Moxxie’s conversation with Luigi stayed with him the next day. Luigi had every reason to be cold and cruel like Crimson…but he let his caring side show. His own son didn’t appreciate him and his wife was missing as well.
Could he bring himself to kill the cherubs and the Sinners? They were rivals, yes, but they were doing what they could to survive in Hell just like him and his group.
“Everything alright, Moxxie?” Millie asked back at headquarters.
“Yeah,” he said. “I did have some nightmares, but they don’t seem as bad this time. Thinking of Luigi’s advice helps.”
“That’s good, sweetie,” said Millie. “Though I’d prefer not to run into any more mafia gangs.”
“Oh look,” Moxxie said as he spotted a large brown package on his desk. He read the label, “To Moxxie, from Blitz. Important I.M.P. Information.”
“Hmm…” Moxxie pondered. “Blitz doesn’t usually send me anything…”
Then he spotted a horse sticker on the side.
Moxxie shrugged. “Maybe he did.”
Millie moved toward the box and heard a faint ringing sound. “That sounds very strange, almost like…”
Millie gasped out loud, her hair stood on end.
Moxxie reached over to open it.
“MOXXIE, LOOK OUT!” Millie cried.
“Whoa…FUCK!” Moxxie yelped.
Millie managed to pull him away from the desk just as…
BOOM!
The package exploded, covering the room in smoke and debris. Moxxie coughed on the floor and helped Millie up.
“You…saved my life,” he breathed. Millie brushed herself off.
Blitzo and Loona rushed into the room.
“The fuck’s going on here?” Blitzo asked.
Millie crept over to the destroyed package and picked up a few wires and a piece of metal.
“A pipe bomb!” she exclaimed. “Someone sent that package to try and kill us!”
“But why was it on my desk, specifically?” Moxxie asked.
“Maybe because it was time for you to be replaced,” Loona teased.
“Hey!”
“It was those cherubs, I bet,” Blitzo scowled. “That’s it. We’re taking down those shitty sheep for good! Let’s go!”
“Fuck yes!” Millie laughed as she brought her weapons.
Moxxie brought his pistol. “This better be worth it.”
“Loona, come!” Blitzo clapped. “You’re with us this time.”
“Finally,” Loona huffed as she followed. The gang stomped down the stairs and headed outside. They found themselves in Infernal Park.
“Keep your eyes peeled,” Blitzo instructed. His hand moved toward his sheathed flintlock pistol at his side. “The moment you see their faces, blast them.”
0 0 0
Barbie stood with bags under her eyes as she halfheartedly listened to the cherubs plot their next plan against I.M.P.
“I’ll try and call anyone associated with Heaven,” Cletus said.
“Shoot them in the heart the moment you see them,” Keenie discussed. “Gerardo will blow up their building on site. Jimmy will lure them into the woods where he and the campers will ambush them. If they get away, Barbie will spike their food and drink with drugs…”
“Guys,” Collin cut in. “Barbie doesn’t look very good.”
He shuddered as he spotted Jimmy and Gerardo. They didn’t look much better either.
Keenie sighed. “You’re talking about a circus imp addicted to drugs, smoking and drinking, a camper on drugs and an alcoholic cannibal monster farmer! OF COURSE THEY DON’T LOOK GOOD!”
“Whatever the case, they’d better be ready to fight those imps. I’m done being on the losing side!” called Cletus.
“None of them look anywhere near ready!” Collin exclaimed. “You’re only stressing them out more.”
Collin flew over to Jimmy. The camper sat against the brick wall, shuddering.
“What’s going on?” Collin asked.
Jimmy’s eyes darted back and forth. “The nightmares…they just keep getting worse. I was being mauled by the bear and Blitzo and Barbie were laughing at me! Then my whole campground was in flames! I can’t do this anymore…”
He sobbed as Collin looked helplessly at him.
“¡Mi esposa… nunca volveré a verla!” (“My wife…I’ll never see her again!”) cried Gerardo.
As for Barbie…
“All this work for nothing! Fucking nothing! I’m stuck trafficking drugs on occasion and Blitzo’s still around!”
Even Paulie looked nervous.
“I really hope the gang doesn’t find me here…”
Collin sighed. “Maybe we should call it quits…”
“Never!” bellowed Cletus. “Get your furry ass in gear and let’s go hunt them down. They’ll pay for their cruel magic tricks!”
“Wait…you guys think I.M.P. is giving Jimmy and Gerardo nightmares?”
“Explains their even more messed up behaviors,” Cletus glared.
“You know demons have powerful magic,” said Keenie.
“But I’ve never seen I.M.P. do anything like that,” Collin mentioned.
“Are you with us or not?”
“Y-yes, Keenie.”
“Then hurry up! Bring the Sinners! And the imp!”
Barbie flipped off Keenie from behind as they headed off.
“I can’t see a bloody thing!” Barbie scoffed as the area grew darker in front of them.
“Aren’t demons supposed to have good eyes for the dark?” Cletus asked.
“Blitzo’s up to his tricks!” Keenie warned.
“Where are we going?” asked Jimmy. “Wait…we’re headed to a park. Infernal Park.”
They all stepped onto the black grass and walked ahead. The trees and surroundings were covered in black and glowing yellow eyes.
“It’s as dark as the woods,” Collin whimpered.
“Not normally this dark,” Jimmy said. “Something’s not right.”
“Everyone,” called Cletus. “Split up into groups. We go in one, two…”
A bullet blasted past him and hit a nearby tree. Cletus yelped as the shadows parted.
Soon, both rival groups were facing each other in the middle of the park. Collin, Keenie, Cletus, Jimmy, Gerardo, Barbie and Paulie…then Blitzo, Moxxie, Millie and Loona.
“It’s the cherubs!” Blitzo called, aiming his weapon. “You’re going to double Hell for giving Moxxie the bomb!”
“What bomb?” asked Barbie.
“Don’t play dumb!” Millie seethed. “You vandalize our office and then think you can get away with trying to kill us from the inside!”
“Shame it didn’t work,” Cletus shrugged.
“So, you admit it, dickhead!” shouted Loona.
“Doesn’t mean I did it,” Cletus answered with a shrug.
“I didn’t do it either!” called Paulie.
“Me neither!” said Jimmy. Gerardo shook his head and folded his arms.
“Liars!” cried Moxxie. “Your revenge acts end now!”
“Your killing company ends now!” Cletus roared. The cherubs and imps briefly morphed into more demonic forms with sharper teeth and claws.
“You imps banished us here and you still kill humans like it’s nothing!” Keenie cried.
“And you ex-angels are very much pains in the ass,” Loona barked. “Blitz, I hope you get paid triple for killing these assholes.”
“You imps made my head explode!” Jimmy growled.
“¡Me mataste y maldijiste a mis cabras!” (“You killed me and cursed my goats!”) Gerardo roared.
“You cast a dark spell on Jimmy and Gerardo!” Collin added. “Not to mention this black magic around us…”
“THAT’S NOT US!” Millie said with a worried look. “I DON’T KNOW WHERE THIS SHIT CAME FROM!”
“OH SURE, LIKE WE’D BELIEVE CHARLATAN MURDEROUS SCUM LIKE YOU!” Cletus fired back.
“AND BLITZ!” Barbie stomped forward at the same time as her twin brother.
“What, now, Barb?” Blitzo folded his arms. “Losing your drug trafficking job too much for you?”
“If you hadn’t butted in on Earth, we wouldn’t be in this mess right now.”
“Sure,” Blitzo spoke with venomous sarcasm. “And instead of listening to me and staying safe, you ran off again!”
“Because I don’t want to see you again!” Barbie snapped. “After what you did to Mama and Fizz and me…being so cocky and ignorant all the time…”
“I only followed you because I was worried,” Blitzo replied, hands in fists. “And Mama’s death and Fizz’s burns WAS AN ACCIDENT!”
The cherubs huddled together as the distorted demonic sounds around them grew. The wind blew and the roars from the shadows grew. The twins argued some more in louder voices.
“YOU STILL MADE THEM HAPPEN!”
“PAPA MESSED WITH YOUR HEAD! MADE YOU TURN AGAINST ME BECAUSE HE ALWAYS HATED ME!” Blitzo stamped his foot.
“MAMA LOVED ME JUST AS MUCH AS SHE DID YOU! WHERE WERE YOU AFTER I LEFT THE CIRCUS, BLITZ?” Barbie went on. “WHERE WERE YOU WHEN I WAS STUCK IN REHAB?”
“PAPA WOULDN’T LET ME ANYWHERE NEAR YOU OR FIZZ!” Blitzo clenched his teeth. “I TRIED TO REACH YOU…”
“BUT YOU WERE STUCK IN YOUR GUILT AND YOUR LOVE FANTASIES FOR FIZZ…”
“I’M WITH STOLAS NOW, OKAY?” Blitzo called. Then he smirked and said over the growing noise, “AND I HAVE YET TO HEAR ABOUT YOUR EPISODES WITH VEROSIKA…”
“SHUT UP!”
“Guys…” Collin trembled. “Now would be a good time to leave…”
He darted away and zoomed toward the buildings across the street. Suddenly, black tentacles rose from the ground and blocked his way.
“YIKES!”
“What’s going on…?!” Jimmy cried, swiping away tentacles coiling by his feet.
“AAHHH!” Keenie screamed as a tentacle wrapped around her waist and dragged her down.
“Keenie!” Cletus yelled. He knocked an arrow and fired at the mass of black, but it was no use. He flew upward, but another tentacle slapped him hard in the chest, making him fly down into the mass. He strained to fly back up.
He turned to the imps. “YOU’RE DEAD!”
Millie was about to leap at Cletus but screamed as a force knocked her onto her stomach and pulled her backwards.
Paulie then screamed as a vision appeared before him…the angel statue crushing him on Earth. As he saw the scene replay, he spotted someone behind the statue.
“Wait a minute…”
Moxxie shuddered. “EVERYONE STAY TOGETHER! DON’T ATTACK EACH OTHER! JUST FOCUS ON GETTING OUT OF…ACCKK!”
Paulie crept up from behind and held Moxxie in a chokehold.
“Nice going, Sinner!” Keenie grinned evilly, straining to avoid the tentacles.
“Moxxie!” Blitzo bellowed, aiming his pistol at Paulie. “LET HIM GO, PORK-ASS!”
Paulie laughed evilly.
“You can’t kill me, Blitzo,” Paulie smirked. “I’ll just respawn. This pipsqueak on the other hand…”
Loona charged toward Paulie but Gerardo blocked the way. Chupacabra and Hellhound growled as the walls of darkness pulsed around them.
Paulie glared at Moxxie as he struggled to break free. “So you’re the one who knocked the angel statue onto me! Can’t believe I was killed by some red-faced freak. Well, at least I’ll get my money’s worth in the new mafia now!” He laughed evilly.
“Money’s worth…mafia…” Blitzo pondered, then gasped. “Wait…Crimson! Crimson sent you to kill his son, didn’t he?! You planted the pipe bomb in Moxxie’s office!” Paulie nodded.
“So he is a con and an assassin!” gasped Collin.
Moxxie shuddered under Paulie’s grip.
“Smart little freak, aren’t youse?” Paulie snorted. “Yeah, we met in one of his other hideouts in Pride before I joined the sheep trio. I met him on a solo mission to obtain a red diamond ring for myself. We both wanted it without getting caught…turns out it broke before we could steal it. Back at his place, I told him about my crew trying to beat I.M.P. He knew who they were. He sensed I was in the mafia and told me how Moxxie betrayed the family by leaving.”
His yellow-red eyes gleamed. “Crimson told me, ‘if you kill my former son, I’ll pay you triple!’”
Millie crawled on her hands and knees and sliced off the tentacles around her legs. She stood up with shaking legs and brandished her axe.
“I DON’T THINK SO, PIG!” Millie shouted in rage. As Moxxie began to still, Millie landed a powerful kick to Gerardo’s gut, sending him backwards. Paulie almost landed the final blow, but one leap from Loona onto his back sent him stumbling.
“Get off, mutt!” Paulie bellowed, but Loona bit hard into his head, forcing him to let go of Moxxie. He slid to the ground, but Millie caught him.
“Millie,” Moxxie sighed.
“Thank Satan,” Millie breathed in relief. Moxxie recovered and aimed his pistol.
Paulie roared and rushed toward Moxxie. “I’M GONNA BE FILTHY RICH!”
“NOT TODAY, GABAGOOL!” Moxxie seethed. Loona punched Gerardo in the face and knocked him away. Paulie tripped over the flying chupacabra and face-planted into the grass.
BANG!
Moxxie struck Paulie in the leg and spoke with a mafia throaty accent.
“Tell daddy your mission has failed…and don’t ever come back!”
Loona picked up Paulie and tossed him high into the air. Paulie screamed and fell outside the shadowy maze. He landed with a hard face-plant onto the ground. He groaned and lay on his back. “Heh, I’m out! I’m out! Good riddance ya…uh…oh…” A shadow fell over him and he froze.
“F-father?!” Paulie squeaked. “H-how’d you get here so fast?”
Luigi picked up his son by the collar. “Saw the commotion and I.M.P. fightin’. Tommy really is a good tracker.” Tommy nodded next to him.
He pulled Paulie into a hug. “I…missed you so much, my boy.”
Paulie stood frozen in shock.
Then Luigi shoved him to the ground.
“Word is youse wanted me dead on Earth to take my place. And you been workin’ with Crimson to kill an imp I just happen to know.”
Luigi dropped rope and cement blocks with thuds next to Paulie. Before he could react, Luigi had tied the blocks to both of his son’s feet.
“Looks like youse got some explainin’ to do…”
“NOOOOO!” Paulie cried as his father dragged him away toward Brimstone Lake.
0 0 0
“Way to go, Mox!” Blitzo cheered.
“Well,” Moxxie smiled, back in the maze. “Guess everything will be alrig…”
He yelped as a tentacle pulled him away.
“Moxxie, NO!” Loona gasped, stumbling in the dark. More group members were being pulled into the darkness. Screams echoed and faded until Barbie and Blitzo were left.
Malicious demonic laughter surrounded them from every direction.
Both of them huddled close together in fright, too scared to argue.
Then a dark distorted voice spoke into their heads.
“So, the amazing imp twins and two rival companies squabble over the fates of mortal morsel humans! Now that’s quite a show to drool over!”
Blitzo screamed as a face peered at him from the dark.
“Hello again, Blitzo.”
The infestor demon from the One Star Wonder was covered in harsh black scars on his pale gray/teal skin from being electrocuted almost to death in the hotel pool. His fin ears were torn, his head was now bald, his red glasses and glowing yellow eyes were gone. Empty black sockets appeared in his face over rows of sharp curved teeth and a long yellow tongue. Rolando’s deformed features made him even more terrifying.
“It can’t be…” Blitzo breathed. “You were killed on Earth!”
Blitzo saw flashes of a wounded Rolando crawling out of the pool, moving through pipes and brushing his indigo Leviathan crystal on his wrist to appear back in Pride.
“I almost didn’t make it thanks to you and that hick. I was starving when I got to Pride, blind and weak. But I still fed on as much fear and hatred as I could. I can sense the energies of my victims anywhere.”
He licked his lips, “and oh boy, the guilt that you were hiding, that all your associates kept inside made you quite easy to sniff out. One nightmare for I.M.P. Several more for the Sinners. Your fights between C.H.E.R.U.B. and I.M.P. were so delicious to watch...and helped with my strength. With the combined traumas of all of you…let’s just say my feast of a lifetime will be sweet revenge for me and JUST DESSERTS for you!”
Barbie and Blitzo screamed again as Rolando laughed and closed in.
0 0 0
Collin shuddered as he tried to navigate through the darkness. There was no sign of his colleagues anywhere.
“Cletus? Keenie? Where are you?”
He inched forward and flinched as a tentacle nearly caught his hoof.
“I…I can do this…” he muttered. “Keenie and Cletus are counting on me. Jimmy and Gerardo are in trouble. I shouldn’t be afraid. I’m a demon now for fuck’s sake. Ahh! Why the fuck am I cursing?! Oh, I’m committing way too many sins right…huh?”
Two figures appeared in the distance.
Collin crept forward and spotted Cletus and Keenie with their backs turned.
“There you guys are!” He hurried over. “Forget about the imps. Let’s just find the Sinners and get somewhere safe. We have to…”
Cletus turned around and Collin reeled back in fright. Cletus had a blank doll-like face and black empty sockets.
“C.H.E.R.U.B. has no need for someone so weak.”
“W-what?”
Keenie turned around and her face was misshapen and almost looked like it was melting. She spoke in a distorted voice as she stalked toward him zombielike.
“With someone so pathetic like you, it’s no wonder we ended up down in Hell!”
Collin shook and tears flowed down his face. “I…I didn’t mean to! I fought I.M.P. with you.”
“You’ve always been a burden to our company, Collin,” distorted Cletus sneered. “You don’t deserve Heaven and you don’t deserve to be with us!”
“NOO! STOP IT!” Collin cried, covering his eyes. He stumbled as he raced away from them. He looked back and screamed as Cletus and Keenie conjured black shadowy arrows and fired some at him. He dodged and ducked as he turned corners, trying to get away.
Within the pulsing maze walls, he saw visions of Keenie slapping him in the face and yelling, “Get a hold of yourself, Collin, and do NOT use the Lord’s name in vain!” Collin saw himself buried in endless paperwork while Cletus and Keenie basked in praises from their clients. Collin was always the sacrificial lamb shoved forward in front of bears, wolves or angry mobs to try and save humans.
“Maybe Keenie and Cletus don’t care about me at all,” he thought.
“Why don’t you stay in Hell and join the demon filth you love so much?” Cletus and Keenie chorused as they followed him. “You know you’re just useful bait!”
“STAY AWAY!” he yelled. As he continued, he heard a familiar scream.
Keenie was backed into a corner, her legs wrapped in tentacles. She turned her face away and clenched her eyes shut.
Deerie grinned menacingly at her with sharp teeth and red eyes. “Keenie, you meanie!” she cooed in an eerie tone. “This is what happens when you fail at a simple mission. Yeah, no, no, you’ll never go back to Heaven! You cherubs aren’t even worthy enough to serve Winners!”
“Shut up! STOOOPP!” Keenie screamed.
“KEENIE!” Collin bellowed.
Keenie turned. “Collin, help!”
Deerie growled. “Stay outta this, shrimp!”
Collin panted as he spotted Cletus and Keenie knocking their arrows.
“DON’T HURT US!” he begged.
“Collin, get a hold of yourself!” Keenie spoke up. “They’re not real! I’m right here!”
Collin buried his face in his hands. “But I am a failure. I-I don’t belong at C.H.E.R.U.B.!”
“Fuck that! Just get your wooly ass over here and get me out!”
Collin folded his arms and paused.
Keenie hung her head. “I-I’m sorry for being such a bitch to you and the Sinners, okay? You’ll always have a place with us with or without our company. I…I really need your help right now.”
Collin smiled.
“Time to die, loser!” mocked Cletus.
Collin growled and blinked back tears. “I don’t think so.”
He opened his mouth…and for once, he was thankful for his sharp demonic teeth. He carefully chewed through the vines, freeing Keenie’s legs.
Keenie dodged the black arrows and with a “Hi-yah!” she kicked her illusionary counterpart in the air. The Keenie cried out and fell to the ground before melting away into shadow. Collin whirled around and punched Deerie in the face again and again with his hooves.
“Failure…outcast…eternal demon….” Deerie sputtered, but Keenie joined in.
“THIS IS FOR C.H.E.R.U.B., BITCH!”
Keenie unsheathed her sharp claws and sliced the deer angel’s head clean off. It rolled onto the ground before stopping by their feet. It grinned with a “Noooo, noooo,” before fading into shadow. Cletus roared from above before vanishing as well.
Keenie and Collin caught their breaths.
“You…you saved me,” Keenie gasped.
“Thank heavens you’re okay,” Collin sniffed. Without thinking, he pulled her into a hug. She didn’t push away…she just sighed and briefly closed her eyes before parting.
“Nice ass-kicking,” she grinned. “You know, you’re not half-bad. For a guy who did paperwork for a living.”
Collin let out a small smirk. “There’s the Keenie I know.”
They held each other’s cloven hoof-like hands.
“Hurry,” said Keenie. “We have to find Cletus!”
“And Jimmy and Gerardo and Barbie,” Collin reminded her.
“Yeah, them too.”
The two of them flew ahead, dodging tentacles and ignoring the creepy sounds around them.
0 0 0
Cletus sobbed as he saw horrible visions of his company building in Heaven bursting into flames. The golden harp structure crumbled, and Cletus barely avoided the falling debris. Off to the side, he saw Deerie scribbling on her clipboard with a look of disproval.
Cletus screamed when he saw Blitzo leering down at him with glowing yellow eyes.
“Your entire company is a joke and a failure. Humanity doesn’t deserve to be saved. They deserve murder and damnation, just like you!”
Cletus tried to attack, but dark tentacles held his legs and wings in place.
“Leave us alone, Blitzo!” He struggled to break free. “We’re not giving up, just because you cost us our jobs!”
“You did that on your own, crybaby!” Blitzo laughed in a distorted voice. “You let Lyle Lipton die. You formed your company out of desire and desperation for approval from your heavenly peers. Because of you, all three of you are trapped in Hell forever.”
Blitzo leaned in closer. “And now you’ll meet a grisly end from I.M.P.!”
Cletus sobbed as the imp laughed.
Just then, he spotted the real Blitzo dart off to the side, firing at tentacles with his weapon. Blitzo turned to Cletus.
“That’s not me, asshole,” he mentioned. “I hate to say it, but we might have to work together to get out of this shit.”
Cletus hated to admit it, but he was right.
He looked back at the imp illusion after Blitzo left.
“You’re…you’re not real! I’m not letting my new friends down.”
“Friends? You hate Sinners and demons! Your new ‘friends’ know of your identity and prejudice! They’ll never trust you nor your leadership.”
“Well…MAYBE I’VE CHANGED!”
Cletus burst free from his bonds and sliced through Blitzo, who vanished in shadow.
“Hold on, Collin and Keenie, I’m coming!”
He raced forward. He folded his hands in prayer and muttered, “I hope everyone else is okay, too. Even Blitzo.”
0 0 0
Jimmy screamed and ran for his life as a giant black bear roared and thundered down the path after him. The satyr Sinner also found himself dodging stripped firecracker rockets trying to blow up his head. The rocket narrowly missed him and disappeared into the mass of tentacles and shadows making up the maze wall. But more rockets appeared every time the bear roared.
“MAKE IT STOP, MAKE IT STOP!” he cried as he leapt over more tentacles and maneuvered around corners.
“Collin, Keenie! I could use some help!”
No help was in sight.
Jimmy panted and skidded to a dead end. The bear roared and stomped at the ground. He heard a horrific voice speak into his head.
“You’re a drug-addicted murderer and a geek. You’re so pathetic, even a lowborn imp treated you like dirt.”
“Her name’s Barbie!” Jimmy said to the bear. “And I manage to survive in Hell.”
“Barbie doesn’t care about you. The cherubs don’t care about you, no one does. All you do is sing silly camp songs and get hooked on heroin.”
“S-so what?” Jimmy trembled. “My summer camp kids love me. I might be…a nobody in the middle of nowhere, but…life in Hell isn’t so bad.”
“Is that so, Jimmy?”
The bear vanished and Rolando morphed from shadow, standing before him. He strolled closer and Jimmy cowered.
“Maybe double Hell would be more miserable for you!”
“Ha!” Jimmy roared. “I’ll just respawn, fish-face! Those cherubs and imps will stop you, we’ll get out of this maze and I won’t see you ev…uh…uhaaahhh…!”
Rolando held up something that made Jimmy nearly pass out: an angelic spear!
He showed his sharp teeth in an evil grin. “You’re right, you won’t see me again, nor anyone else for that matter. Goodbye, unhappy camper.”
Jimmy screamed as Rolando lifted the spear high over his head, about to lower it.
ROAAARRRR!
Rolando whirled around at the sound. Jimmy uncovered his face and peered ahead.
It wasn’t a bear this time.
A dark fierce beast with red eyes, horns, goat hooves, spikes along his back and sharp teeth reared his head like a ravaging bull. He charged at full speed toward them.
Judging by Rolando’s shocked face, Jimmy figured this wasn’t part of his haunted maze.
A tentacle took hold of the spear and tossed it toward the beast’s forehead!
But the spear was broken in half with a strong headbutt and a stomping of hooves from the beast. Rolando glared as he vanished into shadow. The beast skidded to a stop in front of Jimmy.
Jimmy thought it was the end until…
“Cien pesos, por favor.” His breath smelled of tequila.
Jimmy’s face brightened. “Gerardo! Gracias, gracias!”
Gerardo snorted and morphed back down to his regular demon form.
“That…was one scary chupacabra!” Jimmy breathed. “Well done!”
Gerardo grinned and mentioned for Jimmy to follow. The two Sinners navigated the maze, searching for signs of the cherubs and the imps. Gerardo sliced at the tentacles and kept them at bay while Jimmy called for his friends.
“Collin! Cletus! Keenie! Where are you guys?”
Gerardo gasped as he heard sobbing. He paused and turned right. Jimmy crept behind him. The sobbing grew louder. Gerardo stopped and looked down in horror. His wife was on her knees, wailing at Gerardo’s dead mutilated body, windmill blades stuck in his back.
“¡Mi amor, soy yo, soy yo!” (“My love, it’s me, it’s me!”)
Gerardo put a hand on his wife’s shoulders and frantically shook her. She turned around and Blitzo’s laughing face appeared instead of her own. “Eres un borracho.” (“You’re a drunk.”) “Eres un perdedor codicioso.” (You’re a greedy loser.”)
Gerardo screamed and cried, reeling back. Jimmy steadied him. “It’s not real, Gerardo. Let’s go.”
Jimmy used his strength to push Gerardo away. He cried and struggled but soon calmed down when it was clear.
Just then, they heard footsteps moving closer in their direction. Gerardo growled and Jimmy braced himself.
Millie turned the corner and almost ran into them.
“ACK!”
“OH SHIT!”
Jimmy gasped. “An imp from I.M.P.! Look out!”
Millie faltered and held up her hands. “Look, I ain’t gonna hurt you guys. I’m so glad I found you. Moxxie and Loona are in trouble!”
“How do you know this is not a trap?” Jimmy glared. “Why should we trust you?”
“The truth is…you don’t,” Millie admitted. She sliced apart more tentacles trying to separate them. “Nothin’s gonna stop Blitz from killing humans and trying to pay the bills. He hates C.H.E.R.U.B. but right now, I gotta help my colleagues and find a way outta this labyrinth!”
“Well, we can’t disagree there,” Jimmy said. “We’ll help you! Just…please don’t tell Cletus or Keenie or…”
“Oh, I already told Collin,” Millie smiled as Collin hovered behind her. “But he doesn’t seem to mind. He wants out as much as we all do.”
“Where’s Keenie?” Jimmy asked.
“Went to look for Cletus,” Collin shrugged. “Said it’d be faster if we split up.” He smiled. “Guess I was right about the ‘everyone working together’ part. Don’t tell Keenie or Cletus.”
“Won’t tell Blitzo, either,” said Millie. “I don’t think Moxxie will mind. Loona though…” she sighed. “She’s very much a lone wolf. Or a lone Hellhound at that.”
“Lead the way,” Jimmy said as the group followed. Millie briefly flinched at bad memories projecting at her: her struggling to feed her family, feeling left out over her brothers, almost losing Moxxie, being treated cruelly by her ex-Overlord back when she was a freelance assassin.
“We’re with you, Millie,” Collin held her hand. “Just keep going. Your friends need you.”
Millie took deep breaths and bravely led the way.
They burst into a larger area of the maze. Moxxie screamed in a mess of tentacles as an apparition of his father Crimson stood over him.
“You’re not my son, you pussy! You left this family, you’re an utter disgrace. You’ll join your mother soon enough…”
“NOOO!” Moxxie screamed.
Millie yelled and sliced through the Crimson illusion. She broke Moxxie’s bonds and pulled him into a tight hug. He sobbed and shook in her arms.
“Shh, baby, it’s okay. I’m here. We’ll get through this.”
Collin came over and hugged Moxxie, too. Moxxie looked over. “What the…?”
“It’s alright,” Millie said. “The cherubs and Sinners will help us escape.”
Cletus and Keenie came into the clearing and spotted Collin with Moxxie and Millie.
Keenie’s jaw nearly hit the ground. “I don’t believe…”
“Shut it, Keenie!” Collin snapped, stunned at his sudden courage. “You both will be nice to the Sinners and I.M.P. while we try and escape this maze!”
Cletus and Keenie folded their arms but didn’t argue. Collin couldn’t help but notice their faces relax when they spotted Jimmy and Gerardo standing nearby, unharmed.
“He’s right,” Millie added, holding Moxxie’s hand. “I’ve fought this infestor demon before. He uses your traumatic memories and fears against you. The only way out is overcoming our fears together.”
A frightened howl came from a dark corner, along with menacing laughter from the infestor demon.
“Your traumas…just as numerous as Blitzo’s and Barbie’s if not more! Let’s start with you. You’ll be a tasty treat, mutt!”
Moxxie shuddered and pointed ahead. “T-then somebody better help Loona!”
