Belladonna had never felt so nervous in a long time. It was unusual for Red to request advisers to speak with him one on one. He always had his meetings with all the other advisers present. Belladonna had always been Red's best assistant, and had been granted more privileges than any other denizen of Hell. She couldn't be punished, so long as she did Red's bidding. Red gave her a pathway to power people could only dream of. She'd be lying if she claimed to not have been even a little generous despite her insatiable greed.
Belladonna walked through the red, glowing pathway to Red's meeting room, fire blazing from cracks in the floor adjacent to the walls. She could see the broken faces of the tormented souls hanging by chains on the walls as they were burned by the flames. Some of them wouldn't even move, clearly in shock and almost in complete dissociation from the unimaginable torture. Only the worst of Hell's denizens were punished this way.
She opened the twin metal doors, pushing them open with her muzzle as she always did, and saw Red sitting in the one large throne at the end of the meeting table. He did not look happy. Nobody ever wanted to see Red unhappy, for their own sake.
"What's up?" Belladonna cocked her head back, flicking her tuft of hair.
Red leered at her for a moment. "Sit down. We need to talk."
Belladonna always sat right next to Red whilst engaging in meetings, but for some reason she felt compelled to sit on the opposite side of the table. This was unusual for her, but she couldn't help but feel far too intimidated. She took a seat, adjusting her collar nervously.
Reds glare vanished, and was replaced by a look of disappointment.
"I really don't know what I am to expect from you Belladonna," Red sighed.
"W-what do you mean," Belladonna tilted her head. "I've been your primary adviser for years. Sure I've had some slip ups, but.."
"You've had nothing but slip ups since Carface got sent here. What has gotten into you?" Red shook his head, clearly puzzled. "Do you not care anymore about our great conquest?"
"Of course I care," Belladonna protested, almost offended by Red's question. "This is the most important thing I've ever done. It's my purpose!"
"You say that.. but your consistent failures as of the last six months suggest otherwise," Red frowned. "Why should I believe that your performance won't get any worse from now on?"
"I-It's that damn Charlie and his stupid sidekick Itchy! If it weren't for them, I'd.."
"I'm tired of your excuses Belladonna!" Red began to rage, clearly dissatisfied with Belladonna's poor attempt at saving face. "I cannot put up with your failures any longer. I have made my decision."
Belladonna swallowed nervously. A part of her just wanted to cease existing all together so she wouldn't have to endure this tension any longer.
"You are relieved of your duties." Red stated, almost matter-of-factly.
Belladonna froze. The whole world around her began to collapse as she realized that the one source of power she had, the one thing she craved and lived for, was taken away from her in one fell swoop. But what worried her even more, was that she knew Red would never stop there. Red never let people get away with disappointing him. She couldn't imagine what kind of horrifying, unspeakable punishment she would be given for failing Red so badly. A massive wave of anxiety hit her like a ton of bricks. For the first time in her life, she was truly afraid. Truly at the mercy of Red.
But Red has no mercy, as everybody knew. There was no mercy in Hell, especially with Red in charge. Red only knew of wrath. Red pointed his claw towards a strange outline backwards towards the left of the metal door behind Belladonna. The violet canine, clearly shook from the situation, and unable to mutter any protest due to the shock, slowly turned her head around to the outline in the wall. She had never been made aware of this throughout all the years she had assisted Red. This was an anomaly to her.
The outline brightened, and the wall enclosed by the outline shifted down into the ground. A strange room had opened up. It was completely dark, with cobblestone walls, and what appeared to be a grey, rusty looking floor. A strange blast of heat came from inside the room. It felt like she had just stuck her face in an oven.
"W-what is.. t-that? I-I never.." Belladonna stammered.
"The worst punishment Hell has to offer," Red muttered. "You shall stay in that room, for as long as I decide. Then you will be dumped back to the shores of Hell with all the other denizens."
Belladonna made a look of confusion. She turned back to Red with a smug look on her face.
"Wait.. that's it? A timeout? In an empty room?" Belladonna resisted the urge to chuckle. "Is this a joke? Are you messing with me Red?"
Red stared back at her, smiling devilishly.
"Ah I get it, it was all a prank. I got ya, haha very funny." She laughed nervously, "Come on. Speak to me Red! You're making me nervous!"
Red still said nothing, giving the same unnerving grin.
Belladonna sighed. "Ugh, fine. Look, I'll get back to work as soon as I'm done with your 'punishment' thingy, okay?"
"Very well, now please, go inside, go inside!" Red ushered, almost reassuringly.
Belladonna honestly wasn't sure what to expect, but she had no choice. She walked up slowly to the mysterious room and stood right at the entrance. There was nothing. No torture devices, no chains, no spikes, not even a pitchfork in sight. The one thing that was off, was the strange source of heat. She couldn't figure out where it was coming from. It didn't make any sense. Something was wrong about this room, something very wrong.
She bared her teeth and took a leap of faith, jumping into the room, expecting to land on all fours. Only she did not land, she sunk. The floor was not solid, it was some sort of strange liquid. At first she didn't feel anything. But then, as soon as her senses began to kick in, it all made sense.
The floor was lava.
Belladonna let out a shrill of pain as nearly her whole body was submerged into the magma. Red laughed maniacally as the door to the room shut close. The canine could feel nothing but the intense heat searing at her flesh. She thrashed about, rolling in agony from the immense torture. She couldn't even think. All she knew of at this very moment was pain. Absolute pain. It was all around her body. The lava sunk into her mouth, her teeth and her throat, as she gagged and choked. Luckily, the lava wasn't too deep that she could be submerged entirely, but that didn't matter to her. Nothing mattered anymore. This was it. This was the ultimate pain. The ultimate punishment. There was no escape.
Even in Hell most souls are lucky enough to never experience nearly as much torture as this. This is a Hell for dogs after all. Most denizens get the occasional pitchfork to the ribs, or if very unlucky, might get captured by demons and trapped in a cage in an empty cavern, only to be tormented and mocked by both the demons and other bystanders. That is, however, up until they manage to eventually break free, since torture equipment there is generally shoddy due to a lack of essential materials and manufacturing technology. Some dogs are even selected by the angels to be given another chance at redemption, although this is rare, and very circumstantial. For somebody like Belladonna though, there was no chance at all.
Belladonna writhed in pain for what seemed like centuries, even though no more than an hour had passed. By then, word of Belladonna's firing and punishment had already made the local news in Heaven. Many dogs cheered with joy. Some were a bit disturbed by the grotesque punishment, but still glad that Belladonna had finally been given her just deserts.
Annabelle lied on a fluffy green pillow as she read the news out loud next to Charlie, Itchy and Sasha, who rested in the clouds in front of her.
"I honestly can't believe this is happening. I'm actually shaking," Annabelle exclaimed. "That 'thing' is finally getting what it deserves. I'm so happy!"
"It's about time, amirite?" Charlie smirked.
"What goes around comes around," Sasha giggled. "Seeing as she, I mean, 'it' spent decades causing nothing but pain and suffering to others, it's only fair if it all comes right back at it."
"I just wish I could have been the one to make her pay." Annabelle sulked. "She hurt me more than anybody else. I told her something like this would happen eventually, but she would never listen to me."
The three other dogs looked at Annabelle with solemn pity. They knew of Annabelle's family relationship with Belladonna, and how she struggled for decades knowing her cousin could never find it in her heart to love and appreciate her. It's almost as if she never had a heart to begin with. Annabelle was long convinced of this, and had grown to accept it over the years. Her cousin was dead to her. Her being Red's right hand adviser didn't help anything.
"I say we should celebrate!" Itchy exclaimed, jumping up and down on the cloud.
"Great idea! We can all make plans for a large celebration for all residents of Heaven," Annabelle suggested.
"We could even make a holiday out of it!" Charlie laughed.
"Nah, I don't think I'd want to be reminded of that bitch every year for all eternity," Annabelle retorted. "Now that would be Hell."
"Ah, good point," Charlie nodded in agreement.
The other dogs were a bit unnerved by hearing Annabelle swear, for what could be the very first time. Also considering it wasn't customary to swear in Heaven.
"And she wouldn't have gotten fired if it weren't for us!" Itchy smiled.
"Yup, because we are awesome!" Charlie exclaimed.
Sasha nuzzled Charlie, clearly happy with their success in finally bringing down that monster. Charlie returned the nuzzle. They both lied together happily, knowing the world will be a better place for a while, up until Red finds a new adviser to fill the gap.
Just then, the archangel Sakura appeared before them in a flash of light. She was a large husky, who always bore a stoic look on her face. She was in charge of managing the allocation of souls to, from and between Heaven, Hell and Earth for all Canidae. She sat towering above the four dogs. Their looks of excitement faded as she looked down upon them with her typical look of indifference and harsh judgment.
"While you have your right to celebrate, I must remind you that we are still at war with Red and his henchmen. Let us not forget that we have a duty to protect the innocent and purge evil wherever and whenever possible. Belladonna is but one adviser. Red has many advisers, all around the world. We mustn't forget what is important."
The other dogs looked at each other with looks of worry and concern.
"Do not worry. We will always be ready to fight evil when it rears its ugly head," Itchy barked, standing in a fighting pose.
"Good. Now I bid you farewell." Sakura disappeared in a flash of light.
"Is she always such a buzzkill?" Charlie smirked, his head resting in his paw.
"She is only looking out for us. If it weren't for her, the world would be far worse off." Annabelle insisted. "We need someone like her to take charge and keep us in line."
"Meh, she still could at least loosen up a bit every now and then."
Annabelle, not wanting to continue down that road, proceeded to change the subject. "Well, do you all wanna start preparing for our celebration?"
"Sure thing!" Sasha smiled.
The rest of the dogs got together to plan their party. To finally celebrate after all these months of hard work was truly a blessing. A new era of peace had surely begun, both in Heaven and on Earth.
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