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.

The rest of Wednesday went by without further incident, as Striker had once again disappeared. Emeraldblade and her team began to breathe a sigh of relief that they had lost the would-be assassin.

The following day however was different, the camper van crossed the state border into Indiana, the last state before Louisville.

"Well, here we are, the Hoosier State," Millie piped up, "Despite all the shit we've been through, we've actually made pretty good time."

"Ya got that right lass," Sniper replied from the driver's seat, "Hell, we might even get there a day or two early."

Suddenly, a major question crept through Millie's mind at that same moment.

"Hey E!" she called out to Lady Emeraldblade.

The warrior's eyes lit up before turning to face the female imp.

"What is it Millie?" she asked.

"You know how each of us has told our backstories to you during the previous days right? Well, we haven't heard yours yet. Would you mind telling me your story?"

Moxxie's eyes lit up with intrigue

"Hey, she's right, you never did tell us why you're so determined to defeat this Nightmare S.O.B."

"Aye, the imps are right lass," Sniper added, "Come on love, tell us who exactly you are."

Emeraldblade became uncomfortable, but then she felt someone put their hand on hers, she glanced over and saw it was none other than Vaggie.

"Go on hon," Vaggie gestured her friend, "I got your back."

Emeraldblade took a deep breath, before she began telling her story.

"I used to be an ordinary girl for much of my life, my parents were very nice people, and I was especially close to my mother. She used to tell me stories about the heroes of old when I was a little. However, shortly after I turned 18, I experienced the worst day of my life…"

"What exactly happened?" Millie asked.

"I was about to graduate high school when just before the day was over, all of a sudden a mysterious individual attacked my school, where he proceed to kill nearly everyone in the building without remorse, I nearly lost my life, and it was only after a friend of mine named Rosalina rescued me just when the murderer was about to kill me. I later learned from Rosalina that the man who attacked my school was a powerful entity known as the Azure Knight, better known as Nightmare," Emeraldblade explained, as tears began to form in her eyes, "Rosalina later revealed to me that after the attack, she assessed the damage and discovered that Nightmare had murdered nearly everyone in Emerald Valley, including… *sniff* …including…OH I CAN'T!"

Emeraldblade burst into tears, Vaggie patted her on the back as a means of comforting the warrior. Millie and Moxxie meanwhile were still confused.

"Why is she crying?" Millie asked Vaggie, believing she knew the rest of the story.

Vaggie turned to the female imp, "Nightmare killed her parents and many of her friends in the town she lived in."

"Oh dear…" Millie replied in shock, "I didn't mean to hurt her feelings with my question, I just wanted to know about her more, that's all."

"It's fine," Emeraldblade replied, gathering the courage to speak again, "I understand, it's just that even though it occurred years ago, the horrible day is like a scar that will never heal in my mind."

"The bigger question is, who is this Rosalina bitch?" Moxxie asked.

"MOXXIE!" Vaggie snapped at the male imp, causing him to flinch.

"S-sorry," he sheepishly apologized.

"Well, have you heard of Super Mario?" Emeraldblade asked.

"Yeah, who hasn't?" Sniper answered.

"We'll she's one of the Princesses from the series; after the incident, she nurtured me and let me live in the Cosmic Observatory for the next five years. She also trained me extensively on how to fight, believing that I am the only hope to stop Nightmare," Emeraldblade continued.

"So the man killed a lot of people, do you want revenge on him?" Moxxie asked.

"Not necessarily," Emeraldblade replied, "The real reason I need to stop Nightmare is because he's planning on unleashing a terrible cataclysmic event that has the potential to end all life across the universe."

"She needs to gather an army of supporters in order to stop him, as not only is she too weak to face him alone, but also because he has minions of his own, like Verosika for example," Vaggie added.

"And I guess that's where we come in right?" Sniper replied.

"Precisely," Emeraldblade answered.

Millie and Moxxie looked at each other before turning back to the warrior with a smile on their faces.

"Then count us in." Mille replied.

"Yah," Sniper added, "I'm in too love."

Emeraldblade smiled, shedding a final tear from her eye.

"Thank you."

Later that day, as the Sun was beginning to set over the horizon, the team was nearly at the end of their journey when they reached the small town of New Albany, Indiana, which laid right across the Ohio River from their final destination: Louisville, Kentucky.

"There it is mates," Sniper chuckled happily, whilst pointing at several skyscrapers in the distance, "Louisville, Kentucky."

"Heh heh, I knew we were going to make it in time for the Demon Duel," Moxxie laughed, "Boy I bet when Verosika sees us, man she will be pissed."

"Speaking of which, since we're here early, let's grab a meal to celebrate the final leg of our journey." Millie added.

Emeraldblade rolled her eyes, "Well, alright, but no more delays after this."

Sniper pulled up at the nearby Chinese restaurant that the team ultimately decided on based on a map of the area that Millie pulled up on her phone.

After settling in and placing their orders, Millie used her phone to look up information about the event that was going on during the race.

"Thunder over Louisville…" the female imp spoke up, "Apparently several celebrities are going to be there, not just Verosika Mayday."

"Like who exactly?" Vaggie asked.

"Well apparently, one of the pilots that's going to be performing at the airshow goes by the name Launchpad McQuack, who's going to perform a stunt show with his signature plane the "Joyrider", Millie answered, reading the news article carefully.

"That name…sounds familiar." Emeraldblade replied.

Millie nodded, "But not only him, some popular online streamer who simply goes by the name of Iono is also going to be there, she hosts some sort of livestream by the name of the "Iono Zone"."

"Hmm…interesting," Vaggie replied, "But celebrities aside, the main focus is winning this demon duel, we still don't have a helicopter, let alone a pilot."

"We'll figure out a way," Emeraldblade replied, "But right now let's focus on reaching Louisville first."

"Yeah, and having a decent meal," Sniper added, "I'm famished."

Vaggie rolled her eyes in defeat.

A little over half an hour later, the team finished their meal and began heading out to finish the final leg of their journey.

"Just a few more miles left mates," Sniper told his team, gesturing them to get in the camping van, "Come on, there's nothing to lose now."

But just as he was unlocking the front door to his van, a gunshot rang out, before suddenly, a bullet narrowly missed Sniper's hand.

"What the bloody hell?!" Sniper replied in shock.

"Over there!" Vaggie shouted, pointing onto a nearby rooftop.

The team turned their attention to the direction the ex-exorcist was pointing in, there standing atop a nearby rooftop was none other than their familiar adversary: Striker.

"Going somewhere?" he replied smugly.

"What the…how the fucking hell did you survive that fall in St. Louis?" Moxxie demanded.

"Questions, questions, questions, you know kid, I prefer people being the silent type…the VERY silent type."

Suddenly, Striker jumped down in Moxxie's direction in an attempt to skewer him with his sharp, pointed tail. The force of the landing caused Sniper to lose his footing as the male imp barely dodged the surprise attack in time and began to counter him by quickly drawing his revolver, only for Striker's tail to smack it right out of his hands. He then decided to fight him hand-to-hand, but was vastly out skilled by the rival assassin, who managed to stab him several times with his tail, before tossing him to the ground, incapacitating him in the process.

Millie came rushing to her husband's aid, but before she could strike him with her battle axe, Striker jumped out of the way before waving his finger mockingly.

"Uh uh uh," he taunted her, "Not this time girl."

This action infuriated the female imp, who charged at him at full force, but this was what Striker had anticipated, as he quickly leapt over her and kicked her forward in the process.

Vaggie and Emeraldblade decided to gang up in an attempt to overpower their adversary, but Striker once again was prepared, and blocked each of their strikes repeatedly without fail. Eventually, he found an opening and managed to stab Vaggie with his tail, causing her to cringe in pain, before turning to Emeraldblade. Despite her sword's power, Striker managed to overcome its power and kicked her into a nearby car, causing its alarm to go off. As the female warrior was trying to get up, she felt a sharp pain travel across her back, before falling over in pain from the force of the impact.

Striker then approached her and drew his revolver.

"Verosika told me not to kill you or your girlfriend over there, but seeing as how much of a FUCKING problem you two have been, I've decided to go my own ways…"

As Striker was taunting the warrior, Sniper managed to regain his footing and noticed that Striker's landing had caused a jar of his "secret weapon" to fall off of his belt, he picked up the jar before looking in the direction of Striker, it was then his face lit up with a sinister look on his face as he now had a plan in mind…

"…hasta la vista…BITCH!" Striker chuckled.

But just before he was able to pull the trigger, he heard a voice shout from behind him.

"JARATE!"

"Huh what?"

Striker turned in the direction of the shout, before getting a glimpse of a glass jar filled with a strange, yellow liquid flying in his direction.

"What the-"

Striker pondered what the strange jar was before suddenly…

*Crash!*

The Jar had shattered just feet in front of him, but the force of the impact was strong enough to cause the yellow liquid to splash in all directions, completely coating Striker in the strange substance while blinding him simultaneously. Suddenly, a foul odor filled the area around him.

"What a minute…" Striker sniffed, "Is this…OH SHIT!"

"YAAAUGH!" Sniper yelled out, before suddenly lunging at the imp-demon assassin with a powerful flying kick, hitting him square into the face.

The blow managed to caused Striker to stagger several feet away as he continued to wipe away the liquid from his face.

"Are you FUCKING INSANE?!" he shouted, "Why the hell would you use a jar full of piss as a weapon?! That's just disgusting."

"Yeah, but it's effective," Sniper countered with a snicker.

The Australian mercenary then pulled out a large bowie knife with a serrated spine and began slashing at his foe. Striker initially dodged the first several swings, before suddenly feeling the blade strike his tail, slicing a large cut through it as he wailed in pain.

The two continued to fight close up, but in the end, Sniper had the advantage, and managed to hack Striker several times before plunging his knife into one of his arms, causing him to shriek in agony before withdrawing the blade. Seeing that the assassin was now to grievously injured to fight back, he turned to his friends and helped each one to their feet.

"Let's get going mates, before that wanker manages track us down once again."

Everyone rushed back into the camper van as Sniper turned the ignition and floored the oversized vehicle in reverse, before shifting to drive forward and managing to make a speedy getaway.

As they left, Striker looked up and cursed in their direction.

"This…isn't over…" he groaned.

Back inside the van, everyone was praising Sniper for his unorthodox, yet quick thinking in turning the tide of the battle in their favor once more.

"Nice job Sniper," Emeraldblade commended her friend.

"You know, when I first accidently drank that jar full of that liquid, I thought you were just one fucked up individual," Moxxie said, "But after seeing you use that…secret weapon of yours, it seems my opinion of you has shifted. Well done…mate."

"Aww thanks pal." Sniper blushed from the flattery.

Sniper drove the camper van over the nearby bridge into the state of Kentucky, where after a short drive, they saw the skyline of Derby City approach them quickly.

"We've made it mates," Sniper commented, "Now let's go win us a contest."

"You said it Jar Man," Millie replied with a giggle.