Bad Millie apparently made her home in a town called Sparsburg. It was actually fairly close to Runkleton, which convinced me I was on the right track. Her place was, nostalgically, a casino. It reminded me a bit of the one in Doomtown all that time ago, though less…flashy. It was still incredibly over the top, but in a more residential way. Like a super high end mansion rather than a crazy casino.

The door was guarded by a pair of D-rankers, and to my immense surprise, my Danger Sense started whispering in the back of my head as we approached them. I didn't know who they were, but they were at least partial threats to me. I'd gotten way too used to being invincible at the same rank.

"Well if it isn't little lady Darrow." Said the shorter one, a woman with dark skin and purple hair. "I didn't know you were coming to visit. Look Theo, the little princess is here. We'd better be kind or her daddy might scold us."

The taller guard, a man with a thick blonde beard and a scar over one blue eye, sighed. "Be nice Tessa." He nodded to Belladonna. "Miss Darrow. Who's your friend?"

Belladonna froze. "This is…Dan." She said, searching for a plausible lie. "He's my stylist."

I almost sighed. She should have just given my name, no one on this planet really knew me yet. But it didn't matter in the end. I nodded solemnly. "Fashion is my life." I intoned in a demonic baritone.

They both stared at me in stupefaction, and I had to fight the urge to burst out laughing. Tessa raised an eyebrow at me. "You don't seem like someone who takes fashion too seriously. You're dressed like something that lives under a kid's bed."

"It's called Grimpunk." I boomed snidely. "It's the next big thing."

They stared at me for a minute. "...right." Said Theo. "Well, if you're with Miss Darrow, I guess you're good. But don't start any trouble, demon man. You probably think you're hot shit, but we've got a dozen people your level."

He was bluffing, but it was confusing to hear, because I was so low in D-rank. I shouldn't have even registered as a threat with my level of development…and then I got it. People used Impact to detect how strong someone was within their rank. Even people at the same rank had differences, that had been what Abel had taught us way back at the fish punching lake.

But my Impact was three points above where it should be. I was literally on an entirely different spectrum. They couldn't sense where I was in relation to where I should be, because they hadn't interacted with any people with one hundred and five Impact that they could compare it to. All they could sense was that I was stronger than a normal D-ranker in terms of Impact. I could be at any spot in D-rank from their point of view, and it was clearly making them nervous. Cool.

They stepped out of the way, and we stepped into the casino. Deciding to risk using a form that wasn't one of my main three for this mission (if only because of the nature of the form itself) I triggered Bael, using its enhanced Stealth to cover us both as I turned to Belladonna. "Your stylist?"

Stomping her foot in frustration, she whined. "I'm not good at lying! I'm a very honest person!"

"You're a thief!" I said incredulously. "You were ROBBING me when I met you!"

"Yes, but I was very honest about it." She countered. "I always try to be up front with my targets. It's important for people to feel comfortable and well taken care of when you're stealing from them. Otherwise nonsense like that sneak attack happens. David's new, he doesn't really get how we do things yet."

I shook my head incredulously. "So, where exactly is this 'Bad Millie'. I have questions for her, and it would probably be smarter to try to ask them peacefully. I have a sneaking suspicion she's going to attack me, so you might want to leave before I meet up with her, but I'll at least give it a shot."

To my surprise, she shook her head. "I promised to bring you to Bad Millie, and that's what I'll do. You spared my friends, so I need to follow through on my end. Besides, I'll be fine. I, the unstoppable Belladonna Darrow, possess the unique ability of Escape." She struck a pose. "That's why they call me Belladonna the Blur."

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

"Does anyone actually call you that?" I asked curiously.

She slumped. "No, and I tried REALLY hard to get it started. I even paid some people to spread it around."

Weirdly, she reminded me a lot of Jessie, just in terms of her demeanor. Laughing lightly, I clapped her on the shoulder. "Don't worry too much about it. If things go bad, just get out of here. I can handle myself."

Between my pseudo Domain, my C-rank armor, my extra Impact, Abomination Engine, and Mornax, even a bunch of normal peak D-rankers would have trouble putting me down. With the speed of my Waltz, I could escape if needed, so unless they had a serious elite with a Solid Path here, I was pretty confident in my odds.

She nodded, and I added her to the list of pretty decent people I might extend an invitation to after this mess was over. She wasn't sticking around out of loyalty to me, she didn't know me, but the fact that she took her word so seriously spoke well of her.

I dropped Bael, switching back to Mornax as my third, just in case anything went down, and I followed Belladonna into the casino, keeping an eye out for possible threats.

There were a LOT of possible threats. Like…so many. The place was crawling with enemies, even though a lot of them seemed to be trying to blend in. I spotted several dealers, waiters, and bathroom attendants that my Danger Sense pinged off hard. Bad Millie wasn't the type to take risks it seemed.

Belladonna (she insisted I start calling her Bella because it wasn't as stuffy) and I headed for the center of the casino where a poker game was ongoing. Leading me around, Bella stopped in front of a pretty blonde woman who looked to be in her mid twenties, wearing a blue dress and sipping a cocktail. When we approached, two men in suits appeared (literally appeared, they'd been in Stealth) and blocked our path.

Millie smiled, waving them off. "No need to be so testy boys. Walthrum's daughter is always welcome at my place. Bella, darling, give your aunt Millie a hug." She smiled, spreading her arms, and Bella stepped up, pecking her on both cheeks before meekly stepping away. Despite the familiar greeting and the smile, Millie's ice blue eyes never thawed or warmed for a second. It was like looking into the eyes of a venomous snake. Those predatory orbs turned to me. "And who is your enormous friend? I don't think we've met. I thought I knew all your friends."

That statement seemed to make Bella deeply uncomfortable, and I could imagine why. That innocuous comment implied a level of observation most people would balk at. I didn't bother to be polite about it, given her icy demeanor. "My name is Mephistopheles. I'm looking for someone."

She fluttered her eyes at me. "A seeker of romance? Have I perhaps caught your attention? Or were you hoping to court our darling Belladonna?"

Purposefully misunderstanding me was annoying, but only briefly. I decided to be MORE blunt. "I'm looking for Chester Baddington. I heard you know where to find him." There was a sort of snap in the air. One second everyone was talking and gambling, and then it went eerily quiet.

Millie's eyes lidded dangerously. "Oh? And what might you want with my nephew?"

I felt my Danger Sense ramping up as the people around us slowly started to close ranks. It might have been subtle if I hadn't been expecting it, but as it was, they mostly just looked silly trying to casually shuffle into a formation around us.

"That's my business, but I mean him no harm." Once I caught him I just had to report to Echelon by burning the scroll, at least according to the item. He had to be immobilized, but once they confirmed the capture he would be released.

She snapped her fingers, and the people around us stopped being subtle, forming a wall of flesh between us and the exit. I cracked my neck slowly. "You should let Belladonna go." I said bluntly. "She was forced to be here, and you've got bigger things to worry about."

I called my staff from my ring, gripping it tightly as I triggered Abomination Engine, letting myself start to build power. Nothing impressive until I started fighting, but the cascading energy inside my armor began the process. Millie smirked at me. "Well, aren't you the confident one. But I have you surrounded, how exactly do you think she's going to le-"

Triggering Mephisto's Waltz, I blasted myself past her, right at the circle of waiting minions, my staff horizontal and acting as a bar as I smashed into them at top speed. The staff and my own momentum knocked them all flying, leaving a large gap in the circle. Bella bolted at top speed, vanishing into a haze of red mist, and I turned back to Millie.

"Now. I need some information, and you have it. So you can give it to me, or I can take it." I felt the power rioting inside me as I rumbled my demand. Shane would have been more circumspect, asked more questions. But Mephistopheles was a being of force and violence. This was far more his style.

She scowled as she took in the crumpled forms of her people, writhing on the ground. My staff was imbued with the dark corruption of my overlapping forms, and it had seeped into them on impact. While there were plenty of top level D-rankers here, I'd hit some of the weaker subordinates to make a point, and the corruption had seeped in and was burning away at them.

"You've just made a grave mistake, boy." Said Millie coldly as she stood. "I don't know who you think you are, but this is MY place. No one comes in here and hurts my people without paying a price for it. The only information I plan to impart to you is the exact process by which you can die in the most pain."

My Danger Sense went off when she was mid sentence, and I triggered Double Trouble, appearing behind the back of the guy on the opposite side of the circle as two nearby people assaulted my illusionary double.

My fist lashed out with an explosion of black flame, stoking the Annihilation Engine just a bit as I blasted one of her helpers. Still, that wasn't going to be enough. I needed to put them all down as economically as possible.

I grinned as I reached into myself and called forth Limbo, the world rippling as the space around me filled with divinations of possible futures and responses to those attacks. I brought my staff up, readying to start the battle, and glared at Millie, who had whirled to spot my attack when I made it.

"One last chance." I boomed. "I don't plan to harm him. Give me the information and this doesn't need to get violent." I knew she wouldn't take the offer, she couldn't let this provocation go, but some part of me felt the need to make it fair. I'd come in here spoiling for a fight, I might be Mephistopheles, but I was still Shane too. I needed to at least offer her an out. Sure enough, she howled at her minions to attack, and they all converged. Which was fine by me. Now the fun could start.