It had been a slow, somewhat uneventful night at the Jackpot. Husk sighed heavily as he looked down at his hand, swirling his Highball glass of rum and watched as the ice and orange peel twirled around. He was waiting for everyone to exchange their cards so he could finally show his hand and take their money; one of his associates had joined the game a few hands in and was regaling the others with a story Husk had heard too many times to care to count.
“So I says, ‘Maul-ta, I hardly know ya’.” Husk groaned and shook his head as the table exploded into laughter, rolling his eyes and said, “Ugh, for fuck’s sake, man! This is the tenth time this month I’ve heard you brag about that ‘little piece’ you ‘scored’ down in Maul-ta. It’s fucking gross; enough already.” “Yeesh, take it easy, Husker,” a loan shark demon scoffed, “It’s just a story; and a damn funny one, too.”
“There ain’t nothing funny about it,” Husk hissed, “Frankly, you should be ashamed of yourself, Amadeus; tricking that poor young thing like that. You’re lucky you’re able to pay top dollar to keep your shares – and your own soul – in your own pocket. Otherwise you’d be bussing tables, dealing cards or slinging hooch and booze like most of the other poor bastards I got working ‘round here.” Husk slammed his fist on the table, making the poker chips rattle and growled, “Now come on, quit dicking around and trade your cards… or don’t. Either way, you said you came here to play poker, so start playing or get the fuck out.” The other players groaned and sighed as they did what they were told; Husk just smirked and sat back in his chair, filing through his cards and taking a sip of his drink as he waited for the dealer to call.
As Husk tossed back the last of his drink, he heard the sound of voices bickering from somewhere amongst the crowd. He hushed the guys and turned his ears to try to listen carefully, and he did not like what he was hearing. “What is it, boss?” the dealer asked, “I’m not sure,” Husk hummed, “Sounds a bit like Tracy.” “Tracy? Oh, you mean your latest score?” Husk put his cards face-down on the table, shooting Amadeus a warning look before telling the dealer to hold the game. Husk hopped out of his chair and said, “I’ll be right back.” The voices got louder and more aggressive as Husk pushed his way through the crowd, getting closer and closer to the source of the noise.
“Sir, I already told you, I have a job,” a soft feminine voice snapped, “And I’m actually quite happy working here, so will you please just go away and let me work?” “Oh, come now,” a masculine voice cooed, “You can’t honestly tell me working at this… dive is all that exciting? Or that the money is really worth dressing like this? I mean, what even is this? What, are you supposed to be some kind of ballerina in a tux, or…? Ah, whatever. Point is… I could give you so much more, and you’d find far more… pleasure in working for me. I can make you go places; take you on highs you could only dream about.”
Husk finally made his way through the crowd and spotted one of his workers, a petite wolf like waitress with a tray of whiskey shots and wine glasses. The other demon talking to her was a very tall moth-like demon wearing what looked like a bright red robe with black and white trim and a fluffy white boa with red hearts adorning it. He had a tall red pimp hat with a stripped band that matched his robe’s trim, and two tall black and white antennae jutted out through the brim. As Husk approached, the moth turned and revealed he was wearing a pair of hot pink heart-shaped glasses. Husk’s fur bristled and his wings flared angrily; he had heard of this guy, a relatively new addition to Hell’s roster of overlords. He’d also heard rumors that this newbie had been stirring up trouble at a few other establishments as of late, trying to poach their employees, especially sinners that weren’t under some kind of binding agreement like a business contract or a soul deal.
“Well, well, well,” Husk rumbled, “Valentino, the new kid on the block. To what do I owe the honor of you visiting my… prestigious establishment?” Husk did his best to come off as civil and professional. While Valentino wasn’t particularly powerful, his work was well-loved by a lot of people in Hell, so he didn’t want to risk coming across as aggressive; it wasn’t so much Husk disliked the idea of throwing his weight around, but for the sake of his customers and his people, he’d rather not if he didn't have to, lest things getting violent.
“And… you would be?” Valentino asked in an almost indifferent tone. Husk took a deep breath and suppressed the urge to bristle his fur and feathers as he took a few steps closer, “They call me Husker,” Husk explained, “Primary shareholder and owner of the Jackpot Hotel and Casino. Gambler extraordinaire, magician… overlord.”
Valentino let out a wheezing laugh as he stepped closer to the waitress, wrapping his lower right arm around her and pulling her into a very uncomfortable hug and whipped a tear from his eye. The waitress whimpered as she tried to pull away from the huge moth-man without spilling the drink tray. She turned to Husk with a desperate, pleading look; Husk’s fur bristled as Val continued to laugh, reaching down to place his lower left hand on the wolf’s shoulder and nearly touching her breast.
“That’s enough!” Husk roared. The noise caught Valentino by surprise; in his shock, he pushed the waitress away, sending her and her tray tumbling. Husk’s eyes and fists glowed bright gold as he flexed his magic, catching the waitress before she could crash face-first onto the floor and keeping her tray and its contents floating in midair. Valentino watched as Husk brought the wolf onto the ground gently and her tray the drinks into his waiting hand. Husk bent down and placed a hand on the waitress’ shoulder as the light faded. “Are you alright, Tracy?” Husk asked. The wolf panted and nodded as Husk helped her to her feet and handed her the tray, saying, “Drop this off at whatever table it was going to and then head back to the bar. Tell Chuck I said to stay in the cooler until I come get you.”
“Boss?” Tracy asked, “Relax, I’ve got this,” Husk assured her, “Now get.” Tracy just nodded and turned around, walking fast as she tried to get past Valentino, only for the moth to reach out and grab her by her collar and say in a threatening half-whisper, “And where do you think you are going? We haven’t finished our little… conversation.”
“Oh, yes you have!” Husk snapped, catching Valentino’s attention as his golden eyes flashed a deep bloody red, “That little lady happens to be under contract… with me! So, I suggest you let her go… now!” Tracy let out a yelp as Valentino released her, enabling her to finally run off to deliver her tray of booze.
“Sheesh, relax amigo,” Valentino chuckled, “I didn’t know, my bad. But, I mean… seriously? It’s just one little bitch; no need to get all… hissy.” Husk’s eyes narrowed at Val’s words, glowing bright golden orange as the moth turned around and started to walk off, saying, “Anyhoo, I can see there aren’t very many prospects to be had here. Not enough to make it worth the effort, anyway. Seems everyone’s either too drunk to talk business or they’re already in your pocket. Tsk, tsk, tsk. It’s a shame, really. So many of them have so much potential that they are wasting here; especially that cute perrita you scared off. But, oh well, it’s her loss. Hope she likes dressing like a clown, selling booze and going nowhere for the rest of her miserable afterlife.”
“And just what are you?” Husk spat, “Who the fuck do you think you are to be coming into my club, trying to pilfer my customers and my workers right in front of me? What makes you think you have any right? Why would you, why would anyone do something so… unbelievably… insanely… fucking stupid!?” The noise in the casino all but ceased and everyone who wasn’t too drunk to turn their heads looked to see the two overlords sizing each other up. Valentino’s mouth turned up into a smug grin as he looked around and saw that their spat was attracting a crowd. With a daring snicker, the moth demon leaned over and said to Husk, “Well… why not?”
Husk’s lip curled back as a quiet growl rose up from somewhere deep in his chest as the moth continued, “I mean, no offense, but why would that lovely muchacha, or any of these fine folks not want an opportunity to become famous? I’ve heard the rumors… what people say about demons of your particular… persuasion, shall we say?” Valentino let out a chuckle and emphasized that last word by pointing at Husk’s groin, “Why would anyone want to continue slumming it here, working for a ball-less wonder… a pussy like you… when they could work for me and get somewhere? To really go places with a real man who can give them everything they’ve ever dreamed of?”
Husk let out a vicious roar, rearing back and clocking the big-mouthed moth square in the teeth, knocking one of them out and sending it flying across the room where it eventually landed in someone’s bourbon. Valentino reached up and touched where his tooth once sat, shivering as he saw blood there; his lip had also been split and was bleeding heavily as Husk’s clawed thumb had nicked him, making his injury even worse than it would have been from just the punch alone. The moth shivered as his eyes looked up at the other overlord in horror; Husk’s eyes glowed bright gold as orange and gold lightning crackled across his body. The cat demon flexed his claws which had been stained with Valentino’s blood; his bristled-up fur and feathers, with his wings splayed wide made him look huge and he bared his sharp, pale yellow teeth as a terrifying growl escaped his throat.
“Now you listen here, you worthless… little… piss-ant!” Husk snarled, “I have been in Hell for almost fifteen years now; I had to claw my way up to get where I am today… after over a decade of busting my ass!” Valentino backed away as the shorter overlord began stalking closer, shivering as Husk’s voice seemed to echo as if he were possessed. “Meanwhile, you’ve been in Hell for just under ten years,” Husk continued, “And make no mistake, you wouldn’t be nearly as far along in your ‘career’ as you are now if it weren’t for that screen-faced narcissist taking you on as his business partner! Fuck, I’ll give Vox this, at least he has the sway, and the experience to back up his shit! But you!? Compared to me… compared to any of us… you are nothing yet!”
Valentino let out a yelp as Husk drove him into the center of the casino floor, knocking him down with his tail and hovering over him like a cat ready to pounce on a helpless mouse. Many of the other demons, guests and employees alike, had gathered around them, muttering quietly as Husk leaned over and said with a threatening hiss, “I have earned the souls and demons I have under my employ… every… single… one of ‘em. They are mine! Do you hear me!? MINE!”
“Boss! You okay? Chuck said there was trouble; what’s going on?” Husk turned as two tall fishlike demons came running through the crowd. One looked a bit like a loan shark, only instead of the usual gray his skin was a lovely pale rose color with white markings on his face; instead of a shark tail, he had two long red wing-like fish fins jutting out of his back that matched the fin on his head, which resembled a pompadour haircut. He was dressed in a very nice red, white and pink suit that looked similar to Husk’s, except instead of the suit of hearts his motif was that of the suit of diamonds. His partner was a hulking fish man from the Envy ring dressed in a simple black tux; his belt and tie were adorned with black spades.
“Shwick, Gate… excellent timing.” Husk purred, the light slowly fading as the feline overlord backed away, flattening out his fur and feathers and brushed off his suit. Husk took a second to straighten out his bowtie before pointing to Valentino and saying, “Get this motherfucker out of my sight… and out of my club.” The Envy fish demon let out a rumbling growl and nodded before trudging forward, grabbing Valentino by his wrist and yanking him up off the floor high enough that his feet dangled.
“You want I should drop him off on his head out front?” the Envy demon droned. Husk bit down on his claw, thought for a moment, and then shook his head saying, “Hmm... no, Gate. I don’t think that’ll leave enough of an impression on our… esteemed guest.” Gate lowered Valentino onto the ground as Husk signaled to Schwick with a snap of his fingers. Schwick whistled loudly, summoning three other demons dressed in the same uniform as Gate; two of them were Hellhounds and the third was a tall, muscular incubus with short white bangs and a dark gray ponytail.
“So… what do you want to do with him, boss?” Schwick asked. Husk looked to Schwick with a devious, toothy smile and motioned for Gate to bring Valentino closer; Gate complied and shoved the moth a few steps closer to his master. Husk chuckled as Valentino attempted to lean over and get in his face, hissing as he locked eyes with Husk and asking in a pained whisper, “Do you have any idea who you are fucking with here, gatito? I swear… first chance I get, I will get you back for this. I’ll take you out, your fucking staff, and any of your familia I can find. I will,” “Do… nothing,” Husk snapped, “You will do… nothing. Unless you want to be on the receiving end of the first big favor I call on from some of my… associates, you will do… absolutely… nothing. Now shut your fucking mouth and take it like a real man.”
Husk snapped his fingers again and motioned for Gate and the others to follow him as he made his way through the casino towards the back of the club. Husk pointed to a door leading to the back of the building outside and said, “Please escort Mister Valentino to the back alley dumpster… and toss him out with the rest of the garbage, where he belongs.”
“You heard the boss-man,” Shwick snickered, motioning to the door, “Gentlemen, if you would be so kind?” Husk crossed his arms and watched with a satisfied smirk as Gate and the other three bouncers lifted Valentino off the ground and hauled him out the back door, much to the moth’s disdain; his ears twitched as he heard Valentino’s continued cussing and screaming from outside followed by the unmistakable noise of the dumpster’s lid lifting and then slamming shut. Gate and the others filed back in dusting off their hands as the incubus said, “Consider the garbage taken out, boss.”
“Excellent,” Husk laughed, “Now go wash your hands and get back to patrolling the tables. Shwick, do me a favor and go check on my table; make sure they didn’t continue playing without me. I’ve got to go check on Tracy and let her know it’s safe to come out of the cooler.” “Done and done.” Shwick gave a salute before running off to check on the table while Gate and the other bouncers made their way to the men’s room to wash up.
Husk made his way to the bar, waving to the bartender and grabbing a couple of small glasses before walking to the back and found Tracy sitting on the floor between a couple barrels of beer. “You feeling okay, Tracy?” Husk chirped. The young wolf demon gasped and nodded, “Yeah, I’m doing okay now, boss. If that creep is gone, I’ll head back out.”
“Ah-ah-ah, slow down, kid.” Husk said holding up a hand, “Just relax for a second. You’ve been through a lot this week, especially given this is just your first. After everything you’ve had to put up with since you started working for me, I can imagine that was a lot to take in. Don’t worry, though; I’m not letting you go that easily. Certainly not to a poacher like him.” Husk reached over and grabbed a mostly empty bottle of whiskey before continuing, “Until you work off your debt, your soul is mine. But… that doesn’t mean I won’t take care of you. After all, dead men tell no tales, and they certainly don’t pay their dues. We understand each other, don’t we?” Tracy’s face turned into a shy smile as she stood up and nodded. “Absolutely. Thank you, sir.”
Husk smiled back and gave a nod, pouring about half of what was left in the whiskey bottle into each of the glasses he’d grabbed, holding one of them out to Tracy and saying, “This should help calm your nerves a bit. On the house.” Tracy chuckled as she happily accepted the glass, clashing it lightly against Husk’s as they cheered, “Salud.”
