AN: And here we are! Part 1 of our first episode of "Leave It To Heaven" based on the talented EMositeCC's Angel AU work who you can follow on twitter. This has been a long time in the making, but me and CrackedInkWell are excited to post this. For those of you who do not know, this is an Alternate Universe where Blitzo and the I.M.P. crew are angels (as well as their respective families) but everyone else is still their canon-selves. If you want to see the full on start of this setting, please check out our pilot story before reading this.
As such, a lot of things are going to be different from the show, and yet there will be some similarities. We're hoping this becomes a big hit. Once again we want to thank EMositeCC for letting us do this!
With that said, enjoy the first part of episode 1 and... WELCOME TO...CARNEVIL!
AHAHAAHAHAAHAHA!
Sorry couldn't resist.
Disclaimer: We do not own Helluva Boss and the Angel AU concet is originally EmositeCC's idea who we were given permission to use!
CARNEVIL
Part 1
By TalosLives & CrackedInkWell
Edited by Anon
Based on EMositeCC's AngelAUSeries
BANG!
BANG!
"Shit!" Dennis cursed, a nearby tree having suddenly exploded into splitters. He clenched his sister's hand tighter. "Keep moving! Keep moving!"
BANG!
It was easier said than done, but given the grim circumstances, neither of them had any other choice. Behind them they can still hear the voices of their chasers and the echoes of barking hounds. Neither of them could afford to look behind them to see how close the family of psychopaths were. They needed to get away.
BANG!
If things had gone differently, they would had been back home months ago. What was meant to be a week of visiting their grandma down in Georgia, turned into something horrific. A wrong turn down a dirt road, and the brother and sister had been captured by a family straight out of a slasher film. For months, they, along with several others, had been treated worse than any animal. They'd been fed canned dog food, regularly beaten, and forced to watched victims partake in tortures that would haunt them, even beyond the grave.
"I can't… run… anymore…" Dennis heard his sister say between exhausted breaths. He could feel her being dragged behind, rushing through between bushes and under tree branches.
"Jess, we gotta… keep going…" He was tired too, nearly out of breath and in his state he could barely run since those… monsters slashed at his legs the other day.
"We can hear ya, meat!" a voice hollard somewhere from behind. There was another gunshot, and an entire tree branch was hacked off.
About ten minutes ago, the siblings were given a chance to escape. Their captors would let them go, if they could somehow win their game. They would be hunted down, but if they could reach the nearby town on the other side of the forest without getting shot or captured, they'd go free. However, the unforgivable, uneven terrain of the Smoky Mountains' woods made it all the more difficult where the only light they had was from the moon. Worse yet, they had no idea where they were going, or even if there'd be so much as a road in the place they were running blindly towards.
It was a slim chance for sure. Knowing those monsters, they might have been lying about being a town on the other side. After all, everyone who underwent this gauntlet never returned. But it was their only chance to get out, to get in touch with their family, to let them know of the deep trouble they and so many others were in. All they could do is go and outrun the family before they'd be killed.
As the minutes passed, it became increasingly difficult, as they heard more gunshots and more hounds that seemed to be coming from every direction. They were beyond terrified, but they couldn't stop. Not even for a moment. They needed something, anything to give them a chance to escape this nightmare.
"Hey Pa! Over there!" They heard a boy's voice shrilling out loud before another gunshot went off.
In their running, they saw a dilapidated wooden covered bridge, which gave Dennis an idea. "Hurry! Hurry!" he said between breaths. Given how close the family was getting, there would be no way to cross it without getting shot at, but thinking quickly, he took his sister not across it, but under it. Scrambling around and into the icy, waist-deep water, the siblings covered their mouths, trying not to make a sound and hoping their idea would work.
Above them, they heard the rushing of feet over the creaking bridge, along with the hollering voices of the family and the growling hounds. They waited until they could no longer hear their shouts of the mob-like hunt. When all was quiet, the two could breathe.
"That was too close." Jess let out a shuttered breath, tears streaming down from her eyes.
"We'll get out of this." Dennis hugged her.
She shook her head. "No we won't… We're gonna die out here… We're never gonna go home."
"Jess, please don't say that. We can get out of this. We need to find a town, call the police and send the army to rescue everyone else."
"But what are they going to do to them? You heard them: they're moving everyone out for their family reunion." Jess shuddered. "I can't even begin to imagine what they're going to do to everyone."
"Which is why we need to get a hold of somebody. What they're doing… what they're going to do, it's… it's beyond evil."
"Why? What did you hear?"
"I think… they're going to kill everyone in a bloodbath by the end of the week. I've overheard what the father said. Something about a ritual and blood… Whatever it is, everyone is going to die unless we find a town and make a phone call."
"But what if there isn't a town? What if they're lying? Have you thought of that?"
"We'll deal with that once we're long gone. Now, let's get out of this river, it's freezing." Just then, Dennis got an idea. "Wait, river? That's it! We just have to follow the river."
"How would-"
"Where there's water, there's civilization. All we have to do is go downstream until we run into a town."
"... Can we really make it?" Jess asked, biting her lip.
"We don't have a choice," Dennis said as he took his sister's shoulders and forced her to look into his eyes. "Look, no matter what happens, we'll be together. I pro-"
Dennis's speech was cut off by the sound of something smashing through the wooden bridge above, followed by something furry and sharp grabbing his head. The size of the paw was so big, it practically covered his entire face, preventing him from screaming. His sister's screams, however, echoed across the entire forest. Dennis was dragged up as if he was nothing but a plastic bag and found himself staring into a creature he couldn't even believe he was seeing. It was a wolf-like creature, but it stood on two legs like a human. Dark black and red fur covered its entire body as its blood-red eyes narrowed in excitement. A sinister grin decorated his muzzle before it opened its jaws wide and dug deep into Dennis's chest.
Even with the fur in his mouth, Dennis was still able to cry in agony as his entire skin was ripped off, exposing his bones and organs to the elements, before the wolf creature dug into his bloody cavity to feast. Pain unlike anything Dennis had ever felt spread throughout his entire body as his bones were crushed, organs were eaten, and blood began dripping down his body like a broken faucet. He didn't even have the means to try and resist as the creature continued its actions until a harsh whistle forced it to stop. Growling, it dropped Dennis onto the bridge. Blood began to leak out of Dennis's mouth as he felt his entire body become numb and his vision blurred. It took him a few moments to realize it, but he was dying.
The creature, which appeared to be wearing gothic clothing of all things, stepped aside as the mother of the insane family that had captured him and his sister appeared. The blond bombshell known as Martha was said to have been a nice woman according to the locals here, but she was anything but kind. Looking down at Dennis's dying figure, she just "tsk tsk" and looked at the monster with disapproval. "Aww, damnit, why'd you have to kill him like that? We were gonna bring him for the family reunion with that sister of his."
"Sorry, I didn't get to finish my dinner when you called us out to hunt for this sack of shit," the creature spoke in perfect, albeit rough-sounding English, and wiped the blood from his muzzle. "Why do you give these idiots a fool's chance in Hell to escape anyway? Didn't you make a blood barrier to prevent them from doing that anyway?"
"Cattle taste better when it's gotten exercise," Martha said with a sinister grin. "Plus, it's kinda fun seeing them have hope before it dies in front of them. Now what about that sister of his?"
"Right here." Another one of the creatures, this time a female with white and blue fur, replied while carrying the unconscious body of Jess. Upon realizing he'd failed, Dennis could only sob. He had hoped his sister would just run after he'd been caught, but his hopes were dashed. "Got the bitch when she tried running down the river after her brother got caught. Kept begging me to not eat her before I knocked her out. She was getting really annoying with that voice of hers." The female wolf creature grinned as she patted his sister's rump. "Got a nice ass though. Mind if I pound it before you and your family use her for your ritual thing in Green Moss Park?"
"Shit, you'd actually fuck a human?" the male wolf creature asked in disgust.
"I'm from the Lust Ring. We fuck anything that walks."
"Nobody is fuckin' her, especially you two Hellhounds," Martha ordered as she narrowed her eyes. "I didn't summon y'alls to play around with our prey. I summoned you to make sure they stay in place. Now get her sorry hide back to the pens, little doggie."
"Don't call me that, you milfed hillbilly bitch," the female Hellhound muttered as she walked away. "Last time I accept a summoning job from a southern hick. Sticking to fucking New Englanders from now on."
"What about this guy?" the male Hellhound asked as he pointed to a whimpering Dennis.
Martha just grinned and for a second Dennis swore her eyes turned red and her teeth became razor-like similar to a shark. She pulled out a revolver and aimed it at Dennis's head. "Not much use now. Might as well put the poor fucker out of his misery."
A shot rang out and Dennis's world went dark.
Twenty seconds later, he met an Angel of Death.
"... After I died, I was taken to the Gates of Judgment to decide my afterlife. They found me worthy of being allowed into Heaven pretty quickly, but that didn't matter to me," Dennis explained as he stared at the four silent angels that had given him a seat to explain why he was here. Their expressions were a mix of horror, concern, and sympathy, while their boss, Blitzo, was looking at him with a steel glare of cold calculation, his hands crossed over each other. The way he was gripping his fingers together made it clear he was doing his best to keep himself on his seat.
Sighing, Dennis continued, "What mattered was finding a way to save my sister and the others from suffering whatever horrible fate awaits them. I tried telling them that my sister and the others are going to be eaten alive or sacrificed to those godless cannibal Satan worshiping hillbilly bastards, but they said there was nothing they could do."
"That's insane!" Moxxie shouted in disbelief.
"It's bullshit, that's what!" Millie shouted in frustration as she smashed her hands on the table.
"Millie!" Moxxie shouted in surprise at her cursing.
"Oh, come on, Moxxie! This is a perfect time to curse! I mean it's the truth, ain't it?" Millie cried. She growled and looked ready to fly down to Earth right there and kill the demonic scum that was doing this horrible crime. "What in God's holy name is preventing the Angelic Army or any of the Special Forces like the Exorcist or Guardian Angels from going down there and rescuing these innocent souls!"
Dennis gritted his teeth and looked down in frustration. "I asked. There were a bunch of important Angels from the… what did they call it? Celestial Special Intelligence Agency at my judgment hearing. As soon as I was found worthy of coming to Heaven, they interviewed me. They wanted to know everything I knew about that family, the demons I saw, and the big family reunion they were planning. They even asked me about things I didn't know of, but it sounded like they've been keeping tabs on this family and others like them for a long time."
"So, wait a minute," Loona raised an eyebrow in disbelief. "They knew about this?! All of it?!"
"Yeah, but all they've been doing is gathering research, even as other innocent people die from this. In fact, I learned there's a group of victims in Heaven trying to get them to do something - anything. Even groups of Angels are with them, and they're trying to get the army to act as well. Multiple people have tried to convince them to go down and do something, but it's useless. They're under orders from someone in the high command in the army to only keep watch. They think some bigger demon is behind all of this and they want to know who it is. Sending a task force or even an entire division of troops would ruin their years of work. At this point, I hear they've been trying to get one of the Prime Archangels to get involved and force them to do something, but they're all so busy we don't know how long it will take to get them to act. But I figured by the time they do something, it'll be too late."
He took a deep breath and looked at them. "That's why I came to you. I heard you can go to the human world, and that one of you is a former Exorcist." Dennis saw a few eyes shift to Blitzo, who just sat there in silence. "Please, I don't know who else to turn to. You have to do something. I might not be a soul in Purgatory, but I'd give up my place in Heaven if it meant my sister could be saved along with those other people. I don't care if there is some big plan in the works. What matters is that people need to be saved right now!" He bowed his head as low as he could and closed his eyes in prayer. "Will you… will you help me? Help Jess? Help all those people?"
Things were quiet. Everyone waited for Blitzo to answer as he sat there in deep thought. His eyes were closed and not a single breath was heard in the minutes that passed.
Suddenly, Blitzo opened his eyes with glints of determination and rage emanating from them. Standing up, Blitzo soon looked at his team and started giving out orders. "Loona. Put all our current jobs on hold. This job became priority number one. Change the sign on our door; we're closed until further notice. Also, get me in contact with the Angels in the Celestial Special Intelligence Agency and the Office of Divine Intervention and Retribution who owe us favors. We're going to face trouble doing this, especially since we'll be pissing off the army. But they can take my pension away or jail me for all I care, because I'm not sitting on my ass while they play a stupid long game that's going to get people killed like pawns on a chessboard. I don't fucking play that game."
"On it!" Loona shouted as she rushed out of the meeting room with a flap of her wings.
"Millie? I want you to load us up. Top demon killing gear. I want the best of everything we got: guns, close range weapons, explosives, holy water, miracle crosses, silver stakes, special ammo, and more. I want us ready to send these sinners to Hell with the word pain carved into their souls. I want these demons to know the vegengence of the Lord so bad that they will be reciting Ezekiel 25:17 on their last breaths before choking on their blood and entering their final oblivion."
"Blessed be! Let's go on a demonic killing spree!" Millie whooped before rushing out with a bloodthirsty grin and an extra hop with her skip.
"Moxxie?" The last of Angels stood up in attention as Blitzo gave his orders. "Go with Dennis here to meet the other victims of these cannibal families. I want to know everything they saw, heard, and witnessed. Whatever unholy occult stuff they saw. Whatever rituals were used. What demons were around the premise. And more about where this family reunion was going to take place and what we can expect. Leave no detail overlooked. Then come back here ASAP so we can get going and start our rescue operation."
"Yes, sir!" Moxxie said as he grabbed Dennis by the hand and was about to take off, but Blitzo stopped him by putting his hand on Dennis's chest.
"Dennis? We'll save them," Blitzo said with a determined look in his eye. "I swear before the Lord himself that we will end this. Even if we have to catch heat from the higher ups for it, we'll rescue them. While I'm sure they have their reasons, those to me take nothing precedence over saving human lives."
"T-Thank you," Dennis replied with a bow of his head. "I had just about given up hope. And here in Heaven of all places."
"There is always hope," Blitzo stated firmly. "You just need to find it and hold onto it."
Nodding to Moxxie, he let his employee go before he was all alone in the meeting room. Growling, he smashed his fist into the table and almost let out a curse. This was wrong. Something about this was all wrong. Blitz was in the military once himself and he knew that this incident should not have gotten as far as it had. The military should have wiped out the demonic summoning humans as soon as they got a whiff of their black magic usage. He could understand trying to find out who the demon behind all of this was or trying to capture him for a specific purpose. But why not just interrogate the demons or the sinners? Why do nothing but observe?
There was something that Blitzo was missing, and he didn't like it. He was one of the few who knew that certain factors in Heaven had become corrupt over the years. Silently, and without warning, the system that kept Heaven going, stable, and kept the virtues of God's Justice had slowly rotted on the inside. Blitzo knew this because he had been a victim of it years ago.
Visions of his fellow Exorcists being betrayed by their comrades and left for dead in Hell during Extermination Day threatened to break out of his memory, but he held them off. He needed a clear mind for this job and flashing back to that day wouldn't help. Walking over to the mini-bar in the back, Blitzo made a quick drink and chugged it down. Blitzo had done all he could to avoid getting involved with the corruption in the ranks out of fear of his family being hurt, but he couldn't just stand around doing nothing while innocent people were about to suffer. He might as well throw away his halo and wings if he let it happen.
"So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin," Blitzo quoted as he took a deep breath. Taking another drink, he then sat the glass down and shook his head. "And I have to do the right thing."
Even if it meant risking crosshairs on his head.
It took two hours for everything to get ready. Millie wasted no time getting the best guns and weapons for them to use whenever the shit hit the fan. More than anyone could physically carry, but Angels had access to a special ability to store their items known as hammerspace. It was an ability all Angels and human souls in Heaven had access to, allowing them to store whatever they wanted so long as it wasn't physically bigger than themselves. A simple snap and the martial item you wanted appeared. The only downside was that the bigger the item, the more energy that was required to put it in hammerspace. So Blitzo made sure they were only putting in a few extra weapons each while focusing on ammo and healing supplies.
Meanwhile, Loona had managed to get in contact with those Blitzo wanted to talk to at both departments. The C.S.I.A. was a no go. Even those Blitzo knew in the organization during his Exorcist days were unable to access any files relating to Dennis's case. They did promise to do their best to try and bring the complaints to someone who could unseal them and find out what was going on, but H.O.P.E. didn't have the time. Thankfully, he had much better luck with the O.D.I.R. The organization's Divine Intervention fields had wanted to send angels to save the humans the moment they learned demons were involved, but again, someone higher up had been forbidding it. The moment Blitzo said that he was going to get involved, they quickly promised to give him whatever protection they could once it was all over. They even suggested getting physical proof of there being a higher-ranked demon involved so that they could make an executive decision to show this to the Prime Archangels, as higher-ranked demons were often labeled "Emergency Incidents".
When Moxxie returned without Dennis, he'd done so with a folder of details from other victims of this cannibal family and others tied to them. They all mostly spoke the same thing: southern hillbilly types with big money, land, guns, and a craving for human flesh. There were also multiple signs that they had summoned and binded demons to their wills. From lower rank ones such as Imps and Hellhounds, to higher rank demons such as Deslations and Fiends. Even their children were able to command them. None of the Angels needed to hold back then; the cost of summoning and controlling demons was always your soul, and there was no way to get it back. The Satanic family members themselves were mostly caucasian, but there were a few African American and Hispanic families as well. And apparently this had been going on for a while now. Some of the victims were over thirty years past the day they'd died.
The family reunion, however, was recent. It had only happened twice in the past ten years, and this would be the third. The reunions took place in the same place: an old park in northern Georgia. The strange thing was, nobody Moxxie interviewed had died at a reunion. If there were any souls in Heaven who'd passed away at the events, he hadn't found them.
"Alright," Blitzo said as he loaded his flintlock pistol and placed it in his coat pocket. He turned around to the others, who were just finishing loading up whatever they were going to keep on them and not in hammerspace. Moxxie was mostly loading up on guns, while Millie went with knives. Loona had been helping them out before turning her attention to her adopted uncle. "This mission is going to be dangerous. I don't know what we're expecting, except a lot of demons and a lot of crazy hillbilly cultists. We may be able to use stealth or we may need to go in guns blazing. We need to see what this reunion is going to be like before we attempt any rescue plan."
Sighing, he then turned to Loona. "Loona, much as I am reluctant to say this, we need all hands on deck for this one. Or paws in your case. So you're coming with us."
"Really?! But I thought I wasn't allowed on a mission for another week after what happened on the last one?" Loona asked with excitement.
"I still think it's a miracle we got out of that tomb alive," Moxxie grumbled as he shivered in terror at the memory. "When we say 'Don't touch anything', we mean 'Don't touch anything!'"
"How was I supposed to know moving one little jewel would make an entire swarm of specter ghosts try to kill us and make the pyramid become a living death trap?!" Loona asked, crossing her arms. "Seriously, who does that!?"
"Loona? Focus," Blitzo said seriously. "Like I said, we need everyone for this one. But you are going to listen to every word I say, got it? No fooling around here. If I tell you to move, you move. If I tell you to stop, you stop. For this mission, I need you to do exactly as I tell you to."
"You got it, Uncle Blitz!" Loona shouted with a salute.
Blitzo nodded before taking a deep breath. "Alright, let's go over the mission one more time. First objective is to find the area these sinners are meeting and assess the situation. Second objective is to find the humans they are keeping hostage and free them. Third objective is to get out of there alive. Depending on what we're dealing with, we'll decide our enter and exit plan. If we can, we need to find out more about this 'higher ranked demon' that the military is looking into. If anything, it might get them to finally come down and do something instead of sitting on their butts. Any questions?"
They all shook their heads.
"Alright, let's crash this sick Satanic family reunion."
