Sunset looked at the television in horror. She could barely control her breathing anymore. Her mind was spinning; her brain rattling around in her skull with every new thought that flashed one after the other. It hurt so bad, she felt like she was on the verge of fainting. She thought she could hear someone behind her talking, but the screaming voice in her head drowned out every other sound. Then finally, in a moment where she briefly regained her senses, she turned around to see Big Softie. His expression was worried.

"This is it..." she quietly said to him. Big Softie's eyes widened as he slowly shook his head in disbelief. "We need to leave, now!"

"B-But are we even ready?" Softie asked. "We didn't even have time to make up a plan or anythin'!"

"We don't have a choice," Sunset told assertively. "He's giving us until dusk to show up, that's only a couple of hours away. If we miss it... who knows what he's gonna do."

Big Softie pondered for a moment, trying to wrap his head around that it had to be done now. After a time, he nodded understandingly and stood on top of the nearest crate, getting a view of every demon in the room. "Alright, everyone, this is it! It's time we move out there and fight for the city! I'm thinkin' a full frontal assault on the Mayor's Tower! I don't know what we'll face, but if we push hard enough through, we can take Goliath and his army down! Are you ready?!"

Everyone raised a unified fist in the air, giving a chorus of war cries. They all understood the situation, and they were ready to set out.

Big Softie then jumped off the crate and went back to Sunset. He held a hand up for her. "Let's save Barb!" he said with a confident expression.

Sunset tightly clasped the hand with a serious face of her own. "Let's save the city!"

"Don't keep me waiting!" Goliath finished. He signalled for the camera demon to stop filming, to which they were further instructed to join the other soldiers.

Goliath stood alone at the very top of the Mayor's Tower. The tyrant snake looked off into the distance, through the vast buildings that stood so high and spread so far. He was on top of it all.

But also, there was the matter of his accompanying guest. "You won't... get away with this," Barbed Wire said breathlessly. The injured demoness kneeled on the floor with her wrists and ankles restrained. She was sweating profusely, and could barely breathe.

"Quite the contrary," Goliath replied. He turned and looked at his prisoner. "It is Sunset Shimmer who will not see what'ssss coming to her. Now that she sees I have you, she'll have no choice but to come out." He knelt down very close to Barb's face, squeezing her cheeks in his hand. "Are you excited to finally see your friend again?"

This act made Barb very angry, however, she could barely move to show it. Every little movement hurt. She was rendered weak. "Get off me...! Or I'll... beat your ass... bitch!"

Goliath snickered. "Oh, please, you're hardly in a condition to do such a thing. What's wrong? Are we getting a bit tired?" It was then that Goliath noticed thin, bulging, purple marks going up Barbed Wire's neck. Upon closer inspection, he found why his prisoner was especially slow today. Those were her veins. "Oh," he said in a dark manner. "Looks like my magic is finally beginning to take its toll."

"What are you..." Barb heaved, "...talking about?"

The mayor stood up and made his way back towards the edge. "In due time, my subject. If I were you, I'd start praying that your hero manages to arrive on time, because from the way it seems, she doesn't have a lot of time." His scaly face bore an evil smirk. "Neither of you do."

Overhead, Goliath could hear a plethora of propellers approaching from within the clouds.

The streets below were empty. Free of cowering demons, free of patrolling soldiers. It was a complete wasteland with the only sound heard being the whistling of the wind.

Debris, empty rations, even bodies, populating the ground where throwdowns had occurred, but have long since ended. After weeks of fighting, the war grew tired. Citizens would remain out of sight, and the army would search without issue. But now, there was nothing. Nothing more to fight, and nothing more to lose.

But now, slowly making its way through the streets came a rumbling. The ones in hiding nearby would peer out of the window to have a look to see what was happening. They saw an army. Not one that held the snake's symbol, but one that held their own ground. This was the resistance!

Everyone made their way to see. A crowd of demons walking through the city in plain sight. They all stood tall, not afraid of what might happen to them. From the small demons to the hulking masses, from the breathing souls to the man-made abominations. And at the forefront stood a blue bull demon leading the way, alongside a fiery haired demoness. In the wake of what lies ahead, they stand in line.

Watching as they all passed, some of those that had been sheltering for so long had finally come out and joined with the crowd. One by one, more demons found themselves with the confidence to stand alongside, and the resistance was made all the much greater.

And soon, the Mayor's Tower was within sight.

The leader came to a stop, still a ways away from the building. In the distance, he could see the army surrounding the entrance of the building. As expected, they prepared for something to happen.

"You ready for this, Sunset?" Big Softie asked, not taking his eyes off the goal ahead.

"No. Though, who would be, really?" Sunset replied, inspecting the building just as much. "Any word from Maggie and the gang?"

"Nothin' yet. No tellin' when they'll show up."

"Do you want to wait?"

Big Softie took a minute to think. After informing an old friend of his of their departure, he was met with the unfortunate news that they would be late. He looked up to the sky. Light still shined down, however, it was noticeably beginning to dim. If they waited, they would run the risk of missing Goliath's demanded time. It was too great to chance.

The leader shook his head. "No. There's too much on the line. We gotta strike while we got the chance." He turned towards the resistance and gave a shout, "ARE YOU READY?!" He was greeted by everyone's cheers.

"FOR THE CITY!" he yelled.

"FOR THE CITY!" they all repeated.

Big Softie turned back to the tower ahead. It was finally time. "CHARGE!"

The stampede had begun! Hundreds of feet ran towards the giant building and the guarding army. Goliath's soldiers almost immediately acknowledged their attack and raised their weapons, opening a wall of fire their way.

From the crowd, the Ogre came and ran ahead of everyone. "The Ogre will shield tiny demons!" he said as he spread his humongous arms out wide, acting as an impenetrable barrier between the army and the resistance.

The pro-wrestler took every single bullet as they came closer to the building. Once he was at the feet of the soldiers, the Ogre made two balls of his four fists and crashed them towards the ground. Surrounding soldiers tried to move out of the way, but the shockwave created sent them all flying.

This made way for the resistance to open first, and thus, the battle had begun. Countless demons clashed with each other, with fists being thrown, claws slashed, haired pulled and jaws crunched. Any armed guards refrained from using their weapons further as too many of their allies surrounded them, thus, the resistance was given an upper hand.

Volcano had about gone feral by pouncing on every demon that caught his eye. They were powerless to his swift, canine anger as he growled in the face of every enemy.

The Ogre was an unbreakable giant who took out a horde of soldiers with a single swing of his arm. The soldiers would attempt to ambush him, but the champion's strength was beyond comprehension. The beast made short work of any that stood in his way.

Big Softie made his way through the army with nothing more than brute force. While he was tough, he wasn't the quickest on his toes. While squaring off against soldiers, the resistance leader failed to notice the giant green arm heading his way, sending him barrelling through a plentiful amount of demons. While he was mostly fine, the same could not be said for those he crushed during his fly.

And, with her devil strength active, Sunset joined in fending the soldiers off. They all seemed to appear at a constant rate from all sides, having Sunset quickly twisting herself round as demons came and went in a flash. She managed to ward them away, though, she wasn't sure how long she could keep up.

Before she could realise, multiple soldiers came from behind and started piling on top of the demoness. Sunset was brought flat onto the ground, she couldn't move her limbs to lift them off. She tried all she could to push her body up off the floor. She wasn't losing this right away!

But then, she felt the weight on her back lighten bit by bit, but she wasn't doing anything. Soon enough, Sunset was able to move again, and she turned her head to see none other than Johnson lifting the demons off her.

"Hands off my ticket to fame, you whorish, low-life, nasty-ass, insignificant fucks!" Plague Doctor scolded, riding on the bulky shoulders of his creation. Before Sunset had time to thank him, the doctor was off once more. "Now, onwards, my son!" Johnson returned with a horrific howl as he plowed through more soldiers.

As Sunset picked herself up to get back into the action, her eyes were drawn to the very top of the Mayor's Tower. Up there, where her goal stood. She was so close now, but she knew she needed to help out here first.

High above the clash, Goliath stood and watched as the opposing forces fought. He looked with disgust. "Always so dramatic, Shimmer. You just never make things easy," he said to himself.

"She... She'll never let you... win," Barb said behind the tyrant. She sat on her knees, barely able to hold her head up anymore.

Goliath scoffed. "You demons are just so astounding. Regardless of how many times you lose, you all fail to see when it's over. No matter, I'll be sure to finally bring an end to your hopeless faith soon enough." He continued to watch at the battling waged on.

The soldiers never seemed to end. For as many as the resistance took down, more and more would come out to continue the fight. The resistance was beginning to take a quite a beating as they found themselves wearing out.

For those who could not handle much more alone, Big Softie and Sunset jumped in to lend a hand. They were growing ever so tired themselves, but they were not stopping for anything!

The two almost felt like they were everywhere at once as they faced more and more of the continuously growing army.

"How many of these guys are there?!" Sunset shouted as she swung Big Softie around to send a wave of soldiers down.

"Goliath must've rounded up every one of them!" Softie answered, rebalancing himself after such a dizzying move. "Looks like he really wanted to be prepared!"

Sunset grunted, barely having the time to be annoyed as more came. "At this rate, we'll never clear them out in time!"

A thought then came to Big Softie as his eyes went between Sunset and the building. "You gotta go, Sunset. Leave these guys to us!"

"I'm not leaving you, Softie!"

"You have to! Barb needs you, and this ain't endin' unless that bastard is down! Don't worry about us, we'll be fine!" When Big Softie was finally given a moment to breathe, he got down on all fours. "Get on my back. I'll get you to the door."

Sunset found it hard to move towards him. She didn't want to abandon these demons; she needed to help! But at the same time, staying here only wasted the little time she had left. There was no easy way, but the answer was clear. Sunset swallowed her pride and climbed aboard her friend's back, holding on tight to his jacket.

With his passenger at the ready, Big Softie dragged at the ground beneath and lunged forward, pointing his horns out front as he charged past every demon in his path. Sunset held herself as low as she could possibly go as demons of both sides flew by, some coming uncomfortably close to knocking her off. Softie raced by and came in crashing through the tower's glass doors and into the lobby, skidding across the floor to a complete halt. The carried momentum almost threw Sunset right off, but she still managed to safely latch on. She then climbed off the bull. Unfortunately, the guards would see what happened, and would then come piling through the door.

"I'll hold them back. You get up this thing!" Big Softie said as he ran back to the front. "Bring that fucker down!"

"You keep safe, Softie!" Sunset called after him, going in the opposite direction.

"Don't worry! We'll make it, all of us!" Big Softie gave her one last smile, moving on to blocking the soldiers' path, preventing them from getting in.

Sunset took for the stairs. She knew the elevator would take too long, and there was no telling what she would find on the way. Even taking the stairs themselves would take too long. She had to take another approach. After aligning herself in the gap between the stairs, Sunset activated the devil strength in her legs and jumped as high as she could. She flew past a few floors in one go, and had to quickly grab onto the stairs' railing before she plummeted back down. Regaining her bearings, she aimed for a new spot and took another leap, continuously doing so as she reached the top.

As she neared the peak of the building, she felt her heart racing faster and faster. She recalled on her last encounter with the tyrant, when she couldn't even beat him when there were two of them. How was she expecting to do it now, she asked herself in her head. If the army being here was a testament to anything, it only told that Goliath was ready. To make it even worse, he was holding Barb captive. If she is not quick enough... she didn't even want to think what Goliath would do to her.

If Sunset was going to have even a lick of a chance, she would need end this quickly.

Goliath smelled the air on top of the world. The snake's lungs were filled with a satisfaction as he looked far off into the world that would soon be his. He gave a great sigh of relief. "How appropriate, to bring such a frivolous era to a satisfying end. I believe that's what all warriors strive for at the very least."

"Do you... ever... shut up?" Barb wheezed. The space between her words grew ever longer.

As expected, his good mood to be soured by his enemies. "Oh, give peace. I wasn't talking to you."

And then, right on cue, the door to the roof burst open, and out came Sunset Shimmer, with determination in her eyes and a fire in her heart! Her goal stood directly in front of her, with her friend in tow. The chance to take back was now. She couldn't mess this up. Sunset approached slowly. With Barb bound and on her knees right alongside Goliath, she knew she had to tread carefully.

"I'm sssso glad you could finally make it!" Goliath said joyfully, sneaking a glance to the dimming sky. "And not a moment too soon, either."

"No more games, Goliath," Sunset spoke harshly. She didn't want to drag this out for any longer than needed. "You said you wanted to make a deal, so here I am."

"Oh, but should we not cherish this moment? It may be the last we do this little dance. Why not savour what little we have left?"

Sunset's face turned more stern as she stood a ways away from the tyrant. "Before I even listen to what you have to say, I want you to give me back my friend."

Goliath shook his head in disappointment. "You want her so bad? Fine." He grabbed the weak girl by her restrained wrists. "Take her." He then flung her body over to Sunset.

Sunset tried to save Barb before she hit the floor, but she wasn't quick enough. Barbed Wire hit her shoulder on the ground, to be immediately taken up by Sunset who kneeled alongside.

"Barb! Are you okay?" Sunset asked, resting Barb on her arms. She was shaking horrendously, unable to hold back how great it was to have her friend back and alive.

Barbed Wire could barely open her eyes anymore, but she opened them far enough to recognise the shape in front of her, even if it was all blurry. "S-Sunset...?" she said almost inaudibly. A small smile grew on her face, but it couldn't grow any wider.

"It's okay, Barb. I'm here!" But Sunset's relief was short lived as she saw the purple markings across Barbed Wire's face and neck. Having a feel of the marks, Sunset knew them to be Barb's own veins. She could feel them pulsing under her fingers. "W-What is this? What did you do to her?!" Sunset shouted towards Goliath.

Goliath laughed. "That would be the work of my venom! For weeks, a mere drop has coursed through her body thousands upon thousands of times, growing slowly until it has spread through her entire system. I figured I'd let her waste away once she became useless, but luckily for her, she managed to serve a final purpose at the tail end of her afterlife. I believe the poor soul has just a few minutes left. Unless..." The snake pulled a syringe out of the inner pocket of his jacket. It was filled with a sour yellow liquid.

"Do it!" Sunset demanded. She was oblivious to the stream of tears running like river rapids down her face. "Cure her!"

"Gladly, but first, I believe we have some business to take care of."

"Fine! What do you want?" Sunset raced through her words. She wasn't wasting a single second.

"It's not about what I want, Sunset Shimmer; I'm already getting it. It's about what all your little friends need. Because of you, so many demons have had to suffer. Rattingsbottom, your rebellion, even the demon you feel closest to. So, for the better of everyone else, I simply ask that you surrender yourself to me. You've already lost this war. Everyone's blood will be on your hands if you don't make the right decision now."

The tyrant made his ultimatum, presenting Sunset with what sounded like a choice. She was aware that he was just trying to get under her skin, and she was afraid to admit that it was working. She didn't mean for any of this to happen. She only wanted for the demons of the city to be safe again, but now the thought that plagued her was that she just put everyone in more danger than ever. And further back to before the war, Barbed Wire, the one demon that always had her safety in mind was now dying in her arms.

"Tick tock, Ssssunset," Goliath said.

It was presented as a choice, but there was really only one. Sunset nodded. "Okay," she said quietly. "I surrender."

The smirk on the mayor reached the far corners of his face. "Atta girl." He then held the syringe out, pointing the grip in Sunset's direction.

She got on her feet and walked towards Goliath. He stood with his offering hand out, with the other behind his back. She couldn't believe that, despite everything, they lost the battle in the end. But the one thought played in her mind, 'This is for the best.' Sunset accepted it. Sinner City was lost.

She was now mere feet from Goliath. Before her was the cure for Barb. She reached out for it, but as soon as her fingers wrapped softly around it, Goliath closed his hand around hers, and she was suddenly pulled towards him.

Sunset then gasped as she felt a pain in her stomach. She could not even process what had happened until she finally looked down and saw the five extended claws of Goliath's other hand piercing into her. Something purple ran through the long claws, disappearing into her.

Her breathing became out of control, inhaling more air and exhaling, preventing however much more pain as it could. Her head became very light, feeling as though she would either faint or throw-up right there.

Her head was then effortlessly lifted by Goliath's now free hand, using only a single finger as he raised her chin. They met eachother's eyes. She could see the gladness in his.

Goliath moved his mouth towards Sunset's ear. "I'm afraid our little game ends here," he said as he stepped away, slowly sliding his blades out of Sunset's body.

With nothing holding her up anymore, Sunset fell to her knees, the syringe sliding out of her grasp and rolling across the floor. She could hardly keep herself raised anymore. Her entire body burned in agony. With what strength she could use to lift her hands, she could see her veins bulging and purple, the exact same as Barbed Wire. It spread across her hands at an incredible rate.

Having finished his work, Goliath pulled a radio out of his pocket. "We're finished here. Commence Operation: Helltaker."

Upon his command, something massive descended from above the clouds. Sunset slowly turned her head around to see a fleet of five airships appear, evenly spread out with the leading middle one flying directly overhead. Even the fighting down below ceased for a moment as both sides watched the ships emerge. From this alone, Big Softie could tell that something went wrong.

From the leading ship fell a ladder that landed alongside Goliath. He grabbed onto it to be taken away, but not without a final word, "Sorry it must end like this, but I can't have you getting in my way again! Fare thee well!" With that, the ship began to take off, whisking the ruler away towards his next great endeavour.

Sunset could only watch as he began to disappear. How stupid she felt that she let this happen. Nothing more than another trick to get what he wanted. She felt so angry! But she hadn't the strength to show it, not anymore. She couldn't move. She couldn't cry. She couldn't do anything. It was over. Sunset failed.

She then heard something move behind her. Hastily turning her body around, much to the protest of the wounds in her chest, she found Barbed Wire slowly dragging her body towards her. She was almost completely consumed by the purple venom.

"Barb..." Sunset breathlessly said. The venom's effect took over her body incredibly fast.

Having reached her, Barb reached for the syringe, picking it up and presenting it to Sunset with a shaky hand. "T-Take... it," she barely got out. Barb fell forward, keeping herself up by holding onto her friend's shoulder. "You... You gotta stop... him."

Sunset shook her head. "B-But what about you?" she asked.

Barb returned with a snicker, which only sent her into a coughing fit. Despite the burning in her throat, she still forced a smile out. "Nah. I-I've... already lived long enough an... an afterlife. But you... still got a lot of learning to do if... if you w-wanna make it... through Hell." She then took Sunset's hand and placed the cure within it. Her eyelids were beginning to feel very heavy. "I... know... you... can... do it!" Barb could feel herself beginning to fade away.

Sunset held the syringe in her hand. After everything, what reason was there to believe that this wasn't just another one of his schemes? She knew there wasn't any, but with what little chance she had left, the last thing she should do is at least try. She didn't think for one second for what to do with the cure. Sunset immediately stabbed it through the skin of her arm. It immediately began to take affect.

Suddenly, she could breath again! The burning sensation spread throughout her body began to fade, and her strength began to return to her. The demoness looked around her body, trying to process what was happening, and she looked forward to see Sunset with a glad expression.

Realising what this meant for her friend, Barb began to panic. "Sunset? W-What did you do?!"

Sunset grinned cheekily. "Saved... your ass. That's what." She tried to laugh, which came out as nothing more than a pathetic wheeze.

"But what about you?! You... you can't die! Not right now!" Barb held tightly onto Sunset, beginning to cry.

Sunset pushed herself up from her knees. She struggled, and how she hurt almost prevented her from doing so, but she managed. She looked down onto Barb with as confident of a face as she could give. "I... still got some... f-fight in me left. I'm not giving up! Not til... not til the very end!" She then turned around ran as fast as she could to the edge of the roof.

"Wait, no! Please!" Barb tried to follow after her, but her strength had not completely returned to her legs yet, preventing her from moving. She reached out towards her. "Don't do it! Sunset!"

Her demands could not reach her, however. Sunset kept her head straight as she came closer to the end. Even with her devil strength active, the poison managed to hold her back significantly. She realised she may have a few minutes left, and that there was no way this was going to work. But Sunset didn't care. She wasn't going to give up on everyone! She'll keep fighting until she was no more, and that included now!

Hopping upon the barrier separating the ground from the fall, Sunset readied herself as she made as great a jump as she could towards the floating away ladder. Time slowed to a crawl as Sunset aimed for the very last bar hanging in the sky. She stretched an arm out as far as she could, frantically kicking the air to maintain as much height as she could get. She watched as her hand neared the target, catching up faster than it could get away.

But just as when hope was restoring, her claws could only lightly brush the ladder. Had it been just an inch closer, it all would have been fine. But the slightest distance made all the difference, and Sunset missed.

Everyone watched in horror as Sunset fell from the sky; Barbed Wire from up top, reaching her arm over the edge as Sunset drew further away, and Big Softie from down below, racing past everydemon to get directly beneath her.

Sunset knew it was a long shot. Not just trying to reach a flying ladder, but also saving the city. She thought they had the power to withstand Goliath and his forces, but, of course, she messes it all up at the most pivotal time of need. She at least managed to succeed somewhere. Now, Barbed Wire will live on, but even then, what did it matter if all she would continue to live through was a nonstop nightmare?

And the resistance. So many demons putting their lives at stake, and now Sunset negated all of their efforts by one mistake: she didn't stop Goliath.

Even as she fell right now, her mind screamed for her to back into the fight. However, it seemed that fate decided that she was finally finished here. Sunset stared directly at her goal that was making its getaway. She was so close! She needed one last chance to try! Her face contorted into rage! Was Sunset finished?

Not a chance!

A whole new sensation surged through Sunset's body. Across every inch of her being, the pain she was engulfed by seemed to disappear in almost an instant. She felt as her strength returned to her, in her arms and her legs; she felt her skin harden from her chest to the corners of every limb; she could suddenly see everything as her eyes turned deep black; two large and solid protrusions shot out from each side of her forehead; and finally, the strangest feeling came from the bumps placed on her shoulder blades, as though something was trying to break free...

Below, Big Softie kept trying to line himself up to catch Sunset as she very quickly neared the ground. He was ready for saving her!

But before Sunset could reach the concrete floor, she suddenly pulled up and shot right back up the building at an incredible speed!

Big Softie's jaw fell so low that it almost came off his face, and his arms fell back to his sides like jelly. He hadn't a clue what he had just witnessed right now. His brain was fried the moment Sunset flew away.

Even Barbed Wire, who managed to carry herself to the edge of the roof was blown right onto her backside as a red figure whizzed right past her. Once she processed what she saw, she couldn't help but let the largest smile stretch across her face as tears of joy broke out.

She pushed herself up into standing and threw her fists in the air. "Yes! You get him, girl!" she shouted proudly.

Through the skies above, Sunset Shimmer soared! She kept her head straight as she quickly approached her target, Goliath's fleet! In the distance, she could see the airships had managed to leave the city's perimeter. She didn't know where they were headed, but it definitely wasn't for anything good.

In her mind, she could finally focus on what was right ahead; Goliath had been allowed to cause havoc for too long now. For all the suffering caused by him, for the pain all demons had to endure, for everything he did to her friend, Sunset would not let go this chance to finally bring him down. Goliath's reign would end today!

The newborn devil had flown so far so quick, she was brought to the outskirts of the city, crossing the lake of lava that surrounded. A fleeting thought reminded Sunset of something to be very wary about. As she passed, a loud rumble could be heard beneath the sea.

But soon, she reached the other side where there was nothing but void land. Nothing to be broke or to be lost. The perfect place to bring these ships back down. The only question was how she was going to do that.

Sunset came close to the first ship stationed at the back-left side, grabbing the railing and pulling herself onto the exit platform beneath the balloon. She was about to make her way inside, but her attention was pulled away by a distant crash that came from behind. Slithering at a breakneck speed below, Sunset saw the incoming, colossal Wormillium! It opened its jaws to reveal rows upon rows of razor sharp teeth, and soon, everyone here might just be able to get a closer look.

But rather than appearing scared, Sunset's face lit up like a light bulb as she got an idea. "That'll work," she said before heading inside the gondola of the first ship.

Upon closing the door behind her, Sunset was immediately met with a carriage full of soldiers. They all just stared at her weirdly in their seats. But she couldn't spare time for greetings with a giant worm on her tail. "You guys have all got to get out of here! The Wormillium is coming!" she shouted.

A soldier began laughing mockingly. "Yeah, right. We got that weird spray that it hates so much. No way is it after us!"

Sunset just stepped out of the way of the door, guiding everyone's eyes to the small window with her hands. "By all means, look for yourself."

Much to her surprise, a demon stood up and looked out. They turned pale as they caught sight of the monster. "Yep. Big worm," they said weirdly calmly. That was, until they turned back and everyone read the suppressed horror of the soldier's face. "ABANDON SHIP!" they then screamed, grabbing a parachute hanging on the walls and rushing outside to make their dive.

The gondola was then turned into a frenzy as everyone else scrambled to grab and chute and jump. While this happened, Sunset moved toward the cockpit.

Meanwhile, on the front ship, Goliath watched proudly as he drew ever nearer to the realms beyond Sinner City. "Status, Montgomery," he requested, not taking his eyes off the closing in horizon.

"Nothing but smooth flying all the way to the nearest gateway, sir," the sheep demon informed.

"Exc-sss-elent." There was nothing that felt more relaxing to Goliath than the relief of having no more issues while he flew to finally take over the world. It may be the most at peace the snake had ever felt, having sent a satisfying chill slithering up his spine.

But then, at the secretary's side, a red light began blinking accompanied by an annoying beep. Montgomery took a look at the problem. "Sire, it appears that there is some sort of issue. Airship four is breaking formation."

Goliath sighed with displeasure. "Oh, for the love of all things unholy..." He then picked up a radio. "Squadron four! Return to formation immediately!" he commanded.

He was greeted by a lot of shouting from the receiving end. "Sorry, sir, but we're getting the fuck outta here! The Wormillium is hot on our ass!"

"You have the repellent, you idiots! Why would it be after you?!"

"Umm... sire?" Montgomery said, looking fearfully out the window.

"What?" Goliath followed his lackey's eyes towards the back ship.

As the airship drifted slowly out of formation, everydemon in the forefront ship's cockpit watched in horror as it was suddenly tackled down by the jumping pink leviathan. The ship was crushed with ease under the might of the Wormillium, like a bug beneath a foot. No one understood what could have happened.

"Montgomery, are you certain you applied the repellent to every soldier?" Goliath asked.

Monty began to shake with fear. "O-One hundred percent, sir. Each soldier was sprayed top to bottom as they entered their ships. No one could have slipped by."

What they were not aware of was the devil flying over to the back ship on the other side of the fleet. As she watched the parachutes of those soldiers disappear as they were left behind, it confirmed Sunset's thought, the Wormillium had a scent for her. If this monster was going to be persistent, then it was the perfect way to bring these ships to the floor.

She repeated the same process as last time: get demons off ship, worm versus blimp, worm wins, proceed to next ship. Much to the dismay of Goliath who hollered across every radio, commanding his army to stay in their stations, to which they all disobeyed.

It all finally came down to two more ships that the Wormillium was yet to destroy, including the mayor's own. He saw as his only other bbackup began drifting away, hissing more orders into the radio, "Ssssquadron two! You had better stay in formation or else you shall suffer the wrath of your new emperor!"

"That's going to have to be a negatory, your highness," the voice on the radio said.

Goliath's blood began to boil at the sound of that voice. His head creaked in the direction of the remaining ship, his eyes locking onto the figure hanging out the cockpit window. She casted him a salute with an overly confident grin on her face.

Goliath crushed the receiver in his claws. "How many times do I have to kill the same! Fucking! Demon?!"

"What should we do, sir? Do we abandon ship?" a soldier asked.

"No!" Goliath roared. "You shall all stay, and watch as I slice this demoness into ribbons!"

Then, right before the Wormillium could leap and crash into the second-to-last ship, Sunset flew towards the final one.

The resistance continued to hold the fort down back at the city. The battle raged endlessly, but yet, the rallied forces were beginning to wear out. No matter how many soldiers they brought down, they were still vastly outnumbered.

Big Softie was among the many that kept on, but even he was slowing down, becoming more frequently that a demon would get the jump on him. However Sunset was doing, part of him really hoped she would bring an end to this soon.

As he fought on, he would come to find Volcano after viciously gnashing another soldier. He looked to Softie and asked, "Hey, where the hell is Maggie?"

"I don't know! All she said was she'd run a bit late," Big Softie responded.

"We're kinda way past 'a bit' now! She oughta get here now, or we ain't lasting!"

"I know, I know! But we can't afford to stop! We gotta keep- Gah!" Big Softie was suddenly tackled to the floor by a number of soldiers.

"Softie!" Volcano shouted. The hyena loudly growled as he leapt towards the dog pile on all fours, sinking his sharp jaws into the arms and legs of each soldier and throwing them off his friend. He pulled the bull up off the ground as the soldiers laid around them with deep jaw marks in their limbs. "You okay, big guy?" he asked.

"Yeah. Thanks." Softie gave him a thumbs up.

"Don't mention it."

It was then the doctor suddenly appeared atop his big monster. His mask donned a panicked expression. "Hey, you know, I love a wholesome moment and all, but-"

"Incoming!" the Ogre roared, pointing in all directions. Whatever of his four fingers demons chose to follow, they would find more soldiers than ever closing in on them.

"Oh, come on! How many of these guys are there?" Big Softie complained. By the looks of it, far too many. The resistance could only watch as the army moved forward. With the small plethora of freedom fighters that still stood, they all shared the same thought: there was no chance they could hold off against that.

The Ogre acted as the army closed in, gathering every resistance demon he could and bringing them inside the Mayor's Tower where they would be safe for the time being. The wrestler spread his arms across the tower windows, blocking all that he could.

The soldiers all pointed their weapons towards the large, green demon and began firing. The Ogre's tough skin could stand against their bullets, but it was not long before they began to take their effect. What was nothing to him one second soon became a ever-growing fire on his front.

"The Ogre cannot hold for much longer," he said. He struggled to keep his arms up.

"What are we gonna do now?!" Volcano asked. His chest frantically pumped with panic.

"Well, folks, it's times like this where I can confidently say WE'RE ALL FUCKED!" Plague Doctor shouted. Johnson replied with a groan of agreement, from the doctor's interpretation that was.

"That can't be it! We got so far!" Volcano turned towards the leader. "Softie, come on, you gotta have something, anything!"

Big Softie just stood in silence, trying to think of any possible way for them to get out of this. But he turned up with nothing. He could never have seen coming how outnumbered they would be, and now, the worst came to be. As the leader, he failed the resistance.

"I'm sorry," was all Big Softie could say.

And like that, all hope was lost in every remaining demon.

"It's been honour bashing skulls alongside tiny demons," the Ogre said.

"Hear, hear," the doctor replied. He caressed the somewhat loosely stitched forehead of Johnson. "Farewell, my son. When you make it out of this, because you are too perfect to die, replace your brain with mine, and build an army of Johnsons in my honour."

Volcano sighed. "Guess it was too good to be true." He then placed his paw on Softie's shoulder. "But I gotta admit, you led a pretty good fight here."

Big Softie quietly sorted. "Thanks, to all of you. We'd never have gotten as far as we did hadn't it been for you guys."

The resistance all then braced for their nearing end. The soldier demons had stopped for a moment to reload their weapons, giving the Ogre time to prepare for the next onslaught. As well as they fought, the resistance was lost.

The rain of fire resumed, but the Ogre felt nothing hit him. Around them all, the resistance could hear bodies dropping one after the other. They glanced out to find that the surrounding army had almost all fallen to the ground, with no sign of the cause to be seen.

Big Softie mouthed a, "What the...?" as he wondered what could have happened.

"Hey, Softie!" a shout echoed from the rooftops. Big Softie knew that voice from anywhere! Everyone's heads looked upwards to find rows of armed demons over the edges of different rooftops. Among them all, one stood and waved to the demons below. She then climbed down the building, accompanied by two other demons, and met with the leader, and old friend. "Hope we didn't miss much."

"Maggie!" Big Softie responded joyfully. "A couple minutes earlier would've been better."

Maggie laughed. "Sorry 'bout that. The boss woke up earlier than hoped. We tried to convince him to help with the fight."

"How'd that go?"

"Not great. We had to knock him out again! Should be another while before he wakes up and realises we're gone."

Softie snorted at the thought of how that could have went. He wished was there to watch. "Well, thanks for your help there. Any longer, and we'd be as good as dead."

"I'd call you lucky for having that giant there. You didn't mention recruiting superstar wrestler the Ogre!" Maggie moved over to the giant and held her hand out towards him. "Big fan of your stuff!"

The Ogre spread a hand on his chest, as if to act humbled. "The pleasure is all the Ogre's." He gave her a giant finger to shake. "Many thanks for close save, tiny demoness."

"So, that all the soldiers then?" Volcano asked, looking towards the bodies left behind by Maggie and the gang's ambush.

"Unfortunately, no. We saw more heading this way as we were comin' down. We still got a lot of fighting left to go," Maggie informed. "Speakin' of which, here." She then signalled one of the demons at her side, who was holding a large sack over their shoulder. They placed the big in the middle of everyone, and opened it to reveal more weapons and ammunition. "If you wanna win, you're gonna need a bit of firepower."

"Fuck. Yes!" the doctor shouted with excitement. He reached down and grabbed a pair of guns for himself. "Johnson, we are officially the most badass duo of them all. Together, we bring the rain and the pain!"

"This'll be leagues above breaking my jaw on everyone's leg," Volcano said, grabbing one of his own.

One by one, all the other demons of the resistance took a weapon, with the exception of the Ogre who was content with his muscles. The resistance was back in the game, and just in the nick of time, as more of Goliath's soldiers were about to arrive.

The battle had yet to be won, but everything needed to be had was found. By the end of the day, Goliath's forces shall be taken down, and victory was sure to be theirs!

With the next ship having fallen victim to the Wormillium, Sunset flew towards the last one. Here, she would have her final encounter with Goliath. Only this time, she was more ready than ever before.

The devil grabbed onto the railing and there she was at the door. No doubt, she was nervous, but she wasted no more time with hesitancy and went inside. Like every other airship, it was filled with soldiers ready for battle. But they all sat frozen at the sight of her. She paid them no mind as she went past, giving them nothing more than a casual, "Wormillium incoming. Jump if you don't want to die," and moved on.

The demons followed her command as every one rushed out in a panicked state. Parachutes flew off the walls of the gondola quicker than the soldiers' descents. It was now just her and the snake, and any demons piloting the ship.

Before she reached the door to the captain's cabin, she spotted a can of spray left on the wall, labelled 'Away With You Wormillium' with a small star by the logo detailing, 'Now with 10,000% more salt! Without question, Sunset took the can and applied some to herself. It reeked, immensely so, but should make the worm not an issue anymore.

Now, standing before the one thing that separated her and Goliath, Sunset took a step forward, only to be immediately interrupted by a lightning fast quad of slashes running from the bottom to the top of the final door. Sunset stepped back as the door, now sliced into five, collapsed, revealling her goal beyond.

From the front of the ship stepped out the slender snake demon, sporting his famous white suit and top hat, and showing his claws, which have all extended into ten sword-like blades. He stared directly through her with a deathly yellow glint in his eyes.

He gave a soft, yet frightening, laugh. "You really are an impressive one, Ssssunset Shimmer!" his hiss was venomous, "But don't think for a second that, because of a fancy new look, you have any chance of stopping me."

"Chance or not, all you should count on is that I'll always be there to try bring you down, Goliath," Sunset replied.

Goliath smiled once more. "It has truly been a pleasure, but this will be the end." Goliath was the first one to move, opening with a swift swipe of his right claws.

Sunset managed to narrowly avoid the attack and returned with a running strike, reeling a fist far behind her head and jumping directly towards Goliath. The snake was quick to think on his toes, however, as he moved to the side and allowed for Sunset to tumble through the chopped down door and into the pilot's quarters. She rolled and landed on her feet, crouched down with a hand on the floor to steady her.

But before she could collect her bearings, Goliath appeared in front of her and brought his blades towards her, attempting to directly stab her with all ten claws. Sunset thrusted her own arms forward and held his hands as far away from her as possible. Her fingers were all in-between his. She struggled against the snake's strength, meanwhile, his maniacal laughter grew with every inch closer his claws came.

Seeing no other way out of this, Sunset resorted to let herself fall back, pulling Goliath over with her, and placed her feet on his stomach to throw him over. The tyrant flew and crashed onto the ship's control panel, causing the piloting demons to jump out of their seats.

"Sire!" Montgomery cried.

As he got back up, Goliath pointed a claw directly at his accomplice. "Keep this ship flying!" Afterwards, he approached Sunset once more, this time, unleashing a rapid series of swings of his blades.

All Sunset could do was move back, avoiding each blade by barely a hair. She was pushed further and further back through the ship. She knew she would soon lose ground, but she couldn't take her eye off Goliath to make sure.

However, as well as she dodged, Goliath would finally come in with a successful swing. In a panic, Sunset held up an arm to shield her face. The swords made contact, but they could not push through. Both Sunset and Goliath looked to what should have been a sliced off arm, and found that instead, Sunset managed to catch his claws with her hard devil skin.

With Goliath open, Sunset hit away his swords away and went in with a hook with her other arm. But he slithered out of the way in the blink of an eye, appearing directly behind her, where he then retracted the claws in one hand, grabbed Sunset by the neck and forcefully threw her to the gondola walls.

Her back slammed against the walls, knocking the wind out of her and leaving an indent of her shape in the process. Sunset only now remembered just how fast Goliath was. While she had the capacity to last, she wasn't sure how she was going to best him.

Goliath came in for another attempt of stabbing her directly. There was no room for her to escape this one, so she tucked herself into a ball and wrapped herself with her wings. Her newfound limbs managed to deflect the tyrant's blades, sending him stumbling backwards.

With him thrown off balance, Sunset took this as an opportunity and tackled Goliath, pinning him to the ground and letting loose a flurry of throws with an angry grunt after each one. There was nothing else on her mind right now, just to stop Goliath by any means necessary.

But while her attention was paid solely onto him, a couple of the piloting demons appeared behind her and held her up by the arms, lifting her off their ruler. Sunset thrashed in their hold, but she didn't have much room to throw them off her.

Goliath took the time to stand back up and catch his breath. He fixed his jaw with a loud, shivering crack. While his enemy stood immobilised before him, he retracted the claws on both hands and balled them into fists, punching Sunset repeatedly in the head and stomach. In a mere moment, Sunset's strength disappeared and went limp in the soldiers' arms. They let her fall to the floor.

"You are dismissed," Goliath said to his underlings, who then left Sunset and him alone again.

Sunset wouldn't spend too long on the floor as her strength quickly returned to her, but as she threw her head up, ready for another round, Goliath tightly clenched his hand around her neck once more and picked her up, hanging her over himself. Sunset hit his arm with everything she had, but Goliath's grip did not give way. The snake then tossed Sunset's body towards the exit of the ship. She hit the ground hard and slid across the metal floor until she was sent onto the platform outside, barely stopping in time before her body fell off the edge. Before she could get back up, a foot pressed down hard onto her chest. She looked up to see Goliath bending down to stare her directly in her furious eyes.

"This certainly feels familiar," Goliath said, laughing afterwards. He caught sight of an incoming beast. Sunset tried all she could to lift him off her to no avail. "It is clear, no matter how much we fight, we're destined to see each other again. Even at our greatest, defeating one another is but a fantasy. So, I'll have the Wormillium be your end instead."

A smirk grew on Sunset's face. "Joke's on you, scaly face, it's not after me anymore," she explained.

"What?" Goliath's eyes widened. He looked out to the monster again and watched as it travelled further under his ship.

It was not until it was directly underneath that the Wormillium launched itself up once more with a fearsome roar and crashed directly into the final ship. The platform began to rock ferociously as the ship began its descent. Goliath's grip on Sunset was interrupted and he quickly held onto the safety rail to keep steady. Sunset made her escape and flew up high, watching all other demons jump out with their parachutes.

While the Wormillium tore through the airship in search of what remained of the scent, it suddenly retreated with a sound of discomfort when all that was left was the repellent's smell. With nothing more, the beast turned and wriggled back to its home beneath the lake of lava. The remains of the ship were then allowed to smash into the grounds below.

When the coast was finally clear, Sunset floated down towards the wreckage. She explored what was left of this dreadful vehicle, with all of its twisted metal, the torn balloon remains and the machinery that kept it afloat, all destroyed. But this wasn't what she was here for.

She used her enhanced vision to get a better scope of the wreckage, searching all around until she found a rummaging beneath some of the debris. She followed her eyes' guidance, and she was brought to where Goliath had just now freed himself.

His suit had turned black, he held onto a wounded arm, and he appeared barely capable of standing anymore. The fallen king looked across his guiding key to victory, reduced to forever be ruins out in the city's barren outskirts.

"It's over, Goliath," Sunset said, approaching the snake demon.

"A major setback, yes. But a setback is all it will ever be," he replied, not giving the decency to turn and look at Sunset. "I've already waited a thousand years. What's a thousand more? It will only pave the way for me to return stronger than ever."

He soon felt Sunset standing directly behind him. He hid his claws as he slowly extended them. "All I have to do beforehand... is get rid of you!" Goliath quickly spun around and swung his blades at Sunset with a final ten claw slash, giving it the most strength as he could muster.

However, the devil did not even flinch as she held up an arm to block his last ditch effort. As his blades hit their target, they all cracked and broke off his hands. Goliath shouted in agony as he stumbled back and fell onto the rubble of his ship once more. Goliath heaved, trying to suppress the constant pain shooting through his hands. From the ends of what little was left of his claws spewed out droplets of his own poison and blood. With his swords gone, Goliath was rendered powerless.

Sunset loomed over the hopeless heap. "You could try again, as many times as you please. I'll show up to put an end to it. Even if we fight forever, I'll never give up and let you win!"

Despite his pain, Goliath still managed to muster a grin and a weak laugh. "Then... why don't you just kill me?" Sunset's eyes widened at the suggestion, and Goliath took note of it. "Look at your face, you know you want to. The thought is just eating you up inside! To prevent future havoc, and all you must do is end my afterlife now. So, why not do it already?"

Sunset shook her head. "No. I'll never stoop down to your level, killing whoever I please just to get what I want. You're an irredeemable monster! And if you ever try rise up again, I'll stop you before you can even hurt another soul. Count on it!" She then turned and began walking away from the tyrant.

"You... You dare turn your back on the almighty Goliath?!" he shouted, pulling himself back onto his feet, almost falling forward in doing so. Sunset paid him no mind. Goliath used whatever strength he had to try keep up with her. "You cannot stop me forever! I will never stop aiming to fulfill my destiny! I will best every demon in my path, kill any who oppose me, and someday I will rule all of Hell! Just you wait!"

It was then that a spark of light appeared around Goliath. He tried to step out of it, but found that an invisible barrier kept him within the circle. "What is this?" he asked, pounding on the barrier in an attempt to break free.

Sunset only now turned to look as she heard the commotion, and the two watched when a dark cage rose from the light on the floor. Soon, Goliath was sealed away behind bars, unable to break or bend the metal.

Sunset stepped forward to get a closer look, but was immediately stopped when a pair of blue, cosmic patterned portals appeared in front of her. From these gateways came out two grotesque, gremlin-like creatures, floating out of their portals with the tiny wings on their backs, and holding long scythes almost double their own height. One was a dark green, and the other was ash grey.

"Goliath Hendrickson," the grey one spoke with a scratchy voice, "you are demanded an audience with the Lord of Darkness, where you shall stand trial for your crimes against all Hell. Pray Satan have mercy on your soul."

Sunset's eyebrows shot directly up at the mention of that name. She carefully approached the two small creatures from behind. "Excuse me, did you say 'Satan'? Who are you guys?"

"Back away, demoness," the green one said with a more snotty voice. He turned his head to Sunset, holding a hand up to stop the girl in her tracks. "We are the Lord's loyal guard-goyles. It is best you do not disturb our-" The small goblin's words were suddenly caught in his throat as he noticed the distinct new features of Sunset. The horns, the rough skin, and especially the wings. He then tapped the shoulder of his partner.

"What is it?" Now the grey one turned, with his jaw falling to the floor and eyes becoming ants upon sight of the devil.

The two then looked around at the ruins of the airship, over to the caged Goliath, and then back to Sunset. "Did you do all of this?" the grey guard-goyle asked.

"Well, mostly with help of a giant worm, but I helped guide it," Sunset explained, rubbing her neck.

"Huh," was all the guard could reply. The two then leaned into each other. "We need to tell the boss about this," they whispered.

Sunset overheard them, and her face lit up with excitement. She knelt down and grabbed a hand from each guard-goyle. "Are you going to him now? Can I come with you? There's something I really need to ask him!"

The guards looked at her weirdly, taking a moment before saying anything else. They then slipped their slender fingers out of Sunset's grip and stepped back towards the cage. "No, we, uh... can't really do that, but we'll let him know, I suppose?"

Sunset's joy fell quickly into disappointment. All she could give was an awkward laugh. "Oh, yeah, that... that's fine, I guess. Heh."

While holding onto the bars of Goliath's cage, the guard-goyles tapped the bottoms of their scythes on the ground in unison, and directly below them opened a large gateway into another location. The guards and Goliath slowly sank into the portal. With it possibly being the last time they'll ever see each other, Goliath casted Sunset a damning glare before he finally disappeared.

Despite his heavy loss, Goliath did not protest against his capture. As Sunset watched him being lowered, Goliath seemed to just lay, not trying to prove he was powerless now. He sat and accepted his defeat.

Sunset managed to catch a small glimpse of the area beyond the portal. It wasn't much, but her eyes were pulled towards a strange figure sitting upon a throne, hidden in a shadow by the light that shined from behind them. This thing had large horns, much like her, and wings, like hers... Sunset stepped closer to the opening, reaching a hand out.

But then, the portal disappeared, along with the snake demon.

Sunset was left alone in the empty fields of Hell, greatly dumbfounded by the events transpired in the last few minutes. She was unsure of what to do now. She looked towards the ruins that Goliath laid on, finding all that was left being his white hat, scuffed, torn and dirty by the crash. It took her a minute to finally process it. Goliath was gone. The war was over. They had won!

Finally, Sunset turned and spread her wings, taking off back towards the city.

The battle for Sinner City waged on, and with the arrival of Maggie and the gang, the resistance was able to ward off what remained of the army. The soldiers fell to the feet of the defending demons one by one. Even the ones that were beginning to get back up after being taken down, they too were falling to surrender.

Big Softie and Maggie led the fray to its bitter end, taking out the few soldiers left that continued to fight.

But then, all the remaining soldiers came together for one last clash, charging towards the Mayor's Tower in a final attempt to retake the victory. The resistance stood their ground, more ready than ever before to protect their home. The opposing sides closed in on eachother, until they were suddenly stopped by a new figure shooting down from the sky, landing right in between the two. Every demon looked at the newcomer as she got up to her feet and stared the army down with a fiery glare.

In her hand, she held up the hat once worn by the terrible king and let it slowly fall to the floor. "Your leader is gone! This battle is ours!" Sunset shouted. The soldiers stepped back in fear of the devil before them's roaring voice. "The city is free. You all have nothing left to fight for."

The soldiers all looked towards the ruined hat on the floor, realising that they have lost the war, and began to scurry away to who knows where. The army disbanded, heading in all different directions that not one of them thought about. Their goals, now, were to run and hide.

As soon as they all disappeared, a huge weight seemed to fade away within Sunset's chest. She felt that, for the first time in forever, she could breathe right again. Her furious stare was replaced by a relieved grin.

She then turned to see Big Softie, who was happy to see her return. "Did... Did we do it?" he asked.

Sunset nodded. She couldn't contain her happiness for much longer. She broke out into a sprint towards her friend as tears began to fall down her face. Sunset almost tackled Big Softie to the ground as she jumped onto him, locking him into an embrace.

Big Softie gave a hearty, joyous laugh as he returned the gesture, followed by him lifting Sunset onto his shoulder. The two pumped their fists high in the air as they looked towards the resistance. "Victory is ours!" Softie shouted.

The resistance erupted into a sea of cheers. Demons cried, jumped where they stood, and hugged their allies tightly. The Ogre gave a victorious roar, along with Johnson, which was followed by a very proud, "That's my boy!" from Plague Doctor. Volcano wasn't one for shouting, but even he couldn't hold back a grin from forming. Maggie and her crew began firing shots high in the air to celebrate.

Sunset looked towards the entrance to the Mayor's Tower and found Barbed Wire coming out. She had to hold herself up against anything she could, with her legs still being quite weak. "Barb!" Sunset said, jumping off Softie and going to help her.

Sunset wrapped Barb's arm around her shoulder and walked her towards Big Softie and Maggie. Sunset's bounce, however, proved to be a bit much for Barb as each step was a sudden jolt of pain in her still healing stomach. "Ow, ow! Sunset!"

The devil finally noticed what she was doing and slowed down. "Sorry," she said.

It was now that Barb could take note of her friend's new look. Barb couldn't help but give an impressed whistle. "Damn, girl, you're really rockin' it with the devil look. The whole horns and wings deal? Cool. As. All hell!"

Sunset responded with a cheeky grin. "Not so bad yourself, given after what you've went through."

"Even at death's door I'm pretty as fuck." They both then arrived to where Big Softie stood. Even Barb had to admit, it was nice seeing the big bull's face. "Surprised to see you still alive, Softie," Barb said.

Big Softie pumped out his chest proudly. "Yep, and I faired much better than you, no doubt."

"Hey, I just had some bad luck is all." Barb held her hands up defensively. Her eyes then fell towards the demoness that stood by his side. "Nice to see you again too, Maggie. Hey, are you and Softie back to...? Y'know...?" She made a certain gesture involving a stretched out finger and a circle made with the other hand while bearing a cheeky smirk.

Maggie rolled her eyes. "Charming as ever, Barbed Wire. Definitely didn't miss that."

Barb chuckled, then turned to Sunset again. "So, guess that's it then. What do we do now?"

"I think the first step should be to fix all the damage Goliath and his goons caused," Big Softie stepped forward. "We still got a while before things start feelin' normal again."

"But what about the mayor position?" a demon from the resistance asked, throwing their hand in the air.

There was no response to the question at first. All that could be heard was muttering between everyone else, each now wondering the same thing.

Sunset, for one, was rather taken aback by the question. "Wait, you guys still want to have a mayor?" she asked.

The ground shook around everyone as the Ogre came up and knelt down towards Sunset. "War has made the Ogre realise something. The Ogre does not wish to lose crushing demons' skulls like the blueberry. The Ogre, and other tiny demons, think we should have leader who will try to maintain the peace." Surrounding demons murmured in agreement. "And we think we know who new mayor should be..."

All eyes suddenly fell onto Sunset, who was confused at first, but she quickly came to realise the thought on everyone's minds. "Wait, me?! You want me to be the mayor?"

"You saved our city, Sunset," Volcano spoke up. "In your time here, all you wanted was the best for all demons. We were just too stubborn to see it. It should be you."

"Yeah! Even though you killed Rattingsbottom!" a demon said a bit too cheerfully. The demon was met with a glare from almost everyone else, causing them to look at the floor and think things over again. Their head came back up as they pieced it together. "Oh... Oh! It was Goliath- Yeah, alright, got it."

Sunset was flattered by the offer. She almost didn't know what to think. "I... Thank you, everyone, so much. But... it shouldn't be me." She shook her head.

Everyone's faces fell. They began bombarding her with questions:

"What? Why?"

"Are you sure?"

"Wait, did she kill him or not?"

Barb looked up to her with a concerned look. "Sunset?"

Sunset passed her back a reassuring smile, then turned back to the resistance. "Do you see what you've all managed to do today? I didn't lead that. I only fought alongside you. No, the one more deserving than me... is Big Softie." She looked towards her bull friend, who froze at the sound of his name.

The street fell completely silent. Big Softie looked all around him, making sure if there was another demon right behind him that had his exact name. When he was sure there wasn't, he pointed an index finger directly towards himself.

Sunset nodded. "Look around you, Softie. You made this! At the bar, it was you that inspired every demon to get up and fight, just when all hope seemed to be lost. You stood at the forefront and led the fight. None of this would have happened if not for your great leadership! You still wanted the best for every demon just when even I had given up on the possibility. You helped open my eyes again. So yeah, you should be mayor."

Big Softie only stood at a loss for words. His heart and his breathing became heavy. He barely understood what he was feeling right now. "I... I don't know what to say."

Sunset smiled. "You don't have to say anything. " She then began to slowly clap her hands, all while chanting something in beat to her claps, "Sof-tie. Sof-tie. Sof-tie..." After a moment, she then began to raise her voice, and chanted faster.

Soon enough, Maggie joined in with Sunset, followed by another demon. Then another. Then a few more. Then a lot more! Eventually, there was an entire chorus of demons chanting with each other, "Softie! Softie! Softie! Softie!" Sunset even nudged Barbed Wire's arm as she could tell she was only mouthing, getting her in on it too.

Big Softie stood in the centre of everyone, looking in every direction and seeing every demon's eyes on him. He wondered to himself, was everyone really looking to him to take on such a huge responsibility? He wondered, was he worthy of such a thing? By the looks in everyone's eyes... by the look in Sunset's eyes, who wore a very proud face, he could tell that she didn't think. No, she knew he was worthy.

Now, Big Softie felt that, for the first time in his afterlife, he finally found his purpose.

However, all would not be well for every demon, as Goliath, with his hands in chains, was forcefully pulled down to his knees by the scythes of the guard-goyles.

Goliath was taken to a large throne room. The palace walls were built with charcoal black stone that emanated a warm glow from the red magma that coursed through the cracks. The fallen tyrant sat in the centre of it.

And before him, atop the stairs that led to his throne and hidden as a silhouette by the wall of lava that continuously spilled from behind, sat the devil king himself.

"The trial for the crimes of Goliath Hendrickson will now commence!" a snotty guard-goyle voice shouted.

"King Goliath Hendrickson," his deep voice echoed through the great hall. "How I have much anticipated this meeting."

Goliath could only look in terror. He couldn't move or speak, not even when he was pushed towards the floor by one of the guards, being forced to bow.

"Show your respect to the dark lord!" the said guard seethed.

The devil held a hand up. "Easy now. This man is royalty. Restrain yourselves of such harshness in the presence of a fellow king."

The small gargoyle demon stepped back and bowed towards his leader. "My apologies, my lord."

The king hummed in pleasure. "Now, we shall truly begin. Hendrickson, I have been aware of your actions for a long time now. I have seen every measure you have taken. I know it all. Answer this, do you understand why you were sent to Hell?"

With his body shaking after every breath, Goliath raised his head and slowly nodded.

"Death for most means the end. For some, a new beginning. But for you? You chose to live now as you did back then, consumed by greed and a lust for power. You spent the last one thousand years attempting to seize control of an entire realm. And when doing so passively was no longer an option, you killed many innocent demons to finally rise. Is this correct?"

"Y-Yes. Yes, it is... your highness," Goliath finally spoke.

"But it was not enough, was it?"

Goliath remained silent. He did not want to answer that question. He hadn't even the gall to look at his ruler, which in turn, gave him the answer he wanted.

"No, it wasn't," the devil answered for his prisoner. "When all was finished in one realm, you planned to expand your rule to all realms. Your end goal? This very throne." He could be heard patting the chair's rest with his hand. "In my eyes, there is nothing you could say for me to consider taking mercy on you. Wouldn't you agree, Hendrickson?"

Goliath did not waste time trying to muster up anything that could save him from a grave punishment. He knew that this was the cost for his loss, and now, he had to pay the price. Goliath nodded as a response once more.

A knowing grin grew on the king's face. "For your crimes committed within your home realm, I sentence you to one hundred years in a cage over a pit of fire!"

The guard-goyles returned to Goliath, seizing him by the chains to take him away.

"And," the devil suddenly said, his tone turning much more harsh. The three demons stopped and turned back to their immortal master. "For your attempt to overthrow me, I sentence your hands to be sliced off from your body! May you lose your greatest weapons and never cause further harm for the rest of your afterlife! Take him away!"

Goliath's pupils shrank as he was pulled away once more. He could feel that his arms had begun trembling. That it should come to this; the last thought on Goliath's mind as he disappeared in the shadows of the door he walked through. The doors then closed, leaving the king to be alone.

However, all was not finished just yet as a guard-goyle flew up beside his lord's throne with his small, boney wings. "Umm... sire? There's something else you should know," the gremlin whispered.

"What is it?" the devil asked. The gargoyle then whispered something in his big, pointy ear. With every new element to this little story he was hearing, his intrigue only grew. A smirk crossed his face as his underling finished. "She does, hmm? Well, well, this day has certainly become much more interesting. Keep an eye on her for the time being. I want a constant record of her actions."

"Yes, your unholiness," the guard-goyle responded, flying away from the king's throne.

With this newly found interest presented to him, the dark lord was keen to see how this would play out. He leaned forward and his locked hands together with keen interest, his elbows still resting on the throne's armrests. "Let us see how worthy you are," Satan said.

A few days later, work on rebuilding the city was well underway. It would seem that, for a time, order had finally been accomplished in the city. Though, any could tell it would only last so long, especially with the stream of new demons that arrive everyday that didn't understand what was going on.

But after working so hard already, some demons needed a wind down, and what better place than the ruined, yet still standing, Volcano's Eruption.

Holding the nozzle in his paws, Volcano sprayed the golden liquid into a pint and slid the glass across the counter. It was then caught by a pink-lemonade coloured hand, being lifted up and having the drink it held disappear in almost a second. Barbed Wire gave a satisfied sigh as she wiped her mouth on her sleeve. "You don't know how much I missed this!" she said, placing the glass back down.

Volcano took a pint of his own and slurped the drink down much slower. "Y'know, I thought I did, but bein' back here again, I don't know why I ever missed it," he said, his face turning into a scowl.

"Should you be drinking on the job?" Barb wondered.

The hyena shrugged. "Eh. No one's buyin' right now. Still too busy over there." He looked towards the crowd of demons shouting and cheering around a table.

The two at the bar couldn't look over everyone to see what was happening, but they had enough experience to tell exactly what was going on just by the sounds.

"So, what's her score now?" Barb asked.

"Hold on..." Volcano raised his paw, listening closely for the familiar sound of splintering wood and the cries of a big, strong demon. He counted on his claws: three, two, one... and then came what he anticipated, followed by the cheers of every demon around them. The winner of this arm-wrestling match was decided. Volcano turned towards the chalkboard on the back wall, grabbing a piece of chalk and drawing another tally under the name 'SUNSET SHIMMER'. "That's forty-six straight wins. I think she's after your record, Barb."

"I'll let her have it. Probably about time I threw in the towel anyway." Barb stared directly into her empty glass, looking lost in thought.

Volcano turned his head to the side as he watched his best customer stare into space with a nonchalant expression. "You okay, Barb? Don't think I've ever seen you look so glum."

Barb snapped back into reality at the mention of her name and gave a forced chuckle. "Oh, uh, yeah. Yeah, I'm okay. I'm just... thinking."

"What about?" Volcano asked. Barb didn't reply at first, but it gave the bartender enough time to get an understanding. "It's about him, isn't it?"

Barbed Wire still didn't speak, but she did give a long sigh through her nose, nodding her head as she held it low. "Not just him, Sunset too. It's been gnawing on my brain for days now, but I still don't know if I can do it."

Volcano walked into Barb's line of sight. "You wanna tell her, don't you?"

"She deserves to know, but I don't get why it's eating at me like this now. I've done it before with you!"

"Difference is, you're not incredibly drunk this time round. Trust me, it'll be worth a hella lot more tellin' someone you really care about." Volcano turned around and began pouring another pint out. "Maybe it feels different cus he's finally gone and can't do nothin' anymore. If I had to say, you're about a step away from finally gettin' some closure."

"Closure?" Barb asked quietly to herself. The more she thought about his words, the more they seemed to make sense, she supposed. It was true, she had never felt anything like this before, feeling as though there was a part of her that now felt empty. But maybe it wasn't emptiness after all. Just maybe, it was freedom.

This managed to calm Barb's nerves a bit, but yet, she still wasn't fully sure if she was ready to talk to Sunset. Speaking of the demon-turned-devil-turned-back-to-demon, along came Sunset, suddenly appearing from behind and taking a seat on the stool next to Barb.

"Hey, guys! What are we talking about?" Sunset asked.

And all of a sudden, all of Barb's nerves returned with a vengeance as she became panicked by her friend's abrupt interruption, looking towards Volcano for an answer of what to do. Volcano replied to her plea by nodding his head towards Sunset, letting her know to just get on with it. In addition to Barb's anxiety causing her to sweat, she quickly, yet subtly, shook her head. Sunset was one thing, but to do it in front of everyone was an absolute no go.

Volcano rolled his eyes. "We're just talkin' about you tryin' to steal Barb's high score," he saved the situation. "You're about halfway there already. Think you'll go on?"

"Meh, I think I'll stop. Winning arm-wrestling matches kinda gets old quick. A Hellfire please, Volcano?" Sunset requested. Volcano filled her brew and passed the glass. "I barely lasted twenty matches without getting bored, and we've got Barb here who's managed to overcome ninety-two! I'm not about to take that away from her. Second is good enough for me."

"Well, thank God for that, cus I don't know how I'd feel if my own student overtook me," Barb said. The two demonesses shared a laugh and drank on. It seemed that she was safe for now, but as joyful as she appeared, she was still being torn up inside by the thought on her mind.

But then, a new pair of demons suddenly arrived at the bar. Everyone turned their heads to see a sight they never thought they would bare witness to. In came none other than Big Softie, sporting no longer his red tank top or brown cargo pants, but rather, a snazzy dark grey business suit with the shirt, tie and everything. And right alongside him stood Maggie, wearing a similar suit of her very own along with a pair of sunglasses. They both walked towards the bar, paying hardly any mind to the dumbfounded expressions of everyone as they passed.

"Woah-ho, Softie! You look amazing!" Sunset complimented as he sat beside her. "So, is that you officially in office now?"

"Not yet. I'm decidin' to wait until the city's rebuilt and everythin' is, y'know, normal again. Just thought I should show it off is all," Softie explained, twisting his body around to show off as much of his new wardrobe as possible. "Been tryin' out a new title too: Mayor Softie. Not a bad ring to it, huh?"

"It sounds perfect," Sunset smiled. She then leaned over the counter to look at the demoness on the other side of her big friend. "And how've you been, Maggie?"

"Not too bad, if I say so myself. Starting soon, I'll be the official secretary to the new mayor," Maggie said.

Then came Barb's head from across the bar. "So, you left the gang too now, huh?"

Maggie shrugged. "It was a sorrowful farewell to everything except the work and the boss. Other than that, glad to be fucking outta there. And it's all thanks to ol' Softie here for the offer."

Sunset wasn't about to tell her that Softie asked her first. "That's great! Glad to see you doing well."

The newcomers then ordered their own drinks from the bartender, taking a minute to enjoy their pints. And, before speaking again, Maggie took something out of a bag she carried and passed it to Softie, to which he then turned towards Sunset with the object in his hands. He held it out to her.

"What's this?" Sunset looked at a neatly folded square of leather.

"A little 'thank you' gift from the city. It ain't much, but we hope you like it," Softie said, handing it over.

Sunset took the square and held it up at the two top corners, letting it fall and revealling itself to be a brand new spiked leather jacket! "Oh my... Wow! Thank you so much, Softie!" Sunset immediately slipped her arms inside of the jacket and wrapped it around her body. It fit just as snug as the old one.

"And if you look at the back, we put a couple of little slits for your wings to fit through," Softie pointed out, now noting that Sunset didn't seem to actually have her devil wings at the moment. "...when you have them, that is."

Barb gave a whistle as she checked out Sunset's new fit. "Not bad at all, Sunny. I've missed you with a jacket."

"Me too. I've felt like part of my identity's been missing the last few days." Sunset looked back at the suit wearing demons. "This is amazing, thank you both so much!"

"Ack, it's not problem at all, Sunset. It's the least we could do," Softie said humbly, raising his glass.

"And it finally stopped Softie's blabbering on about finding a perfect way to repay you, so I'd say he did us both a favour," Maggie suddenly said, snickering afterwards. This garnered a laugh from the rest, aside from Softie, who's laugh was more embarrassed.

When everyone had about calmed down, Sunset took the time to look at the demons around her. Throughout the months Sunset had spent in Hell so far, through the highs and the lows, she endured everything right alongside those by her side now. Even those that currently weren't in the room, every demon she has met so far have made the experience an unforgettable one, for the better or for the worse.

It was quite something to look back on for her. With how things have ran thus far, Sinner City now felt better than ever before. When she tried to recall the last time she was called a rude name as she passed a random demon, she came to realise just how long ago that really was.

Going forward, things were looking up. She suddenly had an idea.

"Hey, guys?" Sunset called the attention of her surrounding friends. When they all looked to her, she proceeded to raise her glass in the air, looking between everyone's faces as she said, "To new beginnings."

Softie and Maggie almost immediately brought their pints up towards her's, making a clink sound as the glasses made contact. They were then followed up by Volcano, who knew for sure that things were not going to be so different for him, but he still did it in hope that he would, one day, be proven wrong. Then all heads turned towards Barbed Wire, who seemed to hesitate to even clutch her glass tightly.

She barely had the strength to, and she knew why. But if she couldn't do this now, could she ever take the next step she needed? Barb wasn't sure of the answer, but she did know that the opportunity now shouldn't be wasted, so she finally raised her drink with the others, and in unison, they all took a long swig of their drinks.

To the new beginnings, sure to come for every demon.

Soon after, finally back at Barbed Wire's apartment, which was still in a state after the initial threat so long ago, Sunset looked at herself with her killer new jacket in the mirror in Barb's room. It was quite a strange feeling, given how long she had worn the last one for, but she was looking forward to the times to be spent with this one.

Meanwhile, Barb just hung out in the background, looking at Sunset from her bedroom door. She wore a smile, admiring her friend's childlike wonder over something that, to her, seemed so trivial. She almost envied her.

But then, barely after a moment of watching, the thought returned as it always did. Barb recalled everything that Volcano told her. One step closer to finding closure, and this looked to be the final step.

Was she ready? Even after so long, she knew she would never be ready for this. But yet, she still had to try. If she wanted her own new beginning, she must finally come to terms with her initial end.

"Hey, you wanna know something?" Sunset suddenly said, looking at Barb through the mirror.

Barb's train of thought was interrupted, having now an interest in whatever was on Sunset's mind now. "What is it?" she asked.

"After I took Goliath down, he was suddenly taken away by these really strange gargoyle looking guys. They took him through a portal and..." Sunset then turned around. "I think I saw him."

Barb tilted her head to the side. This whole time, she thought that Sunset had killed the bastard. "Who?"

"Satan," Sunset told. She couldn't hold back an excited grin to form on her face.

Barb's eyes widened. "Oh, woah. That's pretty big."

"Yeah. I didn't see him for long though. As soon as everyone was through, the portal closed right in front of me, and they were all gone."

"So, that means that Goliath is gone, like, for good now?" Barb asked unexpectedly.

"Well, I suppose so. Why? Is there something on your mind?" Sunset asked, turning back towards the mirror.

This was Barb's chance, she just knew it. Her heart immediately began racing, and she hadn't even begun talking yet. She was really about to do this. "Okay, so, do you remember that, uh, rule I told you about asking demons how they died?"

Sunset didn't take her eyes off the mirror. "Yep, I remember you telling me that along with the other rules of Hell, to which I debunked that particular one with Softie not long after. Why?"

Barbed Wire rubbed the back of her neck as she pushed on. "Well, I've been thinking a lot lately, and... I-I..." As she drew closer, she found it harder and harder to speak. At this point, she received a glance from Sunset. Barb swallowed the lump in her throat and breathed slowly through her mouth. "I... figured it's finally time you knew."

It was then that Sunset's eyes widened as she fully turned towards Barb. "Are... Are you sure?" was all she could ask.

Barb found it difficult to look her friend in the eye, but she still had the courage to nod her head. "There's nothing holding me back anymore, nothing except myself. So yeah, I'm sure."

Sunset nodded understandingly and followed Barbed Wire into the living room. The two demonesses sat themselves on the couch as Barb prepared herself for the story she was about to tell. She got this far, the rest was nothing she couldn't do.

Barbed Wire began slowly, "It all started over a thousand years ago..."

Volume II coming soon! Until next time!