"STOP RIGHT THERE!" Charlie shouted, bursting in with Dazzle right behind her. Her heel caught on a pallet, and she stumbled forward.
"Careful, Princess!" Dazzle tried to steady her, but it was too late. She tripped forward, bumping a tall stack of crates. The whole thing wobbled, then toppled with a deafening crash.
One demon was buried under the pile. Charlie gasped, covering her mouth. "Oh my god, I am so, so sorry—are you okay?!"
From under the crates, the demon's hand weakly lifted a thumbs-up. "I'm good."
Charlie let out a huge sigh of relief. "Oh, thank Goodness." Then she spun on her heel, pointing an accusatory finger at the rest of the hooded demons. "Alright, listen up! I know you took my friend! And I want him back.!"
The demons froze. Then, from the second-floor balcony above, a slow clap echoed.
"Well, would ya looky here. Fancy seeing you here, Miss Morningstar," a gravelly voice drawled. The shark demon stepped into view, smirking down at her, then he snapped his fingers.
The warehouse shutter slammed shut behind her and Dazzle with a heavy clang. All around them, the hooded demons pulled back their hoods, revealing slick suits, gold chains, and mafia tattoos.
Dazzle bristled. "Oh great. The discount Godfather convention."
The leader leaned against the railing, clapping mockingly. "Congratulations on finding us, sweetheart. And yes, we do have your scaly little lapdog. Question is…" He smirked. "What are you willing to give us to have him back?"
Charlie swallowed. "Anything."
He spread his arms wide. "Good. Because the going rate is… two hundred and fifty million souls."
Her jaw dropped. "Two hun—what?! I don't—nobody has that kind of—!"
"Then you don't get your friend." He smirked wider. "Simple math."
Charlie panicked. Her eyes darted, and her heart raced. "O-okay, wait! Just… just listen to me! There's another way!"
She cleared her throat, clasped her hands together, and—without warning—burst into song.
🎵 "There's a better path,
A brighter road,
You can be more,
Find love to hold!
Their hope for you and you.
We don't have to break—" 🎵
A bullet blasted the floor inches from her foot.
"Gahhhh!!!"
Dazzle yanked her back. "Princess!"
The surrounding demons howled with laughter. The leader pulled a pistol from his coat—silver-plated with glowing angelic runes etched across the barrel.
Charlie's eyes widened in horror. "That's… that's an angelic weapon."
The leader twirled it casually. "You sing about hope in Hell and expect applause? Hahaha, you're one funny bitch, you know that. But enough of that kumbaya shit..." He grinned. "Tell you what, if you don't have the money, I'll settle for something else. A princess's corpse would fetch a very lofty price."
Charlie froze, her breath catching. She clenched her fists, déjà vu creeping into her chest—the same humiliations, the same dismissals, just like the bald interviewer, and just like her dad…
"Don't…" she whispered, teeth grinding. "Don't you dare—"
BANG.
The leader fired two straight at her.
Dazzle leapt forward, but he wasn't fast enough.
The bullets whistled through the air—
—when suddenly, the glass roof above shattered into a thousand shards.
A shadow streaked down, blindingly fast.
SHHHING!
The bullet split cleanly in half before it could reach her, the molten pieces clattering to the floor.
The mobsters froze.
The man landed in the middle of the warehouse with a heavy metallic thud.
Prince rose to his full height, his visor glowing blood-red. His clawed hand clicked open, and an angelic bullet clattered from his palm onto the ground.
He looked up slowly, his voice almost grating.
"…Where is my baby?"
The demons flinched. Then one accidentally fired.
It was like lighting a fuse.
"The hard way it is!!"
Prince charged forward, his angelic steel blade flashing in arcs of crimson and white. The first demon's head hit the ground before the others even realized what had happened. Blood sprayed across the crates, the walls, the floor.
Charlie panicked, covering her mouth as the mob erupted in panic.
"Shoot him! Shoot him!!"
Bullets flew, but Prince moved like a phantom, tearing through them. He slammed a demon into the wall so hard the bones snapped audibly. Another he skewered straight through the chest and hurled across the room.
The leader snarled. "Don't just stand there—kill them all!"
Prince pulled a small cylinder from his belt and lobbed it toward Charlie.
It exploded into a glowing shield dome, encasing her and Dazzle in shimmering techno-energy. Bullets pinged harmlessly against it.
Charlie stumbled back inside the bubble, clutching her chest. "Wh-what the hell is happening?! He's… who is he?!"
Dazzle growled, wings flaring, now in protection mode.
Outside the shield, Prince continued the slaughter, cutting down demons like they were paper dolls. Limbs flew, bodies dropped, screams filled the air. He didn't stop, and not once did he hesitate.
When the last goon fell, only the leader remained—on his knees, clutching his angelic pistol. He laughed.
"You think im fucking scared? You think this changes anything?!" He spat blood. "You'll never get your little baby back. And that princess will never see that little lapdog again."
Prince stepped forward slowly. His led visor flared a darker shade of red. He grabbed the demon by the collar, lifting him off the ground.
"Where," Prince growled, "is it?"
The demon just laughed harder, even as Prince's arm blade punched through his side. The steel glowed with angelic heat, sizzling his flesh. He screamed but still spat at him in defiance.
"G-go to hell!"
Prince sighed. "Already there." He ripped the blade free, dropping the demon gasping onto the floor.
The shield around Charlie slowly fizzled out. She stumbled out of it, eyes wide at the carnage. Bodies littered the warehouse. Blood pooled on the floor. She gagged and threw up on a nearby bin, but looked up warily when Prince approached.
Prince turned to her. "Relax. I'm not after you. Did you see them bring my baby here?"
Charlie blinked, stunned. "…Wh-what?"
His visor frowned. "I just want to know if you've seen my bik—"
Charlie's lip quivered. "Your… your baby?"
Prince tilted his head. "…What?"
She sniffled. "You lost your baby, and… those scoundrels, I swear on my name as the Princess of Hell, I'll help you find them! Right after I find Razzle!"
Dazzle slapped his own forehead. "Princess… not that kind of baby."
Charlie froze. "…Oh." Then what kind of baby did he mean?
Before Prince could explain, Dazzle stiffened. He sniffed the air. "Wait… I don't smell him. Razzle isn't here anymore."
Prince looked around before walking over to a crate, finding some documents. He flipped through them with one hand, voice flat. "You're little pet is correct. They most likely sold him to the underground exotic pet market."
Charlie's eyes flared in horror. "They sold him?! Like… like an animal?!"
"Pretty much," Prince muttered.
Charlie's face twisted with fury as her normally demonic features—her horns and red eyes—sprouted. She fumbled for her phone, dialing desperately. "Dad—Dad, please pick up—"
The line rang. No answer. Lucifer sat in his tower, humming to himself, arranging little rubber ducks into rows.
"Useless," Charlie muttered, voice cracking.
She looked up at Prince, eyes pleading. "Please. Help me. You're strong, you can get him back! Please!"
Prince crossed his arms. "Why should I?" He was ready to walk away to find his baby, because clearly they had already moved it to another location.
Charlie pressed her palms together. "Because he's my friend! Because you can't just… just let them do this! Please, I'll pay you, I'll—"
"..."
"How much we talking here?"
"A phat load!!!" She hoped that was enough.
He smirked behind the visor, stopping dead in his tracks. "Why not start with that? Fine. I'll help you find your friend while I look for my baby."
Relief spread across Charlie's face. "Thank you! Oh, thank you so much!" She went to hug him, but he dodged her, making things even more awkward for Charlie.
But her gratitude was cut short when the co-leader of the mob, bleeding and broken, crawled toward his angelic gun. He laughed maniacally, black blood dribbling down his chin. "You fucking losers! You think the great—"
He snatched the pistol, spun it toward Charlie, and pulled the trigger.
Click.
"Huh?"
No bullets.
He blinked in confusion, then felt something hot press against the back of his skull.
Prince's hand tapped the glowing magazine of the angelic weapon against his thick shark skull. It lightly burned against the demon's skin.
In the blink of an eye, Prince stood behind him, his visor flaring red and purple. A devious, tooth-like grin flickered across the LED screen.
"Tsk, tsk, tsk." His low guttural voice reverberated with annoyance. "How rude. Don't you know, when in the presence of royalty…"
He slammed the demon's head into the floor with bone-crushing force. The ground caved under his fist, and blood splattered.
"…you bow your head."
The leader's body twitched once, then went still.
Prince stood up, his visor still glowing red, before turning slowly toward Charlie.
"Let's go, Princessa." His voice was calm now, almost casual, like greeting an old friend. "I think I might know a guy… who knows where your little friend might be."
Charlie gulped, staring at the mashed potatoed body on the floor. Her stomach twisted. But she forced herself to nod.
"R-right… okay. But, um…" She cleared her throat nervously. "I think maybe we should… introduce ourselves properly? Since we're… y'know… we're allies now?"
Prince tilted his head slightly, visor dimming to a calmer blue hue.
Charlie stepped forward, placing a hand on her chest. "I'm Charlotte Morningstar! But you can call me Charlie." She gestured to her companion. "And this is Dazzle. He's one of my best friends and bodyguards."
Dazzle puffed his chest out proudly, flicking his tail. "Name's Dazzle. And don't forget it."
Both of them looked expectantly at Prince.
For a long moment, the warehouse was quiet except for the dripping of blood. Then Prince finally spoke.
"…Prince. You can call me Prince."
Charlie blinked, waiting for more. "That's… it?"
"That's it."
"O-okay! Great! We're all introduced, then. Perfect. Wonderful. Teamwork! Yay!" She gave two shaky thumbs up. "Now let's… go save Razzle. Oh! And your baby… that's not a baby?"
"..."
"Close enough!"