Chapter Text
Husker had a relatively minor set of wounds, and therefore he was able to return to the Hazbin Hotel the same night of the attack. And one thing was for certain. He had to report back to his owner, Alastor.
Although, given the circ*mstances, it all had to be done discretely. Therefore, Husk waited for an opportune moment to speak to Alastor in private. And that happened at around 21h00.
"So, boss..." began Husk to Alastor once they found themselves alone "I couldn't quite accomplish all the objectives of the mission. But I did manage to get the souls of the other two Vees. I suppose I should deliver them to you now, right?"
"Indeed, my good friend." Alastor extended his hand with a green light emanating. "Shake my hand and I will receive Vox's and Velvette's souls."
"Yeah, yeah." Husk did as he was commanded. "Sorry for wasting the thirty six souls you gave me."
"Worry not, dear Husk. What are some thirty something souls when you have delivered the souls of two overlords that command thousands. The fact you delivered two out of three objectives is still quite remarkable. However, since you didn't accomplish all the objectives, I think it will be interesting to make you earn your last compensation."
"Ahm... what do you mean, boss?"
"Simple, my good cat-man. I promised you three souls if you delivered all three objectives. Since you delivered two, I could give you two souls as your compensation right now. However, I think we could make this a little bit more interesting. I will give you not two or three souls, but six souls if you can beat me in a game of poker. Just like old times, my good friend. You'd be duplicating the original amount of promised souls under your command, and it would all be a good start to become and overlord again. Not only that but I will give you three chances to win. That is, you'll have to beat me in a single game out of three, and I would have to beat you all three times in a row, and only if you lose all three games, you'd receive nothing."
"Nothing?"
"Nothing. Not a single soul. However, if you retire now, and choose not to gamble, you will receive only two souls. What do you say, champ?"
Husk considered his options. It was a generous offer, even if quite a strange proposal.
"So if I win just once out of three, I'd receive six souls total?"
"Correct my good ol' cat-man. What do you think?"
"What do I think? Hmm... I think you're going down, Alastor!" said Husk with a smile on his face.
"Now, that's the spirit of a champion." answered Alastor with his own smile decorating his face.
It took some half an hour as the first game developed. And to Husk's surprise, he was able to win on the very first round.
"HO! HO! HO! YEAH!" celebrated Husk with his three nine-cards and pair of fives, winning over Alastor's two sevens and two twos. "See them and weep, buddy."
"Congratulations, Husky. You've won fair and square. I will give you your six souls right now." Alastor extended his hand, and Husk was about to shake it, but then the radio demon took his hand away just an inch away from Husk's hand "Unless of course... You'd like a rematch."
"Huh? A rematch?"
"Indeed. Double or nothing. You win the next game, and you'll receive a full dozen souls all for yourself. However, if you lose... You'll get nothing."
"Ahm... well..."
"Or you could retire, and keep all six souls for yourself. But six just doesn't sound as good as twelve, right?"
Husk stared back at the radio demon and narrowed his eyes, just before he would answer:
"I beat you once. I can do it again. I'm on a roll, Alastor. You won't beat me."
"Now, that's the spirit." said Alastor with a wide smile on his face.
And another few minutes later, Husk felt entirely thrilled. He had another winning set of cards: three queens and two eights.
"Well, Alastor. Looks like I will get a dozen souls."
"Really? Are you so sure?"
"You can't beat this one." And Husk revealed his hand.
"That is indeed an impressive hand."
"Ha! Pay up, buddy!" and Husk extended his hand expecting Alastor to shake it, and give his price.
"Not so fast, my good Husky." Alastor then showed his hand. "Poker of Jacks, dear Husk." he said showing all four 'J' cards.
"Ah, f*ck!" let out Husk realizing what he had done.
"Yeah. Sorry for this, Husk. But that's just how it is. You'll get no souls. Not today."
Alastor then got up from his spot and turned around to walk away from the table.
"Wait." mentioned Husker.
"Yes?"
"You tricked me to do this, didn't you? This is the punishment you throw my way for not managing to kill Valentino, isn't it?"
"How could it be so?" answered Alastor "I offered you to keep two souls if you didn't gamble. But you wanted to gamble them away. Then when you won the first round, you could have taken six souls if you simply stopped gambling. You didn't think so. You decided that six wasn't enough. You wanted to go for the full dozen. So you lost everything in your own gambling addiction. This is what you do, Husk. It's how you lost all the souls that you owned in the first place. It's how you lost your own soul. And it would have been the exact same with your next souls too. That's why I couldn't let you keep a single soul. You would have gambled them away, either to me, or to another. And if you were going to lose your souls anyway, you might as well lose them to me, so that I will keep them."
"You bastard. You knew this would happen."
"Sooner or later it would have. It simply took two games this time." Alastor let out a mocking smile and added "You did a good enough job with the other Vees, though. That's why I won't kill you. Be grateful for that, Husky."
And Alastor left Husk feeling like a loser all over again. So, as always, he went to the bar, and drank a full bottle of whisky only to then pass out on the couch.
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I expected that repairing my flying gear would be harder, but after checking on it for several minutes, I found the damage. It wasn't nearly as extensive as I would have imagined, given the troubles it caused me. And after changing a pulled out wire, it was good enough, however, I could tell that it's speed had diminished significantly, and it would require a replacement part. I guess a new visit to my two favorite robotic genius inventors will be necessary later today.
As for me, my injuries were not too profound, but they were numerous, making movement uncomfortable.
Mary and Angel still had important wounds. Angel in particular would spend some time in the hospital.
One thing I know for certain: given the fact that Charlie already threatened to kick us out of the hotel if we keep fighting, then than means that we cannot be directly open in our attacks, especially in front of the princess.
Which leads to the question: how do I attack Alastor without making it look that I am attacking him? Once exposed like that, I was able to think of a strategy. And to further aid myself, I tried to make another ritual to see the future. However, either my tired and slightly wounded body made me commit some minor errors in the performance, or my magical-energy reservoirs were too low to be effective, but in the end, the ritual failed and I didn't have a vision at all. Therefore, for my next steps, I would be blind to any specific knowledge. And sadly, my next move just couldn't wait for me to get a vision by performing another ritual under the right circ*mstances.
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The next day went as ordinary as it could have. Charlie kept staring at both Alastor and me with some anger yet. But the fact that we didn't try to murder each other was a good enough sign in her book that we were trying to play nice to each other... if only she knew.
When we were sharing lunch, Charlie finally decided to break the awkward silence that surrounded us.
"So, how are things going between you two?" asks Charlie at both of us.
"They are... as expected." is the neutral response I give.
"Yes, quite under control." says Alastor.
"Hmm... I'm not entirely convinced. Why did you start this fight?" asks Charlie
For obvious reasons we can't be honest about that one.
"No reason. I just don't like him." is my answer.
"Didn't you say he attacked your souls or something?"
"Can we drop the subject?" I say "What matters is that I won't attack him and he won't attack me."
"Hmm... I just want to make sure that you two are actually going to be at peace. I've kind of grown used to both. I'd be very sad if something bad happened to either."
"You don't have to worry about me, Charlie." says Alastor. "I'm more than capable of handling anything thrown my way." he said as he turned a brief look at me.
"I could say the same, Charlie." For a second my gaze met with Alastor's, as a smile is shown on both our faces. I think we both know what the other wants to do. And we both believe to be prepared for it.
I certainly am. Not only did I recharge my weapons properly, but I've made sure to rest adequately so that my magic reservoirs get back to it's normal levels as soon as possible. I could have tried to do Stolas' magic ritual, but then I would have been left with no magic to defend myself in case of a surprise attack, and since both Mary Sue and Angel are out of combat for the day due to the fight of yesterday, that would leave me unguarded and unable to defend myself. So, I preferred to be able to defend myself than to know what would happen during the day for certain.
"Well, if both of you are going to be at peace, then I see no problem in letting you stay. But please, no more fighting." says Charlie's worried face.
"Take it easy, princess. We won't." I say reassuringly. Well... we won't be fighting in front of you, at least.
"Okay. Then, perhaps you two could try to make amends somehow?" says the princess.
I turn my gaze at Alastor, and he looks at me with his immovable smile.
"I would be willing if he is." says my wide smile too.
"Anything for you, Charlie." he says even if he hasn't moved his stare from me.
"Okay, that's good, I guess. And how will you start doing it?" asks Charlie.
"Why don't we share a little walk, Alastor?" I ask with my most innocent smile.
"I'm not opposed to the idea." he answers. Huh? I expected a bit more of resistance from him. Has he already...?
"I think it's a wonderful idea, too." says Charlie. "It will give both of you time to talk about the things you have in common. I mean, so long as it's not trying to make soul deals with people around you." Charlie said that with a disappointed look upon her face.
You poor, naive, idealistic Charlie. This is why I cannot allow you to keep your soul for yourself. Your overconfidence in people's good-will, will eventually lead to disaster. And I don't intend to keep my arms crossed while hell falls down into a spiral of chaos because of it. I could get caught in the crossfire.
"Excellent!" I say out loud. "Would today be good for you, Alastor?"
"Sounds like a plan, Tanya."
"Great, works for me too." adds Charlie.
"Wait, what?" both Alastor and me said at the same time, with a surprised look on us.
"You didn't really think I would let both of you walk out alone without supervision after the violent display from yesterday, now did you?"
My entire face must have turned into annoyance for the briefest of moments.
"Ahm... I'm sure that would be most unnecessary, Charlie dear." adds Alastor. That's a mistake at this point, Alastor. Charlie won't accept that.
"Don't even try to push me to the side. I know what demons are capable of, and right now you two need a pair of eyes on you."
Damn it! Charlie isn't supposed to come! This could become much more cumbersome if she does. Unfortunately, I know that no amount of insistence on our part will persuade her to remain at the hotel, so I decide to take a different course of action:
"I think it would be a great idea, Charlie." I say out loud. Like this I will pretend I'm not bothered by her presence, therefore, she'll think a bit more highly of me. And later I will find a way to get rid of her in the middle of the walk.
"I knew you would see reason, Tanya." she says looking at me with a slight smile.
"Thank you, princess." I can see as Alastor keeps his stare on me. He knows I got a foot ahead of him. Not much, but it's something.
"So, where should we go?" asks the princess.
"Well, for good or bad, I need to repair my flying gear." I answer. "Would you accompany me to see the guys that can repair it?"
"Ahm... why do you need it?" asks Charlie.
"Indeed. WHY do you need it, Tanya?" asks the pernicious smile of Alastor too.
"It's my main way of transport. Besides, if I'm attacked, it's easier to simply fly away from any danger." It's also great to use as a way to maneuver around an enemy and either slit its throat or shoot their vital organs when given the necessity. But of course, these reasons, Charlie wouldn't approve.
"Oh! Ahm... but you have also used it for combat." she says out loud.
"Of course. My life was in danger. In those kinds of cases, anything that may help me survive counts."
"Hmm... I'm not sure."
"Look, Charlie, you can come with me or I can go on my own. I'm gonna get my gear repaired one way or another."
"You're quite stubborn, aren't you?" As an answer I just nod my head, and afterwards, Charlie just lets out a sigh. "Okay. If it's so important to you..."
"Well, since you'll be coming along," began Alastor "there is no point in me refusing your presence, dear princess."
And thus it was decided. Of course, just as we were leaving, I sent out a little message with my phone...
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We three walked out of the hotel. The ambiance was awkwardly silent. Not I cared about it, but I know how other people feel uncomfortable by these things. So, to fill in the blank time:
"So, Charlie, what is your father's opinion on the Hotel?"
"Oh! That... He, doesn't really think that it will work. I hope I can prove it does. That's why I'm putting so much effort in it. Including both of you." she adds with a bitter smile on her face.
Oh, you poor deluded girl. Not everyone wants redemption. Some are too sad*stic in nature like Alastor, and some just have a grudge on creatures like Being X, and won't want redemption just for the sake of it. Of course, I cannot tell her this, so instead...
"Oh, Charlie, you are all too kind." says my smile at her "I hope I can prove to be worthy of your trust."
"Indeed. I hope for the same, Charlie."
"Hey, isn't that Fizzarolli, the famous clown?" I ask out loud.
"Where?" asks Charlie turning her head in the direction I showed.
"Right there! crossing the street! I love his stunts. Could you be a doll and go ask for his autograph?"
"I don't see him anywhere..." adds Charlie.
"It's right there! Oh, no! He's leaving! Please, Charlie, could you go and ask for his autograph? Before he disappears from sight! Please, Charlie, I beg you!" says my pleading eyes.
"Okay, okay. I'll go see if I can find him." says Charlie, and a moment later she has crossed the street.
"Fizzarolli? Seriously?" asks Alastor to me.
"Hey, it was the first thing that came to mind. Now, should we carry on?"
"Hm Hm Hm. After you." And thus Alastor and I continue walking and leave Charlie behind. And just as we turn a corner, we lose track of the princess for now.
Some extra time passes with a comfortable silence between the both of us. But then, finally I see a very fat, red skinned and horned imp appearing and walking right behind us through the corner of my eye. This imp is even taller than Blitz, and he's wearing a light brown long coat around him.
"Good afternoon." says the imp at us "What is an overlord as famous as yourself in these parts of the city, mister Alastor?"
A mugger? An angry relative to one of Alastor's victims? A deranged fan? Or a ruse made by Alastor against me? Whichever the case, I won't be risking myself for this. So, just to be safe, I activate my reflexes and speed spells as my jewel shines. Besides, the presence of this imp is going to interfere with my own plans, since we're still not far enough from Charlie for my own comfort.
"The affairs of an overlord are for the overlord alone. Not for random strangers on the street." says Alastor nonchalantly.
"Or perhaps you've been messing where you shouldn't have. The Vees send their regards!"
And a gunshot is heard as a sudden explosion comes out of the guy's coat. Alastor makes a sudden jump in the air, and then lands back right between me and the guy. Oh... so that's your aim.
I hear another shot, and Alastor has already moved out of the way, leaving the path open for the bullet to reach my position. But I'm pretty sure they were the ones to get the surprise when they noticed that I had already moved out of the way, so the bullet went passed my own previous position, hitting a wall behind.
But it must have been even more surprising for them, when I had already jumped in the direction of the attacker, my flying gear aiding in my impulse, while my blessed-tip knife was in my hand, as I quickly cut the throat of the fat imp, as the impact of my body on him suddenly push him to the ground, from which he won't be getting up ever again.
My emotionless face turns back to look at the radio demon now.
"Seriously, Alastor? This is the best you could have come up with? A fake attack on yourself?"
The red-dressed demon lets out a half-amused laughter. "You're harder to fool than most people would give you credit for. So, I see not reason to keep on pretending..." And with a snap of his fingers, dozens of demons come to the front of the windows of the buildings around.
I suddenly feel a rush of bullets all around me. The shield I activated proved to be my salvation.
All around me I see demons aiming guns and shooting at me. With my flying gear I try to lift myself away from the middle of the firing field. However, it's still not well calibrated, and I find myself colliding with the side of a building, and I find myself forced to land again.
My face is contorted by rage. My flying gear is useless to escape quickly. However, my jewel is not, and I still have my weapons.
With my magic-aided speed and reflexes, I move towards the closest attacker, and with my knife, I prepare to cut his throat, however, I see a black mass appearing right between us, and my hand falls short before striking the mass before me, as I recognize it as one of Alastor's tentacles, with our contract taking effect, since I cannot attack him.
I then feel as the rain of bullets fall on me again, and just to prevent my shield from getting overwhelmed, I'm forced to jump in random directions, to ensure the shooters around won't hit it as often.
I aim my gun at another attacker, and Alastor's black tentacles once more get in the way before I can pull the trigger.
"Neither one of us can directly harm each other." Began Alastor "That doesn't mean that I can't shield someone else from your attacks, Tanya." His face is turned into malicious joy as he announces: "Now, stay still, and die."
My rage invades me again... I just want to have his head mounted on a spike at this point. Well, Alastor, if you want to place your tentacles in my way...
I immediately take out my UZI gun in my left hand, while on my right one I keep my handgun. As I jump through the air, using the bare minimum possible of aid from my flying gear to ensure it won't malfunction, I start shooting at my attackers at random, one after another. Alastor's tentacles manage to cover some of them from my attack, but since I pulled the trigger before he would move his tentacles, then it doesn't count as an attack on him, and his tentacles start getting caught by the explosions.
However, my attacks are so randomly positioned that he cannot foresee where the next attack will fall, and one after another the attackers themselves start getting blown to bits with my bullets.
And yet, my shield finally gets shattered by the rain of bullets. If this keeps up like this, I will end up wasting all of my mana. I have to change the situation in my favor...
As I keep dodging the attacks as best as I can, I whistle loudly with my fingers in my mouth, giving out the signal to the IMP group.
However, Alastor picked up on it, and just as the blessed-tip sniper rifle shot from the rooftop over Alastor's position, his entire body was covered by his tentacles, protecting him from the lethal shot. However, given the extreme power that angelical weapons have, I saw as the tentacle he used to protect himself was destroyed into pieces. I knew that they would be much more effective than normal weapons.
"You, clever bitch!" Yells Alastor as he moves away from the gun fire on him "You knew what I would do?!"
"It wasn't that hard to figure out, Alastor!" I yell in response while trying my best to remain unharmed and slaughter his own hired forces.
A moment later he's moving through the buildings and maneuvering his way upwards while trying to dodge the repeated blasts over him. He's heading towards the rooftop where Blitz must be shooting from... he'll meet with a surprise then.
Meanwhile, I'm working my way through the rain of destructive bullets that keeps chasing me at every location I move to, and manage to make the shooters hit each other with their exchange of bullets by standing between two from time to time. But, much more effective is simply going at them with my own weapons.
But my bullets are already running low, which will eventually leave me with just my knife. But to my surprise and fortune, I see as two figures start moving through the streets beneath me, and wherever they move to, a sudden splash of red is formed. Moxxie and Millie are decimating the attackers wherever they move to.
All the while, I'm moving from window to window, blowing up the bastards that dared attack me, as I climb further up with my flying gear, all just to satiate my curiosity of what will happen between Alastor and Blitz.
I reach a high enough place just in time to see Alastor reaching the rooftop from where Blitz had been shooting him, and as soon as he's there, Blitz has opened fire over the radio demon, this time using the sniper rifle without using the scope, since this close it would be more of a hindrance than an aid.
An instant later, Alastor has moved away from the bullet's path, and then I notice his tentacles moving towards the imp with deadly intentions. But they hit nothing. And an instant later, I hear Alastor's scream of pain when a bullet has encrusted in his shoulder from behind him.
With a certain level of satisfaction I realize that the strategy I suggested is working quite well: Blitz had opened a portal to the building on the opposite side of the street, crossed it before the tentacles would harm him, closed the portal, and shot Alastor from the other side. That would be the only way Blitz would have a chance against Alastor: keeping his distance away while using angelic bullets to maximize the damage.
"Hey Aly!" I call out to the radio demon "How does it feel going after someone that can fold space?!" I can just see the absolute rage behind the smile on his face, as he's forced to move away, just to avoid a second more accurate and deadly shot, and seconds later, his body has merged with the shadows. Is he running away? That doesn't seem like what Alastor would do... sh*t... I know what he'll try to do...
However, before I can process what I'll have to do, I find myself in the need to dodge a new rain of bullets that come my way.
Beneath, I see as the walls of the buildings have gotten streaks of red flowing down the windows. Moxxie and Millie have been massacring the many minions in Alastor's service. For some reason, I can't help but think of Mary Sue when she was chasing me back in the empire: All three imps are doing this with a personal grudge for Loona's life almost being cut short.
And yet, what I feared would happen, has already happened. I notice Blitz falling down from the building on the other side, pushed down by an unexpected set of black tentacles that appeared from behind him. I can't afford the dead of an ally right now, even if Moxxie and Millie have been slaughtering the enemies around, we're still outnumbered. Not to mention that Blitz is the one that can open portals right now. I have no choice, as I plunge down towards the falling imp, and manage to use my flying gear to hold his fall. However, my own momentum, mixed with the sudden addition of his own weight, makes me lose control of the flight for an instant, and a moment later we are both crashing into a window on the building right in front of me, as we both end up rolling on the floor of the room in which we suddenly find ourselves.
Blitz lets out a pained groan as he tries to incorporate. However, I notice through the corner of my eye a shape lifting a gun on his hand, and I'm forced to once again push Blitz with my flying gear out of the way of the bullet.
"You are way harder to kill than what I expected. Especially since I wasn't expecting that you'd have allies." says the figure with the gun, and upon a closer look, I notice that it's a new imp. He's as tall as Blitz, but he's wearing a long-wing hat, and has a white mark on the right side of his face.
Not ten seconds later, and I notice a metal hook and a rope coming through the window, and then the other two imps, Moxxie and Millie are coming through the broken window, and a moment later they are standing in the middle of the room in the middle way between where me and Blitz are standing on one side, while the other imp is standing at the other side of the room. Both recently arrived imps seem ready for combat. Good, between all four of us, this guy has no chance...
"Blitz, are you okay?" asks Mox as soon as he coul.
"Moxxie?" asks the confused face of the new imp to the recently arrived one.
"Dad?" we all hear him say out loud.
"DAD?!" comes out the surprised and suddenly synchronized word in unison from Millie, Blitz, and me.
Well... sh*t...
------------
"Moxxie, what the hell do you think you're doing?" asks the other tall imp in the room.
"I... ah... we were just... ah..."
"Moxxie, is this guy really you father?" asks Millie surprised.
"I... ah..." Mox seems quite distraught by the question.
"Yes, Mox is my son." says the tall imp. "What the hell are you doing here? Are you helping out my target?"
"I... ah... well... I..."
If I'd have to choose how to describe Mox at this moment I would describe him as a stone statue that was supposed to be used as part of a fountain that should be spitting the water out from his mouth, but that never actually was connected to a water source, making him have a permanently gaping mouth, and no movement or purpose whatsoever.
"Moxxie, stand aside." says the threatening voice of the other imp.
But with me and Blitz behind him, moving aside means betraying both his boss, and the friend that saved Loona. But if he doesn't, that means defying his father. A tough decision for someone with a meek character like Mox.
"I... ahm..."
"Moxxie! You're not trying to cross me, are you?! You know what happens to those that try to cross me, don't you?!" yells out the other tall imp.
"D-Dad... p-p-p-please... these are my friends."
"Tough luck, kiddo. In this world you can only survive if you only serve your own purposes. Nobody else's."
In different circ*mstances I might agree with that. Unfortunately, since this guy is targeting me...
"May I say some words." I speak up. "Given the fact that both of you are related, and that I am the supposed target, it seems a bit unfair to let Mox decide this. So, how about a little trade. You and me. One on one. A fair fight." I have no intentions of playing fair with this, but I also know this guy is probably thinking the same. So it would be an equally dirty fight, regardless of what he plans to do.
"I'm not dumb enough to make any soul deals. No matter what." says the tall imp.
"No deal. Just a shootout fight, like in western movies. Right here. Right now. Just you, and me." I'm already charging my reflections and speed spells. No matter what he tries to do, I'm already too boosted in comparison to him.
"Hmm..." I see doubt flash through the imp's eyes. "Your name is Tanya, right?"
"Correct."
"I'm Crimson, leader of the greatest mafia organization in the Ring of Greed. Consider this a courtesy before you die. You get to know who is the one that kills you."
Oh, he shouldn't have told me that... My wide malicious smile is drawn on me again.
"I'm very happy to know that, mister Crimson. Now, what do you say? Do you agree to my proposal?"
I notice as he places his gun on the holster to his right.
"Agreed. Now stand out here, and come meet your death."
In a similar manner, I place my own gun on the holster at my side, and my hand is on it already.
"Please, Tanya... don't." says Moxxie's worried voice to my right.
"Don't worry Mox. I know what I'm doing."
"No, you don't! You don't know how ruthless is my father!"
Hmm... thanks for that information, Moxxie. It is very valuable indeed. Of course I cannot say this out loud, but it will make what happens next much more easy.
"Mox just stay right there and don't speak anymore." I command, even if he isn't obligated to do it. But I know he will obey since he probably doesn't know what else to do. I turn my attention at Crimson again and continue "On the count of three." I say out loud. "We take out our guns, and try to shoot the other to death."
"One... two..." I notice as Crimson already takes out the gun when I'm not even finished counting, but his hand doesn't aim at me, it has a sudden direction change and it aims at Moxxie's position, and it suddenly opens fire.
Nobody expected that, and because of it, Mox receives the gunshot fully in the middle of his chest.
"Moxxie!" yells out Millie as she immediately jumps to aid him.
I immediately shoot at Crimson, but my bullet only reaches his hand, forcing him to drop the gun, and disabling him from using any weapon with it.
"Oh, you motherf*cker!" yells out Blitz with a spike of rage in his voice, as he picks up his weapon and begins shooting at Crimson, but before he could open fire, the other imp is already running out the door.
Blinded by his rage, Blitz goes out of the door and chases Crimson with deadly intentions, and not long after we hear gunshots coming from the building. Meanwhile, Mox has already fallen to the ground, with an open wound on him, while Millie is desperately trying to help him however she can.
"Millie..." whispers Mox as he looks into his wife's eyes filled with tears.
"Moxxie... what do I do?"
"You've done everything..." says Mox, as he's bleeding out. "You made me happy. I couldn't ask for more." His eyes begin flickering, and soon enough he has lost all consciousness.
"Hold the pressure over his wound." I command immediately, as I remove my jacket and prepare to patch him up with it as best I can. "The wound seems severe, but with adequate help he might survive."
"Adequate help? But how? We're in the middle of a battlefield. No ambulance will come anywhere near until the surrounding area is secured."
"I could fly him to a hospital. Similarly to what I did with Loona."
"Y-You would?"
"Of course. So, what do you say? Should I help him?"
"P-Please do..."
"Very well..." I extend my hand and a green light appears on it "I'll do my best to save Moxxie's life, in exchange for your soul. Do we have a deal?"
I see the absolutely astonished expression on Millie's face.
"Y-You... You bitch!" Says her concerned and enraged face.
"I thought that I made it clear on the day of the Harvest Festival. You are not out of the question of striking a deal with me. So, do we have a deal?"
Her face turns from rage into resignation. She knows that I'm her best option at saving Moxxie's life. If she wants him to live... she has to be mine.
With tears in her eyes, she shakes my hand and adds a sobbing "Deal!".
"Great. Here's what is going to happen. I'll pick up Mox, and I'll fly him away. But given the fact that there are still bastards out there trying to hunt for my head, you'll have to cover me. You don't have to necessary kill anyone, but just ensure that I'll be safe enough as I retreat. If I die, so does Mox. Afterwards go look for Blitz, and help him to finish off Crimson if you can. Then get out of here using a portal. Alastor is either still out there, or he has left on his own accord. For now, we can't win against him, given the circ*mstances, so if you can avoid a fight with him do so. Also, keep your mouth shut about the deal we just made. Are we clear?"
"Yes. Just hurry up. Help my Mox."
"I will." I immediately pass Millie my UZI gun, since it won't do me much good while I fly away with Mox.
I pick up the unconscious imp at my feet, conjure a new shield, and get out from the window. My mana is practically over. I just have enough as to control my flight and sustain the shield just enough as to get out from the center of the buildings, while Millie shoots at different windows from where the attackers are shooting me, thus providing further cover form the worse of the bullet's rain on me. And I notice at the distance the angered face of the radio demon, from the top of a building as he stares back at me, knowing that his skim and mine canceled each other out, and neither won over the other... but unknown to him... I may have won a little more than he imagines.
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As soon as I managed to get Mox into a hospital, I sent Blitz a message, and a little more than two hours after I had left the battlefield, the other two imps came to visit him. He was unconscious, but with a couple blood transfusions, and an adequate surgery to remove the bullet, Mox was in his way to make a recovery.
"So, how did it go? With Crimson, I mean."
"He got away." said Blitz. "When I went chasing him, I found many of his minions, and I just couldn't keep up with the bastard. But I managed to get an extra shot on him just before I would be surrounded. Luckily, Millie came to rescue me, told me about you taking Mox to a hospital, and then we simply left."
"You could have used a portal to take Mox to a hospital." I tell him.
"I know. But at the time, I just felt too enraged, and just went chasing down the bastard that shot him."
"Don't worry, I get it. At least everyone of us got out of there alive. Well... I know that Mox is in good hands for now. I'll leave you to watch over him. Oh, and Millie, I'm gonna need a contact phone for you." I add to my new subordinate.
"Ah... Ahm... yeah... I guess so." And soon, she has given me a number to call her whenever I need.
"Okay, good. I will see you soon." I add, and then I leave, since there are still somethings I need to do today.
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The first thing I did, was going to visit Loopty Goopty and Lyle Lipton to fully repair my flying gear. With just a couple of replacement parts and a little over an hour of work, it was good as new. And finally I am back to my full strength. Something I will need for what I'm about to do.
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After that whole sh*tshow of a battle, I knew that Crimson's mafia would have to make a clean up to cover their involvement. However, the skies have already gone dark when I finally returned to the battlefield as I fly above them.
I suspect that Crimson is not going to go to a hospital himself to avoid questions on how he got his hand so badly hurt, and to prevent his location from being tracked. But I know he'll have a personal doctor to call for these cases. So, if I want to find him, I'm gonna have to do so by following one of his minions. Most of the faces I see on the street are unknown, but a couple of them I recognize as some of them were staring at me while they tried to shoot me during the battle of today. It's not that hard to put two and two together, as I discretely follow them as they move through the streets of hell, and they reach a building in the middle of the imp city at the Pride Ring. And I know that here is where Crimson will most likely be.
I fly around the building as hidden as possible, until I finally see my target: Crimson "Im' telling you, Chazwick." I hear the red imp talking to a shak-headed tall and slim creature "I don't know what happened. The shot was supposed to go to the girl, but somehow my hand was aimed to Mox... I didn't mean to shoot at him... I... Don't know what happened."
I make sure that the room is completely empty aside from the two, before I enter through the opened window. And waiting for no further clue, I shoot at the shark-headed demon to the head, killing him instantly, and a moment later, I have used my flying gear, and my knife to cut down Crimson's throat, his leg tendons, and arms, immobilizing him, and with a fatal injury on him.
"Y-You?" he manages to whisper, but before anything else can happen, I have already left through the window again.
In difference to Striker, this guy was a total enemy to me, so he has no right to know why I did this to him.
But the reason is clear: When I had a shoot out with him, I knew he would try to cheat in the gunfight, since he was as selfish as I am. However, I am far more cunning. Since he is Moxxie's father, if he dies, then everything that is his would go, by right, to Moxxie. Which means that now Mox is the main boss of the most important mafia of the Ring of Greed. However, I couldn't just straight up kill him, without Mox developing a certain hatred towards me. Unless of course Crimson would have tried to kill Mox first. So, now Mox is still a friend to me, while a powerful mafia overlord. And in difference to Crimson, Mox has a heart. A heart called Millie. And using her, I can influence Mox. Which means that Alastor inadvertently made me much more powerful.
It's unfortunate that Crimson mentioned the fact that he was trying to aim his gun at me to that random demon. I cannot allow that anybody suspects that I used a vector of force on his hand to aim Crimson's gun at Mox during the shoot out. It would make me look bad in the eyes of Mox and the whole IMP group. So both had to go.
Oh, well... at least I managed to win a little something from this whole thing. I wonder if this would be enough to actually confront Alastor.
I guess I'll have to apologize to Charlie again. But with some luck, she won't be too upset since she didn't see neither me nor Alastor fighting this time around.
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Charlie berated me after my late return to the hotel for getting her worried. But as I suspected, she didn't know anything about the fight between us. All she knew was that there was a gang-war in the street where we were passing and we simply got lost by accident in the middle of the chaos. Good. She doesn't know with certainty.
"Alastor." I saluted to the radio demon that was sitting down calmly at the couch of the living room of the hotel.
"Tanya."
"It seems that today neither of us got what we wanted."
"Apparently so."
"And because of that, I want to propose a truce. A real truce. This time I will word it, to ensure that will actually hold the end of your bargain, since this simply won't work at all if we keep at it."
"Hmm... Very well." says the radio demon calmly.
"Until the end of the month neither one of us will try to attack the other, directly, indirectly, with our direct minions or any other external force or creature." I extend my hand, and offer it to Alastor "Do we have a deal?"
I see as he remains thinking about it for a while, surely to find an opening or a trap. But it's a symmetrical promise, and I left no opening junctures on it. So after a while, he simply shakes my hand and adds "Deal."
Well... at least until the end of the month, Alastor won't be a problem any more. Now, how do I keep growing my influence network?
