Max and Loona emerged from a swirl of black-violet shadow into the IMP lobby. The instant they appeared, they were greeted by the sight of Millie and Moxxie cuddled together on the couch… while happily polishing knives and oiling guns like it was date night.
Loona barely had time to step toward her reception chair when Blitzø launched at her like a screaming volleyball, arms flailing.
"LOOOOONA—!!! WHERE THE FUCK WERE YOU, I texted you thirty times—"
"Get off me!" Loona snapped, stiff-arming him away before sinking into her seat with an exhausted sigh.
Max sighed and shook his head.
Millie noticed his missing arm instantly.
"Sugar, what happened?!" Millie gasped, standing up.
"Ah, it's nothing," Max said with an awkward half-smile, gesturing at the stump. "Just a few demons armed with angelic weapons. Should grow back in a week."
"Damn," Blitzø muttered as he dusted himself off, "if I was lucky they would've finished the job."
Loona kicked Blitzø directly in the ribs.
"I still don't understand why you despise me so much," Max said, sitting down.
"You took my Loona, that's why!" Blitzø snapped. "Anyway, GET UP, WE GOT A JOB, Mr. Overlord. Before the festival tomorrow."
Max raised a brow. "I am not an overlord."
"Yeah, whatever, sweetie," Blitzø said, waving a dismissive hand. "Come on."
They gathered in the meeting room as Blitzø slapped a folder on the table and launched into his usual rambling, overcomplicated assassination plan. Moxxie protested every five seconds. Millie cheered every risk. Loona leaned back in her chair scrolling on her phone.
Max's phone buzzed.
Loona had texted him from two feet away.
Loona: "Tell Blitzø to eat shit."
Loona: "Also you look cute today."
Loona: "Also wtf why are you reading this now instead of paying attention."
Max smirked, scrolling.
"Everyone understand the plan?!" Blitzø barked.
"Yep," Max said lazily. "Same old—find the target, kill discreetly, leave before humans notice anything weird."
Blitzø grinned and tossed a small metal case at Max.
Max barely managed to catch it with his left hand.
"Careful! One arm, remember?"
Inside was a polished Desert Eagle and a trio of magazines.
"Thank Satan," Max said. "I'm not supposed to use full flashy powers topside unless I want Heaven breathing down my neck."
"Yeah, well now you have no excuse to fuck up," Blitzø said. "Cost is coming out of your pay."
"We get paid?" Max blinked.
"We don't get paid enough," Moxxie muttered.
Max picked up the pistol and let a pulse of his shadow-energy flow through it. Immediately the gun twisted into a more demonic shape—black and red metal like living obsidian, a lengthened barrel with a shadowy suppressor, extended mag, and custom grip forming naturally under his palm.
"Now that's my style," Max said as he slid it into his shadow with a flick.
Blitzø stared in awe, offended awe. "SHOW-OFF. Now let's roll!"
Loona opened the portal.
Max leaned in to give her a quick kiss, but Blitzø grabbed him by the neck and yeeted him through the portal like a carnival prize.
---
Human World – New Jersey
Max and the others crashed into a grimy alleyway under mid-day sunlight. Max coughed, rubbing his throat.
"How the hell did you even do that?" Max asked Blitzø, genuinely confused. "Last time you tried that, you nearly dislocated your own shoulder."
"POWER. OF. LOVE, BITCH," Blitzø declared, hands on his hips. "Now come on, we gotta find the target. Says here she's somewhere on Venet Street."
Max froze mid-step.
His pupils shrank.
His tail fur spiked like a porcupine.
"…Venit Street," Max repeated. "Shit."
He swallowed hard.
"The target isn't Lisa Vancová… is it?"
Blitzø glanced at the folder. "Yep! Client says she's tragic—love affair with some guy who got killed running from a gang she's married into. Sounds like a soap opera."
Max shut his eyes.
"Fuck me."
He let out a long, shaky breath, shifting into his more human disguise—two eyes, no horns, tail hidden.
Blitzø noticed the change but didn't care enough to ask.
"Alright, sad boy, come on," Blitzø said. "Let's kill your ex or whatever."
Max didn't correct him.
He couldn't.
And the team followed him toward Venit Street…
where Max's past waited.