[Ring] [Ring]
[Ring] [Ring]
[Ring] [Ring]
Awoken from his sleep, Moxxie hears his phone ring on the nightstand. Barely awake, he grabs it and sees it's a call from his boss.
"Oh, crumps." He mutters, taking the call. "It's barely morning. What is it, Sir?"
[Hey, Mox! First off, I got the book back from Stolas. Long story short, I had to do things that'll have me picking features out my teeth for a week.] Moxxie heard his boss rant while rubbing his eyes awake. [But the reason I'm calling is that we have a client coming to the office later today.]
"Client?" Moxxie was surprised to hear they had work now. "Don't worry, Blitz. Me and Millie will be prepared for when that happens."
[Oh, I know you'll be ready, Mox. The issue is our newbie.]
Moxxie put on his bathrobe and left for the kitchen to make breakfast for his wife. "You mean Lincoln?"
[Yeah, him, Linkmen or something, we need him to be ready. That's why I want you and the Misses to give a little... company orientation. Take him out and get him trained for his new position at IMP.]
"Ok... but are you sure about this, Sir." Setting the phone to speaker so he can cook, Moxxie felt conflicted. "He's only a child, Blitz. Also, he's a Sinner, are you sure that he can even go up to Earth?"
[Oh, nah, I don't think he can go topside.] Blitz dismissed over the phone. [You die and get sent where, there is no leaving. But as long as we keep up our end and take him into the company, he'll keep his word and not tell Princess.]
Cooking, Moxxie felt a little troubled by this. "Sir, are you certain the boy accept that. I mean, it's not like we can be sure he won't rat us out."
[Trust me, would I steer you wrong, Moxxie?] The boss asked, not realizing what his employee thought. [The runt may be pissy about it, but he has well-fed, happy home life moralities. So, I'm sending Loona to pick him up, you and Millie just be ready at the office; and make sure you and the kid are back by this afternoon. Bye~]
After his employer hung up, Moxxie went about his cooking in silence. When he was done, Millie walked out their bedroom in her pajamas.
"Morning, Moxie~" She kissed her husband on the cheek before sitting at the table. "What did Blitz want to say?"
The male imp took a drink of tea. "Blitz wanted to tell us that we're bringing Lincoln on today, and he wants us to give him some training before our job this afternoon."
"Well, isn't that exciting." Millie felt joyful this morning. "We got another client, and a new member of the team."
"Yeah." Moxxie kept his head down.
"Is everything alright, Baby?" The dark-haired imp picked up on her husbands mood.
"I guess I'm just a little... concerned about bringing the boy on. Yes, he's a Sinner, but he's also a child. He shouldn't have to deal with things like this. Killings, and worrying about tomorrow."
Embracing her beloved in a gentle hug, Millie tried to ease his nerves. "That's how life is, no matter how much we'd like it to be another way." A bright smile spread across her face. "Besides, Lincoln may seem like a normal little fella on the outside, but trust me. Inside, he's a something you and I can only imagine."
The atmosphere shifting, the young couple ate their breakfast in peace.
"Steady. One step at a time." Focused on the task at hand, Lincoln squinted his eyes and calmed his mind.
It was the next dat after caught Husk's glass with magic. Too excited to do much else, the devil-tailed boy stayed up all night practicing what he did. Right now, he was seated cross legged in the middle of floor trying to calm his mind.
"Have you gotten any sleep?" Walking in for breakfast, Angel Dust folded his arms as he stared at the kid.
"It's only been two day." Lincoln disregarded.
"Look, Linky, I know it was a surprise what you did last night, but need to rest." The spider demon advised.
"I can't, Angel. I've been working on it all night, watch." Lincoln performed his trick.
Lying ring in front of the boy was a deck of cards. Getting optimal conditions, the boy steadied his breathing and focused. A moment passed without either of the two talking, but a second later, the top card on the deck became coated in reddish-orange light and levitated up. Once it reached six inches from the deck, it fell back down.
"See, it's telekinesis!" Lincoln could barely control his excitement.
"Really... something kid." Angel wasn't so impressed. "Maybe try practicing after you get some food in ya."
"Yeah, maybe a rest will help." He gathered his cards in his pocket, then picked up his book with his tail. As he got up, a portal opened up in the hotel and the hellhound girl from before stepped through. "Hey... it's you."
She looked peeved. "Loona."
"Right, Loona. My older sister is named Luna as well." Lincoln tried not to make her angry. "What brings you here?"
"My dickhead boss told me to bring you in for a job or something." Loona answered, scrolling through her phone. "Shit if I care."
Lincoln knew it was time, he would be going back to Earth. Just as promised, IMP would take the boy on; and in return, he would keep quiet on the teams 'business deals'. Before he left, he turned to Angel Dust and gestured for the taller demon to bend down to whisper in his ear.
"Please, keep what I'm doing secret from the others." The boy spoke into the spider's 'ear', or the side of his head really.
"No prob." Angel gave three thumps up.
Watching the boy exit with Loona through the portal, Angel Dust gave a unsettled frown for the child's safety. "Good luck, Kid."
"What was that about?" Husk walked in with a cup of coffee. "Where did the kid get off to?"
Angel put on a fake smile and bedroom eyes. "~Oh, I just thought we'd send the little ones out while we get some...alone time.~"
Exhausted, Husk scoffed before walking away.
The IMP office was in IMP City, a place long ways outside of Pentagram City, and so named because it was mostly populated by imps. On the seventh floor of a condemned office building with a pair of gigantic horns like an imp, the Intermediate Murder Professionals had set up office. Inside the waiting room, Millie was feeding the eels while Moxxie paced the floor.
"I'm just not sure this is a safe place for a child." Moxxie voiced his worries. "I'm pretty sure that six floors of this building are owned by Succ Inc."
"Relax, Moxxie." Millie spoke calmly. "The way he handled us the other day. I doubt there's anything to worry about."
Pausing their conversation, the portal Loona took reopened in the waiting room, this time Lincoln accompanying her. While the hellhound went to her desk and played on her phone, M wasted no time welcoming the new addition.
"Howdy, Lincoln! Welcome to your first day at IMP!" The rowdy imp pulled the boy into a crushing hug.
"Be gentle, Honey." Moxxie tired to warn his wife as the boy's white head turned blue. "Welcome, now we aren't going to Earth yet, as the client still hasn't made it, but we brought you in early to give you employee orientation."
"Orientation?" The boy caught his breath.
"Basically, the boss wants us to give you some training." Millie explained. "You know, keep ya from getting killed on your first day."
"Oh!" Moxxie pulled out a paper bag. "We didn't know if you've eaten breakfast yet, so I fixed a sandwich just in case." He handed the bag to Lincoln. "There's a bacon and egg on toasted white, some orange slices, and a milk carton. I didn't know if your preferred chocolate or regular, so I got both."
Lincoln opened the bag and saw the food, his stomach rumbled. "Thank you... Moxxie, correct?" He then pointed to the other imp. "And you're Millie?"
"Right as rain." The female imp confirmed. "Nice book, I saw it with you when you got away."
Attention moved towards the tome Lincoln carried wrapped in his tail. "It's new, actually I made it thanks to a little... trick I learned."
"It's very nice." Moxxie complimented. "How about I carry it for you, so you don't have to worry about it during your orientation?"
"Thank you, Moxxie." Lincoln handed the book over. "What's first?"
"Uh-uh, I'm taking the lead today." Millie pointed to herself. "Now eat up, we're heading to the training grounds!" She put an arm around the boy and shepherded him out with Moxxie. "And what we're doin, you're gonna need a full stomach!"
Left alone in the office, Loona looks at the door. "Remembered the old couple easy enough." She muttered.
Taking the IMP van, Millie was in the driver seat with Moxxie riding shotgun. Sitting behind the driver, Lincoln looked out and saw the state Imp City. The buildings were slightly better than condemned, there was violence and crime down almost every alleyway, the sound of yelling and screams was basically background music, and the car passed by a great number of people living on the streets.
The van stopped at a red light and a glum Lincoln looked out the window. When he did, he saw another imp, a child. It was a male imp, with chopped white hair and one of his horns were broken. The boy was with a taller imp, possibly a parent or guardian, and they were holding signs that read: 'Need Monee' 'Lost my Job'
Lincoln got a closure look at the taller imp and saw a baby strapped to their back. On closure inspection of the imp boy, he looked wasted away with boney cheeks, he was wearing nothing more than tattered shorts and a t-shirt with holes in it, and the child was covered in grime.
The boy and Lincoln looked eyes for a moment, something that felt like an eternity with neither making a sound or gesture. Then, just as the red light was about to turn green, the imp boy raised his hand and put a smile on his face. As the van drove off, Lincoln returned the action and the two waved goodbye.
They continued driving until they the van reached the construction site of a mid-rise building. The site was clearly abandoned as the skeleton was visibly rusted, the glass broken or smudged, and there was a boarded fence surrounding it. As the trio left their vehicle, Lincoln saw that the first couple of floors were completed but construction gradually stopped until it reached the intended seventh floor.
"Here we are!" Millie gestured to the site. "Isn't it a beauty?"
Neither Moxxie or Lincoln knew a polite way to answer. "It sure looks... tall?" Mox tried to be supportive while carrying the boy's book and his wife's duffle bag.
"Yeah, this place was supposed to be condos for fancy, high society types." Millie explained as the three walked to the building's broken entrance. "Then the guy financing the thing ran off with the money. Nowadays, it's a just a lot the local riffraff us as a gang spot."
"How do you know about this place, Millie?" Lincoln asked.
"Before I started working in the killing biz," She began, opening the door for the boys. "I got a job working construction on this site. Clearing junk, setting concrete, digging trenches, the like."
While they walked down the dark hallways, the group spotted a lot of rubbish that showed people came in here often. A short ways in, they exited the building out the other side were grass and weeds had grown over.
"Sounds like you enjoyed your work." Moxxie was surprised to learn this from his wife. "Why did you leave?"
Millie lost her smile. "After the site closed, I couldn't get another job. I was new in the city and had no good references. Short on cash, I met up with some old friends who needed extra muscle and got into the assassin game." Those thoughts returned her smile. "I guess it could be seen as a blessing in disguise."
Although they barely know each other, Lincoln was happy to learn more about his new coworker. "Well, this is the place wanted to bring me, what's the-" Catching the sight of it before it reached him, Lincoln turned his head just as a black and red knife flew by.
"Good instincts." Millie complimented, her outstretched arm revealing she was the one who threw it. "If you plan to make it in the world of assassins, you'll need to be sharp."
"Millie!" Moxxie went to retrieve the knife. "Isn't there a safer way we can do this?"
"Sorry, Babe, but I don't cut corners with my training." Millie made a big smile that revealed all her sharp teeth when she smiled. "By the time I'm done with you, you'll be the fiercest killer in HELL!"
Lincoln was startled by this change in action, but he couldn't fight as a bright smile appeared on his face. "LET'S DO THIS!" He returned her energy.
Meanwhile, at the Hazbin Hotel, the staff are helping Sir Pentious move into his new room at the hotel. While Alastor did remodel his room, there was some things from the former supervillain's old base that he wanted to bring. Specifically, his Egg Boiz.
"Listen, Eggys!" Sir Pentious address his minions. "Today, we are officially no longer in the business of antagonizing demons!"
"Alright, Boss!" One of the sentient eggs saluted.
"Good." Pentious congratulated. "But that doesn't mean that danger still lurks. Now, we must protect our new home!"
"Yo, Pentious." Angel Dust interrupted the serpent's speech. "You've seen my eyelash curler?"
Deflated, Sir Pentious sighed. "I think I saw Niffty using it to mutilate rats."
"Fuck, too late to save them now." Heading to the bar, Angel admitted defeat. "Hey, Handsome, how about a drink for a sexy bastard?"
Exhausted as always at Angel's flirtation, Husk muttered and poured the tall demon a drink.
Catching sight of Lincoln's chess set, still on the bar, Angel noticed a change. "What happened to the white pieces, they seem... nicer?"
Husk looked at the game. "That? Last night, after I fixed myself another drink, I saw Lincoln bite out a hole in his hand and bleed on the white pieces. Damn kid said he wanted to make a 'matching set'."
"Ouch." Angel subconsciously grabbed his own hand. "Is it just me, or has that kid not been here long enough to do sick stuff like that?"
"I'm pretty sure how casually he can bite into his own flesh isn't the biggest problem." The bartender looked around, in case someone overheard. "You saw his blood, too?"
"Yeah, before the crazy shit that went down with Pentious." Angel tool a drink. "What about it?"
Husk furrowed his brow. "The kid's blood isblack. Sinner blood is supposed to be red."
He couldn't deny it was strange, but the spider demon shrugged. "Just means that kid has more surprises then any of us thought."
Taking another look at the board, Husk still couldn't tell why Lincoln's blood caused a reaction in chess pieces. Looking closure, he noticed a piece missing. "What happened to the white king?"
"Don't know." Angel got to his feet. "Lincoln said it got lost. Though he says he never let go of it; like it vanished."
Lincoln's employee orientation was more exhausting then he realized. First, Millie had him do some warm-up exercises that left the boy sweating through his clothes. Next, the imp couple spent the morning going over some of the most important aspects of their work.
STEALTH
Making the exercise like a game, Millie turned it into a game of hide and seek. The imp couple would seek the boy while had to avoid being caught by them. The goal, Lincoln would have to from the site to he grocery store six blocks away without getting caught nor drawing attention to himself.
Making his way using shadows and hiding from public sight, the white-haired boy had gotten within sights of the grocery store. The problem, he hadn't gotten any sign of Moxxie and Millie since the game started.
"Where could those two be?" Link muttered under his breath. Making his way to the store entrance, Lincoln was hit by something landing on his body before he could enter.
"Not awful for a rookie." Millie evaluated, revealing herself to have landed on top the boy.
"I agree." Moxxie walked up from inside the store, writing on a clip board. "Excellent use of the environment, and you didn't draw attention to yourself. However, your approach was too predictable. I'll give you... a B. Aw, you are only a minor; A-."
Picking himself up, Lincoln was surprised how he was caught. From what he learned reading David Steele, the boy thought he had a better grasp of stealth. "When did you find me?"
"From the beginning." Millie answered. "No offense, Sugarcube, but you went at this too... what's the word? Straightforward."
Moxxie supported. "You left out the site's front entrance, went directly down the main road, and you tried to enter the store from the front." Moxxie listed off the boy's errors. "We told you to get from the site to the store. We didn't say you couldn't go a different route, sneak in with the shipments, or anything of the like."
Lincoln realized his own mistakes, and chuckled at them. "You're right! I can't believed I didn't see that coming."
"Don't feel too low." Millie patted his back. "Now we move on the next lesson."
DISGUISE
Moxxie explained that the art of disguise is a crucial part of an assassin. "A good disguise can get you past security, lower a target's guard, even save you from being captured." While he spoke, he and Millie were working on an example. "But it takes more than just throwing on clothes and makeup. You need to carry yourself with confidence that you are who you say you are. Watch and learn."
Getting himself ready, Moxxie disguised himself as a police detective with a brown trench coat, stubble paint, and a fake badge. "I don't know I keep at it. This damn town's a glorified septic tank; a tank that's overrun with the scum of society. Some days I wonder if I do this to help people, or am I just killin time until I find the balls to put my piece in my mouth." The male imp then left character. "Like that. Now, Millie, if you would?"
Millie's disguise was a catholic school girl. "Geez, I hope I did good on my paper. Now I have to go home and fix dinner for my alcoholic parents and my eighteen brothers and sisters. Ooo~" She looks at Moxxie. "My, a strong, handsome detective. Officer, could you help me, I've been a bad girl."
Playing along, Moxxie got back into character. "My, what is a innocent little thing doing here all alone. I'm afraid I'll have to take you in for questioning."
"Oh, please go easy on my. I'm just a fragile, impressionable school girl."
"You've definitely been up to something. Looks like I'm going to have to take you into the interrogation room for 30 minutes of squealing."
"Do I get extra time for bad behavior?"
"HELLO!" Lincoln nearly puked. "You were teaching me, remember?"
Flustered at how they were behaving, M got back to the lesson. Lincoln's assignment was to craft a persona. Making his disguise using an abandoned walker, fake glasses, and Moxxie's work clothes, the boy made a disguise of an cranky, old man.
"I tell ya, these young'un have no manners! " Altering his voice, Link gave a good impression. " Oh, and these politics. Not to talk about the price of box of corn flakes. I remember a time where you could buy a steak dinner for the exact amount you spend of box of con flakes these days.And there's my grandson, never sticks to anything. Told me he was going to college to get a degree in that thing with the robots; twelve years later, he's changed his major more times than I have teeth!"
This got a round of laughter out of the imp couple. "Good, very good." Moxxie graded. "That'll get you... A."
FIREARMS
After going through a detailed instruction on firearm safety, gun maintenance, and an overview of Hell's history of weapons, Moxxie decided it was time to teach the child to fire. Before that step, Moxxie presented an assortment of guns and explained which is best suited for a given situation. While Millie set up a target area, she looks back and sees how thrilled her husband is as he talks about firearms; then she sees how engrossed Lincoln is learning before she returns to her task.
Picking up one of the larger guns. "This is the Ruger PC Charger with an SB Tactical side folding brace and 16" barreled upper." Moxxie presented.
"Wow~" Lincoln reached out, but the imp switched it out.
"The S Performance Center Model 442." The instructor handed the pistol to Lincoln. "Don't shoot your eye out."
Disappointed, the boy still accepted it. Moving on to target practice, Link was instructed to fire at a series of targets. Unsurprising, he missed each one by a large margin.
"Now, keep your back straight and both hands steady." Moxxie explained.
"It's no use... the last time was a fluke." The white-haired boy recalled a few days ago when he killed Stillman.
Understanding the kind of trauma it must have been for the boy, Moxthought back to when his mother taught him to fire. "Don't aim for the target, aim for the smallest point you can see." He guided the boy's arms. "Never fire 'til you're sure of yourself." Moxxie observed Lincoln steady his eye. "And be ready, it'll try to push you down."
Bang
Lincoln took his shot, this time hitting the target onlyslightly off center. The boy cheered as Moxxie and Millie congratulated him.
MARTIAL ARTS
Hand-to-hand combat training was the demon boy's most challenging lesson. Although learning the basic strikes, holds, blocks, and areas of focus were easy enough, Lincoln had a problem with actually attacking. IMP was in a dangerous line of work, and he understood that; but Lincoln still found it hard to attack someone with intentions of causing harm.
"Keep your guard up!" Millie instructed during her and Lincoln's practice. "Always be on the look for the next move!" She lunged forward as if to punch, but tricked the boy and went for a leg grab. "Always be thinking, 'What is the next move?', 'What could they have hidden?, and most important, 'How do I take them down?'!"
Tired, Lincoln got back to his feet and put his arms. Going on the offense, Link went for a tackle, but when Millie tried to counter with a punch, he grabbed her arm, pulled until he was on his back, and push kicked her off. This led to the imp woman landing on her back.
"How was that?" Lincoln said, standing over her.
"Not bad." She complimented. "But remember these lessons." Catching the boy by surprise, she used her tail to trip him before hopping back to her feet. "Use any way you can find to get the upper hand, even if you think it's underhanded. Ya got a tail now, use it."
Feeling a bruise on his side, Lincoln struggled to get up on his own. "What's the second lesson?"
Millie helped him to his feet. "Givin' a punch is easy. Knowing how to take a punch and get back up, that's a skill."
It was past noon now, but Millie still had one final subject they had to teach. Lincoln was taken inside the building and instructed to stand in the middle of the biggest room.
"Millie, are you sure this will help him?" Moxxie asked.
"Trust me, Honey." The dark haired imp corrected the boy's posture and stance. "Keep you hands up."
Confused, Lincoln questioned her. "What is it that I should be learning?"
"Instinct." Millie said, stating a fact. "If you don't have the instinct to take action, you won't make it a minute on a mission."
"You don't need to worry, I'm the 'Man with the Plan'." He briefly turns towards the reader. "Patent Pending."
Millie humored him. "Having a plan isn't the same instinct. When in the field, a plan can fall apart like that." She snapped her fingers. "To survive, you need to make split decisions on a moment's notice."
"Even still, Millie." Moxxie spoke. "How will standing in a room teach him?"
"It won't." She answered, then pulled a blindfold from her pocket and tied it around Lincoln's eyes. "This will. Now, Sweetie, this is your goal: Get from here to the front street without removing the blindfold."
Lincoln pondered the task. "Seems easy enough."
"Now this isn't the start." Grabbing the boy's shoulders, she spun him around until he nearly vomited. "Me and Mox will be trying to stop you the whole time. Break a leg, Sugarcube!"
Following his wife as she left the room, Moxxie turned back for a moment. "Good luck, Lincoln."
Alone, Lincoln was slowly regaining his bearings. He could move without difficulty, but now he didn't know where the exit was anymore. Taking a deep breath, he corrected his form and began forming a plan. Without sight, the boy would need to rely on his other senses. Lincoln heard around and caught the sound of cars passing as well as screaming coming from his right, he felt around and discovered a corner of the room, and then he smelled the air but found only the foul stench of the building.
"Wow, either you're playing pin-the-tail-on-the-donkey, or trying to escape a kidnapping." Striding on the ceiling, Jane Doe made her presence know.
"Jane? What are you doing here?" Lincoln tilted his head. "I'm trying to get to the street. This is part of my assassin training."
"Sensory deprivation?" Jane jumped and landed on the ground. "If you're trying learn not to rely on sight, you should be usingall your senses."
"That's what I'm doing right now." The boy kept his arms a head.
"Right now? You're only using yourphysical senses. Focus on your environment; keep what you're looking for in sight, but be aware of your surroundings." She moved in closure and spoke softly. "It's more than about where you are or what you want; it's about being mindful of what is, was, and will be. Then, allowing it to inter your mind..
Trusting his 'guide's' advice, Lincoln stopped focusing onfeeling his surroundings, and let himselfsense them. "I think... I'm getting something." True to his word, Lincoln felt a rough image of the room and himself in it. "It's blurry. I can't make out specific details, but I can tell there is... a chair in front of me." He reached for it, and found a chair.
"Very good." Jane Doe complimented.
"How can I sense this? Wait... magic."
"Exactly, what you've just done is unlock your magic perception." She informed.
"That's incredible!" Lincoln felt his blood rush. "But why is it so hard make out a better picture?"
"You're like a baby right now." Jane made an analogy that upset the boy a little. "What I mean is, you've basically been in a womb that kept light from entering. Now you're in the world, and your eyes are adjusting. Right now you can only see the general image, shapes and stuff, in time your sight will improve."
Walking, Lincoln stubbed his toe on a cinderblock. "I hope it's soon."
Half an hour the boy stumbled. Once he made it out the room, he wondered around the site.
"I think you're improving." Jane complimented. "In the beginning, you had trouble sensing objects under a certain size. Now, you can find your way through this hall without hitting anything."
"Bizarre." Lincoln commented. "I can't see like I do with my eyes, but I can see." A signal went off in his head; the boy ducked, nearly avoiding being hit by a paint bucket tied to a rope. "Must be one of Millie's traps."
"Mhm, if I was you, I'd run." The apparition advised.
Lincoln's senses were running in overdrive. He felt that something was approaching, and it was very fast and small. Taking a step to the side, Lincoln dodged a bullet aimed for his foot.
"That's what I wanted to see!" Millie congratulated, using a rifle from far away. "Remember! Use your surroundings!"
Taking cover in a nearby room, Lincoln closed the door and barricaded with a table. Looking for an escape, the boy formed a plan.
Outside the room, M are slowly approaching. "Millie, don't you think this is a little excessive?" Moxxie voiced his worries.
"Don't worry, I'm not shooting to kill." Millie reassured, then called out to Lincoln. "SEPINTINE! IF I WAS AN EMEMY YOU'D BE ON THE MANTEL!" With one swift kick, the door of the room Lincoln was hiding came off its hinges.
There was no other doors nor windows, meaning there should be no other possible ways to escape. Both imps looked around and saw no sign of the boy.
"Where could he have gone?" Moxxie considered the options, then remembered the stage at the school. "Look up!"
Right above, the ceiling, there was a hole in the panel that lead to the the second floor. "Clever boy." Millie complimented.
Making his way further and further up, Lincoln climbed the final level of the incomplete building. Although he couldn't see it, right in front of him was the road in front of the site. The air smelled like a dumpster fire doused with raw sewage, yet it felt a little appealing for the devil-tailed kid.
"Nice plan getting away!" Millie complimented, walking up to the floor with Moxxie. "You made it up here without seeing, dodged my fire, and your little escape plan got you this far. Too bad you didn't think far enough head."
Lincoln turned to face them and smiled. "Who said I didn't?" With no further words, he jumped backwards off the building.
"LINCOLN!" The imp couple screamed, running over to the edge to see what happened, M looked down.
"Where is he?" Moxxie looked beneath but didn't see the boy, only a tree with a sphere on a string tangled around the branch. "Wait, is that a yoyo?"
Whistling came from the street, and right at the edge was a still blindfolded Lincoln standing on the curb. "Tell me! Did I pass?"
Millie laughed while her husband let out a long exhale, both relieved that he's unharmed. The duo came down the building the long way and met up with Lincoln at the sidewalk. Hands in pockets, the boy kept a content smile on his face. Millie was the first to talk.
"Very good." She offered a handshake, but then turned at the last minute to throw a knife. Unlike last time, Lincoln caught it blindfolded with his tail, then flipped it in the air towards Millie. "Hahaha, you are fucking unbelievable. You pass, with flying colors!"
Removing his blindfold, Lincoln walked back towards his new coworkers. Now that he was within arms reach, Moxxie gave him a protective hug while Millie tussled his hair.
"Oh, crumbs, please don't do something like that again!" Moxxie pleaded, then noticed the boy's hand. "Lincoln, you're finger!"
Looking down, the demon boy saw the finger his yoyo was attached too was not broken. "Don't worry, I'll heal. Besides, if you two were an enemy, I'd walk away with worse than a broken finger."
"As my Ma would always say, 'Sometimes ya gotta cut the finger to save the hand'." Millie congratulated. "That reminds me, I brought you something." Going to the duffle bag, Millie pulls out a knife in a leather holster. "I got this with the money I made working my first job out of Wrath. Always felt it was lucky. I had it with me the day I got hired by Blitz." She presented the gift. "Now, it's yours."
Touched, Lincoln fought light tears. "Thank you, but are you sure you want me to have it?"
"You betcha, Sugarcube." The female imp confirmed. "Besides, I got another lucky charm to keep me safe." She kisses Moxxie on the cheek, causing him to blush.
Taking the knife out its burgundy baldric holster, Lincoln observed it was well maintained despite extensive use. Millie helped him get the holster strapped to his left thigh, then smiled sweetly. With the knife in hand, Lincoln made a decision on trusting the assassin couple.
"Guys, I want you to see something. Moxxie, please hand me my book." After he got the item he asked for, the boy sat cross legged on his tail before opening the book to keep his blood from spilling on the ground. "This may seem weird at first."
Then, with a single thrust, Lincoln plunged the knife straight through his palm until it touched the hilt.
"Oh my Satan!" The two imps said in unison, then Moxxie question the boys actions. "Why would you do that!?"
His blood coated the weapon and dripped onto the pages of the book, causing the two items to glow. "For this." Link calmly explained while his blood did its magic. "When my blood comes into contact with items, it infuses magic into them." Soon, both book and blade fused into an orb of light, and when it finished the blade was left. "That's interesting."
The three of them explained the weapon now. It retained the same shape as before, but now the blade was a clean white with an edge like a mirror. The leather grip was tough yet soft to the touch. A reddish-orange guard with the eye from the book displayed on one side.
"Shoot, Lincoln, you made my old knife better than new!" Millie praised the change.
"This truly is phenomenal." Moxxie agreed. "I've studied weapons my whole life and never heard of a Sinner doing..." The imps train of thought derailed when he caught sight that Lincoln's blood was black instead of the normal red of a Sinner demon.
"Thanks you two." Lincoln saw his hand was still bleeding, then looked at the holster. "I wonder..."
Slapping his bloody hand on the baldric, it glowed as well and turned a darker orange and had a black logo on it that looked like a heart with horns like Millie's. Lincoln placed his knife in the holster and helped his coworkers clean up their gear. While handling everything they brought with them, an idea went off in the boys head.
"Moxxie, Millie, I have small question." He cooed, tapping his knife. "Do you have more weapons at the office?"
The couple both understood what the boy meant by that; Millie responded with childlike glee, while Moxxie's eyes became pinpoint in shock. "Oh, crumps."
Loona was scrolling away on her phone while drinking a beer when her boss kicked the office door open.
"Loona?" He called for her, carrying a big, rectangular box. "Can you give me a hand here?"
Not getting up from her chair, the hellhound responded. "No.
Accepting her answer, Blitz brought the box in and laid it on the office couch. "Shit, that tailor kept me all damn morning!"
"You were at a tailor?" Loona asked, suspicious. "What dumbass reason would you have to go to a place that cost more for clothes?"
"The answer, Looney Toony, is it's not for me." Blitz laughed. "Since the kid is coming to the team, I decided he needed to have a proper uniform."
"You bought him a suit?" The demon woman sill questioned. "You didn't just give him an old thing of yours or fatass', steal it off a corpse at a kid's funeral, or something?"
Blitz continued to laugh. "Hahaha, I promise, this suit was made to order, because ourspecial little guy deserves aspecial outfit if he's gonna be working for us." He opened the box. "Come and get a look!"
Sighing, Loona did so and got a look at Lincoln's new imp uniform. The woman's widened in surprise as she got a look the box contents. To her further disbelief, she laughed along with her adopted father at what was inside.
"You serious, Blitz!?" She held her sides.
"As Hepatitis, Loona." Blitz rubbed his hands together, devilishly. "I spared no expense just for him. Clothes, shoes, and other accessories." Hearing the IMP van pull up from outside, the lead imp's amusement increased. "Why here he comes now!"