Max appeared in front of the I.M.P. office in a flash of flickering darkness.
"Huh. Guess being tied to Hell itself makes traveling pretty easy," he muttered.
He opened the door and was immediately greeted by—fire.
"Oh. Right. The eels."
Flames roared past him as the crew inside scrambled, shouting and cursing. Moments later everyone bolted out onto the street, coughing.
Blitzo was already in the middle of yelling at Moxxie while waving their terrified client away.
Loona stood off to the side, scrolling on her phone with a deadpan look.
"Oh. Hey, Max. Didn't expect you this early," she said casually.
"Says the girl who sent forty-three texts this morning," Max replied with a raised brow. "Even Octavia doesn't spend that much time on her phone. Though she's probably just trying to avoid her parents yelling."
Loona's ears flattened, a blush creeping up her cheeks. "…Shut up."
Blitzo spun around when he saw Max.
"Oh look who finally showed up! You're late, playboy! Stay away from Loona and give her soul back!"
Max sighed. "Blitz, we have this argument every ti—"
Loona smacked Blitzo in the back of the head.
"It's not like that!" she barked. "And I could leave the contract anytime I want! I just… don't."
Blitzo rubbed his head, glaring. "Fine. Whatever. We'll talk about this later, Max. Please tell me the book didn't burn!"
Loona pulled the grimoire out of her bag, already flipping it open to the right spell. A portal buzzed to life.
"I'll stay with Loona. You guys can—" Max started.
Blitzo grabbed him by the collar. "Yeah, not fucking likely."
Max was yanked through the portal.
A split-second later, they were outside the infamous hillbilly family's house.
Blitzo set up his sniper rifle.
"Alright, let's get this over with—" he aimed at the woman inside.
Moxxie hesitated. "Wait! She looks innocent—"
The rifle fired.
The bullet missed.
A shotgun BLASTED through the wall in retaliation.
Blitzo took the hit, Max dodging effortlessly—not that the shot could hurt him anyway.
"Moxxie, you dumbass!" Blitzo roared.
Chaos erupted. Everyone split in different directions. Millie charged like a feral cat. Moxxie tripped into the bushes. Blitzo vanished behind a shed. Max, meanwhile, simply walked calmly into the forest.
Darkness curled around him like a cloak. No one could see him—not even with night vision.
Just let the timeline play out, he reminded himself.
He couldn't make changes too early, or his future knowledge would become useless.
He watched events unfold from the shadows. Moxxie's screw-ups. Millie's running. Blitzo's complaints. It was surreal seeing everything in person.
Near the cabin, he overheard Stolas's voice through the phone—his lewdand explicit comments and suggestive threats.
Max cringed. "Dear God. No wonder they censored the whole thing in the show. And he's not even from Lust? That's… impressive and concerning."
He remembered another tool he had.
"Open Hell's Registry."
A massive demonic book materialized in front of him, pages fluttering until they settled on a long index.
"Let's see… Vortex."
The book flipped.
"Good. Still around. And dating Verosika, huh? Good for him."
The book vanished into black mist.
He walked again, thinking about his girlfriends.
Bee and Loona fought over him constantly.
Stolas hated that Max was dating Octavia.
Blitzo hated that Max was dating Loona.
Charlie and Vaggie tried to be supportive but were still adjusting.
Millie… well, Max refused to interfere with her marriage.
"Could be worse," Max muttered. "At least I'm not forcing anyone. And the contract rules prevent anything unhealthy."
He sensed the shift in the timeline—the moment the hillbilly looking woman aimed her gun at Blitzo and the tied-up Millie.
Max stepped forward to intervene, but—
BANG.
Moxxie shot her first, hitting her square in the head.
"Oh. Guess I'm the useless one this episode," Max shrugged as Moxxie reunited with Millie.
Moxxie turned to return to the portal, but Max stepped out of the shadows.
"Well, look who's here," Blitzo sneered. "The useless fuck who did nothing but hide."
"Hey, you never gave me a gun," Max said. "I'm just a sinner. I can't do much without a weapon."
Blitzo rolled his eyes and stepped through the portal.
Moxxie stayed behind, worried. "I should go make sure the rest of the family doesn't—"
"I got it," Max said gently. "You go with Millie."
Millie yanked Moxxie through the portal.
"Hurry up!" Blitzo shouted from the other side. "Can't keep it open!"
"You can close it," Max said. "Worst case, I text Loona."
The portal shut.
Max walked calmly toward the family home.
"If I didn't already know how the police would screw this up… nah. Who am I kidding. They deserve this."
He lifted a hand.
"[Implosion]."
The house collapsed inward like crushed paper, instantly killing every remaining family member.
"Well. That's done."
Max snapped his fingers and opened a portal back to Hell.
Blitzo was waiting, arms crossed. "How the hell did you make a portal without the book?!"
Max froze, brain scrambling.
Right—only royalty were able to memorize the spell. Everyone else forgot it instantly due to Lucifer's enchantments.
He improvised smoothly.
"I can memorize a spell once and use it one time before forgetting. A trick Olivia taught me."
Blitzo stared.
"…Well. That explains nothing. But fine."
Max turned to Loona. "Hey. You coming to the get-together? Charlie planned it."
Loona huffed. "Why? So I can watch my boyfriend hang out with four other girlfriends?"
She paused, ears drooping slightly. "…Fine. I'll go."
"Thanks, Loona." He kissed the top of her head gently.
She blushed furiously and shoved him away. "D–don't do that in front of Blitz!"
Max chuckled. "Anyway, enjoy the mission-complete party. I promised Charlie I'd help at the hotel tonight."
He stepped into a dark corner, shadows rising around him.
Then he vanished.