Vest sat nervously across from Trenchcoat's desk. His posture was as straight and proper as he could make it, trying his best to remain attentive as his easily angered superior went through today's paperwork. She would occasionally glance at Vest then simply return her attention to the mound of papers and files that required review and signing. Vest himself had numerous questions racking his brain. Why did she call this meeting? What was it about? Was it an evaluation? It certainly couldn't be that she was about to fire him. A raise, maybe? A promotion? No, that was less likely than him getting fired.

As he juggled these questions in mind, Trenchcoat placed her pen on the desk.

"Now that that's taken care of," She began and clasped her hands together, "I suppose you're wondering why I called you here."

"Yes, ma'am." Vest responded plainly.

"Tell me, what do you know of Putang as it stands now?"

The question left Vest confused. "In...terms of what, ma'am?"

"In terms of the mortals, it's political situation, it's high society, it's criminal underbelly, and it's value to us demons."

"Well...uhhhh…" Vest struggled for a moment to recall that information, much to Trenchcoat's annoyance. He was never asked this before. "What I do know is that the humans are pretty much what you'd expect in a metropolitan city. They can give off a charming appearance but inside they're all sorts of ugly. The current mayor has refused all offers the contract-makers have given him, making it difficult to gain control of the city through it's high society, which, while we've had some success, isn't indebted to us enough to where we can tip the scales. As for it's criminal underbelly, it's remained Helmet's thumb since the War of the Penis and getting any of the major gangs to side with us is impossible due to the fact most of their leaders are scared shitless of the guy. All in all, the city is...passive, ma'am."

"Yes...passive…" Trenchcoat remarked, standing up from her chair and walking towards the window behind her, observing the twisted, black structures and spires that were common throughout Hell. "...What if I told you someone was trying to tip those scales?"

"Did you...hire someone?" Vest asked, to which Trenchcoat scoffed in response.

"If only. No, this is someone outside of my authority. A lackey of a certain asshole who enjoys making my life more of a living hell than it already is."

"Beret…"

"Yes." Trenchcoat then turned and slammed her hands on the desk, "That fucking hornless bastard is trying to rip jurisdiction over the city out from under us! If he gets control before we do, we'll all be seen as incompetent and terminated from surface work! Or worse, made to work for him!"

"So what do we do, ma'am?"

"Unfortunately, I don't know which gang he's been making contact with, but I do know who the little shit acting as the middleman is."

"Who?"

Trenchcoat then slid a file across the desk.

"Jackboot Malaise. Nothing really special about him. Just a trueborn looking to get ahead in life.

I need you to obtain the names of the humans connecting him."

"So what?" Vest asked as he read through the file, "You want me to break into his house and steal his laptop? Pickpocket his phone?"

"It won't be that simple. If I know Beret, and I know him real fucking well, he's taken great care to have all information regarding dealings with mortals stored in his own private electronics and databases, making his lackeys destroy any electronics not given the Beret stamp of approval that they use when they make contact with mortals. You'll need to break into Beret's headquarters at Satyrsville and obtain the info from Jackboot's computer."

"And I have to do this alone?"

"You'll have Choker's help in guiding you through the compound, but that's about it. I've arranged for a driver to take you to Satyrsville tonight so whatever plans you might've had will need to be canceled."

Vest frowned. He and Ruka were going out to Poncho's Palace tonight. Ruka will be very disappointed, that's for sure. He loved mexican food and preferred Poncho's Palace to any other restaurant. Vest then closed the file and placed it back on the desk.

"Anything else I need to know before I start my mission, ma'am?" He asked.

"As a matter of fact, yes." Trenchcoat replied, "No one besides you, me, and Choker knows about the true intent of your visit to Satyrsville. Keep it that way."

"Why so much secrecy?"

"Because I'm beginning to suspect there's a mole among our ranks and out of all my employees besides Choker, you're the only one I know who's capable enough, subtle enough, and most importantly: loyal enough to be trusted with this task."

"You don't think Ruka is loyal?"

Trenchcoat sighed, taking a seat. "Vest, Ruka is a wrathion. That alone makes his capability situational, his subtlety non-existent, and his loyalty questionable. No amount of medication can change his volatile and unpredictable nature."

"He's worked for you faithfully for 3 years."

"And during those 3 years, he's repeatedly challenged my authority and has unjustifiably shed mortal blood more than once! The only reason I haven't booted his ass yet is because everyone else with the qualifications for surface work doesn't want to work in this fucking shithole of a sector! If I could replace him with anyone else, I would do so just as quickly as I would replace you if presented with someone better! Especially since it was you that suggested I hire him despite the incident in California! Now go do your fucking job!"

Without saying a word, Vest stood up, bowed, and made his way out of the office. But just as he grabbed the door handle, Trenchcoat spoke one final time.

"And Vest...I still want that ghost by the end of the month."

"You'll get it...ma'am." Vest replied and exited the office. He then took a deep breath and exhaled.

"What a fucking bitch." He mumbled.

Satyrsville, like all cities within Hell, was a fiery cesspool of sin and foul deeds with the demon realm's rules giving only the appearance of a proper, orderly society. Naturally, those in power spend a great deal of resources to ensure their assets are well protected in case the billions of demons roaming the streets become more unruly than usual and within the massive complex near the very heart of Satyrsville, where Beret, an Archfiend of Hell, conducts his business throughout the region and across numerous locations in the mortal world, practically every room, hallway, and staircase is guarded with cameras, deadly traps, vicious hellhounds, and cold-blooded demons armed with state of the art weaponry.

As two guards patrolled the halls, they passed a janitor who was whistling a tune as he dutifully mopped the floors. After cleaning the hallway, he entered a nearby elevator and went up to the next floor. Meanwhile, in a van parked in an alleyway a couple blocks away from the complex, Choker happily munched on her favorite snack, Little Bubs, as she watched two screens. The one on the left showed a detailed 3D map of the whole complex and the one on the left showed the perspective of a tiny, near-invisible camera that was attached to the janitor's shirt.

"Okay! You should be approaching Jackboot's floor now. His office will be on the opposite end of the room. Man, I gotta say I'm super stoked about all this. I feel like I'm in a spy movie or one about master thieves carrying out a big heist. Come to think of it, a master thief movie would be fitting considering your past. Hey Vest, how much did you make on your first-"

"Please, oh please, oh pleeeeease. Shush. Shush. Shush shush shush." The janitor, now revealed to be Vest, quietly sanged, trying not to break his cover in front of the two cameras in the elevator. When it reached the next floor, Vest stepped out and proceeded mopping the floor until he reached the door to Jackboot's office. There, he waited until the cameras turned their sight away from him then quickly picked the door's lock and entered the office.

It was quite standard for a Fiend's workspace. A desk, computer, some filing cabinets, a bloody shrine dedicated to one of the Archbeasts of Hell. The usual things you'd see. Not wanting to waste any time, Vest sat down in front of the computer and turned it on.

"Alright, Choker. Gimme the password."

"Sure thing! It's….uhhhhh..."

"What?"

"I...might've misplaced the note somewhere…"

"Are you fucking-"

"No wait, here it is! Had it in my pocket."

Vest let out a sigh of relief.

"Okay. The password is Nagglemaggleyabum"

"Naggawhat?"

"Nagglemaggleyabum. N. A. G. G. L. E. M. A. G. G. L.E. Y. A. B. U. M."

"Riiight. Alright I'm in. Now let's see those emails." Vest clicked on the ZolgaMail icon and browsed through the various emails. Their subjects varied. Some were simple conversations between Jackboots and his fellow employees on the surface, others pertained to tasks given to him by his superiors. Eventually, he found a set of emails sent between Jackboot and someone going by the username CrystalSmoke. Reading through their conversations, he was able to confirm that this CrystalSmoke was indeed the human gang leader Jackboot was contacting.

However, there was no mention of the name of the gang itself nor any hints of CrystalSmoke's true name and identity. It seemed they were very careful not to mention those things in emails. Instead, he found something quite sinister and the more he read, the more horrified he became. Mentions of human test subjects provided to the demons by CrystalSmoke from both within and outside his gang who went under something called 'The Nullsoul Procedure' and the often grisly effects it had on them, plans for a machine to be built within in Putang to produce these 'Nulled' on an industrial scale, similar to a ghost factory, and promises of demonhood free from the agony of the Seven Hungers once they take control of the city.

Vest was at a loss for words. This was...abominable. He knew most demons were quite willing and capable of committing twisted and horrendous things, but this...

"Well?" Choker asked, "Did you find out who the jackwad is?"

"N-No." Vest replied. It was all he could say as he tried to process this information.

"Well, Trenchcoat isn't gonna be happy if we go back without something. Are you sure there isn't anything we can at least use to figure out who?"

Vest read through the emails again.

"...Yea...Yea yea. Something about the building materials for a machine being delivered inside drug shipments."

"A machine? For what?"

"You...I...I can't explain it here. You'll need to see it yourself."

"Well, you can't take the whole computer with you, so you'll just have to describe it on the way back. Now hurry and get your butt outta there."

Turning power off the computer, Vest took a deep breath and made his way to the door. But just before he placed his hand on the knob, his ears perked up as they caught the faint sound of breathing. Not just one, about half a dozen people breathing. Just outside the office he was in. His eyes widened. There was no way the guards knew, but they somehow did. He could hear their quiet, steady breaths and they weren't moving an inch in any direction. Did he slip up? Was there still someone on the floor that he didn't notice? He slowly looked around the room, moving nothing but his head until he spotted it.

It was a small camera. A simple webcam, in fact, attached to the top of the computer's monitor but it faced to the door, rather than in the direction the computer screen faced. A long wire went along from it to wherever the building's security room was, where they watched him enter the office. Vest then slowly turned his head back towards the door and took a step back. He heard a whisper.

"He knows. Open fire."

A hailstorm of profaned bullets penetrated through the office door and glass windows and the guards did not release the trigger on their guns until the magazines were emptied and reloaded. One then walked up to what was left of the door and kicked it off it's hitches. With his weapon aimed, he searched the bullet hole ridden room for Vest, but found no body, alive or dead. He then took note of the desk and slowly made his way around before shoving the chair aside and unloading in the open space under the desk. Only to discover that nothing was there, leaving the guard perplexed.

When a second one walked in, he was suddenly met with a demonic knife to the neck by Vest, who dropped from the ceiling, just between his helmet and body armor. His scream startled the first guard, but before he could react, Vest quickly pulled out the second guard's heavy pistol from it's holster and shot him square in the head. Vest then turned the now-dead guard's body around with him to face the office door and used it as a shield as he laid down suppressing fire at the remaining guards, who all quickly ran into cover.

When the pistol ran out of ammunition, Vest threw the pistol aside, pulled the pin off the grenade on the dead guard's belt and shoved the body out of the room, leaping out the shattered window just before it exploded. As he fell, ethereal demonic wings appeared on Vest's back and used them to propel himself through the air and as far away from the complex as possible. Sadly, demons of his rank were forbidden the gift of flight while in Hell and his wings faded away as he fell to the city streets, skipping across the pavement like a stone thrown across a lake until he crashed through a barbershop's window.

The barbers and patrons there at the time just looked on in shock as a dazed Vest slowly stood himself up, his disguise torn up with some glass shards stuck in his body, not to mention a few cracked ribs and nasty scrapes. Looking at his dangling, dislocated arm, he grabbed hold of it with his remaining good arm and gritted his teeth as he painfully popped it back into place, the sound causing some of the other demons a bit of discomfort.

Vest then looked on to the demons in the barbershop.

"You...you didn't see...anything…fuck my head…ouch..." Vest said as he staggeredly exited the building.

Trenchcoat sat calmly, looking out the window of her office with the information on the Nullsoul Procedure fresh on her mind as Choker finished wrapping bandages around Vest's head.

"...I can't help but think this is a load of bullshit." She said sternly.

"Believe me, ma'am. I wish it wasn't true either. But it is." Vest replied.

"No!" Trenchcoat shouted, gripping the arms of her chair tightly, "Something like this should be impossible! And even if it was, it violates the Seven Seals! Beret wouldn't be stupid enough to risk Judgement Day for just one mortal city!"

She gritted her teeth in frustration. The sheer recklessness and arrogance of Beret's plan made her want to tear out all her hair and eat a bullet. Why? Why would he even attempt this? Just to spite her? To see what would happen? Everything always seemed like a game to Beret and it drove her mad. When she seemed like she was about to snap, she took a deep breath and exhaled heavily, calming herself.

"Was there anything...anything at all about the humans he's contacting?"

"No, ma'am. Only thing we have to go on is that they'll be delivering building materials inside of drug shipments."

"And virtually every street gang in Putang is involved in drug trafficking." Trenchcoat sighed, "Meaning that we have fuck all to go on."

"I'm sorry I couldn't get anything more, ma'am."

"I don't want your apology, Vest. What I want is the name and face of the fucker doing deals with Beret. Though you delivered information on their plan, you failed in delivering the information I wanted, which is now no longer just important, but absolutely vital if we are to maintain our standing within Hell and status as an independent sector. There is nothing more for you to say and nothing for me to say. Other than that you are dismissed."

Vest, with a frown on his face, then stood up slowly from his seat, bowed as far as his injured body would allow and left the room.

"Jeez, Trenchy. Don't you think you were being a little too hard on him this time?" Choker asked, placing her hands on her hips, "He did almost die getting you that info."

"What was I supposed to say?" Trenchcoat spun around in her chair, "'It's ok, you did your best? Don't worry, we'll figure it out together?' Vest is good at what he does, but his best isn't good enough. Not when we're going up against Beret."

"Trenchy…" Choker walked up to her stressed out superior and began massaging her shoulders, "Beret is a big time jerk and everyone here knows how much he gives you a hard time. But don't take it out on a sweet guy like Vest. His best didn't give you what you wanted, yeah, but it gave you what you needed to prepare for when Beret makes his move. Not only that, but if we give this information to the right person, they could do the job of finding the human working with Beret and wreck their plan for us. Perhaps a certain bucket-headed preacher who would no doubt go ballistic if he found out one of the street gangs were making deals with the oh so horrid and terrible servants of Hell."

Trenchcoat glanced over to her trusted friend.

"You know, I often forget how smart you are sometimes."

"That's just little ole me, Trenchy. Silly chatterbox one moment, clever schemer the next." Choker replied, giving Trenchcoat a light hug, which made the normally sour demon woman smile ever so slightly.

"What would I do without you, Choker?"

"Probably prostitute yourself and rob your clients blind."

Trenchcoat scoffed. "Oh, you bitch."

"I may be a bitch, but I'm your bitch."

As the local news station in Satyrsville reports on the explosion on Beret's compound and the incident in the barbershop last night, a dark violet demon clad in body armor observes his subordinates cleaning up the debris and demon body parts from the destroyed office of one of his lieutenants, Jackboot.

"Master…" A voice said behind him, which was none other than Jackboot himself, with his curved horns and braided white hair with streaks of black that made it look like the striped skin of a zebra, kneeling before the violet demon, "I have spoken to the civilians who saw the intruder. The black hair we saw in the security footage was merely a wig, part of his disguise. Baby blue is it's true color. The shades he wore surprisingly remained intact so no one saw his eyes."

The demon did not move or turn his head to acknowledge Jackboot's presence. He only spoke with a calm, yet powerful voice.

"I see. Anything else?"

"I have also recovered a blood sample from the barbershop and have begun a DNA test. We will have his identity within-"

"That won't be necessary." The demon interrupted, "I already know who it is."

"Y-You do?"

"Of course I do. The blue hair merely confirms it."

"I see...Master, should we call it off?"

The demon turned his head and gave Jackboot a very disapproving glare.

"W-What I mean to say was: Should we do something?"

"...No. Continue your duties as per usual."

"As you wish, Master." Jackboot said then stood up and walked away.

The demon turned his attention back to the explosive mess and began to ponder, tapping his chin with a clawed finger. The fact Vest, a half-breed of all things, was able to even infiltrate and flee the compound alive was, at the very least, admirable. If only he didn't leave such a mess behind. Now that Trenchcoat knew of his plan, it begged the question. What would she do with the information? Present it to the local Prince? Unlikely. If she did, he could easily have Jackboot take the blame, saying he acted alone in this operation and due to his good relationship with the Prince, he'll wait just long enough for the city to fall into Hell's, and thereby his, hands before punishing Jackboot and destroying all research pertaining to the Nullsoul Procedure.

The Angels, perhaps? Again, unlikely. There are many in Heaven who want Judgement Day to happen as soon as possible and will use any excuse to speed up its occurence. With Hell as it stands, two thirds of all demons will likely side with God and his son in the final conflict. Whatever his favorite rival planned to do, he needed to be ready. Not that he was worried. After all, there wasn't anything that he, Beret, couldn't do or get away with.