Hello All!

I hope you are ready for another chapter. I am loving how this story is progressing, and appreciate all of the positive feedback. As a heads up, I am still working on Past Dues and Resolve, but still need some time with the latter to lay out the plan for the next few chapters.

Anyhow, I have very little to say, so lets just jump into the chapter!

Chapter 8: Change of Tone

I.M.P. Office

"A toast!" Blitzø screamed out, gripping a full bottle of Vodka over his head. "To another successful day of saying 'Fuck You' to the DHT! And to keeping as much money as possible out of their grubby little fuckin' hands." He was met with the raising of three other glasses, and a huff in reply from his dearest daughter.

"And a toast to the success of I.M.P.! To the killing of every single piece of shit on Earth who happened screw over someone with cash in Hell!"

"CHEERS!" Resounded in response, the clicking of glasses against each other nearly shattering them from the force. Blitzø took a long swig from the bottle of booze, enjoying the burn as it slid down his throat. "A good thing I didn't buy the cheap shit this time. I might just be able to finish this within the hour." He smirked.

"Normally I would admonish you for drinking during a work day, Sir." Moxxie pointed out, following it up with a grin. "But I can't deny that today is a good day to celebrate."

"I'll drink to that." Leon piped in, washing down some of the food he had eaten with a tall glass of gin and tonic. "Back when I worked at Loo Loo Land, Tax Day was important, but not nearly as chaotic. This was just as stressful though." Leon huffed. "The downside was after it was over, it was back to normal duties, so there wasn't time for R&R." Moxxie gave him a look.

"Wait, you worked at Loo Loo Land?" Moxxie asked, to which Leon nodded. "Yeah. I was in charge of financials for their distribution and products branch. Dealing with inventory and tax/payment costs. All that shit." He waved his hand dismissively. Millie tilted her head.

"What made you leave?" Leon's expression soured.

"Apparently someone burned down the whole place. Most of the stuff I was in charge of was destroyed, so they fired my ass. Fired a lot of demons and sinners, actually." Moxxie and Millie shared a look, before looking past the sinner and at their boss.

Blitzø held a finger to his lips from behind Leon, shaking his head in negative. Moxxie coughed into his hand. "Well, let's just be glad that it worked out, right?" He asked with a high tone, hoping to drag the conversation elsewhere.

Leon brightened up, looking down at his drink. "I suppose that's true. I'm gonna get something to eat from the break room, I'll be right back." Leon turned and walked away from the group. As Leon turned the corner, Blitzø pulled Moxxie and Millie close, hunching their head together.

"Neither of you tell him about us at Loo Loo Land, got it? Especially you, Mox. You fuckin' blabbermouth." Moxxie frowned at the words, but nodded nonetheless. Moxxie knew that telling Leon about all of that would spell trouble. Even though the Taxes were filed, he was probably going to be designated a different job soon, so it wouldn't do to make a big stink about the past.

Millie eyed the floor, not liking the idea of lying to a friend. A lie of omission, but still a lie. It wasn't very fair of them to keep this secret, considering how much his life probably changed because of them. She grimaced, remembering how Leon talked about how he used to live, as well as the street that he now lived on. Going from living a closed off, albeit bland life in a decent part of Pentagram City, to a broken street in Imp City. It wasn't a nice area, that was for sure. If he weren't a sinner, she would be concerned for his life most days.

Millie looked up at the other two, and nodded her head. She would tell him in the future, just not right now.

Leon made his way into the breakroom, looking over at his 'desk' with a bemused expression. Gone were a majority of the papers, replaced with catered food that Blitzø ordered. The winddown of the day was coming close, with the skies turning dark from the vantage of the windows. Walking over to the fridge, he pulled out a can of soda, cracking it open and bringing it to his mouth.

He heard the steps behind him.

Turning around, he was met with the tall sight of Loona looming over him. Her dark red eyes glowered over his form, teeth barred for aggression. Leon pressed a little closer to the fridge, staring back up at her with caution. "Loona..."

"You're not useful anymore. You know that, right?" She said evenly. "The moment Blitzø understands that he doesn't need you around anymore, you're done... then you're mine." She leaned forward, bringing her muzzle close to his face. "The only reason I don't kill you right now is because it'll make too much noise."

Leon said nothing, eyes narrowed at the hellhound in front of him. Loona scoffed, snatching the drink out of his hand and downing it. Crushing it, it dropped to the floor. "Remember who is more important to Blitzø here. You're a toss-up right now. And me... well, you know." She smirked. She normally didn't like pulling the 'daughter' card, but right now, it had its perk. "Blitzø will kick your ass to the curb in no time."

"We'll just have to wait and see, huh?" Leon said flatly, keeping the trepidation from his voice. Loona stared at him for a moment. The hellhound of I.M.P. turned away from the sinner, grabbing up a whole tray of food from the coffee table. She waltzed towards the door, giving a backwards as she neared the exit.

"Remember what I said I'd do to you."

The five pointed illuminating fixture shone over the expanse of Pentagram City. Rays of maroon light cascaded over the high towers and lower depts of the Pride Ring, invigorating the cantankerous and violent individuals who lurked within. The same violence and turmoil continued within the inner streets of the sinner-oriented region, chaos reigning free and open for all inside.

Just on the outskirts of this city however, loomed something different. As the skyscrapers thinned in multitude, and the neon lights departed from the site, there lay a peculiar manifestation.

Vehicles of all shapes and sizes sped towards this location, the open streets and dirt roads caressing the low parts of the plains. There on, hundreds of these vehicles parked and ushered themselves in the same area. Many others departed from their taxis and payed transportation, waltzing towards the unique new playground of interest.

"Oh my!" Stolas looked around in wonder, absolutely flabbergasted by the sights before him. "Dearest me! This is all so... outrageous! And I can't help but love it!" He all but squealed in delight. He gushed at the surroundings, not know what to do first in such a moment.

Octavia rolled her eyes, keeping her head down to avoid eye contact with any of the demons who were looking at her awestruck father. Some raised an eyebrow, whilst others laughed his naivety from the distance. Despite this, she couldn't help but understand why her dad was acting the way he was.

Having gotten through the entrance path and away from the bustle of cars, Octavia and Stolas found themselves in the middle of what could almost be a carnival. Hastily built stages and buildings were propped up in every which way, creating a plethora of strange and unique stores and shops to stop at for everyone around. Awnings and pop-ups gave coverages to all sorts of foods and wares, Wrath produced fruits and vegetables sitting right next door to the liquors of Gluttony.

Demons of every kind walked around, with every kind of product seemingly on sale in such a wild zone of small business. Baphomets selling the newest bags of Envy, while Sinners sold Earth-like products and technology. Imps and Hellspawn trading wares, tools, and equipment, ranging from farm tools to kitchen appliances. Hellhounds walking around with succubi, pockets full of purchased goods.

It was sporadic and uncontrolled... yet still not completely lawless.

All in all, it wasn't what Octavia was expecting.

"Octavia, dear, why don't we look around for a bit. I'm sure that we can find something of interest within this place! Oh, it seems to go on for miles! The fact that this was set up in such haste, and right after Tax Day too!" Octavia groaned at her father's jitteriness.

"Dad, please try to tone it down a bit." She asked. Stolas crumpled a little at the suggestion, still offering a warm smile to his daughter.

"Oh, sorry Via." He said, coughing into his hand. "Lets just remember to stay close, alright? The disguises I produced for us should last quite some time, but just in case the spell weakens, I don't want someone recognizing you should it break." Octavia nodded, understanding the conditions of them coming.

The only way for her to convince her dad not to have bodyguards for the day was to have them not look like themselves. And while it meant nobody from school would recognize her if they saw her, it wasn't a total loss. That, and she would be able to look around without too many eyes on her, which was a nice plus as well.

At the moment, her features resembled more of a human-turned sinner. Nearly white skin splayed across her face, eyes of green to conceal her demonic lineage. Gone were her head feathers, illusioned to look like onxy waves of hair to brushed down the small of her back. She was dressed down in a dark longsleeve shirt with 'Fuck You Dad' splayed over the front of it, along with a pair of navy bellbottom jeans. She wore a pair of black boots which have her a slight heel and disappeared up the loose material of her pants. All in all, she felt out of character... but still like herself.

Stolas merely took on his human disguise, though accentuated certain aspects to give a more 'sinner' appeal. Teeth were sharpened, his eyes given a yellow sclera behind his normal red. Small jagged lines broached his cheeks, disguising his apparently perfect 'skin'. All in all, they looked completely bland compared to some of the other individuals walking around within the farmer's market.

Octavia looked around, her eyes catching onto something of interest. "Hey, Dad. Why don't we try this one first?" She pointed, to which Stolas smiled happily.

"Of course, Via. Lead the way."

"Wow!" Millie looked around in amazement. "I don't know what I was expecting, but it wasn't this!" She twisted around, staring at all of the assortment of booths, kiosks, and venders from every side.

Leon and Moxxie joined in on her sightseeing, craning their heads around in mild shock at their surroundings. Leon had gone to farmer's markets when he was alive, but this was on a whole other level. Like the combination of a farmer's market and a state fair, but will less party games and more gambling.

So Las Vegas, but with produce carts...so Fremont Street.

"I'm just as blown away." Moxxie said, looking around impressed. "To think they cobbled this together in three days! And the music events don't start for another few hours! I haven't even had to shoot at anyone yet, and that's saying something!"

"That's because us vendors know if anyone starts shit in here, we lose money." The trio turned around to a grizzled looking gentlemen sitting within a booth. He stroked at his greyed beard as he stared at the imps and sinner. "If anyone tries to cause problems, they're as good as dead. And if your a sinner... well, we find something to do with you." He grinned, jagged teeth from behind his facial hair glinting with a feral aura. "It's been this way for decades, but only recently have things been getting locked in and more organized. Means less chances for bullshit to happen."

The three nodded to his assessment. Leon walked over to the booth of the demon, his interest piqued. Sitting all around the elderly demon were statuettes. Ones of soldiers or military troops, historical moments of Earth, pieces of nature or scenery. All formed in what looked like displays made of copper and brass. They ranged in sizes or every kind. Leon looked at the displays of animals and natural designs.

He saw something in the corner of his eye. Picking it up with a gentle grip, the heft of it fell into his hand. He looked over the statuette with intrigue. The shine of the material glistened against the red rays of light in the sky. Nodding his head, Leon looked at the grizzled vendor.

"How much?"

"38 Souls."

"30." Leon counter-offered.

"39."

"You went higher. 34."

"40."

"*Sigh*, will you settle for 37?"

"38 Souls, take it or leave it."

Leon looked down at the item in his hand once more. "Deal."

Music filled the air, each corner holding what felt like a small concert. Stages stood above the carts, trolleys, and awnings, set up with performers and singers from all throughout Hell. Baphomets performing 'Bah'-capella with aggressive beats and lyrics. Imps from Wrath were throwing out high speed tunes of Appalachian and country. Succubi and Inccubi were on stages dancing and throwing their bodies around to onlookers.

Hundreds of booths and vendors were splayed out for all to see. The sale of pretty much anything was occuring, much to the delight of Moxxie, Millie, and Leon.

A succubus selling vinyls from Earth had Moxxie eating out of her hand for a good while. Leon had enough foresight to steer away from some of the more 'risque' styles of music, and aim him towards records of classic rock and smooth tunes of the 60s-80s. They spent a good while talking to the succubus as well, who was surprisingly chill about her use of interplanar travel to buy up stuff on Earth and sell it in Hell.

Millie had gushed over a new set of Whetstones with infused brimstone. Coupled with a new set of concealable knives, she had all but danced around in glee at the new assortment of tools and weapons she could use during assassinations. It helped that she managed to get a discount from the vendor. What didn't help was the unwanted looks he gave her in return, followed by the frustration he held when Moxxie kissed her two moments later.

The endless walking had allowed them to run into a series of booths tailored towards technology and audio equipment. Leon, despite what he would claim, did not freak out over the audio jack adapter that fit in his neck. The white haired sinner knew that his audio input holes were wide, and only worked with TS and TRS style jacks. The adapter allowed him to plug a 3.5mm standard audio jack into the female port, which then converted to a TS male port that worked with his neck.

It opened so many opportunities for him, much to the shared joy of Moxxie and Millie.

Moxxie managed to haggle prices (though with the help of Millie) on some new stylized fridge magnets. They were in a Vintage Victorian Font, with a whole set of letters, a bound set of gold rings to symbolize marriage, and male and female caricatures.

Millie, in her search of new wall picture frames, fell across an Eclipse Darkwood photo album, complete with different sized sleeves within for all of her family photos. The filigree patterns and carved designs screamed out to her to grab it up, even with the less than stellar price. Upon the purchase, she told Moxxie that the first photos would be of their wedding night. It led to another sappy moment between the imp couple.

The hours continued on for some time, with each of them finding things to buy and to burn some of the liquid assets that they had left over from Tax Day. The walkways grew more dense with demons, the amount of people flocking in making it harder and harder to navigate the expansive passways of the market.

"This place is a fucking maze!" Moxxie squawked, shoving passed several hells pawn. He gripped at his bag of purchased goods tightly, not wanting to have any of them 'liberated' from his grasp.

"I know what you mean. It doesn't help that a lot of these folks are taller than us." Millie pushed by, leaning against her husband as to not lose him in the crowds. Leon turned back towards them, having been the best blocker he could be so they could continue around the market.

"You guys want to head towards the edges and float around there for a little bit? I think there will be less people." He offered, to which the imps nodded. The market felt more like a convention at the moment, with too many asses filling the wide, but not large enough space.

The trio traveled down a less used alley between small shops and tents. Demons and sinners all galivanted around with a lack of care, more than likely relaxed from their survival of yet another year of ca-tax-trophy. Moxxie and Millie found more room between each other as the people thinned out along the walkways. Time passed slowly, but the roads eventually found more peace, with the noises and clamoring that occupied the area now dimmed and less sporadic.

Leon looked around with a sigh of relief. "We're on the South corner, now. That means if we need to head back, it'll be a bit of a trekk." He said to his friends.

"That's fine." Millie grinned. "If anything, we can walk around the edge of the fairgrounds to get to the exit. It just means we'll be hitting up booths we haven't seen yet." Leon and Moxxie smiled at the statement.

"Sounds good. Not gonna lie, I'm getting to a point where I'm okay if we leave." Leon said, craning his head up to look down the path they just walked out of. The sea of horns, hair, and fur went on for hundreds of bodies in just that single path. He could tell it was just going to get worse as the day went on.

"That's fair. Millie and I already found a ton of stuff that we liked. We're running out of funds too, so it's not like we'll be able to buy that much more, even if we run into stuff we like." Moxxie looked down at the bag in his arms, opening it to look at the assortment of new and interesting items for their home and daily lives.

Leon nodded. "So I suppose we should start making a slow mosey back towards the exit."

"Sounds good to me./Good for me if its good for you." The imps said to the sinner. Millie paused, leaning up against a set up light post. "I'm glad we managed to do this. Going out like this, that is." She waved a hand out passively. "I reminds me of going out with my brothers to the open market in Wrath. They would try to haggle with other imps this their faces were purple. I would usually step in and try to one up them too! It was fun..." She looked over at her husband and friend. "It feels good to do this kind of stuff. The only thing that surprises me is that Blitzø didn't join us."

Moxxie nodded, still soaking in the words of his dearest beloved. Leon was the one to speak. "I think he said he had something planned with Loona for the day." Leon shrugged his shoulders. "Fine by me. As much as I don't mind Blitzø, he does tend to... take things a little overboard." Moxxie and Millie smirked in bemusement at the accurate assessment of their boss.

Leon huffed, looking around at the stands within the vicinity as he kept speaking. "Well, I suppose we should make our way out, if that's good with you two. There's bound to be food vendors all throughout the walk back, so if we see something we like, we can... we... we can..." Leon trailed off.

"Lee... you okay there?" Millie asked, walking up to him and grabbing at his shirt. He moved away, back still to her as he wandered with slow steps in a direction. His feet carried him away from the imps, who moved to follow their now enchanted friend.

They called out to him a few times, trying to get his attention, but was somewhere else. On something else. The sinner came to a stop, Moxxie and Millie just behind him as his eyes seemed to glaze over. Leon looked on with desire, soaking in the object before him.

The long, slender lengths of polished wood echoed down the frame of the metal body. Perfect paracord wraps twined into the body of each piece, tying the adornments together. Octave sets cascaded down the whole of the instrument, forming a large scale pattern reminiscent to a piano. tubes of differing size flowed from the bottom of the frame, brass fittings holding fast to the base and dropping down from the interior. Attached cymbals and accompanying bells bolstered the ensemble.

"Leon, do you know what this is?" Moxxie asked, looking at the object in front of them with interest. Millie let her eyes cast over the body of the instrument as well, noting the set of bags hanging down from the frame, with sticks poking out from inside.

"An Adams 5 Octave Scale Marimba." Leon said breathily. "Rosewood bars with a brass alloy suspended resonators. Steel belted interior rail... and adorning accessories It even has an audio box speaker already wired inside!" The white haired sinner gawked, hovering his hands over the piece of art in front of him. Stars danced in his eyes as he looked over the instrument before him.

"You have a good eye." Leon jumped back in panic, stumbling back into Millie and Moxxie. His gaze was ripped from the instrument, instead looking around for the person who spoke. From the corner of the little shack stood a tall, somewhat gaunt looking sinner. Their skin was a light red, a pair of sharp fangs hanging out from his mouth and dipping over his bottom lips. A long mane of black hair strung over his shoulders and down his back, draping his form. A pair of pure black horns jutted out from the front of his head, exposing his status as an Incubus. He wore a black tee with a yellow smiley face on it. Leon immediately recognized the logo, but instead of the name of the band, it said 'Rhythm X' in the Nirvana font.

The individual stepped out from the edge of the vendor's stand, standing tall over the imps and sinner. "Not many demons show interest in this kinda stuff, much less this beauty." He said hauntingly. "I take it you play?"

Leon nodded his head, peeling his gaze away from the incubus and towards the item before him. "I played a lot when I was, well, alive." Leon admitted, taking a step towards the instrument. "Would mind if I..."

"Go ahead. But if you break it, you buy it." The incubus smirked. Leon nodded, finding himself in front of the marimba once more. He looked down at the system before him, soaking it all in. He brought his focus down, noting the sticks and pulled them free from the bag. Two pairs of marimba mallets slipped out from the leather holster, all brandished with a pale grey wrap upon them.

He gripped at the pairs in his hands, allowing the familiar feeling to take over. The sleek wood pressed into his thumb and between his fingers as he wiggled them around and swung the mallets in practice. He flicked around his wrists, letting memory take over. Leon breathed a sigh.

He started slow. Small scale patterns immediately resonating off of the polished wood and down through the body of the marimba. The hum of sound echoed through the body, giving a full breath of tone. Leon sucked in a small breath, but continued, allowing a few moments to continue his pattern.

From behind, Millie poked her head around from the side of the vendor stand, eyeing up her coworker with intrigue. The sounds from all around her made it difficult to hear, even as Leon played not ten feet from where she was. Moxxie took small steps to grow closer to the playing sinner, trying not to distract him, but wanting to hear. He found himself in a similar situation to his wife, unable to hear much of anything. Echoes of guitars, singers, and drums from every direction, from different bands, clattered through the air to form a barrier of white noise.

Leon stretched his arms, flexing his hands around as he continued a few notes upon the scales of rosewood. The four mallets syncopated over the marimba in a familiar tone. His mind went back to his years of playing. Back to when he was alive.

"Not bad, squirt." The voice cut in, pulling Leon away from his playing. The incubus from before smirked at him. "I can tell you have some experience, based on the way you handled the mallets. Problem is, I can barely hear you." The incubus reached over to the side of the marimba. Leon, too curious for his own good, craned his neck around to look. The incubus pulled at a cord, plugging in a jack to the frame of the instrument. The flick of a switch followed suit. Leon's eyes widened, looking up at the incubus.

"You installed speaker mics inside of it?" Leon gasped out, to which the incubus smirked.

"How about you find out and play me something." Leon looked down at the marimba, his eyes drawn to something specific in the corner.

A small 3.5mm hole just begging for an input.

In that moment, he made a decision. He put down the mallets, confusing the incubus before ducking into one of the bags he had placed down and reaching in. Digging around for a moment, he pulled out his most recent purchase.

Taking out the TS Audio adaptor, he plugged it into his neck, feeling the familiar pulse of sound shoot through his throat. Unplugging his box speaker, he knew the noise in his throat dimmed to silence. In that moment, he didn't care though. Taking the cord, he walked back over to the marimba. Jack port in his hand, he took the cord and brought it to the corner of the marimba's frame. He plugged the male into the small audio port, letting the spare cord length drop to the floor near him.

He grabbed up the mallets once more, looking to the incubus with a smile. They seemed to ponder his actions before shrugging their shoulders. Leon nodded his head, attention back to the marimba. He ghosted the mallets over the body of wooden scales, remembering a tune that he practiced over and over again.

'This one's for you, Vinny.'

The first note hit and danced through the air.

End Chapter

Wow! What a buildup. There's a lot to come in the future. Next chapter will cover Octavia and Stolas's adventures in the Market, as well as several other events.

I do plan on laying out more of certain character's backstories as well. As a heads up, certain characters in Helluva Boss may have aspects of their backstory changed. I have no idea what may come in the future regarding new episodes, so my plans may not align with what is future canon.

Anyhow, I see you all in the future. Until next time, see ya!