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CHAPTER SIX - ROTTEN LUST

 Winchward's Beach only wharf is unofficially considered the tenth circle of Hell. The planks that comprise it are more rot than wood. The ships that dock at it are decaying husks, crewed only by those with a strong case of the Innsmouth look. The black beach below it is obscured by the foul carcasses of things best left undescribed, and the angry ocean beyond it smells of death and eggs. 

'Beautiful, isn't it, Billiard?' says Mr. Legion. 

Archey admits it has its charms.

About halfway down the wharf, there's an old, half-collapsed shack on stilts. According to Mr. Legion, whoever lives there knows where to find Marmaduke. Hopefully.

Mr. Legion raps his knuckles on the shack's rusted iron door. There are various engravings of pentagrams and horned beasts carved into it. It seems far more expensive than the rest of the structure. Slowly, the door creaks open. Skulking behind it is a filthy, vaguely skeletal creature, clothed in the tatters of a blood red ballgown. Its skin is pale and translucent, occasionally revealing the outline of a fanged skull when the light hits it just right. Its long, greasy hair is punctuated by six, jagged horns protruding from the back of its head that curl upwards to form a kind of keratin headdress. The interior of the one-roomed shack is a mess of ripped fabric, broken furniture and unidentifiable bones.

'Ah, Legion,' says the thing in a distinctly feminine voice. 'So nice to see you. What do you want?'

'I need to know where the DLF's hideout is,' Mr. Legion replies. 

The thing straightens up, or at least as much as it can without hitting the crumbling ceiling of its home. 'Why?' it hisses.

'They have the dog,' says Mr. Legion. 'It's all starting.'

'Do you think I...' the thing trails off as it notices Archey for the first time. Its lizard eyes widen in shock. 'Why are you letting that disgusting... thing follow you around?'

'Speak for yourself,' Mr. Legion retorts. 'When was the last time you had a shower?'

The thing scoffs. 'Who can afford running water in this economy?'

'Anyway,' Mr. Legion continues, 'he needs to be there when things get started. You know that. We just want some information, then we'll get out of your hair.'

The thing takes a deep breath through its slit nostrils. 'Fine. Come in.'

Mr. Legion and Archey step into the shack, and the thing shuts the door behind them.

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Despite the many holes in the shack's walls and ceiling, the inside is pitch black. All Archey can see is the shimmer of Mr. Legion's overlapping forms and the glow of the creature's eyes.  Suddenly, a fireplace that wasn't there before roars to life, revealing with its light an entirely different room than the one Archey had seen from outside.

'Clever,' remarks Mr. Legion as he surveys the dirty, but comparatively much nicer interior. 'Still, why would a succubus live in a place like this?'

'Ex-succubus,' the creature corrects. 'And besides, it's a beachfront property.'

Mr. Legion takes a seat at a modest wooden table and nods at Archey to do the same. 'So, the DLF,' he begins as Archey sits beside him.

The succubus remains standing. 'I don't know why you think I would know where they are.'

'Surely you visited their hideout when you worked under Lilith?'

'Don't say that name in this house,' the succubus snarls. 'She never let us lesser demons see the hideout, anyway. Why would she? She never trusted those beneath her.'

Archey feels like there's a lot of exposition that he's missed out on.

'You don't have anything that could help us?' Mr. Legion asks.

The succubus seems to consider something for a moment. 'There is... another demon in Winchward Beach. One the DLF doesn't know about. He might have information that I don't.'

Archey is feeling a growing pang of curiosity. For once in his life, he wants to expand his worldview. He wants to know what's going on. Archey is about to raise this topic to Mr. Legion when a vicious headache suddenly bolts through his skull. He feels something warm and wet trickling down his forehead. 

'Who is it?' Mr. Legion asks.

Archey reaches up and feels two small, hard points near his temples that weren't there before.

'I don't know,' the succubus replies. 'But I've seen him on the wharf. I feel his energy.'

'You feel his what?'

'It's a succubus power. Don't make it weird.'

Archey winces as another migraine rips through him. The points have grown longer and they seem to curl upwards slightly. He feels a rush of adrenaline that briefly overwhelms the pain. His muscles throb. His jumpsuit feels a size too small. For a second, all his deep-seated desire to winch vanishes, then comes back to him as quickly as it had gone. Archey is freaking out.

Mr. Legion, alerted by Archey's hyperventilating, looks over and jumps to his countless feet in surprise.

'It's already happening!' he cries. 'We need to find that demon. Can you still feel his... his energy?'

'If he was near the beach I could,' the succubus says. 'He must be further inland. That is, if he's still in the Beach at all. The DLF may have found him.'

Mr. Legion pulls Archey to his feet. 'Come with us,' he tells the succubus. 'We need you to tell us if he's near.'

'No, I'm not...' the succubus stops mid-sentence, its eyes widening. 'He's near.'

The iron door explodes open and a tall, skinny man with long curly hair, a handlebar mustache and red-tinted sunglasses struts in. 

'Sup, nerds!' he shouts. 'You've just been graced by the presence of the second coolest cat in town, Double B!'

Double B pulls out a revolver covered with red etchings and shoots Mr. Legion and the succubus before they're able to react. They vanish into non-existence, leaving Double B and Archey alone.

'Hey, man, long time no sea,' says Double B. 'That's sea spelled S, E, A, cause we're by the sea.'

Archey blinks.

'Don't worry man, you can laugh. It's funny. You know, they used to call me Lord of the Puns.'

Archey doesn't respond.

Double B coughs. 'Well, uh, don't worry about those guys, man. They weren't cool enough for cats like you and me. Oh hey, your horns are growin' in. Cool. Guess we should get going.'

Archey wants to know what's going on.

'Hey, you'll get it all pretty soon, man. First, we gotta go rescue that pup of yours. Lucky for us, I know just where to find him.'

Archey's head hurts.