When everyone stepped out of the limo, the tension in the air instantly skyrocketed. Looking around them, the group found themselves in what would be considered a nice neighbourhood compared to most of the streets in Hell. No garbage littered on roads, not a single stroke of graffiti marred the walls or the sidewalk. In fact, if one looked at the houses on the street, not even a single blade of grass was out of place. All things considered, this part of Hell actually seemed nice… all except for the ONE property Jessie parked the limousine in front of.
Surrounded by a wall of charred and chipped stone, a vast garden of terribly overgrown vegetation rested just on the other side of a pair of large gates that appeared battered and rusted from the elements, both of which appeared chained shut and plastered with police tape. Of course, since one of those gates was barely hanging in by a single hinge, the chains would do next to nothing to keep anyone out… which is exactly what Mick was hoping for.
BAM!
CLANG!
With a single flaming kick, Mick instantly sent the gate flying off the wall, allowing everyone a big enough opening to walk through.
"Shall we?" he uttered, immediately taking the lead as he walked past the gate.
Despite being shocked by Mick's blatant trespassing, the group nonetheless followed his lead, their curiosity quickly overwhelming their concern. Being the last to follow the group, Stolas stopped for a brief moment and turned to his Hellhound Driver.
"Wait here with the car, please," he requested. "No telling how long we're going to be here."
"Understood, sir," Jessie replied with a nod, choosing this opportunity to lean against the hood of the limo and light up a cigarette as she watched Stolas disappear beyond the gate.
As soon as she was certain he was out of earshot, however, the Hellhound quickly took a long drag of her tobacco stick and made her way over to the trunk before giving it a strong knock.
"Okay, we're here," she declared, opening the trunk to reveal a pair of little red stowaways.
"Phew!" Jewel blurted out as she and Buzz stepped out of the trunk and stretched themselves out. "Thanks for the ride, Jess!"
The Hellhound, of course, could only smirk at that as she puffed out a few smoke rings.
"Anything for a friend," she said, pointing a thumb at the destroyer gate. "They went through there."
As it turned out, Jessie had been in on Buzz and Jewel's devious plan to follow Mick and his group from the start. Having missed a lot of the drama while Mick, Linda and Octavia were in the Living World, which somehow resulted in everyone suddenly gaining a CHERUB for a coworker, neither Mick's former roommate nor the nosey Maid wanted to miss whatever was going on after they found out about Mick's little gathering. So of course, they did the only logical thing… ditched work, and bribed Jessie to let them ride in the trunk while everyone's back was turned! Now that they had arrived though, they were immediately met with the baffling sight of an unfamiliar location and the question of why Mick would ask to come here.
"Huh… nice place," Buzz commented, scratching his head as Jewel rolled her eyes.
"Come on!" the Maid declared, Quickly breaking into a run as she and Buzz made their way towards the gate.
"Don't get caught!" Jessie cried out indifferently, once again returning to her cigarette as she waited for the inevitable.
Meanwhile, as the group led by Mick continued onward, most, if not all of them felt a strong surge of unease. Whether it was the state of the overgrowth or the fact that Mick continued to remain quiet was anyone's guess. In any case, it seemed as though Mick knew where he was going at least. After they all made their way up the cobblestone path, with Stolas occasionally raising the vegetation with his magic to help move things along, they eventually came to a break in the overgrowth and only then did the Sinner choose to speak.
"Here we are…" he said, gesturing a hand to the large structure in front of him. "Welcome to Labolas Manor."
Upon hearing that name, the entire group, Clara especially, dropped their jaws in shock, though it was mostly regarding the state of the house itself. There, standing atop a small hill, was indeed a large mansion… or rather what was LEFT of one! In its glory days, it probably would have been around half the size of Stolas's home, with a small staircase climbing up the side of the hill just to get to the front door… but now the roof was completely caved in, leaving only the crumbling walls, one of which being almost completely gone save for a massive pile of rubble that had rolled down the hill. Judging from the blackened walls barely comprised of charred stones and concrete and the obviously burnt wooden frames in what was left of the roof, it didn't take a genius to figure out that fire was the cause of all this destruction. What's more, judging from the vines and weeds growing all over what was left of the ruined structure, it was easy to tell that said fire must have happened quite some time ago.
"Labolas… Manor?" Stolas uttered, completely dumbfounded by what he was witnessing. "I… I never realised that the family had a home so close to ours."
"Yes, well, the Labolas family were never that close to anyone," Clara commented with a disheartening sigh. "Not even to their OWN family members."
Now Octavia began to understand why Mick wanted to bring everyone here. If what Clara said last night was true, then this place… it must have been his home at one point… just like back in the Goetia Mansion. If he was going to give a full explanation, he wanted to do it right. Alas, not everyone seemed to understand the situation as Octavia did.
"Son… what are we doing here?" Shelly asked, voicing both her and Stolas's confusion as the latter nodded his head in agreement.
Instead of answering properly, however, Mick merely turned towards the mould-covered steps and proceeded to climb up the hill to the front door.
"Let's step inside, shall we?" he said, only adding fuel to the already growing frustration among the group.
Of course, regardless of his blunt, yet vague response, Clara and Octavia's need for answers wouldn't allow them to falter. As such they were the first to follow Mick up the steps, followed by Linda and Snowflake and finally Shelly and Stolas, the latter a lot more reluctantly than the others.
CREEEEEEEEEEAK!
SLAM!
As the door collapsed to the floor with a single touch of Mick's finger, the Sinner couldn't help but let out a small sigh. Looking around, a mixture of nostalgia and sadness filled his heart to the point where he almost didn't take another step forward. Had Octavia not been there to place a comforting hand on his shoulder, he probably would have turned around and left faster than he had arrived. After a moment's hesitation, he eventually bit the bullet and led the others inside.
Needless to say, the interior of the manor was in a FAR worse state than the outside. Between the charred and crumbled walls, the blackened floors and the ruined remains of framed paintings that were now little more than charred splinters of wood on the floor, to say that the damage was absolutely devastating. Worse still, not only did the vines from the outside start to grow inward through every opening and crack in the wall but there was a foul stench of dampness and mildew all over what was left of the carpet, making it clear that this mansion had to have exposed to the elements for quite some time. In all honesty, it was hard to tell whether the damage was caused by a regular fire or made by the latest arrival of Hurricane Pruflas. Suddenly, Shelly's ears began to twitch as a strange sound caught her attention.
"Hey… you hear that?" she uttered, causing everyone to halt in their tracks.
Sure enough, as everyone quieted down and listened intently, they too heard the sound that Shelly's sharp ears suddenly picked up… almost like someone talking. What's more, as she took a few careful sniffs of the air, a particular scent caught Snowflake's notice, so much so that she immediately grabbed everyone's attention with a loud yip and pointed her little paw towards a large pair of wooden doors. Seeing the faint orange glow coming from the crack underneath, Mick immediately snarled and stomped over towards them.
SMASH!
With one swift kick, the Sinner burst into the adjoining room, one that seemed in surprisingly better condition than the rest of the house despite some fire damage. There, he was insulted to see a trio of Demons huddled by the roaring embers of the damaged fireplace, two Imps and an Incubus to be precise. Bad enough, they were trespassing… but they were all clearly drunk and high on crack if the empty beer cans, scattered needles and dazed looks in their eyes were anything to go by. Needless to say, the instant he saw these squatters desecrating this room, Mick was absolutely FURIOUS.
"Yo, what the fuck!?" the Incubus cried out, suddenly realising he and his buddies had company.
With blue flames bursting from his head hands and tail, all Mick had to do in response was scream two simple words.
"Get. OUUUUUUUUUUUUT!"
Feeling the heat of Mick's breath as the demonic force of the Sinner's scream slapped them in the face, all three of the drugged-up Demons instantly screamed in panic and ran for any available exit they could find, all of them eventually choosing to fumble over to the nearby shattered window and jumping out of it. As soon as they were gone, Mick took a moment to calm himself down.
Taking a look around the room itself, everyone quickly noticed that it appeared to be a drawing room of sorts, complete with multiple sofas that were once pristine with mahogany legs but now reduced to tattered sponge and fabric with fire damage, along with the chopped up pieces of an old coffee table. But the most shocking of all was the large framed picture that hung just above the scorched marble fireplace currently housing the embers of the garbage the squatters were burning.
There, behind a sheet of thin glass and framed in metal was the image of a tall, beautiful Canine Demon sitting in front of the very same fireplace. A lovely She-wolf with dark silver fur and a flow of dark hair also sported a pair of polished blood-red horns and a pair of magnificent crimson wings behind her back. Attire-wise, she wore silk purple gloves and a flowing red dress that appeared to be bubbling like liquid, almost as if she were literally wearing living fluid wrapped around her body. Of course, the moment she saw the woman's visage on the wall, Clara almost immediately began to cry.
"Aunty…" she uttered, recognising the face of the picture without even needing to think about it. "It's still here."
Hearing that, Mick gave a solemn nod as he too looked upon the picture with a mind filled with nostalgia and sorrow.
"Glasya always had a suspicion that thieves would come for her things one day," he explained. "So she had a lot of her things reinforced with magic and bulletproof glass… I suppose you could say she was quirky like that."
Clara, of course, couldn't help but let out a small laugh at that, remembering exactly why Mick would describe her late Aunt in such a way. Stolas and Shelly, however only remained more confused than ever.
"Michael… are you saying you KNEW Glasya Labolas!?" the Goetia asked, understandably baffled.
"Pretty closely from what I hear," Octavia pointed out, with Linda and Snowflake nodding in agreement.
"Wait… WHO are we talking about?" Shelly blurted out, her confusion quickly becoming too much to bear.
Letting out another heavy sigh, Mick knew that if there was a time to start opening his mouth, it was now. Finally… he was going to explain EVERYTHING. Grabbing a nearby ottoman before pulling it close to the fireplace, the Sinner sat down and tried to calm his nerves before once again addressing the group.
"I suggest taking a seat," he said. "We might be here a while."
Alas, that request only served to push Stolas's patience past its limits.
"Okay, Michael, I think I've indulged you long enough!" he exclaimed, stomping over to Mick and bending downward so that their faces were eye-level. "Now could you please tell us what's going on here!?"
"DAD!" Octavia snapped, pulling her father away. "Give him a chance, will you!?"
Needless to say, Mick greatly appreciated Octavia's assistance. However, in this case, her father was well within his rights to react like this. Between yesterday and the vagueness of the whole trip here, he couldn't blame the Goetia for losing his cool… that said, it was time to do what he came here to do.
"My name isn't Michael… it never was," he said, deciding to immediately rip that particular bandaid away and catching everyone off guard.
"I… I beg your pardon?" Stolas uttered, understandably confused by Mick's first choice of words.
Needless to say, only those who knew Mick's real name beforehand were far less surprised than Stolas was, all of them merely shocked that he would give away such a secret so openly… what DID give them a bigger surprise, however, was what Mick did immediately after that. Closing his eyes in contentment, the Sinner reached both hands up to his mask, took a firm grip on its metal edges… and pulled it clean off his face.
Having been the first to see the scar beneath the mask, Octavia could only feel a fraction of the shock everyone else had to endure at that very moment. That being said, she also felt a surge of unease due to being among so many frightened faces… but also a small hint of pride for Mick's bravery. In any case, she knew right then that whatever explanation Mick had… it must be the hardest thing he had to go through if he was trying to reveal one of his biggest secrets.
"Mick…" the Goetia Princess uttered, unable to move as Shelly walked over and reached out to her son.
"My god…" the Squirrel Demon almost sobbed, understandably devastated by seeing her son's face in such a horrific state. "What….who…"
Unable to even form a single word due to the shock, all Shelly could do was embrace Mick tightly. After a brief hug, Mick let out another sigh, pulled himself away and addressed the rest of the group. Now that he had gotten everyone's undivided attention with his big reveal, it was time to draw them in completely.
"My name is Nicholas James Michaelakos… or at least it WAS before I came down here," he began, steeling every fibre of his being as he forced each word out. "I lived a good life with my mother until her death one year before my own, the result of my hanging myself when was 17."
At those words, Mick illustrated his explanation with a short flick of his long tail before using it to grab a nearby piece of broken wood and toss it into the fire. During this time, Stolas quickly snapped his fingers and used his magic to restore the nearby furniture to a somewhat decent state before he and the rest of the group sat down. Now that Mick had drawn them in, they might as well get comfortable.
"Since my death, I had spent the last 14 years here in the Pride Ring, gaining experience but never maturing or ageing," the Sinner continued, nodding his head towards his Mother, ushering her to join the others on the newly restored sofas. "Now, I won't pretend that I haven't been a little illusive at times whenever any of you had asked me about my time here. But even so, I have tried my best to give you all SOME information about myself. In fact, I've been more than open about what I've been up to during the last seven of my afterlife with most of you… but now it's time for me to finally talk about what happened to me during the FIRST seven years I've been here."
"The first seven?" Stolas repeated, trying desperately to recall any sort of memory of Mick mentioning such a time only to come up empty. "I see…"
"That being said, only ONE of you is fully aware of most of my experiences during that time," the Cat Demon further explained, turning his head towards Clara and drawing everyone's attention to her, making her feel slightly uncomfortable from being put on the spot. "But even so, I especially owe her both a big apology and an explanation to boot."
"Well… don't keep us in suspense then," Linda said, Snowflake yipping in agreement as she sat next to her.
With all eyes now staring intently upon him, Mick finally plucked up his courage and spoke.
"To answer that, I'm going to have to take you back 13 years ago," he began a solemn glaze filled his eyes as the memories started to come to him one by one. "The year I met… Glasya Labolas…"
To say that Hell doesn't change that much with the times isn't entirely accurate, though as much as it adapts like the Living World, there was a LOT that remained the same. For example, no matter how much time passed, the citizens were still monsters, the atmosphere remained dank, and the streets of Pentagram City were always a cesspool populated by trash both literal and of the Human kind. And it was on one of these streets, 13 years ago that a drunk teenage Hellhound couple, donned in leather bike jackets, found themselves staggering into a nearby alleyway while laughing their asses off.
"Hey babe, gimme a hit of that," the bloke chuckled, trying to snatch the bottle of whiskey out of his girlfriend's hand to no avail.
"Ah, ah, ah," the other Hellhound laughed, playfully holding the bottle away from her boyfriend before taking a swig herself. "No booze until you eat your dinner,"
Hearing that, the first Hellhound smirked as he quickly understood what his girlfriend was implying. However just as the two were about to lock lips…
CLTTRRRR!
"What was that?"
Upon hearing that sudden, loud clatter, the female Hellhound quickly pushed her boyfriend off her and snapped her attention toward the nearby dumpster.
"You heard that too, right?" she said, suddenly feeling a little sobered up by the shock.
Once the boyfriend gave an affirming nod, both Hellhounds cautiously took a few steps towards the dumpster. Had they been completely sober, they probably would've just turned in the opposite direction and left the alley as quickly as possible… but one could never understand the stupidity of a pair of drunk teenagers. No sooner than the girlfriend went to open the lid…
BAM!
"WHAT THE FUCK DO YOU WANT!?"
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!"
In a matter of seconds, a small, skinny creature with hissing red eyes burst open the dumpster from the inside and jumped out to stare the two Hellhounds in the face, causing them both to scream and run back out of the alley with their tails between their legs, dropping their booze bottle in the process.
Had the two been sober enough to stay and take a better look at the creature that scared them, they probably would have seen it as a fellow Demon roughly around their age. A short, bony Cat Demon with no fur, save for a small patch of chestnut hair atop his head along a pair of tiny black horns, a body of leathery pink skin free of any scars, wearing baggy dirt-covered clothes, consisting of a dark purple hoodie with grey sweatpants…and possessing a long, rope-like tail that stretched more than twice the length of his body… his name: Nick Michalakos, the Demon who will one day become, the bodyguard to Octavia Goetia…Mick Nikos.
Needless to say, if anyone Mick knew in the future could look back and see the lowly Sinner that he once was. No one would ever believe Mick and Nick were one and the same. Not only was he different physically, but after spending a year in Hell since his tragic death, his attitude was… drastically soured. To put it simply, Nick Michaelakos was a bitter asshole.
"Fucking pissheads," the Cat Demon uttered, pulling himself out of the dumpster he basically called home and stretching his back out. "Think they can screw each other anywhere they want to. Have some standards, for fuck's sake!"
It was then that Nick caught sight of the bottle of booze the Hellhounds left behind and proceeded to pick it up. Thankfully, the paper bag it was wrapped in cushioned the thick glass bottle just enough to keep it from smashing. Taking a small whiff of the contents with disdain, Nick let out a small sigh.
"Well… waste not," he uttered, wiping the bottleneck with his sleeve and taking a small sip… only to immediately spit out the contents in disgust. "UGH! What the hell is this supposed to be? Imp piss and gasoline!?"
Almost throwing up in his mouth from the vile taste of the clearly cheap booze even by Hell's standards, the hairless Cat Demon immediately tossed the bottle over his shoulder, smashing it against the alley wall. Letting out an irritated groan, he eventually calmed down enough to place his hands in his hoodie pockets and let the issue go.
"Ahh, who gives a shit?" he uttered, turning around and making his way towards the other end of the alley.
In his mind, it was almost ironic how Nick could have ended up at such a low point even after death. As the screams and inane babble of the other Sinners rang From either end of the alley reached his ears, he sometimes wondered how he deserved to be HERE of all places. After all, Nick wasn't like most Sinners. He never killed anyone, he wasn't a thief, and he certainly wasn't a perverted degenerate like half the nutjobs in this pit… so why!? That was a question Nick had been asking himself for months before he eventually accepted that there was nothing that could change the situation and that he was going to have to suck it up and adapt regardless of whether he felt he deserved this nightmare or not.
At first, he DID try to make the best of his situation. Always looked on the brighter side of many scenarios no matter how bad they may have seemed… but after an entire year, Hell's cruel atmosphere eventually managed to break him down until he gave up on being positive altogether. In fact, after surviving his first Extermination by hiding in a sewer, he knew exactly what kind of hand he was dealt. It took a while but Nick eventually learned that being a nice guy wasn't going to get you far down here… and it definitely wasn't going to put money in his pockets.
As it turned out, one particular detail most Bibles never mention about going to Hell was the fact that when you arrive, you only come with the clothes on your back and whatever you happen to have in your pockets at the time of your demise. As such, the only thing Mick had when he first arrived was a pack of breath mints and a wadded-up 10-dollar bill that somehow converted into Hell's currency around the same time he gained his new Demonic form. In a nutshell, he was broke on arrival.
Granted, Nick did try to manage to get a few jobs since he's been down here, but sadly none of them lasted long. In fact, the longest job he ever managed to keep was as a janitor at some local dive. For an entire month he had to mop up blood, piss and… other liquids for an entire month straight before the place was eventually torched in a turf war. By some miracle the guy who ran the place managed to actually pay him before he got his head blown off… and then Nick decided to empty the cash register while everyone was distracted. A little underhanded, yes, but at that point Nick didn't exactly care about his own morals anymore. Thankfully he learned in advance how to make his money last by then.
And so that is basically how Nick Michaelakos was driven to this point… homeless, almost penniless, but at least he still had some of his dignity. Something that most tend to lose about a week or two after they arrive in Hell due to literally selling themselves to the highest power they can find.
But despite how bad things seemed, Nick sure as fuck wasn't going to sell his soul to one of those bastard Overlords! True, in some cases, it could mean a secure future, but he'd rather not sacrifice his freedom for security just yet… besides if the rumours of certain up-and-coming Overlords were anything to go by, he'd rather stay in the gutter than whore himself to some weirdo with several fetishes… then again the general populace wasn't exactly that much better, even those who lived near the same alley Nick was currently calling home.
Passing by a lone fire escape on his way out of the alley, the hairless Sinner was unaware of a second Demon watching him from her apartment window three floors up. Like Nick, she was also a Cat Demon, only she had sleek white fur and was wearing a pink bow, a purple sweater and an amused smirk on her face, the Demon's name: Lil Prim.
"Hey, DJ!" she called out, directing her voice further up the fire escape. "Look who's back."
Lifting his head from the small nap he was taking one level up, another Demon yawned and stretched himself out. He, of course, was also a Cat Demon, only he had brown fur and wore a white bandanna over his head and an open blue hoodie jacket that showed off the scars on his chest that resembled bullet holes. The Cat's name, ironically enough, was DJ Cat-E-Lak.
"Well, if it ain't lil' Sourpuss himself," DJ chuckled, following Prim's finger as she pointed Nick out as he walked by. "Must be in a mood again."
As it turned out, Nick had a reputation amongst the Demons of this specific neighbourhood back then, especially those who had cat-like features as he did. Every time he walked by, he would always have a particularly pissed-off look on his face, thus the undignified nickname of Sourpuss. Thankfully, his expression never caused him any trouble amongst the populace. Since he never bothered them, they in turn never bothered him. Of course, that didn't stop the locals from taking note every time he approached.
"You ever wonder why he's like that?" Lil' Prim asked curiously. "Can't be pleasant being so grumpy all the time."
"Bah, he ain't grumpy, he just stopped giving a crap," DJ pointed out, much to Prim's confusion.
"About what?" she asked with a raised eyebrow, only to receive a light smirk.
"Everything…"
That was the last thing DJ said before he and Prim began clicking their fingers and suavely scaling down the fire escape. Each time they passed another window, yet another Cat Demon poked their head out and smiled before joining them. First was a pink-furred Cat in a blue turtleneck, next, a red-furred one in a purple crop top and lastly, a skeletal cat dressed as a beatnik. Their names: Lenny, Fancy Dan and Boo, respectively. Along with Lil' Prim, they were the members of DJ's Crew, all of them smug and cool as they joined their leader in a little song while they followed Nick from a distance.
DJ's Crew:
What does he care about nice?
What does he care about sweet?
DJ:
He's only surrounded by vice,
Lil' Prim:
And deceit!
Lenny:
Blood in the sinks!
Fancy Dan:
Drugs in the drinks!
Boo:
And the meat!
DJ's crew:
He's got no time to waste,
For us sinful wastes of space,
Heaven ignores his prayers,
So why the hell should he care!?
Hearing the crew sing behind him, Nick immediately grew irritated and rushed out of the alley, hoping to get away from the gang before they started another verse. Alas, his efforts were in vain as DJ and his crew quickly followed him out into the street and continued their song, casually walking over parked cars and annoying bystanders along the way.
DJ's Crew:
What does he care about grace?
What does he care about swell?
DJ:
He constantly gets good smack in the face,
Lil' Prim:
What the hell!?
Lenny:
What did he do?
Fancy:
Don't have a clue!
Boo:
Who can tell!?
Dj's Crew
He hates your ugly mug,
This putrid place,
The lousy stinkin' human race,
It's just the worst!
It really makes ya wanna burst!
At this point, Nick tried escaping the other Cat Demons by jumping onto the back of a passing mail truck driven by a reptilian Sinner with a nose ring. Clinging onto the back door just as it was driving off. However, just as he let out a sigh of relief, he immediately cringed upon seeing that DJ and his crew had somehow also managed to jump onto the same truck without him noticing, all of them serenading as they perched themselves on the roof of the vehicle.
DJ:
There's no chance for sweet serenity,
Lil' Prim
It's just pure depravity,
DJ's Crew:
Low-life scumbags ev-er-y where!
Boo:
Oh yeah!
With that Nick let out a frustrated groan as he jumped off the truck, his groan growing even louder as soon as he realised he just landed in wet cement. Suddenly being chased off by the construction worker who laid the cement in the first place… more than likely to hide the body he just buried, Nick thought he had finally managed to ditch DJ's crew before they all suddenly appeared on all the monitors in the nearby TV shop window somehow.
DJ's Crew:
What does he care about hope?
What does he care about praise?
DJ:
He's really at the end of his rope,
Lil' Prim:
A disgrace!
Lenny:
Left on the rack!
Fancy:
Stabbed in the back!
Boo:
Give him space!
Quickly getting more agitated by the second Nick once again tried to run back into the nearest alleyway, somehow managing to see the silhouettes of each member of DJ's crew in every window he passed by.
DJ's Crew:
He's in a world of gruesome warfare,
Going nowhere,
What a nightmare!
But don't dwell!
It's just another day in Hell!
Before Nick knew it, DJ's crew were suddenly in front of him at the other end of the alley, clicking their fingers as they edged closer towards him. Resisting the urge to pull out what little hair he had left, Nick quickly tried to turn around, only for DJ to grab the end of his tail, pulling him towards the crew and practically roping him into joining the final verse as they started line dancing.
DJ's Crew:
We shout our dirty words in dirty voices,
We're paying for our life choices,
Life ain't fair!
So why the fuck should he care?
Why would he care?
What does he caaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaare?!
"SHUT UP!"
By the time DJ and his crew sang that last word, Nick's short temper had already reached boiling point. So much so that he immediately started lashing out the instant he managed to pull himself away from the other Cat Demons.
"Shut up! Shut up! Shut up! SHUT UUUUUUUUUUP!" he yelled frantically, giving all five of them a twitching stink eye with a snarl. "CHRIST! Does EVERYONE down here need to have a fucking musical number!? FUCK!"
…
"Jeez, what a asshole,"
That was the last thing Lil' Prim would say before she and the rest of DJ's crew watched Nick stomp away with a huff.
By the time Nick had managed to calm down, he had already walked at least three city blocks. By that point, he had walked into an area that had become quite familiar to him over the last few months. A row of streets that were partially stinking with the stench of cigarettes and horniness. If he had walked another two blocks he would have likely passed by that new Vees Tower they were currently building, some trashy collaboration of studios and other media-based businesses founded by those two Overlords who have been making big names for themselves as of late. One, a pompous egotist with a TV for a head, the other, some disgusting pimp whose idea of a good time is getting high and smacking around the people who work for him.
Thankfully, Nick knew better than to go anywhere near that area. The last thing he needed was to get snatched up and used for some perv's weird fetish. That being said, Nick had frequently travelled this particular street so often during the last few months, he knew the ins and outs of every road and possible escape route should he need them, so it wasn't as if he was TOO intimidated. In fact, he was so used to walking along this road, he had become quite familiar with the locals.
"Summer," he uttered, nodding his head over to one particular local leaning up against the nearby lamppost having a smoke. "Looking good."
Hearing the sound of her name, the other Demon playfully smirked. Like Nick, she was also a Sinner with the appearance of a cat, only luck seemed to be on her side in terms of appearance. With an hourglass figure covered in golden fur, with a long, bushy tail and a flow of light brown hair draping down to her waist, she also wore an attire consisting of a black choker with a golden bell and skimpy white two-piece dress with a cleavage window on the top and a side slit in the skirt to show off plenty of thigh. Given her looks and the theme of the particular streets both Cat Demons were currently in, it was clear what Summer's current occupation was.
"Flattery may get you many places, honey, but you still can't afford me," she playfully retorted with a wink.
"Oh, come now, Summer, no need to be like that," Nick replied with his own smirk. "What will your future wife think?"
This of course only resulted in Summer's smirk growing and the Sinner herself flipping him the bird. Of course, neither of them could ever know back then that Nick's joke would one day become a reality for Summer. From what Mick Nikos would one day see on social media, she would eventually form a strong relationship with a lovely Succubus named Dia, true they would both be Valentino's arm candy, but at least they still had each other.
Once Nick made his little joke, he continued walking until he eventually turned a corner into another alley and came across a tall, reptilian figure leaning up against the wall while talking to a rust-covered Demon resembling a toy soldier with a spiked metal helmet melded into his head and a scratched-out Swastika branded on his metallic shoulder.
"Look you old-ass fuck!" the reptilian figure snapped in an irritated, raspy voice. "I don't care if you were serving under the king of fucking Europe! You don't got cash, you don't get the goods!"
Needless to say, the Demon she was yelling at, didn't appreciate being denied like that.
"Now see here, Fräulein!" he snapped back in a heavy German accent. "I didn't come to be insulted in such a vay! Now give me vhat I requested or- urk!"
Before the rusted-over Demon could say another word, a long reptilian tail quickly snapped around his throat and began to squeeze.
"No Cash… NO weed!" the figure snarled, their eyes glowing with fury. "Now fuck off, you Nazi cock sucker!"
"Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaow!"
SMASH!
Those would be the last words the rust-covered Sinner would hear before he was then launched across the alley, flying over Nick's head before crashing through the side window of an oncoming car. With the problem dealt with, the reptilian figure lets out a small sigh of relief.
"Fucking dick," they muttered, a low growl escaping their throat.
"Business as usual I see," Nick spoke up, making his presence known.
Hearing the sound of the Cat Demon's voice, the figure smirked and stretched themselves out. Stepping a little more into the light, she was revealed to be Lizard Demon with mild draconian traits, poisonous pink scales, and a flow of long hair that was somehow made up entirely of marijuana leaves poking out from her beanie. What's more, at the tip of her long, whip-like tail appeared to be a second, smaller torso, this one clearly male in shape and also had a head of marijuana hair with an added goatee. This was Jo and her brother, Clint, a pair of drug-dealing twins who once died together in a fire and are now sharing a body while continuing their line of work even in the Afterlife.
"Well, you know how it is, pal," Jo stated smugly. "I assume you're here for the usual?"
"I am," Nick replied bluntly, wanting to get this transaction over with quickly. He did NOT want to stay in this neighbourhood longer than he needed to.
Before he hung himself, Nick probably never would have even considered taking drugs of any kind. But after the first few months of living down here, it quickly became apparent that he needed something to take the edge off. True, there was always booze, but he'd rather not end up puking his guts out every time he had a particularly bad day… besides any alcohol he could afford was always just watered-down shit that tasted awful. In any case, it wasn't that long until he eventually found Jo and her brother and became a regular patron when he could afford it. True, there were the vending machines on every other street corner that sold drugs of every kind, but they were always the degraded kinds of stuff that lost most of their effects by the time they were stocked. Besides that, Jo and Clint's weed always seemed to taste better than most other kinds.
"Well, here we go, buddy boy," Jo declared, pulling out a tiny plastic bag filled with crushed marijuana leaves from her vest pocket. "You got our payment?"
Feeling inside his pocket, however, Nick's face immediately fell as a wave of realisation suddenly hit him.
"Well… I got, something," he replied, pulling out only three bills, consisting of two fives and a one.
Needless to say, neither Jo nor her brother were impressed when they saw the pitiful amount of cash in their fellow Sinner's hand.
"Dude, this ain't even HALF of what you owe us?" Jo pointed out, Clint silently nodding his head in agreement.
"Can't I get an IOU?" Nick tried to plead, only for both twins to shake their heads in refusal.
"Nick… I like you. Really, I do," Jo retorted with a sigh. "But we both know we can't do that."
Hearing that, Nicky repocketed his small amount of cash and let out an irritated huff.
"Oh, come on Jo, you know full well your stuff is way better than the vending machine shit… AND you charge less!" he argued, though sadly to no avail. "Come on, you KNOW me."
Having been buying weed from this particular Demon for quite some time now, Nick had wished Jo would give him a break just this once. Sadly this hope quickly proved to be nothing more than a lost cause.
"No Cash, no weed," Jo insisted, repeating the words she gave to her last unfortunate customer.
Seeing that any efforts were going to be in vain, Nick quickly turned away with an aggressive growl.
"Fine!" he snapped, stomping away after seeing no point in pressing the matter further as he muttered to himself. "Fucking gecko, trying to bleed me fucking dry, the fuck did I do to- WHOA!?"
At that moment, Nick suddenly found himself narrowly dodging out of the way of an oncoming car just as he was about to cross the street.
"Asshole!" he yelled, calling out after the car.
To his surprise, the vehicle in question appeared to be a shimmering red limousine with chrome rims on the wheels. What's more, it appeared to have a fancy-looking number plate with a Wolf stamped on it, which could only mean that whoever owned the car must have been pretty wealthy. Probably another one of the Overlords, if he had to guess. To his further surprise, the limo appeared to be slowing down and pulled up next to one of the nearby apartment buildings.
At any other time, Nick probably would have walked away and minded his own business… but for some reason, he couldn't as his interest suddenly became latched into that strange car. No! It had nothing to do with him, so he should just leave… but… why? It's not like he had anything better to do, right? Fuck, why did that limo entice him so!? Letting out a small sigh, he eventually let his curiosity get the better of him and edged closer to the parked vehicle.
Little did he realise… this would be the one moment that would change the course of his entire Afterlife…
AUTHOR'S NOTE:
The Featured Song(s):
A Parody of What do we Care - from the Movie: The Tom and Jerry Movie
DJ and his Crew are OC cameos made by JP-Ryder and BuckJohnson from their own Fanfic LC Presents: Helluva Dad.
A small shoutout to all those who are suffering through the LA fires, my condolences and best wishes to you all who live in California, including Vivziepop and Brandon Rogers.
Stay safe you guys.