By the time they made it back to I.M.P. headquarters, the sky over Imp City had dimmed into its usual sickly twilight—neon signs buzzing to life, sulfur clouds rolling lazily overhead. The van rattled into its parking spot, and for a moment, no one moved.
Then Blitzø clapped his hands together. "Alright! Unload, unload, unload! I want my floor visible again before someone trips over a cursed artifact and sues me."
Max obliged without complaint, hoisting crates and duffel bags out of the van with practiced ease. Loona lingered nearby, arms crossed, watching him with narrowed eyes. She hadn't said much since Wrath, and that silence weighed heavier than any accusation.
Finally, she broke it.
"You still didn't explain why you left earlier," Loona said casually—but her tail flicked with irritation. "You just vanished. Like one of us caught you cheating or something."
Blitzø's head snapped up so fast his neck cracked. "—What?"
Max didn't even flinch. He slid a crate onto the floor and straightened. "Relax. Nothing like that." He shrugged. "Someone tried a summoning spell. Dragged me somewhere unpleasant. Pure coincidence."
Loona's eyes narrowed further. "That's it?"
"Yep." He wiped his hands together. "Took me about half an hour to get back."
Blitzø stared at him. "…You say that like it's normal."
"In my line of existence," Max replied mildly, "it kind of is."
Loona scoffed and pulled out a cigarette. "Whatever. I'm taking five."
She stepped outside, smoke curling into the dim air. Max finished cleaning the van alone, stacking gear neatly, wiping dried blood off the floor like it was just another chore.
When he was done, he leaned against the side of the van and looked down at his arm.
The limb twitched—unnatural, veins faintly glowing beneath the skin, fingers flexing out of sync with his thoughts.
"…Yeah," he muttered. "That's still not right."
He inhaled slowly, focusing inward. Power rippled beneath his skin—not violent, but vast. The arm shifted, reshaping itself, pulling back into its prior state like molten metal cooling into a familiar mold.
"There," Max said softly. "Much better."
As the sensation settled, something else caught his attention.
A symbol burned faintly into the back of his hand—a timer.
Except this time, it wasn't stable.
Numbers flickered and shifted constantly, ticking up and down without pattern. Seconds bled into hours, then reversed. The digits refused to settle.
Max stared at it, unimpressed.
"…Great," he sighed. "Thanks, Roo."
He clenched his fist. The numbers didn't stop.
"Could be weeks," he muttered. "Could be tonight. Knowing my luck—and knowing God's obsession with narrative tension—it'll probably zero out at the worst possible moment."
He shook his head, exhaling slowly.
"Fantastic."
Loona stepped back inside just as Max approached. Without a word, he leaned down and pressed a quick kiss to her lips—gentle, grounding. She stiffened in surprise, then relaxed just enough to let it happen.
"…Don't vanish like that again," she said quietly.
"I'll try," Max replied honestly.
Then he stepped back—and melted into the shadows, dissolving into nothing like smoke pulled into a drain.
---
Gluttony Ring — Beelzebub's Domain
Max emerged beneath a sky that glowed in perpetual sunset—warm, intoxicating hues of gold and crimson rolling over an endless city of lights, music, and laughter.
He looked up.
"…Well, damn," he muttered.
The mansion before him was obscene.
At least a dozen stories tall, sprawling outward for nearly a quarter mile, its architecture a chaotic blend of neon-lit excess and infernal elegance. Balconies overflowed with glowing drink fountains. Massive stained-glass windows pulsed to the beat of distant music. The entire structure hummed with indulgent energy.
"Go big or go home, I guess," Max said.
The doors swung open the moment he approached.
He barely got one step inside before something slammed into him.
"MAX!"
Bee tackled him with the force of a meteor, all four arms wrapping around him as she crushed him into a suffocating hug. Bones snapped audibly—ribs, collarbone, something in his spine.
"Hey! I missed you!" she chirped, squeezing tighter.
"Bee," Max wheezed. "I literally saw you yesterday. I saved you from getting kidnapped."
"Still counts!" she said cheerfully.
She finally let go—only to plant a massive, wet kiss on his cheek, tasting strongly of Beelzejuice.
He stumbled back, regeneration already knitting shattered bones together. "You are the most affectionate of them all," he said dryly. "But did you really have to crush me?"
Bee tilted her head. "If you were a normal demon, yeah, I'd have to hold back." She grinned unapologetically. "Killed a couple ex-boyfriends like that."
Max blinked. "…You say that like it's funny."
"It is!" She threw her arms wide. "Anyway—welcome to my place! First time here, right? We usually just party somewhere else."
He looked around. Hellhound maids moved gracefully through the halls, cleaning and restocking with mechanical precision. They looked… different. Healthier. Happier.
"Yeah," Max said slowly. "How do you even have something like this? Seems more like Greed's thing."
Bee shrugged, dragging him forward excitedly. "I dunno! I'm popular? Almost nobody suffers in Gluttony, and I don't really have enemies." She paused. "Or I built it while blackout drunk. Fifty-fifty."
They moved deeper inside—and the place expanded impossibly. Underground levels stretched for miles, most of them filled with vats of Beelzejuice in every imaginable flavor.
A strange familiarity tugged at Max's mind.
For a fleeting second, he felt like he'd been here before. Like he'd shaped this place long ago—before he ever wore a body.
The memory slipped away as soon as it formed.
"That's… impressive," he admitted.
Bee slowed slightly, glancing at him. "Honestly? I'm kinda surprised by you."
"Oh?"
"Your regeneration," she said. "The type of sinner you are. And the stuff you told us—about your human life." She tilted her head. "You're… nice."
Max frowned. "What does that have to do with anything?"
Bee's tone shifted, more thoughtful. "Back in the old days, the worst sinners got powers that made their punishment worse. Regeneration like yours." She floated upside down beside him. "Mass killers, tyrants, monsters. Their flesh would heal just so it could be torn apart again."
She hummed. "Kept them alive longer. Made it hurt more."
Max went quiet.
"I think the last one before you," Bee continued, "was a guy named… Hitler? He's an Overlord in Wrath now."
She tossed Max onto a massive waterbed—easily the size of an Olympic pool.
Max bounced slightly. "…I don't think I killed that many people." He glanced around. "And you filled your bed with Beelzejuice, didn't you?"
Bee flopped in beside him, arms wrapping tight again—bones cracking once more. "Yup! Special-made. I can drink from it and it fixes itself."
She leaned in and bit his shoulder—hard enough to leave a mark, not enough to draw blood.
Max froze.
"…Please don't bleed," he muttered.
She giggled. "Relax! You're safe."
He sighed, tail wagging despite himself. "You must be lonely here," he said softly. "I get why you'd rather party."
Bee blinked, then smirked. "Looks like someone's enjoying this a bit too much."
She loosened her grip slightly, letting his arm heal.
"Looks like I earned sleeping with you tonight."
"You don't have to earn it," Max said quietly, reaching up to hold one of her hands. "You can whenever you want."
Bee's eyes lit up.
She squeezed—too hard.
His back snapped.
They both burst out laughing as his regeneration kicked in, Bee peppering him with kisses while the mansion pulsed warmly around them—excess, affection, and immortality tangled together in the heart of Gluttony.
For now, at least, Max allowed himself to rest.
[Author: Thanks for the wait. Below will be an Image and a few details of the sinner Roo Made. Well, im making 2 versions, you guys get to pick. Just go to the names below and i would have commented a picture with little info about it. Also, Roo created her to be a sinner with a demon soul. So she was human once. I might add both if enoughpeoplewant them]
Alice
Both
Ruth
Note: they are in the chapter comments but voting is the names above. Also i don't own the art but if the original artists find this by chance and feel bad about it, im sorry. I would pay but I don't make money on writing and im Broke. But I will take their names if I can