Mr. Haziq - It gets even more interesting! I hope...

Guest 1 - Sadly no such thing happens, but there's still plenty of conflict to ensue here.

Guest99 - I'm searching far and wide for weapon ideas, so thanks for throwing them my way! As for Helsa, well, I've already got the harem cast pegged and I don't think I'll be using her anytime soon. Not for Lincoln, anyway.

Guest 2 - Very likely, once we get to Angel Dust and Arackniss, whenever that will be.

Guest 3 - Yes, one of those (in all seriousness, a little bit of everything)

The Templar

After being told the bad news that they were excommunicated and banished from Heaven for their failure, the Cherubs Cletus, Collin and Keenie were beside themselves with woe.

Cletus was still gushing waterfalls from his eyes as he and his team aimlessly hovered around the human world, babbling incoherently.

Keenie was hyperventilating and spinning in circles, "What do we do? What the FUCK are we supposed to do!?"

But despite how dire the situation seemed, surprisingly, it was Collin who seemed to have a grip on the situation as he was the only one who wasn't spiraling, literally or figuratively, "Guys…"

Cletus planted his face against a tree as he continued to bawl his eyes out.

"We're never going home!" Keenie shrieked, "Now I'll never get to watch my soaps! Or drink milk and suck honey!"

"Guys…" Collin tried to get their attention, but they were too distraught to pay attention.

Cletus was on the ground, crying a fountain and spinning like a garden sprinkler, even shifting with a hard, creaky jitter as he turned back in one direction.

Keenie was now muttering a list of other things she couldn't do in a speaking speed that would make her great for working at an auction house.

"Guys!" He shouted, and that seemed to snap them out of it, "I… okay, I know this sucks but we have to pull ourselves together!"

Cletus held back some of his gushing as he tried to respond between his sobs, "But… But… we're excommunicated!"

Keenie grabbed Collin by the collar, "How are we supposed to pull ourselves together! We'll never be able to go home again, and you're telling us to pull together!?"

"I understand how you feel, Keenie!" he started, holding onto her arm and trying to get her to loosen up, "But we can't just do nothing! Look… I know someone who can help!"

That surprised the two, and Keenie got up in Collin's face, "You do? Who is it? Can he get us back to Heaven? Tell us!"

"Keenie, l-let go!" Collin managed to shove her away, "L-look, I… well, I don't think he can but… he might be able to give us a place to stay until we figure things out."

"How do you know that he'll help us, anyway?" Cletus asked, recovering a little but sniffling profusely.

"I… well," Collin cleared his throat, "Before I worked with C. H. E. R. U. B. I used to be this kid's Guardian Angel, and… I may have shown myself to him this one time."

"What!?" Keenie exclaimed, cupping his face and looking a bit annoyed, "Collin, you know we can't directly interact with humans, it's just not done!"

Collin had to get Keenie's hands off of him once more, "I know, I know, I shouldn't have, but… he was such a mess and I just really wanted to do something nice for him, so I talked with him every night before he went to bed, and I just figured he thought it was all a dream. Anyway, I… well I've kept in contact with him so I know where he is, I figure maybe we could ask him to let us stay with him until we can find a way back home."

Cletus rapidly wiped his face, "W-well… there's nothing else we can do anyway, and… having someplace to stay would probably be the best thing to have right now."

Keenie sighed and seemed to relent, but she was still anxious, "Fine… do you know where he is or how to contact him?"

Collin pointed to a nearby diner parking lot and a payphone near the road, "Well, that might be a good place to start."

The Cherubs flew towards the payphone booth and Collin grabbed the handset, pulled a quarter out of his pockets and dialed the number, and don't ask why he has human money on him, I'm sure there's a perfectly logical explanation for that like Verosika's stage in Spring Broken. Collin could hear the line ringing and waited patiently, "Come on, pick up…"

Lincoln and Loona were walking to work with the Hellhound on all fours and wearing a leash harness as she trotted with a skip in her step and Lincoln holding onto her, waiting to cross a street as a pair of imp children stared at them, giggling to themselves and whispering taunts at the big rabbit and his dog. Lincoln wasn't too keen on them throwing mockery his way and glared at them harshly, and they skeddadled.

Loona didn't notice the kids and looked back at Lincoln to see him shoo some brats away, "What happened?"

"Just a couple of urchins sticking their noses into things they shouldn't, don't worry though, I've set them straight," he gently rubbed the back of her neck, and she leaned into his hand and relished the feeling.

The two of them eventually made it to the office, stepping inside to see Moxxie and Millie doing whatever it was professional killers do when not on the job.

Lincoln greeted them with a smile, "Mornin' you two."

"Mornin' Linky!" Millie responded.

"Hey Lincoln," Moxxie greeted, then he glanced at Loona wearing her leash harness, and he put on a snide smile, "And good day to you too, Miss Loona."

Loona growled at him, but then Lincoln placed his hand under her chin and gently rubbed it while petting her head, "Easy girl, you promised you'd be nice." She pouted a little and looked away, "Also, I'd appreciate it if you didn't egg her on, Uncle Mox."

"Sorry, Lincoln," Moxxie was sweeping the floor, "It's just that I can't resist with all the grief she's given me throughout my time here."

Millie was organizing some files and putting boxes into some shelves, "But thanks to you, I'd say you've managed to get more of the best out of her than any of us has ever had since our boss started this company."

Lincoln sat on Loona's chair, as Loona decided he shouldn't stay in the utility closet anymore now that she was his pet. She also decided to step up her game of being the team's secretary, which mostly involved her doing some actual secretary work, which wasn't all that difficult once she put her mind to it, not to mention Lincoln's encouraging presence motivating her to put on her best performance.

Lincoln could hear their boss talking to someone, "So, what's Blitzø up to?"

"He's talking to one of Stolas' legionnaires," Moxxie answered.

"I think he was one of those fellas who helped you with that Marchosias business a while back." Millie added, "A big burly fella, got a bunch of tattoos and stuff, he's called Squat, I think, and he's an imp like us."

"Is that right?" Lincoln gently rubbed Loona's head as she rested her chin on his lap, "I wonder what he wants."

Inside Blitzø's room, the boss of I. M. P. was winding down his conversation with Squat, it appears Stolas had another target for him, but with a special request that involved bringing Squat along for the ride.

"And you're sure he's fine with you tagging along?" Blitzø asked again, making sure he had heard everything correctly.

"I'm not one to go an' repeat myself, but yes, I'd like to come along on the next assignment."

"And this is just for this one assignment, right?"

"I've only got one crew I work with, but the Boss wanted me to tag along this one time, mostly to assess yer rabbit's skills."

That was news to Blitzø, "Are you shitting me? I've been sending the reports to him."

"That's not what Stolas informed me." He proceeds to tell Blitzø about how it seems none of his mail was reaching Stolas' residence. Neither of them could have known that a few of the staff loyal to Stella were screening the correspondence sent to their home, and besides feeling vexed about her husband's extramarital affair with that imp assassin of his, she wasn't very keen about her daughter dating some lecherous rabbit Sinner either, especially with how he seemed to treat her as just one conquest out of many, or at least she assumes as such.

"Well whatever," Blitzø got off his chair & headed to the common room, "Well, let's get this over with, then."

"All right, you sluts!" Blitzø announced as he threw the door open, "We've got a target, and we've got a little guest tagging along just for this job, so you all play nice, all right?"

Moxxie, Millie and Lincoln all responded in a dry affirmative, and Blitzø turned to his daughter, "All right, Loony, you know the drill!"

"Yeah, yeah, I got it," Loona got Stolas' Lamina, and activated a portal that sent the imps and Lincoln to their target destination – the outskirts of the industrial and residential Louisiana town of Norco.

In some undisclosed location, a hooded figure was walking through some hazy, fog-enshrouded hall with tall marble columns holding up a high ceiling that was virtually impossible to see from the floor. He approached the center of the area where a single shaft of light illuminated a multi-tiered plinth upon which a throne sat, flanked by a pair of braziers bearing blue flames.

Seated upon the throne was a decrepit figure garbed in medieval wear – a tattered knight's tabard, with an equally-disheveled red cape over the shoulders, beneath which was chainmail armor leading to gauntleted arms and plated leg armor, and a coif of chain wearing a crown around the figure's head, that framed a black void where a face would be, but perhaps his most striking feature was the fact there was a sword lodged into his chest.

The hooded figure walked up the steps towards the throne, where the gaunt occupant settled upon it raised one arm, a scroll clasped in its fingers and extending it out to the hooded man. He took the scroll, unraveled it and examined its content, and then threw the parchment into the fire and walked away, understanding his mission.

The hooded man walked away as Cletus, Collin and Keenie appeared a little ways away from a nearby column.

"So, what's the mission?" Cletus asked.

"It seems that the Prophet has brought you some good news," the man explained, "he has determined where the demons you seek are going to appear next."

"You mean it, really?" Keenie flitted about with exhilaration, "Finally! We can show those fuckers who's boss!"

Collin floated in front of the hooded man, holding out a mask to him, "Well, we have been waiting for this day for a long time. I'm sorry we had to drag you into this."

The hooded man picked up the mask and put it on, "It's what I've trained for, and besides, I wanted to see for myself this 'Hellhare' we've been seeing reports about."

They headed out and disappeared from the eerie place, their resolve was firm and it was putting them on a collision course with I. M. P.

The sun was setting over Norco as I. M. P. entered the town and put on their "disguises" while Lincoln used a glamour spell that Loona had taught him from the Grimoire, allowing him to assume a human form once again, which was basically his original human form but with distinct, blood-red irises as opposed to his usual cool blue that he had in his previous life.

Their target this night was one Bruno Costa, a gangster who killed a corrupt banker who used to work for him until he decided to walk out, and being the practical man he was, Costa put a bounty on the guy's head and got him iced with no one outside Costa's payroll the wiser. Of course for his trouble and trying to take a little bit more from Costa than he should have, the banker ended up in the Bad Place, and he naturally wanted to give his old boss some payback.

That is where I. M. P. came into the picture, they had a target and it was now business as usual.

"Well, here we are," Blitzø and crew emerged from a side-alley and out into the street, "from one circus to the next."

Millie's disguise was a grey shirt under a pair of black overalls with red buttons, and a pair of brown cargo shorts. Moxxie meanwhile put on a pair of round glasses, a grey and white polo, and a pair of grey slacks. Squat was wearing black khakis and a white long-sleeved dress shirt that may have been one size too small for him beneath a grey vest and a big, black cowboy hat.

Lincoln noticed what color they were wearing, "What's with all the grey?"

Moxxie turned to him, "I read up that grey blends in the most with humans."

Lincoln looked them up and down, and realized how practical it looked, for the most part, "You two look like walking fashion statements, I think you will blend right in."

The same could not be said for their team leader, Blitzø, who was wearing a white powdered wig with a bicorn hat with a pair of crossed bones on the front, a black coat with crenellated trim along the middle seam and a ruffled cravat on his neck, with a dark blue cape trailing behind him, purple gloves and breeches with dark blue boots and a hook on his right hand, "Who's ready to get smashed on Mardi Gras!?" He shouted excitedly.

"Um, Blitzø," Lincoln started, "It's not time for that, and it's only in New Orleans, plus what is with that getup?"

"But I was so looking forward to that!" he whined, "Puttin' on this costume was the only way I'd get to mingle with people who wouldn't bat an eye at me! Besides, I had gotten this hook hand to show off to some dumb mooks, too." He showed that his hook hand had a hinge where it split in the middle to open up, making it look like a two-pronged claw.

"Can we just go and find the target?" Moxxie butted in, "We'll just go get something back in Imp City, all right, sir?"

"Fine," Blitzø pointed with his hook hand now closed again to a random direction, "Onward so we can get something hard that goes down the throat easy."

"You mean like Stolas' cock?" Moxxie replied mockingly.

"That cock pays your salary, Mox," Blitzø retorted back, "Maybe you should give it a try once you get tired of your woman's snatch." He guffawed as he proceeded ahead of them.

Moxxie shook his head in disbelief, while Millie gently patted him on the shoulders, "It's okay, hun, I can suck your dick once we get home."

Squat nudged Lincoln, "With a clown like him in charge, you got to wonder how they all haven't died by now."

Lincoln shrugged, "I guess Blitzø is just lucky."

"Abnormally so," B-G commented.

While I. M. P. was en route to the mission area, in another part of the city, a bright burst of light flashed from inside of an abandoned house, and a portal appeared followed by a feminine four-legged figure emerging from it. She took a minute to get her bearings and turned to look out the window, "I guess I was a bit off," she looked at the app on her phone, a specially-made one that C. H. E. R. U. B. created to help track their agents on the field in the human world, which Molly used to determine where to find Cletus and his team.

Despite being excommunicated, it was still a while before they were taken off the systems, and so she was able to get a lead on where to find them, though it was a bit imprecise, "Well, if I'm going to be here a while, I should probably try not to look like this."

Molly closed her eyes and a circle formed under her feet, lifting up and shapeshifting her into an approximation of her original human form. She stepped out of the house and continued on her search.

The target, Bruno Costa, lived in a mansion refurbished from an old plantation house. It was a secure place, as a crime boss ought to have, so they all decided that a direct assault wouldn't work, but he did like to go to a coffee shop in town that was also where he conducted some of his smuggling and laundering gigs. Lincoln being the most human-looking of the crew was sent inside to mingle and get a feel of the layout.

Blitzø and Squat were outside keeping an eye out for anything outside that could cause trouble and keep them out, while the married imps were sneaking around on the rooftops to get a good view and check the coffee shop from the large rectangular skylight on the roof.

Elsewhere, Molly was walking towards a park where she tracked the signal for the missing Cherubs to; it faced the open water on one side and was flanked by a grove of swampland trees on the other, demarcating the city proper from the patch of nature that the park provided.

Collin was floating near a vending machine getting something to drink, getting a tall can of iced tea and sighing to himself as he thought about the sweet Heavenly Wine he would liked to have had back home. He was surprised when he felt someone grab him from behind, dropping his can and flailing a little in a panic, until he heard a familiar voice.

"Oh Collin, I'm so glad I found you!" Molly exclaimed upon finding her Cherub friend.

Collin had a lot of questions, but he had two that were especially pertinent, "M-Molly, what are you doing here? How did you get here!?"

"I came to Earth to find you," she explained, "I was worried, you and Cletus and Keenie were gone."

"Molly, haven't you heard, we got excommunicated!" he stated, as he picked up his canned beverage, "We can't go back."

"I know, I heard from Sol," she explained, "but I couldn't believe what I heard, it had to be a mistake."

"No, it wasn't," Collin sighed, "we were supposed to save some old guy but, well, we got him killed."

"That can't be right," Molly thought out loud, "none of you would do something like that."

"Of course not!" Collin exclaimed, a bit louder than he needed to, "But it didn't matter when Deerie came to give us the axe."

"We can talk to upper management, tell them it was all a mistake and it's not your fault, besides I'm sure they'll understand." Molly explained.

"No, they won't," he said, sternly and somberly, "Deerie is in too deep with most of them, as far as they're concerned, her word is as good as gold; there's no point, Molly."

"But…" Molly tried to think of something, anything to give her friend something to hope for, but he wasn't having any of it.

"I have to go, Molly," he started to fly away.

"Wait, where are you going?" she asked, trying to chase after him.

"I have a job to do, it's the only thing me and the others have left," he paused mid-flight, "Molly, go home while you still can, if she notices you down here without a team accompanying you or fraternizing with me, it'll mean you'll get excommunicated too." He speeded away before she could say another word.

Lincoln ordered a cup of joe that he fancied, and checked the place out. A handful of patrons were chatting away with one another, some admiring incomprehensible art or commenting on it, and on a stage some beatniks were busy waxing poetic about their "white male oppressors" or something, well, I suppose it's to be expected from a wretched hive of crime-friendly liberal pretentiousness.

But aside from that, there weren't all that many in the shop, presumably because as one of Costa's fronts, they screen and limit the number of people who aren't on his take from going inside. From their laptops and what few words he could pick up from the chatter he could tell they were all nouveau riche types and trust fund kids who think they know what's good for simple folk and crypto enthusiasts thinking they can still dig that goldmine at this late juncture.

From the roof, the married imps were positioned on the skylight, looking in from opposite ends to get as much of a view as possible. Moxxie had his rifle by his side in case he needed to make any quick actions.

Elsewhere, Blitzø and Squat were doing the rounds outside the building, with Blitzø jumping from one piece of cover to the next. Squat was a little less-jumpy as he kept up with the imp leader at a slower and more steady pace, it didn't seem like there was a lot of people passing by, at least none who looked too suspicious.

Not one of them batted an eye when Molly entered and sat at a booth as a server asked her what she wanted, and Molly asked for some tea for herself. She felt dejected that she couldn't help someone else close to her who was trapped in a bad situation.

Not too long after, she was sipping on her brew with milk and sugar, thinking about what Collin had told her. She had never considered the possibility that there would be something so unfair in Heaven as Angels getting banished for things that weren't entirely their fault, and especially someone like Collin, whom Molly had come to know as being the most earnest of Cletus' team, and even if the others did something wrong – Keenie being a little too smug for her own good, and Cletus being a little too eager to get a job done as soon as he got one – Collin was always able to keep them balanced and on-task.

Her mind was elsewhere and so couldn't notice when a stranger approached her – a tall, skinny African-American woman wearing her makeup a bit more heavily than she needed to, and wearing a beret over her hair which was dyed in a smorgasbord of pastel colors; she trotted towards Molly with a haughty way of carrying herself. Accompanying her were a pair of suited-up men with an aura of professionalism and intimidation.

"Excuse me," she said as she turned towards Molly.

That caught her by surprise and she turned to face the woman, "Huh?"

"I'd like that seat, if you don't mind." She replied, straightforward and bluntly.

"Oh, sure, let me just finish up." Molly was about to pick up her cup, but the other woman snatched it from her, "Hey!"

The snobbish lady held her cup up and held it out of her reach, "I wanted your seat like, a nanosecond ago, and I can't do that with your stuff on the table."

"But I was here first," Molly tried to get her cup back, but the other lady kept it far away from her.

One of the lady's bodyguards grabbed Molly's arm and her wrist, and her other bodyguard did the same from the other side.

"Hey guys, there's a scene going on," Lincoln spoke into a small receiver hidden on the collar of his leather jacket.

"Forget it, rabbit," Blitzø cut in as soon as he heard it, "unless it's about Costa, stay out of any trouble, capisce?"

"For once I think Blitzø's got the right idea, Lincoln," Moxxie was watching the situation as well, and he decided on discretion being the right thing to do here, "I know you can't stand watching a woman in trouble, but you gotta restrain yourself."

But Lincoln was feeling brash, and there was no sign of Costa anyway so maybe he could afford to play white knight for another lovely lass before the mark showed up.

The lady cupped Molly's chin and she glared at her with a look only a woman drunk on whatever imaginary authority she held could have, "Never seen your face around here before."

"I'm from out of town," Molly replied sheepishly, which wasn't false but she didn't want to start a fuss here, largely because not only did she not want to get into a fight, she didn't want to attract any attention on her since she wasn't even supposed to be here.

"Good," she replied, "How about we take this to the back so you and I can have a… civil discourse about being in places you have to earn to be in?"

Molly didn't like where this was going and especially with how she was forced into the alleyway behind the coffee shop, and then thrown against the wall with her back against the bricks.

"Please, I just want to le…" she couldn't say more when the thin African lady slapped her with the back of her hand, showing she meant bad business.

"Listen you!" She started, "I just so happen to know the owner of this establishment and if you were smart you'd have known not to diss me by taking my favorite spot."

"But how would I know that?" Molly responded.

"Don't get smart with me, whitey!" She slapped her, "I've been having a terrible day and seeing you on my favorite seat pissed me off something fierce! Now I need to get some steam off, and guess what? You get to be my punching bag." her lips curled into a cruel smile.

"You can't do this!" Molly replied, "isn't this against the law, or something?"

"Shut up!" she back-handed Molly again, "Do you know who my boyfriend is? He owns this goddamn town! So if by some way you survive this beatdown I got in mind for you, you'll know what is good for you and get the fuck out of here."

Molly closed her eyes as she feared the worst, but at the same time she needed to stay calm or she could revert into her Afterlifer form and potentially cause a panic, which she didn't need right now.

But before she or her goons could do anything, a blur speeded between them and the thugs were slammed against a trash bin and the bricks of the adjacent building, respectively. The lady who was hassling Molly stumbled backwards as she clutched her face, her nose bloodied and crooked.

Molly opened her eyes slowly after hearing the quick scuffle to see what had happened. She looked up and saw a manly figure with his back turned to her so she couldn't see his face.

"Get out of here," he said coldly at the woman who whimpered and retreated back out of the alley and into the coffee shop.

He turned to walk towards Molly, who wasn't looking up at her savior just yet, having sat down on the ground and breathing slowly once she realized the danger had passed.

"You all right, Miss?" he asked, holding his hand out so he could pick her up off the ground.

"I'm fine, I…" as soon as Molly looked up, her eyelids blew wide open and she looked like she had seen a ghost. I mean it would be considering that she had beheld the spitting image of a man she hadn't seen in almost a century.

"Oh good, I was worried you were hurt real bad or something," he mentioned.

Molly was at a loss for words, his eyes were different, but there was no denying it, this was Warren Walker, her beloved Lapin Blanc, but that wasn't possible, no one can come back to life like that, she knows no one in Heaven who has.

"Miss?" Lincoln wasn't sure why she was just standing there, stunned.

"Lincoln!" Lincoln turned around to see Blitzø call out to him, "Get your ass back inside, the mark's here!"

Lincoln hurried back inside, leaving Molly in the alley to process what had occurred.

As soon as he got back in, he could see Bruno was consoling the woman who was harassing Molly, then she caught sight of Lincoln coming inside, and she immediately pointed towards the white-haired fellow while Bruno glanced towards his direction slightly confused.

"There's that son of a bitch!" she shrieked while tapping her finger in the air his way.

"So you're the one who upset and decked my gal!" Bruno exclaimed, "You got a lot of fucking nerve, snow head!"

Moxxie grabbed his gun and took aim, "Sir, should I take the shot?"

"No, take a piss, of course take the shot!" Blitzø whispered rather loudly into his receiver, "We get his dome split and we go home."

Before Moxxie could pull the trigger, the irate lady friend of Mister Costa grabbed the gun from the holster under his business suit and started waving it towards Hellhare, "I'll blow your fucking brains out!"

Everything that happened after was a blur of a few seconds where the lady fired off a shot, Lincoln dodging it as he felt the bullet graze his shoulder, Moxxie having to act quickly and shooting the gun out of the mad lady's hand, and then some of the patrons started to freak out and scramble as a few who worked for Costa got their weapons out, Squat and Blitzø jumping in from the front, with Squat pulling out three hatchets and throwing them right in the heads of a couple of the goons, and Costa and his lady hightailing it through another exit.

Millie burst through the skylight and pulled out her two daggers and engaged with everyone in sight, as did Squat when he pulled a slightly bigger axe and used it to cleave more people along the way. By the end of all that bloodshed, the coffee shop interior was painted in stains of carmine, and anyone still alive had all but left.

I. M. P. reconvened and Blitzø was the first to ask the pertinent question, "What the fuck just happened?"

"Well," Squat pulled out a cigar for a quick puff after a good scrap, "Looks like Costa's bitch got antsy and decided to go start a little gunfight with the rabbit."

Blitzø directed himself to Lincoln, "Care to explain what that was all about, Hellhare?"

"I uh…" Lincoln kind of figured where all the pieces started to fall apart, "I followed that lady outside because she was uh, bullying some other person."

"Dammit Lincoln!" Blitzø exclaimed as he kicked a corpse's head in frustration, "What did I tell you about staying out of trouble?"

"Sorry about that," Lincoln responded tepidly, "I couldn't just stand by and watch her do that stuff!"

"Whatever," Blitzø wiped his face in exasperation, "Costa's probably gone over to his mansion, which means we have to put in some extra time and pull out the big guns and our game faces."

"Woowee!" Millie cried out excitedly, "Can't wait to get more chances to practice my moves on some poor losers!"

"Come on, gang, let's go crack some skulls and make some ashtrays out of 'em!" Blitzø was the first out the door as everyone followed after him. Molly had overheard them talk while keeping out of sight, before they left to keep following after Costa. Although it didn't seem like he was Warren, something in her gut, her heart, her very soul, hinted to her that she needed to follow up on this.

At Costa's residence, he and his men were on high alert, while he and his girl were in the panic room. He had someone take care of her injuries, and she was a little annoyed by having to sit still and deal with that crap.

"Bruno, can I go get a snack? I'm feeling peckish." She complained, after getting some ointment and bandages.

Bruno shook his head, "Can it wait? We don't know if that bastard and his friends might come back, we can't be too careful."

"Come on," she whined, "I barely got a bite to eat, besides you got a lot of guns here and we'll be safe inside the panic room, and the kitchen's not too far from here, after all."

Costa sighed, "Fine, but get back here as soon as possible, all right?"

Beyond the perimeter of the mansion, just outside the wall next to the outdoor pool, the I. M. P. crew were overlooking the place from the roof of another building, trying to scope out a decent method of attack.

"Okay, so it looks like he's got his fellas on high alert," Blitzø pulled out a large sheet of paper showing a rough diagram of the mansion's layout, bringing Moxxie and Millie to lean in, "All right, so anyone got any ideas?"

Lincoln and Squat were asked to keep an eye out over the edge of the building, "So," Squat began, "do you think boss imp will think of something that'll get us in and out nice and easy?"

"I hope so," Lincoln replied, "but if I'm being honest, I think he takes too long and puts a lot of unnecessary steps in his plans."

"You know, rabbit boy-o," Squat smiled rather mischievously, "sometimes the simplest solution would be the best, we've been in the mortal world too long and I'd really rather cut to the quick."

Lincoln turned towards him, "You mean, just run in guns blazing? Blitzø might not like that."

"Don't worry your crackin' head, boy," he gripped his battle axe tightly, "I think he'll like getting results more than worry about the details."

"All right then," Lincoln leaned on the edge of the rail, "So, how do we go about this?"

"Think you can swing your big stick hard enough?" Squat asked.

Blitzø and the married imps concluded their discussion on their plan, "Okay, so, I'll sneak into the kitchen from the vent and get the butter and rat poison, Millie will go get some BBs and Moxxie, you can just go recon or whatever." Don't ask me what their plan was about, I just needed a random collection of things to mention so we can get this ball rolling.

"What about Hellhare and Squat?" Moxxie asked.

"Right, well not to worry, I got the perfect thing involving a hammer and some light bulbs." Blitzø turned to their compatriots near the edge, "Hey Squat, Rabbit, we got…" he soon noticed Lincoln pulled out his weapon and Squat wrapped his tail around it, "What in the Pride Ring do you guys think you are doing?"

Lincoln wasn't paying much attention when he lifted Squat up, then he twirled around a few times before swinging hard and sending the big Imp flying clear across the street, over the wall, and into a window on the first floor. The sounds of a scuffle began accompanied with screams and Squat's laughter.

The other imps' jaws dropped before Blitzø could say something, "What the fuck, Lincoln!?"

"Relax, boss," Lincoln replied, not fazed in the slightest, "I can vouch for Squat, he knows his way around a fight."

"Now that's a lot more exciting," Millie pulled out her weapons, "sorry boss, but I gotta go with Linky's plan for this one!"

She jumped off and headed to the mansion to join in the fight. Moxxie followed after his wife to provide backup, and Blitzø sighed as he and Lincoln followed behind them.

Back inside, Bruno could hear the sound of combat and he was nervously sitting by the camera screens inside his panic room, trying to find out who was attacking, how many there were, and where his girlfriend was.

He heard some knocking on the door of the panic room, and he could hear his girlfriend frantically call for him to let her inside. Bruno headed to the door and scrambled to get it open.

"Goddamn it, babe, what took you so long!?" he asked exasperatedly as the door slowly swung open. Bruno was about to meet with her when a flash of steel came by and his girl's head immediately got sent tumbling over her shoulder and in front of his feet, "Holy shit!" His time to process this sudden change of events was literally cut short as he could feel the cold steel run through his abdomen.

Millie was cutting through some goons in the kitchen and having a grand ol' time, and was about to get on with the carnage elsewhere when she heard a loud noise come from a door in the back. Cautiously, she approached the door, and was about to open it when her ears picked up the sound of some sort of whirring machinery, something deep and big.

She jumped backwards as the door was smashed through and Millie blocked the fragments and splinters flying her way as she came face-to-face with a huge seven-foot-tall bipedal machine standing like a giant in front of her. The robot raised its fist and attempted to hit her, but Millie dodged as the large metal hand shattered the central counter in the kitchen.

Millie jumped on top of the big machine and tried to stab it in the neck, but it didn't reach very deep into the few little gaps in the armor that she could see, and the big machine grabbed her and threw her across the room and into a cupboard.

Moxxie entered just as Millie was thrown into a cupboard, "Millie!" Moxxie aimed his gun to where he saw her being thrown from and saw the huge robot turning to him, "Crumbs…"

Lincoln and Squat were mopping up the last of the goons out around the pool area, with Blitzø hanging back while other people did the work for him, catching up to a straggler who was attempting to crawl away, trailing his own blood as he did so, "Today's just not your lucky day, is it, buddy?" he pulled back the hammer on his flintlock pistol before blowing his dome with a point-blank behind his head.

Just then, some loud noises came from inside the mansion, and they looked towards the direction that it came from.

"Lincoln, you stay here," Blitzø instructed as he loaded another shot, "Squat, you and I will go check it out, come on!"

Lincoln turned to Squat, "Be careful man, that didn't sound too reassuring."

Squat slung his large battle axe over his shoulder as he proceeded to follow after the head of I. M. P. who rushed to see what was happening with his employees, "We'll give you a holler if you're needed, long-ears."

Blitzø was running down a corridor when another of those machines burst through a door and caused the imp to stumble back as it turned towards him. On its arms were a set of gun barrels arranged in a rotary pattern which took aim at Blitzø, who barely dodged as it let out a short burst of bullets that shredded the floor and wall just behind him.

He fired a shot which fruitlessly bounced off the plating, and the robot adjusted its aim and was about to fire again when Squat jumped up and veered it away as it let its destructive salvo onto the nearby wall, before Blitzø reached into his pants and pulled out a missile launcher labeled "My Dick" and aimed it at the big guy, "Yo Squat, get out of the way cause I'm about to fuck him up!" Squat jumped off as Blitzø fired a shot.

The missile struck true and exploded, sending the big machine hurtling back and slamming against the wall and sliding down onto the floor.

Blitzø ran up to the machine and lifted the head up to find none other than Cletus, the former field leader of the C. H. E. R. U. B. team who tried, and failed, to bring salvation to the life of one Lyle Lipton.

"Well, fancy meeting you here, fucknuts," Blitzø had a snide tone of voice as he said this.

"Shut it, Imp!" Cletus retorted, "We've been waiting for this day for months, and now I can splatter your carcass and paint your fucking blood on these walls!"

"Well, isn't that a lovely mental image?" Blitzø loaded a round in his pistol, "But me and the crew have no time to be your art piece." He took aim at Cletus' head and prepared to fire, when another of those robots showed up and was about to strike him, and he only dodged it when Squat tackled him out of the way.

From the other machine came the voice of Collin, "Are you okay, Cletus?"

"I'm fine!" he bellowed, "Just get them!"

Collin turned his armaments towards Squat & Blitzø's direction and unleashed a fusillade at the fleeing Imps, barely avoiding the flurry of bullets coming their way as they rounded a corner.

In another section of the mansion, Moxxie and Millie were trying to keep on their toes as they were trying to fight against the large war machine trying to tear them apart, screaming with the voice of the Cherub Keenie.

"Get closer so I can pulverize your asses, you pussies!" she screamed as she swung the arms of her robot armor, smashing the furniture as the married imps ducked, dodged and danced around her, "I'M GOING TO SKULLFUCK YOU!"

Millie brought out her battle axe since it was evident that heavier weaponry would be required for this occasion, signaling to her husband that she needed a clear opening if she was going to work her brutal touch on this sucker.

Moxxie nodded and kept firing his rifle at the face or perhaps the cockpit of the machine the Cherub was riding in, drawing her attention with his bullets ricocheting harmlessly off the head but confusing her and getting her all wound up and diverting her away from his wife for a minute.

That minute was ample time for Millie to get in a cheap shot on the back of one of the robot armor's legs.

Keenie fell to one leg, putting a stop to her offensive, Millie followed by hacking at the shoulder section connecting the arm to the torso. It didn't fall off, but it seems Millie had damaged it somewhat as it hung limply on the side of the body.

"Get off you scumbag!" Keenie managed to grab Millie with her other arm and tossed her in the direction of her husband.

Moxxie managed to catch her and seeing Keenie prepare to fire again, he rushed out of there as fast as he could.

The four Imps met again as they ran in from opposite ends of the building.

"About time you two showed up!" Blitzø exclaimed, "And this is no time for romantic gestures, Mox, we got a situation!"

"Yeah, well so do we!" Moxxie replied back.

Collin appeared and aimed his armaments at them, "Hold it right there!"

Keenie appeared as well, looking battered but still ready to fight, "You're surrounded you little twats!"

"Any ideas, boss?" Squat asked, holding his axes close by and at the ready, still ready to spring into action at the first motion the Cherubs might do.

"Just hold your ass, will ya!" Blitzø was exasperated as he tried to think of something, "Fuck, I should have brought an extra round if I knew something like this shit would happen!"

Just before Keenie could fire, Lincoln swooped in and struck her with his weapon, sending the big robot to the floor before she could cause any trouble.

"What the fuck!?" Keenie turned to see what looked like a white-haired human whose eyes seemed to burn with a demonic power, now this was an unexpected turn.

"Ha! You're in for it now, you skanky bitch!" Blitzø hollered, "Tear her head off, Hellhare!"

Lincoln swung low like a golfer and knocked the helmet right off, revealing Keenie as she ducked from the blow and was still in a panic.

"Keenie! Get away from her!" Collin shouted back as he aimed and fired a burst of shots at Lincoln.

"Bogies at three o'clock, boy," B-G warned him, and Lincoln responded with a swift swing that sent the rounds flying harmlessly elsewhere. The rabbit then leapt forward and in a single bound he slammed his foot on Collin's armor and sent it tumbling down the floor on its back.

Cletus flew in from nearby and pulled out his crossbow, only to find what looked like a human fighting against Collin and pinning him down, "Who the fuck are you!?" he screamed as he shot some bolts at Lincoln.

Lincoln had never seen a being quite like Cletus, who definitely fit the bill of those angel babies that pass for Cherubs in art that he sees everywhere, "Who are these guys, Blitzø?"

"Eh, some old shitbird that me, Mills and Mox had a run with before we met you," he explained, rather casually like he was recalling a troublesome pest, which the Cherubs kind of were to him and the I. M. P. crew, "Deal with them, will you?"

Lincoln smashed the bolts away and swung down towards the Cherub leader, who swooped to the side to avoid the hit as the floor beneath them cratered from the impact.

Keenie had rushed in from behind and started biting his ankle.

"Ow! Get off you little bugger!" Lincoln kicked his leg towards Cletus, throwing Keenie into a tackle against him and slamming them against the wall.

Inside of Collin's armor, he was frantically trying to call their new friend for aid, "Now would be a good time for you to show up!"

Lincoln was about to strike at the two downed Cherubs again when a blade from nearby intercepted his attack, and then he felt the wind knocked out of his body as he felt something blunt and narrow whack him on the waist and send him rolling away.

"Oh great, now what!?" Blitzø asked annoyingly as everyone turned towards the person who attacked Lincoln.

It was a hooded man wearing a long coat with a hood that covered his head, wearing a white mask on his face. He was armed with what appeared to be an old-fashioned cavalry saber and its scabbard, the latter being what he used to strike at Lincoln.

"This looks like a spot of trouble," Squat commented, sizing up the newcomer who was now picking a fight with Hellhare.

"So, it is true…" the hooded figure spoke out loud, looking Lincoln up and down, "But you won't fool me, demon."

"I'm sorry, do I know you?" Lincoln asked, confused by how the figure seemed to regard him with familiarity.

"That won't matter when I am done with you." He swung for Lincoln's neck with such speed that Hellhare had barely drawn in a breath before managing to block it in time with his staff.

The force got Lincoln off his footing and he stumbled to the side as his opponent pushed him into the door of a nearby room, splintering the door apart as they continued fighting inside.

"The Templar will be taking care of your friend," Cletus responded as he turned his attention to the imps, "leaving just you dickheads."

"Much as I'd love the chance to throw down with you again," Blitzø reached behind for a gun hidden in the back of his pants, "you guys really are cutting into our time we could be spending getting that Costa jerk."

"You talking about that loser and his annoying girl?" Keenie flew up and taunted Blitzø in his face, "The Templar's taken care of that so we can deal with you assholes ourselves."

Now that was astonishing for Blitzø, he really didn't peg the Cherubs, or any type of angel for that matter, as being able to kill a guy, "Shit on a stick, you guys killed him? Saves us the trouble then, you guys sure became twisted after we messed up your plans, huh?"

"Understatement of the century!" Collin shouted as his armor rose back up, "But now we can finally put an end to you lot and keep the world safe from killers like you!"

"You think you're some superhero or something?" Blitzø retorted, "maybe wear a cape next time, or some spandex tights or something."

"Don't you ever shut up? Collin, waste him!" Cletus instructed at his teammate.

Collin aimed his guns at the Imps as Blitzø fired a shot at the head, distracting Collin whose shots veered off course as the Imps dashed behind a corner.

"After them!" Cletus shouted as he, Keenie, and Collin in his armor pursued them.

In the other room, Lincoln and the Templar found themselves inside a game room with a billiard table, where Lincoln found himself slowly being pushed towards as the Templar swung his saber at him with near-blinding speed.

"Can't we talk this over!?" Lincoln cried out in between all the strikes as he bumped into the edge of the billiard table.

"I don't negotiate with demons," The Templar replied with a deadpan tone without missing a beat on his sword swings.

Lincoln grabbed the edge of the table, gripping it with such strength that he cracked and deformed the mahogany of the wood, and managed to get the whole table to block his attack. The Templar's saber dug deep into the wood and got stuck in the process, which allowed Lincoln to get a brief second of respite that allowed him to swing his mace at him and floored his enemy.

Hellhare lifted the table up with both hands and prepared to slam it on his opponent, who rolled away just as it broke through the floor and made a fairly deep hole in it. The Templar managed to pull the saber out of the wood and attempted to hit Lincoln, who blocked it in time with his staff.

"Time for you to reveal yourself," The Templar pulled out a small crucifix, and chanted a little something under his breath, then he held it against his palm and struck Lincoln square in the chest. Lincoln was thrown back and he was immediately transformed back into his Sinner form.

This surprised Lincoln, "The fuck is this!?"

B-G's voice was rather serious upon this development, "He's not fooling around boy, better step up."

Molly had lost track of I. M. P. around the general area of Costa's mansion, but the sound of battle coming from within had gotten her attention, not to mention the tracking app she had showed that Cletus, Keenie and Collin were inside. Realizing this she was fearful of the idea that her coworkers and the man resembling Warren were somehow coming to blows, and she couldn't allow either of them to come to harm until she got the answers she wanted.

As for her aforementioned coworkers, they were doing battle around the halls of the mansion until they split up to fight the Imps separately. Keenie and Millie came into a large bedroom, presumably the master bedroom of the place; Keenie attacked with a large mace that glowed with a dim yellow light, and it hummed with an energy that made a distorted noise with every attempted attack. Millie avoided and blocked the attacks from Keenie's weapon as they dueled around the edges of the room, feeling rather disoriented by the force that seemed to be coming from the Cherub's mace.

Blitzø and Cletus were exchanging fire between each other behind some tables and couches they turned into makeshift cover. Bolts and bullets flew through the air as they tried to hurt each other in between flinging insults.

Both Squat and Moxxie were dealing with Collin, which might have seemed like an unfair advantage were it not for the fact Collin was safely in his battle armor, and he was able to keep up with Squat even as he swarmed him with the swings of the battle-axe he brought along, while Moxxie kept his distance and kept shooting at Collin where he thought there was a weak spot.

The fight between Lincoln and the Templar continued to get intense as the Hellhare was forced out of a nearby window and rolled to the side of the swimming pool. He used his staff to brace himself as he stood back up.

"Hanging on there, kid?" B-G asked.

"Yeah," Lincoln was breathing heavily, "The guy moves like a fly, but his stings fucking hurt."

"I would think he would," the ring commented, "Considering the source of those stings come from razor-sharp steel; incoming, boy."

Lincoln managed to block the Templar who was coming towards him, and then Lincoln kneed him in the belly, disorienting him and then giving him a kick that threw the masked man aside. While he was rising up Lincoln tried to follow up with a mighty overhead blow to finish him off; which he never did when the Templar used his scabbard and thrust it into Hellhare's abdomen, pushing him back and sending the rabbit demon into the pool.

Hellhare was scrambling beneath the water, but the Templar had another trick up his sleeve, when he pulled out his little crucifix again, chanting a spell before dipping it into the pool, causing the temperature to rapidly decrease as the water turned into ice. Lincoln could see the ice come for him and he rushed upwards as fast as he could to escape the incoming deep-freeze.

He managed to emerge, but only up to his shoulders, and the flash freeze trapped him in place, unable to move as he tried his darndest to pull himself free.

With his prey stuck, the Templar casually approached him and prepared the killing blow.

The Templar was now looming over Lincoln, the tip of his saber aimed just below his chin, "Any last words, hellspawn?"

"C-Can't we talk this over?" was all Lincoln could say, feeling like he could sweat if it weren't for the cold.

"Relax, I'll make it quick," the Templar stepped back and sheathed his blade, and then he crouched as he prepared to pull a quick-draw iaido slash at him, "Die!"

Before he could make the cut, Molly suddenly rushed in front of Lincoln, shielding him from the Templar's attack, "Stop!"

He stopped mid-swing before the blade could make contact, and he paused as he considered what this interloper was doing, "Who are you?"

"Leave him alone!" She responded, standing defiantly and without fear in her stance or expression.

Well, this was an irritating development, "If you don't move I will cut you down for protecting him!"

"Just try!" She said, calling his bluff.

This simplified things for him, so he made the motion to attack and cut her down so that he can get this terrible business with the Hellhare over with.

But Lincoln had other ideas, "Molly!" He felt a burst of energy and he broke through the ice in a burst of frost and icicles that threw Molly and his enemy away. He managed to catch Molly in his arms and then he rushed at the Templar and tackled him with such force that he got thrown back into the mansion through a window, and near the feet of Collin who managed to get Squat off of him.

"Are you okay!?" Collin asked as he stood over his compatriot, aiming his weapon at Hellhare.

"I'm… uh, I'll live," he responded, trying to get back up.

Lincoln put Molly down and jumped inside, his weapon drawn, "All right, I've had enough, let's finish this!"

Suddenly, a bright light shown from behind the window, a light so bright it seemed to block any view of the outside.

"Oh my stars and garters, it's C. H. E. R. U. B.! They must have found us!" Collin exclaimed, a bit of panic in his voice.

"Fuck!" Keenie flew in to join the Templar and Collin, with Cletus following behind her, "They must have noticed our signature during the fight, we've been making too much trouble here!"

The Templar stood back up and turned to his angelic companions, "Is that bad?"

"We can't get caught by them now," Cletus warned, "Come on, we have to get out of here."

"Hmph," the Templar put his sword away, "You got lucky today, demon, but we will meet again." He grabbed his crucifix, chanted a spell and then a circle of light formed on the floor beneath them and rose upwards, the bodies of the Templar and the Cherubs vanishing slowly into the air.

"Heh-hey, Hellhare!" Blitzø stepped in from the hallway that Cletus and Keenie entered from, followed by Millie.

"Hey, what's with the light show?" Millie asked.

Outside, and in the few minutes that passed while Lincoln went inside, a portal to Heaven had opened and Molly had to shield her eyes from the radiance before it dimmed ever so slightly and she could see one of C. H. E. R. U. B.'s senior members – Deerie.

"D-Deerie?" Molly was so caught up with the business involving the man, and as she found out – demon – who looked like Warren that she had forgotten about watching out for the amount of time she was on Earth, and now it looked like she was found out.

"Well, well, well," Deerie began with that incessantly irritating holier-than-thou tone of voice she had, "what do we have here, a little spider who's decided to wander down to places they're not supposed to?" she tutted disapprovingly.

"Miss Deerie!" She tried to remain calm, maybe Collin was exaggerating and she wouldn't be as merciless as she thought she was.

"Hello…" she couldn't remember who she was, Deerie was far too busy to bother remembering names, "…you, whatever your name was."

"It… It's Molly, I work on third?" she replied, then straightened herself up, "Look, I know this looks bad, but I can explain!"

"Oh, no no no no no," the Deer Cherub responded back, "you being down here explains enough, Molly."

"What do you mean?" Deerie's smile didn't inspire any warmth in Molly, in fact it was like staring at a plastic doll that smiled because of obligation rather than something genuine.

"I came down here because our sensors detected a very odd spike of something familiar, and we couldn't have any loose cannons come and make a big mess for no reason," she pulled out a phone with the same app Molly had on it, "They don't seem to be here anymore, though."

"Are you talking about Cletus and his team?" Molly asked.

"Who?" she suddenly had a spark of recollection, "Ah, yes, the recent excommunicates, very tragic what they did, I thought Cletus would have been more on-top of it."

"But it wasn't their fault!" She protested, "I know them, they wouldn't willingly do this sort of thing!"

"So?" came Deerie's reply, "whether they did it because they wanted to or not isn't the point, it's what they allowed to happen, and such errors aren't permitted from Heaven's finest, you know. But now that I'm here, they aren't my main concern, you are."

That sent a chill up Molly's spine, "M-me?"

"I'm not a dummy, you know," she pointed an accusatory hoof at Molly, "You've come down here without an agent accompanying you, now why in the world would you do…" imaginary cogs began to turn in Deerie's head and soon she started to piece together the full picture, "Oh, I see what we're doing here."

Molly feared the worst but she tried not to show it, "What are you talking about?"

"You came down here thinking to get those goof-offs back to Heaven, didn't you?" she made the shaming gesture with her hands towards her, tutting once more, but this time with an even more condescending grin, "I believe they covered it in orientation but as you know no Afterlifer is permitted down here without an accompanying agent, and unfortunately it seems you've decided to come here for, well, I think we both know the answer to that, don't we?"

Before she could reply, Deerie cut her off, not wanting to have anyone disrupt the flow of her monologue, "We don't allow excommunicates back to Heaven, no ifs, ands or buts about it."

Deerie snapped her finger and a halo appeared above Molly's head, "I'll be taking that, thank you!"

"H-Hey!" Molly tried to retrieve it, but was unable to as Deerie floated out of her reach.

"You won't be needing this, anymore," Deerie took the halo in both hands and then placed her foot on the bottom, then with sufficient force, the golden ring snapped in two, and Molly reverted back to her Afterlifer form.

From the mansion, Lincoln and the Imps were watching everything unfold.

"Shit, she's as harsh as ever," Blitzø whispered under his breath, peeking up from beside the window.

"Poor girl, paying for trying to do the right thing, a tale as old as time," Squat lamented.

B-G could sense that his charge was feeling his emotions rise again, "You all right, boy?"

Lincoln asked the ring demon for info on what seemed to be occurring, "That's the lady from earlier, and she saved my life… what is she, B-G?"

"Judging by her halo, I'd say that she's an Afterlifer from Heaven, Bunny," B-G explained, then continued, "An Atoner, like a Sinner, but who resides in Heaven and enjoys the splendor of Paradise. But judging by how this is going, I don't think she'll be able to enjoy it for much longer."

"Please, you can't do this! I haven't done anything wrong!" Molly pleaded, her eyes in tears and thoroughly in the throes of despair.

"Hey, I don't make the rules, I just enforce them, Minnie." Deerie had already forgotten her name, not really interested in dealing with her now, "So you should have thought of that before you went and did this naughty thing."

"N-no…" Molly fell to her knees, and she tried to staunch the flow of tears coming over her.

"Well, looks like she's shit out of luck," Blitzø turned to signal Loona to get a portal going, "well, that's not out problem, come on, gang."

Moxxie placed a hand on Lincoln's shoulder, "Come on, Lincoln, there's nothing we can do."

Lincoln couldn't help but shake a little at the scene occurring in front of him.

Millie placed a hand on his shoulder from the other side, "Lincoln, honey, come on, we have to go."

But Lincoln wasn't paying attention, he was just watching, watching the lady who got harassed by an annoying stranger, and who now seemed to be losing everything to that annoying deer-faced prick.

"Lincoln," B-G started to warn him, "I know what you are thinking, but you really shouldn't meddle in this."

Naturally, he made up his mind about meddling in this.

Lincoln jumped through the window and shook his fist at Deerie, "Hey, you can't do that, you little tramp!"

Deerie rolled her eyes as she put her smile back on, "Oh great, what n-" she turned around and gasped in horror at what she saw, "Aaagh!"

Lincoln was momentarily taken aback, "Um, I'm not that ugly…"

"Wha- who… why?" It took Deerie a bit of time to find her words, but when she did, there was an outrage that only a Karen would normally be capable of in her voice and in her expression, "What is the meaning of this!?"

"Pardon me?" Now Lincoln was confused and not sure what she was trying to say.

"Sinners are forbidden on Earth!" She screamed, her voice rising with her anger, "Why are you here? Who brought you here? What horrible things are you up to? You know what, it doesn't matter, I'm calling the Exorcists!" Deerie rushed back through the portal and it closed up.

B-G sighed, "Dammit, boy."

"S-sorry, B-G," was all Lincoln could say, realizing he did something terribly reckless.

"The fuck was that all about!?" Blitzø shouted as he and the other imps came out to check up on him.

Squat shook his head in disbelief, "Oh, you done it now boy."

"What were you thinking you long-eared shit!" Blitzø exclaimed, chastising Hellhare, "You can't just go shaking your fist at Angels up here!"

"S-sorry," Lincoln replied rather half-heartedly.

"I don't normally agree with Blitzø on… well, a lot of things," Moxxie started, "But you really shouldn't have run out here just because you felt outrage for this, uh, young lady."

"And you, who do you are butting in on our job, you harlot!" Blitzø pointed and wagged his finger accusatorily at Molly.

Lincoln came to her defense, getting in between her and his boss, "Hey, lay off her Blitzø, none of this is her fault."

"I'd beg to differ," Blitzø muttered under his breath as he turned aside, "We gotta get back before we all get vaporized by those masked motherfuckers from Paradise." He took his phone and called up his daughter.

Molly was still in a state of confusion as she basically lost her home for several decades and now here she was, surrounded by imps and this Sinner who looked like Warren. Lincoln knelt down next to her, a warm expression on his face as he tried to allay whatever concerns she might have had in that particular moment, "Don't worry, whatever happens, I'll take care of you."

The softness in his eyes, the familiar voice, that old chivalrous concern he had for her, that felt like all she needed to know about this demon who resembled Warren; no, who in her heart she could feel was Warren, and he came back for her.

"Hey, hold on a minute there, buster!" Blitzø hurriedly protested, "You aren't going anywhere or doing anything with this busybody!"

"I am not abandoning her here, Blitzø!" Lincoln snapped back, standing between her and his boss once more.

Blitzø pinched the bridge of his nose, "She's the reason you decided to muck up our operation back at the coffee shop!"

"Hey, I know that was on me, but you can't blame her for my mistakes!" Lincoln leaned in and wasn't backing down from Blitzø.

"We are an assassination service, bunny!" Blitzø started back in response, "We are supposed to be in the business of ending people up here, not taking in stray souls who're clearly too stupid to stay in their lane!"

Squat suddenly butted in, pushing Hellhare and Blitzø back away from each other, "Hey, hey, hey! Look, as riveting as your little argument is, fellas, we really shouldn't be sticking around for those Exorcists to come and torch us all! Let's just head back to the office and then we'll sort things out from there, and we'll be taking the lady with us, too."

Blitzø attempted to protest, "But…"

"Zip it!" Squat quashed Blitzø's chance to speak further, "We'll let the boy handle her and none of it will be on your dime, all right?"

"I, that's…" Blitzø groaned in annoyance, "fine! It's not my head on the line if something happens by bringing her along!"

A phone call later and the imps and Hellhare, with Molly in tow, were back inside the office of I. M. P. after an exceptionally-harrowing operation.

Loona quickly jumped up on Lincoln and started licking him eagerly, but then she noticed the newcomer following behind him. They locked eyes and Loona immediately started to growl at her. Molly stepped back a little, frightened by the angry-looking dog-woman.

Lincoln started stroking her hair, calming her down, "Easy girl, she means us no harm."

"N-nice doggie…" Molly responded sheepishly.

"All right, this has been one fucking shitstorm of a day and I need myself a big ol' drink," Blitzø slogged towards the door, "Just lock up when you're done."

Squat proceeded towards the door as well, "I'll admit, this has been a day of very unexpected developments. But unlike your boss, I thought that was a swell bit of roughhousing tonight, and I'm always up for a good scrape, and just now, I've had my fill of two!" He guffawed heartily as he patted his belly, "Gonna go back to Master Stolas now, I need to go make my report." Squat headed out, his laughter echoing as he did so.

Moxxie turned to Lincoln, "Well, Lincoln, I sure hope this was worth it."

"It'll be fine, Uncle Mox," he turned towards Loona, who was sniffing Molly and looking wary, "I promise this won't interfere with my duties here."

Millie walked up beside him and patted Lincoln on the back, "Just let us know if you need anything, all right, nephew?"

Lincoln nodded, "Will do, Aunt Millie, will do."

Lincoln, Loona and Molly had returned to his residence in the park, making sure to look around and over his shoulder in case anyone thought about ambushing them or thinking that Molly would be some prize to mug, or worse.

Lincoln directed Loona to go inside and prep another space for Molly to rest in, he turned to the Spider, "Now it may not look like much, but I've made it as cozy as I possibly could, and we rarely get troublemakers around these parts, so you should be fine."

Molly smiled softly at him, "I'm sure it'll be fine, thank you, Warren."

"Warren?" that confused Lincoln somewhat, "Um, my name is Lincoln."

"What?" Now this was unexpected for her, "But, but…" this couldn't be right, "Warren, it's me, don't you remember?"

Lincoln shook his head, "I'm sorry, I… I really don't know you…"

Molly suddenly thought of something pertinent that happened earlier, "But you knew my name! You shouted it when that masked man was about to strike me."

Lincoln blinked a few times, but he realized she was right; when she stood there, standing up for him, something in the back of his head just instinctively knew who she was, and when that masked warrior was about to cut her down, he knew he had to do something, "I don't know how I knew that, I've never seen you before, but you look so… familiar. But I know I've never met you before until tonight."

She frowned, "Are… are you sure?"

Lincoln nodded, "I know... and I don't know why I knew your name. Something is telling me you're important but I can't figure out why." He sighed and headed inside, "I'm too tired to figure it out now. I need to sleep."

Once inside, Loona had prepared a couch for Molly; he sat on his bed, "Molly, you go have the couch, that fight took a lot out of me and I need, uh…" the fatigue of the battle was finally catching up and he was feeling out-of-breath.

"That's okay War-" Molly stopped herself, "sorry, Lincoln."

After about half an hour after Lincoln and Molly fell asleep, Lincoln was stirred by someone and he turned to see Loona standing above him, "Loona? What is the matter?"

Loona says nothing and walks by, but before heading out the door, she turns to him, "Lincoln, outside. Now."

Lincoln followed Loona out, the hound gritted her teeth as she faced him, "Who is she?"

Lincoln took a deep breath, "I don't know."

That obviously annoyed her, "Don't you say that! You know enough to bring her here!"

"Keep it down, Loona." He said, shushing rather audibly, "Look... I can't believe I'm doing this either but I can't help but feel that helping out this girl is something I need to do."

Loona crossed her arms, "If you wanted another girl to fuck, you could find literally anyone else in Hell."

"It isn't that!" He waved his hands defensively, "I... look, why don't you lay in bed with me, would that make you feel better?"

She looked aside, blushing and rubbing one of her arms, "It would... for now."

Lincoln walked up to her and gave his dog a hug, and she responded in kind, "You know, I was enjoying you not speaking so much the past couple of weeks."

Loona chuckled lightheartedly, "As if I have any say over your whims."

Lincoln ruffled her hair gently, "Now Loona... you know I care about you." He took hold of her hands, "I'm sorry I brought this new girl here so fast but this is an emergency. She needed help and, well, she helped me out up there when I was in a real pickle, so I kind of owe her, you know?" Loona nuzzled into his chest, drawing a light chuckle from him, "You seemed so calm earlier."

"Yeah," she started, "because I thought you were going to ditch her somewhere."

The door to the trailer opened, and a timid-faced Molly stood by the door frame, "Am... am I being a burden to you both?"

Lincoln turned to Molly real quick, and then back to Loona, looking the Hellhound in the eye as an unspoken understanding formed between them, then Lincoln walked towards Molly, "It's fine, Miss Molly, me and my girl here were just having a little chat about uh, accommodations."

"I'm sorry, I really have no excuse for just imposing myself on you," she twiddled her fingers, "I just… I really don't know where I can go, this is all so frightening and I'm stressed out and I don't know what I'm going to do and… and…" she pressed her face and started sobbing.

"And we will figure this all out tomorrow, Molly." Lincoln gently wrapped his arms around her, "Hush, it's okay, it's okay, I won't let anything happen to you, I know that it is pretty scary, but we won't let anything bad happen to you, right Loona?"

Lincoln glanced back at Loona, and seeing how distraught Molly was, she couldn't help but feel a little guilty with how she viewed her just earlier. Sighing, Loona walked next to them and placed a reassuring hand on Molly's shoulder, "Hey, uh, Molly, was it? Look, I'm sorry about how I acted, it's just… Lincoln is someone special to me, and I'm a little protective of him."

"A little?" Lincoln said with a raised brow and a wry smile.

"Shut up," Loona blushed, before clearing her throat, "I'll do my best to help you too, but Lincoln's my first priority, so you better pull your weight around here, got it?"

Molly wiped her face, and smiled at both Lincoln and his Hellhound pet, "T-thank you, I… I promise I'll do my best."

Keenie slammed her fists on a desk, "We were so fucking close!"

Collin swooped down and caught a glass that scooted forward and fell from the table because of her outburst, "Keenie, language! And take it easy, just be glad Deerie didn't catch us out there again."

"I need a drink, where's that Rothschild?" Keenie flew towards the fridge to find some wine.

Cletus was brooding on the window sill, resting an arm on his knee and propping up his face on his palm, sighing.

Collin floated next to him, "Cletus, you okay? Do you need me to get you anything?"

"Just leave me alone, Collin." Cletus replied, not looking towards his coworker.

Seeing them do their own thing, Collin fluttered towards the Templar, who was in his room nursing some bruises he had sustained in his fight with Lincoln.

"I was worried for you, you know," Collin said as he floated next to him.

"I've dealt with his kind before, it is nothing new," the Templar finished applying some topical on his body.

"You think you'll be able to beat him next time?" Collin asked, worried for his former charge.

"Whatever hasn't killed me I can learn to fight more effectively next time," the Templar arose and stepped out into the living room, "Now, do you guys want to get pizza or something?"

In Stolas' mansion, the imp Squat had finished giving the owl demon the debriefing of everything that had occurred as he recounted them.

"The rabbit's a natural at this sort of thing, Boss," he explained, "I don't think there's anything to worry about as far as he's concerned."

"Quite good..." Stolas then noted about the newcomer they brought back with them in a hurry, "what do you know about this new girl he collected?"

"Well, it all happened rather quick," Squat explained, igniting a cigar he had on him, "but it looks like a soul from Heaven, decided to come down to Earth for reasons I didn't stick around to find out, and now Hellhare's responsible for her."

Stolas tapped his beak as he thought about this, "His chivalrous attitude is a nice thing, but I do wish he'd spend more time with my Via... she's so much happier around him."

"I'm sure he'll find the time for her at some point sir," he puffed out a ring of smoke that he sent flying off to the side, "perhaps after she comes home from her Mother's, maybe you could help her set up a little get-together for a night."

Stolas was struck with a moment of inspiration, "Hmm... maybe I could hire him to guard the house while I step out for the day?"

Squat smiled at the idea, "Sounds like a lovely idea, me and my Squadmates would be glad to have him around."

"I'll make the necessary arrangements soon," Stolas turned around on his seat, "That'll be all, Squat, you are dismissed."

"Aye-aye, Sir."

Pardon for the long delay, loyal readers, I've been busy moving to a new residence and wrote this whenever I had some free time, which wasn't a lot.

So, six of Lincoln's harem girls are now within reach, we've got developments on what happened with the Cherubs, and a new challenger has come for our favorite Hellhare, I wonder who he could be?

Well, expect a bit of a wait as of this time of writing, as I'm going to take a sabbatical to recharge my creative energies, in the meantime, help support my little brother, Mr-Dusk, by dropping a fave and a save on his fanfiction.

Also, I'll be a bit more specific on any ideas for suggestions; in this case, anyone have any ideas on how you would like the next Octavia chapter to unfold? As long as none of you suggest anything… out-there, I'm sure I can use it in some capacity.

Until next time.