The next morning...
"She knows?!" gasped Loona.
"I'm afraid so, my dear." replied Stolas softly.
The I.M.P gang, including Balin, were called to start work early as Blitzø lately informed everyone of Stella's unexpected 'visit.'
"B-B-But, how?" stuttered the boss. "We've been keeping him a secret from the outside like you would've wanted."
"Not in that Striker guy's case, apparently." the owl princess spoke next. "There way I see and heard it, he must've reported this to her when he tried to break into the palace."
"Wait, who's this Striker guy?" asked Balin, who was sitting in Loona's lap. "Was he the one who...?"
"Effed up your fun day with Via?" interrupted Blitzø, as everyone else gave him unamused glares. "Yeah, that's him."
Balin then clung onto Loona still feeling scared of him, even by his name.
"Dammit, Blitzø!" she barked at him. "You know how scared he is of him!"
"Don't you think either one of us is too, Loonie?!" he remarked.
"No, no, it's okay." Balin joined in calmly. "It's just... in one of my nightmares, I..."
"Kiddo, what does this have to do with your nightmares?" Loona interrupted him.
"It's just... he was disguised as the judge that placed me in the foster home. Taking me away from my family." he sighed.
The others felt sorry for the kid every time he brought this up in his grief.
"I'm so sorry, little guy." Via walked up to him and gave his cheek a rub.
"Yeah. Sounds like both those guys left quite a mark on you." added Moxxie in support.
"Hang on, we're getting off-topic here." said Stolas.
"My father's right." Via interrupted. "This is about mother, and whatever she might do to him. In fact, all of you."
"What are you talking about, Your Highness?" asked Millie.
Via soon pulled out a cassette tape.
"They have those things in Hell?" Balin thought in his head, as he tilted it in confusion.
"Before I went to bed each night since coming home, I prepared this in case my parents ever met again and got into another fight. That way, I'd use whatever evidence as proof the next morning."
Stolas nodded at his daughter's effective method, but widened his eyes nonetheless.
"EVERY night?" he sheepishly asked. "Does that mean that one night where Blitzø and I were talking about...?"
"Yes. And it's disgusting." replied the princess.
Everyone else looked disturbed for a second, except the boy who was too young to understand adult stuff, before Via broke the silence.
"Just listen to what I heard that night!" she sighed with frustration.
She then turned on the cassette tape to hear Stella's speech from the night she visited the mansion during Bee's party.
"You wanna know how I heard about that little shit?" she began speaking grimly in the static. "Our little friend the cowboy may have been the first, but don't go thinking for a minute longer that Hell is the only place my ears are."
...
FLASHBACK:
As everyone listed closely to Stella's recorded words, little flashbacks were shown.
"I'm only explaining this much to you for now to know how much you don't want to cross me now." she continued. "It all started when Via uncovered everything to you. I had to send Striker after her because as you may know already, my competition isn't just you. And when I watched it in combat during one of their last missions, I heard one of them yell..."
"Balin's in deep shit!" - Loona's words from the warehouse massacre in Hell's Kitchen.
"When Striker called him in during his stakeout, it became confirmation. As I never thought there'd be a fifth member to that plaything's obstacle course. So I had to investigate, but not long before making another discovery."
A blonde woman with long white hair and purple streaks, just like Stella's, appeared from an alley near the warehouse and began following one of the thugs with the suitcase full of drugs, walking poshly.
After an hour, she made it to his house just in time to hear him make a collect call.
"YOU FOUND THEM?!" two voices cried. They both sounded like they were from Brooklyn.
"Yes, I have." replied the thug. "But don't worry, I got outta there just in time AND with the goods."
"But they still saw you! We're trying to keep it secret for real this time!" the male New Yorker softly exclaimed through the phone.
"Don't you remember what happened in compound X, rookie?" the female New Yorker added.
"I do. But luckily, I don't think they remembered who we were." assured the thug calmly. "A lotta people wear these suits for businesses elsewhere, you know?"
"Just get the stuff to us first thing in the morning." the female sighed. "We got a second chance and we can't afford error for both."
The Stella-like woman, having watched the whole thing from the window in front of the house, disappeared with the evidence she needed.
"It was then I remembered two of the voices." Stella continued on tape. "Those voices were so distinct, therefore so experienced."
She then approached a large building with camcorders on every corner, tight security, and a logo that made her break into a giggle.
"DHORKS? Seriously?" she guffawed to herself before walking towards the place pompously.
She saw a sign that read 'Appointments only!', then went closer to the building hoping to pat down the phone number with her fast reading. And she did.
Back at her icy castle, she grabbed her rotary phone held by a servant imp and gave them a call.
"Yes, now, I know you don't hire; you recruit, but this is different." she spoke. "I'm not some suck-up looking for a low-tier job, no. I'm someone who's seen demons like the ones you could be dealing with up close. All I'm asking is that you hear me out."
The next day...
Stella arrived at the headquarters in her human form and a business suit, and entered with granted access.
She walked all the way down the corridor, past the room where the iconic 'Truth Seekers' took place with the doors covered in yellow police tape and spray paint, saying: 'Quarantine!' and 'Do not enter!'
She then took an elevator all the way down to the bottom of the headquarters, nearly a few layers to where the Earth's core was, where two agents dressed in black suits and sunglasses were waiting at their desk.
"Are we in private?" Stella asked.
"Yes. Before we ask why, I'm One and this is Two, my partner-in-arms." Agent One, the male New Yorker, said.
"One? Two?" scoffed Stella, as she dropped her human form. "Creative, no. Smart, definitely not."
"DEMON!" Agent One gasped
Dropping their coffees, the agents got up from their desks and pulled out their guns ready to shoot, while three little angels, one ninja, and one priest stood by their sides also ready to attack.
"Whoa, whoa! Yes, I am a demon! But..." Stella was then interrupted by Agent Two.
"She's surrendering? Great, we can shoot."
"BUT!" she yelled, causing them to stop and look up at her. She then took a deep breath before speaking again. "I'm not here to do... whatever you little ones' job, the ones I assume you know." she slammed two pictures on the desk.
One picture showing Stolas' full-moon night with Blitzø, and the other showing one of I.M.P's selfies with Loona growling uncomfortably in it.
The agents then showed her their videos of said demons, and the angels showed their drawings of I.M.P from their experience with them.
After failing to redeem a human that they killed, which got them framed, they failed tremendously again to kill the boss when his associates encountered them. And they still had the scars from that night to prove it.
"Hmm... someone with not only more experience than us, but rather, from the inside..." Agent One thought out loud, then looked at Stella intrigued. "What did you say your name was again?"
"Stella." she reached out her hand in camaraderie. "Stella Ars-Goetia. The service and loyalty I owe, in doing this, shall pay itself."
But before they shook hands, the flashback abruptly ended as it faded back to Present-Day.
FLASHBACK ENDS
...
"But why am I wasting too much time socialising about this?" Stella said on the cassette.
"Talking about...? You merely just fucked your plan!" Stolas then exclaimed. "You really are no different than those...!"
A sound of scraping metal was heard through the tape, making everyone cringe with goosebumps.
"Don't you DARE compare me to that scum-!"
Before Stella could finish, Via quickly turned off the cassette while everyone else was dazed and surprised, especially Balin as he sat so far from the grown-ups.
"She's teamed up... with those agent buckeroos?" gasped Millie. "The ones from before?"
"And they sounded just as prepared as she is now." replied Stolas. "Perhaps some people do believe in the words of kooks after all." this made the prince let out a small giggle-like cough.
"Grrrrrrrrr. Traitor!" seethed Blitzø.
"Sir, this is bad. If two more of our biggest enemies have banded together for this cause to Stolas, then this puts us in more danger than we've ever been in before!" said Moxxie. "Including..."
Everyone then slowly looked to Balin with shocked faces.
"You mean, someone is out there trying to kill me?" the boy shivered.
"No, my boy." Stolas then spoke, kneeling down to his level. "She only wants me. But... if they want them too..." he gave a sad sigh at what he was about to say. "You should probably head home while you still have the chance."
The I.M.P gang were so shocked hearing this. Loona, especially.
They knew it could've been for the best, but for some reason, they didn't want the first human who touched their hearts to leave, even as a child.
Balin also lowered his head hearing that from him as well.
"I'm sorry, child." continued the prince. "Truly, I am."
"I know. said Balin. "Can I please have a moment to think about it? If that's okay with you?"
Before he could answer, he looked to his daughter, knowing this could crush her heart. He didn't want to see that in her again, whether the boy was safe or not. So he was as resilient as he was.
"You certainly may." he replied, giving him a gentle head rub before he stood up.
"Just be careful out there, sweetie." Loona leaned down to whisper to him, before he walked out of the office
"Okay, so, the foster home he escaped from is on and off the table right now." said Moxxie
"I'd prefer off." muttered Loona, as the white-haired imp continued.
"But we don't know for sure if there's anyone else in his family, around town or anywhere, that could take enough care of him, so..."
"What're you suggesting, Moxx?" asked Millie inquisitively.
"You think, maybe it's time he'd see them again?"
"Moxxie, come on! Time won't tell how long they have in that safe house." interrupted Blitzø.
"That's the thing about witness protection." replied Moxxie. "I know that, Balin knows that now, but..."
"Well does he know by this message that his government will just treat him like the rest of the grown-ass humans out there?" Blitzø then showed a message on his phone saying:
"Canary underground. Will keep you apprised."
"I think your first impression of the foster home's the best way to go, Moxx." said Blitzø. "Or maybe, we could have Loonie adopt him and keep him hidden a little while longer until we get to the bottom of this."
"Sir, we can't just adopt him!" Millie spoke objectively. "We're already in enough shit just keeping him, but only because he has his family!"
"Mills, I know he's homesick AND in danger now." replied Blitzø. "But just think, we haven't had any demons be scared or aroused by him. Hungrily."
"That's even worse!" cried Moxxie.
"I agree with Blitzø on this one." Loona chimed in. "But mainly because as much as I don't want someone that young to grow up feeling shitty as I was in a place like that, I still want him to understand he's stronger than..."
"You?" Stolas interrupted her, as one tear started forming in Loona's eye. "Isn't that... unlike you? So I've heard?"
"Yeah, but, that's what you do when you try to care for someone, right?" she continued. "OK, I agree with him because I care about him goddammit! But, all the same, I'm just his friend. I'd be a terrible mother to him."
"That's not true." sighed Blitzø. "After all, you did sing to him the other night."
Hearing himself say that, he then cringed as if he was avoiding a punch in the face. But Loona did have that kinda expression on hers, hearing that.
"What?!"
"...The night he had that nightmare, I was about spy on you after M&M until I... heard you sing the id to sleep with you..."
Before Blitzø could finished, he sensed Loona towering over him and growling like a painted dog. If Moxx was hard to film with a camcorder, Loona was much harder.
"You, did, WHAT?!" exclaimed Moxxie.
Stuttering, Blitzø decided to back away so she wouldn't try to kill him.
"Uh, you know what? I'm just gonna go." he said, bumping into the door.
"WHATEVER!" barked Loona loudly as he ran out.
He ran a few feet from the door and hid behind one of the filing cabinets, and soon waited to see if Loona was coming out for his blood. But she didn't. This made him pant in relief.
As soon as he was calm, he saw Balin sitting at one of the waiting chairs nearby.
"Hey sport. You okay?" he softly asked the boy, before he looked up showing one tear in his eye. "Oh, buddy, wh-what's wrong?"
The boss walked up to him as he sniffled and kneeled down in front of him, gently putting a hand on his shoulder as the kid whispered something to him.
"Huh? Kiddo, I can't hear."
Then Loona came into the waiting area to speak sternly with Blitzø, but when she saw him trying to console Balin, she became a different kind of upset.
"Scoot." she blankly said to her adoptive dad, walking over to the kid before wiping Balin's tear away with her finger. "Everything alright?"
As everyone else came out one by one, Balin spoke clearer to Blitzø looking at him.
"I said..." he said with one last breath. "I think I'm ready to see them again, Mr. Blitzø."
"See... who again?" asked Blitzø.
"Them, Blitzø." replied Loona sadly, knowing who he was talking about. "Your... family?"
Hearing this from her, everyone softly gasped in their emotions.
A/N: See y'all in the next chapter.