AN: Hey guys, we're back. This is a darker chapter then the others so just a warning, okay? Also, I've decided to take a break from writing and updating chapters until Easter is over since I'm with family. Once it's over I'll start writing again and I'll update a My Princess chapter before doing Turn Back Time's 2 chapters. Reminder that on April 17th is going to be Healing Blitzo's debut.

You can also follow me on Twitter for updates and stuff.

Disclaimer: I do not own Helluva Boss or Hazbin Hotel

A splash of water made Kern cough up a combination of blood and dust before he slowly felt his vision coming back to him. He struggled to move his legs or wings, only for the hawk to find that all of them were bound by red glowing chains strapped to a wooden chair. Kern quickly remembered what had happened and cursed before falling back on his training. The first thing was to assess the location he was in, which turned out to be a dump of a room with maggots in the wood, dust bunnies everywhere, and some ceiling areas with water leakage.

Next was to see who his captives were, but that was already answered from earlier as the female imp that was with the tall one earlier was lowering a wet bucket before smiling at him. She gave a wave, yet there was a look in her eyes that promised pain would be delivered very shortly. Kern still couldn't believe that he fell for such a stupid and straightforward trick by these damn imps. If he ever got out of here, he would eat their eyes and skin their hides for boots.

Third task was to see if there was any sign of escape or, failing that, a means to kill himself. The chains wrapped around Kern were pretty tight and felt super strong. Given that he had a beak instead of regular teeth, he couldn't bite his own tongue off and choke on his own blood. A painful way to die, but it was better than the current situation.

The only other option was to hope that a comrade or his superiors would come to rescue him, but chances are that was not going to happen. All his cell members were dead, and he doubted the other cells would risk their covers to rescue him. If they knew he was alive, that is.

The door nearby soon opened, and Kern glared upon seeing three of the other assassins who ruined his team. The tall imp, Blitzo, walked over and glared down at him like an insect which only made the demon hawk angrier. This worthless piece of shit was part of the lowest class in all of Hell, and he dared to look at him, a higher ranked demon, like he was nothing?! The utter nerve of it all!

"Wakey wakey, but no eggs and bakey for you," Blitzo said, crossing his arms. "I'm going to be blunt here since I'm on a schedule. You got one chance right now to tell us all you know of your little organization, including your leaders' names, or my friends here are going to do everything short of killing you to get you to talk. And if you don't talk in three days? You're going to wish you did after what I have planned."

He leaned forward into Kern's face and grinned. "So what's it going to be? Easy way or hard way?" Kern's response was to spit in his face. "Hard way it is then."

Blitzo turned to his crew and grinned. "Have fun, guys. See you in three days."

"What are you going to be doing?" the hellhound asked as Blitzo just strolled out like he was going to another day at the office.

"Why ruin the surprise? Besides, think of it as a challenge to try and get him to break before I come back. You do so, and I'll buy you rounds at Husk's bar." Blitzo said as he opened the door. "Ta ta!"

Once the door was closed, the two imps and hellhound grinned as Kern gulped and did his best to prepare the amount of pain the three were promising with their faces. There was no way these three were going to be as bad as he feared.

Right?

It had been three days since Blitzo told her that they had taken down the cell that had murdered her father, but the revelation that there was an entire cabal behind it, all for the sake of overthrowing the current ruling government of Hell, was a big surprise. It had made Octavia wonder more if her father was behind something bigger than just supporting the Hazbin Hotel system. He often talked about a change in the current system of how things were operated in Hell, but she never thought more of it. Now she was beginning to suspect that there were some secrets that Stolas was keeping from everyone.

To that end, she decided to look carefully into everything her father personally owned. His bank accounts, books, experiment labs, and even his contacts to see if there was anything to hint this. Octavia was tempted to ask Blitzo if he knew anything, but she would have to wait for the all-clear. Since their deaths were reported yesterday in the news, Octavia had to pretend to think they were dead until Blitzo called her again once he was sure that the coast was clear. Surprisingly, her mother also knew about it, but she didn't say why.

Refocusing on her efforts to find more about her father's secrets, Octavia had turned her attention to his personal office again. It held tombs from more ancient times and even some from alternate dimensions though they were sealed away with a spell that prevented them from being opened. One that only Octavia now knew. There were also various potions in his cabinet, ranging from blood boiling to headache potions. Also inside were glowing jewels that held different charms and curses on them, which Octavia could only name half of what they did. Not to mention the small cosmic sphere that her father often used for his job in helping read the fates of the other demons in Hell. All of this was just a reminder of how big a shadow Stolas left behind in his death.

Octavia would like to think she was powerful and knowledgeable in the ways of the arcane, but the truth was she didn't focus so much on it with her father still alive. Sure it was a way for them to bond at first, but after the issue of knowing her parents cheating on one another, it left a gap between them that took two years to fix. By then, she had been so focused on just going to college and finding a way to live her own life that the thought of one day taking over her father's place as head of their family was unthinkable.

Maybe because, deep down, I always thought he'd be around forever, Octavia thought as she paused in her, searching to look up at a painting of her father, smiling happily as he posed for the painter. In his lap was a smiling baby Octavia who was looking at her father with such joy it made a tear come down the current one's cheek. Pressing her hand against the cold picture, Octavia cursed herself for not spending more time with her father.

"I wish I could take it all back...all those times I was angry at you for cheating on Mom...I wish I just realized how much you cared about me instead of just assuming the worst," Octavia muttered, closing her eyes. "It's not...it's not the same anymore...Mom and I can't talk...Blitzo's busy fighting to avenge you...everyone's eyes are on me and I...I sometimes think I can't do this..."

She slowly looked up back at the painting...and then noticed something that caught her eye. The part of the artwork that seemed to have a...bump? Narrowing her eyes, Octavia slowly rubbed her fingers around the image of her younger self's head and felt what apparently was some kind of hidden button. Curious, she clicked it and heard the sound of gears moving, which made her turn around to the bookshelf, which was slowly sliding to the right. Octavia watched in silence before the bookshelf was entirely removed, which revealed a large square mirror plastered to the hidden wall.

Walking towards it, Octavia gently touched it only to feel her hand slowly enter it like a pool of water as ripples went through the liquid glass. Taking a deep breath, Octavia slowly entered the mirror and felt like she had just dived into an ocean of ice water before appearing in some kind of hidden chamber that was only lit up by torches. The only thing that was in the room was a simple wooden desk, chair, and purple velvet book with a quick and ink bottle next to it.

Walking over to the desk, Octavia wondered what was in the book as she slowly opened it only to find it written in a language she had never seen before. While almost all demons these days spoke on Earth's various languages, English being the most popular, Hell had different languages made from their own cultures, such as Infernal, Abyssinian, and Necrocra. Being part of the noble caste, Octavia had to learn them all, but this book wasn't written in any language that she knew of.

Meaning this is a really ancient language...or is a cipher that Dad made up on his own, Octavia theorized as she took the book and looked through the pages. Besides the pages that looked to be journal entries, there were diagrams, math formulas, and images of specific figures she didn't quite understand.

However, there was one thing Octavia did understand: nobody should know about this book. Not even her mother. Taking it into her hand, Octavia quickly left the chamber and shut the bookcase by pressing the hidden button again. She didn't know what was in this book and if it had anything to do with her father's death, but Octavia was now too curious to ignore this.

Plus, she always did like a challenge.

"Damn, I thought the drill to his arm and leg joints would work," Moxxie muttered as he tossed the bloody tool away. "Well, I'm out of ideas. Any of you got some more?"

"Did we do Chinese Water Torture?" Loona asked while licking the blood off her paws.

"Yup, that was before we did the needles under the fingernails trick," Millie said, pointing out to the little tiny pins that were still stuck in Kern's digits despite it being two days old.

The three had prided themselves on extracting information from targets or people of interest in their job, but it seemed that Kern was made of stronger stuff than they thought. Despite having his feathers plucked, skin burned and peeled, balls given the worst damage possible, numerous objects shoved up the asshole, tail chop off, wings broken, legs damaged, arms nearly ripped off, massive amounts of cuts all over the torso, teeth pulled out, nose broken, beak slashed, splashed with acid, water tortured, pins placed in his fingers and toes, electrocuted, and more. The only reason this sack of meat and feathers was still alive was because of the healing spell that they used to keep him from dying, although they did come close a few times to losing him.

Regardless, Kern said nothing about the group of people he was working with or anything about funding them. All he did was scream and occasionally curse during the whole session. The three assassins were about to discuss what to do next when the door slammed open by Blitzo kicking it. "Hey, guys! Time's up! Did you get him to talk?"

Sighing in disappointment, Millie answered, "No, and we really did try! I think I'm losing my touch."

"Ah, don't be kicking yourself, Millie. The guy's a Legion Captain. He's tougher than most of the sobs we usually deal with," Blitzo said as he walked over to the Legionary and smirked. "So, he's been trained to resist every kind of pain imaginable—even the stuff Heaven could do to him. Breaking him wasn't going to be easy, but there is always a weakness for everyone. I had to actually go around looking for it, but I found it. Or rather...I found them."

This made Kern look at Blitzo with wide eyes and horror, which only made the imp's grin grow. "Loona? Be a dear and go get daddy's special weapon from the back of the van. Don't worry about being gentle either."

Loona shrugged before leaving the building. Blitzo took the time to smile at the sweating Kern who continued to stay silent, but it was clear that he was doing his best to not give the imp the satisfaction that he finally had something on him. "See, everyone has a weakness. That's the first lesson I learned. Save for God himself, there is no being in this universe that cannot be defeated, weakened, or submitted through some form or another. Most of the time, it's family—the people we love and care for. Even Lucifer will face all of Heaven if it means protecting his daughter from being hurt or killed. It's just natural for us to want to protect our loved ones." He leaned forward and booped Kern on the nose. "And that includes you."

Loona returned, but this time she wasn't alone. Tied up and gagged were two figures that she pushed into the room as Millie and Moxxie backed away in surprise. The first looked just like Kern, only female and shorter than him while aged down a few years. Her face was bleeding, and there was a big black spot around her left eye as she looked at Kern with teary-eyes. The other one wasn't even an adult, but a child. A yellow-reddish hawk demon who hadn't stopped crying since he and his mother found themselves taken by this scary imp. He looked to be no older than eight years old, and while there were no physical wounds on him, he did indeed look traumatized.

"S-Sir?" Moxxie asked in disbelief. "W-What is this?"

"This, Moxxie, is my secret weapon," Blitzo said as he grabbed the female hawk demon and put her in a headlock before tossing her to the side. The child soon rushed after her, but not before Blitzo tripped him with his tail and made him fall to the floor. "Everyone? Please meet Mrs. Gavina Bloodfeather and her son, Jericho Bloodfeather. They're Kern's younger sister and nephew. There was a Mr. Bloodfeather, but he sadly will not be joining us. But don't worry, I made sure that Gavina's Voxbook page said Single before I left their home."

"You son of a bitch! Let them go! They got nothing to do with this!" Kern shouted as he finally spoke before turning to his sister and nephew. "Please, they're innocent!"

"Oh, that's a fucking laugh coming from you!" Blitzo shouted as he got into Kern's face. "Was Dastromos and his family NOT innocent when your group of assholes kills them in their sleep?! You slit his three-month-old son from cheek to cheek with an angel blade while his wife was found raped and then murdered with a dozen angel steel bullets in her stomach! Was Great Marquis Shax NOT innocent when you hung him and his pregnant wife upon their castle with ropes, naked and bleeding, while they had signs around their necks that said the word Traitor, huh?! Overlord Brurgal was alone when you killed him, but the bomb you exploded killed at least THIRTY other demons that day! And Stolas..." Blitzo took a deep breath and closed his eyes. "You murdered one of the best demons I knew. You had him shot in front of me, his daughter, his wife, and nearly endangered others. And I already looked into your files and saw who you were planning to hit next. One of the Hazbin Hotels in Gehenna Square. The one that has a DAYCARE in it!"

There was a long silence as Blitzo took a few deep breaths before standing up and glaring at Kern with disgust. "So don't play that innocent bullshit card on me when you're hands are just as red as mine with blood."

"Those attacks were not our cell," Kern grumbled. "They were the others."

"And you are going to tell me those cells or else..." He pulled out a magnum revolver and loaded it with angel bullets before spinning the wheel and aimed it at the two wide-eyed demons. The mother quickly tried covering her son, who was turning away in fright. "I've killed families before. Comes with my job. So if you think I'm going to hesitate to shoot your sister or her kid, you're a bigger idiot than I thought. I already killed the husband, and I'm fine reuniting the family with a few squeezes of the trigger. Like so."

Blitzo fired one shot that hit Gavina in the leg, causing her to let out a muffled scream that made everyone jump. Kern started cursing while the kid started crying, and the smell of urine wetting his pants hit everyone's nostrils in the room. Moxxie, turning away, shook his head and gulped. "S-Sir... I don't think I can-"

"Moxxie, you're excused. If the rest of you can't take this, go ahead and leave," Bltizo then gave them a look that made all three of them shiver. "I said I would do anything to avenge Stolas. This is anything."

"...I understand, but I don't think I can watch this," Moxxie nodded before walking towards the door. After a few minutes, Millie soon followed. Loona was the only other one left there, but even she was looking hesitant.

"D-Dad?" she whispered.

"Loona, it's fine. Go," Blitzo said calmly as he nodded to her.

"...Fuck," the hellhound muttered before leaving while slamming the door shut.

Alone with his victims, Blitzo twirled around with the gun a few times before glaring down at Kern. "So are you going to give me information, or am I going to have to make a few holes for a turkey dinner?"

"Listen, this isn't about you or me," Kern started talking as he gulped. "This is about the greater good of Hell-" Blitzo fired another shot, only this time it went into Kern's leg. He screamed as the feeling of Heaven's blessing burned through his skin and started turning the wound a combination of black and purple. "Motherfucker! You fucking cunt! I'll kill you and your entire family!"

Blitzo snorted. "Believe it or not, but my older sister is scarier than me." He pressed his leg on the wound and started to squish it while making the hawk demon scream faster. "Fuck Hell. Fuck Heaven. Fuck Earth. Fuck whatever fucking patriotic or zealot bullshit you were about to scream about. I want names. I want information. Give it to me, or I swear that I'll fill you all with more holes than Blackford Lancashire."

"You don't have the guts!" Kern shouted as his eyes began to tear up, and he started foaming in the mouth. "All you fucking imps are nothing but gutless cowards! Your trash that's fit only for picking up the dead skin we leave behind when we walk all over you! And your prince was trash for even letting himself get fucked by a worthless piece of shit like you!"

BAM!

Two sets of screams were then heard from that room. One was muffled, yet Jericho's heart was screaming as loud as the trumpets of armageddon as he saw his dead mother slump down to the ground with a perfect shot aimed right in her forehead as brain and blood leaked out of it. The child desperately tried to save his mother from dying. Even after Gavina's essence was already leaking out of her body and fading into oblivion, Jericho did not stop screaming. The other screaming was from Kern, who was crying out his sister's name while tears fell down his eyes in disbelief. He screamed and howled until, unable to take it anymore, the hardened soldier broke and threw up on his lap. Blitzo, eyes cold as ice, just looked at the corpse before turning his eyes to the broken hawk before aiming his magnum at the little one and cocked the hammer.

"You have five seconds to tell me something, or Jericho will be joining his parents in eternal darkness," Blitzo warned as he narrowed his eyes. "One. Two. Three. Four. F-"

"STOP! I'll TALK! I'LL TALK!"

Once Blitzo said it was clear for them to come back in, Loona and Moxxie carried the body of Gavina Bloodfeather out to bury her in the yard while Millie took the sobbing and near motionless Jericho out to watch out for him. Blitzo could tell all three of them looked at him with various ranging emotions, but he would deal with that later. For now, he had the video camera set up and his questions ready for the damaged hawk before him, who was looking down at the floor in shame.

"Alright, the first question," Blitzo asked, making sure the camera was on. "How many cells are there in this organization? What are their numbers and their leaders?"

"There are twenty-five of us...twenty-four now..." Kern whispered, shutting his eyes. "I don't know who the leaders are, they kept that from us, but numbers for each are around thirty to fifty depending."

"What is the purpose of your cells?" Blitzo asked.

"To monitor, prepare, and assault key figures in Hell's Government or supporters in the Hazbin Hotel system. We get our details from the Big Hand on what jobs to do. Our income and weapons come from them or any of the sponsors that support the cause."

"I take it the sponsors are various members of Hell's elite and criminal groups?" Blitzo asked, eyebrows raised.

"Yeah, I can give you the ones who supported the assassination of Prince Stolas job," Kern whispered.

"Who?"

"There were only three. One is 666 News Anchor Katie Killyjoy," Kern whispered, which made Blitzo's eyebrow raised. "She's a fucking full-on homophobe. There were always rumors that Prince Stolas was gay, and I guess she figured one less faggot in the pentagram was better in her mind. The second was Overlord Valentino."

"Valentino?" Blitzo asked in surprise. "What does he have to do with Stolas?"

"Apparently, the two had a past together, and Valentino ended up burned. Plus, Hazbin Hotel has put a damper on his business ever since his prize slut, Angel Dust, got redeemed and started helping former sex workers like himself get out of that lifestyle. It makes sense he wants to rub off one of his biggest supporters to get back at it. Finally, there's Prince Gaap. If anyone hated Stolas, besides the Big Hand that supported this assassination, it's him."

"Prince Gaap..." Stolas bit his lip. He had heard that name before, and then it clicked. "Wait, Stella said something about him. She said he was jealous that he didn't get Prince Stolas's job."

Kern gave a harsh laugh. "Yeah, sure, he was jealous, but he wasn't jealous of that. He was jealous because Gaap wanted his wife."

Blitzo's eyes widened. "Stella?! He wanted that bitch?!"

"Apparently, they were childhood friends, and rumor had it that Prince Gaap wanted Stella to be his bride, but she was given to Prince Stolas. There was some big fight between the three that resulted in Princess Stella breaking up her friendship with him. Which was a surprise since it was pretty clear that Prince Stolas and Stella didn't get along at all in their marriage. Must have been something super serious to get her to choose her own husband, who didn't love her, rather than her former best friend, who was heels over for her."

Well, looks like I owe Stella a visit soon, Blitzo thought as he began to wonder if perhaps Stella had changed her mind at some point regarding Prince Gaap. And if she didn't...there might still be something she isn't telling us.

"You keep mentioning this Big Hand group. Who are they?" Blitzo asked, crossing his arms. "You're ringleaders?"

"Yeah, but we don't know their real names. All we know is that they are powerful, rich, and hold a large influence in our society. More so than the others I've named," Kern sighed. "We call them the Big Hand because their code names are based on playing cards, but each has a color code to them: Green Jack, Red Queen, Yellow King, White Ace, and Black Joker. The five of them all have equal power among them, but some of us suspect that Black Joker has the biggest influence of them all. And let me tell you something, they will know what you have done, and they will come after you with so much shit that you might as well take that magnum and blow your head off. Because what you've done to me? It's going to pale in comparison what they will do to you."

Blitzo raised an eyebrow and smirked. "I look forward to it. Now let's continue..."

Question after question was asked until Blitzo was sure he had everything he needed. Once he was done, he turned the video camera off and looked at Kern. "Well, I guess you know that I can't let you live."

"...and Jericho?" Kern asked.

"He'll be fine...well as fine as an eight-year-old who watched his father, mother, and uncle get whacked off by a psychopathic assassin can be," Bltizo said with a shrug as he raised his gun to Kern's head. "Don't worry, I'll be sending your little buddies with you shortly. And last words?"

"...may the true king return to us all..."

Blitzo fired, and with one shot, the brains of Kern were scattered around the area. He watched as the hawk's demonic essence slowly evaporated into the earth and spat on the corpse before leaving for the next room where this team was waiting for him, all with silent expressions. "We're done here. Get in the van so we can head out."

"Sir...about what happened..." Moxxie started, but Blitzo held a hand up.

"I warned you all that I was going to do whatever it took to avenge Stolas. Besides, this isn't the first time we've killed a family," Blitzo pointed out, to which the team didn't respond. "Look, if you want to back out. I'm fine with that. I'll ask Octavia to give you each a million dollars that you can use to start a new life somewhere. I won't blame you for it, but I'm not stopping. Even if I have to do this alone."

The others looked at each other before Loona sighed and shook her head. "Let's just hurry the fuck up to the hotel. I need a freaking drink."

"Same," Millie whispered as she followed her co-worker.

"Wait, what about the kid?" Moxxie asked, looking at the small door leading to the room where they stashed him at.

"I'll deal with him. I'm not going to kill him!" Blitzo quickly said before Moxxie could say anything. "I'm going to just cut his bonds loose."

Moxxie slowly nodded before following his wife and Loona. Meanwhile, Blitzo took a deep breath and slowly opened the door where Jericho was huddled in a corner, silently crying as Blitzo slowly appeared before him. The little hawk was terrified as the imp got closer and even froze up when Blitzo took out a knife. However, his fear turned to confusion when he used it to cut the bonds and soon removed the gag from his mouth. "Your uncle's dead. Don't bother checking it out. You've been traumatized enough as it is."

Jericho didn't say anything. He just stared at the imp, who looked at him with sorrow. "I bet you hate me, huh?" Blitzo asked as he got up and stared at the little kid. "I don't blame you. Hell, I fucking deserve it. But your uncle killed someone I loved, and we do crazy things for those we love."

Getting up, Blitzo slowly turned his back towards the kid. "If you want revenge for the pain that I caused you, then get stronger. Faster. Smarter. Be the best killer in the nine rings. When you feel you are ready and you want to take your vengeance? Look for me. I'll be waiting for you."

Blitzo then left Jericho there before joining his comrades in the van and left the house for good.