Slumping down on her bed, Octavia couldn't help but let out a light groan as she stared up at the ceiling and allowed the collective fatigue she had gained throughout the day to wash over her… and yet she just couldn't stop smiling. Okay, true, today had a LOT of downsides, but the biggest upsides trumped all of them despite how few there were.
On the one hand, she never got to see Azathoth's Tears, on the other, she still got to share a moment with her Dad when fireworks suddenly started shooting into the sky mere seconds after the two of them reunited. Furthermore, despite all of the guilt and twists in her stomach that she had been feeling for a while, Mick once again came to her rescue by saying the right words to make her feel better. But best of all… she kissed him! Better yet, he said that he felt the same way she did! In fact, thinking back on that very moment when they physically connected brought a deep blush to her face and caused a giddy giggle to escape her beak.
True, there were still a few things to take care of before either of them could even consider forming a relationship, but now both their feelings were out in the open and the first steps towards that direction have finally been made. That said, Octavia's unfinished business HAD to come first, specifically, her long overdue heart-to-heart with Linda. Granted, the pair of them were likely more than a little exhausted from the day's events, but Octavia felt that if she didn't talk to Linda as soon as possible, while the subject was still fresh in her mind and the adrenaline was still going, she might end up chickening out and putting the whole thing off.
So, while the Goetia Princes waited for the little Imp to come home, she tried to pass the time by thinking back on the moment she and Mick confessed their feelings, hoping to elevate her spirits enough for her to pluck up her courage. As Lucifer as her witness, NOTHING was going to stop her from moving forward, getting her little sister back, and seizing her chance to be happy again.
"There's a WHAT in my house!?"
…
Except for maybe THAT. Suddenly hearing the bellowing sound of her father's voice literally shake the entire house, causing her bed to shake and her window to crack, the Goetia Princess couldn't help but sit up and wonder what the fuck was going on.
"Sir, please calm down!"
Alas, as he had expected, Mick's words immediately fell upon deaf ears as he and Stolas frantically burst out of the latter's study. In hindsight, the Sinner more or less figured that the Goetia Prince would react like this. The instant he told him that he and Linda had brought a Cherub into the mansion, Mick basically considered himself lucky that Stolas didn't incinerate him where he stood. It was, of course, at that point the Cat Demon could only thank his lucky stars that Stolas was a pacifist compared to most members of Demon Royalty. That said, the fierce gaze from all four of the Prince's eyes was downright TERRIFYING!
"Michael," he said, his voice suddenly turning cold as he and Mick eventually found themselves at the foot of the main staircase. "I believe I have been quite understanding about everything up until now, but do you have ANY idea about what you have done!?"
"Okay, I know it sounds bad but-" Mick tried to argue, only for Stolas to instantly cut him off.
"Bad doesn't even BEGIN to describe this!" he snapped. "You brought an ANGEL into the house of Demon Royalty! Do you have any idea how giddy an Exorcist would be to have that kind of opportunity!?"
"Believe me, sir, I'm well aware of that," Mick retorted. "But Wimzy is just one little Cherub, she's practically harmless… okay, yes, maybe she's a little accident prone but-"
"Miiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiick!"
Suddenly Mick and Stolas's argument was cut off by the sound of Linda's scream, drawing both their attention to the top of the stairs. There, they saw the Imp in question frantically running down with Snowflake, and surprisingly, Buzz following her down.
"Liddy?" Mick uttered, raising an eyebrow as she reached the bottom.
"Mick, we got a… p-problem!" Linda blurted out, gasping for air after what seemed to be a huge bout of running. "W-Wimzy… she…"
It was only at that moment that Linda gasped upon realizing who else was standing next to Mick. Seeing the Goetia Prince glare down at her with his arms crossed like a scolding parent, the young Imp immediately shrank in horror.
"I… um… w-what I mean is-" she uttered, trying to form some kind of excuse for choice of words, only for Mick to place a soft hand on her shoulder.
"Liddy," he said. "He knows."
Hearing that, Linda immediately slumped her shoulders and let out an exasperated sigh. Of COURSE the Prince knew! Why wouldn't he!? Buzz, on the other hand, could only scratch his head in confusion as he looked between Stolas's glare and his coworkers' state of anxiety and fear.
"Uh… am I missing something here?" he asked, only to suddenly feel a sharp pain at the end of his tail. "YOUCH! What was THAT for!?"
Of course, the only response Buzz got from Snowflake as she spat his tail out was a glare and a pout, clearly showing how annoyed she was with him for what he did, albeit unknowingly. That aside, that still didn't stop her from feeling anxious herself as she looked upon her master trying to straighten himself out.
"Look, it's alright," he said reassuringly, looking down at Linda with a soft gaze while trying his best to remain calm. "We just need to show His Highness that there's nothing… to…"
Only then did Mick notice something… or rather a LACK of something in Linda's possession. Something extremely important given the circumstances.
"Liddy… Where's the bag?" he asked.
…
"Buzz did it!"
Hearing Linda suddenly scream out his name and seeing her point an accusing finger in his direction, the deranged Gardener instantly dropped his jaw to the floor in disbelief.
"Huh!?" he exclaimed. "What did I do!?"
"I'm sorry, Mick," Linda continued, ignoring Buzz's outburst. "He took the bag from me."
"Yeah, so?" Buzz retorted, his face plastered with a mild annoyance not even bothering to deny the accusation. "All I did was put some dirty clothes down the laundry chute. I don't see what the big deal is."
However, much to the small Imp's surprise, this confession immediately earned him looks of horror and caused Mick to suddenly grab him by the shoulders and lift him off the ground just so he could give him the hardest glare he could muster.
"The laundry chute?" Mick repeated, his voice low and cold.
"Uh-huh," Buzz replied with a nod.
"The one that leads down to the Servant's Quarters?" Mick further inquired, his left eye beginning to twitch.
"Mhm," Buzz replied, nodding again.
"The one that ends in that tiny room only 5 feet away from the KITCHEN!?"
"Yeah, that's the one!"
…
"…What?"
Alas, Mick couldn't say another word, in fact, he was in such a state of shock he actually felt his grip slip and dropped Buzz to the floor.
"Oof!" he groaned, rubbing his sore behind but feeling no less confused.
Oh, this was BAD… very, VERY bad! Of all the places Wimzy could have been lost in, Buzz just had to send her down THERE!? To say that Wimzy was in trouble now would have been a big understatement. After all, there was no possible way a small Angel like her would survive what was in that kitchen… or WHO was currently in it!
By the time Wimzy managed to pull herself out of the smelly laundry pile she had landed in, she couldn't help but feel a little nauseous from both the stench and the bumpy ride she took on the way down to this small room.
"Finally!" she blurted out, gasping for air as she climbed out of the pile and used her tiny wings to hover away from it. "I don't know what was on those bedsheets, but that smelled AWFUL!"
Had anyone else been in the room, they probably would have laughed at the Cherub's innocence. But then again Heaven wasn't exactly big on knowing about the more… intense roles couples take in the bedroom, so it wasn't all that surprising. Hell, most Angels would probably throw up in their mouths if they were ever to even hear the word "kinky". That said, Wimzy chose not to question it even as she peeled what appeared to be a black leather mask off her foot and decided that it would be best to vacate the premises as quickly as possible.
Taking a quick scan of the room, finding only the large pile of dirty apparel along with an oversized washing machine, an equally large tumble dryer, an incredibly long ironing board and numerous rails and hangers, Wimzy eventually spotted a small door and made her way towards it. Putting her ear to the door, the little Cherub carefully listened for any indication that someone was on the other side of it. After a minute of hearing nothing but silence, she cautiously reached for the handle and pulled the door open. Poking her head out, she soon found herself looking down the narrow corridors of the Servant's Quarters, thankfully empty at present. Though knowing her luck so far, it wouldn't be staying that way for long.
"Ugh… how cliche is this!?" she uttered to herself in frustration. "Just when I thought Mick's plan might actually work, I fall into the whole 'lost pet in the house' trope."
Taking a moment to breathe, Wimzy tried to calm herself down and formulate a plan. From what she could muster, her best course of action should probably be getting out of this house before she's caught, which given the circumstances is more than likely if she stayed in one place for too long. After all, since Demons could see through her charm, her ability to hide herself from sight is going to be useless down here. As she was mulling over a potential idea, however, a feint, mouth-watering scent suddenly reached her nose.
"Mmm… something smells GOOD," she commented, finding herself drawn to another doorway a short distance from the laundry room.
Before she had even realized what she was doing, Wimzy had eventually followed the scent straight into what had to have been the biggest kitchen she had ever seen, eventually drawing her to a hot stove, with a bubbling pot filled with what appeared to be some kind of creamy red soup, tomato-based perhaps?
"Oh, wow…" Wimzy uttered, taking a deep inhale of the flavourful vapour emanating from the pot before forcing herself to look away. "No! Stop! Get a hold of yourself, Wimzy! Find a way out!"
Slapping herself in the face, Wimzy quickly snapped herself back to reality, only to gasp upon realizing where she was. After all, if there was a pot of food on the stove, then the cook HAD to be nearby. Thankfully, they didn't seem to be in the kitchen at the moment, nor was anyone else… must all be on break. That said, Wimzy couldn't help but feel like she had managed to catch a small break. After all, if there was always one guarantee when it came to kitchens, they are always connected to… a back door!
Spotting the aforementioned door situated on the other side of the room, Wimzy couldn't help but smile. Finally discovering her path to the outside, she quickly hovered away from the soup… albeit after taking one more moment to take another whiff of it while resisting the urge to grab a spoon. Cautiously navigating her way past the appliances and the multiple stoves, Wimzy focused her gaze solely on the door, while keeping her ears open for any sounds of movement.
"Okay, just get outside, keep out of sight, and try to find Mick and Linda," she whispered to herself. "No distractions, no mischief. This isn't like that movie with the pickpocketing monkey… I really gotta check that out again sometime… no! Focus!"
Alas, no matter how many times she told herself not to get into trouble, it always managed to sneak up on an individual in the form of a single strand of bad luck. While she was solely focused on the door ahead of her, Wimzy was unaware that she was hovering a little too close to one of the rows of hooks that held the larger cooking utensils. In the span of a few seconds, her wing suddenly caught one of the larger frying pans, causing it to fall off its hook.
"Eep!" she squeaked, quickly reacting to her mistake, sadly to no avail.
Before Wimzy could even reach for it, the frying pan fell to the counter below it, knocking into a large bowl filled with a creamy white substance, causing it to spin over to the edge. Gasping in horror, Wimzy quickly rushed down and grabbed the rim of the bowl… however, the damage had already been done.
SPLAT!
While she did manage to catch the bowl before it fell off the counter, the contents of it had already splattered over the floor, creating quite a mess.
"Oh, nononononononononono!" Wimzy uttered, her hushed voice riddled with panic. "Not good!"
Granted, she had managed to stop the bowl from shattering, which would have caused both a bigger mess AND a louder noise, but that didn't stop Wimzy from feeling any less terrified. Even if she quickly cleaned the mess off the floor, whoever made it was BOUND to notice the empty bowl whenever they got back. Now, in this sort of situation, anyone with common sense would have simply fled the scene and prayed it didn't come back to bite them later… but that sort of thing didn't even occur to a Cherub like Wimzy.
Quick as a flash, the little Angel rushed over to the nearby cupboards, opening each one until she found a roll of paper towels and some kitchen spray before quickly getting to work on cleaning up the mess she had made. Granted, in this situation, many would call her crazy, but Wimzy's need to help wouldn't allow her to just walk away from the damage she had caused.
As soon as she had finished mopping up the splatters, making sure every part of the floor was wiped clean, she quickly tossed the used towels in the nearby trash can, put the cleaning supplies back where she found them and returned the frying pan to its proper place on the hook. And now… all that was left was the bowl she spilt.
"Okay," she uttered, sticking a finger into the bowl. "What was the cook going for?"
Scooping out some of the remaining batter that was stuck to the inside of the bowl, Wimzy examined the substance with ample curiosity before sticking the batter-covered finger in her mouth. If anyone could have read the little Cherub's mind at that moment, they probably would have called her crazy for what she was planning to do. Alas, Wimzy wasn't one to leave a job unfinished and until she somehow replaced the batter she spilt, it would remain so. Thankfully, even for an Angel, she had a highly developed sense of taste and smell.
"Let's see," she muttered to herself, allowing the flavour of the batter to wash over her tongue before listing off each ingredient she could identify. "Flour, yeast, milk, eggs, salted butter, vanilla extract… ooh, and cane sugar! Interesting choice!"
Satisfied with what she managed to find, Wimzy giddily nodded her head with a grin.
"Yeah, I can fix this, no problem!" she declared, quickly rushing to gather her discovered ingredients.
However, despite knowing what she needed to look for, it wasn't long before she ran into a serious flaw in her plan. Hovering over to the nearby cupboard, she eventually found the flour… only to discover there were TWO different brands of it! One from a place called "Raging Bull Farms" and another from "Crooked Mills". What's more, it was the same problem whenever she found another ingredient she needed. Even when she looked in the nearby fridge, she found three types of milk, each of which seemingly came from different creatures, two of which Wimzy had never heard of except for, surprisingly, a damn MINOTAUR! It was at that moment, that Wimzy realized the crucial error in her thinking… she didn't know SQUAT about Demon food!
"Oh man, where's a cookbook when you need one?" she rambled, slowly starting to panic.
How could she have been so careless!? Of course, it wouldn't have been as simple as THAT! Even if she DID find the right ingredients, it wasn't as if she knew how much of each one she would need to recreate the original batter! After all, there was only so much that a sense of smell and taste could tell a person. Before she could go into a panic attack, however, Wimzy quickly slapped herself in the face to calm herself down.
"Calm down, you fluffy fool!" she scolded herself. "You don't need a cookbook. It's just like mixing up those cupcakes back in Heaven… only bigger!"
Following that line of thought, Wimzy quickly buried any sense of anxiety she had and focused solely on the task at hand. True, she didn't know shit about Hellborn Cuisine, but she knew plenty of Heavenly recipes for cupcakes that she learned while working for C.H.E.R.U.B. Sadly, a fruitless endeavour to get her coworkers to like her back then, but hopefully her salvation right at this moment.
Rolling up her sleeves, the Cherub swiftly fluttered her wings and got to work. She may not have had a recipe to follow, but she still had her sense of smell, so even if she couldn't recreate what was lost, she could at least locate what she thought were the best ingredients to add. Quickly finding a weighing scale on the counter nearby, Wimzy then began measuring out the amount she needed. Given how much batter she had spilt, she roughly estimated that it was around the same amount to make about 36 cupcakes, so in her head, she would need to mix up about 3 times the amount she would usually use for a usual 12-cake batch.
First, she grabbed the freshest-smelling flour, the cane sugar, and a tiny pinch of yeast, measured the amount needed and sifted each dry ingredient into the bowl before giving it a light mix. Next, she melted the butter by heating the bowl over the stove where the soul was. Normally, she would have simply used a microwave, but she didn't wish to risk making any more noise than she already had. After that, it was a simple matter of separating the eggs from their whites, before whisking them all with the milk, vanilla and melted butter before mixing it all up with the dry ingredients. After getting a smooth-looking paste as a result, Wimzy grabbed a teaspoon and gave it a quick taste, only to frown as a result.
"Hmm… not quite right," he uttered to herself, not finding the batter sweet enough to be passable. "Maybe if I add a small drop of molasses? No, no! That won't do… Ooh! Lemon juice!"
And so began Wimzy's intense period of trial and error. Using her nose to pick out the ingredients she thought would add to the final flavour she was looking for, she threw in a tiny amount of each before tasting it, deciding whether or not she should add more or use something else. If she thought the batter was too sweet, she added something savoury, if she thought it lacked depth, she added something to intensify the taste.
At some point, Wimzy had completely forgotten her original goal, her remaining focus solely on the batter itself. With each ingredient she added to the bowl, the more the Cherub seemed to forget that she was in someone else's kitchen! But she just couldn't help herself! As the smells and flavours changed with every passing moment, mixing up this cake actually started to feel… fun! In fact, she was so enthralled by the experience, that even when she was finally satisfied with the batter, she suddenly grabbed a second bowl and started mixing up the icing for it!
"Okay, just needs a little buttercream, and-" she started to say, giggling a little as she mixed up the light, creamy substance in the second bowl before suddenly hearing a noise coming from a nearby door.
Wwwwwwssssssssssshhh!
Hearing the sound of a flushing toilet, followed by the clattering of a doorknob, Wimzy's eyes immediately shrank in horror as she suddenly snapped back into reality.
"Uh oh!" she squeaked, her survival instincts immediately taking over as she grabbed the mixing spoon and flew away from the mixing bowls.
With no time to make it to the exit, Wimzy quickly dove under the nearest countertop, just in time for the new arrival to make his way into the kitchen. Hearing a low, raspy groan coming from said arrival, she instantly slapped a hand over her mouth to silence her hyperventilating.
"Ugh… keelhaul me shell, that bacon sandwich was DEFINITELY a mistake!" she heard the Demon say, his voice giving a clear indication of discomfort.
Okay, maybe she can just slip away while this Demon wasn't looking. All she had to do was wait for the right moment to- nope! Not going to happen! Shaking in fright upon suddenly seeing the huge, crab-like legs scuttle by her hiding place, Wimzy gulped and shot down that idea in an instant. Just how in the hell was she going to get out of here without being caught!?
Picking up her courage and daring to peek her head out of hiding for a brief moment, she eventually saw the Demon in all his glory. With crab-like legs, a large turtle shell, and a clear aura of danger surrounding him, this HAD to have been the Goetia family Chef Mick warned her about before he brought her here… somehow he looked even scarier in person, especially after suddenly pulling a CLEAVER off one of the nearby hooks!
Unable to stop herself from trembling, clutching the mixing spoon like a comforting blanket, all Wimzy could do was either wait for the Chef to leave or flee the moment the opportunity presented itself. As she waited for such an opportunity, she made sure to keep her eye on the Chef, watching every step of his shelled legs as he began making his way over to what appeared to be a large pantry with a thick, metal door. Pulling it open, the Chef took in a deep breath through the nose, sighing in delight before stepping inside the pantry and coming back out again carrying what looked like a thick package wrapped in paper that had been stained with blood. Slamming the pantry door shut with a nudge of his shell, the Chef actually hummed a little tune to himself as he carried the package back over to the nearest countertop and unwrapped it, revealing the contents to be a huge slab of red meat that had next to no gristle to be seen. Wimzy may not have been a professional cook, but even SHE could tell that had to have been an ingredient of the highest quality. Suddenly, much to Wimzy's surprise, the little hum the Chef had been muttering to himself turned into a full-fledged song that began pooling out of his mouth.
Chef:
Food, glorious food,
Just wait till they try it,
Fresh servings of meat,
You poach it, I'll fry it!
At those words, the Chef brought the meat over to a thick, wooden chopping board and raised his cleaver over his head with a smile on his face.
Chef:
Just picture this hunk of flesh,
Braised, roasted or stewed!
Suddenly he swung the cleaver down, cutting the meat into two pieces, before doing it again and again, his song raising in tempo with every swing of the blade.
Chef:
Oh, food!
Wonderful food!
Lovely food!
Glorious Foooooooooood!
Before Wimzy even realised what was happening, the Chef had practically started staring in his own little one-man show, with the clattering of the pots and pans, along with the steam whistling from the soup acting as his music. Seeing such a display, she couldn't help but watch with intrigue as he finally diced the meat into bite-sized pieces and removed all of the bones in a matter of seconds. After that, he proceeded to toss the bones into a pot and dump the meat into a bowl filled with a shimmering red liquid which somehow seemed to sizzle upon contact despite there being no heat source to speak of.
Chef:
Marinate it in wine,
Just a drop of the red one,
Boil the bones in a broth,
Smear the soft meat with bread crumbs,
Moments later, the Chef then drained the meat from the red liquid before tossing it all into another bowl filled with a gooey mixture of flour and eggs before pouring it into a bag filled with dried golden crumbs that gave off a mouth-watering aroma. After sprinkling in some herbs and bread crumbs, he then tossed the coated meat again, this time grabbing the huge frying pan Wimzy knocked over earlier and filling it with olive oil before using it to catch the meat as it fell.
Chef:
Sprinkle with salt then fry in oil,
Then it's starters for two!
Suddenly the Chef gave the little Cherub the biggest shock of her life when he placed the pan on the stove before he ignited it… by breathing a blast of FIRE beneath it like a dragon!
Chef:
Sweet food!
Marvellous food!
Beautiful food!
Glorious Foooooooooood!
The instant the flames ignited the gas beneath, the breaded meat immediately began sizzling in the scorching oil until it turned all nice and crispy. Once that was done the Chef gracefully lifted all the pieces out with a skimmer and collected them all into a bowl, each of them now ready to be eaten.
Seeing how enthralled the Chef appeared to be both in his cooking and in his merry tune, Wimzy eventually decided that NOW was the time to make her escape. So long as the Chef remained distracted, she should be able to quietly make her way over to the exit without him knowing. However, just as Wimzy cautiously, yet quickly fluttered out from under the countertop, she suddenly realised how much of a challenge this attempt was going to be. Every time she made a move closer to the door, the Chef either turned around or moved closer to where she was floating, forcing her to dive behind the nearest cooking appliance in an attempt to keep out of sight. If that wasn't bad enough, eventually things took a turn for the worse, when a loud knock rang through the kitchen.
KNOCK! KNOCK!
When the Chef heard that, he suddenly strolled passed the spot where she was hiding behind one of the microwaves and practically blocked her exit by opening the door leading outside and chatting to someone on the other side. Mere moments later, he came back carrying an overly long styrofoam package, before slamming the door shut behind him. Opening the package up, he grinned in delight and pulled out what had to have been one of the BIGGEST eels Wimzy had ever seen in her life! Stretching about 8 feet in length and about as thick as a lamppost, with shimmering silver and sickly green scales and a tongue seemingly made out of teeth, it was both fascinating and disturbing to look at.
Chef:
Next, prepare the mains,
This is gonna be tasty,
Eel, plundered from Greed,
But wait, we shouldn't be hasty!
Singing the next verse of his tune, the Chef carried the dead eel over to the chopping board, grabbed his clear and SLICED the beast's head off with a single swing! Next, he tossed the head away, throwing it straight into the nearby garbage can and almost making Wimzy throw up in her mouth in the process from the smell alone. After that, he proceeded to grab a gigantic pot from the cupboard, one that seemed almost as big as HE was. Once he did that, he placed the pot onto another stove, grabbed what looked like an oversized collider and dumped it in the pot before throwing in some water and once again using his fire breath to ignite the gas beneath it. Once he got a fair amount of steam going, he then tossed the eel's body in and slammed on the lid.
Chef:
First, you just have to steam the skin,
Then peel it till nude!
Upon that declaration, he then grabbed an oversized hook, used it to yank the steamed eel out then used his bare hand to RIP the skin and scales clean off with a single yank as if he were simply pulling off a loose sock.
Chef:
It's food!
Fabulous food!
Devious food!
Glorious Foooooooooood!
It was at this point Winzy couldn't help but get lost in the music. Despite her desire to leave, the more she watched the Chef practice his craft with such precision, strength and fluidity, the more she felt in awe. Surprising to say, as far as she was aware, not even the best cooks in Heaven seemed to be as passionate and charismatic for cooking as this Demon was. Once he was done chopping up the steamed eel, along with a few assorted vegetables, the Chef dunked the former in a tray filled with a strong-smelling sauce, undoubtedly to combat the eel's natural pungency, before finally dusting off his hands and turning his attention to a certain bowl… the one filled with cake batter!
Chef:
Once the main course is done,
The desert they shall all savour
Cake, made all by hand,
None can match this light flavour,
Seeing the Chef grab a circular baking tin and pour in the contents of the bowl before throwing it straight into the preheated oven, Winzy couldn't help but sigh in relief. It seems that the Chef was so confident both in his skills and the impossibility of tampering, that he didn't even feel the need to taste test the batter first. That being said, she also saw that the Chef didn't seem to notice the second bowl she had used to make the buttercream just yet. It was only then that Wimzy realised that she was still holding the spoon she had been using to mix with, thus sparking a little bit of curiosity as she took a small whiff of it, quickly noticing something… off.
Wiping off a little of the mixture with her finger and putting it to her mouth, her eyes suddenly shot wide open with terror… it tasted all wrong! At that moment, she had to resist all urges to start smacking herself across the head with the very spoon in her hand. In her haste to get out of sight before the Chef walked in, she had neglected to add the vanilla extract to the mix, resulting in what she considered to be a bland mess!
What was she going to do now!? Even the best cake in the world can be ruined if it doesn't have the right filling or icing to go along with it! True, she could just forget about the whole thing and just make her escape… but she had spent a great deal of effort mixing up that cake, and there was just something inside the little Cherub's heart that simply refused to let her leave things like this! Poking her head out of hiding, she quickly spotted the bottle of extract sitting a mere foot away from the mixing bowl. Plucking up her courage and deciding to take the risk, she swiftly flew over to the bowl and got to work, grabbing the bottle and dumping its contents into the buttercream while the chef had his back turned… however, while she was stirring everything in… things suddenly took a drastic turn.
Chef:
Just thinking of smiling beaks
Puts me in the moooooooood…
For food!
Marvellous food!
Wonderful food!
Beautiful food!
Fabulous food!
Wimzy:
Magical food!
Both:
Glorious Fooooooooooooooooooooooooood!
CLANG!
"Wait, what!?"
Her eyes once again snapping wide in horror, it was only upon hearing the Chef suddenly stop singing and drop the utensil he was holding that Wimzy realised her blunder. Instead of keeping silent, as she had intended, she had gotten so into the tune the Chef had been singing that she had actually started to sing along herself while she was mixing in her final ingredient! Now, here she was directly beneath the intense glow of the large Sinner's furious glare with a dirty mixing spoon in her hand and a bead of sweat dripping from her head. After an intense moment of uncomfortable silence, the Cherub eventually swallowed her gulp and spoke up in a shaky voice.
"Uh… h-hi?"
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!"
CRASH!
Within a span of exactly three seconds, she suddenly found herself bolting out of the kitchen from the direction she came in, once again finding herself in the Servant's Corridor, only this time she had a PSYCHOTIC Sea Demon chasing her down with a giant cleaver!
"GET BACK HERE, YA HOLY-ROLLIN BILGE RAT!"
Needless to say, upon finally laying his eyes the Chef reacted to Wimzy's presence as anyone would have expected a Sinner as old as he was to react… with murderous intent! There he was, simply going about his business and cooking food for the family as usual, when all of a sudden, he found one of the Angelic vermin that plagued Hell every year fluttering around his kitchen like she owned the place! Had he been any other Sinner fresh into Hell, he probably would have been scared, even slightly nervous upon seeing the Cherub, however, the Chef had been around Hell long enough to know what an Exorcist looked like, and his eyes immediately told him that was NOT one of them… his temper on the other hand, just didn't allow him to care as long as he got the chance to GUT her!
Smashing his way passed the doorway, causing some serious damage to the wall as he charged through it like a freight train, the Chef's swift crab-like legs allowed him to keep Wimzy in his sights despite his large size. In the frightened Cherub's eyes, it was as if a horrible hybrid of the boogeyman and a knife-wielding serial killer with the temperament of a raging bull was all packed inside a horrifying shell that was charging past everything like a tank.
DING!
Thankfully it didn't take long for her salvation to make itself known. At the very end of the corridor, the elevator the Servants use to get around the house suddenly opened up and none other than Pringles stepped out with a tired frown etched across his face.
"I swear I don't get paid enough for this shit," he muttered to himself with a heavy sigh.
"GANGWAY!"
Suddenly Pringles jumped in shock upon seeing an unfamiliar voice screaming in his direction. Mere seconds later, he found himself suddenly diving to the floor just in time to avoid Wimzy smashing into him and allow her to simply fly overhead and straight into the open elevator.
"What the Devil!?" he exclaimed, gasping in shock upon turning his head and seeing the frantic-looking Cherub fearfully smashing her hand against the elevator buttons.
"Comeoncomeoncomeoncomeoncomeooooooooon!" she rambled, practically begging the elevator doors to shut before the Chef's cleaver suddenly started flying through the air.
"GAAAAAAAAHHH!"
Once again, Pringles found himself diving to the ground, narrowly avoiding the Chef's knife as he threw it straight towards Wimzy. Thankfully, the large Sinner's aim was a little off and the Cherub was able to dive out of the way before it embedded itself into the back of the elevator around the exact moment the doors finally began to close, barely missing Wimzy's tail by a few short hairs. Being saved by the doors' impeccable timing, Wimzy couldn't help but sigh with relief even though her heart was still racing faster than it ever did before. Meanwhile, as the elevator began to go up, the Imp on the other side of the doors glared hard at the Chef with an enraged temper.
"HEY!" he snapped, quickly snapping back to his feet. "What's the big-"
CLANG!
CRUNCH!
Alas, Pringles didn't account for the fact that the Chef had built far too much momentum during the chase that his crab-like legs couldn't stop his large body in time before they both ended up sliding into the closed elevator doors, leaving a small, yet noticeable dent.
"DAMN IT!" the Chef snarled, pulling himself away from the doors with a furious roar. "That little powder puff won't get the best of- Hmm?"
It was only then that the Chef heard the painful groans and looked down at his chest, where he was surprised to see Pringles flattened on the front of his shell like a fly on the windshield of a moving car.
"I think… you just broke… my ribs!"
That would be the last the Butler would say before he suddenly fell off the Chef's shell and into unconsciousness, leaving the Chef himself to glare at the damaged elevator before doubling back.
Meanwhile, back on the ground floor, both Mick and Linda found themselves in a familiar position as before, standing side by side while a taller, angrier Demon was scolding them like a pair of misbehaving children while Snowflake was cowering behind Mick's leg.
"So let me get this straight," Stolas spoke up, pacing in front of the door like an angry drill sergeant. "Not only did you two bring an ANGEL into my house, but you also proceeded to LOSE it!?"
"To be fair, that last part was mostly Buzz's fault," Mick pointed out with a gulp, much to said Imp's disapproval as he stood off to the side.
"Dude!" he exclaimed, casually shaking his head at the finger-pointing. "Not cool."
Mick's statement, however, only served to make Stolas even angrier than he already was.
"I don't care if it was the fault of Lucifer wearing lingerie!" He snapped, causing both Mick and Linda to hold each other in fear. "Now you two are to go down there and find that Cherub before-
DING!
As if being saved by the bell, the sound of the servants' elevator suddenly drew everyone's attention before the walls suddenly opened up, allowing a familiar glowing ball of fluff to zoom out, flying straight into Mick's chest without looking where she was going.
"Wimzy!?" Linda exclaimed, feeling a surge of relief as Mick held Wimzy in his arms like a confused kitten.
"Linda!?" Wimzy spoke up in response, shaking her head in disbelief as she suddenly realised who was holding her. "Mick!?"
Finally seeing the Cherub right before him, the surprise in Stolas's eyes quickly faded away in favour of a narrowed glare in Mick's direction.
"Michael…" he uttered, instantly sending a shiver down the Sinner's spine.
But before Mick could say a word in response, to everyone's further surprise, yet another figure suddenly stepped into the foyer via the double doors leading to the drawing room, one whom Mick and Linda immediately recognised.
"What the hell's all the shouting about?" Clara thought aloud, having heard a lot of muffled voices through the doors before she eventually decided to investigate the situation.
The moment Mick saw the new arrival, however, his eyes instantly shrank in terror.
"CLARA!?" he blurted out, taking a few fearful steps back, much to everyone's confusion.
"Mick?" Linda uttered with concern, wondering why her friend would suddenly react in such a way.
"BUZZ!"
…
"What? I thought we all just shouting names,"
SLAP!
"Yow!"
That joke, of course, earned the deranged Gardener a lot of annoyed glares and a quick smack across the back of his head, courtesy of Linda. Mick, on the other hand, could only stare at Clara frozen on the spot. Why? WHY was she here!? Was this what Pringles was talking about when he mentioned him having a guest!? If so, this was the worst possible Demon that could have shown up on the doorstep right at this moment! If he hadn't dreaded what sort of results he would get for asking such a question, he probably would have asked himself how things could possibly get any worse!?
BAM!
Alas, when one problem was on the plate, another suddenly had to make itself known! Snapping their heads over to the front door, everyone gasped in shock upon seeing the Chef suddenly ram it open. Being unable to use the elevator again due to the damage he caused to the doors, he had to run out into the courtyard through the kitchen door and circle around the house until he reached the front. Now here he was, standing in the foyer, looking like a lunatic with a new knife in hand and a burning glare in his eyes aimed in Wimzy's direction!
"THERE YOU ARE!" he cried out, pointing his knife straight at his angelic target.
The moment Wimzy saw both the blade and the beast wielding it like a cutlass, Wimzy of course, had the most appropriate of reactions.
"AAAAAAAHHH!" she screamed, pushing herself away from Mick and making a beeline for the stairs. "HELP, HE'S A MAD MAN!"
Within a span of exactly three seconds, the Cherub suddenly zoomed up the stairs, forcing everyone else to dive out of the way just before the Chef once again gave chase until they both suddenly disappeared onto the second floor. Though everyone else was left completely dumbfounded by what they had just witnessed, Stolas quickly shook his head and addressed his daughter's two Attendants with a serious expression.
"Well, don't just stand there!" he snapped, pointing up the stairs. "Get after them and stop Chef before he destroys my house!"
Daring not to invoke a stressed Goetia's wrath, Linda, Mick and Snowflake quickly sped into action and started scrambling up the stairs after the Chef and his prey.
"Aw man, I don't know why, but I'm getting that horrible feeling of Deja vu!" Mick commented, seemingly unaware that Buzz was snickering like a lunatic before pulling a shovel from behind his back and filling after the two Attendants and their pet.
Meanwhile, back down in the foyer, Stolas couldn't help but let out an exasperated sigh as he dusted himself off. After which he addressed the only other Demon in the room with him.
"My apologies for all that, Miss… Clara, was it?" he said, actually feeling a small surge of embarrassment due to everything that happened in front of the houseguest.
Clara, however, only shook her head with a smile.
"No, no, it's fine," she replied, feeling a small wave of nostalgia as she looked up the stairs. "Trust me… I'm used to it."
She didn't know whether it was simple curiosity, the urge to see Mick regardless of the situation, or even the nostalgia itself, but something in that moment suddenly caused Clara to take a few steps forward. Before she even realised it, she too was making up the stairs in pursuit of Mick and his friends, much to Stolas's confusion.
"Wait, where are you going?" he asked, a small hint of panic in his voice.
At that moment, Clara paused and turned around for a brief moment, giving the Goetia Prince an excited smile.
"Oh… I'm not gonna miss THIS!"