Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Life.

Death.

Whatever was in-between it.

This has always been in all of the minds of mankind since its foundation, if one were to live free of sin, free of mistakes, then they would be set to live in paradise among those that have left them in life, enjoying the luxuries rewarded to them for their faith. If one were to live life filled with unrepentant sins that they never atone for, then they risk an eternity of fire and brimstone, a suffering that never ends as punishment for their own mistakes during their time among the living. That is the belief held by many throughout history, but it's questioned how one can be damned without at least having a chance to see if they can still clean up their act. It could also be already too late for them when they are sentenced to eternal damnation down below.

Did their past actions truly determine their fate in the afterlife and is it really that for them?

Such questions are not for everyone, however. Some people merely go about their days trying to live their lives the best they can in this world while they still can, risks and all and with not that many skeletons in the closet. In the average town of Royal Woods, Michigan, this was the case for many of its residents as it was a town like any other in America.

Of course, odd occurrences tend to revolve around one very odd family, mostly pertaining to the only preteen with a full head of white hair that wasn't dyed in any way. "So, how's college life treating you?" Lincoln Loud sat in his bedroom that was a converted linen closet, sharing a skype conversation with his eldest sister, Lori.

"At first, it didn't start out as great as I hoped. But, Fairway has been so perfect." Lori told her little brother from her dorm room. "Still getting used to having a roommate that isn't related to me, but that can be worked through. Great Lakes City isn't far away either, so I can expect visits from my Bobby Boo-Boo Bear." she coos at the thought of her beloved boyfriend.

Lincoln flinched at her lovestruck expression, always gagging whenever his sister and her boyfriend get too affectionate in public or when she went into her mushy phase. "Sounds great." He knew better than to complain about it.

"Enough about that. How are things at home?"

"As well as you can imagine. Your advice to Leni has really helped her out." Taking over as the eldest sibling in the house is still a huge responsibility for Leni to bear, but she has surprisingly settled into the role well.

"Surprised the house hasn't fallen apart, to be honest."

Lincoln laughed off her playful little tease. "Come on, Lori. Leni's not the only one picking up the slack with you gone. I can promise nothing bad happens when mom and dad are out on date night."

"I'll take your word for it. How about middle school?"

"Given there are only a few classes I have with my friends, that's about the only downside." Lincoln shrugged, though remembered some other downsides to his new school life. "Could do without the jerky teacher and classmate, though and mom and dad say Lily's doing really well in preschool. Other than that, we're good. Weird things did happen, but not like that's anything new in this house."

Lori somberly sighed. "This'll sound weird, but I really miss that a little. Things are quiet here."

For Lori Loud, no matter how many times she says she'd prefer having a space where there is less of a massive ruckus, the feeling of longing for said ruckus is always present.

Lincoln and the others were also slowly trying to get used to the fact that the Loud House was minus one Loud. Sure, it was inevitable that eventually, one of them would leave. But, it's still a huge change to register for the Loud family as they've gone a lot of stuff together and one of them not being around just makes it feel a little less of a Loud house. "Things aren't really the same without you here, either." Lincoln says to her, beginning to develop a more dour mood, fit with a sad frown.

"Hey, it's not like I'm gone forever." Lori pointed out with a comforting smile. "I literally just came over for Christmas not too long ago and Spring Break's coming up, right? I'll still see you guys, Linc and you'll still see me."

Listening to that did bring his spirits up. "Yeah, that's right."

"Afraid that's all the time I have before classes start. I'll talk to you later, little bro."

His big sister ended the skype call and Lincoln could now focus on getting ready for school. He was already fully dressed and had everything gathered in his backpack, he just needed to grab some breakfast grub and he was all set. He walked out and passed by the other rooms occupied by all his other sisters, and heard an ominous moaning coming from the one shared by Lynn and Lucy.

"Lucy?" Lincoln peeked inside and saw his younger sister sitting on her personal bed, surrounded by wilted flowers and hopefully fake human skeleton skulls, the little goth girl had her head pointed upwards in a sort of trance.

"Brother? Do you feel it?"

Put off by that question, Lincoln looked through the hallway to see if there was something wrong. "Feel what?"

"There has been a disturbance." Lucy hugged herself. "I've been feeling it these past few weeks. The veil between the land of the living and the planes of the departed has been breached through random points and death always follows. It's throwing chaos and disorder into the balance of things."

Lincoln's eyes darted to the sides and slowly backed away. "...Rrrright. If you say so."

"Be careful."

"Huh?" Her rather fearful tone and concerned frown made him stop.

"The spirits have spoken to me. A premonition came to me last night." Lucy got off the bed and held her older brother's shoulders. "Danger awaits, Lincoln. Watch yourself."

Chuckling, Lincoln takes her hands off him. "No offense, Lucy. But, the last time I listened to warnings like that I almost got left behind at the park. Have you been reading those weird books at night again?"

"Yes, but that's besides the point." Lucy knew that her premonitions had always fallen onto deaf ears among her family and ones that relied on common sense such as her brother could hardly be swayed. But she trusted her instincts this time and the little girl underneath her gothic exterior didn't want this disturbance to do any harm to her family. "Just please, Lincoln. Have special care, today. The forces of the unknown are wild and unpredictable, I can't bear the thought of any of you suffering."

Seeing her in such a begging state made Lincoln decide to at least reassure her. "Look. Let's say that after school, I help you out with your poems. It's been a while since we've done that, right?"

"...Promise?"

He pats her shoulder with a smile. "Promise, sis. Now come on, we're gonna be late for school."

Sometimes, Lincoln worries about Lucy whenever she gets like this, not only is it creepy, but she really does it over the top.

Nevertheless, he knew her well enough to deal with it.

Their lives are semi-normal.

Not much can change that.

Life after death.

People are meant to believe that after their time on the planet, no one really knew for sure and that there's no scientific proof that there really is some form of afterlife when the time comes. All that humankind had to go on were the ramblings and depictions in various books throughout several different religions and mythologies. Many believed them, many didn't, it's not something one's really sure until they see it for themselves and once they do, they realize...they were way better off not knowing, because a majority of the Earth's population end up going to Hell. Those that have committed sins with no remorse are sent there to suffer the endless eternity of suffering and damnation at the hands of fire and brimstone. At least that's what the books always told them.

All in all. it's actually not that different from the human world. Key differences were the abundance of demons that roam the seven rings of Hell, such as the demon who once roamed as a human but was now a literal one-eyed cyclops demon with olive skin and prep school uniform addressing a complaint to a certain imp about a grievance he has.

"I wasn't always the best person in the world." the cyclops demon admitted with a sardonic chuckle. "Look at where I am, can't get more obvious than that. My parents did everything they could to get me into some stuffy prep school since I kept getting into fights at my old one, staying out late to shoplift the local stores, doing drugs, drinking some booze, etcetera. But, you know, I was actually starting to turn my life around. Made enough progress to graduate with honors, be the first person in my family to get into college too."

"And then you fell into old habits and someone ratted you out, led you to go on the lamb for a bit until it all ended in suicide by cop, right?"

"What?!" He got off the chair with fire in his single eye as he didn't have time for games.

That ad that those back alley dealers showed him made it seem like this was a good deal, but as far as he could tell, this damn imp was too busy poking fun than honoring his part of this arrangement. How the cyclops wanted to just punch this imp in the face. If he had known that the head of this outfit was a tall red skinned with a white mark black and white horned yellow and red eyed imp in a tacky suit, he would have gone someplace else and maybe taken that red skull pendant as a souvenir.

That nifty red skull pendant may also bring in some easy money.

"Is that not how it went?" the imp asked. "It's either that or drunk driving. You kids and the shenanigans you get into." He chuckles, poking the cyclops forehead.

"Listen, you little shit! I heard you're the imp to go to if demons like me felt like we got cheated out of our lives back on Earth and get some damn payback! So either quit it with the bullshit, or I take my money and leave!"

"Okay, okay." The imp conceded with annoyance. "Ugh, so moody. So, how did it go down?"

Taking a deep breath, the cyclops went back to his story. "It started when he rolled into town." his eye glowed and gave a beast-like growl at the memories of the events surrounding his death. "Some new teacher that everyone got along with. He starts out by substituting for the ones that no one else likes and offers help to at-risk kids like me. But, the guy turned out to be a total bastard. Guy was into some dark stuff."

The imp made a sound of understanding. "Ah. He was that kind of teacher, huh?"

"I thought the same too. But, no. I'm talking like full on devil worshipping kind of shit, man. Had this weird book, had in some circle with a pentagram and next thing I know, I was down here, was told my soul got dragged to hell and my body got killed after that and here I am. Now, I don't care how you do it, I just want you to get up there, find that son of a bitch and make him fucking suffer, Blitzo."

The imp that was named Blitzo hardly cared at the guy's little sob story of how he made it to the land of the damned. The part about this teacher having a peculiar book certainly got him interested, though. After all the info he needed, the new client made his way out of the office while one final middle finger to Blitz. "Sinners." he shakes his head. "Always with the attitude. And the o is silent!"

Catering to the other half of Hell's denizens that were once human wasn't always pretty, but taking advantage of their grievances made for a good payday and that was good enough for Blitz.

Just another day at the office of I.M.P.

Now, he just needed to make sure his valued employees were primed and ready.

"That's it, Moxxie. Nice and steady."

A freckled imp with white hair up to his horns and a similar uniform to his boss, only he included a bowtie to the ensemble as his own personal touch. He stood at the middle of the room on his digitigrade legs holding a rifle and taking aim with a hell pistol gun at a crudely drawn stick figure with the words ``BAD MAN", courtesy of Blitz. This was his personal routine in order to be more efficient when out on the field, one that's gotten a lot of insults, but he likes to think this made for a skillful assassin.

Calm, cool, and collected.

Alert to everything around him.

"Fuck, there's a burglar!"

"AH!" That warning made Moxxie pull the trigger a bit too soon and the bullet ricocheted across the room and through the window glass, striking a passing demon bird. "Loona!" He glared harshly at the receptionist who sat reading a magazine, unapologetic of her messing his shot up on purpose just for fun.

"Oops, my mistake. Just a bug."

Their company's hellhound, Loona said with a taunting look thrown to Moxxie's way. She was an upright wolf-like demon using a punk gothic attire consisting of a dark choker, gray crop top supported by an inverted pentagram star strings, crescent moon shorts, fingerless gloves, barefoot shoes, and played to her style straight with the piercings under her eyebrow and one of her ears was torn. She snapped a pic of Moxxie in his embarrassed state, moving her voluminous long gray hair to its usual spot to the side and exposing the aforementioned ear. Due to her boss/adoptive father stationing her at the desk as the receptionist, the best she can do is entertain herself with her favorite pastime, messing with Moxxie.

"Loona, quit messing up Mox's shot!" the other female member of the company told the hellhound with her own glare. An imp like her husband, Millie had black hair bob cut style bed hair, a beauty mark, and a gap between her teeth. In addition to her black lipstick black choker, she also had on a shoulder-exposed crop top, ripped black pants, fingerless black gloves, and footwear that doesn't cover her hoof-like toes.

"Don't get either of your tails twisted or sliced off." Loona felt no need to apologize for her actions. "The boring factor of today is already making it shitty enough. You try finding a better way to entertain me."

Moxxie dusted himself off after getting up. "Your job isn't to find entertainment, Loona. It's to inform us of any calls and yet, you barely do a good job of that." He criticized her, which earned him Loona flipping the bird at him.

"Here we go again with that crap, Moxxie." Loona didn't even look him in the eye, her phone had her full attention. "Blitz just talked with a client, so it's gonna be all answering the phone for me until you pricks get back. Might as well get some fun in while I still can."

Her attitude never brightened up the mood and even though this was Hell, Moxxie felt that it only made it worse. "We are Immediate Murder Professionals. Emphasis on professionals. We work our roles with the utmost professionalism and dignity." Moxxie made the mistake in standing hear the door to Blitz's personal office as once it was opened, the was slammed against him due to his boss.

"Look alive, people! We got a new job!" Blitzo announced with a gleeful smile then looked at his downed and least favorite employee. "Christ on a stick, Moxxie. Anyone ever told you to act more professional than a slob?" He chastised and after Moxxie stood up again, the employees of IMP assembled at the table as their boss gave them a briefing on their new assignment. "Here's the deal. We got a troubled soul whose life was cut short by a teacher and we are going to take him to school!"

His adoptive daughter groans at that horrible dad joke. "Blitz! Puns are a crappy way of showing you're funny. You know that."

"That was a test for you, Looney and you passed!" Blitzo rubbed her head tenderly, making her silently growl and the IMP boss went back to business. "Anyway, this job's a bit special compared to any of the past. Seems our target marked for murder has dabbled into the arts of hellish magic of the sacrificial kind."

Admittedly, that garnered some surprise from his employees, even Loona. Humans have always been divided in their faiths and beliefs and those who actually believed in the devil hoped to appease his wrath by committing themselves to him by practicing the dark arts based on his power, though most only use it as an excuse to wield unbelievable power at their control. This time however, it seems there was a human who truly seemed to have a certain sway over demonic magic and using it for his own ends by making a deal with the devil.

"Sir, wouldn't this fall into the category of being above our pay grade?" Moxxie cautiously asks.

"Damn it all, Moxxie! Can't go one second without bringing the room down, can ya?" Blitzo admonishes.

Used to this treatment from his boss, Moxxie remained critical. "All I'm saying is that this target has a chance of actually fighting back and us failing to complete the task. It's an unnecessary risk."

"Life's full of unnecessary risks, Moxxie." Blitzo paid the warnings no heed, it only excites him further. "Like when your parents decided to have you or Mills saying "I do". Also, think of the bigger picture. We take this piss-bucket out and everyone this side of Pride and further down the rings will know IMP means business. Who's with me?"

"You can count on us, Blitz!" Millie voiced her enthusiasm through her usual Southern dripped accent. "I'll go get my mallet primed and ready!" She finishes with a hearty salute.

"That's what I like to hear, Millie! Moxxie, take cues from your wife sometime. I might just start to treat you with some respect, but not really. Messing with you is just so fucking great." Blitzo sighs with fondness despite the glare from Moxxie. "Now, go fetch the weapons and the book."

"Shouldn't it be in your office, sir?" Moxxie pointed out as he was the imp in charge.

"Excuse me, I'm the boss. Not whoever's in charge of keeping things tidy here." That gave Blitzo some thought. "Now that I think about it. We probably should hire someone for a support kind of role."

"What? Like some unpaid intern?" Loona snorts at the idea and points to herself and the married couple. "The only reason you have the three of us is because you adopted me and those two are desperate for any job to make enough cash. Someone would have to be even more desperate for something better to work here."

"Now, don't be like that, Loonie. We may be an assassination company, but we're also a big happy family!" Blitzo wrapped his arms around Loona's body and snuggled in close to her fur. "Remember, while we're topside, you-"

"-stay and look out for calls." Loona finished for him, forcing him off.

"The target got a name?" Millie asks, already gearing up.

Blitzo opens up his mouth to answer the other yet slightly shorter imp.

"Mr. Stillman?"

Lincoln sat on the section of the bus that was for middle schoolers which included his main circle of friends consisting of best friend Clyde, wannabe ladies' man Rusty, conspiracy theorist Zach, country boy Liam, and former new girl Stella. As the bus moved to drop off the elementary schoolers first, the group of friends talked amongst themselves, the Filipino girl brought up a recent addition to the staff of Royal Woods Middle School.

"That's his name." Stella Zhau affirms after Lincoln asked a question. "He's a substitute teacher that took over for my shop class last week. Rolled into town around that time, too. In fact, I think he taught at my old school before I moved and before that, at another. Like some wandering teacher."

Zach's eyes widened a little at the implications he picked up. "Or a wandering alien disguised as a teacher!"

"That's what you said about Norm the janitor in fourth grade, Zach." Clyde recalled, addressing how outlandish the glasses wearing boy's theories are. "And Mrs. Johnson when we entered fifth grade."

"Then I'm due for being right this time around!" Zach argued back, not liking it when his theories are disregarded as out there.

"Buddy, you really gotta dial back on that kind of stuff." Rusty tells him, noticing how their female classmates looked weirded out or outright laughed when listening to his rantings. "You're gonna cramp my style."

Liam consoled him. "Don't you worry about that, Rust. Bessie the cow still thinks you're cute."

Shockingly, that did little for Rusty Spokes.

Lincoln got back to the main topic. "Well, any teacher's better than Mr. Bolhofner. I don't get why he's so nasty all the time. He seemed pretty alright during middle school orientation."

"I believe being moved to an outdoor classroom with a cramped space and horrid conditions played a factor in this apparently more sour disposition that you've described repeatedly, elder brother." Lisa explains from her seat among those in her current grade.

"He can't be worse than my new teacher since the year started." Lola huffed. "They had the audacity to keep reprimanding me time and time again. Do they not know who they're dealing with?!"

"What are you talking about? The teacher is super fun!" Lana contradicts her twin's indignant anger with her contentment. "She lets me bring in treats for the classroom hamster."

The bus stopped as it made its first destination at the elementary school. "I'll see you girls after school!" Lincoln told his younger sisters once they stood up to make it off the bus, though Lucy lingered a bit inside and looked back at Lincoln one more time until Lola yelled out her name to tell her to pick up the pace or else she'll be late. The school bus left the elementary school and when all students went inside, none could see a portal open up near the school entrance and out came the three imps of IMP.

"Alright, let's get shit done." Blitzo said, though, became deflated when Moxxie struggled to carry their bag full of weapons needed to end a life all of a sudden. "For shit's sake, Moxxie. Try actually pulling your weight. We're supposed to be professionals here."

Ignoring more insulting remarks made at his expense, Moxxie became thankful when his wife helped with the heavy lifting. "Well, maybe if we packed lighter, it wouldn't be an issue. Truly, sir, all this gear is excessive."

"No such thing as too excessive. First most important rule of life." Blitzo looks at the school building and groans. "Fuck! This isn't the middle school, this is a fucking elementary school. We're supposed to be at a place of education of little shits on the crisp of puberty with the face acne, not runts who piss in their pants."

"Oops. That's my bad." Mollie flushed sheepishly. "Guess I overshot it a little."

"Terrific." Blitzo does an eye roll with a sarcastic tone. "Looks like your incompetence is rubbing off on your wife and she's one of my best employees. Right behind Loona, of course."

"If Loona's so great, why not bring her along?" Moxxie asked, equally snarky and sarcastic and his boss got up in his face over it.

"Don't even joke about that! No way is my precious little baby getting in the line of fire up here in the land of a-holes! She's a valued employee, too!"

"But it's okay when we're the ones risking our lives and she's back at the office?" Moxxie surmised, hardly seeing the logic.

Predictably, Blitzo was fine with it. "Now you're actually getting it. I'll go ahead and get us a ride." By which he means, he'll just hotwire any car in the parking lot, meaning much misfortune for the owner of said car.

Moxxie shakes his head, beginning to wait with his wife. "Maybe signing on with him was a big mistake. Desperate as we are, is this really worth it?"

Millie gasped, aghast at her hubby. "Moxxie, don't be like that. I think it was a huge string of luck when we found this job. What other job would take two imps with our skills that are more useful if it's to kill?" Moxxie stubbornly grumbles and she puts a comforting hand on her husband's shoulder to relax him a little. "Face it, Mox. We're imps. At the bottom of Hell's food chain. If we didn't take Blitz's offer, we'd be with all other homeless folks from Pride to Wrath." she justified.

As much as Moxxie hated to admit it, signing on with Blitzo may have solved their financial worries, but the risks they take are still problematic. "Maybe, but I still don't like it. We risk exposure to humans and you know how serious the punishment for that is. We're right outside a school. For crying out loud."

"A school with teachers of lousy tastes you mean." The married couple saw a classic looking car drive up with Blitzo at the wheel and using stacked up books as seats for a better view that looked as ridiculous as it sounds. "I was lucky to find this beauty. All these other beaters, complete crap. Now get on, time's wasting and we got a teacher to kill."

Moxxie rode shotgun while Millie went to the back and Blitzo drove them off, breaking the speeding limit, nearly running over people, and causing extensive property damage while giving the finger to really stick it to the people.

Subtlety, thy name was not Blitz.

As stated before, Mr. Bolhofner was not any student's first choice as a homeroom and first period teacher due to his nasty attitude that's always present when he's up and about. But curiosity filled the students when the teachers' desk remained empty without Bolhofner there at all and it's well past the start of first period. Lincoln looked around, the other students murmured amongst each other and the clocks kept ticking away, while his teacher wasn't the nicest guy, he still felt some concern. "Hey, Chandler." He whispers to the classmate. "Any idea what's going on? Where's Mr. Bolhofner?"

"How should I know, Lincoln Lame?" Chandler replied with a careless shrug. "If you care so much, why don't you go look for him?"

Now, Lincoln needed to remind himself why he bothered asking Chandler of all people in the first place. The door suddenly opens and comes a well-dressed black haired man with a suitcase. "Hello, all. Sorry for being late. I thought they were kidding when they told the class was outside. Awfully warm in here." the man notes, going to the busted up air conditioner.

A student raised a hand to ask the question on everyone's mind. "Excuse me. But, who are you?"

"Huh? Oh, pardon my abruptness. I'm the new substitute, Mr. Stillman." The class becomes momentarily surprised by this news. "Mr. Bolhofner unfortunately had some stomach problems and I'll be taking over for him while he's in the hospital. Now, I may be the teacher, but perhaps you kids can tell what you usually do here."

"He usually tells us to read our books and not disturb him when he's yelling at his ex-wife on the phone."

"Then, he just slaps us with a pop quiz we didn't even prepare for."

Behind him, Stillman saw the chalkboard which said "POP QUIZ" in big bold letters. The students were dreading today as it was a test that they had no idea about. Their teacher had blindsided them with this and now were afraid that their unexpected new teacher was going to pick up where Bolhofner left off. More surprises came when the substitute erased the words.

"That was Bolhofner's plan." Mr. Stillman was raring to use his own teaching methods. "Here's the deal. You all read your books up to page anything above forty and I'll order us some fresh chocolate milk from the cafeteria. Any takers?"

"Sweet!" Lincoln smiles as everyone let out an excited cheer and this was a rare occasion where students were actually willing to learn something and to make it even better, the new teacher turned down the heat to make the temperature more bearable. Lincoln never imagined that the apparently cool substitute teacher would be filling in for his class, but he knew better than to question such good fortune and didn't know how this could get any better. Mr. Stillman proved that such things were indeed possible.

"Now, I know this isn't probably at the top of any of your to-do lists, but I am in the market for some help after school. For incentive, I'm willing to be more lenient on future assignments." Many hands were raised, hoping to land such a sweet deal and Mr. Stillman looked through many of them and one hand caught his eye. "You there. The kid in orange. Got a name?"

"Lincoln Loud, sir."

"Well, Lincoln. You're one lucky kid. I see less work for you in the future."

"Yes!" Lincoln celebrates with a fist pump as the others groan in disappointment.

The child of white hair didn't know what Lucy was talking about.

Today's starting out pretty good.

Back at the elementary school, lunchtime came around the corner and it was the one time the younger sisters of the Loud family would reconvene with each other after separating to their classes, except for the twins who miraculously got stuck in the same class just as last year. "I had previously hoped this new class would be a better challenge than the abysmal academic level Ms. Shrinivas gave and while the lack of crayon coloring and arts and crafts projects are a welcomed change, I would appreciate school activities that are much better suited for an intelligent quotient such as my own." said Lisa to her sisters, sitting down with them at the tables outside.

"It's only first grade, Lisa. It's designed to be easy." Lucy said to her, nothing ever seemed to be challenging enough for the family prodigy. It's like dealing with Lynn only for her, sports and competition took the place of academics. "The joys of elementary school are fleeting, so enjoy it while you still can. I along with my fellow tortured souls prepare ourselves for the inevitable soul crushing atmospheres of both middle school and high school." A noise sounding like a crow came from her phone, indicating a text.

"Who texted?" Lana asks.

"It's from Lincoln. He says that he'll be staying after school and to pass it on to mom and dad." Lucy informs them of her unsettling feeling coming back. It subsided at first after her talk with her brother, but suddenly, it came creeping back.

"Speaking of, it would seem our parental units will be late for their previously scheduled time to retrieve us from school." Lisa dishes out her own information to her siblings. "A speedy deviant has recently made numerous traffic violations, leading to horrid vehicular accidents that have promptly closed down the roads, leaving them inaccessible."

"But I wanted daddy to take me to the mall for new pageant gowns." Lola complained. "That's not fair!"

"Calm down, Lols. It's not as if we'll be stuck here all night." Lana says and notices Lucy's troubled expression. "Everything okay, Luce?"

"...It's fine." Lucy says, not wanting her younger sisters to worry. With Lincoln in middle school now, she now serves as the oldest Loud kid in elementary school that requires her to put up a strong front. "Just have a bad feeling."

"That is most likely merely a random thought of doubt and dread most likely brought on by your illogical continued fascination and devotion with subjects pertaining to the arcane and supernatural." Lisa chimed, shaking her head. "Unless it is proven with sufficient evidence, I remain skeptical on why anyone would place such belief on such nonsense."

"Remind me to ask you what it feels like to sit on the high horse." Although Lisa's attitude was less than savory for her tastes, it wasn't enough to diminish her belief, so Lucy ignored it to focus more on the bad feeling and what was even more unsettling was that it seemed to focus heavily on her big brother.

The rest of the school day went by like a breeze and just as Lincoln promised Mr. Stillman, he stuck around to help him with a few stuff in return that he goes easy on the boy with future school projects and for some extra credit too for added measure. "Thanks again for this, Lincoln. Even though it is mostly just for the incentives I promised."

"Yeah. I won't lie, that was reason enough." Lincoln admits to, not wanting to leave a selfish impression however. "But, I'm cool helping out just because. I don't want too much special treatment."

"Good attitude, kid." Mr. Stillman complimented as he and his student went out of the school. "Now, there are a few things I need from my car. Hope you don't mind some heavy lifting."

"Not really my forte, but I can try." This could give him a chance to see if those repeated lessons from Lynn during the summer could actually pay off for a change. His car was parked not far from them and he had his key in hand to open it and the white haired boy was instructed to open up the trunk at the back of the car. Inside was a rather suspicious looking trunk that had a lot of chains and locks on it, not the kind you'd expect a middle school teacher to have or anyone, really. But what really got him in a flurry of curiosity and suspicion was an odd book in the trunk, its design was black and red with the emblem of a two horned creature on the cover.

Essentially, it's the kind of book he'd expect Lucy to have.

But before he could ask his teacher about the nature of the book, a loud popping sound was heard and the window of a nearby car broke and it became apparent to them both that it was the sound of a gunshot. "Jesus!" Mr. Stillman shouts in shock.

"W-What was that?!" Lincoln asks, fearfully.

That was a stray shot fired from a sniper rifle handled by Moxxie from the car Blitzo stole for them and his misfire earned him more ire from the boss of IMP. "Shit! Way to miss a clear shot, Moxxie!"

"S-Sir there is a child right there!" Moxxie urgently told him and Millie, pointing to the boy in question. "The target's just the teacher this time! He could very well be his newest victim!"

"Fuck! One job without complications! Is that too much to fucking ask for?!"

"Blitz, Mox, look!" Millie pointed as the teacher grabbed Lincoln by the wrist.

"Inside, now!" Getting on the driver's seat and making sure Lincoln stayed seated in the back, Mr. Stillman started the car and drove fast to get away from his attackers and those who were nearby and in the school started to panic and make some phone calls to the local police. "So, you want to make this a chase, eh, dipshit? Game on." Blitzo glares as he readies to engage in pursuit. "Better buckle up! We gotta catch up before the boys in blue roll in!" The IMP crew gave chase as they followed after the vehicle. Many bystanders were almost hit by the speeding vehicles as Stillman tried to outrun whomever was trying to kill him and Lincoln clung to his seat for dear life, clearly not expecting this. Though dangerous situations were nothing new to him, this was the first time guns were involved.

"Mr. Stillman! What's going on?!"

"Just hang on tight, Lincoln! I know a safe place we can go to!"

Blitzo grits his teeth as the stolen car rams through mailboxes, trashcans, and other unimportant roadblocks that stand in the way of him, his employees, and their target. "Come on! Get the fuck out of the way, you pricks!" He honked the horn when they got dangerously close to any humans that made the mistake of either jaywalking or just standing there. "This is an important IMP business!"

"Sir, try to keep it under control!" Moxxie advised. "Your wild driving is making it hard for me to get a precise aim!"

"Don't you give me lip! It was your shitty aiming that made this a chase in the first place! Just one shot and we could've been done with this crap!"

"Again, I was not comfortable with potentially harming a boy that as far as we know, has nothing to do with our job!"

Blitzo glared. "Oh, fuck me sideways! Enough with that whole moral dilemma! I swear, it'll only make future jobs more complicated!"

"At least I have common sense!"

"You're a demon from motherfucking Hell! For the love of Lucifer, his little princess' sentimentality is rubbing off on everyone!"

Millie formed her own plan to catch up to the target.

The bruiser of the team brandished a grappling hook and surprised her husband and boss by rolling down the windows and standing at the hood of the car. Despite the car being out of control with Blitzo at the wheel, she had accurate focus when she fired the hook and it strapped to the target's vehicle. Pressing the trigger a second time, Millie was pulled towards the car and firmly held onto the top and pulled out one of her knives. Mr. Stillman shouts in surprise when after rolling down his window to see if he lost them only to be met with an attacking Millie who grabs him by the back of the throat and crashed his face repeatedly to the wheel, making Lincoln scream in surprise at the sight of the imp. Millie raised her knife to deliver multiple killing blows, but Mr. Stillman elbowed her to the backseat, but not before she managed to snatch something from his pocket with her tail.

Grunting, Millie was ready to restart her attack, until she looked and saw Lincoln's petrified face. For a moment, she too stopped moving after seeing the fear in his eyes, giving Mr. Stillman the chance to grab her by the horns and throw her out.

Millie rolled on the ground and saw the car disappear from view. "Shit." she cursed as the stolen car rolled up and Moxxie quickly hurried out.

He gently cradles his wife. "Millie! Are you alright?!"

"Just a few scratches, hon." She reassured him. "Nothing I can't walk off."

"That's good, Mills. Because, we're gonna need you at full strength if we're gonna catch up and finish this job that really should've been taken care of by now." Blitzo didn't want to return to Hell without success as any dissatisfied client would spell IMP's reputation going into the crapper. "Good thing I got this map."

"We still need an exact location, sir." Moxxie was really starting to get tired of having to point stuff out.

"Voila." Millie holds what she snatched from Mr. Stillman which was his wallet. "Bet you 10 souls his address is in his license."

"That's what I like to see, Mills! Some sweet fucking resourcefulness!"

Lincoln didn't know what to make of this whole mess.

He was simply helping out his substitute teacher for some extra credit,

Just another day in the life in Royal Woods for Lincoln Loud, the boy with 11 sisters and white hair.

But nope. Everything hits the fan the minute those gunshots went out and became involved in a chase that endangered his life and that thing, that feminine creature with horns, a tail, and red skin. It completely curb-stomped any sense of rational thinking that was going on in his head. "Lincoln." Mr. Stillman said. Those imps were obviously gunning for him and him alone, so he needed to move and work fast before they catch up to him and though he had no idea why they were here, time was still of the essence. "I need you in my house." He ordered, pointing to the house he drove them to.

It was a solitary home, one that was mostly separated from a majority of Royal Woods, a nice private dwelling where he was free to be left to his own devices. "Huh...?" Lincoln was still reeling from what had just happened, that his brain barely registered what the teacher asked of him/

He just stared into empty space with a numb expression.

"Lincoln." Mr. Stillman said again with a bit more edge in his voice and more pain as his face was swollen. "Please. Just go inside my house and stay there. I...have a plan for this. Just stay inside and don't go out, okay?"

"...Right."

Mr. Stillman watched him enter the house and the teacher pulled out a napkin to wash the blood off his face. "Shit. How the hell are imps of all things here and why are they after me?" Sighing, he got out of his car and went to his car's trunk where his needed supplies were there. "Guess I gotta improvise now. Oh well. At least in the end, it will be all worth it. I still have time."

Inside the house, Lincoln stood in the nice living room of Mr. Stillman's house. He did exactly as he was told, knowing he could trust the judgment of a teacher and had equal trust that he could find a way out for both of them. Whatever that plan is. But then, is it even possible? None of Lincoln's own plans could've ever predicted something like this.

A car chase. Guns shooting. Red creatures. His mind tried finding some reach around, some way to spin this craziness like in the past, but this wasn't like those times. He could barely make any sense of it that his mind could easily snap from all of this in an instant and nothing could distract him from-

Wait.

He must have been subconsciously trying to find something else to focus on besides his current situation in order to salvage sense and stability, because there was no other reason why he'd look at photos by the fireplace. Moving closer to inspect, Lincoln could see that they were pictures of Mr. Stillman in various class photos.

Clearly, these were mementos of his many teaching posts at each of the schools he taught in previously, in both public and private schools. The man was committed to his job, that much was obvious. It was actually pretty impressive that he's been at this teaching thing for such a long time, it made Lincoln wonder why he never went into full-time teaching.

Especially considering that he seemed to have been at this since the 50's or so.

That made Lincoln retract.

Upon closer inspection, these photos for some reason seemed to have been taken at several time periods. Growing up with fashionable sisters like Lori and Leni taught him which was out of style and last he checked, boots went out in the 60's. Same with the mullet hairstyles that one entire class seemed to have and how in one photo, it was in black and white. Each photo had Mr. Stillman in it and in each one, he looked the same age, as if time had no effect on him whatsoever.

"What? How is he-" His train of thought became interrupted when a blunt object struck against the back of his head and he fell down to the floor with a thud.

Mr. Stillman placed the object aside. "Next time I must use some ether. That was my favorite statue."

"Come on! The light is green!"

Rita Loud honks the horn of Vanzilla loudly, trying to usher the cars in front of her to move along so she could make it with the kids she managed to pick up from the high school. She was half tempted to cuss up a storm and get into a fist fight with the driver in front of her, but that wouldn't really set a bright and good example for her daughters.

"Mom, chillax a little. The little sibs will still be there, same with Linc and Lynn at their school." Luna soothingly says to her mom.

Breathing deeply, Rita relaxes in her seat. "Right. Sorry, girls. The Fox quintuplets came in at the Feinstein's office and you know how rowdy they can be. The last thing I needed was some speed demon making the roads closed."

"Guess they were in a real rush." Luan quipped, but received no laughs from her family inside the van. "Oh, come on. It wouldn't kill you guys to appreciate the gold I spit out."

Rubbing her already exhausted eyes. Rita laid down some motherly law for her three daughters, so that this day could at least still be the least hectic day of her life. "Luan, honey, keep the puns at a minimum please." She didn't have the heart to tell her how most people frown at puns, seeing them as the lowest form of comedy. "When things finally get moving, we can still make it in time to pick the younger kids up, then Lynn and Lincoln and when your father's done at his restaurant, we can have a nice normal day out of our house. Normal for us, anyway."

"Then we better not tell Lynn someone decided to copy her look." Leni spoke up, looking out the window. "That is not normal."

"Huh?" There was indeed a girl dressed strikingly similar to Lynn Jr., the same jersey, same sport shorts, and shoes, even the same hairstyle with the ponytail.

Only Rita could tell that it really was her fifth eldest child after Luan, same with the one before her. "Dude. That is Lynn." Luna tells Leni, easily recognizing one of her siblings.

Indeed, there was the sporty little Loud, legs kicking as she waited for the signal to run off and seeing as traffic wasn't going to move anytime soon, Rita made the decision to get out of the van and run towards her. "Lynn!"

"Mom?" The jock became surprised at the sudden arrival of her mother. "What are you doing here?"

"I should be asking you that. Shouldn't you be at school waiting with Lincoln?" Rita asked.

"My bus driver was held up because of all this stinking traffic after team practice was over, so I decided to jog home." Lynn explained, but became confused. "Hold on. Shouldn't he be with you?"

No, he wasn't.

By now, any after school activity at middle school should be done.

So if he's not there and not with them, then they could not ascertain where Lincoln Loud was.

The only thing that came to his mind was the throbbing pain he felt at his head, not even the sports balls thrown by Lynn ever hit him with so much force. This was a new level of pain that Lincoln didn't want to experience again. Rummaging through his last memories, Lincoln was able to remember what happened just before everything went dark. Mr. Stillman in all those pictures and before that, the events that led up to him getting bonked in the head and losing consciousness. Now that it was back, he had a clear understanding that his troubles weren't at an end as evident by him being tied to a chair in some kind of basement, most like the one in Mr. Stillman's house.

He saw candles surrounding him, making the shape of the circle and a pentagram drawn by a chalk with him right in the middle of it, a classic setting for those movies his parents forbade him from ever seeing. "What-What is this?" Try as he might, there was no struggling his way free of these tight restraints.

Nor did there seem to be any help.

"Awake already?" Gasping, Lincoln's eyes casted on Mr. Stillman walking down the stairs with a stoic expression. "You must have a thicker head than I thought. Most kids are still out when I get started."

Confused out of his mind, Lincoln asked several questions. "What's going on?! Why are you doing this?! What's with this star and everything?! I-I don't understand?!"

Mr. Stillman chuckled humorously. "No. Of course you don't. How could you? You're not even old enough to drive or vote or even live on your own. Still just a feckless neophyte in the grand scheme of things like so many others. The kind that should just be put out of their misery."

"What?" Lincoln didn't know what to make of this.

He was so polite and kind this morning, now his personality did a complete 180, showing a more condescending and eerie presence with a look that didn't sit in well with the boy. What made Lincoln really begin to panic was the sharp knife he was wielding and there was that strange book he had in his hand from the trunk. "I've been at this teaching thing for a long time now, boy. You go in expecting to shape young minds only to see that those young minds are beyond helping or saving. There's no point in guiding them when they've strayed too far. Their lives are hardly worth a damn so it's only right that they're used for a good cause."

"Mr. Stillman, what are you saying?! What do you plan to do with me?!" Lincoln was really starting to get scared. The nice new teacher that Mr. Stillman tried to present himself as had disappeared and he didn't like this side of him. It made him sweat and experience intense fear.

"Nothing good. I can tell you that much." Mr. Stillman opened the book to begin. "I'd knock you out again, but I've already wasted too much time. No more delays." When the book opened, the lighting of the room got even more dim and the fires of the candles began to burn brighter until they became the only light source available. Mr. Stillman then speaks in a strange dialect that Lincoln couldn't understand, his voice got so deep and ominous he would think he was turning into a monster.

On the pages of the book were symbols and runes that glowed upon the needed words being spoken and they emerged from the pages and flew at Lincoln who screamed as pain went through his system and his eyes became pitch black and his hair became raised by an invisible source. Stillman continued casting the phrases until the process was complete and Lincoln's eyes reverted to normal. He was extremely exhausted, however, as if whatever strength he had left was drained. "Someone...help..." He mutters, intending to scream, but could only say it quietly.

"Still somewhat awake?" Mr. Stillman notes, slightly surprised. "I'll give you this much. Not even the high schoolers had enough strength to still say words after this part. A pity. Taking away the strong souls always disappoints me. But not enough to stop me." He advances towards Lincoln with the knife raised. "As promised, the sacrifice's soul is tied to the realm of the damned and as payment for that and his life, I ask for his youth!"

It always took a while, and with the incantation done, it'd be complete.

He would have achieved his objective if not for the barrage of bullets that broke down the locked basement door. Stray bullets shot his hand, making him drop the knife. Mr. Stillman heard the taunting voice of the head imp in charge. "Nice light show, dickhead. You gonna pull a rabbit out of a hat next?" Blitzo cracked, Moxxie and Millie standing at his sides.

Him and Moxxie fired at him with his pistols, forcing Mr. Stillman to go on the defense, evading shots and hiding behind some crates where he kept an emergency pistol handy. The mad teacher checked to see if he had enough and he fired back with equal vigor, not going to let these demons take him when he's so close. "What business do you have with me?!"

"Exactly what you just said, asshole. Business!" Blitzo shouts bad, after they went for their own covers.

"You are lowly imps! How can cretins like you be allowed free reign in the living world?!"

"Corporate secret, I'm afraid. Just know that this happened because you pissed off someone enough to want you dead and we're happy to oblige!"

Blitzo's words confused Stillman. For all he knew, a relative of one of his victims could've somehow made contact down below. "I do important work! You have no right!"

Millie tiptoed her way across the basement as Blitzo kept flinging criticisms at Stillman.

"Important work? Like killing your students as part of some fucked up sacrificial ritual. Cursing their souls to Hell, then killing them to seal the deal in return that you don't age into a fucking sack of liver sots and wrinkles?" Blitzo smirks. "Saw your little collage of memories in your living room. Not that hard to piece together."

"It's necessary!" Mr. Stillman insists. "I'm not like most of these lost pitiful souls that go about their days as ignorant little shits! I deserve to roam the Earth eternally for all time!"

"Said the student murderer." Moxxie mutters in contempt.

Blitzo shushed him. "Hey, man. I get wanting to look out for yourself in a delusional spiel and this isn't personal. But, we sorta can't leave without leaving you as a corpse. So, go ahead and let us kill you, okay?"

"Never!"

The boss of IMP shakes his head. "Tried to be civil. Sick him, Mills!"

Mr. Stillman found himself once again attacked by the force of nature that was Millie who jumped on his shoulders and blinded his eyes with her tail, making him move erratically while shooting random rounds, striking nothing. Millie's knife slashed his face, making him run, he bumped into Lincoln, knocking him out of the chair, finally set free. Millie climbed down to face him at eye level and relentlessly gave hard punches until he dropped his gun. Blitzo and Moxxie continued firing at him, and still, he persisted, he charged like a mad bull to make his way upstairs with Millie still on him and the other two imps gave chase.

Lincoln was too weak to properly react to this, but saw the knife Mr. Stillman had dropped and though it was slow, he was able to crawl his way to it and turned around to carefully grab it and began to cut himself free.

With Mr. Stillman, he struggled to get Millie off and he could barely dodge the bullets that were fired at him. He ran and kicked Moxxie, the imp impacted the wall hard. "Moxxie!" Furious upon seeing her husband be harmed, Millie went further moved rapidly around his face like a feral cat, making him become even more erratic in his movements.

Adrenaline fueling his strength, Mr. Stillman, face having a lot of cuts, threw her off and Blitzo catches her, but were hit aside by the mad substitute teacher armed with a broom. "Of all the lessons I've taught to kids. Never thought I'd get to teach three imps to never fuck with me!" He was ready to kill them right there but for him, interruptions were now becoming an occurrence for today. A grandfather clock, one that was a priceless family heirloom just fell down upon him, as it was pushed by none other than Lincoln Loud.

"Take that...jerk." Lincoln breathlessly says with a glare, dropping to a knee.

Stillman groaned, trying in vain to get the clock off and he was no longer able to fight back against the imps, which made it all the more easier for Blitzo.

"Please. Don't..." Mr. Stillman begged.

Blitzo stared down at him with a frown that shifted into a smirk. "You could've chosen way better last words, pal." He showed off his flintlock pistol and only fired point blank.

Stillman's wide eyed face fell down in a puddle.

Lincoln stepped back in shock with his eyes widening in horror, almost screaming. "Um, sir?" Moxxie pointed to the petrified boy.

"What? The kid?" Blitzo casually dismisses the issue. "Some therapy will do him good. If not? Well, not like people will believe him." With the job finally done, Blitzo went to work with drawing up the circle back to Hell. "Okay, let's go. It's payday time!" Blitzo's eyes widened when the portal then fizzles out, becoming unstable. "What the shit?!"

"Sir! What did you do?!" Moxxie frantically asks.

"Don't look at me! It just-"

In an instant, the room became enveloped in a flash.

There came another headache for Lincoln. Only this time, it didn't hurt quite as much and he actually felt a lot better compared to the dreariness he went through. Now that he thought about it, if he was waking up just now, then surely that must mean that everything that just happened was one crazy dream and nothing more. It makes perfect sense. All the shooting, the fighting, the eerie ritual with sacrificing involved, and those three imps that were trying to kill the worst teacher in history. All nothing but an insane dream that will remind never to eat grilled cheese sandwiches or sodas before bedtime, because no way was he going through all that again.

"Fuck! What was that shit?!"

"You tell us, sir! You were the one who opened the book!"

"Mox, Blitz. Just calm down!"

If it were a dream, then why was hearing the voices of those three imps?

"What the fuck is going on here?!" Demanded a new voice.

"Loona! Oh, thank the seven rings, you're okay!"

Eyes springing open at the mention of the familiar sounding name, Lincoln saw that his rock star sister was nowhere in sight. Neither were the rest of his family.

Instead, he was welcomed to the sight of the three imps and a walking talking wolf demon who was being hugged by the taller imp. "Get off, Blitz! I was enjoying some coffee I made for myself while you shitheads were out and suddenly, I heard some big boom! Tell me you dicks didn't screw up the job!"

"As a matter of fact, it went quite smoothly. That prick thought he had us by the ropes, but-"

"Uh, sir?"

Blitzo stopped his boasting to annoyingly glare at Moxxie. "What?!"

At this point, the entire IMP team registered the fact that standing in front of them was Lincoln Loud who stared at them, mouth open and eyes nearly bugging out of his head. Backing away slowly until he was at the wall, Lincoln saw a window and looked outside where saw many things, a decapitated head with multiple eyes on the floor, a mailbox with teeth that walked the sidewalk, various creatures with many distinguishing features going about. And up in the red sky was a pentagram star. It looked like he was in a city of some kind, one populated by demonic creatures of all kinds, mostly imps and those that were either another form of Hellborn or a Sinner.

After what seemed like centuries, Lincoln found his voice which was meek and fearful. "...What the hell?" He's usually not one to use such language, but in this instance, it was appropriate.

Chapter Text

If there was one thing that Blitzo hated more besides having to be called on the phone by the Goetian prince whose book he stole, Moxxie's constant griping, anyone looking at Loona, nobody taking him seriously, and just about everything else that'd make too long a list for someone to type, it was a huge problem. Things that completely affect current affairs in extremely monumental ways that it just pisses him off to no end, it could only be worse if there was no easy fix to that problem. Starting up an assassination company wasn't going to be a pretty job at all, he knew that, everyone knew that. For God's sake, the point of the business was killing humans on Earth to get enough monetary gain. But, he liked to think of himself as someone who can easily adapt to such a thing, as per his ginormous ego that constantly begs to be entertained.

There was a very simple system and routine:

Get hired by a Sinner or Sinners.

Use a spell book to go up to the land of the living.

Kill the target in often comedic and over the top fashion.

Get paid.

Rinse and repeat.

But, if someone would have told Blitzo that their newest job to hunt down and kill a substitute teacher would've resulted in the biggest complication in Hell for any imp or demon, he would've killed that someone right on the spot for even suggesting it in the first place. It'd be about the only thing that would've given him some relief, but nope, some white haired kid who almost became their target's latest victim just had to somehow wind up with them in their own headquarters, in the building they operate from, and actually in the plane of Hell.

If any of his old enemies from his very checkered past were here, they'd never let him hear the end of it.

"Blitz." Loona was the first of the IMP team to speak up after they realized the kid in front of them wasn't their imaginations going wild. "What. The. actual. FUCK?!" she basically roars, demanding an explanation.

Her loud voice made Lincoln wince as her growling and crude language didn't help ease up his current state of panic.

"Don't you raise your voice at me, young lady." Blitzo says with a warning finger.

"There is a kid here! A kid who's alive!" Loona adds, wanting all of them to see the severity of this situation. "Don't tell me you decided to kidnap little kids now! For shit's sake, I know you're from Hell, Blitz, but even for you this is too far!"

Blitzo holds his chest tightly with a hurt expression. "That hurts, Looney. That you think so less of me that I'd do something so horrible. Without even accusing Moxxie of being the cause of this fuck up, which he definitely is."

"Excuse me?! Moxxie boldly argued with his boss. "At the risk of sounding like a broken record, let me remind you that you were the one who was holding the book and opened the portal! For once, sir, have the decency to own up to your own mistakes!"

"Hey, don't go thinking I won't dock your pay for backtalk, dickbreath!" Blitzo pokes his subordinate's chest threateningly.

"Money's hardly the issue right now!"

"Oh, so you're saying you don't mind? Well, glad we have an understanding for once."

"Boys!" Millies shout stopped her husband and boss's arguing from going any further to downright physical violence by gesturing to the shaking boy who darted his eyes to all four of the Hellborn creatures. "Quit with the shoutin'. You're upsettin' the poor thing." she held her hands and looked at Lincoln with concern all over her face.

It didn't sit well for her heart to see him like this, she didn't forget what he did for them before.

"Who gives a shit, Mills?" Blitzo callously said. "If anyone has any right to be upset, it's yours truly. A job like this was supposed to be simple, and now we got to deal with this crap?! Only in my life!"

Now was the time for Lincoln to finally say something and ask the questions that needed some answering if he was going to make some essence of sense out of all this. "Who-Who are you? What are you?"

"We're red leprechauns with pots of turds instead of gold that we keep at the end of a storm cloud." Blitzo deadpanned. "Weren't you paying attention before, kid? We're imps!"

"Sir!" Moxxie hushes him before taking a more gentle approach. "Listen, I realize that this is a bit overwhelming, but try to keep an open mind, okay?"

This one was surprisingly more civil than what Lincoln expected. "I-I..." Panicking will not help, so he made himself somewhat calm. "...Okay."

"Good." Moxxie smiled, walking to the slightly shorter kid but not by much. "Do you have a name?"

Lincoln was taught never to give his name to strangers, but he didn't know any other alternative. "Lincoln. Lincoln Loud."

"Well, Lincoln. My name is Moxxie." He pulls up Millie who happily waves. "This exquisite creature is my wife, Millie and the taller one's our employer, Blitzo and the hound's Loona." Lincoln looks at the aforementioned two. Blitzo had his arms crossed and just glared at him while Loona rolled her eyes in exasperation, already sensing that the kid will lose his shit any minute now. "Now, what was the last thing you remember?" Moxxie tugs his bowtie, trying to find some way to break to him in a calm manner.

"I-I was at my teacher's house." Lincoln's head was clear enough for him to remember. "He hit and did something." He holds a trembling hand, recalling that event, it was like something out of his worst nightmares. "Then there was that flash and now I'm here. Where am I?"

And there was the question that will turn his world upside down and Moxxie wasn't sure how else to put this. "Yes, well. There lies a bit of a conundrum, young man. Frankly, we're about as clueless as to how you're here, but here you are. In this place. Where we live. But not humans. Like you. Because, this is not a place you'd normally find humans." Wow, this was a lot harder than Moxxie thought. "A place where a general population of humans believe to be completely fictitious and goes against all manner of scientific-"

"For the love of-Welcome to fucking Hell, kid!" Loona tells with an aggravated yell.

Lincoln blinks twice. "...I beg your pardon?"

"Loona!" That was the exact opposite of how Moxxie wanted to go about it.

"You were beating around the bush for way too long, Moxxie!"

"This-This is Hell?" Lincoln asks, wanting to make sure. "Like literally Hell? Fire and brimstone Hell?"

"Oh, no, sweetheart." Millie chuckles. "Don't believe what they tell you in those propaganda books. After his majesty, Lucifer, took over, he did some remodeling here and there and now Hell's as homely as it can be." Sounds were then heard from outside, a loud explosion from a grenade, shooting that led to screams of terror, fighting, the tearing of skin, people cussing at each other while sensual sounding moans were also heard from the alleyways. "More or less."

Hell. Lincoln was in literal Hell. A place where those who have committed grave sins as penance for their acts, doomed to a fate of a longtime suffering upon their deaths. If this was Hell and he was there, then did that mean, was he...?

"Heh." The imps and the hellhound became confused when Lincoln began chuckling. "Okay. You got me, Luan!" he calls out the name of his prankster of an older sister, as if expecting her to jump out and have a good laugh at his expense. "I gotta admit. This might just be your best work yet. I mean, I don't know how you were able to get a teacher involved or where you managed to get such convincing costumes, but you did it. You outdid once again. Now get out here so I can be mad at you, we hug it out, and the same happens again weeks from now."

Loona couldn't help but comment. "That sounds like a standard sitcom pattern."

"Luan?" Lincoln called again, a bit more desperate this time. "That's your cue. Get on with the incredibly lame pun already. You can even bring Mr. Cocoanuts."

Blitzo shakes his head pitifully at the kid's obvious denial. "Kid. This ain't some pranking game show. This is Hell and you're in it. So fucking deal already."

"No." Lincoln shakes his head, still in denial over what was said. "No. That can't be true. If that were true, then that would mean I'm...dead." he almost threw up when he said that. "I can't be dead. I still feel so alive. There's also no way I'm in Hell if I am dead. I'm not a bad person." He insisted. Sure, he's had moments he's not particularly proud of, but none bad enough to condemn him to Hell.

Loona scoffs and sarcastically agrees. "Sure you're not, squirt. Don't piss yourself just yet. From the looks of it, you're not dead."

"How do you know for sure?"

"'Cause you still look human for one thing." Blitzo checked to make sure by pressing his fingers to Lincoln's forearm after holding it up and felt a sign of life. "Yep. That's a pulse, alright. Shit, this was not how the job was supposed to go. All in favor of dropping the squirt off at a mental asylum and be done with it?"

Moxxie saw a lot of issues with that idea and decided to address the illogical ones, rather than the morally questionable ones. "Now hold on, sir. Using the book is what caused this. Whose to say it won't make things worse?"

"If you have a better idea, then let's hear it." Blitzo opened the floor for Moxxie to share his own plan but just as the imp was about to, Blitzo interrupted just to show he didn't want to hear it at all. "What's that? You can't think of any? I am so shocked. Don't worry, though, that's what the boss is here for. You just stand there and look like a dumbass as per the norm." Moxxie fumed at him with steam coming out of his ears.

"But, Blitz. Moxxie's right." Millie told him, supporting her love. "Maybe we should just slow down a bit. We might end up doing more harm than good."

"Fucking damn it! What is this? Nark on Blitz's brilliant ideas Day?!" Blitzo demanded, not taking kindly to all this insubordination. Moxxie continued to glare at him while Millie looked to the taller with pleading eyes while Loona mostly stayed apathetic to this problem, she nonetheless looked expectantly at her adoptive father and shouts in resignation. "Fine! Company meeting! Let's go! Kid, you stay here!"

"My name is Lincoln."

"Don't give a shit. Touch anything and just see what happens!" Blitzo warned white haired boy before taking his employees to the conference room and all Lincoln could do was stand there perplexed and understandably freaked out beyond measure.

After Blitzo slams the door hard, Lincoln wasted no time in getting his phone out and tried calling his mother. "Come on, come on!" He silently implored for an answer but got no response and he saw that cell phone service here was very poor. "Of course the service here stinks! This really is Hell!" He grabs his white hair and paces around, mind severely fragile over these turn of events. "This can't be happening! This can't be happening!" No matter how many times he repeated that sentence, this was indeed real.

He was actually in Hell where demons roam and many sins are committed with no way to communicate with any of his loved ones and no way of getting back home until he notices the grimoire that Blitzo irresponsibly left on the table. From what little managed to make sense of, that object was used to get those three imps to Earth and back down to Hell and a plan came to mind.

It was a risk, but what other option does he have?

I.M.P was by no means a stable work environment, which made sense seeing as all the employees are from Hell. But whether or not it's on Earth or in Hell, all struggling companies that are still up and coming are bound to hit a lot of bumps in the road and how they deal with those bumps defines their work ethic as a company. "Okay, team. Since everyone suddenly seems to think it's okay to just rebel against your boss despite all the good things I've done for you such as giving you two a job." He looks to the other imps. "And putting a roof over your head." That one was for Loona. "Let's hear what you assholes got cooking up since apparently, I'm too much of a dumbass."

Moxxie miraculously kept his patience. "Sir. This is an uncharted territory we're treading. A human that's still living in Hell is not only unheard of, it should be impossible and yet, there he stands in the next room. This isn't something that can be dealt with so easily."

"He's right, boss man." Millie nods. "Besides, we can't just leave the poor little sweet potato hung out to dry. Not after what he did for us."

"What did he do for us?" Blitzo squinted his eyes as he couldn't recall anything like that happening. "Speak clearly, Millie. You're making as little sense as your walking sex toy."

"Don't y'all remember?" Millie asks and clarifies what she means. "That mean old teacher was ready to make rugs out of all our red imp asses until that little gentleman swooped in an dropped a fucking clock on that man."

Loona looked up from her phone, initially uninterested until she heard that little tidbit. "That shrimp knocked down a clock on some old fart?" She lightly smirked, feeling the tiniest bit impressed. "Hmm. Not bad."

Blitzo wasn't as much. "Big whoop. If it'd been me, I would've dropped a piano on the bastard. Can never go wrong with the classics." He advises with a wink. "Plus, it's not like he really did it to save us, he was just pissed at the target for almost adding him to his list of dead students. Not saying I don't respect that, but it's not enough to make go all nice-nice on him. Not how I roll."

At this point, Loona decided to add her own two scents into this topic. Not that she cared, she just feels the sooner they resolve this the sooner she could go back to her phone and TV with uninterrupted peace. "In that case, I hope you enjoy getting in neck deep shit with the higher ups." She knew Blitzo and the only way to get him to do something he doesn't like, it's to point out how it'd affect him. "Try and think for once, Blitz. If it were a Sinner kid, that'd be no issue. But one that's here and didn't bite the dust? We'd all be fucked in a lot of ways if certain demons find out."

"...That's actually an excellent point, Loona." Moxxie said, hardly believing that he just admitted that.

Loona replied very rudely. "Oh, well you can just choke on your wife's jizz, Moxxie."

His eye twitched. "Either way, she is right, sir. Making off with a Goetian prince's grimoire and using it for illegal access to Earth is punishable enough and while I don't think there's a rule against living humans in Hell, it is nonetheless risky to the already fragile balance of things and if we're blamed for it, then this company will go under before it could even lift off from the ground."

Blitzo's eyes widened in alarm when he realized the problems this would cause for him, Loona, Moxxie and Mille. Well, mostly for him and Loona too, obviously. Immediate Murder Professionals is to be his way of finally making it big after years of endless failure, it's why he abandoned his former profession as a circus clown in that crappy knock off theme park, under the shadow of that damn robot clown. Being in Hell, he had to go through very low means to get where he is, and he was damned if he was just going to let it get fucked up because of one lousy unexpected turn of events. He didn't go through all that degrading mess just to face more trouble.

"Not while I'm still standing and killing!" Blitzo's fist slammed the table, now treating the matter with less impulsiveness.

"That's the spirit, Blitz!" Millie smiled.

Blitzo already had an idea. "Mills, go fetch the kid!" Saluting, Millie hops off her chair. "Now, if all goes well, this will work out just-"

"He's gone!"

Or not.

"What the hell?!" Blitzo yells as they all saw that the room that previously had a human kid in it was devoid of such a thing. "Where the fuck did he go?! Moxxie, I told you to watch him!"

"No, you didn't!"

"I know, I just need an excuse to vent my frustrations out on you!"

Loona's eyes widened when she saw another thing that was absent. "Not the only thing gone." Seeing what she was talking about, it became apparent that the spell book was also not there.

"He took the book?! Does he have any clue how much I risked to get it?!" Blitzo grabbed his horns, screaming out his anger. "We need that thing!"

The door was slightly open and Millie looked out. "He couldn't have gotten far. What was he thinking? Going out into Hell on his own?"

"The boy must be desperate." Moxxie reasoned. "I'd be too in his position."

"Who gives a flying rat's ass?! M&M, you two go prep up the van!" Blitzo ordered then addressed his adopted daughter. "Loonie, we're gonna need that nose of yours."

"And what will you do?"

Blitzo grimaced, looking at his phone. "I'm gonna have to make a call. Which'll probably be misinterpreted as a booty call."

Lincoln Loud was a clever preteen.

A lot more pragmatic and an avid thinker than most kids his age. It can be said that the frequent chaos of living in such a big family like his forced him to make millions of plans in order to survive both mentally and physically. Much as he loves his family dearly, it's not always so perfect, so the logical action was to prepare for such chaos, it's what earned him the moniker of the man with the plan, even though most of the plans go off the rails fairly quick once they're executed. But no amount of planning and creating contingencies could have ever prepared the sole son of the Louds for the chaos that is the plane of Hell itself.

The Louds were never what one would call a religious family, even though the parents have had a total of eleven children. The really young ones like Lana for example, like to at least believe in the idea of a higher power watching over them as she sometimes prays for the safety of her numerous pets whenever they're away from home. Lisa only ever believed in what's proven by science as it uses actual logic and reasoning to make sense of things, never once buying into such beliefs out of the sake for science itself, the total opposite of Lynn and her wild superstitions. Then there's Lucy and her fascination with all things relating to the occult and would probably love all this.

Lincoln, however, wasn't feeling any love for his current setting.

Thinking it over, it was probably a huge mistake to leave the IMP building with the grimoire into a new unfamiliar land of unknowns, but he wasn't sure if he was even safe there. He barely knew the imps and the hellhound and wasn't sure if they were even going to help at all, this could very well be a problem he can only solve on his own.

If he can survive Imp City, that is.

Even by Hell's standards, Imp City was about the lowest place anyone could ever have the misfortune of living in. Due to imps being at the bottom of Hell's society, the city itself served as a place for imps with no place to call home. Forced to live in the streets or otherwise get jobs in servitude for the more important demons. Besides imps, other species of Hellborn also reside such as hellhounds and of course, the more distinct Sinners, like the one getting into a fistfight with the fat imp.

"Hey, fatso!" The Sinner in a well groomed business suit that looked like a porcupine shouted before upper-cutting the fat imp. "Did you steal my damn wallet?!"

"Go to Heaven! Your own fault for leaving it at the counter!" The fat imp returned with his own fist.

"Beelzejuice for sale!" A vendor announced, selling actual flasks at a stand. "Pure unrefined drinks from Gluttony!"

A passing female imp stopped to test a drink out then promptly spits it out. "This shit is a knockoff!" She proceeds to pull out a switch blade and chases after the fleeing con artist before stabbing him.

Lincoln cringed as he watched all of this unfold, it was happening right in front of him and everyone treated it like it was normal. He screamed lightly when the driver of the car he was hiding behind grunted after getting punched by a hyena lady demon smoking outside. "Hey! What the hell?! I got enough money, skank!" The imp inside the vehicle yelled.

"I know counterfeit bull crap when I see it, asshole!" she shouted back.

"I'm in a nightmare." Lincoln said breathlessly, trying to find another place to hide. He was fully intent on getting out of this nightmare as soon as possible and this book was the key.

He flipped through the pages, trying to find anything that can help him, but he couldn't make heads or tails of the thing, how he wished Lucy was here right now. This was more her speed than his or anyone else in the family. Growing more aggravated, Lincoln turns more pages at a rapid pace, silently wishing to understand one page.

He blinked when he stops at one page, one that he could understand. The strange part was that he understood it while it wasn't written in English, it was still in the Satanic writing as the rest and yet, he could somehow understand every lick of it. Even more unknown to him, was this his eyes glowed red and subconsciously mouthed a phrase out and after the book did a little light show, a stream of fire shot out, making Lincoln duck and see it strike a lamp post. It fell down, leading to a car colliding into it.

"Son of a bitch!" A towering anthropomorphic bull demon emerged and was not happy by what happened to his ride. "This is a brand new car! One of the few good things I have since I arrived in this shithole! Who did this?! Who?!" Not one demon was standing up to confess to this misdeed, but he did spot Lincoln in the alleyway. "You!"

"Oh, boy!" Lincoln made a dash for the fire escape, but the bull demon had already made his way and grabbed the boy by the shirt.

Growling, the bull demon looked him over. "What? You a new arrival who hasn't gotten his horns yet? Or were you not killed enough?" He chuckled darkly. "Don't worry, I'll fix that."

Lincoln gulped as terror swelled up inside.

"God damnit. How hard is it to find one living human in Hell?"

Nothing just won't come easy for Blitzo so far, as forces beyond his twisted comprehension seem to keep wanting to make things more difficult for him with Lincoln going off on his own and taking their sole means of going up to the living world. An assassin imp could only go so far without killing in order to act out on the anger that builds up as a result.

"Hell is still a big place, sir." A thought came to Moxxie and it filled him with dread. "I rather not fear the worst."

"Loona. Picked anything up, yet?" Millie asked the receptionist.

"I would if you'd quit it with the bitching, Millie." Loona used a single strand of Lincoln's hair to hone into his specific scent. "Kind of thought the scent would be messed up by the white hair dye, but it's actually pretty clear. I think that must be natural snow locks on his head."

"Just tell us when you managed to get a bite." Blitzo rubbed his aching temple as he drove the company van. "I need to be hammered when this is over."

"I wonder exactly what he plans to do with the book." Moxxie tapped his chin. "He must have pieced together that it's used to open a portal to Earth."

"No doy, Moxxie. He only saw us do it at the target's home." Blitzo shook his head at the absurdity of it all. "Not like it'll do him any good. Unless he practiced in the demon arts like that teacher, the best that book will do for him is being a paperweight." He reached down to get his phone out and tried going for the number again, only to keep hearing the machine with that constant beeping. "Come on. I call for a change and that prick is ghosting me?" He was so preoccupied with the phone call he kept failing to make, that he was oblivious to the random imps he struck.

Loona's eyes lit up a little and shouts. "Pull over!"

Her announcement made Blitzo force the van into a full stop at the nearest sidewalk. The gothic hellhound jumped out and got on all fours, her nose going into overdrive as she crawled, sensing that Lincoln was somewhere near here with M&M following her. Blitzo remained in the van, trying one more time to reach the number he dialed. "I swear, if he went and found a new imp he might just go after that one instead of me." He wouldn't have to break his phone and have Loona drink it this time as well.

Still, much as he loathes to say it, Blitzo needs the assistance of Stolas of the Goetia family.

Even in an unruly world like Hell, there is a hierarchy system among the many demons that inhabit it in order for there to be some level of a pecking order in a land of deviancy. There was the king himself, Lucifer, whom not only rules over all of Hell but also rules the top ring of Pride, it's he who reigns as top dog of Hell and makes sure everyone knows it, hardly caring for his subjects' well being, unlike his daughter, but that's a different story, just know she and her mother are next on the list. Below the royal family are a diverse number of high-class demons such as the other Seven Deadly Sins, rulers of one of the rings, then. Can't forget about those powerful Overlords, proving themselves to be dangerous and powerful enough to rule certain parts of Hell.

In this fancy mansion live demons of the Ars Goetia, they go below the Sins but above the Overlords and are included in Hell's royalty. Stolas, a tall elegant owl demon with two pairs of narrowed eyes with no pupils or irises is a well known Goetian Prince of Hell. He was held in his esteem, commanding legions of demons and had numerous responsibilities.

Being one of Hell's big wigs earned him a really cushy lifestyle with only one major problem.

"An imp! Of all things!"

That being an angered wife, shouting insults and jeers at the owl demon she was forced to marry.

"Stella. You're blowing this all out of proportion."

Stolas' wife, Stella, another avian demon, didn't want to hear excuses from her husband, much too angry to give him a chance. "Oh, am I?! So, I should be glad you actually like a little imp's little thing?!"

That insult made Stolas chuckle. "Well, I wouldn't say 'little'."

"AGH!" Stella kicked a nearby imp servant aside, making various plates fall to the ground. "I'm guessing I should expect calls from any incubus or hellhound looking for round two then!"

"Excuse me?" Stolas snorts in disgust. "Do you see me as someone who just offers himself out to just anyone?!"

"If you thought a fucking imp was good enough, then why not?!" Stella countered. "I can see the headlines now at 666 News: Asshole Goetia lets imp into his bed and heart! Can you imagine how ruined this will make us?! You've single handedly made this family into a laughing stock!"

And there was the main issue here. Stella hardly cared about their marriage, but being of Hell's royalty sets a certain standard all those involved need to follow if they are to be respected and feared by their peers. That meant treating lower demons as lower lifeforms was encouraged, anything less would result in ridicule and embarrassment and to Stella, nothing could shame them more. It was a slap to the face and she won't let him hear the end of it.

He truly wanted to tell her off, saying the lack of love on her end in the marriage played a part. But, he didn't want their spat to escalate any further than it needed to be.

"If that's how you feel, then please, feel free to leave whenever you want." Stolas challenged. "Since my mere presence is obviously too much for you to bear."

"Maybe that's what I should've done in the first place!" Not wanting to see his face right now, Stella leaves in a huff, slamming the door very hard for the mansion's workers to hear.

Sighting tiredly, Stolas walks to the only other bedroom here. One that belonged to the one thing he treasured from the union between Stolas and Stella and who's undoubtedly having the worst time as a result of the schism between her parents and as a father, he feels the need to check to see the extent of the damage. "Octavia? Can you hear me?" Her silence was an expected response. "Listen. Mommy and daddy are having it out and well, if you have any concerns, you can come to me. You know that, right?" More silence from his only daughter, making him feel even horrible. "Right then. Just know I'll still be here if you're willing to talk." He leaves the locked door, not hearing the light sniffling sound coming from inside.

With all this family drama, Stolas truly needed comfort right now.

The house phone suddenly rang once again, he had been too busy dealing with his disgruntled wife to attend to it, and with no one else present, he answered.

"Pick up. Pick up. Pick the fuck up already!" His employees were far away from the van by now and he didn't want to lag behind because a rich privileged owl was too lazy to pick up the phone. Blitzo found it a little humiliating that he had to call him this time, unlike before. "Stolas. It's me."

"Blitzy? Well, what a very welcomed surprise~." Blitzo cringed at the flirtatious tone of the royal's voice. "It's not often I get a call from you, my incorrigible imp. Miss me, already?"

"Oh, yeah. Like a growth the doctors think might be cancerous." Bltzo straight up insulted without remorse, but this didn't offend Stolas at all.

"Mmmm. You know just what to say to brighten my mood. It's been so hectic in my humble abode that I don't know how else to relieve of all this stress, but now that you're calling, I know how it can be much better."

Blitzo quickly told him the call was for a different matter. "This ain't a fucking booty call!" He rubs his head to calm his already painful headache. "Look, my team and I had an easy enough job, but things sort of went really bad and well bottom line, I need you to come into my office later to handle a potentially big problem."

"Oooh. Planning on introducing me to your workers? Moving fast now aren't we?"

"Believe me, I wouldn't even introduce you to my family." Blitzo glowers at that. "There's a problem I have right now and when that problem's taken care of, I'll call again to give you the full story and get your feathered ass over here. I'm only calling now to give you a heads up."

"My. How considerate of you. Now, I'm all curious about what your little problem is."

Blitzo's hairbrained, but not stupid enough to tell Stolas that he lost his book. Him being the Goetian demon's favorite partner won't be enough to spare him from his wrath, at least that's what Blitzo believed.

"It's an I.M.P matter." Blitzo says, denying him any information. "It has nothing to do with you."

"Are you sure of that, Blitzy? Considering it's my book that you use to make your little field trips to the mortal world possible, I like to think whatever happens with your little excursions is my business."

It's not only just feathers and an imp up there in his head like Blitzo thought.

"Look, we're not even on Earth right now. Just normal office hijinks." Blitzo claims through a forced smile. "Either come to the building or find another imp to treat as a breathing doll."

"How you wound me, Blitzy. Thinking I'd go to another imp besides you. No, if there's any imp in all of Hell that's good enough for me. It's you." Blitzo rolled his eyes, knowing what was about to happen. "No one else can-"

"Just get over here!" Blitzo rolled down the window and threw his phone out, then shot it. Blitzo sorely wished he could deaf right now, and frankly, Blitzo had half a mind to buy new phones with stronger cases. He should've just hung up on him and his head collapsed on the steering wheel. "Fucking hell. Why do I always end up with crazy freaks in my already fucked up life. It isn't even as bad when I was with her back in the old days." His face contorted in bitterness at the mere thought of that old flame of his, remembering how things ended between them. "At least I'll never have to see that bitch again. Living in a building that'll never under no circumstance have her or any of her fellow whores. Last thing I need is to see Vero-"

"Blitz!" Millie called from a distance. "Loona's got something! Come on, boss!"

Lincoln struggles to get free from the chains that the bull demon had a few of his guys use to restrain after taking him to a rundown warehouse where similar bull demons resided. The spell book was on the floor near him and the leader of these bull demons stood menacingly over him with seething rage and ill intent. "Gotta say, it's been a while since a new arrival turned out to be a little shit. So, kid. What was it? Got into daddy's liquor stash and fucked your kidneys up? Or maybe you took a wrong turn on your bike and got run over?" Chuckling, the bull demon held up Lincoln's phone and crushed it with his strong hand.

The chains were too strong, so Lincoln tried pleading with him. "Look. What happened to your car; that was an accident! I just want to get home!"

"Haven't you figured it out yet? This is your home now!" The bull demon tells the boy sadistically. "When you make it to Hell, that proves not only were you not good enough for Heaven, but you're stuck here, forever. Same with me and all my pals."

"But that's just it! I don't belong here! I'm not even a demon!"

One bull demon goon scratches his head as he considers this excellent point. "That's true, boss. Ain't see a horn on him and he doesn't even smell like he's one of us Sinners."

"You expect me to believe a kid's hair could be that white?" The Bull Demon didn't listen, nor did he honestly care. "Demon or not, this little fucker messed up my ride and no one crosses Bull Stomp!"

"...Who?" Lincoln asked, head tilted in confusion.

Mickey's anger shifted into shock as he didn't expect Lincoln to be ignorant of the bull demon he accidentally ran afoul with in his first few minutes in Hell. "Bull Stomp? You know, Scourge of the year?" He still got nothing but clueless confusion from Lincoln, not familiar at all with the name or of the importance of it. "I was killed during a big shootout with a lot of cops and my buddies here fought with me? None of this rings any bells?

"Not really, no."

"Are you serious?" The bull's anger came back with a bit more force. "Son of a bitch! You telling me there wasn't like some big documentary on my life?! Why did I did what I did?! Nothing?!" A head shake from Lincoln confirmed his fears.

"Eh, to be fair, man. We weren't that infamous." One of his men reasoned.

"We only ever spend most of our time at those bullfights."

Another nodded. "Yeah, let's be real here. It's not like we'd be infamous enough to get one of those documentaries or something."

"Or one of those movies." A third chuckled. "Although, I would've loved to see them try and find the right face to copy my face...you now, before the whole demon thing."

"Shut up! All of you!" The bull demon hardly cared about his ruined car now, the information that barely left a mark during his time alive is now what was really starting to set him off. The one thing that determines your standing in Hell, is how threatening and influential you can be. He planned on using whatever notoriety he had as a human as a stepping stone, but that failed. But then, he remembers the book the kid used to total his car, the one that shot out a fire from its pages. "Say, doesn't this belong to those rich owl assholes?"

The goon next to him confirmed this. "Yeah, I think so. Stealing from the Goetians. Now that takes balls."

"But, I didn't steal it!" Lincoln screams, but then corrects himself when he realizes that statement was kind of accurate. "Well, I did steal it. But not from the Goetians you're talking about!"

The bull demon chuckles, already looking at a new means of making himself a big deal in Hell. "No? Then this fancy looking book must belong to some other pompous asses. Either way, I'm sure I can put it to better use. With this baby, I could work myself all the way up to Overlord status." He practically drooled at the prospect, knowing how much sway those guys have over Hell.

"What do we do with the kid?"

Scoffing, the bull demon callously orders his men to do what most would when they have someone of no use. "Ah, hell if I care. Do whatever you want. I gotta see what makes this book tick."

He walked away with the book in-hand and his fellow bulls grinned as they armed themselves with firearms and looked threateningly at the scared child who could only shake in fear as they prepared to end his life. It seemed as if this was really it for Lincoln and if the boy had any regrets, it was not being able to see his family one last time. Screams were let out, but not belonging to Lincoln, it was the bulls after the wall broke apart when a van rammed in, one with the I.M.P crew inside. "Honey, I'm home!" Blitzo cheekily greets, getting out with his crew each armed and ready for a brawl with their own weapons.

"The fuck?! What do you imps want?!" The bull demon demanded.

"You got something that belongs to us." Blitzo motions to the grimoire in his hands. "Now, give us and the kid too, I guess, and we won't have to litter the ground with your damn horns."

Rather than comply, they all laughed at Blitzo's audacity. "You think three little imps and a damn hound are enough to scare me? Boys, waste them first!"

Shooting at some imps wasn't anything new for these bull demons, the fact that they're a lot more fragile compared to most Hellborn demons made it easier for them. These imps, however, were not so easily kill-able having their own experience in killing others through their other jobs to the human world after being hired. Blitzo fired with two dual pistols while Moxxie provided cover fire with his rifle to cover for Millie and Loona when they ran over to Lincoln's position and he feared that they didn't take too kindly to him stealing the book. But, he was surprised when with great strength, both broke the chains that were holding him.

"You okay, dear?" Millie asks.

"Uh...yeah. Thanks." Lincoln didn't really know what else to say.

"Save your thanks when we're out of this shitstorm, kid!" Loona barked, pulling him away from the ensuing battle going on.

Seeing as they were already dead, the bull demons were hard to take down, but the same can be said for the imps as the one thing that can permanently erase a demon were the angelic weapons wielded by the Exorcists during Extermination Day. Good thing they managed to get such items and now, they have the perfect chance to use them. Other bull demons brandished spear weapons that made Moxxie gasp in alarm as the weapons used by those nightmarish angels were all too familiar to the common demon. "They have angelic weapons!"

"Oh, shit!" Blitxo grimaced, narrowly dodging a spear thrown at him.

Weapons like those must have been left over after the Extermination Day.

This required Millie's penchant for getting up close and personal with her opponents, fitting for her role as the team's bruiser. To combat their spears, Millie smacked one's face with her huge hammer and picked up the spear. Spinning it in her hands, she plunged it to the back of the bull herself, the erasing process began and it ceased the demon. "Ooh, I like this!" Pole-vaulting herself across, Millie erased more and more bull demons with the spear, turning the tables on them.

"Millie! Hand me one of those!" Catching a spear of his own, Blitzo used it in tandem with his flintlock pistol, having expressed a desire to use one of these things on his old enemies to get rid of them for good. Even Loona joined in on the fight, taking on the job of making sure no harm comes to Lincoln by fighting them all off with a rusty pipe. "Be careful, Loonie! It's much safer in the van!"

Loona growled at his overprotective coddling. "I can take care of myself just fine, Blitz!" She showed this by backhanding one, then twisting his arm around forcefully to disarm him and bump him against the wall.

Bltzo wiped away a proud tear at her fighting other demons. "That's my Looney Tooney." He looked at Mickey who tried to get away with the grimoire and if he loses that, he loses his red ass. "Damn it! What's this bastard's deal?! Why does he want that fucking book?!"

"He said he wants to be a big name here!" Lincoln answers, having heard Mickey's ambitions. "He's said gonna use it to become something called an Overlord."

"Him? An Overlord? Great, we're dealing with bulls spitting out their own crap." Blitzo chortles. "Prideful asshole's gonna get himself into trouble."

"Pot calling the kettle black, anyone?" Moxxie couldn't help but remark.

Pride. If Lincoln's learned anything is that pride can be used against someone to cause their own downfall and such a strategy would be a sound one for right this second. "Hey!" Lincoln's call made Mickey stop in his tracks. "You want to use a book to be some big shot? What? You can't do well enough on your own, so you decide to steal from others?"

The bull demon snorted out smoke. "The fuck did you say?!"

Blitzo picked up on what Lincoln was trying to do and riling some poor sucker up to make him screw up was a good plan to him. "Kid's got a point. Being an Overlord is aiming pretty high, and using outside sources to do it? I mean, taking a shortcut will only make you look like a massive pussy, you know that, right?" His enemy's eye twitches and charges at them with the angelic spear in hand, Blitzo blocks with his own and aims his flintlock pistol right at weak spots, making the lead bull yell and drop the spell book which flipped over to some pages. Lincoln quickly runs to pick it up and more bull demons rush over to assist their leader. His eyes landed on the pages and they flashed red again, speaking in the demonic tongue and a blue colored force field formed around them that deflected the bullets off it back to the bulls.

The I.M.P team remained silent, until Loona shouted out. "...Okay, what the shit was that?!"

"Did-Did he use the book?" Millie asks, looking at Lincoln.

"He also spoke in the ancient tongue." Moxxie adds, perplexed. "But very few know or even speak of it anymore."

Blitzo would've given his own opinion on this, but looked at the injured Mickey on the floor and picked up the angelic spears with his two hands after forgoing his now empty pistol. "You can't do this to me!" Despite the pain, the bull demon was damned if he was going to get killed by freaking imps, but alas, it was indeed the fate that was in store for him. "Don't you know who I am?!"

The boss of I.M.P chuckles. "Nope. And honestly, who gives a shit?" With the two spears, he struck down the Sinner using the two spears, ending the bull's afterlife. His gaze went to all that remained of his forces, who became fearful of this deadly band of assassins, especially the manic grin Blitzo was giving them, itching to drop more demon bodies.

Knowing not to push their luck, the bull demons ran or to be more accurate, limped away due to their injuries. Discarding the spears, Blitzo approached Lincoln with a heavy glare and the poor kid suppressed a gulp. "You!" Blitzo points. "You steal the book. Piss off some Sinners and drag us along for the ride! That...is amazing!"

"I'm sorry! I didn't mean to-" Lincoln did a double take. "Excuse me?"

"Now, I was pretty pissed off that you took off with the book that's very much needed for our business but lucky for you, killing that shit stain was enough for me to let out my anger." Blitzo says, but didn't let Lincoln be relieved just yet. "Don't think that means you're off the hook, buddy boy. Because, right now, we need to get our asses back to HQ."

"Wait, hold on." Despite his fear, Lincoln was still cautious to trust them. "Why should I trust you?"

"A very good question that's admittedly legitimate. But really, little man. Would you rather take your chances out here then back at our building? If you think this was bad. You've seen nothing yet."

Lincoln considered his options, and came to understand that Blitzo made a very compelling argument. Barely less than an hour in Hell and he already nearly lost his life to a short tempered bull and his cohorts. Just as he thought before, going out into an unfamiliar place with so many unknown was just a recipe for trouble and yet, he foolishly went on to leave anyway, almost paying the price for it in the process. It may not be ideal, but sticking with these guys may not be the worst thing that could happen.

Not like there were any other choices.

It was amazing that the van was still able to drive despite plowing straight through a wall, even more so with Blitzo's rather destructive driving, and they managed to make it back to the building where I.M.P HQ was, though they had to discard the angelic weapons. No need to get busted for possessing those. Blitzo instructed his employees to watch over in case he tries another stunt at leaving even though he's learned his lesson, suppose it's better to be safe than sorry. Lincoln sat on a seat apprehensively as they waited for Blitzo to come in, having said that he called in some assistance. The sole human in Hell looked to Millie who smiled brightly, Moxxie kept a professional stance, and Loona just looked at her phone.

Weirdly, he was reminded of Lori during her phase when she was aloof to everything around her.

Only, with this Hellhound, it was taken up a notch.

"So, uh, thanks." Lincoln said, rubbing his arm awkwardly. "For saving me back there and I guess also for that whole mess with Mr. Stillman." He frowned at the mention of that guy.

"Don't read too much into it, kid." Loona replies coldly, not looking for any praise for something that wasn't even done out of the goodness of their hearts. "You getting wasted would've spelled big trouble for us and that grandpa these two bitches killed with Blitz was a target. It was all just a job."

Target?

Job?

All this was hard to figure out, so Lincoln inquired some more. "Wait. What exactly do you guys do?"

"Oh, we're assassins, hon." Millie answers, still as cheerful as she can be.

Lincoln recoiled in shock. "Assassins? Like hired to kill assassins?"

"That is the general definition of the profession, Lincoln." Moxxie confirms and provides more details. "Though, it's more complex like that. We here at Immediate Murder Professionals are hired by human souls condemned to Hell who wish for those they blame for their deaths seeing it as them being cheated out of their lives on Earth. The teacher, Mr. Vincent Stillman was our most recent target having personally killed the client that hired us in the first place."

"So, you were just there to kill someone?" Even though Lincoln was grateful that it resulted in him not being killed, it greatly unnerved that the "rescue" turned out to be an assassination. "But, you killed him because he murdered his student, right?"

"True." Millie nods. "But, that was just for this job, sweetie and we got paid. He could've just been a normal teacher actually trying to mold young minds into productive members of society and we'd still kill him. Never discriminate against your targets." she says all sage-like. "But helping you out was worth it. Now, we're square for you saving our own skin from that bat shit crazy teacher with that grandfather clock."

It just came to Lincoln that he did indeed do that to Stillman, but unlike them, he didn't revel in it. "I didn't want to kill him!" Lincoln denied. "I was just angry..." Horror and guilt formed inside the boy.

"Don't worry. Our boss was the one that killed him. You just made it easier for him." Millie simplified in an attempt to comfort him.

"Honey, I don't think that's helping." Moxxie shakes his head, understanding where Lincoln was coming from.

Blitzo walks in with urgency. "Okay, now I need you all to level with me here. I invited a special guest here, so don't do any stupid shit that can make me look bad. Looking your way, Mox." He stands aside to allow the guest to enter and crouching down to let himself in, the guest was revealed to be Stolas himself dressed in his regal attire to present himself as royalty.

Moxxie fell off his seat. "P-Prince Stolas?!" One of Hell's royalty being in the workplace was not something he had expected to happen, but given that a living human boy was in their presence, it wouldn't have been the weirdest part. "Welcome, sir-highness-majesty-"

"Damn it, Moxxie! What did I just say about not doing stupid shit?" Blitzo chided.

"My, my. Such an impish little dwelling, Blitzy." Stolas giggles, taking in the room.

"Don't make yourself too comfortable." Blitzo warned him. "This is not a social call, I just need you to confirm some things."

Stolas playfully pouts and leaned down to cup Blitzo's chin with a talon finger. "Now, Blitzy. Are you saying you don'y wish to pick up where we left off last time? You're hurting my feelings"

Loona gagged. She held her stomach and regretted having a breakfast burrito. "Gross! Blitz, please tell me you didn't bring him here to get busy right in front of us! There's a fucking kid here!"

"Of course not, Loona!" Blitzo may not be a textbook case of someone with morals, but even he had lines he wouldn't cross. "I called him here to solve our little problem. Which is him." he nods to Lincoln who froze when all attention was drawn to him.

Stolas took a few steps and closely inspected him. "So, this is the child of whom you spoke of." he surmises then sniffs and gasps a little in slight surprise. "My word, he truly is still alive."

Lincoln didn't really know what to do except stay frozen as this owl demon oozed off a very intimidating presence that demanded respect and could very well do him harm like Mickey if set off. Then, he gathered that he was apparently of royal stature and as to not seem disrespectful, he bowed with sweat pouring down his head. "Uh, nice to meet you, sir."

"Decent manners." Stolas notes with approval. "Don't see that from most mortal younglings nowadays."

Though nervous, Lincoln couldn't help but ask. "Uh, are you like the king of this place?" he timidly asks.

Now that was a question that Stolas didn't expect and he laughs jovially in amusement. "

And a flatterer as well, apparently. Kind of you to ask, child, but no. While I am a rather important figure in Hell, I'm afraid I'm not powerful enough to rival him." the prince feigned disappointment. "Enough about that. You, my dear boy, are what's truly noteworthy right now. It is my understanding that you were nearly a victim of a demonic ritual, is that correct?" Seeing Lincoln nod, Stolas hummed in deep thought, when Blitzo gave him the details, he did some research to make sure.

"So, how bad is this?" Moxxie carefully asks.

"From Blitz's own testimony, it is painfully obvious that it was of the sacrificial variety." Stolas became exasperated. "I've seen it all before. Humans make deals with devils where they are granted a certain reward in return for their services to said devils. In this case, that nasty teacher would curse the souls of his own students, making their souls tied to Hell so that upon their deaths, they are condemned here, regardless of their actions. As payment for his efforts, the teacher's youth his replenished, allowing him to continue roaming the living world until the time comes for another sacrifice."

Lincoln listens with apt horror, finding out that he wasn't even the first person to suffer that experience. Mr. Stillman seemed so nice and welcoming, one would never think that he was capable of such crimes. It also broke his heart, thinking of the other poor souls that came before him, their young lives coming to an abrupt end without warning. What was even more terrifying was that if things had gone differently, he wouldn't have been the last of Stillman's victims, much as he hates to even think it, it's probably a good thing that man is gone, at least hopefully. "Is he somewhere here?"

"Ha!" This human child was certainly good for a laugh and after a hectic day at his mansion, Stolas needed it. "No need to be concerned, boy. Because he seemed to have failed in the killing part of the deal, his mortal soul is now doomed to be forever lost in-between. Unable to ascend to Heaven or come down here."

"So, I can still go home, right?" Lincoln asked, wanting this to end.

Stolas was ready to answer, but he considered one thing. Blitzo told him that he and his team interfered just as Stillman was going to kill the child and that part came after the more crucial step of the ritual. "Child, just to be certain, did these little imps' unintended rescue come before or after the man finished the incantation."

Lincon wondered why that was relevant, but answered. "After. Why?"

"Oh." The four eyes were wide and his expression turned quite grave. "Oh, dear."

"What?" Lincoln didn't like that tone and the others listened intently.

"Child, I'm afraid you can't fully return to the living world."

It was told bluntly, but it was a harsh truth that Lincoln needed to hear and face and just like that all color drained from his face, becoming pale and suddenly found it hard to breathe. "W-What...?"

Stolas continues. "Yes. I'm afraid it's true. While your life was saved, your soul, however, wasn't prevented from being linked to Hell. Now, I'm not saying you can't just go back up to Earth as you're not a departed soul, but I'm afraid you would only be there for a limited time before you are pulled back down here. As far as I can say, you are confined here to Hell. When Blitzo opened a portal with my book, it sensed this and thus dragged you along as well."

Silence followed soon after. Lincoln now knows that taking the book and trying to use it to go back to Earth really was a pointless endeavor for he is trapped here in Hell, for what seems to be forever. That means he can never go back home, he could never see his family or his friends ever again, not without having to be forced back to literal Hell. He lost all feeling his legs as they were weakening and collapsed down on one knee, Millie kneels down and wraps her arms around him, looking just as distraught, sharing a look with her husband who felt the same. Even Loona looked at Lincoln with a sad frown, he was a lost child here in Hell now, with no family to look out for him and no friends to support him.

He had no idea how much she could relate.

As for Blitzo, sympathy wasn't his major strength but seeing the kid at his lowest with nothing was something that was all too familiar with the imp. "...I guess that might explain how he was able to pull off some spells with that book of yours." he meant it to be in a joking nature, but it came off more bitter.

Stolas tilted his head. "Excuse me?"

"Yeah. Pipsqueak tried opening a portal back to Earth here." Blitzo lied. "Ended up shooting a door down, eyes glowed red and spoke in a dead language."

"Is that so?" Stolas rubbed his chin, intrigued. "There are spells in there that can be casted through incantations of ancient dialects. This seems to be further proof." The prince is at a level where he can cast magic with only a wave of the hand.

Blitzo takes another look at Lincoln and sees he was close to tears. "Mills, take him to that one empty room we have." He couldn't think straight with the oncoming waterworks. "So, you're gonna take him off our hands, then? Maybe stick him in a foster home?"

"Sir!" Moxxie exclaimed, aghast.

"We're an assassination business, not a babysitting service." Blitzo crossed his arms as Millie came back, also not liking that idea.

"I'm afraid this doesn't fall into my authority, Blitzy." Stolas stoically informs. "Never before has there been a living human in Hell, one being so in such circumstances. I dare say not even Lucifer himself could possibly have an answer, not that he'd care enough to bother. Though, as a precaution, it'd be in your best interest to not let others higher up the ladder know of this. Since you lot were the ones he came here with, I believe it falls to you to care for the child."

"What?!" Blitzo shouts, not believing this.

Millie gasps, stars in her eyes. "We get to adopt him?!

"He's not exactly an orphan, Millie." Moxxie corrects.

"Hold the cheering!" Blizo looks up to Stolas hotly. "How can we be sure you won't rat us out to your fellow big wigs."

Stolas boops him on the forehead. "Why, Blitzy. Like Hell I'd ever do such a thing to you, my darling.. Notice I haven't demanded my book back, but we will have to discuss that later. Until then, my sweet big dicked Blitzy." He walks off with a haughty strut, leaving the office.

"This can't be happening." Blitzo really wished this was just a dream brought on by drugs.

"Come on, Blitz. This is your fuck-up. Wouldn't be the first time you took in a stray. " Loona reminded him. She didn't like the idea of a snotty kid here, but he didn't seem all that bad at first glance. She knows from personal experience how tough it can be being alone in Hell.

Not a pretty sight.

Blitzo facepalmed with a sigh. He wasn't in the market to bring in a human boy into his workplace and Lincoln wasn't even hired on as an official employee of his company. His eyes widened at that, seeing as they were now responsible for looking after him and remembering how he managed to put that book to good use.

Maybe there is a way to make this work in Blitzo's favor.

Blitzo enters the room where he sees Lincoln sitting on the floor, hugging his legs and head crying into his knees. He hadn't moved from that spot since he was taken into the room and one could hardly blame him. Cursed to be in Hell with all manner of demons and dangerous individuals, most that had no qualms with threatening the life of a child just for kicks. He didn't care how crazy it is in the Loud house, nor did he care of other downsides to his life, it was still his own life, one he wanted to back to. Listening to Luna's jams, hearing jokes from Luan despite how corny they were, helping Leni with her designs, playing with Lynn when she wasn't so rowdy, making poems for Lucy, making Lisa her favorite sandwiches, having fun with the twins, tucking Lily in, eating his dad's foods, reading his mom's novels, and video chatting with Lori and Ronnie Anne.

He wanted it all back.

But now, that was impossible.

All he had was sadness and despair.

"You know, we've been meaning to get some new furniture for this room." Blitzo says, walking in. "The manager that leased the office off to us didn't tell us about this, but I think it'd make a nice extra room." Lincoln continued wallowing, making Blitzo get right to it. "Okay, look, kid. I'm not good at giving the whole comfort thing. But, look, you ought to be grateful that we put our necks out to make sure you didn't get yourself killed. You think you're the only one suffering? I can feel my head splitting open from this fucking headache." His sternness didn't bring any comfort. "But, that doesn't mean you can't make the most of this. You're in Hell. So, what? Might be premature, but given time, you would've ended up here eventually like all the rest. At least with them, they don't whine about it. They pick themselves up and make an effort to make sure their afterlife isn't as shitty as their lives as humans. Now, what are you going to do?"

Lincoln understood Blitzo was challenging him to end his little pity party, but what could he possibly do? He was still just a kid. He didn't understand a lick of Hell. Although, that didn't mean he shouldn't try to. Get a good lay down on how things work here, see all the angles and maybe see if anything can be done to get him out of here. Lincoln can spend the rest of his days in Hell crying his eyes out, or he's always done when in a pinch, adapt and learn as everything goes along.

For better or worse, he was stuck with these demons.

The white haired boy looks up, wiping away his tears and faces Blitzo. "What happens now?"

"Now." Blitzo grinned. "We get you dressed."

Minutes later, the rest of I.M.P sat in the office and turned their heads when Blitzo made an announcement. "Valued employees! It is my distinct pleasure to welcome our newest member to our little family! Say hello to Immediate Murder Professionals' official unpaid intern/trainee!" He spreaded an arm towards Lincoln who was given new attire. It was the same uniformed suit as the one Blitzo and Moxxie wore but made to fit Lincoln with an orange tie and he was holding the grimoire, too.

Millie squealed, instantly hugging Lincoln. "Welcome to the family, sweetie!"

"That's right. Let's bring it in, people." Blitzo pulled Moxxie and Loona into a group hug. "This is a new beginning and boy, things sure will happen!"

All Lincoln could do was make an audible gulp. "Happy to be included." He said with uncertainty.

Chapter Text

Whenever a huge life changing event occurs in someone's otherwise comfortable life that affects that someone's negatively, they would like to believe that it was all but a dream. Some figment of their imagination brought on by their innermost fears and insecurities taking form inside their minds and it becomes far too much for them to bear, that they awake with alarm and that alarm is washed away by a sense of relief that it was never real in the first place and thus, forget all about it and move on with their lives. That way, there are less chances of it recurring once again and making life that much harder for that person and they can be free to become a healthy individual without any of the baggage from such troubling thoughts, but as reality loves to remind us, it doesn't really work that way, as one Lincoln Loud learned himself.

His eyes snapping opening in alarm, the young white haired boy that used to live normally as a suburban kid in an admittedly big family was greeted to a darkly lit room and saw once again that everything that happened wasn't all a dream. He mostly slept for most of the morning, instincts telling him that it was much safer that way, though the breakfast Millie made for him was pretty good. Rubbing his tired eyes, the little human took a look around his new room in this place.

The one supplied to him by his new eccentric imp demon boss, Blitzo.

Otherwise known as the head imp in charge of I.M.P.

The room definitely had a lot more space compared to the one back home since it used to be a linen closet before his turn to be born into the Loud family, but it wasn't what one would call homely. The lights barely worked and the only thing in there was a bed that had long reached past its expiration date, but he still managed to make it work somehow. Besides that, his new room is a cold, desolate dwelling that no one would want to sleep in unless they had no other choice. It actually made him sorta miss the linen closet.

Which in Lincoln's case, was quite literal.

He opened up a window, trying to see if there was some fresh air outside that can help ease things, but all he got were the sounds of fighting, cursing, smoking, beer breath, and...grunts that made him feel uncomfortable. "Hello, nightmare realm of eternal suffering." Lincoln greets, not enthusiastic.

"Why, hello there."

"Gah! Who?!"

Lincoln reels back at the human shaped fly demon perched on the window sill next to his. "Another rotten fucking day in this shithole, huh kid?" the fly said.

"Uh, I really wasn't talking to you." Lincoln agreed with the sentiment, but was not making conversation.

The fly demon nodded in understanding. "I know. I just haven't had a good greeting in so long." he gets a little emotional there, looking downcast. "Not since I ended up here after my wife caught me cheating with our daughter's piano teacher...for the fifth time in a row. Well, lesson learned. If you don't want to get hit by a car while chasing after her to explain yourself, respect the marriage."

"Kind of too late for that, don't you think?" Lincoln asked, not sure how that'd be much help now.

"Yeah." the fly Sinner nods. "But still words to live by, for the lucky ones still living up top, am I right, little bunny?"

"Bunny?" Lincoln repeated.

"Yeah, the white hair really gives you a bunny look." The fly prepares himself for his flight. "Whelp. I better be off, have a terrible one." He bids farewell to Lincoln and flaps his wings to fly away, then an elongated tongue sticks to him and he's pulled in by a frog demon with a fedora. The frog demon released him. "What the fuck, dude?!"

"Sorry, sorry. Not cool, I know. I-I'm just gonna leave."

Disturbed, Lincoln closes the window and shivers, then pulls a tuft of his hair. "So my hair helps me fit in here. Great." He celebrates in sarcasm. "Guess it's better than being mistaken for a short old man."

Lincoln slides his body down to the floor with a sigh and closes his eyes. Odd as it may seem, this wasn't even the weirdest wake ups he's had, nothing can beat Lisa trying to contain one of her wild experiments in her lab. Still, at least that was manageable, and he'd much rather face that again then what Hell throws at its residents' faces. Thinking of Lisa made his already dour mood even more depressing as he pulled out a picture, he printed it out and placed it in his pocket. It was the picture of him and his sisters, all the siblings were sitting on the stairs while the parents stood on different sides, the only thing he has of home and of his family after his phone got destroyed and gazing at it just made him miss them more than he already did.

But, it also drove him to bear with this situation until some solution to all this presents itself to him and he can go back home.

Someday. Somehow.

He hears a knock on the other side of his room's door. "Lincoln! You up, darling?" He recognized the voice as Millie.

"Yeah, Millie. Just need to get dressed." Lincoln called back, he half expected his mom to call him down for breakfast like she always did every morning, if only that really was her voice he heard.

He wanted to hear all of them again.

"Make sure to look your best, hon. This is your first day on the job!" Millie excitedly says before he heard her walk away.

That's right. His education is only up to middle school and he already has a job now, one where he doesn't get paid which is as sad as it sounds when you say it out loud. What makes it completely horrifying was that he was now under the employment of a crew of assassins that go to Earth to target humans who have been marked by those who have unfinished business with them.

Not really what Lincoln ever had in mind as his first job.

He can only imagine who the client was.

Inside Blitzo's office, the client was hidden by shadows. "I was a good person before it all went down. I was good my entire life..."

Blitzo rolled his eyes at that old line. This was a common gripe among the clients that come into the office and hire I.M.P for a new assignment, how even though they ended up going to Hell after death in the human world, they weren't completely bad people the whole time they were still alive. It's no surprise to find a drug addict or serial killer Sinner in Hell, but there are the really unlucky ones that become Sinner demons just because of one slip-up, one single indulgence in a sin that's actually understandable when one thought about it. As a result of that one mistake, it's eternal damnation for that someone, leaving them displeased and with heavy grievances.

As was the case for Mrs. Mayberry, today's client for Immediate Murder Professionals.

"When I was still alive and a human, I loved teaching more than anything. It gave my life purpose and frankly, what made it feel so fulfilling was hearing my students sing about it. Until that day. The day of my husband's birthday." A Sinner never forgets how things ended for them and she remembered the day of her death well enough for her to recant it to Blitzo. "I actually felt like a piece of shit wife for forgetting. My students figured I'd give Jarold a special video message." she scoffed. "If I hadn't, I probably wouldn't have found out he was a disloyal asshole and I wouldn't have had to go home to him and his side bitch with a chainsaw and gun...when my students were still watching." The new Sinner closed her eyes in regret. She can only imagine how shook they were. "At that point, I felt like, might as well add suicide to my sin counter. You do everything right in life, play by all the rules and still get sent down here with all the damned Hitlers of the world. It's like a crap joke with an equally crappy punchline."

Mrs. Mayberry's death taught her that it doesn't take much to get into Hell, try to force yourself to be the most kindhearted empathetic person in the world all you want, it won't make a difference even if it's just one little slip-up to bar you from Heaven itself and deal with the bullshit of all the other Sinners and Hellborns that you're stuck with for all eternity. Her anger stemming from that harsh lesson is what made her reach out to the crew of assassins who, with any luck, will settle the unfinished business she has with those she wants dead on Earth.

Now, here she was, meeting with Blitzo at I.M.P headquarters.

She didn't know what else to do, but all she did know was that there was no other road to travel than the one where her unfinished business needed to be settled by whomever was willing to do so on her behalf.

"After one measly massacre propelled by blind rage." She told him, while smoking. Blitzo listens, bored out of his mind and unsympathetic to Mrs. Mayberry's plight. "So, that's why I'm here. To get my revenge." She steps out of the shadows to reveal her demonic form that she took when she first arrived in Hell. She kept the body shape of her old human body and the outfit, only with a more devilish twist. Her skin was now violet colored with goat-like horns, hooves instead of feet, eyes red with yellow pupils, she bared yellow teeth and even her original hair color changed to white. She even had a tail that resembled an imp's and a pink shirt with a jewel.

"I mean, was she way hotter?" Blitzo asked, understanding if that was the main reason she got so pissed off to murder over it. Mrs. Mayberry's eyes glow, glaring at the imp for asking that. "I'm just saying I had a really hard time understanding the unprompted melodrama you just spat out at me, tits." He smirks, unfettered by her growing angry at him for making fun of her sob story. "See, I don't think you quite understand how we're operating down here in my company." he sits up to break it down for her. "See, we gladly carry out sinners' revenge on people still alive and if I'm right, the core cast of your sitcom of death are already there and are also in Hell with you. Boop." he pokes her nose.

"Not all. One's still up there." Mrs. Mayberry quietly clenches her clawed hand. "That man-stealing whore somehow survived, and now, she's got it made" Mrs. Mayberry saw this with her own two eyes. While she succeeded in killing her husband, the other woman, Martha, somehow lived through the murder attempt and has since been celebrated for her miraculous survival. "Surviving death was the best thing that could've ever happened to her! She got a big-ass check, is even adored by my old students and no one even bothers remembering how much of a slut she was! They see her as the brave hero who didn't lose her life at the hands of a psycho!" Recalling all of that made Mrs. Mayberry slam her fists down on Blitzo's desk furiously, creating cracks. "She is not a hero!" her voice echoed after that shout.

Blitzo leans back on his chair after she screamed it at his face. "Mm-hmm. Yeah, my thoughts exactly." he rapidly nods, now fearful that she'd go off and attack him.

"Goodr!"

Times like this called for pressing repeatedly on one of the buttons for specific emergencies.

In this case, it was a deranged client.

Blitzo was almost close to praying that one of his employees saw the emergency light and intervene in handling this crazy-ass bitch and making sure he didn't get himself wasted. After seeing that no one was coming to his rescue, Blitzo sighs in annoyance and decides to conclude their business together for now until the job's done. "Okay, fine. I get it. We hunt down this broad, finish what you couldn't and you pay us."

Calming down, Mrs. Mayberry got out another cigarette. "Your company any good?"

"Are you kidding? They're the best in the business." Not that he actually means that, it's just what guys like him say to offer fake assurance to the client. "We make all our targets shit their pants. Now, about our fee, it wouldn't be bad if we said we paid by the hour, did it?"

Speaking of his employees, they were in the common area, waiting for their boss to come forward with a new job and expecting their new coworker to join them after he gets ready. Lincoln never expected he'd get a job like this, but it was better than living on Hell's streets and that whole mess with Mickey Rogers proved he wasn't ready to tackle it alone, or if he ever will. "There he is!" Millie smiled as they saw him enter the room, clad in his suit. "You are looking dashing in that suit, sweetie!"

Chuckling bashfully, Lincoln thanks her for the compliment. "Thanks, Millie."

Even though she was a Hellborn, Millie was quite sweet and welcoming towards Lincoln, a trait he didn't expect to find in a demon. She was certainly violent and had a certain bloodlust, but had a soft spot for those she considers friends. In Lincoln's case, their experience together has made her act very maternal to him.

"Was the room to your liking?" Moxxie asks, hoping his sleeping arrangements were tolerable. "Millie and I would've offered you to stay with us at our apartment, but we can't really risk the landlord finding you."

"It's not bad. Could be better, but I can take what I can get." Lincoln shrugs. Moxxie was also good company, he had a bit more sense than the others, actually tried to think things through and liked to keep things orderly, traits that Lincoln found solidarity in.

"You better, twerp." Loona says with a frown. "I was going to use that room to store all the beer, so don't go whining about not having enough toys or games." She felt he should be grateful that she didn't take it by force.

Lincoln rolls his eyes. "Whatever you say, Loona." The hellhound's rather short tempered attitude didn't resonate well with him, as she seemed to only be focused on her phone and basically tearing down on anyone, particularly Moxxie.

"You're just in time to see Moxxie practice a clean kill!" Millie excitedly taps. She nods towards Loona who groans and falls on the couch while holding up a photo of a normal human family, still on her phone. Lincoln curiously watched Moxxie load up a crossbow and aimed at the photo, but it became obvious that his hold on the weapon was wavering. Moxxie shook uncontrollably as he looked through the scope, seeing those smiling faces and just couldn't find it in him to shoot, a fact his wife picked up on. "Moxxie, stop shaking. You're gonna shoot the only Hellhound we can afford." she chided

"Wow. I feel very loved here." Loona sarcastically remarked.

"Just take a deep breath and let it out." Millie instructed.

Lincoln couldn't help but give in to the urge of interjecting. "Um, maybe you could use a photo that isn't a nice family?" He suggested, not understanding why they'd use that picture for practice.

"Exactly!" Moxxie nods, he's prepared to kill, but can't fathom targets being a whole family. "Under what circumstances would a human family need to be killed?" he asked, always wanting to find logic in executing someone.

Millie, however, didn't see what the big deal was. "If that's what the client wants, then what the hell?" she callously shrugs, which made Lincoln gape at her and shudder. Sure, he knew that they would've killed Mr. Stillman even if he wasn't a student murdering devil magic man, but to see them so casual about murder. As if it was a normal thing. He'd understand if it were a similarly deplorable person, but even if that was the case, he'd still think murder would be a little overkill for his liking.

His young mind can't fully process it.

At least Moxxie found some trouble with it, showing Lincoln wasn't alone. "A shitty dad would suffice. Or a mob family, it depends on the context. But to eradicate an entire innocent-or seemingly by the photo-upper middle class family bloodline? Seems needlessly excessive." Mindless murder may be part of the norm in Hell, but Moxxie likes to think that he has more class than that.

Loona had enough of this sappy moral bullshit, taking a look at the family for herself and making her own conclusions. "Hey, you don't know they're innocent." She argues, knowing full well that everybody in the world has skeletons in their closet and lists the ones the family may have. "This kid, for all you know, sets dogs on fire. His sister, she definitely has the face of someone who bullies Australian kids online. And this guy probably watches."

"Exactly. Humans have a lot of secret nasties. Everyone knows that's why so many come down here when they bite it." Millie explains, pointing out the root of Hell's overpopulation problem.

"How exactly would you know for sure?" Lincoln asks, questioning the point they're trying to make and a little offended. "Is it that hard to believe that there are humans with normal secrets, not horrible ones?"

Loona scoffs with arms crossed. "Right, and I bet you don't peep at your neighbor's window when she's changing?"

"What?! No!" Lincoln denied with a blush.

The hellhound receptionist stared at his insistent face with no sign of lying. "Seriously?" she tilted his head. "Huh. Okay, but I bet your room's filled with cigarettes you stole from some store." He gives her an aggravated glare which further astounds her. "Really? Not even like breaking some school windows, setting fire to trash cans, nothing?"

"Well, I once broke my dad's trophy by accident."

"Oh, come on, kid!" Loona threw her arms up in disappointment. "You're making yourself even more out of place here than before!"

Lincoln became even more confused. "So, it's a bad thing I don't have some dirty little secret?"

"It'd make you less...nice!" Loona countered, weirded out by the apparent maturity of a preteen.

"Okay, so Lincoln's an exception." Millie conceded, pinching his right cheek. "But, that's because he's a little gentleman!"

"Why is that so hard to understand?" Lincoln continued asking. "So, I'm not the kind of person with dark secrets. As if I'm the only one, there has to be more, right?"

"If there were, then maybe I wouldn't be looked at by horny Sinners 24/7." Just as Lincoln didn't respond well to Loona's attitude, she didn't respond well to Lincoln's idealism. "Wake up, runt. You're in a place where it's obvious every other human on Earth has a dark side that guarantees them a one way ticket here and deserves it. If you don't like random people dying, then just be okay with the type that has it coming. So, it's best to forget whatever bedtime story mommy and daddy told you."

"Now, Loona. Don't rush him. He needs to grow up in his own time. Getting into the swing of things always takes a little while." Millie rubs Lincoln's head one more time before getting back on topic. "The point, Mox, is that guilty and innocent aren't our business. Killing who we are paid to is our business. Choose a target." she cups his cheeks and gives him an encouraging kiss on the cheek.

Understanding their point of views, Moxxie still expressed hesitance. "I just think this is a bit excessive and we could be a bit more selective is all."

Blitzo barges into the room with Mrs. Mayberry. "Guys! Line up to meet-" His abrupt entrance startled Moxxie into pulling the trigger on accident, causing the arrow to ricochet around the room and they all followed its trail as it hit the laptop near Millie, causing her to jump into her husband's arms. Then, it shot through the photo Loona was holding, stunning her, and it skimmed past Lincoln's hair, making him scream, then dropped to the floor and found cover. The arrow hits the table holding up a water tank filled with eels and the tank starts to wobble dangerously. It almost hits Mrs. Mayberry, but Blitzo caught it with ease and a cocky grin. "-our newest client!" The tank falls down, spilling the electric eels. They charged up electricity, setting the entire room ablaze, to the alarm of those present. Except for Blitzo, who was more annoyed. "Dammit, Moxxie! I just bought those eels online!" he threw the arrow at him.

"Th-There's a fire department here, right?" Lincoln fearfully asked.

Apparently, fire departments are indeed a thing in Hell and while they were busy putting out the fire in the office, the I.M.P team and their client went outside to begin the job, Lincoln sat against the wall with Loona leaning on it next to him, glued to her phone. Blitzo bade farewell to Mrs. Mayberry who called for a taxi with Moxxie and Millie with him, imp firefighters exiting the building with the eels. "Bye and don't worry, we'll get that skank in less than twenty four hours or your first kill is free!"

Mrs. Mayberry narrowed her eyes, that fire show made her lose some confidence in these guys, but no one else was running business in settling old scores for Sinners. She then looked to Lincoln, and her glare softened into a concerned frown, seeing his depressed and worried expression and if she didn't know any better, she'd swear that he was still human.

By that point, the taxi had driven off.

"When was that implemented?" Moxxie asked, this being the first time he was hearing of it.

Blitzo grabs Moxxie's face with a kind smile and doe eyes. "Why when you set fire to my office in front of our client, you fucking dipshit!" He shouts angrily, pushing him away. "Now someone better say that fancy book is still intact!"

"You mean our only way up to the other side?" Loona rhetorically asked, pulling out the book from behind her. "Yeah. Got it."

Blitzo praises her the same way a proud father would. "And that's why you're my favorite daughter, Looney." he pulls out a doggy treat for her to nibble on. "You get a tasty treat now." he says, in a baby-talk voice.

Loona was more weirded out than thankful. "Please don't start." Seeing as she wasn't going to take it, Blitzo threw the treat in the air and caught it with his tongue, reminding Lincoln of this morning with the frog demon, disgusting both him and Loona. "You're so effing gross!"

"Stop it." Blitzo bashfully waves and not wanting to deal with more of his eccentric nature, Loona leaves. "My therapist gives me enough of that. Alright, intern! Time to work your stuff." he tossed the grimoire into Lincoln's hands and pulled him up, handing him the weapons bag. "This is where you get your feet wet! First job as a four-man group!"

"Wait, you're taking me with you?" Lincoln asked, not expecting it to be so soon. "Shouldn't you have me trained first or something?"

"A great point." Moxxie too voiced his disagreement in bringing Lincoln along. "All due respect, sir, but Lincoln is still far too green for this sort of work. I was actually thinking that Millie and I could handle preparing him both mentally and physically when we go on assignments. Other than that, he could just stay here with Loona."

"Maybe when you stop being an office burning asshole, I'll actually listen." Blitzo insulted, still angry over his now ruined office and the eels having to be taken away, he then patted Lincoln's shoulder. "And besides, the best teacher is experience. Like a mama bird pushing her baby chicks off the nest to see if they can fly on their own or plummet to the ground, allowing predators to gobble them up."

"...That doesn't inspire confidence at all, Blitzo." Lincoln dubiously said. His boss cleared his throat with a stern glare, making a sound of annoyance, Lincoln used the shortened version of his name that the imp is so insistent that everyone calls him. "Sorry. Blitz."

"It'll be fine, Lincoln." Millie assures with a head pat. "You're the rookie, all you have to do is carry our weapons and work that book magic when things get rough. Leave the killing to us." She holds a chalk for him to draw. Still reluctant, Lincoln sighs and uses the chalk to draw a pentagram circle and after reading from the book, a portal to the human world opens. Not using it for offensive or defensive means this time gave Lincoln a moment to look at awe that he literally just performed magic, like real genuine magic. Nothing like those parlor tricks he practices, but the actual thing and for the first time in a while, he actually felt good.

Moxxie moves to go in first, but Blitzo pushes him back to the face. "Now let's go lick some ass!" he declares, fired up.

"The correct phrase is kick some ass, Blitz." Millie corrected, walking through first.

"Really? Mine's better." Blitzo followed.

"Aw, fuck. He never listens to me." Moxxie sighed in aggravation.

Lincoln stared at the portal for what seemed like forever, this will be the first time he's been in the human ever since all the craziness that resulted in him being in Hell. Questions went through his head like if they'd be somewhere in Michigan or some far off place outside the country and if possible, could he see his family again?

He shakes his head, knowing that wasn't an option.

This may be a taste of Earth, but his time there will only be temporary.

Breathing deeply, Lincoln steps through and he feels the familiar feeling of being on Earth. He saw that they were at a lakeside house, secluded from other parts. The sunset looked so beautiful and the feeling of being here on Earth, Lincoln remembered how much he missed it, looking at Hell's sky wasn't the same as Earth's. "No dillydallying, crew!" He followed his coworkers through the fence and hid below the window, Blitzo looked through it and identified the target. "That's gotta be her." he chuckles darkly. "This is too easy. Moxxie, do you want this one?"

Pleasantly surprised, Moxxie wanted to make sure. "Who? Me?"

"Yeah, this one's simple enough for a even a first timer. And Lincoln, you could stand to learn from your senior coworkers at work." Blitzo gestured them both to take a look for themselves and both faces frown when they see the target, Martha, rub noses with her husband with their son and daughter present, ready to eat dinner. "Just a happy mother, fresh from the hospital, having dinner." Moxxie's hesitance made Bltizo decided to bag the kill himself, taking a sniper rifle from the bag. "You snooze you lose, Mox. And I've got you now, bitch."

Before he could shoot her, Moxxie stopped him. "Wait, are we actually killing a family just like that?!" he asked in dismay.

"Don't be a puss. We were hired to just kill the mother." Blitzo positions his rifle, going for a clean headshot. "Which will ruin this family."

Moxxie sees Lincoln's fretful face, the boy already witnessed Hell's usual deviancy and seeing more of it on Earth may further damage him and Moxxie wasn't in the mood for that. "But...hold on, hold on. Maybe we can discuss this more" He lifts the sniper up, but Blitzo had already pulled the trigger, shooting through the window and striking a mirror instead.

Back outside, Blitzo fumed at the anxiously breathing Moxxie, upset over him messing up his shot. "What the fuck was all that, Moxxie?! That was a perfect shot!"

Letting out a stressed out croack, Moxxie got on his knees and covered his face. "I'm sorry! They all just seemed so wholesome and happy!" he defended, tears in his eyes and made a puppy whimper. "I panicked!

Blitzo facepalmed at Moxxies naive reason. "Oh, who the fuck is even really innocent, Moxxie? From the moment of birth, we're all already gross parasites leeching off our momma's tits." he pessimistically told his hesitant employee, intent on getting Moxxie to stop seeing things in black and white. "Get the fuck over yourself, you baby dick prune and act like an assassin!" he furiously shouted at Moxxie's face.

"Hey, leave him alone! One mistake she made shouldn't be enough to kill her!" Lincoln got in-between them to defend Moxxie and glared at Blitzo, taking a stand. "So he doesn't want to leave a man, a widower, or kids without a mom. What's so wrong about that, huh?!"

"What's wrong is that line of thinking like his isn't good for business, you little smartass!" Blitzo met Lincoln's glare with his. "Or are you gonna hit me with some of that innocent bullshit too? How killing is all wrong and we shouldn't do it. Yadda, yadda, yadda. You thought that teacher was a decent guy and look how that turned out! So, are you sure you still believe that?"

Lincoln flinched at the mention of Stillman, shaking a little. "At least I don't keep expecting the worst out of everyone else! I know you're from Hell and all, but I'm from here and I know plenty of people who aren't anything like a murderer or a thief or whatever!"

"Why? Because you trust them and that they love you?" Blitzo spat in disgust. "Here's a life lesson, stuff like that will only land you in shit because you're not grown up enough to see the true side of the world and I can bet that will happen the longer you keep it up while rolling with us! You're tied to Hell, remember? So get that through your little mind!"

Clenching his teeth, Lincoln exploded at Blitzo's face, pent up anger over his situation coming forth. It was a rare angry side of Lincoln that's hardly ever shown. "You're talking like I wanted this to happen! As if I'd ever wish to be almost sacrificed then trapped in Hell! Now I'm back on Earth, and I can't even go back home to my family without getting pulled back! But, you know what? It'd be better than this!"

"Oh? Then please, go on, pal." Blitzo pointed to the exit of the fence. "Go ahead and leave, tell all your precious loved ones about what happened to you and then zap! You're back in Hell. They definitely won't lose their shit over it."

His sarcastic comments made Lincoln even angrier. Of course he thought about leaving the first chance he got, but he hates that Blitzo's right that he can't do so without making things worse for his family if he tells them all about Hell. He can only imagine how messed up they already are about his absence, that certainly wouldn't put their spirits at ease. Lincoln wanted to further argue with the boss of I.M.P, but all talks came to a screeching halt when a bullet went through the wall and got Blitzo's arm. "Oh, my god!" Lincoln and Moxxie gape in shock.

"Aah! That's a new whole!" Blitzo shouted in pain. "Scatter, now!"

Blitzo grabs Lincoln's arm and jumps out of the bushes with Millie. Moxxie lingered a bit to hide when the wall became destroyed after Martha and Ralphie shot at the same time, they both sprinted out to hunt for their new prey. He peers out of the bushes and moves to follow his wife and coworkers, but is grabbed by the tail by one of the children and knocked unconscious.

Ralphie chased after Millie, firing several rounds at her. She flipped and jumped to avoid the shots until diving into the lake at the docks, Ralphie stopped firing and looked through the water. "Where'd you go, little critter? Y'all can't hide long from me." Millie poked her head out from the water from underneath the dock, holding a knife with her teeth. She jumps through the dock, breaking through the wood and lands, holding the knife. Ralphie swings a glass bottle at her, but she runs behind him to evade. Millie jumps, aiming to dive her knife downwards with both hands, but is hit across the face by Ralphie's bottle and struggles to get back up.

Too winded to fight any further, Millie faints.

The last thing she saw before going dark was Ralphie's sick grin and the cloudy sky spiraling red and the last thing on her mind was her husband.

Speaking of Moxxie, he had been taken by the children to their bedroom and slowly regained consciousness. Gasping, the white haired imp saw that he was restrained to a chair at a table. He saw the children stare at him with red eyes and devious sharp grins form on their faces, unnerving him. "Oh. Well hello, little ones. Aren't you cute?" he nervously said, trying to appease them.

Both kids turned up the already high enough creepy factor by speaking in unison. "We love it when we have a new critter to play with."

Confused, Moxxie took a look at his surroundings illuminated by a red light to show him what their definition of playing meant. Every corner of the room was decorated with human remains, genuine proof that Blitzo was right about these humans. They were remorseless killers hiding in secret, increasing Moxxie's intense fear. This family was nowhere near the supposedly innocent levels Moxxie assumed they were at first glance. Not even Mayberry could've known, or she would've added that when she hired them. These people were demons in their own right, a mess of a family that put up the masquerade of a nice normal wholesome family, as Moxxie could clearly realize with his own two eyes of dread and horrified expression.

Because of his hesitation, he and his coworkers that included his wife and a more innocent human boy were all at risk of suffering at their hands.

Now fully aware of the mess his own weakness got them all in, the now guilt rotten imp had this to say. "Oh dear,...crumbs."

By Lincoln's count, this would be the second time in his young life that was running away from gunfire. Like before during the imps' first attempt at Mr. Stillman's life, it happened much too fast. His legs kept running, following the instinct to get away from there if he had any hope of getting out of this alive and he followed that feeling, even if it was pain on his legs. With every shot, he heard more ringing in his ears, wondering how those who wielded such violent weapons could stand the sound of them. "Pick up the pace, kid!" Blitzo tells him, hearing Martha's sinister laugh. They slide down a hill and catch their breaths at the bottom.

"I know you're hurtin' little devil." Martha called in a sing-song voice of glee.

Panicking, Blitzo hides himself and Lincoln behind a tree. "Stay quiet!" he hisses to his young employee who was panting heavily with wide eyes.

"Are-Are you okay...?!"

Blitzo's black blood had left a trail on the ground.

Once more, Martha's depraved voice rang through the voice. "I promise I can make that pain go real quick." They can see Martha's silhouette walking through the words, looking for them. "Just come let Mama Martha put a bullet in your pretty little skill!"

"Fuck, this bitch is bat-shit crazy!" It's not often that even Blitzo feels a sense of fear. "I thought she was just some chronic two-timing slut, but she and her fam are packing serious firepower! We are charging Mayberry double for this!"

"It's-It's not her fault." Lincoln said in-between breaths, trying to make sense of this. This wasn't the same woman he saw through the window, this crazy woman that's fine with killing so easily was a far cry from her. It's like she's a whole different person, just like with...Mr. Stillman. Both appeared to be good ordinary people, but then they revealed their true nature. What's buried underneath those masks of deceit. Lincoln didn't want to believe there could be other people like that teacher. "She almost got killed. She's only defending herself and her family. That's all..."

"For shit's sake, Lincoln. Don't go defending the bitch who's trying to kill us!" Blitzo tells him, his arm starting to feel better now but now damning that idealism of Lincoln's.

"It has to be the reason...It has to be the reason..." Lincoln repeated. People like Stillman shouldn't be more common than he assumed that he'd encounter another so soon.

"Couldn't help but notice you little things have your own young'un with you." Martha cackled. "Don't be so afraid, sweet thing. We make sure to treat the dessert course with utmost care."

"...Huh?" Lincoln was momentarily confused by that statement.

"Flesh like yours needs to be savored, makes the taste all the more delicious like all the rest." Martha continued voicing her family's attention with the only other human clear.

Blitzo shakes his head, understanding clearly. "Motherfucker, they're cannibals. That tears it, we're charging triple."

A hand shot up to Lincoln's mouth to suppress his urge to lose his lunch on the grass, that would alert Martha to where they are. "Blitz..." he groaned.

Wincing, Blitzo knew there was only one course of action, but he did not like it. "Here." he gives the grimoire to Lincoln. "Take it and run! Go back to the office, or that family you keep crying about or whatever! I don't give a shit! Just get the fuck out of dodge while you still can! It's what I'd do!"

"What?" Lincoln looked at the book then at Blitzo. "But, what about you?"

"I'm gonna finish this job." Blitzo answers, making sure Martha didn't see them. "I can't do that and make sure a whiny little brat doesn't get killed at the same time. Now go!" Struck silent, Lincoln's leg made small steps before sprinting into a full on run, just as Blitzo instructed. With him gone, Blitzo thought of ways for him to get out of this, preferably his whole team with him. Those thoughts were interrupted when his phone screamed out. His surprise coupled with the current danger to his life made him almost drop it. "Damn it!" he cursed and caught it to answer, already knowing who was calling. "Stolas! You really have bad timing!" he said through angered whispers.

"Oh, but when isn't it a bad time, Blitzy?" Stolas playfully complained like a spoiled child. How he enjoys playing this little game with the imp that stole his heart.

"What do you want now?!" Blitzo asked.

"Firstly, I am curious to hear young Lincoln Loud's current state." Stolas began, being more civil for once.

"...Oh." Blitzo was not more surprised than angry. "Here I thought this was another case of you coming onto me."

Stolas giggled at his joking tone. "I promise you, Blitzy, there'll be time for that later. But for now, seeing as I'm the only other being in Hell that knows of the existence of its current sole human denizen, I think it prudent to inform me of how he's been progressing. So let me say again, how is the boy?"

"Erm...he's doing great. A bit rough around the edges, but what kid isn't, am I right? Nothing a good crushing of the dreams can't fix, like to think that's the one of the few good lessons my dad ever taught me."

There was clear insincerity in his associate's tone, all of Hell's residents have mastered the art of lying and deceiving others, but Stolas was not so gullible to fall for it. In fact, he was almost insulted that Blitzo thought he would, he ought to know better than to do that. Whatever his intentions were, Stolad didn't feel the need to address them so he decided to at least humor the imp as there were other matters that needed to be brought up. "Good to hear, I suppose. What of the boy's magic?"

"Eh, better than some stage magician but wouldn't say he's at your level."

"On that, we can agree. Although, perhaps with time..." Time wasn't the only thing that Lincoln would require. What the human boy would really need was an instructor of some sort.

"Hello? Stolas? You still there?"

"Apologies, my mind went somewhere else." Stolas got to the second thing he wanted to talk about. "Moving on, the other matter I wish to address is the one pertaining to us following up on our last little conversation regarding my grimoire."

Blitzo had no clue that his angry disgusted face appeared on a bubble. "What did you call me?"

Chuckling in amusement, Stolas pops the bubble and clarifies. "My book, Blitzy. The one I use for my job that I let you use so you can do yours?"

The very same book that most of Hell's elite wouldn't lend to just anyone, let alone of the demons ranked lower than them.

Being on the phone while a deranged cannibal woman was hunting him down on Earth was a very stupid thing for someone to do, but when it was Stolas, Blitzo had no choice but to listen to whatever he had to tell him. Hearing a rifle clicking, Blitzo quickly moves out of the way just as a bullet flies through the tree that the imp was moments before. "I can hear you in the forest, darling!" Martha declares, reloading to shoot again.

"Shit, dammit!" Blitzo runs again, still on the phone.

"Anywho, I've been thinking. I don't mind permitting you access to the mortal realm less than legally, but I do the book back to fulfill my duties. I was thinking, what if we worked out some sort of exchange? Favors for favors?" Blitzo listens to his suggestion, still running from more gunfire. "Doesn't that sound...enticing to you?" the owl demon in a low, seductive voice, eagerly waiting to hear what Blitzo had to say and clearly hoping he'd hear him out.

"Learn to stop using your fancy ass rich people talk, okay?" Blitzo demands, seeing that it was dragging on the phone call. "I'm trying to concentrate on not getting fucked in my A!, so get to the fucking point" A bullet blasted a hole in the tree he was hiding behind, making him freeze.

Stolas obliged him. "Then let me keep it simple. Once a month, on the full moon, you return my grimoire, followed by a night of passionate fornication." Blitzo couldn't believe Stolas called just for that. "And you keep it the rest of the time, hmm? Sound fair to you, my little imp?"

Blitzo had to admit, it was a fair deal. Stolas could've done worse by demanding his own cut of the profit his team makes like most high-class demons would've and he couldn't risk losing the key object that makes their business even possible in the first place, and Stolas won't stop the call until he got an answer. Plus, Blitzo had to due to] with Martha still gunning for him. "Fine, god!"

Stolas was happy to hear this. "Oh, Blitzy. I'm so glad. You've made me the happiest goetia I cannot wait to-"

Blitzo cringed in disgust, thinking he'll have to purchase some noise cancelling apps or maybe screen his phone calls. Having his phone on speaker was a huge mistake considering he was being hunted down by a crazy gun wielding woman. His phone was knocked out of his hands by Martha's gun and was pinned to the tree by the butt of it. As Blitzo feared, Martha followed the sound of him making the call.

"Gotcha!" Martha looked Blitzo over. "So, you're a little devil, huh? Come to drag me and my kin to Hell? Well, not today, Satan! Gonna send y'all back where you came from!" she presses the gun harder with a heated glare. "But first, where's that little young'un?"

Lincoln had run as fast as he could, he was never the athletic type like Lynn, but when the need to get out of danger arose, his legs kicked into high gear no matter how painful it was. He stopped to catch his breath, then proceeded to push bushes out of the way and poked his head in with gurgling sounds, and who could blame him? All of this was too much for anyone of any age to handle. "This is insane!" he coughed out, getting the horrid taste out of his mouth. "I don't want this! I don't want any of this! I just want to go home!" he moaned in despair. The boy looks up into the sky, if there was a Hell full of devils, then there had to be a Heaven with a God and if he truly cared, he'd get the boy out of this.

He silently prayed, but no miracle came, he was still in this nightmare and anger grew. His soul may have been linked to Hell, but he wasn't like the others, and yet, God did nothing to correct this.

Lincoln Loud was on his own.

"Oh, sweetie!" Eyes widening, Lincoln sat still after hearing Martha's call. "My hubby and I rounded up two of these nasty critters, so now it's your turn! When we're done, it'll be like you're part of the family when you're inside our bellies!"

Suppressing a flinch, Lincoln ordered his body to continue staying perfectly still as even though he was scared shitless, when in a jam, his mind swelled with options for him to ensure his survival. He wasn't physically capable of taking her and Ralphie on and he could only run for so long until his legs stopped working, but he did have a magic book of spells. Quietly opening it, his eyes glowed red again and mutters a spell that would give him an opening to escape soon.

Martha continued her search until she heard some rustling as a shadow moved past her. Firing one round, she saw what looked like Lincoln having tripped and fallen. "Got you!" Suddenly, Lincoln just faded away, shocking and confusing her. Another rustle was heard and she tackled Lincoln who was hiding inside it, only for him to disappear like before. All around her, multiple Lincolns appeared and she shot multiple rounds at them, but the bullets phased right through them and just faded away out of existence, aggravating her.

"Illusion spell." Blitzo deduced, momentarily impressed. "Not bad, kid Not bad at all."

"Fuck this shit! We'll find him after we're done with you little devils!" In a huff, Martha walks away with her captive, unaware that Lincoln had ran past her in all the confusion.

This was his chance to leave now that Martha stopped pursuing him for now. But that would mean possibly leaving Blitzo, Millie, and Moxxie to die at the hands of these monsters. They were demons from Hell, they only saved him by pure accident and yet, they still took him in, even though there was nothing in it for most of them, they nonetheless offered him sanctuary, or whatever passes for sanctuary in Hell. Moxxie and Millie, they both treated him well and while Blitzo was mostly selfish, he still gave Lincoln a chance to escape. If he were to just leave them, then that would only prove Blitzo right about most humans and regardless of whether or not it was for selfish reasons, Lincoln couldn't ignore what they've done for him.

Mind made up and holding the book tightly, Lincoln ran.

Not to get away, but to go back to the house.

Moxxie was struggling to break free from the tight rope that restrained him to the kids' chair, but it was done real tight and it would take a lot of strength to undo it, he just needed to summon enough. He looks up and then sees fire being lit outside and he gasps with dread, understanding that his coworkers must have been captured and were now preparing to be sacrificed. "No! Millie!" With his beloved wife's life on the line, Moxxie had now more reason to free himself and when he saw the girl pull a knife out, he glared with determination. Raising the knife, the girl was ready to kill only to be knocked to the ground when Moxxie pushed the chair back, allowing Moxxie to take her knife and cut the rope.

The boy had his gun ready and then the window was broken by an invisible force. His firearm was magically lifted up into the air and was struck by red dust that made him go dizzy and pass out.

Moxxie looked outside and saw that Lincoln had arrived, with the grimoire in hand. "Lincoln!" Moxxie smiled in relief. "Thank goodness you're okay!"

"Same to you, Moxxie." Lincoln smiled back, having deduced that Moxxie had to have been taken by the kids and kept in their room.

These people were indeed monsters, ones that he actually tried to defend.

Somehow, that made him feel worse.

Moxxie picks up one of the family's rifles. "Let's go save our team." He tells the boy, finally taking this job the way an assassin should, jumping down next to Lincoln.

Both quickly raced into the forest, following the red symbols hanging from the branches and the lit up torches set up in rows, hoping that they weren't too late.

The full moon was out tonight and it shone down on the site of the Satanist sacrifice that was about to occur. After being captured, Blitzo and Millie were tied to a stake decorated with spikes on top and couldn't free themselves. All they can do is see Ralphie laugh while pouring down gasoline on the ground under their feet. Nearby, a grinning Martha holds a torch in her left hand, waiting for her husband to be finished with the preparations so she can do her part in the ritual of burning the two imps alive to pacify the devil. That way, she and her family will continue to go about their business of not just adultery, but also eating and killing anyone they come across.

"I had a fucking shot, it was supposed to be an easy job." Blitzo growls angrily, pinning this all on his employee's weakness. "God dammit to heaven, Moxxie!"

"What happened to Lincoln?" Millie asked in concern.

"Who knows?" Blitzo shrugs. "Probably miles from here by now."

Martha begins by saying an ode to the being they worship. "Hear me, Satan! We return your nasty filthy creatures back to the pits of Hell!" A nervous Millie and a defiant Blitzo were helpess in their state. "May your root of all evil remain honored as we continue thy work!" With a grunt, she tosses the torch under the two imps, igniting the gasoline. Martha laughs evilly as the fire rises up to consume both Hellborn demons and she was ready to enjoy the sight of their burning hides and the sounds of their screams of agony.

Just one little problem.

Both remained unharmed.

"Yeah, that's not exactly how it works, babe." Blitzo explained blankly. "Fire doesn't really hurt us. We could fake it if that'll get your dick hard." He and Millie smirked smugly at her.

"Really? Shit." Martha had to admit, she now felt silly for putting this whole thing together. "Then, I'll just shoot you in your smartass mouth!" she decides, pointing her rifle at them.

"That is more effective." Blitzo confirms.

Millie glares at him. "Blitz! Not helping!"

Martha cackles in glee, ready to kill these demons and they close their eyes to accept their fate. Millie regrets not being able to see Moxxie again and Blitzo, his list of regrets is a long one. Martha's itchy finger was ready to press the trigger, unaware of Moxxie standing behind her, aiming at the back of her head. Millie and Blitzo heard a gunshot, but both still lived. They opened their eyes to see Martha fall forward and her gun melted on the grass. The ones who came to their timely rescue were Moxxie and Lincoln, managing to arrive just in time with the latter using a spell to dispose of the gun, leaving the former to shoot through Martha's eye from behind.

"Moxxie! Lincoln!" Millie grinned in gratitude.

Despite being saved, Blitzo lets Moxxie know that this wasn't enough to make up for his earlier blunder. "A rescue won't save your god damn paycheck for this one, Mox!" Moxxie runs over and unties the rope to free them, making Blitzo fall down. The married couple happily embraced, rubbing their heads against one another in relief that the other was safe and sound. Ralphie felt actual fear after seeing the sacrifice interrupted and backed up away, tripping over Martha and quickly fled the scene. "Go ahead and worry about each other! I'm fine!" Blitzo sarcastically shouted, then saw a hand stretched out for him to grab.

That hand belonged to Lincoln. "Let me help you." the boy told him, looking a bit stoic.

Staring at the limb, Blitzo grabs it and is supported upwards by Lincoln and Moxxie. "You stuck around." he notes. "Why?" the former circus performer asked in genuine confusion.

Lincoln answered the best he could. "I don't leave my friends behind." he says, looking at Moxxie and Millie who smile in response. "Got a problem with that?"

Dryly chuckling, Blitzo rolls his eyes. "Whatever you say, kid. At least you're loyal to those you owe."

"Come here, you!" Millie pulls Lincoln in for a tight hug. "You deserve a special snack when we get back, little hero!"

Moxxie then apologizes for accidentally causing these chain of events to happen. "Sir, please, I'm so sorry. You're right, I did compromise our objective and that put us all in harm's way." He didn't want his wife, or Lincoln, or even Blitzo to pay for his own mistakes. "It won't happen again. Honest to Satan."

"Apology accepted, valued employee!" Blitzo assured, hugging Moxxie this time. But he only did that to set the record straight that he won't be so lenient if the shorter imp screws up another job in the future. "But if you ever think about pulling a stunt like this again, I will fuck you and your wife." he threatened in a low voice before switching to a more pleasant setting after pushing a fearful Moxxie away as Millie celebrates with a cheer. "Alrighty, folks! Job well done! Now let's get off! Open up that portal, intern. I gotta call Loona to let her know the job's done."

"Just give me a moment." Moxxie said, knowing that Ralphie was no doubt back in his home after running like a little bitch. "I left something at the house."

"Don't waste time." Blitzo ordered and finally found his extra phone. "Loona! Get ready for us to come home, dear!"

"Moxxie?" Lincoln calls, curious of his intentions. "What are you going to do?"

Putting a comforting hand on his shoulder, Moxxie smiled. "Don't worry about it. Just wait with Millie, okay?" Seeing Lincoln nod, Moxxie runs to the direction of the house, passing by Blitzo's discarded phone which still had Stolas on the other line, unaware that Blitzo lost the phone a while ago and was largely ignored when Moxxie ran by it. "...Jelly Sandwhiches..." Moxxie reached the house where Ralphie gathered his kids in his arms just Moxxie burst in, aiming his shotgun, giving them a taste of their own medicine of feeling helpless.

"Don't move!" Moxxie orders.

"Looks like you got us, little guy. So, what's your next move? Kill us?" Ralphie challenged, holding his scared kids close.

"I should. You people are fucking monsters and this is coming from an imp who was born in Hell!" Moxxie felt the world would be better off without blights like this murderous family on it and yet, didn't feel he had the right to pass judgment onto them. There were already other people for that. "But, you should have a chance at life and a purpose. Look at your children. They have futures that don't have to involve all this! You are going to face your crimes justly." Even though he was a psychopathic cannibal, Moxxie wanted Ralphie to do right by his kids for once, so he picks up a remote, mistaking it for a phone. "Your earthly authorities shall be notified and they will make sure you are dealt with, fairly." Blitzo would disagree, but Moxxie didn't give a damn. "I am handling this my own way." Pressing a button, he accidentally turned on the TV and he saw his error. "Oh, shit. Do you have a phone to dial 911?"

Ralphie jerked his thumb behind him. "Try the kitchen."

Moxxie waves the remote around. "Then what's this?" he asked.

"Our new universal remote." Ralphie gazed down at his kids with love. "Got it just for the kids."

"Aww, that's very sweet." Moxxie praised.

Lincoln, Millie, and Blitzo waited by the portal back to Hell and the white haired boy saw the imp. "He's back." he informs his coworkers.

"There he is. Have a good wank-off session, Moxxie, buddy?" Blitzo remarked, miffed at Moxxie for making him wait.

"Huh?" Moxxie quizzically asked.

Blitzo continued to make fun of him. "Look, I don't care where you come in the living world. Just come to your job on time, right?" he told Moxxie several times, relishing in his employee's annoyance then pinching the cheek hard before skipping into the portal. "See you at the office!"

Millie approaches Moxxie with a hand on his face, knowing this mission was hard for him. "You doing alright there, sweetie?"

"Much better now, honey." Moxxie replied. "I think I just needed a minute to process."

"You have a very good heart, honey." Millie points to his chest and nuzzles him affectionately. "Just a fuzzy little head." Both traits never bothered her, they're why she loves him so damn much, evident by her pecking a kiss on his lips. "And Lincoln, how about you?"

Out of all of them, it can be said that this job was especially taxing on Lincoln the most. He was put through a real mental ringer, the kind that'd leave most kids his age a huge mess. "I'm not really sure." Lincoln answers honestly. "I'm glad we're all okay, but I still can't believe all this happened. People like her, like Stillman..." the sacrifice brought up some bad memories for him. "...how can I deal with it?"

The married imps understood that this experience messed up his world view and psyche in possible irreversible ways, but even so, it touched them that through it all, he found it in him to save them in the end. So they were intent to return that rare act of true kindness from a human. "By being the same you." Millie says for him. "You're nothing like her or him, or others like them and that is what makes you special, Lincoln." She kisses his forehead softly and he looks away with a smile, sniffling a bit. Holding his hand, she guides him through the portal.

Moxxie was about to go, until he heard police sirens.

Turning around, he saw a whole squad surround the house. "Open fire, boys!" a missile fired from a helicopter and it went through the roof, engulfing the house in a fiery inferno, the exact opposite of what he expected. Moxxie starred in shocked silence until he was hit in the face by something flung from the explosion, it was the torn head of the little girl's teddy bear.

What remained of this family of murderers was wiped out as a result of Moxxie's action.

Stunned, Moxxie's neck is grabbed by Blitzo and is pulled through the portal.

As a way of celebrating a successful job. Everyone, including Mrs. Mayberry, was in the office where a victory cake was prepared for the celebration of another job well done. Even though his arm was in a sling, Blitzo joined in all the laughs and cheers except for Moxxie who sat with a distressed expression and Lincoln just ate some cake with Loona and Mrs. Mayberry. "You see, my little Mox-Mox! We did it! Oh, Moxxie!" Millie jovially hugs him.

"Raise your cups for another mission accomplished! And Moxxie here finally learned not to fuck up." Blitzo praised. "Also, props to you, Lincoln. You really proved your mettle, you know as far as interns go. You also didn't piss yourself on the job, so good on you!"

"Um...thanks, I guess." Lincoln really wasn't looking for any praise.

"Just remember today's important lesson; that killing people isn't that big a deal if they try to kill you back and/or eat you." Millie states.

Mrs. Mayberry becomes disturbed at that morale. "That's messed up logic." Then again, it worked out for her so she just passed it off. "Still, I paid for it!"

Everyone except Moxxie and Lincoln laugh.

"Yeah. Fuck that crazy family!"

Finishing his cake, Lincoln walks away, not really in the partying mood. He was about ready to call it in for today, he might not be able to sleep, but some rest is very needed. "Hey." he stops in his tracks and turns around to see Mrs. Mayberry. "You okay?"

"Y-Yeah. Just going to my room."

Frowning, Mrs. Mayberry abandons her plate and kneels down to his level. "You're not like me, are you?" That was more of a statement than a question, but it was nonetheless true.

"What?" Lincoln tried to save face. "H-How can you be sure?"

"The white hair threw me off a bit. But, you don't see a Sinner that looks as alive as you do, kid." Mrs. Mayberry had a rough ending, but had a stellar history as an sympathetic teacher. "I won't pry on how you got here, but I bet you're all confused, not sure about all this." she gestures to the office.

"You...wouldn't be wrong."

"Demons like me are always that way when we first arrive." Mrs. Mayberry didn't know why she was doing this, she left her life as a teacher behind the day she took her own life, but the sight of this lost child connected with whatever remained of the person she once was. "There's probably a library in this city. Has all the information you'll need to understand how things work around here. Wanting it is up to you. You got a name?"

"...Lincoln."

Mrs. Mayberry ruffles his hair and leaves. "Stay safe here, Lincoln. If you need me, I'll be at Pentagram City. Might be something there for me."

She didn't know it, but that lady was one of the few Sinners in Hell that didn't try to harm or freak out Lincoln. Her actions left her here, but she committed a generous act, even if it was a light one and that spoke volumes to Lincoln. "Hey, kid." Lincoln sees Loona walking to him. "About to hit the hay?"

"Yeah, why?"

Loona closes her eyes and walks off. "Follow me."

"Wha-"

"Just fucking do it!"

Not wanting to argue any further, Lincoln complied. He followed all the way up top at the roof of the building and she motions him to join her in staring up into the sky. Suddenly, when Lincoln ignores all of Hell's other surroundings, he finds himself entranced by the red sky and the giant mass that hovered over all its residents. "I come up here to think." Loona says. "Instead of brooding like some angsty brat because of what goes on topside, just stop here and look at the sky and I won't have to deal with that. Calms me down when I'm pissed off." Which is always.

Lincoln had to admit, there was something weirdly comforting about it. "Loona. Thanks. I mean it."

Rolling her eyes, Loona was prepared to reply with another witty remark, only to stop when she gazed at his grateful smile and tearful eyes. She's been looked at with contempt and lust, but has only ever been looked at like that by one other person and. Her adoptive father. She never imagined such eyes on a human and for some reason, she felt warm in her chest. "Uh, whatever, Lincoln." she averts his gazing with a stubborn frown. "Just don't cry like a little bitch, okay? Weird kid." she grumbled and left hotly, though she said that with a light smile.

Lincoln watches her go, then looks back at the sky. "Huh...pretty..."

Chapter Text

When in a very unique situation with so many unknown variables, it's imperative for one to have a cut and clear understanding of their surroundings if they have any chance of managing through if they have any hope of keeping it together. It's what most people do when in a new environment, like a child having just moved to a new neighborhood with his family.

Or in Lincoln's case, being stuck in literal Hell where it's been quite a while since he last saw his family.

After the rather traumatizing events of I.M.P's last mission with the family of cannibalistic murderers and some helpful information from the client that hired them in the first place, Lincoln decided that if he was going to stay in Hell for an extended period of time, he needed to get a good lay of the land. Seeing as he's the only human inhabitant of Hell, this was a necessary move and the married couple of M&M were happy to lend a hand in teaching him all there is to know for a new arrival. It was either that or just continue to dwell on the lasting trauma of that mission.

"So, you guys are Hellborn demons?" Lincoln asked.

He was currently in the common area, sitting on the couch and taking a lot of notes from the books he asked Moxxie and Millie to get for him, not wanting to risk getting into more trouble in Hell's streets like before. The two felt like they were homeschooling their own impling and it honestly felt really good to them, what was even more surprising was that a kid like Lincoln actually chose to learn more about Hell.

"That's right." Moxxie nodded. "See, Hell's demons are divided into two categories. You have the Sinners who once lived as humans until their deaths and once they're condemned to Hell, they take on an appearance that pertains to an aspect of the life they lived. Hence the many diverse demons you've no doubt seen outside. They're the specific cliental this company caters to."

"And then there's us Hellborns!" Millie spreads her arms wide, dropping into her husband's lap. "Born and raised right down here!"

"Hellborn demons are imps, hellhounds, succubi, incubi, and other ones that you'll notice have similar features." Moxxie continues with the lesson in demonology

Lincoln had to admit, when you ignore the fact that Hell was a place of eternal suffering for the damned, it surprisingly has a complex system of things such as how it was divided into seven rings, each representing one of the Seven Deadly sins. "And you all have free reign in the seven rings, except for Sinners who are confined to the Pride Ring where we are right now."

"Right again!" Moxxie affirms, impressed with how quickly he's picking all this info up.

"So, where does that leave me? I'm not a Sinner, so is the same said for me?" Lincoln curiously asks, pointing out the fact that he's the only living mortal soul.

"That's...a good question." Moxxie admitted. "We never really venture out to other rings."

A beer can was thrown at his face and the perpetrator was Loona who finished her fifth can. "Enough with the basic kindergarten bullshit. Place is starting to feel like school."

"This is important, Loona." Millie glared, taking the can and crushing it in her hands. "Lincoln needs to understand the way things work down here and as his caretakers, we gotta help in any way."

"In that case, I guess you two taught him about Extermination Day?" Loona raised a brow at them, and predictably, the imps became uncomfortable when that particular subject was addressed.

Lincoln hesitated a little, but showed that he did indeed know. "That's-That's when angels come down here, right?"

"Someone give him a prize!" Loona announced, always bringing down the room. Though, it was hard to blame her considering the many demons that are stuck down every year by those from Heaven. "Because so many humans get down here when they bite it and become Sinners, there's not much room in Hell. How's it fixed? A bunch of angel Exterminator angel assholes come on down every year and go all purge on us. Then, we wait another 365 days until it happens again and again and again. "Was that a good read?"

Her question, though rhetoric, really made Lincoln think. In rare downtimes like this, it gave him the chance to process the fact that there is indeed a Heaven and a Hell, that there is something to expect when someone dies. He never really wondered about that stuff, as it was more Lucy's department, Lincoln's the kind of person to focus on living in the moment rather than think on what may happen after his time passes. Now that there's legitimate proof, it paints it all rather negatively. When someone dies, it's very lucky for one to be pure enough to make it into Heaven but if they spent their whole lives being a deplorable human being or make just one slip-up, then they spend eternity in Hell, at least until Extermination. The fact that even after death, there's still the threat of being erased entirely really makes Lincoln question it all.

Hearing Mrs. Mayberry's story left some very annoyed feelings in Lincoln, seeing the unfairness of it all.

Then, the door was kicked open, interrupting the study session.

"People, stop whatever pointless crap you're doing!" Blitzo tells, grabbing a book Lincoln was reading, closing it and throwing it away.

"Hey, I was reading that!" Lincoln complained, if he had a choice, he'd pick the least impulsive boss.

"Study time's over, so pay attention to the smartest imp you've ever seen." Blitzo called everyone to gather at the meeting table where Lincoln had a seat with the imp couple.

"I don't remember a client coming in today." Moxxie voiced.

"Probably because you have little to no brains, Moxxie. But, this isn't about another hit." Blitzo walks left and right. "This is about some of the flaws of how our last little killing on Earth went down."

"Is this more of your critique on how I and I quote, "fucked up"?" Moxxie rolled his eyes as he asked the rhetorical question.

"Oh, Moxxie." Blitzo playfully pinches Moxxie's cheeks hard as if he were talking to a little animal. "I don't need to call a meeting to tell you how much of an inept employee you are, you little rascal. I do enough of that just by greeting you first thing in the morning." he slaps the back of Moxxie's head.

"He's not wrong there." Loona smirks.

With how they often interact, it amazed Lincoln that none of them have killed each other as there is a lot of discontent between all employees of I.M.P, but to be fair, just because they worked with each other didn't mean they had to like one another. Millie and Blitzo get along fine, but there's the frequent tension between Moxxie and Blitzo, and Loona just about gets annoyed by all three imps despite being spoiled by Blitzo. And to think, Lincoln used to think his family had a complicated dynamic.

"What exactly is this about, then?" Lincoln asked, to save himself from the headache of more arguments.

"Funny you should ask. Because it has a lot to do with you, buddy boy." Blitzo points at his sole human employee. "See, I've come to realize that you were way too green for your first field assignment. If only someone pointed that out beforehand or even better, suggested we put you through some training first. Probably would've saved us a lot of trouble."

"That's what I said." Lincoln remembered, knowing full well that he warned Blitzo before going to Earth.

"I distinctly remember suggesting that very same idea, sir." Moxxie glared.

"Now, now. No need to apologize for not having enough brain cells to think of it before me." Blitzo said, ignoring their protests. "It's not like I expected more from you. Just be glad you have such a forward thinking superior like myself." Lincoln and Moxxie shared annoyed glares as the head imp shared what he claimed was his idea. "So, to remedy this. I.M.P is going out for a little training of our new wet behind the ears intern. By the end of this day, you'll have the necessary skills to be a true asset to I.M.P and not just do some flashy hocus pocus shit."

"Ooh, how exciting!" Millie grabbed Lincoln's shoulder and pulled him close. "From teaching you about Hell to teaching you how to make sure you don't die in a nasty brawl! It's all going so fast!" she wailed through overjoyed tears.

Comforting his wife, Moxxie admitted that he could get behind that. "Well, I'm just glad Lincoln will learn to better defend himself when we're not around."

"Be glad you have a boss that comes up with good ideas!" Blitzo corrected.

Moxxie gritted his teeth. "For the last time, sir, it was me who thought of that, not you! All you did was recklessly throw him into the fray without even thinking of the consequences!"

"You can make nonsense up after we get to the van, Moxxie and kid, get the book just in case."

"Paranoid much?" Loona saw no reason to be. .

"Looney, trust my judgment, sweetie-pie. Papa Blitz has never steered you wrong before."

"...Oh, you seriously believe that." Loona realized after a moment's silence.

While Immediate Murder Professionals mostly conduct their business of assassinating on Earth, the crew still requires a mode of transportation to get around in Hell should the need ever arise. That's where I.M.P's official and only company van came in, it wasn't anything fancy, just a common vehicle with the company's logo spray painted on it and a few car stickers on it for decoration, but it had enough horsepower to make long trips across Hell. Seeing as he owned the van himself, Blitzo drove with Loona riding shotgun and the other three riding in the backseats.

"Is it really okay for me to go out?" Lincoln asked, anxiously glassing out the window, expecting a demon attack. "Last time I left the building wasn't a fun time for me."

"Now, Lincoln. I know your first taste of Hell didn't pan out great. But that was because you didn't have us to make sure trouble didn't go down." Blitzo said, glancing at the rearview mirror.

Moxxie begrudgingly agrees. "Well, he is right about that and it's the whole point of this training trip."

Millie chimes in. "Exactly! We need to make sure you can hold your own both on and off the clock, hon. It's all for your sake."

"Unless you prefer to get sliced in half." Loona lazily shrugs. "If that's what you're into or whatever."

"Why would anyone be into that?"

"Don't knock it 'till you try it, rookie." Blitzo teased. "Here's another bonus, you get to see how great Hell is during a drive and there are so many great sights to see, like our company's very own billboard. You saw it when we passed by, right?"

Oh, he remembered it quite well. "You mean the one that had the text translated to speech and pointed away from the building?" He could only imagine how much of a waste of money that was.

Moxxie shared that sentiment. "Which is another example of wasteful spending on your part?"

"You call it wasteful, I call it eye candy for the customers and don't play coy, Mox, I noticed you eyeing my cardboard form once or twice." Blitzo smugly smirks.

"Only to observe the absurdity of it all."

"I thought it was nice advertising." Millie honestly said.

"See? Even your wife knows hotness when she sees it. Save for when she first met you." Blitzo crosses his arms in pride, making the car go out of control, to the shock of his staff as cars nearly crashed into them and toppled over, causing horrible collisions to any unfortunate drivers that were behind the company van. A lamp post fell onto the streets, a fire hydrant was unlocked, and a whole mess of vehicles were toppled over after the ensuing crash caused by Blitzo who didn't heed to any of it.

"Sir!"

"Grab the fucking wheel, Blitz!"

"Oh, man. I think I'm gonna hurl!"

This marked a second occasion where Lincoln actually missed riding in Vanzilla, even the times he and his sisters had to push it when it broke down.

It's less life threatening than an imp demon with zero regard for traffic safety.

Hell surprisingly had many places that resembled establishments on Earth. It wasn't just places like bars, nightclubs, or other clubs that were here. But, even common establishments like a fast food place. For a team of assassins, they needed to go to a place to polish their skills and the best place for that is the firing range/sparring gym. "Ah. You smell that?" Blitzo asked his crew, who were still winded from the wild drive here. "Nothing like breathing in gunpowder in the air. Second only to the horse tracks." he nods in approval.

"It's a shooting range and a gym?" Lincoln confusedly notes.

"Imp City has a lot of cash problems." Loona shook her head at the cheap method. "You got mixed bags like this crappy place. Around the corner, there's a coffee shop that's also a convenience store."

"And it's where your training will begin, sweetheart!" Millie ruffles Lincoln hair. "This will be so exciting!"

"Don't think of this as a game, though." Moxxie advises. "We're here for training, remember?"

"Who says training can't be fun?" Blitzo then pulls the hood of Lincoln's suit up to hide his face. "Now keep that on the whole time, alright? The snow hair look might throw some heat off, but we can't risk any demons that actually have brains."

"Will a hood really work, though?" Lincoln could think of way better disguises. "Maybe there's a spell in the book to hide my appearance."

As easy as that sounded, Stolas had informed Blitzo of the more advanced spells that he felt that Lincoln wasn't quite ready for yet. "Sorry, kid. I hear that's way too much for you. Just stick close and don't look at anyone funny or else you'll lose an eye."

"What?"

"Or was it your head? I forget which." Blitzo decided to figure that out later. "Now let's roll!"

Inside was a diminutive yellow-skinned demon with only one horn and lizard scales about to open the entrance door to leave, but was swatted away when Blitzo opened it himself. The I.M.P crew followed their boss' lead and Lincoln obeyed the clear instruction of not separating from the group as he took in the inside of the place. There was a counter where a lot of guns were on display, most likely so that they can be sold to whomever was interested in purchasing, some demons were either at the range or just waiting for their turn by smoking, as promoted by the sign that allows it. At the other half of the establishment was what looked like a sparring match only both combatants had swelled up faces and blood staining the mat and all who were watching egged them on to continue the fight while holding out money.

"Are they gambling?" Lincoln asked, flinching when he heard a bone crack.

"Why else would this place be a half-sparring gym?" Blitzo brought out his own wad of cash. "Did I forget to mention that this is also where your dear plans to earn some extra cash on the side?"

"So, you only said that we came here for training as an excuse?" Lincoln surmised, feeling like a fool for actually believing that the imp wanted to help him.

"Now you're starting to get it." Blitzo grins. "M&M, you two and Loona handle the training. Daddy's gotta go bet on the one with the one eye!"

Blitzo leaves without saying anything else. "And there he goes off again. Doing whatever the hell he wants." Moxxie huffs.

"He's the boss. It's what he does." Millie claps her hand. "Now, let's start off with some firearms!"

In all of Lincoln's young life, the only firearms he ever held were water guns, ones used for video games, and toy versions that shoot foam instead of real bullets with the intent of just having fun and not to kill. Actually holding a real life firearm, like most things in Hell, that was something he never imagined of doing. When holding a gun, one holds the fate of the person its aimed at, just one pull of the trigger and the one caught in the bullet's path may very well breathe their last breath.

Moxxie may be small, but he certainly had big enough balls to handle a gun expertly like a pro. Lincoln, Mollie, and Loona wore earmuffs once he began shooting with a standard pistol. Each shot struck multiple parts of the target within the target lines and he stopped shooting and raised his goggles to see his handiwork.

"Fuck, Moxxie. Could you shoot any louder?" Even with the earmuffs, Loona's sensitive hellhound ears could still be affected.

"They don't supply silencers." Moxxie places the gun down.

"Still annoying to my canine ears!"

A nearby demon aired out his own complaint. "Could you stop with the damn noise! Trying to concentrate!"

Eyes seething with fury combined with the annoyance of the loud noise, Loona shouts with vehemence. "You don't want noise, ass?!" She stomps up to him and connects her knee to his groin, then bashes his skull into the ground. "There! Now you can't hear anything!"

Lincoln reaches a shaking hand to her. "Um, Loona? Maybe calm down a bit."

His hellhound coworker turns with a venomous growl making him back up in fright. Loona would've just threatened him regardless of him being just a kid, but looking straight at those frightened eyes of him made her features soften a little. "Not my fault. He was being a shithead." she blows a strand of her hair away.

"Then maybe just ignore those...what you just said. It's not like what they think matters to you, so why even bother?" It's a little surprising that Lincoln hasn't taken up cursing up a storm like everyone else in Hell with all the trouble he's been through. Loona didn't say anything in response, not liking it that a little kid was actually chiding her, but he did raise a good point. "Cut me some slack, alright? I get enough attitude from Moxxie?"

Speaking of, Moxxie grabbed a shotgun. "I know our boss likes to simplify what we do, but don't think you can just grab a gun and just shoot until hitting your mark. The kind of weapon used is essential, a common pistol is sometimes all you really need with the sufficient amount of ammo and can just be used for a quiet kill, without so much as a firefight ensuing. Since you'll be carrying our supplies, it's crucial to know the difference." he presents the shotgun. "This makes a bit more noise, but I like to think it's only necessary when there's more than one assailant."

Putting the earmuffs back on, they see the armed imp fire the shots while cocking the fore-end back to eject the shells repeatedly until he was fresh out and observed the wooden targets that had large holes in them. Unknown to the imps and hellhound, with each shot fired, Lincoln suddenly got flashes, he could see Martha, then Ralphie, then the ritual they attempted. The kind that was like the one Stillman made, his hand started shaking out of the blue and his legs felt wobbly.

"Kickass shooting, Mox!" Milie praised. "Those big ones got more kicks! What do you think, Lincoln? ...Lincoln?"

Millie grew concerned when Lincoln didn't respond and they saw that he had gone a little pale with his mouth slightly open as if he stopped breathing. "Lincoln!" Moxxie's call made brought Lincoln back to reality and he realized that his coworkers were looking at him with worried frowns, even Loona looked up from her phone to see. "Are you okay?"

"I-yeah, yeah." Lincoln cleared his throat. "Um, this was, uh...very informative. Why don't we move on?"

Knowing full well that he wasn't being honest with them, Moxxie considered asking him to share what was wrong, but knew that Lincoln would just keep telling them the opposite. "I think we've covered enough about firearms, let's continue hand-to-hand combat. Go wait for us."

When he was out of earshot, Millie began the discussion about him. "I don't get it. The sweet pea seemed okay back at the office."

"Trauma doesn't disappear overnight, Millie." Moxxie reasoned. "As unbelievable as it may be, Lincoln's life before all this didn't include anything like murder, infidelity, or other darker aspects of humanity. He's not only dealing with what happened, but he's also trying to understand the ugly reality of the world. Which should've only happened much later in his life. Early-to-late teens give or take."

"What? You majored in kiddie psyco-babble?" Loona remarked.

"Come on, Loona. You've probably seen it too." Moxxie argued. "He's barely managing to maintain that childlike innocence few children like him have and doesn't fake it."

If Moxxie only knew how much Loona wanted to kick his ass because of how right he was. Since he's been staying with them, Loona expected some bratty little shit like that Eddie kid. Instead, they got a normal kid who's really trying to keep it together in Hell and actually has a kindness to him that doesn't seem fake or forced, like he's genuinely a nice guy and that's just way too out of the ordinary for a denizen of Hell like her. The fact that they work together forces her to admit that and call it instinct or whatever, but she can't help but maybe help just a little.

The kid's positive traits can be annoying, but at the same time, make him somewhat like-able.

"God damn it." Loona cursed. "Blitzo picked a hell of a time to go gamble and lose."

Blitzo has been called many things.

Most who've known him personally would describe him as the most disgusting inconsiderate irresponsible two-faced backstabbing opportunistic violent individual that ever lived, among many others. To be frank, he actually wore these harsh words as badges of honor, though that didn't mean he wouldn't return with just as much ire and contempt. People he barely knew were hardly worth the effort, though, even when he would escalate it into a brawl. He still had an image to keep up.

So yes, he only made this company training day as an excuse to go gamble, making it a waste of the company's precious time. Though in his mind, this was helping the company by making money besides their usual way as an alternative means.

"Make way, bitches." Blitzo went to the front of the ring. "Got my money on the yellow stud over there!"

Another imp laughed with his friends. "That lightweight? I bet he could barely last one fucking round of beers. You're gonna lose, imp."

"Speaking from experience?" Blitzo cheekily retorted, making the other imp fume.

Blitzo seemed pretty sure of the outcome, it almost looked like he had actual faith in the guy he was betting on, except that he didn't. Faith was not a word in Blitzo's vocabulary, but cheating was. Making money through underhanded and downright dirty means was right up his alley, after all, he already had a job where he gets paid for killing people on Earth.

Compared to that, cheating isn't that big of a deal to imps like himself.

Blitzo discreetly disappears into the audience to make it over to the other side of the ring. With the patrons being mostly imps, one wouldn't spare him a second glance which made it all too easy. The round had just finished and the other guy was sitting down and had a water bottle near him, making Blitzo grin as he formed his idea. He sneaks his hand into his suit, getting only random stuff like a horse figurine, some lint he licked out of curiosity, and a small explosive, he discarded that last one by throwing it into the hands of an imp from afar. Blitzo and the patrons ignored his panicked screams and subsequent explosion to focus on their own devices.

The imp finally found what he was looking for, a little pill that he knew from personal experience will make the body go out like a candle.

Without making himself known, he grabs the bottle and uncaps it to drop the pill in, then places it back to its spot and hides when the guy grabs it and unknowingly drinks what was inside. Snickering, Blitzo rubs his hands as the chaos unfolds in front of him, the guy he just drugged started getting slow in his movements and reacts too late when his opponent uppercuts him and he goes down. A majority of the gamblers groaned in disappointment having just lost a lot of money as a result.

"Ha! You were saying?!"

His boastings earned him glares and middle fingers, but he continued laughing.

Pumped up by the adrenaline of winning, Blitzo kept up the cheating, by putting chloroform in the towels, waving a flashlight from afar, throwing in some marbles, and so on. He'd love to see if his employees will still complain once they see all the money he was able to make, nothing more pleasurable than rubbing it in their faces.

He was so caught up basking in his winnings, he didn't even notice that those very same employees had already come in nearby to observe the fighting matches. "Now, if you're trading fists instead of bullets, then it's pretty straightforward. Just keep hittin' 'em until they fall over dead!" Millie belligerently punched her opened palm, then smiled cutely. "It doesn't hurt to figure out their weak spots, either. Just take a gander at this!"

Her fellow workers of I.M.P see her step into the ring and her presence got her a lot of catcalls and flirtatious whistles.

"Woah there, sexy thing." A fellow imp said with a lecherous smirk. "This ain't the kind of place a fragile piece of tail like should-GAH!" When his wandering hand started going to her backside, she grabbed it and twisted it around, making him scream in pain and was pushed away. Millie roared a battle cry and charged at the other demon in the ring and Lincoln winced when saw how much she made short work out of him, limbs were bent in ways he didn't even know was possible. She was small in size, but proved to be more than strong enough to fight those bigger than her, all the knocked out teeth on the mat proved that point.

"Isn't she just so wonderful?" Moxxie asked, head on hand as he cast a lovestruck gaze at his formidable wife.

"She definitely knows how to defend herself." Lincoln can admit that much, even Lynn would have trouble against her. "Don't know if I could ever be that strong. I've never been very violent."

"I can tell." Moxxie accepted, not judging the I.M.P team's young friend. With Millie fighting and Loona recording on her phone, maybe now was the chance to try and get Lincoln to be more upfront, but not in a manner that would seem pushy. "Listen, Lincoln. I know you said nothing was wrong, but there is, isn't there?" Lincoln's silence was a good enough answer. "I understand, truly. It's understandable if there are...issues that have come about after what you've had to go through, but holding it in won't help. I know you feel alone, but if you ever wish to talk, well, I'm happy to lend an ear.",

Moxxie's sympathetic smile was so hard to say no to and Lincoln truly did need to speak to someone about it, though he and Millie seemed so nice, Lincoln hadn't been certain if they cared enough to hear his woes like his own parents would but now he was sure. "Moxxie, how else am I supposed to deal with it?" Lincoln nods his head towards the rest of the demons around them. "Look around. I'm nothing like these guys, guys who are so used to death that it doesn't even faze them, and yes, I know most of them are technically already dead, but you get my point. To survive here is to handle it, but I-I just can't." he sighed disappointedly. Even though he admits that he himself isn't a complete angel, same with his family and that the world isn't perfect, this level of depravity just didn't sit well with him.

His imp friend got a clearer understanding now. It wasn't just trauma that Lincoln was facing, but it was also disappointment in not having the fortitude to close his heart from it, to not feel anything at all like so many other Hell denizens. "Lincoln, you shouldn't feel so ashamed of that. Others would see it as a weakness, but not to me or Millie. Our boss and Loona, well the jury's still out on that, but that's no surprise." Moxxie became more serious. "More importantly, do you truly feel bad that Martha had to die?"

"Honestly? ...Not that much." Lincoln rubbed his head. "It's hard to explain. I am sorry that it had to end that way, but at the same time, she still tried to kill us and I'm actually thankful that she won't get to do it again." Martha was a monster, no question, but it still felt wrong to Lincoln that he felt relief that another human being was dead. "It's all just too much."

"And?" Loona surprised them when she joined in. "Sure, it's crazy to be glad that someone's dead. But, what's even crazier? Not being relieved that she didn't kill you. I mean, that proves you're way more saner than that crazy-ass bitch."

"...Loona, was that a compliment?"

"N-No!" Loona denied, unconvincingly. "Look, you're alive, right? If you and wanna bitch and moan about almost getting killed, and about some people dying, then fine. Go ahead. Being glad you didn't get your ass wasted, is that really so wrong?"

"I-No. But still-"

"She's probably being somewhere else in Hell right now, all fussy that she ended up dead and damned. It's the whole point of this place. She did have it coming, right?"

"...Huh." Lincoln never really thought of it that way. "Some demons seem to almost love it here, I didn't think of that."

"They just love that there are no consequences this time around." Moxxie points to all the bloodied and injured fighters. "Repeating the same vices that got them here tends to lose its allure down the line."

Given how random and chaotic Lincoln's life became not too long ago, it was hard to find a perspective due to how unbelievable this all was, he's always relied on logic and reasoning but here, both don't really apply. From a point of view like Loona's, who grew up in Hell as a Hellborn demon, that actually made some sense. "Hmm. Man, I may need to do some more thinking up on the roof."

"No shit." Loona smirks. "Guess you should be glad I was generous enough to show you it." she said, condescendingly.

"Heh, yeah. I really am." Lincoln chuckled, flashing her a smile.

There he goes with that good natured genuine smile.

Loona didn't realize she lost her teasing smirk or became a Loona who now sported the same kind of smile he had.

"Hey! Done with the gun show already?!" Lincoln and Moxxie nearly fell over when Blitzo came in, grabbing their shoulders.

"Just continuing Lincoln's training, sir. Unlike some imps." Moxxie crosses his arms bitterly.

"Take a look at all these winnings and try to keep that tone!" Blitzo challenged, showing all the cash he managed to win. "Just think of the wise business practices that are now possible thanks to me! Just goes to show ya, I am a kickass boss!"

"You're gonna blow it all betting on horse races." Loona all but stated.

"You know me so well, Looney!" Blitzo notices Millie in the ring. "Wait, Mills is fighting?"

"How else is supposed to show Lincoln the inner workings of a fistfight?" Moxxie then got suspicious when he sees his superior get a little anxious. "Sir, is everything alright?"

"Uuuuhh...yeah, definitely. It's just, you did tell her to maybe hold back a bit, right?" Blitzo seemed like he wanted them to say yes.

"Of course not. Why?"

The crowd gasps when they see Millie punch her opponent straight in the gut, making him stumble back and pick up his drink to rejuvenate himself, but that list hit left him more weakened than he thought and passed out. His drink was caught by another demon and wasn't empty just yet, so he helped himself to it, then face planted to the floor. Confused murmuring ensued and then came the manager, a tall imposing horned orange skinned demon with a unibrow in a referee's uniform and inspected the passed out demon by slapping him, only to get a slurry response. "Completely numb and unresponsive to everything around him." He knew exactly what was going on. "Alright, you fucking hustlers! Who here's been drugging the entertainment! Getting intoxicated is only allowed outside of the ring!"

"Fuck..." Blitzo warily looks around, he grabs Millie's hand and pushes his employees to the exit. "Alright, I think that's enough fun times, let's get on back-"

"Hey!" one imp points to the retreating group. "That sleazy son of a bitch kept on winning the moment he started betting! It had to be him!"

"Oh, crumbs." Moxxie sweated bullets.

The manager glares hatefully at Blitzo, who quickly exits with his crew, gets them in the van with his winnings and rides off.

"Gambling and cheating, sir?" Moxxie continues to find himself disappointed in having a boss such as Blitzo. They had driven for a solid 10 minutes after leaving and he was more angry that he wasted the day for Lincoln's training. "You couldn't have just been satisfied with just the first one?"

Blitzo scoffs. "As if I'm the only one that cheats in gambling. Bet you one soul that most of those muscle heads were hopped up on steroids. Besides, can you really argue with the results, Mox"? He kisses the sack of winning money sweetly.

"It's okay, Moxxie." Lincoln reassures him. "I think I learned plenty enough."

"There, see? Even the runt knows better than you." Blitzo snickered and sighed in content. "Oh, yeah. This was an insertion with no consequences whatsoever."

Millie corrects him. "It's an excursion, B."

"...Now, are you really sure? I personally think-What in the-?" There was something he saw in the door window that caught his eye.

Lonna too noticed and got heir attention. "Uh, you guys? I think we're being followed."

They looked back and saw the referee manager jogging powerfully through the streets and was catching up with them, he was all sweaty but those furious eyes of his made it obvious that he wasn't going to tire out anytime soon. "Is that the manager?! Blitzo exclaimed. "How the fuck is he gaining on us?!"

"I think the anger at being swindled is powering his legs!" Lincoln observes.

If that weren't scary enough, they see him draw a sawed off shotgun and fires, making Blitzo scream curses as he moves the van so that it wouldn't hit and the I.M.P prepare themselves. Millie instinctively grabs Lincoln to her side to protect him as Moxxie looks out the window to warn them if the manger was ready to fire again. "Shit, shit, shit, shit! Everyone, hang on, we can make a detour right-MOTHERFUCKER!" he swerved right when another car just drove up in front of them. "Hey, dumbass! We're trying to not get shot here, so why don't ya-" he stops when he sees it was filled with the other gamblers from before, each with their own guns.

"Blitz, get us the fuck out of here!" Loona screams.

"Don't you worry, Looney! Daddy's gonna make it all okay!" He drove them off as they and the manager followed after until they were at an empty alley. "Okay, the building's still a bit far from here, so we may have to lay low until nightfall."

"Fuck that noise!" Millie protested. "They mess with I.M.P, them bitches gonna get cut!"

"Usually, I'm all for that, Mills." Bill twiddled his thumbs. "Except that we left our gear back at the office, so-"

"Actually it's in the back." Lincoln's thumb was pointed backwards and they starred with wide eyes.

They went out and opened the trunk and lo and behold, there were the weapons all neatly organized. "Fuck me sideways, when did this happen?" Blitzo asked, floored.

"I loaded them this morning." Lincoln shrugged, then reached for the grimoire, seeing that it was indeed required. "I mean, this is Hell, right? I think it's important to be prepared."

"...A freaking kid knew that, Blitz." Loona commented.

"And I thank my asshole for it!" Blitzo grinned, grabbing a rifle. "We are gonna fuck shit up!"

"Hang on." Lincoln interjects. "I might be overstepping, but I think there needs to be a plan."

The manager and the other gambling demons had found I.M.P's company van, but there was no team inside, just an empty car so that could mean they ran for the hills or were hiding somewhere. The manager knew when a rat was hidden somewhere and he was going to find the little vermin that thought they could hide. But I.M.P wasn't hiding out of cowardice, they had the intent of ambushing these demons as part of a well-constructed plan devised by their youngest employee. Lincoln was atop a roof looking through binoculars to see them and Moxxie was next to him with a sniper rifle, looking through his own scope and nodding to the boy.

"Millie. Are you and Loona in position?" He contacted her through a radio.

"Waiting for you to work some magic, Linc!"

"Blitz. What about you?"

"I'm ready. This plan better work, runt."

Opening the grimoire, Lincoln flipped the pages over and stopped at one, his eyes glow and uttered the incantation repeatedly to create multiple small portals leading to the ground where the demons were, showing only their feet. Lincoln used a levitation spell to throw multiple smoke bombs through them and when they were set off, that acted as a signal for Millie and Loona to act. The smoke impaired the demons' vision, so when Millie came in, a large bashing hammer in hand. Loona made them fly thanks to her strong swinging arm and a bat. "Ambush. That's how we'll do this. I can use the book to throw smoke bombs. They won't see Millie or Loona coming."

Those were the words they remembered Lincoln saying and they were executing that part of the plan tremendously well.

Some demons managed to see through the fog and saw the two female fighters and were ready to shoot at them or pummel them into bloody pulps, until one was shot by a sniper round.

It came from Moxxie's spot on the roof, the moment that demon came into view of his scope, the imp fired.

"Moxxie can provide cover fire from a roof where I'll be with him."

A carefully calculated plan.

Now that was something Moxxie could get behind as he continued shooting, since Sinners can't be taken down so easily, he had to settle on only incapacitating them.

"Alright, Blitz. The manager's by himself. You said you wanted to take care of him yourself, right?"

"You're fucking right I do! Gonna be a lot of ass licking!"

Lincoln gave a questionable glance to Moxxie who shook his head with an eye roll. "Once again, he meant ass kicking."

In the smoke, the manager nearly tripped over some bodies and frantically looks to find a way out of the smoke and when he did so, a whistling call made him look up and grunt when Blitzo latched onto his face. "Fucking little shit stain!" the manager insulted.

"Flattery will get you nowhere!"

Blitzo jumped off when he tried hitting him, only to hit his own face instead. While jumping, Blitzo unleashed an axe that he used to slice his shotgun into two pieces. Though disarmed, the manager nonetheless still chases after Blitzo, following him into a warehouse without any light, giving Blitzo a lot more hiding places. Seeing the manager being too busy trying to find him led Blitzo to shoot with his flintlock and injuring his arm, the manager scurried away while holding his injury, eventually tripping and falling. Groaning, his eyes looked at a box filled with fireworks, the lights suddenly turn after Blitzo found the light switch and they saw that there were more boxes with the same products, showing that the warehouse was one that makes them.

Grinning maniacally, Blitzo shot once to light a fire on a firework string, the manager's eyes widened until the eyelids lowered into a deadpan expression. "Shit."

Outside, the remaining demons that surrounded Millie and Loona heard a loud bang. Turning around, they saw multiple fireworks shoot through the roof, others shot through the windows and struck them, sending them flying everywhere. Blitzo jumped out, faceplanted, then got back up to run off with Millie and Loona not far behind while the destruction continued. The entrance door fell down, revealing the manager covered in smoke, he walked out slowly and faced I.M.P. He had two options, either continue pursuing them or just walk off. He flipped them off and just strolled away, not wanting to deal with any more of this.

Lincoln and Moxxie traveled back down to meet up with their coworkers and they hopped into the van to go back to their building.

"Haha! I gotta tell ya, Lincoln! I had my doubts, but dammit! That plan of yours turned out to be more fun than I thought!"

Since there were no more demons aiming to get back at Blitzo for cheating them out of their winnings, the I.M.P team were free to go back to the office and unwind from another insane day in Hell. Blitzo congratulated Lincoln in his admittedly well crafted plan to get them off their backs and escape mostly unscathed. "It was nothing." Lincoln bashfully said.

"Actually, he's right." There were times when even Moxxie had to be in agreement with Blitzo. "Most of the time on our missions, there's rarely a plan as thought out as yours in place. Perhaps there's more you can do besides carry our weapons."

"You hear that? You're gonna be our little man with a plan!" Millie holds her hands tight with a proud smile. "Ain't that so exciting!"

Sighing in resignition, even Loona had to give credit where it's due. "Pretty smart play, Lincoln. Of course, I'd be fine with anything that'd let me kick ass on a bunch of assholes."

Lincoln scratches his head. "Well, that's probably the only time someone actually wants to touch them...right?"

His coworkers stared at him in silence making him worry that he totally messed up that attempted joke up, but them laughing out loud proved otherwise and he slowly joined in albeit a bit more reluctantly. "Oh, man! Keep this up, and you'll fit in great, intern!" Blitzo wiped off a tear in his eye and hugged the pile of money. "As a silver lining, I get to keep all this! You know, there seems to be enough to fill that room of yours with more than a shitty bed."

Lincoln understood what that meant and could hardly believe it. "Seriously? You mean it?"

"Hey. Contrary to what some imps-Moxxie-might say, I can be a pretty cool boss. But, only when my employees deserve it, of course." Blitzo playfully ruffles his hair. "Don't expect to get soft on you from here on."

Might not be much, but Lincoln's not complaining. "Whatever you say, boss." It was weird, but this little misadventure and the way they were acting afterwards, it was vaguely similar to how a zany shenanigan he and his sisters would get into usually ends. These imps and one hellhound were weird, but so was he in a way. Same with the girls. So, while he may be away from his birth family, this crazy "family" seems like a nice substitute and might just come to be on par, but who knows? "Man, I don't think my sisters will ever believe this."

That was spoken much louder than intended and it was just the amount to get Blitzo's attention.

"Sisters, you say?" Blitzo inquired, leaning in intently.

Put off, Lincoln still answered. "Uh, yeah. Ten of them."

"Ten?!"

The I.M.P team could barely hold their disbelief even when he showed proof by showing the photo of him and them. "Damn. What, your pops have a weak pull out game or something?" Loona asked.

"Crass, but a very good question." Moxxie said, perplexed.

"I didn't think humans could reproduce that many." Millie commented.

Lincoln understood their surprise, guess even demons can be blindsided. "So, what are we talking about here? Adoption? Half-siblings?" The array of questions Blitzo started flinging his way seemed a bit too invasive, though.

"No, we're all related and have the same parents. If it's about the white hair, I got it from my Pop-Pop."

"Must be a pretty cramped space if you live with that many people." Blitzo's next inquiry was way too much. "You ever walk in on them changing?"

"Ew, no!" Lincoln blanched. "They're my sisters, man!"

"How about them walking in on you while you're yanking it to some dirty-"

"Okay, sir. I think that's enough." Moxxie stopped him, thankfully. "I'm sure you need to count all the money right now."

"For once, Moxxie, that baby dick-sized brain of yours is making sense." Picking the money up, Blitzo heads to his office. "But we're done yet, Linc!"

Lincoln points to his coworkers, nervously. "Is that gonna be a thing?" He asked, gesturing to Blitzo's sudden interest in his personal life.

"Yep."

"Oh, yeah."

"An unavoidable fate, unfortunately."

Even in Hell, privacy was hard to come by. But that was strangely okay, it just made it feel more like home to Lincoln and while it was still Hell, these demons he's now working with seem to somehow make it feel a little bit better than what he initially thought. The more he thought about it, the more Lincoln realized that perhaps there's more to Hellborn and Sinner demons than he realizes besides how threatening they look. Them and Mayberry have their flaws, but everyone does whether they're alive or dead and there's always a rare showing of a gentler side. "Hey, kid. If Blitz decides to get you a TV, the one should be enough until then. There should be a channel that's just for your eyes."

Accepting Loona's suggestion, Lincoln sits on his chair and turns the television on, but he decided to stick with the channel that was showing a rather intriguing commercial.

It was a musical, showcasing a certain princess of Hell.

Chapter Text

All beings that resided in the eternal burning pits of Hell were all very much unique in their own very special way.

Many appeared in various different forms, shapes and sizes, it sometimes gets really hard to differentiate the ones who stand above all the rest as more powerful and highly important. It's why they're classified by species and other forms, too.

But only when those types of demons establish a longstanding reputation of being one of the most powerful and influential at the top of the food chain, can one realize what demon they shouldn't piss off in the slightest, lest they wish to court with death itself. Case in point, the illustrious royal demons of the Goetia Family. Being just below the Seven Deadly Sins in the hierarchy, they're known far and wide as keepers of powerful magic and enchantments, making them on a league far above the rest, even overshadowing the Overlords in terms of raw power. If it weren't for Lucifer himself being the top king in charge in the realm of the damned, the Goetias could very well run things. At the very least, the family's quite content with the way things are as it is, not willing to demand more like impudent children.

They rested and enjoyed the luxuries of being royals of Hell in their private mansion with a myriad of lower level demons working as their servants and currently, the Goetia mansion was silent.

"Mummy! Daddy! Help!"

The cries of the young Goetia child, Octavia, broke that silence as she was covered by her bed sheets in fear, she wanted her parents to come see her, hoping for the comfort that only her parents could bring.

Her door opened where she heard her father in his sleeping robe speak. "Via? What troubles you, my owlet?" he asked, concerned as any father would.

Hiding under her blanket and emerging, was his daughter, Octavia. An adorable little owl demon with beautiful pink eyes with bright pupils and a coat of dark feathers. She resembled her father's owl-like face and had her mother's shaggy scruffy hair feathers and was dressed in pink pajamas with stars. "Daddy! Daddy!" Sobbing in tears, Octavia climbs down from her bed and runs towards her father who crouches down to receive her hug and gently picks her up as she tells him the problem. "I had a dream! A really bad one" she sniffles, quivering.

Yawning, Stolas wiped away a tear. "It was just a nightmare, sweetheart."

"But, I was looking all over the palace for you, and...!" The more she recalled the nightmare, the more Octavia found herself shedding tears. "You were gone! You weren't there!" She hugs him tightly, afraid that he'll up and disappear without warning.

Stolas rubs her back to comfort his child. "There, there, Via. I'm still here. You're okay." he reassures her, taking her back to her bed while telekinetically summoning his grimoire and flips it open after sitting down with Octavia in his arms. It broke the owl demon's heart to see his daughter in such a state, but he knew the best way to lift her spirits. A comforting lullaby. "When you're scared and you don't know where I am, never forget this, no matter what happens to me, I will never be that far from my precious little starfire." he promises with a smile, followed by a warm nuzzle and beak poke.

Looking to his book, Stolas summons a portal, leading a place filled with stars much to the awe of Octavia and her father begins to sing the lullaby.

His voice was so elegant that it instantly brought comfort to her, it was the only thing that could be heard as they went. He understood her fear, for the young, the never ending quiet darkness can be quite frightening. As her father, it falls upon him to soothe her worries.

Stolas flies them through, leading them into the enchanting void of space at another galaxy, standing on a nearby moon. The silence of space was very striking by itself, especially when they saw constellations go out. He carried her as he walked sadly through the surface of the moon with a deep frown., stemming from dissatisfaction. Pain and disappointment filled him, with a pinch of self-loathing, but it wasn't too late, his life wasn't all for naught.

He sounded so sad. Like he was expressing his heartbreak through the song. But, he made sure to recognize that there was one ever present light in his life, for all the troubles he has to go through, he can always count on Octavia to make it all worth it.

Octavia looks up at his smiling gaze, signifying he was talking about her and looks to the stars. For all the fear the universe may offer, he lets her know that there's comfort as well, and that all would be okay. More importantly, that she would be okay. He placed her life above his own and would do so again in a heartbeat no matter what happens.

A meteor flies past them, heading directly into the purple sun and the planets that orbit begin to move closer, aligning as Stolas turns his back and sits on a rock to hold Octavia closer. Even if there comes a time where his life would come to an end, he'd be in her heart for all time, continuing his duty to protect and love her as he's always done.

The collision sent a wave that caused the moon they were on to break apart and they slowly rose up, but Octavia was barely afraid, her father's soft and consoling song was working. The little owlet cutely yawns and snuggles into his furry chest as the nearby planets are pulled directly into the sun, resulting in a glorious explosion that while destructive, was quite enthralling from another perspective. All of creation could die off one day, but that didn't matter, he told her he'd still watch over, making sure she was okay.

Stolas transports them back to Hell in Octavia's bedroom and he tucks in the sleeping little tyke who was now sleeping much more soundly than before. Pleased to see his child no longer scared or disturbed, Stolas quietly leaves, sending a loving smile to Octavia's slumbering form and finishing the lullaby, having meant every word.

The days of her youth like this one were a happier time for Octavia. A time where she had her father to always be there to guide her and teach her, but more importantly, to be there for her.

Unfortunately, as time goes on, not many things tend to last forever...

"I still can't believe you slept with an imp, in our fucking bed!"

"Like I keep telling you, it was unexpected! I didn't have time to go to a motel!"

"You wanted a motel?! Like some fucking plebian!"

If all the screaming between her parents wasn't enough to jolt the now older teenage Octavia awake, then the sounds of smashing objects certainly did the trick. Groaning depressingly, Octavia sat up on her larger bed and listened as more shouting and shattering continued as it did for a long while now, so much so that it's beginning to feel like the new norm. Now a teen, she had to listen to a lot of anger, but it's been going on for so long, that Octavia just wanted it to stop. The teenage Goetian princess did what she always does when her folks go at it, she took her phone, put in her earbuds to tune out the noise with some music that's basically about her current situation.

Putting on her dark feathered shawl around her more casual clothes that a princess wouldn't normally have, Octavia also wears a black beanie with a tiara on it and reluctantly walks out. She strided through the halls of the estate, stepping over the smashed remains of a plant thrown in her path until she made it to the kitchen where mother continued shouting at Stolas. Both were oblivious to their daughter's presence as she takes a box of cereal and pours herself coffee, not even signaling her presence.

"How about this one?! Want to fuck this one, too?!" Stella screeched, holding up an imp servant and violently throwing the poor guy at her unfaithful husband who narrowly dodges.

"Of course not!" Stolas dodged the butler used as a throwing object.

"I always knew you were God damn embarrassment!" Stella insulted, not wanting to be in the same room as him any longer. "I refuse to spend one more moment looking at your sad, pathetic, imp-sucking face!" she storms out of the kitchen, still shouting angrily and smashing more potted plants.

Stolas tiredly sighs with exasperation. Stella's tirade over his recent choices was seriously starting to wear him out, though she has a right to be upset, she could at least not cause a scene in the palace every waking hour. At this time, he finally notices his daughter's presence after hearing the subtle sound of her music. "Octavia! Morning, dear!" he greets brightly. "Have a nice sleep, my owlet?"

"Was that a serious question?" Octavia snidely remarks after sipping.

Flinching, Stolas realizes that all the arguing made her slumber anything but well. "Erm, say, what's that you're listening to?" he asks, hoping to make the morning a little better.

Knowing her dad wasn't really that interested, Octavia answered to spell it out to him that any attempt to make things less strenuous was futile. "A new song called 'My World is Burning Down Around Me'. By Fuck You, Dad." An awkward beat of silence ensues. "That's their band name." Octavia clarifies.

"Truly?." Stolas frowns, somewhat bemused. "Very charming..." he grabbed some food in the fridge to feed it to a big potted plant creature situated in a small cove off the kitchen and pets the beast to sate it. This was also a recurring problem in the Goetia household, his daughter's recent depressive state and rather hostile attitude towards him, a far cry from the little owlet she once was that adored him. It was inevitable really, he knew she wouldn't stay like that as she got older, but at the same time, this was such a drastic change that kept growing and he so terribly misses the smile that once adorned Octavia.

What made it obvious was that the current problem with Stella factored into it and he didn't want his little princess to be affected by strife.

"So, you two finally finished screaming?" Octavia rhetorically asks.

"Um..." Stolas reels back when Stella is heard letting out another scream of anger shattering more things in the distance. Knowing full well that being in the mansion won't make things any better, not that it ever was to begin with, he thinks of what he believes will absolutely cheer up Octavia and get rid of her dreary mood. "Did you also realize what I've done in a long time?" he asked in anticipation, though she was largely disinterested. "I haven't taken you to the one place you love most of all in Hell! Are you up for Loo Loo Land?" he excitedly suggested.

"I'm seventeen now, not five." Octavia deadpanned, she hadn't thought of that place in a while and she prefers to keep it that way.

Her dad, however, was insistent on it. "You always were so happy when I took you to Loo Loo Land!" he reminisced and wrapped an arm around her and pressed their heads together to make her excited, which failed. "What do you say we go there again, have a day, just the two of us?" He gestures to an old portrait showing Stolas and Stells with a younger Octavia taken at Loo Loo Land, wanting to see her smile like she did in the portrait.

"I'd rather kill myself." Octavia honestly spoke.

Stolas took this as acceptance. "There we go! Knew you'd be happy! Anything but staying in this house. Now, I'll arrange our security." he reaches for the phone held by the injured imp servant that Stella threw.

"Security for a theme park?" Octavia questioned with a skeptic eyebrow raised.

"We're both rich and hot." Stolas explains. "Anyone wants our money and our bodies.."

"Maybe just the money..." Octavia remarked with a snark.

"Speaking for yourself, my little princess" Stolas jokingly replies and already had the perfect bodyguard in mind for the job. "Now, I'm calling the only man who can fuck me to beyond Hell itself and by Lucifer, your mother can learn so much from him!" he momentarily forgot he was speaking to his daughter.

Octavia's face scrunched up in disgust and drops some cereal. "What?"

Stolas quickly redacts the last statement. "Who'll protect us!" This was an outing meant to cheer her up, and that's what a good father should do, even if said father was a demon royal of Hell. "Members of the Goetia family are valuable, you know."

Groaning in humiliation, Octavia pulls down her beanie to cover her eyes, having a feeling that she knew who he was talking about.

While Stolas was greatly invested in calling the imp that he's become rather smitten with after years of loneliness, a part of him was also curious if that imp could bring along his newest young ward.

He wonders what that kid of white hair is doing right now.

This may very well be the umpteenth time he's listened to the song on the radio about the hotel.

Lincoln didn't really keep count. The song just compelled him to continue looking for it through the stations.

Maybe he should visit this hotel sometime.

An unexpected knocking on the door disrupted the song. "Lincoln! Millie and I made some cookies if you're interested!"

Gasping, the radio fumbled in Lincoln's hand before turning the blasted thing off just as the song was about to end. "Okay, Moxxie!" the white haired boy called back to one of his coworkers/caretakers. Breathing in relief, Lincoln picked up the remote on his bed. It really felt nice having a TV and a radio all to himself and not having to fight over it. Even if it wasn't quite as grand as the TV back at his house, he took what he could get, and it wasn't the first time he's listened to that song. He was thankful that Blitzo actually found it in himself to buy anything for him at all. He had the impression that his boss wasn't usually that thoughtful to his employees.

Play his cards right, and he might be able to earn some video games. He likes to think that as an unpaid intern/trainee, it was a good substitute for money.

For now, there were cookies to eat.

Going out to the common area, Moxxie and Millie were waiting for him with a plate of freshly baked cookies. "There he is! Got these fresh out of the oven for ya, sugar!" Millie hands the plate over to him.

He takes a bite of one and melts under the delicious flavor. Who knew hell cookies tasted so good? "These are great. I didn't peg either of you for being good bakers."

Moxxie puffs his chest out in pride with fists on his hips. "Well, assassinations aren't our only skills."

"We know it might still be a bit hectic for you, what with being stuck in Hell and all." Millie recalled with a playful laugh. "But my mama always told me that some sugary sweets help ease the soul."

Lincoln's inclined to agree with Millie's mother. By his count, it's been weeks since he started living in Hell and aside from the very troubling events, he's come to find himself surprisingly adapting well after becoming the unofficial ward of the assassination company. For a team of coldblooded killers, they can be nice when they want to, it almost feels like being part of the family. It's as if the song sung by the princess of Hell was really true, after watching the commercial for the first time, Lincoln became quite taken with it. Whenever it shows up, he watches through until the end and sneaks little peeks when Loona plays it on the computer out of boredom on her part.

He knows dangerous demons lurk around every corner, but what's the harm in seeing their softer sides?

Okay, there'd be lots of harm, but it was nice to dream.

"Move." Loona rudely pushes past Moxxie, while taking a few cookies for herself.

"Loona! Those are for Lincoln!" Millie glares.

"Didn't see his name on them." Loona retorts.

Before a heated argument could start, Lincoln assures Millie that no harm was done. "It's fine, Millie. Lots more where that came from, anyway." he eats another to prove it. "Wouldn't mind a snack while I'm watching TV."

"Just to be sure, you're only watching stuff that's appropriate for you, right?" Millie asks. "You're following the list of channels Moxxie wrote up?"

"Took a while to memorize, but yeah." Lincoln answered, he missed watching the Dream Boat, ARRGH, Rip Hardcore's survival show, and all the other assorted programs on Earth and Millie seemed adamant that he only sticks to at least the ones better suited for him.

"You gonna block the porn channels while you're at it?" Loona remarks.

"Loona!" Millie did not tolerate her saying such things in front of Lincoln. "Lincoln, honey, just to be sure, you don't know what porn is?"

"...Only that my parents tell me to wait until I'm older." Lincoln did have a feeling that it had something to do with the birds and the bees.

"Aren't you in middle school or something, Linc?" Loona inquired. "Your school doesn't cover that kind of shit or did your hold man not give you 'the talk'?"

"I'm only in sixth grade and dad always said to wait." Lincoln then notices the missing member of their little family. "Is Blitzo in his office?"

"Yes." Moxxie said in annoyance. "It's about all he does when no clients come in. Lazing around his office doing lord knows what instead of the responsibilities other bosses would normally do."

"Business has been slow, Mox." Millie defended. "Poor guy's probably just bored. Lincoln, why don't you take some cookies to him too? I'm sure it'll light up his day."

Not having anything better to do, Lincoln complies and takes the plate of cookies with him. "You're really overselling it with the helicopter mom thing you got going on, you know that, Millie?" Loona sassily says to the female imp.

"Excuse me." Millie stuck her head up with her arms crossed. "Lincoln's a rare gem, and you know it. That fresh innocence of his is just too precious and seeing as we're taking care of him, is it so bad to protect it?"

"That's understandable, honey." Moxxie admits, but points out a lot of wrenches in that plan. "But bear in mind that this is Hell. Child-friendly isn't a phrase I'd use to describe it."

"See? The fatass knows it, too." Loona leans her chair back to the wall. "It's hard to hide all the freaky shit that goes on here when it's as common as the murder shit. Fuck, do I need to remind you of the extreme psycho that is our boss? The thing between him and that rich prick is creepy enough."

Lincoln wondered how a demon like Blitz spent his off-the-clock hours, his office was easy to find, there was a sign on the very door and he knocked three times "Blitz? Can I come in?

Sighing, Blitzo responded. "Come on in, intern." The office had a lot of horse-related objects and a portrait of the I.M.P team, barring Lincoln as he's still new to the company. Blitzo looked very annoyed holding his phone after putting it on hold, and Lincoln saw that there were two things in the trash that crudely resembled the likenesses of Moxxie and Millie made from workplace stuff like eraser and paper clip. "This better be good, kid! I thought I made it clear I didn't want anyone barging in today unless a new client wants to hire us or if my new horse standee came in the mail!"

"What were you doing with those?" Lincoln asked, pointing to the toys with a slightly unnerved expression.

"Uh..." Blitzo darted his eyes and tried to think of a clever excuse to cover this up. "Work shit, kid. Important boss work shit. I'm the boss, so I need to do this work shit."

Lincoln tilted his head, even more confused. "Uh-huh. What kind of work needs toy versions of Moxxie and Millie?"

Drumming his fingers on the table, Blitzo silently cursed Lincoln's penchant for asking too many questions when his curiosity was piqued. "Practice. I use them to act out potential future missions."

Lincoln had to admit, he never thought Blitzo was capable of some forward thinking like that, though he did have some lingering questions. "Then, wouldn't you also need a model of yourself?"

Blitzo laughed out loud, his annoyance was replaced by amusement by this kid's naivete. "Kid, trust me. I for one, would not want there to be some mini-me. Hell's only big enough for one Blitz." he spotted the plate of treats. "Ooh, are those cookies? Can I have one? Never mind, it's mine now." he takes the plate and helps himself to the remaining cookies. "Anyway, you need something, kid?"

"Nothing, really. Millie thought you might need a snack." Lincoln takes a look around the office, having not been in there before. "Things have been kind of slow, haven't they?"

"You're telling me." Blitzo sardonically chuckled. "What could fuck ups like Sinners be so busy with that they don't want to hire someone to creep up to Earth and kill some bitches that screwed them over in life right now?"

"...It's a mystery." a mystery Lincoln did not want to solve. A portrait frame caught his eye, one that detailed Blitzo's image and an announcement for one night only, saying that it was Incredible. Back in the common area, Lincoln noticed some old pictures of Blitzo with a female imp with an uncanny resemblance to him at a circus. Since working at I.M.P, Lincoln's gotten to know Moxxie and Millie's background as hailing from the Wrath Ring and Loona being adopted by Blitzo, but he never got a lot of info on the imp himself. "Hey, Blitz. You used to work at a circus, right?"

"A fucking waste of time, yes. Why?"

"Well, you also worked with your family back then, too. What exactly happened that made you want to be an assassin, instead? My sister, Luan-"

"Sister?" Blitzo moved in closer with an intrigued smile. "Is the same sister getting wasted at college?"

"What? No, that's Lori and she doesn't do any of that. It's a golf college."

"Then it's the muscle-head, right?"

"Lynn. Her name is Lynn."

"Is the one lucky enough to have a name that sounds like my Looney's?"

Facepalming, Lincoln tried to bare with it. "Luna. And can we focus, please?"

"I am focused. Focused on knowing more about your fam, kid, so-" A painful scream from his phone disturbed this weird conversation between a boss and his intern, angering the former as he answered while picking up his coffee mug. "What do you want?!" he demanded. "I already put you on hold!"

"A good morning to you too, my big-dicked Blitzy."

Eyes widening, Blitzo recognized the voice of Stolas and reacted appropriately to the phone call by spitting out his drink, making Lincoln jump.

Octavia did the same thing at the same time, after unfortunately hearing that message escaping her dad's lips.

"What-"

"-The-"

"-Fuck-"

"Dad?!/Stolas?!"

"Language! Honestly!" Stolas admonished, the day was already strenuous enough with Stella's endless insults. "I'm calling for a special request." he tells Blitzo, playing with the phone line.

Blitzo assumed it was a usual call, so he rolled his eyes, annoyed. "Look, I spent hours on a chemical peel, so find someone else's face to plant that feathered ass!"

"This is for my daughter." Stolas corrects.

Blitzo was courteous enough to give some advice. "I see, at least make sure she washes it afterward."

"Heavens No!" Stolas denied, serious for once. He cleared up the clearly mixed messages. "No, no, no! We're taking a trip to Loo Loo Land and perhaps you brave little imps and the child could accompany us."

Blitzo didn't know how it was possible, but Stolas just made a request that made the imp feel like he'd rather go along with giving the book back. That being going to the place of his former employment, a place Blitzo swore to never go back after his old career crashed and burned. "I manage an assassin company, not a bodyguard, okay? Don't invite us to shit unless it involves the slaying of others" Blitzo hotly stated, him being allowed to keep the book of the owl demon didn't mean Stolas was free to call him up for more requests, expecting compliance.

Stolas saw this coming and that stubbornness was weak against compensation. "Perhaps some payment can convince you." he enticed, knowing that was one his biggest weakness.

"Pay me what, exactly?" Blitzo wanted absolute assurance.

"Money, of course."

And Stolas struck gold. "Then it can be done!" Bltzo hangs up and accidentally smashes his phone down on the desk hard enough to break it into shattered pieces. The phones just keep on coming and going. "Good news, kid! We're gonna see if a living human soul can go to other Rings!" he says to a bewildered Lincoln, then holds up a megaphone to call the others. "M n' M! Dress up! The four of us are going to Loo Loo Land!"

"Loo Loo Land?" Lincoln questioned after covering his ears when Blitzo made the announcement.

Moxxie opens the door, surprised. "Did you just say Loo Loo Land?"

Millie excitedly crashes her head through the office door's glass, shocking Lincoln and Moxxie. "We're going to Loo Loo Land?!" She had stars in her eyes like a kid during Christmas.

"Loo Loo Land, ladies and gents!" Blitzo repeats in confirmation.

Fed up with the noise, Loona barks out a request. "Shut the fuck up or I'll cram my phone down some throats!"

So, this was an unexpected development for I.M.P.

This was an unorthodox assignment as they were just hired to protect important figures from dying rather than dish out the killing themselves, it completely contradicts the whole point of their business. What was even more odd was that they were bodyguarding at an amusement park of all places, something not many would expect to see in Hell due to the purpose of those places. Lincoln had no prior knowledge of this Loo Loo Land, only that Blitzo seemed very displeased when Stolas made the offer and the only one among the imps that couldn't wait to go was Millie.

"I can't believe it! We're actually going to Loo Loo Land!" Millie clapped happily, helping Lincoln place the weapons into the van. They changed out of their usual attire into matching suits and sunglasses. "And this'll be your first time there, Lincoln!"

"Still can't wrap my head around there being a theme park in Hell." Lincoln didn't mind it, though. It could end up being like Dairyland, another thing he misses from his old life.

"Don't get too excited, Linc." Loona advised from the building's entrance. "Place is nothing but a cheap knock off. It'd be a miracle if a ride doesn't end up breaking."

"Aw, don't you listen to her." Millie brings in him and Moxxie for a group hug. "It'll be a family outing! We'll have so much fun!" she squeezes them a bit too hard.

"Honey, a little too hard." Moxxie chokes out, making Millie soften her hold on them.

"Sure you don't want to come with us, Loona?" Lincoln asked the hellhound. He felt a little bad that they were going to leave Loona in the building all by herself.

Loona pretended to think for a moment. "Hmm. Gee, let me see...yes."

Disappointed, Lincoln nonetheless respected her decision. "Okay. If you're sure. I'll bring you back something, though. If you want." he says with a smile.

Another nice gesture and another showing of that dorky grin of his and for some reason, Loona just didn't have it in her to say no to that face. "Whatever." She walks inside to hide the small smile.

"So, Mr. Stolas is bringing his daughter?" Lincoln asks Blitzo. He hadn't seen the royal demon since his first day in Hell and given his position of power in Hell, it did make sense for him to hire bodyguards.

"Yeah." Blitzo irritatingly answered. "That beaked prick just loves asking for more and more."

"What exactly is the deal between you and him?" Lincoln didn't want to assume too much, but it was hard not to see that Stolas had an intense fondness for his boss, though Blitzo was outright revolted and made it a point to stop his advances when in public. "Are you two like...together?"

"Oh, fuck no!" Blitzo vehemently shook his head and separated his arms. "I only give him the time of day because entertaining him means we get free use of his book which is our key to racking in a lot of dough. It's strictly business. No strings attached whatsoever."

"That's a little harsh, and I don't think he feels the same way." Lincoln counters.

"Ah, rich types like him like to get excited. Nothing more." Blitzo cynically dismissed it. He doubted anything romantic. "We're only taking this babysitting job because he can pony up enough cash."

"Oh, Blitzy~." The I.M.P team looked to the corner and saw Stolas waving to the tall imp, and had his arm slung around his daughter who had her hand blocking her face to avoid being seen as they walked over. "Look at you all prepared and business-like." Stolas eyed Blitzo up and down and missed his daughter's glower.

"Yeah, yeah. I get it, shithead. You want me. Now, Hurry up and get in our van." Blitzo ordered.

"How commanding of you. Those who dare to order me are punished for it. If I recall correctly, you prefer to be the one in control, you scamp." Stolas coyly said through lidded eyes.

Cringing, Blitzo went to the van. "Just get the fuck in already!"

Nervously looking back and forth at them, Lincoln greets the owl demon. "Uh, good to see you again, Mr. Stolas, sir." he cordially says with politeness.

Glancing at the boy, Stolas smiled more casually. "Ah, young Mr. Loud. Still have those manners I see. I do hope your stay in Hell has been a pleasant experience. I know how uncontrollable this plane of existence can be."

If Stolas only knew. "Lots of bumps in the road, but I'm managing." Lincoln holds up the satchel safely containing the royal's grimoire. "You're book's right in here, in case you're wondering. I only use it for emergencies."

"My, my. Such great tenderness, love and care." The boy certainly knew how to respect others' possessions. Stolas then introduces Lincoln to his offspring "How rude of me. This adorable little one is my daughter, Octavia. Dear, I'd like you to meet Lincoln Loud, a rather special child."

Lincoln stood straight and respectfully bowed. "A-A pleasure."

The teenage owlet stared at Lincoln silently after taking in his human appearance, she turns to her father. "Dad. Is this bunny kid really a human?" White hair or not, he clearly wasn't a Sinner.

"Good eye, Princess!" Stolas beamed. "I did say he was special, didn't I?"

"I-How-" So many questions were going through Octavia's mind right now.

"I'll explain in the car, Via. Now, off to the Greed Ring!" Stolas points upwards.

Lincoln blinked. "Greed Ring? Loo Loo Land is in the Greed Ring?" Now why did no one bother to share that crucial information? "Can I even go there? Only Hellborns can freely travel through the rings, right?" All those books he got from the nearest library were still fresh in his head, knowing that it'd be impossible for the mortal soul of a Sinner demon to go outside the Pride Ring. Due to the fact that his mortal soul hadn't departed from life, it was a wonder how the rules would apply to him.

"No need for concern, dear boy. Though, top marks for knowing your Hell knowledge." Stolas chuckled. "You are a very special case, your soul is tied to Hell, but at the same time, it's still connected with the land of the living. Only the damned are confined to this ring after death and you are still alive, so there's no trouble at all."

"Oh. Cool." That question has been nagging at him for a long time and it had such a surprisingly simple answer. "I guess we're Loo Loo Land bound, then."

"There's the right attitude, my boy!" Stolas jovially declares, going to the van.

Lincoln turns to look up at Octavia. "So, uh, your dad seems pretty nice and-" Octavia ignores him and passes by with a frustrated grumble. "-right. Good talk." he sighed and followed.

Whatever this Loo Loo Land has in store, maybe it will be kind of fun.

Entering the Greed Ring was quite the experience for Lincoln, it felt like stepping into another dimension and it had a different feel to it compared to the ring of Pride. Each ring had a ruler overlooking everything, where Pride had Lucifer who also ruled Hell in its entirety, Greed had Mammon as its head honcho who also happened to own Loo Loo Land and as the ring's name implied, the place was a hotbed of avarice. The amusement park came into view and it resembled any other park of its kind, there were many carnival rides such as Ferris Wheel, high roller coasters, carny games, and had an obvious apple theme. The park itself was a little shabby with various parts looking broken, crooked, and disheveled like the apple statues.

I.M.P's van drives up to the parking lot with a lot of empty spaces. Moxxie exits the vehicle and opens the side door for the Goetia demons, allowing a cramped Stolas to get out in excitement. Octavia looks out to see her father don an apple-themed hat and ushers to come along with him for a day of endless fun.

Groaning, she covers her face with her hat and reluctantly goes with her bodyguards to enter the park as circus music plays throughout the area.

Blitzo and Stolas walk side by side and the imp reminds Stolas that this arrangement was nothing more than another job. "Just remember, Stolas, this is work and work only. No one's here to satisfy your perverted birdy needs, alright?"

Octavia felt disgusted being back here. "Hey, dad, can't we just-"

"Adults are talking, sweetie." Blitzo cuts her off before directing his attention back to Stolas for one final warning. "If you even try fucking my little ass here, it's your head-"

Amused by his boldness, Stolas bends down to poke his impish face. "How cute! You look so serious and professional!"

"I'm literally going to puke." Octavia gagged.

Alarmed, Moxxie fishes inside his fanny pack to find the right treatment that he packed just in case. "Crumbs, don't worry! I knew for sure that today was going to be a lot!" he lists off several pill bottles that were in his inventory. "Which do you require? Antacids? Ibuprofen? Morphine?" he shows Octavia several hypodermic needles filled with glowing, acid-green substances.

"I was being figurative, old man." Octavia deadpanned with crossed arms, moving away to leave him with his wife who gazed all over with childlike glee, pointing out various spots to Lincoln.

"Ah, right." Moxxie chuckles sheepishly as he tosses the needles into a baby carriage where an infant imp reaches happily to its new "toys". "But, she said it so literally."

"Moxxie, I have five older sisters who are teenagers." Lincoln tells him. "I think she was using dry humor."

"Oh. I see."

Millie removed her sunglasses to get a better look at the park and enjoyed what she saw, getting nostalgic feelings. "Wow! I haven't been to this place since I was a wee little tot!" Even though a giant letter fell off a sign and crushed the teenage imp below, it did little to ruin her happiness. "It hasn't changed a bit!" she gasped when she saw a familiar attraction and directed their eyes to it. "Look! It's Big Woobly! I've missed that mug!"

Big Woobly was a grey animatronic dinosaur with a mismatched face. It shrieked out a terrifying demonic scream that Lincoln recoiled a bit behind Moxxie who was equally disconcerted.

"That is...deeply upsetting, hon." Moxxie notes.

Lincoln shakes his head. "Can't say I'm having a good time right now."

"Oh, come on! It's fun!" Millie insisted, pulling them in through one-armed hugs. "Lincoln, didn't your folks ever take you for rides and stuff?"

"Actually, my family and I love going to Dairyland Amoosement Park." Lincoln smiled at the memories. "It's just, it wasn't dangerous like here." He looked back to see a swing ride break one of its chains and the imp riding it flew across the sky and crashed into a tent.

"Give this place a change, kiddo! It might just be even more fun!" Millie addressed her hubby. "And Moxxie, you've never been here?"

"No." Moxxie frowns, voicing his grievances through a frown. "Theme parks always disturbed me. Especially all the mascots." he shivers.

Right on cue, Loo Loo Land's mascot, Loo Loo showed up. "Hey there, folks!" The demon in a green stained apple costume with a top hat exclaims, making Moxxie scream fearfully. "I'm Loo Loo! And I welcome all you to Loo Loo Land! If y'all get hurt here, just try and sue us!"

Giddy in his pants, Stolas informs his daughter of the mascot's grand appearance. "Look, Via! There's Loo Loo in the flesh!" He believed in Loo Loo's ability to connect with the little girl inside.

Now this was an opportunity Octavia was waiting for. "Answer me this question."

"You can ask away, little girly!" Loo Loo tells her through hearty laughs.

"Isn't it true this crap-hole is just a blatant shameless spin-off of Lucifer's far more popular and successful Lu Lu World?" Octavia smugly asks, making her dad frown.

Inside the costume, the mascot discreetly looks at the poster reminders that explicitly stated otherwise and remembered the binding contract that obligated him to always deny any accusations. "...No. Not at all."

"All I smell is the reek of insecure corporate shame." Octavia mocked through a heated glare.

Nervously chuckling, Stolas leads her away before she says anything more than she needed to. "I do believe we should see the rides!"

"Now that's a creepy chick, huh?" Loo Loo asked Blitzo.

"At least her dad's not trying to diddle your holes." Blitzo cautioned, going after them.

Loo Loo turns to the imps and the single human for answers. "What's he mean by that?"

"Don't even be near us!" Moxxie snarled, standing protectively in front of his wife and friend. "I know you're nothing but a pervert under there!" He takes both away to get them far away from the apple mascot.

"That's true..." Loo Loo dejectedly admits, ashamed.

Moxxie leads them down a pathway and tired from running, he stops to catch his breath, sweating profusely. "You really like this place, huh Millie?" he asked, observing that she never once stopped smiling.

"Not just like. I love this park!" Millie explains why she's so taken with such a broken down bootleg park. "My parents brought me and my sibs here when they could swing it Money-wise." Those times happened so rarely, Millie couldn't help but enjoy every occasion that her family would get to enjoy the experience of being in Loo Loo Land.

Moxxie glances over to see a worker wheeling a wheelbarrow with money piled to the brim inside it into a gift shop that was close to their location. Approaching the window, the three saw novelty cups and stuffed apples for sale, all at the cost of twenty-nine souls per item, which was quite the steep cost and Moxxie understood what Millie meant. "Yeah, the prices are very outrageous. I mean, that many souls for a novelty cup you use only one time?" he asked, puzzled.

Lincoln furrowed his brow, not liking how cheap that was. "Flip would think this was Heaven instead of Hell." he quietly mutters.

Millie was still steadfast in her adoration of the place. "'It's worth it, since it's Loo Loo Land!"

Blitzo appears, predictably loading himself up on merchandise including a cup as well as a hat with attached can holders and straws. "Your hoe's right, Mox." he bumps the cup to Moxxie's chest. Seeing as Stolas wanted him specifically to protect him, Blitzo felt that his employee's need not concern themselves that much with this job. "Let me take the first watch while you two show the kid around? Have a little fun."

Squealing like a schoolgirl, Millie effortlessly lifts the other two up and runs off. "We gotta check on our favorite ride!"

"Which one's that?" Moxxie supposes he could set aside his issues with theme parks for Millie's sake. But they came back when he saw a lone imp riding a roller coaster named the "The Lawsuit" that plunges off a 90-degree drop at incredible speeds, while on fire, with its sole occupant hanging on for dear life as the coaster dives deep into a tunnel. "Dear crumbs!" The ride was not a fun experience as during and immediately after the ride, Moxxie found the nearest trash can to puke out his insides. A vomit-covered imp family walks by with disapproving glares aimed at Moxxie and a massive dragon-like creature looms over from the petting zoo to also glare at the imp with the weak stomach.

Lincoln took the precaution to cast a blue bubble around him for protection, though eyes were wide from the stress caused by the ride and regretting not staying behind with Loona. "You know, I think I'll go see if Blitz needs backup." he tells Millie who was comforting Moxxie and leaves, saddening the violent fighter.

So far, Blitzo has been holding up his bodyguarding duties quite well. He took up various positions around the Goetia royalty with his sniper rifle gun, on the lookout for any danger, disturbing some patrons while doing so. From hidden spots behind the booths, a group of imps creep up with ropes, knives, and pitchforks at the ready, greedily looking at the two owl demons and dreaming of the big scores they'll get if they successfully capture and ransom them. They disperse when Blitzo looks in their direction and continues to watch out in case they return. "You know, it's quite thrilling to see you on the job, Blitzy." Stolas flirted, caressing Blitzo's horn with a finger.

"Save it, bitch. Sniping here." Blitzo glowered, not in the mood for any distractions.

"Get a room, why don't you?" Octavia glared.

"Hey, I'm not some day hooker!" Blitzo stands in front of a passing imp woman with her baby and she was angry at him in response, but he was unapologetic. "What? I said I wasn't one, prude." he flips her off.

"Blitz! Wait up!" Lincoln comes in, running to his boss with tired pants. "Thought I'd never catch up."

"Kid, what are you doing here? I told you, I got the first watch handled." Blitzo poses with his rifle and waves him away. "Go and get sick on the merry-go-round or toss snacks at the mascots like most little shits do at theme parks."

The white haired boy implored his boss to let him join. "I'm not really having that much fun here. Figured I'd stick with you until the day's over."

Lincoln had good initiative, but Blitzo's word was always law in his company, Stolas then speaks in defense for the intern. "Let the boy come along, Blitzy. I'm sure he and my precious one can have more fun together!"

"Can't see that happening..." Lincoln frowns.

"Tell me about it." Octavia found herself on the same page with him. "So, shorty. What's your story? How in the seven rings did you get yourself stuck down here with that red bastard?" A human boy in Hell was about the only interesting part about today, and she noticed that her father had some form of interest in the kid's status which formed some envy in her.

Lincoln takes a side glance. "Bit of a long story. Put it simply, I can't really go back home just yet, so until then, I'm stuck working for Blitz."

Octavia sees Blitzo growling like a feral dog when Stolas tries to subtly pinch his ass. "Well, that must suck."

"Most times, yeah." Lincoln admits, putting up a brave front won't do him good. "I pretty much have to take the good with the bad, no matter how small. I don't really have that many options."

Octavia had to give the kid some credit, he's being very mature and reasonable about this instead of being raving mad like most mortals would be if they were to be trapped in literal Hell. She also sees her dad's grimoire in his satchel, so that must mean this kid must know at least some spells in there, so that must be why Stolas was so fascinated. "Is that why my old man lets you use his book?" she gruffly asked.

"Well, he gave it to Blitzo first and then he tells me to use it when we're working." Lincoln clarifies. "You know, your dad is actually a pretty cool guy. He's royalty here, right? You must mean a lot to him if he decides to take a day off and spend it with you."

Lincoln becomes confused when Octavia cynically laughs. "Please. He can try to hide it, but I know why he really wanted to come here. He thinks this damn stupid park will just make me forget how he's fucked up things at home with mum." It was all kinds of pathetic, and all it really succeeded in was fueling her disappointment in him.

"Your mom?" Lincoln thought his boss and Stolas had something going on, but didn't expect a third party. "What do you mean?"

"Oh, didn't your fucking boss tell you?" Octavia patronizingly asked. "How he seduced my dad behind my mother's back just to get that damn book and despite that, my father, in his so-called infinite wisdom, still wants to see him break my family apart?!" she screeched, eyes flaring up and fists clenched and Lincoln took a step back.

Initially afraid, Lincoln became shocked by what she told him. "Wait, so your dad cheated on your mom?"

"That's right!" Octavia hated how he kept on blatantly flirting with Blitzo right in front of her no less. "This whole thing is just him trying to cover his own ass while still trying to screw around with his new favorite plaything! And the worst part is, he thinks it'd be so easy! As if this is enough to make it all better!"

Lincoln could see more than just an anger fueled Goetia royal, he also saw signs of a young girl in pain, evident by the tears threatening to leak from her glared eyes and sympathy replaced his sense of fear. "Have you, I don't know, talked to your dad about it?" She made it sound like Stolas was intentionally hurting her, but Lincoln saw none of that based on the prince's doting nature.

Octavia scoffed. "What would be the point? It's not like he'd actually listen." she turns away bitterly.

Lincoln made a move to speak again, but Stolas eagerly pointed to a circus tent where a young imp tried in vain to escape from as his mother dragged him inside. "You used to cry such tears of joy at this show!"

"Oh, no..." Octavia shuddered, getting painful flashbacks. As a child, she was crushed against the stage by a crowd of children as that damn robotic clown of horrors malfunctions with sparks flying and laughing maniacally down at the horrified little owl. Tears were shed, but they weren't tears of joy, but tears of distress that flew over Stolas' head. She wasn't alone, Blitzo also had bad memories of that knock off of the real thing stealing all the attention and getting all the cheers, leaving him to be a clown tending food stands.

"I hate that fucking clown." Both said.

"Uh, Blitz..." Lincoln points to Stolas being raised up by a crew of kidnappers and getting tied up, their remembrance gave them their shot at taking the owl prince right then and there.

"Oh, Blitzy!" Stolas called, unconcerned by this predicament. "I need my bodyguard, please!" the bounded owl said with his head covered by a purple sack and his wallet stolen.

An imp jumped to stab him with its pitchfork, until Blitzo shot it before he could act, saving the life of Stolas. The loss of one of their comrades made the imps scatter again before Blitzo could take them out. Stolas was carried inside the tent by Blitzo who didn't bother to remove the sack while Lincoln and Octavia found some seats for the show. Blitzo drops Stolas and proceeds to resume his bodyguard duties before the show could begin, leaving Octavia to remove the sack herself.

The spotlights shined on the stage where the main attraction stepped out. It resembled a court jester due to the manner of its attire, he notably repeated his speech and glitch-like shocks. "Hey-Hey-Hey-Hey-Hey, implings! It's me, the robotic Fizzarolli!" Yhe apparently robot replica of the real one introduces itself. Mammon was so cheap that he had a shoddy stuttering knock off of his top performer. "Shipped from Big Ozzie's factory to bring you a wonderful show to celebrate Loo Loo Land spelled with O's to avoid lawsuits!" he signaled the beginning of the song with a snap of his fingers.

More lights turned on as he started. He did a silly little dance as many of the imps cheered, all except for Lincoln.

Deformed animatronic mascots joined him as he jumped to the audience, returning to the stage when Robo Fizz got too close to Stolas. It was in the robot's thick processor that everyone in Hell was engrossed in Loo Loo Land.

He jumped on top of a piano to play a familiar sounding line that caught Lincoln's attention.

Robo Fizz kept on singing about all the pleasantries about the theme park, though there were two watchers that weren't enjoying the show.

Octavia absorbed the musical with disgusted boredom, a sentiment shared by Lincoln as not only did he feel like that he was too old for shows like this, but he was a hundred percent certain this robot stole some lyrics from the princess of Hell's commercial song.

This job could not end sooner.

"I was really hoping Linc would enjoy it here."

"I get that, Millie. But when you think about it, Earth theme parks are a lot safer than Hell theme parks."

When Lincoln joined their boss in protecting the Goetia royalty, Millie became disheartened as she was really hoping for him to have a good time with her and Moxxie like a real family. "But today was supposed to be fun for all three of us. Like how mama used to feel when my sibs and I played around, now I can't have any fun without Lincoln here." Wanting to cheer her up, Moxxie took her to the carnie games where one of the vendors announced to them to try their luck on his booth which had a reward that caught her eye.

"Hello, hello! Step right up and win a thing!"

Bringing her hubby to the booth, Millie's eye sparkled at what the carnie was pointing at. "Look, Moxxie! A thing!" It was a stuffed toy that resembled a penguin with imp horns and wore overalls.

"Oh, you like that thing." Moxxie asked with confidence.

"YES!" Millie's mouth watered. "I don't really know what that thing is, but I want that thing! Maybe you can win a second one for Lincoln!"

Moxxie adjusted his bowtie smugly. "Finally, some-thing I can handle." he quipped, handing some money to the carnie's table which elated his wife. "Okay! One game, please." Taking the toy gun from the carnie, he doesn't even line up his shot, just looking at his wife as he shot once and effortlessly hits a bullseye with ease, but the target only moved a tiny bit. Millie claps for him as he was quite pleased with his marksmanship, only for the carnie to discount his victory.

"Strike one, little man!"

"But, I hit it. In the target" Moxxie pointed out.

Smirking, the carnie explains the complete rules of the game. "I don't know what to tell ya, buddy. The target, see? It didn't go down. So yeah, no go, bro."

Growling, Moxxie wasn't going to let this other imp make him look like a fool in front of his wife, so he tried a second attempt with more cash to offer. Firing another cork projectile, it hits the target dead-center once more, but the force wasn't strong enough to make it fall down. "The Heaven's wrong with this infernal fake gun?" Moxxie frustratingly hits the toy gun.

"Oh man, a real shame, guess you got faulty eyes there." The carnie sheds fake tears to mock him.

Hissing, Moxxie smacks more money down. "Another!"

With Lucifer as his witness, Moxxie was going to win Millie and Lincoln those things, whatever it may be.

Back at the Fizzarolli show, Stolas is gleefully clapping to the repeating music from the robotic band which included the robotic jester while Octavia threw her head back in torment, banging her fist to the seat next to her and Lincoln rested his head on his hand, eye slightly twitching from the song that seemed to go on and on. He was starting to see why Octavia hated it here and when he gets back home, he'll praise Loona for having the wisdom to hang back and not set foot in Loo Loo Land.

Thankfully, the song finally ends with a mini pyrotechnics display as one of the animatronic band members falls apart.

Stolas laughed and cheered after it was finally over. "How delightful!" An imp rises behind Stolas, armed with a knife and ready to stab him, Blitzo's skill with a rifle once again came to the rescue, he was positioned behind the back row of seats. "My, what good aim you have, my dear Blitzy!" Stolas praised.

Octavia couldn't take it anymore. All the stupid singing, the damn clown, those ugly-ass robots, just about everything else about Loo Loo Land, and of course, her dad caring more about Blitzo than realizing the error he made. "Ugh! I can't do this shit anymore! I'm out of here" she storms off, leaving a forlorn Stolas.

"Octavia! Come back!" he chases after her, concerned.

"Dammit. Kid, let's move." Blitzo ordered, the big wigs they're supposed to protect can't be protected if they can't see them.

As they went, Robo Fizz's mad cackling stopped them. "Ha-ha-ha hoho-oh! Are my sensors malfunctioning or do they see Blitzo up there?'' The robot duplicate couldn't believe he'd ever see his old co-worker again, and what was even more shocking was the company he kept. "And you got a kiddie that actually gives you his attention! Guess there is a God!" he mockingly laughs.

Turning with a glare, Blitzo told him things weren't the same as they were. "The 'O' is silent now., you shit-can!"

Robo Fizz stutters, recalling humiliating moments from Blitzo's time as a clown. "Like your audience always was when you to-told your lazy jokes here? How fitting!"

Blitzo's expression of contempt hardened and Lincoln looked at him in surprise. "You used to work at this park?" Thinking back to the portraits back at the office and his sourness at coming here, it started to make sense.

"A lifetime ago, young one!" Robo Fizz confirmed, loving to remind the imp of his horrible reputation back then. "And let me tell ya, the guy couldn't get people to love him or his act to save his life! In the end, he ended up quitting as a failure, a pathetic loser who's no doubt running a dead-end business!" he continuously mocks.

"Bitch, I make more money killing people than you do being a cheap-ass robo knockoff of an overrated sellout jester one foot in the crap heap!" Blitzo spat, removing his sunglasses. He was not about to let this bucket of bolts get the last laugh.

"Ooohoohoo!" Robo Fizz cackled playfully. "Someone's salty! Real or not, people love this pretty face! Is there a soul who loves you, BLITZO?" his tone took on a deeper demonic tone and his eye glowed green, freaking Lincoln out but not affecting Blitzo in the slightest.

A part of him stopped looking for love a long time ago. "No. But, I'm really good with guns now." he reloads with a new magazine and switches to full-auto with a grin. "Dance for me, bitch!" he opens fire on the robot clown who cartwheels away from the incoming rounds. He spun his body like a wheel to roll himself up the stairs, making Lincoln jump when he saw that he was in the way. Robo Fizz' robot body coiled around Blitzo like a snake and threw him through the top of the circus tent. "Fuck me...!" Bitzo screamed in panic while in the sky.

"Blitz!" Lincoln shouts in alarm and glares at the robot.

"Don't pay that washout any mind, little one!" Robo Fizz spins around, wiggling his limbs to entertain the lad. "I'm twice as fun as Blitzo could ever hope to be! Why, there ain't a soul in Hell that doesn't enjoy my brand of quality entertainment!" An orb made of light floated near him and it exploded, blasting him to crash into another robot.

Lincoln closes the grimoire and runs out. "I can name someone other than me." he looks around to see where Blitzo was, stopping next to a vendor selling torches lit with green fire.

"Torches, I say, I say! Get your inconvenient torches here!" Blitzo falls on top of the cart, scattering the torches everywhere, which sets the big top on fire. "Ow-I say, ow!" The fires very rapidly spread out to all corners of the park and animatronics inside the tent melted down to their robot bodies and yet, Robo Fizz laughed ecstatically at the destruction.

"That w-w-wasn't very nice of you, short-stuff!" Robo Fizz's head grinned evilly. "Nothing pisses me off more than a nasty crowd!" Extending his arms, he attempted to grab Lincoln only for him to cast a barrier in front to shield him. Flipping to another spell, a small portal opened which led to the inside of the I.M.P van and he grabbed a bag from it. Dispelling the barrier, he throws it for Blitzo to catch, he peers in and grins, pulling out two dual pistol guns to shoot at his old rival. Robo Fizz slithered on the ground and shot his head out like an accordian to headbutt Blitzo when he was close enough, crashing the imp into a wooden stand and losing his weapons.

"Damn, this crap-can's tougher than I remember." Dusting some wooden remains off him, Blitzo shouts to his intern. "Lincoln, things are about to get real so go make sure Stolas and his runt don't become stuffed birds!"

"What about you?!" Lincoln felt this monster was too tough to beat alone.

But Blitzo was made of thicker stuff than most imps. "Me? I'll do what I do best. Fucking shit up! Now, get going!" Knowing how pointless it'd be to argue with his boss, Lincoln nodded and ran away making Robo Fizz snicker loudly.

"Making the little ones run for the hills. Some things never really change, do they, Blitzo?" Robo Fizz leaps forward to attack.

Right now, it'd be great to have the other two assassins of I.M.P with him, but they were still at the same game booth with Moxxie failing to make the target go down and win Millie that thing. The only winner was the carnie who counted up all the six-hundred souls Moxxie spent for more tries and felt a mix of pity and delight in the losses. "Wow, this is both sad and funny. Shame that you suck, 'cause you won't win your honey the prize." he mocked, making Moxxie seethe through his sharp teeth.

Millie took the toy gun, ready to try her hand. "Let me take a shot!" Unlike her husband, Millie's shot wildly misses the target. The carnie grins mischievously and pressed on a hidden foot pedal in the booth which causes a target to fall down on command.

"Hey! Good aim there, baby!" the carnie congratulates with a flirtatious look at the celebrating Millie.

"Are you shitting me?!" Moxxie pieces together that he got scammed and was less than pleased. "This is all rigged, you charlatan!"

His face is grabbed by the carnie. "Tough, shrimp Leave so I can talk to your lady." The carnie purrs at Millie who recoils, disturbed by his advances. As this was going on, Blitzo and Robo Fizz's fight dragged on to the booths and the robot launched the imp into the air and came down through the roof of the shooting booth, crushing the carnie under him and startling his employees.

"Sir, is that you?" a perplexed Moxxie question.

"Oh, hey, guys! Sorry to cut your fun short." Blitzo waves in a daze. The married imps notice the green fire spreading around them and turn around to see Robo Fizz's looming visage slowly advance with half of his metal robotic head exposed, piercing them with his glowing red eye. "You should probably make sure Stolas is okay. I got some unfinished business to take care of." he draws his flintlock pistol with renewed vigor.

"Where's Lincoln at?!" Millie fretted, seeing that he wasn't with the boss.

"I sent on ahead, now go!" With M n' M gone, Blitzo fired one blast that spun Robo Fizz's head around upon impact, but he catches it with his mouth and spits the bullet out.

"Oh, what a mouth." Blitzo instantly regrets that little remark.

Spinning like a wheel again, Robo Fizz charges at Blitzo who leaps out when his enemy struck the boot, causing a large explosion that decimates it and sends a lot of shrapnel and and burning prizes flying like the severed flaming heads of the thing that Millie wanted to win so badly. "You never should've came back here, Blitzo!" The robot jeered.

"Hey, if it means burning this crap-hole to the ground, I should've done it years ago!" Blitzo cracked, still firing.

Looking for two avian demons in a burning down theme park populated by mostly imps should've been as easy as it sounded, but with all the chaos and panic happening due to Blitzo's battle with Robo Fizz, that made Lincoln's job very hard with every ride and game burning to the ground and nearly getting crashed by collapsing poles and coasters. The sensible thing to do would be to go to the van and wait until everything blows over, he was just the intern after all, but blame it on him being raised good enough to have a conscience that forbade that action. Lincoln had to hide behind a stand that was only slightly on fire, trying to look through the pages of the grimoire to find a helpful spell. 'Come on, come on..." An idea sparked. Since this book originally belongs to Stolas, then it should most likely have a means to locate the owner of the book.

Fortune seemed to favor him when he found a spell like that and after disappearing in a flash, he found himself in the Fun House. His mouth dropped open when he saw that he's in a surreal room of eyes, tubes, spikes, mirrors, and disembodied hands. He hears the sound of crying from inside a tunnel and runs through, avoiding the pendulums.

Down the tunnel was an adjoining room where a rail of apple themed rails cars went in slow circles and Octavia was riding in it, softly crying. "Octavia!" relieved, Lincoln climbed into the car. "Thank goodness you're okay! The park's pretty much on fire right now and Blitz is in a fight with the robot, so I think we should find your dad, and-" he stops mid-sentence when Octavia kept crying, not even registering what he just told her. Newfound concern made Lincoln temporarily set aside the current problem to ask her what was wrong. "A-Are you hurt?"

"I didn't want this..." Octavia sobbed, she was taught to never show weakness in front of lesser creatures by her mother, but the young Goetia demon couldn't keep it in. "I didn't want any of this! But my dad doesn't care what I think, he doesn't care at all!" she exclaimed, airing out her pent up feelings for Lincoln to see.

"Hey, that's-I'm sure that's not it." Lincoln told her. "He only took you here to make you happy, right? Yeah, this place is the worst, but it's the thought counts."

Octavia scoffs. "As if he put a lot of thought into taking me here! To him, I'm still a stupid little brat that forgets about everything just by being made to sit through a damn show! If he really cared, he wouldn't have hired that prick of a boss of yours! The only real reason why he did all this is just to get away from my mother's yelling!" To her, it felt like Stolas wanted to escape from the confines of home which by extension, included her and there laid the root of her troubles. Being dissatisfied with his marriage made Octavia believe that he was equally tired of being a father and one day, he could decide enough and enough and just go off. "It's all he's ever good for, now. He just wants to go away..." she miserably trailed off.

Lincoln listened to every word and though this didn't have anything to do with him, he really started to feel for the saddened Goetia princess and though there were still things he didn't understand, he did his best to offer comforting words.

"I...won't pretend to understand what's going with your parents. But, whatever's happening, I don't believe it means your father loves you any less. You're his daughter and that means something to him even if it isn't always perfect." No matter what may come, his own parents certainly made their devotion to him and his sisters His eyelids lowered as he frowned sadly. "At least you're still with him." Her eyes curiously traveled to him as he continued. "I haven't seen my dad for a while now. Or my mom. Or any of my sisters. They didn't leave me, I was...separated from them and more than anything, I just want to go back but like I said, I can't right now. Doesn't mean I'm completely alone, though." he faintly smiles as he pictured the I.M.P team in his mind then looks at Octavia. "You can still see your father and he can still see you and he's willing to go through the trouble to do so, to connect with you."

The child in Octavia wanted to trust in the shorter human's words, but the cynical teenager that she is now is still unwilling to give her father a chance. So much has already happened, so many insults shared, and acts taken that made it impossible for things to go back to the way they were before it all came crashing down. That reality made her feel worse as the crying didn't stop, making Lincoln raise his hand and after some hesitation, rub it gently on her back, stroking the feathers in a soothing motion. She hasn't been used to this kind of affection in a long time, she almost forgot what it felt like and with nothing else to do, she allowed Lincoln to keep at it.

Her mother taught her to never show weakness to lesser creatures, but screw those lessons.

That dam needed to burst and she was actually thankful someone was willing to listen, even if it was some kid she barely knows.

"Octavia! Where are you?!"

Hearing Stolas' cries, Lincoln gets out of the car. "I'll be back, okay. Just sit tight." he instructs and leaves to find the prince on the other side and waves his arm to get his attention. "Hey! She's over-" he gasps when a random imp jumps on his back.

"Um, I think I'm supposed to be bodyguarded right now!" Stolas impatiently huffs as his beak is covered by a sleeve and the imp is dealt with by a headshot fired from Millie's pistol and Moxxie arrives. "Ugh, that's better." he wipes his clothes, but then becomes annoyed again when he sees that the imp of his dreams wasn't the shooter. "Where is Blitzy? He's my knight in shining armor, not you littler ones." he demanded, only accepting Blitzo to be his savior.

Sliding down, Millie nervously answeeds. "He's, uh...busy."

Moxxie also slides next to her with a blank look and holding two "things". "Being a fool." he duly added, handing one to his lovestruck wife who hugged it tightly.

"What kind of fool?" Stolas asked.

"The 'everything is now on fire' kind." Moxxie spots Lincoln over at the tunnel. "Lincoln, are you unharmed?!"

"I'm fine, you guys. I actually found Octavia and she's alright...physically." that got Stolas' brief relief to wash away.

"Look, sweetie!" Millie raised the second "Thing". "We got this other thing for you!"

"Uh...thanks, I think?" Lincoln didn't question it, but man, he had no idea what that thing was supposed to be.

"Just stay with the royals for now!" Moxxie advised, going back into the fray with Millie.

"Child, is my Octavia truly uninjured?" It was torture for Stolas to not know of his daughter's state.

"You'll have to see for yourself." Lincoln opened the grimoire and manifested a two-way portal that let Stolas just step through to where he was.

"Impressive, my dear boy." Stolas was leagues above that spell, but it was still quite a sight to see a young human like Lincoln make it happen. Following Lincoln into the tunnel, he sees Octavia still in tears inside the car. "What-What happened?" he asks Lincoln for answers.

"I said she was okay physically, but..." Lincoln sighs and stares intently up at the owl demon. "Right now, all she really needs is to talk to you. She needs her father."

Stolas looks back at Octavia and somberly nods. "Yes. You're right. I suppose it's about time." He removed the apple themed hat and it was now frowning instead of smiling to express the current mood. "Octavia..." he sits next to the troubled teen hugging her legs. "I take it you are...not having fun." He felt like a fool for not seeing it much sooner.

"I didn't even want to come here at all! It was your idea!" Octavia sniffled.

"I'm sorry, I just remembered how much you loved it here." Stolas only meant to cheer her up, if he knew she'd have such a horrible time, he'd never have considered it.

"Back when I was a kid and my parents weren't hating each other." Octavia reminded him, finally getting all her pent up problems off her chest. "And you never flirted with some weird red dickhead the whole time.."

Stolas grew very guilty and apologized for his behavior. "I'm truly sorry, Via. I'm sorry for...everything that's happening. I know it can be hard for a girl your age, I-I should have seen that." He kept caring more about forcing a smile to form on her features and coming onto Blitzo than what Octavia really wanted and that was unforgivable to Stolas.

"I just want to go back home, except home doesn't even feel like home anymore." Octavia keeps drying her tears. "It's ruined, and it's because of you."

She was partly right, Stolas was fully aware that he had a role to play in the dark cloud that had formed over the house of Goetia, but it's not like he was the sole guilty party. "Try to understand. See, you're mother, she can be such a...I never really...the two of us were never"...we-we didn't feel..." He struggled to form it into a reasonable explanation. He could tell her that his union with Stella was one of necessity rather than one out of pure genuine love as with most marriages between noble houses of Hell, but that wouldn't make it any less worse. No matter how stale his marriage is, he still had the responsibility of being a father to the only good thing that came out of it and no amount of trysts are worth more than that. "I'm sorry, I just can't find the words." he shamefully confesses.

Seeing that he truly did feel regret made Octavia tell her what she was afraid would happen if it all continues. "Are you going to run off with him? And leave me behind? Go away where...I can't find you?" It wasn't until recent days that Octavia felt that old fear coming back to haunt her dreams.

"What?" Stolas breathes in disbelief. He now had a clear understanding of what really aches Octavia, the anger she felt at her father being unfaithful to her mother inside was enough to anger her, but deep down, she was afraid. Afraid that her worst fear would come true, that she'd wake up one day and he's nowhere in sight, leaving her all alone without her daddy. "No! No, no. Never. I'd never do that. Never." He fervently promised, easing her into a consoling hug with the same fatherly energy he displayed in her youth. For the first time, Octavia smiles in his embrace, terribly missing the feeling of being protected in his arms. "I think it's time to leave this place." he carries her bridal style. "You were right. You are too old for it anyway."

Lincoln smiles sweetly at this moment. They were both demonic beings of royal upbringing with reputations, but right now, they were a father and daughter reconciling and it warmed his heart.

He was ready to leave with them.

Suddenly, an imp jumps down from a ceiling opening with a switchblade, ready to surprise him. Stolas turns around and his eyes glow brightly, making the imp turn to stone and fall. "...Woah." Lincoln gaped. "Note to self, never make you angry."

"A wise reminder, dear boy." Stolas approved. Outside, there was still mass pandemonium once dusk fell and the I.M.P team were about to finish off Robo Fizz. Moxxie was mounted one the dragon from the petting zoo and it chased the wheeling robot, grabbing it by its collar and flinging it up before swallowing Robo Fizz whole all while their intern and their charges calmly exited the park with Octavia snuggling in closer to her dad's hold. "So, what would you like to do now?" the prince asked his child, this time hearing what she wanted.

"Oh, could we go to Stylish Occult?" Octavia requested. "They sell weird taxidermy there."

Stolas glances at Lincoln who shrugs sheepishly and reluctantly complies with a forced smile. "Okay..." he really wasn't all that sold.

Octavia chuckles. "Thanks, dad. You're okay sometimes."

But it was worth it just to see her smile again. "Thank you, Via." he smiled back. "Thank-"

A massive explosion rocks the now destroyed park, sending the team of I.M.P hurtling through the sky, screaming. They painfully land down in front of Stolas, Octavia, and Lincoln.

"Once again, you've ruined another good thing, sir!" Moxxie sarcastically droned.

"Sp worth it!" Blitzo victoriously declared. "That slutty clown had. It. Coming!"

Both Moxxie and Blitzo passed out from exhaustion.

Lincoln shakes his head with a smile. "Guess that would be the highlight of today," he admitted.

Hearing that returned some of Millie's strength and reached up to his shoulders. "Really?! So, you're saying you had fun?!"

"Seeing you guys fight the clown was pretty fun, I guess." Lincoln replied.

"Good riddance." Octavia muttered.

Squealing happily, Millie gives him a big hug. "I knew you'd have fun here, sugar!" It appears that both Stolas and Millie both got what they wanted when it came to taking their kids to Loo Loo Land. A creature smelled Millie and started to drag her way due to her weakened state, but Lincoln used the grimoire to put a barrier between it and them.

"Wow. You are pretty good with that book, kid." Octavia complimented, then gratefully smiled. "Lincoln, right? Thanks for listening and all. I think I really needed someone to talk to."

"Hey, no problem." Lincoln replies. "I'm just glad you both smoothed things over."

"Be that as it may, I feel you deserve some form of reward for your efforts besides money." Stolas honestly says, pleased to know the human child did such a nice thing for his little Starfiire. "You handle my grimoire remarkably well. young Mr. Loud. Granted, it's merely beginner spells, but to have a basic understanding is a feat to be proud of. Who knows? There could be more for you to learn."

Octavia saw where her dad was going with this...and was onboard with the plan. "Dad. The mansion has its fair share of magical knowledge and you got plenty of experience. Doesn't seem fair that I'm the only one learning from you."

Lincoln looks between them both. "Wait, what's going on here?"

"Due to your unique situation, I think it prudent that you learn more advanced spells, for your own protection of course." Stolas explains and extends the offer of a lifetime. "It just so happens that I myself have much knowledge to share and if you would have me, allow me to teach you all there is to know about the arcane magics of Hell."

Lincoln gaped as he registered what the prince just offered. This was a real-deal invitation to formally learn magic from a master, just like those awesome sorcerer movies, comics, and series. "That would be amazing! Like, wow! I can hardly believe-" He notices the teasing smirk on Octavia over his geekout, so he collects himself. "I mean, I thank you for this, Mr. Stolas, sir. Is it fine with you, Blitz?"

His boss groaned in response.

"...Sounds like a 'yes' to me, dad." Octavia shrugs.

"Splendid!" Stolas celebrated.

Lincoln sees arriving fire trucks. "I think we've overstayed our welcome. But, really. Thanks for this." he said, taking another big step in his time in Hell.

New spells to cast.

There was no telling what he may find.

Chapter Text

Growing up in his big family, Lincoln always felt like he didn't have his own personal talent since he's always been surrounded by sisters who each had their own personal set of skills and interests that made it easy for one to remember which sister was which since there were so many of them. Lori was the oldest and gifted golf player, Leni was the knowledgeable fashionista which made up for lack of knowledge of everything else, Luna made herself known as the most rocking girl in Royal Woods, Luan's the go-to comedy act for kids' birthday parties, and Lynn's sports record speaks for itself. Even the younger sisters are coming into their own based on their talents like Lucy with her well crafted-still pretty creepy-poetry, Lola's pageantry, Lana's aspirations as a mechanic, and Lisa was already acclaimed for her brilliant intellect

Lily was still a bit too young, but the odds of her finding her own thing pretty soon were high.

Then there was him.

In the past, Lincoln had an issue with being the only Loud kid with no talent, unlike all of his sisters. The one noteworthy thing about him was that he's the only son born to a large family. Of course, that's not to say he didn't have his own strengths, he's certainly more craftier than most kids his age and knows how to adapt on the fly, he just never really found that one thing that sets him apart from all the things that made his sisters so talented. He tried once, but that nearly ended very badly.

However, the problem back then was that he was trying way too hard, he was rushing and there were certainly better ways. Overtime, Lincoln found that there were other areas that he excelled at. He found himself to have a penchant for artwork like the fan-comic he made with Clyde and was quite the avid video gamer.

In fact, given the right motivation and circumstance, there were other things he could be quite good at, but he didn't possess the right drive for them, until he discovered the art of magic. That interest ironically stemmed from a birthday party where he was frightened by the magic tricks, but now older, he became entranced by the showmanship and impossibility of the tricks. It got to a point where he started practicing those tricks himself, they were simple parlor tricks, but he still had fun doing them, regardless of magic being real or not.

But that was before he became stuck in Hell and is now able to perform real magic spells with the grimoire of the royal prince, Stolas of the Ars Goetia, demon royalty that were pretty high ranking in Hell's hierarchy system.

As he was a human in a dangerous world, Lincoln's main weapon for defense and if need be, offense was the magic of the grimoire and if that weren't amazing enough, Stolas himself offered to be his official teacher in the demonic magic arts which Lincoln excitedly accepted and today was his first lesson at the mansion of the Goetias.

With such a momentous event, Lincoln felt that he needed to look his best since he'll be at the home of demon royalty.

"You think I brushed my teeth clean enough? Maybe I need a second go-around in the shower." Lincoln picked up the satchel bag with the grimoire. "Think maybe I should put together a gift basket? I don't want to seem rude."

"Jesus, Linc. You freaking out over pleasing the pompous big-wigs of Hell is just so sad." Loona shook her head pitifully from her desk and waves her hands whimsically. "You're gonna learn some new fancy spells and all that crap. Good for you, champ."

"Loona, I will not have you spoil this for him." Millie adamantly, holding her hands together and squishing them to her face in maternal pride. "Seeing our boy off to learn fancy rich demon magic. It's just too much!" Unable to contain herself, Millie trapped Lincoln in a bone-crushing hug, it's like a mother seeing her child off to school for the first time.

"Millie...lack of oxygen...need more..." Lincoln choked.

She had a stronger grip than Lynn's.

"Okay, honey. Mind your strength, remember?" Moxxie had to pry Lincoln off from his wife "And Loona, this is a very big deal. Someone associated with a company run by an imp being personally invited into the home of royal Goetias is so monumental. Even more so, since he's a human."

A clearing of the throat drew them to see Blitzo leaning on the doorway to his office. "Excuse me? That little brain of yours forgot that I, your sexy smartass boss, got the very same princey bastard to let us keep using his little book so that we can keep doing our jobs."

"By agreeing to sleep with him." Moxxie deadpanned, earning a smack from Blitzo.

"Don't discount the sacrifice I make for you guys!" Blitzo then turned to I.M.P's intern, it was apparent that Blitzo was very critical with this new turn of events that happened after the debacle at Loo Loo Land. While he greatly enjoyed putting Robo Fizz in his place, learning about Stolas' surprising offer to Lincoln really put him on edge. Blitzo found it quite vexing that the demon prince keeps intruding on the affairs of his company, first requesting them to act as bodyguards, now wanting to take the kid under his wing. The deal between Blitzo and Stolas was supposed to be dealt in the bedroom and nothing more, but now he's pissing Blitzo off by taking things beyond the bedroom. "Lincoln, I'm only gonna tell you this once, don't get swept up by all the fancy sights in Stolas' mansion. If you want to learn more fancy magic, then fine, but don't fucking forget you're our intern?"

"Don't worry, Blitz. I won't." Lincoln assures. "I thought you'd like this. The more spells I learn, the more useful I am when on the job."

"Aw, you see that?" Millie gushed. "He's already thinking of being more involved in the killings."

Lincoln scoots away. "...I meant more supportive or defensive spells. Point is, I figured you'd want me to make myself more useful, so what's the problem?"

Blitzo shakes his head with an expression of pity. "Oh, Linc. You have no idea about the sick twisted minds of Hell's elite. Trust me on this, if Stolas is serious about this whole teaching bullshit, then he probably wants something in return. It's how privileged dickheads always work, they get off pulling the strings of us common folk."

"He just wants to pay me back for helping things out with Octavia." Lincoln said, feeling that Blitzo was overthinking things.

"First name basis with the little birdie princess?" Loona observed. "You BFFs now or something?"

"Well, we will be taught by her dad, so I guess...?" Lincoln liked to think so but can't be certain.

"Never hope to be anything when it comes to demons fed with silver spoons, kids. They only care about themselves, giving no shits about others or how their attitude is a huge pain in the ass." Blitzo added.

Moxxie couldn't resist pointing out the irony of his boss's statement. "Sort of like you, sir? Because, you basically described key aspects about yourself."

"Hey, now! Talk like that is a surefire way to lose the employee of the month spot!" Blitzo warned and made it clear how he's nothing like that in his own way. "I'm upfront about it, he makes it sound nice when really, it's not!"

"Again. That's entirely you, sir."

Being compared to Stolas was the last thing Blitzo wanted to hear, especially when there are some similarities between them. But, Blitzo refused to believe that the prince was irrefutably smitten with him. As if it'd be that easy...of course, this has been the longest time he's been seeing the same person since she who shall not be named and Stolas invited him out to protect not just him but his own daughter too, shows a level of trust. Plus, the big bird does act very sweet, but...no! Blitzo stopped himself from thinking any further, Stolas was still royalty and he was just a lowly imp, Blitzo made himself believe that the thrill he brought into the prince's life is why Stolas was so invested.

As boss of I.M.P, Blitzo was well within his right to forbid Lincoln from going to that mansion, but Lincoln did make some solid arguments and the other possibilities of having a magic powered human unpaid intern were too good to pass up. Brainpower wasn't his strongest suit, but Blitzo wasn't a complete dumbass.

"Let's just get to the fucking car, already!" Blitzo barked at his employees. "Wouldn't want to keep his royal ass-ness waiting. Looney, I trust you'll keep things tidy while we're gone like before, right?"

"One of these days, I'm gonna burn this place to the ground." Loona bluntly said.

"That's my girl!" Not even worried about what she just said, Blitzo leaves with a skip in his step. "Don't wait up." Moxxie and Millie followed him, but Lincoln hung back to speak with the hellhound.

"Loo Loo Land I can understand. But a mansion? That's once in a lifetime, you know." Lincoln's now gotten a little bit used to Loona's indifference to most things, but still, Lola would probably throw a pageant just to get a peek at the life of high society members.

"Seeing how fancy pricks enjoy the lap of luxury while us lower ranked demons are left picking up scraps on the streets?" Loona faked being in deep thought for just a second. "Yeah, no, I think I'm good. Not like they'd actually let 'riff raff' like me in, anyway."

"Fair enough." Lincoln conceded, he was still getting used to the whole hierarchy system here. "I know how bored you get manning the phone, so I figured you'd want a chance to actually get out."

Loona's the only member of I.M.P that doesn't go up to Earth when they're hired, mostly because she's the receptionist and Blitzo has a staunch rule against her going, much to her annoyance. When they're off the clock, Loona has some free reign, but only when she's actually interested which wasn't very common, she only went with them that one time at the shooting range/gym because it was mandatory. "Only if it's a place that's actually fun, Lincoln. Otherwise, I'll just stay here and get some phone time."

"Isn't that what you always do?"

"Your point?"

"...Right." If it helps, Lincoln won't bother questioning it any further. "Well, bye. Oh, hang on." he goes to her desk where the stuffed "Thing" toy was toppled over and he sets it back into place. After the Loo Loo Land fiasco, Millie managed to save two "Things'' from the destruction and Lincoln remembered promising to bring back something for Loona and though he knew it wasn't something she'd want, Lincoln didn't want to return empty handed and promptly gave it to her. "See you later, Loona." he waved as he left.

Loona looked at the "Thing" and thought about how it was the most ridiculous thing her eyes have ever seen, she'd much rather rip the head off and even do the same to the one Millie kept for herself for added measure. But still, it was a gist and to her of all demons, one that didn't suck like Blitzo and his shitty spiders, it's probably the first gift of its kind now that she thought about it and even when she told Lincoln not to worry about it, he still brought back something just for her. "Fuck me..." Loona rubbed her temples. "What is with that kid?" She sounded annoyed, but the small smile she had suggested otherwise.

Most of the time, Prince Stolas of the Ars Goetia would enjoy all the luxuries that are presented to him that all other demon royalty enjoy as part of their extravagant lifestyle. But enjoying being so stinking rich in Hell wasn't the only thing demon royalty are good for, there are certain duties and responsibilities that they must uphold that comes with their titles and Stolas was no exception. Although he was one royal that didn't adhere to such an important rule, what with him allowing four lower demons to have free use of his grimoire containing ancient demonic no other lower class demon should have in their possession. Another thing he probably shouldn't do was take on a human apprentice of all things.

"I assume you've made sure we are not to be disturbed." He said to one of his butlers.

"Indeed, sire. All is prepared when the one called Blitz arrives with his cohorts."

"Ah...Blitzy..." Stolas sighed dreamily at the mere mention of his name.

"Dad. You have that look again."

Octavia, still not really accepting at who her father seemed to be falling for, pointed this out and didn't want to spend the day grossed out by seeing Stolas act like he just met the love of their lives. "Oh. Octavia, darling. I-I didn't see you there." Stolas sheepishly laughs, one thing he has been working on was being less open about it when Octavia's present. "I assume you're prepared for young Lincoln's arrival."

"Yeah. What about you, though?" Octavia casted suspicious eyes upon her father. "Just to be sure, this isn't just to get the red dickhead you're so gaga for in the sheets again, right?"

"Via. What do you take me for? A deviant?" Stolas was met with a raised eyebrow and he admitted that her hunch was on the money. "Okay, fair enough. But, shocking as it may seem, this is purely a teaching experience for the boy."

Octavia crossed her arms. She wanted to trust his word, but she could never be sure with him. "It better be. You saw how excited he was, hate to see the poor kid end up disappointed." she recoils when she sees the big smile Stolas had. "Dad. What is it now? You're freaking the shit out of me."

"It's just so sweet to see you be so considerate of your new little friend." Stolas snuggles in closer to the flushed Octavia. After Loo Loo Land, she started to become less depressed about the schism between her parents, talking things out with Stolas wasn't the only thing she needed but also someone to convey all those feelings which came in the form of Lincoln. It did feel nice to have someone to talk to and actually listen to other than her dad, and she was still very grateful for that.

"Dad." Octavis pushed him away and pulled her beanie down.

"No need to be so awkward, my little owlet. I thought you could use some more friends and Lincoln seems polite enough to meet my approval."

"STOLAS!"

His wife, on the other hand...

"Oh, dear." Stolas frowned, recognizing his wife's fury-fueled screams. "Best hide somewhere, Via."

"But, dad-"

"Please, Octavia. I can handle whatever Stella has to say and I know you don't enjoy seeing us fight." Stolas requested. He wasn't going to let his little girl become miserable again because of him, he didn't want to deal with Stella's bullshit either, but he was one of the adults in this mansion. Time to actually act like it. Hesitant at first, Octavia went to the nearest room she could find and makes herself scarce once Stolas' wife, Stella enters the room, with a nasty scowl on her avian features. Nothing new there. "Stella." Stolas acknowledges frostily. "I'd thought you would have left by now."

Stolas made sure that the day for Lincoln's lesson would be the same day that Stella wouldn't be in the mansion.

He was already neck deep in hot water with her over his infidelity, no need to bury himself even deeper and get more ire from his wife. She had plans to meet with other demon nobles of Hell to reestablish certain "friendships", but he saw it as her buttering up fellow aristocratic demons as a means to save face as one would put it.

She felt the act was a necessary measure after uncovering her husband's affair to save the image of the family name, as she puts it. "I was. But, then I noticed that you're not loafing about like most days. Is there a certain appointment of your own that you've scheduled?" Stella inquired, expecting to catch him red-handed in another duplicitous scheme.

Crossing his arms defensively, Stolas gave a pretty convincing answer. "If you must know. I am preparing to educate our daughter. Learning from an experienced practitioner is much more effective than those novice tutors." It was half a lie and half a truth.

"Is that right?" Stella noted that in all the years they've been married, she's never seen him have such an investment. "Funny, I can't seem to recall you ever being so attentive before in our daughter's studies. Only to entertain her childish and illogical habits."

Stolas narrowed his eyes and gripped the watering can rather tightly. He wasn't the only parent who didn't like the new rebellious and dreary development in Octavia, but while he was concerned about it, Stella was more disappointed and annoyed, criticizing it as the very opposite of how an Ars Goetia demon should act and blamed it on Stolas' own failings. He begrudgingly admits that she wasn't inaccurate in that regard.

"A father does what's required in order to see to it that their child has a stable upbringing. You keep telling me to stop thinking with my dick, I figured you'd be happy that I've chosen to take your advice for once."

"The only possible thing that can make me happy right now is making sure that this isn't some sick game where you allow your cardinal urges to further shame yourself by sharing our fucking bed sheets with creatures lower than us!" Stella stomps away but slings more hurtful comments at Stolas. "Who am I kidding? With you, that's more than a guarantee!"

Stolas remained unfazed, even when she slammed the door hard. At least she didn't break any of the furniture this time around, it still really stings how scathing she is, a grim reminder of how there is little to no love in their marriage.

But there were reminders that marrying her brought about good things in his life. A real life example had exited from the room she was hiding in and saw Stolas pinch what would be the bridge of a normal person's nose. "Dad?" Octavia reached out her hand to touch his arm. Until now, she never saw how her father was affected by their family troubles, he seemed to take it all in stride and you don't see most of Hell's nobles look so troubled.

"I'm fine, Via." No amount of marital issues was going to ruin today, Stolas was going to make sure of that. "Now, then. Let me tell you exactly what you and Lincoln shall learn today..."

"Move along already, bitch!"

"Piss off, asshole!"

"Oh, you wish! Your little ass can't handle-"

"Sir, try dialing back the road rage."

"It's this shitty traffic! Someone get hit by a car?"

Getting to the mansion of the Goetia was no easy feat, not only was it far away from their building, but it was where the uppercrust of demons were abound which meant having to deal with a lot of traffic which in Hell, makes it a lot more worse than Earth traffic. Blitzo had half a mind to just shoot up all the cars in his path, littering the streets with massacred corpses. It'd save them a lot of time. "It's these bustling big cities, Blitz." Millie pointed out. "Papa always told me bigwig cities are always where there a shit ton of shitheads."

"Does your daddy also know how to make said shitheads move their asses, already?" Blitzo impertinently asked. If only Loona decided to go with them, hearing her call Moxxie names was enough to ease him.

That and a nice dose of homeless imps struggling, but alas, he's in a part of Hell that's filled with all those successful and important demons that never had to make sacrifices that he's made in their entire lives. Stolas was no different, he kept asking so much from him, not expecting a fight because no way an imp would be so bold to attack a higher ranked superior.

Lincoln interrupted his boss's tirade. "Maybe we should've taken the freeway instead of the surface streets." That did little to calm Blitzo down.

"Now you fucking tell me!"

"Blitz!" Millie didn't take kindly to his harsh tone at Lincoln.

"Everyone just shut up and don't backseat, please." Blitzo instructed, rubbing his ears from all the car honking. "I swear I'm this close to losing all hearing."

By the time the traffic started to move, Blitzo drove the van into the wealthiest streets the employees of I.M.P have ever seen, Lincoln was used to a simple suburban setting while Moxxie and Millie had a shabby apartment complex in Imp City. For Blitzo, the only way he could ever see himself living among high society is if he were born as something other than an imp and it sickened him. He drove up to the mansion housing Stolas and his family, Lincoln opened the door to exit with his satchel and said his goodbyes to his coworkers.

"See you guys later."

Millie took out a napkin and wiped his cheek. "Now, do remember to listen to your teacher and not to backtalk. Okay, mister? I'd tell you to bite his finger off if he gets too testy, but he's a prince so that's a big no-no and we're not in the Wrath Ring." she giggles as she remembers the screams of her old school teachers.

"You can just ignore the finger part, Lincoln." Moxxie tells him. "Just remember to have fun and call if there's any trouble."

"With who's doing the teaching, that's bound to happen." Blitzo commented under his breath.

Chuckling, Lincoln reassured them that nothing would go wrong. "I'll be fine, you guys and it'll only last until the end of the day."

"We know that, hon." Millie nods, then sniffles a bit and envelops him in another hug. "I just can't believe you're already off learning magic, Lincoln! Next thing you know, you're already putting the head of a hell-beast on a pike and sending us letters from your home! Damn, now I know how Ma felt when my brother got hitched!" she wailed.

"Millie...again...losing...oxygen..."

Being freed from her strong grasp, Lincoln took one last look at Blitzo. "Remember, Lincoln. Don't forget that you're on our team. The team of the incorrigible shit stains of society. Also, if anything seemed like it could make a lot of dough on the black market, don't hesitate to steal it. Make horrible decisions, sport!" The van drives off with Lincoln waving goodbye as it makes a left turn.

Lincoln turns around and sees the luxurious dwelling standing before him, it was comparable to that of a royal palace which made sense considering the residents that live here. Suppressing a gulp, Lincoln walks forward to the entrance doors, pushing back all skittish feelings in order to act more accordingly in the home of royalty and not make a fool of himself. He rung the doorbell once which let out a lengthy tune that went one for a solid minute and was answered by one of the imps servants of the mansion.

"His highness has been expecting you." Standing aside, the master of the mansion appeared next.

"Lincoln, my dear boy!" Stolas exuberantly greeted. "Welcome to my humble abode. Please, come in."

"Th-Thank you for having me, sir." Lincoln courteously said.

"Now, now. You are a welcomed guest, child. No need to be so timid." Stolas allowed Lincoln to enter, then looked around. "Are your imp caretakers not with you?" He had hoped Blitzo would join him.

"They didn't think they were needed since this is just for me." Lincoln explained. "Though, I think Blitz just didn't want to come. Said something only about a full moon."

Stolas understood and respected the terms of the arrangement like Blitzo did. Today was a day for teaching magic and nothing more. Closing the door, neither Stolas nor Lincoln notice that I.M.P's company van was still present in the wealthy street, hiding somewhere in a dark corner. "Sir, why are we still here?"

Blitzo answers Moxxie's question. "To make sure our intern stays our intern after this is over. Think about it. All that swanky-ass rich demon glamor and learning magic that these uppity bitches keep to themselves, why bother working for us when he could get a taste of the sweet life in Hell?"

Millie gasps, realizing the implications. "You think he'll want to live here from now on?!" she asked in horror.

"We're looking at a literal palace, Mills!" Blitzo gestures to it to make his point. "You tell me."

"Sure that's not just an assumption based on baseless paranoia?" Moxxie didn't see Lincoln as being so shallow and didn't like his boss putting such an idea in his wife's head.

"My mad genius brain is thinking about the big picture here, Moxxie!" Blitzo got out. "And it's thinking that we don't lose employees so easily!"

"Wow..."

Lincoln spent his whole life living in a very cramped household, so any living dwelling bigger than the Loud House was a sight to behold for him and Stolas' mansion was no exception whatsoever. The dark blue light in the night building's main foyer led to other areas and he could see a lot outside through the tall windows with pink stained glasses. Various portraits of Stolas and his family were plastered all over the walls, and he couldn't resist noting how cute a little version of Octavia was. Symbols of Stolas' glyph were seen everywhere, signifying that he was the man in charge under this roof, and there were potted plants with some being sentient carnivorous ones.

"I take it that my home is to your liking?" Stolas amusedly inquires, it's always funny to see others' reactions to his affluent lifestyle. The boy appeared more amazed than envious, thought, but Stolad didn't mind that.

"And then some!" Lincoln rubbed a hand through his hair, continuing to marvel at the interior. "Sorry, I just can't believe I'm in the home of a prince!"

"I do not blame you for being so taken, young one." Stolas ushers him to follow him as they walk through the long halls of the mansion, Lincoln listening intently to whatever Stolas had to say. "Very few that aren't part of Hell's more lucrative society are granted access to freely roam these halls, save for our many servants." A trio of such servants were sweeping the floors and dusting bookshelves. "I will say this, you're about the first living mortal soul to be here. First to also utilize demonic magic barred from the rest of the masses. Oh, yes, child, I feel having a teacher is a dire necessity you need."

"If it means not getting killed in Hell, I won't complain. Especially if it means learning all I can." Lincoln tells him, being privy to all the knowledge this mansion holds could give him a means of tampering with the curse that keeps him here.

The kid had heart, Stolas rarely saw that in Hell very often. "Love that attitude, it's important to keep a narrow focus on things." Stolas stops in his tracks. "I can't tell you how wondrous it is to be teaching a young impressionable mind in the ways of the damned arts. I haven't taught in ages since Via was little."

"That's because I grew up."

Leaning on a wall with hands in her pockets was Octavia who didn't make her presence known until now.

You know, just being cool with it, part of the mystique.

"Octavia!" Lincoln ran to her.

"Hi, Lincoln." the teenage owl demon greets with a casual smile. "I see you were serious about coming here. Not too late to turn back, you know."

"Now, sweetie, you make it sound as if this were a horror house." Stolas admonished.

Octavia used her hands to point out the obvious. "Newsflash, dad. This is Hell. Literally every house is a horror house."

"Every common house is a horror house." Stolas clarified, not wanting his mansion to be comparable to that of the unsavory buildings that house the uncouth demonic beings. "Ours is a welcoming little home with only the most wholesome of novelties, like this pretty thing. Have you been a good maniacal plant for daddy?" he tickles his finger on a flytrap plant that nearly bit his finger off, much to his delight. "Ooh, that's a good little monster."

"Might wanna steer clear of those shitty plants." Octavia warned Lincoln. "They get really excited when fresh new meat is around."

Lincoln saw one plant growl dangerously at him, making him keep his distance. "Thanks for the heads up."

Stolas claps his hands to get his daughter's and his new pupil's collective attention. "Come along now, children. There is so much to educate, dillydallying will prevent those brains of yours from being illuminated by the knowledge of the Goetias." Normally the students would be excited for this opportunity, and that rang true for Lincoln, but out of the three of them, it was Stolas that acted more like a thrilled child than the actual child in the mansion.

"Last time he was this elated was when he caused a little ruckus in the Envy Ring." Octavia said to Lincoln as they walked together. "That was like forever ago."

"I take it this means things between you two are better now?" Lincoln inquired.

"...Eh, it's not worse, I guess." Her parents continuing to be at each other's throats was still present, but now that she had some assurance that Stolas wouldn't leave his family to have more intimacy with Blitzo, she's been softening up a little. "It's not completely perfect, but it feels nice to actually talk to him for once. I actually kinda miss that." she made sure not to let her dad hear that.

"Happy to hear." Lincoln earnestly said, though his smile hid some sadness. He was happy for Octavia, she can still be certain that her father wasn't going anywhere and vice versa, it's just a shame the same can't be said for him.

"Here we are!" All conversations halted as Stolas announced them to their destination, one of the many areas that take up a lot of space in the mansion and where the magical lesson will take place and had it prepared just for this occasion and he was going to make sure it was worth it. He might be a little rusty in the teaching department, but it shouldn't be too much trouble for a royal. He rings a bell for one of the imp servants to open the entrance for him, his daughter, and the young human.

Lincoln was already awed enough when he got a look inside the mansion, but what was inside the room easily made it clear that there was more to the mansion than fancy decorations. There was no furniture inside, only a few pillars, but the true eyecatcher was the ceiling over them, or to be more accurate there being a literal starry night sky in the place where a ceiling would normally be. It truly seemed as if outside had become one with the inside as the stars kept changing around them and a few small planets also appeared. "Holy moly..." Lincoln pinched himself to make sure he wasn't dreaming. "What is this room?!"

"Impressed?" Stolas pridefully smirked. "As one should be. For us royals, our dwellings are unlike any that others have seen before, our power transcends through many things."

Lincoln's eyes were glued to the starry skies above him, noting the different nebulas with vibrant colors and seeing constellations that he didn't recognize. Everything about Hell contradicts everything all scientific scholars of Earth believe in, Lisa included, and it was a rare trait of Hell he was starting to enjoy. "Why'd you ever get tired of this?!" he asked Octavia.

The gothic princess shrugged. "You see space in your house your whole life, the feeling stales a bit."

Waving his hand, Stolas raised his grimoire from Lincoln's satchel and summoned energy constructs made to look like chairs. "Take your seats, my children. The lesson is about to begin."

During the last time Blitzo was in the mansion, he memorized any and all entry points, specifically the ones that allowed imps like him and his employees to sneak in undetected. He didn't really use them since Stolas allowed him to enter for some intimate sex stuff and he fell over the balcony when he ran off with the grimoire, but kept them in mind for future use. "Ugh, the place still reeks of pretentious d-bags." Blitzo blanched in disgust, the stench of imps who were in service here only made it worse..

"Oooh." Millie pressed her face and hands against the glass fish tank containing multicolored fish species. "Look at the little fishies! They're so pretty!"

"Mills, stop it with the gawking. We've got a job to do." Blitzo reprimands.

Moxxie brought up a crucial reminder. "Our real job is only made possible through the 'cooperation' between you and the prince." he reviewed, using air quotes. "Sneaking into his home may very well ruin that, leaving us with no means to carry out our jobs! Or did you conveniently forget that?" he whispers harshly. Blitzo getting busy with the prince may not be enough to avoid punishment and imps are rarely shown any mercy.

Contrary to what Moxxie may believe, Blitzo was well aware of that fact, but that damn prideful ego of his abhorred the possibility of one of his employees getting swept up by the high life of the powerful. "I don't expect you to understand, since you like to crush my great ideas for some reason, Moxxie. But, these expensive beauties speak to people." Case in point, him pushing various objects into a burlap sack. "It makes them want more of it. Today, it's magic lessons and tomorrow, it's everything Lincoln could ever want. That's a risk I'm not willing to take."

"You take risks all the time, sir!" I.M.P itself is a risk.

"For good reason! Like right now!" Blitzo rises over Moxxie in a show of dominance. "You once said that I'm the boos and you're the employee! Instead of mouthing off to Loona about doing her job, try taking your own lame advice!" he turns to walk, but bumps into a random servant imp, knocking him down.

Groaning, the imp looks upwards and sees the three unfamiliar assassins. "What the-? Who are you miscreants?"

"Ah, man..." Not even a whole minute and they were already caught. "Uh, hello there! We're the new plant tamers that your boss ordered! Said he needed help getting those crazy beasts under control!"

The servant imp hummed as he formed an expression of suspicion on three of them, making Blitzo scowl. Lower ranked demons breaking into the homes of the superior ones was common, all hungry for all the magical secrets that those like the Goetias greedily keep only to themselves, barring the tall imp. Nudging Millie behind him, she sees him holding out his hand and she knew he wanted her to sneak him one of her knives as using his flintlock would cause too much of a scene.

A silent kill was more appropriate.

"Oh, crumbs..." Moxxie averted his eyes.

"Right on time!" the imp servant grins, surprising the three. "You're earlier than expected, but that makes things easier! Come, follow me!"

"...You're kidding me." Moxxie gaped.

"There, you see, Mox? Quit pissing your pants and have some faith." I.M.P follows the servant until stopping at a large door.

"Our sire recently planted and grew this one about a week ago and it's exhibited...shall we say, temperamental behavior." He shudders at the last time he and other servants had to sweep away the boney remains of the last imps that tried to teach it to play nice. "Whatever methods you use to make sentient flesh-eating plant beasts to not cause a fuss, I hope they're effective ones." he leaves them to it. "I simply must return to waxing the gold statue of the Goetia family."

Blitzo snorted in disgust. "Kiss-ass little runt." Nothing sadder to him than an imp looking content in his life of servitude.

"Well, sir." Moxxie said expectantly. "Any more brilliant ideas?" Just once, he wanted his boss to think clearly for once.

Blitzo glared nastily, mad at himself for not thinking of anything but gained a sleazy smirk when he looked at the doors and recalled the servant's description of the wild beast on the other side.

That will do nicely.

Stolas kept a cool and relaxed disposition, Octavia mimicked her father and Lincoln tried to do the same, the operative word being "tried", but you can't really fault him for it. Learning real magic and being in a room with a literal night sky does that to one young as himself, it took a considerate amount of willpower for Octavia to not snicker at his astounded look. "To truly understand the fundamentals of the dark arts, first, empty your mind of whatever previous perceptions you have of what is real and what is false. Those concepts no longer exist as of now." He was specifically talking to Lincoln. "What your mortal science deems as pure fantasy is because they limit themselves, they close their minds off to the unknown." The pages of the grimoire flap rapidly and stop as a large orb of red light was summoned.

It rose up before exploding into beautiful red particles.

"Awesome." Lincoln felt some of them tickle his skin, it felt kind of nice.

"Indeed. This is quite 'awesome'." Stolas repeated that "hip" word while giggling, making Octavia roll her eyes. "To learn the demonic ways of Hell's magic, Lincoln, you need to have the mental fortitude to withstand it. These are the forces beyond any other mortals' understanding and it has a habit of corrupting lesser minds."

Demon magic.

The same magic that Stillman used to maintain his youth at the expense of the lives of his own students, abusing the trust they have in him as a teacher to meet his own ends and with that magic, he's now trapped in Hell with no means of breaking the insidious curse that has gripped onto his mortal soul.

But with that type of magic, Lincoln's been able to last more than a second in Hell and would've been killed without it or his fellow coworkers in I.M.P. Realistically speaking, demon magic has been his most useful tool thus far and had to admit, it felt a little cool when he used the book, regardless of its unholy nature.

The grimoire was leviated in front of him. "You want me to cast a spell? Right now?"

"I wish to see the exact extent of your potential." Stolas informed, making his book flip to a specific page. "The spells you've casted up until now are easy to cast for beginners, but let us see how you can fare with a more potent spell." He encouraged him to try his hand at one of the plant-based spells, a personal favorite set of spells of the prince's.

This wasn't the first time Octavia's seen Lincoln use her dad's book, but it was the first time she's seen someone who wasn't him utilize it. Ever since she was a little owlet, a lesson taught to young royals like her was that their power and secrets were only for themselves and no other demon may be permitted to access them. It's how higher ranked demons stay in their position, it's not just the status alone that determines a demon's social standing in Hell, but the power they have to prove their strength and the wicked nature nearly all demons of Hell have to make it known that crossing them would be the last mistake any fool would ever make.

Except if you were an imp who was a fantastic lover in bed, as that seemed to sate Stolas enough to let an imp use the book for his upstart assassin company.

Still, it was shocking to see a human kid of all things be permitted use of the grimoire. Lincoln could vey well be the first human in existence to use powerful Hell magic and he treats it with awe and amazement. A light smile appeared on her, it was actually a little nice to see it, she's not one to think sappy thoughts like that.

With his eyes glowing and speaking in ancient tongue, a small seed is brought forth. But when that seed collides to the ground, it instantly grows into a large multicolored tree that almost reaches up to the sky. "My word..." Stolas touches the bark and admires the beauty of the creation. It was bigger than he was expecting, due to his young age, it should have been the size of a flower at most. "Child, it would appear that I've underestimated you."

"What do you mean?" Lincoln didn't see the big deal. "I just made a tree."

"A vibrant tree, dear boy." Stolas corrected, deep in thought. Did it perhaps pertain to his soul's current state of being connected to Hell, yet not be a departed one like so many others? This manner of a Curse is a very unique one that leads to a unique position for the boy and doubt, that will lead to unpredictable occurrences.

For that, they'll need a wider space than the room.

"Is it really important?" Lincoln asked the other owl demon.

"Must be." Octavia replied. "The list of things dad takes seriously is a short one." She should know, she's at the top of that list.

Making the book return to him, Stolas waved his glowing right hand and a large portal opened up. "Come now, students. First lesson shall be done somewhere else." he steps through and waits for the two.

"Oh, you're gonna freaking love this!" Octavia told Lincoln, holding out her hand.

"Where are we-woah!" She pulled him in before he could finish.

Just as they left, a knock was heard.

"Sire? Sire, are you there?"

"Of all the hair raising idiotic stunts you've pulled, sir, this is by far the craziest one yet."

"That's what I'm going for, Moxxie and thanks for the compliment, though I had to go the whole day without you singing my praises."

In Blitzo's very chaotic mind, this was the best plan he's come up with to make sure Lincoln won't leave I.M.P for the Goetias. A rabid uncontrollable plant monster with a taste for anything living is just what the unlicensed doctor ordered. He and M n' M were standing before a cage that held a primal beast that caught the smell of three imps and struggled at its restraints to dig its teeth into the delicious flesh of the small demons. "Why do these big-wigs always get the cute little critters?" Millie complained.

"It is a damn shame, Millie." Blitzo nodded. "Know what's also a damn shame? If this sexy beast gets loose and after seeing the mess it makes, our boy will see the hoity toity life ain't all it's cracked up to be and realize how thankful he should be to be included in I.M.P. So sad for Stolas, but great for us!"

Moxxie facepalmed. "For the last time, sir. While I admit that the envious lifestyle of Hell's nobles are enticing, I doubt it'd come to that...although, now that I think about it. It might be what's best for Lincoln."

"...Excuse me, the fuck you just say?!"

Blitzo looked at Moxxie's eyes, faces dangerously close, daring the shorter imp to say that crap again. "Well, it's as you say, sir. Lincoln could be safer in Hell here than with us." he reasoned civilly. "We're assassins. Our entire business revolves around dangerous confrontations and if something were to happen to him..." He didn't finish that after seeing his wife's dejected frown. "The point is, maybe Lincoln needs guidance from figures like the Goetias, who better than royalty who know the ins and outs of Hell for centuries?"

"But, we can't just let our boy go!" Millie passionately argued in defiance of her husband's stance.

Moxxie sighs, knowing how attached she's become to Lincoln. "Millie, I know you've come to care about Lincoln. I have too. But he already has a family up on Earth and we all know how much he wants to go back. With all that the prince knows, his best bet is right in this mansion. Not with three imps and a hellhound taking killing jobs from bitter Sinners."

As always, Moxxie makes various good points that are very difficult to argue with, but Blitzo wasn't having any of it. Just rolling over and letting the feathered bastard take more from him? No fucking way in Hell. "Says you, Moxxie!" Blitzo shot with his pistol to undo the locks that were placed to hold the beast in and the cage bars were lifted up. "Hey, you little cutie! Has someone been grounded from fucking up some shit in this shoddy mansion? Look no further, 'cause papa Blitz is gonna-" A vine shot out and grabs his legs drag him in.

Moxxie and Millie gazed, flabbergasted until Moxxie's agape expression formed into a deadpan expression. "And so, the chaos begins."

"This is amazing!"

"Do be careful, Lincoln. It can be quite tricky for first-timers."

He was in space.

Lincoln Loud was in motherfucking space!

A place where no Loud has gone before, not even Lisa and she has a lot of connections to NASA. Thanks to Stolas and his magic, he was able to breathe in the vast cold dark reaches of space and suffocate from the lack of oxygen. "Do you guys go into space all the time?!" he asks, looking all around his current surroundings and can even see planets he's never seen before. All he needs now is a cool spacesuit and spaceship and he'll be living every space-themed dream he's had at night.

"Let him have some fun, dad." Octavia nudged Stolas and floated over to the elated boy. "Pretty rad, ain't it?"

"Rad doesn't even come close!" Lincoln laughed. "How could you ever get tired of this?"

"You're young." Octavia playfully ruffles his white hair. "You'll learn."

Stolas' eyes glowed and a blue energy disk was created that acted as a stage for the three to stand on among the sparkling stars and the perfect training ground for their lesson. Artificial gravity was created to make it easier for them to stay in place and not drift away until reaching the very edge of the universe. "Fun and games may come later, children. Now is the time to see how strong your individual focus is." Target constructs were displayed, now was the time to assess their accuracy.

"Target practice?" This had to be a joke. "Come on, dad. Where's the challenge?"

"Now, Via. Sometimes, it's good to review the basics. It shows how much you've grown." Stolas tutted with his finger. "Lincoln, you may go first."

Okay. Eyes on the target, grimoire ready, a simple fire blast would cut it. Lincoln concentrated hard, and the book's pages were shining as a spell was activated and fire did shoot out, a little too much fire than he was counting on. Fire balls were shot out to all across space, but none hit the targets, making him feel embarrassed. "Uh, oops."

"Hmm..." Stolas raised a skeptical brow at the display. Lincoln showed a bit more control in Loo Loo Land, testimony from Blitzo also reported that for a human, he's gotten along fine with the grimoire. "Is there something wrong, boy?"

"I...guess it works better when I'm in danger." Whether it be bull Sinner demons, murderous Satanists, or a wild out of control robot jester, his drive to survive tapped into his better control of the book's magic spells. "Opening portals to Earth is about the easiest one I can do."

Stolas admitted that it made sense. As a beginner, Lincoln has yet to fully tap into the full power of the grimoire, the same can be said for Octavia but she's making some progress in her young avian life, but danger alone shouldn't be the only trigger for Lincoln. He needs to learn how to cast spells on a whim, accept it as part of himself not as a tool for simple defense. But if that was a crucial part to draw out his hidden potential, then maybe for now, something was needed to act as an enemy.

But what?

Loud knocking was heard from the portal leading back to the mansion making Stolas scoff in annoyance. "Pardon me. I'm afraid my presence is required. Do try not to wander off too far."

"Dad, we're not babies." Octavia stated. "We can take care of ourselves, you know."

"Oh, of course, dear." Stolas nuzzles her face. "But you're still my little Starfire! Toodles~!" He floats off back to the portal.

"So sorry you had to see that." What Lincoln must have thought about Stolas' fatherly affections.

Thankfully, he wasn't judgmental. "It's cool. My own dad's the same way most of the time."

Octavia recalled him telling her about his family, and asked something that's been on her mind since she first met him. "Lincoln. Think you can tell me how exactly you, a living human, ended up in Hell? My dad was too excited for that shitty park to explain." She saw him frown with notable sadness and retracted. "I mean, you don't have if you don't want to-"

"No." Lincoln shook his head. "It's a long story, but I guess you should know. It's just not a happy one..."

The imps that serve the royal Goetia family should know better than to disturb Stolas when he's in the middle of important business. He was gracious enough to allow the continuation of their employment, so they ought to tread very carefully when condoning their work. It wouldn't be hard for the prince to look for and hire new imps to replace his current work force. "Sire! Sire, please respond!" If the servant could bang on the door any longer, it would be knocked down and it's made of very hard to find material.

Opening the door, the servant imp fell down. "What is all this commotion about? Was I not clear that I was not to be disturbed?" Stolas demands. For the imp's sake, he better have a good reason.

Sweating down bullets, the imp collected himself to be more presentable for the prince. "I merely come to inform you that the plant tamers you requested arrived minutes ago and are tending to your beast."

"Is that so?" Took them long enough to arrive, his new precious gets so testy that Stella keeps complaining about the bloody messes it makes. "I assume they are treating it with tender care?"

"I would imagine so, sire. That tall imp and the two littler ones seemed very capable."

Stolas moved to return to his students, but wanted to re-hear that. "Tall imp and littler one?"

He couldn't possibly mean-

Crashing noises were heard and for a second, he thought Stella had come back early. But when Stolas went out, the commotion was coming from the room housing the plant beast that required taming and heard distinctly familiar voices on the other side. This coupled with what the servant told him only confirmed his suspicions.

"Go for its heart! Always go for the heart"

"Sir, we don't know where that is!"

"Don't worry, boys! I've tangled tougher critters at the ranch!"

"Go for it, Mills! Use that hillbilly energy!"

The doors were opened by Stolas and his four eyes shot open in shock as Blitzo and Millie were standing atop the elongated vines of the plant beast, with its mouth open to bear its sharp fangs and tendrils flailing about like wild snakes in a frenzy. Moxxie was on the ground, shooting numerous rounds at it as it continued to thrash about the walls.

"Blitzy?!" Stolas exclaimed.

The three assassins noticed the prince's untimely arrival and panicked.

"One thing after another." Blitzo groaned.

"So, yeah. That's about it. Now you're up to speed."

Reliving the events that led up to his being in Hell was never a picnic, but Lincoln knew that since he'll be learning alongside Octavia so long as Stolas accepts him as a student, she at least should know more about the tale of how a human boy ended up in the realm of eternal suffering. It cleared up a lot of things for the princess and understood Lincoln more. "...That fucking teacher was a grade-A asshole." She's seen more than enough Sinners in Hell to teach her that many humans have a certain darkness in them that leads them down a path of unrepentant sin that saves them a spot here, but that didn't mean she enjoyed it.

In fact, it pissed her off because of the population crisis that still grows with each new daily arrival from the living world, leading her and her family to hide out in special hideaways that most elites have access to avoid being spotted on the day of Extermination.

Presently, she was especially disgusted when Lincoln told her of Stillman, a man who would kill children in pursuit of eternal youth. She thought of it as unfair since Lincoln's time hadn't even come yet and even then, a part of her doesn't see him coming down to Hell anytime soon. What she hated more was how he couldn't return to his family with his soul connected to Hell.

"Tell me about it." Lincoln wouldn't use such sour language, but he agreed with the sentiment. "Your dad said even though I'm still alive, the terms of the curse keep me here and I can't stay on Earth without eventually returning."

"...And you have to stay with that red douche because you have no choice." It now made sense to her why he sticks with that guy. "Shit. I-I didn't think it was that bad." she sympathetically said. "I don't know what to say. Literally. I mean, that is just-I'm so sorry, dude."

"It's not all bad." Lincoln wouldn't call this paradise, but it could be worse.

"Not all bad? Are you shitting me?" Octavia understood wanting to look strong, but let's be real here. She knelt down and grabbed his shoulders. "You're in freaking Hell! It's like the worst kind of bad and I was born there!"

"Okay, yes! I get it! Hell's the worst place for a middle schooler!" Lincoln grew tired of having to hear that. "If I spent the whole time worrying about that, then how exactly am I supposed to get home?!" he shouts, startling Octavia and he calms down. "Sorry, I just-I just want to go home. I haven't gone this long without my family and I-I miss them..."

The human kid didn't want to cry in front of Octavia, but it couldn't be helped and she became increasingly empathetic to his plight, similar to how he felt when he saw her crying at the theme park. Her mother would never let her do this, but like how a crying owlet had a scary dream of losing her daddy, this kid needed a hug. Lincoln was taken by surprise when she pulled him in, her feathers were soft and warm, he slowly wrapped his own arms around her to return the hug. "Is that why you accepted when dad offered to teach you? You want to find a way to undo the curse."

"...Yeah." Lincoln felt a little dirty for having an ulterior motive. "Sorry, but this seemed like my one chance. I had to take it."

"It's okay. I would've done the same." Octavia lets go to face him. "Lincoln, there's a lot my dad knows, but if there was a way to fix this, he would've said something by now. This problem of yours, no being in Hell has ever seen it. I-I don't know if..."

Lincoln finished her thought, drying up his tears. "If it's possible? Well, I'm a living human in Hell. I'm already proving the impossible."

Kid had fire, that much can be said. "Yeah, that's true." Octavia chuckled, getting back up. "I never gave two shits about the odds, anyway. You know, you're one tough kid."

Lincoln smiled gratefully. "Thanks, Octavia. Really."

Besides the I.M.P team, she was the first demon in Hell he actually bonded with.

Friends with demons.

What a time to be alive.

"Man, what the hell's taking my dad so long?" Octavia asked after a second. "He should've come back by now."

"Think there's trouble?" Lincoln asked, concerned.

Frowning, Octavia grasped the grimoire in her hands. "One way to find out."

"Okay, I know this looks bad. But, if you let me explain, I promise we'll look back on this and laugh our asses out."

"Assuming we live past this!"

"Now is not the time, Moxxie! I'm trying to cover our butts here!"

"Yes, do be quiet. I'd much rather hear from the taller, sexier one please." Not even a killer monster plant on the loose was enough to quell Stolas' anger at Blitzo.

Blitzo and Millie were thrown off the plant beast and had to find cover with Moxxie and Stolas with the latter not expecting to see that the three were somehow in his mansion even though Lincoln told him that they weren't with him when he arrived. Them fighting the beast and doing a subpar job at it was just as shocking. "Look, before you get pissy, big bird, let the record show that we stuck around to watch out for the intern."

"Blitzy, how you wound this suffering soul." Stolas pouts at his lover, he could see the truth from a mile away. "Do you truly doubt my ability to observe and guide one human soul? Granted, he's not your average child, but I wouldn't let a hair on him be harmed. It'd greatly upset my daughter. Could it be that someone couldn't bear to see the child they've been caring for choose to live among us nobles?" he asked, angering Blitzo enough to be more forceful while shooting.

"Mox, let's take the left flank!" Millie told her husband as she fired with an assault rifle.

Humans on Earth, that's whom I.M.P is supposed to be shooting at, not robot clowns or plant monsters, humans were supposed to be their targets. Moxxie really hates it when he and the team fought something different, but he can mouth off to Blitzo about this later. That is if the prince wouldn't punish them for their unannounced visit. The vines swiped at them, colliding with the walls and creating cracks in them as the imps tried their best in taking it down while Stolas simply stood calmly by, unharmed. It wasn't in the plant beast's nature to harm the being that gave it life in the first place, only to devour the weakest ones in the group and I.M.P obviously fit that profile. They were resilient little imps, but their puny bullets did little to make any critical damage and they couldn't get close enough to stab it with sharp weapons.

Nothing can stop-

"What in the shit?!"

All eyes see Octavia and Lincoln making their entrance when the princess made her shouting.

"Blitz? Moxxie? Millie? What are you guys doing here?! And what is that?!" Octavia leads Lincoln to a safer spot when the beast digs its vines into the ground and they emerge to try and smash them.

"Lincoln! Just stay where you are, honey! Momma and daddy have this all under control!" Millie says just as Moxxie pushes her out of the way from an attacking vine.

"Octavia, listen to the female one!" Stolas shifted from coy lover to responsible parent. "This is a matter for the adults!"

"This is my home too, dad!" Octavia argued.

"Out of the question, young lady!" Stolas would burn all of Hell to the ground for his daughter, and there was no way he'd see her get hurt on his watch. "This is my house! I shall handle this!"

Lincoln was in full support of Octavia. "But, we can-"

"Don't argue with the prince, Lincoln!" Moxxie shouted. "We're completely capable of-WAH!" he is hoisted up by a vine.

Octavia and Lincoln shared a determined nod and the latter opened up the grimoire. Another seed is brought forth and planted into the ground for the same tree that Lincoln grew to form and with the power of the book, he thinks hard and the tree is surrounded by an aura as it moves on its own, but he couldn't get it to obey his command, but couldn't. A second hand is placed on the book that belonged to Octavia and together, the two focus on making the tree obey both of them. With their combined minds, the tree responded to their commands and the tree bark sprouted spores that opened up, releasing a gas that made the plant slightly wither away before it grew new with sharp spikes and relentlessly attacked until it was nothing more than a dead plant on the ground.

The two young magic users dropped the grimoire and supported the other as they shared a tired fist bump and the adult demons looked in amazement.

"Told ya..." Lincoln dropped to his knees. "Had in the bag.

Octavia helped him stand. "Damn right."

After having his cleaning staff take care of the dead plant and the tree the two youngsters commanded disappeared with nothing else to fight and the imps can now explain what the fuck did they think they were doing. "How many times do we have to tell you? We just came to make sure the kid was doing alright?" Blitzo answered after going through the most boring interrogation he's ever faced. He hated having to explain himself, especially to a higher-ranked demon, he has never once apologized for his crazy schemes and won't start now.

"Then why the fuck were you three in my dad's plant prison?!" Octavia challenged. "Just because my dad's hot for an idiot like you doesn't mean you can treat our home like your own personal playground!"

"Octavia." Stolas implores her to calm herself. "Now, Blitzy, if you wanted to come in, you simply needed to ask. You should know there's nothing I wouldn't do to you." he flirtatiously said.

"You mean for you."

"Agree to disagree."

Blitzo resisted the urge to just have a freak out as that would give Stolas more power, so he needed to let all gathered know that even though this is his mansion, he was still the boss. "Okay, you know what? Either let us leave with our intern or expect a lengthy reason why we won't just sit by and let you make the kid stay with your feathered mug."

"Is that why you guys sneaked in? You thought I'd want to stay with the Goetias? Blitz, why would you think that, unless..." Lincoln gasped. "Hold on, were you scared that I'd like them more than you?"

Stolas chuckles into his hand. "Got it in one, dear boy!"

Octavia shook her head in disbelief. "Unbelievable."

Lincoln didn't know what to believe, that they believed that he'd be that shallow or that it was surprisingly sweet of Blitzo to think that way. In his defense, if he were to know of the whole past business with that limo ride, then Blitzo would slightly be vindicated. But Lincoln knew better than before and wouldn't just leave them. Unlikely as it may sound, he's come to like all of them. "Guys. Sure, it's great here, but I'm still an intern at I.M.P I wouldn't trade that."

Blitzo swore he heard a record scratch. "Sorry, what?"

"I know I've only been with you guys for only weeks, but I won't leave just like that." Lincoln committedly proclaimed. "You guys have saved my life more than once and after what we've been through together, well, I like you guys and I'd love to stay with you." You survive cannibals together and you're bonded for life.

Moxxie smiled at him and smugly taunted Blitzo. "Well, who would've guessed?" But, he wanted to make sure Lincoln was serious as there was no coming back. "Are you certain about this, Lincoln?"

"Yeah. I am."

Cue another Millie hug. "Aw! Our little man! We should've had more faith!"

Blitzo admitting he was wrong goes against his ego, but on this occasion, the reason he was wrong was unbelievable. Lincoln's seen first hand of the cushy life rich pompous jerks live and despite all that, he'll still be willing to stick by them and not royalty. It was so alien to Blitzo, that he thought he was just some trick, but the look on the boy's face wasn't the look of a deceiver. "Uh...great! Perfect! That's...exactly what I like to hear! Well, crew, let's head back. I think we've had it up to here with a rich stink for today."

"What do you see in him?" Octavia exasperatingly asked Stolas.

"You yourself are young, my little Starfire." Stolas rubbed her head tenderly. "One day, you'll learn. Now, I must say this. Disappointment in you disobeying my instruction aside, I admit, both you and our young friend here acted admirably today. There is room for improvement, but bottom line, you both did well." The prince felt pride, for once not for himself, but for his daughter and surprisingly enough, Lincoln. This wasn't his idea in drawing out his potential, but it was a good first step. "I do hope this won't impede your decision to learn more from me."

"Unless there's other cool owl demon princes around, you're stuck with me." Lincoln grinned.

"HA! Oh, you are a delightful mortal, dear boy! Fare thee well young Lincoln and you precocious little imps!" Stolas made Blitzo stick around. "And Blitzy, you can expect a call from me very soon~."

Blitzo clenched his teeth and hightailed it.

"Think the next lesson will be as insane as today's?" Lincoln asks his fellow magic classmate.

"It's Hell, little man. You can bet on everything that it will." Octavia exchanged a friendly hi-five. "Catch you later, Linc. And hey, you happen to like rock music by any chance?"

"Not a hardcore fan, but I definitely like this one band. Why?"

"Have I got a lot to show you, next time." This really felt great, having a friend.

Blitzo drags him off. "Okay, that's enough sappy friendship. I.M.P is out of here!"

Sighing, Octavia observes all the damage done by the beast plant and could hardly believe so much has happened in a single evening, it's certainly a lot less boring compared to most days living as royalty. "What a mess."

"Indubitably, Octavia. The maids and the butlers have their work cut out for them." Stolas remarks. "I dare say offering to act as that boy's mentor may pave the way for more exciting days. I know you wouldn't mind."

Eyes going wide, Octavia flushes. "Yeah, well. The kid's cool." She then asked a serious question, one that came to mind after hearing Lincoln's story while they were in space. "Hey, dad. The curse that keeps Lincoln here, is there no way to break it? To make it so that he goes home?"

Stolas stresses to find an answer. "The conditions of the curse were incomplete, Via. The boy is basically a living breathing example of uncharted waters, that makes finding a solution difficult, even for one such as I."

Not the answer she was looking for, but she did take it as a challenge. 'Well, we're fucking Goetias aren't we? Nothing's beyond our reach." That determination from Lincoln was inspiring.

Stolas hums in delight as he watches his daughter leave. "That's my girl."

"Sire?" The servant imp finally moves from his hiding spot. "Is it over?"

Just another day in the life of an Ars Goetia family.

Chapter Text

"Okay, boys, get the new supplies! No time for dilly dallying!"

Sighing, Lincoln went out of I.M.P's van alongside Moxxie. "Fine."

In the very extensive amount of time that he's been in Hell so far, Lincoln sometimes found it hard to keep track of exactly how long he's been here with the imps and hellhound of the assassination company that he now finds himself working in as their unpaid and magic-using intern. He knows that it's way past one month already, but with all the usual daily brands of pandemonium that only Hell was capable of brandishing, it shouldn't come as a surprise. Luckily, time seems to move past here the same way it does back on Earth and if he was correct, it should be spring break right and if so, it jarred his mind that so much time had passed by since his arrival in the land where the damned go down for an eternity of suffering. The last place a human, much less a child, would ever be while he's still alive.

He had hoped that by this point, he would have managed to break that stupid Stillman's cruel curse and go back home without trouble and spend the rest of his days back to normalcy with his beloved family.

A dream that had seemed to be slipping further away from him as every day kept on rushing by, but Lincoln still kept his conviction in finding a way to break the curse placed on his soul, getting lessons in demonic magic from Stolas helped, but he wasn't getting into the really deep stuff that could fix his problem. Until some actual progress is made, he has to be content with where he is right now.

It took quite some time and it wasn't that perfect, but he was actually starting to get used to being an intern for I.M.P, getting along swimmingly with his coworkers and getting more involved with the company's inner workings.

Such as how old Blitzo would constantly honk on the horn of the company's van to get Moxxie to hustle it when the team was out doing a supply run to re-stock their arsenal of weapons from a shop that sells them.

It was a huge miracle he hadn't been completely corrupted yet.

Lincoln often wondered just how long that would last, though.

If he will be the same person as he was or something far different.

"Come on, Moxxie! Move that little ass!"

Moxxie grunted in annoyance from Blitzo barking out demands, not caring that the duffel bag the shorter imp was carrying had a lot of supplies in, making it hard for someone with a physique like his to lift and carry. It'd be no trouble for Millie, but Blitzo knew that, he just wanted an excuse to see Moxxie struggle with his little arms. "I got you, Moxxie." Lincoln was less heartless than his boss, choosing to assist the weapons expert. It was heavy for him too, but the combined efforts of both him and Moxxie made it less hard to load into the trunk.

"Thank you, Lincoln." Moxxie wiped away sweat. "At least you were considerate enough to help."

"Which will get you a paid deduction, intern!"

"Blitz, you don't even pay me period." Lincoln retorted to his boss's threat.

"...Oh yeah, I don't. What I really love about having an intern. I don't pay them shit!" Lincoln rolls his eyes at the laughs Blitzo got out of that.

Millie called out to her husband and surrogate son. "Come on in, boys! Day's not over yet!"

Lincoln and Moxxie were in the back with her while Blitzo kept his usual spot as the driver with Loona riding shotgun with a lazy frown as she looked at her phone and they went off back to the building. It was a silent drive which Lincoln enjoyed as it was one of the rare times he felt calm and in Hell, which wasn't a usual luxury, so he was greatly thankful for it. The building wasn't that far away, so it was a relatively short drive continuing to be silent, until Blitzo decided to ruin the silence by blasting the space of the van with radio music.

He perked up when he heard the first song playing on. "I love this song!"

He sang along to the lyrics while getting the words all mixed up and wrong.

But it nonetheless spoke to him in many ways and he still rocked out to it.

It resonated with a deep longing he's had but never seems to be able to obtain.

Blitzo kept on singing when they made it to the very crowded parking lot of the building, annoying Loona who couldn't focus on her phone and Moxxie had to cover his non-existing ears and advised Lincoln to do the same due to the heavy amount of volume the song involved. Millie was the only one in the van that didn't mind the singing, she actually rolled down the window with a smile. Just as they were about to park at I.M.P's own personal exclusive parking space, a pink car suddenly drives in and takes the space for itself.

This completely blindsided Blitzo. "Unholy shit! Hang on, fam! Fuck! He steps on the brakes to make the van skid to a stop and Millie had Lincoln hang onto her, even though he had his seatbelt on. Turning off the radio, Blitzo glares at the person who was driving the car, wanting to know whho thought they could just take his parking space. "Oh, 'you suck for life', huh?!" Pulling out a megaphone, he yells angrily at the driver of the car. "Let me tell you something, you unoriginal pink cum dump! You have about three goddamn seconds to get that eyesore tampon race car out of that spot..."

During his tirade, the driver steps out, planting her pink heart designed high-heeled footwear on the ground with her hands on her hips.

If there was one phrase to describe her, it'd be drop dead hot. She was a tall pink skinned demoness with a curvaceous build, uniquely shaped horns with the left one being taller than the other, but both were marked with stars, a heart mark on her cheek like a mole, and a pink tail with an end that looked exactly like a heart. Long light pink hair traveled down to match her luxurious pink coat and over a short black and white dress that showed off her cleavage and curvy hips, made with an X, O, and star design. Her boots were long and had sharp stilts adorning hearts.

Her sunglasses with heart lenses hid her nasty glower.

Lincoln watches curiously and suddenly couldn't resist breathing in awe of the gorgeous creature laid before him. "Buh..." he mumbled, slightly blushing.

Blitzo stopped his own tirade once he got a good look at her and couldn't believe his rotten shitty luck. "Holy shit! Verosika!" Of all the old faces from his past, it just had to be her.

The fetching female demon now known as Verosika blew a bubble of pink gum before popping it. "Blitzo. Figures." she greets very coldly, carrying a lot of bitterness.

He didn't even bother to correct her on how the "O" in his name was silent now and instantly flew insults to voice the displeasure of having to see her again. "Hmph, well I know why I'm smelling fish for miles. Kinda odd, since the nearest ocean is..." Her eyes behind her shades roll in exasperation when Blitzo falls and faceplants to the ground while getting out through the window, but he stands strong. "...only three rings down!" he pointed downwards.

Verosika retorts with her own insults. "And you being here must be why I heard all those Amber Alerts."

Hearing that made Blitzo look back inside his van and sees Lincoln then motions Millie to keep his head down so Verosika couldn't see him and resumes mouthing off to her by pointing out her usual alcoholism after seeing the flask in her hand. "Oh, yeah? What's more shocking about seeing you again is that they let your fat ass out of rehab. Which seemed like a waste of time as you're still a drunken whore, having that Beelzejuice bottle like it's the last cock in Hell! Not really working your program, V. One call from me and you'll be put back."

Smirking, Verosika flips her long hair back in a vain arrogant fashion."Still being a beloved famous demon turned out to be a free pass. And as if they'd take the word of a fucking old flame like you. Besides, rehab's for sad, loser washups." She took a drink from her flask and wiped it off her mouth with her thumb. "BTW, your sister says hello." She mockingly remarked, hoping to get him furious.

Which worked as Blitzo angrily marches up to her. "Why are you even parking here?!" he demanded, with a heated glare. "This parking spot belongs to my company. So take your piece of shit beater somewhere else!"

"In case you didn't see, prick. It has my name on it." Verosika condescendingly said, leaning forward to point down at her name being spray-painted over I.M.P's name to cross it out. Blitzo seems to have missed the memo from the building manager. "See, I was called to do a little freelance for one of the infinitely more successful companies in the building..."

As they argued, Loona watched from her seat and couldn't believe her eyes. "No way, it can't be..." the hellound breathed in awe, wondering just how Blitzo knew her out of every demon.

"Loona, who is that?" Lincoln asked from his hiding spot.

The receptionist stared at him incredulously. "Are you fucking serious?! That's Verosika Mayday for shit's sake!" She looked at the married imps. "You two didn't tell him about one of Hell's most famous Succubus popstars?!"

"We didn't think we had to!" Moxxie defended.

Lincoln was now even more curious. "Verosika Mayday..." For some reason, that name sounded familiar.

Back to Blitzo and Verosika, the latter finished explaining the reason for her abrupt arrival. "...so,they needed the best Succubus to take over for a week to lead their team during spring break."

"Did you just say a week?!" Blitzo exclaimed in outrage and vehemently voiced his denial. "You're drunk if you think I'm letting you park here for a fucking week!"

Verosika takes her shades off to show her hot pink eyes and teasing expression. "Aw, is that getting you mad, Blitzo?" Her teasing nature was then replaced with a more furious disposition, recanting a previous incident that contributed to their shared animosity. "Is this the part where you run off, force someone else to pay for the hotel room, steal their car..."

Blitzo's eyed did their own eyeroll having heard this before and recounts the events together with Verosika in flawless unison. "...and then drive three rings all the way to Wrath and max all of my credit cards on shitty horse riding lessons?!"

'Goddamn it, whore, you gotta learn to let things go!" Blitzo unsympathetically yelled, feeling she was being very petty right now.

Seeing that he was unapologetic about that fiasco, Verosika walked past him while flipping him the bird. "You haven't changed a bit. Choke on a sandpaper cock." She insulted, passing by the van making Loona lower head nervously and widened her eyes after a looming shadow followed suit, feeling her heart skip a beat. Verosika briefly stopped and looked at the van, there were obviously imps and a hellhound inside who no doubt worked for Blitzo so she didn't pay them any heed, but she felt something else in there, a familiar scent.

One that invoked a very keen interest in her and felt the need to go there.

Blitzo disrupted her musings, though, not finished with his complaints.

"We're not done here! If you don't move that pussy wagon right now, I'm gonna..."

Deep growling made Blitzo freeze up and turn around to see a towering muscular lupine hellhound glowering down at him. His fur had a grey color scheme similar to his adopted daughter's only much darker and had similar eyes, but his left eye was blind due to the scar on it and slightly tattered ears, along with a black fur pattern on his left arm that looks like a wolf's head. His clothing was also threatening, as it included a sleeveless jacket with red spikes over a black shirt and ripped grey pants. "You'll do what, bro?" He challenged the imp.

Blitzo glances at a smug Verosika then back at the hellhound, clearly intimidated. "Or I'll...um...I'll make a quick call to H.R.''

The two stood silent until they shared an amused laugh over the absurdity of Blitzo's comment, even Blitzo found it hilarious and joined in on the laugh until composing themselves.

"So anyways, say hello to my new hellhound, Vortex." Verosika introduced. "Unlike you, he actually does his job like a pro." Vortex leaves with his boss and she bids farewell with one last middle finger to Blitzo. "Ta ta, fuck stain I'm sure you can handle a week." Nearing the entrance, Verosika looked back at the van once more, the scent was still there and she was tempted to see what it was.

"Something wrong, boss?" Vortex asked.

"...Nothing to worry about, Tex." she dismissed, walking inside and heading to the nearest elevator to meet up with her crew.

Blitzo groaned tiredly. "Ugh, why did I ever waste time with a bag of holes like that."

Loona, wanting some answers, stepped out. "You and Verosika Mayday know each other?!"

Getting over his shock, Blitzo answers. "Huh? Oh, her, we dated for a bit." he simply stated, not treating it as a big deal. But it was to his employees.

"No offense, Blitz, but was it before or after she became a pop star?" Millie asked, genuinely confused.

Moxxie jumps out to express his own disbelief. "You're telling us that You dated a pop star?!"

Lincoln himself was understandably surprised by this. "How did that even happen?"

"Okay how exactly in Satan's name is that such a shock?" Blitzo asked, not taking kindly to their befuddlement of him having dated the likes of Verosika.

"Because it's Verosika Mayday?" Loona pointed out how unbelievable it is to be in a relationship with an actual celebrity.

"And it's you?" Millie liked Blitzo as her zany boss, but even she couldn't help but be puzzled at the unlikelihood of a successful pop sensation giving someone like Blitzo a chance at a relationship.

Moxxie's head was hurting just by trying to figure it out. "It'd make sense if she were blind. Or is it some form of brain damage? That makes way more sense."

Lincoln wanted to say they were being unfair, but admitted that they were right to be flummoxed. "Sorry, Blitz, but we just can't see it. At all."

Didn't make Blitzo any happier. "Okay, look, there's really no need to make this a big thing than it needs to be. You don't see me ever prying into your stupid personal lives." he offensively claims.

A lie they just had to call out on.

"You do that regularly, sir!"

"Come on, boss, that's your whole thing."

"It totally is."

"You keep asking me about my sisters!" Lincoln finally realized why Verosika seemed so familiar when he pieced together her and his older sisters. "Wait...Verosika Mayday? Back home, my two older sisters, Lori and Leni listen to a pop singer with the same name! Our parents keep telling them to stop, because of her reputation and don't approve of her songs. I'm not that into pop, more of a rock guy."

"That means you have way better taste than your sisters." Blitzo points to the intern. "And yeah, that's the same slutty Succubus bitch we just saw."

"But...how...?" Lincoln was sure that the posters his sisters had of her showed a completely human woman, but then remembers one bit of info from the books he read about demons of Hell and more info he got from the married couple. "Wait, so the way she looks on Earth is a human disguise?"

"Got it in one, Linc." Loona confirmed his suspicions. "She gets special access to topside since she's one of the more famous and well known succubi."

All this time, his sisters have listened to the music of a Succubus demon, which was slightly unsettling.

Millie mischievously asked a rather shameless question, but made sure to cover Lincoln's ears. "Sooo, what was sex with her like?"

"Millie! Boundaries!" Moxxie cried in admonishment.

"What? We're talking about a pop star!" Millie knew full well that Moxxie was in no room to judge her and felt she deserved some props for making sure Lincoln wouldn't hear. "You'd want to know what sex with your favorite opera singer was like."

Moxxie looked like he was going to argue back, but conceded to her good point. "...Touché, my love." She smugly smiled in victory.

"Just drop it!" Blitzo wanted his time to be entirely focused on this act of aggression against his company that he felt was unwarranted. "Millie, find the van a temporary spot" She tossed her the keys which she caught by jumping as if she were in a video game. "Loonie, Moxxie, Lincoln, we'll go ahead and handle this shit."

Unlike Blitzo who was on the warpath, Loona was shaking in her metaphorical boots. Verosika Mayday, a top singer of Hell with an unlimited amount of blog posts that she's seen on her phone and has been in the wet dreams of her many fans was in the building she worked in. Not only that, but she was accompanied by a brawny hellhound bodyguard, one that was very easy on the eyes for Loona and she's not used to talking with others of her own kind. Blitzo practically keeps her close to him at all times. "You think they noticed me?" An embarrassing thought came to mind. "Fuck! I shouldn't have made my makeup shitty today."

"Why does that matter to you?" Lincoln asked, stepping out of the elevator with them. Loona hardly gave a damn about what others thought of her, opting to kick them either in the nuts or break them down through insults, the main target always being Moxxie.

"We're talking about demon celebrities here!" Loona brushes her hair bashfully. "You can't look like crap in front of them! Succubi aren't like demon royalty like that owl perv, but the ones that make it big are the real shit! And I probably looked like a tool."

"Aw, you looked fluffy and adorable, Looney." Blitzo complimented in his usual doting manner that annoyed Loona. "Just as always." he adds in baby-speak.

Loona groaned. "Be quiet, da-" Blitzo looks at her with an overjoyed expression, expecting this to be the first time she'd address him as 'dad'. Catching herself, Loona pushes him aside. "Urgh! Blitz!" She checks her face in a handheld mirror, stepping over Blitzo before bumping into Vortex's arm, making her take a step back. "Oh. H-Hi there..." Vortex stoically glances down at his fellow hellhound who started blushing and wagging her tail, a sight that was downright adorable.

Blitzo would've gushed if his protective fatherly instincts didn't take in as he gasps in panic over the close proximity between the two and quickly got in between them. "Okay, big man. Point to where your bitch bag of an employer is." He wasn't going to let the day end without him getting that spot back.

"She's with her posse in her office.." Vortex motions to a nearby room with neon pink hearts over double doors. "V" and "M'' are spray painted on it, signifying that it belonged to Verosika and of course, it was right across from I.M.P headquarters. "There wasn't much room on the Succ Inc floor, so they had to rent one on yours, a lot cheaper." He explained.

"Are you-?! That's just being petty!" Blitzo shouts indignantly.

Vortex scoffs nonchalantly with a helpless shrug and gets back to his duties. "Sorry, man That's just how it is." He felt a little bad, but hey, a job's a job to Vortex and whatever mess is going on between her and her ex wasn't in the job description.

"Bad enough that slut of an ex of mine stole my parking space, now she steals half of my floor with the rest of her fellow hoes?!" Blitzo growled dangerously, now having more reason to go to war with his ex-girlfriend. "I don't think so, bitch."

"Blitz, just hang on. Isn't there any way to, I don't know, talk it out with her? I get that things ended badly between you, but maybe apologizing might make her go easy on you." Lincoln suggested.

Moxxie agrees with his idea. "Lincoln makes a good point, sir. A good civilized attempt to reason with her is all that's ever needed. Now, I don't really think of myself as a follower of what's classified as pop genre music," he says that in a hoity manner. "so, I'm not fazed by her status-" Blitzo's rage tuned out Moxxie's lengthy criticism of Verosika's music as if he were one of those reviewers. "No offense to her, but her music is a bit derivative of-"

"Moxxie, you better shut the fuck up. This day's already going to shit and your crap ideas are only making it worse." Blitzo then took Lincoln's shoulder and gave him some sage advice. "And kid. You're young so you don't know shit, but as you get older, you'll come to realize that bitches be crazy. There's no negotiating with them, especially when they're a fucking space-stealing harlot with a lousy credit score...at least it did turn lousy when I was done with it." he gets back on track. "Bottom line is that you'll never get anywhere with her, and don't even think I'm just gonna roll over and fucking apologize. That'll only give her a lot of mileage and I refuse to give her the satisfaction."

"Not that you could give her that anymore, anyway." Loona snidely remarked.

"Loona, you know I love you, but don't think you can sweet talk your way out of getting busted for cozying up with her attack dog." Blitzo shudders. "Who knows where he's been, especially with a group of nymphos and I refuse to let anyone working for me talk to one of her people!" he sternly tells the female hellhound.

"We didn't do anything." Loona bitterly frowns. "You got in the way."

"And I'm proud of it!"

"I don't need you holding my hand through everything!"

Despite Blitzo blowing his idea down, Lincoln still thought about settling the matter diplomatically. Granted, it took a while for him to stomach the fact that unsavory individuals was normal for Hell, because well, it's Hell. But in his time here, he did meet demons that showed not all Hell denizens were inherently bad and rotten to the core. Mrs. Mayberry and Octavia came to mind and one was a Sinner while the other was royalty that was born native to Hell and of course, there's the employees of I.M.P that took him in. Demons are shitty to fellow demons, but may be decent enough to treat those they value as close confidants considerably well.

Sneaking away from his coworkers, Lincoln headed to the doors to Verosika's office which was a recording studio that blared pop music and the pop star was chatting it up with her personal entourage made up of fellow Succubi and their male counterparts, Incubi and all shared traits such as horns, shades of red skin, small bat wings and spaded tails. Three of these males were Ace, a tall muscular male with an ace of spades tattoo on his neck, short spiky black hair, facial hair on his chin, a torn top with a cut off pentagram star and exposed his abdomen, black jeans, shoes, and black finger less gloves. Next to him was Josh, an incubus with light gray colored hair, black v-neck shirt with burning forest on it, choker with an upside down cross, simple pants and shoes. The final male was Kat, a slimmer guy with spiked up hair, a red sleeveless hoodie, blue plants and white shoes.

The three noticed Lincoln and instantly glared, wondering what a runt was doing here.

The Succubi portion of Verosika's crew were equally as attractive as their leader with bodacious sensual bodies. First off there was Apple, a blonde haired Succubus tied into a ponytail, blue overalls with rolled up legs, pentagram star zipper, black ring bracelets on her right wrist, a tattoo on her left leg, and sandal heels. An arm was slung around her and she held the hand that belonged to another female Succubus with her hairstyle done in an afro and wears a shoulder less crop top with a skull over a top with slings, blue shorts over fishnet pants, and boots, this was Apple's girlfriend, Coco.

There stood a Succubus that was shorter than the rest, but still taller than him and was gifted with thick curvy hips and had wavy black hair, left armed top that exposed her belly and left her right arm bare, blue denim jean shorts that exposed her black lace and black knee high heeled boots, her name was Milky. The last member of Verosika's crew was the long bluish haired Kiki who was a tall and slender being clad in a transparent mesh shirt with heart shaped, dress skirt, earrings that were upside down crosses, and black leggings that were different in length, one exposed her slender thigh.

He looks to Verosika who had taken off her coat to reveal arm white harm gloves with pink X's and he can see a heart tattoo on her right arm with a name that's been crossed out with an X, that was most likely Blitzo's, showing that she's still very embittered after they broke up.

He was in a room with very attractive demon women, it took a lot to not act like Clyde or Rusty right now.

Clearing his throat with a blush, Lincoln called to get Verosika's attention. "Excuse me. Miss Mayday?" The Succubi turned and didn't expect to see a human boy right in front of them. "I work for Blitz at I.M.P a-and he's a little mad about the parking space that belongs to us, so-"

"Well, what do we have here~?" Verosika cooed as she and her gal pals strutted over to surround him and they all had lidded eyes and suggestive smirks that set off a lot of alarms in her head. "Thought I caught a whiff of a human in Blitzo's shit-tastic van and to think I was joking about the amber alerts." she laughed to herself and looked back down at the boy. "Got a name, cutie?"

"Y-Yes, I'm Lincoln Loud." He respectfully greeted, slowly becoming a nervous mess which made them giggle and whisper among themselves. Clearing his throat again and getting back to the reason why he's here. "So anyway, I was wondering if you'd kindly consider finding another parking spot-"

"Aw, look at him all dressed up in his wittle suit." Coco said, playfully pointing at Lincoln's attire teasingly. "Trying to look all professional in front of the grown-ups, wittle fella?"

Lincoln frowned slightly at her playful tone. "Please don't talk to me like I'm a four-year-old, ma'am. I-"

Apple bent forward to get a good look at his appearance. "You got a cute little chipped tooth there, don't ya?" she giggled cutely, then pats his snow covered head. "And is that really natural? Looks way too real to be dyed."

"Got that right. You part bunny or something, kiddo?" Milky commented, ruffling Lincoln's hair. She may have been the shortest among the crew, but she was still taller than the boy.

Embarrassment washed over Lincoln at that remark, he was once again mistaken for being some kind of bunny creature. He became very put off when Kiki crouches and peered in closer to look at his eyes, as if reading him and she hummed. "Pure unspoiled chastity. Our favorite flavor. It's like candy to us." She could tell just by looking. She looked at her leader. "Think your little goblin-ass ex-boyfriend sent this boy as a housewarming gift?" she joked.

"Oh, I hope so." the demon pop star grinned. "Though, I seriously doubt it."

His danger senses kept buzzing, he got the feeling that venturing into a den of Succubi may not have been the wisest decision, which in hindsight, should have been a given and if he were smart, he'd leave. "Okay...um, you know what? You're probably very busy right now and a parking space isn't really all that important. So, I'll just see myself out..."

He attempted to scoot back, hoping to ger some distance, but Coco caught his shoulders. "What's the hurry, Cottontail?" she asked. "Sure you can't spare a couple of minutes just for us? Maybe also for some fun later?"

"Fun?" Lincoln felt they had a different idea on what counts as fun. "What kind of f-?" Lincoln didn't get to finish as Verosika got down on her knees and cupped Lincoln's chin. He had no idea what she was planning before she planted one big sloppy kiss on his cheek. "Gah!" he shouted in both shock and surprise, he swiftly backed away, now on his toes. "Uh, don't you think you're moving a bit too fast? I just came to talk."

"Mmm..." Verosika hummed in intrigue over him. "You're not like most humans. You got something special. Why I never noticed is beyond me.." Dread shot through Lincoln as he didn't like where this was going. "Don't be afraid, a simple little thing never hurts. It's not every day this happens you know. "

Lincoln raised a brow in confusion. "What do you mean?"

That question made the Succubi in the room howl in laughter while the Incubi just rolled their eyes. Inexperienced people who don't even know the concept of a kiss always annoyed them.

"I mean kissing." Verosika elaborated, amused by Lincoln's naivety.

Lincoln gaped. "Wait, what?"

"You heard her, baby boy." Coco purred. "Want me or my girl, Apple, to be your first kiss? . Then, we'll get to the real fun if you're feeling brave." She shares an intense kiss with the blonde Succubus to showcase. Lincoln has only kissed one girl in his life, but something in his head told Lincoln that kissing wasn't the only thing they were interested in.

"A-A kind offer, but I don't think so." Lincoln berated himself for not listening to Blitzo.

"Aw, what's the matter? Afraid we might bite or are you nervous for your first kiss?" Kiki asked, smirking.

Lincoln blushed a bit after remembering the two he's had with his female best friend, Ronnie Anne, which felt kind of nice even if he did get a black eye the first time. "...Not exactly. I mean, it was only twice, but-"

"No shitting?" Milky gave a sound of being impressed. "So we got ourselves a little player?"

"What? No! It was with the same girl!"

"Is that all?" Verosika caressed his cheek with her hand and spoke in a flirtatious tone. "Want us to fix that, sweetie?"

Lincoln managed to keep himself under his own control and not let their flirtations get the best of him, he was here for a stupid reason, but it was still a reason. The way they were looking at him was freaking him out and his mind was yelling at him to run for the hills. "Look, I only came here for Blitz's sake and I understand he may not have been a good boyfriend, miss Mayday-"

"Quit it with the formalities, honey. You can just call me Verosika." She reserved that honor for her really special friends and tickled his face with her tail. "And forget about whatever that fucking asshat, Blitzo said about me. I'm not so bad once you get to know me."

"I'd like to believe that." Lincoln slowly reaches for the exit, but Milky blocks his path.

"What's the matter, sport? You just gonna run out on us?" she cheekily asked.

"N-No! I just think I've overstayed my welcome!"

"Aw, don't be like that, kiddo." Verosika motioned for her gals to block other possible exits. "You don't think we're terrible, do you? Or are we not pretty enough?" she pouted, faking being hurt.

"Not that I don't think any of you are pretty, quite the opposite in fact." Lincoln laughs nervously, tugging his collar. "But, I wouldn't want to disturb you nice ladies since it looks like you're in the middle of important stuff and-WOAH!" Apple hoists him up with her tail and hugs him close, nuzzling his face with her own with a bright smile.

"You hear that, ladies? He thinks we're pretty and nice!"

"Well-mannered, too." Kiki noted approvingly. "Looks like we got ourselves a keeper."

Lincoln needed a way out, pronto, but they got all the exits blocked.

Except for an opening through the air vents. "Excuse me, ladies." he jumped out of Apple's hold and onto a stacked box that he used as a means to reach the vent.

Verosika and the girls grinned in amusement at his efforts. "I do love it when they play hard to get. Milky, fetch." Adhering to her boss's order, the short Succubus flapped her bat-like wings and flew towards Lincoln as he was trying to get into the vent. He was halfway through when Milky closed the vent , making him fall back down where he fell into Verosika's suffocating embrace in her cleavage. He found himself staring right up at her beautiful pink eyes blushing heavily. "Why in a rush to leave, little boy? We're way better company than those little imps." she tapped his nose and she hugged him close. Soon enough, the other four women advanced.

The boy found himself bombarded with kisses on his face, and he truly regretted entering this office alone. While most would be green with envy, he didn't come here to get kissed but to get a space back and leave things civil. Though, it was fortunate they didn't take things any further, they at least held some restraint there. He got so red, he could easily be mistaken for a young imp only without the tail and horns. "I just came here to ask for the parking space back." He said when they took a reprieve from their kissing actions. "That's all, it's not too much to ask you know...should I take your kisses as a yes...?"

Apple took Lincoln away from Verosika and she and Coco hugged him like a doll between them. "You are just too cute!"

"My girl's not wrong, baby boy." Coco complimented. "We might just keep you around later, if you play your cards right."

Little did Verosika or her posse know, Blitzo was watching the entire commotion from the other side of the window panel.

After lecturing Loona, Blitzo took notice of Lincoln's sudden absence and looked through the mirror showing the inside of his one-time romantic partner's office and he quickly put two and two together.

"Oh, crumbs." Moxxie paled, also observing this. "Sir, we still have time!"

"Those back-alley, two dollar, crack whores!" Blitzo snarled in rage. The doors were kicked open, forcing Verosika and her crew to turn and saw Blitzo march up to his ex. "Alright, all of you skanks! That is it! You can take my parking space, half my floor. Hell, you can go ahead and take my limited edition horse figurine collection, but I draw the line at you band of hussies messing with my employees!" he bravely proclaims. "I wouldn't even let you have your way with Moxxie!"

"Really, sir?" Moxxie then addresses Verosika. "Miss Verosika, was it? Look, let us kindly collect our young friend you have there and perhaps allows us to retain the singular parking space that was assigned to us, that way, we may be on our-"

Josh moved closer to him. "Want a kissy, little guy?"

"I'm...very flattered, but I'm married." Moxxie bashfully denies.

"Don't even think about it, you walking condom! Mox, go wait outside with Loona!" Blitzo glares hatefully at Verosika. "I can handle this myself."

"Blitz, is that you?" Seeing his coworkers come to his rescue just in time, Lincoln slipped away from Coco and Apple, to their shared disappointment. His face was covered in red lipstick marks. "I tried talking to them, but uh, things didn't go as planned." he said, disappointed that he failed.

"Don't worry about it, buddy boy. Let the boss deal with it." Blitzo pats his shoulder comfortably and faces Verosika who scoffs.

"Try not to bitch and moan, Blitzo. Is it wrong to want to get to know a new special friend?" Verosika remarked, still grinning at the boy. "Especially when they're a little cutie."

"You know what?! You nearly crossed a line and that's enough for us to settle this, bitch!" Blitzo announces. "If you want to keep messing with me, then I challenge you to a fucking..." he struggles to find the words. "...challenge!" He immediately regrets his blunder. "Fuck, I said that twice."

Kiki hums, entertained. "Sounds to me like this imp boy's starting a demon duel."

Verosika chuckles. "I think you're right, Kiki." She might as well see what kind of challenge Blitzo has to offer and lowers close to Blitzo's height to humor him, giving Lincoln after getting an eye full of her cleavage, making him look down. "What game are you thinking then, Blitzo?" she asked, a little curious.

Blitzo decided to outdo these demons by intending to prove that his skill set was far better than theirs. "Every spring break, Asmodeus lets you STD spreaders go up topside for easy pickings, but its still a prime time for other crimes." he surmises and gives his own confident smirk, laying down the challenge. "So, here's the challenge. I bet you Succu-bitches can't fuck as many people as we can off by the end of the day." he presses his fingers to his head to mimic a gun for added measure.

Verosika, the other Succubi, and the Incubi collectively laughed out loud after hearing the challenge. Her friends were like I.M.P, stumped that their leader actually dated this delusional imp at any given time in the past. His obvious idiocy must have been why she broke it off. Verosika thought he was just joking, until seeing his determined glare. "Oh, you're being serious?"

"Fucking right I am! If my team and I win, we get that space back!" Blitzo adds.

Verosika taps her chin in contemplation and shares knowing glances with her girls who nodded in agreement. "That's fair. But if we win, then the ladies and I get to have little snowball there hang here for the rest of the week." She confidently smirked at a shocked Blitzo.

That made Lincoln get back to coherency. "...I beg your pardon?"

"Excuse you?!" an appalled Blitzo yells, not believing what she was suggesting.

"I think you heard me." With a sly grin, Verosika decides to have a little more fun to mess with her ex and get some more quality time with Lincoln. Her tail suddenly wormed its way around Lincoln's body and before he or Blitzo could react, he was up like a caught fish in water. "Considering how you seem to have a boner for a parking space, it's only fair I get something in return, wouldn't you agree and what better than time with this one? Besides, you and your nasty pack of gremlins have been keeping this adorable little creature to yourselves for too long." she softly caressed Lincoln's face. "The girls and I should get to play. But then again, if you don't have the balls to take that gamble, I guess I'll just keep your parking spot and we'll leave it at that." she sneered at Blitzo, who was getting increasingly agitated with every word she spoke. "How about it, kiddo? Come over here to me, and I'll show you all the perks of the music business." she sweetly offered Lincoln.

Despite the awkward position he was in, Lincoln tried to politely decline. "I appreciate it, er, Verosika. But, I'm already committed as an intern for I.M.P." They were insane, but they were still good friends and he learned to not be so shallow. Fame was a road of very uneasy paths. "I'll stick to where I am. Besides, as if Blitz would put me on the line just to get his parking space ba-"

"You're on!" Blitzo immediately declared without pause, causing Verosika to smirk at how the prideful imp took the bait, while Lincoln went as pale as his hair.

"What?!" Lincoln shrieked.

Josh turns to his fellow dudes with an annoyed scoff. "Is she for real right now?"

"This is Verosika." Ace reminds him. "You know how she gets when she wants something." When it comes to their species, when one of them sets their sights on something, they do whatever it takes to get it.

"So what? Seems like a lot of trouble to go through to get back at her freaky ex." Kat grumbles.

The complaining from the Incubi gained Verosika's piercing glare and venomous growl, making the guys zip their lips and stop whatever grievances they had over this deal. If they didn't go along with this, they risked upsetting their boss and no one wants to face an enraged Verosika Mayday.

She threw one last smirk at Blitzo. "You got yourself a game,...bitch." The pop star Succubus mocked to show just how sure she was that she and her crew will be the victors of the bet.

Understandably, Lincoln was not onboard with this at all. "Blitz, are you being serious right now?! We can just get a new space! There is literally no reason to wager me off!" the young intern shouted at his boss. He usually doesn't mind affection, though can get a bit timid if it's really blatant, but the way these demon women were all over him, they were showing shameless forwardness that he was surprised at. It made him think that it would be better to lock himself somewhere until the week was up and they were gone from the building and all would be semi-right in the world.

The rest of the Succubi were just as confident as their leader.

"We so got this~." Coco stated.

"Coco and I get him if Verosika can loosen him up!" Apple chirped.

"Why not make it a free for all?" Milky asked.

"Don't wanna tucker the little guy out too much." Kiki pointed out.

"Relax there, sporto." Blitzo reassures his intern, sure of himself. "I wouldn't have agreed if I didn't believe in my team's penchant for dropping bodies like flies. Now, I believe you've had your fun." he tells Verosika, expecting her to release his youngest employee. Glaring back, Verosika does so and the I.M.P boss shouts to his other subordinates. "Looney! Moxxie! Get in the office and wait for Mills! We got a victory to plan!"

Shaking his head with a sigh, Lincoln glumly followed after him, but Verosika took this one last chance to call out to him. "Oh, Linky~."

He stopped with a wince, the chills down his spine returning and slowly looking back. "Yeah?" he replies, cautiously.

"Just so you know, bet or no bet, you're welcome to come back any time and you'll get to see how a real company is run. We'll be keeping a seat warm for you after we take your limp-dick boss down a peg." Grinning seductively, the towering Succubus bent down to Lincoln's level. "Trust me. We've got so many fun plans for you." Verosika told him playfully, her tone hypnotic the more he stared into her eyes.

"Uh..." Lincoln's blush returns. The other females in her group send their own gestures, from winks, to blown kisses, and crossing their legs.

As for the guys, Ace hissed as he slid his thumb across his throat with a threatening glare that was shared with Josh and Kat to send a clear and cut message.

"I'll keep that in mind." Lincoln meekly said, hastily following his boss and coworkers. He spared one angry glare at Blitzo.

Verosika knew if she was going to put Blitzo in his place to get back at him for the downfall of their past relationship and get herself Lincoln, she and her crew needed to pull out all the stops.

Later, at I.M.P headquarters where all members are assembled, Blitzo stands in front of an easel full of paper with crude pencil drawings of Blitzo and his staff and a large whiteboard flanked by bat wings at the top. There was a large bar graph drawn on the board along with horse drawings. Moxxie, Millie, Loona, and Lincoln sat in their spiked chairs, ready to listen to their boss's presentation on how they were going to win the bet.

"Alright, shut your assholes, here's how we're gonna do this shit." he flipped to more drawings of his genius plan. "First. We get hired by a fuck ton of clients." Imps and clients surrounded them with bags of money and then they fell down. "We portal upwards. Have our fun murder time per the norm, pile up the bodies on a big fucking canoe." Lincoln concernedly glanced at an exasperated Moxxie. "Said canoe is pushed into some water. Then, we light it on fire to attract the sharks, eagles and shit, maybe even a goose, too. Fuck it." he included an octopus chomping up the entire canoe and animals. "They eat the bodies, we win the bet..." the I.M.P team are shown celebrating. "...and rub it in that stuck-up bitch's drunken whore ass face and get the space back." The I.M.P team gave several middle fingers to a Verosika drawing who was in tears and the next drawing showed their van in its rightful place. "Any questions?"

Moxxie raised his hand first. "Here's one. That was complete nonsense and also, poor penmanship, sir. Very poor." he deadpanned.

Blitzo walks over to him with a frown. "Not a question."

"But, it still wasn't a plan." Moxxie retorts.

Blitzo puts a hand around Moxxie. "Maybe to your eyes, Mox,. It's no wonder they didn't see a flawless presentation of what we should do. Your own fault for having smooth little brains upstairs."

"Care to repeat that?" Moxxie queries, eyebrows raised.

"I'm calling you very slow, Moxxie." Blitzo clarifies, annoyed that he was getting pissed about another insult to his intelligence. "God, why don't you learn to handle some criticism, you talentless baby-dicked troll?" He poked Moxxie's chest several times.

An angry Moxxie stood up on the long table. "Maybe when you take an art class once in a while!"

Blitzo showed that he's got problems with criticism as well. "Maybe when you see how expensive they are!" he grabbed Moxxie's collar and threw him back on the chair.

"Excuse me!" Lincoln interjected, flailing his arms in the air. "Can we please circle back to coming up with a better plan to win this bet, so I won't be forced to spend a week over at that office?!"

"Come on, kid. A little master planner like you should be all for it." Blitzo said, assertive in his ideas. "You're not still mad that I bet you as a prize, right?"

Lincoln thought on it and listed off the reasons why he's rightly miffed. "Hmm. Let's see. In an effort to show up your ex-girlfriend, you traded my employment away like a pair of sneakers." He crossly turned away from Blitzo. "Kind of hard not to."

"It could've been way worse. It's not like I traded your soul."

"You might as well have!"

Millie shook her head and rubs the boy's head tenderly. "Honestly, Blitz. I still can't believe you're actually risking losing Lincoln. Did you forget that he's part of our little assassin family?" While Millie's often supportive of Blitzo's crazy, near-psychotic tendencies and schemes, she couldn't abide with him making a bet with the consequence of Lincoln having to be with those demons should they lose. "The mere thought of him with those damn jezebels is enough to make me want to chainsaw them to bits for pie seasonings!" Her eyes become more crazed and feral, showing a side to her that's driven by uncontrollable rage.

"I'll be honest, sir. Betting your employees was a low even I never saw you stooping to." Moxxie voiced, deeply ashamed to call Blitzo his boss.

"A, I take offense to you thinking I actually have morals at all, Moxxie. And B, our company's honor is on the line, people!" Blitzo passionately slammed his fists on the table. "We can't let this injustice stand and thus, we must be willing to make whatever sacrifice!"

"It's only a parking space, Blitz!"

"It's our parking space, intern! You saw how big that fucking lot is, there was a big-ass tank! Yet, we were the few that got ourselves a spot reserved for only I.M.P!" Blitzo was particularly proud of that, citing it as an accomplishment and example that his business was moving up in Hell and was damned if he was going to let Verosika ruin it.

Loona finally decided to weigh in on the planning. "Hey, is there a chance I can come with you guys this time?" Her request surprised Lincoln. This was the first time Loona actually made an effort in actively participating in an assignment. Blitzo was the boss, Moxxie handled guns, Millie was the muscle, his own role was mainly support and magic using, but Loona always manned the phone, staying in Hell.

Blitzo was quick to reject that idea. "Absolutely not. I forbid it. Not gonna happen. Sorry, sweetie. Spring break is no place for young vulnerable goth girls. You know the kind of freaks up there who'd drool all over you!"

All five of them silently gazed at the empty air in judgment, anger, and annoyance.

Lincoln realized he hasn't talked to it in a long time.

Breaking that piercing gaze, Loona offered how she could be an asset "Well, I can blend in with humans easy enough. Just let me tag along. You're always okay with Lincoln going with you and he's a kid."

Blitzo did a double take. "Wait. What was that?

"Blend in? You know, with humans?" Loona repeats, confused.

"Wait, you have a human disguise?" Millie curiously asked. They worked in the same company, yet, she never knew that about Loona, not even Blitzo.

"Yeah. Don't you?" Loona's question made the three imps tensely look at each other side to side, making it apparent to Lincoln and Loona that not once in all their missions did they think to pose as the humans they were hired to kill and it infuriated the hellhound. "You're telling me that you three idiots have been screwing around Earth this whole fucking time without even thinking of using human disguises?!" She always mocked them for their low smarts, but didn't believe how far it went.

Lincoln facepalmed at this. He assumed they decided to not use them as the people that saw them end up dead in the end, so the three didn't count disguising themselves necessary, which turned out to be false. But this did give him an idea to work with and form into a real plan. "That actually can really help! Loona can pretend to be a human girl and lure people to you guys. We just need to have a client or clients who demand enough targets to win the bet!"

"Flawless logic, Lincoln." Moxxie smiled. "We aren't just going up there to kill at random, after all."

"Our little man with the plan!" Millie beamed.

"Thanks. But like I said, there's the issue of getting a lot of clients to hire us. Where exactly are we gonna find so many?"

"Got that covered, kid." Blitzo smirked. Outside, Blitzo puts up a ratty flier for anyone to see and seek out their services, even though it was obvious he really needed to take an art class for a better drawn flier. "Now the wait begins." he says to them, pleased.

Moxxie would be the richest imp in Hell if he had a nickel for every time he points out the flaws in his boss's line of thinking. "Sir, I see no way we're going to get enough clients for such a long list with one poorly spelled bad grammar flier!" Fast footsteps are heard and they see that a large group of Sinners and even some imps have gathered to line up to the flier.

Blitzo elbowed Moxxie smugly and the gun expert fumes.

"Now, who's up first?" Blitzo went to the cadre of new clients, already feeling that he's got this bet in the bag.

On the very next day, Lincoln opened up a portal to a beach that was where I.M.P tracked down the list of clients they put together after sorting out all the requests. There were nothing but young spring breakers having a huge beach party and it was at this very party, that Verosika Mayday herself was to host a special spring break concert and they all didn't want to pass up the chance at seeing a show of the famous, albeit controversial pop singer. Before the show could begin, these impulsive young people spent their time on the beach, enjoying all the beers and drugs until the concert began.

The I.M.P team which now includes Loona hid behind coral covered rocks under a dock. "Now remember, we can't be seen, alright? And loose shots will likely cause a panic, so Loona can help with leading targets to a better spot to off them." For once, Blitzo actually exercised caution. "You got the list, Looney?"

Loona holds the list to her nose and her supernatural sense of smell was activated after she sniffed it. "Got it." She stepped into the sun and in a swirling flash of blue light and a distant howl of a wolf, she took on a human appearance, evident by her lack of a tail and having flesh instead of fur. She kept her usual clothes, except the choker on her neck lost its spikes and instead of being barefoot, she now wore high-top sneakers. The color of her eyes were now inverted, having white sclera and red irises and in place of her torn right ear were piercings and her head is shaved on the right side.

All in all, she really puts off the human look really well.

A fact that I.M.P agreed with as they stared in shock. "Wow. Loona. You look so...pretty." Lincoln praised.

"Heh, thanks, Linc." Loona replied, smiling a little as she expected a more lecherous compliment, but remembered who she was talking to.

Her boss, on the other hand..."Oh, Looney, just look at you! You look downright horrifically awful!" he gushed, angering Loona and wiping a proud tear away. "I am so proud. Now fetch!"

Loona peers her eyes at the humans, those that were targeted for execution were outlined in red in her vision. Smirking, she approached a tall man with sunglasses and flirtatiously pointed to him and herself, then to a private space away from the beach. Eagerly, the man followed her and she hardly cared when he got shot in the head by Blitzo who was spying from the roof. He gives Loona a thumbs up in approval and tells Moxxie and Millie to prepare themselves for the next kills.

They weren't going to win back their parking space by being sloppy.

The next few hours were very productive for I.M.P, they ruthlessly exterminated the next slew of targets with impressive ease because Loona flirting with all their marks was instrumental in their success. Each was crossed off the special spring break hit list by the numbers at a fast pace so that they could garner enough of a count to win the bet, making Bltizo quite proud of himself for this seemingly successful outing. He thought Moxxie was a real fool for having actual doubts, but Blitzo wasn't going to take all Verosika's actions so easily, not him. Not only did it appear that his team will surely claim victory over his old flame, but he'll also get his hollowed parking space back.

Lincoln mostly kept to himself the entire time. To distract himself from this whole bet business happening around him, he breathed in that fresh Earth air that's only come rarely. Being back on Earth made the feeling of going to his family to let them know he was okay reemerge or at least call them to do so, but the risks involved were still present and he forced himself not to, didn't mean he liked it. On the bright side, at least he was at a beach, it seemed like forever since the last time he enjoyed the sand, waters, and sun.

It reminded him of family trips to Aloha Beach.

Except, this one had a lot of patrons full of college kids drinking and swallowing pills.

Now he understood why his parents advised Lori before leaving for college to be careful when spring break comes around. If this is how it is for people near her age to act, he'd have said the same thing if they thought about her doing a lot of drugs and flirting with anyone who caught her eye. He wondered if his demon friends were really able to clean out this beach before Verosika and her entourage arrived.

Verosika.

Just thinking about that Succubus and those other demon women made Lincoln look over his shoulder, thinking they were right behind them. He didn't want to think about losing the bet, even if they were pretty attractive.. "Would you calm down, Linc?" He looked up at the human form of Loona who picked up his fear and anxiety. "Pussying out won't help at all."

Lincoln frowned apologetically. "Sorry, Loona. I just feel like there's someone hiding in a dark corner, watching me."

"Shit, Verosika sure has you rattled, huh?" Loona commented.

"Yeah. She, uh, certainly made an impression." Lincoln scratched his nape. "But you're right. I can't constantly stress about it. We're on a pretty good role so far, and she hasn't even shown up yet."

Loona smiled with a brow raised. "Never thought I'd see you of all humans be glad about dead fucks. What happened to the wide-eyed runt that was all about 'killing is wrong' and all that crap."

He gazed down with a sad look. "Getting hunted down by a psycho family of killers tends to make someone think." Not wanting to get into that territory, he changed the subject. "By the way, how's it feel being up and about on Earth?"

"It's different, but also the same as down below." Loona shrugged, not taken with the new sights.

"But, why did you decide to come?" Lincoln pressed for more answers. "Is it about the other hound that was working for Verosika?" He saw the way she looked at him and he may be young, but he recognized the look of a loves truck young woman. It's the same look his sisters have with each of their romantic interests, not to mention that one time they became enamored with his tutor.

"N-No!" Loona was suspiciously quick to deny it, but the deep red blush she had suggested otherwise. "I-I just did, okay? So what if she has a yummy beefcake of a hound and helping out would mean keeping you around?" she accidentally reveals the other reason. "I m-mean...No!"

Chuckling, Lincoln rubbed his arm. "Heh. Yeah, kinda figured. Helping isn't really your style." He knew the truth, but for the sake of her keeping up her apathetic image, he played along. "Still, though. Thanks a lot."

Loona fought the urge, but nothing stopped her from smiling back at Lincoln genuinely.

Blitzo was celebrating another quick kill, he and the imp couple had collected all the bodies they put down into trash bags with Moxxie cleaning them and Millie jumping on a body to force it in. "That's nine kills in the bag! Smell that, people? It's the smell beating that tramp and her groupies!"

"Still can't believe this started over a parking space." Lincoln mutters.

"I'd watch the whining, kid." Blitzo warned. "These kills are gonna keep your v-card safe, so don't forget that. Be happy that we'll soon hold this win over Verosika for all time."

Lincoln saw that Blitzo was also riled up because of Verosika, but for different reasons. "Things must have gotten real ugly before you two broke up to get you so angry."

"Oh, that." Blitzo waves off with doubt. "Ancient history. It was fun for a while, but it just wasn't meant to be. All relationships end that way." he stubbornly says, claiming the only reason he's like this is because his space got snatched and nothing more. "No way she has any hard feelings."

"You think so?" From what Lincoln observed, there seems to be a lot of unresolved baggage when it came to Blitz and Verosika. "She seems to hold a huge grudge about it."

"That's just because she thinks any horndog in Hell would treat dating her as winning the lottery and anything less is ridiculous, the prideful bitch." Blitzo said from his own opinion. "Not like she didn't do her own fuck ups when we were still a thing and I just like to see that waily snatch orgasm that many..."

"Alright, calling all spring breakers!" Everyone on the beach turned their eyes to the music stage where pink steam was emitted and blasted out the music of Verosika Mayday with the pop star herself emerging up to the stage, her silhouette being seen. Any remaining beach goers that weren't killed by I.M.P gathered to the stage like moths to a flame at the introduction of a famous celebrity on the beach. "Are any of Y'all ready to get fucked up in the head and make a crap ton of bitchin' bad choices?!" Her response was massive cheers from her adoring fans when the steam cleared to show the diva in her human disguise.

Her pink skin was now lightly tanned, and the outer part of her hair turned blonde with a red top while the inside still had its pink coloration. Her eyes were now white, but the irises remained pink, the eyeliner also didn't disappear. She had a new outfit on which was a ruffled pink top, arm sleeves that bared her shoulder, and an equally ruffled pink skirt that was slit on the hem, the skirt had a star and black heart. In place of her tail was a light pink sash.

One fan boy in the audience tore his short off to show her name written on his chest. "Verosika! I love you!"

"Whoa..." Lincoln breathed at her appearance.

Succubus or human, Verosika Mayday was eye-catching to all present.

Verosika spotted him from afar and sent a wink only for him, walking off while swaying her hips. "Come along, cuties. Final call for everyone of you~." she waved, making her ex-boyfriend growl like a wild animal, drool foaming in the mouth.

Millie turned Lincoln away and made him take a walk. "Turn away from the bitch, Lincoln! Don't look directly at her eyes and wait somewhere to hide! I'll call you when it's time to come back!"

"Where am I supposed to go?"

Lincoln sat down while holding his nose at a portable bathroom far away. "I'd say I had worse spring breaks, but then I'd be lying. I don't even have to go."

He heard a knock. "Hey! Is this free?"

"No, the demons that I've been living with and working for told me to hide here!"

"...Okay. That's cool. I can wait. Say, can you tell me what drug you're using and where I can get it?"

He heard a gun go off. "Lincoln, it's Millie!, sweetie! You can come back! Everything's starting to calm down! Also, I just crossed another name off our list! Now, we're at ten kills!" she cheered.

He looked out and saw the red on the bathroom door. "...Great."

Blitzo was furious. He looked at the sun as it was setting down. None of them had been able to find any more targets, which meant he might just lose to his ex-girlfriend turned rival and only spotted just a few beach goers that were lying down due to their stomach aches on his side of the beach.. He was so confident before, and now his chances of winning this bet were getting slim and he just couldn't allow that to happen. Not with so much on the line.

"God dammit! That bitch and her goatish mating calls! We should've chosen a different beach with targets that liked better music!"

Lincoln was very worried, albeit very confused as he was still with I.M.P. even when the song started. He was the one single human not affected by the song, sitting on the sand and still stuck by them. The song had sounded like a siren's call, and unlike the sailors of old, Lincoln didn't fall prey to it. "I get that you four aren't affected, but how come it's not working on me?" Common decency integrated in his mind made for good willpower.

"You're not a perverted little shit for one thing. Either that or puberty hasn't hit you like a fucking bullet train yet." Blitzo talks sternly with fists on his hips. "Want my advice? Enjoy every second of it. Don't let your child-like youth go to waste before you eventually turn into one of these college kids." he got back to the task at hand. "Alright, guys, we gotta pick things up! We don't have long until the sun goes down! Is he on the list, Looney?" he pointed at a sickly blonde man next to him.

Loona didn't even look to make sure, she was too transfixed by Vortex. "Huh? Yeah...I-I think so?" She had been standing for the rest of the entire day like a mannequin.

Lincoln followed her gaze and saw a muscular black man guarding the stage. Those who didn't see his demon form wouldn't recognize him as a human, but Lincoln did and he easily deduced that judging by the same clothes, wolf marking changed into a tattoo, this was Verosika's hellhound bodyguard, Vortex, the same hound Loona clearly carried a torch for. "Uh-oh." Lincoln warily looked at the now smitten Loona. "Please don't let this be like Hugh all over again..."

"Good!" Blitzo smiled, raising up a hatchet, unaware of Loona being distracted.

The beach goer looks up at Blitzo in slurred stupor. "Oh, woah...what are you? A leprechaun?" he cackles.

"Oh, yeah. Pretty cool, huh?" He cleaved the confused man's head. "But you sure as shit ain't gonna tell nobody." He taunted, discarding his axe and oblivious to Lincoln flinching and turning away slightly while green. Just because there were sinful humans in the world that deserved to be put down doesn't mean he felt some satisfaction when karma caught up to them. Some may feel it, but not Lincoln. "Alright, next one, Looney, come on. Can't burn the daylight." Blitzo got worried when she didn't respond. "Loonie? Wait, where-" he sees the spot where Loona once stood to be devoid of the disguised hellhound. "Wh-Wh-Where's my baby?!" he cries in a panic.

Millie, who was patting Lincoln's back to ease his upset stomach, spotted their wayward receptionist walk her way towards the stage. "Look!"

Blitzo groaned in dismay. "M&M, with me! We gotta get her back! Our company's pride is on the line and we can't deal with a snafu! Kid, you hang back! Don't wanna risk her gals seeing you!"

Lincoln understandably never left his spot as he was told. He waited for the most part, but Lincoln got distressed when no one returned. He figured calling for Loona's name could reach her canine ears. "Loona! Loona, where are you?!" The boy called, frantically hoping that she wouldn't risk their loss just for one crush. He was actually quite a little hurt if that were the case. They may not have started off as instant besties. But, he liked to believe she's built a respect for him by now. Blitzo ordered him to stay put. He wanted to. His mind told him that he should try to find Loona on his own at maybe somewhere else like the streets. "Jeez, this is nuts. She could be anywhere by now!" Despite this, he ran ahead, but didn't get far when he bumped into the familiar overall wearing Apple, the blond haired Succubus in her human form. Her skin tone and clothes changed. Plus, her demonic aspects were gone.

Human disguises really were very convincing. It must be why no one's managed to figure out that a celebrity was also a demon herself.

"Oooh, it's you!" she giggled like a little girl happy to find her lost toy. "Hi there, little guy! Lincoln, right? I thought I spotted you." Apple coos.

"Oh, uh, heeeey...you." Lincoln awkwardly greets.

Applelaughs. "It's okay. With all the excitement before, you didn't get my name. It's Apple."

"And you can just call me Milky." the shortest of Verosika's crew grinned, her clothes now a different color. "We couldn't resist seeing you again, so we thought we'd look for you. Ready to head back to our place, little man?" she teasingly asked.

Gulping, Lincoln replied hastily. "N-No! I'm just looking for someone. She's somewhere here, and-"

"Forget about her." Milky surprisingly hugged him.

"Hey, no fair, Milky!" Apple pouted like a spoiled child.

"Okay!" Lincoln slipped out to get more space preferably away from them and find Loona. "The bet is still going on, you know! So, I think it's too soon for me to...hang out with you, right? A winner hasn't even been decided!"

Both Succubi found it cute that he thought I.M.P still had a chance. "That's cute, kiddo But, we spent a whole day scoring while your imp peeps are still in the double digits on their kill count." Milky pointed out. "Your shit-wad boss should've known better than to step up to us,. Don't know why Verosika ever dated that dumbass fuck-tard."

"Yeah. And there's no lame ass rule against some early celebration." Apple rubbed her hands. "Coco will give me shit for leaving her out, but I'm sure we can make it up to her. If you know what I mean."

Lincoln gulped, his eyes wide open and started sweating, "Or you could go to counseling. That's also a good idea." He took a step backwards and ended up tripping over someone. It was the humanized Josh with a bruised face.

"Josh?" Apple questioned, looking down at her companion. "The fuck happened to you?"

"Ugh. Tried giving the eyes at some goth broad. But, she totally blew me off." Josh answers, a little humiliated.

"Seriously?" Milky laughed at his expense. " Losing your game there, stud?"

"Very funny, bitch." Josh deadpanned.. "Bitch just wasn't into me for some reason."

Wait. If this goth girl wasn't receptive to his seductions, then that must mean...

"Was she by any chance walking to your boss' bodyguard?" Lincoln asked, hoping he was right.

"Who, Vortex? Yeah, but-"

Lincoln smiles in relief. "That was Loona! Thanks, man!" he ran off at high speeds.

"Hey, I wasn't trying to help you, pipsqueak!" Josh yelled with a shaking fist, then realized something. "Hang on, so that wasn't an actual human, then? Now, that makes sense. I actually was starting to think I was losing it." His relaxed expression became one of worry when Apple and Milky glared at him for inadvertently helping their prey escape. "...You're not gonna tell the boss lady about this, are you?"

"Oh, I think we fucking will!" Both pulled him by the shirt and went to rat him out.

Loona finally made it to Vortex and shyly greeted him. "Hey there...my dude?" She wished she got his name before.

"Oh, hey. You're that hound chick working for my boss's crazy ex-lover." Vortex knew the smell of another Hellhound from a mile away.

"Yeah." Loona tensely laughed, wondering if that was a deal breaker for him. "Sorry, if that's weird. In my defense, I didn't even know he dated her. I still can't believe it."

Vortex eased her concern by not really taking it personally. "No worries, girl. None of her beefs are mine. I don't get paid to even care." Working for a pop star actually paid really well, but he was hired to guard her, not get involved with old grudges.

"Yeah! Yeah!" Loona widely smiles and brushes her hair back, red in the face. "My name's Loona."

Amused, Vortex chuckles and playfully introduces himself back, copying Loona's nervous tone. "Okay. Call me Vortex!"

Sensible and funny, the whole package. "That's so hot, man." Loona was close to drooling, but got it together. "I mean, it's literally hot, you know, because vortexes give off heat. Probably. Right?" She bites her lower lip in irritation at herself for sounding like a huge nerd.

Vortex didn't really mind it, he could tell she doesn't talk that much with other hounds so he can't blame her. In fact, it was sort of cute in a way. "Yeah, that's true. But my pals just call me Tex."

"Really? Lucky. I'd do a lot to have friends.." She berated how that sounded really pathetic. "I mean, I don't have that many to begin with." At least that's what she believed until she thought of a surprising exception with white hair. "Well, actually, I guess you could say there's this one person I don't...hate that much, but I'm not sure if I'd call him my friend."

"Does he think you're his friend?"

"...I-I actually think maybe-"

"Loona!" Both hellhounds in disguise watch Lincoln run up to them, out of breath. "So glad I finally found you!"

"Lincoln." Loona says through gritted teeth. "Kind of in the middle of something."

"Something other than your job?" Lincoln barked back, almost livid. "I know part of the reason you came with us is to talk to-" She slammed her hand to his mouth to prevent him from saying too much in front of her crush.

Aforementioned crush just chuckled at their exchange. "Chill out there, little buddy. It's spring break. You gotta loosen up."

"With a bet going on that may end with your boss's hooks on me, loosening up is the last thing on my mind."

"Fair enough." Vortex concedes, all Hell denizens know how insatiable sex demons are. "But you know, I gotta give you props for slipping past her and her crew so far. Pretty damn cool."

"It is?"

"You have no idea. Not many dudes can say they managed to escape the clutches of a Succubus. You must be pretty crafty, kid." Vortex praised.

Lincoln scratches his head bashfully. "Thanks, I guess. I like to think of it as more thinking on my feet than actual planning, but still, thanks. Don't take this the wrong way, but I'm surprised you're not telling Verosika that I'm here."

"She pays me to stop her loony fans from storming the stage and deal with assholes who try to start something. Anything beyond that ain't my business. I just stand guard and that's it." Vortex evenly responds, showing a great douse of professionalism. "Also, the name's Vortex. Tex, if you want."

"Lincoln Loud." He did not expect someone from Verosika's inner circle to be so approachable. This demon hellhound's laid-back and friendly nature was a welcomed change from the nasty sort of demons. "And it's not really all on me. I have help from my coworkers, like Loona here."

"That right?" Vortex nods at this with approval, he does like it when one looks out for their own. "You say you don't have friends? Not from where I'm standing. And helping them out of a jam? I dig that."

"Y-You do?" Loona blushed furiously.

Lincoln stared in astonishment at how Loona was acting. It was a far cry from the usual indifferent hellhound unless she expressed emotions of anger and annoyance, and when she's not being that, she's belittling everyone around her, including her coworkers given the chance. His time with her made him wonder if Lucy would be like this when she's older. But Lincoln knew from experience with his oldest sister, Lori, that once you peel back the layers of snark and cynicism, even the nastiest of people have a soft center that can even apply to demons.

"Hmm." Lincoln hummed softly in thought. He really wanted to get Loona to get back on the aim of winning, but didn't feel right to force her to do it when she's clearly infatuated with Vortex. Being stuck at the phone in the office and Blitzo's own overprotective nature made it hard for her to actually make friends with others which was evident with her awkwardness. It also wasn't that often she got to go to the world of mortals, much less go anywhere else in Hell without Blitzo bringing her. It'll hinder I.M.P's progress, but maybe Loona deserves some reprieve. He was prepared to leave Loona, but Blitzo appeared, moving in-between the two hellhounds.

"Am I interrupting a little thing between you?" Blitzo interrogates, glaring with suspicion.

"Nah, man. Just a conversation during work hours. It's all good." Vortex calmly assures.

Blitzo narrows his eyes and wags a finger at him. "Oh, so it's a conversation? Last I checked, a 'Conversation' leads to HPV!" Loona clenches her fists in frustration.

"Aw jeez." Lincoln cringed, not liking where this was going.

Behind the metal cans were Moxxie and Millie who observed this. "Predictably, we've lost him." Moxxie sighs in resignation. "Hopefully, Lincoln can get him and Loona back on-mission. Until then, it's looking like it's up to us to handle this list.

"Hell yeah, baby!" Millie jovially cheered, grabbing Moxxie around the shoulders and making him smile lovingly. "Team M&M about to get the killing shit done! Making all the moneys!" The married assassins ran off to handle the mission all on their own and made some decent headway even though they were short handed. It got to the point where they hid behind a table full of beer cans with Moxxie on lookout while his wife loaded a crossbow for him. They shared a kiss for luck and Moxxie was ready until a drunk man wobbled over and flips the table over, flying the imps across where Moxxie lands in the center of a crowd.

"Ewwww! Oh, my god, you guys! It's a fucking gross little possum!" A woman shouts in disgust to her other spring breakers.

"Oh, crumbs! I'm not a possum! I am not a possum!" Moxxie tries in vain to escape, but is snatched and tossed into a beer can by the unhinged party of humans who yell out in excitement. Inside, he couldn't stop himself from drinking the liquids inside as it was carried away.

Back with the other issue, Loona rubbed her eyes in apt vexation over Blitzo's interference. "Blitz, get the fuck out of here! You're gonna get us all into shit!" His lack of a human disguise will give Verosika more ways to undermine him.

"I just wanted to see what was so important that you'd be distracted from your job." Blitzo sternly chided. "When you asked to join, I expected you to take it more seriously!"

Loona pulls him away from Vortex. "What, I can't have a break? You'd let me smoke when I'm on the phone listening to whiny Sinners all the time!"

"We have a parking spot on the line!" Blitzo urged her to see the importance of that. "How is that so hard for you kids to get?! It's the kind of thing worth sacrificing!"

Lincoln barely resisted snorting. "Like your employees?"

"Intern, don't you start!"

"Hey, dude. Why don't you chill out?" Vortex diplomatically suggested getting Loona to blush more for coming to her defense. "No one's getting hurt here. I get you and V have some bad blood. But, come on. Don't overdo it."

"Why don't you stay out of it, cyclops?! Okay, this is our business." Blitzo's tail lifts up a paper drawing of him killing humans which will get him money, and more money means buying more horse-related stuff. "Literally."

With a growl, Loona vents out her pent up hostility over him coddling her like a pup. "Fuck, Blitz! Why can't you stay out of my face for like, five minutes?! A whole day, even!"

Blitzo didn't understand how that was a problem. "Because I adopted you as my daughter! That should mean something!" he turns his back on her with a huff. As her legal parent, he expected some more positive reception from her.

"Oh, what does it matter? You're not even my real dad! I was almost eighteen when you signed the papers!" Loona shouts, she likes to think she got along just fine without any parental figures in her life.

"It still counts plenty!"

"Well, it shouldn't!" Loona turns back, too. "I didn't need you then, asshole! I don't, now! So just leave me alone, already!"

She had no idea, but her words cut deep within Blitzo. Not even adopting a lost spirit like his own could find him someone to grow genuine affection for, even though he's done nothing but give a huge amount of love to Loona since taking her in. This looked to be just another way for the universe to spell it out for him that there is no one who truly loves him, his own daughter included. All Lincoln and Vortex could do was helplessly look at all this with growing concern, even if he wasn't biologically her father, Blitzo constantly adoring her seemed to be his only redeeming quality and this vaguely reminded Lincoln of Octavia's troubles with her own dad, only under much different circumstances.

"Guys, take it easy!" Lincoln begged. He hated seeing a fight between them, like how he loathed the ones between his sisters. "Look, why don't we take a minute and just talk it out?"

Sighing, Loona slowly came to feel that she may have gone too far when she saw Lincoln frown. "Uh...listen, Blitz, I'm-"

"Enjoy your break, Looney." Blitzo glumly says, leaving. "I'm gonna go kill something! Come on, intern. I know you won't leave your boss hanging."

Lincoln stuck around and grabbed Loona's arm to give a smile of reassurance, which she gratefully returned, knowing he wasn't holding anything against her before he left to join Blitzo. She still felt some regret, it was infrequent of Blitzo to act so cold to her and Loona didn't like it, but felt it wouldn't have happened in the first place if Blitzo wasn't being so overbearing.

"Damn, girl. That was a savage way to back-talk at your pops." Vortex felt a little bad for both Loona and imp. Family drama always makes people uncomfortable and it's always painful to watch. "You okay, Loona?" he asked as he held her shoulder, bringing her blush back.

"Yeah, sure, I'm fine." Loona promised. "Don't worry about him He'll get over it. He always does."

"Be proud you can stick up for yourself." Vortex commended. "Takes guts to do that when it's your own boss."

"Thanks...I think?" Loona getting some praise from him was an accomplishment, but guilt was still present.

"Hey, are you alright, Blitz? I'm sure Loona didn't really mean what she said. You know that, right?" Lincoln apprehensively asked. Loona never pulled her punches when she spoke her mind, but it troubled him when she and Blitzo got into it. Her spur of the moment anger made her say hurtful things, but alternatively, Blitzo treating her like a child to be watched over 24/7 was what brought it on. Though he would prove to be too much most of the time, he just wanted to show Loona how much he loved her, but there is such a thing as too much love. It looks like both of them needed a quick refresher on the whole father-daughter thing.

"Meh. Let her enjoy time with the big guy, kid." Blitzo dismissed. "We can still pick up the slack without her. Go meet with M&M, still got a lot to do and college shits to kill and brutalize."

Despite his tone, Lincoln saw that Blitzo was masking how hurt he was over Loona's harsh words. Also knowing that Blitzo wouldn't openly talk about it, Lincoln listened to his order. "If you say so."

Now that Blitzo mentioned it, what were those two up to?

"Lincoln! Over here, honey!" Millie was relieved to see that her boy didn't get snatched up by any of the Succubi. "I need help lookin' for Mox. Lost him because of these darn party people."

"Where did you last see him?"

"Over in one of those beer cans." Millie and Lincoln went to a can that had Moxxie inside and she opened the lid, making it tip it over to spill him and all the alcohol outside. "Moxxie!" both notice that Moxxie had a too-relaxed smile.

"Millieeeeeee!" Moxxie slurred in his speech, audibly burping. "Hi! Hey. Hey, since when did you get four heads? I wanna kiss 'em all! All so very beautiful!" he makes smooching noises with his body going completely limp.

"Moxxie? Are you okay?" Lincoln carefully asks, seeing a completely drunk Moxxie.

"For sure. Your pop is a-okay, Linc." Moxxie confirms, still quite drunk. "I am wonderful. Like a...like a...like an imp, you know? Ever wonder what it's like to be an imp? I bet it's the greatest."

"...You are an imp, Moxxie."

Moxxie looks at his hands and gasps in astonishment. "Woah! So I am! That is so weird! How come nobody told me?"

His wife picks him up. "Crap. Looks like he's too out of it to keep on killing. Hon, why don't you go ahead and wait it out at the dock?"

"Sure. I'll just do that." Lincoln walks through the sand dejectedly. He was starting to see how hopeless it was looking for I.M.P's chances at winning the bet, noting everyone's current state.

Loona was with Vortex.

Moxxie was too drunk.

Millie was too busy helping her intoxicated husband.

Blitzo is now the only one killing their remaining targets but by then, Verosika would have him beat and he'll have to endure a week with her.

He asked himself how this day could get any worse.

He got an answer when the calm waters of the ocean became less calm when a massive geyser of seawater erupted and from it, emerged a huge, monstrous shape, casting its gargantuan shadow over the beach and darkening the sky.

The humans and I.M.P glanced up in horror. Even Verosika and her crew looked on in fear and surprise, there was nothing in their plans that called for the use of this abomination. Several people ran in terror before a giant foot stomped on an unsuspecting man lying face down on his towel. A woman released a scream of abject fright and all humans ran for their lives in the hopes of not being this beast's next victim.

Blitzo was in the process of choking a drinking man from behind when he too, stopped to look.

The fish that was exposed to the supernatural otherworldly liquids of the Beelzejuice went through a metamorphosis, becoming a giant teal eyed and finned leviathan monster with large blue teeth and unleashes an ear shattering roar. It surveyed the beach and set its luminescent eyes on the white haired boy whose legs were frozen in fear.

It had found its meal.

The creature's tongue shot out its spiked tongue towards Lincoln and the boy barely managed to avoid the lethal tongue before running away. The tongue thrashed wildly and grabbed a parked car, throwing it to crash in front of Lincoln, he was sent backwards on his back near the waters as the monster took slow threatening steps to trap the frightened kid. Lincoln tried getting the grimoire, but in his rush, he dropped it and just as he was about to pick it up, the tongue was now ready to constrict him. Lincoln screamed when the tongue went for another attack, until a humanoid blur tackled him out of the way just when the monster's foot was about to crush him.

Lincoln and the blur rolled to a stop and when the boy regained his bearings, he noticed a pair of arms protectively wrapping around him. His surprise increased when he got a look at his savior and for the first time since meeting her, she wasn't looking at him with a face of flirtations, but a face etched with worry and concern over his safety. She had saved his life.

"Verosika...?"

"A-Are you okay?" She asked, genuinely terrified for both her and to an extent, him.

Lincoln was still processing it. "I-I-"

"Lincoln!" Millie was rushing in, carrying Moxxie, sets him down and frets over Lincoln maternally. "Oh, sugar! It's okay now! Milllie's here!" She hugged Lincoln close and got them out to a safer distance while Verosika went to regroup with her entourage.

"Hey, did you guys see that fish?" Moxxie kept taking slow steps, him being drunk stopped him from freaking out about these turn of events like he normally would. "Man, I love eating fish. Don't you?" The monster's tongue captures Moxxie and pulls him away.

"It's got Moxxie!" Lincoln screamed.

The imp giggles, not bothered by his life in danger in the slightest. "Whee!" he is sent into its mouth.

Glaring in determination, Millie addresses Lincoln. "Keep that book handy, honey pie. Momma's gonna need help going to work." she spotted a spring breaker chugging down on a vodka bottle and killed him with her knife. She rips his cloth apart and lights it on fire before pushing it into the bottle. She threw it at the monster and it lost its balance, falling on the ocean. Lincoln uses the grimoire to manipulate the body of water into changing into chains that entrap it and allow Millie to swim out to it. Lincoln focused on keeping the chains stable to give Millie enough time to save Moxxie.

"Okay, what the actual hell?!" Blitzo shouted, joining Lincoln. "Where the fuck did this big mother come from?!"

"Either radioactive waste or it was fed too much! Take your pick, Blitz!" Lincoln closed one eye, feeling some strain.

Millie pried open the teeth to see her husband punching the uvula.

She reached for him and he reached back, only to hi-five her.

Rolling her eyes, she pulled him forward, still trapped in the tongue.

She cut it off, freeing him.

Both saw as Moxxie was flung across the sky where he spread his arms out in contentment, feeling like he was really flying. Blitzo caught his employee at the same time the tongue landed, almost hitting a spring breaker who celebrated his good luck, only for Blitzo to shoot him, making Moxxie laugh hysterically. The boy grew tired from keeping the spell up and a few of the chains ended up breaking.

Inside the monster's mouth, Millie relentlessly battled the mindless mutated beast that angered it and the two continued on their battle which now went uninterrupted when the final water chain broke, but Millie was more than capable.

"I love that woman so much!" Moxxie declared, his tail forming into a heart.

Regardless of him not in a stable state of mind, he was coherent enough to see his wife showcase her fighting might.

"She definitely pegs you, doesn't she?" Blitzo teasingly remarked.

Millie leapt into the air with her knife and landed inside the monster, cutting away. Lincoln wished he could do more to help, but he was near his limit. Thankfully, Millie eviscerated the monster from the inside. It collapsed on the ocean, no longer a threat to anybody and all spring breakers had run off leaving the place more or less devoid. Quite the spring break party that just happened, and it was a lot more eventful than anyone was expecting.

Calmness returned to the beach as the danger had passed. The entire beach was devoid of beach goers after they ran off, Lincoln was almost tempted to join them in the chaos. Add this to another list of near death experiences Lincoln's been forced to suffer since going to Hell and being adopted by I.M.P, but at least he made it out alive once again. Although, the same can't be said for the souls that were in the way, but right now, the I.M.P was just glad it didn't rampage all across the country. Blitzo really loved seeing Millie make short work of the monster and congratulate her when she tiredly walked back to shore, panting and soaking wet. "Yeah! Way to show off, Mills! And great use of the book, intern."

Shaking water mixed with blood off her body, Millie asked for her boys. "Are Mox and Linc okay?"

Blitzo looks at the drunken imp in his arms and carelessly drops him. "Huh? Yeah, yeah They're fine."

Millie picks them both up into a group hug. "This is a funny feeling." Moxxie said with a dopey smile. "I just feel soooooooo...drinky." he giggles out as his wife snuggles them closer with a happy laugh.

"So, does this mean we win? Or is this a draw?" Lincoln curiously asked, a fish monster was not something either group expected. To be fair, no one even in Hell would have expected the events of day transpiring and it was left to imagination if it could've been stopped.

"Good question." None of the fish monster's victims were any of their targets, just random people who were at the wrong place at the wrong time, but Blitzo could somehow spin this in his favor. "Maybe we could pass off the ones that big-ass fucking fish thing killed as clients. Better yet, we just say we were long gone before-"

"Hello, Blitzo."

The condescending tone of his ex saying the old pronunciation of his name made Blitzo sour up. "Oh, now that's perfect." he droned sarcastically, turning around to see Verosika and her posse confronting him and his team. "The whores have arrived. So great to see you when all the action's done. Too busy fucking yourselves?" Moxxie wasn't really bothered, but Millie got miffed when they showed up, she found something in the water that revealed who was indirectly responsible for what's happened.

"That was handled a bit too..obvious, don't you think?" Verosika pointed out smugly.

Killing the fish monster while still in their natural demon forms.

She was ready to blackmail him that he'd have to beg her not to squeal and she'd still rat him out anyway.

Millie was unfazed by this attempt, countering Verosika with a piece of evidence that could break the demon pop star's arrogance. "Speaking of obvious. I don't think this belonged to any of us." she calmly surmised, presenting Verosika's flask and throwing it to its original owner's hand where it was dropped to Milky. "Would be a shame if anyone found out you guys caused a giant monster fish attacking in the human world." Millie adds with a mocking smirk, one that Blitzo shared, getting the implications.

Moxxie laughed out loud, pointing at them. "Oh, Satan! You all be so fuuuuucked!"

The Succubi and Incubi grimaced, knowing that their rivals were right and Milky quickly hid the flask. They can't rat on I.M.P without the cause of the horrific beast tracing back to the person responsible, that being Verosika and that can only end with her and her crew getting punished severely by the higher ups of Hell. Verosika was having none of it, refusing to let Blitzo have the last laugh. "Yeah, well...you three nasty ass gremlins will be in shit for not being in disguises!"

Moxxie, still hammered from the heavy intake of alcohol, face planted into the sand in front of Verosika. Even, so his random tidbit was enough to show that there was one flaw in her claim. "A human called me a possum." he angrily recalled, taking offense. "I am not a possum!" he slurs, face planting again. But he had a point, the humans that saw them were too drunk, high, and sexually stimulated to make sense of what the imps really were and it's not likely anyone will believe them when they spit out claims about a giant monster fish.

Blitzo steps forward and moves Moxxie out of the way with a foot. "You know, we could keep this little B movie scene on the down low if you agree to let us use that parking space."

Verosika formed an agitated sneer. As much as it would figuratively kill her to let Blitzo walk away with a win, she wasn't arrogant or prideful enough to risk getting stuck in rehab again or potentially lose her street cred over a dumb bet with her ex. "...Fine." she begrudgingly relented.

Blitzo pumped his fists out into the air in victory. "We fucking won!" He proclaimed, boisterously laughing and Verosika simply stood there seething, eyes twitching from having to forfeit the bet which not only means she failed in trying to get back at Blitzo.

"Fuck yes!" Millie joined in the celebration.

"In your face, bitch!" Blitzo taunts to rub more salt in the wound. "This calls for a round! Drinks are on me!"

"Ahem!" Millie coughs loudly, nodding her head at Lincoln.

"Oh, right. We'll just get the kid a smoothie or something."

Verosika didn't want to feel humiliated anymore, so she gestured to her crew to follow her. "Come on, let's get out of here."

"Verosika, wait!"

"Lincoln?" Blitzo grew confused when his sole human employee went to the crew who stopped when he called their leader's name. "What's the deal here, champ? Kind of in the middle of owning these sluts hard."

"I know that. I just wanted to say thanks to Verosika for saving my life."

A seagull flew over and cried out to compensate for the lack of sound that ensued after the only human on the beach uttered the sentence that severely stumped Blitzo. The imp thought he might have ingested some beer as well because nothing about what Lincoln just said made any sense to Blitzo, nor did he want to believe it. He looks at Lincoln, then at Verosika, eyes back to Lincoln, then back at Verosika, his head soon moving in rapid movement to thoroughly register it. "WHAT?!" Blitzo exclaims. "She saved your life?! Like saved-saved? Is that right? Millie, you weren't drunk out of your mind like your hubby. This for real?"

"I did see her with him on the ground when that monster attacked."

"Yeah, she pushed me out of the way before the tongue could get me. That thing would've eaten me if it weren't for her. Seriously, I owe you one."

Verosika's humiliation over her loss washed away as Lincoln smiled up at her. She's accustomed to humans singing her praises, but it was mostly over how hot she was, never before was she praised for performing a noble act. Truth be told, it wasn't completely for good intentions, she was freaking out over how things were going down and felt the less death there is, the less punishment she may receive, and it'd be a shame for him to go out like that. But now it felt good getting thanks from him. Even if he knew it wasn't entirely out of the goodness of her heart, he was still willing to be grateful. Not only that, but seeing him not be a nervous mess around her was a nice sight to see, it delivered a sense of...warmness.

"You sure she wasn't trying to jump you?" Blitzo asked, not stopping being skeptical.

"No, Blitzo. I wasn't." Verosika huffed at him. "It would've been a shame for the kid to get hurt just because of a dumbass bet that you started."

"Should've thought of that before taking the flask with you."

"Hey, the bet was all your idea, asshole!"

"Because you incurred my wrath!"

Lincoln groans. "Again, it's just a parking space, Blitz." He didn't think it was worth all the ruckus that occurred.

"Don't start with that again! I'm getting tired of explaining the necessity of our own spot!" Blitzo breathed deeply. "You know what? Forget it. We won. You lost, skank. Let's just leave it at that and get on with our shitty lives."

"Whatever." Verosika yells out to her bodyguard. "Tex! Let's go!"

Vortex and Loona were still talking when the monster showed up and joined after it was all said and done. "Well, guess it's time to bounce, part's already over." he observes. "But, hey, if you're ever down to party hard to cool off, I'll give you a ring sometime." he offers.

"Really? You will?" Loona's heart fluttered and tried playing it cool. Key word being "tried". "I mean, that's cool. I'll think about it or whatever"

"Yeah! My girlfriend throws the best hound parties." Vortex added, glad that Loona accepted.

She deflated in disappointment.

He already had a girlfriend. Leaving during an important assignment and getting into a fight with Blitzo over a guy that was already taken, now she felt even worse.

"That's...Nice." Loona forced a smile to hide her being saddened. "Stoked for my very first one."

Vortex playfully taps her shoulder with his fist, chuckling. "Let's get you some more friends, girl. Tell that Lincoln kid I said bye, he seems cool." he clicked his tongue as a show of farewell.

Said cool kid looked at the now sullen goth hellhound in disguise having heard everything. "You okay?"

"Yeah...just great."

"...Well. At least you got a new friend out of this. Who knows? You might meet someone at those parties." Lincoln pointed out. He's not experienced in comforting people after heartbreak, but did bring up the bright side.

It wasn't much, but it did get a soft snicker out of Loona. "Thanks..." Leave it to Lincoln to find a silver lining.

"What are friends for?"

Friends.

That's right.

Lincoln was her friend.

That also made her feel a little bit better.

"Linc! Hurry up with that portal!" Lincoln rushed ahead to open the way back to Hell per Blitzo's request. "Come on, Looney Tooney! Let's go back and park out fat fucking car in our fat fucking space!" Blitzo didn't let up on bragging his victory to the leaving form of Verosika. I.M.P, minus Lincoln, jumped through the portal.

Verosika continues walking, but could feel it when Blitzo jumped back up to deliver two middle fingers, making her growl. She and her crew walked up to the streets through the stairs but are soon met with various guns pointed at them. They huddled together in fear, with Coco holding Apple protectively close as they were surrounded by police, a clown for some reason, and a mine robot. "Put your hands up, you sick deviants! We got a lot of complaints!" a cop demanded.

"Didn't we also get some calls about murders?"

"Those were probably prank calls like the fish monster one."

Mildly annoyed, Verosika put her arms up in surrender. "Okay, sluts." her crew looked at her. "You know the drill. Time to suck a lot of pig dick." She said, They all grumbled and surrendered as well. "Quit bitching. You wanna be let free or not?"

Just as a cop walked with handcuffs, he became encased in ice. Similar to him, the entire police force was frozen solid in a blink of an eye, startling the group.

"The ice will melt in about 5 hours! I think that's plenty of time for you!" They see Lincoln as he was about to enter the portal, casting the spell. With all the wanton murders going on, these officers were less concerned about that and the giant fish monster sightings which didn't sit well with him. It appears I.M.P is starting to rub off on him. "Hope this makes us even and I thought your song sounded nice! Didn't really get it and only heard it through a bathroom, and I'm more into rock, but it was catchy." he goes through the portal and it closes.

Stunned silence befell the disguised demons, their eyes wide with disbelief over what the human boy just did for them. He didn't even ask for something he wanted, he just did it. It was weird, but amazing at the same time.

The bewildered expressions of the Succubi morph into smiles.

"Aw, not only is that kid a total cutie, but he's a total sweetheart too!" Apple gushed in admiration of Lincoln's kindness.

"That settles it. Next time we see him, it's special reward time, baby." Coco decided, wrapping her arm around Apple's waist and her girlfriend agreed.

Milky grinned at Kiki. "Wonder if we can borrow him for a 'playdate' when he's off the clock."

Kiki hummed, pleased with that idea. "Can hardly wait."

Vortex chuckles to himself, more grateful than any of them. Just as Loona was looking out for him, Lincoln seemed well versed in looking out for others, like it came naturally for him. "Guess I know where the girl gets that from."

Ace just scoffed, but he and the Incubi couldn't deny their own appreciation. "I...suppose that was pretty cool of the shrimp. It was kind of alright." He quickly added. "You know, just kind of."

"Not like this makes us best buddies now." Josh said. "We could've handled it ourselves."

"Really?" Kat asked. "I nearly pissed my pants, you guys."

When Verosika first met Lincoln, she saw a chance to get back at Blitzo for breaking the heart of a Succubus. His nervous jitters were just so cute, and now, he displayed a show of genuine compassion that's not common in Hell, or even among all the humans in the world. Earth or Hell, there are a lot of beings who cling to an "every man for himself" mentality, but such a philosophy didn't seem to corrupt that boy's considerate nature.

She found that warm feeling returning. A kind of feeling that hadn't shown up, not since her relationship with Blitzo ended, a feeling she never thought she'd feel again, yet Lincoln managed to make it resurface without even trying.

Verosika smiled to herself.

Somebody like Lincoln is wasted with Blitzo and his team, his was a soul never found often.

Today was very challenging, and she loved a good challenge. He managed to escape from her clutches, not an easy feat and that served only to increase her drive for a new goal.

"We'll see each other again. That's a promise, Linky". Verosika said. A sentiment shared with the women of her crew, she wasn't alone in gaining an interest in the kid, showing that his complications just got a lot more complicated.

Chapter Text

For any human that was still alive, all the occurrences of Hell would drive that sane person to the point of insanity as a result of all the uncontrolled mayhem Hell contains that stems from both its environment and its inhabitants.

But as for those said inhabitants, they eventually learn to live with it, especially the Hellborn demons.

Sinners take a while since they all were originally from Earth and it's not that easy to come to terms with the fact that they're lives as humans were over and they now had to spend the rest of eternity as demon creatures in Hell. Hellborns have been demons since they were born and their natural habits makes it easy for them to adapt to the chaotic nature of their home. Out of the many examples that live in all the seven rings, the hellhound receptionist named Loona can showcase this, she's about every snarky moody young goth girl taken up to an eleven which is no easy feat. For those like her, she's had to learn how to look out for herself as she didn't have that much family for a long time until a certain horse loving imp took her in.

Even though she was already nearing the age of eighteen.

The point is, Loona made it so that she'd never take shit from anyone and gives plenty amount of shit to others, because...well, fuck it. Every demon in Hell likes to give others shit.

It was basically a requirement.

Case in point being what went on at I.M.P.

"Excuse me. Loona?" She didn't look up from her phone after Moxxie walked to her desk while carrying a huge stack of papers. "I found more gym membership sign up sheets left at my apartment door and I can't help but wonder, did you have a hand in it?"

"If you're saying that I collected a shit ton of gym papers to get you off your fat ass for a change and work that fucking weight off...then you're right." Loona confirmed Moxxie's intuition.

Again with the cracks at his supposed weight problem. "At this point, I can't help but realize you truly believe I somewhat weigh more than the average imp and it's not just you expressing your usual crude behavior."

"You mean as usual, you spitting big fancy words like a nark?" Loona expertly retorts.

Millie then came along, shoving her phone at the receptionist's face. "Loona, why the hell am I getting messages from so many guys? I didn't ask for these damn things and you can bet your furry ass that I would have."

"Messages? For you?" Moxxie asked, jealousy growing.

"Apparently, they're from men who replied to a dating app profile I never made." Millie glared suspiciously at Loona.

"You mean someone used you for a fake dating profile for potential suitors? Why would-" He instantly realized. "Are you trying to set my wife up with other men?!"

"Figured she'd need them." Loona shrugs, seeing her action as a sensible one.

"Why would she ever?!"

"Come on." Loona couldn't believe he'd even ask that. "We both know she can do way better."

Moxxie became more redder than he already is, feeling very insulted, a usual response when dealing with Loona being like an unruly teenager with no respect for any of her peers. "I have you know, I perform my husband duties quite well and I...don't see how that's any of your business!" he retracts himself, knowing he'd just be giving her more power.

"Cool your tits. If you want, you could share those guys, they're not picky. And hey, at least don't damage tha." Loona pointed at a packaged box. "I ordered some new horse things, so I can break them, show them to Blitz, and blame it on you."

Millie was just about ready to do to her what she did to all the other imps back in Wrath during the pain games, until the timely intervention of Lincoln Loud. "Hey, Millie, Moxxie! Just the two imps I was looking for. I reorganized and cleaned all the rifles and knives just like Blitz wanted. You can check to see if I missed any. Cant' be too sure after all."

"Aww, now isn't that our little hard worker?" Millie gushes with an affectionate kiss on the boy's cheek.

"Exemplary hard work as always Lincoln." Moxxie similarly praised and gave Loona a critical frown. "Nice to know even the youngest employee here understands the concept of doing your job."

Loona breaks eye contact with her trusty phone to glare angrily at the male half of M&M. "Moxxie. If you and your bitch even want to try having your own little shit one day, get off my case or else!"

"Oh, just go ahead and try it, bitch!" Millie challenged, ready to defend her partner's honor.

"Guys! Guns! Knives!" Lincoln hastily recalls, not wanting to see any in-fighting between his fellow employees.

Huffing, Moxxie and Millie left and Loona made sure to give them the finger as her sign of farewell. "Asshats."

"It wouldn't kill you to be a little bit nicer, you know." Lincoln said through a frown.

"Actually, I think it would." Loona spoke honestly. "I'm serious. Picture me saying anything remotely nice to those two and at that moment, it'll be like a knife is struck right through my heart...you know, if I had one." She laughs at her own wisecrack, then sees Lincoln's still-present frown and groans. "Oh come on, Linc. Finding something that brings me happiness in Hell's in short supply and talking shit is about the only thing that can do that."

With clenched teeth, Lincoln looks to the side in slight discomfort. "Right, right. Of course. Somehow, I keep forgetting that's basically a common greeting down here."

"Yeah. You do that a lot, don't you?" Loona could never figure out if she should feel impressed or be put off that one single human child hasn't become like every other Sinner in Hell. "Look, it's not like I mean anything by it. I do things my own way at my own pace, alright? The sooner they get that, then maybe I'll think about not talking about them like they're fuck-ups behind their backs."

Lincoln crossed his arms with a humored expression. "And can I really take your word on it?"

The hellhound stopped and stroked her furry chin in deep thought on the chances of her keeping her end of the promise. "Probably not. No."

Her young white haired coworker shook his head with a humorous laugh and that got a rare genuine friendly smile from her. Is this really how real friends act? After that whole giant fish monster petty bet over a parking space between two jilted exes, Loona reflected and slowly started to realize that she really didn't mind Lincoln's presence in her life compared to when she first met him. Sure, he can be a total naive kid most of the time, but it was an endearing and charming quality of his, and was a welcomed change in the workplace. She even started to see that he may very well be the first real friend she's ever had, as depressing as that sounds. Though, at the same time, a small part was still-and she loathed admitting this-nervous. She knows next to nothing about how to act as a friend or what friends do in general, she's more used to doing things on her own.

At least he doesn't get fed up with her like imps, but she did worry if some offhand comment would alienate Lincoln.

Even she is fully aware of how she can be a bit much most of the time.

"Hey, people!" They both jumped at attention when Blitzo stormed in with a jovial grin that just screamed contentment. This could mean he just outbid someone online for a new horse figurine, a pretty safe bet. "I don't know about you, but I feel especially happy today! It's as if beating an uptight skanky bitch and taking back what's rightfully mine just removed so many weights off my poor fragile shoulders! Oh wait, it did!"

Loona sighs. "Are you still on your whole winning the bet high?"

"As high as a kite, Looney! "

Blitzo even drew Verosika on the board in her convertible at a parking space that was far away from the building.

"Why are you still on that, Blitz?" There was a lot about that incident that Lincoln wished he could forget, but like many other misadventures in Hell, that was very hard for him to do. "Almost getting eaten by a fish kaiju beast isn't something I consider a win."

"Great way to thank me for making sure we won that bet, sport. And don't think I forgot how you actually did a solid for that whore and her groupies. I lost a chance to mock her for getting pigs off, so I hope you're proud of yourself. I have half a mind to deduct your pay."

"You don't even pay me at all."

"And now, I have more reason not to." Blitzo's eyes see the mailed package. "Oh, what's this now?" their boss took the box and looked at where it came from, he easily and was pleasantly surprised. "Intern, did you go and buy me new horse figures just for me?"

"N-No I didn't-"

"Well, good news! Mission accomplished, Lincoln!" Blitzo's rough ruffling turned Lincoln's hair into a mess. "It's that kind of appreciation I wish Moxxie had for me, doesn't even look at my ass when I pass him. Can you believe the disrespect of it all? Makes me feel crappy. Take notes, Mox! The intern's better at worshiping the head honcho than you! Looks like someone's aiming for your employee of the month spot! If you ass buckets need me, I'll be counting money and spending it responsibly." He retreats back into his office, obviously not keeping his promise about being responsible with the company's money.

"But, I never even-"

"Just leave it alone, dude." Loona lazily laid her cheek on her fist, now checking on her computer. "At least this means he won't bug me."

Lincoln looked to Blitzo's office and then to Loona with unease. After all was said and done at the beach, the imp and hellhound never really talked things over and made up after their argument. The unhinged boss getting his parking space seemed to have been enough to erase any hard feelings and Loona played it off, but she had to have felt a little terrible since things were said that'd leave a bad taste in anyone's mouth. "You could've told him you actually bought it. Might have shown him that things are cool between you."

"I don't do ass-kissing, Linc. You should know that by now." She's also speaking in a literal sense. "And I already told you, there's nothing to fix between me and Blitz. He was just here acting like a kid at a petting zoo. In his case, a horse petting zoo. Nothing really fazes him."

"Yeah, but, he could be just putting up a brave face. He really wants us to have a high opinion of him, after all. Point is, are things really okay?" Lincoln pressed on. "If it were me and my dad, I'd try some way to work it out."

"Except he's not my dad!" Loona harshly shouted, making Lincoln flinch in slight fear when she growled a little. Realizing what she was doing, Loona composed herself. "On paper, it says that. My real dad was never around and I got along just fine without him, so why bother with any more father figures?"

"...Well, he actually sticks around for one thing, and keeps doting on you like crazy."

Loona found that was actually hard to argue.

She did, however, have a lot of material to work with in counteracting. "You mean smothering me? Adopting a hellhound is like a human adopting a stray animal and it pisses me off." Although, it's not like she entirely hated the affection Blitzo gives her, but she does find it insulting that he treats her like a little puppy and warm familial feelings aren't her strongest suit. "Look, you really shouldn't worry about it. It'll save you a lot of headaches and it's not really your business."

"Maybe, but you're my friend. I can't help but worry."

'This kid and his...everything!' Loona mentally screamed. Her complicated father-daughter dynamic with Blitzo was bad enough, but Lincoln had to come along and somehow instill in her the capacity to actually think of the kid as a friend. Thus, her awkward stance on how friends should act returned and she did the best thing she could possibly do to get out of this conundrum. Browse online. Nothing like checking up on all the blogs that she follows to distract her from her feelings and one post was impossible for her to ignore and felt that Lincoln should take a look at. "Holy shit. Linc, I tihnk you might wanna see this."

Lincoln went around the desk to see what Loona had to show and blushed heavily.

It was a blog that was run by none other than Verosika Mayday and because of her fame and popularity throughout Hell, it was a blog many demons followed, Loona being one of them. It had links to new music videos, album covers that portrayed the Succubus together uniquely and social media posts on her current activities. One such post was an image of her in a silky black dress in her bedroom, smirking at the camera and it had a single message. "Food for thought, L.L.?!"

There was a heart at the end of it, followed by a bunch of replies on who the mystery L.L. is. Verosika wasn't alone, the other Succubi also made posts with Coco and Apple forming two heart shapes with their hands and in the middle of both hearts were bunny emojis while winking, Kiki making a come hither motion, and Mllky eating vanilla cake, they, too, included bunny emojis. As her posse, they were included with Verosika and all five of them clearly meant for these posts to include subtle messages like their leader. "I'm not supposed to see that!" he covered his eyes with his hands.

"Damn." Loona whistled, a little amazed. "You really left your mark on them. Kudos."

"Kudos?!" Lincoln grabbed his hair. "I didn't help them to get attention! I just thought I owed her one!" This wasn't what he wanted, but man were they fetching. 'No! Bad Lincoln! Think innocent thoughts!'

"I don't know what you're complaining about. Ain't this one of those good karma deals?" All joking aside, Loona could feel Lincoln's distress over it. Maybe there was something else online to take Lincoln's mind off it. An entirely different distraction came when the phone rang and following her role at I.M.P, she picked it up and answered the call. "Hello? I.M.P."

"Yeah, hi. You're the people to go to when you want a fucker still alive on Earth to bite it, right?"

"That about sums it up."

"Good, then I'm at the right place."

Impatient knocking from the door was heard and after curiously staring at each other, Lincoln went to open the door to let in I.M.P's potential newest client, who like all their other clients was a female Sinner Demon. She was about past Blitzo's height and resembled a blue skinned creature with mismatched colored eyes, one having green sclera and the other having red sclera and no hair whatsoever. Her attire was a torn hat and scarf around a simple green hoodie with liquid stains over a simple light green shirt with a middle finger and baggy jeans. "Who's running this shit-show?"

After a beat of silence, Lincoln lets his boss know of the newest arrival. "Blitz! We got a client!"

Always happy to welcome a new client for the big bucks involved, Blitzo allowed the client into his office and he could see by the smell of her scent that she's a fairly new resident in Hell.

New arrivals always smell horrible to him.

"So, you're the head honcho around here?" the Sinner surmised, giving Blitzo a once over and was hardly impressed. "I've only been down here not longer than most, but even I expected someone...more threatening."

Bltizo's right eye twitches, but keeps a cool head, attacking the client instead of the target that the client wanted dead is a poor business model. Contrary to what this Sinner believed, there's more to Blitzo than his height or his kind. "I guarantee you, miss..."

"Jones. Christie Jones." The Sinner sat down across Blitzo's desk. "At least, that's the name I was born with. Since coming here, I took on the name Kole. I hear most demons like me take on new names to fit their new environment or some shit like that. But that crap isn't important. What is important is you settling an old score of mine and as much I'd rather do it myself, that's not really possible right now."

"Right. Because you're dead and have to stay here for eternity and all that." Blitzo mocks with a cute smile.

Growling, Kole threatened Blitzo. "I can go somewhere else if you piss me off, jackass."

"Oh, so there are other companies dealing with killing humans at the behest of Sinners? Here I thought I was the only impish bitch in Hell with some originality. In that case, go on your merry way and give the boss of that other company a big fat kiss on his ass for me." Blitzo patronizingly said, getting the client more angry. "I kid, I kid. Go ahead and gossip about how unfair it is that your life got cut short and whatever parasite that caused it deserves to kick the bucket instead of you, yadda, yadda, yadda..." Blitzo indifferently requested.

It's always a bore to hear a client's sob story, but more details are very essential.

"Cocksucker."

"Points for flattery. Now, on with the story."

All aggravation aside, Kole did so. "Let's get something straight, first. I knew I wasn't the nicest person in the world, but you know what? I fucking owned it. I had my way of life and everyone else could go fuck themselves. See, I was coming into the modeling scene for magazine covers. I was fresh out of college and was willing to go through whatever I had to do to make my mark on the world." Kole said, unapologetic of her actions. "Framed a bitch or two, spread rumors and lies that tarnished their reputations. I was putting in a lot of work in advancing in my life, okay? Wasn't going to let some competition interfere."

"Ha! Bet you're regretting that now!" Blitzo cackled. "Live a life like that, you stay in Hell rent-free for all time."

"Shut it!"

"Hey, you know I'm right. I'm the boss around here."

Ignoring the imp's insensitive attitude, Kole kept on going. "Eventually, after I fired my last agent when I caught him offering to take on a new face, there came this new hotshot agent. Told me he could make all my dreams come true, ten times better than the last guy. For a bit, he proved that and well, he was good looking, wasn't all talk, an improvement compared to my past exes, and I had a weakness for those types. What can I say? An agent for a boyfriend did help. It was beneficial for both of us. But then, he went and found proof of all of my wrongdoings, including stuff that was...not what you'd call legal. That's when things went to shit from there." she glared scornfully. "Unless I kept him as my agent, all that dirty laundry wouldn't go to the press or the cops. But, no one fucks with me."

Blitzo rubbed his palms, a little more engrossed now. "Ooh! How scandalous! A story this juicy is bound to cost more."

"This isn't some fucking soap opera for your entertainment! This is the story of my death!"

"And in Hell, that's pretty much the case, honey. Now come on, give us some more info and we can seal the deal."

Kole clutched the handles of the chair tightly as the memories played out. "I tried skipping town. It was about the only thing I could do, but dammit! I ended up crashing into a gas station. What was left of me in my car got caught in the resulting explosion and here I am. Stuck forever with other a-holes and massive dipshits forever."

"Hey, buck up, sweetheart." Blitzo motivated. "Come the next Extermination, then it'd be over for good if you're caught in the Exterminators' crosshairs. Here's to hoping!"

"Are you even serious about this?" Kole asked, having second thoughts. "I'm pouring out my heart here, asshole. Not cool."

"And I only care about getting paid." Blitzo played around with his tail. "So, you want us to hunt this douche down and just murderize him."

"If you want the short version of it, yes." Kole nods and pulls up a bag of money. "I managed to scrounge up some cash that should be enough for you guys. Don't ask me how I got it. Just know I used a lot of mouthwash."

"Been there, sister." Blitzo jumped out of his chair with a clap of his hands. "So, a sleazy agent's the target, then. One more and I'll win the company target bingo."

"I want you to do more than just kill that son of a whore." Kole's eyes glowed in the dark menacingly. "I want you take make him beg for his fucking life while you cap off endless ammo before chopping his head off and leaving it for the damn bugs to eat out of."

"...Are you trying to seduce me?" Blitzo asked, perplexed. "That sounds like a pickup line from my dreams."

Outside Blitzo's office, the main workforce of I.M.P patiently waited for their boss to be done with the client so they could get on with their new assignment. "That one seemed a lot more threatening than Ms. Mayberry." Lincoln notes.

"All Sinners are like that, unfortunately." Moxxie informed him. "She most likely was the sort of human that never believed in Heaven and Hell. Upon her death, she sees where her actions in life got her and that's bound to leave a lot of grievances."

"Leaving us to clean up whatever unfinished business bitchy Sinners like her left behind!" Millie polished her knife in preparation.

"I guess it would make anyone a little angry." Lincoln admits. "She's been in there for a while. Do most interviews last this long?"

"Only if she's a horny client." Loona glumly sighs. "In which case, we better whip out the disinfectant spray. Good luck with all the killing and maiming, and my condolences for when Moxxie botches it up again."

Moxxie fumes at the crack of his past mistake. "I'll have you know that I've learned from that incident and fully grasp the point of our business."

"Like how you hesitated to kill a psycho bitch and cried like a Brit h? Very poorly, I might add?"

Hearing more of her wisecracks made Moxxie a sputtering mess, trying to come up with his own clever comeback, but much like his supposed masturbation, that was also a hard task for him. His wife calms him down with a soothing head rubbing that subsided his anger. "Now, sweetie. Don't pay her no mind. She's just the receptionist, she doesn't know the kind of sacrifice and hard work we field workers put in."

Loona didn't like the sound of that. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"I'm sayin' that the four of us bust our rumps and risk our necks while you're mighty content with just answering phones all day." Millie accused. "Back where I'm from, if you don't put in some muscle work, then why the fuck are you even here?"

Lincoln's hand was on Millie's shoulder in less than a second. "Come on, you guys. Personally, I'm sometimes jealous that Loona gets to stay back."

Him coming to her defense made Loona gratefully smile, but it didn't stop the imps.

"Yet, you still find it in you to actually contribute to the company, Lincoln." Moxxie critically glared at Loona. "Unlike some people."

Loona never let what they said bring her down, but there was just something about them talking down at her in front of Lincoln that made Loona want to prove them wrong and the opportunity for that arrived when Blitzo opened his door to let Kole exit. "Don't worry about anything. We'll put the target six feet under in no time. Just remember, we take cash only. Cheques and credit is a crappy move." Watching her leave, Blitzo gets his team to get ready. "Alright, crew! Have all weapons and suicide notes at the ready! Millie, bring as many guns as you want. Moxxie, stop looking like a dumbass and get moving. And intern, we'll need your magic tricks and a big brain."

"Blitz, wait." Loona stood up and grabbed her adoptive father's arm. "Let me come with."

"...What?"

"You heard me. I want to tag along again."

Blitzo ran a hand down his face. If this was about another guy that she liked, then he would have to kill two targets today, and if not, then Blitzo would have to once again show how he would never allow her to freely experience the ugly side of Earth. "Looney. Not that I don't love this newfound initiative, but to reiterate, there is no chance in here that I'm letting that happen, kiddo. After that spring break mess, I am not taking any more risks when it comes to you. Taking risks when it comes to the business, that's always on the table."

"Come on, Blitz. Just let me see how things are done. You know, learn from the best."

"Learn? F-From me?" Blitzo's eyes swelled up in proud tears. In every father's life, the time where their children wish to be taught everything the father knows is a sacred and important occasion. This was a moment Blizo's been waiting for and it could prove that contrary to what she said to him during the bet, this could prove his daughter truly does love him. "Sorry, I need a minute. I promised myself I wouldn't cry." Loona was glad him being over-emotional wasn't happening in a public place. After he was done with the water works, Blitzo gave an answer. "Well, if you're so insistent Loona, then fine. I'll go help Moxxie with the prepping by giving words of encouragement. Moxxie, move that lazy ass of yours! Quit reminding me why you suck so much!"

"Loona? Are you really sure about this?" Lincoln was pleasantly surprised to see Loona offer her services again, but felt it was to prove Moxxie and Millie wrong.

"Duh." Loona replied with crossed arms.

"If this is about what Millie said, you don't have to prove anything."

He says that but what if he's equally hyper-critical of her work ethic? He was her friend-her only friend-she didn't want to have her first friend ever to have such a low opinion of her. "Please." she scoffs. "Those little shits think they have me all figured out, just think it'll be freaking hilarious when I make them choke on their words."

She sounded confident, but Lincoln's concern was still ever present.

No one knew how much he wanted this job to go smoothly for once.

"Moxxie, no screw ups this time. Cold feet are no longer a policy.

"Will it ever be necessary to let me live that down?!"

"What? You expect me to actually do that?""

"Once would be damned nice!"

"Then keep holding your breath!"

Hunting down the location of the target was easy as Kole supplied I.M.P with every bit of important information on the target that was named Richard Manning, modeling agent that was always on the prowl for a new face to exploit by promising to make all her dreams come true. His hunting ground was a huge mall with expensive shops and stores, where many a young person was roaming about, the perfect place for him to find his newest mark. Little did he know, he had been marked for termination and the team of I.M.P was going to personally execute him with extreme measure.

For the three imps, they learned from spring break and now were careful enough to don disguises and not blow their cover among the human masses of this living plane of existence.

By using wigs, fake moustaches, and random articles of clothing instead of actually taking on human forms.

"Act natural, guys." Blitzo looked through binoculars to find Manning while fixing his clown wig. "Pretend you're like every other fucking human by whining about life and no one will ever be the wiser."

"Sir, scouring through binoculars isn't what humans usually do." Moxxie wore a brown fedora, monocle on his right eyes and a green scarf around his neck and turtleneck shirt. His wife had a blonde wig with a bob cut style and baggy clothes.

"Not true, Mox. Studies show there's a hundred percent chance of humans looking through windows to see a married couple going at it like animals. I should know, I've done it myself."

"Why does that not surprise me?"

"How can we be sure he'll show up?" Lincoln asked.

"Kole's intel's supposed to be solid." Blitzo adjusted his scope for better views on various crowds of humans. "Let's just hope he's not a deranged cannibal like the job we took for Mayberry. Although, I have been thinking of adding another eye in a jar."

Sipping on a smoothie was the humanized Loona who then started to scratch her feet. "Fuck. I don't know how humans can wear shoes. It's like putting my feet through a BDSM session."

"Tough it out, Loona." Millie flexed her arm. "If you're serious about getting involved, then ya gotta stomach a little pain."

With no sight of the target, Blitzo throws the binoculars away in a huff, oblivious to it hitting a mall cop square in the head and knocking him out."God fucking dammit. Why'd the douche we have to kill had to frequent a big-ass mall? It'll take us hours to search the place for him. Alright, Linc, time to dazzle us with your little planning ahead and it better be good."

Lincoln succeeded in his role in the company as the tactician to drum up one of many backup plans.

"Well, Blitz. Like you said, finding a target in this big mall will be like finding a needle in a really big haystack." Lincoln pulled out a piece of paper that had a sketch of the mall's map, drawn by him thanks to his photographic memory. "So, I mapped out the most probable locations in this mall where he'll be. He goes for young women, right? Each of these locations are where one can find them, so odds are he's somewhere there. And instead of stopping at one at a time as a group, I think it'd be better for us to split up and cover more ground that way. Whoever finds him can call the others and we'll meet up. It'll also be way easier with Loona's nose. Then, you guys can you know...go on with all the killing."

"Can I just express how glad I am we have someone that actually knows the concept of a good plan?" Moxxie proudly complimented.

Blitzo made a comforting gesture. "Aw, don't beat yourself too badly, Moxxie. I don't say this enough, but your know-how about weapons makes up for your tiny dick-sized brain."

"...By Satan, you've actually figured out a way to both mock and compliment me."

"Let it never be said that I don't think of my clients."

Lincoln counted five of them including himself, so they had to be smart on who teams with who. "Okay, so what's the call?"

"Obviously, I'll have Loona be at my side at all times. Her nose and my killing skill will make this as easy as-"

Loona interrupted Blitzo. "Actually, I want to join up with only Lincoln."

"What?!" Blitzo and Millie exclaimed.

"B-But, Looney. I thought you wanted to learn from your old man." Blirzo's lip quivered.

"Missy, there is no fucking chance I am letting Lincoln out of my sight!" Millie stated, keeping a firm hold on her boy who flushed in embarrassment. "You'll have cut my own mitts off!"

"Don't tempt me." Loona keeps trying to make Blitzo see things her way. "I...wanna try to make up for getting distracted at the beach. Show you I am all for killing a skeezy bitch-man all on my own."

Moxxie wasn't convinced. "Please. I highly doubt it."

Blitzo was more gullible than he let on. "That's my girl! Okay, I guess you'll be stuck with babysitting the kid. M&M, it'll be a good old fashioned threesome with us, just the way I like it!"

Moxxie deadpanned at his hard to understand boss. "Must you constantly think with your dick?"

"Is there any other way for me?" That was a legitimate question from Blitzo. "Move out, team!"

Millie wasn't going to leave without imparting instructions to Lincoln, looking him square in the eye with utmost maternal seriousness. "Now, Lincoln. Make sure not to wander off or talk to any strangers. If strangers decide to talk to you, go right for the kill, honey. If you can't hit hard enough, find the bluntest object around, then call for me and I'll come running to just straight up rip their skulls out of their heads and beat them to death with those skulls!"

"...That doesn't seem physically possible, Millie."

"Shh...Don't question it." Millie hugged him tightly and sent an 'I'm watching you' gesture to Loona. "You make sure nothing happens to him, ya hear? Or else Blitz will have to look for a new hellhound."

"Don't need to tell me." Loona barked back, Lincoln getting hurt was the last thing she wanted to see.

"Okay, now break!"

With Blitzo, Moxxie, and Millie going their own way with a photocopy of Lincoln's map of the mall, Lincoln found himself forming an unlikely duo with Loona, the company's hellhound and receptionist. The boy originally had mixed feelings about Loona, she was so hostile and offensive to everyone that things between them got off to a rocky start, but with time, Lincoln got a softer side of her. For Loona, there was just something about his innate child-like innocence and sense of loyalty and compassion that both confused and intrigued her. He's not completely perfect, but he's nowhere near as bad as a large number of human souls.

For a hellborn demon, such traits are unusual and at the same time, a little endearing when it pertains to Lincoln.

Those traits are why she began to see him as her first real friend.

"Got anything, Loona?"

Both of them have been following Loona's nose when it started to pick up the scent of the soon-to-be murder victim and Lincoln already crossed a perfume shop.

"Nothing yet." Loona answers to his dismay. "There's a lot of smelly perfume rich bitches like to coat themselves with, but that's not much to throw me off. I fucking swear, there's a place here that even puts in some implants or pads."

Lincoln hung his head low. "Maybe we should've just stuck together. I might overthink things with the splitting up."

"Don't have second thoughts on me, Linc. I'm glad you thought of that, Blitz would've taken me to those lame kiddie rides."

Lincoln chuckled a bit at the image, making Loona crack a smirk. "I'm sure he wouldn't go that far."

"I beg to differ, little man." Loona recalled the first week after Blitzo adopted her. "First thing he did after taking me in was buying me a bunch of stuffed animals, the only good they were to me were chew toys. And oh man, one thing I would literally kill to erase from my mind is the time he actually left a baby monitor in my room. No shit, an honest to god fucking baby monitor. So insulting."

"Okay, yeah, I'll take it back."

To think that Lincoln used to think Clyde's parents were way too vigilant when it came to his best friend's safety.

"And don't even get me started with all his 'thoughtful' gifts." Loona still managed to find a few leftover spiders in her fur. "Is it any wonder why he gets me so riled up? Just because he adopted me doesn't mean I'll just roll over and let him pet my stomach. Because not only is that degrading, I also would rather tell Moxxie he's a capable lover to Millie."

"Do you just have these insults of Moxxie on standby or something? If I ask you to reach into your pockets, will there be actual notes of ways to diss Moxxie?"

Loona blankly stared at the kid before slyly smiling and showed him just that, right from her pockets. "Boom."

"Huh. I won't lie, I'm a little impressed." Lincoln can appreciate the dedication.

"Now you know why I'm the only cool employee at I.M.P." Loona smugly said, ignorant of the transfixed people that stopped and stared when she passed them. "You spend most of your time learning from imps when you should really take a few cues from me. If anyone knows how to survive Hell at a young age with family whatsoever, it's yours truly."

"Strange thing to be proud of."

"Dude, come on. You've seen how much Hell can be. Anyone that can survive it deserves some credit." Loona defended. "And it's proof that I never needed something like a 'family' to help. They made that pretty obvious when I got left at that shithole of an orphanage."

Lincoln frowned in sympathy. His experiences in Hell have taught him that while he's been living comfortably surrounded by a family, not everyone else on Earth or down in Hell are so fortunate. Lately, he's been introduced to a lot of grim realities of the world but that did little to make him cynical or jaded, he had his coworkers at I.M.P to thank for that, Loona included. "I'm sorry. That must've been hard."

Kid had no idea how true that was. She was just a defenseless little and forced to grow up with no one to tell her they loved her, or nurture her, or reassure her that she wasn't alone. If Blitzo really wanted her to think of him as her dad, then he should have adopted her before reaching eighteen years of age, it was at that point that Loona felt it was too late for a father figure to enter her life. "Don't worry about it." Loona tells him. "Just wish Blitz would get the memo already."

"Still, I wouldn't discount how much he adores you." Lincoln chuckles with nostalgia. "My dad can be the same way with me and my sisters. He makes sure to remind us to be more careful, was all in tears when my oldest sisters left for college, tried convincing all of us he didn't play favorites even though we already knew it, and all the delicious food he makes for us is unbelievable. You'd love his cooking." he laughs then becomes more melancholy. "What I would give to taste it again and to see him and everyone else..."

Loona rubbed her hair with a wince.

Hearing her gripe about her dad unintentionally brought up some memories of his own father. "Yeah...so I never asked and it might be a little too late, but I gotta ask. You really miss your family, don't you?"

Sighing, Lincoln depressingly nods. "I can't even begin to describe it. You may not think it means much, but having someone to give a lot of love like that, they're very hard to come by and well, you don't have to listen to me, but you should appreciate that you have someone in your life that cares."

Not only was Loona actually showing some sympathy for him, but she couldn't ignore his very sound argument. In Hell, one of the main reasons for a demon ever treating another demon nicely was because they wanted something from that demon. She grew up thinking she can only ever count on herself, but then Blitzo came along and for the first time, she got a dose of fatherly affection she never had for as long as she could remember. But it's just so out of place and too over the top, she reacted the only way she ever knew how.

With extreme hostility.

Guess she has a lot of walls up due to her rough past.

Before this little heart to heart can continue, she started sniffing wildly. "Hang on. I got something. Follow me." Loona's nose never failed her before and she didn't expect it to now, but when they reached where it was leading them to, some doubts came.

"An arcade?" Lincoln quizzically gazed. "This wasn't on the map."

Loona was just as confused, but a hellhound's nose is hardly ever inaccurate and it was telling her the mark was in there. "Oh, he's in there alright." She pulled Lincoln by the arm and went in. "Don't know why he's here of all places, but the nose fucking knows." Looking at all the video games that were laid out, it seemed like too good of a chance and the inner slacker in her just couldn't resist and judging by Lincoln's longing look at the games, the avid player of video games also had trouble giving in. His coworkers hadn't bought him any video games and he just missed the feeling of a controller. "You know...I promised Blitz I wouldn't get distracted by a guy...I never said anything about video games."

"...That is very true." Lincoln nods. "Bet you I could rack more high scores."

"Oh-ho! Someone's brave! Game on, kid!"

Every parent can never bear it when they're too far from their kids. It is their duty to watch them 24/7 and make sure, no harm comes to them and kill, maim, or torture anyone brazen enough to threaten them.

Like any parent of Blitzo's and Millie's respective calibers.

"What if he gets lost? What if some perverts try to get him into their van? What is a new imp family trying to take him as one of their own?! Oooh, I knew I should've told him to stay behind at the office. Something in my maternal instincts told me it was dangerous to let him come along." Millie fretfully pulled at her tail. She was tempted to go to Lincoln and keep him close to her person for the duration of the day.

"There will be victims, there is no doubt about that." Blitzo agreed, then told Millie that it wasn't entirely hopeless for their kids. "But, don't you worry about a thing, Mills. I got my own paternal instincts and when I detect some ass-hat wanting to get down and dirty on my little girl, they better pray whatever god they serve that there's a nearby gun shop to fight back."

Moxxie sighed with contained annoyance. "You two are both being paranoid. While I can't say much for Loona, I for one believe with the prince's grimoire, Lincoln can muster up a suitable defense to whatever trouble that comes their way. Besides, if they do end up finding the target, they'll contact us."

"God, Moxxie. Do you realize how unreasonable you sound?" Blitzo wanted to bitch slap him right there. "I thought you of all people would understand, what with the whole dad thing you got going on with the intern."

"What? What on Earth are you talking about?"

"Don't play your usual slow act. Like with your dom wife acting like the kid's new mommy. You followed suit in being his new pops."

Millie huffed. "I am his mommy, thank you very much."

"Okay, let me make this clear. I'm not trying act a surrogate father to Lincoln." Moxxie clarifies. "I don't really see the point as his father is neither dead nor out of his life and Lincoln has every intention of returning to him and the rest of his family someday."

Blitzo wasn't convinced. "Uh-huh. You like giving him advice, constantly praising his brain-smarts, and giving him words of encouragement. Need I go on?"

"I'm just being a considerate coworker and when taking into account his predicament, I feel it would help things if he had a positive influence. That's all."

Mollie wanted him to know that there was no issue.

"Now, sweetie-peach, it's nothing to be ashamed of. Newsflash, I'm your sexy wife and I know how you work. We both couldn't help but let that boy into our hearts and now, we're enjoying the joys of parenthood! We're even in the same line of work with him!"

Moxxie didn't argue any further, because he knew both his boss and his wife would just keep making comebacks. But the more he thought about it, the more he realized that in a strange way, he couldn't help but feel some paternal affection towards Lincoln. Part of it was due to the fact that he's a youngster that showed Moxxie respect for once, rather than belittle or insult him. A very welcomed change compared to the workdays that passed by before they ever met him. However, he reminded himself that Lincoln's no orphan and a part of Moxxie felt a little responsible for putting Lincoln in this mess in the first place. Maybe if he and the others had shown up earlier, the kid of white hair could've been saved from being cursed.

Him going so far for Lincoln could be seen as a way of making up for that.

But to see him as a son.

And thinking of himself as his father.

The very notion was ridiculous, but not that bad an idea.

"Heads up!" Moxxie bumped into Blitzo's extended arm. "This is on Lincoln's map."

A swimsuit shop for the purpose of a woman flaunting their impressive assets at the beach. "How can we be certain that he's here? This most likely isn't the mall's only retail store dealing with swimwear."

"Gotta start somewhere." Blitzo went through a lot of crazy ideas in his head and settled for one that seemed perfect for this job. "And I know the best way to weed the guy out."

One makeover later.

"...This is never gonna work." Moxxie rubs his temple with a shake of the head.

At first, he thought Blitzo was going to make Millie do it, but nope. Blitzo decided that he himself was to be the one who will use one of the extra disguises to pose as an impressionable valley girl, looking for a modeling job. Ditching his old disguise for a pink frilly dress and big brown wig and an absurd amount of makeup, had a stolen handbag as an accessory to really pass off. "Jealousy doesn't suit you Moxxie. But don't worry, on the next job, you'll get to put on a dress with me."

"I for one, think you look fuckable, Blitz." Millie praises.

"See? Your wife knows a hot piece of ass when she sees it." Blitzo started clearing his throat and mentally prepared himself for the role. "Oh, my word! I am like, totally unsupervised and vulnerable. I'd trust just about anyone right now without suspecting any ulterior motives whatsoever."

Subtle.

Real subtle.

Lynn may have been the most competitive in the Loud family, but give Lincoln a game controller and he surprises his opponent with how driven he is to winning the game at all costs. "I got you now, Loona!" he grinned, a little more smug than he intended. Both were currently playing a shooting game for more than a few minutes, Lincoln just hasn't played a video game in such a long time, he's missed it with a passion.

The scent of the target was still fresh in the air and that gave her much reason to keep herself and her young friend to continue gaming, they had already played through many of them already.

"Sure about that, Linc?"

His hellhound coworker in human form found it adorable that he thought he could score a win over her, but he's never played against a young goth chick that played the more advanced video games of Hell. "Hey, how are you-" Before Lincoln's eyes, Loona managed to rack up more scores in record time, faster than anyone Lincoln's ever played and she won the game, earning the new high score. "No way! How are you so good at this?" Instead of acting like a sore loser, Lincoln was really impressed.

"You think Blitz didn't teach me how to handle a gun? Plus, a hellhound's senses are a bit more supercharged compared to humans." Loona tousled Lincoln's hair. "But you did pretty good. Even though I totally owned you. Afraid I'm leagues above your school friends, little man."

"Yeah, yeah. Laugh it up." Lincoln really welcomed this kind of change. With his older sisters, not many of them share his love for video games and here he was, enjoying them with Loona. It really started to feel like the old days before the curse was cast on him. "I don't know why I'm so calm right now. Blitz will be furious if he finds out we wasted time playing games."

"We only came here to find the target, remember? Just let me say we got sidetracked. He'll eat it all up." Loona's ears and nose then acted wildly. "Whoa. Linc. Don't look now, but I-I think the dude's close."

"He is?" Lincoln looked back and forth. "W-Where?"

Pressing a hand to his mouth, Loona signals him to keep quiet and she gets him to follow her lead as they hide behind a game and they hear the sound of an arrogant sounding adult male. "Come on, boys. Sure you're not up for a round or two? You're never too old for games." Taking a look, they saw their target in all his self-entitled glory, a healthy young brunette man wearing a business suit accompanied by imposing men with shades. "It's the only thing worth doing after a day of hits and misses. Not one unique specimen at all today. Off days are the fucking worst. Almost makes me miss that one girl-what was her name? Crystal? Chrissie? Something with a C. After this, I might consider ditching this mall. Things are going way too slow for my tastes."

Loona and Lincoln both glowered at the man with distaste.

The bastard doesn't even remember the name of his victim.

The hellhound did have an idea.

If Mr. Manning was so engrossed in finding a new pretty face to mold, then she'll happily oblige...so that he'll end up in the morgue. "I got this. She whispered, then slowly walked. As the target continued complaining about today's failures, he saw the punkish goth young woman, eyes briefly meeting and sent a small smirk his way.

"Hold that thought, gentlemen."

"Sucker." Loona triumphantly snickered, then looked back at Lincoln and she nodded her head towards the men. Nodding in understanding, Lincoln checked the grimoire for spells that won't make too much noise.

She leaned on a game with an expression of stoicism and texted on her phone, giving off a mysterious vibe that drew in the target. "Hey there." the man greets with a suave green.

'Douche.' Loona internally gagged, but didn't express it. "'Sup?"

"Looking awfully lonely there. Separated from your friends?"

She shrugs carelessly. "Came in solo. Prefer it that way. Less bitches to give me shit."

"Ah. The loner type." he recognized and was amused. "Well, I don't mean to judge you on your life choices or anything, but I think it pays to have a lot of friends. Especially the right kind."

"You one of them?" Loona asked.

He chuckled, slipping out a card from his sleeve and handing it to Loona. "Just how I roll, babe. Gotta say, not a lot of ladies can make the whole punk/goth look work, but you. You are obviously an exception."

Loona just couldn't contain an eye roll. "So glad I met your approval."

"Hey, I'm just giving my honest opinion here. You know, no one really does appreciate more unique tastes like your own. I am a more open minded person who feels everyone else should also have the same outlook." This guy had a lot of charisma going for him. "If folks were to just take a minute and actually admire an aesthetic like yours, they might sing a different tune."

"Like I give a rat's ass what other people think of me." Loona retorted

"Understandable. But what about the ones with faces plastered in every billboard you see while driving?" Richie said with a daring expression. "They wouldn't spare you a second look, but if you show them up, they'll want to be just like you. Everyone will want to be your friend."

Loona was starting to see why Kole fell so hard for this guy's words.

Apparently, his tongue was better than his good looks.

But she wasn't some gullible Sinner, and played along with his game for the time being. "I'm supposed to take your word for it just like that?"

"Give a test run chance. You'll see. Stick with me and all your dreams will come true." He snapped his fingers. "Boys, let's head out!" his men didn't show up. "Boys? Where the hell are they? Oh, well. I can always hire new ones. Come along, my dear. Let's get to know each other a little better." he wraps an arm around her shoulder and ushers her along.

She spotted Lincoln with a thumbs up as the two men were restrained and gagged by plant vines.

Loona nodded in approval and he silently went after them and remembered the part of his plan of telling the other group that they found the target which Loona took care of.

Things usually went smoothly for the I.M.P team, or as smoothly as things can go when it comes to their line of work. Seeing as they had yet to find their mark, the only productive thing they were doing was causing a lot of ruckus in the shopping mall. Despite having very unconvincing disguises, no one managed to see through their deception, but they garnered attention anyway when Blitzo got into a spat with a patron of the mall. It seemed like they could never go through one job without creating a spectacle, which reflected poorly on their affinity for keeping a low profile.

A rule all demons allowed to enter Earth are supposed to adhere to no matter the circumstances. Obviously, Lucifer never imagined an ambitious imp making a deal with Goetia royalty and utilizing a tome of ancient magical power to start up his business. Additionally, given this imp was Blitzo, he can't help but just trade words to make a scene in front of everyone.

Most assassins tend to be less loud while on the job.

But none of them was Blitzo.

"Leave me the hell alone already!"

"I saw you staring!"

"Piss off!"

"Don't act like you weren't interested, I could see it in your eyes! You know what you wanted, buster! There's a bathroom stall with our name on it, so are we gonna make something of this or what?!"

"Fucking drag show..."

"Fine then. Just pout! What's your name, Justin? I'm sure your wife will want to hear about this fun spat! I'd love to have brunch with her!"

"Okay, sir. That's quite enough." Moxxie prevents Blitzo from continuing the argument with the male shopper that tried a pickup line on the undercover imp, and his boss just started up a whole altercation that was bound to attract the attention of mall security. "We're looking to assassinate today's target, not scream at every random human that looks your way."

This little scene had been recorded by a few onlookers and that was a major problem that Moxxie felt they should avoid

Blitzo laughed. "Hey, he had the wandering eyes, Mox. Besides, I was just going to knock him out in the bathroom, then steal all his stuff. I just wish I used that idea for Stolas. That and I was getting bored. This is the fifth dress shop we scouted and we got zip."

Millie used a marker to cross it off the map. "Dammit. This slippery son of a bitch just refuses to be found." Of her many hobbies, it was the hobby of the need to stab her targets that needed to be taken care of.

The three then heard Blitzo's vibrate and he reads the text sent by his daughter. "It's from Loona. She and Linc found him!"

"Hot damn!" Millie dropped the map, having no need of it anymore. "The hell are we waiting for, boys?!"

Loona's text was where she was being led to by Richard Manning and Blitzo felt both pride andt fatherly instincts acting up. Loona can keep telling him not to excessively dote on her all she wants, it won't stop him from being a father.

Manning and Loona were out at the parking lot where his very expensive and very fancy limousine was parked and Loona was all kinds of confident that by the time Blitz and M&M arrive, she'd already murdered him. "Not too shabby, is it?" He patted the hood of the limo, proud of himself for owning one. "Plenty of room for two friends." he lets her exit first.

"God, try to be less obvious." The hidden demon muttered quietly to herself. Loona didn't know why the happily married imps made such a fuss about these jobs. This has been disappointingly easy so far, and dear lord, was she going to snap some pics of them fuming in envy.

Both sat next to each other and he chuckled. "It just occurred to me. I never asked for your name."

Right, because God forbid he didn't ask on purpose to further charm Loona to lower defenses. A guy like him doesn't deserve to know her name, but to get the job complete, Loona gave it. "It's Loona."

"Just Loona?"

"Don't give out too much to just anyone."

"You just keep getting more and more mysterious." He hums in fascination. "I like that in a woman." He leans in closer to Loona's face who suppresses the urge to sock him across the face.

"Aren't you the bold one?" Loona lowers her eyelids. "You always move this fast?"

Manning's snickering fills the inside of the limo. "It's the only way I know how." he closes his eyes and she does the same, lips inching closer together.

"Really. Well, I do have a soft spot for the bold ones."

Loona's already picturing the look on his face when he sees he just got stabbed with-hold on. Confused, Loona swore she kept a hidden switchblade inside her pocket, she was going to use it to stab him through the eyes, then slit his throat to show that she knows how to do her job. Then, he was starting to chuckle, only unlike before where it was more amused, it was a dark kind of laugh that unnerved her. her red eyes widened when she saw him hold her weapon, fiddling around with it like he had just found a new toy to play with. "I knew there was something special about you." Manning mused. "Takes a considerable amount of guts to make a go at my life. Seriously, babe, you're every bit as unique as I expected. Just one problem..." In a dash, he pressed the knife close to Loona's neck. "I only hate it when it pisses me off." His suave was replaced with contained sadistic fury. "Now, what's really your story, huh?"

"None of your damn business, cocksucker!" Loona gritted.

He feigns being offended by her harsh tone. "Don't be like that. We had a good vibe going there. What? You related to someone I used to work for? Like...uh...Crystal? Or whatever? I don't see why you're even bothering, that bitch was hardly a saint. Framed a rival of hers stealing that got her canned from the modeling gig forever. Last I heard, she's drowning her sorrows at local pubs. Sure good old what's her name, Kyla's worth getting revenge for?"

"It's nothing really personal."

"Oh, wow. So, you tried for the hell of it. Talk about ruthless." The model agent kept being more fascinated. "It's always gotta be the hot ones that have to be the crazy ones at the same time. To think, we could've had so much fun together."

"And I would've hung myself, because God's a lazy-ass to strike me down himself. Don't think you're hot shit right now."

"Um, last I checked, I'm the one with the knife."

Loona smirked. "Some things are better than a knife."

Out of the blue, the limo began to shake uncontrollably.

"What the fuck?!"

Loona laughs at his stumped expression. "Surprise, motherfucker!" She opened one of the doors and jumped out and saw Lincoln levitating the limo through magic, but was clearly straining from the stress.

Seeing Loona exit made him release his hold on the limo and it slammed hard on the ground, making the human male tumble out. "Your ten minutes were up." Lincoln told Loona through tired pants.

"I know, I know." Loona helped him stand. "Let's hurry up and kill this dick until the others get here."

A third imposing man then came, lifting Lincoln up. "Why does this keep happening to me?!" Lincoln cried out.

Loona glared hatefully over the handling of her friend, feeling the instinct to protect him. "Hey!"

"Don't you move an inch!" Manning slowly stood up. "Now, I don't know what the shit is going on here! But you and this little shit right here! You both need to learn your place and that is being-"

"The kids you shouldn't be trying to kill in front of their parents, shit-heel."

Shotgun rounds capped one of the men's knees, and he ended up dropping Lincoln who was caught by Loona. Moxxie tossed the shotgun away before loading his machine pistol to fire off finishing rounds at the crippled thug, and his wife handled the other one. Millie's dagger got into the second bodyguard's side before she got all the way up to the face to headbutt the guy hard before slicing across his face. "No one hurts my baby." Millie declared.

"Or mine." Hearing a gun clicking, Richard turned to see Blitzo still disguised and was shot in the leg.

"Fuck this!" Their cowering target limped to the car and drove to get out while he still called. A futile effort, Moxxie's expert aim struck at the two back tires, and the car spiraled out of control and crashed into a nearby gas station, and the airbag activated. Gas oil spilled out, it made contact with a match lit by Blitzo, making a loud explosion, launching the limo back back to the parking lot, and the shoppers outside ran away from the chaos. The fire department sirens signified their approach.

"Ha! So much for Mr. Smooth." Loona mocked.

"Young lady!" Blitzo tried to act the part of the stern parent, but his disguise made it look more humorous. "Care to explain why you let that conceited ass lead you away? I'm pretty sure you were supposed to let us know at the exact moment you and the intern found him!"

"What? He's dead, isn't he?"

"And could've killed you!"

"Not to mention Lincoln almost got hurt!" Millie adds. "Just look at him, it's like he was forced to run a mile!"

Frowning, Loona conceded that her overconfidence nearly made Lincoln pay for it and she hated that fact. "Look, I thought I could handle it myself, alright? Off days happen."

"Well, I just hope this off day taught you why I never bring you along for a job! It's a whole dangerous world up here and I'll be damned if I'm gonna lose you to any of Earth's fuckers!" Blitzo didn't want it to come to this, but he might just have to ground her.

Lincoln's words from before replayed in Loona's mind and instead of making this into an argument like before, she relented. "I-I know, Blitz. I'm not like you or them, I guess I still need you to teach me some more."

Blitzo's heart skipped a beat. "Wait, excuse me?"

"I...need you?"

She needs him.

His daughter needs him.

"Oh, Looney!" Doing a 180, Blitzo jumped a hug onto Loona. "It's alright! All is forgiven! Just knowing that you need your daddy is plenty enough for me!" He released her and headed back to the mall. "You know what this calls for? Snacks! We'll take some for the road!"

"Guess you were right." Lincoln said, bewildered, but relieved. "He does get over it fast."

"Honestly, I think he just wanted to hear that from me." Loona didn't want Blitzo to get his hopes up. "Still got a long way to go."

Lincoln caught that. "So there is a chance?"

Loona chortles and ruffles his hair. "Shut up. And hey, sorry for this whole trouble. Guess I really should stick with what I know and that's just waiting for a call. You were also right, I didn't want to look bad in front of my friend. My only friend."

Smiling, Lincoln lets her know he didn't think any less of her. "It's fine, Loona. Helping or not, you have your own style and you don't have to force yourself to do something when it's not entirely for you."

"This whole friend thing is new to me." Loona shamefully said. "Another thing I need to learn about."

""And I'll help however I can and it wasn't all bad." Lincoln nodded. "Yeah, could've done without the lifting, but working with you was pretty fun, Loona. Wouldn't mind if you came with us more often. But only if you really want to, of course."

"I hope you now realize how important this job really is." Moxxie said, still ever so critical.

Loona growls, but Lincoln nudged at her leg and she backtracks reluctantly. "Whatever, Moxxie. ...But, I gotta admit, you're not completely useless when you're carrying around a piece and Millie could cool it with anger, but she's still a pretty badass brawler."

Moxxie and Millie both stared at each other with wide eyed expressions.

They never heard Loona say something remotely positive about them.

"Well, that's...kind of you to say, Loona." Moxxie awkwardly replies. "I suppose it was admirable that you wanted to prove your mettle in the field even if it did nearly lead to a disastrous outcome." Loona's deadpan glare prompted him to shut up.

"Now was that so hard?" Lincoln teased.

Loona shook her head with a smile as the I.M.P team went to get those snacks as the fire department arrived.

She never had a father and it might take a long while before she would ever see Blitzo in that light.

But when it came to her personal thoughts about Lincoln, it was special. She already considered her to be a friend, but she was now starting to wonder if this is what it was like to have a little brother.

Chapter Text

Whoever said that being condemned to Hell was difficult, they've never met most of the numerous Sinners that wound up in the place, it should be obvious that it was absolutely not that hard to be sent there. Years of endless poor decisions, chronic relapsing in their vices, and just by being an all around asshole is what got them eternity in Hell, showing actual consequences for their actions. Since it doesn't take much to get into Hell, it makes someone like Lincoln wonder if it's exceptionally hard for a human to meet the standards required to be accepted into Heaven.

He's met a lot of unique demons so far and has seen a lot of what Hell is usually like.

When he's having some downtime, he wonders just how the afterlife is in Heaven.

If it was as great as most devout Christians believe, or is there more to it than what he's heard. The princess of Hell's catchy jingle makes it sound like it's worth Sinners redeeming themselves over.

Lincoln would receive his answer during Blitzo's target practice on a series of used televisions. "So, you're gonna shoot at TVs?" Lincoln asked.

"Don't worry your weird snow head about it, intern." Blitzo spun his flintlock gun. "We got plenty of spares right there.."

"Does that mean you regularly shoot at appliances?"

The television was on a channel showing a commercial provided surprisingly by Heaven, making it evident that programs from Heaven can even be viewed in Hell. Standing on clouds were golden gates that opened and a small town is shown, many of the buildings feature warped and lopsided exteriors. They were colored sky blue and gold, with sky blue windows if the walls were colored gold, and gold windows for buildings colored sky blue and at the end of this town was an imposing golden gate with the Eye of Providence at its top that closed the town off from a nearby city that looked far more like a metropolis. This was Cherub Town, a location of Heaven that housed Cherubs, a species of Angels.

A light ginger-haired angelic being clad in overalls over a baby yellow shirt and white collar appeared, graciously waving. He resembled a small human child with large purple colored eyes and blush marks. Like most of his kind, he had feathery wings and a halo hanging over his head. "Howdy, all! My name's Cletus and you proved to be good enough to enter through the pearly gates for a slice of Heaven pie! Congratulations!"

Following that introduction, their own jingle started.

More cherubs appeared such as Colin, a Cherub resembling a walking talking sheep colored periwinkle posed.

Keenie, a female Cherub also looking like a sheep only with yellow colors, a dress, and purple pupils with pink irises joins in.

Cletus banded them all together.

Their business' logo appeared."

"C.H.E.R.U.B?" Lincoln questioned.

"Now this is some good target practice." Blitzo snorted. "Just look at these little shits. They run a service that only works for free, but are all about spreading love and joy. Where's a bucket when you need it? The real kicker is that it's the exact opposite of our thing. Nothing but fucking waste of time in my book." They did so in the belief that good people will spread this good will to others. "God sure broke the mold when he decided to make those little insects. All for what? To make humans surround themselves with better people and ditch their friends? Guess the good lord's not so nice." Blitzo had about enough.

The old fashioned television where the commercial was being viewed swiftly explodes after Blitzo shoots it with his flintlock pistol. "Nice shot, B!" Millie praises her boss in his impeccable aim.

"So, those were Cherubs, huh?" Lincoln surmised.

Blitzo twirls his gun with a look of contempt. "That's right, intern. Heaven's answer to us imps. A bunch of frilly little goody two-shoes that matter as much as we do down here that are all about protecting and saving and all that shit. That, and they did a huge rip-off of our jingle!"" It comes to no surprise that Blitzo has a low opinion of their angelic counterparts, their entire business is the complete opposite of what I.M.P does.

No payment required.

Blitzo always believed that if you were good at something, then capitalize off it. From a certain point of view, a company that doesn't accept money does make someone question that company's existence. "Doesn't sound that bad to me." Lincoln spoke honestly.

His boss gagged. "Ugh, please don't fall for that whole scam, kid. I bet you're thinking that such a stand up operation like that is just so generous and kind, but trust me, it's not all great times up there if all they have taken residence are judgy pricks." It's not uncommon for a human to actually believe in the whole paradise of goodwill that Heaven always tries to present itself as. But everything comes at a price, and longstanding paradise is one of them. Lincoln's beginning to understand the reality of unrepentant humans and Blitzo feels he needs another reality dose.

"What? I'm just saying. It actually feels nice knowing there is a Heaven looking out for people." Lincoln hoped there were such guardians watching over his family.

"Yeah? Where were they when that teacher went and cursed you to Hell?"

Millie gasped, aghast. "Blitz!" She knows how much her little boy hates being reminded of that day.

"Hey, how am I in the wrong here? If those uppity Heaven folk are so big on noble deeds, then just where the fuck were they, huh? For god's sake, you sure don't see any angel coming down here to drag Lincoln off, either."

That's right.

At Lincoln's hour of need, there was no divine intervention that saved him from the wrath of Stillman and when none came during the Mayberry job, that fueled some resentment in Lincoln, but he's tried to calm down since then. Setting aside the creepy looking Exterminators that Heaven sends every year for a purge of the massive residents of Hell, at least the Cherubs seem more approaching and welcoming. "Now don't you listen to him, hon." Millie smiled his way. "Personally, I consider that day the best day of my life. It was the day you came into our lives, after all!"

A weird way to put a positive spin on such a traumatic day, but Lincoln accepted it.

"Enough mushiness!" Blitzo wanted to continue with the target practice. "Give me another Mox!"

Moxxie walks while carrying another TV and swipes the remains of the last one off to place it on the counter. He turned it on to 666 News, but Blitzo wanted to see a channel that made him want to shoot. "Nah, not feeling it. Next!" he demands, pouring gunpowder into his pistol.

Nervous about being in the blast radius of the ensuing explosions, Moxxie switched to random channels that didn't pique Blitzo's trigger finger. "Keep going, try the next one, and the next." Blitzo urged and the next channel showed another commercial where an imp appeared for a commercial.

Lincoln felt some recognition. "Hey, wasn't that guy at Loo Loo Land?"

Wally Wackford, a notable salesperson that's always looking to make a profit out of just about anything he can think of, like during his brief stint as a torch vendor at the now destroyed Loo Loo Land was now in a new business venture. "I say, I say! Are you looking to get work making a lot of crazy contraptions and goofy gadgets?!" he uses his cane to pull down a circular background that looks like something out of more old cartoons and a title appears. "Well, call me at Wacky Wally Wackfords's Wacky Idea Factory! Where you make the things, and I make the money!" Wally shows up again to continue his pitch, getting close to the screen and now pleading desperately. "Please, I'm very desperate!"

Another imp trying to get by in a hellscape that expects less from his kind.

Blitzo could really relate to his plight.

That wasn't really his style, though.

"Bingo!" Grinning, he shoots and that's another TV exploding.

Millie cheers for her boss. "Whoo! You're on a roll, sir!"

"At this rate, we'll run out of TVs. You know that, right, Blitz?" Lincoln pointed out, rubbing his ears from the loud bangs.

"That's the idea!"

It was mighty impressive the Loona was able to sleep through it all, her snoring must've tuned out the explosions as she napped on her chair with a leg on the table. Her slumber became interrupted once a shaking sensation was felt throughout the office and her cup spilled. "Guys, do you feel that?" the hellhound asked, expressing a rare show of concern.

"Oh, shit! Is that a hellshake?" Blitzo inquired, more annoyed than distressed.

Lincoln turned to Moxxie, getting nervous. "That's a thing here, Moxxie?"

"Of course not, Lincoln. That's-"

Millie was more panicky than her husband, holding him tightly. "Alright! Don't panic, boys!" she urges Lincoln to stick by her side. "Just hold onto Momma, Lincoln! I'll keep you safe!"

"Millie, there's no need for any panic." Moxxie attempts to soothe her worries. "Hellquakes don't, nor have they ever happened."

Loona grabbed hold of Moxxie and shook him like a doll even though the shaking momentarily stopped. "Stop getting hysterical, fatty!" she screamed, then slapped him across the room and he hit the wall. "And Lincoln, listen to Millie, alright?!" she kneels down and protectively holds his shoulders to pull him close.

At that moment, a wrecking ball appearing to be made out of black tubes crashed through the wall and part of it crumbled on top of Moxxie, burying him. The tubes separated into two and a Sinner Demon entered through the hole. Blitzo and Millie took a cautious step back as Loona got on all fours and stood defensively in front of Lincoln, growling at the intruder. He resembled a classic supervillain ripped from the comics that Lincoln used to read back home, he had a red skinned face with a handlebar mustache, long red horns, and a prominently long red nose. A black top hat with a neon green band laid upon his head and covering his eyes were a pair of acid green goggles with dark green swirls in the lenses and a black strap on his face. His outfit was a black jumpsuit with a bright green neck piece, along with a bright green curve on his chest and stomach that forms into a question mark. He also wears red gloves, bright green boots and a blood red cape.

The tubes were in fact metal tentacles that extended from his back.

"Do not be afraid!" he told the company of assassins, plus one cursed child, with a grin.

Unfazed, Blitzo deadpanned. "Please tell me you got that insurance thing." After the whole Eddie thing from before they met Lincoln, Blitzo thought that he might as well learn about it and use it himself.

"Who are you and what do you want?!" Millie demanded, armed with a sharp black axe, in case this guy came looking for trouble and if he knew what was good for him, he won't harm Lincoln.

The Sinner slid along black loops until he struck a villainous pose between them. "I am Loopty Goopty! Dastardly inventor of all things loopy and loopish!" he sang, making the I.M.P team slightly infuriated by his off-putting nature.

"Could've just used the door, dude." Loona criticized his dramatic entrance, no longer seeing him as a threat, just another thing to ignore. "Doesn't need to be this whole thing." Way too corny for her tastes.

"I am eccentric and must therefore do eccentric shit!" Loopty explained, doing a wavy dance to further showcase his point.

Blitzo sniffed him and recoiled in revulsion. "Ugh! This old fuck reeks of the living world. Did you just die?"

"Yes!" Loopty confirmed. "Moments ago, in fact! Which is what brought me here!" he gestured to their office, shouting out his sentences.

Loona tapped on her phone, still giving her own critical opinions on his over-the-top actions. "Just saying, the front door would've gotten you here fine."

"It'll probably take weeks to fix it." Lincoln said.

"Shut up, dear furry and little lad!" Loopty held up a finger to her face, making her growl in anger.

Lincoln was there to calm her down. "Easy, Loona."

"I can't help it, Linc! This guy's about as annoying as Blitz! Doesn't help that he sort of sounds like him, too."

Loopty presented a photo of a sickly old man in bed to Blitzo, indicating him as their target. "I caught a glimpse of your sign and after ignoring the many errors, I gathered that you delved into the practice of killing still-alive humans who have wronged departed souls such as I! And so, I give you the man I'm gonna need you to ki~ll~!"

Blitzo looked at the photo. "Not even a shit's length of time in Hell and already plotting revenge?" he surmised and smiled, impressed with his drive to get payback. "I can respect a man with that sort of passion! I'm Blitz, the "O" is silent." he shook hands with their new client and Loona walked off, already having enough of Loopty's presence.

"Wha O"?" Loopty quizzically asked.

"Aww, thank you. Now what's the tea, sis?" Blitzo asked in a gossipy expression.

"The tea?"

Moxxie's arm reaches out as he struggles under the weight of the debris. "Guys, help!"

"Oh, dang! Moxxie!" Lincoln quickly rushed over and used the grimoire to levitate the debris off of him.

Blitzo clarified that he wished to know the reason why Loopty wanted this man specifically to die. "Yeah, why are we killing this guy? I mean, what did he do to you?" he slapped Loopty's stomach.

Loopty became emotional once he recounted the events leading up to his passing. "He was...my business partner! You see, I was not always an old man!" He remembered it all so vividly. Those were happier days for Loopty Goopty, the days where and his close friend would make so much money from inventing technological advancements and innovations at the cost of inhumane experiments and complete disregard for the ethical issues. "My partner, Lyle, and I ran Lyle-Loopty Robotics, a technological empire!" Back when he was in his prime, he and Lyle Lipton would stand atop the roof of their building surrounded by factories and columns spewing smoke. "Earlier today, we were testing a new machine intended to stop or reverse the aging process! It was our magnum opus!" A machine that could make it possible to prolong the life of people or make them wither away at the blink of an eye. Humanity itself would have improved so much if that machine had been used for the sake of others, but since both inventors were greedy and rich with no morals, they focused more on how it would've benefited them and those like them.

"It could've saved all three trillionaires! Unfortunately, we neglected to test the machine on the poor like we usually do. We were too sure of our own genius. But the machine was accidentally set forward! Another hiccup was that we made it too indestructible and our weak little old man arms just couldn't open the door! But, in my defense, what's the point of having led if you're not gonna use it besides poisoning the waters with it?"

Pride always tends to lead to downfall, and their own pride made them forget to make sure the thing was set to "young" instead of "old" and they made the machine a little too indestructible. "By the time we managed to get out thanks to paramedics, it was too late. At least, for me. My old heart was much too fragile, you see. As for Lyle, that fat old bastard was the only one who survived!". It burned Loopty so much that his partner had more luck, even though he was now barely clinging to life. Even so, Loopty couldn't contain his rage over how since he still lives, that means his former partner will now bask in the riches that he once had shared and amassed together with his deceased associate.

A fact that sparked Loopty Goopty wanting revenge.

"Now, that evil son of a bitch is going to take over the empire we built together! Without me to share it with him, he'll make all the goddamn money in the world, become the fourth trillionaire, and get all the credit!"

Loopty's already picturing his former partner laughing evilly as huge loads of money rains down upon him while the now Sinner Demon has to spend several lifetimes in the pits of Hell.

This was a crime Loopty Goopty wasn't going to let go.

And that is where I.M.P comes in.

After hearing the story, it was just about as karmic as any Sinner's backstory and the reasons for him wanting Lyle dead were equal amounts of petty and self-serving, not uncommon when it comes to most jobs. "Yeah, that's not really evil." Blitzo notes. The jobs where the client's reasoning for wanting someone alive and still human dead made things a bit more exciting when they go up for some murdering.

Lincoln snorts at his hypocritical comment. "Since when do you care? I thought "innocent" and "guilty" weren't our business?"

"Yes..." Moxxie groans a bit as Lincoln supports him. "At the very least, this Lyle person deserves some form of punishment for experimenting on the poor."

"Don't think I'm going soft. It sounds more fun when it's someone that really does a client dirty. The same old shit of petty squabbles gets old real fast." Blitzo replies.

"Well, it was evil towards me!" Loopty Goopty indignantly argued. "Now get your crimson asses up above and send that heartless no-good son of a bitch to Hell, where he belongs!"

Lincoln taps his chin. "Hang on. Lyle-Loopty Robotics? My little sister, Lisa, once told me about you guys. You two were the most immoral, hazardous, avaricious and disgraceful excuses of inventors in the history of technology. A great shame to the science community itself and a blight upon the world that it would be a much better place if you weren't in it." Everyone stared at Lincoln with widened eyes over the blunt description of how much of a piece of crap Loopty and his partner were. "...Those were her words, not mine."

Shaking his head, Blitzo brought up one thing Loopty should count on.

"I'm sure you know, Poopty-"

"It's Loopty!" the inventor seethes.

Blitzo puts his hands up meekly and soothes him with profound sweating, always wary of a Sinner's anger. "Yes, of course. See, even if he does end up dying at our hands, he'll still be sent down. That means you'll be stuck with him. Forever. At least until Extermination comes a calling, but if you both manage to live through the night and do so the next many years, then that's it. You and him. Forever down here.""

What Blitzo saw as a downside, Loopty Goopty saw an opportunity.

"Oh, trust me, my friend! I'm counting on it!"

Grinning maliciously, Loopty Goopty summons an array of weapons with his metal tentacles which includes several guns, a launcher, and a circular saw blade.

He positively couldn't wait for a reunion with Lyle.

It's not right that only he should spend a lifetime in Hell.

Given the long history they've had of sharing wealth, why not share eternal damnation while they're at it?

"...That's actually kinda hot." Moxxie compliments, admiring the weapons and his bloodlust.

"Now then, imps, furry, and poor child, I bid you farewell!"

Loopty cartwheels to the wall, then takes off with a jetpack that also shoots out confetti to further make his exit that much more interesting. "Even his exits have to be a whole thing." Loona groaned.

"Well, guys. You heard the cliche supervillain cosplayer!" Blitzo pours in more gunpowder and aims his pistol upwards. "We got an old geezer to put in the ground, so let's get to it, people!"

"I'll get you guys your weapons." Lincoln hoped they didn't fall off the hole.

"Nice hustle, kid! But first things first. Disguises!"

Like any job I.M.P does, going to the place where the target lives was the first step in their intricate process of assassinating a human target, who was completely oblivious to their time nearing its end. Because Lyle was a wealthy inventor, making his earnings from selling all his inventions, he lived in an expensive neighborhood that only rich people can afford. The house itself was a large mansion that was closed off from the rest of the world by gates. The team boarded a tour bus that made a stop at the mansion and Moxxie inspected it through binoculars. "Gee, I wonder who lives here." he asked with sarcasm. It's the kind of home someone wealthy as Lyle would be able to purchase and live in.

The Imps had disguises that resembled the ones they wore on the Manning job, with Blitzo being a clown again with a sock puppet covering the end of his tail. Moxxie looked like an English gentleman with a fake mustache, and Millie wore a long blonde wig with a bang covering her right eye and a straw hat. Lincoln discarded his work uniform with a simple black hoodie with orange accents and blue pants, the hood was up to hide his face..

"Look to your right, and you'll see the home of famed inventor, Lyle Lipton!" The tour bus guide directed the other passengers' eyes to the mansion.

Everyone made sounds of awe and wonder as they snapped photos with their phones.

Throwing away his shades, Blitzo smirks with eagerness. "Let's gear up, people! We found him!"

He had his trusty pistol, Moxxie armed himself with an assault rifle, Millie held two large swords, and Lincoln opened the grimoire. The three imps hopped over the fence, while Lincoln levitated himself over it.

"Time to kill this rich guy!" Millie jovially announces for all to hear and the four race over to the windows.

But the tour guide was hardly bothered by this obvious endeavor to murder a sickly old man. "What a sight! We're looking at strangers plotting to break in and kill the owner of this home! Famous people deal with this all the time!" Even the tourists weren't up to their asses in fright, seeing this as another sight to memorialize in their devices.

I.M.P hid themselves to prevent being seen by anyone on the window's other side. Moxxie peers through and sees the aged Lyle Lipton laying on a hospital bed, hooked up to various machines for life support. "Dear crumbs." his companions look to see. "Loopty really undersold the number their machine did on him." Moxxie observed, feeling a sense of pity for the man who earlier today had gone from a healthy young man to an old buzzard with barely enough energy to enjoy his own vices.

On his bed, Lyle mournfully kisses a framed photograph of money. "This is farewell, my one truest love. All the riches of the world can'ever t fill the emptiness I'm feeling now that my shitty old body is too useless to perform more accomplishments." he bemoaned, tying the IV tube into a noose.

"Aw, how nice of him! He's saving us all the work by offing himself. That's a nice twist!" Blitzo tells his employees, elated by Lyle's choice to commit suicide.

Saves them a lot of time and get the money owed to them much sooner.

Moxxie noticed that Lyle's old age was making the whole killing himself plan go at a slow pace. "Anyone else thinking we should tie it for him? His shriveled old man form is very weak."

"It's a little...sad." Lincoln frowns in some sympathy, he could never imagine someone at such a low point of their lives, that they'd forsake everything and end their own lives to make the pain end.

"Look away if you want, sweetie." Millie got them drinks and popcorn. "Mommy, daddy, and our boss-man will enjoy the show for you."

The makeshift noose was about to be put over his head, but just then, it glows in angelic white and a powerful supernatural heavenly force knocks the imps and Lincoln back, blowing Blitzo's cat sock puppet away, making him sad. Inside the mansion, the three Cherubs from the commercial float down gracefully in three rays of light and Lyle frightfully pulls his sheets up. "Oh, lord! I'm being haunted by ugly orphan children now My nightmares are real!"

"Who the fuck are they and they better be prepared for revenge for my puppet?!" Blitzo glowered.

Moxxie was the first to recognize them. "I don't believe this! Sir, those are-"

"Just call us Cherubs, Mr. Lyle!" Cletus tells the old man.

Lyle was greatly discouraged by their presence, raising a hateful fist. "I hate filthy stinking orphan children, the floaty ones exceptionally."

"We're here to convince you not to go the path of suicide, sir." Colin bowed, explaining their noble mission that had been placed on their shoulders by their superiors. "On behalf of those in Heaven benefited by your amazing inventions."

"Oh, hell to the fuck no! Don't forget-" An irate Blitzo marches through the window, shattering the glass and face-planting.

The other three enter through the door. "Lyle Lipton? It is our-" Moxxie glances at the lying Blitzo on the floor in exasperation before addressing Lyle again. "-humble opinion that you should continue the process to commit die by self-infliction."

Millie nodded and brought up many reasons why it'd be pointless for him to keep on living in the state he was in now. "Be real, what do you expect to do with your big moo-la now that you're so old and gross?"

Scorned by the arrival of a group of demons from Hell, the Cherubs stood their ground and made a counterpoint. "Is that a serious question?" Keenie said as Cletus gathered some money. "His wealth can be spread around with the people of the world! And do so much good with it! And be so fulfilled!'' She takes the money and makes it rain with it.

Lyle had other plans. "Ew! No!"

"Think of the new hospitals and schools!" Collin encouraged.

The life they were trying to save was still stubborn. "Ugh, why won't you let me die and stop hearing such atrocities?"

Blitzo appears beside him. "Sounds like you need help offin' yourself there, buddy." Lucky for him, that's what I.M.P is here for. "Moxxie, intern, what do we have for this fella?"

Lincoln hands Moxxie a vast collection of weapons for the purpose of ending lives and the imps toss them to his boss and the target. "Just the bare essentials. Assault weapons, crossbow, hunting bow, sniper rifles. old-fashioned shotgun, revolvers in three colors, chainsaws, katanas..."

"He's classier than any of that!" Colin was proven wrong when Lyle points a rifle in his mouth before the sheep cherub took it from him. "There are more than plenty of reasons to live, Mr. Lyle."

"As if. Smelling like he ain't been out of bed in months is not reason number one." Millie sniffs, winces, covers her mouth, and vomits on the floor with Moxxie and Lincoln consoling her.

"Okay, look." Lincoln took a chance to talk in a more civil manner to the cherubs. "I get you want to save a life and kudos for that. Really. But, he's not exactly what anyone can call redeeming in anyway. Much less deserving to be saved." He doesn't know who in Heaven thinks his life was worth being saved, but they must not have known about what he and his old partner did while experimenting.

"The little orphan is right!" Lyle sighs wistfully. "Oh, the screams of the poor as they were force-fed experimental chemicals just don't bring as much joy as they used to."

Clearing his throat with a disturbed expression, Cletus wasn't going to back down, not to the likes of them. "It's never too late to make up for mistakes of the past, little demon-ling! If he were to just see the beauty of the world and how it can be better improved with his brilliant mind, his tune will change in no-time flat! Love can be beautiful at any age!"

"And we'll show him the way!"

The cherubs cheer. "Yeah! We can do it!"

As for the imps. "No! Let him die!"

"...So, we're just going to keep giving him reasons to die and reasons to live until one side wins. That's what's going on here." Lincoln's hand swipe down his face. "It's official. My life has completely jumped the shark."

C.H.E.R.U.B took Lyle outside to a hill that overlooked a pristine forest and majestic lake. The sun shone its radiant waves to breathe new life into the pretty flowers as birds chirped songs on their nests, and little critters happily went about their usual routines. It was a sight that can really warm the hearts of people, and C.H.E.R.U.B were confident that it'd have that effect on Lyle. "Look around, Lyle." Cletus said, hoping to get through to what's left of his heart and see the light.. "God's gift of nature is a wonder to behold, regardless of age...or wealth!"

"If you were to end your life, you'd be missing all of this!" Collin spreads an arm throughout the sight.

Lincoln smiles a little. "It is very pretty."

"Not for long!" Blitzo intervened, now dressing up in a tiger costume. "You're really gonna buy that load of shit from a baby and the sheep it fucks, are you?" he insulted at his Heavenly counterparts.

Keenie gasped at his rude attitude. "That is so inappropriate!"

Moxxie and Millie also had feline costumes on, and Lincoln still had his previous disguise.

"Oh, kiss our ass, prude!" the sole female imp growled, showing Keenie two middle fingers.

If the cherubs think nature's such a great factor of life, then Blitzo was set to remind them everything has a darker side and being a Hellborn, he was well-versed in that area of expertise.

"Anyway..." he pushes Lyle to the side of the bed to make some room for himself. "Take it from me, a fellow genius. Nature is no picnic up close."

The imp gives Lyle binoculars to give him a better and closer view. Lyle sees a group of bunnies and squirrels who were happily napping, nuzzling, foraging, and all that jazz, until in an instant, the poor critters were savagely attacked by a pack of hungry wolves. "Oh, no!" This greatly terrified Lyle, and the only way to stop himself from being forced to watch was to just to get it over with.

"Oh, my...!" Lincoln didn't even know there were wolves near their area.

He was so glad Lana wasn't here, the more intense aspects of the animal kingdom and ways of the wild would break the little tomboy's heart, due to her love for all things relating to animals.

Collin tried to pluck the binoculars away, but Blitzo wrestled for control. "Stop looking!"

"I can't stop!" All Lyle wanted was for his life to end, and like Blitzo hoped, the imp's demonstration was doing the trick. "I've never wanted to die more than I do now!" he cried in anguish.

A bear decided to get involved , swiping a wolf to the ground and towering over the canine animal. But, the bear was soon crushed by a falling tree, cut down by a beefy logger with a chainsaw, satisfied with his work. A beehive then landed on the man's head, the bees inside attacking him for disturbing their home, making him run around in circles, even throwing his chainsaw into the air wildly. None of this was making things any easier for Lyle Lipton. The wolves, the bear, the lumberjack and finally, a rampaging stag having joined in to put an end to it all.

The mood went from peaceful to horrible so fast and quite a random way, it made the previous serenity seem like a distant memory.

Lincoln hardly believed everything turned out that way in record time.

Lyle and the cherubs froze in traumatic silence at what had transpired right in front of him, and Blitzo flashed a prideful grin, knowing his team just got their first win.

"...That escalated so fast." Lincoln muttered, covering his mouth while green.

Laughing nervously, Cletus suggested that a change of scenery was in order.

"L-Let's check out someplace else!"

Moxxie and Millie do a smug fist bump.

The joys of nature were definitely off the table. "A shopping mall?" Lincoln questioned, seeing C.H.E.R.U.B crash through the entrance, having trouble figuring just how this could get Lyle to see things their way. "What exactly do they hope to find there that will convince him not to kill himself? He can't really use any of the stuff that's sold here, anyway?" he looks at his coworkers' new outfits. "And what's with the elf and reindeer costumes?"

"You'll see soon, Lincoln." Moxxie replied, not enjoying having to dress like the creature known for pulling Santa's sleigh by being whipped. Although, it did seem oddly fitting, because of his status as the company's whipping boy. "I don't mean to sound presumptuous given that it's too early to tell, but I believe the cherubs are beginning to get a little desperate."

"For once, Moxxie, you're finally spitting out shit that makes sense!" Blitzo leads the way. "If we're lucky, the old man will off himself here. We'd be two for two in targets taken out at a mall."

"And we can pick up some churros while we're at it!" Millie claps as they go in.

Inside, Lyle looks around in apt aggravation. "Oh, lord! Where are we now?! Just let me perish!"

Cletus and his team were too tenacious to give up now. "We're here to show you another thing life is worth living for. Childhood wonderment!" Keenie motions to a corral of human children cheering for a small Santa Claus. Every kid in attendance looked so peaceful, content with their natural young lives and the positives that come with it, they displayed innocence that started to actually lift up Lyle's spirit.

"Wait, Christmas has already passed." Lincoln noted, flummoxed by the mall Santa and the Christmas sale this mall put into place.

"Cheap mall, sport." Blitzo whispered. "They like to pull gimmicky stunts to reel in buyers."

For the first time in today, Lyle felt like a weight had been lifted off his shoulders. "Why, look at those sweet diseased-ridden vermin." he marveled, still making his dislike of kids apparent. "Their joy comes from innocence, unspoiled by the burdens of adulthood, and their mid-class existence." Without those, they were free to play around and eat their own boogers. "Such simple joy they have. It is inspiring. Thank you for showing me this."

He tells this to the pleased C.H.E.R.U.B, seeing that they had achieved their objective.

But being the incorrigible little imp that he was, Blitzo ruined it.

"Hey, dipshit!" Blitzo announces to the kid positioned on Santa's lap. "Wanna see just whose lap you're sitting on?!"

Ripping off the red robe, Blitzo reveals the Mall Santa to be a grossly overweight adult male in his underwear with a gnome hat and a shirt that didn't fit him, he made a rather disturbing sound when his true appearance was shown. All the little children's happiness washed away and ran away in fright from the man that just crushed whatever innocence they had left.

"Santa's evil!"

Lyle bawled like a baby, forcing the cherubs to lead him away.

"And score number 2 for I.M.P! I'm telling ya, this'll be a cinch!"

Lincoln didn't join in on the self-congratulations, he looked at the kids running away, he agreed with Lyle's assessment of their previous joyfulness, about how as kids, they could all go about their lives without fear of losing what they currently have and be comfortable with those that they love. They lived blissfully ignorant of certain cold hard truths, kind of like him not too long ago. Like him, all it took was one unfortunate experience to mark the beginning of the rose colored glasses they've looked through to break bit by bit. A fake Mall Santa was nothing compared to what he's seen and been through, and though he's shown impressive resilience in the face of those adversities and still holds a surprising amount of unbroken will, it's not like they didn't leave some lasting impressions on his mind and soul.

Quite the opposite, in fact.

"Lincoln?" Moxxie asked. "Is everything alright?"

"...Fine. Let's just hurry up and follow them."

Moxxie and his wife shared a concerned glance, easily telling that something was troubling the boy.

"What's with all the dreariness here, folks?" Blitzo leaned on Moxxie's head.

"Sir, do you suppose that our aim to make Lipton see the futility of living may also be having an unintended effect on Lincoln?"

"Of course not. Why should it? Kid's still young, still has a long way to go before brooding over life's disappointments. Plus, we're from Hell. Not like death is anything new to us. It's basically a ticket to an even crappier existence."

"But it wasn't to Lincoln, because of his humanity." Millie specified. "Sometimes, it feels like Hell is forcing the sweet potato to grow up too soon, and I don't want that! He's still just a boy!"

Blitzo knew that kid had been making his employees a bit too soft for his liking, but as long as it didn't interfere with their job, he didn't do anything about it. Fact is, there was something about the kid that sort of made Blitzo himself act less of an asshole to him unlike most humans, but at the end of the day, Blitzo and his group were assassins, that type of business has no room for a little heart unless it was one that was ripped out of a target's chest.

"Look, you're overreacting, alright? We're just trying to help an old man kill himself and make some of Heaven's own dead weight look like screw-ups. Most Hellborn wish they could put uppity elitist angels that put themselves on such a high pedestal in their place because they're oh-so more noble. He's smart, he'll figure it out. Now come on! We gotta keep making the world look as shitty as it really is!"

Nature was a misfire.

The smiles of children also ended in failure.

Yet, C.H.E.R.U.B were still trying another idea.

Love.

They wondered why they didn't think of this sooner. What better way to show how fulfilling life can be by showing him how more meaningful it can be when you're sharing it with another person close to his heart. There was much love going on around the world, so they found a place that thrived on that single feeling, a private place where the young can express their love and adoration of each other. "Eh!" Lyle groaned, repulsed by the aroma of this setting. "This place reeks of teenagers!" If there was one thing he hated more than children, it was unruly teens that are always so frivolous with their youth.

"Welcome to Lovers' Lookout, sir!" Cletus holds his hands together with sparkling eyes. "We're here to remind you about possibly life's greatest joy of all-"

Lyle's greedy hands reached up. "Money!"

"No! Love." Colin corrected, hands on his chest warmly.

"I've never been in love before." Lyle admitted. At least, he's never loved a living person before. His time, investing in his love for inventing, experimenting, and wealth always made interpersonal relationships take a backseat in his life. "I imagine it's quite nice."

C.H.E.R.U.B were relieved to hear him say that. "It's not too late, sir!" Colin guaranteed. "You can still find-"

"Ha!" I.M.P showed up and the imps wore wigs and dresses. "Nice try, ugly." Blitzo mocks.

Lincoln stared at them. "...Where do you guys keep finding all these outfits?"

Blitzo ignores him and blabs to all the cars filled with hormonal teens hoping to make it to second base with a megaphone. "Hey, horny lovers! Which one of you would fuck this old man?!" he gestures to Lyle, who was again ashamed of his old age.

All vehicles present wasted no time in speeding, leaving a dejected Lyle behind.

Colin floated close to a smug Blitzo's face crossly. "You know, you are so utterly c-c-cruel. We're just trying to give hope to someone in need!"

Moxxie's eyes rolled. "Oh, and you three are so superior to us just because we want some selfish, greedy, authoritarian capitalist to keel over dead!" he argues, getting angry over their self-righteous bullshit.

"You're making things too real right now, Moxxie." Blitzo sprays him with a bottle full of piss, causing Moxxie to hiss like a cat.

For Lincoln, he just wanted all this end already. "How come you guys don't just kill him and get it over with?" he asked the imps with apt irritation. "I mean, it's what you were hired to do, right? Why go through all this?" They may always act crazy and were hired killers, but the imps always showed a commitment to their jobs, and this now seemed to be a pointless little game.

"I like the easy way as much as the next bitch." Blitzo nodded at the cherubs. "But screwing around with these schmucks and fucking up their jobs feels just a tiny bit better." he rubs his fingers into Cletus' cheek.

Slapping it away, Keenie shot back at him. "Only a spawn of Hell itself like you wouldn't understand the need to save a soul! The Lord loves all his children, and wouldn't allow such an important specimen to suffer being confined in your lands! That's why we're charged with the most holiest of responsibilities, to salvage those souls, so that his good word can be spread all around. No soul on Earth is without protection from up above"

Hearing that made Lincoln's fist clench.

If they only knew.

Calmly breathing, Lincoln tried talking to the cherubs again.

"Well, what if that person doesn't want to be 'saved' in any way? I get what you're trying to do here, but is it really okay to force them to keep living? Again, why even bother with this guy? Sure, he makes cool machines, but from what we've heard, he never really used them to help people."

"Ah, but you see, by showing him the worth of living, he'll be given a chance to use his creations for the betterment of mankind, ensuring his entrance into Heaven in return for all his good work."

"...Will it, though?"

"...E-Excuse me?"

Lincoln kept pushing. "Getting into Heaven sounds like a good thing, just about anyone would do whatever it takes to be good enough for it, which is exactly the point, right? Lyle's work could be used to make people's lives better, so better, that they'd be good enough for Heaven. As for Lyle, whatever good he'll do won't erase what he's done in the past and I doubt Heaven would tolerate it. But what he can offer is enough for people in Heaven to want him to stay alive. Or am I wrong?" he questioned, giving a challenging glare at them.

Cletus, Keenie, and Collin fretfully sweated bullets at the boy's bold claims. "Th-That's ridiculous! W-We're just doing God's work! Heh, heh, let's go!" they couldn't fly out of there fast enough.

"Damn, kid!" Blitzo slapped Lincoln's back. "Way to give them the business! Here I thought you didn't have the balls to bark. I can tell they're getting desperate now! Whatever they try next, it'll end with an old man dead and buried!"

The cherubs prayed that this last ditch effort would be enough to instill some hope and drive to live in Lyle Lipton. they've already wasted enough time as it is and their superiors above have a low tolerance for tardiness. Those demons getting involved certainly didn't help matters, but they optimistically believed that they were starting to get through to Lyle. He just needed one last push and that push was watching an eloquent opera show in the theater alongside fellow appreciators of the classic arts, the three sat in their seats well-dressed alongside Lyle and the audience to see the show up close.

A woman dressed as a Valkyrie on a fake unicorn sang, accompanied by a talented pianist.

"Behold! The wonder of art and music!" Cletus said to a bow-tie wearing Lyle. "Something always here to comfort, entertain, and live for!"

Up above the stage in the scaffolding, I.M.P watches, with Blitzo wagging his tail and ass left to right. "So, what's the plan on making this this bad?" Millie asked.

"Afraid we can't." Moxxie pointedly states, a fan of the genre himself. "There's literally nothing horrible with the opera. That's a fact."

"Unless, we ruin it somehow." Blitzo contradicted, intent on making even opera horrible enough for Lyle to kill himself over.

Lincoln brought up a story he once heard. "My sister, Luna, once messed up Lisa's first opera by stage diving into the band. "

"I'm thinking of something bigger." Blitzo mischievously moves the spotlight around the stage.

The singer tries following the light to continue singing, but it keeps moving away from her. "She's not very good." Lyle said with a shaking head. The cherubs narrow their eyes in suspicion at the cause of this, said cause was still messing with the stage light with a chuckle. All that tampering caused the stage light to become too loose and to the surprise of I.M.P, it fell off. The singer let out one final note, but never got the chance to end it once the stage light landed on top of her, putting a stop to the piano music and causing Lyle, the cherubs, and the audience to gasp in abject terror.

Equally dreadful, the pianist nonetheless resumed playing.

Lincoln and the imps blinked collectively. "That I did not intend, but at least we made it bad." Blitzo shrugged.

"That's it!" Cletus and his friends fly angrily up to them, this was the last straw to make them finally confront the demons and give them a piece of their minds. "No more! You monsters have interfered too much!" Cletus snapped.

Even the meek Collin had it up to hear with them. "D'oh! All w-we want is to just do our jobs without interruption!"

"That's funny, so are we!" Moxxie counters.

"Enough!" Violence seemed to be the only thing that these imps understood and they refused to be compared to common demons, so the cherubs summoned golden crossbows with heart-tipped arrows and were ready to use them on their hated rivals. "We came here for one thing, and that's to save that shitty old man's life, whether he wants it or not!"

The imps weren't going to show fear to these little do-gooders. "Well, it's not our fault someone wants that fucker dead, okay? The guy paid in advance, and I spent it all on this!" Blitzo shows a green horse figure clad in jewels, sunglasses, t-shirt, and cap. "So, he's gotta go! Even you little crap-stains should know a lost cause when you see it!"

Keenie flies close to Blitzo to spell out the difference between them and the cherubs. "You demons are all alike! Nothing but filthy disgusting, loathsome beasts! Your kind is only good being nothing but dirt that shitty dead people tread on! And now, you think you have the right to meddle with the lives of humans?!"

"Look who's talking!" Millies defended Blitzo and her family from the onslaught of words by bringing up the cherubs' own hypocrisy. "Go find another human and just let us be about and while you're at it, tape your trap shut, you judgmental, cotton candy, tit-havin' bitch?!"

"We save lives, you Hell spawned trash! The lives saved improve the souls that ascend to Heaven, that should be enough for Lipton!"

Lincoln was now seeing the cherubs' true colors. "So I was right, then. Lyle's choice doesn't matter in the end, Heaven just needs him alive for his inventions and nothing more."

"Don't presume to understand how things work, you know nothing at all!" An arrow was shot, and Blitzo shoves Lincoln out of the way, but that had caused the hood covering his face to be removed, and the cherubs gasped when they saw what was hidden. "You-You're a human?!" Cletus gaped.

"Oh, shit!" Blitzo panicked.

"You don't look like a Sinner! How is this possible?!" Cletus scowled at the imps with an accusatory glare and a similar sounding tone. "Did you kidnap him?! That's just like you demons! Taking lives isn't enough, but now you have to kidnap them! The tortures you must have afflicted on him!"

"Shut up..."

Lincoln's nails dug deep into his palms.

"...I bet they killed his family..."

"Shut up..."

"...To subject him to the horrors of Hell against his will, why I never-"

"I SAID SHUT UP!"

Lincoln didn't know how it happened.

Something just set off inside him, like a bomb exploding in his soul. His eyes glowed red and an invisible force just pushed the cherubs slightly away, all the pent up anger just let loose and the grimoire opened, vines with sharp thorns sprouted and swept the cherubs aside. "Wha-What is?"

"You three talk of saving people and that God would never resist a soul in need." Lincoln points at them. "Then where were you for me, huh?! I was kidnapped and nearly became a sacrifice for a psycho teacher! No cherub was there to save me, but they did!" he nods at the imps. "No one from Heaven thought to stop a woman named Ms. Mayberry from killing her cheating husband, or herself, or stop a family of killers, or save people from a giant fish monster! As long as they bring something to table, they're not good enough for Heaven, is that it?! Well you know what?! I think I'll take my chances with Hell!"

"W-Wait...!" Cletus implored. "I-It's not that simple! B-But give us a chance, come with us, and we'll-"

"You had your chance!"

"And ain't no one takin' my boy away!" Millie bared her teeth.

"Filthy demon trash!"

Intense opera music would be suitable background music for this fight. Keenie wrestles Millie and they roll over for a cat fight, Blitzo and Moxxie run away once golden arrows are shot at them, and Lincoln shielded them with a dome made out of red energy. Moxxies sees the girls roll off the scaffolding, he jumps off the catwalk to rope swing down with a brandished pistol to aid his beloved wife. Not wanting to hit Millie while she was still fighting Keenie, he shoots a rope that releases a bag and it pushes Keenie down, allowing Moxxie to catch Millie in mid-air Both smiled at each other in relief and were taken back by a red shield protecting them from the arrows. "Look at our boy, protecting us! It's high time to show these sorry Heaven folk what for!" Millie kissed Moxxie for luck and unveiled two submachine guns and while Moxxie held her as they kept on swinging on the rope, she fired rapidly until they started spinning.

As the fight went on, many members of the audience were hit by stray bullets and arrows, though some were saved by shields created by Lincoln.

Despite all this, Lyle remained unscathed and seeing all the trouble that was going on over little old him sparked a new vibrant sense.

"It's all starting to make sense now." he slowly started to smile in realization, the battle between Heaven and Hell had helped with that. "Life is worth living because we only get one. We must cherish creatures far beyond this living world that are going through these lengths over my life, then it's certainly worth living. Killing myself is not the answer. Plus, I'm still rich! I can just buy all the things!" He announces his self-obsessed epiphany to what few of the audience were left alive. "I no longer crave death!"

They clapped for him, even as the audience dwindled.

Blitzo and Lincoln ran on the metal scaffolding, the former with his flintlock. "Stop! Don't you see we wish to save you?!"

"I've learned to save myself! Your precious system helped with that by doing nothing!"

The grimoire was aimed at Cletus and a beam of magical energy blasted him. Panting, Lincoln's footing falters, and his eyes' red glow dimmed. Blitzo jumped on another scaffolding attached to the rope that Moxxie and Miller were swinging on, Cletus recovered and got into a standoff with the imp.

Both stared each other down and Blitzo saw that he had no ammo in his gun, forcing him to throw it in Cletus' face, briefly blinding the cherub.

"You lousy fucker!"

Firing the arrow, it broke the rope holding the scaffolding. The I.M.P team fell with it, descending quickly to the floor, M&M ended up tying themselves up with the rope as they spun. The fall narrowly missed the pianist, seeing that the scaffolding crashed through the wooden floor, bending the floorboard his stool and piano was placed on. He stoically halts his performance, putting the stool down and using it to step down from the bent floorboard. This releases the piano, it flew through the air with all staring as it went across their heads. Lyle screams when he sees that it is falling towards his position and scrambles off his bed to hide behind a row of dead bodies, but somehow, the piano suddenly changes directions to the spot he had moved to, landing on him.

Both groups certainly never foresaw this outcome.

For once, it wasn't I.M.P for the abrupt end of a human life.

"Well, now, isn't that just the cruelest of ironies?" Moxxie observed. Him, his wife, and their boss smirked smugly at the cherubs, amused by the sheer irony of the results. "You three ended up graciously did our job for us!" Blitzo leered at them and Millie flipped them off with both middle fingers again.

The cherubs gazed in silent horror, ignoring Lincoln hovering down to his coworkers.

Not only did they fail, but this was a death caused by them, even if it was an accident.

Collin gasped, hyperventilating. "Oh, my gosh, he's dead! Oh, my gosh, and it was our fault! Oh, my God!"

Keenie grabbed him and slapped his face. "Get a hold of yourself, Collin! And you know better than to use the Lord's name in vain! This isn't on us! Okay?!"

Cletus wanted to punish the imps, holding them accountable for this debacle, but knew retreating was the best option, less they risk more mistakes.

"This isn't over, you heathens!" he hotly swears to I.M.P, still plastered with teasing expressions and tongues sticking out to mock them. Keenie summons a portal leading to Heaven and they fly through, only to be swiftly repelled back mysteriously. "What the?!" The cherubs were stumped as to what just happened.

From the portal, more cherub angels arrive.

Two bees and two sheep, all led by a deer cherub named Deerie. "Hi. Want to come home? Ooh, yeah, no, sorry, Cletus." She read the infractions of the three through summoned reading glasses and a clipboard. "But if I'm reading this right, your actions resulted in the death of a human when you were meant to save him. A really important one that the higher ups really needed to stay alive. So, it's been decided that you can't re-enter Heaven. Yeah, no..." her apology was meant to sound regretful through her forced smile, but her patronizing tone made it clear that she was enjoying this.

"We can't do what?!" C.H.E.R.U.B exclaimed together in shock.

"Yeah, mmm, sorry, yeah, no..." Deerie confirmed condescendingly.

"Is there anything we can do?!" Collin miserably asked.

Derrie files her hooves. "Yeah, no! Oh no, no, no." she pointed her hooves at all three.

Just one mistake.

One slip-up.

And they were now barred from Heaven. Their home.

Whatever good they did before suddenly didn't matter anymore.

"Bu-But we didn't mean to! It was an accident" Keenie attempted to appease, tearful like her friends. "We tried to save him! It was all-'' She pointed to the spot I.M.P were in, only to find that they were gone, Lincoln had used the last of his magic power to conjure up a portal.

"Anyway, sorry about this, fellas. But these are Heaven rules, yeah, bye!" Deerie does a happy wave before she and her group vanish through the portal.

Cletus pointlessly tries to call them back. "Wait! Come back! There's something we have to tell you! The demons! They have-"

The portal closes in front of him.

Not taking it anymore, Cletus breaks down in tears over their now fallen status.

A fate no angel would ever wish upon themselves.

But it wasn't just them they were crying over, but they were also disappointed that they couldn't inform their fellow cherubs about a piece of info that they felt would've gotten them back into Heaven's good graces.

The boy.

During the fight, they noticed something within his mortal soul.

A demonic essence that shouldn't have been there.

His display of anger made that aspect grow stronger.

What's more, not even the boy or the imps knew about it.

When the battle was over, the presence subsided, but it was still there deep inside.

There was more going on inside Lincoln that even Lincoln himself has yet to discover.

Usually, a target kicking the bucket would be cause for celebration in the office.

But while Lyle Lipton did end up becoming deceased as per the client's request, he did find it in himself to find a new lease in life, short as it may have been, which was what the cherubs had intended. That, and it wasn't them who did him in. "Even though the old man kicked it, in the end, he chose living over dying. So, we pretty much failed." he somberly says to the assembled staff of his company. "Thanks to those fucking cherubs, he's up in Heaven, enjoying eternal blessings. Real shame." he gazes out at the still destroyed wall of the office. He turns around, taking a more positive turn. "However! A round of applause for our unpaid intern here! He showed those flying insects who's boss and made it obvious that you don't need Heaven to enjoy life!"

"Uh...thanks, I guess." Lincoln takes the praise with uncertainty.

"Now, Lincoln. Don't go thinking like that fucking old geezer." Millie tousles his hair. "He was old, gross, and well, old. You're none of those things, so you have way more reason to enjoy your life! You decide how you want to live, no one else."

Lincoln cracks a light smile. "Yeah. Maybe you're right. Truth be told, even though they were trying to kill you guys, I still can't help but feel bad for those three. One bad day and they just can't go home again?" he could empathize with that. It also made his opinion of Heaven a little more critical as those high up have a very strict standard that not even its native inhabitants aren't safe from.

"Take it as a lesson, kid. Paradise comes at a price. You don't get to enjoy a hit of Heaven without being a hundred percent good and honestly, who has the effort for that, am I right?" Blitzo chuckled.

"Heard you had bit of an episode." Loona recalled the info given to her from Moxxie. "What was that about?"

"...I don't know. I really don't know." Lincoln replies, clutching his chest, troubled.

"Tell it to your horny owl teacher next time you go to a lesson!" Blitzo got to another matter. "Right now, we gotta deal with Goofty giving us shit for failing. All he wanted was eternal revenge on his old business partner. And now, the two are forever separated." Just like how he can respect one's penchant for vengeance, Blitzo is capable of feeling some remorse for not seeing that revenge plot through. "And now, we have to face the fire of fucking up a simple job. Again, it's mostly because of the cherubs."

"Sir, when will you tell the client?" Moxxie asked, wanting to be better prepared for the next over dramatic entrance.

"I already sent him a text while I was talking. No biggy, not like texts ever made people angry." Blitzo cheekily answered. Moxxie fearfully looks at the window and scurries away when a metal plank crashes into the office.

Loopty Goopty comes on down via an escalator. "Blitz! I got something to say to you!"

Blitzo alarmingly greets him. "Loofa, figured you'd drop in! We can explain everything. See, there were these cherubs-"

Another plank crashed down, but Lincoln tackled Moxxie away before it could crush him.

I.M.P is thrown for a loop when they see the Sinner Demon that rolled down, he looked like a robot with a metal ball for a body, wore a bowler hat, had a wiggly mustache with black whiskers that when over his teeth gave them the appearance of piano keys. He had eyewear similar to Loopty, only cored blood red, he had a new look, but I.M.P recognized him.

"Lyle Lipton?! You're in Hell?!" Everyone shouted.

"I'm so lost." Millie voiced their shared confusion. "We thought you went up to the pearly gates and into Heaven."

Lyle scoffed at the very notion. "Heaven? Silly little demon, nobody ever made millions in technological advancements by not experimenting on the poor!" he laughs.

Lincoln throws his arms up. "See? This is what I've been talking about the whole day!"

"Oh, you no good son of a bitch!" Loopty Goopty laughs along with his partner, showing a cordial stance. "Thank you for the reunion between me and my best friend!"

"Hold the phone." Lincoln raised a finger. "Didn't you want him dead in the first place so you could get even with him the minute he comes to Hell?"

Loopty cackles. "It is no surprise your feeble peon mind can't fully understand! I wanted Lyle here so we could continue our work without the threat of death as we're already dead anyway!"

"...You two are the worst."

"The only question now is, what is there for two old genius inventors in Hell?"

Lyle's question was answered when Wally Wackford suddenly crashed through the ceiling. "Did I hear, I say, hear inventors?!" He was just chilling out, waiting for the opportune time to come in. "Name's Wally Wackford, and I'm looking for talent to exploit!" he retracts. "I mean to employ."

Blitzo's eyes twitched. "No one else fuck up my walls! Moxxie's gonna have to fix all this shit!"

"Why do I have to be the only one?! They're your walls, sir! You're the boss! You fix them!"

"Chill out, Moxxie. You're not buried by rocks, so you're capable." Blitzo briefly teased before going back to being annoyed. "Satan's balls! First we deal with Heaven's table scraps, now this?"

"I guess, you can say, you say, you have a holey operation here, Blitzo!" Wally quips, slapping his knee

"Get out of my office."

Wally doubles down on the floor, not ceasing his laughter.

"This is my serious glare, get the fuck out!" He screams, startling everyone.

Lincoln makes a mental note.

Never introduce Blitzo to Luan or his father.

His hand gets back on his chest. Back then, he had been so angry that it didn't register to him at the time, but now that he was able to take a breather and look back, he remembers feeling a sense of fury that could only be quenched by attacking the cherubs. It felt so exhilarating, but at the same time, very frightening. He's let out his temper before, but never once wanted to be completely driven by it, this was a rare case where he gets to air out his anger in a confrontational circumstance.

Did it have something to do with the curse?

Blitzo may be right, Stolas may have some answers to this.

Chapter Text

Octavia had been in slightly better spirits compared to how she was before in the past weeks.

The young yet still growing royal Goetia princess and sole heir apparent of demon Prince Stolas could still feel the extreme tension in the mansion between her still bickering parents, but her father reaffirming his undisputed love and devotion to her was like a breath of fresh air for her. That shitty theme park burning to ashes and seeing that fucking robot clown getting eaten by a dragon also brought some warmth to Hellborn soul. Nowadays, Stolas and Stella seemed to do whatever it took to avoid each other's presence, the former because he didn't want to cause anymore stress in his little owlet, while the latter just didn't want to see his cheating mug.

It was anything but perfect serenity.

But nothing in life rarely ever is, anyway.

At least she had more chances to get a full night of sleep and not get stirred awake to another heated argument that could be heard from here all the way down to the Sloth Ring, maybe the angels in Heaven were able to hear it too.

Of course, the discord in her family of demon royalty wasn't the only thing that brought her strife.

"Princess Octavia!" one of the many imp servants that live to cater to the Goetias' every whim stood in front of her bedroom doorway. "Would you have me prepare your bath?"

Octavia sighed. "No. I got it."

She brushed past the imp, only to see more of them lining up in two separate rows to allow her enough space to walk. "Breakfast will be at the ready in approximately 10 minutes or less."

"I can make my own damn breakfast."

An imp maid held cleaning supplies. "Shall I tidy up your room in the meanwhile?"

"I like my room the way it is, thank you very much! Now get out!"

"Then would that mean you won't want us to polish your new taxidermy?"

"Touch them and it'll be your fingers!" Reaching past her point, Octavia barked out her own orders to each servant imp that was able to listen to her simple requests and not have a fit over it. "Alright, enough! You all are supposed to do everything I say, right?! Well, hear me out! I don't need anyone coddling me, take my temperature, or dust away my bloody feathers! I'd like to be alone! Got it?!"

"Does that mean I don't get to clean the toilet before you go?"

With an eye glow, Octavia roared with demonic rage, hair raising up in the air, making the servants run away in fright of the Goetia heir's anger which went down when she was now by herself. Satisfied, Octavia sets her headphones in her ears to listen to today's top edgy brooding songs to help make the day more tolerable as she enters through the kitchen. Now that was way better, no more of those fussy servants invading her personal space and always thinking she expects them to handle every other little thing like she were a helpless little princess. She knows most of Hell's denizens that weren't as successful or high profile as her family would kill everyone in all seven rings of Hell to have what the Ars Goetia demons have, but really, Octavia doesn't revel in the high class lifestyle like her dad does most of the time.

As a gothic demon, she rebelled against any form of authority and that included disrespecting visiting nobles or fellow royals.

Her mother, Stella, never reacted well to that, but always pinned the blame on Stolas for not having a firmer hand on their daughter.

Eating her breakfast, the princess's father came along with his usual loose sleeping robe. No matter how many times he's been told to fix it, Stolas just loved wearing it like that, ever so prideful of his avian form.

"Morning, little Starfire!"

"Hey, dad."

Stolas fed his sentient ravenous plants. "I couldn't help but overhear you giving the help a certain earful, Via. Must you be so stern, honey?" Octavia slumped in the chair, dreading the coming lecture. "Their purpose in Hell is to cater to every whim of royalty like us have. If you're going to reprimand them for anything, then at least do it for a justifiable reason. Such as neglecting to feed my pets, or disrupting important business."

"Like what you did with Jenkins after he barged into your room? I never thought an adult could cry so much." Octavia recalled.

"The tie was hanging by the doorknob for a reason!" Stolas frowned, then asked his daughter this. "That is how the youth of today's Hell do it, correct? I wanna try being hip if I can be so bold. Or should it be more hip? Via, what do you think?"

Octavia dropped her spoon and covered her face with her beanie. "Dad!"

"What? You keep telling me to be more up to date with all the recent trends and fads you young demons are so taken with."

Right now, she felt that running away from an Exterminator sounded more appealing than this.

"Is there something you need, dad?" Octavia knew her father. His mood in the morning was as rare as him not going on and on about his imp partner like he was a smitten youth experiencing love for the first time.

Forget the Exterminator.

She'll take some bleach for her brain.

"Can't a renowned demon royal such as myself enjoy a nice morning in his quaint home with his pride and joy?" Stolas sweetly asked, ruffling Octavia's feathered head, adding more to her embarrassment.

"Dad..."

Stolas pushed her hands up in surrender. "Very well, dear. I meant this to be a surprise, but given your rather short temper, I suppose I might as well tell you right now. I got a call from Blitzy~." he giggled like a schoolgirl when he said the imp's name. "And he's made a certain arrangement-"

"Ugh, dad!" Octavia placed the cereal bowl down, gagging and holding down her innards. "Can you not tell me about you bumping uglies with the imp clown you're so hung up on?!"

"Oh, settle down now, Octavia." Stolas wrapped his arm around her. "It was nothing of that sort. I'm afraid it's not quite that time yet. No, no, you see, Blitzy has informed me that our young friend, Lincoln, has requested another magical lesson!" Ever since the first lesson, Stolas had been holding more lessons for Lincoln when he's not on the clock with I.M.P and with those lessons, he kept learning more and more useful spells.

It became a regular thing that brightened both Stolas and Octavia.

That got Octavia to light up a little "Lincoln? I get to meet him again?" Laughing, she got up and grasped both of her father's arms. "Why'd you wait until now, dad?!" she notices his teasing smile over her being so happy to know that the white haired boy would soon arrive and lets go. "Just asking."

"Have I mentioned how adorable it is that you found yourself a little friend?"

"Several times, dad, yes."

"I just can't help it!" Seeing Octavia act like that showed Stolas there was still some essence of her old sweet self inside the gruff exterior she's built up in the years of her growing up. Stella would never allow her daughter to associate with a creature she'd deem below their family, much less a young mortal, but Stolas wasn't Stella and somehow, that boy managed to connect with Octavia so much that she started to look at Stolas as a father again. For that, Stolas gives Lincoln his gratitude and his potential with magic was too interesting to pass up. "Just look at you, my precious little Via! It's almost like you see the boy as a sort of younger sibling! I seem to remember you once asked me if we could give you one when you were small enough for me to carry!"

He just had to bring that up. "I was five, okay? I just think the kid's alright. You know, for a kid. Most Earth kids can be real crappy little monsters."

"Whatever you say, dear." Stolas knowingly winked playfully. "I won't lie, I had considered scheduling another lesson myself. But, the many responsibilities that require my attention got in the way of that. It was surprising to me when Blitzy called me last evening and informed me about the young Mr. Loud's request." Stolas made sure to be more careful when he spoke to his innocent ears, but Lincoln had asked his boss for his phone and what Stolas found quite concerning was the tone of his student's voice. It almost sounded like his very life depended on it. The affairs of mortals were hardly a noteworthy matter to any other Goetia royal, but not many of them had one as a student.

Whom at the same time, worked for Stolas' lover.

"Is everything okay?" Octavia asked.

Hell mixed with a nice kid like him always left her feeling worried.

Lincoln just instilled such feelings somehow.

"I do hope so." Stolas sat and crossed his legs. "It shouldn't be too surprising, though. We can only imagine some unfortunate events transpired, as it should be given he is a child in Hell. That much is obvious."

It hasn't been forgotten by either of the two that Lincoln had been experiencing so many things that while it was treated as normal by Hellborn demons, it was completely unusual for a kid that spent his time living a mundane lifestyle. To add to their shared concern for the boy, they worried this would cause a lot of mental and emotional torment for him. Stolas saw this as unavoidable but had this unusual confidence in his student's resilient spirit, whereas Octavia felt that this proved that Lincoln needed to find a way back home as soon as possible. She thinks it's a complete nightmare having to work under an impulsive imp that kills for cash and sneaks his way into convincing her dad to let him use the grimoire, a long treasured tome of her family.

"Dad. I get that learning magic can be helpful to Lincoln, but with all the knowledge we have, couldn't we find a way to maybe find a way to break the curse that damn teacher placed on him?" Octavia figured it wouldn't be that much of a hassle.

"Via. It isn't that simple. I've told you that already." Stolas regretfully said. "Never in millennia have unique circumstances like this ever happened. A territory that is unknown even to a Goetia. I doubt even Lucifer himself would be able to solve this, let alone understand it."

"Maybe you'd have better luck if you didn't focus more on having wet dreams about what's his name? Blitzo?"

"He doesn't like the 'o' in his name, sweetheart and I've tried my best, I really have." Stolas confidently declared. "Tell you what? During the lesson, I can lend some helpful tips that will make the boy's stay in hell a little less horrifying." A deadpan frown was formed in her face. "Okay, at the very least, make sure he doesn't get killed. Hurry up and finish your breakfast, darling! Big day is ahead of us!"

Stolas left with a happy strut in his sticky legs, it's strange how much happiness he feels from teaching his goth daughter and a boy cursed to live in Hell. He'd go so far as to admit that it felt much better than wallowing alone. It brought about pleasant emotions in the owl demon and with how turbulent things are with Stella, his very quick-tempered wife, he sorely needed it in his life.

While he was on the subject, there has been something about Stella that's been nagging in his owl head.

Lately, she has been withdrawn, distant from him and their daughter.

Not atypical of her, but Stolas felt a sense of wariness in this case.

Speaking of said scorned wife, he came across her walking down the stairs with a suitcase. "Stella. Otavia and I missed you at breakfast." he said, trying to act civil and not incite another heated argument where Octavia can hear them plain as day.

"I was preparing for my trip, false Goetia." Stella frostily answered.

Setting aside the degrading nickname she's chosen for him, Stolas couldn't help but ask. "Again? You've been out of the mansions for many a day now. I'm sure you've made enough strong ties with other noble families." He humored her front to preserve their family name.

His wife dryly chuckled. "As if that's of any importance to you." Stolas lightly glared at the subtle insult. "How I go about my days is my own business. After all, there's no possible way you can do anything to improve our family's image."

"Stella..."

"I'll be home much later on. At least try to clean up before that."

Stolas watches her go off in whatever she plans on doing and some lingering curiosity was there, but then, Stolas dismisses it with a careless shrug.

It was not as if she ever gave a hoot.

Not like she'd ever care.

Right now, his approaching student should be the primary concern and the prince wasn't going to fail on that front.

Lonna just needed to capture the right angle.

Then, her phone made a snap sound.

Another successful selfie taken by Loona the hellhound.

The minute she put on the new clothes she bought from Stylish Occult, she just had to put it on and post it online for pricks and hoes to both envy over and jerk off to, knowing full well they can never touch any of that. She found great amusement in it. Normally, she would do this more privately, but with the main hit squad of I.M.P busy on another job, she needed to kill the boredom somehow.

Checking the time, she counted down her fingers from three to one.

A magic portal being opened by her little buddy, Lincoln and then, come the tired and completely overworked assassins that she can barely stand for more than one second. Although, the sudden appearance of a large spill of water was admittedly very different, the white haired kid coughs out water and Millie spits out a small fountain of water. Moxxie pounds his chest to get the fish that were inside his mouth out that left a sour taste and Blitzo was the first to recover and proudly spins a severed head on his finger like a basketball. "Loony! We're home!"

"Another big screw up?"

"What gave it away? The water?" After this and the monster fish, Moxxie was about done with aquatic animals of all kinds. In his hand was a single MAC-10 machine pistol, fresh out of ammo and also wet.

Blitzo grabbed his shoulder. "You should've seen it, Looney! Target was just about to make a getaway and what does our Moxxie do? She shoots the glass tank holding electric eels and not only does the dick brain get electrocuted, but is beheaded when the water washed up straight to Mills' sword!"

"All in a day's work, B!" Millie proudly proclaims. "That'll show the dummy how he shouldn't have pushed our target into traffic when he caught him dumping his beer cans into the fish tanks! Plus, it was a team effort!"

"Can't argue with you there." Moxxie smiled appreciatively at Lincoln. "Thanks again for throwing me an extra ammo bag. It really came in hand when armed with a machine pistol that can fire-"

"Over a thousand rounds per minute." Moxxie perked up when Lincoln finished his sentence. "I memorized that info book about guns you got me."

"Oh. Well, very good." Moxxie smiled at his very good memory. "Just curious. I noticed that with the ammo you gave me, the rate of fire was longer. Let me guess, millimeter? That would make the rate of fire faster. The ammo I initially had were-"

"The kind that had less." Lincoln knocked on his head. "Figured more ammo would be helpful."

Chuckling, Moxxie did a bold move by ruffling his wet hair. "Heh, couldn't have done it any better myself."

"Great. You're spreading your gun nerdage, Moxxie." Loona quirks an eyebrow, unimpressed. "You want me to fetch some lotion?"

"Excuse me?"

"Just telling it how it is. You know what they say about overcompensating and shit." Loona snickered at her jokes.

"Now, Loona. Remember what I told you. Think pitiful thoughts about Moxxie's shortcomings, don't say them out loud." Blitzo gave her some fatherly counsel. "Next thing you know, he starts complaining and goes on and on about how he wished his dick was like mine."

"I have never once ever-"

"Not out loud, Mox. But, I know what goes on in your dumbass mushy brain, Mox. Don't act like you never once thought about it."

"Sir!" Moxxie pulls at his hair with rising vexation and stops himself from shouting. "Lincoln, why don't you go ahead and get something to eat? I can handle the inventory inspection myself."

"Sure. Thanks, Moxxie."

Now that truly calmed him down.

He heard giggling and saw his wife playfully smiling at him, confusing the weapons expert. "What?"

Millie found that cute, him acting all oblivious. "Don't play dumb with me, mister. I saw how you beamed up in paternal pride right there, seeing our Lincoln show gun knowledge like you always do."

"Wha-I-That was-" Moxxie fumbled in his speech patterns, knowing full well that Millie was using this as more proof that her hubby was slowly coming around to stepping up as Lincoln's father figure of Hell. It's not that Moxxie thought that being a father would be the absolute worst thing ever, and he definitely wouldn't say he wouldn't want to be one to Lincoln. He thought about praising Lynn Sr. and his wife, Rita, for raising such a bright young lad and would be honored to be considered a dad, it showed a youngster actually has respect for him for the first time. But rationale tried to sway him into thinking he couldn't possibly take that father's place as Lynn Sr. was still alive on Earth, stressed about the whereabouts of his currently missing son no doubt. It just didn't feel right to him. "I'm just glad that Lincoln's responding well to my advice and teachings."

"Now, Moxxie. You should know better to lie to your smart wife." Millie coyly grinned, tip-toeing her fingers up Moxxie's arm, making him freeze up in a heavy blush that made him look more red than even in imp standards. "In fact, seeing you acting all like a proud poppa watching his boy riding a bike. That's the kind of thing chicks really love..." She leaned in to whisper in his ear. "...daddy."

On second thought, perhaps he should take into account the perks of being a dad.

"Hey! None of that unless I'm included, you two!" Blitzo tossed a bowl of popcorn to Moxxie. "Now sit down on the couch, folks! Nothing like watching some 666 News together like a family." he pats an empty space for Loona to sit next to him. Lincoln, Millie, and Moxxie sat down, too as the boy chowed down on some cookies left on the counter.

"You just like watching for Katie Killjoy." Loona bluntly accused.

"I can't help it! She's just so great!"

Squealing, Blitzo turned the old television on and went straight to the news channel of Hell's number one news station, 666 News. It is Hell's primary news program that provides fuck loads of reports on Hell's politics, entertainment, and turf wars. The broadcast is hosted by two Sinner Demons that are easily recognizable by all other demons, Katie Killjoy and Tom Trench. Katie was a very tall and slim demon. She had short blonde hair, pure white skin, and eyes completely red with yellow pupils that were small for someone to see. Her most notable features were her long neck, thick red lips, full insect-like figure figure, and forced smile. Her attire was a red suit/dress. She moved to sit down, making cracking noises.

She served as the head anchor for the news station, while Tom was the co-anchor.

Tom's entire face and neck was an expressive gas mask with a sweep of ashy blonde hair on top. He was dressed in a gray suit and red tie over a white collared shirt, the suit had a red pocket square and black gloves.

The scrolling texts were also incredibly hilarious.

"Hello, Hell! I'm Katie Killjoy!" Katie pleasantly waved.

"And I'm Tom Trench!" the gas masked face reporter punched the air in their usual greeting. "Here's an update from other parts of Hell, such as the Greed Ring." A video played showing a lot of construction work being done on the still-burnt to the ground theme park. "Reconstruction efforts are still underway following the massive fire that destroyed the slightly famous theme park, Loo Loo Land, nearly nothing but ashes. The origins of this fire still remain unknown at this time, but eyewitness accounts claim that a robotic duplicate of a well known jester of Demon Prince Mammon, Fizzaroli, was involved in the incident. I oughtta in-jest that Ozzie's pump out a new Robo Fizz that isn't flammable like its big brother!"

Katie pretended to think his quip was hilarious. "On that we can agree, Tom! It's almost as funny as your hot date last week turning out to be a catfish spinster! And I mean a literal catfish!" Sliding back in his seat with a now soured mood, Katie unsympathetically carried on the coverage. "Adding onto this; Prince Stolas of the royal Ars Goetia had been spotted at the very same day of the fire alongside his only daughter. Could this have been a daring move perpetrated by the Goetias against one of the Seven Deadly Sins? Or just an unfortunate accident? Who can say for sure?"

"Repairs on the theme park cost a hefty penny for Mammon." Tom recovered a little as they were still on the air. "Based on rumors, it seems our mighty ruler, Lucifer, has lent a hand or two in paying for the damages. When questioned, Mammon seemed to count this as his "best friend" helping him out with a jam, and that his majesty definitely didn't agree to it so long as Mammon promised to rename the park to separate it from any form of copying of the more popular and successful Lu Lu World."

"Oh, I bet." Katie chuckled. "In other news from lands beyond the Pride Ring. Famous Succubus pop star Verosika Mayday's newest hit single, Vacay to Bonetown, has skyrocketed to enormous heights following its release after Spring Break." A photo of the Succubus posing for the cameras alongside her entourage was shown. "Even after her brief stay at rehab, she's still got it."

"She never lost it, Katie."

"Oh, Tom. No one even asked for your shit opinion." Katie quipped, and got into really interesting subjects. "While all of this was going on, the ongoing battles over control of abandoned turfs of Hell after the last yearly Extermination still rages on." Anyone watching the channel saw recordings of various Sinners shooting, stabbing, and fighting each other in epic bloodbaths that made Millie drool over the violence. "The sad screw ups who lost many of their territories were forced out of Pentagram City and had to relocate to shitty towns like Imp City, heavily populated by the runts of Hell's liter."

"Better than Cannibal Colony."

"Agree to disagree, Tom, and don't interrupt me again, you limpy-ass shit-heel." A piece of paper is handed to the head anchor and she clenches it in her hands with her eye twitching that she had to report this, too. "For anyone that remembers our last coverage, and I wouldn't blame you if you don't. But, it looks like our charming princess of Hell has found herself a way to dazzle as on a special appearance here on 666 news for her little passion project."

"Quite amazing that of all demons, she's the one who bothers to appear, not like the other guests you let on here, Katie. I think our viewers at home know who we're talking-"

Katie was now pressing on her pen very fast and very angrily. "TOM!" she emitted a dangerous aura that scared the co-anchor. "I believe our crew on the streets have some thrilling murder scenes to show! Word is that it's the fallout of a standoff that involved weapons forged from leftover Exterminator weapons. But first, a short break. We'll return after these messages." she dropped her smiles and yelled at Tom. "What do I keep telling you, you poor excuse of a man?! Suck it up and don't look like a pussy on camera, you filthy bitch-ass-"

And the segment ends there.

"Isn't she just so fantastic?!" Blitzo gushed like an obsessed fan. "I consider my inspiration to be a fantastic boss!"

"She's a mantis whore." Loona spat on the floor.

"Just the greatest!"

"News sure is a lot more...eventful down here." Lincoln recalled some memories. "Only big thing that ever happened in Royal Woods was a burglar on the loose."

"Lame."

Blitzo's Hellphone screamed and he frowned when he saw the caller. "Oh, terrific. I'll be right back."

"Mommy and daddy will handle the gun and knives inventory for you, hon." Millie patted Lincoln's head, walking with her husband.

Lincoln observed the new clothes Loona had on. "Hey, where'd you get those?"

"They're from Stylish Occult." Loona showed him the store's web page on her phone. "It's a slick clothes store. I go there when I skip work."

"So all the time, then."

Loona smirked, affectionately messing with his hair. "Smartass. But yeah, pretty much. I should take you there, sometime. No offense, Linc, but you really do look like you could pass for an imp with that tacky suit on."

Lincoln looked at his clothing. "Millie says it makes me look mature."

"Mothers lie to their kids." Loona swiped through different looks. "I ain't kidding here, you need to update your style a bit. Every demon in Hell loves messing with suits, it gives them a feeling of dominance. Even more if it's an imp, because nothing gets them off like hassling the lowest of demons. Let me swing you there sometime, I got a good eye for these things."

"Afraid you'll have to put a rain check on that, Loona." Blitzo came back, less enthusiastic. "Got a call from his royal owl bitch-ness, and he agreed to another class of flashy magic tricks for ya, kiddo."

"Really?" Lincoln has been waiting for this. "That's great! Is it at his mansion again, right?"

"Switching things up a bit this time around." Blitzo had some more info. "He told us to take you to some fancy important place reserved only for fancy important demons like him. Said that he had the place cleared out just for you. Hurry up and get your ass in gear."

"Right away, Blitz!" Lincoln smiled apologetically at Loona. "Sorry, Loona. Maybe we can go later. It's just this is kind of a big deal for me. This could be your chance to come with us."

Loona gulped. He's acting like she'd be angry.

He was leaving soon to learn more about magic with an upper-crust silver spoon fed owl princess.

Leagues above a common Hellhound like her.

Nothing to be angry about whatsoever.

"It's cool." Loona attempted to be her usual apathetic self. Key word being 'attempted'. "I have a lot going on right now, so I'm afraid I can't. so, yeah..."

"...Right. Well, if you're so sure. Later!"

Loona sighed.

Stolas' position and royal status granted him a vast number of privileges that he proudly takes advantage of, being the type of royal who's quite flippant with his wealth and special treatment. That's just how his style goes and he's unashamed of it, and using that special treatment, he managed to book a special place of information that only the most ancient of demons had direct access too.

Signing up to a membership and official card identification takes so much time and energy and it is way simpler to just use your status to get your way.

The prince sees it as a more favorable means and all for the benefit of his precious daughter and young student, and to once again flirt with Blitzo every chance he gets, much to the imp's displeasure. "Did you catch the afternoon news, Blitzy?" Stolas rhetorically asked inside I.M.P's van. "It looks like that little skirmish in Greed has gotten more attention than we imagined. If only you were there when I had to give a statement to the proper authorities. Would've eased all the stress with you by my side~."

Blitzo mentally chanted.

Do not crash into the drug dispensers.

It was too early to get high even if it could block out Stolas.

"Proper authorities?" Lincoln never imagined hearing something like that being down here. "Like an actual police force? Here in Hell? That's as unbelievable as there being a fire department in Imp City."

Octavia was smiling amusingly. "That's just a fancy name my dad gives them, they're the mindless lower-class demons born here who answer to the powers that be. They do the dirty work of big wigs like Overlords, the Sins, and royalty to at least make sure nothing happens that can damage their reputations."

"Can only imagine how many hoops you had to go through to keep them quiet, Stolas." Blitzo said, eyes still on the road.

"Now, Blitzy. You of all delectable little imps should know, it's the least I can do for my favorite imp in Hell." Stolas poked his head teasingly.

Although, crashing into the machines could have its advantages.

But, Stolas is still his meal ticket, so that's a no-go on that idea.

Like most things in Blitzo's life that would bring him some form of happiness.

"No fucking smooth talk in the van!" Blitzo growled. "That was one of my terms!"

Stolas pouts, doing a mock-pity front. "Aw, is someone angry that they didn't get some limelight himself. I imagine your charming little operation would've gotten more recognition had it made the news."

"Please. Way better for us if we hadn't been made." Blitzo scoffed. "Our business is offing sons of bitches, not protecting them for babysitting jobs. The only coverage I want my company to get is how epic we are for what we're paid to do in the jingle. Otherwise, we'd just be hired to do pointless random junk. We save that for when we're off the clock."

Moxxie, in this one time, gave Blitzo some credit in thinking like a boss. "That...is actually pretty accurate."

Millie pressed faces with him. "And we have fun all fucking long as a family?! Right, Lincoln?"

"...Sure. Whatever you say, Millie." Not how'd Lincoln put it in his own words.

"Just say the word. You'll be in your own personal arcade/comic book shop while Dad and I sort out your whole mess." Octavia guarantees. "All the smoothies and nachos you could ever ask for."

These royals really know how to negotiate.

Childlike desires aside, Lincoln gently turned the offer down. "It really isn't all that bad, Octavia. Things just get a lot crazy, you know? You grew up here longer than I have, so you can't tell me that's not true."

"Fair enough." Octavia brings up why Lincoln wanted another lesson. "But there has to be some big issue. Dad said you really wanted to see us, again. Lincoln, is there anything going on? Anything at all?" she asked intently, setting it straight that she won't take any lies.

Lincoln saw that and he wanted to be honest with his friend, but would rather talk in a more proper setting. "It's a long story." He had a lot of discomfort about talking about what had happened with the cherubs at the opera.

"Well, dear boy, you can tell us all about it soon." Stolas respected his student's choice to not tell them, the owl has his own secrets. "I promise, where we're going will utterly enchant you. Once more, as a show of good faith, you delightful imps can accompany us instead of sneaking about like before. I do hope that's a reasonable term for you, my incorrigible little murderous rascal of an imp." he tilts his head to lay it on Blitzo's head.

"You are really trying my patience, Stolas!" Blitzo gritted.

"Mmmm..." Stolas hummed lightly, loving this whole back and forth between them. Although, he seemed oblivious to Blitzo's growing anger. "Can you blame me?"

"Very much so. Yes."

As the car drove past various scenes of beatings, thefts, and back alley deals, Blitzo neglected it all, even checking the mirrors to see a car that was following them.

There were very few things in Hell that didn't raise tons of red flags to signal Lincoln of their obvious danger.

But, there does come a time where he is welcomed to breathtaking sights that almost makes him forget that it all takes place in a literal Hellscape and there'd be a sinister to the thing which in a way, makes it even more interesting. "I take it from your awed expression, you find this quite suitable for our lesson?" Stolas teased, pleased that his student approved that was what he was hoping for.

"Yeah..."

"Meh." Octavia wasn't taken. "It's just a library."

Yes.

As Octavia puts it, it would seem like just a library to the specific class of demons it accepts.

Except regular run of the mill libraries weren't the size of a grand university, anything that's meant to serve the rich and the powerful just had to scream how freaking big it was, like one big ass show that only a few may access. "Do not insult it, Via, dear. For our quaint field trip, I feel that it is necessary that if you young little ones are to wield the magics of Hell, then you need to learn all key factors involved with it. That includes more than just a few spells here and there, but rare items that can convey magical energy, ancient tomes that require much studying. Isn't it just wonderful?!"

"Yeah!"

"No."

"Okay. Starting to feel like we're not needed." Blitzo can't think of anything more boring than this new magical teaching moment.

Millie grabbed his and her husband's sleeves to prevent any from leaving. "Oh, no! The prince is letting us watch over Lincoln and we aren't gonna pass it up! You hear that, honey? Momma bird's gonna keep all eyes on you!"

Lincoln flushes, embarrassed that Millie just had to show her overprotective nature in front of Octavia who was stifling a laugh. "Millie! Not in front of Octavia."

"And just what are you laughing at, young lady?" Stolas chides. "There's nothing to mock about a commoner imp's devotion to her adoptive child. Why, I remember when you were just three and you wet your new-"

"Dad, don't even finish that sentence!"

Blitzo wanted things to get moving so that he won't have to look at Stolas' horny owl mug any longer. "Can we please move this along? I spotted some Sinners shaking down a group of imps from around the corner. Probably belong to a boss that wants their owed money and I know how much they love picking on the little guy."

"Do not fret, Blitzy. They have the eyes of uncouth miscreants, but even they have some common sense to not accost any associated with demons of my exquisite stature." Stolas boasts, making Blitzo shake his head.

The tall owl royal just doesn't really care that much over how many other demons would jump at the chance to kill him, treating it as an everyday occurrence and nothing to really feel threatened over.

Even if they were so bold, he'd have Blitzo and his team to take care of things.

Only, Blitzo made it clear that they won't take another bodyguard gig, not after Loo Loo Land.

However, that didn't diminish the abundance of Sinners that would jump at the chance.

If Lincoln were to kick a can across the Pride Ring and it's bound to land on the head of a member of a demon gang looking to cause trouble because they just can't help themselves. For one such band of troublemakers, they saw an opportunity knocking on their door when they followed the I.M.P van and concealed themselves to not alert them to their presence.

"You sure that's them?"

"Of course I'm sure."

"Don't know, dude. A buddy of mine mistook a hawk demon for one."

"I am for real, right now. That is a Goetia demon, the owl one from the looks of it. Besides, you've only been in Hell for half a year at most, I got a good decade on you, so shut your trap and trust me on this!"

"Both of you, keep quiet! We can't make mistakes!"

The two Sinner demons that were arguing were a green skinned one-horned multi-eyed demon and a three-eyed obese red scaled demon with crab legs and had a hook for a hand. The lead Sinner was a tall headless being with the eyes, nose, and mouth being on his torso, had four arms and hind legs accompanied by a pack of scurrying red demons walking on all fours with gun turrets on their backs. "Sorry, boss. Trapper started it, though." crab legs accused.

"No way, Claws! I was the only one sure that we're looking at Goetias!"

"What did I just say, shitheads?!"

"Sorry, Face."

Face. A Sinner along with the other two all used to work under a former demon leader that was among the many who had been purged in the Extermination, which left them with no leadership. Then came the other Hell denizens that just made things worse. These three and the pack are all that's left of his team, and so, they were forced to retreat to a dump like Imp City.

But now.

Now they have a chance to get some glory back.

"Prince Stolas, sir!"

The keeper of this hallowed ground tried so hard to not piss his pants in front of a royal demon, one that can easily make living in Hell even worse if he is displeased in any sort of form. "Hello there, Keeper!" Stolas laughed on the inside when he saw the three-eyed gray-colored demons with a mop of purple hair looking so frightful in his presence, as all lower demons should. "I trust no one else is here as I requested, yes?"

"V-Very much so, sire! Very much so, indeed!" Keeper wasn't surprised that Octavia was tailing behind him, but did not expect to see imps with him, too. "I assume they are your servant detail."

Blitzo was set off by that mistake. "Servants?!" he pushes up to the counter and aims his flintlock at the cowardly Keeper to showcase that he is nor will ever degrade himself even further by being one of Stolas' submissive help. "I ain't nobody's whipping boy, you book keeping nerd!"

"Now, Blitzy. Calm yourself."

"Don't fucking tell me what to do!"

Lincoln panicked upon seeing Blitzo get violent and Octavia judgmentally glared. "Way to pick them, dad."

Keeper raised his hands in surrender, worried if some Heaven blessed gun powder was mixed into the firearm aimed at his middle eye. That was his most useful eye, not to mention his prime peeping one. "M-My apologies!" his table name tag grew legs and ran away to avoid being in Blitzo's eyesight. "Prince Stolas reserved this establishment for only himself and two others! Honest!"

"An honest Sinner in Hell?! I'll bet!"

"Yeah, boss man! Put three in all the eyes!"

"Millie, hon, you're not helping!"

All this was remarkably entertaining, but even Stolas knew the concept of business before pleasure. "Now, Blitzy, let's not cause a scene, shall we? I pulled quite a lot of strings for this to happen, so I'd like you to show a little more decorum as a show of gratitude."

Decorum was hardly taken seriously by Blitzo, but didn't want to get on the meal ticket's bat side. "Gratitude, sire. How about I leave you in the ends of a new employee that I recently hired last week?" Keeper's tongue morphed into a megaphone. "Hey, new bitch! Important assignment for you! Fuck it up and your ass is back into that crap of an apartment!"

"I heard you the first time!"

I.M.P's collective eyes widened as they heard that familiar voice.

"Mrs. Mayberry?!" Lincoln exclaims in profound shock as the former teacher found herself equally surprised to see them again, too.

"You all?!"

Stolas is intrigued by this apparent familiarity. "Blitzy, Lincoln, are you acquainted with this Sinner?"

"Better believe it. She used to be one of our clients." Blitzo has quite a few words to say to their old client about certain info that would've made a past job of theirs a lot less of a near disaster. "This bitch hired us to kill another bitch who she failed to kill after finding out her hubby was two-timing her with said second bitch ."

"My, my. How scandalous~."

"Eh, pretty boring sob story in my book. Although, looking back, it would've been nice to know that the hick bitch she wanted us to off turned out to be part of a family of batshit crazy cannibalistic Satan worshiping serial murderers that almost killed us!" Blitzo didn't take too kindly to having to be the hunted instead of the hunter during that specific job. Lincoln and Moxxie certainly didn't enjoy having to relive that incident as well, it took a lot of mental will to not allow the memories of that job make them suffer a breakdown right there.

Even harder for Lincoln.

"How was I supposed to know about that?!" Mrs. Mayberry defended. "You just wanted to know who to kill and nothing more! I didn't think you'd want to know a target's daily routine!"

"It was implied!"

"Er...is this going to be an issue, sire?" Keeper asked Stolas.

"Hmm...no, I believe not." Stolas actually found this very interesting, it's not everyday you meet a former client of your partner. "Now my dear, I believe you can lead us to where we wish to go?"

Recomposing herself to prevent looking bad in front of the obviously very important demonic figure, Mrs. Mayberry obediently nodded. "Of course, sir. Please follow me." Stolas directed Lincoln and Octavia and the former saw that his friends hadn't moved from their spots.

"Aren't you guys coming?"

"Do we really have to?"

Octavia oddly agreed with Blitzo on that. "Seriously, do they?"

Lincoln's pleading expression broke down their walls, especially Millie's. "Oh, we can't just say no to that face!"

An enlightening magical lesson was all that all parties present were expected to find today, but fate always has other plans in mind. The demon gang outside busted the door open and though he was outnumbered, the Keeper was adamant in telling them that their presence wasn't allowed. "Excuse me, but you are trespassing on reserved property! There is an important patron here and I don't need any of your-"

Face's arm broke through the glass, grabbing the Sinner by the throat and hurling him into the library stacks.

"I could never stand god damned librarians. Always giving me shit for turning in a book late." Face spat.

"If you would please follow me, I will tell you about the elegant qualities of this hallowed hall of knowledge very few are welcomed to explore." Mrs. Mayberry said in a bored out of her mind tone. The group followed her while being mindful of the floating winged eyes and two-legged walking mouths that ate scraps on the floor and frog-like tongues that ate the flying eyes. "Here, there is a vast number of magical artifacts and tools that have been passed down through the centuries, or at least important enough to be lent here unlike the exotic objects kept since Lucifer's ascension as our king and kept by our esteemed head honcho himself. All are capable of grand feats that would make even lower level demons of both types have a lot more stand as an equal in a fight." Memorizing all these lines was a hassle h to do, but if she was going to have her money's worth, she had to make due.

"Oooh..." Moxxie marveled at a case showing an old-school type of rifle.

Millie found the same feeling at a floating golden hammer. "Look at that!"

"Here is your private spot." Mrs. Mayberry opened the door. "If it's all the same to you, I hope I can still carry on being your guide."

"No problem whatsoever, miss." Stolas expectantly looks at his daughter. "Via, what do we say?"

She flipped a bird. Her dad was not amused, so with great reluctance, she gave the answer that made her want to choke out her vocal cords. "Thank you, miss."

"That's my sweet little girl. Now come, you two. No sense in any dilly dally."

Blitzo speaks for his employees. "We're fine where we are, kid. Go on and learn whatever you want, we'll be counting down the minutes until this bullshit is over and we can go back to the office and watch the nightly news." Seeing Katie Killjoy emasculating Tom Trench just made him want to stalk her at her cushy place, and maybe shoot a random Joe just to get a thrill.

"Holler if you need us, hon!"

"Don't worry about us." Moxxie massages his suit which had a concealed weapon. "A good professional always comes prepared during and after hours."

Nodding, Lincoln goes to start the lesson inside. It was a big enough room that housed many artifacts and he can't resist the temptation to touch one of them, but reminded himself that this place follows the same rules as history museums.

"If you two will excuse me, I shall pick the wondrous toys you shall practice with. BRB!" Stolas flied up.

Lincoln quirks an eyebrow up. "BRB?"

"Please, you'd do me a great solid by forgetting he just said that." Octavia requested desperately.

With Stolas preoccupied, Lincoln talks with Mrs. Mayberry. "So, I'm surprised to see that you're still in Imp City. Didn't you say you were going to Pentagram City? What happened to that plan?"

"Need a lot of dough to afford to go there." Mrs. Mayberry crossly answers. "Even in Hell, nothing's ever really free. This gig pays well and well, asshole boss aside, not much to complain about. What about you, Lincoln? Since you're still alive, I take it my tips helped."

"Actually, it has and I've been learning tons of new stuff, too." Lincoln replied. "Sorry about Blitz. He can get very testy and if it means anything, you were right about that Martha woman, she was not pleasant at all."

Chuckling, Mrs. Mayberry patted his head. "Well, aren't you sweet? I'll go see if that tall owl broke anything. I'll be up to my ears in yelling if he did."

"I'd watch that tongue." Octavia assumed this chick must not have been in Hell long enough to recognize Goetias. "Dad's not someone you'd want to get on his bad side."

"Cut me some slack. Still new to all this."

"Honestly. I don't get why my dad bothers with your dumbass bastard boss and his whole settling old scores for Sinners that can't just let things go." Octavia said. "It's not like the idiot actually thinks he'll get far."

"That's where you're wrong, little girl!" Both Lincoln and Octavia slightly jumped when Blitzo shouted through the door, eavesdropping on them. "Difference between me and other failures, Your pops giving me free reign of his book makes my job a fuck ton more easier! We've been racking up more kills everyday and we have your imp loving daddy to thank for that!"

Aghast, Octavia furiously shouts back. "Oh, well congratulations, then, douchebag! I bet you feel like you're the king of all of Hell for ruining my family"

Blitzo shook his head. "Hey, there's more to whatever shit there is between me and him! It's grown-up stuff, princess! So, don't paint me as the bad guy here. I have you know, it's been tough for me, too."

"Wow, poor you!" Octavia ridiculed him. "My parents keep fighting, home has gone to shit, and you're the victim here, asshole?!"

"Considering I have to put up with your pops, I'd say yes."

Lincoln mediates the tense argument between his friend and his boss before Stolas could intervene himself. He doesn't even want to think about what the owl demon would do. "Blitz! You said you'd wait, so please stop antagonizing my friend!"

"She started it!"

"Blitz!"

"Alright, fine! Whatever!"

Octavia grips her beanie and shouts in frustration. "That little son of a bitch prick asshole shit fuck imp!" she moves her hands closer together to imagine wringing Blitzo's little neck.

Lincoln saw this coming. Octavia was previously furious with her father for causing the dysfunction in their family by cheating on his wife with Blitzo, but now that things are more stable between the father and daughter, Octavia needed a new target to take her anger out on and who better than the imp that caused this whole mess in the first place? "I'm back, children! Ready to begin?" Stolas felt the now tense mood in the room. "Is everything alright?"

"Fine, dad."

Stolas wasn't so oblivious to his owlet's lies. "Via, are you sure?"

"I said, it's fine!" Octavia didn't mean to blow up like that, but she did. Lincoln held her arm, silently asking her to calm down and staring into those pleading eyes amazingly worked in his favor.

"Rrrrriiiight...well..." Stolas cleared his throat and looked down to his student. "Now, Lincoln, perhaps now would be the time to explain to us why you wished for a new lesson?"

And here it is.

The expected question that Lincoln's been preparing for. He could just tell them that it wasn't a serious matter, that he had so much fun with all these teachings that he wanted to get started on the next one pronto. But, he's learned that lying leads to a lot of trouble and in Hell, that can increase twenty-fold, so he had the sense to not leave things up to chance. "Well, it's because of a past job I.M.P and I had. See, while Blitz, Moxxie, and Millie tried to kill someone like usual, three cherubs from Heaven came to save that life."

Stolas and Octavia immediately frowned and gagged when they heard the very mention of Heaven denizens. "Seriously, bloody cherubs?" the owl princess asked with displeasure. "If you wanted to rub your ears off those preachy choir songs they blast, have I got the band for the job."

"I assume there's more to it than just that." Stolas correctly guessed.

Meekly, Lincoln nodded. "That's one way to put it..."

"Okay, now, I spy with my little eye something red...very red..."

"Is it my tail, again, honey?"

"How do you keep getting it all right?!"

"Exactly how long can two imps continue a game of eye spy?"

"Well, sir, factoring in the duration of our time here. Specifically, Lincoln's lesson with the Goetias, I can surmise that Millie and I will be able to keep it going for as long as its required before said lesson is-"

"Rhetorical question, Moxxie!"

Blitzo was growing increasingly tired of having to wait for Lincoln's lesson to end, to do anything for Stolas period was easy to get him ticked off very easily, him thinking he can just call on a favor whenever he pleases just because they shag it in the sheets. He solely pins the blame on Lincoln's insistence, like he thought magic was a lot cooler than good old fashioned gunplay. What he would give to get a little excitement in this tiring waiting period, he just wants something to shoot at in addition to him currently admiring one of his horse figurines.

He shouldn't worry, the other occupants that they didn't know about will give them plenty of excitement.

Claws quietly observed the waiting imps. "Not to sound like a broken record, but are we for real about this? Gunning for a fucking Goetia may too big a job, even for us? Not even the old boss would touch those demons."

"That was one of his principle rules." Trapper also showed reluctance. "Overlords. Royalty. Those guys were strictly off-limits."

"Our leader isn't here anymore." Flinching, the two Sinners looked at their new leader, Face. "Did you two piss-buckets forget that this is our only ticket to Hell's elite? We're not gonna kill the bastard, obviously. He's just worth a lot of money, his family pays us and we move on from there."

"What about the muscle?"

If he was talking about the imps, Face didn't think they had anything to be scared of. "You're worried about three imps? Next you'll tell me you pissed your parents after seeing a bug in your room at night."

"Only happened once!"

Palming his face on the chest, Face appeased them. "Fine. We'll deal with the red pests if it means that much to you. But don't think I won't take some pieces out of both of your cuts."

"But, Face!"

"Quit complaining and follow me!"

Millie licks her lips. "Damn. All this waiting around is making me thirsty. Be right back, boys!" she frolicked away with a cheerful skip in her step and the Sinners decided to pick her off first. Finding a water dispenser, she takes a cup and pours it full. She sips, but drops the cup when Claws grabs her with his pincer arms, momentarily surprising her and the crab demon announces his success.

"Hey, fellas! I got-" Mille's legs wrap around his head and with great strength, flips him to a book shelf that broke apart when Claws impacted. "...Never mind." he groaned.

"Wow." Trapper admired. "Little bitch is tougher than she looks."

"Never underestimate a pretty face." Face folded his arms and it looked like his elbows were being aimed like guns, which became more obvious when two rifle ends formed and fired like machine guns at Millie. The female imp reached in and drew twin Steyr TMPs to get two solid shots in at the torso, Face's beasts assisted by firing their turrets, leaving Millie outgunned and outnumbered.

But not for long.

Four shots struck down four of the wild beasts and Moxxie arrived, already armed with a gun in hand, he never leaves home or the office without one. "Pardon the intrusion. But what in Satan's name do you think you're doing with my wife?" he demands, angrily.

"I'll tell you what they're doing, Mox." A dangling chandelier was shot down with explosive gunfire that landed on another beast. "Picking a fight with the wrong imps." Blitzo said, pouring more into his flintlock.

Face and his cohorts found themselves at a standoff with I.M.P.

"Let's not make this into a whole thing, shall we?" Face asked. "We're just passing through, alright? Leave here and we might just forget any of this happened and we won't have to teach you little shits a lesson."

"God, your sales' pitch needs some work." Blitzo criticized. "Also, go to Heaven!"

The minute these boys messed with Millie, they declared war on the Immediate Murder Professionals.

"After that, I felt normal again. But, I figured I should at least tell you about this. I-I think it might have something to do with the curse and well, you're the only expert on demon magic that I know."

Lincoln and the Goetias didn't hear all the commotion due to the super thick walls of the building, so nothing interrupted Lincoln when the white haired boy informed the two demons about the encounter with the cherubs. The whole competition about trying to get a decrepit mortal to either kill himself or finding the drive to keep loving got a few chuckles out of Stolas and eye rolls out of Octavia, but the last part got their undivided attention. Stolas had to make sure he was hearing it correctly, but it was true, this boy managed to summon the power of the grimoire on-command. In that instant, Lincoln described how all he could think about was his anger directed at the cherubs, acting on that feeling, and how thrilling it felt until he calmed down.

That unsettled the owls.

From the way Lincoln described it, it sounded like how demons of both the Hellborn and the Sinners would often display their growing supernatural abilities that come from negative emotions like anger and hatred.

"This sudden show of power. You say it just happened?" Stolas asked.

"I-I think so." Lincoln rubs his temple. "It's a bit harder to really explain it. Before I got here, it's not like I never got mad, it just wasn't really my style to go off like that most of the time." In his defense, the frequent troubles of living in his big family warrants a lit fuse every now and then. "I actually like to think I'm not really an angry person by nature, but being here makes it challenging. But what happened with the cherubs, I've never felt anything like that before. A part of me actually enjoyed itself, and that still scares me."

Stolas drummed his fingers in deep concentration. With all that he knows about demon curses and enchantment, he assumed that with time, breaking a soul binding curse would be a relatively easy time. But this new factor made him rethink that, for all intents and purposes, what Lincoln managed to pull off should be impossible, but then again, he was able to access a lot of magic with the book. Simple spells were a breeze, but Stolas saw a lot of potential in Lincoln with spells that required more inner strength and Lincoln always had plenty of that.

This news brought a lot more questions as to exactly what the curse was doing to his student.

It seemed to be doing more than just cursing him.

"Dad. There's an explanation for this, right?" Octavia asked, hoping that he had the answers that would comfort her friend.

"I...have a few theories." Stolas replied. "Only, none of them are very pleasant. Lincoln, during your first lesson, it was made apparent that you are able to cast spells without much difficulty when your life is in immediate danger. That relates to your natural instinct to adapt to survive. However, I feel that with the curse on your still mortal soul, it would seem that it's doing the same with Hell?"

"What?" Lincoln didn't like what that entailed. "What do you mean?"

"Unfortunately, this requires more thinking on my part. But the best that I can say for now is that Hell itself is influencing your soul in a way that's never been observed before. Bear in mind that no other mortal has had a connection to Hell like you do, dear boy. Your soul was forced to make a connection with it that would've made you like any other Sinner upon your death, but with the ritual being incomplete, and you not being departed, an unforeseen effect is taking place. You are not a demon, but part of your soul is slowly beginning to adapt to the very concept of Hell and with your growing knowledge of its magics, there is a similarly growing...power within you." Stolas would've given a more in-depth explanation, but it's too soon to be a hundred percent positive. "Like all souls of Hell, be they native born like myself and Via or the once-mortal ones, the darker aspects of emotions are what fuels us."

"So, what? Y-You're saying Hell is making me think and act like a demon?" Lincoln questioned frantically.

"Now, child. Like I said, it is-"

"Will I just forget that I'm human? Will I forget that I have a family on Earth?"

"Lincoln, please-"

"Does this mean I can never go back-"

"Lincoln!" Octavia knelt on one knee and grasped the heavily breathing boy by the shoulders to make him focus on her eyes. "Just settle down, okay, buddy? Breathe."

Her soothing instructions were followed. "Wh-What's going to happen to me?"

Stolas frowned regrettably.

"I apologize, child. Presently, I have nary an idea." This situation seemed hopeless and unpredictable, but Stolas was going to make damn sure that Lincoln knew that just because it looked that way now, didn't mean it was immune to changing down the line. "But, I believe these lessons will help us better understand it all. You wish to be free of this curse, that much can be said and understood. As your mentor, and as a Prince of the Ars Goetia, I tell you this, the only virtue you will ever find me partaking in would be patience. The real question is if you can do that?"

Patience.

In Lincoln's mind, he's been patient long enough. With all the literal Hell he's had to witness that wasn't of his own choice, the kid deserves to be cut a break and he'd gladly accept it. But he was smart enough to understand that good things come to those who are willing to wait for it, no matter how long it took, and with an important royal demon in his corner, he had a high chance.

Another reason why Hell's a better option than Heaven.

"I-I will." he earnestly said. "I have to."

"Good." Stolas nods in approval. "You'll need that confidence. Now, as a good first step, let's begin with one of the items I've brought." Snapping a finger, a table appears out of thin air and he pours the items on it. Amulets, rune stones, tea leaves, tarot cards, the whole nine yards. The grimoire can't be the only magical item that can be at Lincoln's disposal. "Rest assured, my eager younglings, the fantastical marvels of Hell can make it seem less horrible and more spectacular."

Hell can be a spectacular place.

Octavia was about to show him.

"Hey, dad. I think I recognize these." she holds a sack of purple sparkling powder inside. "It's that special transporting dust whatever."

"In layman's terms, yes. What my little owlet is holding, Lincoln, is a sack that contains an enchanting powder that allows a being to be transported to any part of Hell that comes to their mind. Usable only by Hellborn."

"AKA, the perfect thing to test first."

Stolas stopped her for a second. "Excuse me, young lady. Are you saying we should just use that particular item to explore Hell, completely disregarding all the trouble Keeper had to put himself through to let us have a stay in these hallowed halls?"

"...Pretty much. Yeah."

His stern frown became a jovial smile. "Marvelous! Where do you wish to go?"

Octavia smirks. "Some place with style."

"Can't I tell the others, first?" Lincoln asked, feeling bad about just up and leaving.

"They said they'd wait. Besides, we'll come back when we're done. Not like they're doing anything crazy right now."

"I fucking love doing this crazy thing right now!"

Blitzo flips a table over to use as a cover as bullets fly through the room. "Sir, did you have to do that to a pristine table?!" Moxxie fired with two Tec-9s.

"I'd say yes! They can bill it all the way to Heaven!"

Wild laughter came from Millie as she rode one of the beasts like it was a wild bull. This brought her back to her days back in Wrath when she had to help her daddy deal with some unruly critters on the ranch. She sliced off the turrets with her hatchet and used one to kill the beast and she jumps off before it dropped and she threw knives at all foes.

"Eat some of this!"

Trapper ducked on the floor. "Since when are imps this stubborn?!"

"Same time the female ones have very strong grips!"

Claws' normal arms was at his last clip while Trapper hunched forwards to pull off a nifty gadget, a helicopter blade pack and give him some air to shoot from a higher spot and face kept firing. "Last chance to take us up on our offer! The only blood we're looking for aren't the ones of imps!"

"I'm not a gullible dumbass like Moxxie!"

A flashbang grenade is thrown in the air and the Sinners shield their eyes and ears.

Millie jumped and spun in mid-air with two swords that sliced and diced beasts before throwing the sword at Claws' pincer arms, pinning him to the wall with him grunting. Moxxie jumped over the table and shot precisely at Trapper's helicopter blades, making him fly out of control, and Blitzo lunged at Face, keeping himself stuck to his torso. "Oof, just when I thought you Sinners couldn't look more like pieces of shit." the imp cracked. "What? Did you let someone draw a face on your fat belly?" Opening the mouth, Face lashed out his elongated tongue which had a razor sharp blade at the end of it. "Whoa there, sugar tongue! I don't kiss on the first date!" Blitzo blocked the tongue attacks with single strikes, and managed to injure him "Sorry. Did that hurt?" he mocked.

His wounds healed. "You little rats are only digging yourselves deeper graves!"

Face morphed his tongue into a small machine gun and in the process of evading the gunfire, Blitzo's horse figurine was shot by a bullet, breaking into itty bitty little pieces right before his eyes.

A beast stopped firing as it took a whiff and ran to Claws to whisper something in his ear. "What?! He's gone? Face, bad news! It looks like we lost our chance! The scent ain't here no more!"

"Damn it! Can they still track?!"

"Not while we're here!"

Grabbing a chair, Face threw it at a window to give him and his guys an escape route. "Beasts, first! We'll follow their noses in the car!"

"Who knew imps could throw a punch?"

Claws supported Trapper as they made it outside and back to the parking lot, leaving two confused imps and an angry boss. "What do you suppose that was all about?" Moxxie asks. "They just up and left."

"Not for long." Blitzo picked up the scattered remains of his figurine with fury in his eyes, refusing to let this great dishonor go unpunished. He owes it to that figurine and all the other horse figurines in Hell.

Moxxie recognized that look and shook his head. "Oh,no. Sir, please don't turn this into a revenge hunt."

"Too late, Mox! My blood's boiling and the only cure is to shed others!"

"You can count on us, B!" Millie exclaimed.

Sighing in reluctant acceptance, Moxxie pointed to the door. "What about Lincoln? Are we really going to disturb his important lesson? And I can't imagine the prince will be pleased about an abrupt leaving."

"This job we can do without the kid. Besides, he's probably too busy learning to pull a rabbit out of a hat."

Having been living in the Pride Ring and visiting the Greed Ring only once before, Lincoln has only explored Imp City in Pride, his coworkers had set a lot of ground rules for him since he's staying with them. The important rule being that Lincoln's not allowed to go out by himself, and with every other day being another job, that left Lincoln with very little chances to continue exploring.

He never would have guessed being friends with Octavia would be his salvation.

A salvation in Hell.

Now that there was a funny joke.

"Stylish Occult?" The place Octavia decided to bring her dad and Lincoln was her favorite place to shop for clothes and taxidermy. "Hey, one of my coworkers likes to shop here, too. She even said she wanted to take me here sometime."

"Good thing I beat her to the punch." Octavia playfully winked. "Not to hound you, Linc, but a complete renovation on your look is really needed if you want to fit in around here."

Loona said almost the exact same thing, another reason why Lincoln felt the two of them should meet officially. "Ooh, how delightful." Stolas clapped in encouragement. "Just make sure you spend a huge amount, sweetheart. After all, if deep enough..."

Octavia chorused with her father. "...then empty the whole damn pocket."

"It's just a new look, dad. Come on, Linc. Hopefully, they have something that fits you."

Stolas smiles, opting to wait until they were done. Once again, he's amazed by how friendly Octavia was acting, she really did seem like a big sister from his eyes and he won't deny that in another life, he'd be fine with that, though he sees himself in more of an uncle-like role to Lincoln. But, he won't go as far as to have Lincoln be placed under Goetia's supervision. It's clear that Blitzo and his team have truly grown fond of the lad, the female imp obviously has taken on the task of being his mother and though there was some reluctance, he recognized the eyes of a burgeoning father in the other male one. Even Blitzo was heading towards his own way of caring for Lincoln in a familial sense, even if he wouldn't show it.

Lincoln doesn't know it, yet, but he has found a family in Hell.

He's just focused on the family he still has on Earth and the personal mission to return to them.

The couple who sired the boy must be fully committed to each other to have sired a child that is willing to endure Hell long enough until he's reunited with them. Perhaps in a similar vein to Moxxie and Millie.

A commitment between two partners with genuine love and not just because of expectations and responsibility.

Guess even mortals can get more lucky than demon royalty.

"Hey, dad! Come here!"

He was thinking so much, he didn't realize a lot of time had passed.

"Coming, Via!"

From an alley, Face and his crew watched their prey. "This ain't a place you'd expect a big wig to go." Trapper commented.

"Makes things easier for us." Face glared. "Alright, now we-"

They shouted when their vehicle was pushed forward into a food stand by another car, the I.M.P van. "BAM! That's what you get, you fucking assholes!" Blitzo cackled from the driver's seat.

Face pulled the window shard out of his chest. "You grub eating little vermin! You asked for this"

Being the first to get out, Face opened the broken trunk and was relieved to see the briefcase inside was still intact. Opening it were bullet rounds that glowed heavenly and he inserted the clips into his grown guns. A memento from the old boss, bullets that were formed from the melted down Heaven weapons that were hard to come by, but easily bought on the black market. He fired the Heaven bullets, and the imps saw exactly what they were in for when a flurry of bullets struck down a random Sinner jaywalking on the street. The demon ceased to exist, leaving no trace of his body and a supernatural force exited from the husk and entered into a mailbox that then grew legs, teeth, and multiple eyes to run off.

The once inanimate object achieved sentience after the dark energy inside the now permanently departed Sinner possessed it.

"Oh, crumbs." Moxxie turned white.

Blitzo blinked. and his mouth inched upwards with a snarl. "Everyone but us seems to always have Heaven weapons!"

"Yeah! That's right, imps! For once, God's on our side, whether he knows it or not!" Trapper went up with his copter back, loading up his own Heaven projectiles. "This is our show, and there ain't room for your kind!"

Just because he was in the air didn't mean it was a problem to Blitzo, it only made him an easier target.

"Mills, knife!"

She tossed a throwing knife over to her boss and he grabbed it with his tail and threw it at Trapper, the bladed weapon struck the barrel of his gun, and it blew up, making the bullets inside go to him instead. "AAGH!"

"Trapper!" Claws shouts in shock as he sees his comrade dissolve in the air.

"Guys! Help me...!"

His plea went unanswered as it was too late, his erasing form crashed down into another car.

Gaping, Claws clenched his teeth and unleashed his hat. "You'll pay for that, you damned assholes! You hear me?!" he won't rest until all three are nothing but just more corpses in the streets of Hell. Face had more sense, they were down a man and not even Heaven bullets gave the imps justifiable cause to run away like any other sensible demons like the ones running away from the gunfight.

"Moxxie! Time to really show your real strength to these shitheads! Give them Hell, you beautiful gun expert!"

"RPG!"

"Claws, get clear!"

Face led his crew to get clear when Moxxie fired the flying projectile, blowing up their car and some beasts that got caught in the blast radius. Looking at Stylish Occult, Face cursed his rotten luck. "I'm calling it We gotta pull back!"

"After what they did to Trapper! These little bastards are not getting away with that!"

"This isn't up for debate! Now, come on!"

Blitzo snickered, watching them run off. "Oh, yeah! Look at you scared pussies! What happened to all that hot shit you were spitting before, huh?! Now come on, guys! Hunt ain't over just yet!"

I.M.P's van drove past Stylish Occult and inside Stolas looked back slightly over the noise. "Seems some unscrupulous Sinners are going at it again. I swear, it's bound to be over a petty matter." Nobody in the shop was concerned by the gunfire outside, it was a regular sight everyday, so it was hardly any cause for any fanfare or to be afraid of, except no one was aware of the Heaven bullets involved. Otherwise, that would've been enough reason for a few pissed on pants. Not even Stolas realized what really just happened.

"Just ignore it, dad." Octavia looked to the changing rooms. "Lincoln, you done yet?"

"I don't know. I'm not sure if this really screams me."

"Come on. You'll be fine. It's not like you'll get crowded by paparazzi."

The white haired boy excited and Octavia lit up in pride over his new apparel. He had a dark gray t-shirt on with an orange colored happy face emoji face with horns on its head and a tail extended out the back. Comfortable looking black pants were also included with ripped holes in them, and on his wrist was a band with spikes and a dangling chained tag that was an upside down pentagram and black and white shoes. "Won't lie, I thought you'd go overboard, but this seems a little normal."

"What? You thought I'd give you an instant makeover? Make you into someone you're not? Don't know where you got that idea from. Just one last touch." Octavia lays her hand on top of his head and styles it to be more loose and less combed. "Well, what do you think?"

"Hmm..." Lincoln gave himself a once over. "...You know what? I think I can dig this."

"See? What'd I tell ya?" Pleased with herself, she addressed the cashier. "We''l take that to go."

"I for one think you make the look work, dear boy." Stolas praises. "I bet you'll be beating off hordes of Succubi with a stick."

"Heh-heh, I guess." Lincoln laughed awkwardly. "Where to next?"

"This was my turn. Now it's yours." Octavia handed him a unique mirror. "This mirror will show you parts of the city, just pick the one you want to go to and the powder will do the rest. Take your pick, Linc."

After the Satanist cannibal family job, the one thing that calmed Lincoln down was the spot on the roof Loona showed him that gave him a clear view of Hell's skies, a sight that to this day, was still pretty to him. With the mirror, he was thinking of a spot that took him even higher and could show him a view of the whole city and the magic item didn't disappoint. "Enjoying the scenery, I take it?" Stolas asked the sitting boy.

"Yeah. Sorry if this seems too random, but going up to a building like this and just watching silence. It can be very calm and no offense to your home, Stolas, sir, but I always need a dose of that." Lincoln jerked a thumb at Octavia who was having fun painting graffiti on the roof, sending a message to the owner and what she thinks of Sinners like him. "At least Octavia found a way to enjoy herself."

"And that is more than enough reason to let this slide." Stolas contently sat down himself. "Admittedly, this can be very soothing. I should perhaps do the same when things get too hectic at my mansion."

"Er, with your wife?"

"With my wife."

This was far from being his business and he doesn't really have a right, but that curiosity of his needed to be sated.

Lincoln just hopes Stolas won't get mad.

"If you don't mind me asking, but exactly, what's the deal between you and Blitz? Are you two, you know...together?" All evidence points to it, but then Lincoln recalls Stolas already being married and that troubles with his wife was what led to Octavis having issues with him in the first place. "Look, I've gotten the message that cheating is as normal as murder in Hell, and I get not every marriage lasts forever, but-"

"You wish to know exactly why I decided to do such a thing that caused much pain for Via, don't you?" Lincoln nodded worriedly and Stolas gave a hollow laugh. "Always so curious." Stolas gazes at the sky. "Lincoln. Have you ever fallen in love before?"

Lincoln heats up at the question. "Uh, well, maybe, I think?" He sees Ronnie Anne in his head and a few former crushes he's had. "Well, I'm still a kid, alright? Some of my sisters are love experts, I just try to provide moral support and stuff."

"...I assume you also have a girl waiting on Earth?" Stolas teasingly smiled.

"J-Just get to the point, please."

Stolas chuckles. "Very well, then. You see, my boy, falling in love here in Hell comes with great risk. It softens the spirit in a world that requires that spirit to be more cold and ruthless. For me, I was born into royalty, and in that life, it was expected of me to meet those requirements. All other luxuries of life weren't as important as keeping up appearances, so when the decision was made that I would form a union with someone from a noble house, whether I wished for it or not didn't matter."

"So, it was an arranged marriage?" Lincoln's only heard of those in school plays and movies.

"That it was. You must understand that while such practice is very archaic in your world, Hell plays by many different rules. So yes, I was arranged to Stella and vice versa, all as part of fulfilling our roles in the hierarchy." Stolas sighed. "Being married meant to spend the rest of eternity with someone of whom you love and cherished, that sort of feeling was...enticing for me. It's just, I never really felt anything for her. She certainly held nothing but contempt for me. How young and naive I was." he frowns sadly. "Life always finds ways of disappointing you, Lincoln. Instead of love, I found a marriage that was treated like a business practice. At the very least, I wanted Stella to at least tolerate me. But, she only cared about making my life Heaven. Even when Octavia was born. Ironically, that may as well be the single greatest moment of our marriage." Stolas fondly remembers holding little baby Via in his arms. "Even so, I still craved that feeling. Not even my status was enough to quench my thirst, no, I wanted to feel that sweet love just once. And then, Blitzy broke into my palace."

"Didn't he steal the grimoire?"

"That he did, that he did." Stolas dreamily sighed. "Looking back, I suppose I was desperate. It shocked me that he was there, but I didn't complain. One thing led to another and I couldn't keep him out of my head. It was the first time in such a long loveless marriage, I actually felt some fulfillment and well, I just couldn't resist wanting more. The rest, shall we say, is history."

"Wow. That is and I know I've said this about a lot of other stuff in Hell, but that is very messed up."

"This is Hell, boy."

"I know, I know. But still." Lincoln then came to a realization. "Huh. You know, that's something you and Blitz have in common."

"Pardon?"

When he started working as I.M.P's unpaid intern, Lincoln couldn't figure Blitzo out. The guy was just all over the place and acted on a whim with every choice, but then came the jobs that gave Lincoln clues about the imp's past that he'd rather be kept in the dark. First, it was when they had to deal with Robo Fizz, not only did Lincoln learn to work as a circus clown but apparently, he wasn't a popular one, with no kid loving his jokes. Then came Verosika Mayday. When she came to mind, it didn't take long for him to lightly blush. The Succubus pop star who used to be Blitzo's girlfriend, which was still hard to believe. The best he could gather and surmise was that it was pretty serious, serious enough to leave a lot of old wounds.

Maybe because Blitzo believed the love Verosika seemingly had for him wasn't real.

Due to her fame, Blitzo also could've felt threatened by his girlfriend being more well known than him.

All he can be sure of is that because Blitzo believed she didn't love him, their relationship soured.

Blitzo also got into his employees' personal lives, as if desiring to see how love is displayed with them. Him coddling Loona also looked like desperate pleas to have the hellhound love him like a father.

All in all, Blitzo was really in the market to be loved, but thinks it's impossible.

"Blitz doesn't believe anyone really loves him, or even cares about him." Lincoln found that very sad, and a little inaccurate, Millie thinks of him more than just a boss but an actual friend, and Loona, well, she's still learning to be more open with her emotions. "But he still tries to look for it, only he ends up making things a lot worse. I guess that's something you two actually have some common ground."

"...Well. That is something I have never considered before." Stolas scratched his feathery head. "If that is the case, I'm surprised he never responds well when I simply adore his sexiness."

"The pet names and the blatant flirting does get overboard."

"Really? I never noticed." Stolas smirked. "Must say, you truly can be perceptive as well. Certainly sets you apart from the rest of humanity, I can't imagine many would approve of you conversing with literal demons of Hell."

"I've learned not to judge you guys that much." Explosions were heard. "What's going on down there?"

"More Sinners going about their days, killing each other." Stolas surmised, disinterested. "Pay that no mind. I am truly enjoying this heart-to-heart."

Sinners were in the middle of a battle, but it wasn't against fellow Sinners, but the Hellborn imps of I.M.P. "You fuckers! You dirty, dirty, fuckers! You killed Trapper!" Claws cried in anguish. Both of them lived through Exterminations together, but it was imps that ended up taking him out for good. Past him would find that to be a joke. One he couldn't find any humor in.

"You struck first when you got your mitts on me!" Millie countered, using a sword to slice a pincer claw off that had her trapped. Claws was pushed back when Moxxie blasted buck shots at him. Blitzo, meanwhile, shot and killed dozens of the Hellborn animals with gun turrets and Face fired explosive grenades from his mouth also made from the weapons of Angels. Blitzo ran forward and slid on his knees to duck under the fire and shot point blank at two beasts, then fired a grappling hook that got him stuck to Face again.

"Won't lie, I'm actually having the time of my life!" he punched Face hard. "Consider that my thanks!" Blitzo jumps off as soon as Face fires again and he hears a grunt, thinking he hit one of them. But when he opens his eyes, he sees a bleeding out Claws who collapses, his afterlife now cut.

"Boss..."

Face was all alone.

Roaring, Face's body parts morphed. His legs became the wheel of a tank, while more guns sprouted from his shoulders, back, and chest, firing various rounds at the imp assassins and any other, not caring who he had to kill. He just wants any and all demons in his way to disappear, so that he can continue his journey back to success in Hell, he's negligent of his own afterlife. But without that sense, it left him as a vulnerable target, all that anger never does anyone good in a fight and Blitzo showed it by throwing grenades that blasted him into a fire hydrant. "Shouldn't have danced with these devils, ass-wipe!"

"This wasn't supposed to happen! I-I still need to carry on the boss' work! I-I need to keep on until I bring the old crew's name back to among the greats!"

"Oh, so this is about a buddy of yours getting killed in the purge, yeah? Don't worry." Blitzo ferociously smiles. "I'm sure if he were here, he'd understand that you'd screw up. A good boss is forgiving."

"You never follow your own advice." Moxxie deadpanned.

"Think you're the one walking away as the winner?! Not when I'm done with you!" In Face's mouth was an explosive. Thinking fast, Blitz wraps a chain around Face and ties it to the company van. Stepping on the pedal, he drives fast while dragging Face along the street and stomps on the brakes, making Face be flung up and the chain breaks, leaving him to scream as he flies to the next block.

"You goddamned imps-"

The heavenly explosive went off in the sky.

"Pretty." Millie cooed.

"Okay, pack it in, M&M." Blitzo instructed, the bloodlust going away. "Linc should be about done by now."

Back up top, Stolas came to a similar decision. "Now, while this has been enjoyable, I do believe we've had enough of it for today. Now, Lincoln, feel free to keep these items for yourself. Consider them a gift. They may prove helpful."

"Awesome. Thanks!"

"Before I forget." he lowers a book to him. Some kind of instruction manual for potions and other concoctions, along with rituals and other spells that can be learned through specific processes. "If you ever feel like delving into magic by yourself, consider this a beginners' guide."

"I got my own gift." Octavia bought something else for Lincoln at Stylish Occult in a tiny bag.

Lincoln took whatever was inside out, which was a package containing a cell phone device. "A new phone? Cool!"

"Hellphone, actually." Octavia ruffles his head. "Way cooler than Earth phones, trust me."

"Come along now, children!"

With the powder, Stolas whisks them all away.

Both parties made it back to the building they left at almost the exact same time and neither group were aware of the others' excursions in Hell and it was very unlikely they ever will. But that hardly matters, what did matter was for I.M.P to go back home in case a new client checks in and the Goetias to go back to living in the lap of luxury, just regularly living their individual lives.

"Lincoln, it's time to come home~!" Millie opens the door and gasps upon seeing Lincoln in his slick new thread. "Now where did you get those, little mister?"

"Uh...Octavia had them ready for me here." Lincoln convincingly said. "She meant it to be a surprise."

Moxxie gave his honest opinion. "It's different, but I must say, it's a good look for you."

"Makes you look more handsome!" Millie gives a pinch. "Hopin' to get some attention from little demon fillies, I reckon?" she giggles over his flustered blush, happily hugging him tightly.

"Alright, are we done here?" Blitzo asked Stolas, never intimidated by his height. "This is getting too wholesome for my liking."

"This has been a productive day, Blitzy. You should never rush things, especially on the bed." Stolas cups his chin with a single finger which Blitzo slaps away. Nevertheless, I...thank you for allowing the boy to continue learning under me."

Blitzo never expected to be thanked, least of all from a Goetia.

"...Uh." Blitzo fought back the light blush.

"L-Let's just get out of here!"

"Music to my ears." Before they left, Lincoln unboxed the Hellphone and she gave him a direct line to the Goetias' mansion, along with some recommendations on what music he should listen to with the headphones.

"Getting a Goetian Princess's digits." Blitzo observed. "I'd watch myself, intern. If she's anything like her pops-"

"Blitz, come on! She's more like a big sister."

Octavia was within hearing range and before she knew it, she felt her heart skip a beat and she smiled.

That kid.

He certainly had a way with sneaking into demons' hearts to form bonds with the, just look at I.M.P.

"Farewell, Blitzy and company!" Stolas waved. He honestly felt great, his little sharing session with his pupil made it feel like a lot of weights were lifted off his shoulders, perhaps he should do the whole sharing thing more often.

"Come on, dad. Let's go home."

"Brilliant day, by the way, Via. Showing the boy how life in Hell doesn't have to be all anger and hatred to soothe his soul."

Octavia laughed in response. "Don't know what you're talking about." Guess she should've known her father had a clue.

In the company van, Lincoln said. "Not mad about having to wait around?"

Moxxie shrugs, thinking it was best to keep their own field trip a secret to not worry the boy. "Eh, it wasn't all bad." They drove across town, where many parts of it were still in shambles over the damages caused by the imps and the Sinners.

This was just another day in Hell.

Chapter Text

Blitzo lit up a cigarette and lied back on Stolas' bed, sighing in aggravation and wearing only underpants.

"Blitzy. A little help, please?" Stolas asked next to him, his mouth gagged and hands tied way up.

"Yeah, yeah. I got ya." Blitzo burned the ropes off and the prince's mouth was free.

"Once again, I'm sorry for having to move our little rendezvous early." Stolas cheekily apologized, giving an upside down smile and went to put on his robe. "See, I'm scheduled for an engagement this month on the full moon." When he saw one of the most important events that required his presence was fast approaching, Stolas knew he couldn't complete his responsibilities without his spell book.

Which came as a huge inconvenience to Blitzo.

"When you call me here, I don't make a fuss." Blitzo gave his smoke to him as butler imps went about their business, "But, do you really need the grim-thingy for this whole farm celebration bullshit? Fifteen new clients are waiting for heads to roll." he complained. I.M.P's been keeping a steady streak of successful kills and satisfied customers, so it really irked Blitzo that Stolas picked now to put a halt to that.

Stolas inwardly chuckled at Blitzo's narrow-minded view. "Now, now, Blitzy. My grimoire is an important relic.'' He puts the cigarette out by pressing it on Blitzo's horn, further annoying him. "And it isn't supposed to be lent out to itty-bitty imps like yourself." he playfully teased, pinching Blitzo's cheek, voice dripped with baby talk. Blitzo shoved him away with revulsion, the owl demon always thinks he's been cute with that sort of flirty talk, but from another point of view, it's a royal talking down at an imp. A constant reminder of their difference in the hierarchy. "The Harvest Moon Festival is a very special occasion, after all! As one of the Goetia demons, it has been my annual duty to showcase it in the Ring of Wrath. It's celebrated by a very charming little festival with the locals." It was always such a humorous treat to watch Wrath imps entertain him with all their fun little games.

"Wrath, huh?" Blitzo rubbed his chin in some remembrance. One time, when he was there, it was for horse riding lessons after stealing his then-girlfriend's car to drive there in the first place, using that very same flame's-who's now his ex-girlfriend's-credit cards to pay for them. It was what he felt should've been done after leaving her to pay for the hotel room. Best to not maybe share that with...whatever Stolas is that, so he went full-on lying. "My employees are from there." Millie liked to talk about growing up on her family's ranch. "Never went there, I only hear it's full of inbred chucklefucks."

Stolas lights up with an idea. "Oh! Why don't you all join me at the festival? I can guarantee..." he tried to persuade with four very lidded eyes. "...special access." he giggles, hoping Blitzo will accept.

Blitzo wasn't so taken with the idea, seeing as this could end in another Loo Loo Land fiasco, and wanted to spell it out that killing folks was their thing, not protecting them. "Look, I told you before, we're not bodyguards, okay? That was a one-time thing and it ended badly. Even if I did end up taking out that crappy robot."

Stolas' personal servant was waiting by the door and he kept trying to convince Blitzo that it wouldn't be so bad, tilting his head like a typical owl. "I'm simply offering a work-free day of fun!" Granted, Wrath was infamous for being a land of fighting obsessed imps, but when the festival is held, things are dialed back, by just a little bit. "I feel quite safe at the Harvest Festival. It's the same every year." he then brought up another point. "Once more, think how good an opportunity this could be for young Lincoln. By my count, the only other ring he's gone to would be Greed, why not show the lad more of Hell's magnificent sights?"

Fun at a festival could also be good to quench the inner problems going on with that boy.

Blitzo thought it over and as much as he was loathe to admit it, a day off not only sounded sweet, but being personally invited by the owl of the hour would be hard to say no to, it was actually kind of sweet of Stolas to go through such lengths to spoil Blitzo and by extension, his staff. "Well, only if this isn't some fuckfest invite, it does sound like it could be a blast and a half." he begrudgingly conceded, though still showing bitterness over their usual plans getting uprooted. "And like I said, we can't do jack shit without your book anyway."

Stolas made faux sounds of being regretful while still using the baby talk.

"Aw, I'm sowwy your clients will wait it out."

"Oh, fuck my clients. I'm complaining about not getting paid for a while." Blitzo dismissed with a wave.

Outside the Goetia manor, Blitzo strolled outside fully clothed followed by Stolas in his robe. Blitzo looked back at the mansion. The fact that he was invited back here was enough to incite rounds of laughter among any crowd of demons as there was no chance in any plane of existence that the lowest class of demons actually managed to get attention like that. To be allowed to roam the halls of a place where royalty lives was a true privilege and a non-employee imp doing so was truly something many would find ridiculous. Despite all the odds, Blitzo managed to pull it off, but he didn't do it so he could boast about to every demon around, the aim was always about having free use of a valuable book of ancient Goetia magic to start up his company.

"I'm glad you accepted my offer." Stolas said.

Blitzo shrugged. "Eh, when you're not killing people, you need to find something else to do. You know what other good can come out of this? Finally getting the intern to actually cut loose for a change. He's been up for some nights, studying all those nerdy magic books you got for him, practicing runes. It's like he doesn't know when to just take it easy."

"Well, that should be expected. Especially for one of my students." Stolas counters in defense of the boy. "He is trying to find a way back home, in case you forgot."

"Believe me, it's hard to forget when he keeps on talking about it day in and day out." Blitzo reached in his pants and found his phone. "Anyway, guess I should round up the fam, get this road trip started already." he walked out where his van was waiting.

"What's the matter, Blitzy? Did I wear you too much?" Stolas taunted.

"Bitch, please. This number one boss can go on for hours. But, if this harvest festival crap is that big a deal, then there's really no point in distracting you. I just care more that the sooner this is done, the sooner I get that book back." Blitz shrugged, starting the car's engine.

"My, my. How considerate of you." Stolas smirks.

"Don't read into it." Blitzo didn't need to be patronized, least of all, Stolas of all demons. "Just don't go trying anything, alright? And maybe a better heads up next time you pick up the book. Running an assassination company is more difficult than you'd think. It almost makes me regret ever establishing it. Almost."

Due to the sudden stop of I.M.P's jobs, Moxxie and Millie, the lovable married assassins found more time to spend in their apartment complex located not far from where the company's building was. The couple were slumbering soundly in their shared bed together, it was one of the rare calming times in their lives as Hellborn species of Hell. Though, Millie would very much prefer it if a certain white haired boy she's regarded as her own son in all but blood moved in with them to make their little family complete.

But, Moxxie didn't want to take any chances and the landlord had a very stern policy on more occupants.

For now, they're content with it just being the two of them enjoying a relaxing sleep. At least, it was relaxing until Moxxie's Hell phone rang. Annoyed, he turned the phone off and tried going back to sleep, only for it to ring again, leading him to wake himself up and answer the stupid thing.

He can only think of one person who'd be calling so early.

"What is it, sir?" Moxxie tiredly asked, it had better be important.

"Hey! Hope I didn't wake ya, Mox! How does a company trip to the Wrath Ring for some harvest bullshit sound to you and Mills?"

Millie immediately woke up after hearing what Blitzo was calling about with excited glee. "The harvest moon festival is here?! Yee-fuckin' haw! We're in!" she cheers ecstatically, overjoyed at her favorite yearly celebration that takes place where she and her husband hail from.

Sighing, Moxxie rubs his hand down his face. "Well, Millie's on board." He has never once considered going back to Wrath in a long while, even though he's also a Wrath imp. It's not that he hated his home, it's mainly because most Wrath imps are big imposing physically capable fighters that love to get into fights with their fists, while he's a bit more inclined to use the good old noggin instead of fists, that and his usual preference to long range weaponry. Then again, Millie would be disappointed if he refuses, so at least for her sake, he's willing to go. A thought came to him. "Wait, where exactly are you calling from?" The reception sounded way too clear for it to be far away, and he got the answer when his boss dropped onto their bed from the ceiling. "Mm-hm. Should've known." Moxxie deadpanned at the purring Blitzo.

"Hey. It's not like I came by to videotape you silly little scamps for a third time in a row. I do have some class, believe it or not." Blitzo defended.

"Yeah, well, do I really need to tell you again how annoying it-wait, you did that a second time?!"

Blitzo closes his eyes with a smile. "You should buy less shitty locks that are easy to pick. Oh, and one more thing. We have the okay to bring the kid with us. You know, show him the wonderful ring of dick in the brains, country hicks."

"Really?!" Millie was now even more happy. "We can bring Lincoln along?!" she held her cheeks with starry eyes and hopped on the bed in anticipation, she had been waiting for an opportunity like this. "This is the best damn news, Blitz! This means he gets to meet my parents! They've been wanting' to meet their new grandson!"

"You told Joe and Lin about Lincoln?" Moxxie questioned.

"Well, of course I did, honey." Millie said, as if it were obvious. "Momma would have shown me real Hell if I just dropped in with her grandbaby and not told her about him through letters."

The two male imps shared a tentative glance with each other.

Clearing his throat, Blitz addressed the bruiser. "Mills, Mills. You know I love it how you basically named yourself Linc's mommy without even thinking about his still alive mommy on Earth."

"Thanks, B!"

"Anytime, you bloodthirsty bitch." Blitzo playfully pats her head which she happily takes. "But, why the Heaven would you go and tell other demons outside of the company about our little secret?!" he exclaims. "Newsflash. If those higher up than Stolas or other big wigs catch wind of this, it's all of our collective asses on the line! Most exclusively, my shapely sexy ass!"

"Oh, calm down, Blitz." Millie holds his shoulder. "They're my folks. They know better than to just rat out on me. In Wrath, snitchin' on blood leads to a beating and they're not the type to just tell them uppity snobby fucktards. If anything, they're happy to keep it from 'em. They don't listen to anyone but themselves. Their bosses are them and no one else."

Blitzo contemplated. "Hmm, displaying astute faith in your pack while also painting them as utter baddasses, which was already clear given your skill at killing. I'm sold!" If Millie's family were anything like her, then maybe there was nothing Blitzo had to worry about.

Gulping, Moxxie meekly raised his hand. "Um, perhaps we should have a company meeting about this. It would be prudent to pro-con this the best we could, less we end up causing a massive debacle. Which, you know, for us, is very likely."

"Uh-huh. Let's see, here." Blitzo counts one finger. "Pro, we get to hopefully enjoy some free food since we got a personal invite from the Goetia that's running the whole thing. Con, you end up looking like a fuck-up in front of the in-laws. Well, Moxxie, that's a risk I'm willing to take."

"What? No. That-That isn't what I'm worried about."

"Bullshit, Moxxie. Utter bullshit."

His wife holds his hands pleadingly. "Please, Mox-Mox! I just want Lincoln to get to know the rest of our family and it's been such a long while since I last saw 'em, too and I miss them all so much!" she glared lightly. "Well, except for my sister, but the point is, it'll be a fun time for all of us." Her eyes somehow got more begging.

Sweet merciless Satan, Moxxie could never resist that look in his love's face.

"I-I suppose if it means that much."

"Yay!"

Millie happily plants a big wet one on his lips as a reward.

"Good to know you can see things my way, Moxxie." Blitzo boldly stands on the bed. "I mean, it's not like we wouldn't have taken him anyway, without giving a flying fuck about what you think, but this is also good!"

Moxxie droned. "Always a treat to know you think so highly of my input, sir."

"What I'm here for!" Blitzo laughs. "And besides, what in Satan's nuts are you even worried about? It's just a ring get-together in the boonies where you hicks give thanks to some large chunk of rock in space or something."

"Extremely inaccurate."

"Oh, yeah? You gonna drop your drawers and moon the moon or something?"

"This. This right here." Moxxie points out their little exchange. "This is what makes me so concerned."

Blitzo jumps off the bed. "Get dressed in whatever farming threads you got and meet me outside, guys. Loona should be at the office by now and if I know the kid, he's up and about with the whole magic thing."

Millie runs to the closet, hands clapping. "I've been waitin' to give our boy these clothes!"

Oh, how Moxxie wishes he could just laze the day away in bed. Alas, it was out of his hands now, when Blitzo sets his mind on something, there is very little chance to dissuade him from pursuing it. In the process, he has to drag him, his wife, Lincoln, and sometimes even Loona along that directly leads to a series of constant tomfoolery and the boss never once feels bad about how it affects those he's supposed to be responsible for. If he could, Moxxie could call him out on it, but would Blitzo actually listen? That's the real question. It's too late now and maybe he's wrong? Maybe this will be fun and perhaps maybe try and get into the good graces of his in-laws for once, it's not like they could like him any less, right?

Waking up early wasn't anything new for Lincoln.

In fact, he's done it plenty of times before he ever got into Hell.

Whether it's to score the sweet spot in Vanzilla or snag one of his dad's breakfast sandwiches, or get to the bathroom first. In this case, it's practicing demonic magic as part of his intent to one day break the curse keeping him trapped. Stolas had asked Blitzo to lend back the grimoire for something sounding important, so Lincoln had to make due with all the items and tomes that were collected from the library.

"Okay. Let's see here..." One of the books was basically an encyclopedia of curses, the requirements to cast them, and the means to break them. If he could figure out how to break simple curses, then he can work his way up to breaking the incomplete one he's dealing with. "Hell-pig blood. Mint scented candles. Finally, a sprinkle of horn ashes. Don't even wanna know why Blitz has all this stuff." Casting a curse on a person wasn't acceptable to him, so he decided to use an inanimate object like one of the office's staplers. Reading texts, the runic letters were risen from their pages and surrounded the tool where it proceeded to spread pincer legs and a single mouth.

"I heed the call of the Pentagram! I must feed on flesh!" It turned to Lincoln. "May I feed on your flesh, good sir?"

"...No, but nice of you to ask."

Time to turn the talking stapler back into a regular stapler.

He douse it in waters gathered from the depths of Envy's waters, then added it in some ashes from burned crosses for that extra demonic boost and waited approximately ten seconds, nothing more. That exact amount of time passed and yet, nothing occurred.

"Was-Was something supposed to happen? I don't really feel any different."

"Dang it!" Lincoln groans, flipping through the pages. "Did I miss something?"

"Now hang on. I suddenly feel something in my back. Or, my top? Bear in mind, I was an average stapler before now, so I'm not really sure exactly if my body counts as a biological-holy shit!"

It sprouted wings and can now fly around the room. "Wings? How were wings included?"

"Hey, man, I don't really give a shit right now! I'm gonna eat flesh from the skies!" the flying stapler goes out through the window, ready to enjoy its newfound sentience...until its wings are shot and it fell down in the middle of a street, picked up by a passing Sinner with a handgun and purple furred head shaped like a goat's.

"A flying stapler..." the demon goat shrugged in acceptance. "Eh. I've eaten weirder crap. Hell, I've eaten literal crap."

Lincoln closes his window with a disappointed frown. "Well, if I can't break even simple curses, maybe I can try feeding demons office supplies." he sardonically says, putting the magic items away. He may good with the grimoire, but that's when his boss needs him to whip up some portals and go on the defensive and if need be, offensive when a job goes tits up.

"Thanks for the meal, bunny kid!"

He has to have a better handle of magic as an everyday thing, rather than a tool when it's needed.

Like the way his teacher does things, the big owl's even able to perform spells without the need of the grimoire. Times like this are where he gets his newly bought personal Hell phone and plugs in the headphones and plays a song Octavia recommended to him. Very negative sounding lyrics and paints a depressive mood, but he will admit, the tune's undeniably catchy. "Anybody in here?"

Hearing Loona made him stop listening to the song and leave his room.

The hellhound receptionist walked in slow steps while cradling her own head. "Hi, Loona."

"'Sup, Linc." Loona surrenders herself to the sofa cushions. "Fuck, it feels like a massive rave in my head. Whoever invented hangovers can go to town with a horse, because I hate them with every fiber of my being."

"From last night or this morning?"

"Last night, duh." Loona spreads a hand across the room. "See how quiet it is? No work nights in a while. Free to go all out." she whimpers like an injured puppy as she rubs her still sore head. "Still hurts like a motherfucker."

Smiling sympathetically, Lincoln pointed to the coffee machine. "Don't worry. I got you covered."

He went over to get her a freshly poured cup of Joe for such an invention. "Three shots of vanilla?" she asked.

"Just the way you like it." Lincoln affirmed, earning a hair ruffling.

"That's my boy." she slurps it all in one gulp. The kid actually went and made morning coffee just for her because of how heavy her hangovers are, to think she wasn't all that positively receptive of his presence at first.

"Will Blitz be coming back, yet?" Lincoln asked, sitting next to her and scratching her back fur to further offer some comfort.

"No clue. Must still be over at his feathery sugar daddy's place." Loona guessed, her foot tapping happily as a response to the scratching.

"Great news, kiddos!" Both Lincoln and Loona nearly jump out of their spots on the sofa when Blitzo kicks himself inside with Moxxie and Millie in tow. "Stolas invited the company out for some moon fest junk in Wrath, so get yourselves dressed for an outing at some stupid festival!"

Lincoln dubiously titled his head. "Uh, Moxxie? Explanation?"

He's way more easy to follow than Blitzo.

"The Harvest Moon Festival is a unique event held once a year in Hell, specifically in the Wrath Ring." Moxxie eloquently tells the intern, expecting him to be unfamiliar with Hell's traditions. "To put it simply, it's not that different from a typical harvest festival in your world, Lincoln. The many imp farmers all gather together to celebrate a successful bountiful harvest. But what makes this particular festival stand out is that prince Stolas himself oversees the celebration every year, and can only perform his duties with his grimoire handy."

"Which is why he needed it back." Lincoln said in realization. "And he invited us all?"

Millie slung an arm around his shoulder. "Damn right! Our boss going to town with a prince is giving you a chance to meet grammy and grandpops! Doesn't that just make you all excited'?!" she pecks him on the cheek.

"You mean you want me to meet your parents?"

"Well, of course, sweetie pie!" Millie tosses him the clothes she picked out for him. "Don't you want to meet your new grandparents?"

"Uh..."

Blitzo slaps his back. "Come on, pal! You really want to break your mommy's heart?"

Moxxie stands between them. "Now, sir, don't even think about guilt tripping Lincoln into coming along. If he wishes to stay behind, then we should respect his wishes." Lincoln smiles in thanks that Moxxie takes into account how he feels. "Besides, he could be busy with his own plans, right?"

"I was." Lincoln scratched his head, still embarrassed by his failure. "Didn't really work out, though."

"Then take a break!" Blitzo continuously encouraged. "Human souls like yours never get a peek of other rings, so take advantage of that shit to the fullest! We can't exactly go to work until this thing's over with."

Lincoln was still unsure. As much as he would want to still work on his magical abilities, would it really be worth it if they just end horribly in the end? Of course, Millie really wanted him to go and his innate curiosity wanted to see exactly what this festival had to offer. "I guess some fun wouldn't be the worst thing to happen to us."

"That's mommy's little boy!" Millie hugs him and urges him to go to his room. "Hurry and get dressed! You're gonna love your aunt and uncles, too!"

"Loonie, that goes double for you." Blitzo told his adoptive daughter with a clap of his hands. "This is a company field trip!"

The hellhound twirled her finger in the air, lacking any excitement. "Yippee."

Once the I.M.P staff all changed, they gathered up inside the company van and made off for the Ring of Wrath, the third of the seven rings that Lincoln had been in so far in Hell.

Due to the special occasion for this trip, they all changed into country and farm clothing to not seem out of place and also fit in with the farming setting of the Wrath ring, it can safely be said that Wrath can be considered farm country of Hell. Its setting screamed that as the van passed by various barns, grass fields, and herds of demonic looking cattle. "Woah. It looks like the grass could go for miles." Lincoln marveled. Millie picked out a brown vest over a plaid orange shirt, bright blue jeans, and black farming shoes for him to wear as everyone else had their own standard country-looking clothes. This ring was also extremely hot, and on the horizon, Lincoln saw actual orbs of hot light resembling suns erupting from volcanoes.

Millie took in a deep content breath. "Home sweet home. It's about the same as when Moxxie and I left. Ain't that right, Mox?"

"Yes. That is very true..."

Speaking of, Moxxie was the only one of the M&M duo who wasn't all that thrilled to go back to their neck of Hell's woods. He kept fidgeting in his seat, extremely anxious for when they would arrive.

"You know, Moxxie, Millie loves talking about growing up here, but I don't think I've ever heard you ever speak about how it was foe you when you still lived here?" Lincoln can see the team's gun expert had some issues.

Moxxie expected Lincoln's astute observation skills would detect his own apprehension. "It's nothing too concerning, Lincoln. It's just, even though I was born here like Millie, I can't say most of her family have ever really...approved of me." he shyly admitted. "If there's one thing all imps from Wrath have in common, it's that muscles are the key to every victory of a battle. I, on the other hand, think more pragmatically and they don't necessarily agree with my point of view."

That confused Lincoln.

"How can they not? You know so much about weapons. How they work and how to handle them. It's what makes you such an important part of this team." Lincoln's praise brought great warmth to Moxxie who nearly teared up in joy. It was so nice to have a coworker that never belittles his masculinity or competence as an assassin for once. "If this ring is full of fighting lovers, then my sister, Lynn, would think of it as a paradise.

"Jock sister, right?" Loona took the time to memorize which sister was which. "No offense, Linc, but I wouldn't like her chances. The shit-storms that go on here aren't some workout."

Lincoln's eyes widen when they pass a field with pikes and barbed wire keeping back feral beasts. "Uh..."

"They help tippers out." Millie explained. "Neighbors just hate trespassers, and look, we're here!" she brightly exclaims.

Rough n' Tumbleweed Ranch.

The farmhouse that served as Millie's childhood home. Two imps, a male and a female, were standing at the entrance with the female one waving to them in greeting and the van stopped. The male imp was a burly muscular individual with a white mustache and white markings that spread across his left arm. This was Joe, Millie's father and the proud owner of the ranch. His wife, Lin, shared an uncanny family resemblance to their daughter, almost like an older version of Millie, but covered in white spots and had a more mature-looking full figured body and slim waist.

Not wasting any time, Millie exited and went straight for a big bear hug from her dad. "Momma! Daddy! I've missed you!"

Joe chuckles warmly when she jumps into his arms. "Yee-haw! And how's my deadly little pumpkin spice doin'?" he ruffles her dark hair affectionately.

"I'm good, Pa!" Millie expressed her gratitude. "Thanks for letting us stay here for the harvest jamboree."

Lin assured her that it was the least they could do. "It's no trouble. We know you aren't making as much anymore since y'all went 'freelance' after all." she said with air quotes and maybe too condescendingly.

"Freelance pays really fine, Ma." Millie counters, a little agitated. "We're doing fine. It's fine.'' She guides them to her husband who was having slight difficulty with lifting up their luggage. "Anyway, y'all remember my husband, Moxxie." she pushes him over and he shrinks back at their unimpressed frowns.

"Lovely to see you again, Lin. Joe." Moxxie amicably waves. "How have you been with all the flaming twisters and stuff around here?" A nice little joke should ease some of the tension in the air.

"We lost our old farmhand to one of 'em terrors last week." Joe darkly recounts.

Moxxie chuckles very nervously for accidentally bringing up some bad memories. "Oh, crumbs! My bad. I am deeply sorry." He regretfully apologized. "I didn't mean to open up that wound, sir."

"Hey, watch it! I'm the 'sir' around here, bucko!" Blitzo glowered.

If anyone had any right to make Moxxie try too hard, it was him.

Millie just remembered that this would also be her parents' first meeting with the imp in charge. "Oh, yeah. Y'all haven't met our boss, Blitz and his hellhound."

Loona took a break from her phone to bark back, insulted that Millie made it sound like she was some common pet. "I'm not just his hellhound, bitch."

"Yeah. She's also my daughter." Blitzo corrected earnestly.

"Only on paper." Loona pointed out as he walked for a formal introduction but she didn't follow. "None of y'all deserve to know my name."

Lincoln fake coughed in his hand. "It's Loona." she raised an amused brow and smirked at his cheeky grin.

Blitzo shoves Moxxie aside into farm animals. "A great pleasure to finally meet the sperm and egg factory that popped out this little gem of an assassin." Millie bashfully waves off the compliment while her parents share questionable glances. "You two raised one hell of a sturdy bitch!" he punched said sturdy bitch's arm.

Oddness aside, Joe and Lin took the flattering comments with pride. "That we did and proud of it."

"Last, but not least..." Millie was saving this introduction for last because it was so special for her family. She gently walked Lincoln over to meet her parents and presented him with maternal cheer and elation. "Say hello to Lincoln! The human child cursed to Hell I wrote to you about! And the proud baby boy of two coldblooded killers, which are me and Moxxie!" she shakes Lincoln.

Gulping, Lincoln holds a hand for a shake. "A-A pleasure, mister and misses." Both were taller than him and looked like they could rough it with the best, so how would they respond to an unassuming kid like him.

Both silently looked at him in a beat of silence, and Joe broke it. "Boy, you better put that hand down..." he ordered through a threatening tone, before vibrantly opening his arms with a wide smile. "...and give your pappy a hug! C'mere!" Joe laughed and pulled Lincoln into a tight hug and the kid got a familiar feeling of losing some oxygen.

"So that's where she gets it from...!"

Lin taps her husband's arm. "Now, that's enough, Joe. Give his Grammy a turn." When he releases Lincoln, Lin was more gentle in her hug, cuddling close to his form with happiness and giving him a once over. "Let me get a good look at you, now. My word, you are just so precious!" she cooed, holding his face tenderly. "Millie's letters didn't do justice in how adorable you are!"

"I know, right?!"

They were taking it better than Lincoln had assumed. "Uh, thanks, Mr. Joe and Mrs. Lin."

"Now stop it with that formal nonsense, sonny." Joe pounded his own chest. "Just call me Pappy Joe! Boy howdy, ya don't have any idea how we've been achin' to meet ya when we first heard about ya! Does me proud to know my baby girl's passing on every knowledge of how to pop a man's spine in half! She has taught you all her moves, right?"

"She once took me to see how she can twist a head around with just one punch."

"Ha! Came up with that move myself!"

Moxxie had to say this one thing. "Now, I understand your elation. But, uh, you should know that technically, we aren't legally Lincoln's parents. In fact, he works with us on the job."

"That right?" Joe crossed his arms stoically. "Why? Too afraid of the responsibility of raising a child?"

"No, no! You have it wrong!" Lincoln cleared things up. "My family-my human family-they're still alive. It's not like I'm an orphan."

"Blood or no-blood, Millie writes how you understand loyalty to your kin." Joe especially liked one entry. "Hell, she told us how you dropped a damn clock that was about to do her and the rest in." he held one his arms. "Hmm, lookin' like you need some more meat in those limbs, but if you managed to not die in Hell for this long, then there's no doubt a fighter somewhere inside."

Praise for some physical capabilities.

Not something Lincoln's used to hearing, at least not towards him.

"Y-You think?" Lincoln modestly asked. "I don't know about that."

Blitzo nudged his side. "Ah, don't sell yourself short, kid. He makes a really great intern."

"Glad to hear it, Blitz." Joe shook the boss's hand and made approving noises. "That's a fine name you got."

"It reminds me of war." Lin fondly said

Joe showed similar love for conflict like any other Wrath imp. "Ain't nothing sweeter than a little war to make a strong man!" he flexed a bicep to prove his point.

Complete battle freaks like their daughter. It was official, these were Blitzo's kind of imps. "I like you two."

If it was war they adored so much, then maybe Moxxie could appease that adoration using his area of expertise. "The thing about war, most battles were won thanks to technological advances in warfare." he went into a very informative lecture. "I've researched the history of weaponry extensively and it's inspiring how, for example, the progression of guns utilizing angelic technology has changed the landscape of Hell's combative-" Moxxie looked to see Millie making a cut it out signal as Blitzo and her parents looked perturbed. "-I mean, war is so fun!" he awkwardly declares.

"Guns get the job done and usually, that's all that matters." Joe conceded, though when it came down to it, he'd rather rely on his fists any day. "But a man ain't a real one if he can't tear the head right off a hellish beast with only his bare hands!" he punches his open palm with ferocious energy.

"Ha!" Blitzo laughs, knowing Moxxie wasn't anything like that. "Your in-law sure got you all figured, Moxxie! You got little baby hands like your baby dick!" he insulted.

Moxxie made him take a step back. "Refrain yourself please, sir."

"If you wanna see strong hands." Joe got their attention. "Y'all should meet our newest hired help after we lost the last one. Hey, Striker!" he calls.

Noisy galloping sounds were heard and they saw a mighty steed make its way to them. It was a horse-like beast colored gray an black stripes with a mane and a tail that were set ablaze. Four glowing eyes shone along with its orange fangs and horseshoes. Its lower body looked as if it were a pool of lava flowing and it neighed loudly as it carried the rider. Striker was a tall imp, even rivaling Blitzo's height, but had a more distinct appearance like his serpentine face, pale red skin tone, and even the horns appeared more jagged. A golden tooth shined and there were rings inside his eyes and he sported a small black mustache. His attire gave him the look of a real cowboy, fit with the big hat on his head.

He even had the steel confidence just by looking at him as his red-spiked tail slapped hard on his steed's behind to make it jump over the fence in front of the group.

Blitzo stared at the hell horse with an open smile and hearts in his eyes.

The rest carefully moved when it neighed wildly. "Well, howdy there!" The cowboy imp tipped his hat in greeting, a hay straw in his mouth. He caught sight of Millie and noticed the similarities between her and Lin. He dismounts from the fiery horse to get acquainted. "Oh, looky here. The famous Mildred. Heard some good things about you from your folks, little lady." he winks her way.

"Oh!" Millie laughed sheepishly, shaking his hand that caused Moxxie to narrow his eyes.

"What are y'all doing so far away from Imp City?" Striker snickered. "The free work finally slowin' down so you decided to move back?"

"Oh, no. Freelance isn't literally free work, we do get paid and it's-never mind." Millie has enough trouble trying to explain it to her parents. "We're just visiting for the festival. As it happens, the prince is our boss's boyfriend~." she teasingly drawls.

Blitzo was not amused. "Millie, I am not above hitting a female in front of her daddy, it wouldn't be the first time."

Now that got Striker's attention, this was the imp he's heard so much about from other parts around Wrath. "Boss, huh? Oh, so you're the bold imp that started his own killing biz." How funny it is, meeting him here.

"Hey, when you're good at something, you should capitalize." Blitzo responds with a shrug.

Still, Striker had to give Blitzo some credit for being one of the few imps in Hell that decided to take a chance and leave his own mark among all other bottom tier demons. "Not many imps start businesses on their own." Striker pointed out. As the lowest class of demons, they're all expected to take shit from all others and do nothing more than stay in their subservient roles, but Blitzo wasn't one of them and Striker respects that. "That's mighty impressive of you, sir."

Blitzo blinked, not expecting to get actual props for his efforts. "Yeah? I guess-I guess it is, isn't it?" he nods, satisfied and found himself shaking the cowboy's hand, too.

"Now if I'm right, you even conned that ditzy blueblood into getting you to the surface?" Striker asked.

Having one of Hell's elite in your pocket was even more impressive.

If only that was the only case. "Well, it's long and more complicated than that, but the short answer is yes." Blitzo then fumbled in his words when trying to explain that their partnership was strictly professional for all intents and purposes, and failing terribly at it. Moxxie and Millie silently chuckled knowingly and the former took great pleasure in seeing Blitzo in a stuttering mess for once. "But, he's not like, you know-he isn't my-I'm not his-we're not doing-we-it's a transactional fucking, you see." It sounded like he was also trying to convince himself.

Striker then saw Lincoln. "Well, I'll be." he crosses his arms and while the white hair was very misleading, he wasn't stupid enough to not see that there was a real live human right before him. "Here I thought Joe and Lin were pulling my leg. Lincoln Loud, I'm assuming?"

"That's-That's right." Lincoln nodded, trying to be cordial. "Are there gonna be some problems?"

Striker smirked with a humph. "So long as you don't start any, short-stuff. Apologies, it's that I never thought a living human soul would take up residence in these parts, let alone survive it. I take it Blitz and his crew are to thank for that."

"They've helped a lot. But, they've also taught me a lot, too and that's more than enough." Lincoln wouldn't know what he'd do in Hell without them.

Striker turns his back. "For your sake, boy, it better be. Though, word of advice, can't get far down here relying on others alone and you sure as fuck can't do it with a soft heart. Little guys like you tend to get stepped on, you know."

Lincoln lightly glared. "Then I must be doing something right."

So he can at least sass right back.

Not bad.

"Heh, whatever you say, kid."

"Don't let his looks fool you." Blitzo tells Striker. "Kid can pull through when pushed far enough. Believe me." What transpired with the cherubs was a clear sign of that, and Blitzo only wished that the boy could be more proud of it.

"I'll take your word for it."

"You know. You boys should enter the pain games." Joe told his employee and his daughter's employer. Said daughter, though, looked very downcast, which was weird since this sounded like her kind of contest.

Blitzo heard one of his favorite magic words. "I heard games! What games?!" he walked like a crab in a fast pace to the muscle-bound imp. "I'm in!"

Lin filled in for those unfamiliar. "Every harvest festival, there's a competition to be the roughest toughest bastard in Wrath!" Imps from across the ring engage in various physical challenges to earn the right to be considered the strongest of them all.

"Wow, you must have won, huh, Millie?" Lincoln says to his indignant coworker.

"Yeah! Except I can't play!" she bitterly huffs. "'Cause I'm banned for a stupid shitty reason."

Knowing her offspring was still sore about being exempt from the games, Lin sternly tells Millie that there was indeed, very good reason for why it happened. "Millie, you know you get too carried away. The last competition ended in fifteen separate funerals." As proud as Joe and Lin are for their daughter's exemplary skills in hand to hand combat, they're aware that when she gets too into it, she loses all control and causes nothing but problems. They taught her much about expressing her rage through her fists, but never could successfully teach her how to keep it in check.

"I'm aware. But, I only caused nine of them." Millie rolled her eyes and pouts. "How come Sallie May gets to compete?"

"Because your sister doesn't have a neighborhood headcount that borders on the many."

Millie begs to disagree. "She does too! She always bragged about it being bigger than mine!"

"Doesn't count if no one can find the bodies, sis." Seething in rage, Millie looks with Lin and Lincoln to see a female imp arrive with a shorter male one, carrying a lot of body bags. They were soon accompanied by other male imps.

"There you all are." Lin frowns. "Didn't I tell y'all that your sister would be coming? I know me and your Pa raised you to not be tardy for kin."

"Blame it on the traffic, Ma." Sallie May tossed the big into a hole. "Folks are already storming the place, and hello there, little sis. I'd say I feel bad that you won't be breakin' heads with us, but I can't 'Cause I don't." she tauntingly grins at the still fuming Millie.

"Come on!" Millie pleaded. "How else will Lincoln cheer for his momma when she's puncturing a bitch's lungs?"

"Now, that's enough of that, Mildred." Lin demanded, having enough. "You're not an impling anymore, so I expect you to accept whatever shit's thrown your way. You're setting a bad example for the boy."

At this point, Millie's brothers and sister notice Lincoln who shyly waves. "Hi."

"...Nephew!"

Lincoln was met with his new 'uncles' dogpiling on him, giving him affectionate hair ruffles and noogies and he suddenly finds himself recalling a specific dream where he had ten brothers instead of ten sisters, but this was less troublesome. "Settle down there!" Lin shouts, making her sons stand in a line. "I know y'all are excited, but try being more careful. Humans are very fragile, you know."

Sallie May picked the kid up. "So, you're Mills' new kid, eh? Let me guess, adopted?" she teased her sister, again. "Does your man shoot only blanks or are you just not fruitful like Ma?"

Millies stuck her tongue out. "You're just being jealous that I got badass mom status now."

"Ah, you can have it. I'm not picky, just call me your Auntie Sallie May, okay, little man?" She tenderly patted his head. One thing Lincoln couldn't help but notice was that Millie's sister's horns looked like a male imp's and a light white color in her black hair and...oh.

"Um, okay." Lincoln bashfully smiles.

"Sorry your boy won't get to see you kick ass, sis." Sallie May patronized. "But hey, because I'm nice like that, I'll go ahead and do it for you, only much better."

Millie tries one more time to beseech to Lin. "Ma!"

"Young lady, my word is final." Lin didn't want any more lip on the subject. "Look at it this way, you and Lincoln can still root for her and your brothers and now, you can cheer on your boss!"

Moxxie came to a very bold decision despite some hesitation. "You know, she'll also cheer for me."

Joe slapped his knee in a fit of laughter but saw his son-in-law's determined expression. "Wait, you?"

"Yeah!" Moxxie didn't take being underestimated very well. "I'm allowed to compete, can't I?" It'd make sense for someone physically capable like Millie, but not for an imp that can't even handle a nudge from his mother-in-law.

Joe admired the determination, but still found the very thought laughable. "Sorry, boy. But, I don't think sensitive thespian types would last very long in those bloody games."

"I was born in this ring, too!" Moxxie even tries doing his own southern drawl. "I have some fight in me as any other imp."

Striker figured he should at least prove it. "Huh. Well then, little fella. Why not help me wrangle a hog for dinner?" he points to a big pig demon sleeping in the mud.

Moxxie scoffs. "Simple. Just watch me." he reached for a concealed gun in his shirt, but Striker had other ideas.

"Nah, little man. Use these tools." The pale imp handed Moxxie rope and a single knife. "Its shell can bounce bullets off. Best bet is to stab it underneath and pry it open."

"Oh, right, right. I knew that. I can do that just fine." Moxxie nervously claims with an audible gulp.

Blitzo leaned in closer to give him one of his best pep talks to date. "Now just remember, your rep with the judgy in-laws is on the line here." Some nice pressure helps build up the fear of failure. "So, no pressure at all. You totally won't make an ass of yourself in front of everyone important in your life." Oh, yeah. The clear signs of Blitzo being an encouraging boss.

Lincoln glared at Blitzo. "How is that helpful, Blitz? Moxxie, you don't have to do this."

"He's right, Mox." Millie nodded. She knew how much her love wants to prove himself to other Wrath imps, but she couldn't give a damn if he wasn't the strongest, the way he is now is good enough for her.

"N-No!" Moxxie shakes his head. "I-I am comfortable with this!"

"Great! Now, go knock 'em dead, tiger." Blitzo cheers and shoves him. "Kick that pig's ass!" Now at the point of no return, Moxxie quietly creeps up to the slumbering demon pig. He was scared out of his mind, but didn't want to show it for all to see, he's supposed to be showing unwavering resolve. With a jump, he lands on the pig's back, sending it into a panicked frenzy once Moxxie lassos the rope around its neck and the imp goes for the kill, but just as Striker said, the shell was nigh impenetrable. Squealing in fury, the pig trashed around and Moxxie struggled to stay on it as the rest watched, one half in concern and the other half amused. "Fuck yeah, Moxxie! Ride that hog! Make it that bitch you won't call back in the morning until you realize it took your wallet!"

"This is just fucking beautiful." Loona couldn't resist recording.

"Doing a-okay, Moxxie! You are the man!" Blitzo kept going on with his fake cheers. "Send me that video back home."

Lincoln stares in disapproval which caught Loona's attention. "What? This is too good!" he turns away and she sighs, slowly putting her phone away.

Suddenly, Striker jumped in, knocking Moxxie away and handling things way better. In one swift move, he managed to succeed where Moxxie had failed in impressive fashion, and Moxxie was left in pain and embarrassment. "Ow! I think I broke my clavicle." he soothes his now sore neck.

"Don't be so down, little one." Striker's tail rattled like a rattlesnake. "You were bound to fail." he cruelly mocked, taking the pig's corpse to Joe and calling for Blitzo. "Hey, boss man. You wanna help the men skin this thing for dinner?"

Blitzo gladly accepted the offer. "Buddy, you won't find anyone else who's down to skin some manly meat with a manly man."

"Heh, yeah, that's what she said." Loona quipped.

"Who said what?" Blitzo asked, enraged. "Wait, what bitch is talking shit about the number one boss?!"

As they all went to the farmhouse, Lincoln and Millie helped Moxxie with his injuries, but that did little to repair his damaged pride. "Don't let him get to you." Millie comforted, wrapping bandages. "And hey, you don't need my parents' respect. They'll give it, eventually." These things just need time, trying to force or rush things only succeeds in more strenuous relationships.

Sallie May didn't believe that. "No, they won't." she didn't care about the way her sister was growling at her. "What? I'm speaking the truth, ain't I?"

Lincoln rolled his eyes. "Look, Moxxie. It doesn't matter to me or to Millie if you're not some big tough guy. Trust me, I get it, and I'm telling you that it's not really worth it.'' He understood Moxxie's dilemma perfectly. At one point, he too was worried if he wasn't a tough enough guy due to growing up with so many sisters and went through a lot just to prove otherwise. Got him and his best friend nothing but trouble like a bear, a moose, bees, and a waterfall and he eventually understood that just because a guy isn't tough in the traditional sense, that doesn't mean he wasn't strong in his own way.

Everyone has their own way of having strength and it can mean more than just muscles.

Moxxie knew they made good points, but it was just in his nature to still at least try. "I will be there at those games!"

Lincoln and Millie were disappointed as the latter hummed in concern. "Say, sis, how pissed would you be if I bet on him dying?" Sallie May cheekily asked, and proceeded to back away when Millie got out her knife. "Just teasin'. If y'all need me, I'll be helping myself to some of mama's pies. Better luck next festival, sis."

"Pfft. Striker." Moxxie dismissed. "He's not so great."

Striker.

Lincoln turns to the house where he could see Striker through the window, cleaning the pig blood off his knife. Guy had charisma, arrogance, and had a very high opinion on themselves and took great joy belittling those weaker than him.

Common traits among demons.

But there was something about him that made Lincoln uneasy, he didn't like how he treated poor Moxxie, but there was an unknown factor that caused Lincoln to get the instinct of being wary of him.

Like there was more to Striker than just being the new hired help.

Inside the farmhouse, Lincoln was seated at the dinner table with IMP. Millie's brothers were eating like wild wolves, and Striker ate by himself in the living room as they waited for the festival to begin. "Here you go, sug." Lin baked a fresh pie that was only for Lincoln's taste buds. "I know some of the usual Hell recipes might be too much for you, but I made sure to memorize this here apple pie!"

"Thanks." Lincoln cut a piece with a fork and ate it. "Mmm, this is great! You didn't have to go so far, though."

"Anything for my new grandbaby."

Joe took a large bite out of some juicy steak. "Hey, sonny! Sure ya don't want none of this fine meat? Nothing to build the muscles more than Wrath grilled meat, cooked to make you the scorn of your enemies!"

"Now, Joe. You know damn well he can't." Lin rubs the kid's head. "His stomach's too soft."

"...Wouldn't go that far..."

"See there? Don't doubt his pain tolerance, Lin." Joe flops the steak around. "Of course, he may as well not have anything to do with doing work for free and everything. Not something worth breaking your body for."

Blitzo tightly grips his chair's arms. "Okay, look. I let little comments like those slide because you're my employee's fam and because you gave us some free food, plus free housing. But just to make it very clear, our job racks in a ton of dough. A real thing you shouldn't doubt."

"Ma! We're done!"

One of the brothers burped out a bone and Lin exasperatingly took all the plates. "I swear, you boys need a new lesson in table manners."

"Let me help." Seeing his father tirelessly cook food for his family taught Lincoln that parents like him and Lin should be more appreciative for all their efforts in slaving away in the kitchen, so he picks up the now empty plates and Lin beamed at his politeness.

"Adorable and a gentleman? That settles it, there must be a God if I got myself the sweetest grandson around."

"If you really wanna help, Lincoln. Then follow your pappy." Joe wanted to show Lincoln the kind of work that a real man should do and the right place for that is the barn out back, too. "This here is where your Ma and her sibs were born in, you know.". Now, it's where he'll teach his grandson how to do some manly work. Joe is living the dreams of every grandfather right now. "Tell me, sonny. You ever worked on a farm before?"

"My friend, Liam, lives in one. He sometimes calls us for an extra hand or two."

Those chickens were a pain, though.

"In that case, buckle up! We here in Wrath do things a lot rougher compared to Earth farms." Joe had himself and Lincoln big stacks of hay to feed all the hell goats that fought each other for the spoils. Next were all the eggs being laid that shot out like missiles, leading both to quickly catch them before they could explode upon the walls, and Joe didn't forget taking the kid n a tractor ride that involved a super fast tractor that also sliced apart pests that were in the way as Joe laughed like a madman. Standard chores and activities at a farm in Hell. "Whoo! Nice to see the old girl still have some fight in her!" Joe said after getting kicked by one of the cows after he milked her for all she's worth. "Way more productive than free work, am I right, sonny boy?"

Lincoln was in a mess of hay straws and feathers. "Somehow, it's just as dangerous. But seriously, we do get paid. Everyone in the company pulls their weight when they really want to. Even Loona...sometimes. Not to mention Moxxie."

"Hmm. That right?" Joe furrows his brow.

"Well, yeah. I'm not kidding, he can be dangerous in his own right." Lincoln states. "He's stronger than he looks, the guy clearly cares a lot for everyone in his life and is willing to do whatever it takes to save them."

"That's...something, I suppose." Joe begrudgingly admits, making Lincoln smile. "I'm gonna go ahead and make sure everyone's nice and ready for the games."

Lincoln waits outside and looks to Wrath's skies, lost in thought. Spending time with Millie's family, where there were a a whole pack of them going crazy in the house, brought a huge sense of nostalgia to him, it almost feels like he's back in the Loud house. Even in Hell, there are those who shower him with familial affection, but is it really right to just accept them as a second family when he already has one waiting for his return?

His thoughts were interrupted when he got a surprising urgent feeling. He gazed at one of the house's windows where Striker's guest room was, he focused his sight and either he was going crazy, or there was some out of place glowing coming from there. "Done with all the work, runt?" Speak of the imp, there was Striker who had been observing all the chores getting done.

"Uh, yeah. Already leaving?"

"Just making sure Bombproof had his fill of grub." Striker pets his steed's muzzle. "Gotta say, surprised ya haven't collapsed from all the work Joe's had you do. Thought you would've done those fancy spells the Goetia's been teaching' you."

"You know about that?"

"That boss of yours really likes to talk." Striker chuckled. "Had a lot of stories to tell. When it came to you, I figured the only reason you've lasted was because you had that little book to get you out of shit. You're about the luckiest little son of a bitch to get access to something' that's off limits to us...lower demons." his tone had a slight edge at the end.

"I can't always rely on the book." Lincoln reasons. "I can defend myself just fine without it."

"Maybe. But going on the offensive never crossed your mind there?" Striker smirked, knowing he had him. "Your little company friends gave you tips on how to stay on the safe side, but this Hell, young'un. Ain't no such thing. Blitz also told me that you're rarin' to break the hold Hell has over you that keeps you from going' back to your kin in the living world." he humorously said. "If you ever want anything out of life, then don't be a softie like Moxxie. Blitz and me, we know what we're doin'. Think about that, kid." he climbs onto Bombproof and rides off.

Lincoln watches him go with a frown, what he said can be seen as sound advice, but he still didn't think he could trust anything Striker had to say.

But still, his words did have some truth, but he pushed it away.

Lincoln doesn't want to be anything like that, he could never be...and yet, Hell has shown him some things and well, it gave him a lot to digest and make sense out of. It's hard to think with the same mindset he once had after the messed up shit he's endured.

"Lincoln!" Millie announced throughout the farm. "Time to go~!"

As with past festivals over the years, all imps that live inn Wrath gathered together for this sacred event held only once a year. They stood side by side in a large crown, impatiently being on standby until the festivities could begin. On a large stand with speakers stood Wacky Wally Wackford, the ever incorrigible imp that took this shindig as a golden opportunity to make money out of. Behind him sat Stolas, waiting for his cue and keeping his grimoire close to his person, he grins when his eyes meet his delectable imp in the audience and fondly nods in approval to see Lincoln standing with Moxxie, Loona, Millie, and her family.

"Welcome, I say, welcome all to Wrath Ring's yearly annual Harvest Moon Festival!" Wally announced through a microphone. "To kick things off, we have the great prince Stolas here to usher in this year's harvest moon and begin the pain games!"

Stolas takes the mic for himself and laughs warmly. "How very kind of you, dear Wackford. Greetings, all you adorable tiny Wrath Ring imps! Hope you're having fun in another year of celebrating the spoils of your hard labor that continues to feed all of Hell's citizens!" Sure, it seemed like he was honoring those imps' hard work, but the way he worded it reminded the audience how while every other demon outside Wrath get to revel in resources provided by them, they still have to work tirelessly to do so again and it just made them send heated glares at the royal. "I'm especially happy to host your entertaining games that will challenge the strongest possible imps to show their skill and dominance. Good luck to you all!" he waved his fingers at them, and made sure to send a special message to one imp who he was cheering to win. "And a special good luck to the sexy little one there. Yoo-Hoo! It's me, Blitzy!"

"Oh, fuck me. Use my name right." Blitzo rolled his eyes, irritated. "Just start the games, already!"

For those that weren't partaking, they opted to sit in the stands. "Excuse me, young sir." a fancy-looking imp talked to Lincoln. "His highness has requested your presence." Stolas and Wally were in a booth reserved just for them, but the prince wanted to share the experience with his pupil.

"Hello there, dear boy!" Stolas gestured to Lincoln to take a free spot. "Come, sit! I take it you're enjoying the festival."

"Pretty good, so far." Lincoln replied. "Thanks for inviting us to come, Stolas."

"Think nothing of it, my pupil." Stolas looks through opera glasses. "You can say it makes up for taking back my grimoire until all's said and done."

"Oh, don't worry about that." Unlike Blitzo, Lincoln had no grievances. "It does still technically belong to you, after all and how else can you do your important job here without it?"

Nice to see somebody respects authority around Hell. "Too true, Lincoln. Although, I do apologize that Octavia couldn't make it. She never found these sort of affairs in a favorable light."

"Yeah, none of this really screams her, anyway." Lincoln can always tell her about it later. "You know, you sort of put Blitz on the spot. Not sure he wants the deal between you two known."

"How could I resist?" Stolas rang a bell. "Now then, let the games commence!"

Once the starter's pistol was fired, all imps that decided to participate ran like the wind to get a head-start. Moxxie did his best to catch up, but was trampled by all the imps that ran ahead.

It was a contest with many obstacles and challenges that pushed to the very limit and out of all of the participants, Blitzo and Striker were the fruitful to win as they had many things going for them. Moxxie was less fruitful as each contest ended with him failing and each time he lost, he had to get attacked by a Hell shark that seemed to have marked him as a new punching bag He at least managed to win thanks in large part to being on a team with Striker, and that was still a loss after getting drenched.

Nothing went Moxxie's way, only suffering defeat after defeat again and again and then, the shark came back to deliver an elbow drop. "Motherfu-!"

Eventually, the games came to an end and now was the time to present the victor, or in this case, victors. "I say, I say, for the first year ever, we have a tie for the winner of the harvest moon pain games!" The imps cheer.

As per his role, Stolas congratulated the champions. "The winners are Striker and my darling sweet Blitzy~!"

"Just say my name right, it's not that hard!"

Stolas made it hard for Blitzo to feel great about the win with his obvious bias.

Moxxie sat with his wife and Lincoln, despite all his efforts, he couldn't make the cut but he wasn't to let that Striker hold this over him. "Alright, I guess he has the physical advantage." Guns weren't his only forte. "But I'm great at other things, like singing."

But of course, he just had to tempt fate like that. "I'd like to take this opportunity to sing a quick song I wrote just now about me winning." Striker even had a guitar ready.

"Oh, what the fuck?!"

Lights turned on behind Striker as he played the instrument and began strumming that got the crowd in a frenzy. One fangirl rushed to the stage and Striker cruelly kicked her away in annoyance, but she was actually happy he did that and other fans attacked her out of jealousy for getting touched by the imp they also admired. The crowd kept on cheering for the vain cowboy continuing to serenade Wrath with his personal ode to himself and his superiority, acting like he's king of all imps.

Blitzo joins his employees in the stands, biting a festival treat. "Isn't that guy great?" It may sound too corny for him, but Blitzo found meeting and getting to know Striker to be a real treat, the guy had everything Blitzo could respect and may go as far to say that he's something of a kindred spirit.

Shame Moxxie didn't share that sentiment. "False!"

Lincoln suspiciously looks at the still-singing imp. "Blitz, I don't know. Something about him just doesn't feel right."

"Quit being paranoid, Lincoln." Blitzo chided. "That's no way to talk about your soon-to-be new coworker. I tell you, guys, it's gonna be fun working with him."

Moxxie and Lincoln did a double take. "Working with hi-what?!" Moxxie exclaims, aghast.

"Yeah, I asked him if he wants to join I.M.P." Blitzo informs. He felt that his talents were being wasted by being a simple farmhand, a mean SOB like Striker would be a great addition to the company. "We already got an intern. What's one more member of our little family? He says he's more of a solo act, but is willing to consider it. Just one more thing I like about him."

Failing to kill the hog, losing the pain games, and now this. It was no question that Moxxie was truly disheartened that Blitzo, his own boss, went and scouted for a new hire, it left the impression that the taller imp thinks of Striker as a more competent assassin than the gun expert could ever be. Granted, Blitzo likes to insult and denigrate 24/7, but he never once considered firing Moxxie. But now, it seems like he's looking for a replacement and that disheartened Moxxie even further, like this day's only purpose was to point out all his weaknesses and how people think less of him for them. "You asked...but..." Moxxie looked down in melancholy and Blitzo stared quizzically at him.

Seeing him in such low spirits broke Millie's heart and she does her best to offer support. "Mox, I think you've had enough for now. Let's head back to the house and get you clean."

"Yeah." Lincoln touches his shoulder in support. "I still believe Striker's not that better than you."

As if he overheard them, Striker gave a shout out to Moxxie. "Oh, before I forget. Moxxie, go fuck yourself, you pathetic bitch!"

Tearing up, Moxxie promptly leaves with his wife and Lincoln glared disapprovingly at Blitzo who remains oblivious. "What?"

"Do you have any idea how much that hurt Moxxie? Who am I kidding? Of course you don't." This was one of those times where Lincoln hated how callous Blitzo is. "Putting him down is just another Tuesday for you, Blitz."

"You talking about me wanting to hire Striker?" Blitzo correctly guesses. "Oh, what? Does Moxxie think I'll be kicking him to the curb? He's just being a pussy of a sore loser. It's not Striker's fault that he's so much better."

"Blitz, I just-there's something about Striker I don't like." Lincoln voiced his reservations. "You've only known him for about a day and suddenly, he's your BFF? How much do you even know about him?"

"I know he recognizes a fellow imp that won't take shit from anybody in Hell." Blitzo crossed his arms. "Be real, is this more about him giving Moxxie shit all day."

"That-" Lincoln couldn't come up with a counter argument. "Actually, there is that. But I'm not kidding, you should be more careful about just randomly hiring someone without running it by the rest of the employees. "

Blitzo dryly laughs. "Funny, I did that with you and you certainly didn't really hesitate now did you?" he teased.

That, however, struck a nerve and Blitzo's cockiness disappeared when Lincoln furiously scowled. "In case you forgot, I didn't really have much choice, now did I?! But why should that have mattered to you, anyway?" Seeing no point in convincing Blitzo, Lincoln left to follow his imp parents back to the ranch. "After all, you got yourself an unpaid intern out of it." That looks to be the only thing Blitzo does give a crap about, not even doing whatever he could to help Lincoln get back home.

Blitzo watched them leave and he hated admitting it, but a part of him did start to feel a little guilty.

Didn't come as a shock, though.

Folks can only put up with him for so long before they leave him, or he just gives them reasons to do it to save himself from the pain.

"Hey there, Blitz!" Striker had finished his song and went to meet up with him. "Everything cool?"

"Huh?" Blitzo blinked. "Oh, yeah. Just great. A-Okay."

Striker sensed that was bullshit, but didn't have time to get into that pile of shit. "Say, why don't I take you back on Bombproof? I think he likes ya."

"Done!" Blitzo brightens up and dashes to get on first. Striker hung back and looked at the stage where Stolas was still sitting, watching the higher-ranked rich prick be up there, watching imps like Striker and Blitzo duke it out as if they were putting on a show just for him, it pissed the cowboy off to no end. Still, Striker calmed himself as it wasn't quite time yet.

Soon, that hedonistic royal owl will get what's coming to him.

The end of the games didn't mark the end of the festival and the whole crew proceeded to get on back to the farm for more supplies for the real show that will soon take place, Blitzo was fawning over Bombproof while Millie's family placed Jack-o'-Lanterns into Joe's pickup truck. Inside were Lincoln and Moxxie, the latter still down from his less than stellar luck so far. "Here." Lincoln gave him a slice of leftover pie. "It's really good."

Moxxie graciously took it and admitted that it had flavor. "Lin always did make great pies." he sighs. "Shouldn't you be with the rest? Joe and Lin probably want you to lift the truck."

"I don't want bother their work." Lincoln got to the main issue. "Moxxie, I meant what I said. Win or lose, tough or not, you're you and that means more to us than anything else. It's nothing to be ashamed of."

"Lincoln, it's not like I want to be. But, for a Wrath imp, not having any sort of physical prowess is about as humiliating as it can be and everyone makes sure I'm aware. They even go far as to imply I'd make a horrible parental figure just for that." Moxxie sourly says. "No demon in Hell is free from being made fun of for one quality or another. The really difficult part is how nonsensical Joe and Lin can be. If guns can get the job done, then they should be happy that their daughter's married to someone who's not afraid to shed blood."

"Okay, this won't help, but I gotta tell you, everything else about you sometimes makes me forget that your an assassin for hire." Lincoln smiled weakly. "I mean, I can't say I've ever heard of one that likes opera music."

"Simple, most of them are philistines." Moxxie waves his hand. "But that's besides the point. They should see me in action, maybe then they'd respect my preference for firearms as opposed to their way of conducting business."

"Have you ever said that to their faces?"

"Satan no!" Moxxie sweats bullets." I can't show such disrespect to the in-laws!"

"Maybe that's the answer." Lincoln uses the logic of this ring. "Millie's parents prefer physical strength, but they could also prefer someone strong enough to stand up for himself and be proud of who he is and frankly, I'll take the gun-toting opera loving Moxxie any day."

Despite his depressive mood, Moxxie managed to crack a smile. "You really mean that?"

"Heck yeah, and it's not only that. You're loyal, smart, wise, and very understanding." To Lincoln, Moxxie was a prime example of a demon that actually has good qualities and the boy can't help but connect with him based on their similarities. "In fact, I like to think any kid would be lucky to have you for a father...I know I feel lucky." he signifies this with a friendly hug. "You know, if I were actually an orphan."

Moxxie's eyes snapped wide at that last part and cried happy tears as he returned the kid's embrace.

Lincoln said this because Moxxie needed to hear it, and also because the kid meant every word.

Being with I.M.P, it really does feel like a family sometimes...

Yet, there are still lingering emotions of guilt when he thinks about the Louds.

"I suppose if some good came from today, it's that you had fun, right?" Moxxie asked.

"Weirdly, yeah. I did. You still want to stay here?"

Showing his face after his loss will surely lead to more ridicule, but Moxxie's willing to bear it so long as Lincoln gets to have a good time. "You know what? I should at least actually try to enjoy things for once. Follow me, I could bring some things from the room." The two walked upstairs, but then they stopped once looking at the door leading to Striker's room. A light was shining through the bottom opening, it was the kind that radiated a slight Heavenly sensation, which raised some red flags for the now suspicious Moxxie. "...This is troubling."

"This is Striker's room, right?" Lincoln sees this as finding out more about the cowboy.

Both slowly went in and they froze upon uncovering an opened case that was the source of the light. The human and imp become shocked when they see that the contents was an old-school rifle decorated with glowing white designs. "A gun?" Lincoln had a feeling that this weapon was no ordinary Hell firearm.

Moxxie's gun knowledge confirmed that feeling. "Oh, my crumbs. That's not just any gun." He breathed in awe, running a hand through the weapon to get a feeling to it as if he was caressing ancient treasure. "We're looking at a genuine carmine crafted blessing-tipped rifle!" As with the Sinners of Pride, demons have been known to collect the discarded weapons of Exterminators and make new ones from them, but it was odd that an imp not only had one, but one that seemed like it was recently made. Moxxie was both amazed, yet profoundly anxious that such a weapon was in his wife's family's home. "How-How in the fuck did he get such a rare item?"

"Try asking first, little dudes."

Taken by surprise, Lincoln and Moxxie see Striker leaning by the entrance, they hadn't even noticed his presence. "Shit! Why-Why is this in your room?!" Moxxie demanded, putting Lincoln behind him. It was common knowledge that weapons originating from Heaven are the only things that can erase Sinner completely, but they're also the only known power to use against the top dogs of Hell. "I'm certain you're that with this weapon, you can-"

"Shoot a hole through demon royalty?" Striker cuts him off, not even bothering to hide his intention.

Moxxie nervously answers the rhetorical question. "...Yes?"

"Like Stolas..." Lincoln gasped. "Y-You're gonna use this to kill Stolas!"

"Give the boy a prize." Striker mockingly grins, tossing away his hay straw. The cowboy clawed away at the door to close it, leaving them alone in the room with Striker, who threateningly advances on them.

Moxxie still puts on a brave face, making some distance between his tormentor and Lincoln. "Okay. While I am very much unnerved by that gun and you being more threatening now, I'm at least glad that my instant dislike of you has been validated, because you are a grade-A ass-hole!" Moxxie chokes once Striker's tail constricts around his neck and is tossed against the wall painfully. Snickering sadistically, Striker pins him down, reveling in his futile efforts to push him off.

All Lincoln could do was stare in horror, legs frozen in fear, this guy was hurting his friend and he was scared.

"Wait..." This guy was hurting someone he cared about.

Striker was so heavily focused on choking the life out of Moxxie, he didn't notice Lincoln grab a vase and wack it across his head, causing the cowboy to let go of Moxxie and nudging a table to fall.

All this commotion could be heard outside by Millie.

"Lincoln, run!" Moxxie takes the boy's wrist and runs for the door but could only open and not enter when Striker grabs him by the tail and puts him in a fierce choke hold.

"No! Leave him alone!" Lincoln tries to assist, but Striker whips his tail against Lincoln's feet, making him trip up and fall. Striker's boot was pressed against the kid's chest, and Lincoln couldn't get back up.

"Pathetic, the both of you." Striker sneered viciously as Moxxie slowly lost consciousness. Lincoln tried prying Striker off him, and saw Millie climb in through the window. She dove at their attacker, pulling Striker's scarf back and drove her knife to the farmhand's back. Seeing what he was doing to the love of her life and to Lincoln-her son-that put her into a feral state. She attempted to slit the howling imp's throat, but her lack of self-control became her undoing when Striker slammed her to the wooden walls with extreme force, fracturing her arm.

She slid down in defeat, clutching her arm.

"Millie. Don't you dare hurt my wife..." Moxxie groans, reaching for her.

"No..." Lincoln whispered in dismay. "Leave her alone..."

"Damn." Striker rubbed his back. "Your Ma wasn't kidding, bitch. You do get carried away. Too bad I don't go down so easy like a fucking weakling." He picked up M&M by their horns and his tail restrained Lincoln. Making sure to not get caught, he took all of the three out back to the cellar and threw them in, where Millie got her leg caught in one of the inconveniently placed bear traps, but more convenient for Striker. "Much as I wanna kill y'all right now, that might lose a lot of points with your rodeo clown boss. Plus, you three little runts aren't worth all the cleaning, so just sit tight until the festival's done."

"Why do you want to kill Stolas?!" Even with the circumstances, Lincoln refused to show fear.

"I wouldn't expect an out of water guppy to understand." Striker ruefully responds. "But don't worry, little human. It'll be done quickly, the owl prince won't even notice there's a hole right between his eyes."

Lincoln and Moxxie race to get out, but Striker closes and locks the entrance on them. "No!" The human punches the wooden doors frustratingly before collapsing to his knees in despair. "Please, no..."

He knew if Striker succeeds, he'd be losing a teacher and ally, but he was more concerned with the fact that Octavia will lose her father and he couldn't forgive Striker just for that alone.

"Millie! Are you okay?!" Moxxie and Lincoln went to check on the latter's wife. "Oh, Satan below. This is all my fault." Try as they might, they couldn't get the bear trap off.

She reassured them that she was okay, she wasn't the toughest gal around Wrath just for her fighting ability. "Boys, I'm fine. I got worse than this during the flower toss at my brother's wedding." Millie laughs in nostalgia for that happy day becoming a day of fighting over flowers. "Didn't stop me when I caught that fucking bouquet and it was fucking worth it. You two just need to go up there and fuck up that brown nosing cocksucker for me."

"But I can't break through. I couldn't even get Lincoln out fast enough." That added more Moxxie's shame. "I'm not strong to do anything." If it were Joe or Blitzo, they'd make sure Striker would be put down in no time.

"You're not strong with your hands, baby." Millie tenderly lists his face. "But, you are strong at what you're best at."

It's one of the reasons why she loves him so much.

Moxxie looked offended. "Wait. I'm not good with my hands?" he asked obliviously.

Lincoln and Millie blankly stared at him. "Guns, Moxxie. She means guns."

"Oh, right. Yeah, yeah." Moxxie took out the gun he had that whole time and fired it at the entrance, allowing him to walk out. Lincoln looks at Moxxie, then at his pistol, then back at Moxxie with a profusely confused gaping face and 'got to be kidding him?' eyes. "I-I probably should've used this much earlier when-when he had us on the ropes, huh?" Moxxie laughs and shrugs awkwardly at his own little blunder..

"I love you with all my heart, hon. But for fuck's sake!" Millie groaned, exasperated.

"Let's just hurry up and stop Striker." Lincoln pinched the bridge of his nose. "Should we warn Stolas?"

"That would incite a mass panic." Moxxie infers. "Striker would make it work for him." He knew that the powerful Goetia could easily handle a lone assassin, but with a Heaven gun, risks shouldn't be taken and he wouldn't put it pass Striker to fire on some of the imps to get an easy target, including Millie's family.

"What about Blitz?"

"I'm afraid we can't afford to waste time. Come on!" Moxxie runs ahead, but Millie calls to her boy.

"Lincoln, wait!" Still in pain, Millie had enough in her to speak to him. "Are you sure you want to go?" She had faith in Moxxie to protect the intern, but her maternal feelings begged her to do everything in her power to keep him away from Striker.

The kid didn't deny that he was scared, but imagining Octavia's grief outweighed it. How can he call himself her friend or Stolas' student if he did nothing to stop an attempt on the prince's life? "Yes. I am."

Still worried, Millie was proud all the same. "Then, take this." She gives him one of her knives. "Just please, be careful."

Lincoln gives her one last hug. "I will." Just like his promise to reunite with Rita, he was adamant in going back to Millie when this was over.

Seeing that the time was almost arriving, Stolas was ready to wrap up the celebration with the responsibility he's always accomplished over the past festivals through many centuries. It was dismaying that Lincoln was nowhere to be seen to observe this once in a year presentation, but he still had a job to do, and Stolas didn't want to hear any reprimand for shirking that job. "My dear commoners of Wrath and farming!" His grimoire is levitated and flips to a special page. "I, Stolas, of the Ars Goetia graciously curse this year's harvest with the glow of the true Harvest Moon!" A large portal opens in the sky, revealing a beautiful red-colored moon that sends it's magnificent glow across Wrath and the imps who admire it.

Stolas stood satisfied in holding up his duty, unaware that from afar, Striker was positioned in a house with his Heaven rifle, looking through the scope and ready to be the imp who killed a high tier demon.

But then, a click was heard as was an outraged question.

"Uh, excuse me. The fuck is all this?!"

Blitzo had arrived, his flintlock aimed at Striker after seeing what he was about to do and did not like it.

A gun pointing at him did little to deter Striker, he actually had a plan for this. "Blitz! Figured you were still at the ceremony." he treated it as if he just ran into a drinking buddy.

"Like Heaven I wanted to stand surrounded by a bunch of hillbillies worshiping corn shit with a thirsty owl on stage." Blitzo also noticed his employees were missing, so went back to the house, he just didn't expect to find this.

"Heh, and now you seem disappointed in me." Striker observes with feigned disappointment and standing up from his sniping position.

"Yeah, well, I'm not a fan of someone I offered a job to off my easiest lengthy ticket to Earth behind my back. I like to think that's more than enough reason to be pissed off!" Blitzo bitterly reasoned.

Striker was a deceptive imp, but he wasn't lying when he said that Blitzo's aim to be the head of his own private business was impressive. He had both the drive and killer instinct. But despite all that confidence, Striker could see behind all that bravado, there was obvious fear and self-loathing, powerful weaknesses that can be manipulated by the right kind of cowboy imp. Among his many talents, Striker was a big one. Blitzo may think he has the upper hand because he's the one with the gun, but Striker's not so easily disturbed, unlike Blitzo. "Blitz, don't be like that. I'm only doing this to help you out. Anything for a fellow imp who's way superior to most of our kind." Striker boldly walks up to the now wary boss. It suddenly felt like many eyes were on him. "Although, if you were so above sucking on a disgusting rich pompous Goetia for that book, I would've made sure it was for a worthwhile cause besides working for scraps at the beck of pissy Sinners. You could've made a name, killing Overlords." His talk made Blitzo waver.

"I-I get easy money!" Blitzo protests.

"But is that really what you want to be remembered as? The guy for the departed to whine at for their ends?" Striker criticized. "You have more grit than the standard imp, yet you keep letting yourself get weighed down by your own fear of failure and all you have to show for it are a bunch of weak little scrubs."

Blitzo took offense to that. "Hey, at least my team is loyal!"

"Like that little human you keep around?" Striker slithers around the room to keep him distracted. "He's angling to get the fuck out of Hell, if I recall. Which would be such a waste, wouldn't you agree? The brat has access to demon magic that's kept away from us, all because we're considered less than shit by Hell's big wigs. All that juicy knowledge and you didn't think to maybe use a goldmine like that? Think of how useful he can be."

"L-Lincoln's just an intern! He's-"

"What? You're gonna tell me you actually wanna help him get back up top? Spend the rest of his days with his little family?" Striker spat in disgust. "Don't bullshit me, man. Why bother caring about what some mortal runt wants when it's your needs that matter? Small fry like him aren't worth crap, and you're the boss, right? A real boss wouldn't let his lackeys slow him down. It's why I prefer to work alone for so long."

If only Striker knew how much Blitzo wanted to fire, but he found his grip on the flintlock loosening. "Will you stop with all the talk and tell me what the point is?!"

"The point, Blitz, is while you've got a lot of good stuff going for you, you don't think big." Striker believes imps of his and Blitzo's design can do so much more than just take killing jobs from disgruntled sinners, they could make it so that no one saw them as weak, not even the really powerful demons. "Why struggle to run a business that is rigged against you?"

All Blitzo wanted was for Striker to keep his trap shut for just one second, for the cowboy spoke a lot of unfortunate truths. Despite his success, I.M.P is still not as big a hit as he hoped. He was in imp. In Hell, imps aren't good for anything other than servicing all the other demons like how Wrath imps provide all the food, or Stolas' many servants, or a bumbling circus clown performer that never could succeed without his sister or childhood friend. Blitzo wanted to prove that he could bring about his own success, but he could not do so all alone, he needed help and that was what angered him most of all. He didn't feel any of his current successes were good enough if it mostly involved him having to depend on others.

"What do you want from me?"

"What I want is for you to wise up and see the benefits of partnering up with me and kill the unkillable." Striker tempted, trapping Blitzo to the wall. "Starting with the one who treats you like a plaything."

Blitzo stops and contemplates all of it, it all just sounds like the kind of thing any imp like him would take. In the middle of thinking, Blitzo sees the door creak slightly and smirks before getting Striker's attention. "Ooh, that's kinda hot."

Striker was pleased to see that Blitzo was seemingly coming around. "We could be the most dangerous beings in Hell, Blitz."

"Wow, that was an excellent fucking pitch."

Admittedly, Striker did have a way with words. "I workshopped it all day." he pushes the gun out of the way.

"You know what?" Blitzo grinned maliciously. "Fuck it. Sounds like fun." He had him...only it was Blitzo that had Striker when the cowboy realized too late that Moxxie and Lincoln were there and the shorter imp took the Heaven rifle for himself to use against its previous owner. "Took you two long enough!" Letting Striker continue trying to sway him, giving his employees enough time to leave him without his trusty tool. "Wow, you should've seen your dipshit face!" he insulted Striker, and looked behind to see a knife held by Striker pointed at him. It looked like Striker was ready in case Blitzo didn't join him. "Whoa, okay. Can you scream cliche?" Striker pulled the flintlock forward and made Blitzo pull the trigger and Moxxie came really close to getting hit if not for his quick thinking of using the rifle as a shield to deflect it. "Oh, why you daddy fucker!" Blitzo angrily bit down on Striker's arm and elbows him in the face to free himself. He tries whacking him with the gun, and Striker disarms him to tangle Blitzo's arm, then pushes right into Moxxie, causing the rifle to be dropped.

Moxxie tries reaching out and screams when Striker steps on his hand. "You dumb fucks lost the upperhand fast!"" Striker taunts, pointing it at them.

Blitzo wouldn't count them out just yet. "Ha! You seem to have forgotten one thing, bucko!" he whistled loudly and Striker prepared himself the hellhound of I.M.P.

Only for her to not show up at all. Loona was outside browsing through her phone, not even bothering when her ears picked up Blitzo's whistle.

"Ugh..." Loona irritatingly groaned.

"Fucking dammit, Loona." Blitzo hoped she knew this would lead to a lot of grounding and regressed phone time.

"Like I told ya." Striker tells him. "Can't have any faith in scrubs."

Except for one. "Forget about me?!" Lincoln bravely grabbed the rifle and struggled to pry it off Striker's hands.

Striker gritted his teeth. "Trust me, you little shit. I haven't!" The imp cowboy pushed him off and struck and swung the butt of his rifle against his face, then to the gut, and coiled his tail around the human's neck, lifting him up and restraining Lincoln with one arm. Alarmed and further angered, Blitzo and Moxxie moved to assist, but Striker wagged a finger at them. "Ah, ah, ah. Be a shame if the boy gets hurt." he tightened his tail's grip on Lincoln's throat.

"Don't listen to him...!" Lincoln exclaimed through choked grunts.

His coworkers growled hatefully at Striker and reluctantly lowered their weapons.

Outside, Loona heard his cries as well and this time, she actually stopped searching. "Lincoln...?" she questions with a worried frown, she dropped her phone and she didn't pick it up.

Inside, Striker laughed triumphantly. "You see, boy? Little fellers get stepped on in these parts! It's only natural. After all, without your babysitters, or your little book, what do you have? Nothing and no one to save you! Especially not your precious fam! How about this? After I'm done with ya, I go ahead and take care of your pals at I.M.P, and when I kill your teacher, I take that book and track down your kin? They must be so worried sick about you! It's only right that I reunite you! Haha! What do you think?!"

Lincoln's eyes slowly closed and it seemed like this was it, this was how his story would end, until he heard Striker's last threat.

'...No.'

He was scared, so terribly terrified, but what was more of a powerful motivator was hatred.

Burning hatred, and he had more than enough for the imp called Striker.

What he did to Millie, Moxxie, and Blitzo. What he's trying to do to Stolas, the pain he'll cause for Octavia. He's hurt the people he loves in Hell, and he was threatening to do the same to the people he loves on Earth out of spite.

It ignited a fire in Lincoln, the same kind of feeling he felt back during the cherubs incident.

At the ceremony, Stolas notices the grimoire's pages glowing and equally perplexing was that the Harvest Moon gaining a darker shade.

As if both were reacting to something.

Or rather, someone.

A fire set off in him. "You wanna know what I think?" he manages to say, opening his eyes to reveal them glowing red. "Fuck you!" he bellowed, brandishing the knife Millie lent him and in a flash, used enough strength to stab the imp assassin's hand.

This shocked all others, none more so than his coworkers. Striker shouted and he broke his hold on him. "You little son of a bitch!" His momentary shock was all Blitzo needed to kick him in the leg and in the gut. The rifle was once more out of his hands and back to Moxxie's. Blitzo charged with a lamp to smash on Striker's face and then tried punching the two-faced imp.

Striker evades by ducking and claws at Blitzo's face with just his left hand. His handicap gave the boss a winning edge as Striker got a headbutt from the boss imo. Blitzo's own tail coiled around Striker's waist and threw him across the room. In a surprising show of strength, Lincoln lifted a potted cactus plant up and threw it at his hated adversary, and he was nearly shot by Moxxie with the rifle. All three cornered Striker who was now at the mercy of Blitzo ready to shoot him point blank. "I still think it's embarrassing. '' he still found it in him to keep ragging on Blitzo. "You're wasting a lot of potential relying on a weak little-" A bullet almost hits him, and for once, he breaks a sweat.

"You wanna finish that fucking sentence, partner?" Moxxie challenged.

Striker smirked. "Vermin."

Tough talk coming from a guy that lost a fight against all three. "Who's weak now, bitch?! Not so hot shit now without this gun!"

At the insanely wrong time, the door is kicked open by Loona, colliding it with Moxxie, disarming him. "Lincoln?! Where are you?!" Loona gapes in shock at her young coworker's face, wielding a knife and looking like he could go out cold. Her eyes went to look at the downed Striker and judging by the looks of it, she figured out he must have been messing with her only friend. Her little brother. Baring her teeth, she lunged at Striker, grabbing his collar and slamming his head into the mirror window. Getting something from his pocket. "Mess with Lincoln, will you?! Striker throws dust at Loona and all she sees are blurs.

"Good try, junkyard dog!" Striker knew how much of a pain in the ass it is to tangle with a hellhound he was loath to admit defeat, he knew when to cut his losses. He kicks Blitzo's gun out of his hand and makes a break for the window. "Maybe you'll get me next time, Blitzy." he remarks.

"No! You're not getting away!" Lincoln shouts.

Striker glared at him in silence before he smirked, and to Lincoln's confusion, Striker began chuckling to himself. "You know something, boy? You did the one thing not many have done. You went and surprised me. That!" he yelled in what sounded like respect. He showed his fresh cut. "That is what I meant before, remember? Someone gives you shit, you make sure that's their last mistake! And those eyes!" Lincoln's eyes still had a red color. He hated to admit it out loud, but Striker couldn't hide how impressed he was. "Those are the kind of eyes you should be havin' if ya serious about surviving Hell! Guess I really did underestimate you, boy. But don't go thinkin' it'll become a habit!" he warns through a twisted grin. "Happy trails, y'all!"

Striker proceeds to jump out the window and Blitzo would've pursued him, but the cowboy was long gone.

"We..." Lincoln panted, losing his balance and dropping the knife still wet with Striker's blood. "...have to follow him...he might...try again..." His eyes went back to normal and fainted.

"Lincoln!" Loona catches him and the three demons gaze at the passed out boy in concern.

This Harvest Moon Festival was one for the books.

"I see. So, this would-be assassin made his escape?"

After the events of last night, Lincoln had a lengthy rest following the confrontation with Striker. Upon waking up and getting band-aids, the first thing Lincoln did was run to Stolas and inform him of everything involving the attempt to assassinate Stolas with a Heaven rifle. "Yeah. He did." Lincoln scowled. That imp didn't deserve to be let off that easy, free to go for a second try. "Stolas, maybe you should have someone track him down. Right as we're speaking, he could be plotting, and-"

"Dear boy, please do not fret over this." Stolas liked the concern, but felt it was unneeded. "Opportunistic riff-raff opting to kill demon royalty are a dime a dozen in Hell. It's actually quite amusing that this wandering cow-poke thought he even had a chance."

Lincoln wasn't so flippant. "But he had a gun made from Heaven weaponry! If we hadn't been there, think of how bad it could've ended!" he was sounding disrespectfully angry, it came from a student worrying for his teacher. "We don't even know how he got it!"

"But you were there, and you drove him away." Stolas oddly finds this as a sort of conversation he'd be having with Octavia, even making his own vow. "Lincoln, I made a promise to guide you in your mystical training and that hasn't changed and never will." A Goetia would normally be insulted that a mortal human thought it'd be so easy for them to go down, but Stolas saw Lincoln truly didn't wish to see any misfortune come to his teacher or see Octavia in intense grief as well. Lincoln always manages to warm the cold hearts of some demons with his affinity for compassion. "Should this Striker reappear, I can guarantee heavy...repercussions." His four eyes briefly glow with malice.

Attempting to kill him was something Stolas can overlook, but he refuses to ignore Striker savagely accosting Blitzo and Lincoln.

The boy wished to protest more, but chose to have faith in his mentor. "If-If you're sure."

"Of course I am, and tell Blitzy I plan on giving him a very...extended award for his bravery." Stolas laughed at his own impishness.

"...Right. Tell Octavia I said hi."

"It shall be done." Stolas hails the driver of his carriage. "Let us be off now!"

The prince opens a portal to head back to his luxurious palace. Lincoln was still troubled, but couldn't worry much about it now, in fact, he could do more with unwinding from this whole ordeal. Granted, it was expected that things would get hectic, but the stakes were notably much higher this time around. For a minute, it really did seem like Blitzo would really take up on Striker's deal. What he said truly affected Blitzo and Lincoln wanted to believe he was just stalling, but with Blitzo, understanding his whole deal and what he'll do, not easy at all. Another concerning fact was how he just let loose and stabbed the cowboy, it was a familiar feeling like when he unleashed his anger out on the cherubs.

For Striker, it was pure hatred.

The hate was still there, but Lincoln still couldn't believe he did all that.

He truly stabbed someone for the first time in his life.

In his defense, his and his friends' lives were threatened and it can be attributed to adrenaline coursing through him, but it felt like more than that. Lincoln never imagined himself ever going that far no matter what they've done, and in this instance, knowing that he did so frightened him.

The rush, however, was exciting.

Lincoln walked back to the farmhouse where I.M.P were prepared to head back to Imp City. Joe and Lin were taking care of bandaging up Millie's injuries, but didn't spare her from some admonishment. "I can't believe you let him trap you in the cellar, Millie!" Lin scolded. "I know we taught you better!"

"I was seeing all the red, Ma!" Millie can't help it if she got mad over her boys getting hurt. "And he was a slippery eel!"

"Excuses won't work!" Lin didn't let up. "You're better than that, Mildred." It was way harsh, but both just wanted Millie to be more mindful of her unchained bloodlust, they expected her to not just fight, but also fight smart.

They could go a bit easy on her, though.

Moxxie had enough. "You know, she protected me and Lincoln." he informs his in-laws, and in a very unexpected move of a bold attitude, denounces their actions for once, pointing out their own screw ups. "And maybe I'm not a strong beefy dickhead, just a sensitive soul. but Millie's strong enough to take care of us all! You two are on her case about being hurt by a psychopath you hired?" Joe and Lin couldn't hide their shared shame in that as Millie beamed up in pride over her husband's forwardness. "Shame on you!" he finally took Millie and Lincoln's words to heart.

"Wow." Lincoln smiled. "Way to go, Moxxie."

"Aw, Moxxie, you look so grown up!" Blizo shows his gratification through a proud parent voice. "Speaking like a big boy buying his big pants and telling off the in-laws!"

Joe advances to face Moxxie who stood his ground and the older imp hums and nods, accepting the blame much to Millie's astonishment. "Wow! He really nodded! He's never acknowledged your input before!"

"I think you're making some progress." Lincoln encouragingly says to Moxxie and helps Millie up in her crutches. "And Millie, I guess you'll want this back." he shows the knife she gave him.

Fervently shaking her head, Millie denies it. "Fuck no, sweetie! That's the knife you used to stab a son of a whore for the first time, that makes it all yours!" she sniffles, swelling with happy tears. "My baby's first knife and his first stabbing action! I can't believe I missed that!" she bemoans.

"I-uh..." Lincoln holds the knife hesitatingly. "I don't think-"

"You should've seen it, Mills!" Blitzo had it all memorized. "Striker was all like, 'Grr, you little shit! I'm-a about to choke you, yee-haw!' and Linc grew a pair and was all, 'Go fuck yourself! I got a knife!' If you weren't still an intern, I'd pay you on the spot...but don't take that seriously. Still, I do smell some new video games in your future, sport!"

Joe and Lin had something to say about that, too. "Gotta say, that sure was heavy to hear." Lin rubs her arm. "I suppose some apologies are in order for thinking you were too delicate, honey. It's just Hell can be a very bad place and well, I don't want to lose my first grandbaby so fast."

"Believe me, I understand." Lincoln surely surprised himself.

"Heh-heh, told you there was a fighter in there!" Joe tousled his hair and looked at Moxxie. While he may still have some reservations, the farmer is beginning to see why Millie and Lincoln hold him in high regard. "I guess it helps to be both strong, sharp, and smart at the same time." I.M.P went inside the van and it drove away from the ranch.

"Come back, anytime!" Lin yelled in farewell. "Don't be a stranger now!"

Blitzo sees Lincoln through the rear view mirror and the kid had a troubled expression. "It really was pretty badass how you handled yourself, kid. That badassery may just get you home faster." Lincoln looked up to see Blitzo's light smirk and he smiled in gratitude. "Next time, I could listen to whatever feeling you get over a slimy ass-wipe, got any more feelings?"

"...Yeah. I do." Lincoln gazes out the window. "I think we're not done with Striker just yet."

Striker needed a place to recover.

Hideaway Motel was not the best place in Wrath to lay low until the heat dies down, not even his first choice either. But Striker didn't have other options and he wasn't expected to get far without treating his injuries. He was pissed beyond measure, thanks to Blitzo and his people, they completely fucked up his job, all that time and energy spent on being a new farmhand to a pack of farmers, waiting for the day of the festival to make his move, all for nothing.

He was left with only wounds and a damaged ego and the fact that it was smaller weaker imps that had to go and outdo him just rubbed salt in those wounds.

Be that is it may, he had to give it to them. They knew how to give a challenge and that kid, Lincoln, did he ever show that there was more to him than he seemed, more than just a runt lost in Hell.

No, there is something in him.

It was unclear as to what, but it was something special.

Unique.

All that aside, Striker knew that in addition to losing the Heaven rifle being bad enough, but now, he had to report his failure to the one that hired him to take the job in the first place.

The demon who wanted to have Stolas killed.

"The target's still alive. Afraid I ran into some...interference at the festival." Striker resentfully admits through the telephone in his rundown spotty broken temporary room. "But don't fret none, ma'am. I won't let it happen again." He fiddled with a similarly blessing tipped revolver.

Lot more toys besides the rifle.

"You had better! I didn't waste my time hiring you so that cheating prick doesn't die! I don't care who you have to go through! Make it happen or you can forget about your damn payment!"

So says Stella Goetia herself. Legal wife to Stolas and mother of Octavia, also known as the vindictive avian demon who's outrage over her husband's infidelity with an imp had gotten to the point where she, without remorse, hired an assassin to kill him for it. All those times spent away from the palace, looking for the right demon for the job under the guise of socializing with other demon aristocrats led her to Striker and she wasn't going to allow it to be all for naught.

"I understand."

"Anything else, more failures to report?"

"...Nah. Just know the feathery dick-brain's head will be on a silver platter soon enough." They hung up on each other. "Tch. Royal whore." he spat. Huge payment or not, it inflamed Striker that he accepted a job from the type of uppity vain demon royalty that he detests so much, but opportunities like this come once in a lifetime. That doesn't imply she has his complete loyalty, since he purposely neglected to tell her about Lincoln. She believes she's the one in control since she gave him the job, but Striker won't bow down to no one and Lincoln could prove to be a useful tool to show her who's the real superior demon. For now, he just has to make sure another failed hit doesn't occur again. Twirling his pistol, Striker turns the lamp light off with a venomous grin. "I'll get him next time and that kid better watch out..."

His hissing was the only noise in the dark room.

This indeed isn't the last time Striker will act.

Not by a long shot.

Chapter Text

If there was one single thing Lincoln didn't really miss about the human world, it was the horrendous school homework.

Not saying being in a land of hellish creatures and individuals is a favorable alternative, but the not-so-great pleasantries of sixth grade middle school can be a huge hassle and requires at least some escapism. Horrific as it may be, Hell is more exciting than school can ever be, even the work that requires a lot of reading is ten times better since he's studying real magic.

He couldn't even find that in the regular school libraries up top.

Nothing in any human libraries could have anything Lincoln would want and need to further his studies in learning more mastery over demon magic, his better understanding of it will help tremendously in his personal mission. But, it wasn't a simple task. He was in his room, studying the pages of the grimoire until stopping at a page that detailed the creation of energy constructs. Lincoln focused hard with his eyes shut as his right hand glowed blue, he imagined a giant fist and trying to make it appear, it worked, but the construct itself faded, he couldn't quite focus enough to keep the form stable.

"Come one...Come on..." Lincoln grunted through gritted teeth. This was a simple spell all on its own, completely easy for a child. So, it wouldn't make sense for him to have so much trouble keeping it together. For all his strength, the energy construct broke apart, leaving a defeated white haired boy. "Dang it! What is wrong with me?!"

After the Harvest Moon Festival in the Wrath Ring, Lincoln's hit bit of a slump. It's been difficult for him to keep an unbreakable focus like he usually does, and he knows exactly the reason why.

It related to the cowboy imp assassin that almost had Lincoln and his friends at his mercy, not that he was even capable of it.

That slimy Striker left a very hate-filled impression on Lincoln. Hurting the imps and plotting to assassinate Stolas was enough to earn Lincoln's ire, but Lincoln felt very sour about how he was momentarily useless in the fight against him.

Like he really was nothing without the grimoire.

Sure, he's been told he can be useful through other means, but while he still believes being smart about surviving in Hell is just as effective, he can't really do much without the spell book once it's back in his teacher's hands.

Not only does that mean Striker was right about something, but it also makes him put his worth in I.M.P call into question. He may have been just the unpaid intern, but he's cemented a very crucial role and doesn't want the role to diminish in any way.

Additionally, it left him worried if he can even survive long enough to make it home.

Looking at his desk, the knife that Millie gifted to him following the encounter with Striker was placed there and hasn't been lifted since. No matter how many times he tries to give it back, she insists on him keeping it.

Attacking Striker with it earned him a right to it.

That's right.

Lincoln, the sole son of the Louds who's never taken a shine to violence stabbed that cowboy with a real knife.

It would be a lie to say that hasn't also weighed heavy in his head.

Not to mention the fleeting rush of excitement.

Banging on his door broke him out of his thoughts. "Interns!" the exuberant yelling of Blitzo was heard. "Company meeting, little man! Be late and it'll be a paid deduction all around!"

"Again, you don't pay me, Blitzo."

"I know! I just love being reminded about it!" Sighing, Lincoln made it to the regular meeting table where the others were and Blitzo got the important company meeting underway. "Alright, fam. It goes without saying that business did hit a bit of a snag since Stolas had to take his fancy book back for that little harvest fiasco, the events of which I'd rather not get into for obvious reasons." At least he was considerate enough to do that. "Fortunately, when that whole thing was over with, that beaked faced imp-thirsty owl graciously gave the book back. Took a while, but after getting back in the killing saddle, I.M.P has been making great as shit strides taking out humans on Earth!" he proudly says and drops a book of I.M.P's kill record. "Lincoln! Do the honors and list off our greatest hits!"

Lincoln hoped Blitzo didn't actually expect to go through the whole book.

"Okay, there was the realtor who ripped off his clients with lousy homes infested with rats."

Blitzo wiped a tear off his eye. "Death by swirly. A personal favorite of mine."

"Then, the divorce lawyer who seduced the wife which led to a double suicide."

"Romance. The genre of tragedy and I love seeing someone's romance go bad!"

"How can I forget the ex-mailman who poisoned his boss when he fired him for reading other people's mail. Said boss was also an avid tax evader."

"He and I got along so well."

"And the whole business in Las Vegas, with the llama and the loan shark."

"That llama knew too damn much!" Blitzo growls and recomposes. "All successful jobs with a ton of payoffs to boot! Took a while, but we're finally getting I.M.P's credibility back out there!"

Moxxie points out. "That would imply we had credibility in the first place, sir."

"To which, we had none." Loona added, already having enough of this meeting. She just purchased a new ensemble from Stylish Occult and showing it off online was more fun than Blitzo getting all hot and bothered over his so-called success.

"Now with that attitude!" Blitzo shrugs. "Although, I will admit. I couldn't help but notice some sluggish moves in those jobs. Moxxie, you better not have taken Loona's advice on signing up for the gym. Mills, you gotta keep the bloodlust in check, the last client paid us less than what was promised on account that you chucked the target's head into an alligator's when they specifically asked for proof of death in the form of the aforementioned head. Lincoln, intern or not, you especially couldn't really pull your own weight on the last job. The plan worked like a dream, but got a little too winded for my liking."

Lincoln frowns at the memory. "Sorry, Blitz."

"Don't be sorry. Just try a little harder next time, 'kay?" Blitzo would've given a far harsher admonishment, but knew their human charge was dealing with a lot right now, he didn't want Lincoln to think he'd be lighter again. In fact, the whole team seems to be under some amount of pressure, including himself, not that he'd ever willingly admit to that. "You know what we need? A nice little getaway to unwind a bit from all the bodies dropping, one where no shit-bags of shit don't ruin our fun by trying to kill us or our meal ticket!"

Moxxie raised an uncertain hand. "Sir, I can't call that a wise decision. If there's anything that can be said, it's that wherever we go, the probability of an altercation with whoever or whatever we happen to come across. Even if it's for something as simple as a simple outing. We thought the festival wouldn't amount to anything dire, and we all know how that escalated." he concernedly glances at his wife.

"Oh, honey, don't worry." Millie flexed her arm and held the bicep with confidence. "Ma and Pa always said nothing helps heal the body more than decapitation, sniping, and so on! What are we gonna do, Blitz?!"

"So glad you asked, Millie!" Blitzo spilled photos of a forest in Hell and a brochure that shows it as a seemingly famous spot for demon families to take a gander at. "You know those regular old campsites for families to love some grilled meat and picnic lunches...well they can eat dog shit! Because this fam does things way more badass! We'll use this forest as our own personal training ground, fine tune our killing skills, maybe go feral and ride with the animals!"

"Sir!"

"I kid, Mox. I kid. Everyone get ready!"

Training.

Now that made Lincoln recall his training day that happened after his first day as I.M.P's intern, he got useful tips that were perfect for a member that strictly served as merely support and nothing more. But now, he's feeling like he could contribute more than just being the magic book-user and carrying around all the weapons meant to end lives, and he feels silly that he hadn't thought of it before.

His nature as someone opposed to violence played a part, that and some fear on what might happen but Hell doesn't give two shits about second thoughts, either get into it or be fucked over.

This was the kind of choice he never imagined he'd make, but in recent days, he's found himself having to do many unbelievable things.

"Moxxie. Millie." Lincoln addressed the married lovers.

"Hey, there's our little man!" Millie shows packed lunches of sandwiches and other snacks. "I know Blitz said this ain't no picnic, but I couldn't resist making us some body fuel for the trip! I remember when your pappy and grammy took me and the sibs out to the wilderness, it was a blast! Granted, your aunt and I got into a few scuffles over who'd get the last biscuit, but that's in the past!" she whispers silently. "I won!"

"Actually. I want to ask you guys something." Here goes. "Since Blitz says this trip is purely for some training, I was wondering about doing something other than the spells in the grimoire. Is it possible that...you two could teach me firsthand the things that you know?"

After those uncomfortable beats of silence, Millie squeals loudly, overjoyed, grabbing her surrogate child in a super tight hug. "Yes! Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, fuck yes!" Her elation knew no end. "Lincoln, I have been waiting for you to ask that! A chance to teach you the fine art of snapping a neck, twist an arm until the bone pops out, and pressing thumbs into eyeballs!" Her lips quiver and tears of maternal pride shed. "It's finally happening', Moxxie! This is the moment every proud parents wish for, when their baby boy asks for lessons on brutal combat!"

In his head, Lincoln had expected this, but took the chance anyway.

Being the more cautious of the M&M duo, Moxxie was less sure. "Now, slow down there, honey. Lincoln, what exactly brought this on?" he felt Lincoln was more than helpful as he is now.

"I just think if it's possible for me to be more useful to the company besides the grimoire and coming up with plans, then I should take that risk."

Before Moxxie could respond any further, Blitzo dashes in, having heard just about everything they said. "Hey, now! What's this I hear about our favorite unpaid intern wanting to get more killy? Look at you, kiddo. First taste of blood and wanting for me, huh? Been there, buddy boy. A great feeling, ain't it?"

"No, that's-"

Millie gasps in her hand. "That reminds me! Sugar, don't forget your knife! I have so much to show you about the best ways to use a knife, like a stab between the eyes, a stab through the chin, a stab through any part of the body!"

"Love where you're head's at Mills." Blitzo twirls a knife he owns himself. "It just so happens I got some mastery on both guns and knives, myself. I can lend my own tips here and there. Now this! This is what it's all about! Teaching a child how to stab and shoot people!"

Hell never comes in short with a horrible new afterlife for fresh Sinners.

They come in by the hundreds by each passing day, practically serving as offerings for when the next Extermination passes by and their places are taken by the next Sinners who arrive. What's telling was how creatively deplorable these departed souls can be, their new demon bodies and abilities that come with them differ from each other very greatly, and one can't easily foretell which kind of Sinners would come next.

Case in point.

"Damn it! Will you move , already?! This is taking way longer than it should!"

"Hey, take it up with this little bitch. Fatass is just way too heavy! Is it too much to ask for a dead imp that doesn't gorge himself on junk food before an animal kills him and we then carefully place the body to be collected by his family?"

"Just dump it, already!"

A very overweight body bag is unceremoniously dumped into a deep ditch onto a pile of other body bags of other Hellborn demons and the two left them out in the open after calling their families. "Fuck! I didn't think we could still feel like we just ran a mile in Hell!" shouts a bipedal gray-skinned Sinner with mismatched colored eyes, two small horns and big jaw.

"Dying and coming to Hell doesn't exactly come with an instruction manual, man." The other Sinner said.

The other's top half was normal with sapphire skin and a single eye with a red iris and blue pupil, the lower half resembles a wheelbarrow part, and it was his only means of transportation.

Tossing the shovels into the dirt, they proceed to head back. "Come on. We're late enough as it is."

Just another day where beasts of the forests prey upon unsuspecting tourists in the forest, killing them, and the demons that run the joint have to get rid of the bodies to avoid lawsuits, rinse and repeat. This wasn't even the most horrible thing to occur in Hell, just a standard horrendous act of depravity. "Hey! That you two shit-tards!" A very irritated voice yells through a shoddy shack that was their home by extension, though it primarily belongs to the other demon there. "Tell me you dickheads got rid of the last batch! I only have so many shovels!" The displeased Sinner was made out of ooze with a very round body and stubbly limbs and a fedora for some reason.

"Yeah, don't worry, Latinous. Barrow and I took care of it."

"I took care of it." Barrow corrected. "Dump here was whining as usual."

"I do not whine."

"Please. You can't go one day without whining and I-"

Latinous silences them both. "Enough!" he then notices that they were missing someone from their quaint little group. "Hang on. Where the shit is Spec? She better not be wasting time with another one of her little video experiments again."

"Oops! Knew I forgot something!" A door in the shack is kicked open, revealing a female Sinner in a lab coat with lavender skin, fiery red hair and spectacles that looked like they were glued to her face. "Sorry, Latinous! But, there was some very special excrement that I just had to document and study! Hell is just so fascinating with its inhumane and unnatural odditie-oh, Barrow, Dump. When did you guys get back?"

Latinous sighs pinching what would be the bridge of his nose. "Damn it, Spec. What do I keep telling you about pulling your own weight around here? You're lucky I haven't kicked your ass out of here."

"Why hasn't he?" Dump asked.

"Because she's the only broad in Hell who'd put up with us." Barrow replied and he got a glare for it. "What? It's true. It'd be a miracle if one of those sexy lust demons would want to hang with us."

"Know what else would be lucky?" Latinous rhetorically asked. "Getting actual competent sons of bitches that can take care of this fucking pest problem we've been having! I am just fucking sick and tired of this body disposing bullshit! This isn't how I imagined my afterlife! For God's sake, I didn't even know there was an afterlife until after the fact!"

"We've all made that speech after getting in Hell, man."

"The point still stands!" The ooze demon's anger causes parts of his being to spill onto the floor and it fizzles a little, gaining Spec's attention who instantly crouches to get a closer look while writing down on her notepad. "That's not even what I'm pissed off about! It's all those crazy animals out there, we all took jobs in this park only to fail at stopping the guests from getting eaten!"

"Hey, we put those warning signs up for a reason!" Dump pins the blame entirely on the guests' fault. "Not our problem that they apparently can't read."

"And besides, Latinous, what do you expect us to do? We're not like uber badasses, and what are the chances of demons just passing through who could take care of out problem for us?"

Indeed, the chances of that were very slim.

Until the I.M.P van passed.

"Kind of weird that there wasn't anybody at the entrance." Lincoln notes nervously. He's seen scary movies before and besides the light nightmares he got from them, he does recognize the signs of them in real life. A forest in Hell proves to be ten times more frightening than scary movie forests and knowing the kind of sort that runs around in the Pride Ring, it wouldn't surprise Lincoln is a hockey mask-wearing chainsaw wielding psychopath was hiding somewhere in the woods, stalking them.

"I know that look." Blitzo chuckles. "Don't piss yourself, Linc. We're not in for any cliche crappy slasher film scene where a masked prude comes slashing right in the middle of anyone sleeping."

Okay, that somewhat calmed Lincoln down. "Phew. That's a re-"

"The forest where all the serial killers in life use their little playground is just a few miles from here."

"..."

Back to being afraid.

Moxxie had similar reservations. "Can't say it's anything like the brochure."

"Brochures always lie, Moxxie." Millie throws the paper out the window. "And I'm glad it did! A real training ground is the kind that doesn't bring any comfort or feeling of safety, it helps make you stay on your toes and really feel the killing intent. Like a breath of fresh air!"

Hearing Millie speak so casually about killing made Lincoln wonder if he'd be the same. Like she requested, Lincoln brought along the knife which was kept in a holster, the knife that's been decided firmly belongs to him and him alone. Such a weapon he feels is being wasted in soft hands like Lincoln's, at least that's how he feels, the instinct he felt when he stabbed Striker hadn't re-emerged and frankly, he was glad that it didn't. But realistically speaking, he's facing the facts and knows such an instinct is imperative for his own survival.

He just hopes that he won't lose himself in the process.

The can stopped in a very secluded part of the woods, with no other demon in sight. "Whoo! Now let's get down to it, folks! No one at the entrance means we don't have pay shit to be here which is making my good feeling about this place all the more good!"

"I'm getting no bars!" Loona growled in indignation, raising her phone up high but getting zero bars as a result. "Couldn't pick a place with better reception, Blitz?! I could be back at the office, posting!"

"Now, Looney. Don't take that tone of voice with me, young lady." Blitzo wagged his finger. "It's high time you actually focus on something other than that mind-numbing phone. You spend every single day glued to that thing, you might as well prefer doing that than doing your own job."

"That's because I do! It's not like that's ever bothered you before!"

"Maybe next time when your dear old father is calling for some help, you actually listen the first time! Unless you prefer it to happen only when Lincoln's the one getting his ass kicked."

Growling, Loona didn't counter with one of her usual dry comebacks, because her adoptive father was right. She tried hiding it, but the hellhound felt really horrible that she didn't go to the others' aid against Striker when Blitzo whistled for her. Then she heard Lincoln's cries of pain and nothing else mattered, not even her phone, and when she saw his bruised up face, all Hell broke loose inside her.

Whistling, Millie rummages through the bag to pick out the perfect weapons to use. "Hmm...nah." She declined the nunchucks. "Let's see...not quite there just yet." The wrecking mace was great, but a little too advanced. She needed to be real careful, this was her baby's first weapons and fighting hands on training, after all and she wanted it to be perfect.

"Millie, sweetheart." Moxxie pulls her away for a quick side-chat. "If we are serious about instructing Lincoln on hand-to-hand combat and firearms usage, then we must tread this more carefully. He's still a child, after all."

"So was I when I first cut open my first sparring partner with a cleaver!" Millie sighs fondly. "We had a big ole celebration feast and I have held that over Sallie May ever since! I always had a more flashy way of killing compared to her."

"And I find that to be a very enticing aspect that you possess." The rising sensation in Moxxie can attest to that. "But despite his growing prowess, I can still see a lot of reluctance in Lincoln, which isn't hard to understand. These kinds of things are unknown to him, the ways of Hell and all that pertains to it, it can leave quite the impression on someone his age. I think it's best to ease him into it, take our time and so on."

Millie gave it to her hubby, he did raise some mighty fine points. "Well, if you insist, sweetie. I suppose we can work our way up to a battle ax. Ooh! Maybe start with a hatchet, that's like a baby ax!"

"Don't forget about long range weaponry." Moxxie adopted the persona of an intellectual college professor who was beginning to teach a class on the fine art of the inner workings of his preferred means of combat. The imp was now more willing to own his area of expertise and be proud of it, and if Lincoln was truly willing, Moxxie would be happy to teach him all that he knew. He had the right sort of gun that would be for first beginners, a simple revolver pistol that wasn't all that big, but he never really cared for the size of the gun, just how useful it'd be when on the clock.

Blitzo always had different opinions compared to Moxxie. "Ha! What's the matter, Moxxie? You left your bigger gun back in the city?"

"Sir, a big gun doesn't make for the bigger man."

"You know what? You're right. You can have the biggest gun in Hell and it still wouldn't be enough to compensate!"

"If you would please refrain from the hurtful commentary, sir, I am trying to teach important lessons to our bright young intern." He holds the revolver out for Lincoln to take for his own, with Millie clapping in encouragement. "A revolver of this magnitude has safety and the recoil wouldn't be a forceful one, I see it as the perfect starter pistol." He nods to his wife who quickly assembled a row of empty soda cans on a large tree log that was chopped down by her with a chainsaw. With ease, Moxxie shot multiple times, hitting each can with precise shots, and Millie gave two thumbs up. "Now, you try."

Moxxie handled that so expertly and with such precision.

The only time Lincoln's fired at something was through video games.

This was a real gun and this wasn't some game where he could just re-spawn to begin again.

With one deep breath, Lincoln tensely takes guns into his hands. "Is-Is it okay to ask for some help?"

"That's quite alright." Moxxie helped him line up his shot perfectly. "The key is focus, Lincoln. Keep your mind and body centered on the target with a firm grip on the pistol, it's like baseball."

"I don't play baseball. Or sports in general."

Blitzo offered his own wise advice through a megaphone. "Better yet, do what I do! Just imagine the biggest fucking asshole that's screwed you ever in the past and just pull the damn trigger and BANG! They're dead and you'll be happy forever!"

"Has that ever happened, sir?"

"...Shut up."

Ignoring Blitzo's endless prattle, Lincoln followed Moxxie's advice. His hands were trembling, but that was to be expected, a boy holding a gun was something no decent person would ever want to see. The boy in question, also would feel very scared just by holding such a weapon, like Lincoln is. But, if he has anything to thank for his still being alive in Hell, it's his fight or flight response. Right now, he needs to visualize the target looking like someone he detests. But even if he were facing someone like that, Lincoln personally feels he'd never resort to-Stillman. That was the first person who came to mind, the person whose visage took the place of the can, the man to blame for landing Lincoln in this mess. For a brief second, Lincoln's eyes flashed red and he pulled the trigger, the bullet went straight through the can and I.M.P gaped in stunned silence, especially Lincoln until Millie broke out in cheers.

"That's my baby boy!"

"Damn, Linc." Loona clearly didn't see that coming. "Where did that come from?"

"Ain't it obvious, Loona? Sage advice from his great boss clearly helped." Blitzo puffs his chest out.

The scary thing is that it did.

Lincoln himself couldn't believe he actually fired with a real gun, he knew what he was doing, but at the same time, it didn't feel like he made the choice himself. It's like a sudden urge took over.

A light, but familiar urge.

"That actually was better than I imagined." Moxxie inspected the fired can. "Complete accurate shot, not what I'd expect from a beginner. Have you, by any chance, ever been to a firing range?"

"No. Of course not. It just...happened." That was the truth. Lincoln felt like pulling the trigger and so he did, without even hesitating, so sudden and so quick, he could barely register it.

"That's the inner killer in you waiting to get out!" Millie nuzzles his cheek. "You get that from my side of the family! Do it again, sugar! Make Momma and daddy even prouder and get celebration shots! And a juicebox for you, of course!"

"Um, I don't think-" Looking at the cans, Lincoln then imagined not only Stillman, but other people he'd like to forget. Martha, the psycho woman who was their target, Robo Fizz, a miniaturized Fish monster from the human beach, and of course, that slimeball, Striker. All standing there, and all moving to attack, making him subconsciously fired with the revolver and hitting the targets. It was done as if he had done it before, but Lincoln knew that he didn't, and yet, it still felt so good and that made him think that this wasn't right. He'd never feel such excitement from firing a gun.

Or would he?

The hesitation in his mind made his eyes return to their normal color, and the gun slipped from his hands the bullet strayed, missing the last can. "Oooh! Just missed that one, hon! But great work on the others!" Millie praised, raising up a cookie. "That earns you a victory cookie!"

"Uh, thanks?" Lincoln took the cookie, but was still confused.

"Yes, yes. Good show, sporto." Blitzo felt now it was time for the real heavy stuff that could make or break Lincoln as a potential assassin. "But let's see you shoot and swing a knife at a target that can actually move. No telling how many bloodthirsty little beasts are here, so let's call 'em down!"

Loona nudged Millie with her leg. "That's your cue, Millie."

Taking several deep breaths, Millie lets out a bloodcurdling animal-like roar that rocks the entire forest, making 4-eyed birds with sharp talons fly away, sensing the presence of a clear alpha predator. Her roar was responded with another one, just as ravenous and was running closer and closer to I.M.P. "Aw, listen to that? The little fella thinks it can scare us, but it's probably a small ass-" From the bushes, the beast jumps out. It was a quadrupedal animal with orange scales and sharp fangs and blood-red eyes, and it stared hungrily at the crew of frozen assassins. Growling slowly, he summons smaller creatures similar to it that were hiding in the bushes, waiting for their superior to call on them to gorge on their newest prey."-or not. Fucking scatter!" Blitzo shouts.

The smaller animals grabbed the picnic supplies and tore it all apart. Hellhound instincts taking over, Loona got on all fours and with a yell, tackled one of them and thrashed her claws at its back. The second one is shot by Moxxie with his handgun with a music symbol on it, but it had thick scales and did not enjoy being used as target practice. Millie assisted her husband by jumping onto its back and her knife was sharp enough to cut its scales and then grabbed the leg to flip it over, and Blitzo had the bigger one all to himself.

A very unfair turn of events.

"Uh, Blitz?" Lincoln was at a loss on what he was supposed to do.

"Yeah, I'll admit, this was not in the itinerary." Blitzo conceded as he actually did hope this wouldn't have to be a confrontational type of day out for his company employees. "Not that there fucking was an itinerary. But you gotta make do with what you have, intern. Take notes! This is how to get shit done!" Armed with two machine guns, Blitzo fired wildly at the beast. With enough force and tougher bullets, he can make short work of the beast, if only that beast wasn't a stubborn piece of work. Like Blitzo, it also attacked, grabbing the imp by his suit and flinging him into a tree. "Fuck, that was actually pretty good..."

"Blitz!" Lincoln's concerned shout gained the beast's attention and it went to attack him now. "Oh, dang it!" the white haired human ran as fast as he could, but this beast was hungry for some meat and it never had human meat before. Hell creatures just seem to really love chasing him and he dodges each time the beast tries pouncing on him, but couldn't do it the fifth time. He fell and backed up against a rock as the beast cornered and everyone was too preoccupied with their own troubles, the beast advanced slowly, wishing to savor this kill. Lincoln shook with terror, fear increasing. "Get away...get away!" he shouts with eyes flashing red and he swung the knife across the face, making it roar out an echo..

The smaller beasts noticed its leader in peril when they saw its status. With focus, Lincoln, who still had the revolver, aimed and shot it straight at the already injured beast, making the beast call on its cohorts and the three retreated back into the woods. He panted with shaky hands, Lincoln dropped the knife and gun, slowly getting up, not believing what just happened.

"Lincoln, you did it!" Millie hugs him. "You showed that big fucker who was boss and they went on running! Oh, I'm so proud!"

"I-I-I think I want to go back now."

"Seconded." Moxxie agreed. "It seems this little excursion is a failure, sir. Shocking no one."

"Never tell me I failed at something, Moxxie!" Blitzo almost poked him in the eye. "Also, a little too late for that." he leads his crew to show them the gates to the forest closing and being locked.

"That ain't nothing to sweat about!" Millie said, pointing a thumb back. "Let's just take our van and ram it through...oh. Shit." During all the commotion, the van's tires got scratched and now, it was immobilized.

"So we're in the woods? Alone? With all manner of ferocious Hell beasts?" Moxxie fretted. "Oh, crumbs! Should we simply wait it out until the gates reopen?"

"You can forget it, Mox!" Bltzo barked. "That'd make us easy pickings! Okay, there has to be some more evolved demons around here that's running things, alright? We find them, we find a way out of this shitshow. I think it's better for us to split up. Cover more ground."

Loona stared deadpanned, not believing Blitzo just said those words. "Split up? Are you for fucking real, Blitz? You're spitting nothing but cliches right now and those can get us killed, so why not think of a better plan?!"

"Again with that tone of voice! Keep that up and it's grounded time, missy!"

"But she does make a great point." Lincoln chimed.

"It is rather obvious to not split up, sir."

"We can kill 'em all, together!"

Blitzo groaned irritably. "Fine! God! You guys really need to learn to respect your boss when he gives a beautiful idea. It gives me the impression that none of you respect me and it really hurts." Taking out a big tarp, he uses it to cover the company van. "Whoever's in charge better have that insurance thing, because that van did not come cheap and I am pissed as fuck right now!"

Loona snorts. "As opposed to most of the time?"

For the rest of I.M.P's time in this forest, they traversed while keeping close eyes out for any more wild Hell animals lurking within the trees and had the weapons needed to defend themselves. For this sort of situation, keeping it together was needed, but it was hard to deal with all the disturbing noises and mild chatter that other beasts were making just to mess with them and it was working on Lincoln.

"Are you guys sure we'll find anyone?" Lincoln sweats. "For all we know, they could be..."

"Somebody's gotta still be in one piece to manage things here." Moxxie kept and eye out and his gun with no safety on. "Loona. Has your keen nose detected anyone besides us? We should've come across others by now."

"Other than your bossy fat hide, no."

Blitzo rubs his chin. "M&M, scout ahead. If there's an ugly beast, you can scream like a bitch, Mox." The two married assassins did as they were told, and they remained where they were, with their backs turned. "Alright, you two. This is it. They cover the front, and we cover the back. No way am I gonna let some animals go around and get me from behind, everyone knows the back is a real hard spot to strike. You gotta face everything head-on. Learned that lesson-"

"Blitz, it's obvious you're not treating this seriously, so drop it right now and get serious!"

Loona's agitated growl spoke for both her and Lincoln. "Hello? We're I.M.P. A dangerous forest's got anything on a team of badasses like us. Although, I can't say I'm thoroughly enjoying this. My gut told me that the serial killer forest was the better option, but no, I just had to go and settle on this one. Can only imagine how disappointed you kids are for not being able to experience a night in a killer-infested forest."

"...We'd hate it either way!"

"Learn to get what you get, intern!"

Loona inwardly cussed out Blitzo for trying to reassure Lincoln very poorly. Poor kid was freaking out and she could hardly blame him, a while ago, she wouldn't think too much of it, but he somehow managed to get through her icy exterior and now, she thinks like an older sister around him. She thought about what a good older sister would usually do to ease some of the tension in the air. Jokes. Changing the subject. "So, uh...still cool how you shot those cans. Didn't really think you had it in you."

"Yeah...I know..." Lincoln's chest tightened a little. "Neither did I..."

"That's just the natural way of things." Blitzo bluntly says. "Sure, an average Joe may seem like he couldn't shoot anybody to save his life, but it takes the right kind of man to release that killer instinct. If you ask me, though, you should've asked when you're a hundred percent serious about that sort of stuff."

Lincoln turns, shocked. "You knew?!"

"Of course I knew." Blitzo affirmed, offended that he finds that so surprising. "What? Is it such a shock that I actually paid attention to the signs?" Both Lincoln and Loona looked at him in silence, unsure on how to answer. "Gonna ignore that. Look, kid. I could tell that despite what you said with your mouth hole, everything else screamed that you'd want to do anything else other than that. When someone wants to do something, they tend to be obvious about it, you can see it in their eyes and with your eyes, there's nothing like that. At least most of the time. Couldn't help but notice a little change during target practice, even with that animal. But in both, you pulled back, you hesitated, didn't you?"

Ashamed, Lincoln nodded his head. I.M.P was a company meant for those with no qualms about taking lives, he only got hired out of his own unfortunate circumstances, so he didn't really belong there. Blitzo prefers all his employees to be remorseless assassins, and even he could plainly see that Lincoln didn't meet those requirements, it often confused Lincoln why he still continues to shelter him. "I-I'm sorry, Blitz."

Maybe if he had kept his mouth shut, this wouldn't be happening.

"Then don't force it."

"...Huh?"

That was less insulting than either Lincoln or Loona expected. "What? You thought you could get used to knife wielding and gun toting overnight? That takes time, kiddo. If you don't have the stomach for it right now, then don't try to force it out too fast. You're liable to fuck yourself over and you, my young friend, have never once allowed anyone to do that. You got your own strengths. Stick with those for now until you feel to step it up a notch. Not too hard. Just let it flow when it's necessary."

Lincoln blinked as he took the words in, that might be the most supportive thing Blitzo has ever said to him. "That...weirdly helps." Not by much, but it did make feel less horrible about himself.

"Duh. I said it. Now go to M&M. Can't risk Moxxie fucking this up." Blitzo sees Lincoln run up, then notices Loona still staring at him. "What?"

"Sorry. It's just, since when did you suddenly give a lot of deep wisdom like that?" While Loona had gradually enjoyed Lincoln's presence, Blitzo mostly treated it as just another business. For all his wackiness, Blitzo is capable of treating people right. It's mostly just Loona due to him adopting her and being very vocal about it, and has thrown Lincoln a few bones here and there, but it was rare to see the boss act like how he did just now.

"Kid needed a newsflash." Blitzo crossed his arms. "It's like he can't help but try to prove that he's already useful enough. Like Christ on a stick, a lot of trouble to go through to validate yourself, it's no wonder he and Moxxie get along."

"Well, can you blame him?" Loona defends. "He's not like other humans that usually end up here. He's willing to put up with our job even though he's not crazy about it, that alone is ballsy enough and you know it and he just wants to-"

Blitzo sighed. "Go back to his family in one piece. I know. If I had a nickel for every time he hits us with that same old speech, I'd never have to work again."

"...You don't believe that?"

She just had to ask that question, but since Lincoln was out of earshot, it was the opportune time to speak about him behind his back. "I'm not saying it's impossible. If a living human can be in Hell, then I guess anything's possible. But fuck it, real life doesn't always go the way you expect it to, if he wants to believe that he can make it out of here, then fine, but he should at least be ready for a lot of disappointment. All I'm saying."

That's how it went for Blitzo multiple times in his past, and who knows?

Maybe that would mean Lincoln wouldn't have to leave...

All of a sudden, Loona's nose sniffed wildly. "I got something!"

"Blitz! Loona!" Hearing Lincoln's yell, they ran ahead and see Moxxie and Millie standing protectively with their weapons, making sure Lincoln was behind them as they saw a rustling bush. I.M.P stood ready for the eventual attack...but weren't ready for a Sinner demon to roll out of the bush, covered in leaves and dirt, followed by another that was clean.

"Damn it, Barrow! I told you to stop pushing me!"

"My lower half involves a wheel! It's hard to stop, you know that!" Both stop and look at the confused I.M.P team. "...Ha! I told you there was a chance some folks were still alive! Now, you owe me!" Dump shrieks when Blitzo shoots near him, jumping into Barrow's arms. "WTF, man?!"

Blitzo wasn't in the mood for jokes. "You two shit-buckets in charge here?! Or did you sick those beasts on us!"

"Hey, calm down there, imp." Barrow drops Dump. "We were just looking for any survivors or dead bodies to buy-I mean report and hope to get a very dignified service from their families...and not sue us."

Dump dusted himself off. "You five are about the only bodies we've found that aren't mangled and unrecognizable. Bit of a first, now that I think about it. But yes, we do work around here, but come on, we didn't tell those damn animals to go around eating whoever. This isn't the Serial Killer forest."

"Then who's in charge?!"

Dump and Barrow's boss' voice was heard as if by chance, barking at them to answer. "Dump! Barrow! Where'd you two assholes go?! You missed your check-in time and-holy shit. You found guests who're still alive."

"That being so surprising doesn't bode well for us." Moxxie comments.

"You!" Blitzo marches with his flintlock. "You the ass clown running the show? My employees and I almost became fucking dinner and I'd like to file a complaint with my gun, you walking pile of shit!"

"Whoa, whoa! Cool down on the hate boner, pal This ain't my fault!" Latinous backed up.

"Now that is poor bossing. Not taking responsibility for your own poor business models! Shameful!"

Barrow and Dump slowly tried slipping away. "For an imp, little dude's pretty scary I think Latinous can handle this. We'll just go ahead and back away-." a hatchet was thrown that almost hit them, it instead hit a tree. "Or we can just stay here. I see no problem with that. In fact, I love standing!"

"Excuse me!" Millie waved. "Be so kind as to stick around, you hear? Because y'all ruined my baby boy's lesson in fighting and worming yourselves out just ain't smart at all." behind her sweet smile was a very pissed off momma imp.

"Guys, hang on!" Lincoln turned down the aggression level. "Why don't we just hear these guys out and not kill them? Something tells me they have their own problems with the animals."

"Yeah! Listen to the bunny kid demon!"

"Seriously?"

The forest then became abuzz, the hungry beasts dwelling in it made it known that this wasn't the best place for an explanation. Latinous was the first to know that. "Look, just follow us, okay?" he left a trail of slime as he moved. "Week just keeps getting worse."

Every time Latinous, Dump, and Barrow went out to manage things in the forest, it gave Spec the chance to continue her special little projects without any kind of disturbance or disruptions.

"Boy, those guys have been gone a long time. Must have been a huge haul." She observed, checking the time. "More fun for me. It gives me a chance to continue my work."

Every time they lost their guests, she observed it all in her room, which had various small screens that were connected to multiple cameras she's placed all around the forest for her to see what occurred and wrote it down. Additionally, she kept all her notes in a drawer and hid it from her work colleagues, she couldn't afford to miss getting such unique specimens to be used for examinations.

"I love it in Hell!" Being in Hell has given her so many opportunities to study all the abnormalities it had, at least, they'd be considered abnormalities on Earth. Here, it's not so rare, but for a lover of all things unexplained, it was a paradise. "I'd love to see all those bitches point and laugh at the class weirdo now! They sure weren't laughing after I killed them in retaliation!" A floating can hummed at her. "What? I'm here for a reason, Unit 1. The important thing is that I'm happy, and as long as I'm happy, I won't sell you off to techies in the city." Right now, she wanted to take advantage of her afterlife the best way that she could. The sensors around the forest picked up on some activity earlier that she missed while working on something else that she hoped her boss won't find out about.

"Spec! Get over here!"

"Coming!" With a happy skip, Spec went to meet with her associates and the guests that didn't get eaten for once.

I.M.P looked around the broken down shack. "Cold. This is a cold house." Blitzo surmises, even the tents in the circus had better class and style than crapholes like this. Fuck, their building even more so.

Latinous glared. "Hey, cut us some slack, alright? Business hasn't exactly been good to us. Ever since those animals showed up, the less demons that live through a day here, the less we get paid."

"Yet, it still seems like the fault lies in management." Moxxie further criticizes.

"You let your people run their mouths?" Latinous asked Blitzo

"Only when they're right."

Spec arrives and greets them with a wild wave of her hand. "Greetings!" She gasped excitedly at the new speci-er guests that had arrived. She appears behind Loona, to touch her tail. "I've never encountered a female hellhound before! Hmm...hard to say if you're purebred or a mutt, though."

"Hey, there's a thing called boundaries, pervy nerd!" Flushing, Loona pulled her tail away.

Spec then observes the three imps. "Let's see." She took measurements of M&M. "Definitely looking at Wrath Ring imps here, even though the male one lacks the usual physical attributes of one."

"Can we not go through this again?!"

Blitzo was another story. "But you! I didn't think imps could get so tall! Which Ring do you hail from?! Lust? Envy? Gluttony? Also, could you tell me all the characteristics of those Rings in case you've been to them all?! Downside of being a Sinner is that Pride is the only Ring I'm allowed to take residence in."

"Yeah, okay. Do me a solid and back the fuck away from me!" Blitzo pushed her off his being. "When it comes to me, I use hooker rules!"

Loona tilts her head. "No kissing on the mouth?"

"Oops, got those mixed up there. I meant stripper rules. Look, but don't touch."

Spec gaped at Lincoln. "And you! I've never seen a child Sinner before! So fascinating!" she stops her excitement as when she got a closer look at him, she started to have doubts about her own assessment. "Wait, or are you some kind of Hellborn? The white hair sort of throws me off a little."

Lincoln darts his eyes. "Um..."

Blitzo stands in-between. "He's our intern, and that's all you need to know, bitch! Now, can we get to the point already?! My crew and I want out of this shithole, and if you guys really work here, unlock the fucking gates and get us the fuck out!"

"Believe me, If I could, I'd do it already. If only to get you little shits out of my gooey hair." Latinous made sure the door and windows were locked. "But the only one who knew how to work the technical stuff bit it two Exterminations ago. If that weren't enough, these animals rolled in when their home got burned to the ground for one of the Overlords' new places. Damn things started eating guests, so now, we can't get paid and can't find a way to get rid of them all."

"What about her?" Millie points at Spec. "She looks brainy enough to figure it out."

"Sorry, but the way there is blocked by the beasts. Can't get in without risking confronting them. If you want, I could lend you collected security videos, they might be of some help. But, I don't recommend the ones that Dump personally recorded, though. I'm pretty sure he actually had them off while getting drunk-"

Dump silenced her. "They don't need to know that!"

"Fantastic!" Blitzo sarcastically exclaimed. "The serial killer forest wouldn't have a bunch of useless idiots."

"Don't even mention those chainsaw-loving freaks!" Latinous bitterly gritted. "They're not so great and what do you want from us? We're not built for all that killing and shooting thing."

"Maybe. But this team does!" Lincoln's talent for coming up with the right plan is once again showcased. With all the information laid out to him, the gears in his head turned and he told the demons, Hellborn and Sinner alike, what he came up with. "We fought back and lived. If we take care of your problem, you can get to the controls and let us out here. You won't have to worry about this sort of problem ever again."

"Huh." Barrow said. "Might be the crack I did an hour ago talking, but the kid's making a point."

"Just wait a single damn minute there!" Blitzo pulls Lincoln aside for a side-conversation. "Kid. We're not a charity service, we don't just lend our services out to just anybody without getting some sweet dough. Think of our rep, here! We can't have anyone thinking we're going soft on charging clients! It ruins the whole point of the business for Christ's sake!"

"I know, but like it or not, it's our only shot. You had Loona leave the book back at the office and didn't pack the really big guns. So, we don't have that many options."

Moxxie adds into that. "At this point, sir, earning a profit is trivial and we're not exactly on the clock so to speak."

"...Fine!" Blitzo talks to the four Sinners. "But don't spread the word around that my company works for free, 'cause I will hunt you down! Now, we got a game plan or what?"

"Splendid!" Spec celebrated. "You seem a lot more useful compared to Dump."

Dump flushed in shame. "Spec!"

Latinous gave I.M.P the basic rundown of the forest.

If they were going to get out, they needed to know the lay of the land and luckily, the four Sinners knew the forest like the back of their hands. With Lincoln and Moxxie's coordinating strategically, Blitzo and the girls were prepping up with weapons.

Dump and Barrow...were just there.

Complaining for the most part.

"Gotta say, you guys have a lot of fun toys." Barrow comments. "What? Nothing for us? All we have are faulty guns."

"Company issued, pal. You bust it, you pay for it." Blitzo pours in the gunpowder. "Got these babies at high price, and I doubt you even can. Also, don't slow us down, I know you Sinners can put yourselves back together, but that's not an excuse for being sloppy."

"Was that a crack at me?"

"See any other sucker made of ooze?"

The main plan is for Blitzo to head out with Loona, Latinous, Dump, and Barrow while M&M and Lincoln stay at the shack with Spec and will act as the cavalry in case they run into beats that would require bigger numbers. "The road to the controls should be easy enough. Head north and not get attacked on your way and in the 50% chance that you won't require assistance, you'll have succeeded!"

"50%?" Dump questioned. "You usually give us only 20."

"No, that was for them." Spec gestures to Blitzo and Loona. "You three have the regular odds."

Lincoln sent Blitzo and Loona concerned advice. "Be careful, you guys."

"Forget who you're talking to here, Linc?" Blitzo thought Loona should still reconsider. "If anything, a certain someone ought to stay with you here and switch out with M&M like I wanted."

"You said you want me to be more active, Blitz." Loona hoisted up a backpack. "This is me being active."

Blitzo, Loona, Latinous, Dump, and Barrow left into the woods to begin. Lincoln sincerely hoped that it would be a semi-easy endeavor for them, but since when has his luck ever been that good? Blitzo and Loona were far from defenseless, but this whole trip has given the family of I.M.P a run for their money, and being the type who worries for others, Lincoln couldn't suppress it. If only he could naturally hone those intense instincts, rather than have them just randomly appear when the going get tough. Except, it's not so random, it just happens when he's pushed to his breaking point, but his reluctance to embrace those instincts may get in the way. If those beasts hadn't appeared, he might have learned how.

"Alright, Lincoln, honey! Let's continue the lesson!" Millie took him by surprise by dragging him along.

"What?"

"You heard me, young man. You really thought a few nasty little beasties were enough to end the lesson? No siree! Fuck that noise! On my word as a mother, I am not allowing your training to be ruined!"

"Millie, this is hardly the right time for-"

"Don't give me lip, Mox-Mox! We're doin' this!"

"But what would you even use at this point?"

Spec's head poked out the door entrance. "I can help with that!"

The quirky Sinner directed them to the back and she had a control device. With it, she automatically opened the cellar doors, releasing hot steam and mechanical sounds of something being raised up and they were presented with a series of drone-like machines with four leg limbs and target symbols. "...I hate that this feels familiar to me." It's as if Spec is some more deranged demon version of Lisa.

"I've had to work with limited supplies, but these beauties should suffice as practice dummies. Their body shapes even resemble animals, and I programmed them to act that way. It'll be like they're real live ones!"

Lincoln shivers. "That's what I'm afraid of."

"Fear! The expected reaction I was going for! Thanks for that!"

Moxxie felt he needed to object. "I don't-"

"Begin!"

Screaming, Lincoln ducked when a drone jumped at him. No matter where he ran, he was cut off by each of them, they didn't want him to have any ways to escape, just like how real life predators corner their prey. His glowing red eyes came back, but they faded out when his reluctance clashed with the instincts to attack back, which inadvertently helped the drones. "Come on, Linky, baby! Don't be afraid!" Millie's words were easier said than done. For her, it was normal to give in to such primal urges, but the boy had many things holding him back. His hands moved on their own and aimed the revolver, but it seemed as if he was trying to resist the choice to shoot, but once a drone attacked, the instincts took over. A single shot was fired, and it struck the target symbol, shutting the drone down. Lincoln runs forward and jumps onto another's back and drives the knife into its legs to slice it off, leading it to lose its balance.

Getting off, Lincoln shot the target to end its continued threat.

He uses it as a cover to shoot at the other walking robotic targets. Cables were shot out and wrapped around Lincoln's waist, dragging him across the ground as a drone tried attacking with its sharp limbs. Growling in anger, the red glow in his eyes seemed to have intensified, and he grabbed hold of a limb to slice it off, then repeatedly stabbed into the target and used the separated limb to smack the target symbol of another's clean off.

All that was left was one more, but at this point, Lincoln didn't want to feel like a fighter anymore and he drops his weapons.

"Something's wrong." Moxxie says to Spec. "Call it off, now!"

But it was too late, the last drone charges, until it stops mid-air and disassembles into broken pieces. "Damn it!" Spec snapped her fingers. "That's what I get for working with junky parts. Live and learn, as they say! I'll go see the progress of our comrades!"

"Did you see him, Moxxie?!" Millie shook his arm with a bright beam. "Ma and Pa'll both be thrilled to know their grandbaby's coming along nicely in the pain delivery department! I should've brought a camera with me!"

"Millie." Moxxie lightly admonished. He nods to Lincoln who, unlike Millie, wasn't so exuberant, he hasn't even picked up the gun and knife, only having a deeply conflicted expression. The imps grew worried and carefully approached the boy. "Lincoln, are you okay?"

"...No. No, I'm not."

"Aw, hon. More time and practice-"

"That's not the problem, Millie!" The female imp was taken back by the tone which Lincoln regretted. He can't hold in his troubles anymore, he needed to say this to both of them. "I'm sorry, I-I just, everything about this feels so wrong to me. When I asked you for this training thing, the truth is that I wasn't really sure about it. I've never been someone who attacks, not like most of my sisters. But this is Hell, and things are way different and even then, I still don't want to. Even though I know it's the only way to survive, I just can't be like you guys because I'm scared that I may love it. And I don't want to. I'm sorry."

Moxxie had his suspicions so he wasn't that surprised, but Millie mentally kicked her own ass for not recognizing the trouble. A real mother would've seen it from a mile away, not get too carried away. "Lincoln." Moxxie began. "In Wrath, you told me there was nothing wrong with my approach. It may not be what's expected, but that doesn't matter, and I should be proud of it and not change a thing. Well, why can't the same be said for you?"

"But you're a great assassin because of your gun expertise, Moxxie. It doesn't matter if you're not a buff imp, what you know works. Me, I can't help but just freeze up, I can't be this cold remorseless killer that you expect. But if I can't, what good am I to the company besides being just an intern with magic? I can't always rely on that book, and I don't want to be a burden by always expecting you guys to come to my rescue. I don't want to be helpless."

"Lincoln Loud." Millie grasps his shoulders to make him look her in the eyes. "You are anything but helpless. You've helped us when you could've ran for the hills, faced whatever was thrown at you. You did all that without needing to be a hardcore edgelord. My folks always tried teaching' me and my sibs to fight and kill without losin' it. Never worked for me, but it can work for you. All it takes to remember who you are at your core."

"Neither of us would ever want to force you to give in to the violence." Moxxie'd be ashamed to ever even try that. "If you don't like having to fight when you have to, then that's fine. Not all demons would hold it against you. Though, that still would leave you with a vast majority. Bottom line, you're allowed to stick true with you are, a kindhearted boy just as I'm allowed to stick with who I am."

"And we wouldn't have it any other way." Millie pecks Lincoln's forehead to show that she means it.

These guys.

For happily married assassins, these two make good parents.

"Excuse me!" Spec came back out. "Much as I don't wish to disturb this tender moment between a surrogate family, I just got word from the guys and we may have to intervene a tiny bit."

During the same time, the trek to make it all the way through the forest was slow-going.

All due to the constant prattle of the arguing demons.

"The fuck are you trying to pull, jelly-man? Feet are starting to sore and you said it wouldn't be long." Blitzo's seen enough movies to know the telling signs of the hidden murderers luring unsuspecting victims out and he'd fucked twice over before going through any cliche shit.

"Spec said it shouldn't take long if the animals didn't attack. We already went through three attacks!"

Latinous' body had a few bite marks that were slowly reconstructing itself.

"Correction, we had to be attacked." Loona points to herself and Blitzo. "Your two clowns did jack shit and that one keeps eyeballing me."

Dump bristles. "Can I help it if I think you're hot?! Barrow's just as bad-"

"No one has time to mistreat, Dump! That's for off the clock hours! Just don't forget you two agreed to do all the killing yourselves and we graciously reward you with a way out of here and first chance I get, I'm getting another job!" Barrow knew that there had to be other professions in Hell that would make his lower half more useful than dumping corpses and with no infuriating co-workers.

"Fine print, Dump. You work here in the forests until it closes down or an Exterminator comes for it when the year's up."

"What?! That's cheap!"

Blitzo could just shoot out his eardrums right now. "If I wanted to hear nothing but bitching and moaning, I'd have spent the whole day with Moxxie." He can only think how much fun his employees were having without him. "If it weren't for the fact that you have the literal keys to our freedom, I'd gladly let those animals tear you limb from limb. You realize that, right?"

"Very much so. That's why before we left, I prepared to dial a number on my phone for a hitman to hunt you down and waste your imp-ass."

"...Okay, you get points for some forward thinking."

By the miracle of one of the high-ranked demon lords, or maybe all of them, they finally saw the shed that had the controls for opening the gate entrance of the forest. But just as expected, a horde of savage Hell beasts had taken the area for their own. Skeletal remains of other animals and Hellborn species littered on the ground, some were fighting over a few that still had some meat on them while others were resting themselves like the animals that had attacked I.M.P. This was easy enough for Blitzo, he had his sniper rifle prepped with a silencer for some silent kills. Sure, today has been terrible, but nothing like some sniping to vent some of that frustration off, even though he much preferred some more advanced beings.

One trigger pull and that's three of them down.

The commotion stirred the slumbering beasts awake and the demons made themselves scarce. A group of beasts sniff around to find their soon-to-be dinner, but Loona jumps down from a tree branch and thrashes them aside with a crowbar. One would be surprised that with her own skill in fighting, she's only the company's receptionist. "This is easier than I thought." she confidently smirked. "Would love to see Mr. and Mrs. Asshole complain about me being too lazy if they were here." she cracks her knuckles to go do her own maiming.

"Yeah!" Blitzo shoots more down. "Feel it, Looney?!" Another was trying to take a bite out of him, but Blitzo puts a stop to that. "The thrill of the hunt! Intoxicating, isn't it?!" He laughs at the Sinners. "If you think it is some good shit, you should see Millie! And Moxxie, too, when he really gets into it! Don't tell him I said that, though! My honest criticism is meant to make him nut up and do shit right! It worked wonders for me!"

"Did it really, Blitz?"

"...Just keep killing them all!" An avian Hell beast screeched loudly and it plucked Blitzo from the ground, intent on feasting on him once they made it to its nest. "Oh, hell no! I have had it with hellbound birds!"

"What does that mean?" Dump asked, shooting back-to-back with Barrow.

Loona rolled her eyes. "Don't ask."

She fired an arrow from a crossbow and it hit the bird's chest. "Great shot, sweetie!" Blitzo face-plants upon his fall and stays like that for a few seconds before rising up. "Jelly man, you've criminally undersold how hard this'd be."

Latinous had some in his jelly body and the lack of air made them struggle until they were no longer moving. "These are just the small fry! The real challenge are the-"

Low growling cuts off his sentence and the animals freeze and back away. From the forests' shadows, emerged larger Hell beasts that were respected as the alphas, a three-headed four-legged predator breathed fire, ice, and lightning from its three mouths. Another bird-like beast hovered and unleashed a loud screech that sent out loud shockwaves. A hulking monster with a single horn and brown fur stood on two legs and held a large stone pillar as a makeshift weapon and glared dangerously at the more sentient demons.

"...Oh, shit."

"Call for backup?" Loona asks Blitzo without looking at him.

"Yes, that'd be nice."

The three horrible beasts were hard to shoot at and the demons were faced with no other choice but to make a run for it. Dump and Barrow had to carry their boss since he was way too slow. Everything else in the path of the beasts were helpless against them, they even knocked away unfortunate smaller beasts and cornered the Sinners and the Hellborn to a water stream. "An out of nowhere save would be great right now!" Loona remarked. Good thing it was up to that point once a barrage of ammo, grenades, and missiles made an appearance.

Lincoln, M&M, and Spec arrived in a tricked out jeep. "Is that the old jeep?!" Latinous gaped. "Spec, why didn't you tell me you fixed it up! We could've used it ages ago!"

"You didn't ask."

"What?! I-you-What?!"

Blitzo gives lots of pity. "Look at it this way, jell-o. Now you know you're the worst boss ever."

Moxxie and Millie went into action, supplying Blitzo and Loona with some more heavy artillery, making the larger beasts call upon the lessers for assistance. Lincoln stayed in the jeep for a moment before seeing one of the lesser beasts. "Millie! Is that the one?!"

She nodded while spinning in the air swinging two swords that diced up animals lunging at her. "That's it, Lincoln! Remember what I told ya on the way, it's those types of nasty beasties that have a weak spot! Now, ride 'em, my little cowboy!"

He's done crazier.

Lincoln jumps onto the back of a beast and it thrashes wildly. "Okay, Lincoln. Hesitation won't save your life." he closes his eyes and allows himself to not feel any emotion at all. "Just let it flow..." Opening his eyes, they were red once more. He pointed with his reloaded revolver and shot its four legs. The beast falls to the ground and Lincoln jumps off to allow Millie to handle it from there. That wasn't the end of the boy's troubles. He was grabbed by the throat by a pincer claw by a crawling creature. Taking some cues from Millie, he kicked one of the legs really hard and used his knife to stab the other to make it topple. Moxxie assisted by tossing him new rounds to reload to shoot some more times for the kid to go free.

Out of respect for his stances, Moxxie opted to shoot the last shot. With the added and combined efforts of I.M.P plus the Sinner demons, the rest of the small fry were easy pickings. The larger, more dangerous beast on the other hand, no matter what was thrown at them and no matter how much they were attacked, they were still hard to put down for good.

For this kind of job, they needed more than guns and knives.

What Lincoln needed was more.

He needed magic.

The grimoire.

With frustration, Lincoln's eyes glowed even brighter and all the way back in Imp City, the grimoire of Stolas opened and the pages responded to thoughts. But, it wasn't the thoughts of its owner and master, but of the part-time user of it who was currently fighting for his life. It flew straight through the window to heed the call of the user in peril and before Lincoln knew it, the book appeared. "The grimoire..." Lincoln whispers, his hand touching the pages and subconsciously, he casts a spell that opens up a portal leading to the top of one of the three headed beast's heads. Three Heads looked and saw the portal and one of the heads shot fire balls until Lincoln brought up a barrier that protected him.

As the fire breathing head started to attack again, Lincoln acted much faster and sent an ice spell into that mouth, the interaction caused the fire breathing head's fire to be put out and now it couldn't shoot flames. The other two heads fired but extra portals were opened and they ended up blasting each other that left the three-headed beast incapacitated and Loona saw this as her chance. Leaping high with a spear, she spun down to slice off the three heads in a fell swoop. "Nice work, buddy!" She compliments Lincoln.

He picks up a bag full of grenades and shouts over to his boss. "Blitz! Heads up" He throws the bag for Blitzo to catch and with the book, makes wild vines sprout from the ground and entrap the avian beast.

Blitzo grins. "Great! This is starting to be fun again!"

Launching himself with a grappling hook, Blitzo throws each unpinned grenade with ease and fired at them explosives in the air where the avian animal demons where nearby, getting caught in the blast. All that was left was the hulking beast that tried playing whack-a-demon, but they ran across to keep him confused and distracted when Lincoln released purple mist from the spell that made its vision impaired. He drops his stone weapon when Moxxie fired at the object until he was out of ammo, but he wasn't done just yet. "Lincoln!" Moxxie's scream signaled Lincoln to open a portal for him and he jumped through to land on the beast's head, and activated a flamethrower.

Moxxie hopped off once the creature tripped and fell trying to extinguish the flames. With that, all three beasts were no longer a problem for I.M.P and the four part Sinners.

The lesser beasts were now without alphas.

Without direction.

All they could do was run as the demons continued killing them and thus, were free to use the controls.

"I'll be damned...again." Latinous crosses his arms, hiding his impressed state. "They actually pulled through."

Now that all the beasts were without alphas, they no longer saw the need to stay in the forest any longer. I.M.P held up their part of the deal and in return, Latinous had Spec access the manual controls and the gates were opened. Any straggling animals were free to roam out to wherever the Hellish winds will take them, and this day was finally coming to an end.

"Well, can't say this was a ball." Blitzo shakes hands with Latinous and wipes the ooze off on Moxxie's shirt. "But, just make sure you don't go around saying we work for free and we'll call it even."

"Whatever, man. I'm just glad there's no more pest control problems."

Dump walks up to Loona. "So, look. I like to think the deepest of bonds can be born from surviving together and well, you're like, super hot and-" He jumped when Blitzo almost shot his foot and Loona brought out a switchblade. "Right, right. Message received. I'll, uh, just be on my way."

Barrow sighed, patting his shoulder. "Dude, she's way out of your league. You know that."

"Yeah."

Spec gives them a fond farewell. "Goodbye, all! Thanks again for being competent guinea pigs! I'll be sure to make the drones more of a challenge next time! They'll be humanoid and be heavily armed!"

"Van. In. Now!"

Blitzo stepped on the pedal and they were out of there.

"All in all, I think they were nice." Spec smiles. "Especially that bunny kid. It was nice of him to offer their assistance." A distinct odd case in Hell, but a refreshing change if she were to be truthful.

Barrow shakes his head. "What? You really think that was out of the goodness of his heart? You're starting to sound like that mushy princess."

Inside the van, Lincoln sighs tiredly as he melts into the seat. This day was more than he was expecting, but like before, he made it through despite all the odds stacked against him and his co-workers. He fought using his smarts and with some magic, and that worked wonders for him, and frankly, he was a little proud of himself, but not more so than M&M.

During the entire scuffle, Millie took the liberty of snapping various photos to commemorate this joyous occasion, not missing any instances of Lincoln going on the offensive with knife and gun in hand. "Look at us, guys! Kicking ass and taking names like a real family!" Her happy tears were overflowing, this was a day that would go down in history and she'd brag about to all the other mothers in Hell. "I can't wait to write to Ma and Pa about this! You see, Lincoln? There wasn't anything wrong with how you go about it! Fuck, you could use magic while fighting! It'd be your own personal style!"

"There, see?" Blitzo grins to himself. "Maybe next time, don't doubt your boss' wisdom. You even pulled off some good shit that even I didn't expect."

"Ah. It was nothing."

Moxxie thought differently. "Don't sell yourself short, you were superb. In fact, you're free to keep the revolver. If you'd have me, I'm still willing to teach you more on proper firearm usage."

"Don't forget about Momma! I can already picture you throwing a hatchet like a pro! Buckle up, sweetie, 'cause you're in for a lot of exercise! But in your own time, of course."

A nice change from past experiences of being signed up for pee wee football and being dragged into games.

These two really do make great parents. "Mom, dad. Quit it!" Lincoln chuckles, then sees Moxxie and Millie still as statues. "What?" he quizzically asked, then registers what he just said. "Oh. I-"

He was now in Millie's vice grip, over the moon with pride. "He said it! Y'all heard him! He finally said it! He called us 'mom' and 'dad'! It's fucking official!" she sheds her happy tears and brings in Moxxie for the hug.

Lincoln fretfully looks at Moxxie, thinking that was a huge boundary issue. "I didn't mean-that was-"

"It's okay." Moxxie tells him, holding his shoulder. "I actually don't mind."

Moxxie and Millie.

Parents.

The gun expert was starting to come around to that idea and even though it was a slip of the tongue, Lincoln admitted to himself that referring to Moxxie and Millie in such a manner didn't feel wrong at all.

Loona rolls her eyes, but finds it in her to smile. "She's not gonna shut up about this for weeks."

"Eh, let her have her fun." Blitzo shrugs. "Satan knows I'd do the same."

"Fine. But fair warning, I'll be buying ear plugs so don't take it personally if it looks like I'm ignoring everyone."

Better that two adoptive demon parents get a win like that than none at all.

Even so, for a bad day, it ended on a good enough note.

Chapter Text

It can be very hard to keep track of how long I.M.P have gone up topside to Earth to get some killing business done in no time.

It's become such a norm, one can find that there can't be more than one second without a new Sinner client in Hell hoping that the company of assassins can use their expertise in killing a target that was still human as a means to settle some unfinished business. Each time had the usual end result, this merry band of assassins hunt their mark down, get into a series of hilarious hijinks, cause quite a scene, but manage to succeed in their objective. This was how most jobs would go and what was truly amazing was how they managed to do so without so much being discovered.

One of Hell's most important rules was that those capable of traveling topside must do so while keeping up appearances in their human disguises at all times. Failure to comply will result in heavy repercussions.

Even though they venture to the living world through less legal means, even I.M.P have to make sure they at least don't break that rule at the same time.

So, it did indeed boggle the mind that for all the ruckus they make, the only known human who knew about their whole operation is their current unpaid intern.

No other human is aware of the whole truth, except, that's not entirely true.

The average human hadn't noticed the odd sight of three imps heavily armed with extreme weaponry. But all those people were just civilians, ordinary people that are easy to evade and avoid. With all the chaos I.M.P caused during their jobs, it was a given that a secret clandestine branch of the government would notice the fact that actual demons from Hell are running amok in their world.

In a dark room, a collection of television screens were showing I.M.P in action that the owners managed to get together, recording anything worth of value such as one showing Blitzo at a horse ranch.

"Right there!" Agent One, an adult brown haired male with dark shades, tie, and fancy suit points to Blitzo on one of multiple screens, holding the spell book. The other screens showcased other I.M.P jobs. "This was the first sighting!"

His associate, Agent Two, a blonde female with similar clothing nodded in response. "They're definitely from Hell. They must use this dark magic to cross over into our world." That much they managed to work out, but there were still many burning questions they needed answers to before presenting their case. "And they seem to be killing specifically targeted people. But why?" While many others got caught in the crossfire, it was apparent that with each incident, these demons were after one specific person.

"Not only that, but there's the matter of the kid."

Agent One brought up their biggest head-scratcher; where the human-looking white haired boy that's always seen with the demons fit into all of this. "We sure he ain't one of them?" Two inquired. "Can't say I've ever seen white hair on a kid that ain't dye."

One tapped his chin in deep thought. "He definitely looks like a Lincoln Albert Loud." He held a folder holding personal files and took out a missing persons' poster with a photo of the kid and the resemblance was uncanny.

"Wait, didn't one of the previous first ladies help deliver a white haired baby?"

"You know I don't keep up with the usual government gossip." One retorts. "Besides, that's not important right now. Months ago, this kid was reported missing by his family after not coming home from school one day and the investigation is still ongoing. It just so happens that he lived in Royal Woods, Michigan, one of the many locations that these demons popped up in and not long afterwards, wherever they go, he goes. According to some reports, the last person to see him was a certain Mr. Stillman. One of their targets and a person of interest to us." On Stillman's file, were all the photos from various time periods where Stillman was present, but not having aged a day in each. They've been tracking him for some time now, but could never find something concrete.

"What could they find on the body?"

"That's just it. Hours after the search began, local authorities searched the man's house, but only found a broken grandfather clock with nothing but dust underneath it. Stillman was reported missing afterward, but I think we both know they already found him. They just didn't realize it." One said knowingly to Two. "A few personal belongings of his were confiscated, all occult in nature and from the looks of it, seemed to be doing one of those ritual type deals in his basement."

"Kid must have escaped, somehow. But why go along with demons?" Two couldn't wrap her head around that.

"Who knows? They always attack at random. All over the country." Since they started tracking them, the two agents' biggest challenge was determining the next location I.M.P would appear. "There's no way to predict where they'll strike next."

Commotion from outside got their attention and as if a higher power heeded their questions, they peek out and see Blitzo himself dumpster diving, apparently.

"Oh, well. That's convenient." Two pleasantly smirked to an equally pleased One.

Outside, I.M.P had just pulled off another successful kill and were preparing to head back to Hell. Until then, Blitzo ordered them all to conceal themselves in case any other humans were around. If they only knew. "Shh, remember. We can't be seen by any look." Blitzo whispers, slipping into a garbage bag, much to the amusement of Millie.

"Pardon my words, sir. But, you're currently being the loudest." Moxxie points out.

Climbing out of the trash, Blitzo harshly whispers to his employee covered in rotting fruits, discarded papers, and other junk discarded by humans. "I said shut your dick sucking lips, Moxxie!" the shorter imp glared at the usual endless insults. Once again, Moxxie finds himself greatly infuriated by his superior's blatant harsh attitude at about every little thing he does, no matter how small.

"Guys!" Lincoln called, having opened up the portal already for Millie to hop into. "Come on." he hands the grimoire over to Loona on the other side.

Well, at least Moxxie will now be able to go home and relax.

"Get down!"

Moxxie yelped after getting tackled by Blitzo who did so to prevent Moxxie from being caught in a net.

I.M.P turned in shock to see Agent One reload his net-launching device for another go at capturing them. Agent Two then swung down from a rope to stand in-between Lincoln and the portal, armed with a tranquilizing sniper rifle. "What the?! Who're they?!"

Blitzo couldn't afford to answer that question as he too was clueless, but did have time to urgently tell an order to his daughter. "Loona! Close it!"

Both Loona and Millie were aghast at what Blitzo just said. "W-What?" Loona asked with uncertainty, gazing at Lincoln as closing the portal would mean leaving him.

"Just do it!"

Millie shoved Loona out of her path, trying in vain to go back out and grab her boys, but it was too late.

"Wait, no!"

The portal was instantly closed.

Moxxie didn't know who these two were, but they just made a big mistake.

No one gets between him and his Millie.

"Lincoln, come on!"

Eyes flashing red, Lincoln mimicked Moxxie's evasion maneuvers to dodge all the nets. Amazing what some acrobatic training from Millie will do for you and right now, Lincoln was thankful for it. Moxxie lands gracefully and turns to fire his pistol at the agents, but is hit by a tranquilizer dart. His entire body went numb and limp, head filled with incoherent thoughts that made him a sputtering mess. Seeing that enraged Lincoln and used his revolver to carefully shoot the scope of the rifle, but in his rage, got himself hit by a dart himself. "Moxxie! Lincoln!" Blitzo shouts in distress. Getting into action, Blitzo throws a trash lid at One before he could fire more nets, he picks up both of his employees and uses Moxxie's body to hit Two into the trash. Both agents recovered and chased after them.

"I smell...colors?" Moxxie slurred.

"They taste so pretty..." Lincoln smiled.

Blitzo stops once he sees that they were at a dead end and the agents caught up with them, but this imp wasn't going down without a fight. "Back off, you tuxedo wearing fucks!" he warns, flashing his flintlock.

But, the agents were hardly deterred as One prepared his weapon's other setting and was quicker than Blitzo on the trigger. He, Moxxie, and Lincoln were blasted by a shock blast that immobilized them to the ground. The last thing Blitzo could see before succumbing to the darkness were the two triumphant agents being mighty proud of their accomplishment.

"Heh-Heh!" One chuckled while adjusting his tie. "I'd like to see the suits in corporate call us losers now! That was pretty badass."

Agent Two wholeheartedly agreed. "Super badass!"

Now, the only hope left were two very concerned demon ladies.

It all happened so fast.

One moment, they were wrapping up another job, but then came those two suits with advanced weaponry that forced them to be separated.

She was safe in Hell, but she couldn't say the same for the guys.

Her boss.

The love of her life.

And of course, her baby.

The anger she felt knew no bounds. It was the same kind of fury that coursed through her veins when Striker attacked them and she pours out all her anger out by punching the wall where the portal closed on her repeatedly while giving off feral screams of anguish. She barely gave a damn that it hurt like a son of a bitch, it didn't compare to the pain of the prospect of losing her boys, and gradually, the punches stop and tears stream down her face as she collapses to her knees in despair. "Shit!" she cries. "Shit, shit, shit!" she gave out anguished whimpers.

Loona was also greatly sorrowful and regretful, not believing that she actually closed the portal, not just on the imps, but on Lincoln.

He was her friend, her brother, and she closed it.

All that she could do was to put aside her sad whimpering and at least make some attempt to console Millie. "You, uh...?" It was so hard to give comfort to a coworker she hadn't gotten along with in the past. "...you okay there?" She slowly reaches out, pulls back when Millie faces her with desperation.

"What're you doing sitting there?!" Millie incredulously asks, motioning to the grimoire on the floor. "The boys are in trouble! Our boys! Open it again!" she demands.

One way or another, she was getting her family back, and the stupid assholes that thought they could get away with breaking up that family were gonna be taught one hell of a lesson, paying the price in blood and severed heads.

Loona understood how Millie felt, she wanted to help out Lincoln, Blitzo, and Moxxie, too, if it'll calm Millie down. But, there was a system in place of this kind of problem and Blitzo had set a clear set of instructions on what to do and not do. "Look, I feel you, but you heard Blitz. He used a total of zero euphemisms, innuendos, or swears." All things that are commonplace in her boss/adoptive father's mannerisms, except for what happened in the alleyway. "That means I don't open it, until-"

But, Millie could care less about it.

"Open the fucking portal now!" she roared in the hellhound's face, pulling her to eye level by the collar.

"Look, Blitz can take care of himself, even your boy toy. And I'm sure Linc's come up with one of his convoluted, but well thought-out plans that needs a smaller operation name to get them out of this by now." Loona couldn't even believe her own words.

"Loona, please!" Millie's scowl twisted into an imploring frown, more tears coming down. "Our boss. Your daddy. My Moxxie and Lincoln, my baby..." her lips quivered and just wanted them back home with her.

This wasn't a family.

Just a company.

That's what Moxxie said.

One of the few things Loona agreed on with him, then why the shit are there moments where it really does feel like a damn family?!

First things first.

They needed to get their shit together. Going in half-cocked against an enemy they don't know anything about is about the worst plan they could think of, so they stock-piled a whole lot of weapons that somehow could fit inside Blitzo's emergency bag. Some would call it overkill, but humans not only managed to spot them, but also took some of their own captive, so they were going all out. Millie prepped herself up with a giant ax and Loona transformed into her human disguise to make it easier to search without being uncovered by more humans.

With the grimoire, Loona opens a new portal to Earth to the same alleyway where Agents One and Two captured their friends. Millie jumps through with heated fury. She was ready for a fight, but the alley was empty, they were long gone by now.

"They aren't here!" Dropping the ax, Millie was about ready to cry again, until Loona picked her up and took a sniff of the ground for the guys' scents.

Luckily, Loona found a trace and if she put in a lot of leg work, it won't take long to find them. "It smells like they went this way." The disguised hellhound puts Millie inside the bag and picks up the ax to hand it to the female imp. "Come one, let's find the dumbass twins and our boy."

Without wasting any more time, she ran quickly. "Loona..." Millie addressed. "Do you think they're okay?"

Loona frowns, contemplating. "Yeah, of course...they gotta be..."

Lincoln felt everything in his system do a complete shutdown, same with Moxxie and as such, the effect of those darts caused them to be unconscious for a considerable amount of time. Eyes blinking open slowly, Lincoln had to shake his head to clear his head a little and finally coming to, he gasps once he sees that he was restrained to a chair and the imps also tied to separate chairs, and both of their tails were chained to a metal ball. Blitzo was the only one among the three that remained conscious as Agents One and Two shone a light on them to begin the interrogation.

"Finally awake, huh, little fella?" Two said to Moxxie. "Your partner has been for a while now."

The bad cop routine had zero effect on Blitzo.

"Look, shit-bag. It takes a lot to keep me down, alright? That, and back in my college days before dropping out, I took a fuck ton of tranq darts." Blitzo calmly informs her, crossing his legs. "Hell, I've even been strapped nipple-first to a car battery, so I-little bright there!" Blitzo hissed at the light being shone on him by One.

"Tell us, demon scum! Who sent you here? Satan?" One questioned heatedly.

Agent Two continued the questioning from there.

"How did you get here from the afterlife?"

"Why are you killing so many humans?!"

"When did you show up here?!"

"What's the kid got to do with all this? You kidnap him?"

"Maybe you are replacing human children with your own demon spawn to trick us?!"

"Is he really the same Lincoln Albert Loud who disappeared?!"

"Have you been taking more missing humans?!"

"Thus some part of secret plan or-"

Lincoln halted any more interrogation, all the constant questioning was getting to him and his coworkers. "Hold it!" Both agents were swiftly silenced by Lincoln's shout. "Can you give us a second to speak for ourselves? My god, you two just keep going on and on about way off-base theories and conspiracies and...this is starting to feel like a huge eye opener for me." He makes a mental note to maybe get a better handle on his own paranoia and overthinking, recalling past conclusions he's made out of his overworked imagination. "Look, I know how this looks, but these two aren't bad guys." Blitzo raises an eyebrow. "...not at heart..." Lincoln got more looks. "...when you get to know them, they're pretty alright. Just don't think they did anything bad to me. I hate when that happens."

"Egad!" One gaped dramatically. "They must have gotten to him somehow!"

"That, or he isn't the real Lincoln Albert Loud at all!"

Blitzo snorted. "Albert? That's your middle name?" he teased.

"It's my grandfather's name, alright?" Lincoln defended, not ashamed. "Lay off. It was either that or Marie, like all my sisters."

"All of your sisters' middle names are Marie?" Blitzo surmised, baffled. "Fucking Christ, kid, are your parents the most unoriginal humans alive or what? Bland enough that they name all their kids that start with "L", are their own names basic, too? Like Leroy and Lena?"

"For your information, Blitz. My mom's name is Rita and my dad...well, his name is Lynn." If Lincoln could scratch his nape, he could. "Lynn Sr. actually. My sister, Lynn was named after him-"

"Ha! So, I win, then!"

"Blitz, this isn't a contest!"

"But if it were, I'd be winning!"

"Hey! We ain't playing games here, alright?!" One peered closer at Blitzo with a finger. "We got questions that only you and your little friend here can answer, so start playing nice or we may have to get ugly!"

"And believe us, we will!" Two supported her partner.

They talked a big game, but they underestimate how unfettered Blitzo was, and the best way to counteract their interrogation was some good fun fucking around to endlessly frustrate them. "Okay, let me cut in, bitch. First of all, we're up and about after a very nasty shock, and I'm still fucking woozy. So, mind getting us some coffee before we get into this. I mean, is coffee not always a thing in shitty movie scenes like this, am I right?"

Lincoln stifles a laugh. "You're not wrong there."

"Thanks, Lincoln. I want something iced, bitch. What about you, kid?"

Knowing where his boss was going, Lincoln plays along. "A nice soda will be just fine. But I am trying to like coffee some more, so maybe decaf if you have it."

"Mox?"

Whether Moxxie knew about Blitzo's plan or not, the music-loving imp played his part.

To vastly annoying levels.

"If it's all the same to you, I'll just have a Neapolitan cappuccino, more cappu than cino ". Make sure it's got no more than at least four ounces of milk, the beans won't have the right texture otherwise, and be sure they spell my name correctly on the cup. For some reason, it's always Foxy or Roxy, and I hate that." No more than how much the agents were hating the unnecessarily tall order Moxxie was placing. Even his co-workers found it way too taxing. Blitzo had sympathies to whatever barista has had to deal with Moxxie as a customer and the people waiting in line until he was done. "If that's too much, I'll settle for a Venti traditional Misto. Please try to use soy milk with two blonde shots Affogato and Ristretto!" he pointed his foot at Agent Two who felt like pulling her ears off. "Of course, I can't forget three vanilla pumps at the very bottom. Then, add the coffee after, then-"

"Enough!" One exclaimed, any more and his head would explode. "No one's getting coffee!"

For once, Blitzo had to give props to Moxxie for his superb annoying skills there. "Wow, that actually gave me massive douche chills just there, Mox. Not bad." he praised with an impressed smirk.

"If we have to, we are willing to resort to torture methods to get answers out of you nasty hell beasts!" Two warns the imps.

Real tough, but Moxxie still had some retorting skill in him. "Can you be more specific? By "torture", are we talking physical or psychological?" Plus, there were a lot of holes to point out in that idea. "Physical torture can often be counterproductive. We'd like to tell you anything if it meant an end to the pain, but then you would have no way of knowing what was true."

"We might even end up liking it too much." Blitzo cracked. "And you'll have a whole new thing to deal with."

"What do you mean by that?" One inquired.

"Oh, not too bright, huh?" Blitzo playfully teases. "Hey, I'm not picky. Daddy likey Dummy." he wiggles his eyebrows suggestively.

Lincoln and Moxxie moved around on their chairs, neither could contain their laughter.

"Okay, okay! Stop, Bltz! It's too much!"

"Good one, sir! Daddy likey-"

One and Two found no humor in the jokes. Their endless laughing reminded them of how all the other super cool government agencies constantly ridiculed and poked fun at them for the main mission of their entire organization.

"You better quit laughing at us!" Two yells.

One grabs Blitzo and screams at him. "Yeah! You ought to be begging for mercy!"

Moxxie explained why they can't help but mock the two sub-par agents through his smug grin. "I get it, we're the prisoners, but it's hard not to. I'm really sorry." He knows they're trying their best, but come on, these clowns are just so easy to rile up. "I mean, taking into account your approach thus far, you've had us tied here for I'm thinking hours and you haven't even had us confirm what exactly we are!"

Two leans downward with curiosity. "What are you?"

"A Virgo."

Blitzo never thought he'd get so many laughs from Moxxie killing it with his own set of jokes.

One and Two weren't in the mood for jokes once One tossed Blitzo back to his chair. "Oh, a smart guy, eh?"

"One more quip and we'll shut you up!" Agent Two warned them.

Blitzo insulted some more. "Ooh, getting kinky now, are we?"

The agents recoiled in disgust. "What?! We're not playing any of your vile demon kinks!"

"I mean, that's what it sounded like, you sickos!" Blitzo taunted.

Moxxie giggles. "Come now, don't give them ideas, sir." he jokingly pleads.

"Why not? I know the shit you're into." This was so much fun that Blitzo couldn't resist some cracks at Moxxie.

"Sir! Not in front of Lincoln!"

One plugs his ears to stop hearing more of this, the demons were supposed to be ones suffering, not them. "Stop! We would never get kinky with you!"

"Calm down, One!" Two attempted to calm her partner down. "Don't let these monsters rile you up!"

Unfortunately for Agent One, that was way too easy for Blitzo to do. "Hey, can you get us a phone call, bitch?"

One saw this as an opportunity to pry further into proving that the two irritating little rascals were genuine demons from Hell, and pay them back for their wisecracks at them, it was the only way their agency would finally get the recognition it deserved. "Well, that really depends." he smugly says. "Who're you gonna call? Hmm?"

"No one special. Just your fat mom." Blitzo cruelly retorts. "I wanna give my thanks to her for a fat time!"

Now that remark was cruel.

Not just because of how personal that jab was, but also of one little fact Two pointed out to Blitzo. "Afraid you're out of luck on that front, demon scum! As it happens, his fat mom is dead!" Two counters, being reminded of that, drove Agent One to tears.

"I wouldn't count that as a point for you guys." Lincoln said, sending sympathies to the grieving agent. "Super sorry about that, by the way."

"Don't apologize to them, bud. They're piss-buckets who have no clue who they're messing with." Blitzo chortles. "And one of them has a fucking dead mom! I'm sorry, I just can't help myself!"

What all the jabs will help is them by buying themselves more time until their rescue comes in.

The rescue team consisting of Millie and Loona eventually found their way to where Loona followed the scent of the boys and it was at a heavily fortified and guarded government building owned by the agents of the group that's all about the investigation of the supernatural. A clandestine secretive group known by the sole moniker that is D.H.O.R.K.S.

"Who names their group that?" Loona asked. The acronym for this group of secret demon-hunting agents is literally D.H.O.R.K.S.

It can only be assumed that all the other cool-sounding acronyms were taken, or they were trying way too hard to come up with a clever long-sounding name for their organization. Whatever the case, these guys are who took the guys captive and at the very least, they were equipped with katana blades, chain sickles, spears, shurikens, sais, and so on, but no guns. Their only arsenal seems to only be weapons originating from Japan's feudal period and no signs of firearms on their persons, which didn't help their image.

At least it can be inferred that they're competent enough to be skilled and trained with those weapons.

"Is this really where they ended up?" Millie asked, looking over Loona's head inside the bag.

The Hellhound made sure they weren't seen. "The only place I could find." Loona's nose never failed her before. Taking note of the guards, searchlights and cameras at the entrance, getting inside won't be easy in the slightest. "Fuck, this looks intense than I expected, just how're we gonna get in?"

Millie looks upwards and brightens up with an idea. "Lift me up there, to that vent." She instructs Loona.

Loona raises her arm to allow Millie to climb high enough to tear the vent entrance off and crawl inside.

With remarkable time, she manages to get inside and unlock the door right beside Loona and the two race through the hallways of the building, looking for any sign of their wayward compatriots. When they passed by agents who were standing on guard, Loona tip-toed her way to not arouse their suspicions, and so far, it seemed to have worked out great for them.

Unfortunately, they were caught on one camera and the agent that was watching its video security feed spat out his coffee in shock and wasted no time in pushing the button meant to sound the alarm for intruders, disregarding the outraged look of his fellow agent who was splashed by the coffee liquids.

Loona comes to an abrupt halt once she and Millie see a squad of agents standing in their way with swords, sais, spears, and nunchucks.

One agent swung his spear only for Loona to duck and launched the ax at his leg. Millie offered cover fire with her dual pistols. Loona threw the ax at an agent, Millie got out of the bag and climbed up to grab the ax to attack more and avoided a sword strike meant for her. Despite their issues, the two girls surprisingly worked well together. Loona attempted a flying jumping kick at the agent with nunchucks, but he moved to the side. The agent tried hitting her, but she jumped forward and bent backwards to avoid getting hit by a thrown chain sickle, which instead killed nunchucks, which served Loona and Millie quite well. Millie cracked one's neck while standing on the ax's handle.

Loona grabs her by the arm and runs.

More agents were blocking them, one pressing a button to cut them off with a steel door and the other two ready to launch shurikens at them to delay the lady demons.

Their aim was evidently poor as the two female I.M.P employees prevented themselves from being hit, but they saw that steel door coming down.

"Throw me! Now!" Millie exclaims to the receptionist.

Usually, Loona would only listen to Blitzo, and Lincoln as she's come to trust his judgment, but circumstances requested that she comply.

Millie rolls on the ground before getting to the other side of the room just before the blast door completes its descent.

Loona blinked with eyes wide as she heard fighting noises that involved the unbridled fury of a pissed off lady imp. With her work done, Millie pressed the button to raise the blast door up, revealing there were no more hindrances to their mission. She hung her ax on her shoulder as Loona saw her handiwork.

"Damn. For an old lady, you're pretty agile." Loona teasingly complimented.

"For your information, I'm five years older than you." Millie snapped back.

Out of all the agents that were murdered by Millie, only one was still alive, he was severely injured, but he was alive, albeit barely. "Need...help..." he groans, trying to call for backup, but screams when his radio was shot off by Millie's gun and she pointed the ax against him.

"Listen well and listen good, you no-good shades wearin' son of a bitch!" Millie bares her teeth and murderous scowl. "I left you alive, that wasn't an accident! Tell us where you're keeping the best boss in the world, and my sweet gentle Mox-Mox, and the kindest, sweetest miracle that ever fell on mine and my hubby's laps!"

It was impressive that he was resilient. "P-Policy states that I don't-"

Millie slashed wildly across him. "Wrong answer!"

"Hey Save it for the rescue." Loona told her, though understood Millie. "We still have a lot of ground to cover. Come on!"

They left before more agents arrived.

What was intended to be a harsh interrogation to get Blitzo and Moxxie to sing and air out all their dirty laundry to get all the required proof they can present to finally be taken seriously by all the other government groups is now anything but. Thanks mostly in part to Blitzo and Moxxie's continuous jabbing at them and they just loved how much they set the two agents off.

"Stop bringing my mother into this!" Agent One cried to the grinning Blitzo who stuck his tongue out at him. "She's dead!"

Agent Two settles him down with some soothing pats on the shoulder. "Hey, hey. Cool it, alright? Don't you see you're playing right into their hands? We won't get anywhere with them if we let ourselves fall for their demon tricks."

"Take my word for it, sister. I'm not even pulling out the really sweet material." Blitzo said, enjoying himself. "Besides, it's not like you clowns were getting anywhere to begin with. This is way more fun for us than it should've been and it's your own fault for sucking so much."

"Laugh while you still can, demon." Two spat, as she and One moved Lincoln's chair away from them. "We'll get our answers out of you and break whatever hold you got over the kid here."

"Don't oversell it, he's an unpaid intern." Blitzo rolled his eyes. "Nothing like some binding deal that causes him nothing but trouble."

Lincoln deadpans. "Is there really a difference?"

"Ha! Okay, I'll give you that one, kid."

Two whispers to Lincoln. "Out with it then. Can you confirm that you were forcefully taken by this horrendous pack of Hell spawn and are forced to suffer unspeakable amounts of hard labor?" she asked.

One brought up the other outlandish theory. "Or, are you in fact, a demon Hell spawn yourself. Taking the guise of the real Lincoln Albert Loud, who as we speak is currently slaving away with other kidnapped children in the dirty pits these two crawled out of?"

Lincoln looked between the agents in disbelief. "I mean. You two hear yourselves, right?"

"Come on, give us something here." Two pleaded. "If you help us out, we can help you out. You got a family worried back home, right? Say the word and you'll be there in no time."

"Assuming you are who you appear to be." One clarified.

"If you guys aren't even sure of who I am, what guarantee do I have that you'll actually honor your part of the deal?"

Lincoln would love nothing else more than to see his family again, but he's come to realize that he can't really do so at the moment, due to the whole curse thing with his soul being linked to literal Hell and all the demons, stuff that would no doubt blow their minds and he's not willing to risk that. Additionally, he didn't trust these agents in the slightest.

"You don't, but that's a risk we're willing to take!" One looked at Two facepalming herself. "What?"

"Who are you guys anyway?" Lincoln felt that he needed some answers. "Are you really with the government? Because, I can't remember ever hearing about guys like you before."

"That's because officially speaking, we don't exist." Two adjusted her shades in a serious fashion. "But if we did, we'd be the government's answer to all those that go bump in the night. We hunt down and learn the origin of these supernatural threats, so we can put a stop to it at its source. A lot of manpower is put into investigating and researching any possible demon-related phenomena the best we way we can."

"Woah..." Lincoln breathed a little in awe, that all sounds like a recurring fantasy he's had growing up. "So, the government knows about all that stuff."

One deflated. "...Well, no, actually. We're not exactly...well-funded, mostly getting washouts and not that much equipment from funding. We only make enough to be the only two agents with the gadgets used to capture youse and the only ones allowed to have firearms."

If Blitzo didn't find them pathetic before, he certainly does now, and he's loving it. "Haha! So, wait. You're saying you ding-dongs are the company guys that get laughed at and pushed around, aren't you?! You're hapless demon hunters who probably didn't get enough action until now! No wonder you suck at this whole interrogation thing, I mean, you can't even scare Moxxie! The company crybabies! The losers that no one believes at all!"

One bares his gritted teeth. "Yeah? Well, that's all gonna change once we get all your dirty laundry, you damn heathen! After tonight, ain't no one will ever call us conspiracy nuts ever again! Hell, we might even get some snazzy new tech from science heads like that wiz-kid prodigy from Michigan! Mark our words, we're gonna find out what you have and why you have the kid! Can only be something bad if you carry around that gun we confiscated!"

Okay, so these guys obviously just want to prove themselves to their peers by any means necessary.

That made Lincoln less sympathetic.

But Agent One mentioning the revolver reminded Lincoln that it wasn't the only weapon he had. Before all this insanity went down, he remembered Moxxie and Millie teaching him that should he ever be captured, it will always pay to have a concealed weapon to either attack, or break free from his restraints. Shimmying his right arm, he felt his knife fall down his sleeve and he catches the handle, then begins using it to cut the ropes. Moxxie sees what he was doing and opts to assist him by making sure the agents don't catch him in the act. He nudges Blitzo who arches an outraged eyebrow before seeing what Moxxie was gesturing to and understands the ploy. "Aiming pretty high there, champ. But with your very poor way of doing things, I wouldn't push my luck if I were you."

"What was that?! Make another joke about our incompetence again! I dare you!"

"You know what? Nah. You probably get enough crap from the other infinitely cooler agencies, nothing you haven't heard already."

Lincoln successfully cuts the ropes off him and he looks to his coworkers, contemplating whether he should attack the agents. Moxxie shakes his head sternly and nods to the exit doors, but Lincoln was hesitant. An assured smile and silent promise from Moxxie was enough to make Lincoln quietly walk to the door and walk out before the doors shit very loudly.

One and Two heard this and saw the cut ropes on the floor. "He's gone? He's gone!" One exclaims, panicked just like Two.

"Uh-oh. Some a-holes are in trouble~!" Blitzo sang.

"Why you dirty-!"

"That's enough, One!" Two prevented him from doing anything that would only make things more messed up for them. "Let's just leave them here until they feel like talking." she leads him out of the room with a suspicious eye on the imps.

With them gone, Blitzo struggles to break free himself, but to no avail. Sighing in resignation, Blitzo still tries to keep both his and Moxxie's spirits up with some encouraging words. "Don't worry about anything, Mox. So long as we keep being obnoxious, they'll slip up, giving us a chance to get out like Lincoln. Let's just keep making fun of their shit flaws until they get so frustrated, they stop thinking clearly. It usually works."

Unknown to both of them, they were being monitored by One and Two through a one-way mirror.

"Mmm, so these demons like to play games?" One shares a conniving smirk with his partner. "Well, if he insists."

Snickering, Two slammed a button on the panel. "Yeah. But what about the kid? He made it to the vents." She points to the open entrance through the ventilation shaft.

One rubs his chin in deep thought. "Did the techie guys install the truth gas into them?"

"Yeah, but are you really sure? We have no clue on how it affects humans."

"Assuming that kid's human to begin with." One countered coldly. "It should make him woozy enough to make it easy for the guys to bring him back. This is the job, Two. We gotta live with it. For now, let's just enjoy the show."

Back with the imps, Moxxie made it known that his concern was more on his wife at the moment. "I want to believe you, but I just hope Millie's fine. She's probably here by now, I'm sure." He has no idea what she was in for, and that scared him. "And what about Lincoln? He got out, but how long until they recapture him?"

Blitzo groans at this, though, feeling his fears were unwarranted. "Ugh, our Millie'll be okay, Moxxie. These guys would need an aquarium of roided up hippos if they want any chance of taking her down when she's pissed." Even then, that still wouldn't be enough. "And Linc's a crafty little rascal, you of all people should know that. We taught him enough to make it out of here, meet up with Mills and get us out."

"I get that, but sir, this is the first time involving the human government." Moxxie reasonably pointed out. This was an entirely new ball game and for all the dumb luck that got them out of scraps before, this time around, it may not serve them well. "They're both in danger!" he shouts, both unaware of the green gas that started to fill the room.

His worrying over his wife and kid they both basically adopted, ticking off the taller imp.

Blitzo gets it, he loves them and the feeling is very mutual, but damn it, did it just burn Blitzo up. It's not exactly a guarded secret on how much Moxxie and Millie love each other, so maybe they should stop flaunting it about.

"Do I honestly have to beg for you to shut up about Millie and Lincoln?!" Blitzo asked in exasperation. "It's always, 'oh, where's Millie? I can't do anything fun tonight, I'm so worried about Millie.' That's you when she's only five fucking feet away from you! Don't even get me started on how much of a helicopter daddy you've been, thinking that Linc needs to be protected. You think I don't understand, but I do! What pisses me off is how you still haven't accepted the fact that you're practically his dad now and it's pathetic!"

"...That was oddly deep." Moxxie noted. It hurt, but he never expected such a tirade from Blitzo when it comes to personal feelings.

Blitzo realizes that it was indeed out of character for him. "Yeah...yeah, it was. Why fuck did I just let my guts spill like that?"

Moxxie observed the room around them and froze up when he saw the green gas. "Sir, we may have a situation!" he directly said, raising his legs.

Blitzo hissed at the stench. "Fuck! The hell are they trying now?!"

"Can't be sure, but it looks like some kind of airborne truth telling serum?" Moxxie correctly guessed, judging from his previous rant. Stuff like that is what most people would only keep deep inside to themselves.

Still, Blitzo couldn't hide how annoyed he was by the know-it-all fashion Moxxie used. "Really? That was just a guess?""

Proof will be required. "That's just how I see it. I thought it was obvious. Why not just ask me something that I'd never be open about to make sure?"

"Okay, this has been nagging me since spring break..." Blitzo asked a question that's been on his mind for a long while now. "Moxxie, does Millie ever peg you?"

"Sometimes." Moxxie admitted with a bashful smile and blush before gagging at the very invasive question. "Wait! Gross! Fuck! There were other questions! Why did it have to be that one?" He was so glad Lincoln wasn't present.

Blitzo smugly laughed. "Ha! Called it! By the way, you see Lincoln as your son?"

"As a matter of fact, at first, I felt it was rude of me to take on a paternal role since as stated before, he's not an orphan. But as time passed and we began to get closer, I can't say I don't envy Mr. Loud for having such a bright lad like Lincoln for a son. With recent days, I'm actually beginning to come around to...will you stop it, sir?!" Moxxie flushes.

"Hey, at least you're right about the truth gas, Mox. Take some pride in that."

"At least I'm not the one wearing a tacky suit!" Moxxie instantly regrets it. "Fuck, I'm so sorry!"

Blitzo gasps dramatically, aghast by what he just said. "How fucking dare you, Mox?! You've always had a shitty taste in music-ah! Sorry you had to hear that!" Even for Blitzo, that was way out of line for him, knowing full well how sensitive Moxxie is about what he enjoys.

"Shit taste? Me?" Moxxie repeats, tears swelling up. "But, didn't you say you liked that musical I recommended?"

Blitzo couldn't resist the effects of the truth gas. "That was a lie! I ended up leaving halfway through! I couldn't take it anymore!"

"You-You told me to my face that you loved it!"

Hearing the awful truth and saying it drove them both to tears.

"It was just so awful, Moxxie! Who'd like one about ugly horny cats!" Blitzo and Moxxie sobbed uncontrollably under the sad reality of things. "Oh, god, Moxxie The lies I've told you are endless!"

For One and Two, this was too good of a show. "We're due for a good night." Two said, and what show would be complete without popcorn and soda?

If they think this was a sight, they should see how the gas was affecting Lincoln.

"Ugh! What the heck?!"

After making his escape from interrogation, Lincoln made his way into the air vents before Agents One and Two could know it. While crawling through the tight space, Lincoln weighed his options and figured he needs to at least escape wherever this place is, find Millie and get the guys out as well. But then, out of nowhere, some weird green gas was released in the vents and he coughs wildly after breathing it in. It wasn't knockout gas, since he was still conscious, and he didn't feel any other side effects, but he should still be on his toes.

Figuratively speaking, of course.

"Got word from One and Two."

Chatter got his attention from outside and listens in as a cadre of agents gather around.

"We are to hunt for a white haired middle schooler who could very well be a demon under the guise of a white-haired middle schooler." A bald agent told them, holding his sword in its sheath until the need arises. "We'll have to put this on top priority in addition to those two intruders that have already terminated many other agents in a gorey uninhibited fashion."

"Seems like a lot for just one kid." a second agent whispers to a third.

"Don't over-analyze this whole deal, new guy." the third whispered. "We hardly get paid enough as it is."

"You guys get paid?"

The lead agent barked at them to zip their lips and focus on the task at hand. "Cut the crap chatter there! You have your assignments, so go do them already! Radio in for any backup should it's need and not for a bathroom break or snack break! Toilets are still clogged like a motherfucker and they've yet to refill the snacks in the break-room. You'll have to make due with coffee breaks. But don't go overboard like in the last company picnic." he and all agents turned to the agent guilty of that and tried evading their gazes.

"When are you guys gonna let that go?!"

"Move out!"

The bald agent stuck behind as the others ran to other areas of the building. "I have prepared for this day." he silently says to himself, speaking with utmost seriousness with a hard grip on the katana's handle. "All my training, all those years of preparing my mind and soul have all led up to this very moment, and nothing shall stand in my way, I am prepared for any-OOF!"

A panel fell down and bonked him on the head.

He gurgles incoherently before fainting to the ground with a loud thud.

Lincoln jumps down from the vents and inspects his handiwork. "Sorry about that. But I really wanna get out of here." Lincoln searches the slumbering agent for any weapons and only finds throwing stars and kunais. "Seriously? No guns or anything? I get that this stuff looks cool, but come on. Where's the practicality? God, this place just keeps feeling terrible. I'd definitely feel better if Verosika were here and-OOP!" he slaps his hands to his mouth before he could finish that sentence, blushing furiously. "Why did I just say that?"

"Guh..." the agent groans.

"I'm gonna take that as you not hearing it. Maybe I'm just tired. Yeah, that's it. Not the good kind of tired after how good it felt when she and her gal pals kissed my face all over-what is going on with me tonight?!"

Questions for later.

Right now, he needs to get out.

From the sound of things, it looks like a rescue is on its way, but he needs to be absolutely sure it's who he sincerely hopes it is. He pokes around to find anything useful that would aid in his aim for a complete escape. A few agents were observing security cameras and that would no doubt help him, but he doesn't want to attract more attention by attacking, so this required some more careful planning.

"Hey, did you get a memo about the new protocols?" One of the observing agents asks.

"Memo? What memo?"

A radio turned on and Lincoln's voice was heard and it sounded like a trucker's tone. "Breaker, breaker. Uh...one of the new temps came back with the takeout food we ordered."

Both agents gasp.

"It's an alpha-tango-bravo-omega!"

"Really? Don't you mean sigma-beta-tau-delta?"

"I don't keep track of all these damn codes, man! Let's roll! You don't ever want to miss this!"

Surprisingly, that ploy worked and Lincoln knew that the radio he took from the agent he knocked out was a good move. "Gotta be a way to an exit on this." Lincoln climbs onto the chair and sees all the video screens, he stops and smiles widely once he sees two familiar people. A fiery female imp and a punk goth girl that was used as a disguise for his favorite company receptionist. "Millie! I knew she'd come for us! And she brought Loona and the grimoire, too! Okay, time for a new plan!" he gets off the chair. "Regroup with them, rescue Moxxie and Blitzo, use a book to open a portal back to the office. Short, simple, but first, I need a drink." he pours himself a cup of water from a nearby barrel, he suddenly feels a little parched. "Okay, now I-woah..." Just as he took his next step, Lincoln's footing wavers and he drops the cup. Everything just started to feel woozy, and his head felt light. "What's going-GAH!" That lightness erupted into a throbbing pain that made him grab his head and groan out painfully, dropping to his knees and feeling every part of his body on fire.

"You hear something?"

"Come this way!"

Hearing agents' voices, Lincoln quickly made himself scarce, but couldn't stop the pain in his head. It's like all a part of it just began to shut down...but not his entire mind, something else felt like taking the reins.

Something...he's felt before.

Before he knew it, his sight began to alter in an odd way. The setting around him dissipated as if it weren't there to begin with and he found that the hard surface his hands were on felt like...grass?

"What is this...?" He's outside.

"Need a hand, lame-o?"

His head shoots upright and gasps softly at the hand reached out to him, and the biggest surprise came when he saw who it belonged to.

"...Ronnie Anne?"

Blitzo and Moxxie had no success in getting themselves free from their restraints like Lincoln did and the gas that compels them to say nothing but the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth didn't improve matters. It was even starting to make them see things that weren't really there, showing that the gas had a form of hallucinogenic effect as well. Blitzo couldn't believe it all went to shit after a job, and couldn't believe two humans caught him.

All he could do was pin the blame on the only other imp in the room.

"Damn it, Moxxie! As usual, this is your fault!" he barked.

"My fault? My fault?!" Moxxies outrageously repeated. "How am I to blame for any of this?! No, here's a better question, isn't it funny how with every screw-up or unfortunate circumstance that befalls us, it's always gotta be someone else but you, sir?! As if it's somehow impossible that you can mess up just as bad as I can! In the circumstances where it really is my fault, I actually accept it and apologize!"

"And what exactly are you trying to say?!"

"I'm saying that most good employers would take responsibility for their own shortcomings and their own mistakes! As you like to remind me, you're the boss! All this is because of a profession you concocted yourself, so maybe think on who's truly to blame! Maybe then things like this can never happen again! So that my wife and our son wouldn't have to risk their lives! But, noooo, just make me out to be your fall guy! It wouldn't kill you to spin it around once in a while!"

"Oh, you'd love that, wouldn't you? Also, I heard you call Lincoln your son! You just proved me right!"

"You finally apologize for being an impulsive buffoon for once? Yes, I-" Moxxie stopped his tirade once his eyes blinked. "Uh, do you feel tired?"

"Yeah..." Blitzo shook his head. "Feels like I ran in a fucking marathon, I'm gonna go to sleep now."

"Likewise."

Lincoln believed it just wasn't possible.

He never imagined seeing her again.

Yet, there she was.

Ronalda Anne Santiago.

One of his best friends.

A girl Lincoln Loud cares for in ways that transcend a simple friendship even when he would deny it. "Ronnie Anne...I...I..."

"What's up, Linc? You gonna lay there all day?" Ronnie Anne chuckles, still holding out her hand. Staring agape, Lincoln numbly reaches out and she helps him stand up, and he quickly grabs her by the shoulders.

"R-Ronnie Anne! Y-You're here!" Lincoln couldn't believe it, but there she was, standing right in front of him. Did the agents capture her too?! How did she even know he was there?! "I don't believe it..."

"Whoa, cool down, alright?" Ronnie Anne smiles. "I get that you miss me being in Royal Woods after I moved with Bobby and our mom, but come on, Great Lakes is only three hours away. You don't see me freaking out when you visit."

"Wait, what?" The heck was she talking about? They weren't in...hang on. He now sees that they were standing on a sidewalk outside where it was morning instead of the nighttime. The houses that surrounded them, he recognized, this very street was well known by him. This was Franklin Avenue. He grew up on this very lane, in the town where he lives. It really was Royal Woods. "I'm-I'm home?!"

"Duh!" Ronnie Anne answers obviously. "I gotta say, Lincoln. Ever since you came back, you've been way weirder than usual. What, did you think you were still missing?"

"No...but...what?"

Sighing with a smile, Ronnie Anne holds out her arms. "Okay, come here."

"Um, excuse me?"

"Jeez, do I have to do everything?" she wraps him up in a warm hug.

"...You're hugging me." Lincoln says after a stunned silence.

"Always pointing out the obvious, huh, punk?" Ronnie Anne laughs.

"It's just...you rarely give me hugs...especially in public."

"Trust me, it looks like you need it and besides, do you not want me to hug you?"

Wow, that was a question Lincoln never thought he'd hear from Ronnie Anne of all people, but admittedly, this felt very nice. He gradually returns the hug with a smile and light blush on his face. "Actually, I don't really mind." he then remembers something very important. "But wait, I shouldn't even be here, I need to get out of...um...where was I again?"

He felt like he had something to do.

Something very important.

"I'll tell you where you need to be. At your house."

Lincoln froze.

"My house?"

"Come on, they're waiting for you."

Ronnie Anne takes Lincoln by his hand and walks past the houses and passing people until they make it to a destination where Lincoln hasn't taken a step in for a very long time that he wondered if he'd ever see it again. But there it was. The Loud House. There was Vanzilla parked in its broken down glory and like all the time, there were frisbees and other items stuck on the roof. Lincoln gulps tersely as he stares in shock, wondering if he were re-living one of his dreams, but for all intents and purposes, it all seemed so real it was unbelievable. "This is my house..." he breathes.

"Sorry to cut and run here, but I gotta meet up with my brother. Catch ya later, Linc!"

She skateboards away and he barely waves.

He didn't know why he just stood there, every thought in his told him to enter, but it just felt so surreal seeing his house after so long.

He took slow cautious steps, walking up to the porch. He turned the knob once and opened the door to peer inside, the living room was exactly as he left it and barking got his attention.

Looking down, he sees the Loud family's pet dog who was panting happily with his tongue out. "Charles? Charles!" Lincoln kneels and scratches the canine happily. "Aw, I've missed you so much, boy" Then came in the cat, hamster, and canary. "Cliff, Geo, Walt! You're all here!"

"I hear hungry cries of happiness!"

Softly gasping, Lincoln looks to the kitchen entrance and there walks in Lynn Loud, Sr mixing food batter.

Chef.

Husband.

To Lincoln, his father.

"Dad...it's you..."

Lynn Sr. smiles at his only son. "Hey there, kiddo. You're just in time to try out a new dish I'm gonna use for the restaurant. A little preview before lunch, so-oof!" The father of eleven was taken back when Lincoln swiftly hugged him.

"Dad! I can't believe it!" Lincoln joyfully says.

"Heh, come on, son. I get you kids love my cooking, but it's not that big a deal."

"I'm back!" Now came Rita Loud, the family matriarch.

"Mom!"

Rita nearly fell over from the force of Lincoln's hug. "Whoa! Why can't I get welcome homes like thus regularly?" she playfully chides. "Someone's in a good mood."

"It's just..." Lincoln fought back tears. "...I'm so happy to see you both!"

"Oh, we're happy to see you, too, sweetie. But we're not your only family, right?"

"Which reminds me." Lynn Sr. whistles. "Girls! Time for lunch! Final call before it's officially chow time! "

Familiar thundering footsteps were heard and for once, Lincoln was glad to hear the ten-headed beast awaken. He never thought he'd actually meet the loud clamoring of his beloved sisters. Like every day in the Loud house, they ran down the stairs like a stampede, all doing their usual antics and activities that signified their core personalities and quirks.

"Honestly, you guys. Who took my portable phone charger? That's one of the things I don't need to worry about in Fairway." Lori complained.

Leni went green. "Like, totes ew! Who'd want to pee on a charger?! Except maybe Lana."

"Not that kind of portable, dude." Luna nudged. "Maybe you left it back at the dorms, Lori. And say, think you can hook me and my mates up with a gig at your school? The Moon Goats are jonesin' for a college gig!"

"Toots here needs a visit there, too." Mr. Cocoanuts gestures to Luan, his puppeteer. "She's got an important photo assignment for school."

"It's for an important photography college." Luan quips through her chuckles. "Get it?"

"Heads up, little bro!" Lincoln expertly catches one of Lynn's soccer balls and she takes it back with a smirk. "Wicked reflexes, Lincoln. Good to know you worked on some moves while you were away."

"I find it more important that he came back, period." Lincoln screams as Lucy appears beside him without making a sound. "You've been dearly missed, big brother."

The twins, Lana and Lola, hugged him at once. "I missed him more!" the little tomboy declares.

Her princess twin shouts back. "Nuh-uh! I did!"

"Would you monozygotic sapiens keep it down? A lunch can't be enjoyed through your childish prattle." Lisa complained.

"Lnkn..." Lily waddles to her big brother to give him a hug of her own. "Lnkn! Linkn!"

"Come on, kids!" Lynn Sr. screams. "Lunch won't eat itself!"

Everyone took their seats at the family table and Lincoln couldn't wait to dig into his dad's tasty food. "Oh, I have missed this!"

For some reason, Lynn Sr. stops him. "Now slow your roll, son. The family's not all together just yet."

"Huh?" Lincoln didn't know what his father really meant by that. Unless Pop-Pop, Myrtle, and Aunt Ruth were coming by, he couldn't think of others besides-wait. Why were there four extra chairs?

A crash was heard outside and the Loud pack ran to the front and Lynn Sr. cries out once he sees Vanzilla even more wrecked after it got crashed into by...the I.M.P van? "Damn it, sir! I told you to mind the stop signs!" Before Lincoln's eyes, the imps and hellhound of the company got out, all in their natural demon forms. Moxxie was mouthing off to Blitzo.

"My baby!" Lynn Sr. lamented. "Blitz, you could've at least avoided the van!"

"Oh, don't bitch and moan over the old heap, Lynn, old buddy." Blitzo wraps an arm around the grieving man. "I keep telling ya. Keep it in the garage or worst case scenario, I destroy it with a fucking rocket launcher."

Lincoln blinks multiple times. "Blitz? Moxxie? Millie? Loona?"

"Hey!" Millie hops over and smothers him with affection. "There's my little man!"

Rita clears her throat. "You mean our little man, Millie."

"Oh, potato, potahto, Rita."

Moxxie was more comforting to Lynn Sr. "Lynn, I am so terribly sorry about the van. If you want, I could help bring it to the repair shop. I'll even pay for it."

"It's-It's fine, Moxxie." Lynn Sr. rubs his temple. "She's been through worse. And you're all just in time for family dinner!"

Lincoln slowly turns his head. "...What?"

"And Lincoln, I do hope you'll complete your schoolwork after eating." Moxxie advises. "But don't worry, I'll help tutor like always."

"I-you-all here-what?"

Lori glares as she sees Loona holding something. "Wait! That's literally my charger So, you took it!"

"Forgot mine in Hell." the hellhound shrugs nonchalantly. "You should literally keep better care of your shit." she sardonically fires back, using Lori's own catchphrase against her.

"Simmer down, children! It's time for some eats!" Blitzo rubs his hands.

Lincoln blinked multiple times as he fully registered the unbelievable sight. "...What the fuck?!"

It seemed like Lincoln had finally gotten his wish after such a long time.

To be back at Royal Woods, reunite with the friends and family he's missed so terribly and for things to be back as they were before his life went quite literally to Hell and it'd be the same usual Loud House misadventures. Only thing different was that all his coworkers from I.M.P seem to now be partaking in family eats, and it looks as if it were a usual thing. "Lincoln, honey. Eat up. Your food's getting' called." Millie told him.

"...Um, sure."

"Everything good, Linc?" Loona asked. "You look like Luan when she finds crack marks on her creepy as fuck puppet."

"Hey, where's the love for old dummies, doll?" Mr. Cocoanuts complained.

"It's nothing. It's just...what's going on here?" He can't be the only one terribly confused. "Since when did you all meet I. since when was it okay to walkabout without disguises? And where did you get the extra chairs?!"

"Family lunch, baby bro." Luna simply answers, like it was common knowledge. "It's a brand new thing we got started after you introduced us to the new fam members. Took a little getting used to, but it's been going good."

Blitzo raises a glass. "Hear, hear! It was so nice of you folks to open your home to us and to let us eat your food without threatening to call the fuzz or the government! Hats off to you, sperm and egg factory who gave birth to eleven fucking children!"

"Blitz, remember what we talked about using that sort of language at the table." Rita chided. "Also, please tell me you remembered to wash off all the blood on your fingers before eating."

"You let that one eat like a wild animal." Blitzo jerks a thumb at Lana.

Everyone acted so casually with one another.

None of his parents or sisters batted an eye at the fact that demons were in their house. It was so freaking weird, but at the same time, a part of me actually didn't mind it, like it was preferable. He felt like he should just roll with it, but rationality reminded him that he still had something important to do, a task that needed his attention, but he couldn't for the life of him figure out what that was. He's not one to just forget important things. All these burning questions made his entire mind feel like it was spiraling out of control.

He feels his phone vibrating and sees that it was his old Earth-made one. "You guys?" It was his entire friend group calling him through a video, all prepared to go on some trip.

"Hey, buddy!" Clyde, who is like a brother to Lincoln, greets. "Hope you haven't forgotten to take us to meet your teacher."

"What are you talking about?"

A painful scream is heard in his other pocket, which came from his Hell Phone. "Octavia?"

Now, it was the Goetia princess hailing him from her phone. "Hey, Linc. I got everything ready for you and your friends. I just need to remind dad that most of the stuff he's prepared is so last century."

"But, Via, dear. I'm sure the dear boy and his little friends will find things...er, retro. Yes, I believe that's the term." Stolas contradicts, trying to use cooler vocabulary.

"Ugh, come on, dad."

"Uh...I'll have to call you back." Hanging up, Lincoln walks away from the table, as if waiting for his head to explode from all this. "Listen, I'm not that hungry and I just remembered that I gotta go do a thing...just don't know what it is...bye!" he makes a dash for upstairs and takes a step back to see his Pop-Pop and Myrtle take a photo with Joe and Lin, Millie's parents.

Not to mention photos of the rest of Millie's kin.

"More for me!" Lynn takes the food for herself.

Lincoln didn't waste any time to shut the door to his room. He walks over to the bed and sits at his side, completely missing the sleeping form that was covered by the sheets. He wipes sweat off his forehead, asking for anything that can make sense of what's going on and why he can't remember the very important thing that requires him to wake up and act. "Aw, did someone have a wild day?" a silky smooth flirtatious voice asked, putting her hands on Lincoln's shoulders.

"Heh, you have no idea." Lincoln humorlessly chuckled. "I can't figure out what's going on. I can't even tell if I'm going insane."

"Poor baby." she giggled playfully. "Want me to make it feel better? There are new Ace Savvy comics with your name on them I got just for you."

"For once, I don't think even those can help, V-V-Verosika?!" Lincoln shoots up from his sitting spot after recognizing the silky voice that belonged to the strikingly hot Verosika Mayday who laid out on the bed, dressed in her usual clothing. "What the-?! What are you doing in my room?! In my house?!" Lincoln exclaims in shock, blushing up a storm.

This took an unexpected turn, this felt way off.

Verosika laughed. "Don't you mean our room?"

Clapping her hands once, she turns the light on and shows that this was not the small cramped space Lincoln once called his bedroom. It was a purple-lit room with lava lamps, expensive looking video game systems, a big-screen television and bean bags. The bed was king-sized and Verosika laid there, expecting Lincoln to come join her. "Whaaaaaaaaaaat?" Lincoln's eyes bugged out in surprise.

"You kept me waiting, Linky, dear. What's a girl gotta do to get a hello kiss?" Verosika got on all fours and puckers her lips.

"u-Uh, s-sorry, I just...I need a moment to think..." Lincoln was freaking out a whole lot. Two hands suddenly shield his eyes and a bubbly voice was heard.

"Guess who~?"

Lincoln looked back and saw the Succubi couple, Apple and Coco. "Hey, baby boy. Miss us?" Coco smirked.

"'Cause we missed you, Linky." She and her girlfriend got down and hugged Lincoln at both sides to nuzzle their cheeks against his. None of this was making sense to Lincoln, he still had trouble remembering where he was before.

"Coco, Apple! You're here, too?!" he slips past them. "Okay, this is getting weirder by the second, even by standards I'm used to by now."

A hand grabbed his shoulder and he sat on the lap of Kiki on a beanbag. "Is that such a bad thing? We're here, isn't that good enough?"

Lincoln nervously laughs. "I mean, I'm not complaining..."

Milky jumped to join them, hugging his arm. "Then enjoy the moment, snow top. You got everything you ever wanted."

"I-I do?"

"That's right." Verosika strutted up to him and cupped his chin with her finger. "You're finally back home, right? You're with your whole family. Things you love about Hell and Earth?"

"Really...?"

In the beginning, all he thought about was getting back to his life on Earth as soon as possible.

But the more he got used to living in Hell, the more he started to realize it's not that bad a place even though it was the realm of the damned. He hasn't forgotten the constant dangers, but on certain occasions, he's found himself having fun. Meeting exciting and new demons, making friends with them, learning things he's only dreamed of, and finding others he was proud to call his family.

Hell's given him so much and he's experienced so much, it's actually hard to imagine his life without it.

But still, he wasn't like the demons, he's a still-alive human with a family to go back to one day.

He can't just have one life over the other.

So, he couldn't help but feel that it'd be better to have the best of both worlds.

"Hang on, no." Lincoln stood up, feeling more headaches. "This isn't right. I never asked for this. Never wanted this. It hasn't always been fun. I know that!" He can't forget all the times he's nearly lost his life. All the risks he took, choices he's had to make, and the lingering trauma of it all. What can a kid like him who's learned only a handful of spells hope to do with growing threats to him and those he cherishes. "It hasn't always been easy!" he turns back to them, but gasps when he they disappear. In fact, the whole room was now empty. He shivers after feeling a cold breeze that came from the door that was creaked open, and against his better judgment, he opens and is presented with an endless black void. The door closes and it disappears into nothingness, leaving Lincoln to wander across the land, seeing no houses or other people for miles, a feeling of dread swelling up.

"Lincoln...Lincoln...Lincoln..."

"Who's there?!" Lincoln heard the whispering of his name. "What is this?!"

He screams in fright when a hand sprouts from the ground, and he sees the form of Martha, the gunshot-wielding Satanist cannibal emerge with only her one eye. A head rolls by, the head belonging to Robo Fizz with the face melted off. A sea wave comes to unveil the giant fish monster from the spring break job, and the ravenous beasts from the forest.

"This is what you hate, ain't it, sugar?" Imaginary Martha cackles madly.

Robo Fizz's body picks it up and reattaches it. "Can't take a joke, kiddo?"

Lincoln searches for an exit strategy, but they were all crowding around him and he felt the same fear and helplessness as before. A single gunshot rang his ears and all looked to see the malicious Striker ride in on Bombproof, aiming straight for Lincoln. "Guess I was wrong about ya, boy. Looks like in the end, you'll be stepped on after all and there ain't nobody to save ya! You can't even save those you love. But don't worry, I'll be sure to tell your fam you said hello."

"It's only fitting..." That voice. No, anyone but him. "...I had as much right to continue living." There he was. Stillman. The sick individual that sacrificed so many for his continued life, the same bastard who's responsible for Lincoln's curse. Striker pulls the trigger at the shivering white haired boy hugging his knees, but the bullet stops in mid-air and Lincoln speaks quietly. His eyes were covered by his bangs.

"...Everything that's happened to me...it's all your fault..." That was said mainly to Stillman. "On that day, I wanted to do more than just drop a clock on you. I wanted you to feel the pain that I felt...that I've been feeling...!" Looking up, he reveals his eyes glowing again. The bullet disintegrates and storm clouds form in the sky, flashing red lightning. These figures that have caused Lincoln so much strife, they wish to do so again, but no. Never. Lincoln won't allow them.

The water underneath the fish monster swirls into a vortex that got it and the shadowy beasts in.

With a stoic expression, devoid of all emotion, Lincoln arose and faced this hallucination of Stillman who wasn't concerned by what had occurred.

"What do you want?"

"...Survive."

"For what?"

"For my family. My whole family, I don't want anyone to hurt them. Whatever happens to me, that's one thing, but the people I love..." his fists clenched tightly as Stillman, Robo Fizz, Martha, and Striker dissipated like ghosts. "...I won't let anything happen to them..." The dark mass on the ground begins to cover Lincoln until his entire body is consumed. "...No matter what it takes...everything that threatens me or them...I want them all to disappear...and there's only one way..." he said in a trance-like state, his face now being covered by the mass. "It's to let it all out."

Usually, Millie would have a blast in all the unfortunate agents that she sliced and diced with her axe. Each one she killed with Loona meant another step closer to finding her loved ones and ending this terrible night. But it was taking way too long for her, none of the agents would fess up to where the boys were being kept and that proved to be their last mistake. She wanted her family back together right now and that mattered to her more than even an endless supply of victims to take her rage out on, she and the hellhound tried one of the rooms sealed off by a code.

Looking closer, they saw the number one key being scratched out from being overused, signifying that the password was just a lot of ones.

"I gotta say, so far, these kidnappers are being really disappointing." Loona spoke honestly. "I mean, it can't be this easy, can it? It's like they're trying to look like dipshits."

"Just try one." Millie instructs Loona.

Predictably, that worked and the doors were opened.

They were getting closer, they had a feeling.

But it wasn't just them. "What the Heaven?" Loona gazes to her back to see something glowing from inside the bag. They stopped for a moment and when Loona peeked inside, she saw it was the grimoire. She opens its pages to see the words blink repeatedly, like it was reacting to something and when Loona's picked up an all too familiar scent, she had an idea on how it was. "I think the book's picking up on Lincoln!"

"Really?!" She better not be pulling Millie's leg. "How can you be sure?"

"I honestly have no freaking clue, but I am smelling his scent. He's gotta be nearby, come on!"

With renewed vigor, they ran quickly until finding a squad of agents, and they were observing the unconscious form of Lincoln Loud.

"One of the rookies said they found him like this."

"What exactly is the protocol here?"

"Don't tell me you skipped out on beginners' orientation."

"Lincoln!" Millie and Loona shout, gaining Her eyes narrowing with a feral growl, Millie pounces with her axe and the agents raise their weapons to meet her attack, but at that very second, Lincoln's eyes shoot open and the sclera becomes pitch black and his irises glow red. A distracted agent was trained for anything, but he was never trained for a scenario where a kid kicks him fiercely with surprising strength. Lincoln swipes his feet underneath all the others' legs that were strong enough to trip them over, causing them to drop their weapons. Millie was unrestrained with her ax, swinging it at the agents and when she was done, she dropped everything and enveloped Lincoln in a big hug, kissing his cheek.

"Oh, Lincoln, sweetie! The nightmare's over now! Momma's here!" Millie wept with relief, she licks her thumb and rubs it on his face. "Oh, I am never letting you out of my sight again, you hear me, young man?"

Loona catches up and gives Lincoln her own hug. "Little dude, I'm so glad you were okay!" To hell with her apathy, she just wanted to hold him. "Did they hurt you?"

"...They tried...but, they failed..."

The women can now see how Lincoln's eyes changed and what truly startled them was how his voice was a mix of his own and a deeper growl-like tone, almost animal-like.

"Lincoln...?" Millie inquired in concern.

"Hold it right there!" An agent ran in and radioed for backup. "All agents converge on my location! I found the intruders and the escapee!"

A trivial matter.

One Lincoln will take care of.

By simply waving his hand, Lincoln levitates the grimoire and forces the pages to open. The pages turned in a rapid fashion and somehow, his eyes managed to keep track of it, until reaching the end. The spell book closes and he floats up, startling Millie and Loona. The lights flicker on and off, and each time, Lincoln appeared to have moved in the blink of an eye.

He snaps his fingers and before the agent knows it, the entire room suddenly twisted and turned and he floats in-between. "Aah! Oh, shit! Jesus Christ! What the fuck is going on here! Ah, I shit my fucking pants!" he screams like a little bitch when he saws the wall grown a mouth and fangs, and he is promptly eaten then spit out like a bad lunch. The agent drags across the floor until stopping underneath Lincoln. "W-What the shit was that?! I-I was fucking eaten! I-I didn't sign for shit like this!"

"But, you did. Pay the price now." Lincoln's glare hardened.

"What are you going to do?"

"Destroy. Destroy everything! It's what you deserve! For hurting me and them!" Lincoln gestures towards Millie and Loona who didn't know what else to do besides stand frozen. "To put it simple for you, bitch! You will pay!"

"There they are!"

Backup agents finally arrived.

"Fools."

With waves of his hand, Lincoln made all the swords become metal constrictor snakes to bind most of them, then makes the floor intangible to make the agents sink until they were stuck up to their top halves and he made the ground solid again. "Uh, is there a protocol for this?"

Beams shot from Lincoln's hands that struck the agents' heads, leaving them dazed and mumbling messes."They shall sleep until the next day. Deserve much worse, but are not important."

Millie and Loona shared a worried glance and the hellhound spoke up. "Uh, Linc? You okay there, bro?"

Lincoln looks back evenly. "Never felt better. Kill them if you wish, but I know where Moxxie and Blitzo are. They need our help."

Agents One and Two were having a blast watching their demon captives crumble under the influence of the truth bomb gas. They ate and drank popcorn and soda as Blitzo and Moxxie zoned out, drooling from the mouths. Still, as entertaining as watching them face their very deep-seeded issues was, it wasn't exactly the proof they needed to support their case to their superiors, but they knew that once the realization that they were never getting out sets in, they'll be more compliant.

The gas finally wore off and the imps were rousing awake from their hallucinations.

A very uncomfortable and somber silence is invoked between Blitzo and Moxxie.

Confronting their insecurities and fears was certainly...something and they didn't know what else to say to each other. Not much else could be said after being trapped in their own minds. Moxxie was afraid to speak his mind about Blitzo's careless action, and Bltzo couldn't admit his own selfish faults out of fear that Moxxie would just walk out on him. Both had their own problems that made it hard for the other to actually get along, but if they had, the events of tonight would have been prevented.

Moxxie was the first to speak up.

"Do you remember my first day? After I joined the company?"

"Nope." Blitzo replies, not getting why he brought that up.

"I never forgot. You said I did a good job and that you were proud to have me aboard." Moxxie could never forget one of the few good things Blitzo ever said to him. Growing up as a gun lover in Wrath, Moxxie never got praise from other demons, besides his wife. Blitzo's words meant a lot to him, even if it was just a fake compliment. "Even back then, I felt like you wanted to say something more judgmental, but you went with that, because you knew I needed it and it really helped."

Blitzo sighs tiredly from everything and speaks with a soft tone. "Look, I'm always hard on you, because I know what you're capable of, Mox." If had more confidence in himself, Moxxie could be just as bold as Blitzo, if not more so, but it just annoyed Blitzo that Moxxie kept holding himself back, much like he does. Blitzo's own insecurities ruined his past relationships in an effort to be the self-made imp Striker was, and it hurt to face that. He couldn't make it on his own in the circus, because he hated being alone. Yet, he feared caring at the same time. The possibility of being all alone in the end was what feared him the most. It's why he's also afraid of Lincoln eventually leaving even though Blitzo understands that he wants his life back. "You just care way too much about what others think, except for me, because you know, my opinion is the only real truth." He upped the smug level there. "But, just keep doing a good job your own way, 'kay? You shoot and kill like a pro. You escape things like it's no big whoop. You're very strategic and very cold-blooded when you need to, and the makings of being a great dad, and don't expect anymore compliments. I'm maxed out." he could just throw up right now.

He said quite enough already and Moxxie was grateful for that. "Thank you, sir. I appreciate it." he said, smiling.

Blitzo didn't see the need for annoying formalities and professionalism.

"I have a real name. Use it."

"Thanks, Blitz." They heard sounds coming from the ceiling and there dropped Millie who landed gracefully and smiled to see her boss and the love of her life. Those very two were equally relieved to see her. "There's my Millie!" Moxxie celebrated.

"Impressive work as always, Mills!" Blitzo congratulated as she worked to free them both. Moxxie and Millie enjoyed their reunion, she wiped away a happy tear and they pressed their foreheads together. "How'd you get here all by yourself? By the way, where's Lincoln?" He waited for an answer and hug, but it never came and then, the mirror was smashed when Loona used Agent Two's head as a battering ram. "Looney?! You brought her here?!" Blitzo screamed in distress.

Loona reminded him that there wasn't time for him going into overprotective dad mode. "Not the time, Blitz! Now get your asses free before more fuckers show up!"

Agent One tries to nab her, until he is levitated up by the still floating Lincoln. "You shouldn't have messed with my family..." he then levitated Two to throw her at One. He and Loona go to rejoin their compatriots, with the hellhound jumping over and ditching her disguise for her true form.

Blitzo and Moxxie stared at Lincoln's new development, not expecting this. "Lincoln?" Moxxie questioned. "How are you doing that?"

Instead of answering, Lincoln smiles and proceeds to hug Moxxie. "You're both alive. I'm glad." He then hugs Blitzo.

"Uh..." Blitzo awkwardly pats Lincoln's back. "Cool, but that didn't really answer the question."

"Questions can come later. We're about to have fun."

Loona drops the weapons bag. Blitzo and Moxxie share wild grins as they arm themselves with the signature flintlock pistol, and two submachine guns just as One presses the alarm button.

More agents arrived through the ceiling and the doors, surrounding the team, outnumbering them. I.M.P were similarly prepared to get down to business. "Okay, I've had one too many emotional breakdowns for today!" Moxxie concernedly looks at Blitzo. "Guys, let's fuck these fuckers up!" Blitzo jovially proclaims, earning an eager nod from Moxxie.

They were ready for a fight.

An agent threw the scythed end of his chain weapon, which Loona caught with her mouth. Savagely shouting, she pulled the chain to fling the wielder into his fellow agents, Loona dodged several spear swipes, then stuck the sickle in that one's neck, she ran across the room to wrap the chain around various agents and with one tug, decapitated them.

Millie still had a lot of pent up anger at these agents for all the trouble they've caused for her and her family and still had enough energy to express it. She jumped and cleaved one. She used both speed and agility that came with her small size for fast-paced weapon attacks to slice apart multiple agents, moving like a small blur that couldn't be touched. She also used her weapon to parry and blocked all the swords and shurikens thrown at her.

As Blitzo stated, nothing was holding an angry Millie back. These sorry tacky suit wearing agents dug their own graves when they took her hubby, baby boy, and boss captive and now was their time to lie to them. Even if they were trained to use their weapons, no amount of training could've made these agents be on par with Millie.

She ran ahead, spinning her weapon in her hands.

Lincoln's aptitude for combat only comes for self defense. But he never saw himself as being as ruthless as all his I.M.P friends right now, but with his current state of mind, he actually decided that the best defense was a good offense. His magical abilities seemed much more potent now as he was casting spells without even using the grimoire to cast them. An orange shield was summoned to protect himself from sword strikes, then expands it to pin the agents against the wall, then in an orange blur, appears in a flash next to tap his forehead which had enough force to throw him to the floor. A chain entraps him, but just by touching it with his hands, the metal rusts and decomposes into ash, the agent that had it then feels an elbow to his stomach.

Lincoln spotted a hidden One and by just raising his hand, he levitated that confiscated revolver they took from him. "This was given to me by my dad." the boy recalls. "It doesn't belong to you." Shurikens were approaching and with impeccable aim, he fired shots that struck them all, breaking the thrown objects into pieces. An agent makes a go to grab him, but Lincoln side-steps and kicks the knee, and the kid headbutts him hard, enough to render them unconscious. The agents Lincoln took down were still alive, but they may think twice about going back in active duty when all's said and done.

Blitzo and Moxxie were back-to-back. They fired multiple times and when he ran out of ammo, Blitzo went straight for his emergency bag for some more wonderful toys to use against D.H.O.R.K.S. "Mox, cover my six!"

"Affirmative, sir!" Moxxie's guns ran empty, so he caught two golden revolvers thrown by Blitzo to shoot at all sides. His boss wielded a green-bladed knife to swipe at anyone attacking them.

"Eat my ass, dorks!" Blitzo shouted, he took multiple selfies during the fighting.

Moxxie had to pistol whip one with his now empty revolver,

Blitzo brings out a shotgun to fire at close range, then gives it to Moxxie for him to shoot down a few more. Both shared a determined nod and kept on bringing on the pain that knew no bounds.

Blitzo slithers atop Loona's head to fire a crossbow arrow as soon as Loona punches and kicks more away. Her instincts led her to go on all fours and jumped to bite down and then tossed one around like a chew toy. Blitzo gave his adopted daughter a custom made rifle that fired off plasma rounds for her to use as her own weapon. "Die, you lousy motherfuckers!" she yelled at the agents, and saw Blitzo's downright emotional face. "What?"

"I have never been more damn proud of you, Looney!" Blitzo ecstatically expresses, kissing Loona on the cheek which annoys her. "Bye, sweetie!" Grunting, she bit down on another agent to throw at one that was about to attack Blitzo.

"Heads up!"

"Hey, Mills!" Blitzo waves casually at the female imp hacking more agents up.

"Hiya, Blitz!" Millie waved back. "Just one little sec!" There were still a lot more of these guys that needed to be known about the wrath of Millie. She dashed forward, her ax was like a blender in her hands.

"Do you want some guns?" Blitzo asked, holding several for her.

Millie was grateful, but preferred to stay in her lane. "Nah, I'm all good!" She chirped cheerfully and continued until wrapping her legs around one's neck to go on a merry-go-round of endless slicing, then began choking them with her powerful legs.

"Feel thirsty for some water?" suggested Blitzo.

"Sure!" Millie opens her mouth to let him pour the refreshing drink in. "Thanks, Blitz!" she said.

"No problemy, my little Millie-Billie!"

Lincoln's arms glowed and they were now in energy-made orange constructs that he could enlarge with just a thought. He grabs two groups of agents and mixes them together to toss them like a soccer ball. He flash-steps away from a katana coming straight for them to appear behind the attacking agents and encases him in a big orange orb, Lincoln rolls the orb to knock down a horde of agents. "Whoo! Now that's what I call a fucking strike!" Blitzo clapped. "I gotta say, kiddo, I'm still a tad bit on the fence about your whole deal right now, but I can't argue with the results! Sure, you haven't killed anyone, but you definitely killed their drives to continue doing their jobs! That's almost as good! Major kudos, bud! Hope you don't mind me giving out all the toys. I know you're the intern, but it looks like you want to be more than that."

"I'm doing my part. All of you and the boss should have fun, too, right?"

"Oh-ho-ho! Keep this up, and you just might land employee of the month!" Blitzo twirls two automatic guns from his bag. "Now, who wants to spend some quality time with daddy?" he menacingly asked, killing intent radiating off him. He ran and shot at the same time, latching onto one's shoulders to keep unloading his guns. Blitzo jumped off to shoot some more and now wielded a baseball bat with nails to hit up another, then used it to hit a grenade like a baseball bat. "Fore! And that's a home run!"

For agents One and Two, their night went from good, then to bad, and now to insane. They clearly underestimated these demons and now, they were suffering from mounting casualties. Another thing that contributed to this chaotic mess was being not properly equipped. "Good god! Remind me again why we're only using weapons from Japan's Edo period?!" One asked a very good question.

"Because the Edo Period was badass and you know it!" Two reprimanded.

"Damn it, you're so right."

"Incoming" Two pulls them both down to avoid getting hit by Loona with her rifle and cowardly crawled away from all the action.

Moxxie screamed through a hissing, standing on top of a mountain of agents, firing his shotgun like a madman. "Face my wrath, bitches!" he saw agents trying to sneak behind Lincoln, but were felled by the imp. "Don't you dare harm my son!" He said that without even correcting himself as he meant it this time.

Blitzo pops up."Hey, Mox!" His abrupt interruption surprised Moxxie to the point of fumbling the shotgun. "Oh, wow. Better get a handle of those butter fingers. I'm just saying. But hey, finally acknowledged Linc as your kid. About time. Now hold this." he handed Moxxie the bag, and reached deep inside to pull out a giant bazooka he labeled himself that he held with a struggling Moxxie. "Oh, yeah! Getting hard on this motherfucker!" The rocket inside is launched at the few remaining agents left and explodes in a fiery inferno.

Everyone shielded themselves from the blast, but not Lincoln. He stood his ground, still with an emotionless expression. "Awesome..."

"Oh, crumbs." Moxxie grimaced, feeling that was a bit too much, even if it was effective. "Is everyone okay?"

Blitzo hops on Moxxie's back. "Whoo! Not bad for demon scum, huh?!" he shouts with jubilation, and is lifted off Moxxie by a disapproving Lincoln. "What?" One and Two were now on their own, but they weren't about to cut their losses. They still have more tricks up their sleeves, evident by the big red button that One presses, blaring the alarms and lighting room in red, a very bad sign to Blitzo. "Oh, shit! Come on, fam! Let's blow this cocksickle joint!" Blitzo ushers them to run out the exit, but metal doors close on them before even one of them could make it out.

"Hey! Open up!" Loona looks through the window to see various blockades, laser grids, and doors trapped shut to prevent any escape. No matter how hard they tried, the demons couldn't budge the door open.

"Quick! Use the book!" Moxxie tells Loona.

Try as she might, Loona couldn't even make out a single word due to her canine vision being impaired. "Aw, Shit! I-I can't read a single spell in this light! I can't see dick!" she fretted. "Linc, you try! Linc?"

For some reason, Lincoln didn't move an inch, it looked like he was patiently waiting for something.

Loona looked at Blitzo for any ideas, and he searched for any extra weapons lying around, but they were fresh out. "Well, shit. We've milked the weapon tit dry and now, we're low on badassery." he backed up against the doors.

I.M.P still kept on a brave stance even when One and Two cornered them with their own guns. "Ha! You demons aren't going anywhere, now!" Two triumphantly laughs, until Lincoln cuts her off.

"You sure about that?" he smirked.

One and Two saw the shadows of I.M.P combine into a singular one, taking the shape of an inhuman figure who growls at them. One of the TV screens turned on by itself showing static, then the empty interrogation room and now, it rattles erratically before turning off. Seeing their reflections, they see the tall shadow of a four-eyed individual with a reckoning. All the TVs launch at and nearly hits them and all objects fly out in a frenzy as a dark whisper is heard from the shadows, belonging to a demon royal that I.M.P knows all too well.

"Who dares threaten my impish little plaything and my precious student?"

"Another demon?!" One frantically asked, looking for the source.

Two nudged him and she showed him the floor where bird-like footprints appeared, going towards them.

A smile begins to form on Lincoln's face as his eyes continue their black and red appearance. "Teacher is coming..."

One is hit by a TV monitor, knocking his shades off and witnesses Two standing eerily still, her head rocking back and forth. "Agent Two? What's the matter?!"

Two didn't have time to feel the outside presence invading her mind, all that she was capable of was feeling her mind be lost to the malevolent force. Lincoln raised his hands and orange strings materialized from his fingertips, they connected to a number of dead agents. "Rise." Like a puppet-master, he strung them along to stand up, and Two held her shaking petrified face. "Now, summon him." Lincoln directed the puppets to draw a unique circle right where Two stood as a means of summoning. One attempted to take Two away, but her head turned backwards with a wide smile and crazed expression on her face, frightening her partner.

"What's wrong, demon hunter?!" Two's voice took on a British sounding accent, mixed in with another's through cruel laughter. "I thought you wished to see a real demon?!"

More crazed laughter follows as the puppets draw a symbol and spell out the name: Stolas. Two's head turns as her eyes roll back and a fountain of black feathers and shadows erupt from her mouth, the insidious laughter taking on distorted tones. Two coughed out as she felt her mind being free, but was also horrified by what she was seeing now. I.M.P saw this all in amazement, Loona even took a pic while Lincoln felt emboldened by the display.

Inspired to try his own hand.

One and Two hugged each other tightly as a shadowy dark feathered owl beast not of this world appeared, advancing on them with a nightmarish roar. They shut their eyes, waiting for him to end it, but Stolas pulls back, reverting to his standard form with a steel glare.

Lincoln blinks. "No..." He felt that they were getting off too easy. All demons present suddenly felt his growing anger, and with heavy breaths, Lincoln's hair rose up and he levitated upwards to face the agents. "You don't deserve mercy!" His voice became more deeper and hollow, with his face twisted into an hateful scowl, his teeth were even sharpened. He brings forth big energy, constructs arms with claws and snatches One and Two. With a hard squeeze, they struggle out groans of pain. Lincoln's scowl became a feral grin. His own shadow undergoes a change, it stretches further, the arms become claws, and antler-like horns grow from the head along with floppy rabbit ears. Big leather wings appear fit with a spaded tail, and the shadow even blinks open piercing red eyes and a red mouth of razor teeth. Lincoln still appeared human, but now was the time to unleash the demon.

"Lincoln." Stolas' hands grasps his shoulder. "That's enough."

"But-But they tried to hurt me. Tried to hurt my family! My mom, my dad, my sister, my-"

"I know. I know." Stolas soothes in understanding. "But, they are beaten now. Not worth the effort, and this. This isn't who you are, my dear pupil." the prince reminds him.

Panting, Lincoln looks down on his hands and what he was doing to the agents.

This wasn't who he was.

He's no killer.

He released One and Two, sparing their lives.

"I...I..." Grunting, Lincoln grabs his hair and floats back down, his hair settling and shadow returning to its usual shape. Opening his eyes with a gasp, it's shown that they, too, were regular and he almost falls down with a faint. Stolas catches him and tenderly cradles his body. "Stolas..." Lincoln called, with the correct voice. "...you came for us..."

"Of course I did." Stolas smiles fondly and turns the lights back on, deactivates all the security, and carries the tired boy to I.M.P, handing him over to a worried Loona.

"Stolas, how did you know that we needed a hand?" Of all the questions Blitzo had, that was the first that came to mind.

"I have my ways, darling." Stolas cryptically replies, kneeling down to hold Blitzo's cheek. "Are you alright?"

Blitzo becomes annoyed at the display. "Ugh, I'm fine, Stolas."

"Hmm, good." Now, Stolas was free to show how royally pissed off he was at their incredible blunder. "How the fuck did you get caught by humans!" It greatly disappointed the prince that with their track record, it seemed like I.M.P would inadvertently blow the whistle on all of Hell to the world at large. "Are you little creatures not being careful up here?! You know, if you get in trouble, I get in trouble! We don't want that! Not to mention how much of a risk poor Lincoln was in! I expect to better handle yourselves when using my book, Blitzy!"

Moxxie attempts to placate the furious Goetia. "They caught us off guard, your highness."

Blitzo bitterly wanted to talk back for his own defense...but couldn't deny that Stolas had a right to be upset. "Yeah. You can just unclench your bird puss, Stolas. It won't happen again."

Collecting himself, Stolas managed to at least point out one silver lining. "Be grateful for being lucky that most don't take the word of demon obsessed lunatics." he motions to the still shivering scared shitless forms of One and Two. "They are called kooks." He has a giggle fit over how the word sounded. "Kooks. Such a silly mortal word. What's even more fortunate is that Lincoln at least, would still be back at your dwelling."

"What do you mean?"

"Observe."

Cracks appeared on the ground, and the very Earth beneath opened up to reveal a glowing abyss-like portal. Lincoln floats away from Loona's arms and is plunged into the portal, much to the distress of I.M.P. "What happened to my baby?!" Millie shrieks.

"No need for alarm." Stolas calmly informs. "This is the curse at work. As you know, Lincoln's time on Earth is limited and once time is up, he is to go back to Hell in a place he is most familiar with. I'd wager, your lovely little workspace. I suggest we follow!" Stolas opens a portal back to Hell, at the I.M.P office.

"Yes, please." Moxxie graciously accepts. "Going to the proper hellhole sounds quite pleasant."

The five Hellborn demons step through the portal and it closes behind them.

It never felt so great to be back and there was Lincoln sleeping on the couch just as Stolas said. "Oh, my sweet boy!" Millie hugs him.

Blitzo turns upwards at his lover, wanting to get to another crucial matter. "Okay, real talk here, Stolas. What the fuck was that with the kid's eyes, and the stunts he pulled off?I...honestly didn't know he had it in him."

"I did!" Millie joyfully shouts. "That's my boy right here, kicking ass with his poppa and momma!"

"It seemed more than that, Millie." Moxxie contradicts. "It was like he was possessed...but at the same time, still himself?"

"That is a very keen and accurate observation." Stolas agreed, providing answers the best way he could at the moment. "It was no possession. That would imply an external source trying to invade young Lincoln's mind just like I did to one of those kooks. No, this was something fundamentally different. What we saw was all him. All coming from his own latent potential in demonic arcane arts and growing...influence from Hell itself. It was still Lincoln's own mind at work, but I can only assume some part of it was weakened, allowing something else to rise and try to take over."

Loona kneels down and rubs Lincoln's head softly with a puppy whimper. "What is that, exactly?"

"That...remains to be seen."

Lincoln stirs awake and sees the concerned faces of his coworkers. His family. "You're all safe...Stolas, I saw what you did...that was very badass..." he praised.

Stolas crosses his arms. "Well, I am your teacher after all, dear boy. You just focus on getting proper rest." Moxxie, Millie, and Loona took care of that by taking Lincoln to his room.

Now that they had privacy, Stolas immediately hoists Blitzo up in his arms. "When can I expect a thank you for the rescue, Blitzy?" he playfully whines.

Blitzo smirked.

Complicated emotions or not, he figures Stolas deserved a win. "Let me think. Up for letting me fuck your brains out tonight over at your place?"

"Very much so." Stolas leaned in for a kiss.

"Alright. But you better keep quiet the whole time, or I'm using those bear traps." Blitzo warned playfully warned, making Stolas blush up.

"No promises."

They instantly kissed as the portal closed behind them, Blitzo broke the kiss to address his employees. "M&M, how are you holding up?"

"Can't complain, Blitz. I'm just glad this is finally over and nothing happened to our son."

Millie gasped happily. "Moxxie! You called Lincoln our boy!"

One and Two had no words.

They had demons in their grasp. But, they not only managed to break free, but completely massacred their entire agency, leaving piles upon piles of dead agents in their wake, along with a lot of damages to their HQ. It'll take days, even months before they'll be able to start things back up, the recruitment drive will take just as long and that's not even getting into the mental scars of this ordeal.

Two was still winded after being momentarily possessed by Stolas. All she knew now was that she didn't want to ever go through that again, but that still begged the question on what direction they should take going forward.

"What-What do we dow, now?"

One merely laughed, seeing that as a rhetorical question.

They lost so many agents.

Got owned pretty badly.

But even with all that, he still counted this as a win.

"What now?! We finally got the evidence we needed to be taken seriously!" One walks over to a computer console and brushes aside all the broken pieces to type and access the security feed. Everything that just happened was all recorded, and that footage was one of the few things that made it out unscathed. Videos of I.M.P fighting, Lincoln doing magic, and Stolas appearing to stare back at the camera. It was all there.

"But, what about the kid?"

"After what just happened, we can't be certain that kid even was a kid!" One didn't know what to classify Lincoln as, but he was now a point of interest for their agency. "Can't you see that this is the ticket we've been waiting for, Two?! Our shot to not be the weirdos, the crackpots, the biggest kooks in the world! They won't be able to write this off!"

"And if they still don't believe us? What do we do then?"

"Then we'll make them believe! This isn't something they can just pass off, not this time! This time, we'll have enough agents, better equipment, and more resources than we've ever had before! Nobody in the corporate will ignore this!"

One and Two put on new sunglasses and smirk deviously, the former's chuckling as the screens go to black.

But neither they, nor anyone in Hell realized what also occurred there.

The emergence of something that's been growing inside Lincoln Loud.

This was merely a prelude to the growing power within him, there was still time for it to grow, until he was ready to unleash it all to any fool looking for any trouble.

In the I.M.P office down below, Lincoln slept and two red eyes appeared in his shadow before disappearing as the boy kept sleeping.

Chapter Text

Tired.

Lincoln felt so very tired.

More tired than he's probably ever felt before in his formerly normal human life.

It had been like this for the past few days at most, ever since that whole situation with those D.H.O.R.K.S agents and how they kidnapped him, Moxxie, and Blitzo. Out of all I.M.P's outings in the human world, that was perhaps their most challenging and perilous one so far. Being captured by government demon hunters was a profound debacle, one that no one on the team wished would ever happen again. Not only was being captured not a fun experience, but for the three who were subjected to the very trippy effects of the truth bomb especially left its mark. While Blitzo and Moxxie managed to recover, it can be said that for Lincoln, he was particularly affected, as he had undergone a drastic transformation during that mess.

Lincoln remembered every minute of it, but at the same time, couldn't really piece together every moment. Everything after he got exposed to the gas and became a complete blur, at least for a moment. Then came the flashes, he saw the terrified agents, the incredible feats of magic he did without the use of his teacher's treasured grimoire, that every same teacher's epic entrance to save them, and how he almost killed for the first time.

Agent One and Agent Two.

Had Stolas not reeled him in, Lincoln would have had his very first tastes of murder.

He knew this while he was slowly squeezing the life out of them, but didn't mind whatsoever. All he cared about was making the people who caused I.M.P so much strife pay for threatening them in the first place.

Lincoln felt terrible he had such thoughts.

But at the same time, it was so invigorating.

Following their return to Hell, Lincoln felt completely winded, as if he just ran more than a whole mile. In the next few days, he spent most of his time in his room, waiting until he regained all his strength. During that time, he's been studying various magic books to pass the time and grasp a better understanding of his whole deal. At the same time, Moxxie and Millie have been keeping busy fretting over him, making sure he was doing okay, especially the latter.

Loona's also helped, bringing him food, and even Blitzo's done his fair share of support.

Only in his usual unique way.

Apparently, he's been granted on leave status for the moment, but that would mean a pay deduction...another reminder that the kid was an unpaid intern.

Either way, it wasn't all bad.

Getting enough sleep was nothing to complain about.

Except for when the nightmares began.

Opening his eyes with a startled gasp, Lincoln found himself not in his room in Hell, but in an endless dark void, the same kind that he was in during his hallucination from the gas. The white haired boy stands and hugs his arms to keep warm after feeling the cold air and tensely walks forward, no matter how many turns he took or tried going back to where he started, there was nothing else in sight.

"Heeeee..."

"Who's there?!"

"Heeeee...Kill...Destroy all...Survive..."

He covered his ears to try and block out all the whispers, but he could still hear them, and what truly struck him was that he could recognize his own voice whispering.

"Stop it...! Stop it...!"

That small plea suddenly made the whispering stop, but the relief he found was short-lived once a fountain of black goop shot out in front of him and from it was a large demonic face, one that adorned antlers and rabbit ears, with its fang mouth opened wide and it dived down. Lincoln screams in terror and moves out of the way, and runs off to get as far as he could.

"No escape..."

"What you really are..."

"Never go home..."

"Accept..."

"Shut up!"

How can he focus on running when he can still hear all that constant whispering?!

Lincoln comes to a halt when a black spike blocks his path, another one appears when he runs to the other path.

It wasn't long until he found himself trapped and the face appeared once more. Then, he looks down to see his legs submerging into the surface not unlike being caught in quicksand, with the surface rippling like it was a puddle of water. Struggling, he tries in vain to lift his legs up, and the face finally corners him as it gazes down at the frightened human boy.

"Embrace it..."

"Become what you are..."

"For your new family..."

"I-I don't understand...!"

Lincoln's lower half was now totally submerged as the face spreads throughout the surface, and Lincoln reaches his arm out as he sinks down, his thoughts drifting to those he loves back on Earth, and those he's come to love in Hell...until there was nothing.

The room that served as Lincoln's private space at I.M.P headquarters becomes filled with the startled shout of Lincoln waking up and panting heavily with sweat pouring down and checking himself over to see that it was indeed, just a dream.

All just a dream.

But felt all too real.

He gazes down at his shaking hands and closes his eyes to calm himself down, all these dreams have been tormenting him endlessly and there's no way to make them stop, all since his surprising showing of malevolent intent. As if that side of him wanted to show itself again, but wasn't going to let it, all that darkness he felt within himself and the sadistic satisfaction he took in hurting those who hurt his loved ones, it was like that time he stabbed Striker only increased ten times. From the way everyone else in I.M.P described, they got a demonic feeling off of him.

He softly touches his own chest with a tense expression.

Something was happening to him, Stolas described that Hell was forcing his body and soul to adapt better to it due to the curse that binds him to it, hence why he flew into such fits of rage and hatred to threats.

But, recently.

Recently, it felt way different.

Unfortunately, he was clueless as to what was going on.

Sighing, Lincoln jumps off his bed and gazes at the desk where Stolas' grimoire was placed, along with other magical tomes. He recalls being able to cast spells without using it and tried testing it out a few times, but nothing happened. Only ones such as these, he takes out a piece of paper and writes down demonic writing and focuses hard to make the writing glow, the book is lifted up in an orange aura and it floats to Lincoln's hands. It's pages were filled with incantations, glyphs, sigils, and runes that he had to read in order to cast them. Over time, he relied on his photographic memory to recall only a few spells, but another side effect of what happened was that he could memorize more than a few of those spells, but not all of them.

All that knowledge.

But no step closer to breaking his curse.

Closing it, Lincoln sighs and walks out the door where a certain Hellhound was seated at her usual spot at the receptionist desk. "Hey, Linc!" Loona tersely greeted with a bit of a forced smile. "How, uh, how you doing, bud?"

"Okay." Lincoln evenly replies with a shrug.

That was a clear lie to hide what he truly felt, Loona was adept in that skill herself, but didn't want to force the truth out of him. "Uh, I think Moxxie left something for you in the fridge, guess the little fucker's finally getting into fatherhood, huh?"

"Yeah..."

Awkward silences were a bitch, and the one that soon envelops between the two was a major one. Though she was still new to this whole friend/big sister-like role, Loona nevertheless tries to be a bit less abrasive as she usually is, Lincoln being one of the few she was willing to do that for.

"Look, um, Millie told me to give you some space and I did. Weird as that may sound, I actually agreed with her. But you know, if you ever want to talk about...some shit, or whatever, I'm always free." Loona gestures to her desk. "I mean, clearly, I don't have a lot going on, and nothing's better than listening to whiny-ass Sinners 24/7. I can tell you that much. Plus, it's not just me. Millie, Moxxie, even Blitz. Just..." she scratches her head to find the right words of comfort, a hell of a challenge for someone like her. "...don't shut us out, okay?"

Hard to believe that not too long ago, this was the same goth Hellhound that didn't want to do anything with some white haired human boy that's been forced to take up residence in Hell and work in the same company as well. Despite their rough beginnings, both of them have come to care for one another and Lincoln appreciated her making an effort to help him out.

But, he didn't really feel like talking at the moment...but, was that really the right thing to do?

"It's-" Lincoln began with hesitance. "I just-"

Both of their phones vibrated and that could only mean one thing.

Opening the book, Lincoln read the page that had the spell for the portal that I.M.P frequently uses to enter the land of the living. That very portal opened and a loud explosion was heard, there came Blitzo, Moxxie, and Millie as they flew through the portal. After it closes, Lincoln and Loona observe the imps slam onto the wall, covered in soot and ash, and as usual, blood stained weapons.

Another somewhat successful hit, courtesy of I.M.P. "Hot damn!" Blitzo shakes the ashes off him, throwing his weapons aside and picks his employees up. "These jobs always keep getting more exciting everyday! Impressive work, M&M, as always. Especially you, Moxxie. Those shit-fucks didn't know what hit 'em."

"Th-Thank you, si-, uh, Blitz." Moxxie found it weird to refer to his employer so casually, even odder to hear Blitzo compliment him for his work ethic. But following that mess with D.H.O.R.K.S, being captured and tripping together on truth telling gas can apparently lead to some breakthroughs. "I must admit, we could've done that with a little more discreet, but as you said, circumstances did basically throw discreet out the window."

"Now you're starting to get it, bucko!" Blitzo laughed, playfully slapped the shorter imp's shoulder and saw Lincoln. "Well, lookey here! Finally getting off your ass, eh, intern?"

Lincoln lightly chuckled. "Heh, figured I've done enough sleeping."

Millie rushed over to give her own differing opinions. "Now, are you sure, sweetie?" she touched his forehead and leaned in close to get a feel of his heartbeat, in a complete worried mess over the boy who's her son in all but blood. "I'm pretty sure kids your age need more than ten hours of sleep before getting back to a hundred percent."

Lincoln groaned, flustered. "Millie..."

"Don't you dare backtalk your Ma, young man." she sternly tutted her finger at her boy. "I have a right to worry."

"Now, Millie. I think you've done enough worrying for one day. If Lincoln says he's well rested, then, he's well rested." Moxxie supported a thankful Lincoln as he patted his head in a fatherly fashion.

"Aww, get a load of you, Moxxie!" Blitzo gushes. "Arguing with the missus about the welfare of your kid. So, intern. Does this mean you'll hang with us for the next job? Cannot say I missed lugging around all the equipment."

Before Lincoln could answer, Millie interjected with a pensive expression. "Now, sir. Let's not move too fast here. I mean, I personally think it's still to soon for him to go back on the field with who knows how many fucks in suits creeping around, looking to break up a happy family, again." She lets out a feral growl while holding a sharp spear as if she was expecting one to show up for her to kill before they could even nab her boys.

"Okay, this is just fucking weird." Loona voiced, she didn't even think that opposite day was even a thing in Hell. "Biltz, you're not dissing Moxxie and Millie, you're not agreeing to one of Blitz's ideas? Like, what the actual fuck? Did I miss another of those crappy memos?"

"Now, Looney, you know that damn copy machine broke last week." Blitzo pointed at the very busted and dusty office item that was now a nesting home for Hell spiders that were devouring flies.

"Didn't you say you were gonna buy a new one, Blitz?" Lincoln asked.

Blitzo rolled his eyes. "Who has the time, Lincoln? Bottom line, Millie's just looking out for her little man and shocking as it sounds, Moxxie can indeed be competent. That, and I don't have time to rib anyone period, I gotta make sure the client ponies up the dough while also looking through online shopping for figurine ponies. Call me if you need me, fam! Got my eye on a special one!"

Blitzo retreated into his office, and Lincoln looked at M&M. "I really am feeling a little bit better." he claimed, intentionally leaving out his nightmare problem. "It's getting a little boring being cooped up in here."

Loona raises a fist in solidarity. "Damn right."

"That is up to your parents to decide, little mister." Millie sternly told him. After the D.H.O.R.K.S incident, she's also been hesitant on letting him accompany them for jobs, quite odd considering her nature. "Until then, you have something else to worry about."

"I do?" Lincoln's Hell phone rang and he saw the reminder. "Oh, that's right. Another lesson in magic with Stolas, and Blitz is busy right now."

"We'd love to take you, but we can't." Moxxie apologetically said. "I'm afraid Millie and I have our own business to attend to back at our apartment."

Loona loudly sighs in resignation. "Fine, if everyone's being a lazy ass about it." she shouted to her adoptive father. "Blitz! I'm taking Linc to those stuffy rich owls! I'll be taking the van's keys!"

"Remember, hon! If you spot a jaywalker, don't hesitate to run them over!"

This had to be the first time Lincoln's seen Loona drive the I.M.P van and was thankful that she was mindful enough to not have a lot of alcohol beforehand, surprisingly responsible for a demon like her. Not only that, but she had previously expressed displeasure at standing anywhere near a luxurious mansion that housed the most elite of Hell's demons that lower class demons such as imps can only find themselves in by being either the help or a frequent lover of the mansion's master.

Although, Blitzo was enough to fill that category.

"Just so you know, I'm only doing this because the whole learning magic deal is a fucking big deal for the company. At least, that's how Blitz put it. ...And mostly since you really like it..." Loona murmured bashfully.

"Thanks, Loona." Lincoln smiled. "It's about all I can do since Millie still doesn't want me in the field. Kind of weird since she used to love bringing me along." He can understand that she's just looking out for him, but it made Lincoln feel like he wasn't part of the team.

"Well, with you getting captured by Earth government spooks, can you honestly blame her?" Loona defended.

"Sticking up for Millie? Now, who's acting odd?"

Okay, he had her there.

"I-Fine. That did make me throw up a bit in my mouth." She'd be damned as a Sinner if Millie would ever hear her say that. "But, you get what I mean, right? Lucifer knows I wouldn't like it if something bad happened to you up top. None of us would." She then brings up another crucial matter, one that she knew would be the last thing Lincoln wanted to think about. "Not to mention...you know...what happened before..."

Lincoln knew what she was talking about.

The Hellborn imps and Hellhound didn't know what to think about what had transpired with Lincoln. They knew he was surprisingly gifted with demonic magic, but they never imagined he was capable of such feats, especially at the end where he nearly got his first two kills and they could see what his own shadow was turning into. It reminded the demons of how certain Sinners would exhibit their full demonic potential when pushed to the brink of anger, but that should be impossible. Unlike most mortal souls in Hell, Lincoln's still alive.

Yet, he displayed more power than your garden variety Sinner.

"You guys...didn't like it when I was like that?"

He figured they'd be impressed.

"If it were some pushy fucker that loves to show off and can't keep a lid on their temper, I'd barely give two shits. But, you're not like that." Loona explained. "And, I know you were probably more scared than the rest of us."

"Huh, I kinda thought you guys would've preferred if I didn't pull my punches for once."

"Maybe in the beginning, but things can change..."

That was before they started to think more of him, before they all started to care...

Lincoln didn't expect that to have such a profound effect like that. Sure, he knows that just as he's come to value I.M.P as treasured friends, they also have grown to be fond of him, but it astounds him that it's gotten so far that it seems like they treasure his natural affinity for innocence. Being born in Hell, he thought they'd expected some of that innocence to crack like so many other human souls and just let it happen, only, it was the exact opposite.

While they want him to be a bit more realistic with his idealism, they really don't want that to be completely destroyed.

"You guys don't have to worry. That's what these lessons with Stolas are for. The more I learn, the better control I can get on this curse until I can finally break it and go home." Lincoln couldn't see the slight frown that formed on Loona when he said that and switched to another subject. "Which reminds me, maybe you can try meeting his daughter, Octavia."

"Cozying up with a royal rich princess." Loona droned dismissively. "Hard pass on that, Linc."

"Oh, come on. I get that there are issues between higher and lower ranked demons, but Octavia's not some stuck up rich kid. In fact, you two are alike in some ways."

"I'm sure."

Lincoln continued to insist. "It's true. You both hate just about everyone you don't personally know, packed with a lot of snarky quips to your father figures, and she even shops a lot at Stylish Occult like you do. I'm just saying, you'd be missing out on making a new friend."

Despite the very strong points Lincoln listed, Loona was still not convinced. Fact of the matter is that she and this Goetia royal were from two different worlds in a figurative sense. Octavia grew up raised by her parents with numerous servants attending to her every whim, while Loona had learned to fend for herself and fought tooth and nail in the orphanage she lived in before Blitzo adopted her.

Whatever similarities they may have, it's not like Loona can just forget that their upbringings were vastly different.

Even if she wouldn't really mind making more friends.

That, and she's somewhat jealous that someone else was filling the role of being Lincoln's surrogate demon big sister, but she was too embarrassed to admit it due to how petty it was.

"Look, let's just drop it, okay? Pretty sure you should be more focused on learning whatever flashy thing those Goetias will teach you, anyway. Though, no offense, but I'm willing to be the big owl is thinking of another fuck session with Blitz. One good side to this trip, I won't have to see any of that sick ass flirting."

Now, if it were any other day, Loona would be quite correct.

In his mansion, Stolas was inside his personal study. When he was out and about, he looked his best to strut his extravagant self for all to worship and be envious of, but when home, it's always a different story. He mostly stays clad in his very loose sleeping robe, seeing as this was his house, he saw no issues with expressing some form of freedom, and it's not like he's the only one in Hell that does so.

But with the recent days that have passed, his once lavish lifestyle has hit quite the bumps in the road.

For one thing, him taking on the responsibility of being a magic teacher required him to look through his entire library for endless searches that could give him some clues or means for the sake of Lincoln. Most other demon lords wouldn't go so far, much less for a mortal, but it can be inferred that Stolas is unique in that regard, just as how unique his young pupil was.

The debacle with human demon hunters drove Stolas to truly invest much time into all the magical knowledge at his disposal. Even though such work can be tiresome to say the least, it's nothing a prince of his status can't handle. "Sire."

Making a noise of annoyance, Stolas replies to the imp servant that addressed him.

"I believe it was my request to not be disturbed whatsoever."

Gulping, his butler tugs his collar to recompose. "I know and I humbly apologize, your highness. But, uh, lady Stella has finished her preparations."

...And that was another bump.

Stolas now realized he spent time in the study longer than he thought and with a heavy breath, halted any further studying. "...I see." This was too big for him to ignore, as it relates to his family. "Let's get on with it, then."

He walks out the study with steely stoicism.

To think that it's come to this.

But no surprise came from him. In fact, some part of him felt that this was inevitable. Otherwise, it would've been naive of him to think that the turmoil that has transpired in his home would end on a happy note. Remarkably, however, there was also another part of him that was disappointed. He felt that no matter how furious Stella was with him, it would subside and she'd at least focus on other matters. It's what she's been doing as of late, but no, here she was, standing at the front doors with servants carrying her heavy bags.

"Stella." Stolas nodded.

"Imp-dick lover." she replied.

A common greeting from her and at this point.

"I see you have everything in order."

"What gave it away? The bags?" Stella patronizingly chided. "My dwelling is all prepared for my arrival, and that would be happening much sooner if the damn chauffeur finally gets his ass here already!" she roars outside.

"...And how long will you be staying there for, exactly?"

"Take a wild guess." Stella coldly retorts.

"So, this is really what it's amounted to. After everything." Stolas knew he couldn't stop her, but he'd like to believe that Stella truly wasn't fully aware of the ramifications this decision would have.

"Don't act so shocked, Stolas." Stella had enough reasons to detest the very sight of the prince, him being naive would add to the list. "If I recall, you once told me that if I hate living with you so much, I should leave. Well, wish granted. I imagined you would be pleased."

"I-" Stolas rubs his temple and attempts to at least try and salvage this massive mess. "You had to have known I wasn't being serious. Look, perhaps slow down a bit, dear. Can we not just simply...talk? Must such extreme measures be taken?"

Stella's eyes briefly glow in rage. "There's nothing left to talk about, because there's nothing left to say! If you didn't want me to leave your bloody side, then you should've thought twice before letting an imp in our bed!" The servants groaned as they finally got the door opened while carrying the heavy begs that was torture for their backsides. "It's far too late and you know it!"

She motioned to storm off, but Stolas still had much to speak about. "At least tell me you've spoken with Octavia. You can't expect her to completely understand what's going on." After some time, he's now come to realize how much their family drama has been hurting their daughter and silently begs Stella to at least consider her feelings on this. Reasons for leaving or not, he found it a mistake to pack up and leave without at least thinking of Octavia. The two royals may not have had genuine love for each other, but Stolas saw his daughter as something Stella should also treasure.

"...Our daughter is a big girl." Stella says after a tense silence, flicking away Stolas' hand. "She'll understand."

"Understand what? That her family is breaking apart?!" Stolas spat, temper silently rising. "That everything she's known is poised to never be the same ever again?! Just because she'll understand it, doesn't mean she'll like it! As her mother, you have a responsibility to-"

"Responsibility? Responsibility?!" Stella venomously roared, making Stolas deflate and lose some of the control. "You are the last bastard to lecture me about responsibility?! You are a Goetia! A prince! Had a life that most of Hell's peasant trash could only dream of having! Hellborn and Sinners alike pissed themselves and knelt at your very presence! All that power and wealth, and you just foolishly gambled it all when you decided to lay in bed with some upstart imp! We both know it's far too late to fix anything!"

"B-But, Octavia-"

"Is free to live here and at my dwelling on a rotational period! Or did you conveniently forget that?" The limousine arrives at last, and Stella proceeds to walk. "I told you that I couldn't stand looking at you, and I meant it!"

"I...I..." Stolas reaches his hand out, but pulls back. "I'm sorry..."

Stella stops in her tracks and her fists clenched tightly. "No, Stolas. You're not." The avian demon gritted her teeth before restarting her walk and mutters one last thing that didn't reach the owl demon's ears. "But, you will be..." she ominously promised.

Stolas didn't flinch when Stolas slammed the door shut, all he could do was stand there in silence before releasing a heavy sigh while swiping his hand down his face, and slumped on a chair. In spite of everything, he still somehow felt his heart break over what had just transpired, and no matter how much he tries to deny it, Stella was ultimately right.

She was a major bitch about it.

But, she was right.

"Dad."

Octavia considered staying in her room like always whenever her parents got into another quarrel, but felt that she's done enough hiding. Seeing her devastated father compelled her to act. "Via. I-I-" Stolas sniffled, not wishing for her to see him in such a pitiful state. "Apologies if we disturbed you...once more."

The young owlet turned to the doors with a frown. "She already left." That wasn't even a question, but an observation. She saw the limo carrying her mother drive off through a window.

"Th-That she did." Stolas moves and stands behind his little princess. "I couldn't stop her. Forgive me."

Fresh tears were threatening to leak, this was almost a nightmare come true. "I-I don't blame you..." she reassures her father.

Her father closes his eyes. "You should." Stolas turns her around. "But have no worry, this doesn't mean you'll never see her again. She says that you're free to visit her for the weekends, this isn't goodbye forever."

"But, you won't be there..." Octavia lamented. It wouldn't be the same over there or here in the palace without her whole family together, all of this was happening way too fast and it pissed her off. But strangely, there was actual relief. Why? Why the fuck is she feeling relief in such a precarious moment in her family life?! Her family was broken, that just wasn't right!

"Oh, honey. Please, don't despair." Stolas wipes off her tears with a soft smile. "Your mother may just need time away to collect her thoughts, that's all. These are just things that happen with grownups.

"Well, it sucks. It fucking sucks so much."

"That it does, little starfire. That, it does. But I promise, this won't get any worse and besides, I know something that may lift your spirits, and no, it's not another children's theme park." Stolas said, catching her deadpan look. "I do believe that a certain special time has arrived."

Octavia was confused by what he meant, until she gasped in realization. "Crap, that's right. Lincoln's coming along! ...But, is now really a great time, dad? I'm sure he'd understand if we could just re-schedule."

"Perish the thought, sweetheart." Stolas fervently shook his head, he still has his role as a magical teacher and wouldn't disappoint on that front. "After all, I know that boy's been a great friend to you and is a superb student. If anything, we are in dire need of some levity."

Magic training was always a blast for Lincoln.

He wished all his friends and family could watch him do more than simple stage magic, but the real thing, maybe then, Lynn will stop being such a naysayer when she gets super critical at his performances. Octavia was the only other participant and displayed wondrous potential, that was to be expected as she was the daughter of a Goetia, and Stolas can be described as the fun kind of teacher and the wise kind all in one.

"Alright, you two. Time is up."

Stolas' declaration made Lincoln and Octavia present a bowl of eerie liquids that changed colors. His instructions was to stir up a magical concoction meant to mystically enhance soil and plants. The Goetia poured both into a garden where some nearby exotic flowers started rumbling, and the soil beneath them morphed into two mini mud men, then two more, and more, and more. "Uh, was that supposed to happen?" Lincoln asked, thinking they might have overdone it.

"This is actually the next part of the lesson, dear boy." Stolas giggles. "I imagine that these adorable little ragamuffins will make quite a mess for our servants, and that's not even getting into the kind of trouble outside. Do you children think you're able to take care of it before that can happen?"

Octavia scoffed with a smirk. "Please. Give us a challenge, for once. Come on, Linc. We got this!"

Lincoln unveiled some flash cards with the inscription for multiple portal spells that he memorized from his mentor's spell book that lead to the main rooms of the Goetia mansion, and they were ready to get to work. "Let's go!"

Once they rushed through, Stolas was left to ponder.

His human pupil showed once again a very impressive example of his resourcefulness by writing down spells in case he didn't have the book.

It also shows that his ability of casting spells without such means could only occur when he's in the demonic state that had been exhibited only once before, but it was left to imagination if that were a good thing or bad thing. Waving his hand, Stolas opens a viewing window that shows where his student and daughter were in the mansion, feeling the need that some observation was required for him to understand more. A mud man was in the kitchen, throwing plates and utensils at the maids when Octavia arrived and opened a portal that drops an energy net on top of them.

Seeing his little girl be so independent brought some proud tears to his eyes.

As for the human boy, he was in one of the many bathrooms watching a horde of them trying to flood it. With some cards, he had the water form into bubbles that trapped the mud creations and were floated to a portal.

Both tracked many others down to various parts of the mansion and were largely successful in taking care of the mud creations and for the most part, it looked like they managed to catch all on the loose. "Is that it?" Lincoln asked.

"I think so. Don't see any-"

A feral roar cuts Octavia off as they run and see one of the sentient plant monsters being hassled by the mud men. The monster was in a frenzy, smashing apart a lot of furniture, and becoming increasingly furious.

"Should I be worried?" Lincoln looks up at her.

Octavia nods her head with a dire tone. "Oh, yeah. You don't want to see what happens when dad's plant pets are pissed off. We had to hire a whole new collection of servants after what happened to the last ones."

"W-What happened to the last ones?"

"...Some things are better left unsaid, buddy."

"Noted." Lincoln felt like he was better off, anyway. "Okay, I think I have a plan."

"You have a plan for little mud bastards and a plant monster? Like, specifically for this kind of scenario?"

"I've planned for weirder stuff long before I ended up here."

The mud men continued screwing around with the sentient plant, until suddenly, they were with orange energy constructs made to resemble them and their primitive minds couldn't tell the difference. So, throwing caution into the wind, those little fellas followed their constructed duplicates into crates and the others were entangled by tree vines being manipulated. Both acts are pulled off by the two young magic users. "Now, it's all of them."

"Not bad, kid. Not bad." Octavia smirked. "Even though I nabbed more than you."

"What?" Lincoln counted differently. "You did not. There were five in the courtyard."

Octavia snorts. "Big deal. Try capturing ten on the tennis court."

"Wait, tennis court? You have a tennis court here?"

"Oh, yeah. Just near the mini-aquarium."

"...Glossing over that, I totally got more."

"Yeah, keep telling yourself that."

"Come on! I so did!"

As those two were arguing, the plant beast was slowly seeing that there were no more of those little heathens disturbing its isolating peace, it had wack a few to pieces, and its anger hadn't even been pacified in the slightest. But then, it set its sights on the two, the owl one carried the scent of its master, but wasn't him and as for the child. He wasn't physically imposing in the slightest, but when it smelled him, a sudden rush of urgency built up, it could pick up a hidden danger in the boy and felt that to protect itself, it must eliminate the danger.

From some rubble, a butler felt woozy after it was thrown by the plant. "Is it over?" He is grabbed by the beast and thrown out the window and an audible thud was heard upon impact. "...This seems like an appropriate time to finally tender my resignation...but alas, I won't...for no one else will take me..."

The plant roars as Lincoln and Octavia. "Oh, right. Forgot about that thing." the owlet grimaced.

"Uh, Octavia? Why is it looking at me like that?" Lincoln frightfully asked as the plant growled menacingly at him. He screams once it charges at it, but is held back by other servants.

"The hell is that thing's problem?!" Octavia demanded, keeping Lincoln behind her.

"Don't worry, princess!" An imp shouts. "We have it well in ha-AAAAAAHHHH!" He's kicked through the roof.

Lincoln didn't know why the plant had it out specifically for him. He should be used to this sort of thing by now, but damn it, it made his blood boil over how he could never feel safe for long in Hell. His understandable fear becomes annoyance and that annoyance grows into anger as his glow red and he makes it known that he has very little patience for this bullshit. "Leave me ALONE!"

Just by shouting that command, an invisible force of magic energy is emitted that pushes the plant into the wall and the servants. Octavia's eyes widened in shock and turned to her friend. "Lincoln...?"

She never saw Lincoln explode like that. He was panting slowly with his eyes continuing to glow, he spotted a mirror to see his own reflection and in a flash, he saw the shadowy face from his dreams, making him gasp and the mirror just cracked out of nowhere. Octavia catches him before he could fall and glares at the servants and the plant. "Get that bloody thing in a cage! And clean up this damn mess!"

"At once, young miss."

"I can't feel my tail or horns."

Octavia considered taking Lincoln to her father, but her bedroom wasn't that far, so she settled with bringing him there, first. A very special privilege, as she rarely lets anyone besides her parents in.

But, Lincoln was a special exception. "Sit down here." she instructed, guiding him to a bean bag.

"Thanks." As with previous times, Lincoln felt extreme fatigue. "Did-Did I hurt anyone?"

Octavia raised a brow. "What?"

"J-Just, please. Tell me no one was hurt." Lincoln implored.

"Um...I think some servants got a bit banged up." Octavia quickly corrects herself when she sees him grab his head in guilt, realizing that wasn't what he wanted to hear. "B-But, that's fine, though! It happens to them all the time! Plants, my mom, some house guests and they're way stronger than they look. They'd have to be to deal with all the shit that goes down here. Lincoln, what just happened?" It was too big to ignore, she could feel some genuine demonic power from him.

Knowing he couldn't lie to her, Lincoln gave her the basic rundown. "Remember how I told you and your dad about what happened with the cherubs?" She nodded. "Well, that was pretty much what happened to me. It-It started out small. But after our last job, it got worse...or maybe better? I can't tell at this point. All I can be sure of is that it's part of that stupid curse."

"You didn't even use my dad's grimoire." Octavia noted with slight awe.

"I know. I get all these thoughts and feelings and I can't resist acting on them." Lincoln gazes at his hands. "It's like I just start thinking more like a-like a-"

"Demon." Octavia finishes for him.

"Yeah." Lincoln checked his eyes. "It's been keeping me up at night, and I thought lessons with you and your dad would help, but I can barely stop myself from getting angry enough to nearly lose it. Octavia, I'm so sorry that you had to see me like that...and for the damage to your house...and for the servants' injuries."

"Hey, hey, whoa. It's cool, Linc." Octavia rubbed his shoulder. "Don't forget you're talking to a child of the Ars Goetia demons and lived in Hell my whole life. It's fine. I just didn't expect that from well, a human. Least of all, you. Sorry, was that offensive?"

"Not the point." Lincoln also had hoped his teacher had made perhaps some strides. "Look, Octavia, can you tell me if Stolas has found anything, I don't know, useful? It doesn't have to be anything big, but something?"

Wincing, Octavia had to break the news delicately. "Honestly, I can't be sure. Most of the time, dad's either having it out with mom or calling up that dickweed boss of yours. But, I think he's been in his private study. If he had found something, I'm sure he'd tell you."

"Yeah, sure."

Lincoln wanted to believe that, but his optimism was wavering. Ocatavia fetched them both some much needed soda cans to add some levity, all this drama was way too much for a kid. "If it means anything, you're not the only one whose life is getting exceedingly crapped on. Count yourself lucky that you didn't get here about an hour earlier."

"Why's that?" He saw her brow lower and kept silent. "Octavia?"

There was nobody else in Hell she could pour her feelings out to, and for that, Octavia is forever thankful that she got to meet Lincoln. "It's my mother. She-She left not too long ago."

"Oh." Lincoln blinks. "Where to?"

"Some place she has set up. Said that she'd rather be there than here right now." Octavia sighed somberly. "Things between her and dad haven't gotten better, and well, it's now gotten to this."

"...How long will she be away?"

"Long as she wants..." Octavia sniffled.

Lincoln's young mind finally understood the implications and gravity of the situation and immediately comforted his friend. For all intents and purposes, her parents were effectively estranged and she had to deal with that fact. "Oh, man. Octavia, I'm-I'm sorry." To think that it's gotten this far, Lincoln had hoped that things would resolve themselves peacefully, but in Hell, it wasn't so simple.

"You got nothing to be sorry about, Linc." Octavia turned away to fight back some more tears. "Wanna know this part? I kinda don't blame her for leaving. She's as mad as I was at dad, but even then, I never once thought about leaving. I think she'd feel the same way, but I was wrong."

Lincoln scratches his head. "Well, you still get to see her, right? Then, it's not like she's also angry with you. Whatever goes on between your parents, I'm sure it's not something that's your fault. It's just grown up stuff, you know? Hardly ever makes sense."

Octavia's sniffle erupted into soft giggles. "Damn right. I don't know, though. You don't think I should have maybe done more? To try and keep our family together? Would that have made a difference?"

That question made Lincoln think long and hard, put in her position, he'd probably do whatever it took to keep his own parents from splitting apart. But in the end, even with the support of his sisters, his mom and dad would just stay together not for each other, but for the kids. That seemed to be what was trying to be done in the Goetia family, and look how that turned out. "I can't say for sure, but they probably wouldn't have wanted you to get so involved. To them, you're just a kid. I'm just a kid. Only so much we can do to make our lives better."

Now that was deep as Hell. "Yeah, well, it still bloody sucks, though." Octavia spat indignantly. "I mean, why us specifically? Bound to be more young dumbasses in both Hell and Earth for life to screw over."

"Who knows? Bet you whatever higher power there is, it didn't take long for it to single me out." Lincoln points at his white hair. "Not like there are any other middle schoolers with snow on the roof that's not cheap dye."

"Pfft, guess God or some shit decided to just play roulette with bird demons, regardless of being either Sinner or Hellborn." Octavia sardonically cracked and the two shared a laugh.

Lincoln raises his soda can. "To having crap in our lives?"

Octava clinks it with hers. "To having crap in our lives."

Lincoln took a moment to take in her room. "Gotta say, you got a cool room. A step up from mine in the office."

"Ooh, you know, I actually thought about this before." Octavia snaps her fingers and it didn't take long for there to be a TV with a very kickass looking gaming system that made the boy drool. "Up for a few rounds?"

The rest of the time was spent with the two friends having fun like children their age should.

Ignoring all the problems of their lives and just enjoying each other's company, such a sight was great for Stolas to see as he looked through the door. He regretted not intervening when his carnivorous plant attacked Lincoln, but then he learned how the boy effortlessly pushed the beast back with his own latent demonic power. It wasn't as big as before, but still left one huge impact to those that could sense it.

It also gave Stolas a chance to carefully learn just how powerful that side was.

Anger.

Fear.

Hatred.

Feelings like those seem to be the triggers, if Lincoln were to feel too much of them, then that led to his expanding demonic side cracking through the surface and he would present so much repressed ferocity that would even garner attention from high class demons such as himself and his daughter. It was impressive that a human of all things is capable of such feats, but also very concerning. The curse that had been afflicted upon Lincoln seems to have inadvertently created something, started a transformation of the boy's own mortal soul.

That transformation progresses in the form of some adaptation to the environment process, and one thing he's learned of his student is that he is adaptive to the situation, hence why it's progressing at a fast rate.

What may occur at the end of that process is unknown even to him, and even if he does find a way to break the curse's hold on Lincoln's soul, will that truly stop what's been set into motion?

For now, he needs to focus on Lincoln's training, which will need to happen on another day. Clearing his throat, Stolas steps through a portal to Octavia's room and feigns surprise. "Ah, there you two are." Both put the video game on pause.

"Hey, dad." Octavia greets, not panicked that he caught them slacking off, unlike Lincoln.

"Stolas! We-uh-We caught the mud men! This is just a quick break?"

"Oh, my dear boy. Have no worries, I'd say you two deserved a reprieve and I must say, I count this as another successful day of honing your magical prowess." Stolas clapped his hands in satisfaction. "Now, I do believe that wraps it up. That charming little Hellhound of yours must still be waiting for you, Lincoln. Allow me to show you the way."

Lincoln took some time to speak once more with his friend. "I'll see you later, Octavia, and take it easy, alright?"

"Funny. I was about to say the same thing." Octavia pulls him in for a hug. "Thanks for listening, Lincoln. I mean that."

Smiling, Lincoln returns the hug, and leaves. "Anytime." As his teacher guides Lincoln through the halls of the mansion, Lincoln brings up what Octavia had told him about the prince's deteriorating marriage. "Octavia told me things haven't been looking so good here."

Stolas nods in acceptance. "Yes. I would imagine she would. Luckily, I like to think having you as a friend is good for her in such times."

"What about you?"

"I'm...fine." Stolas reassures, though it was anything but convincing.

"Are you sure?" Lincoln pressed, knowing the tell tale signs of someone feigning being alright. "Look, I don't know that much about relationships or even marriages, but if this looks like something that needs your attention, especially if it's distracting you from other things."

Ah, always the perceptive one.

"Lincoln, dear boy, please. Don't concern yourself with it. Besides, for the most part, there's not much left to fix." Stolas considerably frowns, but still attempts to look strong in front of his pupil. "But you needn't worry, this will resolve itself over time. In the meantime...is Blitzy busy by any chance?"

"That depends." Lincoln shrugs.

"On what?"

"On whether or not he's not too busy using the money we get from a successful contract to buy more horse figurines, betting on horse races, or losing most of it in-between the couch cushions. He, Moxxie, and Millie just came back from a job, so it's either one of those things. Or all three at the same time." Lincoln holds up a finger. "Specifically in that order."

A butler covered in bandages opens the door. "One last thing, Lincoln." Stolas said. "Whatever may happen, never forget this, you chose who you are. Human or demon."

That got stored deep inside Lincoln's mind. "Thanks, Stolas."

Watching him leave, Stolas looks downward to his servant. "Clear my next hours. I have certain business to attend to." He cryptically ordered.

"Wait, wait, wait. Little mud men? Are you being for real, right now?!"

Loona could barely contain her laughter when Lincoln told her of the fun-filled events that happened during his lesson. If she wasn't careful, she might just hit a jaywalker as Blitzo wished for. "It's true." Lincoln affirmed, laughing a bit, too. "Had to run around the manor to catch them all."

"I thought I heard some weird noises." Loona recalled. "Is it really always that crazy?"

"Not particularly, but still fun all the same." Lincoln not so subtly reminds her she would have joined in anytime she wanted. "Would've been cooler if we had a third party joining in, just saying."

The Hellhound smirked. "You're not gonna let that go are you, kid?"

"Afraid not, no."

Kid was persistent, and Loona can respect that, but it doesn't mean she'll entertain his idea, though. "Whatever. Enough silent drives, I fucking hate those. I'm sure there are some sweet radio shows on right now." She turns the radio on and rolls through various channels until finding a station she regularly listens to with a very smooth talking host, talking to their various listeners.

"What's up, all you damned heathens!" A male-sounding voice asked jovially. "This is your main Speaker, B-0X! Coming at y'all from one of the many radio shows owned by our progressive overlord, Vox and this is in no shape a vain attempt in him one upping the Radio Demon! And no, I am not paid to say that in case that demon is hearing, so don't fucking push me!" his voice grew deep and demonic. "Anyway, I'm here with a special guest, Verosika Mayday herself!" Lincoln's eyes widened and now couldn't tune out the radio. "So, close those fucking speaking holes right now and open up your hearing ones right now, you pathetic shits!"

Verosika's voice was heard, and it was as sultry and seductive as ever. "Shout out to all you deplorable sluts and skeezes out there in Hell! Thanks for letting me on the show."

"My pleasure, sweet thing! Who could ever say no to you?" Both shared a laugh. "So, anyway, I assume the music business has been going well for you. Truth be told, most fans are surprised given you were in rehab."

"That is so over and done." Verosika dismissed. "Too many limpy dicked and saggy-chested washouts at that place. Unlike them, I do still have a life."

"Completely understandable. Anything else you'd like to say to all our listeners."

"As a matter of fact, I do." Verosika then speaks with a bit more emphasis, and her tone grew very flirtatious. "This is a special shoutout to a certain little white-topped little cutie. If you're listening, I haven't forgotten you~. I still owe you for getting me and my peeps out of a little jam that was completely the fault of a dickwad little imp. My girls and I are thinking about showing you our gratitude~. We're just a few rings away, waiting for you~." She is heard blowing a kiss.

"Well, fuck." The host chuckles. "Whoever managed to catch your eye, all I have to say is congratulations and Give me your fucking life-"

"Okay!" Loona turned the radio off. "You know what? Most of the channels are overrated."

"...Hmm."

"She...really seems like you a lot, doesn't she?"

"...Hmm."

"Right, right. I'll just shut up and drive back to the office."

Sighing, Lincoln looks out the window. "Yeah, that's fine."

Loona knew that tone and depressing state all too well, the feeling of being cramped up in that office space, just wanting to do more than wait for the imps to get him back into the field. She remembers how Lincoln described how Octavia showed some of the fun sides of Hell, even getting him the slick new threads he's currently got on now, but she didn't show him everything.

The real fun side of Hell.

Luckily for Lincoln, Loona liked to think of herself as an expert.

"Screw it." She takes an opposite turn from the one that would lead them back to the building.

"Loona? You just made a wrong turn." Lincoln confusedly notes.

"Wrong, buddy. I just made the right turn." Loona contradicts, and takes out her phone. "Gotta make a quick call."

For Blitzo, this was the best life.

He got to enjoy the spoils of killing humans like a real successful boss.

Admittedly, his business has gotten more lucrative than he could ever imagine, more clients were coming in which could only mean that his name was finally getting out there, as there was no other kind of service his business could provide. To think that Striker once told him that no Sinner would ever bother to remember him, well, they remembered enough to recommend more of their own kind.

"Thanks again for choosing I.M.P!" he spoke through his Hell Phone to the client who hired them for the latest job. "Rest assured that the ass-wipe who blew the whistle on you got what they deserved in a very flashy fashion, and now, humans will think twice about reporting a peeping Tom who ends up overdosing out of despair of their life getting ruined because you peeped on your brother's wife! The money's looking good, so thanks again! Remember to tell all your friends, if you have any!"

"I assume that was the client?" Moxxie surmised, entering his boss' office.

"Yup! Moxxie, my gun-toting employee, Immediate Murder Professionals is looking to be every bit as amazing as I thought it'd be." Blitzo reclined on his chair. "We make heads literally roll, and make money off it."

Moxxie chuckled. "Well, we all do our part to make that happen. I only wish Millie would let Lincoln accompany us like before. Must say, it's quite not the same without him."

Blitzo smirks and sneaks up next to him with an arm slung around his shoulder. "Aw, is Poppa sad that his boy isn't working side-by-side with him." He playfully pinches the shorter flushed imp's cheek.

"That's quite enough, Blitz!"

Laughing, Blitzo refrains. "Just messing, Mox. And don't worry, that whole shit-storm with those suits still got Mills rattled, that's all. We haven't had to deal with any of them after, and when she sees that, our killing family will be complete, and the sooner the better. Don't ever tell the kid I said this, but his little magic act is very useful. Not saying we can't manage just fine without him, but it's better when he's there, you know?"

"Blitz, that's what I just said." Moxxie pointed out.

"I know, I just said it better."

Guess some things never change, do they?

Oh well, it doesn't really bother Moxxie as much as it did before.

"Well, if that's all, Millie and I best be off."

"That's right. It's one of those special nights, if I'm not mistaken."

"Sir, not now.." Moxxie replied through gritted teeth. "Now, listen, Blitz. Can I trust you for just this one time, to not follow my wife and I back to our place of dwelling to video tape whatever it is that we're doing?"

Blitzo callously shrugged, throwing a small horse figure from his hands like a ball. "I can try, but I can't make any promises. If it's something really steamy, then I gotta fucking film it!"

"I'm serious!" Moxxie fumed.

"Again, just messing." Seeing that Moxxie wasn't amused, Blitzo did an eye roll and figured he'd let him and Millie off free for once. "Fine, if it'll cool your nips, I won't look at whatever fucked up shit you and your woman get up into. It'll make tonight less fun, but what the hell? I'm running out of film, anyway." Moxxie shakes his head and leaves and Blitzo appears conflicted about something until calling the other imp's name. "Moxxie. Have a nice night." he tells him with what sounds like a genuine sincere tone, even with a smile.

Shocked at first, Moxxie slowly returns the smile with an appreciative nod and closes the door. "Thank you, Blitz. I mean that, by the way."

What a sight.

The two of them were actually getting along.

What a world.

Moxxie leaves without another word.

Blitzo gazes thoughtfully at his horse figure, then to the poster he had framed when he started decorating this office, hard to believe where he first started out before taking up the business of assassination. Even in such a business, he still can't help but find the time to actually grow close to those he works with, despite having reasons for not growing soft, and yet, the feeling of getting close was just too good to pass up.

Maybe, things won't end the way they did before...

Fizz...

Verosika...

Them...

Shaking his head, Blitzo purged such thoughts. What's with him having to think of the past recently? With the good times that are happening right now, why has he recently thought about those old days? Must have something to do with having run into those old faces from the past, reminders of his blunders..."God fucking damn it! When are Looney and Linc coming already?!" She would've called in by now. Now, he could choose to trust his little girl and assure himself that she can take care of herself and Lincoln...but the single overprotective father decided to investigate.

What better way to distract himself from reminiscing about his past?

"Okay, seriously, Loona. Where are we going?"

"You'll see."

"That's what you said the last four times I asked."

"Just bear with me, alright?"

It's not that Lincoln didn't trust Loona, it's just that her suddenly changing directions and being enigmatic about their new destination was very off putting, and he couldn't decide if he liked it or not. That, and she has to know that Blitzo would track them down when he notices they haven't come home, or Satan forbid Millie joining him, and he doesn't want to be indirectly responsible for a mass pile of demon corpses.

"Can you at least give me a hint?"

Loona throws him a shopping bag. "Linc, if there's any time I wanted you to trust me, it's now. Just put that on, it'll help hide your whole human situation there."

Lincoln takes out a gray covered hoodie and puts it on. "Did you have this ready in case you wanted to do this?" No answer. "Loona?" Still no answer. "Loona, come on. You're now really starting to scare me."

"Yo, Loons!"

The van starts to slow down and they see a familiar scarred Hellhound. "Wait a second." Lincoln peered in closer and there was no mistake, both he and Loona have met that big Hellhound before. "Is that Vortex?!"

Lincoln turned to Loona and raised a brow when he saw her checking the smell of her breath.

Catching him watching, she brushed her hand across her hair with an awkward clearing of the throat. "Okay, I'm guessing you're more than a little confused."

"In more ways than one."

"Look, after the whole spring break monster fish cluster-fuck, Vortex did tell me it was alright if I'd hit him up sometime, and well, it took a while, but I eventually took him up on his offer." Loona smiles. "Been hanging out for a bit."

Alright, Lincoln was happy that Loona was socializing more, but wanted to make sure of one tiny little detail. "And you're cool that he's taken?" he asked, remembering Loona's previous crush on him during that aforementioned incident.

Loona had to force down a gulp. "Yeah...I mean, it was just a tiny little crush, so yeah..."

"Okay, I guess I'm beginning to understand, but why bring me along?"

"You looked like you needed some fun." Loona simply answered. "Look at it this way. You can rely on two badass Hellhounds who know more about having fun in Hell, or stay inside the office all day. It's your call, bro."

"..." Against his better judgment, Lincoln concedes. "I guess if you think it's alright. Just worried how the others will take it."

"Simple answer to that. Just stop giving a shit, and go with the flow." Loona smiles proudly. "That's what I always do."

"Huh, sounds like something Blitz would say."

Thankfully, they pulled right up next to Vortex. "Hey there, girl. Been wondering where you've been." Vortex shares a fist bump with his fellow Hellhound, and sees Lincoln seated next to her. "And hey, little dude. Thought I caught your scent. Good to see you again,...Lincoln, right?" It was hard to forget a white haired kid that got him out of a whole jam.

"That's right." Lincoln sees that this big guy was as friendly as ever. A very welcomed change of pace. "Good yo see you're doing well."

"Yeah, thanks to you!" Vortex ruffles his hair as he exits. "Were you out with Loons here or something?"

"I guess you can call it that."

"So, listen, Tex. Is it cool that I brought Lincoln along? Things have been boring as fuck where we work at, and the only other interesting thing he does is over and finished, so I thought, why the shit shouldn't he see some real fun? That call with you?" Loona had confidence that Vortex wouldn't object, but felt it was only right to at least ask, as this was out of the blue.

"Hey, if it's cool with you, girl. Then, I ain't gonna fight you on it." Vortex nods to Lincoln. "But let's be real here, it all depends on how the little dude feels about it. So, how about it, Lincoln? Are you in?"

Lincoln didn't feel pressured to do anything, so that was good. He can see now that this is an attempt by Loona to help him relax and unwind a bit from all the mountainous problems he's been having as of late. But being in Vortex's presence made him uneasy, not that the big guy was all that bad, but he was mostly worried that he may just let his boss lady, Verosika, know where he is.

Of course, Tex seemed genuinely cool before.

"I guess it wouldn't be all that terrible."

"Well, alright!" Grinned Vortex. "Come on, you two. I know these parts like the back of my paw."

"Stick by me, and don't wander off, and no matter what, keep the hood on." Loona instructed.

Lincoln didn't need to be told twice. They followed Vortex through the area, a part of town that was in stark contrast from the district of the royal Goetia family and other locales of that instead of being lavish were gritty and dirt filled. One mustn't forget the shady characters that populate that area, ranging from imps, to Hellhounds, and Sinners as well, folks that you wouldn't want to piss off. "Excuse me!" Lincoln gives a small startled yelp when a green smiling mask attached to a stretched out neck asked him. "Can I interest you and your party in some good Zany Feast!" It offered a bottle of green colored pills. "It's bound to get you as high as Heaven, but not really!"

"I don't really-"

A second out-stretched frowning green mask appears. "You're right, kid. That stuff tastes like solidified piss anyways!" It presents its own thing to sell which is a canister of boiling bubbles. "Now this is some real good shit! It can make you gain the killer edge to carry out any form of revenge on whatever bitch or bastard did you wrong at any point of your life or afterlife!"

"Hey, Masked Heads. Lay off, will ya?" Vortex frowned. "You know no one takes your stuff for good reason."

The masks brightened up in glows upon seeing him. "Vortex, my man!" The two masks leaned in closer to the annoyed hound in a vain attempt to capitalize his job working for a very popular face of Hell. "Word is you got an in with that sexy piece of Succubus tail, Verosika Mayday. Don't suppose you can take some of our products with you when set out of Pride. Since you know, Sinners like me don't have such freedom."

With an angered look, Vortex grabbed them by their throats and pulled them back hard before letting go and letting them launch back to their main body with a loud crashing sound, and any who stopped to observe didn't pay it any further heed. "Friend of yours?" Lincoln asked.

"Just some weasel sales-demon." Vortex wipes his hands clean. "Might wanna keep an eye out if I were you. Lots of weirdos around here. I mean, every part of Hell's full of freaky shitheads in general, but you know what I mean."

Lincoln was getting it. Looking around, he was reminded of his first taste of Hell following the curse that was placed on him, since then, he rarely ever went out again, but this time around, he wasn't as distraught. The sights of a street brawl, a tall demoness leaning on a post smoking, drunken fools lying unconscious on the sidewalks, and the like hardly fazed him this time around. Him having gone on missions with his coworkers made him less affected by it all, he was still wary, but not enough to hide in the office all day. He actually felt more numb to it compared to his first arrival.

It's like he's getting more and more used to it, and that makes him unsettled.

"So, you hang around here, Vortex?" Lincoln avoided straying too far.

"When I'm off the clock, and when my girlfriend's out." Vortex answered, missing Loona's saddened look. "I get into all kinds of shit with a few other demons just to pass the time. No one ever says we can't have a good time in Hell. This girl knows what I'm talking about." he nudges Loona's side, sharing a laugh, though hers was more forced. He leads them to a favorite hangout and knocks on the door.

"Password."

"Quit being a dick, and let me in already." Vortex deadpanned.

Then came the happy response. "Tex, you son of a bitch!" The door opens and an ogre-like demon lets them in. "Nice to see you haven't forgotten the password, old buddy! Come right in!"

"E-Even me?" Lincoln questions.

"Huh? You think there's an age requirement?" The ogre laughed. "Hey, Tex, where'd you find this kid? He's a riot! Go on, pal."

Lincoln immediately knew that this was the kind of hangout that his parents would never allow him in. Heck, the more he thought about it, those two wouldn't be in one themselves. He sees various groups laughing among themselves and drinking the night away. A lot of fist fights broke out that no one really cared for except for the bodies on the floor that weren't moving an inch. Some were just passed out after having one too many.

"Hey, I haven't seen you around here before." a lanky Hellhound with piercings approached Loona flirtatiously. "Say, sweet thing, why don't we ditch the shrimp and muscle head here, and-UGH!" Loona silenced him by kicking him square in the face, making him fall. "I didn't hear a no..." He groaned.

"Pathetic, man. Really pathetic." Vortex shakes his head and screams out to the whole bar. "Yo, what up, my people?!"

"Tex!"

"What's up, dude?"

"My man!"

"Hi, Tex~!"

"Didn't know you were this popular." Loona said.

Vortex didn't brag about it. "I just don't start shit unless I'm on the job. Off the clock, I don't start shit with others, they don't start shit with me."

"That is perhaps the sanest thing I've ever heard in Hell, which is saying a lot." Lincoln holds his mouth. "Oops! Was that mean?"

"Ha, ha. Nah, you're cool, man." Vortex orders himself a drink. "Guessing you've met a lot of nasty bastards since coming on down here, huh?"

Lincoln sighs. "I really wish I could say no to that question. Don't get me wrong, I've met decent people like Loona." she smiles at that compliment. "But, yeah, I might have crossed paths with a lot of...intense guys. I know, this is Hell, but still. Not even the most annoying people I know back home are ever that bad."

"I'm guessing things are very low key where you grew up?" Vortex theorized. "A little mundane, not very eventful?"

"I wouldn't say that." Being the only boy in the family can surprisingly lead to a lot of odd adventures, but none were ever insane like Hell. "But, yeah, it never really got this crazy. I can tell you that much.

Vortex couldn't quite believe it at first that a human kid somehow made it into Hell and still be alive, but here he was. There's gotta be a story behind that, but it wasn't his place pry, at least not out of the blue. But, he figured he could help out. "Wanna know a trick?" Vortex leaned in to whisper to them. "The best way to get assholes off your back is to show off a little and impress and/or scare them. Like, see that dartboard?"

Lincoln nods. "Yeah. So?"

"Try hitting the target, but now with a dart." Vortex pointed at Lincoln's pocket. "Try using that knife of yours, and add a little magic to it, and yes, I knew about that knife and that you're packing heat, which is smart. Really smart. But just use the knife."

Millie has been teaching him some knife throwing techniques, and he wouldn't say he's on her level, he just likes to think he's gotten the basic hang of it. Holding it by the tip of the blade, the knife was also surrounded by a card and with one flick, threw it and in mid-air, caught on fire that hit the board on the mark, setting it ablaze as well. The patrons grew silent for a moment, before erupting into cheers.

The goblin-looking bar owner grimaced, but made good on his promise. "Alright, fine! Free drinks for the rest of the week! But that was only one time only, you lousy fuck-wads!"

"Wait, what just happened?"

Laughing, Vortex slams his hand down on the counter. "Kid, you just became everybody's favorite person in this bar! That asshole of a boss man here put up that board and whoever hits the mark, gets free drinks on the house for the whole damn place! Guy always puts in some sneaky tricks to make it look like it didn't happen, but you went and burned it into ashes!" he goes to get the knife for Lincoln. "Just like that, no one's gonna mess with you, and even if they did, Loona and I will just kick their miserable asses!" he and Loona begin laughing and soon enough, Lincoln joins in.

This felt a little good.

"Honey, do we have enough bread?"

"I bought some from the market just yesterday."

"What about the guns and knives, are they where we left them?"

"Right in the drawers!"

"Okay, just wait there, I need to check something out." Moxxie discreetly closes the door of his and Millie's bedroom in their apartment, he didn't want his wife to find out about his special plans. He dials in the phone number and waits patiently while making sure that Millie was still out in the kitchen, and the other line answers his call. "Yes, hello. This is Moxxie." he whispers, and glares. "Moxxie! Not Roxy! Why the Heaven so hard?! No, my name's not Zim either! Nor is it Billy!" Moxxie sighed. "No, my name isn't Daggett either. Wait, Raz? Is that supposed to be short for something? My name is Moxxie! I'm just calling to make sure the reservation I placed is still in effect! Don't think I don't know about the rumors of you misplacing reservations placed by imps! Uh-huh. Okay. I see. Good! Happy to do business with you...this time."

He hung up and could barely contain a joyous squeal. He simply can't wait until he sees Millie's reaction to the surprise he has in store for her to commemorate the anniversary of their marriage.

It took a lot of work, but to get a reservation at that place was a stroke of good luck, and he was proud of himself for it. In the year that they've been together, so much has happened, and through all the trouble, their love still held up strong. "Well, that takes care of that."

"What does?" Millie asked.

"Oh! Uh, just polishing my guns and your knives." Moxxie slapped his blushing face out of awkwardness. "Fuck! That's not what I meant! I was just making a call" His eyes widened. "Which had nothing to do with us specifically!" He was really starting to hate himself. "It's-It's nothing, okay, dear? I was just taking care of a certain business." He sat on the dinner table. "What about you?"

Millie beams at his query.

"I've still been writing to my fam back in Wrath!" She dumps a bunch of written letters on the table. "They all want to know how Lincoln's been doing, but don't worry, I left out the part where he got captured with you and Blitz! Ma would come raging down Hell itself if she found out."

Moxxie sardonically snorts. "And Joe would undoubtedly blame me for getting us caught in the first place."

"Oh, don't be like that, sweetie." Millie tells. "After the festival, I like to think Pa's been lightening up on you some."

Maybe, but Moxxie wished to talk more about their surrogate son. "You know, Millie. If your parents were here, they'd probably demand that you let Lincoln join us."

"Moxxie..."

"You know I'm right." Moxxie argued. "Why the sudden reluctance? When Lincoln first started working at the company, you were all for him coming with us for a new contract. Hell, you were quite exuberant over it and with every job, you grow more and more happy."

"Moxxie, you ought to know why!" Millie didn't want to be the bad guy in this scenario. "Last time our baby was up in the human world, he got caught with you and I'd burn down all of Heaven to get you back! He's our boy, Moxxie. The fuck kind of Momma can I be if can't even keep my boys safe? I don't want to go through that again. I-I can't..." her fists tighten and almost cries.

"Oh, Millie." Moxxie tenderly grasps her hand to calm her down. "When I was captured with Blitz, I could barely care about what happened to me. My primary concerns were you and Lincoln, so far, that I felt it'd be better if you hadn't come and Lincoln would be the only one to escape. So, I understand how you feel. He's...he's my son, too." He says with utmost conviction. "But, it's not just his safety that concerns you, is it? It's because of how he acted."

As Hellborn imps, Moxxie and Millie knew when to see a demonic presence much higher than them in terms of power and they could see that in Lincoln's eyes. The eyes of a special boy who's become their son in all but blood. They were impressed by his sudden change, but concerned, as the gentle kind hearted nature of that boy is what they've come to know and love. They know how afraid Lincoln is of falling to that sort of side, and they're beginning to see that they have similar fears, even though it would otherwise be praised for by others in Hell.

But none of them were his family.

"I'm worried about him, Moxxie." Millie lamented. "I don't know if I can be the mother he needs me to be. I tried doing my best, but what if that's not good enough? What if I end up doing a crap job after all's said and done?"

"You won't." Millie stares at her husband. "Millie, I never imagined ever having a child to call my own until now. At first, I was hesitant because not only was as I constantly point out, Lincoln is anything but an orphan. I just felt like supporting him, but not to that level, because I didn't think I could be a father. All I know is what I know, and a father wasn't one of them. But I guess some part of me knew that Lincoln needed more than a good peer in Hell and frankly, I realized I needed to step up." Moxxie sighs. "I want to believe that Lincoln will find a way back home, but there is the possibility of that not ever happening and well, a peer isn't enough."

"Moxxie..."

As always, her man's got a way with words, another reason why she loved him so much.

"Whatever may happen, I think it is imperative we face it together. As a family. Now, I know you may still need more time to think on it, but-MPHH!" Moxxie was instantly kissed hard by his wife.

"I-I guess I'm willing to hear you out some more." Millie smiled.

Moxxie smiled back sweetly, squeezing her hands. "I know this is hard, but no one ever said having a son was easy, dear. If we're serious about being parents, then we gotta learn to talk things out some more."

"Get the fuck out of here! For real!"

"I shit you not, that did happen!"

The three unlikely friends spent their time talking and about past times in their lives, with Loona recanting a crazy time with Blitz. "Wow, I knew Blitz loved horses so much, but he seriously ran straight into a race track?" Lincoln held his side.

"Yeah, it was about a few weeks after he adopted me." Loona added more to that story. "It was at that moment, I realized that I'll be living with a total horse freak. But you know what? It was better than nothing. In about a year, I was gonna turn eighteen, so it's not like I could stay at that Hellhound home for much longer, and frankly, I was getting tired of it. Blitz was a fucking maniac, that much I could tell just by looking at him and sometimes, you take what you can get."

Lincoln chuckles at a few memories. "You know, Blitz would tell me that on the day he adopted you, you were shedding tears of joy at being taken in by the greatest daddy ever. His words, not mine."

Loona scoffs with an amused smile.

"Of course he'd say that. But, that's just Blitz for ya."

"Sounds like he can be a real handful sometimes." Vortex didn't know what to expect from Verosika's ex, but damn, it sounded like no one could easily tell his whole deal. "Wonder if that's why Verosika broke things off. I never really asked her, since managing her old lovers wasn't part of my job, but now, I'm a little curious."

"You and me both." Lincoln murmured. When he tried digging for more info, Blitzo always dodged the questions, ironic since he just loves getting to the private lives of his employees.

Loona got up. "Gonna go check if there's decent chow left."

With her momentarily gone, Lincoln now found it a bit awkward being just alone with Vortex. "So, uh, just so you know, no one at I.M.P told anyone about what caused that monster fish. In case you were worried."

"Hey, the fact no higher ups came knocking my door so far is a good enough answer to me, little dude." Vortex smiled. "Plus, I have a feeling that Verosika wouldn't hesitate to tell them that your boss doesn't use a human disguise, so it's more or less a crossroads for them."

"Really? Wouldn't she also tell them three imps and a hellhound have a human living and working with them?" Lincoln found that even better blackmail material. Lola would most definitely agree.

Vortex laughed it off with a shake of the head, finding the very thought unlikely. "Nah, little man. Thing is, she likes you. Like, really likes you."

"...Oh. That's nice." Lincoln rubs his arm. "I mean, I think she's nice. Surprised she even remembers me."

"Buddy, one thing you should know about a Succubus is that they rarely lose interest in someone with her eye on them." Vortex advised, feeling that he needed some advice. "Don't forget. You helped them from being arrested. She and the rest of the gals have been going on and on about you, kid. Coco and Apple. It's rare to see them both go for the same one at the same time, can't remember any point where they both wanted a third. Kiki usually just forgets after a bit, but not you. And Milky, she's all for meeting up."

"Wow, that's, uh, wow." Lincoln didn't even think that like him, Verosika and her gal pals also thought about him after their first meeting. And inside, he was really happy about that, the blush on his face was very telling. "Surprised you're not telling them I'm with you right now."

"Like I keep telling ya, I'm off the clock." Vortex told him. "And the job is bodyguarding, not hooking her or them up. I know you probably feel a little weird by all the attention, huh?"

"That's one way to put it." Lincoln didn't hate it. But, it was still a little unsettling. "I mean, I'm just a kid. They know that, right?"

"Yeah, and they're Hellborn Succubi." Vortex countered. "Not that they've ever gone that far, you're just a unique case and while I am impressed by your self control, I can tell some part of you likes the attention at the same time."

"...I-I choose not to confirm or deny that."

"Uh-huh." Vortex deadpanned. "Bottom line, it's okay to feel weird about it. This is Hell and all, but there are lines even if people won't admit. If it bothers you that much, you can always just tell them to dial it back. They like you, so maybe try that. I get it, it's still fucked up. They're my peeps, but it's fucked up. I didn't want to say anything before, but it kinda got weird for me which is why I asked for a night off from my bodyguard job. Still, most would kill to be in your shoes. They also wish they were you just to get Verosika all to themselves."

"Well, I never thought about any of this before, okay? It's not like I wanted to be stuck down here."

Vortex sympathetically looks at him. "You know, I'm guessing there's a story with you being here. Not my business, so I never bothered asking, but it hasn't been easy, has it?" His somber silence told him all he needed to know. "Look, a lot of Sinners have been where you are. The type that didn't really do much to end up down here, but they managed to work through it, and from what I hear, you've been doing more than enough. So, just keep doing what you're doing. Okay?" he smiles reassuringly. Lincoln didn't at first, but he slowly

"Got the eats!" Loona arrived. "That asshole who has no clue what no means acted again. Guy can't take a hint."

"My girl's gonna get home soon, so I better split." Vortex fist-bumped Loona. "Cool hanging with ya, girl, and remember, the offer is still open to come to a hound party. Hell, you can even bring the kid."

Loona brushes her hair with a thoughtful smile. "I'll...think about it. Thanks for the good time, Tex. Let's roll, Linc!"

"Hey, kid." Lincoln turns to the bigger Hellhound. "Take it easy."

"Yeah. Same to you." Lincoln smiles and follows Loona into the van and before she could start the car, the boy wishes to talk about a very important matter with her. "Loona. Do-Do you believe I'll ever get home? That this curse will ever be broken?"

Loona blinked and clearly didn't expect to be asked that. "Whoa. What brought this on?"

"It's something that I didn't want to think about, because I kept believing that with hard work, I'd eventually do it. But right now, I'm starting to think it might not be possible. I might never see my family, or my friends again." Lincoln sniffles. "Ever since I came here, I've had to change how I viewed things, more realistically and frankly, I can't ignore the unlikeliness of what I want anymore."

"Lincoln..."

"It scares me, you know. The thought of being here all alone, but then I remember that I'm not alone." Lincoln stares directly at her. "I have you, and Moxxie, Millie, even Blitz. Even though I may never see my old family again, I started to realize that I've been seeing you guys as my new family." His hallucination from before all but confirmed it. "And that only made me feel worse, because it's like I'm just replacing my parents and my sisters with all of you. I know it sounds stupid, we're just work buddies, but that's just how I've felt as the days go by and I just...I just don't know what else to do. I still want to go home, but I also still want you guys in my life. It makes zero sense, I know, but-"

Loona pulls him in for a deep tight hug, the likes of which he never imagined she could do. "Linc. I gave up dreaming a long time ago." Her days as a pup expecting her biological parents to come in and rescue her are long past her. "A family. Friends. Didn't think I could have something like those, but then Blitz adopted, and then, I met you. Being with you, it makes me feel like having a little brother." she rubs his back as he begins sobbing.

"I miss them...I miss them so much..." Lincoln bemoaned.

"I know, bro. I know." Loona lets him go as he finishes crying.

"Loona. Thanks for listening..."

"What I'm here for."

They drove away and this time, Lincoln felt a lot better after being honest with Loona. Keeping it all pent up inside wasn't doing him any favors, and could begin to do more of it in the coming days. Until then, they can just enjoy this leisurely drive, and-oh, wait. Instead, they can both scream when a maniac bumped his car with their own in the middle of the street. "The fuck?! Loona exclaimed.

"Hey, baby!" It was the same hound from the bar. "Not finished yet!"

"Are you fucking shitting me right now?!" Loona growled. "Didn't you get the message, you ass?!"

"We just got off on the wrong foot!" the hound replied. "Look, let's start over. My name is Var, and I really think-"

Another car arrived and put some dents in Var's ride. "Vortex!"

"Thought I smelled something funky going on!" Vortex glared at Var. "Dude, this is not cool! You're being a major dick right now!"

"Oh, come on, man! I called dibs so you can just go eat out of a dumpster!"

"See? You're proving my point right now!"

Loona backs up the van to be next to Var. "Linc, open the glove compartment!" Leave it to Blitzo to have a gun hidden in some places of the van, and right now, Loona was ready to use it. "Eat lead, motherfucker!"

"Oh, shit!"

Var drove ahead after nearly getting a hole shot through his head, now his tires were Loona's primary targets. Looking at Vortex in his sweet ride, Var turned the wheel hard to crash into it, making Vortex lose control and crash the car.

"He's in trouble!" Lincoln shouted in alarm, and shouted when Var kept crashing into them.

"I'm still here, beautiful!"

Growling, Lincoln became increasingly angry over this guy and threw out paper cards that had spells written on them that exploded into mini-explosions that messed up Var's view. But Lincoln wasn't finished, this creep was getting on his nerves and felt a real harsher lesson was needed and before he knew it, his eyes glow red and some lampposts were moved by his magic to bend down and crash on his car. "You're not getting away..." he whispered as the hound was raised up and his limbs were forcefully twisted, even his head started to turn. Lincoln's eyes were starting to turn black as well, but then Lincoln took a look at a distressed Loona, then at his reflection in the rear view mirror. The same face from his nightmares looked back in a millisecond. His own face. "No...this is for her...not for me..." His eyes turn normal and Var is released from his hold.

"Fuck! The hell was that?!" Var looks at Vortex getting out of his car. "Tch! You bastard, this wasn't business, damn it!" he pulls out a switchblade. "Gonna enjoy giving you another scar! Huh?" A grenade was tossed and the explosion flew him up to the sky into a blimp which came crashing down on him. "You guys ain't shit!"

"Who threw that?" Loona asked, knowing the van didn't have any explosives.

"Young lady!"

"God dammit." Loona groaned.

There was Blitz with a less than pleased expression.

"Not only did you not come home just like I expected, but you went and hung around with punk-ass fuck-heads!" Blitzo surmises as Lincoln and Loona sat on a sidewalk, getting an earful from him. "Don't even get me started on all the damages to the van! Getting that baby wasn't cheap, you know! That's a huge cut out of your allowance, Looney and another paid deduction for you, intern!"

"Do you just decide when to forget that you don't even pay me, Blitz?"

"No speaking when the boss is fucking talking!"

Vortex intervened in defense. "Dude, come on. Var was the one who started this mess. They were just trying to defend themselves." If the reason Verosika broke things off was because of an unreasonable jerk Blitzo was, Vortex can understand that.

"This is and I.M.P matter, big stuff!" Blitzo narrowed his eyes suspiciously. "For all I know, this was all part of some plot for you to get inside my Looney's pants!" He gasps and frantically looks around. "And was part of the plan getting the kid alone so that hoe boss of yours gets her hooks on him?! You out there, bitch?! Too scared to face me, huh?! Well, just go ahead and try!"

"Okay, this is getting sad now." Loona stands up to speak for her and Lincoln. "Look, Blitz. Lincoln was getting suffocated in the office, alright? Didn't think there was any harm in him relaxing, and cut Tex some slack. He was actually helping us out, so stop freaking out."

Blitzo looks at her, then at Vortex and gives him an 'I'm watching you' gesture with his fingers.

"If you insist, Looney-poo." Blitzo relented somewhat. "As for you, Lincoln. Just, be more careful next time, alright?" he ruffles his snow colored hair. "I know you're smart, but brains alone can't get you out of bat-shit crazy fuckery that goes on."

Lincoln slowly smiles. "Yeah, sure, Blitz. Sorry for making you worry."

"Honestly, buddy boy. It's a miracle that only I got here. If it were M&M, hoo-boy."

The human child's Hell phone rang and he answered the call to see that it was one half of that deadly duo. "Hello? Moxxie? Uh, no, no, this isn't a bad time." Best not to let him or Millie know about the chase and listen to what he had to say. "You spoke to Millie? Wait, really?" He begins to brighten up. "I get to go back to work with you guys! No way! I never thought I'd say this, but that's the best news I heard!" He turns to his fellow co-workers. "I guess I'm back on the field."

"Yes, Yes. A shit-tastic happy ending all around, which doesn't make me want to puke on that body outline over there." Despite his tone, Blitzo was silently happy. "But what's important is that this little family matter is resolved exactly as I thought!" He wraps his daughter and their young charge in a group hug.

Loona was annoyed, but Lincoln was silently happy. "Yeah. Family..."

"If you need me, I'll start the van up!"

"So, does this kind of thing happen a lot?" Vortex asked.

"Pretty much."

"Oh, yeah." Lincoln frowns at Vortex's damaged car. "Sorry that you had to get involved, Vortex."

Vortex made sure there were no worries. "All good. My girlfriend might be a little pissed, but she'll get over it. There's a reason we have insurance. I also owed you one, Lincoln. But hey, pretty badass stuff you did back there, ended up saving my ass again, heh. You know what? You need help, go ahead and ask. I won't even charge ya."

"Really? Thanks, Vortex."

Vortex holds out his fist down to him. "My friends call me Tex, remember."

Lincoln chuckles, bumping his new friend's fist with his. "Right. Thanks, Tex."

"Catch y'all later." Vortex went off to wait for a tow truck.

"I'll help Blitz out." Loona walks away.

Lincoln sat alone, enjoying this reprieve and thinking. When he nearly lost control, Lincoln managed to reign himself in by thinking of Loona, that was enough to remind himself that no matter how demonic he was growing, a part of him was still human. He was afraid that humanity would wither away, but it was still present and what he really needed was to not forget that. Those closest to him help, such as the family on Earth and his family in Hell. Thinking of them brought great sadness, but they ultimately made him so happy. He still longs for the Louds, without them, he feels so lost. He doesn't know who he is without them. Or what good is he without them? But his time with I.M.P showed him he can manage on his own and should he fail in his aim to return, it's not as if he'll go through Hell alone.

But still, he continued having the resolution to do whatever it took to break the Hellish chains on his soul, and he can see them all again.

Lincoln looked at his hand which radiated orange demonic energy.

He wondered if his family would even recognize him.

Or if they even understood and still loved him,

Closing his eyes, Lincoln purged those fears out for the moment and remembered Stolas' words. For better or worse, he wasn't going to let this power determine who he was, and continued hoping for the best. Lincoln ran up to his friends as they got in the van.

Chapter Text

Lincoln realized that this may sound all kinds of messed up, but the kid actually kinda missed going on these jobs with I.M.P.

Granted, he had previously expressed a lot of understandable reservations about the very nature of the sort of business that the company he currently works at, and a part of him still does on some level. But as he grew to handle all the bullshit Hell keeps throwing at his face, he started to at least try and not make that big a deal about all the assassinations and over-the-top murdering that's done in his presence. Besides, since he knew for a fact that there's an afterlife, it's not like it's truly the end for them, just one more stop until being judged to live in Heavenly paradise or a Hellish punishment.

His old idealistic naive way of thinking may have taken a few blows so far. But come on, with all the rampant chaos he's had to endure, can anyone else truly feel any different? He likes to think he's entitled to it at the very least.

Besides, it wasn't all that bad in a way.

Lincoln retained his capacity for compassion and kindness, but with all that he's seen and witnessed working as an unpaid intern in Hell, that has forced him to look at things in a completely different viewpoint.

How else would he actually find some excitement in running away from chainsaw wielding lumberjacks who were today's new targets for Immediate Murder Professionals. It was both scary and exhilarating, what every kid needed.

"Get 'em, boys!" The leaded bearded lumberjack roared. "Ain't no little red mongoose things gonna do us in today!"

"Mongoose?" Moxxie questioned, finding the very comparison ridiculous. "Leprechauns, I can understand. It wouldn't be the first time humans would mistake us for them, but animals such as possums and mongooses. That is just insulting." He loads up his crossbow and fires arrows straight through their faces as Milllie wielded three swords, two in her hands and one held by her tail.

In a twirling mini-whirlwind, she sliced those in her path and continued on rapidly. She narrowly missed a chainsaw swung at her, causing her to drop all her swords, and Lincoln had an extra weapon ready for her.

"Millie, catch!"

He threw a black hatchet at her and she caught it with a spin.

"That's momma's little helper!"

She skipped off with her new weapon and hacked away at those unwilling to receive.

"Good hustle! All of you!" Blitzo praised, firing repeatedly with twin machine pistols. "But save some for daddy, will ya?! I didn't get dressed early in the morning for nothing and I got plenty of bullets to spare!"

"Murder always does get him excited." Lincoln chuckled weakly with a sweat drop.

Besides horses, being on the job always painted a smile to his boss' face.

A manic smile, granted.

But a smile nonetheless.

"Lincoln, look out!"

Moxxie's warning made Lincoln utilize those lessons in parkour that Lynn would give him a few times, he climbed himself up tree before taking out one of his trusty spell flash cards, using this as a an alternative to using the grimoire, which they had left behind back at the office with Loona. The demonic words on the cards glowed red until large plant vines emerged from them entrap the lumberjacks. That was a close call, and he feels he could learn much more advanced parkour skills from Millie, but that can come much later when his life isn't being threatened at the moment.

Pulling out more flash card spells, Lincoln makes floating orange energy boards that he stepped on like stairs leading down and flicks more clouds that more lumberjacks stepped on, that froze them on the spot.

What Lincoln really enjoyed about his job was being able to do magic.

"Nice work, sweetie!" Millie praised.

It's all part of the job.

He was the support. They took care of the rest.

A simple mantra he constantly repeated in his head.

"Blitz, I don't mean to overstep my position, but we should wrap this up swiftly!" Moxxie shouted over to his employer. The sooner they get this job taken care of, the sooner he can move on to more important things that heavily include his wife. "Logically speaking, we shouldn't have so much trouble with targets of their caliber! All they have are simple chainsaws, after all!"

"Why the rush, Mox?! We could do this all day!" Blitzo reloaded his guns before using his tail to trip one up before finishing him off. "And that's not arrogance talking, I literally think we can do this all day long! Know what I mean?"

"I know what you meant!" Moxxie deadpans, rolling over on the ground to shoot his pistol from a low position. "But, seriously! It is greatly imperative that we make it back to the office post haste!"

Blitzo rolled his eyes, but if it was that important to Moxxie, then they might as well end things already to avoid a load of annoying complaints from his employee. Besides, this is still a paying gig and while he was all for having a ball when on the clock, prolonging the job won't get them the cash money any sooner. "Fine, Moxxie. If it'll calm you down." He whistles loudly over to Millie and Lincoln. "Alright, fam! Let's wrap this up!"

"Up the tree then, boys!" Millie motioned Lincoln and Moxxie to climb up the nearest tallest bushiest tree they could find in order to get to higher ground. The lumberjacks were handled by Blitzo and Millie, but even though the imps awere smaller in size compared to these buff dudes, that made them more slipper than them. Inside the tree, Moxxie got the idea to turn the tables on them by utilizing his own Hell-made chainsaw. Not what the avid gun user would usually utilize, but he felt that it would give a delicious taste of irony by using it cut the tree down, as a way to assist his still fighting Millie, he may be a gentle soul, but Moxxie didn't hold back. "I advise every demon not in this tree be wary at this point!"

"You know, if it matters that much ya, Mox, I think a preemptive portal back home is in order!" Blitzo exclaimed to the fussy imp, then went for one of his still operational dark colored phones. "Let me just call Loona and then, we'll be done for the day."

"The sooner the better." Moxxie grinned, a little grateful to Blitzo.

"Have big plans, Moxxie?" Lincoln curiously asked.

Chuckling, Moxxie cryptically replied. "In a manner of speaking." All conversations ceased when they heard a creaking sound. Moxxie's chainsaw managed to go through the tree trunk deep enough for it to start toppling over.

Lincoln put up a shield around himself as Moxxie went back up the tree.

Back in the plane of eternal damnation that is Hell, specifically in Imp City where I.M.P's office was located, Loona was doing her usually rounds as both the receptionist and back to being the bookkeeper of he spell book, while also another round of a bottle of beer. After all, as Verosika Mayday liked to say on the cover of a popular magazine, binge drinking can be sexy.

Being a young Hellhound demon who's a follower of trends, she followed this mindset.

Loona was so focused on her drinking that she absentmindedly places it on the grimoire, conveniently turned to the page for the portal spell, activating it and opening one in the middle of the office. She didn't even bat an eye when a tree and a lumberjack's head fell through it onto the office. Moxxie emerged from the leaves with his chainsaw still on and Lincoln coughed out some leaves as Blitzo entered, too, jovial at their completed assignment.

"Whoo! Guess who just owned a fuck ton of lumberjacks?!" Blitzo cheered.

Loona smirked Lincoln's way. "First day back on jobs went well, I take it?"

"Believe it or not, the fear for my life helps keep the blood pumping." Lincoln wiped off any small leaf pieces on his uniform. "Not to mention those flash cards I took with me. Sure you don't mind being back on book duty?"

"Eh, I barely cared when you started bringing it to Earth, not gonna start now." Loona shrugged her shoulders. "Although, it would be a good idea for someone to have it in case there's another government kidnapping."

"Really hopes it doesn't come to that."

Millie crawled through the portal with her hatchet in her teeth and she screams out in pure elation.

"Ah! I'm still so jazzed up!" She bites down and break the hatchet, laughing.

"Then you better stay jazzed, babe." Her husband slyly throws the chainsaw away and finger points at her. "Because, you'll love where I'm taking you tonight." He told her in anticipation.

"Don't you dare finish a filthy pun in my presence, Moxxie!" Blitzo teased.

"You do that regularly, Blitz." Lincoln pointed out.

"Exactly. That's my schtick." Blitzo already made plans for his team. "Besides, drinks are on me tonight. I found this new dive down the street! I say we hit it up!" Millie nudges him with a disapproving frown. "Ugh, don't worry, Mills. We'll get Linc an non-alcoholic drink. Bit of a buzzkill, but if it'll make you happy."

Moxxie sheepishly dashes those plans. "Actually, sir. This is more for myself and Millie. See, it's our one year wedding anniversary." he tells all present, sharing a loving smile with his paramour.

Lincoln gaped. "Whoa, really? That's great, you guys!" He congratulated, but felt disappointed in himself. "Now I feel bad I didn't get you anything." Considering them being surrogate parents to him, Lincoln couldn't resist wanting to get them something to celebrate such a special occasion, much like how he and his sisters re-painted the entire house.

Maybe nothing that big, but at the very least, something special.

"Oh, Lincoln, honey! You don't need to worry!" Millie consoles him with a big bear hug. "The best gift you could give us is being right here with us! Hard to believe in only the first year into marriage, we become proud parents to a precious little miracle like you!" she looks to her love to see exactly what he has in store and she got a feeling it was to be a doozy. "So, what's the plan, Mox-Mox?"

"Glad you asked, my lady love." Moxxie proudly announces what he managed to pull off. "To commemorate this special day, I'm taking you to Ozzie's in the Lust Ring!"

Millie gasps with stars sparkling in her eyes, almost not believing what she heard. "Ozzie's?! No way! That place is always booked!"

"Ozzie's..." Lincoln recalls Robo-Fizz mentioning that name thoughtfully, and from he's read, it's the nickname for one of Hell's big time demons. "Like short for Asmodeus? One of the seven deadly sins?" The only other demons that are in a class higher than even Stolas and the Ars Goetia besides the royal family themselves.

"That's the one." Loona nodded, perplexed. "That place is only the most exclusive joint in Lust, and the big man himself personally owns and runs it, even naming it after him. Okay, spill, Moxxie? Did you have to pull a Blitz to get that deal?" she inquired.

"For your information, Loona, I did nothing of the sort." Moxxie was proud of this accomplishment and he won't let anyone ruin it. "I've been planning it for quite a while, going through the proper channels and well, I like to think I outdid myself, right?"

Millie wholeheartedly agrees when she jumped into his arms. "Moxxie!" She shows her gratitude by planting many kisses on his face which became a heated kissing session.

Lincoln averted his gaze with a flustered expression and Blitzo groans in annoyance over M&M's usual public displays of affection. "Ugh, can you two not?" There was also a bit of jealousy in his tone.

Moxxie dreamily sighs once they broke the kiss. "I'm sorry, sir. Maybe another time."

"No, it's fine. I could come with the two of you." Blitzo offers outright. "Help you celebrate your boring as fuck monogamy."

"Uh, no." Moxxie bluntly says. "The reservation is for us."

Blitzo obliviously nods once. "Uh-huh."

"Just us."

He nods again, still not getting it. "Mm-hm."

"Without you there. Just me and my lovely wife. No trace of you." Moxxie can't imagine being any more clearer than that. So far, he's tolerated Blitzo's tendencies to always stalk them both when they're outside of work hours, but him hiding in their fridge and videotaping them he could handle, what Moxxie won't let stand was his boss disrupting a meaningful night for him and Millie.

"Nah, nah, I hear you." Blitzo was clearly not hearing them.

"Blitz, they don't want you to go." Lincoln spells it out with a frown, being more respectful of the couple's privacy. "This for their anniversary. Which means tonight is all about them and them alone."

"Don't be modest, bud!" Blitzo ruffles his head. "I know you don't want mommy and daddy to leave you out, so of course you can come with!"

"What?! That's now what I-"

"No!" In flash, Millie grabs Blitzo's collar and peers in closer with a fierce glare of maternal instinct until he was bending backwards. "No-no-no-no-no-no-no-no-fuck no!"

Blitzo held his hands up, not used to such negativity from Millie. "Whoa! Easy there, Millie. You're uncontrollable rage is usually for assholes that have it coming like all our targets and the occasional demon. Was it something I said?"

Millie made her feelings known. "Blitz you're the best boss an assassin gal could ever ask for. I don't say that to just any badass motherfucker." That comment made Blitzo's heart skip a beat. "But as a mother, with Satan as my witness, there is no fucking way am I letting my baby step even one foot in that den of slutty tramps! The minute they look at him and his virginity, every damn Succubi will be on the hunt and I ain't lettin' that happen, ya hear?!"

"You're comfortable with Linc going with you on killing jobs, but you draw the line on any form of freaky stuff?" Loona surmised quizzically. "If this is what parenting does to a bitch, I am never having kids. Hey!" she shouts in protest when her magazine is taken by Millie.

"You know I'm right, Loona!" the female imp held up the cover that pictured Verosika. "Take little miss thang here! Now, ya'll can't tell me she won't try getting her hooks on Lincoln again the next time she sees him!"

Lincoln blushes up considerably when he sees Verosika's image. "Y-You think so?" That sounded way too hopeful, so he redacted "I-I mean, yeah! That would be kind of crazy! But, I wouldn't worry. She's like super famous, remember? I doubt she even remembers me."

"I wouldn't be so sure." Moxxie argued. "I distinctly recall hearing her guest star on a radio show and speaking fondly of someone with features you particularly have. Not to mention the social media posts that mention someone by the initials of 'L.L.' that also feature her and the other Succubi in her entourage."

"He's not wrong." Loona admitted, showing such posts on her phone. "She and her groupies aren't being subtle at all. Now, give me back my fucking magazine!" She grabs it away from Millie.

"Okay, enough talk about that hoe-bag ex-girlfriend bitch of mine!" Blitzo orders harshly. "Just hearing her name is enough to bring my mood down and I just might make it company policy to never say her name again, the punishment being a huge pay deduction! That warning goes double for you, intern."

"...I mean, you said so yourself that my role here was non-paying gig. Seriously, Blitz. Not as funny the more you reference it."

"Agree to disagree, kid." Blitzo began walking to the exit. "Now if you'll excuse me, I'll go make sure to wear something nice! This is a big deal after all! I'll see you two love bugs later!" He told Moxxie and Millie after hugging them and whistles a happy tune.

Lincoln shook his head in exasperation. "We probably should've talked more about him not going."

"Damn it!" Moxxie fumed with a feral growl.

Millie calmed him down. "Relax, sweetie. Don't let him get to you today." She leaned in very close with bedroom eyes and traced her finger on his shirt. "Let's just go home and clean this blood off." She purred into his ear, making Moxxie giggle incoherently in a blubbering stutter, she led him away to get ready for tonight.

"Have a nice night, you two!" Lincoln said.

"Thanks, hon!"

Loona, however, wasn't so moved by the palpable love between Moxxie and Millie. "I gotta agree with Blitz. I'm only on my second bottle of booze, and I already feel like heaving it up."

"Don't be like that, Loona." Lincoln gestures to the imps leaving. "They have a great marriage. Even more than most marriages in Earth, which is really saying something since they're from Hell. Speaking of, you don't think Blitz will really stalk them on their anniversary, do you?"

"It's Blitz, bud."

"...Okay, fair point." Lincoln concedes. "But my point still stands, the thing between Moxxie and Millie are hard to find, and frankly, I don't want anything to bother it. Even if it's my boss."

"No offence, Linc. But, you're what, like, eleven or twelve?" Loona questioned. "What exactly do you know about romance? You have a girl back home or something?" That was meant to be a lighthearted joke, but Lincoln's timid blush told a different story that she could pick up on. "Wait a second. Dude, are you saying you have a girlfriend?!" asked the Hellhound in apt shock.

"No!" Lincoln shook his head, then corrected himself. "Well, I think so. Look, it was kinda complicated, and she's just a close friend, I-I should go." Not wanting to go into the subject any further, he tried leacing, but Loona kept him in place.

"Uh-Huh! No way in home are you gonna leave me hanging! Give me the deets!" Loona rubbed her hands with a grin.

"Like I said, it was complicated." Lincoln fought his blush reddening. "Her name's Ronnie Anne. She-She's one of my best friends, and well, we mostly knew each other because my sister and her brother date and well, I guess we sorta got closer and we...kissed...twice."

"Ge the fuck out of town!" Loona slapped her forehead. "Been holding out on me, little buddy! That is just...wow! Kudos!" Truth be told, she was greatly impressed and really wanted to know more.

For Lincoln, it felt like talking to one of his sisters about this sort of subject and was thankful Loona didn't have the habit of squealing out over his relationships. "Look, for the record, we weren't anything official." Sure, they went on a few hangouts that extended only to them and them alone, and he certainly had a special feeling in his insides whenever they were near each other, but it wasn't always the case. "I mean, before we started hanging out, we didn't exactly get along. In fact, she had a bit of a...bullying thing."

Loona narrowed her eyes. "Come again?"

Lincoln hated looking back on the days when Ronnie Anne would haze him with unprovoked pranks and gags at school that were on par with Luan's craft. Sure, it was her very misguided way of handling her own growing feelings for him because of her rep as a hater of cheesy romance, and apologies were given, but it was still hard to bring up those memories and the last thing he wanted was for Loona to judge her based on that. "That's ancient history, though! The more I got to know her, the more I got to see another side of her that led to her being someone I really care about, so please don't think any less. She just wasn't used to showing her emotions, you know?" Although, he was glad Loona could understand why the bullying was the problem.

"Hmph. Whatever." Loona could indeed understand that, but still, any sort of wrong done to Lincoln didn't sit in well for her. "Still, two kisses, and we're talking on the lips? Not bad, kid. Never would've guessed."

"It-It barely meant anything, and we were just kids, we felt it was better if we'd just be friends." Lincoln liked to think that Ronnie Anne felt the same way, and if she did want to things to be more than just a platonic friendship, she'd say so. Right? "Look, can we please drop it? Also, don't say anything about this to the others. I really don't want anyone else to make a big deal. Especially Blitz or Millie."

"Hey, you don't have to ask and I'll be too busy, anyway." Loona informs of her own personal plans for tonight. "Tex texted me and I'll be going for one of those hound parties his girl throws."

"Really? Loona, that's fantastic." It warmed Lincoln to know that Loona was socializing more.

"Say, why don'y you come with?" Loona didn't remember any restrictions in bringing along her own guests. "Tex wouldn't mind, and I'm sure the rest won't, either. If not, well..." she cracks her knuckles. "...sucks to be them."

"Appreciate it, but after the last job, I think what I need is less excitement." Lincoln retreated to his private bedroom. "Maybe another time." He spared one last look at the cover of Loona's magazine.

Verosika.

There were a lot of feelings that thinking about her gave him, besides nervousness of course.

Such as curiosity.

Like, what she was probably doing what now.

Every demon in Hell lived in very different ways.

Sinners lived their afterlives pretty straightforwardly, they all are basically trapped in the Pride ring after all. Some had cushy jobs that put them in pretty high standing, and that wasn't even getting into the ones who are of Overlord status. Even so, they were mostly left to their own devices in the ring where king Lucifer presided over, and as for the rest, that was a different story.

Based on Hell's hierarchy system, it all depended on what kind of Hellborn species a demon is born as. For imps and Hellhounds, they pretty much lived in poor conditions, trying to get by while being at the bottom of the food chain. Some were lucky enough to work as personal aids to higher elite demons such as royalty like the Goetias or other noteworthy professions.

Besides that, it was a miracle to make it in the news.

Then, there were the other Hellborn demons above them.

With them, they had a lot more to offer with their exceptional talents that others went over the moon for them. No one understood this better than Succubus pop singer, Verosika Mayday. She was one of the most sensational and of course most enticing Succubus to ever hit the big time records. If anyone knew anything about enjoying all the luxuries of being one of Hell's most rich and famous, it was her. What was almost as sweet, being a part of her personal entourage, or posse as the young folk would say, they get special access and privileges just by mere association with her.

Their plans for tonight was indication.

"Dude, no."

"Dudes, yes."

"Kat, this is a bad idea. Like, hugely bad."

"Come on, you guys. It is foolproof. Bouncer won't suspect a thing."

Ace and Josh didn't know what was going through their fellow Incubus' mind when he came to them about this plan, but he seemed pretty sure of himself despite the absurdity of it all. "You really think he won't blink twice at a lumpy bag." Ace crosses his muscular arms.

Kat gasped in offense. "Excuse me? Lumpy?" He gestures to his lanky frame. "You're looking at pure slender goodness, my studly friend. Just ask the delivery girl last week...and her boyfriend, and can you really blame me? Maybe next time, we should agree to a place that isn't couple exclusive like Ozzie's." he bitterly says, refusing to be left behind while they and the girls get to have a night on the town.

"As if there's a place in Lust better than Ozzie's." Josh scoffs. "You know this'll make you a dumbass, right?"

"One that will get all the dudes and ladies wanting me." Kat retorted, zipping himself up in the bag. "Ace, since Tex is taking the night off, I'm gonna need you to lift me. Just say you're packing a lot of dildos. He'll totally buy it."

"You know, you can just suck it up and hang back like a good boy." Ace chides. "You get caught, it's not just our asses, but Verosika's too. It wouldn't do her rep any good if she got caught sneaking in an extra, and we would've gotten all this hotness together for nothing." The tattooed Incubus wore fashionable pants and a black jacket over his bare chest and had x-shaped pasties.

Josh smirked and hugged him from behind, dressed in a hoodie and pants, exposing his own front with heart pasties. "Let him get in troubel, hot stuff. We can just say we never seen him before."

"I heard that!"

"Are you boys done?" Standing with her arms crossed was Kiki next to sitting Milky who was laying on a beanbag chair. They were all in Verosika's penthouse suite in the common area and the blue-haired Succubus remarked at the guys. They were dressed more normal and not as fancy. "We'll be leaving any minute now, so quit playing with yourselves."

Milky looked to one of the doors to a changing room. "Yo, Coco, Apple! You two should take a page from the guys, makes no sense to get dressed since the sluttier you dress the better play you get." she stood up and gestured to her regular clothing. "Succubi with fine asses like me get into a lot of places."

"Bitch, shut your mouth." Coco snapped back as she exited with her girlfriend. The couple made sure to dress up in very fancy dresses for Ozzie's, with Apple letting her hair down and wore a velvet colored mini-dress and heeled shoes. Coco did her hair up in a ponytail, wearing a light purplish blouse over a dark purple mini-dress with a skull design, and dark long purple boots. "The only hot number I'll be focusing on is this one." she purred, holding her girlfriend's waist and brought her in for a kiss, making Apple return it.

"Aw, thanks, baby."

"Newsflash, love birds. That monogamy bullshit won't fly over well in the big man's place." Kiki chided, She normally doesn't mind it, but they were Succubi for crying out loud. "You can do that here, but on the scene with Lust's head honcho there, you better not keep that just between you two."

Apple glowered. "Fuck off, Kiki! Can we help it?" she could barely contain her intense excitement. "I always wanted to go to Ozzie's for a date! I can't believe Verosika managed to get us an in!"

"Believe it, baby." Coco cupped her chin. "Perks of being tight with the one of the club's performers for tonight. Speaking of, where is she?"

Almost as if that were her cue, the alluring demon beauty walked out. Her long flowing hair was tied into a ponytail and picked out a different ensemble than what she usually adorns. She still had her fluffy pink coat, but there was now a dark pink top made of a silk-like material that greatly hugged her figure, the front had two big white X's, a very short black skirt with a heart, white colored leg coverings with black lacing and sharp heel. "Someone rang~?" Verosika flashes bedroom eyes.

Josh and Ace gave her whistles. "Not too shabby, girl." the former praised.

"Why thank y-what's up with the bag?"

"Hi, Verosika!"

"...Please tell me that's not Kat." Verosika face-palmed.

"I don't want to miss out on any potential good lays at Ozzie's!"

"Really think there'll go for you, Mr. Can't even last a whole night?" Coco snapped her fingers at her burn.

"That was only one time!"

Verosika looks at the only other two Incubi. "Hey, this was all his idea. Not us." Ace defended. "We tried getting him to stop."

Sighing, Verosika chose to not to let this ruin their plans. "Fine, fine. Just don't screw anything up."

"We won't. Don't worry" Kat promised from inside the bag.

"Who am I kidding? You're gonna screw everything up, Kat."

"And I still maintain that it's foolproof."

"Now, I assume everyone's ready." Verosika notes with hands on her hips to inspect her posse. "Kiki, Milky, going casual. I can respect that. Coco, Apple, sexy way to stand out, you two. Guys, just try to behave yourselves and I won't be pissed."

"You sure it's a good idea to head out without Vortex?" Apple inquired with a head tilt.

Coco rubbed her hand. "It's a night out, babe. Not another assignment topside. Let the big lug have fun with his girl and other hounds."

"Still think it's pretty stupid that he prefers hanging at some trashy junkyard party more than Ozzies." Josh commented. "He'd be like one of the few Hellhounds to make it in. All I'm saying."

"Tex is free do whatever he wants." Verosika countered hotly, respecting her bodyguard's choice. "Ozzie's not exactly his kind of scene, and there's more than enough security there, anyway. So, I like to think it'll be okay for us to get our freak on tonight with all the sweet-ass refreshments Ozzie's has to offer." she notices her crew having very cautious looks. "What?"

"Verosika, no disrespect, girl, but could you maybe go light on the booze tonight?" Coco asked.

"Um, excuse me?" Verosika's annoyed frown told them to tread carefully. "Did we not go through half of the open bar last night?" she pointed at said indoor bar.

"What Coco means is don't overdo it in public." Ace knew they weren't in any position to judge, but felt the need to advise their leader on the ramifications. "Unless we wanna risk another scene."

"Of which we don't want." Milky added. "Like, at all."

At that, Verosika knew what they were getting at and rolls her eyes in response. "Are you sluts still on that? It's not like I wanted to unleash a killer monster fish on a beach of coked up spring breakers."

"But, you did throw a flask of Beelze-juice in the human world." Kiki bluntly pointed out. "Which if things had gone differently, would've landed all our collective asses in deep bat-shit with the big bosses of Hell."

She made a good point, but Verosika had a quick counterpoint with an anger-fueled glare. "Hey! All that crap only happened because of that dickweed ex-boyfriend of mine! He just kept bitching about his precious parking space! Not my fault he overreacted." Verosika stopped making excuses for Blitzo a long time ago, his own ego was his worst enemy.

"Yeah. But like, didn't you take it in the first place and half his floor to make him angry?" Apple bubbly scratched her hair with a finger in confusion and an eye twitch from Verosika told her to stay quiet.

Even so, Verosika herself knew how badly she screwed up almost as bad as Blitzo tends to do. But remembering everything that happened between them both, up until the nasty breakup, she likes to think she was rightfully entitled to some much needed satisfaction, other than the usual way. Yet, it didn't, it actually made her feel a whole lot worse and that was a bitch to deal with.

However, there was a silver lining to everything no matter how bad, and she thought of one that would at least pacify the girls. "Okay, I admit that shit hit the fan way hard that day. So much so that we had to end the freelance work we were doing for Suck Inc sooner. But, it wasn't all bad, right? Come on, you can't tell me I'm the only one thinking it, right?" her eyes got a certain gleam. "You know what I mean, ladies. We got to meet a cute little gentleman."

Hearing that made Coco, Apple, Kiki, and Milky stop and gain very love struck expressions, from bashful giggling, and deep blushes.

The others groaned at this. "Here we go." Kat sighed.

"Lincoln." Verosika and her gal pals said dreamily with fond smiles and sighing.

For these demon ladies, they could never forget meeting an exceptional mortal soul like Lincoln. They were already interested in him from the get-go, as per their own species' nature. But then, he truly impressed them, not only by showing some feats of magic against the monster fish Verosika unintentionally created. But what truly got them, was when the kid saved them from being arrested by the cops with an ice spell, even complimenting them, showing no ill feelings even though they were enemies to his co-workers.

He could've just left them to their fate and laugh it off like his boss, but he didn't, he did them a huge solid without even asking for anything in return. For Hellborn species in Hell who are well versed in many vices of humankind, it didn't just surprise the Succubi but it left them in a love struck daze ever since. It was so crazy how one soul caught the adoration of so many.

It wouldn't be so odd to see Succubi being all over one individual.

But this, this was entirely different.

One single act of kindness alone seemed to be all Lincoln needed to do, and boy, did it show.

"Oh, I wanna see that cutie and his cute face!" Apple said with an adoring smile as she laughed .

"You and me both, beautiful." Coco agreed, sharing a smooch with her girlfriend. "The little cottontail's more than enough for both of us."

Kiki sat down with an expression of longing. "We were so close to getting him, too. Ooh, the things I had planned."

Milky licked her lips hungrily, "I've been wanting to give bunny boy a taste of me."

Josh scoffs with rudeness. "Yeah, yeah. We get that you want to see the little runt one more time. Not a big deal."

Ace nodded. "Can you not keep saying it every chance you get?"

Kat shuffled in the bag. "It's getting really old."

Kiki had gotten up and stepped hard on Josh's foot. "Agh! The hell, girl?!"

"Oops." Apple feigned ignorance when she dropped a box of liquor on Kat's bag.

"Ah! Hey! There's precious cargo in here!"

Out of all the ladies, no one thought about Lincoln more than Verosika herself. She didn't know how it was possible, but she just couldn't get him out of her head, all those posts and shout outs testified to that. She was attracted to him for sure, but she also felt a distinct warmth inside her when she imagined that look of gratitude on his face after she saved him. He didn't look at her as an object like so many of her fans, but as a person who saved his life, and that just made her feel so good, and she wanted to see him again to see if that was still possible.

She wanted to see him so badly, but she was more used to people coming to her.

Open invitations were given out through her messages intended only for Lincoln, and he hasn't even responded at all.

The popstar pinned the blame solely on her ex, Blitzo. Knowing him, he mostly has tried filling the kid's head with nasty lies about her, telling him a completely one-sided story on how horrible she is.

She couldn't think on why else he wouldn't want to head on down to see her.

"The point I'm trying to make is that even some good can come from bad places." Verosika explains. "And hey, we made it out without having to brush our teeth afterwards and not get in trouble. So, I say we enjoy what we have and go all out tonight!" Her posse began going out of the penthouse, with Ace carrying the bag Kat was hiding in.

"Good luck trying to get hotties with your chest, Kiki." Milky cracked to Kiki. "I got enough in the front and back to reel in a lot of players, it's almost ridiculous."

Kiki playfully laughed. "Ha! Please. Big tits and a fat ass are so overrated, one of my old exes and his girlfriend agreed, so up yours, Milky." she flipped the shorter thicker Succubus off.

"That an offer?" Milky smirked which made Kiki laugh even harder.

Verosika was the next to go.

Her mind wandered off to Lincoln and she wondered what could he be doing right now.

After changing out of his I.M.P uniform and into the clothes bought by Octavia from Stylish Occult during his off time. He had a special promise he needed to make good on and didn't want to waste any time. He lied on the back with his back and made a video call to his ever close Goetia princess friend, Octavia, this was the weekend and she could only be at one place during this time.

"Hi, Octavia!" Lincoln waved.

"Lincoln! You have no idea how bloody good it is to hear a familiar voice!" Octavia exclaimed through her end.

He winces at her exasperated tone. "I take it the weekend at your mom's place isn't going well?" Due to the new arrangement of the Stolas' family living conditions, Lincoln and Octavia worked out a way to at least still talk to each other.

"Like you wouldn't effing believe." Octavia was glad to be able to talk to someone about it. "All that happens around here is mom talking with her rich a-hole friends about rich a-hole crap while telling me to act like a proper 'Goetia'." she grumbles with finger quotes.

"Isn't how it usually went back in the mansion?"

"Well, y-yeah. More or less." Octavia admitted sheepishly. "But it's just not the same, you know? What made it bearable back then was that dad was still there..." she looked down in forlorn.

Lincoln didn't blame her.

It would only feel more like home if Stolas was there, but Stella would be damned as a Sinner if she was going to actually let her anger go and talk things out with Stolas, even if it were the sake of their only daughter. She made her stance more than clear after she gathered her things and left for her private residence, away from the object of all her ire, not even bothering to know how much discomfort it brings to Octavia.

"Try to not be so down." Always bet on Lincoln to look on the bright side. "It's only for the weekend, after all."

"I know that." Octavia gruffly replied. "It just feels like this weekend's taking too long to end is all. But enough about me. What about you? Anything interesting going on in that little killing company?"

"Today's targets were lumberjacks."

"Seriously? What? Nothing fancy like serial killers?"

"Uh...my friends fought them off with axes, guns, and chainsaws."

"...Okay, that's pretty badass." Octavia turned back the knocking on her door. "Fuck, that's one my mom's aid's. In addition to all the boring as shit atmosphere, mummy dearest has me under a curfew? Can you believe that? And it's even earlier than the one my dad gave me.""How much time do you have left?"

She checks the time on her clock. "About half an hour. Why?"

"Just hang on. I gotta show you something." Lincoln fetches one his spell flash cards and activates it. Before Octavia knew it, Lincoln suddenly blinked out of existence, but she still heard his voice. "Pretty cool, right?"

"No way! An invisibility spell?!" For someone of Lincoln's age to get that spell down was incredible. It was also a relief, she almost panicked when it seemed he like he was just gone.

Lincoln's form re-appeared. "It requires a lot of focus, and wasn't easy mastering, but I was able to work around it. Haven't used it that much, but I did want to show someone."

'Wow, bud. You're coming along nicely. Dad would be proud." Octavia then turned somber. "How is my dad, by the way? I've been waiting on him to call. Is he handling this whole deal well?"

Lincoln frowns with a helpless shrug. "Sorry. Can't honestly say. Haven't gone to him for another lesson and he hasn't really called." With all the pleasantries the prince has, one would imagine he's doing a-okay. But, a fancy mansion is no substitute for family. "I'm sure he's fine, though. I mean, he is your dad and our teacher."

"Yeah. Sure." Octavia coughed into her hand after an awkward silence. "I guess I better leave it off here for now, until mom catches. Catch ya later, Linc."

"Bye, Octavia."

With that business settled, the call ended and Lincoln could be left to do one of the things he likes to do off of work hours. Practice more of his prowess in demon magic, he had the grimoire and the flash cards for it. Reading a few pages, he tries to do a little magic experimenting, with the first part being conjuring up a viewing window spell and then, uses a spell that invades the mind, using it to go through his memories.

If this continues without any interruptions, he'd be able to see them.

Maybe not in the flesh, but he could finally see his family.

But then, his door was forcefully opened by a kick from Blitzo.

"Hey, intern!"

Yelping, Lincoln's spell dissipated and accidentally dropped one of the flash cards that was written with a fire ball spell, and the ball of fire shot out through the window, causing an explosion and setting a passing Sinner on fire.

"AH! Shit! This was how I died! It's bringing back memories!"

It wasn't enough to erase him, but it still hurt.

"Blitz! What do you want?" Lincoln noticed how he was dressed in a leather jacket. Even when they're not on the clock, he's rarely seen him wear something besides his suit, and didn't like that look he had, it was his 'I'm gonna do something crazy' face. Never a good sign. "And why are you dressed up for?"

"Isn't it obvious? I gotta look my best for Ozzies."

"Wait, what?!" Lincoln truly hoped he and Loona were wrong about their assumptions of Blitzo going through with spying on Moxxie and Millie on their super important anniversary date. The boy was hardly surprised, but he was clearly outraged that the boss of I.M.P had such intent, not knowing how completely invasive it was, even for the likes of Blitzo. "For crying out loud. Blitz, I get that you have a really odd fixation on Moxxie and Millie's romance that at times, borders on obsessive to almost out of complete envy."

"...Pfft, you don't know a thing."

"I like to think I do." Lincoln's wised up enough to call Blitzo out on his lies. "Either way, it's one thing to always stalk them at their apartment, but this? This is crossing a way huge line!"

"Don't be like that, Lincoln. Figured you'd be all for it. You can't tell me you're not just the teeniest bit peeved that they decided to leave you, their boy, out of this special occasion?" Blitzo definitely was.

Lincoln was anything but. "Shocking as it may seem to you, not in the slightest. Why? Because, this is their wedding anniversary! It's something important to them and only them! If I'm mad about anything, it's that I didn't buy them a gift! But wait, why are you telling me this?" Lincoln then thought for a second on why would Blitzo openly admit to telling him when he had to have known that the kid would be against this plan.

"Keep up with the program, Linc! I'm bringing you along to spy on them!"

"...What?!" If Lincoln didn't think his boss was bat-shit insane, he did now. "Did you not hear Millie?! She doesn't want me anywhere near the Lust ring!" He didn't object to that rule, if any of the Succubi there were as forward as Verosika and her girls, he won't take that risk. While he wouldn't exactly mind seeing Verosika, at least he's actually familiar with her.

"You'v been to Greed and Wrath so far. Why not cross another one off the list?" Blitzo wrapped a reassuring arm around him. "If it makes you feel any better, you'll have me making sure your V-card doesn't get punched in."

"E-Even so, Blitz! I can't just let you do this to Moxxie and Millie. Think about how they'll feel for once."

Blitzo turned away with a huff. He didn't know why he bothered telling Lincoln in the first place. It was really no surprise that he'd try to talk Blitzo down, telling him that this can only end badly, not just for him, but for those around him. As if he wanted the kid to be the voice of reason that'll make Blitzo finally reason and stop himself from ruining such an important occasion.

"You know what? Fuck this. I'll go by myself if I have to. Go ahead and stay here for all I care." Blitzo told him.

Lincoln observed his exit, but now felt very conflicted as he weighed all options present. He had every reason to call Moxxie and tell him what Blitzo is about to do, but that could lead him to cancel the date and the imp worked so hard to get a reservation. Additionally, if Lincoln were to just let Blitzo go and inevitably cause a scene when he could've make sure to keep Blitzo in line, that would make Lincoln feel partly responsible. Heck, he could maybe convince Blitzo to abandon this silly endeavor before any damage is done. With a resigning sigh, Lincoln made his choice and desperately hoped this wouldn't come back to bite him. "Blitz, hang on!" Some flash cards were brought with him. "Just wait for me!"

"Ha! I knew you'd see it my way, buddy boy! Off we go!"

Of all times for Loona to be at a party, it had to be now.

In the past occasions where Lincoln traveled to another Ring other than Pride, he got there by riding in I.M.P's van. But there is a more practical means of travelling in-between Rings for Hellborn demons.

Elevator 666.

Hellborn demons are the only demons capable of traversing to any ring they choose, and the quickest way there is through here. A pure golden location that heavily resembled a train station or airport. The location had pristine pillars and engravings of angelic winged apples, a place that may seem out of place for Hell, but it was a clear indicator that King Lucifer had an involvement, dating back to his roots.

Lincoln sat next to Blitzo wearing a grey hoodie to conceal himself as his boss clad in a spiked jacket pretended to read a newspaper. This ill-advised trip did give Lincoln the chance to see even more of how Hell works. He even got to see more Hellborn demon species, such as a winged goat-like demon who seemed to be reprimanding her children, and they all had candles at the top of their heads.

These were called Baphomets.

Others included demons resembling aquatic life, and jester ones that eerily reminded him of Robo-Fizz.

This turned out be quite the learning experience for him.

"How come we never went to Greed or Wrath through here?" Lincoln asked. "It looks a lot quicker than driving all the way."

"Because driving in the van makes us less inconspicuous." Blitzo whispered back. "Plus, I didn't have to pay for tickets, so be glad an important issue like this made me feel generous for once."

Generous. Not the word Lincoln would use. In hindsight, only Blitzo would think tailing his employees on their big date was reason enough to spend money on something not equine-related. "Excuse me." Startled, Lincoln looks up to see a Succubus demon. She had freckles on her face and bare shoulders, pants with one leg velvet and the other pink, but cut off near the top and a black top that exposed a lot of her stomach. It amazed Lincoln of how proud Succubi can be. Cue the deep blush. "Are you, like, lost?" She asks, leaning down ever so closely with a lidded smile.

"N-No! Of course not!" Lincoln sweated. "I'm here with just my...uncle!" he motioned to Blitzo. "We're just passing through. He's taking me back to my parents!"

"To Lust, I take it?" she correctly guessed, her body moving in a sway. "Need a guide, sweetie~? I'd be happy to-"

Blitzo blocked her with an arm raised in front of Lincoln. "We're fine, thank you. Now, why don't you go be a whore with the rest of your little friends, hmm?" he suggested with a cheeky smile.

"Tub!"

The Succubus sees her friends wave her over and she scoffs. "Tch, whatever, asshole." Tub glowered at the unfazed Blitzo, but hgave Lincoln one last smile. "Bye~."

Lincoln released his breath. "That was way too close. Thanks, Blitz." Blitzo smiled widely at him with joy. "What?"

"You just called me uncle!"

"Th-That was to throw her off!"

"No take backs, Linc!"

Blitzo spotted Moxxie fixing his bowtie just as Millie came by, her fixed up in an orderly fashion and is wearing an elegant dress with heart shaped exposed naval region. Her husband romantically holds out his arm for her to take, which she gladly did and they walked together to the waiting area, unknowingly being followed by their boss who dragged Lincoln with him.

"They'd be so angry at you if they saw us. Millie. She'd kill you!" Lincoln cautioned, That fear alone should be enough to make him stop all this madness.

His plea fell on deaf ears when Blitzo dials Loona on his phone. "Yeah, it's Loona. Whoever you are, go for it." her bored voicemall said.

"Hey, Looney. Just wanna to let you know I'm not gonna be home until real late. I got something important tonight." Blitzo disconnected, eyes on the couple.

Lincoln folded his arms crossly, deciding not to tell him that Loona had other plans. "So, what's Lust like, exactly? Its name is clue enough, but what will I see? Greed was all overpriced knockoff theme parks and Wrath is Hell's farm country with war loving denizens."

"Oh-ho-ho. You'll see!"

Many Succubi and Incubi walked the streets even when it was lightly raining. What was most concerning to Lincoln were the Succubi in the vicinity, and Blitzo was still stalking his employees without much care in the world. This Ring was unlike anything he's ever seen before, there were establishments he was positive that his parents would never let him go to until he was at the very least over the legal age of drinking. Truth be told, they wouldn't even let him do so even by then.

Lincoln only had one thing to say with his tomato-red face. "I'm having second thoughts about this." he squeaked. "Blitz, we can go back to Pride right this second. Just forget we ever came here and then move on with our lives. Not that hard." The neon lights and violet color theme of this new ring were nice, but he was certain that he'd rather be back in the office. Practicing more magic. Maybe some more calls from Octavia. Better yet, he wondered why he didn't take Loona up on her offer. It was the least likeliest place to run into Verosika even though her bodyguard was attending. Blitzo just had to force his hand to make sure the wedding anniversary of his two favorite imps doesn't get ruined.

"Too late now, kiddo." Blitzo breathed it in. "Gotta say, the place hasn't changed a bit. Now come on! They should be close! And don't be so surprised. Each ring of Hell represents the 7 sins that humans are known for. This is Lust, kid. Shoot a bullet and it'll hit the sign of any strip club."

Shivering, Lincoln tensely followed after Blitzo, making sure not to separate from him. He passes several attractive Succubus ladies, all who took note of him and instantly returned eye contact. They whispered among themselves once they caught his specific scent, giggling, lip-biting, licking of the lips hungrily, Lincoln felt like he was being stalked at every turn.

"Hello!" A red haired Succubus with a bob cut, mini-skirt and ripped shirt greeted accompanied by a brunette long haired corset hot pants companion, that blocked their way. "We were thinking of going to a new place not far away!" The two ladies grinned flirtatiously at Lincoln. "First timers get in free."

"N-No, that's fine. I'm good." Lincoln politely declined.

"But, you can be better."

Blitzo shoved them. "Crawl back to whatever whorehouse you came from!"

A car drove up and the window slid down to reveal three chicks that did a full stop. "Hey, cutie! Looks like you could use some help with directions. My friends and I can do any job you wa-I mean, a good job at being tour guides if you want."

"Blitz, I say this one more time, I really think we should leave!" Lincoln frantically says through a whisper. "Never return here! Never let Moxxie or Millie find out! I ask you, to listen to me!"

All these admittedly hot and alluring creatures being interested in him, it was something most would want for themselves, but Lincoln didn't think such things would ever have been possible until now and it was making him sweat profusely.

"Just avoid eye contact." Blitzo instructs. "That only gives them more power to pounce. You're talking to an old pro on this. See, you need to learn from your elders." He suddenly drags Lincoln into an alley and he gestures to their destination. "We're here." They see Moxxie and Millie standing in a long line besides a divider with others who also had special reservations at Ozzie's. The outer building had an entrance that looked like a tunnel of love ride and circus-like tent on top. "Now, we just gotta-the hell are you doing?"

Lincoln hadn't moved an inch. "Over there. Look over there!"

Standing in the line were the recognizable forms of Verosika's posse. "Great, it's those walking toys." Blitzo grimaced.

"If they're here, that must mean she's not far behind!" Lincoln reasoned. "That tears it, Blitz. We're going back! Okay, we're going, leave Moxxie and Millie, never speak of this, and more importantly, have a huge talk about your whole stalking your employees problem!"

"Does watching your employees at their home without them knowing really count as a problem?" Blitzo asked, skeptically.

Lincoln had to clean his ears out, Blitzo literally asked that out loud. "Yes! Yes, it does! Very much so! It's why this is happening!"

Blitzo pinches his eyes. "Look, if she was here, she'd have made a big flashy entrance to get everyone in a frenzy, and don't think I didn't notice you bringing along some spells."

Okay, that was true. "Yeah, I mostly got invisibility spells. Just in case."

"Then use them for god's sake."

He was getting tired of Blitzo and his zaniness.

Swallowing a deep gulp, Lincoln activates the spell and his body just disappears. "Blitz, I hope you realize if anything goes wrong, it's all your fault."

"Thanks, kid. I know I'm a genius. Let's roll!"

Moxxie and Millie walked up to the entrance and the shirtless muscle-bound winged imp bouncer graciously lets them in. Back at the line, Verosika's crew patiently waited until it was there and turn until Kiki spoke up. "Hmm. Hey, anyone feel something...familiar?"

Coco does a look around and had to agree. "Huh. Yeah, I think we do."

They can't really get a clear picture on what or who it was, but they knew that presence.

Lincoln was forever thankful that the invisibility spell hid more than just his appearance from the naked eye. Blitzo tiptoed up to the main entrance, until the club's bouncer grabbed his tail and pulled him back with a stern glare. "Whoa there, buddy! Reservation, please?" he interrogated.

"I'm with those two." Blitzo nods to the married couple that just entered.

"Afraid this club is only for couples." The bouncer informed. If one couldn't manage to get a reservation, then the only other alternative is if they had a date present, nothing more, nothing less.

"It's what?" Blitzo questioned, quite flummoxed. Moxxie and Millie didn't mention anything about this club's policy.

"Zero date. Zero reservation. Zero entry." the bouncer threateningly told him with a growl, showing that he was not to be fucked with. At least not while he's working.

Blitzo didn't see this development coming, but after giving the bouncer a look over, he improvised. "You know, I can't get enough of your nice eyes." he tells the bouncer, hand caressing his chin while batting his eyelashes. "Daddy?" he weakly smiled.

The invisible Lincoln shook his head at his boss' poor attempt at flirting. "Ah, jeez."

The bouncer kicked Blitzo all the way into the garbage. An outraged Blitzo opened it up and removed a spoiled rotten banana from his head, yelling at the bouncer with a raised middle finger. "You fucking beefy prude!"

Lincoln was ready to go to him, until one of the other demons in line accidentally bumped into him due to not being able to see the kid and it made him drop the flash card. The rain's waters washed the writing away and he became visible again. The boy alarmingly gasped, which got the attention of Coco and Apple as he was right behind them, they turn around but see nothing.

The couple glanced at each other and shrugged, getting into the entrance with the blonde skipping while doing so.

Lincoln was proud of himself for having the forethought of bringing more than just one card with an invisibility spell on it, he went over to Blitzo who had fallen on trash bags while trying to climb out. "Ah, well. That's such a shame." Lincoln faked the disappointment. "Maybe next time, make sure to check the rules of the club where you want to spy on your employees."

"Not my fault! Since when does any locale in Lust only cater to just couples? The joints I tore apart here way back when served up to way beyond that." Blitzo said in retort. 

"Hey, things change, Blitz. That's all a part of life and all its mystery and all that." The invisible Loud did one clap. "I'm sure we can talk all about it some more at the office."

Blitzo rubbed his chin in deep thought, if this fancy joint only accepts couples, then there can only be one possible way for him to get granted entry. A light bulb went off and he forms a devious smirk. "We could do that. Or..." he begins to make a call.

"Who are you even calling?" Lincoln barely has the energy to figure Blitzo out at this point. "The only person I can think of is...oh. No. Nuh-uh! Please don't tell me...!" It's like his boss was actively trying to make things worse.

His boss chuckled. "Oh, hell yeah. Your boss is one big genius." Blitzo waited for the call to be picked up.

Never before had the mansion of the much revered Goetia family ever been so eerily quiet.

At least, it was quiet for Stolas.

There were only a few number of the staff left, Stella saw fit to take almost half of the servants once she went off to her retreat, and this just had to be the weekend where Octavia would be with her. Now, the hedonistic proud member of the Ars Goetia felt much sadness in his own house. The very opposite of what he'd always long for in his long life.

To be in such a pitiful state was unbecoming for a demon of his stature, but every being no matter how powerful has their breaking point, and Stolas is the first to admit he's nearing his own. It was just so hard to keep up a happy disposition when his family isn't here, he knew he should've prepared for such solitude once Octavia left for her mother's, but it happened too soon for his liking. His melancholy state prevented him from doing anything that would lift his spirits, hence why he never called for more magic lessons, Lincoln needed his teacher who wasn't spiraling.

One that wasn't eating cereal for dinner with a depressed moan.

There were no others at the dining table, just him and his remarkable planetarium chandelier that hung above.

Seeing no point in eating in such an empty space, Stolas grabbed his bowl of cereal and a blanket for the living room to wrap around his feathery form. He turns on the television to see his usual programs for this kind of thing.

If there was one show in Hell that could truly speak to him, it was this one, and he turned up the volume and slumped on the couch to eat his cereal. Just another reminder of how empty his life his. "That's a mood, Gabriella." Stolas sniffled in empathy, eating more.

His phone that rang like an owl call radiates a purple mist with words that made his heart stop.

Blitzy was calling.

All four eyes widening in apt shock, Stolas hilariously choked on his breakfast for dinner, fumbling about to try reaching for the telephone dropping the cereal and getting tangled up in his own blanket. A servant that was walking by notices and speaks in concern of his master's current state of affairs, while also confused as he's never seen the prince act this way. "Is all well, sire?"

"Not now! I'm busy!" Stolas was so glad no one else was present to watch him. "Hello! Hello, Blitzy!" He turned on his usual flirty mode that is always reserved for his special little imp.

Back at Lust, Blitzo slyly asked him a question. "Stolas, hey. You, uh...shit..." Blitzo was starting to see he was really rusty in his pick up game. To be fair, this wasn't a booty call. "You busy for the night?"

"Um." Stolas looked at his empty home and wondered if Blitzo somehow knew. "Why do you ask?" he nervously replied.

"I was wondering if you..." This was so much harder than Blitzo thought. "...wanna come with me to a club tonight?"

Stolas nearly dropped the phone as his lover's words sank in. His Blitzy just asked him out to spend the night with him, what made this so unique was that it was seemingly for a social hangout of romantic purposes. "Are you...asking me on a date, Blitzy?" the owl demon blushed furiously with hearts forming in his eyes.

"I-I-." Even though he was invisible, Blitzo could almost feel Lincoln's glare of disapproval on him which did have some affect. "Yes. I suppose that is what's happening. How fast can you get down to Lust?"

Stolas immediately went through his personal closet for the right clothes. "I can be ready in twenty!" he excitedly says, all giddy like somone who just got asked out by her secret crush.

"Alright, fantastic. See you soon."

"I'll see you~, Blitzy~!"

Stolas hung up and found the right ensemble that would make this night perfect. To think that this was the second time Blitzo would call him for an important favor, and for a date no less. The prince no longer felt any semblance of sadness, not thinking about what could go wrong, only the positives of the fact that the imp he's taken such shine towards is finally returning his feelings. "I take it this means I should send one of the staff with you, my prince."

"That would be splendid, thank you."

"You wanna know something, Blitz?"

"No, but odds are you're gonna tell me, anyway."

"Those the same odds that guarantee you won't listen?"

"See? Now, you're starting to learn."

"None of this is funny, this is serious!" Lincoln declares with his fists at his sides. "Spying on Moxxie and Millie on their date was bad enough. But leading Stolas, my teacher, on with a fake date? This is going way too far."

Blitzo snickered, waiting for Stolas. "You think this is me going too far? Should've seen me back when Verosika and I were still a thing. This doesn't come even close. So quit overreacting, I needed a date and he was the only one who came to mind. This is Lust, it's not like this place wouldn't be his kind of scene. If anything, he probably would've brought me here himself to an s and m club."

It astounded Lincoln how blind Blitzo was to Stolas' feelings. He knows that the relationship between them is meant to be purely physical in nature, yet more often than not, he's seen the two act more as just buddies who bump uglies on the side. No matter how much Blitzo says otherwise, there is something there, there's just way too many complications involved. There's the differences in class, Stolas being demon royalty and Blitzo being an imp, and the fact the two need a lot communication problems like right now.

A portal opens and enters Stolas dressed in regal clothing with a long-ass cape that looked like the night sky was etched into it. "Oh, Blitzy~! I'm here~."

Blitzo looked him up and down in bewilderment, not expecting him to pull out all the stops just for him. "Wow. That's a bit overkill, don't you think?"

Stolas' confidence is broken with an awkward laugh. "Well-Well, I-I-I just wanted to look a little nicer for you. This is our first real date, after all." He held his hand for Blitzo to take.

Walking, Blitzo grimaced after realizing that. "Oh, yeah. I guess this is, huh?"

"Let me guess. You didn't think of that?" the unseen Lincoln remarked, making Blitzo grumble.

All remaining demons in line gasp and swiftly made way for Stolas to cut through as a show of respect for the Goetia. The bouncer's eyes were more focused on Blitzo, not taking kindly to his lack of respect for the club's rules. "You again? Beat it, shithead!"

"A-Hem!" Freezing, the bouncer looks over to the unexpected sight of a slightly pissed off Stolas. "Do we have a problem?" he challenged.

The bouncer suddenly lost his voice and after seeing an actual Goetia hold Blitzo's hand, he connected the dots. "Shit!" the winged imp backed off in fear and took on a more understanding demeanor by bowing at his present. "Forgive and accept my apologies, your highness! Go right in!" He wisely chose not to incur the wrath of a Goetia, but he still fumed when Blitzo flipped him off.

Blitzo went on ahead to look for any sign of his employees. When the invisible Lincoln and Stolas caught up, the former gasps in amazement upon seeing the interior of the club, two-person dinner tables were spread out and the basic design overall included heart designs, art depicting demons in compromising positions, and a big stage for in-hall entertainment. "Oh, my!" A flying imp waitress flew past him and the cages hung up with various other imps and Baphomets. "No! No, but yes!" Now this was what Stolas wanted. The two head to an empty table with Bltzo's seat having books stacked to make up for his height. "Oh. Blitzy! How romantic is this?! What made you choose such a place to bring me?" he asked, missing Blitzo discreetly taking out binoculars.

"Oh, it just sounded like a swell plan to have a blast tonight? That's all."

Lincoln fakes a cough. "Lies...all lies!"

Gritting his teeth, Blitzo was about to look.

But, his unseen intern tried pulling at the binoculars. If talking to Blitzo won't make him see reason, then acting on it would have to suffice. "Damn it, kid! Better not break these!"

"Er, what are you doing, Blitz?" Stolas thought their first date would be less confusing.

"Regretting to let you teach anyone magic, that's what! When did you get so strong, kid?!"

An imp waitress in a feathery uniform came to take their orders. "Can I get you two off?" she retracted. "I mean! Start you two off with some drinks? Plenty of poison to pick."

"Yes!" Stolas observed the menu options. "Perhaps some wine to share? Do you prefer red or white, Blitz? Perhaps some champagne?"

"Yeah, yeah. I'll take it to go."

Stolas frowned and tried laughing it off. "Perhaps all three! Why not?" The waitress nodded and left.

Blitzo felt something tug on his jacket, an invisible something to be exact and groans. "Hey, listen, I gotta go take care of a thing! Don't order anything without me!" he waves in a dash.

"...But, I just did."

Snarling, Blitzo made a turn for the bathroom. "What the fuck is it, Lincoln?! You're ruining everything!"

Lincoln reappeared to settle things face to face, and because his anger at his boss was making him lose focus on keeping the spell up. "Good! I'm glad I am! Sorry, but I can't just stand by and watch this! I've had enough!"

"Yeah? And just what are you goona do? Rat me out to the happy couple?" Blitzo dared, poking Lincoln's chest. "As if you have the brass balls for it. Not to mention a poor move as an employee, 'cause that's a paid dedu-"

"Quiet!" Lincoln roared, his eyes briefly going red and the sink windows breaking. Blitzo promptly stopped talking with a notable flinch, Lincoln never took that tone with him before, not with someone he personally knew. Soothing his own anger, Lincoln proceeds to say to Blitzo what he should've said the minute he came forward with this nonsensical idea of his in his bedroom. "I've done riskier things, and you know it. What's telling you off to them compared to all the craziness I already do now since working for you? It's not just me. Moxxie and Millie. I know they're more used to it, they're only the most awesome assassins ever. But the risks besides their own lives might not be worth it, and they still do it anyway out of loyalty for you."

"Hey, they knew what they were getting into when I hired them!"

"And how did you often repay them? By belittling Moxxie every chance you get, even in front of Millie and you know how she hates it when someone messes with him. But she lets it slide, because not only are you her boss, but you're also her friend." Lincoln told him which made Blitzo widen his eyes and look away, he can see the mounting guilt. "What makes this even worse is that it looked like you and Moxxie were finally getting along. With every time they stuck out their necks for you, is it really hard to blame them for wanting a night for themselves? For their anniversary? Even going behind their backs and dragging me into this? Did you really think they'll just let that go? Then, there's Stolas."

Blitzo rubs his temples. "Please, just-just stop."

"No! This needs to be said." Lincoln didn't stop. "I get that you believe that he only thinks of you as some kind of object for his own needs. Well, believe it or not, you two have more in common than you realize. You use him for your wants, too, but beyond that, you both are looking for something. Something real. Something meaningful, and you both want to find it in each other. So much so that he risks getting caught. Notice that he's actually happy to think this is a real date, not knowing what you're really up to." He sighs and heads for the door. "Last chance, Blitz. You can end this whole farce right now." Lincoln hoped that Blitzo would just see reason this one time. Just one move was enough. But, he didn't. Blitzo stayed in place. With immense disappointment, Lincoln turned his head away. "Right."

He left without saying another word.

All Blitzo could do was continue standing like a big jerk. Closing his eyes, Blitzo paced until stopping next to one of the bathroom stalls and with ferocity, hit a fist against the door. "Fuck! Damn it, damn it, damn it! Shit! Fuck! Dammit all! Damn it!" he kept on beating the door until he was sweating under the stress, and groaned his way to the cracked sink mirror, staring into his own cracked reflection and asked it a question. "The hell is wrong with you?" This has happened before, and it was all his own fault.

He glumly exits and from another stall, an imp waitress looked out. "Okay, the coast is clear."

The stall next to her opened and out walked a patron. "Good. Any longer and my date would have gotten suspicious."

Now, Blitzo was less enthused about spying, he could do the right thing for once in his life, but unfortunately, he didn't. It was his usual stubbornness playing to form and it made him feel horrible.

Stolas drummed his fingers on the table and brightened once Blitzo returned. "Ah, Blitz! Certainly took your time, didn't you?" He teased, but saw the imp's gloomy exterior. "Is everything okay?"

"...Yeah. Peachy as fucking sunshine, Stolas. Just order something, already, will you? I'll just...sit right here doing nothing." He let his binoculars slip to the floor and made no effort to pick them back up.

After the really intense and deep talk with Blitzo, Lincoln made himself as scarce as possible from any patron's eyes, making a point to avoid the tables where Verosika's associates were seated. For all his talk, Lincoln ultimately couldn't bring himself to go to his surrogate parents and tell them everything, mostly because he just wanted to leave this place.

"There's gotta be a way out."

He scoped the area, but it was just so big, he could barely see any other route besides the main entrance. He can't exactly go there without being seen, the invisibility spell would do the trick just as it has so far. Unfortunately, when he casts it again, he was visible the very next second. His emotions were clouding his focus, and without that, he can't maintain the spell.

Just his rotten luck.

Now was the time for him to think, to be the man with the plan. His best bet was to put all those stealth lessons from M&M into some much needed use if he was going to end the night with his purity intact.

Waiters were walking and he had no idea that Lincoln was hiding at their sides, perfectly mimicking their movements, the waiter turns around and the kid was gone, just not through a spell. Lincoln had sneaked behind a chair and by timing it just right, made his move by crouching down and taking light steps on the floor, going for routes that weren't anywhere near the patrons who were Succubi. If Moxxie and Millie were to see him, they'd be so proud in spite of panicking that Lincoln was indeed in this sex-fueled ring of Hell. "This is going a lot better than I thought."

"Glad someone's having a good time!" Jumping, Lincoln saw none other than one of the Incubi of Verosika's group, Kat, and he was very very tipsy. "I've been trying to get some tail all night, but apparently, it's obvious that I got here through breaking the rules just so I don't miss out hanging with my friends! Shows what they fucking know! I could very well do have a date in the crapper!"

"I-It's you."

"Huh?" Kat slurred in his speech, but upon closer inspection, he too recognized Lincoln. "Wait. Wait. I know you, man. I-I definitely know you, you're...you're that kid! Yeah! The one who works for Verosika's ex...hang on. What are you doing here?!"

"I've been asking myself that a lot lately." Lincoln's gaze hardened at that. "Look, I didn't interrupt you're...whatever this is. Just, can you please not tell her I'm here! I'm actually trying to leave!"

"Yeah? Well, y-you should!" Kat nearly fell off his chair. "Lust ain't no place for little virgin brats, you know! I-In fact, hey! Josh! Ace! Look, who I just ran into!"

At another table, Josh was sitting on Ace's lap. "We're not getting you more drinks, Kat." Josh said, then he and his date saw Lincoln.

"You?!" Ace sputtered.

Lincoln raised an exasperated hand. "Me."

"Oh, fantastic." Josh sarcastically droned. "Didn't think the big man was letting in brats."

"Yeah, I'm not really thrilled to be here myself, man."

Ace pinches his nose's bridge with a hum and walks over carrying Josh in his arms. "Then what are you doing here, kid? Shouldn't you be up top somewhere with your pack of gremlins?"

"Funny thing, I was doing just that earlier. But then, my boss had the 'genius' idea to bring me down to Lust for a very stupid reason, even though I kept telling him it was a bad idea. Can you imagine what that's like?"

Both Josh and Ace look at Kat. "We may have an idea."

Kat holds his drink up high and pours it down his throat, close to collapsing. "Don't wanna hear it, you douches." he lamented.

"Don't you have fancy magic tricks, or something?" Ace pointed out. "Why don't you just do that?"

"In my hurry, it looks like I forgot to bring flash cards written with portal spells." Lincoln felt like a real idiot. "Only ones I have left aren't what I need. See?" he throws a card on the ground that creates vinesthat made waiters trip, spiling their food on patrons.

The Incubi stare and share a laugh. "Heh, that was kinda cool. Do another." Josh urged.

"Uh...okay?" Lincoln didn't want to waste time, but complied. The next card created a floating orb of light that zapped a lazy waiter taking a nap awake, it chased after him all over the club.

Once more, the Incubi share a laugh and Lincoln soon found that he joined in. He shouldn't be laughing, he needs to get the hell back to Pride, though this brief instance of levity was very much welcomed. "Yeah. I don't want to make too much a scene. So, I'm pretty much stuck." Lincoln rested his chin on his hand, not really knowing what else to do.

The three incubi stared at one another and they were not what they'd call masters of sympathy, but, it was pretty hard to see a kid sad like this. That, and they do owe him big time. "Okay, look. You didn't hear it from any of us, but you might wanna try your luck over at the bar. The imp they have tending it has this reputation of landing all kinds of gigs all over Hell. That means he knows the ins and outs of each place he's worked at. That's what I've heard from old benefit friends who've met him. Not much, but it's something I guess." Ace shrugged.

It meant much to Lincoln. "Seriously? I'll take what I can, um, sorry. What's your name again, Ace?"

Ace quirked an eyebrow. "Kid, you just said it."

"Wait, your name really is Ace? I just called you that after looking at your tattoo." Lincoln replied. "Which looks cool, by the way."

"Oh. Um, thanks. I get that a lot, to be honest." Ace chuckled. "This is Josh and the sad drunk is Kat."

"Fine, I get it! I was a dumbass for trying this idea! Laugh away, Ace! Go ahead and have your laugh at this poor, poor, demon! Just let me pass out drunk in peace!"

"...Okay, well. On that note, I should go. Have a nice night! And thanks!"

"You know Verosika will kick our asses if she finds out we didn't give her a holler, right?" Josh said to Ace.

"Only if she finds out." Ace retorts. "Don't really see the runt as a rat, anyway. I don't like owing anyone anything, too. Plus, he's okay. You know, for a runt." Does seem stupid to hold onto a grudge where all the kid was help them out of a jam.

"...Pfft. I guess. But I still maintain that we're not his buds."

Kat sniffles. "I wouldn't mind a bud!" he comically wept on the table cloth.

Lincoln made it to the bar unscathed where there looked to be only one heavy drinker that also looked like he had one too many. "Excuse me, Mr. bartender, sir. I was hoping you could help-" the bartender turns around to reveal himself as a familiar imp. "Wally Wackford?!"

"I say, I say, hello there, lad!" The imps of many jobs greeted, a heart was included on his hat. "Why if I'm not mistaken, you're that youngster under the employ of dear Blitzo! How are you, I say, how are you?"

"Fine. Thanks for asking. Sorry, but how and why are you working here? Last I checked, you once helped host the harvest moon festival, and before that, I think I saw you sell torches. Now that I think about it, don't you run a factory?" How is it that this imp keeps popping up in places he's been?

"Haha! I say, A simple answer, my curious young friend. When you're a lone imp trying to get by in a damn dirty hellhole though running your own business, that is met with a myriad of trials. Thus, I say, thus, I take any kind of profession willing to take me! Seeing as you've been with a lucrative assassination outfit like I.M.P, I'm certain you understand!"

"Y-You can say that." Lincoln dejectedly looked down. "But look, I was told you know about the places you work at, right?"

"Indeed, I say, indeed I do! Let me guess, you wish to know where they keep the liquor and don't want mommy and daddy to catch you! Wait right here! I shan't, I say, shan't be long!"

"Hang on, that's not-" And he was gone. "Dang it. Why is it so hard for someone to listen to me? I talk, and I talk, but does anyone actually hear me? No. Ugh, Loona's probably having fun right now."

Lincoln doesn't respond when a certain pink coated Succubus walks up. "Hey, where's the bartender?"

"You just missed him, went to get a lot of drinks, l-" Lincoln saw that it was Verosika. "-Buh-buh-buh-buh-Verosika?!" he stuttered out of shock.

Verosika lifted up her shades and her eyes widened, she recognized the voice and that face, but most of all, she knew the familiar smell of his scent "Lincoln? It is you!" she shrieks with absolute joy wit hearts floating off her head.

"Aaaaaand, I'm gone." Verosika's tail grabbed him and spun him around before she caught him in a her embrace.

No way was she passing this up. "Not so fast, Linky." She giggled, brushing his face, savoring their reunion. "I've barely seen you after my stay that shit-tastic building for Succ Inc. And hey, digging the new clothes. Lot better than that tacky suit Blitzo made you wear. I've been wanting to see you again for so long, haven't you felt the same?" She whispered in his ear.

This was exactly what Lincoln was afraid of, not only did he run into Verosika, but now she was intent on flirting with him like before, if only Blitzo had heeded his many warnings. It didn't help that while he was understandably disturbed, he still found Verosika to be be incredibly gorgeous beyond words and concepts. He forced himself to remember his goal of getting back to semi-normalcy at I.M.P. "I-It's not like I didn't want to see you!" Lincoln tried to make some distance. "Things just get so hectic at I.M.P, and you were also busy with your own stuff, I didn't want to distract you! Hehe..."

"Aw, how sweet of you." Verosika cooed, climbing on top of the bar counter to pose for him. "But, for you, I would've made a lot of time. In fact, the rest of the girls would've also loved that? Why don't we go say hi?"

"I actually-AH!"

She didn't give him time to answer once she takes him along at the exact time for Wally to return. "I say, pick your poison, my good-oh, he left. I say, I say, he must have a hot date!" the other patron at the counter just mutters for more drinks.

Coco and Apple were enjoying their date at their own table, though Coco was quick to give a waiter a fair warning when she caught him eyeing Apple a certain way. "That's right! Keep on walking, and don't let me catch you around us again!"

"But, Coco. Doesn't my dress look good on me?" Apple was quite flattered that he thought so.

"Of course they do, sweet thing." Coco reassured, not meaning to hurt her feelings. "But, remember what we agreed. Tonight is all about us, right now. Everyone else can look, but they sure as hell can't join our date.."

"You do realize the sort of talk you're doing kills the vibe here, right?" Kiki taunts, her and Milky were close by and the latter munched down on a some juicy stake. "I'd listen to your girl there, Coco. Might be the first time she's said something remotely smart."

"Hey!"

Milky rudely takes some of their own food. "She's not wrong, you can't deny that. Ozzie's may only let couples in, but that don't mean you can't flirt with anyone else that isn't a date. Y'all need to cut that shit out if you know what's good for you. Kiki and I have just been flirting around to keep up appearances, and we even came in as a pair. The whole club's a who's who of who you stuffy bitches want. The answer, everyone."

Coco glowered. "When there's someone me and my girl actually like, I'll text you a pic of them if that'll help!"

Kiki sighed, and separated them before they fought and they'd be kicked out, affecting Verosika's reputation as her posse. "Okay, okay. That's enough, we're supposed behave. Look, Apple, Coco, I'm sorry. It's just, this just ain't as fun as I expected. Don't get me wrong, there's a lot of possibilities here, but I just can't help feeling it could be way better somehow."

"I hear that." Coco wasn't entirely opposed to the idea of some more additions, but it didn't feel right. "Feels like something's missing..."

"Oh, ladies~." The four Succubi looked to the call of their leader and they gaped when they saw a familiar white-haired human boy she had with her and he was in a blushing mess. "Look what the cat dragged in. Or should I say bunny?" the popstar placed Lincoln next to them who shivered like he was in zero degree weather. A timid hand waved a them.

"H-Hello."

None said anything until Apple squealed in delight. "EEEEEEEE! Linky~" No time was wasted as she dashes to hug him tightly to her form. "I missed you so much! Same with Coco! Did you miss me! JK, you totally did!" she planted kisses on his head.

"I can see that, Apple." Lincoln deadpanned, and the three others sauntered over just as delighted to see him.

"Well, well, well." Kiki smirked, her hands on her hips. "This night just got more interesting, huh, girls?"

"Damn right." Coco suddenly didn't mind extra company, she and Apple were at both of Lincoln's sides. "Only way in here is with a date, baby boy. Now don't go breaking four sexy gals' hearts by saying you went and found one." she teasingly pinched his cheek.

"No! No! O-Of course not!"

"Ooh! Sounds like someone sneaked in~." Milky ate some cake slowly and licked some cake frosting off. "Hoping to get a look on the wild side. Should've came looking for us if that's all, naught boy."

"She's right, you know." Kiki twirled a lock of Lincoln's hair in her fingers. "It's the least we could do after what you for us last time. In fact, we've been thinking about how to properly...reward you."

These women sure knew what they were doing. "That's not it, either! It's a very long story, alright?" Lincoln really wished the stupid curse would apply even though he's already in Hell. "Also, no rewards are necessary. Really. In fact, I don't wanna cause trouble, so I'm trying to leave."

So modest and being a polite gentleman when turning them down.

It can be safely said that that's what they missed the most about him. "You sure about that? We can think of something quite nice to get you to stay." Verosika slowly walked by while her tail tickled his nose lightly. "If you're not here with a date, then why don't I be your date?" she took her own seat across the table with a leg over the other and crossed her arm. "I only got in this club solo for a gig here, but being around all these close couples just makes me feel so lonely." she put on her best pouting face. "And wouldn't it be so better to spend time with us without any crappy bets going on? While we're at it, we can take you back to our place when we're done here if you want."

Lincoln could not find any words, or his own voice. "Buh...buh..." he heard Coco speak next.

"Plenty of space in mine and Apple's room. Just the three of us, all night long."

Apple nodded. "It''ll be so much fun, Linky."

"That's-um-I-"

Milky leaned on a chair. "I usually just veg out on the bed, if you want to lie on top of me, I don't mind~."

"Well?" Veroska was on top of the table, crawling towards Lincoln until she held his cheeks tenderly, grinning as they stared into each other's eyes. "How about it, Linky?"

Lincoln tried to tear his gaze away from hers, but that was so hard. "I-I-" No sentences formed, he felt so lost in her eyes it was a little odd to put into words. A disturbance arrived at the scene.

"I was right! It's Verosika Mayday!"

Two other female Succubi appeared, interrupting her. One was a dark haired bang over an eye beauty with wide hips in a dark dinner dress. Her date had her blonde hair tied in a ponytail, her clothing consisted of a blue tube top shirt and jeans that exposed her left leg, she also had shades on. "See, Peach! I told you I saw her!" the blonde said."That you did, Eight." Peach admitted, then notices Lincoln. "And whoa, check it out."

Both grinned. "Where'd you come from, kid?" Eight and Peach pushed Coco and Apple away from their spots, causing them to growl.

"This here a private party?" Add in another Succubus to the mix. She was a tall one, matching Verosika's height in dark clothing over a yellow top exposing both cleavage and naval, her long white hair was done in a braid. Having detected Lincoln's presence, she intruded upon the table. "What's your deal, cute stuff?"

"I-I'm Lincoln Loud, miss..."

"Name's Tappa, sweetie."

For some reason, they hated seeing others of their species fawn over Lincoln, the boy they met first. It was like a challenge to them and they hated it while usually, they don't get that angry over it "Hey, cool your jets there, girl!" Coco snapped at Peach. "This is our table! And that's our boy!"

Apple nodded vigorously. "Yeah! We saw him first!" she childishly complained.

"Pretty sure you left a behind your own date." Kiki told Tappa.

"You mean him?" Tappa pointed over to her table where an Incubus was passed out asleep. "Turns out I was too much for him, so decided to mingle. So far, I couldn't quite find anyone worth talking to.." she invitingly smiled at Lincoln. "Until now."

"Then check at another table, skank." Milky huffed.

"I'm sorry, but I don't really listen to short-stacks, they usually listen to me, and I definitely don't listen to some skinny tacky pasty-wearing bitch who tries to convince herself she doesn't need implants. Even though it would be a huge improvement."

Kiki and Milky's blood boiled over the cracks at them.

Verosika didn't take kindly to them poaching in on her territory and wanted nothing more than to put them all in their places. A scene, however, won't go well with the club's boss and contrary to what some might believe, she has learned a thing or two about not getting in trouble with Hell's higher ups. "Excuse me. Girls. If you must know, that sweet little man is my date and this more of a private thing, so please. Back the fuck off!" She venomously said, directly looking at Tappa. Peach and Eight were fans, and she knew just how to sweet talk them. "If you do, that'd make you nice girls." She brought them closer to her, hugging their shoulders."And I just love nice girls."

"Okay, miss Verosika!" Blushing, the two backed off and Verosika glared expectantly at Tappa and she complied as well.

"Guess it's easy when you're a famous sellout." Tappa insulted and the three bid farewell to Lincoln through waves and blown air kisses.

Verosika's girls flipped them off.

"Oh, thank goodness." Lincoln breathed out a sigh of relief.

Verosika was more than a little disappointed, she felt a great flow before being interrupted and now the kid seemed more intent than ever to leave. "Super sorry about that." she apologized to the stressed boy.

"I'm fine. Just never got that much attention before. Or ever." Seeing Coco and Apple still on the floor, he helps them. "You two alright?"

"Yeah, we're fine, hon." Coco rubbed her sore back. "Bitches got us good."

Apple caresses her forearm. "Owie..."

Frowning, Lincoln got an idea and used on his spells, the cards explode into green mist that travel to where it hurts most and the Succubi couple feel the soreness wash away. "Ooh, now that feels right." Coco smiled.

"Just a healing spell." Lincoln shrugged, then noticed Kiki's disheartened expression. "I, uh, I think you're already pretty, Kiki."

Kiki looked up, startled. "What?"

"You're...already pretty." Lincoln earnestly told her. "I mean, you already look beautiful enough."

"Oh." Kiki blinked, not expecting such an honest compliment, it even made her blush. "Th-Thanks, Lincoln." she strokes her hair.

Lincoln gave Milky words of encouragement. "And hey, say what if your short? People don't expect much from me because of my height, then I surprise them. I even surprised myself. So, who says being short is all bad? I bet a lot of people never mind when they meet you, Milky."

Now it was Milky's turn to go red. "Man, I-I keep telling people's asses that."

Things certainly took a turn, not in the way the ladies expected, that's for sure. Now Lincoln's the one making them blush up like shy schoolgirls and Verosika was ever impressed and a little jealous. "Hey. You know what you need? Some nice snacks and non-alcoholic beverages? Girls, I think you can handle that. I'll be sure to keep Lincoln company."

"Copy that." Milky saluted.

"Bye, Lincoln~."

Now, Lincoln and Verosika were all alone and it just occurred to Lincoln that this was the second date he's been at in a romantic dinner. "Thanks for getting them to back off, by the way. I guess that must happen a lot."

"Afraid so." Verosika admitted with annoyance. "Now don't get me wrong, I fucking love being a famous pop singer from here to all the way in topside. Doesn't mean I don't get pissed off sometimes. Still a pretty kickass life, though."

"Heh. I wouldn't know. For most of my life, I've lived pretty normal. With my parents and all my ten sisters."

"Whoa, whoa! Back up." Verosika thought she heard a car crash. "Did you just say ten sisters?"

"Yeah?"

"Like, full-blooded? No half-siblings? Or any sign of cheating from your parents?"

"I can safely promise my human parents never once cheated."

She had no clue why he specified the human part, but took it. "And just to clarify, there is no possibility of rabbit DNA in your bloodline?"

Lincoln stifled a laugh. "My sister, Lisa, she's bit of a mad scientist tried something like that, only with wolf DNA. Thankfully, she abandoned that project. Personally, I think my little sister, Lana, would've preferred frog or snake DNA, or just about any DNA from the animal kingdom in general. Other than that, no, far as I can tell, none whatsoever." His family, yes, but as for Lincoln. Due to events after his coming to Hell, the jury's still out on that.

If Verosika had a drink, she'd spit it out after laughing out loud. "I'm sorry, but that is a riot! I mean, ten sisters?! In one house? Man, lord have mercy on your mom, too. Can't imagine that's a hundred percent stress free."

"You wouldn't be wrong." Lincoln conceded. "If I'm being real right now, I'd much rather take that than what's been going on lately."

She recognized that face, it was a face she's formed multiple times in the past and had a suspicion on who was the cause. "Let me guess. A shit-eating shit-stain named Blitzo did something stupid, didn't he?"

"Wouldn't use those words, per say, but yeah, essentially." Lincoln groaned. "The whole reason I'm even here is because he came up with an insanely stupid plan, and-"

Verosika put a hand up. "Eh-eh-eh! I know this part. He roped you into it and you have been trying, and I mean really trying to get him to abandon whatever dumbass reason he has for pulling that kind of bullshit, only for him to just keep on doing it, regardless of your own feelings on the matter."

"That is...entirely true."

"Ugh. Now that. That is just classic Blitzo!" Verosika spitefully said. "Motherfucking prick. Sounds like he hasn't changed at all, and you know what? It's a mistake to expect otherwise. All the checkbooks I write off to pay the damages he did, using my credit for nothing but horse shit, at one point, literal horse shit! It's true. Blew away a lot of my money on real horse poop! Can't forget riding one straight into one of my agents' mansion!"

Lincoln stared in disbelief. "Wow. That is just wow. I guess he's always done whatever he wanted, huh?"

"Yeah." Verosika's face softens, recollecting all those memories, it struck her how long it's been. "That didn't stop me from still being with him. He could've set my entire house on fire, and I still would've kept things going. He can be such a jackass, but at the same time, prove to be so good at the same time that I wouldn't end it. Then, it felt like he wanted something from me and maybe didn't think I could give it to him." she mused.

"What was it?"

"Try asking him yourself, though I doubt he'd actually be honest." Verosika stated. "And I didn't stay with him just because he was good in the sack. Of course, that's not to say it didn't help."

"Uh...choosing to ignore that."

"Sorry." Verosika winced. "Eventually, he just...he just...I couldn't take it anymore and he...never even tried to apologize. Was-Was I not even good enough? Or worth it?"

The more she talked, the more Lincoln listened and oddly enough, he could feel all the sadness Verosika's kept inside. The heartbreak that still affects her to this day, it's more than observing it, the boy suddenly could actually feel what she's feeling. A level of empathy that felt supernatural in origin, but he didn't dwell on it, he focused more on her and what she needed. Lincoln surprised her by reaching for her hand and holding it gently as he gazes with an expression of understanding, telling her that he didn't judge her for feeling all of that. "I'm sorry. I'm-I'm so sorry."

Verosika felt touched, and soon, she too was blushing. This is what she wanted, for someone to truly 'see' her other than an object. "Th-Thanks. But, you don't have to be sorry for anything. That's all in the past and knowing Blitzo, he probably keeps telling you how I was just as bad. Yeah, I may not have been the perfect girlfriend, but even he should know better than to make himself out to be the 'good' guy. Of course, I don't expect anything less."

"Yeah, you wouldn't be wrong there. Honestly, no one's ever really perfect. I'm not perfect, neither is Blitz, which does go without saying." Verosika chuckles at that. "I don't think that's all bad. For all the flaws someone has, I like to think their not complete monsters. Even demons. The others at I.M.P, I love them, they've been like a family to me. All while still being ruthless assassins. Plus, there's you. You saved my life, and I haven't forgotten that. You're also beautiful, talented, need I go on?"

"Please do..." Verosika begged in a hush with sparkling eyes and deep blush.

"Blitz can be a pain, yes. The best we can do is hope he realizes that before he ends ruining something else."

"Hmph, and when that does happen? Because, trust me, you'd be way better off somewhere else." Like with her.

"I-I don't know. I guess I'll cross that bridge when I get to it."

This kid had a way with words. How Bitzo managed to have him working for him was beyond and frankly, the trip down memory lane left a bad taste in her mouth, and a usual medicine was the devil's nectar. "I need a freaking drink. Will-Will you still be here?"

She looked so damn depressed, and this is Lincoln we're talking about. "Yeah. I promise." With her gone, this was his one chance to get out of Lust dodge, and he didn't take it. "Hope you're at least having a good time, Blitz." he sighed.

Blitzo wasn't having a good time.

All he wanted to was just spy on his employees on their super important date night, and he can't do that now. Not without Lincoln's words keep replaying on loop in his head, why did that kid always have to make so much sense? All this while Stolas still trying to make this so-called 'date' interesting, which was hard since Blitzo never even intended to be so.

To think that Stolas would be so engaging on a date, so willing to make it like they were on a real date, and it was starting to make Blitzo feel guilty. "So, Blitz. How was your day?"

"Huh?" Blitzo lazily responded. "Oh. Nothing to report. It was like any other day. Killed a bunch of beardos." Just another job in his book.

"That sounds fun!" Stolas forced a smile. Taking into account of the imp's love of killing, Stolas tries, key word being tries, to build up on that. "Er, how did you kill them, if you don't mind me asking?"

"How?" Blitzo didn't think specifics were required. He answered the best that he could. "Besides bullets? What else are you gonna use to kill a bunch of them?" he shrugged, not seeing why that wasn't obvious.

Stolas laughs in a nervous fashion. "Right! Of course. Silly me. Um..." He really dug around something that the two had common ground on that won't make things more hilariously awkward. "What about our dear Lincoln? I do hope things have been progressing well for the boy?"

"Oh. Yeah, the kid's doing great." Blitzo dismissed Stolas concerns, and got into a real frustrated spiel. "I just wish he'd quit it with the whole bringing common sense! It's that kind of idealistic crap that Hell likes to chew up and spit out. Kid looks out for others more than he should look out for himself."

"Well, I don't really see that a weakness." Stolas defends his student's stance. "If anything, that's proven to be a rather impressive strength of his. If anything, that's why he's such a rarity among mortals. If it seems like he's trying to tell you what to do, I like to think it's his way of making sure no harm comes his loved ones' way." If that's true, the Blitzo feels like he's not among that list of loved ones. Unless, he is? Lincoln's smart, too smart, so if he could point out things not even Blitzo could see, then could he also that of all the people Blitzo will end up hurting due to his impulsive decisions, it Blitzo himself that will also be affected? In the event that is true, Blitzo would feel like a bigger jerk to his employees.

"Yeah. M-Maybe."

"Now, if I you don't mind the boldness. What made you decide to ask me out after all this time?"

He had ask that kind of question, too.

"Uh..."

Before he could even tell his unconvincing lie, the lights suddenly dimmed and new lights activated. Every patron present listened as bongo melodies rang out, the cages floated to the sides to let a stage full of winged imp employee dancers on poles to descend. Pink steam was released and an announcer called out for all to pay attention to him and for Blitzo and Lincoln, it was a voice they knew all too well.

"Ladies and gentleman! I see some sexy faces around here tonight!" On the stage, a lone figure slithered down a pole to unveil itself as a well known entertainer. It was Fizzarolli. Not a robot duplicate, but the real deal. The colors on his jester outfit were different, but one can tell just by seeing more life in the eyes. Despite that, it looked as if he had cybernetic enhancements on his body, allowing him to move with his limbs extended. "Welcome, welcome, to Ozzies!" The jester declared. "Lust Ring's number one place for all kinds of sick twisted fantasies!" He twirls himself to several tables. "Put on display for all you sleaze and sleazess!" He spins back onstage. "The gem joint of Asmodeus himself! Come on! Give our host some love!" he urged.

Everyone clapped and cheered as he requested.

Lincoln gave light claps. "Uh, so that's the real Fizzarolli? Like, the genuine article? Not some creepy psycho robot?"

Verosika's girl friends had returned. "That's him." Kiki affirmed.

"Doesn't he work for Mammon, though? That guy rules over Greed."

'Well, someone knows his shit about Hell." Milky praised, laying her elbow on his shoulder. "Yeah, but then the clown went and made it big by performing for Ozzie. Those tin cans are made here while being sold to other rings. I think in return, the big boss rents Fizz for shows or something."

At Blitzo and Stolas' table, the Goetia prince hoped he misheard. "Did he just say Asmodeus?" he fearfully asked. One of the seven deadly sins. Rulers of the seven rings. The only other demons ranked higher than the Ars Goetia demons, with only the royal family being above them. This was his club.

Blitzo was also perturbed, mainly by seeing the real deal of Fizzarolli in the flesh so to speak. An old from his past, and if the past months are anything to go by, this is where shit hits the fan. "Oh, no fucking way! Not him!" He hides his face behind the menu, confusing Stolas.

"I am the one and only Fizzarolli!" The jester does his own introduction by outstretching a poster of himself, rolling it back to show a different one for Loo Loo Land. "Some of you might recognize this dashing clown face from my numerous toy-botic replicas across the Rings of Hell! Gloriously designed by our humble host and uh, ribbed for your pleasure tonight." he flirts and lifts up a sleeve to show off a cybernetic limb. "We have a great lineup for you, folks!" he gestures to the bar where Verosika was slowly reaching for a glass of wine from a nervous Wally Wackford and she realizes all eyes were on her. "A sexy bitch who needs no introduction! Verosika Mayday! Wet Dream!" She shoves Wally away with a smirk and poses sensually for the cameras, blowing a kiss. A trio of imps were also listed. "And the squirters!"

"So, that's what she meant. Whoa!" Lincoln is pulled and she does more poses but now with him, and he made sure to have his hoodie on. Once that was done, he was sent back to the girls.

"But as everyone's warming up." Fizzarolli sips on a straw. "I got a funny joke. Did anyone hear about the batshitery that happened at Mammon's place, Loo Loo Land?" The patrons all laughed. It made the nightly news. "Ha-ha-ha! Oh, yeah! Wow! Now, I'll tell you what, I'd love to shake the crazy son of a bitch's hands who decided to burn down that aging off-brand shithole and then slap a fat subpoena in it!" he glared. "Because I got a full mind to sue!"

Blitzo darted his eyes, Stolas raised his hand in front of his face, and Lincoln pulled the hoodie's chords to hide his face more.

All three were involved in that debacle. "Everything okay, Linky?" Apple asked, concerned.

"Yup! A-okay!"

Fizzarolli continues his rant. "Robo-me made us more money entertaining those little shits than the ones we sell to get you freaks off. If you know what I mean." he suggestively said, laughing.

An imp dressed like Fizzarolli waved his hand, not realizing that Fizz wasn't really asking for some feedback on his joke. "I know what you mean! I've got four of them!" he announced.

Disturbed, Fizzarolli spoke into his secret collar mic. "Okay, make sure to keep that guy far away from me." Now that his opening was done, now was the time get on with the show. "So, without further ado, our little opening act is a fresh face! Coming at us from a little imp from the Wrath Ring! Give cheers for Moxxie...who unfortunately has no creative stage name whatsoever!"

All clapped as Moxxie got up with a guitar, kissing a pleasantly surprised Millie.

"Moxxie?" Lincoln's respect for that gun expert grew, a romantic ode to Millie for their anniversary? That was his imp he was proud to call father.

As Moxxie took the stage, Fzzarolli sprung to a private section where Asmodeus was viewing everything on top of a glass containing blue fire. The I.M.P employee pulled the microphone down to his level. "Hello, everyone." It rung a bit too loud. "Oh." he clears his throat. "Hi. Thank you for letting me be 's an honor to play."

Wally voiced what most were thinking. "Hurry up-hic! I say, boy, I say!"

Moxxie ignored that. "This song is for my beautiful wife." Millie could just cry tears of joy. "I love you, Millie."

Moxxie begins strumming a sweet tune, telling everyone firsthand that he lives his wife Blitzo flinches in panic, this ode to Millie was going to be all fluffy and wholesome, the last thing anyone in Lust wants to hear. Moxxie kept going on and and on about how he loves Millie more than anything, it was the kind of thing that warmed hearts everyone else was confused since this was a bit too sweet and heartwarming for them. Fizzarolli can respect this imp's unconditional love for his wife, but he really should've gone to a different joint. That kind of thing ain't supposed be in here and shared a knowing look with the shrouded demon lord. Millie made Moxxie actually happy to live in Hell of all places, she just makes his heart flutter that it can be described as being magic,Pink smoke goes off from the guitar and it felt like he and Millie were in their own world. Moxxie could continue on for the rest of the night, maybe even for years to come for the sole purpose of showing his love, but that wouldn't be, the smoke changes color and heard two voices singing the same line over him mockingly. He used his showy magical talent to affect the stage and worked it more to his bidding.

The smoke clears and behind him stood not only Fizzarolli, but Asmodeus in all his glory demanded what his ears were hearing all this in a club owned by the likes of him, his three faces glowing in the dark as things take a drastic turn.

Moxxie backs up in fear as the demon lord stomps closer and places the imp in a magic circle.

It was really him. The demon host proprietor who expected much more from Moxxie, known throughout as one of the seven demon lords themselves.

Asmodeus steps into the light to unveil his appearance. He towered over all, walking like a rooster and dressed like a circus own'er suit with flashy adorning his flamboyant attire. Three faces were inside his blue mane, the middle looked norms, the right one was a bull and the left one a ram resembled a bull and the left one was a ram. He orders Moxxie to obey his order of making some changes to his song as Fizarolli does trumpet noises. He could feel everyone expecting him to listen to the club's owner. They wanted him to change his tune and they wanted it now. Fizz keeps one using his hands as instruments, and Asmodeus nuzzled his face against the cyborg jester.

Lust's ruler laid down on his chest to face Moxxie. The guy just wanted to give a little romantic display to his lovely wife, that was all understandable, but he was going to explain an important fact. Such things were frowned upon in this club.

Moxxie attempts to hop off, but Fizzarolli's extended arms coiled him. He spins Moxxie around like a tornado.

Asmodeus stops the spin. If Moxxie wants to hang around here, then he needs to change his tune to better meet the standards. He warned this by shoving Moxxie away, causing both Millie and Lincoln to gasp. Wants and desires were all that everyone sang about in this ring. "Hey, man. You should've left all that mushy shit back home."

Fizzarolli hoists Moxxie up to the cages and pulls in two cages containing female Baphomet, and one of them breathes a light fire stream that burns a marshmallow Fizz had on a trident.

Asmodeus gave Moxxie back his guitar and gestured to him sing.

Moxxie understood that his special song to Millie may not be what's commonplace in Lust, but that still didn't deter him in his original goal. However, all this added pressure of these higher ranked demons broke down his confidence. Every demon expected him to obey the commands of a higher demon.

When Moxxie failed, both Asmodeus and Fizz gagged, unimpressed. Both told all patrons to laugh cruelly at Moxxie and to pity his wife, not knowing why she stayed married to some dweeb who's all about wholesome love.

The audience laughs at the now saddened Moxxie's expense, but Lincoln didn't find this funny at all. In fact, he felt a lot of anger growing, this guy's just mocking the love Moxxie has for Millie just for the fact it's true romance. It was making him angry. "Grr..." Eyes shining red in his hoodie, the glass of soda Coco picked out for him breaks apart, shocking the girls.

Lincoln wasn't alone, Blitzo in an abrupt move, put his foot down and stood up for Moxxie in his own way which got almost everyone's attention on him.

Moxxie turned with a double-take as Millie looked on equally shocked like her husband and Lincoln face palmed at Blitzo's blunder.

"Hey, isn't that your weirdo boss?" Apple asked Lincoln.

Her girlfriend's eyes went wide when she saw who else was sitting at Blitzo's table. "Holy shit. Is that prince Stolas? The fuck is all that about?"

Lincoln could only shake his head in dismay. "Oh, Blitz? What are you doing?" A part of him felt responsible, thinking he should've done more to stop his boss from following M and M.

Blitzo's help only succeeded in disgusting Moxxie instead of helping him, but also hurting him after Moxxie saw that Blitzo really did end up following them. For a moment, he wanted to trust that he'd back off.

Fizz could hardly believe it. Blitzo was standing right there, and he was so sure of himself that he knew best about romance, well Fizz had much to critique about that, and soon the spotlight panned over to him. He wanted everyone to see how the other imp that dared speak up was the last person to criticize. Blitzo didn't intend to now be everyone's focus., and Stolas could only look on with concern and fear. Fizz knows fully well that Blitzo's love life was nothing but a pathetic joke, and He stretched his head out to say that straight to his face.

Blitzo was about to comment, but somebody else took the reins.

Verosika spoke up next. If anyone had any right to attest to Fizz's claims, it was her, and she'd make sure everyone will know that Blitzo's the last person to have as a romantic partner. She did her own verse with her own personal style.

Her fans supported her as a chorus.

Blitzo groaned in discomfort. If Fizz is already here, then he decided to let today include more old acquaintances he has a bad history with.

As for Stolas, he simply stared, gobsmacked that Blitzo used to date her.

Lincoln was soon pulled in by the popstar as she climbed onto a table while hugging him close.

Her fans gathered to the table to continue their support, and the owner of the table happily took pictures of the celebrity singing which didn't amuse his jealous girlfriend.

Blitzo grumbled in his seat, then realizes that despite having his hoodie on, he recognized that it was Lincoln. The tall imp gave him a confused face, and the kid shrugged apologetically.

Verosika released him and is pulled back by Apple to allow her leader more time to shine, standing up proudly.

Her admirers punched their fists in the air, sans the envious girlfriend.

Verosika informed with bitterness how he was the worst boyfriend that ever lived and she enjoyed every minute of it. Lincoln was not so fooled. He could hear the pain behind her words.

Asmodeus watched Verosika's little interruption with amusement and nudged Fizz playfully as everyone agreed that Blitzo was awful.

Blitzo largely ignored all of it, until Verosika pushed him off the chair and backed him against the wall. Stolas stood up in shock over what was happening. The Succubus became more hurt as she recounted being heartbroken by his actions and she sneered down at her ex-boyfriend whose glare morphed into a guilt-ridden frown of regret as he detected the subtle sadness behind her confidence.

Asmodeus would've loved to see one of his best Succubi continue mocking Blitzo, but he spotted the last demon he expected to see at Blitzo's table. He stopped the music and directs everyone to see that it was Stolas who responded like a deer caught in headlights.

Asmodeus and Fizzarolli hopped off and strutted their way over with the former peered at Blitzo. Stolas tried to leave, but the higher ranked demon forced him back to the chair. Out of all demons, they never expected Stolas to fall farther than a fallen angel. The demon lord summoned illusions of Stella and Octavia that glared at him in disgust and walked away, disappearing. Rumors had been going around among the elite that he and Stella were having marital issues. It was no wonder Stella always looked like a raging volcano in her recent public appearances. Even so, Asmodeus found it so amazing. He placed a disheartened Blitzo back on the chair, Stolas merely hid his shame in the menu. It was both laughable, yet at the same time, so scandalous that Asmodeus had to give both ridicule and praise. Blitzo looked expectantly at Stolas, assuming the Goetia would defend both of them. But, he didn't. The club owner and the jester prepared to finish the musical number off together with a firework display.

Fizzarolli screamed after Millie jumped and hit him with the guitar.

Asmodeus gaped in horror.

Having enough of them hounding on Moxxie, then her boss, Millie decided to intervene so that her and Moxxie's special night would get back on track. She sweetly handed him back his guitar.

All the other patrons may not approve of his genuine feelings, but Millie, and she was why he pulled out all the stops. That was more than enough for Moxxie and so, he gaze into each other's eyes as a frantic Asmodeus cradles Fizz's body. Moxxie leads her to a pole. An imp stage manager yawned in boredom, inadvertently pulling a lever that raised the pole and they spun around with their tales tangled.

"I won't lie...this is too much..." Apple sniffled, feeling touched by the sight. It was so sickening, but damn, they were so in love that it was so beautiful. Lincoln's empathetic ability picked up not just resentment from the audience, but envy too, you'd have be the luckiest demon around to have someone to make such an awful existence worth living in. Asmodues and Fizzarolli shared a glance and the jester gagged, making him snuggle in closer, but the cyborg imp lightly smiled at M&M. Moxxie ended it all with more proclamations of loving Millie with all his heart.

Finally, it came to an end and to make it more meaningful, Moxxie and Millie shared a gentle kiss.

Amazingly, many of the audience cheered.

But Lincoln was silent, he still couldn't get over the anger at how the king of Lust and his clown mocked Moxxie, shaming him just for being in love. He tried going for an attack but the fire disappeared. This was high class demon lord for crying out loud. But, that didn't stop Lincoln, it only made his animosity increase, so he tries another way, the magic of illusions..

Outside the club, the bouncer stood stalwart, until he sees the rain pour on harder without warning. Wind speeds were picking up, and the clouds above rumbled with thunder and flashed lightning. "The hell? There was supposed to be just rain!"

Asmodeus opens his eyes and gasps when he saw that Fizzarolli was gone. "Fizzy-pop? Where'd you go?" Not only was he gone, but so were everyone else. In fact, he wasn't in his club anymore. He found himself in a void, some kind of endless space with no beginning nor end, the Lust ruler was the only one around, or so he thought before hearing whispers.

"Hypocrite..."

"What's that?! Who's there?!"

"Hypocrite...hypocrite...hypocrite..."

"This some kind of dipshit's idea of a joke?! You know whom you're fuckin' with?!" Asmodeus roared, and dark chains trapped his wrists and a silhouette of Fizz appeared.

"You mock true love...yet you feel love in your heart for one..." The quiet voice points out. "Love is an integral part of what you represent, despite the differences. As its embodiment, I figured you knew."

"You trying to explain lust to me? Me?!" The chains burned in heat and he growled.

"I'm not done, you son of a bitch! If you hate love so much, then why bother having him?" Fizz's visage fades away, making Asmodeus panic as he tried to reach out to help him. The ground beneath him shakes and it breaks apart into cracks. The restrained lord stand on a single pillar as orange fire surrounded him, and a large shadow looms over. gazing up, he sees a face.

Threatening eyes of black and red glared, with its sharp teeth bared and it growled like a savage beast. It's most defining features were the rabbit ears and antler horns that are seen on top of its head. Roaring, the face plunged with its mouth open and Asmodeus did what demon lords like him almost never do.

He screamed in terror.

"Ozzie?" Eyes snapping open, Asmodeus sees he's back in his club. He looks down to see his favorite clown gaze up at him with worry, he'd never seen his superior look so terrified. "You alright?"

"I-I-Yeah, sure. Just need to catch my breath!" Asmodeus didn't know what to think, he's never felt a presence like that before. The only person make him quiver for his life was Lucifer, but he wasn't here. This was something new. Something different and they were bold to induce such an illusion to a lord.

The source itself was also tired. "Lincoln? You good?" Seeing him with a lost expression made Coco touch his shoulder, but when she did, she felt an extreme sensation that not only surprised her, it was also very attractive. It was gone now, but whoa.

"Uh, y-yeah. Sure." The contact managed to get Lincoln back to normal, which was a good thing. His sclera had begun to turn black.

Blitzo and Stolas sat in uncomfortable silence. Nothing more could be said after what occurred. Stolas tries to at least offer comfort by reaching for Blitzo's hand, but he flinches at the touch. "You know what? This was a mistake." Blitzo admitted tersely. "Alright? Let's just-Let's just leave."

"Oh. Right. Of course." Stolas hardly blamed him.

As they left, Moxxie and Millie continued their passionate kiss. "Aw, now ain't that so happy and romantic? It sickens me!" Asmodeus mockingly praised before his voice got deep and threatening. "Get the fuck out of my club!"

With them and Blitzo gone, Lincoln figures he ought leave as well, then sees Verosika drinking on the stage. "Hey." she turns to see him stand there.

"...Hey."

"May I?" Shrugging, Verosika lets the kid sit next to her, she's too bummed to be happy. Lincoln could've been angry with her too for joining in on publicly humiliating Blitzo, but the empath ability allowed him to feel how she truly felt. For the most part, it appeared that she hated reminding Blizo and herself of his blunders as a boyfriend more than she likes doing so. "That was a whole thing, wasn't it?"

"Yeah. I gotta say, your imp friend's pretty good. Not really my style, but it was okay. Are-Are you angry?" Verosika tensely asked. "I know you're annoyed with him, but I don't think you'd have done the same." she feels like she just ruined her image for Lincoln.

"You're right. I wouldn't." Lincoln nodded. "Blitz can be an insensitive jerk, but he's still a friend to me. Even so, he asked for it. I kept warning him, and he still went on. Everything that just happened, it's his own fault. You wanted to hurt him, and that ended up hurting you too. I am no expert in dating, but, you shouldn't hang on to that pain just to get back at someone." he advised.

"So what? You think I should forgive him?"

"That's up to you. I don't run your life and frankly, Blitz doesn't show it, but he ends up hurting himself enough. But if you really want to move on, all I can say is there's always letting go. Can't always drown it." Verosika turned very thoughtful. She looked at her drink, and sets it tosses it."I, uh, I should probably leave. It was nice. Talking with you and your friends."

Lincoln's shoulder was held by her hand. "Wait." Verosika leaned down and planted a soft kiss on his forehead,leaving a mark. It was soft and gentle, and he didn't really mind iit that much. "Here." She hands him a note with her phone number that had a lipstick kiss. "So we can keep in touch. If you want to, that is." she winks at him.

"Uh..." Lincoln blushes. "Th-Thanks. I-I'll think about it." What's weird is that he really means it.

"Hey!" Verosika's gal palls showed up. "We want to give Linky our numbers too!" Apple whined.

"Don't forget about us, baby boy." Coco purred as they go to give their own kisses.

"H-Hang on. One at a time!"

"Come here, you!"

"You should've seen this coming!"

Lincoln walked off in a dopey smiling daze with his face covered in kiss marks once again, only this time, his pockets were full of phone numbers, and luckily, what Millie feared didn't come to pass. "At least they only kissed me..."

"Surprised you didn't just take him. And you're okay with us just kissing him?" Kiki commented to Verosika.

"Yes. I am. I've been thinking, ladies." Verosika said. "I think we might have to play the long game with him." It was a tiny bit unorthodox for Succubi, but she had a feeling it'd be worth it. Talking with him so casually felt nice, not to mention his honest to god compliments and goodhearted nature, it was a nice change instead of one of the usual sort. They don't want to ruin that.

She looks at her arm with the crossed out tattoo.

Suppose she has been putting off removing it altogether, and she already had an idea on what to replace the name with.

Lincoln passed Asmodeus and for a brief nanosecond, the lord's hands trembled. It was there, much smaller than before, but the presence was felt, and he still couldn't tell where it was.

Outside, Blitzo and Stolas walked together and then Lincoln. "Blitz! Wait up!" they saw him wobble in his steps and fainted.

Blitzo looks to a one again shocked Stolas. "Oh, yeah. He was there the whole time. Just invisible."

Carrying Lincoln all the way back, Blitzo had him in the back of the I.M.P van and drove Stolas to his mansion. The prince had trouble to get out from the passenger seat in front, but he squeezed right through. "Thank you for inviting me out." The events of the night were less than favorable, but Stolas wanted it to be known that it wasn't a complete disaster for him. "Despite everything that's happened, I enjoyed spending time with you I always do."

"Yeah, yeah, sure." Blitzo numbly replied.

If that were true, Blitzo wondered why he didn't at least defend him from the onslaught.

"I'm sure I have more wine in the firdge." Stolas offered, wanting to salvage some things. "Octavia's at her mother this weekend and after dropping off the dear boy at your dwelling, you can come back so we could-"

"Stop! Just stop! I'm not fucking you tonight! Okay?" Blitzo angrily said, seeing this is another means for Stolas to get him in his bed and Blitzo wasn't going to even entertain the notion. "I just-I'm really not in the mood to do anything, so don't bother, Stolas." he shields his eyes, not wanting the prince to see the tears.

"...Why not just tal." Stolas , for perhaps the first time in their history, offered other ideas to appease Blitzo. "Watch a movie? Or maybe...cuddle?" he anxiously suggested, hoping to salvage at least something.

Blitzo thought this was a poor taste joke, that he was now suddenly more invested.

It infuriated Blitzo to no end. "Stolas, don't even pretend what we have is anything but you just wanting me to fuck you, okay? You make that clear enough every time I see you." he intentionally looked away to not see Stolas' heartbroken face. "But I just-I-I can't do it tonight, okay?" A momentary glance at his expression at least made Blitzo give an apology. "I'm sorry."

Stolas was truly hurt, and at the same time, didn't blame Blitzo. "Okay. I understand."

Lincoln had woken up and heard the entire exchange. "Blitz, can-can I speak to him alone?"

"Do whatever you want, kid. Just make it quick."

Lincoln and Stolas talked out of Blitzo's earshot. "Can't say I expected you to be in Lust, my pupil. I bet you fancied many of the luscious females, you bold child." Stolas playfully chided.

"It's a bit more complicated than that." Lincoln rubbed his head. "But, I did have a little fun. Stolas, are you okay?"

"...No, dear boy. I can't say I am." Stolas guiltily frowned. "I imagined you must be quite disappointed with me, how I did nothing to dissuade Asmodeus to save myself and Blitzy. Embarrassing for a teacher, wouldn't you agree?" His reputation and his family were already lost to him, now it's his teaching role.

"Stolas, you did make mistakes. So did Blitz. Thing is, you know it." Lincoln showed no contempt. "You think I was never afraid when I go on a job? Sometimes, I still am. But if kid like me can face it, so can you. You just need the right push."

"Hmm, I suppose at times, even the student can be a teacher in his own right." Stolas smiled. "Thank you for your kind words, Lincoln."

"No problem. And hey, maybe call Octavia sometime. I'm sure she'd love to hear from you, even when you're far away."

"A splendid idea." Lincoln returned to the van and Stolas breathes in deeply. "Goodnight, Blitz." he politely bowed.

"...Night."

The van left and Stolas could no loner keep on his brave face. Here was back in his empty mansion, no wife, no daughter, no student, and no Blitzo. It was all too much and he sat there on the steps, silently weeping.

During the drive, only silence was shared between Lincoln and Blitzo. The events of tonight left them both gloomy and for good reason, and it would've been nothing else besides silence if Blitzo hadn't spoke. "You sure looked like you were having fun. You know, with Verosika." Blitzo recalled, last he checked, Lincoln was trying to avoid coming across her in Lust.

"Okay, look. Before you even say it, that wasn't me getting back at you for not listening. Things just...they just happened."

"I'm so sure."

"It's true!" Lincoln wasn't going to take it. "Don't make it sound it was all part of a dastardly plan to make you look like a fool! You did all that so well on your own! Even if I was, I could've just done that by telling Moxxie and Millie, and surprise! I didn't! Even after everything, I still didn't tell them what was even going on! I didn't even tell Stolas and I was right there next to him!"

Blitzo's grip on the wheel tightened. "Well, why the fuck not?!"

"Because you're my friend!" A beat of silence ensues and Lincoln speaks in a shaky voice. "I kept trying to get you to leave not just because I didn't want you to ruin Moxxie and Millie's anniversary, it was also to stop you from not just hurting them, but also hurting yourself! Remember what I said before? About how what you were doing would've been the last straw for them? I was afraid, Blitz. Afraid that they'd end up quitting on you and you'd-you'd just break apart over it! I.M.P itself would just be no more and...I didn't want that!" he closed his eyes, sniffling and shedding tears. "I already lost one family that I may never see again, I didn't want to lose another...!"

Blitzo grits his teeth as he fought hard not to cry as well, his assumption was right. "You could just leave with them, you know! You'd still have your precious mommy and daddy!"

"It wouldn't be the same." Lincoln understood how Octavia felt. "Not without you and Loona. You're my friend...my family..."

Blitzo didn't know why he didn't leave Lincoln at the office, it was like something was telling him to bring him over to his apartment instead. Kicking the door, Blitzo tiredly sighs as he and Lincoln enter. This was the first time Lincoln's seen this place and observed the various photos, drawings, and posters decorating the wall. In the ones including Blitzo, his image of scribbled out.

The imp boss was about to knock on the door to Loona's fortified room, but saw a note on it.

"Yeah." Lincoln kicked the ground guiltily. "Loona told me she was going out. I...chose not to tell you."

"...There are snacks in the fridge. Make yourself comfortable." Blitzo collapsed on the couch, hearing clatter in the kitchen. While he was doing that, Blitzo unlocked his Hell Phone and went through his photos. Despite everything, he did keep more than a few photos including Stolas . Next was him surprising M&M with a group selfie. Following that, him giving a noggie to Lincoln when the kid was practicing magic. One that had them all together. He even had photos for when he first hired Moxxie and adopted an unenthusiastic Loona. Then came the photos of a past Blitzo can never seem to escape from.

He looks at photo from when he and Verosika were still couple before the breakup, dressed for a hot date, arms around one another and looking so happy. Then, came one picturing a younger him hugging Fizzarolli without his makeup, looking like a pure organic imp. To think there was a time they were so close. Even before that, they had a tight bond, ever since they were little implings in the circus. So many connections made, so many fond memories, and so many mistakes. Most of which was made by him. He silently asked himself where it all went wrong.

The next pic answered that for him.

It was him with his twin sister, Barbie Wire holding a gift as an older female imp dotingly embraced them, she was wearing the same skull necklace he has now.

The one he inherited.

That broke the dam, tears streamed down Blitzo's face and he discards his phone, not wanting to look anymore. He cries into the pillow just as Lincoln returned with the snacks and sees his boss breaking down. Setting the snacks down, Lincoln takes his place on the couch, would words be enough? Will he even listen? The white haired boy did the one thing he felt was right, rub his hand on Blitzo's back. The imp nearly jumped, and looks back at Lincoln who was crying hos own tears of empathy, all with a comforting smile to boot.

"It's okay, Blitz. It's okay."

Blitzo didn't smack his hand away, he didn't express it, but he was thankful that Lincoln let him cry his feelings out.

Thankful that he didn't leave.

Chapter Text

"Blitz? Blitz, are you alright? Blitz? Hello?"

Groaning, Blitzo, the boss of I.M.P, opened just one eye to see Lincoln standing in front of him. In his hands were a plate of cupcakes that he actually managed to bake in the garbage pile of a kitchen that forced him to always order out. Blitzo was confused, though, he internally questioned why Lincoln was even here in the first place. But then, he recalled the events of last night, which was also the reason why he was so incredibly hung over right now, evident by all the beer bottles littered on the couch. "What the hell? What time is it?"

"Early in the morning." Lincoln replied. "You sorta blacked out a little after the tenth drink, I think. I didn't know what else to do, so I pretty much just slept until I woke up. Figured you needed some breakfast."

"The only thing I need is another cold one." Blitzo slurred, getting up from the pile of bottles on his form. "There's-There's definitely still some left in the fridge. Be a pal, and get me one."

Lincoln frowned, as if he were going to do that. "Blitz, I know you usually don't really care, but I really think you've had enough."

Burping, Blitzo fell on the floor. "Don't ever fucking tell me of all imps that I've had enough." He groggily stood and wobbled over to the fridge to get it himself only to see that it was almost empty. "Shit, I forgot to refill." Lincoln sighed in relief, but even Blitzo had a fall back. "Well, I guess getting high will have to do."

"How many drugs do you have here?"

"You think horse figurines are the only things I spend our hard-earned money on?"

"...Honestly? Yes."

Blitzo at this point, was looking for it. "Now, where did I put it.? God damn it, if Loona's been taking my secret stash, that girl will hear it, no phone time for at least a day."

"You know, instead of taking drugs, you could try and do something else."

"Yeah? Like what?"

Lincoln looked around and unsurprisingly, Blitzo kept a few I.M.P weapons littered around. "Well, you could try teaching me how to use a new weapon? I mean, we haven't heard back from Moxxie and Millie, so why not?"

Blitzo may have a bad hangover, but he wasn't blind to see that Lincoln had some kind of motive for a random request like that. Sure, the kid has been more willing to use weaponry recently, but why ask now of all times? Even so, Blitzo was still too tired to give it any further thought and so, he decided to grant Lincoln his request. He opens the window where Lincoln looks out armed with the crossbow. "Since you're still iffy on the killing, just try aiming for random shit. Nothing more." Lincoln looked through the scope and scoured for whatever got in his line of sight.

He made sure to steer clear of the imp lady walking while pushing a baby stroller along with every other person, he just needed to shoot at the inanimate objects. "You're leaning too much."

Lincoln blinked at Blitzo's interruption. "What?"

"You're leaning on your shot too much, sport. Keep it more centered, otherwise, you'll either miss or end up actually killing someone. Here, I can show you."

Lincoln kept the crossbow away from Blitzo's hands. "Yeah, I don't think so."

"Excuse me? But that thing was in my apartment, everything found in this crap-hole is automatically mine, so let the boss show you how it's done."

"Blitz. I'm not gonna give you a weapon when you're barely awake."

"Come on , pal. I have you know, I can still fire well thank you very much...I just misfire more often and that's-that's not my fault!" Lincoln was very adamant in keeping the crossbow away, so Blitzo finally relented. "Fine. Whatever. Just listen to my advice, okay?"

Lincoln reset the crossbow and for a second, figured that Blitzo may be right as he had more experience in weaponry than he did. While Moxxie was the gun expert, and Millie preferred melee weapons, Blitzo was always a good mix of the two. Keeping his body in a centered angle, Lincoln looked and saw a nerdy looking imp who was pushed to the ground by a hunkier one that was showing off his new ride to the nerdy imp's crush. Next to them were two imp workers trying to hoist a large crate up by some rope and taking his time, Lincoln reached for the trigger and pulled. The arrow shot out and cut the rope, this led to the crate being flung until it landed on the cool car, making the female imp jump into the nerdy imp's arms as the hunk gaped at his smashed ride. She looked at the nerdy imp and kissed his cheek, making him blush.

"Ha! Hey, Blitz, look!"

"What is it?"

"I managed to make the shot!"

His body told him to continue not moving, but Blitzo got up anyway to look outside and saw what occurred. Seeing what Lincoln managed to pull off actually made Blitzo laugh out loud. "Ha! Holy shit, you totaled that dickhead's ride! Classic!"

"Well, I just listened to what you said." Lincoln chuckled. "Sorry for doubting you. It's just you're not exactly focused yourself."

"Me? Not focused?" Blitzo pointed at himself. "Why wouldn't I be-" His very unreadable mind finally figured out what Lincoln was doing, he was using this as a means to get his boss to open up about the unfortunate events of last night. "Oh. Okay. Now, I get it, you thought a good bonding over weaponry training will lighten my mood enough to talk about the shit that went down at Ozzie's, right?"

"W-What?" Lincoln failed at covering it up. "N-No, I'm just-okay, fine. Yes. But, come on, Blitz. You gotta talk about it eventually." Lincoln still hasn't forgotten how Blitzo had a complete breakdown, shedding so many tears and drowned out his sorrows with booze.

"Oh, so what? Is this the part where I pour out all my feelings? Face my own inner turmoil? Work through them so I can turn out as a better version of myself not held back by my own bitter emotional baggage? Nice try, mister. But, if my therapist couldn't get me to do that sentimental bullshit, then what makes you so sure that you can?"

"Maybe because unlike your therapist, I was actually there and knew that what happened really messed you up." Lincoln retorted.

"Trust me, kid. I'm used to folks putting me down, and I just let it out of their system." Blitzo yawned. "I also make sure to spell it out to those judgmental jerks that I wouldn't take that just lying down. Not without a fight."

"Strangers may not mean much to you, but what about people you actually know?" Lincoln knew that deep down, Blitzo can be affected by what the people closest to him think, even the ones who know hate him bitterly. "That's not even getting into how Stolas feels. Has he called?"

Blitzo scoffed. "My phone's still in one piece, so that's a big negative. Real talk, why the Heaven should I even care? It wouldn't really surprise me if he's hidden himself away in his mansion. There were a lot of demons at that club. All the seven rings probably know by now that a Goetia prince was out on a date with a lowly imp behind his wife's back and he just can't face the public shame of it all."

Lincoln glared a little. "If that's how you feel, then you don't know him at all. At least tell me you've called Moxxie and Millie."

Blitzo groaned, slumping his shoulders. "What's the point? Moxxie's probably po'd about me spying on his and Mills' date."

"Maybe he's just waiting for you to apologize for once." Lincoln handed him breakfast. "Or at the very least, Millie would want to make sure you're doing alright. And even if he was mad, so would Moxxie. Believe it or not, Blitz, but there are people who do care and worry about you. You just tend to forget that."

"And because of that, I end up risking losing what little connections I have left in my shithole life, is that where you're going with this?" Blitzo sardonically droned through a mouthful of food. "Maybe this just proves it isn't worth crap and I should just accept that and move on."

"But can you actually do that?" Blitzo said nothing on this. "Look. I-I just want to help you."

Always so committed to solving everyone's problems even though he had his own problems to worry about. Blitzo found that so strange even by human standards when it came to Lincoln. The kid is stuck in the afterlife and has spent day and night trying to find a means to break his curse and yet, he finds it in him to set that aside to worry about a guy like Blitzo. Of course, Blitzo knows it's because in the time he's been confided down here, Lincoln Loud has actually come to consider his new demon friends as the closest thing to a family he has now. But in the imp's mind, Lincoln's better off worrying about an imp who's worth it. "One of these days, you gotta learn to help yourself, kid." he somberly stated. "Look, go back to the office or something. Tell any clients the company's on standby for now. I don't know, do some shit. Not much you can do now."

Lincoln frowned in disappointment. He's used to Blitzo being stubborn, but it's obvious that he's hurting deep inside and the problem is his unwillingness to air it all out, it's as if he's scared of being vulnerable and people will pass judgment, but Lincoln's not like that. "Call if you need anything."

Blitzo was silent until he gave Lincoln one reply. "Lincoln. You had a family long before you met us, try not to forget about that. Or do. Whatever the fuck works."

Sighing, Lincoln exitted the apartment and made his way outside the building, not knowing what else to do besides just sitting on the steps, alone with his thoughts.

All he wanted was for things to be okay, even in a family down here. He gazed up to watch a trio of hooligan Sinners throw a brick through a window shop, then at imp children playing hopscotch on the outline of a body, and so on. To think that when he first arrived, he was frightened by the normal sights and now, he's hardly fazed by them, it says a lot about how he's gotten used to it and that partly scared him. "Lincoln?" he turned to see Loona.

"Oh. Hey, Loona."

After the party Tex invited her to was over, Loona took the longer route home, but didn't expect to see her friend at the apartment. "Buddy, what are you doing here?!" she asked, grabbing his shoulders and looking around, the office was deemed the only safe place for him. "Where's Blitz?"

"Inside. Things got a little...crazy last night."

"What do you-wait." Loona groaned. "He actually went to spy on Mr. and Mrs. Mushy love, didn't he? Well, I hate to say I told you so, bud. Hang on a second. How would you know that unless...son of a bitch!" she exclaimed angrily. "He took you along, didn't he? Ugh, is that what his voicemail meant?! He better hope Millie gets to him before I-"

"Whoa, whoa. Calm down. Trust me, he's been through enough pain." Lincoln placated. "Look, if it helps, nothing bad happened to me in Lust, but even so, I'd appreciate it if you just kept it a secret. Also, if you can, maybe check on him. What happened in Lust messed him up pretty bad and it'd help if maybe you could try talking to him. I tried, but Blitz was being...Blitz about it. You're his daughter, maybe you can take a crack at it."

"Me?" Loona's keen canine hearing must have misheard him, because she never imagined someone thinking she could comfort someone in a perilous time. "Uh, I'm, uh, I'm not so sure. Besides, it's Blitz. He just needs to buy some new horse shit online and he'll get over whatever funk he's in. He always does."

Lincoln wished he had her confidence, but the tears Blitzo had told a different story. "This is different. I don't know how, but I can tell. Please, Loona, you just might be the only one who can get through to him." he implored.

He just had to pull that face, the one Loona could never ignore. "I'll-I'll see what I can do, but I can't make any promises. Just get back to the office, alright?" she told him before walking inside the apartment.

Seeing as there was not much reason left to stick around, Lincoln took out one of the flash card spells and used one that opened a portal.

Unlike the regular ones used to take trips to Earth, this led to the top of the I.M.P building. Ever since Loona showed him this spot, it's the one place where he could go for a rare bout of peace and quiet. He felt so useless, wishing there was more he could do. But what could he do? Demons were a whole different ball game compared to a family of humans, yet, he still had the same drive to fix things in this crazy demon family like with the Louds. Thinking of his human family made him conflicted like before, and Blitzo's words repeated in his mind. It's not like Lincoln was actively trying to forget everyone back home, he just couldn't help but worry about the new bonds he's forged, it's just how he is.

He could never just throw his old life away, it's the only life he's ever known.

Utilizing another flash card, Lincoln threw it in the air and it lit up before becoming an orange colored holographic construct. One that detailed his parents, his sisters, and their pets, a little magic trick he learned which involved making constructs from his own memories. Since his Earth phone was destroyed, he didn't have access to any photos, so he had to improvise.

He would take a look at this as a reminder to not give up on finding a way back to them. At the same time, it's also when he would terribly miss them and wonder, just how have they been handling his abrupt disappearance.

Not just them. But all their friends, neighbors, extended family, anyone closely affiliated with the Loud family.

How has life progressed without Lincoln Loud?

Royal Woods has always been one of those close knit towns where everyone knew each other.

Maybe not everyone.

But for those who've lived there long enough, they've come to familiarize themselves with just about every old and new face that has come and gone over the years. What's more, it's a town where unique events come rarely, so it takes something very noteworthy to get everyone's attention. "New Flippee's for sale! Guaranteed to not have any raccoon hair!" In the meantime, the residents just went about their usual business such as Phillip Phillipini, or as he's more infamously known as Flip, owner and proprietor of Flip's Food & Fuel. The town cheapskate who makes a living from ripping people off. He heard indignant chattering from the counter, coming from his pet raccoon. "Don't give me lip, Nacho. If someone hadn't gotten his damn hairs in the machine, that health inspector wouldn't found it!"

"Excuse me?" A female customer spoke. "Did you finally restock on milk?"

"Milk? Wouldn't you like a fresh Flippee? First one's only ten percent off the usual price, and only costs a little bit more than the milk." Flip offered, but the lady wasn't letting him scam her. "Oh, fine. Can't blame a guy for trying." He opened the fridge doors to get the carton of milk, but stopped after seeing the photo of a missing person on the back. The one detailing Lincoln Loud.

It suddenly hit him that after all this time, that kid was still missing.

Strangely, it almost seemed like yesterday that he was first reported missing. Flip didn't really pay it any heed even though Lincoln was among his store's regular customers, he just figured that his folks were overreacting, only for the next day to reveal that he hasn't turned up. It wasn't long until his face plastered on posters then on the milk cartons, Flip was never one to care about his fellow man, and those Louds did tend to cause him some grief, but then there were the times where they actually helped him out like his old childhood love.

Part of him wondered if he was doing okay.

"Sir? Excuse me. Sir?"

"Huh? Yeah, yeah. I got your milk."

The woman left the convenience store where a mail van passed by and stopped. The mailman took out various newspapers to re-stock the vendor and on each one was a column dedicated to Lincoln's disappearance, the van continued driving until passing by the local middle school. It was just about the end of the day as the final bell rang and students flooded the hallways. For one group of friends, they didn't find it in them to head out to Gus' Games and Grub like they'd always do, for it would be incomplete without a crucial member of their little band of close friends. "So, y'all wanna come over to my barn?" Liam asked, kicking the ground. "I don't got much planned, but if anyone's interested...I don't know..."

Zach sighed, closing his locker. "Afraid I can't make it tonight, Liam. Mom and dad are letting me use their detection technology. I figured maybe this time, I'd find...something. Even a small sign."

"My grandma's also running low on tea leaves." Stella Zhau added. "I wanna help her get more, just in case."

"Guys. Come on, are we seriously still doing this?" Rusty asked, he knew what these so-called plans were really for. "I thought we agreed, if none of this helped, then why bother with it still? Clydesdale, back me up on this. Clyde?"

The group looked at the depressed McBride boy who acted like he didn't hear Rusty. "Yeah. Sure."

Clyde took Lincoln's absence the hardest, which was understandable, the two were like brothers in all but blood. "Clyde, we all miss him." Stella Zhau told him, lending a hand on his shoulder for comfort. "Have you talked with any of his sisters?"

"Not really, they're about as clueless as we are." Clyde sniffled. "Why hasn't he given his 'I'm okay' signal? What's the point of making one in case one of us were missing if he wasn't gonna use it?"

"Hey, now. Calm down, fella." Liam said before Clyde took out the breathing bag. "Now fellers and Setllars, it goes without saying that things just ain't the same now that Lincoln's...wherever he is, but I bet my Mee Maw's prize winning corn that he wouldn't want us to be all down in the dumps about it. We just gotta keep holding on strong for if-when he comes back. That's all. Just swing around my barn if you're able, that's all I'm asking." They walked off together without another word and were unaware of the school principal watching them.

Sighing, Principal Ramirez shook her head. In all her years in the school district, she's never imagined something like this happening, one of her students was still in the wind and its effect has yet to cease. "I take it this means the action news team will take another rain check?" her secretary, Meryl, surmised.

"I'm afraid so." Principal Ramirez and Meryl took a walk. "At this rate, I might have to cover the entire news team altogether. I was willing to let them off to handle their feelings, but now, I'm not so sure."

"Don't hold it too much against the little darlings." Meryl reasoned. "They just miss their friend and besides, it's not quite the same without the whole team together."

"Fair enough. Besides, that's not even the worst thing about this mess. I landed in some pretty hot water with Superintendent Chen after it was revealed that Stillman was a fake identity."

Another school employee entered through a door. "You should've let me check him out." Mr. Bolhofner gruffly barked.

"Bolhofner, can we not start this again?" Principal Ramirez begged.

"You picked some new face to take my place, Ramirez. If it were me, I would've made sure the guy was on the up and up, Meryl"

The southern secretary glared. "Hey now, don't go blaming me, ya varmint! His papers were checked out!"

"Look, why don't you just go home already and get some sleep unless you want me to look for your permanent replacement." Principal Ramirez challenged that and made Bolhoffner back off.

"I swear, I miss the old Bolhoffner." Meryl gave him the stink eye. "Ever since he and his wife divorced, he just completely broke down and has only gotten worse.

"I don't like his attitude any more than you do. Though, I believe part of him blames himself. For all his faults, he's still a teacher and Lincoln was one of his students, he's protected them before." The moment she said that, both school officials heard some commotion coming from down the hall and students were crowding around in cheers and they could hear the sound of fighting. "Now what exactly is going on here?!"

Gasping, the students either backed away or ran off at the sight of the school principal. The two adult women gasped upon seeing Lynn Loud Jr. holding back her fist while the other hand held the collar of Chandler McCann. Lynn's friends, Margo and Paula were trying to get her to let go "Oh, heavens to Betsy!" Meryl's hands shot to her mouth.

"Lynn Loud." Principal Ramirez sighed at her secretary. "Another fight? Must we have another talk after school?"

"Don't look at me!" Lynn glared daggers at the red-haired underclassmen. "This jerk was flapping his mouth off!"

"N-Not true! I was just on my home, but this maniac-"

"I'll get to you in a moment, Mr. McCann." Principal Ramirez said sternly, already having a sneaking suspicion. "All I ask, Lynn, is that you let him go right this second. I already gave two warnings to Coach Keck. One more and you can forget about playing in the next game, am I clear?" Clicking her teeth, Lynn shoved Chandler to the ground. She wanted to teach him another lesson, but knew digging herself deeper wouldn't help matters. "Now, everyone. Go home before you miss your bus and Mr. McCann, keep in mind that your parents will receive a call...again. Lynn, stay for a while." Grumbling, Chandler left and Lynn remained standing in her place, arms crossed bitterly and scowling profusely. "Lynn. You know I can't condone this behavior. It's why I pulled you from your hall monitor position. Way too many shoving kids into lockers...and me."

"Like I said before, Chandler was the one talking smack about...about..."

"About Lincoln." Hearing her brother's name made Lynn flinch and look away, making the principal sympathetic. "Lynn, there are healthier ways to go about this. You can always go to the guidance counselors."

"Can they bring Lincoln back?" Lynn piercingly retorted.

Pinching the bridge of her nose, the school principal might as well leave their school's star jock with only a warning. "Just try to stay out of trouble. I'd rather not give your parents anything else to worry about."

Lynn left, still embittered. "Hey, Lynn." Margo called out. "We still on for the team meeting tonight?"

"...Whatever."

Exiting the school, Lynn walked until stopping abruptly. For a brief moment, she saw Lincoln right in front of her, waving to her bearing that same dorky grin, until he was fading away, showing that it was just in her head. It wouldn't be the first time she thought she's seen him, everywhere she turns, she keeps seeing his face, and her depression festers as a result.

Clenching her fists, Lynn fought the urge to cry. She was Lynnsanity for crying out loud, she'd never cry in public, which was why she hightailed it out of there so she could do so in the sanctity of her house.

She wasn't the only Loud sister suffering.

Even after band practice, Luna Loud would usually still be rocking out all the way back home, but she didn't bring her usual A-game compared to before, a fact that her band-mates needed to talk about. "Hey, Lunes." Her girlfriend, Sam, alongside Sully and Mazzy approached her. "We, uh, couldn't help but notice you were a little off-key at the end. Not to be pushy, but we really gotta get our act together for our next gig."

Luna strummed quietly on her guitar. "I-I know. Sorry, mates. Just been dealing, you know?"

"We get that, girl, but this gig is pretty big for the Moon Goats." Mazzy pointed out.

"I had to do a lot of favors, Luna." Sully smiled. "If you want, I could maybe try to hold off for a while, we don't have to play this gig right away."

The rock-star Loud sister didn't want her best friends to slow down on her account. "You don't have to do that, guys. Tell you what? I can get it together by next practice, I promise."

"If you're so sure." When Sully and Mazzy left, Sam stayed behind. "Luna. Do you need to talk?"

"What? I just told you, everything's solid."

"You keep saying that, but I know you." Sam's hand held hers. "I know when something's really messing you up, and believe me I understand, I'd feel the same way."

Luna averted her gaze. "Don't."

"I mean, if anything ever happened to Simon-"

"Sam! I said-" Luna almost shouted and didn't mean to blow up at her girlfriend. "I-I-I just-the fam-we-" she groaned into her guitar, wallowing in despair. Sam patted her back.

"I know, Luna. I know. Listen, if you ever need to talk, I'm always here for you, so please, don't push me out."

Luna didn't know how she managed to get a great and understanding girlfriend like Sam. With everything that her family's been going through, her presence was greatly appreciated, Luna just didn't feel like her baggage should be Sam's or anyone else's. "Appreciate it, luv." She pecked Sam on the cheek before getting her stuff and leaving the band room. She made her way to the wing that had the lockers for all students in Luan's grade, ever since Lori left for college, it fell upon Luna to gather all the high school-aged siblings together. "Hey, Luan."

This would normally be the point where her roommate/sister would greet back using an incredibly forced pun or light prank. Today, however, the braces-wearing girl just leaned on her locker, she didn't even have Mr. Coconuts at her side. "Hey."

"No drama club today?"

"Mrs. Bernardo gave my part to Liberty. It was a tough thing to do, but it was for the best. I wasn't really feeling like doing any part anyway." Luan shrugged. "So, have you seen Leni?"

"She should be here by now."

"Luna! Luan!"

They both saw two of Leni's close friends, Jackie and Mandee run up to them. "We totes got a huge sitch right now!" Mande urgently told them.

"It's Leni! She's locked herself in the janitor's closet again!"

Sharing a concerned glance, they followed the two to a door. "Leni, you in there, sis?" Luna knocked and received a choked sob.

"Y-Yes...!"

"School's over, Leni." Luan told her. "It's time to go home."

"W-Will Linky be there...?"

Luna looked down somberly. "No, Lens. He won't."

"Then what's the point of going home?!" she wailed.

It was heartbreaking to see the bright and bubbly Leni Loud reduced to such a state, she had one of those smiles that people wanted to protect and preserve. "Leni, you know you can't spend the whole night here. Come on out, we can't keep the others waiting. They're still home." Luan reasoned, hoping her older sister would agree. Slowly, the door opened and Leni came, her mascara running and eyes red from crying.

"O-Okay."

"Thanks for the heads up." Luna said to Jackie and Mandee. "We'll take it from here." The three sisters walked together and at the front was the mobile family heirloom, Vanzilla, waiting for them, at the wheel was none other than Lori Loud.

"Hey, guys." she greeted, having a forced smile. "How was school?"

"Cool."

"Nothing to report."

"Is Linky home?!"

"...Right. I'll just go ahead and head to elementary school for everyone out." Lori used one of her breaks from classes at Fairway to act as their pickup, taking the job usually done by their mother.

"Sure you can manage to make it back to Fairway for your next class, Lori?" Luna asked. Everyone knew how serious Lori took Fairway, and hoped this didn't complicate matters for her.

"It's fine. The commune here isn't that long and I still have time, and it's the least I can do." Lori looked at the backseat at the sister she was closest to. "So, Leni, do you need me to drop you off at work?"

Leni sniffled. "Mrs. Carmichael gave me the day off. I needed to learn how to stop crying on all the clothes."

"Well, why not listen to some of our favorite music? That always cheers you up."

"I tried." Leni showed her phone playlist which included a certain pop-star. "I even tried listening to Verosika Mayday's newest song, but not even that didn't help. A real bummer, too. This bonetown place sounds like it'd be a perfect place for Charles. All those bones for dogs to take. You think Lincoln might be there?" Her sisters gave her questionable looks, confusing the fashionable, but not that bright blonde. "What?"

Luan shook her head. "Yeah, you really shouldn't have introduced her to that sort of music, Lori."

Sighing, Lori stopped at Royal Woods Elementary where the younger sisters were waiting. "Okay, that's everyone. Dad called ahead and said he already picked up Lily and Lynn's walking home, so we should be done for today. How was your day?" She asked the little ones. Lucy was silent, which came as no surprise, but there was a subtle hint of more sadness in it. The twins weren't even arguing, Lana just kept her hat covering her face while Lola just looked away with a glare. Lisa's eyes were glued to her portable device, not even registering Lori's inquiry. "Okay, then. Let's just go home."

Home.

For a long while, home hasn't felt like home.

It was incomplete, much like Vanzilla right now.

There was one empty spot in the van that was sorely lacking one white haired boy.

The Loud House was notorious for all the noisy commotion. Bud Grouse knew that better than anyone else for having been that family's neighbor since before the parents even had kids. In the past, it was rock music and twin fighting that caused him frustration, but now, it was mostly the incessant crying of the youngest child of the Louds, Lily. "Hey, Loud! Will you put a lid on it, already?! You usually have the little tyke calmed down by now!"

Lynn Sr. poked his head out the window to ease his neighbor's worries.

"D-Don't worry, Grouse! I have everything under control!" He retreated inside where he picked up his daughter. "Now, Lily. That's enough. Here! Mommy and daddy bought you your favorite pudding!" he handed her a bowl, but she shoved it out of his hands. "Or not. Rita, honey!"

"I'm here!" Rita looked through the attic to find any old toy that could pacify her. "Remember old Benjy? It was one of the first stuffed animals we bought for you." She waved a squirrel doll.

"No!" Lily slapped it away, too.

"Um, how about cartoons?" Lynn Sr. turned on the TV. "Does somebody want to see the new Blarney the Dinosaur?"

"No!"

The slap to the remote managed to turn the television off.

"Rita. Lynn. Give her here." Lily heard the voice of her maternal grandfather, Albert, and her crying began to slow down until she became somewhat silent after the elder veteran rocked her softly in his arms. "There we go, Lilster."

Sighing in relief, the parents slumped on the couch. "Finally."

"Hey, Loud!" Grouse hollered again, except now, he had a somber expression. "Everything good now?"

Lynn Sr. blinked and saw that it was an honest question. "Y-Yes, Bud. Lily's okay."

"What about you?"

The parents never heard such concern in Grouse's tone. "We're fine. Just fine."

Rita was grateful that her father helped her and her husband out. "Thanks for coming, dad. For some reason, you're about the only one who can calm Lily down these days. Not even Fenton the feel better fox can do the trick."

"On the plus side, we haven't heard that ding-dang thing in a while."

Chuckling, Albert gave Lily a bottle of milk. "Don't sweat it, you two. Be it as a father or grandfather, I know a thing or two about settling down a wailing baby. You weren't exactly a walk in the park back then, Rita." Albert then sighed. "Of course, I got a pretty good idea on why Lily here seems to dry her tears with only me. I'm about one of the few things around that reminds her of..."

Albert didn't need to finish.

He always joked about how much alike he and Lincoln looked.

Rita's hand shot up to her mouth to stifle a quiet sniffle that concerned Lynn Sr. She put her other hand up to stop him and got up to go into the kitchen where she took a seat and quietly sobbed to herself and glanced at a framed photo of Lincoln when was just a toddler. The nightmare of any mother is the sudden loss of their own child, what made Rita's pain even worse was that she had no idea whether or not her boy was dead or alive. When Lincoln didn't return that day, it was all hands on deck, the entire family searched high and low all over town for him, and were met with no success. None of his friends from school knew where he was, only that he was staying after to help out the new substitute teacher.

When the police became involved, they searched the home of Stillman, only to find no trace of either person, just that there were obvious signs of some sort of struggle and dust on the floor, unaware that it was all that remained of the teacher. The case continued from then onward and despite all their efforts, the police couldn't find any trace of Lincoln, it was as if he just disappeared off the face of the planet.

For the Loud family, it's felt like they've lived in a never-ending nightmare.

Lynn Sr. sighed, watching his wife in the kitchen, he's never felt so useless until now.

"Has Leonard called?" Albert asked.

"Dad's been keeping us up to date in case he's heard anything at the camp." Lynn Sr. replied. "Nothing. We even called Angus at Loch Loud."

"In Scotland?"

"I know, I know. The likelihood of Lincoln ending up in Scotland of all places is very low, but when has that ever stopped a Loud?" Lynn Sr. knew his family had done crazier. "We just-We just want to hold out hope."

Albert gazed down at the slumbering Lily, hope was good and all, but there was such a thing as false hope that only served to continue the pain. He's been around long enough to know that even though he wished for the safe return of his one and only grandson. "The kids are back." He told him after hearing Vanzilla arrive. The front door opened to let in the Loud sisters, Lynn Sr. and Albert met them in the living room where the latter handed Lily tenderly to Lori. "I should head back to Sunset Canyon. Sue's pretty strict on that new curfew, she's not able to evict folks anymore, but I'd rather not waste what's left of my hearing on her wails. Everyone, whenever you need me, I'll be right there."

"Bye, Pop-Pop."

Now, the Loud family was alone and for the first time, it was entirely quiet.

Everyone just stood there in uncomfortable silence that wasn't broken by anyone, not even when Rita eventually joined them in the living room did anyone speak up. How could they treat everything like normal when they were missing one crucial piece. "So, how was everyone's-"

"I'm going to my room." Lynn snapped.

"I too must retreat to my dwelling." Lisa adjusted her glasses. "It would be appreciated if Lily is kept out for the time being." The other sisters followed suit, leaving the two parents alone.

Rita rubbed her temples and sat down with her husband consoling her.

Their family was broken and as the parents, they should work to keep everything together, but they were failing and that made them so disappointed in themselves.

Inside their bedroom, Lynn was punching the practice dummy over and over. It was one of her own ways of relieving her anger, the other way being over-competitive in sports games. "You know mom and dad won't be able to buy you any more dummies, right?" Lucy said.

"Whatever!"

"At least have the courtesy of venting outside rather than in our bedroom, Lynn." the goth complained. "I don't need to remind you of how hard it is to concentrate on my crucial matters when you're like this."

Hollowly laughing, Lynn stopped punching. "Oh, I'm sorry. Is the little duchess of darkness having another hocus-pocus pow-wow? Did your goth buddies tell you that they heard Lincoln's footsteps up on the roof or some made up bullshit."

Behind her bangs, Lucy's eyes narrowed. "I do not care for your callous tone nor for your bad language, Lynn. Lily isn't that far from us and the last thing we need is for her to develop a potty mouth. Once more, what you rudely described is my attempt at finding answers as to what had become of our wayward brother. It may seem silly to you, but at least I'm actually still trying rather than give up. Of course, I'm not surprised by your indifference."

Lynn turned around furiously. "What was that?!"

"Considering how you tend to put your own sports interests before us, I'm somewhat surprised you're not doing another one of your silly good luck rituals like you did after the first day Lincoln went missing." Lucy said, a little too blunt even for her.

"This coming from little miss 'I talk to a bust of a spooky pale guy from TV', that's rich!" Lynn wasn't taking such flak. "And you don't know a damn thing! He wasn't just your brother, you know!"

"Then why did it take him leaving for you to finally act like it for more than five seconds?!"

Growling, Lynn kicked the dummy across. "You know what?! Screw this! I'll be outside if that's what you want! Maybe I'll get lucky and pull a disappearing act, too!"

Her anger subsidized, Lucy realized she may have pushed Lynn needlessly too far. "Lynn, wait-" Her older sister slammed the door shut. As a goth, Lucy was loath to admit it, but she had taken a deep emotional hit after Lincoln went missing. It was as if part of her own soul was lost as well, each family member lost a part of themselves and they seemed doomed to fall deeper into this dark pit and oddly. Lucy hated every minute of it. Part of her felt partly guilty, remembering her words to Lincoln that day, she felt that she could've done more to warn him of the unholy presence she felt.

She felt that the least she could do was find answers through her own means. The girl looked under her bed and pulled out a special trunk of Great Grandma Harriet's old keepsakes.

In the room of Lori and Leni, Lily was sleeping comfortably on a mat made out of old hand-me-downs that were previously owned by Lori. "Gotta say, the old room hasn't changed a bit." she mused. "Thought for sure the twins would've ripped it apart by now." Joking around always worked for Luan, so she thought she could give it a try. Anything to bring some levity.

"Hmm."

"Leni, come on. Where's that smile?" Lori asked. "Don't you want to hear the latest gossip from Fairway?"

"...Lori, is Lincoln still alive?"

"W-What?" Lori almost stopped breathing. "L-Leni! Where did that literally come from?!"

"I heard that most kids who are lost almost never show up ever again, and that usually means they don't want to be found or-or..." Just thinking about the alternative was enough for the tears to come and Lori swiftly moved to sooth her before she could wake Lily.

"Hey, come on. You shouldn't think like that." Lori told her, though she understood why she'd have such fears. The search for Lincoln had gone on long enough and one can only cling to so much hope, but Lori wasn't deterred in the slightest. "I know I never really said much about it, but this is Lincoln we're talking about. No matter what happens, he always managed to get his way out of trouble, especially when that trouble was because of us." she chuckled.

"What about us, though?" Leni wiped away some tears. "D-Do you ever think that maybe we pushed him away? That we weren't good enough sisters sometimes? That we made him feel a little...out of place? Like, that stupid sister fight thing?"

Lori inwardly groaned at that whole fiasco. After a lot of thinking, it was decided that they shared some of the blame over how bad things got, it was rather odd that the sisters didn't think to include Lincoln in their protocols, especially since they had to disrupt him constantly. Not only that, but some words that were shared were certainly more harsh than Lori realized. "We were...never perfect, Leni, but that never stopped him from loving us. Besides, if anything, maybe I could've watched out for him more if I never left for college."

"But Fairway's your dream school."

"Doesn't make it more important than my family."

Just then, Rita called for her oldest. "Lori, someone's at the door for you!"

When Lori left, Lily opened one eye to show she was still awake. Leni was too busy wallowing to notice her leave their room and make her way to the bedroom that once belonged to her big brother. No one stepped in it for a while, save for her, she crawled in and climbed onto the bed where Bun-Bun was resting without an owner, she grabbed it and hugged the stuffed toy close. "Lincoln..." she muttered sadly.

Downstairs, Lori gasped upon seeing her beloved boyfriend standing in the doorway. "Boo-Boo Bear!"

"Hey, babe." The happy couple hugged.

"Like, what are you literally doing here?"

Bobby frowned. "Well, I didn't really have that much of a choice, she really insisted." He nodded behind him where his own younger sister, Ronnie Anne Santiago stood and from her expression, was very impatient.

"Ronnie Anne? Wha-"

"Did you find any new leads?!"

"I-"

"Has anyone actually stopped looking?!"

"I don't-"

"What about that teacher, does anyone know-"

"Honey, please. Give Lori a chance to speak!" Their mother, Maria, appeared to stop Ronnie Anne's rant. "Sorry about this, Louds, but she's been impatient since the entire ride over here."

Lori peeked out. "Did all of you come here from Great Lakes?"

"You bet Rosa's tamales we did!" Hector said from their family vehicle. "Just so you know, you have a swindler in your midst. That Flip bobo tried ripping me off, but this guy's been at it way longer than him."

"Enough, Hector!" Rosa chided. "We are here to lend our support to our dear friends! I brought a new batch just for you, Louds!" She gestured to Carlos holding a gift basket addressed to the Royal Woods family.

"Wow, I don't know what to say."

"At least say you'll take it." Carl lugged a second one. "Abuela has more back home, and I don't want to head to and from different states."

Carlota nudged his side hard. "Just so you know, I've been sending shoutouts in my fashion blog. Now, I can't say for sure, but I think some guys have spotted a white haired kid at a mall that was near a gas station explosion, but he was wearing a tacky business suit, so it may have been just an old man. There's not many kids with natural white hair. Other than that, I don't have much to go on."

Sergio squawked. "Sancho has a few cousins down South with some eyes out. They get distracted easily, though, so I can't make any promises. But, it's better than nothing, right? Don't ever say that Sergio never looked out for his friends."

"We also bribed him with expensive bird seed that he needs to smooth things over with Priscilla." CJ added.

"Yell it to the whole world, why don't you?"

Frida prepared a special gift for the family. "I spent a lot of time on this special project. I know if either of my precious babies were ever lost in the world, I'd do at least one thing to remind me of them!" she uncontrollably wailed. She gifted Lori with a large portrait that was done in the image of Lincoln. Frida's artistic talent was done well as it was a lifelike image of him, she even got his chipped tooth right.

"It's beautiful, Mrs. Casagrande." Lori smiled in gratitude. "I'm sure everyone will love it."

"Can we please circle back to the real Lincoln?!" Ronnie Anne demanded. "Please tell me that you've found at least one new thing about where he is! It's already been months!"

"Ronnie Anne, I-I'm sorry." Lori regretfully gave her no good news. "But, no. There hasn't been anything lately."

The skate-boarding girl looked downwards, anger building up over that answer. "Then what the hell have people been doing here?! How hard is it to find one white haired kid?!"

"Language, Ronalda!" Rosa scolded. "Don't act like you're the only one worried about the poor boy. His entire family has been suffering in their own ways. Not even Ernesto Estrella's predictions have pointed to his whereabouts, so please, have some care with how you speak!"

Ronnie Anne grumbled and walked off. "Haven't seen her like this since her old grumpy bully days." Bobby told his girlfriend. "Sid and the rest of their friends do enough to calm her down, but it's not enough. She just...she just really misses Lincoln and I can't say I blame her. She only came to see if any news came up, but we just want to make sure you and your family have been holding it well."

"I wish I could say yes, Bobby." Lori sighed. "Things can only get worse before they get better."

"That doesn't mean you all have to deal with it alone." Bobby would never abandon Lori especially at a moment where she needed all the help required. "Babe, everyone is willing to be there for you and your family, no matter what."

Lori thanked whatever God was listening for having Bobby in her life, he was such a positive constant in her life it's why she always went overboard in trying to preserve their deep loving relationship. "Thanks, Boo-Boo Bear." She lightly kissed him on the lips. "Thanks to all of you, I'll be sure everyone gets your gifts." The Great Lakes City family went back into their vehicle, Ronnie Anne lingered a bit, taking one last look at the house. Lincoln didn't realize it, but he was a great help to her settling into her new surroundings, in fact, having him for a friend helped her grow out of her bullying phase. Him being gone and missing him made her realize just how much he means to her, so much so that it was beyond missing one of her best friends.

It was a longing that struck her in the heart, not that she'd openly admit it.

She wondered if he felt the same way.

"Ronnie Anne." Bobby knelt down. "It's time to go."

"...I-I miss him, Bobby...I miss him so much..."

"I know, Nie-Nie. I know."

Up from a window, Lana saw the vehicle leave the premises. "Ronnie Anne and her family visited again. She probably wanted to know about Lincoln." On her bed was the family dog, Charles, who howled upon hearing the name of one of his owners. "I know, boy. I miss him, too. Hops, Izzy, and the rest miss their Uncle Lincoln." She scratched behind the whimpering canine's ears. All of her pets crowded around for comfort.

"Can you all keep it down?!" Lola demanded, covered by her stuffed toys.

"Hey, they're just sad, Lols!" Lana dodged a toy thrown.

"Everyone's been sad, Lana! We've cried, we've searched, what good has any of that done?!" Lola ranted. "Mom and Dad told us they'd find him, that he'd come home, that everything would be okay, and they lied to us!"

"People are still looking." Lana reasoned optimistically. "We just need to wait and it's not all bad, didn't you win another-"

"I'm sick of waiting!" Lola screeched. "I'm sick of everyone being sorry for us, of being reminded that he's not here, of all the crying!" Even though she was crying right now. "I want things to be back to normal! I want-I want my big brother back!" She didn't care about her makeup running. Lana watched her younger twin show a rare bout of vulnerability. The two have often been at odds since forever, and all it took was losing their brother to finally have them on the same page. Lana walked and hugged Lola close and the little princess didn't break away.

Luna sat on her bean bag chair, strumming slowly. "No, that's not right." She tuned her instrument slightly and tried again. "Damn it, that's not right, either. Come on, Luna, you're better than this."

"Drawing more blanks, huh?" Luan guessed.

"Big time. Everything's fallen out of whack, sis, and it's messing up my mojo."

"if it makes you feel any better, everyone's mojo needs some fine-tuning. Heh, you, uh, get it?" Luan groaned. "Never mind, that was weak even for me."

"At least we're trying, you know, despite the massive funk the fam's been in." Luna set her guitar down and looked at their closet where Luan kept various tapes. "I noticed you cleaning out your vids. Better not be up to anything sneaky, Luan." she jokingly warned.

Giving only a small laugh, Luan shook her head. "Don't worry. I was just sorting out to look for the ones that had...Lincoln in them. I wanted to put them somewhere else. Somewhere safe. Luna, why hasn't things gotten better?" She desperately questioned. "Lincoln should've come back by now, and he hasn't. Doesn't he want to come home?"

"Don't go losing your hope like Leni has. Our baby bro loves us and we love him." Luna refused to ever believe otherwise. "Have we had our bogus moments? Yeah, and we still managed to always pull through tighter than ever. What other family can say they survived a dragon in Scotland together? There's no way he'd just forget about us."

"I want to believe that, I really do." Luan picked up a picture showing the five older sisters and Lincoln when he was just an infant. They were so excited when they learned they had a brother, she remembered all the fun they had playing with him. Down the line, they couldn't help but think that perhaps they took such a special thing for granted. "You ever think maybe we never told him enough how much we loved him? I don't mean like what happened in Scotland or when we wanted to make up for messing up things he wanted, but just everyday instead of all the stupid pranks that left him a mess." Luan was used to her family and their grievances when April Fools' Day arrived, but now she started to think there were real consequences.

"This-This is a big family." Luna didn't think she needed to point that out. "Things happen fast around here."

"Which means some of us have to be forgotten?"

Luna no longer wished for any more of that kind of talk, so she grabbed her comedian sister by her shoulders. "Lincoln could never be forgotten. Not in this house. He's okay, you hear me? He's a Loud and he will come back." she hugged her fellow brunette tightly. "He has to."

At their door, a pair of eyes observed them. It was Todd, a new robotic droid invented by Lisa and he moved away after he was done with the mission his creator sent him out on, all that was left was for him to return. "Creator, I have completed my directive." He said as he entered Lisa's room. "It was as you expected. All of your sisters are suffering emotional wounds inflicted by the ongoing absence of your sole male sibling."

The prodigy child sighed. "Indeed, Todd." She activated her advanced super-computer and put up a screen that detailed several dots of different colors. "Computer. Run check on the tracking device of a subject known as Lincoln Albert Loud."

"Processing." The computer's voice said before an exclamation point appeared. "Subject not found."

"Curses. Again?" Lisa took her glasses off and pinched her nose. After Lincoln disappeared, Lisa immediately tried using the tracker she had placed on him to find him, but found that it was somehow deactivated. "Just what in the name of logic could be causing an invention of my own design to malfunction?"

"If I may." Dare-bot said from his charging station. "Would it not make sense to ask for assistance from your fellow colleagues?"

"I see no need to burden them with this family matter." Lisa reasoned. "It's also not as if they'd even have the time. The science community is still dealing with the fallout of the abrupt passing of Loopty Goopty and Lyle Lipton of Lyle-Loopty Robotics. Although, personally, I don't see why anyone would grieve for those miscreants." she scoffed in disgust. "They gave distinguished members of the science community a bad rapport. But enough about them, nothing about them would give me any clue about Lincoln."

"Do not take this the wrong way, but I find it odd that you're so invested." One of her old robots, Mr. Reinforced Titanium Alloy Arms, voiced from storage. "Are you not the one who is adverse to innate human emotions dictating your life?"

"Perhaps in the past." Lisa conceded. "But old events taught me that personal relationships, familial included, do have their merits. The truth of the matter is, and I realize the corniness factor, but such bonds are irreplaceable and nothing can ever substitute them."

All three of the robots looked at each other then at their maker. "So, you just really miss your big brother?"

Lisa blinked and laughed softly. "Yes. I suppose if you desire layman's terms. This isn't just for my sake, but everyone's. Lincoln's prolonged absence has had its effect on all members of the Loud family, as with our affiliates. To put everything in its proper setting, his safe return is prudent. I'm only exasperated that despite my reputation as the intellectual Loud, I've yet to succeed on that mission. I suppose Lincoln did possess more experience in solving conundrums. What I would give to have his input right now." she lamented.

"Mistress Lisa." she looked at her computer. "You have a new email from the offices of...several agencies."

She groaned. "Sort out the ones that are deemed important enough to pique my interest. I'm afraid I have better things to do other than indulge in contract propositions from close-minded underfunded government agencies, such as that one with the nonsensical belief that demons exist. What nonsense."

"Did you not have a magical encounter?"

"I recall classifying that as a new discovery of a possible offshoot of the lizard family and a new form of energy channeling that our ancestors merely perceived as 'magic'." Lisa stubbornly retorted. She had more faith in logic and reasoning to be the only true key rather than the occult as that was more Lucy's department. Hopping down from her chair, Lisa walked over to her pad that had a picture of Lincoln. "Wherever you are, older brother. It would put us all at some form of ease to know you are okay, perhaps even more so to know that you're not alone."

"Fangs. Is the coast clear?"

Lucy's pet bat chattered in response.

"Perfect."

If there was any Loud sibling that had an uncanny talent for slipping away unnoticed, it was Lucy Loud. She crawled through the air vents she often used to sneak around the house which Lisa theorized to be how she did all her sudden appearance acts. This route led to outside and she coughed a little to get the cobwebs off her clothes, and at her backyard was someone waiting for her.

"Greetings, Lucy." Her best friend, Haiku, greeted evenly. "Hello to you as well, Fangs."

"Thanks for coming here under such short notice, Haiku." If she wanted, Lucy would smile.

Haiku nodded. "Think nothing of it. We may not be bound by blood, but we are both sisters in the darkness, so of course I heeded your call. The rest of the club are at Boris' just as we scheduled."

"Then let us go now."

The two goth best friends left Lucy's backyard to venture off to Boris' house and when they went inside, they were welcomed in by their fellow morticians club members, Persephone, Morpheus, Dante, and Boris. "Lucy. Haiku. Boris welcomes you into his home." the lanky kid said. "But bear in mind to take off your shoes. Boris' parents are very strict about that rule."

Morpheus' pet crow made a sound. "I agree, Thorn." its owner droned. "This is why we should hold meetings at my house."

"Boris did not see you complain when mother offered you snacks."

"How come Morpheus got to bring his crow and I had to leave Captain Ron behind?" Dante complained. "That is an injustice, I tell you!"

"Friends, please. Let's not fight among ourselves." Persephone prompted them to stay focused. "Bear in mind that we are gathered for Lucy and her plight. As her friends, we must not forget that."

"Very much appreciated, Persephone." Lucy took the center of the group. "While I realize calling this meeting was abrupt, it does soothe my soul to see that none of you minded and as I'm sure you're aware, it pertains to my brother."

Morpheus scratched his crow thoughtfully. "So, the mystery of the wayward Loud continues to this day."

"Once again, our deepest sympathies." Haiku's head was bowed. "We realize just how much you and your kin have suffered."

"The affairs of normies are rarely on my mind, but that does not mean Boris is cold enough to not care, Lucy." The tallest member punched his chest. "Fairway cheer squad taught me the spirit of understanding."

"They do know you're in elementary school, right?"

"My point still stands!"

Dante shuddered. "I can still feel the presence from that day. If only a proper warning was issued to that guy. Ow!" Persephone elbowed his arm and her eyes trailed to Lucy. Dante regretted his words. "Oh, dear. I meant no offense, Lucy."

"None taken, Dante." Lucy was getting tired of the self-blame game. "Unlike before, I intend to go any distance conceivable. I'd understand if any of you wish to back out now. This is mostly a Loud family matter."

"We wouldn't have come here if we weren't sure." Haiku stood by her best friend. "Truth be told, we would not mind if Lincoln returned. Although he's optimistic about it, his fascination with the supernatural was very well done. I often thought if he really tried, he'd make an awesome goth punk."

"Lynn did say he pulled off a convincing act that one time she moved into his room. I frankly just pressured him into the role to win the election."

"Plus, from a certain angle, he comes off as rather...dashing." Haiku got stared at by her club, especially Lucy. "What? I'm just saying."

Lucy ignored that for now. "...Anyway. Through effort, I managed to find the items." She set down a duffel bag that she carried all the way to Boris' house that had been hidden under her own bed. "Bertrand told me how to use these wicked items properly, he got it from a personal tutor of his before his family moved away."

Morpheus smiled. "Good old Bertrand. Even when he's not here, he's still with us in spirit."

Lucy undid the knot that tied the bag together and the floor was littered with a variety of eerie objects. Candles sculpted with Pentagram designs, a special book that had an upside down cross as a cover, tarot cards and a crystal boss held by a fake clawed hand. "My great grandma Harriet practiced many forms of the dark arts. But, according to her private records, she also tried her hand in a more...unholy form of arcane. The ways of the devil."

"Man, I wish one of my ancestors was so cool!" Persephone shushed Dante.

"Such practice is not without cost." Haiku cautioned.

"I am fully aware. That is why I made sure this would be a ritual to not summon a demon. Great grandma Harriet had a warning sign for that. Enough talk. Let's begin." Lucy had one more thing in the bag.

"Uh, is that a lock of your brother's hair?" Persephone asked.

"Lisa keeps a lot of our DNA samples under lock and key and she's yet to come up with a difficult password. Dante. Morpheus. You know what to do." The two boys were given chalks that they drew along on the floor to make a circle and another within it. In-between the two circles were symbols of unique design. Boris, Persephone, and Haiku lit the candles and Lucy took a meditative seat to face the crystal ball, she rested Lincoln's hair tenderly on a purple colored pillow. The morticians club sat in a single and joined hands in preparation. "A lost soul is what we seek." Lucy spoke the spell. "To know the sulfur land is not our intent, only to find out the status of the one I call my precious big brother, Lincoln Loud. Now show us."

Silence overtook the room and the club's eyes closed tight. The windows were suddenly opened by a strong gust of wind, blowing out the candles, and the kids remained in their place even after opening their peepers. A gust of wind carried all the tarot cards up and they spun like a tornado. The light in the room dimmed until turning off and the crystal ball turned red. They gazed inside in wonder, not scared, and inside the crystal ball, they witnessed a shape taking form. It was the silhouette of a boy whose shape was familiar to Lucy. The shadowy body then expanded until taking the shape of something else. It was taller, adorning antler horns and rabbit ears on the head, it even had leather wings and a spaded tail. Crimson red eyes stared back followed by the shadow baring its sharp teeth and claws.

It roared savagely and the crystal ball formed a crack.

The lights turned back on and the tarot cards were stacked together in a neat deck, sans four of them upside down.

Lucy and her friends actually felt their hearts beat rapidly once it was over. "Unbelievable..." Persephone whispered.

Haiku looked at her friend. "Lucy? What does it mean?"

The Loud goth picked up the cards. "The cards. They will show us."

She flipped them over to reveal the first one. "A jackalope lost in a forest, separated from its own kind and is found by wolves that actually accepted it as one of their own."

Haiku handled the second one. "A smiling boy. One half has him smiling, but look at his left half." The other half of the boy's face was shrouded by shadows and a devil horn was on top of his head.

Persephone finally revealed the third card. "Oh, my. It's-It's the Hell card." she paled.

The young morticians gasped, because that specific tarot card could only give one clear answer. "The lost Loud is-"

"No." Lucy's hands trembled and her head shook in denial "It's not true...It's not true...!" she shrieked, surprising her club. Never before had they ever seen Lucy Loud be so emotional. "He can't be and even if he were, there's no way he'd be in...It's not true..." She repeated hollowly through mutters.

"Lucy, I-" Haiku didn't want to dash her hopes, but it all looked concrete until she saw another card on the sofa cushion. She picked it up and gasped. "The persevering life. He, whose soul still shines its light of life."

"Let me see!" Lucy snatched it out of her hands.

"But, what about the other signs?" Morpheus curiously asked. "What could they possibly mean?"

"Could he be in a place that's like Hell?" Dante rubbed his hands. "This mystery is getting more and more interesting."

Their clamoring halted after a sniffling sound was heard. They looked ahead and witnessed another shock, the sight of Lucy Loud openly crying what was undoubtedly tears of joy that even included a quivering smile. "You guys. He's alive...my big brother's alive..." Lucy sobbed happily. What they saw in the crystal ball mattered little to her at the moment, for she got what she wanted. After so much time of unanswered questions, Lucy held this special meeting just for one purpose, she only wanted confirmation that wherever Lincoln was, he was still alive.

To her, that was more than enough.

Her friend listened to her continue sobbing until Haiku was the first to hug her and the rest following suit.

The Morticians were not prone for such sentimentality, but they made exceptions for one another.

"Whoa!" Lincoln jolted up at the roof. He felt a light tingle inside that called out to all of his senses, even to his very soul, as if something or someone was reaching out to him until it was gone. "That was a heck of a head rush." He thought that maybe he stayed out long enough and couldn't quite get that feeling out of his head. He went to the I.M.P headquarters office that had only him. He sighed heavily. "A surprise appearance would be nice right about now."

"Lincoln, honey!"

Somehow, Millie barging in made him miss Lucy's surprise greetings. "Millie? Moxxie? You guys are here! I mean, of course you're here! Why wouldn't you be?" he drummed his fingers in a forced laugh.

"Are you alright, Lincoln?" Moxxie asked.

"Me? Yeah, yeah. I'm fine." Lincoln reassured despite sweating. "I was just bored, you know. It's hard not to when you're cooped up here all alone, maybe you ought to give Loona some slack, huh?" he tensely joked before he cleared his throat. "So, uh, what about you two? Did your anniversary dinner turn out well?"

The imp gun expert gave off a sigh. "At first, it did. But, things sure did happen."

Lincoln frowned. "Oh? Was-Was it bad?" He wished he wouldn't have to lie to them, but he felt it would be better if they didn't know.

Millie pinched his cheeks. "Don't you fret none, sweetie. Mommy and daddy just had a few critics." she glared. "Apparently, some sad lonely assholes just can't stomach true love when they see it. You should've seen Moxxie perform! He was so romantic!" She hugged her husband's arm. "Unfortunately, we may not be able to go back to Ozzie's anytime soon, but that's alright! We can have post-anniversary time together as a family, which of course includes you, my precious little miracle." She cooed before hopping away.

Lincoln looked at the melancholic Moxxie. "When you said that things happened, I'm guessing it had something to do with Blitz spying on you...because of course he did!" he quickly said. "I mean, we all knew he would, right?"

"As always, Lincoln. Your perception is astute." Moxxie faced the poster of Blitzo and his sister. "I guess a part of me shouldn't be that surprised. I just wished that for once Blitz would respect our boundaries. Maybe it was my own fault for wishing for the impossible."

"Moxxie, there's nothing wrong with that." Lincoln consoled. "Blitz is just, well, Blitz."

"Heh. True enough."

"You have a right to be angry at him. You and Millie." Lincoln had expressed his own anger at their boss. "But, if you ask me, I think Blitz is angry at himself more than you are at him. He's just really good at hiding it."

Moxxie would doubt that if he hadn't seen Blitzo's softer side when they were held captive together and remembered just how lousy he looked at the club. "Have you checked on him? To see if he's okay?"

"Uh, Loona actually just called." Lincoln replied, pensive and was glad to see Moxxie was at least concerned about Blitzo. "She's got that covered, so I guess we'll just have to wait and see what happens. Besides that, would you say you had a good night?"

Moxxie weighed the ups and down. "I suppose in the end, it could've been better, but it also could've been worse, so I'd say yes. I could've done without the ridicule, though."

Lincoln smiled. "Hey, whoever gives you any trouble can just rot down here."

"That's right!" Millie cheered as she arrived back with board games. "All those sons of bitches and bastards can go fuck themselves. We're a happy family and that's all that matters! Now, who's up for family game day?! It's like family game night, but during the day. I'm a genius!"

Lincoln watched them set the board on the table and although he wished Loona and Blitzo were here to partake, he wanted to give the latter the chance to accept the former's help. "Just hang on a sec, guys. I still feel like I should've given you a gift for your anniversary." They followed him back to the roof where he used one last flash card for the day. It glowed on his palm and it shot out into the sky as a beam of orange energy before forming into a large construct of the three of them in a group hug with Blitzo and Loona. "Happy anniversary.."

Moxxie and Millie marveled at their surrogate son's creation. "Oh, that's my baby boy!" Millie wept happily and hugged him softly this time.

Lincoln felt Moxxie ruffle his hair. "Thank you."

Down below at the office entrance, the I.M.P van stopped. "Whoa! Check that out!" Loona gaped from inside. "Nice job, Lincoln. He even got my hair right."

Blitzo was the one driving and looked up and knew that Lincoln was responsible for the light show. "Let's leave them alone for now, Looney." Blitzo slid the windows up and drove farther from the building and his lips curled into a small smile after he saw Lincoln's creations on the door mirror.

"Next time, I gotta bring Linc to one of Tex's parties!"

Chapter Text

Family game nights were a frequent activity for Lincoln to do every once in a while. He just always did it with his biological human family and he'd play regular normal board games that would make even Lynn take way too seriously just for victory. "Okay, sweet pea. Now, it's your turn!" Millie said to Lincoln, instructing him to spin the wheel to see where it would land. "Hot damn! Aren't you lucky? You get to stay in the safe spot. That way, the farm owner won't stab you with his pitchfork when he catches up!" Millie celebrated as she helped move his piece up multiple spaces.

"Uh-huh. What's this game called, again?" Lincoln asked, Millie didn't really give him a good general idea.

"It's only the favorite board game of every little impling down in Wrath." Millie should know, she was one of them. "Escape from the farm owner! You make sure to make it back to the home farm before the owner of the neighboring farm catches you and feeds you to the Hell pigs."

"...You know, that would fit as a favorite in Wrath."

Millie dusted off her shoulders. "Yessiree! And not to brag, but when your badass mama and her sibs played, she always won. FYI, your auntie Sallie May was always a bitch of a sore loser."

Moxxie came to give the players mid-game food. "I, uh, suppose Earth-based board games are more your speed."

"It's fine." Lincoln ate his sandwich. "You know, whenever my family had a game night, it was seriously packed. I honestly never thought I'd play with only just the parents. Even though I got over it, it was hard for my parents to make time with just one of us."

"That's because there's only one baby for just us two!" Millie pecked Lincoln's cheek.

One of the reasons why Lincoln was so put off about having demons as surrogate parental figures was that he wasn't used to so much undivided attention being placed on him. His sisters and their active lives were what usually warranted it, and he just tried his best to get included. "Too bad Blitz and Loona aren't here. Doesn't feel right without them."

"I'm...sure they'll come back in their own time." Moxxie did not seem convinced by his own words. "In the meantime, entertaining ourselves will have to suffice."

"I guess. If anything, everything's been slow lately. It's kinda boring if you ask me."

Millie more than understood. "Believe me, honey pie, no one misses killing more than your ma. But, until Blitz gets whatever shit he's going through together, we're gonna have to settle with some regular family fun! In fact, I got something else in mind if you're not up for a game! Wait right here! There's something in the closest full of random crap Blitz forgot to throw out, because hording isn't a fucking problem!"

"I thought that was the closet in his office?" Lincoln asked.

"No, you're thinking of the one with all his limited edition horse figures." Moxxie remembered how he almost broke that one time before Lincoln became employed as the intern.

To think he was a shade of red that far exceeded how imps normally were.

"So, that's where he keeps them."

"I'm back, boys!"

Lincoln became more than acquainted with Millie's ideas of fun, so it did not surprise him in the least that she brought in a practice dummy for fighting as a means for him to take his mind off his worries. He did get interested after seeing whom the dummy resembled. The getup it had plus the mustache drawn gave it a passing resemblance to perhaps one of the few imps Lincoln was not fond of.

"Millie, why is there a dummy that looks that jerk, Striker?"

"Lincoln asked a very good question, sweetness. Wh-What's the purpose of this? If it's to piss us off by the mere sight of anything resembling that fucking vain family threatening asshole, then it's working."

"You can have your turn with it after Lincoln, Moxxie." Millie then gifted upon her boy a pair of brass knuckles painted black. "Here, your pappy gave these to me when I was about your age after mama gave me my first meat cleaver the year before."

"For cooking?"

"And for beheading the neighbors we had a feud with." Millie fondly remembered the old times. She moved Lincoln's arms to position them right and adjusted the boy's footing to make a satisfactory fighting stance. "Now, I think it's finally about time we really polish your hand-to-hand fighting ability. You said one of your sisters was top notch, right?"

"Yeah, Lynn. Lola, too, when she's in her bad mood...which was always."

"Then it's time for you to step up in your litter! Learning how to use weapons is starting to be good enough for you. But, this is where the real action is, punching a son of a bitch's lights out with your fists!"

Lincoln silently agreed on that. His survival in Hell hinged on learning the necessary skills and capabilities. Magic and guns were useful, but he truly did need to realize that getting out of his comfort zone may just save his life. "Okay, but don't you think I need training brass knuckles for this?"

Millie laughed it off as a joke. "Oh, you are such a peach!"

Lynn used training equipment, not literal tools that could seriously harm a person. Although, she made constant requests in the holiday season and on her birthdays, in addition to over-the-top stuff like a flamethrower. He thrust his right arm forward to hit the Striker dummy once and it didn't move. He shook off his right hand stinging to go for a left hit. Still no movement and only more stinging. He knew it was just a dummy and not the real deal. But, Millie actually succeeded in making his taunting grin look realistic, like he was really in the room. Lincoln's always been afraid of meeting the assassin who nearly took away Stolas once more. Not just because of what Striker would but, but he himself would do. Lingering anger remained and a fake Striker could even incur it. Shouting, Lincoln punched fast and swiftly, each blow struck made his eyes blink a red color to show a small of his inner anger showing up.

In one final punching motion, that was enough to strike all the way through the rubber dummy, spilling out the sand as a result. "Look alive!"

"Huh?!" Turning, he saw Millie holding up training hand pads also painted with Striker resemblances that got his anger increasing. "Striker..." Moxxie noticed his shift into anger and grew concerned, knowing what it may lead to. He went to punch those infuriating things and for a moment, he imagined Striker's laugh. It ticked him off to no end. He forced the brass knuckles to go for a united punch that made Millie fall over in a tumble.

"Whoo!" She screamed from her spot on the carpet. "Now, that's the kinda shit I'm talking about, sweetie!"

Lincoln's anger went away, thankfully, and he dreadfully realized that he really punched Millie's hand with too much force. "Millie...Mom!" He immediately went to her side, same as Moxxie. "I-I'm sorry! I lost it for a minute!"

"Oh, Lincoln, there's nothing for you to worry about." Millie rubbed his back as Moxxie tended to her hands by removing the pads. "Won't lie, you pack a hell of a punch! But, don't you mind. You ought to know by now that your mama can take anything. That, and guess what?" She motioned him to lean a bit closer like she was about to share an important secret. "You called me mom again!" She gave him her signature bone crushing hug of maternal affection. "That's twice in a row! This calls for more celebratory snacks!"

Millie was a violent little imp, one that also had the right motherly qualities to instill warmth on her kid.

Moments like these made living in Hell a little easier.

He never imagined demons being a good surrogate for him, yet, here he was.

Family.

That didn't for once make him think of the Louds, but of one particular family.

He spent so much time concerned about Blizo, he now was thinking of two members of the royal Goetia family that he also had come to know.

"Something on your mind?" Moxxie asked. At this point, he knew the signs of Lincoln deeply contemplating something.

"Oh, uh, yeah. Kind of. You know what's weird. Whenever Lynn tried to get me to exercise and learn to fight, it always came off as her thinking I'm weak and needed toughening up. Now that I think about it, I think it was just her own Lynnsanity way of trying to look out for me. Like what Millie's trying to do. She just never shared that, she wasn't exactly the touchy feely type who'd share how she really feels."

"Hmm. That does sound eerily familiar..."

Lincoln knew whom Moxxie was referring to and thus, asked him an important question.. "Moxxie, are you angry at Blitz? I'm not saying you shouldn't be. But, are you angry enough to...to quit?"

Those big pleading eyes of Lincoln's begged him to say no, and Moxxie knew he also expected an honest answer, even a disappointing one. "I...it's...he just..." Moxxie sighed. "I am indeed rather royally pissed off that he followed us on our god damned anniversary as I always am whenever he forces himself into mine and my wife's privacy. The one thing that's different is that, well, I also feel rather bad for him. Truth be told, Blitz was already punished enough. Remember when I said most of the attendees there weren't receptive to me?" Lincoln nodded, reminding himself to keep playing along as if he wasn't there. "Blitz unexpectedly tried defending me, and that got him his own public humiliation. Speaking as someone with a lot of experience of being heckled for how I am, that can be very painful. I just need a little time to let the anger subside, I suppose."

Lincoln was at least happy he wasn't thinking about quitting. "At least you're not letting it get to you too much. That shows a lot of restraint which is nothing to be ashamed about. If Blitz had known that, maybe he would've thought twice about roping Stolas into it."

"Heh, yeah...wait, how did you know the prince was there?"

Lincoln's eyes bugged. 'Crap!' he was doing so well. "Uh...well, this Ozzie's place, if it was that good a place to take Millie to for an important reason, I can only assume that the only way Blitz entered was with his own date. And who else besides Stolas?"

Moxxie stared suspiciously.

That was accurate.

Extremely accurate.

Perhaps a little too accurate.

Which is just what he expected from him. "Right, again! I know I may keep saying it, but you truly do have a sharp mind!"

Lincoln wondered if his newfound skill of deceiving parents may work on Rita and Lynn Sr. No, he wouldn't go that far...yet. "Just saying. It's not hard to see. How-How was Stolas?"

"Not faring any better I'd say. How can now that his little secret has been exposed?" Moxxie understood the other ramifications. "Truthfully, this can be very bad for the company as a whole. The arrangement of our employer and the prince is the only reason we're still able to do our jobs at all and to save face, the prince would have to make rather drastic choices. I don't want to be pessimistic, but that's just a possibility we can't ignore."

Lincoln found that reasoning sound, but to him, Stolas was more than who to thank for their business staying afloat. He was a valued teacher and friend. In the same vein as Blitzo and like Blitzo, he was surely hurting, too. "Why don't we see for ourselves?"

"Huh?"

Lincoln stood up and retrieved the precious grimoire. "We can go to his mansion. See how he's doing. We don't even have to call for a cab, just portal our way there."

"Okay, slow down. You're really asking for a lot. If you recall, you're only granted access to the manor of Satan damned Goetia when he's free for new magical lessons. We can't just abruptly drop in on the fly?" Moxxie dreaded the consequences.

"Why not? I'm his student/friend of his daughter and you're associated with his sorta-boyfriend." Lincoln saw nothing wrong.

"You make it sound so simple!"

"Because, it is and I can always use a spell to hide us."

Moxxie continued staying silent before shaking his head. "Always forward thinking. I am going to regret this. Millie, might wanna make those treats to go! We have an impromptu trip!"

He had been lying down on the rich well sculpted floor for a while.

It could have been a long while.

Or, it could have been a much shorter time.

He didn't really care right now. He didn't care if he smelled like he hadn't showered since last night or that he hadn't eaten the most important meal of the day that was breakfast, all of that meant little to him. He meant little to him. "Sire? Sire, are you alright?" Adding onto the not caring list was a concerned butler that hovered over the prince who looked much worse than he's ever seen him in.

"Ugh..." Stolas bemoaned.

"Was that a request?"

"Ugh..."

"So, that's also a no on tending to your plant pets that attacked the plumber last week?"

"Ugh..."

"Right, then that also means we won't extend a letter of apology to him still recovering in the hospital. Quite a shame. I rather liked Trevor's company. His sister was a titanic bitch, though. Not gonna lie."

"Ugh..."

"I suppose I'll just find something to clean on my own." The imp butler decided until Stolas actually spoke up for the first time since last night and asked his dutiful servant a question that has filled his thoughts.

Stolas' four eyes opened tiredly. "Why is life shit?"

"...What?"

Stolas kept going on pouring his feelings out. "Why does life continuously be nothing more than shit? This is the afterlife, why must Hell be the shithole to actually be shit? Surely, others can handle the burden? I never asked for shit. Never craved shit. Who would? Yet, shit is what most of my life has become. I've tried accepting, but I fucking hate it. It's like a...a...fuck, I can't think of a good analogy to express my discontent. How about you? Do you have something?"

"Sire, I don't believe me, I quite understand. I'm your butler, not your therapist."

'Then god damn it, man! Why in hell aren't you quitting, what the fuck is stopping you?! Just get it done! You've suffered enough! You've been through enough! Walk right up to her and put that blabby cruel wretch in her place already!" Stolas glared.

"...Are we still talking about me?"

"Damn it! Just get the fuck out! Leave me to wallow in my self loathing in peace! Grant me that service, Stella!"

"I-I'm not your wife, your highness."

"Which is why I never once fired you. Now, leave!" He roared.

Good, the butler was gone. Back to the floor and staring up at the empty air reviewing all the things wrong with him and his life. He thought back to his childhood days, when he was more happy, when he was proud to be a Goetia prince. All children of his status were raised to value the eventual jobs and missions that they'd get when the time was right. How excited he was and here was now, full of regrets and shame. He was glad that his father couldn't see him. He had enough people disappointed in him and that man's frown was the last thing he wanted to face. Getting back pains from resting on the floor seemed like the only thing he was doing right now for the entire week and maybe, that's where he belonged and nothing stopped him.

Then, a portal opened up, dropping a human and two imps on his luxurious bed.

"Whoa! Wow, who else thought I'd drop us somewhere hard or spikey?" Lincoln asked, impressed by his right portal creating.

"Oooh, now that feels nice." Millie sighed, her body sinking into the mattress. "Don't wanna break my old hay bed's feelings, but rich people shit feels way better! Moxxie, don't you feel this? This is what mama needs." Her eyes closed.

"Lincoln?" His student and those imps working for Blitzo got Stolas up. "What in blazes are you doing here, dear boy?"

Moxxie gasped. They were on the bed of a prince and he clumsily fell. "Your majesty! Crumbs, I deeply apologize for our unanticipated visit! We would've called, but, uh, you're the one who usually calls. Blitz, specifically and he's unavailable. If you wish for us to leave, then-"

"Moxxie!" Lincoln stopped him before the imp fainted from fear. "Why don't you and Millie wait somewhere else? I can handle it."

"Right, right. Of course, of course. Come along, Millie."

"No, let me sleep on it some more!" Millie whined.

Lincoln frowned when he realized that similar to Blitzo, Stolas had been drinking a lot. No doubt from depression and what happened at Ozzie's, not even royalty are safe from suffering in their own sadness. "So, anyways, I came because, well, I wanted to check up on you."

"Check up on me?" That sounded so foreign to Stolas.

"Yeah. After what happened at Ozzie's, you really looked down. Really down. Also, if Moxxie or Millie ask, I was never there. Trust me, it'll save everyone a lot of trouble, and a pissed off Millie."

"Y-Yes, but you truly wished to see how I was? Y-You cared for my well being?"

"Um, yes?" Lincoln shrugged, he honestly thought Stolas already knew that.

Stolas nodded professionally and faced backwards, weeping happy tears, hands locked and mouthed a thank you to whatever higher form of power. This was still his student and as a teacher, he did not wish to make himself look like a failure in front of a child that looks up to him as a source of infinite magical knowledge. Looking like a crybaby was not going to make him look better. "Your concern is very much appreciated, my student. But, rest assured, whatever my state of mind should be something for you to dwell on. I am perfectly fine. I am content. There is nothing wrong and if there was, I can deal with it my own way."

"...That all sounded forced...and rehearsed, I think?"

"What are you insinuating? That every morning upon my awakening, I look in a mirror and recite it all in an effort to keep myself from snapping under the pressure of the impossible standards everyone around me expects me to live up to, even though I can hardly do that?"

"...I...I don't know...that was very specific." Lincoln was now even more worried about his mentor.

Stolas rubbed his sore noggin, he had said a little too much than he preferred. Knowing the smart boy Lincoln he was, he no doubt had a lot of clues that painted a sad picture that detailed solely Stolas and he needed to digress from that. "Y-Yes, I suppose you're right." He felt so guilty. This was not how a teacher should act, Lincoln deserved a magical teacher that actually cared about teaching him. That sparked a fast idea. "E-Even so! The only reason you should ever come is for another magic lesson...and it just so happens that my schedule is clear enough to make time for one right now."

"You're saying you were planning on calling?" Lincoln asked in disbelief.

"Why, yes. That's exactly what I was planning!" He forcefully made himself smile. It was believable. It had to be believable. "Now let's get started!" The grimoire was called by its true master for a portal in the training space.

"What about Octavia?"

Stolas flinched, holding his chest. "At her mother's, but I'm sure she wouldn't mind."

"Hang on. I should probably text this to Moxxie."

A goetia mansion.

He was inside a goetia mansion.

Never in all his years during and after living in the Wrath ring had Moxxie ever seen himself inside someplace so exclusive. He was only barely able to get a reservation at a club owned and run by one of the seven deadly sins. Here, his surrogate son provided a portal and that was it. His excitement was pushed deep inside. He was here unannounced and to escape cruel upper class retribution, he needed to not touch a single priceless irreplaceable item. His wife was not so careful.

"Look at this one, honey pie!" Something crashed. "Ooh, more fancy shit!" A second crash.

"Millie, darling, that kind of fancy shit is not the type that we should break without a care in the world!" Moxxie sweated, he was afraid that the various subservient imps populating the mansion already spilled on them.

"Mox, when I was a tiny little impling, one of my many dreams other than beheading Nancy from across the hill and her entire fucking family was also tearing up the crap rich folk had. Fuck, I got a mind to call up my sibs and invite them up here for some good old fashioned family wrecking of a shit-tard's big fancy home!" She even showed her hubby childhood drawings of her and Sallie May in front of a burning building. "Do you really wanna break the heart of little Millie?" she quivered.

Moxxie gave her credit for using the face he never said no to before. But he trained himself to be more resilient. "Millie, Lincoln texted me that this visit just turned into a new magic lesson. Smashing Prince Stolas' stuff will be a bad thing for our boy and we want our boy to be happy, don't we?"

Lincoln.

Her baby boy.

Happy.

That's all she wanted for the miracle of her life. "Fine...just one more." Stolas probably had more vases anyway. "Then what the fuck do we do now? I hate just sitting on my ass all day doing nothing. Doing nothing sucks! You'd think being in our boss' boyfriend's pad would be fun, and it ain't!"

"Don't exaggerate. We've already gone this long without getting a new client. Waiting out isn't the biggest torture in Hell." Moxxie rubbed his white hair. "We just need to think of, I don't know, something."

"Oh. Hello there." The inevitable chance of running into a servant imp came to pass. "Sorry, but loitering is prohibited. The washrooms are in the other hall."

The married couple were confused. "What?"

"Look, I get that you're new here and everything. But, if you intend to prolong your employment, get with the fucking lay of the land, alright. Because, there's nothing that can piss me off more than incompetent workers. My mother-in-law is a close second."

Millie did not appreciate how this imp thought he had any form of authority over them.

There was only one imp they took orders from and this one was no Blitzo.

Moxxie saw the feral gleam in her eye and despite being tempted to let her loose, he kept a cool head. "For the record. We're not workers here." He tactfully explained their real identities. "We just so happen to be employees. I.M.P." A giant ball of dust flew past the silent imps. "Immediate Murder Professionals?" The cricket perched on the window sill left the awkwardness. "We work for Blitz? The guy who comes every now and then for, you know, business." He clears his throat.

"You mean the prince's asshole plaything?" The imp glared. "Yeah, I know him. So, you work for him?" He checked the bedroom doorknob. "Huh, no tie this time, I guess that means your boss isn't here. Look, just don't fuck with anything around here. The last thing we need are anymore skanky imps making a mess of things. To dumb it down for you, don't fuck anything up for us."

Moxxie and Millie did not like that guy.

In fact, if all of the imps working here were like that, they did not like all of them.

"Millie, it is my opinion that to childishly mess with the sort who talk and look down on is juvenile. But, that guy was a prick, so he's fair game."

"Fuck yeah!"

The only way to have fun in a Goetia manor, is showing butlers not to speak to them like they were lesser.

"Feel the calmness set around yourself. It's a breath of fresh air, isn't it? The worries have no place. Fear has no place here. Bitch wives have no place here."

"What was that last part?"

Stolas slowly looked to his side at a confused Lincoln. He just remembered that unlike the numerous times he came here, he wasn't alone. Lincoln heard him speak his thoughts out aloud. Very private thoughts. "Nothing, nothing! Ignore it! You just heard the wind!" He laughed anxiously. "That's good, Stolas. Another exquisite save."

"I heard that, too."

"Moving on!" Stolas clapped his hands and the starry nebula they were in re-arranged to show the likeness of Lincoln that the boy gawked at. Demon magic never stopped being so cool. "Now, Lincoln. In case you were wondering, I have been very proactive in researching all types of hexes and curses to better understand your curse. We can both be lucky that my connections present a lot of valuable knowledge?"

"Didn't you say that my...problem was nothing like any other garden variety curse?"

"It is. It very much is." Stolas beckoned the stars to then resemble a swirling symbol. "But, understanding the basis can be a good first stepping stone. As we both know, the curse was cast by a barbaric human who was granted extended life in return for his services. Ordinarily, a curse can only be broken by the person that placed that same curse in the first place. Just one little problem on that front."

"Yeah, the same guy that did is stuck in limbo forever." Lincoln scathingly frowned. "Not like he'd actually help."

"If he was willing to make a deal with a devil to get what he wished for, I'd say he would've done anything. Or in that bastard's case, he was willing to gamble his soul to escape death's embrace." Stolas estimated. "Most souls like him make contact down here to arrange a formal contract. However, there are books that provide a more easy way to do so without meeting a demon. Those fools believe that just because no demon was involved, they were free to do whatever they wished. How Stillman proved to be very much that kind of a fool. "Meddling with the very nature of demonic forces always ends terribly, devil or no. He failed to deliver on the book's contract and paid the price. If it were me, I would've done much worse." Getting to bond with Lincoln as a responsible teacher made him want to bring despair to any who sought to harm him. "Forgetting that, think of this swirly constellation of stars as your soul. It's...kind of a mess."

"You think?"

"No, I mean, it's literally a mess. The affect that Hell has on your soul as a side effect of your curse has made said soul very hard to picture and the literal only way to physically describe is one fucked up mess."

Lincoln touched his chest, his blank tone betraying his overwhelmed emotions. "Oh. Huh. That is-That is hard to grasp."

"Through my studies, we need to focus on the real effect the curse has on you. That being your own soul being chained to Hell that your time in any other place like Earth becomes very limited before you're forced back." Stolas knew Lincoln also wanted to solve the big conundrum that was his startling transformation into something more demonic. That, however, wasn't necessarily tied to the curse. The true curse was his entrapment and solving that took priority. "This is the part of the lesson where things may get hairy. I'd understand it if you don't approve."

"You're talking to a kid who goes on assassin jobs. I think I can handle things getting hairy." Lincoln pointed out, realizing that he may have sounded like he was bragging. "That still doesn't mean I prefer it, I just, you know, more ready for it at this point and...why does it still feel like I'm proud of that?"

"You should! My student. The survivor of bat-shit crazy humans that deserve death for being douche-canoes!" Stolas shouted to the stars. "Yes. It has a nice ring to it. Everyone in Hell needs an imposing title that induces ill-advised folk not to incur your wrath."

Lincoln tried not to be disturbed. "If it's all the same to you, just being Lincoln Albert Loud is fine."

Stolas' eyes glow to materialize a violet colored stage and utilizing his mystic power, the prince brought forth creatures that looked as if they were made out of pure energy. "Whoa! What are those? Aliens?"

"Dear Lucifer, no." Stolas shook his head. "You'll never find anyone from Hell looking to have outs with God's side projects."

"Wait, God also created-"

"Moving on, what we have here are cursed nebula beasts. Demonic magic affects many things, even the very beings born among the stars. These unfortunate creatures were brought about when I was young as part of my own training."

"Really?"

"Indeed...my father was there for it...almost..."

Stolas was more distant now, nodding off lost in his memories. "Stolas, sir?"

"What? Oh, my goodness, I apologize. Now, they used to be simple clusters of space. Tell me, Lincoln. Can you perhaps reverse their own curses? I trust you've been studying up on how to reverse even simple curses, have you not?"

"I've tried at least." Lincoln griped. "Most of the things I curse either get even weirder or try to eat my flesh. The second one more or less. Though, I did manage to at least get rid of grown teeth on a mango, only by cooking it."

"A cooked mango. That does sound distasteful. Almost as bad as overcooked mice. Wanna know the key to perfectly cooked mice? It's all about-"

"And off I go!" Lincoln took to the stage before Stolas continued on his favorite cuisine. The nebula beasts took the forms of feline winged creatures snarling at him like he was a threat. It was like that plant. It sensed the presence deep within and acted accordingly. Lincoln remembered all the advice to not let that power overtake him and calmly let his eyes glow red and orange ringed circles manifested in his hands. Arcane symbols showed a physical expression of his own latent magical potential. Attack. That's the logical thing to do.

But, Lincoln only used violence as a last resort.

These creatures.

They were cursed like he was.

He felt their inner turmoil over that.

He emphasized with them.

Those emotions carried onward to his magic.

Similar circles appeared under the nebula beasts and they took this as a hostile act. "It's okay." A calming tone from what was supposed to be their prey. Unexpected and a little welcoming. They felt at ease, something they've lost all feeling to. Not since before they were cursed. "I want to help you. Please. Let me..." They didn't know how to justify it, but they felt this boy was trustworthy. He made a promise, and he was keeping it. Orange light enveloped them and their violet color scheme changed into blue, they felt less malevolent. Less prone to attack.

The nebula beasts approached the boy and the lead one bowed its head in gratitude towards him and it led its herd toward the stars as they did in the past. "Where are they going?"

"Roaming the cosmos." Stolas swelled, slowly brimming with pride. "Those creatures were cursed by previous Goetias to only roam about in this corner of the galaxy. The result was them growing feral. Beast-like. You liberated them."

Lincoln looked at his hands as the circles disappeared. "I did that?"

"With time, you might be able to liberate yourself or perhaps someone else may prove to be your liberator." Stolas smiled. "Either way, I believe this proves that you may hit some blocks on your path, it does not mean the end. Everything has a way of showing a bright side." From his perspective, Lincoln truly had a lot to learn and utilize what he learned spectacularly. He didn't care what Blitzo said, letting Stolas teach magic was very rewarding. Blitzo. Teaching Lincoln distracted him from the issues he was running away from. Stolas felt like asking Lincoln how he was, but in truth, he purposely didn't. After what happened at Ozzie's, Stolas actually did a lot of thinking. He was excited for what appeared to be an actual romantic date and was overjoyed that Blitzo asked him out.

Lincoln apparently being invisible, and then seeing the other two employees.

It gave Stolas the heartbreaking realization that Blitzo may have just called him for them and not because he wanted to date Stolas. That paired with the public humiliation, Stolas took it as reason to think about his presumed romance. He looked at his phone to see all the photos he took that had his favorite imp in them. The prince was smiling for the camera in each one, and he was the only one. Blitzo just looked annoyed. Glowering at the prince. Each photo was like that.

Blitzo seemed truly unhappy being around Stolas.

"Hey, Stolas! What's next?!" Lincoln asked, excited until seeing Stolas' mood. "Stolas?"

"...Lincoln. How was Blitzy after Ozzie's? Was he...okay?"

Almost fifteen minutes.

That's how long Stolas went without asking about Blitzo.

"I-I can't say he was great..." Lincoln sadly replied.

"I see...time for a new lesson."

Lincoln thought Moxxie and Millie probably were less awkward.

Working for a Goetia family was the best deal imps could ever get.

They accepted not getting anywhere in Hell and went for the most prospective occupation of being servants to Ars Goetia demons.

It was not always glamorous, but it did help in upping their standing a little.

"God, I really need to hit up the bar tonight." A butler said to a maid, they were in a gathering of every other mansion worker. Their masters, the Goetia family of three, did not need attending, leaving them to take their own time off.

"Yeah? Did one of the prince's plants nearly bite your head off, again?" A co-worker cracked, making those near him chuckle.

"Hi-fucking-larious." The butler glared. "If you must know, those things are starting to like me, they just now see fit to try biting off my ass instead of my dick. Still, that's good progress. Soon enough, no body parts of mine will be food for sentient plants. Honestly, that's not even my biggest annoyance. Guess who's here? Those two lap dogs that work for Prince Stolas' little imp bitch, Blitzo." The assembled workers groaned in aggravation.

"That guy?" An imp chef asked. "I thought the prince already called him up for that Harvest Moon shit a while ago?"

"By Satan's graces, the man himself wasn't hear and I could give zero fucks about why his underlings came here. It's probably for some shit reason." The butler remarked. "If they're anything like that ass-bucket, they're bound to make a mess of things. Hell, they already did once before from what the usual butler told me. It always felt like he knows more than he lets on, though."

"You know, I have zero fucking idea why the prince even entertains Blitzo." A maid spoke. "He knows that the guy just wants favors from him, right? I mean, if it's fun that Prince Stolas is looking for, he can get any demon he wants."

One taller slim imp shrugged. "Honestly, though, and this is just me talking, but I think his highness might actually be in love with the guy. Maybe Blitzo even feels the same. His majesty does smile a lot more around him compared to lady Stella."

"What?"

"Oh, quit talking some bullshit."

"As if that's why."

"Maybe in Blitzo's dreams." One cackled. "What's really sad is how far he'll go to keep that failure outfit he calls a company afloat. You'd have to be the saddest bastard in Hell and good thing I'm ridiculously happy!"

Moxxie and Millie knew the complicated mess that was the potential romance between Blitzo and Stolas. These imps thought they knew what was up, and they couldn't be farther from the truth. Millie particularly felt her anger boiling when she heard them talk smack about her boss and the way they wrote off Lincoln's important magical teaching as unimportant. That meant they saw Lincoln as unimportant and she wished she had her battle ax right now. "Millie, I respect and love your need to answer the call for freshly dead fuckers. But, there's always a simpler way to do things and this is one of them." Moxxie smirked.

On a table was a lighter that belonged to a worker and Moxxie quietly switched it with one of his own.

"The fuck?" The imp tried turning the lighter on to light his cigarette, but it wasn't working. "Son of a bitch, this thing's supposed to be top of the line."

Hiding in a hallway, Moxxie and Millie kept their ears covered for the ensuing explosion that occurred where the workers were at.

"...I think you should get a refund..." They heard one groan.

The happily married assassin couple laughed jovially at their prank's success. "Hahahahaha! Goddamn, that was fucking A!" Millie wiped a happy tear away. "That'll teach those bitch-faces to respect our kin!"

"What I'd tell you? The other ways to get back at bastards can often be hysterical ones!" Moxxie felt this was a very explosive way to showcase how not being a beefy Wrath imp was in itself a strength, too. "Decided to take a page from Blitz and his sense of humor."

"Shame Blitz ain't here." Millie said, calming down. "Satan knows he'd do worse to them."

"..."

"Moxxie?"

His wife's befuddlement made him speak a question he needed an answer to. "Millie, is it wrong for us not to be pissed at him for spying on us. I get it, we should be used to that, but this wasn't dinner night or me reciting a song, but our anniversary. I may have been asking a lot, but it would've been nice if he actually backed for the first time since hiring us. I thought things were finally becoming better between us, and then, he pulled a stunt that made it bad again. It's like he wants us to quit."

"But, we're not going to. Are we?"

"How are you so sure?"

"Because, unlike before, you don't just see him as just our employer anymore, do you?" Millie was not blind to Moxxie's justifiable disappointment. She also noticed that his and their boss' relationship was less hostile than often was after the dorks emergency. "That's also why even though you're pissed, you're already thinking about forgiving him. Right?" She winked.

Moxxie flushed and his silence signified that. He still had this to say. "If he called and acted like the insufferable asshole he always is to me, I wouldn't even think of it."

"But he's not." Millie teasingly chuckled. "Mox, if Blitz actually thought so low about you like he always claims, why keep you around at all? He cares more than he lets on and now, we both know it. And admit, you wouldn't mind cooking up some batshit fun here." Outside the mansion, a limo came onto the scene. "It'd also do him good to talk things out with the prince." Talon feet walked up the steps. "I mean, it's not like the man's wife is-"

"Where the fuck is that slutty husband of mine?!" Moxxie and Millie ceased all prattle, the harsh vain tone of that voice was more paralyzing than giant monsters. They rushed to the main foyet where Stolas' unruly wife, Stella, rudely forced herself in by kicking and screaming. "Stolas! Get your god damned imp loving face out here!" She haughtly demanded, kicking away a few of the imps that held the door for her.

"We're glad to see you back, milady." One weakly said.

"Speak only when I fucking tell you to, which is fucking never!" The avian demon lady screeched.

From prank times to distressing times, the married assassins shared a glance of dismay. Lincoln was a secret that no other demon outside of I.M.P and those they trusted needed to know about and they had a feeling that Stella would be the opposite of keeping it that way unlike her husband. For the rest of the servant imps, they were more concerned about being in her way.

"Fuck, she's on another warpath. I still have bruises from the last one." A skinny butler tiptoed and felt a cold sensation. One of the windows was somehow left open and behind it was a three eyed demon crow flapping its wing. The butler and the avian creature shared a look. The imp demon numbly widened his eyes and stared off into nothing in a trance. "The boy must be protected..." he droned, now turning back.

If Lincoln was going to be the best at demonic magic, then he needed to try and see how a true master was at work.

Stolas' main strength was plant magic and encouraged Lincoln to follow his example.

He already showed a lot of prospects on that front during their very first lesson.

"Poison curses. Now these are truly a challenge. You need to understand how far it has gone in order to properly correct it." He used two sapphire colored plants as an example, one that was dull in its colors and withered. Healing it was almost a cinch. Lincoln needed to have the right emotion for it. Like with the beast, he focused on his need to heal it. "Yes, that's it. In these moments, do not let your mind wander." Like his mind wandering to a romance that may just end up having meant nothing. "Don't think of it." The seething judgmental face of his wife. "Any of it." All the years trapped in a marriage decided for him. "Ignore it...!" His whole life was nothing but decisions he had no say in. His father made that a fact. His hands shook.

"Stolas?"

"Ignore it..."

"I think you should calm down."

"Ignore it!"

Magic resonated with his own anger and by the time Stolas collected himself, the plant he was initially successful in healing withered. Cold sweat poured down as he gaped at what he did to such a beautiful plant, all due to not keeping it together and shamed himself for losing his composure in front of Lincoln no less. "God damn it! I-I apologize, dear boy! I-I don't-I had it under control, I-I-" He was at a loss for words. He never could find the right ones. "Shit. You deserve better..." he bemoaned. He portaled them away into his private study and bedroom. "You and Octavia..." he rested on his bed.

Lincoln had terrible luck in getting Blitzo to open up and accept help, and that setback failed in stopping Lincoln from trying to do the same to his teacher. "Stolas. You're not okay, are you?" That was more of a statement. "Please, just talk to me. I'm here." He wasn't gonna let anyone push him away this time.

"...Did he ever feel anything for me, child?" Stolas asked miserably. "I know you once told me Blitzy wasn't completely receptive of my affections, but I just assumed that's what he expected after our reunion that ultimately led to me lending my grimoire."

"Again?" Lincoln blinked. "What do you mean again? Did you and Blitz know each other even before that?! I thought that was the first time you two met!"

Stolas hollowly chuckled at Lincoln's surprise. "So, he didn't tell you. Funny. For some reason, I thought he did, hence why I omitted it. In my defense, the last time the two of us saw each other before that was over two decades ago. That was the day we first met. I was actually around your age at the time if I remember correctly. I assume this must be quite hard to believe."

"You have no idea." Lincoln was still in a stupor. "I didn't think you guys went way back."

"It was quite the experience." Stolas took a nostalgic walk that Lincoln followed until they were at the hallway that had multiple portraits of Stolas and his family. His teacher in magic stopped at one portraying a demon Lincoln never saw before. He was avian like Stolas, cloaked in a golden cape that also sparkled in over regal wear, yet had a more harsh manner of poise.

"Who's that?"

Stolas sighed. "This is Paimon. One of the kings in the Ars Goetia. The highest royalty rank in the Goetia family, commander of legions, and former master of this mansion. He's also my father."

Lincoln did not see another bomb of information. "That's your dad?" He did see some resemblance and him having a portrait here was also evident.

"It was he who bequeathed to me the girmoire on my birthday when it was my time to be assigned a role. Each demon the Ars Goetia had a duty, a job they were expected to do in service of Hell. I was a child back then, I was so excited. So happy." He longed to be that idealistic again. Idealistic like Lincoln. "A shame that dear old daddy had to spoil it by also telling me I was arranged to be married to Stella." he sardonically rolled his four eyes.

"You mean you were that you just had to marry her when you were just a kid and there was no way out of it?" Lincoln felt reminded of his sisters' pushiness. Lori for the most part. He liked Ronnie Anne, but only because he decided so for himself, not just that Lori insisted on it. "Didn't he care how you felt?"

"That is the unfortunate circumstance of being born into luxury. You have access to so much and the only thing you must give up is having your entire life decided without your input." Stolas led him to another portrait that had Stolas and his wife on their wedding ceremont day. Neither were happy. "Stella hated it as well, the only thing we have common ground on. Not that it mattered to my father. As one of his many, many, many, many, many heirs, I was to nut up and accept it. I did not take the news well and to pacify me, my father thought a day out to the circus would work. I know now he just didn't want to deal with my 'bitch crying'. Still, going to that circus turned to be monumental."

Circus.

Blitzo used to work at one. "And that's where you first met Blitz."

"Can't get anything past you, my boy." Stolas nodded. "Even if he wasn't the most successful performer, I thought he was simply wonderful and I was too young to understand, but I really did feel something when I saw him with my four eyes for the first time. Father assumed I just wanted a friend to play with, so he convinced Blitzy's father to allow him to spend time with me."

"Huh. If his dad's anything like him, I can't help but feel he just wanted Blitz to steal stuff."

"That...should have been obvious, I admit." Paimon grounded him very cruelly. "It was nonetheless one of the best days of my life, for it was the day I made my first real friend."

"Blitz..." Lincoln now had a better understanding on why Stolas obviously loved Blitzo and wondered if Blitzo should realize this himself. "And you never saw him again after that."

"It was for one day only. Perish the thought of Father allowing one of his spawn to regularly associate with a lesser demon. I had to look forward to the future as Stella's husband and her as my wife." Stolas let out a groan of exhaustion. "A future filled to the brim of cruelty, hurtful words, bitching about me to other important demons. She made it her personal mission to make my life hell in hell."

"Then why put up with it?! You're not a kid anymore, neither is she! You can both just end it!" Lincoln may not be a romance master, but any other sane person knew a relationship with no love.

"You think I haven't thought about it? I figured she did, but she still insists on sticking around knowing full well I hate it. Truthfully, I allowed our farce marriage to continue for one reason only. For Octavia. In my youth, I was deprived of choosing how to live my life, I was denied a normal life, away from all the expectations." He sniffled. "You should've seen how she was after she hatched. She was so small, so frail, and so full of potential. I refused to be like my father and made sure that she'd live that kind of life no matter the odds. I didn't want anything threatening that, if that meant hiding mine and Stella's troubles to put up an illusion of a happy family, then so be it. I have so many regrets, having her is none of them, because she's-"

"Worth it." Lincoln finished. "It doesn't matter how much you're hurting deep inside or how empty you feel, knowing that someone you love is better somehow makes it all worth it in the end."

"How-How do you know that?"

"I've been there. A lot of times. Sacrificing your own happiness hurts, but if it helps someone else, then it can't be bad, right? I mean, I wanted to make sure you were okay and if that meant a magic lesson, then fine."

A magic lesson that was supposed to help Lincoln.

Not himself.

Stolas felt like such a fool. "No. Not fine! It's not fine at all! You want to go home, right? That should be your main concern! What you need is a teacher that doesn't let his own personal shit distract from what's important! I already did enough of that and it destroyed my family's image! You. Octavia. You deserve a better teacher and she deserves a better father!"

"But none of them would be you!" Lincoln took even a demon prince by surprise and hugged him, something Stolas needed in a long time. He silently wept, thinking this made him look more pathetic. "Stolas, it's not your fault your life is a mess."

"Maybe not completely, but what have I done to improve it? I only make it worse just by caring about what I want. Meeting Blitzy again years later, I meant it when I said it was the first time I truly felt something other than pain. Now, I realize he may not have come to my home for me, but for my fucking book!" Stolas paced away from the hug. "If a popular succubus superstar was an old flame, then it must have been because of a lousy Asmodean Crystal! I knew the grimoire was all he cared about, but I thought in time, he'd come to...love me."

"You...can't expect the best from Blitz. Or force the best, even." Lincoln didn't write him off as a lost cause, though. "That's all for Blitz to decide and the best we can do is let him know there's always a better way. Here, let me get you something. There is a place right?"

"I keep a private room for emotional support plants."

"...Just like Lynn's collection of emotional support baseballs."

A big mansion meant numerous rooms.

A bright kid that had directions from said mansion's owner meant finding the right room easily.

"Okay, which one did he say it looks like?" Lincoln found the right one as it had multiple vines covered in red vines. "Hey there, little guy." The plant's multiple eyes looked back at him. "Your, um, owner needs you right now." The creator needed comfort, so the plant was happy to oblige. Plants really were a big side passion of Stolas, he even saw a lot of botany and the like at his study.

"The place has gone to shit. Not surprising since it's only Stolas living here now."

"Quite, milady."

All the plants made a whimpering sound.

They knew that horrid voice.

Lincoln looked out and saw the wife of Stolas and her aide. "Oh, crumbs!" Lincoln paled. "That's Octavia's mom." Her nasty frown sent shivers to Lincoln, it was even more threatening than Lola's. With Stella, her doing something horrific would be very possible and not used as a scare tactic.

"Just look at the damn dust!" Stella criticized. "I bet he spends his nights binging on those crappy novelas he likes to watch and sexting with that breathing blow-up doll imp rat bastard."

"I'm sure that is entirely the case, milady." The aide obediently replied.

"Now where is that failure Goetia? The sooner I said my peace to that duplicitous fuck-stain on the entire family name, the better."

Lincoln's demonic triggers were any form of harm coming to those close to him.

Even bad mouthing them was adequate.

"Keep it together." The plant's eyes saw Lincoln shaking and his eyes randomly went red and between normal colors.

"If I may remind you, milady, but young Octavia wishes to know when she can retreat to her quarters." The aide said.

"She's a big girl, she can wait in the car. She can just listen to that dullard music she's so fond of for whatever reason." Stella cared more about saying mean things to Stolas. "Must've inherited having terrible tastes from her father. He always encouraged her, too. Another one of his fuck ups as a Goetia."

"Indeed, milady. Indeed."

Lincoln heard all this and got more ticked by the millisecond.

A statue bust wobbled and flew off. Stella walked out of the way so that it instead got the aide. "Why are you such a lazy ass all the time?!" Stella kicked her aide's head. "Finding competent help is impossible! Ones that aren't clumsy with delicate objects especially! Wait." Stella vigilantly snapped her head around. There was someone here, his presence was faint, but it was there. "Who the fuck dares?" If someone assumed sneaking around her was an unanswered offense, they'd be wrong. Out of the blue, the imp butler that gazed at the crow appeared. "The fuck did you come from?! Did my husband put you up to this?! I can have you fired!" He was unresponsive. "Ugh, you're not worthy of my time." The butler blocked her. "Excuse me. What in Hell are you doing?" He blocked her again. "Insolent little whelp! Either you're high or you prefer that I throw you through the window right this second!"

"Protected...must be protected..."

"What?! Fine then! I suppose I'll just have to-shit!" Stella cursed when orange smoke obscured everything. The imp butler was gone. "Stolas!" she stormed to meet her husband.

Lincoln managed to regain control and he used a smoke screen spell to rescue the butler from a for sure to be harsh beating. "You alright?"

The butler locked his eyes at Lincoln. "The boy must be protected."

"What?"

"The boy must be protected."

"You mean me?" Lincoln pointed at himself. "How do you know about me?"

"The boy must be protected."

"Dude, can you even tell me your name?"

"The boy must be protected." Lincoln waved his hand over the butler's face and he kept repeating.

Lincoln looked to the emotional support plant for assistance, but the thing simply shrugged its vines. "Do you need to lie down?" his mouth was shut by Stolas.

"Quiet!" The prince's portal was a smooth getaway for all three. He was out of the mansion in the garden where even his imp parents were, also thanks to Stolas.

"Lincoln!" They hugged him in relief.

"Step through here." A portal led to the office. "You don't have much time. Stella must not learn of you!" Before Lincoln left, Stolas had one last word of advice. "Lincoln. Putting others before yourself is noble, but helping yourself is also important. Never forget that. And thank you."

"Stolas, I-"

The prince dissipated the portal. "The boy must be protected." Now, there was the butler in a trance to handle. Stolas gave it to the unknown hypnotic, they were skilled, just not on a Goetia level. One look into Stolas' eyes was enough to break the spell. "Huh? Where...?" the butler eyes went up to a steely Stolas. "Your highness! I-I was only-"

"Getting back to work. Now."

"Yes! That is what I'm doing! Thank you for reminding me!"

Stolas heard the cries of a crow on a tree branch, the same three-eyed crow. It flew off and he narrowed his eyes in suspicion of what may have possessed his servant. "There you are!" Firstly, he had to handle that. His irate wife. "Where the Heaven have you been?!"

"Wandering if you must know." Stolas lied that Stella believed. "Some reminiscing as well. I'm at least free to do that."

"Give me a fucking break. The only thing you're free to do is not make me look like a tool! I want some answers out of you!"

"I, too, wish for an answer. Why are you still here?" Stolas strongly pressed. "You set up your own personal place where you take Via to on the weekends. Yet, you persist in staying here the rest of the time. Are you not the one who didn't want to look at my imp sucking face anymore?"

"Oh, I still feel that way, but if I'm not around, how will I enjoy tormenting you?" Stella was ruefully taunting. "It's one of the few uplifting things that I got from getting married to your sorry ass. You owe me that much."

"Me owing you?!" Stolas grabbed his head feathers. "For what?!"

"You know damn well what, it's all to remind you what you did." Stella sneered.

"I haven't forgotten and impossible it may sound, I'm now well aware of the ramifications! The problem is that we both have different opinions on that end! Your whole scorned wife routine would make me feel guilty, but only if you actually felt something for me and that couldn't be farther from the truth! It's the exact opposite!"

"What your melodramatic tiny plebeian mind can't comprehend is how you brought disgrace to us." Stella shot back. "You're right, I do hate you, but we still had an image to maintain for the sake of the Ars Goetia!"

"And just why would they care?! The two of us were only set up to be wedded for one single purpose, to produce for them a precautionary heir! Anything besides that is of little consequence!" Stolas hated bringing it up that truth. "Even though I felt no true love for you, I still tried to make our lives somewhat bearable. To not be a complete failure family. Except that wasn't enough for you! Nothing I did ever stopped the constant contempt and cruelty! You act as if I was thoroughly involved in our arrangement, and made me pay for something that was out of my control! I only endured it willingly so that our daughter could have a regular life and I failed! With that, I just-I can't take it any longer!" Stolas' talk with Lincoln emboldened him. "I want you gone!"

"Gone? What do you mean by gone?" Stella hardly believed the insolence.

"Gone from my house! Gone from my life! It's high time that we finally get the fucking divorce!"

Stella bared angry gritted teeth, he had the nerve to request that as if it were easy. "Who do you think you are?!" She stepped up threateningly that made Stolas shrink in slight fear. "If you're so naive to think that the Goetia Family will excuse this, you're an even bigger fool than the one I took you for!" She raised her hand up for a harsh backhanded strike. "If Andrealphus catches wind of this, he'll-"

Stolas did something he'd never done before.

He caught the oncoming hand and actually showed bravery in the face of his wife. "Does it look like I give any rat's ass about whatever your pretentious brother thinks?! Get it through your own naive thoughts! What the Goetia Family wanted from us is seventeen now, that's in addition to the prior years of having to make ourselves miserable and now it's time to end it all! We're done!"

Both demons were face to face, hate sparking between them.

It was always the only spark between them.

Stella huffed and took her hand back. "Very well. I've had enough of dealing with a traitorous disgraced prince! Your fall from grace is already so obvious that you can see it and knowing that you'll absolutely pay for it is enough compensation for me." She ominously grinned with sinister undertones and walked away from the source of her ire.

His wife, if he could still call her that, left.

Strangely, he was proud of himself and saddened at the same time.

He still had the sky as his sole company and his palace with many windows that anyone could look through and listen in.

He hoped he was just being paranoid.

Nevertheless, he sat on a bench to admire the stars.

The stars of Earth could hold so many answers.

"That was way too close for comfort!"

"We didn't get caught, Mox! Don't hyperventilate!"

"I'm not hyperventilating, dear! I just feel that this shall serve as a lesson to not go to a palace owned by royal demons unannounced!"

Lincoln stayed silent, he hoped Stolas was okay. His wife was a real piece of work judging from what he saw of her. He at least considered Stolas opening up to him a win, as he now felt glad to be there for someone. The last words Stolas told him confused him. He spent a long time forgoing his own wants and needs. He was even forgetting his current one. That may be in part because of his newfound family. "Hey, guys."

The three saw Blitzo and Loona waiting for them inside the common room. Blitzo was still wearing his jacket and Loona had on red dress clothing, the former awkwardly looking at his employees. "Blitz. Loona. You guys are back. Where were you?" Lincoln asked.

"Here and there." Loona answered. "You?"

"Also here and there."

Moxxie and Blitzo decided to get down to their personal business. "You spied on us." the former stated.

"Yup."

"Even when I told you not to."

"Mm-hm."

"Do you feel like a jackass?"

"I always feel like a jackass, Mox. But, with what I did, you'd have to invent a new word for being that kind of jackass...I'm sorry." Blitzo understood if that wasn't good enough Moxxie took only one look at a hopeful Lincoln and sighed. "Well, you've been through enough turbulent times...the three of us were playing board games. Wanna join in?"

Blitzo's eyes nearly swelled up and nodded. "Sure."

"A board game?" Loona groaned. "Sure, like that's more fun than what Blitz and I went through."

Lincoln said to Moxxie. "Thanks for giving him a chance."

"I know how much you wanted things to be amicable between us again, you can say I was thinking about what you wanted. That is important, you know."

What Lincoln wanted.

He couldn't remember the last time he got that.

Chapter Text

Lincoln's more judgmental sisters like Lola for instance had sometimes questioned his choice in some of his chosen friends. Before getting over his obsessive crush on Lori, she always found Clyde creepy, Zach was too much into conspiracies, and Rusty was too much of a flirt. If all of his sisters were here right now, they'd definitely question his choice in new friends, considering most of them happen to be demons. Among them all, one of them just so happened to be Loona whom he was competing against in a video game that Moxxie and Millie brought for him. There was no video game enemy more formidable than Loona and he considered it an honor to play against her. "Come on, Linc. Try giving me a challenge here." Loona remarked, smiling a teasing look at the boy.

Anyone that could give him a run for his money was worthy of praise and get defeated in return.

At least, he was trying to accomplish that.

"Come on! Come on!" Lincoln's grip on the control was tight and he had laser focus on the objective. But, he still lost in the end. "Damn it! How do you do it, Loona?" he groaned, dropping the control.

"What? You think drinking and reading magazines are the only shit I do when you guys are up top?" Loona chuckled, ruffling her young friend's head. "But, don't beat yourself up. Hell video games are on a whole other level than baby Earth ones. For one thing, all of them don't have pussies making them rated, so down here, they can go out on all the kickass action shit."

"That's true, I gotta, I do like it that Millie's willing to let me play video games like this one." Lincoln admitted. "I'll still beat you next time!"

"Heh, anytime, anywhere, little buddy."

"You know, Octavia's also a pretty cool gamer." Lincoln said. "She has cooler systems than this one and lets me play. You should see how she-Loona, what's wrong?" He noticed her eyes twitching a little when he brought up another close demon friend of his.

"Hm? Nothing, just thought of something funny." Loona lied. Those of the ring of Envy would be impressed by her growing envy right now. Being jealous of demon raised in the royal elite is no unusual thing, but the source of Loona's envy comes from the fact that the Goetia heir seems as close to Lincoln as she is.

Lincoln may very well be the sole reason she actually smiles more often in the workplace. That youthful energy he gave off was a little intoxicating, and with how close they've become, it was one of his aspects that she counted as her favorite. With the grownups doing their own thing, the two youngest members of I.M.P spent some time relaxing on a slow work day. "By the way, are you sure Blitz won't be angry that you're not at the desk?" Lincoln asked.

"Oh, give me a fucking break." Loona rolled her eyes. "He's not ballsy enough to tell me off. Hell, he'd let me get away with throwing a raging bash here. Plus, it's not like we're getting new gigs right-"

"Excuse me! Where can I find the manager of this establishment?!" A demanding voice asked from behind the door, banging on it hard.

"Loona!" Moxxie called from his inventory checking. "Aren't you gonna answer that?!"

"Aren't you gonna take those diet pills I totally didn't get you?" Loona retorted.

Making a sound of annoyance, Moxxie came by, muttering incoherent complaints about the receptionist's ongoing remarks at his supposed weight problem that he knew had no accurate proof. He opened the door and the Sinner demon that entered was a weirdly dressed purple skinned demon with three eyes, a thin mustache, and a small goatee. He wore what looked like a farmer with a trucker cap and twig in his mouth. He had wheels for feet and even had a truck horn sticking out of his back. "Well, howdy there! I'm Insane Iggy and I'm here to offer you a chance to kill the rat bastard who caused my own death!"

The way he introduced himself and his manner of speaking made it seem like he was the one offering his services instead of I.M.P.

"Erm, okay?" Moxxie cleared his throat. "My name is Moxxie and if you'll just wait here, please, I can hurry and fetch our boss so that this transaction can be further-" The minute his hand touched the doorknob, it was opened from inside by Blitzo, slamming the door into Moxxie.

"I smell payday!" Blitzo dashed for the client. "Hey, how the fuck are ya, pal? Name's Blitz. The O is silent."

"O?"

"Exactly! So, who do ya want us to bump off and why?"

"I'm Insane Iggy and I'm ere to tell you exactly what the no-good fucker in question did to warrant your investment in getting revenge on my behalf!"

"...Uh..." Blitzo questionably looked at Moxxie who simply shrugged. "Okay?"

"See, I used to host the most popular used trucks and other automobiles commercials and was damn good at it, mind you! All those 'accidents' that were a result of the cars I sold turning out to be nothing but shitty junkers that were on their last legs were never proven! Frankly, I bet one of those yellow bellied sour-pusses were the ones to cause my own truck crash accident. My own horn tore through my goddamned neck, I tell you what!" Insane Iggy spat out saliva on the floor.

"Okay, listen, this isn't some truck-stop, alright?" Blitzo said as Moxxie got back up next to him, seeing stars. "So, what? Someone hot-wired your ride or something badass like that?"

"You bet your ass...well, at least I think so."

Blitzo and a now fully processed Moxxie blinked. "I'm sorry, you think so?" Blitzo repeated, already getting a migraine. "Look, I'm used to dipshit clients, but even they know what our business is and usually, they're sure that they were got fucked over in life. I mean, how are you not even sure at all?"

"Okay, so my accident was ruled an accident with no sign of foul play, but that's 'cause them cops are terrible at their jobs!" Insane Iggy argued, going by his own opinions. "But, see, this feller came by and said he was sorry for trying to get a refund off me! Said he was a trained mechanic and could fix up my rig and I accepted! Like shit he didn't tamper with anything on my baby!" He sniffled as he recalled his truck. "Hope you're doing well in the great truck lot beyond, Bessy...and so what if I'm wrong?! I'm willing to pay a lot, little man! Ain't that enough!"

Before Blitzo could respond, Loona mirthlessly snorted. "Dickhead."

Insane Iggy's eyes narrowed at her snide comment. "Care to repeat that?"

"Huh? Oh, sorry, I was just pointing out how much of a dickhead you are." Loona bluntly replied, making Blitzo and Moxxie panic. Lincoln sank into his seat, knowing what was coming. A classic Loona verbal beat-down. "I mean, come on, not even sure if you were even killed? The dumbass-ery levels are pretty high there. But, hey congrats, not a lot of dumbasses out there who can say they reached them."

Insane Iggy was now having second thoughts about hiring I.M.P., judging by his offended and dangerous glower at the unashamed hellhound. "Heh, heh! Please excuse my daughter!" Blitzo nervously laughed. "She gets cranky on Thursdays and hasn't had her nappy-wappy yet, now let's talk about-"

"I'm not cranky and I don't need to sleep!" Loona snapped, getting worked up after Blitz spoke. "I'm just calling it as it is! Not my fault we get clients with piles of shit as their brains! Sp get off my fucking case!"

"Looney, please." Blitzo implored, pacing his hands at her and darting back at Insane Iggy. "Not in front of the client!" He quietly chided through gnashed teeth.

"Ah, he's big enough to fit in his big boy panties, he can take it." Loona dismissed. "Unless he's too much of a pussy."

Insane Iggy crossed his arms and headed for the door. "You know, I think we're done here."

"Wait, no!" Blitzo tried in vain, getting him to reconsider. "Come on! It was just some playful ribbing! It's not like she meant it!"

"I did mean it."

"Loona, you're not helping!"

"I think I'll take my chances and just for the son of a bitch to croak on his own and settle things then! I might come back if you learn to keep your dog on a leash!" Insane Iggy shot back before slamming the door shut. A second later, he came back. "Insane Iggy is out!" He slammed it again. Then, he once again came back. "Also, you lost a chance at a good car deal!" He gave the door one final shut.

Blitzo was left deflated at a missed chance for a potentially huge payoff and Moxxie shook his head, sighing at the loss himself.

"Pfft, jeez, has that guy got issues." Loona remarked. "Anyway, can you two go back to whatever crap you were doing. Linc and I got a rematch to get to." Her adoptive father did not move, Blitzo just stood with a less-amused expression. Moxxie had his tiny arms crossed, glaring judgmentally at her. "What? What crawled up your asses?"

As for Lincoln, he just meekly tapped his thumbs together due to the heavy awkward atmosphere.

Blitzo took a deep breath, intending to be very gentle and not lose his temper as it was very rare for him to actually be miffed at Loona of all demons. "Loona. Sweetheart. Do you realize what you just did?"

"Saved you a lot of trouble dealing with that guy?"

"No."

"Correctly called him out on his dumbass-ery?"

"No."

"Owned Lincoln at video games?"

"Goddamn it, no! I-" Blitzo face-palmed, tiredly groaning.

Moxxie said what was really annoying Blitzo and unlike his boss, didn't hesitate. "What he means is that your callous remarks just cost us a client! A whole day of waiting and you just made it all for nothing by driving away the only demon who'd hire us today!"

"Oh, don't lose your shit, Moxxie. That was only the tenth client I blew off or whatever." Loona shrugged.

"...I'm sorry. What?!" Blitzo bellowed.

"Yeah, I think I heard the phone ring a few times while I was playing, but you know, could've just been prank callers." Blitzo looked like he was about to go off like a rocket any minute and Loona, not wanting to get an earful, promptly got up. "You know what? Screw this. I'm gonna go get that lasagna in the fridge."

Moxxie objected. "Wait, that's the one I made for Millie-"

"Too fucking bad! Already have it!"

Moxxie shook his fists in the air, growling in frustration. "Sir! I'm sorry, but come tomorrow, you better have the-" he mutters quietly so that Loona couldn't hear him speak. "The you-know-what."

"...What?" Blitzo asked, confused on what Moxxie was referring to.

"Sir, you know what tomorrow is." Moxxie stated to his boss. "You've been putting it off all month, you even threw away your old calendar just for the convenient excuse of forgetting, focusing on more trivial matters and it's about time you finally follow through and have the talk with Loona!"

"Hey, I only threw that out because your wife didn't want anything relating to that bitch in the office!"

"Sir."

"Uh..." Blitzo tugged his collar reluctantly. "I could do that...or, maybe we can try those horse riding lessons one more time!"

"Sir."

"Hey, why not help me out with my tax fraud? You're good with numbers, right? Or maybe I can get the kid to do it, he's a fast learn-"

"Blitz!" Moxxie actually using his boss' name made it clear he wasn't in the mood for jokes. "The more you procrastinate, the more difficult it will be for the company. You know that."

"Um, what do you mean? What talk?" Lincoln asked, it sounded like a serious thing and it pertaining to Loona made him curious mixed with concern.

"It's-It's nothing, kiddo!" Blitzo waved his hands. "Look, go to your room, okay? This is just a talk between the grownups, not for your ears."

"Since when do you care about that?"

"Just-Just go!" Blitzo barked, making Lincoln leave without further argument. Though, he did discreetly hear more by keeping his door open very slightly to see what all the fuss was about. "Okay, Mox, how the fuck am I supposed to get through to her? I tried everything. I bought her chew toys, fresh treats, I even sprang for a shitty new phone! None of that works!"

"Then, maybe, try a different approach..." Moxxie led him off to continue this conversation elsewhere.

Lincoln closed his door and sighed, lying on his bed, he supposed he'll have to wait until tomorrow. But, he still didn't feel like turning it in for tonight, a part of him was starting to feel a little restless lately. It was like he was waiting for something new to pop up. Mostly something that could lead him to a means of breaking his curse, that mission was still ongoing and moving ever so slowly. Times where he had nothing to do at home usually led to him calling up his friends to see if they wanted to hangout to clear his mind of this problem. Just then, someone ended up calling him. Another contact, who was Octavia much to his relief. "Oh, thank Satan...can't believe I just said that." He answered the call. "Hey, Via. What's up?" He felt honored to be the only other person she'd allow to call her by her nickname.

"Lincoln! Are you busy?!"

"No, why?"

"Portal over to my place! I got some big news!"

"But, I-"

"See you then!"

That was strange.

Hearing the dour moody Octavia acting like a giddy teenage girl for once.

It was like seeing Lucy crack a monumental smile.

He considered telling the others, but it sounded like Octavia wanted him over right now. The white haired boy opened a cabinet containing a collection of organized flash cards, each written with spells he memorized from the grimoire. He took a deck of portal cards and used one to open a gateway to the Goetia mansion, leaving an empty bedroom. Outside a window, was the three-eyed crow having witnessed the boy's departure.

It flapped its wings and flew to where Lincoln was going without him being none the wiser.

"Do you wish this to be included, sire?"

"Hmm. That is the priceless family heirloom worth a fortune that belonged to Stella's great aunt, correct?"

"Indeed. It was a wedding gift if you recall, my prince."

Stolas nodded in remembrance. "Yes, that's right. Of course...throw it in with extreme force, please." The prince chuckled in amusement over the sound of the priceless vase shattering in the moving truck. He made sure that every trace of his home that was linked to Stella was not handled with utmost care, it was a great way to relieve his pent up dissatisfaction of his now ruined marriage. "Is that everything?"

"Afraid there is still much of lady Stella's belongings." His butler imp replied. "The movers have yet to be finished."

"Ugh, figured this would take a while." Stolas shook his head in disgust at all the furniture still present in the front porch, imp and hellhound workers that he called were entering and exiting his palace. "The day I inherited the mansion, she wasted no time in putting her own personal touch on the decorations regardless of my objections." he bitterly remarked. He then scratched his chin. "I say, I can't help but feel I'm forgetting something. Something important." He knew there weren't any deadlines or dates that required the presence of a Geotia prince.

He became distracted when a phone rang loudly and another servant imp ran out carrying it. "Sire, er, it's lady Stella!" He flinched as her shrill screechy furious voice shouted from her end.

"Ah, yes. Of course." Stolas droned, even when she's not here, her voice still found its way. He winced at the loud volumes and usual slanderous insults she sent to his way. "This'll take all night." He glumly walks inside.

In the bushes, an orange portal opened and Lincoln Loud hopped out of it.

He stuck his head out to see the moving truck. "Whoa, is Stolas having a garage sale?" Seeing that his teacher wasn't around, Lincoln entered quietly, he didn't want to disturb the Goetia prince with whatever was going around outside, so he made his way to Octavia's bedroom. Being a regular visitor of the the mansion made him adept in the mansion's inner layout.

"Octavia? It's me." Lincoln whispered before the door opened and Octavia's arm pulled him in.

"Lincoln! I am so glad you made it! Something big is coming tomorrow!" Hearing a giddy Octavia was one thing, seeing it for himself was another. "I've been waiting for this since forever and I need to talk to someone about it!" her feet tapped in anticipation and had a smile wider than he'd ever seen in her avian features. She opened up a trunk and threw a lot of items that Lincoln had to catch. Some taxidermy wolverines, an old music player she barely uses anymore, some extra beanies, and old dusty books. "Here it is!" Octavia smiled at the scroll she found, sealed by a crest. "These scrolls can only be opened by members of the Goetia family. They contain special events in Hell that can be played only as illusions!"

"What kind of events?" Lincoln asked, easily placing the other items down. He recalled Lynn's advice about lifting with his legs.

"Here, watch!" Octavia tapped the seal once and it glowed purple before burning away in flames of the same color. The scroll was opened she showed them a passage about those which looked like beautiful meteorites diverse in many colors, all traveling through a magnificent journey throughout the cosmos. Lincoln was transfixed with how it looked the meteorites were glowing on the paper, as if alive. "They're called Azathoth's tears. Or what other humans call meteor showers. Dad used to tell me how they're actually the hopes and dreams of those that never came to be after a star went all supernova on any planet near it. Kickass, right?"

"Yeah..." Lincoln nodded numbly much to Octavia's delight.

"Tomorrow's the once-in-a-lifetime chance to see them and dad made a promise to me that we'll do that together!" Octavia directed his attention to her calendar where she crossed off all the previous days with x's and the next one circled.

"Aw, man, you're so lucky!" Lincoln praised. "Call me to see how it goes!"

Octavia did consider that, but now that he thought about it, there could be one other thing that can make the special day even better.

His own inclusion.

She'd have to run it by her father, first.

"Yeah..." Octavia sighed wistfully. "Honestly, this'll be the first good day I've had in months. With everything going on between my...parents..." she frowned. "...it'll be nice to enjoy something with my dad, you know?"

"Believe me. I know." Lincoln wished he had more time to actually enjoy spending time with his own father. He remembered how they used to have very little in common and then found the one thing they loved. They never really got the chance to branch out and see if they'd bond over other stuff, it would've given him a lot more memories. That said, it's not as if he lacked a father in his life. Moxxie may deny it, but Lincoln never imagined anyone else filling the role as his father until meeting the imp. Yet, that also made him a little sad. "Well, if that's all, I should get going. You don't wanna be there when Millie sees that I'm gone. In fact, I may be crazy for leaving without telling her."

"Yet, you still came here, anyway." Octavia teased, nudging his arm.

"Of course I did. If it was important to you, then it was important to me." Lincoln simply replied. "I mean, one of my best friends is worth it."

Octavia brightened up at that and surprised him with a hug. All the turmoil she's gone through and it was meeting him that started to give her the feeling to smile once again. "Thanks, Lincoln."

The two broke apart and Lincoln portaled his way back to his room at I.M.P.

"Looks like I'm in the clear." Lincoln grinned, until a frantic Millie forced herself in.

"Lincoln?! Are you there?!"

"I-" Millie didn't let him answer, she just really needed to check him over. She looked out the window, looking out for anyone spying outside. "Millie, what's the matter?"

"My mama senses are what's the matter, young man!" The female imp peeked under a small potted cactus plant on Lincoln's shelf. "In the rec room, I got a fucking itch that something weren't plum right at yer room, you weren't doing' something violent without your ma, were you?"

"What? Of course not!" Lincoln took the plant off her hands. "And be careful with that, it was a gift from Pappy Joe and Grammy Lin-I mean, your parents."

"Don't go lying to your mama, ya hear?" Millie warned. "I can be mighty stern when I want to."

Millie's expectant glower was more powerful than his human mother. "...Okay, so I might have paid a visit to Octavia, but just to talk!"

"And ya didn't even talk to me or your pa?!"

Lincoln slightly glared. "What? Is there a rule against visiting my friends?"

"Still, though!" Millie took a breath. "Ya weren't gone long, and all ya did was just visit her, didn't go anywhere else?"

"That's right."

Millie was willing to accept that. "Okay, then." She perked up and kissed his cheek. "Goodnight, sweetie! Also here are those new pants you wanted!" She gave him a pair of jeans the same color as the ones he got at stylish occult, only without the rips. He'd feel less cold.

Lincoln sighed tiredly and went back to the sweet embrace of his bed, drifting off to sleep.

"Tomorrow, I'm gonna spend all day sleeping..."

Like many of his clever plans, not even a simple one like that was guaranteed to go without failure. Lincoln's eyes shot wide open at the commotion that sprung him awake from what would've been a day-long relaxing slumber. He heard crashing and yelling coming from the rec room. Followed by some noises of his co-workers. "N-Now, Loona, you know the rule, no throwing-oh, fuck!" Blitzo shouted as Loona let out an angry growl. He ran out of his room where he saw throwing stars and knives stuck to the wall, having been thrown by an irate Loona, with Blitzo as the intended target.

"What the...?" Lincoln incredulously asked, noticing Moxxie watching this unfold on the couch holding a coffee mug.

"Loona, wait just a sec, honey, and-shit!" Blitzo ran when Loona came at him carrying the water barrel. "Looney, please, we can talk this out-" She threw the barrel harshly at his face. "Fuck! I-I mean, wow! Badass throw there, sweetums. I'm so proud of youuuuuu!" Loona tackled him to the wall past a perplexed Millie. The hellhound took off a mounted horse painting and pummeled Blitzo with it. "Damn it, that thing cost our last earnings from the last job!"

Moxxie poured Millie's cup and gave it to his wife after she jumped over the couch and onto his lap. "What's this all about, honey?" Millie curiously asked.

Lincoln's follow-up question was more panic-stricken. "And why aren't you stopping her?!"

"No need to worry, Lincoln." Moxxie placated his surrogate son, even though some part of him did find some entertainment in this. "Our esteemed employer finally talked to her about her attitude with clients.

"You mean this is the talk? Why would he need to talk to her about that?!" Moxxie answered Lincoln by gesturing by her continued assault, Lincoln also recalled yesterday's potential client. "Oh. S-Still, though! She'll kill him at this rate!" Lincoln ducked after more stuff got thrown.

Bitzo came and pushed the couch in front of his angered daughter. "I-I just think some light tweaks might help you be more of a people person!"

"I am a people person!" Loona growled, eyes glowing an offended glare at him for implying that. "Tell him, Linc!"

Lincoln blinked, not expecting to be brought in. "Um, well, I-"

"Hey now, don't bring my baby into your own little personal shit, missy!" Millie stared Loona down.

"Lincoln actually knows me! He's the only one in this chicken shit company who doesn't piss me off!"

"You weren't that welcoming in the beginning, though, were you?" Moxxie brought up.

Loona grabbed Blitzo's shirt collar and challenged him to actually act on her supposedly rude behavior. "If I'm such a terrible bitch, how about you grow a pair and replace me?!"

"Oh, yeah? Then maybe-maybe I might!"

His response actually made her retract, not expecting that answer. "What?"

"Yeah, what?!" Lincoln exclaimed.

Blitzo apprehensively looked to Moxxie who gave him a thumbs up, telling him to continue. "Maybe I will, young lady!" He sternly declared, surprising Loona and Lincoln more. "That's right, it's fucking tough love time, so all you can do is just go to your desk and think about what you've done!"

Loona growled venomously at him before tossing him down and stomping away. "Blitz, you're not serious, are you?!"" Lincoln desperately asked. "Sure, Loona can be a bit much, but that's going a bit too far! You should see her when she's really taking something seriously! I tried changing what I thought was wrong with my sisters a few times when really, it was no big deal!"

"Lincoln, please. Making excuses for her won't help anyone and this is just a change in how she conducts herself during work hours." Moxxie told him while massaging Blitz's shoulders to ease his worries, even though he respected Lincoln sticking up for his friend. "Sir, I may say so, from a business standpoint, this is the right thing to do. If we can't even hire a cheerful qualified receptionist, how can our clients trust us to massacre and mutilate their enemies for them?"

Lincoln sighed, feeling nothing he'd say would deter them, he glanced at Loona sitting at her desk with her usual permanent scowl. That scowl hid a lot of anger and hurt, Lincoln somehow felt that. The very notion that Blitzo would find someone new to take her place greatly upset her and because she didn't want to display it, she tried hiding behind her usual indifference. Moxxie's reasoning was sound to him, but Loona was still someone precious to him. He didn't want something so different, he didn't want things to change so drastically and be powerless to stop it. "Guys, I-"

"Kid, just-just don't worry about it." Blitzo hated his own migraine enough to save Lincoln the trouble of having one of his own. "Go to my office, I need some shit organized or just make sure I'm not missing any important crap."

Begrudgingly, Lincoln complied.

If he lingered, he might've caught an unexpected visitor sneaking her way into the office.

Blitzo's office had a smell that disturbed his nostrils. "Ugh, jees, Blitz, opening up a window isn't that hard." He pulled up the blinds and did so, letting in some refreshing hair. He spotted something lying on the floor. "Hey, that's the backpack Millie got me." It was black colored with I.M.P logos all over it. "I knew I left it somewhere." He placed it on his back and looked at a cabinet full of papers that haven't been checked in days. "Okay, let's see here. Expiration notice on his subscription to horse monthly. Flyers of horse riding lessons in Wrath and Greed. Note to prove to Wally Wackford that dolphins aren't the horses of the sea. Okay, that one's just petty." While he took all the stuff that needed to be thrown out that even had an old portrait of the I.M.P team, he was oblivious to the three-eyed crow flying and it sneaked itself into the boy's backpack. Not only that, Octavia discreetly entered out of the blue. She hated sneaking around without Lincoln noticing, but after what occurred this morning at her place, she just had to.

Lincoln had already cleared Blitzo's desk so it was clear that what she sought was not there.

There had to be some other place where that red kept it, somewhere that held great importance. She turned around and found a portrait behind the desk that replaced the old one. In this one, it showed the I.M.P team including Lincoln in it, standing between Moxxie and Millie, the latter hugging him tightly. She moved it aside and saw a safe lock that can only be accessed via password...that Octavia easily guessed because Blitzo used a very poor one.

There it was.

Her family's prized grimoire, to think that it's been kept in a dingy place like this and Octavia's been taught that such priceless objects should be treasured, yet her dad in his infinite wisdom saw fit to lent it away. Like many things in his life, he was oblivious to the ramification of not upholding his responsibilities.

"Octavia?!" The young Goetia flinched and craned her head at a shocked Lincoln. "What are you-?!"

"Shh!" She silenced him with a hand to his mouth. "Don't make a sound!"

"Why are you here?!" Lincoln asked, whispering. "Didn't you have that important thing today?!"

Octavia glowered at that. "Changes of plans, Linc. I'll be seeing those stars with you, not my dad!"

"What?! How come? Was Stolas busy?"

"Oh, he was busy alright" Octavia snorted sardonically, opening the book and requesting only one thing. "Take us to see the stars."

"Wait, I don't think-!" Lincoln ran and touched the book.

In an instant, thunder boomed as swirling energy colored purple and orange surrounded the two of them. Octavia's eyes glowed purple while Lincoln's were a deep orange, and a pentagram star materialized itself. Outside Blitzo's office, Moxxie jumped at the loud noise and the eerie glow coming from the opened room. "Uh, sir?"

Blitzo ceased his relaxation. "The fuck?!"

He and his imp employees squirmed through, guns primed and Millie breaking the mug into a weapon. They were prepared for an intruder looking to stir up trouble, not for a magic portal that was apparently summoned by not only Lincoln, it was him and Octavia. The owlet seethed at Blitzo and before they could act, grabbed a dazed Lincoln's arm and went through.

Blitzo, Moxxie and Millie stood stumped at what occurred. The former wondered just how Octavia managed to get in undetected, unless a specific hellhound chose not share what she saw. "Loona!" He bellowed.

"That's right, you have a visitor." Loona commented.

Millie's mug slipped off her shaking hands, breathing rapidly, feeling a horrible sense of deja vu, a portal cutting her off from her beloved son. "Where-Where did she take my baby?!" She exclaimed, pulling at her hair.

Lincoln felt something pecking at his face.

It was the three-eyed crow, perched on his t-shirt, poking his beak at him.

Once Lincoln started to wake up, the crow promptly returned to hiding in the backpack. "Where am I?" Lincoln rubbed his sore hair, he recalled the events at the office, making him stand up. "Octavia!" There was no sign of her. He was definitely on Earth which was strange since meteorites were typically found in space.

"Hey, you little ant! Get off the road!"

"Huh?" A car was honking at him and it was evident that he was standing in the middle of the road. "Crap!" He jumped out of the way, accidentally bumping into a homeless man snoring. "Oops, sorry!"

This was clearly a city in the country, it just wasn't clear where in the states he was in.

"Why you little bitch! This is my fucking territory!" Across the street was a man dressed as a clown yelling at a disturbed Octavia. "Your and your shitty costume better move it somewhere else!"

"Octavia!"

She smiled in relief after seeing her friend had made the trip intact. "Lincoln, where the fuck are we?!" She crossed the street while cars were still driving.

"Don't cross the street, yet!" Lincoln winced at a few cars crashing and halting, almost hitting her. "Are you okay?!"

"Fine, but why are we-hey!" They were blindsided by a mob of protesters. Lincoln took her hand and led her through the busy city where there were tons of street performers. She was quickly overwhelmed by all the humans surrounding her, and she ended up tripping herself and Lincoln over. Human overseers started to see how realistic Octavia's appearance was and unlike the clown, didn't see a convincing costume. Lincoln knew how troublesome it would be if Octavia's demonic nature were to be revealed to the human population, so he pulled her away, escaping to an empty alley. Octavia began hyperventilating, everything happened so fast and so random.

"Ocatvia! Look at me!" Lincoln gently held her hands. "Breathe, just breathe." He comforted.

Swallowing a gulp, Octavia did as he said. "Lincoln. Where the fuck are we?!"

"Well, obviously, this is Earth."

"Earth?!" This was Octavia's first ever time setting foot in the living world. "I told the book to take us to the stars!"

"How did you even get it?! Blitz always told me he kept it in a secret locked place!"

"Simple. He had an embarrassingly easy password."

"Damn it, Blitz! I told him to choose a stronger one!" Lincoln groaned. "Okay, let me just figure out where we are. We're in a big city, so somewhere in I don't know, New york?" He looked out of the alley and started to see signs. Names engraved on carved star sidewalks. A lot of people in costumes and painted in gold for money. The bright sunny skies. Lincoln had to pick up a crumbled newspaper and gaped. "Oh, my god..." Lincoln breathed. "We're in LA!"

Of all places, he never imagined going here.

"LA?" Octavia was unfamiliar with the locales of Earth. "Are the stars gonna pass over here?"

"Did you not even know where the book would've taken you?" Lincoln rubbed his forehead. "You know what? Never mind, let's just hurry back."

"No!" Octavia held the book close to her. "If the stars will be here, then we're not leaving!" She stormed off, determined.

"Octavia, wait up! You can't just wander around Earth still looking like a demon!" Lincoln ran after her. The crow in his backpack found these turns of events to be quite remarkable. Its eyes glowed and now they understand its new mission. Guide the two youngsters.

"Excuse me, could you-I'd like to know if-Can anyone-UGH!" Her attempts at getting directions kept ending in failure. "People being assholes to each other, are we sure we're still not in Hell?!" A flying paper landed on her face. She saw that it was a pamphlet for a special tour around the place. "This is it! Come on, Linc!" She dragged the boy to the nearest bus, despite his protests.

Blitzo was starting to think the entire universe had it out for him. All he wanted was to just run a successful company where he and his employees are able to kill humans in brutal fashions to pacify Hell's disgruntled Sinner population. Every so often, things kept hindering that goal. The grimoire was taken. His unpaid intern was taken and worst of all, it all got started by Octavia. Stolas' daughter. He was rocking back and forth in distress. 'Shit, shit, shit, fucking hell! What the fuck am I supposed to tell Stolas?!" he asked Moxxie, screaming in his face.

"W-Well, he does seem to like you a lot, sir." Moxxie smiled weakly. "I'm sure if you just explained, he'll understand. He can even help us."

"Dammit, Moxxie, my dick is good, but it's not that good!" Blitzo denied in fright. "Besides, we haven't exactly talked since that shit night in Ozzie's club."

Speaking of overprotective parents, Millie intervened. "You better do something, B! Because, I say we just force him to open up a portal to the top!" She had a sheathed sword and an axe strapped to her back. Revolver holsters around her waist, and a knife hidden in an ankle bracelet. "And don't think yer off the hook, you lazy bitch!" She pointed a butterfly knife at Loona.

"Me?! The fuck did I do?!"

"Don't bullshit us, Loona! You knew that little gal was here, but ya didn't a single fucking word and because of you, my baby boy's stuck on Earth without me to watch him! Again!" Millie screeched, going a little bit feral. "What? Did you want a little payback for Blitz talking back at you!"

Loona tried not to show it, but she did feel guilty about that. Anything relating to Lincoln was enough to make her feel something. "Lincoln's a tough kid! Tougher than he realizes! Plus, that curse of his will just bring him back when time is up!"

"It's still a huge risk to just leave things as they are! There's no telling what may happen, he might lose control like he did before and that's not even going into the princess potentially exposing herself to humans!" Moxxie was not letting her dodge the blame, not when Lincoln got affected by her choices. "Is it any wonder why we thought you needed an attitude adjustment? Sir, given our situation, I don't think we really have a choice!"

"So, I should just call him up and tell him everything, hoping he doesn't lose his shit?!" Moxxie gestured to the phone and Blitzo groaned. There really was no other way. "Maybe breaking it down gently won't make him that pissed." Blitzo gulped and called the prince "Hey, Stolas? It's me. Your favorite-" He forced hmself that forsaken pet name. "-Blitzy. Just wanted to drop a line, see how you're doing and also, your daughter came by, took our intern and the book, teleported off to who the fuck knows where and we have no way of getting any of them back, okay?! Okay. Good talk. Bye!" He quickly hung up and for a while, nothing happened. "Huh. That actually went better than I thought."

The office's entrance was immediately destroyed in an explosion.

Once the smoke cleared, Stolas in his monstrous nightmarish fully demonized form hovered in absolute fury. "Blitz!" Stolas screeched. For the first time, he did not say that name with affection. "Where is my little starfire?!" he demanded.

Blitzo and Moxxie huddled together fearfully, only Millie was the only brave one. "Blitz told you already! She took your god damn brook and my baby and you're here to help us!"

"Millie!" Moxxie was impressed by her gall, but he'd rather not get destroyed by a higher ranked demon. "Your majesty, what my lovely wife means is that since the grimoire does rightfully belong to you, your assistance can help in finding both of our young charges safe and sound...please?"

Stolas morphed into his regular appearance, still displeased. "For Lucifer's sake, Blitz! Getting yourself captured by human government agents was enough of a possible debacle! Do you just let anyone waltz into your office and grab infinitely powerful magical artifacts?!" He paced around, wrecked with parental worry. "I don't understand! Why would she take it?! Why bring Lincoln along?! When did she even leave the palace?! How do we even find them?!"

"Can't you just portal us, or some shit?"

"I need to know exactly where the children are!"

If they wanted something done, then Loona had to at least do something for Lincoln's sake. Her astute canine nose still picked up residuals that originated from the portal Octavia opened. "There's a lot of living world stench here. I think I can make it out." She sniffed some more to make sure. "Yep. It's LA." Her coworkers and the prince looked at her, realizing she had the one tool they needed. "What?" Stolas opened up a portal and she was suddenly pushed through by Blitzo.

"Okay, assholes! Let's get this shit done! Looney, get to sniffing!" Blitzo ordered.

"How am I supposed to smell anything in this city?" Loona removed a can from her hair.

"You managed to track Lincoln down in Hell, or is this far too much trouble?" Moxxie condescendingly asked.

"Did I not just say to get this shit done?!" Blitzo taped a crude drawing to a dumpster. "Okay, first things first, we gotta do this the old fashioned way! Disguises!" Stolas and Loona were way ahead of him on that front, morphing into their human forms in a flashy magical manner. The Goetia prince now looked like an adult male with dark stylized slicked back hair and classical attire. "Don't suppose you can conjure up a couple of those convincing looks?"

"Sadly, I cannot." Stolas smiled apologetically. "Without my grimoire, I'm afraid my powers are somewhat a wee bit limited in the living world."

"For shit's sake, can't memorize your own fucking spells?" Blitzo mocked. "At least Lincoln actually has sense to write 'em down in flash cards."

"Oh, and I guess your memories are so great?" Stolas made him look at Moxxie. "What's his phone number?!"

"...Go fuck yourself." It wasn't Blitzo's fault he had a poor memory.

"Hmph. Thought so."

"Hey!" Millie screamed. "If y'all are done, we got kids to find!" She twirled two pistols in her hands.

"Cool the murder rage, Mills. We're not here on a job, so don't stir up trouble." Blitzo laid out the game plan. "This is a big city, we can cover more ground by splitting up. Looney, M and M, you three are a team. Stolas and I will go our own way. And, Loona. If you see them, call us. I mean it."

All this doubt was seriously growing tiresome to Loona. "Whatever."

"Now, break!"

Loona didn't like the fact that she and the married imps were now working together. "I'm certain there are maps around, or we can just ask if anyone's seen a white haired boy anywhere."

"Yo, little man!" Moxxie was abruptly faced by a civilian. The man gave him a CD.. "How about checking out this demo right here! Some premium grade A fire right here! Perfect to crank up with the little lady! Only cost you about twenty bucks."

"Wow, how kind of you!" Moxxie grinned.

"Hon, don't even think about it! Did you forget we're here on a mission?!"

"But, Millie, this burgeoning young artist put in a lot of effort into his work, how can we diminish that?"

"Are you gonna stand there and tell me that's more important than our missing son?!"

"...Right...Right!" Moxxie couldn't believe he was distracted so easily. "Kind sir, I apologize, but my lovely wife and I-"

The man took his shades off. "Hold up, you folks are missing your kid?!" He took out his wallet where he had a photo of himself hugging a young girl resembling him. His lips quivered and took back his CD. "Go."

"Pardon?"

"Go find your kid!" He implored. "Find him and never let him go!" The imps were confused and ran off, the man screamed at them some more. "Protect your family, you freaky little shits!"

Loona hardly ever obeyed Blitzo in her life after he adopted her.

Just this once, she'll do whatever as long as it gets her buddy back home.

"We are now moving away from the most luxurious neighborhoods in the city. I do hope you've taken as many photos as you did so you can brag about them to your friends when really, they don't mean crap." The tour guide on the bus announced to the tourists. Lincoln wasn't positive, but he was sure that the guy was the same tour guide from the Lyle Lipton job.

Octavia groaned in boredom and disappointment. "I thought this fucking tour was supposed to take us to the stars."

"Yeah, in this place, stars can mean other things. Namely television and movie stars." In another scenario, Lincoln would be excited that he was in such a famous spot in the world. A shame that other factors left him wanting to leave. "Look, if you want to see them so badly, why not just go to your dad? You were so excited last night, what changed?"

Octavia gave a huff and crossed her arms. "It's not important now. One way or another, we are gonna find those fucking stars even if it kills us!"

"Uh, can we maybe not go that far?" Lincoln knew Octavia well enough by now to see that whatever was going on, it pertained to more family drama. He thought things were progressing better for his Goetia friend. She and her dad were repairing their strained bond and she seemed so happy only for her to do a complete turnaround, acting like she did when they first met at Loo Loo Land. "Whatever's going on, I'm sure you and him can-what?" Lincoln felt his backpack move around and out flew the crow. "Hey, where did you come from?"

It looked at them directly, showing them its three eyes. "Holy shit, I think it's from Hell!"

"Great, so we even have a sto-away." This day was not looking good for either of them.

The bird then flew and landed on the tour guide's shoulder, its eyes glowing. The guide himself also suddenly had his eyes shine the same color, and he swerved the tour bus to an opposite direction, nearly causing a collision. "Slight detour." The guide spoke in a trance. "We'll be making our next stop here. The studio lot." Studio buildings were lined up marked by numbers. "It's where all the magic behind cinematic masterpieces are made, even though they commonly result in being poorly written and are constantly leaked online. "As a special inclusion of the tour, two lucky tourists that are seated on the left in the back shall be allowed to explore."

Those passengers were Lincoln and Octavia.

They knew the crow was controlling the tour guide's mind, and wondered for what reasons were there to stop here. It flew past them and in mid-air, morphed into a normal looking bird. "It wants us to follow it." Octavia observed. "Maybe it's leading us to the stars!"

"Octavia!" Lincoln trembled, if his only option was chasing her all over LA, then he might as well make sure nothing bad happens to her. "The only thing worse than this is Lola finding out I went here without her!" Why a bird wanted a demon teenager and cursed a human child led them to an old abandoned production studio that continued to be one of man's many mysteries. No security presence was seen, thus, they went inside easily. Nothing but cobwebs and dusty chairs were waiting and the crow perched on one. Lincoln was now thinking it was playing tricks on them, until he stared directly into the bird's eyes. Small flashes of light filled his vision. The crow's appearance changed back to its demonic look and Lincoln rubbed his eyes as they dimmed red. "Whoa." Symbols. Arcane ones shining on the floor. "Look there!"

Octavia tiled her head. "I give up. The hell am I supposed to be looking at?"

"Those symbols on the floor!" Lincoln saw them clear as day. Octavia didn't. Only him. They were all pointing to the center of the building, Lincoln walked there and felt compelled to touch the symbol. The floor rumbled under them and Lincoln fell back after a pillar rose up. Octavia ran and protectively held Lincoln, both astonished by this.

The pillar had an archaic compass, styled in a goth appearance.

Lincoln took it for himself and a holographic needle arose, pointing in all directions. "Holy fuck!" Octavia shouted.

"Yeah." Lincoln nodded numbly.

"The compass will show you the way."

"AH!"

They almost had double heart attacks after the tour guide of all people spoke. "What you seek, the compass will point to. Follow it and you shall find that which can also help you."

All these words weren't his own, they originated from the crow, controlling the driver and flying off.

"'Where we need to go'?" Octavia grinned. "I was right! It is taking us to the stars!"

"Octavia, aren't you the least bit weirded out by-by all of this!" Lincoln looked at the compass warily. "This thing could be leading us somewhere else! Like, a trap!"

"Linc, what human could put this shit together? This has hell written all over it and we know hell!"

Once more, the princess ran to what she perceived was her way to the great tears she's dreamed of. "I still say we're diving head first into a bad-holy moly" He spotted a film poster displaying a costumed superhero having the ace of spades grasping a suave sharply dressed gentleman. "They're making a David Steele and Ace Savvy crossover this Fall?!"

He had been away from a normal life for far too long.

Since when did making a few stops ever hurt?

"This thing is so weird!" Lincoln knew compasses. They were useful tools that made sense. This magical one made zero sense and things that made zero sense aggravated him. "It's not pointing east, south, north, or west!" After leaving the studio lot, Lincoln and Octavia walked through the city, the boy opted to use their newfound compass. "Your dad ever have one of these?"

"My dad's forte is mostly star charts. Starting to think I should've taken one before I left." Octavia grumbled.

That'd be a cue for Lincoln to address the reason why she impulsively started this little adventure. One obstacle, Octavia's unwilling to share, not even to Lincoln. Perhaps he can ease her into opening up through some small talk. "So, how are you liking the human world? Anything like you'd expect?"

A good question.

In the past, she did have some curiosity in what the realm of living humans was like. She often joked how it must be pretty bad if all the detestable Sinners in Hell originated from this place. Lincoln changed that view a little. Still, her first Earth experience was a mixed bag at best. "It's...a little odd. Everyone here almost looks exactly the same. People are still assholes, though."

"Honestly, I sometimes thought about bringing you here just to hang out." Lincoln actually made a day plan. Lot of hours making it now for nothing.

At least he got to spend time on Earth with her.

That's all he really cared about.

"Sure we're going the right way?"

"It's where the compass is pointing to-wait!" Lincoln tried to stop her from walking straight through police tape to no avail. "Oh, god! Oh, my god!" A lot of willpower was put into keeping yesterday's dinner inside. "I'm so sorry! We're new here! She's wearing a costume!" He hastily apologized to the police officers surrounding the car accident that struck an unfortunate bystander. "Octavia, you just stepped through a dead guy!" he cried.

"Dead guy?" That sparked a recent memory. "Oh, did I mention I killed a guy when I first arrived?"

"I'm sorry?! What?!"

"Ooh, look at this!" She directed him towards one of the many city shops. A gift shop that spoke to her inner goth as a seller of the occult and mystery. "I didn't know Stylish Occult had a branch here!"

"You actually killed-who was-did anyone see-are they lying-" Lincoln slouched in defeat. "You already have friends who have committed more than their fair share of murders, Lincoln. What's one more?" If Octavia wanted to get a souvenir for herself, then he might try his hand. This city was abundant in palm trees, the second thing it was abundant in were stands designed to sell merchandise. Like the shop, it sold ethereal inspired objects such as a special locket that resembled a solar eclipse.

"Want it? It's free." The vendor said, hypnotized by the crow.

He quietly tucked it away before Octavia came back and to her embarrassment, her stomach growled and Lincoln giggled a bit. "You, uh, think we can also stop for food? I also skipped breakfast."

Luckily for them, one restaurant wasn't far away. From the looks of it, it was a Thai place still open for business, Lincoln never really tasted that specific dish, not even in a town where fusion restaurants were the norm. Behind the counter was a Thai woman with puffy brown hair, purple sweater, jeans, pink crocs, and a work attire consisting of a green apron and red head-scarf. She was preoccupied by thoughts besides new customers. "Excuse me?"

"Hm? Oh!" She greeted them warmly. "Welcome to Thai Go! May I take your order?"

"We'd like to, except we don't have any money on us."

She waved Lincoln's concerns away. "Don't worry about it. We have a special first customers of the day get a meal for a free one-day only deal. It was my husband's idea."

"Cool! Okay, uh..." Lincoln was unable to figure out the exotic food names. "What do you recommend?"

The woman grinned.

A highlight of her day was introducing her sacred food to newcomers. She gave them plates of the menu's top choices and smiled pleasantly once she saw them eat and become instant lovers of her cooking. "Wow! This is really good! Reminds me of stuff my dad makes, but still different!" Lincoln praised.

"Why thank you, are you and your sister in the costume out of town?"

"Sister?" She must mean Octavia. "Uh, yeah! Right! My sister and I are out of town! We're just visiting, seeing the sights, and whatever. Right, sis?" He winked at Octavia.

"Yeaaaaah!" Octavia nodded, following his lead. "We heard a lot of great things about this place!"

"Heh, if endless traffic counts as one of those great things, then you've come to the right place." The woman joked. "But, yeah. I do love it here. My husband and I can't imagine living anywhere else."

"Does he also work here?"

"Usually. He's just going around. Asking. Looking." Now, the woman was downcast, but didn't want to burden her customers. "Sorry. We're just going through some trouble is all. Please enjoy yourselves."

Lincoln felt a lot of sorrow coming from her, a sense of longing, and endless worry. He found the source by seeing a flyer on the counter, it depicted a young girl about thirteen years old wearing a school uniform. Judging by the resemblance between the lady and the girl, Lincoln understood now. He was sensing the pain of a mother missing her child and when Octavia saw the flyer, came to that conclusion, too. Whoever this girl was, she had pretty worried parents. After consuming their food, they head for the exit. "Hey. I...hope your daughter comes back." Lincoln said to the woman, holding one of the flyers. She gasped a little and fought back a sob, nodding gratefully at him. She was left alone, praying that soon, her daughter will return home.

Such musings got disturbed by a new visitor to Thai Go. "Hey, Mrs. B! Change your mind about my food truck partnership?!"

"Ned! I told you! No!" She cursed quietly in her native language.

"And click!" Octavia snapped a photo selfie of her and Lincoln standing in front of Thai Go. "Everyone in Sinstagram will never believe this."

Lincoln gazed at Thai Go thoughtfully. "That woman. She'll be okay, right? I mean, her daughter has to come back eventually. If she saw how sad her mom was, that'd be enough." His thoughts went to his own family in Royal Woods. Then to I.M.P. "I can already picture Millie having a freak out."

"Those imps, the other two, they really care, huh?" Octavia surmised.

"Yeah. They can be scary, but sweet, too. Odds are, when the day's over, they won't let me out of their sight, let alone go on jobs with them." He sighed and his friend now felt a pinch of guilt.

She never meant to cause him so much trouble.

If a certain person she refuses to talk about didn't forget an important date, she wouldn't have had to go so far. Of course, she questioned if she had a right to blame him given everything that's been happening. Maybe this was all just some big mistake.

She imagined this to be a great day, not a complicated one.

"Read my fucking lips, you fucking dumbass! Have you seen a precious little white-haired miracle child?! He'd be with some nosy little gal who thought she could just take him on some field trip!" Millie growled.

"Ma'am, you're holding up the line."

"Say that one more goddamn time, motherfucker!" She roared.

Los Angeles was a big city, meaning that finding Lincoln had its challenges. The biggest challenge of them all was trying to keep Millie from going crazy on the entire city. Moxxie and Loona sat on some chairs in the coffee shop they were in, watching Millie continue screeching like an animal at the barista. "Wow. Your bitch is being so productive right now." Loona's comment got no rebuttals. "What? No fancy-ass way of saying how insulting that was? Don't have a crack whore joke in there somewhere?"

"You know, I thought about it, then I realized, what can I possibly say that'll make you give a shit about how I feel?"

"Oh-ho, so the bitch boy does have fangs! Whoopdy-fucking doo." Loona shook her coffee shake a bit. "Then what are you doing? Looking for more reasons to convince Blitz to hire a new phone-keeper?" Her query was venom laced.

"Blitz had planned to have the talk long before today, Loona. What you fail to understand is that he has other priorities and in spite of him constantly spoiling you, he finally got the nerve to speak to you as your boss, not as your father! Not that you ever actually cared about that."

"What do you mean?"

"He spoils you rotten, lets you off with just a slap on the wrist, and it's all shit to you! Why he ever took you in I'll never know! Even when you have someone like Lincoln as a friend in your life, you still fuck up and if you don't clean up that attitude, then you risk losing everything you have!"

Loona tightened her grip on her cup, she made wolf growling noises even in human form due to growing anger.

What right did Moxxie have to say all that?

It's not like she doesn't really care about Lincoln.

He's just being his usual sensitive whiny self, because he could never handle her razzing.

Except she also detected the concern he had, the concern of a father.

Millie was in the same boat.

Both just wanted to have their son back.

"Aw, crumbs above." Moxxie paled once Millie was gone. She was dragging the barista outside, spinning a knife. "Millie, no!"

Parents.

Their children.

She doesn't understand it. She never had the chance to understand it for herself, not when she was left to rot in one of those Hellhound orphanages, a place where she had to spend the first seventeen years of her life living in. If no parents were willing to take a chance on her, then she felt no obligation in respecting Blitzo when he adopted her, at that point, she gave up looking for a family years ago. She had to fend for herself, look after herself, and care about her own safety. A safety that Blitzo took over when he finalized the paperwork. He put together a room to sleep on the first night he took her home. Afforded her stuff she loves like her phone. He even got her a job. It was a miracle for an orphanage-raised Hellhound to even make it on their own after avoiding getting let go come their eighteenth birthday. If Blitzo didn't adopt her, then she might be free to endlessly insult her coworkers.

She might not even have met Lincoln.

She owes it all to Blitzo and she hates having to owe anything to anyone.

It made her feel weak.

Weak ones suffered the most.

"Fuck. I need some air." Loona ditched the married imp, exiting the coffee shop.

This was much better, just her and her phone. Now it was prime time to update her Sinstagram account, she stopped walking to take a look at a whimsical poster of a mystical owl. Perfect selfie material. She posted it and scrolled to see if anyone could top that, and lo and behold, someone else had the same idea.

Octavia and following that post, she saw Octavia's photo with Thai Go...and Lincoln.

Eyes wide, she spat out her coffee in shock.

Loona checked out Octavia's Sinstagram account and saw more photos, one including them near a small castle-like building.

Out of sheer coincidence, it wasn't that far from the hidden demon.

She had a chance to continue lazing off or get it in gear and find those two, thus proving herself in the eyes of her peers.

But, this was still Blitzo's problem to fix.

Though, it could get him to back off and not find a new hire.

She still was not getting involved with rich demon junk.

Except, her little brother figure was still with her and if something really did happen to him and if Lincoln were in her shoes, he wouldn't have hesitated.

"Grrrr...fuck!" Loona broke her cup, her mind made up. She slid over a car's hood, and ran off down the street. Her action angered the car's owner, whom she pushed aside in order to pull off the super cool move.

"Hey, that was my damn car, you stupid bitch!" She came back and to add insult to injury, used a pipe to break the car's glass window

Back to running.

The man's eyes twitched. His most distinguishing feature other than his short height was a black t-shirt that had the word JERK on it. He shook two vengeance-fueled fists in the air, shouting outwards to the heavens above. "GOOOOOOOOOTH CHIIIIIIIIICK!" He made a call. "It's me, buddy! Tell me! What do goth chicks hate the most! Well, how the fuck don't you know?!" His best friend also voiced objections. "I don't care if my last revenge mission caused acid to make up 98 percent of LA's water! That squirrel had it coming!"

It was a long day of exploring LA.

The compass they found led them halfway across the city, through various landmarks and it all ended in this single sight. An observatory. In hindsight, it was a fairly obvious place to see passing meteorites. Whatever the case, they had better act quickly, the day was ending and at any moment, Lincoln would end up back down below and the tears would pass before Octavia ever had the chance to see them.

"Don't you think we should maybe get someone?" Lisa was the astrology major and actually had a telescope.

"That thing led us here, it has to be the place. It's one of those things that lets humans see space without any magic. That newspaper also said that it was the best spot to see the stars." The concept of a magic-less society was weird to Octavia, but those stars weren't gonna see themselves.

Lincoln knew things aren't always that easy.

No one was in the observatory at this hour, a very creepy setting to be in, in Lincoln's book. There was an unsettled feeling in him that made him beware of any potential threats hidden in the darkness. He took one step and swore he heard a faint whisper. "Mistress..." he gasped, looking around for the source. "Where did you go, our mistress..." They sounded so weak, as if on the verge of death yet still lingering. All those binge watches of ARRGH! helped him recognize the signs. There was a supernatural presence in this empty observatory.

"Otavia...did you hear that...?"

Danger was coming.

It just hadn't revealed itself yet.

"Lincoln, there's nothing here." She reassured him. "Nothing-oh, my shit!" She yelped, falling on her back.

Floating in between her and the stairs was a pale wraith concealed by a black robe. Its eyes were pitch black and moaned inhumanly like a cry of grief, summoning more wraiths to the room. Cracks formed on the ground and a purple glow lit up the room, a sudden wind overtaking it. "Octavia! Get out of there!" Lincoln's scream got her on her feet and they held each other as more specters gave out screeches.

"Intruders!"

"They have desecrated our sacred ground!"

"What has happened to it?! How long have we been dead?!"

"Our lady is gone?! Where has she gone?!"

Outside, a tired, exhausted Loona finally made it to the observatory. She already sent a text to Moxxie and Millie and if their speed were as impressive as their assassin skills, they'll be here shortly. Her canine nose picked up a very messed up scent, one that would make her fur stand on end if she weren't disguised at the moment, and more worrisome were the familiar screams of her buddy. "Linc!" she kicked the entrance open and her eyes bugged out at all the wraiths flying around the observatory. "What the shit balls?!"

"Loona! Is that you?!" Lincoln was relieved to at last see a familiar face today.

"A denizen of the damned realm!"

"It contaminates this place!"

"Our lady shall not be pleased!"

Loona's punches and kicks passed through their non-solid bodies. "Shit! Just don't worry, okay?! L-Let me just-whoa!" She was levitated up by the wraiths and began crowding her. "Let me go, you formless shitheads!"

"Ah! Lincoln!" Octavia shouted after Lincoln and she got lifted up, too.

The ghosts were unfazed when the young Goetia princess got angered enough to shoot a stream of purple fire at them, Loona's attempts at shredding them up was a useless effort, just about everything thrown at them was a waste of time. The wraiths raised their hands and trapped the three in energy ropes, things were beginning to look grim for the trio.

"Loona...Octavia..." Lincoln's eyes glowed red and shouted out one demand. "ENOUGH!"

That scream echoed and a wave of orange energy passed through the ghostly beings, halting their assault, they released Loona from their hold and now surrounded the two young ones, namely Lincoln. One look at him and they felt a sense of nostalgia, there was something in his red eyes that reminded them of someone. "The boy..." one spoke. "Could he be...?"

"Is it possible...?"

"He reeks of both living and demon...!"

"What is he...?'

The three-eyed crow flew to Lincoln's shoulder and shared a long held gaze to the wraiths and they immediately understood. "I see...it is at long last time to join the mistress in the great beyond...!"

The wraiths faded away and their remains combined into one whirlpool of purple magical energy that swallowed the three up and they were raised up and up until the whirlpool disappeared and they found themselves on the roof outside. Lincoln groaned and saw he was holding a pendant that was not there before. The wraiths seemed to have left a parting gift. "Lincoln, you good?!" Loona transformed back into her demon form.

"Yeah, fine. So, that all happened, huh?"

Octavia got up weakly and looked up at the sky. It was foggy, she couldn't see anything, no stars, not even the moon orbiting, all that trouble and in the end, she failed, Azathoth's tears were nowhere for her and Lincoln to enjoy. Lincoln. He didn't ask for this, he just wanted them to go back, they had to go through the recent mess because of her own stubbornness. She sniffled quietly and wept into her knees. Lincoln and Loona looked on in sympathy, the former did what he did best, console his friend by hugging her which she accepted. "Hey? You hurt?" Loona awkwardly asked her.

This was the first time she met the other sister-like figure in Lincoln's life and it made her feel uneasy. But, she started to feel some sympathy after watching the teen Goetia shed her tears.

Octavia wiped off some tears. "N-No." She hiccuped. "You're Loona, right? Lincoln told me a lot about you."

"I can say the same for you." Loona chuckled, it was funny, she didn't feel so jealous.

"...How did you find us, anyway?"

Loona waved her phone at them. "Through your Sinstagram, princess. You took some killer pics, by the way."

"...Thanks." Octavia sighed neglectfully. "Lincoln. I'm sorry for dragging you along, I was just-just so stupid! I can't believe we spent all day looking for a place to see a dumb meteor shower and all we get is fucking ghosts and fucking this!" More waterworks came as she gestured to the foggy night sky.

"Yeah, smog can be a really cruel bitch." Loona nodded. She put a cigarette in her mouth and tried turning on her lighter to no avail. "Speaking of faulty bitches!" she cursed. Lincoln looked at an uncertain Octavia and he nodded at her to go ahead, the Goetia prince tapped Loona's shoulder and lit a small purple fire through her finger. She lit the bud, allowing Loona to smoke, even if the smoke did disturb the younger two. "You know, your pop's pretty about you."

That got a sardonic laugh out of Octavia. "Oh, great! And that's why you're here instead of him, right?! Typical! He couldn't be bothered to keep his promise and now he can't be bothered to come and get me himself!"

"Didn't keep his...he forgot, didn't he?" Lincoln already had a feeling, he just wished he was wrong on that front.

"Yeah! He did! He was too busy doing his favorite pastime besides bumping uglies with your asshole boss, yelling at my mom!" Octavia recalled her heartbreak over the fact that even though he was once resolute in his promise back then, he actually forgot. "So, I decided I might as well see them with someone who actually cares! You."

"M-Me? Why me?"

"Why the hell not, Linc?" Octavia rhetorically asked. "I was actually planning on asking him if we could bring you because...I wanted to share it with my best friend." she said in earnest and Lincoln felt really touched by her proclamation. "Instead, dad had to let his shit with mom ruin it! Why does he hate her more than he loves me?!" At this point, she no longer cared if they patch things up, all she ever really cared about was that her father still had a presence in her life.

"Octavia, come on, you know that's not true."

This was going to be tough, but Loona just couldn't ignore the young girl in turmoil sitting next to her. Similar to how she felt the need to comfort Lincoln, the same feeling came in regards to Octavia. "Sometimes, it's not always that simple. This kind of shit. It gets real messy. Everybody's got issues, you know? Especially dads. And sometimes, they do fuck up and I mean, really fuck up. Like, all the freaking time. But, that doesn't mean they don't care."

"If he cares so much, where is he?!" Octavia demanded.

"Somewhere down there."

Octavia blinked, not expecting an answer. Not even that one.

"You mean, he's here?"

Loona breathed out more smoke. "Yep. Looking for you." His tastes in partners notwithstanding, Stolas really does prove to care for his daughter. "Not just them. Moxxie and Millie are searching for our boy here." She rubs Lincoln's head. "Moxxie's actually letting my insults slide. For a huge gun nerd, he's got his priorities straight. Even though, he was distracted by merch stands. But, you get my point." Moxxie. Still proving to be a great father and Lincoln was grateful for that. Look, try to cut your dad some slack, he may not always get it right, but at least he's trying." She caressed the lighter, the one Blitzo got for her. A sign of his expressive and tender love for her as his daughter. She smiled knowingly at Lincoln, recalling their own talk about Blitzo's abilities as a father at the mall mission. "That's more important than you think."

Everything was far from perfect.

But, Loona's words were making Octavia slowly realize that she was expecting too much from Stolas.

Trying to be a good parent is already a tough enough job, and no matter how many broken promises there are, the one promise he's still keeping was that he wasn't going away.

Through the smoggy sky, the moon shone down on the three, Loona was the first to stand. "You two ready to go?"

"...Yeah." Octavia gave her the grimoire.

Loona held out her hand and instead of taking it, Octavia spontaneously hugged her tightly and soon enough, Lincoln followed suit.

The Hellhound smiled and wrapped her arms around the two.

These two crazy kids, if someone had to watch out for them, it might as well be her.

"Now, say agin, where's the observatory?"

"I believe it's north of here. Or is the one west?"

"Damn it, Mox, just pick one already!"

"Maybe if Loona specified which observatory she was in!"

"M and M? That you?"

Moxxie and Millie got themselves lost trying to find the observatory Loona texted to them about and in their search, ran into their boss and Stolas. "Sir! Thank Satan we found you! Have you found...why are there fire trucks nearby? And what are you wearing?" Moxxie thought Millie was the one to worry about causing a ruckus, how silly of him to think Blitzo wouldn't do so himself. Stolad could have at least reigned him in.

"Not now, Mox! We're still got-hang on a flying fucking second! Where's my Looney?!"

Through a portal, all three of their children came, Loona holding their hands.

"Lincoln!"

"Octavia!"

"Loona, there you are!"

The four parents rushed to their kids, Blitzo going ahead. His own little offscreen adventure made him realize he could never find a substitute for Loona, no matter how rude she is even if it does hurt business. "Loona! Oh, my sweet baby girl! I'm so sorry! I swear I'll never replace you! You can treat Lucifer himself like shit and I'll still love you until the day I- GRH!"

Loona kicked under the pants, making the others present wince. "We're good." She said, shrugging.

"Lincoln, my baby boy!" Lincoln turned blue in Millie's protective crushing hug. "Oh, mama's never ever gonna let you go again, no more running off, mister!" She kissed his cheek multiple times. He saw Stolas and for a moment, his vision was clouded again as he witnessed his teacher shift between his demon look and what was apparently his human disguise.

"Some gracious stands were kind enough to sell healing ointment. It's supposedly organic in origin." Moxxie knew they'd be useful.

Now, it was Stolas' turn to express his beyond relief that he found his wayward daughter who was in the process of apologizing to him. "Dad. I-I'm sorry about-I didn't meant to worry you-I'm sorry-"

"Oh, forget that, my little starfire! I'm just relieved you're okay!" Stolas celebrated, hugging and spinning her around, transforming all the while. "But, what possessed you to do such a thing? You know I haven't taught you spells like this yet."

"I just wanted to see the stars you promised. From when I was a little girl."

"Stars?" Stolas' confusion and to his dismay, realized what she was referring to. Him dealing with Stella made him forget the important event he once told her long ago and it all made sense why she abruptly left to take the grimoire for a trip to Earth. He should've realized it sooner. "Oh, dear lord! Azathoth's Tears! Oh, no! Oh, my dear sweet Via! I am so-"

Octavia hugged him in assurance. "It's alright, dad. I know. You're here now and that's what matters."

Stolas hugged her once more, glad that she held no ill will.

Loona smiled at the reconciled father and daughter until Blitzo tried coming in for a hug of his own, she smacked the grimoire at his face, even though she was slightly touched by the gesture.

By now, fireworks exploded in the sky, unleashing wonderful colors. "Whoa, what the fuck is all that about?" Loona asked, taking some pics.

"My acting career in flames." Blitzo grumbled.

"Do we even wanna know?" Lincoln did not want to.

Octavia was captivated by the aerial display, they weren't a meteor shower, but it was still a pretty event to look at. "Whoa! Look at that one! And look at that one over there!" She breathed in awe.

Stolas was relieved that she found some happiness. "Dear boy, I hope you two kept out of trouble in this little adventure."

Lincoln recalled the compass and the pendant, he knew he had to tell them about what happened at the observatory. "Funny you should say that..."

Chapter Text

Somewhere in the Pride Ring, the streets were in a buzz as per usual. Namely, the stink of hopelessness in the air mixed with gunpowder and drugs, a very atypical day in the top ring of Hell. For the three-eyed crow, it largely ignored all these happenings as it flew across the buildings. "Spare change? Spare change anyone?" A hairy demon in a trench coat was lying on the sidewalk holding an empty broken coffee cup. It was a depressing sight, even more depressing was that it was more often than anybody in that demon's position would care to admit to anyone. In Hell, do be down on one's luck, also meant they were easy pickings for the type who thrive on antagonizing the poorer demons, such as the sleazy eel-like demon in a purple suit on his phone.

"Heh, yeah, she was practically begging for it, my man. And-hang on, man. Just one minute." Seeing the poor homeless demon was something he just couldn't ignore. He just had to take out some pepper spray and aim it right in his eyes, making him fall back and covering his eyes. "Haha! Ah. Sorry, I was too busy laughing at the misfortune of the unfortunate. Anyway, I'll call you back. Got important business. I'm, uh, buying a gift for my girlfriend. Do me a solid and tell her I'll be home late." He pulled out a huge wad of cash.

But, not for a gift.

He saved it all for the group of female imps, Succubi, and random looking Sinners that were doing their usual work on the block. "Heads up, ladies. We got a live one." The Medusa-looking woman told her co-workers.

"Ladies." The eel demon noticed one of them having more rougher facial features. "And uh, however you self-identify as. Have I got something special for you, and I'm not just talking about the cash." He laughed at his own joke. "Now, I got plenty for maybe I wanna say, two or three you, but-hey!" The three-eyed crow zoomed past his hands, making him drop the money. The crow flapped its wings and a gust of wind made all that cash take off into the sky. All the eel demon could do was fruitlessly try to get it all back. "Fuck! That was all I could make this week!"

The crow continued flying, rising upwards a skyscraper before stopping at the very top.

Its three eyes glowed red as the empty air in front of it swirled into a vortex made out of purple lightning and entered through a plane of ethereal purple energy. Multiple ghostly faces groaned. The crow reached the end of the vortex, it was a room that had no electric light in it whatsoever, purple stained glass detailing a hooded horned demon wielding a scythe was on the ceiling.

Surrounding the room were candles lit by purple fire on candles. Tables had silver skulls and tomes that were turned to pages of ancient runes and curtains had occult symbols hanging from the walls. The crow set itself in front of three empty and opened black pods. Through the stained windows, wraiths phased in and approached the crow who pointed its wing into the pods. Understanding, the wraiths entered the pods which closed, trapping them inside. The pods were engraved by markings that glowed purple upon closing. This caused the same effect on the floor which was similarly engraved by markings. The crow stood patiently for this special process to finish and after merely a few seconds, the glowing ceased.

The pods automatically opened, releasing a large mist that filled the area.

Several pairs of glowing eyes appeared inside the steam where the pods were and the crow met their gaze.

It cawed only once.

"...Understood." A low hissing voice said in the mist. "By the will of our mistress, the boy shall be protected."

Lincoln was not an athlete.

He accepted a long time ago during his ill conceived stint in pee wee football.

Despite Rita's encouragement, this was what he decided on. After all, Lynn was the sports star in the Loud Family. She was the one who always won all the hockey, baseball, basketball, and soccer trophies. Lincoln never thought of himself as anything less just because while he was the only son in the house, he had no affinity for sports whatsoever save for some bike riding and dodge ball practice. But, there always came a time when one had to realize that having a strong body was necessary. In the case of a boy cursed to spend time in Hell, it was a necessity.

He hated it.

Lord, did he hate it.

But, he wanted to survive in Hell.

"I...really...hate this...!" Lincoln lost count on how many hours in the morning he spent doing this. It'd be a shock if it were still morning, he had to be nearing afternoon at this rate. He stopped his running to catch his breath, wiping away sweat on his face. The simple act of jogging would explain his exhaustion. Except he wasn't running on the ground, but from the high buildings of Imp City.

"Lincoln!" Millie's southern voice sang from the edge. She was dressed in a black hoodie and gym shorts. "You're almost there, honey!"

"Millie...don't you think...we should...stop...?"

His training in Hell elevated from weapons to gaining skills in agility. The best way to perfect that was some good old fashioned parkour. All his limbs felt like falling off and he might just faint any minute.

Yet, he didn't.

That told Millie that if pushed, Lincoln could handle any pain.

"Come on, we're not that far from the apartment!" Millie knew not to pressure Lincoln in his training, but she has taken her role as overseeing Lincoln being in tip top shape for combat very seriously. Each lesson he learns means he has a better chance of surviving whether on Earth or Hell. "You're a small feller like me and your pa, that means you gotta learn how to move fast when fighting fuckers, that's how we do business and it's high time you learned it, too! Now, follow your ma, hun!"

The combat specialist climbed down a building until jumping through an open window.

Sighing, Lincoln begrudgingly complied.

The white haired boy slid down a pipe to go through the same window. "Whoa..." He saw that inside was a long staircase that had a very deep path below. One wrong move and he'd be taking a long trip to somewhere even deeper than Hell, and give the janitor here a big mess. "Really starting to miss the stairs at my house." He sighed in resignation before hopping on top of the stair railings to jump upwards to grab onto the rails in the way above him. Struggling, Lincoln climbed over and leapt out the open window to the fire escape.

Lincoln climbed up the ladder until he made it to the roof.

Millie's hand abruptly grabbed onto his wrist and pulled him up. "Okay, hon! That got your heart bumping!"

"That and my arms ache..." Lincoln weakly replied.

"Good! That means the parkour's working! Like yer pappy Joe used to say, 'if it ain't painful, then it ain't workin' right!'" Millie then got in a fighting stance. "Now it's time to put all that exercise into a nice little spar!"

Lincoln gulped at that. Fist fighting was still something he wasn't comfortable with, especially since his sparring partner was Millie, he knew full well that she'd never intentionally hurt him, but this was still Millie. He's seen her dismember various people with her bare hands and didn't wish to risk unintentionally incurring her wrath, much as he loves her like a son loves his mother, he's nervous when she gets too ultra violent. "Are-Are you sure?"

"Come on, sweet-pea! I'm sure you'll do fine! Now, try and block this!" Millie's fist shot forward like a small red comet that Lincoln blocked and parried away. A good first start, but this was only the beginning. Millie's right leg launched for an upward kick that only ended up being another hit that Lincoln successfully blocked. In Lincoln's opinion, the best offense was a good defense. But defense could only get him so far when dealing with Millie who flipped over her boy to land behind him and swipe her tail under his feet, making him trip and fall. "Don't just watch the arms and feet, gotta keep track of the tail!"

Lincoln turned over and returned the favor by tripping Millie up in kind. "You were saying?" The boy couldn't help but remark

After leaping up, Lincoln prepared to block more of Millie's strikes. But, the imp was instead doing he defense stances, as if daring Lincoln to go on the offensive for one.

He knew she was baiting him, but if he was going to get the hang of hand-to-hand combat, then he needed to get out of his comfort zones sooner or later. Preferably sooner, if he wants to continue breathing. Getting up, Lincoln put some distance between while she too arose and in a flash, Millie threw something at Lincoln. He caught what was a training combat knife. Millie charged armed with her own training knife, Lincoln was able to dodge for a while before swinging his own at her. "Remember, jab with extreme prejudice! Like, I do if some hoe was flirtin' with Moxxie. Or just for some shits and giggles."

"How often do people flirt with Moxxie?"

"Not so often when I'm done with 'em." Millie responded, grinning maliciously.

Lincoln's question turned out to be a brilliant distraction once Lincoln managed to grab hold of her arm then pulled her forward near his shoulder. He summoned a lot of inner strength to completely throw her over to the other side. Panting, Lincoln panicked when he saw that she wasn't getting back on her little feet. "Oh, my god! Millie, I'm so sorry!" He ran to her. "I didn't mean to-"

Millie cut him off, ambushing him with a jovial bear hug. "That was fucking A, sweetie! No one's been able to flip me over and still be walkin' other than yer aunt Sallie May!"

"Uh, thanks." Lincoln had to admit, he seemed to be much stronger than he anticipated. Granted, Millie's small size made her easy to carry, but to him, she actually felt lighter than that.

"One critique, though."

"What's tha-"

"Dodge!"

Lincoln didn't react to Millie's tail lashing him behind the head. "Gotta work on your dodging." Millie chided.

Her boy rubbed the spot she hit. "You know, yelling out 'dodge' is more distracting than helping." Lincoln pointed out in annoyance.

"No sass, young man! Now, let's hustle it! Yer pa's waitin' for us!" Millie jumped onto and slid on a clothesline.

Sighing, Lincoln followed after her. "Next time, it's practicing aiming skills for a while. Less hassle."

When Moxxie's not anywhere near Millie like he most often is, he's at their apartment complex, doing what a hellborn of the fiery pits that was Hell that kills humans for a living such as himself normally does. Baking snacks for his wife and son in all but blood. He figured Lincoln would be beyond exhausted from the rigorous training from Millie, so preparing a good pick-him up seemed like the most fatherly thing to do. The little bow-tie wearing imp whistled a happy tune as he waited for the oven to finish heating up the cakes, bread, and other assorted food inside.

A loud knocking on his door interrupted the moment of levity.

He expected to see Millie and Lincoln, but instead, it was a very out of shape imp male dressed in a sweat stained tank top and black pants. He had some stitching scars all over the body. "Moxxie! I'm here for the fucking rent, you late-ass limp-dick fuck up!"

Rather than be nervous, Moxxie face-palmed. "Roy, I already told you, enough with the whole fake landlord scam. Literally every tenant in this building is wise to you, so for fuck's sake, give it a rest. And maybe use a more convincing costume next time."

The portly imp grabbed the top half of his face and ripped it off, revealing a younger looking imp about Moxxie's age with glasses and beard. "Hey, I have you know, this is an actual suit made out of actual skin, ya fuck-nut. Found in the trash around the corner of Auntie Hoe's brothel. Amazing what some rando would throw out and it looks just like the landlord, too."

Moxxie sighed. "Please, just leave."

"Oh-ho-ho, look who finally found their balls." Roy crossed his arms. "What happened to the little pussy who always pissed himself whenever I showed up like this?"

"If you must know, he's learned how to stick up for himself and not take shit from anybody." Moxxie boldly stomps his foot down on the floor, making the neighbor downstairs yell through the thin floor.

"Shut the fuck up, you lousy fuck!" Moxxie flinched at the old lady's voice. "You and that bitch of yours were noisy enough last night!"

"Er, my apologies!" Moxxie meekly apologized and cleared his throat. "Now, I believe you were on your way out. My wife will be here shortly along with a special guest."

"Is it that freaky boss you always bitch about?" Roy asked. "Did you finally cave in and agree to a three-way?"

"What? No! We-"

The neighbor downstairs heard that. "Well, shit. I'm gonna have to get my damn earplugs if you're gonna have a three-way up there."

"No one's having a three-way!" Moxxie shouted and took a deep breath. "Just leave my apartment, Roy!"

"Hey, I'm not even inside your shitty apartment, I'm only at the doorway."

"Then kindly remove yourself from my fucking doorway!" Moxxie screeched, half-tempted to reach for his hidden firearm.

"Okay, okay, Jeez. I'll go and dumpster dive for more suits made out of dead imp skin." Roy finally left the premises.

Moxxie sighed in relief that that little episode was finally over. Although, the intensity of the argument may end up having some very dire ramifications on the elderly neighbor downstairs. "Er, I hope you're fine, Mrs. Ravits. I know how loud noises are a bad thing for your blood pressure, so I hope you remember to get your pills." No words of reassurance were said in response. "Mrs. Ravits? Hello?" Still no response. "I'll, uh, I'll take your silence as confirmation."

Outside his window, Lincoln fell down yelling and grabbed the sill to halt his fall. "Moxxie!" He called while tapping on the glass.

"Oh, crumbs!" Moxxie quickly opened the window and helped Lincoln inside. "Are you alright?!"

"Fine, I just thought your apartment would be next to a fire escape." Lincoln panted, relieved that the parkour training was over.

Millie then jumped through, somersaulting to the ground, landing perfectly on her feet. "Whoo! Nothing like jumping across big-ass buildings to get the sweet, sweet blood boiling hard! Hiya, Mox-Mox~!" She planted a quick peck on his cheek. "Ooh, I smell something cookin'! Got something in the oven, hon?"

"I do indeed, my dear!" Moxxie put on some mittens to open up the smoking stove and showed them his special cakes. They were made to resemble a person dying in multiple horrifying ways. "I made them in the likeness of some of the targets we were hired to kill and to show my appreciation of your prowess," Moxxie wiggled his eyebrows in a flirtatious manner making Millie blush. "I made them all in their likeness, only for you, my love!"

"Oh, Moxxie~! You little romantic!" Millie gushed. "You even included red seasoning as the blood! No offense to ma, but yer not so bad behind the girl yerself ,baby!" She took a handful of the goodies.

Moxxie put some on a plate and offered them to Lincoln. "Go on. Try."

Lincoln smiled nervously at the very off-putting food, but he couldn't very well disappoint that hopeful expression on Moxxie's face. He cautiously takes one that appears to look like a guy getting decapitated and bites a very small bite. It didn't take long for him to enjoy the taste and took a few more, such horrifying likenesses, yet so undeniably delicious. "This isn't half bad, reminds me of the muffins my dad back home made...only with less death themes." He took a gander at both M and M's apartment. "You know, l always wondered what your home was like and it's not half bad."

"Isn't it? I just wish it were big enough for three." Millie pouted. "Then, we'd be living together like a family should and it'd feel like a real home!"

"Now, Millie. As much as I wouldn't mind such an arrangement, you know we can't risk it. You know how nosy some of our neighbors can be." Moxxie told his disappointed wife. "Just before you came here, Roy was at the door."

Millie rolled her eyes. "Is he still tryin' ta scam everyone out of their rent money?"

"In a suit made of dead skin no less. Honestly, it's always something with him."

Lincoln froze a bit from that information. "…..You know what? I think I'm good in the office. Besides, this place looks fine as it is."

"But, it could be better!" Millie wasn't letting up. "Just look around and Ah guarantee that you'd like it better than the office!"

Lincoln saw the couch and pointed out something. "I guess the office doesn't have something like that. I have to ask, why do you have police handcuffs and why are they fuzzy?"

The imps stopped chewing and their eyes slowly darted to the handcuffs colored pink and full of fuzz that was just lying there. "That! Uh, that is-" Moxxie sweated, unable to think of anything to say.

"Nothing!" Millie grabbed them and hid them behind her. "Yer…..pa used to dream about being a police officer!"

"Did one of his dreams also include playing ping pong?" Lincoln pointed over to a counter that had a spiked paddle.

"Uh…" The assassins looked at each other, trying to find a way to both provide a convincing lie and keep their boy's innocence intact. "Hey, why don't you go and see mommy and daddy's bedroom! There's nothing strange over there! And do some push ups!" Millie pushed him along and out of earshot. "Moxxie! You said you put everything away!"

"I-I thought I did!" Moxxie could not believe he made such a blunder. "I told you it was risky moving things to the living room! The bedroom exists for a reason!"

"Hey, now! Take that tone again and it's the couch for you, mister! And I'll have you tied to it, too!" Millie shot back.

"Oh, you of all people know damn well that I wouldn't mind!"

In their mentioned bedroom, Lincoln did as Millie requested.

"10….ow…..11…..ow…..12…..ow…..13…..ow…..14…ow…" Doing push ups when he was just doing parkour strained his body even more. It was even worse than that health kick he got his human parents to do and in turn, made him and the sisters do the same. One of many examples of his plans backfiring on him. He stopped the push ups when his phone went off in his pocket. He saw what message he got and gasped. "Holy crumbs!" Lincoln ran straight to the imps. "Guys, guess what just happened!"

"It's perfectly okay for grown ups to have that sort of thing in their drawers!" Millie hastily shouted.

"I can't help it if I like it when Millie's the man!" Moxxie added.

"…What?"

Moxxie sighed. He knew that this would happen eventually, he just wished he'd make preparations. He held one of the boy's shoulders to grab his focus. "Lincoln. There comes a time when a man loves a woman so much, he doesn't mind wanting to be…uh, let's call it adventurous and he can't help it if it incurs a good feeling. If anything, it's a further testament of his capacity for love for his wife. And is it so wrong to have love for a dominating woman? Or even a man?"

"Moxxie-"

"It took me a long time to figure that out, and I sure as Heaven couldn't depend on anyone to explain it to me." Moxxie turned a little too bitter at that.

"Moxxie!" Lincoln stopped the whole rant with a shout. "I got a text from Octavia that she and her dad have important info about that pendant I found."

"…..Oh. I see." A very long and very awkward silence ensued.

The only thing making a sound was a car crash outside followed by angry yelling.

"Perhaps, we should head over the office." Moxxie suggested.

"I'll call us a cab." Millie suggested.

"Oh, don't worry. I got it." Lincoln used a chalk to draw a circle on their floor which opened up a portal to the interior of the IMP office. The three jumped through and ended up landing on the top of the meeting table.

Loona was sitting at her desk, reading one of her magazines. "Hey, guys." she lazily greeted him.

"Hey, Loona? Is Blitz in?" Lincoln asked.

The hellhound pointed to the boss's office.

Moxxie knocked on his door. "Sir! It's Moxxie!"

"Satan's ass! What is it, Mox?! I thought you and Mills had the day off to train the kid?" Blitz shouted.

"We were, but, sir! It's time!"

"….It is?"

"Yes!"

"Moxxie, I swear to Satan, you better not be bullshitting me right now!"

"I bullshit you not, sir!"

Unexpectedly, Blitzo screamed out as if he were over the moon. "Fucking finally! You and Millie get in here!"

"Yes, si-what?"

"You heard me, I already have everything ready!"

Frowning in confusion, Moxxie opened the door and stopped dead in his tracks once he saw Blitzo sitting upon his desk, one leg crossed and holding a glass of wine. Smooth saxophone music was playing and he smirked expectantly at Moxxie. "Well~."

"Um, it's time to go see the Goetias, sir. It's about what was last discussed." Moxxie pointed out the door.

The music instantly stopped and Blitzo glared at his employee. "I'll go start up the van." He angrily throws the wine glass, shattering it on the floor. He stomped out his office and Lincoln waved to his boss.

"Your parents are fucking teases!" Blitzo exclaimed. "Now get all your asses to the van!"

Lincoln was stunned. "Good morning to you too, Blitz."

Certain demons have a certain way of traveling that's unique to them, it shows the kind of individuals that they are and what they're all about. For the revered Goetia family, a carriage pulled by demonic horses tamed by the imp butler of Stolas. Inside the carriage, the prince himself and his daughter rode comfortably, though the former was concerned that the latter chose to accompany him. "Now, are you certain that you wouldn't feel better back at the palace, Via?" Stolas asked his precious offspring. "This isn't exactly a standard day out or anything fun for you."

"It's fine, dad. Not like there's anything interesting to do at home. Besides, I'll have to go to mom's this weekend, so might as well make things fun while they last." Octavia didn't realize her spending more time with him than Stella made Stolas' heart skip a beat. "And there was no way I was missing this. I mean, it involves Lincoln, right?"

"Well, yes. In that it pertains to the little adventure you and the boy had in the mortal world. He did personally request that I look into it." Stolas held that very same pendant in his right hand. It was understandable to assume that it wasn't anything special given that it was found on Earth. Upon a period of close inspection however, the demon royal found something interesting about it and decided to show his pupil given that Lincoln found it in the first place. "I must ask once more, these apparitions you, he, and Blitz's daughter encountered. They just went away?"

Octavia rubbed her arms.

That was a rather harrowing experience for a day that was supposed to be about watching a once in a lifetime meteor shower.

"Only after Lincoln showed off some of his stuff. They pussed out of there right away." A contemplating finger came to a non-existent chin. "It was almost like they knew who he was."

"Hmm, curious. Very curious." Stolas mused.

"Dad, will Lincoln be okay?" Octavia asked out of concern of how this could affect her best friend.

Stolas smiled and comfortingly soothed his little star-fire's shoulder. "Have no fear, princess. Whatever may happen, everything will be okay." Octavia smiled brightly at those familiar reassuring words which were a little undercut by his next ones. "...Unless of course something goes awry. In which case, you get your tuckus back to the palace post haste, young lady."

"Dad!" Octavia pulled down her beanie.

"What? What did I say?"

God, he could be so embarrassing.

But, she still loves him for it.

"At least keep yourself in control."

Stolas quirked an eyebrow. "And what do you mean by that?"

Octavia scoffed. "Do I even have to say it? I'm talking about how you always get in a constant state of being thirsty when you're around his prick boss." Stolas blushed and cleared his throat.

"E-Er, that is-I don't-"

The stuttering mess of a Goetia was stopped after the father and daughter heard a shout from outside. "Hey, you uppity royal assholes!" On a sidewalk, a common demon imp was ranting at the carriage while taking a swig of a large booze bottle. "Y-*hic*-You think you're all some hot shit just because you got some fancy fucking carriage ride while regular shitheads like me only have a piss-poor taxi service! B-But, I'd take that than be some prissy head up my ass royal fuck-wad like you! Go on! Go back to your big-ass manor or whatever shitty place you got! W-We don't need your rich-people stink fucking up the place! Now go on! Get!"

Stolas stared deadpanned at the imp's rantings while Octavia tilted her head in curiosity. "Is that guy alright?" She asked her father.

"Just ignore him, sweetheart." Stolas waved off, not wanting her to be too engrossed.

For all his faults in parenting, Paimon made sure to teach his son how to ignore the ire of those who were envious of royalty. That is, until the imp crossed a very dangerous line that Stolas could not ignore. "And take your little crotch spawn with you!" Turning his head a complete 180 degrees, Stolas stared directly at the imp, his four eyes glowing red to irreversibly turn him to stone.

Stolas' imp butler shook like a leaf and his blood ran cold when Stolas amicably spoke to him.

"Driver~. I do believe we should be on our merry way~."

"O-Of course, your highness."

The butler was beginning to understand why his predecessor retired once Paimon left everything to Stolas.

A loud honking however stopped the carriage ride, it was a signal sent by Blitzo as he and the rest of his employees/surrogate family onboard the IMP company van, nearly hitting a few jaywalkers who angrily gave him the bird, halting right next to the carriage. "You!" Blitzo pointed at the butler, glaring intimidatingly. "Get your ass off that carriage...and let me take your place!" He practically begged, cooing at the horses.

"Blitzy-I mean, Blitz!" Stolas tried in vain to not appear smitten in the presence of Blitzo. "How odd to see you so soon. I was honestly hoping to give you and your compatriots a means of transport for once."

Having finally noticed Stolas, Blitzo glared, annoyed. "Well, shit. Next time, maybe just call ahead. You got any fucking idea how much gas I wasted heading for your pad?"

Stolas lightly glowered. A little more hostile than what he was expecting, but then again, Blitzo's always been the fickle imp. "Maybe if you returned my texts and calls, we could've been more clearer."

"Excuse me for getting tired of breaking all my phones every time you get all dirty talk whenever I give you a call. Call someone from Lust, 'cause I ain't cheap phone sex bitch!" Blitzo huffed and to be fair, he made a decent point.

Unlike the grown-ups, the kids of this unusual troupe were much more friendly in their greetings.

"Lincoln! Loona!" Octavia happily hugged Lincoln who eagerly returned it.

Loona watched this exchange with a genuine smile and then her arm was grabbed by both of them, getting brought in the hug. "Heh! Uh...yeah..." She awkwardly patted their backs. Group hugs weren't really her kind of thing, but nevertheless, this actually felt pretty nice.

Blitzo being Blitzo, ruined the happy moment in Hell. "Alright, alright. Let's get down to business before this turns into a hug fest that excludes me. Stolas, you got anything for us about that tacky necklace the kid found."

"Sir, the correct term is pendant."

"Yeah, no one really gives a fuck, Moxxie. Still pissed at ya for getting my hopes up, by the way."

"Actually, he's quite correct, Blitz." Stolas went into a very informative spiel about the differences between the two. "See, a necklace is the actual chain around the neck, while a pendant hangs from the chain. It's actually quite common to mistake one for the other."

Moxxie nodded. "Yes. Like, for instance, a ficus from a rhododendron."

"Precisely!" Stolas nodded eagerly. "A very astute comparison, for an imp."

"Why thank you, your highness-"

Blitzo had enough of the meaningless prattle. "Just tell what's the big deal about the goddamn thing! Fuck, I like you both better when you're just standing like hot pieces of ass and nothing else!"

"Alright, alright." Stolas handed the mysterious pendant to Lincoln. "Let's begin with what we already know about this peculiar little trinket. Dear boy, you, my daughter, and the Hellhound girl came across it in the human world. However, there are clear magical elements involved. Those wraiths, the complex that housed the pendant. It all just screams something occult in nature. Through research and theories, I can safely say that what we have is something that had belonged to a Sinner?"

"A sinner?" Lincoln looked at the pendant in wonder. "But, I thought Hellborn were the only demons allowed on Earth?"

"That they are. Of course, it takes very exceptional demons to make contracts to mortals that have yet to be departed. These are the demons who are ranked below Goetias like me and Via, yet still powerful in their own right. The Overlords." The mere mention of them sent a shiver down Lincoln's spine. He's done his own research on the demons that roam Hell and Overlords were among Hell's toughest customers. "Throughout Hell's history, the Overlords have held positions of power mostly here in the Pride Ring. Media, resources, and the like. Lucifer may reign here, but since it houses Sinners that keep getting damned to Hell, a majority of them have taken it upon themselves to oversee their own seats of power. Since most of them are Sinners, it stands to reason that in life, one must have committed their lives to the occult lifestyle. That's always a surefire guarantee you're going to Hell."

"Bit late for that! Right, Linc?" Blitzo remarked, getting a slap behind the head from Loona. "What?"

Lincoln looked at the pendant. The chain looked like crow feathers and it was colored purple and there was a skull stone at the center of the same color surrounded by rune symbols. Something about it...resonated with Lincoln. It's as if there's this unknown connection to it that compelled Lincoln to find out more about it, yet, that also made him nervous.

What if he doesn't like what he wants?

And what if pursuing this need, this want for answers only brought trouble?

It wouldn't be the first time.

"So, if this belonged to an Overlord who used to be human, then could that Overlord still be somewhere in Pride?" Lincoln asked his teacher.

Stolas had pondered a similar thought. "It's possible, though I regret to say that the odds are very slim. Most Overlords tend to keep to themselves and I've only met a handful of them. Not only that, but who they are, or rather, were, it's also likely they were...deposed many years prior. Either they were a casualty of an extermination, or fell at the hands of...others." Stolas imagined the shadowy form of a red-eyed male figure holding a cane and his sharp yellow teeth shown in a twisted smile. Out of all the damned souls, none have left a mark like him. "In the end, just asking one of the still living Overlords is itself a risky move."

"But, dad. You're a Goetia. Overlords haven't got shit on you." Octavia pointed out.

"Language, young lady." Stolas chided, but conceded. "Although, you are right, it's just that it'd be a risky move. Even Overlords who appear to respect the hierarchy are only loyal to their own superiority and I wouldn't be surprised if they'd try to uncover why me, a member of the royal Goetias, would go to them for information. I realize this may sound paranoid, but I'd rather they don't end up discovering about you, dear boy."

"Would it really be that bad?" Lincoln asked nervously.

"Considering how most Overlords go about their business, yes, I'd say it would be very unfavorable." Stolas said without missing a beat.

"Right. So, that's a veto on the Overlord idea." Loona hovered over Lincoln protectively after hearing about the prospect of Overlords targeting him. "Any other bright ideas?"

"Thankfully, I managed to find one possible solution!" Stolas snapped his fingers, which was a silent order for his butler to hop off the carriage and present the prince a special rolled up piece of paper. "Via, dear boy, it's time to show the fruits of your mystical studies. Simply read the incantation and we'll be on our merry way!"

Lincoln was the one to receive the scroll and unroll it. Octavia leaned down a little to get a better view of the runic symbols written on it and the two young practitioners of devil magic's eyes glowed at the same time. The runes shined brightly before a magic circle appeared underneath everyone present, sans the imp butler. They were enveloped in a red light before they blinked away in a teleportation spell.

The imp butler just stood there, the hell horses neighing and kicking the ground.

"So...do I just take these back to the palace, or...? Yeah, I'm just gonna take them back to the palace."

I.M.P and the Goetia royals found themselves inside a flurry of multiple colored lights, traveling at increased speeds that kept on changing. "Behold, and let your eyes take in the wonder of magic subspace highways!" Stolas spread his arms wide. He and the rest were standing on a white colored platform that kept them from floating away along with all the red colored glowing orbs that were all over the place. "Quite amazing, is it not?"

"You couldn't have just portaled us to this special place?" Blitzo wasn't so easily dazzled.

"Oh, come now, Blitzy-uh, Blitz! You cannot tell me none of this is dazzling to your impish little eyes. Why, look at the children beaming in wonder! Doesn't that warm your heart?"

"...Stop being so fucking wholesome. It's creepy."

Lincoln pointed at the wondrous void, looking up at a smiling Octavia.

Their Hellhound friend smiled and got a little idea. "You know, I can't imagine anyone else that can say they took a selfie in a magic vortex of pure kickassery." She waved her phone in her hand. "Shall we?" Both gasp and nodded eagerly. All three of them huddled together, Loona picked Lincoln up and placed him on her shoulders and wrapped an arm around Octavia. "Say 'eat shit'!"

"Eat shit!"

It was a surprise for Lincoln to actually say it with them as well.

He's getting good at the potty talk.

"Lincoln, come take one with yer mama and papa!" Millie jumped to Loona's back to take Lincoln for her own group photo.

Everyone back in Wrath will not believe their eyes.

Another flash of light engulfed them and they finally arrived at their intended destination. Stolas continued acting like a very glorious tour guide, thoroughly enjoying his host role for the group. "Behold, everyone! I present to you The Emporium of the Occult! Ever since I was but a young owl, my father had the servants bring me here to observe the many magical items that one can research. It has tomes that can describe to us the characteristics of anything we're curious about! I promise, it shall be an enchanting-" Turning around, his four red eyes bugged out. What he was expecting was an area full of every piece of magical texts that can help his pupil and give him to show off his expert knowledge. Instead, what he saw was the entrance to an arena-like building that had two happy and sad opera masks and a musical note in neon light colors.

"Think we may have overshot there a little bit." Blitzo remarked.

"What the fuck is this?!" Stolas exclaimed. "I'm sure that scroll was meant for this precise location!" He spotted some buff imp security guards standing over at the entrance. "You two! Roided out imps! Is this or is this not the emporium of the occult and mystical artifacts?"

"It used to be, your highness." The right guard answered. "But, that place was moved to a different district ever since two exterminations ago and a new manager set up his own operation here. See, it's-"

"Hold your asses right there!" A loud voice boomed out. Green spotlights were turned on and were directed upwards above the arena. Floating staircases were summoned and stepped down was a flashy looking demon fellow. He wore a velvet colored dress suit and a green colored buttoned shirt. Over his shoulders was a pink scarf, had green skin and a darker green mustache with two ends pointed like musical notes. "If anyone is gonna give the rundown of this establishment, it better damn well be me, ya motherfuckers~!" He sang out.

Waving his hand, instruments that had no masters played by themselves.

Jazzy music mixed in with some classical tunes were filling any ears listening.

The owner stepped down while doing high kicks and tap dancing moves.

"Oh, what fresh fuckery is this?" Blitzo did not sign up for this.

Soon, the demon jumped off the stairs and landed down doing a split before standing upright once more. "Meister Wiffo's personal hall of music and arts! That's the name of the pad! I bring tunes, theater, and drama, the best you've ever had! Why Mozart ain't got shit on me, and Beethoven? Meh, good enough, but still bad!" Raising his silver cane that had a red crystal on the top, he made the doors open. It was like an entire area dedicated to anything relating to music and performing on stage, the kind of thing that got Moxxie's undivided attention.

Stolas, though, had a valid complaint to make. "Excuse me, but I must talk-"

Meister Wiffo ignored him and played on a summoned piano. "Now if you wanna take a chance and earn your music stripes, then you'd best be very sure! 'Cause, most demon folk around here, they've been at it longer, makes even the best names sound like manure!" Demon visitors roamed the place practicing on instruments and acting out their own ideas on the stages. "Shakespeare can kiss my ass! My own shows got way more class! Master of ceremonies ain't just a job, to me, it's a way of life! Even when I'm dead, it's better than when I was alive!"

"That's kinda dark." Lincoln commented.

"Meh." Blitzo made a so and so gesture.

"Yes sir, there's no livelier place except for Meister Wiffo's personal hall of music aaaaaaaaaaand-"

"Pardon me!"

Stolas abrupt yell ceased all music and halted Meister Wiffo's wild introduction. "I'm sorry, but is there mayhaps a problem, good sir?" He asked in a persnickety tone.

"I should say there is!" Stolas huffed and stuck his nose up to tell the show-busy demon whom he was addressing. "I am Prince Stolas of the esteemed Ars Goetia family and you should take care of your tone."

Mieister Wiffo's sunglasses rose up the same as his eyebrows. "Oh, well dear me! Deepest apologies, your majesty! I'm afraid I wasn't aware we'd be honored by a visit from royalty!"

Stolas crossed his arms. "If you must know, we came expecting to see a place stacked full of magical artifacts! Now, why in hell was I not previously informed of the change in management?"

"Well, I like to assume your fellow Goetias had told you. In honor of your father, king Paimon, they bought this out following the fall of it's previous state and placed me in charge after reviewing my very successful performances in Overlord territory if I do say so myself. After all, it is only natural that kings and queens recognize true genius!" He proclaimed unnecessarily loud. "I assume you feel the same! Whom am I kidding? Of course you do! Hohohohohoho~!"

"Oh, god..." Blitzo groaned, he hasn't even spoken to the guy and he's already had enough of the minstrel. "Mox, this could've been a day of hot threesome action, but instead, we got this bullshit to deal with! All because you had more important business! And Kid, since this is mostly because of your own personal shit, that's pay deduction from you, bud."

Lincoln's right eye twitched. "Blitz. Unpaid intern. Those were your words. Unpaid!"

Octavia scoffed bitterly. "He probably would've been cheap."

"I know, but it's just really starting to get annoying."

"Was it ever not annoying?" Loona deadpanned.

"At least tell me what became of the assortment of tomes! The ones that are very important for solving dilemmas of the magical kind! The very fucking reason why we came here!" Stolas stressed.

His exceptional hosting was all for naught.

Such a tragedy.

"Those? Hm." Wiffo hummed. When he set up shop, he let his subordinates handle moving the old items. Frankly, he didn't really care to oversee that, all he cared for was establishing his mark in Hell. "I'm afraid that wasn't my primary concern at the moment. I usually let my assistant handle such laboring tasks." He rings a bell. "Oh, Mandrine, dear!"

"Coming, mister Wiffo!" A long haired female imp about Millie's age and Blitzo's height ran, holding a clipboard and blue skirt dress. She made her way while bumping into others. "Sorry! Excuse me!" She stepped on something sharp and pointy. "Ow! Fuck!" She bumped into a row of stage outfits, knocking them down onto a stagehand. "Shit! I am so sorry!"

"Mandrine! Any fucking day now would be nice!"

"Almost there, sir!" Mandrine dusted herself off and cleared her throat. "Yes, boss?"

"This quaint little ensemble led by an esteemed Goetia prince are in need of our service to acquire items of the last proprietor that managed this area. Be a lamb and assist me in assisting them."

"O-Of course, Mr. Wiffo!" Mandrine nodded eagerly. "I made a comprehensive archive that has everything about this place even before we came here-"

Wiffo hushed her mouth using his finger. "Yes, yes. That is all very interesting, darling. Unfortunately, if I let you go off on your excessive rants, by the time you're finished, it'll be the next purge. Walk and talk, my dear."

"Right, right! Yes! Silly me!" Mandrine nodded nervously.

"If you would all follow me." The Goetias and IMP walked forward to the entrance, until Loona was abruptly stopped by the minstrel. "Apologies, but where do you think you're going?" he asked, giving the Hellhound a very critical gaze.

"Uh, following you. Like you said." Loona replied.

"Oh, so you really are part of this entourage." Wiffo was certainly not expecting that. "I was under the assumption that you were a wild wandering stray."

Blitzo turned even more red. "The fuck did you call my daughter?!"

"Daughter?" Wiffo repeated. "Well now, deepest apologies, but I'm afraid we have a no mongrel policy."

"Mongrel?! Who the fuck are you calling a fucking mongrel, shitface?!" Loona growled, grabbing the minstrel's throat.

"You're only proving my point!"

Octavia tugged at her dad's sleeve. "Dad! Can't you do something?!"

Lincoln nodded. "Yeah, that's not fair!"

It warmed Stolas to see Octavia not inherit some of her mother's…attitude about lower class demons and Lincoln was quick to defend. "Meister. Don't you think you are being rather too harsh? I, for one, think you should be more considerate and maybe loosen your rules." The prince sneaked in a soul bill that was worth quite a lot into his jacket.

Wiffo hummed, feigning being in deep concentration. "Well, normally, I wouldn't make exceptions. But, seeing as you are royalty, far be it from me to disappoint such distinguished tastes." He whispered more secretly to him. "Speaking of tastes, there's a backroom in the dressing area. In case any of my performers wish to…..service your desires. I know you royals like to be adventurous." He giggled.

Stolas got red and looked at Blitzo who rolled his eyes. "Er, I'll take that under consideration. A-As you were, now."

Loona huffed and accompanied them.

Should there be anyone else that thought like Wiffo did, she'll show them what a real mongrel looked like.

Meister Wiffo hardly cared why the prince and his odd entourage were here.

The true importance was that another royal was sure to give his place a stunning review. The problem most Sinners have is that they live while having public disputes that attract the media's attention. He saw himself as someone who did it the right way, that was basically him kissing up to the elite and then spreading word of him so that even more could indulge in his theatrics.

That recognition will result in all of Hell hearing his name and he'll achieve recognition that would make even Overlords envious as the Envy ring itself.

It was a brilliant plan.

And none were the wiser.

Except the group were much sharper than he anticipated. "So, you think this guy can actually help out or is he just wasting our time?" Lincoln whispered to Loona and Octavia.

"Please. The dickhead's so far up his own ass. I've seen his type a shit ton of times at those swanky ass parties my parents made me go to." Octavia whispered back.

"He definitely screams 'conceited asshole'." Loona snapped. "Know what I think? We ask someone who isn't a total douche."

"Oh-ho, don't even fucking think about it!" Millie forced herself into the private conversation. "I've had mah fill of my baby boy having his own little misadventures without his mama around to keep 'im safe! I swear to motherfucking Satan, Loona, if Lincoln gets hurt, then ah'll just-Ah'll-" She grabbed the arm of an imp just minding his own business and bent it downwards. "GRAGH!"

"AAAAAAAAGH!" The imp howled.

"SHUT UP!" Millie threw him through a glass case of very pointy violin bows.

"Hey! You're getting your fucking blood all over them!" The owner complained, uninterested in the poor guy's pain.

"Millie! Millie! Take deep breaths." Moxxie rubbed his beloved's shoulders. "Sir? Your highness? Perhaps, my wife and I could watch over Loona and the children while you two can handle the matter yourselves."

Moxxie made it sound like it was no small task.

But for Blitzo, it was more serious than his employee realized.

He and Stolas would be alone together.

And suffice to say, things were pretty awkward between them.

Last time, they were too preoccupied getting through that whole crazy insane Holly's Wood massacre to properly talk things out from their last conversation after Ozzie's.

"What a grand idea!" Stolas supported. "Octavia, dear, is that alright with you?"

Even though she was mildly peeved that he was going to go off alongside, Octavia was thankful that at least he was considerate enough to make sure she wouldn't mind. At least in this instance, he was willing to let it slide. "Sure, whatever. Just don't forget why we're here."

"Perish the thought. Come along, Blitzy~." Stolas sang.

Wiffo was willing to accept these new rerms. "In that case, Mandrine. I shall leave the little ones and the mongrel under your care. Try not to lose sight this time, I've already have more than enough migraines from imp parents who are looking for their little spawns."

Mandrine nodded rapidly. "Of course, sir!"

Grumbling a series of indignant curses, the boss and his special friend went on their merry way.

Loona briefly glimpsed at Octavia's obvious discomfort and decided the atmosphere needed her brand of levity. "Ten seconds."

Octavia blinked and turned dubiously at Loona. "What?"

"Ten seconds. I give those two ten whole seconds before they jump each other's bones."

The young princess stared at the hellhound, processing her words before spitting out a laugh. "Pfft! Gross! The fuck's wrong with you?!" Try as she might, she couldn't hold it in. Her sides needed tending.

"Just saying, those two can't keep their hands off each other and I'm speaking as a gal who has to hear them flirt every time your pops calls."

Octavia found solidarity in that. "Ugh, don't even get me started. We get it! You two like to fuck! Rent a hotel in Lust if it means that much to you!" The two continued their laughter. It wasn't until now that they never had someone else to relate when it related to both of their fathers' complicated relationship.

Lincoln smiled pleasantly at their interactions.

He knew they'd get along, even if he didn't completely understand what they were talking about.

Now, all he wondered now was how this place was gonna help him.

A district dedicated solely to the arts and musical entertainment. Luna, Luan, and Lucy would fit right in here. He himself never felt had the capacity to be just as good as they were even if he tried. Now that he thought about it, one person that would enjoy this does come to mind and that was Moxxie. "Hey, Mox. You know how to play the guitar, right?"

"Heh, 'playing' is a rather loose term." Moxxie tugged his bow tie a bit. "I have dabbled a bit in string and key notes from time to time. As you're aware, I made a special little ditty for this delectable little murder machine." Moxxie nuzzled Millie's cheek.

"Moxxie~!" Millie purred at the display of affection. "You little devil.~" Her tail wiggled as she returned the gesture.

Lincoln looked away very forcefully, the only problem was those two still making kissy noises. "I'm starting to see what you two might be talking about." He remarked to Loona and Octavia sporting an embarrassed blush.

"This is a lesson, both of you." Loona sagely advised the two youths. "Parents are the only real shitheads than anybody else. Now, let's hurry this shit up. Before that music bitch comes back." She addresses Mandrine. "Yo, secretary bitch. Cool if we look around!"

"That-That's fine!" Mandrine bowed at the same speed she nodded. "By all means! Go ahead! Anything for friends of royalty!"

Loona made a so and so gesture. "More like our dads are majorly horny fuck-buddies, but if you want to use friends, then fine." They stopped at a collection of various instruments belonging to all types such as string and so on.. These weren't ordinary instruments, however. They witnessed an aquatic demon playing a harp. Its strings glowed blue and in the air, an orb of water appeared. A baphomet played expertly on a saxophone that made physical manifestations of musical note characters welding canes and wearing top hats and they did a little dance number. Each instrument played displayed a unique magical effect that dazzled onlookers and Lincoln certainly had his attention stolen by the magic/music show.

"Cool..." Lincoln's eyes were drawn to a double bass.

That made him recall an old memory of when Luna organized the siblings into a family band despite not all of them sharing her musical talents. But, she did praise him for at least knowing how to handle the double bass. He just tried to at least make it sound good enough, even though he did show off a little too much during rehearsal. Still, it felt nice that he was good enough at one of his sisters' talents. One of the keys to managing all of them was getting the lowdown on their skills to know when to use them to lessen the chaos. Mixed results or not.

His adoptive imp daddy, being the music intellectual that he is, admired the crafting that was made into producing these instruments. That wasn't even getting into their designs, shiny gems that twinkled and done in many colors. Moxxie saw Lincoln's gaze settle on the double bass, this may throw the boy off. Nevertheless, the imp could see the curiosity of someone interested in the arts of music. "Do you wish to play, Lincoln?"

The number of blinks he did had to be near the double digits. "What?! Me?!" The double bass did look very inviting. "I-I don't know. If you want a musical Loud, you should see my dad and my sister, Luna, but me? No, no. Can't really call that my strongest suit."

"Won't know unless you try. At the same time, it's still up to you. No pressure."

Lincoln still looked conflicted.

He could just ignore this sudden new feeling to use that instrument.

Except, he couldn't.

Tentatively, Lincoln went and took the double bass in his hands. He could scarcely remember how he played it before as it was only for a special occasion, for all he knew, maybe remembering being all that good was his mind just telling him that. Moxxie's inner father was channeled upon seeing how nervous his surrogate son was, he knew that he needed a supporting push. "Here, let me show you." Moxxie moved in close to point out what Lincoln needed to do. "You see these strings? All you have to do is hold one down with merely a finger, then just play a single note. You'll be fine." The reassurance of someone Lincoln considered as a father figure actually helped plenty. What also helped was Lincoln recalling a distant memory from when he was younger.

2 years ago

He saw himself in his house's living room watching a newly minted rocker Luna practicing the guitar mommy and daddy got for her after months of pleas.

Luna was playing a steady note until she played off-key. "Dang it! Almost had it!"

"Hey, Luna?"

The rocker noticed her only brother's presence. "Hey, little bro? What's up?" She made room for him to sit next to her.

"Is everything okay? You look mad." Lincoln hated it when his sisters got mad, it's like they lost all sense of reason and common sense.

Luna ruffled her baby brother's hair. "Don't worry, buddy. Your big sis is just hitting a bit of a slump. Mick Swagger makes songwriting look way easier, I can tell ya that much, Linc."

"If it's hard, then why are you doing it?"

Luna smiled at the innocent question. Her bro was still young, he still had a lot to grow, but it was sweet how much he appeared to be interested in her choice to become a future rock star. Her first concert helped set the stage for her choosing that path. "Let me lay it on ya this way, bro. Some of the very fun things in life are the ones that are really hard to do. A bump in the road's all part of the process. Wanna know the secret? Just go with the flow, baby bro." Luna gasped. "Hey, that was pretty good." She started shredding and sang out. "Just go with the flow, ba~by bro-oooooo~! See? Some hard work can go a long way. Never forget that, little brother." She pulled him for a warming hug.

Snapping back to present day, Luna's words echoed in his head and soon enough, recalled which minor and note to play.

It started off slow and steady and once the Loud boy eased his worries, he played a smooth rhythm that was content to the soul which was about all that any Sinner in Hell has to their name. Lincoln emptied his mind of nothing else except for playing the double bass, he thought of his happy place where he was with his sisters, parents, and all his other human loved ones.

He was unaware that his playing caused the floors to lightly glow orange.

Meanwhile, his demon friends smiled as their young friend continued playing. Octavia tapped her fingers and sat down on a seat that had a whole drum set, her mother always recommended the classics rather than the "low-born drivel" that a proper Goetia princess shouldn't waste her time on. Unfortunately for her, Octavia was not willing to abandon her favorite band. One of her favorite parts were the sick beats that she memorized by memory when she wanted to vibe, picking up two drum sticks, she started banging on the drums, making her own beat that mixed in well with Lincoln's bass sounds.

Loona hummed to herself.

Who knew the kid could be passable in a bass, maybe not the cool kind of bass instrument, but a bass all the same.

She saw an electric guitar in a crate all by its lonesome, no master to shred it.

In front of so many people.

Who might judge her?

Like Lincoln and Octavia.

The Hellhound's hand slowly rose, but she relented at the last minute. "Better just let them have their fun."

Millie clapped happily. "Oh, look at our baby, Moxxie! Ah had a feeling he had yer sense of tunes, Ah swear, he's like a mini-you sometimes! It's so adorable!" She could just squeeze them both until the end of time. "And you thought you didn't have any business callin' yerself his pa! Yer a natural at it, babe and it sure as fuck gets me goin'~!" She bit her lip, entangling his tail.

"Heh, guess I didn't think I had it in me to be the paternal figure Lincoln needed." Moxxie spoke in all honesty. "Frankly, I surprised myself. But. you know-"

"Now, now, don't start up that whole 'he ain't no orphan' junk again. He's our boy and that's final!" Millie huffed.

"I don't mean that! It's just-I-" Moxxie sighed. "I was just afraid that I wouldn't be the...caring type of father figure. That I could have ended up being just like-" He stopped himself when his mind brought up an old image. One plucked from his childhood, a childhood he made great strides in trying to ignore and put behind him, but how could he forget such a life? A life that has haunted his dreams at certain nights even to this day. Whenever the subject of him apparently being a capable father figure came up, he thought of...him. The thought of being anything like that man made him very hesitant in referring to himself as a father figure to anyone in general, he didn't want to admit it, but he just doesn't want to run the risk of becoming like that guy.

"Baby?"

His inner turmoil conflict ended once his wife's concerned voice reached him. "Huh? Oh! I-It's nothing, sweetie!" He pushed all the horrible flashbacks aside and went back to watching Lincoln play.

On the topic of father figures, he wondered what the other fathers were up to.

This was fine.

This was absolutely fine. His employees and the kids were who knows how far away in this monument to the fancy arts and he, Blitzo, had only Stolas as his only company while their gracious host ranted about his proud standing as the top arts expert that was worthy of being the location's master. "And that is where I performed my exquisite one-man show of my own design!"

On the very same stage that he owned, a Sinner was showing his own stuff to a small audience. "And lo, I mourn! For mine love hath chosen my twin brother!" He hugged an imp skull against his forehead. "And so, lifting my mighty blade, I tore thine own kin asunder! Oh, how will thee mother react to such a tragic loss?! I weep! Weep! In these trying times, I have only thee to comfort me! Most enchanting skull!" He traces his finger across the cheek bone.

"…Is he about to fuck that thing?" Blitzo asked.

Wiffo scoffed at Blitzo's brazen question. "The chap is merely immersing himself into his role! A bit amateurish, yet the effort is just grand! So, so grand!" His entire body did a loopty loop for the stage. "A round of applause for-what's your name, chap?"

"Dave."

"…Davidson! Give Davidson!" Foregoing the guy's real name, Wiffo went with a more fancy variation. "Come here, you beautiful son of a bitch!" he pecks his lips once. Staring at Dave after a beat, Wiffo captured his lips a second time and this one lasted a bit longer. "Mmmm...mmmm...mwah!" Wiffo dropped a dazed Dave to the floor and laughed out to the crowd. "Passion! Never forget the passion, ladies and gentlemen!" Everyone made ooo sounds and clapped for him. Wiffo wholeheartedly took in the praise not so humbly, the very thing that makes him himself. "Yes, that's right! Give your praise! I am very talented indeed! And plot twist! I am also his cheating hoe's first cousin once removed! Gasp!" The crowd obeyed. "Now cheer once again!"

"You know, he told us that he was going to give us a bigger tour, but all he's been doing is whipping it out again and again." Blitzo droned at Stolas.

"Y-Yes, I sincerely hope our children and your imps are faring much better than we are."

"Okay, one little thing we gotta set. M and M aren't my imp slaves, they're my employees." Blitzo crossly corrected. "I know there's not much of a difference in other businesses, but at IMP, we treat each other with common respect and decency." He said, though in his head, what passes as common respect and decency was constantly teasing Moxxie, Loona calling Millie an old woman, and him getting an earful from Millie when Lincoln nearly found one of his special magazines. "Plus, I'm also an imp. The only imp ass I own is my own, and don't you forget it."

Stolas became a blubbering mess. "Oh, my! I-I didn't mean to insult you, Blitz! I'm just-I'm just-"

"What? You used to imps just kissing everyone's asses? Well, not me, mister! And for the record, that was a figure of speech!" Blitzo stomped away and Stolas quickly caught, wanting to salvage his mistake.

"Blitz, wait! Please I-I did not mean to offend you!"

"Pfft! As if it's the first time..." Stolas caught wind of Blitzo saying that.

"...I suppose that's fair." The prince dejectedly admitted. It wasn't until now that the demon royal was starting to realize that he may have been a little oblivious to Blitzo's resentment of his standing as a Goetia, a class of demon much higher than an imp. In all honesty, he didn't really think of the class difference between them until they were outed at Ozzie's. Word spread and he was basically the subject of many gossips across the social circles of Hell, almost as if his deepest darkest shame had made him the very disappointment that Stella kept warning him about. "Listen, Blitz, I just-I didn't mean to-Had you merely told me-"

"Christ on a stick, just get to the point. You don't stutter nearly as bad when you use that mouth for bed shit." Blitzo found it so hard to believe that this was the same Goetia that made a grand entrance to kidnapping government agents.

A deep sigh was made to compose the prince. "Blitz. I have...never really been good at understanding how most people feel, I can't really read them. Or perhaps I do, but I just convince myself it's nothing serious. Whatever the case, I've come to realize that my actions have been hurting others and I'm not only referring to my daughter. And take my word for it, we can certainly exclude Stella."

"Yeah, I tried not giving a shit, but if I'm being honest, I got major cunt vibes from her."

Stolas sighed very deeply as if his spirit were going through a healing session. "God, if you only knew. Back to the main topic, I'm referring to how much I've hurt you."

Blitzo's eyes became dinner plates. "Me?! You hurt me?! The fuck you even mean?! I-I-I already told you, I can handle bear traps and a nightstick! Not once have I ever used the safe word! Wait, do we even have a safe word?"

"That...is a very good question. Not the point, though! I refer to the fact that I have used my, er, position as a Goetia royalty to make you feel...like you're lesser in our relationship, especially with the arrangement I proposed in order for you to keep my grimoire. I thought it didn't hurt, but-but if it actually turned out to be trouble-"

"Wha-I-" Blitzo couldn't believe it, it actually sounded like Stolas was trying to apologize for his invasive behavior. The imp couldn't understand this, not one but and it was stirring up some heated emotions. "J-Just slow your roll there! Look, I keep telling you, if a roll in the shack is all you want, then fine! Whatever! You don't have to make this into a whole thing!"

"But, it is a thing!" Stolas insisted. "This has been a thing and it's about we make something of that thing!"

"...What?!"

"I-Shit, that literally made no sense, did it?" Wanting to make his stance known, Stolas bent down to grab the imps of his dreams' shoulders. "I just want to talk, Blitz. Please? Can't we just...talk?"

Talk.

Talk about what?

For starters, how he was the first person to make Blitzo actually feel something in a long time?

That, he's his only hope for not only financial success, but also success in romance after a series of failures, all mostly his fault?

Does he really want to know Blitzo's feelings?

Blitzo was about to reply and for a moment, it looked like he was actually willing to comply and for the first time since their reunion as adults, have a more meaningful moment that could pave the way for the kind of bond both want desperately.

Alas, Blitzo's heart wasn't so easily moved.

"I-We're-We're only here for Lincoln's personal bullshit, not each other's!" Blitzo shouted a little too loudly as it drew some onlookers' attention. "What? You fucks expecting a show?! Look at the stages!" He angrily stomped away.

Stolas reached out a hand in vain to get him to stay, but he was starting to feel that he had done enough damage already.

Among their spat and the continuing going ons that the other patrons were disrupted when the walls started glowing. All the instruments were being played, except for the fact that there was no one using them. Every patron clamored and murmured over this sudden action, Blitzo had to stop stomping and look around for his own two eyes to see. "What in Satan's ass?" Stolas stood frozen as the phenomenon escalated when orange colored musical notes danced together in the air. Purple flame shaped like music notes danced along.

"This magic...it feels like...the children...?" Stolas was amazed that his pupil and daughter were capable of this, and the entire place seemed to react to them, but something felt as if it were mostly reacting to Lincoln.

Meister Wiffo had his own feelings on this spectacle.

Everyone was amazed by whomever was performing this musical magic.

They were being awed by something other than him...and he won't have that...

Seeing Blitzo and Stolas, he whistles a soothing tune that appears as his own musical notes that went to the both of them.

Its melody lowered their eyelids and they passed out on the floor.

Lincoln and Octavia were wowing and dazzling the demons watching them play their instruments, not like pros, but good enough to make a crowd clap and cheer for them like they were the main stars at a concert. If this is how good Luna usually feels when she and the Moon Goats rock out, he was starting to wonder if he could be a form of understudy for them. Lincoln was so into it that he didn't give all the mystical happenings a second thought, he just wanted to keep playing and Octavia shared those feelings, a shame that there was no singing component in their fledgling band.

"HOLD UP NOW!"

The two youngsters halted their playing when Meister Wiffo appeared in a puff of smoke.

"Hey, where's my dad?!" Octavia demanded, instantly concerned over his lack of absence.

"Oh-ho, he is just fine and dandy, little princess!" Wiffo's voice turned deep and distorted. "Unlike you!"

Wiffo's fingers snapped and all patrons felt a shock in their backs. Their eyes became blank, possessed by Wiffo's magics. Saxophones played out loud as demons dressed similarly as him surrounded the three and the two imps.

"Now what's all this shit?!" Millie had a switchblade out.

"Where's Blitz and Prince Stolas?!" Moxxie demanded, glad he brought twin pistols for the inevitable violence the team would encounter whenever they go out.

"Oh, no need to get your britches in a huff, little impy-BITCHES!" Wiffo's subordinates surrounded the married assassin duo. "They're just taking a sweet little nappy-fucking-wappy!"

Octavia gasped in distress. "If you hurt my dad, your ass will be fucking mounted, dickhead!"

"Tsk, tsk! To think a child of royalty used such language! You need a proper lesson in manners, young lady! All three of you do!"

"And what the hell did we do?!" Lincoln heatingly glared.

"One of the most important rules that everyone that enters here knows! Never! Hog! MY! SPOTLIGHT!" Wiffo bellowed, his envy and indignant attitude was palpable.

Mandrine tried to de-escalate. "S-Sir! Please! This won't look good for you!"

"Silence, you useless little wrench!" He harshly backhanded her to the floor.

The poor female imp shed a little tears and Lincol's fists clenched tightly, his demonic aura beginning to flare. "Why you...!"

Cow bells tapping were then heard and Meister Wiffo tapped his foot along to the beat. "Looks like I need to do a little reprise on why I'm the star of the show!" He sang out, advancing towards the five, snapping his fingers again and again. His mooks copied his actions. "Three young upstarts, thinking they can shine, oh but that sweet spotlight, it was made to be mine!" Raising a hand, a living row of sheet music surrounded them, making them trapped with the mooks. "Your little show may have won hearts, too bad for you, that was a mistake from the start! My boys listen to whatever i say, so fellas, make them fucking pay! Why?! 'Cause I'm the star! Yes, the star! I'm the star, a point that's not very far!" Moxie shot twot through the head, and Millie pushed her switchblade through one's throat and threw some of her extra ones for the other eyes. "I'm the star, ya better tell your friends at the bar! I'm the staaaaaaaaaaaar…..while you're all nothing but smelly ass tar!"

Loona made sure Lincoln and Octavia were behind her.

She bit her teeth through the head of one of Wiffo's men and used his body to thrash away others that were about to storm at her. One jumped at her, and she wrestled him to fall off, but he was pretty strong. His below the belt region not so once she kneed it. Squeaking, he fell forward. "Fuck, could really use Blitz right about now!"

"We can take 'em!" Lincoln strummed the double bass again to send an orange colored shockwave that blasted them onto tables and glass windows. He blinked. "Whoa, this has more kick than a gun."

Wiffo tapped his chin, yet ultimately wasn't impressed. "A very showy feat, this I will admit, but you know what, little shit stain?! They can be used for even greater pain!" He blew on a harmonica that created hellish rhino constructs. "Just look at what my music creates! It makes me feel like I can control all fates! With my music, you'll be shown your place, and let me tell you, it's gonna be fucking great!" His backup band provided instrumental beats, strumming.

"'Cause, you're the star!"

"That's right, boys! I'm the star!"

"You're the star!"

"You gents aren't very far!"

Wiffo does a spin dance as he waves his cane around, a musical note wave was fired and it blew the five against the wall. "He'll set the record straight, any harsh words, he'll make you ache!" Millie was now using longer bladed katanas to behead many mooks and musical notes. Sheet music trapped her legs, though, and her weapons got littered to the ground.

Moxxie gaped at his wife being captive and attempted to help.

Larger enemies picked him up and used his one free arm to shoot bullets through their faces.

Wiping off the flesh and blood that didn't belong to him off his face, Moxie was then put in the same bindings as Millie. "I'm the staaaaaaaaaar….and you're all very subpar!"

Moxxie and Millie being captured didn't mean the kids were defenseless. Loona punched harshly in the mooks' face, swung her claws to slash out their eyes, but the meister's musical attack was simply too vast and never ending. Octavia hadn't acted yet, she was more preoccupied with holding Lincoln close to her to prevent any of these yahoos from hurting him. She had yet to use her innate magical power for combat purposes, though that wouldn't stop her from protecting the kid. Her hands together shot projectiles made of purple fire that made several mooks run away after being set ablaze. Lincoln climbed up some crates to cling onto one's chest, he had brass knuckles on his fists so that he could punch him square in the jaw, knocking a tooth out.

He made orange platform constructs to reach another height and shot his revolver at a rope holding several supplies together. It fell right on top of a group of mooks, and they all saw nothing but pentagram stars.

There were still too many, though.

Loona was tackled into music supplies and a single microphone rolled into her view.

It looks like she was gonna get her moment to shine after all.

Meister Wiffo made jazzy kicks in the air as his sweet music. This is how things in his place of business were supposed to be. Him in the spotlight and any upstarts being in despair over not measuring up to his own greatness. One can say that he's only ensuring his own downfall for being impertinent towards Goetia royals. Not that he cared, if anything, he showed that he was even superior to the royalty that dared to even set themselves above him. Soon, his name would be cheered out all throughout Hell and his stardom that was cut off too soon on Earth can exceed beyond his wildest dreams.

"EYES ON ME, ASSHOLE!"

Opening his eyes, he, the hypnotized civilians, and his mooks looked to see Loona holding up the mic and as if on command, the spotlight was shining on her.