It was breakfast at the Hazbin Hotel. Cooked by Niffty, she had prepared a simple assortment of eggs, bacon, orange slices, and a variety of jams and margarine to go with a tall platter of toast. The meal had begun silently enough, with occasional compliments of the food and a short spiel by Charlie about getting board games and other items for sinners to partake in.

"Maybe we can do cards, too." Husk suggested as he noisily ate his own food.

"We are not going to permit gambling." Vaggie said vehemently.

"Jeez, take the fun out of everything why don'tcha?" Husk grumbled. It was the first time that the two had come to argue over any particular point at the hotel. Angel usually had a monopoly on that phenomenon.

Angel, for his part, he kept relatively quiet during the meal, though this was likely because Niffty had not cooked any sausages for him to make innuendoes out of.

"Let's keep gambling out of the hotel, have sinners enjoy it out on the park." Charlie spoke, trying to compromise and ease the tension between Vaggie and Husk. "Or maybe we can have it so that there is a limit to the money that can be put on the line."

Husk gave a noncommittal shrug, not agreeing nor condemning the suggestion.

Vaggie sat herself down, trying to calm herself. "I guess we can talk about that later."

"Ooh! I'm going out to get more cleaning supplies!" Niffty announced with cherry gusto.

"That sounds like a plan." Charlie commented mildly.

"If anyone would like to join me, I'd love the help!"

"Perhaps strapping young Jersey can aid you, darlin'!" Alastor suggested with an extended arm.

Jersey, who had been too engrossed in eating his meal to pay attention, suddenly looked like a deer caught in the headlights.

"What?"

"You wanna help me get cleaning supplies Jersey!?" Niffty asked.

It was plain that she was very happy with the prospect of being with Jersey for an extended period of time. Though he had resisted her flirtations, compliments, and high spirited effort to keep his room extra clean, she was not one to give up easily. His handsome looks and industrious nature was simply too appealing to let go.

"Uh..." Jersey unfortunately could not come up with a sufficient excuse to avoid joining Niffty. His efforts to improve vital parts of the hotel's infrastructure and utilities had been so thorough in such a short amount of time that there remained very little work to do. He also doubted that anyone else had the time or interest in a job as mundane as going on an errand with Niffty.

"Please?" Niffty pleaded.

Jersey did not think it possible, but Niffty had managed to master the technique of the puppy dog eye. It only added pressure on his hesitation via Charlie, who was convinced with Niffty's optic gesture to encourage Jersey to say 'yes.'

"Aww, come on Jersey." Charlie said. "You might like the change of pace. There's not much for you to do, right?"

"Yeah..." Jersey conceded with a weary nod.

"So, why not help Niffty?"

After letting out a suffering sigh, Jersey gave the response Niffty had been spending weeks waiting for.

"Okay."

"Yay!"

Jersey was worried he was going to wind up regretting his decision.

"Oh this is going to be so exciting! Just the two of us out and about, it's what I've always dreamed of!"

"You don't say..."

The journey to the nearest dollar store for things like laundry detergent, disinfectant spray, sticky traps for bugs and other odds and ends took place on foot. From the start, it was very much a one-sided conversation. Niffty, seemingly unaware of Jersey's negligible amount of speaking and his fatigued attitude towards her exuberant levels of infatuation, talked as if there was no theoretical limit of the number of subjects to be covered. Most of these anecdotes related to gallant retellings of her battles with filthy rooms and various pests.

Jersey, on the other hand, did not speak unless spoken to.

"We're here~!" Niffty sang as they approached a nondescript store of medium size. It was a brick building with a brand name of Hoarder General. It was larger than the indoor area of a typical gas station, but it was much smaller than a proper grocery store.

"This place has everything that we need?"

"Absolutely! There's a lot of Hoarder Generals throughout Pentagram City. You'd be surprised at their selection. You got the list?" Niffty asked.

"Yup." Jersey produced a small slip of paper that had a dozen items written down. There was even a number next to each product to indicate the quantity that the hotel needed.

"Then let's get to it!"

The pair traveled in a ring around the inside of the store, starting with the bread section and moving through to snacks, dairy, and practical items for the laundry room. Niffty would quickly run to a nearby section, check for any potential deals and discounts, then deposit the goods into the push cart that Jersey was steering . The cart, which had a loose wheel and struggled to turn properly, was soon heavy with over three dozen items for the hotel. It would have been difficult for anyone else to properly drive, but Jersey's strength was great dispute his somewhat slim frame, further augmented by demonic energy which he subtly funneled into every fiber of muscle in his arms.

Although Niffty occupied much of the time with her own little anecdotes, Jersey was impressed by her attention to detail and her discipline. Not once did she result to impulse buying, a fact that Jersey openly praised.

"You kept to the list and didn't deviate from it. Impressive. Most people see something unique, but edible and they throw it on the cart." He said offhandedly. Indeed, the small paper list that he put in his pocket had every item scratched off.

Niffty took the compliment in stride, much to Jersey's surprise. "Most people don't know this, but it's best if you buy groceries after eating. When you're not hungry, it's easier to choose things without being led by your stomach. That means less impulse buying."

Jersey nodded, impressed. "I dare say, we make a pretty good team."

"Great~!" Niffty exclaimed. "We should do this more oof!" She bumped into the back of a seedy character, dressed in dirty jeans and a red t-shirt.

The sinner, who appeared to be wolf-like, growled as he turned on his dog-like heels. "Watch where you're going bitch!"

"I'm sorry! Shoulda watched where I'm going." Niffty murmured, seemingly unfazed by the crude insult sent her way.

"You're fuckin' a-right you should! Although, I guess I am kinda lucky..." His reddish eyes looked down at Niffty hungrily. "You see, I prefer fresh, rare meat, and you're a good size for a snack, so how's about you make it up to me by-"

"By what?" Growled Jersey as he stepped around the grocery cart. He promptly stepped around Niffty, placing himself between her and her canine harasser. It was clear that he stood taller than the wolf demon, by about three inches, but this was hardly intimidating to the snarling stranger.

"The fuck are you, her boyfriend?" The wolf demon growled.

Niffty blushed at the insinuation, though she felt more pleased than embarrassed.

"No, but I do not appreciate it when some dickhead harasses my coworkers. She is not for eating. I suggest you take your cravings somewhere else, before you end up getting hurt." The threat was made with dark finality, with Jersey's eyes slowly turning from a sickly green to a simmering orange.

The wolf demon only laughed harshly. "Ooh, I'm so scared by some jumped up white knight." He followed up this light mockery with a swing of his right hand, trying to claw at Jersey's face.

The limb was effortlessly batted away with Jersey's left hand, and Jersey retaliated with a right handed punch. It connected with the demon's snout so quickly that he could not even bring up a hand to defend himself. The fist landed with a loud "thwack" and the wolf demon stumbled back with a sharp whine of pain, bringing up his hands to cover his lupine face. Blood dribbled from his nose, and this shock from being so easily injured turned to hot rage in seconds.

"You motherfucker!" The wolf lunged forward with his arms raised as if to grab Jersey, but the handy man stepped forward, intercepting the raised hands of his opponent in his own. Before the demon could try to bite at his pale faced foe, Jersey landed a kick to below the belt. The demon would have crumpled in agony, but he never fell to the floor, as Jersey let go of one of his wrists to lifted him by his throat. Held by his neck over a foot in the air, the bleeding sinner was helpless against Jersey.

"I warned you." Jersey insisted bluntly. "I don't consider myself to be that violent of a person, but I don't make idle threats. You're gonna take your hunger somewhere else and leave my friend alone. If I hear so much as a whisper that you plan on eating her, I will hunt you down and turn you into a pair of fuzzy slippers and a matching belt to go with it. Got it?"

The wolf demon, struggling to breath and distracted by pain coming from his groin and his face, almost felt paralyzed as Jersey's orange eyes became hypnotically threatening. Looking closely in spite of his asphyxiation, he could see tiny wisps of what appeared to be pure, black smoke radiating off of Jersey's body. Too scared to articulate his response, the sinner gave a shuddering nod.

"Good. Now piss off." Jersey tossed the wolf demon a few feet away. The sinner let out hacking coughs while trying to cover his groin. When he was sufficiently recovered, he stumbled out of the food isle they were in, a trail of blood droplets splattering in his wake.

"My hero!" Predictably, Niffty wrapped her little arms around Jersey's legs in a tight hug. "Chivalry isn't dead in Hell after all~!"

Jersey lightly rolled his eyes, but was glad to hear that the little cyclops was well. "Maybe we should get our stuff to the check out line before someone else tries confronting us."

"Okey dokey~! Follow me!" Niffty exclaimed.

The trip home was short, but it did not stop Niffty from having some concern over Jersey's well-being. He was currently holding sixteen different bags, eight for each arm, his limbs stretched out as if he were balancing on a tightrope. It was an absurd sight, and the little maid who had outright pleaded for his assistance was somewhat worried that she had gone too far.

"Hey Jersey, are you sure you can carry that much stuff?"

Jersey did not look particularly concerned. "I feel fine. I'm just making sure none of this stuff spills out onto the ground. Better that we don't have to fall back for our groceries."

Niffty could only stare in awe at her crush's exceptional strength. She was so distracted by Jersey's feat of stamina that she ended up tripping over a crack in the sidewalk. The two bags she was holding spilled their contents onto the ground.

"You okay?" Jersey asked, stopping in his tracks to make sure she was not injured.

Niffty dusted herself off with a nervous chuckle. If the blush on her face was any indication, she was more flustered than hurt. "I'm okay! Just go on without me. I'll pick my stuff up and meet you at the hotel. It's just like, fifty feet away."

Jersey turned his head to confirm her estimation, and was pleasantly surprised to see that it would be a brief travel to the hotel. "Well, just be careful. I'll meet you at the front door."

"Will do~!" Niffty set about methodically restoring the spilled groceries in her bags while Jersey went on ahead.

The maid of the Hazbin Hotel began to hum to herself an old tune from her grade school days. With each measure of her little song, she placed an object into one of the plastic bags still in her possession. Niffty finally filled up the last bag with the batteries, hand soap, and air fresheners that she had bought on sale. She was about to head on her way when a greasy voice greeted her.

"Hey baby girl~"

Niffty turned to see a grey colored, bug-like sinner towering over her. He appeared to draw physical inspiration from a raspy cricket, given the antennae which flared out from his forehead and the six limbs that he sported. Two pairs of spiny arms fitted through the sleeves of a short sleeve vest and a raggedy wifebeater shirt. The big demon had powerful legs with short, vertical spines which sprouted from a pair of dark gym shorts.

His bluish hair was receding in a messy way from his head, and a pair of large, luminescent blue eyes leered down at Niffty in a predatory manner. Most unsettling were the sharp, mangled green teeth from his wide mouth. Green, toxic looking slobber dripped from his maw in a charmless way, giving a gross element to the demon's appearance.

He continued to speak with an oily tone. "Pretty fucked up that a sweet lil thing like you ended up down here~. You steal some candy or somethin'? How's about you an' me go have some fun~?"

Niffty seemed confused by the demon's inquiry than anything else, her one eye looking up with a look that appeared superficially innocent. Letting out only a hum of curiosity, the demon assumed that he just had to push the right buttons to coerce her into partaking in his insidious request.

"How old are ya baby girl~? Six? Seven? I got all sorts of games we can play~"

"They all feel really nice too-"

Suddenly, Niffty gave an overly pleasant little smile. She grabbed the creepy bug demon with a hand. Her grip was made with such roughness that it stunned the sinner who thought he was the one in control of the situation.

"Oh my gosh~! What nasty, nasty language~!"

The confusion in the big demon's mind soon turned to terror when Niffty pulled out a knife as if from nowhere.

"Don't you worry!" Niffty used her grip to hoist herself onto the chest of the still standing demon, who now looked at her with trepidation rather than lust. Her lone eye appeared to glow, like a train's headlamp before colliding with a hapless animal that had strayed into the railroad tracks. "I'll have that cleaned up right away."

In only a few seconds, the cries of pain from a male sinner and the sounds of stew plunging ruthlessly into flesh echoed down the street. In a matter of less than ten seconds, the big demon was a gutted mess on the sidewalk, and Niffty, who looked perfectly normal, brought out a phone from her purse, still laying next to the two grocery bags she had reassembled.

A call was made to Niffty's partner in servitude to a certain Radio Demon.

"Hey Husk~"

"Yeah? What is it?"

"Can you pretty please tell Al that I picked up a snack for him~?"

"Uh... yeah. What the hell did ya do? I thought you and Jers were just pickin' up groceries."

"We did! We're about to get inside right now. I just bothered a bigger pest than usual~!"

"Well, okay... See ya in a minute, or somethin'."

"Bye~!"

Niffty soon bounded up to the entrance to the Hazbin Hotel, where a visibly disturbed Jersey was waiting for her. She was initially confused by his appearance. "What's wrong, Jersey?"

"Uh, what was that?" He gestured by nodding his head to the twitching, near-lifeless corpse of the pedophilic demon from earlier.

"Oh! I was just acting in self-defense~!"

Jersey did not look convinced. "Self-defense?"

"Yup~!"

"And that absolutely constituted stabbing him over ten times in the stomach and chest with a knife? Where did you even get the knife, anyway?"

Niffty produced the knife that she had used. It was strangely spotless in spite of its use in a brutal assault just moments before. "I always bring this when I go out! It's very useful, you know."

"Okay, but that doesn't explain the stabbing him ten times part."

"Oh, he'll be fine~! Demons are pretty hard to kill~" Niffty explained with a song in her heart.

Jersey, not wanting to be too critical lest he be a hypocrite, merely shook his head in acceptance. "Well, I hope he's learned his lesson." Jersey began to step towards the entrance, with Niffty using her small frame to push the door open.

"Oh trust me, he won't be bothering anyone ever again." Niffty promised cheerfully. "Now, let's put all of this stuff up. To the kitchen~!"

Jersey followed the little maid inside. He had truly seen everything.

Part of this chapter is literally pulled from the Predator and Prey fan comic by jihokuhana89. Otherwise, this was heavily inspired by a suggestion by coldblue2015.