A/N:

Hi everyone! The second chapter of the mob conflict is here! Please note the content warnings - this is a very heavy and emotional chapter 3 Thank you for reading, I appreciate it! The mob conflict will have two more (less heavy) chapters after this one.

Cw: Death, miscarriage, attempted murder, implied homophobia (no slurs), gaslighting, terrible parenting, past trauma, family trauma

Partners

Chapter 69:

Mob Mentality Part 2: The Family Business

From their place on the roof, Alastor and Husk watched the spider family confrontation play out with rapt attention, able to hear most of the exchange thanks to the acoustics of the street. When Arackniss announced that he refused to return, both men nodded in firm approval. When Valentino was pulled forth, bound and gagged, they both grinned with great satisfaction. And when Molly aimed a bullet directly through Henroin's fedora, Alastor's eyes brightened and Husk chuckled.

"That's my girl — what a shot." The cat demon beamed in pride.

"Indeed, she's aces!" Alastor had to agree, which made Husk smile even more in pride.

But when the sniper dots trained on all the spider siblings, Husk paled and Alastor's eyes turned to radio dials.

Husk's radio instantly cracked to life with Sir Pentious's panicked voice. "He's aiming at them!" The snake stuttered. "We have to do something!"

"I'm about to," left Alastor in a voice garbled with static, fingers held up to snap.

Husk quickly held up a hand. "Not yet! Look!" The red dots of the snipers disappeared. "They're not firing… Henroin called them off. It was a bluff." He let out a sigh of relief as Alastor's demonics rescinded for now. "At least seeing the angles of the sniper sights gave me a rough idea about where the shooters are — looks like they're mostly hiding on the top floors of the other buildings." He scowled deeply. "What kind of piece of shit gives an order to aim at his own kids?"

"Oh thank heavens they're safe again!" Sir Pentious announced in dismay. "But that was so close! Look how exposed they are. I know it was the only way he would meet them, but still, I'm not sure how long I can take this. I can't watch that man hurt them…" The snake practically sounded like he was pacing.

In a turn of events that made Husk raise an eyebrow, Alastor took the radio and spoke into it calmly. "Indeed, and you're not the only one who feels strongly about the matter. However, we cannot give away our positions until the time is right. But…at least we are not alone in the wait." His tone was controlled and easy, almost an attempt at comfort.

Husk tilted his head at the sight.

"Yes, yes of course…" Sir Pentious sighed on the other end. "It's a comfort to work with you both, Alastor, Husk. And I do trust Niss and Molly and Angel to handle what they need to handle. I won't make a move until I get the signal. You can count on me!" He sounded like he was smiling again. "Over and out for now."

The radio crackled and went silent again.

Husk glanced at Alastor out of the corner of his eye. "That was…good, what you said to him. He seems like a sensitive guy."

"It's…merely what I would have wanted someone to say to me if I had started to unravel a bit…which I almost did, I suppose." Alastor replied quietly, brow furrowed in worry as he looked down at the spiders. "Thank you for steadying my hand."

Husk watched him. Then he frowned a bit and swallowed. "You know…I really don't 'hate' you. But I am angry at you a lot. And I'm even angrier that you can't imagine why I'd ever be angry with you in the first place."

Alastor's eyes widened. Then he bit his lip. "I…may have spoken too hastily earlier." He took a breath, considering, then went on. "I can grasp that you're angry with me. And I can guess some of the main reasons for that anger. I merely…can't guess ALL of the reasons. Because…I no longer think I have a clear perspective on our situation." His eyes hazed in thought. "Being with Angel has taught me that I tend to dramaticize my own role in certain events over the bigger picture. That's why I asked if you hated me. Wouldn't that be such a simple solution to it all? I'm a monster, and you hate me…" One of his ears went down. "In reality however…delicate situations often don't have simple solutions. There are many pieces to every problem. I can indeed guess some of the reasons for your anger. But I can't understand all of them without your help."

Husk was glancing at him curiously, eyes very wide. "Yikes… this really is bothering you, isn't it? And you really do have self esteem problems under all the ego…" Alastor pouted a little. And Husk almost smiled because this was the first time in a long time he genuinely believed Alastor was being entirely sincere. "Okay, so…I guess all that makes sense. And maybe me snapping at you sometimes lately to let you know I'm pissed hasn't been doing a great job of letting you know exactly WHY I'm pissed. Fair enough."

"I'd like to have a talk! You and I. After this debacle is over and behind us!" Alastor made himself say the words before he could hold them back. "I have some matters I would clarified very much and some questions I'd like to ask…and perhaps a proposition to make. Being with Angel has also taught me that communication is very important."

Husk hesitated at the excessive and unusual enthusiasm. But then he sighed and nodded. "Okay. But on one condition — you have to talk to me one man to another. No boss to employee, overlord to lackey, all powerful demon to drunk flying cat stuff. Got it?"

Alastor nodded. "I can do that. I would be happy to." He knew he his eagerness was apparent, but he didn't care. He WAS eager. And he didn't mind tipping his hand and letting Husk know.

"Gentlemen, it looks like they lowering weapons and approaching each other. Perhaps a parlay…" Sir Pentious's voice over the radio cut into their moment.

Alastor and Husk blinked and then put full attention back on the spider siblings and their father. And as they watched, they shifted just a little closer together.

Cherri had gotten her two way radio out the moment she'd seen Molly had pulled out the rifle. She knew Molly had some deep bad feelings for their father, even more than Angel and Niss. Those two were hurt and frustrated and angry when it came to Henroin. Molly had a cold rage toward him. Cherri had only ever gotten vague hints from her about what had gone down between them after the boys had died, but she knew dealing with it had strained Molly's heart and head and whole self.

The moment the shot at Henroin's fedora rang out, Cherri put the call in to the hotel.

"Cherri! Is everything okay?" Vaggie instantly asked.

"Yeah…things are just getting a little hot. Molly…kind of just shot off Henroin's fedora at close range. It was a damn impressive hit. Uh…but now there are sniper sights on all of them. I'm getting my bombs."

"Oh no!" Charlie groaned in worry, coming on the line.

Cherri pulled out a handful of grenades. But then there was more talking amongst the spiders, and now the sniper sights went away. The boys tucked away their weapons as Molly lowered her rifle. And Henroin approached, hands raised. Cherri got back on the radio. "Update, they chilled out. Looks like they're trying to talk it through."

"Oh! That's good!" Charlie replied with hope.

Cherri sighed. "Hate to rain on your parade princess, but nothing with Henroin is ever good. Some parents…are just bad parents. And the worst ones are the ones who don't want to see it." She took a breath. "It's gonna be okay though. Molly's on top of shit. I think seeing her really fucked with his plans." She smirked. "They'll be okay. I'm gonna try to get a little closer."

"Oh…okay." Charlie sounded like she was frowning again.

"Just be careful, Cherri…" Vaggie added with worry.

"Always!" She grinned. "But hey if you hear a few explosions in the distance, don't worry about it — that's completely normal when you're dealing with me. Over and out!" She tucked away the radio and worked her way a few rooftops closer. Someone was gonna need their ass saved at some point, and she was fully prepared to jump in and do it.

Tied up by some trashcans and guarded by a few armed goons, Valentino was seething with rage and humiliation. Not only was he still trapped by this psychopath and his small cliche mafia army, but he'd been dragged in front of Angel (and Angel's fucking siblings) in this state!

Valentino's knees buckled from exhaustion. He slid to the ground and he coughed against his gag. The taste of warm blood filled his mouth. Sure, back in the warehouse, the mob had let him eat and clean up. But afterward they'd bound and gagged him and dragged him all the way out here by this fucking rope, nudging him with guns and shoving him against filthy walls and even letting him fall in the street. He felt like shit now. Not to mention his head was still throbbing from the whack they'd given him back in his office to knock him out.

He was cold and tired and sore and furious and humiliated, and he just wanted out of these bonds and to use whatever adrenaline he had left to tear these mob people apart before he went home, collapsed for two days, and then dealt with Angel.

Angel…

Oh Henroin had no idea how true the threat he'd made to his son had been — Valentino was going to do such things to Angel later… He had to remind that spider who was in charge, he had to drill back into him that without the moth pimp he was nothing, and he had to show him that no one ever laid hands on Overlord Valentino without bad consequences. Oh he hated Angel so much right now! Angel had caused all of this with his fucked up family and his fucked up friendly Radio Freak and his whole fucked up existence. And Valentino couldn't stop thinking of the ugly look of pity Angel had given him back out in the street, when the spider had been free and armed and Valentino had been bound and gagged. The humiliation he had felt in this moment was unbearable.

But then Valentino blinked because out of the corner of his eye he swore he saw a blue spark in the dark. And then there was another one. And one more. And in the brief flashes light they created, he saw the silhouettes of mob guys fall.

No…it couldn't be. There must just be a streetlight flickering or a lightening storm brewing or someone had cut a power line. Or he was hallucinating (he was pretty sure he had a concussion after all). Because there was no way that…Vox… No, no, no… He tried to hobble away, but the two guys guarding him shoved him roughly back down between the trashcans.

Valentino closed his eyes. Vox was not here. And he was definitely not here for HIM. And there was no way in hell he would find himself out of this mess only because Vox of all people had come to help him.

Suddenly the idea of Vox daring to be here made him feel utterly enraged enough that Valentino shot up and whipped around, slamming first one mob guy and then the other into the wall. Their heads made a cracking sound and they slumped to the ground.

For a perfect moment Valentino felt powerful again and like he could bust open his restraints! But then he grew dizzy and stumbled against the trashcan, resting on his knees once more. He coughed up more blood and his vision blurred, first from a buzzing feeling behind his eyes…and then from some odd wetness he felt there. He scowled and refused to let anything resembling a treacherous tear come through. He was strong and had to just get his shit together and make this work.

But he was also tired. And broken. And confused.

How had he fucked up everything so bad?

Valentino just closed his eyes for a moment and tried to gather himself together before he hesitantly pushed himself to standing. He took a breath and considered what he could do next, where he could, and what would happen when this was all over.

Back out on the street, the spider siblings and their father stood face to face for the first time in a very long time, silent and watching each other.

Henroin surveyed each of them one by one — Niss with an unblinking stare that made the spider swallow, Angel with a dull and dismissive look that made the spider blush, and Molly with his head tilted in a look of intrigue. She didn't flinch at all.

Henroin sighed in her direction. "Maria Lucia…you couldn't have worn something a little more formal to this? Such loud clothes. And those shoes with the heels. And that sort of dress. Your mother never wore anything like that."

Molly cocked her rifle, look dry. "I'm an adult and I'm dead, I'll wear what I want."

"Hmm…" Something like a smile came to his lips. "I'm not one to argue with a lady."

She sighed. "You want to talk, Poppa — like a family? Fine, talk then."

"Not to you." He shook his head once and looked to the oldest spider. "Archibaldo — you're the one I want to talk to. I think you owe me an explanation. You owe the family — our business family — an explanation." His brow furrowed. "Abandoning your post, disappearing without permission, never checking in… and going and associating with the one person who's not supposed to be allowed anywhere near the family."

Angel narrowed his eyes. "You CAN just say my name, ya know. I'm right here, Pops."

Henroin gave a dismissive grumble and kept him focus on Niss. "Well, what do you have to say for yourself? I worried over you, Archibaldo. Does that not matter?"

Niss took a deep breath. "I…spent two lifetimes trying to be everything you wanted and more. Does that not matter?" He scowled darkly. "You also slugged me right in the eye right before I left. I could barley see." He willed back any tears, trying to maintain his pride.

"Because you left your post! That's not just dangerous for you, it's dangerous for the whole organization. And you're one of my toughest soldiers. I had to make an example. I had to keep on the right path!" Henroin adjusted his tie. "You can take it. You're a man."

Niss scowled, hands clenched.

Angel glared at their father. "Oh, wow, does that mean I get to be a 'man' too now — ya know, since you did THIS to me?!" He pointed at his discolored eye.

Henroin turned to him finally, eyes glowing red. "There's more to being a man than taking a hit! There's coming back from it. You didn't. Bawled your eyes out and ran… Disgraceful. Shamed us all."

Molly's markings glowed on her body. "You're the one who shamed us, disownin' your own flesh and blood."

"Hmm…" Henroin gave her a little smile again. "Some flesh and blood. I knew twins were a bad omen."

"Stop talking to them like that!" Niss snapped. "They are my brother and sister — my little brother and sister — and I can't let ya speak to them like they're less than me. And I can't let ya speak to me like I'm less than you!"

Henroin took a single step closer, looming over Niss. "Don't talk back to your father."

"You're not a father!" Niss's breathing was heavier, and he flung out an arm. "Ya made a bunch of kids and never got to know them or care about them or think about what they wanted for their lives!"

"I made you and clothed you and fed you, sent you to school, took you go to church, taught you a trade, set up the family business to take care of you three forever!" Henroin boomed.

"And ya still ended up in hell, so how are you any better than us?!" Niss was shaking.

Henroin's eyes flashed. "I'm here because I sacrificed my soul to provide for my family! I did what had to be done. And this is the thanks I get from you." He sneered at Niss. "From both of you…" He looked to Angel, disgust on his face. "From all three of you…" His eyed Molly.

Molly's eyes glowed. "We don't owe you our lives. Or our afterlives. Or our souls. They're OURS! No one can own another person's soul…"

Henroin's demeanor eased back to something cold and sad. "You three do owe me something though. Don't deny it. You can feel it in your bones. I'd be with your mother right now if it wasn't for—"

"Don't you fucking talk about Ma!" Angel stamped his foot, tears in his eyes. "She's the only one who loved any one of us, ya bastard!"

"She loved you because that's what mothers do, Angel." Henroin shrugged. "Women can't help themselves. They try to see the good in even the worst situation." He looked Angel up and down. "Mother Mary, look at you. What are you? Makeup and heels but also a fedora and a tie? Even if you're finally coming back from the hit now, it's certainly not as a man."

"Tell that to my clients, Pops." Angel managed to smirk and cock his hip to one side, but when Henroin's fangs flashed, Angel's eyes widened and he stood up straight.

Henroin looked from one boy to the other, shaking his head, eyes narrowed. "Look what I've got here. Supposed to be two fine sons. Instead I end up with an abomination and a traitor — both cowards. I'm ashamed of you. I'm ashamed there was nothing better I could make you into. Isn't there any part of you that feels that shame, boys? Because I can see it in your eyes."

Niss and Angel each blinked a few times, seeming to fold up more and more into themselves, blushing under their father's stare and the stares of so many other demons they knew were around them.

Molly was done with this. "That's it. This meeting is over." She held up her rifle, not aiming yet but ready. "Back the hell away, Poppa — now. You can't bully them into listening ta all your garbage any more. I won't let ya. And there's no nasty double-talk that'll stop me."

"Really? Not one thing… because I can think of plenty that'll give you a reason to pause." Henroin smiled a little.

Molly's gun shook in her grip but she held strong.

Her brothers glanced at her.

"Molly? What is it?" asked Niss.

"Whatever he's talking about, it doesn't matter," Angel assured.

"No…it does matter." She took a deep breath. "But I'm not gonna let him use it ta control me. So tell 'em, Poppa — let's both tell 'em all about what happened when they were gone." She glared at Henroin. "How you were obsessed with not having a son ta take over the business. How no matter how much Mama begged ya to leave well enough alone, ya wouldn't." She sniffed, her wide eyes full of tears. "How if you couldn't have a son, you were ready to settle for a grandson as the next best thing, cuz none of us were ever enough for you anyway. So you brought that dumb bacciagalupe lieutenant of yours around ta court and marry me. And I had to spend months chasing him off. As though I woulda ever degraded myself by shacking up with one of ya men just to make you a new bambino to be your second in command."

Angel and Niss were scowling now.

"You tried to make her do what?" Niss whipped around to face their father.

"You fucking son of a bitch!" Angel got his gun out.

"And when you chased off that husband I'd lined up for you, tell 'em what happened, Molly!" Henroin pressed, ignoring the boys. "Tell 'em what your selfish stubborn womanly willfulness made happen to your poor Mama?"

The rage in Molly's face grew as did the tears in her eyes. Her gun shook again, but she steadied herself once more. "Mama…" She swallowed, her mouth dry."Mama… YOU did it to her! Mama tried to have just one more baby! One more son for you! I didn't know she'd agreed ta that, I didn't know that was why you stopped tryin' to marry me off! I didn't know til she was bleedin' one night, and then the baby was gone and she was gone! And then I was all alone WITH YOU!"

There was silence.

"Wha…" Angel started. "Ma died from…" His legs shook.

"She tried to have another? She…" Niss put a hand to his mouth.

Henroin just sighed and shook his head. He took off his hat and gazed up at the moon of heaven overhead. "I do regret losing her. She could have had a nice comfortable rest of her life. I had it all planned out. And children are supposed to continue the family… Daughters become wives and mothers."

"Not this one!" Molly almost growled. "And I had every right not to! She loved me, and she didn't want me ta live accordin' to your plans!" Molly sniffed and lowered her gun, eyes full of tears. "And I can't…I can't ever make it up to her for doin' what she did ta protect me. And I'll never quite feel like I deserved that much love from her. I can't forgive myself for not realizing…for being a reason that she died." She glared, raising her gun again. "But what I can do is protect her other two children from you for eternity."

Henroin sighed and replaced his hat on his head, looking to his daughter with pity. "You shouldn't even be here! Or in Purgatorio! You were supposed to use her sacrifice and live, Molly! THAT'S how you could have made it up to her. We had this all worked out. We made a deal, remember?"

The boys looked at her, heads tilted in confusion and concern.

Molly let her eyes drop down in shame for just a moment. Then she took a breath. "You kind of drove a hard bargain about it, Poppa. I didn't have much of a choice."

"Choices. Choices get women overwhelmed." Henroin smiled a little again. "That's why I made the choice so simple. Either you were gonna get shipped off to Sicily to live in a convent and take orders. Or you could stay in New York…and find yourself a man with my blessing within a year. Otherwise you were gonna get cut off. No money, no family, no job… two weeks of that and you'd have been knocking on my door begging me to walk you down the aisle with the first man who could put a nice roof over your head and good money in your purse and pretty clothes on your back. And in the meantime you got to live with me, doing the housework and cooking — you needed to learn how to take care of those things anyway."

Molly's eyes glowed with anger.

"There's that fire." Henroin grinned. "Why couldn't you have just married the lieutenant I set you up with in the first place? Even if he had to be the face of things, you would have had the most power." He sighed. "You know, I always said to you, in those final years…if you had been a boy, I would have made you heir on the spot. You've got the moxie, Molly. Niss follows orders but he's too desperate to be taken seriously, and Angel's got the attitude but he's submissive and has bad habits. But you would have ruled our territory with passion. You get things done even if it's messy, and you don't stop until the job's finished. You're just like me…"

Molly stepped forward. "Even if I'm like you, I'm not you. I'm not a cold, unfeeling, uncaring, delusional monster. At least I made it to Purgatorio, Poppa."

"But not heaven." Henroin smirked. "Care to share why? I think you and I both know…I figured it out right before I kicked the bucket, actually. But I'd love to hear you say it out loud. I'm sure the boys would too."

"That's enough." Niss moved closer to Molly. "Leave her alone. Whatever she had to do when we were gone, it's fine and it's in the past."

"Molly, quit talking to him, please," Angel begged.

But she just kept staring Henroin down. Then she held her head high. "Every day I made you coffee — one of my little duties around the house ta learn how ta be domestic. And every day I put just a few drops of laudanum in there." She half smiled. "I went to the drug store and pretended I was a silly girl lookin' for relief from hysteria. The doc gave me the bottle, no questions." The smile faded. "I watched the weeks go by and heard you complain about pain in your side how hard it was for you to breath. And I brought you hot water bottles and cooked fagioli soup and aired out the house. But ya only got worse…and I felt better."

"Hmm…" Henroin nodded. "Ya know, I really didn't suspect you until a day or two before I died. I found the laudanum bottle, Molly. And it was far too empty. I was honestly more proud of you than angry. We were gonna have to have a serious talk though. After I took care of some family business…"

She gritted her teeth. "Yeah, of course you had to pick right then to go out and get shot in the head by one other family dons. Heh…to be fair, you were trying to cap the guy who capped Niss. I'd say it was decent of ya, but we all know it wasn't about avengin' my brother…it was about keeping' up your reputation." She shook her head. "You couldn't even give me the satisfaction of being the one to kill you. But I tried, and I wanted ta be the one to do it, damn it." Molly blinked back tears. "I guess wantin' it so bad, havin' so much wrath about it, is what kept me out of heaven. Never even got to think about atonin' for it cuz…a few weeks later I was dead too. I was so nervous, being the last one of us left…so sad, so anxious. I started takin' just a few drops of the laudanum each day to help calm me down. Followed the instructions extra careful, but I guess I had a bad reaction. And not having much of a reason to feel like livin' probably didn't help. I remember going to visit Mama's grave one day, and then I passed out and then…hello afterlife."

Angel and Niss both had tears in their eyes, watching their sister, too stunned to speak.

Henroin gave a single clap. "You survived all of us. And you were damn clever about it. You really should have been a boy, Molly. You'd have been running all of hell by now."

She almost laughed, wiping away her own tears. "A pair of balls can't do nothing that a pair of breasts can't take care of just as easily."

Henroin's smile dropped. "Watch your mouth."

"Never." She shook her head, eyes narrowed, smile growing. "But there's more to the story, you know. Wanna hear, Poppa? I've been dying to tell you."

He shrugged, unimpressed. "You died barely a month after me. How much more could there be?"

"Just enough ta make everything right." Molly's smile grew and her eyes brightened. "You were right, ya know. The mob was never gonna listen to a dame, especially the don's 'silly spoiled daughter'. But when I started poisoning ya, I wrote to Sicily — to Mamma's baby brother, Uncle Angelo. He was around me and Angel's age. Told him I wanted ta get to know him, told him we needed help here. Sent him boat fare. He was already on his way to New York after I started poisonin' ya. He arrived just after your funeral. And we talked and made some changes to the family business, Poppa…"

"What changes?" He eyed her.

She shrugged. "Oh, you know. Little feminine touches. I used him as a male mouthpiece and orchestrated the whole thing behind the scenes." Molly stood tall. "I conceded every disputed territory to our rivals, I stopped payroll for all the mobsters and sent 'em packing, and I sold off every drop of liquor and drugs we had and invested all the cash in a nice little olive oil company. Left Uncle Angelo with a small, clean, business. And surprise Poppa, he turned out to be gay too — no interest in marrying or having kids. Saw him in Purgatory before he got brought upstairs. The family name died with me, and the family business died with him. I couldn't murder you, but I murdered your legacy. And I'm damn proud of myself."

Henroin just stared for a moment, jaw fallen.

And then his eyes were blazing. He lunged forward, all arms out, and one with a gun. "You are coming with me, all three of you, and I'll make you into a family legacy even if it kills you again!"

Before the spiders could move or Henroin could get a hold of them, a beer bottle soared through the air from on high and hit Henroin square in the head.

The big spider stumbled backward, wincing and holding his scalp — there was a trickle of blood. "What the hell…"

Suddenly tentacles sprung up from the shadows around him, terrifying mobsters and cutting off his line of sight. He whipped around at the sight then looked to his children. "What is this?"

"We didn't come alone, Pops!" Niss glared in triumph. "First rule you taught me — always have back up. And if it's war you want, it's war you'll get!"

"You brats!" He hissed. He held up one of his hands in a signal, and the sniper sights appeared again. "Last chance…"

Angel just grinned. "Fire baby!" He yelled.

Just before the bullets flew there was maniacal laughter (of the snake variety) and suddenly an electronic forcefield buzzed to life around the area. As the bullets hit, they sizzled and bounced off until the forcefield faded. And then suddenly ray guns were firing at all of the positions the snipers had shot from.

Molly finally wiped away all her tears and smiled proudly at the sight of their father looking so perplexed at his little army getting destroyed. "Now then, let's do settle this like men! Boys?"

Angel and Niss got their guns at the ready.

"Get them!" Henroin yelled to his men. The mobsters charged forward, guns held high.

The spiders shared an excited grin and then charged forward as well…as Henroin retreated, still clutching his head.

From their rooftop position, Husk grinned and crossed his arms at the sight of Henroin still clutching his head from the beer bottle he'd thrown. "Got him! And it looks like it hurt too."

"Indeed, excellent shot!" Alastor projected some applause from his microphone and swung a fist through the air.

"Uh…thanks." Husk glanced at Alastor and, seeing no mockery, continued smiling, an eyebrow raised. "And uh…good use of tentacles."

Alastor's eyes darted around awkwardly, and his face glowed a little more. "Yes, well, er…perhaps I'll dive into the fray personally now. I could cover the ground skirmishes while you cover the air. Sir Pentious seems to have everything in between handled with keeping the snipers at bay."

They both glanced at the building across the street where Sir Pentious stood in a window, laughing maniacally and firing ray guns wildly.

"If you think that would be sound tactical advice?" Alastor added hesitantly, hands clasped in front of himself, clearing waiting for Husk's input.

If Husk didn't know better, he would have said the Radio Demon looked downright contrite. "Yeah…yeah, I think that's the best idea for this scenario." He cleared his throat. "I mean, I know you have some fighting experience considering how you cleaned house when you dropped into hell. It's just…there's a difference between being a general and a soldier, you know? But now you're thinking big picture and how we can work together, so that's good." He rubbed the back of his neck.

Alastor tilted his head and just nodded, listening intently.

Husk took a breath, shaking his head to clear it. "So, yeah, you deal with the ground stuff. But remember there's a lot of these guys and they know how to work together. Make sure they don't back you into a corner. And keep an eye on the spiders so the mob doesn't snatch one to use as a hostage. And no matter how Henroin or anyone goads you, you can't let your ego decide what to do. Don't engage with words — your powers speak for themselves."

Alastor brightened at the near compliment. "Yes, well…I suppose they do. Thank you!" He glowed brightly as the 'thank you' left him through an awkward smile.

Husk almost laughed. It was interesting to see the Radio Demon being friendly. He could get used to it. He spread his wings. "Let's head out and stop some mobsters."

Alastor nodded and snapped his fingers. A tentacle rose up from the roof, and he primly stepped onto it. "Should we, er…radio Sir Pentious to strategize with him as well?"

"The guy seems like he's really into his own slash and burn thing." Husk glanced over — from the glimpses of Sir Pentious he could see in the building, the guy was in full evil scientist mode and loving it. Lasers shot down from his airship hidden high in the sky now, and his maniacal laughter rang out again. "I think we can just let him have his fun for now. I'll radio him if anything changes."

"As you wish! See you on the battlefield then, Husker! Ha!" Alastor swung a fist through the air and then let the tentacle bring him down to street level while Husk took off into the air.

The cat demon sighed. He knew that no matter how much of a small truce they'd fallen into today, he and Alastor dating two of the spider siblings was only going to get more complicated once they no longer had this mob problem distracting them. Husk just hoped that whoever Niss was dating was a nice, calm demon who might break up some of the tension, especially if it took himself and Alastor a while to get on better terms regularly.

Speaking of the opposite of a 'nice, calm demon', Sir Pentious really was in his glory. He used one hand and the end of his tail to fire ray guns at every mobster he could see in every building window. With his other hand, pressed a button on the ship remote now, and a speaker appeared. "You who, Egg Bois? All well aboard the ship?"

"Yes, boss man!" came one of their voices. "Smashing the ray gun button is fun!"

"And you're being careful still?"

"Yup! No hitting the red guy that smiles or the big cat with wings or Mister Angel or Miss Molly…And no hitting Niss!" There were a bunch of coos and kissy sounds from all the eggs.

Sir Pentious just blushed and rolled his eyes with a smile. "Yes, yes, good, I'm glad you remembered. Things are getting a little tumultuous out here though, so I want half of you to go emergency stations just in case. Take turns firing the ray gun, and no squabbling!"

"Yes boss! Emergency stations are fun too!"

Another Egg Boi hopped onto the call. "Ooo does this mean the battle's almost over and we get to see you and Niss soon?" More giggles and coos and cheers.

"Yes, yes, possibly…" Sir Pentious resisted the urge to giggle himself.

"Boss man, one more thing — we see Miss Cherri on a building! Can she come visit later too? Please?"

"Cherri?" Sir Pentious blinked. "Is she in distress?"

"No, she's just watching the fight! But she might be lonely — we don't want her to be sad!"

Sir Pentious smirked. "Miss Cherri is probably quite busy preparing for an attack of her own. Keep an eye on her, but don't interrupt her. She'll visit you later, I'm sure."

"Hooray!" There were cheers from all the Eggs.

"All right, all right, now back to your positions! Boss Man over and out!" Sir Pentious pressed the button again to hide the speaker and went back to aiming at snipers in the distance…when a flash of blue light suddenly caught his eye. He turned and saw the remains of a few electrical charges disappear around a corner like there might be a live wire there or something. Where had he seen light like that before…?

Another movement caught his eye now as well, not too far away. Some dilapidated figure keeping low and dragging himself through the melee. The snake squinted then gasped. "Valentino? Angel's employer? I thought he was still taken hostage. Oh dear, I have to warn…" His eyes widened. "Wait, Valentino. That means those electrical charges might be…that Vox character!" He pulled out his radio. "Alastor? Husker? I think I've finally caught sight of Vox nearby. You did say he might show up, yes? And Valentino is still bound but appears to be on the move! Vox hasn't caught up with Valentino yet, but I'm not sure if—"

Suddenly the radio was shot out of his hand from behind. Sir Pentious turned to see half a dozen mobsters pouring into the room, guns blazing. He sneered. "Oh, so you want to dance, do you? Ha! Bring it on!" His eyes glowed and his fangs grew, and with a mighty swipe of his tail he toppled over nearly all of them. He slithered and struck and shot his ray guns, and all the while just hoped his message had gotten though. He was about to make a dash for the stairs when a fresh group of mobsters jumped out of shadowy corners and pinned him to the ground. He felt the ship remote hit the floor hard in his pocket and hoped it hadn't broken.

"Boss?"

One of the Egg Bois. He realized he must have hit the speaker button again. "Shh…" he whispered, "Boss Man is…a bit tied up at the moment. Stay safe! Keep Niss safe!" He thrashed against his attackers and felt the remote finally crack and break entirely. But he kept fighting. Sir Pentious had lost too many battles in hell already, but was not going to lose this one.

As he got standing though, he realized that the few men attacking him had doubled and doubled again, pouring in from the buildings to find the person that had been raining down ray gun fire on them. He swallowed and lamented how often fights were unfairly matched in hell. But he also refused to be daunted because somewhere out there was his Archie, and he was ready to fight for him.

Sir Pentious held up his ray gun proudly. "If you're looking to be shot again, I'm happy to oblige! Ha!"

The mobsters charged him, and Sir Pentious charged forward too, grinning wildly.

"Vox!" Alastor practically hissed, pausing in tearing his way through a fresh round of mobsters. He'd caught Sir Pentious's message before it had cut out (hopefully just static interference and nothing serious). Now his eyes darted around, looking for any sign of electricity. Or for Valentino. Alastor knew logically that he had been the one to tip off Vox about this battle and that he'd expected the television to show up, and he recalled that he had promised not to kill the moth today. But still somehow knowing both of them were nearby set Alastor on edge, especially considering how oddly causal Vox had acted during their last conversation.

He had half a mind to slip from the crowd and find them just to make sure they weren't up to anything.

But Alastor hesitated, remembering Husk's words from before. Don't get distracted. Don't let ego cloud judgment. Don't get trapped in a corner. By skulking off to the edges of the fray, Alastor knew he'd be doing all three of those things. And Angel and the others could be left vulnerable. He had to be a better man than that — these days he WAS a better man than that. With a growl he turned away from the area in front of Sir Pentious's post, where Vox and Valentino most likely were, and headed toward the center of the fray to use his tentacles to help defend the spiders, though the trio was doing an excellent job of shooting any attackers who came near them.

Alastor teleported himself right beside Angel, whacking way demons with his cane and some well placed tentacles. "Darling," he whispered, "everything going well?"

Angel grinned, firing his tommy gun. "Actually, this feels kinda therapeutic! I like it! I always wanted to tear this stupid mob organization to shreds!" He took a breath, and though he was smiling he wiped away a tear. "And, uh, ya know…it's helping me avoid thinking about some other stuff that came out just now. Could you and Husk hear what, uh…?"

"Yes. We heard." Alastor nodded, smile tight. "Would you like to talk about it all when we get home, darling? I'd be happy to soothe you however I can."

Angel's smile returned a little. "I think Niss and I gotta talk to Molly about it all first. But afterwards…yeah, I'd really like that." He smirked. "We did say we'd finish where we left off in the hallway earlier, right?"

Alastor's eyes hazed a little and he had to steady himself as his knees nearly gave way at that pleasant reminder. "If that would be the best way to soothe you, I'm quite game."

Angel chuckled. "It's a date then, cutie."

Niss backed up to get closer to them, panting as he aimed his sniper gun. "Hey, guys! So I fully support your relationship, but maybe now isn't the best time for flirting? Angel, on your left!"

Angel turned and nailed a mobster who was about to come at him with a crowbar. "Thanks, Archie! And point taken — damn it, how many fucking people are on Pops' payroll?" He looked around as more men continued to swarm. "Molly, how are you holding up?"

Silence.

"Angel…" Alastor's eyes were wide as he looked past his spider love. "Molly is no longer there."

"What?" Angel blinked and nearly dropped his gun. "Where the fuck did she go?"

"Shit!" Niss scowled, glancing around. "Molly!?" He ducked as fresh goon came at him with a lead pipe. "It's like we've got targets on our backs thanks to Pops. We can't move out of here."

"Molly? Molly!" Angel's eyes were panicked, looking around.

Alastor came in front of him. "I'll find her," he said softly. "You have my word."

Angel nodded, looking into his eyes.

Alastor snapped to make a large tentacle appear beneath his feet, which then lifted him up into the air. He surveyed the scene, looking for the unmistakable pink and white spider with her golden hair. He tapped his microphone to call for assistance — two sets of eyes were better than one. "Husker…I don't mean to alarm you but be on the lookout for Molly — she seems to have ventured out on her own."

"In this?" Husk replied. "Fuck! I'm coming down there."

"I'm already searching for her just above street level. Angel and Niss know and are looking as well from their position on the ground. Please just see what you can from above. We can alert each other if anything catches our eyes and help is required."

Husk sighed deeply. "Okay… I will. That all makes sense." His voice grew stern. "If you find her, keep her safe."

"I full intend to," Alastor replied sincerely. "Over and out." He tapped his microphone again and continued the search.

Sir Pentious was holding his own as best he could in this fight. None of these men were overlords, but they were trained to work together, and his ray guns only had so much juice left. He was panting, a bit bruised, possibly a bit cut up as well, but he was still standing. More men were still flooding the building though. He held himself tall. "You can keep coming, but I will keep fighting! Because now I have something to fight for! So have at you!" He was about to throw the full force of his large demon form against the mobsters when suddenly there was an explosion in the doorway that knocked most of them to their knees. The snake blinked at the smoke and then his eye widened.

Cherri Bomb strolled into the room. "Hey — some little Eggs called me and told me you might need help. I'm a little concerned that they've got my number now, but I'll sort that out with them later." She tossed a grenade up and down in her hand. "It looks like you've been holding things down here pretty well — I'm impressed." One of the mob guys tried to sit up and she set her foot down hard on his back, hip cocked to the side. "Any chance that you'd like some help getting out of here and away from these losers now?" She held out a hand.

Sir Pentious beamed and grabbed her in a big hug. "Oh yes, let's! I've been dying to get away and check on Archie!" He pulled her toward the door.

"Whoa, whoa, first, you sure you're okay?" She eyed him. "Those are quite a few battle scars ya got."

Sir Pentious chuckled. "Oh nothing serious, I assure you! I'm made of tougher stuff than you think. And I've still got a few tricks up my sleeves!" He pulled a shining chrome ray gun out of the back of his shirt and grinned. "I saved the best for last. Shall we, Cherri?"

Cherri grinned back at him. "Let's show 'em who they're fucking with, Pen." She pulled out her grenades and got to throwing as Sir Pentious aimed at the next wave of mobsters with maniacal laughter.

From one of the alleys, Vox stood and observed. He had finally found Valentino. And Valentino… was working his way through the crowd. Vox was confused at first about his intentions until he realized the moth was heading in Angel's direction. The fucking stupid son of a bitch. He really was going to get himself killed just to prove a point to the spider. Clearly he was not thinking straight. Vox needed to get him out of here now.

But first he also had to find Henroin and leave enough of an impression to make sure the mobster would leave them alone forever. The man had disappeared though. Vox was losing patience. He would wait a few moments longer for a sign or hint about his whereabouts, but then he was going to have to grab Valentino and get him out of here, even if he had to do it while the moth was kicking and screaming. For all their history together, Valentino at least deserved this one time to be saved from himself.

Molly was alone but okay. She felt better than she'd felt in a long time actually. Because all of the truth was out. And she was free. And finally their father could face up to what he had done to their family. He had been the end of their legacy more than herself or anyone else, with all of his demands and cruelty and stupid expectations.

They had been the last two left alive.

And now they needed to settle this in death, just the two of them.

She knew exactly how far back Henroin would retreat from the fray to have his wounds tended to. Dons always talked big, but they never liked getting their hands dirty. And Henroin had really done his best to make sure there would be no need for him to be part of the fight — he must have pulled men from every corner of the Pentagram, all of them for one big final display of power and to guarantee his victory. She smiled. Beating him would only be that much sweeter, knowing he'd thrown everything he had at them and it still wasn't enough.

Finally, from a window along the side of one of the buildings, she caught a brief flash of glowing red eyes and a figure clutching his head. The two armed men guarded the doorway inside.

Bingo. The don's hideout.

She'd wing the guards easy to bring them down or send them running. And then she and Poppa would have one more talk. Because no matter who lived or died at the end of today, she and her brothers would no longer be family with him when it was over.

A/N:

That's all for now! Yes, everything about Molly's death and Henroin's and the spider's mother is revealed. Lots of sad times in life 3 But things are going to get better soon in death 3 Thank you for bearing with these big emotional chapters ^^

Take care!

-Azure129