"Of all the crazy ideas you had, this one will take the cake."
"It can't be that bad. I mean, Collin actually managed to blast that wall quite perfectly."
"Yeah, that's the problem. That was not supposed to happen, you said it yourself. This type of spell should only make a scorch at the wall, not vaporize the whole thing!"
"Maybe he needs to adjust his energy or something? I never really had this sort of complication. Things always went as I was taught. I guess for him there's going to be a bit of play with the wording to get the right results."
"Charlie, I be damned, this has nothing to do with the way he says it! There's something about Collin that is just not making any sense. You can tell he feels off, even for a Fallen. They don't have that much power, ever."
"So, what you're saying? That he's not a Fallen? I don't see how that's possible. Angels cannot go into Hell without being cursed to be able to survive our environment."
"Yeah... I know that."
Charlie awarded Vaggie with a hesitant look, her hands holding one of her old spell books that she memorized from many decades ago. She has been teaching Collin to master spells that wouldn't damage his soul, the more safer kind of curse spell at least. Yet, the most basic ones proved to be immensely destructive when the wolf made use of them on mundane objects.
She decided to make on her promise to teach him the spells after all, hoping it would help him to achieve some level of personal safety, not having to rely on others too much. Not that Loona couldn't take care of issues, but she wasn't able to tackle more potential dangers that went above the usual thug or mob of assassins. There are many powerful beings in Hell, and there's a great limitation to what Imps and Hellhounds can do against them. Yet, despite the usual knowledge of the hellish canines, Collin proved to be far beyond what some Overlords achieved in their first months. Charlie recalled the old times under her father's tutelage, learning the dangers and techniques of curses and destructive spells. She became highly proficient on casting them with the required amount of power.
After five years.
Collin just casted a basic scorching spell ten times stronger than hers in less than a minute. It was just insane to witness. Most surprising was seeing him acting rather embarrassed about the outcome instead of proud or confident. Vaggie seemed less impressed, but concerned nonetheless.
"Say, you think I could try a bit? I want to have some fancy up my sleeves too if I can help it." Loona asked suddenly. The Hellhound had been standing behind the other two while watching Collin test his casting skills. She was quite surprised by the power display and the temptation to try herself spoke louder than her attempts at remaining indifferent about the whole event. "And what even matters that he can do this stuff better? That should be a... well, the 'b' word."
"Blessing?" Vaggie raised an eyebrow at the Hound's hesitation. Loona rewarded her with a short glare before nodding. There was just things about Heaven that folk from Hell just refused to talk about, either due extreme animosity or ignorance. "Yeah, well, whatever his deal is, it's something that affects him. I don't see how a Hellhound can pull these things, they are not really meant to." Loona shrugged.
"Doesn't hurt to try. I can conjure portals anyway. Don't think I was supposed to." She replied evenly, not really in the mood to argue. "What even is a scorch spell compared to that? No biggie."
"Sure, you can try Loona." Charlie said in agreement, offering her the book with the instructions. The Hellhound gave it a quick look, mumbling under her breath before slowly raising her hand, aiming towards a wall far away. It was a good thing they were doing such practices on a remote location far away from any buildings. There was nothing around them but walls of stone and some lakes of molten lava. Loona quickly uttered the incantation, her hand flashed brightly before a jet of light shot from it at an impressive speed, colliding with the wall with a resounding crack. Instead of a scorch mark, there was a small burnt hole at the place of impact.
"Oh, that's... kind of surprising." Charlie couldn't help the frown on her face. There was no way a Hellhound could've managed to summon up so much power into that kind of spell, at least not enough to generate more than a spark. Something clearly was off, and now Collin wasn't the only one under suspicion. Vaggie snorted.
"Well, what do you know? Does Loona also need to work on her wording? She seemed very competent on her pronunciation."
"You think this has something to do with me?" Collin couldn't help but ask, feeling a bit put out by the strange circumstances. "I'm not sure if both of us being together may have cause some side effect."
"Maybe? That could be it, can't be really sure. Not that it matters anyway. I'm a bit... hesitant to teach you guys something stronger. I'm already worried about the amount of damage you can do Collin, no telling what an actual explosive spell might do." Charlie admitted with visible worry. "I really don't need this kind of attention right now, neither do you. Let's just wrap this up and think of something else later on."
Collin couldn't help the disappointment, neither could Loona. Charlie sighed once taking note of their reactions.
"I just will think of something else I can work on you two without taking an entire complex in a single go. I will need to look some other spells I haven't really taken much attention towards these past decades. Say, why don't you two head back to the Hotel and get something to eat? We've been here for hours anyway." The majority of their time was indeed spent trying to teach Collin how to read Hellish. "I'm looking forward to see Belle getting that kitchen running soon."
"As long as you keep your word on the matter." Vaggie remarked pointedly. Charlie shrugged despite the troubled look on her face.
"Yeah, the whole thing with Beelzebub is being more problematic than I thought. At least dad will keep him off our backs. Speaking off... huh, Loona, do you happen to have Blitzo's number? I need to ask him a few things regarding our current security protocols. As much I trust Razzle and Dazzle to keep things afloat, I can't really expect them to cover every single corner around the Hotel. I remember talking with Millie about a security surveillance system."
"Sure, I can get you the number, and... cameras?" She gave them both a worried glance. "Don't those tend to be... a bit weird when there's Demons around, especially the likes of you and Lucifer? No offense." She added quickly.
"Eh? I'm not, oh! That kind of thing." Charlie laughed it off. "It's fine. Actually, might just talk with Alastor, don't think he would want those near where his office is anyway. Still, I'm not really looking for the ordinary devices that the Humans use. It will be something more... practical."
"Sure, whatever you say. Collin, ready to go? It's getting late and I do have to talk with Blitzo early next morning." Loona asked distractedly, focusing on opening a portal back to the Hotel. The wolf nodded, arms crossed as he stared at the wall he blasted minutes ago in wonderment. "What's eating you up?"
"Nothing. Just... surprised by this outcome, that's all." He slowly replied, sighing before turning around to face her with a more uplifting expression. "Say, what you want for dinner tonight? I wi-
"Just wait for us to be back. I want to do something else first." She cut him off, a small display of eagerness on that smile of hers that always got Collin to be wary. "Dinner will be the last thing we do for today."
Collin rolled his eyes, smiling at the implications. He was starting to get used with the ominous flirty way of hers, not that he should feel concerned at this point. He was almost certain Loona is at the edge of an anxiety crisis if she doesn't get one quality night on bed with him, not that she could be blamed.
It would be nice to have a day without worrying about the issues of three different realms, just Loona and himself to be focused about. He did take notice of Vaggie's glare his way, no doubt she wanted to have a private word with him at some point, especially regarding the intensity of his casting. He wasn't sure what he would offer as an explanation. Collin has no idea of why he has such power within.
He followed her across the portal, feeling the wave of heat dissipate as they made into their room. Collin breathed in relief, he wasn't really feeling very comfortable with the location Charlie picked for the testing, but it was the only isolated place they could do any of it without attracting unwanted attention. His eyes went across the dorm, happy to see that everything was as they left, perhaps Niftty wasn't granted permission to enter their room despite it being her job, most likely Charlie told the maid not to mess with their stuff. Loona closed the portal behind him with a flick of her hand without bothering to look back. She was becoming very proficient with her control over that complex cast.
"I normally don't complain about hot and cold, but that place was really getting me sweaty, which doesn't happen very often." Loona said while undressing near the bed, tossing her clothes at the floor without care. "Hate that feeling under all the fur, feels like something crawling under my skin." She stood up and faced him, completely naked. At this point Collin was already self-aware to not stare below eye level, despite the Hellhound being a head taller. "Well? Get those clothes off already, I'm not waiting all day for you. No, not bathtub, you know why." She added with a sly smile as the wolf was about to question the choice for bathing. "Don't forget to bring a chair."
Collin nodded, feeling his cheeks heating up considerably before crushing away his desire to keep dressed.
"Just deep breaths... it will be fine. It will be fine..."
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"This isn't fine!"
"Urghh, fuuuuuckk, no shit! Blitzo, you fucker! What messed up shit you got us into this time?!"
"Oh, get out of my ass, will you?! How is this any of my fault?! I didn't invite any of those fuckers to the meeting!"
"So you're telling me you told you sister we were coming and now, what?! She sent two dozens of hummies to kill our asses?!"
"Who cares?! We can deal with this shit! Was already hard enough to track her! I'm not gonna be swayed by some shitheads who think they can make money out of our heads!"
"They don't look like mercenaries, sir. More like...a gang of sorts."
"Shut your ass and keep shooting Moxxie! Millie! Forget the ax for a moment and get something with range for fuck sake!"
"We better get this crap out of the way quick, otherwise we will be missed back at the Hotel and if Charlie finds out we are fucked!"
Collin gulped hard. After a very entertaining night spent with the Hellhound, he woke up next morning to the sounds of Blitzo banging on their door, desperate to get them to help him chase after the tracks he recently found about his sister's whereabouts. Needless to say Loona was beyond pissed off with being forcefully awake due some annoying ass banging the door. The Imp was very lucky she was just starting to get used with rising very early in the morning due the staff training imposed by Vaggie. Blitzo was dragging Millie and Moxxie for the ride, both already fully geared with backpacks and their own personal weapons. Loona audibly complained about the timing of the event, but Blitzo mostly ignored her grumpy mood. Not having much time to get dressed Collin and Loona followed the Imp after he used a rather strange crystal to open a portal. The Hellhound was stumped on how that was even possible, but had no time to question before Blitzo forced them both across the dimensional fissure. Collin found himself landing on tall grass, surrounded by a forest in a seemingly tropical location, too dazed to think properly of where on Earth they could be located at.
Blitzo, Millie and Moxxie followed shortly after, scanning the area with visible confusion. They made their way out of the grass after some debating, which involved a very annoyed Hellhound and a nervous wolf. Once they found a clearing they were immediately fired upon. They all ran for the tree line desperetely seeking cover. Few shots grazed Loona's right leg, she howled in pain after reaching the safety behind a large tree. Moxxie and Blitzo were already exchanging gun fire by the time Collin came to check Loona's wounds, briefly confused by the oil marks on her leg. It was only few seconds until he realized that was the color of her blood. Millie stood next to them, seemingly hesitant with the current situation, she had no way to engage without getting shot right away, their tree line was on the opposite side of the huge clearing. Their attackers somewhere among a wooden house at the other side.
"How's Loona?!" Blitzo asked urgently, hiding back in cover as chunks of wood exploded near his head. "Fuck, they must have scopes! Aiming way too well for my sake!"
Collin was focused on closing the gashes on her leg, his hand glowing as he slowly moved it over the wounds, trying his best to not feel uneasy by the sight. Thankfully the wounds were sealing at a satisfying pace, the Hellhound leaving a breath of relief once the searing pain subsided by the seconds.
"She will be okay. But I would avoid putting any strain on the leg if possible." Collin replied, trying his best to remain calm as cracks of gunfire continued echoing across the area. His ears folding as he felt bullets missing him by inches. "Can't do much about the blood marks."
"No worries, once we kill these assholes we will have time for another bath." Loona joked with a smirk. Collin couldn't help the chuckle, only to immediately duck as the tree Loona was laying against cracked as a heavy round impacted into it. The Hellhound jerked forward, briefly scared by the sound and vibrations she felt at that event.
"The fuck was that?!" Blitzo inquired, worry seeping into his voice. Moxxie sighed heavily.
"Sniper, heavy caliber one. We get hit once, we are dead."
"Fuck."
"We are pinned down, suppression is too intense! Unless anyone brought a fucking rocket launcher we ain't going anywhere!"
Loona swore violently, she did not like feeling like a trapped animal with no way out. Her red eyes switching to Collin, a very aggravated look on her face.
"Most we got is that they are near that house on the other side." She started, taking a deep breath to calm her racing heart. "Can you set it on fire?"
Everyone around them gave her dubious looks in return before attempting to shoot back. Mollie's attempt at pointing a gun was cut short as a bullet hit her pistol dead on, knocking it out of her hand as she hissed in pain.
"Set it on fire?" Collin asked slowly, trying to figure out what she meant. Then after few seconds it clicked. "Loona, I-
"We ain't having many options, do we? Unless the last thing you want to see is my dead body you better give it a try at least." She quipped at him with annoyance. Collin frowned, aware of their predicament but not really fond of her choice of words. "Forget whatever promise you made to whoever out there, this is about getting us alive out this shit! I don't wanna die today Collin!"
That made him move, her fear more than clear. He signaled towards Blitzo.
"What?!" He asked, already stressed enough about his tree being torn apart, without any room for him to run to the nearest cover.
"I need you and Moxxie to suppress back for three seconds, can you?" He requested with urgency. "I get enough of a view from the house from where I am, I just need three seconds!"
"What the fuck are you gonna do exactly?!" He shouted back. "Three seconds is enough for us to get sniped!"
"Either you two try it or no one is getting out of this!" Collin, for the first time, felt truly pissed off, not caring for manners. Surprising everyone around him. "We try open a portal anywhere we will get shot on our backs! Three seconds, just trust me!"
Blitzo gave him a scrutinizing glance before sighing in defeat.
"Fuck me, what a shithole. Moxxie, fire all you got, crack right at their heads! Loona?" He asked quietly. The gunfire had reduced on intensity so they have enough room to hear each other with more clarity. The Hellhound nodded before picking a gun out of Mollie's backpack laying near her. He nodded back as she took position behind her battered cover. Having three returning fire felt more assuring.
"Okay, on your call." Blitzo said towards the wolf. Collin nodded, his hand raising slightly as he prepared to peek to the right side of his tree while Loona would fire from the left. He started muttering and soon enough felt his hand heating up.
"Now!"
Moxxie, Blitzo and Loona came out at the same time, the Hellhound, thanks to her sharp vison, spotted the sharpshooter at the roof of the wooden house, aiming at him right away. She and the other two Imps laid a rain of fire back at the enemy position. Shouts of surprise were briefly heard as their attackers did not expect the counter, even some yells as a couple were hit by the sudden firestorm. Collin peaked, felt his soul nearly leave his body as the enemy sniper panicked and fired at Loona, missing her but nearly hitting the wolf instead, the bullet exploding at the ground few inches away from where he crouched. Collin held his breath as he aimed his hand towards the house, finally feeling enough build of energy and releasing the spell.
A bright bolt of light fired from his hand, traveling with the speed of a firework towards the house. Some Humans saw the projectile but had no idea what it even was. Those who saw it impact the house were immediately blinded by the flash before being deafened by the explosion. Some who were close died right away to the blast while others not as close were throw dozens of feet away. The shockwave extended across the field, hitting the I.M.P crew and Collin with surprising force, knocking them out of their feet. The trees around shook brutally, thousands of leaves being torn from the branches. Several pieces of wood were slowly falling all over the area along Human remains. The blast had sent a fair amount of material into the sky.
A sudden silence fell over after few seconds. No gunfire nor shouts were heard, only the occasional sound of something hitting the ground.
Loona struggled for a moment to get back up, her healed leg was not being very responsive. She almost didn't shy her eyes away before the spell hit the house, thankfully preventing being blinded. She heard Moxxie and Millie groan as they slowly got up. Her eyes looked around and saw Blitzo sitting on his ass, staring at the remains of the area around the house in total disbelief. She couldn't help but groan, fully aware of the torrent of questions he would have coming at her soon. She kept looking around and found Collin, seemingly dazed but okay overall, at least until she saw spots of red on the side of his chest. She raced at him with clear worry.
"You okay?" She asked, lifting his shirt slowly to take a look at his wound. Some small punctures were visible at the side beneath the fur, the bleeding was not particularly bad, although she wasn't certain of how deep they are.
"Shrapnel from the projectile." He replied, his breathing steady which assured the Hellhound that his lungs are intact. "Nothing bad, just stings a little bit." He couldn't help the giggle once she poked near his thigh. "Stop that! It tickles."
Collin's dread increased drastically once he took notice of the ominous look on her face.
"Does it now?..." She said with a sinister smile. The wolf immediately felt the need to recover ground at that.
"Don't you dare. Or I will find the spot that makes you laugh aswell." She snorted.
"I don't have that spot." She said a bit too confidently. Collin raised an eyebrow.
"And who exactly tried to tickle you before?" Loona's smug smiled dimmed down really quick.
"Pff, whatever. Let's get the others and figure out what the fuck we were dealing with. I don't wanna waste time around here. No telling if Humans cops will show up, or worse."
Collin nodded in agreement, helping the Hellhound to walk at intervals as she felt her leg wobble on the way. Moxxie and Millie were looking back at him with mixed expressions.
"Do... I dare ask if that was some Heaven thing you just did?" Moxxie started, reloading a new mag in his pistol before looking at them with a bit of shock. "Cause... that would've helped us big time to deal with some troubles we had on previous jobs."
"Hey, don't get used to it. This stuff is dangerous and he wasn't even supposed to do it anyway." Loona warned them with a tired nod back at the awestruck Blitzo. "Also, someone get him back to Earth, we need to move."
Loona's words would soon prove fruitless as a new shout echoed across the field of debris. They all quickly looked at the source, some raising their guns ready for another engagement. But they quickly lessened the hostility once their heard the next words coming from Blitzo.
"B-Barbie? Is that you?"
Collin stared at the Human standing few dozen meters away with her hands on her hips, looking like an young female adult by the looks of it. Dressed rather formally for someone hiking in the woods. His confusion was visible as Loona sighed heavily before explaining things to him.
"That one must be Blitzo's sister." She hesitated for a moment with a frown. "I don't really know much of her, never really bothered to ask. But I don't think is anything of good." She added as the disguised Imp made her way down their tree line, or what was left of it. She seemed livid.
"The fuck are you doing asshole?! You just killed the folks I was hanging out with!" She shouted in frustration. Blitzo snorted, raising an eyebrow in defiance.
"Those fuckers who just tried to kill us as soon we came into view? Let me guess, you told them to shoot my ass to scare me off."
"Tch! As if that would actually work with you! Had to make sure they were intense enough for you to get the point." Her attention fell onto the other couple of Imps, lasting for a while longer on the canines. "Wasn't expecting you to bring your firing squad to this place. Since when you get people that are crazy enough to follow you on any shithole you usually like to crawl into?"
"Hah, nice joke sis! These are fellow coworkers, my d- errr, a good friend of mine is the Hellhound and the other one is with her more than me, but that's besides the point." Blitzo raised from the ground, dusting himself off with a heavy sigh. "What were these guys anyway? Don't think you just get heavily armed Hummies out of nowhere."
"They were a local drug cartel gang, I had close ties with them. They owned me big time, but I guess it won't matter cause you killed them all! What even was that crap you used that made such a big explosion?! There was no way you would've brought explosives. You're such an arrogant ass that you certainly think you can handle anything with your crappy pistol." She snarked while looking at the outclassed weaponry of his. "Always a sucker for the old shit, you never learn."
Blitzo merely flipped her before crossing his arms, giving her a judgmental glare.
"So, what you even doing with drug cartels? Pretty sure you left rehab few months ago for specific reasons. Also how the fuck you found out about the crystals?!"
"Like I have to tell you shit, fuck off." She replied while turning his back on him. "What makes you think I wanted to see you again? We have nothing to talk about. Move on with your shitty, lonely, fucked up life."
"Not lonely as you thought, am I?" He couldn't help the smug and Barbie seethed back at him. "Also, I moved into important business sis. Sure, not working like I preferred, but not really complaining to be working with a head of Hell itself."
"Not the time to brag Blitzo. Also you did complain for the first twenty hours." Loona groaned before deciding on just getting a portal going to get out of there. She was done for today and the near death experience made her body demand some proper attention, especially from Collin. "I'm fucking done. Follow me back or stay here and talk shit to each other, don't fucking care." She gave Collin a demanding glare, to which he nodded timidly, fully aware she wanted him right behind her without questioning.
"Fine, go ahead. I got things to talk with her. Better not to have an audience around."
"Then why you brought us here anyway?" Millie questioned with some edge on her voice. She didn't enjoy the experience of being helpless while under gunfire for so long and not adding anything to the mission overall. "I'm staying here to make sure you don't get your dumb ass murdered."
"Meh, fine! Just stay near that tree over there! You too Moxxie!"
Moxxie groaned, not feeling like staying on watch duty for Blitzo while he dealt with his own family issues. Millie pushed him gently to the side, suggesting they tried to scavenge for whatever weapons survived the blast, at least that got the smaller male Imp on a better mood.
Meanwhile Loona was already back at their hotel room, slowly pulling at her battered shorts with a frown. She felt Collin bump onto her ass. She sighed, slightly annoyed by his lack of attention before snapping her hand to close the portal behind them. She quickly glanced at the clock on the wall and felt relief as they were just away for an hour. The shooting made the whole experience felt like a entire day went by.
"I swear I'm taking some serious firepower next time Blitzo takes us to Earth, every fucking time is nothing but trouble."
"I... have many questions. Especially regarding that crystal, his sister and her involvement with cartels." Collin said as he threw himself over the couch, thankful for the comfort and safety he missed dearly.
"Collin, get your ass out of the couch! You're still wounded!" Loona chastised, to which the wolf quickly got up.
"Oh... yeah."
"Is the chair still in the bath?"
"Yes. Huh, why?"
"Welp, time for round two I guess."