Have a nice Vacay at the Hazbin Hotel!

by banzairaven

Summary:

Alastors provocations trigger Vox to once more blackout all of Pentagram City, including the TV at the Hazbin Hotel, where the big head honcho himself had a nice relaxing movie night with his daughter and her friends.
Needless to say that Lucifer is pissed and as a result (only alternative to being killed on the spot) Vox is forced to move into the hotel for a "vacation" to learn how to contain his anger issues with Alastor, all the while trying to prepare the Vees against whatever sinister plans the Radio Demon seems to be brewing between those antlers of his.

Chapter 1: Movie Night

Vox was in a shitty mood, stabbing his pancakes as if they were the face of a certain radio demon. Which was especially unfortunate considering Velvette had actually made them to cheer him up and forget this bastard for a change while having late breakfast with his two best buddies and the silent sharks in the tank around them.

“Vox, darling, if you continue to frown like that your pixels might get stuck and I’m not the one who wants to deal with your antics when we have to change the screen. Again.”

She loudly snapped her fingers to catch the attention of the only other person in the room, “Val, stop glaring at your phone and say something, too! Your flat faced prince gets on my nerves!”

The pimp just absent mindedly waved one hand in her direction, continued to type energetically with another and lighted a cigarette with the remaining ones, “Oh let him be. It’s just a phase.”
“Just a phase? You serious?” She accusingly pointed at him with her phone, “We already had two musicals broadcasted all over Pride this week alone and you can’t tell me those blackouts are good for business!”

That made him lift his head, looking thoughtful, before licking his lips suggestively, “True. While sometimes it can be interesting to leave some parts to your imagination, my art usually works best the other way around.” He took a puff from his cig and breathed out a cloud of red smoke towards his flat screened partner in crime, “Vox, babe, please stop following your kinks with Alastor in public and do them privately at home, yes?”

A disheartening breaking noise told Velvette, that this time around not only the pancake, but the plate below it had suffered from her buddy’s temper. Vox tried to shoo away the persistent red smoke surrounding him.

“Oh, come on you two, stop ganging up on me!” his voice turned slightly mechanical, “I’ve gotta make a statement!” before he jumped up from his seat and spread his arms in his typical showman style, “The blackouts can be seen as a power move! There are not many demons around who could do that! Besides… We’re in fucking hell!”

Calm again he sat back down and showed them a soundless collection of movie clips from ‘hells greatest fuckups’ on his screen, multiple videos playing at once next to each other. He waited a couple of seconds to let his examples sink in before he pointed at them, “People are used to this shit. Nobody has a right to complain!”

“It is not a power move, when the fucking radio continues to laugh even while everything else is dark. That’s just creepy, even for our standards!” Velvette turned her phone in his direction, “Vox VS Alastor is trending!” She frowned slightly, “Get rid of that smug grin at once! It’s not in a good way, believe me and I am the expert here. Polls are popping up left and right and people are betting real money on how long it will take for Alastor to add your lovely vocals into his Overlord collection. They don’t even bet about the if, they only bet about the when!”

Vox simply rolled his eyes at that, even though his left eye started to shift into its more threatening hypnotic version, “Mindless fools. Everybody saw how cowardly he ran away from Adam. Because I broadcasted the whole damn thing! Helping the masses along to see the fucking truth!”

Velvette simply shook her head at that, leaned back and started scrolling through the newest comments on her Sinstagram account, “Oh please, not again! You used that argument in your first song this Monday and he won that one by stating that he at least did fight, while we were hiding back home.”

“Tch… It was not our place to fight. Let the enemies wear each other down, before jumping in and crushing them all in one single well aimed strike!”, a big toothy smile spread over his screen, “Still a pretty good show, though.”
“Better then sex.” Valentino smirked while quoting the other V.

Vox decided not to fall for his friends teasing, “Alastor aside, the whole thing turned out great for us. I convinced the masses that that bitch Carmine lied to us all along. She knew from the start how to kill the angels, only entrusting Alastor and the princess with these secrets instead of her other fellow overlords! Now she is forced to work with us and improve Angelic Security if she does not want to lose face as hells biggest arms dealer.”

 

Velvette shuddered slightly, “That reminds me how you decided to haggle with the cannibals to get them to sell you some halfdead angel and their weapons just in case negotiations with Carmine would go sideways.”

His screen went black a second longer than it should have been, before a confident face reappeared on it, “It was worth the sacrifice in the long run”, tapping his artificial head knowingly, “Carmine is not the only one who has some big brains working for her. Maybe not specialized in high quality weaponry, yet, but good enough for basically all worthwhile technology currently on the market. Because, ladies and gentleman,” this time he pointed at both of them, “Vees for the victory! “
His smile grew wider and turned into laughter seconds later.

Apparently, all Vox had needed to cheer up was another little reminder that he was actually awesome and powerful, no matter what fucking Alastor claimed!

 

☻☺☻

 

He still had troubles believing he was not an absolute failure as a father!

That little clash with Adam had been the sugar on the cake. Nothing better than pruning the hateful Ex of your wife! He graciously ignored that tiny little itch in his heart that felt like he lost part of his past, considering he had known the guy since the creation of mankind and that nowadays Lilith might be his wife in name only.

Regretful as it was that the Hotel kind of got destroyed along the way he was not particularly sad about it. Because in the aftermath he had been able to show off the talents he developed all these years back when he first designed Lu Lu World.

And the best part: Now It did no longer scream Radio Demon all over the place! Conveniently enough the time Alastor had needed to gather himself was the time they needed to finish off most of the building!

Sadly, there was another issue he had only realized after the hotel was completed.

His official reason to be there was gone.

He watched his magic-tastical back flipping rubber duck spit fire once more.

No applause.

There was no one there to be amazed of his invention.

He was back home, being ’busy’.

Because that was what he had told her year after year… The king of hell was supposed to be busy. Right?

Unfortunately, his rubber duck inspiration had left him completely now that he had experienced how good it felt to be appreciated by your own daughter. To actually be there for her…

He would probably never admit it to anyone but he had all the time in the world!  

Pretty much everyone Charlie cared about nowadays lived at her new awesome hotel and he couldn’t bring himself to ask her if he might join the club.

Instead of uselessly waiting in his man cave until she called again or her second pet-goat got sacrificed to alarm him that she was in danger.

Meaning he would be there too late, again.

With a big sigh he let his head crash against the empty worktable, wholeheartedly sulking. 

 

Until the moment a familiar ring tone started to fill the silence.

This time he picked up right away, internally proud of his growth, “Hey Charlie!” and, having learned his lesson, he didn’t even wait for her answer before adding, “how is the Hazbin Hotel doing? The place you live now, because I do remember! Did it burn down? Do you need help from the big boss of hell himself renovating, because the deer trashed the place?”

His response was silence, long enough to question if she might have hung up. After a couple of seconds, that felt like an eternity he sheepishly added, “Sweetie? You still there?”

“Oh, sorry! Hi. Dad.” His heart took a happy jump in his chest when he finally heard her voice, “Yes I’m still there I just wanted to ask you if… maybe…”

“Maybe?” He was at the edge of his seat.

“Maybe you’d like to join us on movie night today? I know it’s relatively spontaneous and you’re quite busy…”

“Oh, I’m not! Busy I mean… I mean, I was busy up until… now… But now I have some time to spare! What’s a Movie Night?”

“Right… You think TV scrambles the brain… You don’t have to…”

“Oh yes I do! I mean… Could you please explain it to me, please?”

“It is a form of entertainment we occasionally do at the hotel. The whole gang coming together, relaxing and watching educational movies about redemption while trying to avoid Angel to slip in his work.”
“Sounds great when do we start?”

“At night.”

“Right.”

“7.30.”

“I’ll be there on the minute!”

 

☻☺☻

 

Being back at the top of his game he could look forward to his meeting with hells most popular arms dealer to start developing ’Angelic Security 2.0’ which involved not only protecting from but actually getting rid of any unwanted heavenly intruders.

For appearance’s sake he had invited her into one of the pride rings fanciest restaurants, the ’Craven Raven’ to talk business. Even more influential demons from the lower rings were frequent visitors of the place, led by some of the greatest former human chefs. Sketchy ingredients or slightly too aggressive protection of their secret recipes had ended many of them down here instead of upstairs.

Thanks to the customers gossip the Craven Raven was also one of the rare occasions where Vox at least gained a glance of what happened in high society outside of the sinners’ prison that was de facto the pride ring.  

He had even seen Asmodeus and his little imp in person. Thrilled he had watched, as the sin of Lust and Val had clashed with their surprisingly different worldviews. Unfortunately, the meeting had been cut short by Val being thrown out of the restaurant permanently with a house ban.

Even for somebody as influential as Vox it was difficult to get a reservation if he did not book months in advance, especially since the staff still associated him with the temper of his fellow V and did not trust him.

How come this week had been filled with situations where he had to haggle with people he did not want to haggle with?

 

If he was honest to himself for a second it might be that he felt threatened by the strange attitude with which Alastor had returned after his defeat. It concerned him, considering his experience with Alastor way back when things still were… And the second was over!

 

Vox received Carmine’s message two hours before their appointment, reading it aloud twice, because his brain didn’t want to accept it:

“Sorry, something came up. We will have to postpone to next week. Fuck!” He crushed his phone in his hand, it’s remains crumbling harmlessly to the ground, “who or what could be so important that that bitch dares to add even more fuel to the flames?! Didn’t she say she wanted to avoid a war? If she continues like that it’s not the angels who will fall first!"

 

☻☺☻

 

No, he did not teleport over an hour too early and then just quietly lurked around the entrance gathering his bravery to ring the bell! That would be totally absurd.

Lucifer smiled politely, not as if he had been caught red-handed, when a grumpy cat opened the door and just raised an eyebrow at him, refraining from mentioning that there were still 43 minutes until the agreed upon time or the widely known teleportation skills of the king of hell.

Mumbling something along the lines of “Not gonna touch this can of worms”, Husk just signaled the fallen angel to follow him in, “Want some booze?”

“No, thank you I will just sit and wait over there admiring this impressive long overdue new interior design of your hotel!” pointing to one of the comfy looking couches in the classic golden and red snake and apple design he had magicked into existence not even a week ago.
Husk just shrugged and, back behind his sparkling new bar, took a mighty sip out of the bottle in his hand, “Your loss.”

 

☻☺☻

 

“Dad! So good to see you! How have you been?!”

Not a second after she had entered the room Charlie caught him in a strong hug and after the first initial shell shock, he patted her back with a proud smile, “Hey there, Sweetie.” Before switching into a much more eager state raising his cane, “Buzzling with energy for this movie night! With you there seems to be everybody here, except… Huh…” He thoughtfully glanced over the by now familiar faces next to his daughter, which he even had bothered to learn the names of: Husk, Angel Dust, Vaggie, Cherrie Bomb, Niffty, even Razzle and KeeKee, who promptly jumped upon his shoulder and let him tickle her below the chin.

Vaggie was so kind to break the silence, “Alastor hates our TV. We actually made a deal not to ever again force him to interact with it. When we told him this morning, he decided to find other means of entertainment for the evening.”

“Is that so? Ah, who needs that prick! Do we have any snacks?”

“I made cookies!” With a wide smile Niffty presented her work and was caught last second by Angel before falling over.

“Ok, so what are we watching?”
Charlie proudly waved a dusty DVD around, “The princess and the Frog! It is a movie made by humans, which some way or another found its way down here to us in hell. I was hoping I might be able to convince Alastor with the Jazz parts, but he remained stubborn. Besides that, it’s a lovely story about a guy turning into a frog and finding his way to become a better person. That and the villain sounds just like Husk and has some cool singing parts, before he gets dragged to the other side.”

“Spoilers, hon,” Angel chirped in, seemingly entertained by her enthusiasm, trying to throw an arm over the bartenders’ shoulder, who dodged with the experience earned over months living with the spider, “now that we all know what`s gonna happen, let’s watch one of mine instead!”

Husk rolled his eyes, “Big Nope on that one.”

Meanwhile Charlie was just a sparkling ray of sunshine and happily smiled at all of them, “Oh I just know this will be great!”

 

☻☺☻

 

“So, what has you all riled up, Alastor? And why did you insist to meet here of all places?” Carmilla Carmine let her gaze wander suspiciously over the park in the middle of Cannibal Town.

The radio demon glanced over the rim of his cup towards the two overlords sitting opposite to him, “I have thought about what you have told us and decided that you dancing to the tune of the Vees is to be avoided and not in my best interest. Not in yours, either. Hence this impromptu emergency meeting.”

Next to him Rosie munched one of her finger snacks. She had left the plate in the middle of the table, next to the porcelain teapot, but was currently the only one helping herself to them, “While I cannot and will not condemn my people to take his offer, I have to admit even I did not feel comfortable with the CEO of VoxTech stretching his reach over to my town. We usually tend to be a bit more”, she smirked, “old fashioned.”

Alastors grin meanwhile never left, while he mockingly touched his own heart, “And that, my dear, is why I love it here.”

Zestial quietly observed and Carmilla rubbed her temple, “I will not deny that I do think these inane youngsters act out of turn. Nonetheless in the public eye they might be right. I withheld critical information from our citizens that could have very well changed our status quo against the angels.”

“Oh, deer. If it helps, I think it was a great decision on your part to entrust your secrets to us. There is no need for you to feel overly threatened by the likes of my old pal Vox and you should not meet him with such a premise in mind.”

“Thus, you dragged me away from my meeting with him? Not feeling threatened yourself he might strike a deal with me, that could turn out to be problematic for you in the future?”

“He simply seems to have forgotten who is really in charge. And please do not dare to misinterpret what we are going to do next. I am just stepping down to the level of an annoying roach for a second, which has become too loud to ignore with its childish displays to present it with the truth.” He snapped his fingers, “Rosie, be a darling!”

Carmilla just glared into the camera, Zestials face did not change at all and Rosie gave off her air of elegance, when the cannibal took a selfie of the four of them, even though Alastor only showed up in his typical fuzzy antitechnology glory on the final picture. Grinning viciously Rosie started typing.

Curiously Zestial leaned over the table, “What may be the hashtag? Oh”, he smiled, “a classy one.”

Carmilla did not seem to be amused, “You know I tried to avoid a war?”

“But if we are forced to have one, do you want to be the one in control or would you rather have its reins in the hands of the Vees?”

“Only over my dead body.”

Alastors smile grew wider, “Splendid,” followed by the words no Overlord ever wanted to hear, especially not from the radio demon, “then let’s make a deal, before Rosie sends our message on its merry way.”

 

☻☺☻

 

They were currently at the part where the voodoo man tried to convince his friends of the other side to make another deal with him to send their shadows out to hunt down a frog and the girl he had just casually dragged down with him into frog hell.

The mood was perfect. It had been a while since Lucifer had felt simply relaxed, without any looming danger on the horizon, and as part of a group.

Probably before Lilith decided to leave. He banished such dark thoughts before they could take root.

Vaggie and Charlie snuggling with each other was simply too precious, he was so happy for his girl.

Meanwhile next to them on the second couch Angel complained about the ‘childfriendlyness’ of it all. Which did not discourage him from occasionally acting jump scared trying to find safety in the arms of Husk, much to the annoyance of the cat-man and the amusement of Cherri Bomb, the last couch occupant who occasionally leaned to the side to give the bartender some space to avoid Angels arms.

Niffty was sitting on the red carpet in front of them all just staring on the screen, her pupil turning small and maybe slightly creepy?

And, last but not least, being the smart guy that he was Lucifer had chosen the solo arm chair. A curled-up Razzle on his lap and a yawning Keekee on his shoulder. Both seemingly just living in the moment.

 

The deal was struck and the living shadows started their journey into the Bayou looking for their victim until…

 

The dark color tunes of the swamp had an abrupt switch to vibrant blue and the ‘666News’:

“We interrupt whatever unimportant shit you were doing just now for an emergency broadcast!” The news announcer was different from the usual ones, having a flat screen TV for a face and a vicious smile while leaning threatening over the table, “That being: Fuck you, Alastor! Nobody cares about your stupid”, the TV-demon made air quotes with his fingers, while his voice suddenly sounded brassy, “hashtag drinking tea with my besties shit! C.C. your taste in men sucks dogshit and consider my gracious offer null and void! You could have had it all but you decided to side with that old-timey prick!”

While the demon continued rambling about why he hated Alastor and why everybody who voluntarily associated with him was a moron Lucifer turned to the rest of the team, slightly puzzled, “Is this normal?”

Angel gave him an apologetic smile, “Pretty much. We’re in hell, boss. Did you really expect we could finish our cute little movie without any interruptions?”

Husk sighed, “Their quarrel has become much more annoying since Adam nearly crushed Alastor, though. Before that it was only a one-time thing, where all of Pride had to listen to them insulting each other for over two minutes straight.”

Charlie remained oddly silent during their commentary.

The nearby radio turned on without any of them lifting a finger and an all too familiar voice echoed through the room in reply to the TV’s insults, proclaiming Vox not having any good taste at all and questioning how he could ever come up with the naïve idea a smart and witty overlord such as Carmilla Carmine could actually be intimidated by his funny little antics.

Lucifer did not pay much attention to their blabbering.

“And now they are singing. Of course they do”, Angel sighed, accepting his fate.

Meanwhile Cherri Bomb didn’t really seem fazed. Apparently, there had not been enough explosions in the Disney movie for her taste so two Overlords forcing everyone in Pentagram City to listen to their squabble was great entertainment, “Wait for the best part, boss man!”

“The best part?”

Suddenly it turned dark all around them. Even down in the entire city, as a quick glance out of the window told him.

Only the radio did not shut off. Instead, it broadcasted terrified screams full of anguish, that made even him shudder slightly. Luckily, they only lasted for a couple of seconds before giving space for Alastors wholeheartedly evil laughter.

 

The moment the radio went silent, he could hear a soft, “I just wanted all of us to have one fun night watching a movie together. You earned it for all your hard work in the last week. No Killing, no evil schemes, just friends. Or at least what’s left of them.”

The little quiver in her voice broke his heart, while Charlie carefully untangled herself from Vaggie and stood up giving all of them a brave little smile, on the edge of tears, while hugging herself, “I will go and get some candles.”

“Oh no you won’t!”

Immediately he was at her side and, after a brief second of hesitation, unsure how to proceed, he took her into a big hug, “You do not have to.”

All it took was a snap of his fingers for some ethereal lights to start floating around them, giving off a calming golden glow.

To his horror now he could actually hear quiet sobs against his shoulder, “Sir Pentious and Dazzle are gone and you guys deserve so much more than this. Why can’t we even lean back for one single evening? Why does hell always have to be this hellish?”

Apparently, this evening had meant a lot to her, she had wanted it to be perfect but it had just not been meant to be.

Some sinners simply could not stop reminding him why they deserved to burn in hell! Why he had turned his back on them for all those years, unlike his daughter who insisted in believing that there was still some good left, even in the biggest scumbag.

He decided to turn a blind eye to Alastor, for now. Charlie seemed to believe in him and Lucifer could not deny the deer demon had been useful on some occasions.

Conveniently enough there was a second, much more prominent miscreant, deserving of his unfiltered wrath!

Lucifer didn’t even notice the concerned looks around him.

He turned full wings and red eyes and announced with the decisiveness of hells true demonic head honcho, “I will make the flat screened bastard suffer, who dared to make my little girl cry and ruin our movie night!”

Notes:

Hi there :)

Thank you for reading and I hope you liked it at least a little bit.

So what is there to say about the first chapter of this fic?
I absolutely adore Lucifer (and the songs he gets with his daughter are heartbreakingly beautiful) and Vox's reactions when it comes to Alastor (also Vox's scenes are just really stylish and I love his slightly evil corpo vibe he's got going for himself, with the other Vees as partners in crime) I mean they both kinda hate Alastor, they are both great singers, slightly overdramatic at times, great showmen, have relationsships I do not think are healthy on the long run the way they are currently presented and while one decided to turn his gaze away from the Pride ring, the other is a little bit too much focused on observing everything that happens in it.
Yeah its probably still a weak reason to ship them, but I still wanna try...
Either way it will be a really slow burn, since currently I do not think they would be in the right mind for actual romance.

The center of this story should be the story itself: Lucifer learning how to become a good dad, Alastor and Vox fighting it out, the other Overlords fighting it out, the Hazbin hotel and its occupants somehow ending up in the middle of this whole mess again, stuff like that...

Currently this story is without a beta reader. I am not a native speaker and aware that it probably sounds a bit bumpy here and there and probably slightly dissappointing with those characters who talk "old english". For now I'll just try my best because wanting to write this fiction has haunted me ever since I watched the series a couple of days ago and I gotta get it out of my system...

Other stuff to note:
While I do think he will be a necessary evil in this fic as one of the three pillars of the Vees I will probably treat the Val/Vox pairing (which was strongly hinted at with them making out in the last episode) as an open relationsship, mainly a lust not a love thing and mostly not much more than occasional hints. I hate Val for what he did to Angel (and in this now non-cannon stuff with Vox) but I will not deny that he does deliver tension to the plot as an antagonist.
Speaking of Lust... Yes Ozzie and Fizzarolli sneaked their way into my heart and into this fic last minute when I was racking my brain around what to put into these tags (it is my first fanfic on Archive and it's just a slight overload if you are not used to that many possibilities. So I apologize in advance if I missed anything or put too much in).
How exactly they fit into the already planned part of the story I do not know yet (aside from the fact that having one additional sin when the plot thickens probably does not hurt), but they also weren't supposed to be in the first chapter and still got an honorable mention so things will work out I suppose.

Hopefully we will see each other soon in the next chapter!

Chapter 2: Let's have a friendly chat!

Summary:

Lucifer prepares to have a friendly chat with a certain someone about why it is bad to cause blackouts in the city, including the TV at the Hotel.
Meanwhile Vox' day just grows worse by the minute and he cannot even sulk in peace!
But the show must go on and a good businessman puts on a brave face even if he has to deal with the king of hell himself.

„Um, dad?”, Charlie asked subtly.

“What”, he quickly caught himself there and tuned down a bit, his eyes becoming clear again, “is it Sweetie?”

His daughter hastily wiped away her tears, clapped her hands together, gave him an apologetic smile and pled, “While I do really appreciate your enthusiasm to fight for me, you know we do try to avoid violence here at the hotel, right?”

Oh, she was too good for this place!
He frowned, “Yeah, I vaguely remember there was something like that with Adam, too.” He glanced down to the pipsqueak on the ground, who was now curiously staring back at him in return, “I mean, your janitor offed him seconds later regardless so it didn’t make much of a difference,” looking back at Charlie he realized this was going in the wrong direction and gave her a crooked smile, “but you believe in second chances, even for the biggest scoundrels, I get ya. It’s just that I…”, his gaze wandered to the still dark city below them, rubbing his chin, while being at a loss for words.

Something that did not sound too dishonest and kind of like a compromise to Charlie was needed, since she deserved him trying.

It was annoyingly difficult to swallow down his desire to smash in this smug TV-bastards screen the second he laid eyes upon him.

The nerve of the scumbag claiming his shitty show was more important than movie night!

But Lucifer had to come up with a halfway decent alternative, that did not seem like the king of hell had gone too soft and could not get a point across.

If he was to be here in Pentagram more often, then that also meant he had to officially show the support for Charlies dreams and not spit on them…

 

Finally, inspiration struck and with raised finger and a bright smile, holy light and six angelic wings in full force lifting him a little above the ground to seem more convincing, he finished, “I guess I will politely listen to”, he took a deep breath to remember the name Alastor had mentioned, “Vox perspective first before making my final judgement as the ruler of hell!”

Quickly adding just for safety measures, “But you cannot deny that someone should have a chat with the TV! I know you care about these people and the random blackouts are probably hurting and threatening the whole city. Not even to begin with the annoying babbling beforehand, which is probably getting on everyone’s nerves by now.”

Her response was immediate, crushing into him, and dragging him back down to the ground to entrap him in another hug: “Thanks dad. I know this is not necessarily… your style but I appreciate you trying for me.”

He embraced her protectively with his wings, to avoid having her turn around and see the expressions of her friends who clearly did not buy his friendly act.

A skeptically raised eyebrow of Angel dusk, Husk choking on his booze, Cherri generously holding three of her bombs in his direction, as if she was hoping he would use them to blow the TV-man to pieces and Niffty staring at him with her one big eye, her tiny fists balled up while she eager but quietly cheered: “Kill, Kill, Kill! Kill the TV!” Then she actually seemed like she wanted to stab their own TV with a big kitchen knife he could swear she did not have a second ago, only for Angel Dust to grab her below the arms and lift her up: “Ok, that’s enough playing for today.”

 

Meanwhile Vaggies thoughts were hidden behind a carefully placed poker face, until her gaze abruptly softened.

Lucifer took a step back and withdrew his wings, while the other angel put a hand on Charlie’s shoulder: “Let’s all take a little break and reconvene here back in an hour when electricity is back on. Toilet break, get some snacks or whatever… Sir, please take this time to take care of your,” she glanced over to the pink bomb gift, which was hesitantly accepted and then quickly hidden, before Charlie could see, “business. Sounds good?”

Sending Niffty on the chase of some unfortunate vermin, Angel turned to her with a wide grin: “Sounds to me like ya want an excuse to have some alone time with your girl. Not that I blame ya.” He leaned over the couch, invading Husks personal space, whispering seductively, “How about it, kitty, want to use this break,” he got even closer to the cat’s ear, “productively as well.”

His response was bristled fur and a complaining Cherri Bomb when Husk shoved against her.

The spider demon straightened himself again, “Haha, just kidding. Let’s go get a drink at the bar during the break, you two. And no, I do not count the bottle in your hands as such, Husk.”    

Lucifer simply watched them and their banter, unsure how to proceed and where he fit into this picture. Even to himself his laugh sounded slightly awkward, while he rubbed his neck “Ah, one hour can be surprisingly short. Guess I will just go and have… a talk... to ensure no further interruptions.”

Before Vaggie could lead her out of the room, Charlie turned around once more smiling into the room: “Ok you guys we will see each other later!”

Lucifer was about to portal away, when she added with a confident smile: “And Dad… We will not start watching before you come back.”

“Sweetie whom do you take me for? I am the king of hell. You will not even notice I’m gone!”

 

☻☺☻

 

He reappeared on top of the clock tower of Heavens Embassy, which not so long ago had been used to announce the next date for extermination day.

Now the timer was blank and the sand frozen in place. A silent reminder of the angel issue he had to deal with sooner rather than later. He did not want to leave Charlie and her friends alone to become victims of the wrath heaven might unfold upon them for Adams death.

It was here, looking down at Pentagram City laying to his feet, when he realized a great flaw in his original plan: He had no clue where he would find the douchebag!

As a matter of fact, he had not even known of the guy up until the moment his despicable face had popped up in their TV.

Lucifer had never really bothered to stay up to date with the Pride rings occupants. Of course, he knew the older sinners such as Carmilla Carmine or Zestial. Back from the time when Lilith had still been around and wanted to mingle with demon kinds “high society”, but once his wife had taken Charlie away things started to become a blur, not even to mention her complete absence the last seven years.

Thoughtfully the fallen angel rubbed his chin, switching to a cross-legged position: “Maybe I should really get out more often… A cool dad would at least try to be interested in the neighborhood his daughter pours her heart and soul into… Even if most of them decidedly do not deserve her big heart. So where would a bitchy news reporter hide himself in hell?”

Ah, what gives! Why should he bother to search for the sinner that had earned his wrath? If the guy knew what was good for him, he would come here out of his own free will!

Hovering above the hourglass, all six wings spread, his eyes back to their familiar red glow Lucifer raised his voice and, with a bit of magic, let it echo loud, clear and menacingly through the dark streets of Pentagram City,

 

“Sinner Demon Vox! It is time to answer for your crimes against your king! I am awaiting you at the plaza in front of Heavens Embassy! For your sake I hope you will not dare to make me wait!”

 

Hoping the message would reach his target at least by word of mouth, he flew down to the ground, summoned himself a stylish chair and made himself comfortable.

Hopefully the bastard would decide to show in the next couple minutes.

Lucifer really did not feel like asking for directions.

 

☻☺☻

 

“V? You in here? “Velvette carefully took one step after the other into the room.

The only source of light coming from the faint red glow of the shark’s cybernetics in the tank all around her. Apparently, they had not been fried by their owner’s temper tantrum. Good for them.

The Overlord did not dare to venture further inside since this stupid bridge leading to Vox’s sanctuary did not have any railing and it was too dark to safely make out at which point the pathway ended and the abyss started.

Impatiently she tapped her heels against the ground. The sound echoing back from the translucent walls.

 

Finally, she heard the first signs of life from the middle of the room. The sound reminded her of a strange mixture of someone waking up with a headache after a booze-cruise and a broken machine. 

“Great, you’re awake at least, congrats!”

It took another minute of impatient waiting before the screens in the room started to switch back on with a low hum, one by one. Nearly immediately she could hear her phone ringing but quickly put it on vibrate.

“Even greater, power is back! You’re doing awesome over there, Darling!”

He turned around to her in his chair looking indeed like someone with a hangover, using one hand to support his head, still showing a demonic toothy grin: “I hear the ‘but’ in your voice, Velvette. Lemme guess, you told me this would happen.”

“I sure did.” She sighed theatrically, “admittedly I expected you to last a bit longer, but I suppose that was just wishful thinking on my part.”
He gave her an apologetic smirk, “Sorry.”

Now that she could actually see something she strolled over to his side of the bridge, pointing accusingly at him, “You better be, V! And you look like shit, by the way.”

“Thanks,” getting back some of his usual swagger he mockingly spread out his arms, “So what brings you up here into my humble estate?”

Switching into her thinking pose, she sized him up, “Look, darling, I don’t know how to put It gently, so I will just give the facts to you straight and don’t you dare break down on me again!”

“I highly doubt it could get much worse than Alastor and the other old-timers allying against us.”

“O ye of little faith! The most famous old-timer of them all, fucking Lucifer Morningstar, just made Pentagram City aware that he demands your presence in front of heavens embassy at once.” Thoughtfully she started curling up her hair around her finger, avoiding to look him into the eyes, “Apparently, you fucked up big time, V.”

Forcing herself to look back up she noticed a couple of glitches flickering over his screen, while he didn’t seem to know what grimace to choose from.

In the end he decided on his usual laughter, bordering insanity, “This is a bad joke, right? It must be”, his voice now starting to glitch as well, while claws drilled into his armrests, “Everybody knows that Lucifer does not care about us!” He made a broad gesture around them with one arm, “He did not lift a finger for years, maybe even centuries, no matter the daily atrocities all of us had to go through!”

His hand crashed down hard against his forehead, leaving actual tiny scratches on the glass with his claws, “That’s why everyone knows we are the ones in power, not him!”, now he was basically screaming, “Because Lucifer does not care! Never did! Never should! Fuck, he could’ve killed fucking Adam with a halfhearted slap in the face! Adam, the dude who humbled fucking Alastor!”

Slightly concerned Velvette observed how some of the screens around her actually started to flicker again, “Well that was then and this is now.”

Delicately she put her own hand upon his and slowly guided it back to the armrest to avoid more damage, “The rules changed once he trashed Adam.” If her friend noticed her sweating and starting to panic, he was polite enough not to mention it, “Pronunciation on trashing not killing! Whatever you did in his opinion it cannot have been worse, than that angel prick!”

“Aside from the fact that he hates our kind simply for what we are.”

She ignored his mumbled input and continued, “So tough it out and use that genius head of yours to find a way out of this pile of shit!” She stubbornly crossed her arms, “Because if you go down, so would we and I will not have that!”

He seemed to be slightly calmer, even if it might only be remaining shock, exhaustion from his previous outburst and disbelief still holding him together.

Using this opportunity Velvette pulled her phone out of the pocket and started scrolling through the myriad of new messages: “By the way Val is pissed that you’re blocking his calls.”

She quickly typed in an answer, before looking back up again, “He also asked me to tell you that he expects you to take care of this shit ASAP.”

“Oh, fucking Val can go and fuck himself!”

“Yup, told him so,” she grinned when she saw the posted emojis, “He does not seem to be amused.”

 

Apparently continued cursing helped her friend to slowly get a grip on the situation again.

“You said he’s waiting at the embassy?”

They both knew he wasn’t talking about the pimp, “Yup.”

 

Vox turned back around and connected to his drone network, his fingers now constantly and nervously tapping his armrests. Seconds later they had twelve different perspectives of the plaza around the clock tower and embassy.

The king of hell had gotten himself comfortable on a golden chair and was currently busy menacingly munching a red apple.

Displeased Velvette realized that even she herself was not entirely unfazed by the sight, gnawing her perfectly polished nails nervously.

Seeing the now indisputable proof right in front of him, Vox sacked back into his chair, “Shit.”

“Apparently he lured out pretty much all the rats in the vicinity as well.” Velvette noted while pointing at the huge crowd that had gathered around the plaza in a respectful distance to the big shot. Most of them looking gleeful, pissed or murderous, though these emotions did not seem to be focused on the fallen angel.

Well, it had not been Lucifer who had shut down all electric products in the city mere minutes ago and it did not take a genius to make the connection between said event and his sudden presence and wish to speak with Vox.

After all a potential public execution of an Overlord by the king of hell himself would be high end entertainment for most of hells residents. No one would want to miss such an opportunity.

Heck if it weren’t Vox skin on the line, the Vees would probably happily join the bystanders in the first line.

“Seems like they are all awaiting your grand entrance, V.”

“Oh, fuck my life!” he hid most of his face behind his hands, “Or whatever little is left of it.”

She held up her phone, “Val and me will also try to do some damage control.”

He took a deep breath and straightened himself up again, his fingers stretching over the keyboard, “Well now, there does not seem to be any way around this. Let’s get to work. I did not make it this far just to get killed on a whim!”

 

☻☺☻

 

Lucifer was getting impatient. A quick glance at the clock tower told him there were 50 minutes left till movie break was over. By now there was a shit ton of sinner scumbags gathered around, but none seemed to fit the description.

While he did not mind the attention, part of him started to suspect that he might be blowing things slightly out of proportions here.

If Charlie had not been there right at his side, he was pretty sure he would have killed Adam back then and here it would probably turn out similarly. While Adam had been a douche about it, in the end, he had only followed orders and still remained in Heaven. Hells once human inhabitants were different. Most of them were voluntary murderous psychopaths no one would miss, probably.

Musingly the fallen angel put a finger at his lips. While she may not necessarily expect him to spare the demon in the end, Charlie would probably not be a big fan of making the process a big spectacle and public execution in front of what felt like a quarter of Pentagram city, at least if you counted the hell-phones already quite busy taking snapshots of him and spreading the news all over Sinstagram.

Looking at it objectively the only crime he could currently accuse Vox of was that he turned off their TV for a couple of minutes.

Yes, there was this whole blackout issue and he had no doubt there was a reason why this Vox was in hell. A blackout of this scale probably meant somebody with decent power for sinner standards, with a lot of souls under his belt and skeletons in his closet… potentially an Overlord. Which meant Lucifer Morningstar was starting to get involved in politics, another topic he usually avoided like the pest, free will and all.

Oh, staying at home had been so much easier than this!

 

His phone rang and he frowned.

The only one using his private number the past couple of years had been his daughter and that was not her ringtone. Maybe one of the other residents of the Hotel?

“Alright,” he threw the rest of his apple into the air to burn it to crisps with one skillfully pointed finger, before pulling out the phone with the now free hand, not sure how to answer and in the end just sticking to a simple, “Hello?” while leaning back into his chair.

Apparently, the person on the other side also seemed to be at a lack of words, because they took their sweet time answering.

It seemed like a woman was cursing quietly in the back before he finally got his reply, “Hello, Sir. Vox speaking, CEO of VoxTek.” Before the guy on the other side could slowly start to find his flow, all the rage returned and Lucifer interrupted him and made more than a few of the observing demons on the other side of the plaza flinch with his outburst, “You bastard made my little girl cry!”

“I did… what now?”

Lucifer could not remain seated and instead flew up slightly to balance on the chairback instead, rubbing his temple to calm himself down and do the “talking” he had promised he would do, “Why do you even have this number?”

“The entire cellular network in the Pride Ring is controlled by VoxTek and considering the lack of Privacy Laws down here it should come to no surprise that its CEO has access to certain private data such as phone numbers. Besides, you’re using a Vphone, one of ours. No surprise there, since the king of hell would not buy that cheap trash Mammon’s selling. Be ensured that we only use your contacts in case of emergencies and did not share it with the braindead masses.”

“Too kind.” Lucifer squeezed through his sharp grit teeth. That guy was a typical Corpo scumbag. Figured. The fallen angel playfully spun his cane, while showing teeth, “Now why do you not stop being a coward and come over here to talk eye to eye, Mr. Vox?”

Another short break on the other side, before the voice returned sounding like a typical salesman, “Do not get me wrong, Sir. I love a good show as much as the next one. Inconveniently your current audience seems a bit too keen on seeing you ripping out my guts and spreading them all over the Plaza. I would prefer to avoid such a public mess, literally and figuratively speaking.”

“They are not the only ones.” Ah crap, he was falling back into a murderous mood! How much talk would be enough to claim he tried? Why did he suck so much with looking at sinners in a good light and not just murderous psychopaths who deserved everything they had coming for them?

“And therein lies the problem. Why don’t we go for a more private setting and discuss our issues like the civilized men that we are. I am sure your daughter would approve.”

And back to demon mode, “Leave her out of this or I will rip out your heart and have you watch while I feed it to the Radio Demon!” He took a deep breath to calm himself down, adding with a smile, “Usually, I would go for your head but yours did not really seem all that appetizing.”

It did not evade Lucifers attention that his phone and the nearby streetlights flickered shortly, while the voice on the other side stayed quiet, then he heard Vox screaming a little further away, it was barely audible but he supposed it sounded like, “Fuck, fuck, fuck!” before the sinner demon returned back to his normal volume, “Look, here’s the deal: While I do think we should be able to come to an agreement, if not you can still rip me apart afterwards and torture my soul for all eternity, whatever strikes your fancy! Sounds fair?”

“Ok, let’s say I consider this preposition, where do you want to meet instead?”

With hundreds of demons silently watching him in the back and his big talk back home still clinging to his memory he was starting to get the feeling he could not get out of this one anymore.

“Ever heard of the Craven Raven? As chance would have it, I do have some seats reserved there for a business talk. They really value the privacy of their customers, especially those of higher rank.”

“I heard about it, yes.”

Lilith and him had visited it like every 100 years or so to see how the cuisine had changed and been influenced over the century. But he could not deny that the food was good.

Another gaze up to the giant clock above him, “I only have 44 minutes left, though, before I have other more important stuff to attend to than dealing with scum like you.”

“Just teleport. I’ll be there in a second as well. Don’t worry about payment, I’ll take care of all the expenses. That’s the least I can do in exchange for your mercy.”

The phone went silent and Lucifer thoughtfully scratched his head: “So could one say that went well? Ah… Whatever… I did not eat anything worthwhile yet, because I was too excited about movie night, let’s make the best out of it!”
Thus, much to the disappointment of the crowd, he vanished his chair, dismissed the masses with a friendly wave and left.

 

☻☺☻

 

Vox may not have any teleportation abilities but something similar just using the wiring of his technological empire all throughout the city. Jumping from one camera to the next until he zapped out of the one right in front of the restaurant lightning style, nearly crushing into the king of hell himself who ported in at the same time and quickly stumbling a couple steps backwards, “Fuck!”

How could one simple day suck so bad?

“Wow careful there, buddy. Ah… Hahaha! So, we finally meet in person, Mr. Vox.” Lucifer grinned viciously at him while crossing his arms, instead of extending a hand, “No pleasure to meet you.”

Vox followed the example he was presented with, all teeth and subtle hatred, “Likewise.”

The TV-demon resisted the suicidal urge to comment on the fact that even if he had seen the other man on screen, he had still somewhat expected him to be a little taller. Did not change the fact, that being in the presence of the fallen angel gave him the creeps, though.

Lucifer leaned on his apple cane, smiling unfazed, “Alrighty then, now that we’ve got that out of the way…”

 

The transition was nearly instant.

One second, they were glaring at each other, the next the king of hell seized him by the throat and Vox felt hard stone against his back, while his feet were left dangling three floors above ground.

Shit!

Glowing red eyes and a burning flame above the head of the king of hell accentuated the picture, “How dare you made my little girl cry?”
Hoping that the angry angel would not spontaneously decide to let him fall Vox rose his hands defensively, “I’m sorry ok?! If it’s related to the blackout, it was a fucking accident! Nothing personal.”

“And this whole… trashy talk show part… before that, wasting all our precious time… also an accident?”

“It’s not trashy! I mean… That was necessary to make a statement!” He felt the grip tighten slightly and was actually kind of glad he did not need any vocal cords for talking, “Ok, maybe that was me going slightly overboard? I…” shit, saying it felt so wrong, since he was totally in the right, “am sorry?”

Lucifer sighed and thoughtfully rubbed his chin with his remaining free hand, “Well, now that you said it like this, I really cannot outright kill you anymore without an easy conscience, can I?”

The fallen angel started to lighten his grip and Vox instinctively grabbed his arm.

Simultaneously he emphasized his unwillingness to crash down three floors by showing falling bloody stickmen and pink arrows pointing down on his screen, accompanied by a cartoonish falling noise.

Of course he would survive, being an immortal sinner and all, but it would still fucking hurt and probably smash most of his precious tech and he was still in power saving mode, after the whole blackout debacle!

 

Astonishingly enough Lucifer decided not to make another scene and simply landed, the Tv-Demon in tow, before letting go unceremoniously. For a second Vox just remained on the ground staring into nothingness before jumping up and dusting himself off, adjusting his suit.

Lucifer strode to the entrance, for whatever reason now grinning widely again, showing his teeth, “Then let’s talk business.” He playfully let his cane wander from one hand to the other, “Tick Tock! Time’s running out you know and I could really need something in my belly right now!”

 

☻☺☻

 

“Ah, Overlord Vox. I have to admit that we did not expect you to come and claim your reservation tonight anymore, considering the blackout and the rumor our esteemed king himself,” apparently the waiter just now spotted the smaller man at the side of the TV-demon and his eyes widened, before the rooster faced demon quickly bent down his head, “Your majesty! I apologize for not noticing you sooner. Welcome to the Craven Raven! Am I right to assume you two gentlemen came here together?”

“Yes, we did”, Vox smoothly jumped in, “to talk business.” His voice turned static, “Privately.”

Apparently, he was the only one who wanted to move along though…

"The fuck?" Incredulous Vox watched the scene unfolding in front of him.

 

“Wow, this place has not changed one bit in the last century! Just look at this mangy couch! Oh, the memories! Ok, that head on the wall is new, though and that carpet… Are these burn marks? Huh, that smells awesome, may I inquire what you are eating there, Mam?”

Lucifer was suddenly all over the place, reminiscing in memories.

Vox glared at the waiter and the waiter simply glared back, “Please tell me when you are ready to order, Sir. Your table would be over there.” 

“Thanks.” Left standing alone right after the entrance the TV-demon was acutely aware that, even if there were not many customers around, all eyes switched back and forth between him and the fallen angel. He even saw a couple of phones raised and resisted the urge to scramble their tech, so that there would be a little bit less documentary about this all in all fucking humiliating day.

He decided to simply ignore his companion and move over to the separated table he had originally reserved for his business talk with Carmilla Carmine. Unlike the fucking fallen angel he did not have any time pressure and no more appointments.

So why not give himself some liquid courage with far too expensive wine as long as he still could?

 

When Lucifer sat down opposite to him, not taking off his hat, Vox was already halfway through his second glass. The fallen angel stared. Obviously fascinated by how the consumption of food and a TV screen worked out.

 

The minute the hellish ruler had sitten down, the head chef himself, all black feathers and red glowing eyes, was at their table asking for their orders.

“More wine and the venison dopiaza,” Vox threw in, curious how much time they’d actually need for the dish down here in hell.

Lucifer let his gaze wander over the menu intensely before leaning back, clapping his hands together and smiling: “The apple strudel and some apple juice please, dear sir.” As if telling an inside joke he pointed at the chef, “no alcohol for me today. Gotta be a good role model!”

Another curtsy, “At once, your majesty.”

 

Afterwards an awkward silence started to spread, while they waited for their food and Vox ordered another glass.

With the warmth of the alcohol slowly kicking in the overlord was starting to feel like maybe he could actually pull this off and not end up as the daily special tomorrow.

The chefs around here would never let good food go to waste if the opportunity presented itself.

Judging by the occasional hateful glances he caught from the staff they were probably even hoping for such an outcome.

Fuck, as if he was the one responsible for Val's little outbreak and lack of manners!

Vox had been an exemplary good customer, thank you very much.

This whole guilty by association thing was fucking lame!

 

At least being around the king of hell had its advantages: Their food arrived before all other customers and of course no one had the guts to complain.

Vox replied the glare of the waiter placing his plate in front of him in kind, a picture of roasted chicken flickering over his screen for a milisecond, hoping it'd stick into the demon birds subconsciousness.

Then they were left alone.

Just Vox and the fucking king of hell.

Absurdly enough the blonde seemed to try to break the ice with some small talk: “So you’re some kind of inventor with VoxTek, huh? Building phones and stuff?”

Vox tried to pierce some of the meat, disapprovingly noticing the slight shaking of his hands while doing so, “Kinda.”

“I am somewhat of an inventor myself. What do you think of fire spitting rubber ducks?”

“What now?”

Now it was Lucifers turn to focus intently on cutting apart his food, making a mess with the vanilla sauce, “Ah… forget I said anything…”

 

☻☺☻

 

Lucifer really admired his daughter for her ability to see the best in people and actually having the talent to draw all the good ones together.

He had to admit having their meeting at a restaurant, instead of in front of an angry demon mob might’ve been the better route to take.

But honestly, he had not really decided on what to actually do to the demon in front of him now that he had calmed down somewhat.

 

His original plan had been simple:  Visit the fiend in his lair, trash him up a little, tell him who’s boss and then go your merry way again.  In and out, no drama. Just letting off some steam.

 

“With the right marketing you might actually be capable of selling them.”

“Huh?”

Vox gaze was focused anywhere but his counterpart, his head resting on one hand, “Your fire spitting rubber duck theory. How does Val put it? There is a kink for everything and some demons might be into the combination of innocence and danger in these ducks. Nonetheless, since my kind is unable to reproduce, the target market would probably be kids of natural born demons.”

“You think so?”

Vox backed away slightly from the suspicious enthusiasm he was presented with, “Yeah?”

Then he took another long drink of his wine and came back to the real topic: “Since I do value my life, I am willing to cooperate, with whatever the fuck you want from me. To what, though?”

Lucifer scratched his head, while internally weighing the best options: “I mean the easiest solution would still be to kill you off, permanently. This whole forcing-your-Alastor-trashtalking-accompanied-by-a-blackout-upon-everyone is a big No-Uh for the future.”

He started inspecting another slice of his strudel, “As luck would have it, I am probably going to be around here more often and as such I am unable to turn a blind eye to these kind of issues, personally affecting me and my family, any longer. I’d also be the laughing stock for the other sins if they found out…”

The slice disappeared into his mouth and happily munching he announced, “So here’s the deal. Learning to accept each other’s faults and control your feelings instead of lashing out right away is the first step to redemption. Not the full course, mind you, just the first step! So, my most prominent idea would be…”

“Nope. Not doing it.”

Lucifer graciously ignored the interception, “… to come to Cha-char’s hotel for a vacation of sorts to learn how to manage your anger issues! Conveniently enough Alastor is usually also around so you two might actually learn to deal with one another without constantly getting on everybody else’s nerves,” now came the best part, “Of course, being the one who proposed this idea, it is my responsibility as the king of hell to be there and oversee your process and make sure you do not harm any of the hotels residents.”

His only response was the clinking with which Vox fork hit the plate.

“What do you think? Sounds pretty neat, doesn’t it?” having finished his food the fallen angel dabbed his mouth with a napkin, “I know I am a genius.”

There appeared to be some technical issues with the TV-demons screen, before his angry toothy face returned to announce, “This would be suicide! You know as well as I do that Alastor hates my guts and when I dare to enter his territory…”

That would be the icing on the cake! Lucifer may be unable to affect Alastor directly, because he did not want to hurt Charlie, but the TV for whatever reason actually seemed to get on the nerves of the radio demon! Best case scenario maybe even chasing the bastard away from the hotel!

Of course, Lucifer would not admit to these kinds of underhanded hopes officially and instead simply said, “He would not dare to challenge my authority!”

He patiently waited till the flickering and tiny Error notifications on the screen ceased and Vox inquired, defeat in his voice, “Do I have any alternatives?”

“You are free to choose death by my hands instead.”

The CEO slumped down at the table, “Ok, so what would this vacation entail exactly? How long? What are the conditions? You know I’ve got to run a company in hell, right? That’s no fucking picnic.”

Lucifer lifted a finger, “One month without any blackouts. Every blackout raises this time frame by a week. You can leave the building like all the other residents but are expected to participate in all team building exercises and activities and also consider the hotel your home for the duration, having your own room and all. Also, if I feel like you’ve earned it, I can end our terms prematurely.”

“Alastor aside, you sure Miss Sunshine and the others would want me around?”

“I mean, the hotels doors are open for everybody who is willing to change for the better!”

Vox’ eyes narrowed, “I’d be more willing to go if I got a bit more out of that deal than simply my life.” He was grasping for straws now, “I’ve heard you guys value free will and all that… stuff.”

Admittedly Lucifer also felt that the deal leaned towards his advantage. He had found the perfect excuse to stay at the hotel and even got Charlie an additional resident and advertisement. Not to mention the potential sight of a most likely pissed Alastor! Considering Lucifers performance on the plaza today people would probably suspect coercion and that thought tasted bad in his mouth.

“Ok, I’m feeling generous today! What do you want?”

“A personal interview on 666 would be a nice start, to help people know what to expect from you in the future.”

It was obvious that Vox considered himself as part of those “people”.

For the next one he sounded slightly pleading, “besides that, maybe you could also support our business talks to Mammon, helping my companies expanse into the other rings along, without him constantly crashing the party? It is fucking difficult to do so when all sinner demons are restricted to the pride ring and I have not yet found any useful natural born employees strong enough to handle the sin of Greed himself.”

While being vague, that sounded like a potentially risky endeavor… On the other hand, Mammon had it coming to him for building Loo Loo Land and using lucifers “No Rules” agenda to prevent him from shutting this accursed place down. Also, Lucifer respected the fact, that the demon apparently tried to find requests that did not clash directly with each of their personal issues surrounding the hotel.

“I cannot guarantee that I will be able to help with Mammon, since he is one slippery bastard, but I am willing to try. The interview should also be manageable. Let’s say we start this whole new endeavor the day after tomorrow giving everyone some time to prep? Sounds good?”

Vox still glitched slightly, but after taking another sip of his wine seemed to force himself through gritted teeth, “Sounds better. Guess I’m in.”

 

☻☺☻

 

“And I’m back! Even a little earlier than promised! Ready to watch part two of the frog movie!” Conspiratorially he leaned down to Niffty whispering loudly, so that everybody could hear,” as for our other flat-faced problem, that has been taken care of professionally.”

Then he realized he missed a familiar voice, “Where is Charlie?”

And her girlfriend for that matter, everybody else was already present.

“Making Popcorn.”

While the atmosphere was not necessarily bad, even Lucifer noticed the nervousness in the air.

Crashing back down on his chair he sighed, “What’s with those worried faces? There is nothing to worry about! I’ve taken care of the issue just like I promised…” Husk raised an eyebrow, “by talking!”

Angel leaned against the wall, looking skeptical: “So what’s the conclusion from talking to one of hells shittiest Overlords?”

“He decided, free of choice, I might add, to become one of your residents to learn how to accept others, such as Alastor, as the shitty person that they are without getting a seizure and shutting down all of Pride in the process.”

He did not get the expected applause.

“You can’t be serious! Your Highness.” Husk was the first to speak for all of them.

“Oh, my good man, but I am totally serious,” he pointed at the bartender with his cane, “And as a matter of fact I’m also going to stay here, if you will have me, to make sure its totally safe as well!”

Husk just rubbed his temple as if he was getting a growing headache seeing the future ahead of him.

Meanwhile Cherri Bomb put a calming hand on Angel’s shoulder who also seemed distraught by something.

Before Lucifer could bring himself to think deeper about their reactions, Charlie reappeared with three big bags of popcorn in hands, Vaggie right beside her with two additional.

“Dad, you’re back!”

She hesitated slightly and eyed him suspiciously, “Did you kill anybody?”

Proudly he showed her his unbloodied hands, “None whatsoever. All’s rainbows and sunshine!”

“Awesome! Then let’s see the happy ending together, shall we?”

Notes:

Hello there :)

Glad you finished this chapter as well and a big thank you for the encouraging comments and kudos for the first chapter :)

Honestly this chapter has gotten much longer than originally anticipated (the orignal version basically just being Lucifer teleporting in Vox domain, them having a short "talk" there, no witnesses whatsoever and then it just somehow turned into... this) and was mainly me worry about how evil/violent Lucifer actually is, based on what we know so far from the show. I mean apparently he can be summoned by other demons via sacrifices, nobody even dares to question that he is powerful, is used to violence around him, loves to threaten radio demons with cutting off their head (just as Vox does I might add, oh the similarities xD) and can get really angry when someone threatens his daughter...
But besides that he hates sinners claiming them to be violent psychopaths and is simply an adorable wellmeaning, slightly depressed dude, so yeah its a slippery slope and I hope I did not completely disappoint...
If you missed the teasing he presented Adam with let's just blame that on him hoping to deal with the issue as "fast as possible" (with some occasional distractions)
Admittedly I could've specified the "deal" much more, but it's not gonna be one of these "binding" ones. Just Lucifer trusting his opposite to stick to it out of fear (and maybe some sense of obligation and selfpreservation)
Meanwhile... Yeah, sorry Vox (and everybody else whose gotta live with the consequences of him going on "vacation") for constantly putting you on a tough spot. You'll get your time to shine.

Have fun and hopefully see you soon!

Chapter 3: Home, sweet home!

Summary:

Alastor is not amused.

The credits started to roll.

Lucifer petted Keekee, on the brink of tears.

How heartbreakingly beautiful was it for a daughter to accomplish a dream she and her dad had had together for years?

The scene with the dad and his little girl reminded him so much of his time with Charlie, back when she was little.

Sitting down on his lap and listening to his stories with the big adoring eyes of a child, not yet disheartened by the cruel reality of their world.

Maybe they should also open up a restaurant?

 

“And did you like it?”, Charlie’s voice pulled him out of his thoughts.

His daughter grinned from ear to ear, all sparkling eyes and visible happiness. Still hopeful, just like all those years ago.

“I liked the end where the bastard was dragged away for good,” Husk added before disapprovingly crossing his arms, “But that’s not the point! I’ve waited patiently for the movie to end but now it’s time someone mentions the bloodthirsty behemoth in the room that is”, to the fallen angel’s surprise a claw was pointed at him, “this whole having an Overlord become our next resident thing!”

Vaggie and Charly blinked in unison, “What now?”

Ah right, they hadn’t been there when Lucifer first explained things in detail. He forgot about that part.

Why did the glaring of Charlies friends make him feel like he had to go into the defensive now, even though his actions had been perfectly reasonable and justified?

“This Vox fellow actually apologized to me for the whole blackout thing.”

“Oh gee! Because apologizing when the big bad boss is angry at you is such a foreign notion!”

Lucifer ignored the spider-demons interjection, “Looking at him, listening to him admitting that he did not intentionally blackout the whole town… It reminded me of your favorite motto, Sweetie…”
He gave a slightly insecure smile towards his daughter, because damn, here he was trying to be less prejudiced and now people still complained!

Luckily his daughter caught his drift and with a little smile herself even went through the effort to sing a short silent, “It starts with sorry…”

“That’s your foot in the doorway,” he ended the little verse, “That’s the one. Thus, I realized I couldn’t simply crush his windpipes as I had originally planned to do.”

“Dad!”

“Sorry, I meant, that was the moment I realized that he might actually have some potential for your hotel.” He side-eyed the radio, “Not worse than this Alastor-fellow anyways…”

“Oh, come on!”, this time it was actually the bomb lady who jumped up from her seat, “I know I’m a guest and all, but can I just throw in that this dude is best pals with Valentino? Angel’s asshole pimp boss, against whom Angels only safe haven is this very hotel?”

“You don’t have to protect me, Cherri. I can speak for myself.”

“But since you decided not to mention it, somebody had to!”

“Look, my relationship with Val aside, I also do not like the thought of that walking TV moving in. I mean, you know he was the dude who sent Pentious after us in the first place and told him to off himself, the moment he was no longer useful?”

Yup, sounded like your typical sinner scumbag right there. But weren’t they all? For every sinner you had probably hundreds of victims wishing them eternal suffering.

Lucifer did not know much about the snake man but he had probably also done some awful things, considering he’d ended up here in hell. It was a vicious circle.

It was the reason the fallen angel condemned sinners in the first place, before deciding to support Charlies dreams.

“But in the end, you all became best buddies with the snake, didn’t you? So, all’s well that ends well?”

“Till he ended up being blown up to pieces by Adam. Yup, really happy ending right there. Beats the frog movie.” Angel nodded sarcastically.

Lucifer bit his lip and sent a glance over towards Charlie. She seemed to be worried now that her friends had voiced their concern.

Determined he kneeled down in front of her looking upwards, “Look, sweetie. I don't want to put you or your friends in danger, but at the same time I also want to help you succeed at that dream of yours where sinners can be redeemed if you see even the slightest chance they might be able to change. You said I should talk and talk I did and somehow your hotel was the only peaceful solution I could think of”, he noticed a small smile on her lips and took it as a good sign, “And of course I will stand by my decision and protect you all from its consequences all the way through. Maybe Vox will turn out to be a great guy, deeply hidden under all that cursing and flickering screen of his. Maybe not… But we will not know until we try!” then he confidently leaned on his apple cane to brag a little, “Besides he does not appear to be that much of a threat. If things go sideways, I can take him, no sweat.”

“In a fight, right?”, Angel’s smooth remark made Husk roll his eyes, while Lucifer failed to grasp what the guy was actually implying. Nonetheless the king of hell was glad the spider-demon did seem to be slightly less aggravated to be able to make jokes.

All eyes were on Charlie. In the end simply gave them a slight apologetic shrug, “I mean, if he is willing to stay here to improve…”

Lucifer nodded enthusiastically, “He totally is.”

“Then I guess, dad is right and we should try.  I mean that’s what our hotel is all about, right?”

Husk just sighed, “So do we get any specifics when our newest guest arrives? Because some poor sod is going to have to explain this shit to Alastor and with my luck, I’m fairly certain that someone is going to be me.”

 

☻☺☻

 

 

Usually, Vox backed away from bigger amounts of alcohol or drug consumptions in any form out of principle, simply because in the end they just meant additional migraines afterwards.

Valentino and his antics were the perfect example of how to not do it. Vox had to clean up behind his friend on a weekly basis for the Vees to maintain their exemplary perfect image.

But surprisingly enough even Val could not compare to the mess Vox himself had thrown them all into today.

He may not look like it but in the end he was just human and this... this was simply too much for one day!

Future consequences be damned, the wine had helped him to calm down somewhat, because it would simply not do for him to have a complete breakdown in front of fucking Lucifer Morningstar!

 

The first thing he’d done after the fallen angel left was order two more glasses and, while sipping them simply stare holes into the table, coming to terms with what just happened.

 

Then, two empty glasses later, he ordered another and finally worked up the courage to pull out his phone.

It did not need a deep dive into net to see how Velvette and his marketing team had tried their best at damage control during his talk with Lucifer and that their best had not been enough.

Of course not.

His hypnotic powers were the failsafe on an emergency of this scale and he had been busy haggling for his live with the sin of Pride.

While the official news pages were controlled by them and mostly focused on him having a normal civil business talk with Lucifer, using pictures they’d gotten from the devil knew where, Sinstagram and the unofficial sites were going crazy.

People claiming that the stupid selfie of Rosie & friends was proof they’d formed an alliance against the Vees and that this was the beginning of a bigger turf war between all the overlords.

Of course, his reaction to Alastor had been interpreted as him panicking about that.

Lucifer calling him out was actually viewed at as Vox soon being completely out of the picture of any power struggles if he wasn’t dead already.

So many stupid memes of the Vees getting crushed or worse. He felt nauseous.

“Fuck!”

Vox took another sip of his wine with a shaking hand. He knew full well that he’d have to make a public statement as fast as possible and was in no mental state to do so right now. Heck he was still busy figuring out himself how deeply fucked he actually was! How could he convince the public that everything was fine?

He was also acutely aware that the occasional close-call panic attacks he had had during his talk with Lucifer were most likely felt across larger parts of the city in the form of flickering tech, while at the same time draining him out, especially without him being directly linked to the network. Thus, Mass hypnosis would also not be an option until after he had a good amount of sleep and recharging and annoyingly enough it worked better short-term not after a whole day of rumors spreading like wildfire.

Not to mention that he had to consider that Lucifer himself might intervene now that he had him on his radar. If the angel took that whole redemption shit serious, he’d probably not be amused by his new pet project manipulating the minds of the majority of the city’s population.

Before the TV demon could spiral down any deeper, he noticed that the other Vees were requesting a group call.

 

Since it was specifically designed for potential business meetings his eating niche was a little room in itself with a slide door you could open or close depending on how social you felt. There was also one big screen and connected docking station in the back in case you needed to show statistics or the like.

Vox made sure the door was locked and, after waiting a second for the room to stop shaking, threw the call onto the screen with a practiced wave of his hand.

Then he switched into his best professional business-shark smile and answered, taking another sip of his glass while balancing it in his fingers, admiring how the lights reflected in the bloody red.

“Hello there Velvette, Valentino. How are you two this hellish evening?”

The faces of his closest allies appeared. Velvette seemingly on the road in their Limo and Valentino in the private rooms of his porn studio.

“Cabrón, Fucking finally.” Val was surrounded by a cloud of red smoke, while holding his cigarette accusingly into the camera, “Do you know how long I have been trying to reach you today? You know I do not like people ignoring my calls…”
“Oh shut up, you big man baby!”, Velvette was currently busy applying new make-up over the dark circles forming below her eyes, “V, great that you didn’t kick the bucket and all that but would you mind telling us…”
“What the big dick wanted from you in exchange?” Val jumped in getting agitated, “I doubt he’d just settle on your lovely body alone…”

Vox simply rose an eyebrow, “The fuck’s your perverted mind coming up with this time, Val? Whatever it is stop it right away! I didn’t do anything with the angel besides talking.”

“No? Not even a little rough-and-tumble?”

“Nope. He’s currently on the same goody two shoes path as his daughter so there’s nothing to worry about.”

“But…”, of course Velvette was sharp enough to know right away that there was some important piece of information missing.

Before he had to listen to any more of their weird theories, he let the cat out of the bucket, “He wants me to move into the hotel until I succeed in not causing any blackouts for a whole month straight.” he gave them a relaxed smile, “Easy-peasy. ”

If he wouldn’t feel completely miserable internally right now, part of him would’ve actually considered the dumbfounded expressions of his two closest allies funny.

“You mean to say not only does Lucifers little bitch daughter steal fucking Angel Dust away from me but now you will join her merry club of misfits as well?”

Velvette was looking at it a bit more pragmatically, “When?”

The answer escaped him there for a second, before he succeeded in sorting his thoughts, “Got one day... to prepare.”

“Fuck.”

“Yeah.” He tried to see the positive and for a lack of better arguments repeated, “but it’s only a month. For hell’s standards that is practically nothing.”

“One month if you do not cause any more blackouts,” the doubt in Velvettes voice hurt.

“Which you usually cause when you accidently spot Alastor.” Vals smoke shaped into the form of a red skull underlining his words.

“Who just so happens to live under the same roof,” Velvette put her make-up down and rubbed her temple instead, apparently feeling an approaching headache.

“Aye Caramba,” the moth demon laughed sardonically, “you’re even more screwed than my star actors, babe and they get screwed a lot.”

Velvette continued to ignore the pimp, “So, what do we do now? You have a plan, V?”

Of course he had a plan. He always had a plan. He would not lose control over something as stupid as this!

What was the plan again?

Ah yeah...

Vox put the empty wine glass aside, folded his hands and tried to be all business, “Velvette, my dear, please inform the press that I’m still alive and will make an official statement bright and early tomorrow morning and Killjoy can prepare for an exclusive interview with the big boss in charge, probably sometime next week.”

“Consider it done.” The answer was the correct one, but why was she narrowing her eyes at him?

“Val you…" Vox had kinda forgotten what Vals part was in this elaborate plan, "...Just do what you do best.”

 

Fuck, his head hurt and now he was the one who had to narrow his eyes slightly to turn three Valentinos into one.

Recalibrating his systems did not help much, since apparently the alcohol only messed with the organic parts in his systems, however the fuck that worked.

Such a strange sensation when half of your "brain" functioned perfectly fine and the other was indecisive about taking a good long nap or have a heart to heart with someone, no matter who.

Luckily his dependable technological parts would not let that happen so easily.

 

Val was raising an eyebrow at Vox but in the end he answered confidently, “Of course, I’m currently on the set of my next movie. Fucking Angel Dust finally decided to show his pretty face. This is going to be another all-nighter.”

Velvette seemed thoughtful, “While we’re on that topic. Carmine called and wanted to have a meeting with me, since you were unavailable. Apparently, the senile old bitch did not expect for one lousy photo to cause so many ripples and wants to make amends.”

“Sounds fishy.”

“I’m not a fool, V. I can take care of myself. I’m meeting her in neutral territory.”

“So, you both are going to be busy tonight?” For some reason he was unable to suppress the dissappointment in his voice and felt ashamed for it right away.

“Yup and I’ll send the limo your way once I arrive. You get home safely and to bed right away. You don’t look like you should rely on your powers for travel.”

He’d really hoped the fact that he could basically show any face he wanted on screen would help hide the fact, that he’d drunk a bit too much, but apparently, they saw right through his facade.

“People are still pretty pissed about the fact that electricity today has been all wonky and shit. Don’t want your delicate little screen get eviscerated in some dark back alley, because you accidently jumped out the wrong cam,” Val added with a sly smile.

“I second that.”

Vox rolled his eyes and complied, “Yeah, yeah, I’ll be a good boy and use the limo. See you two tomorrow.”

He didn’t wait for their replies and just hung up to order one last glass and the bill.

 

☻☺☻

 

Yes, he definitely felt the fact, that he was usually only a modest drinker and in no way prepared for the backlashes of alcohol. Of course not. Hell was a place where you were supposed to suffer from all frivolities, no immunity to drugs just because fate decided to turn you into even more of an inhuman freak than the rest of most sinner residents.

Velvette knew him too well, even going as far as giving the ashen hellhound driver a bucket before sending him off to the restaurant.

Fuck it all!

Avoiding any potential curious lurking press the limo went straight for the garage at the back of V-Tower.

 

At least the hound kept the bucket in the car and did not comment on his boss being an absolute mess.

“Should I walk you upstairs, Sir?”

“I can manage on my own,” Vox was too proud for that shit and for good measure he added his hypnotic eye to the mix, “clean up and then forget you had to do so in the first place!”

His sight turned blurry for a second there, but it was worth it.

A small curtsey, “At once, Sir.”

The CEO simply dismissed him and watched the car drive off.

 

☻☺☻

 

From the exit of the elevator, it was only a couple of steps down the hallway to the front door.

For whatever reason the stupid floor lights did not turn on and he had to give them a jumpstart with his powers.

When he reached the door he had to lean against it for a second to gather his breath and wait until his sight stopped being a blurry mess.

Then he turned around only to realize that the stupid security lock didn't work either.

Maybe he had accidently fried the fuse box during his last breakout?

Not an unusual occurrence considering the hundreds of complaints his company got every time a blackout occurred concerning the subject.

Though it normally hit those, whose tech was not up to standards. Contrary to this Vox Towers had the best technology money could get you on the market, plus a few extras not meant for public use.

It was too late to agonize over shit like that!

 

Darkness awaited him inside the common room of the big penthouse he shared with the other two Vees. Close-drawn curtains blocked out the continuous nightmarish red of hells skies and their districts neon lights.

Instinctively his claw wandered to the light switch, but clicking it did not have the hoped-for result.

“The fuck?”

Three’s the charm and even if he did not feel like it, Vox turned around to the stupid thing and shot a quick current through the switch and its connected wiring, to find out what was wrong. The line had indeed gone dead and lost connection to the rest of the building.

Fuse Box it is, but let Val or Vel deal with it when they came back!

Slightly annoyed the CEO instead used his own powers to charge up the nearby lamps, all in modern blue and pink tones fitting their style, of course. Slightly less leaning towards Val’s preferences because their fucking home was not supposed to look like a brothel.

 

“What a lovely circus trick. Hello there, Vox. How have you been?”

The lights started to flicker slightly as Vox turned around to face Alastor, grinning maliciously from one ear to the other, standing in the middle of the room, as if he owned the place.

“You’re fucking kidding me.”

“Uncreative and vulgar as ever in your choice of words, my old friend.”

“Darling, be polite. We intruded into his home without prior announcement. Pleasure to meet you again, Vox.”

“Huh?” His gaze had been so focused on Alastor that he kind of missed the lady with the red sun-hat and dress inspecting the paintings and posters on the wall, now that there was an actual light. Had the two of them just been waiting for him in the darkness? How odd.

“They do have pretty good taste in their booze.” He recognized the winged cat, inspecting the cupboards in their small modern styled open kitchen with the torchlight of his phone, as one of the employees of the accursed hotel. Vox had also been around long enough to know that this guy had a history as an overlord once upon a time, before Alastor got ahold of him.

His head ached and he felt slightly dizzy.

 

Fuck! This was bad! This was really bad!

 

The penthouse might be disconnected from the rest of the building but that didn’t mean… Immediately he tried to call his two fellow V’s using the internal tech of his screen.

Only to hear all too familiar ringtones close by.

Alastor laughed, while a shadowy figure materialized next to him, happily dangling one phone in each hand, “Oh pardon me, my shadows just could not help themselves with your frivolous technology. A good joke between friends. Would not want to have anyone interrupt our meal now, would we?”

“Meal?” Vox blinked, his brain taking longer than usual in connecting the dots.

“My, my what a lovely heartbeat you have.” Rosie nodded towards the now flickering neon lights all around them, which had indeed adjusted themself to their living energy source.

In any other scenario Vox would’ve considered this simply embarrassing. In this one he had to suppress the urge to run to the door and take flight, instead he tried to support himself inconspicuously against the nearby wall, because standing upright was starting to become a hassle.

He would not give Alastor the satisfaction!

The female cannibal moved over to the cat and curiously started to inspect the kitchen knives in the knife block at the counter, “Do you think he would leave a tingling aftertaste in the mouth, Darling?”

Alastor clapped his hands together, “Actually, this is something I have mused about for over five decades.” His head turned to the side in an inhumane angle, “Never expected to find out so soon, though.”

 

Finally, it clicked in Vox head that this was outrageous! Yes, he was exhausted from this whole fucking day and slightly wobbly on his feet, but no this did not mean he would simply accept one Ex- and two current Overlords intruding his home like this!

 

As if by reflex the shadow let go of the two phones, now emitting sparks, just as every other electronic device in their nearby vicinity, all active now, despite their disconnection from the electricity grid.

Vox voice switched to static and for good measure he added the hypnotic powers of his eye to his command,

 

“O̸🆄̴̊͢🆃ͧͧ̀̚͜ 🅾ͯ̇̿̾ͤ̕͘͡🅵̷̷̢̇̉ͣͧͩͦ̕͠͠͏ ̨̢͊ͬͭ̍̾ͧ̄̀͟͢͞🅼̴̷̸̧̛̑͊͋ͥ̈ͩ͐̀͏͘🆈̶̶̴̆ͩͣ̓͌͊͊͛́͜͟͜͠͞ ̶̸̶̵̉̒̒ͥ̇̐ͭ̀͢͢͞🅷̢̡̢̆ͭͧ͊̈͌͐́͘͏🅾̵̨̈́ͯ͒͑̊ͯ͢͜͠͞͠🅼̷͑͑ͪ̌̇̕͘͢🅴̢̇͂̄̾́̕̕͞!  ̵̢̍A͝🅻̨͍͞🅻̶̷͕̤̯́͡ ̶̵̧̙̞̣̦̀͟🅾̡́͟͞🅵̴̸̶͘͞͏̷͈̬̱̼̺̹ 🆈̴̸̕͏͏̶🅾🆄̧̛̛̜͖͎̜̫͎͕̀́͟͢͜! Ņ̶̶̠̱̬̰͎̀̀͞🅾̷̤̪͎͔͘͢͟͝🆆͏̵̛̘͕̠͞!̛̛̠” (Out of my home! All of you! Now!)

 

Husks fur kicked up and he quietly hissed.

Rosie simply took one polite step back, half her face hiding in the shadows of her hat and only her sharp toothy grin remaining visible, leaving Alastor the stage.

“Oh deer, but we just got here.” A green Aura emitted from the Radio demon, while black tentacles started to sprout from the ground, “Would you be as kind as to explain to me how you came to the conclusion it would be a good idea to cling to Lucifers coat-tails?”

“Says the guy who follows Lucifers bimbo daughter around all puppy eyes and rainbows! As if you had any right to judge me!”

 

☻☺☻

 

Of course, it had been delusional to expect Alastor to take the news well that Lucifer and Vox intended to move into the hotel for an unspecified amount of time.

While he’d probably never admit that he considered Vox a threat it was undeniable that the Vees and Al had known each other for a while now.

The TV demon was one of the few powerful acquaintances on bad terms with Alastor still running around to tell the world about it, quite literally.

Meanwhile Lucifers mere presence appeared to get on Alastors nerves driving him as far as actually cursing and fighting over who’d be the better dad to Charlie.

If one always assumed the worst the devil basically promising he’d watch Alastors enemy closely could be interpreted as if Vox had just gotten himself the most powerful bodyguard available in hell.

 

After listening to the facts Alastors logical conclusion had been to simply erase Vox from the equation, before he moved into the hotel and earned himself the watchful eye of the king of hell himself. Preferably without the other Vees around to safe him.

 

Using Carmine as an excuse to draw Velvette away and having Als shadows observe Valentino down in his porn studio hoping he'd be too busy to notice what went on upstairs in the tower seemed to have worked.

The fact that Alastor had even gone as far as to cut the electricity in this floor to make sure, Vox wouldn’t use his powers to simply flash away through the security cameras showed that he actually took the TV demon somewhat seriously.

Same with Rosie and Husks presence, in case the other Vees should still decide to show up or if Alastor wanted things to hurry along.

Al had also mentioned that he knew those blackouts always took their toll on Vox and they’d probably not meet him in full power mode.

So many definitely unusual precautions for the usually aloof radio demon let Husk suspect that there was some bigger picture he didn’t know about.

 

Now that Husk saw Vox life and in color, he also realized something else playing in their favor, based on the experience of a notorious drunk and bartender.

Yes, it was useful if you could hide most of the typical signs behind a screen, but there was still a slight slur and delay in his sentences and he did sway a little while moving forward.

Not even to mention husks sensitive nostrils picking up the distinct stench of wine even from this distance.

The bastard was wasted!

 

Alastor started to grow and fill out the room, his demonic form slightly adjusting to the height of the walls. Once he loomed over the penthouse his claws slashed towards Vox.

The lights flickered wildly while the other Overlord stumbled back against the door he’d just entered through, before catching himself, all glowing cyan-colored plasma teeth,

 

“H̠͑͠🅾͔̦̒͋͠͝🆆ͦ̽ͪ͏̻͇̫͜͠ ́ͤͣͤ͏̶͈͇̰̥̕͟🅳̸̡̏̾̈̋͐🅰ͫ̑ͪ̊̎ͪ̓͏̷̀͘͡🆁̷̧̧̢̨̼̯͉̻̟͈͈̯̈ͨͫ͊̑ͨ͑ͬ́͡͞🅴̵̸̰̫̤̹͚͖̺͙̒̂ͭ̇̽͗ͫ́̀̚͘͜͜͠ ̸̵̷̨̧̱̱̬̰̦̙͎͆̓ͭͯ͐̒̋͝͞🆈̵̢͇̪̰͓͚ͨ͂̓ͬ̚̕͜͠🅾̶̧͇̮̝͊ͫͥ̔͘͢🆄̴̤͉̞ͭ̄̚̕̕!̶̳̱͂̅͢!” (How dare you!)

 

Husks ears set back when the screeching static seemed to come out of every potential speaker in the room at once.

All electronic devices in their nearby vicinity seemed to be supercharged and spitting sparks, but unlike Alastor Vox didn’t switch into any different forms. He simply shot forward all cyan claws and rage slicing through the tentacles in his way like butter, albeit slightly wobbly on his feet, nearly stumbling over them before reaching Al.

The radio demon did not even bother to evade. Instead, his huge hand lunged at his enemy swatting the lean body out of the air like an annoying fly and with the brunt of the force smashed him right into the nearby TV, producing another rain of sparks and a couch catching fire.

His voice went right under the skin and sounded slightly off, “You seem to have slacked off over the years, old pal. Spread too much of your powers all over the city so that there was not enough left for yourself?”

Somehow Husk got the feeling Alastor was actually disappointed in Vox’ display of weakness.

“Fuck you!” Vox spit blood at the hand pressing him against the wall and wiped his mouth clean.

“So pitiful. You are indeed nothing without the other two. All talk, no real strength to back it up.”

 

Yup, Alastor was angry all right and Rosie was now watching the two of them with growing fascination.

That was his chance! Husk kneeled down behind the counter, acting like he was looking for more booze in one of the cupboards but instead pulled out his phone. Only to nearly let it fall to the ground when it gave him a little electrical shock, adjusting to the general unfriendly electronic environment.

He saw the wall and his nearby surroundings flash up in a discomforting blue, followed by a disgusting fleshy noise and something heavy dropping to the ground, but bravely ignored it, while he quickly started typing.

Al and V are fighting it out in V Tower. Don’t know how your dad handles this shit but maybe he should know since this is all his goddamn fault! Don’t mention I told you.

 

After sending the message he carefully peeked over the counter, ears pricked up.

Vox and the gigantic version of Als hand had crumpled to the ground, the TV being partly covered below it and cursing slightly, while trying to knock it off. Al had stopped midmotion the arm once connected to the hand now a smoothly cut stump, with fresh blood pouring out of it into a puddle below.

Before Vox succeeded in his weak efforts to free himself the hand decomposed into shadows oozing into the ground.

Confused by the sudden missing weight the slightly dazzled Tv demon rose into an upward sitting position, seemingly trying to find his bearings. A perfect target for a sharp black tentacle shooting out of the bloody puddle and straight into his chest, nailing him once more against the wall behind him and while on it actually puncturing said wall as well.

Screeching angrily, definitely not human anymore, Alastor did not stop at that, the tentacle swinging to the side, his pierced target still attached and ripped a straight line through the glass façade and the curtains to the right.

Once free from the wall, Vox slipped off the tip and crashed hardly into a big painting on the wall, showing all the Vees smiling together at an unknown artist.

Meanwhile the tentacle innocently disintegrated into the shadows it had come from.

 

Husks phone finally stopped giving him little electro shocks as did the rest of the kitchen interior.

To be more precise everything turned dark again, aside from the huge cut through the glass and curtain which now let hells typical red hue into the room. Mixing with the eerily green glow originating from Alastor as he shrunk back down to his normal size,

“Always oh so eager to prove yourself, old pal, but in the end failing miserably just like all the rest of them. The tragedy! I might even come to miss our little spats, but nothing lasts forever. We have to look into the future and the future is radio!”

 

☻☺☻

 

Lucifer was currently faced with quite the moral dilemma:

What in the seven hells was he supposed to pack into his suitcase for his move over into the hotel?

Thoughtfully he kneeled down to one of the couple of hills of his proud rubber duck collection and lifted one of them up. It had a cute little hat on its yellow head.

And just like the others it had been with him for some time now. Without them around it could become rather lonely.

But on the other hand, if Charlie or, God beware, Alastor saw them, what would they think?

That they were a masterpiece in creation or that it was childish for a grown man to collect this many rubber ducks?

But weren’t they just adorable?

How could someone say no to their cute little beaks?

What if Charlie found out his "important business" for the last couple of years had only been the creation of said ducks?

 

He nearly dropped the ducky to the ground when his phone rang.

Carefully placing it back at the top of the hill of its comrades he answered, “Hello Charlie, what’s up? Daddy’s getting ready to move.”

“About that… Something happened. Alastor was unhappy with your decision…”

“My decision? It was mutual agreement.”

“Or that. But well… He seems to try to kill off Vox at V-Tower. Before you ask that is the huge pink skyscraper in the neon-district to the west of the city.”

Ah, so that’s where that bastard actually lived!

“Thanks for telling me, kiddo. You can stop worrying, daddy will take it from here!”

“Ok.” Somehow, she still sounded worried, “Then I guess, we’ll se each other soon. Please be careful and don’t overdo it. Bye.”

“See you.”

The moment he hung up he let his frustrations run wild by delivering a kick into the hill of rubber ducks, destroying its delicate equilibrium and forcing him to quickly evade a small yellow avalanche.

How dare that bastard ruin his carefully woven plans to spend some quality time at the hotel?

 

☻☺☻

 

Having a slightly more precise description this time around Lucifer hovered in front of a pink skyscraper not long after.

At its base huge neon signs announced a sex club, a bar and tech shops.They all appeared to be quite popular.

“Well, that is that, but where are they?”

He sized up the tower. At first glance there did not seem to be anything out of the ordinary. Even at second he nearly missed the slight destructive line through some of the glass facade, close to the top floor.

“Alright, guess it’s my time to shine.”

It only took a couple of wing flaps to arrive at the shambles.

Having no obvious way of entry and not knowing the interior he instead melted a him-sized hole into the glass and the curtain behind it.

 

☻☺☻

 

The first thing Lucifer spotted in the red light, coming mainly from the hole he had just created and the partially broken windows to his right, was the stupid smiling visage of the all too familiar radio demon.

“Oh, your majesty, what a surprise to meet you here in your full angelic glory. Are you here on business?”

Avoiding the glass shards on the ground, he landed a bit further inside the room “You could say so. Would you mind me asking what all of this,” with one hand he made a wide circle around his surroundings, “is?” Then it stopped and instead pointed accusingly towards a crumpled lifeless figure on the ground, right next to Alastor, “Him in particular.”

“I do not mind in the least. Why? There is no place like home and this is a living room. As for him, well he is the owner of the house you so rudely blasted a hole inside just now.”

Lucifer felt bad about not feeling worse at the sight of a crushed sinners body, but considering the thousands of years he had been around it was by far not the first he had laid eyes upon.

“Last time I saw him he did not look like… that.”

“Last time I saw him he did. This poor fellow is just taking a nap after over exhausting himself on this long and strenuous day. Which apparently involved meeting you unless I'm very much mistaken.”

“With a hole in his chest cavity?” Lucifer moved up to Alastor, “You really want to go down this road, don't you?”

Alastor did not seem to be fazed, “Whatever do you mean? He is a sinner demon and an overlord at that. Only angelic weapons can kill him off permanently.” He gave Vox cracked up screen a gentle nudge with the end of his staff, “Tomorrow he will look as good as new. He loves switching his formats anyways.” The staff returned to his side and he leaned against it, “So, there is nothing to worry your holier than thou head about and you can just fly on your merry way again.” He made a shooing wave with his hand and the staff said hand was holding, while carefully hiding the other behind his back.

Lucifer narrowed his red eyes at the radio demon not sure what the best way to approach this situation would be.

 

“Your majesty it is an honor to meet you”, apparently, Alastor was not alone. Next to him stood an elegantly dressed lady nodding politely towards him.

“Uh, yeah, good to see you, I guess…”

He recognized her as the leader of the cannibals who had helped Charlie fight back the angels. Rosie.

And hidden behind the counter he spotted Husk, ears set back and apparently trying not to draw any attention to himself.

“Three against one seems a bit unbalanced.”

“Oh, they were just precautions in case any insects crawled out of their hiding spots.”

It slowly dawned upon Lucifer that maybe he should just ignore the radio demon for now and instead check up on the guy bleeding out on the floor.

 

When he kneeled down, he couldn’t completely swallow that short sting of conscience which suspected this could have been potentially his fault.

On the other hand, this was just another of thousands of filthy sinners just a bit higher in the ranks, probably thanks to embracing his talent for crime to the fullest.

Lucifer gave a sniff at the sharp stench of wine, fried circuitry and blood surrounding the body.

The screen was black and cracked. Ignoring the blatant chest wound for now he instead checked for a pulse to see how likely it was that Vox would come back to conscience any time soon or if the Radio demon had lied to him and this guy was a goner for good.

Lucifer could still feel a living soul in there so that was a start, but besides that the guy was out cold.

 

He rose up again to turn towards Alastor.

“Are you done now?” The static in the radio demons voice seemed slightly sharper than usual while he leaned against his strange staff, still one hand behind his back.

“I think you are trespassing and if you get in trouble, so will Charlie. Could you please just take your two friends and leave before people are connecting this mess to you?”

“Will do, after you. I am not finished talking to my,” his gaze wandered down to Vox, “old pal just yet.”

Lucifer glared at Alastor, then at Rosie, then at Husk, or at least at the tips of the cats ears he could still see behind the counter.

Considering they were all aquaintances to Charlie, he had bothered to learn more about them since his initial debut.

Husk was partly excused. He had sold his soul to Alastor and was thus lacking in the free of choice department. Rosie meanwhile was a well-known cannibal Overlord and Alastor was a demon who got famous by torturing the souls of other Overlords who had come before him, sealing them in his staff for all eternity.

The particular staff he was clinging to right now so proudly.

Leaving them alone with their defenseless victim was a recipe for disaster but so was starting a fight. These people had actually helped Charlie out on a regular basis.

The angel got right into the face of the radio demon, using his wings to make up for the difference in heights, “Not happening!”

Then, since this was starting to get too stupid to bother, he just seized Vox by the collar and teleported away, the unconscious Tv-demon in tow.

 

☻☺☻

 

Husk blinked at the empty bloodied space, a new bottle of liquor in hand, “What the hell just happened?”

Alastors grin felt slightly forced, “Apparently someone alarmed him and daddy dearest decided to abduct the CEO of VoxTek.”

Rosie, one finger in the bloody stain on the pink carpet, which was all that remained from their opponent brought said finger to her lips and mused, while licking it, “Such a shame.”

Notes:

Hello again
and thank you for the comments to the first two chapters, they were quite entertaining :D

Well, this chapter was... something.
A lot of editing and rewriting passages trying to get a feel for the characters.
I've got the feeling the next one will be much smoother sailing.

The original version had a drunken Vox crashing into trash cans and stumbling through dark alleys stealing coats from unconcious robbery victims (but being at least nice enough to drag them out onto the public street) and switching his screen to something less "snarky". Then I realised that he would not be that stupid and here we go, Vel just sending the limo because they're rich.

I also considered Al to just simply not do what he did, but then I realized it wouldn't fit into the scheming picture I've got set up for him in this story.
Lucifer and Vox in the Hotel for an unspecified duration of time (with a deal only they know the details about) are a threat to him, no questions asked. Especially in the combination they present (one having all the power but no clue about hells current state of affairs while the other might be not as powerful in pure strength but has the whole media under his thumb, thus partly cancelling out each others weaknesses)
Since Lucifer is a no-go, trying to take out Vox before this issue could come to pass would be the most logical conclusion.

I have to admit that this chapter had more freestyling Vox' power than I had originally intended to, trying to keep to the lore/canon as close as possible, while at the same time thinking that he should be capable of posing a threat even when not connected to the "Network" via cables as presented in the series (just much less "controlled" and with more emotions involved, since that gives me the chance to humanize him some more). Though in the end I still think that his main power lies in his influence and he's never going to be the "brute force" kind of guy...
I also started to play around with Zalgotexts, for those instances where Vox gets really angry. (and I'm currently reading through some general interesting technical fun stuff you could theoretically intergrate on archive stories, not sure if I'm ready for it yet though, since I'm used to the old style formats where it's already an "eyecatcher" if you have your headlines in bold print xD)

Mini-lore-dump from Helluva/Hazbin:
I also ended up addressing the whole "Sinner demons cant die to normal weapons/through normal means only by angelic weapons" thing which makes my head hurt, because everybody in the series is constantly talking about killing each other, while at the same time casually throwing this fact in.
In the second episode Velvettes model got ripped apart by Val and Vel was simply annoyed by the fact, that it would take a while for her star to put herself back together. So this "regeneration" thingy is the route we go. (though not all too graphic, just mostly some innuendos and so slow that noone gets any big advantage out of it Deadpool or Wolverine style, aside from suffering in hell for all eternity...) "Normal" low-level demons (like most introduced in Helluva boss) can still die "normally" by the way, no angelic weapons needed.
Considering the rising demand for angelic weapons after the angels defeat this will probably become less of an issue down the road anyways.

So that's all for now.

Thank you for reading :)

Best wishes!

Chapter 4: Respectful Communication

Summary:

Lucifer requests the assistance of an old friend.
Missing their favorite TV Valentino and Velvette pay the hotel a visit.

Notes:

So I noticed while I did put in a tag for the end of season 1 of Hazbin I kinda forgot about Helluva. Fixed that and sorry again...

“And here we are,” he opened the door with a bit more bravado than necessary, “Home sweet home!” A silent squeaking below his foot, followed by a little jet of flame and an unflashy carefully pushed away rubber duck, later he strolled further into the living room, dragging his humanoid cargo behind him over the floor.

“Please don’t mind the chaos, I did not have any visitors in, well…”, one thoughtful finger at his mouth, he let his gaze wander over the hills of rubber ducks, realizing there was not much space left not occupied by them, “hm, a while, I suppose. Just make yourself comfortable!” he kneaded his neck admitting to no one in particular, “Man, this is awkward.”

With a snap of his fingers his least favorite red blanket rolled out on the floor in front of him and he just dropped the unconscious tech demon upon it. Since he was not a total asshole, he also freed a nearby pillow from rubber ducks and pushed that under the broken screen.

Then he stopped to admire his work, coming to the realization that the pillow might be unnecessary and the glaring hole in the abdomen, while showing first signs of regeneration, was still kind of there and not pretty to look at.

He added his second least favorite blanket with a yellow duck-pattern to the picture and gave himself an affirmative nod.

At least unlike most other demons the sinners did not need any hospitals for their fleshy injuries, as long as no angels, their weapons or strange curses or whatever were involved. Otherwise, that would’ve been a completely different headache all together to deal with.

Lucifers gaze wandered upwards from the blanket towards the still black and cracked screen. Parts of it seemed to be broken because of the impact with the wall, but there had also undoubtedly been some other aimed external force at work, smashing it right in the middle. Its delicate inner circuitry had probably suffered from being thrown around and whatever else Alaster did until Lucifer had arrived on the scene.

 

A closer look at the thing by carefully touching it and moving it a bit to the side confirmed his suspicions that indeed there were cable ports, just like you’d suspect from any normal screen. Unfortunately, the TV he called his own was a bit on the outdated box-shaped side of things.

He only bought his phone because people around him insisted.

In his home however no one had visited for a while thus no one could complain that his place consisted mainly of hills of rubber ducks and no real other change to the interior design whatsoever since she had left.

 

Trying to clear his head he brewed some fresh Chamomile tea and lounged himself into one of his comfy armchairs, not letting his involuntary guest out of sight.

Once more he considered his options.

Honestly his first instinct would’ve been to drag the battered body to the hotel. But then it would seem as if he could not even stick to his own word, having announced so confidently that they’d move in after a day of preparation. Even Alastor had taken him up on that and acted with his mischief before the officially announced date, probably expecting Lucifer not to intervene.

Furthermore, Vox should be able to introduce himself while arriving at the hotel free of choice and not be dragged there like a piece of meat, completely ignorant of the fact that its very slaughterer lived under the same roof.

Besides Lucifer was the big boss of hell himself, he was supposed to help Charlie with her problems not cause more of them by dragging unconscious Overlords to her doorstep! People sang praises in his name! He could handle this minor inconvenience just fine on his own.

 

He picked up his cup of tea and blew at it to arrive at the perfect temperature.

 

First of all, there was the issue of the guy being a tech demon. Cursed be the randomness with which sinners materialized!

Obviously, the head was mostly artificial and manmade. Manmade technology couldn’t just simply heal or regenerate, could it? The logical conclusion Lucifer came up with was that Vox actually depended more on his environment than beings made completely out of flesh and blood and needed repairs.

He might be an inventor sure, but it’d been a while since he tempered with anything else then rubber ducks and he imagined Vox screen being slightly more complex replacing his brain and all that…

He could try to find the Overlords normal mechanic but that would mean he’d have to deal with the sinners again. And with the best will in the world he just had enough of them for today.

Especially if they decided to do stupid commentary on why he was bothering in the first place unable to grasp the genius of his plan to have an Overlord move into the Hotel, preferably alive and well!

Luckily hell was a large place and the pride ring only one of seven.

 

Taking another sip the fallen angel pulled out his phone with the other hand to casually scroll through his contacts. Basically, all the old big shots hell had to offer. His finger paused at one name in particular, hesitated for a second, but then called.

 

It took the other side a while to answer, but then he heard a rustling of clothes, quiet mumbling hinting at someone else being there and then a dark masculine voice, “Lucifer? Why, I haven’t gotten a private call from you in years. To what do I owe this…”, a short pause and quiet giggling in the background, “unexpected pleasure?”

“Oz! Old buddy! How’s it hanging?” He repositioned himself on the armchair, legs and back now leaning over the opposite armrests, “Still making those creepy robotic sex-dolls for that shithead Mammon?”

A deep satisfied laugh accompanied the answer, “Not anymore. I cut ties with that greedy buffoon. Have you been living under a rock, babe?”

“I mean, you could say recent events have been quite the,” he side-eyed Vox, “shock. I was much too busy to listen to any gossip about what’s going on over at Lust.”

“No shit! I saw how you fucked Adam”, he took a dramatic pause, while Lucifer just rolled his eyes, “up big time. Tell you a secret? Never liked that douchebag. No wonder Lilith dumped him.”

At that Lucifer couldn’t resist a proud toothy grin, “Well, she found much better alternatives than that bitch.”

His comment earned him a lewd chuckle through the phone, “Of course she did,” the other sin sighed theatrically, “Though I cannot deny that Adam actually had a lot of fans around these parts. The crowd totally digging into his bad boy behavior if you know what I mean. We had a whole production line themed after him. Conveniently enough angels cannot sue down here. At least those still chilling their a-hole up in heaven.”
Quiet mumbling again and with a much softer voice he whispered, “Yes, sorry Froggy.” before switching back to business, “Listen, Lucy, I would love to chat some more but maybe we should get to the point so that we can finish what we were about to do, before your somewhat inconvenient interruption?”

The loud breathy inhale he heard this time around, did not leave much doubt, about what the other sin was talking about. Good for him.

Lucifer quickly shook his head to concentrate on his current issue, “Sure thing. Are you capable of repairing a TV?”

This time Ozzie was unable to finish his sentence in one swoop, having to catch his shaky breath in between, “A… TV? You called the sin of lust in the middle of the night… during an act of passion…”  He interrupted himself midsentence, to switch into a deeper covetous voice, blatantly not aimed at Lucifer, “Please stop the teasing, Froggy, just give me another sec here and I’ll be yours with all my body, heart and soul!” and slightly accusing, “He would not dare to call me outside of working hours if it was not important to him.” After having made that clear he switched back to professional, though with a partly incredulous undertone, “Where was I? You want me to repair your TV?”
Once more things were sliding into uncomfortable territory and Lucifer just wanted to get this over with, biting his lips, glancing at the topic of their discussion, “Not that I care, but I don’t think he’d like to be called anyone’s TV.”
“Wait, what? Oh, now things get spicy… Lucifer Morningstar is having someone over at his place? After hiding his glorious ass from all of us for seven years straight for anything not strictly work-related?”

“Yes?”

“And that someone is a TV-demon who needs repairs?” Ozzies voice got slightly more admonishing, “You know lust should be enjoyed by both sides, right? While there is no issue with some passionate BDSM it should never get to the point where your partner needs repairs from a professional.”

Sinner or not, the angel did not like the implications, especially since he so successfully went the pacifist route today, he switched to just leaning against one of the armrests, “Come on, I was not the one who trashed him!”

“Oh, I totally understand!”, a chuckle which seemed to hint the opposite of the claim, “You just wanted to do some innocent Voxflix and chill but someone else crashed the party? The jealous Ex?”

“Vox…flix? Wait, you mean… like Vox?”

“Is this your pitiful attempt of changing the topic?” Oz sighed sounding exhausted, “Look, give us half an hour to finish up here and let me get my things. My crystals work only for the human world, though.”

“No issues. You know the drill, just...”

“Please, I will not sacrifice a lamb, just to get to your place helping you out with your mess! You know where I reside. Ring the bell like a normal person and take us there yourself. See you around.”

He hung up and Lucifer realized that maybe he should use this time to clean up a little if he did not want his fellow sin to make a big fuss about how he let himself go during the last couple of years.

 

☻☺☻

 

Velvette was beginning to feel uneasy.

First there was that bitch Carmine urgently wanting to talk to them, only to pussyfoot around without any actual conclusion after having to suffer her presence for one hour straight!

Secondly there was the fact Velvette’s phone was missing. Being an essential tool to her job it was one of those things she’d never accidently misplace! If Carmine hadn’t distracted her so much, she might’ve noticed it sooner.

 

“Phone. Now.” The Overlord simply held out her hand to her chauffeur the moment she arrived at the pink limo outside. Being the well-trained dog that he was he handed her a surrogate right away. Unfortunately, being around her fellow moody Vees had made precautions like this a necessity.

 

A few clicks later she was synchronized again to the cloud.

Not looking up from her phone she inquired, “Did Vox get home ok?”

“He got home.”

“How was he feeling?”

“He got home.”

“Huh?” She looked up from her phone and recognized the stupid vacant expression people had when Vox hypnotized them and didn’t put in the necessary effort to hide the fact being too lazy… or too exhausted.

Maybe she should ask him herself?

Annoyingly enough the other V was unavailable which was strange since he was connected to his phone via his fucking screen and considering today’s events, he would not dare to mute her!
Next one on the list of contacts was Val but he did not answer either.

“Shit.”

She jumped into the car and told the driver to get back to Vee territory as fast as possible, while ringing Val’s staff instead.

 

☻☺☻

 

“I am telling you; you are overthinking this, chiquita”, Valentino had two of his arms crossed while smoking one of his trademark cigs, leaning against the wall of the elevator, “Vox is a big boy. He can look after himself.”

His repeated assurances did not prevent Velvette from nervously pushing the button to close the sliding doors around twenty times more than necessary. The moth demon puffed out some red smoke unfazed, “Contrólate!”

 

When they arrived at their penthouse floor the bad feeling remained.

“The lights are not working,” she stated the obvious, glaring towards the moth-demon, whose red eyes glowed menacingly in the darkness.

“Maybe he just had another tantrum? A tinier one only affecting this floor?”, this time the pimp sounded slightly less confident, his red eyes narrowing to warily slits behind his heart-shaped glasses.

Meanwhile the other Vee turned on the flash of her phone to light their way to the front door.

Carefully illuminating it she concluded, “At least there does not seem to have been any use of force.”

“Not until now. Let’s get this over with!”

 

☻☺☻

 

 It took only two mighty flaps of his wings and the door was an issue no longer.

They had a clear view into their living room and his fists instinctively clenched upon the sight.

“Fuck.” Velvette summed it up quite fittingly.

The room was empty, so no obvious threat but honestly, he’d have preferred to spot anybody he could blame for this mess!

Deep dark blood stains on the carpet, as well as more of the live juice splattered and smeared over the walls and remains of their curtains and windows. Some unfortunate soul had been dragged against them before apparently being thrown into their group portrait.

The now fragmented art showed their smiling trio some years back when they decided to move together into Vee tower.

The nerve!

He wanted to kill someone! Anyone! Rip them apart and splatter their guts! Then wait until they regenerated just enough to feel pain again and do it once more for good measure!

Maybe he should pay their angelic experiment downstairs a visit later? With a bit of luck find out an alternative to blessed weaponry to kill those winged fucks in the process?  How long would those pretty wings take to grow back when he ripped them out and could he use them as décor for his room?

Though as nice as some fluffy angel wings were, currently he’d favor some antlers, preferably with the head of their owner still attached, his fucking cocky smile permanently crushed.

“Val? Hello? Earth to Valentino? Don’t you fucking lose it when Vox is not around! We don’t know what happened here, it could’ve been anything or anyone!” Vel kneeled down to the blood on the carpet sniffing it, “For all we know he is fine and just could not reach us, because we were missing our phones.”

“You mean those?” He pointed towards the ground next to the kitchen counter with grit teeth.

There was no benign explanation as for why their phones would just lie there next to each other.

It was decided! Someone would die tonight he’d make sure of it!

“I’m gonna get my guns. The Carmine ones. It’s time my sexy babies see some use again!”

“No. Wait.”

He bended forward breathing red smoke into Vels disgusted face, “You little bitch, don’t you dare telling me what to do!”

She just raised an unimpressed eyebrow, “Finished being a brat and ready to use that”, her finger lightly tapped his forehead, “walnut-sized brain of yours?” 

Wings spread wide, he loomed over her in all his intimidating glory, “Do you have a death wish, darling? I could arrange that.”

“Relax, I’ve got no intention to stop you from your killing spree.” She turned away from him and instead smirked towards the black cameras, “Just had an idea how we might actually get some sense out of this mess beforehand so that you can aim it a bit more purposefully.”

The security cams were spread all throughout the building, being Vox preferred option of transportation as well as his way of keeping an eye on everything happening on their territory.

Val blinked at them, slightly confused and thus distracted from his rage: “In case you have not noticed yet, chica, we do not have any electricity going on here, so they are useless.”

“We are talking about Vox here. He is a fucking Overlord! He would never go down without a fight and when he fights you can be sure as hell that sparks are gonna fly! While sending their records down into the control room, those things also have an additional memory space, storing the information for a certain amount of time in their hardware before deleting. Just in case Vox needs the information ASAP without being able or having the time to go down into the control room, being the paranoid shithead that he is. So, let’s see if there is any recording and if there is–” she gave him a triumphant smile. Seeing the bigger picture now, he finished her sentence, “– then we know exactly who we’re gonna kill tonight!”

 

☻☺☻

 

Husk had decided to walk back home by foot, having to clear his head first.

Rosies presence had been a blessing in disguise. She might be one of the, if not the only person in all over hell who at least partly understood the twisted way Alastor`s mind worked. Husk had no clue where those two ran off to, be it to have a strategy meeting over a cup of fancy tea or something much messier.

Frankly he did not care.

He simply did not want to be the target of the radio demon’s wrath.

Had it been a good idea to tell Charlie about Alastor’s nightly activities? Only time would tell.

Had it been a risky move? Undoubtedly. The radio demon did not like people stabbing him in the back.

 

“Hey there, loser. Looks like you had a run in with the devil.”

He looked up to Angel.

The spider demon was leaning next to the entrance of the hotel, worry in his dichromatic eyes, “You ok there, sugar?”

“I need another drink!”, Husk walked straight past the porn star and pushed open the doors more violently than necessary, only to stop right in his tracks, when he realized multiple pairs of anxious eyes focusing on him, the moment he entered, “Oh for fucks sake, don’t you have any better place to be?”

 

☻☺☻

 

They had made themselves comfortable in Vox control room, linking the available cameras to the network. Admittedly it had taken them a bit longer than usual, since this was usually their screen-faced allies forte.

The footage was incomplete. It started the moment Vox entered, wavering as if in a bad horror flick and of course the places where Alastor stood were even more shifty. Not so much with Rosie or the winged cat demon. Judging by the grumbling sounds Valentino made next to her they were just put on his personal hit list, simply for being associated with Alastor.

The moment she recognized the other Overlords Velvette knew this was not going to have a happy ending.

Nonetheless she was unable to look away, unable to say anything.

Surprisingly enough even Val remained relatively silent watching the scene unfolding in front of them.

Something was wrong with Vox. He did not seem to be his usual confident self. But she had known that even during their call a couple hours back.

 

Was it her fault this happened? Would it have been better to stave off the fucking arms dealer and instead just go for her friend right away, knowing that he was close to breaking down mentally and physically?

But being the control freak he was she’d hoped it’d calm him down, if she tried to help him clean his mess right away. As he always did for them, especially for Val.

Hell was not a place for friendly cuddling and telling each other things would be ok when they clearly weren’t. Vox was too proud for that goody two shoes shit and so were the other Vees.

 

One could not really call the flickering tragedy they observed a real fight. There was one hopeful second where Vox actually partly succeeded in dipping into his demonic transformation to cut off Alastors hand, but he lost control right away and then even gave the opening to his demise.

The proud CEO of VoxTek was dragged around like a useless sack of potatoes and then crashed hard against the portrait.

Alastor was closing in on him and things turned black.

Vel swallowed hard while her brain unwantedly started to paint the rest of the picture.

Just as she thought that was the end of the tape as if in an act of defiance, it flickered on one last time.

Vox face lighted up looking up to Alastor who was now standing right in front of him.

Gone was the smug grin on his screen. Gone were his sharp sharkish teeth. His big cat-like eyes radiated a strange mixture of desperation, pleading and sadness while he seemed to say something to his personal nemesis. Then Alastor just crashed his staff down and the recording stopped. This time permanently.

“Fuck that fucking deer head!” Valentino shot one of the now useless screens with one of his prized guns. Velvette cringed, instead seeing Vox desperate face in her inner eye once more.

“Fuck!”

Another broken screen, another lost bullet.

“That fucker!”

And the third.

“I’m going to fucking rip him apart!”

The fourth smoking tech, where a bullet had hit its circuitry.

Her eyes were wet.

“Val, stop,” she didn’t recognize her own voice anymore, it sounded hoarse, “this is stupid.”

Vox was gone. The radio demon had finally gotten his claws into him.

They hadn’t been there for him when they should have!

It was all her fault!

She felt sick to the stomach and hid her mouth in her hand, “This will not bring him back.”

“Or maybe it will,” the pimps voice had returned to the calculating ruthless Overlord that instilled terror into the inhabitants of the pride ring, while licking his still smoking gun, “We have not yet heard him scream.”

“Scream?”

Questioningly she glanced up to the moth demon as he elaborated, “In the radio. You know that deers whole shtick… Torture overlords until they make a deal with him and then broadcast their agonizing screams all over Pride. He even demonstrated it today right after his argument with Vox, as if trying to remind everybody why he should be feared. The cowardly little bitch.”

“You mean there is still time?”

Valentino reloaded the missing bullets, “If Vox would break that easily, I would not waste my time with him in the first place. And neither would you.”

Red smoke wafted all around him in the dim light of the remaining screens, the blessed angel parts of his gun glowing like a holy promise, “So want to go on a hunt?”

Feeling a spark of hope reignite Velvette answered with her most vicious grin, “With pleasure.”

 

☻☺☻

 

Curiously Fizzarolli watched Asmodeus burly muscular figure scrambling through the room gathering the tools, he deemed necessary to repair a TV. The imp himself had made himself comfortable on the table wiggling his robot legs, “So what’s hells biggest dick in charge like to someone who’s known him for a couple of millennials?”

“Lucifer?” Ozzie turned around zestfully, his rooster like tailfeathers following the motion, the two faces buried in his thick mane of cyan seemingly thoughtful just as the main head narrowed its neon-green eyes to slits, “Behind all his grandeur I think he is a well-meaning guy who messed up a couple of times, which kind of stacked since he’s been around for a while.”

After a short break of consideration, the sin of lust added with a mischievous smirk, “I also think he should get laid to de-stress. Though it’ll probably take another decade at least until he’s over her. He’s one of the loyal ones.”

Before Fizz could ask his boyfriend to elaborate the doorbell rang and Ozzie grabbed his toolbox, “Would you look at that! At least this time he is polite and doesn’t just plop up in the middle of the room.” He offered his big arm towards the table, “Let’s go, shall we, Fizzie Frog?”

Fizz couldn’t resist the urge to smile before stretching his black and cyan glowing artificial arms to absurd lengths, hoisting himself upon his favorite spot on Ozzies shoulder. The larger demon quickly brushed the forehead of the imp with his lips before dancing towards the door, humming the melody of Fizzarollis newest song.

 

☻☺☻

 

Since he’d decided he needed a drink before facing those concerned looks around him, they’d all followed him to his bar like loyal little puppies.

He glanced over to Charlie, not sure what was going on in that head of hers.

She seemed worried, leaning against Veggie for comfort, who had one arm around her waist. Meanwhile the angel looked grim, as if she was preparing herself for battle in her head.

He did not know Cherri all that well but she also had an air around her as if she was willing to fight, every now and then peeking towards the entry.

Angel Dust seemed the least aggressive of the bunch, but the fact that he was missing his usual let’s call it playfulness and instead only maintained that strange worried look kind of unnerved the cat-demon.

Niff was missing. He was not sure how to feel about that.

 

What did they know? What did Charlie tell them?

And most importantly: Where in the seven hells was Lucifer?

Honestly Husk had expected the goofball to poof right back into the hotel with the TV in tow, snitching on Alastor the moment he got here. Then he’d clear up all potential questions and nobody would’ve paid Husk any mind if he returned a bit later.

He tried to act nonchalant when picking up another bottle, “Where is your dad?”

“I haven’t seen him since he left after the movie.”

Not good.

“Apparently some random bystanders saw Alastor paying V Tower a visit so my dad decided to make sure nothing was wrong.” She tried her best, though lying was really not her forte, her quizzical looks giving it away to anybody with half a braincell.

He sighed and put the bottle down on the counter, “Come on, princess, I know you want to, just spit it out.”

“Is my dad ok?” The fact she sounded genuinely worried about hells biggest monster was kind of puzzling.

“Oh, he’s fine.”

Now she started interlocking her fingers, “And Alastor?”

The others may be quiet but he felt the tension in the air. “He’s fine too,” to his annoyance she seemed visibly relieved, “A bit angry, though, since your dad decided to spoil his fun at its peak. Rosie helps him cope, I guess.”

Angel Dust leaned a bit closer over the counter, undoubtedly wanting to know the spicier parts of the story, “So, if our guys are fine how does Mr. Fancy Pants fare?”

“I… I don’t know.” He gave Charlie a crooked smile, “He’s probably alive being a sinner Overlord and all.”

Vaggie`s grip around her spear got a bit tighter, “’Probably alive’ is quite the spectrum for one of the most influential jerks in the Pride Ring.”

“Oh, believe me when I say the lucky bastard could’ve had it far worse if Alastor had had his way with him as intended.”

 

☻☺☻

 

Charlie was not entirely sure how to take the news.  On one hand she was glad, apparently all parties involved survived. On the other hand, this was really not the best premise for their soon-to-be newest resident in the hotel.

Whom was she supposed to be angry with? Alastor? Lucifer? Vox?

As far as she could tell they all acted in character hating each other’s guts. Maybe she should plan a group activity having all three of them participating together? Alastor would probably say no right away, unless her dad had a word in it. She was not sure how far her father intended to participate in the hotel’s activities if at all. And Vox… Honestly, she did not know him well enough to know how he’d react, maybe with a blackout? Maybe actually cooperative since he did claim he wanted to change according to her dad? But there was also the chance that he simply lacked the means and power to refuse the wishes of the king of hell. Even she was sometimes overwhelmed by his enthusiasm and that meant something.

Charlie played with the thought of just calling her father. An action that was still strange and took her some effort. Yes, he was around much more, but at the same time he hadn’t been for a lot of years and old habits die hard.

He’d said she should not worry, but she did. Was it okay to leave him be and trust in his decisions until he was ready to talk? Or should she call and remind him he’d always be welcome in the hotel and that this was an issue they should deal with together? It’d probably hurt his pride and this strange new urge of his to prove himself in front of her and her friends.

 

Before she could dive deeper into her ‘daddy issues’ someone was as kind as to push their entrance door out of its angles having it crash a couple of meters forward onto the floor.

“Where is that fucking radio cunt? I need to teach him a lesson the hard way.”

“Valentino?” Angel Dusts voice sounded less than thrilled.

Which made the moth demon turn sideways towards him, “Angel babe, why are you not in the studio? I do not remember hearing myself saying we were finished yet. Today was supposed to be an all-nighter! I simply took a small break to find out that your fucking deer pal decided he wants to die by my hands when he abducted my most esteemed business partner.”

“Oh, screw off! Al did not abduct anyone tonight. You’ve got the wrong guy and came to the wrong place!” Husk angrily spit from behind the counter, earning himself Valentinos undivided attention.

"Oh you! I know you!"

Suddenly the moth demon had crossed the gap in the room and stood right in front of the bar. Thanks to his size close enough to loom over the cat standing behind it, while Angel instinctively moved his barstool away from the pimp, “You were also trespassing into V-territory!” he rose a warning finger, “You have seen things not meant for your eyes to see, little kitten.”
“Hey, leave him alone, asshole! If Husk says we don’t have your Sugar Daddy, then we don’t have him!” Angel slid down from his barstool and stood up straight, his hand on the counter, slightly shaking.

Valentino side-eyed him, his eyes narrowing to distrustful slits, “And why should I believe anything coming out of that dirty mouth of yours, you lying whore?”

“Hey Charlie.”

“Hm?” She was too busy preparing herself for the moment she had to intervene should things turn from words to violence, to notice Vaggie whispering next to her.
“Maybe now would be a good time to call your dad?”

“Meh, I would not bother.”
They both flinched when they noticed the smaller female Overlord standing right next to them, arms crossed while watching her companion.

As if to prove her otherwise Charlie quickly tried the opposite, ringing her father, but all she got was an unsatisfying beeping sound instead of someone picking up.

“Told ya.” Velvette inspected her polished blood red nails nonchalantly, “The line is dead. Wouldn’t want to have your dear daddy spoil Val’s fun, would we now?”

“But… how?”

“Do you have any idea who you’re messing with?”, she smirked at them, “We are the Vees! Turn against us and you turn against technology itself! When I noticed Lucifer was not present, I told Ollie to push the button, he did and voila,” One hand braced against her hip, “No more phone calls for you, princess.”

“Who’s Ollie?”
“A guy smart enough to push a button when I tell him to. Something I’d not necessarily assume from your lot.”

Charlie positioned herself in front of Velvette, arms spread wide to pronounce the urgency, “But this is insane! Just let me call my dad and he’s going to tell you that Vox is fine!” ‘Probably’ she silently added. Admittedly she did not know her dad well enough to say for certain.

“Look sweetie, does the maniac over there look like he’s acting on logic?” With a thumb Velvette pointed towards her colleague, “Without Vox I can only control him so much. This poor soul just wants to shoot someone and let out some built up frustrations. Having the king of hell interrupt would be counterproductive to such goals.”

 

☻☺☻

 

Valentino snatched forward grabbing his employee at the throat, “Well?”

The moment he had Vals undivided attention Angel felt all his bravado slip away and the dread settling in.

No, no, no! Valentino should not be here! Could not be here!

“I asked you a question, Angel Dust.” He looked up into angry demonic eyes.

“Hands off, fucker!” The moment was over when a certain bartender leaped over the bar and kicked into the moth with his full weight forcing Valentino away. The pimp let go on reflex, but he did not go down and instead stumbled a few steps back. Not happy about the new development at all.

Two pistols shot at once, one per nuisance. Angel was too stunned to react and got dragged down to the ground by Husk so that the bullet aimed at his head instead dug into the wood of the bar and the one at Husk somewhere in the wall.

“You annoying pests!” Right behind Valentino Angel could make out another familiar face joining the fight. Three pink bombs going right for their foe.

“Val!”

Alarmed by Vels cry who was currently busy holding an angry Charlie and Vaggie at bay the pimp turned around, the bombs mirroring in his glasses, before with one elegant swoosh of his wings they were repelled right back towards Cherri.

When they exploded, they took a good part of the floor and the bar with it, wooden splinters arrowing through the air. To Angels relief, apart from some minor scratches, Cherri seemed fine, sitting in front of the smoking hole dug by her own bombs.

The relief did not last long, because now Valentino was really pissed.

“What shitty aim. Overlords nowadays really are only all talk and no brains. Just like that TV-friend of yours. Man, you should have seen that pathetic look on his face when Al crushed it.” To his surprise Angel Dust noticed that the bartender was no longer at his side but instead slowly moved away from the crowd a smug smile aimed at Valentino.

“Husk?”, the name was barely a whisper out of Angel Dusts mouth, as his friend successfully pulled all of Valentinos wrath towards himself.

“I will kill you!”
“Sorry, but you would not even be able to if you tried, buddy.”

The response came in a hail of bullets the cat quickly dodged out of behind the hotel’s furniture.

Angel wanted to stand up, wanted to help, but something drew him back. Shackles made of red fog. A glance to the side confirmed that Cherri was similarly bound by the neck, as was Vaggie. The bastard was going full out.

Did not help him against the power house who happened to be Lucifers daughter though.  Apparently, Velvette had given up on trying to detain that one.

“Leave my friends alone!” Charlie jumped at Valentino in her demon form, who did not bother to turn around just lifted one of his guns over his shoulder and shot in her direction. She would not be able to avoid that in midjump!

“Fuck!” A playing card scratched the golden bullet aimed at Charlie out of the air when Husk immediately dove out of his cover to save her and a second shot echoed through the room in response. This time much better aimed.

Followed by an evil smile, “Gotcha!”

 

☻☺☻

 

The first thing he noticed when he came back to conscience was muffled sounds.

“You have to admit for a sinner he is quite the cutie.”
“You blind or something? He’s got a screen for a face. How could that ever compare to the gorgeous beauty that is the queen of hell!”

“For one thing he is actually here and not chilling his best live up there in heaven.”

“She will come back.”

“That’s what you’ve been telling yourself the last couple of years you went to bed alone?”
“This is stupid. I will not have this conversation.”

He recognized both voices but apparently part of his systems were still shut off because he could not connect them to their owners.

“I think his auditory sensors should work again by now.”
“Since when? Don’t tell me the whole time… I’d prefer to know when someone is eavesdropping on me.”

Fuck. Every time he thought he couldn’t reach a new low this day convinced him otherwise.

Suddenly the memories crashed back in and he realized something else much more horrifying.

He had lost to Alastor!

And the fight hadn’t even been one for the ages, it had been a simple one-sided massacre.

“Fuck!”

“Oh, would you look at that. The language module seems to be working again as well.”

A glowing neon green face was grinning right in front of him. Asmodeus. Sin of Lust.

“Shit!” Instinctively Vox tried to crawl backwards to get some space between himself and the other demon. He did not get far since there was a closed door in his back.

His tunnel vision cleared and he started to perceive more of the environment. He did not know this place. Pictures of the Morningstars on the walls. A strange collection of rubber ducks all around and, he lifted the blanket still partly covering his body with one cyan claw, a disgustingly cute fluffy blanket with a duck-pattern.

“The fuck?”

Below the blanket he was bare-chested, his suit replaced by white bandages, already soaked in blood.

Shit.

“Oz insisted we wrap you up to have it regenerate better without external interference.”

“It also feels much more humane, then just let a person walk around with a hole in their chest.”

Slowly it dawned upon Vox that he was currently sitting in Lucifers home facing two of the seven sins and, was that an imp in a clown’s costume?

“Great, Ozzie fixed your TV. Can we go now?”

Wait a second…

“Why did you need the sin of Lust to fix me?” His first sentence sounded annoyingly meek, so he readjusted his system and added a bit louder and skeptical, “You know I have my own mechanics, right?”

Lucifer just rolled his eyes, arms crossed, “It was annoying enough to drag you away from that smiling bastard. Why should I bother to deal with even more of your kind?”
Oh no…

“Did you at least leave a message where you were taking me?”

“Why does the king of hell have to explain himself to anyone?”

This could not be happening!

“So basically, my people have no clue about my whereabouts?”

The fallen angel just shrugged, “I mean… You’re fine now. We’ll just bring you back and be done with it.”

And here it was! The next headache! Had been too long since the last one… Fuck his life!

Vox buried his screen in his hands only to notice the irregularities hinting towards it still being pretty cracked, “I think we should get to your hotel right now.”

“You know I’m not your personal taxi, right?”

“I mean you probably don’t want me any longer in your house either, do you?”

He assumed it was his house because of the pictures on the wall, though he had to admit it did not look what he had imagined, like at all.

“That’s true.”

“Then let’s just drop me off at the hotel and you can tell your darling daughter everything is fine. Sounds good?”

“Hmm… Ok.” Lucifer nonchalantly opened another portal signaling all of them to go in.

Vox pondered for a second if he should leave the blanket but decided against it since there was no indication whatsoever where they put his actual clothes and he did not dare to ask.

No way in hell would he walk around with bandages only around his torso for all the world to see!

 

☻☺☻

 

The entrance hall of the hotel was a mess. Actual holes in the ground and the bar, supplemented by multiple bullet holes in the walls and furniture.

Of course, Valentino was the center of it all, currently wrestling with Lucifers daughter on the ground, while Velvette wrangled with another white-haired woman on the sidelines.

In another corner of the room, he spotted the bomb menace and Angel Dust kneeling over the cat demon and apparently trying their best at first aid.

Great. At least Alastor was not here.

 

Vox noisily cleared his throat. Twice for good measure.

Velvette was the first to notice him and just backed away from her opponent. Then the eyes of Angel Dust and his pink haired companion turned towards them.

And of course, Valentino was still cursing and too busy fighting.

“Val, stop it!”

“Huh?” The red eyes widened as they spotted him, meanwhile the princess who followed his gaze started to grin widely, as if she’d forgotten the fact that she’d been wrestling for her life just a second ago: “You’re back! And you even brought uncle Ozzie!”

The sin of Lust to his left gave her a friendly wave.

Vox let some angry blue sparks run over his fingers and screen, partly checking if his powers didn’t abandon him, “Would someone care to enlighten me what’s going on here?”

Lucifer to his right seemed to be on the fence between angry and confused and in the end settled on just leaning on his cane and observing the scene, after making sure via eye-contact his daughter seemed to be unhurt.

“I could ask you the same! What the fuck, Vox!” Velvette strolled forward and pointed accusingly at her fellow Vee, “What’s with that hideous rug you’re wearing?”
One snap of her fingers and the ducky-blanket disappeared instead switching to one of Vox typical suits.

“Hey that one was mine!” Now that set the king of hell off.

Velvette just rose a skeptical eyebrow at the reaction of the fallen angel, “No worries, your majesty. He,” another finger pointer at Vox, “will wash it and give it back to you good as new when he moves into this shithole!”

“Hey!” now it was at the daughter to be offended.

“I better hope so,” came the sulky answer of her father.

Finally feeling at least properly dressed Vox ignored their bickering, took a deep breath and then put on his most fake shark grin: “Ok now that that’s out of the way would you two mind telling me what you are doing here in the middle of the night?”

Valentino stood back up and dusted off his mantle, “I mean, we saw the tape of you being trashed by the radio demon and wanted to get to him, before he could torture you and broadcast your screams all over town.”

Vox corrected his red tie, “Lovely notion there Val, but as far as I can tell the radio demon is nowhere to be seen, is he?”

Valentino shrugged, “Yup, we couldn’t find him. So, we decided to do the next best thing and kill off all his little accomplices.”

The TV-demon crossed his arms behind his back, trying to remain calm, “So let me get this straight, while you knew Alastor would potentially torture me somewhere else and then broadcast my screams for all of Pride to hear you thought it sounded like a good idea to remain here and play around with the minions?”

Vox tried his best to keep up the façade and the dread out of his voice, fully aware that the only reason he was standing here right now was because the fucking king of hell himself decided to intervene.

“I guess?” At least Valentino seemed to scrutinize his own actions putting away one of his guns to caress his chin.

Vox just shook his head disappointedly, “Do you see the flaw in your logic?”

“But I really wanted to shoot someone. I got the cat.”

Who cared about the stupid cat?

“Not helping your case, Val.”

The lights in the room started to flicker.

He could pinpoint the exact moment when Val decided to throw all logic overboard, switching to aggressive tantrum mode, “Oh fuck off! You’re the one who screwed up everything first! First with your stupid obsession over the deer, then with your stupid deal with the devil and then you even got fucked up by Alastor!” Valentino threw all his arms into the air, “All the time you tell me how important it is to maintain our perfect image! All the time it’s my fault whenever something goes wrong,” then his golden claws pointed at him, “And here we are with you being the greatest fuckup of us all!”
“Thank you so much for reminding me,” and there went all the calmness out of the window and his voice turned to static, “that this was one of the shittiest days of my life! It only gets topped by the day I died and ended up in this shithole in the first place!”

Sparks started to surround the lamps, flickering even more aggressively than before. That was the moment Vox realized that by now everyone, including the cat on the ground was staring at him. Some fearful, some unsettling close to something he would call concern.

Fuck!

On pure instinct he activated his hypnosis, “Forget you– “

“No-uh, no hypnotizing others!” Asmodeus almost gently but quickly pushed him to the ground so that his screen could not aim at anyone, “I might not be an expert on this whole redemption thing but I think it is a good start not to hypnotize everyone around you to forget you having feelings. That’s just gonna bite you in the ass on the long run.”

Now he whispered closely into Vox ear, “Especially if you provoke the king of hell. I did not repair you just to see you be ripped apart half an hour later.”

“Hey keep your filthy hands off him fucking horny rooster!” Valentino was suddenly right in front of the sin of lust.

“Or else what?” Asmodeus and his two additional faces replied with a provocative grin, while letting go of the TV-Overlord, “Wait… Aren’t you the guy who sells those disgusting love potions, taking away the best part in lust?”

Asmodeus hair lit aflame as he stood up to his full size and face the moth demon who was also puffing himself up, wings spread wide.

The TV-demon meanwhile pulled himself together again and took a careful step back. Unsure if he wanted to interrupt.

“I’ll make you. I’m the only one who’s allowed to touch him and believe me,” Val presented a cocky grin, “no love potion necessary. I’m a professional unlike you pathetic excuse of a sin who can only get it on with an imp.”

The flames framing the head of the sin of Lust turned a threatening red, “What Fizzy and I have is true passion! Something a sham like you would never feel and if your friend over there enjoys what you have to offer than simply because he does not know it any better!”

 

“This is a disaster.” Somehow Vox wished he was back to unconscious mode again.

A light nudge from the side by the imp whose legs stretched out to adjust to the size of the sinner demon, “Yeah wouldn’t want to be the guy they are talking about.”

Vox glared. Having one of hells seven sins as your protector apparently made one much braver than the imp had any right to be.

Kind of curious he glanced towards Lucifer who surprisingly enough still stood next to him and observed this whole farce, one finger thoughtfully placed at the chin, as if he was watching the discovery channel.

Might as well try, Vox could not sink lower than this: “Hey, Morningstar.”

“Hm?” Lucifer looked up to him.

“Would you mind one last portal to get me and my allies out of here? I think everyone could need a break and a bit less”, he let some static into his voice, “screaming Valentino.”

“I’m not a taxi.”

“I know. In exchange I owe you one.”

Lucifer sized him up, “You know there is not much someone like you could offer me, right?”

Vox suppressed his urge to scream and instead just grinned confidently, “Just something stupid like making pancakes or socializing with the hotel crew without glaring… Little things one in their right mind wouldn’t use their influence as king of hell to force.”

It was just one stupid portal, damn it!

“You can cook?”

“I’ve got my own cooking show.”

Lucifer gazed around as if to catch the current mood, which was pretty bad, “Ok, just this once.”

A snap of his fingers and the portal opened while Vox realized another issue.

“Uhm…”

“Uhm?”

With one claw the CEO pointed at Val, then at the portal, then back at Val, before giving Lucifer an apologetic grin.

Following the gestures the fallen angel connected the dots and then surprisingly enough replied with a mischievous grin, “Ok, this one is on the house!”

With one casual wave of his cane Valentino was blasted by a fountain of apple juice away from Asmodeus and straight through the portal.

“Much obliged.” Vox nodded appreciatively, before announcing much louder, “Let’s go Velvette! Don’t want to stretch their hospitality more than necessary.”

 

☻☺☻

 

Angel Dust watched the Vees step through the portal and Lucifer close it behind them right away.

“Well, that was… something.”

“Finally some peace and quiet,” Husk added with a feeble smile.

“How are you feeling, bud?”

“I had worse. It’s just a flesh wound. Stop looking at me with those eyes. Say something inappropriate like you always do.”

“I heard licking it improves the healing process.”

“That’s not really creative.”

“I know… I’m not really inspired with you leaking all over the floor.”

“I’m not leaking anymore!” The bartender pointed at the bandages around his leg, “you two actually did a decent job with that.”

Before they could continue their squabble, a familiar shadow creeped over the floor and then materialized right next to Charlie and an unamused Lucifer, grinning his usual yellow toothed grin, “What’s with the long faces?” Alastors gaze wandered over the fucked-up hotel lobby, “How peculiar. I’m gone for one night and you decide to redecorate.”

Notes:

Hello :)

With this chapter we actually achieved our very first little milestone for this story, that being: The whole cast is (kinda) assembled and with chapter 5 we will officially reach the plot announced by the summary!
That being...
drumroll...
Vox finally moving into the hotel and getting his well earned vacation 😁
(whatever that means for an Overlord workaholic, who's still simultaneously gonna try running his media empire)

So thanks for sticking around and for the currently 23comments (not counting my own), 206 kudos, 42 bookmarks and 2,9k hits :)
They were quite encouraging and I am really happy we got to this point :D
You guys are the best!

So what else is there to say?
A lot of people meeting who didn't meet in the show... Some felt much more difficult to write than others and had much more editing... but we'll get there... I hope...
Me continuing to freestyle this regeneration thing because I actually want those angelic weapons to have some use/extra weight (if you can just crush an angel/Overlord with a bolder why make a fuss about them at all? And just respawning is not really the most "hellish" suffering solution and sounds more like an easy way out...)
Sorry to all the folks who were hoping for Charlies reaction to this whole situation.
It got kind of muffled in the chaos... But next chapter everybody will get a chance to forge an opinion about their new housemate, pinky promise :)

Chapter 5: Goodbye and Hello!

Summary:

Husk and Alastor have a talk.
Velvette and Valentino try to cheer up Vox and make him forget that he was nearly murdered in his own home.
Welcome to the Hazbin Hotel!

Notes:

Hello there,

Thank you once more for all the lovely comments :)

Uhm yeah... this chapter might be a bit more angsty than I anticipated at the end of the last one? Sorry to everyone who was hoping for fluffier times from the get go.
Also this whole "The day after tomorrow" issue... So basically the last 4 chapters happened all on the same day (one day can be pretty long, huh, though at the end we might've crossed midnight) Lucifer in his endless generosity gave Vox one day to get his things in order. So the first two scenes are gonna deal with said day inbetween, before we switch towards what was promised...

So here goes nothing...

Considering the events of last night it was a surprisingly peaceful morning.

Only problem being that Husk did not get a wink of sleep. It had been a while since the last time he actually got hurt by an angelic weapon and it sucked big time!

And then there was this whole issue of actually interfering with Alastor’s plans. Up until now the radio demon had been quite uncommunicative after returning from whatever he had been doing during the Vees visit in the hotel but Husk had gotten a glimpse at nearly invisible stitches around Als hand so sewing that back on had at least been part of it. Probably Rosies handiwork.

For the umpteenth time he turned trying to find a better position to sleep his wings flapping sluggishly only to catch a glance at the alarm clock announcing it to be nearly ten a clock in the morning.

Oh, for crying out loud!

Someone knocked on his door. First quietly then a bit louder. Judging by the direction of the sound someone quite small.

“TV-Room. You’re expected!”

Followed by slightly maniacal giggling and tiny steps quickly hurrying off into the distance.

“Urgh!” An irritated growl later he rolled himself out of bed.

He did not even bother to get rid of his out of bed look or getting his fur in order. Instead, he just grabbed his crutch and scuffled out.

 

☻☺☻

 

Not being used to being wounded he had to take a short break in the middle of the hallway.

Silent mumbling came out of Charlie and Vaggie’s room, the princess sounding slightly panicky while her girlfriend had that coaxing vibe going for her.

Angel Dusts was quiet but considering he had been called back to work after the whole mess in the lobby by an angry Valentino, it was highly probable that he’d sleep in as long as he could.

Not that Husk would blame him.

Cherri was not officially living at the hotel, yet. Nowadays she was visiting pretty much every day though. She even had a guest room key Charlie gave her in case Cherri was too drunk or sleepy to get back home safely.

The sin of lust and his companion had also returned to wherever they came from relatively quickly after their unexpected arrival. Lucifer had not bothered to explain and simply accompanied them without returning since.

Meaning there were not many options left of candidates potentially waiting for Husk at his destination.

He really did not like his odds.

They hadn’t been in his favor for a while now though.

 

Warily the cat demon peaked through the door into the since the reconstruction newly established ‘TV-room’.

Besides the flickering screen, apparently on mute, it was dark within, the curtains drawn closed.

He saw enough to recognize the silhouettes on the couch immediately and of course they noticed his presence as well.

“Ah, Husker my most loyal servant,” the radio demon turned his head in Husks direction, his eyes glowing red, “Had any pleasant dreams tonight?”

Als hand patted on the couch to his right, “Would you care to join us? We are waiting for this noisy picture box to reveal its secrets to us.”

Knowing he could not refuse the offer the bartender carefully limped closer, “Since when do you watch TV again, Al? I thought you hated this shit?”

Al gave a dismissive shrug, “Well, how do they say? A picture is worth a thousand words. Normally I would strongly disagree, but in this specific scenario I find it rather appropriate or is convenient a better titling?”

Husk sat down, placing the crutch down to his feet.

Niffty was currently staring glassy-eyed at the screen which showed some shameless succubus advertisement for a sex club in Lust. It was one of those independent broadcasts from another ring not directly working under the Vees. Figured.

“Whatever do you mean?”

“I mean to say one has to see the consequences of their actions,” Alastor turned his attention back to the TV, “Oh, the time has come. How exciting!” Al’s shadow silently materialized and pushed the unmute button on the remote.

 

Having been there just the night before the bartender immediately recognized V-tower when it showed up on screen, before the view switched into the entrance hall of the building.

Husk did not know the small red imp reporter the camera followed around and when she arrived inside it was clear she was not the only one on the scene. The room was swarming with the press of all of hell, not just your run of the mill average sinner demon from Pride.

“Kyekra from Wrath News reporting live from V-Tower where Overlord Vox has announced a public statement to the events occurring last night. Including his mingling with our great king Lucifer Morningstar!”

 

Husk swallowed down hard and glanced over to Alastor.

The radio demon let nothing show.

His legs crossed and the usual yellow toothy smile buried in his face he seemed to be completely focused on the coverage.

The first time Als left eye slightly twitched was when Vox arrived.

 

The CEO had not one crack in his pristine new screen, and wore a fancy suit to boot as well as his usual sharky grin with which he addressed the masses, who screamed at him all at once:

 

“Mr. Vox are we to expect more Blackouts in the upcoming weeks?”

“Did the blackout have something to do with Pride’s cellular network shutting down yesterday for about half an hour?”

“Does Lucifers meddling with Overlords mean we can expect changes in the power dynamics for the other rings as well?”

“Do you intend to expand Vox Tek further over the borders of Pride?”

“Maybe even lifting the prohibition preventing your kind to enter the other rings?”

“Are you and our king preparing a war against the angels?”

“Mr. Vox is it true that you’re retiring?”

“Are you here to announce your execution date?”

“Are we to expect greater internal conflicts between the Overlords?”

“An outright war perhaps?”

“Did you and Lucifer make out? A secret love affair perhaps?”

“Mr. Vox is it true that our king wanted to sacrifice you publicly in front of the Heavens Embassy to apologize for Adam’s death?”

“What a stupid question, as if one replaceable Overlord could compare to the leader of Heaven’s army! Did he just want you to take responsibility for the constant blackouts plaguing the city?”

“What did you and Luc- “

 

“S̨̨͐̀͢͜͞҉̢̲͎̦̠̗͇̻̝🅸̵̴̶̶̧̧̡̤̥͖̦͕̆̿͟ͅͅ🅻̸̴̆͌̌͟͞͞҉̕͏̼̯̫̯̖̹🅴̵̧̬̥̭͍̱̉ͧͨ͒̀̕̕͟͜͡🅽̢̨̾̉̓ͬ̈́͘͟͝͏̧̖̺̖̥🅲̷̛̐ͬͪ̍̓ͥ͏͘͜͠҉̧̲̺̘🅴̵̷̡̧͎̲͂͒̃͋ͮ̅̊͘͟͟͡!̷̧̧̗͑̀͒ͭ͒̓ͫ̍̀́͘͡͝!” (Silence)

 

The use of his hypnotic eye was blatantly obvious but it fulfilled its purpose and all reporters in the room hushed at once, now listening to his voice, mesmerized.

Vox adjusted his suit.

“My dear citizens of hell,” the camera zoomed in on him, “I am here today to tell you that those rumors circulating around my person are vastly exaggerated. First of all, my presence here should already put a stop to those absurd claims of my untimely demise,” he rose his claws almost mockingly, “As you can see, I am in peak condition ready to fight for whatever is right and just!”

 

Now that actually lead Alastor to rip up their couch.

 

“There is no war between the Overlords. Please, that’d be absurd!”

Vox pointed theatrically upwards with one hand, “The real enemies are up there! Not down here in our midst.” His hand returned to be crossed with the other behind his back for a confident stance, “Yes, Vox Tek and Miss Carmine had some regrettable disagreements for the future of Angelic Security 2.0 but such is business. Miss Carmine knows as well as I do, that we cannot leave you unprotected and thus she will return to the negotiating table in no time. Alas she even held first talks with my dear colleague Velvette yesterday evening.”

“What about our king?”

The interruption was frowned upon and apparently partly unexpected since the reporter freeing himself from the hypnosis did not seem like anyone special.

Nonetheless Vox remained professional, his confident smile unwavering, “Mr. Morningstar and I had an informative and civil conversation at the Craven Raven as our company’s official homepage should have already informed you about.”

“What about? You’re avoiding the real questions! What’s your deal with the most powerful entity in all of hell? Why should he suddenly bother with the likes of you?” The next reporter, apparently from Envy judging by his fishy appearance, seemed to regain his senses.

A short grimace glitched over the TV-Overlords face, while his hand inconspicuously wandered down to his abdomen.

 

Now that seemed to amuse Alastor tremendously, “Oh deer, seems like the fool has not had the time to fully recuperate after all. He is overexerting himself for all the world to see. So desperately trying to hide a truth, behind lackluster words and eyes, he knows full well will come to light eventually. Do you not also find this whole affair hilarious, Husker?”

Husk felt a cold shiver run down his spine. Realization slowly dawning upon him why Al made an exception to his principles for Vox interview.

Because that meant the Radio Demon could watch not only one but two people who had wronged him suffer, both trying to fight a battle already lost.

Als favorite form of entertainment and he would enjoy every goddamn second of it.

One of them via the medium that was the hated TV, the other sitting next to him watching the person whose life he’d helped to save the night before proving to become more of a pain in the ass by the second.

In retrospect snitching on Alastor had to have been a streak of madness. As if there was ever any chance Husk could get rid of his detested master. Not even to mention that the other Overlord, while maybe seeming slightly vulnerable at the time was not a person worth saving and risking your own neck for!

But in the end, Husk had been unable to resist the gamble, as he always did.

Since Alastor did not make any further remarks aside from letting the threat linger in the air the cat demon returned his attention to the coverage. To his surprise not much had happened in the few seconds that had felt like hours.

 

Apparently, Vox hypnosis powers had left him completely and the only reason everybody was quiet in the room was because they were waiting for the answer of that one deciding question: What was so important that the king of hell himself, who had remained dormant for years decided to show up and have a personal talk with Vox Teks CEO after officially announcing said CEO’s crimes publicly for all of Pentagram to hear?

And, being the self-centered creatures that demons were, much more importantly, would this new development affect their daily lives as well?

Considering Vox would not dare to lie about a deal he made with the king of hell himself, fearing the consequences, the CEO was actually forced to tell the truth in a way that would not affront Lucifer,

“As you might have guessed Mr. Morningstar was inconvenienced by the latest blackout,” he took a dramatic break to take a deep breath, “caused by me. But he did see the great heights Vox Tek tries to achieve and the sheer endless possibilities for a betterment of all of hell! With great power comes great responsibility after all,” he smirked, obviously not only referring to Lucifer, “Thus, he is willing to give an interview to 666 next week about his own goals and future intentions after his long absence in the public eye. He will also assist in Vox Teks expansion into the other rings, since Pride should not be the only Ring with high quality technology.”

 

Yup that one definitely got to Al, his aura becoming more menacingly by the second. To a certain degree Husk could understand. No one wanted their opponent to increase his influence by using the big name of Lucifer for his own benefit. 

Honestly if Lucifer and Vox actually actively started working together with both their strength and influence combined, they’d be a living nightmare for every power-hungry demon and sin in hell. Being in his comfortable position Lucifer obviously did not care about things like that, but Vox, oh boy…  As far as Husk could tell this dude was one of the most ambitious Overlords in all of Pride.

Another thing that would not have happened had Husk not snitched on Alastor. Whoops!

But Husk could also not deny that watching Al lose his composure was balm on his wounded soul.

 

A succubus reporter licked her plush lips, “That sounds like a classic deal with the devil if I have ever heard of one. What was the price?”

“We agreed that I will live in the Hazbin Hotel to broaden my horizon and be able to see things from his and his daughter’s perspective as well,” Vox seemed to stumble over his words for a second there. The next sentence while surprisingly neutral, sounded as if it was a recording the TV Demon had practiced beforehand and now just played over his screen, “and to learn to moderate my powers better because blackouts like the one yesterday cannot happen again. They hinder our future prosperity,” his screen flickered and he actually now clawed into his hidden injury, but he continued with an apologetic smile, “I am deeply sorry for all the inconvenience I have caused to the proud citizens of Pentagram, take full personal responsibility and promise betterment in the future.”

Gone was all his bravado from before, he looked downright miserable and not because of actual guilt. It was probably a mixture of actual pain from the wound caused by Al and deeply wounded pride.

 

Alastor started laughing sardonically and Husk would’ve spit out his drink if he had any. Those were not the words of a proud egocentric overlord, but someone visibly humbled by others. Was that fresh blood slowly coloring his suit?

 

As expected, the hail of questions from the reporters was deafening.

“No further comments.” Vox glared at them, obviously trying to reawaken his hypnotic powers, failing and then successfully flashing out via the closest security cam.

 

The TV was turned off immediately and darkness covered the room before Alastor started to light it up with his trademark eerily green and the red glow of his eyes, “How enlightening. Now after seeing this disgusting picture show is there anything, you want to confess to me, Husker?”

“I didn’t…”

“Our dear Niffty was as kind as to take a quick peak at the princess talking device after overhearing Charlie’s conversation with her father.”

Niff just blinked innocently in Husks direction, “She lied,” for a second there seemed to spark more emotion in her eye than usual, “Lying is wrong!”

But then whatever glimpse of emotion he’d thought he’d seen vanished as she turned her attention elsewhere, “I see you creeping in the darkness! Do not think that will save you, little bug!”

And gone she was.

Niff had probably referred to whatever Charlie had told the others before his arrival on the scene. Whatever it was it had been enough for Angel to leave his work and arrive even before Husker. Why risk an argument with Valentino for some stupid Overlord Al had a fight with?

 

“Good girl. There you have it, Husker.” Alastor demanded his attention, his head slowly starting to shift into its more demonic visage, antlers growing, his monstrous shadow creeping over the walls, “Did you know poor Niffty had to run all the way to me by foot to tell me the shameful truth?”

Husks ears set back and he carefully moved to the other end of the couch. Not that that saved him, when Alastor summoned his typical green voodoo chains in one hand and dragged him back, close enough so he could smell Al’s breath of swamp and decay.

“It appears you have forgotten that your soul is no longer your own. It is mine! And Vox would’ve been mine too, if you had not interfered using his frivolous technology thinking I would not notice?”

Apparently, Al was actually pissed about the idea of his plans being destroyed by simple phones, which at the same time would’ve helped him tremendously in his communication with Niffty.

“I’m sorry, Al. I thought…”

“You thought? Oh, my dear Husker, you do not think, not after this. You will obey and you will do everything in your power to make this right again, understood?”

“So, I get another chance?”

Lucky! Or was he?

“Unfortunately, I do not have any other bartenders for the hotel who already earned themselves the trust of the staff and know how to get under other people’s skin,” Husk winced as he felt the claws of the hand not holding the chains slowly starting to dig deeper into his chest, a blooming red staining white fur, “As someone with experience I can ensure you triggering the old TV is surprisingly easy.”

Husk could not move, just watch.

Abruptly the hand pushed deeper accompanied by the sound of cracking ribs, “The preferred scenario would be the fool showing one of his many irredeemable traits and Lucifer ripping off his frivolous head in response, all for poor Charlie to witness, losing all her faith into her father. Wouldn’t that be heart-wrenching?” To underline his words Al squeezed around where Husk strongly suspected his own heart to be.

The cat demon spat blood.

The Radio demons smile widened, “Think you can manage something simple as that?”

Trying his best to suppress the agonizing pain Husk stammered over bloodstained lips, “I… can… try?”

Relief washed over him as Alastor let go and withdrew his hand.

Licking the blood off his fingers his master seemed to be back into a good mood, “Splendid. I also give marks for efforts! As long as you don’t even so much as think about betraying me again and support me in this endeavor with all your heart and soul there is nothing to worry your fuzzy little head about! Good talk.”

The Radio demon vanished into the shadows and with him any source of light as Husk just crashed down onto the couch.

 

☻☺☻

 

Vox was glaring at the empty open suitcase on the bluish black sheets of his canopy bed.

He really did not feel like putting anything in it but unfortunately, he also could not delay it any further.

Tomorrow was the day after all.

“How’s packing going along?” He shuddered slightly when Velvette appeared leaning against his doorframe, phone in hand as usual.

For a second, he considered lying but, in the end, he just sacked down on the edge of his bed, his head leaning on one of his hands, sulking, “Shitty.”

Her eyes shifted to the empty case, then back to him, “You know we could just send all your stuff over there if you can’t decide, right? Considering their lack of customers free space should not be an issue.”

“I do not intend to stay there.”

“And?”

Well, this was going towards loser territory… he avoided her sharp gaze, “If I take away too much from here it feels like I accept this place as my new home. I don’t want that.” Then he smirked at her, “I also don’t wanna look like some shitty diva unable to pack pragmatically.”

“Someone say shitty diva?” Val peeked into the room, “or is this a drama queen thing?”

With one look at the empty case, Velvet rolling her eyes and Vox snarling at him he seemed to grasp the situation, “Ah, I understand. Well, who cares,” conspiratorially he revealed three pizza boxes he’d been hiding behind the doorframe, “Let’s have our farewell party!”

The smell of food waving over to him Vox frowned, “Didn’t you have a shoot today?”
The pimp just shrugged, “I mean, it does have its benefits to be your own boss. That and Velvette insisted.” He imitated a rather un-Velvette female voice, “Please we can’t leave him all on his own this night after what happened yesterday. The poor big sulking baby!”

One hand on her hip, Vel pointed accusingly at him “I did so not say it like this!”

“I’m not a baby!”

Valentino just put them off, “Whatever. I’ve got pizza and I even built up this shitty game Vox loves so much. The one where you drive in circles and get money for each round, while your fellow players buy all the buildings until the money you get is just enough to barely survive and pay the debt you owe them.”

Vel grinned, “Such a perfect representation of hell. And after that…”

She triumphantly waved some old DVD’s around, “We’re gonna watch these old Wrath western I found in Vals room!”

Vox rose a suspicious eyebrow at them, “Porn?”

“Not porn!” Valentino crossed his free arms, sulking, “Please, I’ll let you know that I do have other interests besides long expressive intercourse,” The two other Vees expressed their doubts, “It’s guns, you shitheads!”

Vox glanced back at his case, “You know I should be packing. Isn’t this going a bit overboard for just one month of absence?”

“One month?” now it was at Valentino to be doubtful, “Give me a break! With that creepy deer head around, you could never… Ouch!”

The pimp glared at Velvette who’d given him a friendly push in the rips, “Even a day living alone with Val is a fucking pain in the ass! So, let’s make the most out of this last supper! Smile for the camera, V!”

 

☻☺☻

 

The last supper had turned into a sleepover.

Apparently, Velvette and Valentino had decided to watch bad westerns with Vox until the latter fell asleep.

Unfortunately, the TV-demon was much too anxious to do so. In the end he was the last one awake listening to their quiet snoring.

At least he had succeeded to convince them to switch into their sleepwear beforehand because he really did not like people in their filthy streetwear on his bed!

Vel wearing black pajamas with a pink heart pattern while Valentino had switched into his fluffy red and white morning gown as a compromise, after he complained that he’d usually sleep naked, which was not something any of them wanted to see tonight. For Vel it was most certainly a never wanted to see at all.

Being in the middle of them Vox carefully pushed away Velvette’s wayward arm and slipped out.

After having left the bed successfully he tucked his colleagues in again, who didn’t look like they would get up any time soon.

His systems told him it was 7.46 AM.

Today was the fucking day!

He glared at the still empty case they had just pushed into a corner of the room.

Fuck it!

Coffee first!

 

☻☺☻

 

Placing his blue Fuck Alastor-mug in the fully automated coffee machine he did not waste any time to push any buttons and just glared the thing into doing its job.

While listening to the grinding of beans his gaze wandered over the counter into the living room.

It looked so fucking innocent. As if nothing had ever happened. 

Absentmindedly he grabbed the mug once the coffee was through.

 

What made him move over he did not know, but suddenly he stood right in front of the spot where he’d lost consciousness, one hand in the pocket of his blue and pink striped pajama.

Disapprovingly he noticed it was slightly shaking.

He would’ve never openly stated to the other Vees that he had been afraid of the thought of staying at home alone last night, but he was.

It did not feel safe.

Not anymore.

Even if they had tightened security right away after the incident…

It was fucking embarrassing! That’s what it was!

Vox kneeled down touching the ground of the new carpet feeling thoughtful, taking another sip of his black coffee.

Even with them being there for him all the way through, he had never thanked them for actually bothering to keep him company.

It had taken his mind off… things.

Their presence made him feel safe, just as he was supposed to be in his own fucking home!

There was no doubt in his mind that things would’ve turned out differently with Alastor had all Vees been assembled at the scene.

 

Vox straightened himself up and turned around, mentally preparing himself to finally pack only to stumble right into a cloud of… red glittering smoke?

He recoiled and spilled half of his precious morning coffee over his pajamas.

“The fuck!?”

The red cloud dissolved and fucking Lucifer Morningstar appeared right in front of him!

In the middle of his fucking living room!

The fallen angels’ eyes shone bright and a wide toothy smile spread over his face: “And here we have just the guy I was looking for, without even having to spend any time to do so! A pleasant morning to you! Are you ready to go?”

The blonde had one bag in each hand, both looking much too big for his small stature.

Vox couldn’t help himself but glare slightly offended, while he inefficiently tried to wipe away as much of the coffee as he could with his bare clawed hands.

This was going to be another one of these days, wasn’t it?

Lucifers smile faded away as he frowned sizing up Vox pajama, bare feet and coffee mug, visibly disappointed, “You don’t look ready yet.”

Vox just blinked at him, trying to swallow his sudden urge to have his first temper tantrum for the day.

“I’m not.”

Then he forced a smile, “But I forget my manners! Good morning your majesty! What an unexpected surprise. Why did you not come through the front? Then I would have been able to greet you properly.” He vaguely gestured towards the entry door.

Lucifer followed the gesture, then shrugged, “Honestly, I thought of it for a sec… but there is so much press outside your building!” He shuddered slightly and put one bag down to tug his collar “Like… Yikes! Someone really drew attention to themselves,” visibly proud of his fast thinking he added with a smile, “I figured this way would be much less stressful.”

Vox just nodded halfheartedly moving back to the coffee machine to refill, because without it he was pretty sure he would not survive this day.

“You could’ve fucking called you know.”

Lucifer just placed his two bags next to the new couch and seemed slightly confused, “Called?” then light dawned on him, “Riiiiight… I have your number because you called me before.” He tapped his temple with an apologetic smile, “Sorry, I totally forgot after the whole wanting-to-kill-you and then having-to-safe-you chaos.”

Vox just took a sip out of the refilled mug and leaned next to the machine, not letting the angel out of his sight.

Lucifer sat down on one of his huge travel bags. An uncomfortable silence ensued in which Vox emptied another mug of coffee.

 

“Sooo…"; Lucifer looked around, "You cleaned up the room pretty neat. Had I not been present myself I would never guess that Alastor nearly slaughtered you here not too long ago.”

Vox had to put the mug down, unable to respond to this miserable attempt of Smalltalk.

“Umm…” while pointing Lucifers eyes narrowed slightly, “So, I noticed you already drank two of those… When do you think you’d be ready to go?”

Vox sighed. If he had his way never. Not that he’d dare to say that openly.

At least he could stall some more, “Want some coffee, while I go upstairs to pack and change?”

“Do you have another one of those?” Hopefully Lucifer nodded towards the Fuck Alastor-mug but Vox simply shook his head, almost possessively taking the thing back into his hands, “That one is mine and its one of a kind,” he pondered for a second, “You can have one of Val’s. He has a few, since he tends to break them on a regular basis," before using the usual settings he thoughtfully glared at Lucifer, "With milk?”

“And sugar, please! Or… You don’t happen to have some tea instead?”

 

☻☺☻

 

Lucifer took a sip out of a pink Pimpin’ not Simpin’-mug.

There had been no tea in the house. He was not sure how to feel about that.

Since his travel bags were starting to get uncomfortable, he had switched to the Vees couch instead, staring into the new big black flatscreen TV on the wall.

 

He had not been able to get much sleep, being much too excited for today!

When he woke up, he’d nearly ported himself over to the hotel right away, until he realized it might be awkward if he arrived without the reason for him being there.

Or was it not? He honestly did not know.

What if Vox decided to show up late in the afternoon and Lucifer would just stand around uselessly getting on everyone’s nerves?  Or was he overthinking this? Charlie would be happy if he was around, wasn’t she? What exactly did he want to do while staying at the hotel? He couldn’t just constantly stay on Vox heels, could he? That’d be really strange. The overlord would obviously still go to work and Lucifer also had some obligations as king of hell he’d occasionally had to take care of.

He was starting to realize that his “excuse” for staying at the hotel might take more time of his hands than he thought…

They’d figure it out, he supposed…

Back to the only person who actually mattered to him: Charlie.

It wasn’t like the last couple of years when she tried to avoid him every time he called, right?

It wasn’t like she only invited him over once and that was when she needed him to help out with the angels.

The thing with Adam had been an emergency. She needed him then, too. Just like she needed him for rebuilding the hotel afterwards… because Alastor was not around this time. Wait, why did the radio demon suddenly meddle with his track of thoughts?

Besides she also called for movie night no strings attached whatsoever!

A mean little voice told him that apparently, she’d asked Alastor much earlier and only called after he declined but Lucifer graciously ignored it. She did not need him that night. She called because she cared and wanted to strengthen their bonds as a family again, right? They’d both assured each other they wanted to improve their relationship, right?

He sighed.

In the end he’d probably just have to accept the fact that he was a coward, clinging to excuses to be useful to her and her friends, not daring to try out the “just be yourself, you don’t have to prove anything for her to be happy you are around again”- route.

 

“Wow, I’ll be fucked. The devil actually does sit on our couch drinking out of my mug!”

“Good morning your majesty!” Suddenly there was a woman around his size blocking his view towards the TV, her phone in hand, “Smile for the camera. One selfie for this momentous occasion!” She leaned in next to him, making a peace gesture with her free hand, “Thanks!”

“Hey there, gorgeous, is there any way for us to convince you not to take away our favorite TV? And if I say any, I do mean we can be quite creative if necessary, fulfilling your every naughty desire.” The bug man who had had the audacity to fight Charlie last time Lucifer had seen him leaned suggestively over the couch, smoking some strange cigarette emitting red smoke which shaped into hearts waving towards Lucifers general direction.

All his natural instincts told the devil to be wary of this one and he instinctively fell back towards the woman with the phone.

“Stop it, you two,” Vox sounded rather exhausted, while the sound of running water came from his general direction.

The moth demon winked one last time towards Lucifer before retreating. The woman followed suit.

Lucifer glanced over the couch towards Vox who was now in his usual attire, carefully placing his cleaned-up mug into his suitcase. He seemed rather unenthusiastic.

On their way out the moth demon gestured a hand kiss towards the TV-Demon and the smaller woman waved.

A bit unsure how to proceed Lucifer stood up and passed his empty mug over to the overlord who just put it next to the sink.

"No goodbye hugs or anything?"

"Do I look like a fucking looser to you? I'll see them tomorrow at work anyway. No reason to get all emotional."

"Ok, your choice."

Lucifer shrugged and opened another portal, while Vox simply sighed and grabbed his suitcase, resigning himself to his fate, “Let’s get this over with.”

 

☻☺☻

 

To say Charlie was nervous was understatement of the year.

Vaggie observed her girl running circles in the hotel lobby and nervously rubbing her hands.

The angel waited for the perfect moment to catch Charlie at the shoulder and stop her in her tracks, “Relax, babe. We don’t even know when they’ll come.”

“She’s right, ya know?” Angel Dust leaned against the bar drinking a Shirley Temple, “Could be now, could be late in the evening. Honestly, I didn’t get the early bird vibes from the TV-head. Don’t ya think, Husk?”

The bartender shrugged, “I could care less about that prick. He’ll only bring more problems to our doorsteps. The longer he stays gone the better.”

“It’s not him I’m nervous about, it’s my dad!” Charlie quickly corrected herself, “I mean… yes, Vox is also… undoubtedly…” she seemed to search for the right word, “complicated, but this is going to be the first time my dad stays here overnight for an unspecified amount of time! Usually, he always teleported away every time his job was done for the day. Now he gets a room and,” she helplessly rose her arms, “everything. He’ll be around constantly. Breakfast, lunch, dinner… Probably when we have our group activities… and go out… Oh my god, that would be so awkward! Especially since he doesn’t seem to grasp completely that I’m not a little girl anymore, I think… Not entirely sure what’s going on in his head…” She tried to sum up her feelings while gesturing an explosion with her hands, “It’s just like a big 180 from nothing to full force!”

Husk sighed toasting Angel’s glass with his bottle, “Daddy issues here we go.”

Honestly Vaggie totally agreed, that having Lucifer as a permanent guest in the hotel was going to be a headache. The guy was a freaking unpredictable menace. But a well-meaning one and that she appreciated, considering the number of jerks in hell in general. He also just happened to be the only other angel she knew down here and made her feel slightly less like the odd one out. That and the only living relative of her girlfriend currently available.

“I mean… Having him here is way better than having to rely on other means to call him, as we witnessed when the Vees showed up. Especially with our new,” fuck she had to get used to that one, “guest. I mean according to your dad Alastor ripped a freaking hole into him and was about to, potentially,” and another one she did not like thinking about, “eat him for dinner? That’s not the best premise for them living under the same roof. Totally ignoring the fact that they’re two powerful overlords who could wreck entire neighborhoods if they wanted to and forced their musical antics down all of Pride’s throat a couple of times.”

“Yup, we really need someone who can handle Al, when he decides to be a prick!”, Angel’s glass hit the counter a bit too loudly, “The short king is the best one for the job!”

Vaggie noticed Angel glaring at the bandages around Husks chest. The bartender had told them he simply fell down some stairs, underestimating the toll a hole through the leg took on him.

Charlie had gladly accepted the excuse, maybe a little bit too quickly even for her standards. Vaggie not so much.

To protect Charlie’s hopeful innocence in this shithole it was Vaggie’s job as the girlfriend to cover in case others dared to abuse it. This was one of those cases. Considering his increased aggression towards Alastor every time the Overlord entered the room Angel seemed to be at least partly in the know, probably because he was the one who had applied the bandages. It also did not take a genius to guess why Alastor might have decided to punish Husk.

Vaggie loved Charlie just the way she was, but damn was her girl bad at lying.

 

The angel instinctively gripped her spear a bit tighter when Lucifers portal manifested in the middle of the room. So, the devil came first, huh?

“…get this over with.” The end of Vox sentence echoed through the room as him and Lucifer stepped through.

The portal vanished and the new arrivals couldn’t have looked more different to each other. One dressed in white with two huge golden travel bags at his side, smiling as widely as the sun as he spotted his daughter. He immediately dropped his bags and ran over to catch her in a hug, “Charlie! So happy to see you! How are you doing?”

The second part of the duo seemed much less enthusiastic. Slightly dumbfounded he followed Lucifer with his gaze, before he seemed to realize he was in enemy territory and nodded grimly into the general direction of the others present in the room.

The CEO of Vox Tek was wearing his usual dark striped outfit, while his cyan claws drilled into the grip of his black suitcase. Vaggie noticed that he seemed to check the entire lobby and each person in it thoroughly as if expecting something or someone to jump at him at any moment.

The sudden rising animosity from Husk and Angel Dust probably did not help and Charlie was still caught up in the enthusiasm of her dad, so it fell upon Vaggie to receive their new guest appropriately.

Forcing a smile upon her lips, she stepped forward, “Good morning, Mr. Vox. Welcome to the Hazbin Hotel! My name is Vaggie and I’m the manager of this fine establishment. If there are any issues during your stay, please do not hesitate to inform me.”
Charlie had finally succeeded in freeing herself from her dad’s hug and stepped next to Vaggie, “And my name is Charlie! I’m the owner!”

Charlie’s gaze wandered around, “And I guess the rest you know already.” She pointed at her dad first, who seemed slightly disappointed that everyone’s attention had switched over to Vox, “This is Lucifer Morningstar, who volunteered to oversee your stay. He is your personal contact in case anything goes… uhm… very wrong?”
She quickly switched to the next, “The guy over there is Angel Dust, our only other official guest, if you don’t count Cherri. He works for Valentino, who is your friend and not someone we should talk too long about in this safe haven…”

“Yeah, we know each other,” Angel Dust casually jumped in, “He sometimes checks in during my working hours. I think he also fucks my shitty boss.”

“Great,” Charlie clapped her hands awkwardly, “And last for now we’d have Husk, our bartender! Responsible for all kinds of refreshments! He’s also quite the good listener!” 

“… and Alastor’s pet kitten,” Vox stated not looking to pleased, while Husk growled, but remained silent when Angel calmingly put a hand on his shoulder, “Yeah, I’ve seen him around when he intruded on my property not so long ago,” the TV-demon rose an eyebrow, “Where is the smiling freak anyway? Him and the other little midget who killed Adam?”

Vaggie facepalmed internally. Did that bastard have a death wish?

“Missed me?”

Vox visibly cringed when Alastor warped in via his shadows right in front of him.

“Fuck!”

Surprisingly enough Lucifer likewise did not even bother to walk but instead nearly instantly teleported in between them, glaring upwards at Alastor, “Hands off, buddy! I don’t want to clean up your mess, again!”

Alastor just leaned against his staff, unfazed, while smugly looking down, “Whatever seems to be the problem, your majesty? I simply wanted to greet our newest guest as the responsible facility manager that I am." He sized up the TV demon, visibly unimpressed, "Even if I think that he is a lost cause and not worthy of redemption or even your pitiful attempts to help him achieve such.”

“Oh, fuck you!” The CEO flipped him off.

Vox was not exactly hiding behind Lucifer, considering their size difference, but he did not seem to dare to cross that invisible line the king of hell had drawn between them and Alastor.

“No, thank you.” Alastor simply smiled, “I suppose we will get our chance to talk later.” And with that he dissolved into the shadows only to reappear at one of the seats at the bar, where he was handed a Shirley Temple right away. Obviously not wanting to miss Vox introduction for the world.

 

An awkward silence hung over the room, until Vox seemed to remember he actually wanted to put up a brave front.

The TV-demon stepped next to Lucifer, switched into his typical salesman smile and announced, “Thank you so much for these helpful little introductions.  My name is Vox, no Mr. needed. Overlord of the Pride Ring, CEO of Vox Tek and head of the Vees. It is such a pleasure to meet you all and I’m looking forward to my stay here at this exceptional hotel!”

 

☻☺☻

 

“This place sucks so fucking much!” The moment he was alone Vox let himself fall onto the bed of his new room.

To his dismay he noticed it was much softer and bouncier than the one at home.

At least it was decently sized, otherwise he’d turn completely mad!

Once he found his bearings his first official act as a new guest was to place an electronic picture frame on his bedside table. Velvette and Val had bestowed it upon him the night before. There was a little hidden camera in it, probably the only one in this godforsaken house, but it helped calm Vox down.

It felt like getting back a little shred of control, in this ridiculous situation where he had scarcely any at all!

Notes:

I have honestly no clue if Vox speech was anywhere close to convincing, it was kind of strange writing it, but I guess I'll leave it to you guys to judge/react if you want to😇
(And base the reaction of hells inhabitants partly on that... Yes many are egoistical bastards but they are also suckers for gossip and tittle-tattle as we have seen with Ozzie and Fizz.)
Fair warning ahead: Mammon will quite likely play a part in this story though I'm not sure yet if it is enough to add him to the "main-cast" or just as an additional tag or nothing at all.

I also discovered that apparently I have a headcanon of Lucifer being an elegant teadrinker (or takes his coffe real sweet) and Vox your typical coffee fanatic (he also gives me slight workaholic vibes) Black as his soul and stuff ☕

And with that Vox moved in. Simple as that. That didn't go as bad as it could have, right? 🤣

I'm not even sure I can write a completely "fluffy" chapter without at least a little bit of drama but maybe I'll try for the next one when Luci and Vox try to settle in.
(as much as you can call it fluff out of Vox perspective, because now he is officially in enemy territory and has to watch his back constantly💀 Still trying to make the best out of his situation being the opportunist that he is, though...)

See ya around!

Chapter 6: Thanks for the blanket

Summary:

Coming to terms with a new reality.
Friends and enemies alike gather around the Hazbin Hotel.

Notes:

Hello there and Happy Easter🐰

Thank you all for the kudos, bookmarks and comments. I really appreciate them and they are great motivation 😊
Unfortunately last week has been a bit of a mess, but under normal circumstances I'll try to keep this story at least a weekly thing...

Well, writing this chapter has been slightly awkward, because the whole premise is for those involved... Originally I tried to keep it down with the "overthinking" of the participants but in the end I just gave up... They're a mess and gotta get used to this new status quo, before they're able to just be their regular charming and energetic selves I suppose.

“This place sucks so fucking much!”

Listening to the loud complaint Lucifer threw a short glance over to the wall on his right. The walls were not as thick as he’d expected them to be, or maybe they were and his senses were just a bit too sharp?

At least his next-door neighbor left it at that and remained silent afterwards.

Maybe the Overlord felt sleepy?

In the morning hours.

After at least three cups of coffee…

The fallen angel decided not to overthink the mindset of a TV-head and instead concentrate on himself first and foremost.

 

The first thing he pulled out of one of the big bags placed upon the big canopy bed in front of him was an old wooden picture frame showing his family happy together.

Lost in the memory he took pause to smile.

Those were the days. Charlie still smaller than him and Lilith the most amazing woman a man could dream of with that charming smile which melted away any insecurities in a heartbeat.

Cautiously he placed the frame on his bedside table, affectionately brushing away some specks of dust with his thumb.

Shortly after four rubber ducks were placed around it. His latest creation with its pink top hat, it’s buddy with the propeller hat, the one with the many eyes and finally, turned away from the bed towards the wall, the one he just could not leave behind with the sunglasses and striped shirt. 

The room still looked so empty… but no!

With a heavy heart he had decided to keep it to a bare minimum, for now.

He clenched his fist in determination.

He’d stand by his decision!

Maybe more could follow if things worked out alright and he did not feel like anyone would judge?

 

Unpacking was done much too fast, because afterwards he was not really sure what to do with himself.

Noone was calling for him and the only other fixed appointment they had made for today was dinner at six, announced by Charlie.

He did not dare to ask for more, not wanting to be pushy, but there was still like half the day left until then.

Sitting on the edge of his lovely fluffy bed Lucifer subconsciously glanced over to the wall to Vox room once more. 

Why was the TV being so quiet, though? Did he intend to stay in there the whole day? That would defeat the purpose of this whole endeavor, wouldn’t it? Shouldn’t Vox mingle more to even have the slightest chance of change? To prove to them they should not give up on him and he could become a better man?
Was he still thinking about Vox here?

 

Thirty more minutes passed. Playing around with his fire spitting rubber duck got boring fast and he placed it back next to its comrades.  

Meanwhile all he heard from the other room was one random “Fuck it all!”  and something hitting the wall and then silence again.

Charlie had probably made plans for group activities already, didn’t she? Was it ok for him to just push away all the responsibility in the shape of a potentially dangerous and quite moody Overlord over to his daughter from the first day onwards?

It did not feel right for Vox to just arrive and hide in his room like a moody teenager, even though the guy had probably spent at least a couple of decades in hell already.

Just as much as it did not feel right to sit here and wait for someone else to do something.

Anything!

 

The angel bit his lip and glanced once more towards the wall.

It would be the responsible thing to go over there, wouldn’t it?

He hated responsibilities, but he also did not want to repeat his past mistakes and just hide away in his room all day…

He had to show Charlie that he could change for the better and learned his lesson!

And while he still not dared to face her directly without some lame excuse to be there for her, he could at least face some lousy sinner douchebag he could crush easily anytime he felt like it, whom just so happened to be his current excuse for staying here in the first place.

Yup, that sounded like a decent plan, right?

 

☻☺☻

 

Leaving his room had been the easy part.

Now he was standing in front of a door glaring holes into its wood, his hand raised for the knock but unable to finish the gesture. Instead, he folded his hands and leaned his chin upon them in a thinking pose.

On one hand he so did NOT want to talk to a shitty sinner who was the embodiment of everything that was wrong with this place.

On the other, didn't he already cross that line a good while ago?

He’d even watched the man at his worst bleeding out on the blankets in his living room.

That had to count for something, right?

Though there was also the slight possibility that this was the direct result of the angel’s decision to force the guy to move into the hotel thus provoking Alastor to take action.

Could this tang of guilt also add to his hesitation to knock?

 

Either way Lucifer really hoped none of the staff, especially the Radio Demon, would show up right now. They’d probably have a blast watching the king of hell lose to a simple wooden door!

Two minutes later he finally succeeded in almost softly touching the wood with his knuckles.

Then realizing it had probably been too quiet he repeated the gesture slightly louder.

Silence.

Maybe the sinner had already used some Overlord shenanigans to make himself scarce?

The thought kind of annoyed Lucifer since that would mean he’d wasted too many minutes thinking about scum who had not even been here anymore in the first place!

Then again, he’d have an excuse to run and look for the scoundrel. Successfully avoiding the next steps that should now logically follow. That being socializing in earnest with the rest of the hotel inhabitants.

 

He decided to knock one final time.

“Fuck off!”

Lucifers’ eyes narrowed at the harsh disrespectful language, but apparently his thoughts travelled over because the room occupant quickly changed his course, an instinctive quiet “Urgh! Crap…” escaped his lips which Lucifer might’ve missed without his enhanced senses.

He also realized that Vox probably did not expect the king of hell himself politely knocking on the door, otherwise he most likely would have cowered right away.

A rather sulky voice sounded through the door, “What I meant to say was that I am exhausted from the move and shit. Is it ok if I lie down a bit longer or is my presence already required?”

Lucifer froze once more realizing he had no clue on how to proceed or what to answer.

 

He did not know how much more time passed but he was pretty sure it would’ve been quite awkward if Vox knew he still stood uselessly in front of the door…

Circus Music started to play. It sounded strangely familiar…

Oh no!

That was his phone! Hoping against any better judgement that Vox hadn’t heard it he teleported back home right away to answer the call.

Another perfect excuse!

 

☻☺☻

 

Something that sounded like music and then silence. Vox rose an eyebrow at the door.

The fuck?

Figuring the music might’ve been a ringtone he extended his senses looking for a nearby phone. Negative.

Did they just leave? Whoever they might’ve been…

Not that it would completely surprise him. Facing an overlord’s wrath took guts and not all of Alastor’s minions had what it took. The thought educed a small smile from him, though it vanished as fast as it had come.

Unfortunately, Vox was actually supposed to seem like the exemplary hotel guest.

Scaring them away, while feeling awesome, was probably counterproductive in the long run.

Sulking forever was also not an option.

He was not fool enough to blow it with the Morningstar’s. There was no way in hell they’d actually establish friendly relations, but they could at least peacefully coexist with a sense of professionalism, if he conducted himself adequately, right?

He was an actor, a show master, a manipulator through and through!

He was not brute force like Val, he was the fucking brain and face of the Vees!

Just “playing nice” should’ve been a fucking walk in the park!

Then why the fuck did all his negotiation skills just randomly decide to leave him the moment he stepped into this stupid hotel?

No, even earlier… He’d probably pinpoint it to the moment the old Overlords had decided to show their loyalty openly to Alastor and not to him!

 

The answer was surprisingly simple but he refused to accept it:

He was fucking afraid!

No cross that, by now it was even worse!

He was actually terrified since the moment he realized Alastor was leaving him behind in the dust and Lucifer himself decided to step on the stage!

His and Alastors animosity went back years ago. He couldn't even count how often they'd spit insults at each other, but in the end, it had always been obvious they were kind of equally matched and left it at that.

Now it felt like Al suddenly raised the stakes, no longer in the mood for senseless childish debates.

And Vox was too fucking weak to adjust to the new terms.

No longer worthy to be the nemesis and instead turning into a simple nuisance, the Radio Demon had intended to cut out of his life like an annoying tumor before it could start to fester.

Vox was not strong enough to prove Al otherwise, much less the king of hell himself.

Fuck, he could not even pause to gather his thoughts and actually logically think things through without worrying he might freeze completely or, even worse cause another blackout drawing the wrath of the devil upon himself.

Consequently forcibly preventing his brain to process the new facts and memories appropriately, because he did not dare to, lead to it just randomly failing him.

Fucking emotions...

 

As for his current predicament, well, he had the rude outline but they’d never talked about how exactly things were supposed to go from now on and it drove him crazy. Was he expected to stay here till dinner, should he mingle or should he wait for further instructions? Were they already testing him by leaving him free rein?

All the princess had done was show him his room, tell him a cringeworthy happy “And this is your new home! Dinner is at six. We’ll pick you up. Make yourself comfortable.” And that was that.

Admittedly he had closed the door right into her face after the last sentence with a grumpy “Thanks”, not wanting to bother anymore, but that was not the point now!

As long as there was no clarity the TV demons stupid enhanced brain just continued to make up worse and worse scenarios based on the experience of an Overlord who had suffered and fought himself to the top.

Mind games had been fun.

Killing or permanently crippling not so much, since broken or lost souls usually meant less power for him. Also, he had to admit he kind of liked the fact that most of his good employees were actually content with him as a boss. As long as you weren't a slacker his company usually meant a safe job and good pay for hell standards, basically being a technology monopole in Pride. Who didn’t like people bragging about you being awesome and identifying with your afterlife’s life’s work? 

But he did not work for Lucifer. Vox had everything to lose and the fallen angel nothing should he get bored of him…

Even if he simply decided to throw Vox out that might still be a death sentence, since the TV overlord had decided to poker too high with his speech yesterday, ruffling to many powerful, potentially envious feathers.

The thought of escaping the room via his picture frame never became more than that.

Mere wishful thinking.

The king of hell himself could teleport into his room any second now and announce his further plans with him just like he did this morning.

If he discovered an empty room who knew how Lucifer would punish him?

Besides Vox really did not want to risk go home.

If his colleagues weren’t there it would give him the creeps, if they were, they’d probably ask questions he didn’t want or know how to answer.

Long story short: He was trapped.

“Fuck, fuck, fuck!”

 

Since he did not like feeling unproductive and had to take his mind off his current mess Vox took out his laptop instead, putting it onto the small wooden desk in his room.

Sure, his head nowadays was probably one of the most advanced pieces of technology in all of hell. He had spared no expenses and efforts to keep himself up to date and could probably process the information faster than any mere laptop ever could but it still felt strange and if possible, he still preferred to do things the “old fashioned” way.

He’d seen himself work before through security cameras when he was using his own screen and it just seemed... off.

Using the screen occasionally to make a point or for quick calls or research was ok but he just liked having a face most of the time, especially if there was a chance others caught a glance of him.

For whatever reason people seemed to have much less restraints to smash in a piece of glass, wires and metal than an actual face.

That was one of his first lessons learned in hell he’d not so soon forget.

The memes in the internet had been another perfect reminder for this issue. Yes, they might make unflattering or provocative edits of Velvette or Valentino but the only Vee they had actually shown with visible marks of violence was Vox since it was so easy and tempting to make an edit of a cracked or broken screen.

Even if it was just a mockery of the real thing, he wanted to at least look them in the eye while they tried to break him.

Not that they’d ever get a chance to do so nowadays. Unless “they” were Al, or some of the more powerful entities in hell with hell's king at the top of this pyramid.

 

☻☺☻

 

Second try!

Lucifer teleported once more in front of the accursed door, storing his phone away in his pocket now with newly obtained confidence.

 

☻☺☻

 

Vox checked his mails and considered his options based on their titles.

 

For one there were the new weapon designs for Angelic Security 2.0 from his companies’ engineers. Most of them relatively new additions.

Carmine’s troop had been too loyal to change sides and his guys were geniuses undoubtedly but the kind of genius who had never held a gun in their live or afterlife for that matter.

Even he himself had to admit he’d never been all that interested in weaponry. He never even considered turning himself into some terminator abomination, as some other demons had suggested. The thought of having extendable guns in his head seemed distasteful to him, especially when he could use that space to fill it with actual worthwhile technology instead.

Luckily it was not too difficult to find some decent weapon experts in the human world who had enough sins under their belt that it was never a question where they would end up after their demise.

All it needed was hiring a group of imps to go “shopping” for him and his company’s newest sub division focused on high tech weaponry was founded.

Its biggest issue currently being that his new “weapon experts” turned out to be a bunch of huge psycho assholes, even for hell standards, because he had wanted to be on the “safe side” with their “delivery”.

Luckily Valentino had volunteered to take that headache out of Vox hands. Unlike the TV demon who accidently lost his temper a couple of times and fried the bastards for overstepping lines, he had not even known existed before that, the pimp seemed to fit right in.

He joked, laughed and even exchanged his own ideas with them and they likewise seemed to eat out of the palm of his hands. Most of them were also big fans of Val’s “other work” not that Vox really cared.

Weapons were not his field of expertise and he currently did not have the head to dive deeper into that topic even if he knew he would not be able to avoid it forever.

But for now, let Val handle that shit…

 

Talking about the human world…

There were also a couple of mails from his succubus employees who were actually up there to inform him right away about any new scientific achievements the humans came up with. They always promised an interesting read but also usually went hand in hand with strange nostalgia by reminding him that he’d never go back.

Being already on edge he was in no mood for nostalgia right now.

So, another no.

 

The last one was from Valentino himself and Vox honestly only opened it because he knew, if he didn’t the pimp would be a pain in the ass next time, he talked to him and realized Vox had not yet bothered to read it.

The other overlord had sent him a new report about their living test subject and its strengths and weaknesses, whose analysis also happened to fall to the tasks of the new weaponry subdivision. Halfheartedly Vox clicked on some of the added picture files.

Valentino and his new best buddies had been nauseatingly thorough with it even for Vox tastes. There were even some links to videos, probably filmed in typical Valentino fashion judging by their gimmicky titles and of no real noteworthy scientific value.

The TV demon could not bring himself to open them.

 

Speaking of angels…

It knocked on the door again, this time accompanied by a familiar voice, “Hello in there. You still alive or did the radio demon sneak in, while I was not looking?”

That actually triggered Vox and made him crunch his teeth, while Lucifer continued, apparently in a good mood, “I think we made a decent schedule for the next couple of days but there are some details I’d have to finetune with your insight.”

Before he could get the idea to come inside uninvited Vox quickly clicked away the detailed sketches of Angel anatomy and willed his laptop to shut down.

In his eyes it was the most pragmatic solution to analyze the abilities of your enemy to their fullest extent, who had been said to be invincible not too long ago.

Especially since he had only limited access to angelic weaponry and Carmilla was unwilling to cooperate. They had to find alternatives if they did not want to lose face!

But somehow, he had a nagging suspicion that Lucifer might still not take to it kindly if he found out the Vees had one of his kind as prisoner and guinea pig.

The fact that Valentino was responsible for the questioning probably did not help either…

“Coming.”

 

As he opened the door the king of hell smiled up to him mischievously, “I think it’s time I’ll show you around. All you’ve seen up until now was the lobby and the path to your room. That won’t do.” With a wide grin he proudly leaned on his cane, “And I just so happen to be an expert on the subject since I helped build this place.”

“You did? I’d never guessed.”

Even with his short stay here he’d noticed the snake and apple motive was included in at least half his surroundings.

“Ah, wait a sec! Before we go, I’ve got something for you.” Wanting to get rid of said something as fast as possible, Vox stumbled back into his room.

Out of the corner of his eye he noticed that the angel curiously entered behind him.

Besides the laptop and the picture frame there was not anything else worth mentioning, so while Vox was rummaging in his suitcase Lucifer actually got closer to the bedside table looking at the picture of the three Vees, “You guys are really close, huh?”

Vox just shrugged, “They got my back and I got theirs. Don’t misunderstand though. This is hell! It's an alliance of convenience. There is always a give and take. We’ve just known each other long enough that we do not have to communicate verbally about it anymore. But the moment one of us turns out to be a burden and is no longer of any use to the other two they would drop him immediately, no questions asked.”

For some reason Vox really did not want to talk about this topic longer than necessary. Luckily, he found what he was looking for, “Ah, here we go. Thank you for letting me borrow it.”

Apparently, he smoothly succeeded in diverting Lucifers attention by holding a neatly folded fluffy blanket with a disgustingly cute duck print towards the king of hell.

Vox glanced down towards the cartoonish ducks and got lost in thought remembering the time not too long ago when their happy faces were stained with his blood.

“Much obliged. You can let go of it now?” Lucifer gently tugged a bit at the blanket, holding it at the other end, while Vox claws apparently had developed a will of their own and resisted.

The Overlord swallowed down hard unable to let go.

Lucifer frowned looking up from his blanket into the others face, “Umm, your thing is doing its thing again. Is it supposed to do that? Maybe you should have that checked?”

“I’m fine!”, the TV Demon snapped back, showing sharp sharkish teeth.

Lucifers eyes kind of pointedly wandered between Vox screen and the cyan claws as if to say “No you are not.”

Shit.

Vox might be a shitty person, but he was not that shitty that he did not know when he owed someone.

This blanket, while looking fucking silly was a perfect reminder of a debt he had not yet dared to address.

People in hell never did something for you, unless they expected something in return. It was just business. Something Vox was supposed to be an expert in.

And while it was a self-explaining give-and-take with the other Vees, Lucifer as an outsider obviously did not fall into that category.

With the other being on the top of the food chain, Vox would never be able to repay the king of hell entirely.

At the very least he could stick to the bare socially accepted minimum when people neglected to name a price for something.

With an unintended slightly aggressive undertone, still baring his teeth, he quickly blurted out, “Thank you for saving my life!”

Lucifer blinked at him, apparently needing a second to take in this abrupt change of topic from a blanket to, well that, but then he just shrugged, “No biggie.”

Of course it wasn’t.

The TV demon rubbed his arm subconsciously, finally letting go of the blanket. Man, this was uncomfortable, but he had to make his stance clear here, “Well I only got the one and I doubt there’d be a third chance for me so thanks anyway.”

Lucifers elusive gaze rested upon him a bit longer holding the blanket close to his chest not saying anything.

Then he suddenly sniffed the fluffy fabric with a look of surprise on his face, “It smells like lavender. Didn't know it grows in hell.”

Now it was at Vox to be confused, “Why shouldn’t it? Just because we are in hell doesn’t mean we can’t have nice things. Besides, there are enough natural born demons who travel between realms and sell you stuff… for a price.”

Thoughtfully Lucifer glanced back to him, “You also smell much better than you did back then.”

“Beg your fucking pardon?”, that comment caught the Tv off guard.

Lucifer just shrugged, “Not like blood, booze and fried cables I mean. More… human I suppose.”

He quickly glanced back at his phone, “Nice talk and all but now we’ve really got to hurry along! There are two other participants for Lucifers Grand Hazbin Tour and we don’t want to keep them waiting too long! Let me just quickly put this back in my room.”

"Your room?"

Vox followed the angel into the hallway and realization dawned upon him when he saw Lucifer dissappearing right behind the door next to his, "Fuck me, you live right next door?!"

Lucifers voice echoed out, "Totally your fault for just hiding inside, the moment you got the keys, buddy. Otherwise we would have told you."

Vox was kind of glad the angel was currently out of sight.

Fuck, did that mean he heard him cursing and throwing stuff at the wall liek some braindead brute?

He sighed, "Just my luck, I guess."

 

☻☺☻

 

When their limo arrived the first thing, he noticed through tinted windows was the press already lurking around the hotel. There seemed to be an invisible line they did not dare to cross leaving enough space for the limo to park in front of the small hill leading up.

His tail waved around admittedly slightly excited, “Huh, would you look at that. I didn’t expect them to catch wind of us coming here so soon.”

With an amused chuckle his companion caught the tail to wiggle it around his finger, “I don’t think it’s us they’re expecting this time around, Fizzy Frog.”

 

☻☺☻

 

It was not for the first time that Carmilla asked herself if having made a deal with the Radio Demon had been the right decision. She scrolled back the official video Vox Tek had published on VoxTube with the interview of their CEO yesterday morning.

The confident voice of Vox echoed through the room once more:

“Miss Carmine knows as well as I do, that we cannot leave you unprotected and thus she will return to the negotiating table in no time. Alas she even held first talks with my dear colleague Velvette yesterday evening.”

She paused on the cocky grin of the TV demon, before he could elaborate.

“Ah, the eagerness of youth. Always in a hurry, always convinced there is no better path than their own, always thinking they know how to handle those with more experience in this dangerous game of power. It is kind of adorable.” Zestial kept a careful eye on Carmilla while sipping his tea, sitting in a comfy dark green lounge chair next to a burning fire place.

“Alastor promised he would take care of Vox if I kept Velvette busy. Instead, the Vees current position seems more stable than ever and they actually used my diversion as another argument to corner me further.”

“There is no cause for us to impetuously interfere just yet. Did you not notice the way he held himself? How he struggled for each sentence, gripping for power he did not possess? Vox might not have played this game for as long as we did, but even he knows that there is a fascinating power equilibrium in hell. If someone decides to rise above the rest, whose name is not Lucifer himself, hells inhabitants will not take kindly to that. Their greed will devour you whole, should you not be able to stand strong and firm. The more powerful you become, the less friends you have and the more grudging enemies you gather along thy bloody road and that, my old friend, means potential opportunity and allies for ourselves.”

 

☻☺☻

 

The people who left the limo were not the person he had expected, but a pleasant surprise nonetheless.

So, one of those pureblood fuckers, who just so happened to also be one of the seven sins decided to honor the hotel with their presence as well, huh?

He resisted the sudden urge to pull the trigger on his Carmine-crafted rifle, while watching the scene through his scope. His baby had proven to be strong enough to kill off demon royalty, but he was not one hundred percent certain into which category the seven sins fell.

Besides he was no suicidal maniac. No matter how awesome an achievement, it was worth nothing if all that’s left of you was a cold bloody corpse.

Consequently, he remained a simple observer while the Sin of Lust and his pet clown headed towards the hotel.

They were not the mission.

Not yet.

Though he did not doubt their presence could be a good opportunity for him to convince his employer to invest more into his particular skills and extend the contract.

The burns on his skin might’ve healed away by now but he’d never forget the shame that accompanied them.

Never.

Him and Fizzarolli had a score to settle and if he could combine that with his current mission and haggle some extra cash out of it all the better.

 

☻☺☻

 

“These are the other two fucking participants for your Hazbin tour?” For a second there Vox forgot whom he was accompanying and just laughed out loud, “You’ve gotta be shitting me!”

 

“Yeah, day just gets better and better,” agreed a grumpy sarcastic voice from the bar Vox graciously ignored. He’d decided for himself he would ignore Alastor or any of his cronies, meaning the cat and the midget, for the duration of his stay as well as he could.

 

Asmodeus showed the hint of a curtsy, “Good to see you again in person, Lucifer. You too Vox. It seems you took care of the superficial damage?”

“I’m fine.” Vox realized if he had thanked Lucifer, he probably should do so to Asmodeus as well. Even though now there were much more witnesses… “You did a decent job, even though my mechanics would’ve done a better one.”

“Hah, did you see that Ozzie? Is that his way of turning red? Cute.”

The fucking imp hid his wide toothy smile behind one hand, badly.

“Well, now that’s an angry look if I have ever seen one…” He added oil to the fire.

Vox felt annoyed sparks emitting around his claws until a polite cough by Lucifer reminded him of his main reason for being here.

Fuck!

“Now, now, Fizzie Frog, please be polite. After all we will probably meet this fine gentleman much more often during our stay here.”

Vox blinked, “Stay? As in you lot living here? No fucking way!”

The sin of lust seemed a little too satisfied with himself for Vox taste, while inclining his head innocently accompanied by a neon green smile, “Yes. Such was the plan, babe.”

Fuck this. This could not be happening!

Vox glared over to Lucifer, who was just leaning on his stupid apple staff, inspecting his fingers with no care whatsoever.

Did that mean that Vox was living under the same roof now with at least three entities capable of ripping him apart, no sweat?

And yes, for now he included Alastor in that list, until proven otherwise.

And all three of them had certain attitudes which got on his nerve, which was never a good sign.

He had lived long enough to know that he’d occasionally loose it if triggered too much, no matter whom he was facing…

Maybe his subconsciousness had sensed the approaching trouble and that’s why he did not want to leave his room earlier that day?

Should've fucking listened...

Hiding his growing inner despair, he left it on a relatively simple, embarrassingly helpless, “But… why?”

The imp had the audacity to grin at him and finger point while being unnecessarily dramatic, “Because of you!”

“The fuck you want from me, squirt?” Vox crossed his arms, not amused.

“Please do not misunderstand,” Asmodeus lovingly patted the head of his companion, “Fizzie sometimes likes to overdo it a bit with the drama. We simply saw your interview yesterday and were reminded how nice it would be to go on some vacation for a couple of weeks. Dear Charlie was kind enough to agree to my selfish request.”

“But doesn’t it usually take longer to prepare for a vacation like that?” Vox claw pointed upwards to undermine his words, “Don’t you have a fucking job or something?”

Now the imp seemed even more smug than before, “Nope. I quit!”

Yup, the midget was really starting to get on Vox nerves and he did not even try to hide his disgust, while inquiring through narrowed eyes, “And that is reason to be proud of, because…?”

“Alright, enough of all this lame talk of work! You are all on vacation, remember?” Lucifer slided between them letting his cane loudly hit the floor, “It is time for Lucifers Grand Hazbin Tour! Follow me closely, gentlemen and be amazed of the wonders this fine hotel has to offer!”

Notes:

So, to sum it up:

Ozzie and Fizzy are here to stay for a while.
There was also someone else from Helluva who smuggled themselves into this chapter. He was kind of the logical conclusion when I reread the last one and thought about how I'd deal with an annoying upstart if I were a rich and powerful entity in hell. Before I'd actually put myself in the line of fire I'd try to let someone else do it for me, preferably discreetfully. Best case scenario someone who does so professionally. Even better if this someone is far less suspicious then a big walking, talking christmas tree and has made it his ambitious life goal to kill demon nobility and overlords, because he hates them with a passion. (and has a personal bone to pick with my enemies)
[Edit 01.04.24: Ok, I'll just throw the two individuals in question into the cast because I know I want them there, kinda😅
I'll promise after those two shitheads that's it with the new potential cast members.] We will take the hand that is dealt to us and there are enough (main) actors on the scene to make this work methinks xD

Also I gave Valentino more guns to play with, including some triggerhappy fanboys.
We'll see how that goes in the long run🤔

Thanks for reading😁

Chapter 7: Let me show you around!

Summary:

Vox gets his first impression of the hotel apart from his room and the foyer.
Not that he'd really care...

Notes:

Sorry😭 Here's a little inbetween chapter to show you that I'm still alive and kicking...

Husk watched the strange quartet leave the lobby, when an exhausted succubus servant arrived in the entry apparently carrying the luggage of their newest guests.

“Just leave it and scram,” the bartender pointed into a randomly chosen corner of the room, while leaning against his counter with an exhausted sigh.

They eyed him nervously but, in the end, just nodded and made their retreat afterwards not willing to argue.

 

Right in time to miss the shadows materializing into an unfortunately all too familiar Overlord on one of the bar stools.

“Greetings, Husker.” Alastor’s smile seemed slightly strained, “Mind telling me why the number of Sins accompanying Vox has doubled this troublesome morning?”

Husk, already his next bottle in hand, took a hit, “The hell would I know? According to the clown Oz got inspired by Vox speech the other day and decided to take a nice little vacay as well.”

The Fucking speech was going to haunt him in his next nightmares, wasn’t it?

“Don’t you dare look at me like that, Al! I’ve got no control over what’s going on in the heads of hell’s greatest powerhouses!” He knew he was adding oil to the fire by adding a smooth, “Charlie gave her ok by the way.”

Just in case he took another big sip out of his bottle.

“Did she now?” Alastor seemed thoughtful looking towards the direction the others had disappeared to, “One would assume if such high-profile guests visit our lovely little hotel, she would consult me first before making any hasty decisions.”

“Not to piss on your parade, boss, but once her dad gets involved things get kinda difficult to say no to, even for the princess…”

There was that tiny eye twitching again, which made its occurrence with increasing frequency ever since Lucifer had made his first debut in the hotel, “It seems that way, doesn’t it? But why would the sin of Lust be interested in some lowlife like Vox at all? What is his agenda?”

 

Husk nearly choked on his drink.

This seemed to be one of the few occasions in his life where he could actually witness a topic where the guy holding his soul might actually be at a slight disadvantage anticipating his opponents moves, since they were not based on logic alone.

Taking the recent events and behavior of Ozzie and his boyfriend into account the cat demon had a nagging suspicion, on the direction this whole trip was heading to especially, considering Asmodeus was the sin of Lust.

The guy’s literal job description included making people want to shag each other… but if that was true… They couldn’t be serious about that ship, could they?

Though if you were one of hells most powerful beings you probably drew the line much later than anyone with decent survival instincts or morals.

He really had to brainstorm with Angel about this… Preferably somewhere where Al was out of earshot.

Just gossiping would not count as betrayal to the Radio Demon, would it?

Besides this whole situation might actually help in getting rid of Vox faster.

To get on the wrong side of Asmodeus could end up just as permanently dead as with Lucifer.

 

Pushing these thoughts aside for now Husk simply shrugged and instead gave the most reasonable response, “Maybe him and Fizzarolli were just bored and needed some downtime after the whole Mammon debacle? I mean Asmodeus and Lucifer have known each other for millennia, so it shouldn’t be that surprising he just wants to spent some quality time with a good old friend?”

As expected, the radio demon did not seem entirely convinced, “I suppose we can only observe, for now.”

 

☻☺☻

 

Once the Limo had left, he leaned the rifle next to the window, done watching the hotel.

Instead, he turned around to the little room which would probably be his home for the next couple of weeks.

Its interior was quite modest: a little stove and fridge, a dirty red old carpet on the floor, a dusty wardrobe, a single bed, a little wooden table next to an old black leather lounge chair and a small separate bathroom.
Honestly, he was used to much worse.

The only personal touch in the room were two posters above the table, one an advertisement for I.M.P showing its four main members, the other an old announcement for one of Fizzarolli’s performances in the Greed ring.

They both had seen better days with a number of holes centered around the faces.

In any case the most important spot was the window, with its beige moth-eaten curtains.

The little flat was in the seventh floor of an old building towering over a couple smaller ones.

Using the zoom of his sniper rifles’ scope or his spyglass currently resting on the table he had perfect sight towards the hotels entrance.
The old-fashioned way.

He was not fool enough to spy on his target with their own technology, even if it would’ve made things much easier.

In addition, they’d also asked Crimson indirectly to have some of his men spy on the hotel and its crew with the excuse that its occupants were a loose cannon nowadays considering the high-profile individuals living there.

The Pride Ring was not really their turf but being mafia and all, he hoped they would still do at least a decent job finding routines with the hotel residents, even if they were just simple ones such as going to work or getting rid of the trash.

The lackeys should not have any direct link to him.

As for his employer, well, while his name was also not mentioned officially, there were probably not that many individuals Crimson would knuckle under, so they might at least have a suspicion.

 

With practiced ease he used his tail to pull out his phone from the jacket thrown onto the bed, while his hands grabbed a blessed dagger and grindstone resting on a little bag next to the rifle.

Then he made himself comfortable on the chair, pushing the phone between ear and shoulder while his hands started with the sharpening.

A nice calming effect and at the same time a simple way to intimidate or impress others, should the necessity arise.

Intimidation would probably not work with the person on the other side of the phone, but they seemed to love a good show, so no harm done.

“What’s up?” they answered surprisingly fast, as if anticipating the call, though feigning nonchalance.

“Hey boss man, can I ask you a purely hypothetical question?”

He added the sound of sharpening his knife for the drama.

“What’s with this riddle shit? But sure, shoot away and let’s get this over with, dipshit.”

The knife was glowing in the twilight of his room, its light reflecting in his yellow eyes with slit pupils, while he tested its sharpness on a finger, drawing a drop of fresh blood, “Again, purely hypothetical, if I succeeded in detaining you, would you be able to survive if I cut you apart bit by bit with my Carmine-crafted knife or would you just laugh it off, because these tricks don’t work on a sin?”

“The fuck? I am in no liberty to discuss this shit with lowlife assholes like you.”

His smirk showed a sharp golden tooth, “So you do not deny that Carmine’s weapons could be a threat, even to your kind?”

“Fuck off! I never said that, cocky motherfucker! What’s with this shitty question? You bailing? You actually threatening me?”

He hissed into the phone, “Nah. I’m no fool. But Lucifer is no longer the only sin chilling in that sweet hotel of yours.”

“Not? Whom of these assholes would want to screw around there?”

“Your favorite one.”

“I don’t have favorites; I hate them all equally. Just spit it out…”

“Heard you and the ruler of Lust cut all your business ties recently after that whole concert incident.”

“We did, but what has that to… No! It’s fucking Ozzie, isn’t it? And if he’s there, Fizzarolli should not be far behind…”

“So, about my payment,” Striker’s dagger hit right in the middle of the poster of a certain imp, “how about we make some adjustments and I free you from some additional troubles?”

 

☻☺☻

 

He was not entirely sure if he actually cared, but if he did, he’d say something about this “Grand Hazbin Tour” was off. Unfortunately, he couldn’t put his claw on what exactly that something was.

The only two other participants were no help in solving the riddle either being all over each other half the time. The other half were stupid or vulgar jokes and puns.

At least it felt that way to Vox.

Heck, he almost missed Valentino. At least he could tell the moth man to shut the fuck up once in a while.

The only added value in the hotels newest arrivals' annoying presence appeared to be the fact that they helped shift that strange awkwardness away, which had a tendency to be hanging between himself and the king of hell when they were alone for an extended amount of time.

 

“And this, gentleman, is the kitchen!”

Lucifer spread his arms, a proud smile on his face, which was one hundred percent uncalled for.

Part of the TV demon wanted to cry at the sorry sight presented to him as if it was some grand accomplishment.

For the first time since this annoying tour started Vox actually decided it was worth taking the risk and voicing his opinion. This was a matter of principle after all, “The fuck is this shit? Are we still in the early 19th century?” He undermined his comment with a quick black and white vintage advertisement for an outdated TV, “And the only newer stuff is fucking Mammon’s brand! You guys can consider yourselves lucky your toaster has not blown up into your faces yet!”

Lucifer crossed his arms and actually went into the defensive, “I’m sure Charlie and her friends chose their kitchen equipment with the greatest of care.”

Vox just raised an eyebrow at that, while pointing at the toaster with visible disgust, “It was the fucking radio cunt, wasn’t it? Dragging others down with him just because he loves to live in the stone age and is allergic to the future!”
Now the toaster actually did explode unable to resist a puny little temper fit.

Vox Tek Toasters would never!

Lucifer caught the pieces out of the air before they could hit anyone or anything and carefully placed them back on the kitchen counter, as if it could be fixed later on.

Vox sighed, “Don’t bother. Mammon does not give any serious warranties on his shit, since he himself knows all to well that it would not withstand an environment like hell.”
Now it was at Lucifer to raise a skeptical eyebrow at Vox, “And you guys do?”

“It depends. Of course we do not cover any malicious damage, such as”, he started to count on his cyan claws, “gunshots, claw slashes, fire blasts, acid spit, freezing below certain temperatures, eating and digesting the product, merging with it, f- “

“Okay we get the point flat screen!” the clown just rolled his eyes, “We’re in hell and it’s super easy for shit to break here! In case you didn’t know, we also run a big ass company selling sex toys and gotta deal with unsatisfied customers every other day. Trust me, you don’t even want to know the details of what they claim should be included in their warranty…”

Vox frowned, “But even you have got to admit that the equipment in this kitchen is quite… outdated.”

Fizzarolli avoided his gaze and did not answer, which the CEO took as a silent “yes”.

He let his attention wander back to Lucifer, “Being one of the richest beings in hell why would you just let the old timey prick have his way here? Do you want your precious daughter and her friends to pick exploded toaster out of their eyeballs?”

To his surprise the king of hell actually avoided his gaze, arms crossed, “I did not see the necessity of being involved in the choosing of the equipment of this particular part of the building, because I usually did not stay until dinner and left once work was done for the day.”

Then Lucifer just shrugged it off, but Vox narrowed his eyes at him. Here it was again… That “off” feeling.

“Oh, what is this? Did someone write down all the couples in the house?”, Asmodeus smoothly changed the topic, “I understand VaggieXCharlie and AngelXHusk. Alastor being alone…”

“Don’t think too deep about it, it’s just kitchen duties,” Charlies little giggle drew everyone’s attention towards the entry door as she elaborated, “Husk and Angel are not a thing, yet. Alastor claims he works better alone without our meddling. Niffty is not on there because she is not allowed to be unattended and has a tendency to produce more work than assistance.” Her mood visibly darkened as she added, “Before we lost Pentious he usually paired up with her.” But then she quickly fixed her smile and stepped next to Asmodeus, to point at the board, “The little magnet apple to the right marks whose turn it currently is. Want to become part of the family?” With a smile she held up a red marker which was grasped immediately by the clown sitting on the sins shoulder.

“Let’s go!” With the enthusiasm of a kindergartner and similar writing skills the imp added a OzzieXFizz. He even drew unnecessary stupid little hearts around Asmodeus name.
Just great…

Vox hoped against all better judgement that they would just forget his presence and leave him out of this whole “We are one big happy family” bullshit.

That’s why he refrained from asking why the fuck they did not have any actual chefs around here in the first place and wasted their precious free time for unnecessary manual labor.

As the daughter of the king of hell Charlie should be rich enough to afford them, right?

Why was anybody even surprised this hotel was usually only making it into the bad headlines?

 

☻☺☻

 

If his “Grand Hazbin Tour” had succeeded in one thing then it was making him realize that he knew close to nothing.

Yes, he knew his way around but besides that he had no clue what it was like to actually live in the Hazbin Hotel. On that front he was just as clueless as the guests he’d led through the building.

Even worse… with each further step through the building he felt more like he had missed out on something important he would never get back.

Acting like this was his precious home, while it actually never had been.

Honestly if Charlie hadn’t shown up in the kitchen, he had no clue for how much longer he would’ve been able to keep up the facade.

Well, considering how long they’d known each other already it’d been probably a futile attempt from the start to try to fool Oz.

Yes, he had noticed the occasional concerned glance the sin of Lust threw towards him, whenever the other two were not looking.

 

“Dad?”

He blinked.

Back in the kitchen.

All eyes on him.

Well, except for the TV-Demon who was busy glaring at the old-fashioned tech around them, probably seeing his personal nemesis in it.

“What is it, sweetheart?”

Charlie quickly glanced at the board then back to him with an uncertain smile, apparently unsure if she could dare to ask if he wanted to participate in mundane tasks such as kitchen duties.
He bit his lip and suddenly found the floor incredibly interesting.

It hurt.

Of course, with his powers and influence he did not technically need to do this but at the same time this was exactly why he was automatically alienating himself from the rest.

Everybody could order food on demand but kitchen duties meant more than that. It meant accepting to be part of a team and actually invest time, thoughts and labor for the sake of others. To be part of the team and not just an outsider looking in.

Which was probably the reason, why his daughter decided to go this route instead of hiring professional chefs. It was all about the experience.

By God, even Alastor participated and he would be damned if that smiling freak would show him up here!

Charlie offered him this olive branch to be included and he’d be a fool not to take it!

“Count me in!” His gaze wandered to a certain TV-head, who’d probably not speak up for himself, “Vox too. Apparently, he has his own cooking show. This should be a walk in the park for him!”

“The fuck?! Don’t you think I’ve got better stuff to do then–”

Lucifer’s glare made Vox swallow down the rest of his sentence, unheard.

“Fine. I guess I got nothing better to do while I’m here anyways. So why not show you fucking losers how it’s done?” Realizing his misstep right away he quickly corrected himself, “Not you, your majesty. Or your kid for that matter. Or Asmodeus”, he gritted his teeth in defeat, “Guess just the clown from those who’re currently present.”

“Fuck you too! Ozzie and I will show you who’s the better cook!” Oz little companion seemed to be on the competitive side, showing Vox two middle fingers.

“Great, I’ll write you two down!” With a bright smile Charlie added them to the list.

“Uhm…” Now it was Lucifer who politely raised his hand, “Why are you putting me and Vox together in a group, sweetheart? Why can’t we just do our own thing like Alastor?”

“Oh come on, Luci. Two means twice the fun,” Oz gave a hearty laugh, “who knows maybe you can even learn something from each other?”

“I doubt it…” Vox mumbled and earned himself another glare from Lucifer.

“Anyway,” Charlie clapped her hands gathering everyone’s attention, “That was our kitchen. Dad, would you mind if I accompany you from this point onwards and help out with the tour?”
He smiled, unable to deny her wish and actually feeling like some weight was lifted off his shoulders, “Not at all. I mean it is your hotel after all. “

 

☻☺☻

 

Honestly it could’ve been much worse. Alastor could’ve popped up during their little guided tour by the Morningstar’s.

But he did not.

And that in itself was suspicious.

Or maybe Vox was just being paranoid… Well, he most decisively was paranoid either way, the fact he had surveillance all over Pentagram was proof enough of that.

The TV demon did not really pay much attention to the rest of the tour. Though he did record the entire trip and added it to his databank for later reference should the need arise.

You never knew.

“And that’s it. We’re back at the lobby.”

Maybe her big smile meant Lucifers brat was also happy that this whole trip was finally over? Or maybe being overly happy was just her standard modus operandi?

Honestly it was creeping Vox the fuck out.

This constant… cheerfulness simply seemed to be misplaced in a place such as hell.

Not that she’d ever had the chance to experience anything else from what he’d heard.

At least he still had the human world as comparison, even if it felt more like a distant dream than anything else nowadays. He’d earned his place here in this shithole for all eternity, unlike her who was doomed from the start.

Wouldn’t surprise him at all if her compulsive optimism to the inhabitants of this place was her only way of coping to prevent her from going completely bonkers.

“And there is Alastor waiting for us.”

Wait, what? Shit.

Of course, there the Radio Demon was, slurping a drink at the bar, “I see we have more visitors. Charlie, my dear, would you mind having a quick chat in private?”

“Why not say what you want so say in front of all of us?” Lucifer narrowed his eyes at Alastor.

“It’s ok!” Charlie quickly jumped between them, “Don’t worry, dad. Alastor and I are business partners. If he has any concerns he can always come and voice them to me and it is his right to do so in private if he wishes.” She gave an apologetic smile addressed at both sins, “Please do not take it personal, but you can be quite intimidating at times.”

“Which reminds me,” now Asmodeus jumped in as well pointing in the direction of their guest rooms, which of course were all in the same floor, “Would you mind having a quick private chat with us in the meantime, Lucifer? It’s been a while since we last saw each other, not counting the whole TV debacle.”

Vox was wise enough not to react to that statement, just piercing the skin of his palm with his claws instead, hoping the pain would prevent him from doing something stupid.

Of course, fucking Alastor smelled his blood right away and gave him a provocative smirk, before gently putting one hand on Charlie’s shoulder and leading her out of the room.

 

Lucifer also seemed to be inclined to follow the sin of Lust and his small companion, but just before leaving the lobby he seemed to remember they were not alone and turned around one last time towards Vox, “Don’t you dare go back to your room or leave the hotel!”

“And what else am I supposed to do instead?”

“Just mingle.” Since there was no one else in the room the king of hell just half-heartedly pointed towards the bar, “Get acquainted with the staff while I’m gone.”

And gone he was, just like Asmodeus and the Clown.

Vox turned around towards the “staff”, currently consisting only of one grumpy cat bartender.

“Still got any of the booze you stole from our appartement in those shelves?”

“Course not. You should enjoy every day as if it could be your last, so no reason to save up on the good stuff.”

“Is that a threat? If I ordered something would there be poison in my drink?”

“Believe me, if some simple poison could kill an Overlord, my life would be a hell of a lot easier…” The cat glanced down at where Vox supposed his injured leg would be, “Although… Maybe if I spiked it with splinters of angelic steel?”

 

It took a couple more minutes of awkward silence before the CEO decided to sit down at the bar.

The screeching sound of the moved stool echoing through the empty hall.

“So, what will it be?”

The bartender distinctly avoided looking at his sole customer.

“I don’t care as long as it does not have any alcohol in it.”

Vox did not let his opposite out of his sight, who pulled some cola out of the fridge and grenadine syrup from a nearby shelf.

“So, this time you want to face your devils with a clear head, huh?”

Ice cubes clanked into the glass, before the liquids got poured.

“It’s all I’ve got going for me around here.”

Putting the maraschino cherry on top the bartender passed along the drink, “Well, then here’s to you for not losing your head any time soon.”

Notes:

Hello there,

yup I'm finally back or something along those lines... The chapter is a bit shorter than the others but it seemed like a decent enough cut there.
Thanks as always to your lovely comments. It might not seem like it, considering the time it took me to upload this chapter, but I still greatly appreciate them and they give me additional focus and motivation (reading them is great to get yourself back into the game, if you're surrounded by unfortunate distractions)
Also I don't know if anyone noticed but I'll stop restricting myself from answering only when I post the next chapter, because that only works if you're reliable in your posts which annoyingly enough I'm not, currently.
Though I'll try to get back to that weekly update thingy, since I still wanna be finished before the 2nd season of Hazbin😅 (Helluva already posted its next episode so I really hope they will not throw me out of potential canon too soon... but if they introduced the rest of the sins that would be awesome🤣)

Also I decided (far away future mini spoiler talk here) this story is probably gonna split into two parts down the line.
One dealing with the hotel and all the issues arising with Vox as its new inhabitant (hopefully concluding with a satisfying end so you could also take it as one independent finished story) and another dealing specifically with Heaven (anyone noticed yet nobody seems to know about poor Pentious being reborn?) and Lilith in their full glory. I mean heaven and Lilith are still gonna play a part in the first one as well, because they are difficult to ignore and demand attention, but we're talking switching "settings" here for the rest 😅

Either way, Back on track!

Thanks for reading this far, let's hope we'll see each other again very soon 😊

Chapter 8: About angels, ducks and pigeons

Summary:

Asmodeus tries to have a talk with his old friend Lucifer.
Vox doesn't try to have a talk with Fizz and Husk.
Val and his new besties are talking strategy.

They were halfway through the floors towards their room arrangements.

“So, what is it you could only tell”, Lucifer graced his old friend with a cocky smile, “the big boss of hell itself?”

Compared to their slightly awkward guided tour the angel seemed in much higher spirits now.

Like a man who had a lot of weight just lifted off his shoulders.

Having found a sudden interest in his claws, Oz was unsure about the best way to approach his topic.

 

Fizz facepalmed drawing all attention to himself, “Oh, silly me! I totally forgot our luggage! Guess I leave you two alone for a bit and go back to get it!”

On top of his game as usual, the imp announced his retreat maybe slightly too obvious.

Nonetheless Asmodeus was grateful to his boyfriend, who in an almost comically manner skedaddled and gave them some privacy.

 

Once they were alone the sin of Lust decided to cut to the chase.

“Luci, there aren’t many people around who have known you as long as I have and,” he took a deep breath, “let me be straight with you for a second here, I get the feeling there is something amiss.”

The happy smile on the angels’ lips slowly grew smaller.

Oz pointed into the direction Fizz had retreated towards, “Heck, I think even your charming TV noticed something was off, although he’s only known you for… what?”, he rose his hand in disbelief, “A week tops?”

Lucifer looked slightly puzzled by the outburst but the last bit was at least an easy question to answer with confidence, “Three days.”

Oz simply nodded, “Three days. Granted he kind of nearly died during that time and got a slight overdose of us in his nearby vicinity but still… How to put this?” the sin of Lust ruffled his feathers, but in the end just broke down and added quietly, almost with a hint of begging in his voice, “If there is anything wrong, you can talk to me. You know that, right? You may have to play the almighty king of hell in front of everybody else, but I thought we got past that like a couple of millennia ago,” he crossed his arms and leaned against the nearby wall trying to look his friend directly into the eyes, “I know you are a good guy and if something is bothering you, I want to help.”

Lucifer firmly avoided Asmodeus gaze.

The other sin did not let that deter him from his message, “There is only so much one can take as a good guy trapped in hell for all eternity. Added to that the fact that you’re no machine and still have feelings, just like everybody else. So, if you ever feel like swallowing down your damn pride then please, know, that I am there for you. Not in a sexual way, though!” he stumbled over his words, as he realized that this was probably the first time in ten thousand years, he had a chat like that with Lucifer actually being single, “I’m officially off the market now. What Fizz and I have is as real as it gets!”

The last comment made Lucifer smile, visibly happy for them.

For a second Oz thought he got through to his old friend.

A mouth opened, but no words came out.

Then the angel simply closed it again, bit his lips, glanced to the side and mumbled, “I’m fine. There’s nothing for you to worry about, Ozzie.”

“I see.”

Worth a try though.

Then hells mighty ruler rose his head again, regaining a bit of his usual swagger, albeit a bit forced, “Still I will not deny that I am glad you decided to spontaneously accompany me to this vacation.” And he seemed to turn back into his most energetic self just randomly flying towards the ceiling and spreading his arms announcing, “This is our chance!” He moved next to his friend while making a grand gesture with his hand, “It’s been decades since our last one, imagine the possibilities!”

Even if he knew it was a distraction Oz did not have the heart to dampen the mood and thus joined in with a smirk, “I think it was before Charlie was even born,” he reminisced, “After you became a dad, you got all into parenting and hanging out with the good old sin of Lust just wasn’t cool anymore.”

“Oh, you, stop it.” Lucifer just waved him off, “You make it sound much more dramatic than it actually was.” Then the angel produced a red apple out of thin air, offering it to Asmodeus, “We still invited you to family dinners, didn’t we?”

“Under Lilith’s watchful eyes, yes,” the sin of lust rose a questioning eyebrow at him, while taking the offer with one hand, “No insult to your gorgeous wife or dear Charlie,” he theatrically bit into his apple, “but it just wasn’t the same. It was like invisible censorship floating constantly around my head.” He admired the apple in his hands, only a hint of Lucifers crazy powers, before adding with a frown, “Sometimes even visible ones.”

“Gotta keep it child friendly, even in hell! But maybe…”, the angel rubbed his neck, while his grin grew wider and wider, “I mean… maybe now that we both are apparently on vacation let’s hang out sometime?”, he got serious for a second, “Without the kids. Let them have the house for themselves for a change,” then he started counting with his fingers, “Just us, your man, Angel, Husk and Niffty. They seem like a fun bunch, most of the time…”

“And the TV?” Oz added, with the two faces in his cyan mane showing provocative grins.

Lucifer sighed, “Guess he can come too,” almost too quickly he amended, “Would be annoying if someone killed him off during my absence… The only one who most definitely is not allowed is that smiling freak! I just can’t relax around him! He can chill in a trash can or something, until we come back.”

“Fair point.”

Asmodeus just smiled at his friends’ antics, feeling like it had been the right decision to come to the hotel.

 

☻☺☻

 

Wariness in his eyes Vox glanced over to the bartender before he accepted the drink nonchalantly and took a sip, „Thanks, I guess… “

Out of the corner of his screen he noticed a clown passing by.

 

Waving off the suspicious glare focused on him, Fizz reached for the luggage in the corner, “Don`t mind me I’m just passing by. Just grabbing our stuff…”

“Why the fuck are you doing that in slow motion?” Vox took another slurp of his drink, now indeed kind of curious and turning his barstool around towards the imp.

As if that would make him more intimidating the imps’ legs extended, while his hands grabbed the luggage, “Because I can?”

“Want a drink instead of wasting your time with the slowmo shit?” Leaning against the counter, Husk pointed towards the bottles in the shelves behind him.

“I mean…” The clown glanced in the direction he’d come from, “I wouldn’t say no to that. But only a quicky. I don’t think Ozzie would like it if I leave his ass alone for too long.”

 

☻☺☻

 

Husk smiled at his new customer, internally relieved for the new distraction, “So what’s it going to be? Any preferences?”

Fizz just shrugged, “Anything blue will do.”

“One Blue Lagoon. Coming right away.”

Accentuated by the sound of crushed ice being mixed with vodka, blue curacao and citron juice, the imp used his chance to turn towards Vox.

The TV-demon was just silently stirring the ice cubes in the residue of his own drink.

Crossing his legs the Fizzarolli leaned himself forward, chin resting on one hand, the perfect picture of nosy curiosity, “Sooooo, I did see the interview and all that shit, but how did you really incur the big boss’ wrath?”

“And why the fuck should I answer to you, clown face?” visibly annoyed Vox just narrowed his eyes.

Since Fizz would find out pretty soon either way, Husk decided to be a bit more forthcoming, “We were having movie night and Vox little power outage also shut down our TV for a couple of minutes. Lucifer took that personally.”

“Really? No kidding? That’s it?” For a second the imp focused on Husk, disbelief in his eyes, as if waiting for the bartender to admit to it all being some stupid joke.

After realizing it wasn’t, Fizz elaborated a bit more on the topic, rubbing salt into the wound, “Mammon’s tech sucks so bad that it’s a given his TV’s break every once in a while, as an intentional design flaw. Because why should the sin of greed sell products that last any longer? There’s no profit in that!  People are forced to just accept it as an unavoidable occasional inconvenience, since he’s got the tech monopole in the other rings and actively badmouths the tech from Pride. There’re also crazy customs in the Greed and Envy Ring when it comes to wares produced here.  Kinda impressive Vox Flix still got as popular as it is, now that I think about it...”

Still glancing over to Vox, he added seemingly thoughtful, “Meanwhile you end up with the king of hell himself on your tail for a temporary outage,” the imp laughed out loud, “That’s hilarious! Sucks to be you, huh?”

Some nearby lightbulbs imploded, dimming the entire hotel lobby.

They should probably buy some on reserve, since Husk had an inkling, this could turn out to be a daily occurrence from now on.

By the by if looks could kill Fizzarolli would be a bloody puddle on the floor by now.

 

Considering the headache the whole Lucifer issue had caused for Husk as well; he decided to take pity on Vox.

Trying to draw attention away from the TV-demon he pushed the cocktail over the counter towards Fizzarolli, “Here’s your drink. How long do you and your partner intend to stay?”

The cat demon was really hoping the guy would take the hint, because he really did not feel like going out shopping right away should Vox decide to destroy the rest of their interior lighting.

“Aww, thanks!” Straw in mouth, happily wagging his tail, Fizz admitted, “We’re not entirely sure on that yet. We just knew we needed a break if ya know what I mean. Me being currently unemployed and Ozzie being his own boss downstairs in Lust and all… It was perfect timing for you guys up here to go crazy and give us an easy excuse to pay you a visit!”

“Could you give me another one of those?” Vox voice sounded calm, but the hand holding the empty glass towards the bartender was slightly trembling.

“Sure.”

After fulfilling the request, Husk poured a strong one for himself.

The grim aura vox was giving off while drinking his second Roy Rogers successfully shut down any kind of potential conversation before it could even start.

A surprisingly peaceful silence ensued, in which everyone just minded their own business slowly emptying their glasses.

 

☻☺☻

 

“So, what’s his take on our work? Did they even allow him to read his mails or is he too busy bootlicking his majesty?”

“Ten Paciencia, mi amigo,” Valentino took another puff, “he finances this whole endeavor, that alone should tell you that he sees value in it.”

“If you say so, boss.”

The white pigeon demon stretched his winglike arms, while admiring the ones they had cut off earlier from their living guinea pig, “Still, can’t help but wonder how much the devil differs from this holy fucker here.” He grabbed the angel by her shock of hair, lifting her head into an upwards position, “They don’t seem so holy anymore once you’ve got them all neatly tied and cut up, do they? Just meat and bones like everybody else.”

“Do not make the newbie mistake of underestimating the devil, my dear friend. How long have you been in hell? A couple of days? Lucifer may look like an eccentric, naïve fool but he has got a couple millennia under his belt. He could fuck you up just by thinking about you,” Val put out his cigarette, “You’re simply not worth his time, that’s all there is to it.”

“You think we’d be worth it if he knew what we are doing here?”, the third sinner demon in the room scoffed with a slight German accent, while nibbling on a carrot.

Just like his colleague he was equipped with a pair of pheasant wings, though his were on his back making way for a pair of normal arms as well, covered in soft brown fur. The head of a rabbit with antlers of a deer completed the picture.

To get rid a little of his cuddly look he had sharpened the tips of his antlers and dipped them in some sort of dark metallic alloy.

Valentino had been informed that apparently this was hells version of a fabulous beast called the Wolpertinger.

A famous hunter myth with absurd conditions to catch it in the Bavarian forests, like only being seen by attractive young women in company of strong men or strange traps involving candles only functioning in the night of a full moon.

Hunting also just so happened to be the guy’s favorite pastime before he was killed off by I.M.P. under order of Vox.

 

Generally speaking, hell had been pretty straightforward for their new staff as far as irony went.

One hated peace and was actively provoking violent conflicts, to then sell his weapons to both sides.

Now he looked like a white dove, only missing the olive branch in his mouth.

Opposed to that the other loved hunting defenseless prey, not always the animalistic kind, with his own inventions. Only to be now turned into a silly, fluffy mythic symbolism of prey himself.

Besides that, they both gave their best shots to be as distinguishable from each other as possible.

The pigeon sticking strictly to the crazy scientist cliché with a Howie style olive colored lab coat and thick-rimmed glasses, while the Wolpertinger looked totally out of place with his biker outfit including an open black leather jacket, fingerless gloves, jeans, and boots.

There were a couple of other “hirelings” from Vox, but these two were by far the most, well, let’s say “enthusiastic”.

That’s why they oversaw the angelic experiments under supervision of Valentino himself and up until now it had been a blast.

 

“I think we should call it here and focus on perfecting our weaponry,” the Wolpertingers dark red eyes focused in on their victim bound on the stretcher, while appreciatively sucking in the remaining green frond of the carrot, “We know everything there is to know about these folks. I honestly value my life enough to know the longer we have an angel in our custody the higher the probability that someone finds out and we might have a real problem on our hands real soon.”

“Seriously? How cowardly can you be? There is always something new to discover.” The pigeon adjusted his glasses, “If not today then maybe tomorrow! We can develop new weapons and try their effectiveness out as well! Besides those holy fucks deserve to suffer!”

His colleague simply rolled his eyes while he grabbed the next carrot from a basket filled with them, courtesy of Valentino for a job well done.

The pimp could understand both their arguments. Besides it was kind of fun to have an angelic outlet in your basement.

In the end he decided to push responsibilities away from himself, “Since he is the one financing our angelic research project, I will ask for Vox to make the final decision on the matter. Sounds fair?”

“While you’re at it could you please also inquire about how to get rid of our guest of honor as well? Do we want to do it on the hush-hush or,” the Wolpertinger grinned, “do we want to make one last scene? If we do it provocatively enough, we might even be able to lure our prey down from their divine pedestal upstairs…”

The pigeon seemed skeptical, “The hypocrisy! You don’t want to draw the attention of Lucifer towards us, but you have no scruples when it comes to heaven itself?”

“Lucifer is one of us, isn’t he? And heaven will come eventually either way. Just because the clock is frozen right now, doesn’t mean they will just shrug off Adam’s death. I’d prefer for them to make hasty decisions instead of thoughtfully preparing their next assault.”

“And if they do not take the bait?” their lab-coat-guy adjusted his glasses with a know-it-all attitude, “Humility, patience, temperance, charity, chastity, kindness and diligence are literally their seven virtues as opposed to our seven sins."

His comrade just shrugged it off, “Then it’d still be a nice little spectacle for our guys and further proof that heaven consists of a bunch of cowards!”

 

☻☺☻

 

He had left Asmodeus at his room with the other still needing to unpack together with his boyfriend.

Somehow Lucifer felt as if he had failed his friend by not telling him whatever Asmodeus had wanted to hear.

Despite the thought being completely absurd.

Everything had gone according to plan.

There was nothing wrong!

He had found the perfect excuse to stay at the hotel.

After seven years his collocutors did no longer mainly consist of rubber ducks and, even more importantly, his daughter was finally not avoiding him any longer!

Sure, there were some awkward first baby steps but nothing he couldn’t handle on his own.

He did not need any help.

Everything was under control.

Thank you very much.

Thus, he banished the strange conversation with Oz into the furthest depths of his mind while throwing himself on his bed.

 

Honestly, Lucifer had not planned for an afternoon nap but somehow, he felt kind of exhausted and as if he deserved this short break.

Just like those last seven years.

Maybe even before that.

In retrospect there had been signs that things were not going as smoothly as they could have been.

The most glaring one being the day she took Charlie away.

He had just graciously decided to ignore them.

Always trying to see the positive, the good in people, including himself.

They had loved each other for thousands of years.

They were hell’s perfect couple.

How could that ever change?

How could she ever leave him behind?

And as if that wasn’t enough today, he had witnessed firsthand what exactly it was that he had missed while hiding away from the truth.

 

Involuntarily he started to feel incredibly cold and lonely.

 

Longingly he reached towards the framed family photo on the nightstand, a relic from when things were still as they were supposed to be.

His adorable little girl and his enchanting wife smiling with no worry in the world.

How easy it would be to lose himself again in these memories.

They felt so much closer and clearer than this last hollow decade without them.

His fingers almost touched the glass, but something made him hesitate.

 

Instead, his other hand brushed over something fluffy to his left.

He recognized it as a neatly folded, lavender-scented, duck-pattern blanket.

Right… He had used the bed as a temporary repository for it because he had been in a hurry and hotel beds were usually the most dominant option to place something upon, if you did not want to put it on the ground.

 

The blanket was almost unnaturally clean, considering its bloodstained status not too long ago.

Still, there was no reason for it to actually draw his attention as much as it did.

“Thank you for saving my life he said. As if the life of some sinner scum could be of any worth!”

Obviously, the angel had given the blanket to Vox not out of altruism, but out of pure self-interest.

A giant hole in one’s abdomen was frankly quite disgusting to look at.

Anybody in Lucifers position would have done the same!

 

Despite it having no emotional value whatsoever the blanket helped him to slowly withdraw his hand from the picture frame and all the hurtful memories connected to it.

Lingering in the distant past for too long was a bad idea.

That was how he had lost Charlie.

He could not risk losing her again.

Even if that meant grasping for straws.

 

On a whim and with a lack of alternatives in this almost empty room Lucifer grabbed the fluffy blanket instead.

After a moment’s hesitation he snuggled up into it and rolled to the other side of the bed, no longer having the strength to face Lilith.

The fluffy fabric was not the comforting warmth of his wife, but it was…

something.

Notes:

Hello there,

As always thank you for all the lovely comments and the kudos. We crossed that 500-mark, awesome🤩 It might not always seem that way, cause I'm slow, but it is actually quite motivating and they really cheer me up 😄

I have to admit I was kind of sulking these last couple of months, because my personal life did not go the way I wanted it to go.
Then I decided to watch something fitting my mood (Attack on titan) and after rediscovering my writing motivation and taking a little excursion into another fandom I realized how much I missed writing for this fic and here we go again, so... yeah😁
Don't get me wrong, Attack on titan is awesome in its own way, but as someone who loves some random fluff and adorableness along the way it feels much more comfortable to write for Hazbin. Because apparently Hazbin hell is more wholesome than the world of AoT amongst the living... Ok, this little chapter might be slightly depressing but it'll get better again, promise 😅
Now the only series I’m currently watching are Superman & Lois and Arcane, so much happier times 😇 (both had quite wholesome new episodes which just made me go aww 🥰 up to a certain point that is…)

On a last sidenote:
This is probably the first time I introduced somewhat relevant OC's to this story who will probably stick around for a while until the whole Val issue is resolved. Mainly because I couldn't think of any canon characters who'd willingly hang out with Valentino and at least partly fit his "vibes". (Or in other words: I needed assholes I might be able to kill off down the line with a good conscience, who also happen to bring weapon-expertise to the Vees, so that they may "kind of" compete with Camilla Carmine and help with Angelic Security 2.0)
I also lost my notes on their names (could only remember the Wolpertinger and peace dove part) so if anyone is having suggestions feel free, because now nothing I can come up with wants to fit🥲.