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“I heard this from my brother who learned this from our cousin. She learned it from some friend of hers who heard it from Satan-only-knows, so I didn’t see this. But according to that friend, several years back, the Radio Demon could be found with some little imp child.
“Now nobody knows how he got the imp kid or why. I mean, the Radio Demon’s never discriminated between sinners and Hellborn. Everybody knows what he did to the old overlords: He’ll gobble up whoever pisses him off the most. I figure the kid’s parents traded the kid for their lives, but since the kid was such a small morsel, he held onto it. Probably waiting for it to grow up to be something more filling.
“No matter how or why he had the kid, the kid would join him on his hunts though the kid called it ‘Hide and Seek’. Or maybe the Radio Demon taught him that. Anyway, you would think you were safe, that you’d gotten away. Then as you were starting to get ready to leave your hiding spot, you’d turn around and there the kid would be with the Radio Demon’s shadow looming behind him, materializing into the Radio Demon himself. And the last thing you’d hear before the Radio Demon pounced was the kid saying – ”
“Found you~!” a tenor voice playfully sang.
The two succubi and the imp telling the story screamed in terror, scooting away from the piano that had been softly playing for most of the story before fading out just before the ending.
The imp at the piano began cackling with glee, eyes squeezed shut in his mirth.
“Oh, fuck you, Moxxie!”
Moxxie curbed his cackling to mere snickers, one eye opening just enough to peek at the trio. “I’d rather not, Braddy. Good story by the way.”
Braddy flipped him off with both hands.
The pianist gave another cackle as he re-closed his eye and allowed his fingers to dance a playful variant on the creepy little tune he’d been softly playing when he’d heard his coworkers slacking off. “We’ve all got shit we have to do, not wasting time telling ghost stories in a practice room.”
“Aurita doesn’t care.”
“Aurita doesn’t care if you actually do the job you’re paid for and are good at it.” Moxxie hummed as he blindly plinked a few random keys. “But if I remember correctly, not one of you has produced anything that’s sold even somewhat decently recently.”
Braddy growled at him as the two succubi slinked off, their heels clicking on the wood floors. “Just because you’ve got a few hits doesn’t mean shit.”
“Let’s let Aurita decide that, okay? If you don’t mind, I’ve got a song I need to get done by tomorrow or Aurita’ll have my tail.”
Braddy snarled something under his breath and stormed out, slamming the practice room door shut behind him.
Moxxie felt the room cool around him as he was joined by shadowy friends who could easily pass between the Rings. They whispered gleefully to him in voices only he and his father could hear. “Yeah, it was kinda neat to listen to, wasn’t it?”
They silently chittered and laughed in agreement.
Moxxie's fingers danced a minor arpeggio across the keys. “Still, I gotta admit…”
He opened his eyes fully, static starting to hiss around him as his eyes glowed with green radio dials. A wide, fanged grin spread across his face.
“...sometimes, I really miss the old days.”
