Chapter VI: Alastor VS Vox
Alastor shouldn't have been surprised when Angel revealed that his stash was full of guns, ammunition, and even knives.
"Old habits die hard, and this is Hell after all," Angel explained. He took a look at some tommy guns and started loading up, he even had a dark pinstripe suit – with pink cuffs and lapels – complete with a tie, vest, and a fedora on standby.
"Why bring me here?" Alastor asked.
Angel Dust handed him a black trench coat, quite fashionable and very 1930's.
"It's got extra pockets sewn in in to keep flasks, cigarettes, bullets, and whatever emergency supplies a mobster needs at hand, and I think that it may be of use to you. Also, feel free to take some of those knives."
Alastor turned away while Angel Dust switched outfits, and tried on the coat. The coat proved to be a little big, but felt like armor when he put it on. Looking at Angel Dust's assortment of knives, he picked out a large bowie knife and a set of throwing knives.
"Some of my magics require intense focus – meaning that I can't pay attention to my surroundings very well – and some spells require blood," Alastor spoke.
"I'll have your back then. Like I said before, I wouldn't aim for Vox himself unless I see you in too tough of a spot. Even then, I know that he's your mark to take out… Do you have everything you need to face him?"
"I'll need to go back to the hotel for a few more items."
A knock came from outside. Angel Dust found Cherri on the other side.
"Wow, I don't think I've seen you in a full mobster getup before," she told him.
"This is going to be a big hit, and being dressed to kill will get me in the right mood… Now, wha'cha got?" he replied.
"Okay, I've just asked Charlie to help me 'shed my sinning skin' by helping me change my look. You were right, she ate that up. So excited that I actually feel bad that I'm actually trying to throw her into a battle. I've also come to bring these," Cherri reported, and she pulled out three walkie-talkies.
"What are those things?" Alastor asked.
"Oh, they're like radio transmitters. You should use them to give us orders or to send a distress signal," Cherri explained, Alastor took a slightly closer look at them and they suddenly clicked on to play some old school blues.
"Yes, these will do," Alastor told them and he tucked one in his borrowed coat. Angel Dust and Cherri did the same.
"All we need from you now, Alastor is a time and place."
"Angel, I'll need you at the Cannibal Colony by 10:30. I'll tell Vox I'll be waiting for him there at 11:00, that way that Molly girl you talked to earlier can reach the hotel in time."
"Whoa, Molly ain't just some girl, she's my twin sister. When your family business can have you end up gettin' stabbed or shot, it helps to have someone at home base who knows how to put ya back together. Alright, the Cannibal Colony, I'll be there… We should get back to the hotel."
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"Ooh, so this is the Hazbin Hotel!"
Vaggie saw a bubbly dame with lots of hair, wearing a fancy coat, and holding a large bag.
"It is," Vaggie sighed. She then perked up and asked the new visitor: "Are you here to check in to follow a path towards redemption?"
"Actually, my brother told me that this is where he's staying now, and it has been a while since we last saw each other. So, we got to callin' each other last night and said that I should come over."
"Let me guess, your brother's Angel Dust?" Vaggie asked. Her new visitor was a spider demon.
"That's him! I'm Molly by the way."
"Well I hate to break it to you, but I haven't seen much of him today; so, he must be out."
"Okay… Well, since he's expecting me, might I wait for him in his room and freshen up?"
Vaggie shrugged: "I suppose, I'll show you the way."
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Why the fuck did he have to pick the Cannibal Colony? Yeah, sure he's a cannibal himself, but he didn't have to call me here! Angel thought. At least the guns he was holding were enough to scare off unwanted scavengers. He was perched on the roof with a cigarette hanging from his lips, he occasionally turned towards Alastor's position. He was pacing some distance away, twirling his microphone, but on occasion he would trade it for the borrowed bowie knife, the blade would glint in the light. On occasion some music would cut in through Angel Dust's walkie talkie – he just assumed that was Alastor making sure that he could reach him.
Eventually the sky turned dark, but it seemed to be an impressive illusion.
Angel Dust looked over to see power lines crackling with electricity, and then a bolt struck the ground near Alastor to reveal Vox! They got into a heated argument first, and then crackles of electricity surrounded Vox while shadows swirled around Alastor.
Angel Dust cocked his six guns and noticed that Vox was already calling in for his backup! TV's, phones, lights and demons with electric affiliations or implants were moving into the area. The TV's and phones walked in on legs made from raw electricity, looking like bright blue lightning, and they seemed to be taking on demonic forms of their own. The demons under Vox's control, looked almost zombified but ready to fight.
"Aw shit, I was hoping that this wouldn't have to turn out into another massacre!" Angel Dust exclaimed. He checked his pockets to make certain that he had extra magazines, though he had even more stashed in spots where he figured he'd end up moving to. He moved amongst the rooftops, his weapons rapid firing to the rate that dubbed the tommy gun as the Chicago Typewriter.
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"EEE! You look amazing!" Charlie cried out when Cherri stepped out of the fitting room. She traded her torn up getup for one that looked more biker chick with combat boots, straight-leg jeans, and a belted leather jacket.
"Hmm, a bit different, but not as different as I was expecting."
"Maybe you could go GOTH!" Charlie suggested with excitement. However, before Cherri could respond, other patrons in the store started screaming as their phones came to life and started attacking. Cherri ran for the door and cried out: "Charlie! Your kingdom's falling into chaos!"
Charlie ran over and saw that demons were fighting each other and the attacking electronics. First came shock, followed by a sense of despair, and ending with her eyes turning red and her horns growing as she grew angry.
"Who is causing this?" she snarled.
"I can't say, but it looks like the fiends are heading to the Cannibal Colony," Cherri told her. Charlie went outside and started running that way. Cherri ran right behind her with a smile on her face, everything was going according to plan, she even threw a few explosives along the way, blowing demonic electronics to bits!
When they were blocked by a swarm of demonic electronics and electronic demons, Charlie jumped, landing right in the thick of the thrall, and using her pyrokinesis she created a great column of flame that melted everything within its radius!
Cherri was awestruck. She never thought that the bubbly Princess of Hell could actually have the same power as high explosives! Those fires were so beautiful, and the carnage was amazing. She climbed up a building and continued following after Charlie on the rooftops, occasionally dropping more bombs.
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Alastor could hear Angel Dust's gunfire nearby and explosions in the distance. It seemed to make his rival mighty perturbed to find that he wasn't exactly alone in this.
With the bowie knife in hand, he slit his own palm and cast his blood into the air, with a voodoo spell he turned the droplets into thorny projectiles, but Vox was more agile than he looked. His suit took a few rips, but there was no real damage.
Alastor then merged into his shadow and slithered about the ground in zig-zagging motions, trying to figure out the best way to beat him, then came a burning sensation over his body, light! The electronics and Vox's face were blasting light over him! How it burned! He leapt out of his shadow and turned their surroundings to static, which seemed to inhibit Vox's means of controlling his minions. Alastor heard Angel Dust's gun fire slow down a bit, although he could be reloading one of the weapons.
"That trick won't last you, Alastor," Vox spoke in that electronic and distorted voice of his. He then flashed an image on his face of a woman standing bare, facing the supposed camera! Of course such an image had Alastor flustered for a second: "Absolute filth!"
More blood dripped from his hand, and he summoned his shadow tentacles, but manipulating them meant intense focus. At least Angel Dust was there to have his back.
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Angel Dust heard music coming from his walkie-talkie, the signal that he needed attention, looking over, he saw that he was employing the shadow tentacles to toss Vox around, but it turned out that he was able to turn into raw electricity, meaning that when he hit the ground in that state, he remained intact, and he could use that form to escape the tentacle's grasp!
"So, he is only vulnerable in his normal state," Angel spoke aloud, figuring that Alastor could hear him.
Well, after Vox slipped through the tentacle's grip several times, Alastor considered the spell ineffective, and returned to turning the world to distortion and static. It was effective in immobilizing Vox's minions, and then came the sound of ear-splitting feedback that had Vox writhing and made a small crack split on his face and shattered the glass of a lot of windows!
In desperation, Vox lunged for Alastor, seizing him by the upper arms, and sent an electrical discharge through his body. The sheer agony! Alastor let out a loud and haunting scream that coupled with feedback and other radio-associated cacophony! It proved to be a devastating blow for him and Vox, as Alastor was wounded, with new rips in his clothes that were smoking, but the noise added new cracks to Vox's face. For the moment, the both of them had to pause to catch their breath.
As Angel Dust watched, he heard the sound of a familiar explosion. Cherri was drawing nearer and that meant that Charlie was getting close. Angel Dust chanced a look over to where the explosion came from and spotted Cherri hopping rooftops.
"The calvary is coming, Alastor, you may want to get up," Angel Dust spoke.
However, with the distraction, an electric demon looking like a TV creeped onto his roof and gave a nasty bite on one of Angel Dust's lower arms. He yelped sharply and quickly fired two bullets into it, before turning to start firing again.
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Cherri and Charlie covered their ears and dropped to their knees when a horrifying scream pierced across the sky. They could also hear the radio noises that accompanied it.
When the scream died down, Cherri jumped down to Charlie, she was still in her demon form, but her face was that of concern: "Was it just me, or did that sound like Alastor's voice?"
"I think that it was… I think that these electric demons might be Vox's too," Cherri replied.
Charlie gasped: "You don't think that those two are fighting, do you?"
"That might be the best guess you can have, Princess."
The electric demons gathered in close, one of them jumped and bit into Cherri's arm with a shocking 'chomp'! Now it was her turn to scream until Charlie melted it with her fire. Once recovered, Cherri pulled out a grenade and threw it into the throngs of more electric demons, blowing them up and causing some structural damage to a few buildings.
"Where did you get that!?" Charlie exclaimed.
"They just happen to manifest when I need them! Come on, we need to find those overlords!" Cherri replied. She hopped back onto the rooftops and kept running.
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Hearing that Charlie and Cherri were on their way, Alastor drew his blood again to summon the tentacles to eliminate all of Vox's minions in his line of sight, he knew that Angel Dust could use this as a means to keep his eyes on him. Though his skin felt like he was on fire and it was hard to move, he was still going.
He spilled more of his own blood, and this time he coupled the spell with his other magics by manifesting plants. He played classical music to make them easier to grow, and gave them sharp thorns as they lashed at Vox, while Vox resorted to a simpler trick, throwing lightning strikes, which Alastor could only just avoid given the burning pain he was in. His next trick involved him entwining Vox with the thorns, finally drawing some blood, but one powerful electrical pulse later, and he was free again! Wood splintered everywhere, but Alastor merged back in with his shadow and sparked some fire onto Vox's suit. Finally, some bodily damage!
However, the physical damage he'd taken was building up on him. He needed to end this quickly and prepared for another spell, but Vox lashed out with electrified claws that tore through his clothes and into his skin, earning another scream from Alastor, coupled with radio feedback.
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"Enough of this!" Angel exclaimed. He took aim at Vox and fired just one shot as the TV demon was approaching Alastor. The bullet went into Vox's shoulder and his blood sprayed onto Alastor.
Angel watched as the Radio Demon's face lit up with the cruelest smile as he felt that refreshing crimson rain fall onto him. He took out something that survived the fight from his borrowed trench coat, and wiped Vox's blood off with it.
Angel Dust noticed that Charlie and Cherri were now getting pretty close to the main attraction, they would probably be able to see the grand finale coming up quick.
"Hit him with whatever you got, Alastor!" Angel Dust called out.
He watched as red symbols surrounded the object that Alastor covered with Vox's blood – it looked like a cheap ragdoll – but the effect was devastating. With that little spell, he cut off Vox's access to his own powers!
The TV Demon tried to make a run for it, but Alastor's eyes were glowing red, turned to radio dials, and then turned hollow. He was turning back into the same monster that offed Valentino, growing into that long and spindly form, his antlers grew, and his fingers were practically knives.
Angel Dust looked back over to find that the girls had stopped dead in their tracks, seeing Alastor change into that frightful monster, hearing Vox start to plead and beg, but this was the end of a rivalry. The Radio Demon lashed out on Vox, shredding his body to pieces, and finally picking up his ragged body and smashing his head into the ground where it shattered into pieces and splattered blood!
Both Charlie and Cherri looked like they were going to be sick, but Angel Dust jumped down and approached Alastor as he was resuming his usual form. He was a mess: He smelled of burnt flesh and blood, his clothes were nearly shredded, and he was about to collapse from both pain and exhaustion.
"I don't know about you, but I've had enough entertainment for one day," Angel Dust told him. He could only huff at this point. So, Angel Dust bundled up his guns, slung one of Alastor's arms over his shoulder and then asked: "So, are ya going to eat a piece of him too?"
This time, Alastor managed a response: "I've stooped to eating scum before, but I refuse to eat shit!"
"HAHAHA! Yeah, I'm with ya there. C'mon I'll drag ya back to the hotel."
There wasn't a response, exhaustion overtook Alastor. So, Angel Dust hoisted him onto his back and carried him, passing Charlie along the way. She looked like she had something to say but was too upset to find the words.
What had they done? They've been doing so well.
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