The Netherworlders

[OmegusXIII]

Part 1: Relapse
​

Today… was Extermination Day. Once a year, Heaven held this brutal day to thin out the overgrown populace Hell has. With so many wicked souls having died on Earth, the count often had so scarce a number for actual pure and worthy souls. With how cruel and vain the world was, it was sadly no surprise. The problem was, the Sinners were content with that. They believed that there was no escaping their fate to begin with. Hence, they always decided to make the most of their relatively short afterlives beforehand. In any case, this day did not sit well for Charlie. At all.



She is a tall, slim, and white-skinned demon who stands at over 6 feet, specifically around 6 and a half feet tall. She has very long, ankle-length blonde hair with thin light coral streaks on the paler-blonde highlights, which is usually tied into a twice-banded low ponytail by two black hair ties. Her hair also features bangs that are flipped to the left side and ends with a curl.



Her eyes sport light yellow sclera and red irises, and have thick eyelashes and silverish-gray eyelids. She has black lips and rosy red cheeks. Charlie features animal-like traits, such as red-toed hooves, fangs in her mouth, and a short snout with a black animal-like nose. Her fingernails are black and pointed.



Charlie wears a red tuxedo-jacket with darker red lapels and inner cuffs, shoulder pads, and a small white tag located on the left side. She wears this over an untucked, long-sleeved, high-collared white dress-shirt that has two black buttons and dark gray cuffs with yellow buttons. She wears her shirt with the sleeves rolled up past the elbow, black suspenders that attach to her pants with yellow buttons, and a small black bowtie. Her dress pants are colored in a slightly darker shade than her jacket, and her footwear are heeled, white saddle shoes with black toes and tips of the heels.



Over and over, again and again, she had to watch her people get cut down by Heaven's spiteful and cruel exorcists. They practically had no mercy towards them, be it men, women, and shockingly, even children. To watch this over and over, again and again reminded her that no matter her title, she'd always be powerless. Neither her, her dreams, nor her people, ever mattered… That powerlessness, in itself, is worse than Hell. And all she could do was watch from the balcony of the hotel. But she did have one comfort: Vaggie.



She had knee-length grayish-white hair with faded-purple tips and long jagged bangs which covered the left side of her face. On the back of her head, she accessorized with a red hairbow with small tears on each side and two long tails.



Her right eye had a light pink sclera and an ivory iris, while her left eye had been replaced by a slate-gray eyepatch that sported a red-pink "X" shape. Her mouth also had small fangs and black lips. And she also had a very big bust of Double-F's. Not that the two "slept" together. He kept their relationship in mind, and didn't want to ruin that. But hot damn it if he thought it wasn't hot…



She is dressed in a gray one-shouldered bra under a white tank mini dress with loose straps, two light gray crosses on her chest (especially over where her bust is), and a scalloped-trim at the bottom. In addition, she also wore a dark gray choker and a light gray sash-belt around her waist.



Her arm-length gloves were the same color as her bra; her right glove covered her entire hand while her left was fingerless. She also wore a pair of long thigh-high, mismatched stockings that were scalloped white at the cuff; her right was a full light gray while her left was striped in light pink and light gray.



"Sweetie," she said, "You don't have to watch this, you know." She'd just walked into her room, holding a tray of her favorite breakfast: pancakes with eggs and bacon, sunny-side up. The eggs and the bacon formed a smiley face. The Princess smiled back at her meal as Vaggie sat down next to her.



"I know, but… I'm used to it…" Charlie replied sadly. "It's all I've ever done when I was little… all I could do." Vaggie looked down at the carnage surrounding them outside their building. Bodies of slain Sinners were scattered like trash on the street, their blood practically decorating the asphalt and the nearby buildings a few of them were tossed into. Exorcists didn't care much for collateral damage. Vaggie's hands trembled at the wretched sight, but that didn't go unnoticed. Charlie held her hand onto it to keep her steady. Vaggie turned her face to Charlie, seeing her sympathetic smile.



"Vaggie… you don't have to watch this either." Charlie softly urged. "I know it hurts you really bad."



Vaggie felt touched that Charlie would say so. Part of her wanted to let out her tears and sob all over her. But she didn't want to put any more pressure onto her than she already has. She shook her head and smiled back at her, trying to stay strong enough to be her shoulder.



"Eh, it's only been two years. You've had it worse than me." Vaggie bluntly said, attempting to pull off her tough exterior. However, Charlie didn't fully believe that, not when there are souls out there being condemned to oblivion.



"I don't think that's entirely true. All of you had it worse…" she said softly. "I just– I just wish that for once, there'd be an angel who'd come down there and help us stop all of this…" Vaggie gained a massive blush on her face. She wondered if Charlie had figured out who she was, who she used to be. She didn't know whether to be terrified or honored. In either case, she couldn't be enough for Charlie. She can't be anyone's angel… Vaggie took a deep breath and held tighter onto Charlie's hand.



"We could only be so lucky…" Vaggie said sadly. Just then, Charlie caught something in her eye amidst the chaos outside. "Wait. Who is that…?" Vaggie looked out the window beside her and saw a big surprise. There was someone running for his life in the carnage around him. He had raven-colored hair in a shaggy brush cut with dark blue eyes, a leather jacket, a gray t-shirt, and black jeans. He wasn't doing the general panic that the other Sinners had when running for their lives. It was confusion. She didn't recognize whoever Charlie saw, but it was clear that he looked nothing like the other Sinners. And he was walking closer to their building.



He has raven black hair in a shaggy brush cut. He was wearing a black leather jacket with a hoodie, and a gray shirt over his chest, and his eyes were dark blue. He appeared to be in his 20's.



"Oh, my god…" Vaggie said in disbelief. "Is that…?"



"A human?!" The girls both shouted at the same time in alarm and surprise.



As the girls watched him from the window, utterly speechless, this human was at his wit's end making heads or tails about how he ended up where he did. And the literal piles of bodies around him didn't make him feel any better, beside the small comfort that they won't attack him.



"Come on," he said with frustration and panic. "There has to be someplace where there aren't dead bodies on every street!" Fortunately for him, there was one building that seemed vacant, even for Hell. It had a black metal gate with a golden eye ornament. On the other side of it were cobblestones on the pitch black ground surrounding the place. "Oh. That works. More or less…"



The human cautiously walked up to the gate, unaware that Charlie turned to Vaggie with a pleading look.



"Charlie, no…" Vaggie refused, knowing very well what her puppy-eyed gaze was for.



"But he's so lost and scared…~" she whined.



"You know we can't just open the gate for anyone." Vaggie reminded her. But the sound of the gate screeching open diverted their attention right back to it. The human was on the other side of it now!



"Sheesh. They really need to put up a lock." He said to himself, frankly alarmed by the lack of security. Vaggie grumbled, knowing very well what it meant.



"Oh, damn it…!" Vaggie said to herself. But while their security left much to be desired, Charlie, as usual, saw the bright side.



"Wait, Vaggie." She urged. "We're not just going to leave him to die out there, are we?"



"Babe, I'm glad you want to help," Vaggie replied with a concerned look. "But give me one reason why we should let a complete stranger in here."



"I'll give you three." Charlie said with her three fingers sticking up from her hand. "One, he's a human. Two, he has no idea where he is or how to process any of it, and three, and most importantly, he could get killed on his own!"



"And that's our problem, how?" Vaggie asked. It came out rougher than she meant it, but she didn't trust any men around Charlie, not even a human.



"He's not a Sinner, Vaggie." she retorted with a sad look.



"Well, we don't know that for sure." Vaggie replied, trying to keep from hurting Charlie's feelings. "We don't even know him."



"You know what I mean." Charlie spoke, staring out at the window as he sat down on the grass. He seemed to be in deep thought to himself as he sat down near a tombstone out on the lawn. "It wasn't his time yet, Vaggie. For him to end up here now is just… wrong. I mean, how could Heaven allow something like this to happen?"



Vaggie looked out at the window, seeing his confusion taking hold on him. He did seem pretty miserable on his own. The young man was holding one hand on his forehead as if he had a headache.



"How the Hell did I end up here…?" he said to himself, left with more questions than answers. But as his eyes went up, he saw the litter of sinner bodies he walked by. It was a cold, heavy reminder that he was in the Underworld for all he knew. He was once again overcome with grief and terror as his tears fell down. He should've asked something else, he thought. He still could. And he has. "No… what did I do to deserve this…?" Vaggie turned away from him to Charlie, who stared at her with her lovey-dovey puppy eyes. She tried to turn away from them, only to be reminded of the truth staring back at her. Whether she liked it or not, Vaggie could relate to him. She, herself, was an outcast, or so she told Charlie. Trying to figure out what she did wrong… it was as corrosive as self-loathing. But Charlie took her in. And she'd been getting better since then. But the pain still lived in her heart. And she wouldn't wish that on anyone else, even if they were sinners.



"I mean… I guess it wouldn't be right to leave him out like this." Vaggie said, caving in to Charlie's puppy eyes.



"Thank you!" Charlie squealed, hugging Vaggie tightly. "Now, let's get him in here real quick!" But while she finally agreed to it, she had to get Charlie to slow her roll down.



"Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, babe." Vaggie put her arms on Charlie's shoulders to stop her from going out of her bedroom. "We can't just invite him in on the spot. We still don't know anything about him."



"But he's going to get killed out there, Vaggie." Charlie said, fearful of what should become of him. "Besides, how could we expect anyone to come here if we keep our doors closed all the time?" Vaggie could tell that she didn't like the idea of shutting everyone out. But with how awful these sinners tend to be, Vaggie had to explain it.



"Charlie, it's for good reason that they're closed." Vaggie said with a sad look. "I… I want to believe they can be redeemed, but…"



"Then help me out." Charlie said abruptly. She'd said it in a soft tone of voice. "Please. I can't do this without you." Vaggie's face softened as she stared at her. She was the one person in Hell who wanted to help these people, and to Charlie, that included her. She didn't want to let her down. Not now, not ever…



"Okay. But we have to be cautious about this." Vaggie conceded with a soft gleam of a smile on her face. But the noise of the door opening got her attention quickly. "Oh, damn it…" Vaggie sighed to herself.



"It's okay," Charlie assured. "This might be for the best. We'll just go down and introduce ourselves." Vaggie wasn't entirely open to the idea, but it was important to make a good first impression if they're going to help her dream work.



"Whatever works for you, babe." Vaggie said with a gentle grin.



Downstairs, the young man looked all over the place left to right. As opposed to outside, the inside was in a state of disrepair, with wooden boards covering shattered windows, signs warning of asbestos, bloodied tools left lying around, and paintings are shown hanging off the walls. Much of the furniture in the lobby are strewn around haphazardly or remain boxed up in several large wooden crates. At very least, though, it wouldn't be likely to crumble on top of him. "What kind of place is this?" he asked himself. "Or… was?" The first thing he saw was a concierge section with one portrait next to each side of it. One of them had a very beautiful woman with long blonde hair in a purple dress holding a small white-skinned baby girl with beady red eyes on her lap. The next one looked more like a poster of a woman on a theater stage. The title above it was "Dampnare". There was also a couch with bone-like decor next to a column with a statue of what looked like a skull-faced Venus. There was also, oddly enough, a symbol of an apple on it. "Huh. What was this place, a hotel or a theater…?"



Suddenly, he heard footsteps petering down the stairs. Immediately, his heart skipped a beat and he glanced at the source of the clicking heels. "Uh… who's there?" he asked cautiously, hoping that whoever lived here wasn't out to get him. Charlie and Vaggie were walking down, their figures hidden in the shadows. But as they stepped into the light, Charlie waved to him with a usual cheerful look on her face while Vaggie had a cautious one.



"Hey, there!" Charlie said. "Welcome to our Happy Hotel!" The young man looked at the place around him again, his impression of the place getting a better understanding.



"Well, I guess that answers that question." he said, mostly to himself. Vaggie was the first to walk up to him, holding a suspicious glare from her one eye.



"So, how did you find this place?" Vaggie said, having her arms crossed.



"Uh… it was pretty much the only place that didn't have bodies all over the place, so that kinda set the bar," he answered.



"..Fair." Vaggie admitted. Charlie stepped closer near Vaggie and tried to lighten up the mood.



"You must've been so scared, ending up here when it wasn't even your time yet. Or even the right place." Charlie said with empathy. The human felt more comfortable around Charlie. Even for Hell, she seemed to be more fit for Heaven than Hell itself. Vaggie was… questionable. Then again, he could only assume she was trying to protect this woman, whoever she was.



"Boy, am I…" he said with a sigh. "…so, who are you?" Without a moment's hesitation, Charlie held her hand up to him.



"My name's Charlie. Charlie Morningstar." she introduced. Her hand shook his, though she did it more excitedly. She let go of his hand, allowing him to get it back before she continued. "And this is my girlfriend, Vaggie." While Charlie gestured to her lover, Vaggie still maintained her cautious look towards him.



"Nice to meet you, I'm sure." Vaggie replied almost monotonously.



"Oh. Well… it's nice to meet you, too." He said, trying to think of a less awkward thing to say to her.



"So, what's your name?" Charlie asked.



"My name? Uh, it's Asher. But my friends call me Ash." Asher answered. Charlie gasped with delight.



"That's a wonderful name." Charlie complimented.



"Thanks." He replied with a small grin. But despite Charlie being friendly to him, it wasn't as though he'd decided to give up going back home. "So… you wouldn't happen to know how I can get back to Earth, would you?" It gave the couple a long and awkward pause. It was a tough thing to talk about by itself, so Charlie hesitated to answer, at least right away. Vaggie wasn't sure how well he'd take the news, either.



"No…" they answered awkwardly at the same time. Asher held his head down, chuckling wryly. "Dunno why I thought you could help…" he said, despairingly. He sat down on the nearby velvet couch, holding his head down. At the moment he's safe, but what did that matter to him? Charlie didn't like the hopeless look he had. It was the same one she saw on most other sinners, at least ones who didn't enjoy killing or stealing or anything they're sent here for. And even without the Exorcists, the number was so rare as to have been nonexistent on paper.



"B-But we are working on a long-term project to help lost souls get into Heaven." Charlie spoke up, trying to lift his spirits up almost desperately. "What?" Asher and Vaggie said simultaneously. He didn't whole-heartedly believe it, but it was starting to make sense why it was called the Happy Hotel. Even if he could, Heaven wasn't quite where he wanted to be. "Granted, you're not a Sinner…" Charlie continued.



"Then why the Hell am–? I mean, why the… here…?" Asher tried to sell a point, but being where he was, it confused him, which frustrated him to no end. "Ugh! Then what am I doing here?"



"That's actually what we want to ask you." Vaggie said, stepping close to him as her finger drew close to his chest. Asher's whole face went beet red as he saw her bouncing, voluptuous Double-D mounds bounce in front of him. He wasn't sure if he should be scared or aroused by her. But they didn't completely distract him from her glare. She made it sound like an interrogation, as if she never trusted him. Charlie caught on to her suspicions. "Vaggie," she said, trying to tone her down. "Take it easy." Vaggie backed away from Asher a few steps as Charlie came close.



"Look… you don't have to tell us how you got here if it's too much for you. But if you can help us with what we're doing, I'm sure we can–!"



"Look." He said, cutting her off abruptly. "Before you get the wrong idea, I'm sure that's nice… I mean, really, it is. But Heaven's not where I want to be. I just want to be back home with my dad…" Asher had a homesick look on his face. Charlie wouldn't blame him for how he feels. She couldn't imagine a place without her home in it. She didn't know how to help. But Vaggie wasn't going to let Charlie down. If she was going to help him, by the Creator himself, she's going to.



"Maybe Heaven can be a start for you." Vaggie suggested. Charlie and Asher turned to her.



"What do you mean?" he asked.



"Well, think about it." Vaggie explained, sitting down beside him. She kept her distance, but Vaggie had to make sure he was listening to her. "You've got a good look at this place already. And if Heaven and Hell are real…"



It didn't take long for him to pick up on what she's saying.



"Then, so are angels and demons. And if Angels are real… then so are Guardian Angels." Asher said, his eyes starting to lift up in realization.



"Exactly. And if anyone would know how to get you back to Earth, it'd be them." Vaggie finished with a smile, the kind one would bear when they've had a Eureka moment. Asher felt much better hearing that. But Charlie was a little concerned with her stance.



"But Vaggie, I thought you said we shouldn't trust Angels." Charlie reminded her girlfriend. Vaggie hasn't forgotten about it. But whether she liked it or not, anything was better than to leave him trapped where he shouldn't be. "No, but… that's assuming that even one of them wants to help him out. And I'm sure that he does."



However, with that topic brought up, there was a part of him that still doubted all that was that simple, that it all might go terribly wrong or backfire somehow.



"But… if you're right about then, how do we know if they'll listen?" Asher asked, worried about how badly it would end. "W-What if I'm not meant to go back? What if I'm just… trapped here?" Charlie put her hand on his shoulder, making him look up to her. He ended up staring into her beautiful crimson eyes in a sea of yellow.



"You may not believe it, Ash." Charlie spoke softly. "But there were a lot of Sinners who felt the same way you do. That's why I want to work on this project. I want to help my people. And I want to help you, too… if you can let us. Will you? Please?" Asher didn't know how things worked between Heaven and Hell. As far as he knew, they opposed each other. If anything, he'd think they're against the very idea. No wonder Charlie seemed so desperate to prove her project can work, that her people can be saved. He glanced back to Vaggie, who still maintained a suspicious glance towards him. But he also noticed a red blush on her face.



Asher didn't know what that was about, but he could tell Charlie meant a lot to her. And he had a feeling that if he broke her heart, Vaggie would tear him to pieces. But even without that risk, he knew what going through with this project would mean: if they can somehow, somehow, redeem the Sinners here, then he'd be able to get to Heaven, and then, he can go back home. At this point, there was no other way.



"If it means that much to you," he said with a smile, "I'll help you." Charlie's face immediately beamed into a big smile, and suddenly, she hugged him tightly.



"Thank you so much for this…!" Charlie said, almost on the verge of crying tears of joy. In her jovial response, though, she didn't realize that she'd planted her Double-E chest on top of his so close to him…! Asher could practically feel her nipples pressing against his shirt, making his face turn redder than a tomato. While he was welcome to the sensation, he also felt as though he was being crushed by her arms.



"Oh, wow…!" He breathed out. "You are way stronger than you look…!" Charlie heard his raspy voice and stopped her hug altogether. "Oh, my gosh! I'm so sorry about that…" Asher took in a few breaths as she apologized. "Forget it, it's fine…" Vaggie couldn't help but smile from Asher's predicament from her hug. With that done, Asher only had one question on his mind. "So… where exactly do we start?"

---

3 WEEKS LATER
​

At night time, the sky was colored dark purple with clouds of the same color above the city. But morning was drawing near as a fake sun rose up from what counted as a horizon in the hellscape. The dark purple atmosphere begins to turn red, turning into a brighter shade as it slowly shifts the colors of the buildings and the streets to match its color as well. In so doing, it also revealed the sign of a pentagram high above the Square and well beyond it, almost acting as if it were a force of nature keeping them inside with its mere presence. The shade of red in particular, though, is most akin to the sky at sunrise and sunset.



Inside a limo that drives down the streets, Asher was sitting beside two women. The one on his left, Vaggie, is a slim-figured woman who subtly sported a moth-themed design with grayish-lavender skin. And then, there was Charlie Morningstar.



But more noticeably, her shirt couldn't hide her Double-G bust. To say that Asher was tempted to lay hands on the melons would be an understatement, but he knew better than to grab hold like they were his property. Besides, at the end of the day, they belonged to Vaggie. The two of them had begun to get into a relationship by the time Asher arrived, and he didn't want to be in the way of that. That said, Charlie is always enthusiastic about giving him a hug. But not today…



The trio was all staring out at the horizon as the colors exposed the pile of corpses on the streets they drove by. It was a sight nobody here is fond of. Vaggie notices the stressful look in his face. And she wanted to check on how he's doing.



"Ash... is something wrong?" the woman asked. Asher glanced down at her as he got his breath steady.



"I couldn't sleep. I tried… but I can't." He answers with a tired look.



"Because of the exterminations? Or that nightmare?" Vaggie asks.



"Both. Although, it's hard to tell if it's a nightmare or not at this point, Vaggie." Asher replied with a soft breath. "I just can't help thinking about how I'm trapped here, and what my dad's thinking right now…" He turns his head to see Charlie looking at the streets with worry and sad puppy eyes. Down below, the variable pile of corpses were being casually swept away like it was garbage day, not that Asher paid any mind to it. He'd seen it before, and it does not get easier looking at it each day. Still, he didn't feel like Charlie had any better time than he had. Apparently, it's been going on for seven years. Who knows what that did to her?



"Charlie… it's probably stupid to ask at this point, but… are you alright?" Asher asks.



"No…" Charlie replies sadly.



"Do you want a hug?" Vaggie asks next.



"Yeah…" she nods solemnly. Asher and Vaggie hug her together to console her as they hold their arms around her. Charlie sighs softly as she lets herself relax between Vaggie and Asher. "Thanks, Ash. Vaggie. I really appreciate you guys coming with me."



"Of course. Everyone needs to know about what we're trying to do." Vaggie tells her in assurance.



"Yeah, they do." Charlie smiles softly with a grin. Asher looked out to the scene of chaos as fires randomly went off and people screamed.



"Let's just hope it doesn't turn into a total disaster today…" Asher says with a flat look. Although, he has some concern, especially with the reputation of a certain anchorwoman that they were on their way to meet. And even if she wasn't an issue, Asher would still have his doubts. Because who in Hell would ever want redemption? Only him…



Asher had been trapped in Hell for three weeks. It was no doubt a shock to all that a live human would be trapped there, especially to Charlie and Vaggie. Typically, to even go there, a Sinner (a human who had done bad deeds in the past) would be condemned there. When he first met them, Charlie was very eager to help him. Vaggie, on the other hand, was cautious. While it is unprecedented that a live human would end up in Hell, she had no trust toward men whatsoever. But since Charlie took him in, Asher had been doing everything he could to help them, especially with the promise that if it works, he might get into Heaven and speak with someone who could help him.



While he saw no reason to go there in a hurry— well, literally dying to get there— he believed it wouldn't hurt to have some divine intervention to help him out of his situation. And during his stay, Asher begins to gain Vaggie's trust. Although, he believes it was because between him and Angel Dust, he was the more trustworthy of the two. And today, it'll be for good reason.



And he was smirking as he laid on the sofa with his legs crossed.



He was the Hotel's first "guest", invited by Charlie with the promise of free rent. It would be a good start, but neither Asher nor Vaggie approved of his mannerisms or his lifestyle, and for good reason. He was, and still is, a porn star. And the thing was, it wasn't the worst thing about him as far as Asher could tell. He seemed to take no interest in Charlie's lessons at all, or make any effort to be better for the past two years since he arrived. Needless to say, he and Asher were like rivals to one another.



Vaggie wasn't any more a fan of Angel than he was for those reasons. If anything, she trusted Asher more than Angel. In those three weeks since he came here, he wanted nothing but the best for her and Charlie. Even if the lessons annoyed him or seemed childish, he at least tried to support her with positive and constructive feedback. And it helped immensely that his father had taught him right beforehand. Angel, on the other hand… was self-explanatory. Vaggie always constantly compared the two of them as a pro and a con, and she was always rooting for the pro. Sometimes, she wondered why she couldn't kick Angel out of the hotel herself. And it was no different today. His comment made Asher and Vaggie blush red and gold respectively as they glared at the Spider Sinner.



In another area of the city, a sinner demon falls from the sky, landing on the street face-first. He had four arms, all of which he used to check on himself.



"Ugh. Huh? I'm alive! I'm alive-!" But before he could enjoy it any more, the poor creature suddenly gets run over by a car driven by Travis, which Angel Dust gets out of. Travis is a Sinner of the avian variety, with owl-like "ears", facial disc, and short, pointy beak. His face is to be a lighter shade of gray, with his left eye having a black sclera with a red iris in the shape of a heart. He also has dark gray feathers all over his body and black claws for fingers.

He wears a trench coat the same shade of grey as his body which has feathered ends of his sleeves and at the bottom. He also wears a black trilby with a gray stripe.



And Angel Dust has a slender build and stood around 8 feet (albeit with his heels on). His fur was white and he had a mop of fluffy white hair that extended from both the front and back of his head, with splotches of light pink. He also had a light pink heart on the back of his head, and a light pink outline of a heart encircling his chest that the bottom point of it extended down to his crotch area. His arms had light pink stripes, and his top set had light pink forearms with white fingers while his second set had white forearms and light pink fingers.



His irises were cerise pink while his right eye had a light yellow sclera and left eye had a dark sclera. His eyelids were light pink and the color extended up to his eyebrows. He also had three cerise pink dots under each of his eyes, which were intended to evoke freckles, although they were actually another set of smaller eyes, not to mention a wide mouth full of sharp, pointed teeth and a single golden fang amongst his teeth.



One of Angel's most noticeable features, though, was his prominent chest. The chest was actually composed entirely of fluffy fur, however, which Angel intentionally pushed up into a breast-like formation with his tightly pinned jacket for show.



"Heh. Thanks for the fun time, hot stuff!" Travis teases as Angel pushes his hand through his hair to fix it up.



"Yeah, yeah, listen. Keep this discreet, you hear me?" Angel urges. "I can't let it get out that I'm offerin' my services to randos on the street! It was a quick cash grab Ya got it?" Angel makes a gesture with his fingers and snaps his fingers at him with a smile.



"Pfft! Whatever you say, slut!" Travis mocks with a chuckle. But Angel, of course, takes it lightly.



"Ouch! Ooh! Such an insult!" Angel replies sardonically, leaning into the car to point at him with all of his index fingers. "Let me know when you've come up with something creative to call me, you sack of poorly packaged horse shit! Tell the missus I said "hi", Shnuckums!" Angel kisses him on the cheek, and Travis becomes dejected and defeated.



"Pack a - puh…" Unable to get the last word in, Travis angrily drives off. As he did, Angel looks behind him to see a vending machine for his namesake drugs. He goes for the angel dust and just as he gets a hold of it, a random feathered Sinner runs by and steals his drugs like the Vulture he is.



"Yoink!" He exclaims.



"Hey!" Angel shouts.



"Up yours, drag show!" The sinner retorts. However, as if by sheer karma, a boulder proceeds to fall out of the sky, crushing the feathered demon alongside Angel's drugs. Angel gasps in horror at the scene.



"Oh, my GOD!" Angel leans in to pick up what's left of his pack of drugs with a devastated look on his face. "MY DRUGS!" He clenches the cloth angrily and looks up, seeing a gigantic war ship in the air. "Damn it!"

---

The war ship was golden and black, firing lasers every which way while destroying many buildings in the process. Inside the war ship, a snake Sinner was laughing maniacally as he and his egg minions watched the destruction below. His name is Sir Pentious.



He had a snake-like appearance with a body color predominantly in charcoal grey. His eyes had cerise sclera with black pupils, and a mouth with sharp yellow teeth, two of which were long snake-like fangs.



His tail was black with thick yellow stripes featuring numerous cerise eyes running down the length of it. He had a black cobra hood with its front colored yellow with black corners and four cerise eye patterns spread across the center.



Sir Pentious wore a jacket in a matching charcoal grey to his skin, pinstriped with yellow, and a black bow tie with a single cerise eye in the center. Beneath the jacket was a long-sleeved orange-yellow undershirt. He also wore black fingerless gloves with yellow dots on each knuckle and had sharp cerise claws.



He accessorized with a large top hat in charcoal grey, which had a sizable cerise eye in the center of it, as well as many sharp yellow teeth and a pair of goggles. The top hat blinked and changed expressions in unison with Sir Pentious.



"Those other cowardly ssssinners dare not hinder my territorial takeover! A wise decision! The power of my machines are unmatched!" Pentious boldly declares as he proceeds to push two levers as his hood flares open. "No other demon can compare to the likesss of I!"



"Gee! That was pretty swell, boss!" One of the minions said.



"Yeah!" Another agreed.



"You really showed them what for! I liked when you shot them with your ray gun!" The egg minion said as he held his hand out like he was holding a ray gun.



"Okay, you're— you're just hamming it up now." Pentious cuts him off politely, patting him on the head. "At this rate, I will seize control of the entire west side of Pentagram City by day's end!" Pentious pushed a few buttons on the controls before pulling the levers.



"And nothing, not even a single beast in this inferno of suffering will be able to take back this empire from my constrictive grasp!" Pentious emphasized it by grabbing an Egg Boi and squeezing him with his tail. Pentious immediately became conscious of that and set him down with concern. "Eh, you get the idea."



"Oh, boy!" Another Egg Boi shouts eagerly.



"Hell will be mine! And everybody will know the name of Sir Pen-!"



"EDGELORD!" A feminine voice interrupted. Sir Pentious and the Egg Boiz become surprised immediately. Pentious is quick to become offended at that comment.



"Pardon?! Who said that?! Speak up!" Pentious snapped, turning to the two Egg Boiz behind him.



"That wasn't us, Mr. Bossman." One of them answered. Just then, a small bomb with a print of a skull on it breaks through Sir Pent's ship. It then lands right between Sir Pent and the two Egg Boiz. Pentious' face fell flat, realizing who it was.



"Oh…" Pentious groans before suddenly, the bomb proceeds to blow up, leaving red smoke behind. It also got glitter in Pentious' mouth, forcing him to cough as he tried to get it out of his mouth.



As the smoke clears up, the owner of the scream is revealed to be Cherri Bomb as she prepares another bomb in hand. A longtime rival of Sir Pentious, Cherri is a very slim and white-skinned humanoid cyclops sinner demon with an hourglass figure and a large bust, and a singular eye which has an X-shaped light yellow pupil and a sunkist coral-colored sclera. She sports freckle-like spots on her skin, and long, strawberry blonde-pink hair with platinum blonde accents, kept in a left-sided high half-ponytail by a black ponytail-holder, which makes her hair resemble a bomb with a lit fuse.



Her mouth features black lips and sharp pale yellow teeth inside, and she has several coral-colored designs of bombs, explosions, and swirled-lines tattooed in red ink on her right arm.



Cherri wears a one-shouldered black bra under a similarly-designed, sleeveless off-the-shoulder pinkish-red torn crop top with four white spots around the black X located on the left, and a set of severely ripped black leggings under a torn miniskirt that sports the same color and style as her top.



She also wears shoes that are both colored in a pinkish-red but differing in type; on her right is a pointed flat shoe, while on her left is a heeled cowboy-like boot with a multi-pointed off-white star on it. She also has two different sets of fingerless coral-colored gloves; a regular-length glove on her right hand, and an elbow-length, black-trimmed glove on her left hand.



"You lookin' for a fight, old man?!" Cheeri calls out as she begins to juggle around her cherry bomb. "Why don't you get that tinker toy bullshit off my turf before I smash it?"



Suddenly, a large pipe falls on top of an already dead Egg Boi, crushing him as Sir Pentious and Cherri momentarily look at the carnage.



"...well, smash it more." Cherri adds with a sadistic smile.



"Oh! You wanna go, missy?! Well, I'm happy to oblige!" Pentious responds as his hood flares open. He begins to laugh maniacally as his Egg Boiz armed themselves.

---

Meanwhile, 666 News is shown on a black background, which is followed by the day's newscast. There were two people doing the broadcast there: Katie Killjoy and Tom Trench. Katie is a tall, very thin, white-skinned humanoid demon with a long neck that mirrors her torso and a big bust. She has a large round head and short, neck-length blonde hair in a bob cut styled to flare out into an almost fan-like shape with lighter-colored streaks, and bangs that are swept to the side.



Her eyes have rose-colored sclera and normally non-visible white pupils, and she also has red lipstick on her lips for makeup, as well as rose red-polished pointed nails.



Her attire consists of a set of pearl earrings, a matching pearl choker-necklace around her neck, a black-trimmed rose red blazer with a sweetheart neckline and enclosed by two black buttons, a black pencil skirt with white bell-bottom pants worn over it, and crimson-red pointed low-heels.



And Tom Trench is a humanoid demon with the face and neck being that of an expressive gas mask, and light blonde sweeped-hair with paler streaks. He is seen wearing a blue-grey suit-blazer with slightly darker-colored lapels, worn over a lighter blue-grey collared shirt with a red necktie. He also has a red pocket square, hale-navy trousers, black dress shoes, and on his hands it appears to be covered with dark gray gloves.



"Good afternoon, I'm Katie Killjoy." Katie began.



"And I'm Tom Trench! Chaos out at Pentagram City today as a turf war is raging on the west side!" Tom adds. In the broadcast, an image of Sir Pentious trying to be hip, followed by a drawing of Cherri flipping the bird is shown. "Between notable kingpin, Sir Pentious, and self-proclaimed spunky powerhouse, Cherri Bomb!"



"That's right, Tom! After the recent Extermination, many areas are now up for grabs! Demons all over Hell are already duking it out to gain new territory!" Katie adds, showing a live clip of Cherri and Sir Pentious' clash.



"Those two seem to be really going at it, huh?" Tom interjects.



"Looks like they're fighting tooth and nail for that hot spot!" Katie adds just as she fishes out a tooth and a nail respectively from her mug of coffee, only to proceed to swallow said tooth and nail. Tom looks over at the live broadcast focusing on Cherri with great interest.



"And I'd sure like to nail her hot spot!" Tom said aloud as he wiggled his eyebrows. "Hoohoo!"



"Haha, you are a limp-dick jackass, Tom! Or should I say -" Katie pauses to pour scalding hot coffee onto his crotch. "…no dick?"



Tom curls over in pain from the agony. "Ugh…! Not again!" The screen shows a picture of Charlie as Tom can still be heard whimpering in pain in the background.



"Coming up next, we have an exclusive interview with the daughter of Hell's own head honcho who's here to discuss her brand new passion project!" Katie says while maintaining her tone for the show. "All that and more, after the break!" After finishing, Katie crushes the mug in her hand and turns to Trench who's still in pain. "Suck it up, you little bi-!"



The news cast cuts off just before her swear could go through, and it goes on a commercial break.



At the set outside the broadcast, Charlie, Vaggie, and Asher were getting ready as Vaggie fixed Charlie's bow.



"Okay! You remember what to say?" Vaggie asks her, feeling a lot of pressure riding on it.



"Yes! Let's do this!" She replies enthusiastically.



"Good. Are you sure you've memorized this?" Asher adds, holding a script of what Charlie should say to win the Sinners over.



"Come on, guys!" Charlie bends herself backward with frustration before walking to the box of doughnuts on the table nearby. "I know what to say! I just feel like we need to… I don't know, make things sound more exciting!" Charlie picks up a doughnut and twirls it before gasping as an idea comes up in her head. "Hooo! What if I si-?!"



"-Sing a song about it?" Vaggie and Asher ask in unison.



"You knew I was gonna say that!" Charlie says eagerly as she boops Vaggie and Asher on the nose.



"Because we know you." Vaggie replies as she fixes her bow again.



"And love you." Asher finishes as he tenderly brushes her hair back. "But I don't think singing is a good idea. This is serious."



"Well, you know, I'm better at expressing myself and my goals through song!" Charlie replies as she stands on the table where Razzle and Dazzle are happily munching on doughnuts, watching her.



"But, life isn't a musical, hon." Vaggie advises while placing her hands on hips.



"Fine. But, I have these other ideas of what to say!" Charlie starts bouncing in excitement as she shows Vaggie and Asher a piece of paper. "The highlighted bits are the best part!"



"Uh, it's all highlighted." Vaggie and Asher look at the drawing, becoming puzzled over what they were seeing.



"Charlie, Is this a drawing...?" Asher asks with a raised eyebrow.



"Yes! That's the happy ending, see?!" Charlie answers eagerly, pointing at the drawing. Not only did it show the various Sinners she drew, but it also drew in Asher with Charlie and Vaggie beside her, smiling together as she begins to fantasize the happy ending she hopes for. Asher had to admit it: he really liked that Charlie was thinking deeply of him enough to draw him in. "Everyone is smiling and happy in Heaven!"



Vaggie pinches the bridge of her nose as Asher sighs.



"Look, I don't think it's that simple." Asher kindly tells her. "Besides, I'm not dead yet. I just want to see my dad again."



"Still, that doesn't mean we can't hang out together in Heaven." Charlie tells him ecstatically.



"Just please follow the talking points we went over." Asher advises as Charlie looks at her paper again, only for Vaggie to grab Charlie to face her.



"And do not sing!" Vaggie urged strongly.



"Okay, fiiiine." Charlie says with a dejected expression before walking up the stage, speaking in a faux British accent. "I'll just have to resort to my impeccable improv skills!" She salutes Vaggie as she walks over to Katie Killjoy. Vaggie and Asher could only look on in worry over Charlie.



"She hasn't gotten any sleep, has she?" Asher guessed softly.



"Honestly, I'm surprised you expected her to sleep after Extermination Day." Vaggie countered with a cross of her arms.



"This isn't gonna end well, is it?" Asher worries.



"Ash, it will work. It has to." Vaggie assures him.



"But what if it doesn't? I mean, no offense. I want this to work as badly as you do. But…" Asher gestures to the crowd of Sinners, staring at them as if to judge them silently. One of them wasn't even trying to be silent.



"Pansies." He says with a scoff.



"I seriously doubt these people even want to change." Asher tells them.



"Well, even if they don't, somebody out there wants to." Vaggie tells him.



"Would it really matter if Ms. Killjoy decides to play it off like it's a sick joke?" Asher asks with anxious doubt. "I mean, you saw what she did to the co-host. Tom? W-Was it Tom?"



"It's Tom." Tom replies nearby as he walks near them, holding a paper towel to his pants where Killjoy dropped hot coffee onto.



"I get it." Vaggie tells him. "But keeping Sinners out defeats the whole purpose of trying to redeem them. Even if it means… keeping Angel…"



"Why do you guys even let him live here?" Asher asks, genuinely wanting to know why he was even allowed to stay with how he disrespected Charlie and her lessons.



"I ask myself that every day for the past two years." Vaggie says with a tired look on her face, but not in an irritated way. It was more of a "finally, someone who gets it!" kind of look. "But at least he's been clean for two weeks. Coming from Angel, that's gotta mean something."



"…Oh, yeah, he really has." Asher realized the moment Vaggie said it aloud. He'd been keeping Angel's leash tight for so long, it hadn't occurred to him until that moment that he actually was making progress. He shook his head and got back on topic. "Look, the point is, it's only been a few hours since Extermination Day, and she's already doing… all of this." Asher said with his own tone of concern. "I feel like she's pushing herself too hard to make it work." Vaggie went close to Asher and held onto his hand.



"I'm worried, too. That's why we're here for her, Ash." Vaggie said. "Like it or not, she saw something in us. Whatever it was... it has to be for a reason. If not to help her redeem these people then... what?"



He has a flat look on his face. From what he knew of this place, he could only assume that turf wars were taking place there. Just Sinners being selfish as per usual.



"I still don't know if they want to be redeemed, Vaggie." Asher said with doubt.



"We still have to try." Vaggie urged. Asher took a deep breath and sighed.



"I know. But for how much longer?" Asher asks with concern. "If we blow this… there's no going home for me. I'll be trapped here until I die. And even then, I won't even be able to leave at all. …Well, not that I'd want to leave you guys." That comment made Vaggie blush gold on her cheeks. "It's just… I want to at least see my dad one last time. So I can tell him I'm okay." Vaggie's expression softened. She knew how that felt: unable to tell a close friend that she would be okay. She wouldn't wish that feeling on anyone. Vaggie hugs Asher gently and rests her head against his shoulder.



"You have a good dad, for you to think of him so much." Vaggie says gently.



"Yeah. I think you and Charlie would like him." Asher says with a fond grin. "Well, I doubt he'd like Angel, though."



"Then that'll be three of us." Vaggie says before they share a soft laugh together just as Charlie walks up to Katie, who is smoking her cigarette.



"Hey. I'm Charlie." She introduces herself. But Katie only blew out a puff of smoke from her lips before crushing her cigar and throwing it away.



"Katie Killjoy." She bluntly introduces. "I'd say it's a pleasure to meet you, but that would be a lie." Katie tells her flat out despite her smile as she holds her finger out. "And you can put that away. I don't touch the gays. I have standards."



Asher growls bitterly toward the heartless anchorwoman with gritted teeth.



"I'll show you standards." Asher grumbles under his breath. He himself is straight, but he doesn't see any benefit in putting down others because of their sexuality. He doesn't even see any benefit in putting down others in general. Well, unless it's to take them down a peg. He always wanted to, but his father always told him to take the high ground. And yet, look where that got him…



"Yeah? How's uh... how's that working out for ya?" As she asks anxiously, Charlie turns her head to look at the "Hell's #1 News" neon sign behind her.



"Look, my time is money. So, I'll keep this short." Katie interjects coldly, and she proceeds to poke Charlie's chest and nose. It did not sit well with Asher at all, glaring at her like a wolf about to get into a fight. "You're not here because we wanted you here. You're here because Jeffrey couldn't make it for his cannibal cooking segment."



"Huh? Jeffrey's here, too?" Asher asks, momentarily dropping his glare before processing it. "Ohh… Right." Charlie looks at Tom in her nervousness, only for him to shake his head in disapproval as she boasts about her status while fluffing her hair.



"You might be some royal big shot, but that doesn't mean shit to me." Katie continues cold-heartedly. "I'm too rich and too influential to give a flying fuck about what some tux-wearing demon 'princess' wants to advertise."



"But, I-" Charlie tries to get a word in, only for Katie to poke her chest again.



"So, don't get cute with me, honey, or I will fucking bury you!" Katie threatens. Asher was about to move toward the bitter co-host and rip her a new one, only for Vaggie to hold him back.



"Ash, please…" Vaggie insists.



"But you saw what she did, right?" Asher tells her, offended that she's even considering letting her get away with how she's treating her.



"Trust me, nobody wants to rip her a new one more than me." Vaggie proves this as she holds out her spear beside her, puzzling him.



"...You actually brought that with you?" Asher asks in puzzlement.



"Just in case. But it's not the time for it. Trust me." Vaggie assures him. And not a moment too soon.



"And we're live!" One of the News Staff called out. Killjoy rushed to the desk holding her papers while cracking her neck in such a way it perfectly portrays her as unhinged.



"Welcome back! So, Charlotte!" Katie begins, turning her head to her "guest".



"It's... Charlie." She replies nervously as a spotlight shines down on her.



"Whatever. Tell us about this new passion project you've been insistently pestering our news station about!" Killjoy insists with a manic look, trying to hold in her outburst by clenching her pen.



Charlie looks around at the crowd of Sinners, feeling very nervous. She sees Asher and Vaggie in the crowd, motioning her to go on.



"Well, as most of you know, I was born here in Hell, and growing up, I always tried to see the good in everyone around me." As Charlie spoke, the bored Killjoy fiddles with her pen before she spots a slug and stabs it with her pen, making the slug's blood burst all over.



"Hell is my home, and-" Charlie paused when she got slug blood splattered across her cheek, which she then wiped off. "-you are my people. We... We just went through another Extermination." Pleased with how it is going so far, Vaggie gives Charlie two thumbs up with Asher smiling at her proudly as Killjoy quickly starts to lose interest. So quickly that she begins to fall asleep. "We lost so many souls, and it breaks my heart to see my people being slaughtered every year. No one is even given a chance!" Charlie slammed her hand on the table, forcing Killjoy awake as Charlie walked up from her desk and around the audience, who were just confused about where this was going.



"I can't stand idly by while the place I live is subjected to such violence! So, I've been thinking: Isn't there a more humane way to hinder overpopulation here in Hell? Perhaps we can create an alternative way to change souls through... redemption?" Charlie throws her arm around one of the News Cast's staff members as she finishes strongly while returning to her desk. "Well, I think yes! So, that's what this project aims to achieve! Ladies and gentlemen, I'm opening the first of its kind! A hotel that rehabilitates sinners!"



While she is finished, her broadcast is being shown at The Radio Shack, which many other demons are also watching by the streets and everywhere else in Hell. Unfortunately, it didn't elicit the reaction she hoped it would, and she begins losing her confidence.



"Y'know? 'Cause hotels are for people passin' through... temporarily…" Charlie anxiously says.



At the Kaiju club, Man Meat, a Lizard-like Sinner thought the idea itself laughable. "Ahahaha! Is this girl for real?! She thinks- You hear what she thinks?! She thi- HAHA! Ah, she's nuts." As he laughed, he walked out of The Kaiju Klub with his friends including Zeezi. She is a giant kaiju-like dinosaur Sinner with a voluptuous hourglass figure and a huge bust. She has pale pink skin that is a darker pink on the top half of her face and her legs. Her sharp teeth and reptilian eyes are both neon green, along with her wild head of very long calf-length neon green hair with pink accents. Her snout has three neon green freckles and a green nose ring in her left nostril. She has a long thick dark green tail with neon green feathers along the top and bottom, and pink highlights.



Her outfit consists of a black cropped tube top with a sharp-toothed, neon green smile logo, a hot pink jacket with neon green stripes and fur lining the wrists and collar, and black pants with the right leg ripped short. She also wears blue gloves with pink tips and two different calf-length heeled boots - the right is black with pink accents while the right left is green with black accents. Her right big toe is far larger than the others with a long, sickle-like talon that sticks out of her boot. Little did the naysayers know that one among them is open to the idea.



Ridge, the one looking at the TV, has dark blue skin with yellow sclerae and black eyes, also having white hair and a beard, along with two Bull's horns on his head, as well as a long, barbed prehensile tail. He is dressed in a green plaid shirt with dark blue overalls. "Hmm…"



Outside the store, ironically known as Radio Hacks, the broadcast is playing from there as well. From there, a mysterious figure walks up to see the broadcast alongside a few others. This Sinner is a rather tall, beige-skinned, and dapper humanoid deer-like demon who is usually seen with a broad smile full of sharp, yellow teeth inside. He is approximately 7 feet tall. His hair is a hot pinkish-red, styled into a cropped, angled bob cut with black ends, and an undercut on the back. Atop his head are a pair of small black antlers from the crown, as well as a pair of large deer ears covered in his hair with black tips.



His eyes have red sclera with brighter-colored irises and slit-like pupils, and dark red eyelids with the color extending to his eyebrows in a way that mimics eyeshadow. His forearms and lower legs fade to black, and he also has red hoofed-toes and red claw-like fingers.



He wears a red pinstriped coat with a darker high collar and long sleeves with brighter-colored cuffs, white-trimmed darker-red lapels, and the hem being slightly ragged. Under his coat, he wears a rather long, untucked bright red dress-shirt with a black cross on the chest. He also wears black dress pants with cuffs matching his coat, and red pointed-toed dress shoes with red deer hoofprints emblazoned on the soles.



He accessorizes with a black-knotted bowtie with a bright red center, and a small, oval-shaped, black-rimmed red monocle which he wears over his right eye. He also carries a thin staff with a sentient, vintage-style microphone at the top.



"I figure it would serve a purpose... a place to work toward redemption... yay...!" Charlie says with uncertainty.



"Interesting…" The Sinner says to himself.



Back at the set, the cameraman snickered at her idea for redemption. "Stupid bitch." He insults with a mocking grin. Vaggie and Asher took it personally. While Vaggie punches the cameraman square in the face, Asher goes for the low blow to the groin.



"Your constant harassment of the female gender makes me sick." Asher said in a deep, gravely, batmanesque voice to disguise himself. Vaggie looks at him confused, and he clears his throat before he explains himself. "What? I always wanted to do a Batman impression." Despite their help, though, Charlie is getting more sad by the second as she looks around at the Sinners around her.



"Look, every single one of you has something good, deep down inside. I know you do!" Charlie says, trying to win them over. Asher, seeing her unable to convince anyone, thought it over. He is already running a great risk just being here. If he stood by her now, they'll all find out he's a human. And who knows what kind of chaos it would cause in the literal underworld? On the other hand, if he doesn't, she'd be left convincing nobody. Or more than likely, she'd sing, which will lead to the same ending anyways. And he'll lose his foreseeable window to Heaven, and subsequently, his way home… Rather than take the chance, he was going to support her with all he has.



"She's right. You do." Asher says, making sure his hood was on him to the point nobody could figure out his identity. "Each and every one of you do." Charlie and Vaggie are surprised, of course, to see Asher put himself on the line to see Charlie's dream through. As for Killjoy, she was certainly interested.



"Oh? You didn't tell us you had a special guest, Charlotte." Killjoy said with a smile, glancing hungrily toward him. "So, what brings you around here, and why stick your neck out for her nonsensical pipe dream?" But Asher quickly dismissed her.



"Shut up, I'm talking." Asher rebuffed, making Killjoy gasp dramatically. "Also, I don't touch homophobes. I have standards." Killjoy did a double take, getting angry at him in mutters. "The truth is, I'm not as naive as Charlie is, and I know a lot of you here has… well, you fucked up."



As Asher adds to her message, a young woman was catching wind of said message in a neon-purple room with a king-sized bed. The woman had short blue hair in chin length, having two red/black-tipped horns, two wings on her back, and a long, prehensile tail with a heart at the end. She is wearing a fishnet dress that exposes a black heart on each mound of her Double-E bust, along with a plaid skirt and knee-high socks. She was looking at her phone at the news with renewed interest.



"But I also know that a lot of you were good at one point. Then, something happened in a way you can't forget or forgive, whether it was a complete stranger, or… or even yourself."



The woman begins to tear up a bit before wiping her tears away with her arm and proceeds to the message tab and taps on a name: Vee. It was in a group chat with K, M, A, and C. They had names, but the abbreviations were easier to fit. She pasted the link and sent it.



"Maybe you hated somebody, maybe you hated yourself. Whatever the reason, this doesn't have to be a permanent thing for you. You can choose to be better, even in Hell."



While he continued, the owner of that name, Verosika Mayday, looked at that message as it played live. She is a tall, bright hot pink-skinned succubus with a curvy hourglass figure and a huge bust. She sports a long, black-tipped spade-shaped tail and a pair of black-tipped horns on top of her head with black star designs on them; the left one taller than the right. She also has a pair of bat-like wings on her back, with black markings that resemble heart shapes.



Her eyes have white-outlined light pink irises, yellow sclera, slit pupils, long and thick eyelashes protruding from them, and a small heart-shaped beauty mark under the right eye. She also has long knee-length hair colored in ombre-white, with pink undertones from lighter to darker towards the tips, and a darker-colored stripe across her bangs.



On her right arm is a red heart tattoo with Blitzo's name on it that has been crossed out by a thick black "X". Her mouth sports black lips and small fangs inside.

Verosika wears a black choker and a tightly-fitted, black and white strapless minidress with contrasting "X" and "O" shapes on the chest, as well as a star design at the abdomen and a sweetheart neckline. She also wore black thigh-high leg sleeves with three hot pink "X" designs down the sides, and black high heels which sport a vague heart motif.



She accessorizes with a set of white arm-length gloves with the right having the same "X" patterns as her leg sleeves (albeit thinner), a pale pink fur coat which vaguely matches her hair, and a pair of round gold-framed shades which have pink heart designs on each of their maroon lenses. She raises her eyebrow with curiosity, and she becomes drawn to him.



"I know how easy it is to take all your pain out on someone else after what you went through. But honestly, given the fact that we don't die, that can only work for so long until you get bored of it. Right?"



The sinners in the studio all nod in agreement.



"I tied up my ex and threw knives at her like a circus act. But it doesn't entertain me anymore like it used to…" one Sinner said out in the square.



In a run-down office building entrance, Loona was watching the news on the computer. Loona is a hellhound with a wolf-like appearance. She has a pointed, dog-like muzzle with sharp and pointy teeth, and a black nose. Her eyes have bright red sclera, white irises, and slit-like pupils.



Her fur is white with grey countershading encircling her face, grey patches on her shoulders, and long, hip-length, voluminous silver hair swept to the side to reveal her dark grey ears; one of which is pierced with two small, black hoop-piercings, while the other is ragged. She has a large and long, dark grey bushy tail with white on the underside. She also has a piercing on her right eyebrow with a black hoop for jewelry.



Her outfit features a big, spiked black choker-collar around her neck. Her tattered grey, off-the-shoulder crop top covering her supple, Double-F bust is held up at the neckline by a series of crisscross spaghetti straps that form an inverted pentagram. She also wears a set of black shorts that are tattered at the hems, with a white crescent moon detail on the right side.



Loona also accessorizes with both black fingerless gloves and long black thigh-high toeless stockings, with her black claws protruding due to her digitigrade stance. She has a look of interest as she watches the footage.



"You can torture each other, get high, and even commit die all day long, but what does that matter if you just end up in the same place?"

---

Meanwhile, the footage was also shown on a TV screen in a dark and damp place. Outside the room was a dark red sky with constant lightning striking the scene. And the lightning only illuminated a fragment of the watcher's face, but even then, it was still indistinguishable, save for the ominous red glow in his eyes.



"If you really stop to think about it, that's what eternal torture is. Maybe it's meant to be that way. But that doesn't mean all of you have to deal with it. I won't say that every one of you is good, because, well, that'd be a lie. But that doesn't mean every one of you is evil or beyond any hope. Anyone who says otherwise is only taking advantage of you to make themselves superior. And you deserve better than that."



Vines were building up to his entire body, as if to trap him there. But slowly, they began to give way to his movement. The figure stood up from his chair, causing the vines to snap themselves from him, taking slow but sure steps towards the screen, showing off his emaciated and decayed skin with two ram-like horns on his head. He reached his silhouetted hand and raked his sharp fingernails on the screen, raking it across Asher as the screen shattered to pieces.



"What I'm trying to say is, anyone can be redeemed, including you. Whether you want to be, or whether you'd rather stick with what you have here, the good and the bad, that's up to you. I'm not going to take that choice away from you. But the hotel is always open for you if you're ready to change your mind. And anyone here who wants to give the Hotel a try is welcome." Charlie and Vaggie are touched by Asher's speech, all smiling at him fondly for how he came in to help. That said… none of the Sinners in the room are receptive. And especially not Killjoy.



"Geez. Tough crowd." Asher says aloud. This gave Charlie an idea as a mischievous look came on her face.



" ...Maybe we're not getting through to you." Charlie says with a smile. However, Razzle and Dazzle are then alerted that Charlie's about to sing and that she may need their back-up vocals. Vaggie and Asher saw this coming and grew anxious.



"Oh, no…" Vaggie says with concern.



"Here we go again." Asher says with a sigh. Charlie snaps her fingers as the room turns dark and a spotlight is shown over a piano that Charlie, Razzle and Dazzle start performing on.



Meanwhile, back at Radio Hacks, Alastor and his shadow can be seen tilting their heads curiously as their smiles widen as Charlie sings, much to the detriment of Vaggie. She begins by explaining the Hotel with her drawing. She goes on to explain that it's to encourage good behavior in Sinners who check in there. Although Vaggie wasn't pleased, Asher had to admit, she has a really good singing voice. And yet, after the rousing finale, when it seemed like she'd won them over…



"Wow! ...That was shit!" She didn't. Almost everyone in the audience, including Killjoy and Trench begin to laugh at Charlie. Charlie looks crushed and devastated and slumps back down to her seat. There was a boo section in the news and the demons looked uninterested. Asher begins to get angry with every single one of them, making Vaggie doubly worried.



"What, in the Nine Circles makes you think a single denizen of Hell would give two shits about becoming a better person?!" Killjoy mockingly questions. "You have no proof that this little experiment even works! You want people to be good?! Just... because?!" Killjoy laughs wickedly as Asher clenches his hands into fists.



"Well, we have a patron already, who believes in our cause and he's shown incredible progress!" Charlie adds, prompting Asher to hold his anger back some.



"Oh? And who might that be?" Killjoy asks, feigning her shock. "Don't tell me. Is it your special guest?" Killjoy leans toward Asher in a flirtatious manner, but he glared daggers at her.



"Keep your hand to yourself, lady." Asher warned.



Charlie looks smug and confident as she replies, "Oh, just someone named... Angel Dust!"



"The porn star?" Tom asks in surprise. But Killjoy did not like his query one bit, especially not with its implications.



"You fucking would, Tom!" Killjoy glares menacingly, making him shrink back to his seat. "In any case, that's not even an accomplishment. I'm sure you could get that hooker to do anything with enough booger sugar and lube." Killjoy motions doing a handjob as Charlie and Asher sneered at her.



"Oh, I beg to differ!" Charlie counters, holding a finger out for each of his accomplishments. "He's been behaved, clean, and out of trouble for two weeks now."



"Breaking News!"



The second she heard it, Killjoy shoved Charlie off her desk with Asher catching her to save her from the fall.



"We are receiving word that a new player has entered the ongoing turf war! Let's go to the live feed." Killjoy says to the audience before showing the live feed.



Angel Dust was stepping on an Egg Boi and throwing a grenade over at Sir Pentious with visible laughter in the background as Charlie stared at the screen in defeat.



"Oh... shit." Charlie says with regret. As for Asher, he was very angry.



"I'm a bad person!" Angel mocks in laughter as he participates in the turf war.



"I'LL KILL HIM!" Asher shouts at the top of his lungs.



"Oh, shit indeed!" Killjoy says with a grin. It looks like the one who just joined the battle is none other than… porn actor, Angel Dust!" She turns to Charlie as she shakes her hand like a rattlesnake's tail. "What a juicy coincidence! You must feel really stupid, right now." Killjoy and Trench proceed to laugh at Charlie while they do Jazz hands together.



"Ratings!" They said in unison. As Charlie tries to block the live feed from the audience's view in vain, mostly because she was just being blocked out by the footage itself, Asher begins to reach his boiling point. With Angel completely ruining any chance he ever had of convincing them the hotel works, it only got worse. That means Heaven won't come see him. And that means he's trapped. Forever…



"Don't look at this!" Charlie pleaded while Killjoy looked smug toward them, looking over Charlie in particular.



"Well, it sure looks like your little project is dead on arrival." Killjoy says with a snide grin. "Tell us, how does it feel to be a total failure?" All at once, everyone in the room starts bursting into laughter. As Charlie tries to think of a comeback, Asher's boiling point tipped over the second the sentence came out of her lips. And he wasn't about to let that insult go unanswered. Besides, if he is going to be trapped in Hell, he might as well do something worth trapping him here.



"You know what?! You guys are losers!" Asher snapped, making Killjoy and Tom look at him in puzzlement. "You think you can humiliate people because of ratings? Y-You're childish! Alright? You're childish."



"Childish? Oh, fuck you, man!" Trench replies bitterly.



"Fuck off! Fuck off!" Asher retaliates, flipping both of them the birdy. Charlie notices this and gets increasingly anxious.



"Whoa, Ash. We really shouldn't talk like that." Charlie said, trying to calm the situation down.



"No, no, no, Charlie, because I'm not done!" Asher replies to her. "I'm not done, by the way, I know you're wearing a wig!" Killjoy's death stare got worse as she made a dramatic scoff. "Your hair is fake!"



"You did not just say that to me!" Killjoy snarled.



"Yeaaaah, yeaah!" Asher responded with a prideful look. Killjoy is reeling in anger, like she was having a meltdown.



"What makes you think you can talk to me like that?!" Killjoy shouted. "What are you going to do about it, huh?! What are you going to do?!" Asher insulted right back at the same time as Killjoy growled.



"You know what? Fine. You're probably just as much a lost cause as she is." Killjoy sneered. "Let's be honest here: You could've done so much better than this faggot." Killjoy insulted, offending Asher and Charlie as she made a dramatic gasp. She was adamant about stopping the fight before, but now, all bets are off. She looks around and picks up her pen from the desk.



"Well, how does it feel that I've got your pen, huh? Bitch!" Charlie snapped.



The whole room went silent, and Killjoy gives him the death stare while Tom Trench looks on in complete shock. In that silence, Trench made the call to run for the hills. She looms over Charlie and Asher from the shadows as she grows four more spider-like legs from her back.



"I'M GOING TO FUCKING MURDER YOU!!!" Killjoy shrieks as she begins to attack.

---

"Heyyy, thanks for the back up, Angie!" Cherri says to Angel with a smile. She picks up a rocket launcher and fires it as Angel laughs. "You kiddin'? This is the best action I've seen in ages!" Angel puts his hands behind his head while closing his eyes, waiting for the explosion. After it came, a blast of pink smoke erupted on the battlefield as Cherri began launching another cherry bomb.



"Where've you been, anyway? I thought you up and died or some shit." Cherri asks. Angel lit up a bomb and handed one to her as he answered, "Oh, I wish! I've been staying at this crappy hotel on the other side of town. Some broads and a bastard are lettin' me stay rent-free if I play nice." Angel and Cherri both cover their heads as the explosion sets off behind them, exploding in a burst of green light. They grin at each other as they jump into the field.



"Y'know, no fights, no pranks, no 'problematic language'... Her words, not mine." Angel explains as he fires his Tommy gun at a horde of Egg Boiz that rushed toward them. When one of them comes near him, Angel steps on a broken tile, launching him airborne and shoots him from behind as he sighs again. "These crazy bitches are no fun! Especially not that one guy. He's always on my case for everything! I've been clean for two weeks!"



"Ho-ly shit!" Cherri says in disbelief with her smile. Angel looks at the leftover smudge on his finger. "Well, sorta clean." Angel then destroys an incoming Egg Boi with a baseball bat. "Just as clean as you can get from a shitload of Bolivian marching powder!" Suddenly, Angel gets chained and thrown aside by Sir Pentious. As the Sinner approaches, Angel begins to tease him, raising his left eyebrow.



"Ohh!~ Harder, Daddy!" Angel replies. However, Pentious took it too seriously, gasping in surprise.



"Son?!" Pentious responded. Angel lowers his eyebrow to give him a flat look just as Cherri kicks Sir Pentious to the side. None too pleased with the attack, Pentious flared his hood open with a growl.



"Grr! You whoressss have no classss! In war, The side remembered is the side with the most ssstyle! Pentious emphasizes it as he adjusts his tie.



"Or the side that ain't dead!" Cherri retorts as she decapitates an Egg Boi while Angel stands up and removes the chains restricting him. Andi sees Pentious and Cherri going back and forth.



"I ship it." Andi says with a soft grin. She did keep in mind that Pentagram City post Extermination would be crazy during the Turf Wars. And she also took exception to the litters of the corpses of Sinners from the Extermination littered on the floor. In fact, she noticed that one of them was the remains of a Tiger Shark-like Sinner. "Oh. That's the boss who interviewed me earlier." She paused for a moment to look at him before bursting out with, "HA! In your face! That's what you get for objectifying me."



She stuck her tongue out and continued to walk down the sidewalk, feeling happy that some comeuppance was served. "I gotta tell the others when I see them again." Andi says to herself as Angel takes a jab at Pentious far away."Speakin' a style, is your hat like, alive or something?" He asks curiously.



"Oh! Well, that's none of your GOD DAMN BUSSSSINESS! Now, is it?" Pentious rebuffs, feeling the subject to be sensitive.



"Hah, would that make your hat the top and you the bottom?" Angel mocks as Cherri laughed.



Ironically, a leftover sign that says "Loser" is pointing at Sir Pentious as an Egg Boi acknowledges the roast.



"Oooooh!" Pentious throws a small pebble at him to silence him. While Pentious is enraged, Cherri and Angel stood with smiles.



"I'm going to blow you to bitssss!" Pentious threatens. Angel only eyes him up and down. "Hm, kinky."



"Oh, not like that!" Pentious quickly retorts, blissfully unaware of another leftover sign that says "Pussy" pointing at him in the background. "Pervert!" An Egg Boi surprises Angel with a tentacle launcher and traps him in all the tentacles, putting him in Pentious' grasp.



"Not so cocky now, are we?!" Pentious says with a wicked smile. Of course, Angel looked unamused by his obliviousness.



"Y'know, you really gotta watch what comes outta ya mouth." Angel tells him, making Pentious quite perplexed. "I've been making these sex jokes the whole TIME!" His limbs get pulled on as Sir Pentious reveals a drill which jump starts, getting ready to tear him apart. However, Angel had an ace up his sleeves, revealing his third pair of arms carrying a Tommy gun. "And it's obvious ya ain't catchin' on. I mean, it's just sad!" Angel shoots at Sir Pentious, forcing him back before flipping him a birdy.


"So, think you're gonna get in a lotta trouble for this?" Cherri asks as he blows the smoke away from one of his Tommy Guns.



"Eh, what's one little brawl gonna cause?" Angel asks rhetorically.



Actually, it's surprising what a brawl could cause. Asher, Charlie, and Killjoy can be seen trying to duke it out on each other like it's some sort of WWE match. Asher was on the desk, smashing his palm against his elbow before jumping off to land it right on Killjoy's abdomen. This was while Charlie dealt with Killjoy's extra legs to hold them back while a fire alarm went off in the background with Trench entering the scene, covered in flames.



"WHY WON'T ANYONE HELP ME?!" Tom shouts in pain.



"Glad you haven't changed!" Cherri says with a mischievous grin as she playfully slugs him on the arm. "You know you're my favorite guy to party with!"



"You know it, sugar tits!" Angel complimented her as they notice the rest of the Egg Boiz coming at them as Pentious recuperates and prepares to counterattack.



"You ready to finish this?" Cherri asks as she takes out a bomb.



"Born ready, baby!" Angel answers, holding out his Tommy Gun. While Angel and Cherri pounce on Sir Pentious and his army as they prepare to clash, at the set, Asher, Charlie, and Killjoy are still at each other's throats screaming, and Trench is still on fire, screaming in agony.



It didn't take long for the chaos to reach its conclusion. A few minutes later, Angel and Cherri are walking away from the battlefield, leaving the corpses of the Egg Boiz behind them. Pentious is, as usual, forced to retreat. It was either that or be killed, not that it would've made too much of a difference. True everlasting death is impossible here, save for Extermination Day.


"Ah, I miss days like this." Angel says with a proud smile. "Causing chaos, helping out a pal."


"That hardly sounds like you, Angel. But yeah, it is nice to count on you every now and again." Cherri tells him with a soft smile. "There's really nobody else I'd rather wreck shit with."



"Sheesh. You're literally starting to sound like one of the broads letting me stay rent-free." Angel rolls his eyes playfully.



NOT ANYMORE, WE'RE NOT!!!



An unearthly yell shook the ground, jolting Angel, and Cherri into the air. The three of them were shaking in their boots.



"What the fuck was that?!" Cherri said in shock and awe. Angel dug into his pocket and pulled out his phone. It showed Asher in an angry mood. At the very least, his identity was hidden by his hood, making him appear like a gang member. And worse, he's on call…



"Oh, crap. I must have butt-dialed him…" Angel tells the two of them.



"And don't you bother ghosting me!" Asher tells him. "As soon as I get my hands on you, I'll make you wish you'll stay dead! YOU HEAR ME?! YOU HEAR ME, YOU VILE, WORTHLESS, PIECE OF—?!" Angel abruptly ended the call with a blank look in spite of his sweating.



"He sounds very pissed at you." Cherri says with a concerned look.



"Aw, come on. I know his game by now." Angel tries to assure them. "That's the way it works. He's gonna scare me straight, I play along, and we go our separate ways. It's a win-win." But suddenly, the black royal family limousine pulled up on the road near the battle-torn ruins, and no sooner had it parked than the door slammed open, the furious and bitter Asher running out at Angel like a mad dog.



"I'm gonna KICK YOUR FUCKING ASS, MAN!" Asher shouts at the top of his lungs.



"I'm pretty sure the expression is 'lick my ass.'" Angel replies. But Asher roars once again before he runs right at him and leaps on top of Angel, choking him with his bare hands as Charlie and Vaggie get out to try to stop him. Charlie's jacket was ruined, evident by a tear on her sleeve and the fact that it was open enough to show her white shirt underneath it.



"Ash! Stop!" Charlie cries out.



"This isn't going to fix anything!" Vaggie shouts afterward as they catch up to him, just in time to see Angel kick Asher off of him. In retaliation, he grabbed a clod of dirt on the ground and threw it at Angel, who dodged it quickly as Cherri and Andi looked on. At that point, Charlie noticed Cherri, and tried to set a good first impression despite the circumstances.



"Oh. Hi, there." Charlie waved. "You must be Cherri Bomb. I'm Charlie. This is Vaggie. And you've already met Asher. Oh, and Angel, too."



"Uh, yeah. Angel and I've known each other forever." Cherri tells Charlie with crossed arms.



"Oh. Well… nice to meet you regardless." Charlie says with a smile.



"Great. So, now that we all know each other: What's wrong with you?!" Angel shouted in panic.



"I'll tell you what's wrong with me! YOU!!!" Asher retorts and tries to attack him again, only for Charlie and Vaggie to hold him back by his arms. "You're what's wrong with me!!"



"Okay, what's happening here? He lose a bet or something?" Cherri asks as she glances at the rabid Asher.



"We were trying to get the Hotel off the ground. And then, this asshole ruined everything!" Vaggie answers, pointing her accusing finger at Angel. His little stunt made us look like a fucking joke!"



"No, no, no, babe. Jokes are funny!" Angel retorts with a scoff. "I made you look... uh, sad! And pathetic! Like an orphan... with no arms... or legs... Oh! With progeria! Great! Now I'm bummed thinkin' about it!" Having had enough, Vaggie lets go of Asher's arm and he runs right at Angel in a roar again, making him exclaim in fear as he is being attacked again.



"Vaggie!" Charlie exclaims in panic.



"What? Angel had that one coming." Vaggie deflects as Asher pounces on him again, only for Cherri to hold him back herself. Despite her petiteness, she is a lot stronger than she appeared.



"Quite… a winning personality he's got, your highness!" Cherri commented before Charlie rushed over to him from behind to help hold him at bay.



"That hotel was the only way to get me home! But now, there is no way home! You took it away from me!" Asher shouts in his rage.



"Home?" Cherri questioned. "Dude, I'm pretty sure Heaven isn't home." Cherri pulled on the hood, getting suspicious about how he worded it. "Let's see what you are underneath that."



"Hey! What are you-?!" Asher grunted, but Cherri pulled the hood down, revealing his human face! Cherri is taken aback by this revelation while Charlie and Vaggie grow worried over the fact that anyone else could see it.



"Whoa, whoa, whoa! You're still alive?" Cherri asks in surprise. She then notices his build on his chest from his torn-up shirt, a likely aftermath of his tag-team battle with Killjoy. "Ohh, and in good shape, too."



"Really, Cherri?" Angel asks with a raised eyebrow.



"What? Can't blame me for browsin'." Cherri replies with a smirk.



"Yes, I'm still alive!" Asher shouts back. "But what does that matter now?! Thanks to you, I'm never going home again! Never!"



"Aw, come on! I had to!" Angel replies. "My credibility was on the line! I mean, what kind of reputation would I have if people found out I was tryna go clean? It just throws out my entire persona!"



"Your credibility?! What about the hotel's?! After that train-wreck, there is no way anyone is gonna wanna stay at the hotel! All thanks to you and your selfish bullshit!" Vaggie snaps.



"…Does that mean I don't have a free room anymore?" Angel nonchalantly asks. That made Asher snap one last time, but he didn't try to break free. Instead, he glared at Angel with a look that could have killed him a million times over.



"No." Asher tells him. "It means that not only do you have to pay for your rent, you also have to pay for the fact that I'm stuck in a hellish underworld full of scammers, bullies, rapists, pedophiles, and murderers forever because of you! One way or another, YOU'RE GONNA PAY!" Asher lurches himself forward, desperate to tear Angel apart. But Cherri held him back to keep him from attacking again.



"He was having my back! I didn't ask him to come, and he did anyway! What's so selfish about that?!" Cherri retorts trying to stand up for her friend.



"The fact that he ruined my life! AND my afterlife!" Asher snaps with anger in his eyes.



"Okay, okay. I think you've made your point." Vaggie tells him.



"Hey, come on. We don't know if things are over yet! Try to relax, guys. I-It'll be okay." But Asher wasn't in the mood to be given any false hope.



"Okay? Okay?!" Asher forces himself off of Charlie and Vaggie's grip. But he didn't push them away. Instead, he pointed his finger at Angel, jabbing it into his chest fluff. "That selfish prick basically destroyed any chance I've ever had of going home!" He stops to turn his head to Charlie. "And worse, he ruined your hotel forever. How is that okay?" He turns his head back to Angel, getting more vicious toward him over Charlie. "NOTHING about this is okay!" Charlie's face begins to have a defeated expression, which Vaggie notices.



"Hey, mate! We get it. Angel fucked up. But you need to calm. The fuck. Down." Cherri urged strongly, standing up for Angel. However, Asher was too furious to listen to reason. He yells aloud in fury, gripping his fingers on Cherri's to force her to let go before throwing her over his shoulder and to the ground as Charlie, Vaggie, and most of all Angel, look at him in terror.


He sees a blunt broken pipe on the ground, and he makes no hesitation to grab it as he walks toward him. And the second he was close enough, he grabbed Angel's collar, pulling him to his face.


"Why should I calm down?! After what that bastard did to me?!" Asher sneers, raising his pipe, as if it were a knife. "WHY SHOULD I EVER FORGIVE THAT WORTHLESS, SELFISH, ARROGANT, CRACK-ADDICTED DICKHEAD!?!"



"ASHER, STOP!!!"


Asher freezes the second he hears her voice. He glances back at Charlie, seeing her more saddened and dismayed than before with tears streaming down her eyes. "Please, Ash… Just stop." Vaggie is standing beside her, trying to support her, while also showing her own look of concern for him. Asher's face softens the longer he stares at them. After the tense silence, he looks down at the small puddle beneath him. He sees himself covered in blood and dirt (the former likely from his fight with Katie Killjoy), his hair was messier than before, and worse… there was dried blood on the pipe he was about to use on Angel. And he was about to make it worse…



"What the hell am I doing…?" Asher says in shock and self-realization. He releases his grip from the pipe, letting it fall to the ground, feeling ashamed for how he came across the way he did. He turns back at Charlie and Vaggie, seeing the distress on their faces from his outburst. "I… I'm so sorry, you guys. Just… just take him back to the hotel. I'm gonna be walking for a while."



"For how long?" Charlie asks.



"…A long while." Asher says with a heavy sigh. "But I'll be right back. I just have some hard thinking to do about how I've acted."



"But you'll be exposed out there. Everyone else will know you're human, too." Vaggie warns him.



"What would it matter? Whether I'm alive or not, I'm never going home anyway. At this point, I really don't care anymore." Asher says with a tired look. "Besides, even if I did find a way back, I don't think Dad would ever want to see me again if he knew how I'd acted here."



"Ash, don't say that." Charlie says with a sad look. The thought of losing Asher because she failed to help him is starting to scare her. So much so that she held him tight with a hug. "W-We'll just look for another way. I'll talk to someone on my contacts. We can find some other way to get you home! Just please, don't kill yourself!"



"Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa!" Asher replies, holding his hands up. "I'm not saying I want to die. I'm letting myself cool down for a bit. What did you think I was saying?"



"Oh, thank Satan…!" Charlie exhaled in relief. "Wait a minute." Charlie stopped to sniff at Asher, who ended up blushing in the process.



"What's she doin'?" Cherri asks aloud.



"Charlie's Lilith's daughter. As in the Queen of all Succubi. They can detect emotions with their sense of smell." Vaggie explains to her.



"That's a bit weird. And yet… kinda kinky~" Angel says smugly as he looks on while Vaggie rolls her eyes at him. Charlie's nose went on his arm before going upwards to his face. After taking a sniff, she exhaled.


"Yep, you're good. Just please don't scare me like that again." Asher chuckled a little from Charlie's reaction and gave her a gentle hug.



"You always did have a big heart." Asher says, patting her on the head as Charlie hummed as Vaggie snorted from the interaction with a smile.



"Alright, but just be careful, okay?" Vaggie tells him gently, resting her hand on his face to comfort him. "We still need you." Asher's face softened from her gentle words. Angel, though, is a little off out by this.



"But I'm here, too!" Angel griped.



"I'm sorry. Did he ruin the hotel?" Vaggie questioned, getting snippy with the Spider Sinner. He didn't answer. "Exactly. So shut it."



"Vaggie. Lashing out isn't going to help anybody. I would know." Asher tells her.



"Oh, so now you're the saint?" Angel asks in disbelief.



"I'm not. Just someone who knows when he fucked up. Maybe you should try that sometime. You have plenty of time in the afterlife to do that." Asher tells him sternly, but not in a way that showed he wanted to destroy him. What he conveyed there wasn't hatred like before. It was disappointment. Angel turns his head with a scoff, having nothing on his mind that he wanted to say out loud.



"Like I need you to tell me that…" Angel mutters angrily to himself. Cherri has a soft look on her face as she glances in Angel's direction. Then, she closed her one eye and stretched her arms back.



"Well, not that this hasn't been fun. But I'd rather not stick around for too long." Cherri speaks aloud with an exhale. "I'll see you soon again, right, Angel?"



"Heh. Always, sugar tits." Angel tells her with a smirk.



"Don't ever change, Angel. See ya, bitches!" Cherri waves to Asher, Charlie, and Vaggie before jumping onto the damaged structure of the rooftop, using her parkour to jump up to what was left of the building. After a moment of staring, Vaggie turns to Angel.



"You know she's a bad influence, right?" Vaggie asks.



"Eh, I wouldn't have it any other way." Angel shrugs with a smile.



"Anyway, I'll see you guys in a bit. I promise." Asher tells her before giving her a thumbs-up to reassure them, especially Charlie. She smiles softly, feeling a little uplifted by it. But on the whole, she still felt upset about his situation. With seemingly nobody willing to check in to their hotel, getting him home is going to be impossible. How could she call herself his friend after letting him down? Asher sees her smile falter, and he begins to feel bad himself.



"Hey." He softly tells her. "It's not your fault, okay, Charlie? It's not. It's just one of those days. That's all it is."



"O-Okay…" Charlie says, still having a small frown on her face. "Just come back safe."



"I will." Asher assures her. Charlie's window slowly rolls up as she smiles sadly before the family limousine drives away. With them gone, Asher sighs to himself.


"What the hell am I supposed to do now?" He asks himself bitterly. To say it is the worst day of his life so far would be an understatement. But he isn't going to kill himself. It'd change literally nothing. Still, he can't think of anything else that would possibly get him back home. What else can he do except move forward? And where could he go now? He said he'll be back, but… where would a human like him go? He looks up at the blood red sky, seeing the only white spot in it above the Pentagram seal. It seems very divine, and he could swear he sees pearly gates there. Why couldn't he have been sent up here instead of down there?


"Dad… what am I supposed to do here?" Asher asks, hoping that someone above in Heaven can hear his plea. But alas, for now, as it often is, it goes unanswered… There really is nothing left to do but move along forward. Right now, he doesn't care where the road takes him. He just doesn't want to be stuck anymore…

 

[OmegusXIII]

Part 2: Bouncing Back from Rock Bottom
​

In the square of Pentagram City, there are three succubi walking down the streets. Two of them each have a bag to carry, while the third in the middle is walking with none of her own. But even so, not one of them looked disappointed with how it turned out. If anything, they seemed to have fun.


"Oh, I'm gonna be eating good tonight~!" Apple grins. She has blonde hair in a ponytail, black on her tail fork that leaves the pink in a heart shape, and black-tipped horns. She has a tattoo of a black snake wrapped around an apple on her right leg. She also wears a grey smock overalls with red splotches, a black bra, and high heels.


"And that's just without me on the menu." Coco interjects with a cheeky grin. She has brownish skin, maroon eyes, and fluffy brunette-maroon hair. She wears a dark purple off the shoulder crop top over a black bra, along with grey shorts, fishnet stockings, and maroon-purple boots. "You sure you didn't want anything, Lisa?"


"No, I'm good. In fact, I'm really glad I got to go out for once." Lisa tells them. She has chin-length blue hair with red eyes in yellow sclerae, along with two pointy horns with black tips. And she is dressed in a black fishnet dress that exposes her skin, along with the two black hearts on top of where her nipples would be on her Double-D bust. She is also wearing a plaid, red/black skirt with black knee-high socks and sneakers, and she has a tail with the end of it shaped like a heart.


"Oh, yeah. You were pretty cooped up in there for a while, huh?" Coco asks. "It was almost like you didn't even want to go."


"It was like that for a while, wasn't it?" Lisa sighs, not feeling too proud of that. It didn't take long for her to see Apple's face grinning cheek to cheek.


"So, who was it?" Apple questions with interest, making Lisa's cheeks turn a darker shade of red.


"Huh? W-What are you talking about?" Lisa replies, at a loss for words.


"Come on, girl. You know we can sense emotion. It's like our thing." Coco reminds her with a grin of her own. "So, who was it that made you so comfortable going out?"


"I-It's not a person, per se." Lisa admits. "It's more what he said that gave me the courage to go out at all." The girls are puzzled for a moment. But then, they remember that she'd sent them and their boss, Verosika, a text with a link to the video that was playing all over Hell.


"Oh, yeah. Can't believe he's actually all in for that hotel." Coco speaks with intrigue, though mostly confusion.


"Yeah, but did you see how he piledrived that bitch, Killjoy?! That part was awesome!" Apple cackles.


"I'll bet." Lisa shyly giggles at that, turning her head away. "But I don't really care for that part. I just like the message he was telling me."


"Yeah, I'm pretty sure you're the only one who does around here." Coco tells her with a soft smile. "But if it means you're willing to go out and hang out with us more, I won't complain. Hell, I might even thank him if I ever meet that guy." Speaking of, Lisa begins to notice that same man. Though all she could see was a man in a black leather jacket walking by himself with hands in his pockets, she could tell that he's the same person who gave her such a thoughtful message. But… why would he distance himself?


She thinks back to the video she watched. Not long after she sends the link, she sees Angel disparaging the name of the Hotel (though it is hardly surprising to anyone else). And something about it set off a fuse in that man. Like his hopes were hinged on making the Hotel work. She begins to wonder, what was it that drove him to attack Killjoy, and why is he so desperate to help Charlie?


"Uh, girl? You doing okay?" Coco ponders with concern.


"Can you excuse me for a second?" Lisa simply responds, going to the man in black, making Apple and Coco quite surprised.


"Hey! Where are you going?!" Apple shouts as she and Coco try to catch up with her, while also making sure they don't lose their stuff.


Unaware of Lisa following after him, Asher is walking down the street by himself amidst the gaggle of Sinners going about their afterlives. Well, along with having a laugh at the very idea of redemption. And by extension, Charlie. How can they laugh at a time like this, when the next Extermination could kill all of them the next time? Perhaps not all his anger was quelled back then, but either way, it was, in a word: insufferable.


"Can you believe that? Redemption?" A plant Sinner says with disdain. She had apples on her head, wearing a dress made of leaves.



"I know, right. It was so bad." Another Sinner replied. "That bitch's idea was so garbage." She appeared more like a goat with black fur, curved horns, and a third eye in between her two red ones. Asher grumbles in frustration. Of course, they wouldn't care. Why would they? Even in Hell, all they could think about is themselves.



"Did you see that new guy, though?" The goat sinner asked.



"Yeah. He really gave Killjoy the biggest middle finger. And it was live!" The plant Sinner added. "You know, my garden got ruined thanks to her 'tips'. I was literally praying for him to break her larynx, too."



"Hallelujah!" The goat sinner replies with excitement before they laugh together. Asher begins to feel a little better hearing that, but in the end, it didn't matter. He sighs bitterly and walks away from them as Lisa sneaks around them.


"Excuse me. Pardon. Sorry." Lisa communicates all at once, trying to get past the crowd of Sinners.


"Nice outfit, slut!" One of the Sinners yells out, only for Apple to throw a heavy punch at one of them.


"Apple! He wasn't talking to you." Coco scolds.


"So?" Apple asks. Coco gives the answer pause before shrugging her shoulders.


"Fair point." Coco concedes before they follow Lisa again. Fortunately, the chase doesn't last long, as it ends at a nearby alley. By the time Lisa catches up, he sets his hand on the wall to try to calm himself down more. Lisa wants to ask how he's doing, but she backs away, letting him have the space he needs. It didn't sit right with him how quick they all were to dismiss Charlie's idea for redemption. If anything, the only thing they seemed to respect was when he assaulted Katie Killjoy with Charlie's help after she exposed their hotel as a failure. This was nowhere close to how he'd wanted to be remembered. …But then, why should he care?


In the long run, perhaps it may be for the best. He never cared about the Sinners around him, anyway. Why should they even be anywhere near Heaven after all the crimes they've done? What right did they have to even live after refusing to own up to their sins? And for that matter, why should he even help save them?! They've done nothing to earn it! They deserved to die! So why?! WHAT DID HE DO TO DESERVE BEING LUMPED TOGETHER WITH THESE MAGGOTS?!


His breathing grows harsher, gritting his teeth. Flashes in his head go back and forth from the people who laughed at Charlie's idea for the Happy Hotel to how he ended up here. He clenched his other hand on his chest, as if trying to claw his heart out and throw it away. All he could think about among the laughing Sinners is that damned room. That ritual… and the one who threw him down here… The culprit's smile as he ruins his life…


"Time for you to grow up… Ash."


AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!!!


Lisa, Apple, and Coco are jolted by his scream of rage as he throws a hard punch on the wall, leaving small cracks on it. But he didn't stop at one. He kept punching, again and again. His hand ends up getting bloodied in the process with how rough it is, but he didn't care. During all this, Lisa peeks her head out to see Asher lashing out at the wall.


It was so sad to watch, terrifying even. But why should she interrupt? He needed to let this anger out. The rate it is going, however, he could keep going until his arm turned numb. It would never get rid of this hatred… The cracks that expand on the wall are proof of that.


"WHY?! DON'T?! YOU?! CARE?!" Asher shouts to no one in particular before throwing one more punch to the wall, sending a powerful shockwave that causes the entire side of the wall to vibrate like an Earthquake is shaking it up. Lisa stares at this in incredible awe. He can't possibly be a normal human to have done that. Or perhaps he was… By the time Asher realizes what happened, his hand was already broken and bleeding. And he only notices this after seeing the blood on the wall where he'd punched it.


He pulls his hand back, leaving a trail of it between his hand and the wall, staring at its critical condition with awe and fright. He could tell his fist was numb, trembling in fury despite the injury incurred upon it. But the bad news keeps coming… The mortar bricks on the wall begin to fall apart faster than a house of cards.


"...Oh, shit." Asher tries to escape the pile of bricks falling down on him, but they are all about to collapse on him! Thinking quickly, Lisa grabs him by his hand and pulls him away before they could crush him, as a large puff of dust explodes out of the alley and onto the streets. At the alley, an Imp is in the bathtub on the exposed side of the building, using a bar of soap to clean himself as the bubbles in the tub thankfully blocked out his less than appropriate parts. He sighs to himself with a grumble before grabbing the shower curtain in the tub to go over the whole tub.


"Stupid perverts..." He grumbles to himself. But beneath him, Asher is in Lisa's arms, held close by the Succubi as she has a breathless, terrified expression.


"Oh, Lilith, that was close." Lisa says to herself, taking a moment to look at Asher to make sure that he is alright. "Are you okay?" But when she locks eyes with him, she sees that he is completely stiff. With his face close to her body, his eyes are locked to her Double-E bust, making him blush beet red. But he tries to look up away from them and to her face, trying to be respectful.


"Uh, yeah. Yeah, I'm fine." Asher replies, trying to process what happened. She sighs in relief.


"That's good." Lisa replies with a smile. She props him back up on his feet, and he stands on his own, brushing the dust off of his jacket as Apple and Coco walk up to her.


"Girl, are you crazy?!" Coco exclaims, fearing what would've happened if she hadn't been able to get out in time.


"You coulda been flatter than a pancake!" Apple adds, having just as much concern.


"Could've been, but I'm not." Lisa tells them with a reassuring smile. "Besides, it was worth it to save him."


"Save me?" Asher asks, wondering why all of a sudden he mattered. "Wait, why did you save me?"


"Well… I saw you were having a bad day. And I… wanted to see if I can make it better." Lisa tells him with a soft smile. For a moment, Asher appeared convinced. However, he also knew the group he was dealing with: Succubi. And if there's one thing he knew about them, it's that they were insatiable.


"Okay, I'm gonna stop you right there. I'm not really looking for any sexual relationship." Asher tells her bluntly with his hands held up, as if to block her from going near him.


"Neither was I." Lisa responds, tilting her head to the side a bit.


"Well, I might be interested~" Apple admits with a wag of her tail, but Coco puts her hand on her shoulder.


"Apple, keep it together, girl." Coco urges.


"Do you… wanna come along?" Lisa offers.


"Why?" Asher asks aloud, still having doubts about their intentions.


"Like I said, I saw you were having a bad day. And I want to help make it better." Lisa reiterates with a cross of her arms.


"...Okay, what's the catch?" Asher asks, trying to be certain for himself.


"Just come with us already." Coco sternly replies.


"Coco, easy. He's had a hard day." Lisa interrupts with a tender tone. "You guys know what it was like for me."


"Well, you were raped. That is NOT the same thing as being humiliated on TV." Coco responds with a dead serious tone.


"Wait, you were what?" Asher questions, completely shocked by what he just heard. Usually it was the other way around.


"That's… a long story. I just want to help." Lisa reminds him honestly. "Can you let me?" There is a brief silence between the two, and for a moment, he seemed like he'd refuse again. But instead, he wondered. Until now, he'd spent three weeks in Hell in the Hotel away from them. It made him wonder how much he really knew about the Sinners and demons here at all. Besides, anywhere's better than being out in the open skulking by himself, especially when they're liable to kill him.


"...Okay. Where are we going?" Asher sighs, partly from exhaustion, and from defeat.


"Somewhere you can be safe." Lisa tells him.


"And where you can let loose~" Apple teases.


"Apple." Coco growls, making her pull back a bit.


"Uh, if you want to, that is." Apple corrects with a nervous laugh. Their relationship is open-ended, but even so, Coco has to be sure that Apple is taking their own consent to account.


"Not really, but… thanks." was Asher's reply.


"Come on. Let's get you a drink." Lisa offers.


"I don't drink alcohol." Asher rebuffs.


"Who said it was gonna be alcohol? Where we're going, I know a better drink." Lisa says with a soft smile as Asher walks with her, Apple, and Coco.

---

Meanwhile, Charlie is outside the hotel by the limousine. Her jacket was gone, taken off and left inside the hotel. She seems very saddened and anxious about how today has gone. With her dreams of saving Sinners crumbling to pieces, she has no idea what to do anymore. If anyone would know what to do, she believed her mom would. Granted, it had been seven years since she last spoke with her, but one of these days, she has to call back. Right…?



The account holder on this line is unavailable, or they're avoiding you.



Charlie's face went flat at the message.



Please leave a message.



"Hey, mom." Charlie begins. "I know I keep calling and you must be busy... Really busy... But, um, the interview didn't go well, I let my best friend down, and... I don't know if I'm ever going to make a difference. Charlie sinks to her knees and starts tearing up, unable to handle the guilt of that as she wipes it off her face. "I don't know what I'm doing. I could really use some advice, mom. I... I think dad was right about me…"



Charlie begins to weep softly for a moment, but she keeps herself together to keep from crying too much. No matter how much she's hurt, she has to fix this. Maybe it is selfish of her to ask, she thought, but she can't live with the fact that she couldn't help her people, or Asher. Why did it all have to be on her?



Of course, Charlie wanted to help them. That's never changed. But what hurt her the most was that her mother, her very inspiration, had left her seven years ago. It was almost like she left just to avoid her. But she couldn't have? Could she? No… of course she did. Whatever she did wrong, she never told her. She just got up and left. Asher was right. Nothing about it was okay. "Why did you leave me?! Why couldn't you just tell me what I'm doing wrong?! Was I that much of a burden to you?! I can't figure out why you left, or why you've been gone for so long, but if they don't care, and you're not even going to bother caring enough to talk to me, then… then what's the point?!"



In her flustered frustration, Charlie threw her phone into the window of the car. Good thing was, the windshield was rolled down, most likely from Angel fiddling with it on the way back. Charlie begins to break down as she sinks to her knees, letting her tears flow in quiet sobs, burying her head between her legs. As she wept, Vaggie came outside to check on her, only to see her in a miserable state. She went and closed the door gently before kneeling down beside her. She taps Charlie by the shoulder, making the princess notice her. Almost immediately, she glommed her into a hug where she emptied out her tears onto her shoulder whilst Vaggie hugged her back.



It was at that moment when Ridge arrived at the entrance. The first thing he sees is Vaggie, along with Charlie, who is crying to herself, unable to figure out how to fix it all. When he approaches them, Vaggie becomes surprised, and she taps her head, making Charlie lift her head up to see him. Right away, she rubs her eyes to get the tears off her face. "Oh… h-hey. I'm sorry." He said nothing, having a soft, empathetic glance.



"Anything we can do for you?" Vaggie asks, surprised that a Sinner came to the hotel willingly after the fiasco that happened today. But after looking at the Princess and seeing how hard she's trying to smile after bawling her eyes out, Ridge had a better question.



"Are you feeling alright?" He asked her.



"Y-Yeah. I'm fine." Charlie says before pausing for a moment. At this point, what good would lying do? "No. Actually, I'm not okay…"



"You wanna talk about it?" Ridge asked her. Charlie considered for a moment before nodding sadly.



"I appreciate it, sir, but… I don't know how you can help." Vaggie tells him with a dismal look.



"You'd be surprised how talking things out can help." Ridge tells them. Vaggie looks toward Charlie, who gives her a soft nod, letting her know it was okay to let him try.



"Okay… but I'm not leaving Charlie." Vaggie tells her.



"Nobody's asking you to." He replies gently. Ridge took a seat next to her and Vaggie before she began.



"I think… I might have… failed Ash." She says with a soft whimper.



"Ash? That man on the TV who stood by you?" Ridge asks, to which the Princess nodded glumly. "I failed him. Just like I failed mom. I try too hard to make the Hotel work, and then I just end up making everything worse! And then, they end up hating me…!"



"Well, I don't think anyone around here hates you." Ridge tells her. "The hotel, I mean."



"Mom does!" Charlie retorts. "She left me… for seven years…!" Charlie tells her. "Just like Asher left us…! I could've talked with him, but he said he wanted to think alone. Ugh! Why did I let him go…?!"



"Maybe you both just needed a break." Ridge tells her. "It sounds like you guys put a lot of pressure on yourselves today to make it work. And since it hasn't, you're beating yourselves up for it. Like earlier, you said you failed Asher. Why do you feel that way?"



"I don't know…" Charlie answered softly. "When I came up with the hotel, it was to help Sinners. And then… he came along. An actual living being in Hell. He was there, alive, and he hasn't even died yet. He was scared, and alone… I didn't want him to feel that way. So, I really tried to keep him happy and safe. He's always supported me, so I thought, 'there's someone I could always count on.' But I never stopped to think about who he could count on. Now…? Now, I feel like we're going to drift apart, like he's seen through all my tricks and doesn't trust me anymore. What if… what if he becomes a different person the next time I see him? Someone who doesn't want me around. Just like mom…" Charlie begins to cry softly as Vaggie comforts her with her hand brushing her hair down.



"Well… the way I see it, relationships are two-sided." Ridge begins. "Sometimes, it doesn't make sense to do all the heavy-lifting when the other isn't in the mood. We all go through and deal with things differently, and sometimes, you just need to let people do things their own way, as long as you're still there when they need you. Giving someone space should never be the same as giving up on them." Charlie begins to smile softly from his wisdom.



"Thanks, Mr… uh, sorry. I didn't get your name." Charlie says gratefully.



"My name's Ridge." He tells her. "Former dad, current therapist. And today… your new patron for the Happy Hotel." Charlie and Vaggie both had the most surprised looks on their faces, though the Princess was the most surprised of all. She ends up having the biggest smile on her face, and she immediately hugs Ridge.



"Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you…!" Charlie says gleefully with her face on his chest as Vaggie begins to smile back. She then looks out at the distance, feeling like he would've been proud to see it.



"See, Ash? Someone does care out there." Vaggie says with a soft grin. Her grin fades as she gazes at the crimson red sky above her. "...I just wish you'd come back and see it."

---

Meanwhile, Asher, Lisa, Apple, and Coco have walked into a small apartment complex. Inside the main room, Asher saw a stack of newspapers on a table next to a trundle couch. And in front of that was a coffee table, along with a small-screen TV, which is hooked up to the wall in between the windows. And that was just the main room. In the dining area, there was a silver-countertop bar with stools under it, and on the other side of the bar were cupboards, a refrigerator, and a pantry.


"And this is where the magic happens." Coco tells him with a warm, welcoming tone. "It's also where we can rest our haunches, put some food in our bellies, the like."


"And where we can get more comfortable~" Apple adds with a seductive grin. She makes a swaying motion with her large, thick hips that add to the teasing. Asher sees this and blushes hard, which Lisa notices. She realizes that despite appearances, he is getting uncomfortable.


"Uh, can you take it easy with that, Apple, please?" Lisa asks with a concerned tone. "I don't think he's used to our… freakiness."


"Aw, come on, Lisa. He likes it~" Apple teases, moving her rump a little closer. "Seriously. I can sense it." Asher peeks through his fingers, seeing Apple's bouncing bottom for himself.


"Okay, yeah, but that's not the point!" Asher interjects vehemently. He didn't intend to raise his voice, but he had to make his point clear. "Look, I know you're trying to help me get comfortable. But I've just had… a very shitty day, to say the least. And this kind of thing… it's not what I need right now. I'm sorry." Apple's face drops to a sad pout, her eyes quivering into a puppy's.


"Cone on, girl. Let's let him relax a bit, okay?" Coco suggests, giving her a hug from beside her to cheer her up. "Hey, how about we have some fun downstairs? You good with that, baby?" Apple gives her a cutely moaned, "Mmhmm" as she nods. "Let's go, Apple." Coco soothes her as she and Apple walk to the door and pass through it to walk down the stairs. Asher and Lisa are now the only ones in the living room by themselves.


"Do I… want to know what's down there?" Asher asks with a disturbingly high feeling he shouldn't know.


"Not unless you're as horny as they are." Lisa replies with a twitch in her tail, which then wraps around her waist, pulling tightly against itself like a belt.


"And what about you?" Asher questions, noticing how her tail has a mind of its own.


"No. Not today." Lisa sighs, walking past him to the kitchen area. She walks down the opening left between the stool and the wall to enter it. The floor was black and white checkered, and between the fridge and the pantry was the sink. Just as she opens the fridge door, Asher is reminded of what Coco brought up before. It's almost like she's avoiding anything to do with sex. Or at least trying hard to control herself as far as the subject goes.


"Here." Lisa says, pulling out a small glass bottle from the fridge and setting it onto the bar. "It's no beer, but in your case, I think you'll like this one best."


"You say that like I wanted Beer at all." Asher catches on, taking note of how she worded it. Lisa softens up shortly afterwards.


"Oh. Sorry. Most guys usually go nuts for that stuff." Lisa apologizes with a small tip downward from her head. "But… I'm glad you don't." Asher smiles a little at the blunette and looks at his drink. He sees a label on it that marks it as Black Cherry. It brought a small twinge to his face.


"What's wrong? You don't like it?" Lisa worried.


"Nah. I just had a bad memory about… cherry medicine." Asher explains, shuddering like he'd tasted poison just by thinking about it.


"Yeah. Not my favorite meds, either." Lisa chuckles as she imagines it. "But the drink's a lot better. Especially without any alcohol. Try it." Asher glances at the bottle, seeing for himself that it was true. After confirmation, he opens the lid with a cold snap, presses the tip of the open bottle to his lips, and he pours it downward. The second the liquid went down his throat with a gulp, his eyes went wide. Lisa saw this, and she began to worry, wondering if she should ask for real. But after setting the drink down, Asher begins to crack a smile. "Wow…! It's great!" Lisa smiles in relief, happy she didn't accidentally poison him.


"See? Told you you'll like it." Lisa reminds him with a grin. He takes another drink, going for a bit longer than one gulp this time, and after setting the bottle down, he looks at Lisa gratefully.


"Gotta tell you. I haven't been able to have a good drink like this since I ended up down here." Asher expresses almost in relief. But the second those words left his mouth… his whole expression changed instantly. His mind took him back to that day.


"Why do you waste your pity on these assholes?! They deserved this!"



"They could've been better!"



"THERE IS NO GETTING BETTER! Nothing about this world is worth saving!"



"There's always someone worth saving–!"



"So they can die for nothing! If you can't figure that out, then you're part of the problem!"


"You don't have all the answers all the time!"



"I'm the ONLY one with the answers! You're the one who's not listening to me!"


"Hey."

Asher looks up to see Lisa's cute crimson face looking at him with concern.

"You doing okay?"

Asher's face hangs low, recovering from a wretched walk down memory lane.

"Yeah. I'm fine." Asher blankly answers, taking another swig of his black cherry soda. After that, Asher softens up his tone, trying not to be rude. "Thanks to you."

"Hmm?"

"If you hadn't pulled me out of there, I would've been crushed to death, and then…" Asher pauses, trying not to imagine where he would've ended up after his outburst from earlier.

"It's nothing, really." Lisa assures him with a bubbly smile. "If anything, I'm the one who should be thanking you."

"Hmm? What for?" Asher looks at her in the eyes, waiting for her answer. During which, she sighs with a soft grin.

"I saw your interview earlier. And I like what you said back there." Lisa leans forward on the bar, resting her chest against it. "You said that whether I hated myself, or somebody else, I can choose to be better. Even in Hell."

"But… why would that matter to you?" Asher is in disbelief that anyone would tell him his words ever mattered. All they did was laugh and mock the idea of redemption. For all he knew, she might just be stringing him along. But Lisa holds her head down with her eyes closed.

"It does. You remember what Coco mentioned before?" Asher softens his expression. He did remember. She was raped, or so he heard.

"Yeah. So it really happened to you? How?" It wasn't as though he doubted it ever happened. No matter what Lisa is, hearing about that is hard to believe on its own.

"I used to have a boyfriend." Lisa regretfully admits. "I didn't know better like I thought, and I used to think he was good for me. But, when I turned 18, he started getting… physical. More paranoid, even." Asher had a hunch about where it was going, and he didn't want to force her to relive that pain.

"You don't have to—" Asher attempts to assure her, but Lisa persists.

"I know. But it's—" Lisa stops herself for a moment before taking a deep breath to compose herself. "It's gotta come out sooner or later, anyway. It's better that way for both of us. Anyway, he started suspecting me of everything, lashing out at me. And every time I cried, he thought I was manipulating him. One day… he decided not to even look at me as anything human anymore. That day, my dad tried to stop him, but the police got the wrong idea, and…!"

She pauses again, struggling harder to control herself before she ends up drinking a bottle of her own soda to try to calm herself down. She continues trying to breathe, going slower as Asher absorbs what he's heard so far… and needless to say, he was beyond shocked. But he had a feeling it wasn't the worst of it.

"Anyway, dad was gone. And the court ruled in favor of my ex over me." Lisa solemnly adds. "I wanted to just end it all. So I'd never have to feel this pain ever again…!" Asher's expression begins to soften with understanding. There was only one way his words could have so much impact on her.

"You're a Sinner… aren't you?" Asher asks out of the gate, beginning to feel very bad for her. Lisa notices his expression, and she shakes her head.

"I almost was. But then I met Apple and Coco. They saw me when I was about to… well, commit die. It took them a lot of convincing before I ended up going with them." She makes a small, sad laugh. "The craziest thing is, I went with them when I saw their demon forms. I thought, 'if I'm going to Hell anyway… why bother with the effort of killing myself?'"

A brief moment of silence followed afterwards. Then, the drip of a tear broke the silence. Lisa looks up and she sees Asher struggling not to break down, made evident by the grip on his soda bottle, threatening to crack it on impact.

"I should've been there…" Asher says in a deep, soft pain.

"Ash…" Lisa tries to comfort him, but his grip on the bottle worsens. "I-It's not all bad here."

"How is it not? A den full of murderers, rapists, cannibals, liars, thieves! Last I checked, Hell is supposed to be eternal torture for the damned!" Asher interrupts with a lot of doubt to air out. "You're the last person who should be stuck here with those… those…!"

"Sinners?" Lisa finishes.

"Exactly! They clearly don't want to be better!" Asher adds.

"Then what was the point of your message? Why would you even bother if that was how you really felt?" Lisa sharply speaks, making Asher's face shrink from her words. "You even said it yourself that there may be a chance they won't even care, but you tried anyway. Are you telling me that was a lie?"

"…No. I'm just tired of it." Asher sighs dismally. "People not caring what they do to others. It was like that back home, too. Well… not as excessively as here, but enough where I couldn't just do nothing. Usually, I'm able to talk sense into almost everybody. I-I thought I'd be able to make the same difference here, too, but… The one time I failed, I'm sent down here, and three weeks later, nothing's changed, and I've got a temper I never had before. I guess I'm not as good a person as I thought."

"…I used to think that about myself." She replies, making him curious.

"Hmm?"

"When they took me in, I expected to be punished and tortured, but thinking back, the whole time, they were only ever nice to me." As she explains, she didn't notice that Apple and Coco were peeking through the door, watching the conversation. "I was just too timid to be into the same things they are after what I've been through. But they wanted to be my friend despite that. And they even gave me a way to blend in. I haven't been appreciative enough of that, but it really means a lot that they'd care enough to do that for me. And I'm guessing you've had people like them, too."

"Yeah. They're the whole reason I was alive for the past three weeks. And… they genuinely cared about it." Asher tells her. "But… I don't know how I can repay that anymore. Angel's ruined it for good."

"Well, maybe you just need to give yourself some time to get used to it all, like I did." Lisa suggests. "I know it's a lot easier said than done, but when I heard your words, I was comfortable with the idea of being here forever. Because you showed me even here, you can still be good. Maybe your message didn't get through to everyone, but who knows? Someone might come along that shares that belief with you. Like me."

Asher is staring at her, as if he's heard the most beautiful thing in his whole life. Lisa ends up blushing, believing she came across to him differently.

"Sorry. I don't even know what I'm saying." She apologizes. But the soft contact on her hand gets her attention, and she looks back at him, having a soft smile.

"Thanks, Lisa." He gratefully tells her. "I really needed to hear that after today." Lisa beams a gentle smile to him and nods.

"Sure. But you deserve some thanks, too." Lisa replies, making him chuckle warmly. Right then, they heard Apple sniffling nearby. They turned their heads to see her and Coco just outside the door.

"That's so beautiful, Lisa… I didn't know you cared…!" Apple sniffles.

"Apple, we can literally sense emotions." Coco reminds her.

"But it means so much… to hear it out loud!" Apple breaks down with Coco giving her a hug as Apple cried with joy.

"Uh, how long have you guys been up here?" Lisa asks.

"Just since we heard him yell at you." Coco answers with a small glare at Asher, making him laugh sheepishly. "But then you stood up for yourself, and we ended up watching the whole thing break into monologue. In short, we're proud of you."

"Oh! Well… thank you." Lisa gratefully tells her with a dark blush on her cheeks. "For this, and…"

"Yeah. We know." Coco adds with a grin. "So, anything you need before Apple and I pick up where we left off?" Lisa is about to dismiss them, but right then, she begins to have a different idea in mind. She glances at him, then to herself, staring at her crimson skin. Her eyes finally look back at Apple and Coco.

"Actually, there is one thing." Lisa answers with a courteous grin.

"What's that?" Asher wonders.

"I did tell you they gave me a way to blend in." Lisa reminds him with a soft smile. Apple gasps with eagerness, all too willing to go through with it.

"Right away!" Apple yipped, rushing down the stairs.

"Should I be worried about that…?" Asher gulps.

Shortly after, Lisa is holding a small yellow diamond in her palm. Apple and Coco were beside her, the former of whom is most eager. They were in front of Asher, who was sitting on the trundle couch.

"What is that?" Asher stares at the yellow diamond with interest.

"It's an Asmodean Crystal." Lisa replies as she picks up the crystal and holds it out. "It's a little complicated. But the idea is that it runs on Lust."

"And when you say lust, you mean…?" Asher hesitates to ask, hoping it wasn't what he thought.

"No, you don't have to force yourself on anyone." Lisa and Coco add together with a serious look.

"Ohhh, thank heaven." Asher sighs heavily with relief. "Wait. But isn't it your guys' thing?"

"No. That's the way Sinners think. They're degenerates." Coco adds with crossed arms.

"But we're not." Apple adds with a sad look.

"That's right. We Hellborn have more dignity than that." Coco says with a glare as she pats Coco's head.

"Oh… sorry." Asher apologizes, feeling bad for coming off as judgmental.

"Anyway, that's not going to make it work." Lisa continues. "It has to do with genuine feelings of connection. Or arousal, in most cases. But let's avoid that for now."

"Yeah, good call." Asher concurs. "But what kind of connection?"

"You know, like friendships. Or families, boyfriends, girlfriends, family, even friends with benefits." Lisa lists on her fingers.

"And we have a lot of those here." Coco interjects.

"Not complaining, though." Apple adds, cuddling up to Coco.

"Any connection will do. Like so." Lisa holds the crystal closer to her, and she closes her eyes. The blunette Succubus takes a deep breath as the crystal begins to work its magic. Suddenly, to his surprise, a surge of brilliant and glowing crystal magic is flowing around her body, changing its color to a pale tan color. The horns on her head shrink down to her head, as well as her tail, her feet and legs turn to normal with her black knee-high socks under her red sneakers, and her red demonic eyes turn to a normal emerald green. Asher finds himself staring in awe over her human appearance.

"Wow…!" He exclaims in surprise.

"See?" Lisa holds the crystal closer to him. "Now you try it." Asher picks up the crystal with two of his fingers and looks at it.

"Okay… where do I start?" He wonders aloud.

"Just earlier, you were talking about Charlie and Vaggie, right? Like, how much do they mean to you?" Lisa suggests. Asher looks into the crystal as he reflects on them.

"Charlie is…" he begins. "Well, it's surprising how easily excitable and adorable Charlie is, and she's the Princess. She's almost like a little kid in a young woman's body. But she really knew how to step up when it came down to it. Despite how it backfired so badly, she was willing to stand up for her people. And the hotel." As he speaks, the crystal begins softly glowing.

"And Vaggie? She's always stood by Charlie's side as her girlfriend/guardian. For a good while, I thought she was out to get me just for the fact that I'm a guy. She didn't seem to like men. But one day, when it was just the two of us… I heard her break down." Lisa, Apple, and Coco look at him immediately with surprise.

"I won't tell you the specifics about what made it happen, but I did the only thing I could do, and I stayed with her, holding her and letting her get the time and air she needed. After that… she started to trust me. Like she doesn't feel so alone anymore. And… that's when I started to feel that way, too. Ever since… I stopped thinking about just going home."

"Just going home?" Lisa repeats in curiosity.

"Don't get me wrong, I don't plan on staying here. But I don't want to leave Charlie and Vaggie alone, either." Asher tells them with conviction. "Not when they need this hotel to work more than ever. At the very least, I want to be there for them because I want to be near them. Back home, I spent so much time worrying about how to help everybody that I never thought about what makes me happy." The Crystal's glow comes on again, but a little stronger.

"All I know is, Charlie and Vaggie. They make me the happiest person in the world. The Underworld, even!" The Crystal hums in his palm as the girls look on. "I don't want to imagine any world without them in it. Not even for one second." Before he knew it, the Crystal suddenly shoots out a pink light right at Asher, blinding the trio. When the blinding light fades away, the trio find themselves in awe over the result.

"Oh…" Lisa begins.

"My…" Apple adds."

"Lilith." Coco finishes, all three of them speechless.

"What? How do I look?" Asher inquires, unaware of his new appearance. He now has two long goatlike horns on his head, along with his skin being crimson red. His legs turned into an imp's being hind legged and having small feet, almost like hooves. And to cap it off, he has a long prehensile tail like a dagger, and red demonic eyes in a sea of yellow.

"Like a badass slayer~" Coco says with an approving smile, holding her phone up to her face to take a picture of him. After the snap, she shows Asher the image of his demon form. Needless to say, he was very much surprised.

"I look… awful." Asher says aloud.

"Yeah, I remember that feeling." Lisa tells him, sitting closer to him. "But it's a good thing. It's how Hellborn demons usually look in Hell, so you're good."

"Well, that's a relief." Asher sighs. "Can't imagine Charlie would be too happy if she saw me like this, though. She'd think I killed myself and bawl for hours." Lisa giggles at the thought of Charlie acting as such.

"Hehe~! That's really sweet." Lisa laughs gently. "But let's not torture her like that."

"Agreed." Asher replies.

"So, what's your plan now that that Sinner has sunk your redemption ship?" Coco asks, wondering what he intends to do.

"Well… I'll just man the lifeboats." Asher replies as he stands up on his feet. But the girls are initially confused before he grumbles and tries to explain himself. "I mean, I'll just go out and see if anyone's interested in the Hotel."

"Ohhh." They said in unison.

"Why didn't you say so?" Coco adds in the end.

"I'll go with you. You're gonna need some help." Lisa volunteers as she stands up, too.

"You sure? Hell's not exactly a friendly place." Asher warns.

"Eh, I've been through worse." Lisa reminds him with a confident smile, taking the crystal and changing back into her own Succubus form.

"Well… alright, as long as you're sure." Asher sighs with a slow grin. "But the second it's dangerous, we dip."

"Fair enough." Lisa acknowledges with a nod. Then, she turns to Apple and Coco. "See you guys later. And remember, if you find my stuff in the closet, don't touch anything."

"Got it!" They say in unison, only for Apple to become puzzled.

"Wait, what? Awww…~" She pouts with a sad cat face.

"You know, this isn't gonna be easy explaining this to Vee." Coco warns.

"Yeah. But it wouldn't be impossible either." Lisa replies with a soft grin. "But, if you really think I should stay and let her know…"



"Oh, it's fine, girl. Just go have fun out there, Lisa. You deserve it more than anyone." Coco says with a soft smile. Lisa leans toward them and quickly hugs Apple and Coco together.

"Thanks, you guys. Both of you." Lisa says gratefully as she hugs them in her arms. With that, she and Asher leave together, the latter becoming curious.

"Who's V?" Asher asks her as they walk out of the room.

"You're gonna be surprised when I tell you." Lisa warns just as she closes the door. A few seconds later…

"WHAT?!" Asher bellows at the top of his lungs, the ground itself shaking briefly like it was a Hellquake causing it.

"Yeah, that reaction never gets old." Coco says with a playful smile.

"So, should we let Verosika know that there's… another human?" Apple asks the last part quietly.

"Yeah, but she's got a kid to look after. I don't think it'll matter much as long as she keeps an eye out. She's definitely got more grit than usual around him." Coco tells her, having a seductive smile on her face. "Besides, you and I aren't done playing yet, kitten~" Coco brushes her hand across Apple's cheek.

She purrs against Coco's warm touch. They lean toward each other as they press their lips together, and they fall backwards, moaning loudly as they engage passionately in fits of giggles.