AT I.M.P...
Loona was now in the meeting room with Balin, sitting at the table as she brushed him with a pet hair remover after hiding in her tail during their visit with Vortex.
"I know you're a creative kiddo, but hiding in my tail to surprise Tex? How were you able to do that?" she asked him with a chuckle.
"Um... can I ask you a question first, Loona?" said Balin with a kitten-like smirk.
"Go for it."
"How did you know I was hiding in there?" he playfully asked with his arms crossed.
Loona then giggled at his pouty impersonation. "You weren't hard to spot, sweetie. I could see those perky hound ears of yours poking out." she then gave his real human ears a tickle, releasing a tiny squeal out of him.
"Alright, hold still now." she continued brushing the fur off his clothes. "There, I've said my piece, now it's your turn."
"Okay." Balin began explaining. "When we slept together the night you brought me here, I snuggled into your tail for real, as in, I sunk into the fur."
"Hmm, people have always wondered how bushy this baby can be, now I know why." Loona thought to herself.
With a happy eye-roll, she then finished with the brushing.
"There we go. No more fur, just a delicious human kid." she teased him, releasing a quiet but playful bark.
Balin giggled and soon thought of some payback. "Wait! Isn't there more?" he stopped her, feeling soothed by the brushing.
"Nice try, Balin. If I kept on brushing, someone would yell 'Naked pup!'" Loona joked back again, making Balin laugh.
Blitzø then kicked the office door open and whistled his way in, preparing for the work day.
"Morning, Mr. Blitzo!" Balin called out to him kindly.
"OH! Uh-uh-uh, remember sport, the O is silent." the boss wagged his finger before booping his nose, before turning to Loona. "Hey, Loonie."
"Hey." she replied flatly.
The eccentric imp began writing '2days bizznuss plans' on the whiteboard in big bold letters.
"So... I couldn't help but wonder where you two were this morning." he then stretched his back down to look at the two.
"Just on a coffee run, Blitzø." Loona said texting on her phone. "Oh and, Tex says w'sup."
"Tex? You mean that bouncer working for..." he then scraped the whiteboard with his black marker in resentment. "...Verosika?"
"Yep."
Blitzø just grumbled, instead of exploding, hearing that name. "Of course you'd be seeing that dog's hellhound."
"Blitzø... behave yourself." Loona said through her teeth, no longer flat but stern. "Wanna add another penny to the swear jar?"
"But Blitzø didn't swear, Loona. Did he?" asked Balin curiously.
"Don't worry 'bout it, bud." she shushed him. "Blitzø and Verosika just have a bad history together."
"Yeah, it's private." added Blitzø supportively. "It's sort of like me shoving a mouldy PB and J down my pudding hole."
"UGH! Don't be gross." Loona pinched her nose in annoyance. "We've been over this."
"What, I'm just trying to make a metaphor!" complained Blitzø before he cleared his throat. "But the thing is, Balin... I used to date a popstar back in the day."
"He knows about Verosika already, Blitzø." reminded Loona. "He doesn't know about the relationship. And I don't WANT him to."
"Well, I do want him to know to stay away from her." replied Blitzø. "I may've gotten over her a little after a f... party where she bragged about how much she hates me."
"Hm, good job." Loona flatly commended him for not swearing.
"Still, she is a succubus. Who knows what she'd do to you?" he continued.
"What's a succubus?" Balin then asked the boss.
"Oh it's a creature that makes you attracted to them."
"Like mermaids?" the boy asked, then gasped. "Are mermaids real too?!"
"Oh no, buddy. Those creatures aren't." Loona comforted him with some back rubs.
"Yeah. But she has their charm." continued Blitzø, before speaking more discrete and eerily. "Like... I heard this one time, the last few kids she saw were so attracted to her, she cooked them and ate them."
"BLITZØ!" barked Loona covering a now anxious Balin's ears. "Are you trying to scare him right now?! Tex told me she loves kids!"
"Again, examples!" yelled Blitzø back. "And loving kids? That's just her party trick!"
"You're an asshole." muttered Loona hatefully as she put a quarter in the swear jar.
Soon, the company line started ringing, so Loona placed Balin off her lap into the chair next to him before she and Blitzø left the office, leaving him to play on his iPhone.
She soon picked up the yapping tele-bone and answered it. "Y'ello, I.M.P. Whoever you are, it's Loona."
She spent the next 30 seconds of the call writing down notes on the target the client wanted dead, then hung up not bothering to say anything in return, then called the gang together.
"ALRIGHT DUMMIES! YOU GOT A JOB!"
"And what job do you have?" asked Moxxie inquisitively with his duffle bag ready.
"Receptionist, part-time caretaker, and murderer of you if you don't quit undermining me again, Fatty!" snarled Loona as she beared her teeth.
"Okay, okay, fine! Sorry." Moxxie then gagged at Loona's breath. "Just, brush your fangs, it's like you're starting to like Blitzø's doggy treats."
"Still sorry!" Millie chuckled nervously, grabbing her husband before Loona could kill him.
"So, Loonie, what have we got?" Blitzø asked as he picked up the notes. "Ooh shit, this one's a biggie. Definitely need you for this, Loonie."
"Seriously! Calling me that is bad enough, but how many times a day do you call me that?!" groaned an annoyed Loona. "Today's like its record!"
"Well, you are my daughter."
"ADOPTED" everyone yelled, except Balin.
"Adopted or not, we still might need your help with this one." continued Blitzø. "What do ya say, Loona?"
"I say, nope." she remarked. "Someone's gotta stay behind and watch the kid, remember?"
"P'shaw! For a kid his age, he speaks like he's the president. I'm sure he can keep himself safe." chuckled Blitzø, before he then got an idea. "Besides, you do seem to be turning into quite the overprotective... Mother, mother!"
That Marvin Gaye joke made Loona so pissed off, she glared at all of them then prowled slowly away from the desk, causing the imps to walk backwards without making another sudden movement. ...Until Blitzø gave the word.
"And... RUN, NOW!" he shouted.
The three began running around the office in circles with Loona chasing them like a predator, a few moments before running into the hallways and towards the elevator.
As Blitzø grabbed out the crystal with Loona still charging towards them like an angry bull, he quickly opened a portal for her to run through unknowingly.
Soon, as the imp gang went through the portal next, Loona froze her anger now in shock to see she was in the mortal realm. Or specifically...
HELL'S KITCHEN, NEW YORK CITY...
"Wait! BALIN!" she exclaimed.
Before she could run back in, Blitzø shut the portal, ultimately freezing her.
A few seconds later, Loona started hyperventilating, having left the human kid behind in guilt.
The three imps immediately felt bad and tried to stay silent, until Blitzø fucked up the moment.
"Uh, Loon...?"
"Sir! Shut the fuck up!" Moxxie shushed him.
Loona then turned her head to him in furious anger, causing him to back slightly away from M&M.
"L-Look, I'm sorry." he began chuckling nervously. "To be honest with you, I didn't think that was gonna happen. But you know what they say in improv, acting is reACTING!"
At that line, Loona picked up Blitzø to her growling maw by his shirt very badly. She then opened her drooling mouth about to take a bite of him, but as he flinched, she slammed it shut without killing him.
"Let's... get this fucking mission... over and done with!" she breathed heavily trying to calm down, before throwing him to the ground.
M&M helped Blitzø up as Loona began texting on her phone, in her aloof self again.
"Well, at least now we know if Balin dies, it'll now be on Moxxie." Blitzø said as he dusted off his blazer.
"Since when did that become an arrangement?!" Moxxie exclaimed feeling offended.
"I mean, you are quite the muso of the group." shrugged Millie. "You must've sung that song before."
"Wonderful Mills, glad to have you on board." Blitzø gave her a thumbs-up. "So what's the target, Moxx?"
"I don't know, but don't ask me 'the muso.' Ask the hound of Hades." grumbled Moxxie.
"HEY! You're lucky I'm able to calm down without the kid for a little while! Now tell us!" screamed Loona.
Moxxie then pulled out the notes as he shivered from the tension. "Okay, this group of..."
"Another one? Damn, these humans are turning into Newmans." interrupted Blitzø with surprise.
"This group of mules are under contract of the longest-running ice-smuggling ring... from underground." Moxxie explained. "Said to have been running for the last..."
"30 years?" Loona interrupted with a grin, not bothering to look from her phone.
'How have the Earthly authorities not even picked up on this yet?!" exclaimed Moxxie in shock.
"It's Earth, fat idiot." remarked Loona. "Now why does the client want them not breathing anymore?"
"You know damn well why. Now sniff!" Moxxie replied swiftly to her as Loona groaned and began sniffing for the building's scent. "Now, the clients were original mules behind the ice, before they were killed during the robbery that began the targets' business."
"Must've waited for an anniversary to make it happen." Millie scratched her chin. "No-one expects something like that happening then. Ain't that a fact."
"Also, they haven't paid yet, but said whatever's left of the ice, that's the amount of cash they'll pay us in return." continued Moxx.
"A quick way to pay. I like that." Blitzø then cocked his flint and pointed it at the warehouse. "With all that settled, Loona lead us right to the place."
"Fucking finally!" sighed Loona in relief, secretly excited to return to Balin.
As the gang were about to walk, Millie stopped them.
"What's the matter, girl?" asked Blitzø.
She then pointed her knife at a bodyguard standing out front carrying a shotgun.
"It's a human. One that I don't think is just loitering 'round these parts." she replied, about ready to attack.
"Steady honey, perhaps now is my time to 'improvise.'" Moxxie nudged Blitzø.
"What?" the boss said in confusion.
"Loona, stay! Everyone else, come!" Moxxie whispered as he grabbed the other two imps' hands.
"Excuse me?" Loona asked confusingly too.
"Don't worry, fatty's got a plan." he quickly told her as they hid.
Loona shrugged, standing against the wall and texting like he told her to, while Moxxie just grabbed a brick and gave it to Millie, pointing to her fluffy tail as it wagged.
"NOW!" he yelled in another whisper.
With her brute strength and aim, Millie then threw the brick onto Loona's tail, causing her to loudly howl in pain as Moxxie covered his ears and Blitzø's mouth went wide open with worry.
The bodyguard then looked around sideways hearing the noise until he spotted Loona a couple of buildings nearby.
"WOLF!" he screamed as she kept on howling loudly. "AAAGGHHHH! PLEASE DON'T EAT ME!" he then ran away from the building dropping his shotgun in a panic.
Blitzø then picked up the shotgun and grinned. "Well howdy, new friend."
Soon, the imps and Loona walked over to him, while Loona growled in pain and looked at Moxxie as she rubbed her sore tail.
"Gotta say Moxx, Loona may get her tail in the hospital, but you got your head in the game!" the boss ruffled his hair in pride. "Now let's fuck these fuckers up!"
The three imps then crept into the vents, while Loona changed into her disguise just putting on boxing gloves for protection.
MEANWHILE... BACK AT I.M.P...
Balin was still playing on his iPhone in the office when he got a text from Loona.
The text said: "Just gone out with the others for some work, Balin. Stay inside and stay safe, little buddy."
The boy then stopped playing on his phone to hear how peaceful it's become, upon seeing that message.
"You were right, Loona." he thought in his head. "The peace and quiet is very beautiful here."
He also felt rather relieved that she and the others were okay and would never leave him out in the cold like this. So with this peace-and-quiet time, he went to the couch outside the briefing room for a rest, ...until...
*Knock, knock, knock*
Balin did hear the door knocking but ignored it like Loona told him to. But soon, it happened again every couple of seconds.
...
Until 15 seconds later, when he gave in, put on his disguise, and opened the door shielding himself from whatever monstrous demon it could've been.
But when he opened it, he then slowly opened his eyes to see it was Verosika and her posse, including Vortex.
"Hello... little cutie." said a curious Verosika.
"Uhh... hello?" Balin was already feeling very uncomfortable.
Verosika then knelt down and began sniffing all around him, until...
"Make-up?" she whispered to herself.
She then took off his hoodie and licked the make-up off his face with her Venom-like snake tongue.
"OH! Eew, eew, eew, BLEGH!" spat Balin in disgust, as he unknowingly wiped the rest of the make-up off his face.
When he saw it on his hands, he then looked back up to see the entire posse shocked by what they were now seeing.
As the awkwardness lasted six seconds, Tex then ducked away from the group as quick as he could.
After the silence, Verosika showed a big smile, like she saw a puppy or a kitten.
"Why HELLO THERE! You adorable little HUMAN BOY...!" she began squealing.
"AAAAAHHHH!" screamed Balin in fear.
A/N: See y'all in the next chapter.