Chapter 38
This is a fanfiction based on Helluva Boss, Hazbin Hotel, and the fanfiction Loona the Caretaker. All OC rights belong to their original creators and owners. The characters of Loona the Caretaker belong to MetalBrony823. Slade OC belongs to Blurey08. Zepar, Bael, Leo, and Francesco belong to Acker. Kyorichi, Fuko, Bloody Mary, and Kely OC belongs to ninjashin11, and the characters of Helluva Boss and Hazbin Hotel belong to VivziePop. I own nothing. This is pure fanfiction, just for fun.
Cody and Loona showed King Purson, Duke Dantalion, and General Braxton what they found. King Purson found it very interesting, while the other two wanted to put the screws to that greedy piece of shit. However, King Purson wanted to be cautious and took everything to Lucifer and the other Goetia Kings.
Cody's dragon, Rocky, was feeling better and needy. So, Cody and Loona went to see him, and the officer, who was an expert on dragons, was there too – his name was Billy.
Cody scratched under Rocky's chin, "There, there . . . did you miss me, buddy?"
Rocky made steady breathing sounds and what almost sounded like a beastly purr with long blinks.
"That's good, he's calm. That's what you want," Billy said.
"How's he holding up? How's his health?" Loona asked with her arms crossed.
"I don't think he's ready to fly, but you should take him for a walk."
Cody looked over his shoulder at him while still petting Rocky, "A walk?"
"Dragons are great flyers, but they like walking more than flying. Walking is a great way to bond with him. All you have to do is talk to him. He may not understand everything you're saying, but hearing your voice and recognizing his existence makes dragons feel like they belong to someone. They need that. That feeling that someone cares," Billy explained.
"You weren't kidding about dragons being emotional creatures," Loona said.
"Nope, it's a real deal. Some have even killed themselves. Like how whales beach themselves, dragons either stop eating or they fly high up and just fall."
"Well, that's sad," Cody said.
"Yeah, it is. So, take him for a walk and talk about anything," Billy said, handing him a chain collar for Rocky, "Even if it's a one-sided conversation, it's good for him."
Cody took the collar and carefully put it on Rocky's neck. He led Rocky out of the barn, and they walked through the meadow fields toward the river. Loona stayed behind to let Cody bond with his dragon.
"You know, a couple of years ago, I was just a normal kid up on the surface in the human world. I'd come home from school, play video games, watch cartoons, and play with my friends. I'd listen to metal and hard rock with my dad. My best friend, Melman Clarkwell, we did everything together. We'd team up on War Thunder, watch Steven Universe and Steven Universe Future, play soccer . . . everything," Cody said as they walked, "We even went trick r' treating together on Halloween . . . and I miss him every day."
Rocky looked at Cody like he could understand him as he slowly blinked and kept his steady and calm breathing.
"I've changed so much since I got here . . . and these powers. I wonder if Melman will even recognize me, and at the same time, I wonder if he'll be safer without me in his life. Sometimes, I think about him and my other friends and wonder if they're thinking of me. I've been gone for so long that I wonder if Melman has put up missing-person posters. Wouldn't that be nice?"
There was a long silence as Cody and Rocky enjoyed the nature around them. Cody thought about everyone in his life. Blitzo, M&M, Shadow, Kimi, Verosika and her crew, Slade.
"What a minute. I just realized Loona and Slade haven't had their official first date since they got back together. Loona's been under a lot of stress lately. She deserves at least one date with her man," Cody said.
He pulled out his phone and video-called both Loona. After a few seconds, she answered.
"Cody? Hey, what's up?" Loona answered.
"Loona, you've been stressed lately, and I realized that you and Slade haven't had your first official first date since you got back together. I know you two have been together before, but still, you both deserve some time together, and since I can summon portals to teleport you anywhere in seconds, long-distance travel is not an issue. Nor is money, so if you guys want to go somewhere expensive or whatever, I'm willing to pay," Cody explained.
"Oh . . . huh, I didn't realize that until now. Yeah, summon portals would help with long distances. Okay, I'm gonna call Slade and get back to you," Loona said.
Loona hung up and then video-called Slade. After a few seconds, he answered.
"Hey, Loona, what's up?" Slade asked.
"Slade, we haven't had our official first date since we got back together. We need to do that, and I miss you . . . a lot. Plus, Cody can summon portals to take us anywhere, so we don't have to worry about travel," Loona stated.
"Oh. That is true. I didn't think of that. Yeah, sure. I'm down for anything, anywhere. What did you have in mind? I'm good with whatever. I just want to be with you. I'd love to see you, Loona," Slade said.
"How about dinner and hotel?"
"That sounds good. I'd rather not go to a bar."
"Me too. I prefer to drink at home anyway. So, how about this Friday at 5 pm? At the Glowing Skull Palace?" Loona asked.
"I got nothing planned. Sure. Wait, isn't the Glowing Skull Palace a bit pricey?" Slade asked.
"It's all good. We're friends with the owner so we can get a discount. If not, I got a very rich son, remember?" Loona reminded.
Slade chuckled, "Yeah, that is true. Okay, I'll see you this Friday."
"Yeah, see you then. Love you, babe," Loona agreed.
"Love you too."
Loona texted Cody that the date was a go and replied with a thumbs-up emoji.
Meanwhile
After Slade hung up, he entered the portal with Kyo, Shadow, and Fuko. This wasn't a kill mission. It was all scouting and gathering info. Thanks to Octavia, they knew twenty-one locations – twelve were in the countryside while the others were in big cities. Kimi, Millie, Moxxie, and a few others went to scout the ones in cities like New York, Washington D.C., London, Moscow, Berlin, Rome, Melbourne, and Mexico City.
The bases in the US, South America, and Australia countryside were like military bases. They had numbers, guns, and armored SUVs and trucks. Inside the bases were their new templar insignia – a cross on top with a black upside-down cross below it, and both in a circle. Their public disguise symbol for the conspiracy nut group was a big circle with three question marks.
They took several photos and took notes of each base. How big each one was, how many there were, what heat they were packing, their security, who was in charge of each base, etc. The others did the same thing for the cities. The ones there were smaller but were more centered around hacking to steal money and information to blackmail people, especially powerful people.
"These guys are not screwing around," Kyo said, taking photos.
"Nope, they're packing heat. What's in those trucks?" Fuko asked.
"Let's find out. We gotta get further into the base," Shadow said.
Kyo helped with his dark magic to get them inside through the walls and to be invisible. However, what they found left them speechless. They found labs with cages everywhere. Inside the cages were both demons and humans.
"What the fuck? What is this?" Shadow asked, slightly shocked.
"They're either torturing people who are impure, or they're experimenting to make weapons," Fuko answered while taking pictures.
"Or both," Slade added.
They took photos and footage of the labs, the cages, the equipment, and the people inside experimenting. It was like a scene from a horror movie or from 'The Secret of NIMH.' A few days later, they returned to I.M.P. headquarters to report on what they found. Blitzo, Millie, Moxxie, Loona, Cody, Slade, Shadow, Kimi, Fuko, Kyo, Octavia, and Fuko's daughter Kimberly were in the meeting room. There was a projector showing all the photos they had taken. The others showed expressions of shock and disgust at the ugly truth.
"Just when I thought I couldn't fucking hate these assholes any more than I do," Blitzo said.
"These . . . savages are really getting on my last nerve," Loona growled.
"Both humans and demons that are deemed 'impure' have been kidnapped and subjugated to torture and genetic experimentation," Kyo explained, flipping from one photo to the next.
"But why?" Octavia asked.
"To turn them into weapons . . . slaves that hunt down their enemies," Fuko answered.
"Oh, Satan," Moxxie uttered.
"Oh, Satan indeed," Kimi said.
Then Cody's eyes widened as he saw one of the photos and noticed one of the humans looked familiar.
"Wait, wait!" Cody called out.
Everyone stopped and turned to him.
"Give me the remote," Cody stated.
Kyo did, and Cody returned to one of the photos that caught his attention. He zoomed in and enhanced the photo of a boy in a cage. He was scared out of his mind. He had black hair and green eyes. Cody felt his heart drop, and a cold chill ran up his spine, making him pale. He slowly panted. Loona and Blitzo's eyes widened as well.
"Oh no . . . Loona, Blitzo, tell me that's not who I think it is," Cody pleaded.
"Oh fuck me," Blitzo said.
"That's Melman Clarkwell, isn't it?" Loona said.
"That's fucking Melman Clarkwell!" Cody exclaimed.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa, who the Hell is Melman Clarkwell?" Slade asked.
"Cody's best friend from school," Loona answered.
Everyone's eyes widened.
"Oh no," Via uttered.
"Those cock sucking motherfuckers," Millie growled with a pissed-off face.
"What are they doing to him? Why him?!" Cody demanded.
"We don't know," Shadow answered.
"You don't know?!"
Loona held her son by the shoulders, "Cody! It's going to be all right. We will save him, but we need to be smart about this. We go about this the wrong way; it could cost Mel and everyone trapped in their lives."
"She's right. These guys aren't messing around. They're connecting with advanced cybersecurity systems. They've managed to stay off the UN's grid pretty well. If something happens, the rest of the bases will know," Moxxie said.
"The minute we bust anyone out, it'll trigger dozens of alarms to all the other bases, and they'll respond. Plus, their places are magic-protected, so you can't summon a portal from inside the cages," Millie added.
"Goddamn it," Cody groaned.
"So, we need to shut down their system. No security system, no alarm, and alerts," Kimberly said.
"Yeah, but that's easier said than done, sweetheart. They got the best there is. No amateur hacker can take them down," Kimi said.
Kimberly thought for a moment, "Hmm . . . I think I know someone who can help."
"Who?" Blitzo asked.
"Ave, she's a digitalist hacker, as in she can literally go into the system like Sombra from Overwatch. What can take hackers hours to get in, she can do it in seconds."
"Hold up!" Slade called out, "We need to plan this. Even if we take down their system and hit one base, the others might scatter and escape worldwide. If that happens, they'll have time to retaliate. We can't let that happen."
"He's right. We need to hit all their bases in a simultaneous strike. Hit them hard and not give them an inch," Fuko said.
"For that, we need more soldiers. Loona, we need to see King Bael and his nephews, Leo and Francesco," Cody said.
Loona nodded, "I agree."
Octavia stood up, "Whoa, whoa, whoa, Francesco? I know him. He's my childhood friend."
"You do?" Kyo asked.
"Yeah, he's the son of Duke Zepar and half-brother of Leo."
"Who are King Bael and Leo and Francesco?" Cody asked.
Stolas stood beside his daughter, "King Bael is a mighty Goetia King. He's as powerful as my father. Every year, they would make it a sport to see how many exorcist angels they could kill. King Bael is also known as 'The Shapeshifter.' He can change his form into anything – items, hats, and even weapons. His sister Anath is a terrifying woman, rigorous and straightforward."
"Wow . . . and his nephews?" Kimberly asked.
"Leo and I grew up together, went to the same academy, and he's Duke Zepar's first son. He's a prodigy at fencing. When it comes to swordsmanship, he has no equal. He's quite powerful as well. He's destined to take his uncle's place in the circle of Goetia Kings. However, despite his self-discipline disposition, he's quite charming," Stolas explained.
"Is it true that he fought against an archangel?" Cody asked.
"He did. He snuck into Heaven to retrieve a spell to bring back someone from the dead. I don't know who it is or which archangel he fought against, but it was a close fight, and everyone thought he was dead."
Octavia cleared her throat and spoke next, "Francesco and I are childhood friends. He's lovely and pretty funny. You'll like him, and he'll definitely like you – he's cool and more chill than his big brother."
"Also, he's my sister Kely's boyfriend," Kyo added.
"Really?" Cody asked, amazed.
"Yep, so as you can imagine, we feel both fortunate and pressured about our love interests. I'm dating a princess, and my sister is dating a dark lord who is heir to be the next Duke of Hell," Kyo explained.
Octavia reached over and held his hand. They both looked at each other and smiled.
Octavia added, "Francesco is Duke Zepar's unplanned son, Leo's half-brother, so that's why there's a bit of an age difference between the two."
"Oh yeah? How big?" Blitzo asked.
"Leo and I are the same age. Francesco's my daughter's age," Stolas answered.
"Wow, that is a gap. That means Duke Zepar is old enough to be Francesco's grandfather," Loona said.
"Yeah, don't bring that up when you see him. He cringes every time that awful fact is brought up. Which, by the way, why are you going to see him?" Octavia asked.
"King Purson and Duke Dantalion want to go after the I.S.N.A., but they can't spare any of their soldiers and knights. King Bael supplies the war effort, but his army is not fighting the frontlines. They were going to ask him to loan his army to fight these a-holes," Loona answered.
"Well, that would certainly help, but they need to know what we learned about them. So, if possible, can you get us included to meet them and show them what we're dealing with? Kyo asked.
"I'm sure it can be arranged," Stolas said.
Cody nodded, "We'll talk to King Purson and the Duke."
Once the meeting was over, Cody took this moment to speak to Kimberly. He didn't know that Loona and some of his friends were outside and could hear everything.
"Hey Kimberly, can I ask you something?" Cody spoke.
"What's up?" Kimberly asked.
"Loona and Slade are going out for a date this Friday. So, I was wondering, since you wanted to know me better, maybe we could do something this Friday. Maybe . . . hang out and stuff."
Cody nervously rubbed the back of his head while sheepishly looking away. A wry smile grew on Kimberly's face as she studied Cody. She got off her chair and sat on the table in front of Cody. He blushed as she playfully caressed his leg with her toe.
"Are you asking me out on a date, Sir Cody?" Kimberly teased.
"I-I uh . . . I guess you could call it a date. I just, you know, want to hang out with you and—"
Kimberly used her tail to brush his cheek and neck. Both her tail and her foot caressing him were making his face even redder.
"And we could get to know each other more. You said you wanted to know me, and I-I want to know you better, and I thought we-we could do that and have fun with . . . you know, the arcades, the movies, Stylist Occults, they got cool taxidermy," Cody said in a nervous tone.
Kimberly enjoyed every second of what she witnessed as she bit her lower lip while smiling and tangled a strand of her hair around her finger.
"So . . . it IS a date then?" Kimberly cooed.
"Yeah, I guess it is then. So, do you want to hang out with me? I understand if you're busy or don't want to, but I was just wondering," Cody replied.
Kimberly leaned forward toward him real close, keeping her smile. Cody gulped as he looked at her looking at him.
"I'd love to, skinny butt: arcade and dinner. Pick me up at 7:30 . . . and Cody," Kimberly said.
"Yes?" Cody looked up.
Kimberly gently held his chin, "You're too cute for words."
She kissed Cody's nose before exiting the room. Cody sat still in the room, feeling his heart beat like a drum. Outside in the hall, Loona turned to Slade with a big smile and sparkling eyes that were even bigger. She and the other ladies squeed with joy. Loona jumped and squeezed Slade a hug with her arms and legs – he smiled as he hugged her back while trying to keep his balance. Octavia did the same thing with Kyo and Millie with Moxxie. Kimberly turned to see them and gave a 'Really? You kidding me?' look. Her stepdad, Fuko, gave a thumbs and a nod.