"...and the next thing I knew, I woke up in Hell, alone," Barbed Wire finished telling.

On a quiet afternoon in the suburban side of Sinner City, Sunset Shimmer and Barbed Wire were sat in the latter's apartment living room.

Sunset's heart felt heavy after listening to her friend's story. "Oh my gosh..." was all Sunset could say. She held her hands close to her chest. "Barb, that's..."

"Tragic? Yeah, fuckin' tell me about it." Barb couldn't help but to sniff. She rubbed her eyes and turned her head away from Sunset. "Sorry, by the way."

"What for?" Sunset asked.

"For suddenly dumping so much on you just now. You... you probably didn't want to hear all that already."

Sunset reached forward and placed a hand on her friend's shoulder. "Hey, it's okay. Do you at least feel better you got it out?"

Barb sighed. "Yeah? No? I dunno, it's weird. Like, I've held all of that back for a thousand years, and now that I've opened up I can't exactly let it all out now. Get what I mean?"

Sunset nodded with a comforting smile. "For what it's worth, I'm really proud of you. The feelings are not going to just stop after finally speaking, but it's a huge step towards moving forward. Don't think you should regret doing so, okay?"

Barb gave a small chuckle while rubbing her face on her sleeve. "Well shit, already too late for that," she wittily replied.

Sunset knew she was making a joke. However, her face fell. "I'm serious, Barb. It's a hard road, but it's worth it."

Barb gave a heavy sigh; she felt as though she messed up. She nodded. "You're right, you're right. Sorry."

The two fell silent for a moment with nothing more to be told. They knew they could just move on with their day, but the silence spent with eachother felt comforting. They psychically agreed to make this moment last for a little bit.

But then, to ruin a good thing, the duo's attention were pulled towards the sound of something light falling at the front door.

"Is the post service back up?" Sunset asked.

"Must be," Barb replied. She went to investigate and found a thin envelope on the floor by the door. It was addressed to her, coming from someplace, as written below her name, called the "BFA Police Department". Barb picked it up and brought it back to the couch, tearing the envelope apart and drawing out the note from inside.

"What's it say?" Sunset asked.

Barb read aloud, "Dear Barbed Wire, I know it's been a long time since we last spoke, but I'm in need of your help. I'm in the middle of a huge investigation and I can't handle it alone.

"There's no one I trust more than you, so if you can, find me at the Police Department in the Big Forbidden Apple. I'll fill you in on the details then. I'm sorry if this feels sudden, but you're the only one I can depend on now.

"Your old friend... Fetch." Barb lowered the paper and stared off into nothing. Her mind was completely blank upon finishing. "Oh my God..."

"What is it? Who's Fetch?" Sunset asked.

"An old friend." Barb slowly shook her head. "I wasn't sure if I'd ever hear from him again, but... here he is! And he wants to meet up again!"

Sunset's eyes widened. "Woah, that's big." She then looked at the address on the envelope. "The Big Forbidden Apple? Not sure if I recognise the name."

"That's cus it's not in the city. In fact, it's another city entirely," Barb explained. Her eyes were glued to the name of her friend on the note. "Before he had to leave, he told me this was where he was headed."

"And now, he wants you to go to... wherever this place is?"

Barb shrugged. "Sounds like it. He's the toughest guy I ever met, so if he's asking for help, it can't be good." She finally looked up from the paper to her roommate. "I have to go, Sunset."

Her devil friend casted her a worried look. "But, Barb, you're still healing. Going out there could be really dangerous. I can't let you do this."

Barb's hand fell to the visible bandages wrapped around the bottom half of her torso. It was true that she had still yet to recover from Goliath's attack, but she didn't care, suddenly standing up to pace around the living room. "I can't just leave this alone, Sunset. I can't just sit by doing jack while my friends are out there in danger, I'm not doing that again!"

"Barb..."

"I don't care if it's stupid. I don't care if I've gotten weaker now. I've ran off for too long, and I've failed too many people. This is something I need to see through."

"Barb!" The stressed demoness stop at the sound of Sunset raising her voice, who then proceeded to lift herself and approach her friend with a more confident expression. "I can't let you do this alone."

"Sunset..." Barb couldn't prevent a relieved smile forming when hearing this. But she forced it away when another thought crossed her mind. "Y'know, you don't have to do this."

Sunset shrugged. "I know, but if you're too busy trying to keep others safe, who's watching out for you, hmm?"

"You really are just sickeningly sweet. You know that?" Barb snickered.

"I know, but I always get through to people. Every time." Sunset ended with a wink.

"Fuck yeah! We're goin' on vacation!" Barb threw a fist in the air.

"What do you mean we're not eligible for a permit?!" Barb shouted to the formally dressed demoness through the glass.

"I mean you're not eligible for a permit! A permit and repellent is meant solely for the protection of delivered goods and expanding businesses across realms. Not for vacations!" the angry receptionist answered.

"I'll have you know that this letter was sent straight from the police department!" Barb pressed the envelope against the glass for the receptionist to see for herself. "It don't get much more official than that, sunshine!"

"Looks to me more like a personal request than a direct commission. Either you leave now, or I will have to call security!" the receptionist threatened.

"Oh come on!" Barb then looked back towards Sunset and pointed a finger directly at her. "You know who this is, right? You're really just gonna sit there and deny the hero of the city? She's the damn reason you've a job right now!"

Sunset just stood eye wide and frozen. Being used as an excuse was not something she saw coming.

The receptionist demoness rubbed her eyebrows, meanwhile her other hand was in a tense clench. "Ma'am, I'm sorry, but I must abide by the strict authority. No exceptions."

"On whom's authority?" Barb asked. Her patience had about reached its limit.

"The mayor's! So, I'm asking you for the last time... leave!" The demoness behind the shield tugged on a string and rolled down a set of blinds.

Barb was just about ready to break the glass with her bare hands, but her rage fuelled breathing caused a pain to shoot through her healing abdomen. She stopped her oncoming rampage before she would hurt herself more and turned to leave, but not before smacking a small bucket of pencils onto the floor.

Barbed Wire forcefully shoved open the doors leaving the town hall, and sat at the top of a row of concrete stairs in an angry huff.

"Well, that could've gone better," was about all Sunset could think to say right now.

"Who does that receptionist think she is? This could be a matter of utmost urgency, and she's preventing us from maybe saving some more lives!" Barb complained, keeping an arm softly wrapped around her stomach, ensuring its safety.

"So, what do we do now?" Sunset asked.

A devious smirk then crossed Barbed Wire's face. "Didn't you hear her? It was by the mayor's authority. Which means we've got one more stop to make." She then slowly raised herself to her feet and climbed down the steps. "C'mon, Sunny, we need to get busy."

Sunset followed after Barb and they resumed their trek through the city, with their eyes now set for Sinner City's greatest monument, the Mayor's Tower.

After ascending to the tip-top of the Mayor's Tower, the duo waited with great anticipation, having explained their situation with the man in charge of it all. Making it even better, he also just so happened to be a great friend of their's. And he was just about to give his answer.

"It's gonna have to be a no," Mayor Softie said.

The eager smiles on both the girls' faces dropped instantly. "Wait, huh?! Why?" Barb yelled.

"Keep your voice down in the presence of the mayor, Barbed Wire!" Maggie, Mayor Softie's secretary, responded. She leaned over the desk, glaring intently towards Barbed Wire. But before a scene could be caused, Maggie felt one of Softie's big hands be placed on her shoulder. The mayor said nothing, giving only a comforting look. Maggie then gave a calming breath and stood up straight once more. There was clearly more time adjusting to this new lifestyle needed. "Sorry, Softie."

Softie looked from his second in command and back towards Barb. "We've hardly got the city up and runnin' again as it is, and sendin' demons outside the city is mainly reserved for-"

"We know what it's for," Barb interrupted.

"Then you should understand why I can't allow it, especially while we're still recovering. We've no more stocks of the repellant and we still need to regain contact with the city's suppliers." Softie adjusted himself in his chair. "Look, I get if this is urgent for you, but even if situations were better, I can't let you go. When another realm finds out that outsider demons entered their land, and trust me, they will, they won't take too kindly to it. I just want to make sure everyone stays safe."

The two were disheartened to hear this, Barb especially so, but Sunset knew she needed to at least try get her own word in, "C'mon, Softie. There has to be something you can do. Anything? We'll be careful, you know we will."

"Believe me, Sunset, I do trust you, but there really isn't. I understand if this 'Fetch' guy means a lot to you, but it's just too big a risk that I can't take. I'm sorry, but nothin' can change my mind. Is there anything else?" Softie then asked.

There was a moment of silence before Sunset gave a disappointed sigh. "I guess not." She stood up from her chair. "Come on, Barb. Let's go."

Barbed Wire herself looked like she was between rage and sadness. She didn't want to start something right now, so she complied with Sunset, standing up and turning to leave, but not before smacking another bucket of pencils on her way out.

After shortly accepting that they couldn't break through Mayor Softie, the two left with dismayed moods, and took it to the one place they could find a semblance of comfort: Volcano's Eruption.

Barbed Wire had her head flat on the counter, meanwhile Sunset was off to test something out.

"Hit me with another, Volcano," Barb requested, turning her head to the side so she could be heard.

"Man, this whole situation's really gotten you down in the dumps, huh?" Volcano the hyena asked as he slid a glass in his most loyal customer's direction. "So, what's the plan now? Anyway for you to sneak out the city?"

"And do what? Take on a frickin' leviathan worm? It's a lost cause. Nothing we can do now." Barb grabbed her glass and managed to poor it into her low down, sideways head.

"Couldn't Sunset, like, fly you there?"

"We thought of that, but Sunny's been having issues of her own. After so long of not using her powers, it seems like she's totally forgotten how to use them." The two by the bar then turned towards Sunset, who sat at a distant table in the midst of an arm wrestling match against another demon. Sunset was clearly giving every ounce of her strength to move her opponents hand, all while they made no effort to retaliate. They didn't move an inch.

"She's been like this for a while, but only now is she determined to find a way to bring them back."

It couldn't be seen too easily, but as Sunset tried more and more to push down the other demon's arm, she became all the brighter red in the face.

"Come... on! Come on!" Sunset strained. She felt on the verge of fainting.

"Girl, you been at this for fifteen minutes. All I wanted was a drink," her opponent said, paying more attention to the bar than they were the game.

Sunset then finally decided to give in, giving her a chance to finally breathe again. She wiggled about her cramped hand. "Alright, you win. Drinks on me," Sunset said in defeat. She moved over next to Barb and took her place on a stool. "Couple drinks for them and me, please."

As the bartender filled up a few more glasses, he made sure Sunset could see the grin on his face. "I reckon you almost had 'em there, Sunset."

"Save it," Sunset said, holding a hand up. "I don't know what's wrong with me. One moment I can activate my powers as easily as breathing, then the next it's like I never had them at all. Sorry, Barb."

Barbed Wire placed a hand on her friend's back. "It's alright, Sunny. You'll get it eventually, and I'll be there to help." She then clapped her hands together. "So, let's start brainstorming. How do we bring them out?"

"Better question would be how these powers were brought out in the first place?" Volcano suggested. "Maybe their source can give some clues."

Sunset looked back over the hectic times her devil abilities displayed themselves. "Well, before I figured out how to activate them at will, they just sorta appeared either randomly or at times I needed them."

"Like?" Volcano asked.

"Back during my first night in Hell, when I fought Cupcake. Before she could pummel me, I felt the strength surge right through my arm, and I took her down in one go." Sunset then turned towards Barb. "Then there was the time with your old crew. Their boss was going to open fire on Softie, but I stepped in the way and deflected the bullet with my devil skin. After that was the fight for the city."

"The wings and the whole devil shebang," Barb chimed in. "So cool!"

Sunset nodded. "Apart from that whole day where I just arm wrestled everybody who came through the door, I haven't had a need for my powers since I turned back into a demon."

It turned quiet amongst the three as they all pondered a solution to Sunset's issue. They tried to find a link between each ability's origin. It was then that, out of everyone, Volcano's eyes lit up.

"Okay, this might be a stretch, but what if your powers instinctively show up when you are in a tight spot? Maybe we gotta give 'em a reason to come out?" Volcano presented his theory.

The two girls thought over the hyena's idea. It made more sense than it didn't, that they could say at the least. Each time one of her powers shined in full force, it was mainly during times Sunset herself was in danger. They now had a lead to move forward with. However, there was one problem with this theory...

"So, in order to get my powers back, we gotta... hurt me?" Sunset asked in concern.

Volcano twisted his wrist in a 'sort of' fashion. "Maybe not so much hurt. More like... put you in mortal peril."

"You sound strangely eager about this plan, Volcano," Barb said, her eyes widening at the potentially revealed dark side of the bartender.

"You two come up with anythin' better?" he asked. The duo were silent for a moment before looking away and shaking their heads. "Didn't think so."

Sunset continued to think over her choices. It was a long shot, to be sure. If her powers had any chance of returning, she might have to put herself in some serious danger. However, that last part didn't sit too right with her.

"Wait, say we try something and it doesn't work, I'll have just killed myself then!" Sunset realised.

Volcano held his claws up defensively. "Hey, it was just a thought. You're welcome to try, unless you think of somethin' else."

"Maybe it doesn't have to be that big a risk," Barb suggested with a finger on her chin. "Something that could really hurt you, sure, but nothing fatal."

Sunset's head fell into her hands. She didn't like this idea, not one bit. But what else was she to do? She reluctantly raised her head again, not looking happy with the words she was about to say. "If that's all we got, then I guess we ought to try. Alright, Barb, what's the first thing we do?"

Barb stopped as she brought a pint towards her lips. "Oh, I'm not telling you that," she said.

Sunset's eyes shrank. "What?!"

"If we wanna be effective with this, nothing's better than the element of surprise!" Barb now wore a suspiciously devious grin.

What did Sunset just do?

The next day, Sunset found herself lounging about the house. She still tried on her own to unlock her powers, but her efforts were as fruitless as ever. There was nothing more she wanted right now than to help Barbed Wire, but her hope was fading fast.

She tried to punch her knuckles together just for the hell of it, and still nothing. If this didn't work, she wasn't sure how Barb's solution would be much better.

Speaking of Barb, Sunset only now realised she hadn't seen her at all today. She looked over the couch and towards Barb's bedroom door in the hall. Barb seemed to have left it open. Peering inside, there seemed to be no sign of Barb at all.

Sunset turned back around and looked across the living room. No sign of life was anywhere. Where was she?

"Think fast!" Barb shouted from behind the couch.

Before Sunset could even turn around, she was suddenly smacked around the head with a blunt object.

"Ow! What the- Barb! What was that?!" Sunset shouted. She found Barb with a baseball bat over her shoulder.

"Feel anything?" Barb asked, oblivious to her friend's anger.

"Other than the huge frigging lump I'm gonna have? Was that seriously your plan?!" Sunset tapped the back of her head where the bat collided with it, checking the damage.

"Okay. Note: direct approach didn't work. I'm gonna have to come at this from a different angle," Barb reviewed quietly to herself. She walked away to think of her next plan, but not before getting care for Sunset's head.

After that fiasco, Sunset and Barb took to the streets. It turned out that citywide takeovers meant no food for the fridge, even after a few weeks of it ending. As soon as it was heard that places were reopening, the two jumped at the first opportunity.

It was now that Barb realised something she found really annoying: Sunset was a fast walker. Perhaps she was just growing unfit. Regardless, she was having a hard time keeping up.

She suddenly came to a stop, huffing and puffing. Sunset noticed, and turned to find that Barb was a good few metres behind her.

"You okay, Barb?" Sunset asked.

Barb waved at her assuringly. "Yeah, yeah. Just... hoo, having trouble keeping up. Been outta the game for too long now." Sunset took a step towards her, but Barb was quick to stop her. "It's alright! I'll be there in a second. Just stay there."

"O-Okay?" Sunset remained in place as she waited for Barb to catch her breath. Though, she found it a strange thing to ask. Almost like she wanted her to stay in place. Wait...

On the wall beside her, there suddenly appeared a small red dot. Then another. And another. They moved closer to her until they sat on her body, to which she then realised there were many more all around her. She looked around to find where they were coming from.

From the shadows of an alley across the road from her came a collective round of shots fired, shooting Sunset at blistering speeds!

"Ow! Hey! Woah! Stop it!" Sunset tried to move out of the line of fire, but the armed demons kept their sights locked onto her. She had no means of escape from the barrage of bullets fired at her. That is, until the ones firing finally ran out of ammunition.

With a second to finally process what happened, Sunset examined her body. No bullets actually penetrated her body, but she was now soaked head to toe in red, yellow and blue paint.

Barbed Wire then walked up to her. "Feel anything yet?" she asked.

Sunset only replied with an annoyed grunt.

Naturally, the two turned back towards home, and Sunset wasted no time to clean herself up. It was clear that she would have to keep her eye on Barb until either her powers come back, or when Barb eventually runs out of ideas. If all of her ideas were anything like the last two, then she wasn't looking forward to the miserable week ahead.

Sunset finally stepped out of the bathroom, free of all the firing squad's paint. She spent an embarrassing amount of time just cleaning her hair because of not knowing if it was paint or just her hair colour. Regardless, she was sure it was done now.

However, as she entered the living room, she found Barb just looking at her, casually standing in front of a small cardboard box.

Sunset raised a brow. "Given up on the subtlety already?" she asked.

"Admittedly, this one's a bit harder to hide," Barb replied, shrugging her shoulders. "All I want you to do is lift this box."

Before stepping even a foot closer to the box, Sunset tried to imagine what the catch could be. She constantly looked between it and Barb. "What's in it? It's not a pie attached to a spring, is it?" She was surprisingly knowledgeable when it came to pies attached to springs.

"Lift it and see."

That only made Sunset feel worse. She slowly took a step forward, knowing not of the consequences she may face. Could it be a pie, or even worse, a boxing glove? She knew that Barb wasn't going to stop until Sunset finds out, so she may as well get it out of the way now. Sunset reached down and slid her fingers underneath the box.

She raised herself back up and just about threw her back out immediately. The box was obscenely heavy. She could barely get it a couple inches off the floor.

Meanwhile, Barbed Wire stared her victim down with a confident gleam in her eye. Her test this time was just a shockingly heavy box.

Sunset had nothing to say, but she wasn't going to let herself be beaten so easily. She gave it everything she got, trying to straighten her legs out and bringing her arms back up to her chest. Slowly, but surely, she was managing to raise the box until, finally, she had it in a comfortable enough position to hold.

Barbed Wire clapped her hands. "Very impressive, Sunset!" she praised.

Sunset returned a smile, though, it still hurt to keep the box up. "Heh, thanks. Not gonna lie, probably your best idea yet! So, what is in here?"

"Bricks."

It was then that the bottom of the box finally gave way, and the rock solid blocks came crashing onto the floor, one of which fell onto Sunset's foot.

After a while of crying in pain with a now injured foot, Sunset took back her statement about that last plan being the best one. For the rest of the day, she was just going to sit down, and maybe now Barbed Wire will halt any new ideas until Sunset was feeling better.

However, that would prove to be wishful thinking.

"Think fast!" Barb tried the bat again.

Barbed Wire stood atop the roof of her apartment building, looking off into the distance. The outskirts of the city looked so wide. She wondered how long it would take to reach the end, if there even was one.

She had one last plan she wanted to try. All she needed, right now, was Sunset to finally get up here.

And by asking, she in fact received, as the door to the roof opened, and out came a slow, limping Sunset with a cast around her foot and a bandage around her head. After the last attempt, the only result they got was a concussion.

"Glad you could make it," Barb said.

"Let's just get this over with," Sunset said with a low and tired voice. She approached Barb near the edge of the rooftop, looking all around for whatever surprise awaited her. It seemed empty so far. "So, what is it this time?"

"Okay, so I thought over everything I've done so far. After every attempt of putting you in danger, your devil powers haven't reacted in the slightest, so I figured we'd try something different this time around," Barb explained.

Sunset raised an eyebrow quizzically. "Okay?"

"This time... it's not you who's in danger. You're job, now, is to save me from danger." Barb took a step backwards, closer to the edge of the roof.

"Where are you going with this?" Sunset didn't like where this was heading.

"Think fast, Sunset." Barb then hopped over the edge and let herself freely fall.

"Barb! No!" Sunset shouted in a sudden panic. As if on instinct, Sunset rushed over to the edge (despite her pain) and leapt on after her friend. As they fell, Barb looked up at her with that same grin on her face. Whatever joy or confidence she had for things like this, Sunset was sure sick of it by now, but she still straightened herself out to catch up to Barb.

Sunset grabbed her falling friend's wrist, and a familiar sensation could be felt through her body. They quickly neared the ground, and Barb was ready to believe this was another fruitless effort.

But then she suddenly stopped falling, and was hanging mid-air. The only thing to reach the floor were the torn remains of a bandage. Barbed Wire looked up again and saw a flying being holding onto her.

"I got you!" Sunset said breathlessly. A pair of horns appeared on either side of her forehead; her skin was as hard as stone; her eyes were as black as night, with her teal irises shining brilliantly, and, most importantly, her wings slipped nicely through the slits of her new jacket. Sunset had successfully regained her devil form!

"Sunset! You're flying!" Barb laughed with glee, which was met with pain shooting through her stomach once more, but even that didn't interrupt her excitement.

"In the nick of time too! That had to be your worst plan yet!" Sunset replied.

"Relax. I would've been fine. I called the Ogre to catch us if things went awry."

"Then where is he?"

Barb's eyes widened as she looked down towards the ground. Despite her instructions, the Ogre was nowhere to be seen.

Meanwhile, around the other side of the building, a large, four-armed demon waited, looking up towards the roof as to not miss his cue. He tapped his foot impatiently.

"Where is tiny demons?" the Ogre asked to himself. "She said to meet at south side of building! Or... was it north? Hmm..."

The wrestler could not finish his thought as he caught glimpse of a demon flying overhead. He looked up and found two familiar faces soaring through the dark clouds.

"...The Ogre thinks tiny demons no longer need help." And then he walked off, pleased with his job well done.

In the skies, the girls had their sights set to the outskirts of Sinner City. Barbed Wire hung on tightly as she sat on top of the flying devil. The injured demon couldn't help but to look back at the city as the distance between them grew and grew. Soon enough, they were over the river of lava and officially outside of the city's boundaries. They really did it. There was no going back now.

Barbed Wire looked forward once more, and gave a long breath. "Next stop, the Big Forbidden Apple!" she announced, pointing out front.

"Right! Though, there's just one thing I gotta do first..." Sunset said sinisterly. Barb looked down in wonder, which quickly turned to fear as Sunset suddenly flipped upside down, leaving nothing beneath her flightless friend but the cold, hard ground.

"Woah! Sunset, what the fuck?! Let me up!" Barb shouted as she clung to Sunset's body like a leech.

"I will... in a few minutes. I gotta pay you back for all those tests, y'know?" Sunset laughed.

"That is not cool! Flip back over right now! I am not kidding!" Barb continued to shout for all the time Sunset let her dangle.

And so, the two heroines went forth to new horizons. They knew not of what lied ahead, but they did know that as long as they always looked out for eachother, there was no demon that could stop them. Barbed Wire and Sunset Shimmer; they flew to a new, hellish adventure!

But as our heroes venture towards their next destination, a sinister mystery looms deep in the underground of the Big Forbidden Apple.

In a large, cathedral-like hall lit by only a row of torches on the side walls, many demons wearing silver robes stood in line with hoods concealing their faces. They stood before a large throne sat at the far end of the hall, and sat upon this chair was a demoness who was quite small for it.

The demoness appeared impatient, resting her head on a fist as though she was waiting for something to happen. The taps of her claws against the armrest filled the silence of the dead room.

She sat still with her eyes closed, letting time pass by to the best of her ability. For the other demons, however, their own patience was wearing dreadfully thin.

"How much longer must we wait?" one hooded demon spoke in a harsh tone. "He should have returned by now!"

The eyes of the demoness on the throne slowly opened, looking towards the one that spoke. "Father was clear with the details. It's possible he's facing a delay. So, if you would please have a bit of patience, then this will be over much sooner," she explained.

"I still understand not of why he would place us under the command of an eccentric child in his absence," the same demon continued to speak.

The snide comment struck a chord with the seated girl. She lifted herself from her resting position and bore a grin, revealling rows of sharp teeth. "Lest you forget, little one, that I am the omen daughter. How do you think Father would feel if you spoke ill of his choices, hmm?" She gave then an ominous snicker while staring the underling down.

The speaking out of turn demon finally resorted to keeping their mouth shut. The chill sent through by the girl's tone reminded them of the power she had.

But then, a collection of footsteps approached the entrance to the main hall. All eyes turned to see five more robed demons enter the room, four of which were much like all other demons, while the one in the centre was much taller, with red and gold inscribings on their own robes. Their face was still concealed, but a long white beard stretched down the robe, and a glowing white stare could be seen within the shadows.

All other demons kneeled as the taller one was guided through the centre of the hall, atop the red carpet leading up to the throne. The demoness rose from the chair and met with the tall demon from the top of the stairs. She bowed in their presence.

"It's good to finally see you return, Father," the demoness greeted kindly.

"As it is, too, a blessing to see you once more, dear daughter," the father said with a deep, yet soft voice. He moved up the stairs and took his place upon the throne, which was clearly more suited for him.

"Was your mission successful?" the daughter asked.

Father hummed. "Unfortunately, we are still yet to locate the grimoire. But let us not dwell on the failures made now. Our time will come one day. It was just not this day."

"That dumbass detective didn't give you any shit, did he? Just give the word and I'll rip that spine right out of his mouth!" the daughter said, cracking her knuckles.

Father slowly shook his head. "He has not proven much of a threat, and I doubt he ever will. Remember, daughter, the civilians of this realm are not our goal. We only intrude with the souls of this world if they assist us with moving onward. Which reminds me, while we were away, we ensured to retrieve a gift for you." He used a hand to signal a robed demon to move forward, and in their grasp was a rope that binded the arms and legs of another demon. Mumbled cries could be heard beneath the cloth used to gag them.

The daughter gasped like an excited child. "Father! Thank you so much!"

"Do so with this feeble creature as you will."

The daughter gave a large sniff, followed by a satisfied sigh. "Oh, I'm gonna have fun with this one!" She then rolled up the sleeves on her jacket and then pointed to the demon carrying her gift. "You! Free its mouth and legs."

The follower demon complied and loosened the knots between the captive's wrists and ankles. Almost immediately did the prisoner scramble to their feet and try to escape this frightening place.

"I love it when they run!" the daughter said before she closed her eyes. She focused the energy inside her, her blood began to boil, and her body began to change. The daughter's skin hardened, her claws became razor sharp, and a pair of horns emerged from either side of her forehead.

It was then that she gave chase, zipping out of the room in the blink of an eye. No one dared to watch, but they could hear as a body was tackled to the ground, and terrified screams begged for mercy. It was followed by the sound of flesh being pierced and the cries turning into agonising strains, clinging to whatever life remained. After a few more seconds, there was complete silence.

The daughter then returned, walking so casually all while using her sleeve to wipe a smear of blood still on her face.

The father looked pleased, raising his arms as if to gather his followers. "We continue to grow stronger with every passing moment. I forsee that soon, we will have everything we have always dreamed for," he said. "Rise for the oath." At his command, every demon stood up, raising their heads towards their leader.

They all began to speak in unison.

"Relinquish yourself of the binds, and bring yourself forth,
Give in to the sorrow, and be reborn whole,
Curse all traitors for their breach of faith,
Forfeit lost hope, and become one with the Betrayed."

Welcome back! It's time we delve into part 2 of Sunset's adventure. There are many more adventures waiting for our dynamic duo and I for one can't wait to share them all!

Also, with a new volume comes a sexy new cover art made by the awesome Middrose! Finally, Barbed Wire and Goliath have been properly brought to life, and for a little bonus, this mysterious 'Father' character...