"Hey Luca pass me that socket wrench."
Luca nodded, grabbing the tool as he approached the vampire. Ever since the manor attack, Death Riot had found themselves on the sidelines. The appearance of Abolith, Fukushu, and the mysterious kitsune had rattled Lilith. Although the group had recovered from their injuries, the demon queen seemed hesitant to use them. This meant they found themselves with far more free time than they wanted. "I'm bored," Jolie groaned.
Bong now looked up from her work, noticing the necromancer spread out across a series of boxes, staring at the ceiling of the garage. "Well why don't you play a game with Bob or Lilith," Bong called, hoping the zebra demon or the teenage girl would occupy Jolie as she returned to her work. "Bob only knows how to play Uno and Lilith is at a friend's," Jolie pouted. "She even took the pink kitty with her." Bong could only roll her eyes as Jolie pouted like a grade schooler. "Hey maybe I can help with the car," Jolie exclaimed.
"Absolutely not," Bong said firmly. "No one is touching the car except me." Jolie frowned, pointing towards Setepenre who was now tightening a bolt in the engine. "You let Set fix the car. Why can't I?"
"Because Set and I used to fix up cars like this," Bong replied. "Yeah 60 years ago," Set added, the mummy now reaching over to scratch Miserys cat Boots behind the ears. "Cmon Bong there's gotta be better mechanics for this type of thing." Bong shook her head no, leaning in to make some final adjustments to the engine. There may have been better mechanics but Bong needed to keep her mind occupied. After the mysterious kitsune nearly killed them, she found herself replaying the attack over and over again in her head. If she didn't stay busy, she'd go crazy thinking about how they almost died. Besides, there was something she wanted to add to the car. "And done!"
"What'd you do," Luca asked, the werewolf curiously studying the car. "If we'd been faster we could have outrun that fuzzy bitch," Bong stated. "Thats why Set and I added Nitro. Just flip a switch and BOOM, leave everyone in the dust."
"Plus you can get high off it," Jolie offered. "Oh oh can we get high Bong? I haven't done whip its in years!" Bong sighed, getting high was tempting but she needed something stronger than nitrous. That, and she didn't want to acknowledge that Jolie had actually come up with an idea she liked.
"Excuse me, hello. Anyone here?"
The group paused, turning their attention towards the front of the garage. Standing before them was a man in his early twenties. Dressed in a pair of ripped jeans, hooded sweatshirt, and converse sneakers, he looked like some college kid who had rolled out of bed. "Oh hey," he said, pushing his long brunette hair out of his eyes. "Was hoping you could help me."
"Sorry dude employees only," Set called. "Just head back the way you came if your lost."
"No it's not that," he said. "I was hoping you could help me, I'm looking for Death Riot." At the mention of the groups name, they now paused. Over the last couple of months, anytime they ran into strangers that mentioned them it went south quickly. Bong and Set now nodded towards Luca, the werewolf shifting into his lycan form. "Beat it," he growled, his dark brown fur standing on end.
"Whoa easy," the man replied. "Not looking for trouble. I actually came to offer you a job. I was just speaking with Lilith and Circe."
"We already got jobs," Set replied, the mummy's eyes beginning to glow a sinister red. "Now who are you?"
"Sorry where are my manners," he blushed. "My names Matt. Im the Dragon King." The group now curiously tilted their heads, confused by his statement. "You're the Dragon King," Bong asked.
"And your name is Matt," Jokie added. "I thought Dragons had names like Tiamat or Drago or Puff. Who would name a dragon Matt?"
"I um picked it," Matt blushed. "And appearances can be deceiving. Observe." The group now watched as Matt began to transform. Unlike other transformations they had seen, Matt's body seemed to blur as if they were looking at the man through fogged glass. Slowly though, the blurred image grew in size, his body taking on a golden hue. As the spell ended the group gawked at the massive golden dragon standing in the entrance of the garage. "Okay so you're a dragon," Jolie said. "Um your not going to eat me are you?"
"What NO," Matt exclaimed. "No geez I was looking to hire you. I heard all about the job you did on the manor. I asked Lilith if I could borrow you for a job."
"A job," Bong asked. "What kind of job?"
"Also how much you paying," Set added quickly. "I've dealt with enough dragons over the centuries to know two things. One they have a butt ton of gold and two they're real cheap when it comes to parting with it."
"Yeah it's kinda true," Matt stammered, the massive golden dragon rubbing his neck with an enormous claw. "I hate the stereotype but, dragons do hold onto their hordes. Here's the thing though, I don't have a ton of gold."
"Wait you're broke," Luca gasped. "Whoever heard of a broke dragon!"
"I didn't say I was broke," Matt stated. "I just horde different things besides gold. If you're willing to take this job I can offer you this." With a flick of his massive claw, Matt now conjured a small chest, gently pushing it towards the group. "Go ahead open it," he said.
Bong and the others now cautiously approached, slowly opening the chest. As they gazed inside, Bong and Sets eyes went wide in shock. "Studio recordings?"
"Yeah," Matt smirked. "I like to hoarde music and pop culture items from the last half of the 20th century. Look whose recordings those are." Bong now gently picked up the studio reel, gasping in shock as she began to read. "Iggy and the Stooges," she exclaimed. "And the freaking Ramones!"
"Bong he even has the Sex Pistols," Set gasped, holding the studio recording as if it were the Holy Grail. "That's right," Matt said. "I figured a punk band would appreciate the studio recordings of some of the founding fathers of punk rock. Agree to the job and you get these as payment."
Bong, Set, and Luca all stared at one another, shocked to be holding the raw recordings of some of the founders of punk rock in their hands. To then, these were worth more than gold. "Okay dude," they smirked. "What's the job?"