All characters and content of this work belongs to their respective owners, I own nothing other than my Original Character and the plot of this story.
Friday had arrived without haste, and both Lady Emeraldblade and Vaggie prepared for a surprise attack on Verosika Mayday in the hopes that she may know where Charlie Morningstar was being held.
That day, Vaggie led Emeraldblade to the lobby, where she trained the female warrior about what to expect when confronting Verosika.
"Alright Emerald, I want to test your skills against my own." Vaggie explained, "Verosika is not a person you want to trifle with alone, so it's best you have a sparring session with me to prepare yourself for the fight.
Emeraldblade nodded, "What weapon do you specialize in? Mine is the greatsword."
"I stick to a spear that I used during my time as an exorcist, but I do have a few other tools up my sleeve," Vaggie answered.
"So do I," Emeraldblade countered.
"Well then, let's just see how well you can handle a former henchwoman of hers," Vaggie finished.
The two women equipped their weapons and began sparring. Vaggie rushed at Emeraldblade with her spear, only for Emeraldblade to absorb her blows with her sword. She responded by countering the fallen angel with some reverse blows, but she evaded them with her speed. Vaggie in turn reacted by countering Emeraldblade with a roundhouse kick, knocking the warrior back aways before she regained her stance.
Vaggie then jumped onto a nearby stairwell and began sliding down the railing before leaping at Emeraldblade with a downwards thrust.
Emeraldblade meanwhile evaded this attack by backflipping into the air and then performing a meteor smash with the heel of her sandal, knocking Vaggie down whilst she was caught off-guard.
The fallen angel regained her footing, before she began spinning her spear around in an attempt to break Emeraldblade's guard. Eventually this tactic seemed to succeed, but just as Vaggie was about to land a powerful thrust on Emeraldblade, the latter responded by ducking, before counterattacking with an upwards swing, launching Vaggie quite a distance before she landed hard on the ground. She then regained her footing and smirked.
"Hmm…not bad," Vaggie commented, "But that was only a warm-up, let's see how well you can handle this hon."
Vaggie then leapt into the air, but before gravity could take effect, she suddenly paused in mid-air and began to levitate. As though on cue, two objects began to emerge from behind Vaggie's back, before they suddenly began to flap slowly, these were a pair of wings…angel wings! Emeraldblade's jaw dropped at this astonishing transformation.
Just then, Vaggie dive bombed in her direction, grappling the warrior while she was distracted by her wings, before slamming her against a nearby wall. She then drew her spear back before lunging the sharp tip at Emeraldblade as the latter mercifully closed her eyes. But just before she was met with a would-be fatal blow, the sound of steel pierced the side of the wall next to her.
Emeraldblade opened her eyes, confused as to what just happened, she turned her head and saw that Vaggie had drove her spear into the wall, just inches from her body. She turned back to Vaggie and saw her smiling.
"I don't kill anyone I consider my friends." Vaggie explained.
Emeraldblade smirked, before raising her one free arm and launching a green bolt of magical energy at Vaggie, breaking her grip as she was launched to the opposite side of the room.
The female warrior then felt the strange power resonating through her body as her sword began to glow a bright green. Vaggie meanwhile was now the one who was confused as to what was going on.
Emeraldblade then charged at Vaggie as the latter pulled out several throwing knives and began launching them at the former, Emeraldblade reacted by countering the projectiles with her green bolts, causing both projectiles to be cancelled out in mid-air upon collision.
Eventually, Vaggie charged at Emeraldblade, before the two locked their blades in a fierce confrontation, gritting their teeth as each one tried to overpower the other, with neither gaining the advantage.
Just as both of them were about to maximize their strength to finish off the other, Medic suddenly popped up in the middle of them, startling the two ladies as they dropped their blades.
"Hello again frauleins!" Medic greeted the two of them with an overenthusiastic smile.
"Ack! Medic what the hell are you doing here?!" Vaggie asked angrily.
"Yeah, can't you see we're preoccupied in a friendly fight?" Emeraldblade added.
"Ooh, I do apologize for startling the two of you. But I wanted to remind ze two of you that the concert is beginning very soon."
Both Vaggie and Emeraldblade's eyes widened as the two of them turned to look at the clock. It was 5:00 PM, the concert started at 7:00 PM.
"Oh shit, I didn't realized we were cutting it close," Vaggie replied, clearly dumbfounded.
"Well, we better get going," Emeraldblade said, "We don't want to miss our only opportunity to stop Verosika and find Charlie."
Vaggie nodded and the two of them (alongside the Medic) headed upstairs to their rooms to prepare for the event, Medic eventually parted with them as the two ladies began walking alone. Along the way, Emeraldblade struck up a conversation.
"So when did you regain your wings?" she asked, "I thought you lost them when Lute banished you here."
"I got them back whilst I was training under an Overlord named Camilla Carmine," Vaggie replied, "She taught me how to understand the flaws of my own fighting techniques just before the extermination two months back, she tested me in combat, during which I managed to regain my wings once more."
"That must've been a huge surprise," Emeraldblade commented.
"Yeah, it was, in fact Charlie was elated." Vaggie added.
Emeraldblade raised an eyebrow, "You mentioned Camilla was an Overlord, what's her job?"
"She's a weapons dealer, she specializes in manufacturing weapons made of angelic steel, a material that's capable of harming and even killing angels. We used them to overpower Adam and Lute's forces during the extermination," Vaggie explained, "Angels can't be killed by normal means."
"Any chance you could introduce me to her sometime?" Emeraldblade asked.
"Maybe, but let's concentrate on taking care of Verosika first, she's our top priority," Vaggie replied.
The two continued up to their rooms, before parting ways as they gathered their things to prepare for their confrontation with Verosika.
About half an hour passed, and Vaggie gathered with Emeraldblade down at the lobby.
"So are you ready?" Vaggie asked.
"Yes," Emeraldblade replied.
"Got your ticket, your sword?" Vaggie added.
"Of course," Emeraldblade smiled, "I can't leave without it,"
"Good, now all we have to do is wait for the mercenaries," Vaggie finished.
A moment passed before suddenly, Medic, Scout, and Spy descended down the staircase.
"Let's go pallies!" Scout shouted.
"Shall we?" Spy replied smugly.
"Ohoho," Medic replied with a giggle, "I'm very excited."
"Where's Demoman?" Vaggie asked.
Suddenly, Demoman leapt from the mezzanine, landing in front of the two ladies. He was wearing a large, tan sombrero with a pair of sunglasses that resembled lime margarita glasses, with six beer bottles on his vest where his pipe bombs use to be. He then pulled out a crate full of beers, raising one bottle into the air.
"WHOOOOOOOOO!...Whoooo!...Woo." He shouted, before realizing that everyone was staring at him.
"What?"
"Why are you wearing that ridiculous outfit?" Vaggie asked in confusion.
Demoman made a sheepish grin, "I thought I dress up for the occasion mates."
Vaggie facepalmed, "Ugh never mind, let's just get going."
The group was chauffeured to the Arena within minutes, there they were able to bypass most of the large crowd thanks to their VIP passes. They found their way to the front row just before the large stage and took their seats. Once seated, Vaggie leaned over and whispered into Emeraldblade's ear.
"Once the show's over, we'll sneak backstage and catch Verosika off-guard," she explained.
"Got it," Emeraldblade replied.
Several long minutes passed, before the lights in the venue suddenly dimmed. Soon enough, several bright pink pyrotechnics erupted around the stage before suddenly a female figure appeared from the stage.
"Alright sinners, y'all ready to have a bitchin' good time?" The woman's voice shouted at the audience.
"Oh Hell yeah!" Scout cheered.
"Ohoohoo, how exciting," Medic chuckled.
The rest of the audience all cheered along, all except for Vaggie and Emeraldblade who were not as easily impressed.
Verosika gave an evil grin, before she proceeded to sing her signature song: Vacay to Bonetown.
This is your final boarding call
All aboard!
Pack your bags
Sun's out
Take a vacay, babe
Take it straight to Bonetown
V-time, free time, baby relax
Self-care, no hair, Brazilian wax
Hornt up succu-bus to the beach
Catch some rays while caching some D.
" *Gibberish* gonna take down to the Pain Train Station in Train Town…" Demoman "sang" drunkenly.
Vaggie rolled her eyes, "Clearly someone had one too many bottles of alcohol to drink."
Verosika continued to sing, as several backup dancers entered the stage.
Pack your bags
Sun's out
Take a vacay, babe
Take it straight to Bonetown
Hot dog, hot bod, sausage and buns
Threesome, fivesome, having some fun
Back to my place, welcome to Hell
Sun's out, hormones out, how does it smell?
Spy suddenly stood up.
"Yes. YES! I feel tres bon!"
He proceeded to disco dance whilst Verosika continued to perform.
Meanwhile, Vaggie leaned in on Emeraldblade, directing her attention to one particular dancer to the side of Verosika.
"You see that succubus?" Vaggie told her, pointing to one backup dancer in particular, "That's Kiki. She and I were Verosika's original crewmates back with I worked for her; it seems she has expanded her posse since my defection."
"You mentioned that you two got along well, correct?" Emeraldblade remembered.
"Yes, that's right," Vaggie answered.
"Maybe we could convince her to side with us against Verosika."
"I don't know, the problem is she never knew about the incident between me and Verosika, and even if I told her, I doubt she would believe me." Vaggie replied.
"We could at least try." Emeraldblade added.
Vaggie nodded, as the two continued to watch the performance.
Pack your bags
Sun's out
Take a vacay, babe
Take it straight to Bonetown
Soon, the music ended, and the audience erupted in applause. Verosika smiled whilst posing in various provocative positions for photographs. The mercs were especially impressed by the performance as they were taken by the beautiful voice and figure of the succubus.
The show continued for next few hours, as Verosika sang various original songs, whilst her posse danced and provided backup lyrics.
During one song, Verosika invited several members of the audience to partake in the performance, unsurprisingly, the mercs seemed to be most eager voices to want to participate. When she noticed this; she motioned two members of her posse to bring them onto the stage. Of course they ended up making fools of themselves due to their tone-deaf voices (Demoman even "added" his own drunken lyrics).
In another, more interesting song, she seemed to chastise someone by the name of "Blitzo", which Emeraldblade took note of silently.
Eventually, as the night wore on, the show drew to a close. Verosika raised her mic into the air and blew a kiss towards the audience as she left the stage in a bid of farewell. When the stadium cleared out, Vaggie gestured Emeraldblade and the mercenaries to follow her backstage.
As they walked towards the backstage area, they were stopped by a large, werewolf-like man with grey fur and a scar over his left eye who was wearing a ripped leather jacket and shirt with grey ripped pants.
"Sorry folks, Verosika's orders, no one is allowed beyond this point without Backstage passes," the man exclaimed.
"We have them right here sir," Emeraldblade replied.
She, Vaggie, and the mercs raised their passes, as the man took a look at them one by one.
"Hmm…alright, go on ahead." He said, before stepping aside to let them through.
The team made their way passed the bodyguard as they searched backstage for the succubus. Along the way, they came across various other incubi and succubi, who gave unsettling smiles towards the group. Eventually one succubi caught Emeraldblade's attention, it was the same one Vaggie had pointed out during the performance.
The succubus in question had red skin with long, jet-black hair, she was wearing a see-through fishnet shirt with a short skirt and black gogo boots. On her ears she wore two matching earrings that resembled upside-down crosses.
The demon was all too familiar to Vaggie, it was her former friend Kiki. She took Demoman's sombrero and hid her face under the large brim of the hat in an attempt to conceal her appearance from her old co-worker.
Kiki noticed the group and gave them a more welcoming smile compared to the previous demons before.
"Well, I didn't know fleshys were invited to the concert," she remarked, talking directly to Lady Emeraldblade, "Is there something you need sweetie?"
"Umm, yes, do you know where Verosika is?" Emeraldblade asked.
"Sure do, right this way," she answered, gesturing Emeraldblade and her friends to follow her.
As they walked, Medic glanced back and noticed the demons they saw along the way were following behind them from a distance.
"Umm, guys…" he tried to get their attention.
"SHH!" Demoman scolded his friend, "The nice lass is leading us to meet this Verosika person mate."
Medic groaned, knowing something bad was about to happen.
Eventually, Kiki stopped in front of a door with a large star-shaped logo reading "Verosika Mayday" on it.
"Here we are cutie," Kiki said flirtatiously, "My boss is just behind the door here."
"Thanks," Emeraldblade nonchalantly replied.
Kiki proceeded to open the door for the group, there seated on a sofa adjacent from the door was the familiar figure.
The demon was tall and had an hourglass figure. She had hot pink skin, with a demon-like tail with spade-tipped point. She had very long, white hair that flowed down her back with pink highlights and a pair of demon horns on her head, one of which was taller than the other. She had small white eyes with pink irises and yellow sclera and thick eyelashes, a single heart-shaped beauty mark was on her right cheek just below her eye. For makeup, she wore black mascara, eyeliner, and lipstick. Her outfit consisted of a black-and-white minidress with a single "X" and "O" on each side of her chest and a star on her stomach, black thigh highs with a pair of black high heels. On her right shoulder was a heart-shaped tattoo with the word "Blitzo" written inside it, however the world was crossed out by a large thick "X".
The woman was unmistakable to the group, they were standing in the presence of Verosika Mayday.
The succubus was holding a small compact mirror, applying makeup to her lips, before suddenly looking up to see her guests in question and giving a sinister grin.
"Well, looks like the fans couldn't get enough of yours truly." Verosika remarked smugly, "Come to have my autograph?"
The mercs cheered in agreement and arousal as Vaggie and Emeraldblade kept a stern look at their adversary.
"We're not here for autographs," Vaggie said, whilst concealing her face under Demoman's sombrero, "We're here to stop you."
"Hmm, sounds like a noble plan, but there's a problem bitch: you and your friends just walked into my trap." Verosika explained.
"Trap?!" Emeraldblade exclaimed.
Suddenly, without warning, the group of incubi and succubi that Emeraldblade and her friends saw in the hall outside of the room snatched each of the mercs one by one. Vaggie and Emeraldblade tried to make a beeline for the exit, but they abruptly collided with Kiki and the bodyguard outside the VIP area, who subsequently grabbed and restrained the two ladies.
"Going somewhere sweetie?" Kiki mockingly questioned.
Kiki and the bodyguard brought Vaggie and Emeraldblade back into the lounge that Verosika was settled inside, there, the two friends saw that each of Verosika's posse were holding the mercenaries captive via a pair of neck restraints.
"Uhh, oh boy, zis just went from bad to worse." Medic commented.
"Shut up fuckhead!" Verosika shouted at the doctor, causing him to fall silent.
Verosika then turned back towards Vaggie and Emeraldblade, who were once again face-to-face with the succubus celebrity.
"Good work Vortex, you too Kiki, I knew I saw my old enemy in the stands."
"I don't know who you're talking about," Vaggie lied, trying to hide her identity.
"Cut the shit you backstabbing bitch, I know it's you…Vaggie."
Vortex grabbed the sombrero on Vaggie's head, revealing her face to Verosika.
"I warned you not to betray me the last time I saw you slut, didn't you get the fucking memo?" she smiled sinisterly, caressing her chin in the process, "I broke your arm last time, perhaps I should break your shitty neck this time around."
"Leave her alone!" Emeraldblade shouted at the succubus.
Verosika turned her head towards Emeraldblade, dropping her smile simultaneously.
"How dare you talk to me like that! Do you know who I am you bitch?!" Verosika angrily scolded Emeraldblade.
"Vaggie told me all about you Verosika," Emeraldblade spoke up, "How you forced her to rape several men out of her own will."
"Hmm, you seem to catch one pretty fast lady." Verosika replied, "Tell me, why have you pricks decided to confront me in the first place?"
"We're looking for Charlie Morningstar," Vaggie explained, "I have a feeling you orchestrated her kidnapping."
Verosika and her posse laughed.
"Charlie? You mean the shitty Princess of Hell? Ha! I didn't plot her kidnapping!" Verosika replied, mocking innocence.
"But we do know you are working for Nightmare." Emeraldblade pointed out, "I also have the feeling you know where Charlie's hiding."
Verosika growled, "I should've known someone was trying to stop his plans, that bumbling wizard mentioned someone matching your description about fucking him up."
"You underestimate us, we have Lucifer Morningstar on our side, you mess with us, you mess with him." Emeraldblade countered.
"Ooo, I think little miss goody-two shoes here is challenging you to a Demon Duel Verosika." Kiki chuckled.
"Hmph," Verosika smirked, "I think so too."
Verosika leaned in to Emeraldblade's face, giving her a wide-toothed smile that sent chills down the warrior's skin.
"Okay bitch let's make this interesting, I have a concert coming up in Louisville, Kentucky for the annual Thunder Over Louisville Airshow a week from tomorrow. For the occasion, we'll have a helicopter race in the city that day. If you win, I'll concede to your demands about where that slut Charlie is, but if I win, you and your friends here will become my permanent sex slaves for life. Are you game girly?" Verosika chuckled.
"Don't do it lass!" Demoman spoke up.
"Yeah, we are screwed if you accept the challenge." Scout added.
Lady Emeraldblade turned to Vaggie, who reluctantly nodded a "yes". She then turned back to Verosika, remembering the deal she made with Lucifer.
"Alright Verosika, I accept your challenge." Emeraldblade answered.
"Ha, I like your determination girl," Verosika responded smugly. "Don't feel bad when you fucking lose though."
She turned to Kiki and Vortex and snapped her fingers.
"Tex, Kiki, release the girls."
The two released Vaggie and Emeraldblade. Before Verosika turned to the rest of her crew.
"As for you sluts, make these boys here extra cozy."
Emeraldblade became concerned.
"What? Why aren't you freeing them?" she demanded.
Verosika laughed, "Let's just say this is a bargaining tool to adhere to my challenge; until the day of the race, your friends will be staying under our custody. You can have them back…if you can beat me in the race."
"You bitch," Vaggie replied, gritting her teeth.
"Hey, I have my ways." Verosika shrugged innocently.
Emeraldblade turned to the mercs, who were afraid as to what fate lied ahead for them.
"Don't worry guys, I won't let Verosika win, I promise I'll get you out of here."
"That's enough talk!" Verosika stopped Emeraldblade's conversation, before looking back at Kiki and Vortex, "Escort them out of the Arena."
Kiki and Vortex nodded.
"Let's go you two." Vortex instructed.
The hellhound and the succubus led Vaggie and Emeraldblade out of Verosika's lounge, whilst Verosika gave one parting remark.
"Ta-ta now fucktards."
"DON'T FORGET US LASSES!" Demoman's voice rang out as they left the room.
Eventually, Kiki and Vortex brought the two ladies out of the front entrance of the Arena, where they bid them a mocking farewell.
"Good luck now, you two will really need it." Kiki giggled.
Vaggie's anger subsided as she became desperate.
"Kiki, please, why do you continue to follow Verosika's demands, after what we've revealed to you back there?" Vaggie asked.
Kiki's smile turned to a concerned frown, "That's none of your business traitor."
"She's using you," Emeraldblade replied, "She just wants to get what she wants."
Kiki became uncomfortable, "I…I…ugh! Just remember the deal you made with my boss; you got one week to prepare."
With that, Kiki and Vortex reentered the Arena and closed the door behind them, leaving Vaggie and Emeraldblade alone outside the venue.
"Now what?" Emeraldblade asked her friend, "How are we going to get to Louisville in time if we're trapped here?"
"We'll figure out a way," Vaggie answered, "But for now, let's get back to the hotel, we need to explain the situation to Lucifer."
Emeraldblade nodded, "Lead on then."
Vaggie held her hand out, hailing for a nearby taxi, the two of them boarded it and returned to the hotel.
Apologies for the lateness, writer's block delayed the release of this chapter.