Hazbin Devils

Chapter 17

Loona had found it surprisingly boring without Blitzo constantly making her feel like a baby as well as being unable to make fun of Moxxie. She would go and fulfil some of the contracts herself but Blitzo said it was too dangerous without his supervision and gave her instructions to turn down every other contract before he comes back. Not that it mattered since she had the office all to herself. If she had any boyfriend, now was the time to invite them over for a good fuck. She blushed and smiled at the thought but sighed as he thought about Vortex.

While she was busy watching a video of an imp being splattered by an oncoming truck, the hellhound heard a noise coming from the conference room. Sighing loudly out of frustration and placing her phone on the desk, she stood up and stormed to check for the source of the noise. Loona swung open the door to the conference rudely and her eyes immediately went to the opened window. She was certain the window had remained closed all this while and her stepdad never opened it unless the power was out.

Frowning and growling softly, Loona reached for a pocket knife and went into the conference room. The sounds of the city filled the room and a gust of wind made loud howling noises as it squeezed through the opening. She sniffed the air for foreign smells and caught a very faint scent of cigarette. It did not smell anything like the pack Blitzo and her smoked and this alone put her on edge. Her grip on the pocket knife tightened as she went to investigate the opened window. Poking her head out, she saw nothing out of the ordinary, which meant that someone could already have snuck into the office.

Her eyes darted to a darkened corner of the conference room and widened as she saw a pair of yellow eyes staring back at her. Loona growled louder and her ears flattened as she turned to face the stranger with her knife pointed at them. There was a chuckle and an imp in cowboy clothing stepped out of the darkness. Between his lips was an almost used cigarette which he nonchalantly took it out of his mouth and extinguished it by clamping the tip with his fingers. The imp tossed the cigarette onto the floor and stepped on it as he took another step forward.

"Evening, Loona," the imp said in a dark manner.

"Striker," she growled.

"Where's your dad?" he asked while dragging a claw across the conference table as he walked.

"Not here, so fuck off," Loona said angrily.

Striker ignored her and continued to advance towards her, causing the hellhound to take a few steps back towards the door in response. "For a dad, he isn't really doing quite a good job in making sure you're safe, isn't he? Putting you in charge of the entire place alone like that. Why, strangers like me can just come inside here and do…unspeakable stuff."

"I'll cut your dick off if you do anything to me, asshole. I dare you to try it," Loona responded aggressively.

"I've got a better idea," Striker said with a maniacal grin and pulled out a combat knife.

Loona backed out of the conference room and slammed the door shut before running to the main entrance. She felt her pocket for her phone and realised she had left it back on her desk. The hellhound wanted to turn around to get it but a loud slamming noise accompanied by glass shattering stopped her in her tracks. Striker emerged and approached her again, but Loona side-stepped him and made a mad dash for her phone. However, a loud gunshot rang out and the hellhound gasped in horror as her phone shattered into several pieces.

Turning around, she saw the smoking revolver in Striker's hand. He blew the smoke emitting from the tip before holstering it again. It made her blood boil but Loona knew what the imp was capable of. When he started moving towards her again, she grabbed a table lamp and threw it at him. Striker nonchalantly smacked aside the lamp but the momentary distraction allowed Loona to run at him with her knife pointed at his chest. He saw her coming and moved aside slightly just before her knife connected with his chest. Striker grabbed a hold of Loona's hand and pulled her towards him. When their faces were merely inches away, the imp playfully gave her a peck on the lips and tossed her at the fish tank.

Loona grunted in pain upon impact and coughed as water drenched her and went into her nose. Despite her coughing fit, she managed to find her footing while trying to search for her knife. Striker stood next to her and gave her a kick in the chest, knocking her back down onto the floor. Loona tried to take a swipe at his legs but the imp kicked her again, causing her to writhe in pain. Striker laughed and took out a fresh cigarette from his pack and lit it up with an ornate silver lighter.

"You know, you look really pathetic like that. Because I'm such a gentleman, I'll give you a running start. See how far you can run before I catch up again. Go on, I'll count to ten," Striker taunted.

With all her strength, the hellhound stood up again despite the pain and ran to the exit. She thought that perhaps Vortex could help her, perhaps he would hold her in his arms. Loona shook her head and reached for the exit, Striker still rooted to the spot and enjoying his cigarette. When the hellhound opened the door, she bumped into Vortex who towered over her with a rather regretful expression on his face. Loona immediately picked up that something was wrong.

"Tex…what's going on?" she asked with a concerned tone.

He did not answer but merely closed his eyes and stepped aside to reveal Verosika. She gave Loona a disgusted look pointed a finger at her. Vortex took a deep breath and nodded before roughly pushing back Loona, causing her to fall onto the floor. Verosika stepped into the office and shook her head while making a disgusted noise. She looked at Striker who looked back at her with a blank expression as he finished up his cigarette.

"As we agreed, succubus. Do not kill her," Striker said flatly while taking out his phone.

"You're wasting your time. We should just kill her and make Blitzo suffer right away," Verosika argued.

Striker looked unimpressed. "You sure as hell don't understand how to mess with people's minds without singing, don't you? One cut only. I need her after that."

Verosika glared at him but did not retort. She walked brusquely towards a confused Loona and snapped her fingers. Vortex came in, picked Loona up, and grabbed her from behind. She trashed and tried to knock her head against his muzzle but he did not seem fazed by it. The succubus went over to Striker and rudely pulled out his knife, but the imp remained passive and looked on instead. She stormed back towards Loona and slashed her across the face, causing her to cry out in pain as blood seeped from her wound and dripped onto the floor. Striker recorded the attack on his phone, a small and sadistic smile forming on his face.

"Make sure to break him. I want in on the action later when you have him cornered. I'll be sure to rip his balls out," Verosika said angrily while returning the knife to Striker.

"Whatever you say, ma'am," Striker replied.

"C'mon, Tex, let's torch this place later," Verosika said while leaving the place.

Vortex nodded and let go of Loona. "I'm sorry, Loona, I didn't want to do this," he whispered to her before leaving.

Loona fell on her knees while pressing a hand on her wound in an attempt to stop the bleeding. She heard Striker call the succubus a bitch before approaching her with a syringe in his hand. He stabbed the needle into her neck just as she was about to look up at him. Almost immediately, the hellhound's eyelids became heavy and she fell like a ragdoll onto the floor and into a puddle of her own blood. Striker unclipped a length of rope from his belt and hogtied the unconscious Loona before lifting her over his shoulder. He reached for a handkerchief in his breast pocket and stuffed it into Loona's mouth.

"That's the last one," he said while exiting the office.

When he reached his truck and tossed Loona onto the truck bed, Striker looked back at the floor where I.M.P.'s office was and saw fire emerging from the windows. Returning his gaze to the unconscious forms of Loona and Octavia, he tilted his hat slightly before entering his truck.

Vergil looked at the dummy target before him that Moxxie had set up. It had a crudely-drawn evil smiley face with the name 'Verosika' written on its chest. Looking at Blitzo and Stolas, the blue demon blinked once after seeing both of them give him a thumbs up. Looking back at the dummy, Vergil placed his hand on Yamato and did a slight crouch. Yamato glowed for a bit before the dummy was engulfed by distorted space followed by multiple invisible slashes that reduced it to pieces.

The others in the group clapped while Blitzo creased his mouth and nodded his head. Stolas hooted in excitement and said, "A wonderful demonstration, Vergil! Even with only a part of your father's power, Yamato is still impressive."

"It can do a lot more, but that's a story for another day," he said.

He was smiling inwardly. Vergil loved the attention even if he dared not admit it publicly. The thought gave him a moment of introspection and he quickly realised that he was getting quite comfortable with the lot. It was worrying him mainly because he was in a place he did not belong and was slowly being embroiled in some gathering storm he wanted no part of. Dante's voice message only served to reinforce that fact. Vergil had already promised to Blitzo to complete this job, but who was to stop him from reneging? He doubted any of the imps or Stolas could stop him and at that point, the blue demon had a sudden epiphany that he could not stop himself.

"What changed?" Vergil asked himself mentally while looking at his hands.

"You okay there, V?" Blitzo asked when he saw Vergil acting strangely.

"I'm fine," Vergil replied flatly. He closed his hands and looked at Blitzo. "Shouldn't we be on our way?"

"Oh, relax a bit, hun," Millie replied instead. "The meeting doesn't start until the day after."

Blitzo nodded his head. "Besides, I think you need to learn to chill out a bit. Have some wine, fuck some hookers, do whatever you want," he said while putting on a pair of sunglasses. "This is hell, baby, morals need not apply."

"I'll pass," Vergil said.

"Eh, your loss," Blitzo said with a shrug. He tossed Vergil his room key. "You're sleeping alone."

"What about you then?" Vergil asked as he caught the key with one hand.

"I'm sleeping with him," Blitzo replied while gesturing at Stolas who beamed at Vergil when he saw him staring.

Vergil did not say anything and just went to the van to get his luggage. When he reached his room, he threw the bag onto the bed and went to the showers to wash up. By the time he was done, it was already five minutes past seven in the evening. It was quiet thus far and it seemed very much like the best chance to unwind and relax a bit. While flexing his shoulders, Vergil felt it let out a satisfying popping sound. He opened the balcony window and found a plastic chair with a table next to it. Taking a seat, the swordsman leaned back slightly and looked at the dark sky with the looming pentagram moon eclipsing heaven.

"Evening, Vergil," he heard Stolas call him from the next balcony while holding a wine bottle and two glasses in his hands.

Looking to his right, he responded with a soft "Evening."

"You know, you haven't told me much about your family. How's your mother and brother like?" Stolas asked as he leaned against the railing.

"You're pretty nosy for a perverted royalty, aren't you?" Vergil asked straightforwardly.

Stolas chuckled and said, "My dear boy, I'm royalty, and being nosy is what I be if I have to rule my lovely subjects. As for the perverted part, well, it's a given."

"I'm actually impressed you managed to say that with a straight face."

"I haven't got anything to hide."

"Except your affair."

Stolas face had dropped almost immediately. Vergil's eyebrows creased as he wondered where the sudden pang of guilt came from. "I had to keep that one a secret, Vergil. Hard to keep secrets when you're royalty," Stolas muttered with a bitter smile.

"Why this one in particular?" Vergil found himself inevitably asking as he shifted in his chair to make himself comfortable.

Stolas sighed and looked at him. "It's for Octavia's sake. She means a lot to me."

"Yeah…I can tell," the swordsman muttered. "What about your wife?"

"My marriage with Stella was an arranged one. I tried to love her…I really do. At the end, I guess she isn't my type."

"Why don't you two file for a divorce then?"

"I can't," Stolas answered almost immediately. "Power and appearance means a lot to a demon. If we are to commend any sort of respect –"

"You need to keep up appearances," Vergil ended for the demon owl. "Not really an easy thing to do when almost everyone knows your affair with Blitzo, isn't it?" When Stolas didn't answer, he continued. "What does Octavia mean to you?"

"Octavia means a lot to me and I'm honestly quite happy to have her in my life," Stolas replied wistfully. He paused for a moment to pour two glasses of wine and offered one to Vergil which he wordlessly accepted. "I know it's hard to describe, but whenever you have a child of your own, it makes you…different. It's as if suddenly, she's like the world and stars turned into a bundle of joy that you can hold. I only want the best for her."

Vergil took a sip of wine and muttered, "Yeah, I can see that." He swirled the wine and stared at it as he tried to picture Nero's face in the swirling red liquid. "All parents do," he added softly.

"Penny for your thoughts, boy?"

"How far would you go to protect her?" Vergil asked suddenly.

Stolas looked at the sky and sipped his wine as well. "I'd protect her with all my life, even if it means killing others who threaten her."

"Will you kill to gain more power if it means being able to protect her better?"

The owl demon blinked at Vergil and said, "I wouldn't hesitate. You have to remember that this isn't about me, Vergil. What I do, I do it for my dear owlette."

"Yeah…" Vergil trailed off. "I think it took me a while to learn that lesson. It is quite fascinating that demons here hold such human emotions. Where I'm from, no other demon I know besides Sparda is capable of that."

"And that's what made him such an interesting demon," Stolas beamed. "What about your mother then? Isn't she a demon too?"

Vergil placed the wine glass on the table next to him and remained silent for a few seconds in contemplation. After a while, he shook his head. "No, my mother was a human."

"Really? I would never have guessed," Stolas said with widened eyes. He tapped his chin with his wine glass and said, "I never thought it possible for a demon and human to procreate. Doing it here doesn't result in anything but eternal damnation for the human soul."

"I never thought another hell to be possible until not too long, one that my father visited even. Trust me, it's not the strangest thing to happen."

"I suppose you're right," Stolas chuckled in a friendly manner. A click from the bathroom door made the owl demon perk up. He looked back and saw Blitzo coming out of the bathroom. "I'd love to chat more with you, Vergil, but I think it's time to call it a night and have some fun with Blitzy," he said with a sly smile.

"You do you," Vergil remarked nonchalantly.

With Stolas calling out to Blitzo in a ditzy manner and going back into their room, Vergil was left alone to collect his thoughts. Stolas still confused the hell out of him as on one hand, he was a narcissistic pervert. On the other hand, he was a far better father than he was. To see him so protective of his daughter reminded Vergil very much of his mother. For the first time in a very, very long time, the swordsman felt lonely. All these decades, he pursued power and for what? He always justified to himself that he wanted it all to protect, but who and from whom? Dante most certainly did not need his help and he only got to know Nero for a short while back at the Qliphoth. Even then, he seemed to be holding up himself well enough.

Sighing loudly, Vergil got up and went into his room and laid down on his bed. With nothing else to do, he just stared at the ceiling and drifted off to sleep. It felt like only a few minutes of rest, but when he opened his eyes again, it was three in the morning. His body was already reenergized but the sky outside was still dark. He noticed a field behind the motel and thought about practicing some martial arts with Yamato. Picking up his sword, Vergil headed for the front door.

When he opened it, he immediately felt a presence to his left and turned his head quickly. Vergil saw two masked demons armed with spears that emitted white auras standing outside of Blitzo and Stolas's room. They were caught unawares and both sides stared at each other. The swordsman reacted first and cut down the two demons in rapid succession before they could even say a word. With the threat eliminated, he picked up the fallen angelic spear and swung it a few times. Deciding that the weight was to his liking, Vergil kept it and knocked on the room door.

He heard an irate Blitzo grumble from within before opening the door and letting out a long and tired "Whaaaaat?"

"Assassins," Vergil cautioned while looking down at the two bodies.

The imp looked down and pinched the bridge of his nose. "God-fucking-damn it, can't I get some good night's sleep here? I'll kill those assholes." He rubbed his eyes as he went back into the room to retrieve a handgun before joining Vergil. "You stay here just in case they try to enter by balcony. If there're two assassins, there's bound to be more."

The swordsman nodded and went into their room while Blitzo went to wake up his employees to help him hunt down the other assassins. Closing the door behind him, Vergil went to find a chair to sit on. There was one in front of the bed but he had to toss aside a ball gag that was on it. He leaned on his sword and watched Stolas sleeping away peacefully without making so much as a snore. He was feeling rather restless as he was not tired, but he wanted to do something to burn off the excess energy.

Just then, he heard something come from outside the balcony. Vergil noticed two grappling hooks stuck to the railings and drew his sword. Without even bothering to take a quick peek, he opened the sliding window and immediately went to cut the ropes. He immediately heard two screams as the plunged to the ground below followed by pained groans and feeble attempts at cursing. He peeked over the balcony and launched a spectral sword into each fallen demon for good measure.

"That takes care of that," Vergil said to himself. He shook his head and muttered, "I'm starting to sound like Dante."

At that point, he heard distant gunfire, no doubt the imps had found more assassins to kill. With danger temporarily out of the way, Vergil went back to the chair and waited again. He saw Stolas turn to his side and mutter Blitzo's name while reaching out to cuddle a spare pillow but other than that, nothing else happened. That was until he heard the gunshots coming closer and closer. The swordsman glared at Stolas, wondering how he was even able to sleep with all that commotion. He transformed into his demon form and waited.

The room's front window suddenly exploded into a shower of glass as Blitzo was launched into the room unceremoniously. He had a gash on his chest and was bleeding on the bed. Stolas woke up almost immediately and gasped when he saw his lover in a bloody mess. Vergil looked at the them in cold silence before turning his attention to the grim reaper-like figure by the shattered window. He pointed Yamato at it and summoned several spectral swords beside him. While Stolas tended to Blitzo, Vergil charged and fought the sin scissors off as it tried to enter the room.

He pushed the demon back out and launched it off of the second floor. The demon was able to fly but it gave the blue demon enough time to check on Moxxie and Millie. Both were at the ground floor fighting off two Scudo Angelos led by a Proto Angelo. While Moxxie was hiding behind a car and shooting his rifle futilely at the towering demon, Millie was busy running rings around it to make it hard for the Angelos to hit her. She occasionally found an opening to drive her knives into their backs and sides, but nothing she did made them flinch. One of the Scudos even pushed her away with its shield but Millie recovered in mid-air and landed back on her feet.

"V, we could really use your help here!" Moxxie shouted at Vergil, his voice louder than the rifle he was firing.

Vergil looked back at the room and saw Stolas looking at him. "I'll be fine, go help them," he called out while trying to bandage Blitzo's wound with a towel.

He nodded and leapt to the bottom floor with the sin scissors following him. Vergil took out the angelic spear and thrust it at the flying demon, but it blocked the weapon with its own and backed away. Intrigued by the results, he rushed to assist Millie in the fight against the group of Angelos. The nearest Scudo Angelo was blindsided by him and the spear instantly reduced it to glowing ashes. Smiling inwardly, Vergil trained his sights on the next Scudo. However, after noticing what happened to its partner, the demon turned and faced its shield at him.

The spearhead struck the shield and was deflected, but with its attention turned towards the greater threat, it allowed Millie to leap onto its back and started stabbing its neck in rapid and manic succession. The demon reached its hand back and grabbed the imp and threw her into the ground. Vergil charged again but the Scudo raised its shield in time to block him again. Much to Moxxie's horror, the demon raised its leg and stomped it down on Millie's abdomen, causing her to cough up blood.

"MILLIE!" Moxxie shouted in despair. His look of fear immediately turned into one of fury and he gritted his teeth and snarled. "I'll kill you all!" The Proto Angelo that was before him swung its sword but Moxxie leapt over it and ran at the Scudo Angelo. "Outta my way, Vergil, I'll kill this fucker!"

Vergil fended off an attack and decided to oblige, switching his focus on the Proto Angelo instead. The Scudo had seen Moxxie coming and took the initiative to attack. However, the imp slid underneath the demon and pulled out a revolver before planting 3 shots into its back. The sin scissors that had been hounding Vergil now turned its attention on the imp. It tried to cut Moxxie in half but he saw it coming and pulled out a grenade. He pulled the pin while rolling sideways to avoid another sword swing from the Scudo. Counting to 3, he tossed the grenade at the sin scissors.

It exploded in front of its face and caused it to flinch, giving Moxxie enough time to pick up Millie and run for cover behind a car. The Scudo gave chase but was stopped in its tracks when Vergil grabbed a hold of its shoulder and tossed it back at the Proto Angelo. Without stopping for a pause, he immediately went for the scissors demon and flung the spear at it. The angelic spear shattered the scissors upon contact and the demon was impaled in the chest, disintegrating it immediately.

"Leave the fight to me, you tend to her!" Vergil exclaimed to Moxxie.

He retrieved the spear and fought the remaining Angelos with it. They understood the threat it posed and were very quick to go on the defensive when Vergil started attacking. After ensuring that Millie was in no danger, Moxxie joined Vergil in the fight. Eventually, the combined efforts of the two finally got rid of the two Angelos. Moxxie picked up Millie and followed Vergil back to the rooms. When they went to check on Blitzo, they saw a petrified Proto Angelo standing behind Stolas poised to cut him down. Blitzo was laying on the bed while the owl demon did not seem all to fazed.

"He's a strong imp," Stolas remarked. "He'll be fine."

"Did you do that?" Vergil asked while pointing at the Angelos.

"Yes, I did. It tried to be sneaky, but it didn't do it any good," Stolas answered casually.

"We should probably get outta here as soon as we can. I'll drive," Moxxie offered while putting the still unconscious Millie on a chair.

"Wait, a minute," Vergil said.

Vergil looked at Millie and looked thoughtful for a second. After wondering for a bit, he took out a small green orb and placed it in her hand, causing Moxxie to watch on in confusion. After instructing him to close his wife's hand, Moxxie was surprised to see her absorb the orb and her eyes opened after a while. Seeing that it worked, the blue demon tossed one at Stolas and the owl demon the same thing with Blitzo. As Vergil had hoped, he too woke up after a while with the gash on his chest covered up.

"The hell did you feed me?" Blitzo asked.

"Green orb," Vergil replied. "You can thank me later."

"Whaddaya know, 'ol V has a heart of gold after all," Blitzo remarked cheekily but groaned from the pain in his chest.

"Enough about that," he said tersely. "Moxxie's right, we best be leaving before more trouble shows up."

Dante looked at his phone and shook his head. The battery was running low and he had no other way of charging it. While he was practicing with Uriel while hiding in an abandoned parking lot, he received a call from Charlie. Stowing away his newfound weapon, the red devil answered the call.

"Charlie, what's up?" he asked.

"Hey Dante, you uh…getting by alright?"

"I'm fine, but I still need to rescue Angel. According to his friend, he's somewhere out of town in some fancy estate owned by Velvet," Dante answered. "I thought about flying there."

"I don't think that's a good idea…we've all saw the bounty notices. Even if you can fight everyone, they'll most likely distract you long enough to alert Valentino," Charlie said with a tone of caution.

"Hrmph, fair point," Dante mulled. He paused and looked at Yamato's power shard. "Although…"

"Dante, what're you planning now?"

"I have part of Yamato's power with me, Charlie. It's unpredictable but I suppose I can use it."

There was a short silence on Charlie's end before she said, "I don't understand what you mean by that."

"It means I can open dimensional portals, but since it isn't a complete power, where the portal goes is unpredictable."

"Hold it, isn't that too dangerous? What if you teleported into a trap, or the middle of the sun? No go, Dante, I'll have my driver pick you up if I have to."

Dante sighed and said, "Charlie, I said I'm not gonna involve you. I'm too much of a liability. I'll take my chances, just poke my head and leave if it's too dangerous. I'll be fine, alright?"

He thought he heard Vaggie saying something in the background and Charlie was responding to her, though her voice was muffled. After the conversation was finished, she returned the attention to Dante. "Listen, Angel's my patient. As he's under the hotel's responsibility, I will have to do something about it. Vaggie's offered to join up with you and help bring him back to the hotel."

"She won't get in my way, will she?"

"Vaggie's only there to retrieve Angel. She won't get in the way of what you do," Charlie replied. "Wherever you are right now, Dante, stay put. My driver will pick you up."

"Wait, do you know where I am?"

At that point, his phone clicked off as the battery had completely drained. Sighing, Dante kept his phone and hoped that the hell princess had known where he was hiding at. Taking out Uriel, the red devil continued his practice.

Stella watched intently at the video sent to her by a spy that she dispatched to spy on her husband. Her frowned deepened when she realised the foreign demons she summoned were summarily dispatched by the mysterious blue demon that had been making rounds in the local news. This blue demon had fought them with a sense of familiarity like he knew them intimately. Pausing the video, Stella examined the bomb trigger-like device that she bought from a vendor that represented Vox.

It worked as advertised and was able to open portals, but as long as the blue demon was with them, she doubted that they could harm Stolas. The imps had little experience in fighting them and could easily be cut down when given the opportunity. Again, the blue demon was there to rescue them. She had hoped to just cut her reliance on Striker as the thought of hiring imps had disgusted her. However, that would not be the case as long as this mystery demon existed. Perhaps he could be bribed, she thought to herself. A demon his calibre surely must have been looking for something, Stella presumed.

A thought hit her mind. If this blue demon was familiar with fighting these foreign demons, then they must be from the same dimension. "Perhaps he's finding a way home," she said to herself.

The grimoire. That could be the answer. Stella was aware that I.M.P.'s office was set on fire by an unknown arsonist, but the grimoire was highly resistant to damage. Striker would not be aware of the grimoire's importance, and if it is still there in the burnt-out office, she could use it as a bargaining chip to turn the blue demon against Stolas. It was worth a try and if she was right, perhaps she can get rid of Striker too.

A/N: So, Ep. 6 is gonna come out soon. I had almost finished this chapter when I saw the news, but I decided to finish this anyway. I also plan on writing a Nero or young Dante-centric story after I'm done with this and Season 1 of Helluva Boss has ended. Lemme know which one sounds better. Gonna focus on Helluva Boss on this one so the story doesn't go all over the place, making it easier to keep track and write.