Thursday, October 27, 2022

Helluva Boss Season Two Episode Two: "Seeing Stars"

 


 

“In the great expanse of the nether, there exists boundless amounts of magnificent phenomena. The great brilliance of an exploding star. The nimble dance of space dust through a nebula. But once every one thousand years, our corner of reality is treated to an incredible sight. From the deep eldritch recesses of the cosmos, the tears of a forgotten colossus begin to fall. Tears made of the hopes and dreams of every living thing that never came to be, condensed and sent shooting across the night sky in a dazzling final display. What appears to mortal beings as a meteor shower, we can see for what it is, Azathoth’s Tears.”

 

Stolas narrated as he conjured up magical holographic images of space. The universe showed a vast purple nebula sky, a giant pink star exploding, and a dazzling pink swirling nebula that looked like a galaxy. Finally, four rocky meteors soared across the sky, two with teal flames, one with purple flames and one with teal and pink flames trailing behind it.

 

Stolas curled his hand and the images faded as the portal closed. Little Octavia giggled in his lap, wearing her pink dress with stars on it. Her room had hanging lights, a headboard with a princess crown on it, ringed planet bedposts, a mobile with moons and stars, constellation posters and a bookshelf. Stolas’ grimoire hovered in the air, surrounded by purple and blue magic.

 

“Daddy,” said little Octavia. “Can we go see it someday?” Wonder filled her magenta pink eyes.

 

“Yes, dear,” said Stolas, lifting her up and placing her onto the bed. He tucked her in with her purple quilt with yellow stars on it. “I promise, when the day comes, nothing will be able to keep me from being there with you.”

 

He playfully poked her on the nose, and she giggled. He put his hands over his heart and displayed a loving fatherly smile. “Good night, my Owlette.”

 

“Good night!” little Octavia called with a yawn. Stolas’ grimoire closed and it trailed behind him. She wiggled in bed and softly squealed in excitement, even though the event was…

 

0 0 0

 

…many years later in the present (2021). The excited teen Octavia got out of bed. With a feathered quill, she crossed out a date and spotted the present day. She had drawn meteors in purple. In pink, there were stars and the smiling faces of her and her father watching the meteors. She circled the picture and hurried off.

 

Down the hall with the purple and green Venus fly traps, Octavia hopped on one foot, pulling on her black high heeled boot. She wore her usual pink dress with yellow stars on it, her crown, a black soft hat, a pink collar, a black jacket and fingerless gloves.

 

 

Octavia turned a corner. “Hey, Dad!”

 

She paused. In front of her was an empty kitchen. Moving boxes were stacked on the floor.

 

“Dad?” Octavia questioned in concern as she turned another corner.

 

“Daaaad!” Octavia called as she ran her hand down the gold stair rails. Curled within the rails were red eye designs.

 

She wandered out the open doors to the front courtyard. Stolas, wearing a scowling expression, was holding the sunflower rotary phone in one hand, and squeezing the imp butler in the other.

 

“Yes, I know!” he said angrily into the phone to his former wife. “It will be there shortly!”

 

“Are the commoner imps being careful?” Stella shouted through the phone.

 

 “Of course they’re being careful!” Stolas barked.

 

In front of Stolas, servant imps were busy lifting the boxes into a moving van. An “expensive shits” sign was taped to the back of the van.

 

“Dad, what’s going on?” Octavia asked from the doorway.

 

Stolas’ eyes widened and he turned to her.

 

“Apparently, your mother can’t exist somewhere two minutes without the entirety of her possessions before she…what?!”

 

He paced to the side, turning his attention back to the phone.

 

Stella yelled into the phone. “You turn my own daughter against me, hanging out…!”

 

Stolas put his hands on his hips. “No, I’m not turning her against you…!”

 

“Bring me my stuff!”

 

“Yes Stella!” Stolas breathed into the phone with too-wide eyes and a forced open-mouthed grin.

 

Stella screamed, “I hope I never have to see your fucking face again! Everyone in our family hates your guts!”

 

“Dad,” Octavia began, twiddling her fingers. “This is going to be done before tonight, right?”

 

“What?” Stolas lowered the phone. “Oh,” he sighed in frustration. He turned back around. “I hardly think so, knowing your mother, this will take all weekend.”

 

He yelled at the imps. “Don’t be gentle about it now! Break whatever you have to to get it all in there!”

 

He was satisfied when he heard Stella’s yells of protest. “What?! What did you just tell them to do?!”

 

“But,” said Octavia. “Tonight, we’re supposed to…”

 

“Darling, can we not talk about this now?” Stolas whispered hoarsely. “Your mother’s being a real B-I-T-C-H.”

 

Bird calls came through the phone. “Fuck, you know I can spell, right?!”

 

“Well how was I supposed to know you can spell?! I’ve never seen you read!” Stolas barked back as he strode toward the van.

 

Stella yelled again. “I’m going to take everything! Everything you own!”

 

Octavia stomped off toward her room. “Urgh!” She yelled in frustration as she slammed the door. “Urgh! She yelled in frustration as she flipped over her telescope, sending it crashing to the floor. She crumpled up her calendar and yelled again as she tossed it to the ground. Octavia took some shaky breaths and spotted her blue and white backpack on the floor. It had a yellow star on the back and two strings with crescent moons on them. She slung it over her shoulder and angrily walked out of the room.

 

0 0 0

 

Meanwhile back at I.M.P. headquarters, a calendar hung on the wall. On the 20th, Blitzo had written in caps “HAVE THE TALK” with a red circle around it. “Have the talk” was crossed out in the other squares other than “Stolas?” with a full moon and a dick and another square with a horse on it with “Riding Lessons” at the bottom. More horses were drawn around the calendar, along with a long-necked horse with Stolas’ face and hat. Other tasks on Blitzo’s calendar included “Murder Tien,” “Observe Employees,” “Pissing Contest,” “Commit Tax Fraud,” “Kill That Guy,” “Stab That Bitch,” an explosion, “I Love Moxxie,” “Sunday Fuckday” and “Moar Horses!” An arrow held up another Blitzo drawing.

 

The calendar image was a picture of a lounging Verosika Mayday but with a sticky note of a winking Blitzo drawing covering her face.

 

Blitzo was apparently going to have the talk with Loona about her aggressive behavior toward his clients. Unfortunately, the raging hellhound was currently throwing a dagger and two spinning weapons at her adoptive dad’s head.

 

Blitzo smiled nervously. “Loona, honey, wait just a…shit!”

 

Blitzo ran for cover as Loona chased him while holding the water dispenser in her hands.

 

Blitzo appeared on the other side. “Loonie, please, can we talk…?”

 

The water dispenser smacked him in the face.

 

“Fuck! Uh, I mean, wow!” His eye was swollen where the water cooler hit it. He smiled nervously and said sarcastically, “A good throw, honey,” while pointing both fingers in a mock, “good job,” gesture. “I’m so proud of youuuu…!”

 

Blitzo’s method of trying to calm her down resulted in a growling Loona barreling into Blitzo and the imp screaming in response. They rolled onto the floor, where Loona proceeded to bash Blitzo’s face with a spiked frame picture of a horse drawing surrounded by hearts.

 

Moxxie smirked happily on the moth-ridden gray couch, holding a mug in his left hand. Millie smiled in fascination as Loona continued her attack. She walked over to Moxxie. Moxxie poured Millie a mug of coffee and handed her a lavender mug with her face on it surrounded by hearts. Moxxie’s mug was purple and surrounded by golden music notes. Millie jumped into Moxxie’s lap.

 

“What’s this all about, honey?” Millie asked.

 

Moxxie drank and sighed happily with an “ah.”. “Oh. Blitz finally talked to her about her attitude with clients.”

 

Blitzo was on the floor, and he got up on shaking legs. Blitzo pushed the couch in front of him like a shield as Loona growled lowly again.

 

“I-I just think some small tweaks might help you be more of a uh…people person, you know?” Blitzo began as Loona approached, teeth bared. 

 

“I am a people person!” Loona seethed.

 

The three imps shared looks.

 

Loona grabbed Blitzo by the collar and pulled him close. “If I’m so terrible, how about you just grow a pair and replace me?!”

 

Blitzo glanced to the side. “Okay, well maybe I…” Then he thought. “Maybe I might.”

 

Loona paused. “What?”

 

Blitzo glanced at Moxxie who smiled and gave a thumbs up.

 

“Maybe I will, little missy!” Blitzo declared, poking her in the stomach and folding his arms. “Yeah, that’s right, it’s tough love time!” He paused and pointed. “So now you can…go to your desk!”

 

Loona growled “Urgh!”, dropped Blitzo upside down and stomped off.

 

Meanwhile, out of everyone’s line of sight, Octavia opened the adjacent door with a pair of purple pliers. She did a silent roll into the room, covering her mouth with her feathery hair like a scarf disguise. 

 

Moxxie lifted Blitzo up onto the couch. “Sir, if I may say so, you’re doing the right thing.” Moxxie massaged Blitzo’s shoulders. “If we can’t even hire a cheerful qualified receptionist, how can people trust us to massacre and mutilate their enemies for them? It’s good for business.”

 

Octavia zoomed off and hid behind a thin brown cactus plant. The plant had a tag: “To Millie from Dad.” She crawled along the floor and crouched behind a fax printer that read “Hel 9000.” She stood up and spread out her arms against a picture of a Blitzo stick figure drawing with Blitzo’s head, a gun, and horses. She glanced at Loona who was sitting at her desk, staring at her phone and computer, bored.

 

She dashed off and opened the door to Blitzo’s office. Octavia removed her hair from her mouth and dashed forward. A heating vent was shaped like weapons in a connected row. There was a lemon plant with “no whores allowed,” “The Incredible Blitzo,” picture, bloodstained playing cards in frames, a “Wild and Free” horse picture and office items. She opened a drawer and tossed out objects from it: Moxxie and Millie-themed office supplies, a Loo-Loo Land cup, a paper crown, and a Mare-juana horse toy with gems on it. She turned her head backward around to the giant poster of Blitzo, Moxxie, Millie and Loona smiling.

 

There was always something hidden behind giant posters, there had to be.

 

Octavia lifted the flap and sure, enough, there was a rusted red safe box coated in spider webs. On it was a sign with horses drawn on it and “Blitz’s stuf, do nut steal!”

 

Octavia was worried that she wouldn’t find the password, until she looked on the back of the paper and saw “Password: 1-2-3-4” scribbled on. She typed in the red 1-2-3-4 buttons, the screen glowed green, and the box clicked open!

 

Octavia grabbed the grimoire and flipped through the pages.

 

“Take me to see the stars,” she said. A purple light glowed from the book. Her eyes glowed white and a black pentagram surrounded her. Swirling black tendrils of energy danced around her and a loud whooshing sound was heard.

 

Moxxie noticed the magenta-violet light coming through Blitzo’s open office.

 

“Um, sir?” Moxxie began, pointing at the door. Blitzo was relaxing with cucumbers over his eyes.

 

“The fuck?” he gasped, cucumbers falling off.

 

The three imps burst into the room; weapons drawn. They squeezed through the door, Blitzo carrying his flame rifle, Moxxie drawing his pistol and Millie smashing her mug to the ground. Octavia gave Blitzo a brief look before walking through the large glowing white portal. It closed behind her.

 

The three imps stared in disbelief.

 

“Loona!” Blitzo bellowed.

 

“Oh yeah, you have a visitor,” she replied nonchalantly as Blitzo narrowed his eyes.

 

Blitzo crouched down and breathed heavily in a panic. He held his head and grabbed Moxxie’s shirt. “Shit, shit, shit, shit! What the fuck am I supposed to tell Stolas?!”

 

“Well, he seems to like you, sir,” Moxxie replied nervously. “Maybe he would understand if…”

 

Blitzo shoved Moxxie away. “Okay, my dick is good…but it is not that good, Moxxie.”

 

“Sir, I don’t think we really have a choice,” mentioned Moxxie.

 

Blitzo scoffed. “So, what? You want me to just call him up and be like…”

 

Later, on Loona’s bone phone…

 

“Hey, Stolas, oh your daughter came by, took your book, and teleported off to who the fuck knows where, we have no way of getting either of them back, okay?! Okay, good talk, byeee!”

 

Blitzo hung up the phone and flinched. He turned to a concerned Moxxie and swiped his head in brief relief. “Whew, wow that actually went better than I thought…”

 

“BLITZ!”

 

The exit door blasted open and sent Moxxie flying. A demonic Stolas appeared, a black towering owl with four red eyes and red outlines.

 

Stolas stomped into the room, his gaze menacing, his voice demonic.

 

“WHERE IS MY DAUGHTER?!”

 

Blitzo stepped back and held up his hands. “I promise, Stolas, all of us will find a way to get her back as soon as…”

 

“YOU’D BETTER!” Stolas replied. Just when Blitzo thought he was going to double Hell, Stolas took some deep breaths and morphed back into his normal demon form. Stolas paced back and forth in front of the three imps.

 

“How could this happen?! Do you just let anyone waltz into your office and grab infinitely powerful artifacts?!” Stolas clutched his hat, worryingly. “Why would she do this? How are we supposed to find her? Where would she go?”

 

“Well, the best-case scenario, she could’ve used the grimoire to go to another Ring in Hell,” Moxxie suggested.

 

“Yeah, maybe she wanted to go…shopping,” Millie added. “To that Stylish Occult store, maybe?”

 

Loona then sniffed the air.

 

“Well, it reeks of urine and desperation so…”

 

She flinched in disgust. “Ugh…L.A.”

 

Everyone looked at her in surprise.

 

“What?” she shrugged.

 

“L.A.? Los Angeles?” Blitzo asked. “But that’s in…”

 

“The human world!” Stolas sighed. “If the humans find her and discover what she is…”

 

His eyes flared red as he growled at Blitzo, face close, “I’ll be in eternal trouble!”

 

“Okay, okay,” Blitzo said, sweat beading his face. “We’ve been to the human world many times! It won’t be too hard, right?”

 

Without a word, Stolas waved his hand and summoned a glowing portal in front of him.

 

Blitzo noticed Stolas’ passive, upset look on his face. He spoke quietly. “Um…about several nights ago. I, um, I may have been a little harsh with, ya know, pushing you away after the time at Ozzies…”

 

“I tried to make things nice for us, but obviously, you didn’t care,” Stolas replied coldly.

 

“I-it’s not that I didn’t care, it…” Blitzo began. He still couldn’t bring himself to belief that Stolas may have deeply cared for him as a sort of loving friend. He was still used to viewing Stolas as a pompous promiscuous annoyance but a necessary one to keep up his killing business. Now Blitzo felt especially bad now that Stolas’ daughter was likely in danger.

 

Moxxie and Millie looked concerned. Loona rolled her eyes.

 

Stolas remained silent for a moment.

 

“If perhaps you…don’t only care about…fucking me, and you actually want something more…” Blitzo added.

 

Stolas held up a hand, his voice detached. “Find my daughter and I’ll accept your apology.”

 

Millie was about to step through the portal, but Stolas held her back.

 

“Wait. We will need disguises first,” said Stolas.

 

Stolas and Loona’s eyes glowed white and they began their Sailor Moon themed transformations. Loona transformed into a tall white woman with long white hair and a partially shaved head. She had ripped black shorts, a gray short, ripped top and her downward black pentagram design on her chest. Her tennis shoes resembled her foot paws. She stared intently at her cell phone.

 

Stolas did a pose in his new human form. He had high heel black shoes, long gray pants, and a red vest with the hanging tails in the back resembling owl feathers. His hair was brown, short and spiky, his skin white, his eyes red.

 

Millie clapped happily while Blitzo stared agape. “No chance you couldn’t conjure up a couple of those, can ya?”

 

Muttering some words, Stolas waved his hands and dark tendrils with red auras shot out of his fingers. The three imps rose into the air and did their own Sailor Moon themed transformations. They all wore their same outfits, but each looked different. Blitzo posed as a man with large ears, olive colored skin, red eyes, and short black hair. Moxxie was short with white skin and his same, white-colored hair. Millie was now a black woman with wild thick black hair and dark lipstick on.

 

“Whoa!” the imps all gasped in shock, looking at their new forms with red eyes. They all stared at Stolas in shock.

 

Stolas shrugged. “What? Did you think I would just waltz into the human world and not allow you imps to be disguised as well since my powers are limited in the human world without my grimoire?”

 

The imps just stood silent, glancing at each other. Wordlessly without looking, Blitzo tossed Loona through the portal. She landed on her butt on the ground.

 

“I just think you wouldn’t be able to memorize your own fucking spells,” Blitzo replied as he and the others walked through the portal.

 

“If you think your memory’s so great,” scoffed Stolas, “then what’s his phone number?” He mentioned to Moxxie.

 

“Fuck you,” Blitzo seethed.

 

“Exactly,” Stolas smiled.

 

The five disguised demons looked around. They were standing in an alley. “Fuck you” was graffitied in red on the wall behind them over art of a squid in an ocean. There were vents in the wall to the left, a green dumpster and garbage bags to the right. Beer bottles stood in a wet spill, among damp boxes. “Bullshit” was written in white over a vented garage door, two florescent lights above it. Graffiti art of a skull with a snake coming from its eye socket, smiled on another wall near some stairs.

 

Nearby posters read, “PUBLIC HEALTH WARNING! City finds LA water to be 2% sewer overflow and 98% acid. NO OBVIOUSLY DON’T DRINK THAT SHIT!! Top scientists say.”

 

A distant gunfire and scream were heard as the disguised imps spotted a dead body nearby.

 

“Oh, this doesn’t look much different from Hell,” Blitzo remarked. “Alright, Loona, let’s make this quick in and out before anyone notices us here.” He brushed his shirt and happily marched forward. “Alright, now let’s get to work. Loonie, sniff!”

 

“How am I supposed to smell anything in this city?” Loona asked, tossing aside an orange can from her mane of white hair.

 

“Can’t you even do one thing right?” Moxxie argued.

 

“Can’t you ever stop being a nagging whimp?” Loona replied.

 

Moxxie seethed as Loona walked on.

 

Stolas walked out of the alley and spied a dazzling pair of red sunglasses on display. He picked them off the stand and put them on. Blitzo and Loona followed him while Millie dragged an apprehensive Moxxie by the hand down the sidewalk.

 

Just then, Moxxie ran into a man in front of him. The man had light brown skin, a gold tooth, a single curled hair on his chin, yellow square sunglasses, and red hair. He wore a pair of red earphones around his neck along with a brown floppy hat, a dark shirt, baggy red pants, and a purple jacket.

 

The man snapped his fingers with both hands and grinned.

 

“Hey, little man. How about you check out...”

 

He pulled a CD out of his jacket that read “My Demo!!” in black marker…

 

“…this demo right here? This is some premium Grade-A fire right here!”

 

He shoved the CD into Moxxie’s hands and Moxxie beamed wide-eyed at it as the man did peace sign poses.

 

The man pulled Moxxie and Millie close to him. “Perfect for you to crank with the little lady,” he said in a sing-song voice.

 

A disgusted Millie walked out of his arms.

 

“Oh, wow!” exclaimed Moxxie. “You made this? Thank you.”

 

Moxxie and Millie began to walk away but the man swung around a palm tree and blocked their path. Moxxie fell to the ground.

 

“Oh, hey, hey, hey. Hold up a sec, you just gonna grab it and go?” he asked.

 

“He said ‘thank you,’” said an annoyed Millie.

 

The man held out his hand. “Twenty bucks, man.”

 

Moxxie stood up and desperately grabbed Millie’s face. Tears came to his eyes as he went on his knees.

 

“Millie, we need money to pay this talented artist!” he begged.

 

Millie watched in annoyance as the rest of the group turned a corner.

 

Millie lifted up Moxxie. “You can just give it back, Mox.”

 

Moxxie gasped, held his hands to his face and crouched beside the palm tree. He held the CD close.

 

“Millie! These artists put their heart and soul into their work! I can’t just give it back like it’s worthless!”

 

Moxxie hissed and swiped at a squirrel that was sniffing him. His real face briefly appeared.

 

“It probably is,” Millie mentioned bluntly. The man glared at her.

 

A tall woman with orange hair, purple sunglasses, black hoop earrings, black shorts with pink flames on them, and a revealing pink top flipped a coin at Moxxie.

 

“Sick demon costume, man! It’s metal as fuck!” She did two horn gestures with her hands and walked on.

 

Moxxie’s face vanished and his disguised face appeared again. Moxxie flipped the coin and it fell out of his hands. “I have an ide…oh, whoa! Hey, hey, hey, hey, come get back here!” Moxxie chased after the coin and grabbed it. He turned back to Millie and grinned. “I have an idea!” Moxxie looked at the coin, which had an American eagle, USA on the top and 2021 on the back.

 

Moxxie and Millie turned back into their demon imp forms and began to sing. A white man wearing a red shirt and a “dude” tattoo lovingly held a woman wearing an orange and yellow dress with a crescent moon necklace. Another woman closed her eyes in happiness as she listened. A man wearing an Elmo dinosaur costume took off his costume head and sobbed. The demo man crossed his arms in envy.

 

 

Millie and Moxxie stood high up in the palm tree leaves and sang. They held their hands, their faces close.

 

Moxxie began:

 

“You’re my pretty ray of hellfire

And you set my soul alight

I’m aflame with love

For you, my dove

You see…”

 

Millie joined in:

 

“Moxxie…

You’re the sweetly rotten pustule

On my heart as it decays

You’re the stench of evil clinging to my every dying day…”

 

They sang their duet:

 

“You’re the melody in every song

You’re the reason nothing’s ever wrong

You’re the first thing that I think of

When I wake anew to kill again…”

 

You’re my lovely little monster

And I’ll never say goodbye

I will kill for you

Until they day we diiiieeeeee!”

 

They ended on several long notes by raising their arms in the air as a white “Hollys Wood” sign stood on the hill in the background. The sun shone high in the smoggy sky.

 

The crowd clapped and Moxxie bowed back on the ground. A red rose was tossed to him. The man in the Elmo dino costume was slipping him dollar bills. Moxxie excitedly pointed to the cup of coins in his hand while Millie rolled her eyes.

 

Moxxie held out a cup of coins to the man. “And here you are my fellow Troubadour.”

 

The man snatched the cup and shoved Moxxie away.

 

“Whatever, man. Get the fuck outta here, you’re cramping my business!”

 

The imps’ faces turned human again. A sign read “palm readings!”

 

“Come on, babe!” called Millie. “We have to catch up to Blitz before…”

 

Millie ran face first into a billboard painted exactly like the area in front of her.

 

“Ayyy, wanna buy some art?” asked a bald man with a long beard.

 

Moxxie beamed. “Wha? Yes!” He held up a dolphin beach flyer that said “believe” on it. Millie face-palmed at Moxxie’s distractions.

 

Other items were on display: a poster with a shirtless humanoid wolf-man, a palm-tree head with a woman’s bikini body, a stuffed dog, “Mon-nya Lisa,” a poster of a blue humanoid anime bunny, an “I love LA” shirt, dolphin posters and other sexualized furry characters. There were also keychains of the palm-tree head lady, a Verosika Mayday keychain and a purple shirtless hellhound with heart nipples.

 

0 0 0

 

Octavia groaned and slowly opened her eyes. She moved her right hand with her fingerless glove in front of her. On the ground was a gold star with an old-fashioned movie camera in the center. It didn’t show any actor’s name.

 

“Where am I?” she groaned.

 

Green vomit with a balloon piece in it suddenly splattered in front of her from a hunched over hobo man. Octavia flinched and stood up, spotting another man. He had olive skin, short black hair, and an eyeball hanging down. Octavia had accidentally killed actor Brennon Ragers by stepping on him. The portal closed above her. His head flopped down after she accidentally kicked it. She gasped and stepped back; grimoire clutched to her chest. Another man wore cardboard boxes with hamburgers painted on.

 

She bumped into a man dressed as a clown.

 

“Whoa!”

 

The clown angrily turned around, raising a fist.

 

“Hey! This is my territory, bitch! Take your shitty costume and get the fuck off my corner!”

 

The clown shoved her into the street, where she narrowly dodged cars. She raced on. Angry protestors were yelling at a gold statue of a smiling man dressed in a suit and top hat, hand extended. The protestor’s signs read, “Demons walk among us,” “God hates your personally,” and “< - - to Hell.”

 

Octavia tripped with a yelp, falling to the ground. She turned around and spotted two women who were freaked out. One wore green and the other wore a cream-colored dress and matching fancy hat. She grabbed the grimoire and hurried off to an alley. She leaned against the wall, breathing in a panic.

 

Octavia then took some deep breaths, trying to calm herself down. Even though it was a strange new world, at least she was free to explore and not be stuck back at the mansion.

 

Octavia brushed herself off and stood up. She figured she could start by asking the humans where to go.

 

She sighed and walked out of the alley. She spotted a lady walking a hyper girl on a leash by a TVs4Less store.

 

“Hey, do y…” she began, but the lady walked away.

 

“Can you help…” she tried talking to another lady and two men, but they walked past her.

 

“H-how do I get, ah – I – excuse me, I just need to know where I can…”

 

She sighed in defeat, “…see the…stars.”

 

She groaned in frustration, hiding her face behind her beanie and rubbing her eye.

 

A bus tours pamphlet hit her in the face from the wind. She opened it and saw an ad: “Star Struck Tourz – stalk your favorite celeb!”

 

“Yes!” Octavia whispered, crumbling the flyer in a hug. She spotted the blue bus and hopped on.

 

After an hour, Octavia stared at an overhead orange plane in boredom. She groaned as she stared at the blue sky. Not a star in sight.

 

The tour guide was the same orange haired man who did the tour in front of Lyle Lipton’s mansion. A guy in front of her was taking pictures.

 

The tour guide said, “And to your left, you’ll see the home of one of those influencers who thinks they’re hot shit cause they now do TV shows!”

 

Octavia spotted a black man on his knees wearing sunglasses on the ground. He was begging as a woman and son left him and went inside a limo. After the limo left, the black man raced over to a pink-haired man in a bathrobe, and they kissed. Octavia groaned and put her beanie over her face again.

 

After the bus stopped, Octavia stepped out and ripped the pamphlet in half with a deadpan expression. She pulled her beanie over her ears and walked by a door spray-painted with a teal “bullshit” and a green nuclear explosion. She walked by two police officers, one of them smoking, leaning against a lamppost. Two cars were wrecked and stained with blood. A lady was yelling at an old man on the sidewalk. Without looking, Octavia stepped over the corpse of a man with glass in his chest and organs spilled on the sidewalk. The other people gasped as she walked on.

 

Octavia turned and spotted a magnificent art piece on display. It showed a lavender owl with teal light swirling from its eye, a skull in its talons near a full moon. “Star Owlz Souvenir Shop” was at the top.

 

Octavia’s eyes went wide with excitement. She never thought she’d see something so cool on Earth. She took out her phone and snapped a picture.

 

She peered inside a shop and spotted eyeball shaped hanging lights, an “Oh Weed Ya” board, and an IT clown doll in a box. It read “I luv you. Wanna play? He can talk!” There were also watches, spiky collars, and graphic t-shirts on display.

 

She walked past the window, before turning around. She pressed her face against the glass, fingers sliding as she spotted a blue and teal “Star Struck Surprise Box” with a gold ribbon.

 

‘Maybe if I were human,’ thought Octavia, ‘I could work at an observatory…or a Not Topic store. Or be in a punk band. I’d rather be anywhere than near my arguing parents.’

 

She thought about Stolas again and sighed. Why couldn’t her parents just leave her alone and get along? She didn’t want anyone getting hurt, despite them living in Hell.

 

She put her earbuds in and listened to “My Life Is Burning All Around Me,” and another song “I Like It.” It felt good to be free.

 

“Don’t wanna do what my daddy told me to

On the edge, tryna to see a brand-new view

Woah, and I liked that”

 

“Sick and tired of just wastin’ all my time

You know what?

I think I’ll go commit a crime, woah

And I like it”

 

“Yeah, Yeah, Yeah,

Oh, no

And I like it”

 

“Wanna see the sights

Be a troublemaker

Turn off the lights

Get in a fight”

 

“Live on long

I’m not a faker

I’m a product of a broken home”

 

“And I know that I can make it on my own

A story I will write

And, going off the radar

And I like it.”

 

 

0 0 0

 

 

A door opened from a “Little Costume Shop of Horrors.”  A sign with a bat on it read “Year-Round Halloween Shop.” A hanging green zombie animatronic with an eye falling out, cackled on the door. Signs nearby read “Store Closing Sale – just take stuff.”

 

Blitzo posed in front of Stolas and Loona with a costume.

 

“So?”

 

 He wore a pink shirt, blue jeans, boots, a brown wig, and large pink ears. Adding his olive-colored skin of his human disguise, he looked just like…

 

A woman wearing a white shirt with a YouTube-like logo screamed excitedly.

 

“Look everyone! It’s Holly’s Wood star, Brennon Ragers! (Brandon Rodgers)”

 

“The fuck is a Brendon Rager…” Blitzo began before looking up at a billboard ad. “Oh.”

 

The ad showed a smiling Brennon Ragers calling “SWEETIE! I’M IN THE HOUSE! ™ Guest Starring Brennon Ragers.”

 

Stolas looked wide-eyed at the billboard. “Oh dear,” he breathed.

 

Blitzo found himself immediately mobbed by an adoring crowd. The people took pictures as Blitzo frantically tried to escape.

 

“Millie! Where are you and your whore bag husband?!” Blitzo shouted over the noise of the crowd.

 

The crowd lifted up Blitzo in the air as he yelped.

 

“I’m taking this out of their pay!” he yelled.

 

A dark truck pulled up and muscular agents hopped out of the back. More people held back the crowd and Loona. A man blew a whistle and held up a certificate that read “Cinephile University, Master of Arts in Film Production, I guess.”

 

Blitzo fell to the ground and looked up at three men approaching. A short man with a blonde ponytail and glasses was flanked by two tall men wearing black shirts, blue jeans, and black sunglasses. He held a bag of fruit snacks.

 

“Mr. Ragers, we’ve been looking everywhere for you. You were supposed to be on set an hour ago!”

 

“The fuck are you talking about?” Blitzo asked as the two agents picked him up.

 

“Your guest spot on…” said the producer as a brief ad for “Sweetie, I’m In The House!” played. “Thursdays at 8PM, ads by Gaagle.” He ate a fruit snack. “We’re taping tonight. Now hurry up and get in the car!”

 

“Oh no, no, no, no, no, no! I’m not going anywhere with you, jizz-biscuit!” He flipped him off with both fingers.

 

“Very funny, Mr. Ragers,” said the producer, his gold tooth, glinting. “Now, get in the car.” He held out a fruit snack in his hand and tried to lure him like a dog. “Come on, boy. Come on.”

 

Blitzo struggled again. “Get your fucking hands off me!” He briefly got himself free before one of the agents lifted him up in the air. One of his pink ears fell off and landed into a man’s arms. The fans fought over the ear and a teen boy with ginger hair tore off his shirt. His chest read “Brennon Ragers” as he cheered.

 

“Loona! Stolas! A little help here?!” cried Blitzo as he was carried away by the agent.

 

Stolas tried to push his way through. “E-excuse me, sir. I’m…Mr. Rager’s agent, and I don’t believe you can just…”

 

One of the muscular agents cracked his neck and picked up Stolas with his meaty hands, carrying him away.

 

“Oh, you are strong!” Stolas blushed.

 

Blitzo and Stolas were tossed into the back of the van. Blitzo leaped forward with a growl, but the doors closed in front of him.

 

Stolas sat down; eyes downcast. “Oh Blitz, we don’t have time for this. Via could be anywhere. She could be in danger.”

 

“Don’t worry, I’m on it,” Blitzo replied. Blitzo’s horns briefly appeared, and he broke the window with them before they vanished.

 

“Loonie!” Blitzo called. Loona knocked a person down. Blitzo yelled, “Go find Via! We’ll catch up, soon!”

 

Loona turned around and flipped off Blitzo with two fingers.

 

“Yeah! Way to be a team player, sweetie!” Blitzo remarked proudly with a thumbs up.

 

Blitzo turned to Stolas. “She’s in great hands.”

 

Soon they arrived at the tall building labeled “Starstruck Studios.” A sign read “Authorized personnel only.” Blitzo clawed at the door frame in protest as the agent carried him in. He yelled and growled to no avail. Another agent carried Stolas in. The agent dragged Blitzo along and a group of smiling people followed, holding water, paintbrushes, and a microphone. One had a notepad with questions on it. Another poked Blitzo in the eye with a water bottle.

 

Blitzo was tossed into a black makeup chair.

 

“Let’s get him ready! He’s on in five!” called the producer.

 

Makeup artists were spraying his hair and brushing his face.

 

“What?” Blitzo asked in shock. “Five what? I-I can’t be on a sitcom!”

 

Blitzo was smacked in the face with a powder pad as the artists continued. He was then carried backstage to Stolas, who was holding water bottles.

 

“Should’ve had an ego crisis before signing the contract,” the producer remarked to Blitzo.

 

“I-I-I, whoa, I don’t even know the fucking lines, idiot!”

 

“Well, that’s why God invented teleprompters!” remarked the producer.

 

The teleprompter was a lanky blonde man wearing a purple shirt, a baseball cap, and dark pants. He was picking his nose and leaning against an old teleprompter with a screen that read “GOD KILL ME PLS”. A pizza slice also hung from it. The teleprompter guy got electrocuted on top of the device. Nearby, a blonde actress wearing a teal blue dress was smoking on a couch. A blonde girl with a red bow tie, blonde curls and a red dress was snorting cocaine through her nose, her eyes turning red.

 

“Shouldn’t he rehearse or something?” Stolas asked.

 

“No can do,” said the producer. “We’re live in 10, 9…”

 

The producer walked away through the curtains.

 

Blitzo panicked. “Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit, oh shit! I-I…I can’t do this. No, not again. I-I haven’t performed since…”

 

Stolas shoved him forward onto the set, eyes narrowed. “Hurry up and wow them so we can get back to finding Via.”

 

Blitzo soon found himself on set and the lights turned on. The set appeared to be a typical cheerful living room with yellow wallpaper, yellow comfy chairs, a couch, and a coffee table. A “Love, Listen, Live” picture was on the wall to the left and a picture of the smiling blonde actress girl nearby with flowers. Angel figures were on a shelf. Trophies were on another shelf near a picture of a black puppy and another picture of ballerina shoes.

 

“Action!” called the producer. Blitzo stood stiff with fear as cheerful old-time theme music played.

 

A fat blonde male actor sat on the couch nearby.

 

“Well, if it isn’t our neighbor, Ronnie.” The man stood up. “You feel that earthquake, earlier?”

 

Blitzo sweat heavily. The agent next to the camera shook his head. Another blonde man nervously flipped through a script. The producer looked displeased.

 

“Say something!” Stolas whispered.

 

The teleprompter appeared and Blitzo stuttered as he read his line.

 

“Oh yeah, that was just my wife…rolling out of…bed.”

 

After a brief silence, the audience members laughed. Stolas chuckled. Screens above the stage read “LAUGH” in green letters.

 

Unaware of the screens prompting them to laugh, Blitzo smiled, wide-eyed.

 

With more enthusiasm, he added, “Yeah, yeah and then that bitch hit her head on the way down and shattered her skull!”

 

Stolas snickered while the audience sat in shocked silence.

 

“There’s blood everywhere…pee in her pants…” Blitzo exaggerated.

 

Stolas laughed. The audience look up at the screens which read “SRSLY, LAUGH ANYWAY,” in green. They laughed. Blitzo winked at Stolas, not as nervous. Stolas blushed and chugged a bottle of water. His disguise briefly flicked off as steam rose from his throat and he coughed. Then just as fast, the steam and the discomfort vanished.

 

After a while, the audience members were either bored or mentally scarred by Blitzo’s acting. One audience member held a noose. One popped bubblegum all over his face. Another guy leaned on the chairs. One woman fell asleep.

 

 An old man read the Los Angeles News. The newspaper read, “The Observatory, or the best place to see stars. The observatory prepares for a long-awaited meteor shower. Tourists and astrologists alike come to witness this extravagant event. Oh, who am I kidding? No one really reads these anymore. At this point, I’m doing all can to hit my word count so I can get my paycheck, go home, and get high. A master’s degree in journalism, all for what? To get paid $20 an hour for a shitty newspaper? To have your wife leave you for a sexy Romanian lover? Oh my god, kill me now.”

 

“Man with nothing to declare has 6 turtles in his pants,” “Help Wanted: help needed removing rabid frogs from my swimming pool. They’re vicious, vile and won’t stop tormenting my family. Poor Timmy can’t even go outside without screaming in fear. The poor frogs have ben soaking in chlorine for nearly two months.”  A picture of Blitzo’s shadow was in the paper with “Alien attack?” on top. “Nondescript nail polish brand gets canceled after fingers fall out…”

 

More articles read, “Obituary: numerous fans create shrines and mourn over the loss of the actor no one really cared about until just now. Everyone will forget about this in the next week, probably.” “The sub-par actor you loved when you were 12, passed earlier this week.” “Missing dog. Name: Contact Me. Reward: If you want. Location: To buy some. Awesome drugs!” 

 

“Oh, Uggie! You’ve gone and done it again!” Blitzo remarked as a pug sat on the couch after he urinated on it. “That’s the fifth couch this year!”

 

The screens still advised the audience to laugh, and they did so, half-heartedly. Stolas also looked troubled. One guy laughed in insanity, green foam in his mouth, before he collapsed to the floor. One woman had a noose around her neck.

 

Blitzo picked up the pug and squeezed him tightly in his arms. “You know, maybe it’s about time I found you a new home, one that could put up with your attitude.”

 

Blitzo put a red leash on the pug and playfully bopped him on the nose.

 

Several actors appeared on set. The blonde child actress raised her hand.

 

“I could take him, Mr. Ronnie! I’d be happy to adopt old Uggie and give him the attention he needs!”

 

The blonde girl appeared with the other family of actors: the blonde fat man, the lady with the blonde wig, a blonde boy with spiky hair and a baby with a red heart pacifier in her mouth. They all smiled and posed like a perfect family. Birds, a fawn, a squirrel, and an orange cat circled around them in the spotlight.

 

“Aww,” cooed the audience.

 

Blitzo faced away from them and stared at the leash, downcast.

 

“Yeah, yeah, m-maybe you should adopt….” 

 

Blitzo stared at the pug and a brief flashback came to him…

 

0 0 0

 

Blitzo was back in Hell at a hellhound adoption center. The center was a dimly lit place, a combination of a prison and a pound. It was dank and dimly lit, with the hellhounds locked in kennel-like cells.

 

Five hellhound bipedal dogs stared at Blitzo with wide red eyes. There was a small tan colored dog wearing a tattered green dress, a lanky hound with a white dress and thick black hair, a black and white hellhound, and another dog who wore a blue patched up shirt. The Uggie-like hound in the middle wore a ripped up blue shirt and wore a can on his head. On the cell floor were pizza boxes, bones, and a single book on a shelf. A urinal was in the background and there were messy bunk beds behind them.

 

Blitzo had his hands on the bars of the kennel cell.

 

“Aww, they’re all so cute. And they’re…sad.”

 

A large old adoption center lady stood beside him, with a gray wrinkled face and a deadpan expression. She had a gray dog face, thin white glasses, white hair, and a white pearl necklace over her dark clothing.

 

The lady stood under a worn red “Hellhound Adoption” sign with a pawprint on it. Teal fluorescent lights hummed above each of the cells, several of them shattered. The floor was wet with water.

 

“Maybe you could adopt this one here,” said the lady, pointing to an adjacent cell. “Quite a strong lad, he’ll be perfect for whatever work you want to use him for.”

 

Blitzo grinned and peered into the cell. Inside the cell was a hunched, wrinkled, ugly hound with red eyes, a thick face, and sharp claws. A scratched up green chair and a static old-fashioned TV were behind him. A few of his teeth were broken.

 

Blitzo flinched back.

 

“Ugh! No, I’m not looking for no ugly wonker, heh. I need something that’s more family-friendly.”

 

“A gift for the wife, huh?” the lady deadpanned. “No problem.”

 

Blitzo followed her several cells down.

 

“We have a nice selection of other hounds,” the lady said.

 

Blitzo stopped at another cell.

 

“Who’s that?” Blitzo pointed.

 

The lady stopped and looked in.

 

Sitting on a wooden bench was a teenage hellhound with a cell phone in her hands. She had a thick mane of white hair, narrow red eyes, and a thick black tail. She wore a red shirt with a skull on it and torn black pants. Above her was a torn-up sign that read “Hang in there.” Scratch marks all over the wall counted the number of days spent in the cell. A couple of books were under the bench and a pillow was in a corner.

 

“Oh, her? That’s just Loona,” said the lady in the same monotone voice. “What a nightmare.”

 

Near the bunkbeds were drawings of Loon and a thunder cloud, a drawing of flowers and another drawing of Loona stomping through a city. A young hellhound kid smirked mischievously at Loona. He wore a blue baseball cap, a torn white and red shirt, and blue pants. He held a bloodstained bat with nails stuck on the end of it. The boy pointed at Loona and jabbed her with his club. With a fierce growl, Loona slammed the boy against the cell bars, where he fell with a thud. Loona growled again, then curled up.

 

“Serious attitude problems,” the lady deadpanned. “She’ll be our of our hair next month when she ages out.”

 

Blitzo figured that would mean she’d be homeless.

 

 Loona scooted backwards on the bench with a whine.

 

“Good riddance, if you ask me,” said the lady. “She’ll never amount to anything much.”

 

Blitzo took one look at Loona, who was now curled up and crying on the bench…and knew he had to save her.

 

 

0 0 0

 

“No,” Blitzo breathed, holding onto the leash back in the present. “No, no, no, you can’t have her!” Blitzo held the pug close and pointed at the child actress. “She’s mine and I love her!”

 

“AWWW?” appeared in lavender on the screens and the audience did their “Awws.”

 

Blitzo put his other hand to his head, choaking up.

 

“But, Mr. Ronnie,” said the girl. “You gotta let me have the puppy! You just gotta!”

 

The girl’s eyes briefly turned red, one of her teeth was sharp.

 

Blitzo hissed through his teeth and shoved her away.

 

“Don’t you touch her, you little anal fissure!” he spat. The girl clenched her fists in anger.

 

To Blitzo’s surprise, the audience laughed mindlessly again.

 

“Oh, you think this is funny, assholes?!” asked an offended Blitzo. He pointed to the child actress who scooted away from him. “She’s not fit to be a mother! I saw her doing lines of coke in her dressing room!”

 

The blonde man crumped up the script and a woman facepalmed. The producer rammed his fist, angry that Blitzo was going out of character. He gave a signal to the agents, and they approached the set menacingly. The blonde actress lady walked over to Blitzo, trying to calm him down.

 

“Now uh, Ronnie, I think maybe you should…”

 

She tried to grab the pug, but Blitzo held on tight.

 

“No, you can’t have my baby, bitch!” Blitzo shouted.

 

Blitzo smacked her off him, causing her wig to fall off. She looked sadly at her wig, then seethed at Blitzo, her head bald.

 

The agents reached out to grab him, as Blitzo stepped back.

 

As Blitzo pulled out his golden flintlock pistol in his other hand, his human disguise faded in a flash, revealing his true angry imp form. The audience gasped in horror as “OH SHIT!” appeared in red on the overhead screens.

 

“Demon!” someone cried.

 

“I’ll never get rid of her!” Blitzo bellowed.

 

One of the agents leaped into the air and tackled Blitzo. The gun fired and blood sputtered around. Blitzo sent the agent back with a powerful kick and shot him in the head.

 

Another guy wearing an orange shirt, tackled Blitzo and grabbed his arm. Blitzo elbowed him in the gut, and he sent the man to the ground. He shot the man and his head exploded in blood and smoke. The fat blonde man tackled Blitzo, and he was soon under a mob of attackers.

 

“Get off me!”

 

One swung a club of bails and others used briefcases. Several audience members filmed on their cell phones.

 

Stolas looked concerned. “I’m coming, Bliiitz!” he yelled before awkwardly tripping over a railing. He stood up and adjusted his sunglasses. “Excuse me! Would you mind?!” He tried to push through the crowd.

 

Stolas was pushed back hard by a blonde man. He scowled and with a flinch, threw a bottle of water at the producer.

 

The water was actually acid…and it severely burned the producer’s skin.

 

The producer screamed in agony as steam rose from his body. He stumbled and crashed into the teleprompter. The teleprompter crashed to the ground as flames appeared. “LET IT BURN” flashed in red on the flickering teleprompter screen. Electricity danced across the device and flames rapidly spread over the scripts and throughout the room.

 

For a brief second, all went dark.

 

Then the lights came back on, and all was chaos!

 

The flickering overhead screens now read “PANIC!” in red. Uggie the pug sat calmly on the couch as if to say, “This is fine.”

 

Fire flickered across the set and the stage floor was covered in blood. Bodies littered the ground. A woman screamed at a high pitch. Several people ran and screamed as they were burned by fire. The man reading the newspaper ignored the commotion. One of the agents was lifelessly pinned to the wall by the club. The boy actor had been crushed by a falling screen. The producer lay dead, and another person lay dead over a screen above.

 

A man ran into Stolas, but Blitzo reached out and grabbed his hand as he started to fall.

 

Stolas blushed heavily as Blitzo posed with his chest muscles exposed.

 

“Now, let’s go find our daughters,” Blitzo said in a serious tone, holding up his pistol as an explosion flared behind him. Stolas’ eyes grew wide, and his face turned red before he was pulled by Blitzo out of the building. Starstruck Studios was up in flames and smoke. (Fortunately, the pug got out safely).

 

“Don’t you ever reject me in the future again,” Stolas called, breathing heavily. “We’re friends no matter what…”

 

“Don’t get your dick in a twist just yet,” Blitzo glared as he pulled Stolas along.

 

 

0 0 0

 

Meanwhile, walking around the city, Loona listened to the same song Octavia listened to: “I Like It.”

 

 

“Don’t wanna do what my daddy told me to

On the edge, tryna to see a brand-new view

Woah, and I liked that”

 

“Sick and tired of just wastin’ all my time

You know what?

I think I’ll go commit a crime, woah

And I like it”

 

“Yeah, Yeah, Yeah,

Oh, no

And I like it”

 

“Wanna see the sights

Be a troublemaker

Turn off the lights

Get in a fight”

 

“Live on long

I’m not a faker

I’m a product of a broken home”

 

“And I know that I can make it on my own

A story I will write

And, going off the radar

And I like it.”

Loona happily sipped her coffee from a styrofoam cup in front of a “Best Coffee” shop. ($50 and $70 price labels were off to the side). Apparently, this Earth place wasn’t too bad. She opened up Sinstagram, Hell’s version of Instagram on her phone. She walked along until turning around with a soft bark. She spotted the Star Owl Souvenir Shop art that Octavia had admired. With a shrug, Loona took a selfie with the art in the background. For her new post, she wrote “#earthshit” with a flame emoji next to it. The “add location” included “Earth,” “Pride Ring,” “Sloth Ring” “Gluttony Ring,” “Envy Ring, “Wrath Ring,” “Greed Ring,” and “Lust Ring.” Her username was “moonlighthowling666.” Other friends of Loona on Sinstagram were a masculine hellhound, “hellboy61,” “Verosika,” “Vortex,” and “Hotdog.”

 

“Wacky Wally Official” read under “sponsored”: “DO YOU WANT TO MAKE TONS OF MONEY, but don’t know how? Just buy my free courses…” with 66,666 likes.

 

When Loona spotted Octavia’s selfie by the owl art with the same “#earthshit” caption, she spat out her coffee in shock. Octavia had posted: “Finally found at least something cool in this place! The artist who did this, rocks!” She put a flame emoji at the end. Octavia’s username was “gothchick17.”

 

Loona clicked on her profile, which read “VIA,” “Sad” and “Depressed” with crying devil emojis. She had 999 posts, 67 followers and 576 profiles she was following.

 

Octavia posted a selfie of her looking bored in front of a castle. “Found a cool looking castle. Reminds me of home. #earthshit.”

 

Loona narrowed her eyes and examined the picture closely. She turned around and spotted the castle building far behind her. In frustration, Loona crumpled up her coffee cup and ran off in search of Octavia. The coffee spilled onto the ground.

 

She reached the castle, but there was no sign of Octavia. The woman with the YouTube-like shirt posed for a selfie. Loona started sweating and nearly dropped her phone. She clicked on Octavia’s next post.

 

Octavia had a grumpy expression as she stared at the Starstruck Studios globe structure, reminiscent of the Universal Studios globe. A tall black guy and a white woman with green hair and a shaved head were carrying a “1 year” heart anniversary balloon.

 

Octavia had posted: “A globe ball in the fountain? Not the designing choice I’d recommend.”

 

Octavia’s fourth post showed her blank-faced selfie in front of the Holly’s Wood sign. “What is a Holly’s Wood? #bored.”

 

Loona growled as she reached the sign, but thought she suddenly spotted Octavia in front of her. She reached out her hand to her shoulder…and flinched back when she saw it was an olive-skinned woman, with big purple glasses, a peace sign necklace, braces, and a phone with a Canada leaf on it. She gave her an apologetic look and continued on.

 

Octavia’s fifth post was her looking up at a Chinese temple with a dragon design in the center. “Wow, that looks dope!”

 

The sixth post showed a grumpy Octavia near a hotel with an elephant statue, picnic benches and a tall white archway structure with designs that looked like angels or hieroglyphics.

 

The seventh post… “I’m near the castle again. #lost.”

 

All around town all day, Loona tried to follow Octavia. By the time night fell, Loona panted with sweat as she sat near the observatory. The building was golden colored with blue mosque-shaped domes. An old lady with a Christian necklace was busy lecturing a little kid.

 

Octavia’s post: “This is supposed to be an observatory, I assume. If I want to find a place to watch stars here, I don’t know.”

 

Loona wiped sweat off her face and strode forward. She looked around and walked by a curved set of stairs. She then spotted Octavia sniffing at the top, looking out over the polluted lit-up city. Her backpack with the grimoire was next to her. Octavia spotted a flash of teal light from the corner of her eye…Loona had reverted back to her usual hellhound form.

 

“Hey,” Loona said with a small wave as she walked over to Octavia.

 

Octavia sniffed and wiped her eyes with her arm. “Hey. How did you find me?”

 

“Your Sinstagram,” Loona smiled, holding up her phone. She looked up and swiped on her phone, seeing Octavia’s pictures of the observatory and city. “Nice pics by the way.”

 

“Oh, thanks,” Octavia sniffled.

 

Loona pocketed her phone. “You okay?”

 

Octavia shook her head. “Can’t believe I was so stupid. I spent all day looking for a place where I could see some dumb meteor shower.”

 

Octavia began to cry, her face in her arms. “And all I get is…” she gestured to the smoggy sky… “…this!”

 

“Yeah, smog’s a bitch,” Loona agreed. She got out a pack of cigarettes and pulled one out. Loona tried to ignite her lighter, but no flame appeared.

 

Octavia poked Loona to get her attention. Loona glanced over and saw Octavia snap her fingers. A small pink flame magically appeared on her finger. She moved the flame to the cigarette and the front end burned. Loona smoked with a deep inhale, while Octavia coughed and swatted away some smoke that got in her face.

 

“You know,” Loona mentioned, “Your dad’s really worried about you.” Loona joined her on the ledge.

 

“Right!” Octavia scoffed. “That’s why you’re here instead of him. He couldn’t be bothered to keep his promise, and now he can’t be bothered to come and get me himself. He’d rather spend his time just screaming at my mum.”

 

Octavia’s voice croaked, “Why does he hate her more than he loves me?”

 

Loona paused and took the cigarette out of her mouth. She thought about what to say to comfort Octavia. She took a breath and blew out smoke.

 

“Sometimes…sometimes it’s not as simple as that. This kind of shit gets messy and everybody’s got issues, especially dads. And sometimes they fuck up…well all the time. But, that doesn’t mean they don’t care.”

 

“If he cares, where is he?” Octavia asked.

 

“He’s somewhere down there,” said Loona, mentioning to the city.

 

“He’s here?”

 

“Looking for you. I mean…” Loona smoked again. “Try to cut your dad some slack.” Loona lit her lighter and this time, an orange flame appeared. “He may not always get it right, but…he’s trying.”

 

Loona smiled as she stared at the glow of the flame. “That’s more important than you think.”

 

Octavia and Loona then looked up and saw a shining full moon appear from behind the clouds in a starry sky. Loona’s words had instilled a spark of hope in Octavia’s heart.

 

‘Perhaps mum was wrong,’ thought Octavia. ‘Perhaps dad really does care about me.’

 

She looked at Loona. Despite her rough demeanor, she had compassion, deep down. The two teenage girls could sense a new bond beginning…a bond of friendship that was almost sister-like.

 

Loona tossed her cigarette aside, got up and stretched. She turned to Octavia and held out her hand.

 

“You ready to go?”

 

Octavia placed the grimoire in her hand. “Yeah.” The owl stood up. Loona held out her hand again, but this time Octavia embraced her in thanks.

 

Hugs were a rarity for Loona…and this one warmed her to her core. Her hellhound parents were long gone and the only embraces she had felt were her own when she had curled up in her prison bed. (And very rarely, she tolerated hugs from Blitzo.) Loona didn’t really have any friends…but perhaps this one would be nice for a change of pace. Being lonely got boring at times.

 

The teens separated and Octavia created a portal after opening a page in the grimoire. They held hands and walked through.

 

0 0 0

 

 

As the Starstruck Studios building continued to burn, Blitzo was typing in “Not Topic” in the search bar on his phone. He dragged Stolas with him, holding onto his arm. They ran next to a fence near a Moon Tea factory.

 

“Now if we can just find where…” Blitzo began.

 

Blitzo and Stolas gasped as a pink flame portal appeared in front of them. Loona stepped through first.

 

“Loona!” Blitzo cried in joy.

 

Octavia stepped out next, holding Loona’s hand. The portal closed behind them.

 

Blitzo raced toward Loona, tears in his eyes.

 

“Oh, Loona, my sweet baby girl! I’m so sorry! I’ll never replace you no matter what you…”

 

Loona covered his mouth with her hand to stop him from talking. He embraced her and Loona froze. For a split second, she appreciated Blitzo’s gesture. Then she remembered how annoying he was and gently pushed him back.

 

“Drop it,” she muttered with a growl.

 

Loona’s face softened when she spotted Octavia in the background. “You’re good,” she called.

 

“Dad, I’m so sorry…” Octavia began.

 

Stolas morphed back into his demon owl form and happily embraced his daughter, spinning her around. “I’m just relieved you’re okay!”

 

They separated, Stolas putting a hand on her cheek. “But what would possess you to do such a thing? You know I haven’t taught you spells like this yet.”

 

Octavia’s eyes looked downcast. “I just wanted to see the stars you promised.”

 

“The stars?” Stolas said. Then he gasped, putting a hand to his head. “Azathoth’s Tears! Oh, no. Oh, my dear sweet Via. I am so…”

 

Octavia cut him off with a tight hug. “I know, dad. It’s okay. You’re here now.”

 

Stolas returned the hug, the two owls thankful to be together. Loona, for the first time in a while, smiled a genuine smile as she witnessed the reunion. She felt happy that Octavia had a loving dad. Blitzo crept up for another hug, but Loona playfully shoved the grimoire in his face, pushing him back.

 

Just then, a purple flash of light boomed and spread out in the sky. Loona looked up and so did the others.

 

It was a beautiful purple firework. Two more fireworks shot into the sky, a large red one and a smaller blue one with yellow sparks.

 

“What the fuck is that?” Loona asked she filmed the fireworks with her phone.

 

Blitzo stood up and folded his arms. “My acting career,” he deadpanned.

 

A large firework changed from blue to purple in the sky. Then a teal one and a magenta one lit up the sky in a dazzling display. A red firework, a purple firework and a small green firework boomed and burst.

 

Stolas and Octavia watched the show happily together. It wasn’t what Octavia had originally hoped…but somehow, the fireworks still reminded Octavia of brilliant stars.

 

Being able to watch these kinds of stars with her dad…it was close to the wonderous experience she had dreamt of since she was little…an experience that seemed perfect just the way it was. The light of the fireworks mesmerized her eyes, heart, and soul…solidifying the bond between her and her dad.

 

Octavia gasped in awe and pointed up at the rainbow fireworks. “Look at that one! Did you see that one?”

 

“Now, where the fuck are M and M?” Blitzo asked out loud.

 

0 0 0

 

Meanwhile, back at the alley, Millie texted Blitzo a picture of a sex toy. It was a collar with a pink ball on it. Her phone icon was a black sword and his was a brown horse.

 

Millie: “Moxxie be into this, you think?”

 

Blitzo: “B1TCH where u @?”

 

Millie: “Near the Alley! Portal Plz :) <3”

 

Blitzo: “Kk I gotchu. Makin Stols do it now.”

 

Millie: “Thx.”

 

A poster for stargazing “Go for stargazing!” and “Fix it tech, send resume” were on a wall with barbed wire on top.

 

The portal appeared, revealing Blitzo’s office. A green fluorescent light hummed above a door. Both Moxxie and Millie were back in their demon imp forms.

 

Moxxie strained as he dragged a bag of art merchandise behind him. There were roses, plaques, trophies, medals, CDs, and an Oscar statue. Millie mentioned for Moxxie to keep moving before walking through the portal.

 

“Art is heavy!” he groaned.

 

Moxxie then froze as a smirking white salesman in a baseball cap, a tank top, and pink hearts against white on a dress put a hand on his shoulder and held out a CD that read “Demo Lil Shween.” Moxxie took the CD and beamed. He was about to hand a dollar bill to him, when Millie stepped back through the portal and threw a blade straight into the man’s forehead. He fell to the ground, lifeless. Millie than angrily tossed the CD aside.

 

“March, mister!” demanded Millie. She lifted Moxxie up effortlessly and carried him through the portal. Moxxie cried “Noooo!” as the portal closed with his merchandise left behind.

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