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Inside the bedroom that used to be a linen closet, an eleven year-old boy is sleeping soundly as he cuddles up to his childhood stuffed rabbit. As the glow of sunrise beams in through the window, the alarm clock rings next to Lincoln's bed as the white-haired boy used his knuckles to get the sleep out his eyes. Although it was still Winter Break, today was a day Lincoln would need to go to school. Before getting out of bed, the only boy in a family with eleven kids turned to the audience:
"Good morning, has it been too long since we chat? Either way, today is another day in the life of a lone boy with 10 sisters."
Peeking his head out the bedroom door, the hallway is clear as Lincoln tip-toes across the hall to the sole bathroom in the house. Careful not wake any of his sisters as he enters, Lincoln turns back to the audience:
"I bet you're wondering, 'Why all the secrets?'. Let me tell you; in a family as big as mine, getting ready in the morning can be a practical battle to the last one standing. And today I have a lot to do." Lincoln brushes his teeth a returns to his room before continuing. "Today, me and the Action News Team have to go to school and get the club room ready for the new semester. And trust me, it may be a Middle School club, but journalism is serious business. Plus, today we get to met our new Club Advisor, whose also our new Vice-Principal."
Not wanting to be late for breakfast, Lincoln puts on his usual outfit. Once he gets his head through his orange polo, he continues speaking on his way downstairs.
"Yep, a new semester with a new teacher. Something tells me this is going to be a great day!"
Elsewhere in the realm of reality, there is a place those who die on Earth may go after death. Across the globe, many people believe that there is a place you go after you die. Across numerous religions and mythologies it is agreed that the good ascend to a place of blissful happiness, and the bad go to a place of endless pain and suffering. Some believe this and some don't believe this a place after death. But the one thing they all agree on is that once you realize the truth they were happier not knowing. Happier not knowing that a majority of Earth's sapient creatures wind up in Hell. The good news, there is no never ending eternity of torture in lakes of fire. The bad news, if you though life on Earth was bad, Hell is the not much worse. The only difference being demons in control of everything.
In a certain city in Hell, there is an office building with giant horns protruding from it. Inside that building there is a small company; I.M.P, short for Intermediate Murder Professionals, a small group of assassins that specialize in going to Earth and killing humans on behalf of their clients. This company is not only special for its services, but also that it was one of the very few business in Hell owned by imps.
"Fuck, when are we finally going to get some work!?" One imp, the tallest imp of the group, vented his annoyance. "We've been in this office for a damn week and no clients!"
"Be patient, Sir." Another male imp tried to calm down his coworker. "New businesses take time. I'm sure once words moves, we'll get clients."
"Bullshit, Mox!" The tall imp scuffed. "I sunk all our advertising budget into that fucking billboard and still no one's called."
"Can you keep it down, Blitz!?" Siting at her desk, the IMP receptionist, a hellhound, yelled at her boss/adopted-father. "I've been trying to read this magazine for half-an-hour, but your dumbassery is distracting me."
"I'm sorry, Looney." Blitz, the aforementioned tall imp, apologized sweetly to his adopted daughter. "I wish I could calm down, but with so many dumb, cuck-sucking, bitch ass, Sinners in this Satan damned Ring, I thought we'd have at least one call by now."
"Morning, Gang!" Kicking the door open was a female imp carrying a box of donuts and a tray of coffee with a smile on her face. "I got the goods."
"Lucy, it's time for breakfast." Lincoln went back upstairs to get his sister Lucy. "Dad says your breakfast will get cold."
Inside her the room she shares with her sister Lynn, the young goth girl is focusing deeply on a set of cards lad out on her bed.
"Is something wrong, Lucy?" The caring brother he is, Lincoln moves in closure.
"My tarot cards... they've gave me a fortune I don't understand." Lucy always spoke with an apathetic tone, but Lincoln could feel his little sister was worried about this . "With another semester of school ahead, I thought a reading would give me some sad news I could relish. But this, this is just confusing. If I'm correct, something big is gonna happen."
"What does the cards say?" Lincoln didn't buy into tarot readings, but if it would help his sister, he'd take an interest.
"The first card." Lucy presented the card, depicting a pack of wolves wandering into a rabbit's nest. "A danger approaches that preys on the unsuspecting. The second card." The next card showed a forest collapsing while a rabbit falls into the dark cave underneath. "Great change is coming, reshaping the lives of all those it effects. And the last card." Lastly, a rabbit is calling after a pair of eagles to pull it out of the cave, but they fly on and leave it to the horrors below. "Betrayal, hope will be shattered and all that is left behind is the painful reality."
-Gulp-"That is interesting."
"I know, usually such a grim reading would be more exciting, but this is only has me, what's the word? Afraid?"
"It's gonna be alright, Sis. I promise everything is going to be fine as long as we have our family. Come on, let's get breakfast before Lynn eats it all." Lincoln was a little shaken, but found the courage to be brave for her.
"Good work, Millie, but I'm in no mood for cheer right now." Blitz took his coffee. "I'm still pissed that we've got no clients."
"Really? What about the call from two days ago?" Millie asked. "Remember, Loona? It was when Blitz and Moxxie were away to get the van out the shop."
Looking up, the hellhound thought back. "Oh yeah, while you and fat-ass were out, we got a call for a hit on Earth. Said the money would be in once the hit was done."
"You've know about this since two days ago and you didn't say anything!?" The second male imp, Moxxie, questioned.
"I had other things to do besides keep track of all your dumb shit!" Loona retorted.
"It's okay, Looney Toony, forgetting is an easy mistake." Her adoptive parent enabled her lack of responsibility with his typical doting. "Suit up you two! We got a job topside and no time to waste!" Psyched for some action, the lead imp got his flintlock-like pistol ready.
"Um, Blitz, we still don't know the name of our target." Millie noted the small detail her boss overlooked.
"Christ on a stick, good thinking, Mils." Blitz complimented his employee before turning back to his daughter. "Loona, who is our lucky payday?"
Breakfast was pretty quiet compared to most days. The oldest daughter, Lori, had to leave early to make it back to Fairway for a Freshman party. The third oldest, Luna, was sleeping in after a big performance with her band, "The Moon Goats", went late last night. Luan and Lynn, the fourth and fifth oldest, needed to leave early to help Leni, the second eldest, get the family restaurant ready for today while their dad is out of town. Finally, Lana, Lola, and Lisa, the three sisters younger than Lucy, are at a friend's slumber party until this afternoon. This leaving only Lincoln, Lucy, their mom, Rita, and baby sister, Lily, alone to eat breakfast.
Once the group finished eating, Rita gathered her kids in the family car, Vanzilla, and drove Lincoln off to Royal Woods Middle School.
"Remember, Sweetie, I won't be able to pick you up today because I have a meeting with my publisher. So, you'll have to leave with Clyde's dad when he comes to pick you and his son up." Rita reminded her only son.
"I got it, Mom." The white-haired boy confirmed as his mom pullup to the school. "Later!"
"Bye Lincoln/Big Brother/Incoln!" The boy's mom, little sister, and baby sister called back.
Once he was inside the newsroom, Lincoln greeted his closest friends. "Hey, Gang!"
"Lincoln!" The greeted back.
"You guys ready for another semester?" He asked, moving some equipment.
"You know it!" Rusty, the tall redhead of the group responded. "Only five months until Summer Break."
"I'm excited for another semester of learning." Clyde, Lincoln's best-friend, agreed. "What about you, Zach?"
"You bet! Have guys heard about our new Vice-Principal? I think he's an alien." He looked around. "A friend of my parents picked-up a UFO crash-landing just last week, she said it was close to Royal Woods."
"Ah, I bet it was just space junk." Liam, the farm boy of the group didn't believe it. "Like an old satellite, or rocket parts. What do you think, Stella?"
Stella Zhau, who was wearing a new blue jacket over her usual white and red sweater, looked away. "Maybe... but I actually wanted to tell you all about something that happened recently."
"Sorry, but am I interrupting something?" Waiting at the door was nonother than Principal Ramirez. "I hope you all had a fantastic break, but I'm here to introduce you to your new club advisor.
Stepping into the room was a tall man. He had dark hair that greyed on the temples, tan skin, and wore a pink dress shirt with a blue sports goat and matching pants. His face looked average but he had clear sings of five-o-clock shadow. When he walked into the room, he kept his hands behind his back and a bright smile on his face.
"Good day, Children. I will be your new Vice-Principal, as well as your club advisor." He greeted cordially. "Please, call me, 'Mr. Stillman'."
Inside the basement of Royal Woods Middle School, a mystic portal opens up and enters the members of IMP.
"Okay, remember, this is our first mission on Earth. So lets make this nice and simple, Got it?" Blitz addressed his team. "Now, Loony, we don't have this Stillman guy's picture so we need you to sniff him out. Personally, I'd like to keep you away from this shithole, but desperate times call for desperate measures."
Loona sniffed the air. "He's this way." Following the hellhoud out of the basement, the small team maneuver through the empty school until Loona points to a door in front of them. "The guy is in there."
"Perfect, Moxxie, you take the shot, the rest of us will stay back in case he tries to run or any humans get a look."
"Got it, Sir." Creeping close to the door, Moxxie prepared to fire, but the moment he looks inside his confidence breaks. Inside, along with the target, is six children eating with him. Moxxie rushes back. "Sir, we can't go in."
"Why the fuck now, Mox?, You got performance anxiety?" Blitz joked.
"What? No, Sir, there are kids in there." Moxxie tried to stress that importance. "We can't just open fire on a room full of human children."
"Correct, Mox, which is why we don't aim for the kids. Come on, I'll show you how it's done." Blitz marches for the door as his team follows. "Remember, Gang, our mission is to kill a teacher, traumatizing a room full of kids."
Meanwhile in the classroom, the Action News team are eating lunch with their new advisor after a morning of work. While they eat, Lincoln tries to make a good impression on Mr. Stillman through his favorite hobby, MAGIC. He made a coin disappear then pulled from behind Rusty's ear, made his thumb appear as it was severed, and now is doing a card trick for Mr. Stillman.
"Now, is this your card?" Lincoln made the ace of spades appear from thin air.
"Very good, Lincoln." Mr. Stillman applauded the boy along with the class. "You know, I happen to be something of a magician myself. And, if I may give a little advice from one practitioner to another?" He moves in closure to whisper the secret into his student's ear. "Always keep your best tricks for the right moment."
Bursting into the room with a strong kick to the door was Blitz. "TEACHER, I HAVE A QUESTION! HOW MANY HOLES DOES IT TAKE TO PUT A LITTLE SHIT OUT OF HIS MISERY!?"
The group of Earthlings in the room were startled and afraid for their safety. Three red, humanoid creatures and a anthropomorphic wolf had appeared in the classroom armed. The two guys in the group had guns, the tall one had a flintlock pistol while the timid one had a rifle. The red female of the group was smiling brightly while holding up a baseball bat with nails in it. Strange enough, the wolf just looked at her phone in disinterest.
"Listen up, we only came to kill one of you. Just let us do our job, and the others can live!" Blitz ordered.
"Please, please don't do this?" Lincoln, shaking like a leaf, walked up with his palms forward. "Don't hurt us, or I'm afraid things will get very bad."
"Hahaha!" The tall imp laughed. "Listen, Q-tip, we have the weapons. How could things go bad for us?"
"Because I'm the third best Junior Magician in Royal Woods." Taking advantage of their confusion, Lincoln flipped his hands to reveal the numerous smokeballs in his hands before throwing them to the floor. This gave the boy and the others an opportunity to run.
"RUN!" Clyde screamed as the humans ran down the hall.
"At the fork, split up!" Mr. Stillman instructed the children. "We'll have a better chance if we all go in different directions!"
The students did as they were told. Only, without a clear plan of escape, the majority of the group took right while Lincoln and the Vice-Principal went left. After the demons coughed the smoke out, Loona pointed to the target.
"They're getting away!"
"FUCK!" Blitz bellowed. "We came for the teacher! Leave the others and focus on him!"
Once they got far enough away, Stillman pulled Lincoln into the auditorium. "This is bad. Whoever they are, they're going to hurt people. Lincoln, I'll create a diversion while you escape and tell the police."
"No, I'm not leaving you, Mr. Stillman." Refusing to save himself, Lincoln chose to stay. "Clyde and the others must have ran for help. If we just hide out, we can make it."
"Think about it, how did they know were to find us before?" The adult made an acute observation. "I bet that dog with them is tracking me. I don't know why, but I'm the one they want. If you stay, you'll be in danger."
"Maybe, but only if we don't turn the tables." Lincoln began forming a plan.
Moving through the halls of the school for young adolescents, IMP discussed the state of their mission while Loona kept sniffing for Stillman.
"How did things go to shit so quick?" The leader vented. "Oh, that's right, Moxxie had to be a little bitch baby over killing a few kids!"
"Sir, although the client didn't give any specific instructions. We are only paid to kill the target." The shorter imp male gave his best excuse. "If we did kill them, we may not get paid."
"He's kind a right, Blitz." Millie always supported her husband, even if she didn't agree with some of his opinions. "It may be best to focus on the adult and play it safe for our first mission."
"As much as I don't want to agree with them, they have a point." Loona took a break to speak. "Besides, whose going to believe a bunch of kids that monsters attacked the school."
"Clever observation, Looney." Complimenting his adopted-daughter/secretary, Blitz conceded this time. "Any trace of where the prick is?"
"It's hard, it's like I get whiffs and then the trail goes out." The hellhound sniffed the ground again. "Wait, I'm getting something from behind this door."
IMP stopped right outside the auditorium entrance. To keep the target from overhearing, Blitz acted as a leader and gave his employees hand signals to break down the door. Blitz shot off the lock while Millie pushed the doors open. The group remained silent while Loona sniffed the air, signaling that Stillman was hiding behind a stage set. The group of assassins moved closure until they were in front of the cardboard bush.
Blitz kicked the prop aside to reveal Mr. Stillman on his knees with his hands up. "Gotta say, Bitch, after the little show before, I thought you'd be a lot harder to take out."
"Please, don't kill me! You don't have to do this, why kill me?" Stillman pleaded.
"Sorry, but as killing humans is our whole business model, canceling our first hit on Earth would break our business."
"Business?" The administrator questioned. "Someone paid you to kill me? Who would do that? And what did I do to them that would deserve death for?"
"We don't make the rules, Pal, we just do a job." Blitz cocked his gun. "Any last words?"
"A few, you remember that boy who was with me?"
"The kid, what did he run off?" Arrogant, the imp mocked. "Don't worry, we only came to kill you. We won't hurt the snot-nosed pain."
"Too bad, because he has no problem with hurting you." Mr. Stillman chuckled.
"Huh?" Before any of the demons could make since of what he said, the group of four found themselves with red paint dumped on them from over head.
"GURIANIMO!" From the theater catwalk, Lincoln jump from above while IMP was distracted. "Humph" The crafty boy landed on top of Blitz and swiped the pistol from his hand. "Not bad for a snot-nosed pain, am I right?"
The rest of IMP got the paint out their faces while Blitz got back to his feet. "Kid, you are REALLY PUSHING IT!"
Lincoln slowly moves closure to Mr. Stillman while pointing the gun towards the others. "I don't want to hurt any of you, but if push comes to shove?" He points to an angry Loona. "I will Old Yeller this dog."
"Little runt, you have no idea the trouble you're in." Loona tried her best to restrain herself, but her rage was painted on her face. "Just let us kill this asshole and we'll leave you alone."
"You came to my school, fully prepared to kill a man and room full of kids, and you expect me to let you." Lincoln kept the gun focused on the hellhound.
"Wait, wait, wait." Moxxie slowly lowered his rifle to the ground. "We promise, we wouldn't have killed you or your friends. I know this sounds bad, but we only came to do a job."
"My hun is right, Sugar cube." Millie, although angry, understood wanting your own survival like Lincoln wants. "Just put the gun down so we can kill this human. We won't hurt you." She put her weapon down as well.
Now, Lincoln wasn't an idiot. Putting down his only way of defending Mr. Stillman from a group of killers would be a stupid idea, especially if it involved trusting his safety to their word. Backing closure to the grown man, until he found himself into an unforeseen event.
"I'm sorry, Lincoln." Mr. Stillman gave a ingenuine apology. "But I don't want to die, and you were the only one here."
Shockingly, the white haired boy had his neck impaled from the back with an arrow. Choking on his blood, Lincoln saw Stillman look uninterested as the boy laid on the ground. He tried to cover the whole, but blood kept gushing out.
"Remember when I said I was a magician myself." The blood coming from Lincoln's body levitated into a spell circle in front of the administrator as he took out a pocket book that grew to the size of a dictionary. "My craft requires more... sacrifice to perform."
"OH FUCK, this guy can use magic!" Blitz screamed. "Loona, open a portal out!"
Although they were scared, the remainder of IMP looked in shock as the boy slowly died. Realizing what her boss said, Loona pulled out the grimoire and began performing the spell. Before it could be completed, Mr. Stillman bound the demons in magic restraints and continued to recite.
"I take it one of my former victims in Hell sent you after me." Stillman mocked the demons. "A pity it got you all killed, but I must keep my-" Before he could finish his statement, Mr. Stillman had a bullet go through his head.
What caused the bullet to fire was the most surprising. As the boy brought himself to one knee; without saying a word, the boy gave an intense glare at the man who tried to kill him before firing the gun at Mr. Stillman again. Now that the target was dead the magic restraining IMP released. Once they were freed, the secretary went back to performing the portal spell while Moxxie and Millie ran to hold up the boy
"Get that portal ready, Looney!" Blitz ran to get back his gun while M held the boy. "We need to get out fast or-"
The boss' fears were realized when Lincoln's friends returned. Running in through the broken entrance, the children returned with an assortment of improvise weapons. Clyde was holding a garbage can lid like a shield in one hand while carrying a baseball bat in the other. Rusty and Liam came in wearing football helmets and pads, holding their respective hokey sticks like spears. Finally, Stella was ready to fight with a fire extinguisher, and her face covered in war paint.
"WE'RE HERE FOR YOU, BUDDY!" Clyde led the cavalry. "GET AWAY FROM OUR FRIEND and Vice-pri..." He lost his will to speak.
Right in front of the children was the sight of Mr. Stillman unmoving on the floor with their friend covered in blood while being held by the imp couple. Meanwhile, the taller one was holding a gun pointed to the boy while the wolf-woman was performing some kind of magic. Despite the nature of their work, every member of IMP stared at the kids in a mixture of fear and guilt at the sight of the young ones horrified expressions. And despite his own weakness, Lincoln had enough strength to turn his gaze towards his friends; for what felt like an eternity, he never lost contact with his best friend's eyes.
Before anyone could say anything, the book Stillman was holding glowed as the Loona's spell continued. As if a chemical reaction had occurred, the book stained with Lincoln's blood and the Grimoire began to glow an ominous, blinding white light that caused the portal to form into a pitch black mass that drew in IMP with Lincoln in tow. Once they were inside, the portal began collapsing into a small ball, then exploded into a ginormous burst of energy. Knocking the remainder of the kids back, and leveling Royal Woods Middle School into a pile of rubble.
Lincoln wasn't sure how much time had passed, but he recalled everything that happened to him before entering the portal. His vision was hazy but slowly came back into clarity. The first thing to catch his eyes was the four killers passed out around him. The tall guy was fast asleep with his tongue out his mouth and his butt in the air; the wolf-like girl was curled into a ball and growling in her sleep. Finally, the two other red creatures that ran to hold him in the auditorium, were now passed out beside Lincoln.
The boy tried to call for them, but his voice wasn't audible. He tried to speak louder, but again he didn't make a sound. Finally, he tried to scream, and again no sound came. Lincoln moved his hands close to his mouth in an effort to project volume but that was when the state of his body became apparent. He looked at his hands and saw they were completely white save for a black outline around his hands that gave the boarder of his knuckles and fingernails.
More and more terrified, the boy looked around and saw that his surroundings hade a reddish tint. He and the others were on the outskirts of some kind of city with infrastructure organized like a giant pentagram. Lincoln looked up, seeing another giant pentagram in the sky above, as well as two satellites. A moon or small, dead star with a pentagram on it; and the other being something that resembled a white star with rings and clouds in the shape of wings.
Lincoln turned around, and before him was a tall building that looked like a menagerie of a hotel, sins, a sailboat, and something that looked like a recording tower. He read the giant sign, 'HAZBIN HOTEL'.