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Story: Demon Summoning 4 Duckies

Demon Summoning 4 Duckies

For my fellow antagonist, Duino D. Duck.

This one’s a long one. Hope you enjoy.


The lights dimmed and the air inside the bedroom became dry. The sunlight through the windows was suddenly dampened with a thick, black fog. The candles on the floor flickered, turning from their natural orange to a supernatural blue-green. The crudely drawn chalk pentagram on the laminate floor began to glow blood red. And, for a brief moment, there was total silence.

Duino could feel his heart pounding in his chest. Fear was not a common emotion for the duck, but for a brief moment, he was greatly concerned. Maybe, just maybe, he shouldn’t have bought a book titled “Demon Summoning 4 Dummies” at the thrift store. Perhaps he shouldn’t have drawn a summoning circle on the floor inside his house, and he definitely shouldn’t have done it without a tastier-looking pal by his side in case the demon was hungry. For a brief moment, the dumbfounded duck felt nothing but regret, realizing that this might have been a really dumb idea after all.

“WHO DARES SUMMON THE IMP?” A loud, deep, unholy-sounding voice bounced off of the walls and vibrated through the duck’s head. The sheer volume of the voice knocked Duino off of his feet, and he fell backwards onto his feathered butt, gazing helplessly at the figure on the floor in front of him.

All remnants of fear instantly left the duck’s body the moment he finally got a look at what was inside the circle.

Standing before him was a pint-sized short stack. Absolutely no taller than five feet, at most, the figure appeared to be some sort of fox. Its fur was a dark, navy blue, white on the muzzle and stomach, with black on the tips of the ears, hands, and feet. Its eyes were glowing the same blood red that the floor had been, and it was bearing sharp, foxish fangs. The jaggedness of the teeth and the glowing red eyes were perhaps the only menacing part of this canid shorty. It also bore the standard, wiry, devil tail – this one blue – that no demon could be without, and the tiniest, cutest pair of horns, that no demon likely ever asked for. All of this was wrapped up in an adorable bow that, for Duino, sealed the deal that this guy was definitely nothing to be afraid of: the demon wore nothing except a pair of little black briefs, with a white waistband that stood out and told you they could never be anything except a pair of dorky little undies.

Wow, this guy was adorable.

The brief moment Duino had earlier was already a faint memory, as the duck’s face quickly changed from “very concerned” to “very amused”. A smile overtook his beak, and the demon must have picked up on it, as it was already speaking again.

“What’s so funny, chicken wing?” The demon asked, this time, its voice no longer amplified, no longer deep and booming. In fact, it was quite the opposite. The voice was of a much higher pitch, higher register, maybe even almost nasally, perhaps even childlike? Perhaps not quite that shrill, but intimidating it absolutely was not. The sheer contrast made the duck grin even wider.

“Wow, is this what baby imps look like?” Duino asked with a smirk, “or are all imps just this cute?”

“WHAT DID YOU JUST CALL ME?!” The imp growled, the voice returning to its loud booming form. This time, however, it just made Duino laugh.

“Heheh, did I strike a nerve?” Duino chuckled. “Would you rather me call you... shorty? Little tyke? Imp wimp, short stack, teenie horns, fun-sized fox? ...Adorable?”

“NONE OF THOSE THINGS!” The imp shouted, this time making the walls shake a bit. The duck was unphased.

“Alright, alright, a bit on the touchy side, I see.” Duino let go of the big smirk on his face to offer the imp a more serious look. “Of which menacing demon did I get the pleasure of summoning today?”

The imp rolled its red eyes. Its voice returned to normal. “My name is Numou. Numou the Impfox. And what about the dummy duck that decided to harass me after going through all the trouble of bringing me here?”

“Duino. Duino D. Duck. Freelance Antagonist. Pleased to make your acquaintance, Numou.” The duck extended a feathered hand.

Without any hesitation, the imp reached out to shake Duino’s hand. Instantly upon making contact with the feathered fowl, a jolt of sharp, strong electricity jumped right through the imp’s hand, arm, and the rest of his body, making his dark blue fur stand on end, as lighter blue sparks went flying. The surprised imp jumped back and landed on his undie-clad tush.

“First day on the job, eh pal?” Duino chuckled again, the devious smirk returning to his beak. “That’s the oldest trick in the book, and you fell right for it!”

“HEY!” Numou growled, taking a moment to try and get back on his feet, before comically stumbling and falling back onto his tush again. “Ooof! Ow...”

Duino scratched his head as he gave the imp a once-over. “Yeesh, it really is your first day on the job, huh?” The duck showed a face of slight concern and offered out his other hand, the one free of imp-zapping devices. Numou looked hesitant to take it this time. “Go on, it’s alright, really.”

After a moment of hesitation, the imp took the duck’s hand and was pulled to his feet. The imp looked confused and very grumpy as he brushed himself off.

“First day on the job? What are you talking about?” Numou asked, with a scowl on his white muzzle. “Not at all! It’s just not very often I get teased and berated by my summoner the moment they look at me!”

Duino squinted and looked the imp up and down. He was joking, right?

“Usually, *I’M* *the one supposed to be doing the teasing! And the tormenting! And the terrifying! And that’s what I’m gonna do to you!” Numou said, pointing at himself with a confident look.

Duino wasn’t buying it. Maybe he should have put more in that summoning circle than a fox plush and that pair of Smacky’s old underwear that he wasn’t sure how he ended up with. “Uh-huh. What can you even do, anyway? *I* was the one who summoned *you*, that means you gotta do what I say, right?”

Numou rolled his eyes. “What you tell me to do is more of a recommendation. I’m my own boss.”

“Ah, independent contractor, I see. Well, that makes two of us!”

“Wait, you’re a demon, too?” Numou tilted his head curiously.

“Nah! People do hire me to be a nuisance, though. Or to throw pies in my face. Among other things!” Duino puffed his chest proudly. “Now, what do people hire YOU for, oh impish one? What can I get out of ya?”

“Uh, well,” Numou pondered for a moment. He wasn’t used to the summoner asking him so many questions. Normally they already had something planned for him to do. “I can cause fires; burn things down... steal something for you... play pranks on anyone you like, or don’t like...”

Duino interrupted for a moment. “Boring. I can do all of those things myself.”

The imp got flustered. “Hey, I can curse people, too!”

“So can I, but the censors don’t like that,” Duino said, looking rather unimpressed, and getting out a small mirror to gaze at himself with.

“Not THAT kind of curse, you doofus! The magical kind. The fun kind!”

“Oh? You can do magic, can you? Can you give ME magic powers? That sounds fun.”

“No, I can’t give you magic powers. They’re just for me.”

“A shame. Can you raise an army of mindless thralls to do my bidding with?”

“No, I’m not a necromancer. I’m an imp.”

“Lame. Can you grant me three wishes?”

“That’s a genie, dumbduck. I’m. An. Imp.”

“I dunno Numou, imps sound pretty lame, all things considered.”

Numou was dumbfounded. Who was this guy, summoning him only to make fun of him and call him down the whole time? “Rude! Why did you even summon me anyway? Just so you can have someone to annoy?”

“Nah, I just wanted to see if it would work.” Duino looked away from his mirror. “I didn’t really think that far ahead. But you know what, that’s a great idea! Foxes are always a joy to torment, so I’m sure the demonic ones are even more fun!”

“No no no,” Numou growled, “that’s *NOT* how this works! That’s not how any of this works! *I’M* the one supposed to be bugging *YOU!* I’m the demon, and you’re the mortal!”

Duino chuckled. “Clearly, it’s already working.”

“Shut up!” Numou’s voice boomed again, causing Duino to jump just a tiny bit, though it was hard to really be intimidated by such a dorky looking creature. “Just you wait, duck, I’m gonna make you regret ever summoning me!”

Duino sighed. “I already do. So far, you seem REALLY boring. So, go on, do your worst... cutie.” The pestering duck smirked and gave the imp’s foxish black nose a big honk. This caused the imp to growl, smack away the duck’s hand, and grip his wrist tightly.

“I will.” The demon scowled, let out a huff, and then vanished before Duino’s eyes. The room went back to normal, and the candles on the floor were snuffed out.

Duino looked around the room for a moment. There was no sign of a demon ever having been in the room, except for the crude chalk pentagram on the floor. “Hmm. I guess it’s break time for him.” He shrugged, and started to walk towards the kitchen. “Anyways, time for breakfast.”


Duino decided to skip the coffee this morning, since his exchange with the imp earlier got him energized enough as it was. However, it being the weekend, Duino thought it might be nice to make something a little more elaborate than toast or oatmeal. He cracked a few eggs, shredded up some cheese, and chopped up some peppers, frying it all together with a couple of slices of ham. While he was cooking, he had a careful look at each of the ingredients, checking for anything that looked like mold or rot, in case the sneaky imp decided to ruin his food on him. To his surprise, everything looked great.

Duino sat down to eat, taking a few whiffs of the food on his fork. It smelled even better than it looked. Not seeing any reason to continue being suspicious, he took his first bite. It tasted fine. The egg was a little strong tasting, but perhaps the eggs in the fridge were coming up on their expiry date?

It wasn’t until after the duck took his first bite that Numou decided to show himself once again. He was sitting in one of the other chairs at the kitchen table, as if he had been sitting there the whole time, although Duino never remembered seeing him sit down or even walk into kitchen at all. He had, as expected, an impish grin on his face, and was looking directly at Duino.

“Enjoying your breakfast, Dweeb-o?” Numou asked, leaning forward in his chair a bit, resting his chin on hands as he watched Duino eat.

Duino finished his first bite and squinted at the imp. “Yeah, actually, I am. Did you enjoy your break?”

“What?” Numou tilted his head, “What break? No, I just wanted to ask you – how are the duck eggs tasting?” The imp asked, his grin spreading fox ear to fox ear now.

Duino took another bite, completely unphased. “Oh, they’re quite delicious. A little more eggy than I’m used to, I prefer chicken eggs usually, but I guess I wasn’t paying attention at the grocery store.”

Numou blinked and looked at Duino with a confused face. “Wait, what? You didn’t buy duck eggs at the grocery store you dunce, *I* swapped them out on you!”

Duino just kept eating, much to the impfox’s horror. “Oh, huh. And?”

“And... you’re a duck! I just made you eat duck eggs!” Numou frowned as if he just had to explain a bad joke to a clueless crowd.

“Oh. Is that supposed to be funny, or something?” Duino cocked his head as he continued eating his omelette.

“IT’S CANIBALISM, YOU MORON!” Numou yelled across the table.

Duino just shrugged. “That’s not how it works, pal. Unless there were baby ducks in those eggs. Good try though; you have spirit, I’ll give you that.”

Numou stared blankly ahead, stunned, as if he were a kid who just got told that Santa wasn’t real.

“Aww, chin up pal, it was a good effort. You had your heart in the right place. Now, you hungry? You want the rest of my omelette?”

The imp sighed. “Fine, yeah, sure.” Duino slid the plate over to Numou, also handing him a clean fork and knife. Just as the imp was about to take his first bite, he brought over a red bottle.

“Hey now, don’t forget the ketchup!” Duino said, offering the imp the bottle.

“Oh, thanks, Duino.” Numou squeezed the bottle over the rest of the omelette, covering it in ketchup. The imp WAS quite hungry in fact, and he wasted no time in scarfing down every last bite of the omelette in quick succession! As Numou licked his white muzzle, his face began to change from that pearl white to a deep red. “Huh... that ketchup tasted funny...”

Now Duino was the one grinning from ear to ear. If he had ears. The duck watched with great joy as the Numou’s face went beet red, and the imp started to sweat. The “ketchup” in the bottle, was of course, not ketchup at all – rather, it was the spiciest hot sauce the duck could find in the kitchen. Perfect for heat-loving imps!

“HOOOTT!!! HOOTT!!” Numou yelped as sweat started pouring from his face, and he looked around the kitchen in a panic. “Milk?! Milk!!”

Duino smiled and pointed towards the fridge. “In there, pal.”

The imp impatiently scurried towards the fridge, and just as he began to run off towards it, the sneaky duck slipped a few feathered fingers underneath the imp’s practically highlighted white waistband. As Numou went charging towards the fridge, his underwear waistband began stretching out, and Duino just watched the fabric stretch across the room as the imp went to open the fridge door. As he did so, the duck tugged on the waistband he held in his hand, holding the imp back and keeping him from grabbing the milk just a few inches away from his paws!

“Ah ah ah, hasn’t your mother ever told you not to drink right from the carton? Glasses are over THERE, impfox. Where are your manners?” Duino smirked as he pointed to the very OTHER end of the kitchen, at the cupboards, where the drinking glasses were.

Numou, his face now fire red, whined before getting slingshotted straight back to where Duino was holding his waistband! The imp was so preoccupied with his pain that he didn’t even think to try and get Duino to let go, before he ran right towards the cupboard to get a glass. He hastily swung the door open and was just about to grab the first cup he could get his paws on, when he felt a tug on his undies once again!

Ah-ah-ah, you left the fridge door open! What rude houseguests you imps are! Go and close it right this instant!”

The poor imp went flying back towards the fridge, slingshotted once again by his briefs. This time, however, the force was great enough to send the imp crashing right into it, knocking several items, including the milk carton, straight onto the floor! After the stunned imp peeled himself from the kitchen tile, his eyes widened in horror as he saw what had happened to the milk – it was spilt all over the floor!

“Nnnnnooooo!!” Numou howled as his one salvation from the painful heat puddled up across the tile. The desperate imp began licking up what he could of the milk puddle, but just as he began doing so, Duino was already over with a mop and bucket.

“Aww, now now, don’t cry over spilt milk!” The duck said mockingly, before mopping up the puddle of milk right in front of Numou’s face. The imp whimpered as his sweet relief was slurped up not by himself, but by the mop, and he whined as he watched the duck squeeze the wet mop into the bucket. “Oh, I think I missed a spot!” Duino chimed, grabbing the imp’s tongue right off of the floor, and wringing it into a twist! Any splashes of milk the imp managed to lap up were squeezed right out of his tongue, falling uselessly into the mop bucket. The duck then pulled the imp’s tongue back with a strong tug, slinging it back into Numou’s mouth at full speed. A loud SMACK left the imp in a sweaty puddle on the floor, tongue smooshed up against his face, as the remaining heat from the hot sauce continued scorching his tongue. Duino laughed obnoxiously as he took the bucket over to the sink, pouring the water and milk down the drain. “There, all clean!”

Meanwhile, Numou continued to lay there in a humiliated slump on the floor, eventually picking himself back up. He readjusted both his stretched out tongue and stretched out waistband, fixing them both back up to relative normalness. He didn’t say anything else as he shamefully slinked his way out of the kitchen, leaving Duino chuckling mischievously to himself, the duck patting himself on the back for out-imping the imp with a good, hearty gag.


Duino went about the rest of his day, feeling a little bit on edge. He wanted to go to the grocery store to pick up more of the eggs that Numou swapped out on him, but he decided to avoid busy public spaces for a while, in case the imp came back with a vengeance. Instead, he laid low, deciding to visit a few friends. He figured the imp would be less likely to strike back when he was at someone else’s place, with someone who wasn’t involved in that summoning ritual. He spent some time with Smacky, Aura, and even his rival Vermy, and he spent more time watching out for the red fox’s shenanigans than he did even thinking about the blue imp fox’s. In fact, spending the whole day with his friends took his mind off of the blue demon entirely, so much so, that when he retired to bed that evening, he completely forgot about the imp!

However, the imp did not forget about Duino. Hiding quietly underneath the duck’s bed, Numou had been waiting patiently for his return. At first, he went underneath the bed just to get away and hide his shame, but when he heard the front door of the house close, he realized Duino was going out for a while, and much to the imp’s delight, would give him enough time to come up with his next plan! It would also give him enough time to start searching through the bird’s wardrobe, and pull one of his favorite pranks – a good, thorough sweep of whatever articles of clothing the imp could lay his hands on.

However, Numou was very disappointed with what he found. Or rather, what he couldn’t find – pants. It should have come to no surprise to him – he watched the duck leave the house without them – but he couldn’t believe this guy legitimately went out in public half-naked. Sure, that’s what Numou did, but Numou was an imp – an imp with no shame and questionable morals. He also found something else quite curious about Duino... from what he saw so far, the bird had nothing down there to hide anyway!

A formidable opponent, Numou thought, as it appeared his normal tactics wouldn’t work so well here. Perhaps even more formidable than he thought – he found a grand total of two pairs of pants, hanging up along with a fancy looking suit and tie. “This must be his formalwear,” Numou pondered for a moment, before deciding against nabbing the pricy-looking garments. Even though he was a clothes-stealing imp, yoinking such fine articles of clothing often just made the imp feel bad.

“Alright, not a pants-wearing kinda guy,” Numou whispered to himself as he continued rummaging through the duck’s drawers, “I can respect that.” It should not have surprised him, then, that similarly, in the underpants department, he found almost nothing there at all either. It was not until he opened up a wooden chest elsewhere in the duck’s bedroom, did he find a couple of pairs of goofy-print underwear – along with an entire collection of various items – some toys, wigs, a clown nose, clown shoes, some hammers, horns, and several other various gadgets for causing mischief and mayhem. This guy looked like a professional trickster to him! Perhaps that’s what he meant when he told Numou that people “hired him to be a nuisance” - did he get summoned by a fellow imp?!

Numou spent so much time rummaging through Duino’s belongings, that he didn’t even get to plot out his evil plan for when the duck would return home. He was so distracted by the unusual gaps in Duino’s wardrobe, that when he heard the front door slam later that evening, he panicked and quickly retreated underneath the duck’s bed to hide!

It wasn’t long before he heard Duino entering the bedroom. Definitely not long enough for the imp to come up with any sort of game plan about how to get his revenge and try to out-imp the out-imp-er. He heard the duck begin talking to himself, so Numou decided to, very carefully, poke his head out from underneath the bed just far enough to maybe have an idea of what Duino was doing. Numou saw the bird admiring himself in the bedroom mirror. He was flexing his biceps, as if he was trying to show off to somebody.

“Man, no sign of the imp today!” Duino said loudly, which caused Numou’s ears to perk up, leading the imp to crawl back further into the area under the bed. Oh no, did Duino know he was there? “I guess I must’ve scared him off!” The duck chuckled, turning around to face the bed. This made Numou jump and bump his head on a panel under the bed! However, Duino didn’t seem to notice at all, instead turning his head around to face the mirror, striking a pose and flexing his muscles some more.

Numou just remained hidden underneath the bed, watching the self-absorbed duck continue to pose, flex, and even shake his feathered tush for himself in the mirror. At first, the imp thought Duino knew he was under the bed, and was trying to bait him into a juicy imp-trap. But the duck kept on posing, flexing, dancing – and – wait, were those kiss marks on the mirror, too?

The sheer amount of time the duck spent “appreciating” himself began to bore Numou after the first ten minutes. After twenty minutes, the imp was sound asleep underneath Duino’s bed. By the time Numou woke up, it was already several hours later, much darker in the bedroom, and because he could no longer hear the duck saying “who’s the coolest? Who’s the strongest? You’re the coolest! You’re the strongest!” over and over again, it seemed as though Duino had fallen asleep as well.

Numou carefully poked his head out from underneath the bed, to check and make sure his suspicions were correct. Indeed, they were. The bird was passed out on his bed, dressed in some VERY cute rubber duck pajamas, in which if Numou had his phone on him, he would have taken several photos of by now. Perhaps it was better that he didn’t take his phone with him this time around, lest it would have been smashed to pieces in the kitchen earlier that day.

“Oooh, now’s my chance,” Numou thought to himself, rubbing his black paws together mischievously. The imp didn’t know what this guy was afraid of, so it was time for a good, old-fashioned demonic jump scare!

With some light, careful footing, Numou crawled onto the foot of Duino’s bed. He got into a pouncing position...

...bared his sharp fangs...

...and started leaning closer...

...and closer towards the duck’s face...

But the duck quickly opened one eye, and with that one eye, looked the demon right in the face. While maintaining eye contact, Duino slid over to the side of his bed, reaching for something.

“Good morning imp! I was wondering when you were gonna crawl out from under the bed.” Duino smiled, opening his other eye, the duck absolutely unphased at the demon’s attempt to scare him.

Numou’s idea of a scary face quickly turned into that of a shocked and disappointed one. “Wha - how did you...”

“Your eyes glow in the dark, foxy!” Duino laughed, “It’s kind of cute, actually! Terrible for trying to sneak up on someone, though. I figured, you were hiding under there either to scare me later, or to get all beady-eyed and ask for someone to snuggle with for the night. Luckily, I was prepared for both of those things!”

Duino grabbed the item he was reaching for on his bedside table – a comically large, cast-iron frying pan.

“I hope you like pancakes!” With an evil smirk, the duck brought the heavy metal pan right into the side of the imp’s body, which, due to the absurd surplus size of the skillet, surpassed the size of the imp by at least an order of magnitude. Numou let out a loud cry, rivalling that of a certain grey Tom cat, and in seconds, the imp was flattened right into the wall! The only things sticking out were his two little horns and his pointed devil tail.

“Wow, they even give you little handles to help peel it out of the package, how convenient!” Duino laughed as he pulled on one of the imp’s horns, peeling the imp-cake off of the bedroom wall, and setting him into the frying pan! “Sometimes I get REALLY hungry in the middle of the night, and I just gotta fry something up right now. Maybe you know the feeling! That’s why I have this here ready to go as well!”

The duck reached over for the other item on his bedside table – an electric hot plate! He flicked a switch and turned a knob, and the plate was red hot within seconds! The poor imp-cake inside the pan could be heard whimpering as he somehow saw what was happening. The evil duck just smiled as he brought the frying pan down to rest on the hot plate, holding it firmly in place for several seconds. That was all it took for his bedroom to start smelling like fresh-cooked imp!

“Mmmm, smells like bacon!” Duino snickered as he looked into the pan to see how the now very-flat imp was holding up. The flatness of the imp-cake did not remain so for very long, as once the heat radiated through the pan, the imp let out another Tom cat-esque cry, and went flying straight up towards the ceiling!

YYYEEEEOOOWWWW!!” The red-hot blue imp was launched out of the pan, springing back into his normal shape, headed horns-first into the duck’s bedroom ceiling! Unfortunately for Numou, those horns served as an (in)convenient wedge, driving his head partially through the plaster, and keeping him stuck there! Helpless, still hot imp feet dangled from the ceiling, and his wiry tail was frazzled into a zig-zag shape.

“Mmmmff, mmtt meee mmouuutt!” The former imp-cake groaned, his pleas muffled by the dry wall. The pain from the heat of the pan was still remnant in his paws, and the duck below could still see the pinkness of them, contrasting their normal black colour.

Duino held a hand under his chin for a moment, pondering. “Hmm, I usually prefer medium-well, and I’d say these are barely even rare. Guess I won’t be having pancakes this morning.”

Numou thought that, maybe, this meant the duck was done with his bit and would be helping him out of the ceiling shortly, but this was Duino D. Duck, Freelance Antagonist. Not knowing when to quit was what he was famous for! Numou struggled for a moment, not making any progress on freeing himself.

After pondering for a moment, Duino spoke up again. “Those paws look a little tender, impfox. I’d say a nice foot massage should ease that swelling right up!”

Although it could not be seen through the hole in the ceiling, the imp’s eyes jolted wide open as he heard the duck below him. He hoped maybe, for a moment, Duino was serious and was going to soothe his pain with a nice, friendly gesture.

Nah. Who was he kidding?

Duino flexed his feathers, bringing in both wings for good measure. He then, gently, and tormentingly-lightly, danced said feathers over the trapped imp’s bare black paws, tickling them. “Just relax and enjoy, imp!”

Numou’s high-pitched squeals and giggles could be heard even through the plaster of the ceiling, as the imp started wiggling around wildly. He wasn’t sure if the wiggling was shimmying him out of the ceiling, or driving him further into it.

Duino couldn’t help but break character a bit, starting to chuckle as the imp’s bare paws squirmed and splayed in his grasp, “heheh, stay still now, you don’t want me to have to start all over again now, do you?” The taunt made the imp squeal in protest, separately from the other sounds he was making as the duck continued his “massage”.

At some point, the tormenting duck reached up to grab the imp by the sides, and begin to pull him out of his ceiling trap. Of course, he couldn’t resist getting a little light on those pulls here and there, tracing teasing feathers along exposed imp ribs and tum. All the extra wiggling and shuffling probably helped the imp free himself faster, and eventually, he came crashing down onto the bed, taking ceiling tile down with him.

Duino made sure to use short window of time that Numou was dazed to his advantage. He gathered the frying pan and a pillow from his bed that wasn’t covered in plaster. “Aww jeez would you look at the time,” the duck said nervously, “massage’s done already, I gotta skedaddle!”

Just as the imp was getting his bearings, the bird was already gone, leaving behind just a couple of feathers. Duino ran off to the spare room, locking the door behind him. Fortunately for him, the exhausted imp chose not to give chase, instead brushing off the plaster as best as he could, and the demon fell asleep on the duck’s bed.


Later that morning, after both the duck and the imp got a few hours of sleep, the duck was the first to rise. He debated going straight to the kitchen, but he figured he should at least check on the imp and make sure his horns were still attached to his head.

Duino poked his head into his bedroom where he left Numou that night, checking to see if he was still there. Sure enough, the imp was still asleep, almost in the same position that the duck remembered seeing him in before he ran off.

He’s probably gonna try to kick my butt today,” Duino thought to himself, closing the bedroom door quietly. “Heh, I can’t wait to see him try.

Duino went downstairs to the kitchen, beginning to brew himself a pot of coffee. While he waited for the coffee to brew, he thought about how he should approach the imp that day. He’ll be nice; let Numou strike first, he proposed. If he’s not in the mood, Numou will leave him alone. If the imp wants to try and kick his butt, that’ll be his cue to pounce. That way, he felt he was absolving himself of any hard feelings that might arise from the continued pestering towards the imp. While he felt the imp was lots of fun to torment, he didn’t know how sensitive he was so far. He’d take it slow, and keep the ball in Numou’s lane.

Shortly after the coffee maker began to beep, Duino was surprised to hear the sound of a yawning imp in the doorway of the kitchen. A very groggy-looking Numou stumbled in, stretching, and still dressed in nothing more than his black undies.

“I smelled coffee,” Numou said with a yawn, “so I decided to risk my life and come down here. You gonna share, or are you gonna spike it with some hot sauce before pouring me a mug?”

Duino grabbed two mugs from the cupboard, looking the groggy imp up and down, before pouring them both a cup. Perhaps the feelings were a bit on the harder side already. “I’m feeling generous today,” the duck said, handing the mug to Numou, “so you get single-ingredient coffee this time.” He tried to offer the imp a somewhat-reassuring smile. It didn’t look like Numou was convinced.

“How kind of you,” Numou said sarcastically, looking the coffee over with a careful eye. He studied the mug and its contents, and took a sniff of it as well.

“It’s clean. I promise, pal.” Duino felt a little bit of a knot in his stomach as he watched the imp study the drink as if it was some foreign object. Perhaps he had gone a little hard on him. “Uhh, do you want any cream or sugar?”

Numou shook his head. “Nah, I prefer it black,” the demon said, finally taking a sip of the coffee. He took a few more sips once he realized it was fine.

The avian jokester just couldn’t resist. “Black, like your paw--“

“Shut it, bird!” Numou squeezed his free hand over the duck’s beak just long enough to muffle the last word, before letting go.

“Like your paw... undies! I mean uhh... horns! Like your horns! Or your ears. Yeah, like your ears! Well, the tips of your ears, anyway.” Duino made a few awkward laughs and looked around the kitchen uncomfortably.

“You just can’t help yourself, can you, Dweeb-o.” Numou sighed, rolling his red eyes before sitting down at the kitchen table.

“Hey, it’s LITERALLY my job, so no, I can’t help myself!” Duino sat down in the seat across from the imp and looked at him awkwardly.

“Well, I’m not paying you, so you can clock out anytime.”

Yeah, he could tell, Numou was NOT in the mood this morning. Oops.

The two sipped their coffee, accompanied by several minutes of an uneasy silence. Silence never went well with a cup of coffee in Duino’s experience, so he was anxious to break it.

“Speaking of black, uhhh... clothes...” Duino started, “why don’t we go shopping today for something a little more... conventional for you to wear?”

Numou looked at the duck curiously. “Conventional? You mean like, pants?”

Duino nodded. “Yeah, like pants.”

Numou immediately shook his head. “Nah. Not interested.”

“Alright then, what about shirts? You gotta wear something.”

Numou frowned. “I am wearing something.”

“That’s not something,” Duino shook his head, “that barely qualifies as something. Some jurisdictions may even call it indecent!”

The imp rolled his eyes again. “It’s more than what you’re wearing down there. But fine, whatever, I could use the outing.”

Duino smiled. “That’s the spirit, impo. I can take you to a place downtown that’s not too expensive. Pick something nice, I got you covered.”

Numou looked at the duck suspiciously. Why was he being so nice to him all of a sudden?

“Yeah, how much interest is gonna accrue on this shirt you buy for me? Am I gonna have to be your plaything for the next month and a half to pay you back?” Numou asked the duck, squinting.

Duino sighed. Yeah, it seemed like the feelings were VERY hard after all. “Aww, hey Numou, pal, I think we got off on the wrong foot here,” the duck said, trying to sound consoling.

Numou looked up from his coffee, and smiled. “You mean, the wrong... feet?” The imp winked at him. “Don’t worry about it, Dweeb-o. From one fiend to another, you don’t seem to be COMPLETELY heartless.”

Duino smiled. “Thanks, I guess?”

“Now,” Numou said as he gulped down the last of his coffee, “mind if I use your shower? I have plaster and dry wall to get out of my fur.”


It was around eleven o’clock now, and the two went out to do some shopping. Duino figured he could take some time to show Numou around Plotsburgh, and Numou figured he could use the break, and maybe appease the duck by putting on some clothes, even if he knew he couldn’t stay in them for very long.

It was bright and sunny that morning in downtown Plotsburgh; Duino could not have asked for better weather for showing his new demonic acquaintance around town. As was typical around this hour, the streets were busy, and everyone was in a rush to get somewhere.

Numou looked around as he followed Duino to whichever shop the duck was leading him towards. The maniac drivers on the roads intimidated him, and even the people on the street made him feel uneasy as they kept gawking at him. He wasn’t sure if it was the devil tail, the horns, or the fact that he was walking around in his underwear. Since he typically didn’t care about the latter, and because everyone else around town was barely dressed as well, he figured a demon was just an uncommon sight around these parts, and he tried to ignore them.

The imp found clothes shopping very boring. He didn’t see anything he liked. As a whole, clothes often made him feel itchy, stuffy, and uncomfortable. But Duino was insistent upon the demon looking “decent” and “presentable”, even if, from what Numou could tell, most of the people around town were barely half-dressed! Some didn’t wear pants, like the duck, and others wore pants, but no shirts. Some didn’t wear shirts, but instead wore open vests or jackets, with bare fur underneath. And some wore absolutely nothing at all! Yet he didn’t see Duino complaining about them!

“I don’t get it, Dweeb-o,” Numou said as he tried on yet another jacket, “why do I gotta do this? That fox that just walked by was COMPLETELY naked, and you didn’t even bat an eye!”

Duino rolled his blue eyes and looked to see how well the jacket fit the imp. It was rather big on him, like most of the other clothes they’ve tried so far. Maybe they should have tried the kids’ section.

“Basically, it goes like this,” The duck started, “You wear a normal article of clothing, and you’re fine.” He flicked through the shirts, looking for an XS-size. “You don’t wear any clothing, and you’re also fine.” He found a little red tanktop that said “HECKSPAWN” on it. “Oooh, try this on, it SCREAMS ‘you’.” He handed it to the imp.

Numou groaned after he read what the shirt said. “Well then, why don’t I just take these off?” He pointed to his undies and pulled them out a bit. Duino very quickly scrambled to stop him.

“No no, keep them on!” Duino batted the imp’s hands away. “You can’t take those off here! You’ll get in trouble!”

Numou looked at Duino like he had two heads. “I don’t get it.”

“As I was saying,” Duino continued, “if you do wear something... you can’t take it off. Cause then, you’ll be naked.

The imp thought about it for a moment. “So is this just a me thing, or is it a you thing, or is that just how it works for everyone around here?”

Duino nodded. “That’s how it works around here in general. Geez imp. Why am I explaining all of this to you anyway? Were you born yesterday?”

Numou growled and crossed his arms. “Not BORN yesterday, but summoned yesterday. Well, technically two days ago, I guess. Anyways. The people around here are weird. You’re weird.”

“Yup, that’s Plotsburgh, pal! Weird, wacky, wild. You’re learning!”

Eventually, the imp decided on a casual-looking black hoodie that had a zipper. He could keep it open if he wanted to, so he could put up with it for now, he thought. The two went through the checkout line, and after the cashier scanned it, he put the hoodie back on and zipped it up. After Duino paid for it and they both left the store, he quickly unzipped it. He zipped and unzipped it several times, practically fidgeting with it.

Duino looked at him curiously. “Ideally, you pick one or the other and leave it like that.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Numou said, very clearly uncomfortable. “Now, you were saying something about... if you wear something, and then take it off... you’ll... what was it, again?”

The pair reached a crosswalk at an intersection, waiting for the light to turn white. Traffic zoomed by at a rate Numou had never seen before.

“Jeez, people around here drive like maniacs,” Numou added.

“Yeah, they do!” Duino agreed. “Uh, so yeah, if you’re wearing something, and then you take it off, you’ll be naked. But you won’t be naked if you weren’t wearing anything in the first place. Well, you’ll still be naked, it just won’t be faux pas. Does that make sense?”

Numou had a smile growing on his white, foxish muzzle. It may have been the number of times Duino just said “naked” in one sentence. Or, more likely, it was that he was scheming up something impish, and the repeated utterance of the word “naked” just gave him an idea.

With a wicked grin, he nodded. “Yeah, that makes sense. So if I take your shirt, you’ll be naked?”

Duino nodded. “Yeah, exactly.” It took the duck a few seconds to realize what he just said. “So, uh… don’t... don’t do that.” He flashed a nervous smile.

“Got it. So don’t do this…!”

Duino reflexively looked over at the imp to see what “this” was, but all he saw was his plaid shirt, moving away from his body, being carried by none other than the mischievous impfox. Despite Numou’s earlier reservations - and apparent hostility – the imp could not resist such a perfect opportunity when it presented itself. To be thorough, he even made sure to grab the white t-shirt that the duck wore underneath, though somehow leaving Duino’s white bone pendant intact. Said pendant jumped and jostled around in front of Duino’s now bare torso as he immediately gave chase to the shirt-snatching imp.

It was fortunate for the both of them that Numou timed the attack to occur at the same moment the walk light turned white. The “maniac” drivers that filled the busy downtown streets all suddenly came to a complete stop, allowing the imp, the duck, and the curiously observing pedestrians to cross.

Duino attempted a lunge toward the imp, but the demon already gained several feet of distance to his advantage. Unfortunately for Duino, the timing of this lunge was just before the curb, where the pavement turned into sidewalk. The duck tripped over his own webbed feet and went flying straight down to the concrete! He tried to flap his wings in an attempt to recover from the dive, but instead, only bought himself a couple of milliseconds of extra time before his beak was squashed up against his face, and his bare behind was on display for the crowd around him.

Numou heard the duck’s faceplant onto the sidewalk, and he also heard the crowd gasping – and then giggling – and then laughing. The imp turned around to see a pile of brown feathers stacked in a rough pyramid shape, with a few green tufts sticking out from the front where, he assumed, Duino’s head was. While, normally, the scenario of his clothing-theft victim’s naked body being on display for a whole crowd to see was VERY much the imp’s ideal outcome, it was MUCH less desirable to him when it was the product of grievous bodily harm.

Numou’s heart skipped a beat, and he quickly ran over to the duck’s side, kneeling down to assess the damages. “DUINO! Oh my god, are you okay?!” The imp cautiously put his hand on the duck’s shoulder and turned him over to his side. To the imp’s confusion, Duino’s squashed beak bounced and sprung out of his face like a slinky, and with a good stretch and pull back into place, the bird’s mug was as good as new. Duino smiled and gave Numou a thumbs up, to the imp’s great relief.

“Oh yeah, I’m absolutely fine!” Duino said, reaching for the imp to pull himself off of the ground. “Never felt better!” As the duck got to his feet, he looked at Numou with a big smirk. “Thanks for the lift, pal – the waistband on these things make for a GREAT handle!”

Numou squinted at the duck, looking very confused. His confusion quickly turned into horror, as the duck held up a familiar black garment in front of the imp’s face – his undies.

Numou gasped. “Wait, how did you- GIVE THOSE BACK!”

Duino just laughed as the imp tried to swipe for the briefs, and the duck rolled out of the way, onto his back. Looming over him was the now naked impfox, and Duino got an eyeful of a big,

black...

...censor bar!

“Whoa!” Duino exclaimed, “so THAT’S why you wear those things!”

Numou’s white muzzle instantly went beet red as he tried to cover up with hands. Then, he remembered he was wearing the black hoodie that Duino had bought him earlier, and he quickly zipped it up and tugged it down to try and get some coverage.

Duino stood up again, spinning the briefs around in his hands. He was staring right at the imp, and the imp just kept blushing redder and redder.

“Hmmm,” Duino started, holding one hand to his chin while playing ‘keep-away’ with the briefs in the other, “I guess imps work a little differently – but hey, we all have something to hide!” The duck winked at Numou and held the undies high up over his head, making the imp have to jump up and grab at them, and in turn, moving the hoodie up high enough to warrant the censor bar to accompany it!

“Gimme back my shirt, and you’ll get these back,” Duino said while the imp hopped around with one hand in the air and one hand tugging on his sweater.

“Fine! Deal!” Numou squeaked as he reluctantly returned both the plaid and the white shirts back to the duck.

“Thanks, impy!” Duino said as he quickly threw his shirts back on. He continued to hold the imp’s briefs in one hand, however, gawking at the very blushy and grumpy-looking imp who kept trying to swipe at them. He smirked. “Aww, cheer up pal, wanna hear a joke?”

Numou growled. “No!”

Duino ignored him and continued. “Why did the imp cross the road?”

Numou, in turn, ignored Duino and kept swiping at the briefs, while Duino held them up higher, and began stretching them back!

“...to get to the undie side!”

With great aim, Duino let go of the waistband and sent the undies flying right over the imp’s head, where they landed all the way across the other side of the street!

“DUINO! YOU JERK!” Numou cried, as he immediately went chasing after them!

“Yup, that’s me~!” Duino chuckled, watching the imp with delight as he went after his discarded garment.

Unfortunately, this time around, the imp did not time his pursuit to his advantage. In fact, he had absolutely no consideration at all for the state of the street, the crossing, or the walk light. The number one priority on his mind was to get those undies back and have people stop staring at him!

However, the drivers on that busy downtown street had different priorities. The ONLY thing keeping them stopped at the light was, well, the light. And that light, that was on “WALK” the entire time the imp was running off with Duino’s clothes, was now due to change. And the light did not care if there was an angry, blushing impfox on the middle of the street trying to nab his little undies back. That light was on a strict schedule – and so were the drivers!

So when the light indicated to the vehicles that it was now okay to cross – did they look to see if the way was clear before proceeding? Well, this was Plotsburgh – so, no, they did not! Just as quickly did the cars come to a stop earlier, did they launch off again at full speed! With a terrified cry from the impfox, car horns clashed with imp horns, and the poor demon was carried off on the grill of a large pickup truck, leaving behind both the article of clothing he was wearing and the article he was trying to pick up.

The now fully-naked impfox was spread out on the front of the truck as it barrelled down the street, and the accelerating forces kept him from curling or covering up at all. He yelled and squealed as the truck did its tour around the block, and the surprised crowds gasped and gawked as they got full view of that entirely uncovered... censor bar.

Thankfully, this was the downtown district, and the large amount of traffic and intersections meant that the next light was only a few blocks away. Duino waited for that light to turn back to “WALK” again, and when it did so, he casually strolled over to the pile of imp-clothes on the ground and gathered them up. Then, he started making his way down the sidewalk, slowly following behind the truck that was taking Numou for the ride of his life. He kept his eye on it, making note of where it was going, and where it was likely to stop. He hummed to himself, very content with the outcomes of the day, and when he spotted a clothing donation bin outside of a building along the way, his happy smile turned into a wide, wicked grin.

“Hmmm... I AM feeling quite generous today,” Duino chuckled, "and the look on his face would be priceless.” He looked down at his signature plaid shirt. “But... he did say something about being able to set stuff on fire... not sure I want to test him on that.”

Several minutes went by until Duino started to hear someone growling, muttering, and swearing up ahead. Sure enough, it was the impfox, kicking at the side of the truck that just hit him, and shaking his fist at the driver.

“You could have killed me!” Numou yelled at the driver, who just shrugged and waved him off. As the imp started to walk toward’s Duino’s direction, the duck heard a few catcalls and whistles. “I like your tail!” Someone called out, “Nice butt, too!” This comment made the imp reflexively cover his behind, only to end up revealing his front in the process. By the time Duino caught up with him, the imp was bent forward, covering up as much as he could, while flushed just as beet red as he was earlier.

Duino looked Numou up and down with a smirk, holding out the sweater and undies the imp left behind. “You DO have a nice tail,” Duino laughed, as the imp put his clothes back on.

“Shut. Up.” Numou snarled, putting on his briefs and zipping up his new hoodie. Even with the coverage now, he still felt exposed, and tugged the sweater down below his waist. “Home. Now.”

“What, don’t wanna get lunch first?” Duino said, still smiling wide.

“Yeah,” Numou growled, “I think I’m in the mood for roasted, battered, deep-fried duck.”

Duino offered a sheepish grin with a nervous laugh and began leading the way back to his place. “Heh... maybe we can order pizza instead?”


Back at Duino’s house, the silence was once again awkward, as the pair waited around for their food to be delivered. Numou was still looking cranky, and barely said two words to the duck, other than telling him what he wanted to order. Duino knew that some toons could be sore losers, and it made sense for an imp to be one, but on top of the tension and agitation he seemed to express in the kitchen earlier that morning, something seemed... off. As far as Duino was concerned, the two were even. Numou tried to prank him, Duino returned the favour. Sure, the pranks kept winding up heavily in the duck’s favour, but it wasn’t Duino’s fault that the imp was unlucky!

“So, Numou, I gotta ask,” Duino began, “is something bothering you? You uh... look like you could use a little pick-me-up.”

Numou flinched just from Duino’s comment. Yeah, he was a LITTLE jumpy. “Yeah, you could say that.”

Duino gave him a concerned look. “What’s wrong, pal? Other than, you know, the shenanigans... I mean, you’re an imp, I’m sure your pranks backfire on you once in a while!”

Numou sighed. “No no, it’s not that.” Numou looked around the living room, and continued. “I just... don’t understand this town. This place.”

“What do you mean, imp?” Duino asked curiously. “What’s not to understand? It’s Plotsburgh, a city full of dumb, silly, zany toons like me and you. That’s it, nothing special.”

“Toons, like me and you?” Numou cocked his head and squinted. “What’s a toon? Do you mean like, a cartoon?”

“Yeah, exactly, cartoon! Toon for short! You’ve never heard that word before?”

“Oh, cartoons. Is that why everybody around here acts like they’re in a comedy movie, runs around naked but-somehow-I’m-more-naked-than-everyone-else, why you can splat me against the wall, and wring my tongue in a knot? Is that why the truck didn’t kill me?”

Duino looked at the imp like a deer in headlights. “Kill you? What do you mean? We’re toons, imp. It takes a lot more than that to get rid of us!”

Numou looked at Duino like he was speaking another language. “I’m a toon?”

Duino started laughing nervously. “Yeah Numou, you’re a toon, don’t be so ridiculous! You’re a toon.” Duino repeated, this time in a very matter-of-fact voice, as if he was saying something as obvious as ‘the sky is blue’, or ‘water is wet’. “You’re a toon. C’mon. Numou. You just didn’t know the word for it, right?” The imp just looked at the duck blankly, offering no confirmation to the duck. “You ARE a toon, right? Otherwise, you’d be...”

Duino gulped as the words he was saying finally registered in his tiny little bird brain.

“...Dead by now.”

Duino began to sweat, letting out a little awkward laugh as he nervously tugged on the collar of his white t-shirt. “Uhhh, you just stay right there for a minute Numou, I think I left the fire – er, oven – errr, sink, bathtub running! BerightbackBYE!” The duck zoomed off, up the stairs to his bedroom, reflexively slamming the door behind him.

“Uhh, uhh, the book, I need the book, where did I put it?” Duino said in a panicked voice. He looked over at his bed, still covered in plaster and ceiling junk. Yeesh, the imp slept in that? Duino brushed off some of the plaster and looked under the blankets and covers. No, it wasn’t there. He looked on his bedside table and in the cubby hole inside of it. There was a book there – his journal – but not the book he was looking for. He started picking up various pieces of clutter, throwing them around the room, until he finally found the book he was looking for, buried underneath a pile of dirty shirts.

It was the book that he summoned the imp with. He immediately started flicking through the pages. Unable to focus on any of the highly technical paragraphs in the middle of the book, he paused for a moment. “It’s okay Duino, take a deep breath, think for a moment,” he told himself, trying to focus. He turned the book over to the front cover and looked at the entire cover page.

“Demon Summoning 4 Dummies”, the title read. There was no author listed, but just below the title there was a sticker that said, in all caps: “TOON WORLD EDITION”. A small text box just below that read: “Now updated with a vital Toon-iverse introduction on Page 94! Be sure to read this before summoning your new best friend!”

The word choice of “new best friend” was optimistic at best; euphemistic at worst. Duino took another breath, flicking past the first two sections titled “The Basics of the Dark Arts”, *and “A Brief Overview of the Ten Dimensions*”, and landed onto page 94.

Introduction to Demon Summoning in the Toon-iverse!

Summoning your new best friend in the Toon-iverse is very similar to that of other worlds; perhaps even cleaner (no pesky blood to deal with!), safer, and more fun! But there is one VERY IMP-ortant thing to keep in mind! While the authors of this book are aware that both Toons and Demons can be very violent creatures, make sure to take some time and explain to your demon how the physics work in your part of the multiverse! Remember, we all come from different corners of this ten-dimensional plane of existence, so ensure to re-assure your demon that he’ll be okay before you go playing “whack-an-imp" with your new friend!”

Duino’s blue eyes began to glaze over as he read, then re-read the passage. Physics? Multiverse? Ten-dimensional plane of existence? This was all over his head. He scratched the green feathers on his head, trying to process the information.

Suddenly, he heard a knock on his bedroom door.

“Duino? Are you okay in there?” It was Numou.

“Y-yeah, you can come in, I was just, uh, looking for something.”

Numou opened the door and saw Duino standing there with the summoning book opened up. “Oh, so THAT’S how you brought me here,” Numou said, “and I assume you’re trying to figure out how to get rid of me now?”

“N-nah, that’s not it at all, imp... here, can you come read this, and tell me what it means?” Duino asked with a sigh.

Numou took a moment to read over the passage. He then looked up from the book, took a look around the room, and stared at the hole in the ceiling, then looked back at Duino. “Oh. Ooooh. That, uh, explains a lot, actually.”

“What exactly does it say, imp?” Duino asked, confused.

“Basically”, Numou began, “it explains that physics works differently in this, uh, ‘toon-world’ than it does in other worlds.”

Duino’s blue eyes were still glazed over. “Uhh... how so?”

Numou continued. “So, you know how when you hit me with that giant frying pan last night?”

“Oh yeah!” Duino nodded, with a chuckle. “You turned into an adorable little pancake.”

Numou just growled and carried on with his explanation. “WELL, in most other, uhh, universes... that doesn’t happen.”

The duck’s glazed eyes remained firm. “So, what does happen, then?”

Numou couldn’t believe he really had to spell it out for him. Was this guy really this dumb? Numou said very plainly, “Well, uh – you would probably crack my skull open, knock me unconscious, make me bleed all over the place, and if I was lucky, I’d just get a concussion, but if I was unlucky, I’d probably die.”

Duino’s blue eyes went from glazed over, to wide and horrified. “JEEZ, Numou, pal!” The duck backed away from the imp as he looked the otherworldly creature up and down. “Pal, I don’t know what to say,” Duino began in an apologetic, but frantic tone, “I’m so sorry, I put you through all of that without explaining anything to you – that must’ve been traumatizing – oh no, I’m a terrible person...” Duino buried his face in his hand feathers, very obviously upset.

Suddenly, Numou’s expression of confusion and discomfort changed into that of a slight smile. “...Say that again?”

Duino took his face out of his feathered hands and looked at the imp. “...I’m a terrible person?”

“One more time, ducky.” The smile on the imp’s face was growing.

“I’m... a terrible person.”

Numou’s white foxish face was brighter now than the duck had ever seen it in the days prior. “Gotcha.”

Duino was now the one doing the squinting, as he looked at Numou in confusion. “What do you mean, ‘gotcha’?”

“I mostly figured out how things work around here pretty early on,” Numou said. “Back in the kitchen, as soon as you squeezed my tongue like that, I knew something was different about this place. I kinda just played dumb downstairs for you just now. I wanted to see if I could get you to sweat a bit.”

Duino huffed and frowned.

“I mean, I’m not gonna lie, the giant frying pan was pretty scary at first, but it all kind of started to make sense after that. By the time I was stealing your shirt at the intersection, I knew I wasn’t in any real danger. Well, actually, I didn’t fully come to that conclusion until AFTER I got hit by the truck, but still. What, do you think I’m stupid?”

Duino bit his tongue. He knew how he wanted to answer that question.

“I gotcha, though! I actually got to see you show a bit of a softer side. I knew you weren’t a COMPLETE jerk. Maybe ninety-five percent of one, but not completely heartless. Hah, you should have seen the look on your face! You looked like you were gonna cry!”

“Why you little... imp!” Duino huffed once again, crossing his arms.

“Hehehee, you knoooow it~!” Numou giggled, flicking his pointed tail happily, and sticking his tongue out at the duck. “I’ve been waiting for you to say that to me since you summoned me! Finally - I out-imped you on something.”

Duino rolled his eyes. “Does this mean I can launch you into the sun by your underwear now, guilt-free? Because you have no idea how much I want to do that right now. Those things make the perfect slingshot.”

“Implying there was a point that you WEREN’T guilt-free?” Numou smirked.

“Nah! I just wanted to make sure we were both on the same page.”

“Well, if you want to make sure we’re both on the same page, can I ask you something honestly?”

Duino looked the imp up and down. “What’s that?”

“Can we take a break from the pranks for the night?” Numou sighed. “I’m tired. I know I just said I was starting to get used to it, but my body’s still pretty sore.”

“Oh, I see how it is,” Duino teased, “you get one up on me and you want to quit while you’re ahead.”

“No,” Numou shook his head, “I just want to take a break. Does that sound good to you?”

Duino nodded. “Alright pal. I think we both deserve a rest.” The duck offered a feathered hand with a smile. “Sounds like a deal.”

Numou looked at Duino’s wing with hesitation. “Forgive me if I’m a bit wary to shake your hand. Fool me once, etc. How about this, instead?”

The imp leaned forward and held out both arms, and while Duino also hesitated for a moment, it didn’t take long for the duck to give in to the gesture, wrapping his arms around the demon for a hug. “Awwrrr, I’ll even downgrade you to just ninety percent of a jerk,” Numou said happily, his devil tail wrapping gently behind the antagonist bird.

Duino let out a light quack after the imp made his comment. “Downgrade? How about… UP-grade!”

Very quickly, he held the imp tighter to prevent his escape, and with one free hand, he gripped Numou’s white waistband hard, tugging it straight up in the air! The black fabric of the imp’s undies instantly became wedged between his cheeks, and the duck just kept yanking upwards!

“AAAACK! DUINO!!! HEEYYYYY!!” The imp groaned and flailed as his underwear was made quick work of, and the mischievous duck’s tight hold around his torso kept him from pulling out of it! “Alright, alright! Ninety-six point six percent of a jerk, and that’s my final – URK – offer!”

“Heh, ninety-six point six percent of a jerk. I’ll take it.” Duino let go of the waistband just as suddenly as took hold of it, sending the elastic flying back down to SNAP loudly against the impfox’s back. He also released the grip he had on the imp’s torso, letting him pull away from the villainous hug.

Numou groaned, growled, and sighed as he adjusted his underwear and took several steps back from the duck. “Hey, I thought we agreed, no more pranks?”

“Aww, that wasn’t a prank. That was a basic maneuver! Consider it something to tide me over until I launch you into the sun tomorrow morning.” Duino chuckled and smirked.

“Fine. Ninety-six point six six percent of a jerk. You drive a hard bargain.” Numou rolled his eyes.

“Awesome!” Duino grinned and hopped backwards, sitting on the foot of his bed that was still a mess. “Now, how much longer does this ninety-six point six six percent of a jerk have you on contract for?”

“You don’t have me on a contract. We never agreed to one. You never even told me what you summoned me here for.”

“I did tell you! I told you, I never thought about it. I just did it. You know, for fun.”

“You summoned a demon… for fun.” The impfox squinted at the duck with his red eyes.

Duino replied completely nonchalantly. “Yup.”

“And judging by your panic attack earlier, you never read past the page in that book where it told you how to summon an imp?”

“That’s right.”

Numou sported a wicked grin. “So you never read the part that explains how if you don’t sign a contract or otherwise give the demon you summoned instructions on what to do, then you’re stuck with him forever?”

Duino’s blue eyes widened once again. “Wait, what?!”

Numou giggled and flicked his tail. “Hehehee! Relax, Dweeb-o, I just wanted to see you sweat again. Unless…”

Duino glared at the imp. “Numou.”

“Alright, alright! I’m done playing now. I promise.” Numou winked, still giggling somewhat.

“Good. So basically, I have you around for however long I want?”

“Yeah. Or until I get bored.”

“Alright then. I guess this ninety-six point six six percent of a jerk will have to make sure that doesn’t happen, and keep you busy, then. I really think you need to up your imp game. No offense. Maybe I could share a few pointers with you.”

“Normally I would take offense to that,” Numou said, “but I think I may have met my match. So… fine, that sounds good to me.”

“Oh, pal, you’re giving yourself WAY too much credit calling yourself my match.”

“Ninety-six point... six six six percent jerk.”

“Is that a demon joke?”

Numou smiled, curling his pointed tail in a spiral, and self-consciously scratching his head around one of his horns. “Yeah, that’s a demon joke.”

😈 🦊 🦆

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