Verosika couldn't stop thinking about it. This Imp, almost entirely the mirror image of her Ex-Boyfriend, happens to be the manager of the cabaret she and her gang are in and had managed to take control of a violent situation, making it so that everyone got off easy. She needed answers. Who really was this guy? Why did he look like Blitzø? Why was she technically not wanted here? ...Okay, that question did not sound as important, but she still wanted to know the answer! Answers that she would soon get as she saw Mr. Rorschach coming up the stairs with an imp waiter next to him. This was her chance...
"Hey, you! Over here! I want to ask you something!" She practically yelled out. The Imp waiter standing next to his manager sighed in frustration.
"That chick..." He said in a whisper before turning to his boss. "Is she really allowed in here, sir?"
"Technically yes, since she's apparently someone important." Benny whispered back. He and the waiter moved to the tables where Verosika's gang were sitting. As he got there, he took note of how some of her crew were eying him with curiosity, and the girls as they mostly looking at him with a hint of lust in their eyes. But he ignored that as focused on Verosika.
"Is there a problem, milady?"
"'Milady'?" Verosika thought, still taken back by how grand of a gentleman his is. "Uh...well first, I wanted to say that it's a pleasure to make your acquaintance. From what I was told, my patronage here was 'most appreciated'. Nothing better than booze somebody else is buying, right?"
Her charm and jokes held no effect on Benny, who stood there expressionless. His waiter then stepped in.
"Sir, you want I should-"
"It's okay." He interrupted. "Get back to work." And with that, the waiter returned to his post, leaving Benny to deal with Verosika, who could see that her charms weren't working.
"Forgive my rudeness, but you did say you had something to ask me, ma'am." He then gestures to his left. "If you'd like, we can talk about it personally, if you would accompany me, please."
"Oh." Verosika said, blushing as it felt like this guy was courting her. "T-That sounds nice, actually. I won't be long guys."
And with, she follows Benny to an office area. Small, but clean, having twin loveseats on opposite ends of a glass coffee table that had a crystal ashtray , a box tv, cabinet of drinks and a hot towel warmer. What seemed strange though were the colors of the room, green floors, white walls, it just made the room seem so...mortal.
"Hmm, cozy. Looks likes an office back on earth." Verosika commented.
Benny replied "It used to be. This whole city used to be part of the human world until it was apparently destroy and brought here, in Limbo, the faction of hell which is closest to the earth."
"Interesting. Was the place also like back when it was on earth? 'Cause seems to be booming a lot."
"Naturally." Benny said, taking the ashtray and pouring it's contents into a trash bin before wiping it clean. "It's rare how some things tend to change. And all the better for it."
"What do you mean by that?" Verosika asked.
"Nevermind it. You said you something to ask me, so let's get on with it."
"Oh well...I just want to know who you are. See, I heard your name, recognized your position, but I want to know more."
"Really?" Questioned Benny. "What peaked your interest?"
"The fact that you look almost exactly like a certain demon who...I hate as of this moment."
"...Well, whoever that poor soul is, I doubt I'd have any connection to them." Benny replied, taking a hot towel from the warmer and handing to Verosika, bowing and holding the towel with two hands, as a professional should. Verosika, still taken back by how this guy acts, hesitantly accepts the towel and enjoys the feeling of it for a split second before back to Benny.
"You may be right." She says. "Afterall, he was never such a gentleman as you. But I do have another question. One of your waiters told me that I'm not ever supposed to be allowed in here. What's up with that."
"You ARE allowed in here." Benny corrected "You're a succubus, a musician and you have a reputation that proceeds you. And in a business such as this, we can't be so certain if you can't follow the rules."
"Hey, I know my limitations." Verosika said. "I can be a good girl, if you want me to."
"Right..."
Verosika then questioned "Now that I'm curious, how did an imp like you get into this kind of business?"
There was a brief moment of silence before Benny came to answer.
"...I didn't really have that much choice in the manner." He said.
"What do you mean?" Verosika asked. Then, Benny picked out a bottle and poured a glass for Verosika.
"It's a long story, so you might as well get comfortable."
Flashback to when Benny was a kid and was part of a family along side three siblings and two parents, a loving mother...but an abusive father. The perfect family was non-existent with the realm of Hell, so this family of imps were no different, but the siblings did care for each other at least...
"Our father had said to have been a professional assassin...but to us, he was more of a drunk and a savage. Made our lives miserable what with the way he acted, but I...aimed to please him, hoping that he wouldn't give us that much of a hard time." Benny sighs. "...If only he had sparred my brother from his gluttonous punishments."
He remembers his younger twin barely surviving a beating from his father. Were it not for the rest of the family, would his brother died then and there. It was the first time...he pulled a knife on his own father, and he could remember the smile his father had on his face soon after.
"He said that he had never been more proud of me...when I threatened him. While he forever remained disappointed at my little brother, trained me to be a remorseless assassin. I pretty damn good at it, taken a few dozen lives in my day."
"Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait..." Verosika interrupted. "If you're trained to kill, why didn't you bother taking care of the guy who was messing with your business earlier?"
"You heard my policy. 'The Customer is King'." Benny answered. "It's a professional courtesy that I must uphold. But to be honest, it is exhausting not being able to fight. Despite what you saw tonight, I'm practically walked all over this place."
"But you're the manager!"
"Not by choice." Benny explained. "Please, let me get on with the story..."
Flashback to Benny's assassin days. He still had both eyes back then, and he was also the killing machine that his father molded him to be. Completed each assassination without pity or remorse for his victims, but he didn't do just any job. He wanted to know who he was gonna off, or else there'd be repercussions. It was not something he was proud of, however, as the money he gains only helps to support his family. For some time, business was good, until Benny's luck finally ran out, on the day he was with his brother at the time. Unfortunately, that day of all days was one you would not want to be outside in Hell...
NEXT CLEANSE
Benny and his brother ran for their lives as the skies of Hell were filled with exterminators, and soon, did they rain down. Most of the first to be erased barely got a chance to run. But when it came to the brothers, did Benny take his chance...and pushed his twin to safety. The younger one watched as his brother did his best to fight off the angel like a one man slaughtering machine. But it didn't last.
"NO! BLITZ, DON'T LOOK!"
They surrounded him, practically took hold of him as they took to the skies to finish him off. And the last thing he saw was the edge of an angelic spear hardening towards his face.
"I was dead...and left to be piled up with the rest of the unfortunate. However, it seems as if I had gotten the attention of some...folks. Apparently, some lesser known sibling to the King, but still powerful enough to match his over all hell..."
Benny's lifeless and mutilated corpse had start to breath life as he saw a demonic figure with inverted wings towering over him...
"...He rules over this city, from there."
Benny points to the window and Verosika could see a building. The city's tallest skycraper with 2 demon-like wing features situated at the center of Limbo City.
"His name is Samael." Benny continued. "My benefactor. Pulling me from the void, interested in a guy with my skills; I was left indebted to him as he brought my back from the dead and restoring me to almost perfect condition."
He gestures to his eyepatch, which Verosika could tell was a symbol to Benny's debt to this Samael.
"To ensure my obedience..."
Flashback to Benny in chains, in the hole as demonic guards were there with devices of torture ready to finish where the exorcists left off. However, Samael saw to it personally...the removal of Benny's depth perception.
"He took a little piece of me to keep me in light."
As the doors closed, Benny's screams echoed...
Verosika was so into this story, she hadn't said a word and just listened as Benny continued.
"How I was supposed to do was up to me, he said. All I knew was only had a decade to pay him back. Which brings me to how I became the manager of this establishment and have been so ever since. To be honest, this place was a pigstine before I took charge, not to brag anyway."
"Hmm...and your brother?" Verosika finally asked. "Did he make it out?"
"...I never knew." Benny answered. "It's been a decade since I've seen him. A decade since I've seen anything outside the walls of this city. This job is no comfort for what is endured here. It's nothing but a prison."
The pop star wanted to let that sink for a moment...until that moment was so rudely interrupted by her hellhound.
"Hey V, sorry to butt in, but the rest of crew have finished their drinks and are getting bored."
"Oh, um...good to know." Verosika said. "We were just finishing off anyway. Right, Mr. Rorschach?"
"...I suppose we were."
"Well, I think I've gotten everything I need to know about you. Thank you for your time, I'll be sure to visit again. This place is one of the better spots." Verosika then decides to pull out some money and hands it to Rorschach. "But be sure to treat us like everyone else. We liked to be entertained."
"Play nice then, Ms. Mayday." Rorschach said in a low tone.
"Only for those who'd do the same for me. Chou."
And with that, did Verosika take her leave as Benny examined the stack of money she left him. Later that day, did the Imp close up shop and headed home...if you can ever call it that. A small apartment with only a stone and a fridge, but not even a bathroom. Relieving himself of his tuxedo, Benny rolled himself up on a mattress that was on the floor and curled up into sleep. Little did he know that a certain limousine had circled the street. Apparently, he gained more attraction from the Succubus than he thought.
"You sure this is the place?" Verosika asked Vortex.
"Yep. His scent ends here." The Hellhound answered.
"He deserves better than this."
"What are you gonna do? Make him join the crew?" Milky asked.
"No. He wouldn't go for it. But I think I know a business proposition that he wouldn't deny. Something worthy of his caliber."
The limousine rode off, and for a moment, Benny woke up to look out the window. When there was nothing to see, he went back to sleep.