A Loud Among Demons: Wrong-Right Spell Chapter 5: OMAKE 2: Oh No! Boom Goes the Michio!, a Helluva Boss + Loud House Crossover fanfic

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Here's another chapter for all of you to enjoy. Once again, we got another substory for Lincoln and his friends to experience, which is par for course for the Yakuza franchise.

PRIDE RING, Stolas's Mansion

Lincoln was currently standing across Stolas and Octavia as they observed him performing various spells in an effort to gauge the extent of his power. Thankfully, Stella was out of the mansion to do her business once more, a blessing for everyone in the mansion since she'd been even crabbier than usual thanks to the failure of her last project, and that wasn't mentioning the added tension between the actual family members due to her actions in her last project.

As such, any time Lincoln visited to brush up on his magical skills and knowledge was a great source of levity for him, Stolas, and Octavia. Stolas was especially excited to see just how much more powerful Lincoln has become due to his transformation, yet he was also scared at the same time due to a theory he developed, one that hypothesizes that Lincoln would grow too powerful that Stolas wouldn't be able to provide the necessary sustenance of magical energy to keep Lincoln's lust aura in check. Now, Stolas only had eyes for Blitzø, but lately, whenever he had glanced at Lincoln in his incubus form, a very small part of him was… slightly curious at an intimate level… despite telling himself repeatedly that his student is still a 12-year-old child.

For Octavia, she hadn't reconciled her desires to keep Lincoln close platonically and to follow up on her more… lustful desires. Of course, she had tried to pursue those feelings yet limit herself by imitating Loona's actions back in Tokyo, which was to give a simple kiss to Lincoln on the lip. She'd hoped that one action would ultimately establish whether she truly wanted her relationship with Lincoln to be platonic or intimate. She never felt any lustful attractions to another demon, let alone a human, at any point in her life, so she had hoped to feel either revulsion or nothing after that one little kiss. Sad it was to acknowledge, she had achieved neither, for her connection to Lincoln was still very much awkward despite efforts from both to keep it as platonic as possible.

"I even pointed out to her that by kissing me on the lips, she also got an indirect kiss from both Verosika and Loona," Lincoln explained to the readers. "It only made things even more awkward." Lincoln felt dismayed that this stupid transformation had become a huge setback towards his plan to get Loona and Octavia to be good friends due to their similarities. Now he had to either come up with a new plan to get them together or to find a way to reduce his lust aura more efficiently without resorting to the direct method.

One thing Lincoln and Stolas discovered was that whenever he reverted to his human child form, he no longer emanated any lust aura, which managed to calm everyone else down and be their normal selves, but it also limited his magical powers back to the low level it was at before the transformation. That difference was always jarring every time he switched since he had to keep reminding himself that he needed the grimoire or the flash cards he'd been making any time he turned into a child. However, Lincoln couldn't help but notice another change in himself whenever he transformed into an adult form, in which he started acting a little more independently.

"In any case, here I am, continuing my lesson in another attempt at bringing things to normalcy in the Goetia mansion… or at least, what counts as normalcy before I screwed up that growth spell," Lincoln said to the readers before turning back to his magic teacher.

"Alright, dear boy, brace yourself," warned Stolas. "Repair!" he yelled, immediately pulling out an empty expensive vase and throwing it at the ground near Lincoln, shattering it to pieces. Lincoln did as he was told, aiming both of his hands at the vase pieces as he jumped out of the way. His hands glowed first, then the pieces glowed before they all levitated and converged together. The pieces merged into a large ball of light before it dimmed, revealing the vase in one piece like it never broke in the first place.

"Grow!" yelled Stolas, pulling out two large pots filled with dirt and tossing them in the air. Aiming with his hands yet again, Lincoln caught both pots and immediately casted a spell, causing the pots to glow before a plant started growing from both pots rapidly. As it grew, Lincoln placed the pots on the ground at a fair distance until the plant fully grew into carnivorous Hell-plants, just like the ones Stolas had throughout his mansion (some of which Lincoln still had to watch out for every time he visited).

"Contain!" shouted Stolas, tossing out several plant bulbs that glowed at rapid intervals, almost like a timer. Realizing that this was one of the volatile plants that will create a huge mess in a matter of seconds, Lincoln aimed his hands once more at the general direction the bulbs were tossed. His hands glowed as he summoned a magic bubble that caught all of the bulbs, then made a gesture as though he was holding something invisible together. Soon enough, the bulbs exploded, expelling large volumes of thick liquid that was thankfully contained inside the magic bubble.

"Aaaaaand dispose," instructed Stolas, putting both hands behind his back as he watched his student at work with a smile. Lincoln, holding the magic bubble with one hand, used his other hand to summon several buckets underneath the bubble, which then extended towards the buckets like a funnel hose and dispensed the plant goo inside into the buckets. "Excellent work, dear boy! Your proficiency with those spells combined with your reflexes honed by your coworkers' teachings are nothing short of top notch!"

"And that's not just you buttering me up to make me not realize I did half your gardening chores?" Lincoln asked playfully with a smirk and cocked eyebrow.

"Oh, perish the thought, dear boy," replied Stolas nonchalantly, holding up the expensive vase Lincoln repaired.

"Uh huh…" said Lincoln as he watched Stolas pick up a bucket of plant goo and pouring it in the pot of one of the Hell-plants he just grew. "And what about that vase? Doesn't seem to be related to these plants."

"Ah," said Stolas as placed the now empty bucket to the floor and picked up the expensive vase Lincoln had repaired. "This belongs to Stella." Immediately, Stolas tossed it over his shoulder, shattering it once more as it touched the ground. "Worry not about that. I'll simply tell her it fell over during my gardening."

"You know, I feel really bad that that's her name. 'Cause I have a very good friend back home who's also named Stella, and from what I've seen of your Stella, they couldn't be any more opposite."

"Ahhh, such is the issue of sharing names," sighed Stolas, although he was always interested in learning more about Lincoln's human life. He, like everyone else, was caught by complete surprise upon learning that the boy had ten full-blooded sisters in a middle-class family, in addition to several close friends, which he couldn't help but feel envious towards. After all, the number of close friends and family members in his own life could be counted on one hand.

"In any case, what's next on the lesson?"

"I believe that wraps up our lessons for today. For the next lesson, I would like to observe and gauge your proficiency with your transformation spells, particularly the age changing spell. Until then, you're free to 'hang out' with my little Via," finished Stolas with air quotes. Octavia instinctively pulled her beanie down to hide her embarrassment of her father, but nothing prepared her for what he said next as he left. "Oh, and dear boy, I give you my blessings to court Octavia, but not even your status as my favorite student will save you from my wrath should you dare to bed her before marriage, understand?!" he warned, his eyes glowing red.

"DAAAAAD!" shouted Octavia.

"Errr… loud and clear, Stolas," said Lincoln uncertainly and uncomfortably. This was probably the first time Stolas had ever talked threateningly to him.

"Excellent," said Stolas cheerfully, as though he hadn't menacingly warned him. "Have fun, you two!"

"Urrrrghhh," groaned Octavia. "Why did he have to say that of all things?!"

"I might be reaching here, but maybe he was trying to gross you out to that idea so much to help you not think about that with my lust aura," advocated Lincoln.

"But you can just turn back into a kid for that!"

"Except if we do hang out somewhere where I have to use my demon disguise," pointed out Lincoln.

"Oh… shit, you're right."

"In any case, where do you wanna hang out?"

"Hmm…" hummed Octavia thoughtfully. They'd already been to Stylish Occult and Somber Dining before, the former numerous times as she shopped for additional clothing and accessories for herself and Lincoln (and taxidermies for herself). She couldn't think of any other reputable stores or hangouts the two of them could spend time together, partly due to recent eventful moments on Earth.

As she thought about that, she realized that there was someplace they could go that was new to her and caught her interest: Kamurocho. She'd only been there twice, the first time against her will and the second time to interfere with the succubus popstar making any advances towards Lincoln. Normally, she'd write off that human world locale based on those memories. However, not only was the karaoke song she sang with Lincoln kind of fun, but she saw a few other stores that caught her attention and was curious to check out.

"Hey, Linc, how about we check out that Tokyo district?"

Lincoln paused for a moment, then cleaned out his ears with his pinky, then asked Octavia, "Kamurocho?"

"Yeah. I'm a little curious about a few stores I saw in the short time I was there. Plus, you said there were some decent ones with clothes, food, and souvenirs, so I can't help but wonder."

It was astounding that that particular Tokyo district kept drawing him back over and over since that hit on a talent agency manager. Twice was a coincidence, but this would be the third time Lincoln had some kind of excuse to return there. At this point, he was starting to pick up a pattern and wondered if he'd return there again with the others for some random reason.

"You know what?" said Lincoln, now resolute. "Sure. I even saw a zombie shoot-em-up arcade game there that I wanna try out. You interested?"

"Awesome, let's go!" said Octavia as Lincoln summoned a portal to Earth.

PRIDE RING, I.M.P. Headquarters

Blitzø was currently sitting in his office in front of a client, a snake demon whose face appeared to be covered in third degree burns. Sitting next to the demon was another, this one having two bull-like horns, a pair of bulging eyes, and a large deformed grin; anyone who knows their Japanese folklore would recognize this particular demon as the Hannya. Blitzø, however, could care less about that, for he was more concerned about the potential business opportunity, although even then, he wasn't particularly happy to be called into the office on an off-day and only allowed this due to promise of being paid double the usual payment.

"Okay, spill the deets. Did the asshole fuck your wife before killing you? Did he file his taxes in your name before killing you? Or maybe he snitched on you killing some other dipshit," Blitzø listed off with barely an interest.

Both of his clients were caught off guard by his questions. The snake demon was the first to recover, bearing a disgusted expression before replying hotly, "[No! I was killed by a toy that literally blew up in my and my wife's faces!]" The snake demon was obviously speaking some foreign language, probably Japanese from the little Blitzø heard from up top, which was then translated to the imp by the Hannya demon.

"Oh, an exploding toy, huh? That's a new one," said Blitzø.

"[We were both trying to buy a toy for our child]," explained the snake demon. "[It was an Ono Michio figure.]" The snake showed a picture of some odd mascot that had an orange for a head. "[We tried looking for them in all the stores we could find, but these figures didn't sell as many in Kamurocho. They're more plentiful in places like Yokohama or Onomichi.]"

'Didn't the intern buy a souvenir like that?' thought Blitzø. "So how did you end up getting one that blows up?"

"[After searching everywhere, we came across a stand where the vendor was dressed up as the mascot and was selling them. We should've suspected something when he sold it at twice the price that regular stores sold them. That, and when the vendor told us to not press that button on the toy's back until we were out of sight. But our boy's birthday was in a few days, so we didn't care about the price!]"

'Pssh, this is sounding way too boring,' mused Blitzø nonchalantly before a horrible thought crossed his mind. 'Although… maybe I should be careful about the horse figurines I order. Don't want any of them to betray me with a fiery explosion.'

"[So we tried testing the toy out. Next thing we knew after pressing that button, we get hit hard in the face, and then we wake up here. And now our boy's stuck up there on his own with that asshole on the loose! You gotta kill that swindler before he gets our child with one of his toys!]"

'Seriously, what are the chances of us going there for the third time in a row?' pondered Blitzø. He may not be the smartest, but even he can pick up on a pattern. "Huh. Gotta say, you somehow made a sob story about an exploding toy so boring. You pick up one from a ripoff artist, took all the stupid pills you could, and got your life unfairly cut short to end up down here with your cock sleeve? And now you want us to do charity work by doing your kid a solid before he kicks the bucket prematurely? You could at least be courteous enough to complain about how you didn't deserve to be down here, give me a little pizazz in that Looney Tunes routine."

"[… We already figured we'd end up down here after what we'd done]," said the snake, deadpanned by the imp's callous behavior. "[I'm an ex-yakuza who drowned a lot of guys.]"

"Ooh, now we're getting somewhere," said Blitzø, rubbing his hands together. "And your walking fleshlight here?"

The Hannya didn't translate his question, instead speaking to him directly after her eyes glowed menacingly while her face slowly grew in size until Blitzø was barely the size of one of her fangs. "I tried to gut my unfaithful husband here AFTER he cheated on me with another whore! I can give you a demonstration if you want!"

Now Blitzø was backing up into his seat as much as possible to no avail, as the Hannya was only inches away from him, which he felt a major déjà vu from this. "O-okay okay! I got it! Really exciting story! We'll get your asshole and you can do whatever you want to him when he shows up here!"

The Hannya retreated and shrunk back to her normal size as the snake replied with a sigh, "[Fine, we'll pay triple if you can get him before he harms our child.]"

"DEAL!" shouted Blitzø excitedly. "But first, you pay half up front in cash, no checks or credit!" demanded Blitzø. He had finally heard about how mercenaries utilize this kind of business practice and wondered why he hadn't done it this way in the first place. Eh, he'll blame Moxxie or Lincoln for it later.

"[… *sigh* Just like in my yakuza days…]" sighed the snake demon.

"Mox! Mills!" Blitzø called out to his team after seeing off his clients. "We got ourselves a rip-off toy seller to kill! Some orange-headed mascot like the toy Lincoln got!"

"Oh no, poor Lincoln's not gonna like that," said Millie worriedly.

"Eh, he's a tough kid. He can get over it," said Blitzø dismissively. "Mills, call up your boy!"

TOKYO, JAPAN, Kamurocho District, behind New Serena

Minutes earlier…

Lincoln and Octavia appeared through a portal, thankfully with no one around to see them. However, while Lincoln had a human form to blend in, Octavia still had yet to master that spell. As such, Lincoln had been practicing a form of a camouflage spell, although this didn't hide the person it is cast on, but rather helps them blend in by creating an illusion to everyone else that they are another human being. This was one of many spells Lincoln had practiced both at the I.M.P. office and Stolas's mansion, just in case he needed to cast a spell on his coworkers during a mission.

"Alright, here goes everything," said Lincoln after he cast his spell on Octavia. He led her out of the alleyway onto Tenkaichi Street, which had quite a number of people walking up and down. As the two walked into the street towards the north, no one had batted an eye to either of them, indicating that the spell was working. Relieved that they were in the clear for now, Lincoln turned to Octavia and asked, "So where to first, Via?"

"Let's head to that arcade you mentioned," answered Octavia. "If it's a zombie shooter, it has to be the least bit entertaining, right?"

The two made it to the Club SEGA arcade in Theater Square. Inside, they found two floors containing an assortment of arcade games, from Virtua Fighter to Boxcelios, some crane games, and even some dart games on the second floor. Being an avid gamer back home, Lincoln couldn't stop himself from drooling at seeing them once more, especially in a foreign country. Even though Moxxie and Millie had bought him a game console with some games exclusive in Hell, some of which he got to enjoy with Loona, there was something very appealing about being able to spend some money to play a public game with limited chances while surrounded by noise from other games.

Speaking of enjoying games with Loona…

"Hey Octavia, wait up for me, I'll be right back," said Lincoln as he left for the second floor. Octavia could only wait in the meantime, which she spent by watching the demo of the zombie shooter titled "Kamuro of the Dead." It looked fairly interesting to her, although what caught her attention was that it was a four-player game when shooter arcades tend to be two-player games at most.

"What the—?" Octavia turned to her left to see the source of that outcry, and was very surprised to see that it was Loona, the hellhound receptionist of the company Lincoln worked for and currently in her human disguise.

"What?! What are you doing here?!" asked Octavia.

"Uh, right back at ya!" retorted Loona.

Before either could follow up on their outburst, Lincoln showed up and saw the both of them. However, both Octavia and Loona couldn't help but notice a twinge of… overacting on Lincoln's part.

"Oh, wow! Both of you are here?!" exclaimed Lincoln rather unconvincingly. "Well, I guess that means we can all hang out again! What a great coincidence from one little schedule mishandling on my end!" Both Octavia and Loona squinted at Lincoln with slightly furrowed brows, sensing the bullshit from Lincoln's words and tone. "And hey, Loona, you wanted to try out the zombie shooter too! And look at that, four players! Too bad we don't have one more, but hey, we can still enjoy this with three, right?!"

Loona and Octavia glanced at each other from the side of their eyes, their expressions unchanged as they realized that they were essentially parent-trapped by a younger child.

"Lincolnnnnn…" said Loona and Octavia reprovingly, the former putting her hands on her hips while the latter crossed her arms as they both approached him almost menacingly.

"… Okay, fine, I set you two up!" confessed Lincoln.

"Care to explain why?" asked Loona through gritted teeth. She may like Lincoln the most, but that didn't mean she tolerated being manipulated like this, even though this was rather childish and harmless by comparison.

"… I was hoping we could follow up on us hanging out together at Stylish Occult and Somber Dining. I mean, I know it was awkward after what happened to me that day, but I actually really enjoyed hanging out with both of you at the same time. So I figured this time would be another good chance to hang out together and enjoy more of the same things."

The women looked away, feeling awkward remembering that day. Well… awkward was putting it simply and lightly. That day had sparked some new obsessive feelings within them, particularly towards Lincoln, something they wished hadn't existed, yet they couldn't help but yearn to pursue those feelings. It didn't help that they were both fond of Lincoln, albeit on a platonic level, and seeing other "competitors" made them gaslight themselves into thinking that Lincoln would be "stolen" from them. And here they were again, forced to hang out with Lincoln together with the likelihood of the situation playing out the same once again.

Loona and Octavia weren't happy that Lincoln ended up tricking them, but they just couldn't turn him down. Unlike their feelings toward their respective fathers, they liked Lincoln a lot more (platonically, of course), and they knew deep down that anything Lincoln did with and for them would always stem from legitimately having their best interests at heart. They both gained a better understanding of the source of his capabilities from his anecdotes about his stories back home on Earth, as well as his past events they witnessed during karaoke night.

"Well… I guess today could be a blast and a half," pondered Loona. "Fuck it, I'm in."

"Ditto," agreed Octavia halfheartedly.

"Awesome! Bet I can get a better score than you two!" challenged Lincoln with a smirk.

"Oh ho ho! Think you're ballsier now that you're a big boy?" inquired Loona, smirking back at him.

"Alright then, big man, let's see what you're made of now!" asserted a smirking Octavia, now perking up at the challenge. She too had her own game system back home, which she happily played with Lincoln any time he visited and they had free time after the magic lessons. Now she got her chance to play a public game with him, even though a third wheel was involved.

Well, the day could've been a lot worse for both women. At least they get to spend it with the boy, now man, they always have fun with. While the zombie shooter was for all intents and purposes a co-op game, arcade games are still designed with a point counting system, so they all, of course, competed for the higher points. All three were so swept up by the competition that neither Lincoln nor Loona noticed or felt their phones vibrating to signal an incoming message or phone call.

TOKYO, JAPAN, Kamurocho District, Pink Street Alleyway

"Sir! Lincoln's not responding!" Moxxie reported as both he and Millie tried to contact their adopted son with their phones.

"GOD FUCKING DAMMIT!" shouted Blitzø both in anger and despair. "I knew it was only a matter of time! He and the birdy princess are shagging it like rabbits in heat!"

"WHAT?! EW! WHY THAT CONCLUSION?!" yelled Moxxie indignantly, disgusted by his boss once more.

"You forget your baby boy's now a lust demon with an Ozzie-like lust aura because he ain't fucked anyone yet?!" Blitzø reminded. "He already got my Looney and Princess Goth Owl to kiss him! And if he got me to look twice at him, then there's no telling what he's getting himself into with weak-willed partners like Stolas's daughter!"

"YOU REALLY THINK SO?!" fretted Millie, pulling at her hair. It's a miracle her hair was still in good condition after all the events since Lincoln's botched spellcasting.

"Sir! Stop gaslighting Millie!" demanded Moxxie. "How many times does Lincoln have to prove himself to show he's not that shallow or desperate?! For Satan's sake, he resisted Verosika of all people!"

"That's cause she's the desperate whorebag who came on the intern too strong and he can smell the STD on her!" rationalized Blitzø.

"Maybe it's because Lincoln is still a 12-year-old at heart who's still not ready for the sex and has plenty of self-control?" asked Moxxie defensively.

"He reads superhero comics in his undies! He's a time bomb waiting to go off!"

"What is the matter with you, sir?! Why are you so insistent on believing Lincoln is that kind of deviant?!" questioned Moxxie. He had seen a few of his boss's interaction with Lincoln, some of which consisted of demanding more stories about any of Lincoln's ten sisters. Before Lincoln could finish any kind of story, Bltizø tried to draw his own conclusions that goes from 0 to 100 in an instant, such as the story of when Luan had gotten very liberal with her pranks on April Fools' Day and Lincoln took the brunt of them to protect his visiting friend Ronnie Anne, and Blitzø tried to guess that Lincoln went on a revenge prank spree afterwards that landed his sister in the hospital and then celebrated his victory by taking his friend in his arms and Frenching her. Needless to say, Lincoln found more reasons to be disgusted with Blitzø, especially when he didn't stop this particular antic.

"He's a 12-year-old who's way too smart for his own good and has lots of pent up issues if his stories back at his home are anything to go by!" justified Blitzø. 'And so I can believe that… maybe he can belong down below… with us…' a small part of his mind thought in the back of his head rather solemnly. "Whatever! He needs to get his ass here! We got triple payment on the line!"

"As if you were going to pay him anyways," remarked Moxxie.

"He's still not answering, B!" stated Millie.

"Shit! I can't even get in touch with Looney! He better not be dragging her into a threesome!" growled Blitzø hotly, almost drooling like a rabid animal.

"Oh for fuck's sake, let's just get on with the mission!" snapped Moxxie, opening Stolas's grimoire and getting the portal spell ready. "We can get our answers later since I'm willing to bet Lincoln is spending a nice and relaxing time on his day off, no less."

TOKYO, JAPAN, Kamurocho District, Club SEGA

"NOOOOO!" shouted Lincoln in despair as he saw the final scoreboard. He, Loona, and Octavia were finishing a game of darts after having finished Kamuro of the Dead, Virtua Fighters, Motor Raid, and a couple rounds on the crane game. While Lincoln had managed to perform slightly better than Loona and Octavia on the crane game due to his patience, he was unfortunately unable to surpass their scores on the other arcade games, as well as their current dart game.

"Another victory for us!" cheered Octavia, giving Loona a high-five before either of them realized what they instinctively did.

"Still, gotta give you props, big man," said Loona. "You're coming close. Don't you wanna use that magic of yours to push a little more?"

"Nah, then the victory's gonna feel hollow," said Lincoln. "I've been training with Moxxie and Mille on improving my physical strengths and reflexes without magic, just in case I can't use them, so I need to keep getting better at them."

"If you say so. Gotta say though, you're a better challenge now."

"In any case, you two wanna head to Don Quijote next? We can check out some souvenirs for the both of you, and it's also on the way to Café Alps. We can also get some coffee there."

"You drink coffee too?" asked Octavia.

"Not yet, but much like alcoholic drinks, I think my adult body can handle it," Lincoln hypothesized. "Plus, I'm gonna start out with decaf, seeing that I don't need that extra caffeine now."

"Well, let's head out then!"

TOKYO, JAPAN, Kamurocho District, Café Alps

As the three were waiting on their orders, Loona pulled out her phone to try and take a photo about her Earthly adventures to post on Sinstagram. However, as she activated her phone, she saw a bunch of messages from her adopted father, and she was none too pleased by what she had witnessed.

"Are you fucking kidding me?" whispered an outraged Loona.

"What's going on, Loona?" asked a concerned Lincoln.

"Blitzø's been texting me that we just got a job today! On a day where we're off duty!"

"Great, just my luck," responded Lincoln exasperatedly, throwing his hands in the air. "Any particular reason why and what that's about?"

"Apparently, we're getting paid triple for offing some asshole selling mascot toys that blow up."

It was a good thing that Lincoln had the foresight to turn off the universal translation spell on the three of them when Loona brought up the topic of business just now. He didn't even want to think about how everyone would react if they caught wind of these words from a trio of foreigners.

In any case, now that Loona had mentioned receiving messages about this, Lincoln opened his own phone to see that he too was bombarded with a bunch of missed calls and messages, mostly from Moxxie and Millie. And from the looks of them, they pertained the same message about an impromptu mission to assassinate a vendor who sold a mascot toy at an outrageous price, only for it to literally blow up in the buyers' faces, who then hired his company to kill that vendor.

Lincoln speed-dialed Millie first, knowing she'd be the most worried about him. The phone barely went through the first ring before it was answered by his adopted imp mother.

"Lincoln! Where are you?!"

"Millie, it's okay. I'm with Octavia and Loona. We're just hanging out together. I'm sorry I didn't answer earlier. I got distracted and didn't realize I was getting any messages."

Lincoln heard Millie let out a huge sigh of relief before she replied much more calmly, "Oh thank Satan. Baby, you gotta be more alert than that."

"I know, I'm sorry," Lincoln apologized, feeling a little guilty.

"It's okay. Still, if you and Loona are in the same spot, then that makes it easier for both of you to get to us."

Unfortunately, the moment those words left Millie's mouth, Blitzø had snatched the phone away from her to let out a few of his own words to his intern, none too pleasant.

"Excuse me?! Why is my Looney with you?!"

"Um… we're just hanging out and having fun," answered Lincoln, confused by the hostile tone. "Is that a problem?"

"You bet your ass it is! She's 'hanging out' with you in your incubus form and your lust aura?!"

"Err, I'm not in my incubus form. I'm in my human form," clarified Lincoln.

"… Intern, where in Hell are you?"

"Not Hell, actually. Me, Loona, and Octavia are up in Kamurocho."

"… Okay, what are the fucking chances?" asked a perplexed Blitzø rhetorically.

"Well, sir," started Moxxie, "if you factor in all the possible locations Lincoln could've spent time with the princess, not to mention the fact that he invited Loona—"

"Rhetorical, Mox!" shouted Blitzø before turning back to the phone. "And as for you, intern, you're in a lot of shit for this!"

"What for?!"

"You dragged my Looney into one of your little schemes to 'hang out' just so you can use your little lust aura to seduce her and the birdy princess into a threesome!"

…

Loona and Octavia had been listening to all of Lincoln and Blitzø's conversation despite his phone not being on speaker mode, and while they were dismayed by how Blitzø got involved and started derailing the conversation, this was the moment they wished that they could just leave the café and tone out the phone call. Unfortunately, neither of them wanted to abandon Lincoln to whatever crazy thing Blitzø would say next.

"… Okay," said Lincoln simply after taking a few seconds to process what he had just been accused of. "First off, EW, they're like sisters to me." Loona and Octavia had no idea it was possible to somehow feel both elated and disappointed at the same time upon hearing that. "And second, why are you so insistent on believing that I'm that kind of deviant?"

Moxxie smiled smugly at Blitzø as soon as Lincoln finished that question.

"Don't question my logic, intern! Just drop whatever dumb shit you're doing now and get over here or else…!" Lincoln and Loona rolled their eyes as they anticipated his next pay deduction joke. "… you're suspended."

…

"WHAT?!" shouted Lincoln, Loona, Moxxie, Millie, and even Octavia. If the people in Café Alps weren't paying attention before, they definitely were now. They couldn't understand anything the foreigners were saying, but they could tell some kind of unpleasant conversation was being exchanged, and the outburst was the final nail in the coffin.

"That's right, you heard me, intern!" Blitzø reaffirmed. "I'm in half a mind to suspend your internship! That means no going on missions with us until I can trust you again that you won't go behind my back, especially when it comes to Loona!"

Lincoln was stunned for words, for this was the first time he had heard this kind of threat from Blitzø, not to mention how serious Blitzø actually sounded just now. Before he could stammer any kind of response, Loona immediately swiped the phone from him and started yelling into it, not unlike Blitzø.

"Blitzø! How about you stop being a shit-for-brain and get off of Lincoln's case?! I'm having a fun day off today, and I'm not letting you stop me and Lincoln!"

"B-b-but… but, Looney!" whimpered Blitzø. Now she was growing up too fast to start turning against him like this… besides the time she did the same during spring break.

"Save it, asshole!" Loona yelled before turning off the phone and handing it back to an astonished Lincoln. "Sorry, Linc, we're gonna get the riot act later, but I wanna enjoy the rest of the day. How about you two?"

Lincoln stood slack-jawed and stared at Loona for a few seconds before regaining composure. "U-u-um… s-sure, I'd love to, but what about the mission?"

"They can handle it. The three of them did before you showed up, they can do it again."

"If you say so," said Lincoln uncertainly before grabbing the three coffee cups for them that were ready during the phone call. "Where to next then?"

TOKYO, JAPAN, Kamurocho District, Rooftops

"Blitzø… WHAT. THE. FUCK?!" asked an infuriated Moxxie.

"I SECOND THAT!" Millie followed suit, snatching her phone from her boss's hand.

Blitzø stared at the ground blankly, still trying to process what had just happened. Not only did Loona yell at him like she did in the spring break mission, and not only did the intern invite her, his daughter, to a cozy little rendezvous, but he had actually legitimately threatened his intern with a professional punishment. It's one thing for Blitzø to get outraged and start yelling like his usual self when faced with the prospect of his precious daughter taking major steps to grow up and lead her own life, but for Blitzø to actually issue a legitimate punishment befitting an employer to an employee…

"We will discuss this later after we finish the mission," answered Blitzø, sounding eerily monotonous, as he slowly got up and made his way to the rooftop edge. This slightly unsettled the married couple, but Millie wasn't quite so deterred.

"Blitzø!" called Millie, only to stop when Blitzø barely turned his head to her but still glared at her.

"I said… we'll discuss this later," repeated Blitzø, his voice lower than before. Neither Moxxie nor Millie raised another word, as both were disturbed by their boss acting rather out-of-character. It was very clear that all three of them were feeling a medley of conflicting emotions in an effort to process the occurrences just now, but with no success, whether it was because they tried to bury those emotions to focus the mission at hand or to try to fast-track that process without letting any of it properly sink in.

For Moxxie, not once had Blitzø ever acted professional beyond their little talk while captured by the D.H.O.R.K.S. agents after being subjected to the truth gas. Even when he was hired to work for I.M.P., Blitzø was still his jovial self just as when he first met him before then. Despite all the times Blitzø had infuriated him to no end, never had he ever threatened him with genuine punishments such as suspension or termination, instead opting for insults and bribing with the Employee of the Month spot.

However, ever since Lincoln had joined up, Moxxie had noticed some very subtle changed in his boss. From rewarding the intern by providing better amenities with the company's profits to taking a lot of interest in Lincoln's personal life back on Earth (despite his insistence that it was all boring), Moxxie couldn't help but notice some changes in his boss that were… dare he say it?… positive . Furthermore, unlike Moxxie, Lincoln actually willingly shared a little more of his life to Blitzø every now and then, which did create more of a connection between the two. The most obvious change was that Blitzø tended to treat Lincoln better than Moxxie. Anything that could be easily seen as mistreatment on the surface, such as annoying him with the pay deduction threats and being particularly intrusive on Lincoln's personal times, appeared to be hardening the boy to be more defensive, as if Blitzø was being his toxic self to strengthen his employees.

Now, though? Blitzø had actually chosen now of all times to act like a professional when it came to disciplinary actions, despite the shallow reasoning. In fact, both Moxxie and Millie saw that even Blitzø himself looked very unsure about what he had threatened his intern with, almost as if he had no clue what possessed him to do that. Still though, that wasn't going to stop the both of them from chewing Blitzø out.

TOKYO, JAPAN, Kamurocho District, Le Marche

To say that the atmosphere was tense and awkward would be the understatement of the century. Lincoln was silent throughout the walk from Café Alps to the district's fanciest clothing store, which also made things awkward for Loona and Octavia. Loona especially didn't realize Blitzø could actually get that serious, which was probably why she felt that compulsion to come to Lincoln's defense like that. In fact, this was similar to how she talked back at Blitzø on that spring break mission, but where that moment was entirely for selfish reasons, this time, she yelled at him for someone else's sake. Of course, she had no idea if she did that because she saw Lincoln like a precious family member or if the lust aura made her defend her man.

Either way, the awkward silence was figuratively killing her, and it seemed to be the same for Octavia. She had to break the silence.

"So…" started Loona, turning to Octavia. "Wha'cha looking to get here?"

Octavia looked at Loona in surprise, but upon seeing her expression, as well as her pupils darting at Lincoln's direction twice, Octavia realized what Loona was trying to do.

"Oh, uh… I've been interested in some perfume, although I'm particularly interested in a star-shaped earring they supposedly have. What about you, Linc?" asked Octavia, turning to Lincoln.

This managed to break Lincoln out of his stupor. Perhaps Lincoln already realized what the two women were trying to do, but if he did, he never spoke up about it and instead played along.

"Oh, uh… I'm not too sure myself. I guess I could check out some of the cologne and accessories for guys." 'Kinda wish Leni was here to give me some pointers,' thought Lincoln.

While his fashionista sister wasn't there to recommend the best for him with her expertise, Loona and Octavia did their best to make up for it. Loona took particular interest in the French perfumes to prepare for one of the hound parties she was invited to while Octavia found the star earrings she'd been hoping to find, particularly to prepare for a day with her father to see a certain meteor shower. As for Lincoln, Loona recommended him the French cologne while Octavia got him a star necklace.

"You know, it's a good thing Octavia's credit card has a unique property," Lincoln remarked to the readers. "See, in Hell, those with the capabilities to legally travel to Earth and back also usually carry a special kind of credit card that can turn Hell's currency into whatever currency the country they traveled to uses. It's basically a universal credit card."

TOKYO, JAPAN, Kamurocho District, Theater Square

"I still feel kind of bad that I'm practically making you pay for all this," Lincoln said to Octavia, carrying the shopping bags full of the purchased products from Le Marche; Lincoln had actually forgotten to account for the fact that despite being shut-ins, Loona and Octavia were women, which meant that they would buy a whole lot more than intended whenever they went shopping, especially since they had a nice, strong man to carry their bags.

"Hmm… well, if you're really hung up about that," said Octavia in faux pondering pose before turning to him with a smirk, "you can always work out a repayment plan, one that would involve working for me and my family, and with the average interest rate in Hell, you could repay all that within the span of 30 years."

"Oh, you conniving little…" Loona growled playfully, smirking as well. "This is your evil plan to take him for yourself?"

"Hey, he offered himself first," said Octavia, shrugging.

'I wonder if Lucy and Lola will have a strict loan policy if they ever run their own business,' wondered Lincoln, now deeply afraid since Lola can be very conniving and ruthless while Lucy is capable of taking her stalking to the next level.

His train of thought was interrupted, however, when he spotted a small commotion inside the New Deborah hotel. Upon closer inspection, he saw a businessman fretting over another man who dressed up in a long-sleeved striped sailor shirt with a fisherman boot and a fish pouch—

"Wait, Ono Michio?" asked Lincoln, who then entered the hotel to get a better look while the confused Loona and Octavia followed.

"Oh no… what are we going to do now?" inquired the worried businessman, placing a hand on his head.

"Hey," Lincoln called to the businessman. "What's going on here?"

"Oh!" exclaimed the businessman. "It's nothing much! We just hit a little snag, but we'll get started on the sales in a few minutes!"

"Sales?"

"Oh… you don't know about that?" asked the businessman, now perplexed. "Oh, I'm sorry, I thought were one of the customers waiting in line for a good while now."

"What do you mean by that? What's going on here?"

"Ah, I'm sorry, where are my manners? My name is Hironaka," the businessman introduced himself. "I'm the mascot promotor of Ono Michio, a mascot recently made famous in Onomichi and Yokohama."

"My name is… Warren," said Lincoln, barely catching himself from using his real name. He may not be on a mission, but he was still meant to keep his existence a secret until he could get back home. "I'm a simple tourist with my sisters," he explained, gesturing to Loona and Octavia. "So what seems to be the trouble?"

"Oh, I don't want to impose on you," reassured Hironaka.

"It's fine. Please, tell me what's going on."

"I'm sorry to ask, but are you a fan of Ono Michio?"

"Well, I wouldn't say I'm a fan, but I did recently buy an Ono Michio figure at Don Quijote," explained Lincoln, which prompted Hironaka to let out a huge sigh of relief.

"Oh, thank God!" said Hironaka, holding a hand to his chest. "You got the right toy!"

"Right toy?"

"Allow me to explain. You see, there's an imposter who's selling his fake toys of Ono Michio at outrageous prices. I'm willing to bet it's the same faker who tried this scam back in Yokohama a few years ago. So I've traveled here with the new actor of Ono Michio, Nishimura." Hironaka gestured to the man dressed up as the mascot without the hassaku head. "While it would be nice to promote and expand the Ono Michio mascot to other parts of Japan, I couldn't let this faker get away with this scam again, especially after another man helped me put a stop to that faker and helped promote Ono Michio to so many people. And that was after another man helped kickstart the Ono Michio image back in Onomichi."

"So now this faker's going around banking on your mascot's image while taking all the profits for himself?" 'Hey Flip, I think I found your business partner,' thought Lincoln.

"Oh great, and I thought Loo Loo Land was bad," whispered Octavia, which Loona nodded in agreement.

"It gets worse than that," sighed Hironaka. "This faker is pulling the same scam of selling fake toys. Not only that, but the fake toy itself is harmful." He pulled out a toy of Ono Michio, just like the one Lincoln had gotten during his pseudo-date with Verosika. "See, if the toy you bought is just like this one, it would have a button on the back."

"It does, and when I press it, it says different catchphrases," said Lincoln.

"Correct," said Hironaka, pressing the button on the back to demonstrate just that. After the toy finished its catchphrase, he continued, "The reason I say it's a good thing you got the right one is because when you press the button on the fake one, it blows up in your face… literally."

"Wait, what?!" exclaimed Lincoln, surprised by that revelation. 'Hang on, isn't that what Blitzø said his mission was about? Wait, if that's the case, then it was about Ono Michio this whole time? And if I.M.P. is on the case… oh no… please don't tell me this is going where I think it's going…'

"Yeah…" Hironaka trailed off. "Now, back when this happened in Yokohama, the worst the exploding toys did was cover your face in soot and give you a bad haircut. However, one of the toys sold a few days ago by that faker had far worse results… it's tragic, really. Two couples were trying to buy a toy for their child, but they came across that faker, and once they pushed that button, the explosion was far greater than the toys before that, and…"

"No…" whispered Lincoln, his eyes widening.

"It's unfortunate. Now, a child is left an orphan because of that faker. The police were informed of this, but since that faker was out and about, I couldn't really trust the police to keep that boy safe and reassured. I heard he's currently in the custody of the Yagami Detective Agency, which is really good because I can't think of anyone else more trustworthy than them in cases like this. But that still leaves me with my problem here…"

Lincoln did his best to keep his temper in check, which was easier said than done when all he could think about was that child being orphaned due to a scam. And since this seemed to be involved with an I.M.P. hit, this seemed to be another case where his company's target was yet another guilty soul who deserves a special spot in Hell. After taking a deep breath, he asked, "What else seems to be the problem?"

"You see, while the police and that private investigator are working on cornering that scammer, I'm trying to promote the real Ono Michio and restore people's faith in him."

"Well, you said he's a recent hit, but do you really think now's a good time to do that while they're still trying to catch that faker?" asked Lincoln.

"Ono Michio is more than just some simple mascot," said Hironaka. "There's a good reason why people loved him both in Onomichi and Yokohama. At first, Ono Michio was meant to promote the culture of Hiroshima and spread cheer, thus increasing the tourism there. Of course, I was in a bind in both places, but then two different guys volunteered on both occasions. Not just that, but they did more than just promote the mascot and Onomichi culture. They both helped people during bad situations.

"The first one in Onomichi actually helped a little girl overcome her fear of undergoing a crucial surgery that was going to save her life. The second one in Yokohama beat up the faker for not only ripping off his customers with the fake toys, but also hurting a little boy and making him cry. In fact, both times, the mascot beat up some two-bit punks and thugs to protect other people. Those two guys really went the extra mile to help elevate Ono Michio to be more than a mascot."

"Holy… wow…" uttered a stunned Lincoln. He didn't realize just how much a mascot can do for other people. It was almost like if someone actually dressed up as either Ace Savvy or David Steele to help people on a personal level in real life, kind of like what he and Clyde did against the neighbors working for S.U.S.P.E.N.S.E. or solving the case at a retirement home, although they didn't involve helping another person on a more personal level.

"Yeah. And we had a little mishap a few years ago with Nishimura here, but it was only a little inferiority complex that was resolved. However, the problem now is that in preparation for the upcoming event, Nishimura sprained an ankle, and we have no idea if he'll recover in time."

"Oh no…" said Lincoln, not realizing the pun he just made. Now, Lincoln may be a charitable person, but usually his generosity is showcased when it comes to people or events that involve him personally. The most Lincoln had ever associated with the Ono Michio mascot was the one toy he got some time ago when he was hanging out with Verosika. However, after hearing the story of how Ono Michio became such a beloved icon in his hometown, and how a faker is not only besmirching his name with a scam, but that the scam ended up costing two lives, leaving behind a child with no parents, Lincoln couldn't help but feel personally involved, for the circumstances almost rang familiar to his own.

With newfound resolve, Lincoln looked to Hironaka with determination. "Hey, Hironaka? How about I help you out here?"

"Oh!" cried Hironaka, utterly surprised. "Oh, you don't have to. I wouldn't want to impose on a foreign tourist."

"It's okay. Besides, I can't just look the other way after hearing all of that."

"If you insist, then I don't really have another choice. Nishimura still hasn't recovered from his sprained ankle, so there's no alternative."

"Awesome. Just tell me what needs to be done."

"Dude!" whispered Loona, grabbing Lincoln by the arm and pulling him to the side. "The hell are you doing?"

"Yeah, aren't you supposed to be laying low up here?" whispered Octavia.

"It's fine," said Lincoln. "I'll be wearing a mascot suit that'll cover my face, so no one's gonna recognize me."

"Linc, you can't be wasting time like this," said Loona insistently. "Why are you trying to put yourself out there and look like an idiot?"

"I'm sorry, Loona, but I can't just ignore this. From the sound of things, Ono Michio is a real-life superhero, and I wouldn't be who I am without heroes like him, Ace Savvy, and David Steele. And a kid just lost his parents because of some poser, so I'm not gonna let any of this slide," Lincoln answered with a scowl. He then turned to Hironaka for further instructions on the event and his role as the mascot.

"Ugh… this is gonna be a dumb, boring shitshow," sighed Loona, exasperated by Lincoln's determination.

"Okay, I take it back, this is fucking amazing!" said Loona, snickering and failing to hold her laughter. She and Octavia currently had their phones out to take pictures of what stood in front of them. Ono Michio, with his charming hassaku face, steaming Onomichi ramen hat, cute fish pouch, cool boots that were vital for any fisherman, and his bold and trendy Ono shirt, stood for a moment before hunching over in defeat.

"So here I am, making a fool of myself for the entertainment others, including my sister figures," Lincoln noted to the readers inside the Ono Michio costume. "No wonder I feel at home."

"I can't believe it!" shouted Hironaka. "You fit perfectly in that costume!"

" *snrk* He sure does!" giggled Octavia. She thought she grew out of childish things like mascots for kids, but seeing Lincoln dressed up in something ridiculous-looking brought out the child in her that used to enjoy seeing sights like this.

"Alright, so what do I do for this event?" Lincoln asked Hironaka.

"With my charming hassaku face! Steaming Onomichi ramen hat! Cute fish pouch! Cool boots, vital for any fisherman! And my bold and trendy Ono shirt! That's right! I'm the pride of Onomichi… Ono… Michio!"

Lincoln, in the Ono Michio costume, recited the catchphrase as he posed first with his hands together above his face, making an A-shape with his whole body, then changed to the signature pose with his bent left arm forward, his bent right arm back, both of his knees bent down, and his body facing to his left while his head still faced the audience. This drew some of the crowd's attention, eliciting a mix of cheers and laughs, particularly from the kids. Of course, Loona and Octavia were also there, enjoying the show.

The first part of the show involved Lincoln having to sing a song for the crowd, and as Hironaka explained, the song he'd sing would be "Today is a Diamond," the same song that the first guy who wore this costume sang back in Onomichi. Thankfully, Lincoln's universal translation spell served him well, as he was able to sing the song in English, but everyone else heard him singing Japanese. Furthermore, Lincoln was no stranger to musicals, so it didn't take long for him to memorize the song.

The following event was nothing more than a simple autograph and picture event, which was no trouble for Lincoln. As he did his job in the mascot costume, Loona and Octavia watched in both mirth and admiration of Lincoln putting himself out there for the sake of others.

"Man, Linc is the guy who just keeps on giving, huh?" remarked Octavia.

"You said it," said Loona. "I can't think of a moment where he wanted to be selfish outside of that date with Verosika."

"Yeah. If his stories are any indication, he probably had been selfish plenty of times back at his home, but he learned his lessons multiple times."

"Still… I can't help but worry about him… Great, now he's got me worrying like he does."

"Yeah, he does bring that out of us, doesn't he?"

"Huh… you too?" Loona asked Octavia, turning to her with a raised eyebrow.

"… Honestly, every time he comes over for the magic lessons and to hang out with me, it's always like he's there to take care of us when me and my dad are trying to take care of him," confessed Octavia. "He's always learning more about our lives, he tries to understand our likes and dislikes, he lends an ear to any of our problems and tries to figure out a solution with one of his long-named operations… It's like… he's always just there… ready for when we need him, even if we don't ask," Octavia finished, now looking forlorn. "And I'm supposed to be the older friend."

Loona looked at Lincoln, who was posing with some kids as their parents were taking pictures. Since she and Octavia were to the side and away from the kids, she pulled out a cigarette and started smoking, much to Octavia's displeasure.

"Yeah… I get what you mean," said Loona, exhaling a stream of smoke. "Somehow, he's always gotta be right, he's trying to get us to be better, and he keeps doing shit with so high of a standard, it's hard to argue against him. But… he's never pushy about it. He never oversteps any boundaries. And he really is just there to be what we want and need…" Loona also bore a forlorn expression as she continued watching Lincoln. "You're right, though… We're always trying to take care of him, but then it's like he's the one who ends up taking care of us."

"Sounds like you have a lot of stories to tell about him," observed Octavia with a side glance to Loona, smiling slightly.

"… I talk first, you talk next?" proposed Loona, glancing back at Octavia.

"Deal."

TOKYO, JAPAN, Kamurocho District, Western Rooftops

Blitzø made good use of his binoculars as he scoured the ground level for his target. By focusing so much on his mission, he could ignore what had occurred moments ago, as well as the piercing glares of his employees. Of course, it wasn't the same since the recent routine consisted of Lincoln coming up with some kind of expertly-crafted plan, and since the intern was absent, Blitzø had to revert to the old-fashioned way, which was just searching the area thoroughly until he found anything remotely resembling the target.

The one upside of this mission was that the target was supposed to stand out since it involved a mascot, so the target wasn't supposed to be hard to find. All Blitzø needed to do was search the area where a lot of people gathered and then look for some ridiculously-costumed asshole before making his move. Yup, he could just focus on looking for a very conspicuous Waldo instead of his threat to his intern that pissed off his loyal employees and his beloved daughter, and also possibly gave his intern every reason to leave the company and never look back again just like everyone else in his life—

Before he could start fretting on that train of thought, he spotted a very large orange head in the crowd in Theater Square. 'Bingo,' thought Blitzø, gleeful of a good distraction. While he couldn't use a gun, all he needed to do was wait til the target was alone, quickly drive a knife into a vital organ, and casually walk off like nothing happened. By the time the target and anyone else realized what happened, Blitzø and his team would've been long gone, and they could focus on other matters.

TOKYO, JAPAN, Kamurocho District, Theater Square

"Pfft! He reads comics in his underwear?!" inquired a shocked and giggling Octavia.

"Did I stutter?!" Loona asked back, smiling and shaking her head. "At least he only does it in his room."

"Heh, so the man isn't perfect," noted Octavia playfully.

"Well, hope that doesn't imply he made a mistake being friends with us," joked Loona, tossing her cigarette in a nearby cigarette disposal. Normally, she would've tossed it to the ground without a second thought, but thinking and talking about Lincoln also made her think about his disapproving expression if he saw her do that, especially since he was nearby.

"Hope not," Octavia played along. "He's spent a lot of time with us. If anything, now it's on us to not disappoint."

Loona actually liked this. For the longest time, she had no intention of ever making friends with anyone in the upper class since she always saw them as nothing more than arrogant bluebloods. Even when Lincoln tried to subtly incentivize her to at least meet a blueblood who supposedly shared the same interests, she never felt any motivation to do so. While she finally did meet and hang out with Octavia, their first meeting was very awkward due to Lincoln's growth spell mishap that forced both of them to look at him in a very different light that also made them very competitive.

After that mission, she didn't really hang out with Octavia, per se, but she did get to enjoy a little bit of karaoke time where she ended up singing with her and Lincoln for a trio. Of course, Lincoln had to concoct a conniving plan that forced the two of them to hang out, and while the circumstances around this plan was a little messy, the three actually ended up spending some fun time together. In fact, they were having such a good time, Loona just realized something none of them had noticed.

"Hey, Via," said Loona, now adopting the nickname Lincoln would call her. "You notice that we're not having the hots for Lincoln anymore?"

Octavia suddenly stood up in shock, eyes wide open as she processed what was just asked of her. She then quickly turned to Loona, stared for a bit, then turned to look at Lincoln, who was just finishing up his routine as the event was ending. She instinctively brought a hand to her heart, but to her surprise, she wasn't feeling that rising heated sensation that made her heart beat faster any time she looked at Lincoln. She also wasn't feeling her feathers ruffling as she continued watching him.

"Unholy shit, you're right," whispered Octavia.

"So, uh… not to look a gift horse in the mouth, but how in Hell are we not drooling over him?" asked Loona, mentally crossing her fingers she didn't jinx anything.

"I'm not as well-versed or knowledgeable in spells as my dad, but if I had to take an educated guess, it probably has to do with that curse of his. You know about how it supposedly adapts to everything about Hell? And how it adapted to that spell he messed up that turned him into a full-grown incubus, making it so he can transform between his human and incubus form?"

"Yeah?"

"I think the curse adapted even more. Maybe it made it so Lincoln would stop putting out his lust aura since he doesn't want or need sex right now. I might have to ask dad about this, just to be sure."

"Well… here's hoping you're right. I just want things to go back to the way it was, where I don't have to think about relieving myself using Lincoln's image."

"Ugh, ditto," Octavia agreed while shuddering in disgust. "Not just that, but also so I can stop having dreams about marrying him."

"… I am now morbidly curious about that," admitted Loona.

Both Loona and Octavia stood in awkward silence for a moment before taking a quick glance at each other, then looking away for a few seconds before they started snickering. They then devolved into laughter, unable to hold it back. Neither knew what prompted them to laugh, but they didn't care since they were still having a good time together.

Finally, Lincoln had finished the event and left to take off the mascot costume while Hironaka wrapped everything up. As he entered the New Deborah Hotel, however, Loona and Octavia noticed someone following him inside. Someone familiar… who had just pulled out a concealed knife…

"Hey, isn't that your dipshit of a boss?" asked Octavia.

"Fuck!" grunted Loona before running after him with Octavia following suit.

TOKYO, JAPAN, Kamurocho District, New Deborah Hotel

He was almost there. The target was right in front of him, completely unaware and all alone since nobody else was inside the lobby of this fancy hotel. This was gonna be an easy kill, that triple pay was easy as his, and he'll finish that conversation with his intern with a simple little bribery with the money he's gonna get. Just a few more steps and a simple stab to the midsection—

The mascot pulled off his orange head, and the first thing Blitzø noticed as he got closer was white hair. Within a split second, Blitzø's excited expression immediately morphed into horror as he took his last step, landing very close within the vicinity of who he thought was his target. The man turned around and noticed him as he took that step. At first, he was surprised to see him, but then he looked down and noticed a knife he was holding, the sharp end that was mere centimeters from the man's midsection.

"… Blitzø?" asked Lincoln, breathless and horrified at the situation he found himself in. Little did he realize that Blitzø himself was even more horrified at the blunder he was about to commit.

"Blitzø!" they heard Loona shout as she ran up behind them, followed by Octavia, and a few moments later, Moxxie and Millie. Needless to say, they had all just stumbled upon a very nasty picture, one where voices will be raised and a head will roll if someone didn't salvage the situation with a clear head.

As Loona and Millie started growling to build up their roaring of Blitzø's name, Lincoln quickly got in between them and his boss.

"Lincoln, move!" Millie snarled, breathing heavily as she was ready to pounce.

While it scared Lincoln to see Millie lose her temper before an inevitable violent onslaught and bloodshed, he was more worried about Blitzø over what was possibly a misunderstanding, so he stood his ground instead.

"No," said Lincoln firmly.

"Lincoln! Listen to your mother, right now!"

"No!"

"Lincoln!" started Loona, in a similar state as Millie. "That shit-for-brain right behind you almost—!"

"I know!" retorted Lincoln. "But I'm willing to bet that this is a big misunderstanding and we're missing the bigger picture here."

Blitzø didn't know how, but he was suddenly feeling alone and helpless, and he didn't muster any strength to defend himself. He was already feeling an array of conflicting emotions after his phone conversation with Lincoln, but now that he had almost done the unthinkable due to a stupid careless mistake, his head was practically throbbing as he remained rooted on the spot, unable to break out of his stupor.

He thought he would've been dead by now after what he had almost done. Or at the very least, badly mangled and broken. Instead, everyone but Lincoln was across from him, glaring daggers at him, while the intern stayed in between like a human shield. Blitzø looked up at Lincoln, who remained resolute in defending his boss. In fact, the way Lincoln was defending him felt so familiar to Blitzø. It felt just like how she had done it before…

"Guys!" Lincoln called to all of them, catching Blitzø's attention. "We can worry about this later, but you clearly haven't finished the mission and have no idea who you're actually looking for. So, we need to trade notes here."

The rest were very hesitant to drop what had almost occurred just now, but none of them could really argue against Lincoln's insistence to focus on the mission at hand. Lincoln was the one who started his explanation on what he had just learned about the fake mascot, or as Hironaka had dubbed him, Fauxno Michio. How the faker was scamming his customers with the fake toys at outrageous prices, how the fake toys was notorious for blowing up after its button was pressed, and how one particular fake toy ended up killing a couple. After hearing how it matched up with the story of the clients who hired I.M.P., Lincoln was able to develop a plan to find the target.

"Hey, Hironaka?" Lincoln called out. "You said you dealt with the fake toys before. Do you have one on hand right now?"

"Yes, but why do you ask?" asked Hironaka.

"I just wanna see how the fake looks like so I know who to look out for."

"Oh, um… sure, of course," said Hironaka as he headed towards his belongings. He then retrieved a toy that was the same size as the toy Lincoln had bought before, but when he was handed the fake toy, he couldn't help but notice some glaring details.

"How did anyone confuse this with the genuine article?" asked Lincoln as he analyzed the toy. "This thing's head barely looks like a hassaku, it has an udon hat, and the shirt is a tank top that says ONE instead of ONO."

"It's unfortunately a common misunderstanding for new town areas," answered Hironaka with a sigh. "Because the people have never truly seen Ono Michio, especially since he's only been a recent rising trend, almost nobody can tell the difference between the real deal and the faker."

"And someone really paid the price for it, all because of some two-bit scammer taking advantage of these people," finished Lincoln with a whisper and a scowl.

"Wait, what are you planning to do now?"

Lincoln simply grabbed the Ono Michio head, then answered, "Ono Michio has a job to do here. He dealt with this faker before, he's gonna do it again."

"Wait! Please don't do anything reckless!" begged Hironaka.

"It's okay, trust me. You finish up everything here. I'll be done with this faker by the time you're done here," reassured Lincoln in a low voice as he walked out of New Deborah with determination.

TOKYO, JAPAN, Kamurocho District, East Shichifuku Street

"So you might be wondering what my plan is," Lincoln said to the readers. He gestured to Loona in front of him, who was leading the team. "I had Loona take the scent of the fake toy so she could track down the scammer. Now it's only a matter of time before we find him, and when we do, I'm going to put a stop to his sales. Not only that, but I'm gonna let him go while also making sure he makes his escape towards the Champion District. There, the rest of my teammates will set up an ambush to… finish the job, and then we make our escape."

"Um… is Lincoln okay?" Octavia asked Moxxie and Millie.

"No need to worry about him, Princess," Moxxie assured her. "He can apparently talk to 'the audience,' which he usually does to catch them up to anything they might've missed in his adventures."

"… Riiiight," said Octavia with uncertainty. She then made a mental note to look more into this with her dad to determine whether Lincoln has more power than they expected or that he needs help.

"Still though, Lincoln," Moxxie called to him. "Do you really have to do it this way?"

"Sorry, Moxxie, I know how much you hate mascots, but this is necessary," Lincoln answered apologetically.

"… How could my own son betray me like this?" whispered Moxxie with a devastated expression, prompting Millie to console him. "You're right, Millie, he is growing up too fast."

As the team made their way down the street, they spotted a crowd gathered around what looked like a stand, and wouldn't you know it, there was the vendor, dressed up as a cheap imitation of Ono Michio. The monster that got two people killed and had the audacity to continue his scam like nothing happened. Their target.

"Alright, guys, get ready in the Champion District," instructed Lincoln. "I'll get him prepared for you."

Moxxie and Millie nodded, although Blitzø was hesitant, as he was still reeling from his earlier mistake. They left for the Champion District while Octavia stayed behind.

"What do you want me to do?" asked Octavia.

"We just stay back and enjoy the show," advised Loona.

Lincoln went inside an alleyway where no one could see him and put on his Ono Michio costume. After he put on the head, he walked out of the alley with grit and determination.

"Come one, come all!" called Fauxno Michio, clapping to get the crowd's attention. "Get a load of my wares, mitchi!"

"Wait, isn't it supposed to be 'michi?'" asked a customer.

"And isn't Michio supposed to have a ramen hat, not an udon hat?" asked another.

"Michi, mitchi, ramen, udon, same difference," answered the faker dismissively.

"If you're going to impersonate someone, at least put some effort in looking like the real deal," called a voice to the side, grabbing everyone's attention. To the faker and the crowd's surprise, they saw Ono Michio approaching them.

"Y-you!" uttered the imposter.

"That's right," said Ono Michio. "With my charming hassaku face! Steaming Onomichi ramen hat! Cute fish pouch! Cool boots, vital for any fisherman! And my bold and trendy Ono shirt! That's right! I'm the pride of Onomichi!" He brought his hands up together, then jumped into his signature pose. "Onoooo… Michio!"

With that, the crowd was whispering among themselves, trying to figure out what was going on. Eventually, one of them piped up, "You are the real Ono Michio!"

"Tch! There's no way this is the real one!" yelled Ono Mitchio. "He's not even selling any of his products! He's just going around making an idiot of himself!"

"That's rich, coming from you," retorted Ono Michio. "You're the one selling the fake faulty products at a ridiculous price!"

"Psh, you have no evidence!"

"Really?" asked Ono Michio. Although his face was inanimate, one could still practically see the smirk on his face based on his tone. "Then surely you wouldn't mind a little test drive?" Ono Michio pulled out the fake toy, surprising everyone, including the scammer.

"Where did you get that?!"

"I bought it. You know, the legal way? I don't mind spending some money to expose fakes like you and protecting other people from your scams!"

"Goddammit! You just had to ruin me again! Don't you have anything better to do?!"

"That's also rich, coming from you. You had your chance after Yokohama, yet you kept doing this stupid scam! And look where it got you now! You took two lives and left a child without his parents!"

Lincoln was relieved that the faker bought his bluff, for the fake toy that was given to him by Hironaka had the battery removed since that was the source of the toy blowing up. Of course, he would've either used his magic or gotten a replacement battery to explode the toy. Nevertheless, the imposter took his bait, and now all Lincoln needed to do was position the both of them so the faker would try to make his escape down Senryo Avenue and then through the Champion District.

"It's not my fault the stupid battery was a little broken!" shouted the imposter. "Rrrgh! I'm gonna pay you back for your shit in Yokohama! Boys!"

With his call, the imposter's goons came out to surround Ono Michio. He counted about five of them.

"I got more guys with me this time, so there's no way you're getting out of this one!" Fauxno Mitchio boasted.

"Five, ten, a hundred… it won't stop me from doing what's right!" retorted Ono Michio. "It seems I'll have to teach you the same lesson again!"

"Hey, Michio, you want backup?" called Loona.

"I couldn't ask you to do that," said Lincoln, surprised that Loona was volunteering.

"I know," said Loona, walking up to him. "I also know you could probably do this by yourself, but I got some shit I need to work through."

"If you're so insistent, please be careful, good citizen," said Lincoln, getting into a fighting stance back-to-back with Loona. He then addressed the goons, "It's time for Ono Michio to Ono Beatchio!" '… I miss Luan…' thought Lincoln sadly.

With that, the fight broke out, but the imposter and his goons had no idea of their opponents' true nature. One goon charged at Lincoln, who managed to parry the goon by moving aside at the last moment before the punch landed. Lincoln then followed up by sweeping the goon off his feet, and just as the goon landed on the ground heads up, Lincoln brought his foot down on the goon's face, knocking him out of the fight.

Another goon charged at Lincoln, and just like with the previous one, Lincoln waited until the goon threw a punch before moving out of the way at the last moment. However, Lincoln moved so fast that nobody realized he was right behind the goon until he made his next move. Lincoln sent a flurry of quick jabs into the goon's midsection before releasing a powerful hook behind the goon's head. Dazed, the goon tried to turn around and throw a haymaker at Lincoln, but Lincoln easily dodged the hit, threw a few punches to the goon's abdomen before delivering a powerful strike to his face, sending him to the ground.

Yet another goon charged at Lincoln, but Loona stepped in the way and delivered a powerful punch to the goon's stomach, stopping him in his tracks in utter pain. She then simply delivered a powerful uppercut that sent the goon into the air before falling hard down to earth. Another goon ran after Loona in hopes of tackling her, but nobody had noticed that Octavia as aiming with her finger before finally shooting a magic beam at the goon's foot, tripping him in the process. Before the goon landed on the ground, Loona delivered a powerful knee to the falling goon's face, knocking him out cold. Loona looked at Octavia, who gave her a thumbs up.

Finally, the last goon remained. Seeing his buddies get taken down so fast in quick succession, he couldn't move from his spot, as he was contemplating whether to try and finish the fight or decide that the fight wasn't worth it. Unfortunately, he wasn't given the chance, as Loona approached behind him and shoved him forward with one hand. As he was staggering, she lined up with Lincoln on the other side of the goon before, with a nod to him, the two of them delivered a synchronized roundhouse kick to the goon's head on opposite sides, trapping him in between two powerful blows that knocked him out cold.

Lincoln, or rather, Ono Michio slowly turned around to face Fauxno Mitchio. The Ono Michio mascot may look a little ridiculous, but after seeing how fast he took down the goons with a little assistance from a random passerby, the imposter could only count himself lucky he didn't piss himself right then and there as he was cowering in fear.

"How did you do that?!" shouted the faker.

"… As long as one fights for other people, there isn't anything Ono Michio can't do!" the mascot declared. As corny as it sounded, Lincoln couldn't stop himself from saying that while in the role of the mascot. After all, he was facing yet another scummy opportunist who took advantage of other people, and a child was left alone and helpless as a result, something Lincoln was all too familiar with.

The faker didn't even have time to register what Ono Michio said, let alone formulate a witty retort, for Ono Michio quickly closed the distance and delivered a punch to the imposter. The faker was sent to the ground, but Ono Michio quickly pulled him back up to deliver yet another punch, this time to the stomach. The faker didn't fall to the ground, for Ono Michio intended to further punish the faker for his transgressions.

Lincoln was almost seeing red as he landed punch after punch on the scammer responsible for taking lives for personal gain. He didn't care about any kind of flimsy excuses the faker could offer, so he didn't give him any chance to defend himself, figuratively and literally. After one particularly powerful blow, he sent the faker to the ground, who could barely move. Lincoln didn't care that he had so many eyes on him as he menacingly approached Fauxno Mitchio… that is, until he saw the looks on Loona and Octavia's faces. He saw how afraid they were as they stared at him. Lincoln looked to the side to see the crowd was holding their breath, afraid of what was going to happen next. He then looked to the ground at the scammer, barely conscious and supporting himself.

'No,' thought Lincoln. 'This is for them, not me.' Instead, Ono Michio made his way to the stand with the fake toys, placed a foot on the side of the table, then gave it a hard shove, knocking it and the toys over. He then turned around to the faker before addressing him, "You're not getting away this time. If it had just been a simple scam, I would've let you go, but now? Murder demands justice." Ono Michio turned to the crowd and called to them, "One of you please call the police!" Thankfully, one of them heeded his order and started dialing.

While the police were being contacted, Fauxno Mitchio got up and took off down North Senryo Avenue before making a left into the Champion District.

"He's getting away!" one of the people called to Ono Michio.

"Tell the police he went into the Champion District!" ordered Ono Michio. "He won't get away."

"Um… excuse me, Ono Michio?" said a small voice. Ono Michio looked down to see a child looking up to him. "That was really cool what you did!"

"Thank you, little one," replied Ono Michio, kneeling down to the kid. "I'm just glad I made it just in time to stop that faker before something really bad happened again."

"So… so it's true?" asked one of the people in the crowd. "One of that guy's toys blew up and…?"

"Unfortunately, yes," Ono Michio answered solemnly, eliciting several gasps from the crowd. "That's why I came here. I couldn't save those two people, but I had to make sure nobody else got hurt… or worse, by that scammer."

"If that's true, then thank you very much!" said another person in the crowd, in which more people followed suit in expressing gratitude.

"If anyone here wants to see more of the real Ono Michio, then come to Theater Square!" Ono Michio instructed. "Unlike that scammer, I won't ask you to buy my products! Instead, I would like for all of you to learn more about the real Ono Michio! That way, you don't fall for this scam again and so you can help spread more of my name to others! You could probably save more lives this way if another scammer does decide to show his or her ugly face again!"

The crowd cheered for Ono Michio as he finished his speech, some leaving towards the direction to Theater Square. Ono Michio then made his way to the empty alleyway to change out of the costume, where he was met with Loona and Octavia.

"Looks like you got a promising career as a mascot," remarked a smirking Loona.

"You know," started Lincoln, humoring Loona, "considering I wanna be cartoonist one day, maybe I gotta make and be my own mascot too."

Octavia giggled at the thought of Lincoln in front of a drawing board, concocting numerous different designs while doing ridiculous poses for a mascot of his own. "By the way, do your coworkers have the rest of your plan covered?"

"Yup. And we'll be hearing from them in about a few minutes…"

TOKYO, JAPAN, Kamurocho District, Champion District

The Champion District was sort of a mini-maze with so many different pathways, but was also very small and congested. As such, Fauxno Mitchio was limping through the different paths in hopes of shaking off any potential pursuers. However, he had severely underestimated his current pursuers and had no idea just how experienced they are in catching their targets.

Fauxno Mitchio looked back to see one stalking behind him, rather menacingly as the stalker held out a knife. Fauxno picked up the pace and tried to escape through the southern exit of the Champion District, only to be blocked off by another pursuer who turned around the corner, also holding out a knife. Fauxno had no choice but to turn towards a nearby empty lot, only to find that he had run straight into a dead end… emphasis on 'dead.'

Fauxno felt a painful strike on his back, pushing him to the ground. Too wounded and exhausted, Fauxno couldn't get back up right away, only managing to crawl at best. However, the pursuer easily caught up to him, and Fauxno only closed his eyes as he mentally said his last prayers.

"[Bomb voyage, bitch!]" said the pursuer in a foreign language. Fauxno heard his stalker walk away, and for a brief moment, he thought he was being spared. It was only when he looked up to where his stalker once stood and spotted one of his fake toys right next to him. The last thing he noticed was that the toy started sparking before—"

*BOOM*

Bltizø walked out of the Champion District with his coworkers casually as he heard the telltale boom of one of Fauxno Mitchio's faulty toys. Let it never be said that Blitzø didn't prefer finishing off his targets either bombastically or with a fresh dose of karma or both. With the job now done, he made his way towards Theater Square to rendezvous with his intern, although he couldn't help but feel a twinge of hostility nearby, which he didn't realize was from his employees still staring daggers at him.

TOKYO, JAPAN, Kamurocho District, Theater Square

"So it's finally over with that scammer," said Hironaka. Lincoln had returned and relayed all that had happened regarding Fauxno Mitchio to both Hironaka and Nishimura, minus the killing part, of course. "I still can't thank you enough for all your help."

"It's no problem," replied Lincoln. "I'm just happy people realized the fake now and are coming to the real deal."

"Heh, this would be the third time someone stepped up to take the Ono Michio mantle and show everyone the true charm of the mascot. Who would've thought that a foreign tourist would be next to do so?"

"I guess life is just full of never-ending surprises," answered Lincoln before turning to Nishimura. "I'm sorry I have to leave on such short notice, but it's gonna be up to you to appeal to the new crowd. And you might have to see that little boy who lost his parents…"

"It's okay," said Nishimura. "I almost quit this job before because I thought I couldn't live up to the last person who wore the Ono Michio mantle, but with the help of Hironaka, I realized that I didn't have to be exactly like the last guy. I just have to be my own and give it my all, and as long as I have someone who believes in me, that's all that matters."

"Then it looks like you two are in good hands. I wish you two the best of luck!" said Lincoln with a bow, then turned to leave with Loona and Octavia.

"Thank you! I hope we meet again someday!" called Hironaka.

Lincoln made his way to the rooftop with Loona and Octavia, where they met up with Blitzø, Moxxie, and Millie.

"Hey, guys!" greeted Lincoln. "I take it the job's done?"

"Heh, like you have to ask," replied Blitzø with a smug smile. "So, you all ready to head back?"

Lincoln used his magic to summon a portal back to the I.M.P. office, but before he could move to enter the portal, he was stopped by Millie.

"Hey, baby boy, how about you spend some more time with Loona and the princess? Moxxie and I wanna have a little… chat… with our boss, 'kay?"

Lincoln looked at Blitzø, who was suddenly shivering in fear, especially when Millie gripped his tail while Moxxie gripped his hand. The warm smiles on their faces betrayed their intent if Blitzø's profuse sweating was any indication.

"Please don't kill him, guys," begged Lincoln.

"Hmm… okay, only cause you asked," relented Millie before she and Moxxie pulled Blitzø into the portal, his screams cut off as the portal disappeared.

Now that it was just the three of them alone, Lincoln leaned over the rooftop railing, watching the show below with Ono Michio.

"So… this was a very interesting day," remarked Lincoln.

"Heh, understatement of the millennia," said Octavia.

"Still though, I had some fun today. What about you two?"

Loona pretended to think about her answer before replying, "Meh, I've had a lot worse."

"Ditto," Octavia followed suit.

"Eh, I'll take it," said Lincoln with a shrug, prompting the three of them to giggle.

"Hey, Linc," said Octavia. "Seriously, though. Thanks. For everything." Without warning, Octavia hugged Lincoln, leaning her head into his neck. Though caught by surprise at first, Lincoln wrapped his arms around Octavia.

"No problem," said Lincoln. He then looked up to see Loona, and with a mischievous smile, used his magic to pull her into the hug. She tried to resist and break away from the hug, but eventually relented, though she too was smiling as she leaned into the hug.

PRIDE RING, I.M.P. Headquarters

After sending Octavia back to her home with a portal spell, Lincoln did the same for himself and Loona back to their office. When they returned, they saw a battered and bruised Blitzø lying on the lobby couch, nursing his wounds as best as possible.

"Ouch, Blitzø," noted Lincoln, cringing as he observed the extent of his boss's wounds. "They didn't show any mercy, huh?"

"No… shit…" mumbled Blitzø. "Hurts… to… talk…"

Lincoln took a seat next to Blitzø and summoned green magical energy in his hands before aiming them at Blitzø. Blitzø suddenly felt a much more calming sensation. Gone was the stinging pain, gone were the weak muscles, and gone was the swelling in all the bruised areas. Blitzø opened his eyes when he no longer felt the blackeyes swelling them shut to see that Lincoln was casting some kind of spell that was reducing the pain greatly or healing them. He didn't know which, but he didn't care at the moment, for the only thing he could focus on was how Lincoln sitting next to him and caring for him brought back yet another memory he thought was long buried.

When one of Lincoln's glowing hands passed over his face, Blitzø suddenly saw his mother in the same position, sitting besides him and caring for him while he was resting and recovering. He couldn't stop the single trail of tears sliding down from his right eye, something Lincoln noticed.

"Blitzø, you okay?"

"Yeah… *sniff*… Just hurts… a lot…" replied Blitzø, which Lincoln accepted as he continued healing him.

"Hmm… speaking of hurting, I wonder how the police are dealing with the now-dead faker."

TOKYO, JAPAN, Kamurocho District, Champion District

A man with scruffy hair, black jacket, white undershirt, tight blue jeans, and white shoes watched with shock and horror at the mangled body that was the center of a crime scene. His detective agency currently had unofficial custody of a young child whose parents were killed because of some scam products, and he had just heard about a commotion involving the scammer happening in this area. What he didn't expect was seeing the scammer hoisted by his own petard, leaving behind a bloody mess that would no doubt traumatize anyone else who saw the remains.

"What the hell?" asked Yagami.

-THE END-

Hope you all enjoyed this extra chapter. Once again, this chapter went on a little longer than I anticipated, but it all seemed to flow like that as I kept brainstorming on how to progress at certain points, as well as coming up with ideas to connect the current point with a later point that I'd planned out. I got a few more chapter ideas in mind, so stay tuned.