Roo is also Australian slang for "kangaroo" or an ugly, clumsy, idiotic woman.
Roo is shown as a white skinned demon with firey aburn hair, large eyes, a wide hat and sharp teeth. She wears an orange dress with chains and a checkered pin. From her mouth, she summons an orange serpent-like creature with white spines and an eye. The creature has sharp white insect legs and black claws with glowing orange orbs.
Chapter
One: One Person’s Trash Is Another’s Treasure
Junkyards and landfills
were not pleasant places to be at.
This was especially true
in Hell.
Along with drinking,
using drugs, gambling and killing people, the denizens of Hell wasted food and
littered like there was no tomorrow. Indeed, it was not uncommon to see broken
bottles, cans, paper, and plastic strewn about in the streets. Much of the
garbage in Hell ended up in towering landfills…taller than the ones in
Australia and the most populated countries on Earth. Nearby, hazardous
chemicals flowed into the fiery lakes and oceans, adding to the already
torturous experience of the souls trapped underneath. Water, let alone clean
water, was a rare concept among the fiery inferno…hence the alcoholic drinks
being the most common beverage.
The rotting overpowering
stench steered many demons away from the landfills beyond the wired fence.
Save for one demon who,
more or less, called the vast yard of junk home.
The woman was currently
on her knees on the ground in front of a large pile of rubbish. She wore torn
black pants, dark high boots and a jacket made from tanned leather that was
originally Hellhound dung. Her undershirt was bright orange and a black and
white checkered pin was stuck on the left side of the jacket.
Her hair was wild and
wavy, aburn in color. Her hair was black at the crown of her head and ended in
a lighter brown at the ends. Some of the ends of her hair curled up and flowed
out like flames. In fact, a few areas of her clothing had peeled apart, the
pieces slowly floating away. The demon had white skin with tiny orange spots on
it. But it was her bright orange eyes with white pupils and her rows of sharp
teeth that made her intimidating. An incinerating fire seemed to crackle
throughout her body, remaining sealed in by the demon’s willpower alone.
Digging her sharp claws
into the pile, the demon rummaged through the array of discarded items, before
ending up with a handful of trash in her white hands. She placed it on the
ground and peered closely at it. She sorted through it, tossing aside bits of
plastic with her fingertips. She spotted what looked like the remains of a
demon finger. She popped it into her mouth and chewed thoughtfully before
continuing her work. Toward the end, she brushed aside some paper and found
something glinting…a soul. Not the essence of a being but rather, a form of
Hell’s currency. The demon smiled and picked up the shiny black coin.
“Roo, you’ve done it
again,” she praised herself. “Demons just don’t know what they throw away.”
Roo pocketed the coin in
a jean pocket and rummaged through more piles. Unlike the day before, she had
gotten lucky in a few hours. She had found a near-empty bottle of whisky, half
of a gold necklace, some rope, and some old boots. She pulled down her pants a
little, exposing her pale stomach. With several grunts, the area below her
stomach jutted out until a large natural pouch was revealed. It looked similar
to a pouch of a mother kangaroo and had a similar function to it. Unlike
kangaroos though, Roo stored weapons and materials in there. She deposited her
treasures inside before retracting the pouch back into herself.
Time for the next stage
of the job.
Roo was already used to
the stench of garbage…her nose was barely there, so she hardly smelled much of
anything. As she was already dead, she didn’t have to worry as much about
infections and disease. Still, she was always careful about who or what she
came into contact with. Like unknown containers, demons could be valuable at
first glance but actually be laced with toxicity.
At last, she made her
way back to her home…a trash home fit for a queen.
The entrance was
actually at the top of a temple made of trash, crates, and fused pieces of
paper and glass. The temple had five different layers, each getting smaller and
narrower toward the top. It was reminiscent of a small Aztec temple. She walked
up the stairs until reaching the top. The top was covered by a round mound of
trash glued together forming a sort of round roof. She walked into the small
open cave and glanced down at a wooden trapdoor. She pressed a button lodged
into the wall and the door opened. Without hesitation, she jumped down into the
square opening.
Flop!
Roo landed safely on a
soft bouncy mattress at the bottom. She stepped off the mattress and headed
through the first underground opening.
Roo’s lair was, in fact,
underground, the exit consisting of a set of stairs that led up to a spot just
outside the junkyard. The walls were made of a combination of rock and trash
fused together. There was wiring along the walls to provide light and
electricity. The windows were made of multicolored glass set within the walls
in each room. Down a narrow hallway, an arched smooth concave area in a wall
showed boomerangs of different shapes on display. On another wall were weapons,
axes and a few guns. Plus there lay a single angelic spear which she had traded
a bucket of opals and souls for on the black market…and nearly got killed getting
it.
The living room and
kitchen were small and humble. There was a square wooden table with a checkered
cloth for eating, a stove, a sink, a refrigerator, some chairs, and some wooden
shelves attached to the wall. An array of potions and herbs stood on the
shelves, some pushed further back into shadowed corners. In the living room was
an old flowered couch, an orange rug and an old fashioned TV with large knobs
off to the upper right. The lights overhead were round, with several air shafts
in the ceiling. A small slope of rock with a handle bar led up to the bathroom.
Pictures of monstrous kangaroos hopping in fiery fields and demon meat set
tastefully on platters decorated the walls of the living room.
Roo made it into her
bedroom, a room with a queen size bed and a tubular fluorescent light over the
headboard. 60s and 70s style abstract artwork hung on the walls, while skulls
of demons and mythical creatures lined the shelves. Her most prized skull was
that of a crocodile demon, whom she had wrestled over a box of gold and opals.
Another bastard demon had stolen the box while they were distracted. Roo had
promptly killed the crocodile without mercy. She had managed to get several
fallen opals, which she kept in a special spot on her dresser. She opened up
her closet and found the outfit she was looking for.
Moments later, she was
dressed in a bright orange dress that ended half way up her upper legs. The
front collars of the dress by her shoulders had spiked edges as part of the
design. A black and white checkered pin was pinned onto the front. Black bands encircled
her arms along with a dark choker around her neck. Tall black boots covered her
feet, while two chain necklaces dangled and clinked when she moved. Her look
was completed with an Akubra style hat with a wide brim, outlined orange. The
hat itself was similar to her hair color, black to a brownish color, perhaps
maroon. The hat had a small pinkish orange circular design on the top. Once Roo
was ready, she made her way up and out the exit door, taking care to lock it. Stepping
back into the Hellish heat wasn’t pleasant…her home provided her with brief
relief.
Roo swayed her hips as
she walked into the Hell 666 club. The interior was noisy and vibrant. The
walls and ceiling were coated in neon pinks, purples and blues, with openings
of a large aquarium visible. Eels, sharks and fish swam around in the water,
providing a more relaxing atmosphere for stressed out patrons. Several demons
sitting at round white-clothed tables stopped and stared at her. Their eyes
held a mixture of awe and disgust. Roo ignored the hushed mutters as she
passed.
“Is that the trash
lady?”
“Yeah, the Aussie girl.”
“She would be hotter if
she weren’t so dirty all the time.”
“A scum living among the
garbage. So glad I’m not her. She’s an ugly, clumsy bitch!”
“If she likes to get
down and dirty, then I’ll happily give her a few pointers. Heh, heh, heh.”
There was a series of
“phews” and cat calls that rang in her ears. Roo took a seat at the bar next to
a blue muscular dragon with orange tattoos along his arms. The dark blue bull
bartender stomped over and noticed her. “Yeah?”
“Hit me up with a cold
one if you please,” she said. “Gores Fight 1969.”
She reached into her
pocket and fished out several soul coins. The bartender took them and marched
off.
The blue muscular dragon
turned to a slender light blue dragon next to him. The dragon stabbed a knife
into the table and grinned up at a TV overhead.
The muscular blue dragon
turned to his friend and a pink overlord dragon with wild yellow hair. He
laughed when he watched Charlie on TV.
“Is this girl for real? Ha!
Does she think…oh she’s haha…oh she’s nuts!”
Roo glanced up and heard
that Charlie was talking about some kind of hotel that was going to be used to
redeem sinners. What a joke. Roo perceived her as a secluded princess who
decided to make a public joke after being cooped inside for so long. Hell
really was a burning madhouse inside a circus. Or was it circus inside a
madhouse?
Roo turned to the blue
muscular dragon and put on her most innocent face. “Greetings my fine fellow
dragon. Need something to drink?”
The dragon scoffed and
made a face. “If you’re talking about it that way, hell no. You’re not my
type.”
“No, I mean to actually
drink.”
She pulled out the near
empty bottle from her pouch.
“Not from that dirty
glass,” scoffed the dragon. “Looks like someone threw it out!”
“And what fools they
are,” she added, already conjuring up a scam. “This is not just any drink. This
is liquor from the oldest bar in Hell. This bottle is said to have been full
during the last freeze over in Hell…occurs every 100 years or so. Lilith
herself drank from this very bottle before storing it away.”
“Ha! No way!”
“DNA and spit never lie.
Taste it for yourself.”
The dragon reached for
the bottle but Roo held it out of reach. “It’ll cost you…let’s say twenty
souls.”
“Twenty souls?!
Nonsense! Even if the queen did drink from it, it’d be worth far less. Like one
and a half.”
“Turning down an
opportunity just like that? And they say I’m trash.”
“I’ll pay you two
souls.”
“Twenty. Nothing more or
less.”
The dragon sighed and
handed her twenty coins. Roo greedily stuffed them into her pouch. Her ice cold
beer arrived in front of her and she happily gulped down several gulps.
The dragon hastily spit
out the contaminated whiskey. “You conning bitch! Give me back my money!”
“Finders keepers,” she
grinned.
“I’ll kill you right
here and now!”
She stood up and calmly
smoothed out her dress. “How about this? You’ll have to pay me extra if you
want to keep your arms.”
The two of them made
their way to the center of the area. The crowd glanced up at them, some of them
eager to see a fight, while others rolled their eyes at the sight of another
Tuesday brawl.
The dragon rushed at her
and she dodged, dashing under tables and avoiding his thick fists. The dragon
growled and clenched his fists, landing a painful blow to her stomach. Roo
grunted out loud and managed to roll out of the way before the dragon slammed a
fist into the floor. Roo lacked the dragon’s strength, but her lighter frame
made her more agile and faster. Several times, she mocked the dragon, tearing
her claws against his skin, which was more of an annoyance than a discomfort.
“You know, I’ve had a
long fucking day,” the dragon grunted. “So how about I take whatever you have
in your pouch and be on my way.”
“I don’t think so, you
brute.”
“Heh, heh, heh, little
lady has a death wish!”
The dragon let out an
intimidating roar, but Roo remained unfazed.
“You hungry? Get ready
for a knuckle sandwich!” he called.
Scratching and sharp moving sensations erupted
in her core. It felt like hunger mixed with kicks and sharp pains. If one
listened closely, they could hear low growls from inside her. Roo was indeed,
hungry.
But she was not the only
one.
Roo grinned, staring down
at herself. Her voice grew lower and distorted. “I think it’s time to eat.”
She opened her fanged
mouth wide. Drops of dark colored spit and blood poured down onto the floor,
dark magenta in color. Emerging from her mouth was an orange serpent-like creature.
It was a slender parasite with white spikes all over its body. The small head
had a single white eye on top, with longer spikes jutting from the crown.
Smaller spikes were curled in near its mouth like spider pinchers. On its side
was another large white eye, outlined in an orange aura.
In addition, the
creature had two kinds of appendages. One were several pairs of metallic legs
with little orange spots on them. The ends of the insect-like legs had blades
fastened to them. At least a dozen small black tendrils were also connected to
the creature, including a larger black clawed appendage with glowing
white-orange eyes inside.
“What the fuck is
that?!” the blue dragon yelled, his eyes wide with fear.
The blue dragon soon
found out when the parasite leapt toward him, legs ready. The dragon ducked and
promptly ran for his life. A lighter colored blue dragon charged forward, only
to have the creature slice a good cut onto the scales of his neck. The dragon
roared in pain and tossed the creature away. He stared at the cut in
disbelief…almost nothing else save for an angelic weapon could pierce through
dragon hide. The parasite landed on the ground, right next to a demon. He was a
green man who had catcalled Roo earlier.
Roo’s brown and black
hair flickered wildly, increasing in heat.
“Still wanna call me
hot?” she asked playfully to him.
Without warning, the
parasite jumped and attacked the green demon, tearing his clothes with the
bladed limbs. Several demons raced for the exit, only to be grabbed by the
creature’s tentacles and pulled back, screaming. The parasite held several
demons in its larger black claw. The parasite opened its fanged mouth and took
several deadly bites. The green man’s eyes rolled to the back of his head after
a high pitched wail escaped his mouth. His blood, energy and life force left
him, as the parasite drank it up from the bleeding wound in his chest. The man
fell still and appeared lifeless.
“Hey, isn’t that the guy
who could hypnotize people?” one demon asked, holding a knife in shaking hands.
“That’s right,” Roo said
from behind him. Her orange eyes glowed in the dimness of the room. The demon
reeled back in terror.
“Roo continued. “He
won’t have his powers anymore if he ever survives.”
Roo then grinned and
pointed upwards. The demon barely had time to look when the parasite landed and
bit hard into his face, causing him to stumble and fall. Roo used the
opportunity to steal several glasses of beer and stuff them into her pocket.
Roo kangaroo-kicked a beetle demon hard, sending her backwards and cracking her
ribs. A long spiked kangaroo tail emerged from Roo’s lower back, the appendage
swiping away several demons who had tried to reach her. The bull bartender ran
for his life. Roo glanced back and the fallen male demon already had his heart
ripped out. The last chunks of organs were traveling down inside the parasite
in small round bulges. Blood coated the parasite’s orange body and white limbs.
The unleashed beast
began to feast in a frenzy. It leapt from demon to demon, biting into them,
sucking out their energy, or in some cases, traveling inside them before
bursting out in a shower of blood. There was hardly anyone left in the facility
after the parasite was done. The creature consumed and swallowed several of the
corpses, not even leaving any bones behind. There were a few unconscious demons
left…and those were the ones that the parasite had laid fresh eggs in, shaped
like small glowing eyes. Roo herself, feasted on the remaining dead…fresh flesh
had never tasted so good. She could see why it was the favorite classic food of
demons.
There would be quite a
few sick demons in the near future. Roo laughed at the thought.
Roo casually pulled off
a dead demon’s arm and munched on it. She swung the arm at a demon straining to
stand…he was soon knocked out.
“Another good trash
pickup,” Roo said with a sigh as she disposed and burned the rest of the
remains. It was as mundane to her as successfully cleaning a house or yard
would be to a human. Every year, Roo would be assigned the most horrific jobs
in the sewers, having to pick up trash, poop and other waste from careless
demons. And every year after the Exterminators attacked, Roo and the parasite
would roam the streets, disposing of bodies and consuming them. When she wasn’t
paid, which was nearly all the time, she would scam others for money, often
posing as a prostitute or dancer. Any lone passerby who intruded on the Trash
Queen’s territory was promptly burned or crushed in a landfill.
Indeed, Roo was often looked
down upon due to her roles in Hell. She was a rebel and a delinquent, with a
ferocious side that often longed to break free…in this case it did.
“Satisfied?” Roo asked
the creature.
The chaotic being
chittered and rumbled in confirmation. It scurried over to her on its legs
before stopping at her feet. The white and black appendages retracted into
itself, along with the spikes. Its worm-like body wagged and wiggled, like it
was ready to pounce, but it wasn’t in an aggressive way. The eye blinked several
times. Roo knew what it wanted. Roo opened her mouth again and the creature
sprang back into the mouth of its host. The body and tail vanished down her
throat before she closed her mouth. Roo felt more energy and nutrients flow
through her. She felt the creature curl up in her core and settle down. Roo’s
tail and demonic features retracted as she turned back to her default form.
The parasite would
always need to feed every day, least it start gnawing at Roo’s insides after
too long. Fortunately, Roo was diligent in caring for the creature. It couldn’t
endure Hell’s heat and dryness for too long, so it lived in the more habitable
environment inside Roo. The creature shared Roo’s common diet of blood and meat...the
typical demon diet. Roo couldn’t remember when she had first made contact with
the thing, but ever since then, it never left.
A pleased and full Roo
made her way out of the club and out onto the street. Blood stained her mouth
and clothes but it could easily be washed later on. Nearby, a dumpster exploded
from one of the red shaped bombs thrown by Cherri Bomb. Roo casually watched
the battle between Sir Pentious and his Egg minions versus Angel Dust and
Cherri Bomb.
“Hell will be mine!”
declared the snake inventor villain from inside his ship. She was dressed elegantly in a gray suit with
yellow stripes with a matching gray top hat with an eye and sharp yellow teeth
like its owner. “And everybody will know the name of Sir…”
“Edgelord!” a voice
taunted.
“Pardon?! Who said
that?” he demanded.
He leaned in close to
two Egg Bois and hissed. “What did you just say to me, you fried chicken
fetuses?!”
The eggs quivered.
“Speak up!” he hissed.
“Um it wasn’t us, Mr.
Bossman!” said an egg.
Just then, a bomb shaped
like a red cherry with a black skull on it, crashed through the window, flipped
through the air and landed with a few bounces on the floor. The fuse was lit
and a spark traveled down the wire. Sir Pentious and the eggs flinched before
the bomb exploded into thick red clouds of smoke. Sir Pentious coughed and
shook his head.
“You looking for a
fight, old man?” asked Cherri Bomb with a grin.
She was a white cyclops
demon with blonde and pink hair tied back into a long ponytail. She wore a high
pink boot with white stripes on it on her left foot and a white and pink sock
on her right foot. She had long black leggings with holes in them. Merging into
her leggings on top was a pink bottom with white circles on it. Her medium pink
crop top was short and was looped over her left shoulder, with a black bra
underneath. A black x was shown on the crop top over her left breast. She wore
black fingerless gloves that extended to her elbows, black on the left arm,
gray with stripes and hearts on her right arm. A large pink eye with a yellow x
on it took up much of her face, along with a grin of sharp white teeth.
Freckles dotted her pale skin.
Cherri Bomb was catching
another bomb in her right hand.
“Why don’t you get that
pathetic tinker toy bullshit off my turf before I smash it…”
A barrel crashed to the
floor…
“…more.” She finished.
“Oh, you wanna go miss?”
asked the snake. He flipped back his hood. “Well, I’d be happy to oblige!” He
laughed as the Egg Bois marched forward with stun guns.
“Catch me if you can,
snakeman!”
Cherri dodged the blasts
and jumped out of the ship. She landed with a graceful flip on the ground
before running off to summon more bombs and explosives.
“I like my eggs
scrambled!” she declared, after brutally stomping on several eggs in her way.
Cherri dodged green laser blasts from Sir Pentious’ blaster and threw an egg
with a spin into Sir Pentious’ face. An egg held a flag that said “Boss’s
number one fan.”
Sir Pentious threw the
egg back but Cherri threw another bomb and caught the egg with both hands. She
cracked the egg in half with a swift knee jab. She lifted up the shells and
enclosed the bomb inside. The egg flew back at Sir Pentious’ face in a blast of
smoke.
“This woman has some
great spunk,” Roo thought.
Soon, Angel Dust stomped
on an egg and joined the fight. A pink explosion went off as Cherri and Angel
continued to fight. Cherri held a metal gun while Angel took cover behind a
rock.
“Hey, thanks for the
backup, Angie,” Cherri said.
Angel Dust smiled and
threw a bomb over his shoulder. Cherri fired a red blast from the cannon. A
pink explosion followed.
“Haha! Are you kidding?
This is the best action I’ve seen in ages!”
“Where’ve you been,
anyway? I thought you up and died or some shit.”
She removed a fuse with
a loop on it from a bomb.
“Oh I wish,” Angel
replied, as he lit another bomb with a match. Cherri took a bomb with a light
pink skull on it from Angel.
Angel continued. “I’ve
been staying at this crappy hotel on the other side of town.”
Cherri threw the bomb
and took cover beside Angel.
“Some boards are letting
me stay rent free if I play nice,” Angel said. Both of them covered their ears
as the bomb exploded in a column of neon green smoke. They jumped over the rock
and out into the open.
Angel blasted continuous rounds of gunfire at
oncoming egg bois.
“Ya know, no fights, no
pranks, no problematic, language. Her words, not mine.”
He stomped on the ground, sending an egg boi
flying into the sky toward the pentagram before it exploded in a yok mess.
Angel held a club in one
of his other hands.
“These crazy bitches are
no fun. I’ve been clean for two weeks!”
Another bomb exploded in
green clouds as Cherri skidded in the background. “Holy shit!” she called as
she jumped back into action, with two bombs in her hands.
Angel Dust was covered
in egg yok. He dipped a finger in yok from his cheek. “Well, sorta clean,” he
grinned. He smashed an egg to bits with his club.
“As clean as you can get
with a shitload of Bolivian marching powder.”
Just then, black chains
wrapped tightly around Angel’s waist. Cherri gasped as her friend was thrown
hard to the ground a distance away by Sir Pentious.
Angel landed and
grinned.
“Oh, harder daddy,” he
teased in a flirtatious tone.
Sir Pentious’ eyes
teared up. “Son?!”
Angel Dust raised his
eyebrows and stared in disbelief.
Cherri Bomb drop kicked
Sir Pentious, knocking him to the ground. He hissed in anger and stood up.
“You whores have no
class! In war, the side remembered is the side with the most…style.” He sprang
his bow tie for emphasis.
“Or the side that ain’t
dead,” Cherri retorted, breaking an egg boi in half and tossing it aside. Angel
stood beside her, now free.
“Speaking of style, is
your hat like, alive or something?” Angel asked, wiggling his glowed fingers.
“Well that’s none of your
goddamn business, now is it?!” Sir Pentious retorted.
“Wouldn’t that make your
hat the top and you the bottom?”
Angel and Cherri burst
into laughter. “Ooooh,” said one of the eggs. “That’s one hellish burn.” A sign
reading “loser” was pointed at Sir Pentious. Sir Pentious slapped the minion.
“I’m gonna blow you to
bits!” he declared at them.
“Oh, kinky,” Angel
grinned.
“Not like that,
pervert!” Sir Pentious yelled, pointing a finger.
Angel Dust suddenly
pushed Cherri out of the way as an Egg Boi behind him shot four black claws
with eyes at Angel from a gun. The claws grabbed Angel’s wrists, preventing him
from escaping.
Sir Pentious grinned.
“Not so cocky now, are we?”
“Ya know, you really
need to watch what comes out of your mouth,” Angel remarked. “I’ve been making
these sex jokes this whole time.”
Angel Dust narrowly
dodged a metal spike coming out of the ground.
“And it’s obvious you
ain’t catching on. I mean it’s just sad!”
Angel Dust grew two
extra arms and there were guns in his hands. He blasted at Sir Pentious,
freeing himself. Sir Pentious’ hat fell off.
“Don’t you think you’re
gonna get into a lot of trouble for this?” Cherri asked, walking sideways.
Angel shrugged and
retracted his extra arms. “Eh. What’s one more little brawl gonna cause?”
“Glad you haven’t
changed!” Cherri said, playfully elbowing him. “You know you’re my favorite guy
to party with!”
“You know it, sugar
tits,” he replied.
Cherri Bomb rolled
another bomb over her shoulders before catching it. “You ready to finish this?”
Angel clicked his gun.
“Born ready, baby!”
The two of them yelled
as they charged at Sir Pentious. Sir Pentious eventually fled and Angel went
off to ride in a white limbo to the hotel. Cherri sang as music played from her
Walkman: “Hello, dad, hello mom, I’m your ch-ch-ch-ch, cherry bomb!”
A few days later, Roo
saw Cherri Bomb again and hid behind a wall to watch. This time she didn’t
appear to be as happy and wild.
Cherri Bomb thought back
to when she comforted Angel Dust in bed after he had a rough night with
Valentino. After that had happened, she blew up an advertisement sign with
Valentino’s face on it. The face of her ex boyfriend would often come back to
her: a man wearing white overalls, him having a gray face with a single
hypnotizing eye, white hair, a spiked hat and an evil stitched up grin. The
critical eyes of her brother and father also stared at her in her mind.
Like other sinners,
Cherri had been former human as well, having been born in the 60s in Australia
and dying in the 80s at young adulthood from an explosion. Her sexuality was
rumored to be bi, and she had been a radical rocker redhead feminist as a
human.
Cherri had fallen in
love with another guy, who promised her money and power. But instead, he took
advantage of her. Her father disapproved of both her rebellious behavior…and
her bisexuality. Cherri’s boyfriend had kept the money for himself, while her
father criticized her for her behavior and the friends she hung out with.
It was all pretty much a
repeat of what had happened in her living life…except without the dying by
explosions bit.
Cherri wondered how
Angel Dust was faring with his Italian mafia family. Angel got along with his
bubbly pink spider sister Molly, while he remained distant from his authoritative
grey father Henroin and recluse black colored brother Arackniss. His white
spider mother, Aranea, was in Heaven. Angel and his family had previously lived
in New York when they were alive. Angel’s father did not approve of Angel
leaving the mafia to pursue his porn star career and living life (and death) as
a gay man. With being stuck under a contract from the moth pimp Valentino plus
his addiction of drugs, drinking and the angel dust drug that had previously
killed him, it seemed like the white spider had no way out.
Cherri sat down on a ledge and opened up her
laptop. She wished she could do more to help out her friend. Roo peered off,
hidden by the wall. She crept forward to get a closer look. The VoxTube video
on the computer read “Addict: Angel Dust At Peep Show/Cherri Bomb In Action.”
The video had been filmed by officials at Hell Club 666.
Angel and Cherri’s voice
came from Cherri’s laptop, showing Angel Dust performing at a strip club,
Valentino greedily watching. Angel stood as a silhouette against a glowing pink
web with a heart on it. Angel spun several times around the pole.
Angel’s voice came first
as he sang:
“’Till
death do us part, but we’re already past that phase
This
is a brand new start and I think I deserve some praise
For
the way that I am
Despite
having overdosed and ending up comatose
I
don’t give a damn”
Valentino eagerly
watched the show from a couch, two furry women beside him. Valentino’s red
smoke from his cigarette morphed into a hand that stroked Angel under his chin.
Angel walked down the stairs and strolled down the aisle.
“I’ve
let my emotions go,
Fuck
being a sober hoe
This
is my mantra, this is my life
You’re
playing with now ‘till the end of the night
Surrounded
by fire, the passion ignites”
Angel kicked a drooling
Travis in the face with his boot.
Valentino’s red smoke
turned into manacles around his wrists and neck for a brief second. Angel
inhaled the hearts in the smoke, then lay down and posed some more. A crowd of
imps and demons watched, throwing money at Angel.
The video did not show
Cherri Bomb comforting Angel in his room, though she remembered that clearly.
“A
hint of that Heaven and Hell, a helluva high”
“I’m
addicted to the madness
This
hotel is my Atlantis”
Hotel? What hotel? Roo
was confused.
“We’re
forever gonna have a fucking reason to sin
Let
me leave my soul to burn and I’ll be breathing it in”
Angel pushed a beer
bottle off the aisle. The camera moved to a ground burning with green flames.
Cherri stood up on the roof, tossing a metal bomb in her hand. She leapt from
roof to roof in the rain, throwing bombs to her heart’s content. She spun
around and fired a bomb at a Valentino sign after flipping the bird.
Cherri Bomb then sang in
the video next, Cherri cringing at hearing her recorded voice:
“I’m
addicted to the feeling…”
Then the video skipped
to Angel Dust climbing the pole:
“…getting
higher than the ceiling
And
we’re never gonna want this fucking feeling to end”
Skipping back to Cherri
swinging from a pole on the roof…
“Just
concede and give in to your inner demons again.”
“This video editing is
marvelous,” Cherri breathed. “Though I’m gonna blow the person who spied on me
to bits.”
The video then showed
Valentino’s red limo driving in the rain. The one who filmed the video did not
know what went on inside the limo. Valentino’s female clients kissing. Angel
sitting next to Valentino, holding just enough money to get by. Valentino
counting his money and grabbing Angel’s hand hard, forcing him to look up. Valentino
gripping him hard by his chin. His tongue was out in front of Angel. He wanted
Angel to kiss him, but Angel flinched away. Valentino forcefully pulled him in
closer as the car kept driving.
Only Cherri knew of
Angel throwing his wine glass against the wall in his room, then collapsing in
a tearful heap against his bed.
The video switched bold
letters read at the bottom: “Cherri captured singing on roof.”
Roo listened as Cherri
sang next, her eyes widening in admiration. Despite Cherri’s tendency to blow
stuff up and be vicious, she had a kind side to her. And oh was her singing
voice beautiful!
“Yeah,
you fell in love, but you fell deeper in this pit
While
death rains from above, so count your blessings ‘cause this is it”
Cherri leaned against a
ledge as it rained. She walked over a puddle among broken green bottles. That day,
Cherri had imagined her father’s face in the water…the memories not leaving.
She fiddled with a bomb before flicking it to the ground. It exploded in a
flash of pink. For some reason, Roo hated seeing this stranger sad.
Cherri turned around and
twirled on the roof.
“You’re
not letting it go
So
what if I misbehave? It’s what everybody craves
You
already know
So,
come if you’re feeling brave and fancy yourself a mate
You
want it, I got it, see what you like
We
could have it all by the end of the night
Your
money and power, my sinful delight
A
hint of that Heaven and Hell, a helluva high”
Cherri twirled around in
front of a green neon sign that read Addict. TNT crates, round bombs and
bundles of red fuses wrapped up surrounded the sign. Cherri loved seeing all
those bombs everywhere. Already, she had felt more powerful and confident. She
took out a lighter switch, pressed the button and everything blew up in pink
smoke. Cherri dove off the roof, belly first, arms out with a grin on her face
and spun as the video faded to white.
“Don’t worry, she ain’t
dead!” read the words against the screen. Cherri had to laugh a little at that
part.
Cherri and Angel would
often imagine themselves dancing at an aquarium club, themed blue and pink
before running out together and blowing it up. They would get ready in their
dressing rooms before going on stage. She would be wearing a single yellow star
over her eye, a cyclops version of sun glasses. Cherri imagined herself twirling around,
throwing bombs at the tables and chairs. A pink coat would be over her
shoulders, reading “Cherri” on it and decorated with red cherries. And Angel
Dust would be dancing beside her in tall boots, glasses, pink gloves, and a tight
black corset outfit. They would spin around the poles and have a blast…immersed
in pure freedom.
But both Angel and
Cherri knew…that it was all a dream.
Cherri could almost hear
her and Angel singing together.
“I’m
addicted to the madness
This
hotel is my Atlantis
We’re
forever gonna have a fucking reason to sin
Let
me leave my soul to burn and I’ll be breathing it in
I’m
addicted to the feeling, getting higher than the ceiling
And
we’re never gonna want this fucking feeling to end
Just
concede and give in to your inner demons again”
“Just
concede and give in to your inner demons again.”
I’m
addicted to the feeling, getting higher than the ceiling
And
we’re never gonna want this fucking feeling to end
Just
concede and give in to your inner demons again”
There was something else
that only Angel Dust knew. The moment at the hotel when Charlie tried to
comfort him, but he declined and turned his back on her. Other than Cherri, he
had no reason to risk trusting anyone else. In addition, he had only known
Charlie for a short time. He walked into his bedroom, and there was his pet
pig, Fat Nuggets, looking up at him, his spots briefly glowing pink in the
dark. A neon “love” sign was on the wall, along with clothes and porn
magazines. There was a poster of fat Nuggets on the wall. His room had wigs on
stands and several mirrors with round lights around the frames, like those at
the studio. Angel picked up the pig and stared into the mirror.
Helpless…
A horrible flashback
seared into Angel Dust’s mind: him wearing fluffy handcuffs and being anally
raped by a grinning Valentino in the porn studio dressing room. Angel froze in
fear before walking toward his bed. He threw away a partially used cigarette
into an ashtray. The angel dust, the drugs, the porn, and money…all were highs
that he had been addicted to for years…but the pleasure was only temporary. The
pleasure only masked the pain for so long, until it came back with an aching
soreness. The smoke revealed a broken heart.
“I’m
addicted to the sorrow, and the buzz ends by tomorrow
There’s
another rush of poison flowing into my veins
Giving
me a dose of pleasure that resides by the pain
I’m
addicted, I’m dependent
Looking,
awesome, feeling helpless”
He knew he would have to
face a terrible decision: stay in Hell with Valentino, or stay at the Hazbin
Hotel and try to redeem himself. Risk disappointment from his boss, or
painfully change his habits for a promise of unknown freedom. But giving up
violence, porn and drugs, the major parts of his life? Easier said than done.
Giving up two of his arms surely sounded easier.
Angel wasn’t sure what
caused him to throw away the cigarette early. Perhaps he knew that it was
somehow “wrong” and decided to give his body a break.
Hopefully, he would be safe at the hotel for
now, with some new friends. Fat Nuggets sensed his distress and licked him
under his chin. Angel smiled. At least he had his pet with him too.
“And
I know I’m raising cane by every highway in hell
Maybe
things won’t be so terrible inside this hotel.”
Cherri Bomb sighed,
closed her laptop and walked away. This just left Roo awed by her appearance
and full of more questions in her mind.
Where
was she from? What was that hotel…could it be the same one that the princess
talked about?
Roo sighed and headed
back home. “Hopefully, I’ll find out.”
Chapter Two: Let’s Blow This Dump
Back in her underground
lair, Roo relaxed in her rectangular swimming pool of blood. In the room stood
a wide array of plants, many of them with drooping leaves in multiple layers. The
window consisted of glass shards of multiple colors fused together in a
scattered design. On the white brick wall flanked by round lights was a large
painting of the Australian outback. In it, the sky was blue and under it were
tall signature red rocks on a dessert ground.
Roo sank her head of
wild hair into the lukewarm liquid, the strong metallic scent filling her nose.
Like other swimming pools in Hell, the “goreine” chlorine in the water made the
blood undrinkable. Her white freckled legs and body were barely noticeable in
the murky liquid.
Her mind was reeling
over the events of the last several days. She had seen Angel Dust and Cherri
Bomb fight Sir Pentious in an action-packed turf war without being noticed.
Then again, not many demons wanted to notice her in the first place…or worse, get noticed by her. Like the kangaroo,
Roo appeared strange and exotic at first glance. But whoever got too close was
in for a rough beat down, and a most certain second death if she so wished.
Just the other day, she
had glimpsed at the video on Cherri Bomb’s laptop. She had no reason nor real
desire to waste her time, but she stayed nonetheless. Roo figured out that
Charlie’s hotel, was indeed, taking in clients for free to try and get them on
the right path. Though Roo overheard Angel Dust saying that he was only staying
because it was free. Would this Cherri Bomb person stay there as well?
Roo kept asking herself
why she had been so curious about Cherri. Perhaps it was the spunky, rebellious
side to her that was hardly seen in many women…at least in her previous life.
To be able to just summon bombs from her hands like magic…Roo wondered why she
couldn’t create balls of fire or gold from hers. Then again, she did have a
bottomless pouch and a parasite, so she wasn’t one to complain.
And the video left her
with more questions. Could a rehab hotel actually work, or was it just a
rubbish rumor?
Roo decided to brush the
issue aside. True or not, it was of no concern to her. Demons could choose what
they wanted to do and live their lives…provided they did not interfere with
hers.
Sighing, Roo stepped up
the concrete stairs, shook off the blood drops from her skin, and wrapped
herself in a black towel. She walked through the arched tunnels and climbed up
the small slope to the dunny to wash up and do her business. She walked back
down, dressed in thick brown clothes and a face mask.
It was time to go to
work.
Roo strode toward a
factory building, which was spewing endless black smoke out from a group of
tall towering chimney pipes. She made her way to the double doors, which opened
up in a cringe-worthy screeching sound.
Roo took her place among
other demons dressed in brown clothing, masks and gloves. In front of them was
a conveyer belt and in the wall were large black pipes. A buzzer sounded and
loads of trash fell through the holes and landed in a heap in front of the
workers. The demons got busy, rummaging through the piles for items of value.
There were boxes off to the right of each worker with different labels: precious
metals, gems, weapons, recyclables, demon remains. The rest of the plastic and
trash were pushed to the left into a slot where a lever would be pulled,
sending it to the incinerator.
“Come on, come on, you
filthy sinning fetuses! Keep working!” called an employee with clapping claws.
Adama. She was a tall woman with skin made of diamonds. She wore a long green
skirt and a white top with her name tag and the company logo. Her coal-colored
hair was pulled back into a tight bun. She was Hell Born, and loved treating
sinners as the second class citizens they were. “You still have thirteen more
hours to go! But don’t worry, your ten minute break will be in half that time.”
Every hour, burly horned
demon guards would patrol the area, some of them whipping the backs of the
workers who slacked off. Roo herself got a few lashes when she found herself
daydreaming. She tried not to cry out, for that would only elicit more whips
and taunts. Her claws and hands were grimy and dirty, almost losing their usual
whiteness.
Between this job,
prostitution and homelessness, Roo had chosen this laborious task in order to
survive when she first manifested in Hell. Her hard work and a few lucky times
allowed her to build her underground home and buy clothes, food and other
necessities.
Hour after hour Roo
trudged and rummaged away. When her fellow employees weren’t looking, she opened
her mouth, allowing the minion to peer through and slither out silently. It
used its bladed legs and mouth to dig through big piles of trash. The creature
opened its mouth to reveal several bullets. Roo grinned and placed them in the
weapons box. She slurped the creature up before anyone noticed…though her boss
shot her suspicious looks and narrowed eyes.
“Unruly piece of scum,”
Adama muttered, as she walked along, just loud enough for Roo to hear.
The heat in Hell was
unbearable enough, but having to stand near burning incinerators was almost
torture. Sweat coated Roo’s forehead and under her arms…the heavy clothing
wasn’t helping much. After several hours, the parasite pushed and kicked at her
insides, begging to be let loose and to feed. She used her willpower to hold it
down for as long as she could. She needed a smoke break, bad. After a brief
lunch break of rotten meat and overcooked vegetables, the workers took their
positions again.
The boss wandered over
to a small demon, who glanced at her nervously.
“What have you got?”
The demon pointed at the
boxes with a shaking finger.
“Hmm,” Adama said,
observing the findings. “Only one piece of metal and a smelly old container?
Those aren’t going to be worth selling in a blizzard. Give me more results at
once.”
“But…I’m tired,” the
demon complained.
The boss snickered and
leaned in. “You’re tired? Is that right?”
Adama mentioned to the
other workers. “You hear him, he’s tired!” She spoke to him. “You were hired,
you’re now tired. You know what comes next?”
The demon gulped.
The woman took out a
coin. ”The answer: you will be fired! But how will that go, exactly?”
She rubbed the coin
in-between her fingers, everyone looking nervous.
“Heads for you, tails
for your home. Same goes for all.”
One other worker had her
home burned down after she tried to run away during her shift. The guards had
caught her and brought her before Adama. The boss had flipped the coin to tails
and she became homeless…resulting in working more hours.
The coin flipped in the
air, all eyes watching it. The coin landed in the boss’s clear palm. She
grinned rows of glassy teeth.
“Heads up!”
Oh no.
Two horned guards
wearing gas masks over their faces picked up the demon by his arms, his screams
and struggling doing him no good.
Don’t panic. Don’t
panic. Don’t panic.
A lever was pulled and a
metal hatch opened up to a low shaft. A shaft of flames. A steep fall into a
burning pit with nothing in the walls to hold onto.
“No, no, no, stop!” the
demon begged, as he was dragged forward. In swift motions, the yelling demon
was thrown by the guards through the opening, his yelling growing fainter as he
fell into the fiery pit. The hatch closed with a clang of finality.
“Fuck,” Roo breathed,
clutching at her stomach and head. She ignored the staring eyes around her.
Roo’s heart appeared to
stop (again). She hunched over, her body and arms shaking. The windowless room
and heat appeared to suffocate her, the walls appeared to close in. The flashes
burst into her head as she stared at the flames through another opening.
Running like crazy from
police footsteps. Maneuvering her way through a factory. The yells of her
sister as officers closed in. Jumping onto a pile of trash to avoid being
arrested. Her feet slipping on paper and junk, sliding down into a lower level.
A man shoving her further away among the junk, for her dumping his girlfriend’s
body. Her sister screaming her name as she struggled to free herself. The metal
and scraps cutting into her skin as she struggled to free herself. Being pinned
down by the crushing debris. Screaming for her family as she was moved
mechanically into an incinerator and burned alive…
“Is there a problem
here, Miss Roo?”
Roo jolted back up, and
stared into the stone cold grey eyes of her boss.
“N-n-no mam’,” she
responded.
“Let me see the boxes
and your pouch.”
Roo moved aside as the
woman looked through the boxes.
“Several bullets,
containers with no toxic elements. Lots of steel scraps. Not too bad.”
Roo pulled out the part
of the gold necklace, some souls, an old box of cigarettes and several empty
beer cans in reasonable condition.
Adama scrutinized her
findings, placing a finger to the smooth surface of her chin.
“You got lucky this
time,” she said, as she gathered the objects into a larger box. “These items
will do at the market. But one of these days, you or your home will get burned
to a crisp. Not that anyone else would care, seeing as you’re a dessert
dwelling lowlife who got lucky.”
“Bitch,” Roo seethed.
“What was that?”
“Nothing, mam’.”
A growling sound rumbled
in Roo’s throat. She could feel the slender body of the creature trying to
climb out. She gripped her own throat, pushing it back down.
The boss grit her teeth.
“I’ve see you with your creature friend. Don’t even think about attacking me or
anybody else with it. My skin can withstand sharp objects and teeth.” She took
the half gold necklace and stuffed it into her shirt.
Then she mentioned to
everyone, “Remember, anyone who finds an angelic weapon will receive a double
raise and a higher position. Count yourselves lucky that you don’t have to
slave away in the mines…yet! Now get back to work.”
Roo’s legs and back were throbbing and sore by
the time she arrived back home. It had taken her months to create it. To
imagine it being burned away…gut-wrenching. She’d have to start all over.
Scratch that, it would be all over for her. Trash piles could only help hide
her so much. She would be homeless and at the mercy of predatory demons. Single
homeless demons were pretty much fresh meat. She wouldn’t let that happen…she
couldn’t. But how much longer could she keep working, when her boss practically
wanted her to fail?
Roo climbed up the
stairs and freely fell onto the dirty mattress. It was the one where she
briefly had sex with another male demon, before using her minion to devour him.
It had been a most wonderful night.
She stripped herself of
the sweaty uniform before putting it in a hamper to wash later. She went to the
bathroom to take a shower, before putting on some looser, lighter clothing: a
torn black ACDC t-shirt, ripped jeans, and a spiked collar around her neck.
More chain necklaces were draped around her neck. On her couch, she casually
played an Australian didgeridoo decorated red and black like a snake. Traditionally
only men would play the didgeridoo in ceremonies but in Hell, she was free to
do as she wished. Feeling a gnawing in her stomach, Roo placed the instrument
down and raced outside through the exit door.
She couldn’t lose her
home. Not the place where she was free to be herself and alone. Sure, Roo had
her minion with her if she became homeless, but if it were to be captured, it
would eventually die. If her minion were to die…she knew that she would get
very sick. Her minion did more than just kill other demons and dig through
trash…it helped defend her and keep her alive. With Roo having a compromised
immune system, the parasite healed her wounds and attacked any viruses that
entered her body. In exchange, Roo provided the creature with her body, a
portion of her energy and daily food. The creature would reluctantly remain
still and let Roo’s food be digested…most of the time.
In the past, Roo had
tried keeping the creature in her pouch…but it didn’t like the dry, cluttered
environment.
And speaking of which…
“Urgh! Stop it!” Roo
seethed as the beast racked through her body and squirmed from within her gut.
The beast’s thick fur and spikes prevented her gut bacteria from absorbing it.
The creature began eating up the walls of her stomach, and some of the stomach
bacteria. The long hours of work and the hunger of the beast were coming back
with a vengeance.
She doubled down on her
knees, nearly throwing up. The beast was hungry and wanted out. Having no
choice, Roo opened her mouth wide, spewing out the creature in streams of dark
spit and blood. The orange slick body grew white spider-like legs and the rough
black clawed appendages with the eyes blinking in them. With shrieks and a
clanking of its legs, the monster scurried off and attacked several demons
nearby.
The monster came back
around ten minutes later, satisfied and coated in blood. Roo opened her mouth
and the creature dashed inside before disappearing down her throat.
Roo arrived home and
began to play her didgeridoo again on the couch, this time playing an
Australian Aboriginal tune she had learned when she was alive. She was amazed
that she could still remember the song, let alone her past life.
Arranged on a shelf in
the kitchen were bottles of different herbs she used for cooking, healing, and
make-up. Roo walked over and ground up several green leaves after removing them
from the shelf, making a tea. The warm finished liquid was soothing for her
stomach. Tucked in a shadow corner of a shelf were bottles with poison ivy,
wormwood, and other deadly herbs to use on enemies. Lacing demon’s drinks with
poisonous substances was a favorite pastime. There were even some fan shaped
marijuana leaves in a jar that she occasionally used when smoking.
Many outsiders, both on
Earth and in Hell only saw Roo as a trash picker and vicious killer. But many
did not know that Roo had other hobbies: singing, dancing, playing Australian
instruments and working with herbs. She also enjoyed alternative fashion and
art. Although Roo was somewhat clumsy in her dancing and screechy in her
singing, she still enjoyed them very much. After taking several sips of her
tea, Roo played a nearby guitar as she sang:
“The
downtrodden at the mercy of their fates
Burning
in inferno, alone with no mates
Surrounded
by rubbish, stuck in a bin
Living
a life of sin, but no way to win”
“What
determines our new lives from the start?
Who
would’ve thought my behavior could drift others apart?
I
can feel my afterlife slowly burning away
Yeah
there’s no other way, but to pray and stay”
Roo,
oh Roo
Whatever
must you do
To
keep your belly full and your mind intact
What
to do, Roo, it’s all up to you
You’re
stuck here forever, that’s just a fact”
Roo had learned a quick
lesson once she arrived in Hell: in order to survive, demons would have to know
how to kill and use weapons…plus know how to sing, dance and/or play music. One
had to be good at self-defense while also finding a way to get their points
across, a.k.a. singing. Slaughtering and entertainment were the two essential
things that would get demons further along in Hell. One had to be good at both.
One could look at such examples as jazz loving Alastor, Angel Dust, Cherri
Bomb, the ever musical Charlie and her parents to see how important these
skills were.
Perhaps the reason why
the majority of demons killed, sang and danced were due to Lucifer himself. He
enjoyed polka music and his family were also experts in the creative arts. Music
and song, along with fashionable dress were excellent ways to both pass the
time and to display a higher status. The two songs and dances that Charlie
performed, along with the Alastor one, were just the beginning.
A rumbling sound was
soon heard from overhead. There were sounds of scurrying and the sounds of
metal and plastic being scrapped around from outside.
“Who the hell decided to
visit me?” Roo thought, her claws extending into sharp black points.
From the footsteps
coming from many directions, it appeared to be more than one person.
Blast. It was probably
her boss and her cronies arriving to punish her. Could she never catch a break?
Roo stepped outside and
squinted into the sudden red light. She couldn’t believe her eyes.
What she saw wasn’t her
boss, but rather…round moving eggs? They were dressed in small pinstriped suits
around their lower halves along with mini black top hats on their heads. The
eggs had eyes and large mouths with jazzed edges that served as teeth. They
moved on small legs and had small arms. Roo punched one of the eggs and it
exploded in a yok mess around her.
“Yuck,” she muttered.
The Egg Bois were
currently digging through the trash piles nearby, and carrying scraps of metal
with them!
“Hey! That stuff is not
your own! The fuck are you doing on my turf?”
She heard laughter from
nearby. There was Sir Pentious himself holding a gun with a green electricity
inside it. He was flanked by a dozen Egg Bois holding stun guns.
The Industrial
Revolution snake turned and looked at her, his fangs bared in a sinister smile.
“Well, well, well, look
what the rat dragged in today! What’re you doing in this filth, worm?”
“FYI, I live here,
bastard. Why’re you so keen to barge into my turf?”
Sir Pentious made a face
and scoffed. “You call this your turf? I’ve seen homeless scum have more class
than you. And to answer your question, I’m in need of some more metal and parts
to repair my blimp. The one that cursed Alastor managed to destroy.”
Alastor…she had heard
his name before. Thankfully, she had never encountered the infamous Radio
Demon.
“You’re an inventor
right?”
“Why yes I am,” Sir
Pentious replied, puffing his chest. “Only the greatest of my time! What’s it
to you?”
“Can’t you just gather
parts somewhere else?”
“I could, but I’m in a
bit of a hurry, and a bad mood after what happened earlier,” he seethed,
revealing a chipped fang and a swollen eye.
“Ouch,” Roo remarked.
Sir Pentious hissed.
“You mock me while living in this dump? What a filthy whore you are.”
“The fuck did you just
call me?”
“Would you like me to
say it again, in case you didn’t hear me?”
“Boss,” said Egg #22. “I
think the trash lady heard you just fine!”
“Never you mind,” he
spat, giving his minion a glare.
“No need. You’ll be
saying nothing after…this!” Roo declared, her mouth opening wide.
“Bring it, missy!” Sir
Pentious hissed, turning to his minions. “Get her!”
The eggs scrambled
towards her on their little feet and legs. Roo took hold of a nearby pipe and
swiped several times at the eggs. The Egg Bois were sent flying into the air
forwards before rolling on the ground as they fell. One egg trued to bite her
leg but she kicked it away with a powerful roundhouse. Her fists shot through
several more eggs before white and yellow egg yok splattered all over her face
and clothes. Roo’s long tongue licked off the goop with a slurp.
“You know, I’d much
prefer meat. And I’d be more than willing to try snake!”
One egg watched as he
waved a flag in his hand that read “Boss’s #1 fan.” Roo’s parasite helped with
attacking the eggs and keeping them at bay. Several eggs were lifting up a
shiny piece of metal and scurrying toward their boss.
“Oh no you don’t!” She
whirled around and threw a rock in their direction. The stone clanged against
the metal, causing the eggs to fumble with the piece. The Eggs and metal were
sent flying with one swipe of Roo’s powerful tail. One egg managed to bite down
into her tail and another fired a blast that impacted her foot.
“Damn it!” she cursed,
swishing her tail around to get the egg off. A jet of green energy narrowly
missed her as it created a smoking hole in a trash pile next to her head.
“Come out and face me,
missy,” Sir Pentious called. “Or are you just gonna scurry back into your
hole?”
Another blast shook the
ground, causing Roo to almost lose her balance. In fury, she raced out and
attacked other eggs around her. The turf war went on for what seemed like
hours. More and more eggs kept arriving and Roo was already starting to get
worn out. Even her parasite was having trouble killing so many eggs at once.
Sir Pentious shot a blast at the orange creature and it shrieked in pain,
releasing the captured Egg Bois.
“Not so tough now, huh?”
he grinned, tongue flickering out as he advanced.
“No,
no, no, no,” she thought in frustration as she saw
several more eggs carry off metal and tools back to the remains of Sir
Pentious’ ship. They threw the scraps into a large cart before wheeling it
away. Roo punched more Egg Bois and scurried behind more trash piles to avoid
blasts from the Egg Bois’ guns and Sir Pentious’ blasts. Roo jumped high into
the air to avoid a larger blast from Sir Pentious’ gun. The trash pile she had
been taking cover behind, exploded in a flash of green smoke. One of the Egg
Bois shot a claw from another gun. Roo managed to avoid several of the traps in
midair before a third cable made her trip. She fell to the ground and rolled
over as the Egg Bois closed in. Her arms were suddenly held back by more clawed
cables. She struggled to free herself before a brief shock of electricity made
her flinch back. Nearby, her parasite was also trapped in the black cables.
The serpent villain
slithered over to her, yellow eyes glowing, fangs showing against his menacing
shadow figure. Fear was evident in her eyes as Sir Pentious aimed his blaster
at her not too far away. There was no way he could miss now.
“Any last wordssss?” he
grinned.
Roo lowered her head
before opening her mouth. “Edgelord!” was spoken.
“What did you just say
to me?!”
“I didn’t say anything…”
Just then, a familiar
slender cyclops woman did a graceful leap over the barbed wire fence, landing
gracefully on the ground between Roo and Sir Pentious.
“Still looking to fight,
old man?” she asked. She threw a pink bomb in his face, pink smoke spreading in
the air. Sir Pentious coughed through the smoke and waved his hand to clear it
away. The woman kicked the eggs away and the cables fell away from her hands,
freeing her.
“Thought you could use
some help,” she said.
Roo didn’t have the
chance to reply before the smoke cleared.
“You again!” Sir
Pentious yelled. ‘You really don’t know when to give up, do you?”
“Giving up’s not in my
vocabulary. I must ask, is being a lord of shit in yours?”
“Arugh!” he growled in
anger. “Both of you are dead!”
“I know,” Cherri
smirked. “How about we find out if you can die again!”
“I’m better than you at
words and lifestyle. I’m quite the epic dabber!” Sir Pentious exclaimed before
his Egg Bois collectively groaned in response.
“Man, ego inflation
much?” Roo shook her head.
Cherri summoned more
bombs in her hands, tossing them at oncoming Egg Bois. Roo and Cherri exchanged
smiles and knowing looks. It was time to heat things up.
Roo jumped and bounced
in the air like a kangaroo over toward her minion. A few swipes of her claws
snapped the cables in half, freeing her parasite. The creature roared aloud
before scurrying on its metal legs in the path of several Egg Bois. The blades
and tendrils contacted with the eggs, slicing them, squishing them or biting
them.
“I like my eggs
scrambled!” Cherri exclaimed as she beat an egg to death with a nailed filled
club in her hands. “Seriously, does Sir Pentious shit you guys out or does he
have a chick for that? No matter, I’ll juts poach more of you eggs!”
“I could do for some
fried eggs myself,” Roo grinned as she barreled into more eggs and stomped
several into the ground. The good news was that no more eggs were stealing any
more metal and useful junk.
“Ha! I haven’t seen this
many dying eggs since that sperm bank got robbed!” Cherri danced around the Egg
Bois trying to shoot her. “You really think you can take me with your pea-cock
shooters? Get it?”
“Hey,” Roo called to
Cherri. “Thanks for the backup!”
“Don’t mention it,” she
replied. “That Edgelord manic has been invading my territory for a while now.
He almost got it as well. But even if he does…I’ll make sure he doesn’t get
yours.”
“You don’t know me,”Roo
inquired. “Why stop to help anyway?”
“I figured, why not?
Angel Dust helped me out during the last one. Figured I could pass the time and
shit.”
“What do you do for
hobbies?” Roo asked.
“Blow stuff up,
obviously,” Cherri answered. “Plus go shopping with Angel Dust, maybe go for a
drink. You?”
“I work with herbs of
all kinds. I sing, play music, murder, feast, you name it.”
“Sounds pretty rad. I’m
Cherri Bomb by the way.”
“Roo,” Roo smiled.
The parasite lunged at
Sir Pentious, but the snake managed to avoid it, sending it away as it avoided
more blasts.
“Ready to finish this?”
Roo asked.
“You bet!” Cherri
responded.
Cherri Bomb and Roo both
charged at Sir Pentious, all three of them (plus the creature) yelling at the
top of their lungs.
Roo and the parasite
attacked more Egg Bois at a rapid pace, sending them into a retreat. They
scurried over to the last cart before driving it away. Sir Pentious was fuming
in anger.
“Don’t get confident,
whores. You may have sent us back, but I still got enough parts to do the job.
You won’t be so lucky next time!”
Sir Pentious took one
look at Roo and his eyes glowed and spiraled. Roo was briefly entranced that
she didn’t notice the hiss, snap and strike until it was too late. Yellow fangs
sank into her neck and Roo cried out with wide eyes. Cherri gasped in concern,
throwing several bombs at Sir Pentious. Sir Pentious laughed again as he fled
the scene yelling, “Bye, bye bitches!”
Roo felt her body go numb.
Spots danced before her eyes as dizziness took hold. Cherri Bomb held her in
her arms, Roo collapsing to the floor, her body suddenly heavy.
“Oh Isabella!” Roo
smiled deliriously.
“That’s not my name,”
Cherri said, taken aback.
“Roo!” Cherri called in
concern as Roo gasped for breath. Roo weakly smiled at Cherri’s beautiful face.
She never imagined that a single large eye could hold so many secrets. She had
saved her life…a true angel hidden in disguise. Thank Lucifer Roo had left the
door unlocked.
She saw Cherri’s
concerned face for a few more seconds before unconsciousness took her.
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