Ramshackle's Angel

51

When Ditch woke up, he found himself hanging upside down. Looking up, he saw that he was caught in a monster's spongey tongue as it pulled him towards it's mouth.

"Hey!" Lorelai yelled before she sliced the monster's tongue with her angelic dagger before he was eaten.

Ditch landed with a thud before scrambling out of the dismembered tongue.

"Ew! Ew, ew, ew, ew!" He said as Lorelai landed.

"Are you okay?" She asked him, putting her dagger away.

He scoffed at her before they began running for cover as monster bats swooped overhead.

"Other way! Other way!" Ditch yelled, drawing his dagger that was a little rusted.

Quickly, they took cover behind some bone-like rocks as the bats flew off. Once they were gone, Lorelai immediately noticed that Ditch was holding onto her for dear life. She cleared her throat, getting his attention. Once he realized what he was doing, he pulled away from her before they started to inspect their new surroundings. The boiling sea was somehow above their heads and strange, neon-glowing plants surrounded them. Creatures groweled as they passed by, minding their own business.

"Honestly, minus all the monsters, this place is actually...kinda beautiful" Ditch told her.

This surprised her.

"Huh..."

"What?" He asked, raising an eyebrow.

"I didn't think that you couldn't comprehend anything like beauty, love, compassion, and friendship" Lorelai told him, a little nervously.

This caused the heartless to chuckle.

"Well, there's a lot about me that you don't know."

Suddenly, a creature that resembled a four arm sloth with a glowing mask krept towards the two teenagers, interrupting the sweet bonding moment between them. As they got ready to fight it off, it got blasted up into the boiling sea by a geyser.

"Uh, Lorelai?" Ditch asked.

Following his gaze, seeing that right behind them was a giant clamshell that was glowing gold inside. Peeking inside, they saw a huge library lined against the walls and a golden pile of treasure stacked up in the middle of the floor.

"Are those..." Ditch started to ask.

"The ancient texts," Lorelai confirmed.

"Yeah," a voice said before Lorelai punched the owner.

She gasped when she saw that the person she just punched was Xander.

"Sorry!" She apologized as a glaring Xander picked her and Ditch up by their jackets.

"I thought you were a monster!"

He placed them down before everyone slowly walked inside. Stone immediately, embraced his girlfriend, lifting her up and spinning her around before he put her down again.

"Ditch didn't try anything, did he?" Stone asked her, a little worried.

"No! No...actually...I think we bonded a little" she told him.

"What does that mean?"

"Well, it turns out, he does actually have a heart under all that darkness. Maybe if I talk to him more then maybe-"

She was interrupted by Stone taking in a sharp breath.

"Lorelai..." he said, worry laced within his tone.

"I..." she sighed before she continued.

"Look, I know he's bad, and I know he probably doesn't want to change, but the whole point of me being the way I am is to give people a chance! To have faith that things will be better! How can I turn someone away? I can't. It goes against everything I'm trying to do. Everything I believe in."

She then put her hands on his shoulders as she gave him a gentle smile.

"Just...trust me. I can take care of myself!"

Stone sighed before he slowly nodded.

"Okay. Just be careful" he told her, placing a gentle kiss on her forehead, making her smile.

So, as Xander looked through all the scrolls, Lorelai talked to Ditch.

"So, what's the whole story about your mom?" He asked her.

She immediately tensed up.

"I was kinda wondering about that, too" Vinnie added as Lorelai bit her bottom lip.

"I don't really feel comfortable-"

"Please?" Skipp asked her, doing his irresistible puppy eyes.

Finally, she caved in and sighed.

"Okay, fine. Decades ago, Victoria Valentine manifested in hell," Lorelai started before she cast a spell that made a visual presentation of the story regarding her mom.

"Seemingly overnight. She became to topple overlords who were dominant for centuries. That kind of raw power had never been harnessed by a hellborn soul before. Then, she performed her carnage all throughout the 7 rings of hell just so everyone could witness her ability. Sinners started calling her the stage demon (as lazy as that is). Many have speculated what unimaginable force enabled her to ravage my and Xander's world's most ancient and destructive evils. But one thing is for sure: she's an unpredictable source of danger, a wicked spirit of mystery, and a violent master of chaos, the likes of which no one can risk getting involved with unless they want  to end up erased!!!"

As the presentation ended, Lorelai ended up in her demon form as tears unwillingly rolled down her face. Everyone looked at her with shock, even Ditch, who feels like an idiot for everything he's done for that woman.

"Hey! I found it!" Xander said as he pulled out a scroll that was made out of a hide of what seemed like it belonged to a wolf.

At that exact moment, the ground started to shake as the pile of gold started to move. Suddenly, two huge red eyes popped out and locked onto the group.

Ditch groaned as he pulled out his blade.

"I'm getting to old for this shit."