Chapter Text
And now we’re here.
Clustered together was the scrappy team IMP, trapped under the burning glare of the furious princess who hovered over them like a terrifying sentinel, as the crowd of Sinners parted to give them space, watching from the sidelines like so many gawkers trying to see the multi-car pileup.
Flashes of phones flickered from the crowd, no doubt trying to get rare evidence of the supposed “peace loving princess” in a real snit. They certainly were getting plenty; glowing red and gold eyes shone like beacons while fire spilled from her hands and gale-force winds swirled around her like she was the eye of a hurricane, tossing her hair into a tall and terrible mess.
Meanwhile, the crew of IMP were at each-others’ sides, trying and failing to not look like cornered insects as they tried to rouse the two still dazed members. Loona wanted to stand tall, but with Blitz still a crumpled heap on the floor, she found herself cradling her adoptive father’s head while still trying to keep an eye on the hovering problem above. Millie was next to her, standing over her husband and knives drawn like she was about to defend him with her life.
The hound would never admit this, but a flicker of respect broke through the surface of her tar-pit of a heart at the sight…though she’d go to her grave before ever admitting that out loud.
Which, considering how the snarling princess was looking at them, was potentially soon.
“Blitz…Blitz! C’mon, wake up! This princess is about to go nuclear!”
A gurgling groan crawled out of the imp while a similar, yet more whiny one, escaped Moxxie. Rolling over, the smaller imp managed to open his eyes, only to see his wife standing over his body. Face still dazed and covered in soot from being blasted by the inciting fireball, the smaller imp managed two out of sync blinks before smiling up at the image above him.
“Izzit my…birthday? Cuz I’m seeing a whole lotta cake.” He smiled, seemingly unaware that his end was imminent.
(It was then and there that if they made it out of this nightmare alive, Loona resolved to kill Moxxie herself just for having to hear that awful line. Clearly she hadn’t bullied him enough.)
“No time, baby.” Millie chanced a look at her half-aware husband, only to fire off her own glare at the hovering princess. “We’re in kinda a corner right now and we need all hands for this bitch.”
“Watch your mouth, intruder!” Rumbled the princess, pointing a flaming finger their way. “You enter my place of business, lie to me, and have the audacity to threaten me with retaliation when I make the rules of my hotel clear? And you admit to running a business for Sinners to take hits out on the living?!” Smoke billowed out of the woman’s mouth as a mighty hiss escaped her, the terrible wind she summoned picking up in ferocity. “I haven’t been this insulted since my battle with Adam, and I will not have you ruin their chances at redemption!”
This was a nightmare as far as Loona was concerned, and unfortunately a reoccurring one. Things were looking all-too-familiar to their failed fight with Andrealphus; huddled together, trying to put on brave faces while trapped by the awesome might of a demon far stronger than any of them could hope to be, and completely unsure of how to escape their sticky situation.
Loona was pretty sure there wasn’t going to be a Deus-Ex-Octavia to pull their asses out of the lava this time.
“Charlie! Babe, what the hell are you doing?!” In came another woman Loona didn’t recognize, one-eyed and dressed like a regional manager. She was looking up at the princess with concern in her remaining eye as she fought past the buffeting winds summoned by the hovering royal. “What the fuck happened?!
More voices and figures soon joined her, all varying levels of confused at the fiery image causing such a ruckus in the lobby. Apparently they had never seen their peppy peaceful princess in such a persnickety mood.
To say the least.
“Holy - what’s got da princess’s undies in a wad?” Yelled a pink spider…man(?) “She’s actin’ like her favorite chocolate got discontinued or somethin’!”
“I don’t know!” Barked the cat from behind the bar, joining the spider’s side as he tried to shield the two behind his large wings. “But whatever it is, it’s gotta do with that bunch down there. The one with the tall horns really ticked her off.”
“Everyone’s screaming!” Shrieked a tiny cyclops, practically bouncing where she stood, somehow not yet carried off by the conjured storm despite being smaller than Millie. “Should I scream too?!”
“Not yet, my dear.” Rolled the tone of the same red weirdo Loona encountered only moments ago, slinking out of the shadows to join the arriving crowd. His voice somehow heard perfectly over the din despite not raising it at all. “Let’s see where this little act goes. It’s not often we get to see our princess take the stage.”
The Stage…the last fucking place Loona wanted to be…and here she was, stuck under the worst spotlight imaginable. She wasn’t like Blitz; born into the circus and trained to perform at an early age. Relishing the attention to the point of craving it and then turning that into something of an addiction that would color his personality well into adulthood. As obnoxious as he was, Blitz thrived under the piercing gaze of an audience, it’s why he loved being the face of the business, and would at least be able to maybe use any attention to his advantage in this situation.
Not Loona. Not the hound who got tongue-tied at parties. Who always managed to bring up just the wrong thing to kill a conversation. Who saw every other word aimed her way as a possible barb against her and then killed the vibe by punching someone’s lights out.
The sheer volume of Sinners with their phones out was making her teeth itch with how many eyes were on her.
“They’re trespassing in my domain! Taking advantage of my hospitality! They’re to make money off of the suffering of Sinners, Vaggie!”
Somehow, as if a hurricane and the overall fiery vengeance look wasn’t enough, rolling stormclouds began to gather over the raging woman; thick and deep grey like headstones. The air quickly filled with the smell of ozone as crackles of lightning coasted along the edges of the growing storm. Loona could feel the static collecting in her fur and standing it on end as her heart started going doubletime, and even as the princess’s employee took to the air on grey wings, it seemed she was no match for the fury of the buffeting winds. A lot of Sinners scattered, but those unable to look away from a good tragedy in the making took shelter behind upturned furniture.
“I will not have my patrons swayed by your awful business!” Charlie cried over the noise, voice positively dripping with demonic energy while the gathering lightning eagerly waited in the wings on where to be directed in unholy retribution. “My Sinners need to know their lives don’t need to be ruled by their worst impulses! That they can be better people, and -”
“Yer Sinners don’t need us to be shit people!”
Somehow, over the chaos, Millie’s twang managed to be heard over the livewire the princess had become. Against all odds, she stood tall; knives gripped in her hands and holding her own against the maelstrom, looking like the pebble that dared to stand up to a tidal wave.
“You think we got the kind of pull to influence that crowd? We blew all our money on one crummy commercial and a billboard!” Millie ranted, leaving out the fact that it was mostly (entirely) Blitz and his terrible impulse control that tore through their meager budget in the first few days as an actual business. “I know enough about Sinners that if that bunch didn’t give a shit - they’d ignore us like they always do, but as soon as they heard they could get someone killed and get away with it, we had ‘em linin’ up around the block!”
It was unclear if the rumbling was coming from the princess or the rolling clouds above her, but all Loona knew was that as soon as Millie said her piece, the deep and terrible sound was powerful enough to make the whole building shake. Still holding her prone parent in her arms, Loona leaned protectively over Blitz as he shook bonelessly, the hound still calling his name in an attempt to rouse him.
Meanwhile, Millie stood firm.
Even as a concussed Moxxie patted her on the butt.
Lightning spilled from the clouds that deepened in color and began to collect around the trapped crew, licking at their feet. Loona scampered back, trying to hold Blitz safe, but Millie didn’t budge.
Somehow the little imp had yet to be reduced to ashes by just a glare from the princess alone, instead trading an equally murderous look right back.
“How dare you…” Growled out Charlie, hair standing on end, raw power crackling off her, winds still swirling and causing mayhem, but having yet to make a move. Instead still hovering above the scenery like a frightening figure preparing to dole out some Old Testament Judgement. “These people, every one of them, they deserve a better life. This hotel is supposed to show them that, and you come in and try to ruin it.” Flames escaped the sides of her mouth like a froth. “I am trying to help them!”
Somehow, none of that deterred the small Wrathian, who Loona watched grit her teeth in the face of unholy rage, tail thrashing like an angry snake as she pointed one of her well-used daggers at the floating royal.
“Tell you what, princess - how’bout we see what they want?”
Then, with the grace of a conductor, a swift arc of her arm had Millie go from pointing her knife at the hovering princess, to up towards the ceiling. Burning yellow eyes landed on the remaining Sinners, some huddled for safety and some still out with their phones. A deep breath was all the warning she gave out before her voice filled the lobby.
“Listen up!” She projected over the din of the storm made from raging powers. “This here princess seems to think y’all are lookin’ to ascend up to Heaven or whatever her idea for this hotel is, but I know better. So - show of hands; how many here are actually lookin’ to get better and go to those Pearly Gates?”
From behind the upturned furniture, a handful of hands rose in answer to her question, looking decidedly shaky in their conviction.
Loona saw as Princess Charlie, for once, began to falter.
“A’ight. Now - how many of y’all are just here because this hotel is sittin’ on maybe the biggest collection of Angelic Steel in all of Hell? How many are here just because you got an axe to grind and this is the place where all that axe grindin’ went down just a little while ago when the angels invaded?”
Hands sprang up from seemingly all over the woodwork. From behind furniture, from around corners, behind the bar, around stairs and so on. It was a veritable wave of hands eagerly shooting up at just the idea of wrapping around deadly weaponry, and as Princess Charlie took it all in, the winds around her began to die down.
“W-wait. You’re not all here for redemption?” She spoke out, all guttural nightmare gone from her voice.
Sinners began to speak up from below.
“Uh, yeah? Isn’t this the place where you guys fucked up Adam? I thought this was where we learned to kill angels.”
“You’re just holding onto all that angelic steel. I thought that you were gonna…I don’t know, use it or something.”
“Wait - wait, are you telling me you’re not going to teach us how to kill better?”
Like the wind was taken out of her sails, Charlie’s once impressive display of power was snuffed out. She did her best to maintain control of the conversation, but by her tone alone it was clear she had lost the room.
“No - no! What we’re trying to do here is - this is a peaceful place! No killing! What you saw on the news was, well - we were defending ourselves from the angels!”
“So what if we want to defend ourselves?” One Sinner spoke up from behind a battered couch. “What if they come back? You already killed their main guy!”
“They won’t!” The princess insisted while slowly floating down back to the floor, hair settling down from its otherworldly flow back into its usual ponytail. “They know what we’re trying to do is -”
“I lost friends to the angels!” Another Sinner spoke up. “I know people who lost family members! They were slaughtered in the streets and you’re telling me we should make nice just so we can go live with those assholes?”
Much grumbling began to rise up, and against all odds, Loona found herself in a position where she and the team weren’t going to be smited by a rampaging nepo-baby. Still cradling Blitz, she stood, walking closer to Millie, who still stood firm over her husband while staring down the now panicking Princess Charlie. Try as she might, the reveal that the hotel isn’t planning on carrying out any kind of revenge on the angels had the crowd in a steadily growing uproar.
“Babe?” Called the grey woman from the upper level, still clustered together with the other gaggle of Sinners who seemed to know the princess. “It looks like things are getting kinda rocky.”
“No - no, it’s okay!” Charlie insisted, doing her best to slap a shaky smile on her face. With all traces of horns, fire, power, and unholy power gone in the face of her once eager audience turning against her hotel, what was left was a woman looking like she could hardly command a pack of rowdy kindergardeners. “Really, I promise! We can make redemption work and you don’t have to stay here! Don’t you want to be up in Heaven with -”
“I don’t wanna be anywhere if it’s with the same dicks who started this whole extermination bullshit in the first place!”
As one Sinner’s cry rose up, many others joined in the rabble, leaving Charlie looking far more flustered than the sunny individual Loona spied when coming in. Angry eyes turned from the IMP crew to the stuttering royal, crowding around her and demanding answers, and now fully distracted from anything the once cornered assassin team could do.
With Blitz scooped up in one arm, Loona planted the other on Millie’s shoulder, stepping around Moxxie’s still prone form but not really caring if she landed on his ribcage. Already she could hear the fierce heaving breaths rattling out of the small imp, and now close enough to touch her, the hellhound felt the pure tension bound up in her shoulder.
“Hey, while the peanut gallery is busy, let’s get the fuck out of here.” Loona whispered, eyes darting around the scene and not liking the look that one red guy with the staff was giving her.
But as the princess was stuck losing her popularity battle with irate Sinners, Millie didn’t budge. Even as Loona tried to jostle her from the hold on her shoulder, the imp stood firm. All that muscle compacted under that stout frame made it feel like Loona was trying to push a particularly stubborn boulder. With another shuddering breath and a swipe of her hand under her nose, Millie let out a frustrated snort, eyes still fixated on the flustered princess.
“Not yet…”
Loona swore she felt her brain lock up. “Wuh…? Bitch, why the hell not?!”
What trickle of respect was pooling somewhere deep in Loona’s being had rapidly dried up in the face of Wrathian stupidity.
“This is our chance!” She pressed, hoisting Blitz onto her shoulder in a fireman’s carry. “Let’s go before these idiots start a riot, or before the princess there starts blaming us for more shit!” A quick glance towards Moxxie told her that the marksman was still next to useless, unless she wanted to employ him as the most pointless meat-shield. “Grab your concussed-ass husband and take off!”
Yellow eyes turned towards Loona, burning with more ferocity than she had ever seen in the small imp, even after a successful mission. Something more than a simple fire had been lit in her.
A simple spark was threatening to match plasma-like heat with the likes of the Top Princess herself, and Loona could just tell there was no talking her down.
It left the hound unsure of what to say. “Uh…okay, but what are you even - ?”
But a call from the balcony broke the unusual moment. “Yo Charlie!” Cried the pink spider individual. “What do ya want us to do with the little guys over there? Are ya, like, still mad at them?”
Crackling static crawled across Loona’s spine before the radio weirdo Millie was gushing over spoke up. “Indeed. It seems these rapscallions have caused quite the stir.”
Loona had known of this guy less than two minutes and she was already fucking done with him. Whatever bullshit had Millie all excited about must have been some quality wool-pulling because all the hound got from the man was the same vibe as the kids who like to burn ants with a magnifying glass…or the little assholes she knew at the pound who were always tougher in numbers.
“Are you really going to let them simply go? Exit your fine establishment that you worked so hard to throw together?” He finished with a tilt of his head that felt so practiced it made Loona want to gag, but worse than that was the snap from Princess Charlie’s neck as she turned to glare at their little crew through the throng of Sinners.
“Don’t let them - no, I understand sir but just give me a…” As tense and ready to potentially fight her way out of the hotel as she was, Loona couldn’t help but enjoy the image of such a powerful piece of Hell royalty struggle with customer service. “Yes, I know the angels killed your dad right in front of you, but they’re not coming back again.” She smiled with one face, only for it to turn a second later, eyes flashing to red and gold as her hair briefly whipped up in a frenzy. “Don’t let them get away! I can’t have them corrupting more Sinners!”
And whatever Millie was waiting for, that seemed to be all she needed.
With a shriek of a laugh she holstered her knives and scooped up her husband in one fell swoop.
“A’ight, how ‘bout this then?” The grin on her face looked absolutely feral. “Let’s have a little wager.”
“What the fuck are you doing!?” Loona wanted to scream, feeling like the walls were pressing in around her as more eyes turned back to them. She could see the collection of lackeys from upstairs who apparently knew the princess had started to mobilize, already running down to assist their leader and eliminate the riff-raff.
Already she was backing up, looking for an exit.
“If you think this bunch is so innocent, then y’all don’t need to worry about us being loose in this here hotel. After all, if they’re just victims of sorry situations…I mean if they’re really as good deep down as you say they are, princess -” Millie almost snarled that title out. “Then they should have no reason to seek our fine services.”
“It’s not that simple!” Charlie cried around the Sinners, eyes burning but hands clenched in front of her as if pleading her case. “They need to be able to break their cycles of bad decisions! They need to know there’s a positive alternative to just following their base desires and I can’t do that if you’re offering instant gratification and killing people!”
“Mmwah? Who’s killing who?”
Against all odds, Blitz managed to rouse himself out of stupor, raising his head from its spot on Loona’s shoulder as signs of life began to twitch back into his body.
Loona would be relieved if it weren’t for the fact that her fellow employee was potentially setting them up to be hunted.
“We’re killin’ anyone who is willin’ to put up the scratch!” Cried Millie before taking off. “Immediate Murder Professionals is here to work for you and whatever bridge you’re lookin’ to burn! And I bet’cha can’t find us before we head on out with some new jobs in the pocket!”
With a high pitched feral laugh, Millie took off like a shot down a hallway.
Unwilling to be left to her own devices or at the supposed “mercy” of the princess, Loona followed, letting loose an angry growl as she held onto her barely lucid father.
“Hey…Loonie?” He croaked out, head bobbling along to every one of Loona’s long strides as she raced to put as much space between themselves and the Sinners. “Do I…know that bitch? That bitch in the red?” His words were more slurred than usual, but she could see him trying to fit the mental pieces together. “The yelling one…not the red bitch with the buttplug on’a stick.”
“Not now, Blitz.” Loona huffed, fighting to keep the relief out of her voice at Blitz regaining consciousness, instead focused on following Millie as her mad cackles echoed down the twisting hallway, running deeper and deeper into the hotel.
It was looking like their stay was going to be longer than they thought.