"A CHERUB!?"
Despite this being the first time either of them had ever seen one, the creature inside the pet carrier was DEFINITELY one of the residents of Heaven that Mick and Linda had come to know all about, the obvious giveaway being the halo and the tiny pair of fluffy white wings sprouting between her shoulder blades. Then of course there was also the fact that the voice the two disguised Demons heard had clearly come from the mouth of a small pink-furred cat wearing a red sweater dress with a leather belt around her waist. If this wasn't a Cherub, then what else could it be?
"Okay, it's official," Mick muttered in disbelief. "I need to quit smoking weed."
"Begging your pardon," the Cherub spoke up. "But I would suggest keeping away from any drugs unless they are medicinal."
"Quiet, you!" Mick snapped, still feeling a little in shock. "Holy shit. Hooooooly shit, we're talking to an Angel!"
"W-what are we going to do!?" Linda stuttered fearfully, her whole body shaking in terror.
Obviously, Mick couldn't blame Linda for being so scared. Given what the entire Pride Ring goes through every year, ANY Demon would be left shaking in the presence of an Angel, even if it was only a small one like this Cherub. Hell, even Mick could feel a chill running down his spine, even though there was clearly a greater height difference between the two felines. That being said, he wasn't going to let this sudden shocking discovery distract him from the mission at hand.
"Okay, here's the plan," he said, slowly putting the pet carrier back down on the ground. "We pretend we never found this thing and walk away very slowly, alright?"
"Y-yeah," Linda replied anxiously. "I like that plan!"
The Cherub, however, wasn't having that.
"No, wait!" she yelled out. "Don't just leave me here!"
"Nope!" Linda squeaked out, quickly turning around. "Walking away now!"
"No, please!" the Cherub begged. "At least let me out of this pet carrier!"
Hearing that, Mick couldn't help but glare at the Angel through his mask.
"And why would we do that?" he said. "In case it slipped your mind, you know exactly what we are, thanks to your eavesdropping. So for what reason would any Demon ever help an Angel? You look down on us, you think you can judge us whether we're Sinners or not, and that's just the tip of the iceberg!"
…
"Well, when you put it like that…" the Cherub uttered before shaking her head. "But come on, have a heart! Please? I'll do anything!"
Hearing the Cherub beg for her freedom, Linda couldn't help but feel sorry for the poor Angel. Despite her initial fear, her sense of empathy won out almost immediately.
"M-maybe we should hear her out?" she suggested nervously, much to Mick's disbelief.
"Seriously?" he scoffed. "You're actually considering this?"
"I would have thought you of all people would be at least sympathetic… even if she IS an Angel," Linda retorted, much to the Sinner's annoyance. "I mean… what have we got to lose just by listening, right?"
"Ooh, I like YOU!" the Cherub commented with a smile, really liking where the conversation between the two was going.
Mick, however, wasn't entirely convinced. In fact, he seemed rather determined to ignore any sense of chivalry he may have had. Any other time, he wouldn't have hesitated to help. However, considering that this was an Angel he was dealing with, the very thought of helping her just made him feel like there was a knot in his stomach.
"Look, I'm not gonna lie and say that I'm just as big an asshole as everyone else in Hell," he eventually spoke up with a heavy sigh before looking towards the carrier. "Believe me, I sympathize with your predicament. But I've had a VERY bad experience with Angels, so forgive me if I'm reluctant to give help to one."
"Well… yeah, b-but you can make an exception for widdle ol' me, right?" the Cherub nervously asked, quickly realizing that her chance of escape was swiftly slipping away.
"Well…" Linda uttered, not really sure how to answer that.
"W-what if we make a deal then!?" the Cherub blurted out desperately, not even giving Linda a chance to find her voice. "You Demons are all about making deals, right?"
That statement, however, only earned a pair of annoyed glares from the disguised Demons standing around the carrier.
"Okay, first of all, THAT is just a stereotype," Mick pointed out with a huff. "Not all of us are deal makers, thank you very much. Secondly, even if we WERE deal makers, you don't have anything we want."
Finally, the Cherub smiled as she finally felt the conversation turn back in her favour.
"You sure about that?" she retorted. "What about that girl you're looking for?"
Needless to say, THAT immediately got the two Demons' attention.
"Huh!?" Mick blurted out in shock.
"What are you talking about?" Linda added, feeling just as surprised.
"I know where she was heading to after that creepo took his photos," the Cherub elaborated. "Let me out and I'll tell you where she went. Better yet, I can show you."
Hearing those words come out of the Angel's mouth, Linda and Mick instantly backed away and turned around, forming a small huddle between themselves.
"Mick, this could be our chance!" Linda exclaimed in a hushed tone to avoid being heard by the Angel in the carrier. "If she really knows where Octi went, then this could be the lead we've been hoping for."
"I don't know…" Mick uttered hesitantly. "I'm not sure we can trust her. Angels aren't exactly famous for helping Demons. We let her out of that carrier, and she could just fly away at best."
"I get what you mean, but… if she IS telling the truth, then what choice do we have?" Linda pointed out. "We either wait around for a tour bus with no guarantee that Octi is even at any of the locations on its route, or we follow the directions of an actual witness to her arrival."
Unable to find an argument for such a statement, Mick let out an exasperated sigh and turned back to the pet carrier before once again picking it up and looking the Cherub right in the eye.
"How do we know this isn't just a load of bullshit?" he asked directly, clearly not in the mood for any kind of vague answer.
Shrinking under Mick's fiery gaze, the Cherub couldn't help but gulp.
"N-no offence taken. But… a fair question," she uttered, before pulling down the neckline of her dress to show off her collarbone. "Take a look here."
Though the door of the carrier did slightly obscure Mick's vision, there was no denying the existence of a shimmery gold mark etched just below the base of the Cherub's neck in the shape of a curved line twisting into what looked like a four-petalled flower.
"What the hell?" Mick uttered, staring at the faintly glowing mark in utter bafflement.
"Honesty Crest," the Cherub explained. "They're basically our equivalent of tattoos but with a little more magic mixed into the ink. Got a little tipsy one night and woke up with it."
However, that explanation was only responded to with a pair of raised eyebrows.
"So?" Linda spoke up, ushering the little Angel to keep going.
"SO as long as this thing is on me, I can't tell a lie without my throat burning," the Cherub elaborated, much to Mick and Linda's surprise. "No matter what you ask of me, it's nothing but pure honesty coming out of these lips. Pinky swear."
Mick, however, wasn't entirely convinced.
"And how do we know THAT isn't a lie?" he asked, much to the Cherub's disbelief.
"I-I can prove it!" she retorted anxiously. "Ask me something, ANYTHING!"
Taken aback by such a claim, Mick was left speechless for a brief moment. Seeing how desperate this Angel clearly was, he soon began to feel a small twist in his stomach. Despite his reservations against Angels, he soon realized that it was pointless to believe that he could go against his own conscience when it came to something like this.
"Well…" he uttered hesitantly, only for the Angel to let out a small outburst in response.
"Oh come on!" she exclaimed. "What more do you want!? Come on, let me out!"
And then the Cherub added the biggest cherry on the cake by opening her eyes so wide and tearful, the overall cuteness was almost hypnotic.
"PLEEEEEEEEEEEASE?" she begged, sniffling up to the point of almost crying. "With a large glass of Strawberry milkshake?"
Great! Now Mick was starting to feel like the villain in this situation! Normally he'd be the one to ease a person's misery, now here he was on the brink of making a girl cry! If this was the Cherub's way of guilt-tripping him… it was working.
"Fuck me…" he eventually sighed in defeat. "I must be out of my bloody mind."
"Mick?" Linda uttered, unable to hold a smile back as she witnessed Mick's kind nature once again show its face, albeit somewhat briefly.
"Alright, here's how this is going to go," the disguised Cat Demon said sternly as he looked the Cherub in the carrier in the eyes with a no-nonsense glare. "We let you out, you show us where you saw Octavia, nothing more, nothing less. Do you swear it?"
Needless to say, the Cherub was quick to rapidly nod her head at that.
"Yes! Yes! I promise!" she exclaimed almost too enthusiastically.
With that said, Mick let out yet another defeated sigh.
"Alright, you twisted my arm," he said, his fiery claw breaking through his disguise for a breath moment and slicing through the constraints on the carrier. "Deal."
As soon as the locks were sliced apart, it took all but a single second for the small angelic cat to burst out of the carrier and flutter around in the air like an excited butterfly with a giddy smile on her face.
"I'm FREEEEEEEEEEEEEE!" she cried out, flying circles in the air before swooping down and tackling Linda to the ground. "Oh, thank you! Thank you! Thankyouthankyouthankyouthankyouthankyou!"
As if suddenly getting knocked to the ground was shocking enough, the Cherub suddenly gave Linda an even bigger surprise by giving a big, grateful kiss on the cheek. Understandably, the disguised Imp's reaction came in the form of a deep blush and a massive brain freeze that lasted a quick minute.
"Uh… you're welcome?" she eventually uttered, unable to form any other words before Mick suddenly reached out and grabbed the Cherub by the back of her dress.
"Alright, we've held up our end of the bargain," he said, once again making sure the Cherub was at eye level. "Now I believe it's time to hold up yours."
At those words, the Cherub couldn't help but sheepishly blush herself.
"Oh, right!" she said. "Of course! Sorry, I got a little excited there. BUT a promise is a promise!"
Upon that declaration, the Cherub quickly turned and fluttered over to the rusty blue truck that was parked nearby.
"Come on," she said, "We can take the creepo's ride, not like he's gonna need it for a while."
That statement, however, only gave Mick and Linda cause to each raise an eyebrow in confusion, something that the Cherub was quick to notice.
"What?" she asked confusingly, wondering why she was being given such looks from the disguised Demons.
"We're… just a little surprised that an ANGEL is okay with stealing someone's car," Linda explained honestly.
"Yeah, we thought you'd be asking us to pray for a miracle or something," Mick added.
…
"Pfffffffhahahahahahahahaha!"
About three seconds of silence later, the Cherub was practically rolling on the ground with laughter.
"You… you're so funny!" she cackled, barely able to choke out her words from laughing so hard. "Pray for a miracle! Oh, my god! Hahahahaha!"
However, that only seemed to confuse Mick and Linda even more than they already were.
"How is THAT funny?" Mick blurted out.
"I'm not some uptight southern preacher, silly billy!" The Cherub elaborated, calming down just enough to speak properly. "And sure, OTHER Cherubs would be making a big fuss about stealing a car, but I'm a… special case. Yeah, let's go with that."
"Ooooooookay?" Linda uttered, still feeling a little baffled despite the explanation.
"Anywho, the guy deserves it after locking me up like that," the Cherub continued. "I'm kinda petty like that. Besides, Grand Theft Auto's one of my favorite video games so I'm kinda living the dream here."
With those few words, both Mick and Linda's minds reeled in utter bafflement, their perceptions of certain beings from Heaven becoming more unsure by the minute.
"Holy fuck, we've run into yet another weirdo," Mick commented under his breath before letting out a small sigh and pulling something out of his pocket. "Oh, well, too late to change our minds now. Just as well I grabbed the dickwad's keys when I mugged him."
…
"Oh, like YOU wouldn't have done the same thing!"
Linda, however, only gave the Sinner a small shrug in response to that.
"Oh, I'm not judging," she said with a casual shrug, before heading over to the truck.
Before they knew it, everyone was clambering into the vehicle and packing themselves in the front seats, each of them ready and waiting for the next leg of their journey.
"So… does anyone here know how to drive?" the Cherub suddenly spoke up, causing an awkward silence to form as she and Linda gave Mick a small, knowing glance.
…
"Aw… fuck."
Well, THAT sure as well was a gigantic waste of time! Such were the thoughts going through Octavia's mind as she tore the pamphlet in half after stepping off the tour bus. Once again, her impulsiveness had dragged her into a situation that was both annoying and inescapable. Still, at least it was over now, though that didn't mean she was any closer to finding a place to see the stars. With a groan and a frown, the Goetia Princess walked away from the tour bus, her mind too filled with aggravation and small regrets to even care about her surroundings.
How could she have been so reckless!? Barely any time in the Living World and she just jumps on the first bus that advertises stars without even thinking!? Maybe she should just take Snowflake's advice and go back to Hell… NO! It wasn't too late yet! She could still find somewhere she could see the stars… she HAD to… besides, she wasn't exactly in a hurry to go home anyway. Not only would she have to have an awkward reunion with her dad… but also HIM.
Mulling this over as she strolled through the streets of Los Angeles, not even batting an eye as she walked through a crime scene due to being lost in her own thoughts, she suddenly came to an abrupt halt as something to her right caught her eye.
While she wasn't fond of most things, the large sign on display in front of her had to have been one of the most interesting images she had witnessed. To be specific, it was a large, silver owl swooping past the full moon amongst a star-filled sky, with fierce blue eyes radiating what appeared to be magic and a skull clutched in its right talon. To top it all off, the sign depicted the nearby shop's name in big, bluish-silver letters arching over the owl itself: STAR OWL SOUVENIR SHOP.
She didn't know why, but Octavia found herself completely drawn to the amazing artwork of this sign, so much so that she couldn't help but smile and take a picture of it on her phone. Feeling somewhat satisfied, Octavia proceeded to walk away from the sign, she can't get too distracted from her goal, after all. Just as she was uploading her photo to Sinstagram, however, the Goetia Princess suddenly stopped as she took a look through the window of the shop itself… Maaaaaaybe she had time to take a look inside and pick up a souvenir or two?
Back with Mick's search party, the number of which now increased by one due to the unexpected addition of a Cherub, Linda and said Cherub were standing on the corner of the street while Mick himself was talking to someone in a blue suit… AFTER spending a good 10 minutes trying to convince him that he wasn't a masked mugger.
As speculated, while the Cherub's information appeared to be correct, Octavia was already long gone from where she had arrived by the time Mick and the others had arrived. As such, the disguised Sinner believed that the most logical course of action was to ask around to see if anyone saw where she went. While he was doing that, Linda and the Cherub were desperately trying to collect themselves after being completely frazzled, with Linda in particular leaning up against a nearby palm tree to keep herself from collapsing.
"W-why did we let Mick drive again!?" she exclaimed, her whole body shaking from the terrible experience she had just endured.
"He was the only one who could reach the pedals," the Cherub rationalized, albeit not entirely convinced by her own argument.
As it turned out, despite being so good at most things regarding cooking and other assorted forms of housework… Mick was a TERRIBLE driver! If riding in the back of the Goetias' limousine with Jessie behind the wheel hadn't desensitized her to the experience, the poor Imp probably would have already thrown up and fainted from a mixture of fright and vertigo! If Linda and the Cherub had to describe what they had to suffer through, a nightmare probably would have been too kind a word.
Daring to turn their heads towards the truck that had been badly parked nearby, horrid flashbacks of screaming pedestrians, Mick's panicked shouting and the endless rattling seats began to rush through their minds as they looked upon its sorry state. While the truck looked bad before, now it had multiple large dents and scratches, one of the doors was missing and the front bumper had finally fallen off after Mick eventually figured out how the brakes worked. To add even more salt to the wound, the windscreen was cracked and bits of another palm tree were wedged in multiple places. To put things simply, NO ONE was going to be stupid enough to let Mick get behind the wheel again!
"We're… NOT going to let him drive again, are we?" The Cherub asked nervously, unable to bear the thought of reliving such a nightmare.
"I'd sooner push that truck off a cliff than let him near that steering wheel!" Linda squealed without hesitation, giving the Angel cause to let out a small giggle.
"I'll let you know as soon as I see one," she joked, making Linda crack a little smile herself.
Forgetting for a moment who she was speaking to, Linda quickly recomposed herself and cleared her throat. All things considered, it was still awkward that a denizen of Hell was currently standing side-by-side with a denizen of Heaven without the latter trying to skewer her on a Blessed Spear. Not to mention the fact that said Cherub had willingly given her a kiss on the cheek without hesitation, the memory of which brought a small blush to Linda's face. Shaking her head and choosing to bury that memory for the moment, the little Imp quickly thought it best to change the subject before she could think about it any further.
"So… what's your name, anyway?" she asked awkwardly, much to the Cherub's surprise. "Sorry, it kinda feels weird that we don't know already. I mean, since you're helping us out and all."
At those words, the Cherub once again let out a small giggle and smacked herself on the forehead
"Oh, duh!" she exclaimed. "I got so excited over everything, I forgot all about that."
It was at that moment she then fluttered a few inches off the ground and gave the disguised Imp a small curtsy.
"The name's Wimzy," she introduced herself. "Fallen Cherub, proud Otaku, and your new bestie!"
Suddenly, the Cherub, Wimzy once again gave Linda the shock of her life by wrapping her in a hug so tight, the Imp could have sworn she made a sound like that of a squeaky toy. Needless to say, the whole exchange immediately made Linda feel all the more awkward.
"Yeah… let's not go THAT far just yet," she uttered, wiggling her arms in an attempt to break free to no avail, her face once again completely flushed. "Uh… could you… um…"
"Oop, right!" Wimzy squeaked out, bashfully releasing Linda from the hug and hovering away. "Personal space, sorry!"
"N-no, it's quite alright," Linda said, completely flustered before she quickly shook her head and once again tried to change the subject. "Um… could I ask you something though?"
"Uh huh," Wimzy replied, not even hesitating for a moment with her answer.
"A-aren't you worried about the Humans seeing you?" Linda asked, quickly noticing the small number of passersby and shrinking under their gaze. "Y-your not exactly in disguise right now."
Alas, once again, the Cherub surprised Linda by letting out a small laugh.
"Oh, the Humans can't see me, silly," she giggled. "Not unless I want them to. It's a little trick we Cherubs pick up after getting jobs stationed here on Earth."
…
"Wait…" Linda uttered. "So for the last few minutes, it looked as though I had been talking to myself?"
"Pretty much," Wimzy replied without hesitation.
The instant that realization managed to compute in her mind, Linda once again blushed hard with embarrassment. Only this time she was deeply tempted to find the nearest hole and bury herself in it. However, just then she couldn't help but notice a small flaw in the Cherub's claim.
"Hang on, if Humans can't see you… then how did you end up in that pet carrier in the first place?" she asked, this time causing Wimzy to blush with embarrassment.
"Oh, uh…" she uttered awkwardly, unsure of how to answer that question. "Well that's kind of-"
"Good news, Liddy!"
Suddenly, Wimzy was briefly saved from the awkward explanation by Mick's sudden return, though she feared she may not have heard the end of it.
"Well?" Linda asked.
"Turns out that someone matching Octi's description got on a tour bus from the nearby corner about two hours ago," Mick explained, instantly bringing a look of hope to Linda's eyes.
"So we ARE on the right track?" she said eagerly, giving Mick cause to nod.
"Mhm," he uttered, smiling under his mask as he gave Wimzy a small look of gratitude. "Seems like Sugarplum's info was right on point."
"Told ya!" Wimzy exclaimed, only to suddenly pout when she realized the nickname the disguised Sinner had given her. "Heeeeeeeeey!"
"So where does the tour bus go?" Linda asked, making sure the conversation stayed on track.
At those words, Mick couldn't help but let out a sigh and roll his eyes.
"Oh, it's one of those bloody star-guide tours," he explained with mild annoyance. "But unfortunately, the drop-off point is in a different part of town. Seems like tourists have to take a completely different bus if they want to make their way back here."
"And knowing Octi, she'll try to stay off as soon as she realizes what kind of tour it is," Linda concluded, feeling just as annoyed as Mick was. "But at least we know where to start looking, right?"
"Oh, absolutely," Mick replied, proudly pulling out a familiar pamphlet from his pocket. "And thankfully there just so happens to be a map on the back of this thing. Come on, let's get back to the truck."
As soon as that last word registered in their minds, Wimzy and Linda's eyes shrank in horror. The last thing they wanted was to go back into that screaming metal death trap with Maniac Mick getting back behind the wheel!
CLANG!
Suddenly, Wimzy's attention was snapped back to reality as a nearby clatter of metal caused her to turn around.
"Uh… you mean THAT truck?" she uttered, pointing over to where Mick 'parked' the vehicle.
Following the Cherub's small digit, Mick and Linda suddenly gasped in utter shock upon seeing that the truck was currently in the process of being towed away.
"What?!" Mick exclaimed, immediately running after the truck even as it made its way down the road. "No, no, no, NO!"
Alas, no matter how fast he ran, it was too late to stop the truck, thus the trio were without a ride… though in all honesty, despite the situation, Linda and Wimzy couldn't help but sigh with relief, their fears of getting back in the same car as Mick blissfully driving away.
"Well, GREAT!" Mick snapped aggressively as he eventually made his way back to the Imp and the Cherub. "Now what the hell do we do!?"
Indeed, this was a conundrum, even if Mick WAS a bad driver, getting to the drop-off point was going to be a challenge without a vehicle.
"Well, it's too far to walk," Linda sighed, giving the map on the pamphlet another look and grimacing upon seeing how many blocks there were between the two points. "Even if we ran, Octi will be long gone by the time we get there. Maybe we should get a taxi after all?"
"No money," Mick pointed out, much to his own irritation as well as Linda's.
"We hitchhike again?" Linda suggested, only to once again earn a shake of Mick's head.
"That'll take too long," he argued. "Hell, we were barely lucky the last time. We could be standing here for ages waiting for a car that isn't gonna just drive by us."
Needless to say, this particular argument only served to aggravate the two Demons more than they already were. So much so, in fact, that Wimzy quickly felt the need to step in before things escalated.
"Hey, calm down, guys," she said, suddenly fluttering her wings and hovering in between the pair of them. "I'm sure we'll think of something. You just gotta have a little faith."
However, that particular choice of words only served to give Mick cause to roll his eyes.
"Oh, yeah, right," he scoffed sarcastically. "You're saying all we have to do is hope, and a solution is just going to drop right into our laps?"
HONK! HONK!
Suddenly, just as though they were responding to the disguised Sinner's words, something DID drop into their laps, or rather it suddenly sped around the corner with an angry driver behind the wheel, who appeared to be shouting at every other person around them.
"YOU'RE ON THE WRONG SIDE OF THE ROAD, YOU PISS-DRINKING YANKS! FUCK OFF! GO OFF AND SHAG YOUR SISTER, YOU TOSSER! YOU- OH YEAH!? WELL GET UP IN HERE AND SAY THAT!"
Before anyone could even begin to comprehend what they were seeing, another tour bus drove up and parked just a few feet away from the trio, giving Wimzy a reason to put in a small smirk.
"Ask and ye shall receive!" the Cherub giggled, hovering up to Mick's face and giving him a small boop on the forehead. "All we need to do is ask the tour bus driver to give us a lift!
Of course, the only responses that Wimzy received from that particular claim were looks of disbelief.
"You want us to take the same tour!?" Mick exclaimed, barely resisting the urge to smack himself in the forehead. "That'll take way too long!"
"NO! No, no, no, I mean ask him to take us to the drop off DIRECTLY," Wimzy elaborated. "As long as we don't actually go ON the tour, it shouldn't take too long to get there, right?"
As much of a point Wimzy may have had, Linda and Mick weren't all that convinced, especially when they saw the burly-looking man, who was undoubtedly the driver, step off the bus for a cigarette.
"I dunno," Linda uttered hesitantly, quickly taking notice of the man's rough features. "The driver seems pretty dodgy."
Between the shouting mere moments ago on top of the man's appearance, it wasn't any wonder that Linda would have such an opinion, one that Muck clearly shared given how much he nodded along to it. However, Wimzy wasn't going to let that deter her.
"Oh, come on, haven't you ever heard of the kindness of strangers?" she asked, giving the two a conferring smile. "And I'm also sure you of all people should know about books and covers, right?"
Whether Wimzy was just messing with them or that she was actually this naive was yet to be determined. Then again, she did say that she couldn't lie, so it was most likely the latter. In any case, Mick felt the strong urge to nip any delusions she may have had in the bud right here and now.
"Yeah, but I've also known about things being too good to be true," he quickly pointed out. "Besides, neither of those statements apply to everyone, as you are well aware, considering where we found you."
At those, Winzy immediately gained a small blush of embarrassment as she put on a small pout.
"Well… what other choice do you guys have?" she retorted.
After a brief moment of silence, Mick was quick to let out a sigh of defeat.
"Ugh… Touché," he uttered, once again cursing his rotten luck.
Before they even realized it, Mick and Linda made their way over to the bus, with Wimzy following close behind while still invisible to the public eye. Needless to say, Mick was quite irritated himself when he was also told of this little trick. In any case, it at least should make things a little easier when the two disguised Demons walked up to the driver.
As rough as he looked from a distance, seeing him up close gave Linda an immediate chill down her spine. Despite wearing a simple blue polo shirt as part of his uniform, every physical aspect of the driver practically screamed trouble. From the bulging veiny muscles in his arms to a completely bald head with a skeletal snake spurting green flames from its mouth tattooed all over the top of his skull. In all honesty, this man did NOT look like a typical tour bus driver… if anything, he looked more like the type of person who had just escaped from prison after serving time for first-degree murder!
Alas, regardless of what the man looked like, he seemed to be the only one that the disguised Demons could talk to considering that there appeared to be no one else anywhere near the otherwise empty bus.
"Excuse me, uh… Jerry ?" Mick eventually spoke up, picking up the driver's name from the tag on his lapel, almost immediately regretting the decision to open his mouth the instant the driver answered.
"The fuck do you freaks want?" he grumbled, taking another drag of his cigarette and puffing a cloud of smoke in Mick's face. "This tour ain't going to that Comic Con bullshit."
Once again, the Human disguises Mick and Linda donned had given people cause to ask such a question. However, despite giving each other a raised eyebrow in response to that assumption, neither of them cared to even dignify it with a retort.
"Oh n-no, we're not here for that," Linda pointed out with a fearful gulp. "W-we were wondering if we could, um… ask for your services?"
"It ain't a pimp bus either, bitch!" Jerry annoyingly snapped.
"Not THAT kind of service, dickwad!" Mick retorted, almost unsheathing his claws and ripping the man's throat out for his rudeness, however managing to resist the urge at the last second. "Okay, look, we need a ride somewhere and we need your help to get there. Now can you take us straight to the end of this tour, or what?"
At those words, Jerry coughed and almost choked on his cigarette from a mocking chuckle that escaped his mouth.
"Do I LOOK like a fucking taxi service to you?" he snorted. "Go on, piss off!"
Needless to say, this exchange was not going well. In fact, it was going so bad that Mick had to give Wimzy a sideways glance, giving the sheepish Cherub a small glare, who in turn responded with an embarrassed shrug. Of all the Humans Mick and Linda had encountered so far, this was by far the rudest and most aggressive. So much so, that they both suspected that they'd probably be seeing him again in a few short years… though obviously not in the Living World. Regardless of his behaviour, however, it wasn't as if the trio had many other options, not ones that'd get to Octavia before she made it too far at least. Despite his better judgment, Mick had no choice but to follow Wimzy's suggestion and keep trying his luck.
"Look, Jerry…" he began, only for the bus driver to scoff again.
"You still here?" he retorted. However, Mick wasn't going to let the git intimidate him.
"Okay, I know you're a busy man, so why don't we cut the bullshit and just get down to business?" the disguised Sinner declared, before pulling out a familiar canister from his pocket and popping open the lid. "What's it going to take to make this worth your while?"
Smelling the powerful aroma of marijuana through his cigarette smoke, Jerry's interest suddenly did a full 180 as he inspected the contents of the almost full canister of joints. With curiosity getting the better of him, he took one out and brought it up to his nose. Deeply inhaling the intoxicating scent of the quality merchandise, his personality took an immediate, yet drastic change.
"Okay," he uttered. "I'm listening…"