Tale From The Afterlife - a Helluva Boss Fan Story

Chapter 35. Blood, Sweat, and Cinematic Carnage

It is noon at the "Silver Screen Studios" production studio that appears to be in a more secluded area, given the foliage all around the building and there doesn't seem to be any living residences for miles. The IMP team showed up near the building, pretty much all decked out in formal attire - black suits, shoes, gloves and also sunglasses. Millie appears to be carrying a dagger with the sheath on her hip along with her bracelets with hidden blades. Moxxie is carrying a sniper on his back and a holstered sidearm on his hip. Blitz and Vergil don't appear to be carrying anything, mainly because their guns were holstered on their shirts, underneath the top part of their disguises so as to not seem suspicious.

As Moxxie finishes the check up on his sniper, his attention turns to Millie as he was a little concerned about her, given the plan of attack required for all 4 of them to be separate in order to take out the targets quicker.Millie notices it and of course goes to ask him what's up.

Millie: "Yeah Mox?"

Moxxie: "Just ... be safe out there, alright? I know you can handle yourself, but I can't help worrying about you."

Millie offered him a reassuring smile, placing a hand on his shoulder.

Millie: "Don't you worry none, Mox. Ain't nothin' gonna happen to me that I can't handle. Just focus on coverin' from here and we'll do the rest."

Moxxie: "Just don't do anything too crazy, ok?"

Millie: "No promises."

Moxxie smiles as he then just climbs up on top of one of the tree branches and sets up his sniper nest. Millie then turns to the rest of the team and all 3 start walking to the building.

The first target on the bucket list was one Harrison Blackwood, a gray wolf, 36 years of age. He is a prolific screenwriter known for his knack for crafting captivating narratives and memorable dialogue. He has penned several blockbuster hits and is considered one of the most influential voices in the movie industry. Despite the success he's garnered, he remains humble and shies away from the spotlight, preferring solitude and introspection. And while the writer may not have been active in the mistreatment of the employees, he knew it happened a lot. This one was for Moxxie to take out, as the man seemed to be at least a semi decent person and didn't really want him to suffer at the hands of say Millie or Blitz. Right now, the imp had the man in his sights as the target seemed to have been in his office, surrounded by all kinds of reference material, hard at work for the new project. Safe to say Mr. Blackwood won't be moving from his seat for a while.

Target number two was Theodore Sinclair, the 54 year old tiger who is head of production, responsible for overseeing the execution of film projects from concept to completion. With a background in finance and project management, he ensures that productions stay within budget and meet required deadlines, even if the quality of the product or the health of the cast takes a hit. This one was for Millie as she did not agree with his code of conduct and was itching from excitement to take him out. Given her small stature, it was pretty easy for her to sneak into the pretty spacious meeting room in which mister Sinclair was talking about the finances of the production studio, the profits, the costs, among other stuff that the imp assassin was just not interested in listening to.

Next on the chopping block is Alexander Grant, a 40 year old renowned film director celebrated for his visionary storytelling and cinematic prowess. The man has won multiple awards for his work and has a cult following among cinephiles, with movies that often explore complex themes and push the boundaries of conventional filmmaking. Of course, he is also known for his perfectionism and meticulousness when it comes to detail in his work. That tends to leave a lot of the people he works with anywhere from exhausted to pretty much breaking down in tears. This had Blitz's name written all over it, given he has heard of this man before from other targets. The imp has apparently watched some of his movies and was left really unimpressed. At the moment, Mr. Grant is relaxing at the building's pool, taking inspiration for a movie that will take place underwater. The leader imp is nearby, hiding in the nearby showers that are next to the changing rooms.

Final target was Steve Morgan, a 60 year old seasoned studio executive who has been in the film industry for over three decades. The reason for the man's rise to prominence is his exceptional negotiation skills and keen business acumen. He has a reputation for being ruthless in his dealings, but has managed to secure numerous successful projects for the studio. Despite his intimidating demeanor, he has a knack for charming people when it serves his interests. Vergil was assigned to this man, even though the white wolf didn't exactly put up much of a fuss about it. As the white wolf was sneaking through the pretty crowded building, thinking of ways to take out his target, he notices two of the maintenance engineers talking about how the sauna in the basement seems to be having a problem with the heating as the temperature goes way too high. What was also pretty lucky was that the executive was going to the sauna soon to take the edge off so the two had to close the facility before the man gets turned into a crisp.

That would not happen as when the engineers go to close down the sauna, Vergil goes over to them and when they try to tell him to go away, he just knocks them out quickly. The wolf picks up the unconscious engineers and puts them in a nearby broom closet on the ground floor, while the sauna was in the basement. Everything was ready and all that was needed was for the executive Morgan to show up.

Searching for a place to hide, Vergil notices the quite spacious trash can that, upon opening it, seems to be for used sauna towels. It would be a good idea, though it's too obvious and when the executive starts screaming, people would come to see what's happening, leaving him no space to get out. Sadly there didn't seem to be any other hiding place, so instead he opted for another idea, he summons a fly with his powers to watch over the room, to see what's happening and then leaves. Upon leaving the basement he was questioned as to what he was doing to which the white wolf makes up a story that he thought he saw something and went to check. One of the security does the motion of him having his eyes on the canine and then disappears around the corner.

The game plan was the following - whenever a large number of people started screaming in the hallways and the peace of the studio was thoroughly disrupted, that's when everyone took out their targets at once. The only hiccup was that Vergil's target was taking forever to come to the sauna and that was starting to get on Millie's nerves as she just could not stand another second listening about finances. Blitz also just couldn't seem to keep himself sane much longer as he also could not bear one more second hearing the director list off ideas that to the imp sounded absolutely terrible.

However after a bit, as Blitz was about to disrupt the peace himself, there's a smell of burning flesh coming from the building. That wasn't the end of it though, because the fire alarm was also pulled not long after, setting almost everyone in the building into panicked screaming. That was the que.

Blitz immediately got into action, as he grabbed his target's head, repeatedly bashing it against the pool floor and when the target was near unconscious, firing 3 shots at his head, pretty much mixing in the chlorine-infused water with blood and bits of gray matter. Millie had a much more obvious approach as when the fire alarm started blaring, she came out from under the desk and pretty much turned into a human blender splattering blood and guts pretty much everywhere in the conference room. To a point where when she came out, she was covered in blood and BEYOND hyped for the decimation she unleashed. Moxxie on the other hand had the most subtle approach as when he heard and saw people scream and start running out of the place, he took his shot, killing Mr. Blackwood instantly.

Vergil, who was in the restrooms the whole time, despawned his fly to check what happened - the executive Morgan had gotten into the sauna not long after the white wolf left and, thinking that everything was gonna be alright, just fell asleep. There was no screaming to be heard, only the smell of rotten flesh assaulting the nose of everyone present. Then when one of the staff went in to check what happened, they saw a fire had started and so they pulled the fire alarm, which pretty much sent everyone into a frenzy.

As Millie and Blitz rendezvous amidst the chaos and the screams echoing through the building, Blitz looks at the wife imp and is a bit surprised she managed to get so much blood on her suit.

Blitz: "Well, well look who's turned into a walking creep show!"

Millie grins as she wipes some blood from her eyes.

Millie: "Ah, this? Jus' a lil' souvenir. Should've seen the look on Sinclair's face!"

The two imps giggle like idiots, with Blitz shaking his head in disbelief.

Blitz: "Remind me never to get on your bad side, Millie. You're scarier than a tax audit."

Millie playfully elbows him, leaving a streak of blood on his suit.

Millie: "Oh you're one to talk. Guessing Grant didn't take too kindly to yer criticism."

Blitz: "Let's just say, he won't be winning any Oscars with that mind-blowing performance."

The two imps fist bump as Vergil joins them, holding his nose as he just couldn't take the foul stench. Millie raises her eyebrow in surprise as she herself didn't exactly see the issue as growing on a farm she'd smelled worse stuff.

Millie: "Aww, what's the matter, V? Little puppy can't handle some blood and guts?"

Vergil raises an eyebrow in surprise.

Vergil: "You two definitely lost your sense of smell then to not be bothered with this nastiness."

Millie: "Nah, what I did was work at uncle Terry's shed. This stuff - walk in the park."

Blitz: "And I've cleaned up after circus animals, this is nothing."

Vergil shakes his head in disbelief, unable to comprehend their tolerance for stink, all the while the canine feels like his nose hairs are burning up.

The team quickly gets out from the back door and quickly sneaks into the nearby woods. Moxxie has already left his sniper nest and was waiting for them in a nearby bush, so as to not be seen. Once they've gained enough distance from the building and are pretty much out of sight, the leader imp phones Loona so that the team can go back to hell with a job well done. Soon enough a portal appears on the ground and one by one the imps jump in. Another job well done.