This is an emotional drama Helluva Boss oneshot, involving mainly Blitzo and Moxxie.
This is based on what might have occurred after the ending of 'Western Energy', where Stolas texted Blitzo while in hospital.
As before (in Truth Seekers), Moxxie is there for a downcast Blitzo. I hope that you guys like it!
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The corridor outside Stolas's hospital room ...
A miserable Blitzo sat on a hospital bench, his back to the wall, and posture slumped. The boss imp was currently staring bleakly at Stolas's recent text messages to him, on his phone.
Moxxie, who was sitting two spaces to the right of Blitzo, on the same bench ... looked at his boss anxiously. The hospital corridor was entirely empty except for two demons ... just them, the bench, Stolas's door, and a closed window opposite Blitzo.
The smaller imp had a sympathetic and understanding expression on his face as he watched the other demon silently flounder in clear anguish. Blitzo hadn't taken the news of Stolas's severe injuries and near death well at all!
That was why Millie had taken Loona home, and asked her husband to keep an eye on Blitzo during his visit to the hospital. The aforementioned boss then sighed and typed a few letters into the chatbox ... but suddenly grimaced, his eyelids closing tightly!
Muttering inaudibly, Blitzo immediately deleted the started text and closed the phone with a snap. He then stuffed it into a pocket quickly, sniffling a little.
Blitzo then started to rock back and forth slowly ... eyes still shut. Moxxie's sympathetic expression instantly changed to one of worry!
Having an abusive family background, the smaller imp sadly knew enough about emotional breakdowns to recognise one when he saw it! Moxxie had to do SOMETHING!
The aforementioned imp then started to cautiously inch his way along the bench to Blitzo ... and stopped next to him. The boss imp didn't even notice Moxxie at all; too lost in his own misery.
Moxxie then began to pat Blitzo on the back tentatively and comfortingly. Blitzo immediately tensed up at the first pat, causing the worried Moxxie to stop momentarily ... out of awkwardness and fear.
But as the smaller imp resumed patting, Blitzo slowly relaxed; leaning into Moxxie's patting hand.
"Don't worry, boss ... Prince Stolas will be all right soon enough!" Moxxie said, soothingly. "Demon royals are pretty tough, he'll be fine! Right as hell rain! You'll see, sir!"
It was true ... royal demons were incredibly durable and strong. Even when injured. But the boss imp just shook his head, still rocking back and forth.
"You don't understand, Mox! It's all my fault, all my fault ..." Blitzo murmured. Tears began to pool and fall from his shut eyes.
"Satan bloody darn it!" the boss imp cursed, punching the bench with his right fist. "If I hadn't been such a sentimental idiot and ruined things, Stolas's ex-wife wouldn't have hired Striker to hurt him!"
Moxxie blinked in pure shock, horror appearing on his face in an instant!
"W-Wait, what?!" he stammered in disbelief. "You mean ... STELLA?! But ... how do you know, sir?" Blitzo just sighed and slowly stopped rocking back and forth.
"When you've been in this business long enough, Mox ... you tend to recognise subtle clues and little 'tells' from the jobs that point to the clients who hire you", he said flatly.
"There's only one being in Hell with enough hatred of Stolas to pull a stunt like this," Blitzo continued, opening his eyes. "Stella."
Moxxie just blinked at his boss, still aghast by the allegation. Though ... Blitzo was never one to make VAGUE allegations! The boss imp carried on talking, still leaning into the comfort of Moxxie's patting hand.
"What happened to that prince earlier ... 'Injuries' is not the word to describe it, Moxxie!" Blitzo clenched his claws tightly, knuckles showing in both of his fists!
"Stolas was TORTURED! I know that this is Hell and what, but what happened to him was INDEMON! Very INDEMON, in my opinion!"
'Indemon' wasn't a word that hell's denizens used very often, but in this circumstance ... both Blitzo and Moxxie agreed with its use.
"Can you seriously believe that someone's spouse, or ex-spouse, would try to murder them so brutally?" Moxxie's expression then changed to a very depressed one, and his posture slumped ... just like Blitzo's.
"... yes", he said quietly ... and sadly. The smaller imp stopped patting his boss's back, and just stared at the opposite wall blankly.
Blitzo, momentarily distracted from his breakdown, realised that his rant ... had unintentionally reminded Moxxie of his tragic childhood. Of the loss of Moxxie's poor mother.
"I'm sorry", the boss imp said quietly, reaching out to give his employee a couple of pats on the back. Moxxie, in return, gives Blitzo a watery, comforting smile ... tears brimming in his eyes, before he hastily wipes them away.
Blitzo then sighs again.
"Remember that night that I told you about, back in the past?" he suddenly said. "The night when I got the book from Stolas?"
The smaller imp nodded slowly, looking slightly confused as to why his boss was bringing it up now.
"Well ... when I was leaving, I actually fell off Stolas's balcony, and onto a table below! One that his wife was sitting on!" Blitzo muttered, flushing a bit.
Moxxie just rolled his eyes, smirking slightly. He and Millie had often exchanged more than one joke after work about their boss's occasional 'clumsiness'.
The aforementioned imp though ... wasn't smiling at all. Blitzo was frowning, in fact!
"I was a bit groggy from the fall, and so I ... I ..."
"Yes?" Moxxie asked, a little too eagerly. The boss imp's frown turned quickly into a scowl.
"I accidentally and stupidly blurted out my then one-time affair to Stella, directly", Blitzo said bluntly. The smaller imp's smirk was gone in an instant; replaced with shame and understanding!
Oh. So that's why he thinks it's all his fault, Moxxie thought to himself.
The aforementioned imp could see how someone could accidentally reveal such a thing ... and regret the future consequences it caused. Blitzo then facepalmed loudly, screwing his eyes shut in a massive grimace.
"Why did I say that? Why was I so bloody IDIOTIC to say that to HIS WIFE?! Why can't I just keep my big mouth shut?!!! I just ruin everything ..." The last sentence came out with a big sob, as Blitzo began to cry quietly.
All of the stress and painful emotions inside him lately seemed to be finally flooding out of him with this breakdown! Moxxie personally was caught completely off guard as he realised the full extent of Blitzo's inner agony.
His boss clearly had much deeper emotional issues than he'd known of before! The smaller imp had seen a little of it, when they were captured by humans ... but this was way bigger!
"I should have come with you and Millie earlier to rescue Stolas, darn it!" Blitzo lamented. "But I didn't ... I let him down ..." The poor imp was nearly metaphorically drowning in his own self-loathing now.
"Stolas was probably counting on me to come ... I couldn't even do that right! Such a coward ..."
"BLITZO!" A surprised Blitzo shut up immediately; snapped back to his senses by Moxxie's almighty yell. It surprised the smaller imp too, who rarely raised his voice to that extent!
Moxxie then placed a firm hand on his boss's shoulders, causing Blitzo to turn and look at him.
"Blitzo, please listen to me ... right now", the smaller imp said firmly. "You are NOT to blame for what happened with Striker earlier today! It was never your fault!" he explained.
"The only ones to blame for it are Stella and Striker! NOT you!" The boss imp sniffled a bit, but otherwise remained quiet.
"Remember, you had to take Loona to that very important, medical appointment earlier, sir! So that she didn't get hellbies?" Moxxie pointed out.
"You'd arranged it in advance ... and you had no means of knowing exactly how bad it was for Stolas at the time!"
As Moxxie continued to speak, he took some tissues out of his pocket and handed them to the still teary-eyed Blitzo. The boss imp accepted the gift with a small smile.
"I understand that you're very worried for Stolas, Blitzo. I felt the same way for my own love: Millie ... that night of the Harvest Moon Festival." Moxxie grimaced as he dragged up the unpleasant memory.
"Striker threw her against a wall and broke her arm ... and then tossed her downstairs into a bear trap. I was so frightened, horrified, and upset at the time!"
Lying there nearly suffocated, watching in helpless dread as the smirking cowboy loomed over his injured wife ...
"I felt like my heart was breaking and completely shattering ... seeing my beloved hurt like that. I understand how it feels", the smaller imp finished, giving Blitzo another sympathetic look.
His boss then gave him a single nod of thanks, but then turned back to stare bleakly at the wall.
"Actually ..." Blitzo suddenly said. "Actually, Moxxie, there was a SECOND reason why I didn't go with you and Millie." Moxxie frowned in puzzlement at that.
"Second reason?" he questioned.
"Yeah."
His boss's small smile had disappeared again.
"I didn't actually want to fight Striker again", Blitzo admitted quietly. "He-he scared me. I've never met anyone like Striker! His ability to manipulate and tempt was above any imp that I've ever met!"
The boss imp gulped nervously as his mind too raced back to the memories of the recent Harvest Moon Festival.
"When Striker had me cornered in that room at the Harvest Moon festival ... you remember that?"
Moxxie nodded.
"Yeah."
"And that he made me an offer?"
"... Yeah?"
Blitzo grimaced again. He couldn't hide it anymore ... it was time for the truth to come out.
"I ... I ... was actually going to accept the offer, before you aimed the gun at him, Mox!"
The smaller imp's eyes widened in horror and disbelief!
"What?!" he almost yelled, staring at Blitzo in shock and slight betrayal.
The aforementioned boss imp just groaned and hid his face in his hands, in utter shame.
"I know, I know!" Blitzo muttered. "It was dumb of me, but ... when that cowboy cornered me ... I felt like every word he spoke was the truth.
I don't know how Striker did it ... whether he hypnotised me, or something!"
It was like the boss imp was back in that room ... pinned once again against the wall by Striker.
"It just sounded so simple ... so easy."
Everything, apart from Striker, darkening around the two of them. The cowboy assassin's glowing, spiralling eyes ... his gold-toothed grin ... his soft, sibilant voice.
"We could just go off together and be powerful and dangerous. Nobody would ever put me down, or degrade me ever again!"
Blitzo's voice was full of regret, but also wistfulness. The betrayal in Moxxie's expression slowly disappeared and was replaced with a sad understanding.
Although he tried to hide it most of the time, Blitzo did get put out from being constantly mocked and degraded by others. The smaller imp could see why such an offer would tempt Blitzo.
"But then a gun click sounded, and that ... broke Striker's concentration, I think?" the boss imp continued, abruptly pulling his hands away from his face.
"I saw you, Moxxie ... and I remembered everything that I already had. With you, Millie, Loona, and I.M.P", Blitzo said, his ashamed look transforming back into a small smile.
"I wouldn't chuck you guys away for the world!" The sincerity of those words made Moxxie smile too, and put a comforting arm around Blitzo's shoulders.
The boss imp then went on with his narrative.
"So I lied and made it sound like it was all a trick ... a fake acceptance of the offer", he explained.
"But it wasn't. I knew that. So did Striker, I think." The smirk that Striker had shot Blitzo before he left said pretty much that.
The latter presently scowled and folded his arms in anger at his perceived 'weakness'.
"I can't believe how easily I gave into temptation like that! Sinners are supposed to be the ones tempted, not demons!" Blitzo muttered.
"WE'RE meant to be the tempters, not the temptees!" The boss imp sighed yet again, and Moxxie resumed patting him on the back.
"I was worried that Striker would manipulate me like that again if I went with you two!" Blitzo stated, looking sorrowful and apologetic. "I'm so pathetic ..."
He then rubbed a claw against his chin in thought.
"I kind of wondered earlier if Striker DID expect me to turn up to rescue Stolas?" Blitzo murmured.
Ironically, Moxxie was thinking the exact same thing! It HAD seemed a bit like Striker had been expecting someone else to come ... at the time. But that wasn't important, right now.
"There, there, Blitzo", the smaller imp said reassuringly. "Nobody blames you for being manipulated by Striker ... not me for one! And certainly not Stolas!"
His boss immediately turned and looked at him with a surprised, and hopeful expression.
"Really?" Blitzo asked. Moxxie smiled warmly and nodded again.
"Sure! That cowboy has a knack for manipulating and gaslighting a lot of the people around him! You're probably not the first person he's swayed like that ... and you won't be the last one", Moxxie said, matter-of-factly.
He then drew Blitzo into a gentle hug, which the boss imp now eagerly took.
"You could have told us about what happened between you and Striker at the Harvest Moon Festival, you know?" the smaller imp pointed out.
"It doesn't hurt to admit your flaws and embarrassing moments out to your friends and family! It might even help you to feel better, and find ways to solve any problems?"
Moxxie chuckled gently.
"We're family ... just like you said months ago, remember?" he said softly.
Blitzo's eyes turned sparkly momentarily from happiness as he properly smiled, for the first time in hours. Moxxie grinned at this, happy that his boss seemed to be feeling better now.
"I actually used to be bad at letting my feelings out too, in the past ... until I met Millie", the smaller imp confided. "She helped me to straighten my emotions out. Something that you and Stolas maybe could do too?"
Blitzo nodded thoughtfully, acknowledging the simple wisdom of the statement.
"Thank you, Moxxie", he said sincerely. "Thanks ... for being here for me."
"Any time, Blitzo", the other imp replied. Moxxie's phone suddenly started ringing, interrupting the heartwarming moment.
The aforementioned imp flushed with embarrassment as he quickly removed his arm and checked his phone.
"Sorry, Blitzo ... it's Millie", Moxxie said apologetically. "Um, do you mind if I ..." Blitzo shook his head, smiling and gesturing to the smaller imp.
"No, no, it's okay! You go off and chatter. I'll be fine here!" he said.
As Moxxie ran off, Blitzo relaxed back against the wall. He looked at the darkened window in front of him with a content look.
Suddenly, a brick wrapped in paper smashed through the window, shattering the glass immediately! It landed by Blitzo's feet, immediately prompting the imp to spring up!
"Who's there?!" the boss imp demanded loudly, a demonic gun already locked and loaded in his hands. No further assaults came however ... and nothing more was heard.
Blitzo then cautiously approached the broken window, his gun at the ready and pointing at it. The boss imp looked out of the window, but saw nothing and no one especially threatening.
Feeling somewhat curious, Blitzo then turned and walked back to the wrapped brick on the floor. He picked it up and unwrapped the paper ... which turned out to be a note.
It read: "YOU WILL COME TO ME IN THE END, BLITZO".
Blitzo frowned in confusion, and idly turned around ... only to see Striker smirking at him from beyond the window, in a flash of lightning. The cowboy was idly leaning on the window frame, and sending the boss imp a grin that would terrify a Great White Shark!
The boss imp blinked for a second ... and Striker was gone! Blitzo briefly wondered if he imagined it ... but then frowned and shook his head. The assassin chief's intuition said no ... and it had never let him down before!
Scowling deeply, Blitzo turned the paper over and wrote "BE READY" on the other side. Blitzo then wrapped the note around the brick, and hurled it with all of his strength out of the broken window.
Oh yes, they would meet again for sure ... and Striker would NOT like their next meeting! Blitzo would make sure of that!
What do you think of this little heart-to-heart talk? Vote and comment if you like it!