The Autumn Festival was a sight to behold. The centre of the Brimstone Nature Park had been converted into a huge fairground, complete with games, stalls and even a ferris wheel bedecked with black and orange lights. Children ran around, giddy at the prospect of staying up past their bedtimes and hopped up on Golem rock candy, while their parents chatted and tried their hands at the various games on offer. Over in one stall, a pair of Gluttons were challenging passers-by to try and catch a goldfish with their bare hands. In another, a Fallen had set up an archery range, though it had been temporarily closed because a young Oni boy had gotten frustrated and accidentally shot his sister in the foot.
The Redtiles - having never seen a proper Hell festival before - were utterly astounded by the entire experience. People dressed in masks handed out bags of sweets to the festival's attendants, and by the time they made a full pass of all the attractions, Trevor's arms were weighed down with more than a dozen bags of confectionary. His wife couldn't quite contain herself around the shooting galleries, and judging by the way she handled the air rifle and the amount of stuffed toys she was winning, the woman had deadly aim.
As for Cobalt and Quinn, they had both completely relaxed, secure in the fact that neither of the Imp's parents had seen through the pseudo-Succubus' disguise. And though Cobalt still felt like he was being watched, he had to admit that the plan had worked. He had successfully passed himself off as her girlfriend, and her parents were none the wiser.
"If you're still worried about what comes next, don't. I'll tell them that Copper had to transfer to some other town or something. What's the closest to Brimstone?" Quinn asked, rattling a lollipop against her teeth.
Cobalt smiled as he delicately nibbled the coating of a toffee apple.
"I take it you haven't been studying for your Geography classes then?"
"You've seen my grades, what do you think?"
He rolled his eyes and sighed.
"Technically Slomba is the closest proper town, but they don't have any kind of school there, so you'd be better off saying she moved to Pumice Bay. That's the next city-state over, just to the southwest."
"Alright, alright, enough with the lessons. You aren't even my Geography teacher."
Laden with treats and teddy bears, her parents scuttled over to the pair, both tittering like excited schoolchildren.
"When our Quinn invited us to this festival thing, I thought it was just going to be some version of Halloween! But this is fantastic! They're giving out free shit!" Trevor cried giddily, staggering beneath the weight of his bounty.
Cobalt smiled.
"Well, Halloween is a time where Earthborne demons can walk freely among humans. Down here, the Autumn Festival is more about-" Cobalt began, only to be cut off by a massive yawn from Quinn.
She apologised for her interruption, but a quick glare told him that he was being far too teacher-like. Clearing his throat, he clasped his hands behind his back and turned his gaze to the ground beneath his feet.
"Um, well, in any case, do you think we should maybe walk you to your hotel, Mr. and Mrs. Redtile? I'm sure you must be tired after all those games," Cobalt suggested, raising the pitch of his voice somewhat.
Susan grinned.
"Cor, aren't you just the sweetest, Copper? Quinn honey, you really bagged a keeper!" she laughed, looking notably more red-faced than usual.
Eyes wide, Cobalt glanced over at the stall she and Trevor had returned from. It was selling samples of genuine Oni moonshine, the kind of stuff that doubled as a turpentine alternative.
"She's got a point, though. I'm starting to see double over here," her spouse mumbled, staggering beneath the weight of all his bags.
Quinn snickered and flashed Cobalt a grin.
"Yeah, let's get these third wheels to their beds already. Too late for senior citizens to be out anyway."
Her mother scoffed.
"You cheeky fucker!"
Though the two Imps teetered and tottered all over the place, they eventually managed to escort them out of the park without either of them falling over, much to Quinn's amusement. As they made their way back through the main town, they all made pleasant conversation, but Cobalt just couldn't shake the feeling of intense paranoia. Distracted as he was by the Autumn Festival games, he had thought it to be just his nerves, but now that they were passing down a darkened street...
He halted in his tracks, drawing the attention of the Redtiles.
"You alright?" Trevor asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Copper? What's wrong?" Quinn asked, stepping closer to him.
Cobalt just shook his head, before slowly turning his gaze upwards. A dark figure against a darker night sky, briefly illuminated by streetlight playing off black glass.
"ALL OF YOU, GET DOWN!"
Hurling himself forward, Cobalt grappled Quinn around the waist and pulled her to the ground, right as a spray of glassy black arrows rained down from above. Their obsidian tips buried deep into the pavement and the concrete wall behind them, only to fade away into clouds of black vapour that drifted away on the wind.
"What the fuck was that?!" Susan cried, dropping her plushies.
Gasping for breath, Cobalt scrambled to his feet.
"It was-!"
He returned his gaze to the rooftop, only to see that the figure had gone.
"- a diversion...!" he cried, turning back.
But he was already too late. Standing a little ways off from the group, a Fallen dressed in little more than a filthy white coat calmly nocked her Obsidian bow, preparing to fire it right at Cobalt.
"Is that... Nurse Elya?" Quinn murmured, wincing as she plucked herself off the ground.
The Fallen smiled humourlessly.
"How astute of you, Miss Redtile."
She let the arrow fly. Before Cobalt could react, it whistled right past him, grazing his side and pinning his shirt to the wall. Try as he might to free himself, it was stuck fast.
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"Oi! What the fuck do you think you're playing at?!" Trevor roared, balling his fists as he rushed towards the Fallen.
With a brief roll of her violet eyes, Elya easily sidestepped his fumbling tackle, retaliating with a series of pointed jabs. Quickly, coldly and efficiently, she struck all of his pressure points in sequence, causing him to slump noiselessly to the ground. Susan screamed and tried to assist her husband, but it wasn't long before the same fate befell her.
"There," the Fallen sighed, rolling them both out of the way with a bare foot.
"I knew you were a nutter, but what the fuck do you think you're at?!" Quinn yelled, staggering to her feet.
Cobalt gritted his teeth and pulled at the arrow with all of his might. The head was barbed; it wasn't coming out easily.
Dispelling her Obsidian Bow, Elya drew her faithful Immoderata and slowly passed it from one hand to the other as she approached.
"I have no quarrel with you. Step aside and you may yet live."
"You just tried to shoot me, you fucking lunatic!"
"Not you. Her," Elya hissed pointing past the Imp.
Cobalt swallowed hard. Disguised as a Succubus, she must consider him to be some kind of threat. But the question was why?
"Copper? Nah, you just back the fuck up one second if you think you're playing a finger on my bird," Quinn retorted, firmly placing herself between them.
The arrow was beginning to loosen. Holding his breath, Cobalt redoubled his efforts.
"She is a harlot, a homewrecker, a deceiver. Are you blind to how she ties her hair up?"
The pseudo-Succubus blanched. His tie. He should have known she would have recognised it; that was just like Elya!
Quinn glanced back at Cobalt and fixed him with a reassuring gaze.
"What, that old thing? She couldn't find her usual hair ties, so she-"
"DO NOT PLAY ME FOR A FOOL, QUINN REDTILE!" screamed Elya, gripping her weapon tight.
Her eyes were ablaze, like violet fires bearing a single pinprick in their centres.
"I KNOW THE TIE THAT MY BELOVED SO ADORES! RED STRIPES UPON GREY FABRIC, FRAYED AND WORN WITH AGE! THE TIE OF THE BRIMSTONE INSTITUTE OF DEMONICS BEFORE THEY CHANGED THE UNIFORM IN 1999! AND THAT WHORE DARES TO SULLY IT IN SUCH A MANNER?!"
Concrete crumbled and cracked as Cobalt finally managed to dislodge the arrow, freeing him. But as he tried to run to Quinn's side, she suddenly splayed her hand out behind her, stopping him.
"Run, Copper. I'll hold her off," she stated resolutely, planting her feet wide.
"But-!
"Just go! This fight is mine."
Baring her teeth, Quinn narrowed her eyes and hissed.
"Ocov et. Amra ilobaid."
Red-tinged magic pulsed across the Imp's body, causing crimson thorns to sprout from the side of her right thigh. They wound themselves around and around, over and over, until the barbed tendrils had formed a holster, in which a revolver of reddish lead sat. Quinn strummed her fingers, hand hovering just above the grip.
Cobalt wanted to step in and help, but the last thing he needed right now was for Elya to find out that he was pretending to date Quinn for the night. If she didn't kill him now, she'd definitely kill him later, and he wasn't willing to go through that kind of tortuous certainty. At least if he ran, he could hopefully find somewhere to hide until Alison's serums wore off.
Turning sharply, Cobalt bit his tongue and ran off, silently hoping for Quinn to prevail. Above the echo of his feet slapping against the wet tarmac underfoot, he heard the Imp's voice ring out into the night.
"DRAW!"
-----
Hold the trigger, brace your arm, and fan the hammer like it had caught fire. It was originally a technique originating from Earth, the birthplace of firearms, but in the two hundred years since they first adopted the Lead Revolver, Imps had become masters of gunslinging. In less than two seconds, Quinn had fired half a dozen rounds at Elya, forcing the Fallen to take cover behind a car. Six fresh cartridges sprouted from the palm of her hand as she broke the gun open, ejecting the spent casings onto the street.
"Didn't figure you to be the cowardly type!" she barked, loading the revolver and cocking the hammer.
"Do not speak to me of cravens. I had thought you insignificant, as something worth ignoring. Clearly I was wrong," Elya retorted, sounding remarkably calm under pressure.
"Yeah, sure. The Imp girl turned out to be a liar. What a fucking shocker."
The Fallen swooped out from behind her cover, rapidly nocking and firing arrows at Quinn. She swore beneath her breath and stepped behind the car, heart thumping loudly. This woman wasn't just angry; she was firing upon her with intent to kill.
Since she had first seen Elya pinning Cobalt to the bed in that shady London hotel, she had figured the Fallen to be a few rounds short of a full chamber. But since seeing her working the infirmary at B.I.D., Quinn had begun to think that she was ultimately harmless; just some clingy relic of Cobalt's past.
But one look into those burning purple eyes was enough.
"I dunno about you, love, but jealousy isn't a good look on anybody," she called, reaffirming her grip on the Lead Revolver.
"There is naught to be jealous of. He is my man. Your sticky-fingered companion is encroaching upon my property, and even went so far as to taint his most prized possession."
Quinn's ears twitched as she heard the sound of Elya preparing another volley of arrows.
"Whatever's up, you fucking headcase, know this; you aren't gonna touch a damn hair on Copper's head without killing me first!"
She leaped out of cover and prepared to fire, but was met only by the black wisps of smoke from Elya's bow dissipating into nothingness.
"Ah bolloc-!"
She was rushed from the side, her gun knocked from her hand as a pair of cold hands wrapped around the Imp's throat. Elya flared her nostrils as she slammed the Imp against the wall, eyes wide and maddened.
"Agh! P- Put me down, you bitch...!" Quinn choked, clawing at her hands to no avail.
Elya snarled.
"Mark me well, Redtile. Cobalt Trayer is mine. He was promised to me long before you even stained Hell with your presence. Long before you even knew his name," she hissed, her voice low and monotonous.
"Get... bent...!
"His body, his soul, every inch of his being... Mine. Because I am his wife. And you? You're little more than an ant beneath my- KUH!"
Once Elya was in the throes of her insane monologue, Quinn swung her legs up and kicked off the Fallen's chest before slamming her knee into Elya's jaw, loosening her grip. Riding the momentum, she rushed at her and lashed out with both feet, launching her across the street with a devastating dropkick.
"Don't call me an ant, you lanky tramp! I may be short, but I sting like a fucking hornet!" she barked, plucking her Lead Revolver off the ground.
Spitting a little blood to the ground, Elya wiped her mouth and fixed her opponent with a deathly stare.
"We shall see about that."
She drew her iron dagger before holding a hand before her face.
"Tatum siroproc. Eralec."
Pitch black winds swirled all across her body, causing it to fade away into nothing. Swearing quite vocally this time, Quinn aimed her revolver at the thin air, glancing all around for any sign of the invisible Fallen.
"Think you're clever, eh?! Right, no more playing nice!" the Imp spat, tucking the weapon into her thorned holster.
Pulling her rucksack off her back, she dove one hand into her jacket pocket as she fumbled about the bag's contents with the other.
"Let's see how you like this, you cantankerous cunt...!"
With a stainless steel lighter in one hand and a can of deodorant in the other, Quinn braced her back against the wall and let loose with a blinding stream of flame. She swept the makeshift flamethrower across the empty street, grinning wildly as she heard the distinct sound of Elya's screaming. The Fallen revealed herself in a burst of black vapour, rolling across the ground as she tried to put out her burning wings.
"Just put some ice on it. That's what you're supposed to do, innit?" scoffed the Imp, discarding the deodorant as she dove back into her rucksack.
"I'LL KILL YOU! I SWEAR I'LL KILL YOU!" screeched Elya, batting her smoking wings against the street.
Knife clutched tight in her hand, she launched herself at Quinn, only to be met with a facefull of lit firecrackers. They went off like a series of gunshots, assaulting Elya with blinding flashes and deafening explosions. Crumpling to the ground, she clamped her hands tight over her ears, muttering incomprehensibly beneath her breath.
"We done here? Or am I gonna have to put a bullet in you to prove my point?" the Imp gasped, drawing her revolver as she walked towards Elya.
She didn't answer. Instead, the Fallen just began to shake, her voice raising to a fever pitch as she rambled on.
Cocking the hammer, Quinn pressed the barrel of her Lead Revolver against her temple.
"Well?"
"...or this..."
"What?"
"I HAVE NO TIME FOR THIS!"
Lashing out with a bare foot, the Fallen swept Quinn's feet out from beneath her, knocking her to the pavement. She pounced upon her like an animal, pinning her arms down beneath her knees as she wrapped her fingers around her throat.
"I'd kill you know if I could. Nothing would please me more," Elya hissed, stinking of cordite and burnt cartilage.
Quinn tried to snap back, but her thumbs were pressed into her larynx, threatening to crush her windpipe altogether.
"But I have wasted enough time here. Do not think yourself safe; I will come for you, once I have buried your friend!"
The Imp tried to struggle, tried to fight back. But with one swift, decisive movement, Elya pulled her head forward before she struck it hard off the curb. The impact knocked Quinn unconscious, whereupon the Fallen dumped her next to her inert parents.