Princess!" she declared, showing the Hellhound her hand.
Seeing the glowing Pentagram still in Octavia's palm, Mick grinned under his mask as he returned his focus to the Hellhound.
"There, you see!" he stated, pointing out the very proof he needed right before Bruce's eyes. "Technically, since Princess Octavia won the game, she gets you too, right? Binding magical contract and all that."
"Yeah," Linda added. "You don't have to listen to Googoo anymore, big guy."
Seeing what all three of them were trying to do, Seth didn't know what infuriated him more, that he was now down in not just both money and vengeance… or that his former punching bag had gotten such a big mouth. No! They cannot get away Scot-free! He would see both the Cat and the Imp suffer for this insult if it was the last thing he did!
"Don't listen to her, you stupid-"
BAM!
Before he could even finish his sentence, the Duck Demon once again hit the floor with a new black eye, courtesy of Octavia losing her patience with him.
"Do yourself a favour and stay down!" she snapped, rubbing her sore hand. "Bruce, please, for once in your life, do the right thing."
"Shut up, you feathered whore!" Googoo roared, the feathers on her wings ruffling with fury as her demand was further delayed. "Bruce, I won't tell you again. Crush their bones NOW!"
However, for the first time in his life, Bruce completely ignored Googoo's command. Instead, he simply stood there, completely motionless as his eyes slowly widened in realisation, almost as if something inside him had finally woken up after spending ages in the deepest of slumbers. After a moment of hesitation, he loosened his grip on the two young Demons, turned around and said a word that shocked Googoo right down to her very core.
"Bitch!"
The instant he said that to the Mouse Demon's face, a deathly silence fell over the entire rooftop. In most cases, it was due to the absolute shock of what Bruce let out of his mouth, but three Demons in particular couldn't stop smiling as Bruce blurted out even more insults, each one worse than the last.
"Trollop!" he snapped, his usually stoic face suddenly gaining a giddy smile. "Worm-tailed harlot!"
The more Bruce spoke, the more Googoo's blood began to boil as the realization of what was happening right now slowly brought her out of her state of shock. At that moment, Bruce let out the worst insult yet… and boy, it was a doozy.
"You spoiled, selfish, shameless, dick-swallowing, plague-carrying, hair-bleaching, STD-riddled RAT!"
The instant Bruce shouted out the R-word in Googoo's presence, it took everyone on that rooftop a moment to process what was happening. As they all knew, if anyone ever called Googoo that word, Bruce would be the one to break them in half and send them flying… but if BRUCE was saying it… then Googoo can't do jack shit! As soon as that realization hit, everyone felt that there was only one appropriate response…
"BAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"
Hearing the whole crowd laughing at her, the veins in Googoo's head throbbed with fury as her anger rose to immeasurable proportions. And the worst part… without Bruce to threaten everyone with, she knew that she really couldn't do a thing about it!
"You… you damn TRAITOR!" she screamed, picking up a glass from the table and throwing it at Bruce's head… only for it to smash against the giant Hellhound without him responding with so much as a flinch. "I'll have you stuffed and mounted for this! My Daddy will have your HEAD!"
"Oh, I'm SO going to enjoy this," Octavia muttered with a large smirk of her own before clearing her throat. "Bruce? Would you mind tossing out the trash, please?"
Hearing that new request, Bruce's smile increased tenfold.
"Yeeeeeeessss, Miss Octavia."
With that respectful response, Bruce gently lowered Mick and Linda down to the floor, straightened himself out and made his way towards Googoo, much to the Mouse Demon's horror.
"Don't you fucking DARE!" she snapped, attempting to use her wings to fly out of the Hellhound's reach.
Alas, Bruce's days of listening to Googoo were over. Before she had the chance to get away, the giant Hellhound swiftly snatched her out of the air like he was merely catching a butterfly in his hand before gripping her tight and turning towards Seth on the floor.
"Oh, SHIT!" the Duck Demon squawked as he tried to stand up, only to quickly be snatched up in the same manner. "Unhand me, you filthy mutt!"
But once again, Bruce refused to listen. Instead, he merely grinned in satisfaction as he gripped both Demons tightly and made his way towards the pool, much to everyone else's delight.
"Oh man, I wish I was recording this," Octavia commented, completely unable to hide her joy.
"I think THEY may have that covered," Mick pointed out with a smirk of his own, gesturing to many of the onlookers who had already taken out their phones and started recording everything that was happening.
Needless to say, upon seeing all of the cameras pointed at her while she was in such a state of humiliation, it did not sit well with Googoo at all.
"BRUCE!" she screamed, desperately struggling to break free of her former servant's grasp to no avail. "You let me go right now! Listen, damn it! You were supposed to be made for ME!"
Of course, it was at that moment Bruce stopped in his tracks and gave Googoo the most disgusted of glares.
"Go fuck yourself."
Those were the last words Bruce would ever say to Googoo before he threw both her and Seth in the air, sending them both crashing into each other before spiralling into the pool.
SPLASH!
Spitting out a gush of water as she and Seth both resurfaced, Googoo was so angry and humiliated that the laughter of the onlookers was nothing more than white noise at this point. Her hair was all soaked and tangled up, her makeup ran down her face like there was no tomorrow… and not only was her lovely dress dry-clean only… but now there was a large slit down the side of it, courtesy of Seth accidentally snagging it during the fall.
"You... you RUINED MY DRESS!"
Before Seth even realized what was happening, Googoo immediately lashed out at the nearest target like a rabid animal, snarling violently as her hands wrapped around the Duck Demon's scrawny neck. As the two of them were both thrashing and splashing about with blind fury, Octavia and the others watched in delight from the edge with large grins on their faces.
"This feels surprisingly cathartic," Linda commented.
Unsurprisingly, Mick and Octavia wholeheartedly agreed with that statement.
"Come on," Octavia chuckled, once again turning to leave. "Let's get out of here."
However, Linda could only give Octavia an angry frown at that.
"I'm still mad at you, you know," she said, obviously referring to the initial bet of the game regardless of the result.
"As you should be," Octavia said with a regretful sigh. "I know it may not be worth much, but I promise I'll make it up to you when we get home."
"Hmm," Linda uttered, crossing her arms with frustration.
Seeing that it was going to take some time to earn Linda's trust back, all Octavia could do was sigh in defeat.
"Come on," she said. "Let's go."
With neither of them having any kind of objection, Mick and Linda quickly followed the Goetia Princess as she headed towards the elevator. However…
SMASH!
"WOOOOOOOOOOO! Rooftop PARTY!"
"Oh, NOW what!?" Mick exclaimed, his tired mind feeling unable to take any MORE drama for one night.
If only life in Hell were at all that kind. Snapping their heads over to the elevator, everyone was suddenly met with the horrifying sight of Buzz and Johnny's handiwork at play. Bursting through the metal doors, a large group consisting of a handful of Valefar's daughters leading what could only be described as a small army of drunken guests started charging into the restaurant and began trashing the place in a giddy haze.
"WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!
"What the actual FUCK!?" Mick yelled, immediately tackling Linda and Octavia to the floor to avoid getting hit by a casually thrown chair. "Anyone wanna tell me what the fuck is going on!?"
"Wait… Alice!?" Cray exclaimed in shock, poking his head out from under the table he chose to hide under as he spotted a familiar head of flaming blue hair.
Sure enough, one of the numerous rampaging women in the daughters' small army, just so happened to be Cray's fellow elite… only this time she was FAR from sober and was apparently having the time of her life.
"Fuck the Po-lice!" she yelled, ripping her top off and dancing around in her bra as her lower half literally turned into a horse in a burst of fire. "FUCK the Po-lice!"
As if seeing one of Hell's upper-crust Demons reduced to a crazy Nuckelavee rampaging across the roof wasn't insane enough, Valefar's daughters and their little army had turned the entire rooftop into a war zone within a short span of 13 seconds. Everywhere they looked, Mick, Octavia and Linda could see tables being flipped over, chairs, plates and even clothes flying everywhere and what's more, the chaos seemed to be spreading towards all the other guests. Soon enough they were all drinking every drop of alcohol they could find, and making out with anyone with genitalia. At some point, the madness even spread to the water where Googoo and Seth were now being tossed around by the girls like a beach ball at a pool party.
"This is insane!" Mick snapped as he led Octavia and Linda under the table of one of the few tables that hadn't been knocked over yet. "Who the hell are these lunatics?!"
Daring to peek out from beneath the tablecloth, Octavia took it upon herself to take a good look at the ringleaders of this fiasco, her own mind just as in need of answers as Mick's was. The instant she managed to get a clear view of the Demons' faces, her eyes shrank in terror.
"Oh, sweet Jesus fuck…" she uttered "Valefar's daughters!"
Having never heard much of anything at all about Octavia's second cousins, both Mick and Linda could only raise their eyebrows with uncertainty.
"Judging from the way you sound, I'm assuming that's bad?" Mick asked, earning a firm nod of her head in response.
"Very," Octavia replied with her nerves now on high alert. "We need to get out of here NOW!"
However, before either of them could move an inch, Linda quickly grabbed the back of Octavia's dress.
"Uh... hate to point out the obvious, but we already lost our only exit!" she yelped, pointing over towards the destroyed elevator doors, which were currently being blocked by a small chunk of the invaders.
"Damn it!" Octavia snapped with a huff, trying to wrack her brain for another plan. "Alright, maybe we can-"
"PEEKABOO!"
Suddenly the table above their heads was flipped over, revealing two of Valefar's daughters as the culprits, who were now looking at the trio with thirsty grins on their faces.
"RUN!" Mick yelled, quickly getting in between his friends and the two daughters.
However, despite their attempts to escape, there was only so much rooftop to run across, especially with the rest of the wilder Demons blocking their path. Before they even realized it, Mick, Octavia and Linda found themselves heading towards the edge of the roof.
"Fuck!" Mick exclaimed as he and the others skidded to a halt.
Within moments, Mick once again found himself standing protectively between his two friends and Valefar's daughters, who now surrounded the trio like a pride of hungry lionesses ready for the kill.
"Mmm, man-meat," one of them moaned, a trickle of saliva oozing from the corner of her mouth as she looked Mick over like a predator.
"Ooh that Imp's pretty cute too," said another, eyeing Linda with a purr. "Hey, how do you feel about a Manage a Trois?"
The instant she was asked that, Linda immediately clung to Octavia's legs like a frightened koala.
"W-what do we do now!?" she squeaked, her voice trembling almost as much as her body was.
Unfortunately, neither Mick nor Octavia had the answer to that question. As far as the Cat Demon could tell, this appeared to be an inescapable situation. Even if he ignored his chivalrous principles and tried to fight off these women, there was still an entire army to consider just behind them. And Hell knows how many more of these lunatics were in the rest of the hotel! No matter how one looked at it, it was going to take a miracle to get out of this scenario now… Then all of a sudden said miracle literally came stomping over.
"YIPE!" One of the daughters yelled as she tackled her sister out of the way, allowing Bruce to make his appearance and suddenly pick Mick, Octavia and Linda up in one hand and hold them close to his giant chest.
As it turned out, while everyone else on the rooftop was either panicking or partying, the oversized Hellhound remained calm and collected as he began to analyze the situation. Given his size, everyone at that moment either ignored him or tried to hide behind him from the madness, allowing Bruce to scan the rooftop for any means of keeping his new master safe… leading him to arrive at only ONE conclusion.
"Oh, no!" Octavia gasped, quickly figuring out what Bruce was planning as he started making his way towards the edge of the roof. "Nonononononononononononono! Don't even think about it!"
But alas, Bruce didn't listen to Octavia's protests. Instead, he simply stood on the edge and began to crouch like a diver on a springboard, causing Linda to whimper as everyone braced themselves for the inevitable.
"Oh, Murphy, you cruel man," Mick sighed with a deadpan glare.
Those would be the last words Mick would utter before Bruce suddenly jumped off.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!"
SPLASH!
About three seconds, one surge of adrenaline and a panic attack later, all three of Bruce's unwilling passengers felt the splashes of water across their faces, forcing them to finally open their eyes after their great leap. To their complete surprise, they now found themselves sitting in Bruce's hands while in the middle of the now-emptied swimming pool, its entire contents completely washed all over the place in a tidal wave caused by the impact.
"We're… alive!" Mick exclaimed, his shock quickly switching out for delight as the reality of the situation began to sink in.
"Th-that w-was so scary!" Linda stuttered, her entire body shaking like a leaf.
"Looks like we're out of danger though," Octavia pointed out, relief washing over her as she looked back up to where Bruce jumped before looking back to the Hellhound himself. "Thanks, Bruce."
Hearing that, Bruce smiled at the trio as he lifted them up and set them down on the pool's edge.
"Twas no trouble, my dear lady," he said, his booming voice sounding a little smoother than before. "After all, one cannot expect a maiden of your grace and stature to endure such a horrifying calamity such as that."
...
"Uh… is it just me, or is that the most words to ever come out of his mouth at one time?" Mick muttered, his tone riddled with sudden bafflement.
"And so elegantly articulate," Linda replied, her surprise quickly burying the trauma from the fall.
Needless to say, even Octavia was completely taken aback by the sudden change in the Hellhound's vocabulary. As far as she or anyone else was aware, Bruce's only means of communication were violence, low growls and short utterances, but now… now he sounded like someone who had just graduated from a posh finishing school. Given who his employer was, one theory did come to the Goetia's mind.
"Let me guess," she said. "Googoo never allowed you to talk much?"
This, of course, earned her a shake of the Hellhound's head.
"Alas, no," he replied with a low sigh. "Despite being bred and trained in the most prestigious and pedigree of Hellhound facilities, that loathsome vermin only wanted a lump of muscle she could summon on a whim."
"Given your reaction to what happened up there, I'm surprised you haven't snapped sooner," Mick commented.
"Sadly, I could not," Bruce pointed out. "Despite my size, I am still but a mere Hellhound and could not attack my own master without suffering the consequences afterwards. Had I expressed my true desire to break the bitch in half, I fear that Astaroth would have disposed of me."
Hearing that, Linda couldn't help but give the Hellhound a sympathetic look. If there was one thing she and Bruce could relate to, it was the sting that came from the trauma inflicted by an employer who looked down on one's status in the hierarchy.
"But now… now everything's changed!" Bruce continued this time with a light chuckle. "Now I have a chance to finally LIVE, and I have you three to thank for it."
"W-well, I wouldn't say WE did anything," Mick pointed out sheepishly. "Octavia was the one playing the game up there."
"Yeah, sorry about that," Octavia spoke up, feeling embarrassed over the whole thing. "I will make it up to you, I promise."
However, Bruce merely shook his head at Mick's attempt at being humble.
"Nonsense, man, all three of you had your parts to play in my freedom," he said, gesturing to each young Demon in turn. "My dear Princess may have been the one to secure my release, but the young Imp still gave me comfort while upon my shoulder, and you, sir… your voice awoke a part of me I thought long since dead."
Obviously, Bruce was referring to when Mick was playing the piano up on the rooftop. Looking back on that, all three Demons couldn't help but sheepishly blush.
"It… it wasn't THAT good," Muck uttered, once again trying to be humble.
"Oh… I beg to differ…"
And then, something happened that no Demon who knew Bruce in the past would ever come to expect. In his moment of joy, the hulking Hellhound's voice bellowed out in what had to be the most soul-soothing singing voice anyone had ever heard.
Bruce:
Wheeeeeeeen I hear a blessed tone like that,
It gives me a big thrill,
I can't hurt a singer,
I never could, I never will…
Before he knew it, Mick was suddenly scooped up again and placed upon Bruce's shoulder, whose face appeared to be filled with the most excitement the Cat Demon had ever seen him with. All the while, the water in the pool suddenly began to fill back up, thanks to the sudden appearance of the hotel's Elementals.
"Oh, where did you learn to sing like that, little fellow?" Bruce asked. "A school of the arts, I imagine."
"Well, I…" Mick tried to answer, only for his voice to fall flat and allow Bruce to laugh in delight.
"Oh, I don't care," he chuckled. "Just let the voice free now…"
Before anyone realized what was happening, Bruce suddenly fully indulged in his musical number.
Bruce:
Let's make music together,
Let's make sweet harmony,
Oh, let's make music together, baby,
You take the do, I'll take the ray, you better hang on to me!
As the water in the pool continued to rise, the Elementals swiftly swirled around Bruce to form a whirlpool, leaving a single dry space in the centre. Suddenly, a small puddle of water formed at Bruce's feet, before it suddenly shot up and fired Bruce and Mick into the sky like the spring of a Jack-in-the-box. Moments later, they both landed back into the pool with a loud splash before Bruce resurfaced and started doing the backstroke while the shaken Mick coughed up water on his chest.
Bruce:
We are birds of a feather,
Looking for the right key,
Oh, let's make music together, baby,
'Cause only music makes a man free!
Unable to help themselves, Linda and Octavia jumped onto Bruce's chest as he was passing by on the surface of the water, joining Mick with elated smiles on their faces before the large Hellhound started another verse.
Bruce:
Gonna make a beautiful song,
Sing along!
Gonna let that natural beat,
Move your feet!
When the music's deep down in you,
There's nothing that you can do, but believe,
Oh, beliiiiiiiiiiiiiiive!
At that moment, the Elementals burst out of the water and carried Mick, Octavia and Linda into a high leap before once again sending all three of them into the water. Only this time they each landed in a soft pool as the Elementals suddenly started doing a synchronized swimming routine with Bruce floating in the middle. By this point, even they couldn't help but join in on the music.
Bruce:
There ain't nothing like singing,
And our voices just blend,
Oh, let's make music together, baby,
Mick and Octavia:
Lift our voices together, partner,
Linda and Bruce:
Let's make music forever, baby,
All:
And we'll always be friends!
After that, everything delved into a high-energy party in the pool that even the Elementals couldn't resist joining in, with each of them either doing flips or spinning around the water like a dolphin. At some point, the water became so choppy that it ended up throwing Mick, Octavia and Linda out of the pool, sending all three of them into lounge chairs as Bruce continued to relish in his excitement.
All:
Let's make music together,
Let's make sweet harmony,
Oh, let's make music together, baby!
Let's make music together,
Let's make sweet harmony,
Oh, let's make music together, baby
Let's make sweet harmony.
Bruce:
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOH, TOGETHER!
HA! HA! HAA!
As the music came to an end, everyone laughed in delight, the horrible events of the night feeling like a distant memory, if only for a brief moment.
"Whew!" Mick chuckled. "What a night, huh?"
"Ha!" Octavia replied. "You can say that again."
Seeing the smile on Octavia's face, Mick felt a small surge of relief. In his opinion, to see the girl of his dreams smile like that… it makes every shitty thing in his afterlife worthwhile…
"Hey, if you guys aren't doing anything, a little help would be nice!"
… and then his afterlife once again decides to throw a curveball! Snapping their heads up, Mick, Octavia and Linda were shocked to see Johnny and Buzz tangled in a string of lights while soaking wet and hanging from the top of a potted palm tree above their heads.
"What the fuck!?" Linda squeaked out, unable to fathom what she was seeing right now.
"Yeah, as fun as this looks, the blood's starting to flow to my head here!" Buzz exclaimed, hanging upside down by his foot.
"Alright, alright, just give me a minute," Mick sighed with a roll of his eyes.
One quick climb and a swipe of his claws later, the two idiots were immediately freed from their bonds, allowing them to crash land on the lounge chairs mere moments after Octavia and Linda jumped out of the way. Given their current state as well as the state of the pool area around them, it didn't take a genius to figure out that Buzz and Johnny had somehow managed to get washed away by the tidal wave Bruce caused when he jumped into the pool from the roof, thus getting tangled in lights and left to drip in the tree. Given how unphased they were to see Bruce stepping out of the pool to shake himself off, it was pretty clear that they were hanging up there for a while. That being said, that didn't stop Mick and Octavia from giving them an annoyed glare the second they came crashing down.
"Thanks, man," Johnny sighed in relief, pulling away any straggling cables that were still clinging to him, as well as wringing out the tip of his pompadour. "You have no idea how-"
"WHERE THE FUCK WERE YOU TWO!?"
Feeling the blazing heat from Mick's breath seeping through his mouthpiece as he shouted in their faces, Buzz and Johnny immediately knew how angry he was with them… Well, at least Johnny did.
"Well… that's a funny way to say thank you, isn't it!?" Buzz retorted with a roll of his eyes.
"THANK YOU!?" Mick repeated, his eyes once again ablaze in blue fire.
"You're welcome!" Buzz retorted with a small laugh, seemingly unaware of the danger he was in from Mick's wrath.
"What the shit do I have to thank either of you for!?" Octavia snapped, clearly just as angry as the Cat Demon was. "You left us high and dry up there!"
"Not cool, guys," Linda added with a disapproving shake of her head.
Johnny, of course, hung his head in shame at those words… Buzz, however, did not.
"Not true," he protested. "It's not our fault Valefar's family arrived late."
…
Hearing that, everything fell into an uncomfortable silence. As the sudden shock slowly subsided into anger, the glare Mick gave the two Demons before him became so cold that Johnny could feel it piercing into his very soul.
"I'm sorry… what!?" the Cat Demon growled, his eye twitching in fury.
Seeing that they had seriously fucked up, Johnny did the only thing he could think of… dump all the blame and try to run like hell.
"It was all HIS idea!" exclaimed, pointing an accusing finger at the Imp sitting next to him before attempting to flee.
Alas, Johnny didn't make it more than three feet before he was suddenly snatched up by Bruce and held up by the back of his jacket.
"Ah, ah, ah," the Hellhound chuckled, waving a finger in the Snake Demon's face before setting him back down.
Buzz, on the other hand, would not be so lucky.
"So let me see if I have this straight," Mick began, cracking his fingers as he edged towards the seemingly oblivious Imp. "YOU are responsible for the chaos up on the roof? The mad mob? The thirsty women?"
"Uh huh," Buzz replied with a nod. "My brilliant plan was to bring Valefar's family into the hotel, get them and a few guests wasted, and watch as they all wreak havoc across the hotel, sending security into a frenzy, thereby giving you all the chance to run away from the date. What did you think?"
"AHGGGGRLLLGGGGGGGG!"
Seconds later, Mick gave Buzz his answer by grabbing him by the throat and shoving him face-first into the pool.
"YOU STUPID, LITTLE PISSANT!" the Cat Demon shouted, holding Buzz's head below the water "THAT was your idea of helping us out!?"
This rant, of course, was only met with a series of bubbling gurgles from the struggling Imp. Watching the whole exchange from the sidelines, Linda understandably looked pretty uncomfortable.
"Shouldn't we… try to stop him?" she asked, looking to Octavia for a sensible answer.
…
"Give it a minute."
Feeling just as pissed at Buzz and his partner in crime, the Goetia Princess was certainly in no rush to come to the lunatic's aid, in fact, she was almost tempted to join Mick in the drowning. Thankfully, Linda was a bit more soft-hearted.
"Uh… Mick? Maybe he's had enough?" the young Imp spoke up, quickly grabbing the Cat Demon's attention. "I mean, they were just trying to help."
As much as he hated to admit it, Linda did have a good point. After all, he WAS the one who asked Buzz and Johnny for help in the first place. Furthermore, he also figured that Buzz may end up doing something insane beforehand. Frankly, there was no point in getting riled up over such things, especially now that the worst of it seemed to be over.
"Fine," he eventually sighed with a pout, reluctantly letting go of the Imp's head.
Finally able to breathe, Buzz spat out a gallon of water before shaking himself off like a dog.
"A little over-dramatic don't you think?" he asked, only to be met with an annoyed shout from everyone, including Johnny.
"NO!"
Needless to say, no one was going to let Buzz live his big fuck-up down if they could help it, especially considering that they almost fell victim to it. After taking a moment to collect himself, Mick couldn't help but let out an annoyed huff.
"I swear, of all the stupid… ooh!" he muttered agitatedly before feeling a soothing hand rub the top of his back.
"You okay?" Octavia asked, unable to bear seeing her friend all frustrated like this.
Seeing the Owl Demon's gentle face looking back at him, the anxiety Mick felt slowly began to melt away. It was nice to know that he could always rely on her for comfort.
"Y-yeah, I'm fine," he said, inwardly thankful that his mask once again covered his blush. "I think I got it all out of my system."
"Shame, I would have liked to watch the drowning for another minute or two," Octavia joked playfully, much to Buzz's annoyance and Mick's amusement.
"Well, maybe I'll go for another attempt when we get home," Mick retorted, the pair of them sharing a small laugh at that before he let out an exhausted sigh. "Honestly though, is there any way this night could get any MORE insane?"
"BASTARD!"
"…And THERE it is."
Deadpanning at his own stupid question, Mick didn't even have time to blink when he was suddenly tackled from the side and pinned to the ground by a familiar and VERY pissed-off Mermaid Demon.
"HOW COULD YOU!?" Crystal screamed as she wrapped her scaly hands around Mick's neck, her eyes red and puffy from furious tears. "I knew we couldn't trust you, you lying fuck!"
Struggling to breathe as Crystal's hands squeezed his throat, Mick desperately thrashed under her grip in an attempt to break free.
"Whoa, whoa, what are you talking about?!" he managed to force out, despite the lack of any air.
"Don't give me that bullshit!" Crystal retorted. "You told him! You told Gaap about me and Kanya!"
Despite his struggles to breathe, Mick nonetheless snapped his eyes wide in shock upon hearing such a revelation, though he didn't have much time to process it as Johnny suddenly grabbed Crystal by the arms and tried pulling her away from his friend.
"Hey, get off him, will ya!?" the Greaser snapped, gripping her tight despite her attempts to break free. "Fuck, we've had enough drama today as it is!"
Alas, Johnny's words fell upon deaf ears as Crystal continued to shout at Mick as Octavia and Linda pulled him away from the furious Mermaid.
"You bastard!" she screamed, wildly trashing in an attempt to have another go at Mick's throat. "If he hurts her, it's on your head! I'll fucking kill you!"
"Okay, who's THIS bitch?" Buzz blurted out, feeling completely in the dark in this situation.
"Isn't she the singer from last night?" Linda added, feeling just as confused.
While Johnny tried his best to hold back the struggling Mermaid Demon, Octavia wasted no time in getting him away from the furious Crystal. Once the two were a decent distance away from one another, Octavia gave Mick a quick once over to make sure he was alright.
"Okay, would you calm the fuck down!?" she snapped, giving Crystal the stink eye.
"NO!" Crystal roared, thrashing in Johnny's grip like a deranged lunatic as she hissed at the Cat Demon in front of her. "That fucker must pay for what he did!"
"I didn't DO anything!" Mick retorted, rubbing his sore neck as he got back to his feet. "Look, I don't know how Gaap found out about you and his daughter, but it has nothing to do with me! I haven't gone near the guy since last night!"
Crystal, however, didn't believe him for a second.
"LIAR!" she screamed, once again thrashing in an attempt to launch herself at Mick's throat.
Her left eye twitching in frustration, Octavia let out a small huff. Standing up straight and stomping over to the Mermaid, she then proceeded to do the one thing that would end all this bullshit.
SLAP!
"I said CALM DOWN!"
Finally snapping out of her rage, Crystal gave Octavia a fearful glance as she rubbed her reddened cheek, her eyes threatening to open a new floodgate of tears.
"Okay, let me see if I'm getting this straight," The Goetia Princess sighed. "You believe that my bodyguard has spilt some secret about you and Kanya, betraying your trust in the process, yes?"
"Y-yeah," Crystal answered with an honest nod.
"Well, I'm afraid you are mistaken, Missy," Octavia insisted with a small glare. "Despite your accusations, I can assure you that Mick hasn't left my side all afternoon."
"B-but-" Crystal tried to argue, only to falter under the Goetia's hardened glare.
Before she could even get a chance to straighten herself up, Crystal immediately broke down crying, her whole body betraying her as she practically collapsed down to the floor from Johnny's grip. Seeing his fellow Sinner in such a state, Mick's shock quickly faded into sympathy. Crouching down to her level, he softly rubbed a comforting hand on her back.
"Crystal… what exactly happened?" he asked.
After taking a moment to breathe and wipe away the tears, Crystal then tried her best to force out an explanation without crying again.
"W-we were in the lounge, having a drink when Gaap suddenly came stomping in," she began. "Before I realised what was happening, he smacked me to the floor and started accusing me of raping his little girl. I… I thought he was going to kill me, right there and then."
"Sweet Jesus…" Johnny uttered with a gulp.
"If it weren't for Kanya stepping in between us, there was no telling what Gaap would have done," Crystal continued. "She begged him to let me go and thankfully he was able to calm down long enough to listen. But then he fired me! Told me that if I ever came near the hotel or saw Kanya again, he'd kill me on the spot!"
After saying all that, Kanya found herself shedding a few more tears, leaving everyone completely stunned.
"Fuck…" Octavia whispered, clutching a hand over her chest upon feeling great sympathy for the poor Sinner.
"You poor thing," Linda added, almost breaking down in tears herself.
"After I was thrown out of the hotel, I tried racking my brain over how Gaap ever managed to find out about us, which led me to suspect you," Crystal further elaborated, giving Mick a soft glare. "You were the only other one who knew… weren't you?"
Hearing that, Mick let out a heavy sigh.
"Crystal, I understand your pain… but I promise you, I didn't say a thing to Gaap," Mick said assuringly. "I gave you my word and I've never once gone back on my word."
"But if… if you didn't tell him, then who DID?"
Letting the Mermaid's question sink in for a moment, Mick slowly stood up and began scratching his head in thought… before a low growl rumbled in his throat as an idea popped into his mind.
"I'm not sure," he answered honestly. "But if I had to take a wild guess… There IS a certain Duck in this hotel who has a disdain for those of lower status and any Noble who even considers a relationship with them."
At those words, everyone bar Crystal quickly gasped before a hateful glare found its way to all their faces.
"Seth!" Octavia snapped, quickly getting on the same page. "That fucking bastard."
"B-but how did he find out!?" Linda thought aloud before suddenly raising an eyebrow. "Come to think of it… how did YOU find out, Mick?"
It was only then that Mick's hardened gaze quickly shifted to a look of pure awkwardness.
"It's, um… it's complicated."
However, despite Mick's attempt to keep quiet, seeing both him and Crystal turn away with heavy blushes was enough for Octavia to put the pieces together.
"Wait… were you two doing it in our room earlier!?" she gasped, now having a true understanding of why Mick took so long coming back to the pool earlier that day.
"Look, I'm not going to apologize for anything we did. Okay!?" Crystal snapped, not even bothering to deny the accusation. "We had to be careful around the hotel and your room had the cameras ripped out…"
Of course, before the Mermaid could continue ranting, it wasn't even a moment later that another solemn sigh escaped her lips.
"Oh, what's the use in arguing anyway?" she uttered, hanging her head in misery as fresh tears ran down her cheeks. "It's not like it matters anymore."
Seeing his fellow Sinner look so defeated over this, Mick's heart practically broke for her. So much so that he desperately felt the need to offer her some comfort.
"Don't say that," he said, once again placing a warm hand on her back. "Look, I don't know what yet, but I'm sure we can figure something out to resolve this. Gaap can't keep you two apart forever, even HE has no right."
At those words, Crystal couldn't help but scoff.
"How?" she almost chuckled, finding the very thought of going against Gaap ludicrous. "If I so much as come near the hotel again I'll-"
SMASH!
Suddenly, everyone jumped back in terror when a TV suddenly came flying through one of the upstairs windows and shattered mere feet away from them.
"Uh… would that still apply if said hotel is getting destroyed by Duke Valefar's family?" Buzz asked with an awkward chuckle.
Given the drama with Crystal, everyone had almost forgotten what was going on inside the hotel. Snapping their heads up towards the broken window, they could make out the silhouettes of what could only be described as a sexually/alcoholic-charged party tornado with TEETH! Somehow, within the span of just a few minutes, the situation had gotten WAY worse.
"Oh my god," Crystal gasped, her eyes wide with fear and realization. "Kanya is in there!"
Seeing the look of despair on the Sinner's face, Mick gave Octavia a quick glance, who in turn gave the Cat Demon a firm, understanding nod. At that moment, the pair of them were on the same train of thought. After all, Octavia knew Mick well enough by now to know his kind nature wouldn't allow him to let this go.
"Alright, let's go get her then," he said, taking Crystal completely off guard.
"Wh-Wha!?" she gasped, unconvinced that she heard right. "Seriously!?"
"As much as I would love to leave this place, I can't in good conscience leave your girlfriend in there," Mick said assuringly.
"Nor can the rest of us after hearing all that," Octavia added.
However, Crystal remained completely flabbergasted.
"Even after I blamed you… you'd still help me?" she asked, understandably unexpecting of such generosity. "Why?"
"Because Mick here is too descant of a human being to let sleeping dogs lie," Johnny replied with a light chuckle before his face quickly fell. "And of course, he's gonna drag US along due to our part in all this, right?"
"No shit, Sherlock," Mick stated with a deadpan glare.
"Aw, man!" Buzz exclaimed with a pout. "And here I thought I was just gonna get to sit back and watch the building burn."
"Buuuuuuuuuuuuuzz!"
The Imp's complaint, of course, earned him a beastly snarl and a flaming glare from the Cat Demon, his voice turning unnervingly demonic as if he were about to go into rage mode any second now. Standing in the Sinner's unnerving shadow, even someone as deranged as Buzz knew it was best not to antagonize Mick right now.
"Right, let's get to saving the fish lady's girlfriend!" he declared with a nervous laugh.
"Okay, what are we gonna do?" Octavia spoke up, jumping on the hype train right there and then.
However, for some reason, Mick was quick to dismissively shake his head at that.
"Nuh-uh," he said, much to the Goetia's surprise. "Not you, Octavia. You need to get yourself as far away from this shit show as possible."
Obviously, Octavia would normally trust Mick's judgment without question at this point. However, in this case, the curious side of her compelled her to request some elaboration.
"You're sending me away?" she asked, raising an eyebrow and earning herself a small sigh in response.
"Don't misunderstand," Mick said reassuringly. "As your bodyguard and friend, I'd never be able to forgive myself if you got hurt in the process of what's about to happen… and besides that, you need deniability for when your mother inevitably finds out about all this."
As much as Octavia hated to admit it, Mick did have a point. She may not have known what the Cat Demon was planning, but being seen with a member of Hellish Nobility, a Princess no less, would certainly put said plan in jeopardy. After all, Imps and Sinners were overlooked all the time by the upper crust, and if they were all preoccupied with the chaos going on inside, the small group of friends could easily go unnoticed. Granted, Crystal was someone the staff would be specifically looking out for and Mick's internet fame would more or less make him as much of a target, but if his Mysterious Stranger act managed to fool everyone at the banquet a while back, then surely he could do something similar again. Either way, it was clear that Octavia had no choice but to sit this one out.
"Fine," she sighed, giving the Cat Demon a small hug. "Just… just be careful, okay?"
"I will, I promise," Mick replied, returning the hug briefly in fear of being unable to let go. Once parted, he then looked up to Bruce. "Can I trust you to look after Octavia in my stead until everything is sorted out?"
In response to this, Bruce gave Mick a salute and a proud smile.
"It will be my honour, good friend," he said, standing at attention once more. "Rest assured that no harm will befall Princess Octavia while in my care."
Even though he, along with everyone else, was terrified of this Hellhound before, the way he said that actually filled Mick with confidence and relief. For some reason, he felt like he could trust Bruce completely.
"Thanks, big guy," he said with a nod.
At that moment, Bruce then bent down and offered his open palm to Octavia, who in turn felt comfortable enough to climb up onto it, allowing the giant Hellhound to lift her up and place her upon his shoulder. From the angle everyone else was standing, at her size, it looked like Octavia was a cute little pet parakeet perched on her owner.
"Miss Linda?" Bruce uttered, turning towards Octavia's attendant while offering out his other hand for her to climb on.
However, Linda immediately hesitated and turned towards Mick.
"If it's all the same to you," she said, giving the Sinner a pleading look. "I think I'd like to help you out."
Needless to say, that took everyone bar Mick and Octavia by surprise.
To those who were present at the time, it was pretty obvious that the only reason Linda would make such an offer was because she was still a little upset with Octavia over what happened on the roof. As such, Octavia felt a little disheartened, though it wasn't as if she could blame the little Imp for her feelings on the matter.
"You sure?" Mick asked, understanding her reasoning but still a little hesitant.
"Yeah, I'm sure," Linda replied, giving Octavia one last look before turning her head away.
With that, both Mick and Octavia let out a sigh of defeat. Perhaps a little space between the two would be for the best for the time being.
"Alright," the Sinner eventually relented, welcoming her into the temporary ranks before looking back up to Octavia. "We'll try to be in and out as soon as we can."
Seeing that there were objections to be made, all Octavia could do was nod her head.
"We'll wait at the train station for you," she called down to the others. "Call me when you're all out of here, okay?"
"Understood, M'lady," Mick called back up, watching with a heavy sigh as Bruce carried her out of the pool area and began making his way towards the nearest exit. "Right, let's get to work."
BOOM!
At the sound of the explosion coming from inside the hotel, everyone could only guess that someone had managed to find yet another TV, thus adding to Crystal's already growing stress… Buzz on the other hand still couldn't help but chuckle.
"Oh, come on, don't tell me this doesn't look cool!" he declared… only for Mick's hand to suddenly grab him by the throat. "Ahk! Uncle! UNCLE!"
AUTHOR'S NOTE:
The Featured Song: "Let's Make Music Together" - From the Movie: All Dogs Go to Heaven