WARNING: The following contains graphic violence, strong language, sexual themes, disgusting mentions of and activities with vomit, as well as rampant demon horniness... so yes, it's intended for mature audiences.

VIEWER/READER DISCRETION IS ADVISED!

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3rd Person POV

"Hmmmm..." Ayden hummed a bit as she was starting to wake up from her second night sleeping in her insanely comfortable bed-

"Mhm!"

Only to come face-to-face with Millie staring at her intently with her head on her hands and her elbows propped up on her bedside before she asked,

"Sleep good?"

"Yeh...?" Ayden responded, slightly unnerved at the possibility that she'd been there the whole night as she discreetly scooched away so she could get out of bed to get dressed for the day in her private bathroom.

After picking out a choker-style crop top that was dark maroon with a black shooting stars pattern on the front and some frayed edge blue shorts with a pleated asymmetrical ripped light gray skort over it, Ayden changed, did her hair, laced some gray punk leg straps around her knees and calves, and clasped her choker back around her neck, taking a moment to touch the gemstones as she remembered her siblings were no longer inside of her but were now occupying her separated hellcat form that she could no longer shapeshift into.

"Crazy..." She commented to herself before opening the bathroom door to see Millie there with her new phone in hand as she told her,

"Via texted you."

"Ok...? Thanks...?" Ayden took her phone with a disturbed look on her face as she headed for the kitchen where Moxxie was already seated at the table with a plate of eggs and bacon in front of him and Jin was on the seat next to him as they were lapping at a small mug of milk.

"Did Millie watch over me all night?" Ayden asked as she grabbed her mug from the cupboard along with a plate to serve herself.

"Wait she went back?" Moxxie questioned in disbelief.

"'Back?'"

"I caught her in there around midnight but I told her she needed to give you some space."

"Welp.. thanks for tryin'..." Ayden told him with a shrug as she sat down and started eating while texting Via back her thoughts about her outfit for the day.

Jin brushed their tail over Ayden's thigh to connect so Einar could tell her,

'She is only worried about you...'

"Yeh I know but still.." Ayden tried to reason but trailed off so he added,

'Maybe discuss adding some boundaries?'

Before another voice, a feminine one this time, butted in,

'''At's neva gonna sort out, jus' tell'er off what's the worst ta happen?'

"Still haven't gotten used'ta all o' ya in the'e..." Ayden commented mildly and Moxxie side whispered to her,

"Me either... It's like trying to talk to five people at once..."

'Actually there are twenty-seven of us in here...'

Ayden choked on her drink when Einar's voice clarified that and sputtered,

"Tw-e-nty sev-ven?!"

"Need this?"

A napkin was placed in her outstretched paw and she took it with a nonchalant 'thanks' to wipe her mouth before realizing Millie was right behind her and exclaiming,

"Millie!"

"Millie, we talked about this," Moxxie reminded her with a hand pinching the bridge of his nose, "We can't be following her everywhere."

"Or can we?" Millie questioned slyly, making Ayden and Moxxie both give her matching deadpan expressions before waving a hand to say, "Pft I'm just playin' around."

"I really hope so..." Ayden muttered before scooping the last strip of bacon off her plate into her mouth so she could put her dishes in the sink, grabbing the rubber gloves so she could wash them without getting hurt from the water when Millie told her,

"Look I'll prove it, I'll handle this while you go out and do something fun by yourself since we've got the day off from work."

"Really?"

"Really?"

Ayden and Moxxie spoke one after the other and Millie nodded before shooing Ayden,

"Now go on git before I change my mind."

"Ok." Ayden shrugged before putting the gloves back so she could grab her satchel from the coat rack by the door, and lace her Glock holster around her waist and thigh before calling, "C'mon Jin, I'll show ya 'round."

"Mrow!" Jin meowed before finishing up their milk and grabbing the handle in their mouth to take it over to Millie as well before running to follow Ayden out the door as she waved to them saying,

"We'll be back la'er!"

Before closing the door behind them and Millie got to washing the dishes as she spoke fondly,

"It's like we've got two kids now..."

"Or technically twenty-eight." Moxxie corrected as he finished his coffee and bluntly asked her, "Now be honest; are you going to try to follow them later when I'm not looking?"

"Nooooo..." Millie dragged out suspiciously making Moxxie arch an eyebrow so she admitted, "I'm gonna track them wherever they go."

"And how did you manage to do this incredibly not-so-thought-out and frankly Blitzø-level rash move?"

"Funny you should mention him," Millie told him as she finished the dishes and went to sit next to Moxxie, pulling out her phone to show him while explaining, "He showed me this app that allows parents to track their kids' whereabouts and can even send'em reminders to be home soon."

A look at Millie's phone screen revealed an icon of Ayden's face as she was shown running down the street.

"And she agreed to download this app?" Moxxie asked dubiously and Millie waved it off with a flippant,

"Agreed, disagreed, did it without her knowing while she was in the bathroom changing, what difference does it make?"

"Honey, I know you're worried about letting her go out by herself after what happened last time," Moxxie put a hand to push Millie's phone down to the table so he could gently hold her hands as he tried to reason, "But the more you try to hold onto her, the more she's going to try to pull away and maybe be reckless in doing so..."

"I know I know..." Millie finally let her overly eager grin drop to a worried expression as she admitted, "I was the same when I was a teen... I'm just worried that.. what if the next time he comes around.. she'll be gone for good..."

As soon as Striker was indirectly mentioned, Moxxie's own hands tightened around Millie's as he told her,

"When it eventually comes, we'll be ready this time to put that fucker so far into the ground he'll never resurface again..."

The two sat in silence for a few seconds before Millie asked,

"You know I'm still gonna track her?"

"As long as you don't start stalking her, I'll look the other way..." Moxxie agreed with a rueful smile and they both nuzzled their heads together.

A look at Millie's phone revealed Ayden's icon at a Pentabux and, with her and Jin, they were seen walking out with Ayden holding a Hell-equivalent nitro cold brew drink in her paw while Jin was on her shoulders with their tail flicking lazily as they asked,

'So demons are willing to pay 15 Souls for these drinks because they think things that are part of a corporate name brand will be better than having to make it themselves?'

"Pre'y much."

'And you participate in this system, why?'

"Cause of all the things Mox's made b'fore, I've yet ta see'im make a nitro cold brew as good as this." Ayden took a sip from her drink and let a pleasant chill run through her body as the caffeine worked its magic.

*BVV-VVV!*

A vibration from her pocket made Ayden pull out her phone to see she had a message from Via, who was with her mom,

*Hey, just heard my dad got out of the hospital, think you could check on him really fast?*

Ayden raised a brow before texting back,

*Sure*

*He not answering ya or something?*

There were some bubbles as Via texted back,

*No he is*

*He just doesn't tell me a lot*

*Doesn't want me to worry or whatever*

Ayden gave a knowing smirk at that as she responded,

*I know how that is*

*Sorta*

*I'll drop by real quick*

A thumbs-up reaction from Via made Ayden smile as she pocketed her phone and looked around before ducking into an alleyway.

'Where are we going?' Jin asked, reminding Ayden they were still with her.

"Oh right..." Ayden stopped mid-motion to open a portal on the alley wall, not knowing if she'd be able to take them with her.

As if sensing her hesitation, Einar's voice spoke up,

'We are technically occupying one of your forms, so we should be able to pass through as well.'

'C'mooon let's give it a try!' Another, deeper, voice piped up.

"'Ight then.." Ayden reached out and drew the pentagram to circle it and open a portal with the Goetia mansion in the near distance and she braced herself as she muttered, "'Ere we go..."

She winced as she stepped through the portal and was surprised to see both she and Jin made it through alright before it closed behind them.

"Huh well that wo'ked." Ayden shrugged before checking on Jin, "Ya su'e yer all good?"

'Yes.' 'Yep.' 'Totally.'

Satisfied, Ayden started walking up to the mansion and Jin jumped down from her shoulders before they both arrived at the front door so she could ring the bell.

One of Stolas's butlers opened it to greet her with a posh,

"Greetings. How can I help you?"

"Uh hey, is Stolas home?"

"He is but I'm afraid he is in no position for your lessons today so if you'll-" He started to explain but then Stolas's voice was heard from inside,

"Who's there?"

"The feline demoness but-"

"Oh for Heaven's sake let her in and please go tend to the plants."

The butler rolled his eyes a bit before stepping to the side to let her in with a flourish before closing the door and leaving to attend to the task he was given.

Ayden looked around the foyer before seeing Stolas descending from the stairs to greet her with a surprised,

"Ayden I wasn't expecting..."

"'Ta see me again,' sorry ta disappoint teach." Ayden snarked wryly making Stolas panic,

"Nonono I didn't mean-"

"Pft seriously? Yer still fallin' fer that?" Ayden chuckled before telling him earnestly with a small smile, "But se'iously, I'm glad ta see ya made it outta the'e too."

Stolas let out a small sigh of relief before admitting,

"Thankfully..."

Before his attention was caught by Jin sitting by Ayden's feet so he asked while kneeling down and holding out a hand for them to sniff,

"And who is this little one?"

"Via hasn't told ya?" Ayden asked as Jin let Stolas pet their head while he answered,

"Well she mentioned you were still alive and that you could no longer shapeshift but not much else."

"Welp short version; when Strike' stabbed me in the hea't with the angel knife-"

"He what?!" Stolas exclaimed with his pupils appearing in his lower eyes for a few seconds from the shock but Ayden just kept going,

"He jus' sep'rated my siblin's from my body since they we'e in the'e from the last time I faced my dad and they took my hellcat fo'm so I can't change into it 'nymo'e."

"Well that was certainly... unexpected..."

"I'll say..." Ayden put a paw on her hip while the other mindlessly scratched at the right side of her forehead and Stolas's gaze went to the new scar he recognized from the first time Striker sprayed her with the pure catnip spray and she nearly knocked herself out from hitting her cage too hard and his pupils reappeared making Ayden ask, "Uh ya alright o'-"

Before she was seized in a hug from the tall owl demon that made her jolt a bit before commenting,

"I shoul' be used ta this by now but nope."

"I'm sorry.." Stolas let her go to admit, "I had thought for sure you perished when Via came to visit and told me you'd been.. killed..."

"Well y'know what mo'tals say, 'cats have nine lives.'"

"That certainly seems true in this instance." Stolas chuckled a bit before straightening back up and Ayden saw he was dressed to leave with his hat in his hands so she spoke up,

"Sorry, we'e ya 'bout ta leave o' somethin'?"

"Oh! Yes, I have a meeting to attend at noon." Stolas looked down at his phone for the time before he perked back up to ask, "However, while you're here, do you think I could implore you for a favor?"

"Uhh su'e?"

"Follow me." Stolas gestured with a hand and she and Jin followed as they headed for the kitchen where, right away, Ayden's ears started to twitch from the scritching of tiny talons and some squeaks were heard from the walls.

"What's gotten up in yer walls?" Ayden put an ear to one and the sound of squeaks was amplified while Jin sniffed the air and their fur puffed up in anticipation.

"There's been a rather bothersome rodent infestation for the past few days. Normally I'd hire someone to take care of it but-"

"You've been kinda outta it this past week?"

"Yes."

"Su'e, Jin'n I'll handle it, fer a price."

"Of course."

"Half the rats we catch and fo'ty five Souls."

"You can take three-quarters of the ones you catch and thirty Souls."

"I'll take it." Ayden shrugged before noticing the clock in the kitchen and telling him, "Ya might wanna head out now."

"Oh! Thank you!" Stolas hooted in surprise before pulling his hat on and leaving while saying, "Help yourselves to anything in the pantry if you'd like."

Before disappearing out the door so Ayden clapped her paws together and noted,

"Cool." Turning to Jin as she asked, "Job fi'st o' snacks fi'st?"

Out of nowhere a large black rat with glowing bulbous red eyes scurried out from a floor cupboard and Jin pounced on it before biting its neck to kill it as they meowed slightly muffled,

"Mrow!"

"Agreed." Ayden nodded as she walked over to a wall to hold her ear up to it and listen,

*CHT* *CHT* *CHT* *CHT*

As soon as she heard the chittering from within, she gave Jin a nod that they returned before she repeatedly pounded her fists against the wall to scare them all out into the open.

For a little while, Ayden and Jin both worked together to hit the walls or yowl loudly to scare the rats out, pounce them, maybe bat them around between the two of them for a little bit to tire them out while having some fun themselves, before breaking their necks or biting their backs to kill them.

Afterward, there were two piles of dead rats by the door; one that Ayden caught for the two of them and the one Jin caught for Stolas since they had taken more care not to damage them.

"Welp that was fun." Ayden brushed off her paws before one last rat scurried out and she stepped on its tail to trap it before Jin seized it in their mouth and shook it around before biting it and adding it to their pile.

"Now that's it." Ayden spoke finally before she stretched her arms out to ask, "Snack now?"

"Mrow." Jin meowed in agreement before sniffing the air and going over to paw at the cupboard.

"Let's see what we got in 'ere..." Ayden opened the cupboard and rummaged around before pulling out a container as she announced, "Sco'e! Hellfish jerky!"

She brought out two sticks before leaving the container on the counter and she sat on the floor next to Jin before biting into her stick as Jin started on theirs while asking,

'Is the owl demon always that... awkward?'

"Stolas? Pre'y much." Ayden shrugged as she took another bite of her jerky as another sibling asked,

'What's the goss with him and your boss?'

Ayden gave them a "for real?" expression before answering,

"Don't ev'n get me sta'ted on that... Seriously... don't."

'C'mooooon!' Jin went to lay and roll over on Ayden's lap like a childish kitten before begging, 'Just tell uuuuuuuus!'

"I can't get involved, I made a promise..." Ayden pushed them off and they resumed their position by her side with their tail in her lap to connect before one of them pointed out,

'But you're not getting involved. You're just talking about it.'

Ayden gave them another look of disbelief before relenting,

"'Ight fine." Before finishing up the last of her jerky to tell them, "Blitzø says thei' relationship is just 'transactional fuckin'' but I think they coul' be mo'e, they coul' be good fo' each othe'..."

'And why aren't they?'

"Look thei' histo'ies woul'n't be mine ta tell even if I did know'em," Ayden poked their forehead when they tried to get in her face before saying, "I jus' think if they talked ta each othe', they'd see they at the ve'y least ca'e 'bout each othe'..."

'Stolitz!'

"Huh?"

'Their ship name duh!'

'I dunno, Blitzolas sounds kinda cool.'

'No cause you'd be saying the "o" in Blitzø's name.'

'The "o" is from Stolas not Blitzo!'

"I can't believe I'm actually havin' this conve'sation 'ight now..." Ayden smiled with a sense of disbelief behind it as Jin curled up to her side to tease,

'And what about you and Via?'

Ayden bolted up with her cheeks heating up mildly as she argued,

"Ok convo's ove'!"

"~Mrooooow!~" Jin meowed practically voicing a teasing "~c'moooooon~" and Ayden laughed while shooing them away from her feet but they kept coming after her while meowing teasingly so she had to keep hopping around while laughing.

*Meow!* *Meow!* *Meow!*

The two of them stopped playing when Ayden's phone rang from her satchel on the counter and she picked it up to see it was Stolas calling her so she answered,

"Hello?"

*Ayden are you still free at the moment?*

"Yeah, Jin'n I finished up the rat problem-"

*Excellent! Thank you again, but now I may require your assistance for another favor.*

"Su'e what's up?"

*I need you to meet me in the Lust Ring-*

Just as Ayden opened her mouth to either protest or ask a question, Stolas beat her to it by saying,

*-and no this isn't tryst related.*

"Don't know what that means but ok...?" Ayden shouldered her satchel and held an arm out so Jin could hop up to her shoulder as she told him, "I'm gonna need a pictu'e of whe'e you'e at since I've neve' been the'e b'fo'e."

*Very well, hold please.*

After hanging up, Ayden went to texts and only had to wait a few seconds before a text came up with a picture of a fireplace that had bright blue flames roaring in it.

"Huh?" Ayden only questioned for a second before placing her phone down on the counter and going over to a kitchen wall to draw the portal while concentrating on that fireplace.

Once the portal opened, she stepped through, once again keeping an eye on Jin to make sure they were alright, before the portal closed behind her and she noted,

"Well that went be'er than-*HLEH!*"

Abruptly threw up, luckily, on the hearthstone outside the fireplace so there wasn't as much damage before she heard Stolas's voice behind her,

"Are you alright?"

"I'm good," She raised a thumbs up as she noted, "Jus' travel sickness... guess it comes even wi'h po'tal travel..."

Jin hopped down and began to lap at the lava puke making her cringe,

"Eww..."

Before finally turning around to see Stolas looking at her worriedly and she noticed the demon standing behind him to hiss while raising her claws up,

"What's he want?!"

Seeing as the demon behind him was Asmodeus, Sin of Lust, Ayden was a little... less than happy to see him.

"She threatening me?" Asmodeus questioned with a questioning expression.

"Ohoho you haven't even seen threatenin' yet..." Ayden's voice deepened as her eyes blanked out with red and flames started to flicker at her hair and paws.

"Ayden!" Stolas shouted making her extinguish her flames and cross her arms as she glared with narrow eyes to demand,

"What're ya doin' meetin' wi'h him?"

"I realize this may seem.. inconvenient..."

"'Inconvenient?!' This is the guy who insulted you an' the o'hers on you' date night!"

"Hey that wasn't personal alright?" Asmodeus tried to defend himself but Ayden just snapped and hissed at him.

"We just need your help getting Fizzarolli back fr-" Stolas tried to explain calmly before-

"Pft! HAHAHAHA!" Ayden snorted before full-on laughing and repeating back, her tone growing angry towards the end, "Wait wait wait ya need me ta not only help one arsehole who humiliated you all, but both of'em?!"

"Stolas, this is a waste of time." Asmodeus spoke up to assert, "If she's not gonna help then-"

"Just.. let me talk to her, I'm sure she could do this." Stolas pleaded as he put a hand on Ayden's shoulder while she was flipping the double birds at the Sin before she was led a little ways away for him to ask,

"Please, you've been able to track down and keep Octavia safe when she was lost twice-"

"I did that cause she's my friend," Ayden argued, "These two a'e on my shitelist as it is and you want me ta help'em? Why's it even matte' ta you?"

Stolas looked downcast as he admitted,

"Because I know what it's like to be scared for someone you care about to be in danger and want to do everything in your power to get them back..."

Ayden's anger faded bit by bit as she realized what he was saying and the implications that came with it.

A tap on her leg from Jin made her look down to see them motioning with their head to Asmodeus, who was looking down at his phone in worry but also shaking in mild anger.

Her ears twitched as she heard him muttering to himself,

"Why did I let you go out by yourself? I shoulda done more..."

Twisting her mouth with uncertainty, Ayden closed her eyes to huff through her nose relentingly before snapping,

"Fine. I'll help."

Stolas let out a sigh of relief before Ayden pointed at him to clarify,

"Let's get one thing straight; I'm doin' this fer you, not fer eithe' o' them."

"Of course." Stolas smiled lightly before they both turned back to Asmodeus so Stolas could announce and Ayden could ask,

"She'll do it."

"Do ya have somethin' o' his?"

"Huh?" Asmodeus looked up from his phone to question so Ayden clarified with an impatient huff,

"I can track down anyone by smell, so I jus' need somethin' o' his ta get his scent."

"I mean I don't normally carry something of his but.. oh hold on!" Asmodeus went over to his office and brought back- a strap-on...

"You shittin' me 'ight now...?" Ayden's eyes nearly went shut in a deadpan expression.

"Sometimes Fizz drops by for.. quick tests of new products." Asmodeus tried to cover making Ayden internally roll her eyes at the obvious lie.

"Hrrrr...." She growled before seething to Stolas, "You owe me big time fer this..."

She stomped over to snatch the strap-on from Asmodeus's hand, steeling herself before sniffing it, stopping to gag and retch a few times, before she took a long sniff and her eyes lit up greenish-pink, signaling she got Fizzarolli's scent.

"Got it." Ayden declared, finally dropping the strap-on and shuddering before asking, "Now where'm I looking? I can track from a pre'y big range but I need a close guess."

"Well, Fizz was on his way to the Greed Ring for some contest rehearsal so-" Asmodeus looked through his text history to answer when Ayden cut him off dismissively,

"Yeh yeh got it."

Annoying him to where he was about to snap back when Stolas told her,

"Please hurry, Asmodeus only has until the witching hour to sign a contract for Crimson to-"

"Woah woah Crimson?!" Ayden turned back to wave her arms before stating, "Shoulda jus' led wi'h that, I gotta sco'e ta settle wi'h that arsehole."

"Then I should probably mention that Striker was there as well."

Ayden froze for a second, her heart pounding in fear before she tightened a fist and hissed,

"Even be'er... C'mon Jin."

Jin brushed a tail against her leg as one of them whined,

'Can't we staaaaaay?'

"No, c'mon." Ayden answered bluntly, picking them up with one arm before using the other to open a portal to the Greed Ring close.

"Jus' keep stallin' til we get back." She told Stolas before jumping through the portal so it could close behind her leaving her in the Greed Ring-

*HLEH!*

Where she puked right on cue, all of it landing in Jin's mouth as they scrambled down to eat it all.

"Ugh!" Ayden cringed as she spit a bit before asking them, "'At's not gonna be yer thing is it?"

'Would you rather go back to the alternative?'

Ayden thought for a second before side shrugging,

"Fine..."

Before focusing up as she started to sniff the air, her eyes lit up greenish-pink again once she caught onto Fizz's scent and started walking through the city following it.

"Still can't believe I'm actually doin' this..." Ayden grumbled cuing Jin to hop onto her shoulders to ask,

'Why?'

"I 'lready said, cause that rooste' fucke' and the arse clown ruined Millie and Moxxie and Blitzø and Stolas's date night."

'But what did they do to you?'

"Well.. nothin' but-"

'Then I'm not sure that resenting them on their behalf is very reasonable.'

"Who's side a'e ya on?" Ayden questioned before she nearly stumbled over a Quieve that was scurrying around aimlessly with a few others around and she noticed the faint scent of Fizz on them or more specifically their leash that was discarded in the near distance.

"What the...?" Ayden questioned as she grabbed the leash before looking at them all, "What's got'em all wo'ked up?"

'I can't understand them when they're this frantic.' Jin spoke from where they jumped down to be in front of one of the Quieves as it chittered to them.

Ayden looked around before ducking into an alleyway and whistling for the Quieves to come to her as she muttered,

"Hope this wo'ks..."

Before concentrating on shifting to her human form, doing so with a little resistance, and asking the Quieves as she kneeled in front of them,

"What's going on li'le guys?"

*Clown daddy's gone!* *Clown daddy's gone!* *Clown daddy's gone!* *Clown daddy's gone!*

They were all quick to answer, yipping and chittering over each other before Ayden held up the leash to ask,

"Your dad Fizzarolli?"

*Gone!* *Taken!* *Gone!* *Taken!* *Taken!* *Gone!*

"Didja see whe'e they went?"

*Bad men!* *Scary men!* *Big car!* *Another one!* *Very loud!* *Very rude!* *That way!*

They all answered at once before the albino one with wheel back legs scampered in a direction to indicate where they went.

"The'e we go then." Ayden stood up and pocketed the leash while telling them, "'Ight go on, get home 'lready."

The albino seemed to take charge as she yipped and the others followed as they scurried off into the distance.

"Hopefully they find thei' way back." Ayden noted as she shifted back to demon cat form before running in the direction they pointed her in with Jin following at her heels.

After following the trail, and scent, the two of them made it to a junkyard where an abandoned-looking warehouse was hidden among the large moutains of garbage and hardware equipment.

"'At seems 'bout right..." Ayden sniffed and the scent got stronger leading towards the warehouse.

Once they both snuck over, they looked for a way in, finding one that was hidden by the crates inside, and carefully stalked around to see lots of Crimson's goons around.

'We're here, now what genius?' Jin asked with a snarky tone so Ayden muttered,

"We jus' gotta find whe'e they'e keepin' him..."

"EAUGH! EVER HEARD OF MOUTHWASH?! FUCK-FAAACE!"

They both jumped when they heard a voice yell out before Ayden peeked back out and saw a large cage suspended in the air from a crane as Crimson and Striker were walking away from it to go to another part of the warehouse.

"O' we jus' listen for'im." Ayden shrugged before telling them, "Wait 'ere..."

Jin sat in place to show they were gonna wait before she quietly snuck over to the crane, making sure nobody had seen her before climbing up the boom to make it to the pulley hook that suspended the cage.

*THUD...*

She landed with a hushed thud before wrapping her tail around the hook and dipping down to whisper,

"'Ey calm down an-"

"Ayden...?!"

"Blitzø...?!"

They both hiss exclaimed when they saw each other before Blitzø questioned,

"The fuck are you doing here Kid...?!"

"'Ve'y loud' 've'y rude' now I get it..." Ayden slapped a paw to her forehead as she finally understood what the Quieves were trying to tell her earlier when they mentioned "another one."

"Who's this? Your pet?" Fizz questioned once he saw how familiar Blitzø and Ayden were with each other.

"'Pet...?!'" Ayden reached through the bars to grab Fizzarolli by the shirt as she hissed, "Why's it 'lways gotta be 'pet' huh?"

"You're not denying it." Fizz smirked making Ayden growl and gnash her fangs before Blitzø cut in with,

"You can roast him back later, right now you need to get outta here."

"But I jus' got 'ere... and now I gotta get ya both outta 'ere." Ayden argued as she shoved Fizz back.

"Your dad's here."

A piercing cold flooded her body with the horror she felt from those three words as she breathed,

"What...?"

"Crim and Striker were talking about some kinda deal with him earlier and I think you're a part of it so you gotta go before they find you."

"I can't just leave ya both, I was hi'ed to bring him back and now I gotta save your arse too." Ayden motioned with her head to Fizz before pointing to Blitzø but he argued nonchalantly,

"Re-lax I've got a plan."

"Oh? And what would that be?" Fizz questioned in disbelief before Blitzø plopped back down to sit as he answered,

"We wait."

"For what?!" Fizz hiss exclaimed and Blitzø just responded with a shrug before nodding for Ayden to do the same so she shrugged too before crossing her arms as she stayed upside down.

"You know what? Fine! If you both won't get us out of here, I'll do it myself!" Fizz raised his voice as he started trying to escape his binds.

"This should be int'restin'..." Ayden snarked as they watched Fizz struggle to no avail before noting, "But we've gotta be outta 'ere b'fore 3."

"Eh that's plenty of time." Blitzø commented before striking up a conversation, "How'd you find us anyway?"

"Like I said, I w's hi'ed ta bring'im back, used this ta track'im," Ayden pulled the leash out to show him before stuffing it back into her pocket to continue with a grimace, "O' technically somethin' grosse'... an' it brought me 'ere."

"What, you running a side hustle as a P.I. now?"

"Nah this's a one-time thing." Ayden waved a paw dismissively.

"Well who hired you?"

"~Sorryyyyy.~" Ayden sang before answering jokingly, "Client-P.I. confidentiality."

"Yeah sure Furball."

They both chuckled before their attention turned back to Fizz as he was trying to chew off the duct tape holding him and they both grimaced with Ayden whispering not-so-subtly,

"This's jus' gettin' sad..."

"I'll say, I think it's almost been enough now." He whispered back before directing to Fizz, "Ya know, you're really bad at this."

Fizz grunted before falling again as he argued,

"Hmmm, ya know? Last time I checked, I was a fucking jester, NOT an escape art-i-i-i-i-st!" Fizz vibrated a bit before shooting up to smash into the roof of the cage,

*BZZRT!*

*POW!*

Leaving an indent of his face in the metal before falling back down to the floor of the cage to sniffle,

"I j-just wanna go home..."

"Hmm... you want us to get you out?" Blitzø questioned with a smirk that Ayden matched while framing her chin with her paws in a cutesy way.

"Ye-ye-yes..." Fizz whimpered before relenting begrudgingly.

Ayden grabbed the bars to flip herself right side up with her feet braced against the floor of the cage while staying attached to the outside about to raise a paw to unsheath her claws when Blitzø told her while standing up,

"No no I got this one."

Sliding a boot on the floor to slide a knife out of a secret compartment on the bottom of his boot before bringing it up to his hands so he could cut himself free while Fizz complained,

"You had a knife this whole time?!"

After cutting himself free, Blitzø grabbed Fizz by the shoulder, looking like he was about to stab him from the way Fizz yelped before he was cut free so Blitzø could tell him,

"Now stop bitching while we work this. Kid?"

"On it." Ayden climbed back up to the top of the cage to survey the area and all the goons around; an imp on a forklift, imps playing on a pool table, a muscular imp stacking a card tower, and a few more demons lounging from there.

"Gotcha...!" Ayden spotted a remote that most likely went to the cage so she dipped back down to report after Fizz snarked,

"So what now, geniuses?"

"Control's right down the'e." She pointed before adding, "Too fa' in the open fer me ta sneak though..."

"I mean, I could stretch down there..." Fizz suggested before Blitzø spoke up,

"No, no... I have a better idea."

"Ooooh is it Operation Slippery Slope?" Ayden asked excitedly.

"You know it. Got anything to start?"

"Hmmm..." Ayden thought for a second before her ear twitched as she heard something rummaging around in her satchel and she reached back to pull a rat out as it squirmed in her grip while chittering panicked.

"Oh I got somethin' 'ight." Ayden smirked before climbing to the top of the cage again to wind up and throw the rat to the imps who were drinking, one of them raising a mug to toast when the rat landed on his head and his buddies yelled,

"RAT!"

The one it landed on threw his mug in the air in a panic and it landed on the card tower just as the muscular one had finished making him mad enough to pull out his gun and shoot everyone everywhere in a fit of rage yelling,

"AAAAHHHHHH!"

"Keep it down! I'm shooting 8-ball over here!" Another imp shouted as he was lining up his pool cue to shoot while the one on the forklift shouted,

"What the fuck's going on-?!"

Before he was shot and killed making the forklift go out of control and it ran over everyone that got in its way while the pool cue imp shouted again,

"SHUT THE FUCK UP- Oh, fuck me..."

Before noticing the forklift coming toward him and running him over to send him and the pool balls flying through the air.

From the cage, Blitzø had pulled some popcorn out of nowhere sharing with Ayden, who was hanging upside down next to them again, as they and Fizz watched the whole thing unfold before them.

The white pool ball rolled along a beam pushed by the force of an explosion before it stopped right above the remote, Blitzø had to shift Fizz's head to show him where it was before it fell and hit the "DOWN" button on the remote... only for nothing to happen...

"Huh that us'ally wo'ks?" Ayden tilted her head with a digit to her chin in questioning while Fizz started to snark,

"Well it didn't w-"

*PHOOSH!*

Abruptly the cage dropped down leaving Ayden hovering in the air for a few seconds before she too dropped down landing in the middle of the smoke and it cleared to reveal Fizz coughing while Blitzø was brushing himself off like nothing happened and Ayden was on all fours shaking herself off before wiping her nose nonchalantly as Fizz snarked to them,

"Show-offs."

"Uh guys?" Ayden spoke up and the three of them turned to see Crimson with more of his goons standing there, the former with cucumbers on his eyes that he took off to see the three of them standing there before he yelled,

"THE FUCK?! GET THEM!!"

One of the goons tried to fire a net gun at Fizz but Blitzø pushed him out of the way before grabbing his hand to lift him from the ground to make him follow him and Ayden as she unsheathed her Glock and started firing back at the goons.

Once, Blitzø got his signature pistol back from where it had fallen on the ground, he joined Ayden in firing back from behind an upturned table before she shouted,

"JIN!"

"MROW!" They yowled back before running out in the open despite the countless shots being fired,

"AGH!"

Only to turn in a different direction once they saw Fizz in trouble and went to help him by clawing at the goons that tried to capture him even against his clown tricks.

"Crap!" Ayden hissed when she ran out of ammo and reached into her satchel for more bullets, only to end up pulling out one of the boxes of trick bullets she'd gotten from Aibou a while back.

"Now's a good a time 's any..." She hurriedly loaded the bullets cartridge in before clicking it closed and firing two off.

*KRSSH!*

*VW-W-W-WOOOOM!*

One bullet froze a group of goons in a large spiky berg of ice while the other sent out a powerful purple-energy shockwave that sent another group flying away from the force.

"Where the fuck didja get those?!" Blitzø demanded when he saw what the bullets had done and Ayden responded,

"Long sto'y, tell ya la'er!"

Before he was crashed into from behind by Fizz with Jin leaping on top of them to get to Ayden so they could hide in her satchel while Blitzø yelled at him,

"What the fuck, Fizz?! How is someone this flexible, this useless in combat?!"

"Can't ya throw a punch at least?!" Ayden questioned as she leaped on top of a goon with her legs around his neck to swing around and bring him to the ground and punch him out before adding, "I mean ya got robo limbs dontcha?!"

But Fizz argued,

"I'm a performer! I sing, I dance, I promote products that I don't actually use... I don't do danger!"

"Pft! Wuss!" Ayden mocked as she shot a group of goons coming for them and this time the bullet sent out a spray of green acid that reduced the group to skeletons before their bones all clattered to the ground and she gestured to a ladder to call to them, "This way!"

The two imps followed her up as Blitzø snarked,

"Yeah, good to know you're still a wimpy circus puss."

Once the two of them made it up to the warehouse racks Fizz retorted back while at the top,

"I'd give you a comeback but that'd imply I give a shit what either of you think."

"I coul'n't ca'e less whatcha think o' me."

Almost falling back on the ladder if Ayden hadn't snagged it with her tail while snapping at him so Blitzø could grab his hand and pull him up while arguing,

"You always cared what I thought!"

"Ohoho... After what you did to me?" Fizz directed to Blitzø while chuckling darkly and looking at his hands before he protested,

"I didn't do anything! It was an accident!"

"AN ACCIDENT?! ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!" Fizz got right in Blitzø's face to rant,

Cut to a flashback showing a younger Fizzarolli on a circus ball, while balancing spinning plates on sticks.

*You always had it out for me, because people liked me better!*

A younger Blitzø looks from the side of the tent with a jealous mood. Cut to a similar scene, but with the two as teenagers, where Cash Buckzo hands teen Fizzarolli a birthday card, with the front reading, "Wish you were my son."

*You wanted me gone, because you were jealous! Just wanting the spotlight!*

Teen Fizzarolli looks over to Blitzø with a smile as he waves to him, but teen Blitzø looked at him with envy and hatred as he turns his back on him with the curtains flapping at his wake and green fire had caught onto the edges.

*I looked up to you, I thought you were my best friend...*

The fire spread quickly with the other circus performers including Cash Buckzo screaming and dashing for the nearest exits while young Fizzarolli was knocked to the ground and quickly scrambled away to escape from the advancing fire.

*YOU RUINED MY LIFE!*

Scene cuts to a brief moment of a box full of fireworks labeled "FIYAWOIKS" and teen Fizzarolli opening to flap in hopes of a way to escape from the burning arson but was met with the fireworks and without any time to react, the fireworks exploded before Fizzarolli 's eyes and the whole circus burst into flames with his clown nose flying towards the screen.

*And then you just left me....*

Once Fizzarolli's clown nose heads to the camera and transitions to show a mangled and nearly lifeless Fizzarolli dragging his blooded body desperately towards to teen Blitzø who was standing in front of him with his left hand covering one part of his face after the explosion.

*I lost so much because of you,*

The next two shots capture Fizzarolli's broken horns disintegrating and chipping off with the camera turning to focus on staring at Fizzarolli's eye watering with pain and desperation that had the silhouette of teen Blitzø in the middle of his pupil as he turned his back on Fizzarolli,

*And you selfish piece of shit...*

And young Fizzarolli stretched his hand out desperately for help from his best friend while his whole arm was still caught on fire and badly burning bleeding and showing his bones.

*YOU DIDN'T EVEN CARE!*

Showing the next scene of seeing through Fizzarolli's eyes as he watches Blitzø run the opposite direction away from Fizzarolli towards another blazing tent while Fizzarolli slowly closed his eyes.

"I DID CARE!" Blitzø yelled with tears in his eyes and Fizz looked taken aback by his shout and Ayden's eyes were welling up as well with an upset look on her face as he shouted again, "It WAS an accident! IT WAS!"

Just as a goon climbed up from a nearby aisle wielding a gun, Ayden got her gun out to fire and it burst into a water explosion that looked to be holy water from the way their skin peeled and sizzled off giving Fizz a chance to grab Blitzø and swing them to hide under some shelves amid all the boxes and crates with Ayden following as she used her chain to swing after them.

A few seconds after they hid, Blitzø continued pleading,

"Ok, you're right, it was all my fault, ok? I... I should've done more to help, I was... I was trying... There was so much going on... I was trying to get help, Fizz, I just..."

He trailed off as Fizz grew less upset while listening to his pleas before he sighed and admitted,

"It was still my fault..."

But Fizz just gave him a look of disapproval as he snarked,

"Glad you could admit it. Want a medal?"

Ayden looked like she was about to go over to punch him for that mocking comeback when Blitzø put a hand on her arm to pull her back as he continued,

"Look, I'm sorry, Fizz...."

A brief flashback jumping back to the past but only this time in Blitzø's perspective as he turned away from his best friend and gazed down at a letter with a flower in his hand which was meant for Fizz, marching off with angry tears as Blitzø shoved an imp aside with a birthday cake which caused him to drop the cake and set fire to the circus tents.

*I am so sorry you got so hurt....*

Teen Blitzø threw the letter to the ground aggressively while the imp that was holding the birthday cake was attempting to put out the catching flames as the camera shifts to the right to set on a trio of purple, green, and pink demon horses chilling on the other side, until the green one shrieked and caused the other spooked horses to flee.

*I'm sorry for what you lost, and I... I know I can never make it right...*

The scene soon settles into chaotic mayhem with imps running and screaming for safety as Blitzø looks around in a state of shock in front of the same tent that Fizz was in when the fireworks exploded. The impact causes him several burning scars, covering his left eye.

*But you have no idea what I lost in that fire...*

When calling for help from his fellow circus performers and then turning over to one specific tent that was engulfed entirely in green flames, he shows pure fear and concern on his face as his past self rushes over to the tent and the scene cuts to a photo of him and Barbie Wire hugging their mother as the fire burns up the photo and now shows the present day.

Fizz was leaning on a crate as he tried to process everything Blitzø was telling him while Ayden stood by his side with Jin peeking out of her satchel as they both looked on with sorrow-filled expressions while Blitzø finished up while wiping away a tear,

"I mean it's... it's all my fault, I'd hate me too... I mean I do hate-SHIIIIIIIIIIT!"

"YAH!"

A goon appeared out of nowhere to grab Blitzø and Ayden in headlocks with a victorious smirk on his face but Blitzø managed to put his gun under the goon's chin to shoot and kill him freeing the two of them before the three of them started running over boxes and crates as Fizz asked him,

"So, why didn't you try to tell me any of this? Or come see me?! Even once would've been fine!"

"I tried..." Blitzø protested as they all ducked behind a crate so he could ready his gun as he explained, "You were all I had left, Fizz. But they told me you didn't want to see me.

"I never told them that!" Fizz argued.

"Bullshit... You didn't?"

"No! And no one told me you came!"

The two of them shared a look of realization while voicing,

"Oooohhh...."

Before their attention was grabbed by a goon reaching out for them but Ayden kicked his hand away before Blitzø shot him in the head to make him fall back on the ladder he was on as they yelled down,

"WAAA-OOOHHH, CHRIST ON A STICK!"

"TRYING TO HAVE A FUCKIN' EMOTIONAL MOMENT, HERE!"

"AND WE'E TRYIN' TA WATCH!" Ayden added, making the two of them look at her and Jin weirdly as she shrugged, "What? We a'e."

"Did we really have to hash all this out in front of them?" Fizz questioned motioning to Ayden and Jin as he ducked so Blitzø could shoot a goon that almost got to him.

"Oh suuuu'e..." Ayden dragged out sarcastically, "Lemme jus' step into 'nother room and give you two some privacy...."

She stepped off the shelf to drop below making the two of them yell and rush over to the edge to see that she landed on top of another goon that had been trying to climb up to them and she managed to wrap her chain around his neck to break his neck while dragging him to fall back before leaping back onto the shelf to fake reconsider with a digit to her chin and looking at the ceiling innocently,

"Oh that's right I can't cause we'e still in the middle of fuckin' escapin'!"

She yelled toward the end as she swung and used her chain with what looked like a modified grappling hook head on to latch onto a ceiling beam before telling them,

"Now shut it and grab on!"

The two of them listened as they grabbed the chain and she yanked it before the modified head shifted around to create a spool that reeled the chain in to bring them all to the topmost shelf level away from the goons that reached the level they were just on.

Once they all let go, Ayden sent a whip motion up the chain to dislodge the hook from the beam, catching it in her paw before noticing how the two imps were looking at her in disbelief so she questioned,

"What?"

"What's with all the new gear?" Blitzø questioned with an eye nearly scrunched shut and his head tilted in question.

"They'e not new I jus' haven't brought'em out b'fore today. Watch it!" She brought her Glock back out to fire another trick bullet at some goons that were starting to climb up to their level and it sent out an explosion of light that blinded them and made them stumble backwards off the edge of the shelves.

"I got this side!" Ayden ran to the other side of the shelf to fight off the goons coming up from there while Blitzø and Fizz stuck to the other side before picking their conversation up from earlier as Fizz debated,

"Look, misunderstanding or no, it's hard to just forgive you." Fizz picked Blitzø up to direct where he should shoot as goons tried to surround them from all sides before continuing, "It's been fifteen years and.... That's so much time... But! HAH!"

Fizz continued to fling Blitzø around with his flexible, robotic hands while Blitzø rapidly shot the goons dead as Fizz kept going,

"I guess you didn't really ruin my life."

"What, you're telling me getting blown up didn't ruin your life?"

"'At seems a little ha'd ta believe!" Ayden butted in from where she was fighting a goon around her size and slugged him right under the chin making him fall back as some sharp teeth flew out of his mouth and Fizz rolled his eyes slightly before resigning to ignore her and continue anyway,

"It was painful HAH!" He used Blitzø to hit a goon, "and challenging, and y'know fuck you still." He directed to Blitzø before setting him down, "but, it's not like I'm broken, and I now have someone who understands me and- HAH! HAH! FUCK YOU!"

Three more goons came flying towards them and Fizz helped Blitzø shoot two down while the third was snagged by Ayden's chain and swung hard into the ceiling to make their blood rain down on them as Fizz finished his statement with,

"-my life's actually been pretty great."

The three of them landed on the ground as Blitzø asked him,

"Yeah, that's lovely you got a good thing going with that horny rooster fucker don't ya?"

"Oh yeah, it's been... fantastic..." Fizz blushed a little towards the end of his sentence and Blitzø looked at him with a happy expression causing Fizz to become flustered as he tried to reason, "Cause, ya know, it's a great gig! Hehe, and he's got the BIGGEST COCK!"

"Aaaaand this is whe'e I tune out..." Ayden put her paws on her ears to fold them down while Fizz started making expressive gestures with his hands, arms, and face, only removing her paws once she saw Blitzø start talking,

"Okay, I get it, I get it!" Putting a hand on his shoulder to tell him, "Look I'm really happy for ya, Fizz."

Fizz looked down at Blitzø's hand and smiled before Ayden asked,

"I guess this means he's cool now?"

"Yeah, he's cool now." Blitzø confirmed and Ayden shrugged before saying while putting her paws on her hips,

"'Ight, I'll give'im a chance."

"Yeah you seem alright too Kid." Fizz acknowledged before smirking as he told her, "But don't expect us to be all buddy-buddy just cause you work for an old friend."

"Trust me I'm not holdin' my breath." Ayden returned the smirk, reaching a paw out to shake his hand when-

*FWOO!*

"YAH!"

Without warning, a glowing line was lassoed around Ayden and she was dragged back just as some more goons appeared to surround Blitzø and Fizz just before Striker pushed through them with an arm around Ayden's neck as she was fully tied up with the Blessed Rope wrapped around her torso as he sneered,

"I'll finish the job I started with you in just a sec."

He tossed her to be held by another goon so he could walk forward as Crimson ordered him,

"If ya wanna prove yourself to me, cowboy, here's your chance!"

Striker smirked while gritting his teeth as he walked toward Blitzø and Fizz before declaring,

"You've been a pain in my ass long enough, Blitzø. Now, I'm gon' break you like a fuckin' horse!"

*FWTCH!*

He grabbed his rope from his side and snapped it making Blitzø drawl out suggestively,

"Ohhhh, don't you ~daaaaare~ talk sexy to me."

"You're still on the horse thing?!" Fizz asked incredulously.

"Oh you have no idea... MPH!" Ayden noted before she was gagged by the goon holding her as he and the others started moving in to surround the two imps.

Even as she struggled, she kept her hearing tuned to the two as Blitzø asked,

"Fizz! Remember how you used to distract my dad so I could steal his booze?"

"I mean, yeah? Why?"

"Yeah, well, we need to get up to that window there to bust us out." He devised while pointing to a window behind Striker as he continued to walk toward them.

"What about the kid?" Fizz asked when he saw Ayden squirming around in the goon's grip.

"She's gotten out of worse spots before and I have a feeling she might already have a trick up her sleeve to help us out."

They both looked and, once she saw them looking, she winked and motioned with her eyes to where Jin was on a beam, having escaped a little bit ago while Ayden was distracting the goon holding her.

"Well then! One distraction, comin' up!"

Fizz leaped around to stroke the chin of a goon and vault over the heads of two others before standing on top of a stack of crates as a spotlight shone on him when he began to sing,

♫ When I was a young boy, I never thought it'd come to this. ♫

He gets up and is in between three goons, looking at both of them with his arms around them before grabbing onto Crimson for the next line,

♫ The scars all seem to heal... ♫

He goes to a rack and grabs onto it with his flexible arms to dip down dramatically,

♫ And soon all I feel is regret. ♫

Before climbing on top of it,

♫ And noooow, I'm a grown man. ♫

He slides on the floor in front of the goons, Striker, and Crimson,

♫ I've lost it all again! ♫

He climbs on the boxes again to vocalize with his arms up,

♫ But what I'll miss the most... ♫

Blitzø climbs on a box and throws small things of trash like banana peels and candy wrappers, which was being used as confetti, over Fizz before he's grabbed by him and they dance a bit before Blitzø is dipped down,

♫ Pay close attention, while you get a look at... this! ♫

Fizz took out Blitzø's keychain with a golden unicorn figurine on it before releasing him as he snuck around while Fizz got out a treasure map from one of the crates around,

♫ Yeah, look at this! ♫

Fizz notices Blitzø and stretches to above the mob and turns the heads of two of them in the direction opposite of Blitzø,

♫ Then, look at that! ♫

Fizz then gets out a funny-looking hat and puts it on his head,

♫ He-hey, here's a hat! ♫

Fizz takes the hat off and twirls while in the background Blitzø scoots across to reach under the beam where Jin was as they leaped down to him while Fizz kept singing,

♫ This nonsense mostly doesn't mean a thing! ♫

Striker begins to turn his head but Fizzrolli stretches his hand out to him and turns him back to him,

♫ But, listen closely, maybe it explains everything! ♫

Fizz rolls down a projector screen that first shows an Illuminati sign, then an ad for Bitcoin a computer screen with his silhouette then passes as he then does the Squidward interpretive dance,

♫ The secret to Bitcoin, computers, and microchips ♫

He stretches toward one of the mafia members and gives him a gold coin, making his eyes sparkle,

♫ The key to the future ♫

Fizz leaps in between the members before landing in between Striker and Crimson,

♫ If you only look at this! ♫

Fizz gives Striker and Crimson two gold coins, Striker looking at his blankly while Crimson bit into his,

♫ Riches untold, you'll have dollars of gold! ♫

Fizz stretches up to see Blitzø create a tower of cardboard boxes to the window with Jin helping,

♫ If you focus on me, as the story unfolds! ♫

The view becomes distorted before revealing Fizz's face in front of the screen,

♫ LOOK AT THIS! ♫

Fizz leaps to the mafia gang's left and holds up a random book with a star pentagram,

♫ I HOLD THE KEY TO THE MYSTERY! ♫

Fizz throws up a bunch of stuff before using his limbs to constrict the whole gang like a snake,

♫ LOOK AT THIS! ♫

Fizz stretches into Crimson's face, random colors appear in Fizz's eyes before going into Crimson's,

♫ LOOK AT NOTHING EXCEPT FOR ME! ♫

Fizz releases the mafia gang, while making them spin rapidly in place,

♫ LOOK AT THIS! ♫

Fizz holds a flashlight up to his face making rabid sounds, as his shadow becomes a massive beast,

"BAHLELEHLEH!"

♫ THAT WAS GIBBERISH! ♫

Fizz sits on a pile of boxes while still holding the flashlight as he directs to Blitzø,

♫ BLITZO, HURRY THE FUCK UP! ♫

Fizz leaps atop one of the shelves and looks to Blitzø who is trying to open the window with a blowtorch while Jin scratches at some beams with their claws,

♫ I don't know how long I can do this! ♫

"We're gonna need another sixty seconds!" He reports back making Fizz curse,

♫ Aw, fuck! ♫

Before he stands up as the goons look up to him,

♫ Okay, the thing that I'm trying to say is I will say if you look this way... ♫

He points them all to a large corner of boxes, where a hellspider spins its web and the goons, Striker, and Crimson all look in confusion as to what they were supposed to be seeing, making Fizz grow anxious, his armpits sweating, and wiping his forehead with a string of hankies from his shirt as he struggles to think of something,

♫ Uh, you know it's uh...just as Nonna Fizzarolli used to say... ♫

Fizz leaps down, grabbing a wig and fluffy neck collar as he proceeds to sing in crude Italian,

♫ Puzza lasagna (Stink lasagna) ♫

Crimson, being a mob boss and therefore fluent in Italian, was disgusted by what Fizz was saying while Ayden was silently chuckling through her gag at the randomness he was singing,

♫ Contorni, limoncello (Side dish, limoncello) ♫

Fizz walks past Crimson and Striker, the former has his hands up and does an "are you kidding" gesture before he looks at Striker who is equally confused,

♫ Fortepiano (Loud, soft) ♫

Fizz stretches his arms and pulls Crimson in as he puts his scarf around his neck,

♫ Buongiorno, ada Vongole (Good morning, with clams) ♫

Blitzø tries to break the window with the blowtorch, but it runs out of fuel so he tosses it to the ground, running out of ideas before Jin poked their head up from the toolbox with a stick of dynamite in their mouth while Fizz kept singing,

♫ Luigi, Firenze, Bucatini (Luigi, Florence, Bucatini) ♫

Fizz sheds his wig as he sings atop a pile of boxes, some of the mafia goons cry at his Italian, clearly not knowing what they mean,

♫ Cingale~ (Wild boar~) ♫

Meanwhile, Blitzø and Jin find more sticks and smirk at each other as their plan started coming together,

♫ Cingale~ (Wild boar~) ♫

The imp and hellcat started shoving dynamite into the window while Ayden took the goons being distracted as an opportunity to see what could get her free as Fizz got out a cake and shoved his face into it,

♫ So, look at... this! ♫

He stretches up to Striker with a bouquet of trick flowers that spray at him, while earth pigeons fly out of his sleeve,

♫ Please, look at this! ♫

Fizz grows more and more upset, as he grabs Striker by the collar and holds his hands on his head as Blitzø walks the columns above him carrying a push trigger without a line,

♫ I am running out of places I can take this bit ♫

Fizz juggles while balancing plates atop some sticks as Jin lays down the wire to attach to the detonator in Blitzø hands,

♫ So, look at this! Look at my face! ♫

Fizz stretches up to them revealing his tear-smudged makeup, making everyone back away cringing as he cries as he is atop a stack of boxes,

♫ I regret every event that got me in this place ♫

Blitzø throws a stick of dynamite at Fizz, which not only he notices, but the mafia goons who look up to Blitzø, who flips them off while Jin shakes their tail mockingly at them, causing them to draw their guns,

♫ This little song is driving me insane ♫

The gang fire at Blitzø, which Fizz and Ayden notice,

♫ My exhaustion is audible ♫

Fizz makes his left arm form a slinky before punching Striker in the face as a glow from Ayden's paws summoned the Corrupted Angelic Knife from before so she could rapidly slice through the Blessed Rope in a fluid motion, kicking away the goon so she could bolt over to where Jin was right below where Blitzø was hanging from a light with the trigger,

♫ Now, the ending is probable ♫

Just as Blitzø pushes down the trigger and the window explodes into a massive escapable hole, Ayden grabs Jin and a light quickly flashes before only Jin is left as they jump onto Fizz's shoulders as he finishes his song with,

♫ CUZ' THIS RUSE IS IMPOSSIBLE to maintain, ♫

As he stretched up, allowing Blitzø to leap onto his back as well,

♫ So, fuckinggggg... ♫

He leans back with his limbs outstretched so they could slingshot forward into the hole with Blitzø and Jin on his back and the three of them flipping everyone off,

♫ BYE-BYE! ♫

The explosion destabilized the warehouse and made it collapse on top of everyone inside, while outside Fizz and Blitzø both were running free, laughing as well before they both stopped, panting as they leaned over with their hands on their knees with the former complimenting,

"You know, you're actually pretty good at this action-hero bullshit!"

"And you really know how to put on a show! *Gasp* Which is almost *Gasp* as impressive as the thing you said I was good at!" Blitzø praised back.

Fizz laughed for a bit before looking up and realizing with slight panic,

"Wait where's the kid?!"

"I'm right 'ere."

They both looked down to see Jin there but spoke with Ayden's voice as she asked,

"What?"

"I thought you couldn't shapeshift into cat mode anymore." Blitzø questioned.

"Me eithe', jus' sorta happened..." Ayden looked down at herself before Einar's voice spoke up,

"This was your form to begin with, it makes sense we can now share it back with you even if only temporarily."

Right on cue, their form flashed with a reddish light and, when it dimmed back down, Ayden was left sitting on the ground next to Jin.

"Woah 'at was trippy..." She stood back up to dust herself off before Fizz asked,

"What did that feel like?"

"Kinda like..." Ayden thought for a second before trying to explain, "Like you'e the pilot of a plane wi'h twenty-seven o'her pass'nge's and all of'em know how to fly the plane too so they can take ove' wheneve' they want."

"Well that's... disturbing... yet somehow hilarious." Fizz chuckled a bit before Ayden punched his shoulder as she snarked lightly,

"Yeh yeh let's jus' getcha back wi'h yer cock fucke' 'ready."

Blitzø smiled seeing his old friend and his new employee/friend/mentee getting along before he found an abandoned car, broke its window, and hot-wired it to turn on.

After climbing over and face-planting on the ground, Blitzø quickly opened the passenger side door and gestured,

"I guess, royal jesters first?"

Fizz bit his lip and looked away in something akin to bashfulness before heading to the passenger seat while Blitzø went to the driver's side and Ayden dove into the back seats since there wasn't a door.

"WAAH!"

Abruptly, Fizz is lassoed and dragged back into the shadows, despite his clawing at the ground to slow the motion, before Blitzø climbed on top of the car and yelled while aiming his gun,

"Get... Your... FUCKING shit-stained claws off him!"

The smoke clearing to reveal Striker holding Fizz by the neck with an arm as his revolver was in his other hand while laughing maniacally as he questioned,

"You think I'm just gon' let you get away after all this?" Spinning the revolver up to Fizz's face before threatening, "I'm THROUGH losin' these fights! This worthless little pet REEKS of his over-bloated master... I'll at least enjoy gettin' of'im!"

"Okay... Is it bad that I'm getting hard?" Fizz asked while smiling nervously making Striker yell while pushing his revolver into Fizz's face and screaming,

"SHUT THE FUCK UP! WHY'S IT ALWAYS A SEX THING?"

"RAH!" Ayden jumped up with the Corrupted Angelic Knife in her paw, managing to sneak over while Striker was busy yelling, but was caught around the neck by his tail making her drop the blade to the ground as Striker seethed,

"And you should be dead with that very blade... at least I can get a two-for-one kill today..."

His tail tightened around Ayden's throat and she started choking from suffocation while struggling and kicking to try and get free with no success as he clicked the safety off the gun held up to Fizz.

In a split-second decision, Blitzø saw some gasoline cans behind them and fired at them, causing the cans to explode and send the three of them flying in different directions; Striker panicked as his clothes caught on fire and he scrambled around making critter noises before he escaped through the trash piles and Fizz had been tossed against a billboard before landing on the ground with his limbs malfunctioning from the impact with Ayden a little ways from him, nearly knocked out from the strangling and the impact of the explosion with Jin running into the flames to get to her.

After seeing Striker get away, Blitzø looked like he was about to pursue him until he saw Fizz surrounded on all sides by green flames and, when he tried to reach for a car that was on a crane line, his arm malfunctioned and dropped back down leaving him helpless as he hugged himself and cried with the flames growing closer.

"FIIIIZZZZZ!!!!" Blitzø yelled before running to roll on a barrel up a slope, grabbing onto some swinging cars on lines, vaulting off a car hood like a trampoline, and side-running along the crane arm to wrap his tail around the hook of the crane cable reaching down to Fizz as he reached up, managing to grab hands and lacuna back into the air, where they grabbed each other again before they landed on the crane arm.

After a few seconds of stunned processing, Fizz grabbed Blitzø by the shoulders and violently shook him around as he yelled in his face,

"YOU BLEW ME UP AGAIN, YOU FUCKIN' PRICK!"

"I did..." Blitzø admitted before adding, "But this time, I stuck around."

Fizz pushed him away to turn away but then he smiled and hugged him with his good arm, Blitzø looked surprised for a second before he accepted and returned the hug with tears in his eyes.

They had a nice few moments in the embrace before Blitzø ruined it by asking,

"~Wooooould iiit....~ fuck up the moment if we made out right now?"

Causing Fizz to push him away with a deadpan glare while Blitzø gave him a nervous but also slightly smug smirk before Fizz turned worried as he asked,

"Where's the kid... again?"

"I wouldn't worry too much." Blitzø shrugged nonchalantly causing Fizz to yell,

"Are you fucking kidding?! She could be-!"

"Doin' jus' fine!" Ayden's slightly groggy voice called up and made Fizz look down to see her standing in the middle of the flames with Jin by her side like it was nothing before looking back to Blitzø who still had that "told ya so" look on his face before questioning incredulously,

"How many more secrets is this kid and her pet hiding?!"

"HAAAAH!" Jin hissed, insulted at being called "pet" again before turning away with their nose in the air to walk off.

"Nothin' ya need ta wo'y 'bout now!" Ayden answered for him as they simply walked through the flames back to the car they had been hijacking before yelling up to them, "We movin' o' what?!"

The two of them slid down the crane arm back to the ground away from the burning area so Blitzø could get back into the driver's seat with Fizz in the passenger seat and they began the drive back to the Lust Ring.

During the Ring Elevator trip back down to the Lust Ring, Ayden was about to puke again when Jin climbed onto her lap and opened their mouth like a baby bird waiting for food from their parent and Ayden puked right into their mouth making Fizz retch,

"Ugh! This normal for them?"

"Actually this part's new." Blitzø answered with a slight grimace before directing to Ayden, "What's the deal Furball?"

"'Parently Jin can eat lava and pft it's be'er than meltin' the floo' ev'rytime we go through 'ere." Ayden answered, spitting a piece of hellfish jerky that can back up out the window in the middle of her sentence.

"Ok fair enough." Blitzø shrugged, willing to drop the subject but Fizz picked it right back up with,

"What's the deal with them?"

"What was the deal wi'h you' Italian?" She snarked back making him challenge her,

"Oh like you coulda done better."

"Oh veramente?" (Oh really?) Ayden asked in near flawless Italian with an eyebrow raised smugly before adding, "Meglio così stronzo?" (Better like this, asshole?)

"WHAT THE FU-?!"

"Heh still full of surprises ain'tcha?" Blitzø asked with a hint of pride in his voice before they pulled up to Asmodeus's tower and announced, "Final stop for royal jesters and amateur private investigators."

"'Ey!" Ayden punched Blitzø's shoulder and he returned it with a hair ruffle before she asked him, "Ya su'e ya don't wanna come in wi'h us?"

"Nah." Blitzø waved before reasoning, "You don't want me outshining you when this was your job in the first place."

"You woul'n't!" Ayden protested, "C'moon!"

"Better hurry, it's already three."

"Shite!" Ayden realized he was right and urged Fizz as she and Jin, who was back on her shoulders, rushed out, "C'mon!"

The three of them hurried toward the tower, Ayden taking a moment to hang back and give Blitzø a rueful smile and wave as he drove off in the junk car, no doubt to go crash and leave it burning somewhere to ditch it, before heading inside after Fizz.

'You wanted him to see Stolas here, didn't you...?' Jin asked Ayden as they hurried after Fizz and she admitted,

"Kinda... guess now's not the time..."

"Whe'e's the office?" Ayden asked Fizz since she had no idea where she was going and he answered,

"This way."

Leading them down a hallway while asking,

"Weren't you here earlier?"

"I po'taled in an' out so I di'n't see much."

"It's at least one question popping up every second with you..." Fizz muttered before they got close to the large curtains blocking off Asmodeus's office in time to hear him yelling,

"THAT'S IT! I'm going to fucking END YOUR LI-!"

Fizz pushed aside the curtain to enter the room, panting heavily from running with Ayden and Jin behind him, the former panting from running too, as they saw that Asmodeus was grabbing a shark-like lawyer by the shirt with Stolas sitting in the chair next to him looking like he just woke up from a nap.

Seeing the imp a little battered and one of his robotic arms dangling limply broken, Asmodeus exclaimed while running toward him,

"~Fizzy!~"

Fizz teared up and shouted back happily,

"OZZIE!!!"

Asmodeus scooped Fizz up and twirled him around in the air before they hugged and started smooching each other in relief.

Ayden smiled seeing the two of them reunited before waiting as Stolas watched the lawyer gather up all the contract papers, panicking to shove them all into his briefcase as he muttered while putting his hat back on,

"Get FUCKED, little one...."

"Yeh fuck lawye's..." Ayden smirked as she followed Stolas back out of the tower, silently hoping that Blitzø was still nearby but was disappointed to see he'd left already.

"Thank you again for the help.. I realize it was most likely.. tricky to do so for them after..."

"Eh.." Ayden waved her paw a bit as she admitted, "Jin reminded me I shoul'n't hold grudges and 'sides... those two actually seem pre'y cool, y'know once ya get past the hypocrisy."

Stolas ruefully chuckled a bit before opening a portal back to his mansion and Ayden stopped him to tell him,

"Think I left my phone back at you' place, can I come wi'h?"

"Of course, I believe I owe you those rats as well." Stolas noted as they walked through the portal into the mansion and they headed for the kitchen where, sure enough, Ayden's phone was still on the counter.

Ayden grabbed it, checking it to find she had several notifications from an app telling her to return home, and smiled ruefully as Stolas marveled at the two piles of rats she and Jin had caught,

"I didn't think there were this many in the walls..."

"Yeh we had some fun." Ayden nuzzled her head to Jin's and they both purred for a bit before Ayden snapped her digits and spoke again, "Speakin' of, we discove'ed a few things on that mission."

"Oh?" Stolas looked back at them with his head slightly tilted in interest and Ayden let Jin down and the two stood a little ways from each other before charging at each other.

Stolas had moved like he was about to stop them when the same flash of light shone and there stood Ayden-Jin hellcat.

"Well that's.. surprising, I was under the impression you could no longer shapeshift into your hellcat form."

"Rightrightrightright that was the case but not ~anymoooore!~" A feminine voice that wasn't Ayden came out from the hellcat's mouth as they danced around a bit surprising Stolas before Ayden butted back in to explain,

"We can all sha'e this fo'm now-"

*POOF!*

The two of them separated mid-sentence as Ayden finished with,

"But only fo' a lil' while..."

Ayden stood back up to brush herself off before adding less enthusiastically,

"Oh and then the'es this..." Moving to stand away from him before telling him, "Throw somethin' at me."

"I can't just-"

"Jus' do it!"

Stolas huffed impatiently before grabbing a blood orange from the counter and throwing it awkwardly at her with a noise of effort,

"Eh!"

Just like before, the Corrupted Angelic Knife manifested in her paw to slice the fruit in two leaving her untouched as the weapon stayed in her paw, allowing them to see it still looked similar to when Striker had it but the dark magenta colorings of the bright metal were looking more like shattered glass, the handle changed to look more wand-like with bronze "ribbon" wraps around the handle where a pinkish-red gemstone similar to the one in her choker rested in the center while two crescent moon gems were on the end, one red and the other dark gray.

"That's uhh... the knife that...?" Stolas looked very afraid and unsettled at the sight of the knife that had been used to torture him and kill Ayden, no matter how much it had changed.

"Yep." Ayden answered plainly as the knife faded from her grip and she moved to hug herself slightly as she spoke in a quiet tone, "A lot's changed..."

"Well..." Stolas struggled for a second to think of what to say before devising, "These will certainly make for some fascinating new lessons and training next week."

Ayden smiled a bit as Stolas hoped, knowing that she found comfort in familiar things as she agreed,

"Su'e."

*BVVV-VVVV-VVVV!*

Ayden's phone vibrated crazily with another reminder notification so she swiped it silent before saying,

"We be'er get home b'fore Millie comes breakin' the doo' down."

"That little one can be quite fierce when needed." Stolas chuckled before he used his magic to lift the two piles of rats and had them put into a sack for Ayden to take before assuring her, "I'll have the Souls I owe you ready next week."

"No rush." Ayden waved it off before she whistled for Jin and they jumped onto her shoulder so she could open a portal back home, giving Stolas a two-digit salute as she told him, "See ya!"

Before walking through the portal to land in her room...

*A-HEM!*

Where Millie was waiting with her arms crossed and a stern look on her face.

"Aw shite..."

"'Oh shit' is right young lady." She scolded before moving her hands to rest on her hips as she tapped her foot to demand, "Why weren't you answerin' your phone?!"

"Uh..." Ayden blanked for a second, usually able to come up with a lie on the spot but seeing Millie like this made her freeze up before-

"Mrow." Jin leaped from her shoulders to Millie's as they meowed again, "Mreow."

"Oh that's it?" Millie's mood did a sudden 180 before she asked, "Why didn't you just say you were hunting rats as a favor for Stolas?"

"Uhh cause.. I knew you'd prob'ly freak out seein' how many we caught." Ayden fibbed as she held up the large sack and Millie's eyes widened seeing it and admitting,

"That is a lot.." Before shaking her head to bring it back to the subject before as she scolded a little less intensely, "But still, at least send us a text lettin' us know you're alright."

"Ok I will..." Ayden smiled gently making Millie sigh and pull her into a hug that they stayed in for about a minute before she pulled away and took the sack from her paws to comment,

"Let's hope Mox is up for some experimentin' tonight... and every night for the rest of the month.."

Before heading out to the kitchen, leaving Ayden and Jin alone as he thanked them,

"Thanks fer that..."

Jin brushing their tail against her leg to tell her,

'No problem sis... We can't tell them what we got mixed up with with Striker and Crimson...'

"And we can't tell Blitzø that Stolas asked us to help Fizz for Asmodeus..."

'Or Stolas that Blitzø was there too...'

"So m'ny secrets ta keep now..." Ayden went to flop onto her bed, staring at the ceiling blankly before Jin hopped up and curled up by her side so she could pet them while asking, "Think we can really keep all this quiet?"

'Do you really have to...?'

"I can't get involved between Blitzø and Stolas, I don't want Millie and Moxxie worryin' 'bout us cause Striker and Crimson a'e makin' deals wi'h dad, I can't ev'n tell Via 'bout what happened wi'h Strike' cause then I'd hafta tell he' he' mum was the one who hi'ed him an'... haah... I don' know..."

By the end, Ayden was pressing her paws to her eyes and sighing tiredly so Jin curled up even closer with their head on her stomach to comfort her making her smile and place a paw on their head to caress their head and ears.

The two stayed cuddled with each other until they were called for dinner where they tried some of the rat lasagna that Moxxie made and talked about what they did all day... with certain subjects avoided of course...

When they headed to their room for bed, Moxxie came into her room without Millie and asked her,

"You purposely left your phone at Stolas's while you engaged in hijinks didn't you?"

Her eyes snapping open being the only answer needed before Moxxie assured her while ruffling her hair,

"Our little secret, just try not to do it too often, you know I can only hold Millie back for so long."

"Yeh... deal..." Ayden smiled before wishing Moxxie a good night just before Millie came in to do the same before both left the two feline demons to go to sleep.

However, a few seconds after the light went out, Ayden absently asked Jin,

"Can I tell ya somethin'...?"

'Anything...'

"Sometimes I still can't believe all this is real... sometimes it all feels too good to be true... like... one day I'm gonna wake up back in that burrow and everyone's gonna be go-o-ne..."

Her voice cracked a bit toward the end before tears started falling from her eyes and she turned to hide her face in her pillow to sob slightly,

"I don' w-wanna go back ta havin' nothin'... ev'n if it means no mo'e probl'ms..."

Sensing her distress, Jin cuddled closer to Ayden in an effort to ground her and it worked, if only a tiny bit, as she stopped crying and wrapped an arm around them before the two fell asleep... unaware someone unwelcome was listening in the whole time...

AN- Longest chapter yet! And one more chapter left til we're all caught up on Season 2!

Speaking of, surprise! I figured for the holidays I could gift you all an extra chapter since it's been ready for a while now ^^

As of now, the Mammon episode is three quarters done but since being back home means very little private/quiet time for me to work on fanfic writing, I'm really pushing to try to finish it by the last day/first day of the year so I can complete that goal, but I apologize in advance if I don't get it out on time

Until the next one and hoping you all have happy holidays in whatever you celebrate, Bye!