Chapter 25: THE DARK LORDS WHO HAD WRONGED HIM…

The entire expedition was deathly quiet as they flew through the air. The atmosphere had gotten a lot more grim since they had narrowly escaped that encounter.

It had been a few hours now, and nothing had been reported. No more demonic outposts had been spotted, and VEGA inferred this to be that they were getting very close to the portal by now.

Morale was shockingly low. Despite their best efforts, they had still lost some troops back at the recent fight. Adding that to the already-shockingly high casualties they suffered thus far on this expedition, they simply couldn't afford any more large losses like that.

Or it'd be the end.

Adams looked over one of the transport carriers, gazing at the constantly-changing landscape below him. He, along with the other soldiers in the expedition, were downcast and in despair. None of the casualties thus far had come back, and so considering the potential places they could have gone, none of the ideas pitched were positive in any sense.

All they could do was reach that portal.

But above all, no one was more filled with wrath than the Doom Slayer. The spectacle he had witnessed at that most recent engagement was too reminiscent of a betrayal he was all too familiar with.

And so, the carriers continued on their path, leaving the passengers to keep their silent anger to themselves.

"Goddamnit, Loona, can't you just give me a piggyback ride?!" Blitzo shouted in frustration as he tried desperately to climb the daunting hill in front of them. Meanwhile, Loona was climbing up effortlessly, using the small ridges she could find to propel herself upwards.

"Hey, don't leave me behind, ya goddamn mountain goat!" Blitzo shouted up to her. She looked back down the cliff, snickering.

"Does your usefulness end at getting others to do your dirty work?" She inquired with a condescending tone.

"Hey, don't forget you're one of those fellas, sweety." Blitzo fired back quickly.

This back-and-forth continued as they both traversed up the mountainside. By the time he had reached the top, Blitzo felt as if his arms and legs had gone numb.

"Fuckin- since when did Hell become a platformer?!" He shouted in anger, resentful of the fact that Loona had been stretching right next to his incapacitated body for the last minute.

Just as he said this, he noticed Loona's face pale. She flung herself to the ground, trying to make herself as unnoticeable as possible.

"Uh, Loona, baby-girl, are you gonna tell me why you did all that just now?" Blitzo questioned, though he had lowered his voice to match the suddenly tense atmosphere. Loona, without saying a single word, pointed ahead of her.

Ahead of them was a sea of monsters, the demons that had invaded their Hell. While Blitzo had gotten a few glances at the demons when he had escaped from that earlier fight, seeing them now was entirely different. The longer he stared at them, the more chills that ran down his body, his mind beginning to cloud with panic.

"Wh-What the hell?" He muttered to himself. As long as he had been in this god-forsaken (literally) hell, he had not once felt fear in the slightest. Maybe it was because of the idea that he would simply respawn if killed, or that nothing worse could be dealt to him than where he was at now.

But the sight of these creatures...they triggered a primal fear in him. A fear that had been ingrained into him when he was human.

"Hey, Blitzo, what're you doin'?"

Blitzo felt a light push to his shoulder, already knowing it to be Loona. He looked over at her.

"W-What is it?"

"Woah, your face is pale as fuck...We shouldn't stay here long."

As she said this, he noticed that her face had also lost its color. It seemed this effect the demons were exuding wasn't exclusive to just him.

He agreed with her nonetheless. This was the last place he wanted to be in the midst of this gigantic fuckfest. And yet…

An odd feeling struck him as he looked over the hordes of demons before him. They were not acting as he expected them to. Howling, screaming, yawning, roaring...they were doing none of it. In fact, they were so silent it was almost more eerie than if they had stirred up a cacophony of noises. They seemed to be making their way somewhere.

"Goddamn, I wish I had some Takis right now…" Loona muttered, having kept herself low to the ground so as to avoid being seen.

"That makes two of us. Why don't we ditch this gay-fest and go find civilization?" Blitzo responded.

"Okay, but where the hell are we gonna go?" Loona replied sharply. "We have a cliff behind us and a giant demon army in front of us. Stuck between a cock and a hard place."

"I don't think that's how the saying goes-"

"Wait, who's that?" Loona cut him off, narrowing her eyes. In the distance, she noticed a gray-skinned demon, who was well-dressed and carrying a staff. In his other hand, he held a very familiar-looking book. Her eyes widened.

"Yo, isn't that the same book you used to get us into the living world?!" She whispered in incredulity. "What the fuck is it doing in that shithead's hands?"

She was suspicious as Blitzo offered no reply to her comment. She craned her head towards him, of which he looked the other way, pretending to whistle.

"You fuckin- what the hell did you do?!"

"Don't accuse me with bullshit, Loona!" He replied tartly. "Look, I...I may have given the book to Alastor."

"Who the fuck is Alastor?"

"He's some jackoff that promised he would...he would bring Moxxie and Millie back."

Loona wasn't sure how to respond to that. Of course, she knew what he was talking about. He was the one to tell her that they had died in the attack on the Capital. While she hadn't had a personal affinity with them, she could sympathize with wanting to bring back dead loved ones.

"Well...apparently now, these demons have their hands on the book. But...what are they going to use it for?"

Blitzo shrugged.

"I don't have a clue. But you know, if we ever go back to the mainland, we're definitely going to be executed for escaping. So maybe…"

Loona narrowed her eyes as she could see his devious mind turning the cogs.

"What kind of stupid shit are you going to say, now?" She questioned.

"Hey! That's extremely rude of you, Ms. Loona. I have been nothing but kind and supportive of your endeavors, and you reward me with spite and-"

"WHAT'S YOUR FUCKIN' PLAN?" She hissed. Blitzo's face retracted into his skull for a moment as he could not believe the disrespect he was seeing right now.

"Well...I was thinking...a good way of clearing our names somewhat...would be to...I dunno...follow this army of demons, maybe?"

As he saw Loona gawk at him, he hurried to the explanation.

"Now, hold on, sweetie. I'm just saying that if we do this, and we can maybe bring some information to the whole team that's traveling up here anyways...we could get off scot-free. I mean, come on, do you have any better ideas?"

Loona sighed. She didn't.

"Fuck it. Let's go follow the demon army, then."

"What's that down there?"

Adams looked down to where Moxxie was pointing. They had spent an hour or two doing absolutely jack-shit in these flying transports, so the crew was looking for anything to take their minds off what was to come.

"What the…"

The landscape Moxxie had pointed to was one of very large plant life. Mushrooms were as big as houses and made up most of the cover on the landscape, fauna was taller than the average person, tree sizes varied wildly, and rocks jutted out of the landscape like spikes. It was an odd sight to behold.

Even more odd was the village they had spotted. Wooden houses were built into the sides of mushrooms, some of the mushrooms were houses themselves. Some of them were layered on top of each other, with stairs and bridges connecting them when necessary. There was even an outlined common area.

From the sky, it was difficult to tell whether there was any life within the village, or if it was abandoned. Adams turned to the monitor on the back of the driver's seat, pressing the intercom.

"Hayden, Moxxie spotted a village below us."

"Is that so? Fortunate for us, as we must resupply."

As the message ended, the expedition began landing a few dozen meters away from the village, in case it were hostile. Soldiers, both demon and UAC alike, climbed out of their vehicles with little gusto, grabbed their rifles, and began forming up in their groups.

As Charlie climbed out of her transporter, she noticed several of the soldiers, both demon and UAC, had changed their behavior towards one another considerably. When the expedition had started, the humans had been eyeing the demon soldiers with much apprehension, often keeping to themselves.

And yet, as time went on, and the soldiers fought by one another, they began to grow into one group, sharing tales, socializing and laughing at the darkest of humor. Seeing this transformation in two completely separate groups, the unity of humans and demons alike, it was…

"Fucking gay."

Charlie turned her head towards Angel Dust, who had made the spicy comment.

"What are you referring to?" Charlie asked. He pointed to the groups of UAC and demon soldiers socializing.

"This is Hell, and they're getting along. Could this place be anymore redundant in its goal? I mean, if it's about eternal damnation, they don't seem to be very damned, if you ask me."

"Are you really complaining about people getting along, jackass?"

Charlie turned to see Vaggie, who had begun chastising Angel Dust. His eyebrows furrowed.

"Oh, great. Vagina is back to talk shit."

Vaggie's face grew beet-red as she heard his retort.

"It's VAGGIE, YOU CROSS-DRESSING FUCKIN' INSECT!"

"The FUCK you just call me, you little bitch-"

Charlie tuned out their arguing as she walked towards the village. And yet, she couldn't help but smile. Vaggie had drastically improved from her previous time as a PTSD survivor. Charlie hoped that she would eventually fully recover so they could talk like they used to.

"What are you contemplating, Miss Charlotte?"

Charlie could hear Hayden's grating voice from behind her. She subconsciously grimaced. Since the start of the expedition, she blamed every single casualty and death on Hayden. Despite him coming in to help them with this problem, as the journey progressed, her anger towards him grew by the hour. He showed no remorse when giving orders that could result in deaths, no regret or sorrow when he was informed of how many people died in each battle.

She turned around to confront him, only to be met with his crotch region. She craned her head up.

"What's with the look of resentment on your face?" He inquired. "We are nearing the end of our journey. Soon you may remove that unpleasant expression and adopt a more positive demeanor."

Charlie turned away from him, heading towards the village. Hayden's eye-beams followed her as she made her way towards the village.

THUNK!

Hayden turned around to the source of the heavy thud, only to see the Doom Slayer, who had hopped off the transporter and onto the ground. His boots sent cracks webbing across the stone he had landed on as he began loading his Super Shotgun.

Clink, clink.

Even as a bionic humanoid far taller than the Slayer, he still held a deep aversion to the being before him. In all of his ego and avarice, Hayden was fully aware that he was still ignorant to the Slayer's full capabilities. Having uncovered this being himself from the original dig site, since the first time he had laid eyes on the Doom Slayer…

Despite all of his ambition, Hayden had never felt more powerless than when he was around the Doom Slayer.

"Slayer…" Hayden muttered, trying to recover his demeanor as he realized his conscience had wandered off into deep thought.

The Slayer ignored him, continuing to reload the weaponry in his hands as he walked forward towards the village. Hayden sighed, releasing a metallic sound out of his vocal receptors.

"Bastard."

As Charlie was making her way towards the entrance of the village, she felt a hand touch her arm. She turned around to see Benny, a concerned expression on his face.

"Miss Ch- Charlie... we don't know what these demons are like. Maybe you should allow me and the Anti-Demon Squad to-"

"Wh- hold on, 'Anti-Demon Squad'? What team are you referring to?"

"Why, us, of course!"

Charlie turned around (she felt as if she were doing that a little too often recently) to see Angel Dust, followed by Husk, Niffty, Adams, Annie and Vaggie, all of them wearing those reptilian-scaled suits and carrying their equipment. She was a bit irked at how confidently they strode as a group. One battle and suddenly they thought themselves to be elites.

"And, why exactly did you name yourselves the Anti-Demon Squad?" Charlie asked with a slightly-condescending tone. "You are demons yourselves."

"Well," Husk was about to pipe up. "Actually-"

"We got word from that VEGA dude on something real nice." Angel Dust interjected with a wide grin on his face. "He said that if we close this portal and go through that whole redemption thing, we can actually get reincarnated back to Earth! How cool is that?!"

Charlie was shocked upon hearing this sudden news.

"W-Wait, what?! We can...reincarn-"

"Reincarnate, yeah, sugar tits! So fuck being a demon, I got bored of Hell anyways. Soon enough, I'm gonna be a fuckin' human again!"

With that said, Angel Dust strode towards the village, machine gun in hand, with the rest of the crew following closely behind. Charlie was left with a mixed bag of emotions. Looking for some sort of advice or assurance of some sort, she grabbed Vaggie's shoulder as she was walking forward.

"Wait, Vaggie!"

Vaggie turned around, looking at her. Charlie pulled back at the look. In her eyes, there was no comfort, no apprehension or fear. She was determined.

"What is it, Charlie?"

"W-Well, um...I just...can I please get some assurance…?"

"Assurance? Of what? We're going to be reincarnated if we just close this portal and go through redemption. What else is there to be assured about?"

Vaggie holstered her sword-spear and placed her hand on Charlie's shoulder.

"Don't you get it, Charlie? We can finally be free of this place. This wasteland. I don't know about you, but I want so badly to see Earth again. The trees, the fields of grass, the mountains...anything except this fucking black asphalt and these red skies."

Charlie tried desperately to search for something to say to that, but could only fall silent. Vaggie's eyes filled with sorrow mixed with determination.

"Charlie...if we can reincarnate to Earth...we can finally, actually have a relationship. Think about it! You and me, sitting on a park bench, looking over grassy fields, trees and pretty cottages. I want that so badly."

Vaggie's hand dropped from Charlie's shoulder and she turned around, jogging back to keep pace with the rest of the squad.

Charlie wanted to scream, cry, yell and cry some more. She had no idea how to feel about this development. To suddenly go from living her entire life to...becoming human? How would that even happen for her? She was born a demon, she had lived her entire life as a demon. What would happen to her if she went through this redemption?

She had considered this question when she first got the idea for her hotel, but she didn't think she'd have to confront it so suddenly. She thought she would at least get a series-long development for her hotel before she had to consider her own fate.

Downtrodden, confused and exhausted, she began shuffling towards the village, feeling more powerless than ever.

As Angel Dust strutted into the village, he saw one of its first occupants, an older demon with graying for fuck's sake I have no idea how to describe Hazbin demons they look so fucking ridiculous I don't even know where to start-

The first person Angel came across was an older-looking demon with graying fur, relaxed eyes and a kind smile. He wore simple garments, consisting of a beige tunic and-

"Hey, boomer, what's the sitrep on this village?"

Angel Dust's sudden question, along with his intimidating approach, took the elderly villager completely by surprise as he stumbled backwards, stuttering in fear and scrambling backwards as Angel Dust continued to advance.

"Wh-Wh-Wha-"

Angel Dust sighed in frustration and reached down, grabbing the villager by his tunic and pulling him up to his face.

"Listen, buddy-" Angel Dust snarled. "I got a one-way ticket to reincarnation, and I don't plan on wasting my time in this hellish shithole any longer. Where the fuck is the portal?"

The villager continued stuttering over his words, his eyes wide in shock. He raised his claws meekly, as if to try and placate Angel Dust.

"Hey, don't treat him like that, you fuckin' asshole." Husk piped up, slapping Angel Dust with the side of his weapon.

"Tch." Angel sneered, dropping the shaking villager.

"Oomph!"

Husk walked up to the villager, shouldering his weapon and offering a hand.

"Sorry about my squadmate. We're not here to hurt any of you. We just need to ask you a few questions, maybe about how this side of Hell works, if you've seen any big, scary demons before- You know, standard stuff."

The villager's face contorted in confusion.

"Wh-What? Who are you people? What do you mean, 'Hell'?!"

Husk craned his head slightly, his eyebrows furrowing.

"Um...you know, Hell? Where we are right now? You're not on the mainland part of Hell, so I was wondering if you could tell us about this side of Hell."

The villager still seemed massively confused.

"I don't mean to offend you, sir, but...I have no idea what you're talking about. We're not in Hell."