After another poor breakfast (this time, it was chips w/ some Brisk Iced Tea), Azrael addressed a giggling Asmodeus.
"Where's today's target?" he asked.
Before Asmodeus could answer, they heard some voices.
"I can't believe they had to close the highway all because of a weird, orange pimp!" one said.
"I know, and now, because of this, I can't go to my job interview!" another said.
Asmodeus giggled a bit.
"That's it," he said.
"What is?" Azrael asked.
"That's more than likely where our next target is," Asmodeus said.
He then wrapped himself around Azrael and teleported.







...





(Grey Side)
During a lunch of takeout, Ash took out his rectangle. It made a weird sound until Ash pressed something on it.
"Finally! This is the Freelance Seven, right?" a voice from it said.
"That's Freelance Eight now. Leader Ash speaking," Ash said (a couple rolled their eyes).
"The highway that I'm helping guard is currently being blocked off. You're not going to believe me here, but an orange pimp is using his servants to prevent the people here from moving!"
Oliver froze at the mention of an "orange pimp."
"Ok, what highway are you at right now? We'll send a couple of people to help," Ash replied.
"Amethyst Highway. Please hurry!" the voice said.
Ash pressed something on the rectangle, and it went silent.
"Ok, who'll go this time?" Ash asked.
Cedric immediately raised his hand.
"Let me guess, you're taking Grey w/ you again?"
"Yerp," Cedric replied while standing up.
Grey followed suit.
"I'm going too," Oliver said.
"Are you sure?" Ash asked.
"Yeah, bitch, you usually don't like taking missions unless you have to," Cherry asked.
Oliver stayed uncharacteristically silent as he slithered over to the center of the living room. Cedric and Grey went there too.
"Ready?" Cedric asked the two.
"Yes," Grey said.
Oliver simply nodded. Cedric held both of his hands out, and Grey and Oliver grabbed them. Cedric's tail twitched, and the trio disappeared.








...




(Az. + As. Side)
When Azrael and Asmodeus reappeared, they were in front of a blocked-off road. There were cars stuck inside of the roadblock. Also, policemen were guarding the road, and one of them was calling someone.
"Huh, wonder how bad it is," Azrael said.
Asmodeus then made the two of them intangible. Azrael ran over to the roadblock and hopped over it, unopposed. After walking forward for a bit and making sure that the police were out of sight, Asmodeus tore himself off of Azrael and changed into scythe form. Azrael sadly noticed that Scythe-Asmodeus was slightly trembling in his hands.
MISSION... START!
(Song: Overloaded from Megaman ZX Advent)
After dashing forward for a bit, they came across their first enemy. The duo had to take a double-take at this enemy. It had a slimy, orange texture, was tall and fat, had a fluffy, white robe, and a big black hat. It also had dark purple glasses on.
"The fuck?" Scythe-Asmodeus asked.
"I... I don't even know," Azrael replied, truly at a loss for words.
Azrael dashed at the enemy. It, in response, literally backhanded him and knocked him back!
"Well, then!" Azrael shouted indignantly.
"Heh, let's try out my new trait," Asmodeus said w/ a slight giggle, "CRUELTY!"
Asmodeus' form distorted, he became dark green, and he covered Azrael's torso.
"An apron?" Azrael asked skeptically.
"Try it, heh."
W/ a sigh, Azrael tore the apron off. He then rushed towards the enemy again. As it readied its arm, Azrael stopped before the collision and whipped the Apron-Asmodeus at the enemy. The enemy struggled within the apron. Azrael used all his strength to lift the enemy, arced it over his him, and slammed the enemy hard behind him. Asmodeus immediately went back to covering Azrael's torso.
"Gogogo!" Asmodeus shouted.
Azrael quickly dashed off before the enemy could get back up.








...




(Grey Side)
When Grey, Cedric, and Oliver reappeared, they were somewhere that Grey hadn't been before in the city. There were a lot of colorful, blocky things like the ones Grey had seen near the Freelancers' base, and they seemed to be closed off. There were two men standing guard near the blocks. The trio made their way to the men.
"Are you our temporary employees?" asked one of them.
"Yes," Cedric replied, "How bad is it?"
"We've been told that different parts of the highway have either been broken or outright destroyed!"
"Ok, we'll take of it," Cedric replied.
"Or make it worse," the other man commented acidly.
"Ignore him and go," the first man said.
The trio then hopped over the thing blocking the colorful blocks and ran forward.









...




(Az. + As. Side)
Azrael was sure he was on something as he quickly rushed through the highway. The enemies all looked like the first one, except they had different colored robes and hats on. The robes and hats even had different crazy designs on them! As for attacks, they shot dark purple blasts from their glasses, and they also enjoyed backhanding. As for the road, some parts were above and lower than each other, and others were outright gone! Luckily, these segments were a cinch to get through w/ the aerial burst dash. There were lots of cars too, and when Azrael jumped on them, the drivers got incredibly furious. But Azrael hopped away before they could do anything. At one point, Azrael reached a wide gap. Asmodeus sensed something in it, switched back to his bound form, and floated down into the hole, and there were two pillars on both sides of the gap. Asmodeus shifted his eye sockets to dark orange and blasted a hole into a column on the right. In it, there was another purple orb. Asmodeus grabbed the thing and brought it to Azrael. As usual, the ball went into Azrael, he made a relieved expression, and the duo went back to making their way through the highway. Eventually, Asmodeus stopped them.
"Azrael, our target is close by," Asmodeus told his partner.
Asmodeus then cloaked him, and they went forward to hide near the boss. When they got to him, the duo had to do a quadruple-take. Asmodeus could barely contain his throaty laughter.
"What the actual hell?" Azrael muttered in disbelief.







...




(Grey Side)
MISSION... START!
(Song: Cinq Ville - C`est Notre Espoir from Megaman ZX)
Oliver stopped Grey and Cedric.
"I'll go on ahead," Oliver told them, "You'll need someone to hold the enemies back."
"Wait, how do you-" Cedric began.
He didn't get to finish before Oliver quickly slithered away. Cedric dashed after him, and Grey followed closely behind. After a bit, they came upon the most ridiculous thing they'd ever seen. It had a slimy, orange texture, was tall and fat, had a fluffy, white robe, and a big black hat. It also had dark purple glasses on. Oliver was currently holding it in place while it struggled. Grey looked at the enemy in shock, while Cedric tried his darndest not to burst out laughing.
"What are you waiting for?" Oliver asked through gritted teeth, "Waste him!"
Cedric burst out laughing.
"No, no! I gotta show this to the others first!" Cedric exclaimed while putting his wristwatch to his face, "Vicky, are you there?"
After a bit, Vicky responded.
"Yes, what is it?" she asked.
"Get everyone else on the call. I just found the funniest shit ever!"
A minute later, someone responded.
"You have our attention," said Ash.
Cedric then pointed his watch at the enemy.
"Check out the fucking pimp!" Cedric said w/ a giggle.
Silence. Then laughter erupted from the wristwatch.
"Can one of you dumbasses take this guy out already?!" Oliver shouted as the enemy kept struggling.
"KINDNESS!" Grey shouted.
Two green frying pans appeared in his hands. He then threw both pans at the enemy. One went up, and the other went down. The top one nailed the enemy in the head, and the other hit him in the belly. When Oliver let the enemy go, he slumped down.
"Let's go!" Oliver shouted while moving away.
Cedric and Grey rushed forward. Grey paused and looked down at the enemy.
"Is he going to be alright?" Grey asked worriedly.
"Move away from him!" Oliver called to him, "These enemies are literally soulless, and they can be very fucking merciless!"
"Oliver, how-?" Cedric started.
But Oliver rushed off before he could finish.








...




The rest of the stage was quite simple. The trio avoided the cars (Cedric told Grey that that's what they were called) as best they could. As for the enemies, Oliver held them back (though they could still shoot eye blasts), and Grey and Cedric would take them out. Whenever the trio reached gaps in the highway, Oliver made a giant, dark purple notebook appear underneath him and floated up. As for Cedric and Grey, Cedric carried Grey again. He would then braced himself, and he would then double jump over the uneven parts of the highway. For the regular gaps, he jumped into the hole, but before the pair fell in, Cedric dashed in mid-air! After a while, Cedric sensed something in a crevice and jumped down it. Down there, there were three pillars, and a fourth destroyed one on the right. Cedric went over to the left and strummed his guitar hard. A section of one of the columns busted open. Inside, there was a floating gray heart. As per usual, Cedric grabbed it, it disappeared, and he went back over to Grey and Oliver. Eventually, the three reached the boss, and Cedric busted out laughing. The boss in question wore a dark purple suit, a dark purple flat hat, weird yellow shoes, and dark purple glasses. He held a long stick in his hand and had long, orange things sticking out from under his hat.
"Now, what've we got here, baby?" The odd boss asked in a weird voice, "A stitched-up fatty (Cedric sobered at that and gave the boss a death stare), a profitable demon (Cedric fumed at that), and a traitor!"
"Traitor?" Grey asked.
"I'm not a traitor, dad," Oliver said acidly.
Grey and Cedric were both taken aback at that.
"Dad?" Cedric asked, shocked.
"Boy, I don't know who the hell you callin' daddy, 'cause it certainly ain't me," the boss said.
"You're right," Oliver said as he readied a dark purple notebook, "I don't consider you my dad anymore, Twist."
Grey and Cedric, seeing what Oliver was doing, readied their weapons as well. The boss sighed.
"It's a shame that I have to ruin such perfectly good fuckable profit, but so be it, baby," Twist mused.
FIGHT START!
"Actually, wait, hold on," Cedric said.
FIGHT... STOP?
"What?" Grey asked.
"Your name is Oliver, and his name is Twist?"
"Yes, why?" Oliver asked.
"Think about it," Cedric said.
Oliver thought about it for a second and got absolutely furious.
"START THE FIGHT AGAIN, NOW!" Oliver shouted angrily.
FIGHT RESUME!
(Song: Electric Supernova)
Twist quickly dashed all over the field, shooting blasts from his eyes. Oliver managed to block some of the shots, but Grey and Cedric still had to avoid the rest. When they could, Grey and Cedric quickly got in as many attacks as they could. Twist's health rapidly dropped to 62%! He then changed tactics and rushed towards the duo w/ an open hand. Oliver, not standing for it, went to his father and SMACKED him back! His health dropped to 54%! Twist shot a blast at Grey and Cedric as he landed. Grey and Cedric winced at that, and their health dropped to 90% and 92%. Twist immediately got up and attempted to send blasts and slaps at the trio again, but the trio was just too much for him. His health quickly dropped all the way to 10%!
"Damn, you bitches are much stronger than I thought you'd be," Twist said w/ broken lenses, "I had hoped it didn't have to come to this, but y'all gave me no choice."
He then screamed upwards, and his body became engulfed in a dark purple light. His health dropped to 1%! Twist then rushed over to Oliver, picked him up, and threw him back. HARD.
"Oliver, no!" Cedric shouted.
"Cedric, watch out!" Grey shouted.
Grey and Cedric jumped and rolled out of the way as Twist flew at them. Twist rapidly moved around the field and shot blasts at the pair while laughing. Grey's healths dropped to 60%, and Cedric's was at 63%! Grey, thinking desperately, threw two frying pans forward.
"Aaaaagh!" Twist shouted (though it sounded INCREDIBLY wrong).
Twist then exploded in dark purple power.
VICTORY!
When the dark purple smoke faded, all that was left was a dark purple SOUL and a purple wisp. Grey immediately rushed over to the SOUL. His stitched fingers nearly grazed it before a shout rang out.
"Not on my watch!"
Azrael then appeared alongside Asmodeus and knocked Grey back.
"Grey!" Cedric shouted as he dashed over to his boyfriend.
He then glared at Azrael furiously.
"How could you?!"
"Asmodeus, quick!" Azrael shouted, ignoring Cedric.
Asmodeus immediately rushed over to the SOUL. He grabbed it, stabbed it w/ his torn tongue, sucked the energy out, threw it on the highway, and it shattered. Cedric groaned in clear annoyance.
"Sorry, you can't have it your way! HAHA!" Asmodeus cackled.
Grey began to stand. Asmodeus quickly covered Azrael and teleported them out of there. Cedric sighed. The purple wisp that was left behind floated towards Grey. It then phased into him, and everything went black.








...




"What was that book that you were using in our battle?" Grey's angel friend asked.
Grey was in the same place that he'd been in in the first dream. He and his friend had recently sealed two dark beasts that had been troubling heaven very much. One of the creatures hadn't been that strong. But the other one was horrible to deal w/ because he was able to block an angel's abilities temporarily! The only reason why Grey and his friend won was that he'd used his new spellbook. Grey had felt a bit... crazier than usual after using it.
"Promise you won't tell anyone about it?" Grey asked.
"Um, is it something evil? Because if it is, I must report it," his friend said.
"No, no!" Grey said as he pulled his spellbook from his robe, "It's a present I got from a nice woman in the city."
"Why'd she give it to you?" his friend asked quizzically.
"She needed help w/ a cart. She gave me the book in return," Grey replied.
"Hm... ok, I'll take your word for it. Can I look inside it?"
"Of course," Grey said as he opened the book.
"Thanks, A-" the angel friend started.
"Grey, Greeey!" Grey heard Cedric call.
Grey shook his head. In front of him, Cedric and Oliver were staring at him. Cedric had a calm, relieved smile. Oliver just stared at him w/ a shocked expression.
"What?" Grey asked, confused.
He looked down. On his arm, there was a big purple notebook!
"You... you have my notebook!" Oliver shouted.
Grey made the notebook disappear.
"Huh," Grey mused, "Now, I have two notebooks."
"Well, now that our target is gone," Cedric began.
"Good riddance," Oliver said acidly.
Cedric and Grey both gave him a look.
"Why do you hate him so much?" Grey asked.
"He tried to sell as a sex slave at a young age!" Oliver shouted.
Cedric stared a w/ wide eyes.
"What's a-"
"Trust me, Grey," Oliver said, "YOU. DO. NOT. WANT. TO. KNOW."
"Um, ok," Grey replied, confused, "Well, we really should get going."
Cedric nodded in a mystified manner. He held out his hand, Grey and Oliver grabbed them, Cedric's tail twitched, and the trio disappeared. When they reappeared, they were in front of their clients.
"Did you get rid of the pimp?" asked the man who gave them the job.
Oliver nodded solemnly.
"Wow, I'm surprised. Monsters actually did something useful for once," the other man said nastily.
Grey gave a slightly miffed look.
"But you haven't done anything since we got here," Grey told him.
Cedric covered his mouth. The man went up to Grey.
"What did say, punk?" the man asked threateningly.
Grey brought out his cleaver.
"Sir, I kindly ask you to back away. All I was saying was that we had to do all the work of getting rid of the pimp while you did nothing and just stood here," Grey calmly replied.
The man, indignant, backed off.
"Cedric, there's one last thing," Grey told his boyfriend.
Cedric, still in shock, held his hand out. The first man, equally shocked, put money in Cedric's hand. Cedric counted the money.
"$1,200," he said.
He then handed some of it to Oliver.
"So. Time to go?" Grey asked.
"Yeah, it's about that time," Cedric replied w/ a wide-eyed smile.
The trio did the whole hand-holding thing, Cedric's tail twitched, and the three disappeared.




WEAPON GET:
PERSEVERANT NOTEBOOK (Grey)
LAZY GLASSES (Asmodeus)
GUITAR SPIN (Cedric)