There was this big clocktower that did only one thing, well, technically, two things. Joshua was looking at it, rubbing behind his head. "You've been here a lot longer than me." He looked to Katie near him on the sidewalk. "What exactly is that?"

Katie craned her head back to get a good look. "Shit." She glanced away and back at Josh. "That's when the next attack's coming, and time's running out."

Joshua looked up at it again as it clicked away. "It's still, like, days away, right?"

"Uh, hours now." She leaned against the building as she turned toward Josh. "On the bright side, for me, they usually focus way more on sinners, like you, and less on imps, like me." She flicked her tail. "Still, sucks. You were a cushy place to crash for a little while." She winked. "You're lucky you're cute."

"Thanks." He watched the seconds ticking away, a sour mood beginning to creep over him. "I think."

"Hey, you're the one that asked what that meant." She pushed off the wall. "Now, if it was me, I'd be less worried about me." She frowned with thought. "That came out wrong. You." She pointed at Josh directly. "You have souls. You're a step up. You're down on their list. Your friends though? A1 beef waiting to be chomped."

"Then we have to move. Get away from here. Come on." He turned and began to walk quickly. "The sooner we're gone, the better."

Katie giggled at the idea. "Oh, now that's the attitude you should have." She broke into a jog to match his determined fast walking. "But running won't get you far, otter boy. They have wings, and magic. There isn't too far you could go they couldn't catch up with."

He stumbled slightly as he walked, his steps growing erratic. "Yeah, well, I don't see anyone else thinking up some brilliant solution. We got to go."

"Where?" Katie was grinning. She flashed her sharp teeth. "When it comes down to these times, you have two options really. One." She thrust out a finger. "You let them kill who they kill and hope it's nobody you care about. Two." She thrust her second finger out. "You fight any of them that gets close to something you care about." She licked that finger. "Bloody work, but effective if you win."

Josh put his hands at his hips. "What's three?"

"You get enough backers that they decide attacking you and yours ain't worth the time." Katie shrugged with a snort. "Not enough time to really think about that. Maybe the next go-around?"

The otter groaned. "You don't even sound that worried, Katie!"

"And you sound like a little bitch." She caught his tail with her foot, knocking him to the ground. "Get over it." She leaned in and kissed on on the top of the head. "You are cute when you panic though, not gonna lie."

He swatted her away, scrambling to his feet. "Well, I'm not giving up on my friends. I literally went to hell for them. No way I'm just sitting back and letting them get hurt."

She brought her hands together. "Sounds like you wanna fight." Her tone heavily implied she was alright with that option. "But doing it with your bare hands sounds like a shitty idea. I know a guy that can help."

"Really?" Josh smoothed the fur on his head down, still ruffled from falling on his face. "Do you think he will?"

"Who knows?" She whipped him on the side. "How much you got to trade?" Her cocky expression fell as Josh looked confused. "C'mon! I know you're packing something. If nothing else, you have the literal souls of a few chums of yours to barter with. Out with it."

Joshua blushed as he looked away. "I, uh, I do. But, I mean, we're friends! I don't want to trade souls with you. I want you to have them because I give them to you."

Katie stared at him for a long moment before she started laughing. "Oh man, you are a sucker!" She slapped him on the back hard enough to make him sway. "Do not offer me souls casually like that. Oh, wow." She wiped her teary eyes. "Wow. I'm at least mostly sure you said that wrong. Either way, if you won't trade souls, your only option is learning how to use the ones you got."

The otter nodded in response to that. "That, uh, sounds great, Katie. Thanks. Where do we go?"

She shook her head as she took hold of Joshua's paw. "Fucking hell. I don't have any of those, and you think I know how to do this? Look, c'mon." She tugged him along, stomping down the street. "I know some people at least. They'll show you the basics."

"Like, magic stuff?" Josh bounded after her, paws slapping loudly as they went. "I can't say that I ever learned that sort of thing on Earth. Well, except the fire spell, but I think that's because the toaster was on the fritz."

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"Was that a joke? Ain't the time." She half-threw and half-yanked him into the door of a building. "Knock, like you fucking mean it, and you better, or they won't answer the thing."

Joshua pressed his paws to the door, a dull wood that could have used some repair and polish. The structure itself didn't look as if it were in better shape. He banged his fists on the door and it rattled under his strength.

"Hold on a damn moment," replied a rough voice. "Give me a second." Something fell over heavily, metal clattering beyond the door. Then came footsteps that grew louder before a tiny hatch at eye level opened, revealing a red face covered in scales and horns. The face gave Josh a look over before its eyes fixed on Katie. "What's the deal with this?"

Katie shrugged. "I'm not the customer." She hiked a thumb at Josh. "He's got a death wish and he wants to make it flashy."

"Does he?" The slit closed. Some smaller metal things clinked and chunked swiftly before the door swung open, slowed by the junk on the ground. "Then come in. Already died once, what's a second time between friends, eh?"

Joshua smiled at that as he stepped past the threshold into the dusty, dim room. "Thanks for this." He followed Katie further inside, looking around at the items scattered everywhere. Racks and shelves held bottles, boxes, books, and more, all in some sort of disorganized order. "What is this place?"

"Magic emporium." The large demon standing in the center of the room tossed back his long, blue hair. "It's not really, but that's what I'm calling it for now." He glared at Joshua intently a moment. "Hm, yeah, you got a touch." He made a gesture as if slamming a door and the door behind them slapped shut with a bang. "Not often I see sinners this fresh looking with so many souls around their fingers. Talent."

Joshua chuckled and rubbed one hand with the other. "Not my talent."

"Your possession. Doesn't matter much why." He held up a clawed hand of his own, shrieking faces swirling around the fingers. "Souls have power, and you have some. She dragged you here to learn something about it, I assume. Otherwise, you're fucking wasting my time and I want you the fuck out before I finish this sentence."

But Joshua and Katie were still there by the end of that, Josh a little nervous, and Katie rather amused. "See? That's what you need." The imp gave Josh a gentle push. "Some good, hard motivation. I mean, we'd be having more fun than this if we just ran, but, yeah, he has things he wants to protect, and they aren't even me."

The demon roughly shoved Katie aside. "Who would sacrifice shit to save your ass?" His eyes were on Josh squarely. "You got something worth protecting? What from? Some other little punk giving you trouble?" He growled deeply. "Weak shit."

"The angelic exterminators." The otter drew himself up, pulling his shoulders back. "They're coming and they're going to hurt my friends."

The demon's mouth split in a wide grin. "Wow, straight to the serious G O D squad? I love it." He slammed Katie's back. "I forgive you, this time. You brought something worth the time. But they're coming in hours. We need fucking days, months preferably, for you to learn a damn thing. You're a bit late, little otter."

"I know, but I'm here, and I'm not leaving without being able to protect my friends!" Joshua jabbed a finger at the demon. "I just need to know a little something so I can hold them off, keep them at bay, not win, just keep them away."

"Desperation." The demon snuffed deeply at Joshua's scent. "Delicious. Mmm. We could make this easy. Give me just one of those little tasty souls and I'll give you what you need to ward them off, this time. Easy as that." He held out a hand. "Deal?"

Joshua hesitated only a moment. "No. No deals. I need to earn the protection, not pay for it. I want to be better than that."

"Okay, fine, then." He crossed his arms with a chortle. "I'm Amundian, by the way. I'll be teaching you to shout that, as that's the safe word." Without warning, Amundian slugged Joshua across the face, sending the otter spiraling through the air and landing among the junk. "You'll need to fight better than that, otter boy."

Katie hopped back over the junk, curling her tail around a pole as she leaned back to watch. "Don't kill the guy."

"He already died once." Amundian brought both hands down in a punishing haymaker that sent metal bits flying, but the Joshua was already rolling away back to his feet. "A second time won't kill him. Focus, and win, or admit you were wasting everyone's damned time."

Joshua growled, ears pinned back as he threw his whole weight into a tackle, bearing Amundian to the ground. Amundian slipped away, raking claws over Joshua's back, leaving gashes that sizzled slightly. "That's more like it," he laughed out, the fight truly begun.

They met, parried, and tore into one another with increasing ferocity. The more they clashed, the more Joshua faintly glimmered.

Katie whistled appreciatively at the match. "Now you're looking like you have something."

But Joshua didn't reply, instead parrying a sharp punch to the side and leaning in with an uppercut that landed with a flash of Winny's face at the point of impact, as if he had struck with her somehow.

Amundian staggered back with a laugh, spitting out some blood. "There, there you go. Now you've put your damn toe in it. Maybe you'll survive, or not. At least you'll put on a mighty fine show for everyone lucky enough to watch your sorry ass get tore up." He bared his teeth as he began to circle around the otter. "I'm going to take a lot more than a fucking punch to go down."

Katie looked away from the fight as her phone buzzed. She dug it out quickly and held it up to her ear. "Yellow? I'm a little—What? No way. No way!" She threw the phone to the ground, adding it to the junk littering the room. "Damn it all!"

Joshua glanced at her, but his attention was mostly on Amundian. "Is it time?"

Katie sighed. "Yeah, it is, and I need you to get your ass up and go now. We wasted our time, we gotta run, or we're all going to die." She blew a kiss at Amundian. "Get your agressive kink out on the angels if you're feeling it."

"Fuck you." He sank down into the trash sullenly. "Good luck with those friends of yours. Come back if the angels don't ultra murder you."

Joshua twirled towards the door, rushing with Katie. "Thanks! Be safe, okay?" But no reply came as he barreled out onto the road filled with screams of terror. The sky was full of angry flying figures, and death was already seeping into the ground everywhere more than usual. "Oh man..."

Katie pointed back towards Josh's apartment. "You want to save them? We gotta go!"