Episode 4:“Sleepless Crusade”
1540 Words
PROLOGUE — MIDNIGHT IN IMP CITY
The streets of Imp City breathe with neon and rot. Rain slicks down the cracked billboards and steams off hellfire vents. A drunken crowd stumbles out of a bar, cackling. Across the street, a convoy of armored limousines pulls into a dark alley.
Inside the cars: an assassination crew. Tall, insectoid mercs in matte-black armor, long rifles strapped to their backs, whispering orders.
LEAD MERC (hissing):
“Target’s a politician. Greed ring council. Big payout. Quick in, quick out.”
The alley grows colder. Lights flicker, casting long claw-shadows. One merc looks up. Nothing. Another checks the roof. Still nothing.
Then—a cape sweeps past the moon.
Wind howls, as if the buildings themselves are exhaling.
The last merc gets yanked up screaming — and cut off mid-sound. His gun clatters to the pavement.
LEAD MERC:
“…The f**k was that?”
A low growl echoes. Not human. Not demon. Something older.
DANIEL (O.S., voice like thunder whispered):
“You murder for coin. You trade lives for greed. Tonight, the debt comes due.”
From the shadows steps the Arch Dark Crusade. Hood drawn, glowing eyes burning beneath. His armor drips with rain, claws gleaming silver-blue. He doesn’t charge. He stalks. Each step deliberate, predator-smooth.
The mercs open fire. Bullets ricochet harmlessly through his form—like shooting mist. Daniel phases, a ghost among them.
One merc screams as a gauntleted fist drags him into darkness. Another is hoisted upside down, chained to a lamp post. The leader panics, firing wildly.
LEAD MERC:
“D-demon! Wraith! W-what ARE you?!”
DANIEL (looming over him, cape flaring like wings):
“I am the sin you cannot bribe. I am judgment… cloaked in mercy.”
He crushes the rifle, tosses the merc into the rain gutter, then vanishes into smoke.
The assassins are left strung up, unconscious, a grotesque warning sign. On a rooftop nearby, Daniel watches the city. The neon glow paints his hood. His breathing is heavy.
Daniel (inner monologue):
“No rest. Not while their knives still hunt. The city is a beast… and I must bleed to keep it tame.”
The church bell tolls three a.m. He disappears into the storm.
---
SCENE 1 — I.M.P OFFICE, MORNING
The neon I.M.P sign flickers weakly. Inside, the team bumbles in with coffee and sleep-crust in their eyes.
Loona is scrolling her phone, blasting music. Millie hums a country tune while cleaning her sickle. Moxxie mutters about paperwork.
Blitzo stumbles out of his office half-dressed, hair sticking in every direction.
BLITZO (groggy):
“Okay… new day, new clients, new reasons to probably get stabbed in the face. Who’s ready to work, sluts?”
LOONA (deadpan):
“I was ready to quit, but thanks for the pep talk.”
Just then, the door opens. Daniel walks in. Not in armor—just his simple, civilian outfit: long trench, gloves, hood down. His posture is calm, but his eyes… they give him away.
Tiny dark crescents and cracks spider along his lower eyelids. His gaze burns dimmer, like the glow is being eaten by exhaustion.
MILLIE (concerned):
“Daniel, sugar, you alright? You look like ya got run over by a pride parade float.”
DANIEL (quiet, polite):
“…I’m fine. Just… didn’t rest well.”
He sets down coffee for everyone. Even puts one on Loona’s desk.
LOONA (suspicious):
“…You’re way too nice. That’s creepy.”
Stolas glides in behind him, arms full of paperwork. The fallen Prince of the Ars Goetia is now awkwardly trying to staple invoices and sort hit-lists like an overworked secretary bird.
STOLAS (cheery, oblivious to his own humiliation):
“Good morning, my darling coworkers! Another day, another bundle of forms I do not understand, but I assure you I am learning!”
He notices Daniel, pauses, tilts his head like a curious owl.
STOLAS (softly):
“Oh… my land kitty. You look… worn thin.”
Daniel actually freezes, just slightly. Stolas’ voice hits him deeper than the others. He bows his head gently, a sign of respect.
BLITZO (interrupting, mock gasp):
“Wait, wait, wait—hold the fuckin’ phone. Did my fallen Goetia ex-thing just call our new guy his ‘land kitty’?!”
STOLAS (primly, feathers puffing):
“Well, naturally. I am of the skies… he is of the earth. It feels… fitting.”
BLITZO (snorting):
“Oh my Satan, we’ve got a furry kingdom brewing. Sky kitty, land kitty. What’s next, water kitty? Loona?”
LOONA (growling):
“Say it again and I’ll neuter you.”
The office laughs awkwardly, but Blitz’s eyes keep flicking back to Daniel. The little cracks around Daniel’s eyes aren’t just tiredness. It’s wear. Blitz knows the look of someone running on empty. He’s seen it in mirrors.
---
SCENE 2 — BLITZO & STOLAS SIDE CHAT
Later that day, while the team’s out on errands, Blitz corners Stolas in the breakroom.
BLITZO (hushed, serious for once):
“Hey. You notice our new broody boy’s eyeballs? Like, the whole cracked-lightbulb thing?”
STOLAS (sighing, setting down papers):
“I did. He masks it well, but… he hasn’t slept. Not truly. His soul feels… strained. Like a harp pulled too tightly.”
BLITZO (awkward, scratching his neck):
“Yeah, see, normally I’d make some d**k joke about him staying up all night stroking his… sword… but uh. Nah. That guy’s burning out. I’ve seen it before.”
STOLAS (quietly, almost to himself):
“…So have I.”
They exchange a look. For once, Blitz doesn’t sneer.
---
SCENE 3 — NIGHTMARE FLASH
That night, Daniel slips into the storage closet again. His trunk opens. The armor calls to him.
He sees flashes—memories blurred with nightmares:
A cathedral burning.
A woman crying his name.
His own hands, claws dripping with angelic ichor.
He jerks awake, leaning on the armor trunk, chest heaving.
Daniel (whispering):
“Rest is weakness. Rest is forgetting. I cannot forget.”
He pulls on the hood.
---
SCENE 4 — SECOND CRUSADE (DRACULA-STYLE)
Word spreads of another crime ring—an underground assassination guild operating beneath a casino.
Daniel infiltrates. His cape sweeps through halls like a phantom. Shadows bend around him. His glowing eyes pierce dice-lit smoke rooms.
The assassins never see him coming. One by one, he disables them. Chains from the ceiling, claws dragging across stone, lights flickering like a strobe.
He doesn’t roar. He doesn’t scream. He haunts.
The last assassin flees to the roof. Lightning splits the sky. Daniel lands before him, cape flaring like Dracula’s wings.
ASSASSIN (terrified):
“P-please! I’ll disappear! No more jobs!”
DANIEL (low, tired but resolute):
“You disappear tonight… either as a corpse… or as a warning.”
The assassin is left chained to the casino sign, dangling upside-down, city watching in terror.
---
SCENE 5 — MORNING AT I.M.P
Once again, Daniel arrives early. Sets coffee. Papers. His eyes are worse.
Tiny glowing cracks crawl like veins from his eyelids into his temples. He keeps his hood lower.
Blitz notices immediately. So does Stolas.
BLITZO (snapping, arms crossed):
“Okay, kitty, cut the crap. You look like you lost a bar fight with insomnia. The f**k are you doing at night?”
DANIEL (quiet, almost whispering):
“…Just walking.”
STOLAS (stepping closer, gently):
“Land kitty… you can bow all you like, but you cannot hide from me. You carry burdens too heavy, too old. You will break if you do not rest.”
Daniel lowers his head. For the first time, his mask cracks—not the armor one, but the personal one. His voice shakes just slightly.
DANIEL:
“If I rest… they rise again. The killers. The liars. The ones who profit from slaughter. I… can’t.”
The office is silent. Even Loona lowers her phone. Millie frowns. Moxxie opens his mouth, then shuts it.
Blitzo breaks the silence with an uncharacteristically soft tone:
BLITZO:
“…Trust me, man. I’ve played the whole ‘never sleep, never stop, never feel’ game. You don’t win. You just end up the punchline.”
Daniel looks at him. Blitz, of all people, sounding almost… sincere.
STOLAS (firm, paternal):
“Daniel. You fight like the night itself. But even night must yield to dawn. Come morning… you must still be alive to see it.”
Daniel exhales. He doesn’t promise. But his bow to Stolas is slower, weighted with respect.
---
FINAL SCENE — CLOSING SHOT
That evening, Daniel sits alone in the office as the others leave. The neon hums. His hood is down. His eyes flicker with cracks, but also a faint softness.
On Stolas’ desk, he sees a small sticky note:
“Land kitty — even knights must dream. – Sky kitty.”
For the first time, Daniel lets out a faint smile. Tired. Haunted. But human.
The camera pans to the window. Outside, the city’s skyline glows. A storm brews again. Somewhere in the dark, crime stirs.
Daniel looks at the armor trunk. His hand hovers… but then withdraws.
Daniel (whispering, almost to himself):
“…Maybe… just one night.”
The neon flickers. Cut to black.
TITLE CARD:
The Crusade Never Sleeps… but maybe the Knight must.
- Writer
