The Hazbin House

by Unity123

NSL Fic. After what his so called "family" put him through for over eleven years, espacially that day. Lincoln simply wishes for it all to end, but a chance meeting an ancient entity and a princess grants him not only the chance to redeem himself on Earth, but reap vengeance against family, foes, and all of those who carry darkness in their hearts.

5. Chapter 5: Gatherings

Previously on the Hazbin House, a week has passed since Lincoln Loud "died" and Lucifer Morningstar II was born in the penthouse of the Hazbin Hotel, Satanael and the boy have transitioned to their new environments quickly and have swiftly contributed to the Hazbin Hotel staff. After a complete breakfast brough to in no part by Satanael, Lucifer and Angel Dust. Satanael invites the Hazbin staff to the realm of Dharkonis, he and his people's former prison for a "friendly" spar, giving them speical weaponry for the coming trials and promsing that if they manage to strike him, he would grant them access to Earth. After a bit of mind games and shattered limits, Lucifer and Charlie manage to win the battle for their fellow demons, that is until they learn of a certain imp-led business operating in Imp City.

---

Chapter 5: Gatherings

Imp City, Pride Ring, Hell

Early Morning

It's been several days since the night they were hired to kill Phillip "Flip" Phillipini and witnessed the portal their boss Blitzo create a portal that turned into a dark rift under a blood moon that the Immediate Murder Professionals were pulled into. Moxxie and Millie were clearly unsettled by what they saw in that forsaken realm. Loona seemed more unstable than normal, clearly what she endured surfacing her primal nature as a hellhound. Blitzo seems rattled, but is otherwise fine considering their experience.

As the crimson sun rises above their apartment, Moxxie opens his eyes, only to discover by a shapeless creature with gold armor adorned with emeralds staring at him with purple eyes. This causes the husband to scream in terror like a little girl, alerting his wife and grabbing a spear and throwing it at the creature. The spear makes contact yet phases through his head, appearing out of his back and breaking the window, finding a mark in a passerby. The creature seemed unfazed, then quickly disappeared. The imp gives her a disturbed glance, which she gives a nod in return. The two decide to put this behind them and start their shift.

Meanwhile, Loona has begun to stir from her slumber, though she has noticed something heavy laying next to her, and something wet and scaly falling on her fur. What she saw looked like a monstrous hound. It's sickly scales carry bonelike feet, four spiked limbs on his back, two eyeless heads with dreadlocks, no ears and some spikes jutting out of it and five tendrils ending with teeth and green eyes on each one, though one is carrying something while another is tapping something into her phone.

Unlike Moxxie who screamed like a little girl, Loona attacked due to her fight or flight instinct. Turns out the beast is far smarter than it looks, dodging the attack, pinning her down with its limbs and then stabbing something sharp into her forearm. Once it was finished, it removed the object then jumped out the open window, moving across the rooftops to get around quicker.

Blitzo then appears with some breakfast, "Oh, Loonie!" He says in a bit of a sing-song voice. "Breakfast is... ready?" He stops to see the mess in her room and the state of his adopted daughter. He puts the tray on a table and rushes to her. "Loona! What the hell happened?! I swear if that's fucker who you gave you syphilis then I'm gonna." "It wasn't that bastard, Blitzo!" She barks out. "It looked like some kind of hound but all kinds of fucked up. I mean it had two heads but had no eyes and ears, yet it was strong enough to hold me down, and smart enough to inject something into me. It felt like a syringe."

Blitzo looks closely at the incision point and like she said, it matches that of a syringe's needle. Further inspection reveals that there is no physical injury. "Other than the shot, you don't appear to be hurt. Whatever that thing you saw was, it was clearly intended or ordered not to hurt you. It would have torn me into bloody pieces if it wanted to. C'mon, let's get to work, hopefully the others had a shittier start to their day than we did." Loona smirks at the remark. Both parties then make their way to their headquarters in downtown Imp City and quickly get down to business.

Just as Blitzo predicted, Moxxie and Millie arrive bearing a similar tale, mentioning the dark creature watching them sleep and able to phase through the demon's spear like it was thin air. When Loona explains her encounter with the hound. Moxxie shudders a bit with the nature of the creatures that ambushed the hellhound. He then thinks back to the nature of the shadow creature that observed them, then it occurs to him, the creatures that they encountered seemed demonic in nature, but are clearly not from the Pride Ring, or from the other rings as well.

"Sir, the shadow creature that watched us sleep and the one Loona fought don't sound like anything native to the other rings." Moxxie explains to his boss. "Considering the kinds of sinners that we see here in the Pride Ring and the places we go to in the other rings, nothing like what you describes seem to resemble the denizens of those hellborn." Millie seems to have come to the same conclusion as well as her eyes seem to widen in response to the concept. Loona just growls in frustration as she is currently unable to find whatever stuck a needle into her and got away to tell about, even with the grimoire "borrowed" from their benefactor Stolas, it's useless if they don't know what or where it is.

Blitzo seems relatively unimpressed by the nature of the creatures, but seems to notice something quite out of place. "Hey, can one of you bitches tell me who decided to draw garbage all over my nice clean whiteboard?" The others turn to see that someone had indeed been here before them. Whoever was here before clearly has an artist's eye, drawing a big and loving family along with four pets.

Most of the people seem to have their faces crossed out and/or have their bodies corrupted, sparing no expense in the details, he even managed to get all the colors right. The boy has his face circled and relatively untouched. Upon further inspection, the notice that the office has been renovated for the better; state of the art technology and powerful weaponry and firearms locked away. Something most of the group finds nice albeit unsettling.

"That wasn't me Blitzo." Loona tells him. "I know too well that I like messing with people, especially Moxxie." Moxxie gives a "Hey!" in response to that, resenting the statement already. "But, something like this is a little outside of my skillset. And I know that find these kind of mind games a pain in my ass." Moxxie then spots a sealed envelope beneath the drawing, he picks it up as he opens it and reads it aloud. The seal itself shows an emblem that he doesn't recognize.

---

"Dear esteemed members of the Immediate Murder Professionals,

You are hereby invited to discuss a proposition that will benefit us in the new era to come. Blitzo (Silent O), founder, leader and quickshot. Moxxie, tactician and heart of the mercenary group. Mildred of the Wrath Ring, weapons expert and loving wife. And Loona, adopted daughter and primal fury personified.

The two creatures that you have no doubt encountered are part of my people, from a realm far darker than any Hell you have seen thus seen. The syringe that was injected contained a cure for the syphilis that ravaged the hellhound's blood system. I sent someone to find the scumbag who comitted the deed and made sure he could never do such a thing again. He's still "alive" so you can deal with him yourselves at your leisure. Consider this a small token of my favor bringing to us our chosen son. What you see before you are twelve of many new targets, the following details are to be discussed in person.

In the envelope are the coordinates in which the meeting is to take place. We eagerly await your arrival and your hopeful alliance.

Most Sincerely,

Dark Demon God-King Satanael Magne, Overlord of Dharkonis

P.S. Destroy both the letter and envelope upon completion of reading this message. Make sure you are not followed."

---

He ends reading the message with a chill in the air. This "Satanael" character clearly has done more than monitoring the mercenary group since arriving here in Hell, even as to have someone keep watch in their own homes. What's even stranger is the methods employed to them, given his disturbing knowledge of each member. Normally a demon with such weapons would use the opportunity to eliminate them and those close to them. But this man sees potential in them, even as to appear as a client with an axe to grind with so many people, give them the tools necessary to accomplish the task, and provide them with coordinates to his current location.

"Satanael Magne, I've never even heard of this guy before or his homeland." Milllie says, trying to figure out the identity of this so called "Dark Demon God-King". "But if he is telling the truth about himself, then clearly we have no other choice but to hear out what he has to say." She takes some of the weapons placed here, the locks and weapons biologically locked to their unique DNA just in case things turn south. Moxxie uses a lighter to burn the letter and put them in a garbage bin, since taking on that job in Royal Woods, things have turned completely upside down for him. Other realms beyond Heaven and Hell, eldritch horrors, and now a dark god? He swears to himself that he and Millie manage to make this to the other side.

Loona rubs her hand on the site of the injection, still aching from the ambush "So the substance was meant to cure me of my syphilis instead of making it worse or something?" The hellhound thinks to herself, "Normally I don't find such gestures so appealing, but I think I can let this slide just this once." Blitzo looks carefully the crimson sky above, something about it seems darker than normal, yet there seems to be a brighter sensation than it was a week ago. He shakes it off and makes way to the company van with the others, part of him quite earnest about the client and the amount of money for aiding such an entity of such high prestige.

---

Hazbin Hotel, Pentagram City, Pride Ring, Hell

Later

The van makes its stop at the destination given by the coordinates provided by Satanael's letter. They notice that like the I.M.P. Headquarters, the building itself seems to have been renovated and expanded upon greatly. The locomotive on top of the lowest roof has been replaced with a functional power car, the curled train tracks ironed out and made longer, the tracks expanding to the point of the walled borders, ending with a ring like gateway at each end of the property and a train station seemingly placed in the doors behind it.

There is a helipad placed on its left side and the wrecked ship seems to have been near-fully repaired, rotated, and acting a new wing to the hotel. The carousel around the top of the tower seems to be moving, reformatted into a radio tower now, but one of the most prominent changes is the giant eye just below the sign. If looked carefully, one could see that the eye itself appears to be moving, looking for something, or someone. To put in conclusion, it appears it is now a large fortified stronghold than just a simple hotel.

"The Hazbin Hotel? Moxxie, are you sure that you got the coordinates right? Isn't this the place where that shit-happy princess wanted to redeem sinners?" Moxxie rolls his eyes, unamused. "Of course I got it right Loona. But I thought that the building would be in a state of disrepair since the Morningstar family abandoned it, but the renovations here look recent, about at least a week or so ago."

Blitzo raises a surprised eyebrow at the remark. It has only been around that same time period since their last job, perhaps this in relation to the new client that has come to town? The door opens to see a human-like being wearing a bellhop's outfit. He has glowing red eyes and markings on his exposed skin and the nature of his bulky body indicates something inhuman. "Are you the Immediate Murder Professionals?" He speaks bluntly to the group.

His appearnace surprises them as Millie tries to slice him with an axe. He catches the weapon with his right thumb and index finger, not even batting an eye at his attacker. "Are you done?" He says unamusedly as the being pushes her back into Moxxie's arms. He asks again, "Are you or are you not the Immediate Murder Professionals?" Loona starts growling but her imp father stops her from attacking him. "Yeah, were the motherfucking I.M.P." Blitzo retorts harshly. "Are you the Satanael that decided to stalk us like a creep, break into our offiice and send his bitches to spy on us?"

The steward smiles, but shakes his head. "I am so happy to hear that I have the right people, as much as my tone doesn't show it. It is after all my first day on the job. But you must be reffering to my one true lord and master. But as for the 'bastard bitches' that you are mentioning and looking for, I believe that he has recalled them here and are somewhere in the building. So if you have an axe to grind or a target to shoot your all your frustrations away, then by all means; enter. The name's Stewart by the way, and I welcome you all to the All New, All Different Hazbin Hotel."

Stewart steps to the side, opening the door to the hotel's lobby. The hotel's interior is shown to be in a state of restoration, with intricate curtains covering made whole windows, signs no longer warning of asbestos, cleansed tools left organized, and paintings are shown hanging correctly on the walls. However, the overall theme of the building remains ornate and regal, yet now shows a state of modernism and ancient powers with stained glass windows, lavish furniture, and generous usage of gold and other valuable metals. Like the rest of Hell, the hotel still has its red color scheme, but there are other colors hinted with gives it more color and uniqueness.

More beings of similar markings and attire wait in standby and work swiftly and efficently in restoring the hotel's interior and fufilling the many tasks needed to maintain such a rehabalitation facility. Among those they see that don't match their clothing are a moth-like being sharpening her lance with a whetstone, a spider demon looking between his six guns, one of them looking quite different to that of a crossbow than the others.

There is a winged cat demon conversing with one of the stewards at concierge table that also functions as a bar table, given the differential treatment that section is given, clearly annoyed but otherwise happy nonetheless. And finally there is a cycloptic demon currently playing cards with a boy of similar age, and yet his face and grey-blonde hair reminds Blitzo of someone besides his adopted daughter.

The imp decides to act on his instinct and approach the two children. "Um, excuse me but am I interrupting something important here?" He asks them. Nifty gives the newcomer a murderous look, but Lucifer gives her an assuring glance which calms her down. "No. You just managed to catch as we were starting up another round. What do you want to ask us about? Wanna play?" Nifty speaks to him, still cautious but trusting her friend's judgement. "Nothing much really, it's just that your boyfriend here looks quite familiar to me and friends, rings a bell." He flinches at the mentioning of the term of boyfriend, which she chuckles.

He raises an eyebrow with intrigue, "So tell me then, where exactly do I ring your bells?" He asks the imp. Blitzo smirks at the remark. This boy may be young and appaers to be physically weak, but he is smart and clever enough to make up for those factors. He would have made one hell of an ally to the team, too bad the drawing was very specific too whom the target was. He pulls out his flintlock pistol and pushes against his forehead, Lucifer's eyes not flinching. "It's just that a very enigmatic client has called for your death, now I don't how the hell you ended up here and frankly I don't give a fuck as to care why. But orders are orders. It's just that the hair was a dead giveaway for someone so young."

Nifty starts to get up from her chair but Lucifer puts a hand on her shoulder, pushing back to her seat. The cyclops tries to stand up but his grip remains firm. "You think I'm afraid to die, Blitzo? The 'O" is silent right?" Lucifer asks the mercenary, who is surprised of his knowledge of him. "Both Fate and my former house has dealt me a dark hand as of late and if it wasn't for my one true father and the demons of this hotel, my true family, I would have a far more demonic or divine appearance in this realm or something like that, would I not? I can't tell what kind of afterlife I would have lived if I had died that night by her hand."

His wordplay has begun to confuse Blitzo. If the kid wasn't afraid to die, he would have fought him to his last mortal breath, then kill him again when he manifests in Hell. But he does make some form of crazy sense, his physical form appears far too human to be a demon and far too alive despite his slightly pale skin. "So, what? You're gonna call your mommy and daddy to help you?"

Lucifer's hands begin to clench as a gaze of hatred stares down the now unnerved imp. "Help? Help?! They had far too many chances to help me, taking them over me every single damn time!" He shouts at them startling them. Lucifer takes a deep breath and starts again. "And thanks to all of them, they got me sent here. The ones I have now, the real love and devotion given to me, are the family that I should have deserved all that time!" A dark aura glows as he grabs the pistol's barrel and crushes the firearm with his hand, as well as the hand of the one holding said flintlock.

He tries to get away but feels the cold of a blade sharpened on his neck, looking down to see two sickles placed around said neck. The others try to help but they too find themselves in a similar situations; with all the bellhops and the native demons now staring at the mercenaries with hostility in their eyes, some of them even taking on new unfamiliar forms and have their weapons and/or natural defenses placed in fatal spots, waiting for the right signal to make the move.

Lucifer takes another deep breath, calming down. "My apologies, even mentioning that pathetic excuse of a house and those who bear that tainted name can really invoke my rage. Father has been expecting you for a while, as you should know. Until that moment, my roomate will kindly escort you to the conference room."

Blitzo then begins to a very quiet yet sadistic laughter coming from behind him. He turns his head to see a man in black armor with a frilled cape made out of black skin standing behind him, the sickles in his hands ready to carve a new hole in his neck. The golden components show a draconic emblem on his chest as the spiked five pronged crown on his head covers his eyes and nose.

There is also a pack on his back that could easily hold a small goblin or imp but the scariest part to him is his chalk white skin, his mouth full of yellow teeth stuck in a permanent grin. "I heard the clarion call of conflict and I would have been quite the fool not to see what all the fuss is about. Now I see it's just another merc getting ahead of himself at the risk of losing his own. Heheheheh."

The demon makes the sickles vanish and makes a signal to the others. They stand down as the transformed ones revert back to their normal state. "But my better half and my charge here see purpose in your skillset and I just hate to leave a stone unturned. Come along now little assassins, I would hate to leave such a mess of you behind. We just managed get all the bloodstains out this morning."

The two-headed hound and the shadow creature from before appear for a moment as the man leaves the lobby, quickly followed by Lucifer and the others. Blitzo puts his good hand on his neck, looking to his aching one. "First off, what the fuck just happened? Second, that little bastard took my favorite gun!" "I told you guys that beast is one ugly motherfucker." Loona remarks, referring to the creature who injected her with the antiserum for her syphillis and rubbing the injection site.

"The shadow from earlier is here too." Millie adds, notcing something. "This hotel is a considerable distance from our office in Imp City, if there are more of these creatures running around Pentagram City..." "- then it would stand to reason that the same would be said for the whole of the Pride Ring and even beyond." Moxxie concludes for her. "But they seem to be uninterested in conquest, focusing solely on caring for the hotel and whatever sap decides to try and redeem themselves. Sir, I think we should get the Heaven out of here while we still can. You saw how quickly they put us at their mercy. Imagine what would happen if we get too deep in all this shit?"

Blitzo caresses his wounded hand in thought. The last time he recalled getting too deep in something was the time he fucked Stolas for the grimoire I.M.P. uses to get between Earth and Hell. Back then it bloomed into something... strange, but this... "I don't there is a way out of this Moxx. In fact I believe we've been watched by Satanael for over a week since we took that job in Royal Woods. I noticed that we were being shadowed since we left our home and our workplace back in Imp City. Even if we left, his goons would simply track us down and drag us back here anyway, and not neccesarily in one piece."

The imp follows the group followed by the others who are feeling uneasy as the bellhops are still watching them. Lucifer keeping ahead and behind of both groups as they naviagte the halls to the conference room. Once there, they take their seats, the non-bellhop demons sit between each member and the mercs notice that the grinning demon is standing next to both Charlie and Lucifer.

"Welcome esteemed memebers of the Immediate Murder Professionals." He says, his wordplay recognized by Moxxie as the same introduction used in the letter placed in their office. "So you must be wondering why I gathered you all here today. Well it's partly to do with your little jaunts on Earth, granting the many sinners down here the completion of their unfinished buisness."

Blitzo is surprised to know that this sick comedian knows about their jobs on Earth. "Now listen here chuckles. I'll have you know that our jobs are 100% legal here. And if you think you're going to muscle in our shit, then you have another thing coming." He chuckles again, amused by the threat. "Moxxie, could you please calm your woodpecker of a boss down. It's quite difficult to hold a decent conversation when people get so angry, that's why I always greet the day with a smile on my face."

Some of the others chuckle at the use of the word, others laughing their faces off. Alastor tipping his hat to the remark as Moxxie solemnly agrees to this statement, turning to Blitzo "Sir, I think it's best to just listen to what he has to say. Wait, what did you mean when you called him a 'woodpecker'?" "Okay, you may look batshit crazy, but you definetly got a sense of humor. Seriously though, why did you call him a woodpecker to those who don't understand?" Loona asks after getting a good laugh out of it. The grinning demon decides to humor her, "As you wish. I'm sure you what you refer to as 'wood' and you know of a bird called the woodpecker."

He makes a tweeting sound mimicking a woodpecker followed by a fast tapping, "But I hear it was more of a..." followed by a hooting noise made by an owl. Angel makes a snort of laughter with further descrpition completed, which is followed by some of the others. Blitzo turns redder than normal, embarassed not by who he got it from, but his acute awareness of the exact details.

Charlie is a bit confused by this which the black demon whispers to her ear, "An exchange for a grimroire granting access to Earth led to pillow talk and the beginning of a rather... complicated relationship. It's best that you don't know the exact details of the affair." She turns red once she starts thinking about it but shakes her head, snapping out of it. The one in black looks around, checking for something or someone.

Then he gives a small nod to Vaggie, where she locks the door. He then speaks in a more sane tone that is out of character for him. "The second part is that I and my friends wish to thank you for bringing me, *ahem* bringing us the joy of parenthood. Now that we can speak freely without any prying eyes or ears, I believe that proper introductions are in order."

He grabs his visor crown and lifts it up, turning to mist upon removal. Said removal also changes his appearances to something closer to a human, his head shifting to almost a dead ringer for an older version of Lucifer. "My name is Satanael Magne, and I am the one who has called you here for your aid for aiding both my operations, and hers." Satanael gestures to Charlie, surprising both her and the I.M.P..

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, I didn't think that your plan called for mercenaries to help in redeeming sinners. Because I don't think that would be a good influence on your whole thing ya got going on here. No offense, Your Highness." Millie says, trying to wrap her head around the whole thing, which Charlie shrugs in reasoanble response, "I know and none taken. But your former clients may prove to be useful to us. One by one, they came to you because they could not rest while the one responsible for their death and crimes against others still lived. I have my reservations about the execution of such unfinished buisness, but everyone has deals with it their own way."

The mercs are taken back by the remark, but after a bit thinking it makes sense. Satanael continues, "Despite attaing vengeance through proxy, that anger and hate would not go away that easily. Only through proper rehabilitation and guidance can they learn let go of the shackles of their past and truly move on, ergo the true purpose of the Hazbin Hotel." Blitzo soon realizes the reason why they were summoned, "So you want us to send you our clients to you when the job is done, technically making us your middle bitches." Charlie shakes her head, "I wouldn't use that term precisely, you would be more like equal members of our group though maintaining your independence and freedom."

"You will have the necessary freedoms you need in regards to jobs, actions taken, and voices in council." Satanael adds. "Though I do like structure in my organizations, I don't micro-manage. You will also be given the liberties to perform tasks that will aid our operations from time to time with impunity; special gear and weaponry, tactical support, anything you that need within reason. What I left behind for you is merely a sampling of what I can offer your group if you decide to take me up on our proposition. They are all yours to keep of course. The competition can be quite dangerous if left well enough alone to their own devices."

The mercenaries are intrigued by this confidence and the angle of which they to try and gain their aid. He is certainly taking great strides in convincing them, although Moxxie is certain that even something this grand must have a price. "I must admit, Mr. Magne. What you offer us is probably beyond imagining any other demon in our position would take up your proposition in a heartbeat. But most of us here aren't stupid or desperate enough to make a name for ourselves just for kicks. Take away all the aspects of what we gain by joining you and the stuff you already provided to us, what exactly do we gain by agreeing to this. What do you get out of this?"

Satanel raises an eyebrow followed by a smirk. He gives a glance to Lucifer who nods in turn. "You're smarter than you look, good. That means you're not as crazy as the others we've seen, like your father." The imp flinches as the boy says, "What you get out of this is the opportunity to gain reputation among your fellow demons, convincing them to make you the prime candidate for tying up loose ends and stuff like that, keep your buisness afloat. You would also be able to have your pick of training, gear, weapons and potential recruits among our shared ranks. We can even allow you to expand your buisness into the other rings, should you desire it." Blitzo widens his eyes. No more rent issues, free pick of the livestock, cool stuff with no price tag, more buisness in here and the rest of Hell? It sounds perfect.

"What we gain from this besides you sending us clientele that would become sufficent candidates for redemption is that either by quality or quantity, we would gain sufficent influence and interest on the community, in turn giving us more patients to help. You could even come to us for psychiatric help should you need it." Charlie adds to this. "Of course some of us are not expecting those to achieve that mental state in the course of... let's say a week." Satanael finishes, "But at least they could prove more useful in other roles here in Hell if able, Pentagram City, the other rings, life through reincarnation, and if willing, through our own organization. No strings attached and I want to make sure you read the fine print. At least I won't let you leave before you do."

Vaggie and the others are also intrigued by their angle of this bargain. Buisness, aid to more sinners, choice to live life any realm given to them, equal footing in both sides to the deal, influence and hope to the other sinners. Psychiatric package to all members. Vaggie still thinks there is something ulterior behind his generosity but right now it's the best path for the Hazbin Hotel.

Satanael stands up and snaps his fingers, making the table vanish into more of that misty smoke. He walks up to them and extends his hand, "So, I.M.P., do we have a deal?" The mercenaries look at the hand and each other, they turn away to huddle up and whisper to each other. Angel leans in, "What are they saying?" "They are trying to balance out the pros and cons of accepting the deal, clearly not trusting of my behavior like Vaggie is. A good concept to have in context." He whispers back, clearly able to hear them.

Once they finish they with their huddle, they turn to the group and Blitzo annouces their decision.

---

1216 Franklin Ave, Royal Woods, Michigan, USA, North America, Western Hemisphere, Earth

The Corrupted House

Afternoon / After-School Hours

A very wet and terrified Lana Loud is currently running for her life with Hops as she carries a carboard box her with a bag carrying something inside, a great storm now raging above her. And to think the events that transpired had started out in a similar stressful manner to her and amphibious companion, Hops.

At school, Mrs. Johnson informed her students that the last thing they will be doing for their biology course will be dissecting frogs. All of her classmates are intrigued by this, especially the Lincoln duplicate created by Lisa (dubbed "Linclone" by the more competent siblings such as Lana). However, Lana gets word of this activity and strongly objects to it. To show Linclone why it should not dissect frogs, Lana shows it a video she made about how she and her pet frog, Hops, met.

While playing in a lake, Lana enjoyed playing with a frog, but when she began to leave, the frog became depressed. Seeing the frog so depressed, Lana offers to take him home with her (which he agreed to) and later names him Hops. Ever since that day, Lana and Hops became virtually inseparable. The video leaves Linclone in tears (if clones could cry) and, now convinced why it should not dissect frogs, it suggests to Lana that they go on a rescue mission to help the frogs that are soon to be dissected.

Back at school, it is time for lunch, and when the students leave, Mrs. Johnson locks the classroom door. When Lana's lock-picking tactic does not work, she and Linclone resort to climbing through the air vents. After nearly exposing themselves to Principal Huggins, Lincoln and Lana manage to find their way into Mrs. Johnson's classroom, though someone unknown to them did see them but didn't say anything.

However, before they can escape with the frogs, Mrs. Johnson returns, and to her horror, realizes the frogs are gone. When she sees the classroom window wide open, she assumes that the frogs escaped, and runs out the classroom, as she goes to alert Principal Huggins. In actuality, Linclone and Lana hid underneath the desk and used the window as a diversion. With her gone, Linclone and Lana sneak the frogs out of the school.

Linclone and Lana brougt the frogs to a lake and let them out of their cage, but it almost immediately becomes apparent to the siblings that the frogs they just rescued do not know how to survive in the wild. Because of this, and the factor that numerous predators want to eat them, they are forced to make them take shelter at the house. After bringing the frogs to the house, Linclone and Lana head back to school due to lunch break ends. At school, Principal Huggins informs the students that the frogs are missing, and comes to the conclusion that someone sets them free. Because of this, he will be searching for each one of the students' houses after school to see if they are sheltering the frogs.

Linclone and Lana arrive back home, but to their dissatisfaction, all of the frogs are on the loose. To make matters worse, Principal Huggins arrived to inspect the house. As he begins to inspect the house to find the frogs, Linclone and Lana continuously distract him when he gets close to a frog's hiding place. After searching the first floor, Principal Huggins proceeds to search the second floor.

After finding nothing, Principal Huggins concludes that there are no frogs around. However, when he grabs his coat, a bunch of frogs jumps out of it, since Linclone and Lana were using his coat to cover up some frogs. With the big secret out, Lincoln and Lana apologize to the frogs and wish there was a way to show why frogs are cool. Hops then pulls out the video reel Linclone looked at earlier and decides to use that to convince Principal Huggins why the frogs should not be dissected.

Back at the school, Principal Huggins, along with Mrs. Johnson, are left tearing up after seeing the video about Lana and Hops. As a result, Principal Huggins decides not to let the frogs be dissected. However, because of this, nobody knows what to do with the frogs. Linclone suggests making a habitat for the frogs for the classroom, which leaves the students impressed.

As Linclone and Lana head home from school, it is revealed that Linclone (and presumably Lana) ultimately ended up getting a detention for setting the frogs free in the first place—Lana, feeling guilty, apologizes to Linclone for what happened. However, Linclone assures her that it is fine with it since he knows that the frogs are safe. Suddenly, it and Lana pass by Jean Juan's French Mex and noticed the special they are serving: roasted duck enchiladas. Shocked, the duplicate and sister run off carrying several boxes of ducks, leading to another rescue mission yet again, not knowing that a prowler hunting for someone has spotted them.

As they run away from the restaurant, they decided to hide themselves in the old gas station Flip used to own before he mysteriously disappeared. Without the cheapskate to maintain the place, the building has become has quickly decayed over the course of several days, the exterior revealing some of the "quick fixes" that Flip used to try and hold the place together. "This is what happened to Flip's after that cheapskate vanished? It's a miracle that the place hasn't blown up yet." Lincolne says, speaking in the same manner as they enter the ruins with the ducks and see the whole place has been ransacked, leaving the store more barren than normal.

"Okay, little guys. You can fly free now. Go and don't look back." Lana tells the ducks, which understand her flee and bolt into the sky, clearly unsetted by the store's atmosphere. Hops too feels this presence and hides under cap, refusing to come out. A light flickers on by the counter, showing there is a hooded man sitting behind it near a bloodied racoon pelt. "Welcome to Flip's Food & Fuel. Now 100% corruption and vermin free." He says calmly. "I'm afraid that we don't have much to offer you in terms of food or fuel, due to the place not being what it used to be since its founder made his unceremonious and deserving exit," gesturing to the current state of the shop, "Though we do plan to give this a place a proper renovation once everything has been accounted for. How may I be of service to you this fine day?"

Lana becomes a bit uneasy about this new silhouetted vendor, and yet there is something about him that feels familiar in a way Linclone tries to replicate. "A Flipee, good sir?" She asks nervously. The man nods and pulls out a ice cold slushee from behind the counter and hands it to the tomboy. "One Tundra ready to go." He leans a little closer, laying his chest on the pelt to show a black hood covering his face.

"Truth be told, the Flippee was actually co-devloped with another, kinder soul. Rest in peace, thou noble spirit. When Flip decided to walk the path that led him to be to the greedy slob that he was, the ownership rights went to his house, who in turn shared it with yours truly as thanks. Since "Flopee" doesn't exactly sound right, I used Tundra. "Blizzard" was already taken by a similar shop."

Lana is surprised by this information, but doesn't make a big enough scene to be noticed. Who knows which of her sisters might be listening in through Linclone's audio receptors. He makes the drink and gives to her with. She takes a sip of the Tundra and is pleased by the nature of the drink, from the taste, to the texture and the flavor. "Don't forget a extra-long straw for your amphibious friend. I will not harm you like Lola would." He says, causing Lana to raise an eyebrow. He must have known about Lola from her pageants, but how did he know about her dislike of Hops?

A green limb pops out and pulls the straw towards himself. The vendor gives a hidden grin to them as his gaze shifts over to the clone, looking for something nice to eat. "What's with the knock-off?" She spits what she didn't swallow in shock of the question. Fortunately for the stranger, he had an umbrella on him for some reason, blocking most of the substance and garnering the duplicate's attention.

"What did you just say?" Lana says, trying to process the interoggative sentence he uttered. "You know exactly what I said, Lana Loud. Or more precisely, you know of whom I speak of." Linclone makes his way to the counter and tries to defend her, "Pardon me for being rude but how did you come across my sister's name, friend?" Lincolne states neutrally, trying to stay passive with that last word, pointing a finger at him. "Have you been stalking her? Because if so, you need to back off."

The door silently opens to reveal the silhouette of a kid around Lincoln's age make his way inside and lock the front door behind him. The vendor chuckles, shaking his head and moving his index finger aside, "Of course not, my artifical snowball. But I'm not the one stalking you, that's why I had turned on the signal jammer before you entered." Lana raises an eyebrow in intrigue as Lincolne begins to feel uneasy as he put his hand in a rock sign to his ear and moving around the place, not spotting the newcomer slinking into the aisles.

The vendor whispers quietly enough for only Lana to hear. "While the dog vainly calls for his masters. I've been in contact with someone very close to you on a personal level. I won't say who and where, but let's just say he and the people that I work for share your hatred for pointless concepts such as luck and superstitions and I'm also aware that you are not the only one who shares such misgivings. Do you understand what I am implying?" Lana takes a moment to think on his words, then realizes that he and those among him desire justice against Lynn and her paranoid rantings, and in turn those who among her family who had taken her side on the matter. If she helps them in this crusade, perhaps she and her like-minded sisters could earn redemption from their lost brother.

Then her thoughts turn to the identity of the vendor's supposed contact. Could he be referring to... no, that's not possible. Lincoln, despite his tainted corruption of self by Lynn and her sisters' hands is far too pure to act so vengeful towards others, especially towards family and friends. But then again, trauma can certainly change someone for the better or for the worse. "Do you understand what I am trying to imply, Lana Loud?" The vendor speaks again, his tone sounding monstrous as he was losing patience and trying hard not to raise his voice in Linclone's presence.

She takes a deep breath, and nods in agreement. The vendor nods in turn and makes a motion with his right hand. "I'm glad to see that some of you still retain a sense of moral reason in this family. We know of whom you must speak to, and my master will soon make himself known to Royal Woods tonight. Your parents will soon make a surprise visit to Lori at her workplace. That is where you will find us, and Him."

A scream turn Lana's attention away from the vendor to the clone, now held in a headlock by a boy concealed in shadow, the only thing visible is his cracked pale skin on his arms and two red dots wear his head should be. "So this is what replaced the fulcrum in the Loud family? I must say that Lisa must have been getting antsy without her prized test subject." He says in a hostile, dissapointing tone.

"Agh! L-let go of me you jerk!" Lincolne cries out, struggling to escape his assailant's grip, only to be answered by a tighter squeeze. "Silence, pretender. The mortals are talking. The only tounge you should speak is of the binary code." He spits out, pushing him down to his knees. Lana turns to the vendor, but finds no one manning the stand anymore. She turns back to the stuggle, Lisa and Lola both manipulated her into helping create Lincoln's "replacement" in contingency of his possible death and/or defection.

The clone was designed to be multi-purposed in many ways and was more than capable of defending itself and those it was programmed to protect. For this kid to have been able to him pinned like this is most impressive. "You were the one that had been stalking us?" She asks the new stranger. The dots move down then up, indicating a nod of approval. "Ever since you went frog wild on the class dissection. Your infiltration of the school wasn't bad, it could've be better, but you're not my target, at least not today." He responds, something in his voice sounding vaguely familiar to her.

Lana becomes more defensive when he said this. She thought she saw someone looking at her when she and the duplicate left the school, not to metion feeling a sense of dread looming over her and those around her ever since, now she knows where and who that was coming from. What do you want with me?" Linclone asks him, struggling to get his words out. "Do you know the old saying, 'accept no substitutes'?" The pretender's eyes widen, knowing fully well the meaning behind the quote. "You're going to help me deliver a message to your traitorous masters. I don't expect you of all servitors to understand, but they will. So let's just skip the dance and get to the heart of the matter."

He releases his right arm, staightening his fingers in a stabbing motion, and plunges it straight through the clone's chest, clutching his artificial heart in his now bloodied hand after he pulls it out, showing a glowing jagged grin in the darkness. Since Linclone is a techno-organic clone of a normal human, his "blood" has a crimson glow to it that normal home sapiens don't have.

The punctured hole carries both organic and mechanical components. The mechanical components were something Lana was forced to develop, and was created made from a highly durable yet lightweight material Lisa didn't let on to the mechanic. The organic half must come from the scientist ,this could be what she was thinking when she makes that creepy grin.

Lana was taken aghast by this method of execution, but deep down she was beginning to enjoy seeing this impostor squirm like this. "Seeing this tin can's life fade from his eyes, my heart is getting excited just from witnessing it." Lana thinks to herself, "Lana, what are you thinking? This kid just murdered one of your creations in cold blood. So why am I enjoying this?" Linclone, despite getting his heart torn out, is still able to function thanks to his creator.

But that's not what it's thinking. It's mind is racing as to why one of his sisters, one of the people he was programmed to protect, did nothing to stop him from crippling him like this. "Lana, wh-what are d-doing?" It pleads with the animal-lover, its voice going in and out of organic and synthetic vocal pitches, "$t0p h1m! H31p m3! He1p y0ur br0ther!"

"Brother?" Lana bluntly responds to his usage of the word, shocking the artificial lifeform and intriguing the murderer and vendor alike. "Brother?! My brother did everything in his power to help me and our sisters for eleven years! Lincoln had to sacrifice everything to help us achieve our dreams, and what did we give to him in return? Nothing but disdain and spite. We saw him as nothing but a means to an end. A tool to be discarded. A slave. Some of us paid not a single mind to his pain, his suffering, his humilation and indignation. But some of us like me saw him as one of us and we sought to help lighten his burden, and make him feel like he truly belonged and escape our shadow."

The hidden boy narrows his eyes, either out of suspicion or interest of her statement. Linclone is showing the very opposite effect, a expression of terror with touch of betrayal. "What'r3 y0u try1ng t0 say, Lana!" It begs her to explain why she has turned her back on it so brazenly. "For Devil's sake, what she's trying to say is that your very existence offends her, you infernal automaton." The vendor barks out bluntly. "And we believe it is in her best interest that you simply give up on that. Bring it out." He gives a nod to the boy who slinks in to the shadows as if he wasn't even there.

Linclone is confused as he tries to stand back up, "I w0n't a110w any0n3 t0 h rm th053 1 hav3 5w0rn t0 pr0t3ct. My fr13nd5. My f m11y. 1 w1ll pr0t3ct th3m a11 fr0m d3m0n5 1ike y0u!?" The vendor turns his head chuckling, the sound of bone cracking as it moves. "Such determination, if only He had some when it mattered. Ah, well. That's fate I suppose. Now then, to time to change ours." The sense of dread starts to grow heavier as the light bulb above him breaks. A hand covers Lana's mouth to stop him.

"You stole Lincoln's face, wear his skin and clothes, manipulate his friends, and use his memories as your own without our blessings." The vendor's voice echoes across the space, darker and more hostile as the Louds trying to search for the source of the voice, masking cold rage with every word, "If Lincoln's soul was still among us, I would allow you to house his tortured spirit until he could be restored and ressurected."

A new set of footprints could be subtley heard, moving closer to Linclone. "But your life is a perversion of creation and that crimemust be punished. Since your current model's services to the Louds will no be longer required, I'll let you in on a little secret." The clone begins to feel a pair of hands cling to his arms. "When Lincoln was trapped by that unholy cell Lynn called a good luck suit. He had managed to escape from his confines multiple times to try and either prove his worth to his so called "family" time and again, or to carve out his own path all alone."

Lana's eyes open wide, realizing where this is going despite just learning of the information. "To counter this form of rebellion, Lisa and a blackmailed and submissive Lana modified and augmented the costume to function independently when hollow and its sole directive is to hunt down its prisoner and haul him using his own limbs to bring him home." Linclone is hoisted back to his feet and his legs are latched too, the hold growing stronger with each passing second until he is trapped inside.

A spotlight appears in the room, revealing that it was the now withered squirrel suit that was trapping him and the boy from earlier was the one now holding Linclone is gone. "TEST SUBJECT: L-06.01A | LINCOLN ALBERT LOUD = FOUND." It speaks. In a monotone voice. "OBJECTIVE COMPLETE + RETURNING TO BASE. | ERROR. MOTOR FUNCTIONS UNRESPONSIVE. | ATTEMPTING TO REPAIR. ERROR. RESTORATION PROTOCOLS FAILED."

The vendor appears again, now carrying a full bucket. "This springlock suit was not the first of its kind to be made, and yet despite Lisa's efforts, this animatronic still carries its predecessor's flaws." He explains, the voice now calm again, almost eager to see what comes next. "When operating such a suit, one must be careful not to touch or lubricate any of the springlocks and keep them tightly wound. If even one of these requirements are not met, the wearer of the suit has little chance of survival; the springlocks will come loose and the endoskeleton parts will rapidly recoil inwards, thus impaling the suit's user and causing a slow, painful death. These flaws only grow greater as time progresses as the suit is continually exposed to the elements.

Both Lana and the clone grow even more scared of this, "Ever since Lincoln left for the last time seven days ago. The machine has been hunting him for so long, and the recent weather has been rather cruel and unforgiving. I had my friend ambush it using a crank he stole to wind the components back in place, then lured him here." A crank is thrown to him and he catches it. "Now I am no heartless monster, and you aren't exactly wrong about me being a demon. Since you two are technically siblings born from Lisa's twisted mind... I shall grant you both a gift. The last thing that I want you to do to is to tear you apart."

He then empties its bloody contents on to the them, doing exactly what he warned about. As Lana would later describe this to her sisters, "He triggered those spring locks and two things happened: First, all the locks snapped right into it, making deep cuts all over Linclone's body, and a split second later all the animatronic parts they've been holding back, all that sharp steel and hard plastic, will instantly be driven into Linclone's body. It will die, but it will be slow. I still hear its organs punctured, the suit growing wet with that impostor's blood, and both of us knew it's dying for long, long minutes. It tried to scream, but was be unable to. The vocal cords were severed, and Linclone's lungs filled with its own blood until he drowned in it...

The fused machine slumps down on the floor, shaking and sputtering on the ground, the darkness in its eyes fixed on Lana. And then it stops. A moment of silence passes until the vendor moves and picks up the corpse and makes his way to the back door. The boy's arms appears and hands him a cardboard box who in turn gives it to Lana. "Bring this to them, show them that they are not untouchable. Remember our message."

She eventaully arrives at her home and heads inside, the giant handprint splattered on the house's right wall (if you're facing it south) being a dead giveaway for over a week now. The state of the building was just as bad as it was a week ago. The corruption has been growing since its first appearance, in fact it seems to adapt and absorb the serums Lisa makes, growing stronger and more potent with each dosage.

Lana calls out for an emergency sibling meeting, a meeting all of which answer, since Lori is on break at work, she is using FaceTime. When they come together, they soon reveal that all of them, including the parents, have had similar problems. Lori starts them off, clearly annoyed, "I was in class that day where the substitute teacher asked to talk to me after school and after that time, I feel like he has been stalking me all day."

The sisters shake their heads in digust. Pedophiles, am I right? "When the day was over and I came back to the sub, the classroom looked like a bull literaly ran through the place. The teacher laying his head down on his desk and when I checked on him. The word 'PREDATOR' written in red paint. I learned that his waist and legs were completely severed and missing and a big red splotch on the whiteboard."

Some of the sisters clutch the area their intestines are to imagine the pain. Leni was next. "Like when I was at the fashion place, there was this mean woman who kept saying mean things about my fashion designs and choices." She says despondently, "She seemed fixed on me, telling that with my 'broken brain' that I would never be able to achieve my dream of being a fashion designer." A mixture of angered growls echoes throughout the room.

"When I decided to heed some of your advice and head up to her and speak my mind. I found her asleep. The word "VANITY' written on the wall in red paint. When I tried to wake her up but it was no good. Though I do find it strange why she was wearing such dense fabric so tightly around her neck. When I looked around, I saw a man in a black coat give me a nod and leave."

Lana's eyes open wide and looks at the bloodied box again. Lola notices this and asks suspicously, "What's in that box, Lana?" The dirty twin jumps at her response and this spooks Lola too. "Agh! Oh, sorry Lols. It's just that it's been a long day for me." The proper twin gives an uneasy nod and gives her some room. Luna then takes her time, "My band was in a championship finals and faced some wannabe rockstars called the Solar Rams in the finals, whom we all knew would resort to cheating to acheive the victories, but were never proved guilty of said crimes. But when we came to the stage, they never showed up. We heard this loud sharp noise some from their dressing and found and bound and gagged, blood dripping from their ears and the words 'THE FALLEN SUN MAKES WAY FOR THE RISING MOON' flowing upwards from it."

Lisa's eyebrow raises in intrigue of this, gravity usually pulls things down if strong enough. But for it to flow in the opposite direction is unheard of. And that phrase written reminds her of Icarus from a certain story of flying too high. "Well, I was in Drama Club where no one seemed to notice anything off about me and Mr. Coconuts." Luan continues the discussion, a little embarassed.

"I was paired with this nice boy named Benny Stein and things were going great between us." The girls take a moment to squeal in approval of Luan's new intersest. "Mrs. Bernardo asked us to perform a little skit without and I put him with Ms. Appleblossom, Benny's marionette. When we got back, we found her completely destroyed!" Some of the sisters gasp at the severity of this.

"As for Mr. Cocunuts, he was completely untouched, save for the sawdust on his hands and the mirror. There was writing carved on the glass. "WHAT YOU EXPRESS REFLECTS YOUR TRUE SELF. YOU CANNOT HIDE WHO YOU TRULY ARE." Luna gives a glance over to her and Luan's room. Mr. Cocunuts was staring right back at her, a certain glint in its eye. "An interesting theory provided to you fourth eldest sister." Lisa states intrestedly, "They say that certain objects like masks, puppets or a person's reflection acts as way to bring life to certain parts of our self. So maybe there is a darker side of yourself that shows up when you use Mr. Cocunuts." All of them give harsh stares to the comedian, clearly remembering how she acts every April Fool's Day, where she only sheepishly chuckles in response.

Lynn tries to say something but Lucy beats her to the punch, "Compared to your days, mine was surprisingly tame. Much of my day was the same like it was before that day." Lynn gives a glare to her roommate when she mentions Lincoln obscurely. "The only thing off was the fact of a man in a black coat had been shadowing me and my mind has been plagued by dark whispers. The only times I see him is off my line of sight, in reflections, or silhouetted in shadow. The only means he will communicate is by messages 'written in the blood of sinners' as he put it. Lily has told me of similar sights, but mentioned that he only watched from afar. I even spot and hear things every time I need something." Lana goes tense again over the man again, worried about how knowledgable he is of her family, not just the fact that he can slip in and out without Lucy noticing.

Lola takes her turn to say something, "The pageant I was meant to win got cancelled because one of my competitors got murdered, got a whole new kind of 'face job'. Had the title, 'LITTLE MISS DEMON' written on her sash." She appears uneasy, but all sounds annoyed as she makes a peeling motion over her face. Many of the sisters cover their faces in reaction of the concept. With Lisa having finished writing down her notes, she makes her case.

"While all of your statements have been proving interesting. Mine is far more innovative. I was demonstrating a variant of the nanomachine technology I used to clone Lincoln, hoping to use it to help restore lost body parts or restore damage to objects and structures." Lynn was unnerved by this. "Are you crazy Brainiac?! What if they found someone other than that guy made a connection to it and Stincoln?"

Lisa chuckles at this remark. "Don't fret fifth eldest sibling, this variation of the substance is cyan, not red like Linclone's. But somehow, someone was able to take advantage of this. When I used the final version of this on a powerful, influential and crippled professor who was supporting my research, the substance returned his ability to walk, then suddenly reacted violently, almost sentiently against him, taking over his body and creating a new entity, with no remant of the original person remaining." She shows them a picture of what happened to the professor. It shows him being transformed into a being with a cyan body adorned with black and purple plating, a blank face, and a tendril-like tether attached to its back.

"It created a mouth and spoke with its original voice, revealing all of his sins to the scientific community, turning into a scroll and having a hand appear to grab it and vanish." Lisa then shows the being manifesting a spear, spinning it to make a scroll and the hand appearing and vanishing with the scientist. "And that's not everything. I heard that our parental units also had similar experiences. Father had his boss' head cut off by a sawblade hidden in a clock thrown by someone while Mother's patient had her skeletal system grow like heck, teeth first." Luan cups her mouth in her hands since she still has braces. She needs to go there in order to tighten the wires on her braces. She rememebered seeing something like that, but more tame on an old episode of The Simpsons.

Luna begins to notice a rotting scent coming from Lana's box and starts stating the elephant in the room. "Okay, Lans. I can only tolerate something that smelly for so long. What's in the box?" Lana takes a deep breath and gives a strong look to her, then to Leni, Lucy and Lily who nod in agreement, then points down. She explains the events with the frog dissection, something Lisa scoffs at her attempts to deny such research, getting a good smack by Lucy. Then she finishes with what happened more recently, all of them looked as pale as marble.

She then opens said box, revealing half of the clone's heart with a flash drive stuck where its aorta should be. Lynn gets queasy and runs to vomit into the nearest toilet. "Clearly someone has been keeping tabs on all of us, letting no one else but him or be the one that does us in. I know it was surprising to hear of someone strong enough to tear through your creation just like that. Makes Lynn look lazy."

Lynn growls at her like a beast, but she pulls out the heart again and the athelte pukes again. Lisa takes the USB and brings it to her lab. The file brings up a series of pictures taken from inside an unknown facility filled with dozens, if not hundreds of Linclones with corruption strangling every nook and cranny with every head staring into the camera, seemingly wandering around to stop when being seen by the cameras. One of them shows a chamber with empty shackles, now pouring with corruption, with the arms and legs still attached to them and sprouting said sickness.

"Lisa, why are there more than one of those fakes in those pictures?" Luna asks as Lisa gives off one of her creepy grins, but after seeing the anger in some of her sisters, she relents, "Fine. I had a feeling that we may need one or more Linclones in order to help keep our cover story until we get it back. I hallowed out the ground beneath the bunker, linked it to the bunker itself and the basement, and created this facility to house them alongside my more... unethical experiments. What? Don't look at me like that, you all dreamed of having a larger place all to yourself." The sisterhood grumbles in somber approval as she continues.

"I had the brother unit imprisoned here to act as a template for their production and had the original clone placed to act as an auxillary source." Luna and Leni furrow their eyebrows in enraged surpirse at this. "Yet desipte our best attempts to make him see reason and accept his place in the proper order of things, he still manages to escape and interefere with our plans. Considering the state of this corruption, I propse that this is the very source of said sickness. I'll need one of you later on to head in there and investigate this. Other than that, I think we can put an end to this sister meeting." The others agree and head out to do their own thing. Lana gives a look to the ones she gave a glance to and heads down to the basement, none of them noticing the screen beginning to glitch as the clones' optics start to glow red and the right arm in the vat starting to clench its fist.

Down in the basement, Lana begins to whisper them to the group. "I brought you guys here because I purposely left something out. That man in black was there at Flip's too. He told me that we weren't the only ones who share our perspective." Lucy was starteld by this but shakes it off. "They were trying to prove to us the fact that we're not untouchable. He also said that he knew that some of us are doubting the things we've done and are going against what the others are planning. From what I've seen, you four and myself seem to be the ones wishing compromise or something like that. Can you promise me that you agree to what I'm trying to say?" The others look around for someone listening in, then they each nod.

Lana breathes a sigh of relief and says. "Thanks to whatever higher power is out there besides God. The man mentioned that his 'master' will meet us at Gus' tonight. Said something about surprising Lori at her shift." As if on cue, they hear their mother call, "Girls! We're going down to Gus' to support Lori at her job! Get your things and meet us at Vanzilla!" Lucy gives a small smirk with her remark.

"Like reading from a script. Whoever is responisble for this is talented in foresight to an extreme fault." They nod, heading up to their rooms, noticing Lisa has already called in another Linclone, though there is something off about it that can't put a finger on... like there is some kind of glitch in his system, not noticing the fragmentation on the prodigy's computer, forming a jagged smile.

---

Gus' Games and Grub, Royal Woods, Michigan, USA, North America, Western Hemisphere, Earth

Evening

The weather has gotten worse, and as Vanzilla comes to stop at its parking lot, the feeling of being watched has managed to stay with them despite leaving their now corrupted casa. When they get inside, they manage to see their eldest sister waiting for custormers. Lori is currently wearing the restaurant's uniform: a hat, a striped shirt, red shorts white socks & blue shoes. "Guys! What on Earth are you all literally doing here?" She asks surpirsed.

Her father chuckles, repsonding, "Why I wouldn't be a father if didn't surprise my daughter at her job, now wouldn't I?" She laughs at his answer and grabs a dozen menus. "Come right this way, I'll get you all good table." Lori guides them around to a big enough table to for them all to take a seat in. When they all sit down, Linclone notices the friends that his organic predecessor knows and loves; Clyde McBride, Liam Hunnicutt, Rusty Spokes and Zach Gurdle.

Clyde wears circular glasses with thick black rims and blue-tinted lenses. He has freckles and black hair styled into an Afro. Just like Lucy, his hair always has a bright outline (although his is white and Lucy's is blue). He is normally seen wearing black pants, and a yellow-and-blue striped shirt with a white-collar. He wears black tennis shoes with three white stripes, and white laces on each. Liam is as tall as Lincoln and has freckles on his cheeks appeared and disappeared. He has orange hair styled into a bowl cut, and two buck teeth. His regular clothing attire consists of a light and dark green striped t-shirt, brown shorts, white sneakers with green stripes, and white socks with red and blue stripes.

Rusty Spokes has fair skin and curly orange hair. He wears blue baggy pants, a light green T-shirt with a yellow collar and a black ellipse on it, and white shoes. His bicycle helmet is blue with a yellow wing design on the front. He also has buck teeth, and freckles all over his face. Zach is a short kid with wild unkempt red hair, glasses, buck teeth, and freckles on his cheeks. He wears a white and blue striped polo shirt, blue jeans, and white sneakers. The quintet greets each other and perform some clever hand shakes. They head down to their usual table, however they didn't expect the food they usually order to be already out, nor did they expect someone else waiting for them.

The boy's attire appears similar to that of a school uniform, though he replaced the turtleneck with a black shirt with a zero on the front with "FIGHT" written on it. His jacket is left open and he wears red gloves and high-tops with black laces. A red rag is also found hanging out from his right pants pocket. Around his neck are black and red headphones. One key distinction is that he is wearing a black birdlike mask with white designs around the eyes reminiscent of full eyeliner and sharp lashes. It extends across the entire face, a jagged maw filled detailed fangs inscribed below the eyes.

"Um, excuse me sir?" Clyde nicely asks the masked child, "Do you think we you could move to a different table? We kinda have a thing with this one. He point to a picture of the five of them together having fun and eating pizza." The boy is unmoved by this, though he gesutres to the rest of the table for them to take a seat.

The group looks to each and decides to humor him and take a seat. But before Linclone can take a seat, the boy raises his hand at him, pointing to a spare chair. The faker shurgs at this and grabs the table. They look at the pizza, then the boy's mask who grabs a slice to eat it as the mask's mouth moving as he speaks, allowing him to consume and speak without mistranslation.

The boys' sweat drop at this and simply eat without asking any questions. Eventually they run out of sustenace and Liam decides to state the masked elephant in the table. "So, friend?" Liam asks the newcomer, "I don't think I've seen you around these parts before. Have you just moved in with your fam? Or have you just been living out of town?"

The boy doesn't move to answer, his gaze fixed on something else, someone else, but he does give him an odd answer. "We have all already met before Liam. But you haven't met this me." Zach twiddles his thumbs, already uneasy of his presence. "I have lived in this town all my life for more than a decade, at least until some... personal matters with family forced me to move in with my true home. Buisness was what returned to me this once hallowed land."

The boy points at Linclone, "You however, I have not seen you before. Sure the others can't see through what you truly are, but you can't hide anything from me... from us. And that would be them now." The main doors open, revealing a new group of five people entering. The first is a woman of long, blonde hair, with lighter blonde and pink highlights, which is tied into a twice-banded low ponytail. Her blonde bangs flip to her left with a curl. Her lips are black and has rosy cheeks, thick black eyelashes, both top and bottom and carried a noble form of behavior. She wears a knitted cream-colored sweater with a knee-length orange skirt and black ankle boots.

The third is a young woman with long black hair running over her left eye, blue eyes, and wears something akin to a school uniform but with a dark gray tatter shirt with stitches and black splatter pattern design, thigh high stockings attached to her skirt by garters on the front and maroon high-top sneaker boots. She also wears a red scarf around her left arm that matches her gloves and a chain attached to her black belt.

The fourth one is a child, with red hair, blue eyes, a pink turtleneck cardigan with short puffed sleeves and a long-sleeved white shirt underneath. The cardigan is zipped open up to her navel and has two large pockets on the front. She wears the standard black and red tartan skirt, white tights with a black flower pattern and black Mary Jane shoes. the fifth is also a young adult, male with a feminine side. He has white hair with pink highlights and he wears a red vest and white collar shirt, both under a brown coat with black buttons, and blue pants while retaining his gloves and loafers.

The final one is male like the fourth, but has an air of authority about him. He has a more modern and steampunk-inspired design. It is dressed in a vivid red jacket with golden trims, a white shirt paired with black-tie underneath and topped with a red fedora. Its most apparent distinctions are the mechanical wings made of leather and metal pattered on the jacket, with a shape akin to the wings of bats emblazeoned on it.

He wears a black belt with a gold buckle, dark pants and thigh-high boots that are decorated with gold studs on the sides of its thighs. It wears white, fingerless gloves with gold-tipped claws at the end of its fingers. It is also equipped with long, bladed heels much like the child. Similarly, it has a demonic mask with red eyes and holds a cigarette in its jagged mouth resembling sharp teeth or fangs, before properly disposing of it. Remeber kids, don't do smoking.

He and the others a take a seat at an empty table before another family comes inside. The fist is a tall and slim woman, with dark tan skin, black hair tied up in a tight bun, two pairs of eyelashes and casual attire consists of a pink sweater, dark purple pants and red flats.

The second is tall as Lori. He has tan skin, black hair with a tuft combed upwards, and some facial hair on his chin. He wears blue jeans, brown shoes with multiple white stripes, a black belt with a gold buckle, and a cream-colored T-shirt under a green unbuttoned shirt. The third is a Mexican-American girl with tan skin, black hair worn in a low ponytail, freckles on her cheeks, and two buck teeth that stick out of her mouth. She wears a dark purple hooded jacket, dark blue jean shorts, a white tank top, and dark purple flats with light pink socks worn high.

Like the previous family, they too take a table and sit next to the former. Linclone recognizes Ronnie Anne and tries to head and greet her, but his knees somehow refuse to budge. "I see that my family has arrived," The boy says, "I guess it's time to make some new friends out of the old." He sinks under the table and reappears behind an arcade machine. "Wow. And I thought Lucy was creepy." Rusty remarks. "I heard that!" Lucy's voice is heard from beneath the table.

Lori spots the boy and says "Boo-Boo Bear! You came!" Bobby smiles, "What kind of boyfriend would I be if didn't, Babe?" He scratches his head, "Plus, you made it very clear in your texts." The girl makes a gagging motion and turns back to her menu. Lori leaves them and attends the newcomers. "Hello, and welcome to Gus' Games and Grub. My name is Lori, may I take your order?" Their response is silence, none gaze at her, but there is a strong sense of animosity towards her. Finally the man responds, "Perhaps you would do well do to take the order of your 'beloved's' family first?" He inquires. "We will give our order to someone else, someone who puts her family and friends before herself."

Lori is insulted by this, but knows she can't talk back to them lest she get in trouble with Gus. She signals the attention of another waitress and she goes to back to the Santiagos to take their order. The newcomers eventually get their food and start to chat with each other. The first woman pulls out a mirror and looks at herself. "Wow, you weren't kidding about these disguises, Satanael." Charlie remarks, pulling out a pocket mirror. "It's like looking in a mirror." Satanael puts a finger over his mouth. "Your thanks are always appreciated, Charlie." He whispers, "But remember that I don't go by that name in public. Too many eyes and ears to see and hear the wrong idea. Savvy?"

Nifty keeps blinking and looking around. "Agreed. Man, how do people go about their lives with only two eyes instead of one? I bet all the boys here would just go crazy for such a kink." Angel grins as well. "So would all the ladies too." Vaggie knocks them both on their heads. "What part of conspicious do you two not understand?" She looks at her human hands. "To think I would come back to Earth after all this time as a human. Thought it was just a crazy sinner's dream."

Satanael nods. "And yet here you stand in the Kingdom of Man, returned to the semblance of a mortal form. Plus, you'd be surprised what kind of sick freaks up here would find the single-eyed thing kinky." He and Nifty look at the camera, the former giving a disappointed expression with Nifty's smile grows wider. He turns back to them. "But think of it like this. Now that you're back, you can show Charlie the wonders you experienced back when you in this part of Creation. I'll be sure to give you two your space when you two need it." Charlie and Vaggie glance at each and blush. The masked boy from earlier comes up to them. "Oh, Lucifer. How are you feeling being back in home? I can only guess that it's weird." Charlie asks him.

He takes a moment to answer and nods, waving his hand from side to side. "Bittersweet, but refreshing nonetheless. I feel like there is a huge weight lifted off of me. Perhaps it was my responsibility to the family weighing me down or perhaps it was my true self simply trying to claw its way out of the floorboards." Lucifer squeezes his hands, remembering what, and who it punched through. "Destroying that doppelganger felt so liberating. I hope I get to do it again." Charlie frowns as some of them nod.

Satanael rubs his hair and stares at him. "Well we're all happy to relieve you of said weight, but do try to curb that bloodlust. I don't want you to go full-psycho on those betrayers, not yet anyway. We're here to acquire information, reveal truths, not solidify preconceptions. If we know Lisa, she'll probably have made a collection of copycats for you to vent your frustrations. Remember, it's not murder if its robots." Lucifer smiles under the mask and walks off. Attracting a pair of eyes who follows him.

As for the Louds, they have been unaware of the new arrivals, more focused on their dinner until Lori comes by, having just finished her shift. She sits down and says. "Never thought a customer would refuse to give someone an order, preferring someone else over me. Me! Thinks I put myself over my own family with a just a glance." The sisters all give looks to each other and back to her. "Then that guy must have a pretty good pair of peepers to see that. Hahaha! Get it?" Luan jokes, getting a laugh from only her father, before she feels something punch her in the gut. "Ow! Who did that?" The comedian asks, getting a series of shaking heads in return.

"Really? No one? It's like someone literally hit me for saying such a great joke." She theorizes, making some of her sisters roll their eyes, "But seriously, do you get the feeling that someone has been giving you the evil eye?" They all soon remember feeling the sensation of something crawling on their backs a moment ago and they all shudder. "Well, I'm pretty sure that he just had a bad day is all." Lynn Sr. concludes, "Perhaps having some new friends could help brighten his day. Where did you meet him, Lori?" Lori points to where the newcomers sit.

"They're right over there, next to the Santiagos. But I don't think that's a good idea." Lori warns. "There's something about him that just rubs me wrong way. If looks could kill... And that masked man over there." She shudders at the thought. Lucy looks to where the newcomers are and finds Satanael missing, an outline flashing in his seat. She feels a tapping on her shoulder and turns to see the masked man in question, scaring them all, including Lucy. "Hahaha. The old sneaking up and scaring them shitless trick." Satanael chuckles, "Always funny."

The Louds immediately feel a sense of unease from Satanael, just as the eldest daughter said. Lynn Sr. stands up and extends his hand to him. "Well, I can certainly appreciate someone who has a fine sense of humor like me and my daughter Luan does. My name's Lynn Loud Sr., and we welcome you all to Royal Woods." He expected him to shake his hand, but he doesn't, somehow insulted by the gesture. "C'mon, there's no need to be shy now. You grab my hand with yours and we shake." He reaches out for the newcomer's right hand but is grabbed by his left, "I know how to shake hands, coward." He venomously spits out, turning to Luan. "Plus I've seen and heard your little song and dance. It's sounds a cat being strangled by a another cat, who's also being strangled, underwater."

Some of the girls snickers at this as Rita tries to stop this, but a look from both the man and her husband stops her. "From where I come from, if you desire someone's respect and friendship. It. Must. Be. Earned. And after what you have all done, or rather haven't done. You will never recieve our friendship. I can see why Lance was more favored by your father than you ever were." He lets go of his arm and recompses himself. "My apologies, muscle memory and all that. Allow me to make proper introductions. My name is Raoul Lupin Magne the First." He turns and motions for the demons to make similar cases.

Charlie makes a courteous bow, "Hello, my name is Charlie, I see you have already one of my closest friends, Raoul." This is my other close friend..." she pauses to find a name, "Vanessa." Vaggie shurgs, accepting the name, but showing disgust toward the humans, scoffing. "Sup. Name's Anton. And before you ask. Yes, I am a dude. No, I didn't start out as a woman." He gives a seductive grin, "And yes, I am on the market." Satanael punches him in the back of his head. "Please pardon my friend's... attempts." He gives a harsh glare at Angel, "He has had a very difficult, and very wrong, grasp on the concept of romance. We have been pressing him, hard, on setting him back on track."

The Louds and those listening all get a sweat drop at this notion. Lola notices Nifty hiding behind the others and tries to apporach. "And who's your little friend, someone who appreciates pink like I do? My name is Lola. Royal Woods' best beauty pageant queen." She extends her hand, but she swipes at it, hissing at her in hostility. "Please forgive young Nicole for her outburst. She was blessed with an impeccable judge of character and always finds a way of cutting through... what's the right word to say without swearing?" "BS?" Angel suggets, much to the Loud parents' shock.

Satanel snaps his finger and points at him. "That. And now that I think about it, I think all of us here would find the concept of lying and deception to be rather pointless and inhumane. Much like accusing a family member of being bad luck, all for wanting time to themselves." The concept he uses makes their blood run cold. He knows about that day. Could they have been at that game that day, heard the right rumors? Rita turns to Charlie, making her introductions "My name's Rita, Lynn Sr.'s husband and loving mother of all my children."

Charlie's expression quickly sours, seemingly disappointed of her. She turns back to her table, "If you were a loving mother, He would still be here, and we would not have met each other." Rita tries to follow her but Vaggie and Satanael bar her way, shaking their heads. "She's had a bad day too." Vaggie explains, "Lot of change in the design of her dreams." Luna and the good sisters nod in agreement of this.

"So..." Luna tries to break the ice, "Is there anyone else with you?" Satanael shakes his head, responding. "There are two others in our little group that would have loved to be here. Unfortunately, Hunter and Alan are busy setting things up on their ends and I didn't want to take time away from their work. Our son is here too, somewhere. You'll know when you see him." He taps his mask. "And no. I don't want to talk about the mask. I can say that all it took to ruin our faces was One. Bad. Day. One simple choice gone irreparably wrong."

Satanael seneses something, grabbing his attention as he moves in the direction of the source. "Interesting." He mutters loudly enough for Vaggie to hear, "Keep the boy in your and friends' sights and away from them. They cannot see what lies behind his mask before the closing act." He leaves them and Vaggie goes off where Lucifer went, leaving the Louds to their thoughts. "Ah, what does he know?" Lynn Sr. grumbles "Dad knew that I was the better son then that meat-head."

Rita shakes her head, clearly stewing over the same thing as her husband. "He would still be here?" She stews, "I am a loving mother of all my children. We could have met and become friends even if that wasn't the case. Why don't you find your friends and the Magnes? See if you can learn anything about the new family." The sisterhood leaves them to grumble with their own thoughts.

Speaking of the son, Lucifer stands before the Dance Battle machine, his eyes filled with rememberance. The last time he played coop here was after his former sisters, still thinking that he and the Santiago girl were meant to be, believied that Ronnie Anne never asked him out to the Sadie Hawkins dance, something Lori called "the most important dance in a girl's life". Four of them set him up with their friends, who in turn spent time with Lincoln's friends; Luna with Tabby and Liam, Luan with Giggles and Zach, Lynn Jr. with Margo and Rusty and Lucy with Haiku and Clyde. He and Ronnie Anne reached an understanding and went here for the 2-for-1 special they had at the time.

The screen changes to the leaderboards, which show both his former self and former bully still keeping the high score. He glances down to see Lincolne's name at the bottom. Those defilers must have been trying to keep that little dream of theirs on life support by setting her up with his doppelganger, from a quick glance to his right, where said faker is currently trying and failing to have a chat with Ronnie Anne. The robot takes a step forward, she takes two steps back, clearly not liking the direction of the conversation.

"Is there a problem, Ronnie Anne?" Lucifer walks up to them. Ronnie Anne gets spooked by the mask and tries to punch him, but he blocks it with his palm. "Hm, good form. Certainly better than last time we met," He compliments her. She raises her eyebrow, confused by the wordplay. "It's okay, whenever I see someone in a mask, first thought is to punch it in said face. Thanks."

Lucifer nods, giving a look to the Lincolne. Just as he suspected, the look in his eyes is fresh, compared to the blank ones from hours ago. "Father mentioned that Lisa backed up Linclone Prime's memory before first retreiving it from my prison and then transfered said data to a new body after it was destroyed. This 'Sub-Prime' and whatever relevant info it kept must be what's making this Linclone tick." He thinks, before getting a dark idea, "Lincoln kills Lincoln kills Lincoln kills Lincoln kills creator. Now, how to begin?"

"It's fine, Ronnie Anne. I just have one of those faces." He apologizes, "I'd rather shake the pillars of Heaven myself. If you thought my mask was scary, you should see what lies beneath it. I'll give you a hint, it's not easy on the eyes." Ronnie Anne gives a once-over Lucifer's attire, Nifty slowly creeping over with a jealous look in her eye(s). Compared to the yonung Santiago girl's friend, this one has a better sense of style than the Loud boy could think up, yet the look in his eyes feels so familiar, despite it being a different color. "Certainly a looker this guy," She muses, "Those eyes. When have I seen that look before? Certainly not from Lincoln as of late."

Linclone decides to speak up tensely "Do you mind? Ronnie Anne and I are trying to have a private conversation." He places a hand between her and the clone, "And since when does a private conversation involve the violation of a woman's personal space?" He turns to Ronnie Anne, "Let me hazard a guess, he wanted to take 'the next step' with you. Something you didn't want and certainly not in character for him. Besides, since when has this Lame-O ever been the romantic type?" He encroaches the impostor.

Ronnie Anne thinks, "He's right, Lincoln never pushed the envelope on romance, he didn't want us to go through the same dynamic Bobby and Lori have. And his recent behavor certainly is definetly out of place. What did he mean by this Lame-O?" She manages to put enough of the pieces together to get the truth. The Lincoln that she sees before him is but a faker. But if he's isn't the real Lincoln, then where is he now?

"You think that just because you stole his name, his face, his voice, his memories, his legacy and none of that which makes him human, gives you the right to be him?" Lucifer growls, clearly offended by his shrinking presence, attracting the attention of the two families and the other customers. "Every word you spout and every action you take is nothing but an insult to that young man!" Lynn Jr. tries to bar his way, "That's my brother you're talking to! Unless you want to leave here with an even more broken face, then start showing us some respect!" She throws a punch at him, but he instead cataches her wrist, slowly squeezing it and twisting it, causing her pain.

"Respect?" Lucifer spits out, "Respect?! You're the last person among the last family in this town that deserves any goddamn respect; the most obssessed, paranoid and supersitious brat this side of Royal Woods. The bane of athletes everywhere. Besides, why are you defending a mechanical actor? Didn't you brand him bad luck at your last baseball game? You know, the one where you threatened to beat him with a metal baseball bat if he didn't come along?" Lynn's eyes go wide as the grip tightens, forcing her to her knees. The rest of the Louds are silenced and the animosity of the Magne family prevents them from doing anything to cause an even greater scene.

"I was there you know. That last game. I don't even need to be as smart as 'Little Miss Wig' over there to know the odds were never in your favor that day." He says, causing Lisa to clutch her hair. "Your superstitions had put every last one of your teammates in a grave disadvantage;" He counts them off, "...refusing yourself or your teammates to use the bathroom before playing a game, knowing fully well that holding that much shit together can do more than give you serious indigestion, not hitting the first baseball getting you bad luck for the entire season, the constantly ridiculous good luck rituals, and now with your new, unbreaking losing streak. Karma must have finally come to collect the debt you and family owe, you sore loser. And don't get me started on how rigged the games were to begin with before today."

Lynn's neck begins to thob with veins, and the grip tightens further, preventing her from acting against her hidden brother. "Rigged games? Sore loser?! You dare call me a loser?!" She yells out, "I'm the greatest athlete in all of Royal Woods!" Lucifer calmly shakes his head, "Tsk, tsk, tsk. Denial only proves your weakness, oh betrayer mine. Even after all this time, you and your like-minded sisters still spout nothing but hollow words and empty promises. There are more than enough athletes in this town alone who are better than you, and don't even bother to act or think as you do. And whatever He knows, we know as well. Such as the fact that you lost to Lily, a 15-month old baby, in a thumb war and was beaten by your elder sister with a breadstick. " Lori whistles innocently while Lily gives a smug look on at Lynn.

"We all know very well where to start when it comes to your immiturity, underhanded methods, packing day bloodlust, your pride and jealousy. And that's just to begin with." Raoul adds, "Everyone in this resturant, including the rest of you, all have their own plethora of sins. All save for Lincoln, who has already atoned for each and every one after being pushed so far to do so by you and the others." He points at the Santiagos, "Take the Santiagos for example. Once you got the idea that Lincoln's bully at the time was a girl, you immediately thought she had a crush on Lincoln and was trying to get his attention, not this..."

He waves his empty hand, which catches Linclone's fist, performing the same twist and squeeze as his son "charlatan. Since then, you've been trying to get the two of them together despite resistance from both parties. Lori even threatened to crush him with a coffee table if he didn't go to a double date with her to apologize to his 'girlfriend' all so you can preserve your own relationship with her elder brother after he mistakenly insulted her." He pretends to swoon, caught by Anton and both giving a knowing glare to Bobby who looks away in shame with his sister, who doesn't dare show her embarassed face in that moment. Maria gives a rather dissapointed look towards Lori and her parents.

"Look, Egghead McDuckfart." He says to an offended Lori, "I know a thing or two about bad and toxic relationships back from where I'm from. But despite him overreacting back there." He points a thumb at Bobby, earning a glare from his mother, "That doesn't gives you or your family any right to say what he should and shouldn't date. What he can and can't say, think or do without your express permission. That. Isn't. right." With each word spoken by them, confused and skeptical looks begin to fall upon the Louds. The accused do their best not to give anything away as the two move their engagers over to their parents.

Raoul walks to them in stride, apparently beginning to perform as the machines and glitch with gold and red symbols and imagery, causing music to be heard. The lights go out save for those on the cabinets.

So many questions,
But there's only one to be answered

He slinks behind an arcade marchine popping up behind the Magnes and later the clouds.

Who are we, who are we?
To chase what we were after.

The masked man appears in betweem them, hand to his head in thought, then shrugs and shakes his head.

I thought that I knew,
Guess I was misconstrued.

An orange three-dimensional hologram of Lincoln emerges from the ground like a zombie.

Starvation from success,
I rose above the ashes.

The machines show images of Lucifer's past with the Louds. His attempts to break out of his family's shadow, his plans and his dreams to carve out his path.

Was driving to impress.
To appease the greater masses.

His expression becoming more defeated and angered with each slide.

Climbing higher,
Only to see a crooked empire.

Two lines of burning light, one gold and one red emit from the ground in between Raoul.

Two roads, one together.
Nothing should last forever.

The lines weave together forming an Earth-like globe. Lucifer speaks to Lisa and Linclone directly.

Creations burn in the fire.

Charie and Vanessa sing the next line, irking Lola and making Lana smile.

Awe-inspiring.

The lyrics return to Raoul with him winking at Luna.

My masterpiece.

Charlie pulls out a Bible from somewhere, skims through the pages then throws it out.

Our lives were lost to us,
Reduced to lines on a page.

Raoul creates an orrery of spheres, impressing the audience in its splendor.

Our time, it 'costed us,
What happened to the worlds we made?

Vaggie stands above a light fixture that burns out.

We lost the spotlight.
No more old songs in the night.

Nifty pulls Linclone close and walking fingers up to her neck, looks at Lucifer and throws her dance partner aside like rusted metal.

You always tried so hard,
But you moved in a different direction.

Anton gets encroaches on the parents, them smiles and playflly turns around swaying his hips with one of his hidden hands having fingers crossed.

You should have pushed much harder.
I mean no ill intention.

Lincoln's face appaers on all the monitors, then becomes corrupted when reciting the second line.

Climbing higher,
Never fulfilling my desire.

Charlie and Vanessa walk side by side, vanish, then reappear behind Lori and Bobby, making the boy blush while irritiating the eldest Loud daughter.

Two roads, one together.
Nothing should last forever.

Alastor's voice can be heard in the machines.

Creations burn in the fire.

Anton and another voice in the machine repeats the one Charlie and Vanessa sung, then returning the tune to Raoul.

Awe-inspiring.
My masterpiece.

Lucifer joins his father with the next verse, before their lyrics and direction to Lynn.

Two worlds, one tethered.
The faithful drown together.

Raoul then turns to the parents, whose eyes widen with his words.

30 years, don't you remember?
Ink unfettered.
My masterpiece.

Lucifer appears in front of Clyde and his friends and the tune turns somber.

Oh friend,
Old friend.
This is, this is the end.
For us, for this,
We've reminisced,

He then widens the targeted audience to everyone in the building as the beat picks up, he and Raoul each showing a cheshire grin.

But now, we're here
Confused, and full of fear.
There must be another story,
I'm sure we would all like to hear.

The first bar repeats itself, with Raoul, Lucifer then the Magnes answering the big question on everyone's lips.

So many questions,
But there's only one to be answered.
Who are we, who are we? Who are we?

Raoul sings the final two bars, as his presence and the gravitas rises, finishing with the question.

Two roads, one together.
Nothing should last forever.
Creations burn in the fire.
Awe-inspiring.
My masterpiece.

Two worlds, one tethered.
The faithful drown together.
30 years, don't you remember?
Ink unfettered.
My masterpiece.

Who are we, who are we? Who are we?

The lights go out and on again. The Louds open their eyes and see that the Magnes have vanished. "Huh, who knew the Magnes can really break it down?" Luna admits with a newfound respect. Lynn gives a stern look to her namesake as she rubs her wrist. "So much for making new friends, Dad. Those guys completely dissed us back there!" Lola crosses her arms and scoffs, "Clearly they've never seen or heard of the real Louds." She brushes her hair aside, smirking. "Give them a few days and they'll come crawling back to us in admiration."

Lana rolls her eyes, clearly not convinced by her twin's little speech. She gets an idea and smirks at her. "If that's the case, did you have any luck with the other Magnes?" Lola's smile turns upside-down, answering her question "Not even close, then." She chuckles, "I talked with that Nicole girl from earlier, looked liked a fun person. Better looks than you and willing to get her hands dirty. A good combination. Plus she has those better natural look thing going on." Lola grabs onto her overalls and shakes her back and forth, fire in her eyes. "What do you mean, better looks than me?! Are you telling me you two got along with each other and not me?!"

Lucy pushes Lola aside. "And what makes you think someone like her would become friends with someone like you?" She questions, a dark glint seen under her bangs. "She doesn't need to prove she's beautiful in a pageant in order to feel good about herself. She knows she's beautiful and has nothing to prove." Lynn gets up to Lucy. "And what's your problem, Lucy?" She accuses her roommate, "Why are you taking their side over ours? You know things have gotten better now that it's gone. They even mentioned that they've seen and talked with him. They know where that jinx is hiding out. That means that if we find the Magnes," she whispers quietly, "we'll find our good luck charm."

"And you think that's going to going to erase everything we did to Lincoln since you lost that game? That our lives will back to normal once we get our brother back?" Leni spits out, surprising out-of-character for someone as simple-minded as her. "Our lives were never normal! Mom had eleven kids. Eleven! And look how their parenting has made us! Even if we managed to earn the Magne's trust, what makes you think that they know where he is now? That we deserve him after everything that's happened?!" Many of hte kids look away while Rita feels insulted. Lynn stomps her foot in stubborness. "Exactly! And how many times do I have to tell you to stop saying it's name before you take the hint?!"

"And how long are you to keep up this madness before you realize you've gone too far?" Luna retorts, making Lynn flinch. "Ever since Lincoln played along with your little accusation, things have been going bad to worse in ways I can't even describe. The springlock suit, the blood moon, that howling roar, the corruption, Linclone's murder at Flip's and now the arrival of the Magnes, who know everything about us. Everything! And you still act like we're in the right?!" Lynn Sr. and Rita defend Lynn. "That's enough, Luna!" Rita shouts at her, "This family supports each other through thick and thin, no matter what happens. Apologize to your sisters. Now."

Luna looks at Lucy, who looks at Leni, who looks at Lucy, who looks at Lana, who looks at Lily, who has been listening to everything tonight and back to each other. Their eyes all furrow at them and they say one simple word. "No." The parents are confused by this form of defiance as Luan tries to speak. "No? What do you mean, no? I thought this was a no brainer. Hahaha-"

A chopping motion is made to the back of her neck, knocking her out as the others step away from her. Lucy smiles and scoffs, "She was done. But we stand by our choice. Do you remember what the voice said, we must atone for our sins." Lynn takes a step forward, "That's loser talk, Lucy! And the Louds are not losers! Mostly me, but you get the point! Family supports each other, no matter what! Now do what Mom and Dad said and apologize to me, and do it properly."

She crosses her arms and smiles, awaiting that what she deserves. The five look at each other before Leni steps forward, takes Lily and responds. "Lynn, we're sorry that you still think the world revolves around us, around you. We're sorry that you still think you're the ones in control. And we're sorry that we ever played a part in your madness. The Magnes are the sign that things must change for us and we must cast off the chains that bind us. And if that means drawing the line and invoking a Sibling Fight protocol, then so be it." The five all walk out the door and take their seats in Vanzilla.

The remaining Louds are left silent by this brazen act of defection. Lynn thinks, "So it's come to this now? Fine. That thing's bad luck must have spread to the others and they're bad luck too! All thanks to that corruption that curse of a guy brought into our home. I guess we'll do what we did to the bane and kick them out of the house like we all did Stinkoln. Soon they'll realize their mistake and be aboslved by the Sports Gods."

Lisa pulls out a journal and starts writing down. "I don't I've ever planned for a two-sided Sister Fight Protocol before, and it seems their taking the test subject's side in all this." She growls, "It should have just kept to itself and let us defuse the situation ourselves. the fighting nearly tore us apart the last time he butted in."

Lola's eye twitches profusely as forcibly quiets her shout, "Those Magnes mocked us in front of practically everyone in town tonight, and yet they do nothing and defend Linkington and his plague?!" She gets a twisted grin on her face, "Not while I'm around to present them a punishment deserving of them for angering their queen." Lori looks to Bobby, who looks at Maria and Ronnie Anne, and then leaves with them, the latter heading to the bathroom. "Boo-Boo Bear?"

He raises a hand at her, "Not now, Lori." Her shaken boyfriend coldly states, speaking her name instead of his nickname to her. "We'll talk later." The eldest dauhgter clenches her fists. "Raoul and Anton Magne." She mutters, "You're going to pay for trying to damage my relationship with Bobby and insult my family. I can't wait to get my hands on you and turn you both into human pretzels. Lincoln, let's go home."

She turns to him and finds that he is gone. "Girls, Lincoln's gone!" The others quickly look around for him only to find nothing. Luan comes around and notices that the clone is missing. "Lincoln's gone?!" She blurts, "I've been wondering why I haven't heard him laugh at my joke before I clocked out." Lisa's eyes widen. The Magnes took another clone from them, right under their noses this time! She grits her teeth and heads out with the rest of the Louds back to their haunted home.

Ronnie Anne heads out of the bathroom, but turns to see Lucifer standing near the back exit, beckoning her to follow him by a finger. She looks to her family and back to him, who is now gone. She sighs and proceeds to sneak out back of the resturant She sees a faintly glowing red substance dragged across the ground towards a pile of garbage bags. After moving the bags around, she sees something that nearly makes her fall back.

It looks like an exact copy of Lincoln, but horribly broken beyond repair. Its enitre left arm and right lower arm are torn off, revealing wires with organic matter attached to it hanging out. Everything from the torso down is missing, showing more wires and flesh. Its whole face seems to have been ripped off along with its eyes and brain revealing a hollow metal casing and a shattered jaw in what is left of the head. Save for a few remaining white hairs revealed to be dozens of tiny, frayed wires, his skin is completely gone. "So what Lucifer said was right." She contemplates, growing angry. "What Lincoln wrote was true! The one I thought was Lincoln was but a metal puppet for those... those... bitches! "

"Bitches is a very strong understatement for these sinners." A voice sounds behind her, making her jump, "But now you see the lie that lays beneath the skin." Satanael explains, still posing as Raoul, "But this is but the second one of these cheap knock-offs. Lisa has a whole facility under the Loud House for the sole purpose of creating faux good luck charms. Doesn't make them harder to kill though." Ronnie Anne looks back to the corpse and back at him. "So that was you, Mr. Magne?" She takes a step back, growing scared. "Am I next?"

Satanael throws a dagger at her feet, "If I wanted you dead, I've would've done so already. In fact, you've come highly recommended by an old friend of yours." She picks up the dagger and inspects it. It appears to be a curved dagger with four spikes around the hand guard, glowing blue runes etched along the fuller and a blue eye-shaped design on the guard. Strange, but there have stranger events before tonight. "Old friend? You mean Lincoln? The real one?" She asks, getting a feel for the dagger in her hand, getting a nod in response.

"The OG himself. In fact, he was just here tonight." He says, giving Ronnie Anne goosebumps, "A new name, a new face, a new lease on life. Tonight was a means of gathering personal information on the Louds, to see who has the potential for redemption and who must be put to the sword. A successful and rather amusing outcome if I'm being honest. Who knew I had a singer's pipes?"

Ronnie Anne looks down at the dagger, which blinks at her despite it not being an actual eye. "So why bring me all the way out here. Just to talk?" He creates a chair out of shadows, spins it around and sits on it. "Exactly. If you paid attention to what my son sang when in front of Lincoln's friends, he was saying that due to their doing nothing while the Linclones took over his life, he meant that they believed whatever lies the Louds told them and felt betrayed by them, hence the severing of presumably non-existent ties."

She looks at Satanael confused, "Linclones? Plural? There's more of these things out there?" He nods, "A whole factory of them underneath their bunker. I unleashed a sort of corruption in there from Lincoln's prison awhile back that quickly spread across the household, but remains contained to that square area, unless I allow it to follow them. The Linclones that were infected were given sentience and now shamble about the facility, creating a cute little village last I checked, but they keep staring at the cameras whenever the feed focuses on them like they're weeping angels. Plus he helped kill one of the doppelgängers after-school at Flip's, so there's that."

The girl glances down at the knife, then at the corpse, then back to him. She offers the weapon back to him but he raises a hand, "Keep the blade, He will serve you well in the coming days. Plus, you never know when you will need to fall back on something other than your fists. Nor will you know who to trust." He tosses her a small book which carries a similar theme to the dagger.

"This book carries dark secrets about that which you may or may not come across. Something that should improve your skillset when push comes to shove." He comes in close, holding her blade hand, "Be careful, the blade has a mind of its own." Satanael warns her, "Listen to its council, but ignore its maddening whispers. Do not trust the lies it spins, but heed what it may say. Take from it what you need, but always remember that the dark presence in the blade, the nature of the Void, is not your ally. The final blow is yours to reap."

The wings on his jacket unhinge and spread out, appearing to be actual wings, flapping down and launching him into the sky. Ronnie Anne looks up at him breaking through the storm clouds, then back down at the blade in her hands. "The final blow?" She talks to herself, "Are you trying to say you want me to kill this machine?" She looks at the Lincolne corpse, noticing a faint light coming from its chest. Further inspection reveals it to be an artificial heart, barely keeping it alive while the broken limbs continue to twitch.

She thinks back to the all the time they spent together. She didn't want to admit it out loud, but she was indeed trying to get his attention through her pranks. When he invited her to his house at 3pm and abruptly kissed her, she acted on instinct and gave him a black eye, later giving him a T-bone steak to help stop the swelling. He later explained that when his sisters found out, they immediately began to meddle with his affairs and agreed after consulting with his (former) friend, Clyde, who never even noticed the switcheroo.

After overhearing Lincoln saying something to his classmates teasing him about having a girlfriend about her being "rude, gross and annoying and that he'd rather lick the bathroom floor than kiss her." This left her heartbroken and after telling her brother, he broke up with Lori on the spot and was later convinced to a double date in order to make up. History repeated itself and Lincoln more than proved that actions speak louder than words. She decided to pretend to break up with him, mimicking the same words he said to her the previous day while leaving a note saying otherwise.

She knows better this time. The next key interaction was on April Fool's Day, where Luan hired her to put the finishing touch on her pranks against Lincoln, who revealed that he intentionally set them all off to prevent her or his sisters from getting hurt by it, though it was all part of her plan. She answers in kind by throwing a pie in the prankster's face and helping him with his lost eyebrows.

Then came the Sadie Hawkins dance at school. From what Lincoln told her, believing Lincoln's lie about her not asking him out to the dance, which Lori called the "most important dance in a girl's life." Luna, Luan, Lynn and Lucy all hooked him up with each of their friends in his grade, Tabby, Giggles, Polly Pain and Haiku. After some close calls and explainations, the dates the Louds planned for him spent their time with his friends while the two of them danced the night away here at Gus's.

After that day, Lincoln started acting like a completely different person. He became for more "interested" in her even though they agreed earlier on to remain as friends, he became far more complacent and more loyal to his sisters, actively supporting them when he gets the chance. Actively taking the nickname of Lame-O into a more literal sense.

Then that letter came her mailbox that night. The wordplay and handwriting certainly matched that of the Lame-O she used to know, but the manner in which it sounded seemed frantic, scared, on edge, like his time was quickly running out. The dried bloodstains on the envelope itself didn't exactly make it sound like a friendly notice. Now with Lucifer and the Magnes having arrived and reveling so much to her in so little time has flipped her world upside down. And the way things are spiraling, things are only going to continue to be upended. She looks back to the blade in her hand, now trembling and then turns back to the clone, its heart still beating.

The weight of her choice forces down to her knees and under the cover of thunder and lightning, screams as she plunges the dagger straight into his heart. The light in what lies its sockets shine for a moment before fading out. A form of essence flows from the android's heart and seeps into the dagger, its eye lightly glowing. Ronnie Anne seems to snap out of the sudden surge in bloodlust and looks down upon her work. Under normal circumstances, she would be horiffied to see a corpse right in front of her, their blood in her hands. But considering that this is in fact of clone of Lincoln and not the real one, somehow this feels satisfying to her.

She cleans her hands of the fake blood with a convient puddle of rain water and hides the dagger and book within her sweater. She makes her way back through the arcade and to her mother's car where her mother asks, "Oh, Ronnie Anne! There you are! I was wondering where you at. Bobby told me that you had to use the bathroom." She notices how wet her clothing is. "You're a mess, dear. What happened?" Ronnie Anne opens her mouth to speak, but pauses. What exactly is she supposed to tell her mom? "Ronnie Anne needed some time to think and I guess she didn't notice the rain falling all around her." Bobby says, giving a wink to her younger sister.

Ronnie Anne winks back at her older brother, then her hand slowly reaches back to the handle of the dagger still hidden in her sweater pocket. "That was certainly something." She thinks concernigly. "If what Raoul said back there was true, then there's a chance Lincoln really is alive." Her heart flutters and she gives a small smirk, but saddens once the thoughts fully settle in, "But I don't think the Lincoln that I will find will be the one I last saw. Besides, he may found someone else by now. I wish there was a way we could both be happy, to be free from whatever kind of expectations set by my familia and the Louds regarding our bond."

The blade's eye dimly glows as tiny wisps of its power creeps from the dagger, through her arm and into her mind, gleaning from her all her memories of her and Lincoln together. In another time and place, such dreams of a brighter future could have been a reality. But sometimes such dreams have to die in order to give life to new ones, yet there might be a way for such a desire to become a reality. A chuckle is heard. "Your wish is yours to keep, my devoted chosen."

---

Exosphere

None of the events that have played down on the surface had gone unnoticed by Satanael or the other demons. High above the cloud layer stands the combined demons and nephilim of the Hazbin Hotel staff. Since the need for concealing their true self is unwanted this high up, the group have discarded their guises and now stand upon a veil acting as a platform. "So... that's your choice, isn't it Ronalda? Your wish?" Satanael hums. He turns to them, "Interesting. I hope you don't mind the heights, friends. I had to make sure to make a good impression" Lucifer, currently laying down upon the cloudy veil looks to his father, "Of course not, I'm on Cloud 9 over here." Somewhere on the ground, Luan's eye twitches. "Plus it helps to laying down on your back than standing up and looking down, and that you can't see the ground. How is progress on your ends?"

"Ah!" a shout is heard in the direction, who's currently being held by an unamused Husk. "I looked! Thanks, Husky." He drops him. "You're welcome, Anthony." He says sarcastically, "Things have been going smoothly on my end. You were right to have me iniltrate the casino. Made me feel like my old self again." Satanael smiles, placing a and on his shoulder, "I only wish to prove my worth to you in a way that you understand. It's one thing to see people as pieces on a chess board, it's another to see a game piece as its own person, each one having their own stories, potential and purpose. Alastor has his methods and have mine, isn't that right my crimson comrade?"

Alastor chooses that moment to speak. "Comrade is such a strong word, I prefer the term, 'buisness partners'. But I appreciate the sentiment." Satanael shrugs, "Tomato, tomato. Alastor. I trust the resources I procured for you have served you well?" The Radio Demon nods, "More than you could know. Despite the nature of the technology you have acquired for me thus far, I think I should be able to create something with a strong transmitter thanks to all the aid you have provided. It's always good to have someone watching your back."

Charlie and Vaggie stare entracingly into the moon above them. Back home, the only celestal bodies they could see was the pentagram above their home ring and Heaven far into the distance. In this realm, there lies the moon and a sea of stars, just waiting to be explored. "I.. have always loved the stars." Satanael and Lucifer joining them in wonder. "There wasn't much the humans got right, but they did know art."

Vaggie turns to him, "What?" "Frankly I think it's one of the reasons that the angels were so jealous of them. Have you ever seen one of those birds paint?" Satanael explains as Vaggie's eye twitches. "You're talking about art. Here?" She asks. "We're above a musuem." Lucifer responds, making the group have a good laugh. "Well certainly we have our mission, I'm just saying is it wrong to relax when the moment comes, stop and smell the roses?"

Alastor pats the nephilim's hand and ruffles it. "Words to live by, my young friend. Some people have no appreciation for the finer things in life, like radio?" Angel raises a finger but Charlie lowers it. "Just let him have this, Anthony. Besides, you have your things and we each have ours." A part of the clouds form a hole and out steps out a familiar group. "Welcome to our little meeting place, I.M.P. I hope you had as much a fun time crossing some sinful names off the list as I did."

Loona rolls her eyes as Millie begins bouncing on the clouds, her husband smiling at her. "Like you wouldn't believe, Mr. E!" Blitzo replies, Satanael raising a curious eyebrow. "Mr. E! Like Mister. E. Mystery! A name like that, even a fake one like Satanael, doesn't exactly roll off the tounge. Heh, rhymes." Satanael ponders and responds, "When I'm on Earth, you may call me Raoul. Though that name could prove useful later down the line. Does that satisfy you?"

Blitzo gives a thumbs up and looks down, "So, what's the sitch? Find anything worth exploiting down there?" Satanael sits on a plume of cloud and meshes his fingers together. "First, don't say that. You don't have the license to use that catchphrase. Second, it seems that there is a division in the Loud House long before we even arrived and as a wise man once said that 'a house divided against itself cannot stand'." Lucifer smirks, "Abraham Lincoln. The old man's namesake for me."

He nods in approval. "At least he had some taste." Satanael jokes, he waves his hand, forming constructs of the Louds, dividing them into two groups. "Anyway, the divison seems to be split between the designer, musician, goth, mechanic, and infant on one side with the eldest, comedian, jock, pageant queen and prodigy on the other. The parents are most likely on the latter's side either through loyalty, ignornace of their parenting, fear of their daughters, or all of the above."

He spins his hand as the clouds change to form Lucifer's friends. Lucifer gazes at them, reaching his arm out for them, but retracts it, knowing how convinced they were by Linclone. Charlie's hand finds itself on her son's shoulder, his head responding by leaning against it. "Most of Lucifer's friends appear to be fooled by the Linclones created by Lisa, though one of them is not as convinced as the others, as her choice down below clearly demonstrated."

Satanael snaps his fingers and the clouds merge, forming a replica of Ronnie Anne, a visage that makes Lucifer jolt upward, many of them taking notice of his sudden move. "Linky! What's wrong?!" Nifty asks him. She turns to see the effigy of Ronnie Anne, "Oh, her." She spits out, walking up to it and waves her arms around to dissipate it. Lucifer looks at her and she sighs, "It's that floozy back at the resturant. The one Linclone was talking to before the I.M.P. disposed of it after our little number."

Lucifer remains silent. Charlie and Satanael kneel down before their son and inquire. "Lucifer, back at the hotel, before we left for Earth, you told us the names of your allies and extended family members, to see if we could find any allies here to stand against your family. Yet there was one you did not feel comfortable mentioning, yet when you talked to that girl, it felt familiar to you. If you want to talk about her, then take your time." He places his hand on his shoulder, Lucifer's head rising to meet his father's gaze. "We are here for you."

Lucifer smiles at this, back when he was Lincoln Loud, this feeling was present, but fleeting when he learned the words were hollow. This sensation felt stronger, and due to the present compay, far more lasting. "Her name is Ronnie Anne Santiago. Back in the day, Lincoln was the target of some harmless pranks. Finally tired of these transgressions, he confronted her to meet at the Loud House at 3pm. His sisters, the meddlers that they are, soon realized her identity and believing that such pranks were a cry for attention of her 'liking' Lincoln, formed a 'sisternado' telling him to kiss her."

Charlie and Vaggie's expressions sour upon hearing the info. Angel Dust growls in increasing rage, tightening his fists on his arms till they begin to hurt. He kneels, staring at Lucifer at eye level. "Kid, you really know how to give people more reason to hate someone." The spider demon says, showing a sense maturity not seen by many in the hotel. "I won't go into too many details about my work." He explains, holding his hands onto his shoulders and knees.

"But I can say that for all the people I've been with outside of work. Each and every person was done so naturally and with the utmost best of care. Not once. Not. Once. Have I ever took advantage of or forced myself on others. This I swear." He crosses his heart to assure him. Charlie, touched by his patient's kind words tries to walk up to him but Vaggie holds her back, shaking her head to tell that this is neither the time or place to say such things.

"After talking with Lincoln's best friend Clyde McBride..." Lucifer pauses mid-sentence, his hand moving to his right eye. "He decided to give in to their demands. It ended exactly like you're thinking, though they were right for once. From then on, they develpoed a strong friendship despite the Louds' attempts to get us 'together', bumps in the road aside." He lightly chuckles. "Besides, we're still kids. What do I know about romance this day and age?" The others laugh at the jest.

Satanael doesn't join in, and the knowing gaze in his eyes slowly silences them. He tries to say something else, but his hands tremble, as if the memory makes him hurt. "If you'll allow me to finish the story?" The god asks as the nephilim slowly nods. "If I've learned anything before my imprisonment, is that actions speak louder than words." Satanael states, making Lincoln wince, recalling that particular memory at Jean's French-Mex Buffet.

Satanael gazes upwards at the moon, his tone becoming somber, "I believe that in another time, in another place, there may have been futures where such bonds have bloomed into something truly beautiful." The clouds begin to form copies of Lincoln and Ronnie in different ages and forms, all bound together forever in different shapes or forms. The tone darkens as his fists clench. "And yet, there are realities where that beauty among others are defiled and desecrated. Warped and twisted into something unrecognizable or simply discarded like waste."

He takes a deep breath, and expands arms, the storm clouds that once obstructed the ground fading to see the sprawling horizon below. Blitzo and Moxxie yelp and holds onto Loona and Millie for dear life with the hellhound annoyed, but unwilling to drop her adoptive father. "I can see everything with just the moon's light." He thinks to himself. "I just wish my friends both old are new are here to see this world's unbelievable beauty the way I see it." The exposed skin on Satanael's body appears to brighten in color and vigor, showing life unlike those found in the humans from before.

"The stars in the sky glitter like jewels in a treasure chest, don't they not?" He asks them the demons beginning to view Earth in a similar way that he does. Charlie throws in her opinion, "This world is such a beautiful place, and it would prove the angels right if we came simply to conquer and infest." Lucifer nods, "Agreed, if humanity will not see the mistakes of the past for themselves, we must make them see. This world, this existence is worth protecting. Worth fighting for. Worth dying for." Vaggie gives a stern look to the demon god and gives a nod in support of their words.

Alastor responds, grinning at the growing potential of this new Earth. "I believe this realm exists so that we may adorn itself in its infinite riches. And that we demons exist so that we to help you do so." Vaggie and Blitzo give uneasy looks to the Radio Demon as Satanael turns to them and back to the horizon, his mind processing as the others view their own thoughts on the subject.

Loona doesn't say much, despite the current situation, but makes mention of one being free to make their own choices. Angel and Blitz mentions something stupid, probably with profanities and refercenes regarding sex, but are more or less on point. Moxxie and Millie don't give much context, but fighting for a world where such bonds are protected and encouraged are definetly up on the drawing board. Use your imagination for what Nifty says.

"Hmmm. You might be right about that." He turns to the demons, standing in front of the full moon. "Perhaps I was meant to return to these lands to not only continue my station and responsibilites, but to obtain those jewels for myself, along with every treasure shines above, beneath and beyond them." Charlie raises an eyebrow as Vaggie begins to reach for her spear. "But to hoard such things would be the height of selfishness. Instead I could use them adorn the great Trinity of Realities and its connected worlds, its residents and my friends of Hell and Dharkonis."

Blitzo gives a bow, if not a theatrical one, "If you wish it, then we will use all the powers of Hell to obtain them for you, and all the fucking kitchen sinks we can find!" He proclaims in his own Blitzy way, the others chiming in their abilities as well. Satanael chuckles at his form of a promise. "Haha. We don't even know what even exists in this world. Last time any of us were was back when such concepts such as Heaven and Hell were but fiction. It's a little early for a quest."

The group have a bit of a good laugh at the exchange as Satanael waves his arm and a portal back to Hell opens up. Most of them enter save for Alastor. "Then again, it makes me think." He vocally ponders. "The most enjoyable thing now might be taking over Creation itself." Alastor audiablly gasps at this and for a moment he thought he heard something on the other side.

---

Lobby, Hazbin Hotel

The two enter the portal and returns to the Hazbin Hotel lobby as the others engage in conversation. "Aw, who am I kidding?" The god admits, turning to them, both the staff and I.M.P. quickly getting along over fine food and drink. "There's now way we'd ever pull that off. I wonder though, am I the only being to have broken free from the shackles of our prison beneath Cocytus?"

There were many of his kind who were sealed away at the end of the war and all have their own stakes in Creation. Some joined because they sharede common cause me, an unyielding responsibility for their charges while others merely hopped on the bandwagon out of opportunity or simply out of sheer ambition or boredom. The breakout should have garned some attention, but it might be because their prisons are too far away or the nature of such magic has changed in a way they couldn't recognize.

The sound of flames and the flapping of a banner echoes in Satnael's mind. "If that's the case, maybe I should spread the word of Dharkonis throughout this realm." He thinks back to what happened back on Earth, then gazes over to the assassin's guild as an idea creeps into his mind. He walks over to Loona and taps her shoulder. "Do you mind if we talk, Loona? I promise it's nothing too important to care." She looks at Blitzo, who's currently making a fool of himself, then shrugs and follows him to a hidden area.

"So, big man, what is it you want from me? You already helped me with that syphilis shit despite whatever the fuck that dog you sent was and I don't like owing anyone anything, so what is it you want?" "You really don't take shit from anyone do you?" She raises a confused eyebrow as he smiles, "I like you, I think we'll get along well. Blitzo is a competant enough boss, but his current track record doesn't give me enough reason to trust him yet. Moxxie and Millie are capable fighters, but while the latter has a bit of a temper, the former lacks the conviction needed to make the hard choices, familial trauma can do that to a person."

"And you think I'm the perfect girl for the job?" Loona asks, confused as to why he has singled her out. "Like Blitzo, I see great potential in you. If you had found Lucifer that night, I have seen you become a great surrogate mother to your new son. All you need is that push in the right direction to properly unleash it. It doesn't hurt that you have a human disguise. Can't go about your job looking like you came straight of Hell. No offense." He jabs his thumb towards I.M.P. for reference.

Loona has a light chuckle and turns back to him, "Good to you know can tell the difference between Fatty, Angry and Shitty. But still, what do you need me for?" He hands her a disc shaped device, "This will be my means of communicating with you and the rest of I.M.P. It will only respond to you and those considered trusted by both sides of our little joint-faction. Link it to your phone and any transmission will be heavily encrypted. Like I said earlier, you will send any clients here to the hotel and from time to time, you will be called upon for special jobs for our interests, including the elimination of high value targets, but you will be able to keep a fair portion of the spoils. Though I have a special mission just for you."

He brings his right palm upward, a glowing circle appearing and showing a construct of Ronnie Anne. "This is the human that ended the life of the latest Linclone at Gus' tonight. I know you were there last night. She will need guidance, guidance that you, among others will give." This flabbregasts the hellhound. "Guidance? Me?" She laughs as his silence makes her stop. "Wait. You're serious? Do you think I would be of any help to you or any of those monsters you brought with you or your new human 'friends' on Earth?"

His smiles grows wider, answering Loona's own question, "Like I said before, you've got the potential. I am not forcing you to undertake this personal quest, all I'm asking is that you consider it. I will leave you to your thoughts before Blitzo gets any ideas about us." He walks into the shadows behind him, reappearing in another corner by Charlie and Lucifer. Loona blinks a couple of times, thinking, "Damn, he's good." and heads back to the imps. Blitzo calls out to the others. "Hey, we're gonna head back to Imp City, get some shut-eye up in this bitch. Give us a call if you need anything from us." And just like that, they're gone.

"Well. They seemed... eccentric." Charlie says. "Don't mean totally bat-shit crazy?" Angel politely retorts. "Isn't that what she just said?" Lucifer argues. "What I mean to say is..." Angel tries to explain to it, but seeing Satanael shakes his head in dissapproval makes him say something else, "Oh, nevermind. I'm going to bed. It's been a long day." The spider walks up the stairs and heads to his apartment, soon followed by the others, leaving Satanael alone with Vaggie. He asks a questions, his tone growing dark, "So... how does it feel to be back on Earth after so long?" Vaggie flinches at the question, pointing her spear at his throat.

"Back on Earth? What the Hell are you talking about?" Vaggie demands. "Oh, Vaggie. You know exactly what I'm talking about. Did you think you would be able to go about our work together and think that I wouldn't notice? As the old saying goes." He taps his left eye. "The eyes have it." Vaggie's eye widen as she realizes that he knows about her past life, and her 'fall'. "She says the only thing that she can respond with, "How long have you known?" He turns away. "You're not asking the right question." "What Charlie doesn't know won't hurt her." She retorts, "I'll make sure of that."

"And what happens if someone learns that truth and exploits it?" Satanael questions, making Vaggie take a step back. "Cause I have a feeling that your old boss may try something like this. I never really liked the vibe I got 'Lord' Kadmon." Vaggie clenches her spear, but doesn't attack, knowing fully well the last time they clashed. "So what are you going to do now?" She says angrily. "Rat me out to Charlie, get me evicted and have the Princess all to yourself for whatever sick fantasies you for her?!"

Satanael says nothing, then speaks plainly. "That is not my secret to tell, fallen one. It is yours. And if this subject is about my previous interactions with her, then know that I have no intention of saying or doing anything that may damage your relationship. True love remains one of the only things I cherished back in my day. Becoming a father to the likes of Lincoln has reawakened sensations in my heart I thought I would never experience again. Though, I long desired to find such an experience of my own, to ruin such a feeling for someone else would be an act of heresy for me. I don't like traitors, but I despise incompetent ones."

Vaggie's spear falters, but remains poised. "Then why the chivalrous act?" She questions him, "A lot of men can appear nice at first before they reveal their true colors, there's a lot of those wretches down here in the Pride and Lust rings." "Beacuse that is part of me that I want to show, because it helps remind me of what I once was before the Fall, because that is my nature." Satanael responds, "A wise smith once said that it is that the nature of a thing is more important than its form. Charlie walks down the road to redemption for her people only because she chose to walk this path. You and I are only here because we were forced into such roles, you into the role of a sinner and I into a role fitting for the first devil."

This remark only confuses Vaggie as Satanael walks forward to her, "Since I know your greatest secret," He leans his head to Vaggie's right ear, "...it's only fair that you learn mine." He silently whispers to her, and as the full depth of his words unfurl in Vaggie's ear, her eye widens and the weight of the secret brings her down to her knees. "We have far more in common with each other than you care to admit. When you tell your secret, I'll tell mine." He says, walking up the stairs back to his and Lucifer's apartment. "You stopped yourself from taking action the day you were betrayed," He says sternly, "I was forced to take action. Never forget that, and you are not the only one who knows."

Vaggie takes a moment to process his words, then gets back up and heads to her and Charlie's room. The room the two women share is rather large, unlike Satanael and Lucifer's apartment, which was shaped more like a penthouse, with a regal look and a large bed, and has a window with a view of Pentagram City. She opens it and sees Charlie calling out to her, already changed into her nightwear, a red long-sleeved shirt with a black bow in the back and on the neckline with white frills on the bottom, red pants, and black slippers with red fluff by the feet. She has removed her hair bands, letting it run wild free. "Vaggie!" She says happily, quickly turning to concern as she sees her pale expression and runs up to her, holding her hands in hers.

"Vaggie, what's wrong?" She asks her beloved. "Did you and Satanael get into an argument?" Vaggie moves her hands to hold Charlie's. "Yes... and no." She says. She shakes her head, trying to explain what she he said to her downstairs. "Let's just say that underestimating Satanael is something will get us all killed, or worse." Charlie raises an confused eyebrow. "Of course. I understand." She tries to reassure her, but to no avail. "No, you don't understand. This guy is far more than he is letting on, even by Alastor's standars. He's seen things. He's heard things. He's done things."

"You think I don't know that?" She responds, surprising Vaggie. "Everything about Satanael just screams wrong. His words, his powers, his people, his realm, even the form he took. Why choose to look like Lincoln when you can return to your original form? Sure he says it was lost but someone like him doesn't take on a weaker form just because. If what you say is true, then no number of floodgates can hold back the tide. Not even what Dad did, even before he fell, could ever compare to what Satanael did and could do if that's even his real name."

She moves over to the windows and looks out to Pentagram City, "But that doesn't mean that I won't try to help redeem him. If he was an entity on the same level as God before he was sealed away, then maybe he can be that deity again." She looks at her if she had suddenly grown a third eye. What Satanael said down in the lobby can't be a lie, the way he said it sounded far too genuine and remorseful to be a lie. But if Charlie is willing to give him a chance, than she could at least try to meet him halfway, "I won't stop you from doing what you need to do for him and Lincoln, Hell knows I've tried." She mutters that last part. "But promise me that you'll be carfeul, and that I will be there when you need to talk."

She looks back to her and smiles, of course she'd find a way to be a part of whatever plan Charlie had, that's how she became manager of the hotel in the first place. "I promise, now c'mon Vaggie. "She extends her hand to their bed, a seductive look in her eye. "This bed isn't going to get ruffled all by itself." She grins as she lunges at Charlie in a furious French make out session, which you know what that leads into. Meanwhile in the neighboring room, (above, across, adjacent, below, go with whatever) Satanael has changed into his nightwear, just a single pair of sleeping pants as a knock on his door reverberates in the void. "Enter." He calls out as Lucifer enters the room.

"Are you sure it was wise to reveal that much to Aunt Vaggie? You know she'll tell Mom about this." Lucifer asks as his father chuckles, "The only reason she knows of my secret is because I know hers. But that's a revelation for another day. Go to sleep, young one. Time stops for no one, and if I remember, you do only on part of said story too, correct?" Lucifer has a light laugh and nods as he step out of the door, but pauses as he turns back. "Oh! Before I forget, you slinked off a while ago at Gus's. What was that?" Satanael smiles, pulling out a lone feather, radiating a form of divine light as he smiles. "Let's just say that we weren't the only outlanders on Earth that night."

---

And so another chapter is finally complete. I never meant to delay this for so long, I've just been busy with other stories, collaborations with other writers whose stories caught my attention, and life outside of FanFiction. If you're looking for something more visual verison to what I.M.P. sees, just combine the aspects of the pilot and debut versions of the hotel before the extermination, then work from there. Do forgive me for the replacement of letters for numbers, I tried to use the glitch text generator but I couldn't get the size right. For context on disguised names.

Charlie = Charlie
Vaggie = Vanessa
Satanael - Raoul
Lucifer = Lucifer
Angel Dust = Anton
Nifty = Nicole
Husk = Hunter
Alastor = Alan

Until then, recover the past, shape the present, change the future.

World of Warcraft - The demons discovered by I.M.P. in their homes are an Elder Voidwalker and a corrupted Insatiable Felhound in the Madness at the Darkmoon Faire expansion from Hearthstone, which is currently celebrating its 10th anniversary and Warcraft III: Reforged as a neutral unit. Stewart is named after Stewart, the Steward from Bastion. Ronnie Anne recieves the base form of Xal'atath, Blade of the Black Empire and Secrets of the Void from Satanael, where in my personal head-canon, was upgraded into Xal'atath, Embrace of the Old Gods after the Priest Campaign.

Marvel - The "All-New, All-Different" phrase is used in their comics during a certain time peroid.

DC Comics - Satanael's Sinner disguise is based on The Batman Who Laughs' appearance in Dark Knights: Death Metal before transcending into the Darkest Knight mixed with his Legendary skin in DC Legends and his pickaxe and sickle from Fortnite and Noob Saibot's Elseworlds skin fromMortal Kombat 11.

Five Nights at Freddy's - The damage done to the second Lincolne is based on the Withered and Shattered animatronics from FNAF2 and Security Breach and Ruin, focusing on Withered Bonnie's head and left arm, Withered Chica's right arm and jaw, Foxy's damaged chest, Ruined Monty's endoskeleton from the waist down and Shattered Roxy's eyes and jaw.

Bayonetta - The artificial lifeform, that turned from human to scroll is named Nebulosus, an Alphaverse Homunculi from Bayonetta 3, and the scroll is how those enemies are introduced and summoned by Singularity.

League of Legends - The mouth appearing on the Neblosus is based on The Traveler from Legends of Runeterra.

Persona 5 - Some of the human attires the demons wear are based off the Phantom Thieves' respective winter, casual and dance clothes. Lucifer's mask is a reversed verison of Joker's.

CG5 - The song sung by the Magnes is Masterpiece, the song he wrote for Bendy and the Ink Machine: Chapter 5: The Last Reel.

Overlord I - The conversation regarding stars as jewels mimics Ainz Ooal Gown's conversation with Demiurge in Season 1: Episode 2.