Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Millie and Loona looked at each other in surprise.

Moxxie and Blitz were actually getting along for once after the Ozzie’s incident!

And how were they getting along with each other, you may ask?

They agreed on what to get for lunch.

“Loonie, got our preorder done?” Blitz asked as they climbed into the van and turned on the engine.

“Two double cheeseburger meals, one veggie burger meal, and chicken nugget meal, and a box of cookies,” Loona said.

“Alright! Sound good, M&M?”

“Fuck, yeah!” Millie shouted.

“I can’t wait to try the veggie burger!” Moxxie rubbed his hands together in excitement.

“Let’s go!” Blitz pulled the van out of the parking lot and followed his phones directions to the Wackdonalds.

A few minutes of silence passed when Moxxie piped up.

“Sir, should we consider investing in a new van?” Moxxie asked.

Blitz cringed at the idea. “Honestly, Mox, I’ve had this hunk of junk since I left the circus. I kinda don’t wanna get rid of it just yet.”

“And it is… showing its age,” Moxxie gestured to a majority of the van’s interior;

Most of the seats were having there padding kept in with DIY stitches and duck tape, various stains of unknown origin were on the seats and floor, the stick shift was an actual stick, and the engine kept making weird noises.

Blitz made an uneasy whine and gripped the steering wheel tighter as he slouched a bit more than normal.

Loona turned around in her seat to face Moxxie. “Hey, Moxxie, let’s drop the convo til after lunch, sound good?”

“C’mon, Mox, no one wants to argue on an empty stomach,” Millie said as she put a hand on her husband’s shoulder.

Moxxie relented. “Okay, fine.”

Loona turned around in her seat to face forwards as she checked her phone. “’Sides, we only gotta wait like two minu--”

“HORSEY!!” Blitz straightened up in his seat.

“Oh, crumbs!” Moxxie exclaimed as the passengers held on for dear life as Blitz floored the gas pedal into the Wackdonald’s parking lot.

The van screeched to a halt as Blitz did the most reckless (yet surprisingly well done) parking of the vehicle into the parking space.

Blitz jumped out of the van and ran to the hell horse as the other three shakily got out of the van.

“I-I’m going inside to get the food,” Moxxie shakily said with a shellshocked look on his face.

“Blitz, what the fuck?!” Millie exclaimed as she and Loona stomped over to their employer.

“How many times have we told… you…” Loona the realized the tacked up horse looked familiar.

“Guys,” Blitz said in all seriousness. “Bombproof needs our help.”

Yep, this was Striker’s horse, and it was in bad shape: he seemed thinner than normal, had weak flames (not as strong and a paler color), seemed to be favoring his right front leg, and looked like he had some sores from the halter.

“Mils, I got a soft over-the-nose halter with a lead rope in a box under the back row seats in the van, get that for me. Loona, help me get the saddle off,” Blitz said as he walked Bombproof over to a cemented into the ground trash can and tied the reins to the gaps.

Loona and Millie shared another glance before doing what they were told.

“Poor guy,” Blitz said as he patted the horse’s neck before undoing the saddle. “Looks like this stuff’s been on him--”

“For a few weeks,” the Wackdonald’s manager said as he walked up to them. “This your horse?”

“No, but we… know the owner,” Millie said as she walked up with the halter.

“Well, he’s been loitering around for almost a whole month, usually stealing customers’ food. My employees and I have tried to corral him, but he kept biting off fingers,” the manager held up his right hand, which was missing its pinky and most of the ring finger. “We now just toss him meat products the day before they go bad.”

“Damn, that explains why he’s getting underweight. Hell horses can’t digest processed food very well,” Blitz said.

“Huh, did NOT know that.”

“i’m gonna call Sallie May, ask her to bring over a trailer and pick up Bombproof,” Millie said as she handed the halter to Blitz, who began to put it on the horse.

Moxxie walked out of the restaurant with a food bag and their drinks.

“We got 20% off with the coupon I u--” Moxxie stoped with a squeak when he saw Bombproof.

Bombproof tried to walk to the food in Moxxie’s hands.

“Woah, boy,” Blitz said as he gave a firm tug on the lead rope, stopping the horse. “We’ll get you some nice good food. Moxxie, put the lunch in the van.”

Moxxie, shaking like a leaf, put the food in the van… and also got into the van and closed the door.

“Pussy,” Blitz grumbled as he pulled out his phone.

“Blitz, what you doin'?” Loona asked.

“I’m gonna call Stolas, ask him to bring over some fresh meat for Bombproof, and looking at his right front leg, he might need some first aid, and Stolas knows healing spells.”

“Okay, Sallie May and Pa are gonna catch the next hellevator up,” Millie said. She then noticed something about Bombproof’s bad leg. “Sir, it looks like someone shot ‘im.”

Blitz got a better look at the injury. “You’re right, and it’s defiantly infected. Mils, I know Bombproof’s tied up, but hold the lead rope for me, would ya? Need someone who’s worked with horses to make sure he stays calm. Need to make a call.”

Millie grabbed the lead rope and Blitz pressed the speed dial in his contacts.

Xxx

Stolas was humming a song as he and Octavia made some fruit salad when the phone rang… with Blitz’s name on the caller I.D.

“Dad…? D-do you want to answer that, or let it go to voicemail?” Octavia asked.

“Oh, I’m going to put it on speaker phone, and Blitz and I will keep it as PG as possible,” Stolas said. “We had an agreement after the Harvest Moon Festival about phone sex.”

“Okay, first of all, ew! And I was referring to… what happened two months ago…” Octavia nervously leaned against the counter.

Stolas hugged his daughter. “I’ll be fine.”

Stolas then put the phone on speaker.

“Hello, Bltizy~! Keep in mind you’re on speaker phone, and Octavia’s here too,” he greeted.

“Hi,” Octavia greeted, though only out of courtesy.

“Hey, Stolas, I have a really big favor to ask you,” Blitz said. “You know the Wackdonald’s on the corner of Holmes and Gacy?”

“Yes, I am familiar with the location, what happened?” Stolas asked.

“We found Striker’s horse.”

“The guy who tried to KILL Dad?!” Octavia exclaimed as she ran to her father’s side.

“Yeah, that prick. We found his horse and it’s in bad shape; I’m talkin’ sores from tack being on too long, a bullet wound that’s infected, malnourishment, and week flames. Stols, can you bring over some meat for him to eat? He’s been eating nearly expired Wackdonald’s and random employees fingers for almost a month.”

Stolas and Octavia shared a worried look.

“We’ll be right over, Blitz,” Stolas hung up the phone. “Via, get the biggest baking bowl from the cupboard, I’ll get the meat.”

“No way, Dad! It’s too risky! What if it’s an ambush and we get shot at! Or the paparazzi show up with you dressed as a commoner! Not like there’s anything wrong with that, but you know Mum,” Octavia said.

And to be fair, Stolas was wearing a blue t-shirt and grey sweatpants.

Stolas sighed. “I know, I know, but… I don’t think I can fall more than I already have, and frankly, I don’t care about how the public views me anymore. Now, get the bowl and fill it with water. We have a horse to help.”

Octavia hesitated for a second, but followed her fathers instructions.

Xxx

Alastor was enjoying one of Husk’s newest liquor mixes when Angel Dust sat down next to him with an exhausted look on his face and body.

“Angel Dust, you wouldn’t happen to be… injured on the job again, would you?” Alastor asked.

“Hey, Al, if you didn’t want to be the resident ‘healer’, you shouldn’t have done that dumb ‘rock, paper, scissors’ game with Vaggie,” Husk said as he cleaned a glass.

“Relax, Smiles,” Angel Dust said as he waved a hand. “It’s just…” he hesitated, “there’s a rumor goin’ ‘round at work that Valentino’s got a new ‘toy’ and that it was a ‘gift’.”

Alastor and Husk both cringed at that.

Everyone in Hell knew how Valentino ‘played’ with his ‘toys’.

“Hi, boys! We have a visitor!” a new resident of the hotel, Mrs. Mayberry, said.

“Who is-- ugh” Angel Dust groaned and facepalmed himself when he saw who it was--

-- his brother, Arackniss.

“Hey, baby brother. Princess of Hell invited me to chat with ya,” Arackniss sat next to his brother. “Want’s us to try and bury the hatchet.”

“Well, we’re just talking about work,” Husk said as he gave the four seated sinners the new drink.

“What? Like when we were alive?” Arackniss took a sip of the drink. “Huh, little bit sweet.”

“It’s part Cosmo, part Beelze Juice. You like?”

Arackniss shrugged while Angel Dust and Mrs. Mayberry sipped the drinks.

“It’s okay, not my favorite,” Alastor said.

“Hey, if you don’t want it, I’ll take it,” Angel Dust reached for the drink and Alastor gently pushed it to him.

“We were actually talking about our jobs here in Hell,” Husk said. “I’m bartending and working front desk.”

“I’m applying for a teaching job in Imp City,” Mrs. Mayberry said.

“I’m trying to convince Charlie to let me be the chef here,” Alastor said.

“Ha! Like that’ll happen!” Angel Dust said with a laugh.

“So, how’s, uh, y-your work, Angel?” Arackniss asked, being familiar with the industry his brother was in.

“Oh, it’s been GREAT!” Angel Dust said with genuine happiness. Valentino hasn’t hurt me in almost a month—”

“You’ve been getting hurt?!” Arackniss grabbed his brothers shoulders in fear. “I swear, if it’s sexual, I’m gonna--!”

“I-it’s okay, ‘Niss, nothin’ I ain’t used to,” Angel Dust removed his brother’s hands from his shoulders.

“And unfortunately, the answer to your question is ‘yes’,” Alastor said as he took a hard liquor drink from Husk.

Arackniss started to get a bit riled up at what Alastor just revealed when Mrs. Mayberry put her hand on his.

“Arackniss, sweety, why not take some four count breaths to try and calm down. I’ll show you how to do them,” she said in her kind, gentile teacher voice and then got him to do some of the four count breaths.

Arackniss followed the instructions and surprisingly calmed down.

“Way to use your teacher powers for good, Mrs. M,” Husk quipped.

“You really used to be a teacher?” Arackniss asked the only girl at the bar.

“Yep! Now, Angel Dust, did something happen at work today?” Mrs. Mayberry asked.

Angel Dust groaned. “Valentino might have a new… plaything, and if he does… I… kinda wanna help them escape, even if it kills me.”

Alastor did a small spit take. “You want to do a rescue mission?! Have you forgotten that Valentino’s one of the Three V’s? It’s practically suicide, or, ugh… worse…”

“Look kid, I think you need to come up with a plan first, take it up with Charlie, and that’s if we know for sure it’s not a rumor,” Husk said.

“I’d be willing to help,” Arackniss said. “Give Valentino a few knuckle sandwiches!” he cracked his knuckles.

Angel Dust’s phone then buzzed a couple times.

“Is that your friend or one of your coworkers?” Mrs. Mayberry asked, since Angel Dust had mentioned bringing some coworkers back to the hotel for safety.

Angel Dust unlocked the phone and read the text. His eyes widened and he stood up. “Holy. Fuckin’. Shit!”

“What is it, Dust?” Husk asked.

“Oh, it’s the rumor, it’s true, isn’t it?” Alastor asked as his casual smile quivered, the idea of the rumor highly disgusting and disturbing to him personally.

“Fuck yeah, it’s true!” Angel Dust said. “I was talking to a guy from security who wants to move here and he just sent me THIS!”

Angel Dust showed the group a series of photos from a couple security cameras.

“Is that an imp?” Arackniss asked.

“With the worst tooth to have gold,” Husk said.

“Yeah, we had to help Ralphie get rid of his when he came to Hell,” Mrs. Mayberry said.

“The guy looks so fuckin’ scared in the last photo!” Angel Dust said.

Alastor took a deep breath as he stood up. “Angel, I am willing to assist in this rescue mission.”

Everyone looked at the Radio Demon as if he grew a second head.

“Uh, are you feeling off from the Beelze Juice in the new drink I made?” Husk asked.

“Husker, I’m fine,” Alastor assured.

“Then why do you want to help me on the rescue mission?” Angel Dust asked.

“One, I utterly despise Valentino more than Vox; two… I haven’t really told anyone about this, but… due to… discrimination I experienced while I was alive because of my skin color, I strangely fine myself feeling… sympathy to imps.”

A few seconds passed when Husk spoke up.

“Well, I guess we’re doing a rescue mission!”

“I’m going to inform Princess Charlie,” Mrs. Mayberry got her phone out.

Xxx

Striker didn’t know how long he had been captured for.

It definitely been been days, but had it been weeks? Months? Definitely not years.

This all happened because a sinner mistook him for ‘one of Valentino’s bitches’, and thought he’d make a quick buck as reward cash.

The damn sinner got lucky with that damn shotgun, shooting his horse in the leg, causing Bombproof to fall and land on him before running off.

His leg got dislocated at the hip, the sinner grabbed him by the horns, tossed him in a van where said sinner’s damn cronies were, they tied him up, blindfolded and gagged him before driving off with him.

He was thrown in front of the overlord and his blood ran cold when he saw it was Valentino himself, and his gut screamed that he was in danger.

He did try to defend himself, but…

He was currently chained by his wrists and ankles to a bed, buck ass nude, and in a dark windowless room.

He could use his tail to try and unlock the padlocks, he’d done so before, but with his still injured leg, he wouldn’t go far.

The door creaked open and his heart began to pound in his head.

He knew what Valentino was going to do to him.

“Ready for playtime, little lady?”

Chapter Text

Three months had passed since Bombproof had been found by the I.M.P., Stolas got roasted in the media for his ‘casual friday’ outfit, and the Happy Hotel crew made the plan to save Valentino’s latest victim.

Since the I.M.P. are busy with a contract, and Stolas was enjoying another rare day off with his daughter on a school holiday, why don’t we see what the Hazbins are doing, shall we?

Xxx

Everyone was in the lobby of the hotel, ready for the mission to commence.

The Hazbins in attendance were: Princess Charlie Morningstar, Vaggie, Angel Dust, Alastor, Nifty, Husk, Cherri Bomb, Sir Pentious and his egg bois, Mrs. Mara Mayberry, Arackniss, Baxter, Esper (the security guy Angel Dust mentioned last chapter), a handful of Angel Dust’s coworkers who left the porn studio, a few members of Henrion’s mob Arackniss managed to recruit for this mission,” and a handful of imps.

“Okay, let’s go over the plan one more time,” Charlie said. “Me, Vaggie, Angel, Cherri, Arackniss, and the mobs recruits will go save the imp, Esper will hack into the studio’s security system and let us know if there’s any incoming enemies, Alastor will heal anyone hurt when we come back, and everyone else will work on defending the hotel”

“Once our group reaches the studio, I’ll lead the charge since I’m the most familiar with the location,” Angel Dust said. “We know the guy’s still alive, ‘cause Esper got a few second of from the security cams showin’ Valentino walkin’ him around on a leash yesterday.”

The mob members all groaned in disgust while Alastor’s radio static made a small screech as his smile wavered a little.

“Hey, Dust,” one of the recruits raised his hand. “Didn’t you say earlier this month that it looked like he had Stockholm or somethin’? We sure he wants to be rescued?”

“Yeah, cause he gave me this last week,” Angel Dust held up a business card with ‘S.O.S.’ written on it in sharpie. “Guy might be messed in the head right now, but he’s desperate to escape.”

“Angel, may I get a better look at that card?” Mara asked. “It looks familiar.”

“Sure,” Angel Dust handed her the card.

Mara looked at the details of the card. “I know this business! I hired them to kill the slut who fucked my husband! He might have worked for them.”

“Do you not know for sure?” Vaggie asked.

“I was their first customer, he could’ve been a new hire.”

“Do you want to give them a call? They might be worried about their friend,” Charlie said.

“Hey, Charlie, if Mara does end up calling them and they decide to come here, I should stay and make sure they don’t cause too much trouble, we don’t really know them,” Vaggie said.

“If you like, Vaggie, I could take your place on the mission,” Nifty piped up.

“Oh, Nifty, that’s really sweet of you, but there’s gonna be some serious creeps at the studio,” Charlie said.

“Don’t worry, I used to be an assassin and spy back when I was alive!”

“The fuck?” Angel Dust asked.

“You should’ve seen her first turf war! She’s practically a one woman army,” Alastor said.

“Okay, since Mara’s already got her phone out, Nifty and I’ll switch,” Vaggie said. “Nifty, you got a holy weapon?”

Nifty just gave her adorable trademark smile and pulled out a holy hunting knife/switchblade combo.

“Okay, I guess it’s settled then,” Charlie said. “If anything goes wrong, Alastor has a summoning symbol that’ll break out the secret weapon.”

“By the way, Charlie, you never told me what the secret weapon is,” Alastor said as he held up the symbol on a piece of paper.

“It’s not a ‘what’, but a ‘who’.”

“Alright, let’s get this rescue mission on the road,” Angel Dust said as he and some others headed to the front door.

Xxx

Loona was idly chewing on some fries as she looked through her hell-twitter feed when the office phone rang.

She rolled her eyes as she washed down the fries with a swig of flat soda before answering the phone.

“Immediate Murder Professionals; would you like to schedule a hit on a living person?” she asked as she got out a notepad and pen.

“No, actually,” a familiar voice said.

“Mrs. Mayberry?” Loona asked as she sat up a bit straighter. It wasn’t common for a client to order a second hit on someone.

“Yep! It’s me,” Mrs. Mayberry said. “I was just calling to let you know my neighbors and landlady wen’t on a rescue mission to save an employee of yours.”

Who is she talking about? We only have the four of-- Loona’s trail of though derailed when she remembered Blitz giving Striker a business card and their discovery of an abandoned Bombproof three months ago. “Holy shit! Are you talking about Striker?!”

“Oh, is that the poor thing’s name? Have you been looking at him?”

Loona cringed. “Not really. He’s not even an employee or friend, to be honest. Things… didn’t turn out well, but we kinda had a feeling he was in the Ring. Wh-what exactly happened?”

Mrs. Mayberry hesitated. “Th-the overlord Valentino’s been… u-using him as a… a…”

“Ugh! That guy makes me wanna puke! Look, where are you at? Is that where Striker’s gonna be after he’s rescued?”

“Yes, it’s the Happy Hotel.”

“’Kay, thanks, bye!” Loona said as she slammed the phone down and saw that she had automatically written the details of the conversation onto the notepad.

She pulled out her hellphone and went into her contacts.

Xxx

Blitz, Moxxie, and Millie we stuffing a freshly made corpse into a woodchipper when Blitz felt his phone buzz in his pocket.

Blitz held up his phone to show the others that Loona was calling, since it was too loud to talk.

M&M nodded and Blitz walked to where it was more quiet.

“Hi, Loonie! We’re just wra--”

“Striker was just found!” Loona shouted.

“EHAT?! Where?!”

Blitz’s exclamation got Moxxie’s and Millie’s attention.

“Apparently, Valentino got hold of him and Princess Charlotte's leading a rescue mission to save him.”

“The fuck?” Blitz arched an eyebrow in confusion. “Doesn’t she know he was hired for a hit on Stolas?”

“I don’t think she even knew his name! Should we go to her hotel?”

Blitz was silent for a moment. “Open the portal.”

Moxxie and Millie walked up to their boss.

“What’s going on, sir?” Moxxie asked.

“We know where Striker is, now get your asses into the portal!” Blitz said as the portal opened behind him.

The three imps hopped through the portal back to their office.

“M&M, let’s pack up some weapons; Loona, fill us in on the details,” Blitz ordered.

Loona explained the phone call she had with Mrs. Mayberry.

“I hate to say it, but maybe we go easy on Striker,” Moxxie said. “There’s a good chance he won’t be in fighting shape, we can just tie him up.”

Blitz pursed his lips in thought. “Ya got a point, Mox, but…” he opened a box in the gun storage, bathing the room in a red light. “… better safe than sorry this time around.”

xxx

Fizzarolli was walking in Pentagram City.

He normally wouldn’t be alone in the Pride Ring, but Asmodeus told him to check on his niece because he would be busy with a meeting.

Now, Fizzarolli wasn’t stupid enough to just straight up walk the whole way… the ride share driver dumped him off a mile away from the city limit.

“Damn, wish I could give that fucker negative five stars,” he grumbled.

A grey and red vehicle sped past him, hit the breaks hard, and slowly reversed to him.

Fizzarolli groaned, thinking the driver mistook him for a Robo Fizz, which, unfortunately, happened before.

The van stopped next to him.

“Look, I’m not a--” Fizzarolli stopped mid-sentence when the driver rolled down the passenger side window.

“Uhm, h-hey, Fizz…” Blitz awkwardly waved.

“Blitzo…” Fizzarolli growled. “What’d you want?”

“We’re headed to the Happy Hotel, got some intel.”

“Huh, I’m headed there, too. Ozzie wants me to check on his niece.”

“Wanna lift?”

“Eh, sure, faster than walking,” Fizzarolli opened the side door and saw a fuckton of weapons. “Uh, you’re not pulling a hit on Charlie, are you?”

“Nope, we’ll explain on the way.”

Fizzarolli hopped in, closed the door, and buckled up. “So, is it a hit on someone else at the hotel? A sinner there?”

“Not exactly,” Moxxie said.

“We’re gonna catch the guy hired to kill Stolas!” Millie excitedly said, nearly ripping out the seatbelt in the process.

“Woah! Wait, what?!” Fizzarolli exclaimed. “Did you guys tell him about the attempt?!”

“Obviously,” Loona said.

“I may not be the smartest imp in Hell, but I’m not THAT stupid,” Blitz said.

“Ugh, what’s they guy’s name? I’m also gonna need a description,” Fizzarolli said as he pulled out his phone. “Ozzie’s gotta know about this. By the way, when did it happen?”

“Harvest Moon Festival, guy’s na--”

“NINE WHOLE MONTHS AGO?!” Fizzarolli interrupted Loona. “Shit! Ozzie’s gonna be pissed!”

“Well, guess I gotta have a chat with Stolas next time I see him,” Blitz grumbled.

The I.M.P. crew proceeded to give Fizzarolli the details of the Harvest Moon incident, their discovery of the injured and unwell Bombproof, and the fact that they might know where Striker was or would be soon.

They soon arrived at the hotel, being flagged down by Mrs. Mayberry.

“Thank goodness you’re here!” Mrs. Mayberry said as they exited the van. “Oh, is that your friend?” she noticed Fizzarolli.

Blitz and Fizzarolli shared a look.

“Not really,” Blitz said.

“It’s a whole thing,” Fizzarolli said. “I’m actually here to talk to Princess Charlotte and they were goin’ my way.” he pointed his thumb at the I.M.P. crew.

“Oh, she’s leading the rescue mission,” Mrs. Mayberry then gestured a ‘follow me’ motion with her hand. “Come with me.”

The five hellborns entered the lobby of the hotel, currently bustling with sinners and other hellborn prepping the hotel for defense.

“Looks like you’re prepping for a whole ass war,” Millie said.

“Well, we are doing a rescue mission from one of the Three V’s so we gotta prepare for three armies,” a one-eyed moth sinner with an angelic spear said as she walked up to them. “Name’s ‘Vaggie’. I assume you’re here about your friend.

“Not a friend,” the five hellborn said.

“He’s actually a rival assassin we got beef with,” Blitz said.

“Um, miss Vaggie?” Fizzarolli spoke up. “My, er, acquaintances were informing me about the deal with Striker. Are you aware that he was hired to kill a member of demon royalty?”

“Shit, we got an overlord here, and I’m not sure if he… the fuck am I talking about, he could totally take care of the assassin,” Vaggie said.

“No doubt about that!” said none other than the – motherfucking – Radio Demon, who casually walked up to them.

Moxxie sqeaked in terror and collapsed as the others stepped back a few feet in fear.

Fizzarolli used his arm to pull Moxxie back to them, snapping him back to reality.

“Don’t worry, I’m only going to use healing magic on that assassin you mentioned!” Alastor said.

“Alastor, shouldn’t you be prepping your little magic doctor’s office?” Mrs. Mayberry suggested.

“Oh, I suppose so, Mara~” Alastor did a playful flirt to the teacher before walking away.

“Come with us,” Vaggie gestured with her spear.

The group of seven walked over to a Criminal Minds like computer set up, where a cat-like sinner that looked like Umbreon was monitoring the fight at Valentino’s porn studio.

“Esper, has anyone found the imp, yet?” Vaggie asked.

“Not yet, ma’am,” Esper said. His eyes then widened as he looked at one of the screens. He pressed a button on a microphone in front of him. “Angel Dust, Charlie! Valentino’s coming your way! And he’s got a holy weapon!”

“Well, time to do something really fucking stupid as fuck,” Blitz said before turning to Loona. “Open a portal to the studio.”

“How can you--” Fizzarolli was caught off guard by Loona pulling Stolas’s grimoire out of her backpack.

“Long story, don’t ask,” Blitz said as he opened a weapon case, red light emanating from the weapon.

“Where the FUCK did you get a HOLY FUCKING WEAPON?!” Fizzarolli exclaimed.

“Striker,” the I.M.P. crew said.

“Well, if you’re joining the fight, you’ll need an earpiece,” Alastor seemingly came out of nowhere with the earpiece.

“Thanks, man,” Blitz said as he put in the earpiece.

“Portal’s ready,” Loona said.

“Thanks, sweety!” Blitz hopped through the postal with the holy weapon, portal closing after him.

“The shit just happened?!” Fizzarolli exclaimed.

Xxx

When Blitz hopped through the portal and into the fight, he immediately snapped into action.

“Who want to play with Daddy?” he growled with a smile on his face, as he secured the holy rifle and pulled out two normal hand guns.

He started shooting at whoever the fuck looked like Valentino’s goons.

He jumped onto a dark green and black spider sinner’s back and shot a lizard-like sinner in the face, before launching off the spider’s back and shot two cat sinners in their necks.

He saw a cyclops sinner shove an explosive down the throat of a snake sinner, before throwing him at more goons, which caused a lovely, gooey mess.

“Hey, nice shooting!” the cyclops complimented. “You on our side? The rescue mission?”

“Shit, yeah! I know the kidnapped guy!” Blitz said.

They shot and blew up more goons.

“Mate, you fight like a bloody pro! Name’s Cherri Bomb, by the way,” Cherri said.

“Thanks! I’m Blitz, the ‘o’ is silent,” Blitz said. “And yeah, I am a professional.”

xxx

“Loona, get that bottle out of your mouth and help Esper with monitoring the battle!” Moxxie scolded as he took the beer bottle from Loona.

“Well, sorry for being a stress drinker,” Loona rolled her eyes.

The hellhound walked back to the monitoring station.

Moxxie was taken aside by and Egg Boi-- well, actually, the Egg Boi was gently pulling him by the sleeve.

“Where are you taking me?” Moxxie asked.

“To the Radio Demon,” the Egg Boi replied.

“What?!”

“Don’t worry, he won’t eat you. It’s against the hotel rules.”

Moxxie was lead into a dark red room, illuminated only by magic candles, his own eyes, a magic glyph being touched up, and the Radio Demon’s eyes.

Alastor looked up from his work on the glyph and saw the imp.

“Hello, Moxxie! Number 240, you’re dismissed,” Alastor said.

“Okie dokie!” the Egg Boi left the room.

“Young man, there’s something I’d like you to do for me.”

“Is it being your lunch?” Moxxie asked, shaking like a leaf.

“Oh, of course not. It’s actually regarding magic.”

“Are you looking to get the book my company uses to get to the living world? Because no deal!”

“No, I need you to be in charge of this,” Alastor handed him the summoning paper.”I’ve been looking at it for three days and I am none the wiser as to what it exactly is. All I know is that it’s a summoning spell.”

Moxxie studied the glyph. “Symbols seem to be from the Ars Goetia… we kinda rely on this type of magic from one of them for our business.”

“Oh, splendid! Alastor clasped his hands together. “I am afraid I don’t know how to use this language of magic, perhaps you can activate in when needed?”

“Um, s-sure thing. Under what circumstances is it to be used?”

“Oh, in the event the Three V’s attack the hotel and our forces are weakened. I could take care of them myself, but there’s a good chance I might be busy healing the imp. They don’t regenerate like sinners do!” Alastor chuckled as he shoed Moxxie out of the room.

Xxx

Loona was going to help Esper. She wanted to help Esper.

Esper didn’t want Loona to help him.

So, yeah, things were a little bit awkward right now.

What Loona ended up doing was look for Blitz during the fight.

He was doing good so far. Had teamed up with a sinner named ‘Cherri’.

Those two would cause so much chaps if Blitz hired her, she thought.

Vaggie walked up to them. “Did Charlie and angel lose Valentino?” she asked.

“Yeah, Charlie took a couple shots, but the bounced righ off of her and she knocked Valentino out,” Esper said.

“You got a pretty badass girlfriend,” Loona complimented.

“Yeah, I know,” Vaggie blushed a bit.

Suddenly, the computers began beeping and their screens went static.

“What the fuck did you do?!” Esper yelled at Loona.

“You wouldn’t let me do jack shit! So, I obviously did nothing!” Loona shot back.

A taunting ‘nyah, nyah, nyah-nyah, nyah!’ came from the main computer with little gifs of Velvet sticking her tongue out at them were on each of the screens.

“Oh, shit!” Vaggie said as the main screen went static again before revealing a livestream of Vox.

The overlord let out an annoyed sigh. “Hello, miss Vagatha. Is all this fuss your little hazbins are causing really necessary? You’re clearly not after Valentino, what is your endgame here? To cause chaos?”

“It’s about one of his ne--” Loona’s muzzle was clamped shut by Esper as he shushed her.

“Is this over the damn imp?!” Vox groaned as he slumped back in his chair. “I’ll be honest with you, I told Val to just kill the thing, but did he listen to me? Fuck no!”

“Would you let us rescue the imp with no more interruptions?” Vaggie dryly asked.

“Why the fuck do you need the imp? You can just hire a random one. They’re, like, a dime a dozen and breed like rabbits.”

“Because he has a FUCKING name and doesn’t deserve to be used like a damn sex toy!” Fizzarolli stomped over to the computers. “Seriously! That shit’s looked down upon in the freaking Lust Ring!”

“Hm. You must be they guy those sex bots are based on,” Vox then shuddered. “Val’s not gentile with those either. Look here’s what I’m gonna do: Velvet and I won’t get involved in the fight at the porn studio, but once your little rescue mission is over, we’ll give you a 30 minute head start. That’s ALL the ‘help’ I’ll give you. Vox out.”

The overlord flipped them off before the screen went back to Velvet’s stupid little icon.

Loona shoved Esper’s hand off of her snout. “Shit! Can we still contact our team?!”

“Let me check,” Esper pressed a button on his mic and spoke into it. “Can anybody read me?”

Vaggie, Fizzarolli, and Loona waited in anticipation.

“Ugh! Only a rickroll…” Esper groaned as he turned to them.

“So, they’re flying blind?” Vaggie asked.

“It’d be better for them if we still had eyes and ears via security cameras. I could try and hack back in, but Velvet’s one of the best hackers in Hell!”

Loona looked at her phona and went into her contacts. “I might know someone even better.”

xxx

Octavia was showing her dad how to code, but Stolas was completely lost as to what she was saying and doing.

Is this how she feels when I talk to her about gardening and astrology? Stolas thought.

They were interrupted by octavia’s phone ringing, caller I.D. showing it was Loona.

“Oh! You’ve made friends with Blitzy’s daughter!” Stolas said in an excited, proud voice and clasped his hands.

Octavia answered the phone by pressing speaker phone. “Sup, Loona?”

“Can you and your dad come to the Happy Hotel? It’s an emergency!” Loona said.

“What? Did your dad accidentally give the hotel a computer virus?”

“Um, well… Blitz joined a raid on Valentino’s porn studio, and there was security feed we were monitoring, but Velvet hacked us and we can’t connect to them!”

“BLITZY’S IN DANGER AGAIN?!” Stolas exclaimed in fear.

“One of Velvet’s hacks? Let me guess: stupid icon taunt and rickroll audio?” Octavia asked with a smirk. “I learned how to fix that last year.”

“Yes! That’s the one! Get your goth Penelope Garcia shit and get over here!”

“Be there in a couple of minutes,” Octavia ended the call. “Dad, I’m gonna get some things, so calm yourself to open a portal.”

“On it,” Stolas started to do some calming, deep, and slow breaths.

Octavia waled to the back of her walk-in closet and opened a bottom drawer on one of the dressers. She pulled out two flash drives and a gaming laptop she used she used for hacking and busting computer viruses, which she then put in a laptop bag decorated in various chibi animal skull stickers and slung it over her shoulder.

“Dad, ready to portal us to the hotel?” she asked.

“Yes, and I can guarantee we won’t accidentally get stuck in a wall… again,” Stolas used magic to change into his ‘normal wear’ (you know, what’s normally show wearing, and we can’t meet with Princess Morningstar in sweatpants, can we?) and opened a portal to the hotel lobby.

The two Goetias ran into the ordered chaos (partly thanks to Moxxie’s and Fizzarolli’s leadership skills), Loona ran up to them and grabbed Octavia by the wrist.

“This way! Follow me!” Loona ran with her to the hacked surveillance area.

The cat sinner who was sitting in a rolling office chair was booted from his seat, which Octavia took as she pulled out her laptop and USBs before getting to work.

“Hey!” the sinner yelped.

Loona growled at him.

“Octavia, are you certain you can do this?” Stolas asked. “We aren’t even sure what the raid is even for! It might end up being extremely vulgar!”

“They’re raiding Valentino’s porn studio, it’s gonna be vulgar either way, Dad,” Octavia said as she fired up a program to eat and analyze Velvet’s virus/hack.

“Well, it’s mostly a rescue mission,” Vaggie said.

“Who are we helping get rescued? One of the hotel’s tenants?” Stolas asked.

“Um, no…” Loona was not thrilled about what she had to say next. “It’s Striker… the guy hired to assassinate you…”

The Goetias looked at Loona with ‘wait, what?’ looks on their faces.

“Oh,” Stolas said.

“I hate Valentino more, to be fully honest,” Octavia said before turning back to her computer. “By the way, I just need to do a little manual work on this and we should have eyes and ears on the studio again in a couple minutes.”

“To be fair to him, I might just try and interrogate him with kindness after we get him out of there. Maybe he’ll just tell me for hired him to kill me?” Stolas nonchalantly said.

Vaggie just pinched to bridge of her nose and sighed.

Xxx

Blitz and Cherri kept fucking up goons when they heard a scream.

“Oh, shit! That sounded like Angel!” Cherri shouted.

“Then let’s fucking go! If he’s dealing with Valentino, then that overlord’s gonna have holy bullet with his name on it!” Blitz said as he pointed to the holy rifle on his back.

Blitz and Cherri began to run in the direction of the screaming.

Arackniss met them in the main corridor.

“I heard Angel screaming!” he said.

“Us, too!” Cherri replied.

They continued running to the screaming and heard what sounded like Charlie pleading with someone.

“Why’s the Princess of Hell pleading instead of fighting?!” Blitz asked.

“That usually happens if someone’s held hostage with a holy weapon!” Arackniss said. “Oh, shit! What if that’s what’s goin’ on?!”

“Only one way to find out!” Cherri said as she readied some smoke bombs.

Static hissed in their earpieces.

“Hello? Can anyone hear this?” a voice asked.

“Octavia? Did you mess with the radio signal?” Blitz asked.

“No. Velvet messed with your security set up here. Loona called me to help.”

“Okay, so you got audio back up. What about visual?”

“Still working on it. Princess Charlie isn’t responding, is she okay?”

“She and Angel Dust are in trouble and we’re on our way to help them.”

“Good luck. I’ll let you know when visual’s back up.”

“Thank’s, kid,” Blitz turned to the two sinners. “Guys, I’m gonna use this—” he pointed to the holy rifle on his back “--to shoot Valentino.”

“No way! You’ll hurt my brother!” Arackniss protested.

“So… no smoke bombs?” Cherri asked.

They then heard Angel Dust give a blood curdling scream with the sound of snapping bones.

“Just trust me, alright!” Blitz took off to the screaming, running faster than the sinners.

He turned a corner and saw that Charlie was pleading with Valentino to let go of Angel Dust.

He quickly hid behind the corner to plan his attack.

“Please, stop ripping his arms off and let him go!” Charlie pleaded.

Blitz then saw that the overlord had Angel Dust pinned facedown on the ground, using three of his arms for the pinning, using two others for ripping the porn star’s arms off, and the last remaining arm had a gun to Angel Dust’s head.

Blitz saw some wooden boxes on the opposite wall to the situation.

With a smirk, Blitz had his plan.

Using the wall he was against to help launch himself, he ran to the boxes, jumped and launched off of them, onto the Princess’s shoulders, jumped again, and used a regular gun to shoot Valentino’s hat off of his head.

This made the overlord flinch and look up, which was what Blitz was hoping for.

While still midair, Blitz dropped the normal gun, switched to the holy rifle, and shot Valentino in the inner thigh.

Valentino yelped, thinking he was just shot in the dick, letting go of Angel Dust and the holy handgun.

Angel Dust grabbed the guns and ran towards Charlie holding a dislocated upper right arm and applying pressure to where is lower right arm used to be as Blitz landed.

Cherri and Arackniss showed up.

Cherri and Charlie restrained Valentino, while Blitz pressed the holy rifle’s muzzle into the overlord’s dick.

Arackniss tended to his brother’s amputation.

“Where the fuck’s Striker, you syphilis riddled, expired cum brain?!” Blitz ordered.

“Who?” Valentino asked as Charlie processed the insult and Cherri stifled a laugh.

“The sexy cowboy imp!” Blitz used his tail to show a picture of Striker to the overlord.

“Oh? My newly broken toy? What will you do if I don’t tell you?”

Blitz readied a round in the barrel.

“You do realized that’s a holy rifle, right?” Cherri grinned.

“And it’s muzzle’s pressed right against your privates!” Charlie piped in.

Valentino quickly thought to tell them what they wanted.

“I-in the storage floor! Room G-38!” the overlord said.

“Cool, thanks,” Blitz said before shooting him in the dick anyway.

Xxx

Striker faintly heard a high pitched scream.

He had heard and felt vibrations of a huge fight going on upstairs, possibly a turf war.

He doubted anyone was gonna save him, and he was certain he was dying…

Everything in his lower body was throbbing, he was struggling to be awake, to not give in, to survive!

What Valentino did to him with a crowbar was less what Joker killing Jason Todd and more the Jyoti Singh case.

Then… a thought came to his mind.

Maybe I should give up and die already. Y-yeah, then I won’t be suffering anymore! Besides, not like anyone cares for me anyways… my family sure stopped giving a shit about me after I came out. Sallie May probably hates my guts. Blitz… never in a million years.

Striker closed his eyes as he stopped fighting off exhaustion.

Xxx

The rescue crew of Blitz, Charlie, Angel Dust, Cherri Bomb, and Arackniss ran thought the storage floor of G rooms, and Blitz wouldn’t stop bragging shooting Valentino’s dick off to Fizzarolli.

“I shot an overlord’s dick off! That automatically makes me a million times cooler than you!” Blitz screamed into his earpiece.

“The fuck it does! I’m a celebrity with a line of sex robots based on me!” Fizzarolli shot back.

This had been going on for five minutes and the Hazbin crew had had enough.

Everyone at both locations ended up screaming ‘shut the fuck up!’ at the two bickering imps.

“We’re almost at the room! I can see it’s number!” Charlie said.

They got to the room and Arackniss tried to open it, but…

“I can’t open it, it’s locked!” Arackniss said.

“Crap! Bad day to leave my lock picking kit in my van!” Blitz facepalmed.

“Don’t worry, I got this,” Charlie approached the door and – “Hyah!” -- kicked it open.

They ran into the unlit, windowless room and gasped at what they saw:

There was the imp, shrouded by their casted shadows, naked in the middle of the cold room, underweight, and covered in cuts and bruises.

“Shit, Striker!” Blitz ran to his side – briefly noticing that Striker was a trans guy – and tried to gently shake him awake. “Hey, we’re here to rescue your ass!”

Striker moaned as he stirred a little, his eyelids fluttered a little bit as Charlie covered him with her jacket.

“Hey, Striker, is it?” Angel asked. “You need to save your strength. We’ll carry you out.”

“M-my…” Striker woke a little and started to speak.

“Horse? Bombproof’s fine; millie’s family’s been taking care of him,” Blitz said.

“And Valentino’s been… incapacitated,” Charlie said.

“N… NO!” Striker’s eyes opened a little, his eyes weakly glowing. “M-my-- i-in-insides…” he weakly pointed his hand to his privates covered by the jacket before giving in to exhaustion again.

The team looked at each other, before Angel Dust pulled up the jacket.

(If you’re squeamish, skip over the next paragraph)

Everyone recoiled in horror and disgust when they saw Strikers intestines partly pulled out of what was left of his vagina and rectum.

“Oh, Dio! Staro Male!” Arackniss exclaimed in Italian before running to the corner to throw up.

“This might be too much for Al,” Angel Dust said.

“So, are we shoving his guts back in, or…” Blitz trailed off his question.

“Give me your jacket!” Cherri removed Blitz’s jacket. “Sorry, this might hurt a little!” she then wrapped the jacket around Strikers lower body like a daiper.

Striker cried out as he was wrapped up, tears of pain forming in the corners of his eyes.

“I guess I’ll carry him,” Charlie nervously said.

They were all startled by someone clearing their throat to get their attention.

They turned around and saw Vox holding one of those basket things used in first responder TV shows.

“Say you found this in the prop storage,” Vox said as he tossed the basket to them before leaving.

They quickly loaded up Striker, strapped him in, and began to run out of the studio.

Charlie pressed her earpiece. “We got Striker-- the imp! Head back to the hotel, everyone!”

xxx

The team at the hotel cheered as they saw security feed of the rescue team pealing away from the porn studio in their vehicles, with Striker in tow.

Alastor walked up to the microphone, pressed the button, and spoke into it.

“Charlie, I believe I saw the imp in some sort of basket. What sort of injuries will I be healing?” Alastor asked.

“Um, given their reactions from earlier, it sounded quite bad,” Octavia said.

(Again, if you’re squeamish, skip the next two paragraphs)

“Valentino fucked up Striker’s pussy and asshole so badly his guts are pouring out,” Blitz just strait up said.

“I saw a crowbar I the corner I was throwing up in. I think he used that,” Arackniss added.

Everyone groaned in disgust and horror, but Alastor was silent.

In fact, his trademark smile had disappeared.

“Valentino did fucking what?!” the Radio Demon exclaimed, slightly going into his full demon form, the static screech causing the owl demons to cringe.

“Did Al just say ‘fuck’?” Angel Dust asked.

“Angel, his fucking smile dropped!” Husk said.

“Quick! Someone take a pi--”

“D-uh, Princess Morningstar, I, Stolas of the Ars Goetia, will assist Alastor with healing the imp,” Stolas quickly interjected.

“I can help the others,” Octavia added.

“Thanks, Stolas and Octavia! Alastor, sorry for traumatizing you…” Charlie said.

“Uh, Alastor? Let’s go over here so you can collect yourself while we wait for the rescue team to come back,” Mara lead Alastor away from the crowd.

“Other than Striker, how many injured are there?” Moxxie asked.

There was chatter amongst the rescue team.

“At least 20,” Cherri said.

“C’mon, let’s get ready to triage,” Moxxie said as he and Octavia went to set up the medical area.

Xxx

As Charlies limo sped back to the hotel, they ended up hitting potholes, causing Angel Dust to clench his teeth in pain, and Striker to let out small whines and cries of pain.

“Don’t worry, Striker, we’re almost at the hotel, and then we’ll get you healed and feeling better than ever with magic!” Charlie said as she stroked Striker’s scalp between his horns.

“Ugh, hey, Princess? Can you ask your dad to get these damned potholes fixed?!” Blitz asked.

“You think she hasn’t tried?” Cherri dryly asked.

“Considering he might be at the hotel if it gets attacked, I’ll bring it up to him,” Charlie said.

Angel Dust and Arackniss then noticed that Nifty had sack next to her…

… and it looked like it was leaking.

“Uh, Nifty? What’s in that sack?” Arackniss asked.

“Hm?” Nifty looked at the bag. “Oh, just a bunch of heads I severed! I like to collect skulls, so I boil them and give the broth and meat to Alastor in a soup!”

“Oh, shit… Alastor gave me some soup last week! What if it was severed head soup?!” Angel Dust exclaimed.

“And now Vaggie and I need to make a new rule for the kitchen…” Charlie pinched the bridge of her nose.

Xxx

The hotel crew were currently watching the most intense stare down they’ve ever seen.

Henrion and his mob had showed up, pissed about Arackniss and the recruits helping Angel Dust.

Stolas had gotten up to the mob leader and was currently staring at him with grate rage after Henrion called him something the author will not write down.

“Care to repeat what you just said to me?” Stolas asked with a calm fury.

“You heard what I said, ya glorified featha’ dusta’!” the tarantula-like sinner growled.

“Dad, just turn the guy to stone already,” Octavia said as she boredly looked through her phone.

“The adults are talkin’ ya prostituta gotica!” Henrion spat.

“The fuck did did you just call my daughter?!” Stolas got his face in Henrion’s face, and Stolas was nearly twice the sinner’s height.

Then some Egg Bois started chanting for them to fight.

“Knock it off before you end up in tomorrow’ss breakfasst ssscreamble!” Sir Pentious scolded.

“Hey! We didn’t make the ‘don’t threaten to eat/turn hotel residents into food’ rule just for Alastor, Pentious!” Vaggie scolded.

Some honking and screeching tires were heard from outside.

“The Destroyer of Valentino’s Dick has returned!” Blitz shouted as he held open the door for the injured sinners as they entered the hotel.

Most of the injured sinners were mob spiders and one lizard.

“Anthony! Arackniss!” Henrion started to storm to his sons when Vaggie and Loona got between them.

“Don’t even think about it!” Vaggie pointed her spear at him and Loona let out an intesne growl.

“Love ta chat, Pops, but I got a fuckin’ arm to regenerate and a pet piggy to cuddle,” Angel Dust said as he pointed to his injury.

“Ooh! Anthony, how’d you fuckin’ do that?!” Henrion had seen Hell amputation injuries, but Angel Dust’s was bad. “You can see blood comin’ outta the bone!”

“Valentino ripped it off,” Arackniss said as Nifty walked past them with her severed head bag.

“Fuckin’ shit!”

“Alastor! Where’s Alastor?!” Charlie asked as she and Cherri carried Striker through the doors.

“In the healing room,” Stolas said as he lead the girls to Alastor.

“What’s with the imp?” Henrion asked.

Arackniss held back the urge to vomit.

“Let’s just leave it at Valentino goes through a lotta toys,” Angel Dust said as he and his older brother walked to triage.

“Gil!” Henrion grabbed a mako shark sinner who was in his gang but joined the Hazbin team. “The fuck happened here?!”

“Basically everyone had enough of Valentino and went to save the imp,” Gil said. “We even messed up his studio.”

“For an imp? Do you not see how unprofessional they are?” Henrion pointed at the boast arguing of Blitz and Fizzarolli.

“Three, two, one,” Gil pointed his thumb in the direction of the healing room as Alastor freaked out in creole.

“That bad?”

“You have no idea.”

xxx

Asmodeus wanted to do nothing more than visit Charlie and help with her first little was (even though she insisted that wasn’t the case), he had multiple custody cases to deal with today.

Most of them were quite easy to deal with, mainly because despite being demon royals, they weren’t too high up in the demon hierarchy...

... except this next case…

Stella and Andrephlus walked though his office door.

Stella wanted full custody of Octavia.

Asmodeus knew this would be detrimental to both Stolas’s and Octavia’s mental health.

Stella could be… abusive.

It may not be physical (but there were rumors of Stella throwing house staff like an MLB baseball pitcher), but it was definitely emotional and psychological.

And now Asmodeus had to try and make sure Stella was calm for his custody plan for Octavia:

Stolas would get her for six days of the week, while Stella only got her for one day.

This was not going to be fun.

Xxx

Vox and Velvet were chilling in Vox’s office, taking their sweet time getting their armies ready to attack the Happy Hotel.

“Gotta give props to that imp who shot Valentino’s dick off,” Velvet said, teasing Vox. “Ha! You ain’t getting’ none from him anymore!”

“You need to work on your hacks, viruses, and insults,” Vox deadpanned.

“We’re cutting Valentino outta the alliance, aren’t we?”

“Maybe he won’t make it past the next Extermination Day,” Vox smirked. “i’m having Tom take a blimp full of Val’s ‘employees’ to the hazbins once Val’s army gets going.”

Vox’s phone then rang.

“Huh, Tom’s facetiming me,” Vox the answered his hellphone. “Wha--”

“So, I got the pornstars in the blimp and we just saw what I think’s a holy tank,” Tom adjusted his camera to show the holy tank.

Vox and Velvet slowly turned their heads to look at each other.

“Wh-who counter hacked you?” Vox asked Velvet.

“A-a-a G-Goetia t-teen,” Velvet squeaked.

It was at that point that they knew they were fucked.

Xxx

Charlie and Vaggie were helping bandage up some of the injured when Charlie’s phone rang.

Charlie checked the caller I.D., scrunched up her nose a little, and picked up regardless.

“Hi, Vox. Are you upset about the rescue mission we pulled?” she asked.

“Forgot that shit! Valentino’s got a fucking holy tank and it’s headed to your hotel! You need to get people out of there!” Vox shouted.

“A holy tank? Really? I don’t believe it.”

“It’s fucking legit! Velvet just pointed a gif of it on her sinstagram!”

Charlie pulled the phone from her ear and turned to Vaggie. “Vox says Valentino’s got holy tank. Velvet showed a gif on her social media.”

Vaggie checked her sinstagram. “Shit! He’s right! We gotta evacuate!”

“We can’t evacuate everyone! We have people who are too injured and we don’t know how many vehicles we have.”

“We got a blimp coming your way,” Vox said.

“What?” Charlie put the phone on speaker.

“Velvet and I kinda kicked Valentino out of our alliance, and I sent Tom Trench to drop off the rest of Valentino’s sex workers at your hotel. He could pick up others and drop them off somewhere safer.”

“Vaggie…?” Charlie looked at her girlfriend.

“Look, Vox, we can’t evacuate some people because they’re performing a complex healing spell, but we’ll evacuate all we can,” Vaggie said.

“We’re also gonna defend the hotel at all costs until the last demon falls.”

“Alright, I’ll have Tom call the front desk when he’s close. Vox out.”

xxx

Blitz and Moxxie were setting up a sniper nest with the holy rifle they had when Fizzarolli ran to them.

“Blitz! You gotta start your van! Charlie said we gotta evacuate all noncombatants!” Fizzarolli said.

“What? Does the now dickless overlord have a holy tank or some BS?” Blitz sarcastically asked.

“He fucking does!” Fizzarolli shoved the now viral sinstagram post in his face. :Charlie want to see who can drive people to safety and figure out a place to drive them to.”

“I’ll have Loona drive!” Blitz ran past him and all the way out to his van.

He hopped into the driver’s seat, put the key in the ignition, and tried to get the engine running.

“Come on, come on, work for--” Blitz then had the ignition fall out. “Oh… shit, well fuck me.”

xxx

Octavia cautiously walked into the healing room, careful not to disturb or look at her father’s would-be assassin.

“Dad? Can I ask you a quick question?” she never saw her father use magic this intensely.

“Yes, darling, what is it?” Stolas had some beads of sweat as he used an intense healing spell on the imp’s lower body.

“Charlie’s going to have the injured and noncombatants evacuate to hotel. Can we transport them to our Pride house?”

“Yes, yes, of course. Just don’t tell your mother and make sure they behave themselves.”

“Thanks, Dads,” Octavia quickly got out of the room.

Xxx

“Okay, how many vehicles do we have?” Charlie asked.

Vaggie started listing vehicles. “We got two limos, one van--”

“Uh, nope!” Blitz held up the key stuck in the ignition dohicky that came out of his van.

“Okay… two limos, 14 personal five person cars, and one motorcycle,” Vaggie said.

“That’s actually more than enough!” Charlie said. “We have 21 noncombatants and 19 injured people to transport.”

“I’ll let Tom know where to pilot the blimp,” Esper said.

“Alright! Let’s start loading people up!” Arackniss said.

“Cherri, help me get Fat nuggets into his carrier,” Angel Dust said.

Xxx

The injured and noncombatants were soon well on their way to Octavia’s house.

Charlie and Arackniss had luckily convinced Henrion to let the rest of his mob help defend the hotel, since Octavia had taken the grimoire with her.

The only spell Lonna really knew from it was the portal spell and Octavia had only just began to learn how to use it.

This meant that if their two ‘tanks’, Stolas and Alastor, didn’t heal Striker in time…

Then Hell would be minus a mob, a Goetian Prince, an overlord, a celebrity, a company of imp assassins, several more imps unrelated to the company, the Hazbins who could still fight. And possibly Charlie herself, if the holy tank was strong enough.

The first wave arrived and the defenders of the hotel charged out with a battle cry.

Xxx

One of Octavia’s school friends and her mother, both emu bird demons, were waiting for Octavia and Stolas to return from where ever they were when a small convo of vehicles showed up.

Octavia ran out of the lead limo.

“Hi, Emma! Hi, Lady Morgana!” Octavia said.

“Darling? What’s with all the sinner--” Lady Morgana gasped and covered her daughter’s eyes when she saw Angel Dust.

“Mum, I am almost 17, I know what sex is,” Emma tried to remove her mom’s hand from her eyes.

“I’ll explain once we get inside,” Octavia led in the guests.

Xxx

The Hazbin and I.M.P. groups ran back inside the hotel after defeating the second wave.

“How much ammo we got left?” Blitz asked.

“Enough for two more waves,” Husk said as he reloaded his machine gun. “Then we’re fucked.”

“Damn, we gotta get more up and personal with them,” Millie said as she switched axes.

“Does anyone have a kit for unjamming holy firearms?” Moxxie asked.

“Shit, I think we’re already fucked!” Fizzarolli said.

“I’ll get the summoning paper from Alastor,” Charlie said. “We’re gonna need the secret weapon!”

“Wait! Alastor gave it to me before we heard of Striker’s condition!” Moxxie said. “I’ll be right down!”

“Third wave’ss coming!” Sir Pentious shouted.

“Fuck! Moxxie, activate the spell when you get down here!” Charlie said as she grabbed a mace.

The fighters ran out to battle again, melee fighters being covered by the ranged fighters.

Xxx

Asmodeus was trying and failing to get Stella to shut the fuck up while he tried to explain why he was changing the custody in Stolas’s favor when a purple and blue summoning spell appeared above their heads.

“Okay, I gotta take thi--”

“OH, NO YOUR FUCKING NOT!” Stella roared. “WHY THE FU--”

“Look, I gotta help my niece with her first war, and they need a tank right now. So, you can either wait til I’m back or come with me and help with the fight,” Asmodeus said as he stood up.

Andrephlus and Stella looked at each other.

“Some exercise would be nice,” Andrephlus mentioned.

Stella groaned. “Fine, we’ll come with.”

xxx

Moxxie yelped as he unexpectedly took a ride up to nearly the ceiling on the top of Asmodeus’s hat.

“Well, if it isn’t Mr. Sappy-Love-Songs?” Asmodeus joked. “Hope you don’t mind, but I brought some back up.” he gestured at Andrephlus and Stella.

The defenders of the hotel ran back into the hotel, the melees with thankfully mild injuries.

Asmodeus gently put Moxxie back onto the floor.

“Hi, Uncle Ozzie,” Charlie said as she caught her breath. “We have a holy tank situation.”

“As in a tank with holy ammo and shit,” Blitz said has he plugged a bullet hole in his arm with a tampon.

“How much time you got?” Asmodeus asked.

“Two more waves, and we only have enough ammo for one!” Charlie said.

“Andrephlus, make an ice barrier between the next wave and the hotel; Stella, get you archery equipment and get to a snipers nest,” Asmodeus ordered.

“I’m not helping,” Stella crossed her arms and turned up her nose.

“You better follow the order if you want me to even consider your argument over Octavia’s custody.”

“What happens if I don’t?”

“Stolas gets full custody, and you only get three hour supervised visitation.”

Stella didn’t like that idea and summoned her archery equipment.

Asmodeus then summoned unholy armor for his arms, legs, and torso.

“Let’s fuck these sinners up!” he said as he projected a purple and blue smoke screen between the hotel and the next wave.

Xxx

The gator sinner driving the holy tank looked at the screen in confusion as to the fifth fave and parts of the fourth wave were retreating, sure there was smoke blocking their sight, but--

-- then, he saw members of the fourth wave getting frozen in bloody messes, getting shot with holy tipped arrows, and a giant ass purple and blue bird demon charging his way, kicking, smashing and annihilating sinners with an excited face.

He screamed like a bitch as he began spamming the ‘fire’ button.

The tank ammo hit random vehicles in front of the hotel and part of the hotel itself.

The bird demon deflected ammo with the armor on his wrists and jumped onto the tank.

The sinner screamed as he was crushed to double death in the holy tank.

Asmodeus jumped up and down on the tank until it was flatter than a pancake.

Asmodeus laughed. “I haven’t had THAT much fun since the Stonewall riots!”

xxx

Stella loosed holy tipped arrows into the last sinners attacking the hotel before leaving her snipers nest.

“I can’t believe I let myself get dragged into this bullshit,” she grumbled.

She walked down the stairs and through the halls all the way past a security station when she noticed something…

HER DAUGHTER’S COMPUTER BAG.

Her mood then went from annoyed to fucking pissed off.

“STOLAAASSSS!!!!!” she screeched as she grabbed the bag.

“Oh, dear!” Andrephlus then went to calm down his sister. “Let’s remain calm, it’ll increase your odds of still having custody of Octavia.”

“FUCK! THAT! SHIT!” Stella stomped past him and straight towards Charlie and the group she was talking with. “WHERE THE FUCK IS STOLAS?!”

“Um, I’m not going to respond to you until you’ve calmed down,” Charlie said.

“Did we win?” Fizzarolli asked the group.

“Ozzie’s made the fifth and half of the fourth wave flee as he killed them and destroyed the holy tank,” Vaggie said. “I think we did!”

Andrephlus put his hands on his sister’s shoulders. “I suggest we sit down and have some wine. Let these silly little plebeians celebrate a little. Also, you don’t wear ‘pissed off’ very well.”

“Go fuck yourself,” Stella said as she let her brother lead her away.

Asmodeus casually walked back into the hotel and used magic to make his armor go away.

“Charlie, I am so proud of you! Fighting in your first war! What was it? A turf war? Had some serious beef?” Asmodeus said as he pinched her rosy cheeks.

“It was actually really a rescue mission,” Charlie said has she rubbed her pinched cheeks.

“Wait, that wasn’t a cover?”

“Yeah, we have an imp bein--”

“Charlotte!” Lucifer then portaled behind his daughter. “Did you call your uncle for a fight in my Ring?!”

“Woah, woah, Luci, calm down!” Asmodeus put a protective hand between Lucifer and Charlie. “I agreed to this and it was an emergency. Valentino had apparently had a holy tank they needed me to help take care of.”

“I didn’t accidentally create an inter-ring incident, did I?” Charlie nervously asked.

“Almost,” Lucifer growled.

“Charlie, you mentioned this was for an imp, correct? Did something happen the them? Tell us the truth,” Asmodeus asked.

“Y-yeah, okay, so, um, Valentino abused and disemboweled him via his privates…” Charlie said as she tried to keep her composure.

“H-he did what now?” Asmodeus now had a shocked look on his face.

“I think I see some other royals, I’m going to talk with them,” Lucifer walked to Stella and Andrephlus to small talk with them.

“Uncle Ozzie, Alastor and Stolas are healing the imp, think you can help them with that?” Charlie asked.

“Girl, if you gave me more details on what Valentino was doing from the start I would’ve agreed in a heartbeat! Of course I will!” Asmodeus ran to the healing room.

Vaggie walked over to Charlie.

“Hun, I’m gonna text Angel Dust,” Vaggie said. “Let him know it’s safe for everyone to come back to the hotel.”

“Hey, Princess Charlie?” Blitz asked as he and Fizzarolli walked up to them. “Can we have a victory party?”

“Maybe a meal. I’m sure people are going to be hungry and thirsty after the battle,” Charlie said.

“I’ll start the soup!” Nifty skipped to the kitchen.

“No, Nifty!” Charlie ran after the mini-sinner. “You need supervision!”

“Supervision for WHAT?!” Vaggie ran after them.

Fizzarolli looked at Blitz. “I think I’ll order some pizza…” he then pulled out his phone.

Chapter Text

Octavia, Emma, Lady Morgana, Angel Dust, and all the other injured and noncombatant Hazbins pulled up to the hotel after they were given the okay to return.

“Hey, Via? Isn't thar your dad's lover?” Emma pointed to an imp ugly crying next to a totaled vehicle.

“Shit, looks like his van got fucked up,” Octavia commented.

“Octavia, I advise you to not swear in public,” Lady Morgana said. “It's not very ladylike.”

“Mum, can't you let swears slide this one time? We're still in the car,” Emma asked.

“I normally would, but we're at Princess Charlotte's hotel, and it's best to err on the side of caution.”

They exited the vehicle and entered the hotel.

Apparently, hotel denizens and mob members were trying to vote on what to have for lunch.

“Hey, Arackniss, where's Dad at” Angel Dust asked.

“He's helping make some stuff to eat,” Arackniss said. “Charlie's busy supervising the kitchen, making sure nothing's spiked.”

“They got non-processed shit for Al?”

“Uh...”

“I'll just order him somethin' from his favorite deli,” Angel Dust walked to the front desk where they kept takeout menus.

“Hey, Via,” Vaggie said as she walked up to the demon royals. “Your mom and uncle are here, and your mom's not too thrilled that you helped us.”

“Honestly, Stella isn't thrilled about anything Octavia and Stolas do,” Lady Morgana said. “And she's a bloody racist, too.”

“Lady Morgana, this is Vagatha, Princess Charlie's girlfriend,” Octavia said. “Vaggie, this is my friend, Emma, and her mum.”

“Hello,” Emma waved as her mother did a small curtsy.

“I understand that you had a small was with an overlord to save an imp,” Lady Morgana said. “I applaud you for that. Not too many hellborn or sinners give a shit about them or give them any value, and quite frankly, those racists can go sit on a cactus.”

“How is he by the way?” Octavia asked. “I don't see my dad.”

“Striker's still being healed,” Vaggie said. “Asmodeus went to help them with it half an hour ago.”

“Shit, must be worse than we thought.”

“Is there anything we can do to help?” Emma asked.

“Honestly, there's not much to do other than help clean up the lobby and helping with lunch,” Vaggie said.

“Girls, I'll help in the kitchen, you two assist with making food orders,” Lady Morgana handed Emma her credit card. “Don't go overboard, darling.”

xxx

Asmodeus, Alastor,and Stolas had just finished clearing out the septic material in Striker's abdomen.

“Stolas, Alastor, you two start rebuilding his guts, starting from his stomach. I'll handle the reproductive system and pelvic floor,” Asmodeus said.

“On it,” Stolas and Alastor said.

Xxx

Lady Morgana walked into the kitchen and saw several mob members, an imp dressed like either a butler or an orchestra conductor, Princess Morningstar, and a small cyclops sinner making different foods.

“Hello, Princess Charlotte. May I assist with meal making?” she asked.

“Sure thing!” Charlie said as she took a severed head away from Niffty. “Henrion's making some pasta and pasta sauces, Moxxie's making burgers, and Niffty and I are making chicken noodle,” Charlie took away another severed head as she gave Niffty a fed up look.

“I'll make some salad and vegetables to eat.”

Lady Morgana went to every fridge in the kitchen and the only good produce she found were two heads of garlic.

All the other produce was being used by the others or had gone bad.

“Charlotte, I'll be right back,” she said. “I need to get some produce from my garden.”

“Okay,” Charlie said as she confiscated yet another head.

Xxx

Millie and Loona looked at the van wreck and Blitz's ugly crying.

The two ladies look at each other.

“So, should I order us a cab for later, or should we ask Stolas to portal us back to Imp city?” Loona asked. “Blitz has been like... this for 15 minutes now.”

“I suggest we just drag him inside,” Millie said. “Maybe the hotel will let us stay the night.”

“Eh, alright then.”

Loona and Millie grabbed Blitz and dragged him away.

“THAT WAS MY FIRST SERIOUS PURCHASE AS AN ADULT!!!” Blitz said between ugly cries.

Xxx

Lucifer and Andrealphus were talking with Stella...

… well, more like they were making small talk about overlords while getting Stella drunk with wine.

Lucifer and Andrealphus were texting each other while Stella drunkenly ranted and overlords.

[So, I understand you and Stella were attempting to gain full custody of Octavia,] Lucifer texted.

[Yes. Although I must admit, I don't think she'll get more custody. With her behavior, she's going to loose any custody!] Andrealphus replied.

[Asmodeus can be quite difficult to negotiate with when it comes to any sort of abuse and the well being of children. He always has been this way, despite being one of the Seven Deadly Sins,] Lucifer said.

“I'll drink to that,” Andrealphus said in a way that looked like he agree with what Stella said as he summoned another bottle of wine.

Xxx

Octavia and Emma had helped with finding out what fast food to order by using a poll voting app Octavia had developed over the summer break.

“Alright, everyone! The results of the lunch vote are in!” Fizzarolli said as he looked at his phone. “the top three food were getting are: pizza, Chinese food and french fries we'll get from Wackdonalds!”

“I'll order the food,” Emma said as she got the apps ready.

“The deli's gonna deliver Al's sandwich,” Angel Dust told Vaggie.

“Yeah, he's probably not gonna be very hungry, but he might appreciate it,” Vaggie said.

Octavia looked towards the healing room.

What is tanking so long? The imp should be okay right now, she thought.

Xxx

Lady Morgana and her husband portaled back into the kitchen with a big basket of fruits and vegetables, and a basket of bread loafs.

“Princess Charlie, this is my husband, Eli,” Lady Morgana said.

“I heard someone was making burgers, so I brought some homemade buns and loafs of bread,” the cassowary demon said.

“With or without gluten?” Moxxie asked.

“Both,” Eli walked the bread to Moxxie and began to empty the basket. “I wasn't sure if anyone had dietary restrictions, so I brought both.”

“Did your house staff make them?”

“Oh, no. I tend to do most of the cooking and gardening. Stay at home dad stuff.”

“Huh, really?”

“Yeah, my wife's in charge of animal attacks on humans. So I take care of our daughters and try out new hobbies with them. Emma's taken a liking to engineering and mechanics, and Myley's learning to bake. Our house staff mainly take care of dusting and cleaning the house, though my family cleans our own dishes and our own laundry.”

xxx

Lucifer and Andrealphus shared a quick glance as Stella started acting more violently, talking about hitting Stolas.

[If she's NOT being passive aggressive about this, she will most likely be executed or banished, if lucky,] Lucifer texted.

[Understood,] Andrealphus replied.

Xxx

“And... done!” Asmodeus said as the spell was completed on Striker.

“Oh, thank god!” Alastor exhaustively said.

Stolas let out a heavy sigh.

Asmodeus then caught a whiff of something. “I think people got some food.”

“I'll carry the imp to a room,” Stolas wrapped up Striker in his cape and picked him up.

The three exited the healing room and into to lobby, where people were setting up tables and chairs to eat and buffet out some food.

Angel Dust waled up to Alastor with a paper bag in his hand. “Got ya a sandwich from that deli ya like.”

“J-just put it in the fridge, I-I need to lie down in my room,” Alastor said.

“Eh, thought you'd be hungry. You guys were workin' on him for almost an hour!”

Asmodeus walked over to the I.M.P. crew and Fizzarolli.

“So, I understand you've been using Stolas's grimoire to access the living world?” Asmodeus asked Blitz.

“Yeah, our old deal was I'd fuck his bird puss every full moon and he'd use the book that night,” Blitz said as he ate a slice of pizza.

“And what's the current deal?”

“I drop it off and chill with Via,” Loona said as she texted her friends.

“Her chilling with Stolas's kid wasn't planned, but I'm not complaining,” Blitz said.

“Okay, man, I'm gonna need to have a meeting with you and Stolas about the grimoire's use,” Asmodeus said. “That monthly fuck you used to do seems sus AF to me.”

“Hey, as long as I can still use the grimoire, I'd be fine with making a new agreement,” Blitz said as he gave an indifferent shrug.

They then heard Stella drunkenly shrieking in rage and Stolas yelping in pain as Andrealphus and Lucifer shouted at Stella to stop.

“Oh, shit!” Asmodeus said as he, Blitz, and Fizzarolli ran to the commotion.

Stolas had apparently decided to walk up some stairs past one of the dining rooms.

He wasn't aware a drunken Stella was there.

Stella was hitting him with an empty wine bottle and pulling out his feathers as he protected the unconscious Striker.

“Hey!” Asmodeus tried to grab her, but with the way the corridor was built and his size, he couldn't reach her. “Fuck! I can't reach! I gotta go around and find another way in!”

“Stella, I order you to sto-- oof!” Lucifer tried to grab her arm, but ended up taking the butt of the wine bottle to his open eye, which, despite being the most powerful being in all of Hell, still fucking hurt like a bitch.

Fizzarolli wrapped himself around Stella like a snake, allowing Stolas to runaway a bit.

Stella slammed the cyborg imp's head against a column, knocking him out.

Stella grabbed Stolas again and resumed her assault on him.

“Are you going to FUCK the FUCKING ASSASSIN I HIRED to FUCKING KILL YOU?!” she screeched.

“What the FUCK did you say?!” Blitz shouted as he charged.

Andrealphus just facepalmed as Lucifer tried to regain his sight.

Blitz bit onto her wrist that was holding the wine bottle and increased his bite pressure as hard as he could. He could taste her blood.

Stella did drop the wine bottle, but only to grab Blitz's right upper arm and continued to hit Stolas.

“Let go of him, you bitch!” Lady Morgana ran into the fight and karate chopped Stella in her throat.

Stella gasped as she stumbled back from Stolas.

Lady Morgana ripped Blitz from her arm, grabbed Stella by the waist and suplexed her to the floor, knocking the abusive bitch out.

Morgana stood straight back up and brushed herself off.

“Wasn't very lady like, but needed to be done. Stolas, are you alright?” Morgana asked as she walked to the prince, flipping off Andrealphus as he went to tend to his sister.

“I-I'm alright, I-I'm used to it,” Stolas said.

“That's bullshit!” Asmodeus called to them (he wasn't able to find another way to intervene). “You're shaking like a leaf!”

Blitz stood up and spat out some feathers and blood. “Yeah, Stolas, let me get Striker to a room.”

“Considering you were just used as a blunt weapon, I suggest you seek medical attention,” Morgana said.

“Grab Fizzarolli, I can't go in there, I'm too big,” Asmodeus said.

“Why don't you just use your smaller demon form?” Lucifer asked.

“Because it looks like Valentino. Do the math.”

“Fair point. I'll take Stella into custody.”

“You will do no such thing, Lucifer!” Andrealphus protested.

“My left eye is currently swelling shut because of her. I will do such thing,” Lucifer grabbed Stella from under the arms and dragged her through a portal he opened.

Charlie and Husk ran up to the group.

“Sorry we took so long, we had to stop the crowd from creating a crush,” Charlie said.

“They were itching for another fight,” Husk said.

“Charlie, I'll need you to get the imp to a room,” Morgana said as she took Striker from Stolas. “I'll take Stolas to a demon royalty hospital. Tell Eli to take the girls to our home.”

Charlie took Striker. “Husk, would you help Blitz with Fizzarolli? It looks like he's having trouble with his limbs.”

Blitz was indeed having trouble with Fizzarolli's rubber hose physics limbs and was getting them all tangled up.

Xxx

Emma, Loona, Moxxie, and Millie were trying to calm Octavia down.

She was having a panic attack after hearing her mother admit to hiring an assassin on Stolas's life.

“Girls, are you alright?” Eli asked as he ran over to them.

“I wanna go home with my dad...” Octavia whimpered.

“And you will, Octavia,” Eli put a comforting hand on her shoulder. “Morgana's just going to get him checked out at the hospital, so I'll take you and Emma to our place, alright?”

Octavia wiped tears from here eyes. “O-okay.”

“C'mon, girls, let's go,” Eli opened a portal and the three walked through it.

Asmodeus then walked to the I.M.P. crew. “Hey, your boss is gonna be transferred to the same hospital as Stolas. He insisted on it. So you guys are gonna spend the night here, alright? I'll even arrange transport back to Imp City for you in the morning.”

The I.M.P. crew discussed among themselves and agreed it would be a good idea.

“Yeah, we'll stay overnight,” Loona said.

“Good, good. Now, one more thing,” Asmodeus held out his open palm. “Hand over the grimoire.”

“Um, we kinda need it for our work,” Millie said.

“And considering the shit that just went down, demon royals who have personal grudges with Stolas will want to try and get it while he's in the hospital, and I'm afraid you guys won't be able to fight them off.”

“Will you give it back?” Moxxie asked.

“Yes, I promise. I just gotta smooth some stuff over with Lucifer, and talk with Stolas and your boss about making a new deal with the grimoire. I would give you guys some Asmodean Crystals, but I have a feeling your boss is gonna want to use the grimoire.”

“Can that mean we get weekends off?” Loona asked.

“Do you guys not get weekends off?”

“Nope,” the I.M.P. crew said in unison.

“Damn. Tell you what, I'm gonna MAKE your boss give you weekends off. It'll also help Stolas catch up on prophesies. Hell will need to know if a mass loss of life will happen soon.”

“O-our lives or--” Moxxie stammered.

“Humans. I should've clarified that.”

Loona handed Asmodeus the book.

“Thank you young lady,” Asmodeus opened a portal to the Lust Ring. “Let Charlie know I'm going to send a couple doctors here to keep an eye on Striker's recovery.” he then left and closed the portal.

Xxx

Paimon sat down in front of a somewhat small TV for a demon royal with an instant dinner.

Sure, instant dinners the common folk ate weren't exactly kingly, but fuck it! He was by himself and no one could judge him for eating something as processed as all fuck. It was his guilty pleasure, after all.

He turned on the TV to the 666 news.

He wasn't really going to pay attention to it, he just liked to have something to listen to while he ate, and the news was good enough.

Nothing can top Princess Morningstar's hotel advert brawl, he smiled as he stirred the mashed potatoes a bit while the cooled.

“So, Tom, did you get set on fire at the hotel brawl?” the bitchy female host asked.

Paimon's interest in the program was peaked a bit, so he half paid attention to the program as he began to eat his meal.

He picked up little things, such as it was actually a rescue mission to save an imp, the imp had injuries far to gruesome to describe on television, how his granddaughter out hacked an overlord--

“Wait, what?” he rewound the program to make sure his ears didn't deceive him.

“Yeah, so Prince Stolas's kid managed to counter hack the overlord Velvet's hack on the hotel and got the communication back up and running,” Tom said.

“How'd she do that, Tom?” the bitch asked.

“A hellhound who babysa--” Tom was interrupted by a hellhound's snarl. “I-I mean a hellhound acquaintance knew she was one of the most tech savvy people in Hell, so she called her to help.”

“Did her father have any issues with it?”

“I didn't get a chance to interview him because his abusive wife starting to beat the shit out of him after he helped heal the imp. Prince Stolas is actually hospitalized, but he's expected to make a full recovery.”

Paimon then heard a ringing in his ears.

Did... did she not grow out of that phase? Was it a phase at all?

He only then only heard bits and pieces of the news.

He found out that the imp that was rescued was hired by Stella to kill Stolas.

He felt a pit form in his stomach as he realized he may have made the wrong arranged marriage choice for Stolas.

Xxx

It was the middle of the night and Moxxie was sneaking to Striker's room.

Now, I bet you're wondering why Moxxie is doing such a thing.

Well, he was going to kill Striker while he couldn't fight back.

He wanted revenge from what he feared what would happen to him during the Harvest Moon Festival.

He was also unaware that Vaggie was tailing him.

Striker's room was on the third floor of the hotel and a bit out of the way from the other occupied rooms.

Most recovery rooms were like that.

Moxxie arrived at the room and entered it.

Striker's bed was against the far wall, next to a window.

Moxxie quickly got onto the bed and looked at Striker.

Moxxie's eyes and the moonlight being the only source of illumination, he saw that Striker was a bit sickly looking, his hair had grown to his shoulders and would need to be bleached white again, he had been dressed in pajamas and tucked into the bed with his arms crossed over the blanket and his chest.

“Alright, here goes nothing,” Moxxie whispered to himself.

He wrapped his hands around Striker's neck and squeezed hard.

A dark satisfaction filled his heart as Striker began to choke, but didn't fight back.

“Moxxie, stop it! It's not worth it!” Vaggie said as she tried to pry his hands away from Striker's neck.

“No! I have to do this!” Moxxie protested, hitting Vaggie with his tail.

A holy spear tip was then pressed against the right side of his neck.

Vaggie was on his left side, and she gasped as she pulled Moxxie away from the intruder--

-- an Exterminator.

The Exterminator looked at them with curiosity in it's body language, while its electronic mask had an unsettling smirk.

Two bright but not harmful lights then came in through the window and began to change shape into an adult woman and a young teen girl.

“Joan, you're scaring them, they've been through enough already,” the adult said as their forms finalized.

The Exterminator looked at the woman and nodded.

The mask and helmet disappeared with a soft light while her armor turned from black to a dark silver.

The adult approached them, their forms now complete:

The woman wore a medieval dress with a cloak covering her hair and wearing a crown. She had cloven hooves and horns similar to Lilith's on her head.

The Exterminator had short brownish redish hair.

The youngest had brown hair in a braid and was wearing a light blue hoodie and black pants.

All three had halos.

“Holy crap,” Vaggie whispered.

“An overlord from Dis is bad news,” Moxxie whimpered.

“What? No, there's a holy saint here!” Vaggie pointed at Exterminator.

“Actually, there's three holy saints in this room,” the woman said. “I'm Olga of Kiev, the warrior is Joan d'Arc, and the young one is Agnes.”

Olga put her hand on Agnes's shoulder.

“My little sister wanted to visit the imp,” Joan gestured to Striker.

“Hey, I experienced martyrdom in 301, I'm older than you, Joan,” Agnes said.

“That's depressing,” Moxxie noted.

“And yes, I am an overlord from Dis,” Olga said. “I tend to keep to myself, but agreed to escort the kids.”

“Wait, how are you an overlord and a saint?” Vaggie asked.

“I was given sainthood post death. As for why I'm an overlord and also in Hell, why don't you look up my name in a search browser and do the math?”

“Back to the child saint: why do you want to see him?!” Moxxie exclaimed as he pointed to Striker.

“I'm the patron saint of sexual abuse victims,” Agnes said.

“Oh.”

“That explains the bodyguards,” Vaggie said.

“She wants to try and bless him,” Joan rolled her eyes.

“That's not going to go over well with other hellborn; it's a big taboo for anyone other than King Lucifer to be involved with heaven in any sort of way,” Moxxie said.

“Can I give him a gift, then?” Agnes asked. “Like a pendant that'll temporarily give him my ability to blind sexual predators when he wears it.”

“Look, it's the middle of the night and we need our rest,” Vaggie said. “I'll see if there's any law against stuff like that in Hell, and my girlfriend and I'll swing by Dis and give Olga the information.”

The three saints looked at each other and had a brief discussion among themselves before Olga turned back to her fellow demons.

“Very well,” Olga said. “I will leave you my contact information.”

Olga used her magic to give Vaggie a business card with a mailing address and an email.

“You use email?” Vaggie asked.

“There is some internet in Dis. Joan, Agnes, let's get you two back to Heaven,” Olga said.

The three of them changed back into their balls of light forms and left the room.

Vaggie grabbed Moxxie and dragged him out of the room before closing the door.

“The FUCK was that?! Why did you try to kill Striker?!” Vaggie asked as she pinned the imp to the wall.

“Because he tried to KILL ME last year!” Moxxie said. “He nearly suffocated me to death and I thought he was going to do other stuff to me before my wife stabbed him in the kidneys!”

“Listen, we have a 'no killing' rule for people living in the hotel, and this extends to guests and visitors like you. So, don't pull a stunt like that ever again in here, okay?”

Moxxie nodded.

Vaggie then dragged Moxxie back to his room.

Chapter Text

Striker was slowly coming to.

The fuck happened? 

Am I dead? 

Did Blitz really help me? 

Wait—

WHY THE FUCK DO I FEEL NAKED?! 

WHY DO I FEEL WET?!

WHO THE FUCK’S TOUCHING ME?!

His eyes snapped open and he tried to run—

Is this a tub?!

—and heard two women shouting in surprise, and felt hands trying to grab him.

And then he felt a sharp pain stab through him from his privates to his stomach.

“Fucking shit!” he doubled over in pain, almost falling out of the tub.

“Don’t worry, I got you” one of the women says she placed them back in the tub.

“The fuck you trying to do to me?!” Striker try to squirm away.

“We’re just trying to give you a bath,” the first woman said.

“You were comatose for two weeks,” the second woman said.

That stunned Striker.

“I-I… s-survived..” he looked at the women.

He saw that they were Princess Charlie, and her girlfriend, Vaggie.

He tried to cover his chest in embarrassment.

“H-how am I alive?” He asked. “I-I sh-should’ve—“

“Don't worry, Striker, you're here you're safe here at the Happy Hotel,” Charlie said as she placed a hand on his back.

“It’s a long story. We’ll explain when you’re feeling better,” Vaggie said. “We’re gonna have the hotel doctor—“

“I ain’t seen’ no doctor!” Striker shouted. “Ya can’t trust ‘em!”

“Look, you were just in a coma, tried to run but doubled over in pain, and your voice is cracking all over the place. You need to be looked at by medical professional. Charlie and I will be with you and then I'll make you feel better.”

Striker thought for a moment.

Not like I can fight my way out of here. Not in this state, at least.

“Okay, fine,” he reluctantly agreed.

“Good, now let’s finish cleaning you up,” Charlie said.

Striker closed his eyes. “Please hurry. I-I don’t wanna see how messed up my bo-ody i-is.”

All they had a clean left was his chest, back, hair, and face.

He was fine with his back pain scrubbed, but hissed when he touched his chest.

He knew it wasn’t a sexual touch, but… he had some past experiences, even before being Valentino's victim.

The princess quickly apologized and they moved onto his hair.

He almost purred as the scalp was massaged. It felt nice.

Weird… it doesn't take this long to wash my hair…

“Quick question, how long is my hair?” He asked.

“Just past shoulder length,” Charlie said.

“Damn, gonna need a haircut…”

After his hair was washed, they washed his face with a soft cloth.

“Guess my ‘stache hasn’t grown back, yet,” Striker noted.

“Should start growing back when you get back on HRT,” Charlie said.

“Okay, we’re done with this, so we’re gonna help you dry off,” Vaggie said as she started to drain the tub. “Is that okay?”

“S-sure,” Striker said.

Charlie put one arm around his shoulders, and her other under his knees.

Striker put his arms around her neck and his tail instinctively went around the arm under his knees as he was lifted out of the tub.

“Think you can stand?” Charlie asked.

“I’ll try,” Striker said.

Charlie placed him down in a standing position. “Okay, I’m gonna let go of you now.”

Charlie let go of Striker.

Striker yelped as he felt the pain again and feel to his knees, his eyes briefly opening before closing them again, but Vaggie caught him in a towel.

“Okay, looks like you’re gonna need to be carried around for today, at least,” Vaggie said.

Striker grumbled in disappointment as he was dried off by Vaggie.

After he was dried off, Charlie helped him into some pajamas.

Striker reopened his eyes and saw that it was a green and yellow flannel patterned two piece.

“So, when’t the do-octor gonna se-e me?” he asked.

“We can call him up now, if you’d like,” Charlie said as she picked him up.

“I’d li-ike to get it ov-er and done wi—“

Striker stopped mid-sentence when he caught a glimpse of himself in the mirror.

He buried his face into Charlie’s shoulder.

“What’s wrong?” Charlie asked.

“I-I look li-ike a g-girl…” he whimpered, dysphoria slowly starting to wave over him.

“It’s gonna be alright,” Charlie said as she placed him on the bed and sat down next to him.

“I’ll go get the doctor,” Vaggie said as she left the room.

Striker was curling up into the fetal position when he fell Charlie stroking his scalp between the horns.

“Need anything?” Charlie asked.

Striker took a shaky breath.

“How long was I hostage?” he asked.

“A-about four months,” Charlie said.

“Fuck! Who thought it’s be a good idea to save me?”

“Angel Dust had had enough of… well, you know who , and when he found out that you were in danger, he decided to save you. Alastor ended up being the first to join in to save you, then Angel’s brother joined, and soon the whole hotel and some others also joined. It wound up being in the news after we saved you.”

“E-even though I’m an imp?”

Charlie nodded and pulled him into a hug.

“And no one’s ever going to be hurt by him ever again,” Charlie said.

“Until someone takes his place,” Striker mumbled.

Charlie’s phone then buzzed.

She checked it and her eyes widened.

“Striker, I gotta run— Alastor and Nifty just brought in ‘mystery meat’!”

Charlie then bolted out the door.

Xxx

Striker was now lying flat on his back, without his pajama bottoms and his legs crooked and spread with only a towel covering his lower body.

One of the hotel doctors was looking at his privates… and if a random person were to walk in without any context, they would think something adult was going on because the doctor was lying on his stomach with his head under the towel to examine Striker.

And not to mention, the doctor was an incubus, so…

Vaggie was next to Striker, so he was holding her right hand while his tail was wrapped around her other arm.

“Is this really necessary?” Striker asked. “I-I ain’t too comfortable in thi-is position.”

“I need to get a good look at your genitalia’s recovery,” the doctor said before he got his out from under the towel. “You’ve just recovered from a very traumatic injury that nearly killed you. And since you were healed using two types of magic, we need to make sure there’s no complications in your body.”

“Li-ike wha-at?” Striker asked as he sat up.

“Well, for one, your voice cracks when you speak; two, you’re most likely experiencing muscle spasms when you exert yourself; and three, we don’t know if your digestive system will work like it used to.”

“Ca-an’t ya ju-ust give me stuff to make me be-etter?”

“We actually are,” the doctor hopped off the bed. “Give me your left hand, please.”

Striker gave the doctor his hand.

The doctor activated a spell on Striker’s wrist.

It glowed a purplish-blue and resembled a bracelet three times the size of his wrist as it shimmered and slowly rotated with symbols Striker couldn’t make sense of around his wrist.

“The fuck?” Striker asked.

“This is a noninvasive vitals spell,” the doctor said. “We weren’t able to bring all our medical equipment, but we do have medical spells.”

“They used it to check on you while you were unconscious,” Vaggie said. “It’s kinda bound to your nervous system. I think.”

“It’s more complex than that. It can also be used to track a patient if they try to escape. Whenever the spell is cast, the tracking feature is always there.”

“Not like I got much, ‘si-ides the paja-amas on my ba-ack,” Striker muttered.

The doctor pressed one of the symbols and a screen-like projection was produced. The doctor took the screen in his hands and examined it.

“You’re going to need to start taking some pills for vitamin deficiencies and medications, such as anti inflammatories and pain relievers. I’ll have some ready by the time you have dinner. Speaking of which, I'm going to perform a spell to see how your intestines are doing,” the doctor said as he gave Striker his hand back.

“Why di-idn’t ya do tha-at on my privates?!” Striker asked as the doctor laid him flat on his back again and lifted up the pajama shirt to expose his abdomen.

“Because this spell sometimes causes a tingling sensation,” the doctor said as he performed the spell.

Striker flinched because the spell did tingle his skin. “H-how are my pa-arts, anyways?”

“The scar tissue on your privates and intestines is healing very nicely, but I am a bit concerned about the sweeping of your privates and the pain you’re experiencing.”

“Oh, no…”

“The swelling should heal with time, and with assistance from the medicine and a daily bath for at least 30 minutes.”

“Why do I need a fuckin’ bath?!”

“Because Belphegor made a solution that acts similar to a bubble bath, but given the magical plants that were used in making it it relieves swelling and pain.”

“He actually made it after Satan had some sort of injury and does sell it to help folks heal from injury,” Vaggie said. “Except it’s kinda expensive and only certain insurances help folks get it.”

“Well, wasn’t I given any other meds while I was out?” Striker asked.

“Yes, you were given liquid medicine since it was easier for you to ingest while unconscious, but the pills contain a higher dose and will take a bit longer for your system to digest, but that will give your body more time absorb it and hopefully heal faster,” the doctor said as he deactivated the spell. “And it looks like you’ll be having some soup tonight, but I do want you to get a CT scan, but you’ll be able to digest soup without any problems.”

“Yeah, yeah, that’s great and all, but can I put my pants back on?”

Xxx

Striker was idly swishing the spade of his tail off the edge of the bed as he waited for his dinner to arrive.

Damn, haven’t even eaten yet, but I’m fuckin’ starvin’! When was the last time I ate? Ugh… probably the day before I got rescued… wait, wasn’t given broth while i was out? Fuck it, I’m hungry!

He tried to readjust himself in the bed and felt the pain shoot through him again.

“ARGH! SHIT !” he gripped his sheets and breathed through his teeth until the pain thankfully went away.

Then someone knocked on the door before barging it.

“Room service!” Angel Dust said as the door slammed against the wall, damaging both.

“GAH!” Striker got startled hard enough to accidentally launch himself out of the bed and landed on the floor, which caused a really painful spasm. “FFFUUUUUUCCCCKKK!!!!”

“Oops! Didn’t mean ta scare ya,” Angel Dust said as he walked over and gently put Striker back on the bed.

“Fu-uck you!”

“Hey, man, ya want ya soup or not?”

“We also have your pills!” Nifty said as she held up a dixie cup nearly filled to the brim with pills.

“I need to ta-ake all of those?!” Striker exclaimed as his eyes widened and his eye rings thickened.

“Don’t worry, most of ‘em are vitamins,” Angel Dust said as he put the bed food tray over Striker’s lap before putting the food on it.

It was chicken noodle soup (from a can, Nifty’s not allowed to make soup anymore), two plain white french bread slices, and a glass of lemon-lime soda.

“Huh, thou-ught I was just ha-avin’ soup tonight,” Striker said.

“Ya got a lot of meds, the doc said ya should be fine with the bread slices. It’d help ya with digestin’ the pills or somethin’,” Angel Dust said.

Striker downed the pills with a swig of the soda and ate one of the two bread slices.

“We also have the day’s newspaper!” Nifty plopped the day’s edition of the local paper on the top of a neat pile of two weeks worth of newspaper.

“Damn. Gue-ess I got some go-ossip to catch up on,” Striker said.

Angel Dust handed him a smartphone.

“Text us when ya done. Or need ta take a piss  but can’t walk by yaself. It’s one of the hotel’s phones. Everyone in here's got one,” Angel Dust said.

“Even Alastor!” Nifty said.

“And he hates it!”

Angel Dust laughed as he and Nifty left Striker’s room.

Xxx

Striker had finished his dinner, and once his dishes were taken away, had grabbed the top newspaper.

“Let’s see wha-at I missed,” he muttered.

The main article made him frown in disappointment.

Lady Stella of the Ars Goetia stripped of titles by King Lucifer.

“Fuck.”

He skimmed through the article and discovered that Stella was an abusive bitch (which he already somewhat figured out) and that Asmodeus and Lucifer heard her admit to hiring an assassin (aka, himself) to kill Stolas.

Stolas was apparently really fucking important, since he could read predictions with constellations or some shit.

He looked at the other article titles.

Valentino set to be executed via Annual Extermination & Impalement.

Striker slammed the paper onto his lap and took some deep breaths to calm down as he went into a mini panic attack.

After he calmed down, he continued.

 Happy Hotel is BOOMING With Business! But for How Long?

How Many Holy Saints are there for SA Victims? Too Many.

Will there be a NEW OVERLORD for Adult Entertainment? Read this to find out!

Fuck it, I’m heading to the classifieds, Striker thought as he flipped the pages.

‘Overlords of Agribusiness hiring for farmhands’

“Can’t do that,” Striker muttered.

‘Porn studio–’

“Nope!”

“Immediate Murder Professionals now hiring three canidates! Please apply via email, sinners not legally allowed to apply.’

Striker thought to himself.

Will they be okay if I applied? My previous contract is basically non-existent now.

He continued to look through the classifieds, but the job at I.M.P. was the only one aside from farm work that he was qualified for.

He grabbed the smartphone from his nightstand.

[Think I can apply for this job?] he texted Charlie.

He circled the ad with a marker that he found in the nightstand’s drawer and sent a picture to Charlie.

He grabbed another newspaper and read its headlines as he waited for a response.

The news wasn’t that interesting, just some of what the day’s paper followed up on.

His phone dinged as he got the reply.

[We’ll talk with someone after your appointment tomorrow] Charlie responded.

Striker texted back a thumbs up emoji and went to sleep.

Xxx

This nightmare scene contains mentions of SA and CSA. If those topics squick you out, please skim or skip.

Striker wasn’t sure why he was walking in a long dark hallway, but something told him to keep walking.

There weren’t any exits or doors on the hallway sides. Maybe he was looking for an exit?

Yeah, that must be it.

He kept walking towards the end of the hallways, but it was a long ass hallway!

He then tensed up as he smelled cherry flavored cigarette smoke.

Turning around, he saw one of the LAST people he wanted to see:

Fucking Valentino!

Striker let out a blood curdling scream and bolted in the opposite direction.

“No, no, no, no, no!” Striker shouted as he ran. “Not again! Please! Not again!”

The hallway seemed to get longer and narrower as he ran.

Striker looked over his shoulder and saw that he had gained some distance between himself and his abuser.

He had some hope and turned his head forward again–

– only to be tackled and pinned down by a second person.

Striker gasped when he saw who it was:

His father, his first abuser

“Now, where you runnin’ to, young lady?” his father hissed.

“No!” Striker kneed his father in the crotch, but it didn’t work.

His father traced his index finger along Striker’s jawline.

Striker closed his eyes as his breath hitched.

“P-please, D-Daddy! Don’t do this again!” Striker pleaded.

He felt so small.

Opening his eyes, Striker saw that he had turned into his 13-year-old, pre-transition body, including that damn 70’s looking flower patterned dress!

“No!” Striker’s scream sounded like a teen girl’s.

The cherry scent grew in a suffocating strength as Valentino joined his father.

The abusers began to remove his dress as they pinned him down.

Striker shrieked for help, knowing no one would hear him.

Xxx

Striker screamed bloody murder as he shot up into a sitting position and got slapped in the face, nearly knocking him to the ground.

“Whoops! Timed that wrong!” a male transatlantic voice said.

Striker began to cry as he shook and curled up into a ball.

That nightmare had done a number on him.

“Are you alright?” the voice asked as he put a hand on Striker’s back.

Striker hissed and lashed his claws at the person, scratching them.

“Alright, alright, not a fan of physical touch. Neither am I,” the man sat on the bed.

“G-go away!” Striker growled.

“I would, but I doubt Charlie would like a traumatized soul such as yourself to be alone in such a state. I’m going to try and let her know you had a nightmare with this ‘texting’ thing.”

Striker whimpered as he raised his head to look at the stranger.

He tried to flatten himself against the headboard when he saw it was the Radio Demon.

The overlord kept muttering about how stupid the phone was as he texted Charlie.

He finished and turned to Striker with a non threatening smile.

“Wh-wa-at t-time is it?” Striker asked, his voice a bit hoarse.

The Radio Demon looked at the clock. “A bit after 4:30 a.m.”

“Don’t think i’ll be doin’ anymore sleep…” Striker muttered.

“Would you like to assist me with my morning chores? You may refer to me as ‘Alastor’, if you’d like.”

Striker relaxed a bit. “Wha-at cho-orse do ya have?”

“Mainly making sure the hotel is safe from attackers, cleaning up any loose drug paraphernalia, emergency first aid, things like that. Sometimes I help with fixing meals.”

“I-I reckin’ I can he-elp with packin’ first aid kits an’ wa-ashin’ food an’ dishes.”

“Splendid!” Alastor got up from the bed. “Of course, you’ll need to clean yourself off, first.”

“What?” Striker looked down at his body.

He realized he had an accident, no thanks to the nightmare.

“Shit,” Striker muttered.

“At least that wasn’t what came out of you,” Alastor said, almost sounding like he was teasing.

Striker flipped him off.

“I’ll carry you to the tub, you can clean yourself,” Alastor carefully picked Striker up. “I’ll leave some clothes for you to change into.”

“Um, c-cou-uld give me somethin’ else with the clothes?” Striker asked.

Xxx

Striker sat in the tub.

Alastor had placed one step stool inside the tub and another outside of it so Striker could get in and out on his own.

A washcloth and bar of soap were on the inner step stool, along with a handheld mirror.

His day clothes were on the outer step stool.

Taking a shaky breath, he began to unbutton the shirt, his eyes closed.

Another heads up for dysphoria flashbacks and for some injuries, including what happened to Striker in Chapter 2, so you may need to skip over two or three italicized passages. There will again be mentions of SA and CSA. there will also be some mentions of brainwashing.

The cold air met his skin, making him have a slight shiver.

He shed the shirt and tossed it out of the tub.

He opened his eyes and looked down.

“Damnit…”

His breasts weren’t flattened, like they had been from his years of imperfect and dangerous binding habits.

They looked healthy, round, and perky, granted that last one was from the room’s temperature.

“Back to square one,” he muttered. At least they’re still on the small side.

He began to check his torso to examine his scars.

Striker smiled a bit when he found that most of them had disappeared. It almost felt like his slate was wiped clean, given a fresh start in life.

The grabbed the mirror and checked the scars on his back. 

The only mark he saw was the stab wounds he got from Millie at last year’s Harvest Moon Festival.

Striker used the mirror to then check on his shoulder scars.

So far, so– “Goddamnit!”

Striker saw that a bite mark on his left trap hadn’t gone away, there were still two puncture marks on his collar bone. They were caused by fangs.

A very uncomfortable memory then resurfaced…

Xxx

Striker screamed into the gag as his father bit down as hard as he could into his trap.

His father was pinning him down on a bed.

The bed fabric hurt his bare skin.

Xxx

Striker slapped himself out of the memory.

“Everything alright in there?” Alastor asked as he lightly knocked.

“Ye-eah. J-just some…” Striker trailed off.7

“Do you require assistance?”

“Nope!”

“Well, I’m here if you need anything.”

Striker removed his pants and examined his legs.

“Heh.” Not a scratch on them!

He then remembered that the doctor told him about the scarring down there.

He spread his legs enough to angle the mirror.

Picking up the mirror he looked at his face first.

He grimaced at his black hair.

Some trans imps got dysphoria from having hair that didn’t match their gender identity, despite the fact that black hair meaning female and white hair meaning male only happened in 80% of cis imps. There were cases of cis imps having hair of the opposite gender, sometimes they would have grey hair.

But Striker grew up in an extra sexist part of Wrath and hated his hair color. The other 20% of cis imps with nontraditional natural hair color didn’t last long where he grew up.

He ran his fingers through his hair and felt that his horns were a quarter thinner.

And he started to have another flashback.

Xxx

Valentino roughly pulled Striker’s hair.

“Let’s get that fake shit off of your horns,” the overlord purred as he showed Striker the chisel.

Xxx

Striker slapped himself out of the memory again.

“Are you harming yourself?” Alastor asked.

“Just rega-ainin’ my se-enses!” Striker said.

Striker felt his horns.

They felt smooth and relatively healthy.

Striker figured that it was probably for the best.

He had a back alley ‘cosmetic surgeon’ ‘modify’ his horns with what ended up being some sort of cement to thicken up his horns to look more masc.

Feeling the scalp around the horns, he was happy to learn that his scalp was healthy too.

Striker then put the mirror between his legs and looked at the injury.

His tail rattled in fear as he began to have a panic attack at what he saw:

The entire area from his clitorus to the base of his tail was all white.

His mind swimmed with the memory of how he got this injury.

Xxx

Striker laid on her front after having been thrown across the room by Valentino.

“Wh-what did I do wrong, my love?” she asked. 

Valentino grabbed her by her left thigh – her bad leg –and dragged her to the middle of the room.

Striker looked up at her lover/abuser with confusion and fear.

“D-did you not enjoy our love making?” she asked.

“Nah, little lady. I’m just a little bored ,” Valentino said with an apathetic tone and facial expression.

“Of… me?”

Valentino sadly nodded before smirt=king as he turned to a duffle bag he brought with him.

“Why don’t we spice things up a little?” Valentino reached into the bag.

Striker gasped in excitement at the prospect of a new toy to spice up their love making/abuse until she saw what her lover/abuser pulled out…

An old, rusty crowbar.

Striker whimpered as he backed away, but Valentino grabbed his bad leg again, lifting his lower body off the ground.

“You know what happens when I grow tired of my toys, darling? ” Valentino asked.

“No! Please don’t do this! Have mercy!” Striker pleaded.

He had heard about this case that happened in a place called ‘India’, and he feared something like that happening to him.

Valentino used the crowbar to practically sensually trace Striker from his chin, down his neck, between his breasts, around to his lower back, down his spine to his tail base, onto a butt cheek, and gently over his labia before pressing it against his clit.

“I break them,” Valentino said as he inserted the weapon.

Xxx

Striker didn’t know how long he was screaming for, he just knew that Alastor was softly singing a lullaby to him and gently rubbing his upper back with soft and slow circles.

“Shh, shh… it’s alright, I’m here,” Alastor said.

Striker slowly calmed down as Angel Dust, Nifty, Charlie, and Vaggie entered.

“What happened? We heard screaming,” Charlie said.

“Alastor, what did you do?” Vaggie asked.

“Striker had a panic attack when he was cleaning himself off after a nightmare,” Alastor said as he continued to hold Striker and rub his back.

“Striker, you good?” Angel Dust asked.

Striker tried to answer, but he had completely lost his voice due to his screaming.

Vaggie got Striker’s phone and gave it to him.

“Striker, can you tell us what happened?” she asked.

[I had flashbacks when I was checking my injuries] Striker texted the ‘Hotel Help’ group.

“Ah, shit,” Angel Dust said.

“Poor thing,” Charlie said.

“Do you need anything?” Nifty asked.

Striker just hugged Alastor.

“I’ll allow this,” Alastor said, even though he wasn’t thrilled about a nude person actively being in contact with him.

“Hey, Alastor? Can you use your magic to clean and dress Striker?” Charlie asked.

“Of course.”

With a snap of Alastor’s fingers, Striker was instantly cleaned and dressed.

Striker jerked and held onto Alastor a bit tighter, since being instantly cleaned and dress was quite a freaky experience.

“Let’s get him to the hotel’s doctor’s office. They’ll have a look at him,” Charlie said.

“Al, I’ll carry him,” Angel Dust said as he took Striker from Alastor. “I know ya ain’t a fan of huggin’.”

Striker let out a small whimper as he was taken away from Alastor.

“Don’t worry, I’m pretty fluffy,” Angel Dust said as he gently pushed Striker’s head onto his neck.

Striker then gave a small whimper of comfort as he nuzzled the extremely soft fluff on Angel Dust’s body.

“Alright, let’s go,” Vaggie said as she Charlie, Angel Dust, and Striker left for the doctors.

Xxx

Striker was a bit nervous again because apparently all the doctors at the hotel were all succubi and incubi.

“Striker, I need you to open your mouth and stick out your tongue,” the light pink succubus said as she held a tongue depressor and Hell’s own version of an endoscope (it was at an obtuse angle and almost resembled a bent microscope).

Striker shook his head.

“What do you think’s gonna happen?” the male nurse incubi tiredly asked as he handed Striker a whiteboard and marker, before grabbing his iced latte and drinking it.

Striker drew a picture on the whiteboard and showed it to the doctor.

The doctor's eyes widened.

“Oh,” she said.

The nurse then looked at the picture and practically inhaled his drink.

“What is it?” Vaggie asked. She was the one person Striker chose to be with him for the exam.

“Looks like he’s going to need therapy,” the doctor said as the nurse continued to choke on his beverage.

“Is this a situation where you take a picture of the drawing, or…” Vaggie knew it was protocol in the Lust Ring for doctors and nurses to take pictures of drawings done by children in cases of expected abuse.

“In this case, yes,” the doctor took a picture of the image with her phone.

“Maybe we should show him how this procedure is actually done?” the nurse suggested.

“I’ll volunteer to help,” Vaggie said.

“Good,” the doctor turned to the nurse. “Toby, would you bring over that barstool?”

“Sure thing, doc,” Toby got a barstool that used to belong to Klub Kaiju and placed it in front of where Striker was sitting on the exam table.

Vaggie sat on the barstool, facing Striker.

The doctor got next to Striker.

“Hey, Striker? You wanna know what this device does?” the doctor asked as she handed it to Striker.

Striker got a better look at the device and saw that it had a funnel on one end.

“It’s designed that way to look at a patient’s throat to make sure it’s okay,” the doctor took the device and turned to Vaggie. “Watch what I’m going to do. Vaggie stick out your tongue and say ‘ah’.”

Vaggie followed the instruction and the doctor used the tongue depressor to hold Vaggie’s tongue in place as she put the endoscope in her mouth.

She then put her eye to the funnel.

“And now I activate my eye glow and… Vaggie’s throat is healthy!” the doctor turned her head to Striker. “Wanna take a look?”

Striker hesitantly looked down the funnel and tried to activate his eye glow, but it wasn’t working.

He turned to the doctor and whimpered.

“What’s wrong?” Vaggie asked after the endoscope was out of her mouth.

Striker tried to make his eyes glow, but they just dimly flickered.

“Geez, looks like you’ll need to see an eye doctor, too,” the doctor said as she was handed a clean endoscope and tongue depressor.

Striker gestured to the medical equipment and his throat.

“Oh? You’re ready to get your vocal cords looked at?” the doctor asked.

Striker nodded.

“Okay. open wide and try to say ‘ah’,” she said.

Vaggie held Striker’s hand as he followed the instruction, though he did almost instinctively try to suck on the endoscope.

“Your vocal cords are a little bit damaged, but Asmodeus should be able to fix that,” the doctor said.

Striker gasped, kicked the doctor away, spat out the endoscope, and tried to run, but Vaggie placed him in her lap as she sat down on the exam table.

“Whoa! Calm down, Striker!” Vaggie said as she held the squirming imp. “He won’t hurt you.”

Striker whimpered as his tail rattled.

“He actually helped with the spell that saved your life,” Toby said.

Striker grabbed the whiteboard, wiped it clean, and wrote on it before showing it to the others.

“Hey, Ozzie may be a Deadly Sin and the Embodiment of Lust, but he values consent,” Vaggie said. “And you won’t be alone, Angel and Charlie will be with you the whole time.”

“Let’s have him calm down in one of the chill rooms,” the doctor said as she led them to one of the side rooms that had been refurbished to be a room with a calming atmosphere, with cool colors and blocking outside noise.

Xxx

Striker figured he must have dozed off in the calm room, because he woke up in a limo next to Angel Dust.

“Oh, you’re up!” Charlie said.

“We’re almost at the hellevator,” Angel Dust said. “Pretty cool, since I’m the first sinner to travel on it! I bet Vaggie’s gonna be so fuckin’ jealous!”

Striker looked out the window and just watched the landscape go past them.

“Are you nervous?” Charlie asked.

“Me or Striker?” Angel Dust asked. “‘Cause I’m more excited than nervous!”

Striker pulled out his phone and began typing.

[A doctor didn’t help me when I needed it,] he texted.

“Would knowing what happens when you get a CT scan make you feel better?” Charlie asked.

Striker shrugged and nodded.

“They’ll give you two bottles of iodine water that you’ll drink over the course of an hour, then they’ll have you remove any clothes that have metal on you and give you a gown, after that, they’ll have you lie down on a table that moves into this machine that looks like a donut and inject you with some more iodine, and then you’ll get the scan!” Charlie said.

The limo then parked.

“Sweet! We’re at the hellevator! I’ll carry Striker!” Angel Dust said as he picked up the imp.

Xxx

The trio exited the hellevator into the Lust Ring.

The weather was foggy and misty.

Striker took in a deep breath and was happy to find out that it smelt like urban parts of Wrath after a rainstorm.

“There’s our limo,” Charlie led them to a sleek indigo limo.

They entered the limo and saw that an incubus/imp hybrid was their driver.

“Hi! I’m Charlie, and these are Angel Dust and Striker,” Charlie introduced them. “What’s your name?”

“Name’s Jessie,” the driver said. “Ozzie said you’re stopping by his place real quick, that right?”

“Yeah, Ozzie’s gonna help with Striker’s lost voice.”

“Hm. alright, then.”

The limo drove off.

Striker looked out the window to view the scenery.

As expected of the Lust Ring, 90% of the businesses were sex based.

There were street workers who appeared to be in uniforms or had nametags.

Striker mouthed ‘what the’.

“Hey, Charlie, why do all the prostitutes have work uniforms on?” Angel Dust asked.

“Oh, yeah! Pretty much all of the sex workers here are unionized and work for businesses that make sure they’re healthy and treated well,” Charlie said.

“Wish we had that in Pride,” Angel Dust crossed his arms as he slumped in his seat a bit.

They arrived at Asmodeus’s palace within 10 minutes.

Striker did a nervous gulp as Angel Dust picked him up.

They entered the palace and followed a Lust imp butler to an office.

Charlie knocked on the door.

“Who is it?” Asmodeus asked.

“Your favorite niece, Charlie ans her friends!” Charlie said as she threw up her arms.

The door opened.

Striker looked up in awe at the size of Asmodeus.

Damn! He’s the size of a fucking barn!

“Come in, come in,” Asmodeus gestured for the trio to enter the office.

Striker shuddered as they entered.

Everything was scaled up to Asmodeus’s size. Which made him feel smaller than he felt before.

“Let’s get the three of you on my desk,” Asmodues lowered his hands to pick them up.

Striker held tight onto Angel Dust as they were picked up and placed onto the desk.

“Sweet! We each got our own chairs!” Angel Dust said as he pried Striker off of him and into a chair.

The chairs were the nice cushiony ones.

Striker let out a small squeak as he retreated in the chair, trying to make himself smaller and gripping the armrests.

“You must be Striker, am I right?” Asmodeus asked.

Striker nodded extremely fast.

“And you’ve lost your voice, yes?”

Striker nodded again.

“I’ll fix that with a localized healing spell. Hold still.”

Asmodeus placed an index finger on both sides of Striker’s voice box, and a soft, darkblue and purple glow surrounded his neck.

The spell lasted a minute and Asmodeus released Striker.

“How does that feel?” Asmodeus asked.

Striker snarled and swiped his claws at the Deadly Sin.

“Keep ya horny hands away from me!” Striker shouted.

“Hey, I think your voice is back to normal,” Charlie said.

Striker put his hand on his voice box realizing his voice was back to sounding masc, thank fuck!

“That ain't the point! Your the Embodiment of fucking Lust! And I want no perverts anywhere near me unless they’re already fucking a corpse!” Striker shouted.

“Necrophilia?! Gross!” Angel Dust exclaimed.

“What?! No!”

“I think he meant ‘the only good pervert is a dead pervert’,” Asmodeus explained. “Simple freudian slip. And I completely understand, given what happened to you this past year.”

“I don’t need your pity!” Striker pouted as he crossed his arms and slumped into the chair.

“Don’t worry, I’m a professional and always value and respect consent. Asmodeus then turned to Charlie. “Charlie, we’ll discuss Stiker’s employment options after his appointment.”

“Okay!” Charlie said as she and Angel Dust stood up.

“Wait, what?!” Striker exclaimed as Angel Dust picked him up. “I ain’t gonna work with him, am I?!”

“Oh, there are a few employment jobs we’ll discuss over brunch,” Asmodeus packed them up and carried them out of his office. “I’ll see you in a couple of hours.”

Xxx

The next time I see that Radio Demon, I’m punching him in his stupid smile! Striker thought as he redressed in his dressing room.

The clothes Alastor had given him were a button down shirt with metal buttons and a pair of jeans, which obviously had a metal fly and buttons.

This meant that he had to trip down to his undergarments and put an assless gown on.

Striker looked down at his chest as he redid his fly and growled.

“Why the fuck did he have to give me a padded sports bra?” he grumbled.

Only a curtain was acting as a door to the dressing room, the walls being made of normal wall you would see in an average building, and there was no way of locking the curtain, which made Striker nervous.

No one better barge in and try anything, he thought as he put his arms in the shirt sleeves and began to button up the shirt. I won’t be able to fight ‘em off in my condition.

There was a knock on the wall by the curtain, making Striker tense up.

“Is everything alright in there?” a female nurse asked. “We heard your tail rattling.”

Striker looked at his tail spade, which was indeed rattling up a storm.

“Damn it!” Striker grabbed the spade and held it to his chest. How long was that goin’ on for?! “I-I’m fine!”

“Alright. The wheelchair’s right by the curtain when you exit,” the nurse said.

Striker let out a low hiss.

He hated  being wheeled and carried around.

It made him feel weak.

Pathetic.

  A burden.

Back in Wrath, particularly the more rural parts where proper medical services weren’t available, if an imp was injured or born deformed enough to where they couldn’t fend for themselves, they were as good as dead. The lucky were mercy killed unless someone took them in.

Striker finished redressing and used the wall to support himself as he made his way to the wheelchair.

Xxx

After loading back into the limo, Charlie had a phone call.

Angel Dust pulled out his phone to play games.

Striker didn’t have much to do, so he just leaned against Angel Dust, tried to get some rest.

“Oh, really? That’s great! I’ll tell him right now!” Charlie ended the call and put the phone on her lap.

“Let me guess, this is about me? Isn’t it?” Striker asked.

“Yeah, the doctor looked at your CT scan and said your digestive system is just about fully recovered!”

“What does that mean?” Angel Dust asked.

“Yeah, what about what the hotel doc said? About the–” Striker shuddered. “--s-scar tissue?”

“It means that will the medicine you’ll be given, you’ll be able to eat whatever you want in a few weeks! You’re going to take some medicine that’ll help shed the scar tissue and make way for new digestive tissue!” Charlie said.

Striker and Angel Dust looked at Charlie with stunned confusion and disgust.

“Shed the..” Striker trailed off.

“The fuck did I say about talkin’ about gross shit before havin’ a meal?!” Angel Dust exclaimed.

“Sorry, sorry! But, we’re taking a detour to pick up the medicine from the pharmacy,” Charlie said.

“Can I go with ya?” Striker asked. “It’s my medicine, after all.”

“Sure thing! Would you be okay if I carried you?”

“I kinda want to try and stand on my own two feet.”

“As much as I would like to allow that, I think it would be best if you don’t try that. It caused you A LOT of pain yesterday.”

“I’m guessin’ I ain’t got a say in this…”

“I could give you a piggyback ride instead of carrying you bridal style.”

Striker arched an eyebrow.

Xxx

Ya know what? This ain’t so bad, Striker thought as Charlie carried him on her back to the pharmacy desk.

“I take it you’re Striker ‘didn’t give a last name’?” the pharmacist asked.

“Yeah, that’s me,” Striker said as he held out his hand for the medicine.

“Oh, I still have to confirm the purchase, first,” the pharmacist walked to a wall of hanger-like bags and shelves with boxes and bottles of pills and other medications.

Striker’s medicine ended up being in one of the bags.

It was just one big bottle with a lot of pills in it.

“You’re supposed to take these once a day before bed, so it’s best to have them with dinner,” the pharmacist said as she scanned the pill bottle.

“Is it important to have them with food?” Striker asked.

“Yes, if you don’t it’ll damage your intestinal lining, and in the best case you’ll need medicine to help with your digestion for the rest of your life.”

“Oh, damn! I'm already on a bunch of pills! I wanna have less pills in my life.”

“Well, it’s a good thing these’ll help with the scar tissue in your reproductive system.”

Striker cringed a bit at the mention of it. “Gee… thanks…”

The pharmacist then handed Striker a thing that you put your credit card in when shopping.

“I’m going to need you to check off the first option and then sign your name,” she said.

Striker looked at the screen.

“It read ‘I have been counseled by the pharmacist’.

He checked off the option and signed his name on the digital line.

The pharmacist handed him the medicine in a small paperbag. “May your recovery come with ease!”

Xxx

Striker was being carried by Angel Dust through Asmodeus’s palace again as the trio followed a different imp butler.

But instead of being led to a big fancy office, they were led to a surprisingly average kitchen.

Okay, it was still a big room, but that was because of Asmodeus’s height.

Speaking of which, the King of Lust was cooking something at the stove top while he was talking with an imp.

“Hi, Uncle Ozzie!” Charlie said. “What are you making?”

“Oh, hi, Charlie. I’m just making omelets,” Asmodues said. “Wanna climb up and choose what you want on them?”

“Striker, would you be okay with that?”

“How are we supposed to get up there? The counter’s a story tall!” Striker pointed to the countertop.

“I bet I can jump that high,” Angel Dust said.

“You jostlin’ my guts around won’t help.”

“I’ll get the ladder,” the imp said as he got down from the counter.

He looked like one of the Robo Fizzes Striker had seen ads of.

“Was that a Robo fizz?” Striker asked.

“Nope, that was the real deal,” Charlie said as Fizzarolli pulled over one of those rolling staircases you would see at Home Depot.

“Need any help up?” Fizzarolli asked as he locked the wheels in place.

“Nah, I got Striker,” Angel Dust said.

Charlie and Angel Dust climbed up the metal staircase with ease to the countertop.

Angel Dust placed Striker on the counter, who then sat on the marble.

Striker saw that there were bowls of meat and vegetable options.

“Hey, can I have so–”

“Not so fast,” Asmodeus cut Striker off. “I heard you need to take it easy with food, so you’re just having cheese in your omelet.”

Striker groaned as he laid flat on his back on the countertop.

Asmodeus began to discuss some sort of demon royalty business with Charlie, so Striker decided to space out.

Fizzarolli sat down next to Striker.

“You good?” the entertainer asked.

“Who’s askin’?” Striker retorted.

“One of the guys who helped ya at the hotel.”

Striker propped himself up on his elbows. “Really? How’d ya do that?”

“I helped defend the hotel while Alastor and Prince Stolas were performin’ a healin’ spell on ya.”

“Prince Stolas helped me? I was hired to kill ‘im!”

Hey, man, he volunteered. Haven’t ya read the papers?” 

“Only the two most recent ones.”

“I’ll tell ya this: a whole fuckin’ LOT happened while you were out, mainly involving hellborn and their safety.”

“Don’t I know it,” Striker said as he laid back down and put his hands on his stomach. I hope my body gets back to normal… wait, is it– nope! Not giving myself dysphoria… ”Goddamnit.”

“What’s wrong?”

“It’s nothin’.”

“Food’ll be ready in a minute,” Asmodeus said. “Who needs help getting to the table?” 

Striker raised his hand.

Xxx

Soon, everyone was seated at the dining table.

Asmodeus was seated in a normal seat, while the others were on a picnic blanket with little standing up trays for their plates and trays.

Striker was practically wolfing down his omelet.

“Man, I’m surprised you haven’t choked yet,” Fizzarolli commented.

“Well, I wasn’t fed often when–” Striker shuddered from the trauma.

It’s okay, it’s okay,” Angel Dust softly said as he gently rubbed and patted Striker’s back.

“How’s about we change the topic?” Asmodeus suggested.

“Uncle Ozzie? Did you think it over?” Charlie asked. “About Striker working for that company?”

“I have, Charlie. I sent the employer an email about it.”

“Is this about I.M.P.?” Striker asked.

“Yep!” Charlie said.

“They actually helped save ya,” Angel Dust said.

“Really?” Striker’s eyebrows raised in surprise. “I ain’t exactly on good terms with ‘em.”

He had quick flashbacks of the two fights he had with them.

Blitz glared at Striker after the cowboy shot at Moxxie with his own gun.

“Oh, you DADDYFUCKER!”

Blitz then bit Striker’s arm.

“Hey, Striker?” Angel Dust gently shook him  back to reality. “Ya good?”

“You spaced out,” Charlie said.

“Uh, y-yeah, I-I’m fine,” Striker said.

“If you’re uncomfortable working with them, we have a couple other options,” Asmodeus said.

“Like what?”

“You can work security at one of my businesses or you can work at my niece’s hotel.”

“I’d rather skip town when I’m healed up,” Striker crossed his arms.

“Yeah, that’s not gonna happen.”

“What?!”

“I assume you know of the spell on your wrist?” Asmodeus snapped his fingers, activating the spell. “That’s not coming off for the rest of your life and will alert assigned demons to your location if you try to go AWOL.”

“That ain’t fair!”

“Trust me, this is going easy on you. A couple of demon royals would prefer you be killed for being hired to kill Stolas.”

“That was a contract…” Striker hissed.

“Well, if you agree to cooperate, you’ll be able to wander around Pride and Lust unsupervised.”

Striker looked down. “I-I can’t believe I’m a prisoner again!”

“It’s more like being on parole for the rest of your life.”

“Is there anyway I can get my freedom back?”

“Yes. if you get a job and have weekly therapy, there will be discussions about you gaining further freedom.”

Striker thought for a moment.

“If the deal with I.M.P. falls through, I think I’ll work in Lust,” Striker said. “Don’t wanna get nabbed by another sinner.”

“Can’t say I blame ya,” Angel Dust said.

“The First Circle’s a clusterfuck,” Charlie said before quietly cursing her father, and not like when Stolas curses a harvest.

“Are you sure, Striker?” Asmodeus asked. “You’d be working in the Second Circle of Pride, and although the risks of encountering an overlord are lower than in the First, it isn’t zero. You could still be kidnapped by a sinner.”

“What if we arrange some protection for him?” Angel Dust asked. “I bet my brother can find a couple guys willing to do the job.”

“Or I could just use a holy weapon,” Striker smugly said.

Asmodeus slightly cringed. “Actually, you can’t.”

Striker’s smile dropped. “Wh-what do ya mean I can’t?”

“The demon royals who want you dead don’t want you in possession of objects that can harm demon royals.”

“Oh, COME ON!”

“Sorry, those are the rules.”

“Fine. I’ll put up with that load of bullshit,” Striker crossed his arms.

“Maybe it’ll change if you keep your job and keep going to therapy,” Charlie said.

“Yeah, if you end up workin’ at the hotel, some holy firepower could help if a psycho sinner decides to fuck around and find out,” Angel Dust said.

“I’ll talk to some folks if you get a job in Pride,” Asmodeus said.

Asmodeus’s phone then dinged.

“Looks like the owner of I.M.P. replied to the email,” Asmodeus said as he picked up his phone. “Want to hear the results?”

“Might make me feel a bit better,” Striker said as he took a sip of his hot chocolate.

Asmodeus smailed as he opened the email… which disappeared into not exactly a frown.

“Is something wrong, Uncle Ozzie?” Charlie asked.

“I can’t read it,” Asmodeus said.

Striker felt his stomach drop.

“D-does this mean…” he trailed off.

“No, the guy can’t spell for shit,” Asmodeus showed his guests the email with not a single word spelled correctly.

“Holy shit, that’s bad,” Angel Dust said.

“Oh, wow,” Charlie said.

“I thought he said he went to college?” Striker wondered out loud.

“Let me try and figure out what Blitzo wrote,” Fizzarolli took Asmodeus’s phone. “Holy fuck, his writing’s gotten worse. I’m gonna call him.”

Fizzarolli pulled out his phone and called Blitz.

“Hey, Blitz, it’s Fizzarolli. Ozzie got your email and we can't figure out what you wrote because your writing’s so bad… Okay, thanks– wait is that gunfire?... WHY THE FUCK WOULD YOU TAKE A PHONECALL IN THE MIDDLE OF KILLING AN ENTIRE CORRUPT POLICE DEPARTMENT?!... Of course I’m going to tell them your fucking response!”

Fizzarolli groaned as he ended the call.

“So? What did he say?” Asmodeus asked.

“He said if Striker can at least use a sniper rifle, he’ll hire him.”

“Shouldn’t be too hard, but I still need to recover a bit more,” Striker said. “I can barley walk on my own at the moment.”

“Yeah, he said he’ll  have a one-on-one interview with ya on friday.”

“Hey, it’s monday. That gives you a few days of rest and recovery,” Charlie said.

“If the guy survives that fight,” Angel Dust said with a laugh.

“By the way, Charlie told me you were looking for a new job,” Asmodeus said to Angel Dust.

“Yeah, but I don’t wanna do anything that involves fucking.”

“How would you feel about joining the music industry?”

“Hm… Charlie, think I got the pipes for it?”

“We could ask Alastor if he knows any good starter songs,” Charlie said. “All the ones I know are a bit too high energy for a beginner.”

“I’ll make sure you’re in my music company, if you agree,” Asmodeus said.

“I’ll have to go over the contract with my friends and guys I trust,” Angel Dust said. “I’d rather not get stuck in a situation I can’t get out of again.”

“Understandable. I’ll write up a contract and mail it to you.”

Xxx

Striker, Angel Dust, and Charlie arrived back at the hotel.

“So, Striker, since you wanna get back in the assassination game, how about we start you on some physical therapy later today?” Charlie suggested.

“Figure I’m gonna need it anyways,” Striker said as Angel Dust sat him in a chair.

“So, what’cha got planned for ‘im, Charlie?” Angel Dust asked.

“Vaggie and I are going to help him regain full motion back in his limbs, and then work on helping him walk on his own,” Charlie said.

“Wait, will it.. H-hurt?” Striker asked.

“We’ll be gentile.”

“When are we gonna start?”

“After lunch.”

“Would it be alright if we do the physical therapy in my room?” Striker asked.

“Sure thing! Let’s get you there,” Charlie picked up Striker.

Xxx

Striker spent the rest of the morning and lunch reading the newspapers.

Since it was the local Pentagram City paper, it was all about overlords and the occasional demon royal.

The main thing the paper was covering was the mission to save him.

There were multiple articles about how the fight was a waste of resources, although one writer mentioned how he thought ‘Hell should be a punishment for us sinners, not the local denizens’.

A sinner who was once a doctor said ‘What happened to the imp was extremely inhumane, and I’m the founder of modern gynecology!’ before getting mauled by the Radio Demon.

Demon royals who were interviewed mostly talked about Stolas being a wimp for not physically hitting his abusive wife.”

No one bothered to interview any low class hellborn.

Striker was surprised that the whole Pride Ring was having a #MeToo movement.

Xxx

Striker was now lying flat on his back on his bed.

Vaggie helped him with physical therapy on his upperbody.

Now, Charlie was going to help him with his legs.

“We’re going to start off with some legs stretches today,” Charlie said as she gently grabbed his left leg. “We’ll see how things go from there.”

“Alright, let’s get this over with,” Striker said as he gripped the bed sheets.

“One, two–”

Xxx

Alastor and Angel Dust were trying out Husk’s new drinks when they heard Striker’s bloodcurdling scream.

“Is he being tortured?” Alastor asked.

“Nah, he’s startin’ physical therapy today,” Angel Dust said.

“Well, is it supposed to cause him harm?”

“It’s not supposed to hurt him that much, but Striker had a pretty bad injury, remember, Al?” Husk said.

Alastor shuddered before downing a drink. “And this drink’s sweet…”

Xxx

Striker was panting after the physical therapy.

“How do you feel?” Charlie asked.

“Skeleton parts… feel good… private parts… don’t!” Striker said.

“I’l, start his bath,” Vaggie said as she walked to the bathroom.

“Would you like some help into the tub?” Charlie asked.

“Y-yeah,” Striker said.

“Do you need help getting out of your clothes? We know you like to be independent.”

“Just don’t take your sweet time with it,” Striker said as he turned his head away from her.

Charlie carefully took off Striker’s clothes when she noticed him tensing up.

“Am I hurting you?” she asked.

“No. just some past demons,” Striker quietly said.

“Do you wanna talk about it?” 

“Maybe with the therapist.”

Charlie finished undressing the imp and carried him into the bathroom.

Xxx

The following days followed a pattern for Striker:

1. Striker wakes up, has breakfast and a fuckton of pills
2. He reads the newspaper and browses the internet on his new phone
3. He has lunch
4. Physical therapy
5. Striker has his bath and changes into fresh pajamas
6. He has his dinner and more pills
7. He falls asleep

Xxx

The knocking on his room door startled Striker awake on friday morning.

“Who the fuck it it?” Striker asked.

Alastor opened the door.

“We’re going on a little trip!” Alastor said before snapping his fingers.

Striker was instantly dressed and on top of his be sheets.

“Quit doin’ that shit!” he shouted as the Radio Demon picked him up.

Alastor carried him out of the hotel.

Striker saw a wagon one would see at a pumpkin patch, but it had cushions in it.

Alastor put Striker in it and pulled the wagon.

“Where are we going?” Striker asked.

“To an appointment I made for you,” Alastor said.

Striker knew well enough that Alastor could be a trickster from his stay at the hotel.

Striker just made himself a bit more comfortable as Alastor pulled him through the varied neighborhoods of Pentagram.

He idly played with one of the buttons on his shirt to pass the time, since it was too early to do any sinner watching.the sun wasn’t even up yet, but it’s glow was illuminating the sky a little.

Man, my outfit looks like it came out of a silent film… Striker thought.

His eyes then widened, he started to be a bit more aware of his surroundings, and nearly had a heart attack when they entered a neighborhood…

Cannibal Colony.

Striker could feel his heart beating in his ears when the denizens of this place began to slowly fill the streets.

“Don’t worry. They’re merely store owners,” Alastor said as he waved to them.

That didn’t help Striker’s anxiety, especially when two female cannibals walked up to them and began talking to Alastor.

Alastor and the taller woman, named ‘Rosie’, began to playfully flirt and the shorter slowed her pace to talk to Striker.

“Hi, there. I’m Mimzy,” she extended her hand to shake his. “I don’t bite~”

Striker crossed his arms.

“Don’t feel too hurt, Mimzy. He’s just shy,” Alastor said before returning his attention to Rosie.

“Wait, is this that imp?” Mimzy asked.

A small radio static screech came from Alastor as he cringed.

“Guess that’s a ‘yes’,” Mimzy said as Rosie shot her a glare. “I’m so sorry you went through that. I truly am.”

Striker hugged himself and looked away from Mimzy.

“N-neither of us like to discuss it,” Alastor said.

Mimzy then quickened her pace to walk next to Alastor.

Striker spaced out as he relaxed a little.

Suddenly, someone grabbed him from behind and covered his mouth before running off with him.

Striker tried to fight the bastard off, but it was of no use, as he was still too weak.

A loud screech of static filled the air and they were both tackled, making the kidnapper let go of Striker.

Striker attempted to run, but his legs gave way, so he began to crawl away for his life when he was picked up.

He let out a scream of fear until he was placed back in the wagon.

“Are you alright, darling?” Rosie asked as she held his hands.

Striker just shivered in fear as he hugged himself again.

Pastor then rejoined them, covered in blood. “That person won’t bother us again. Now, let’s get Striker to the barbershop. Rosie, would you pull the wagon while I clean this blood off?”

“Of course, darling,” Rosie said as she grabbed the handle and pulled.

Xxx

Striker had regained his senses when they arrived at the barbershop…

… which ended up being above what appeared to be a butcher shop.

This isn’t suspicious at all… Striker dryly thought.

“Striker, do you believe you can walk?” Alastor asked.

“I think I can try,” Striker said.

Alastor assisted Striker out of the wagon and held his hand to help him into the stores.

The butchershop looked like a little cafe with stairs in the back leading up to the barbershop.

“Gee I wonder where this butcher shop gets their meat?” Striker sarcastically asked.

“Oh, no. This is a bakery,” a human looking female sinner said as she walked behind the counter and put pastries in a display case. “We do have some products with meat in them, but not all of them have sinners or hellborn in them. Most are farm animals and wildlife from hunters. We have a menu with all our products and what meats they would have in them.”

“Mrs. Lovett, is it true that you plan on expanding with modern technology?” Alastor asked with mild annoyance at the fact that a business in the neighborhood was doing such a local taboo.

“Landlord raised the prices. Also, don’t you have a hellphone ?”

Rosie and Mimzy looked at Alastor in surprise.

“Princess Charlie made me get one as a requirement to stay at the hotel. It is helpful with keeping in contact with others,” Alastor explained. “I still hate it, though.”

“I’m not much of a fan either, but we’ve had some people order some of our products online,” Mrs. Lovett said.

“I’ll admit, I’ve hired a person to make online adverts for my theater after Thorne passed… again,” Rosie said.

“I’d love to chat more, but this young man needs a haircut,” Alastor gestured to Striker.

“I’ll have a couple ham and cheese croissants for you when you’re done,” Mrs. Lovett said before chatting with Mimzie and Rosie about other businesses in Cannibal Colony using modern technology.

Alastore led Striker to the back wall of the dining area.

The staircase was to the left of the side of the store.

“Do you require assistance up the stairs?” Alastor asked.

“I got this,” Striker said as he tightened his grip on Alastor’s hand a bit as his right one grabbed the banister.

Striker slowly put his left foot on the stair, then lifted himself to put his right one on the next stair.

The pain returned when he did so, making him gasp and nearly fall down, but Alastor caught him. 

“Easy there,” Alastor said as he scooped Striker up in bridal style. “How about I carry you they way up, hm?”

“I don’t think I have much choice,” Striker said as he put his left arm around Alator’s shoulder so he wouldn’t lose feeling in it.

Alastor carried him to the second floor.

“Ah, hello Alastor,” the barber said.

Much like Mrs. Lovett, he was also human-like, but instead of normal hands, his were scissors and razors.

Striker’s anxiety increased.

“Hello, Mr. Todd. striker’s here for a haircut,” Alastor said as he put the imp in the barber chair.

Striker noticed a trapdoor on the other side of the room.

“Oh, don’t worry about that. Hasn’t been used in decades,” Mr. Todd said. “Alastor, did you send me the pictures of the haircut?”

“Wait, Alastor chose my haircut?” Striker asked.

“Yes, I had my associates look for pictures of you at last year’s Harvest Moon Festival so Mr. Todd could give you the same haircut,” Alastor turned to Mr. Todd. “I believe Princess Charlie electronically mailed them to you.”

“Ah, yes, that was what it was about,” Mr. Todd grabbed a tablet. “Alastor, would you do me a favor and open the document? I’m all… er… stabbing weapons and this is a touch screen.”

“You really must invest in a stylus,” Alastor said as he opened the pictures and propped up the tablet before handing Mr. Todd a one foot long stylus.

“Thank you, Alastor. Oh, wow, this is stainless steel,” Mr. Todd turned to Striker. “Why don’t you close your eyes while I put the cape over you before I start cutting your hair?”

Striker squeezed his eyes shut as the cape was tightened around his neck.

The sensation reminded him of being strangled and Mr. Todd’s cold  metal fingers didn’t help much.

“Are you attempting to strangle him?” Alastor asked as he loosened the cape a little bit. “He’s already nervous enough as is. And while I normally would be all for terrifying people, but I agreed I wouldn’t do that with hotel residents. Well, not intentionally, that is.”

“Alright, Striker, keep your eyes closed and hold still. I don’t want to accidently cut off a horn, eye, or a blood vein,” Mr. Todd said.

Striker gripped the armrests.

“Okay, this shouldn’t take more than a minute,” Mr. Todd said as he began cutting.

Striker fought every instinct to not flinch as the scissors, knives, and razors whipped around his head, neck, and face at a near wound breaking speed.

Within a minute, the haircut was done.

“Alright, you’re all done,” Mr. Todd said as he brushed the cut hair off of Striker’s shoulders and neck.

“I-is it safe to open my eyes?” Striker asked.

“How else are you going to see your haircut?” Alastor dryly asked.

Striker opened his eyes and got some of the best euphoria of his life.

His haircut was exactly the same as it was from the Harvest Moon Festival.

His hair was still mostly black, but some of the tips had white on them.

“Hey, think you can dye this white?” Striker asked Mr. Todd.

“Sorry. I only cut hair. You’d have to see a different barber about that,” Mr. Todd said.

Alastor’s phone then rang.

The Radio Demon growled in annoyance as he answered it.

“Hello, Charlie,” Alastor said. “Yes, Striker is with me… Why I took him to Mr. Todd’s barber shop… Yes, we’re in Cannibal Colony–”

“AAAALL!!!!”

“Easy, easy! We’re just on our way back!... We’ll be back at the hotel in–... Fine, fine. We’ll wait outside of the Colony for the limousine.”

It took Alastor three tries to end the call.

“Well, I’d love to stay and chat, but Charlie’s not in the mood right now and we have to go,” Alastor gave Mr. Todd a check before picking up Striker and leaving.

Xxx

It was now midday and Striker was sitting at his room’s two person dining table.

Blitz was going to be here any minute for his interview.

Striker opened his phone’s camera and checked his outfit for the fifth time already.

He was wearing a medium gray t-shirt that hugged him a bit in the chest, but Charlie helped flatten his chest with a non padded sports bra that kept them flat and in place. Instead of slacks, he was wearing some black sweatpants because it was more comfortable for his recovering body. Plain, black slipper socks were covering his hooves.

He closed the app and placed it facedown on the table.

His door was then knocked on.

“Blitz is here,” Vaggie said as Blitz entered the room.

Blitz appeared to be in his usual business get up, but it looked like he had a new jacket.

“Hey, bossman. How’s business?” Striker asked.

“Well, one normally wouldn’t complain about business booming, but ever since i shot off Valentino’s dick with your holy rifle, we’ve been SWAMPED with clients to get paid from and a fuckton of humans to kill,” Blitz said. “Nice haircut, by the way.”

“Oh, uh, thanks for the compliment. Y-you shout Valentino’s dick off?”

“Yeah, and he screamed like a BITCH!”

“From the sounds of things, you really need another man on the ground. What do you need me to do?”

“Can you stand and walk on your own?”

“Not without some assistance from either another person or with a crutch, which I’m getting a pair of next week.”

“Hm. I guess I can have you clean some of our weapons while we’re out killing people. When do you think you can start?”

“Doc says I’ll be able to live on my own at the end of next week if I keep up with takin’ my meds and doin’ my physical therapy.”

“Think you’ll be able to start next friday?”

“I’ll keep you in the know about it.”

“Cool, I’ll let the others know. See ya then!”

Blitz then left.

“Quick FYI, one of the hotel staff is going to be with you the first day of your work, make sure you’re okay there,” Vaggie said.

“You also gonna help clean the weapons?” Striker asked.

“Maybe the knives. C’mon, let’s get some shoes on ya. You have your first therapy session today.”

Striker frowned.

He was not looking forward to talking with a total stranger about… anything.

Xxx

Striker squirmed in his chair in the therapist’s waiting room.

Vaggie had accompanied him to Lust this time. She sat on a couch reading a teen gossip magazine.

“A succubus was also in the waiting room with a toddler on her lap. They were waiting for their family member.

The toddler kept looking at him, so Striker grabbed a puzzle booklet and pretended to be busy,  but he could still feel the kid staring at him.

He hated being stared at.

“Pu-ounce?” the toddler asked.

“What?” striker quietly said as he lowered the book.

“Pu-ounce?” the toddler said again, this time Striker could see that the kid was pointing at him.

The mother laughed.

“Kane’s asking what your pronouns are,” she explained.

“Ee, im,” the toddler pointed at himself before pointing at Striker again.

“Oh, uh, m-my pronouns are he/him, too,” Striker said, relaxing a little.

The kid giggled and reached for him.

“Sorry, kid, I can’t play with ya,” Striker said with a chuckle.

The door opened and the possibly 10 year old family member exited.

“I’ll be with you in a minute,” the therapist said to Striker as they closed the door and the family left.

Striker noticed that the 10 year old’s tail kept instinctively wapping around their legs to keep them closed.

He knew it was something abuse survivors did.

“Poor kid,” he muttered.

Vaggie put down the magazine and looked at Striker with confusion.

“What?” he asked.

“Why did you say ‘poor kid’? We don’t know anything about them,” Vaggie said.

“Hellborn with prehensile tails, like imps and succubi, wrap their tails around their legs to keep ‘em shut if they’ve been… hurt ,” Striker said as he squirmed. “I’ve spent time ina group home when I was a teen. Kinda picked up on some stuff.”

The therapist opened the door. “I’m ready for you, Striker.”

“Well, that’s my cue,” Striker grunted as he stood up and walked into the office with help from the therapist.

He noticed the room had toys and stuffed animals for children.

“Please have a seat on the couch,” the therapist said as she helped him to said seating object.

Striker flopped onto the couch.

He saw that there were credentials on the wall, but he couldn’t make out what they said with their distance and fancy ass font.

“I’m Doctor Rayne,” the therapist said as she sat down with a clipboard on a chair opposite to Striker. “Where would you like to start to day?”

“‘Bout what?” Striker asked.

“Well, I’d like to talk about some trauma you experience when you were five, but–”

“Excuse me, the FUCK?!” Striker exclaimed as he shot up into an upright sitting position. “Who the fuck told you?! Wait, did I talk about it in my sleep?!”

Striker covered his mouth and hunched over.

“Actually, Asmodeus made and kept a copy of injuries, conditions, and trauma you’ve sustained throughout your life, and was… disturbed at some of the trauma you experienced, which is why he chose me to be your therapist,” Dr. Rayne said.

“What kind of therapist are you?” Striker asked as he raised his head and shot her a glare.

“I’m a therapist for children who have been sexually abused. I sometimes help adults who’ve experienced abuse as children.”

“L-loo, I-I’m not gonna–” Striker’s voice unexpectedly choked. “I don’t wanna–”

A wave of unpleasantness washed over him like the Boxing Day Tsunami as emotions from his childhood began to bubble and boil over.

“No, no, no! Don’t fuckin’ cry!” Striker said as he buried his face in his hands as he struggled and failed to not cry.

Dr. Rayne came to his side with a box of tissues and a plush hellhorse.

“It’s okay, you can cry here. You’re in a safe place,” she said as she handed him the plushie.

Striker gripped onto the toy and grabbed a fistful of tissues as a waterfall of tears escaped him.

Xxx

Striker was now drawing his bath.

Vaggie had told Charlie about him having a meltdown at his therapy session, so Charlie said he could skip physical therapy for that day.

Striker grabbed the medical bubble bath bottle and poured it into the recently started running water.

As the bubbles began to form, he began to undress so he could enter it.

While he did so, he couldn’t help but think about his therapy session.

Was I crying because she brought up the first time I was abused? He thought. Some people I trusted enough to tell them about it never made me cry when they brought it up… okay, that might be because I’ve had nightmares about that stuff before and they always checked on me and made sure I was okay. I guess this is the first time that someone wants to actually talk to me about it and help me get better. But I kinda wish I was told Asmodeus was keeping record of my past injuries! I didn’t know he could even do that!

Striker finished undressing and  climbed into the tub.

He relaxed as the healing potion in the bubble bath took away all the physical pain.

“Man, wish I could stay in here longer,” he muttered.

The an idea came into his mind.

Well, since I’m skipping physical therapy today, and that usually takes an hour, I’ll just stay in here for that our in addition to the half hour I normally stay in her for!

Grabbing phis phone, Striker set a timer for an hour and a half.

Xxx

Angel Dust and Nifty were about to knock on Striker’s door when the imp opened it.

And said imp was walking around like he was never injured.

“Uh, Striker, are you okay?” Angel Dust said.

“Never better!” Striker said as he grabbed the dinner tray and closed the door.

“What was that about?” Nifty asked.

“I think he’s high,” Angel Dust said.

Striker was sitting at his room’s dinner table. It looked like he was just about to eat.

“Alright, man, what did you take?” Angel Dust asked as he sat in the chair opposite to Striker.

Striker looked at the sinner in confusion. “What d’ya mean?”

“You’re walkin’ and talkin’ like ya weren’t injured at all! And if ya ask me, that’s kinda sus,” Angel Dust crossed his top arms and put his lower hands on his hips. “Did ya sneak drugs and take ‘em? Is that what’s goin’ on? I don’t think the docs would approve of self medicating.”

“Nah, I just stayed in the bath an hour longer than normal,” Striker said before taking a bite of food.

“The bath with potions in it?” Angel Dust said as he pulled out his phone. “I’m lettin’ the docs know what’s goin’ on, see if it’ll cause any problems with your recovery.”

Angel Dust sent the text and almost immediately got a reply.

“Doc says ya have to be in bed for the rest of the night. Ya might end up makin’ the swellin’ and pain worse if ya don’t keep it easy,” Angel Dust said.

Striker glared at the sinner. “No. you’re wrong. You’re makin’ that shit up.”

“No, I’m not. Fuck, I’m gonna have to babysit ya, ain’t I?” Angel Slumped in his chair.

Xxx

Angel Dust did end up babysitting Striker that night.

Angel Dust slept on the couch while Striker slept in his bed.

The sinner groaned as he woke up.

Checking his phone, he saw that it was 7 a.m.

Might as well wake Striker up to check on him. He usually gets up around this time anyway. Angel Dust thought as he got up and walked to Striker.

Angel dust gently patted Striker’s face. “Hey, man, wake up.”

Striker batted the hand away from his face.

“I’m up, I’m up,” Striker said with a yawn as he sat up.

“How ya feelin’?”

“Tired, but fi– ack!” Striker flinched as the spasm returned.

“And when was the last time that happened?”

“Two days ago… ow…”

“I’ll get ya your meds and breakfast.”

Xxx

A visit to the hotel doctor told Striker that being in a magic healing bath for too long could cause a temporary high, making the user believe all their pain was gone, and if the person tried to resume their pre-injured daily life, it could worsen their injury.

Striker was lucky only mild spasms returned.

Xxx

The following days went like this:

On Sunday, Striker was invited to play ‘Figure Out What the Sinner Is’ and discovered some pretty unusual looking pictures of sinners.

On monday, Striker got some crutches, allowing him more mobility that didn’t worsen his injury and meant he no longer had to be carried around.

Monday through Thursday, he helped with mundane chores around the hotel, mainly cleaning dishes, helping fix meals, and pack lunches.

He even befriended a couple of sinners. They invited him to play games in the evenings, mainly card and board games. One of the even DM’d a one shot of Dungeons and Dragons.

Xxx

It was now Friday again.

A full week since his interview with Blitz.

A full week since he broke down crying at his first therapy session.

He looked at himself in the mirror as he put his black hat on.

Angel Dust and his family had gone to the abandoned porn studio with Vox, Velvet, and Charlie to collect belongings Valentino had stolen from his victims.

Angel Dust live streamed it on Sinstagram, while Striker would text Charlie if he saw any of his belongings… or what was left of them.

He watched the live stream with Husk, the live stream playing on the cat sinner’s phone so Striker didn’t have to switch apps.

It was an uneasy, spooky, and creepy live stream, since nobody, not even the homeless had entered the porn studio for a month.

The group had stopped to look at a dead Robo Fizz.

It had a pained and horrified expression on its face.

Striker informed them that hearing that thing scream for its very life before dying was something he hoped no same person would have to hear.

The group did reach the ‘trophy room’ and found Striker’s hat, bandana, and boots.

The only items Valentino didn’t rip to shreds.

Striker took another look at his current outfit in the mirror.

He wore a gray t-shirt with a black coat over it, a pair of jeans, and his hat, bandana, and boots.

He grabbed his crutches and a suitcase with his tail.

The suitcase had two blue t-shirts, two more gray t-shirts, one long sleeved black shirt, 2 pairs of sweatpants, three more jeans, a pair of black shorts, and two packs of underwear and socks.

Not only was this first day of work, he was moving out of the hotel and into an apartment in Imp City.

He met Charlie and Vaggie in the hallways outside his room.

“You ready for work?” Vaggie said.

“Yeah, are my meds at the apartment?” Striker asked.

“We’re bringing them and the suitcase with you to work, that way you won’t have trouble finding them,” Charlie said as she held up a clear box container with his medicine in it.

“Alright, let’s head on out, don’t wanna be late. What time’s my therapy today?”

“Dr. Rayne’s reworker her schedule, so you’re skipping it this week, which Asmodeus understands,” Vaggie said as she took Striker’s suitcase as they walked down the hallway. “She’ll email us the new time and we’ll text it to you later.”

“I guess I better make my own email account then.”

Xxx

Striker, Charlie, and Vaggie entered the I.M.P. office.

Loona looked up from her phone with a bored expression on her face.

“Hey, Striker. The others are out on a hit,” Loona said as she put the phone in her pocket and stood up. “Follow me, I’ll get the shit you gotta clean and fix.”

The group entered the conference room, and Striker, Charlie, and Vaggie sat in the chairs.

“I’ll grab the other weapons, but start with figuring out how to unjam this thing!” Loona opened a case on the table and tossed the item to Striker.

Striker caught the weapon and saw that it was his holy rifle.

“I’m not supposed to–” Striker was then cut off by an electric shock…

That kept shocking him like if you touched a live wire, but you couldn’t let go because the electric surge was locking you in place.

Turns out that’s what the spell did when Striker touched holy weapons.

“Oh, shit!” Loona ran over to Striker and ripped the rifle out of his hands with Charlie and Vaggie’s help.

“Striker, are you okay?!” Vaggie asked.

“I… will be…” Striker wheezed out.

“Okay, didn’t know this thing was fucking cursed,” Loona repacked the rifle.

“No, that’s from the spell Striker had put on him while he was out,” Charlie said. “Asmodeus didn’t explain that it would electrocute him.”

“I’ll just grab the other shit we use and help you clean them,” Loona said as she ran to get the dirty weapons.

Within 10 minutes the four of them were all sitting at the table cleaning the weapons.

Striker cleaned the firearms while the ladies cleaned the melee and close combat weapons.

Loona glanced over at the box holding Striker’s medicine.

“Party later?” she asked.

“Nope, those are my prescriptions and vitamins,” Striker said.

“Fuck, that’s a lot…” Loona appeared to have sympathy in her voice.

Loona then got a text.

“Looks like they’re done with the hit,” Loona pulled out the grimoire, turned to the portal page, and activated the spell.

“YEEHAW, MOTHERFUCKERS!” Blitz yelled as he, Moxxie, and Millie came through the portal on a motorcycle…

Which then crashed through a wall.

“Blitz! We gotta pay for that!” Loona shouted as he walked into the next room.

A brief argument was heard before four sets of footsteps walked into the conference room.

“Hey, Striker. Did you unjam the rifle?” Blitz asked as he, Moxxie, and Millie put their weapons on the table to be cleaned.

Moxxie glared at Striker before leaving the room.

“Can’t touch holy weapons without being electrocuted,” Striker said.

“Fuck. we really need that thing fixed. Some of Valentino’s surviving goons have it in for us,” Blitz said.

“Gonna watch the impalement? Gonna happen in two weeks,” Millie said as she sat in a chair and helped clean knives.

“I’d rather not…” Striker said as he polished a gun handle.

“Guess that makes sense,” Blitz said as he sat and helped clean the firearms. “Heard you’re moving to Imp City. What's the address? For business reasons, y’know.”

Moxie popped his head in the room and shook his head to tell Striker to not tell Blitz his address.

“FourSquared on Barker Boulevard in apartment 2D,” Charlie said. “Our friends are unloading the last of his furniture there.”

The OG I.M.P. crew all looked at each other with mild stunned expressions.

“Th-that a problem?” Striker asked.

“Mox and I live in that building,” Millie said as Moxxie let out a frustrated screech.

“Oh.”

“Relax, you’re on different floors. It’ll make carpooling easier,” Blitz said.

“Uh, Striker, anything else we should know about?” Loona asked.

“I got weekly therapy every Friday except for today,” Striker said.

Charlie’s phone then got a text.

“Looks like it’ll be at 10 a.m. in your future sessions,” Charlie said.

“It in Lust?” Blitz asked.

Striker did a single nod.

“Guess you can have that day off,” Blitz said. “Fizzarolli said you were gonna have sex therapy or some shit Asmodeus signed you up for.”

Striker glared at Blitz.

“I oughta punch ya for sayin’ that…” the cowboy growled.

The rest of the day was spent cleaning weapons.

Xxx

Striker looked around his new apartment.

When you entered, there was a kitchen/living room.

He had a small two person dining table with folding chairs.

The counter had a coffee machine, toaster, and microwave along with the kitchen sink.

The fridge was light brown and upon opening, it was revealed to be filled with food for two weeks.

Striker walked through the kitchen and grabbed a premade meal from the freezer and put it in the microwave.

He wandered around the living room.

It currently had two mismatched cushion chairs and a coffee table. A laptop and gift box were on top of said table.

Striker grabbed the gift box and put it on the table to open it, since he didn’t feel like sitting down until his meal was ready.

There was a note on the box.

It read:

‘Dear imp my daughter bothered to save,

I was unable to meet you before your departure from her hotel, so here are two things for you; a blessed pendant from St. Agnes. She saw the effort that went into rescuing and saving your minute life, and wanted to bless you, but that might’ve resulted in fourth degree burns, so we settled on the pendant, which will protect you if someone were to take advantage of you while you were wearing it.

There is also a rubber ducky that floats like a duck in the bath.

Signed, Lucifer, the King of All Hell’

Striker let out an amused snort.

“Damn blueblood’s tryin’ to humor me,” he opened the box.

He pulled out the rubber ducky. It had a tiny scuba mask on.

That gave Striker a little laugh.

He then pulled out a little cardboard jewelry box.

Striker opened it and pulled out a necklace.

It had black yarn for the chain and the pendant was the size of a U.S. quarter, and had a girl’s face on one side and a leaf of some kind on the other.

He put the necklace on and gasped as two small streaks of light came from the pendant and went slowly around his body from head to toe in opposite rotations before being absorbed into his body, activating its protection spell.

“The bastard wasn’t joking,” Striker said once the microwave’s beeping snapped him back to reality.

After having his nightly medicine and eating his dinner, Striker explored his apartment more.

There was a hallway to the right of the kitchen/living room.

Walking down the hallways, he saw four doors.

The closest one on the left was a closet to put umbrellas, vacuums, and things like that. Perhaps any weapons he gained in the future.

Striker opened the next closest door, the one on the right.

It was an empty room, possibly a guest room or office.

The second door to the left was his bedroom.

It had a two person bed, two nightstands with mismatched lamps, a dresser to put his clothes in, a closet, and a desk with a swivel chair.

The bed had his hellhorse plushie on it. Dr. Rayne let him keep it.

Striker grabbed his suitcase and put his clothes in the dresser, saw the suitcase Husk had packed for him earlier, and unpacked that one, which held his pajamas.

The only door left was the one at the very end of the hallway.

It was obviously the bathroom.

It had a sink with a counter, a toilet, a medicine cabinet/mirror, a hamper for his laundry, and bathtub/shower combo.

His medical bath was on the tub’s edge.

He started his bath as he put his medicine in the cabinet.

He then had his bath for 30  minutes exactly, now with a rubber ducky.

After his bath and dressing in pajamas, he took the laptop into his room, put it on his desk, plugged it in, and made his profile on it and then his email.

He then turned off all the lights in his apartment except the one on the ride side of the bed, furthest from the door.

Striker climbed into the bed, turned off the light, cuddled the plushie, and fell asleep with a smile on his face, happy that he felt safe and had his own place to call ‘home’ for the first time in his life.

Chapter Text

Striker had filled up a shot glass with his morning medicine and was walking to the kitchen with one crutch when someone knocked on his door.

Putting the pills down on the counter, he cautiously made his way to the door.

He could hear people, possibly a group, talking outside his door.

“I cannot believe that this is the new neighbor I made a fucking quiche for!” one person yelled.

“Honny, we didn’t know it would be Striker until yesterday. Why not let bygones be bygones?” another person calmly asked.

“HE LITERALLY TRIED TO KILL US AND STOLAS!”

Striker quickly figured out two of the people were Moxxie and Millie.

Guess it’s gonna take a long ass time to bury this hatchet. Striker thought as he reached for the handle and turned it.

“Howdy,” Striker greeted his guests. “This a welcome party?”

In addition to Moxxie and Millie, there was a succubus with paint stained clothes holding a flat box, an old male hellhound with a paper grocery bag with him, a dragon sinner, and a tall male imp holding a laundry basket.

“Sorta, I’m Ron,” the imp said as he reached his hand out to shake Striker’s. “I’m dropping off the laundry basket for you to use. My moms asked me to do so.”

“I’m Samantha,” the succubus said. “I live in apartment 2C. I’m a painter.”

“I’m Fuego, I botched my first arson and live in 2A,” the dragon sinner said.

“Name’s Bill,” the hellhound handed Striker the bag. “That’s food.”

“You already know who we are,” Moxie said as he gripped the pie container.

Millie elbowed him for that.

“Uh, y-y’all wanna come in, or…” Striker trailed off.

“Sure!” Millie dragged Moxxie in while Ron and Samantha followed.

“I’m in 2B. Knock on my door if you need help carrying shit,” Bill said before he and Fuego left for their apartments.

Striker looked at his unintended guests as he closed his door.

Moxie was already judging the apartment.

“I’m…” Striker looked down at his chest, feeling dysphoria, “... gonna throw on some clothes. Don’t take my meds!”

Striker could hear his new neighbors gossiping as he put the bag down and quickly went to his room.

He shut the door, locked it, and put his back to it, panting and feeling as if his heart could jump out of his chest.

His mind swam with panicked thoughts.

What if they have ulterior motives?

What if Moxxie and Millie try to kill me?

What if one of my ‘neighbors’ tries to use me? Wait, it got a magic protective necklace.

What if one of them’s a violent transphobe?

I’m pretty sure Bill was looking down on me for being a cripple!

Striker shook his head clear.

“Alright, Striker. Just put on some fuckin’ clothes and make small talk,” he told himself.

He put on his clothes as fast as he could, held the blessed pendant for five seconds before tucking it under his shirt, grabbed his other crutch, and rejoined the group.

“So, what’s with the welcome wagon?” Striker asked as he sat in one of his dining chairs.

“Mox and I always meet a new neighbor,” Millie said as she held Moxxie’s hand. “Even if they're migrant workers.”

“And folks on the same floor you move into tend to see if the new guy’s friendly,” Ron said.

Samantha handed him the box. “It’s a small landscape painting I made a while ago. I make a living making paintings.”

“They all landscapes?” Striker asked as he opened the end of the box.

“I’d like them to be, but people are more interested in paintings of naked people.”

“Like erotica,” Millie said.

“Huh, only if they pay me enough.”

“Speaking of money, you gotta pay $1300 a month for rent, first sunday of each month,” Ron said as he put the laundry basket by the wall. “You got money for it, I assume. You already paid for 6 months.”

“I-I haven’t paid anything yet,” Striker said. “Someone must've paid it for me on my behalf.”

“Alright. You can pay either cash or check at my moms’ apartment. It’s 4D,” Ron said before leaving.

Striker turned to his coworkers. “H-how much does our job pay?”

“‘Bout $20 an hour,” Millie said. “We get bonuses depending on how much a client pays for a hit.”

“We each got $1000 bonuses after taking out an entire corrupt police department,” Moxxie smugly said.

“So, without bonuses, I’d get,” Striker pulled out his phone and used the calculator, “$1280 per paycheck. Guess I won’t have to take desperate measures to pay rent.”

“What kind of desperate measures?” Moxxie wasn’t trusting Striker.

“Like sellin’ my body, ya ass.”

“We should probably leave before Moxxie tries to kill ya!” Millie said as she led Moxxie out of the apartment. “Enjoy the quiche! It’s on the counter!”

Striker pulled the painting out of the box and did a small gasp.

“Is something wrong?” Samantha asked.

“N-no, it just… looks familiar. Where’d ya paint it?”

“This little farm called the ‘Rough and Tumbleweed Ranch’. Why?”

“I used to work there. Something unrelated to the ranch and employers happened, so I had to leave. Shit, some of my stuff might still be there.”

“Is it because you tried to kill M&M?”

“They got in the way of an assassination gig I had. Fuck, I miss that place…”

“Sorry if I brought up some bad memories or made you feel homesick.”

“Nah, it’s fine. I-I like it a lot. Thanks.”

“Not a problem. I’ll see you later, I have a commission to work on,” Samantha left the apartment.

Striker took the small painting– a picture of the west side fencing looking out to the wilderness and sunset with Sallie Mae’s silhouette sitting on said fence– to his room and placed it on his desk.

He then had the breakfast pie Moxxie made and discovered that it was pretty damn good.

Xxx

Blitz parked his new van in Stolas’s little used garage before walking into the mansion.

He walked into the little kitchen where Stolas and Octavia were finishing their breakfast.

“Hey, Stols, you almost ready for the meeting with Asmodeus?” Blitz asked.

“Yes. I just need to finish eating, brush my teeth, and get dressed,” Stolas said.

“You have teeth?”

“How else are we supposed to chew?” Octavia dryly asked.

“I dunno. Rocks in your guts?”

Stolas laughed with little hoots in amusement.

“By the way, is Loona going to be here soon?” Octavia asked. “I thought she was going to hang out with me.”

“She got too drunk last night and is currently nursing a hang over with water in her room,” Blitz said. “She might come over later, but I’m not sure.”

“How’s… you know who ?”

“I accidentally electrocuted him yesterday. That happens when he touches holy weapons now, so he won’t hurt your dad.”

“He could still try to strangle or drown him.”

“He’s probably not going to because he’s got no one to pay him for it.”

“You can thank your mother for that,” Stolas muttered as he took the last bite of his breakfast.

“Please don’t add more fuel to drown my therapist in…” Octavia said as she took her food to her room.

Stolas facepalmed. “I forgot owl demons have better than average hearing.”

“Yeah, I forget that about hellhounds, too,” Blitz said.

“Alright, I’m going to wash these dishes before brushing my teeth–”

“Which I wanna see!”

Stolas laughed with the little hoots again. “I’ll be ready in 20.”

“Are you sure? We might miss the hellevator.”

“I’ll portal us to the meeting, darling.”

“Aheh… yeah…” Blitz wasn’t fully comfortable with being called ‘darling’.

Xxx

Asmodeus and Fizzarolli were waiting in the former’s office.

“Are you sure this is a good idea?” Fizzarolli asked.

“Yes. If Blitz wants his business to continue, he needs to listen to what I ask him to do,” Asmodeus said. “And if all goes well, I’ll have a new subsidiary.”

“Yeah, owning a murder business is a great idea,” Fizzarolli rolled his eyes.

“Ya gotta mix things up every once in a while. I also didn’t want them killed for having a holy weapon. Though, I’m pretty sure Lucifer was more concerned at the fact that an overlord had a holy tank.”

“Okay, that thing was fucking terrifying!”

A portal opened before them.

Stolas and Blitz walked through the portal and it closed behind them.

“Welcome, welcome,” Asmodeus said. “Feel free to sit on my desk, wouldn’t want you guys to strain your necks.”

Stolas sat on the edge of the desk and shifted his body so he was in a position similar to the Little Mermaid Statue in Copenhagen, while Blitz sat in a chair on the desk.

“Stolas, would you like a chair?” Asmodeus asked.

“Oh, no, I’m fine,” Stolas said.

“Alright, let me know if you change your mind. First things first: what’s your current deal with the grimoire?”

“It used to be I fuck him once a month on the full moon so I can continue to use it for my work,” Blitz said.

“And I used the grimoire for my work before our passionate fornication,” Stolas said, feathers fluffing up a bit and the pleasurable memories, unintentionally making Asmodeus uncomfortable.

“A full moon has come and gone. Did you fuck?” Asmodeus asked.

“Nah, we had a movie night instead,” Blitz said. “Loona was sick that day, so she couldn’t drop it off and chill with Octavia, which was what we did for a few months after the whole… your club fiasco…”

“Alright, you two are going to have to follow some new ground rules: 1) no more transactional fucking; 2) the grimoire has to be in Stolas’s possession on weekends and full moons; 3) you’re both going to get therapy.”

“What?! Therapy?!” Blitz exclaimed.

Stolas made a sad bird noise at the idea of no more intimacy with Blitz.

“You two have some issues to go through, and I believe therapy will help you with it,” Asmodeus explained. “You’ll have one-on-one sessions with different therapists. I can even hook you guys up with couples counseling, if you decide to resume an intimate relationship.”

“Does this mean Blitz and I aren’t allowed to talk with each other?” Stolas asked.

“You can still do so, just platonically and in business like manners.”

“Are there any other things we need to know about?” Blitz asked.

“I’d like you to hire more people for your business. Though, my niece sent me a picture of your ad, so you’re already on it, as I could see.”

“Yeah, I’m going to have a recruitment table set up when we go to the Harvest Moon Fest next month.”

“I’ll help spread the word around, if you like.”

“Sure, that’d be– wait, there’s gonna be a catch, isn’t there?”

“That depends on how you take what I say next. I want you to start using Asmodian Crystals.”

Asmodeus magically spawned some in the palm of his hand and showed them to Blitz.

“I wanna use the book,” Blitz said.

“I understand,” Asmodeus began, “but I want yo–”

“I wanna use the book.”

“You can, I just–”

“I wanna use the book!”

“If you’ll just listen–”

“I WANNA USE THE BOOK!”

“YOU CAN STILL USE THE FUCKING BOOK!” Asmodeus shouted as he stood up.

He calmed himself and sat back down.

“I just want you to start using the crystals with the book, that way you can have two or more teams killing humans and worry less about escaping in an emergency or if a hit goes sideways.”

“Yeah, could’ve used that when Moxxie and I got nabbed by idiot government agents,” Blitz said.

“Excuse me, WHAT?! ”

“Damn it, Blitzo!” Fizzarolli facepalmed.

“Well, it’s not like when Verosika made a fish monster after throwing her beelzejuice into the freaking ocean while doing a concert in the living world!” Blitz exclaimed.

“Now I gotta deal with that!” Asmodeus groaned. He quickly got back on topic. “The crystals also provide human disguises.”

“We have a costume closet.”

Asmodeus facepalmed.

“This will be an instant disguise. You can even wear them like accessories. Like, for example, your cho– mmf!”

Fizzarolli covered Asmodeus’s mouth really quick. “Ozzie, don’t mess with the choker, trust me on this.”

“Alright,” Asmodeus removed Fizzarolli’s hand. “You and your employees may choose what the crystals will be made into.”

“That it?” Blitz asked.

“If you do what I want you to do, you’ll be a subsidiary of mine. I’ll let you run the business how you like, and I’ll pay your office rent. If you agree, we’ll have a meeting at the end of the month for business stuff.”

“Asmodeus?” Stolas stood up on the desk. “I would like to be more active in the business. Perhaps I could be a medic?”

“Blitz, would you be okay with that?”

“Sure,” Blitz said. “Would Stolas be paying for medical bills?”

“By becoming my subsidiary, you’ll automatically get medically insured, but Stolas can help with injuries that don’t require a trip to the E.R. Everyone agrees on all terms?”

Blitz and Stolas shared a look and nodded.

“Yes,” they said.

The three demons shook hands, purple-blue magic cementing the deal.

Xxx

Moxie was muttering to himself as he cleaned his firearms.

Millie sat down next to him.

“Is everything alright, sweetie?” she asked.

“No!” Moxie exclaimed as he put the semiautomatic pistol he was working on down. “Did you forget that Striker’s our fucking neighbor now?! Wh-what if he tries to kill us while we sleep?!”

Millie hugged him. “Don’t worry, hunny. He ain’t strong enough to take us on right now.”

Moxie looked at his firearm collection. “Maybe–”

“No. We’ll only kill him in self defense.”

Xxx

Striker bounced his leg as he sat at his desk, watching videos on Voxtube.

He wasn’t able to sit still for some reason.

He wanted something , but what?

“Fuck, I’m missin’ somethin’...” he muttered as he clicked the searchbar.

He typed in ‘missing something but don’t know what it is’ and pressed the ‘enter’ button.

The first result was a video on relationships by a sex therapist.

Striker shrugged and clicked it.

The therapist was very professional about how relationships worked.

Striker half listened as he scrolled through the comments.

“Now, one thing a lot of people don’t know is what being ‘touch starved’ means,” the therapist said.

Striker stopped scrolling down and shot the page up to the video.

“Most people think you can satisfy it by having a quick one night stand in Lust, but that is not ideal. Touch starvation does mean ‘a condition that happens when you don’t get as much physical touch as you’re used to– or any at all’. It’s normal to crave contact with others. Skin is the largest organ in our body…” the therapist went into all the science of being touch starved.

Striker’s eyes widened and eye rings thickened at this:

“Long-term touch starvation can even trigger PTSD.”

Striker paused the video and pushed his chair back.

“Th-there's no way that’s what’s goin’ on with me! No fuckin’ way!”

Then, little thoughts in his head made him doubt that.

You were in a hotel with others until yesterday.

They carried you and you liked it.

You liked being that overlord’s plaything.

Even as he nearly killed you.

You liked it when you were smothering Moxxie.

You really liked it.

You liked Sallie May’s playful flirts.

Even her strong, yet gentle touches.

You know part of you liked it when former employers and coworkers discovered you were born with a pussy.

Same thing when strangers found out too.

You liked being that lesser blueblood’s lover for months.

Months!

You liked it when that cult took you in as a teenager.

You liked getting examined by that doctor.

You liked it when your father touched and fucked you–

Striker ran to his bathroom and threw up in his toilet.

“No! Those thoughts are WRONG!”

But are they?

“Shut up! Get outta my head!”

Your mother was right, though.

You are a little whore.

Xxx

Moxie and Millie were making their lunch for the day when Moxxie’s phone got a text.

Then another.

And another.

“Looks like someone’s popular,” Millie joked.

Moxie picked up his phone and scowled.

“Striker started yelling and shouting,” Moxie said. “The people on floor two want us to see if he’s okay because he’s our coworker.”

“Well, we’re just havin’ cold sandwiches, why don’t we just check on ‘im? Could’ve been a false alarm,” Millie said.

“Fine, but I won’t be happy about it.”

Moxie and Millie walked out of their apartment and met Janet, one of their landladies.

“Are you two investigating the noise complaint in 2D as well?” Janet asked.

“Yes, we are. Our new coworker lives there,” Millie said.

“Much to my chagrin,” Moxie dryly said.

“I have a copy of the apartment key. We’ll see if he’s okay,” Janet said.

The three went into the elevator and pressed floor two’s button.

After a two minute ride, they exited to the floor.

The other three floor neighbors were surrounding Striker’s door.

Bill was pressing his ear to the door.

“He’s calmed down a bit by the sounds of things,” Bill said.

“What was he yelling about?” Moxie asked as Janet unlocked the door.

“Sounded like a panic attack. A bad one.”

The group entered the apartment.

They could hear Striker panting down the hallway.

“Bill, you’re with us,” Millie said as she gestured to Moxxie and herself. “The rest of ya stay put.”

The three assassins– two active, one retired– walked down the hallway.

Bill recoiled a bit at a smell as Moxxie and Millie smelled blood.

Moxie and Millie pulled out their pocket weapons as they followed the noise and smell to the bathroom.

They found Striker curled up on the floor.

It sounded like he was crying.

“Striker?” Millie put her knife away as she knelt down to his head. “Are you alright? Are you hurt?”

“Well, it looks like he won a fight against his mirror,” Moxie said.

The mirror had been punched multiple times, only the edges of the reflective surface remained.

Bill walked over them and flushed the toilet.

“Hate the smell of vomit,” the hellhound muttered.

“Striker, did you get sick?” Millie went to touch his head for fever.

Striker curled up more, his hands covering the top of his head.

The knuckles on his right hand were bloodied.

“Let’s get ya cleaned and patched up,” Bill sat Striker up.

Moxie examined Striker’s wounds and clothes.

“Only mess on him is the hand injury and some vomit around… his… mouth…” Moxxie trailed off as he made eye contact with Striker.

“What’s wrong?” Millie asked as she followed Moxxie’s gaze when she saw it:

Striker had the look of fear one would see in a First World War soldier.

“Reckon’ he went feral,” Bill said when he saw Striker’s expression. He handed Millie his apartment keys. “You know where I keep my first aid kit.”

Millie went to tell the others what was going on and get the first aid kit.

“I’m gonna clean his mouth off,” Bill turned to Moxxie. “Know how to deal with someone who went feral?”

“I’m afraid not,” Moxxie said.

“Put your arms around his waist like this,” Bill wrapped Moxxie’s arms around Striker’s waist and positioned them so that Moxxie was hugging Striker from behind, “and apply pressure with a gentile hug.”

“Moxxie lightly hugged Striker. This caused Striker to whimper and lean into the hug.

“Alright, that’s a good response,” Bill said.

“Now what?” Moxie asked as Millie returned with the first aid kit.

“Keep holdin’ ‘im like that while I wash up his face and bandage his hand.

“What can I do to help?” Millie asked as she opened the first aid kit.

“Others still here?”

“Yeah, in the livin’ room.”

“Get them outta here. Too many folks in one area could trigger another feral incident.”

“On it,” Millie left again.

Bill wetted a hand towel, put liquid hand soap in it, and lathered it up.

“Alright, Striker. I’m just gonna clean ya up a bit. Try not to flinch, you’ll crush Moxxie,” Bill said before gently  cleaning Strker’s face.

Striker whimpered as Bill gently grabbed him by where his lower jaw connected to his skull.

“It’s okay, Striker,” Moxie said as he patted Striker between the shoulder blades. “Millie and I are here. We won’t let you get hurt.”

Striker tensed up at the patting.

“I don’t think he likes that,” Bill said. “Just keep holdin’ him.”

Moxie did so as Millie stood in the doorway.

Bill finished cleaning Striker’s face and began to treat the imp’s hand.

Striker then started to try and lie down on his back.

“Oh, crumbs!” Moxie said as Millie tried to help him keep Striker sat up.

“Let go of ‘im. I’ll carry ‘im to his bed,” Bill said as he scooped up Striker.

Striker growled at Bill.

I get it, you’re scared,” Bill said as he carried Striker to the bed and set him down. “M&M, keep an eye on ‘im.”

Striker curled up on his bed.

“What are we supposed to do? Spoon him?” Moxie asked.

“I’ll do it,” Millie got on the bed behind Striker and spooned him.

Moxie was in disbelief at the fact that Millie just willingly spooned Striker.

Bill returned with the first aid kit.

“Alright, Striker, let’s patch ya up,” Bill said as he cleaned Striker’s wound.

“I’m going to see if I can find out what caused him to go feral,” Moxie said as he began to search for clues.

He walked to Striker’s desk and saw that the chair had been slammed against the foot of the bed and that the laptop was open.

Moxie put the chair back in its place and woke up the laptop.

He then saw the paused video.

“What the fuck?!” he exclaimed.

“What is it, hun?” Millie asked as she sat up.

“Striker went feral because he wanted a fucking hug,” Moxxie moved so Millie and Bill could see the screen.

“I don’t reckon that's what's goin’ on,” Bill said. “Saw ‘im wrappin’ his tail ‘round his legs earlier. Only seen that in abuse victims.”

“Yeah, Mox. striker might still be processin’ what he went through,'' Millie said as she put Striker’s head in her lap and massaged him between the horns.

Striker whimpered and covered his face with his hands, the right one now bandaged.

Moxie let out a tired sigh. “Millie, if you want to stay with him for a while, I’ll be okay with it. Want me to grab your lunch?”

“That’d be nice, hunny,” Millie said.

“I’ll clean up the bathroom and leave,” Bill exited the room.

“I’ll be back in a few,” Moxie said before he left the apartment.

Millie continued to massage Striker’s calp between the horns.

“Sorry I made a scene,” Striker muttered.

“That’s alright,” Millie said. “You know what caused ya to go feral?”

“Guy in the video started to talk about long-term touch starvation and PTSD… I got in my damn head, and… well, ya saw what happened.”

“Why’d ya watch the video to begin with?”

“Felt like somethin’ was missin’... I think I’m lonely… shit… no one’s gonna want me, are they?”

“I’m sure you’ll find someone.”

“No, they won’t want me,” Striker batted away Millie’s hand as he sat up and onto the edge of the bed, then turned his head to look at her. “It’s not just what–ugh!-- he did to me. Folks in Wrath won’t want a transman unless it’s for kink or fetish reasons, i don’t know what the dating scene is like in Lust for transfolks, not even gonna risk it in the other five rings. And don’t get me started on–”

Striker had a look of fear on his face, shut his eyes, turned away, and hugged himself, his tail rattling as it wrapped around his legs.

“S-Striker?” Millie cautiously put a hand on his back.

Striker instinctively jerked away from the touch, causing him to lose his balance and fall on the floor.

“You okay?” Millie asked as Striker stood back up.

“Didn’t leave a mark,” Striker said as he sat back on the bed.

“D’you wanna talk–”

“Ya ain’t my therapist,” Striker turned away from Millie.

Moxxie returned with Millie’s lunch.

“So, he snapped out of it?” Moxie asked.

“I’m talkin’ if that’s what you’re askin’,” Striker muttered.

“I don’t think he’s outta the woods, yet,” Millie said as she took her sandwich.

“Meaning?” Moxxie asked.

“He almost went feral again. I think it might be good if you stayed with ‘im overnight.”

Striker and Moxxie looked at Millie as if she grew a second head, Striker standing up.

“What?” both men asked.

“Striker, you’re kinda skittish like a wild animal, and ya don’t flinch when Moxxie touches ya,” Millie said. “Ya flinch when I touch ya. Might be because I stabbed ya in the kidneys.”

“Are you saying Striker doesn’t view me as a threat?” Moxxie asked.

“I don’t reckon anyone views ya as a threat…” Striker said.

“Was that an insult?”

“Did ya take it that way?” Striker smirked.

Moxxie let out a small hissing growl.

“C’mon, y’all. Make nice, now,” Millie said as she got between them to prevent a fight.

The married couple’s phones then sounded the text alert.

“This about work?” Striker asked as he sat back down on his bed.

“Part of our company’s new deal with Asmodeus is that we all have to go to Lust for check ups and medical history records,” Moxxie said.

“Sweet! We got medical insurance now!” Millie pumped her fist in the air.

“Y’all didn’t have that before?!” Striker exclaimed, his eye rings thickening.

Xxx

Striker and Moxxie sat at the two person dinner table.

Striker was eating another frozen meal while Moxxie had a salad.

“So, you’re not eatin’ meat?” Striker asked. “You on a diet or somethin’?”

“N-no. i just didn’t want to have meat tonight,” Moxxie said as he continued his meal.

“How long have you an’ Mildred been together?”

“Why are you asking questions?”

“Cause it’s a bit awkward to eat in silence with another person.”

Moxxie groaned in annoyment. “Millie and I have been together for three years, married for one.”

“That the longest you’ve been with someone?”

“Yeah, so?”

“I had a six month fling.”

“With Sallie May?”

“Nah, lesser blueblood. We were 19.”

“How did you manage to seduce demon royalty?!”

Striker shrugged his shoulders. “Not 100% sure on it, but it wasn’t intentional. Reckon we both had a ‘crush at first sight’, or somethin’.”

He then sighed.

“Felt nice to have someone… like me… had started HRT a month before we met, so I was a little self conscious ‘bout my looks an’ voice,” Striker said.

“What can you tell me about them?” Moxxie was now interested in his new coworker’s past.

“Well, I don’t fell like tellin’ ya a sappy love story, but I’ll tell ya this: he was a cis male, a lesser minotaur a bit taller than Stolas, and he did right by me.”

“How’d you break up? Amicably?” 

“The rest of his family found out… they made us split up…. Still keep in contact with ‘im. Call every now and then. He’s got a wife and two kids now.”

“Did you have any other boyfriends or girlfriends?”

“Sallie May flirted with me, but farmhands don’t date their employers’ daughters unless they don’t value their own lives. You?”

“I had a real shitty ex before I met Millie… I don’t like to talk about it…” Moxxie picked at his salad.

“Understandable, little dude.”

The two finished their dinners.

Xxx

Striker had started to draw his bath and had taken off when he heard Moxxie gasp, fall, and groan in pain.

Opening the door, he saw Moxxie on his knees and rubbing his back.

“Ya alright?” Striker asked as he helped the smaller imp up.

“Got a back injury at last year’s Pain Games,” Moxxie said. “I sometimes get spasms.”

“The bubble bath I got helps with that. Wanna join?” Striker half joked as he pointed to the tub.

“Do you have enough of the solution for a second one?”

Striker led Moxxie into the bathroom and grabbed the bottle.

“It’s a bit light,” Striker said. “I ain’t sure. I just pour it in the tub, not the cap.”

Moxxie grabbed the bottle, opened it, and poured the remaining contents into the cap.

“There’s only a third left,” Moxxie said.

“Ah, just pour it in, take off your clothes, and hop in,” Striker said as he sat on the closed toilet and took off his own pants.

“What?!”

“What’s wrong? Think I’m gonna take advantage of ya?”

“Are the odds of that happening zero ?” Moxxie narrowed his eyes at him.

“Well, given my physical state at the moment, they are,” Striker tossed the pants in the hamper. “I’m the one riskin’ myself here.”

“How are you risking yourself?”

Striker glared at Moxxie as he removed his necklace. “Of the two men in this room, you’re the one with a cock. And I’m the transguy who tried to kill you, last we met. You’d probably want to hurt me. Treat me like the whore I am.”

Moxxie looked at Striker in shock. “I-I-I would never do that! That’s disgusting! Who even told you– ow!”

Moxxie held his back again.

“You good?” Striker asked as he offered his coworker a hand.

“Spasm,” Moxxie groaned, tears forming a little from the pain. “I think I’ll hop in, cause this fucking hurts!”

“You need any help in?”

“No. I’m also going to keep my boxer briefs on, is that alright?”

“Sure, but two things: 1) you sit close to the faucet. 2) don’t ask about my scars, I won’t ask about yours.”

“Okay, got it,” Moxxie began to undress and saw that Striker hadn’t resumed undressing. “Um…”

“I-I don’t want ya to see my scars,” Striker sheepishly said as he put the necklace on the counter.

Moxxie didn’t say anything as he finished stripping down to his underwear and got in the tub as Striker put in the last of the bubble bath.

Striker closed the curtain enough to give him some privacy as he removed his sports bra and underwear.

“Moxxie, I’m gonna need you to close your eyes,” Striker said.

“Why?” Moxxie asked.

“Bitch, you know why.”

“Sorry. I won’t look.”

Striker peaked behind the curtain and saw that Moxxie was covering his eyes with his hands.

Striker grabbed his phone and climbed into the tub.

“You can open your eyes, now,” Striker said as he started a 30 minute timer.

Moxxie uncovered his eyes but averted them.

“What is it?” Striker asked.

“I-I accidentally caught a glimpse of your scarring as you climbed in,” Moxxie sheepishly admitted.

“D-don’t ask any questions!” Striker exclaimed as his tail wrapped around his legs and he held his arms over his chest.

“Well, I already know how you got it!”

“How?!”

“Blitz informed us of your injury the day we helped save you.”

“‘Course he did…” Striker mumbled as he looked away from Moxxie.

Several minutes of silence passed.

“Y-you’re not the only one with scarring on your privates,” Moxxie said.

“Obviously there are… this is fucking Hell,” Striker said.

“I was… actually talking about me.”

Striker looked at Moxxie with slight concern.

“Do you want me to tell you what happened?” Moxxie asked.

“Is it… graphic?” Striker asked.

“It was, but luckily I don’t remember it happening.”

Striker raised an eyebrow at Moxxie.

“You know how sometimes when something very traumatic happens to you and your brain doesn’t remember it, but you know it happened?” Moxxie asked.

“Oh, yeah. That’s happened to me.”

“Okay, here’s what happened: my parents took me to an amusement park to take pictures with mascots. One of the mascots took me to a backstage area, and h-he…” Moxxie took a deep breath. “I… ended up with a one inch scar from my anus to my perineum.”

“Oh… shit… I-I’m sorry you went through that.”

“It’s okay. I’ve mostly come to terms with it. Also, my parents brutally murdered my attacker.”

“That’s more than my shit excuse of parents would’ve done. I take it Millie knows?”

Moxxie nodded. “You’re the first person I told who wasn’t a sexual partner of mine.”

“So, um… What's the craziest thing that happened on the job?”

Moxxie and Striker then spent the remaining time talking about the insane shit I.M.P. dealt with.

Xxx

Striker and Moxxie sat on the former’s bed, changed into their pajamas already.

“Alright, I want you to sleep in the bed with me– not in a sexual way– because of your back injury,” Striker said.

“Promise you won’t kill me?” Moxxie asked.

“I promise. The worst I might do is accidentally hit ya if I have a nightmare.”

“Alright…” 

The two then got under the covers, turned off the lights, and went to sleep, making sure to give each other space.

Xxx

Striker was woken from his sleep by Moxxie whimpering and crying in his sleep.

He turned his head and saw that there was a shadowy figure over the smaller imp.

Only one instinct took over Striker’s mind and body:

Protect your coworker at all costs.

Striker pounced onto the intruder, biting his face as they both fell on the floor.

The intruder screamed in pain as he ripped Striker’s mouth off of him before punching him.

Striker responded with a fist to the voice box and a hard knee to the junk.

As the intruder screeched in pain, Striker flipped him onto his stomach, used his body weight to pin him down, and grabbed him by the horns.

He slammed the intruder’s face into the floor.

Again.

And again.

And again.

He didn’t know how many times he repeated the action.

The next thing Striker knew was that the lights were on and Moxxie was holding his face.

He couldn’t make out what Moxxie was saying to him.

Striker picked up Moxxie and put him on the bed.

Moxxie grabbed Striker’s hand and made him sit on the bed next to him.

Striker’s brain slowly allowed him to hear what Moxxie was saying.

“... ow where you are?” Moxxie asked.

“M-my room. My apartment,” Striker said.

“Do you know who I am?”

“Moxxie.”

“Do you know who you just beat up?”

“The guy that tried to rape you.”

“Wh–no! Look at the guy!” Moxxie pointed to the barely conscious intruder.

Striker looked at him and saw that he had nearly just killed Blitz.

Another instinct came into his mind:

You need to escape to safety. He’ll fuck you if you don’t.

Striker tried to stand, but Moxxie grabbed him by the waist and dragged him to lie down on the bed.

“Striker, I’ll deal with him. Cuddle B.J.,” Moxxie handed Striker the plushie.

Striker did cuddle with the plushie as he watched Moxxie take care of Blitz.

The smaller imp flipped his employer onto his back and cleaned out the bite wounds on his face.

There was knocking at the apartment’s front door.

Moxxie almost left the room to answer it, then turned around, grabbed Striker’s hand, and led him out of the room so he wouldn’t attack Blitz again.

The two arrived at the door, Striker still holding his plushie, and answered it.

Bill was at the door. And he was holding a rifle.

“You guys had an intruder?” he asked.

“Blitz broke into Striker’s apartment,” Moxxie said.

“I beat the shit outta ‘im,” Striker said.

“Reckon that’d happen sooner or later,” Bill rolled his eyes. “Want me to take care ‘im?”

Striker and Moxxie looked at each other.

“I ain’t gonna kill ‘im,” Bill said.

“Just watch him in the living room. I’ll send Loona a text to come pick him up,” Moxxie said.

The three went to Striker’s room. Bill dragged Blitz out to the living room while Moxxie texted Loona.

Striker sat on the bed and hugged his plushie.

“Striker? Are you okay?” Moxxie asked.

“I-I don’t know… d-did I go feral again?” Striker asked.

“You did a little bit. Have you ever gone feral before today?”

“Yeah. Once at Rough ‘n Tumbleweed, few times at a group home I stayed in as a teen.”

“Think you’ll be able to fall back asleep?”

“I-I’ll try,” Striker climbed back under the covers and laid down.

“I’m going to go to the living room and wait for Loona to come pick up Blitz,” Moxxie turned off the lights and closed the door as he left the room.

Xxx

Millie walked to Striker’s apartment the next morning, some freshly made pancakes in hand.

Okay, they were frozen pancakes heated in the toaster, but they were still yummy.

She knocked on the door and Moxxie answered.

“Morning, Millie,” Moxxie said as he hugged his wife. “Put the pancakes on the counter. I’m making eggs.”

“How was the sleepover?” Millie asked as she put the plate down and sat at the dinner table.

“Pretty good. It was a little awkward at first, but we made small talk. And then Blitz broke into the apartment in the middle of the night and Striker almost killed him.”

“Oof! I’m guessin’ he went feral again, didn’t he?”

“Yeah, he had trouble falling asleep, but he managed to get back to sleep at around 4 a.m. He’s sleeping right now.”

“Think it’d be alright if I checked on ‘im?”

“I’d be careful. Bill told me that some imps can go feral multiple times a day if they’re stressed enough and had a lot of trauma in their childhood,” Moxxie then pulled Millie close and whispered in her ear. “I think he might’ve been abused as a child, but I can’t confirm it.”

“How’d you figure that out? Did you tell ‘im about what happened to you?” Millie whispered back.

“Yeah, I told him about it after I caught a glimpse of his scarring.”

Millie looked at Moxxie in confusion.

“My back was acting up again and Striker didn’t have enough bubble bath for two baths. The solution helps with muscle pain,” Moxxie explained.

Millie did a little eye roll.

“I’m going to see if he’s alright,” Millie said as she walked down the hall to Striker’s room.

She quietly opened the door and walked in.

She saw Striker’s form breathing as he softly snored.

Walking to Striker’s side of the bed, she saw that he was hugging a stuffed hellhorse as he slept.

“Aw…” she softly said.

Even though she thought she was being quiet, Striker stirred a bit as he woke up.

Striker groggily opened his eyes, and upon seeing Millie was in front of him, he shot up in bed, tail rattling.

“Sorry, didn’t mean to wake ya,” Millie said. “We’re havin’ pancakes and eggs for breakfast. Why don’t ya get dressed and join us?”

“O-okay,” Striker slid out of the bed.

Xxx

Striker barely acknowledged Moxxie and Millie as he ate the eggs and pancakes.

The duo looked at each other, worry in their faces.

“So, Striker?” Millie asked, getting his attention. “Did ya have any plans for today?”

“Do my laundry. Pick up more of the bubble bath I need,” Striker said.

“Guess ya don’t have much clothing, do ya?”

Striker shook his head.

“Well, we can help ya out,” Millie said. “I’ll do your laundry real quick, and Moxxie can look to see where you can buy your bubble bath.”

Striker tried to make himself small. “Y-ya don’t have to…”

“I don’t mind it at all,” Moxxie said. “I actually might pick some up for myself.”

“Okay… I guess…” Striker focused on his food again.

“I’ll get started on the laundry!” Millie wolfed down the last of her breakfast, grabbed the laundry basket, went down the hall to the bathroom, and after a minute walked past the boys with the laundry and left.

Moxxie pulled out his phone to look up where the bubble bath was, and then scowled. “Crumbs…”

Striker did a small gasp and slightly retreated.

“Relax, I just got a text from Blitz. He wants to know your stuffed horse’s name,” Moxxie explained.

“B.J.,” Striker said, relaxing a bit.

“Is it short for anything?”

“Bombproof Junior.”

“Really?”

“I ain’t that good at namin’ things.”

Moxxie sighed. “Get your wallet ready. We’re probably gonna head out once the laundry’s done.”

Striker then got a look on his face, realizing he may have forgotten something.

Grabbing his crutches, Striker went to his room, Moxxie following him.

“S-Striker? What are you looking for?” the smaller imp asked.

Striker opened the drawer of his nightstand and let out a sigh of relief. He turned to Moxxie with a brand new wallet in hand.

“Lost my old one when…” Striker looked down in shame and trauma, “y-you know what happened.”

“Is there money in it?” Moxxie asked.

“I’m about to check,” Striker opened it and a huge smile came across his face. “Fuck, yeah, there is! Probably $500! They’re all $50’s!”

“Wow! Anything else?”

“Five bus passes for Pride, and five for Lust.”

“I bet those’ll come in handy. I’m going to look up the bubble bath now.”

“Holy shit, I might be able to buy somethin’ else! L-like a new outfit, or a cactus!” Striker said as he sat on his bed and recounted the money.

Xxx

The trio wandered around the pharmacy store, in the Second Circle of Lust, as they did some light shopping.

Striker got two new bottles of the bubble bath, and Moxxie got a cream for his spasms.

Striker was pushing a shopping cart. Both sides lengthwise were split with his crutches.

“Hey, why don’t we check out the discount aisle while we’re here? I wanna see if they got any nail polish on sale,” Millie said.

“I’m down with that,” Striker said before pulling Millie close to whisper in her ear. “Can you grab me some…” his eyes darted to the aisle that claimed to have ‘feminine’ hygiene products “uh…”

“Pads? Tampons? Diva cups?”

“Diva WHATS?!” Striker exclaimed before covering his mouth and hiding under his hat.

“I’ll just grab him some pads,” Moxxie said. “Any preferred brand?”

“I don’t care! J-just get the–” Striker held up five digits “--the raindrops!”

Moxxie went to get said pads while Striker and Millie went to the clearance aisle…

… and ran into a succubus with a gray gradient hair color, wavy hair reaching her waist, and wearing a sweater crop top, three quarter pants, and sneakers.

Millie snarled at her.

“Oh, hey,” the succubus said. “What are you doing here?”

“Shit we’re low on and are on sale in Lust,” Striker said. “You happen to know my coworker?”

The succubus looked Striker up and down before walking around him to look at him more.

“They work for my friend’s ex,” the succubus said as she traced a hand from Striker’s right shoulder to his left hip as she examined him, making him shudder as his tail rattled.

She then whispered in his ear. “My name’s Kiki– u-oof!”

Kiki collapsed to the floor on her knees, holding her stomach and dropping her handbag from Striker’s elbow strike having knocked the air out of her.

“Fuck off, bitch!” Striker shouted as Moxxie returned with the period products.

“What happened?” Moxxie asked as he put said products into the cart.

“I… was just… flirting … with… the new guy!” Kiki said between gasps of getting the air back in her.

“Oh, Striker’s just a little shy.”

“No, I ain’t,” Striker crossed his arms. “I didn’t know if she was gonna stab me or somethin’.”

“Oh? Assassin PTSD?” Kiki asked as she stood back up. “Don’t worry, I don’t bite… unless my sexual partner’s into that.”

“He’s just… had a bad year,” Moxxie said as he handed her back her dropped handbag.

“Thanks,” Kiki returned her attention to Striker. “So, do you like guys or girls?

“I don’t like you,” Striker glared at her.

Kiki shrugged, grabbed a one dollar nail polish, and left them alone.

Millie wrapped her arms around Moxxie.

“Mox, just say the word, and I’ll–”

“Millie, we’ve been over this: Kat and Kiki helped me when Verosika and the others ‘messed with me’. We can trust them, they know how to keep them in line,” Moxxie said.

“H-hey, Millie? What color nail polish do ya want?” Striker asked as he looked at the discount nail products. “They got stuff with dinosaurs on ‘em, and–”

“Ooh! Dinosaurs!” Millie climbed the shelf to get the nail polish.

Xxx

The trio were having lunch at a WackDonald’s.

“Do we have to worry about this ‘Verosika’ lady?” Striker asked.

“As long as Blitz doesn't do anything to piss her off, we don’t,” Moxxie said as he dipped his fries into some ketchup.

Millie pulled out her phone to check her social media accounts and did a small gasp.

“Oh, shit! I think Blitz told Asmodeus about the Spring Break fish monster!” Millie showed them her phone.

There were paparazzi photos of Verosika being taken away by Asmodeus’s royal guard.

“In other words: yes, we have to worry about Verosika now,” Moxxie said as he pinched the bridge of his nose.

Xxx

Striker put a small succulent with hard, red leaves that looked like rose petals on his coffee table.

He smiled as he took a picture of it on his phone.

I kinda wanna share it. Maybe I should post it online? Make a Sinstagram account?

After thinking it over, he opted to make a reddit account instead.

He found a subreddit appropriate for a person from Wrath who moved to an urban area and joined it.

It was called r/UrbanWrath.

He uploaded the picture and mentioned in the title that he recently became a resident of Pride and wanted to decorate his apartment a little bit since it was quite bare.

Striker cooked up some chicken and headed up pre-made mashed potatoes for dinner.

Checking the post mid-meal, he was happy to see eight upvotes and one comment.

The commenter wanted to know why he left Wrath.

Striker winced at the question.

[Long story. Don’t like talking about it. Main reason I’m staying is a stable job here. Good pay, got insurance.]

Striker finished his meal, had his bath, and went to bed, mentally preparing himself for the company doctor appointment the next day.

Chapter Text

Striker held his stuffed horse as the I.M.P. crew drove through Lust to the hospital Asmodues owned.

Loona was driving the van, since Blitz had been taken to the hospital on Sunday morning.

Striker gave him a serious concussion.

“Strikes, ya good?” Loona asked.

Striker looked at Moxxie and Millie, who were looking at him, waiting for a response.

“I had some… bad interactions with doctors in Wrath, so I’m kinda nervous,” Striker said. “The docs in Lust are way better, though.”

“I get it. Doctors are suckass in hellhound pounds,” Loona said.

“‘Pound’? I thought you grew up in an orphanage?” Moxxie asked.

“They’re orphanages in name only… BTW, we’re here,” Loona pulled into the parking lot and parked the van.

Moxxie and Millie got out with ease. Loona helped Striker be steady as he got out and grabbed his crutches.

“I could hold your stuffed toy, if–”

“No!” Striker cut Loona off as he held it closer to his body. “I-I mean–”

“Relax, I get it. C’mon, let’s get looked at by the docs and get this shit over with.”

The group walked into the building.

Xxx

After checking in with the receptionist, they sat in the waiting room, waiting to be called on.

Loona was the first to be called in.

Then Millie.

“Striker, are you okay?” Moxxie asked. “Your tail’s been rattling nonstop.”

“I know…” Striker sighed. “I’m kinda scared, actually. I-I’m not looking forward to answering questions about my injuries.”

Moxxie gave Striker’s hand a squeeze. “You’ll be fine.”

“Heh. Thanks.”

“Moxxie?” a nurse called out as she opened the door.