A/N: "I want to thank everyone that has been following this story so far. It means a lot, and also is the only reason why I'm still writing this story to be honest. I love Helluva Boss CHARACTERS, the concept of Hell is very interesting. Yet, like my dear reader Barkin said, it is lacking on storytelling, mostly on continuity, also the characters themselves. Normally I don't mind much the characters not having much going for themselves, at least when it comes about writing something that includes these characters, but this show is really tiring me out. I personally don't have headcanons about anything, I just write things to entertain and challenge the reader into different possible scenarios. Yet, everything is based on the franchise, and Helluva Boss is really giving me a headache. I don't have any solid base to use regarding much, especially the worldbuilding itself. That being said it has been painful to watch the show, especially regarding MAIN characters like Loona and Millie. I was so disappointed about the last episode that I genuinely thought about just giving up this story and go back to Kung Fu Panda or maybe even write something for Guardians of the Galaxy. Yet, reviews like the one from Charlie, and some DM's from some readers, gave me enough of a reason to keep it up.
But then I will have to go on my own set of worldbuilding from now on, I cannot wait(or trust) the show to reveal any meaningful lore that will be pertinent (or significant) enough for me to adapt into the story. Stuff will be... different. Yes, I was trying to use the show as a base for this fic, but now I'm positive that if I keep doing that I will end up struggling even more to make sense of anything. It was getting very tiresome to come up with explanations of why X stuff happened if Y thing happened in the show. I can't with that anymore. You all expect that fanfiction will resemble the origin concept, not be actually the same, but even with this show that is just impossible. I hope you understand. Thank you for giving me enough motivation to keep it up."
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"Is everyone alright? Loona?!"
"Yeah, we are fine! What about you? That shit was crazy!"
"I got a few bruises here, these damn stairs... well, no biggie. My office on the other hand... this is a problem."
"I would think so Blitzo, considering this place was not meant to sustain such amount of bullets and grenades."
"Oh, great! Thanks for pointing out the fucking obvious!"
"Hey! Cut the crap you two! We are in deep shit, get whatever it's important and meet me at the rooftop. We need to bail, now!"
"I gotta agree with Loona, they will be back soon. Is there anything still in one piece around here?"
"No, Mills. Not really. I got some files here and there, but..."
"I'm sorry Blitzo."
"...I should've seen this coming. I think... I'm just glad you're all okay."
Loona watched carefully across the hallway, aiming her handgun at anything that seemed suspicious, expecting more assailants to show up at any second. The amount of dead Imps littering the floor a clear sign that things just escalated to a new level of danger, which made clear I.M.P had been targeted by someone with enough resources to mount this type of attack. The office door was nothing but a huge hole, the inside not looking any better. The intruders clearly wanted to finish the job quick, tossing many explosives to finish off anyone left alive later on. Yet, for their bad luck, not a single member of I.M.P was present at the office. Blitzo, after the rest of the team had left to the roof, allowed himself to go to the upper floor. His reason for leaving the office was to complain about the upstairs neighbor doing way too much noise or something of the sort, which wouldn't be the first time.
"What's that? Being the sentimental type now?" Loona teased, although sardonically. One of the bodies laying on the floor twitched, she hastily unloaded two bullets into their fractured skull. "Sloppy, they shouldn't move at all. Hey, Millie, clear on your side?"
Millie, who was busy chopping apart dead Imps to alleviate her disappointment at not getting any kills, just nodded distractedly.
"Yeah, nothing here. Not like I would say it aloud if there was." She replied morosely. The Hellhound chuckled at Millie's frustration while glancing back at the remains of Blitzo's office. Most walls were nothing but swiss cheese, all glass material was shattered into oblivion, most hanging portraits were laying on pieces over the charred floor. The huge table and chairs did not fare any better. All drawers had been shot open by the blast of the grenades, hundreds of thousands of burnt, and pierced, tiny pieces of paper spread across the entire room.
"You damn lucky you weren't here. They were going total overkill with this." Loona said as she was examining what was left of the meeting room. "Any idea who could've done this?"
"Some names come to mind. Possibly." Blitzo replied slowly, his focus on finding important documents that could've survived the onslaught. "Fuck, will take ages to find anything in this mess!"
"Blitzo..."
The Imp closed his eyes, understanding the subtle tone of urgency in Loona's voice. Even if they killed a few Imps, a bunch still managed to escape downstairs, which meant they would be back soon, perhaps on higher numbers or with even more devastating firepower. This situation was putting everyone in danger, he would be damned if something happened with Loona because he acted like a stubborn fool.
"Let's go. We wasted enough time fucking around. Loona, you got the book?" He asked while making his way back into the Hallway. She gave him a puzzled look in return.
"Uh, yeah? Are you giving it back to Stolas?" She asked dubiously. Blitzo shook his head immediately.
"No, we... the team will need it still. Let's focus on finding a safe place first. Say, we should teleport back to our homes, pick whatever we need and lay low for few days." He suggested as he looked back at Millie and Moxxie.
"We don't have much, it should be quick." Moxxie said with a nod of agreement to the idea. Loona sighed.
"Cool, but I have no idea what your place looks like. Gimme some details on the way up."
Moxxie and Millie spent the next couple minutes explaining the surroundings of their house. Unsurprisingly Blitzo also shared detailed information that not even the couple knew about. The Hellhound pretended to ignore on how her foster father even knew about such info, it was no secret anyway but she had no desire to bring those thoughts forward.
As soon Loona opened the door to the roof a shot rang into her ears with impunity. She winced hard while ducking on reflex, looking towards the source few meters away. Collin just depleted a round into something out of visual range, but the sudden explosion echoing from the streets below made things even more confusing. The purple wolf seemed fairly shocked with the results of his actions.
"Collin, what the fuck was that?" Loona asked, running to his side as she looked down below. Some cars were stopping at the sight of a huge flaming wreck that closed the street both ways. "What was that thing?"
"Huh, i-it... was a chopper, or something like that." He said rather hesitantly, looking beyond guilty. "I... saw they had Imps with guns in it and were flying to this building. I... panicked a little and fired a warning shot to scare them away. I... missed."
Blitzo, Millie and Moxxie mutually stared in utter silence before it was broken by the hearty laugh of the tallest Imp.
"Ha! Look at that! A killer in the making!" Blitzo said proudly, to which Collin's face paled tremendously.
"W-What!? No! I didn't mean to!"
"It doesn't matter, those assholes were here to kill us, good riddance!" Loona cut the pity party before Collin ended up admonishing himself further. "It was for the best, I rather them dead than us." She said while giving him a meaningful glance. The wolf didn't seem entirely convinced, but he nodded despite his conflicting feelings on the matter. "Did you never kill before?"
"No, of course not! Even if they were... Hell beings. That's just... not something I would ever entertain." He replied meekly. Millie rolled her eyes while Moxxie shook his head on clear frustration.
"You can't think like that if you expect to last around here." The female Imp said, albeit sympathetically. "Sure, I get you don't feel like starting a mess, but you cannot think you will escape some crazy out there without firing a couple shots. Like Loona said; either you or them."
"Couldn't have said it any fancier, no better way to run the business when things don't go as planned." Blitzo said with a smirk. Collin felt his mood sour tremendously, giving the taller Imp a grievous look.
"Yeah, even if it means killing people who did nothing wrong, isn't that right?" He retorted bitterly. Loona went still for a moment, immediately understanding what the Fallen was hitting at. She pointed a finger at him, but without any malicious intent.
"Don't. This is not the place, not the time, not the best idea." She warned him before giving Blitzo a glare of her own. "We won't talk until we get our things. Also, we are just passing by anyway. There is no way to know if they already have a clue of where we live. Collin and I know a place we can go to stay out of sight, better safe than sorry."
"Just what I was thinking actually." Moxxie said, surprised to find himself agreeing with the Hellhound again. "I wouldn't put past for them to be tracking us for some time. We should be wary that there might be traps as soon we step into our homes."
"Right, so that's it then." Loona pulled her phone and quickly dialed to one of her private contacts before passing the device to Collin. "Tell Morning we are bringing in some relatives, also that some shit happened and they need a place to stay."
The wolf nodded quietly, clearly still upset by his unfortunate decision that costed lives. The Hellhound stared at him with nothing short of worry. Collin being in a depressed mood was always difficult to handle, due how rare it ever happens.
"Who's Morning? Blitzo asked, watching as Loona slowly made hand gestures while rotating her arms around. "What are yo-
A portal opened near the Imp, who shouted in surprise, looking at it in disbelief and then back at Loona. "Wait, so you can memorize this crap, and here I thought you were just bullshiting this stuff back then." He said with something akin to pride. "Aww, my Loony knows advanced spells!"
Loona groaned, pushing the Imp right through the portal to shut him up. She gave a quick glance towards the other two Imps standing nearby. "I will keep the portal open, this close to your house, get whatever you need and be back quick. Tell Blitzo to stay near the portal. Better to have someone keeping guard until you two are done."
"Couldn't you open a new one after coming along?" Millie inquired as she hesitantly looked at the blurry image of the block department that was most likely her home.
"Nah, this shit can get tiresome if done too many times. I rather save the energy for when we need a quick getaway." She explained calmly enough. The Hellhound was getting fairly acquainted with Millie, not feeling even slightly bothered by answering her questions after the small talk they had before I.M.P went under attack. "Hurry up, we're hitting Blitzo's house next. I do think we may encounter trouble there."
"We are right on it! See ya soon!" Millie shouted with excitement, jumping across the portal after Moxxie went by. The male Imp made sure to leave a few guns available for Loona before crossing the portal. The Hellhound didn't notice at first, but she smiled at the thoughtful gesture as she examined the weaponry laying on the floor nearby.
"Say, did you manage to get the adoption documents?"
Loona blinked, looking at Collin with a bit of surprise. It was rather odd he would bring that up out of nowhere in a moment like this. She couldn't help the dubious look on her face before replying.
"No? Why would I worry about that after what happened?"
"I heard a lot of explosions. I just worry that such document could've been damaged. It's the only clue we have to find anything about your family, well, besides getting that magic chain off of you. Unless... you want to ask Blitzo where the... place you were kept is." He replied hesitantly, feeling a bit wary of even mentioning a place of such horrible memories for Loona. "Or maybe you remember how you got from there to Blitzo's house?"
A fair question about a rather awful subject. Loona sighed heavily. She didn't really remember at the time how she got out, her mind was going a million different places back then and it wasn't really focused on where she walked by. Still, she would rather worry about that later on.
"All I know is that I came from the Gluttony ring, but we already knew that anyway. Yeah, maybe I will ask him. I will think about it another time. Did you call her?" She asked firmly, making clear for the conversation to change into important matters. Collin nodded, fully aware that she refuses to talk about it any further.
"Yeah, she is aware. Told us to drop by the entrance, she and Vaggie are waiting." He replied despondently. Loona nodded, giving a quick glance at the portal before walking closer to the wolf. He gave her a wary glance at the sudden closeness.
"Will you be okay, though?" She asked more gently. "I known you enough by now to be sure you won't simply ignore what just happened. I know you don't like the idea of killing anyone, I can't really understand what you're feeling since I didn't grow up with a choice to whether I should kill or not. If... I had to be honest... I rather not have to. Shit, Blitzo would've been very sad if he ever heard me say this kind of stuff." She chuckled at the mental image of the Imp losing his mind about Loona being merciful to strangers. Then she frowned at the reminder of that actually happening recently.
"I... yeah, I do understand the survival concept. Is just... this is one of the situations that I don't like about how Heaven goes about it. They are so ruthless on whoever takes a live, no matter if because of an accident, self defense or not." Loona seemed rather astonished by what she just heard.
"Wait. They can't be serious about someone trying to keep themselves alive by taking their soon-to-be killer? For real? What the fuck Heaven expects them to do? Just lay down and let them be killed?!" Loona didn't even know why, but hearing that was actually making her upset. "What kind of retarded logic is that? And how can you punish someone for doing something they never meant-
The sudden pause was enough for the wolf to know that Loona suddenly reminded herself of the major reason Collin ended up in Hell. Her narrowed look shifted into a sympathetic one, she let out a tired sigh.
"Shit, that is so messed up. What even is the point? This just makes Charlie's idea of redemption that much more stupid and pointless. Does she even know how much of a dump Heaven looks like?"
Collin frowned, fully aware the Hellhound's complain is completely legitimate. There were so many things about Heaven that simply did not make any sense. The more they discussed about it, the more he soured about the idea of ever going back.
"She knows a bit. I haven't told her much more cause I'm still trying to make sense of what does not make sense about it. I spent many years on Heaven, I'm aware of things that are worse than what I've been able to tell but, until I can remove this spell keeping me from saying more, there ain't much help I can offer."
"Can't you just type or write on a paper? Make hand signs or something like that?" Loona suggested, puzzled at how he could even be this much tied up about that kind of information. Collin shook his head.
"I know how... effective this type of binding spell can be." Collin replied shakily. "I try to write, type or use my hands, my fingers will snap into opposite directions. I force my way to talk, my mouth will shut tight. If my tongue gets caught it won't be good, just like you saw the other day when we were with Octavia. I try anything with my legs, my knees will be bent forward."
"Dude, what the actual fuck is wrong with Heaven?" Loona looked actually stunned. "How can they punish you this hard for saying anything about them? What they wanna hide so bad?"
"Whatever it is, is not part of my knowledge. The things I have to say don't really put Heaven into any sort of danger. It is... very damning to their reputation though." Collin said slowly, wondering how subtly he could mention anything about it without triggering the spell. "It doesn't make sense even to me. Unless they thought me, Keenie and Cletus had actual vital information about something. I... I'm starting to think that the other two probably had, but I was also binded just for safety."
"Even after dead, those two are still causing you a shit ton of trouble." Loona couldn't help the sarcasm. "Still feeling bad about their deaths? I don't regret killing them. I'm actually happy I did, especially after what they put you through."
Collin raised an eyebrow.
"Whatever happened with you not really entertaining the idea of killing for the sake of it?"
"I have bad days, bite me."
The wolf couldn't help the snort at the absurd response.
"If you say so."
Before anything else could be said Blitzo jumped back from the other side of the portal, followed by Millie and Moxxie a second later. The couple was carrying a backpack each that were rather sizable. Moxxie seemed a bit sweaty while Millie was completely relaxed.
"I swear... I have... bricks in mine." The shorter Imp lamented as he tried to catch his breath. "We're ready."
Loona nodded, giving the others a short glance to make sure they all were set to go.
"I will open a new portal to the Hotel. You and Millie go ahead and introduce yourselves to Charlie, she's waiting at the entrance. Collin, do you wanna go with them?" Loona asked, giving the wolf a rather intense look. Collin quickly realized Loona wanted to take this chance to be by herself with Blitzo, which meant she planning to set things straight for once on her own. He nodded hesitantly, hoping that the Hellhound would keep her cool until they reached the hotel.
"Sure, I will go along. Take care." He wished them, mostly Loona, before standing by Millie and Moxxie. Loona took a deep breath. Focusing on her hand gestures as another portal emerged from thin air. This one with the blurry image of Hazbin Hotel displayed inside its oval shape.
Millie and Moxxie wasted no time and walked across. Collin gave the Hellhound one last meaningful look before walking after the couple. Loona slowly performed another set of gestures to close that portal.
"I thought we would be back here, aren't we gonna need it?" Blitzo inquired, not getting why the portal was closed. Loona shook her head.
"Nah, we will do this back at your house. Also, I think this might take some time, ain't safe to keep a portal open with no one watching it." She replied as she opened another room that would take them directly into the living room. "There, can't get it to be more on point than that."
"Woah, I gotta say Loony, you're actually really decent at this. How come I never knew?" He asked, unable to hide his amazement at her capabilities. The Hellhound frowned.
"You will know why, just get in." She replied curtly. "Also, here." Blitzo blinked, barely registering that Loona was giving him back the Grimoire. "This is your problem now, not mine. Also, don't get me started on the crap you and Stolas are getting into. Is one thing to be a weirdo by spying on Millie and Moxxie, but you should know better than getting involved like that with the royal folk."
"Oh, please. I don't really want to talk about that right now." Blitzo couldn't help the sneer on his face while he crossed the portal. Loona easily caught up to him, turning quickly to shut the magical passage. She glanced around, sniffing the air in search of any possible intruder hiding. Thankfully she didn't detect anything different from the usual foul smell of always. She still felt Collin's faint scent coming from her room, which she didn't expect to be lasting this long. He hasn't been in the house for few days.
"Sure, you say all you want. House is clear." She added as she took notice of the Imp loading his handgun. He gave her a disappointed glance in return.
"Really? Oh, well. I guess that's it then. I will be packing my stuff. Perhaps set some nice traps before leaving." He added with some excitement.
Loona shrugged, making way to her own room to collect her stuff. She swore under her breath at forgetting her backpack at the office, which she only reminded about moments ago. A sigh of frustration was let out as she opened the only cabinet she has in her room, bringing out an old, dusty, small bag. She stored the few clothes she has available, at least enough underwear for a few days. She never stopped to think how little she had in terms of clothing, not that she was much into caring about having too many options. It was a bit of a wake up call when she struggled to find something proper for the part she went with Collin a few days back. She had been saving money, concerned about just finding her own place and get out of Blitzo's house, this obviously hurt her possibility of investing more on her wardrobe.
Now that she had found a new place to stay, she pondered about spending what she has. It wasn't really a concern when it comes to food. Collin could easily cover that problem, but what couldn't he? He certainly can conjure, or summon, clothes, hygienic items, even tech devices if he felt like it. She wasn't sure what to make of her current situation, from struggling to get anywhere to suddenly have everything she could possibly get. Granted, working as a receptionist at an hotel wasn't really her idea of getting bigger in life, but who cares? She was totally fine with it, especially if it meant staying away from the killing business.
Loona frowned, her hands occupied with emptying the drawer near her bed as she thought about what to say to Blitzo. They will have another serious conversation, and this time she wasn't letting anything vague about their current relationship. She wanted to get things straight with him, so they could finally finding their separate ways, even if not entirely. The Hellhound was pissed off with his attitudes, but she wasn't going to forget the amount he tried for adopting her when he had no reason to.
At the end, despite really not wanting to agree with it, Collin has a point. Sure, Blitzo was a complete jackass, but still had something of a heart, even if it was extremely hard to even imagine such due his shitty behavior. Loona wanted to really have a reason to hate Blitzo, but talking with Collin made her rethink how she wanted to feel about the whole thing. Hell, talking with Collin made her rethink her entire life, especially her narrow view on the world. She was looking forward to see how things would go for the next week. She never worried about her own future, always just caring about living the moment in a way it wouldn't made her feel even more depressed. Now there was something to look forward, and she wouldn't have to worry about being on her own.
As soon she finished packing her belongings Loona returned to the living room, only to find Blitzo placing actual explosives at the door that led to the service hallway. She snorted at his devilish smirk once he carefully connected the triggers to the doorknob. The Imp would never not get excited at the idea of murder. It is a reminder of how much more different they are, aside being an Imp and Hellhound.
"Are you done?" Loona asked dryly, one hand on her hip while the other was holding the bag with her stuff.
"Al...most! Yes! Perfect! This will be quite a big one! Aww, sucks I won't be around to hear it." He lamented while walking back to collect his own bag. "All set."
"Cool." Loona sighed, turning around to perform the usual hand gestures, but stopped short all of sudden. Blitzo blinked, giving her a wary stare.
"Everything okay Loony?" He asked with surprisingly gentleness. She glanced back at the Imp with uncertainty.
"Yeah, I kinda wanted to ask... why did you adopt me?"
Blitzo's eyes widened. He was about to reply something he rehearsed few times, having expected this kind of question for nearly five years. Yet, he still found himself short of an answer.
"I... wasn't really expecting you would ask this after... what happened this morning." He replied hesitantly, that painful reminder of the things Loona yelled at him very vivid in his mind. Loona nodded slowly.
"I get what you're saying. I said things and I meant them. Okay, maybe overdid a bit on the horse stuff." She admitted with a blush. "We need to clear things out now, not more screwing around. I'm not opening any portals until we get this through."
"Well, I could since I have the Grimoire." Blitzo pointed out slowly. Loona groaned.
"Just tell me why, please. Blitzo, I'm begging you to tell the truth, I don't care how shallow it is! Just tell me why!"
The Imp's shoulders sagged, he looked far much older in just the spam of few seconds. He gave Loona a long, calculated stare, before walking towards the ragged couch and finding a comfortable spot of his to sit.
"Okay. If it's the truth you want, this will take some minutes. I think we can start with... what happened with... my family."