It was back to the roads for the team of detectives. After the information they were given from the junkyard monster, the Blob, the trio had more than enough to move forward. Where the Betrayed resided may lie in the hands of a demon known as Azure Wayfarer.

As he drove, Detective Fetch pondered over the Blob's words. "A place on the far side of the city... Someplace no demon would dare go near... Hmm," he said to himself, quietly. He dug out his phone from his pocket and passed it over to Barbed Wire in the passenger seat. "Look up the buildings on the opposite end of the city."

Without missing a beat, Barb gave the phone to Sunset in the backseat, who just looked at her confusingly.

"Thousand years old, remember? I don't know how to work that thing," Barb explained.

Sunset rolled her eyes and opened the phone's map, scouting over one side of the Big Forbidden Apple. "What do you need me to look for, Fetch?" she asked.

"The Blob said Wayfarer was going somewhere no one would go near. That means one of a few things: it's either abandoned, shut down, or it's got a real bad rep. I need you to read me anything you see, anywhere with a low rating would be good, and we'll try narrow it down."

Sunset complied and filtered the map to show everything with two stars or lower. There were a few places that appeared. "Someplace called 'the Cat's Me-wow'," she read aloud.

"Nightclub. It's a fucking mess there, but the place is always buzzing. Couldn't be there."

"The BFA's Sloppy Top." Sunset raised her brows upon reading that. She's shocked that place stretched further than Sinner City.

"Nah. It was shut down due to severe health code violations, but it's not good enough a hiding spot."

"Alright. How about Harbinger Heights?"

The white wolf's ears perked up at that name. He came to a realisation. "Hmm. That hotel has been long since abandoned. After a disastrous opening, the place was shut down permanently. Condemned, some said. But yet, it's said the lights are still on, despite no one going in... Yeah, it's got to be there."

Afterwards, Sunset returned Fetch's device and he set a course for the Harbinger Heights hotel.

After a while, they neared the end of their trip, pulling up to their next destination. Standing tall and close to other buildings was the hotel. Despite being abandoned, the place looked alive. Most, if not all, of the windows had lights shining through. It left the three wondering if they had the right place at all. The front sign told them all they needed to know; 'Harbinger Heights.' It was definitely the place.

Everyone exited the cruiser and walked up to the front door. Torn, yellow hazard tape hung on each side of the door, with a broken lock and chain laying at the foot. Likely the work of Azure Wayfarer. Without hesitation, Fetch opened the door and everyone ventured inside, finding themselves within the decrepit, dank...

...golden, bright, and shockingly clean lounge. Everyone was pleasantly surprised how well kept the place was; it wasn't what they expected at all.

"Wow, this place is... beautiful," Sunset commented, taking in the scenery. The place was lit up by a huge, golden chandelier that didn't seem to have a speck of dirt or rust at all. The walls seemed to have a fresh coat of beige, almost glistening from the light. And the red carpet below their feet was fluffy and smelled wonderful.

"Yeah, but keep your heads up. Remember what we're here for." Fetch stepped forward, eager to get the investigation going.

They pressed on, walking towards a normal looking reception desk, with a normal looking receptionist: a demoness with the appropriate red uniform and hat, white gloves, all while bearing a large grin on her face.

"Welcome to Harbinger Heights! To what do we owe the pleasure?" she greeted. "May you be interested in booking a room? We've plenty of our finest still to nab!" The receptionist moved aside to show the full wall of keys behind her. The crew looked across the rows upon rows of keys until Fetch noticed that there happened to one key not on its hook.

"Actually, we're here to visit someone. There wouldn't happened to be a demon by the name of Azure Wayfarer staying in that room, would there?" Fetch asked.

The worker's face lit up. "Oh, Mister Wayfarer? He just so happens to be our most valued customer! Yes, yes, you'll find him in one of our rooms at the peak of the hotel. If you take the lift, it should take you right to him," she explained cheerfully.

Fetch stepped away from the desk, brows raised in surprise. "Hmm, that was easy."

"Thank you for your help." Sunset waved.

"No problem! And if you have any issue at all, just holler. And plead. And scream," the receptionist said slowly, tilting her head to the side, all while she still had that big smile on her face.

The trio were oblivious to the last few words as they were already on their way to the elevator. They called down the cubicle and waited as it arrived with a ding. The doors slid open, revealing a prestigious interior, with gold railings and a spotless mirror. They gathered inside, and the doors shut behind them, leaving the receptionist alone on the ground floor again.

"That Wayfarer sure is popular today," the attendant said.

Among the array of floors to choose from, their sights were set on the lone button at the very top. It was pressed, and the elevator began its climb of the hotel. Nice and calm music played as the team waited for their destination, watching as a light travelled up the buttons, showing which floor they were currently passing.

"Y'know, for a condemned building, it's pretty damn clean so far," Barbed Wire said. "Why was it shut down again?"

"It was said that everyone who entered this place on opening day left screaming. So many reports of horrific sightings came in, but none of them lined up with any other report or whatever forensics could find, which was already little to nothing. And yet, everyday more demons would go in and leave minutes later. It could only be assumed that something supernatural was going on. That reason alone shut down the hotel entirely," Fetch explained.

"So, is the place cursed?" Sunset then asked.

Fetch shrugged. "Could be. No one ever found what was behind all the hauntings."

"I can see why this Azure guy would choose this place now," Barb added.

The lift continued its ascension. The light on the floor buttons was only a few spaces away until it was at the very top. The team prepped themselves for the interrogation ahead. But then, as the elevator passed the second to last floor, there was a sudden jolt that threw the team off balance, catching themselves on the handlebar or the side walls. The lights flickered for a few seconds before blinking out, trapping everyone in complete darkness.

"Is everyone okay?" Fetch asked, recollecting his bearings. He pulled out his phone and turned the flashlight on, finding his team picking themselves up off the floor.

Sunset rubbed part of her head where she's pretty sure she banged it. "Ugh... Yeah, think so. What happened?"

Barbed Wire listened out, noticing that the lift wasn't making a sound anymore. "I think we're stuck."

Fetch went over to the wall panel. Under all of the floor options, there was an 'Emergency' button beside a speaker. He held the button down and leaned in closely, "Hello? The lift has stopped. Is anyone there?" he asked.

The detective waited for a response. A faint whisper was coming through the speaker, but no one could understand it. Fetch turned his pointy ear towards the intercom and could just barely make out what it was saying.

"Enjoy your stay," it said. They were then met with an unpleasant screech bursting through the speaker! Everyone covered their ears to shield themselves from the painful noise until a crash was then heard, following with the speaker dying completely, leaving them in an uncomfortable silence.

Fetch groaned. "Looks like we're gonna have to get out of here ourselves."

"Leave it to me," Sunset said. She walked towards the door and squeezed her fingers as deep between the gap as she could. Using her devil strength, the doors slid open, revealing that they were only slightly above the floor before their destination, with the top of the exit reaching just below the knees. Sunset then opened the other door below them. There was just enough space for everyone to slide through and get to safety.

As relieved as they were after escaping the confined box, it would be short lived as they looked across the level they arrived at. The carpets below were worn and torn, the colours turned to practically black, with whatever remaining squelching beneath their feet. The wallpaper was turned to shreds, revealing the damp, rotting wood hidden behind. The lights above continuously swayed back and forth, barely capable of staying lit and hanging on to the ceiling.

The team slowly walked down the hall, taking in all of the sudden dreariness and horrific stenches.

"This is a little more of what I was expecting," Sunset commented as she caught sight of a dark hole in the wall, concerned by what could be hiding inside.

"Let's just hope there's a staircase close by so we don't have to stay longer than we need to," Fetch said, fighting the urge to have to cover up his muzzle.

"That's if it even has stairs anymore," Barb said, walking over a fallen luggage trolley.

There was a mutual uneasiness the further they ventured down. Any opened doors they passed led into what looked like an abyss, and among the dead silence, a light breeze could be heard, breaking through cracks somewhere in the building. Everyone was holding their breath, trying to give themselves some sort of edge over whatever might be hiding. But the longer they waited, the more nothing happened.

Barbed Wire constantly looked around for something to appear, but as she kept searching, she came closer to believing that maybe there really wasn't anything, and she took the moment to breath out finally.

And in that moment, a skittering was heard coming from behind.

Barb did a instant one-eighty as a loud gasp escaped her mouth. She looked back to where they came, trying to see what made that sound. However, the other two just looked at her confusingly.

"What's wrong?" Sunset asked.

"I-I thought I heard something," Barb replied.

With their backs turned, a click could be heard down towards where they were walking. Looking forward again, they saw a lamp shining brighter than all the rest above a door. A gold plate was attached and it read 'Stairs'.

"Looks like we found the stairs?" Sunset said, quizzically glancing to her comrades. With nowhere to go but onward, they pressed on, walking towards the stairwell. It was a long hallway. In fact, it started to feel a little too long. They kept passing rooms, but they didn't seem to be getting any closer to the door. "Guys, I think something's-" When she turned to her friends, Sunset found that she was completely alone. "Barb? Fetch?" she called out, turning in circles. They had both disappeared without a trace.

Before Sunset could even think about where they could have went, the lights above her began to blow out. From each end of the hall, a pair of lightbulbs burst one after the other until there was a lone light right above Sunset. She looked up to her only source of light, being surrounded by shadows.

She couldn't see in any direction, unable to tell if she was looking down where she came from, where she was going, or if she just stared at a wall. Above anything else, she was not leaving her spot within the light. It was then that an idea crossed Sunset's mind. She shut her eyes tightly, and when they opened again, her eyes turned from white to black, enhancing her vision with her devil eyes.

However, it didn't seem to help much as it still appeared that she was in a void. Sunset looked around for a sign of something, anything. And that was when her eyes almost passed by a distant figure. They were still a bit obscured by the darkness, but she could see someone was there. They slowly walked towards Sunset.

"Barb? Is that you?" Sunset asked.

The distant person snickered. As they neared the light, Sunset was able to see more of them. She could see the amber skin they had, as well as the ends of red and yellow hair... And then she saw their shirt, magenta, with a red and yellow sun insignia.

Finally, she could see her face. "Guess again," Sunset said.

Barbed Wire ran through the endless abyss.

"Barb! Help me!" a voice shouted from the other direction.

Barb stopped in her place and immediately turned around. "Sunset! Where are you?"

"I'm over here! Please, help me!" Her voice continuously echoed. She sounded like she was getting further and further away.

Barbed Wire didn't waste any time. She sprinted in the direction she heard Sunset's voice. She was quickly becoming exhausted, and it only caused great pain to surge through her abdomen, but she didn't care. She fought through the constant pain to find her friend!

She kept up the pace, dead set on only moving forward, to which she could finally see something. A square of light was approaching. She could see the red sky through it. And around her, it seemed like a place was beginning to form. The sounds beneath her feet went from running on carpet to laminate flooring. Walls surrounded her, and there were demons spread across the ground. Barb's sights remained on Sunset who was...

Barb immediately came to a stop. She felt like her heart completely stopped beating.

She could see Sunset's hand hanging on the edge of a window, hundreds of feet above the ground.

"W-What...? What is this?" she said, unable to move.

"What'ssss wrong?" a chilling voice whispered behind her.

Barb whipped around to the newcomer. It couldn't be... Standing before her was Goliath, looking down at her with his piercing gaze! He held his arms outward, and his sword-like claws were stretched out, preventing any way of escape.

"No... That's impossible. You're gone," Barb tried to tell herself. Her hands were placed around her head.

The snake snickered with his long, toothy grin, stepping forward while dragging his claws along the floor. "You could never rid yourself of me. I'm as much part of you in this life as any life, Heartwoven."

Barb fell to her knees as she held her palms over her ears. "No! I'm not that useless little girl anymore! I... I'm Barbed Wire! I'm better! I'm stronger!"

"Is that so?" Goliath's voice seeped through Barb's fingers effortlessly. In a flash, he was no longer standing over the helpless girl. Instead, he was now by the window, where Sunset continued to hold. "Then why do you still fail everyone? You couldn't save them, and you can't save her."

Her head snapped in his direction, tears beginning to form in her eyes. She raced back to her feet and lunged at the snake with an angry shout, throwing a fist his way!

But before she could make contact, the tyrant disappeared into black smoke, his snarly laugh echoing through Barb's head. She landed back on the floor and immediately scrambled to the edge of the window. She grabbed hold of her friend's arm before she could fall.

"I got you, Sunset!" Barb said.

"Oh, Barb," Sunset replied.

Barb used as much strength as she could to pull Sunset up to her, but before Sunset was saved, another puff of smoke appeared all around her. They appeared as black molds that slowly took shape. It was before long that Barb perceived the forms they took. Surrounding Sunset, trying to pull her down with them, were the undead forms of Barbed Wire's father, her mother, and Harvey Esther. They all looked up towards Barb with lifeless eyes as they fought against her.

"How many have to die because of you?" Harv asked with the spear lodged into his chest.

"You only manage to seal our fates," her mother spoke, with her head floating above her neck.

"And now, she belongs with us," her father said, with arrows stabbed through his shoulders and a long slash across his body.

Tears spilled out of Barbed Wire's eyes like waterfalls. She pulled with everything she could, but she could feel her grip slipping.

"Don't let go!" Sunset pleaded.

"Hold on! I got you, Sunset!"

"But do you?" She heard Goliath's voice in her mind.

The arms of her former family suddenly broke apart Barb and Sunset's hold, and Barb watched as her friend was pulled into the fall. Her voice reached Barb's ears no matter the distance she was. All while, Barb just sat there, unable to close her eyes or control her breathing. Again, and again, and again, she had failed.

"Could it be that she'd be safer without you?" Goliath's voice was behind her again.

Before she could act, a blade appeared through her stomach. She was picked up while stuck on the claw and flung across the room, crashing down and rolling back a fair distance. She groaned as she weakly picked herself up, finding herself back in the dark void. Yet, she could still see herself.

"Useless," Goliath's voice echoed. Another of his claws came flying out of the floor and directly through her bottom half.

"Weak," he said again, followed by another sword.

"Murderer!" Then, a barrage of claws came flying out of the ground and stabbing through Barb anywhere they could hit. Goliath's voice would keep shouting and repeating his words. She fought to resist as much as she could, but it would only open up another place for Goliath's blades to pierce, leaving her held up by his vicious attacks.

She couldn't move. She couldn't hear, see or even scream. Barbed Wire was helpless, and there was nothing she could do.

The blades began to retract back into the floor. Slowly and one by one, setting Barb down where she would only lay.

The detective stood at the end of the hall alone, his paw resting on the doorknob leading to the stairs. But before he entered, Fetch waited to see if Sunset and Barb would make a return. He called out, "Barb? Sunset Shimmer? There's no time to be messing around, we need to go." Despite his orders, no one seemed to follow.

Impatient, he decided to open the door and go on through, bringing him into the stairwell. It didn't appear as bad as the room he was just in, but it had clearly seen better days too. The lights that went down the stairs appeared to all have gone out, leaving the lower floors of the hotel in pitch darkness, while the lights leading up shined like new.

Fetch climbed up the stairs with each passing light going out behind him. He failed to notice as such as his sights were set on reaching the top. However, the closer he came, the more he realised he was nearing strange noises. He was coming up to the next floor's door and could make things out more clearly. It sounded like fire.

As soon as he opened the next door, the lights behind him had fully disappeared, and he was faced only with what was on the other side. Fetch was immediately hit with a wave of heat, causing him to shield himself as he stepped out. When he felt as though he was in the clear, Fetch lowered his arm and looked with what awaited him, and he gasped.

He was back in the streets of the Big Forbidden Apple, and the entire city was up in flames!

Everywhere he looked, buildings were reduced to ruins and pileups of vehicles blocked the road, all of which were consumed in an everlasting blaze. Why was this happening? The thought played in his mind like a broken record.

Out of the corner of his eye, a demon was crawling along the ground. They looked injured. Fetch immediately went over to aid them, holding out a hand to lift them back to their feet. "Hey, are you okay?" he asked.

The demon struggled, but they managed to place their hand on his, and look up towards him. They had a quiet, shaky breath, but they managed to speak. They said, "Why...? Why didn't you stop them?"

"What?" Fetch responded.

But before he could do anything else, the world around him began to shift. He felt like he was moving at a thousand miles an hour, all while he stood completely still. He finally came to a stop at a different part of the city. Standing in front of him was the torn down remains of the police station. He stepped towards it and noticed there were more demons lying amongst the rubble, all of which he recognised to be his colleagues.

He dug out anyone he could, checking to see if anyone was alive, but his efforts were fruitless. Anyone he checked, they were all dead. But how?

Fetch then heard coughing coming from behind him. He ran over and dug them out, revealing the lieutenant, who looked up at his coworker with near closed eyes. "F-Fetch," he said.

"Are you okay, Lieutenant? What happened here?" Fetch asked.

"I'm sorry, detective. We tried all we could, but... we couldn't s-stop them."

"Stop who, Lieutenant?"

And then the world began to move once more. Fetch stood up and watched as he raced down the streets. He couldn't see anything around him as everything passed in a flash, but he could tell that it was all on fire. Somehow, the entire city was destroyed.

That is when Fetch grinded to a halt once more. He knew this area to be the city square, an open area of grass with concrete paths which the citizens would walk through. There didn't seem to be much on the surface, but it is when he looked up that it everything was clear.

Above him, the clouds swirled around a dark hole that hung just above the tallest skyscraper, and from that hole emerged a legion of vicious, mutated demons coming down to wreak havoc. By the side of this portal, there was also a colossal demon wearing a robe with a hood over his head. A hundred foot long beard fell out of the hood, and his arms were spread out, as though he was embracing the gateway.

Fetch took a step back, wanting to turn around and run, but the scrape of his shoe called the attention of the giant demon, who now looked down to him with white eyes like searchlights. The giant reached down and grabbed the detective, bringing him all the way up to meet the leader of this chaos head on.

The inside of the giant's hood was too dark to see within, but his eyes were gleaming, staring down at the puny demon like stars. "Your world now belongs to the Betrayed," he spoke with a bellowing voice.

"N-No," Fetch tried to convince himself. He looked back down to the city far below him. From here, he could see that every corner was polluted with the fiery orange and red, with black smoke making it's way to cover the entire sky. "This can't be happening!"

"You cannot stop the inevitable," the leviathan father said. Now, he began to tilt his hand over, causing Fetch to slip off. The detective scrambled to grab whatever he could, but even trying to dig his claws into the giant's palm couldn't prevent his fate with the fall.

Fetch descended from above the highest point of the city, his screams being deafened by the wind racing past his ears. The floors of the buildings he flew by appeared as a blur, perfectly reflecting his own terror. He watched as the grassy square below inched ever so closer, the blades looking like they pointed up just to catch him. Finally, Fetch hit the ground, but he wasn't gone. In fact, he only felt discomfort on his chest, as though he fell from a standing position.

He quickly picked himself back up, and appearing from seemingly nowhere, the back of Sunset was now in front of him, sitting on her knees. Her horns protruded from her head; she appeared to be in that devil form of hers, but her body also appeared to be shaking, as though she was crying. Fetch stepped closer, now being able to hear the Devilitis demon's soft whimpers.

"Sunset?" he said, sticking a hand out. It was then he noticed that Sunset was cradling something.

She slowly turned her head around, her face looking petrified with her tears staining her cheeks. Fetch could now see that she was holding Barbed Wire who was limp in her arms. He gasped.

"I couldn't save her..." Sunset spoke. Her eyes were fixed on the detective, who just took a step back from shock.

His mind was racing. How could this have happened so quickly? Why was he not able to stop it? Even after all the time he had devoted to this case, was the Betrayed just always destined to succeed? Now, the world was gone, and it was all his fault.

"And now..." Sunset suddenly said. Fetch turned back to the near silent demoness. "...I can't save you."

Suddenly, Fetch was surrounded by a swarm of the monstrous Betrayed demons. They stared at him like a pack of hungry wolves. There wasn't an opening for escape. Before long, the demons all ran towards Fetch with feral roars. Fetch tried to run in a random direction, but the monsters pounced on him, preventing his escape. He gave it his all to push them off, but they proved to be much stronger as they gnawed at his body with their vicious teeth.

Fetch cried and pleaded for help, reaching out towards Sunset, but she just looked at him with their fallen friend in her arms. As more of the creatures stood on top of him, the world around him disappeared. His world, as he knew it, was gone.

Sunset couldn't believe her eyes. Somehow, she was face to face with herself. But this form of her, she knew it all too well.

"What are you doing here?" she asked her younger self.

"I should be asking you that," the other Sunset said. She began to march around her, taking in her demon form. "How does a goody-two-shoes like you wind up in Hell... and yet she still wonders why she's here in the first place? Can't just pretend I don't exist, sunshine."

The real Sunset groaned. "Believe me, I'd never forget a little brat like you, but I changed. I paid for everything I did and earned where I went afterwards. We are not the same anymore."

She thought she had made her place known, but she was then met with rude laughter from her shorter counterpart. "Oh! Is that what you think? Then tell me, why does that form of yours look a little... familiar?" she asked with a twisted grin. It was then that the smaller girl began to change.

Sunset watched in horror as the clone's body twisted and morphed, growing taller by the second while her skin changed from amber to red. She could hear her bones crunching as they continued to grow in size, with the other Sunset's hands going from small and nimble, to long, ghastly and sharp. Her wardrobe shed itself, revealing a fiery patterned dress underneath. Her smile stretched from ear to ear they each became pointed. Her eyes went dark, and her hair stood up before setting itself ablaze. And finally, with an uncomfortable squelching and snapping, a pair of wings appeared and spread out far and wide.

The clone grew into an unfathomably tall nightmare, staring down the real Sunset with a horrific stare!

"Look familiar, Sunset?!" her voice became monstrous and angry, and her mouth glowed as though it was filled with lava. With a maniacal laugh, the true Demon Shimmer raised one of her giant boots, and brought it down on top of Sunset. Luckily, she was quick to evade the attack and ran in the opposite direction.

"You can't escape from me that easily!" Demon Shimmer spread her wings out and slowly flapped them, causing a huge gust of wind with every push. She took off from the ground and made chase.

Sunset kept running as fast as her legs could carry her. She looked behind her and saw her giant demon counterpart flying directly above her, trying to reach down with her razor sharp fingers. She slammed her hand down, with Sunset leaping ahead to avoid it.

The demon growled. "You're past will always be part of you! You can never run!" A light grew from the inside of the other Sunset's neck. It rose towards her mouth and began to fill with something, creating a rising high pitch screech. She charged her power until it filled her mouth before unleashing a huge beam of fire! The monster sprayed it across the floor, but Sunset continued to evade the efforts to bring her down.

However, her run was interrupted as the beast's beam shot across in front of her, creating a wall of fire blocking her path. It was then she noticed that her counterpart was never aiming for her. Surrounding her was an inescapable ring of fire, with the giant Demon Shimmer flying high above her.

"I have always been stronger than you," the monster said.

"I'm not afraid of you anymore!" Sunset shouted back.

The other Sunset roared loudly and tilted downwards to dive. Flames spilled out from her mouth as she rapidly descended. Sunset charged up her devil strength in her arms, preparing for the leviathan's attack. The raging she-demon gave a horrible cry as she neared the floor. Sunset threw her arm up to attack, but as soon as the other Sunset would make contact, she disappeared into a huge puff of black smoke. Sunset looked everywhere in a panic, but her counterpart was nowhere to be found.

"She may not scare you," another voice suddenly said. Sunset quickly turned around as someone new was walking through the ring of fire. A grey demoness with shaggy, neck length white hair with black tips and a small bun tied on the crown of her head. She wore a black crop-top with a leather jacket similar to Sunset's, as well as denim shorts with fishnet leggings and long black boots. She stared directly at Sunset with an emerald glare and a sinister smile on her face. Sunset recognised her immediately. "But I know I do," the newcomer playfully said.

"Y-You're Lucy Deathwish," Sunset said, slowly walking backwards.

"The one and only," said another voice. Sunset turned her head and found a second Lucy walking up to her.

"So, you're the girl that's gonna try stop us?" a third Lucy laughed. "Gimme a fuckin' break."

One by one, more clones of Lucy Deathwish began to appear from all sides. A whole army surrounded her, mocking and laughing at her.

Quickly, Sunset was at the end of her patience. "Did you all come here just to call me names or what?"

One Lucy tapped her chin, and then pointed up with a smile. "Well, how is this for upping the ante?" She then snapped her fingers, which didn't seem to do anything from what Sunset could tell.

"Sunset!" Sunset suddenly heard the panicked voice of Barbed Wire say. She found that one of the Lucy's had her arm around Barb's neck, holding her captive. She held a sharp claw up to Barb's face.

"Let her go," Sunset demanded.

The one Lucy just gave her a snicker as she slowly inched her finger closer to Barb's face. Sunset took a step towards them, but that only signaled the captor to start dragging her claw down Barb's cheek, prompting Sunset to stop where she was. A small trail of blood ran down the side of Barb's face, which was then licked up by a slender tongue. Lucy gave a satisfied sigh.

"You sick freaks! Let her go, now!" Sunset was beginning to get very angry.

"Or what? You know you can't save her. In fact, why don't I just do us both a favour and cut the tension." Lucy moved her claw down to Barb's neck now.

"Wait-!"

But without hesitating, Lucy instantly slit Barbed Wire's throat! She let the defenseless demoness free of her grasp and collapse onto the floor as she drowned in her own blood! All at once, the Lucy clones broke down into fits of laughter, slapping their knees and elbowing the clone next to them; they were having a ball. Sunset fell to her knees, and held her head as tears began to flood from her eyes. This demon, she was a monster. Sunset breathed really hard and heavily. She had not felt something like this in a long time.

Pure, unbridled, rage!

She turned her sights up to the clone that finished her friend, her face contorted with anger, and leapt over to attack her. Time seemed to slow down as she flew towards her first target. She watched as the joy from the clone's face disappeared and turned into fear. Sunset through a fist her at her, with that Lucy turning into smoke like the clone of herself did.

Silence befell the legion of Lucy's as they watched one of their own dissipate. They all started to run towards Sunset, but she wasn't finished just yet. As each and every Lucy came at her, Sunset would turn to whoever was closest and fought off each and every one of them. The number of clones dwindled, meanwhile Sunset had yet to falter.

She was down to the last few. None of them seemed to put up much of a fight, but she didn't care. She just wanted these things gone. She had her eyes on the last one. Her balled hand flew towards like an arrow from a bow, but before the fight could be won, the final clone managed to catch her hand.

The last Lucy looked at her mockingly, but Sunset didn't waste time and used her other hand to punch her in the stomach. Lucy was winded by the blow and stepped back, clutching her bottom half in pain. Sunset still had the same amount of fury in her eyes as she slowly approached her enemy. However, instead of mocking her or attacking, Lucy opted to run back through the fire, leaving Sunset to herself.

The anger inside of her seemed to disappear immediately as her mind went back to Barb. She looked around for her body, but she found nothing. Barb was gone, somehow.

In fact, nothing at all was happening anymore. Even the ring of fire had extinguished, leaving Sunset in just a dark, empty realm. She was sure she still had her devil eyes active and looked around for potentially a way out. It was then that she looked up and noticed something strange.

Floating above her was a wobbly, near-transparent outline of something. Sunset stepped forward in order to get a closer look. It certainly looked like some kind of figure.

"Hey," Sunset called out. She tried to wave at it. "I can see you."

The figure appeared to react to her, as it jolted back flew away from her.

"Hey, wait!" Sunset chased it down. This was the one thing in this entire place that didn't want her dead. She figured that it must have some sort of answer. The flying person wasn't in the mood for talking, however, as it clicked it's fingers and the hands of the giant Demon Shimmer erupted from out the ground. They each slammed down, trying to stop Sunset in her tracks, but the demoness was able to weave between the offending arms and continued going after the runaway.

"Stop!" Sunset shouted.

But it didn't listen. Instead, the elevated escapist clicked its fingers again, summoning a literal wave of Lucy Deathwishes her way. Every single Lucy laughed like psychos as thousands of hands reached out to grab the chaser. Sunset groaned in annoyance, but she prepared herself for the stunt she was about to achieve. She dove into the wave like a swimmer, with the Lucys she pushed past disappearing as she rocketed through. The runaway may have thought it successfully stopped her with that move, for Sunset to then emerge from the other side and continue her pursuit.

"Come on! Just- Ah... Just stop already!" Sunset could feel a stitch in her side.

"Urrgh! Fine!" the runaway finally said. It stopped right in its tracks and clicked its fingers and. Instead of convoking another nightmarish monstrosity, the surrounding darkness reverted back to the dank hotel hallway.

Sunset was more than relieved to finally be back in the real world, only to be immediately caught off guard as the figure that was running from her was none other than the hotel attendant. She was noticeably transparent, Sunset could see.

"You?! You were behind this all along?" Sunset said.

"Maybe. But you didn't have to go and ruin all the fun like that!" the ghostly attendant complained.

"That's what you call 'fun'? I almost had a heart attack in there! What part of that sounds like-?" Before she could finish that thought, though, Sunset had a realisation. "It was you. You were the reason this hotel shut down. You scared everyone away back then."

The attendant rubbed her arm shamefully. "I didn't mean to get the hotel closed down. It's not my fault everyone's a bunch of fucking pansies!" Her expression instantly turned angry.

Sunset held her arms up defensively. "Hey, woah, woah! I get that you might find that fun, but you've caused a whole lot of trouble and I think you've got to realise when people would rather the line be drawn." During her lesson, Sunset could see through the ghost and found Barb and Fetch laying on the floor amidst a panic. "I would like you to free my friends now."

The ghoul rudely snickered. "Why? They're the best play things I've had in years. Their fears are beautiful!"

"Free them. Now." Sunset's face turned stern.

Even as a ghost, she still felt threatened by Sunset's aura. So, she gave a disappointed sigh and clicked her fingers. "Fine," she said. After that, she descended through the floor. "You're worse than that other demon."

Sunset ran over to her friends and tried to shake them out of their nightmares. She went to Barb first, who appeared to be quietly sobbing while whispering, "Please, please, please," to herself.

"Barb, it's okay. Wake up," Sunset told her. As soon as she placed a hand on her shoulder, Barb instantly reeled back with a scared shout. But she quickly softened when she saw her friend in front of her all fine and well.

"Sunset?" Barb said. She then dragged Sunset into a tight hug. "You're okay! Thank goodness!"

"It's alright, Barb. Whatever you saw, it wasn't real. You're safe." Sunset rubbed her back comfortingly. She didn't know what happened, but Sunset could tell her friend needed a moment, so she gave her all the time she needed. When Barb was ready, she let go of Sunset and they moved over to Fetch, who had a similar reaction as soon as they touched him.

Fetch looked between the girls, breathing rapidly. In time, though, he realised he was back down to reality. "Barb, you're... You're both okay!" Barb and Sunset held their hands out to pull the detective to his feet, to which Barb then wrapped her arms around the arctic wolf. "What happened?" he asked.

"That hotel attendant turned out to be a spirit and forced us to live through our own horrible nightmares, all for its own pleasure," Sunset explained. "But it's gone now; we should be fine from here on out."

"Then let's not sit on our asses much longer. We've got a demon to find." Even as Fetch said this, Barb didn't want to let go of him just yet. "Once you've finally decided you're done."

The team finally made their way to the top floor. It was a little more well kept together than the others, but it wasn't saying much. That wasn't what mattered though, as they spied Azure Wayfarer's door number. They had finally arrived!

But before they could reach their target's room, the door opened with a long, drawn out creak, and out came the last thing they could have expected. Without a care in the world marched Lucy Deathwish! She immediately noticed the trio on her way out and gave them an innocent wave with a wink. All of them noticed that there was a red stain surrounding her lips.

Lucy approached the wall in front of her and punched a gaping hole in it. She turned around and stuck her tongue out at the team and giving them a thumbs down before letting herself freely fall out of the hotel.

Barb and Sunset were left stunned by the sudden act, but Fetch wasted no time to charge straight into the room Lucy came out of. When he went inside, he almost felt like his heart stopped.

The room was in tatters, furniture was knocked over or smashed, and right in the center of the bed, surrounded by a pool of his own blood, was the body that he could only guess of Azure Wayfarer. His face was torn to shreds, making him completely unrecognisable, and there was a bite mark on the side of his neck.

Barb and Sunset entered after Fetch, each of them gasping as they saw the scene too.

"I-Is that...?" Barb hesitantly asked.

"No, it can't be," Sunset said, covering her mouth.

Fetch couldn't take his eyes off his target. Somehow, despite Wayfarer's effort to go into hiding, Lucy managed to track him down. The Betrayed had managed to beat them to it. "We're too late," Fetch said.

Author's Note

I was gonna hold this chapter off until the 4th anniversary of this story, but I couldn't wait another week, so here's the chapter now!

But seriously, how is it that this story is already 4 years old?! And yet this is only chapter 19?

Well, we work at our own paces I guess, but man, this story is gonna go on forever at this rate. Still though, I'm so happy that even after all this time later, I'm still so pumped to be working on this story more.

And on top of that, you guys who have stuck through all this time! I don't deserve such a patient audience, but I thank you endlessly for your support! Hopefully it won't be another 4 years until this adventure is complete, but only time will tell.

Before I go though, I wanna bring attention to THIS INSANE FANART by Wrangle Wolfe! Based on the fight between Sunset and Big Softie from way back! Never did I ever think that something I've made would inspire someone to make art based on it, but I'm looking at it and... I'm just so incredibly honoured. It's been a long road for me and this story so far, but having this just reminds me that not a single moment of it was a waste. Thank you so much, you absolute legend!

Happy (nearly) 4 years! See you for the 20th chapter!