Octavia stood outside the office building of I.M.P. She decided to join them based on her new stepdad's recommendation. When she told her father about being part of I.M.P, he was surprisingly ok with it. Maybe he had more confidence in her than she thought. Regardless, she entered the building.
After she exited the elevator and walked down the hall, something caught her eye. On the opposite side of the I.M.P office was a vacant office space, and on its window was pink graffiti that said: "Verosika Mayday was here." with a large lipstick mark next to it. This surprised Octavia, not knowing that she and Blitz worked in the same building. Then again, she is the one who crashed the wedding, so Octavia thought she shouldn't be too surprised. She eventually got back on track and entered the office of I.M.P. The first person she saw sitting at what looked like a tiny reception desk was Loona with her feet up on it and listening to music on her phone with head buds in. She noticed Octavia in her peripheral vision and took one bud out of her ear.
"Oh hey, you're Octavia right?" Loona asked.
"Yes, I am. And you're Loona? I think we're stepsisters."
"Oh shit, you're right." Loona knew little about her new stepsister. Blitz was in talks of moving into Stolas' mansion and them sharing a room, but aside from the wedding the two never met face to face. "So what brings you here?" she asked Octavia.
"I was interested in applying for a position here."
Loona was taken aback. "Wait, you want to join us? No offense, but we don't hire inexperienced teens."
"But Blitz said I should join,"
"He did?" Loona said. Octavia handed her the business card Blitz gave her. After sniffing it to confirm his scent was on it, Loona went from dismissive to intrigued. "Well, in that case, have a seat right there." she pointed to a chair in front of the desk. "Blitz is in the bathroom right now, just wait right here and he'll come out."
Octavia nodded and sat in the chair. She decided that rather than sit around in silence, she would have a conversation with Loona. "So, I saw the graffiti outside. Did Verosika Mayday really work next to you?"
"Oh yeah, she did for about a week. You a fan of her?"
"Eh, I liked her first album. Before she became a sellout mentioning Beelzejuice in every goddam album after that. Not to mention her crashing my dad's wedding, trying to steal Blitz away. She can go fuck herself." Octavia said before realizing that her tone was pretty dark. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to get dark."
"No, it's fine. I get it. I'm not a fan of her new albums either. And what she did at the wedding was fucked up." Loona said, trying to reassure Octavia.
Octavia changed the subject. "What are you listening to?" she asked, pointing to her phone.
"Oh, just some heavy metal band called Testosterone Overdrive."
"No fucking way! I love them!"
"You do? This is their new album. Wanna listen?"
"Hell yes!" Octavia said. Loona unplugged her head buds so they both could hear it.
"Oh yes! I haven't had time to listen to it yet, what with the wedding and the divorce. But this fucking rocks!" Octavia proceeded to head-bob to the music. Loona normally didn't like people she didn't know, but there was something about Octavia that made Loona not hate her. Probably because they were alike in taste and she found someone who could understand her. Then again, maybe it was because they were both goths. It was definitely because they were goths.
Loona eventually joined in on the head-bobbing. While that was going on, Blitz finally left the bathroom. "Hey Loona!" he said, adjusting his pants. "We're gonna have to call the plumber again. And no, this time it was not my fault! There's like a rat or something in the pipes." When he recognized the other person who was head-bopping, he gasped in happiness. He interrupted the head-bopping by giving Octavia a hug. "O, you came!"
"Yea, I did," said Octavia. "I figured I might give this whole assassin thing a try."
"That's great, sweetie!" He said before turning towards the meeting room. "Everyone! Meeting room, now!"
Everyone met in the meeting room, as Blitz instructed, sitting in their usual places. Octavia was sitting in the chair to Loona's left. After everyone took their seat, Blitz spoke. "Ok, everyone! First, very important announcement! We have a recruit, my stepdaughter Octavia!" He then pointed to her.
"Hello everyone," Octavia said nervously.
Millie and Moxxie happily introduced themselves. They were both excited about the idea of a recruit. Until now, Millie was the last person to join I.M.P. They haven't had any new members in quite some time. After introductions were over, Octavia asked a question. "So, what do you guys do when you're not killing people?"
"Lots of things." Blitz answered, "Mostly paperwork and the occasional odd job here and there. Why, you eager to start killin'?"
"N-no, it's not that."
"Be patient, my lovely bird. An opportunity will come when you least expect it." Just as he finished that sentence, they could hear the entrance door opening. "See what I mean?"
Blitz walked outside the meeting room to see who came in. It was a demon with a striped gray suit and a fedora. He also had neatly combed black hair. This demon just radiated gangster energy. "Are you guys the people I hire to wack somebody up there?" The demon said with an Italian accent, pointing up.
"We sure are. Why don't you step into my office?" Blitz responded as he led the sinner into his personal office. He sat at his desk as the sinner sat in the chair in front of him.
"So, before we talk business, tell me about yourself," Blitz asked the sinner.
"Well, my name is Tony Esposito. I served the Vaffanculo family for 30 years. But then our boss died, and his son, Danny Vaffanculo, took over. He's a fucking dumbass, and he got worse when the Qualunque family tried to pull off a hit on him. Ever since then, he became fucking paranoid, questioning the actions of almost everyone. Then he said I was working for them! Me, a loyal goddam Caporegime, that's a captain in case ya don't know. I tell him he's a fucking idiot and then the next thing you know I'm sleeping with the fishes."
"I take it you want this Danny guy dead."
"No shit I want him dead! He's a disgrace to the Vaffanculo family! He's in his mansion, still as paranoid as ever and surrounded by yes men. You can kill them if they get in your way. Just make sure that Danny Vaffanculo dies."
"You've got yourself a deal," Blitz said before shaking Tony's hand. After he made Tony sign some documents, he left his office and went back into the meeting room where everyone was just chatting. "How do you guys feel about killing some mafia?"
The crew immediately prepped up for the hit. Millie was bringing a baseball bat with spikes on the ends at the top. Moxxie equipped a Dragunov sniper rifle with a silencer on it and two pistols while Blitz was just bringing his handy flintlock pistols. Loona was joining in as well. Normally she would stay behind, but since they were probably going to kill a lot of people, not to mention training a recruit, they could use all the help they could get. When Octavia asked Blitz for a weapon, he said he would give her one when they got to earth. Once everyone was ready, Loona summoned the portal, but before everyone could enter a stern voice came from the entrance of the office. "What are you doing, young lady!?" the voice said. The crew could tell it was Stolas as they looked at him with his arms crossed.
"What are you doing here, Dad?" Octavia asked.
Stolas pulled out a paper bag. "You forgot your lunch," he said. Octavia just grunted, as she told him before she left that she wasn't hungry. Stolas put down the bag and approached Octavia and Blitz. "Don't mind that now. Blitzy, when I heard you were offering our daughter a job at your company, I thought it was going to be as an assistant or a janitor. I didn't think you would actually take her out on hits!"
"Come on, Dad!" said Octavia, "I need a job. Besides, aren't we Ars Goetia demons immortal?"
"Not yet, you aren't!" Stolas said as he put his arms on Octavia's shoulders. "You haven't reached the age for you to do the ritualistic blood sacrifice on the full moon! You could be killed out there!"
Blitz approached Stolas and put an arm on his shoulder. "Honey, listen to me. I don't just hire any wannabe killer, I hire the best. And our daughter has what it takes to be one. I can see it in her eyes. This could be a good experience for her, going out there and seeing the world outside of hell, improving her skills. And besides, she's surrounded by 4 professionals. We'll make sure she's safe."
Stolas sighed, "Fine, you can take her out." He then pulled Blitz's face close to his, eyes glowing red. "But if she comes back with a lost limb or broken bone, I will skullfuck your brains out. Both figuratively and literally." Needless to say, it scared Blitz shitless.
Stolas backed away with a more calm attitude. "Ok, have fun you two!" he said before leaving. After checking if his pants were still dry, Blitz gave the ok to go through the portal. They ended up on a dirt road next to a bunch of fields. It was night and at the end of the road was a large mansion in front of the base of a mountain surrounded by a wall and a gate where the dirt road ends. Before the crew could advance, Octavia tapped Blitz on the shoulder.
"Where's my weapon, Dad?" Octavia asked,
"First of all, thank you for calling me Dad. It means a lot. Second, it's right here." Blitz said before giving her a combat knife.
"A knife? Why don't I get a gun?"
"We have to start with the basics O. Anyone can kill someone with a gun and think they're tough shit, but you don't fully become a killer until you're up close and personal, looking into your victim's eyes as you kill them and let whatever you feel shape you into a badass. You understand?"
"I guess so," Octavia replied. She was still disappointed that she didn't get a gun, but Blitz's explanation made sense to her.
"Good, now let's move," Blitz said. After Blitz got some distance from Octavia, Moxxie questioned him.
"You never did anything like that on my first day," Moxxie said.
"Yea, me neither." Millie joined in, "You just let me run loose and do whatever I wanted." Blitz just shushed them. Truth be told, Blitz pulled all that shit out of his ass. He gave her the knife so she would be more careful, and thus decreasing the chances of him getting skullfucked. He hoped that if he could keep bringing Octavia back from missions safe and lie about how helpful she was, Stolas would be less worried and Blitz could finally sculpt her into a killing machine.
Moxxie approached the mansion a bit and pulled out his silenced Dragunov. He looked down the scope and saw two guards standing by the gate. He quickly shot both of them in the head, killing them instantly. "Great job, Mox," Millie said, before kissing him on the cheek. As they climbed up the wall, Blitz saw that there were no guards anywhere. All he saw was a fountain in the middle of the courtyard and rows of bushes. For a paranoid mob boss, the security looked pretty lax.
After they got over the wall and into the courtyard, Blitz looked around for Octavia but couldn't find her. "O, where are you?" he whispered.
"Right here, Dad," she responded, spooking Blitz a bit. Apparently, she was by his side the whole time.
"Jeez," Blitz said, "Y'know for someone who shops at Stylish Occult you really don't stand out much." This wasn't the first time Octavia was told something like that. She had a natural tendency to hide her presence, which occasionally made her hard to notice. Most of the time it worked to her advantage, though.
Moxxie opened the front door, and the crew entered the mansion, with Octavia staying behind so they could take the lead. The room was completely dark, but suddenly, Loona caught the smell of something. "Oh, shit!" she said, "Guys, we gotta get out-"
Before she could finish, a single light from the ceiling came on, and a bunch of mafia soldiers came in, surrounding them as they pointed their guns at them. They outgunned Blitz and his crew. If they tried anything funny, they wouldn't hesitate to put holes in them. So they put their hands up. "Oh crumbs," Moxxie said. Octavia was only at the doorway and got away outside with no one noticing.
One mafia pulled out their phone and dialed someone up. "Hey boss, there's these 3 weird possum-looking things and some lady in a fursuit. You want us to shoot them? ...understood." He then hung up. "Put them in the room."
"Wait," said another mafia member, "Why not just shoot 'em?"
"The Boss is sick and tired of hiding." the first mafia responded, "He wants to stick it to those Qualunque assholes. Now, these guys were clearly sent by them, so he wants us to interrogate them. Now do what he says!"
The mafias held the crew at gunpoint as they confiscated their weapons and took them upstairs. After they went through a door at the left end of the walkway and through a fairly long hall, they threw Blitz, Millie, and Loona into an empty grey room. They still held Moxxie at gunpoint at the doorway.
"We're interrogating this one," the head mafia said. "He looks like a little bitch. So he'll probably squeal if we threaten him hard enough." His comments insulted Moxxie, but he didn't want to make the current situation worse by insulting them back. Millie, on the other hand, didn't give a shit about the current situation, especially when she heard what they were going to do to him.
"Don't you fucking hurt him!" She yelled as she charged at the mafia holding Moxxie. The head mafia pushed a button on the wall on his side of the doorway, which caused a large reinforced door to close before she could touch them. Millie hit the door and tried her best to force her way through, but no matter how many times she punched the door, it wouldn't budge.
"Imagine being so fucking paranoid that you waste money on reinforced doors," Blitz said. He looked around and noticed that Octavia wasn't in the room with them. "Wait, where's Octavia?"
"I thought she was with you," Loona responded.
Blitz began to worry now. The thought of her getting hurt or worse made him terrified, not just because she's his stepdaughter, but also that Stolas was going to kill him. He banged his head against the wall in frustration.
"Fuck shit fuck shit fuck fuck fuck!" Blitz said to himself.
Little did he know Octavia was hiding in the bushes in the courtyard in front of the mansion. She noticed there were now guards outside patrolling the area.
"Shit shit shit fuck shit fuck!" She said to herself. She eventually took a deep breath and calmed down, telling herself that she had to save her stepdad and her coworkers. It shouldn't be too hard for her. After all, she had snuck out of her family's mansion a few times for concerts and shit and sneaked back in, so this shouldn't have been any different. Except that instead of punishment, if she were to get caught, she would get shot in the face...no pressure.
Octavia crawled around the left side of the courtyard, hiding behind bushes and some marble statues as guards passed by. Thanks to her dark outfit and body, she could blend into the darkness well. She was able to get to the back of the mansion with no problems, despite how freaked out she was. The back courtyard wasn't as big as the front, but it was still sizeable, with more rows of plants that reminded her of her dad's plant collection at home. Just then, she heard a window opening on the wall at the back of the mansion.
"I'm opening this, it's stuffy as fuck in here." The mafia who opened the window said.
"What if somebody sneaks in through there?" Another mafia inside said to him.
"It'll be fine." The first mafia said. "We've got a fuckton of guards outside. No way anyone else sneaking in here." As they were talking, Octavia quickly and quietly snuck in through the window without them noticing and ran down the hallway. At the end of it was a door she quietly opened a bit to see what was on the other side. She saw another hallway with an open doorway to the left. Voices could be heard from inside the room, one of them sounding like Moxxie. She snuck into the hall and leaned against the wall by the doorway. Peeking inside the small room, she saw Moxxie with his arms tied to the arms of a chair, with a mafia member walking around him menacingly.
"I'm not gonna lie. You walking around me might look scary to you, but it's making me dizzy," Moxxie said.
"You've got a big mouth for a tiny man." The mafia said. "Why don't you use that to tell me where those Qualunque assholes are hiding out."
"Has it ever occurred to you that there are others who would want your boss dead as well?"
"...you got a point. Then who sent you?"
"Ok, I'll tell you. I was sent by Sucon."
"Who's Sucon?"
"Sucon this dick!" Moxxie laughed, proud of that joke. The mafia was not as impressed, which he showed by punching him in the face.
"You think you're funny? You're creative, I'll give you that. Dressing up as demons and shit to put fear into your enemies. But I ain't fucking scared."
"How stupid can you be to think this is all a costume?" Moxie said before the mafia pulled out a cleaver.
"You talk too much shit." The mafia said, "let's fix that by taking away a finger!" He raised his cleaver up, about to slash at Moxxie. Before he could do that, Octavia ran towards the man and stabbed him in the back. The mafia fell on his back and she stabbed him in the chest, killing him. Octavia dropped the knife and looked at her blood-covered hands in fear before looking at the face of the now-dead mafia member.
"Octavia!" Moxxie said, "Thank goodness you're safe. Can you get me-" Before he could finish, Octavia vomited. "Oh right, I forgot how hard it was for non-imps to kill people," he said to himself.
"Just give me a minute," Octavia said, taking some deep breaths as she processed what just happened. She eventually regained some of her composure and cut the ropes tying Moxxie loose. "Are dad and the others ok?"
"Yes, they're upstairs." He said as he took a keycard from the dead mafia's pockets. "Are you ok?"
"No. But right now we have more important things to worry about." Octavia followed him upstairs into the hallway towards the room where the rest of the I.M.P crew was being held. Moxxie swiped the keycard on the control panel by the door, which caused the door to open. Millie, who was sitting against the door, fell on her back through the doorway. When she got up and saw Moxxie, she was ecstatic.
"Moxxie! You're ok!" she said as she ran toward Moxxie and hugged him. They then rubbed their noses together with smiles on their faces.
"Yea, thanks to her," Moxxie said as he pointed toward Octavia.
"O!" Blitz yelled as he hugged Octavia. "Are you ok sweety!? Is this your blood? Did you get hurt?"
"I'm ok, physically at least." She responded, "But...I just killed a man."
"You did!? How was it?"
"It felt horrible, scary, and I see his face every time I close my eyes, but at the same time, it felt...thrilling. I think I get what you mean now, Dad. I need to embrace these feelings until they're numb to me and focus on the thrill. That way I can kill better."
"Um...yeah, you're getting it! That's my girl."
Loona kicked open a door that was near their room. In it were the weapons that were confiscated from them, as well as their grimoire. As Blitz, Moxxie, and Millie eagerly went inside to get their weapons, Loona put an arm on Octavia's shoulder. "You're doing great, sis."
"Oh, um...thanks," Octavia said, surprised at being called sis. She saw another knife on a table in the room and picked it up as a backup knife. Just then, a mafia came into the hallway and saw that they were loose. He called out to the others before Loona jumped him and snapped his neck. More soldiers came in, but Blitz shot one in the head with his flintlock, and Moxxie shot another in the head with his pistol. Millie jumped in and started bashing and stabbing the others with her bat. Loona joined in, bashing their heads in against the walls and taking one of their automatic rifles before letting loose on the trigger. Octavia just stood and watched in awe.
The crew fought their way to a double door, which Blitz kicked open. It lead to a room that had six columns, three on each side of a marble pathway leading to a desk. On the marble pathway were five mafia soldiers pointing guns at them. Behind the desk was a man with black, clean-cut hair and a black suit.
"You come into my mansion and expect to kill me!?" the man said, who the crew quickly deduced was Danny Vaffanculo. "You can fucking try, but I'm not going down without a fight you motherfuckers!" While he was shouting Octavia tried to stab the nearest soldier while no one was looking. She succeeded, but it didn't kill him. He just dropped his rifle and screamed before hitting her to the ground. Even though the knife was still in his side, he still managed to pull out a pistol and point it at Octavia.
"O!" Blitz shouted, jumping in the gunman's way. The mafia shot him in the chest, causing Blitz to fall to the ground with his hands on the wound.
"Dad!" Octavia shouted as she crawled over to him. "Why did you do that?"
"Isn't it obvious, O? I didn't want your father to kill me." He said jokingly, even though he was in pain. "Don't worry, imps recover quick. This bullet ain't doing shit." The others tried to approach them, but the rest of the soldiers shot at them, making them use the pillars closest to them as cover.
Something awakened in Octavia at that moment. She looked back at the gunman with the pistol, her eyes glowing red, and gave a screech that got everyone's attention. Her vision went red and she could see bright spots on his body that represented their weak spots and vital organs.
"What the fuck are you!?" the gunman said before Octavia stabbed him in the heart and pulled out the knife from his side. The other mafia on the left of the pathway snapped out of their fear and tried to shoot her. She did a combat role towards the pillar for cover. The soldier approached her spot, trying to smoke her out, but she quickly popped out and stabbed him in the arm. She then pulled out her backup knife and slit his throat open. The soldier on the other side of the pathway shot at her as well, but she turned the soldier she just killed around and used him as a human shield, pushing the now dead body towards him and quickly stabbing him through the neck. The other soldiers tried to shoot Octavia, but she quickly hid into the shadows, making them lose track of her. She then came by the soldier standing on the right side of the pathway and sliced his head off. Before the other soldier could shoot, she threw her backup knife right between his eyes, killing him instantly.
Danny eventually pulled out his rifle from under his desk, but when he looked back, he saw Octavia gone. He looked around in a panic but found no trace of her. "Where are you!?" he shouted. Just then, Octavia appeared right behind him, putting her knife to his throat.
"Right fucking here." She said before slitting his throat, causing him to fall to the ground and bleed to death. Octavia snapped out of whatever she was in, panting. The I.M.P crew were beyond surprised at what she did.
"Holy fuck." Loona said, "How the hell did you do that!?"
"I...I have no idea. It was just instinct. Like my body was guiding me." Octavia said. She thought about the powers that her dad and other Ars Goetia demons had. Could this be hers manifesting? Before she could finish her thought, Blitz approached her. He was still wounded and kept his left hand on the bullet hole, but he was able to walk around.
"So, how was your first hit?" He asked her.
"Honestly," Octavia said, "it was fucking awesome! Did you see me jump and roll around? I bet I looked cool! God, I've never felt so alive. I thought this whole embracing your feelings thing was gonna be a long process, but I feel great! I kind of want to kill more people now."
"Woah there, slow down, girl. I'm glad you're enjoying work, but you gotta control your excitement."
"You're right, sorry."
"No no no, that's a good feeling. You just need to control it and let it out at the right time. Honestly though, I'm proud of you. I was trying to shape you into a killer, but you did most of the work. Your blade play is amazing, and you're hard to spot, which will help us a lot. From now on, O, you're our blades and stealth specialist." He put his hand out for a handshake. "Consider your role as an official welcome to the Immediate Murder Professionals."
Octavia smiled as she shook his hand. If it was like this for every job they've done, she had a feeling she was going to enjoy working at this company.