Sloth Digs Deeper III
Notes:
Welcome back, everyone! And now, we kick off the new year with Belphegor kicking her former boss's butt!
After several uncomfortable hours mostly in silence, the Sins and company piled back into their limo to make to Astaroth's show with a bit of time to spare. As soon as they pulled into the stadium gate, they were personally escorted to a VIP box where nine comfortable armchairs were set up alongside bottles of water and plates of hor's doevres.
"Well, this isn't the least bit suspicious…" Lucifer rolled her eyes.
They didn't have to wait long for the actual concert to start, the curtains parting to reveal Astaroth in her signature red getup with guitar in hand. She basked in front of the screaming audience, strutting up to the microphone like she was a veteran rock star instead of an internet personality who flaked on her concert last time.
"Wah Gwann, Jamaica, who's ready to rock?!" A wave of cheers answered back, the Sins all waiting to see what happened next. What they didn't expect was for to turn to the band backing her and give a thumbs-up. Soon her hands began strumming along her six-string as the bass and drums began to play a melancholic melody.
Been waiting at these crossroads forever and a day,
And no guy to buy my soul.
I've spent all night and day,
How much harder can I play?
You know I gave my life to rock 'n roll…
Here I go…
The screaming crowd slowly quieted down in total reverence as Astaroth sang.
Mama, begged me, please,
Yes, she got down on her knees,
Said 'You'd burn in that Mississippi sun."
But I'm the only one that's standing here,
So, mama don't you have no fear.
I'm either last or I've already won…
Here I go…
"So… Pretty…" Maria sighed, making everyone stare at her. It was a nice song, but why did she sound half-asleep?
Take me down, take me doooooown
Take me down, won't you take me down?
Belphegor could feel something in her gut as the chorus wound down, and noticed just how silent the crowd was. This was a rock concert, not a philharmonic, so why was everyone just quietly listening?
Standing at the crossroads, would draw a pen in hand,
The conversation went like this…
"Tell me your desire, why you pulled me from the fire,
And we'll seal the deal with a kiss…"
Don't wanna waste the dead…
Find a note that I can shred on my walls…
I scroll my Gods…
Don't care what happens when I die as long as I'm alive!
All in wanna do is rock! Rock! ROCK!
Everyone chanted along, including Maria as she leaned out of the box only for Satan to pull her back.
Take me down, take me doooooown
Take me down, won't you take me down?
The Sins all watched in terror as golden motes of light started flowing out of the audience and onto the stage, Astaroth being too wrapped up in her performance to notice. Mammon had to hurriedly shove one of her potions down Maria's throat to snap her out of it.
Ooh, signed with the Devil!
Signed with the Devil!
Signed with the Devil!
"Guys, I can feel it!" Belphegor jumped out of her seat, "It's coming from the microphone!"
"A glamour, of course…"
Signed with the Devil!
Signed with the Devil!
Signed with the Devil!
The hiss of sparks and screeching feedback stopped the former demon lord, snapping her eyes away from her guitar to see someone had fried her mic.
"Belphegor, what are you doing?!"
"Stopping this! Can't you tell something is wrong?! Look at the crowd!"
Astaroth did just that and paled as the thousands of concertgoers were dead silent even as the set was ruined. "W-Wha?! What's wrong with them?!"
"Oh, how perfect, now you choose to get off your lazy butt…"
Something socked Belphegor in the stomach, forcing her off the stage and into the crowd. The mesmerized audience all parted for her, leaving her helpless as red chains bound her arms and legs while Belial stared down at her.
"You! What do you think you're doing?!"
"Just a little makeover of my own. But first…" With a snap of her fingers, Belial snapped her fingers. The concert box holding the other Sins flashed an infernal red before revealing a wrought-iron cage. Satan and Salem tried slashing away at the bars, but their weapons bounced right off and sent them both tumbling to the floor.
"There. Now you all can just sit back and watch!"
"Belial, what is this?! This is supposed to be my big break!" Astaroth cried, "I rehearsed, I wrote new songs, I even did the first cover of my career!"
"Oh come now, you can still have your little show. Now these humans will love anything you play! Watch!" Belial strutted up to the microphone, now glowing a subtle gold color, "Hey, everyone! Give Astaroth a hand!"
Like a switch being flipped, the crowd exploded into a wave of screaming applause. Astaroth could now clearly see the blank white eyes in every person in the audience, stopping just as fast once Belial snapped her finger.
"See? Now you can have all the adoring fans you want, and I can harvest their energy! It's a perfect win-win scenario!"
"The hell it is! I didn't want this! I don't get my rocks off controlling people!" Astaroth threw her guitar aside, marching up to give Belial a piece of her mind only for her own security guards to suddenly rush up and restrain her arms.
"Ugh, I just knew you would be a drama queen about this…" Belial rolled her eyes, picking up the mic now surrounded with a golden glow, "I promised I would let you put on this show, get people to listen to your music. So, what's wrong with me getting something out of this?"
"Oh, so I'm not enough?!" Astaroth screamed, "You fucking bitch! I kissed you, made love to you, let you have my body as often as you wanted! I can't believe you! I always stuck by you, followed you when all the other Sins abandoned you! And this is what I get?! I'm not your puppet!"
Belial's hand traced over her crotch, making the other demoness gag. "Darling, just think about it. We can keep our little arrangement going for months, enough to drain billions of these meatbags and then we'll take Heaven for ourselves. Isn't that so much better than peddling your songs online or in subways?"
Belphegor shakily got to her feet, glaring daggers at her former boss. "It's not about that! This was making Astaroth happy, and you meant the world to her! But you've just gone and used her, like you did the rest of us! Did you even take the Mattock of Diligentia yourself or did you send her to get it?"
"Oh, you mean this?" A flash of gold surrounded the mic, revealing an ancient four-foot long spear with a golden metal triangle for a tip, "I retrieved this myself a few days ago, then set up a ritual to mask its presence. And now I have it under my grasp, able to drain the energy anybody is exerting and channel it into myself! Like THIS!"
Belial grabbed ahold of the mattock in both hands, aural light flooding into her body and bathing her in raw power. Belphegor's hair stood on end as she felt the fallen angel's magic skyrocket higher and higher, only stopping once the spear was drained.
"Mmmmmm, turns out humans make the perfect magic booster. And to think this is after only a small sampling of what they all have to offer!"
"You sick bitch…" Belphegor groaned as she tried to break her chains, "Even we don't do that! People aren't just your slaves!"
"Pft, the Sins really have gone downhill with Lucifer in charge. And to think, I was going to let you all keep your posts if you fell in line. How about I just finish you off right now?!"
Right before she could fire a magic bolt, Belial turned just in time to dodge a massive broadsword that would've sliced her in half. Salem hoisted her weapon again, eyes glowing purple. "Guess again, Prima donna!"
"You?! How did you escape?!"
"A little trick of mine," the artist shrugged, "Now what is your problem?! We're trying to stop God from wiping out everyone! Don't you think that includes you?!"
"How dare you address me as if we're equals! Once I rule in Hell, I will invade Heaven and pay that wretch Michael back for double-crossing me! And once I have both sides of the afterlife under my heel, this whole world will be mine!"
Belial was so busy ranting that she didn't see the hole that Salem had used to leap out of her enchanted cage… Or the fact that he had left it open. One by one the rest of the Seven Mortals Sins and a thoroughly enraged Maria formed a line with Lucifer and Satan standing next to Salem, ready for battle.
"Grrr, fine! I'm gonna drain every last one of you dry!" The Mattock of Diligentia expanded into a seven-foot-long halberd with its spearpoint and hatchet both a radiant gold. The Sins all broke apart to avoid getting siphoned only to find the hypnotized crowd rushing up to meet them.
"Hahahaha! Enjoy dealing with my new pets!"
"Out of my way!" Satan roared, her voice exploding a crater into the stadium floor but she was soon getting dogpiled by the concertgoers. And much to her shock, the dozens of normal humans were enough to keep her pinned. "What the-?!"
"Oh, I almost forgot to mention, the more followers I have, the stronger they all get!" She then thrust her halberd forward, forcing Mammon and Beelzebub to back off. Belial flew straight at Lucifer, clearly planning on paying her back for taking over the Mortal Sins.
The blonde ex-angel lashed back with her spear, forcing her back with an explosive pulse of her power only to have to duck. Dozens of humans wearing headsets and crew uniforms. Belial had turned even the arena staff into her drones, forcing Lucifer to use the blunt end of her staff to knock them aside.
The other Sins quickly found themselves grounded as the second any of them tried to fly above the mob, Belial blitzed over to try and gut them with the mattock to drain their power. And so the entire team was swamped, forced to push back thousands of enthralled people.
"Okay, this is officially gone to shit!" Asmodeus yelled, summoning vines to restrain people, "My hormones don't do a thing to them!"
"They're completely focused on Belial's will!" Satan said back, having to carefully restrain her power so she didn't rip innocent people apart, "We need to get the mattock away from her!"
"Good luck with that!" Belial cackled, "And to think, I haven't tapped into the people watching the concert over the internet or TV! You know, the millions of other fans Astaroth have that'll be ripe pickings!"
"You conniving bitch!" Astaroth herself cried, "That's why you wanted the whole thing televised?! Ugh, I feel so used!"
One of the guards holding her suddenly crumpled onto the stage, Salem behind him with a palette and a dark-blue-covered brush. The other bouncer tried to attack him but he slashed his brush over his eyes, making him cry in pain before Salem landed a kick between his legs that floored him.
"Are you alright?"
"Y-Yeah, I think so… Just never felt so dirty in my whole life and I used to be a performer…"
Salem offered her a hand, escorting her backstage and hopefully away from any brainwashed people. "Look, not that it means much coming from me, I'm really sorry all this happened. I do know what it's like to have your art brushed off."
The demoness nodded. "I… I really wanted this work… I was so happy to finally have my chance…"
"But just because Belial manipulated you doesn't mean it's the end, right? You can host concerts yourself, get a real manager, or just stick to your little corner of the internet! Don't let someone push you around! If you want to make music then go ahead and do it!"
Astaroth wanted to listen to him, but she could feel it. That negative voice in the back of her mind wanting to snap back how she tried that already, how her songs were nothing special, how she just locked up when she tried to do live shows herself for any crowd bigger than a community rec center.
She was suddenly pushed to the floor, right before something wet splashed against the back of her neck. Astaroth turned and paled at seeing Belial, her face a furious snarl, and the Mattock of Diligentia impaled through his stomach.
"Grgh… Damn…"
"That's for insulting me, you little worm! Now, taste what happens to those who cross the House of Byrnedale!"
The halberd was wreathed in blinding gold light, Salem shouting in horror as he felt every last ounce of energy leave his body. The purple light flickered in his eyes before fading to black, soon his sockets being filled with blank white orbs as his black hair fell out of his scalp, his skin wrinkling and being covered in liver spots.
Belial, meanwhile, moaned in delight as Salem's odd power flowed into her. Her skin looked even brighter, her silver hair radiant and smooth. "Mmmm, you are something special… I can't wait to suck the other Sins dry and have all their power for myself!"
"W-Wait! Stop! You can't do that! That'll kill them!"
"That's the idea, genius. Now get up, we've got plenty more shows to perform!" Astaroth smacked her hand away.
"Are you crazy?! You think I want anything to do with you?! After all the work I've done, all the things we did to each other… I was just some means to an end! Fuck you, you leech! I quit! I don't give a fuck what happens to you, Belial! I never want to see you aga-!"
A smack across the face with the blunt end of the mattock shut Astaroth up instantly, falling to the floor in horror as Belial's gaze grew as cold as ice. "That wasn't a request. You've got two options. Serve me and get everything you want. Or turn against me and die like the rest. Now shut your mouth unless you want to see me really angry. I've already scheduled your next performance in Madison Square Garden, and then the Budokan back in Tokyo."
Belial then grabbed Astaroth by the hair and dragged her back to her dressing room. Once she slammed the door closed, she summoned one of her red chains to magically bind the lock and turned around to resume her plan.
The silver-haired wench was pleased to see that the Sins were quickly getting worn down. Since spilling so much mortal blood would quickly draw the attention of the Lively Virtues, they were far less capable. Most of them were visually exhausted, their attacks growing weaker. And right at the front of the stage was a bundled up Belphegor, futilely struggling against her chains.
"Aww, what's the matter, sloth? Too weak to do anything that doesn't involve video games or junk food?"
"Oh yeah, real original there. Did you give yourself a headache coming up with thaAAAAAAAAAH!"
Belial lowered her hand, still wreathed in magic. "I'd suggest you pipe down before I siphon you dry too. No wonder Astaroth and you were friends, you're both useless without somebody whipping your behind to make you productive!"
Belphegor only then noticed her melancholic friend was out of sight. "No! You… What did you do to her?!"
"Oh, I just reminded her who's in charge and put her in time-out. Don't worry, though, once she snaps back to her senses and apologizes, I'll be sure to give her an extra-special reward on the way to her next concert!"
The slothful demon felt her blood boil. She had never once liked Belial, even when she was her boss. Always sitting around barking orders, making Belphegor wonder who was supposed to be the lazy one around Cocytus. And once she practically sicked Lucifer on all of them, she found the newly fallen angel an actually respectable leader. Tough but firm in her leadership. Constantly proactive and vigilant in her strategies. And, most importantly, a mostly pleasant person if quite self-assured. It helped that unlike Belial, she could actually back up all of her boasts.
But now… The sheer megalomania this woman had was making her stomach churn. Just how could anyone be so thoroughly disgusting, such a sociopath that she saw Heaven, Hell and Earth as her property?
"No…"
"Hm? No what?"
"No. I'm not going to let you do this! I'm going to be there for Astaroth!"
Belphegor's body became covered in lightning as she flexed her magic. Belial just chuckled.
"Oh honey, that's just adorable! Careful, you might tire yourself out before I get ahold of you!"
"Be quiet! I'm going to do what you couldn't and stop God!" The bolts of electricity turned from white to purple as she pushed more and more of her power. She could feel the chains tightening around her midsection, but she refused to stop. She had to protect her home, her new family, her old friend that she should never have let go off with this abusive monster.
"Huh? Since when did you have that much power in there?"
"I'm not done yet! I'll show you, I can get off my ass when it counts, unlike you!"
"What?! You want to point fingers at me, Ms. Can't-Even-Clean-Up-After-Herself?!"
"Yeah, I'm a slob, and a drunk, and a total layabout but you know what?! I accept that's who I am! I might have dragged some of the wrong people down with me but I won't make that mistake again! Now let me out of here and GIVE ME THAT MATTOCK! HRAAAAAAAAAGH!"
Belphegor's body became completely covered in violet streams of lightning, only her silhouette visible through the storm before the scarlet band around her stomach exploded into nothingness. Belial gaped in shock before the electrified mass rushed forward fast enough to grab ahold of the spear and tried to yank it right out of the fallen angel's hands.
"Oh, you think you can overpower me?! Guess again now that I stole the special magic from your little painting pet!"
"Wait, you did it to Salem too?!"
"Why do you care?! He's just another worthless human, only fit to grovel beneath my feet!"
"That 'worthless human' saved Lucifer's life today! I'm going to make you pay for all the shit you keep talking!" Belphegor could feel the spear's power trying to drain her magic, the electricity crackling into nothingness while Belial gained a visible golden aura.
"Yes, YES! Try as much as you want, all your effort goes straight into making me the NEW GOD OF THIS WORLD!"
Belphegor wasn't deterred. She noticed that all of the other Sins were hesitating to leap in and assist but they all knew it wouldn't help. This was her artifact. She had to do this alone. Plus, Belial could potentially break away and steal their magic. And if she got her hands on the others, then the Mortal Sin of Sloth would be no match for her.
Instead, she wrapped her tail around the mattock's middle and pulled down with all her might. The unexpected jerk down towards the ground was the exact distraction Belphegor needed, swinging her head around. Her horns scratched Belial's forehead, making her yelp in surprise and rush to protect her face… and let go of the mattock in the process.
"What?! NO!"
"Alright, Belph!" Maria cheered as the slothful demon gripped the spear in her hands. All at once, Belphegor felt her energy return and then some. Her body snapped back to normal before the heavenly polearm dissolved into golden motes of light that faded into her form.
And then, all at once, time froze. Belial gawked as her throngs of captive humans were stock still, the Sins likewise all stopped mid-attack in various poses. She turned to Belphegor, enraging herself to hide her panic. "You… What is this?!"
"Hehehe… Showtime!" And with a snap of her fingers, the whole of Kingston, Jamaica was caught in a bubble of another reality, the sky a vibrant red and the buildings turning to black and white.
(Cue Epic Theme Song: Last Surprise from Persona 5)
Belial was about to yell for her thralls to attack only for a fist to smash into her mouth. She was flung off the stage, through the back of the venue and then through the innermost wall of the arena. She stumbled into a corridor, furiously looking for whatever just hit her.
"Peekaboo…"
The silver-haired vixen unleashed a blast of magic all around her only to miss Belphegor literally blinking into existence just outside her range. The moment Belial's magic stopped, a tail wrapped around her neck.
"…I see you!" Belphegor effortlessly took off, the levels of the stadium phasing right by her but turning solid for Belial so she crashed through several layers of concrete, steel and plaster. Only when they were both several hundred feet above the venue did the Mortal Sin change course, somersaulting in midair while letting Belial fly.
The daughter of Byrnedale could only shout in terror as she rushed through the crimson sky, looking down and seeing the monochrome city she was now stuck in. "What the…?!"
"Hehehe, you like it?" Belphegor asked as she caught her by the neck, again with her tail, "I just merged one of my virtual realities with ours!"
"Grkh-! That's… Impossible! The magic you'd need…!"
"Yeah, I've got only a few minutes before this spell runs out and I pass out…" The clouds floating around them spontaneously turned into massive flak cannons as Belphegor's smile turned truly wicked, "And I'm gonna enjoy every second of it!"
The entire island quaked from the cacophony of gunfire, massive shells blasting away as Belial desperately put up a force field so she wasn't reduced to pulp. Once the barrage stopped, she looked around only to see several cabanas fresh off the beach flying towards her on rocket jets. Belial grit her teeth, charging ahead while dodging around the rocketing real estate to find her enemy standing on top of a palm tree.
"You think this is all a game?! I'll rip the artifact out of you and then make you sorry!"
"You want it so badly? Here, have it…" Belphegor casually reached down her cleavage and revealed the Mattock of Diligentia, gold sparkles shimmering off its surface. She even tossed it right into Belial's hands, making the elder demoness cackle.
"You moron! With this, I'll-!"
That was a far as she got before the rod attracted a humungous bolt of lightning that struck her dead on. The demoness couldn't even scream in pain as billions of volts of lightning raced through every nerve, paralyzing and scorching her in an instant.
Belphegor could only laugh like a manic as Belial literally collapsed into a pile of ash with only her eyes and glasses left. Said eyeballs clenched in fury before she spontaneously returned to her normal form, covered in soot stains.
"Just die already!" Belial unleashed a bolt of magic that simply curved around Belphegor. The slothful one punched the ground instead, the millions of grains beneath her suddenly turning into dozens of copies of herself all smiling and waving at her.
"Aww, you were always so grumpy!" she taunted, "Maybe you just needed someone to play with!"
Belial could barely blink before she was ambushed, dozens of Belphegors rushing at her from all sides with barbed tails, more bolts of lightning and even assorted weapons like Beelzebub's giant spoon and Salem's buster sword. The elder demoness unleashed shockwaves and magic-infused punches that broke the copies apart but they would always just reform a few feet away. She could start to feel her power ebbing away, feeling dead on her feet as she stared down at least forty still-raring copies of the Mortal Sin of Sloth.
"No… No way in Hell am I losing to you of all people!" she growled, "You're just a drugged-out nobody, a lazy waste of space!"
"Hey now, that's not very nice!" the clones all pouted in unison, "We do our best!"
"Come on, everybody, play nice…" the original Belphegor insisted, "…Or maybe someone here needs to cool off?"
She flicked both her wrists and from the coast came a fifty-foot tsunami that cast a shadow over the entire beach. Belial released a golden aura before summoning a wave of her own magic to blast it apart.
"ENOUGH OF YOUR GAMES! I AM BELIAL, DESTINED RULER OF HEAVEN AND HELL! AND AS A DEMON LORD, I WILL NOT TOLERATE BEING TOYED WITH!" The ground quaked under her voice, Belphegor's bubble even vibrating a bit from the outburst but it wouldn't break. The demon lord herself just chuckled.
"You might be a demon, Belial, but there's one thing that makes me a demon lord…"
"Oh yeah?! What's that?!"
Belphegor held out her arms as a black ankle-length tailcoat formed over her arms and shoulders, a sleeker black waistcoat formed over her chest, a matching pair of black pants ran down her legs, her feet were covered in brown boots with inch-tall heels, blood red gloves covering her hands, and a white bird-like mask sitting over her eyes. The only signs it was still Belphegor were the white frizzy hair, striped horns and her tail now wrapping around her waist like a fur belt.
"PRESENTATION!" she crowed, brandishing a handgun in her left hand and an army knife held backhanded in her right.
"What the hell is that getup?!"
"Jeez, you really need to play more games. But I can't help but feel like something's missing… Oh, I know!"
Belphegor snapped her fingers and suddenly the rest of the Seven Mortal Sins appeared around her, alongside an amazed Maria, a baffled Astaroth and a still-decrepit Salem.
"What in the blazes?!" the melancholic demon shouted, "What happened to everything?!"
"Wow, I should have expected something like this…" Lucifer whistled, "When Belphegor actually gets serious, she doesn't do anything halfway."
"Salem! Mammon, you have to help him!" Maria cried, trying to cradle his head only for Belial to laugh.
"Oh, isn't that rich! You called on the others! Is it because you're just that much of a fatass that you can't handle fighting me alone, or are you admitting how pathetic you are?!"
"Ugh, everything out of her mouth makes me hate her more…" Asmodeus rolled her eyes, "But, uh, seriously, what are we doing here? You seemed to have a handle on this before…"
"Oh, I still do. I literally control everything in this bubble and I can just atomize her over and over again until she runs out of magic to regenerate…"
She fired her gun straight through Belial's gut, making the demoness scream in pain before Belphegor shoved her hand inside the open wound to pull out a purple ball of light that flew out of her hand and right back into Salem's gaping maw.
The young artist suddenly returned to normal, his eyes flashing violet before he sat up coughing up his lungs. Mammon rushed to his side with a potion to tide him over while Belphegor grinned. "…But, let's admit it. I think we all could use some payback, eh? Let's really have some fun."
A sudden gasp of breath made everyone look and see Salem back to his old self, franticly looking around. "Oh sweet Devil, thank you! Now can someone tell me why everything looks like a noir film with a red filter over the sky?!"
He then turned around and spotted Belphegor's new getup and immediately perked up. "Oh hell yeah, we're in Persona 5!"
"See? He gets it!" she chuckled, "But, what's a Joker without the rest of the Phantom Thieves?"
She snapped her fingers and rest of her allies were suddenly blanketed in stark red columns of light. One after the other, the rest of the Sins were revealed. Leviathan was first, a mask shaped like a fractured skull over her eyes while her purple hair became frizzy and wild as it ran behind her new outfit. A black leather shirt with an inches-high collar surrounding her neck and the billowing blood-red ascot, matching pants and black combat boots, pads over her elbows and knees. A long iron pipe was slung over her back and a shotgun was already cocked in her grip.
"Oh fuck yeah! Time to plant my foot up your ass and then bust a cap in it!"
Next came Beelzebub who, while still in her more mature body, looked ready for Halloween. She was dressed like a literal cat burglar with a furry black top ending with white gloves styled after cat paws, her pants likewise ending in white footpads. A bright yellow scarf was around her neck and most of her blue hair was now tied behind the black bandana that wrapped over the top of her head complete with two pointed ears sticking up. Around her waist was a belt with a gleaming cutlass and a massive slingshot.
"Aww, this is too cute!"
Mammon then stepped out of her light with all the swagger of a supermodel, even as she had a medieval battle axe over her shoulder and a grenade launcher on her belt. Her blonde hair was now expertly fluffed and styled under a black cavalier hat with a dark feather plume tucked into a purple hatband, her prodigious chest caressed in a pink woolen sweater and further amplified by a black leather corset, purple gloves covered her hands, and baggy maroon pantaloons that led down into black leggings that highlighted her height. Her blue eyes glittered behind a black domino mask.
"Ooh la la! I never thought letting Belphegor pick my outfit would turn out so well!"
And if she was happy, Asmodeus was ecstatic as she was revealed in an outfit that seemed tailor-made for her. A full-on catsuit of deep red latex covered her, save for the open zipper around her chest that exposed a tantalizing window of cleavage. There was even a tail swishing around her derriere as if it were real. Dark red boots ran up to her thigh, bright pink gloves marked her hands, and a red mask with cat ears sat over the top half of her face while her pink hair spilled out the back. A submachine gun rested on her hip and a long, crimson whip was cradled in her hands.
"Well, I don't know about all of you, but I am LOVING this! Remind me to look at this game later!"
Similarly happy with the outcome was Salem, fittingly enough dressed in the most exotic outfit yet. A tight black tunic was over his chest with a high white collar around his neck, long black pants covered his legs and went down into tall white boots. A white mask with fox ears sat over his face, complementing the white fluffy tail dangling from behind him. Attached to his hip was a gleaming katana several feet long while an assault rifle was in his hands.
"I NEVER KNEW I WANTED SOMETHING SO BADLY IN MY LIFE!" he squeed, hopping from foot to foot.
Satan, however, looked torn at her blatantly heroic outfit. While the blood red mask with a long bird beak on her face matched her hair, the rest confused her. What looked like a pristine white dress uniform from a military officer complete with gold buttons and epaulettes on her shoulders and a flowing red cape. On her hips were a ray gun fitting for an old sci-fi show and a golden tube of some kind.
"Um, Belphegor? I'm not familiar with this game but…" She then clicked on the canister and out popped a foot-long beam of bright green plasma. "Never mind, I can work with this."
"You and me both!" Lucifer whistled, making everyone stop and stare at her. While her outfit might have been the simplest, it suited her perfectly. Her eyes were covered by an iron grate with a black scarf around her neck. The rest of her was fit for a biker gang with dark blue leather covering her arms and legs, a gray leather breastplate over her chest and spiked pauldrons and knee guards. Both of her gloved fists ended with knuckledusters and a revolver was holstered on her leg.
"Wow… You look amazing…"
"Aww, thanks Maria. Gotta admit, though, that's an odd one on you…"
Maria was dressed in a bodysuit of her own but one straight out of a technological future. All along the black latex bodysuit were green lines of light patterned like circuits, with her eyes and ears hidden behind massive goggles that wrapped around her brow with huge red lenses. And unlike everyone else, she didn't have any apparent weapons on her.
"Hey, wait a minute?! Why am I in this?!"
The last one to emerge was Astaroth, looking utterly baffled. Her eyes were hidden behind a stark black mask, her pink hair tied up in a ponytail secured with a black ribbon. The black leotard revealed her curves, highlighted by her exposed thighs that went down to knee-length black leather boots ending in tall, sharp heels. A black bolero jacket covered her shoulders, with ruffled cuffs around her bright red gloves. An old-fashioned lever-action rifle was at her side with a fencing rapier in her hands.
"Because you've got a beef with Belial too, right?" Belphegor asked, "So, how's about you stop listening to her and show her what crossing you means?"
Astaroth was stunned, especially as she looked at the supportive looks the rest of the Sins were giving her. She looked at Belial, who seemed half-ready to burst out laughing at the display, and the melancholic demon gripped her sword.
"You've got it. She thinks I'm some toy to play with? I'm gonna pay her back for using me!"
"You think a bunch of costumes will help you against me?!" Belial guffawed, "I'll teach all of you to toy with me!"
"I was hoping you'd say that…" Belphegor chuckled, "Get ready, Phantom Thieves of Hell! We've got a real bitch of a heart to steal!"
"You want to play the numbers game?! Fine!" Belial clapped her hands and suddenly her own portals appeared, revealing the thousands of captured people from the stadium now all encircling the beach. The throngs of brainwashed audience members all started spasming before exploding into silhouetted versions of themselves dressed in the same concert getup, but now with featureless black masks over their faces.
"Oh, look, they turned into Shadows!" Salem exclaimed, brandishing his new katana in excitement, "I never thought I'd say this, but let's get violent!"
"You heard the foxy artist!" Lucifer said, whipping out her new six-shooter and aiming it square at Belal, "Let's finish this shrew off this time!"
The newly assembled Phantom Thieves rushed off in ten different ways, eager to put an end to the vainglorious demoness and her plan. Maria jumped straight into the air and found herself in a flying saucer straight out of an old sci-fi movie, her goggles moving up to let her see every one of her teammates on the ground below. Belial tried to blast the giant construct only for her magic to bounce right off of it.
"Oi, eyes on me!" Leviathan yelled before smashing the demoness in the face with her mace, sending her flying over her own crowd. Several shadows surrounded her only for the Lord of Envy to reveal she could still command the water. A rushing river's worth of seawater barreled down dozens of them, sending them sputtering away and breaking through the inky black coating to reveal the dazed people underneath. And knowing that she wouldn't be killing them let her try out her shotgun…
Elsewhere was Mammon, showing far less restraint as she fired off rounds from her grenade launcher. While not good at range, it blew away clusters of shadows that tried to outflank her. As another wave charged at her, she swung her hatchet in a huge arc to force them back before unleashing a blast of wind from her mouth.
One unfortunate Shadow tried to attack her from behind only to get a few dozens bullets to the chest. Asmodeus snorted as she reloaded her SMG before sending a flirty wink to her personal swarm of ghouls. They all stood in awe, leaving them open for her whip to slap them down and each inch of the last caused vines that latched onto their bodies and left them open pickings for someone else.
Belial rushed up to attack the red leather-clad demoness only for several high-caliber rounds to pierce her skin. As she fell to the ground in pain, she noticed Salem grinning through the scope of his rifle.
"Consider us even, bitch!" He then unsheathed his blade and struck down four Shadows behind him in one swing. As he waded into the mob, he quickly met up with Beelzebub who was slashing away yet more oncoming Shadows with her cutlass. The cat-suited demoness was giggling and laughing as she leapt around, firing massive ball-bearing out of her slingshot before landing and swashbuckling some more.
And while she might have disagreed with her outfit, Satan was now having the time of her life as she unleashed her ray-gun and laser sword and fried any opposition. Her grin was downright feral under her mask's long nose as she bellowed, "Fear my wrath, you miserable blots of darkness! I tear apart armies bigger than you for a warm-up!"
"I knew I should've given her Akechi's other outfit…" Belphegor chuckled as she readied her own pistol as she walked up to a slowly standing Belial, "So, give up yet?"
"Hardly! I'll find another puppet to use, then I'll be back for my throne and use you all as decoration for Cocytus!" She was about to charge ahead only for something to narrowly miss her head. She whipped around to see Astaroth promising death with her eyes as her rifle fell.
"You aren't twisting anyone else to your insane ideas. I'm going to do what I should've done ages ago and put you DOWN."
"You and me both," Lucifer said, casually pulling her fist out of one Shadow's stomach before shooting another in the face without even looking, "I'm going to pay you back for that 'inspection' you gave me in the hospital."
"And I've gotta get the last of the mattock's power out of her!" The lazy demon blitzed ahead, kicking up sand as she ran before decking Belial in the face, revealing her knife and almost shoving it in Belial's gut only for the older demoness to unleash an explosive wave of magic that blew her back.
Before she could capitalize on the opening, Astaroth and Lucifer opened fire and Belial had to expend more magic shielding herself. As Lucifer reloaded her gun, Astaroth revealed her rapier and appeared in a flash. The heir of House Byrnedale could only gape before several slash marks appeared on her before getting kicked right between the legs and crumpling down onto her knees.
Lucifer then walked up behind her, resting a gloved hand on Belial's bleeding shoulder. "Now then, let's get that stick out of your ass, eh?"
"What… Are you TalkIIIIIIIIIINGAAAAAH! STOOOOOOOP!"
Belphegor could only laugh as she looked around and saw that Lucifer was actually jamming the barrel of her gun up Belial's ass until the handle's guard was resting against her cheeks.
"Ohoh, man, that instantly made this whole thing worth it!"
"Not enough," Astaroth growled, placing the point of her sabre right between Belial's eyes, "I want to see her brains splattered all over this beach."
Belphegor's hands were wreathed in electricity before chuckling. "Why not both?"
Lucifer's shot and Astaroth's thrust went off at once as Belphegor unleashed millions of volts. Belial's world was nothing but pain as the last of her magic was used up trying to keep her from literally collapsing. When the lightning storm stopped, she opened her eyes hoping for a reprieve only to see all ten Phantom Thieves lined up. Her entire force of shadows were gone.
The silver-haired charlatan gulped in terror. "C-Can't we just talk this over?"
"Hmmmm, let me think about that…" Belphegor lifted her gun, "Nope. Everyone, all-out attack!"
The line of fighters became streaks of black as Belial was beaten, stabbed, bludgeoned, shot and maimed from every angle at once. Even Maria had joined in, using her strange power to amplify the other's strength before Belphegor stood back, fixing one of her gloves with a cocky smirk. "Show's over!"
Belial's body laid on the beach, broken and bleeding all over. The only sign she was alive was the ragged breaths coming from her swollen lips. She glanced up through her shattered glasses to see Belphegor and Astaroth staring down at her with amusement and pity in their gazes.
"Now then, I'll be taking back what's mine…" A harsh kick to the gut forced Belial to cough up a golden ball of energy that quickly flew into Belphegor. And with her foe finally beaten, she snapped her fingers and the world returned to full color. The Sins and company lost their new outfits, much to Asmodeus and Salem's sadness, and Belphegor promptly fell backwards.
"Whoa there!" Levi chuckled as she caught her, "Guess you still used up all of your power, huh?"
"Ugh, yep, not pulling a stunt like that ever again," she groaned, "But at least I'm all powered up now."
"So, what do we do with her?" Mammon asked, "We obviously can't leave her alone."
"I say there's a spot in the ninth circle for her…" Astaroth growled, "Or can we all make a tenth one?"
A golden pillar of light descended from on high, revealing none other than Sandalphon. "Hold it! I'll take her from here."
The Sins were surprised to see her, as she forced Belial's bruised wrists together and they were suddenly bound together with blue light. "I was watching the whole thing. The minute she said something about usurping God, I waited for my chance. It's obvious Hell has only made her worse, so we'll detain her in Heaven until we can think of a solution."
"Wow… Thanks, Sandy…" Belphegor chuckled, "Think anyone else noticed?"
"No, Michael is off doing something with Uriel and Gabriel is still being weird. I just knew I had to do something. After all, it wouldn't do for the Virtue of Diligence to sit out, right?" She gave a nod to Maria, making the young woman smile as Belial was brought to her feet.
"You all… I swear I won't stop until I pay you all back for this…!"
"Yeah, keep that up, see where it gets you," Lucifer rolled her eyes, "You want another ass kicking, we'll be glad to give it to you." And with that, Sandalphon disappeared with the fallen angel in tow back to God's domain. Now that the Mattock of Diligentia was with Belphegor, there was only real question left; where was Astaroth going to go?
"Y'all, I can't tell you all enough how sorry I am all this happened," she said as they were driven back to Jamaica National, "I swear I had no idea she was planning all of this. She must've gone to get the Mattock while I was asleep or rehearsing…"
"Heh, no offense, but that probably explains a lot of the sex you two had, made to drain your stamina," Asmodeus sighed, "You deserve someone way better than that, you know."
"Totally! We all should've checked up on you more often!" Beelzebub nodded, "We're sorry we never noticed how lonely you were."
"Eh, I don't blame you for that. Melancholy was in my job title, after all…"
Salem, sitting to her right, placed a hand on her shoulder and stared into her eyes with pure determination. "Don't make excuses against yourself like that. Nobody has the right to call you worthless, or treat you like some tool for their benefit. They worm their way into your mind, convincing you it's your fault you aren't exactly the way they want. Belial is the one who needs to change, not you."
"Well spoken, mortal," Satan nodded, "You may not be a Mortal Sin anymore, but you stood by us when Michael invaded Hell and when we needed you today. That makes you an ally as far as I'm concerned."
"And if you do want to pursue music, I have been involved with every single aspect of the industry from record producers to bootleg CD players," Mammon assured, "Even if you just want to stick to your little corner of the Internet, I can make it so those pesky algorithms will work in your favor."
Salem just gaped. "Wow, that IS some serious techno-magic…"
Astaroth looked around at the car full of sympathetic gazes and felt her heart warm. There was still that voice in the back of her mind feeding her the same lines she had on loop for so long now.
"They're all just saying it…"
"It's too good to be true…"
"Your music isn't good enough for their help…"
But then she looked as Belphegor, scrolling through something in her tablet before handing it to her. "What's this?"
"A job offer to help produce music for my MMO. Maybe you won't be a huge pop star, but you can get all the fan remix channels on YouTube covering you?"
The pink-haired woman could only stare in amazement before signing her name at the bottom. Once the limo pulled up outside the stadium's entrance for performers, Astaroth surrounded her longest friend in a deep hug.
Notes:
Special thanks to my cowriter allowing Astaroth to cover the awesome song "Take Me Down" by The Pretty Reckless, highly recommend the real song and all rights go to them! Also special thanks to him for including the Persona 5 references to make the situation more fun and fitting of Belphegors gamer girl mode, given I know nothing about the game I appreciate him explaining it all to me. Though even if you're like me and don't know the game you can still follow it hopefully.
Thank you all so much for reading! Feel free to leave questions or comments below.