It was a dark and quiet night in Hell. Sunset Shimmer had just gotten off her shift at her job as a cashier of a fast-food restaurant with a terrible name, and she was roaming through the streets, making her way back to her roommate, Barbed Wire's, apartment.

At night, the streets of Sinner City seemed to be at their scariest, what with the sheer silence that plagued the place, causing for Sunset to be able to hear the buzzing of the lampposts, or the sounds of the strange creatures that inhabited the alleyways. The night's breeze sent chills up her spine, causing for goosebumps to form across the length of her arms and legs as she could barely find the difference between a gust of wind blowing past her neck or some stranger sneaking up from behind.

Barb's home was only a few blocks away from where Sunset worked, but the dread of something terrible happening made the journey seem like an eternity. Though, she has walked down this path a few times, and nothing had happened during those times. But tonight, it was much darker than before.

After she had ditched work to go to the hospital the other day, Sunset's boss has had her staying extra hours each night for the next week to make up for the time she lost, despite her leaving only two hours before her shift even ended.

Her boss' words still echoed in her head, "You're lucky I'm a reasonable man, otherwise your ass will have been out of here immediately!" What a guy.

As a result of this, she was set free when the streets were mostly empty. And it was the fact that they were so empty that scared her the most. Sunset was only let free when it came into the night's later hours, when most demons decided it was time to sleep, leaving the city seeming like it was abandoned.

Sunset kept herself weary of all of her surroundings, but where she didn't look was the ground around her feet as she suddenly stepped on the furry tail of a cat demon. It meowed loudly in anger, causing Sunset to jump. She was uneasy, and scarily so.

As the cat ran away, Sunset was left breathing heavily. She then began figuring if she really was just being paranoid, letting out a sigh of relief as a more calming facial expression crossed her face.

However, her moment of peace was very short lived as before she could even think about continuing her walk home, a pair of arms suddenly wrapped around her body and mouth, coming from the dark alleyway directly behind her. She was immediately pulled into the darkness.

Sunset struggled in the arms that held her and tried to shout out for help to no avail. The hand that clasped over her mouth muffled her cries to the point she could barely hear herself. She twisted and turned, trying to free herself only to receive a snarky laugh from the one dragging her away.

"We got a lively one 'ere, don't we boys?" the voice from whatever freak had her said.

"'Bout bloody time, mate. Woo, ain't she a beauty," another voice spoke up.

"Got ourselves a real catch 'ere," a third voice commented.

As she was dragged further into the darkest parts of the alleyway, Sunset passed by other demons that seemed to lurk here. Two of them which seemed to have red shark like faces and fins that poked through the backs of their jackets. The looks that they both had in their eyes spelled danger as they analysed Sunset's entire body.

Eventually, Sunset was forcefully pushed into a wall to which then the one who dragged her revealed himself. He was another shark demon much like the others, although this one had a scar that stretched from both his upper and lower lip on the right side of his face. He looked to be the leader.

Sunset's heart raced as she breathed heavily, staring into the deep, menacing yellow eyes of this demon which stared right back at her. The leader of these shark demons had Sunset pinned against the wall, preventing her escape. All Sunset could do was lean further into the wall to get as far away from these creeps as possible.

The other two demons were coming closer to her, standing behind the leader as all of their eyes were glued to her body.

Sunset's heart began racing as her breathing became very heavy and just as fast. She stood up straight, barely able to hold her own balance as her legs were shaking like jelly.

"How lucky we are that a fine little lady like you finds herself round this part of town," the leader said to her. He dragged his finger slowly across the underside of Sunset's chin. "It's not every day that Satan blesses us with such fine beauty. And by the looks of you, we've seemed to strike a diamond in the rough."

The leader began getting touchier as his hand slowly floated towards Sunset's breast, which upon contact caused Sunset, without thinking, to slap the demon right across the face.

The leader seemed stunned for a moment before his faced was filled with rage. "Get 'er, lads!"

Sunset was pinned right up against the wall once again with each of her arms being restrained by the lackey demons. She tried to break free, praying in her mind for her super strength to come out and she could escape, but it just wasn't happening. No matter how hard she pulled, Sunset was bested in the end.

"Teach you for being a naughty girl!" the leader said as he pulled out a knife from a holster at his side. The leader punched the wall beside Sunset as he slowly brought the blade up to his face, gently licking the sharp side seductively as he looked directly into Sunset's eyes.

Sunset shook and fought against the other demons as tears began falling from her eyes. "No! Please! Please don't do this!" she cried out.

"You really made a big fuckin' mistake, little lady," the leader seethed as he now brought the knife up to Sunset's neck. "Y'know, I wanted to be more reasonable, but now I see that you like to play it rough!"

The leader continued staring into Sunset's eyes as his free hand began making work on Sunset's jeans, undoing the fly and button and sticking his thumb inside, ready to pull them off of her.

As an evil smile crossed the leader's face, he suddenly shot forward and his face collided with the wall beside Sunset's face. Blood splattered onto the wall as the leader fell to the ground.

Before anyone could process what was going on, the other two shark demons were pulled away from Sunset and were forcefully smashed into each other before they joined their leader on the ground, lying unconscious, or possibly dead, in a bloody mess.

Sunset removed the hands shielding her eyes and saw the aftermath of the event that just occurred with the shark demons laying at her feet. She looked up as she heard heavy breathing and saw the cause of all of this.

Panting and breathing right in front of her was a giant, round blue bull demon, wearing a red tank top and brown cargo pants. Sunset gasped as she had a realisation.

"Y-You?!" she said with shock. "The guy that tried to rob me?!"

The demon held up a finger, telling Sunset to give him a minute as he continued panting. "Name's... Holy fuck... Name's Big Softie," he finally got out. "Give me all your... (gasp) money!"

Sunset remained still, watching Big Softie as he caught his breath. She was completely stunned. This demon just appears out of nowhere and completely bashed the skulls of those perverted shark demons... and saved her.

Sunset then suddenly broke down into tears, wiping her eyes and nose with her hands. Big Softie just stood there, confused with how he should approach this. He's never had to deal with someone crying before.

Big Softie rubbed the back of his neck, trying to collect his words. "H-Hey there, listen. I'm sorry, but that's just the way it has to be. I take your money, then I go."

What Big Softie wasn't expecting afterwards was Sunset rushing over and wrapping her arms around him, bringing him into a tight hug as she continued to cry into his giant chest.

"You saved me," Sunset said in between chokes.

Hearing those words caused for Big Softie to let out a sigh as he patted Sunset's back. "Alright now, it's okay." He caught glimpse a nearby closed dumpster. "Come on, let's sit down."

Big Softie brought Sunset over to the dumpster and lifted her on top of it. He hopped on afterwards, causing a shift in the weight of the dumpster as it leaned to the side before crashing back onto its four wheels again.

"I-I thought I was going to die," Sunset said as she still held onto her hero.

"Hey now, it's alright, you're safe," Big Softie responded. "You ain't dying tonight. Not if I've anything to say about it."

Sunset still had her grip on Big Softie's body, though her tears had calmed down significantly at this point. Her throat was tired at this point, but she managed to get out a quiet, "Thank you."

Big Softie patted Sunset's back once again, putting her more at ease. "It's okay. Those bastards ain't hurting you no more."

They both remained in the calming embrace for a good minute before Sunset pulled away and wiped the remaining tears in her eyes. "But I just want to know... why? Why did you save me?"

Not even being subtle about it, Big Softie hesitated to think of a response, looking around the alley to find a good enough answer to give her.

"Oh! Well, um... Y'know, I'm a big bad crook and... I kinda need you to be alive if I'm gonna rob you, y'know?" Softie felt as though he absolutely nailed that.

Sunset just casted a confused look his way. This big guy clearly wasn't the best at lying, he was perhaps even worse than someone else Sunset used to know.

Big Softie caught on to Sunset's unconvinced look. "Uhh, l-look, I don't really know what you want from me, I mean, we don't even know each other," Big Softie responded. "In fact, I shouldn't even still be here. You'd better get home, but know that next time your money is mine." He then proceeded to jump off the dumpster and run out of the alleyway as quick as he could.

"Hey, wait!" Sunset held her arm out to try and stop Big Softie, but he wasn't willing to give her the time of day anymore. There was something up with that guy, she could just feel it. Sunset then got off of the dumpster herself and gave chase.

Big Softie looked over his shoulder as he ran and saw Sunset steadily catching up, forcing him to up the pace.

The chase eventually led Sunset back into the streets of Sinner City, and it seemed that Big Softie made a swift getaway once he picked up the pace as he was now gone. She looked all around for where he could have possibly gone, but all she could see was a sewer lid that didn't seem big enough for a guy like this Big Softie.

Coming to the conclusion that he was gone with no trace, Sunset didn't continue with her search and headed in the direction back to Barbed Wire's apartment.

---

Barbed Wire was just chilling out, chowing down on some flaming hot chips as she watched TV. Usually, Sunset will have been home by now, it felt weird that she was running late and didn't say anything to Barb about it. Then again, the idea came back to her that Sunset was a strong little Devilitis demon and could handle herself, so Barb didn't let the lateness of her friend bother her too much.

Barb's attention was immediately pulled away from the television as she heard the door opening and closing. She looked over the couch and saw Sunset enter the room, plopping herself onto the seat beside Barb. She as well took notice of the troubled look on Sunset's face.

"How was work?" Barb asked, breaking the silence between them.

"It was... fine," Sunset replied hesitantly, looking away at the wall that Barb wasn't closest to.

Barb tilted her head to the side upon Sunset's weird response. "You feeling okay, Sunny? Don't think I've ever seen you look this lost."

Sunset slowly creaked her head back towards Barb, but her eyes remained downward, not even providing any eye contact. She rubbed the back of her neck before saying, "Well, you see... after I got out of work, I-"

Barb leaned forward in anticipation, throwing more chips into her mouth.

Sunset sighed. "I got jumped by a gang of demons, and I... They... I felt like I was about to die."

The mere second after hearing this, Barb's fist crushed the small foil bag in her hand, causing for the underside of it to pop because of all the air inside. Chips spilled across her lap.

Sunset jumped at the sudden loud sound of the bag, but she was more frightened as she looked back up and she saw the death in Barbed Wire's eyes. All of a sudden, Barb lunged towards Sunset and held her by the collar of her t-shirt. Sunset could feel Barb's fiery breath in her face, both literally and figuratively.

"Which fuckers did this to you?!" Barb said with a stone cold, frightfully evil tone in her voice.

"Whoa! Whoa, Barb. It's okay. I'm fine, really. I was saved before they could hurt me," Sunset added on, praying that Barb wouldn't accidentally tear her apart from her anger.

She could Barb's grip on her loosen as she also looked into Barb's eyes again without the fear of being blinded from the fire alone. Barb had turned more curious as she took her own seat again. "Oh. What ended up happening then?"

"I was saved by that Big Softie guy you told me about," Sunset explained. "You should have seen it, he really put those guys in their place... before telling me to hand over my money."

"Softie?! Saving someone?!" Barb asked with surprise. "Wow. I haven't seen his ass around this part of town in years. I've especially never seen him actually commit a good deed. Wait, you didn't actually let him rob you, did you?"

"Honestly, after everything that happened, I think he forgot about it from focusing on making sure I was alright. He's actually a really kind demon compared to others I've met."

Sunset then remembered what Big Softie proceeded to do afterwards. "Though, it was weird the way he ran away after I asked him why he saved me. He seemed... hesitant. Almost too scared to talk anymore."

Barb scoffed, resting the back of her head in her hands. "Yeah, well, if it's one thing you got wrong, it's that he's no saint. That big idiot is more like a pitiful pawn. The demon he works for is a giant, heartless dickbag." She then casted a glance over to Sunset. "Any semblance of this 'kind heartedness' you see in him, it is definitely long gone now, no trace of it left. Pretty much like every damned demon down here."

"Is that the pessimism talking, or do you really have no hope for anyone?" Sunset asked, crossing her arms and looking at Barb with a disappointed facial expression.

"You think I'm pessimistic, huh? Alright then, you explain to me why he would just run away from you like that. Go on." Barb waved her hand in a manner that told Sunset to proceed.

"I think that there's something he's not telling me, something deep down in his heart that holds him back to this day," Sunset said, staring forwards at nothing with a disheartened face. "Whatever it may be, it seems to haunt him and he's too afraid to open up about it, but maybe if I let him know I'm there for him, I could help him."

Barb replied with a loud and rude fit of laughter. "I'm sorry, Sunset, I really am, but what were you expecting? It's not like we're even sent down here to 'make friends' or to 'right our wrongs'. We're sinners, and that's all we'll ever be, so I don't understand why anyone would still dwell on the past like we can make a difference now. It's those choices that even got us here, so the best thing to do is to just let it be. At this point, it's just over."

Sunset almost could not believe what she was hearing. "And you're so sure that this is just how it has to be, or is that how you've been living your own afterlife, believing in something you told yourself?"

"You want to educate me on how to live an afterlife? We all ended up in Hell, so we all did something wrong and now we face our punishment as a result, living in a world where you can only rely on yourself, or in that Softie's case, only surviving by being under some stronger demon's foot. Yet here you are, still insisting on believing that maintaining a moral compass will get you anywhere here when it doesn't. Don't you get it? Nothing matters anymore."

Sunset looked down with a sad look. On one hand, she could see where Barb was coming from. Heck, who was she to argue with someone who has had years’ worth of experience compared to Sunset's over a week? But on the other hand, it just did not sit right with her at all. There was no way that every single demon was so heartless, that whatever they have done doesn't just linger in their minds. She just knew it wasn't possible.

"I disagree," Sunset said. She looked at Barb with a blank stare, standing up. "I believe that demons do have a heart, and I don't believe that they would just let anything go because of the way things turned out. You may have been able to, but you can't speak for everyone." Sunset started walking towards the front door.

"Where are you going?" Barb asked with concern.

"To find Big Softie," Sunset replied, not looking back. "I know that something is holding him back, and I can't sit here knowing he is suffering in silence, not after what he did for me."

"You really want to go back out there, now?! But what if you get hurt again?"

"What do you care?!" Sunset spat. "I gotta learn to rely on myself, right? Like you said, we're only here to face our punishment, so what does it matter if I'm hurt? Not like we can rely on friends here in Hell." With those words, Sunset walked out the door, letting it slam behind her.

Barb groaned as she rested her head again. "What a child," she said to herself. "I don't know how a demon can hold onto all that faith. I'm surprised she hasn't just given up on it all already and moved on." She then opened her eyes, staring at her own reflection from the glass of the TV before letting out a quiet sigh. "Kind of like how I did..."

Barb looked down towards her lap as she began thinking over what just happened, letting the realisation hit hard as she thought over her words. "I really did just say all that..." Barb placed a hand over her face. "Fuck..."

---

Sunset ventured through the streets of the late-night Sinner City once again with the mission to find Big Softie. She walked with a fast pace, although, her gait showed the anger she felt. She thought that she could trust Barb with her beliefs, but she just felt the need to spit it right back into her face.

Sunset kept coming back to the words, 'Not here to make friends.' She thought that they both were friends, but Barbed Wire showed her what she really believed. Barb doesn't want friends, clearly wanting to remain as some cynical, self-centred loner that rebelled against the world.

But despite all this, she knew she had a job to do. Sunset was more than capable of taking care e care of herself, as long as she had the Devil's powers at her side, whenever they decided to show up, she could face anything.

Now for then matter of actually finding a criminal demon. Sunset had no idea of where to start. Where would they even hang out? Do they have a home to go to?

She had one idea, and that was to go to the last place she saw Big Softie, where it seemed that he disappeared into thin air. It didn't make sense that he was just gone while Sunset was only seconds behind him. He had to have escaped somehow, and luckily that street wasn't far from here. So, Sunset began running off in the direction of the street she was in earlier.

She didn't expect to be back here already, especially given what happened not too long ago. But she kept her spirits, as well as her guard, up as she might just learn something here.

Sunset looked all around. There didn't seem to be any ways for him to have reached the roof, nor was there any other nearby alleyways he would have retreated to.

"Where did you go, Softie?" Sunset quietly asked to herself as she continued spinning around, looking for any possible answer to his escape.

It was then that something caught her eye. Only a couple of metres away from the alley's exit, sitting in the middle of the road, was a sewer lid. A moderately sized one at that, one that a big guy may be able to fit in with enough effort.

Sunset tilted her head as she walked towards the circular lid. She held her hands out ready to pick it up until she was suddenly engulfed in yellow light. Sunset shielded her eyes as she looked towards the light source, seeing as it quickly grew closer.

"Oh geez!" Sunset shouted as she swiftly jumped back onto the sidewalk, just in time for a purple low rider to race past her.

The car then suddenly came to a screeching halt as it slowly reversed backwards until it was in front of Sunset. The music was turned off and a window was winded down, revealing a pair of demons just looking towards Sunset through pairs of sunglasses.

There was silence between them all until the demon sitting by the opened window pulled out a handful of cash.

Sunset shot them both a disgusted glare as she crossed her arms. "As if. Beat it. I'm trying to do something here."

The two demons then had disappointed faces as the window was rolled back up and the car raced off again, playing the loud music again.

With that out of the way, Sunset went back to the sewer lid, slipped her fingers into the gaps around the lid and lifted it up, revealing a ladder that led into darkness and a sound of running water. Sunset looked down with an unexciting look as the smell didn't exactly help either.

She gave a heavy sigh as she knew that this may be her only lead to finding this guy, so she sucked it up and climbed down, ensuring to slide the cover back into the hole.

It was almost pitch-black once Sunset had made it onto the floor again, with the only light coming from waterproof lights under the water. There seemed to be two directions that Sunset could go, and hopefully one of them led to Softie's hideout. She played eenie-meenie with herself and finally decided upon travelling the right path.

Upon her travels, Sunset passed by a plethora of other ladders that led back up to the surface, and she made sure to check every single one. A majority of them were under other roads, with one time almost having Sunset's head cut off by the same low rider. She seemed to be going nowhere. However, the last ladder that she checked seemed to go someplace different. She could still hear cars, but they seemed further away, and she also heard a stream of water different than the sewer stream below her.

Sunset climbed out and she found herself under a motorway and beside a stream of water flowing across concrete. She turned around and found what looked to be a small home built from scraps that laid against the large concrete suspension for the motorway. She looked around the place and found a plethora of stolen, yet empty, wallets, as well as cheap Chinese noodle pots.

As she looked around, she heard a cracking under her foot which she found to be a now broken mirror. Sunset picked it up and examined the damage on the glass, until she suddenly saw another figure in the reflection behind her.

Sunset quickly turned around, and with the sound of a deep grunt, she jumped to the side, avoiding a large hammer that was swung towards the floor. She was barely able to process who was attacking her until the hammer came her way again, being swung from the side.

Sunset leapt over the swing and made a dash back outside. However, her attacker closely followed and had her cornered by the river stream. There was no way for Sunset to escape except by falling into the stream.

The attacker brought up the hammer over their head again, revealing their face. Sunset let out a gasp. It was Big Softie.

Softie swung the hammer back down and with no time to run, Sunset held her hands up to try and defend herself, however, the hammer made contact with her.

Big Softie had his eyes closed as he made the swing, but he could weirdly feel the hammer struggling to go down. He opened his eyes and watched with amazement as Sunset held the hammer's end above her head, preventing it from crushing her.

"What the...?" Big Softie said as he just watched, still trying but failing to push the hammer down.

"Big Softie, please, I just want to talk!" Sunset said with a strained voice.

Upon hearing what she wanted, Big Softie's shock disappeared, bringing back his anger. "I don't wanna talk to you!" He pulled the hammer away and tried swinging at a different angle again.

But with quick reflexes, Sunset caught the hammer again, this time getting her own hard grip of it. Big Softie tried to take it back, but Sunset wasn't going to allow him, causing them both to pull back and forth to try break each other's grip.

"God dammit, you! Why won't you just give up and fuck off?!" Softie shouted.

"It would be a lot easier if you weren't trying to kill me right now!" Sunset retorted.

Eventually, Sunset's fingers managed to dig into the stone end of the hammer, deciding to use this to her advantage as Big Softie's grip finally slipped, and with a swift turn around, Sunset flung the hammer away into the stream.

She turned back to Softie, breathing heavily as she looked with her own angry stare. But Big Softie wasn't willing to give up yet as he then threw a punch Sunset's way. Sunset was expectant of this now as the punch was guarded by Sunset making a cross with her arms, and with enough force, she pushed Softie back, making him fall to the ground.

"I didn't come here to fight you, Softie," Sunset said. "Please, hear me out."

Big Softie scoffed as he picked himself up. "What would you want with a criminal like me anyway?" he asked as he went back inside the small shack. "Why aren't you back home where it's safe?"

Sunset proceeded to follow Softie. "I couldn't think about anything else after seeing how hesitant you were earlier. I could see it in your eyes, there is something bringing you down."

Big Softie didn't look back at Sunset. He instead just picked up the broken mirror, looking at his reflection. "Yeah, what's it to you? A sinner bears a burden, big fuckin' deal. I'm sure most demons do. Go bother another one or something."

"I can't, though," Sunset replied with a saddened look.

"Why not?"

"Because no other demon would have had the heart to save me like you did." Sunset ran around the big demon so that they could look at eachother. "You saved me, Big Softie, and I think I should give something back to you."

Big Softie slowly rolled his eyes up to meet Sunset's before letting out an annoyed grunt. "Fine. What do you want?"

"I want to know why you really helped me."

Softie let out a long, drawn out sigh. "You really care that much, huh?"

Sunset replied with a nod of her head.

"I just didn't want to watch a demon being used like that knowing I could do something about it. Happy?" he explained with slight harshness in his voice. "I wouldn't know what to do with myself if I didn't do anything and an innocent soul was hurt." He walked back out of the shack and sat by the edge, dangling his legs over the stream.

"How does a demon with a heart like yours end up in Hell?" Sunset asked.

"Nah, you don't wanna hear that. It's... not a very nice story," Softie replied, rubbing his nose on his arm.

"You'll probably feel better if you open up about it. It might even bring you some closure. Whatever it may be, I'm all ears." She threw a smile Softie's way, letting him know that she is there for him.

Big Softie gave a moment to think before he answered. Just what was with this girl's deal? Why would she care so much about him and the quick decisions he made? Usually, Softie was used to people not giving a shit about who he even was. Hell, whenever he tried to rob someone, it would normally just end in disaster. But now there's this girl showing genuine care for a crook like him. It didn't make much sense to him, but then again, if he doesn't tell now, there's probably a small chance that she'll ever go away.

"Alright. Well, you see... you might think I've a good heart, but the truth is that I've lived a life of crime for as long as I can remember. Even back when I was alive, it was like it was my whole life.

"When I was young, I never really found my... calling, you could say. So, to make some money I started to steal, and eventually I found myself somewhere that changed the rest of my life..."

---

I remember it like it was yesterday. I was still only a young boy with no family, no friends, scraping around for whatever goods I could find in the streets of my old home like a rat struggling for survival.

I was a swift little bugger, which meant that I became good at pick-pocketing folk. It became a bit of a habit until eventually I hit the jackpot. I made way with a guy's wallet, completely stuffed with cash! However, my victory was short lived as later that night, where I sheltered, I was then invaded by a guy about five times my size and ten times my strength. I tried to get away, but I was outmatched, and so I was taken away with rope around my wrists and ankles and a sack over my head.

When the sack was finally taken off, I found myself in a place not even a rat like me had ever seen before. I sat in the middle of a large room with a light shining down on only me. Within the shadows in front of me, I could see the shape of a man and the faint glow of his cigar. Upon closer inspection, I came to realise that this man was the person that I robbed only that morning. It turned out that man was a powerful gang boss, and he told me that he admired my determination of stealing from the likes of him and managing to get away for a while.

He offered me a place in his crew, promising that I'll be paid handsomely if I helped him out. I accepted without much thought about what I was getting myself into, and then for the next few years I worked under his rule, getting bigger and stronger until I proved to be a viable asset to the team, making the 'big' part of Big Softie feel more deserving as a result.

During my time in that gang, I watched as we dominated against rival gangs and expanded our own army until we were seemingly unstoppable. We had the power to take what we want when we damn so wanted, and it all felt so good.

However, there was one gang that rivalled the size and power of our's, and their leader was unlike anyone else we had faced before. He was cunning, relentless and certainly knew how to put up a good fight as he would send us home with fallen soldiers and lingering shame.

It seemed that we were outnumbered, but our boss had a plan, and he wanted me to be part of it to which I accepted with great honour.

One night, the boss and I had snuck into the enemy's HQ at an old, abandoned junkyard, and in the centre was a trailer with the lights on. My boss had given me a loaded pistol as we approached the door to the trailer. We both kicked down the door and I pointed the gun right towards the enemy's leader as he knelt close to the floor.

However, I realised that he wasn't cowering before us as I looked behind him and I saw a scared woman with a baby cradled in her arms. He wasn't acting out of fear, he was trying to protect his family!

I froze up when I saw the protective glint in the enemy's eyes, completely unable to pull the trigger.

"Do it," my boss said to me. "Shoot him and make our people proud."

But I couldn't bring myself to do it. I suddenly was filled with dread of having to kill a man with a family, which made me question all of the other families we've destroyed by taking over other rivals across the city.

I started to question to myself: what were we even fighting for?

But my boss kept telling me, "Kill him now, Softie! We will become the strongest in the entire city! And everyone else will bow before us as we prove our dominance!"

What did I do then?

I lowered my weapon. I looked at the eyes of everyone in the family and I saw their fear. I then knew that this wasn't worth it, not for the money, the power, not even for how much better my own life had become, because if for my life I had to take away another's, then I didn't want it one bit. Not anymore.

I turned to my boss and I told him, "No. This isn't right. We can't just destroy a family like this."

And then he scoffed at me. Telling me right to my face, "Pathetic," and he took the gun right out of my hand and put holes in the man's chest.

I still hear the cries of that man's girlfriend as she protected her baby in her arms. The man fell to the ground and his blood spilled all over the floor. I just stood there in shock, unsure of what I should do next, and the next thing I knew I was knocked unconscious.

I woke up, finding myself back in the same room where I first joined, but I was now surrounded by the entire crew, all looking at me from the darkness. They all had a horrible glare in their eyes that said death as they looked onto me. And in front of me was my boss, still holding the pistol in his hands.

He looked at me with a sad look. I'll always remember the last thing he ever said to me. "I always thought of you as part of the family, Big Softie. You're tough, strong-willed, but you don't know when to pull the trigger when it really counts. You've broken the code and went against your boss's demands, and for that we cannot allow you to continue knowing our secrets." He then pointed the gun towards me. "Goodbye, Big Softie."

Those were the last words I heard before it all went dark.

---

"And then what happened?" Sunset asked.

"I found myself in Hell," Softie answered. "I took the path into the abandoned side and just hid in a random house for what felt like weeks, laying in my own filth and sadness as if another death would eventually come.

"I couldn't stop thinking about how the world I came to know turned out to be far more sadistic and chaotic than I expected, and since crime was all I knew, I felt like this was it for me. Crime led me here, so what else to do other than nothing to ensure it didn't happen again?"

Sunset couldn't believe the story she was hearing. She had the thought of something bringing Big Softie down, but she never expected for him to hold such a heavy burden. She was horrified, but she was interested in hearing how the story ended.

Big Softie continued to speak. "Me avoiding the world wasn't meant to last as soon enough I was discovered by some demons. I felt a tapping while I slept and woke up frightened by the fact I was surrounded by demons of different shapes and sizes.

"The one who tapped me stood in front of them all, a well-dressed, short mole-rat demon with a top hat and cane. He stood over me with an eager look in his eyes. He asked me what was a big strong bull like me doing living like a hobo."

Big Softie slowly moved his eyes towards the night sky. "He told me that he could help me, and all I had to do was to join with him and his crew. I was very hesitant at first, but I looked around the faces of every demon in the room, and they all looked at me (while some seemed more competitive) with genuine soul, unlike the soullessness of the gang I had in my old life.

"They all looked more welcoming, so I took the hand of their leader, and now I'm living a more fulfilling life than I had in the living world, one where I feel that I'm not going against my own heart and nothing is kept from me."

Big Softie finished his story and looked towards Sunset. He suddenly jumped back upon realising how close she was and how large her eyes had become.

Wiping tears that have begun forming in her eyes, she said quietly, "That's a... really sad story. I'm so sorry that you had to go through all that." She placed a comforting hand on top of Softie's own hands.

"Nah, it's fine. It is what it is. Show weakness in a gang and you're as good as useless," Big Softie replied.

"It's not fine!" Sunset accidentally said louder than she wanted to. "Having a sympathetic heart isn't a weakness, it shows just how strong your will is. You wanted to make the moral decision. It's their fault they're all so filled with hatred and destruction! Don't blame yourself because you were brave enough to stand up for your beliefs!"

A small smile crossed Big Softie's face as he watched Sunset give her little speech. "Heh. Well, that's really nice of you to say, but that's just not how this kind of life works. This job doesn't have time for kindness. It's all just about money and power."

"But why? Why after everything do you still choose this life?" Sunset asked.

Softie shrugged. "It's all I know. If I didn't live this life, then I'd have nothing. I'm not good at anything else, so all I do is rob locals while I wait for my boss to call with a job. It's a slow life to say the least, but I'm happy as long as I'm not living with any new regrets." He then stood back up and turned to go back into his shack.

Sunset held a hand out. "You don't have to keep living like this. What if I help you?"

This caused Big Softie to stop in his place, catching him before he entered the door. "You? Help me?" he asked, not even looking back to Sunset. "I'm not sure how you plan on doing that."

Even Sunset had to admit to herself, she spoke without thinking. She didn't exactly know how she could help Softie, if there was a possible way. It would probably be a stretch, but she then had another idea.

"I might not be able to fix everything, but maybe I can start with something by letting you join my gang," Sunset said.

Big Softie's interest was clearly gained as he turned back to Sunset again. "Your gang?" he asked.

Sunset nodded. "Yup. Just started it. I call it..." Great, now she had to think of a name on the spot. "...the friendship group..." Amazing.

"In this gang, all members treat each other with kindness as we all get along through get-togethers or through conversation. Meetings are held whenever we feel like hanging out," Sunset finished with a happy smile and a wink. "We're also always there for each other. When one member calls for help, we'll all heed the call and be on our way to help, because that's what friends do."

The idea did not seem to garner much of a reaction from Softie, the most that was seen from his reaction was that he blinked. "Friend-ship group? You want to be my... friend?"

Instead of responding, Sunset proceeded to run over to Softie and jump onto him with wide arms, bringing him into a hug. "You've been through a lot of terrible things and all I want to do is to help you. I think this is a good start."

Big Softie was at a complete loss for words. Never in his life has he ever thought of the possibilities of having a real friend. All he knew were crewmates or acquaintances, but it's not like those names ever meant much in the places Softie had found himself in. This all seemed really crazy sounding in his head, but perhaps this girl was onto something. Maybe this could be the start of something new for Big Softie.

The mind that has been guiding Big Softie through Hell for years now was screaming at him, 'No! This is fucking nuts! Think about what will happen back at headquarters!' But at the same time, he felt something different down in his heart. It told him more solemnly, 'This is what you've always wanted, right? This may be the only chance you'll ever get at something like this. Embrace this new feeling.' And that's exactly what he did, he returned Sunset's embrace.

It felt good. Strange, but good. Softie wondered to himself, is this what happiness feels like? If so, he wanted to be happy forever.

Sadly though, they eventually had to let each other go, which they then proceeded to just look at each other, both of them sharing the same joy-filled faces.

It then caught Softie's attention that the night sky has gotten a lot darker since Sunset arrived. Just how long has this all taken? "You probably oughtta get home now," he told her. "Make sure you be careful when roaming the streets, and stay far away from dark alleyways."

"I will, and thank you." With that, Sunset lifted the sewer lid out again and began climbing down the ladder.

But suddenly, a thought came to Big Softie as he tried looking for his now gone hammer. "Hey, wait a second."

Sunset poked her head over the edge of the hole in the ground.

"Just a moment ago, you took my hammer right out of my hands and threw it into the river."

A blush crossed Sunset's face as she also remembered that happening. "Oh, yeah. Hehe. Sorry about that."

"It's all good, I can make another one, but what I want to know is how? How'd you do that?" Softie asked.

Given the opportunity to explain her condition to someone else now, Sunset climbed out of the hole again. She proceeded to explain her Devilitis to Big Softie, going into the abilities she has, including the super strength that allowed her to throw the hammer away, and told her the other experiences with her other quirks.

Big Softie showed a lot of confusion, but parts of it seemed to be making sense. "Wow, that's really weird. So, this 'Devils-Disease'-"

"Devilitis," Sunset interrupted.

"Right, 'Devilitis' just happens at random?"

Sunset nodded. "It seems to happen at convenient times, but also doesn't happen at the most inconvenient times. It's really inconsistent."

Big Softie let out a snort. "Really weird. Anyways, sorry, you can go now."

"Thanks." Sunset made her way down the ladder again. "If you ever want to talk, find me at sixteen Firelin Street."

"Will do. Bye."

"Goodbye, Big Softie."

And with that, Sunset began her journey through the sewers once again, and what with most streets looking the exact same, it may take a while longer before Sunset found herself on the right path back to home.

Meanwhile, Big Softie went back into his shack and proceeded to pick up a phone. He dialled a number and brought it to his ear, where the phone rang for a moment before someone on the other end picked up.

"It's Big Softie. You won't believe this, but I've done it. I've found one!"

---

Sunset walked back through the path the came in the underworld underground. It had just occurred to her that it would have been a good idea to probably count the ladders she had passed by so that she could get back. Oh well, she knows for next time now.

But right now, it was a matter of figuring out where to go. After about five ladders passed by was when Sunset decided to start climbing and checking, rinse and repeat until she was near home.

Upon doing this for a good while, something started happening all of a sudden. Her vision started moving around, meaning that her eyes have turned black again. Her eyes were taken up the ladder just behind her and back to the surface.

Once she was seeing the top, Sunset could then hear something.

"Sunset! You around here?! Come out!"

That voice was very familiar, and her eyes seemed to know that as they followed the voice, turning around to reveal Barbed Wire walking down the street, calling Sunset's name.

Sunset blinked and her vision returned to her in the sewers, to which she quickly climbed up the ladder she had just passed and returned to the surface.

There was Barb walking away from the sewer lid, still calling out Sunset's name.

"Barb!" Sunset called out herself.

Perking up at the sound of her own name, Barbed Wire quickly spun around and gasped upon seeing Sunset. She then ran towards Sunset as fast as she possibly could, squeezing the life out of Sunset by bringing her into a hug.

"Oh my God, there you are! I was looking all over for you!" Barb told Sunset as she didn't pay attention to how hard she held Sunset and the fact that she was throwing her body around.

"That's nice, Barb," Sunset barely got out with no air in her lungs. She could practically feel her bones cracking now. "Can you please stop crushing me?"

Barb opened her eyes widely as she now realised her own strength, took her long enough, and put Sunset back on the ground. "Shit. Sorry, I was just really worried because I couldn't find you."

Sunset felt actually surprised to hear that. "You were worried about me?"

The slim but insanely strong demoness brought her hand up to rub the back of her neck. "You see, I wanted to apologise for what I said to you earlier. You were right, I was only thinking about myself, but that was because..." Her words were caught in her throat.

"Because...?" Sunset started for her.

Barbed let out a strained groan as her face turned a harsher red than it already was. "Because I don't know the first thing about friendship! There! I said it!" she shouted. "I've never met a demon like you before, so I stayed here with knowledge that they're all just pricks, but I never once thought about what their past was like unlike you who thinks about everyone."

Those words... they sounded so familiar to Sunset. Perhaps her and Barb were far more alike than she realised.

"Do you forgive me?" Barb asked.

Sunset looked Barb dead in the eye as a smile formed in her face. "Oh, Barb, of course I forgive you, dummy."

"Does that mean we're still friends...?" Barb questioned, almost too hard for Sunset to hear.

She then proceeded to ruffle the tough girl's hair with her hand. "Yes, we're still friends. Now, why don't we just go home now? It's been a long night for us all."

Barb slipped her hands into her joggers' pockets as a smile arrived on her face too. "You're right. Let's go home."

And so, they both began walking back home together after a long night of questions, answers and discoveries. Sunset really felt as though she was making quite the impact on all of those around her, which may make her stay in Hell much more bearable as, along with her friendship with Barbed Wire becoming stronger, she also made friends with a brute on the outside who was also soft on the inside, Big Softie.

It was a tiring, hell of a night, and now all everyone wanted to do was to sleep the rest of it away.

As Sunset and Barb passed an alleyway entrance, they were stopped the the sounds of pained moaning. They both looked down the dark path as three pairs of arms emerged, carrying the hurt and broken bodies of the shark crew from earlier.

"Hey, Sunset? These the guys?" Barb asked.

"Yup," Sunset replied.

An evil grin now formed on Barb's face as she began cracking her knuckles. "Oh, have I got a bone to pick with you three," she said sinisterly as she gave a low, scary laugh.

Sunset kept back as she watched the show before her.

Next Chapter: Chapter 7: Goliath Estimated time remaining: 6 Hours, 42 Minutes