NOTE: The following story and chapter were originally uploaded on Archive of Our Own on the 24th of May in 2021. Back then we didn't know a lot that we know now including how Blitzo adopted Loona. So there will be a few moments in here where the events of the fanfic don't align with canon. Hopefully you guys can excuse that, please don't make a big deal out of it.

I want to start things off with a shout-out to the amazing TalosLives, for letting me adopt their idea. It's thanks to them that I started writing again, go check them out if you like Helluva Boss Fanfics.

Cover Art: Tejedora7 on Twitter


Knock-knock!

"Wakey-wakey, Loonie Tooney! Time to get to work!"

Loona merely let out a loud, tired moan and turned to the other side of the bed, desperately trying to ignore the annoying imp that was her caretaker. She didn't even need to check her phone to know what time it was. 6:05. Way too damn early for any sane creature to be up.

"Come on, sweetie. We can't keep M&M waiting forever."

"Then fuck off without me, Blitz!" Loona exclaimed in anger and annoyance at having her beauty sleep taken by the persistent little asshole. She was in no mood to get out of her bed, just so she could spend half an hour, in a beat-up, rancid, falling-apart van, on their way to her tedious as hell job. The ride itself wouldn't be so bad if Blitzo didn't insist on wasting 20 minutes driving to the other end of the city just to pick up her pain-in-ass coworkers that he not so subtly wanted to have a threesome with. "I'll just catch a cab or something."

Unfortunately for her, that only bought Loona a few seconds of blissful peace before the door flung open, causing her to growl at the sudden burst of light, as her father casually walked into her room, with a light chuckle:

"Nice try, Loonie, but you're not getting out of work that easily. Trust me, I wouldn't hear the end of Moxxie's whining after the last three times this week. And you wouldn't leave your poor old man, at the mercy of that annoying, bitch troll would-"

"URGH!" Loona finally rose from her bed with a very pissed-off groan, knowing that he was not going to stop until she caved in: "Alright, fine! I'm up! Now, get the fuck off my back, da-Blitz." She silently cursed and hoped that he had missed that brief slip up. Judging by his sudden, cheerful smile and look of pure joy on his face, he had not. Loona responded by shoving him to the side, extra roughly than usual, on her way to the shower.

Thankfully, Blitzo had already gotten himself washed and dressed, giving her enough time to freshen up for another tedious day of her job. Same as always for the last-fuck, how long had it been? Three years now?

If someone had told Loona, when she was just four months shy of her 18th Birthday, that bumping into some random imp would've resulted in him adopting the hellhound the very next day AND her becoming the receptionist to some barley-staying-afloat assassination business, she would've asked them what the fuck they were on and where she could get some.

But, alas, this was her current lot in life, whether she liked it or not. Still, she shouldn't complain. Loona had it pretty good, compared to what happened to most hellhounds. They were the lowest class in all of Hell, sometimes even lower than imps, often being relegated to hard labor work with inhumane conditions, trained to become mindless, obedient bodyguards, or at worst, as pets for those with some specific tastes. But since adopting her, Blitzo had seen Loona as nothing less than his daughter. He gave food, a room under her head, even an easy-as-sin job at his business. Not to mention the endless and sometimes unhealthy amount of love she received from him daily. Whether she wanted it or not. Maybe, she should cut him some slack once in a while.

Sure, he was a massively overprotective asshole who would lose his shit the minute Loona tried to talk to a single male person. Her job's pay was shit, her coworkers were annoying, Blitzo wouldn't stop showering her with unwanted attention. And until the spring break job, she wasn't even allowed onto the living world and instead forced to sit behind a dull desk, taking maybe one or two calls a day and being mind-numbingly bored for the rest of the time…

…and like that, Loona had utterly forgotten the point she was trying to make for herself. Whatever.

Loona finished her shower, put on the same outfit she had been wearing these last few years, and after making sure her phone was in her pocket, went to the kitchen to grab a pre-made bacon, egg, and cheese bagel and a can of cheap booze, from the fridge. Blitzo was waiting for her by the door, munching on his bagel, filled with different kinds of cheese, next to an overstuffed, filed to the brim garbage bag.

"All right, Loonie, let me just drop off this shit at the dump, and we'll be all ready to go," he told her merrily while struggling to sling the massive bag over his shoulder.

Thankfully, it wasn't too long a walk to their regular dumpster, only a few meters away from the parking lot, so Loona didn't bother raising much of a complaint about it. She simply passed the time by checking out the latest posts on Voxtagram. That and watching Blitzo using every ounce of strength he had to carry the overloading garbage bag was pretty amusing. "Just gotta…drop this…fat…fucking heavy load off. Can't… miss the…garbage people…again."

Sadly for Loona, the good times didn't last forever, as her concentration shattered when she felt something cold, wet, dirty, and very stinky on her barefoot. Looking away from her phone for a minute, she was pretty fucking disgusted to find that she had stepped on a very used diaper.

"Gah, motherfucker!" she exclaimed in disgust, kicking the filthy garment, sending it flying through the air, eventually landing on the face of an unlucky imp who screamed in horror. She quickly wiped her foot on the ground, mentally shouting out every curse she could think of until she was sure the remaining filth was off her foot. It was only after that Loona noticed that the streets around the dumpsters were dirtier than usual. Sure, being Hell, they were always pretty darn messy, but there was a noticeable amount of garbage on the ground. Torn open trash bags, pizza boxes, junk food wrappers, and half-eaten food, most of which was rotten.

"Typical homeless," Blitzo muttered, rolling his eyes in disgust at the display. "They just sit around, leeching off of our hard-earned money and food, and can't even bother to clean up after themselves. Just a bunch of layabout teenagers. Not counting you, of course, Loonie."

She just rolled her eyes at his quick comment as Blitzo went back to carrying his trash. However, In his struggle to move the heavy load while also keeping it from tearing itself open, Loona realized he was absentmindedly stepping dangerously close to something lying only a few feet away from their usual dumpster. It looked like the squashed-up remains of a dark brown, rotten banana currently lying on the ground, only a few feet away from their usual dumpster. Knowing what was about to happen, Loona opened her phone's camera app, switched to video, and hit record with an excited smirk on her face.

Sure enough, after a few misplaced steps, the distracted Blitzo stepped right onto the fruit on the ground, falling face-first on the rough pavement, his garbage bag finally coming loose, covering him in its content. Loona barely bothered to hide her laugh at his plight. "Oh yeah, that's a keeper." She saved her video.

In a furious roar, Blitzo jumped up on his feet, and in one swift motion, pulled out an uzi from his coat and proceeded to unload the entire magazine onto his torn-up bag, sending bits of garbage and plastic flying across the area. Not satisfied with his work, Blitzo then hurled the empty weapon onto the pile and then kicked it multiple times for good measure.

"When I kick find the kick fucking homeless kick asshole kick who did this kick I'M kick GONNA kick FUCK kick HIS kick FAT kick MANGLED kickTINY DICKED kick CORPSE! kick."

This went on for a whole minute before Blitzo stopped his temper tantrum and finally came to a stop catching his breath. "Are you done? Feel any better about yourself?" Loona casually asked, looking at her guardian and the pile of junk that used to be their garbage, the resulting mess of its destruction drawfing the rest of the litter surrounding it. After a few more seconds of calming down, Blitzo dusted off any lingering trash on his person and finally answered:

"Yep! Alrighty, time to go." And with that, he happily skipped to the van, appearing to have forgotten all about his little massacre.

When the waste collector finally arrived later that day, he took one look at the mess, promptly quit his job, and spent half of his monthly paycheck at the nearby bar.


"WATCH WHERE YOU'RE DRIVING, ASSHOLE!" Blitzo screamed at the blue car that very nearly hit him. Even though he was the one who had sped up during the red light, and while doing so, causing several violent car crashes in his wake.

But Blitzo did even seem to notice, continuing his race down the road, overtaking cars, dodging people on crosswalks, and practically breaking every traffic law in existence.

It was pretty amazing how fast time could fly sometimes. One minute you're speeding down this road, ready to pick up your favorite imp couple, and before you knew it, it was late afternoon, and you're already driving the two of them back home.

Despite his minor incident with the garbage, Blitzo was having a very good day. It had been the most client-heavy day in a while, which meant more fun time killing people and less time listening to another one of Moxxie's boring as hell budget meetings. Stolas for once hadn't bothered him with his usually perverted calls, and with the money made from their escapades on the living world, he had finally earned enough cash (with a bit of "help" from some of Moxxie's paychecks) to buy that beautiful pure golden pony he had been saving up for.

He'd already figured out the perfect name for her. Goldbert.

There's only one thing that could make this perfect day better. A fun father/daughter night out with his precious little Loonie.

And so, with how well the day had been going, he had taken the executive decision to close up a little earlier than usual. He'd just have to drop M&M at home, and he'd have the whole night to himself and his favorite daughter in all of Hell. And the sooner he got there, the better after all.

Once their home came into view, Blitzo slowed down and pulled over to the side, knocking over several garbage cans and nearly running over a cat along the way, and then finally came to a stop, right next to their front door. Satisfied with his parking, Blitzo turned towards his coworkers in the backseats, with a proud smile on his face: "Well, Moxx, I told you I'd get you home in less than five minutes. Now, what do we say?"

The imp didn't give him a response right away. He was a little busy, hanging onto his seat for dear life, slowly breathing in and out, trying to recover from the "bumpy" ride. On the other hand, his wife, Millie, was perfectly calm and even seemed to have enjoyed herself. After a few seconds, he finally managed a very exasperated: "Sir, would it kill you, for once to drive us home, without causing MULTIPLE fatalities and THOUSANDS of souls in damages along the way?!"

Blitzo merely scoffed at this, clearly not happy with the response given: "Wow, really feeling your appreciation for my generosity, Moxx. You know, if you're just going to whine like a little bitch, about me taking time off to drop you home, I don't think I'm going to bother to pick you up anymore."

"I might just take you up on that," Moxxie seethed. The only reason he even agreed to ride with Blitzo was that it was cheaper than taking the bus every day.

"Oh, he doesn't mean that, Blitz," Millie swiftly added, gently rubbing her husband's shoulders, which help him to relax a bit. "You know, we always appreciate you driving us home."

"Well, thank you, Millie. It's nice to know there are some people out there, with a bit of gratitude." Blitzo smiled at the small amount of praise as he watched the two of them exit the van. Moxxie, now in a much better mood, holding his wife's hand as they walked towards their home. Before they could enter, Blitzo opened the window calling out: "I'll see you guys here, same time tomorrow."

After receiving a sign of confirmation from the two of them (a thumbs up from Millie and a tired groan from Moxxie), Bltizo turned to Loona. She was texting on her phone, on the passenger seat, and had somehow remained perfectly undisturbed throughout the ride.

"Well, work's all done, and it's still early out. What'd you say, Loonie-Toonie? How about you and your old man, go hit the town together?" Blitzo asked her, with a beaming smile on his face.

Loona briefly looked up from her phone, with an apathetic look on her face, said an unenthused: "Pass," and went back to her device.

Instantly Blitzo's grin dropped, and his mood soured. That had not been the response he was hoping for. He tried again, putting on a halfhearted smile, "Oh, come one. It's been a while since you and I just hung out together. We'll do whatever you want to do. Just name it."

"Alright, then I want-" As Loona began her request, Blitzo's mood quickly improved, excited to hear what she'd have in mind. "-to go back home and just chill for the rest of the night." She finished, not even looking up from her phone.

By this point, Blitzo was getting desperate, and while he tried to hide it, his happy tone was starting to fade. "Are you sure?" He asked tentatively. "We could go to the Park. Or maybe the boba place. Or maybe go bowling! People still go bowling, right?"

"Just, take me home," she confirmed with a slight growl, clearly annoyed and done with his persistence.

Blitzo picked up on her tone, let out a small sigh, and finally complied with a sad frown: "Okay, let's go home." He drove back to their apartment, though lacking any of the speed he had previously had.

They spent the rest of the ride in silence, the only noise coming from Loona occasionally texting, with neither saying a word to each other. Blitzo desperately wanted to say something, anything to his daughter, but nothing came out.

Things had been a tad awkward between them since the Spring break job. Sure, they had had some small fights before, but that one on the beach, as much as he tried to deny it, Loona's words still stung him. Even after all these months.

Blitzo figured it would just go like their previous little spats. They'd bicker, they'd be mad at each other for a while, and eventually, he would get over it as usual, and the two would move on. But, despite how long it had been, Loona's words still hung over him, sometimes tormenting him in the back of his mind.

He never told her, of course. It wasn't like there was any need for it. The sooner the both of them forgot about it, the sooner they could move on like it never happened. Besides, it wasn't like she needed to know about his pointless worries.

She doesn't need you after all.

She never did.

Woah. Where did that come from?

Blitzo shook that thought out of his head and focused back on the road.

A few minutes later, he pulled over at the parking lot, finally reaching their apartment complex. As he turned off his van, Loona had already unbuckled and was making her way out of the vehicle.

Before she could leave, Blitzo finally mustered a small amount of will to give a small: "Hey."

Blitzo had not expected her to acknowledge him, but she stopped on her way out and turned to him: "Yeah?"

Can we talk? Please?

Blitzo pushed that pesky thought out, struggling to find something else to say. After an awkward pause, he eventually managed to come up with something:

"I was thinking about getting WackDonald's for dinner. You want me to get you anything?"

Loona didn't answer right away, seeming to moll over the offer in her head, finally shrugging cooly: "Sure. Just get me my usual."

Blitzo was ecstatic. Maybe tonight wouldn't be so bad after all! "One double Wacky with extra bacon and no tomatoes coming up!"

He turned on the ignition and pulled the van up in reverse, Loona closing the door behind her and entering their apartment without him. Once out, Blitzo revved up the van and started racing down to the fast-food joint.

Or he would have, had he not noticed something from the corner of his eye. It came from their regular dumpster. Looking carefully, he could make out something inside of it. Someone was going through their things.

A dark, malevolent smile formed on Blitzo's mouth. "Well, well, well. Lookie who came back." Bringing the van to a sudden halt, he kicked open his door and pulled out his signature flintlock. The trash thief seemed to have heard him, as all movement from the dumpster suddenly ceased for a moment. "Alrighty, pal, how about you just show me your butt-ugly face, and I put you out of your misery right where you are. I mean, I was going to pop off your kneecaps off and run you over until you were nothing but a fucking bloody pancake, but luckily for you, I'm in a good mood right now, so I'm giving you to the count of three-"

He never got a chance to finish as an empty glass bottle flew out of the dumpster, heading straight for him. Blitzo had just enough time to dodge the oncoming attack, the bottle shattering as it hit the ground beside him, allowing the supposed thief to climb out of the dumpster and run down the side of the road.

"Oh no, you don't, you little shit!" Blitzo chased after his prey, who was noticeably much more agile than him, running on all fours to increase their speed. He tried to end the hunt right then and there, aiming his flintlock at the intruder and firing. It took five clicks for Blitzo to remember that he had already wasted all his bullets on his last job. At which point, he then settled for tossing the gun at the runner.

Fortunately, the thrown weapon hit its mark, striking them right on their back, causing the thief to lose their footing and briefly tumble to the ground. But that was all the time Blitzo needed to catch up with his prey. Blitzo smiled cruelly as he slowly made his way over to them, pulling out his backup pistol and turning off the safety.

"Please, please don't kill me!"

At the sound of the voice, Blitzo paused, confused. He had heard those words multiple times before. It practically came with his job. That wasn't what caught him off guard. It was the tone of the voice. It was young and childlike. Not what he had expected.

As he came to a stop, Blitzo could finally see what his target was. He hadn't been able to get a good look at them thanks to the poorly lit street and being so focused on running. He had assumed it was just another down on his luck imp. The ones he would laugh at from his window in his spare time.

But instead, he was face-to-face with a young, seven-year-old hellhound girl, with frightened tears in her eyes.

"I-I-I'm sorry. I-I promise I won't ever do it again. I'll find some other place. I'll do whatever you want. Just please, don't hurt me!" The poor girl was hysterical, tears running from her bright purple eyes. Her small form, covered in thin, unwashed clothing and short, ginger-brown fur, save for a small bald spot on her upper right temple, shivered in fear at the sight of him. She looked as if she hadn't had a good home in weeks. She was malnourished, foul-smelling, her person covered in dirt and bruises, and her long dark red mane was very unkempt.

The two of them stared at each other for what felt like an eternity, the hellhound looking pleadingly at her potential executioner, while Blitzo was still reeling from his discovery, having no idea what to do next.

Despite being an assassin, he and his crew had very rarely killed children. The only time that came to mind was the foul-mouthed brat they had brought back to Hell with them. And even Moxxie agreed that he had deserved it. Other than that, there had been little to no hits specifically on children, as far as he could remember. Sure, there had been several on parents and some on families, but hardly ever just children. Which, given their "Kids die for free" offer, was something Blitzo would never complain about.

Still, after all the blood he & his crew had shed and the piles of bodies they had left in their wake, Blitzo figured he would have no problem killing a single hellhound child. And yet, as he kept looking down at the small pup, lying on the ground, begging for her life, he couldn't help but feel sympathy for the poor girl.

It could have been the little bit of love left in his being. Or maybe, it was just that all his pent-up rage had evaporated after staring at the kid for so long. But regardless, Blitzo couldn't bring himself to carry out his planned deed. Instead, he carefully stepped away from her, holstered his pistol, raised his hands, and spoke as friendly as possible.

"Shit…Okay, look. I'm not going to hurt you." Blitzo cringed as soon as the words left his mouth, realizing just how unconvincing he sounded right now. "Okay, I know, I just threatened to kill you a few minutes ago, but that was before you turned out to be just some dumb brat, looking for food, not worth the bullets. So relax, you're safe."

Blitzo knew that didn't sound any better, but it did seem to calm the little hellhound down, as she had stopped the annoying pleading and was now just looking at him in confusion as if considering whether or not to run. Not much of an improvement, but at least now she wasn't causing a scene.

Bending down to eye level, Blitzo gave the girl an inquiry: "So, I'm guessing you're homeless? I mean, it's either that or you're running from your shitty owner."

He didn't get an answer right away, as the hellhound didn't seem to know how to respond. It took Blitzo roughly clearing his throat for her to manage out a hesitant: "N-no. I don't have an owner."

"Alright, you got any home? Some kind of box, street, or abandoned shack you're currently staying at?"

"No."

"And, I don't suppose you got anyone looking for you? Any friends or family?"

The hellhound didn't respond, but she didn't need to. The moment Blitzo had brought up the word "family," she began to crumble, with small tears once again welling up in her eyes, telling him his answer without a word spoken.

Satisfied, Blitzo rose back up to his full height and made an offer to the hellhound: "Okay, kiddo, look, normally I wouldn't give much of a shit about what happens to brats like you, but as I said earlier, I'm in a good mood right now. So how about this? I drop you off at the closest orphanage or foster care place, and we pretend like all of this never happened. Deal?"

Much to Blitzo's surprise, she did not seem to be thrilled about his very generous display of mercy. Instead, she just seemed to grow more confused and on edge, wondering why this strange imp was offering her a ride after threatening to kill her.

"Oh, for fuck's sake…" he groaned in frustration, his patience growing thinner by the second: "I said, I'm not gonna kill you, okay? And I'm not gonna try any pedo shit or some other sick crap like that. Just because it's Hell doesn't mean I don't have standards. I'm just going to get you some help real quick, so we can both move on with our lives. I can get back to enjoying some time with my daughter, and you can go back to…whatever it is you orphans do while you wait to get adopted. Now, are you coming or what?"

Despite Blitzo's rather crude choice of words and frustration, he had done his best to come off as friendly as possible. Something, which for him, was much easier said than done given his line of work. But no, It was starting to become apparent to him that the girl still didn't trust him.

Frustrated, Blitzo decided to throw in the towel. This was obviously a waste of time. She very clearly didn't trust him or want his help, so he may as well just leave the brat to herself. It wasn't like he cared about what happened to her or anything. Kids like her ended up on the street all the time. That wasn't his fault. It was probably best to just leave her be and get back to having dinner with Loona.

The kid would be okay. There had to be someone in Hell that would take pity on her and get her some help. Right?

Aw, who the fuck was he kidding? This was Hell, for crying out loud. The few halfway decent people here were probably too busy wallowing in their self-pity to care about a random street urchin. She was more likely to end up being found by some asshole, looking for a loyal guard dog or some underaged tail. For, however, as long as she'd last, with that frail body of hers's. Of course, that was assuming she didn't die before then-

No! He wasn't going to start feeling bad about some hellhound.

Even if she was such a small, scrawny, practically defenseless Hellhound pup-DAMN IT, NO!

She would be fine. Blitzo made it through his homeless phase fine. Well, he had been twice as old as her at the time. And thanks to his circus days, he had been skilled and flexible enough to get himself through some pretty tough situations. And, of course, his insane amount of will and absolutely flawless plans had helped too.

Blitzo could not say the same for the poor, young, frail, hungry, helpless creature before him, who clearly wouldn't last a month without someone looking out for her. If he hadn't decided to show her some mercy, she would already be dead right now. What if the next one wasn't as merciful? The kid needed someone to-

…Shit. He had already felt bad for her, hadn't he?

Fucking fine. It looked like it was up to Blitzo have to make sure she was safe for the time being. 'Now, how on Satan's name am I going to get her to start trusting me?'

As if to answer his problems, Blitzo was pulled out from his thoughts by a small but quite audible grumble coming from the girl's stomach. The hellpup's guarded demeanor was every slightly shed, embarrassed by the sudden sound she made. Fortunately for Blitzo, it gave him just what he needed.

A small, warm smile formed on his face as Blitzo reached into his coat pocket and pulled something out. The pup feared the worst and instinctively closed her eyes, bracing herself for the worst.

But nothing happened. She didn't feel any pain, nor did she hear any kind of weapon. After a few moments of waiting, she steadily opened her eyes to see what the imp had in his hand.

In Blitzo's outstretched palm was a simple dog treat.

"You want it? You look like you could use some real food for a change. Or at least something not covered in mold and maggots. Don't worry; it's totally safe." To prove his point, he broke off a tiny bit of the top, flipping it into the air and then catching it with his tongue, like a lizard.

To his surprise, the hellhound let out a small laugh at his display. It had only been brief, but it was enough to make him genuinely happy. Loona never laughed at his little trick. She only got annoyed with him. Not that he took it personally, but for some reason, the pup's laugh, as short as it was, warmed his small heart ever slightly.

She still seemed unsure if she should accept his gift, but after a small sniff and a lick of her lips, she carefully reached for the treat and took a small nibble out of the biscuit. And after confirming it was the real deal, she immediately wolfed down the rest. It may have been dry, a bit salty, and did little to alleviate her hunger. But it was the best thing she had had in a long time.

Blitzo waited for the girl to finish her snack, actually quite relieved to see her enjoying it, before speaking again. "Alright, so you feel a little better? You still interested in a lift?"

Thankfully, it seemed to have done the trick, as, after a bit of hesitation, the hellpup carefully rose to her feet and nodded shyly.

"Fucking finally," Blitzo sighed, a bit louder than he had intended, as he picked himself up to his full height, which seemed to help but the girl at ease. Now that he wasn't looming over her anymore, she seemed to be a lot less afraid of the imp. That probably had something to do with the fact that now they were standing next to each other; he wasn't as tall as she first thought, with her head coming up just above Blitzo's pelvis area.

"Alright, let's go. The sooner I drop you off, the sooner I can go back to clogging up my arteries with my sweet little Loonie." With that, Blitzo turned, walking towards his van, pocketing his thrown flintlock while pulling out his latest phone to look up directions on InfernoMaps, the girl slowly following behind him.


"Name's Blitzø, by the way. The O is silent."

They had been driving for around 15 minutes now. The ride had been spent mostly in silence, with the young girl still a bit too nervous to say anything and Blitzo not interested in making conversation with someone he'd probably not see again after dropping her off. But, the drive to the nearest orphanarium, the Lady Carmilla's Home for Children, was still a good 20 minutes away. The imp could only stand the utter silence for so long before he got bored, starting at the road and the directions on his phone. And with no good songs on the radio or any exciting bit of news, he finally figured that he might as well try to chat with the girl while they drove.

"Oh, okay." She gave him a sheepish response, still a bit unsure of what to make of the good samaritan driving her. "My name is Cyra."

"Cute name." The van once again went silent after that, the silence lasting for about two minutes before Blitzo tried to pick things up: "Soooo, how long have you been out on your own?"

"Um…" the girl, Cyra, struggled with the question as she began softly counting with her fingers. She would sometimes lose count and start over, going on for some time before she finally answered: "39 days, I think."

"Huh, that's not half bad," Blitzo praised the girl, actually meaning it. "Strays like you usually don't last long on your own unless you're part of a pack. Good for you, kid."

"Oh…thanks," Cyra accepted the praise bashfully, not expecting it.

"Hey, don't mention it Cyra, you keep those skills in check, and you're going to make it through life no problem. Just like me!" Blitzo pointed to himself in smug arrogance, letting go of the steering wheel and nearly running over a pedestrian before correcting his course. The stunt caused Cyra to scream in panic, while the imp looked inconvenience briefly, before continuing as if nothing had happened: "I spent a whole year or two on the street, till I started working at the shithole that is Loo Loo Land-"

"You work at Loo Loo Land?" The girl was suddenly quite thrilled at the mention of the place, which gave him nothing but unpleasant thoughts. "That's so cool! I've always wanted to go there."

"Hey, I said I WORKED at Loo Loo Land," Blitzo quickly corrected. "I left that cheap, overpriced knock-off, disease-ridden amusement park ages ago. Take it from me; you weren't missing anything. Especially after I burned the place down."

"Oh," Cyra sighed, disappointed, before she finally registered the last part of his sentence, causing her to exclaim in surprise: "WAIT, THAT WAS YOU?!"

Blitzo just shot her a proud, shit-eating grin: "Damn right! And that fucking clown deserved it!" He cackled in delight at his accomplishment, not noticing that Cyra was getting a bit freaked out by his new reveal. "Ah, fuck Loo Loo Land! Worst job I ever had in my life.…except for maybe that pineapple gig. The point is, I used to be a street kid myself. But not anymore! You're looking at the smart, handsome, and super successful CEO of a one-of-a-kind assassination business!"

"Ass…as…in…ation?" the seven-year-old repeated, confused, seemingly not familiar with the term. Blitzo didn't seem to mind. He was even delighted. It was rare that he got to make a big reveal about who he was. And he was going to enjoy her awed reaction.

"That's right, Assassination," Blitzo confirmed to the child as he propped himself up, with a bit of swagger, to seem more mature and important. "It means I get paid by bitter crybabies to kill anyone who may have fucked them over. But, we're not just any assassins. Maybe you've heard of me? Blitzo, the handsome and legendary founder of I.M.P.?"

Blitzo carried himself with pride as he waited for the young girl's awe at the wake of his accomplishment, only for his mood to sour, when he was instead greeted with a loud snort and giggling as Cyra struggling to hold her laughter back. "Did-did you just say you're made of pee?" Her previous nervous shell was starting to crack as she burst into a deep fit of laughter.

Blitzo pouted childishly at her display, his ego haven taken a resounding blow, but mostly just tried to ignore the girl as he went back to driving. Still, though he didn't want to admit it, he was glad to hear more of her laughter. After she had been so quiet and shy during their first meeting, seeing her smile made him feel happy.

Cyra laughed for a good minute before she regained her bearings. Her initial fear of Blitzo had seemed to have finally lessened, and she began to be more at ease sitting next to him. She still wasn't sure if she fully trusted him yet, but the longer she sat next to the imp, the more her fear started to fade away. "So…how much longer until we get there?"

"Shouldn't take too long now," Blitzo answered, taking a quick look at the InfernoMaps app, unknowingly knocking over a streetlamp with his van, which then crashed into a parked car, causing it burst into flames. "Only a few more minutes, and we'll be at this Carmilla's place before you know it." Cyra gasped & flinched at the mention of the name. Her previous terror had returned briefly, though long enough for Blitzo to notice. "Woah, are you okay there, kiddo?"

Cyra did her best to try and hide her fear, putting on a quick and very fake, casual facade: "Yeah, I'm okay. Don't worry about it."

Blitzo saw through her immediately. It was pretty clear she had initially come from there, given her reaction, and by the sound of things, it was not a place where she wanted to return.

"You can't lie worth a shit; you know that?" Cyra shrank at Blitzo's flat tone but didn't respond, other than a small apology.

But that wasn't good enough for the imp. Despite only having met the young hellhound for around half an hour and nearly killing her, a part of Blitzo couldn't help but worry about the girl's safety.

Loona very rarely talked about her any of past to Blitzo. But the few times she told him about her stays at the different orphanages, she hardly ever had good things to say. Neglect. Bullying. Abuse. Subpar living conditions. And sometimes even corruption with the ones in charge. He had hoped that things had gotten better, or at the least, her main orphanage was the exception. But that didn't seem to be the case, given Cyra's dread upon learning about her destination.

Looking back on the road, Blitzo noticed they were approaching a traffic light, right as it was turning yellow. And for once, he didn't slam down on the speeder, racing past the red light, damn the number of car accidents he'd leave in his path. Instead, Blitzo brought the van to a steady halt until it stopped. Once it had stopped moving, he turned to Cyra and pressed on: "Alright, let's cut the bullshit, yeah? It's pretty damn obvious you don't look too excited about finally getting out of the streets. I'm trying to do a nice thing here, which is something I'm not exactly known for, and if it turns out, I spared your life and gave you a free lift, only to find out I dumped you off at some kind of fucked up pedophilia house or something…well, I'd feel pretty shitty about myself."

Cyra was taken aback by the imp's words. She had honestly not expected him to care about what happened to her. Not that Blitzo blamed her after the rough first impression. He gave her time to provide him with an answer, and eventually, her calm exterior faded as she looked at him with fearful eyes, grabbed ahold of his arm, and whimpered: "Please don't take me back there."

Blitzo wasn't surprised that his suspicions were confirmed, but still, he couldn't stop his anger from rising, as his grip on the wheel tightened ever slightly, though not showing it to the young hellhound: "Yeah, figured something was up. Wanna tell me what's going on?"

Cyra immediately did so, her arms shaking as she poured out her experiences to the one person who had ever seemed to care about her: "I hate it there. It's so cold, there's like no space in any of the rooms, and nobody wants to play with me. There aren't even any other hellhounds there! Just imps. All the other kids are afraid of me, or they make fun of me. And, the grown-ups are so mean. They yell at me. Hit me. I don't even get a bed! It's like-like they think I'm an animal or something."

Blitzo didn't interrupt her. Merely letting her keep talking, as he quietly watched and listened, all the while he felt a rage boiling up inside of him, at every word. Not just for her sakes, but his daughter. If this kid had it this rough at such a young, he could only imagine just how much his precious Loonie had gone through over the years. Kids shouldn't go through things like that. It wasn't right.

"Nobody wants to adopt me." By now, small tears were starting to form, as she continued: "They always just pick the other kids.…the directress says, if-if I don't find someone to look after me soon…they'll-"

BEEEP!

"Hey, move it, asshole, it's green! What are you fucking blind or something?!"

Whatever Cyra was about to say died in her throat, thanks to the irritated sinner honking behind them. Blitzo's boiled-up anger had reached its limit, not helped by the bastard who kept on honking. The Imp furiously opened up the car window and poked his head out:

"HOW ABOUT YOU GO FUCK YOURSELF, DIPSHIT?!" Blitzo roared from the window. He opened up the glove compartment, grabbed the closest thing inside, which happened to be a brick, and hurled it through the sinner's windshield and breaking his face.

"Jerk," Blitzo muttered as he resumed driving, unphased by the fact that he had probably just killed the man behind him, much to the contrast of Cyra, who was quite concerned for the unfortunate sinner, despite his attitude.

"Is he going to be okay?"

Blitzo just shrugged casually, utterly nonplussed about the whole thing: "Yeah, give him some time, and he'll be as right as a beautiful piss rain, minus a splitting headache. Trust me; If sinners were that easily killed, we wouldn't have them angel assholes coming down to slaughter us every year. All loving God, my well-toned ass." Blitzo continued to drive for a few more seconds, the mood soured a bit by the reference to the Extermination, before turning back to the hellhound: "So, you were saying?"

"Huh? Oh, right…" Cyra would be a bit embarrassed to admit that during the brief interruption, she had almost forgotten about what the imp was talking about. The moment she did, though, the mood went somber again: "If I don't get adopted soon, they'll-they'll…they'll throw me out!"

"Throw you ou-WAIT WHAT?!" her words didn't quite register with Blitzo at first, but when they did, he was instantly taken aback by them. He pulled over by the side of the road, slammed on the breaks, and turned to Cyra, his attention now squarely on her: "The fuck do you mean they'll throw you? I thought they didn't kick you kids out until you turned 18!"

Cyra's let out a small, miserable whimper as she wrapped her arms around her knees, looking as if she was on the verge of crying. "They used to do that, but…due to the Exterminations, there are so many new kids at the orphanages and not enough parents who want to take care of them. The directress says, there's not enough room or supplies for all of us, and so the older kids have to leave."

"How old?" Blitzo asked, his hold on the steering wheel tightening by the second. If Cyra noticed, she didn't say, and instead just answered his question:

"The imps can stay until they're 15, but hellhounds like me…have to leave when we're 10. The directress says the older hellhounds are less likely to get adopted. So, if I don't get adopted in the next three years, I'll be put in a shelter or thrown back into the streets."

By this point, Blitzo's grip on the wheel was tight enough to be a stranglehold. The more he learned about Cyta's situation, the more disgusted he became. He wanted to believe this was all just some elaborate lie from the kid, but he doubted that was the case. Her dread and sadness were too genuine to have been faked. And with each Extermination, more and more kids were left parentless in the aftermath. It would only be a matter of time before the orphanages would be overstocked with kids, thus forcing many of them onto the streets with no shelter or comfort—only the clothes on their backs and luck.

But that didn't make Blitzo any less furious. How could anyone throw out this helpless little pup? Couldn't they see she needed help? A home and family to take care of the poor thing? How dare they throw this precious child out into a cruel world?! Blitzo would've blown up right then and there, but he forced himself to control him.

"All right, kid. We won't go to this Carmilla's place." Cyra looked at him in surprise and a bit of joy as he canceled his planned destination.

"Really?" She asked him, her tone sounding slightly hopeful at the news.

"Yeah, don't worry. We'll go somewhere else, like.… like-let me just check real quick." Blitzo began searching on the app, looking for any other available options. It was a pain in the ass and a waste of gas money to keep driving, but it would be worth it once the girl was safe.

The police were out. Aside from the fact that most of them were corrupt as sin, they'd likely just send Cyra back to Carmilla's, with little care to the girl's well-being.

Sure, he could try his luck with the other orphanages, but even that was a gamble. Very few of them accepted hellhounds. And the ones that did rarely did so out of the kindness of their heart. Most of the closest ones were some of Loona's previous homes, and he had a feeling they, too, hadn't changed since then.

But it couldn't be that bad, right? Sure, Hellhound adoptions are incredibly rare, but there must surely be someone out there interested in taking Cyra in. After all, he had adopted Loona-

Blitzo had to stop himself. As much as he hated to admit it, Loona had not been what he was initially looking for when he had decided to adopt a child. At the time, he had wanted a small, young little boy or girl. Roughly around Cyra's age. Hell, if the two of them hadn't stumbled into each other three years back, he most likely wouldn't have even considered choosing her. He probably would've just settled for imp kid.

If she couldn't get adopted, even after spending her whole childhood in an orphanage, Cyra's chances didn't look bright.

Which left Blitzo with minimal good options. So far, the only ones that came to mind were to either hope that she ended up in a good orphanage or that she got adopted before she became too long-

And with that, a sudden idea popped in Blitzo's head. It was a stupid, costly, and VERY reckless idea, but it was the best one that came to him at the moment.

It made sense to him. The kid needed a good home and, more importantly, needed a family. A really good one. One that wouldn't treat her like some kind of pet but an actual person. Give her the love she had been denied for so long. She needed-

"Mr. Blitz?"

Blitzo was pulled out of his train of thought by Cyra's shy voice. Turning to the hellhound girl, he saw she had started to look concerned. He had been looking through his phone for minutes now and still didn't have a new destination or plan. And it was beginning to make her realize that there might not be any other good options for her. After a small moment of silence, Cyra asked him with a desperate look. "I'm not going to be thrown out, right? Somebody will adopt me eventually, right?

Blitzo knew the answer to that question. But even though their time together had been brief, he couldn't bring himself to tell Cyra the reality.

"Oh, yeah! Of course!" He lied to her after briefly considering what to tell the poor girl. "People adopt little pups like you all the time nowadays. Heck, I even have a hellhound daughter myself." To prove his case, Blitzo showed Cyra a picture of him & Loona on his phone. Blitzo was making a goofy expression, his face covered in various stickers. And next to him was Loona with a single heart sticker and a dog treat on her nose, looking pretty pissed off. It was enough for Cyra to let out a small giggle at the photo, much to Blitzo's delight. "Trust me, kid, you just gotta be a little patient, and you'll find some new folks to torment in no time."

"Oh, that's-that's good. So maybe, I won't be kicked out after all. Thanks…" Cyra gave him a small smile and fell silent again. It seemed his words helped cheer her up a little, but Blitzo could tell from the sad look in her eyes and the low-spirited tone of her voice, his words didn't entirely convince her. She just seemed content with the tiny bit of hope he had given her. A hope that, with time, could fade be easily replaced with bitterness and sadness.

Almost like another Hellhound he knew.

Blitzo frowned at the thought of poor Cyra stuck in a cramped, horrid building, unloved and ignored, while the other kids got families until she was eventually cast aside, all alone to fend for herself. Without anyone to care for her and having never been needed or loved.

And with that thought, Blitzo's frown turned into a determined scowl.

You know what? Fuck it!

"Hey, kid, are the Hellhound adoption laws still royally fucked up? Like, it's not like with imps or other hellborn children, where you have to wait for a fucking eternity, do a bunch of paperwork, and then sit through all the legal bullshit until it's worked out. You can just throw a few hundred $ouls at them, and they'll just let you take'em in less than a day, right?"

Cyra, seemingly unaware of what was happening, gave him a confused: "…I, I guess. Why?"

Blitzo gave her a small smile: "No reason. Just good to know." And with that, he restarted the engine and raced straight for Lady Carmilla's Home for Children.


Her stomach grumbled for what felt like the 20th time. Loona had tried her best to ignore it, going through her texts, Sinstagram, and watching imp fail compilation videos on VoxTube, but her already low amount of patience was growing thinner by the second. "I knew I should've taken Moxx's leftovers at lunch," she grumbled under her breath. That's what you get for being nice. Putting her current video on pause, she quickly checked the time on her phone.

8:57

It had been two goddamn hours since Blitzo left, and he still hadn't arrived yet. The bastard should've been here an hour and a half ago!

Loona groaned in utter exasperation. Knowing him, he was once again stalking his limp-dicked coworkers, or his royal horniness had called for a quickie. Or he had just stopped for a drink and was currently blackout drunk on some street, covered in cat piss. Knowing Blitzo, any of the above was very likely.

Growing tired of waiting for him, Loona was just about to get up from the couch and get something from the fridge, when low and behold, she heard the distinct sound of Blitzo's van pulling up near their parking space. About fucking time. Soon after, Blitzo came bursting through the door with a stupid, excited smile on his face: "Loonie, I've got great news-"

"Can it, Blitz! I'm fucking starving, and you're late. Now give me my damn burger!"

His excitement dropped as a look of realization crept in. "…oh yeah, that."

Loona caught up before he could continue, her palm going right to her face: "You've got to be fucking kidding me! You forgot, didn't you?!"

Blitzo laughed nervously at the question before doing his best to recompose himself: "Well, actually, it's a bit more complicated than that

"BLITZ!…" Loona growled in annoyed frustration, her patience with him now hanging by a thread.

"…Okay, so I maaaay have forgotten to order from WackDonald's-" Loona would've thrown a fit right there had Blitzo not interrupted her, his previous ecstatic demeanor returning almost instantly: "-but that's okay because I've got something better! Loonie, you know how you've always wanted a little sibling of your own?"

"I've literally never said that in my entire…wait, did you-"

Blitzo cut her off and continued, no longer able to contain his excitement: "Loonie, say hello to the newest member of our family! Your new little sister Cyra!"

And with that, he threw his hands out and gestured to the door. After a few awkward seconds of nothing happening, someone very slowly walked inside—little Cyra with a small backpack over her shoulders and a nervous look on her face.

"…um, hi."