In memory of Val Kilmer
Iceman, Batman, Moses… he will be missed.
Chapter 20: Showdown
As Cain entered the cavern with the plans to confront Tilly's boss, he didn't have to wait very long to be noticed. Soon after he entered the cave, he saw a small group of demons appear and block his way.
"Stop where you are," said one Demon Ape who was holding a spiked club.
"Yeah, this is about as far as you go," an imp demon said while holding brass knuckles.
Cain looked at the demons, who were all holding various kinds of melee weapons and lined up, ready for a fight. Despite this, Cain didn't seem threatened at all. "Do I need to pay a toll to get past you guys?" he asked them.
"Oh, we're just the welcoming committee," the lead imp demon declared. "And I'm afraid that you're not on the guest list!"
"Yeah, um, look, I'm just here to have a chat with your boss," Cain told them. "I had a little scuffle with one of his minions earlier and, well, I do need to file a complaint. Maybe see if I can work things out with him. If you let me go through without problem-"
The imp scoffed as he turned to his boys. "You hear that? He's here to see the boss without any problems!" he shouted, causing the demons to laugh at Cain. "I don't think you know how things work around here!"
Cain sighed. "Do you even know who I am?" he asked them. "Does the name Cain mean anything to you?"
At the mention of that name, a few of the demons did tense up and Cain saw a flicker of hesitation in their eyes. However, not all of them were buying this.
"If you're Cain, then why are you here by yourself?" the lead imp demon asked. "Not very smart, it seems."
"It's just me," Cain admitted. "Consider yourselves lucky." He looked around at the demons. "Alright, I am going to give you guys one last chance to let me through. I would prefer to make this easy for you guys, but we can do this the hard way if you want."
"Easy for us? Guess who's an Overconfident Owen? Him! HAHAHA!" a hyena demon laughed along with the rest of the welcoming committee…
PUNCH!
The hyena demon was suddenly punched in the nose, sending him into a wall as the laughing stopped. The committee turned to their hyena comrade, and then to Cain, who had delivered the punch to the demon.
"I did warn you," Cain said with a shrug.
The leader of the 'welcoming committee' glared at Cain. "ATTACK!" he shouted as the gang rushed towards the feline Goetia.
Cain got in a fighting stance, seeing the demons coming at him. But as soon as they were close enough, he threw something down at the ground and it exploded, blinding the other demons while Cain was protected from the flash grenade with his mask. While they were blinded, he rushed forward, seizing a bladed staff from an imp and pulling it away from him. He then punched the imp in the throat, making him gasp and hold his neck. Cain then punched the imp in the face, knocking him back.
Cain then turned to the Demon Ape, the largest demon in the group, as he held up his bat to swing it at Cain, who held up his hand, catching the bat. One of the spikes did go into him, but Cain barely reacted as he yanked the bat out of the ape's hands and then swung it at his face, making the ape screech in pain as the spikes tore up his face. The ape grabbed at his bleeding face and Cain used this chance to punch the ape in the gut.
Out of the corner of his eye, Cain saw the hyena demon from earlier charging at him with a knife, a mad look in his eyes despite the blood still coming out of his nose. Cain grabbed the ape next to him and used him as a shield against the hyena demon, who was so crazed that he ended up stabbing the ape, who Cain shoved onto the hyena demon. While the hyena demon was pinned underneath the ape, the imp with bronze knuckles rushed at Cain, swinging his fists at him. While Cain was dodging those swings, he noticed another imp loading up a gun. Acting quickly, he grabbed the imp with the knuckles by the wrists.
"Mind if I borrow these?" Cain asked as he slipped one of the bronze knuckles off of the imp's hand.
"Huh?" the imp asked in confusion before being punched in the face.
Cain then turned and threw the bronze knuckles at the imp that was loading his gun, the knuckles hitting him on the forehead and causing him to fall back. But before Cain could celebrate this, the hyena crawled out from underneath the body of the demon ape and was slashing at Cain with his knife. Cain easily avoided the slashes, caught the hyena's wrist, and then decked him across the face, knocking him out with a sickening crack.
As Cain looked around to see if there was anyone left, chains were suddenly wrapped around his fist as another demon, an imp, tried to pull Cain towards him. However, the imp had clearly overestimated his own strength and Cain easily pulled the imp towards him, causing the imp to fly off his feet and into Cain's fist. The punch left a cracking noise as the imp's face got bloodied on impact, Cain grabbing the imp's chains and kicking him away.
Cain looked around at what was left of the welcoming committee. "Anyone else?" he asked.
They all just groaned and Cain just nodded before he continued on his way.
Elsewhere in the cavern, Moxxie still had the gun in his hand as he made his way through the tunnels. He came across a room where three of Marcus's demons were playing poker around a crate they were using as a table. Looking up from their game, they noticed Moxxie.
"Halt-"
The demon was shot by Moxxie before he could even finish the sentence. He then shot the second and the third demon before they could reach for their weapons. Moxxie then calmly walked over to the three bodies, taking their guns and ammo and placing it in his jacket.
"Thanks," Moxxie said to the dead demons while he packed heat.
"Hmm, mm. Mmm, mmm. Mm, mm. Mm-mm, mm…"
As Moxxie began to move on, he heard the sound of music and he turned to see a nearby record player, still playing a song even though the demons who had been listening to it were now dead.
"Yeah, I can't see where you comin' from.
But I know just what you running from.
And what matters ain't the 'Who's baddest'. But the-
Ones who stop you falling from your ladder, when you're-"
Cain came across a trio of Demon Apes holding spiked bats, brass knuckles, and an ax-spear. Before he could even attempt to talk them down, they charged at Cain, one of them swinging his ax-spear at Cain, who easily dodged the ax-spear, grabbed it from the ape, and hit the ape in the face with the non-sharp end of the spear, causing the ape to stumble back and allowing Cain to use the ax-spear to hit the ape in the legs. The ape fell to the ground as a result of this, Cain finishing the ape off by stomping on his face.
Cain then saw the ape with the spiked bat coming at him while swinging said bat. He blocked the attack with the spear of the ax, but then he saw the third ape, the one with the brass knuckles, coming from the other direction about to deck him. He pushed the ape with the bat away while dodging the ape with the brass knuckles, swinging his spear-axe so that the ape was hit with the shaft of the weapon. The ape with the bat took another swing, but Cain moved aside before grabbing the ax to break it off from the spear and throwing it at the ape's forehead like a tomahawk, instantly killing him.
"Feeling like you're feelin' now,
And doin' things just to please your crowd.
When I love you like the way I love you,
And I suffer but I ain't gonna cut you' cause-"
Moxxie was walking down a corridor that split into several tunnels. He saw multiple demons from Marcus's forces rushing out from these tunnels to confront him. Moxxie quickly shot each of them in the heads, killing most of the demons before they could even draw out their weapons. Instead, he made them drop dead like they were flies.
After Moxxie dropped the last demon, he realized that his pistol was empty and he tossed it aside. He went to check the bodies, taking their ammo and their guns. Seeing that one of them had a shotgun on him, he picked it up before he moved onto the next part of the cavern.
"This ain't no place for no hero…
This ain't no place for no better man.
This ain't no place for no hero.
To call home."
While confronting another group of Marcus's forces, Cain held up a hook and chain, similar to the hook and chain that the Knights of Hell used while on their bikes. He was swinging the chain around while looking at the other demons, who seemed wary of him. Selecting one imp from the group, Cain swung the hook towards that imp.
"Get over here!" Cain shouted as the hook pierced the imp's face. As the imp screamed in pain, Cain pulled on the chain before swinging the imp around, using his body to knock the other demons down.
One hellcat managed to avoid getting hit and charged at Cain with a knife, but Cain easily dodged the knife while wrapping his chain around the hellcat's neck, forcing the hellcat to drop the knife as he used the chain to strangle him.
"This ain't no place for no hero…
This ain't no place for no better man.
This ain't no place for no hero.
To call home."
Moxxie entered a much larger hallway, where several demons looked shocked to see him. Before they had the chance to react, Moxxie leveled his shotgun and fired, blasting two of the demons away. As he knelt down tried to reload his shotgun with one hand, the other hand pulled out one of the revolvers that he had recovered and he used it to shoot another demon dead. However, one demon appeared behind Moxxie and managed to grab him, the two rolling across the ground. As they wrestled with each other, Moxxie managed to place the barrel of his revolver under the chin of the demon attacking him. The demon's eyes widened, but before he could do anything else Moxxie shot him through the chin, blowing his brains out.
Moxxie saw another demon trying to aim his rifle at the imp. Moxxie quickly rolled out of the way, the bullet missing him as he picked up his shotgun, finished reloading, and shot the demon before he could pull the trigger again, leaving a huge hole in the middle of the demon's body. Moxxie sighed in relief and then stood up, walking over to pick up the demon's rifle.
"Every time I close my eyes,
I think, I think 'bout you inside.
And your mother, giving up on askin' why
Why you lie, and you cheat, and you try to make a fool outta she…"
As Cain continued to venture deeper into the cavernous compound, he was met by another group of Demon Apes, all armed with weapons. Seeing that this was a larger group than before, Cain decided to reach over his shoulder and pull out a weapon that he had been keeping on his back. The Demon Apes were left shocked when they saw what Cain was holding…
"That's… Murdock's sword!" one ape shouted in recognition.
"So you do recognize it?" Cain asked, grinning underneath his mask while holding the jagged, double-edged sword with chains connected to it.. "Who's up first?"
"Now, I can't see where you comin' from
But I know just what you're runnin' from
And what matters ain't the 'Who's baddest', but the
Ones who stop you fallin' from your ladder, 'cause-"
Moxxie had shot down another gunman. He looked behind him, seeing the trail of bodies he was leaving. He stopped to check to see how he was doing on ammo, but then he spotted some nearby crates and decided to check them out. Opening one of the crates, his eyes widened when he saw that they were full of weapons. Moxxie quickly dropped the rifle and grabbed two machine guns that were in the crate, holding them both up. Hearing some footsteps nearby, he entered a long tunnel that led him to a group of demons coming from the opposite direction.
The demons paused when they saw Moxxie coming over to them while holding up the machine guns. They saw him aiming his guns at them and while some of the demons tried to pull out their weapons, others decided to try to run for cover as Moxxie pulled the triggers…
"This ain't no place for no hero…
This ain't no place for no better man."
Swinging the blade, Cain was cutting through Demon Apes from left to right. He spun one blade around to chop off the head of one Ape while using the other blade to stab another ape from behind. Cain saw one ape holding up a gun to shoot at him, but Cain used the sword to block the bullet before bringing the blade down to cut his hand off, literally disarming the ape..
"This ain't no place for no hero.
To call home."
"YAAAH!" Moxxie cried out while rapidly firing at the group of demons with his machine guns, gunning them down and absolutely shredding them with bullets. Some of the demons tried to shoot at him back, but before they could they were gunned down as well, their bodies getting riddled by bullets. The demons who tried to run fared little better, meeting the same fate as those who stood their ground.
"This ain't no place for no hero…
This ain't no place for no better man."
Cain sliced through the neck of one ape, then swung the blade to stab through two apes at the same time. He also used the sword to deflect several attacks before driving the blade through the scalp of the ape. He let go of the sword for a second, letting it rest in the scalp of its last victim as he grabbed an ape who was too close to him and snapped that ape's neck.
"This ain't no place for no hero.
To call home."
Moxxie kept shooting his way through the cave, wiping out any demons that got in his way. He shouted as he mowed down the forces of Marcus. At this point, there was no stopping Moxxie. While armed with those guns, he was an absolute menace…
"This ain't no place for no hero…
This ain't no place for no better man."
Cain chopped up another ape in his way, the Goetian demon casually making his way through the tunnels, slicing and dicing any Demon Ape or other Hellborn in his path, paying little attention to the wounded and dead that he left in his wake…
"This ain't no place for no hero.
To call home."
After dealing with the apes, Cain moved on down to the cavern as he heard the sound of guns blazing. He saw a few demons running in his direction until they were unceremoniously gunned down from behind, their brains getting splattered on the walls. Walking past their corpses was Moxxie, who was holding up his machine guns.
Cain's eyes widened behind his mask when he saw Moxxie, who stared back at him, looking even more surprised to see Cain here. However, neither of them said anything. Their silent reunion was interrupted when they heard the sound of footsteps as more of Marcus's demons converged on their location, Moxxie and Cain turning to see that they had some more company to deal with.
The two then turned to look at each other, giving each other nods as they exchanged silent communication. Cain and Moxxie then turned to confront the gang of demons, prepared to give them hell…
And so, they both charged at Marcus's forces. Cain was in the front, slashing down demons with his blades. Behind him, Moxxie provided cover fire, shooting many demons before they could even get close to Cain, helping to prevent him from being overrun. Cain returned the favor when he saw one demon aiming his gun at Moxxie. Quickly grabbing the knife from an enemy he had killed, Cain threw the knife at the demon about to shoot Moxxie, the knife becoming embedded in the demon's head.
The two were slaughtering demons left and right, Cain and Moxxie ending up back to back as they slowly made their way through the forces coming at them, the two occasionally stealing their enemy's weapons when they took them down. Running out of ammo, Moxxie quickly used his tail to grab a gun from a demon's holster and shot into the demon's mouth, spraying the wall behind the demon with blood. Behind him, Cain was slicing and dicing through demons, leaving them in smaller cut up pieces. He would also occasionally take their knives and throw them at other demons, killing or at least injuring them.
Cain and Moxxie were pretty much creating a morbid art gallery as they went down the cavern. An art gallery made up of the many demons they had cut down, shot, or maimed. Without needing to say anything, Cain crouched down so that Moxxie could climb on top of Cain's shoulders before Cain charged forward with his blades, cutting down enemies while Moxxie gunned them from his shoulder, leading a trail of bloody bodies behind them.
Eventually, when it seemed like there were no more demons left in this area to kill, they stopped to finally catch a breather, Cain letting Moxxie down from his shoulder as they took a moment to rest for a bit and the two finally started to talk.
"Think that's all of them?" Cain asked.
"I don't think so," Moxxie responded while wincing due to his injuries. "There's probably more of these guys. Earlier I saw an entire army." He looked around at the cavern they were in. "Who knows how big this place is…"
Cain looked down at Moxxie, noticing his injuries. "Are you alright? Because no offense, but you look like crap."
"I'll live," Moxxie said while looking up at Cain. "But what the hell are you doing here, Cain?"
"Well, obviously I came here to save your skin, but it looks like you're doing fine with that on your own," Cain told him, surprising Moxxie. "Although I had no idea if you were alive or dead. I'm mainly here for Marcus, who sent one of his demons after me to Angerton."
"What?!" Moxxie asked in worry, fearing for the town. "Is everyone okay there?"
Cain looked down, his face hidden behind his mask, and he sighed. "One of my Knights, Jawline, was killed."
"Oh…" Moxxie said. Although he couldn't see Cain's expression, he could hear the loss in his voice. "Oh man… I'm so sorry about that, Cain. You have my condolences."
"Thank you," Cain responded with a nod. "But besides him, nobody else was killed or hurt. Everyone is safe."
This did make Moxxie feel relieved, even if he still felt bad for Cain for losing one of his Knights, especially since he had already lost most of them during the Battle of Angerton. With Jawline, who Moxxie assumed was the shark demon, dead, that left only Cain and that female imp as the last remaining Knights of Hell…
"Thank Satan that everyone else is alright," Moxxie said before remembering something. "Shit, I almost forgot! Listen, Cain, about Marcus, he's-"
"I know, Moxxie," Cain admitted. "I know that Marcus is a son of Satan."
Moxxie blinked in surprise. "You… you already know?"
"The demon he sent after me spilled that critical detail," Cain revealed.
"Well, I'm surprised that you came here alone then," Moxxie said. "Since you knew what you were going to face when coming here…"
"Would you have preferred if I had brought along some of the Angerton folks to be used as bullet sponges?" Cain asked, which caused Moxxie to fall quiet, because he knew Cain was right. If their positions had been reversed, Moxxie would most likely have not chosen to bring along the rest of the townsfolk if it was Cain who had been taken. He didn't want Momo or Wesley or anyone else he cared for to get hurt. But that made him wonder… was this even a fight that they could win?
After a moment, Moxxie looked up at Cain. "So what is the plan here?"
"Simple," Cain said as he got up. "You are going to get out of here," he said as he pointed in the direction he had come from. "If you follow the trail of bodies I left, it'll lead you out of the entrance."
Moxxie blinked in surprise. "But what about you? What if you need backup?"
"I came here to talk with Marcus. And honestly, Moxxie, you do not look like you're in any condition to fight a son of Satan," Cain pointed out. "You're in over your head and you are just going to get yourself killed if you remain here."
Moxxie looked down at himself. He knew that even if he was still capable of shooting down normal Hellborn demons, Cain was right. Tilly had absolutely clobbered him and if Marcus was on a similar or even higher level as her… that was not a fight he could win.
"Yeah… that is fair," Moxxie admitted. "Though, I do think it's insane of you to be thinking of fighting Marcus, especially alone!"
"Don't worry, Moxxie, I already have a plan," Cain reassured him. "But… if there is a chance that I don't come out of this cave, you are allowed to take my bike and get the hell out of there… on the condition that you don't bother the Fury woman that I have tied up outside the cave. She's tied up for a reason."
"Fury?" Moxxie asked.
"Oh, you'll know who I mean when you get out," Cain told him.
Moxxie stared at Cain for a moment, feeling a bit of admiration for him. "Alright. But I will admit, I'm still surprised that you are doing this."
"Well… sometimes I surprise myself as well," Cain admitted with a shrug.
"I guess I have nothing else to say… other than I wish you luck. Because you'll be needing it when facing Marcus," Moxxie told him.
"Thanks, Mox," Cain replied with a nod, smiling behind his mask.
And so, the two parted ways as Moxxie, his guns and ammo replenished, headed toward the entrance while Cain went even deeper into the cave, looking for Marcus…
Back in Ragetown, but specifically in Verosika's trailer, Blitz was being cornered by Alexei. The naked, unarmed, and tired imp he was in trouble when he saw the Hellhound grinning at him.
Blitz looked around the trailer and spotted his flintlock pistol on the counter where he had left it. He glanced at Alexei before he tried to dash over to his gun, but Alexei quickly intercepted him, grabbing Blitz by the shoulder and slamming him against the wall.
"Fuck!" Blitz shouted as he struggled in Alexei's tight grip, his feet dangling off the floor as his towel fell away from his body. Blitz certainly wasn't in the most dignified state right now, as Alexei had literally caught him with his pants down.
"My employers wants a word with you, Mr. Buckzo," Alexei told him. "Consider yourself lucky they want you alive. Or, well, perhaps that makes you unlucky…"
"Get… off!" Blitz shouted as his arm struggled to find something, anything, that he could use as a weapon. Eventually, he felt his fingers touch something. It was a bottle of shampoo, which he lifted up and squirted into Alexei's eyes.
"Gah!" Alexei shouted as he tried to wipe the shampoo out of his eyes. Blitz took advantage of the distraction to kick himself free and try to squirms around the Hellhound, going for his gun. But Alexei caught Blitz by the horn and shoved him back against the sink. Blitz struggled and managed to bite Alexei in the arm, causing the hellhound to growl as he punched Blitz off of his arm, sending Blitz to the floor as Alexei looked at his claws and then down at Blitz. "Of course, they never said in what condition you had to be in…"
Blitz got up and narrowly avoided a swipe from Alexei's claws. He crawled over to the bathtub he had just been in and slashed some of the soapy water at the Hellhound. He looked around for a weapon, picking up a nearby bar of soap and throwing it at Alexei. The bar just bounced off Alexei's chest and the Hellhound began to advance as Blitz tried squirting him with moisturizers.
"Hope you like your coat shiny!" Blitz shouted as Alexei charged at him. Blitz looked down and saw the bar of soap that he had tried throwing at Alexei. Getting an idea, he kicked the bar of soap over to Alexei, causing him to step and slip on the bar. He gasped and fell toward the tub, Blitz managing to dive out of the way as Alexei flew past him and fell into the bathtub with a splash. Blitz quickly looked around and spotted a plugged in hair dryer, giving him an idea for a plan. He smiled and grabbed the hair dryer… only for Alexei to throw a shampoo bottle at him, knocking the hair dryer out of his hands.
"Yeah, let's not do that," Alexei said as he climbed out of the tub. He was wet, angry, and now more determined than ever to get his target. He saw Blitz running for his gun again and Alexei lunged at him, grabbing Blitz by the legs and tackling him to the ground. Blitz squirmed in Alexei's grip, the two rolling across the floor of the trailer. Once again, Blitz was forced to improvise, kicking himself free and grabbing a nearby plate to throw at Alexei, who barely dodged it.
Blitz quickly began using more of Verosika's memorabilia as weapons. This included more from her plate collection. He threw these collectible plates towards Alexei, managing to hit Alexei with some of the plates, which shattered when they hit the Hellhound.
"You're terrible at playing fetch," Blitz joked as he ran out of plates and grabbed a lunch box to throw at the Hellhound. Much to his surprise, Alexei managed to catch the lunch box before crushing it with his bare hands. "But fuck, you're tough."
"What do you expect?" Alexei asked as he cracked his knuckles. "The average Hellhound is much stronger than the average member of your kind. I am worth at least several of you."
"I may not be great at math, but this still sounds questionable," Blitz said as he backed into a dresser. He opened one of the drawers and began to go through its contents. "But let's see if you're tough against-" He quickly pulled out a… vibrator, which he threw at the canine demon. It just bounced off of him, Alexei being left unfazed and very unimpressed.
"Is that really what you can-" Alexei was cut off when he was pelted by more vibrators thrown at him by Blitz, the vibrators hitting him in the face specifically.
"Vibe on that, why don'cha?" Blitz asked before Alexei snarled and lunged towards him. Blitz grabbed a nearby clock and slammed it against Alexei's face, but this only served to make Alexei mad as he grabbed Blitz and tried to pin him down to keep him from fighting back, only to get hit in face by a vibrator that Blitz kept holding, causing Alexei to loosen his grip on Blitz, giving Blitz another chance to squirm away.
"What else does this thing do?" Blitz asked before he noticed a button on the vibrator and pressed on it…
The vibrator extended, shooting up like a rod.
"Wow… Verosika, you dirty girl," Blitz commented before Alexei launched himself at him. Blitz held up the extra long vibrator like a sword, using it to hit and poke at Alexei, who found himself being held at bay by the unusual weapon. He wasn't sure how to react to Blitz using a vibrator against him and this confusion distracted Alexei enough for the imp to kick him by the hindlegs.
Alexei grunted as Blitz hit him in the stomach. Alexei glared at him and decided that enough was enough, so when Blitz tried to swat at him with the vibrator again, he grabbed it and broke the extended vibrator into two, but Blitz just turned on the lower half of the broken vibrator and shoved it into Alexei's opened jaws, down into his throat.
"Choke on this!" Blitz shouted at him before kicking the choking Alexei away. He glanced at his gun, which was still across the trailer, but decided to instead head for the door. He realized that it wasn't a good idea to continue fighting Alexei in such close quarters where he had very little space to move around, so moving out into the open where he would have more room was a safer bet to make than trying to get his gun while still within Alexei's reach.
He grabbed a pink towel to wrap around his lower waist as he ran for the door. "Enjoy the sausage, bub!" he shouted before Alexei turned around, his red eyes glaring at the imp before he lunged towards him. "Oh shit!" Blitz shouted as he was knocked to the floor, the Hellhound punching him as they struggled, rolling around the floor of the trailer. When Blitz saw some of the remaining vibrators on the floor, he grabbed one and jabbed Alexei in the eye.
"GAH!" Alexei shouted as he was jabbed in the eye. This got him to cough out of the vibrator and gave Blitz the chance to uppercut him.
Wasting no time, Blitz slipped away from Alexei and made it to the door that led out of the trailer. He managed to open the door and take a step outside… only for Alexei to immediately pounce onto him, taking them both out of the trailer.
"Shit!" Blitz shouted as he was pinned down by Alexei, who was not letting Blitz slip away from him this time. As Blitz tried to escape, Alexei grabbed him by the neck and began to strangle the imp, Blitz struggling in vain to get the Hellhound off of him.
"You are… very annoying," Alexei said while he strangled Blitz. "Although for what it is worth, I can't help but have some respect for you…"
"Huh?" Blitz questioned as he struggled to get his strong paws off of his neck.
"I did my homework, I know all about you, Blitz," Alexei told him with a grin. "You adopted that Hellhound girl, who cared enough about you to intervene during the Mud Brawl. She's pretty lucky to have you… and you're lucky to have her. I respect that… but at the same time, I envy both of you." He looked down at the choking Blitz, looked him in the eyes. "I'm not as lucky as your daughter. I didn't have a loving adoptive family. I don't have anyone that cares about me. My employers just see me as a useful tool, a loyal dog, nothing more. But… what else is there for someone like me? This is what I was raised to be, raised to do?" He gave Blitz a look, expressing a little regret. "Then again, you're not that better off than I am, are you? And don't worry, I'll make sure your daughters will be taken good care of…"
Blitz glared at Alexei, trying to kick him while he attempted to scream out for help. But Alexei kept him down as he tightened his group on his neck, making Blitz lose some air. Blitz weakly hit Alexei's arms, trying to break his hold while face started to turn a hue of blue as Alexei kept strangling him, not giving him a chance to get up…
But just as Blitz's vision started to go dark, Alexei was suddenly pulled off from Blitz and punched across the face, knocking him away. Blitz gasped for breath and looked up to his savior, seeing that the one who helped him out was none other than… Tex.
Meanwhile, in another part of Ragetown, Loona was fighting Robo-Fizz. She dodged his overly extended arms as they tried to punch her, Loona having to jump around to avoid getting hit. Looking around, she saw a knocked down barrel and some crates and got an idea, her hands glowing with magic as she used her telekinesis to throw the barrel and crates towards Robo-Fizz.
"Take this, you animatronic freak!" Loona shouted, hitting Robo-Fizz with the objects.
Robo-Fizz, however, spun his arms around to knock the crates and barrel away, the robotic jester leering at Loona. "Your new tricks are not new anymore, Loona! They aren't going to work on me this time!" he shouted as he extended his arms again towards Loona, his metallic hands reaching towards her.
Loona levitated some more objects, like a part of a fence and a stand, to hit Robo-Fizz, stopping him before he could reach her. His arms still reached for her, so she jumped up to avoid his mechanical claws while spotting part of a broken sign, picking it up to launch it at him. Robo-Fizz ducked down as the sign was thrown at him, but then Loona used her spell to grab the sign and have it circle back like a boomerang, sending it to hit the robot clown from behind, making his head spin.
"OW! That hurts!" Robo-Fizz shouted with a glare.
"Yeah, that's the point!" Loona shouted before she once again had to dodge before she could get hit by his fist. She then grabbed his arm just as he was pulling it back in, using it to get close enough to punch Robo-Fizz across the face, knocking him down to the ground. Once he was down, Loona kept on punching him.
"Ow! Hey! Oof!" Robo-Fizz cried out while getting punched by Loona.
"You think you can just show up without expecting an ass-kicking, creep?!" Loona shouted while she kept on punching Robo-Fizz, leaving him some dents in his robotic face. "I've beaten you before, you living sex-bot. What made you think this time would be any different?"
Robo-Fizz just chuckled while 'bleeding' oil from his mouth. "Oh Loona, you think so little of me…"
"Uh, yeah, you're a poor imitation of the real Fizz," Loona told him. "Like always."
"But did it ever occur to you that this time I would have help?" Robo-Fizz asked her with a grin while turning his head slowly to her.
Before Loona could ask what he meant, suddenly she was hit by a heavy force. "YAH!" she cried out as she was hit away from Robo-Fizz and knocked to the ground. When she got up, she saw what had hit her and her eyes widened in shock. "You've gotta be fucking kidding me!"
"Oh believe me, we're fucking not!" Robo-Fizz declared as he stretched out his limbs and used them to pull himself on top of a mechanical bull with spider-legs. The very same one that Loona had a bad experience with earlier that day. "I believe you've already met my pal, Bessie. I invited her for our little reunion. Hope you don't mind, Loona!"
"Wait… you're the one who operated that thing?!" Loona exclaimed as she realized that Robo-Fizz was behind the mechanical bull's vendetta against her earlier.
"Uh, that 'thing' is a 'she', robots are people too you know!" Robo-Fizz declared while sitting atop the mechanical bull, Bessie, as steam came through her nose in anger. "Now look, you've made her upset… LET'S GET HER!"
Bessie growled in agreement as she, with Robo-Fizz on her back, began to charge at Loona.
Loona immediately started to run. "Shit, shit, SHIT!" she shouted while running for her life as the two mechanical freaks started chasing her through the town.
Right as the mechanical bull was on top of her, she dove out of the way just in time, narrowly dodging the spider legs trying to crush her. She then began levitating some objects in her way to try to hit the bull and Robo-Fizz. She levitated crates, barrels, and carts all in an attempt to stop or at least slow them down, but they just charged through everything that she put in front of them. Realizing that this wasn't working, Loona decided she had to get to higher ground and she used her spell to boost herself up onto several objects before landing on a rooftop. She took a moment to catch her breath, but she only managed to get a few seconds before she heard the mechanical bull climbing after her, using its mechanical spider legs to crawl up onto the roof. She got ready to run again, but was then hit across the face by Robo-Fizz's hand.
Loona was knocked off from the roof by this hit, but just as she was about to hit the ground, Robo-Fizz caught her by her flannel jacket. "Nah-ah-ah! You're not getting out of this that easily, Loona!"
Loona was yanked back and thrown up in the air. "YAAH!" she shouted before falling down for Robo-Fizz to catch her again. He used his extendable arm to bring her in front of him and Bessie, Robo-Fizz smiling at her.
"Hmm, so you think you can get away from me, Loona?" Robo-Fizz asked before using his other fist to send a punch towards her face. "That's for ruining my tent at Loo-Loo Land!"
Loona looked up at him with a glare. "You were… holding a kid hostage…"
"Liar! We were just having fun!" Robo-Fizz claimed before smashing Loona through a rooftop. She ended up landing inside an attic, groaning in pain as she looked around at the many objects and furniture in the attic space.
As she got up, she only had a moment of peace before she looked up to see a mechanical spider-leg crashing through into the roof after her. Realizing that the mechanical bull was going to land on top of her, she ran through the attic as the ceiling caved in on top of her, running for the nearest window and jumping through it. Behind her, the mechanical bull fell through the floor of the attic as well, Robo-Fizz cheering as he rode the mechanical bull all the way to the ground level floor. Outside, Loona had a bit of a rough landing, but once again only had a few seconds before the mechanical bull came crashing out of the building behind her. Before she could get out of the way, she was hit directly by the bull, knocking her into an alleyway. Robo-Fizz laughed as he saw Loona roll across the ground.
"HAHAHA! This is hilarious!" Robo-Fizz shouted as he saw Loona about to get up. He directed Bessie to stomp on her with one of her mechanical legs, Loona just narrowly avoiding getting stomped on by rolling out of the way.
"AAAH!" Loona cried out as she found herself underneath the mechanical bull, surrounded by spider legs on all sides.
"Come on, Bessie, show her a real show stomper!" Robo-Fizz shouted with a grin.
Bessie began to stomp her legs down around Loona, the Hellhound girl having to constantly roll around to avoid getting crushed. She then saw the bull about to try to crush her with its entire body and a panicked Loona only just managed to get out from underneath the bull in time. But as Loona started to get up, she felt one of Robo-Fizz's mechanical arms grabbing her around the waist as he lifted her up and brought her in front of him again.
"You know something, Loona, seeing you get tossed around like a ragdoll is pretty funny," Robo-Fizz taunted her. "But you know what they say: comedy is easy, but dying is really, really hard…"
"Fuck… you… assho-"
Before she could finish, Loona was slammed to the ground hard while Robo-Fizz laughed, clearly enjoying having the upper hand. He saw Loona trying to use her spells again, but he quickly used his arms to grab her hands.
"Why don't we have Bessie crush those hands, hmm?" Robo-Fizz taunted with a grin as he held her hands out, making sure that Loona was unable to move as he locked her arms to the ground. "Bessie… crush her hands!"
Bessie raised one of its spider-legs up in the air, aiming for Loona's hands. Loona struggled to free her arms from Robo-Fizz's grip, but with her arms restrained she was unable to use a spell. Instead, she could only watch as the spider-leg was about to crush her hands, making her close her eyes in anticipation…
…only for nothing to happen, causing Loona to open her arms in surprise.
"Huh?" Robo-Fizz questioned in confusion before noticing that a mechanical hand had grabbed the leg, stopping it from crushing Loona. Another hand stretched over and grabbed the bull by its head, pulling it back. "What the shit?! Bessie!"
Bessie was forcefully pulled back away from Loona as Robo-Fizz ended up getting shaken off and was forced to let go of Loona's arms. He fell down and he and Loona watched as Bessie was pulled away by someone whose appearance made the Hellhound's eyes widen in surprise.
"Tentadora?!" Loona exclaimed in surprise, seeing the sex-bot holding the bull back.
"Loona!" Tentadora called out to her while holding the bull back. Her eyes turned red in anger. "Where is Damian?!"
Damian was in fact still with Jack, Jill, Amaroq, and Styx, who were all staring at the Terafrost in shock and horror. The large, frozen tortoise creature began making a beeline toward them, specifically Jack, crushing anything that was in its way.
"Why is it chasing us?!" Amaroq exclaimed as they ran.
"It's… it's after me…" Jack admitted, prompting the Hellpup to turn to him.
"What are you talking about?" Amaroq asked in confusion. "What do you mean it's after you?"
"Well… the thing is-"
"Stand back, folks!"
The kids turned to see a group of imps with guns and rifles, which they aimed at the Terafrost. "We'll take care of that frozen turtle… with our guns!"
"Let's shoot it in the eyes!" another imp replied as they held up their guns.
The imps began to shoot at the Terafrost, but their bullets were ineffective, just bouncing off the skin of the Terafrost, who looked down at the imps in annoyance. As the imps keep on shooting, the Terafrost made a loud roar and blasted the imps with its ice breath.
"ROOAAARR!" it roared, its breath freezing the imps on the spot, instantly turning them into ice statues that quickly fell over and were smashed to pieces.
Luckily, Styx and the children had at least made good use of the distraction to put some distance between them and the Terafrost, meaning they had been in no danger of being frozen. But now the Terafrost was turning to them again, resuming the chase.
"Well that didn't work!" Damian pointed out.
"We gotta look for shelter, and-" Styx stopped when he noticed Jack running off from the rest of the group. "Jack!?"
"Where are you going?!" Amaroq asked in shock as she and the others saw Jack running away from the group. But what was even more shocking was that the Terafrost was turning its head when it noticed Jack running off on his own.
"I'm going to lead the Terafrost away from you guys!" Jack shouted as he ran and just as he predicted, the Terafrost began to focus on him and chase after the jackal pup.
"Jack!" Amaroq and Styx shouted with worry as they saw the Terafrost pursue Jack.
Jack ran through a part of the town that was covered in snow. He knew that he Terafrost was still behind him as he headed for the entrance of the town, deciding that the only way for this town and everyone in it to be safe was to lead the Terafrost as far away from the town as possible.
However, he felt the footsteps getting closer and he turned around, realizing that the Terafrost was closer than he realized and while he was still a good distance from the entrance of the town. This caused him to start to panic.
'I don't know if I can make it or not!' he thought as he began to reconsider if this was a good idea or not. His foot then hit something on the ground, a rock, and it made him trip over. "AH!" he cried out as he fell. Before he could get up, a shadow loomed over him, and he turned around and looked up to see the Terafrost right on top of him. "Oh no…"
The Terafrost looked down at Jack with a expression resembling a smile. The large face was now closer to Jack, who backed away from the giant ice tortoise while shivering, since just being near the Terafrost made him feel cold…
"Get away from him!"
Jack heard a familiar voice and he looked up to see a purple blur leaping off from the roof of a building. It was Jill, who had been following Jack and the Terafrost while leaping from building to building. Now she was on the back of the Terafrost, her hands transforming into claws as she tried stabbing the Terafrost's back, making it roar.
"Jill! What are you doing?!" Jack shouted at her.
"Saving your tail!" Jill shouted back while avoiding a blast of ice from the Terafrost.
"Get out of there, Jill! It's too dangerous!" Jack shouted in a panic.
Jill flew up while forming her arms into wings as the Terafrost kept shooting its ice breath towards her. Once she was high enough, she transformed her arms into a spiral drill so that when she landed she would hit the Terafrost on its icy back, causing it to roar some more. When she just bounced off of it, she formed her fist into a large mallet and swung it down to hit the Terafrost in the head.
This only angered the Terafrost, who attempted to shake the hellcat off as she ran down its icy back. Forming her hands into knives, she tried once again to stab its backside, but this proved to be ineffective. The Terafrost continued to shake its body, ultimately resulting in her falling off along with snow coming out of its back.
As she fell, she stretched her hand to grab a nearby pole and pulled herself over to it, hanging onto it as she saw the Terafrost glaring at her before it swung its tail towards her, Jill jumping off the wooden pole to avoid the tail.
She used her extended arms to pull herself onto the top of a building, while the Terafrost hit with its tail. The building began to collapse, but before it fell Jill managed to jump and land on another rooftop, running and jumping from rooftop to rooftop as the Terafrost tried to hit her with its ice breath. Unfortunately, the ice managed to catch her foot, making her wince.
"Crap!" she cursed as she messed up her jump and fell to the ground, landing in the snow.
"Jill!" Jack shouted as he rushed towards her. He found her lying in the snow and he feared the worst. "Jill! Jill, are you okay?!" he asked her.
Jill groaned as she looked down at her frozen foot. "Just… cold…"
"Oh man, Jill, this is what I was afraid of," Jackson said with a worried look, holding Jill up from her head. "You shouldn't have followed me, I didn't want anyone to get hurt."
"Yeah, well… I didn't want you to get hurt either, dummy," Jill pointed out with a small smile.
"Jill…" Jack said before he noticed the Terafrost's looking at them with an angry expression. He realized that it was getting ready to charge. "Crap."
The Terafrost charged at them and Jack held onto Jill in a panicked attempt to protect her. He did not want her to get hurt because of him, although it looked like there was very little he could do as the monster was right on top of them when… something suddenly pulled the Terafrost away from the two children.
"Huh?" Jack and Jill both asked as they spotted someone behind the Terafrost, pulling on its tail. They watched as the beast turned around, its eyes widening in shock as it recognized who was holding on its tail.
"Who is that?" Jack asked in confusion.
Jill smiled. "I've heard of him," she told Jack. "I think that's-"
"Hey there," Chase said as he held onto its tail while sporting a grin at the monster. "Did you miss me?"
Meanwhile, back in front of Verosika's trailer, two massive Hellhounds were squaring off against each other. Tex threw some punches and jabs at Alexei, who was able to dodge and block them as he stood on the defensive.
"I don't know who you are, but you are not welcome back here!" Tex declared as he swung his fist at Alexei. "These demons are under my protection, including him!"
"I don't wish to fight you, comrade," Alexei said as he dodged Tex's fists, stepping back while keeping up his guard. "Which is why I'll give you a warning. Stay out of this! No need to involve another Hellhound in my business!"
Tex just scoffed as he delivered a kick towards Alexei, who managed to block it. "Sorry, but backing out when someone's in trouble was not in the job description," he said as he charged at Alexei, only for Alexei to catch his wrists and throw him aside, making Tex slide across the dirt.
"You are… stubborn, I will give you that," Alexei confessed as Tex eyed him and snarled at him. "Although you really need to learn how to choose your fights."
Tex ran towards Alexei, wrapping his arms around him and tackling him to the ground. The two rolled in the dirt, Alexei struggling for a moment before he swung his fist to hit Tex in the eye before kicking him off. Once Tex was off of him, Alexei delivered a high kick to his face, knocking Tex back. Alexei then scoffed and turned to finish off Blitz, only to then feel Tex grab him by the pants leg and pull him to the ground. The older Hellhound looked up to see Tex about to jump on top of him, but Alexei managed to grab him by the face and slam him to the ground, pinning him against the dirt.
"I warned you," Alexei hissed at him as Tex struggled to get himself free. But Alexei was much stronger. Alexei then proceeds to punch Tex in the side. "And when I give you a warning, you listen. Your devotion towards that imp could be the death of you," he declared as he punched Tex in the side some more. He then grabbed Tex's head and slammed it against the ground. At this point, Tex could hear ringing in his ears, along with the cracking of knuckles. "I'm sorry it has to be this way, son… but it's just business."
Tex suddenly swung his fist up at Alexei, hitting him in the fist and knocking him back. Tex managed to get up and he swung a few punches at Alexei, who mostly blocked them. "Do yourself a favor and stay down, you're only going to get yourself hurt," Alexei tried to tell Tex, only to see that the younger Hellhound wasn't in much of a listening mood. He glanced at Blitz, who was still laying on the dirt, and then back at Tex. He sighed, realizing that he would have to take care of Tex before you could finish grabbing Blitz. Tex was just far too… persistent to ignore, so he grabbed Tex by the head and slammed it into his knee. He then began to wail on Tex with punches and kicks, not even giving Tex a chance to fight back anymore. He had allowed Tex to get in a few hits early on, but now Alexei had finished holding back on Tex and was being as ruthless with him as he would with anyone else.
To him, it was necessary. Alexei didn't want to hurt any Hellhounds if it could be helped. But sometimes, there would be cases for him like this where he had to stop holding back in order to get his job done. If one Hellhound got in the way, he would feel bad about it later.
As Alexei continued to beat him, he eventually stopped himself. As he looked at Tex's condition, he was surprised to see that Tex was still standing at all, which actually managed to impress him. He saw Tex look up at him with a glare and Alexei gave him a look as if to say 'don't try it'. But much to his irritation, Tex continued to test him by throwing his fist at him. Alexei caught the fist before twisting Tex's arm and kneeing him in the stomach. He then elbowed Tex's back, sending him down. Tex quickly got up again and swiped his leg to trip Alexei, who managed to dodge the swipe, though he still stumbled.
"Huh, not bad," Alexei said with a respectful nod. "I can tell that you've been in a few fights, kid. You at least know how to take a good beating."
"Fuck you," Tex spat.
"You're part of the security team for the succubus, right?" Alexei asked. "Obviously, this isn't your first gig, though I think I recognize your techniques. You've been through the dog fight circuit, haven't you?"
Tex didn't answer, which caused Alexei to chuckle.
"Ah, I thought so," Alexei said. "You got a lot going for you, kid. But you are still young."
Tex was still standing despite his swollen eye, his bruises, and the blood coming from his nose and lip. Despite all of that, he still had his fists up. "I can do this all day."
"Can you?" Alexei asked before doing a swinging kick to Tex, who managed to block the attack. Alexei delivered some punches, but then Tex managed to hit him across the face, surprising him. Tex then kneed him in the side and the two hounds began to grapple, Tex even attempting to bite him but Alexei dodged the bite and managed to deliver a swift karate chop to Tex's neck, sending him back. "Not bad. But you haven't seen the depths of Hell like I have. You got spirit, I'll admit, but you're still inexperienced. Who knows, maybe you'll learn a thing or two from this. "
Tex wasn't listening though, instead charging to deliver some hits at Alexei. The Siberian husky tried to block his punches, but then felt some hits on his stomach and chest. His patience wearing very thin, Alexei grabbed Tex by the fur of his back and slammed him down to the ground. And this time Alexei was not letting Tex get up. He slammed his paw into Tex's stomach, making him gasp in pain.
"I apologize for doing this," Alexei said coolly before he raised his foot to Tex's head. "But you were in my way."
After the kick to his head, Tex was successfully knocked out. Alexei knelt down to check his pulse, sighing in relief when he confirmed that Tex was still alive. He knew that the Vees wouldn't care if he killed anyone that wasn't his target, but Alexei still preferred for no Hellhound to die if they didn't need to. Sure, killing Tex would have probably been much easier, but also perfectly avoidable. Alexei much preferred to just knock Tex out.
"You fought well, but now you must rest," he told the unconscious Tex before he looked around. "Wait," he said as his eyes searched for Blitz… only to realize that the imp was no longer in the spot where he had been left. "Where did he go?!"
As Alexei looked around, he turned to the trailer, where he saw Blitz standing in the doorframe, wearing his pants and holding up his gun.
"Taste lead, Kronsteen," Blitz said before aiming his flintlock at the surprised Alexei and pulling the trigger.
BANG!
Back to Loona and Tentadora, the latter had shoved the mechanical bull away from the Hellhound. She then went to help Loona up.
"Are you alright, Loona?" Tenta asked while Loona was still in shock.
"Y-Yeah, a bit sore, but I'll live," Loona replied. "But, uh, thanks Ten-"
Loona then saw Tentadora's eyes change to glowing red.
"I'm asking you again… WHERE IS DAMIAN?!" Tentadora demanded while shaking Loona, who winced from her injuries. "I ENTRUSTED YOU WITH HIS SAFETY!"
"Ow, ow, he's still safe!" Loona assured her. "He's with Styx! I stayed behind to keep the creepy robot clown away from Damian while Styx got him and the other kids to a shelter!"
"That… is an acceptable answer," Tentadora said. "But we should still locate them and confirm they're safe-"
"HEY! Nobody ruins my fun with Loona!" Robo-Fizz declared as he and Bessie got up, confronting the two as Robo-Fizz jumped off from the bull. "Looks like we'll have to beat this buxom bolt-head, Bessie!"
Tentadora glared at Robo-Fizz and Bessie. "These two giving you a hard time?"
"Yeah," Loona replied while levitating a crate. "We need to take them down before we can find Styx and the kids!"
"Dealing with possible threats to Damian is part of my programming," Tenta declared as she and Loona faced off against Robo-Fizz and Bessie, Tenta's hands transforming into claws.
"Alright, then let's settle this…" Robo-Fizz said as he looked between Loona and Tentadora. "I pick the red head!" he shouted as he extended his fist and punched Tentadora across the face. While she stepped back, he laughed and launched himself at Tentadora, tackling into her.
"Wait, that would leave me…" Loona said as she felt steam hit the back of her neck. She turned around and saw Bessie, who gave her a roaring moo. "Oh, fuck me!"
The mechanical bull raised its leg to try to stomp on Loona, who dodged the spider-bull's attack. She levitates some objects, like a chair and some plank wood, to hit it, but the more it got hit, the madder Bessie got…
Meanwhile, Robo-Fizz was spinning his arms toward Tentadora, who formed her hands into knives as she tried to slice off Robo-Fizz's arms. But Robo-Fizz dodged those knives and spun around so quickly that he slapped her across the face several times, knocking her back.
"Say, you look like an old model," Robo-Fizz commented while suddenly appearing behind her. "But I still recognize the craftsmanship. Let me guess, you're from Ozzie's old factory?"
"I can confirm," Tenta responded before she stretched her leg out to form into a sword as she swung it behind her, trying to stab Robo-Fizz, who dodged it. "And you must be one of the Robotic Fizzarollis from Asmodeus' factory. Although I have no idea what you're doing here of all places."
"Interesting, so I guess this makes you my big sister! You probably had to take a lot of packages before they discontinued you, huh sis?" Robo-Fizz commented as he sent his fist to Tentadora, who dodged them. "Must be nice to not be used as a fuck-toy anymore… unless you're still one!"
Tentadora glared at Robo-Fizz. "And what does that make you? I know what demons use the Robotic Fizzies for!" she declared while her fists turned into boxing gloves as they sprung towards Robo-Fizz, punching him in the face and knocking him back.
Meanwhile, Loona was still dealing with the mechanical bull trying to crush her. She levitated more objects, using them to either hit the bull or block its page. She looked around and realized that she was near a blacksmith shop and she decided to use that to her advantage, levitating a bunch of horseshoes and using them to pelt the bull… which only made it madder as it continued to chase after Loona, who was desperately trying to think of a ways to beat it.
'There's no way I can take on something that big,' she thought while looking at the bull. She then noticed its legs, which gave her an idea. 'But maybe…'
Loona decided to try a different approach. Rather than just throwing objects at the bull and hoping to slow it down that way, Loona waited for the bull to be close enough before she gave herself a magical boost. She landed on the back of the bull, finding herself in a familiar position as the bull tried to buck her off. As she held on, she looked at the spider legs, noticing that they were being held together by bolts and screws. Using her magic, Loona focused on the bolts and screws, radiating them with a nightly glow…
'Now!' she thought as she used her telekinesis spell to pull the bolts and screws out of the legs. She managed to pull them out of the first leg, causing it to snap off and causing Bessie to tip over, unable to move with only three legs supporting it.
"One down, three to go," Loona said before she realized something. Seeing the detached leg while also looking at the now three-legged mechanical bull, an idea formed in Loona's head, an idea that could give her a way to deal with the bull quickly.
She jumped off the bull and raised her hand towards the spider-leg. Seeing its target now in front of it, Bessie attempted to charge towards Loona, dragging itself across the ground in the process. Loona levitated the detached leg and several other objects and used them to target the joints of Bessie's other legs, rather than just hitting the body. This made the bull bellow as it fell to the ground. When it tried to pick itself back up, Loona levitated the leg straight down into another part of the bull's legs, detaching the second one.
As the bull struggled to balance itself on its two legs, Loona used both of her hands to levitate two of the detached legs, spinning them around until they were aimed at Bessie. Bringing her fingers down, the detached legs were launched down, stabbing both Bessie's body and slicing off its head. Bessie's body stopped moving while the head bounced across the ground, the lights in the eyes dying down.
Loona visibly relaxed as she looked down at the bull that had caused her so much pain. She smiled. "Bulls-eye," she said before turning to see Tentadora and Robo-Fizz still going at it, punching and kicking each other.
The two had been beating each other for quite a while and they both looked worn out with some tears and circuitry showing. Their eyes had some cracks in them. Robo-Fizz's jester outfit was torn to the point of showing his exoskeleton while Tenta's dress was torn to the point of it looking like a top and loincloth.
"G-G-Give up, yet?" Robo-Fizz asked, his voice distorted as he sent a punch to Tentadora's stomach.
"No-o-ot yet!" she responded as she delivered an uppercut to him, sending his head up high like a Rock 'Em, Sock 'Em Robot. Robo-Fizz quickly reached up with his arms, grabbed his head, and pushed it back down. He then noticed Bessie's remains and realized that he was down one ally. Thinking quickly, he turned back to Tenta and lunged at her, wrapping his body around her like a snake coiling around its prey. As Tenta struggled, Fizz laughed and used his legs like a spring, launching them both into the side of a building, causing it to partially collapse.
"Tenta!" Loona shouts, seeing both robots vanish into the damaged building. She rushed over, trying to cover her mouth to protect her from all the dust created by the debris. "Tenta? Tenta, are you-?" She saw a lone robot coming out of the building. "Tenta…?"
Sure enough, it was Tentadora, who stepped out of the building. She looked over at Loona in silence while slowly stepping away from the debris.
Loona sighed in relief. "Thank Lucifer you're alright," she said as she saw Tentadora about to collapse to her knees, prompting Loona to walk over to her. "Hey, are you alright-"
"Loona, RUN!" Tentadora shouted as her head suddenly snapped up. A second after she gave her warning, she launched herself towards Loona before the Hellhound could react.
Loona was tackled by Tentadora, who grabbed her and held her down to the ground. "Gah! Tenta, what the fuck?!" she shouted as she struggled to get the fembot off of her. "What are you doing? I'm on your side!"
"Hehehe… isn't it obvious… Loooona?"
This was not Tentadora's voice coming out of her body as her head raised up to show her glowing red eyes. Loona's eyes widened upon realizing that it was not Tentadora in control…
"You?!" Loona cried out in shock. "How?!"
"Let's just say that I know how to hack into others like me!" Robo-Fizz's voice in Tentadora replied as he cackled while holding up Loona. "Now with a new body, we can both have tons of fun!"
Back to Chase, who was dealing with the Terafrost. The large tortoise, upon recognizing the strong Hellhound, immediately shot its ice breath at him. Chase let go of the tail as he ran around to avoid the frost. He ran into a building, went up the stairs, and then jumped out of the window, landing on the back of the Terafrost.
"Alright, how about a good old back massage?" Chase asked while forming his hands into fists, giving the Terafrost's ice spike back some punches. While Jill's attempts had been completely ineffective, Chase actually managed to do some damage, giving the Terafrost some agonizing pain and causing it to roar.
While Chase was busy with the Terafrost, Jack helped Jill up, her arm around his shoulder as he attempted to get them both to safety.
"You know, I always wanted to see Chase in action," Jill said while looking back at Chase. She then winced due to her frozen foot.
"And I want you to stay alive!" Jack shouted as he led Jill to somewhere hopefully safe.
Chase kept on punching for a while, then tried to use his claws to scratch up the weakened skin. The skin actually bled from the scratch marks, causing the Terafrost to cry out in pain some more. It then started to shake its body around, but Chase held onto as he crawled toward the head, bringing out his claws once he was close enough.
"Alright, time to take you-"
But then the Terafrost reared up onto its front legs, causing Chase to slip and lose his grip and his footing. "FUCK!" he shouted as he was falling down, hitting several of the icy spikes and bouncing off them like he was a pinball. He attempted to dig his claws into the glacier back to slow his fall, but he still fell off the back and landed on the ground. He looked up as the Terafrost turned around, glared at him, and then turned away from him. "Oh, so it's like that? Well that won't stop me-"
Before he could finish, the tail of the Terafrost swatted the Hellhound, knocking him off the ground and into the air, flying…
Backstage, Blitz was managing to hold up Tex, who was fading in and out of consciousness, as they both made their way over to Verosika and her crew, who all looked at them in shock.
"Tex!" Verosika shouted as she ran up to check up on her bodyguard, feeling his bruised face in concern. "What happened to him!?"
"After this, you and I need to talk about his pay, since I think he deserves a raise," Blitz mentioned as Ace and Kiki ran over to help sit Tex down. "But first, we got bigger things to worry about."
Before Verosika could say anything, something suddenly crashed into the backstage area, landing next to them and hitting some equipment.
"Holy fuck!" Josh exclaimed as he jumped in shock.
"Whoa… what happened to him?" Milky asked, pointing at the demon who had made a crater out of the equipment and was now groaning.
"Wait… Chase?!" Blitz asked in shock, surprised to see Chase here of all demons. "What are you doing here?!"
"Oh… Blitz?" Chase asked while holding his head as he got up. "Funny to run into you again," he said before turning to Verosika. When he recognized her, his eyes widened and his expression quickly formed into a smile. "Whoa… Ms. Mayday… didn't expect to run into you here. Big fan of your work."
"Um… thanks, I appreciate it," Verosika replied, not sure what to make out of this Hellhound in ripped clothing that just literally fell from the sky.
"Name's Chase, you probably heard of me," Chase replied with his fist to his hips. "O-or, maybe not, but I understand if you didn't. You're a very busy demon…"
Blitz stared in shock and disbelief. Was this beast of a Hellhound… actually nervous around Verosika? Or had he just been hit in the head a few too many times?
"Oh, no, I have heard of you," Verosika replied, which caused Chase's tail to start to wag.
"Really?" Chase asked, looking shockingly bashful while rubbing the back of his head, acting more like a shy puppy than a powerful wolf. "Wow… I can't believe the Verosika Mayday has heard of me…"
"Uh, not to interrupt the whole 'high school meet cute' shtick going on here," Blitz interrupted, causing Verosika to give him a dirty look. "But what are you doing here, Chase? In fact, why and how are you here?"
"Oh, right!" Chase said, clearing his throat. "Actually, I was thrown over here. But before that, after I helped out Moxxie back at Angerton, I left to chase down a monster. And this monster is in the town right now. A Terafrost is here."
"A Tera-what?" Blitz asked in confusion.
"A Terafrost?" Kiki asked in shock. "Aren't those creatures supposed to be extinct?"
"Yeah, I thought so too," Chase pointed out. "Apparently, those Demon Apes were able to find a living one. But that is besides the point. It's here in this town and I came to stop it. Although that has proven… difficult."
"So that's why you were flying, man?" Ace asked him.
"Well, launched would be accurate," Chase admitted as he looked around. "Hey, is Moxxie around here? I thought he'd be with you, Blitz."
"He's not," Blitz responded. "But right now, I'm more worried about Loona and Amaroq, who must be somewhere around here."
"Loona… oh, that reminds me!" Chase shouted, snapping his fingers. "When I was flung up in the air, I saw your daughter fighting a robot."
"Robot?!" Blitz asked, his eyes widening at that.
Back to Loona, she was being attacked by an unwilling Tentadora, who changed her hands into larger fists that she swung at the Hellhound.
"I'm sorry, Loona!" Tentadora apologized while swinging and stretching her arms to send out punches, forcing Loona to dodge them. As Loona dodged the attacks, she realized that Tentadora really was just an older model of the Fizzarolli robot before they modeled them off Fizzarolli. She certainly had some enhancements, but she still had a lot of the same abilities. Eventually, Tentadora managed to land a kick on her, sending Loona onto the abandoned Harvest Moon Festival stage. Loona slid back, only to receive another hit from Tentadora's punch. The fembot looked more regretful with every hit. "I am not in control of my actions!"
Loona winced in pain, only to see Tentadora jumping up and trying to slam her fists down at her, Loona managing to jump out of the way just in time.
"Tenta, I don't blame you at all!" Loona shouted before she heard the cackling laughter of Robo-Fizz. She looked up and saw him watching from the nearby bleachers while moving his mechanical fingers.
"AHAHAHA! This is a fun puppet show!" Robo-Fizz declared while he controlled Tentadora. "Tenta, why don't you pull Loona's tail and swing her around!"
Tentadora's face glitched as she tried to resist, but couldn't. Robo-Fizz had her under his control as she raised her arms up, stretching them towards Loona. The Hellhound girl ran around the stage away from the arms that tried to grab her, specifically her tail, and Tentadora was forced to chase her down.
"Yes, yes! Run, Loona, run with that tail between your legs! HAHAHA!" Robo-Fizz laughed sadistically before he heard a gunshot, causing him to jump up. "Yah! What the fuck?!"
"Hey!" Blitz shouted as he showed up with his gun in his hand. Robo-Fizz turned to look at him. "Are you the one fucking with my daughter?!" he demanded to know. Blitz recognized Robo-Fizz as one of those Robotic Fizzarollis that were selling like hotcakes in Greed, but there was something about this specific Fizzarolli that felt… familiar to him…
"Ahhh B-B-B-Blitzo!" Robo-Fizz replied with a smile, as if he was glad to see an old friend. "So happy to see you again after all these years! Remember me? From Loo Loo Land?"
Blitz's eyes widened in shock. "Oh for fuck sake! You?!" he exclaimed. "How?!"
"You could say that I've… evolved!" Robo-Fizz declared as he stretched his legs over to Blitz while his jester hat moved around like controllers as they continued to make Tentadora fight Loona. "I was here for Loona, but just my luck that I not only ran into her, but you too, Blitzo! How are things since you left the clown make up and balloon making?"
"Alright, I don't know why you're bothering my daughter, but I'm gonna ask you to stop or I will fill you up with lead!" Blitz ordered while holding his gun up at Robo-Fizz.
"Ooohhh, are you really going to shoot an old friend, Blitzo?" Robo-Fizz asked while twisting his head, before dodging a bullet shot towards him. "Oh wow, now you're asking for it! YAHAHA!"
"I forgot how irritating you were," Blitz groaned as he aimed his gun at Robo-Fizz, shooting at him while the robot dodged each bullet. He looked over at Loona with worry as he saw her still fighting against the unwilling Tentadora who kept attacking her. But he couldn't afford to worry about her, since now he had to dodge each punch coming from his own mechanical menace, who started… to sing.
"YOU!" Robo-Fizz sang while swinging his arms up, ready to fight Blitz as they got up on stage. "You two've been nothing but a thorn in my side since day one!" he sang while swinging his fists at Blitz, who dodged them and shot at him in response. "But I… am Robo-Fizzarolli the Great, and I'm not-" He stretched up with his legs to avoid being shot. "HA! Be outdone!"
"Welcome to Robo-Fizzaroli's spectacular theater in the pound!" Robo-Fizz sang as he slammed his fist to where Blitz was at, the imp dodging by holding onto a rope and being launched up as the sandbag fell down, Blitz hanging onto the rope as he shot down at Robo-Fizz, who cart-wheeled away from the bullets. At the same time, Tentadora had done a similar attack towards Loona as Tenta started singing with Robo-Fizz's voice. "Please excuse my thespian vernacular, when I say: thou ist going down!"
"I've had enough of you, so time to be my puppet!" Tentadora with Robo-Fizz's voice sang while bobbing her head, forming her fist into blades. "On a string, I've had enough of you!" she sang as she swung her blades at Loona, who dodged them while levitating objects beneath her, using them to lift herself off the ground while throwing other objects towards the fembot. "Oh DANCE my little muppet plaything!"
Them singing together felt like an unusual duet. It was like a shared hive mind with Robo-Fizz in charge. Robo-Fizz sent his fist up at Blitz while Tentadora was in sync with him, doing the same to Loona.
Blitz dodged the fist, then let go of the rope, and slid down Robo-Fizz's arm, shooting at him. Robo-Fizz moved his head out of the way and swung his arm around, knocking Blitz back down onto the stage.
"Now!" Robo-Fizz sang as he got on top of Blitz. "The audience is thirsty for fun!" he sang while sending some punches towards him. Blitz had to kick him off of him, but Robo-Fizz managed to grab Blitz by his shoulders, pulling him up with him. "Time to run! 'Cause now, your denouement has already begun! That means you're done!"
Robo-Fizz brought Blitz closer, as he sang. "We could both be pirates on the sea, you'll swab the deck and play your part for me! Mops galore!" He spun Blitz around the stage. "You better keep it clean! Watch out now my little friend, 'cuz Sharkspeare's looking mean!"
Once Blitz stopped spinning, his eyes widened when he saw a demon shark pop up from beneath the stage, attempting to eat him. This shark was the very same one that antagonized Hurston earlier during the Pain Games. Blitz quickly backed away to avoid getting bitten.
"I've had enough of you! So time to be my puppet~ on a string!" Robo-Fizz sang while jumping behind Blitz, kicking him down so that he stumbled toward the open mouth of the shark, Blitz barely managing to catch himself by holding onto the snout of the shark. "I've had enough of you, oh dance my little muppet plaything!"
Back with Loona, she kept throwing objects from her surroundings at Tentadora, who sliced through most of the objects while trying to stab at Loona, who mostly dodged the attacks, but still felt a scratch on her arm which left a cut. Loona looked at her cut then up at Tenta, who gave her an apologetic look.
"A battle like no other~!" Tenta sang while expressing a worried look. "Better move! 'Cause here's another!" She sprang up from her heels while swinging her blades at Loona. "At least you'll get to see defeat in epic style!"
"The audience is primed, each attack right on time, seeing you entwined is so worthwhile!" Robo-Fizz sang while Blitz kept on shooting at him as Robo-Fizz danced across the stage, all the while Blitz was still trying to dodge the shark. "But why stop there? Add a lion, or a bear, what's wrong my petite chere? Why don't you smile!" he sang while shooting up a hologram of his face, grinning at Blitz and, to an extent, Loona.
"The final act is sure to be theatrical plot twist worthy of a prize!" Robo-Fizz sang while holding up a target in front of his rear in order to mock Blitz, who had finally gotten rid of the shark. "Want a shot? You better be more tactical!" he sang as he dodged the bullets once again. "Messin' with Robo-Fizzarollio is never wise!"
"I've had enough of you! So why don't you be my puppet on a string!" Robo-Fizz sang as he did can-can kicks to Blitz, sending him back. Tentadora ended up doing the same, knocking Loona back. "Oh dance! My little muppet, plaything! I'm up to here with you!" they both sang together. "So why don't you finally face it! Your fate is sealed!"
"And everything you do is what I say!" Robo-Fizz sang while Tenta sang in sync, much to her own worry. "Starting now and everyday! You'll be my puppet, learn to love it! Every word I say you'll covet!"
"No… no…!" Tenta shouted as she continued to be forced to fight Loona.
"Start-a-new, stick like glue, bid your former self adieu!" Robo-Fizz sang while punching Blitz in the stomach. "'Cause I've had enough of YOUUUUU!"
Loona ended up being pinned to the ground by Tentadora. The fembot had Loona down, but before she could stab Loona, the Hellhound grabbed her by the wrists, trying to push her off.
"Tenta, you have to fight this!" Loona told her as she managed to kick the robot off of her. "You can't let Robo-Fizz control you!"
"I-I-I'm sorry, Loona!" Tenta cried. "I'm trying to resist, but the Robotic Fizzarolli unit is in control!" she shouted as she picked up a barrel to throw at Loona, who got hit by it.
Loona fell back and looked up to see Tentadora coming after her again "Just… save yourself!"
"You have to break his control, Tenta! You're not his puppet!" Loona shouted as she got up and backed away, wincing when one of the bladed arms nicked her cheek, leaving a cut. Her back hit a wall and she knew that there was nowhere else to go. Tentadora had her cornered. As she saw Tentadora about to lunge at her, Loona shut her eyes. "Think about Damian!"
As the blade stretched out to Loona's face… it stopped at the mention of Damian.
"D-D-Damian?" Tentadora paused, her head and body starting to twitch up.
Opening her eyes and realizing that mentioning Damian had gotten Tenta to stop attacking her, Loona continued. "Damian needs you, Tenta! You care too much of him to let some two-bit jester take control of you! As Damian's protector, you must fight off any threat towards his safety! And that Robo-Fizz controlling you," she said while pointing to Robo-Fizz, who was still harassing her dad. "Is that threat!"
"HA! You think that cheesy speech is going to break her out of my control, Loona?" Robo-Fizz asked mockingly as he had Blitz drop his gun and was now pinning him to the floor. "Tenta, just wreck the shit out of her already!" he commanded before noticing that Tentadora was not responding to him. "Hey, sis? Why are you pausing like that?"
Tenta had stopped, her eyes changing from red to blue. Her eyes were cleared, but she wasn't looking at Loona anymore. No, she was looking… at Robo-Fizz.
"Target Acquired," she said while looking at Robo-Fizz. "Initiate: Terminated."
Realizing that he had no control over her anymore, Robo-Fizz knew this was not going to go well for him. "Oh shi-"
Before he could even finish, Tentrdora's outstretched hand grabbed his head. "Sis! No! Please, don't rub me out!" he begged while squirming in her grip.
"NOOOOOO!" he cried out as Tentadora ripped his head off from his body.
Blitz got up while seeing the headless Robo-Fizz fall on its knees before falling completely forward. He looked over at Tenta, who held up the head of Robo-Fizz before throwing it away. Tentadora then looked down with a tired look… and she collapsed to the ground.
"Tenta!" Loona shouted as she rushed over to her, checking to see if she was okay. "Are you alright?"
"I'm… sorry for attacking you, Loona," Tentadora apologized.
"Hey, don't be, it's not your fault," Loona assured her. "Robo-Fizz hacked you-"
"Loona," Tentadora interrupted, holding Loona's hand as she looked up at her. "Please… promise to make sure Damian is safe."
"Yeah, don't worry, I'll find him and keep him safe from any danger," Loona promised.
"Good," Tentadora replied with a small smile before her eyes went blank and her body shut down, going limp on the ground.
Loona looked down at Tenta sadly. Despite her dislike of robots, she did feel sorry for Tentadora and she knew that she had to keep her promise to find and protect Damian from harm.
"Loona!"
Loona looked up and saw her dad crawling off the stage. "Dad!" she shouted as she rushed over to him. "Are you alright, dad?"
"Actually, I wanted to ask if you're alright?" Blitz asked upon seeing some of Loona's injuries. "When I heard that you were in trouble, I came over as fast as I could!"
"I'm fine, dad," Loona responded while looking over at Robo-Fizz's headless body. She let out a small sigh of relief, then her face hardened. "But it's not safe here in this town right now. We need to find Amaroq and Damian."
"Where did they go?" Blitz asked, worried.
"Don't worry, they're safe with Styx," Loona assured him. "I stayed behind to deal with Robo-Fizz while they found shelter. I should be able to pick up their scent and find them. Hopefully, they're keeping out of trouble…"
Meanwhile, inside of a now abandoned store, the trio of Styx, Amaroq, and Damian were hiding behind the counter. Having been unable to find a shelter, the three of them had decided to hide in here instead until the danger had passed. The store was incredibly dark, the windows being covered with frost that meant less light was getting in.
"Alright, here are some snacks," Styx said while passing out some snacks to Amaroq and Damian. "I've placed some souls on the counter as a courtesy."
"Thanks, Styx!" Damian said as he opened one of the bags and ate a chip. "Mmm, these chips are good! And these cheese puffs," he added as he opened another bag and ate some of the cheese puffs. "Wow! Cheesy and gooey, like pizza!"
"Glad you like them, young prince," Styx replied before turning to Amaroq and noticing how silent she was. "How about you, lady Amaroq? You haven't opened or tried out any of the snacks here. What would you like to eat? I've made sure there isn't anything with chocolate…"
"I'm not hungry," Amaroq said, her voice lowered.
Damian looked over at Amaroq. "Hey, if you're worried about Loona, I'm sure that by now, Tenta has found her and is helping her deal with that weird clown robot," he said while leaning back against the counter, shockingly relaxed.
"It's not just Loona that I'm worried about," Amaroq said while shooting Damian a glare.
"What? What did I do?" Damian asked, startled by Amaroq's glare.
"Gee, I don't know, how about the fact that JACK IS OUT THERE!" Amaroq pointed out, startling Damian and Styx. "How can we enjoy snacks while your cousin Jack is still being chased by that giant monster! And the worst part is that you're not even worried about him!"
"Amaroq-" Damian said as he tried to ease her.
"I mean, you're his cousin and his family! Why are you not upset that he could possibly be eaten, or crushed, or frozen to death by that monster?!" Amaroq demanded to know.
"Amaroq, relax," Damian told her. "I know that Jack's going to be fine."
"How can you be so sure about it?!" Amaroq asked him.
"I'm sure he's going to be fine… because he can't really die," Damian revealed.
This left Amaroq confused. "Can't… die? What the heck do you mean by that?" she asked while tilting her head.
"Right… well, I guess I should elaborate," Damian said as he was about to explain the deal with his cousin. "You see-"
Ding-Ding!
Damian paused mid-explanation when he, Amaroq and Styx heard the sound of the bell on the door ringing. Styx hushed them as he looked around the corner of the counter.
Pax had come into the store. But he hadn't come in alone. With him were several imps. None of them looked panicked or freaked out over the situation outside. Instead, they looked surprisingly calm despite the chaos just out the front door.
As 'Pax' looked around the store, he sniffed the air and smiled. "Hey kids…"
Meanwhile, Cain had finally found his way to Marcus's throne room.
"This must be it," Cain said as he entered the throne room and looked around.
But much to his disappointment, Cain didn't see Marcus anywhere. There was no overly large, draconian demon sitting on his throne. This made Cain feel uneasy, prompting him to be prepared while holding the sword with him…
As he looked around, he noticed that the room was full of geothermal vents that were now letting out steam into the room. The steam started to fill the room, making visibility much harder, which concerned Cain. He knew that a room full of steam wasn't always a good sign, because not only would it feel like a sauna inside… but something could be hiding in the steam.
Cain turned around and through the steam saw the glowing veins of the silhouette of a demon hidden behind the cloud of steam. His eyes widened when he saw the veins start moving while glowing and pulsating.
"Welcome," Marcus said before he throws his fist towards Cain, hitting him in the face.
Cain was knocked back, feeling the heavy force of that punch through his helmet. Despite this, he didn't fall down, instead managing to keep his feet on the ground.
"That… is a mean right hook," Cain commented.
"So you're the Cain that I've heard so much about," Marcus replied as he stepped through the steam while looking amused by Cain.
"Well, I hope my reputation precedes me," Cain replied while getting on the defense, keeping an eye on Marcus, expecting him to make the next move.
"I assume your predecessor did not mention this… but I actually am familiar with the previous demon who bore the title of Cain…" Marcus said while observing the demon. "However, I'd still like to know who has currently claimed that title."
Cain narrowed his eyes at Marcus… but after a moment he reached for his own helmet. Once he took his mask off, Cain showed Marcus his true feline face, surprising the Wrathian demon. But Marcus was surprised… because he recognized Cain.
"I see now," Marcus said with a smile. "The current Cain is none other than… Alexander, the wayward son of Duke Alloces," he said while stroking his chin. "I'll admit, it does make a lot more sense for a Goetia demon like you to be behind what happened in Angerton, rather than just some lowly imp."
Cain almost scoffed at this but he didn't. The less Marcus knew, the better.
"So tell me, Cain," Marcus said as he walked around the Goetia demon, bringing out a trident from his backside. The trident was crimson, having three blades with spiked edges on the outer layer and the triangular tip. "Do you see yourself as a rival?" he asked. "Hoping to claim what it is that you seek?"
"Well… it's something like that," Cain admitted before putting back his mask on. He then held up his sword, showing it to Marcus.
"Hmm, I recognize that weapon," Marcus pointed out. "That's Murdock's double-edge sword…"
"I don't need to tell you how I got it," Cain responded.
"You don't," Marcus admitted. "But I will tell you that the sword was a gift from me to him."
"I know," Cain said, having put the pieces together. Murdock and his generals having magic powers, the Terafrost, and all those other kinds of supplies that Demon Apes like Murdock shouldn't be possessing… it was Marcus. It was Marucus all along.
"And if you want it back… come and take it!" Cain challenged Marcus.
Marcus took Cain up on his challenge, coming at him with his trident. He clashed with Cain's sword as Cain blocked the trident that more resembled a pitchfork.
"So it was you!" Cain shouted as he swung his blade off of Marcus's trident, the two clashing again, swiping at each other left and right. "You were the one who gave Murdock and his generals all that power!"
"Indeed, I was, son," Marcus responded while he shoved his trident at Cain, who managed to dodge the attack.
"Why?" Cain asked before jumping up to clash his blade against the trident again. "Why would you supply these gifts to someone like Murdock? Demon Apes aren't supposed to have that kind of luxury, that kind of power!"
"I know, but Murdock could have been useful," Marcus admitted as the two kept on clashing. "You see, I had plans. Plans that would have involved Murdock, and now those plans had been a set back…"
Cain jumped up as he swung at Marcus, who dodged the attack. Marcus responded by blowing flames at Cain, who rolled out of the way of the flames as he narrowly avoided getting burned. Cain then swung his blade towards Marcus, who blocked it again with his trident.
"But that's why I am grateful now that you're here," Marcus said with a smile. "You have delivered yourself to me, which saves me some time, at least."
The two clashed some more with their blades, Cain continuing to swing the double-edge blades at Marcus. He split them apart, using two of the blades to try to strike at Marcus, who used the long helm of his trident to block the swipes. Marcus backed away, but he didn't back down.
Marcus launched his trident again and Cain deflected it, spinning around before swinging his blades at him. Marcus quickly moved aside as Cain just swiped through the steam clouds instead. Cain tried to look around for Marcus, but Marcus was nowhere in sight, having disappeared into the steam clouds. Eventually, the trident popped up from behind, Cain quickly blocking the attack with his sword. But then he saw that the trident wasn't being held by Marcus anymore…
A fist suddenly struck Cain's helmet from the side. The heavy hit causes him to stumble and drop his weapon, his helmet cracked. Cain then looked up, his cracked mask revealing one of his bright blue eyes. He glared at Marcus, who walked through the steam.
"I'm disappointed, really," Marcus admitted while sticking his trident into the ground. "I expected more from a Goetia like you…"
Back in Ragetown, Jack and Jill were trying to sneak their way through town as the Terafrost searched for them. As the large ice monster searched the area, Jack and Jill hid behind a large stand advertising a product called a plumbus.
"Can't believe there isn't a barrel in sight to hide in," Jill said with a frown. "You'd think a town like this would be full of them."
"It's best we remain silent," Jack whispered while the two hid behind the stand. "Though I am starting to feel colder…"
The Terafrost looked around for Jack, getting closer and closer to where Jack and Jill would be. It gurgled as it sniffed around, Jack and Jill feeling its cold breath huffing. The closer the Terafrost got, the colder it became. Jack and Jill both shivered and they looked at each other, wondering how they were going to get out of this one… when they heard a sound.
"They used to be a greying tower alone on the sea!"
Jack, Jill, and the Terafrost were all confused by the sound of the loud music playing. The Terafrost turned around as it looked in the direction of the sound…
"And you became the light on the dark side of me! Love remained a drug that's the high and not the pill!"
In the Terafrost's line of sight was Kajedo, who was holding up a boombox above her head. She was surrounded by fireworks rockets.
"Did you know that when it snows, my eyes become large and the light that you shine can't be seen?" Kajedo sang along from the boombox before setting it down as she lit a flare, using it to light up the fireworks. "Over here, big guy!"
The Terafrost stared at Kajedo as she danced around, just as the fireworks were set off, flashing in front of him. The Terafrost was blinded by the bright flashes of the fireworks, causing it to roar out of its ice breath.
"Yeah! Baby, I compare you to a kiss from a rose on the grey!" Kajedo sang while keeping the Terafrost distracted.
Jack and Jill watched in shock as Kajedo continued distracting the Terafrost. They were wondering what exactly Kajedo was trying to achieve when they felt someone grabbing their shoulders. It spooked them, but then they turned around to see that it was Carrie, who shushed them.
"C'mon, I'll get you two kids outta here," Carrie whispered. Although most of her friends had made it to a shelter, she and Kajedo had decided to go help any stragglers. Right now, this included helping two kids sneak away from the Terafrost's line of sight.
The Terafrost was currently being pelted with pies thrown at it by Kajedo, who was next to a cart full of them. It fired its ice breath at her, which Kajedo dodged while running around with the pies in her hands. She then saw a trash can, kicked it down, hopped on top of it, and began to roll away, the Terafrost giving chase towards her as she continued pelting it with pies..
"Run, run as fast as you can, you can't catch me, I'm the-WAAAH!" Kajedo yelped as she ducked down to avoid getting hit by the ice beam, which hit the ground behind her. She quickly jumped off the trash can and darted between stands, dodging another frozen ice blast. "You can't freeze this ass!" she told the monster off, smacking her own butt mockingly while sticking her tongue out at the creature.
This only irritated the Terafrost, which continued breathing ice at her. But Kajedo just kept narrowly avoiding being frozen as she led the creature farther away from the kids.
Said kids, Jack and Jill, were silent as they followed Carrie, who was helping them sneak away while the Terafrost is distracted.
"How long do you think she'll keep it distracted?" Jill asked Carrie in a whisper.
"Is she going to be alright?" Jack asked in concern for the pink Hellhound.
"I… hope so," Carrie responded in a whisper. "We just need to move away enough before that monster ever notices us."
As they walked away in silence, Jack paused and leaned on a stand… which completely fell apart the moment he touched it. "W-Whoa!" he cried out as he lost his balance and fell.
The Terafrost heard the sound and stopped attacking Kajedo, who continued to jump around. Instead, the ice tortoise turned around, and spotted Jack, who was being helped up by Carrie and Jill as the three saw the Terafrost looking at them.
"Oh crud…" Jack said with a deadpan look.
"RUN!" Carrie shouted as she grabbed Jack and Jill and began to run with them, the Terafrost roaring behind them..
The Terafrost now had its attention gully back to Jack, despite Kajedo still jumping around until she realized that the Terafrost was ignoring her.
"Hey! Where are you going?!" Kajedo shouted before noticing Carrie, Jack, and Jill running away. "Shit! Run guys!"
The Terafrost chased the three down, knocking over buildings with its tail in the process. Carrie was giving her all to carry the two to safety, all the while the Terafrost was stomping nearby. But the closer it got, the colder it got until the living glacier's shadow looked over them all.
"Shit!" Carrie swore while the Terafrost's face was near them.
But right when the monster was bearing down on down of them, the Terafrost suddenly felt something go into its eye. It stopped chasing Carrie and the kids, the Terafrost instead crying out in pain. And the one responsible for the shot… was Douglas.
"Get away from them!" Douglas shouted while holding up a discarded gun he had found. He managed to squeeze off several more shots at Terafrost, causing the large monster to turn its full attention to Douglas.
"Douglas!" Carrie shouted before setting Jack and Jill down in a safe spot as she rushed back over to rescue Douglas. The Terafrost looked to be about to blast him with ice, but Douglas was thankfully tackled away by Carrie seconds before the ice hit the spot.
"Are you alright?" Carrie asked Douglas once they were safe.
"Yeah, thanks Carrie," Douglas thanked her before noticing that he was getting glared at by her. "Uh…"
"Just what in tarnation are you doing outside, Douglas?!" Carrie demanded as she scolded him. "Don't you know it ain't safe here?!"
"I-I'm sorry, Carrie, I just wanted to help," Douglas explained. "When I saw that ice creep chasin' you guys down, I just couldn't stand by to let it get ya."
They both heard the roaring growl before they saw the Terafrost about to stomp on them. Carrie grabbed Douglas and jumped, saving them both getting stomped on or shot at by the ice blast. The monster turned around, its massive body and tail hitting several buildings.
Jack and Jill were still trying to avoid the Terafrost's attack, Jill changing her hands into hammers to knock away the debris around them while allowing Jack to run ahead. They saw the tail swinging around as Jill ran up to Jack.
"Come on! We have to hurry out!" Jill shouted as the tail drew near them.
Jack saw the tail coming at them and he pushed Jill away. "Look out!" he shouted as Jill was knocked over just before the trail accidentally hit Jack away, sending him flying into a building.
"JACK!" Jill shouted in shock.
Meanwhile, Kajedo had finally caught up and was trying to get the Terafrost's attention again. "Yoo-hoo! Hey! Over here, you overgrown living ice cap!" Kajedo shouted as she threw some objects at it, which only shattered when it hit the ice spikes on its back. The creature was too focused on Carrie and Douglas. "Stop bothering my friends!"
Carrie held onto Douglas as they ran from the Terafrost, only to run around a corner and find themselves in a dead end, the street in front of them blocked off.
"Of all the places to run in a dead end!" Carrie shouted before looking back to see that the Terafrost had found them.
"Carrie…" Douglas said while pointing at the monster.
"I ain't gonna let anythin' happen to ya, Douglas!" Carrie said as she tried to use herself as a shield for Douglas, holding him protectively while having her back turned to the Terafrost, which was about to unleash its ice breath, aimed directly at Carrie's body…
Carrie had her eyes shut, expecting to be frozen. But it didn't happen. She and Douglas looked up and were shocked to find themselves in a nightly-colored magical barrier. They then saw their unlikely savior…
"Are you two alright?" asked Stolas, who had summoned the barrier.
"Prince Stolas?" Carrie and Douglas asked in surprise, both of them not expecting to have seen the prince saving them.
Stolas looked up at the Terafrost, his eyes widening… and nothing happened. He frowned, realizing that his petrifying spell had no effect on the beast. "I thought you beasts were extinct…" he said, while prepping up his magical spells.
Back in the store where Styx, Amaroq, and Damian were, the trio has been cornered and pinned down by 'Pax' and the group of imps with him.
Styx fell down, beaten up. He sported a black eye, a couple of bruises, and some blood dripped from his lip. "Oh… please…" he begged before an imp punched him across his face.
'Styx!' Amaroq and Damian muffled through their gags while the imps had them restrained.
"Excellent work," 'Pax' said with Menace's voice as he moved several shelves in the store around to create a clear space. After that, he began using a paint brush to paint a circle on the floor, filled with strange-looking symbols. He muttered some old language as he did so.
"What… what are you doing?!" Styx demanded while being restrained by the imps.
"Quiet, you blue furball!" one of the imp cultists told him.
"Now, now, he asked a question, it is only nice to give him an answer," Menace said while grinning as he continued painting the symbols on the floor. "All I'm doing, Mr. Styx, is preparing for a ritual."
"A ritual? Here of all places?" Styx asked in confusion.
"I will admit, this may not be the most… ideal place for it, but the quality of the sacrifice is far more important than the location and I would rather finish this quickly rather than risk failure," Menace said as he finished painting. He stood up and admired his handiwork, having created what looks to be a sacrificial circle that was full of archaic symbols, with a smaller circle in the center.
Styx did not like the sound of this. "What… what do you mean by 'sacrifice'?"
Menace only smiled as he walked over Styx and knelt down in front of him. "Simple. You see, my master demands a sacrifice worthy of him… a sacrifice like the youngest child of the demon who falsely proclaims himself to be Satan," he said while pointing to Damian.
Styx's eyes widened in alarm, while Amaroq and Damian both looked terrified, as Styx realized who and what they were dealing with. He glanced at Damian in worry, then looked back at Menace. "B-But this must be some kind of a mistake! I mean, he's not the son of Satan. He is just-"
"Please, don't lie. I know exactly who Damian is, and I know full well who you are, general," Menace revealed before pulling out something from his pouch, a curved knife with a dragon-shaped helm. "I appreciate the loyalty, as misguided as it is. But don't worry, the boy will serve to please my master very well…" He turned to the cultists, nodding to them. "Bring the boy to the circle."
The imp holding Damian nodded and he was about to walk over to the circle with him…
BANG!
Until the imp's head was shot through, leaving a hole and causing him to drop Damian and fall to the ground. Menace and the cultist turned to see who had shot the imp and appearing in the doorway of the store was Blitz and Loona.
"Loona! Blitz!" Styx shouted as Amaroq and Damian muffled their names as well.
"Leave them alone!" Loona shouted before seeing Pax. "Wait, Pax?!"
"Don't just stand there, kill them!" 'Pax' ordered.
The imp holding Amaroq was distracted enough for Amaroq to manage to squirm her way out of his grip. She removed her gag as she bit his leg, causing him to scream before he got shot by Blitz. He ran up to Amaroq and Damian, who also had managed to free himself.
"Are you kids alright?" Blitz asked.
"Yeah! Thank you, Mr. Blitz!" Amaroq said as she hugged him. An imp tried to attack them, but Loona kicked him to the side.
"Back off!" Loona shouted.
Menace ducked for cover behind a shelf. "Don't lose the hostages!" he shouted as he looked out, only to see the imps that were restraining Amaroq and Styx were already laying dead on the floor. This made Menace grumble to himself. "How hard is it to find good help these days…?"
Loona grabbed both Amaroq and Damian while Blitz covered for them, shooting the remaining cultist down in the heads while Loona took the kids outside. "You two should stay here while we deal with them."
"But what about Styx? He's still in there!" Damian pointed out in worry.
"Don't worry, I'll get him," Loona responded as she headed back into the store. She saw him still on the floor where he had been dropped and she was about to get him… when Menace showed up to lunge at her, holding the knife against her. "What the-?!" she shouted as she was pinned to the wall while holding Pax's wrist to keep him from stabbing at her. "Pax?! What are you doing?!" she shouted while in shock.
"Hang on, Loony, I got you!" Blitz shouted while aiming his gun at Pax.
"Dad, no! Don't shoot him!" Loona told him. "This is Pax, one of Carrie's friends!"
"What kind of friend tries to stab you and perform a ritual sacrifice in here?!" Blitz asked.
"I don't know! Something's off about him!" Loona shouted before pushing him away from her. When 'Pax' swung the knife at her, Loona ducked as she grabbed his arm. She punched his face, then twisted his arm to make him drop the knife. 'Pax' knocked her back and went for the knife, but Loona grabbed him by the legs to make him fall down. The two ended up wrestling on the floor for the knife. "What are you doing, Pax? Why are you acting, so… so…?"
"Menacing?" 'Pax' finished as he turned to her slowly, showing his glowing eyes and grin. "My dear, have you not realized it yet?"
Loona's eyes widened as she recognized that tone. "No… Menace?!"
Back with the Terafrost, it had been blasted back by Stolas, who was giving time for Carrie and Douglas to escape while he kept the monster busy.
"Now that the innocent civilians have been cleared away, it's just you and me now!" Stolas declared as the monster roared back at him and tried to freeze him on the spot. But Stolas teleported away from the blast, appearing on a rooftop as he shoots more magical blasts towards the Terafrost, although the spell mostly just bounced off the Terafrost. "Ooh, miss me~!"
The Terafrost growled in irritation before it shot an ice blast up at Stolas, who kept teleporting left and right to avoid each blast. Stolas attempted several more times to use his petrifying gaze on the Terafrost and turn it to stone, but each time proved to be ineffective. So instead he was forced to continue spamming teleport as he tried to figure out another way to take the Terafrost down… and that way came when something showed up and kicked the Terafrost in the side, causing the Terafrost to roll over from the kick.
Stolas looked surprised by this, but then he saw who had kicked the creature. It was none other than Chase, who had rejoined the fight against the Terafrost.
"Nice kick," Stolas commented while teleporting next to Chase.
"Thanks," Chase responded while turning to Stolas. "You must be Mr. Prince I've heard about."
"So you know who I am? Funny, I was about to say the same thing," Stolas responded with a nod. "I assume you must be this Chase the Monster Hunter I've heard about."
"So a Goetia prince has heard about me, eh?" Chase asked with a smile.
"From my fellow Goetia demons, yes," Stolas confirmed. "I think Flauros has mentioned you once…"
"Flauros? Oh yeah, I once helped him out with a gator problem at his golf course," Chase commented as he kept his eye on the Terafrost facing them. "Probably one of my favorite jobs, since he and Ixchel were a fantastic lay…"
Stolas raised an eyebrow at that, but he knew that right now was no time to ask about that. Right now, they had a monster to take on.
"So would you like to assist me in taking down this monster before it wrecks further havoc?" Stolas asked as his hands glowed and his eyes glowed red.
"I was about to ask you the same thing, really," Chase responded as he cracked his knuckles while he got in a fighting position.
The Terafrost roared as it charged at the two. Stolas summoned shadows from the ground, which shot up to pierce at the feet of the Terafrost, but it still kept going. Stolas opened a portal for Chase to jump in, the portal popping up above the Terafrost so that Chase would land on its back. Chase began to beat on the back of the beast down while Stolas continued summoning shadows that kept piercing at the beast.
The Terafrost roared as it shot ice beams at Stolas, who teleported away as he appeared up in the sky. Stolas then blasted the beast with more shadows, but it only irritates it as the Terafrost keeps blasting ice all around it, prompting Stolas to move out of the way as Chase kept on hitting its back, cracking the spiky ice shell. Stolas summoned black shadows that struck through the tail of the beast, making the Terafrost holler in pain while Chase ran up the back of the Terafrost, the jumped up while bringing his fist together, Stolas encasing the Hellhound in magic as Chase brought his fist down on the head of the Terafrost, driving it down into the ground, which shook from the impact.
"Did it work?" Stolas asked as Chase slid off the head and looked down on the creature.
The Terafrost growled, but quickly rose back up to its feet, using its head to knock Chase down. The Hellhound landed on the ground with his paws as the Terafrost unleashed another roar.
"Gotta take more than that!" Chase shouted as Stolas teleported next to him. "That thing won't go down that easily!"
"Then perhaps we should try different tactics," Stolas suggested, snapping his fingers as he launched more shadows, all formed into fists. The shadowy fists began punching the Terafrost from all sides, but it kept blasting ice beams in response, forcing Stolas to teleport himself and Chase out of the way, causing them to appear on top of a building.
"That didn't work," Stolas commented with a frown.
"Terafrosts have impenetrable hides, they're basically like living icebergs or glaciers," Chase explained.
"Then we'll try restraining it!" Stolas declared, snapping his fingers as more shadows grew from the ground around the large kaiju.
The shadows wrapped around and chained the limbs of the monster, the Terafrost trying to resist as they wrapped around its head, feet, and tail. The Terafrost roared as it shot ice beams all around.. Chase felt the shadows around him lifting him up and he turned to see that Stolas was the one controlling them.
"Need a boost up?" Stolas asked him.
Chase smiled. "Like a fast ball."
Stolas nodded as he launched Chase up in the air while black tendrils emerged from the ground. Those tendrils all wrapped around the scarred hellhound, who held his arms up as the tendrils engulfed him in shadowy wraps, wraps that changed into armor. Black armor that also sported a helmet, like a knight.
He fell straight to the Terafrost, bringing his fist down on the Terafrost. It got hit in the head again, but the Terafrost managed to shake itself out of its restraints. It shot its ice beams at Chase, who dodged the blast as he landed on the ground. Stolas used his power to bring Chase back before the Hellhound could get stomped on, the two seeing that the Terafrost had managed to free itself from the restraints.
"We'd need a much heavier force to bring that thing down!" Chase declared.
"If you need heavy, then I'll give it heavy!" Stolas declared as his eyes glowed and hands glowed and he shot up sparks of black lightning, summoning multiple portals around the Terafrost.
Coming out of the portals were meteors, which all struck the back of the Terafrost from all sides. They were all heated, and as they broke against the ice back of the creature it broke off more of its spikes. Chase ran underneath the Terafrost, Stolas helping to boost his steps before he punched the creature in the belly, launching the beast's body up as Stolas formed a large, shadowy hand to punch it across its lower jaw.
The monster hit the ground and gurgled, vile bursting from its mouth as Chase went around it. He saw a shadowy tendril pop up from the ground. He grabbed the tendril and it formed into a large hammer made of the shadows which Chase used to slam against the face of the monster. As the monster was starting to lose it, Chase pelted it with the hammer before bringing it down on top of its head, sending it into the ground.
This time, the Terafrost did not get back up. Instead, the Terafrost stopped moving, laying down on the ground with its eyes closed. Chase put down the hammer, which melted away as Stolas appeared next to him.
"Looks like we did it, Mr. Prince," Chase commented while staring at the fallen beast.
"Yes, we did," Stolas said with a nod. "You're as tough as they say you are, Mr. Chase."
Chase smiled. "I'm just glad the big one's down for the count."
Back in the store, Loona and Blitz had been pushed back from Menace's own telekinesis. They looked up at him, seeing him marching toward them.
"How delightful," Menace said as he levitated some fruit around. "Looks like I have you cornered again, Loona…"
"How do you know this… ghost possessing your friend, Loona?" Blitz asked with a wince.
"It's a long story," Loona replied while holding her bleeding arm. "But why are you in Pax's body?! I thought you were banished out or something!"
Menace only chuckled. "Oh, let's just say that I was given a… second chance," he said while his eyes glowed and he began levitating objects around. "I'll admit, having a Hellhound body does have its perks, since I can do something like… this!" he shouted as he raised his hands up and pointed them towards the two, sending the objects at them.
Loona and Blitz split off as they avoided the cans, parts of the shelves, and other objects coming at them. Blitz shot some of the canned goods out of the air, causing their contents to splatter everywhere while Loona kept on getting pelted, despite trying to use her own magic to push them back. She picked up two cardboard standees, using one to shield herself while tossing the other to Blitz, who grabbed it and used it to shield himself.
"Christ on a stick, this day just keeps getting crazier!" Blitz declared.
"We need to figure out how to get Menace out of Pax!" Loona shouted back while spotting the still injured Styx. "As well as get Styx out of here…"
Menace levitated one shelf to launch at Loona, who dodged the shelf, ducking underneath it as it flew overhead and crashed into a wall behind. She levitated another shelf with some canned goods still intact and managed to throw it at him, forcing Menace to duck down. It was like a food fight.
Blitz saw Styx still on the floor and he began to sneak his way over to him while Loona kept Menace busy. Crawling across the floor, he managed to get close enough to Styx to hang his arm on his shoulder.
"Don't worry, pal, I got you," Blitz said.
Styx looked up at Blitz. "Damian… is he…?"
"Don't worry, he's safe. Amaroq too," Blitz whispered as he escorted Styx towards the exit.
Menace dodged another object, a cart, as Loona kept throwing objects at him. Menace looked around and spotted Blitz exiting out with Styx, causing him to realize that Damian was already out. He tried to go after him, but Loona tackled him down, pinning him to the floor.
"Let me go!" Menace shouted before Loona pinned his face to the floor.
"Not until you let go of Pax!" Loona demanded.
"You'd think I'd let go of someone this valuable?!" Menace shouted before he kicked Loona off him. She then levitated more objects to stop Menace at his tracks, which he responded to by throwing more objects to her. "You will not stop me from getting the boy!"
"I don't think so!" Loona shouted at him. "Face it, your plans failed, Menace!"
"You think I failed? Not by a mile!" Menace declared as he chuckled while radiating dark magic around him. "Looks like I'll have to finish this with a more… beastly approach…"
"What are you…?" Loona asked before she saw Menace changing Pax's body. There was a red and black glow around Pax, as if a smoke cloud was surrounding the beagle hellhound. She watched as Pax's body started to change, growing two pairs of eyes on the side, and heard his bones crack as his body twisted and contorted in ways that it was not supposed to…
Pax's ears went from drooping to being turned straight up, black spikes appearing from his head to down his spine. He grew hunched, his form becoming more quadrupedal as he went on all fours. His paws extended into red claws, his fur darkened, becoming a lot more messier and spikier. The new pairs of eyes were smaller compared to the main ones, but all six eyes turned crimson red. He grew much larger and grew silver horns that curled around while his tail turned black and became pointed like an imp's.
"What the fuck…?" Loona asked as she backed away upon seeing Pax's more feral form…
Or to be specific, upon seeing Menace's own feral form.
"Now this… is what a Hellhound truly looks like!" Menace declared as he let out a howl and charged towards the window.
Outside, Blitz was leading Amaroq and Damian away from the store while carrying Styx.
"Come on, let's go somewhere to patch up Styx here," Blitz told them.
"What about Loona?" Amaroq asked in worry.
"Don't worry, as soon as you two are safe, we-" Blitz was interrupted when he heard the sound of a window breaking behind them, making them all turn around to see the demonic, feral Menace come crashing out of the store. "OH SHIT!"
Menace let out a growl before he spotted Damian, making him smile. "Found you!" he shouted as he ran towards them.
"Run!" Blitz shouted at the kids as Amaroq and Damian ran off, Blitz trying to aim at the demonic Hellhound. But Menace dodged the shots as he knocked Blitz and Styx out of his way, making a beeline directly for Damian.
Damian looked behind him and saw the demonic Hellhound chasing after him. Damian then looked at Amaroq, realizing that she could get hurt by Menace if he caught up to them. And so, once again emulating his older cousin, the son of Satan made a turn away from Amaroq, running around a corner.
"Damian!" Amaroq shouted, seeing Damian run away as Menace focused on him
Menace grinned as he got closer to Damian. The red-furred jackal pup kept running until eventually Menace snapped his jaws onto his shirt, successfully grabbing Damian.
"Nononono, let me go!" Damian shouted, struggling to get himself free.
Menace said nothing due to his mouth being full. Instead, he ran away with Damian in his jaws, heading for the nearest exit out of town.
"Damian!" Amaroq shouted as Loona managed to catch up to them.
"Oh no, I'm too late," Loona said, seeing Menace run off. She looked at Amaroq. "Amaroq, are you alright?"
"I… I'm fine, but Damian…" Amaroq said as she looked down with a saddened expression.
"Don't worry, kid," Blitz said as he got up, helping Styx up as well. "We'll be able to get him."
"But how? There's no way we can catch up to them," Styx pointed out.
Blitz gave it some thought, thinking about how they could catch up to Menace and save Damian from him… and he struck an idea.
"Maybe not…" Blitz said as Loona looked down at him. He gave a smile and Loona immediately realized what he was thinking…
Menace had managed to run out of town with Damian still in his jaws, despite Damian hitting him in the snout.
"Let me go! Help! Stranger danger!" Damian shouted while struggling. He then spotted something behind them and he smiled.
Menace heard the sound of hooves getting louder behind them and when he looked back, his eyes widening in surprise.
It was Loona and Blitz, both of them riding together on a demon horse, specifically the one Blitz had wrangled during the Pain Games, as they began to catch up to Menace and Damian.
"Hang on, Damian!" Loona shouted as she sat behind her dad.
"Yeah, time to lasso up!" Blitz declared while holding up a lasso, swinging it around as they closer to Menace. Once they were close enough, he threw the rope towards Menace. The rope managed to snag the demonic hellhound by the tail. "Ha! Gotcha! Wait until John Wayne hears-" But before he could finish, Blitz was yanked off from his horse. "YAAAAAH!"
"DAD?!" Loona cried out, seeing Blitz getting dragged behind Menace as he held onto the rope.
"Don't worry, Loona, I'm not letting him go!" Blitz declared before he was dragged through a field of rocks. "Ah! Ow! Ooh! Eek!"
Loona was worried for her dad, but she turned her attention back to Damian, who was still in Menace's chomps. She saw the helpless look on his face, so she took control of the horse and managed to draw them closer to Menace and Damian. Once they were close enough to Menace, Loona leaped off from the horse, tackling into Menace and causing them to roll on the ground.
"Oof!" Menace grunted as he ended up letting go of Damian from his mouth.
"Damian, run!" Loona shouted while holding down Menace as Damian got back up.
"But what about you guys?!" Damian asked as Blitz finally stood up.
"Don't worry about us, we'll keep him busy, kid," Blitz said as he rushed over to tackle Menace as well, helping his daughter hold him down.
Damian gave them a worried look, but nodded and began to run.
Menace could feel a rope being wrapped around him as Blitz tried to tie him up. But he refused to go down, managing to stand up and shake Blitz and Loona off of him. He tried to chase after Damian once more, only to get tackled down again by Loona.
"You're not getting him!" Loona shouted while trying to restrain him, only to get smacked away by Menace's paw.
"Wanna bet?!" Menace snarled before Blitz managed to wrap some rope around him. But Menace just shook around, swinging Blitz, who was holding onto the rope, through the air before causing him to crash back to the ground. Loona got on his back, but Menace grabbed her and tossed her aside. "I can still catch up to him…"
CRUNCH!
"AAAH!" Menace screamed as he looked down and saw Loona biting his leg. "Get off of me, you insolent animal!" he shouted, kicking Loona away from him. His face was then tackled by Blitz, who kept punching him in the head.
"Take this! And this!" Blitz shouted before Menace managed to shake him off and toss him to the ground.
"You two are such an annoyance!" Menace snarled.
"We won't let you have your way, Menace," Loona declared as she stood in front of him. "Not until you get out of Pax!"
Menace snickered. "I'm afraid the only way of stopping me is to kill this body," he told her. "But there's no way you'd want to end the life of your friend, would you…?"
"You were exorcised before, we can get you out of there somehow!" Loona declared.
"Then perhaps we could… dance," he suggested before smoke radiated around him. Menace then started to stand up, using Pax's feral body to make him stand on his two back paws. The sound of bones cracking as he stood up was heard as his body adjusted, his arms broadening. It didn't look nor sound natural… or painless.
Loona stared in shock as Menace easily over-towered her. It was an incredibly creepy sight, since it just… didn't look right, seeing him standing on two legs while in this form. Nothing about this looked, sounded, or felt right.
"You… you don't scare me, Menace!" Loona declared as she launched herself at him… only for Menace to swing his arm and casually strike Loona, knocking her aside.
"LOONA!" Blitz shouted in shock, seeing his daughter go down hard.
"Well, that was disappointing," Menace commented while looking down at Loona…
Elsewhere, Cain was on the ground, being in the middle of getting beaten to a pulp by Marcus.
"How pathetic!" the draconian demon declared before kicking Cain's stomach, causing him to grunt. "You've accomplished nothing!" he declared, before picking Cain back up, only to punch him in the masked face a few times before tossing him aside. "Instead, you've lost everything that you've had! You thought killing Murdock would be the end of it? No…"
Cain tried to get back up, despite the bruises and the taste of his own blood in his mouth. But before he could get up, Marcus stomped on his back, making him grunt out loud. Marcus grinned as he turned over Cain, looking down at him. "What you have done was simply only delaying the inevitable," he declared with a grin as he kicked Cain, causing him to slide across the floor. "Despite your efforts, everyone in Angerton is still very much… doomed. I didn't want to immediately move against Angerton because I didn't know if one of my siblings was involved in thwarting Murdock or not. I didn't want to reveal myself too early, expose my hand. But now that I know it was you and only you… I think I will pay Angerton a visit after this."
Cain's eyes widened after hearing that. He knew that Marcus would try to raze Angerton to the ground, just like Murdock had done. He… he couldn't allow that to happen. Not to Angerton… not to Holly and Gigi… not to Maz and Mim…
"It is a shame though," Marcus admitted. "You could have had potential. But you are barely even a Goetia…"
Cain slowly got back up, removing his mask and throwing it off, causing it to bounce across the floor. Cain was staring at the ground, breathing hard…
…as his blue eyes started to glow.
Meanwhile, Blitz was attacking Menace, clinging to his side while punching him. This annoyed Menace, who swatted Blitz away from him.
"Out of my way, commoner," Menace told him.
"You are going to pay for hurting my daughter!" Blitz shouted as he charged towards Menace.
Menace sighed as he saw Blitz coming towards him again. "I said get back!" he shouted as he swatted at him, but Blitz managed to duck underneath the arm and grab it. Irritated, Menace tried to shake Blitz off of him, but Blitz crawled up the arm and began biting. "Ow! Quit it!" he shouted as Blitz ended up on his back. The imp wrapped a rope around Menace's mouth as Menace tried to get him off of his back.
"Yee-haw!" Blitz shouted while riding on top of Menace, who tried to shake him off. It was like Blitz was riding on a rodeo bull, but the bull was a demonic beagle. Menace rose up and kicked around while Blitz kept a tight grip on top of him. "Yeah! I can do this all day, pal! I have ridden dino-sinners more rowdy than you!"
Menace snarled as he moved around, shaking his head, trying to get the rope out of his mouth. Blitz kept his tight grip as Menace shook his body around, jumping up and down. Eventually, Blitz ended up being shaken off from Menace's back, Menace throwing him to the ground.
"Crap!" Blitz yelled as he tumbles around the ground. When he tried to get up, he felt the heavy force of the large paw pinning him down on his back. Menace was on top of him, growling at the imp. "Shit…"
"That's what you'll be once I'm done with you…" Menace declared as his jaws opened up, revealing rows of sharp teeth just inches away Blitz's face. The imp looked panicked and struggled to get up while Menace's teeth drew near…
Loona groaned as she turned her body. She then saw Menace on top of Blitz, her eyes widening upon seeing that her dad was about to be mauled. That her dad was in danger.
The Hellhound girl started to breathe heavily, her irises shrinking…
…and her eyes starting to glow red.
Marcus watched as Cain picked himself up. He saw the glow in his eyes.
"You… if you really want me to be a Goetia…" Cain said as he stood up. "I'll be a Goetia."
He lifted his head up, showing his glowing blue eyes as his mane turned into blue flames…
Loona picked herself up and began to snarl.
"MENACE!" she shouted at him, causing Menace to turn to Loona. "Leave my dad alone!"
"Or what?" Menace mocked with a smirk until he noticed her eyes glowing…
Cain roared as he felt his body shifting. His blue flaming mane grew larger and two extra pairs of smaller blue eyes appeared on the side of his head. His body began to change, his hands shifting into a lion's paw, his claws growing larger… and blue flames bursting around his wrists.
Loona's hair started to grow longer, her torso expanding. Her arms bent into a hind position, her hands grew claws. Her clothes were getting a bit tattered through her transformation as her body took on more… canine proportions…
Cain's outfit also had some tears, pieces of his armor starting to fall away as his body took on a lion's proportion. He got on all fours as blue flames burst around his ankles, the end of his tail lighting up like a blue match.
Loona's fur became much messier, her tail growing longer. She had grown from her regular size to a much larger and more wolf-like form…
And soon enough, she became a quadrupedal, having fully transformed into her feral form, with her six eyes glowing bright red as she let out a howl.
Cain had completed his transformation into his Goetia form, which resembled that of a quadrupedal lion. His six, blue eyes shone like sapphire as blue flames burned around him.
He let out a roar, a roar that echoed through the room.
Marcus's eyes widened at Cain's transformation… and then he smiled. "Well… it's about time."
Menace, however, reacted in shock, before sending Loona a glare upon seeing her have transformed into this feral state.
"Great, just what I need," he said in annoyance.
Loona snarled while in her feral form before she launched herself towards Menace to attack him, her jaws open wide…
Cain roared as he jumped up to Marcus, taking a bite on his arm which Marcus used to shield the rest of his body with. Marcus winced, feeling the burning bite from Cain's teeth before he managed to use his other arm to knock the lion Goetia away. Marcus looked over at Cain, who was on all fours.
"That… did hurt," Marcus admitted, actually sounding somewhat impressed as Cain pounced back on him…
Menace was pounced on by Loona, who bit him in the neck. Menace screamed as he used his paw to knock Loona off of him. Loona snarled in response before biting one of his front legs, which made Menace shout in pain.
"OW!" Menace shouted before he looked at his bleeding front leg, or arm, while Loona snapped at his shoulder…
Marcus was bitten hard by Cain, who had flames exploding from his flaming mane. Marcus managed to grab the back of Cain's fur before tossing him away from him. Marcus then flew over to Cain, grabbing him and pinning to the wall with his arm to his neck.
"Why don't… you jus-"
Before Marcus could finish, Cain exploded his blue flames all around him. Marcus was caught in the flames, feeling the burns as he flew back. He saw Cain was surrounding himself in blue flames. But the flames were not random. They seemed to be controlled, as though guided by his anger towards Marcus…
Despite being pushed back, Loona didn't give up as she pounced on the back of Menace, clawing and biting at him. He spun around, managing to toss her away from him. The two then glared at each other and began to circle around each other like two predators fighting each other for dominance.
Menace knew that had to be careful around her. When he saw an opening, he kicked some dirt in her face, making her growl before he pounced on her. He bit her by the neck, making her yelp before she rolled over and got on top of him. She snapped at his face before he pushed her aside as the two wrestled with each other.
Loona managed to swipe her paw at Menace, smacking him across the face. Menace growled and did the same, smacking her across the face as well with his own paw…
Cain swiped his paw towards Marcus's face, smacking him across it. Marcus glared at Cain and smacked the lion across his face, knocking him to the ground. Cain looked up to see Marcus towering over him, but Cain quickly rolled back up onto his feet and charged at him, hitting Marcus in the stomach with his head. This made Marcus gasp for air as he tumbled to the floor. He was then given some swipes from Cain's claws before Marcus managed to kick Cain away, forcing him to back off.
Marcus's own flames burst around him as he started to breathe out flames towards Cain. The flaming lion opened his mouth and breathed out blue flames towards Marcus as well, the columns of fire hitting each other. Their flames exploded around the room, a colorful display of both red and blue fire that scorched the floors and the walls…
Loona and Menace had tackled each other again and were taking more swipes at each other. Menace got the upper hand, clawing at Loona's face as she was then held down by his other claw. He then proceeded to bite her in the back, which made Loona howl. She would manage to bite him in the other leg before hitting him in his jaw, causing him to get let go of her.
"Enough!" Menace declared, his eyes glowing while shadowy smoke burst around him. "Let me show you true power!"
Menace charges towards Loona, the two now at it but with magical energy bursting around Menace in an attempt to counter Loona.
Back to Cain, he had tackled Marcus and was biting him on the wings, making the draconic demon scream in pain. He grabbed Cain, but Cain bit him in the hand, causing him to knock him away from him.
Cain rolled back up, snarling at Marcus while breathing fire towards him. The Spawn of Satan flew back, breathing his own flames towards Cain. But the flames proved to be ineffective, so Marcus had to think of a different tactic.
"How about a little rumble?!" Marcus suggested before he stomps on the floor of the room. The room shook, making Cain almost tumble over. Marcus smiled before he stomped some more in the room, causing not only for some debris to fall, but the floor to start to crack.
Cain jumped away from the cracked spots, which created some fissures. Marcus kept on stomping the ground as he created some more fissures, steam coming out of the fissures as Cain jumped up to avoid them. Eventually, Cain got blasted by some of the steam…
Back with Loona, she had gotten herself blasted back by Menace's magic. With each howl, he shot out a magical blast that hit her back. But she still got back up and charged after Menace despite this.
"You can't win this, Loona," Menace declared as he used his magic to speed himself up, causing him to knock her with his head to her side, making her roll over. "I have the advantage. I can use my magic while in this form, something that you wouldn't be able to try!"
Loona got up, glaring at Menace. He shot more magical blasts through his howl, but Loona ran around, avoiding the blasts before jumping toward Menace. Before Menace could react, she bit him in the rear, causing him to cry out in pain. Loona then swung her tail to blind him before kicking him.
Menace tried to fight back, but Loona tackled him to the ground and wrapped her front paws around his neck, causing him to cry out. "Let me go!" he shouted. He tried to howl again, but Loona just punched him in the throat, making him gag.
Loona then smacked Menace across the face while pinning him down. She snarled at Menace, thinking about what he said earlier. Menace may have the magic and power of a Hellhound… but he was still not a Hellhound. He was nothing more than a ghost who was pretending to be a Hellhound, while she was very much the real deal…
Menace tried to fight back, only to get slashed to the face again by Loona. She was on top of him, using her claws to pierce and slash his front limbs. Menace was getting clawed and slashed left and right, black blood bursting from his nose to his mouth, making him bite his tongue. Loona kept beating him and mauling him, trying to overwhelm him so that he was unable to focus long enough to use a spell.
"Ow! Stop, Loona, I- AHH!" he grunted and screamed from each bite and slash. When he tried to use a spell on her, Loona slammed her claws on her arms, causing him to cry out in pain as she continued to beat the shit out of him. He pathetically tried to crawl away, having realized that he couldn't win while underneath her. But Loona was still on top of him, biting his shoulder, making him howl in pain.
She was definitely overwhelming him through the sheer ferocity of her beatings and bites. She was not allowing him to escape. Loona couldn't risk him escaping, so instead she went ballistic on him. After all, Menace had this coming a mile away in attempting to sacrifice Damian, endangering Amaroq, and trying to hurt her dad…
But she was too busy mauling him that she seemed to be forgetting that Menace was possessing the innocent Pax. She was blinded with rage at this point, a rage that could even shock the most violent Wrathian. Images of Menace threatening to use his teeth on her dad played through her head on repeat, encouraging her to make sure that Menace suffered…
As he continued to get beaten and scratched, Menace gazed up at her with a shocked look; he couldn't fathom just how powerful she was as a Hellhound. He never thought that a Hellhound like her would be able to take him out like this, especially while he was in this form… unless she was somehow more than he realized.
"What… are you?" Menace asked, his last words before his eyes glowed white. His spirit left Pax's body through the mouth and Loona stopped her beating upon seeing Pax's body turn back to normal after Menace's spirit left it.
Loona watched the spirit leave as it faded into a bright light. Loona then looked back at Pax's body. She saw him bruised up, scratched up… and back to his normal self. No dark, demonic look or extra eyes and spikes… just regular, Pax.
"Oooohhhh…" Pax, the actual Pax, groaned as he laid on the ground.
Loona said nothing, instead just breathing heavily. Her ears picked up something that made her turn and she saw Damian pop up from behind a nearby rock he had been hiding behind.
"Whoa… that was totally wicked!" Damian shouted.
Loona looked over at Damian and gave him a smile. "Glad you're safe…" she said before she collapsed to the ground from exhaustion.
"Loona!" Blitz shouted. Worried, he crawled over to his daughter, Damian also rushing towards Loona's aid. "Loona, you alright, sweetheart?"
Loona just groaned. "Just… tired…" she said before her body changed back to normal as she rested in Blitz's arms.
Blitz just sighed in relief, although that didn't stop him from being worried about all the injuries she had from the fight against Menace…
Suddenly, teleporting to where they were, was Stolas, who had shown up with Amaroq. "Don't worry, Blitzy, I'm here and-"
He stopped when he saw Blitz, Loona, Pax, all three of them looking quite bruised.
"What the heck happened here…?" Amaroq asked, looking at Loona, and then at Pax.
"You guys missed quite a lot, really…" Damian admitted.
Back to Cain's fight with Marcus, Cain… wasn't doing very well, unfortunately.
Marcus had managed to get the upper hand, punching and beating Cain across the room, which was now filled with fissures shooting out jets of steam. Cain tried to get up, but Marcus flew over to kick the quadrupedal lion into the wall, causing him to slide down to the ground. Despite his fiery boost, Marcus had proven to be too strong for the young Goetia to handle.
"You fought quite well, although in the end, I'm still stronger," Marcus said as he flew down in front of Cain. "You know, this is my first time facing off against a Goetia. You didn't do too badly, though it is quite obvious that you never finished your training. Then again, at least you're not one of those stuffy aristocrats from Pride who don't even know how to throw a punch." He sighed. "I wish I had grown up back when the Goetians were… warriors," he admitted before he saw Cain changing back into his normal form.
Cain, now in his normal form, was breathing heavily. He tried to get up, but Marcus grabbed him by the throat and slammed him against the wall.
"Perhaps you are an echo of what they once were," Marcus complimented with a smile. "Like I said, you fought well, even if it didn't make a difference in the end…"
Cain then did something that surprised Marcus… he smiled, despite his loss.
"Did it?" Cain asked him with his tired smile.
This confused Marcus. "What are you smiling for? You lost…"
"Yeah, I did," Cain admitted with a sigh. "Honestly, I knew that when I came here that I probably wasn't going to be able to defeat you. I mean, you are the son of a Sin. So I thought that… maybe I could impress you."
"Impress me?" Marcus asked, sounding amused.
"Well, maybe you could consider this fight as… an audition," Cain suggested
"For what?" Marcus questioned.
"I have a proposition for you," Cain revealed, intriguing Marcus.
"Go on," Marcus said, wanting to see where Cain was going with this.
"Look, I know that you might be upset about the whole Murdock thing," Marcus acknowledged. "But you know, how useful would Murdock really have been if a single village was able to wipe out his army with limited help?" he pointed out. "I mean, despite the resources that you had given him… He lost. Resources that were wasted on an unstable demon…"
"Yes, he was a bit of a waste," Marcus admitted before he realized what Cain was building to. "Hmm… are you suggesting that you take Murdock's place?"
"Yes," Cain confirmed. "I mean, think about it. I am Goetia. My life has more value than Murdock's."
"True," Marcus mused. As a Goetia demon, Cain's life was inherently more valuable than any Hellborn's.
"Hell, I didn't even kill Tilly," Cain revealed, surprising Marcus.
"You mean Tilphousia?" Marcus asked. "She's alive?"
Cain nodded. "You sent her after me and she did kill one of my men, but I spared her life and brought her here. As a token of my good faith, since I knew that a Fury would be far less replaceable than a Demon Ape would be. I didn't kill anyone that you couldn't replace. So whatever plans you had for Murdock, I am even more capable of fulfilling those plans, and it would make up for your losses. You saw how good I am. Better than Murdock."
Marcus narrowed his gaze at Cain, wondering if he was up to something. He eased his grip, but still held him above the floor. "You want something out of this, do you?"
Cain nodded at Marcus. "All I ever wanted was for Angerton to be left alone. The entire town, along with anyone involved in defending it, would be left alone." He then offered a pragmatic viewpoint. "If you actually destroy Angerton or kill those who helped to defend it, how does that help your goals? It would just be petty revenge. It won't erase your losses, or replace the resources you spent."
Marcus hummed as he weighed his options "On one hand, you did cause a setback to my plans… but on the other, having a Goetia under my wing sounds promising…"
He kept thinking about how this could go. A Goetia working under him… that could work out really well for him. There was so much potential for Cain, too much for him to ignore…
"You have… talents, power, and influence that I could use," Marcus admitted before letting Cain go. "Alright, Angerton and those like that imp that defended that town will be safe, as you wish. They mean very little to me anyway."
"If you break that deal, you know I'll find a way to kick your ass, right?" Cain asked him.
Marcus chuckled. "As you said, I have nothing to gain by destroying a town where Murdock proved that he had no use to me," he said while looking at Cain "And I'm willing to respect the wishes of a member of the Ars Goetia. After all," he said as he raised his hand to Cain. "A Goetia can be useful to me…"
Cain looked down at Marcus's hand and gave a sigh. He then reached out to take Marcus's hand, shaking on it.
And just like that, a deal had been made.
Back in Ragetown, they were in the middle of recovery in the aftermath of the Terafrost attack. Clean-up had begun, with the debris and destroyed stands being cleared away. Surprisingly, not as many demons were upset by this ending to the Harvest Moon Festival as you might think. This was hardly the first time that the Harvest Moon Festival had been interrupted like this. They were in Wrath, after all.
Amongst the survivors, a trio consisting of Damian, Amaroq, and a healed up Styx had managed to locate where Tentadora was. She was still shut down, her beaten up robot body laying where it had fallen. Fortunately, no imp had tried to swipe the body for their own… use.
"Tenta!" Damian shouted as he knelt down in front of her. "Oh man, Tenta… are you alright?"
The robot didn't answer and a worried Damian poked her head, desperate for a response.
"Is she…?" Amaroq asked while Styx stepped in to give them some reassurance.
"Don't worry, Tentadora should be alright once we've managed to fix her up," Styx said while wearing an eyepatch and an arm cast. "We might have to send her back to Lust for repairs, but then she'll be as good as new."
Damian looked up at Styx and gave a nod, though he still looked worried for Tentadora. He reached over to take her metal hand, squeezing it gently.
"I know you can't hear me, Tenta," he said. "But you're going to be okay. I promise."
"Damian?"
Hearing Jack's voice, both Amaroq and Damian turned around… and the former proceeded to freak out. "YAAH! WHAT THE HECK?!"
What Amaroq saw was Jack… or at least his head. The rest of his body was being carried by Jill, who set them down, revealing that his limbs and legs had become detached from the rest of his body.
"Yeah, I expected that reaction," Jack admitted while Jill began to tend to his wounds, snapping some of his limbs back into place.
"Geez, Jack, this again?" Damian asked. He seemed surprisingly nonchalant with his cousin being just a head. "Did that monster do you good?"
"How are you still alive?!" Amaroq asked in shock. Yet despite her shock and her horror… she was quite intrigued. "I mean, this is pretty horrifying… but also pretty cool."
"Huh, that's the first time I've been told that my bad luck is cool," Jack replied.
"Ah, Jack, there you are," Styx said while struggling to lift Tenta's heavier robotic body. "Are you alright, my boy?"
"I'm good, Styx, though I guess that I have to tell Amaroq about my… deal," Jack admitted. "Since I suppose Damian didn't already tell you."
"Come on, don't hold up! What's the deal with you being headless and still alive?" Amaroq asked him.
"Well… the thing is, that… it started before I was born, when my mother was still pregnant with me," Jack began while looking down. This was not the first time he had to recount this story, but he still found parts of it hard to get through. "My father… died in a freak accident. My mother, who was devastated by the loss, turned to her sister, Damian's mom, and begged for her sister's husband, Satan, to make a deal with her. But as a gift to his wife, Damian's father granted my mother's wish and gave her unborn child the gift of eternal life." He felt Jill lift his head up to place it back on top of his body. "Thanks, Jill," he said before he continued. "But that gift was actually… well, a curse. I am immortal… but also have a supernatural affinity for bad luck. In fact, this is far from the first time I've been attacked by a monster…"
Jack looked around at the damage caused by the destruction around the town and he let out a sigh. "I do feel guilty about this, though," he admitted. "Perhaps I should have known better than to come here where I would be a danger to everyone…"
Jill looked over at Jack, feeling bad for him as she finished putting him back in one piece, snapping his last foot into place. "This is not your fault, Jack," she told him. "You should be able to have a normal life and do the things you want. And you would have… if not for your mom and your uncle."
Jack glanced at Damian, not wanting to speak bad about his uncle in front of his cousin. "I mean, it isn't all bad," he pointed out. "If it weren't for my curse, we would have never met."
"Yeah," Jill said while glancing away from Jack. "Right…"
Meanwhile, Stolas was currently helping out with fixing up the town, using his magic to clean up some of the debris out of the road.
"Alright, this should clear that road," Stolas said he saw a building with a missing roof. "Hmm, what's a building without a foundation?" he asked while using his magic to help reconstruct the foundation of the building while forming the planks of wood and tiles to rebuild the roof. He also summoned some tools to help out with proper repairs.
"Are you sure you know what you're doing?" Chase asked while helping out with the clean-up, helping to move a wrecked wagon out of a path. "No offense, Mr. Prince, but this job works best if you know about construction."
"Yes, well, I just want to help out a bit before I make my leave," Stolas replied while summoning nails and hammers as he used his powers to fix up a roof. "I thought the locals here would appreciate a little aid."
"I, uh, don't think others would agree with you," Chase said while looking around, noticing some imps giving Stolas some dirty looks. While the prince may have meant well, he wasn't a laborer, and some of the locals saw a prince coming in to show them up and do their work for him with his fancy magic as… well, condescending. Some of the imps were even grumbling to themselves about Stolas making light of what they did for a living, all the while Stolas naively continued to help repair the damage. Chase just shook his head before looking over at the knocked out Terafrost in the middle of the town, a few imps actually stopping in front of the Terafrost to snap selfies. "So what should be done about the big guy? I didn't slay it since, well, I wasn't hired to do so and it wouldn't be right to eliminate a creature once thought to be extinct…"
"Hmm, I know a duke from the Pride Ring who would most likely love to take in a beast like this," Stolas recalled. "I think he would just love to have a Terafrost in his animal sanctuary."
"Well, that's good to hear," Chase replied with a nod. "Wait, are you referring to Duke Alloces?"
"Yes," Stolas confirmed. "Do you know him?"
"I have done the occasional job for him, though he doesn't approve of my methods," Chase admitted with a shrug.
"Excuse me, Prince Stolas, sir."
Stolas turned to see Carrie and Douglas walking over to him and he smiled. "Carrie, Douglas, I am so glad to see that you two are safe," he said in a cheerful tone. "No injuries, I hope?"
"None, thankfully," Carrie replied. She actually looked quite awkward while having to speak to the prince who saved her and Douglas. "But we'd like to give our thanks to you, for saving our lives, sir. I… I am grateful."
"Yeah, me too," Douglas replied with a nod. "Thank you for saving us, sir."
Stolas smiled warmly. "Don't mention it. I just knew that I had to do something, that I couldn't just try to save myself and hide… like other Goetia would," he admitted, thinking about how he very nearly did just that. It was what he was taught, after all. He was a Goetia. His life had value. His priority should always be his own self-preservation. Perhaps doing what he did, putting himself at risk to save the lives of other Hellborn, made him a bad Goetia… but perhaps that was something he could live with.
"Well… considering what I saw back there, you're not like the other Goetia," Carrie acknowledged. "You really know how to tussle against a large monster."
"I… don't think I have ever used my powers like that before," Stolas admitted. Despite all of his power, despite his legions, he wasn't a fighter. Very few Goetia were these days, unlike the Goetia of the past who fought in Hell's wars.
"Yeah, and it shows," Carrie mentioned.
"It does?" Stolas asked.
"You fight defensively, from a distance," Carrie explained. "That's why you needed someone like Chase to finish the Terafrost off. You're not used to using your powers in a real fight."
"Hmm, that is true," Stolas acknowledged. "I'm not used to fighting an opponent that I can't petrify with a single look. For some reason, I couldn't turn that Terafrost to stone…"
"For what it's worth, you didn't do too bad," Carrie told Stolas.
"Well, um, I'd say that you didn't do too bad for yourself either, Carrie," Stolas acknowledged. "Putting your life on the line while protecting Douglas. I'd say you have some good, um, what's the word, 'gumption?'"
Carrie smiled, appreciating the effort. "Yeah, that's about it."
However, unknown to Stolas and Carrie, there was someone lurking in the shadows of an alleyway, holding up his holy gun and aiming it at the unsuspecting Goetia prince. The glowing, yellow eyes revealed that Striker was the gunman and he had a clear shot at him. After he missed his first window of opportunity, he realized that he had the perfect opening now while the prince was distracted dealing with the aftermath of the fiasco with the Terafrost. It would have been so easy for him to pull the trigger… if he hadn't spotted his son, Douglas, talking to the prince.
Striker paused, fearing the worst. But then he saw that Douglas was keeping his hood up, hiding his hair from the Goetian prince. And much to Striker's surprise, Douglas looked… relieved and happy while talking to Stolas. After all, Stolas had saved his life. Striker knew that Stolas had helped to save his son and Carrie from the Terafrost… and this knowledge, combined with seeing his son with the prince, made him lower his gun.
Striker put the gun hidden away while letting out a sigh. "Not this time, blue blood," he whispered to himself as he watched Stolas, who had no knowledge that he just narrowly avoided assassination. "Not this time…"
For saving his son, Striker decided that Solas would get to live… this time, at the very least.
While Stolas and Carrie were talking, Douglas spotted his dad walking up to him and he broke into a huge smile. "Dad!" he shouted as he rushed over and hugged his father. "You're back!"
"Sorry I took so long, Douglas," Striker responded while patting his head. "I was… on my way back when the alarm sounded off, but I didn't know where you would be."
"I'm safe, dad, thanks to Carrie keepin' an eye on me," Douglas pointed out. "And the prince for saving me."
"Well, mighty thank you for watchin' over and protectin' my son, Carrie," Striker thanked her while not even looking at or acknowledging Stolas.
"It's no problem, Striker," Carrie nodded in acknowledgment.
"We have to go now, but hopefully we will be able to catch each other again in the future," Striker said as he began to lead his son away, leaving Stolas slightly offended at Striker completely ignoring that he was there instead of thanking him for saving his son.
"What a rude demon," Stolas said to himself as his would-be assassin walked off with his son.
Meanwhile, in another part of town near the stage that had been used for the Harvest Moon Festival, a bruised up Pax is being tendered by his friends.
"How are you feeling, Pax?" Chat asked while giving him an ice pack.
"A bit sore… and traumatized," Pax replied while covered in bandages and wearing some casts on his arms and legs. "Now I know how you went through, Shawn…"
"Well, I am glad to see that you're okay, Pax," Shawn replied. "Uh, I mean besides the obvious, of course."
"Here, try this banana-mango smoothie I've whipped up for ya," Kajedo said as she popped up with a smoothie, giving it to Pax. "Good for potassium deficiency."
"Thanks, Kaje," Pax replied as he drank his smoothie.
"Man, today has just been a crazy day," Hurston mentioned while sitting beside Zumi.
"Yeah, although I am sorry that none of us realized that Menace was possessing you, Pax," Zumi apologized.
"It… it's fine," Pax said.
"But what was it like?" Ember asked him in concern. "If you wish to talk about it…"
"Nah, it's good," Pax said while looking down. "It was… how do I put it? It was like a nightmare that I couldn't wake up from." He looked down at his own bandaged body, specifically at his hands in their casts. "I… I'm not sure what Menace did to my body… and I'm not sure that I want to know either. I just feel… wrong. My body feels wrong. Like he forced it to do things that it wasn't supposed to…"
Meanwhile, sitting on the stage and watching the Wrath teens from a distance was Loona, who was also covered in bandages and wearing a jacket that looked too big for her. She was focusing on Pax, her expression betraying the guilt she was feeling. While she wallowed in her guilt, walking over to her was Blitz, who was covered in bandages for his scratches and bruises.
"Hey, just letting you know that your friend, Tex, will be okay," Blitz said as he sat beside Loona. "Sure, he's bruised up after that beating he took, but he should be good."
"That's great to hear," Loona replied, glad that at least Tex was going to be okay.
"You know, you can join them if you like, hon," Blitz said, indicating the Wrath teens.
"I… I don't think I should," Loona responded with her head down. "I still felt bad for losing control like I did when I was beating up Pax," she admitted.
"Loona-"
"Yeah, I know. It was Menace in there. But even if Menace was possessing him at the time, it was still Pax's body that I ended up attacking," she sighed as she thought about how she just completely lost control. "I'm no better than that Millie girl…"
Blitz looked up at Loona in concern. "Hey, I'm sure he won't put it against you."
"Maybe, I should've still had more restraint," Loona said as she brought her knees close to her chest, wrapping her arms around them in an attempt to comfort herself. "This… is all my fault." she said. "I screwed up big time…"
"Loona, you didn't-"
"And it's not just because of what happened to Pax," she admitted while looking even more guilt ridden. "I was the one who insisted that we come here despite the risks. Because of that, you were nearly killed during the Pain Games, you got attacked by that Hellhound in Verosika's trailer, all of the stuff with Robo-Fizz happened, and Damian nearly getting sacrificed is probably my fault too…"
"Now Loona, you had no idea that any of that would happen," Blitz pointed out. "I mean, how could any of us have predicted that a monster would attack this town?"
"Still, that doesn't make me feel any better," Loona admitted while looking down. "I should've been more careful, more responsible…"
Blitz looked over at her sadly, then down at his own boots. "Yeah, we both should have been," he admitted.
A moment of awkward silence passed between them as they both looked down at the ground. After that moment, Loona looked up at her dad, thinking back at what he had said.
"Speaking of… what do we do with that Hellhound?" Loona asked.
Alexei was alive.
But besides that, his situation isn't ideal. He was unconscious, tied up, and had a bullet hole in his leg courtesy of Blitz, who now surrounded him with Tex, Stolas, Blitz, Loona and Verosika.
"So what do we do with him?" Tex asked while pointing to the unconscious Alexei. His face was still bruised up, which caused Loona to glance at him in concern.
"I want to know who he was working for, who sent him all the way here after Blitzy," Stolas explained, his tone angry as he glared down at the Hellhound who dared to attack his favorite imp. The only reason that Alexei wasn't already a statue was because he still needed him… for now, at least.
"It could be Cruella," Loona pointed out. "I mean, she wouldn't have been able to travel here herself, so she could have sent him to go after dad, me, and Amaroq."
"Maybe, though it could also be someone else," Verosika suggested as she looked over at Blitz. "I mean, you do have a lot of enemies. I've met plenty of them myself."
"Oh, do they attend your anti-Blitz party too?" Blitz asked Verosika with a slight venom in his tone. "But… you have a point," he reluctantly admitted while looking back at Alexei. "I have no idea who sent this guy."
"Whether it be Cruella or someone else, we won't be getting answers from him until he's awake," Stolas pointed out.
"And when he does wake up from his beauty nap, we'll be prepared for whatever he tries to do," Blitz added. "But for now, we'll just watch over him…"
While the adults talked, Loona looked over at Tex, at all the injuries he had taken while protecting her dad. She walked over to him and tapped his arm gently. "Hey, can we talk?"
"Of course," Tex said with a nod as they walked away from the adults.
"Tex… are you alright?" Loona asked him, expressing her concern for him.
"Hm? Oh, don't worry, Loona, I've handled worse," Tex assured him, but that didn't make Loona feel better. She felt really bad for Tex, but she also felt responsible for his injuries, since if she didn't come here, then Tex wouldn't have been pummeled by that Hellhound that had been here for her dad and presumably her…
"Besides," Tex added. "I'm sure Kajedo will make it all better with her kisses."
Loona gave a small smile at this. "I hope so," she admitted. She then looked up at Tex. "Thank you, Tex. For protecting my dad."
Tex smiled back. "Don't mention it," he said.
Loona looked at him for a moment, then before she knew what she was doing, she lunged forward to hug Tex, then stood up on her tippy-toes to kiss him on the cheek, surprising him.
"I'm serious," she told him. "Thank you."
But before Tex could answer, they both heard Verosika raising her voice and they turned to see the succubus singer kicking the unconscious Alexei in anger.
"This is for trashing my trailer, asshole!" she shouted as she kept kicking him.
"Yeah, that's definitely something he did all by himself with zero help," Blitz said with a nervous expression. Even if it was only half-true, he was not willing to admit to his part in trashing the trailer… even if it was self-defense, instead letting Alexei take the blame and Verosika's wrath.
"Perhaps… we should all regroup tomorrow," Stolas suggested. "Tomorrow, we can plan our next move since today has been… well, a long day for all of us. Longer and more eventful than anyone was expecting, I imagine."
"Yeah, after everything that happened, I'm exhausted," Loona agreed. She had woken up believing that this would be her last day in Wrath. Funny how quickly things could change, but right now there is nothing she wanted more than to sleep. She did look over at Verosika, remembering that she wanted her to talk to her after the Harvest Moon Festival, but she supposed that she could wait until tomorrow.
"Besides, we probably shouldn't make any more moves until after we interrogate this guy," Blitz said while pointing to Alexei. "And Moxxie hasn't shown up anyway… which is worrisome."
Loona nodded, sharing her dad's concerns. "Yeah… I hope he's just on his way."
Sometime later, the group consisting of Blitz, Loona, Stolas, and Amaroq were meeting up with Styx, Damian, and Jack, Tentadora having already been loaded onto the carriage.
"I suppose this is where we say our goodbyes and part ways," Stolas commented. "For what it is worth, Styx, I am sorry that things went the way they did."
"Yes, well, despite everything that happened today, I'm just glad that young Damian's safe and sound," Styx said.
"Aw, you're just saying that cause you don't want to feel Hilda's wrath, or my dad's wrath if anything happened to me," Damian teased, sticking out his tongue at Styx.
"Well I… I wouldn't say that," Styx said nervously. "Although I think I am already banged up enough…"
"I just hope Tenta's going to be okay," Loona admitted, showing concern for Tentadora despite her dislike of robots. However, she then noticed one demon missing from the group. "Say, what happened to Jill?"
Jack just shrugged. "She's already snuck off," he admitted.
"What?" Loona asked, remembering that Jill was a stray. "Where to?"
"No clue," Jack admitted. "But I think she'll be fine on her own."
"Are… you sure?" Loona asked. "Have you ever thought about… helping her?"
"I have suggested that she become a member of the palace staff, but she's never been a huge fan of that idea," Jack confessed. "I think she's just been on her own so long that she prefers to keep it that way."
"Oh," Loona said, though she couldn't help but still feel concerned for the hellcat, with how the Wrath Ring was. She couldn't imagine a kid like her being on her own out there…
"Well, it was nice to meet up again," Blitz said as he shook Styx's hand. "Good luck back at the palace, general. Hope they don't punish you too harshly for this."
Styx frowned as he let go of Blitz's hand. "Me neither," he admitted under his breath. "But it was good to see you again, Mr. Blitz. We are in debt to you and your daughter for saving Damian."
"Honestly, I think I would prefer for you to not mention this to Lord Satan," Blitz requested. "I don't really need that kind of attention, you know?"
"Understood," Styx said with a nod. "I just wish that we didn't have to part ways."
"Oh?" Blitz asked in surprise.
"Damian greatly enjoys Amaroq's company," Styx pointed out. "And you seem to be an incredibly capable imp."
"Uh, thanks," Blitz said, rubbing the back of his head. "But we couldn't stay here even if we wanted to. The Wrath Ring is good for a visit, but I wouldn't want to live here."
"Me neither, so it's best that we say our goodbyes," Loona replied while shaking Styx's hand. "Thanks for keeping Amaroq safe for us, Styx, and it's nice meeting you, Jack."
"Oh, um, it was nice meeting you too, Loona, and you Amaroq as well," Jack replied with a nod.
Amaroq and Damian, meanwhile, gave each other tight hugs, holding onto each other like this was the last time they would ever see each other.
"I'll miss you, Amaroq," Damian told her.
"I'll miss you too, Dame," Amaroq admitted. "Even though I'm not going to be here in Wrath after tomorrow… I hope to see you again somehow."
Damian smiled after they released each other from their hug. "Yeah, me too."
And so, with their goodbyes finished, the trio of Styx, Damian and Jack got back into the carriage and began their journey back home to the palace. Blitz, Loona, Amaroq, and Stolas all waved to them as they saw them go..
"Bye!" they called out as they saw Damian and Jack waving goodbye at them from the windows of their carriage.
After Damian's group had left, they all heard the sound of a motorcycle, causing Loona to look around, her ears perking up. "You guys hear that?" she asked.
"Oh please tell me it's not a biker gang…" Blitz grimaced, just wanting this long day to end.
Revving through the streets of Ragetown was Cain on his motorcycle, Moxxie riding behind him. As they rode through the town, they saw the damage that had been done around the town. Moxxie was in shock as he saw the ice spikes, snow, and partially destroyed buildings.
"Crumbs, what the hell happened here?!" Moxxie asked in confusion.
"Could have been anything, being this Ring and all," Cain said with a shrug. "The stories I could tell you about the shit I've seen…"
As they drove through the streets, Moxxie spotted Blitz and Loona and he tapped Cain on the shoulder. "Pull over there," he said as he pointed at the imp and his Hellhound daughter.
"Sure thing," Cain said as he started to pull over, bringing his bike to a complete stop near Blitz and Loona.
As they saw the motorcycle coming over to them, Stolas looked at the rider… and noticed the much smaller rider behind them. "I say, isn't that…?"
"Moxxie?!" Blitz and Loona both said in shock upon recognizing Moxxie sitting behind the armored Knight of Hell.
"Thanks for the ride," Moxxie said as he stepped off from the bike before he turned to face Blitz and Loona. He suddenly felt very awkward, especially since it was obvious that he had missed out on a lot. "Hey, guys…"
"Moxxie, what the hell took you so long?" Blitz asked him while noticing Moxxie's injuries.
"Yeah… you look like crap," Loona said.
"You two look like crap as well," Moxxie pointed out, indicating their unique bumps and bruises. "Just… what happened here?" he asked, gesturing to the town around them.
Blitz and Loona looked at each other before turning back to Moxxie, Blitz speaking. "Well, it looks like we all have a lot to explain."
"Yeah, we do," Amaroq agreed while glancing at Cain, who was sitting on his bike. "Who is that guy? He looks cool."
Moxxie started to explain. "Oh, that is-"
"Moxxie?!"
They all turned to see Moxxie's family coming over to them, Abuela and Margentina in front of everyone else as they marched over to Moxxie and gave him a hug.
"Oh Moxxie, mi querido sobrino," Margentina said in espanol while looking at Moxxie. "So glad to see you and… oh my Satan, what happened to you?!" she asked, frowning at his injuries.
"Give us the names so your abuella can take care of them personally," Abuela declared.
"Yeah, you look like you've been through a war zone, cuz," Rubella commented.
"Who bullied you, cousin Moxxie?" Jam, Jazz, and Jive all asked.
"Hey, guys, calm down, calm down, I'm okay," Moxxie assured them, though he knew that their reaction was perfectly understandable. He did look all banged up and bruised, plus he was covered in dried blood, some of it his while some of it wasn't. "Really, I just had a little… setback while I was on my way here…"
"Understatement of the century," Rubella snarked.
"We've just been so worried about you, hermano," Machete said while holding up his baby daughter, who looked happy to see Moxxie.
"Yeah," Abuelito added. "We kept hoping we would see you during the Harvest Moon Festival, though we certainly weren't expecting you to look like this…"
"Yeah, I know," Moxxie said. "And I don't know what happened here, but none of you were hurt, right? Are all of you okay?" After a moment, they all nodded, causing Moxxie to give a sigh of relief before he looked up at his family, smiling at them. "Honestly, you have no idea how glad to see all of you again."
"Ahem," Blitz cleared his throat as he walked up, cutting in on the family reunion. "Say Moxxie, mind if you introduce me to your folks here?"
"Right, yeah, um… everyone, this is my boss, Blitz, and his daughter, Loona, and with them is Amaroq," Moxxie introduced them. "Guys, this is my extended family here in Wrath," he said as he pointed to each of them. "My Abuelito, my Abuella, my aunt Margentina and Uncle Machete. And my cousins, Rubella, Jazz, Jam, and Jive, and little baby Rosalina."
"So you must be Moxxie's boss that he's been telling us about," Margentina said as she eyed Blitz with a hint of suspicion.
"Well, I hope he has only told you good things, cause I've been trying to help out Mox as much as he has helped me," Blitz replied.
"Oh, he's told us plenty of good," Machete said as he came over to shake Blitz's hand. "Always good to meet a fellow hard-working imp."
"Hey, thanks," Blitz said while turning to Moxxie. "I think I like your fam already, Mox."
Amaroq, meanwhile, met up with the triplets. "Wow, so you're Moxxie's younger cousins," she said, excited to meet more children closer to her age.
"Yup! We're the toughest mariachi triplets in Wrath!" Jam declared while striking a pose.
"The manliest!" Jazz added.
"But also sensitive, as our mama likes to say," Jive pointed out.
"He's the sensitive one," Jam whispered to Amaroq, who nodded.
"Wow… what's a mariachi?" Amaroq asked them.
While Blitz and Amaroq interacted with Moxxie's family and Stolas had already left to continue aiding with the clean-up, Loona hung back, finding a place to sit down as she watched her dad and Amaroq. She smiled, wondering if she should also go over to interact with them or not…
"Diana?"
Hearing a voice behind her, Loona turns around to see Cain, who had gotten off his bike and removed his mask. He was looking at Loona strangely, staring at her as if he knew her, even though Loona knew for a fact that she had never seen this demon before.
"Uh… who?" Loona asked, vaguely remembering another time where she had been called Diana by someone else…
Cain continued to stare as he walked up to Loona. "What are you doing here, in Wrath of all Rings? Does your mother know that you're here?"
"What are you talking about?" Loona asked as she stood up, backing away slightly from this strange demon that was coming up to her.
Cain paused. He was now able to get a closer look at Loona as his eyes widened in realization, "No… no, you're not Diana… but why-?" he asked in confusion as he tried to get an even closer look… and his expression suddenly darkened. Like he saw something that he did not like. He looked up at Loona and his tone shifted. "What did you do?"
Loona felt nervous when he said that. She didn't know who the hell Cain was and she had no idea what he was talking about, but she was starting to feel unsafe around him. "You… you have the wrong demon. Look, I don't know you, so I'm just going to get my dad," she said as she turned around and began to walk away… until Cain spoke.
"Did you have a younger sibling?" he asked her, making Loona pause. While she didn't look back at Cain, her entire body tensed up, which he noticed, so he continued his questioning. "Did something happen to that younger sibling of yours?"
Loona felt lucky that her dad wasn't within hearing distance of this conversation. She still didn't want to answer Cain's question… but then he pressed on to ask her another…
"Did you kill them?" Cain asked her.
Loona paused for a long time. She looked down in guilt and only after a few moments did she give her quiet answer. "Yes…" she admitted shamefully.
Cain glared at the back of Loona's head. He gave a huff under his breath while he looked at her with nothing but contempt and disgust. After a moment, he turned around and walked away, not saying anything else to her. Not that there was anything of worth to tell her.
Loona was left with a distressful look from her interaction with Cain. Despite not knowing anything about him, despite having never met him before… he knew about her guilt. About her sins. Like she was an open book. He knew what she did and that made her wrap her arms closely around herself…
After they finished talking with Moxxie's family, Blitz and Amaroq turned to Loona and saw her distressed look, causing them both to quickly walk towards her.
"Loona?" Blitz asked as they came over to her. "Everything alright?"
"Yeah. You look… sad," Amaroq noted.
Loona looked at her dad and was about to say something, but then at Amaroq. She tensed up when she saw Amaroq, since the younger Hellpup suddenly reminded her of her… well, her baby sister.
"I… I just want to go back to Carrie's," Loona said while looking down at the ground;
Blitz nodded. "Yeah," he agreed. "We should head back to Carrie's, because it's been a long day for everyone…"
Elsewhere in Ragetown, Cain was seated inside of a bar. His mask was on the seat next to him as he ordered a drink. As he drank his order, his mind briefly dwelled on his conversation with Loona, but then his thoughts went back to his deal with Marcus. He knew that this wasn't the end of it. This was now just the start of a new road he had to go down and he wasn't exactly thrilled about the situation, but as long as he-
"Cainy?"
Cain looked behind him and saw Millie walking over to the bar. "Oh," he said. "Hey, Millie."
"I thought it was you," Millie said as she walked over to the bar, jumping up to sit in the other seat next to Cain. "Saw your bike outside. I'm surprised that you're here in Ragetown."
"Well, I was dropping someone off," Cain said with a shrug. "So how's your family doing? And how were the Pain Games?" he asked while he returned to his drink.
"Oh, they're doing fine, my mama still doesn't like me joinin' the Knights, so nothing new there," Millie said with a wave. "There was a giant monster attack though. Dat Terafrost from back in Angerton ended up here of all places!"
"Huh," Cain said while looking down at his drink. "That explains a few things."
"Luckily, Chase was here with that fancy prince to put a stop to that thing," Millie said while Cain nodded. "Thankfully, my family was safe, oh, and I won the Pain Games! Though the best part was beatin' the shit outta Scorch, Gnat, and Brutus," she said happily as Cain finished his drink. "Yeah, I ran into our old 'friends', but I gave them a beatin' they won't ever forget."
"That's good to hear," Cain said while staring dully at his empty glass. Millie picked up on this, along with this low-energy tone. Clearly, something was up.
"Everything alright, Cainy?" Millie asked him.
Cain sighed as he realized that he would have to break the news to Millie. "It's about Jawline… he's dead," he said softly.
Millie's eyes widened in shock. "WHAT?! But… but how?!"
Cain continued to look down at his glass, unable to meet Millie in the eyes. "Someone came to Angerton to pick a fight with us and Jawline died during that fight," he said, deciding to not give away too many details about how or who killed Jawline. The less that Millie knew, the better. He knew Millie was tough… but even she couldn't take on someone like Tilly or Marcus. "Don't worry, I won the fight."
Millie looked down in distress. "I… I can't believe… what are we going to do now?" she asked while looking up at her boss.
Cain was silent for the moment, once again thinking about his deal with Marcus. He knew that the arrangement he had with Marcus… it was dangerous. And that was not something he wanted Millie to be caught up in. Especially after what happened to Jawline. If she got involved, it would likely end in her death. This was just… too big for her.
He shut his eyes and sighed. "We're going to do nothing."
"What…?" Millie asked in confusion. "Nothing?"
"Yes," Cain said as he continued, deciding that he could not let Millie follow him. Not down this path. "The Knights of Hell… are no more."
This shocked Millie, who blinked in surprise. "But… Cain, that's-"
"It's for the best, Millie," he told her, still unable to bring himself to look at her. "After all, I got all the other Knights killed, Jawline included. Now there's not a Knights of Hell anymore, just the two of us."
"But… what if we can recruit more," Millie pointed out. "I mean, I'm sure-"
"Millie… it's over," Cain cut her off as he turned to give her a look to show her that he was serious. "Just go back to your family, tell them that your days running with the Knights of Hell are over." He sighed. "I'm sure your mother would be happy to hear that."
"What are you going to do?" Millie asked, unable to believe what she was hearing.
Cain shrugged. "Probably go back to Angerton."
"I can go with-"
"No," Cain cut her off again, surprising Millie with his tone. "Millie… go home. Please. Just go home. Be with your family."
Cain then paid for his drink at the counter and stood up, picking up his mask as he began to make his leave. But as he headed for the exit, Millie called out to him.
"Wait!" Millie told him. "Are you sure about this, Cain?"
He paused and looked down without turning back. "It is," he told her after a moment. "We had a good run, Millie, but Jawline was right. I should have seen the writing on the walls… the Knights of Hell are through."
Meanwhile, in another part of Ragetown, there was still plenty of rubble left by the chaos of the Harvest Moon Festival. And buried under some of this rubble… was a head.
More specifically, it was the head of Robo-Fizz, left forgotten after it had been ripped away from its body by Tentadora. Since then, the robot's head had remained discarded, its eyes empty…
…until they started glowing once again.
The Hideaway Motel was the perfect place for criminals who were hiding from the law… or demons who were on the run.
Inside one of the rooms, someone was looking out the window through the blinds. The paranoid eyes darted around, making sure that nobody had tracked them down to here. The eyes belonged to Striker, who held a pistol in his hand as he routinely checked to see if the coast was clear or not. He couldn't be too sure.
"Is everything okay, dad?" a worried Douglas asked his father while sitting on the bed. His father had told him very little, but he had managed to figure out a few things. "Are we… are we in trouble?" he asked.
Striker turned to his son, saw his worried expression, and gave a sigh. "Yeah, we might be," he admitted. "And it's all my fault." He paused, trying to figure out how to explain things to his son. "You see, Douglas, your old man was hired by some… shady demons to do a job that he couldn't follow through on, because he didn't feel right about it."
"Because of the principle?" Douglas asked him.
"…yeah," Striker said, deciding to go with that instead of telling his son the full truth. "Because of the principle. But now I'm worried that those demons are going to come after me, come after us, for failing the job, and that's why we're here. Because I don't think we would be safe at home right now."
Douglas looked down at the bed with a nervous expression before looking back up at his father. "So then… what are we going to do about it?" he asked.
Striker didn't answer right away. He was silent for a moment, thinking about his options as he looked at his son. Obviously, his son's safety was his priority. And to ensure Douglas's safety… he might have to do something he definitely didn't want to do. "Something that I never thought I would have to do…"
He walked over to the phone in their room, holding it up as he tapped in the phone number. A few moments after he made the call, a male voice answered.
"Yes?" spoke the male voice on the other end. There was a noticeable British accent that Striker immediately recognized. "Who is calling this number?"
Striker sighed. "Hey, it's me," he said.
Meanwhile, in Carrie's house, Moxxie was currently laying on a bed in one of the two guest rooms. Once he had laid down on the soft sheets, he had barely moved. Instead, he just let out a sigh of relief, grateful to be in a bed after everything he had been through. He was still covered in bruises, of course, and his body still ached from how sore he felt. But it didn't hurt as much when he stayed still.
"Thank the Rings I'm here," Moxxie said with another sigh as he closed his eyes. He thought about the day's events. From leaving Angerton to being confronted and captured by Tilly, to being brought before Marcus and tortured by his demons, to getting free and being forced to fight his way out of that damn cave. Somehow, he had survived all of that. He was honestly surprised that he still had some energy left in him and he hadn't just passed out completely the moment he had touched his bed. Then again, straining himself like this was nothing new, whether it was from working with Blitz or his time in Greed…
"Moxxie?"
Hearing that familiar female voice, Moxxie's eyes shot open and he sat up in his bed as he looked across the room to see someone standing in the doorway. To his surprise, the one who was in his doorway was someone he hadn't expected to see again so soon…
"Momo?" Moxxie asked as he blinked a few times to make sure that he wasn't hallucinating. "What… what are you doing here? In fact, how…?"
"Cain called to let us know that you were alright," Momo mentioned as she walked into the room, her arms hugging her sides. "He mentioned that you had him drop you off at Ragetown, and I just… I just wanted to find you and make sure that you were okay, since I heard that you were captured and… I was worried about you."
"So you came all the way from Angerton… to see me?" Moxxie asked, still surprised.
Momo nodded. "I… came here as fast as I could," she admitted. "While I was in town, I tried to look you up and I met this farmer, Carrie. She brought me here to see you." As she walked closer to her bed, she paused, noting his bruises. "I hope that you were not too hurt…"
"Don't worry, it only hurts when I laugh," Moxxie joked with a smile. "But I appreciate your concern… and the fact that you're here, Momo. Is it just you?"
"Wesley wanted to come too," Momo admitted. "But he decided that you would want him to stay in Angerton. Protect the town, like you would."
Moxxie nodded. "Good kid," he said. "I will admit, it is really good to see you again, Momo. I didn't think that I would see you so soon after I… after I left this morning."
Momo sighed. "Me neither," she admitted as she walked up to his bed. Much to his surprise, he saw her start to take off her boots. Then she climbed into bed to lay next to him, her tails gently wrapping around him. Moxxie welcomed the softness of her fur and the warmth of her body as the kitsune demon slid next to him and rested her head on his chest. "But I'm just so glad that you're okay, Moxxie…"
Moxxie wrapped one of his arms around her. "Yeah, and I'm glad you're here right now," he admitted as the two began to cuddle.
"Alright, way to go, Moxxie!"
…before they were interrupted by Blitz.
Moxxie and Momo both nearly jumped in surprise as they looked over to the bed next to Moxxie's, the smaller imp having forgotten that he was rooming in the same guest room as Blitz. And sure enough, he was laying on his bed with his hands pressed to his face, staring at them.
"S-sir!" Moxxie shouted, his face redder than usual.
"M-Moxxie, who is this?" Momo asked, her face also red from embarrassment as the two stared at Blitz like they were two teenagers caught in the middle of doing the dirty deed.
"Hi, the name's Blitz, the 'o' is silent, and I am Moxxie's boss," Blitz cheerfully introduced himself with a wave. "Moxxie, now I can see why you took so long getting back. Can't say I blame you either."
Neither Moxxie nor Momo said anything. Both of them were too embarrassed to formulate a response and an awkward silence fell over everyone as the couple waited for Blitz to read the room.
"Oh, right, I should leave you two alone," Blitz said in a cheerful tone as he stepped out of his bed. "Don't worry, Mox, I'll be sleeping on the couch tonight so that you and your girlfriend can have the room, so I'll just be leaving you two love birds to enjoy your privacy."
"Yes, I would appreciate that, sir," Moxxie said as he watched Blitz leaving.
"See you at breakfast!" Blitz shouted as he made his leave, closing the door behind him.
Once Blitz was gone, Moxxie and Momo looked at each other.
"So… that was your boss?" Momo asked.
Moxxie sighed. "Yes," he admitted. "He can be a bit… much sometimes."
"Yes, he is," Momo agreed before they both smiled. "Now… where were we?"
"Hmm, I think we were just cuddling together," Moxxie replied while he wrapped his arms around her.
Momo nodded as she embraced Moxxie, both with her arms and her tails. "Right now, there is nothing else I would rather do."
"Yeah," Moxxie said with a sigh as he relaxed into her warm embrace. After everything he had been through, he welcomed this. At the very least, he deserved to have his day end on a good note…
In the other guest room, Loona was in her bed. She was wide awake, having been unable to get any sleep. Her gaze drifted over to the other bed in her room, where Amaroq was fast asleep.
She then turned her head so that she was looking up at the ceiling as she thought about how the day had gone. She kept thinking about how it had been her idea to go to the Harvest Moon Festival, where her dad had been endangered, where Amaroq had been endangered. She also thought about how she had beaten Pax while in her feral state. Sure, she had been beating Menace out of him, but it had still been excessive…
Finally, she thought back to Cain's words. How he made her admit that she killed her baby sister… and that shook her to her core.
She shut her eyes, tears shedding from as she turned to the side. While holding onto herself, she let out a whisper only she could hear…
"What have I done?"
Okay, finally this chapter's posted. Sorry if it felt long for you guys like many others, but we just want to have these out as much as we should.
With that out of the way, let's go to the author's notes:
First off, we actually ended up cutting an entire chapter from the Wrath Ring arc. Originally, Damian getting kidnapped by Menace would have led to an entire chapter where the characters would follow Menace to the cult's headquarters and fight their way through. But this was cut for several reasons, such as it relies on too many contrivances and being unnecessary. The Harvest Moon Festival is the climax of the Wrath Ring arc, so having it lead into another climax just felt… off. So instead we had all the important plot beats from that planned chapter happen here with Loona fighting Menace and then meeting Cain. The biggest change that comes from this is the fact that the Cult of Chernabog survives the Wrath Ring arc to continue to be a threat.
But despite that, we still needed an epilogue to the Wrath Ring arc to cover all of the last plot beats and transition to the next arc. Although it won't be as long, fortunately.
Songs used for the chapter:
-"Short Change Hero" by the Heavy, where Moxxie pulls a Harley Quinn on Marcus's forces during his escape, as well as Cain going through the enforcers to get to Moxxie.
-"I've Had Enough of You" which is a song from Billy Bust Up, which used for Robo Fizz when he fights Blitz and Loona.
-Parts of "Kiss From the Rose" by Seal that Kajedo uses to distract the Terafrost. To be honest, it is sorta a tribute to the late Val Kilmer who played Bruce Wayne/Batman in Batman Forever.
Speaking of Robo-Fizz, he wasn't originally going to be here. In fact, he was actually added while we were editing the first Harvest Moon Festival chapter. He wasn't in the original draft, but wihle editing we had the idea of him teaming up with the mechanical bull that had it out for Loona. It had been a while since Robo-Fizz's last appearance, so this felt like a good place for him to return, especially since it meant having some fun with Tentadora.
As for Striker, his role in the chapter changes a lot. Originally, he was not going to be the assassin hired to kill Stolas and was instead going to save Stolas's life for maximum irony. But then we realized that Striker wouldn't have save Stolas despite his nicer characterization, since he still hates Goetia royals. So instead, Carrie was going to be the one to save Stolas, since she's still a good person despite her dislike of Stolas.
We originally planned for the assassin to actually be Gnat, a reference to how he somehow acquired holy bullets in Owlette and the Cat. However, we ultimately decided to make Striker the assassin because we thought Gnat being the assassin wouldn't be as satisfying. And we thought it would be a nice moment if Striker was supposed to kill Stolas, but couldn't go through with it because of his son, showing how different Striker is now from his future canon counterpart. And that led to some irony where Striker is now hiding out in the same motel as in canon, except here it's because he didn't try to kill Stolas.
And in regarding Loona's feral form from Sinsmas, we briefly weren't sure if we wanted to include it here or not, since we were worried that it was too early and we felt like in canon it came out of nowhere with little explanation. But we decided to go through with it because the parallels between Loona and Cain were far too good, as well as the parallels between Loona and Menace. It was also just a way to give the final fight more punch.
Next time, the epilogue, where we see what our hero's next move will be, in this exciting and final conclusion of the Wrath Ring Arc…
Matteso585: Only answering for 4: Because obviously, Ursula was never in Hell to begin with, nor was it ever mentioned. She was sentenced to Tartarus when she came through the Underworld before coming to Hell. Since, well, she did tried to take over Triton's takeover, and since Triton is Poseidon's descendant. She's a special case in why she has to be sentenced to Tartarus.
Crash X Fusion: I'd say kinda bittersweet. As for the trio, well Patricia, Park and Marlon are more of the friendly villains; they would be cool and friendly with you with no grudges, but they'd still rob you blind.
Shuffollower: Well, firstly, the Terafrost wasn't trained to go after Jack, it was just drawn by him due to his bad luck. If you've seen the 'Bad Luck Jack' short, a lot of monsters tend to come after Jack. As for what the "What If" was going to be, well we don't want to reveal it at this time…