Witness Testimony
Many adventures have the heroes meeting and teaming up with an ensemble cast of characters. Some might help the hero out of the goodness of their heart, while others… not so much.
There are many in the world who care for little more than their own personal gain, will manipulate whoever they can to get their way. But in the case of these two terrible tricksters… Take caution before you put pen to paper on a contract with them.
The Devil, Inkwell Isle’s casino-running soul proprietor…
…And The Snatcher, the ghostly overseer of Subcon Forest! I’m Starlow, she’s Squigly, and he’s Leviathan, and one of these two is about to sign their life away in a Courtroom Conflict!
Inkwell Isle is a cheerful place on the surface. It’s a whimsy, wonder-filled cartoon land where denizens range from tank-driving rats to sentient drinkware. But beneath the sunny and outlandish exterior, there’s something much more sinister to this land… Almost all of its residents are in debt.
What are they in debt for? *gasp* They didn’t commit tax fraud, did they? Yoshi’s still on the run for that!
Erm… no. The debt of Inkwell Isle is something far more weighty than just money. They are in debt for a payment that would only be satisfied by their very souls. Each and every one of them had made a deal with a sinister figure lurking below the Isles, and it had cost them their security and their freedom. Who was this creditor of souls, you ask?
It was none other than the casino owner who thrived in Inkwell Hell: The Devil. Rich and fluent in magic, The Devil would grant the wishes of those who asked him to in exchange for their souls and their eternal servitude. Gosh, do I know what being controlled like that is like…
All was “well” in Inkwell Hell until a young pair of brothers wandered into his casino and caught his attention with a winning streak at the craps table. Deceiving the two with a deal, Cuphead and Mugman were put under the Devil’s debt, and, sensing potential in them, he sent the two of them out into Inkwell Isle to repossess the souls of its residents for him.
So a powerful magic demon sends two kids to do his bidding? Why not just do it himself?
Good question. The Devil is a sleazy being, much preferring to remain shut up in his casino counting his riches while minions like King Dice run his show for him. However, that is not to say he isn’t a formidable fighter himself, as he was made to prove when the two brothers brought him all his contracts only to refuse to hand them over.
The Devil’s not much of an upfront fighter, but he is pretty powerful! He can send people flying out of his casino with a single kick, and he shook his entire casino just by slamming the floor! He’s tough, too, being capable of taking a lot of punishment from Cuphead and Mugman during their final battle. By the end of their fight, he had broken bones, cracked horns, and bruises all over, and he could still move around somewhat!
Do not be mistaken, however: this demon’s combat ability comes little from his strength or toughness; rather, it comes from his trickery and mischievous tactics. True to his title, the Devil is deceit incarnate, tricking and overwhelming foes with his magic to ensure his victories.
There’s a good reason that people of the Isle seek him out. The Devil’s magic is strong and potent, and he can use it in a variety of ways.
Before his magic, though, the Devil is never without his gold trident! These weapons are usually more oriented towards being a polearm or a throwing weapon, but the Devil uses his like a scepter, channeling his magic attacks through it. It can even change its physical state from solid to wet and noodle-like.
Akin to his business practices, the Devil does not engage directly with his trident. Instead, he has his demon army, who will leap into the fray of battle to assist their ruler. These demons in the Devil’s ranks range from basic grunts that charge foes to large, portly fliers that shoot skulls at targets to small blue imps that spin at enemies to attack. Their numbers are countless, fighting so long as their ruler is fighting. Aside from his trident, the Devil also has other weapons he can use in battle, which we will cover in a bit.
Like we said, the Devil isn’t known for getting up close in fights. He uses his powerful magical abilities to take his foes down quickly and easily, and his magic isn’t just powerful, but it’s also versatile. Like anyone would expect from a person with the title, the Devil is able to control and create fire to turn foes to ash. He can also summon orbs that bounce around the battlefield, bursting after several bounces or when they hit an enemy. He can even make things float with his mind!
The Devil can also alter his own body in different ways. He can change his size, grow new limbs, stretch his limbs, teleport through portals, and even strip himself down to his bones and be just fine! Are we sure he’s not just made of rubber or something?
Not even being made of rubber could save you from the Devil’s strongest magical ability. When he grants someone’s wish or makes them lose a bet, he claims ownership of their soul through soul contracts. Should the Devil have your soul contract, there is nothing stopping him from taking your soul straight out of your body.
M-my soul…?
Fear not, milady. The Devil is only capable of taking one’s soul if he has their contract, and the only way he could get their contract is if they were indebted to him. So long as you, and his would-be victims for that matter, steer clear of him and his shady practices, there is no need to fret.
Yeah, Squigly! You’re not dumb enough to fall for his tricks.
I-I see… Thank you, you two. Shall we move on?
Sure! Going along with his ability to manipulate his body, The Devil’s magic allows him to transform into several different forms. He can transform into a goat, a spider, and a serpent, all of which allow him to use his new forms’ physiology to new advantages. The goat can crush foes flat with its hooves, the spider can drop onto enemies from above, and the serpent can slither at foes from a distance!
Something interesting to note is that all of The Devil’s animal transformations are animals commonly associated with demons or malevolent spirits. Goats are associated with lust and fertility due to association with gods of old like Pan, Dionysus, and Zeus. Spiders are associated with trickery, with the kanji of one such shape-shifting lady demon of Japanese folklore translating to “woman-spider”. And finally, the serpent is a direct parallel to the biblical serpent that coerced the first humans to eat the forbidden fruit in the Garden of Eden.
Wait a second… Leviathan, aren’t you a serpent too? Does that mean you’re a satanic image?
My word! I’ve never been so insulted in my life! I would never associate with such a dastardly type of being. My loyalty is to the Contiellos, end of discussion.
Yeah, sorry… I guess that was a little mean of me.
*ahem* The Devil has one last transformation up his magic sleeves: a giant form, in which his fur turns a crimson shade and he grows to a new, colossal size! With his new form, he also gets several new weapons he can use in a fight. These weapons consist of a flying bomb with a massive explosion radius, flaming poker chips, levitating axes, and… wait, is he crying?
Err… yes. Oddly enough, his very tears can harm enemies they happen to hit.
That’s gotta be one of the weirdest attacks I’ve ever seen. And I’ve seen Luigi literally eat food to attack bad guys!
Yes, while the Devil is intimidating with his vast magical power, he has his downsides. Because he relies so frequently on magic and his lackeys to attack in his stead, there are very few instances that display what he is capable of on a physical level. Additionally, the Devil rarely, if ever, leaves his home in Inkwell Hell, and as such he is far more comfortable with using the familiar environment to his advantage in battle.
The Devil’s not just sleazy, though. He’s pretty full of himself and always believes he’ll come out on top in the end, regardless of the means he has to use to get to that end. This leaves him vulnerable to underestimating his enemies. In fact, he’s so used to always winning that when he was about to lose to Cuphead and Mugman, he broke out in tears and stopped fighting. That’s… pretty sad.
I guess even Satan can’t be perfect. Even then, the Devil is easily one of the biggest threats Inkwell Isle has to offer. For your own good, you’d better hope you never find yourself in his debt!
The Devil: Welching on me just like all the others, eh… I’ll teach you for backing out of a deal – Have at you!!
Once upon a time, far before any Mafias, movie studios, or hat-wearing aliens, there was a young girl named Vanessa. Sweet and kind, Vanessa was not an ordinary young lady – she was royalty! Queen Vanessa was the ruler of her kingdom, and while she had almost everything she could have wanted at her command, the queen only had eyes for one thing: a young prince, with whom she was deeply in love. So strong was her love for him that she was utterly fixated on being the center of his affection, outlawing anything that could have taken him away from her.
Isn’t that a little extreme? What did she outlaw?
Her attempts to secure his love were ruthless and expansive. She even outlawed bacon from the breakfast table because of how much he liked it.
Even bacon? But I like bacon at breakfast…
You are not under her rule, milady; you may still enjoy your bacon. In fact, none are under her rule any longer, for her kingdom was soon to meet a dark fate. One day, Queen Vanessa came across her beloved prince seemingly holding hands with a pretty, red-haired florist. Distraught and heartbroken, Vanessa retreated to her chambers to weep, and when the prince tried to explain himself, she grew bitter and vengeful, ordering her guards to take him to the dungeon and rejecting the flowers he had brought for her: the true reason for his interaction with the florist.
That’s so awful… What happened to them?
Tormented and corrupted by her broken heart, Queen Vanessa was transformed into an evil thing: a vengeful spirit that wanders the halls of her manor to this day. As for the prince, he was chained to the dungeon walls for the rest of his life, crying bitter tears until his demise caused him to transform into another being: a shadow, a ghost, a manipulator of souls. The prince was no longer himself. He was… the Snatcher.
Wow, Leviathan! You’re a really good storyteller!
Decades of practice, my yellow friend. Decades of practice. Anyhow, with his new ghostly body, the Snatcher escaped Vanessa’s dungeon and, after Vanessa’s kingdom had withered away, he took over the ghostly remains of the land, now known as Subcon Forest. There he kept a close watch over the woods, keeping the spirits within safe and content, even going so far as to steal mail from others to give to them. However, there came about a problem: over time, the Snatcher grew somewhat lazy, and no longer felt like laboring over every task in his woods.
Is that why he began imprisoning the living that entered Subcon Forest?
Precisely. When not simply consuming the souls of the living, the Snatcher took their souls hostage and promised to return them if the unfortunate person would complete tasks for him. It was as this practice that made the Snatcher a manipulative entity, taunting his unfortunate servants constantly.
So if he keeps getting other people to do stuff for him… then he must be really weak, right?
Not the case. The Snatcher is a powerful spirit with many supernatural abilities at his disposal, along with formidable power. He can trade blows with Hat Kid, a childlike alien who may seem small, but she can strike with enough force to send Mafia goons flying far into the distance. Even after their battle ended, the Snatcher wasn’t exactly ‘defeated’ – he’d simply had enough of Hat Kid’s presence, and tried to force her out. Even Snatcher himself is strong enough to hold on to Hat Kid’s spaceship as it was about to fly away.
Hat Kid is also fast enough to outrace explosions, and the Snatcher can keep up with and dodge attacks from her. The Snatcher tends to not use all that strength right away, though. He likes to mess with his opponents with his tricky attacks and overwhelm them using his weapons.
Snatcher’s most commonly used weapon is his endless supply of vials, which contain some kind of blue liquid. I think it’s blue syrup!
Blue… syrup?
Do you have any better guesses?
Regardless of the vials’ contents, Snatcher can summon anywhere from a single vial to a thousand of them at once and throw them at enemies in different fashions, be they targeted, wildly spread, or tracking. A similar weapon of his is the Cherry Bomb, which is the explosive combination of a cherry and a Forest Dweller, one sort of spirit found in Subcon Forest.
He also has contracts that, when signed, obligate the unfortunate minion to do whatever task is listed on it. Speaking of minions, Snatcher has plenty of those, too! The natural residents of Subcon Forest are tiny shadow people that Snatcher can pull into the fray to swarm, trample, and overwhelm his enemies.
Much like Snatcher himself, these small shadowy sidekicks are full of wit and trickery, messing with others as they please. However, they are clearly put in their place as underlings when Snatcher’s wide pool of ghostly abilities come into play.
Snatcher has a LOT of powers that can help him in a fight, with the most notable one being his ability to take peoples’ souls! Usually, when he catches a living person in his forest he’ll just take their soul and eat it, but if he needs a new servant, he’ll just keep their soul as a bargaining chip. Pretty smart!
Beyond that, he can create objects out of thin air just by willing it. This is how he can create his weapons, like cherry bombs, contracts, and vials. He can do it as much as he wants, and it’s how he helped Hat Kid take down Mustache Girl at the end of their journey.
Snatcher can also drag people to a sort of pocket dimension, a black and purple void that his victims seem incapable of escaping unless he allows them to. He has several other miscellaneous abilities that aid him in combat, such as teleportation, intangibility, telekinesis, cloning and transforming his body, and darkness manipulation, all of which make him a versatile foe. He is even capable of stretching his body long distances and creating massive laser columns on the floor.
And if all those powers weren’t enough, if his opponent has caused him enough trouble and they’ve driven him to the edge, Snatcher can bypass their health and strength to instantly kill them! He does it with Hat Kid if she refuses to sign his contract, and it also happens to servants of his when their usefulness runs out!
You sound a little too enthusiastic about such a dark ability, Starlow…
Huh? Oh… Uh, yeah, now that I think about it? That’s pretty messed up. Not cool at all. Why bother doing that anyway when he’d have to wait for another person to get lost in his forest? Kind of wasteful.
‘Wasting resources,’ as you put it, is hardly the Snatcher’s only flaw. His frequent use of his underlings to do things for him leaves him with few showing of his physical capabilities outside his fight with Hat Kid.
His dry wit attitude also leaves him as a slightly cocky individual, which can lead him to toy with and underestimate his enemies until they show that they’re actually a match for him. This… sounds familiar, actually.
Those flaws don’t mean he isn’t a spirit to be reckoned with, though. Don’t get lost in Subcon Forest, or you might lose your head – literally!
The Snatcher: Time you saw what I’m really capable of, kid. Say goodbye to that little head of yours!
Cross-Examination
I believe that’s everything to cover about them. That means we’re ready to start!
Perfect! Place your bets, everyone, and let’s deal with some devils!
Setting: Inkwell Hell, The Devil’s Casino
It was a fine day to run the Devil’s Casino. Patrons were swarming the establishment from all across Inkwell Isle, betting and gambling across its many gaming tables. Skeleton busboys and waiters bustled to and fro, offering the guests drinks as they rolled die after die. The profits were steadily raking in as gamblers were fueled into reckless streaks, giving everything to toss the dice just one more time. On any other day, the manager of such a lively casino would have a carefree smile on their face as their riches piled up further.
Today was not such a carefree day, however. Muffled behind several layers of soundproofing hastily tacked to the outside of the casino’s managerial office door were furious roars and the sounds of furniture being thrown in all directions, accompanied by the smell of burning wood. Inside the office, several wooden fixtures were alight with flame, scorched black and smoking as the splinters of some less fortunate items lay around them, utterly destroyed in a heated rage. In the middle of all this destruction stood the Devil, ruler of Inkwell Hell, and he had a furious glint in his eyes as steam poured from his ears. In his fists, he was tightly clutching two of his desk’s legs, which he had roughly torn off as just a part of his fury-induced frenzy. Several small demon servants were cowering in the corners of their boss’s office, hiding behind burnt pieces of furniture to escape the carnage.
Peeking out from behind the office window’s curtains, the Devil’s right-hand man, King Dice, spoke up, seeing an opportunity to talk his boss down while he had slowly whittled down the number of things he could destroy in his office.
King Dice: B-boss… There’s no need to be so worked u-
The sentient die couldn’t finish his sentence before he was forced to dive out of the way of the Devil’s flaming throne, which punched through the office wall with a solid crunch. In response, the Devil boomed commandingly at his closest subordinate, flames spewing from his mouth with every word.
The Devil: STUFF IT, DICE! That kid had every contract from the first isle! EVERY SINGLE ONE!! And he gets cooked by some little girl in a dress!?
Seething with unadulterated rage, the Devil roared at the ceiling, forcefully pressing his palms against his face as his anger built. Not wanting his boss’s temper tantrum to scare off the patrons of the casino, King Dice waved his arms fretfully to keep the Devil focused on what he was saying.
King Dice: N-now hold on, boss! The contracts ain’t lost, they’re still at the Die House between Isles one and two! L-let’s just go get them before we d-do anything hasty, eh?
The tension in the air was as heated as the flames leaping from the Devil’s jaw as he huffed and puffed, winded from his outrage. His fists were clenched so tightly that his entire arms were shaking, but he slowly loosened the tension in his body and exhaled a long puff of smoke through his nose, venting the heated feeling out of his body. Anger was clearly still present in his system, but it was now leashed and controlled… For the time being, at least.
The Devil: …Fine. Let’s go.
The Devil swiftly turned and marched towards his door, grabbed the big golden knob, and pulled it open only to be greeted by the backside of one of several layers of soundproofing his lackeys had put outside the door to keep his rampaging from scaring the casino’s patrons. The Devil’s grip on the doorknob tightened until his fingers pressed into the metal, permanently denting it.
The Devil: …DICE!
King Dice: Y-yes, boss!
The Devil: WHERE’S THE DOOR HOLE!?
Panicking as their boss raised his voice, several purple demons scurried to the doorframe and flung the soundproofing mats down the hall, unblocking the office door so the Devil could exit and begin a slow pace down the lavishly padded hallway toward the casino floor. As he approached the stairwell that would take him down to the main casino floor, he heard the sounds of small footsteps ascending the steps. The giant casino manager thought nothing of it initially, but when he heard the panicked voice of one of his small demon servants coming from the stairwell, it gave him enough pause to stop his advance and listen.
Butler Demon: N-now wait a minute, you two! You’re already in a restricted area, but if you’re seriously trying to get to the boss’s office then I’ll have no choice but toOOF-!
A loud WHACK was heard, and the small butler demon came flying into view headfirst. The top of his head smacked into the ajar steel door, and he crumpled to the floor with a disgruntled groan, small apparitions of umbrellas cartoonishly orbiting his head. Curious, the Devil arched an eyebrow as more footsteps continued up the stairwell, and from the staircase emerged two young girls, one with a blue umbrella slung over her shoulder. The umbrella bearer between the two of them was clad in purple and yellow with a top hat the size of her whole body adorning her head, while her cohort had curly brown hair that was wrapped around with a green bow that matched her green jacket. Together, the duo of Hat Kid and Bow Kid exchanged a high five as they passed by the downed demon servant, their childish giggling distracting them from the scowling roadblock just in front of them. Each small adventurer bumped into one of the Devil’s two legs, neither of them even coming up to his knees in height, and they stumbled back in surprise before looking up simultaneously, beholding the Devil’s folded arms and annoyed expression.
The Devil: Well now… Just what do we have here?
A slow, annoyed tapping of the Devil’s foot made Hat Kid and Bow Kid both take a few steps back, his already frustrated demeanor beating down on them like a heat wave.
The Devil: I don’t think I need to tell you two kids that you’re in a restricted part of MY casino. I don’t take kindly to grown-ups not mindin’ their own business around here, much less a couple of little girls. Who let you two runts in here, anyhow?
Hat Kid and Bow Kid turned to look at each other as the Devil spoke, whispering to each other quietly at a volume the Devil couldn’t pick up. He opened his mouth to protest, but before he could say anything, Hat Kid had stuck the tip of her umbrella through the top of a piece of paper, and she was standing on tip-toe to offer the scrap to the much taller casino owner.
The Devil: I- …Eh? What’s this?
Plucking the piece of paper from the umbrella with the tips of his claws, the tall demon slipped on a small pair of reading glasses to inspect the offering. Scribbled on the small sheet was a crudely drawn hourglass marked on the paper in vibrantly colored crayon, with even more crudely drawn faces of Hat Kid and Bow Kid pointing at the hourglass with what the Devil could only assume to be eager looks. Adjusting his small spectacles with a confused look, he spun together what conclusions he could from the drawing.
The Devil: …You’re lookin’ for an hourglass?
Hat Kid nodded, seeming proud of her artistic skills. Slipping off his spectacles and handing the paper back to the comparatively minuscule girls, the Devil gestured behind him towards the far end of the hallway, where the giant door to his safe was.
The Devil: Well, I might have seen one in there earlier this mornin’ when I was doin’ the ol’ inventory…
At his words, Hat Kid and Bow Kid both looked delighted and took off towards the safe door, running past the Devil’s legs as fast as theirs could carry them. They didn’t get very far past the casino manager, however, before a line of flames suddenly sprouted from the red carpet, forcing them to come screeching to an unexpected halt.
The Devil: Ah, the naiveté of kids. Takes me back to my highway cup-and-balls trick days.
Casually, the Devil waved his hand in a circular motion, and as if by sorcery his golden trident appeared in his hand. Tapping the floor twice with the blunt end of his favorite weapon, a black hole opened in the floor, which the Devil hopped into, disappearing from sight only to reappear in the same instant through a duplicate hole in the ceiling on the other side of the fireline blocking Hat Kid and Bow Kid from advancing further down the hall. Both kids looked just a bit more frightened and stepped back a bit further. As the Devil used his towering height over them to his benefit, he leaned over the small line of flames to get ever closer to the two of them, the flames below his fuzzy chin illuminating his conniving, fang-filled grin with a sinister underlighting. He held his trident in one hand that he kept behind his body, keeping the proximity between him and the two girls to a minimum as he began to work his devilishly slick dealmaking skills.
The Devil: I couldn’t help but notice how… efficiently, you dealt with my associate over there…
Complimenting his words, the Devil nodded towards the stairwell, where the small demon butler was finally starting to pick himself up, a cartoonishly large welt having sprung up from the top of his head.
The Devil: …And I just so happen to be in need of a capable set of hands or two. I don’t need to remind you that you’re already trespassing on MY property, so from where I’m standing…
As the Devil extended his free hand, Bow Kid tried to step back even further, but because of how far back she was craning to look up at the Devil’s towering form, she ended up falling over, and Hat Kid stepped between her and the intimidating entity before them with her umbrella held like a rapier, protecting her friend from potential harm. But what unfurled from the Devil’s palm as he opened his closed fist wasn’t fire or a magic blast or anything of the sort, but instead a very familiar parchment with plenty of long words: a contract.
The Devil: …You haven’t got much room to argue with THIS proposal… Now do ya? Just sign your names right at the bottom, and after some good, honest work, you two will get your hourglass and you can waltz back to whence ya came. So… Do we have a deal?
A floating feather pen appeared out of thin air next to the contract in the Devil’s hand, simply waiting for Hat Kid to decide to slowly approach, which, after a quick glance of consultation with Bow Kid, she did. Lowering the umbrella and holding her unoccupied hand out to grab the feather, the Devil’s grin of evil glee grew wider, and his grip on his trident became tighter in anticipation.
Suddenly, however, Hat Kid yelped in surprise and jumped back, causing the Devil’s smile to falter and for him to shift his eyes down towards the floor, following Hat Kid’s sudden shift in gaze. A long, shadowy arm was reaching out of the Devil’s elongated shadow, cast by the ceiling lights hanging over his leaned-out body onto the carpet. That arm beheld a hand that had its index finger and thumb curled into a flicking position, and doing just that, the index finger shot forward and smacked the contract’s feather pen into the air, sailing in an arc over the Devil’s head before falling slowly into the heightened line of flames on the ground, turning it to ash in the wind. The Devil’s smile was totally wiped off his face, replaced by a perplexed look of utter shock as Hat Kid and Bow Kid both stared at the arm in the floor, which suddenly pointed toward the two of them.
???: I’m so hurt by the both of you… You decided to sign a contract…
The arm’s hand planted itself on the floor as more and more of a long, shadowy body appeared through the lavish crimson carpet. Both of the kids’ eyes glinted with recognition, while the Devil simply stared in confusion, the flames on the floor going out as his passion from almost having a sealed deal slipped between his fingers like dust. Paying the giant casino manager no mind, the fully revealed figure spread his arms wide, his glowing face turned upside down in a frown of mock betrayal.
The Snatcher: …And you didn’t even INVITE me! So inconsiderate!
Hat Kid almost rolled her eyes before stuffing her hand in her coat pocket, producing the same crayon drawing of a Time Piece she had shown the Devil before holding it up for the shady newcomer to see, pointing at it to accentuate her statement. Bow Kid quickly got to her feet and pointed at the paper as well. As his wispy lower body trailed and quivered like a trail of smoke in the breeze, the Snatcher lowered his upper body and cupped the chin region of his face with one hand, taking a brief look at the picture while the Devil was left behind him, still holding his own contract with a blank look of confusion.
The Snatcher: Still after those Time Pieces, eh, kiddo? Well, I don’t know if you and your friend remember exactly…
Pausing in the middle of his sentence as he reached his long, claw-like fingers into Hat Kid and Bow Kid’s pockets, the Snatcher produced several contracts not too dissimilar from the one in the Devil’s hand, although these were noticeably stamped with purple ink next to the signatures on the bottom, the stamp design capturing the Snatcher’s usual wide-open eyes and luminescent grin.
The Snatcher: …But we’ve got plenty of contracts of our own you could be fulfilling! I don’t approve of you going out and signing contracts with other people while you’re still under MY terms and conditions! Got that!?
Hat Kid and Bow Kid exchanged glances for a moment while the Snatcher finished speaking, and after he finished they both put their thumbs in their ears, wiggled their fingers, and blew raspberries at the ghostly being. The Snatcher’s expression rose up in surprise before quickly falling again into an angry scowl, but before he could lecture them again, he heard the sound of someone clearing his throat behind him.
The Snatcher: WHY YOU- Huh?
Rotating his body on an axis, the Snatcher turned around to look at the Devil, who had an annoyed scowl displayed on his fuzzy features. The tips of his claws had poked through the contract he still had in his hand from how tight his grip had become.
The Snatcher: Oh, it’s you. What do you want? I’m a little busy here.
The Devil scoffed in response to the Snatcher’s dismissive response, almost laughing from how this shadowy newcomer was treating him with such little regard in his own casino. He was having none of it, which he made clear through his tone of voice as he answered the Snatcher’s question.
The Devil: Oh, is that so? Well, I’ll have you know that I was busy up until a moment ago myself! And I don’t appreciate your butting in during a deal in my own casino! I should have all three of you hauled off for trespassing!
To accentuate his threat, the Devil pointed a clawed finger at the collective trio of the Snatcher, Hat Kid, and Bow Kid, the latter two of whom were seated cross-legged on the floor, watching the two large creatures argue.
The Snatcher: Trespassing? Hah! Look, big shot, I come and go from where I want as I please and there’s not much you can do about that. As for these two, entering restricted areas without permission or supervision is part of their job as MY lackeys! It’s all in the fine print of their contracts, which I can safely assure you they… probably didn’t read.
Substantiating his claim with physical evidence, the Snatcher created copies of Hat Kid and Bow Kid’s contracts out of thin air, signatures and stamps all perfectly recreated on the withered old parchment, and stuck them onto the Devil’s outstretched claw like a pin on a corkboard. Finding gesture not only rude but almost mocking, the Devil gritted his fangs together in irritation before snapping in response.
The Devil: Oh, IS IT? Well, here’s what I have to say to your ‘fine print,’ you deal-blocking dirtbag!
Flexing his fingers out before clamping them back shut, the Devil swiftly and strongly formed a fist with his outstretched hand, crumpling the two contract copies before calling forth a burst of flame between his fingers that turned the papers to ash. Hat Kid and Bow Kid both gasped audibly, and the Snatcher’s eyes went wide in shock before narrowing angrily as he moved a bit closer to the Devil, the scorched copies’ remains leaking through his fingers like fine sand.
The Snatcher: HEY-!
The large ghost barely moved a foot closer to the casino master before he was clocked on the side of the head by a swift swing of the Devil’s trident, catching him off guard and sending him crashing through the wall. Hat Kid and Bow Kid both gasped again, this time drawing the attention of the Devil. Now with nothing between him and his desired replacement servants, the Devil smirked and reached out to them with one hand.
The lively scene in the Devil’s Casino’s main showroom floor was loudly interrupted by the Snatcher crashing through the wall high above the floor, sending chunks of the wall fixture raining down towards patrons, all of whom took off in a fit of panic to the dismay of the Devil’s workers on the floor. Regaining his composure and catching himself in midair before he could hit the ground, the Snatcher shook off the surprise of being struck and fixed his attention on the fountain in the center of the room, ripping off the large Devil sculpture in the center and slipping his lower body inside. The water was quickly replaced by acid, making the Snatcher’s combat scenario more familiar.
Emerging through the hole in the wall left by the Snatcher’s body, the Devil burst into the main showroom, his trident and a long rope in his hands. Said rope was revealed to be tied around the wrists of Hat Kid and Bow Kid as he leaped to the ceiling, knotting the rope around the large chandelier fixture and leaving them suspended in the air. Both of them shouted in protest and squirmed violently, but the rope held fast, and the Devil smirked as he dropped to the ground with a new objective in mind, a ruthless grin taking up his facial features as he leaned over in an excited fighting stance.
The Devil: I’m already in a rotten mood from losing ONE capable towel boy today… I’m not about to lose the chance to snag two more! Be a pal and hold still so I can let out some stress, yeah?
It was now the Snatcher’s turn to scoff as he held out his long, dark arms in a combative position, preparing to face off against this newfound aggressor.
The Snatcher: Fat chance, fuzzy! I’ll show you what happens when you mess with my contractors! LET’S GO!
With an excited snarl, the Devil rushed in to make the first move, holding his trident in preparation to attack with it. The Snatcher, seeing his approach, was more than ready for him, and he dodged the first downward swing of his adversary’s golden weapon with ease. The second attack was an upward slash, which the Snatcher leaned out of the way of, but the Devil’s movements were quick, and he allowed his weapon’s momentum to carry him in a circle as he brought the trident around his body, going in for a wide side slash to the Snatcher’s abdominal region. His evil grin changed to a confused frown, however, as he watched the forked head of his trident pass through his foe’s body with seemingly no effect, entering on one side of the Snatcher’s midsection and exiting on the other without a reaction from the ghostly target.
The Devil: What!?
The Snatcher scoffed smugly as he grabbed the shaft of the Devil’s trident after it passed through him completely, swinging the weapon along with its wielder around him before throwing them across the casino showroom. As soon as he had thrown his foe, the Snatcher disappeared into the floor, teleporting to the other side of the room on the opposite end of the Devil’s trajectory. Winding up, the Snatcher unfurled his claw-like fingers before slamming them into the Devil’s back, knocking the devilish dealer across the casino floor yet again.
With another teleport, the Snatcher got behind the Devil’s path of flight again, this time reaching over and grabbing one of the casino’s craps tables before decking the Devil across the back of the head with it. The table split in two on impact, and wood splinters scattered across the floor. Before they were joined by his falling body, though, the Devil opened a hole in the floor that he fell directly into, a second hole opening up on the wall across the room from the Snatcher that the Devil reappeared from, landing deftly on his feet.
Swiftly launching a second assault, the Devil held his trident in front of him, spinning it in a circle with his telekinesis while uttering a demonic mantra. Several magic bubbles appeared in front of him, and he sent them flying out with a swing of his trident. The orbs all flew in different directions, bouncing off just about anything in the room, and the Snatcher weaved between them as he moved in to strike.
Once he was in close, the Snatcher swiped at the Devil repeatedly, his strikes either being blocked by his foe’s trident or dodged at the last second. The flurry of slashes culminated in an upward slice, which the Devil leaned backward to avoid. Retaliating, the Devil launched himself back up from his bent-over position, driving the front faces of his horns into The Snatcher’s cheek, sending the ghostly dealer staggering away and into an incoming flurry of magic orbs, which burst upon impact with the Snatcher’s back, making him grunt in pain. Quickly avoiding another bubble barrage, the Snatcher teleported away once again, this time applying enough force to the movement that a shockwave was let out when he emerged from the floor behind the Devil.
Despite having heard the sound of his foe reappearing at his rear, the Devil couldn’t move in time to avoid the shockwave on the ground that swept his feet out from under him, tripping him up and making him fall on his face. Greatly amused, the Snatcher cackled before teleporting away again, just before the Devil could stab at his lower body from his downed position. Growling at his attack whiffing, The Devil propped himself back onto his hands and knees before noticing what appeared to be a ring of color on the floor, encompassing him. The casino manager tilted his head in confusion, and only noticed just moments too late that the ring’s glow was growing brighter.
The ring culminated in a huge flash of colors surrounding a white beam of energy that blasted the Devil into the ceiling, putting him under serious pain from the blast. Once the pillar of flashing colors disappeared, the Devil fell back to the floor with a painful thud, quickly getting up and shaking his head rapidly to refocus himself. This time, he took notice of what was now at his feet: several dozen yellow targets. Looking up and across the showroom, he saw what those targets were for: the Snatcher had summoned a huge cloud of vials filled with a blue substance, and his arm was cocked back as he prepared to make the pitch.
The Snatcher: Try some of these!
With the swing of his arm, the Snatcher sent a tidal wave of vials soaring at the Devil. Preparing for the incoming rush of projectiles, the Devil held his trident out in front of him, channeling his telekinetic powers to stop several of them just before they crashed into him. As the rest of them came crashing down all around him, he created a barrier of vials that kept any of them from hitting him, and when the rush of vials stopped, he shot the vials he’d grabbed back at his opponent. The Snatcher’s eyes widened and he hastily ducked into the floor with a teleport, the vials sailing past his previous location.
The Snatcher reappeared in the acid fountain before bull-rushing his devilish enemy, intentionally telegraphing his coming swipe so The Devil would block it with his trident. When he did, the Snatcher suddenly grabbed the shaft of the golden weapon and tried to pull it out of the Devil’s hands, a move he vigorously resisted that quickly turned into a game of tug-of-war over the trident. Their strengths seemed evenly matched as they battled to either rearm or disarm, and in hopes of quickly turning the tide in his favor, the Devil brought one hand to his mouth, placed two fingers between his lips, and whistled loudly. The Snatcher was at first confused, but not long after the Devil’s call to arms, the doors around the showroom burst open, a flood of smaller demon grunts spilling out towards their boss and his adversary.
The Devil: Time to earn your keep, boys!
The demon grunts had their orders, and they all began to advance toward the Snatcher accordingly, only to stop and yelp out in surprise when several puffs of black smoke indicated the arrival of the Snatcher’s own shadow minions, who formed a defensive ring around the Devil and the Snatcher to keep the demon foot soldiers out. This quickly kicked off an even more intense scene of battle on the casino floor, with the Devil and the Snatcher battling it out over the gold trident while their minions went at it all around them.
Despite the Devil’s forces having the home field advantage, the Snatcher had called upon more minions at one time, and with the numbers advantage in their corner, the shadow minions ganged up on the hellish purple foot soldiers, several of them at once taking the casino staff down one by one. Spare shadow minions turned around and ran at the big boss of their opponents, climbing up on the Devil’s ankles and distracting him from his current predicament with the Snatcher and his own trident.
The Devil: Grragh!! Infernal little bugs!
Taking one hand off the trident shaft, the Devil conjured up several small fireballs that he flung down at the shadow minions ascending his legs by grabbing tufts of his fur. The small, dark creatures gave out cries of pain as they were knocked away by the flames, and seeing his minions being attacked made the Snatcher flare up with anger, ripping the Devil’s trident out of his hand after a lengthy tug of war over the weapon. Immediately, the Devil’s eyes went wide upon feeling the familiar grip of his trident slip out of his palm, and he whirled to face his foe with a furious look.
The Devil: YOU HORRIBLE-
The Devil couldn’t finish his enraged sentence before he was hit square in the face with his own trident, the golden weapon bouncing off his skull and coming to rest far from the scene of combat between the two large bosses and their smaller minions. Disarmed, the Devil quickly readied himself for unarmed combat as best he could.
The Snatcher: Not so tough now, are you? Here I come!
The Snatcher came rushing at the Devil with several claw swipes, slashing at the Devil’s arm when he raised it to block the attacks. Eager to capitalize on his foe’s lack of a weapon, the Snatcher weaved around the Devil seamlessly, attacking freely while the Devil struggled to match him without his trident or a chance to use his magic. Even when he exploited opportunities to swipe with his own claws, his attacks were passing right through his opponent with no effect. He needed a new plan of attack, and fast if he wanted to stay in the fight.
With a bit of resourceful thinking, the Devil hastily hatched a plan that was just ridiculous enough to work. As the Snatcher prepared to swing at him for the umpteenth time, he reached behind him and grabbed the long tail of one of his demon grunts, flinging him at his shady enemy. The small foot soldier hit the giant ghost’s face and clung to it like a parasite from a horror movie, blocking the Snatcher’s vision and allowing the Devil to stretch his arm far enough to grab his trident off the ground.
The Snatcher: Get… OFF me, you… accursed PEST!!
Clawing and prying at the small demon grunt clinging to his face, all while hearing the small foe’s smug chuckling close to his “ears,” made the Snatcher grow very frustrated with the comparatively minuscule enemy. Slightly enlarging the size of his hand, he grabbed the demon grunt around the torso and violently ripped him free, flinging the pesky fighter across the room and through the far wall of the showroom, leaving a demon-shaped hole in the wood.
Taking a moment to sigh with relief, the Snatcher was caught with his guard down by a swing of the Devil’s trident, slamming him across the head with a mighty strike from the shiny polearm. With the forest dealmaker dazed from the blindside blow, the Devil pointed the business end of his trident at the Snatcher and channeled his pyrokinetic powers through the weapon, a stream of flames spewing forth from the forked staff that burned and flared at its target. Now it was the Devil’s turn to laugh, but not for long, as suddenly the fire blast was warded off from the receiving end, the burning blazes scattering around the room and setting several of the gambling fixtures aflame. When his attack cleared up, the Devil beheld what was in front of him and seemed genuinely surprised.
In front of him was the Snatcher, but not entirely the same as before. He had twisted and reshaped his form to exactly mimic that of the Devil’s, even fashioning a trident out of his own shadowy essence, which he held at the ready. As his initial shock receded, the Devil instead grinned and held his trident in a similar fashion, deciding to humor his enemy’s clever tactic with a straight duel.
The Devil: A clever trick, and I’m very flattered. But cosplay won’t be saving you from what I’ve got in store.
The “Devil” smirked right back and lunged forward with a simple front stab, with the Devil catching the attack between the prongs of his trident, creating a power struggle they both partook in, pushing their weapons against one another.
The Snatcher: Rest assured you’ll be feeling a lot more than flattery in a second.
Freeing his shadow trident from the teeth of his enemy’s, the Snatcher began a lengthy offensive ballet against the Devil, who attacked and defended appropriately in answer to his foe’s movements. The battle between their minions had spread throughout the showroom floor, giving them more than enough breathing room to duel with their tridents as machines were toppled, tables were broken, and fires were stoked in the background of their square-off.
Sternly parrying away one of the Snatcher’s trident swings, the Devil seized the opening and threw his trident forth with a hearty yell, using his telekinesis to make it spin at such a speed it may as well have been a buzzsaw. He guided it forward with impressive speed, and the weapon cut into the Snatcher’s body, but he had already rendered himself intangible, and the flashy attack passed through him at ludicrous spinning speeds. With a confident cackle, The “Devil” swung his trident up in a single-handed upward swipe, knocking the Devil’s weapon high into the air and breaking his telekinetic grip on it. The sudden disruption of his invisible hold on his weapon made the Devil reel for a moment, and a moment was all the Snatcher needed to bring his trident straight down in a wide arc, delivering a meaty two-handed slash that sent the longer middle fork of his trident digging through the Devil’s chest. The cut was deep, and the Devil growled loudly as red-hot pain burst from the open laceration.
Getting greedy with his attacks, the Snatcher snarled as he lunged forward for a stab, only for the Devil to truck through the pain of his new chest wound and leap over it, grabbing his whirling trident out of the air before plummeting down towards his look-alike opponent with his trident out below him for a downward thrust. Seeing the attack coming from above before it could connect, the Snatcher quickly teleported away, and the Devil’s trident found itself stabbing into the floor instead of the shadowy body of its intended recipient. Rather than stick around to try and get another hit in, the Devil went on the defensive and dropped through a hole in the floor to arrive on top of the chandelier fixture hanging from the ceiling. Setting his trident aside and rolling his neck, the Devil allowed a low chuckle as his throat began to lengthen.
The Snatcher, still transformed to look like the Devil, reappeared from the floor and looked around for his enemy, only to slowly begin to turn around as a lengthy shadow fell over him from above. Looming overhead was the Devil’s head attached to an abnormally long neck, with small frills sprouting from his spine and several additional pairs of limbs protruding from his neck to form his serpent form. The Devil continued to laugh in a sinister manner as his head snaked toward the Snatcher, his multiple new sets of limbs stretching and picking up trashed slot machines and scorched craps tables, throwing a couple to initiate his barrage. The Snatcher, fretfully moving to avoid the incoming swaths of his foe’s new battle tactic, dropped his copycat transformation in favor of his sleeker, more familiar form before hastily flying out of the way of the incoming casino furnishings, darting around scuffles between the demon grunts and his shadow minions that were still ongoing throughout the showroom.
Watching his opponent smoothly dodge everything he was throwing his way made the Devil all the more frustrated at the Snatcher’s slippery nature on the battlefield, and as he continued to follow his movements around the casino floor he became more and more wild with his throws, the furnishings having even more chaotic impacts upon landing with a wall or the floor. And yet, despite the strength behind his pitches and how numerous they were, the Snatcher was just too quick for them, taunting the Devil with a laugh from afar. After several laps around the perimeter of the showroom, the Snatcher suddenly looked in the Devil’s direction and winked, his eye twinkling as the room suddenly went completely dark all around the Devil. With several gambling accessories in his many clutches, the Devil grunted angrily as he swirled around the room, trying to adjust to the inky blackness around him to spot his evasive adversary.
A familiar yellow set of eyes and a mouth suddenly popped up from behind the curtain of darkness, and the Devil roared as he reared up every single one of his limbs, throwing his entire stockpiled arsenal of gambling tables, slot machines, roulette wheels, and card game booths all at once in a frenzy.
The Devil: THERE YOU ARE!!
The furnishings all flew through the darkness before hitting their mark with a painfully loud CRASH, the Snatcher’s familiar grin disappearing from view. The Devil panted, momentarily spent, but as the darkness around him receded he was treated to a most unpleasant surprise: the many items he’d just thrown had all hit a cardboard cutout decoy, the broken-off Snatcher head laying on the ground amidst a pile of wood splinters and metal scraps. As he looked around to see if the Snatcher was anywhere to his sides, what he saw was even more upsetting, as several of his grunts had been flattened and buried under objects he’d thrown with the intent to hit the Snatcher.
It was then that his elongated head finally whirled around to face his rear, and it was then that he finally spotted the Snatcher, who was positioned behind a large line of his shadow minions, all of whom held oversized cherries that seemed to glow and spark with an explosive energy. With a grin only worn by the most skilled of planners, the Snatcher waved a pointing finger out at the Devil’s serpentine form, giving his underlings the command they were waiting for.
The Snatcher: Let him have it!
In a simultaneous throwing array, the shadow platoon all hurled their cherries at the Devil, who simply stared them down with a baffled look. The closer they got to him, the brighter they glowed, and as they all got within range of their target, they revealed their true nature as cherry bombs with a dynamic explosion that rocked the entire casino, kicking up a giant smog cloud around the center of the explosion, accompanied by a huge gust of wind that blew aside the Snatcher’s shadow minions. The Snatcher himself held his ground through the howling gales, and as the aftermath of his cherry bomb rush began to clear, he looked to the chandelier to see if the Devil was still there. all he saw, however, were Hat Kid and Bow Kid, who were still dangling from their rope bonds the same as they had been since the fight started. Knowing there would have been something left of his satanic opposition even after a blast like that, the Snatcher began to survey his environment for any sign of the enemy.
The Snatcher: Now, where did you gAHHHH!!
Standing behind his haunting foe, the Devil’s toothy grin grew as wide as ever as his foe cried out in pain, his shimmering trident buried clean through the Snatcher’s midsection. The Inkwell Hell ruler twisted the forked weapon as he chuckled darkly, and his foe groaned as his large black hands closed around its shaft, his glowing grin twisting into a fluorescent frown. As he continued to torment the Snatcher with his impaled weapon, the Devil’s eyes glinted with evil intent as small flames appeared in his pupils.
The Devil: You’ve got a nice bag of tricks, my slippery friend. But here’s a news flash for you… When you gamble with the devil? He always wins.
The Devil unleashed another sinister, deep, booming laugh as a circle of flames began to spark up around the acid ring in the center of the casino floor. Consumed with glee over his victory, the Devil’s fangs curled and his tongue flickered out in a forked fashion, his howls of laughter continuing to echo around the area. In the midst of his laughing fit, however, the Snatcher began to muster up a response.
The Snatcher: Rrgh… Not half bad… But you’ve gotten so caught up in winning the fight in front of you…
Abruptly, the Snatcher pulled himself forward, extending the lower trail of his body so suddenly that the Devil lost his grip on his trident. His smug smirk fell away and was swiftly replaced by a shocked scowl, and as the Snatcher dove into the acid pool he finished his sentence with a trademark grin.
The Snatcher: …That you’re not even aware of what’s going on right under your nose!
The moment he got the last word out, the Snatcher vanished into the acid fountain, taking the Devil’s trident with him. Following his enemy’s movement, the Devil noticed a bright light in the lower area of his peripheral vision, and he looked straight down at his feet to see a cluster of dozens of multicolored rings on the floor, completely surrounding him.
The Devil: …Well, blow me down.
And that they did. The rings simultaneously erupted into giant flashing columns of energy, shaking the entire arena and lighting it up like a fireworks show as the Devil’s pained wails rang out over the rushing streams of energy. The Snatcher appeared from the floor, his enemy’s trident now in hand rather than through his gut, and he cackled to himself, delighted at his own clever strategy as his attacks blocked all vision of the Devil. Hat Kid and Bow Kid were still dangling by their wrists next to him, and they had suddenly put on several pairs of shades as the bright lights flared in front of them.
Finally, the pillars of colors faded away, and all that was left of the Devil was a skeleton that stood in place with a look of abject pain on its skeletal face. Spinning his snatched weapon as a new trophy, the Snatcher made use of it as a leaning post, the forked end stabbing into the ground slightly as he sighed, dusting off his healed midsection casually.
The Snatcher: Let that be a lesson to you, kids: Don’t go making deals with dark and shady characters. Unless, you know… they’re me. Now, are you gonna get yourselves down from there, or do I have to do all the work around here?
Hat Kid’s response was a swift but clear shake of the head, while Bow Kid stuck her tongue out and pulled down one of her lower eyelids, making a taunting face at the giant ghost. Snatcher’s palm smacked against the center of his head as he let out a deep, frustrated sigh, but the two kids couldn’t savor their superiority for long, as Bow Kid noticed something moving on the other side of the casino floor behind her shady friend. The young child turned her head swiftly to look past the Snatcher to see what the movement was, and she immediately gasped and went wide-eyed behind her several pairs of shades, drawing Snatcher’s attention.
The Snatcher: Huh? What is it?
The large ghoul turned to look to the other side of the arena as well, and his expression turned to one of surprise. Both of them turned their gazes upward as a growing shadow was cast over them, flames alighting around the edges of the casino as a deep, menacing cackle boomed through the air.
The Devil had gone from being nothing but bones to sporting a new coat of crimson red fur, and he now towered over the two figures below him. His eyes were a bright, luminous yellow, sharply contrasting against his scarlet red body, and he peered down with a menacing frown. Clearly, he was none too happy about his opponent getting the best of him, and he knew just what to do in retaliation.
The Devil: If I can’t have them as my replacement lackeys…
Before the Snatcher had a chance to process what he was saying, the Devil’s massive paw swung down from above, grabbing Hat Kid and Bow Kid before lifting the two up to his eyes. His fists completely enclosed the alien youths, and Snatcher gasped at the imposing danger. The Devil unhinged his jaw as flames leaped from his mouth, fangs bared monstrously and forked tongue lashing from between them like a fleshy whip.
The Devil: …THEN NEITHER CAN YOU!
Seeing his main lackey in danger, the Snatcher rushed up towards his foe’s closed hands to snatch her out of harm’s way, but he was too slow. A massive fiery explosion illuminated the ghostly realm for a split second, blinding the forest’s overseer and sending him flying back to the ground. The Snatcher’s large, dark hands shielded his eyes for a moment as he slowly blinked to refocus his vision, and when his line of sight cleared up he looked up at his now massive opponent, who snarled angrily in an appropriately devilish manner, coming down from his fit of rage and settling into maniacal glee. Slowly and dramatically, he opened his cupped paws.
A pile of ash fell from between his fingers like a fine sand, with no trace of the small, spunky explorers. The Devil’s sick grin shook as the corners of his lips curled up into a sadistic grin, drinking in the Snatcher’s shocked look.
The Devil: Now, with THAT out of the way… You came trespassin’ on my property, disrupted my business deal, destroyed my casino floor, scared away my patrons, and even had the NERVE to lay a finger on me. IN MY OWN DOMAIN.
The Devil’s pillars of hellfire surged even higher, licking the tiles of the casino ceiling. Lifting one of his massive arms and pressing his middle finger to his thumb, the Devil snapped his fingers with a loud, crisp snapping sound, and several winged demons flew forth from the flames, welling up blasts in their mouths as they began to surround the Snatcher, who was staring at the floor, his face out of the Devil’s sight.
The Devil: Normally I’d make you sign your life away to my servitude for the trouble you’ve caused… But I’m not feeling very merciful today. Any last words?
The Snatcher was uncharacteristically silent. Frowning down at his seemingly frozen foe, the Devil dismissively tossed his hand up and looked to the side, folding his massive arms before signing off.
The Devil: Well, if you’re gonna be like that, fine by me then. I’ve got a casino to rebuild. Boys, he’s all yours.
The winged devils surrounding the Snatcher flapped their wings excitedly as they prepared to mow their target down like a hellish firing squad. With their boss inattentive and their sights trained on the Snatcher, however, they were all oblivious to what was being blown all around the room by the blazing inferno surrounding the casino floor. After being flung through the air like paper in a windstorm, the trail of Hat Kid and Bow Kid’s scorched ashes came to rest at the Snatcher’s “feet”, or lack thereof. Shakily, his left fist clenched tight, and he slowly lifted his right arm up over his head. The winged demons ceased their charging in confusion, and the Devil, annoyed by the lack of shooting, offered a sideways glance down at his minions surrounding the ghostly intruder.
The Devil: Well, what in blazes is taking so lo-?
In the palm of the Snatcher’s hand, a cherry appeared, only for him to form a fist around it, crushing the fruit as soon as it appeared. However, rather than cherry flesh, the fruit spewed forth a large explosion, consuming not only the Snatcher but all of the winged demons, who yelled out in surprise as they were caught in the blast. The resulting smoke cloud lingered in place, obscuring the Devil’s vision of the scene below. All he saw, however, was red.
The Devil: WhaaaaaAAAAAAT!?
The large, demonic casino master whirled around to directly face the scene, his huge frame whipping up gusts high above the dust cloud that fanned the flames consuming the casino. He raised a fist and used his magic power to call the flames to him, collecting a massive fireball over his head that he prepared to swing down onto the smoke cloud to finish off his foe himself. Before he could make the move, however…
“That. Does it.”
Coldly spoken and without a discernible point of origin, the short but punctual message echoed around the casino floor amidst the sounds of raging fire and collapsing foundations. As the Devil looked around, despite the light of the fires in his midst, his surroundings began to darken into a grimy purple color. The familiar but fiery casino suddenly disappeared, and despite the light of the massive fireball hovering over his head, everything around the Devil sank into an inky darkness. Baring his fangs in a confused frown, the Devil continued to whirl around in search of his foe, the massive orb of fire waiting for its chance to strike.
The Devil: A cheap trick, hiding in the dark! Come out here and show yourself!
A faint glint of metal flickered in the blackness behind the Devil, along with the brief whoosh of movement. Reacting, the casino master swerved his head to look behind him, only to wince as the cold, hard texture of a metal pole slap him across the face. As he let out a cry and staggered back, the metallic weapon then spun as its wielder lowered it before sharply thrusting it upward, smacking the Devil’s huge fireball and sending it flying high into the air, warding off the darkness and revealing the ghostly purple void that stretched in all directions. This also caught the Devil by surprise, and as he regained his balance on the cold purple floor his angered glare trained on where the hits had come from, only for the fury in his eyes to back off, giving way to surprise.
Before him was the Snatcher, now as large as he, with his trident in hand and lower body in the acid fountain. Without a word, the Snatcher reared up and threw the Devil’s trident into the air like a javelin, the three-pronged spear soaring higher and higher until it hit the Devil’s massive midair fireball, knocking it higher still and causing a cascade of flames to come loose. The trident was vaporized upon impact, and the straying blazes landed in a ring around the Snatcher’s domain, eerily lighting the scene of their final confrontation. The Snatcher’s face was contorted into a dark glower, dark power radiating from the outer edges of his shady form as hatred coursed through his being. There was only one thing left to say…
The Snatcher: TIME TO DIE.
Immediately channeling his power into the floor, the Snatcher began firing off several columns of energy that the Devil was forced to hastily shy away from. Unlike the columns he’d made before, these were now black in color on the inside and had a much harsher color scheme to their exterior flares, almost making them seem like an extension of the Snatcher’s newfound ire.
Continuing to leap away from the Snatcher’s giant laser beams, the Devil opened up two holes in the ground on the far side of the violet arena, summoning more fat, winged demons alongside a multitude of smaller imp demons. As the larger demons slowly began a path of flight around the Snatcher’s light barrages, the imps moved in to attract the large ghost’s attention, shooting between the enormous light columns with their tiny, agile bodies. As they got closer to their boss’s adversary, they gradually angled their flight path up toward the Snatcher’s glowing face, taking careful aim between the huge blasts roaring off in every direction around them.
The Snatcher: Not this time!
With a swift wave of his arm, the Snatcher created a full row of explosive columns that shot up from the floor in front of him, suddenly cutting off the imps’ route and forcing them to hastily pull up to avoid vaporization. Despite the roaring of his lasers, the Snatcher was not oblivious to the sound of shots being charged up behind him, and he waited patiently for his chance to counter-strike. As the Devil’s fat, winged demons finished preparing their all-in-one attack, the squad of hellish brutes spat a volley of skulls that all rushed at the Snatcher’s turned back, only to be smacked aside when he suddenly whirled around, batting them away with the back of his hand. The winged demons barely had the time to nervously swallow before the Snatcher was upon them, and with a single, easy swing of his claws, the Devil’s men were cut down to size, their bodies being slashed to pieces before poofing out of existence entirely.
Above the sudden slaughter, the imps had pulled a looping spiral out of their upward ascent as the pillars blocking their way ceased fire, allowing them to pass. Turning their path of descent to directly drop down toward the Snatcher, the imps opted for a divebombing attack pattern, the three of them lining up in a triangle as they fell with breakneck speed toward their target. They were very surprised, however, when they passed straight through the Snatcher’s back before emerging from his front, and none of them had the time to register their foe’s wide-open arms before they came clapping in from the sides, smashing the imps into paste – or at least, would-be paste, had the Devil’s troops not simply gone up in a poof of smoke when they were defeated. Thoroughly unimpressed, the Snatcher began to turn back toward the direction he last knew the Devil to be in, offering some cold, bitter remarks.
The Snatcher: If this is all you have to offer at this point, I might as well finish this no-
The Snatcher’s minor gloat was abruptly ended by an unexpected punch to the temple by the Devil, who had stretched his arm across a considerable distance to avoid being detected by his supernatural aggressor. With the Snatcher reeling, the Devil retracted his elongated appendage before scrunching up his face in concentration.
The Devil: Don’t go getting too cocky, now! I’m not through with you yet!
In a bizarre and somewhat grotesque fashion, the Devil crossed his eyes to such an extreme that they both fused into one single eye in the middle of his face. This wasn’t just to make a face at his foe, however, as several glowing and levitating axes emerged from his pupils that began to slowly drift away from him. After making several dozens of these Axes of Torment, the Devil poured much more focus into his eyes, creating a significantly larger Axe of Torment that fell straight to the floor after falling from his pupil, rather than floating forward like the rest of them. Reforming his two eyes, the Devil picked up the larger Axe of Torment and began to use it like a makeshift baseball bat, swinging it into the smaller axes and sending them shooting toward the Snatcher at a ludicrous pace.
To defend against the incoming flurry of axes, the Snatcher created a huge book and slammed it down in front of him with a strained grunt, the dozens of smaller Axes of Torment embedding their razor-sharp blades in the cover of the thick text with rapid-fire thump noises. Just as the final one was blocked, however, the giant book was cleaved in half by the Devil and his much larger axe, forcing the Snatcher to back off a bit as the dangerously honed weapon came very close to cutting into his shadowy body. Despite his preference of a trident in close quarters, the Devil was deadly efficient with his newfound blade, widely swinging his supersized Axe of Torment at the Snatcher while advancing toward him all the while, putting up one hell of an offensive front that the Snatcher couldn’t get around in time to strike back.
Throwing together something resembling a plan in his head, the Snatcher quickly backed away from the Devil’s attacks, creating a lengthy trail of wooden stand-ins of himself in his wake. Blinded by bloodlust, the Devil began chopping through the wooden Snatchers with minimal physical exertion, stomping further down the line as he slashed apart cutout after cutout of his opponent. As their numbers seemed inexhaustible, the Devil grew all the more enraged, growing tunnel vision as the only thing he could see was the painted-on grin of his ghostly enemy. No matter how many stand-ins he reduced to splinters, there were always more immediately after them, and this got his blood to boiling.
The Devil: JUST. DIE. YOU. MISERABLE. PATHETIC. GHOST!!
Spoken through fangs gritted as tightly together as they could possibly be, the Devil accentuated his words by cutting apart a wooden Snatcher look-alike for every word he spoke. As he finished his sentence, he threw his overly large Axe of Torment out in front of him, the giant blade spinning vertically as it steamrolled through countless wooden fakes. Recovering from his hefty pitch, the Devil stood up straight and drew in deep, heavy, ragged breaths of air as the sounds of his axe smacking through wood over and over made him feel relief from the tension of the battle. However, his relief didn’t last long, as there came a loud boom from the far end of the line of Snatcher stand-ins, and the enormous Axe of Torment was deflected off a mysterious force far away from the Devil, going flying over his head and sailing far away into the abyssal surroundings of the Snatcher’s domain. After following its arc of travel with a look that was a clean mixture of shock and rage, the Devil looked back down the line to see a giant shockwave as tall as him roaring in his direction, plowing through the Snatcher’s wooden fakes much faster than his axe had.
Before he could move or teleport out of the way, the Devil was hammered by the shockwave and became a passenger in its thunderous travel across the violet arena, being pushed and dragged along the floor by the momentous movement. After crossing nearly half the room, the Devil’s back was harshly thrust against the acid fountain’s marble edge, an impact at which he sharply cried out in pain, the shockwave continuing to roar past him and the fountain with a mind of its own. Cursing under his breath as a sharp pain hammered his spine, the Devil slowly got up, rubbing his back tenderly with one hand to nurse the aching pains.
With his attention and senses entirely diverted toward the throbbing pain in his back, the Devil was completely oblivious to the Snatcher’s sudden appearance, the giant ghostly combatant slowly rising from the center of the acid fountain with a murderous intent in his luminescent eyes. In one hand he held a rolled-up contract, and once he had fully emerged from the fountain’s middle, he put that contract to work, swiftly wrapping it around the Devil’s head and covering his eyes with the parchment, blinding him out of the blue. Caught with his pants down, the Devil suddenly roared and wildly flailed in all directions like a frenzied animal as his sight was cut off, nearly flinging himself off the ground in his struggles to regain his vision.
Once the Devil’s eyesight was securely blinded, the Snatcher began to coil his lower body around the Devil’s neck, making sure the entirety of his foe’s throat was surrounded by his wispy body before tightening it lightning-fast like a snake binding up its prey. In an instant, the Devil’s windpipe was choked and his access to air was cut off, and in an even more animalistic panic, he wildly struggled and thrashed about every movable inch of his body, straining to wheeze out a furious roar that ended up sounding more like a compressed gargle. His paws wrapped around the Snatcher’s coiled lower body and he pulled at his foe with all his waning strength, fighting madly as his mind began to feel light and fuzzy from oxygen deprivation. Even as he felt his consciousness begin to slip away, the Devil continued to battle against the approaching darkness around the outsides of his obscured vision. As his mind racked itself for a desperate last-ditch effort to free his body from the Snatcher’s unyielding death grip on his jugular, instincts kicked in at the last second and a few sparks of flame leaped from his paws, growing exponentially in brightness over the course of a few seconds. The Snatcher saw the flames and his eyes went wide as they grew more and more, the fires quivering with anticipation as they reached critical mass.
The Snatcher: Uh oh.
A giant blast of fire exploded from the Devil’s entire body, his mind acting instinctively to save him from being choked to death by the Snatcher, who was sent flying away from the acid fountain by the intense flare. Despite its concentrated area of effect, the intense flash of light given off by the burst nearly outshone the giant fireball in the sky, which was coming dangerously close to the ground. As his grip on the Devil’s throat was thrown away and his blinding contract was incinerated on the spot, the Snatcher cried out as the blast tossed him across his domain like a rag doll, landing on his back and slowly sliding to a stop as he recovered from the explosion. As he rubbed his head, the Snatcher allowed his body to be lifted up, groaning as his vision cleared. From across the battlefield, he could begin to make out the Devil standing far away from him with his back turned, but there was something very different about him now. Flames continued to burn at his paws, and his already glowing horns seemed to be shining even brighter as if their temperature had only increased. The Devil slowly looked over his shoulder at the Snatcher, and even from such a far distance, the fire in the Devil’s eyes was unmistakable. He turned around fully with a single pivot on his heel before planting his foot down and unleashing a deep, unholy roar, fires roaring to life all around him as his emotions reached a fever pitch.
Lifting one arm over his head as the huge fireball over them came ever closer, the Snatcher called forth a huge stream of blue vials, which flew around him in circles like a serpent before he extended his hand with a shout, the wave of jars shooting at the Devil with blinding speed. Baring his fangs and clenching his jaw, the Devil unleashed another mighty shout as he stomped the floor with one foot and raised one paw like a band conductor. A wall of flame burst to life out of thin air, the raging inferno not only vaporizing the vials but pushing the fireball back into the air, preventing it from killing the both of them in a blaze of glory.
When the curtain of flame dropped, what greeted the Devil was a wall of smoke, the result of the instant incineration of thousands of blue vials clouding his line of sight. As the casino ruler raised his right paw to clear the cloud, the Snatcher’s sinister laughter echoed hauntingly throughout the empty space from beyond the smog, and the ghostly dealmaker’s obscured visage came into view, slowly coming closer. Scoffing, the Devil waved his paw in an upward diagonal arc, several blue bubbles appearing from behind his palm as if by magic. Then, sharply swinging the blade of his paw back down in the reverse direction, he launched the volley of magical spheres toward the shadow of his foe.
The Devil: I’ve had ENOUGH of this mockery! It’s time to end this!
The ring of magical projectiles shot through the smog like bullets, but just as they were about to strike their target, the shadow of the Snatcher suddenly split apart into two, the bubbles passing through the space between the two Snatchers harmlessly. The Devil’s eyes shot open in surprise at the appearance of yet another of his enemy’s parlor tricks.
The Snatcher: I couldn’t agree more.
The Snatcher’s laughter continued to reverberate around the battlefield as more and more clones began to spring up in a ring around the Devil, who paced in a circle as more and more glowing grins appeared around him. One of the Snatcher’s clones grinned as he snapped his fingers, and the entire pocket realm suddenly took a dive into darkness, the many Snatchers in the Devil’s vicinity ducking into the shadows to disappear from sight completely. The Devil clenched his fists as he continued to step in circles, waiting for something to come shooting out at him from the dark.
Shadowy claws raked past the Devil’s ankles, extracting from him a grunt and a swift move of retaliation with a punch to the ground from whence the attack originated. His fist only hit the ground, however, and another smug laugh from the Snatcher reached the Devil’s ears, much to his fury. The seething rage building up inside him didn’t have much time to simmer, though, as more and more Snatcher clones lunged from behind the all-encompassing curtain of darkness, catching him off-guard and continually striking several different areas of his body. Amidst the barrage of shadowy slashing, the Snatcher’s voice echoed in his ears.
The Snatcher: You might think that this isn’t a very fair way to fight… But I don’t suppose incinerating my best lackeys before they could resist was a very fair thing to do either, don’t you?
Hearing his enemy’s dialogue as pain shooting through him sparked rushes of adrenaline made the Devil’s fury rise to a fever pitch. As another Snatcher duplicate moved to strike, the Devil unexpectedly whirled around and, as his arm extended far beyond its normal reach, punched the shadowy clone square in the face, making it reel back and disappear in a puff of smoke. The other Snatcher duplicates within the Devil’s vicinity hesitated as they saw their fellow apparition fall, and smoke puffed from the Devil’s nostrils as his arms both grew in length, his horns grew and curled back, his crimson red fur bristled with emotion, and his stance stiffened.
The Devil: The DEVIL… DOESN’T PLAY FAIR!!
Whirling around in place to throw a furious glare into the darkness, where he could now see several glowing Snatcher faces, the Devil fully assumed his goat transformation, fusing it with his giant state for a terrifyingly potent combat combination. He unhinged his jaw and stomped one foot on the ground, his rock-hard hooves glinting with light as small streams of flame leaped from his mouth as his anger boiled to the surface. Fire sparked forth with every word he spoke, his voice now seeming to multiply and deepen to take on a truly satanic tone.
The Devil: THE DEVIL… PLAYS FOR KEEPS!!
And as the Snatcher analyzed his foe from the secrecy of the blackness and the Devil roared with flaming fury leagues hotter than the orb of flame hovering over their heads, they both clearly came to the same understanding.
It was time to do or die.
Roaring with animalistic fury, the Devil charged at the nearest Snatcher duplicate, swinging his elongated arms like bodily whips and dissipating the clone instantly. More and more swaths of Snatchers came charging towards him, but few were able to even get close as he continued to swing his whip-like arms around fluidly, creating trails of fire that extended from his hooves to not only ramp up his attack power but to shine more light through the heavy darkness, helping him see where the next clones were coming from.
Despite his fast and furious attacks, the waves of clones seemed never-ending. A full ring of them descended upon the Devil all at once, and he growled before spinning like a top with his arms outstretched, smacking the circle of clones into nothingness all at the same time. He stopped spinning and tried to rest for a moment to catch his breath, but he noticed below his feet there was a colorful ring on the floor, and instinct drove him to leap away from it just before a huge column of vibrant energy burst up from it. The flashing colors barely missed him, and he landed several meters away from the blast, scowling deeply.
His gaze still on the flashing lights, the Devil was caught by surprise when two Snatcher clones suddenly grabbed his arms, pulling them behind his back to restrain him as another appeared in front of him with a cherry bomb in hand. Laughing smugly, the clone chucked the fruit towards the Devil, only for all three duplicates to go wide-eyed in shock when the Devil sprouted a third arm from the side of his chest, catching the cherry bomb and throwing it back to the sender. The Snatcher clone exploded along with the cherry bomb, and the Devil’s new arm wasted no time in laying a beating upon the two clones holding back his other arms, freeing him from his restraints. Once he was liberated, the Devil quickly closed his eyes and concentrated, three more arms sprouting from his body as he glared into the abyss.
The Devil: You’ll have to try a little harder than THAT.
As if to answer, more Snatcher clones appeared in the darkness around him, and more and more rings appeared on the ground, forcing the Devil to jump into the air and narrowly weave between them as they exploded into colorful vertical bursts of light.
The Snatcher: If you say so…
While the Devil was still in the air, a Snatcher clone flew up and grabbed him by the leg, swinging him around and through one of the big blasts, making him shout out as the powerful energy burned him. The clone then flung him straight to the ground, flying down after him to follow up with more attacks. Just as it got into range, however, the Devil pulled out a large blue and white poker chip from absolutely nowhere and smacked him across the face with it, sending the clone careening to the side.
Wasting no time, the Devil sprung back to his feet and threw the poker chip into the air, pulling out several more and similarly flinging them toward the heavens, where they all caught fire thanks to the huge fireball in the air before falling back to the earth, creating a cascade of flaming chips that the Snatcher clones all scattered to avoid. Despite the deadly shower, they refused to let up in the pursuit of their foe, and they continued to chase the Devil down.
Reacting to the continued attacks, the Devil began swinging all six of his arms around like whips, striking down the shadowy clones as fast as they were appearing. Grabbing two falling Chips of Greed from the air with his bottom set of arms, the Devil mixed up his fighting style by throwing the chips at incoming Snatcher duplicates like violent frisbees, creating a flurry of flames that weaved between pillars of energy bursting from the floor. The result was a patchwork of flames and lights that danced amidst the Devil’s onslaught of strikes and the endless barrage of the Snatcher’s clones.
After striking down a large squad of clones with a blitzkrieg of arm swings, the Devil caught a circle of color popping up just beneath his feet. He jumped back to avoid the resulting pillar but was surprised by a huge group of the Snatcher’s clones teleporting around him, grabbing him and pulling him to the floor arrestingly. More and more clones appeared and added to the pile, slashing at and pinning down the Devil, nearly making him unable to move underneath the dozens of duplicates.
The Snatcher: I WON’T STOP UNTIL I HAVE YOUR HEAD!!
Despite the combined strength of all of the Snatcher’s fakes, the Devil’s writhing mass of a body continued to push further and further, and in a flash of flame, he launched the multiple shadowy attackers off of him, flinging out his six arms to shove them even further away from himself. While the Snatchers all recovered, the Devil stood hunched over with his back turned to the Snatcher’s real location, and he spoke after several puffs of air.
The Devil: Hehe… Heh… You might be closer to that than you think!
Unsure of what that was supposed to mean, the Snatcher’s luminescent eyes crumpled in confusion before the Devil suddenly whirled around to face him through the dark, abruptly revealing that there was no longer a head between his shoulders. The casino master’s head popped up from a portal on the ground behind the Snatcher in its spider form, and with no hesitation, he sank his fangs into the Snatcher’s lower body before he could think to make himself intangible.
The Snatcher: GRAAGH!!
At the cry of pain from his hidden foe, the Devil put his kinesthetic sense to work, his six arms extending far into the void before wrapping around the Snatcher’s camouflaged body and pulling him into a tight death grip of a hug, grinning as his trapped enemy struggled and strained to escape. Just as the Snatcher prepared to make himself untouchable again, a portal opened up on the floor behind the Devil, and something flew out from the dark hole with a glint as the light from the fires around them shimmered off a reflective surface. In one fluid motion that was faster than the eye could process, the Devil sprouted a seventh arm from the center of his back, grabbed the item, brought it up over his shoulder, and smashed it into the Snatcher’s face. There was a muffled shout of pain and surprise from the trapped ghost, and when he felt something drip down his face, his expression fell.
Wiping off his paw on the length of the Snatcher’s head, the Devil couldn’t help but chuckle as the Snatcher’s blue-covered face came into view. The cyan substance, released from its vial container that the Devil had swiped during an earlier barrage, slowly dripped down the side of his body, and his whole spirit-esque form became physically tangible, which the Devil acknowledged by tightening his multi-armed grip, extracting a groan from the Snatcher as his physical body was squeezed and compressed. The Devil’s fangs glimmered as he grinned, knowing he had complete control of the battle now that his true foe was within his clutches.
The Devil: You didn’t think I noticed how carefully you avoided those earlier? If I were you, I’d make all those clones disappear. Wouldn’t want anything to happen to the original, now would we?
After a few more moments of struggling in his enemy’s grasp, the Snatcher sighed and closed his eyes, ceasing his writhing as the army of clones around the two of them faded away, leaving only them standing in the middle of the battlefield. A mad glint of glee flickered into the Devil’s pupils as his neck slowly began to lengthen and unhinge, spiked dorsal fins popping up in the center of his neck and back as he began assuming his serpent transformation.
The Devil: Complacency like that would have no place on the floor of my casino, my friend. And that’s because there’s a very simple thing that you have to do to survive in this business… Even your poor little friends knew that much.
As his neck slithered higher and higher, the Devil’s fangs became thinner and more streamlined, each like an individual needle, and he unhinged his jaw to let his serpentine forked tongue flick from his mouth. As his neck reached its maximum length, he craned his head down to aim his vision directly at the top of the Snatcher’s head.
The Devil: If you wanna make it big in a gambler’s world, you gotta be able to tell the difference between the honest folks…
Mid-sentence, the Devil’s head flew down as fast as a snake’s strike, unfurling his mouth to let his fully fanged grill linger in the air as he prepared to feast.
The Devil: …AND THE SNAKES.
Slamming shut like a fully loaded bear trap, the Devil’s snake jaws bit down on the Snatcher’s head, the feeling of his foe’s body going limp made his fur bristle with glee. Feeling no remaining connection between the Snatcher’s body and the head between his dagger-like teeth, the Devil untangled his arms and unhanded his motionless foe’s body…
…Only to almost choke on his meal to see it poof into a small cloud of dark smoke, revealing it to have just been another clone. Completely blindsided by the Snatcher’s clever act, the Devil looked all around him to see if any Snatchers were left around him, but he could see none. Then, quickly realizing something else that had to be wrong, the Devil opened his mouth and spat out the large object he had bitten down on.
In his hands was a giant cherry the size of his head. Despite realizing what this was immediately and trying to get it away from him in time, the supersized fruit unleashed a giant explosion right in his face, sending the Devil’s horribly transformed body soaring through the void. After flying through the air for several seconds, he hit the floor back-first with a painful thud, sliding a short distance before propping himself up on his multiple arms, his head spinning from the shock of having been duped so thoroughly, on top of the blunt-force trauma from his fall. Slowly he regained steady footing as his vision came together, and through the thick blanket of blackness that surrounded him, he could see something in front of him… Some sort of pole? Its base seemed to continue upward, and he craned his head back to look further up, only for his heart to sink into the furthest corner of his stomach.
A positively colossal Snatcher towered over the Devil, dwarfing even the Devil’s giant form. The giant glowing face was so high in the air that it was level with the huge fireball that was still slowly descending from above, which the huge ghost casually smacked higher into the void with the back of its hand, delaying its impact yet again. Following up by swinging its other hand high into the air, the Snatcher opened his palm and wound up like he was about to swat a fly.
The Snatcher: Bold of you to assume you’re a better judge of character than me.
The Snatcher’s voice rang out from somewhere around him, but the Devil knew it wasn’t coming from the giant. This was a duplicate; albeit, one unlike any of the others before it. With relatively slow speed but immense momentum, the titanic Snatcher brought its hand down onto the Devil, who attempted to answer with the strength of his combined limbs, but couldn’t hope to match up to the sheer size and power of the attack. He was smashed into the ground like an insect, his flattened body comically stuck to the huge Snatcher’s hand as he lifted it back up. Peeling him off and shaking him out back into form like a wet towel, the Snatcher’s doppelganger slammed the Devil into the floor over and over again, dozens upon dozens of impacts against the floor covering the Devil’s body with bruises and filling his mouth with shards of broken teeth.
The Snatcher: If you really were so savvy about the ins and outs of a person…
Finishing its rampage, the enormous Snatcher pitched the Devil away from it at supersonic speeds, only for two more Snatcher clones to rise from the floor and catch him mid-flight by his many sets of arms. Hovering on either side of the casino master, the two ghostly beings grabbed hold of two arms each and pulled in opposite directions with all their strength. As a slight cracking sound started to come forth from the Devil’s several shoulder joints, he cried out in pain at the top of his lungs, the feeling of his arms being pulled out of place being unbearably painful. That pain culminated in a horrible RRRIP as the Devil’s extra arms were torn from his sides as he screamed bloody murder, falling to the ground as his disembodied extremities were carried into the dark void by the two ghostly doppelgangers.
Fighting as best he could through the agonizing pain, the Devil forced himself to get up with just his remaining two arms, the signs of his animal transformations receding into his body as he resumed his normal giant form. Upon returning to his feet, he staggered a bit as he tried to find his center of balance through a dizzied head, blurred vision, and an entire body’s worth of throbbing aches. An entire cloud of Snatcher clones swirled in the abyss around him, making it almost impossible for the dazed demon to perceive the real Snatcher lunging at him from the mist of his clones, the fakes disappearing into mist as he reared back to strike.
The Snatcher: …You’d have been smart enough to know that NOBODY messes with my servants… AND GETS AWAY IN ONE PIECE!!
With one clean swing, the Snatcher aimed his attack high, and a loud, solid SHWING rang out through the void. The force behind the attack knocked the Devil off his feet, and his bottom hit the floor, followed swiftly by his hands to brace himself. His weight in his giant form made itself abundantly clear as his fall shook the floor, and as dizziness and pain took full round trips through his body from head to toe, he lifted one arm to rub his head… only to gasp in total shock.
At the same time as his gasp, a twin pair of clacks sounded out behind him, and the Devil swiftly turned his head over his shoulder to see what had made the noise. In a fretful fit, the Devil’s hands flew to his jaw as he let out a horrible shriek at the sight of his horns laying on the ground behind him. In a panic, he felt the top of his head in the hopes that he was hallucinating, but his worst fears were instead confirmed: all that was left of his horns were mere stumps protruding from the fur of his scalp. Limply, the Devil’s hands dropped to his sides, and as a surge of pure emotion, intermingling with the aching misery racking every inch of his being, surged from within his chest…
…He began to bawl at the top of his lungs. Pink teardrops the size of bowling balls tumbled down the Devil’s fuzzy cheeks and splashed on the ground, and with his whole body racked by pain and distress-induced sobs, there was no stopping the Snatcher’s slow, ominous approach from the darkness behind him.
The Snatcher: Pathetic. Save your crying for someone who cares…
Alerted by his enemy’s voice ringing out from the void, the Devil sniffled and turned around only to be grabbed around the neck by the Snatcher’s giant right hand. His sobbing cut off as his windpipe was choked shut, the Devil flailed in a blind panic and slashed at the Snatcher’s arms with his claws, only for the dagger-like tips of his fingernails to pass harmlessly through his foe’s ghostly body. The giant spirit glared at the Devil with no mercy to be found in his huge, glowing eyes, and he shot up into the air with the Devil’s struggling mass in tow.
The Snatcher: …Because I’m DONE playing with YOU!
As he flew higher and higher with his foe in hand, the Snatcher squinted his eyes as he neared his target: the huge fireball levitating in the air, which was beginning to fall back towards them after a long while of being kept airborne. His wispy body trailed behind him, while the Devil’s arms and legs thrashed violently in vain attempts to escape his bonds. Halfway to the fireball, the Snatcher pulled the Devil to eye level before rearing his free arm up and plunging it into the Devil’s chest, his arm phasing into his body with the Devil gasping at the feeling.
The Snatcher: For all the trouble you’ve caused me… I’ll take THIS as my compensation!
With an ethereal boom, the Snatcher yanked his corporeal arm free of his enemy’s torso, clutching in hand a small, ghostly version of the Devil himself, its face sorrowful and its pink heart, square in the middle of its body, beating rapidly. All of a sudden, the Devil felt exceedingly empty inside, much of his energy and strength immediately fleeing his injured frame as they grew ever nearer to the massive ball of fire in the sky. The Devil’s soul was now the property of the Snatcher, and with his cargo secured in hand, the ghostly prince thrust the casino master out in front of him, and within seconds the Devil’s back suddenly lit up in the most literal sense.
The Devil’s face suddenly lit up in agonized shock, a blood-curdling shriek emerging from the depths of his throat as his own hellfire seared his back, the tips of his fur catching fire from the sheer heat in the air. The blazing flames ate into his skin, the scent of burning flesh beginning to spread out as the satanic dealmaker’s flesh was charred into a black mess. More and more of the Devil’s fur caught fire as the Snatcher applied further pressure, pushing his opponent deeper into the ball of flames amidst the Devil’s tortured wails. The extra pressure on the fireball began to make it rupture, with bursts of flame and heat on its surface heralding a critical failure of its core.
Seeing the warning signs of the coming burst, the Snatcher released the Devil, who was caught on the underbelly of the falling flame orb, and made a hasty retreat into the acid fountain in the center of his realm. The dark purple floor suddenly lit up with hundreds of thousands of glowing rings, and the last thing that graced the Devil’s frightened eyes was a bright flash from all directions.
Dozens upon dozens of multicolored energy blasts exploded from the ground, piercing the huge fireball from countless different angles. Upon its core being shredded to bits, the fireball instantaneously exploded into a mini-supernova, casting a blinding flash all about the inky dimension as trails of hellfire surged like burning tidal waves in every direction. As the explosion faded, all was still; not even a solitary wisp of flame lingered. Any trace of the Devil had been incinerated by the flashy eruption of his own fires, his only physical remains being his severed horns on the ground.
As silence overtook the Snatcher’s violet void, it began to ripple and fade away, slowly giving way to the burned visage of the Devil’s Casino once again. Tables, walls, floors, chairs, slot machines, and all manner of gambling chips and dice were strewn about everywhere in the wreckage of their earlier battle, most fixtures charred a stark black thanks to the now-quelled fires. Several skeleton waiters and demon servants to the slain Devil were picking up the pieces of the destroyed showroom, and they all jumped in fear when they saw the Snatcher floating in the middle of the room, holding in his hand the Devil’s soul, which was billowing in an invisible breeze. Hearing them jump back in fright, the Snatcher turned slowly, anger still swirling through his body, and shouted out as he shot towards them, eyes blazing with killing intent.
Before he could attack them, however, they were all hammered at once by a bright laser blast, sending several of the hellish employees crashing into the next room. The Snatcher stopped his charge in surprise. He’d seen that laser before…
Jumping out from behind a stack of trashed slot machines, Hat Kid and Bow Kid both swung their umbrellas at the remaining demon grunts, making them all turn tail and run away as fast as they could. Having cleared the room of any remaining enemies, both kids high-fived each other before turning to see the Snatcher with a surprised look on his face.
The Snatcher: Wha- I- How- HUH? I thought you two were- How did you escape him?
In answer to his baffled query, Hat Kid took out her Dweller Mask and put it on, using its power to walk through several of the toppled gambling cabinets around her. Helping her friend’s demonstration, Bow Kid took out a new piece of paper and drew with crayon, handing the finished drawing to the Snatcher for his consideration. The drawing depicted Hat Kid and Bow Kid in Dweller Masks dashing through the Devil’s hands to escape the danger. What was depicted as having been left in the Devil’s hands to make the ashes was just Hat Kid’s drawing of a Time Piece.
Processing these revelations, the Snatcher blinked wordlessly for a moment as the two kids stood below him, waiting to see his response. That response was a sigh and a wipe of his hand across his forehead, signifying… relief? He stooped down and handed the paper back to Bow Kid, smiling slightly.
The Snatcher: Another scare like that and I’ll eat both your souls as a bedtime snack.
The ominous statement made Bow Kid freeze in fear, but Hat Kid seemed to shrug it off pretty easily, instead taking notice of the soul in the Snatcher’s hand. She poked at the pulsing pink heart in the center, the tip of her umbrella passing right through it, and the Snatcher held it up for both of them to see upon seeing her curiosity.
The Snatcher: Oh, this? This is just a little… souvenir. But seeing as how I don’t have any other use for it…
In the blink of an eye, the Snatcher had consumed the Devil’s soul, finishing his snack with a satisfied sigh. The powerful soul of his slain opponent filled his body with renewed vigor, and he smiled contently, addressing his two small contractors.
The Snatcher: Well, that was fun! I’m heading back to the forest. Don’t forget about your contractual obligations!
Hat Kid and Bow Kid waved goodbye as the Snatcher disappeared in a puff of smoke, teleporting back to Subcon Forest. Once he was gone, both kids nodded to each other and quickly ran back to the stairwell leading toward the Devil’s now-vacant office. They still had a Time Piece to find.
Yay! Hat Kid and Bow Kid are alive! Can’t… really say the same for the Devil, though.
This battle was incredibly close; almost too close to call. The Devil and the Snatcher are on relatively even playing fields when it came to areas like strength, destructive capability, speed, and durability. The Devil does hold a slight advantage in these aspects, but the Snatcher is easily close enough to keep up. Many of their other attributes were blow-by-blow counters: projectile creation, body manipulation, minion summoning, and telekinesis. What pushed the Snatcher ahead of his competition, however, were his essential powers and ghostly abilities.
First and foremost, the Snatcher’s intangibility was a huge asset in this match. With the Devil holding a slight edge in strength and attack potency, what with being able to shake his casino and all, Snatcher couldn’t afford to take very many hits from him even with how close their stats were. But with their similar speeds, Snatcher could keep up with the Devil’s attacks and simply make his foe’s attacks phase through him, keeping the Devil from getting hits in.
Snatcher’s ability to negate and evade the Devil’s attacks becomes more apparent when you look at their teleporting, too! The Devil’s hole-creating method is useful, but it’s slower than the Snatcher’s way of doing it, and it’s easier to predict. The Snatcher’s method is a lot faster and harder to predict, meaning the Devil would be having one hell of a time trying to hit him!
…You’re awfully proud of that one, huh?
Yeah, I thought it was pretty good.
Let’s stay focused. As we’ve established already, the Devil would be hard-pressed to get in the strikes he needed to win. However, that itself isn’t a shoe-in for the Snatcher; his own strength still isn’t enough to overcome the Devil’s superior durability. Luckily for him, he had more abilities that helped close the gap there as well. Aside from the obvious answer in his ability to bypass his enemies’ durability, Snatcher’s teleportation, transformation, and darkness manipulating powers would allow him to overwhelm his foe by attacking from many different angles, a method of combat that the Devil is not used to combating. Given time, the Snatcher would eventually overcome his physical disadvantages to secure his victory.
And although both of them are reliant on their minions to do things for them, when looking at how they use them during their respective boss fights, the Devil is clearly far more reliant on his. And with the Snatcher’s projectile creation along with his own more numerous minions, he would have little issue trumping the Devil’s servants.
There’s one question that’s probably still lingering, though: “What if the Devil turned the Snatcher blue?” It’s possible that the Devil could figure out to throw the vials back at his foe. He’s pretty clever, after all. Thing is, the Snatcher was turned blue by Hat Kid during their fight because he wasn’t expecting his own attack to be turned against him. Knowing afterward that his own attack can seriously backfire, Snatcher would be prepared if the Devil tried to turn him blue, and with his other attacks and teleporting he’d be able to avoid it easily.
No matter what the Devil tries over the course of this fight, however, he is at the full mercy of the Snatcher’s soul-snatching prowess. The Devil requires soul contracts to take a person’s soul, and he has never displayed resistance to manipulation of his own soul. All the Snatcher would have had to do to end the fight from the start was consume the Devil’s soul, which wouldn’t even be out of the question in terms of his character.
Overall, the Snatcher’s powerful abilities gave him the leg up he needed to win the fight.
The Devil shouldn’t have taken this gamble… He didn’t stand a ghost of a chance!
The winner of this Courtroom Conflict is the Snatcher.
The Snatcher (Winner):
+Close enough stats to last against the Devil
+Intangibility
+Durability bypassing
+Superior intelligence
+More ranged options
+Cloning
=Arguable, but likely equal experience
=Similar skill
=Size changing and stretching
=Telekinesis
The Devil (Loser):
+Higher destructive capability
+More durable
=Arguable, but likely equal experience
=Similar skill
=Size changing and stretching
=Telekinesis
-Needs contracts to manipulate souls
-Slower and more predictable method of teleporting
-Can’t keep his soul from being taken