N/A: Before you can begin, I want to let you know I have my own Ko-Fi page, which you can find the link on my profile. So I'd appreciate if you send me a tip, that could help me a lot to continue writing stories like this!
A flood of water splashed all over his face, making him gasp with his eyes wide open and shot up before coughing up. "Daaah! Stone cold!" Tristan shouted as he tried to dry the face with his arms and wiped the water off his hands.
"Hey! Don't splash on our faces!" A familiar voice shouted.
Tristan suddenly froze before his eyes cracked open and when his blurry eyesight went clear, the first thing he saw was three demon-looking people standing around him. But what shook him up was that he recognized the two small ones and the taller guy before realizing that they're the same assassins who broke into his apartment and tried to blow him up with dynamite.
"Shit! You again?!" Tristan cried out as he crawled backward, trying to get away from them until his head hit on the side of the desk. "Ow! W-Wait! Don't kill me! Just give me one more chance to talk, please!" He begged with his stretched out hands.
"Alright, stop crying like a little bitch! We're not gonna kill you, at least not yet." Blitz responded with his folded arms, wearing a nonchalant look.
Before Tristan could argue, he noticed the window beside him before recognizing the dark blood sky. Standing up to his feet, he took a look outside as he began to remember the shocking conclusion that made him faint. Once again, he was under the impression that it was all just a dream, only to be proven wrong to have him lose what remains of his composure.
"Is this… Is this really Hell? Am I really dead?" Tristan muttered in shock while looking at his trembling bandaged hands.
"Well, you're not, actually. But you were just one inch closer to it when Loona brought you here." Moxxie replied knowingly with his tiny finger gesture, earning the puzzled looks from the human that luckily snapped him out of his trance. "But still, you're in Hell. More specifically in Imp City."
"So are you guys goblins or something?" Tristan asked with an eyebrow raised.
"Hey! It's Imps for you, mister!" Millie answered, offended by the nickname. Nevertheless, she let it slide as she waved her hand. "But rest assured, we patched you all good and you must be able to walk again. Though you gave us a hard time when you bleed all over the place! It took us like 48 hours to clean it all up!"
"Um… I'm sorry?" The young human said awkwardly, without finding a better answer about that detail. But then, his eyes blinked when something clicked in his brain before turning to Moxxie. "Wait, did you say something about Loona? Where is she? Is she okay?"
The imps were surprised at his question before looking at each other. However, Blitz wasn't happy to hear it for some reason before he approached Tristan with a scowl.
"Hey, you better stay away from her! If you want to get between her hips, you should get through mine first!" He snarled while jabbing his long finger in Tristan's chest.
"Okay, first of all, phrasing." Tristan replied with a frown before stepping away from Blitz. "Secondly, I almost gave up my life trying to save her from those goddamn gangsters and the next thing I knew she just carried me and that's the last thing I remember before I passed out.'
"So Loona was telling the truth…" Moxxie responded as he and Millie shared a look of surprise and mild disbelief.
"Hold on, hold on! It doesn't make any goddamn sense!" Blitz argued before turning back to Tristan. "There's no way you could even think about saving an assassin while she was going to kill you, unless you offered something in return! What did you offer her for exchange? Alcohol? Drugs? Condoms?!" Blitz barred his shark-like teeth as his face inched closer to Tristan aggressively.
"Get off me, man!" Tristan pushed Blitz away from him. "I didn't offer any of those things! I did it because those animals were torturing her and they were about to do something worse if I didn't jump in! So I think you should be thankful I was with her when she needed it!"
Tristan and Blitz glared at each other like a couple of wolves circling around while waiting for one of them to make the first move, which Moxxie and Millie couldn't help but watch anxiously the scene escalating every passing second. Suddenly, the door behind them just opened and thankfully broke the tension when everyone turned around to see who arrived.
A smile grew on Tristan's face when he caught a glimpse of voluminous grey hair, but just as he was expecting to see her human face, his smile disappeared when he saw a dog-like muzzle with a dark grey nose. Tristan let out a silent gasp as the newcomer revealed to be a white anthropomorphic wolf with grey patches on her shoulders and down her waist, a big bushy tail and a pair of ears poking out of her hair. Also she wore a pair of sunglasses, which he couldn't have a clear view of her eyes to see if they're familiar.
At first Tristan thought he got the wrong person, but he noticed she was wearing the same goth-ish attire, though there were some differences. Instead of wearing her sneakers, she was wearing black toeless stockings that exposed her barefoot; and instead of wearing piercings in her right ear, she wore them in her left ear. That's not all, her torso and her arms were covered in bandages.
Blitz beamed in delight at the creature before approaching her with his hands clasped. "Loonie! I'm so glad you came by! How's my little monster?" He asked childishly while giving her a look of adoration.
"Ugh, shut up, Blitz! I have a splitting hangover!" Loona growled while holding one of her hands on her aching head.
"L-Loona? Is that you?" Tristan finally spoke, though he couldn't overcome the shock that this was the woman who saved him.
Loona perked up before she finally noticed the human standing in front of the reception desk. She then took off her sunglasses and revealed her piercing red sclera with white irises "Oh, you're finally awake." She says nonchalantly.
"You… You're a wolf?" The young man asked in disbelief with his finger pointing at her.
"Were you expecting me to be a fucking tooth fairy?" Loona growled, showing her sharp and pointy teeth. Loona then shook her head. "Anyway, while you guys are having some bitching contests, I'm going to the kitchen and get something to eat. My head is killing me…" She then made her way towards the door on the left side of the room.
"You stay away from my lunch!" Moxxie shouted.
"Up yours, fatty." Loona gave him a middle finger before crossing the door with a slam.
Tristan almost felt dizzy as he sat on the desk, trying to process the fact that Loona was not a human the entire time. Sure, he remembered she did some things that no other human could ever do, but he thought she was just some sort of daredevil on steroids.
"Hey, hey, hey! Don't lose your head yet!" Blitz then snapped his fingers in front of Tristan, snapping him out of his trance. "The reason we let you in is that we still have a lot of catching up to do. So I'll be waiting for you in my office until you get your shit together, but don't take too long!" He then turned to his employees. "Moxxie, Millie, give some clothing to our guest. I don't want him in my office in his undies, it's embarrassing."
Blitz then left the human with Moxxie and Millie as he went through a white door next to the reception desk, with a sign written on the transom that says "Blitzo Office". Tristan, however, while he actually heard what Blitz said, he was still reeling from the shocking twists and facts that he needed more time to process.
Furthermore, he still had a hard time to believe that he's now standing in a world where no human should be able to, only that it's not as accurate as what the Bible said or at least what he has heard of. But something just hit him, does that mean that Heaven and the angels also exist?
Before he would consider that possibility, he saw a pair of hands handing him a cup of coffee. Tristan looked up and to his surprise it was Millie giving it to him. "Here. It's still warm." She said with a smile.
At first Tristan felt hesitant to accept that kind gesture because she's one of the residents from Hell, not to mention she's also an assassin. But considering that she mentioned they treat his wounds, he thought he could at least show some appreciation. So he decided to take the cup while mouthing 'thank you' and then took a sip of coffee.
"Thank you…" He muttered with a sigh, feeling more relieved that this coffee tastes normal as it should be, for a moment he thought it was something else that only demons can digest.
"You know, you might not believe this, but Blitzo is very grateful that you saved Loona. He just won't admit it. She means a lot to him." Millie spoke softly as she gave Tristan some space.
"I hate to break this to you though, but I'm afraid this won't change anything since our client wants you dead. So we still have an obligation to fulfill that contract." Moxxie responded with an apologetic tone as he left the folded clothes next to him. They were the same ones Tristan wore that night, only more cleaned and patched.
"Okay, you know what? I've had enough of this bullshit!" Tristan snapped as he stood up while leaving the cup of coffee on the desk. "I kept hearing more about that client of yours! So I think at this point I deserve to know who's that man who put a bounty on my head!" He demanded with his arms crossed.
Moxxie opened his mouth to answer, ready to make a claim at the human's outburst. But no words came out of it as he blinked in realization. "Actually… He never introduced himself to us. In fact, he called our boss with his number instead of our company, yet he never gave his name." He answered with a surprised look.
"Yeah, that was pretty strange since our clients usually come to this building to introduce themselves and talk about how they ended up here." Millie added as she hopped on the desk.
"You mean to tell me… That some stranger called your boss by the phone, without even having the courtesy to give his name, and you just accepted the contract just like that?" Tristan inquired as he rubbed his temples in frustration. He then proceeded to get himself dressed.
"Hey, I also found it pretty weird until that client gave us enough information about you, where you live, and even promised us to pay us handsomely after we finish the job. So we thought there was nothing suspicious about it. I mean, this is Hell, no one has a reason to be discreet." Moxxie argued with his arms crossed, wearing a frown to express his disapproval of being criticized by a human.
"Yeah, I guess that explains a lot." Tristan said sarcastically as he put on his shirt and now was fully dressed. With an exasperated sigh, he continued. "Anyway, I shouldn't keep your boss waiting, but I'm gonna have a serious chat with him." He then headed towards the door to Blitzo's office.
"Just try not to call him "Blitz" with an 'O' in it. That will give you a death sentence." Millie gave him a warning before Tristan crossed the door.
Inside of a small, dark room with the blinds closed, Tristan found 'Blitzo' sitting in a royal-like chair with his feet on top of the desk, loading what appeared to be a flintlock pistol.
"Oh good, you're here. Took you long enough." Blitzo said as he finished pouring the powder on the barrel of his gun before leaving it on the desk. "Now, before we can begin, allow me to explain how we run this operation here."
Tristan decided to stay quiet as he stood in front of the desk with his arms folded.
"I'm the CEO of Immediate Murder Professionals, or I.M.P for short. We, the company, takes contracts from the people here in Hell who want to settle their unfinished business with the living people up there. And by that I mean to take revenge on the humans who are the reasons why they're here in the first place." Blitzo smirked devilishly as he noticed Tristan fidgeting with a frown. "So the point I want to make is that you're one of those shitty people who need to be out of the picture as my client stated."
"Well, I'm afraid you picked the wrong person or maybe your client doesn't know me too well." Tristan finally spoke bitterly as he started pacing around his office.
"Oh yeah? And what about that cholo army who came guns blazing to your apartment, huh?" Blitzo retorted, though he swung his arms behind his head in a relaxed manner.
"That was… an unfortunate coincidence." Tristan answered while looking away briefly before turning back to Blitzo. "They caught me filming a botched drug deal. They must have thought I was a police informant or they just didn't want to see their faces on the morning news. But here's the truth, I'm not the asshole who your client thinks. And if you're probably wondering why you should believe me, because I'm a loner! An outsider, who never had friends in his life! But the reason I got a successful profession as a stringer was because I earned it by working my ass off! All by myself!" He then approached Blitzo before slamming his hands on the desk and hovered closer to the Imp. "So let me tell you what's happening. Whoever wants me dead, must be a psycho who thought it would be hilarious to call an assassin organization on me instead of swatting my ass! Doesn't that make so much sense to you?"
Blitzo went silent while glaring intensively at the human, at that moment Tristan was holding back a smug grin when he thought he managed to make a fool out of the so-called CEO of I.M.P. But Blitzo caught him off guard when he started to chuckle.
"You brought up some good points, only there's just a little problem. While me and my crew were in your apartment waiting for you like some hookers on a night shift, we found this." Blitzo then reached under his desk before throwing a small red notebook on the table.
When Tristan looked down to take a closer look at it, his eyes widened before backing away from Blitzo. It was his journal.
"Looks familiar to you, doesn't it?" Blitzo continued with a toothy grin. "Yeah, we all read about your dubious MO. Intercepting police radio frequencies, 911 phone calls, pretty useful to get a ticket to the front-row in the crime scene, am I right?" He picked the notebook and flicked through its pages. "You also wrote about the times the cops almost prosecute you for suppressing evidence, fraud, and some conspiracy shit. Yeah, that's too much for a humble journalist like yourself." He looked up from the book to give Tristan a mocking look before throwing it across the table. "Though I have to admit, I'm very impressed with what you were doing. It must take a lot of balls to meddle in something that doesn't concern you."
Tristan hung his head low as he took the notebook, staring at the one last piece of an item he had left in his hands. He always felt proud of himself every time he read all of the things he had done in the past, all the schemes and practices he used to get the good shots for the footage, even taking the risk of breaking the law. But now he felt like a moron for exposing all the truth in this book and letting an assassin get his hands on it.
"Alright, you got me." Tristan responded almost sarcastically with a sigh as he kept his notebook in his jacket. "But I learned that sometimes you gotta break the rules because you live in a world full of people who will try to ruin your successes. And that client of yours might be one of them. Just think about it, the fact that your client never gave you the name, not even met you in person to guarantee he will pay for your services, could jeopardize the success of your... "company"." Tristan finished with a quote-on-quote gesture.
"Whoa, whoa, now just wait a goddamn second!" Blitzo countered, almost falling down off his chair as he got his feet off the desk. "Are you suggesting that my client is trying to fuck over my company?"
"Sounds to me like he is and I can prove it." Tristan responded with a serious tone. "Why don't you try to call that client and you'll see what happens."
"Oh, now we're playing truth or dare?" Blitzo scoffed with his furrowed brows, but then he took out his cellphone. "Fine, let's play your little game!"
Tristan remained silent anxiously as Blitzo started dialing. The truth was he didn't have anything to prove at all, but at this point, he was forced to make a dangerous bet since his life was on the line. The worst part was he might be wrong about it, and if that client will answer the call, it will be the end of him.
The seconds seemed to last longer as Blitzo was tapping his fingers impatiently while waiting for the call to be picked up, but as he stared attentively at the human, he could sense the fear behind his blank expression. Blitzo already knew he was just trying to weasel out of his predicament, but he decided to humor him for once before unloading a bullet between his eyes.
An obnoxious beeping sound rang out to his ear and before Blitzo realized it, a message was heard.
'We're sorry, you have reached a number that has been disconnected or no longer in service'
"The fuck?" Blitzo looked at his cellphone in confusion, before dialing the same number again. A few seconds later, he gets the same beeping tone followed by the 'number disconnected' message. "What the hell is this shit?!" He began to get frustrated as he dialed the number one more time.
Tristan, on the other hand, began to notice that Blitzo can't get through to his client before realizing that his wild theory proved to be correct. Still, it was too much of a surprise that right now he could just stand there with a dumbfounded look on his face.
'We're sorry, you have reached a number that has been disconnected or-'
"SHUT UP, YOU NO-GOOD BOT PIECE OF SHIT!" Blitzo suddenly screamed at his cellphone, slamming his fist on the desk, before he threw it at Tristan.
The young man reacted quickly and ducked down before it flew over his head. He turned around to see the cellphone hitting against the wall before turning back to Blitzo, who was now fuming with anger.
"Alright wise guy, you must be feeling good about yourself after you proved your point." The owner of I.M.P stated bitterly as he stood up from his chair. "Oh but don't get cocky, you're not out of the woods yet!" He walked around the desk and approached the human before jabbing his finger into his chest. "If you're looking for a ticket back to Earth, then you must do something for me to earn it. You're going to stay here until we find that fucking prankster!"
"What?! Are you kidding me?! I'm not gonna last here in this godforsaken world!" Tristan protested as he stared down at the imp vexedly, only to be pushed away.
"Oh, I'm sorry, I don't see how this is my concern, so deal with it! Now get outta here and don't come back until you have a lead or some shit!" Blitzo finished by waving his hand before he went back to his desk.
Tristan wanted to stand up and make it clear that he wouldn't take orders from a demon, but being aware that it would be a mistake to waste the additional time of life he was granted, not to mention there's literally no other way out of this mess, he decided to save his breath. So he began to walk towards the exit in resignation, as he turned over his shoulder momentarily to glance at Blitzo and saw he was writing something on the paper, or rather he was doodling like he was actually drawing for some reason. Tristan just shook his head and he left the boss to work on his stress.
Once he walked out of the office, he spotted Moxxie and Millie idling around while drinking coffee until they noticed him.
"Whoa! You're still alive? I could've sworn I heard a thud and I thought Blitzo just wasted you!" Millie said with a surprised look.
"Yeah and I heard Blitzo yelling, not that I should be surprised, but what just happened?" Moxxie asked the human.
Tristan sighed as he kept on walking. "Well, I'm not the type to be the bearer of some bad news, but here's the short version. Your client turned out to be a prankster and your boss is very pissed. He wants me to help him find that guy so I can get back to Earth, which means I can still get to live."
"Aw man, I was hoping we'd get to kill someone!" Millie responded with a pout.
"You're not talking about me, are you?" Tristan asked apprehensively.
"You? No, of course not. Unless you're asking me to." Millie gave him a suggestive, yet disturbing look.
"No… No, I'm good, thanks." Tristan let out a nervous laugh, waving his hands as he stepped away from her.
"I… I don't even know what to say, we never had to deal with this kind of issue before." Moxxie stated in disbelief, trying to process the huge turn of events. "How did you even know our client was not someone we could trust?" He asked while casting a suspicious look to Tristan.
"Actually, I didn't. I just had to take a huge gamble just to see if I could buy some time." Tristan replied while rubbing the back of his neck, earning the bewildered reactions from Moxxie and Millie "Hey, I just want to make my last hours of life worthwhile, though that doesn't help I'm gonna be stuck in this hellhole." He concluded with a grumble as he looked out the window to survey the streets of Imp City, as they just called.
"Oh cheer up, bud. Hell is not so bad as those religious nutjobs blabber about." Millie reassured him as she playfully punched on his back. "In fact, you're actually the second human who ever came here."
"Really? What happened to the first one?" Tristan asked with a look of amazement.
"Oh, we killed the brat." Millie replied nonchalantly, inadvertently shocking the young man to make him feel more despaired.
"For the record, he was our target and he had it coming." Moxxie added with a hint of resentment after remembering that snotty kid who disrespected him and his wife.
"Stop, just… Stop." Tristan said with an irritated sigh, as he rubbed his eyes and took a moment to cool himself down. "Alright, maybe you're right. Um…" He turned back to look at the female Imp in puzzle.
Millie blinked before she realized he still didn't know her name. "Oh, I'm Millie! And this is my husband, Moxxie!" She then held the white-haired devil closer to her before snuggling her cheek into his.
"M-Millie…" Moxxie muttered with a bashful blush, yet he couldn't help but smile fondly at her affection.
"Right." Tristan paid no attention to their lovey-dovey scene as he looked back to the window. "Maybe you're right, Millie. This city somehow reminds me of my hometown, though it looks more like Kansas. But there's no way I'm gonna go outside and get sodomized by a bunch of goat-legged, ugly-looking midgets, no offense." He raised his hand apologetically to the couple.
"Some taken…" Moxxie frowned as Millie broke the hug. "So what are you gonna do exactly? You can't just stay here."
"And clearly I don't have a place to stay..." Tristan added in deep thought. "Say Moxxie, is there a chance you and your wife can-"
"Oh no, I'm sorry, but that's out of the question!" Moxxie responded with his arms spread out when he already knew what the human was about to ask. "We already have our boss squatting in our house once in a while and we just can't have someone else prying in our personal life."
"Alright, alright, you just have to say no, sheesh." Tristan said with a sigh.
"Well, since you can't settle in our house, and probably Blitz wouldn't either. The only person you can ask is…" Millie trailed off before everyone knew who she was referring to.
The three turned at the reception desk where Loona was now sitting, although instead of working, she was slacking off while reading some magazine. But one of her ears twitched when she began to notice she was being watched. Loona looked up from her magazine and met their gaze, making them flinch.
"The fuck y'all looking at?" The wolf snarled with a narrow-eyed glare, prompting Tristan, Moxxie and Millie to turn around as they huddled together.
"I don't think this is such a good idea." Tristan muttered, though it didn't help he could feel Loona's eyes burning the back of his head.
"I know Loona can be a little scary, but she's actually a nice girl after you get to know her." Millie tried to reassure him.
"I truly doubt that." Moxxie responded in a deadpan tone.
"Yeah, I mean, I never expected Loona would turn out to be a wolf the whole time, though it could explain why she's so freaking strong." Tristan added with a tense frown, rubbing around his neck as he remembered the moment Loona almost strangled him with one hand. "And have you seen her eyes, how scary they looked? It felt like she was staring into my deepest soul!"
"Um, I don't think you should…" Moxxie trailed off as he and Millie stepped back, looking nervous like someone was coming behind Tristan..
"And don't even get me started with her teeth! Have you seen how sharp they are?" Tristan continued without listening to the warning as Moxxie and Millie were making gestures to stop him from talking. "Sure, animals have those kinds of teeth, but can you imagine if she could even bite someone's head off?"
Suddenly, a hand gripped his shoulder, making him wince in pain when the claws dug into his joint. He whipped his head around and gasped when he met the piercing red eyes from Loona as she stood tall above him. He didn't notice Loona was taller than him and just by looking at her from down there made him feel smaller.
"You got something to say, say it to my fucking face." Loona bared her teeth menacingly as if she was about to prove she can actually bite his head off.
"Ow! Ow! Ow! Wait, wait! I-I wasn't talking about you!" Tristan shook her hand off his shoulder before she could tear off his limb, stumbling forward before turning to her with a panicked look. "Alright, we actually were, but we were going to talk about something else! Like… Huh…" He looked around trying to come up with an excuse, but as he noticed Moxxie standing next to him, an idea came up to him. "Moxxie's bowtie!"
Tristan reached down closer to the white-haired imp and started straightening the bow tie, surprising Moxxie.
"Yes! Yes! Just look at it! I wish I could wear one of these since they're so popular in my world! And this color, wow, just look at it! So fancy and eloquent! Really matches his penguin suit!" The young man went on with a hint of falsehood in his tone as he kept playing around with Moxxie's bowtie.
Moxxie then frowned as he was starting to get annoyed to let the human messing his clothing. "Get the hell off of me!" The imp slapped Tristan's hands off his tie before he backed away.
Loona just rolled her eyes as she decided to let it go. "Whatever, not that I care what you think about me." She then turned around and headed back to her desk.
"Wait!" Tristan suddenly called her out.
"Ugh… Now what?" Loona turned back to him with a groan.
Tristan at first hesitated to answer, but knowing there was no other person he could ask for hospitality, he decided to use the last resort. He rubbed his arm nervously as he spoke. "I… You probably know I don't have anywhere else to go since… Well, you know, my apartment is blown up... So... I was wondering if there's a chance I… I could go to your... Place?"
Loona's eyes widened as she seemed taken aback by that question, which actually Tristan expected that kind of reaction. But before he would explain, Loona suddenly lunged at him and held him up by the collar of his jacket.
"What the fuck! I just saved your sorry ass and now you're asking me for a booty call?!" She cried out in anger
"No! I would never!" Tristan immediately responded with a panicked look, grasping his hands around her wrists as he felt his feet dangling off the floor. "Trust me, you got it wrong! Also, I'm still coping with the fact that you're a werewolf, though come to think of it, weren't you supposed to turn into a wolf that night you chased me?"
"I'm not a werewolf, dumbass. I'm a Hellhound." Loona retorted before letting him fall to the floor, his cluelessness was starting to get on her nerves that she was starting to have second thoughts about saving him.
"Oh, right. Noted." Tristan said as he stood up on his feet, rubbing his backside in pain after Loona dropped him. He then let out a sigh as he gave a sincere look to Loona. "Look, we both had some differences lately, but... You're the only person I can trust and I'm a bit desperate. I know this is a bad time after you risked your life to bring me here, but it's just for a couple of days. When your boss gives me a chance to go back to my world, and hopefully he will, I'll be out of your hair as soon as possible. So please… That's all I ask, I promise."
Loona folded her arms, still wearing a scowl on her face as she glared deeply at the young man. She was likely about to reject his pleading, but at this moment she was in deep thought, which Moxxie and Millie found that strange from her because usually she would go ballistic. The truth was, she didn't expect to earn that kind of trust from someone, especially a human.
After a whole minute of tense silence, Loona let out a sigh.
"Alright, fine. But you better not try to do something you'll regret, because if you do… You'll wish I left you behind back at the alley." Loona bent down to his level and growled at Tristan so he could have a closer look at her shark teeth. She then turned around and walked back towards her desk, leaving the stunned human to process.
Tristan didn't know how to respond to that kind of threat she just gave it to him, sure he just found it very intimidating, but at the same time surprising the moment she agreed to help him, or at least what it seems.
"Well… That went better than I could've imagined." Millie spoke with a forced chuckle.
Moxxie cleared his throat before replying. "Now that it settles, there's still one matter we need to talk about." Tristan turned around to face him. "How are you supposed to find that prankster as the boss told you to?"
"Are you kidding? I'm a journalist, not a private investigator." Tristan scoffed.
"That's not what your journal says." Millie responded with a taunting smirk.
Tristan was taken aback before glaring at Millie, but he took a deep breath as he rubbed his temples. "What I'm saying is it would be impossible to find that prick since you have no idea what's his name and where he could be found. Though if I have to make a guess, he could be around here in this city. Still, that would be like finding a needle in the haystack, unless…" His face grew thoughtful.
"Something on your mind?" Moxxie inquired with an eyebrow raised.
"The scoundrel has his cellphone disconnected, but we could still track him down with the phone number he used in order to find his last known location where he made a call to your boss. The bad news is that the only place we could use the technology for that, is inside of a telephone company building."
"Oh, wait! I think I remember seeing one of those downtown! It's not too far from here." Millie responded with a cheerful tone, seemingly more willing to help out the human.
"Then as much as I hate to say it, but I have to sneak in there so I can have access to their computers." Tristan sighed at the thought of venturing the streets in hell and potentially getting killed. Then again, he always played with danger back in his world and honestly… He couldn't help but feel thrilled to step it up a notch.
"Sounds like a good plan, I don't think there are any more options left." Moxxie said in agreement, albeit he was a little impressed by what the human suggested. Then again, he also read Tristan's journal and gave him an assumption that this man was something more than just a journalist.
"Alright, then let's get this show on the road!" Tristan exclaimed with his fist hitting the palm, before he went towards the door, placing his hand around the knob and was about to get out of the room.
"It's still afternoon." Loona suddenly spoke out with a deadpan tone, stopping the young man from opening.
Tristan blinked before removing his hand off the doorknob and turned around with an embarrassed look. "When the night falls! Do you little imps eat Chinese food?"
A van was parked next to a three-story, red brick building with some cracks on the walls. The door of the vehicle slid open and the people who were inside were Tristan, Millie, Moxxie and Loona. The young man was preparing himself to get into the telephone company building, search the administrator's office, track the prankster's phone number with the computer and get out.
"Are you sure you don't want to take a weapon with you?" Millie asked while holding a handgun to him, but Tristan waved it off...
"And make a lot of noise that could alert the entire security inside? No, thank you." He countered as he looked at the building across the street. He was also wearing a beanie hat on his head. "Besides, it's not the first time I've broken into a private property, so this should be easy."
"Yeah, yeah, whatever. Maybe we'll give you a pat on your back after you find something." Blitzo said from the driver's seat, looking at Tristan in the rear mirror. "Just a little tip before you go, if everything is going to shit, we'll leave you behind and pretend we never met."
"Thanks for your vote of confidence." Tristan responded bitterly before he slid the hat down over his face, which turned out to be a ski mask.
Tristan gets out of the van before closing the door and then proceeded to go through the alley so he could get around the building. One thing he learned back in L.A, was that even if this building was heavily guarded, there's always a vantage point that even the security always ignores to keep an eye on. And that is the backdoor.
Peeking out of the corner, Tristan spotted a single door at top of the stairs and as he expected, no one was found around the back alley, nothing but garbage littered around and the smell of piss. As he went upstairs, he took out from his pocket what appeared to be a U-shaped tool with a rubber band holding it together.
It was a snapper gun, as Tristan called it. Before leaving the I.M.P office, he gathered a few pieces of junk he could find and built it on his own. He learned that from a movie he watched some time ago called Midnight Run, and since then it proved to be useful for him to unlock doors. Now standing in front of the door, he inserted a lockpick and the snapper gun into the lock, before he continuously pressed the tool to bump up the pins inside, one by one.
After a prolonged minute, the click sound reached his ears before turning the lock and opened the door.
Once inside, Tristan had to be careful where he's stepping as he walked through the dark hallway, making sure to not make a noise to not alert the security guard who could be found patrolling on this floor. He followed the signs he came across until he reached the stairs at the end of the hall, as he read the sign that the server room was found down the floor, he carefully went downstairs as he reached the basement level.
He continued onward across the empty, concrete-walled hallway as he followed the trail of dimmed lights, while hearing the rumble of the air conditioner system hung on the ceiling. When he reached down the hall, he stood next to the corner before peeking out and saw a couple of security guards chatting. At first, he expected those imps would look buffed and taller to fit their roles, but instead they looked scrawny and average-sized. Still, he won't take that risk.
They were standing in front of an entryway, which must be the entrance to the server room, but he needed to sneak his way through the guards, and the only option he had was making a distraction.
Looking around for anything that could make the guards leave their posts, Tristan spotted a vending machine at his right. Coming up with a new plan, he dug his hands into his pockets and luckily for him he spared some change, though he was unsure if the income from his world can be used in the underworld, it was worth trying.
As he approached the machine, he inserted a couple of coins inside the slot and pressed a few buttons, choosing randomly a soda before the can fell out of the machine. Tristan picked it up before opening the can, and out of curiosity, he decided to take a sip of his beverage.
"Huh, what do you know? Their soda tastes as it should be." Tristan muttered as he looked over the can and saw it had a peculiar brand that says Caco-Cola, but he just dismissed it as he focused on his task.
He looked at the plugged power cord just next to the machine, and when he reached out with the soda on his hand, he began pouring some of the liquid over the cord until the electric sparks came out. Tristan backed away as he watched the machine starting to vibrate before a can of soda suddenly ejected out of it, and another, and then another as they crashed to the wall.
"What the hell is that!" Tristan then heard someone shouting.
"That's coming from over there! Let's go!"
Reacting quickly, Tristan hid behind a column before the two guards passed by and went to check the machine. Feeling relief that they didn't notice him, he took the chance to sneak past them and made his way to the entrance into the dark room which was the server room.
He took out his cellphone and turned on the flashlight, and when he lit his way across the room, the light revealed a door at the end of the corridor. The sign next to the door said this leads to the administrator's office, that's where Tristan needed to find it.
Now inside of the office, Tristan closed the door before turning on the lights and went to the admin's computer and turned it on, but once the computer was functional, it requested a password to log in.
Tristan cracked his knuckles and connected his cellphone to the computer, ready to do some hacking, but before he would start typing the keyboard, he noticed a note sticking on the monitor. To his surprise, it was some kind of password written on it, but then his face grew dumbfounded once he read what the password said.
'ULoveD1cks'
"Oh ha ha…" Tristan said with an unamused look before he took the stick note and crumpled it. Nevertheless, he typed the password and he had full access to the computer.
He began using the program to track the phone calls as he typed the number the scoundrel used to call Blitzo. And after a few moments of typing and waiting for the computer to load the info, it finally gave Tristan the location of the phone call along with a new address.
"Yes!" Tristan hissed with his fist pumped before he wrote the direction on a note, folded the paper and kept it into his pocket. "Now back to the van!"
Meanwhile, Blitzo and his crew were still in the van while waiting for Tristan to come back. Although right now the I.M.P crew were getting bored to death that at this point they wondered if Tristan was already dead inside, but nonetheless they decided to give it a little more time.
"Sir, may I ask why are we wasting time on finding that prankster, while we're supposed to be in our office and waiting for new clients?" Moxxie broke the silence with a complaint.
"Because genius, that piece of shit made a big mistake, thinking he could get away by calling us for free service and make us fooling around on Earth for nothing, and I won't stand until we find him and give him a message that I.M.P shouldn't be taken as a joke!" Blitzo answered scornfully before he punched on the wheel.
"Hmm, guess you have a point." Moxxie replied reluctantly, only to frown when there's still one thing that's bothering him. "But why sending a human to do some digging? He's not even an employee of yours."
"That is correct, but that's why he's more useful as a cannon fodder." Blitzo responded with a mischievous smirk.
"I thought you'd give him a second chance after he saved Loona." Millie said with confusion written on her face.
"Ohoho, wait, you really think I've grown soft on him?" Blitzo let out a scoff in disbelief before facing forward with a scowl. "Yeah, he saved my Looney and I should be thankful. But I want to make this very clear, this changes nothing! He's just like any other human we've killed, only he had a stroke of luck unlike the others, but he won't be that lucky the more he stays here."
Moxxie and Millie remained speechless and decided to not discuss this further. However, Loona just looked up from her phone and looked at Blitzo with a conflicted look in her eyes as she didn't seem convinced with his answer. She knew he had a different opinion about the human after telling him what happened back in the living world, but what she couldn't understand was why would he ignore the fact that if it weren't for Tristan, she probably wouldn't be here by now. It was strange coming from him that Loona couldn't help but feel a little upset.
Before she thought about asking him, her ears twitched when she caught the sound of someone approaching from the alley.
"Guys, he's back." Loona spoke before she went back on her phone.
As everyone perked up by the announcement, the sliding door was open and Tristan got inside before he took his seat and took the ski mask off his head.
"Hey guys! Great news, I have the address!" He handed the note to Blitzo as the boss took it. "And just a heads up, they didn't even know who screwed up the vending machine." Tristan said with a prideful tone, though no one seemed to care about what he did.
"Hmm, I know where we're going." Blitzo replied after he read the note before he turned back to his employees with a grin. "It's time we will pay that prankster a beating!"
"Don't you mean 'a visit'?" Tristan said with an eyebrow raised.
"I know what I said!" Blitzo rolled his eyes before turning on the van and rode off at high speed.
The address Tristan gathered lead them to one of the slum areas of Imp City, as they found themselves in a street full of wretched houses that seems like only the junkies and serial killers live here. They parked the van in front of a small house with broken windows and worn paint.
"Are you very sure you want to kill this guy just because he made a prank?" Tristan voiced his concern as he watched Blitzo loading the flintlock pistol.
"Come on, don't tell me you wouldn't do the same after he pulled off a stunt that almost killed you." Blitzo replied with a dry chuckle as he, Millie and Moxxie, were wearing their own ski masks. "That's why you should come along with us and we'll find out who's making the fool out of me." He waved his gun at him.
Tristan only looked at Blitzo in perplexity as he had the feeling the imp was referring to him as well. He thought about insisting on staying in the van and not be part of potential murder, only to remain silent when he felt the uneasy need to confront the person who ruined his life and watch him suffer for playing with other people's lives, even though he knew this was wrong. But then again, this is the land of the sinner he's standing on and whoever that bastard was, he probably deserves what's coming to him.
"Watch over the van, Loonie. We won't take too long!" Blitzo said to the wolf with a sweet smile before he opened the sliding door and everyone got out of the vehicle.
Loona only grumbled in response as her eyes were glued to her phone.
Tristan followed Blitzo and the others from behind with his ski mask on as they headed towards the house. Moxxie and Millie took cover next to the door and when Blitzo approached it, he raised his foot and kicked it open before the I.M.P crew broke into the house.
Suddenly, a skinny imp wearing nothing but a pair of boxers and his reddened skin had white blotches all over his body, jumped off the couch he was lying on and was alarmed to see a group of masked demons.
"WHAT THE FU-"
He couldn't finish the sentence when Blitzo hit him right square in the face with the pistol. "You thought it was fucking funny, didn't you?!" He spat as he, Moxxie and Millie surrounded the scraggly imp.
"Jesus…" Tristan on the other hand decided to stay away from the scene as he started to look around the living room to find any clues to make sure they have the right person.
"Wait! Wait! I don't have money! But I can give you drugs! I mean, it's not enough, but-" The junkie was cut off when Blitzo pulled him up, punched him in the stomach and threw him back to the couch.
"Stop fucking around! We know you called us by the phone and hired us to kill a target! But now we see you're wasting your life on the crap you're smoking." Blitzo sneered as he took a moment to look at the dirty clothes and garbage scattered around the house, he then turned back at the junkie with anger in his eyes. "You really messed up, buddy. To make a fake contract with us, getting us in trouble in the living world and for what? For a fucking prank call and fuck with my company?"
"What the fuck are you talking about?! I never called someone, you fucking psychos!" The skinny imp shouted.
"Guys!" Everyone turned around and saw Tristan holding what appeared to be a cellphone, but it was more than that. "A burner phone, just as I thought." He threw it to Blitzo as the latter caught it. "He should've discarded it when he had the chance."
"Wait! That's not mine! I can explain!" The junkie begged as the masked imps turned to him menacingly.
"Ah, ah, ah! The evidence speaks the truth, mister." Millie replied with a mocking tone.
"No more lies, dipshit!" Blitzo pulled the drug addict towards him so he could have a closer look at his furious eyes.
"I swear! I never made the call because someone else did!"
Blitzo and the crew looked at each other in confusion.
"Someone else? You got a friend in this house?" Moxxie inquired as he looked behind.
"No! Just listen for one goddamn second!" The suspect shouted, clearly angered that at this point he didn't pay attention to the gun pointing at him. "Last week, some guys just barged into my house and handed me a wad of money so I could keep my mouth shut. One of them had the burner phone you just found and made a call right in my fucking house. I mean, who the hell would someone make a call in someone else's house?!"
"Hey, fuck face, stay focused! Who made the call?" Blitzo demanded as his patience was dwindling every passing second.
"I don't know, I couldn't even see his face! But… He looked like someone you don't wanna mess with. Those guys kinda look like they're from the mafia or something for the way they were dressed, I almost shit myself when I looked them in the eye."
"What?" Tristan muttered with his eyes going wide in disbelief.
"Hey, I don't give two shits if those guys were fancy-pants, so I'm gonna give you one last chance to answer the goddamn question!" Blitzo shouted before standing straight and cocked the hammer of his flintlock pistol. "Who the hell made the call!"
"Sir, calm down! This isn't helping at all!" Moxxie tried to reason with the boss after noticing he's becoming agitated by anger.
"Fuck off! This guy must be hiding something! I know it!" Blitzo snapped before pressing the barrel against the forehead, making the junkie tremble in fear.
'AAAARRRRRGGHHH' 'AAAARRRGGHHH'
"Jesus! Where the hell does that come from?!" Tristan jumped as the screams of agony rang out across the room, looking around to find the source of the screams, but that wasn't the only thing he was hearing, there was also a sound of a ringtone.
"Oh, you gotta be fucking kidding me…" Blitzo groaned before he took his cellphone out of his jacket. "I swear if this is you Stolas, I'm gonna-" He trailed off when he saw the number was unknown, a frown grew on his face before turning around and backed away from the junkie. "Keep an eye on him."
Moxxie and Millie looked at the boss with utter confusion, but they decided to follow his order. Tristan, however, was starting to wonder who's calling Blitzo at such an inconvenient moment.
Once he was now standing near the exit, Blitzo answered the call. "Who the fuck is this?" He said with a venomous tone.
"Blitzo… It's been a while since our last conversation." A deep, yet flat voice sounded on the other end of the line.
Blitzo's eyes widened in shock. He now remembered clearly, that voice was from the same person who gave him the call last week. He IS the "prankster"! "What the fuck is the meaning of this?" He seethed through his teeth.
Somewhere, in a dark room, a figure was sitting in the chair while watching through the monitors a few camera surveillances where they show the messy living room where Blitzo and his crew were on the scene. Even though they were wearing masks, he already knew who they were. Although, he was feeling curious about the fifth member.
"I apologize for all the trouble I've put you to. You see, that phone was for one use only and I couldn't call you back to talk about the contract." The shadow replied with a hint of amusement in his tone.
"Well, you could've just called me with a normal phone like everybody-fucking-else!" Blitzo retorted as the figure watched him pacing around.
"Jokes aside, I was wondering if you have eliminated Tristan."
Blitzo stopped his tracks before turning to the human, as Tristan returned the gaze nervously. And after a brief pause, he answered. "I have a better idea, how about me and you should meet face to face so you can see it for yourself? No more bullshit!"
There was a moment of silence, as Blitzo was starting to guess that little rascal was now hesitating to accept the condition.
"Of course! We can set up a meeting! How about tomorrow at 10:00 PM? At the old warehouse next to the freeway. I'll bring you the payment as I promised, but in exchange, I want you to bring proof that you killed him." And then, the call ended, not giving Blitzo a chance to answer.
Blitzo wore a dumbfounded look on his face as the beeping noise rang into his ear, but he wasn't feeling pleased that he and the client finally reached an agreement. No, he was vexed! Not only that son of a bitch was getting under his skin, he indirectly admitted that the burner phone was his and he knew they were finding him. It could only mean they were being followed, but how?
Nothing was starting to make sense, and that gave Blitzo more reasons why he shouldn't trust that shady customer. But that doesn't mean he has to trust that human instead.
He took a deep breath as he pulled the cellphone away before holding it in both hands, and then he broke it in half. As much as he hated breaking his phone again, the last thing he needed was getting another unwanted call from a stalker.
"Alright guys, we're leaving!" Blitzo faced his team as he threw his broken phone away.
"Um, what should we do with this guy?" Moxxie pointed at the skinny imp who couldn't stop shaking, either because he's scared of getting killed or right now he's craving for another shot of heroin.
"Leave him be, he's not even worth a bullet." Blitzo answered bluntly before turning around and walked out of the door.
Moxxie and Millie shared a perplexed look before they followed Blitzo outside, leaving Tristan to take a moment to talk with the anxious drug addict.
"Uh, sorry for the trouble, mister." Tristan said reluctantly while rubbing the back on his head as the junkie looked at him. "We'll just be on our way. Oh and by the way, you should probably save some cash to fix that door." He pointed to the broken door Blitzo knocked it down.
Tristan then made his way out of the house and left the poor bastard alone to have some time to process. As he was now outside, he headed towards the van as Blitzo, Millie and Moxxie took off their masks before they were ready to get in.
"Sir, what happened? Who was on the phone?" Moxxie asked as a moment of confusion struck him.
"It was the same guy we were looking for. He finally agreed to meet us in person because he thinks we killed this turd." Blitzo responded bitterly as he pointed at Tristan.
Tristan suddenly stopped his tracks when he just overheard the conversation, completely stunned to learn the same guy just called Blitzo. But then he scrunched his face into a glare. "What? And you just said yes to that?! How could you trust him after all I've been through?!" He pulled the mask off his face as he stomped his way towards Blitzo, only to be pushed away when Blitzo poked him with the barrel of his gun.
"Listen, shithead." Blitzo growled as he stepped closer to Tristan with the gun pointed at him. "I don't have to hear your woes to convince me you're innocent, and breaking news, I still believe you're not. Do you know why? That fucker who put the price on your head even asked me for some proof that you're dead. Maybe you were right that all of this was a setup, but I'll get to the bottom of this and if I find out you weren't completely honest with me, then you better be prepared for a new life in Hell."
Tristan went speechless as Blitzo lowered his gun with an exasperated sigh. Moxxie, Millie, even Loona were taken aback by Blitzo's outburst like it's their first time to see him genuinely pissed.
"The meeting will take place tomorrow, so right now your little trip back to Earth will have to wait. By the way, is Moxxie and Millie gonna let you stay in their place?" Blitzo asked with a hint of curiosity.
"No, he's gonna stay in mine." Loona suddenly answered, earning a shocked look from Blitzo.
"WHAT?! OH NO! I FORBID YOU TO LET THAT MEATBAG GIVE YOU SOME STDS!" Blitzo rambled as he went inside of the van to argue with Loona.
"Oh, come on Blitzo! I'm sure Loona would love to have a roommate." Millie joined the conversation as she followed him into the vehicle.
Moxxie glanced at the human, but right now he didn't have something to say to him as he decided to get inside the van.
Tristan had his head hung low as his frown deepened, his clenched fists were trembling at the fact that Blitzo didn't listen to his warnings, to even let an unknown caller do business with him without revealing his identity or his purpose to put a contract on Tristan.
However, the more he thought about it, he began to have an uneasy feeling that this stranger maybe knows more about him than he could be aware of.