Small apartment on Earth
"Wow, that was… amazing!" an older man, a collector of rare antique books, said as he fell back on the mattress.
"Thank you," a young woman with long black hair and bangs covering her eyes said as she lay beside him. Her name was Mazzy; he had met her in a bar where she was immediately all over him.
"I mean… how did you learn to do that thing, with your feet?" he asked as he tried to catch his breath.
"I have my ways," Mazzy said slyly, propping herself on her arm to look at the collector.
"Ohh hey, I've got a question for you," Mazzy stated, leaning closer to the collector.
"What is it?" he asked curiously.
"A friend of mine is looking for a very old rare book. It's gray with a special symbol on the inside cover. It looks like this," she said, holding up a piece of paper with the symbol drawn on it. Sitting up, the man looked at the symbol for several seconds before recognizing it.
"Oh yeah, I've seen that book before," the collector exclaimed, sitting up.
"Really, where is it!?" Mazzy asked frantically.
"I don't have it anymore, I sold it," he explained, suddenly, she grabbed him by the throat.
"Too who!?" she asked, her hands tightening around his throat, she was stronger than she looked.
"Some cultist named Xavier, he and his friends have a compound outside the city," he groaned, struggling to breathe. Suddenly, Mazzy let go of the collector and immediately got dressed.
Her outfit comprised a crop top with a single long sleeve and a pair of daisy dukes. Once dressed, Mazzy headed out of the apartment and pulled out a small crystal. Rubbing the crystal, a portal opened. Stepping through it, Mazzy found herself standing before a large manor in the Pride Ring. With a wave of her hand, Mazzy's human disguise faded, revealing a Succubus with bright pink skin and a pair of small wings and horns. Walking up the steps, Mazzy made her way to a large set of wooden double doors with large intricate sigils carved into the surface. Leaning close, Mazzy whispered a phrase in an ancient tongue. The sigils on the door began to glow, and then there was a loud click, grabbing the handle, Mazzy opened the door and walked in. Moving through the large manor, the succubus stopped before a door marked private. Gently knocking, Mazzy waited patiently then heard a call coming from inside.
"Come in," the voice called, opening the door, Mazzy stepped into a large laboratory.
Looking around, the Succubus saw a variety of scientific tools, from beakers to flasks and jars full of a variety of liquids and plants. What really got Mazzy's attention were the occult items in the lab, arcane circles, special symbols, and a shelf full of books containing information on magic, alchemy, and incantations. Sitting at a large desk was a man with long blonde hair and wearing a slate gray robe, and atop his head was a black skull cap. Standing up, the man turned around to reveal a face with white skin with red cheek marks. His eyes were red, and a stern expression was etched onto his face. While most find this look intimidating, Mazzy knew this was his trademark expression.
"Well, did you get the book," Aaron asked, trying to sound calm, but Mazzy thought she could hear a slight strain, which was quite odd for him.
"No, I'm sorry, but he sold the book by the time I got there," Mazzy explained, looking at the floor in disappointment. Aaron took a deep breath and turned away from the Succubus.
"AAAAH!" he screamed, slamming his fist down on his desk, shattering it to pieces. Schooling himself, Aaron sat down in the chair and began rubbing his temples.
"Hey, don't worry, we'll find it," Mazzy assured him, rubbing his shoulders.
"How I've been looking for this book for nearly a hundred years, and every time I think I'm getting close, it just slips through my grasp," Aaron mourned, feeling exhaustion sink in.
"Hey, I know who he sold the book to, so I could go up and swipe it from him," Mazzy explained, trying to cheer her boyfriend up.
"Really to whom?" Aaron asked a hint of hope, filling his voice which caused Mazzy to smile.
"Some cultists outside of Cincinnati, I can go, seduce the leader, and get the book before anyone notices it's gone," Mazzy stated her idea with a proud smile on her face.
"No offense, Mazzy, but I don't think these cultists are going to let you steal such a powerful book, even if you sleep with every last one of them," Aaron explained, Mazzy huffed in mock offense.
Mazzy turned to leave but accidentally stepped on the remote for the TV in Aaron's lab, turning it on. Suddenly, an ad for IMP came on; this drew Aaron's attention. Watching the ad, Aaron suddenly got an idea.
"You said you knew who bought the book, right?" he asked the succubus, who nodded.
"Where did you say they were again?" Aaron asked again.
"Just outside Cincinnati," Mazzy explained, Aaron smirked.
"Good," he replied, pulling out his phone and dialing IMP's number.
Next day, IMP office
A portal opened, and through it stepped the four field agents of IMP: Blitz, Millie, Moxxie, and their newest member, Dante, all looking worse for wear. All of them were burned and covered in soot, and Moxxie was the worst off, being charred to a complete and utter crisp.
"Fuck what happened to you guys?" Loona asked, seeing how messed up the others were.
"Nothing, only Dante here fucked up the mission again!" Blitz explained in annoyance, gesturing to the younger Imp.
"Hey, this wasn't my fault; it was yours!" Dante replied, furious at being blamed for the job's failure.
"My fault?! You're the asshole who went against the plan and caused that car to explode!" Blitz shouted, glaring at the Imp.
"Your plan was fucking ridiculous, it made no sense at all, if you had just gone along with my plan, none of this would have happened!" Dante yelled; the two demons leaned in close, glaring furiously at each other.
Loona rolled her eyes, Dante and Blitz have been at each other's throats for the past few weeks, every time they went on a mission together, they'd fight. Dante always criticized Blitz's plans, seeing them as stupid and reckless, while Blitz felt that Dante wasn't respecting his leadership and not really getting his plans. Acting quickly, Millie put herself between the two and separated them.
"Alright, everyone, calm down, remember we're all friends here," Millie said in a calm voice, trying to defuse the tension.
"If he was really my friend, he wouldn't constantly try to undermine my authority," Blitz stated in frustration.
"I wouldn't constantly undermine your authority if you would just fucking think your plans through!" Dante shouted.
"Ahem,"
The sound of someone clearing their throat drew all their attention. Turning, the five demons saw a tall figure standing in the doorway.
This individual wore a long slate gray robe with a hood pulled over his head; his face was covered by a silver featureless mask that was polished to a mirror shine.
"Hello, I believe that I have an appointment," the man said as he walked into the office, his voice was cold and professional. As he entered the office, he scanned the five, not finding any of them particularly impressive until he noticed Dante. The man did a double take upon seeing Dante, he scanned him up and down and immediately made his way to him.
"I'm assuming you're the one in charge of this little outfit?" he asked Dante, who looked at him confused, but before he could reply, Blitz immediately got between them.
"No, that would be me. Hey, I'm Blitz, the O is silent, and I'm the founder and CEO of IMP," Blitz said proudly.
"Now, how can I help you?" Blitz asked, looking back and glaring at Dante, who just rolled his eyes. The man put a hand on Blitz and pushed him aside, sending him across the room. Luckily, Moxxie was there to break his fall.
"As I was saying, I have several important targets I need you to eliminate, as well as a personal item for you to recover and bring back to me," he explained to Dante, not caring that he had just sent the real head of IMP flying.
"Hey, just wait a Satan damn minute, I'm the boss here, not him, if you're gonna talk to anyone, talk to me!" Blitz stated angrily, his hands clenched at his sides.
"This… creature is in charge here?" the hooded figure asked Dante, pointing at Blitz. Blitz gritted his teeth he was getting ready to blow this bastard's head off when Dante stopped him.
"Yes, Blitz here is the boss, so if you need someone dead, talk to him," Dante explained sternly, not liking what this guy was implying.
"Alright, then let us discuss business," the robed figure said casually, not realizing or caring that he had insulted Blitz. Blitz considered it momentarily before relenting and gesturing for the guy to follow, the client followed suit.
"Man, what a dick," Dante muttered under his breath before sitting down on the couch and began scrolling through his phone.
It was just then that Millie noticed something odd, normally, whenever they got back from a job, Loona would excitedly greet Dante with a hug and a kiss, and Dante would return the favor. But for the past week, that hasn't happened. Instead, they just ignored each other aside from the occasional awkward glances. At first, Millie assumed that the two had just had a fight, but lately, she started to suspect something else was up. Seeing Loona get up and make her way to the break room, Millie followed her, and as the Hellhound began rooting through the fridge, the Imp woman cleared her throat, getting her attention.
"Yeah, what do you want?" Loona asked, chowing down on a ham sandwich.
"Is everything ok between you and Dante?" Millie asked in a gentle voice, Loona nearly choked in surprise.
"What! It's none of your business!" Loona shouted defensively, glaring at the Imp.
"Look, whatever's goin' on between you two, you can tell me, I'm willin' to listen," Millie explained, her voice filled with empathy.
"Satan fucking dammit, why the fuck are you so obsessed with my love life!?" Loona asked, frustrated, pinching the bridge of her snout.
"Look, I just want to help is all tell me what happened did you two have a fight or somethin?" the smaller demon placed a hand on Loona's arm, the Hellhound quickly pulled away in revulsion.
"Look, if it helps you sleep at night, me and Dante… are on a break," Loona explained apprehensively.
Millie gasped in shock. How could this be? Dante and Loona were the sweetest, most wholesome couple in all of Hell. How could they break up? Millie just couldn't believe it.
"Oh, my Satan, what happened!?" Millie asked, wondering how such a sweet couple could split.
"It's none of your fucking business, now, how about you fuck off before I tear your fucking head off!" Loona shouted at the Imp; Millie thought she could see a tear in the corner of her eyes.
"Okay, okay, I'll back off for now, but if you need to talk, I'm right here," Millie explained calmly, trying to calm the Hellhound down.
"Whatever," Loona replied, storming out of the breakroom and then out of the office itself. Millie stood in the breakroom watching as the Hellhound left a sympathetic look on her face.
Inside Blitz's office
"So, who the fuck do you want us to kill?" Blitz asked, sitting back and putting his feet up on his desk as he looked at the client. The way the client looked at him made it clear that he didn't approve of this nonchalant behavior.
"It's not really murder I am interested in your services for," he stated calmly with a hint of annoyance in his voice.
"Then why the fuck are you here?" Blitz asked, confused.
"There is a book, a very special book, that I need you to recover for me in the living world," the client explained.
"A book?" Blitz asked, arching an eyebrow at the hooded figure.
"Yes, this book is very old and very powerful—far more powerful than the book you use to travel to the living realm—and it is currently in the hands of some unskilled hacks who call themselves sorcerers. I need you to get it from them before they kill us all," the client elaborated, sounding very concerned. This was clearly a big deal to him.
"So, you just want us to slip in and swipe this book from these motherfuckers?" Blitz asked, making sure he had everything right.
"Oh no, I still want you to kill them I just want you to make recovering the book your main priority," he explained.
"Oh yeah, totally, but I'm gonna have to charge you an extra fee for that," Blitz stated with a smirk. That wasn't an official policy he just wanted to make things difficult for the clients shitty behavior.
"Not a problem," he said calmly, reaching into his robe and pulling out a medium-sized metal ingot. Laying the block down on Blitz's desk, the Imp looked at the object with confusion.
"The fuck is this?" he asked, staring at the ingot.
"Lead," the hooded figure explained, reaching into his robe to pull out a vial of a dark red liquid.
Removing the cork from the vial, the man poured a drop of the liquid onto the ingot. Suddenly, the block started to glow a faint red before shifting from a dull gray to a shining yellow. Once the light show was over, the ingot of lead was now solid gold. Blitz eyed the transmuted lump of metal in clear surprise.
"Christ on a stick is this gold!?" Blitz questioned in shock, picking up the now gold ingot.
"Yes, it is, but if it's not money you're interested in, I am willing to trade in souls," the man stated, pulling out a small bottle with a fluorescent red liquid inside.
"Uh, no, money's fine, money's great!" Blitz said cheerfully, with a wide smile on his face as he stared at the gold in his hands.
"Me'ula, then we have a deal, but there is one thing I would like to make clear," the man stated, standing to his full height, Blitz noted that he was probably around six feet tall.
"If the book is damaged in any way, I will not only kill you but destroy everything you hold dear," the client stated his voice filled with cold certainty to exercise his point, the man grabbed Blitz's desk, lifted it into the air with one hand then proceeded to throw it through the wall.
The desk smashed through the wall, leaving a massive hole. The piece of furniture flew across the street and smashed into the building right across from IMP. Shouts of pain and horror echoed from across the street. Blitz watched in shock before turning his attention back to the client. He was looking down at him, and despite the mask, Blitz could feel his eyes burning into him with more heat and intensity than he had ever felt before.
"Yep, got it. We will deliver that book to you without a scratch, stain, or tear," Blitz assured him, shivering in terror.
"You better," he said before turning to leave. As he stepped out of Blitz's office and towards the door, he spared Dante one last glance before leaving. Dante raised an eyebrow in suspicion.
"Uh sir, what was that noise?" Moxxie asked, sticking his head into his boss's office, eyes wide at the site of the giant hole in the wall.
"We got a job, Moxx, one we Cannot. Fuck. Up," Blitz said with great seriousness.
Ten Minutes later,
The members of IMP were currently getting ready for the mission; the team had just finished their usual meeting discussing the target. In this meeting, instead of sitting next to Loona like usual, Dante chose to sit by Millie and Moxxie. Millie noticed this and also noticed how unhappy the two looked about it, especially Dante, the whole time, he looked tense and uncomfortable sitting on the edge of his seat. As the group was busy checking their weapons and equipment, Millie made her way towards her younger coworker.
"Hey, Dante, you got a minute, Hun?" Millie asked, getting the Imp's attention.
"What's up?" Dante replied as he looked over a rifle.
"Loona told me that the two of you are on a break, do you mind telling me what happened?" Millie explained, noticing how this drew Dante away from his rifle.
"I don't really think that's any of your business," Dante stated sternly, turning his attention back to his weapon.
"Oh, come on, D, you can tell me I just want to help," Millie said, sending Dante a sympathetic look. Dante took a deep breath and pinched the bridge of his nose.
"Look, Millie, I really don't want to talk about this right now, alright," Dante explained his frustration clear, Millie wanted to push the subject but relented.
"Alright, I'll back off, but remember, if you want to talk, I'm willin' to listen," She said, placing a hand on his back, Dante let out a pained grunt as she did so.
"Thank you. I gotta go!" Dante said, his voice strained. Dante made his way toward the bathroom Millie thought she saw a tear run down his cheek.
"poor thing," Millie muttered under her voice, this breakup must be hard on him.
In the bathroom,
Upon entering the bathroom, Dante locked the door and let out a pained wail. He then took off his shirt, revealing that his entire torso and lower arms were wrapped in bandages. Turning around, Dante looked at his back in the mirror, and he saw a small black stain forming where Millie had touched him.
"Dammit," Dante muttered under his breath as he began tearing away the bandages revealing a plethora of cuts and lesions all over his back and chest.
These wounds were the result of his penitence, his knife, and his flail whip. Of course, Dante could easily have healed these wounds, but he chose to keep them, to let the pain linger. It's what he deserved. Opening the first aid kit, Dante pulled out several rolls of bandages and began rewrapping his torso. Dante couldn't risk bleeding through his clothes and the others finding out. Upon finishing up, Dante put his shirt and jacket back on, then proceeded to dab on some cologne to cover the scent of his blood.
I cannot risk Loona smelling anything, if she thinks something smells off, then she won't stop till she figures out what, Dante thought to himself as he picked up the bloody bandages and incinerated them.
"Hey, Dante, what's the holdup get the fuck out here now!" Blitz shouted, rolling his eyes. Dante made his way out of the bathroom and met with the others, who were all standing in front of a portal.
After going through the five demons, they found themselves in a large field outside Cincinnati, more specifically, a field a few miles from the compound the cultists had set up. Moving quietly, the five scouted out the location. The compound was an abandoned school about three stories tall, and from the look of the decay, it had been abandoned for a while. The group saw various figures, all dressed in dark robes, entering the building.
"Alright, everyone, so here's the plan, the client says these dumb fucks have a very special book which he wants unharmed," Blitz put a lot of emphasis on the last word.
Odds are these shit stains are probably gonna use the book in some moronic ritual, so I say when these guys start this ritual, we jump out of the air vents and slaughter all of them, then take the book," Blitz explained the plan to the others who listened intently.
"That is fucking stupid," Dante stated bluntly everyone turned to the taller Imp, and Blitz himself glared at his employee.
"Oh, really, and what may I ask is so stupid?" Blitz asked, putting his hands on his hips.
"Well, for starters, the air duct plan wouldn't work. The only ones who could fit would be M here," he explained, gesturing to the two smaller Imps.
"Second, that building is old and crumbling if they try to crawl through those vents, they'll collapse," he elaborated, ticking off his fingers.
"Hey, are you calling me fat?!" Moxxie asked, glaring at Dante, who just sent him an annoyed expression.
"Maybe it's about time to go on a fucking diet," Loona stated with a smirk, Dante rolled his eyes and then turned back to Blitz.
"Third, if we go in guns blazing, there's a chance that the book could get caught in the crossfire, so it's best we get the book before we start shooting.
"Alright, then, how do you propose we do that?" Blitz asked, his voice tinged with annoyance.
"Well, first, I think me and Loona should try to infiltrate the cultists we both have human disguises, and we can easily disguise ourselves as cultists and swipe the book," Dante explained, gesturing to the Hellhound.
"Well, what are we supposed to do?" Millie asked, curious to see what her part in the plan would be.
"You, Moxxie, and Blitz will take out the cultists. This building is old and rickety. Several well-placed explosives will cause it to come down, killing everyone." Dante finished his explanation with a smile on his face, looking to the others for feedback.
"That is the stupidest pile of horse shit I have ever heard!" Blitz shouted, crossing his arms.
"That plan is way too over-complicated, and we'd all likely get killed trying," Blitz explained. Dante scowled at the shorter man, he was about to reply when Loona chimed in.
"I'm down for it," the Hellhound stated bluntly.
"Loona!" Blitz stated, annoyed.
"Actually, sir, I like Dante's plan too," Moxxie stated sheepishly.
"Moxx!" Blitz shouted, looking at his favorite employee.
"I'm with ya, sir," Millie stated proudly.
"Thank you, Millie," Blitz replied, patting the country Imp on the shoulder.
"Alright, show of hands who wants to do my plan?" Dante, Loona, and Moxxie all raised their hands.
"And who wants to do Blitz's?" only Blitz and Milie raised their hands.
"Three to two, sorry, boss, but it looks like my plan is approved," Dante said smugly.
"What are you fucking serious look, I'm in charge, and I say-" Blitz was cut off by Dante raising his hand.
"We're going with my plan, Blitz, alright," Dante stated dismissively. Before turning to get everything prepared, Blitz seethed his hands, clenching them into fists.
Behind the compound
Two cultists stood behind the abandoned school; one was a very tall male; the other was a woman several inches shorter. They both had cigarettes in their hands, enjoying the rich smooth flavor before the ceremony started.
"So, you think that book Xavier got is gonna actually work?" the lady asked, taking a drag from her cigarette.
"No clue but he seems pretty excited about it, the crest on the front of it is pretty weird though right?" the man replied before blowing out a cloud of smoke.
"Yeah, I guess it is kinda weird," the lady said after mulling it over for a minute.
"Well, we should probably get back," the woman said tossing away her cigarette.
"Yeah, Xavier is always a bitch when we're late," the taller man muttered in frustration. The two started heading back to their meeting when suddenly two figures shot out from the shadows.
Loona grabbed the taller man and restrained him. Dante grabbed the woman and snapped her neck.
"Holy shit Lizz!" the male cultist yelled as he saw his companion fall to the ground her neck twisted in an unnatural position. Turning his attention to the last remaining cultist, Dante walked up to him with a friendly smile plastered on his face.
"Hello but would you be so kind as to tell me where the leader of your little cult is?" Dante asked in a professional, friendly tone.
"Go fuck yourself," the cultist said but Loona suddenly wrapped her arm around his throat and began slowly tightening her grip.
The cultist began to choke, and Loona's grip was just getting tighter and tighter, feeling himself beginning to black out, he relented.
"Okay, okay, I give!" he groaned, letting the cultist go. The man fell to the ground and began rubbing his throat.
"I- I don't know where Xavier is, but he uses the old principal's office as his private room," he explained, his voice sounding rough and scratchy.
"Thank you," Dante said.
"Are- are you going to let me go now?" he asked a nervous smile on his face.
"Haha no," Dante explained, it was then that Loona broke the guy's neck.
Once the two were dealt with, the demons stripped of their robes and began putting them on. Realizing that the robe wasn't fitting over his coat, Dante took it off, folded it, and placed it under a bush a few feet away. As Dante began putting the robe on, Loona glanced over at him and noticed some bandages around his left arm.
"Yo, what the fuck happened to your arm?" she asked sounding concerned.
"Huh… oh, this I burned myself a few days ago, nothing major," Dante explained casually, Loona was about to ask to take a look herself but then stopped herself.
I'm not his girlfriend at the moment, it's not my job to worry over him anymore, Loona thought to herself, not without some remorse.
"You ready?" Dante asked as he put on the robe.
"Yeah, I'm ready," Loona replied, following Dante to the nearest entrance.
Unbeknownst to the two, they missed two very crucial details. First of which was the tattoos the two cultists had on their left hands. This tattoo was a pentagram with an inverted crescent moon with a lit candle set in the center, this tattoo was worn by all members of the cult. The second one was that a young cultist had witnessed the whole thing from a second-story window.
"I've gotta tell Xavier," she said to herself, turning away from the window and running to find the cult leader.
Inside the building, first-floor bathroom
Blitz stuck the explosive to the wall, primed it, and then connected it to the detonator, grumbling as he did so, he was still thinking about Dante.
Just who the fuck does that arrogant bastard think he is bossing me around saying my plans are stupid? Blitz asked himself, clenching his fists.
As his anger fomented, Blitz was reminded of an event from his past, back when he was still Blitzo, before the fire, before everything went to Hell.
"Hey, Dad, I thought of this really cool act for the show tonight!" the young Imp stated excitedly, a piece of paper in his hand.
"Huh, what's that?" Blitzo's father Cash asked, turning his attention away from a performer with whom he was discussing the show.
"I had this cool idea where me and Fizz could ride in on some horses, I could juggle while Fizz could balance on his hands, wouldn't that be cool!" Blitzo explained, holding up the paper with a crudely drawn diagram of what he intended for his dad to see.
Cash snatched the paper from his son's hands and looked it over for a minute before suddenly ripping it to shreds, much to Blitzo's horror.
"That is a terrible idea Blitzo," Cash stated coldly, tossing the shreds to the ground, Blitzo watched them fall feeling his heart break as they floated to the floor.
"Look son, you're ideas are ridiculous and stupid, you can barely perform your acts, what makes you think I'd go with your half-baked ideas?" Cash asked Blitzo who looked down at the ground dejected.
"I-I thought it was a good idea; I can do better I promise!" Blitzo stated pleadingly, holding his hands together in a begging gesture.
"Don't bother; nothing you do is ever good enough. Now stop wasting my time as I get everything ready," Cash said dismissively, pushing past Blitzo to talk to some other performers. The young Imp stood there defeated, looking down at the shredded plan, a tear running down his cheek.
Blitz was pulled out of his flashback by the sound of people approaching, panicking Blitz quickly hid in one of the stalls that still had a door. As he closed the door, he overheard the individuals talking as they entered, Blitz put his ear to the door trying to listen.
"Are you sure that's what you saw Marcy?" a man with a smooth, charming voice asked.
"Positive, I saw two people attack Steve and Lizzy, they killed Lizzy then they asked Steve where to find you, then killed him and took their robes!" a young woman explained to the cult leader. Blitz listened closer; he had a pretty good idea of who this girl was talking about.
"Hmm interesting, we've had cops try to infiltrate our congregation before, but they've never resorted to murder," Xavier muttered to himself, putting a hand to his chin.
"I don't think they were cops," Marcy stated, Xavier sent her a curious look.
"Why do you say that?" the cult leader asked his disciple.
"I don't know these two didn't really look like cops to me, I mean the girl was freakishly tall and had like a punk look to her and the guy had like long hair and kinda had like a serial killer vibe to him," Marcy explained.
"Serial killer vibe?" Xavier asked, confused.
"Yeah, the dude wore like a black trench coat and just snapped Lizzy's neck like that!" Marcy finished with a snap.
Yep that's Dante alright, Blitz thought a sense of worry rising in his gut.
"Curious, will you be able to recognize them?" Xavier asked his young disciple.
"Yes, definitely!" Marcy replied, nodding her head.
"Good, then we'll grab these two infiltrators and get them to tell us what's going on," Xavier stated a sinister gleam in his eyes. Quickly Xavier left the bathroom with Janet following quickly behind. Blitz sat on the toilet of the stall, worry coursing through him, if what he heard was correct, these aholes had seen Dante and Loona infiltrate the group and were gonna capture them.
"Fuck the plan's gone to shit I gotta get out of here!" he muttered to himself concern for his daughter growing every second.
Getting up, Blitz tried to open the door to the stall but found that the door was stuck. Blitz shook the door more violently, but it still wouldn't open.
"Fucking dammit open you piece of shit!" Blitz yelled in frustration before slamming into the door with his shoulder. Again, the door did not open, but there was a loud crack coming from Blitz's shoulder.
"Ahh my delicate shoulder!" Dante shouted in pain, grasping his shoulder as he fell to the floor.
Back to Dante and Loona,
The two disguised demons walked through the dilapidated halls of the old school, casually passing other cultists who barely gave them a second glance. They walked through the building trying to find the principal's office, but they were having a hard time locating it.
"Dammit, where is this place?" Dante asked, frustrated, they had checked like twelve rooms, and nothing.
"You'd think it would be obvious since it's where the head of the school worked," Loona remarked, surprised that such an important office wasn't more noticeable.
"What did your high school principal's office look like?" Loona asked, wondering if Dante remembering his high school experience would help.
"I didn't go to high school," Dante replied casually, searching another classroom. Dante looked around the worn room, looking through some of the tattered desks and even checking an old filing cabinet.
"Dammit nothing, come on let's check somewhere else," He said frustrated kicking over a desk before leading Loona out of the room.
"You didn't go to high school?" Loona asked curiously.
"I didn't go to any school, I was homeless for most of my childhood, and what education I got was either self-taught or from a private tutor," Dante explained to the Hellhound as they entered another room.
"What about you, did you attend high school?" Dante asked as he searched through an old teacher's desk.
"Not a big one like this but the adoption center I grew up in had classes and stuff for the younger pups," Loona explained thinking back to the cramped and filthy room and the boring and uncaring teacher who taught them.
"Not here either," Dante groaned as he searched the desk. Stepping out of the room, Dante spotted one of the cultists passing by, grabbed him and dragged him into the room.
"Hey, what's the big idea?" the guy asked annoyed.
"Where's the principal's office?" Dante demanded.
"How the fuck should I-," the man couldn't finish as he was slammed into a wall, Dante sent him a very intimidating glare.
"Where is the principal's office?" Dante asked again, his voice filled with anger and frustration.
"It's near the front of the school, the door with all the red graffiti on it," the man explained nervously, gulping in fear. Dante quickly recalled seeing said door when he and Loona entered the building.
Dammit, I'm an idiot, Dante thought to himself in frustration, of course, it would be near the front of the building.
"Uhh, so are you gonna let me go now or?" Dante quickly snapped the cultist's neck and shoved the body under the desk, he didn't want anyone finding it and setting off alarms.
"Alright, let's get moving," Dante exclaimed. Loona nodded and followed behind him. The two made their way through the crumbling school, finally making it to the door. Dante saw the guy wasn't kidding; it was covered in red graffiti.
Dante reached for the knob but before he could open it Loona suddenly leaned forward and started sniffing.
"Uh Loona, the hell are you doing?" Dante was uncomfortable with the Hellhound's invasion of his space.
"Why are you wearing cologne?" she asked, raising an eyebrow at the Imp.
"Is that really important right now?" Dante asked, annoyed, that she was focusing on his smell when they should be focusing on the job.
"You only wear cologne for special occasions so what's the occasion?" Loona asked him, normally she wouldn't care, but this drew her attention.
As she said before, normally Dante never wore cologne except for special occasions. This particular brand he was wearing was her favorite. The last time he wore it was their date at that fancy tea house in Pentagram. There was something else too, Loona thought she could detect a faint whiff of blood under the cologne. Loona had a very good sense of smell, and Dante; Dante's blood didn't smell like normal Imp blood, it had a weird, almost putrid odor to it. Loona thought she could smell that putrid odor but brushed it off.
It's probably just from his burns, Loona thought to herself dismissively.
"So, what's with the cologne hoping to win me back?" Loona asked with a smirk.
"What no this isn't for you," he lied grabbing the door knob again.
"Oh, do you have a date later then?" she asked, her voice filled with venom, Dante stopped and turned to face her.
"No, not at all, why would you think that?" Dante asked stunned, while yes, he and Loona were on a break, he wasn't gonna sleep around with other women, you can't do that on a break.
Or can you? I've never been on a break before so I'm not really sure how this shit works, Dante thought to himself.
"Well, you kept your wife a secret from me. Maybe you have another wife or fiancé hidden somewhere," Loona spat at the word "wife" as if it were poisonous.
"I would never do that!" Dante exclaimed.
"Before the party, I would have believed that, now," Loona shrugged, suddenly Dante's phone started ringing, and the Imp quickly silenced it.
Blitz,
"DAMMIT!" Blitz shouted, staring down at his phone.
The Imp had tried several times to open the bathroom stall, but the door wouldn't budge an inch. If Blitz couldn't leave, he decided he would instead try to call Dante or Loona, but neither of them was picking up.
"Satan fucking dammit what now?" Blitz's frustration grew, looking around, Blitz's eyes fell upon the old, cracked toilet when he suddenly got an idea.
Climbing atop the toilet, Blitz jumped forward and grabbed a hold of the top of the door. Climbing over it, Blitz fell to the floor with a loud thud. Quickly getting up, Blitz dusted himself off and rushed out of the bathroom, continuing to call either Dante or Loona hoping to warn them before something bad happened.
"Stay safe Loonie, Daddy's coming," Blitz muttered to himself as he headed for his daughter.
Back to Dante and Loona
"You promised me that you would be open with me," Loona stated, her voice filled with anger but also tinged with sadness.
"Yes, I did but you promised that you wouldn't pry and let me reveal my feelings on my own time," Dante replied, his voice filled with frustration and annoyance.
"And when the fuck would you have told me about being married to Rose huh? After we had gotten married after we had started a family?" Loona asked, Dante rolled his eyes at the part about marriage or a family.
Like that's ever gonna happen, he thought to himself annoyed. Suddenly Loona's phone rang, and she quickly silenced it.
"I would have told you before that," Dante replied, he would have too, he's not sure when but definitely before things got that serious.
"Really or would you have kept your "lost love" a secret, so you can spend the rest of our lives pining over her?" Loona stated coldly, Dante had to admit he couldn't really deny that hell, even if he did tell Loona the whole truth, he would still pine over her and wish that he could replace Loona with Rose.
"You know what? I'm done with this. Let's just continue with the mission, and then when we're done, we can talk about this, alright," Dante stated firmly. Loona wanted to protest, but he had already turned around and was about to open the door.
"Wait, it's a trap!" Blitz suddenly shouted as he rounded a corner, rushing towards them, but it was too late. Dante threw open the door to the office, and suddenly many cultists rushed out, swarming Dante and Loona.
Both were grabbed by a cultist who examined their left arms and spotted the lack of the traditional tattoos.
"No tattoos sir," one cultist yelled to Xavier who sent both Dante and Loona a sinister glare.
"Looks like we found our spies, take them," Xavier ordered.
The cultists all rushed forward, tackling Dante and Loona, hitting them, and trying to subdue them. Unfortunately, Dante and Loona were much stronger than an average human. Both were able to push the humans off them and start fighting back. The fight also started going downhill for the cultists when Blitz jumped into the fray.
The fight was going very well, the three demons were easily overpowering and fighting off the various cultists, that was until one of them pulled out a taser. Aiming the cultist fired and hit Loona square in the small of her back, the Hellhound went rigid, letting out a yelp of pain as the electricity coursed through her body.
"Loona!" Blitz shouted in terror as he saw his Daughter was shocked. Dante looked concerned seeing his girlfriend in terrible pain.
Falling to one knee, Loona attempted to get back up but was hit with another jolt. This second shock did the trick, knocking the Hellhound out cold. Both Dante and Blitz raised their guns, both preparing to shoot the cultist who hurt the Hellhound. Before Dante could pull the trigger, a young woman grabbed his arm, her fingers dug into his wounded arm. Dante screamed, dropping his gun upon hitting the ground, the weapon fired, and the bullet flew forward and grazed Blitz's hand, causing him to drop his pistol.
"Ow fuck!" Blitz shouted, holding his hand in pain. While distracted, a cultist grabbed a fire extinguisher and hit him with it.
"Blitz!" Dante shouted in concern. Pulling free of the woman, Dante punched her in the face, knocking her unconscious.
Once the woman was down, Dante rushed forward and pulled the extinguisher from the cultist's hands, then proceeded to bludgeon him to death with it. Looking around, Dante saw that more cultists had arrived as backup, some were even bounding up Loona and dragging her away. Dante's first instinct was to save her, but with an unconscious Blitz, his injuries acting up, and the increasing number of cultists coming, Dante decided that now was time for a tactical retreat. Pulling the pin out of the extinguisher, he started spraying the foam into the air, creating a large white cloud. By the time the cloud settled, the cultists saw that Dante and Blitz were gone.
"Should we go after them sir?" one of the cultists asked Xavier.
"No, let's not waste anymore time, we must complete the ritual before the moon starts to set, but look around to see if they have any friends," he ordered, several cultists nodded and left to check the rest of the school.
"What do we do with her?" a cultist asked, pointing at the bound and gagged Loona.
"Bring her to the gymnasium, we will use her for the ritual," Xavier explained with a sinister smile.
Millie and Moxxie
Millie and Moxxie had just set up the last bomb, they had made good time, this job had gone pretty quick and would likely be done soon.
"Alright, that's it, bombs ready to go," Moxxie stated proudly as he put on the finishing touches.
"Yippee," Millie said, her voice filled with sarcasm.
"Look, Millie, I get that you don't like this plan, but you have to admit it's a good plan, quick and efficient," Moxxie explained putting a hand on her shoulder.
"Yeah, but it's fucking boring, what's the point of having this job if we can't have some fun while doing it," Millie stated annoyed.
"Not every job's gonna be fun, Millie, sometimes it's best to do this as quick as possible," Moxxie stated, he got his wife's frustrations but didn't necessarily agree.
"Even if it's a good plan Dante's got no right to talk to Blitz the way he does," Millie stated angrily.
"What do you mean?" Moxxie asked his wife.
"Come on Moxx you've seen the way he's been undermining Blitz talkin' to him like he's some kinda moron, not following his plans, I mean who the fuck does he think he is?" Millie asked, her voice filled with frustration.
Moxxie didn't say anything, instead he thought it over and he realized the Millie had a point. Dante has been undermining Blitz, and while he agreed that Dante's plans were better, this behavior was very disrespectful. Blitz may be a bit of an idiot, but he was still the leader of IMP and deserving of respect. Suddenly Moxxie's phone began to ring, seeing it was Dante he answered.
"Hey Dante, we just finished setting the last bomb, did you and Loona get the book?" Moxxie asked his coworker.
"Listen, Moxx, the mission's blown, they know we're here and they got Loona, we need to regroup and launch a rescue mission!" Dante said in a harsh whisper.
"What? Dante, what are you? Moxxie didn't finish as a taser suddenly hit him full volt.
"Moxxie!" Millie shouted in horror before she was knocked unconscious when a cultist hit her in the head with a chair.
Back to Dante,
"Moxxie, Moxxie? Dammit!" Dante shouted in anger, smashing his phone to pieces. It was then that Blitz began to wake up.
"Ugh, fuck, what happened?" he asked groggily before everything suddenly came back.
"Loona! Ohh, fuck my baby!" Blitz shouted in terror as he remembered that his daughter had been captured.
"Looks like M have been captured too," Dante stated regretfully as he looked down at the broken bits of his phone. Blitz whirled around and shot the younger with the most intense and angry look Dante had ever seen on him.
"You, this is all your FAULT!" Blitz shouted, pointing an accusing finger at Dante.
"My fault how the fuck is this my fault?" Dante asked his boss, offended by the accusation.
"This whole infiltrate the cult thing was your idea, because of you we were spotted and now Millie, Moxxie, and my sweet Loonie have been captured by those assholes!" Blitz explained his voice filled with rage.
"Hey, it wasn't my fault we got spotted," Dante replied, glaring down at his boss.
"Yes, it was, some bitch saw you and Loona killing some fucks and told their boss!" Blitz explained, Dante looked taken aback for a moment before gathering himself.
"Hey, that wasn't my fault, I scanned the area and didn't see anyone," Dante stated. Blitz just rolled his eyes.
"Either way your plan has gone to shit if we had just stuck with my plan, we'd-," Blitz didn't get to finish as Dante cut him off.
"Your idea was stupid and half-baked; all of your motherfucking ideas are stupid and half-baked!" Dante shouted, moving in closer and glaring down at Blitz. Blitz was a little scared but stood his ground.
"Every idea you come up with always goes wrong and throws everyone into danger," Dante continued to lay into Blitz, months of pent-up anger and frustrations finally coming to a head.
"You're a fucking idiot who is going to get all of us killed with your moronic schemes! You are a terrible leader; there's no way in hell you should even be leading this team!" Dante shouted, sending the shorter Imp a look of anger and resentment. It was at that moment Blitz no longer saw Dante, instead he saw his own father, Cash Buckzo staring down at him with his typical look of frustration and disappointment.
Suddenly, in a rage, Blitz surged forward and punched Dante, sending the younger Imp reeling back. Regaining his composure, Dante felt a stinging sensation from his lower lip. Feeling his lip, Dante looked down at his fingers and saw blood, feeling his anger beginning to boil over. Dante turned to face Blitz, but that anger quickly shifted into surprise.
"Are you crying?" Dante asked Blitz who had tears streaming down his face.
"You're no different from everyone else in my life!" Blitz shouted his voice filled with rage.
"The fuck are you talking about?" Dante asked, confused at what was going on, Blitz turned away, tightening his hand into a fist.
"My whole life people have been telling me that I'm not failure, saying that I'm not good enough, that I'm worthless, that I'm not good enough!" Blitz stomped his foot in frustration before whirling around to face Dante.
"It didn't matter who my dad, my friends, my coworkers, fucking hell even from all those stuck-up assholes in the fucking Ars Goetia, have told me I'm not good enough that I'm just some worthless Imp who all he can do is mess shit up and can't do anything himself, that's why I started IMP I wanted to prove to those self-righteous, condescending cumstains that I am good enough that I'm not a failure that I can run my own business and do it well despite what anyone says!" Blitz screamed at the top of his lungs, tears still streaming down his face.
"Yet here you are, you're no different from the rest your just some condescending dipshit who thinks he knows better than everyone, who want's nothing more than to put me down and crush my spirit, to destroy my dreams," Blitz sent Dante a look not of anger or of hate like he was expecting but instead a look filled with disappointment, of hurt.
His look showed Dante just how much his actions had hurt Blitz. How Dante had just continued the cycle of abuse and mistreatment Blitz has suffered over the years. Blitz stormed off to collect himself, leaving Dante alone to process what had just happened. Dante always knew Blitz had issues, he remembered the incidents at Beelzebub's party and the issue with his sister, but despite all that, he always seemed like a cheerful, happy-go-lucky kind of guy. Now, Dante could see that there is far more than that, Blitz was far more broken and jaded than Dante ever knew, he saw now that his cheerful carefree demeanor was utterly fake, just a mask he wore to hide his pain. Under that mask was a man whose entire life had been crushed, who had his dreams and his hopes dashed by those above him. And here Dante was just playing into the abuse and mistreatment he'd been subject to his whole life. Now, while yes many of Blitz's plans were half-baked and kinda stupid, Dante easily could have been nicer about it, he could have been more sympathetic when trying to correct him or help come up with a better plan instead of just casually dismissing him. Dante felt shame and guilt rising to the surface and began to overwhelm him, he felt the wounds on his arms, back, and chest beginning to burn.
Penance, Dante thought to himself as he rubbed his wounded arms, feeling blood begin to soak into the bandages. Dante decided to do something to make up for everything.
Making his way to a large vent on the side of the old school, Dante pries the cover off the vent, it wasn't that hard, it was so old and rusty that it came off with ease. Drawn to the sound of scraping metal, Blitz turned and saw Dante prying the vent cover off.
"What the fuck are you doing?" the Imp asked his employee.
"Getting the cover off this vent that's what," Dante explained nonchalantly.
"Why?" Blitz asked confused.
"Well, we can't carry out your plan if we can't get into the vents now, can we?" Dante stated with a smile; Blitz's eyes went wide when he heard him mention his plan.
"Wait, do you mean?" Blitz asked excitedly.
"Yep, since my plan failed, I thought we'd try your plan," Dante said, gesturing to the vent.
"You comin' boss?" Dante asked.
"Oh, fuck yeah!" Blitz stated excitedly, rushing into the vent.
Inside the school,
Millie was beginning to feel consciousness returning to her as she was starting to hear various sounds coming from all around her. Unfortunately, return to consciousness also came with a massive headache, it felt like Millie's skull was about to split in two. At first, she assumed that she just had too much to drink, that was until she tried to rub her head but found she couldn't move her arms. Opening her eyes, Millie saw that she was tied down to a table, suddenly it all came back to her, she and the others had gone on a mission to take out some cultists, and she and Moxxie had been captured. Looking around, she saw that it wasn't just her and Moxx, as she saw Loona tied down to a table as well. Taking another look around, she noticed that they didn't see Dante or Blitz among them, so likely they were still free.
Good they're likely gonna come and save us, Millie thought to herself with certainty, having faith in her boss and her younger coworker.
Suddenly a large number of hooded figures made their way out of the shadows and surrounded them. Each one was holding a candle with dark purple flames, from the group, one figure stepped forward, his robe was fancier, with gold embroidery. This man lowered his hood, revealing a middle-aged man, his head was fully shaved, not a speck of hair. No hair, no beard, not even any eyebrows. The man had blue-gray eyes and a pentagram with a crescent moon and a candle in the center tattooed on his forehead. This man was Xavier, the leader of the cult IMP was sent to eliminate.
"My children tonight, under the light of the full moon we shall achieve all our goals," Xavier stated, his voice was smooth and appealing, the cultists leaned in to hear every word he said.
"Tonight, we have something special for you, see my children, I have acquired a special grimoire, one that contains more power and strength than any other book in existence!" he explained, reaching into his robes and pulling out a large old book.
Millie looked up and examined the book. It was slate gray, with a clasp keeping it sealed, and it had a strange symbol on the cover. The emblem was a seven-pointed star, with a sphere with six wings in its center. What was really strange was that the symbol glowed, not reflecting light from the candles but actually glowing, producing its own light.
"With this book, we shall achieve the greatest power we could ever imagine, and these three spies who killed several of our fellow worshippers, will be the catalysts for our change," Xavier explained, his voice filled with anger and hatred towards the members of IMP they had captured.
"These three will be used as sacrifices, their deaths will fuel our rituals and through the power they bring we shall destroy the false faiths of this world and bring people under the embrace of our dark lord Lucifer and his faithful servant Hekate, queen of all magic!" Xavier exclaimed; the cultists cheered, their voices filled with excitement and fanatic reverence.
"Now let us begin," Xavier said, his voice filled with excitement, his followers cheered in response. Reaching for the clasp, he attempted to undo it, but it would not budge.
Xavier tried again, pulling harder and harder on the clasp, but it would not move. It was as if it was fused to the book. The cultists all watched their cheers of excitement slowly dying down as they watched their leader struggle hopelessly to open the book. Some even began to snicker and laugh. Xavier continued to try to open the book but suddenly felt a sharp jolt run through his hand. Xavier let go of the clasp and shook his hand, trying to relieve the pain from the sudden shock.
"By all that is unholy, what the fuck is going on?" he muttered to himself as he looked at the book in frustration.
"Uh, do you need any help?" one of the cultists at Xavier's side asked.
"I got it," Xavier said defensively trying once more to open the book, only to be zapped again.
It was around this time that Millie, Moxxie, and Loona were starting to get bored. It was then that Millie's attention was drawn to a faint rumbling noise coming from above her. Looking up Millie saw an air vent fall from the ceiling, which hit the floor with a loud clang drawing everyone's attention. It was then that Dante and Blitz fell from the ceiling, weapons raised.
"Dante get the book and free the others, I'll hold off these fuckers," Blitz said loading his pistol, an excited grin on his face.
"Yes sir," Dante replied before swiftly moving toward Xavier.
As Dante ran towards the cult leader it was then that two of the cultists got in the way each holding a wavy ceremonial dagger. One of the cultists swiped at him but Dante was quicker, he grabbed the guy's hand and forced him to stab himself in the stomach. Dante pulled the blade out of his stomach and used it to slash the other cultist's throat.
"Get away from me!" Xavier shouted as he tried to run away only to trip on his robe and dropping the book to the ground.
Looking up he saw Dante standing over him with blades raised, he barely had time to scream before Dante buried both blades into his chest. Xavier let out one last dying scream before going still his eyes rolling into the back of his head.
"Requiescat in pace," Dante muttered as he closed his eyes he then got up and made his way over to the book.
Dante inspected the old tome for any damage, picking it up but finding it was completely fine. Running his fingertips over the cover Dante felt a warm sensation and saw the symbol on the front begin to glow.
This feels a lot like Seraffo's dagger, Dante thought before turning himself back to business. Putting the book in his jacket Dante pulled both daggers from Xavier's chest and then made his way to his bound companions.
First, he started with Loona, using the blades he cut her binds and then removed the duct tape from her mouth.
"Thanks," she said nonchalantly rubbing her wrists. They both looked at each other, their eyes met, and their faces turned red.
Dammit just kiss already! Millie shouted in her mind; it was obvious that they were just itching to go at it.
It was then that Loona cleared her throat got up from the table and quickly reverted to her demon form. Once in her natural state she let out a roar and charged into the crowd of cultists to aid her father. With Loona aiding Blitz Dante moved to free the others, Moxxie was the next one he freed, and upon realizing him Dante handed him a pistol. Moxxie smiled and then rushed into the fray, next was Millie, and once she was free Dante handed her both of the ceremonial daggers. A wicked smile came over Millie's face, she then turned and charged into the crowd.
Dante stood back and watched as his comrades tore the cultists limb from limb, he didn't need to intervene most of these cultists were unarmed and not very well-trained. As the other butchered and slaughtered the targets, Dante took a moment to pull the book out of his coat. Dante examined the slate gray tome, turning the heavy book over in his hand, he realized it was in remarkably good condition for such an old book. Dante inspected the sigil printed on the front and was enthralled by it, there was just something about it that drew him in. Maybe it was the dull glow emanating from it, or maybe it was its old charm, Dante always liked the look of old books. Whatever it was Dante just couldn't resist Dante attempted to open it but the moment he touched the clasp he felt a sharp jolt.
"OW! Che diavolo?" Dante asked looking down at the book.
"You okay Dante?" Blitz asked walking up to his younger employee.
"Yeah, I'm good, so everyone dead?" Dante asked looking around and seeing all the cultists were dead lying in pools of their own blood.
"Yep, all dead, so is the book still intact?" Blitz asked, sounding worried.
"Yes, sir all good," Dante stated handing the book to his boss.
"Oh, thank Satan," Blitz said relieved.
"Alright everyone let's get the fuck out of here," Blitz said happily, Loona reached into Dante's coat and pulled out the grimoire and opened a portal.
"I'll stay behind for a little bit, make sure there are no stragglers," Dante said. He had a sinking feeling that some were still alive and wanted to leave nothing to chance.
"Suit yourself," Blitz said heading for the portal only for Dante to grab him by the arm.
"Blitz I'm… sorry for how I've been acting lately. Not going along with your plans, undermining your authority, You're the boss and I should be showing you a lot more respect than I actually do. I'm sorry," Dante said, Blitz smiled, reaching out and patted Dante on his shoulder.
"Hey, it's cool I know you didn't mean to be a dick, and honestly… some of your ideas aren't half bad and maybe it wouldn't be terrible to try them once in a while," Blitz explained, Dante smirked.
"Alright, enough feelings shit let's get the fuck out of this shit hole," Blitz stated, walking through the portal, followed by the others.
Once the others were gone Dante walked through the gym and began checking every single corpse. Most were already dead but surprisingly he found a few who were still alive and quickly finished them off. When the task was done Dante made his way through the school to see if any escaped the massacre. It seemed that they had gotten everyone that was until Dante heard a sneeze coming from a broom closet. Opening the door a started woman let out a shriek, kicked Dante in the gut then took off down the hall. Annoyed Dante transformed his arm into a coil of snakes and sent them out towards the woman, wrapping around her waist. Dante began dragging the woman back, and as he did, she began to scream and wail.
"NO! Please no! I don't want to die! MOMMY!" she shouted in terror, that last part is what got Dante's attention. Pulling the woman close to him, Dante yanked off her hood and saw a young woman with blonde hair and blue eyes filled with terror.
"How old are you?" Dante asked, noticing how young the cultist looked.
"I- I'm sixteen," she explained her voice trembling in terror.
"Wha sixteen! Why the fuck are you with a bunch of cultists and not at home?" Dante asked, confused as to why a kid was in a brutal cult.
"Because my parents are tyrants I ran away to get away from those assholes, I lived on the streets for about six months then Xavier found me and brought me into the order and showed me the truth," she explained still scared but calming down slightly.
"The truth?" Dante asked confused but he had an idea where this was going.
"Yes, Xavier showed me that the god the Christians worship is a cruel and evil monster, he does not wish to help and uplift humanity he seeks to suppress it, but Lucifer, glory be his light, seeks to free us, save us, uplift us and grant us freedom!" the girl explained with conviction, Dante immediately started laughing.
"What the fuck is so funny?" the girl asked annoyed by her attacker laughing at her beliefs.
"It's just that… you actually think Lucifer cares about you, kid that motherfucker doesn't give a shit about anyone," Dante explained through his laughter.
"Liar, he is the only one who gives a damn about humanity, fools like you just refuse to believe it," the girl said offended by Dante's statement.
"I'm sorry 'fools like me'?" Dante asked the girl.
"Yeah, you worthless little Christians, you think you know everything you think that just because your precious little bible says so, well guess what Jesus was a fraud and the bible is a sham! The real truth is in the teachings of the fallen one, Lucifer!" she stated with conviction, a proud look on her face. The proud look fell when she saw the smirk on Dante's face.
"While I don't disagree with your statement, I regret to inform you… uh, what's your name?"
"Marcy," the woman stated.
"Well, Marcy I have to tell you that you are quite wrong about one thing." Dante took off his sunglasses and snapped his fingers. Suddenly, his body was encompassed with a bright blue fire.
When the fire dissipated, the handsome human man who knelt before her vanished, replaced by a red-skinned, black-horned demon. Dante opened his eyes, revealing black eyes with glowing red irises.
"I am no Christian," Dante stated with a smile showing his sharp fangs.
"Y-you're… you're… a demon?" she asked terrified, pointing a trembling finger at him.
"Yep, a pure-blooded demon from Hell itself," Dante proudly stated.
"But if you're a demon then why did you and your friends kill all of my friends? We serve the same master, don't we?" Marcy asked genuinely confused as to why a devil would hurt devil worshippers.
"First off me and my comrades don't serve Lucifer, we work for ourselves, in fact, I don't think he or the other nobles would be too happy with our business since as you can probably tell we're not that discreet," Dante explained gesturing to the pile of bodies in the gymnasium.
"Secondly I don't think Lucifer actually gives a damn about you," Dante said to the young lady.
"That's a lie. We are his loyal servants; he protects and defends us!" Marcy stated with conviction, but Dante thought he could hear her voice waver.
"Really? Then why did he let me and the others kill your friends?" Dante asked, Marcy flinched, not she tried to come up with an answer, but nothing came to mind.
"Look Ragazzino, I know you don't want to hear this, and you probably won't believe me but I'm just gonna say it anyway," Dante explained before taking a deep breath.
"Lucifer doesn't care about you, he doesn't give a shit about humanity, that whole spiel you gave about him trying to give humanity freedom and joy was a lie. In reality, he was just pissed because Heaven wouldn't listen to his ideas, so he gave Eve that apple as a "fuck you" to Heaven. Then when that went horribly wrong, he ran away and hid away in Hell in shame," Dante explained telling Marcy what he gathered from the official story and Seraffo's statements.
"B-but Xavier said…," Marcy trailed off.
"Xavier is a fucking liar, no different from the guys from the Christian church he just said that crap to manipulate and control you and all the others," Dante cut in.
"Lucifer doesn't give a damn about anyone on Earth or in Hell he lets his minions come to earth to tempt humans to sin so that they will be dragged down to suffer in Hell because he doesn't give two fucking shits anyone, all those buddies we killed they're not being rewarded for their loyalty or dedication to Lucifer instead their probably being torn to shreds in Hell! That's what following Lucifer gets you!" Dante finished his rant watching as a look of horror dawned on Marcy's face.
"Oh god, oh fuck, oh fuck," she muttered as she curled into the fetal position tears running down her face. At the moment Dante thought about finishing her off and completing the contract but looking at Marcy he didn't see some vile cultist but a scared girl who made some mistakes.
"Dio dannazione," he muttered under his breath.
"Look kid calm down," Dante said putting a hand on Marcy's shoulder, but she quickly shook it off.
"Calm down? How the fuck am I supposed to calm down, from what you just said I'm FUCKED! I've wasted three years of my life serving the fucking devil only to learn that everything I thought I knew was a lie and that I'm not gonna be rewarded for my actions instead I'm just gonna spend the rest of eternity being tormented in Hell!" she asked as she started hyperventilating.
"Hey, you're not dead yet, you're still alive and you're young, you got plenty of time to clean up your act and find salvation," Dante explained in a soothing tone, Marcy stopped hyperventilating and looked up at him.
"R-really?" she asked eyes filled with hope.
"Yeah, first it starts with you going back home, next I want you to look this guy up," Dante explained pulling a pen and notepad from his jacket. Writing down a name he tears the page out of the book and hands it to her.
"Francesco Provenza da Roma?" she asked, reading the name off the paper.
"Yep, he's a priest and a damn good one at that, if anyone can help you it's him," Dante explained getting up and heading for the nearest exit.
"Wait!" Marcy shouted, Dante stopped and turned to face her.
"What?" he asked curiously.
"Thank you," she said a smile on her face.
"No problem, now get home I'm sure your parents are worried sick," Dante explained as he continued on his way.
"Wait how am I gonna get home my family lives in Akron?" she asked she didn't have a car and didn't have any money.
"There's plenty of corpses in the gym just go through their pockets, I'm sure some of them have enough money on them for a bus ticket," Dante explained as he walked out the door, Marcy looked back in the direction of the gym and groaned before heading in back to loot the corpse of her dead compatriots.
Next day IMP office
"Here you go sir, and not a scratch just like you asked," Blitz said proudly and relieved as he handed the book to the client. The masked man inspected the book looking over every inch before stopping and though they couldn't see his face he seemed pleased.
"Me'ula!" the sinner exclaimed happily.
"Uh come again?" Moxxie asked not understanding the phrase, luckily for him, Dante spoke Hebrew.
"He said excellent," Dante muttered to his coworker.
"Yes, I am quite pleased," Blitz smiled until the client pushed past him and made his way towards Dante.
"Thank you for retrieving this book for me, I had a feeling that you would succeed," the client stated placing a hand on Dante's shoulder.
"Uh I think you're mistaken, It was Blitz here who got the book," Dante said, gently removing the client's hand.
"If it wasn't for his out-of-the-box thinking we never would have gotten it," he explained, Blitz perked up at the praise. Unfortunately, it didn't last long as the client began to laugh as if they had just heard the funniest joke in Hell.
"Th-that thing?" he asked through his laughter.
"That thing is what got me my book. I'm amazed that creature can even speak, let alone retrieve my lost manuscript!" the client said, his voice filled with amusement. Blitz deflated on the spot, a look of sadness and defeat replacing the proud smile he wore before. This made Dante angry, stepping forward he grabbed the client by his cloak and pulled him in close.
"Listen here Amico, Blitz may not seem like much, but he is a great fighter, a brilliant leader… most of the time, and most importantly a loyal comrade, so show him the respect he deserves especially since he got your precious book for you," Dante demanded looking the masked figure straight in the "eye" and even though he couldn't see his face Dante thought that he was… smirking. The Client pried Dante's hands off his robes and then turned to face Blitz.
"Hitnatzluti, thank you for recovering such a precious treasure, here let me give you the rest of your payment," reaching into his robes he pulled out another ingot of lead and the same bottle of dark red fluid and quickly transformed it into gold.
Holy shit he's an Alchemist! Dante thought with amazement at what he had just witnessed.
"Now that that is taken care of, I must be off," muttering something under his breath the client vanished in a brilliant blue fire. Once the Client was gone Dante headed for the breakroom but was stopped by Blitz.
"Hey, Dante… thanks," Blitz stated with a warm smile.
"No problem," Dante said returning the smile, Millie, Moxxie, and even Loona all smiled at the sight.
Epilogue,
Aaron sat at his desk, his father's manuscript lying atop it, he stared down at the book looking at it repeatedly. He reached out to open it but then pulled back his hand, he wanted to open it, he wanted to read it, but he was scared. Now this wasn't the first time he'd seen it, Aaron had read parts of it, but not the whole thing he was still young then he was still too inexperienced to fully read the contents. This book was his most treasured family heirloom, well second the first was a family portrait but he lost that in The Flood. Aaron's attention was pulled away from the book by a faint knock on the door, turning around he saw Mazzy peeking her head in, an uncomfortable look on her face.
"What is it Mazzy, I told you not to disturb me?" he asked, annoyed but his anger was slightly mitigated by the fact he knew she would never disturb him without good reason.
"Sorry to bother you, sweety but uh your… aunt is here," she said her usually bubbly tone replaced by a nervous timbre.
Aaron was not surprised; the cultist's that IMP massacred served her so it was obvious that she would find out, she was always watching him no matter how many wards he put up or how many of her agents he killed she always knew everything he was doing.
"Let her in," Aaron sighed he really didn't want to see his disgraced aunt, but he knew she wouldn't leave till she had her say.
Father was like that too, he thought nostalgically. Mazzy stepped into the lab holding the door open for his aunt.
Hekate, Prime Minister of Hell, so-called "goddess of the crossroads" and "witches" slivered into his laboratory. Her jet-black hair had a healthy sheen and was put up in a stylish bun, her dark green scales had a healthy glow to them not one out of place or flaking off, and her red and white formal wear was immaculate not a wrinkle or crease to be seen. Hekate stopped several feet in front of her nephew, Aaron stared at her neither one saying a word. The awkward silence continued until Mazzy finally spoke up.
"Uhh so Lady Hekate would you like a drink?" she asked politely, Hekate just sent her a look. Mazzy let out an EEP then quickly left the room closing the door behind her.
"Why do you spend time with such an inferior creature, such a being is beneath one of your pedigree?" Hekate asked, the demoness never really cared for the hellborn races. Imps, Succubi, Hellhounds, Bathomets, even Sharks, she saw them all as inferior and believed that her nephew, the son of a high-ranking angel deserved better.
"Are you here to set up another marriage proposal Doda?" he asked exacerbated, time and time again she tried to set him up with a high-ranking demon, and time and time again he turned them down.
"What no… although Princess Stella is going through a divorce, she could be available, but if she is too old her daughter is almost of age when she turns eighteen, I could talk to her parents-," Hekate stopped and shook her head She wasn't here to play matchmaker and had to stay focused.
"No, I'm here because you hired hitmen to murder over a dozen of my cultists," Hekate said her voice carrying anger, she sounded a lot like the way his mother did when she caught him misbehaving.
"I did so what?" Aaron asked annoyed by her intrusion into his business.
"So what, Aaron you can't just send demons to Earth to kill people, especially unauthorized," Hekate explained, pissed at the blatant violations of many of Hell's and Heaven's codes and policies.
"The company I hired has approval from a noble in the Ars Goetia, they are not unauthorized," Aaron explained to his aunt.
"Really who?" Hekate asked, last she checked no assassination companies that acted on Earth.
"They're a company known as IMP; they're a small group of Imps led by a Sinner," Aaron explained. Hekate looked at him surprised.
"Really?" she asked not expecting to hear that.
"Yep, the leader is a Sinner, but he resembles an Imp, so he can blend in, allowing him to be underestimated and overlooked. He has one of his servants act as the frontman, so if things go wrong, he'll get blamed instead." Aaron stated he was impressed. It was a brilliant plan. Hekate thought so as well, and then suddenly she thought of something.
"Wait how exactly did you pay for their services?" she inquired Aaron suddenly broke eye contact looking down at the floor.
"Aaron," Hekate said in a stern voice.
"I… transmuted some gold," Aaron said sounding like a child who was caught with his hand in the cookie jar.
"Aaron, I thought I told you not to do that remember what happened last time!" The last time was about a hundred years ago when Aaron made so much alchemical gold that it caused a major economic depression so bad a loaf of bread had cost about seven hundred souls.
"it took months to go through and destroy all your artificial gold, Mammon kept hoarding it in his vaults the other sins had to hold him down so me and Lucifer could go through and destroy all of it," Hekate stated remembering the pain in the ass the whole situation was.
"You know what forget all that, why do you care those epikursim already sold you their souls they're already here in Hell why does it matter if I sent someone to kill them?" Aaron asked not sure why she cared so much for some damn cultists.
"It matters because I still had use for those idiots and now that they're dead I can't use them anymore, I mean just," Hekate pinched the bridge of her nose.
"Why the fuck did you set this up anyway?" she asked continuing to rub her head.
"For this," Aaron stated holding up his father's manuscript. Hekate's eyes went wide when she saw the book.
"Where… where did you get that?!" she asked utterly shocked, she had not seen that book in millennia.
The book of Raziel, a collection of millennia of her brother's magical research and knowledge developed to help guide humanity back to the proper path. Hekate had seen it once back in Heaven but then it was just a few notes in a notebook.
"Your braindead cultists found it and were planning to perform a ritual with it," Aaron explained angry that such inept fools would dare use something so precious and dangerous.
"Your idea I take it?" he asked glaring at his aunt, Hekate was taken aback by the question.
"What no of course not!" Hekate stated the look Aaron sent her he didn't buy it.
"I'm serious I know how powerful that book is I know how dangerous it could be in the wrong hands, and I would never let any of my followers, human or demon use it, if I found it I would have given it to you," Hekate explained to her nephew, his look softened for a moment.
"Really?" he asked the annoyed and sarcastic tone was gone from his voice.
"Of course, that's your father's book, his life's work, if anyone has a right to it, it would be you," Hekate elaborated moving closer to Aaron.
"May I see it?" she asked, Aaron looked taken aback by the question and pulled the book close to his chest.
"I just want to see it, I promise that I will not take it or damage it in any way," Hekate promised, Aaron looked at the book and then hesitantly held it out to his aunt who gingerly took it.
Hekate looked over the book, the noticed that despite its age it was remarkably well intact, besides some yellowing to the paper it looked brand new. It was then that she tried to open it but once she touched the clasp, she felt an electric shock run through her hand.
"Ow," Hekate muttered, then smirked, this didn't surprise the demoness her brother was known to do shit like this all the time.
Just like the time I tried to read his diary; she thought with a nostalgic smile. Suddenly the book was surrounded by a dark blue aura and yanked from her hands. The book flew through the air until it rested back in the hands of her nephew.
"That's enough Doda," Aaron stated looking over the book for any damage. Hekate rolled her eyes but chose not to say anything about the rude display.
Suddenly the sound of sniffling drew the snake demoness's attention, looking at her nephew she saw that Aaron was staring at the book, tears running down his face and falling onto the book.
"Ohh Aaron," Hekate said her voice filled with sympathy. Reaching out, Hekate grabbed Aaron and pulled him close.
Normally Aaron would have shirked her off and demanded that she never touch him, but this time while he did return the hug, he didn't reject it either.
"I miss him," Aaron muttered through his tears, Hekate heard him and put a hand on the back of his head and pulled him in closer.
"Me too sweetheart, me too," Hekate replied as she comforted her nephew, despite all the tension, all the resentment, he was still her family, and she loved him and was going to be there for him when he needed her.
END
Alright, chapter 46 is done, I was really looking forward to this chapter, Aaron and Hekate are two characters I've been wanting to do more with for a long time. Anyway, I hope you enjoy. The next few chapters are going to follow the more recent episodes, Mammon's special, Full Moon, and Apology Tour. Thank you all for reading and have a good day!