Meanwhile, in conjunction to the events of the last chapter, these events took place...

Cherri was fucking bored. It was one thing to watch over someone, but this was the equivalent of watching a death row inmate at this point(granted Volastor technically was, but still.) Apparently everyone thought that she was better suited for the job since Volastor tolerated her more than everyone else.

Then again, that wasn't really saying much considering he hated all of them.

She didn't really know Volastor personally, but she did know he was not talkative. He hadn't said a word since the incident with Val and just sat there with a blank expression, eyes unwavering. He seemed like he had long since accepted his fate, boredly awaiting his inevitable demise.

To say the least, you could imagine how awkward it was just having to watch this fused being await their execution with the most calm expression on their face. He didn't even seem to care at this point, just wanting it to be over with…

"So…" Cherri started,"You thinking of anything lately?"

Volastor titled his head to the side, expression unchanged,"What is it to you? I'm going to die soon, why are you so interested in knowing the thoughts of someone on death row?"

"Well considering I'm probably the last person you're ever gonna talk to, I thought we could at least start a conversation while you're still here…"

Vol rolled his eyes,"How generous of you…"

"Hey, would you rather sit here in silence and do nothing?"

Vol nodded,"I would.."

Cherri blanked, she hadn't anticipated that answer honestly…

"What? Did you expect me to say no? I've been doing that for quite some time. It's not like I have anything better to do. I can't contact my friends, I have no future and if the only thing I can do is sit around and wait, I may as well do just that…"

"What about your friends? Don't you miss them?"

"Of course I do, but I can't exactly contact them now, can I? Even if I could, there's no point. They'll just get themselves killed trying to come here. Rescuing me is a fruitless effort and I'd be impressed anyone cared enough to try and genuinely save me."

"Damn, you sound so sure of yourself…"

"Because I know I'm right. Saving me is a lot more trouble than it's worth and honestly, it's a waste of time regardless of how you cut it. I'm not worth the effort, I'm one person and they'd be getting themselves killed trying to save me. I'm not worth it…."

"You know, for someone who is supposed to be two of the most powerful overlords in one body, you sure seem defeated and lacking the will to go on…."

"What the hell do you expect me to do? I'm stuck in a prison cell, who the hell am I supposed to hope for to come and save me, Cherri? Vox? Velvet? Alastor? The other hazbins? Charlie? Literally everyone except Charlie would get murdered by Lucifer if they even set foot in his mansion, the latter of whom is only because she is his daughter. Everyone else would get killed if they came here and it'd be better if they didn't try at all and save themselves. Holding onto hope is useless in a situation like this and rescue would just make everything worse for all of us involved."

Cherri didn't say anything. It wasn't like she could really rebuke his points anyway, Volastor was technically right in a way. "So that's it huh? You're not even gonna try and protest it?" She had expected him to be at least more stubborn about resisting his fate.

Vol scoffed, as if he was in disbelief that this question,"Protest what? Being killed? Like that would do anything, nobody here is going to listen to me. I've tried that earlier and Lucifer brushed me off when I refused to be his lackey. Apparently he is unable to learn what no means and reacts poorly to rejection, as he can't just comprehend someone not wanting to be his lap-dog. I'd personally rather die than serve under the heel of another being, and if that's my fate...then so be it."

"And what about your friends? Don't you think they'll care?"

"Even if they find out what happened to me, what are they going to do about it? Lucifer is too strong for them to do anything about. Vox and Alastor can't even hurt me, what makes you think they can do anything to Lucifer? The only person who has a chance at harming him is his daughter. And while she is a sweet-heart, Charlie is too kind and soft for me to believe she'd hurt anyone, let alone her own father. She seems like she'd rather avoid conflict all-together than physically intervene."

Vol had known Charlie well enough to know she was very pacifistic. She didn't seem to like using her powers unless she had to, and even then, Volastor knew Charlie didn't possess the temperament to take on her Father mentally.

She simply wasn't made for it nor was she cut out to be an aggressive demon. The idea of confronting your parents would scare most children to their core, even as adults. Vol had the feeling even if they were aware, they'd all ultimately be too scared to pursue them.

"So that's it? You're just gonna give up like that?"

"Well unless I'm let out of this cell, I see no reason for me to be enthusiastic about anything. My life has been turned upside down and I don't need some one-eyed cyclops interrogating me for questions about my personal life and not leaving me the hell alone."

"Hey, I'm trying to strike up a conversation, it's not like we have anything better to do…"

"Like I care. I'd prefer if you just let me in silence than try to be friendly in a time like this…"

"You know, you're making having a conversation very difficult. Would it kill you to lighten up?"

Vol sent her a glare,"I have nothing to lighten up over. I'm on death row for doing nothing, pardon me if I'm not exactly overjoyed. Why do you care anyway? You and your band of misfits are the reason I'm like this, all for the sake of revenge. How pathetic…"

"Hey, shut the fuck up! I'm not pathetic!"

"Oh really now?" Vol asked,"Odd. I do remember you attacking the place I was staying in. Hell, I barely even touched you. If I really wanted you dead at that moment, we both know what the end result would be. Considering where it got me, perhaps sparing your life was a mistake. Maybe then you would've known true fear when you respawned, to crawl back on your feet, knowing you lost everything…."

Cherri flinched, the way Vol's voice became devoid of static sent a shiver down her spine. He sounded 100% genuine. The scariest part was that his expression was still 'neutral', though his eyes revealed just how resentful he was.

"Ah well, it's not like I can go back and change it...Still, I do find it strange you want to talk to me? Are you that bored that you'd sooner talk to the person on death row than your comrades?"

"No one here is my friend. Ada is more like my boss and Doom is just creepy and Val...is Val. I fucking hate that bastard…"

Vol scoffed,"Don't act as if you're the only one."

"I'm not, doesn't mean I can't voice my opinion. I'm not allowed to attack him because Ada said he was useful and because of that, I have to put up with his ass…"

"Oh poor you, you had to put up with Valentino's attitude, not like he attempted to assault you or anything. You're just the poor victim aren't you?"

She scowled,"He may not have done anything to me, but he did that stuff to my friend. He fucking raped Angel for decades and I couldn't do anything about I could do was throw bombs at his property. I convinced myself if I hit enough of his billboards I'd be costing him a fortune. In all honesty, it was probably nothing more than a minor inconvenience considering how rich he was, but I figured it was the least I could do for him…"

Volastor cocked his head to the side, sounding intrigued by this. Cheri noted his fixated glance, realizing she had earned his attention.

"You did that and you got away with it? That's impressive, considering how Valentino is unable to move past grudges, I'm impressed he hasn't attacked you by now for destroying his property."

"Eh, he was probably too angry with you to focus on me. I think he wanted to attack me for a while, but since we were both working under Lucifer, we were forced to put our differences aside for the time being for the sake of the mission."

"And then what?" Volastor asked,"What will you do once I'm out of the picture?"

She shrugged her shoulders,"Hell if I know, as long as I'm with Ada, I don't think there's anything Valentino can do to me. I'm under protection, he'd be stupid attempting to attack me while I'm under someone's pay-roll. Probably try to get some territory once I'm done, maybe catch up with Angel, haven't talked to him in a while so I'll see if we can see each other again."

"How sweet," Volastor smiled wryly,"That's just so wonderful, you'll get to go back to your wonderful friendship and enjoy your afterlife all while I get to die for no reason. Destiny sure loves unfair endings, doesn't it? And to think I did all those things, helped all those people for nothing…Just pitiful."

"You helped people?"

"Obviously I did. In fact, I'm the reason your friend, Angel, is free from Valentino in the first place…"

"Oh really? How'd you do it then?"

"Who do you think burned Val's Studio to the ground, Cherri?" Vol asked with a twisted smile,"I'll tell you who, me. I burned all of Val's things to the ground, turning it into nothing but ash. I'm certain that a lot of Val's things were inside that Studio and he pretty much lost everything in the fire. I'm certain that burning that deplorable place to ashes freed hundreds of people and cost Val his entire empire, something that you could only dream of doing. And judging by that look on your face, you seem to know why, correct?"

Cherri nodded her head, still in shock at the news.

"I'll tell you why. I had been staying there for quite some time, mainly because Vox didn't want to give up his shark and we stayed in the same building. As time went on, Vox, Alastor and I had a little...disagreement after they invaded my privacy and I held it against them, brushing off any attempt to communicate with me. One day, Val offered a drink, to which I declined. Not only because I wasn't thirsty, but because I didn't trust him enough to accept the beverage. He tried to prod me but I didn't waver and fell back. For a while, I thought that was that…" Vol then averted his gaze, tone turning sombre,"Only later on did I realize how wrong I was. Because when Val saw he couldn't go after me, he switched gears and directed his attention towards Vox. I'm not certain what exactly happened, but I imagine Val attempted to persuade Vox into having sex with him only for him to be rejected several times. When he saw this wasn't working, he offered the drink that was originally for me to Vox and Vox, not knowing any better, accepted it. Unfortunately for him, he wasn't aware that Val drugged his drink and fell unconscious. Later on in the day, Alastor suggested I go check on Vox after finding the drink on the counter and while I was reluctant at first, he managed to convince me to at least look. I went to investigate and at first, I believed Vox and Val were hooking up and was about to leave, at least until I noticed something strange…"

"Like?" Cherri asked wearily.

"When I got closer, I noticed how quiet Vox was. I'm no expert on sex and how it works, but I know that it is usually a very loud activity and I could only hear Valentino on the other side of the door. Concerned I opened the door and saw him...he was….was.." Vol looked away, trying to dispel the lump in his throat.

Cherri cringed,"Forcing himself on him?"

"Yes. When I looked at him, he was completely unconscious, his screen was just blank and in that moment, I felt unbridled rage come over me and I attacked him in a fit of anger. I was so angry that I beat Val within an inch of his life. He tried to plead with me but I merely brushed it off, I was too enraged to really care what he said and all his excuses did was infuriate me. I wanted to make him suffer for what he did. So I burned his Studio to the ground with him inside, leaving him for dead while the others evacuated the premises. I took him to that princess's hotel to recover and when he woke up...he had no clue what happened. The drugs were so effective that he only remembered Val giving him a drink. He thought the awful feeling in his body was just from a hang-over and didn't believe us when we told him what Val did. He thought we were messing with him and when it finally did click, he started making these awful excuses up, saying these crazy things like how maybe he deserved it or something. I don't know what came over me, but when I saw him trying to excuse Val, something in me snapped. I tore down those excuses and told him to stop or else."

The mad-bomber tensed, she had seen Volastor being angry before and it was rather intimidating. She didn't want to imagine what Volastor looked like in a state of blind rage, much less be the person taking the brunt of it.

"After that, Vox ran away and locked himself in his room for a long period of time. During that period, I felt my attitude getting worse. I felt somewhat responsible for not being able to save him in time. And to an extent, I still do... Even when Vox told me it wasn't my fault, I felt helpless because despite everything, I couldn't even save someone in time. But then again, I doubt you'd understand that now, would you?"

Cherri looked down,"Actually I do. Ever since I met Angel, we were the best of pals, the buds who did everything together. I was the only one who really saw the after-effects of Val's abuse on him over the years. I lost count on how many times I saw him cry onto the bed in a cradle position. Sometimes he would scream, sometimes he'd just whimper himself to sleep. I couldn't really do anything outside of comforting him. I always wanted to kill Val, to get my bare hands on him but...I knew I couldn't. He was too strong, too powerful for me to deal with. So I had to settle with busting his shit when I got the chance. The least I could do was be the pebble in his heel for Angel's sake."

"How touching...to bad I won't be able to turn to a friend when this is all over. No one is going to know what happened to me and even if they do find out, there's nothing they could realistically do about it. I just hope Velvet will be fine without me…"

"Velvet?" She asked,"Isn't she that crazy chick? You seriously got with her of all people? Really?"

"I doubt there is any option to judge me about my love-life," Vol sneered,"Velvet is...not exactly the healthiest individual, I'll admit that. She's clearly...immature, but considering she died when she was eighteen, I can't say that is surprising. Still, she is somewhat endearing despite her...flaws."

"Uh-huh, so that means you were thinking with your dick is what I'm getting? Haven't you heard not to stick your dick into crazy, Vol?"

"Eh!?" Vol looked very offended,"Excuse you? What type of person do you take me for? I didn't fall for Velvet because of her looks. I fell for her because I find her personality charming, her looks are just an additional perk."

"Uh-huh sure…"

"I don't know what you're basing this off of, but Cherri, I am not that shallow. I do not fall for people because of their looks, that is not who I am. Your assumptions are rather offensive. Or are you projecting?"

"I ain't projecting, dammit. Learn to take a joke."

"Your jokes aren't funny…"

"So if you're with Velvet...what would you be doing if you were with her right now?"

"Why dwell on something that's obviously not going to happen?"

"Hey, I'm just asking."

"Sounds pointless but fine, I'll oblige your fantasy,"Vol sighed,"If we were with her, I'd probably be going on a date with her along with the other two since we're all sharing. I'm not exactly a fan of the idea of sharing with my components, but Velvet was just overjoyed at the notion of having three boyfriends so I just had to oblige. Hopefully she can be happy with two men instead, Alastor and Vox should be able to take care of her. Maybe she'll forget about me all-together...and honestly, it's better for us that way if she and everyone else forgot I existed as the alternative is them mourning over someone they couldn't hope to save…" Vol then smiled weakly,"But it's not like it matters, I'm going to die anyway. Best hope they'll be fine without me.."

Cherri stood there in disbelief. She couldn't help but feel bad. She found it so hard to hate someone when they were like this. He was just so defeated, just wanted to get it over with once and for all. He didn't even care about dying himself, he was just worried about how others would react if they found out the truth…

She was supposed to be happy that someone who hurt her was suffering, but she felt the opposite. This wasn't how this was supposed to go. She was supposed to have the last laugh and yet...it felt unearned.

Vol didn't even care about what happened to him anymore, for as long as he was in this cell, he was good as dead. At this point, all he wanted was for it to be over with so that he wouldn't die of boredom, viewing death as a better fate than being in jail.

She then remembered everything he said before it all hit her.

"What….what the fuck am I doing anymore? What is wrong with me?"

"Huh?"

"I can't fucking do this. This wasn't how this was supposed to go. I was supposed to get revenge and be satisfied but...I don't. I don't feel anything but guilt. This wasn't how it was supposed to go at all!" She then kicked the bars in frustration,"Grah! Stupid feelings! Stupid guilt! This is all your fault, you're making me feel bad! Stop making me feel bad!"

Volastor stared at her with a raised eyebrow,"I did no such thing, Cherri. I cannot make someone feel guilty. If you feel guilt, then that's clearly a sign your conscience doesn't agree with what you're doing."

"Bullshit! You're just trying to get into my head with your words, it ain't gonna work! You're just trying to make me feel bad! Quit it!"

Vol merely stared back at her with a bemused gaze,"I...I don't know what you're talking about."

"You keep making that expression, stop it! Its fucking making me feel bad and I know you're doing it on purpose! Just stop! You're making my job so hard!"

The fusion fell silent for a moment,"Cherri...If me looking at you makes you feel a certain way, then that is on you, not me. Clearly you have your own issues, but projecting them onto me does nothing. I haven't even moved and yet you're blaming me for making you feel culpable for your actions when I have done nothing. And I believe a part of you is aware of this, you're just too head-strong to admit it. Truthfully, I'm not certain what to make of this, but if you truly do feel remorse, perhaps you should do something about it instead of just deflecting the blame onto another person. That is, if your feelings of guilt come over your orders to obey commands…"

The mad-bomber didn't move. Volastor wondered if she was even conscious as she hadn't even blinked, staring at him like a zombie….

Suddenly, he heard the cell-door being unlocked and pulled open. He stood up from his sitting position, reluctantly taking a step outside. He could feel his powers returning to him, as if the seal had been lifted from him, a sigh of relief coming over him.

"My powers...they're back...Thank god…" Vol then looked down at Cherri Bomb, who hadn't said a word,"So, you changed your mind, hn? I'm impressed, I didn't think you had it in you, Cherri. You surprised me…"

"Go…"

"Hn?"

"I said go…" She replied slowly,"You're not a prisoner anymore, so I suggest you stop wasting time and hurry up before anyone notices."

"What about you?"

She shrugged,"Not too sure what I'll do from here. I'll probably have people on my ass if they find out I let you out...You should be more concerned for yourself than me, I'm not the one who Lucifer wants dead just yet so I suggest you hurry and find a way out before anyone notices."

Vol nodded, turning his back on her and said,"Thank you…"

She shook her head,"Don't thank me, I don't think I deserve that after all I put ya through. Just go and free yourself, I'm sure your girlfriend is waiting for you out there…"

Volastor then ran off, leaving Cherri behind to escape. His spark to live again had come alive once more, and he'd be damned if he was going to let even the likes of Lucifer stop him from seeing his loved ones again. He'd find a way out of this mansion if it was the last thing he'd do.

And the person he wanted to see most was Velvet...he wanted to see her so badly. She was the one he thought about the most. Her smile, her laughter, the way she looked at him fueled his desire to earn his freedom.

'I'll see you soon, Velvet...Or I'll die trying...'

THANK GOD I FINALLY GOT THIS UP, that was so hard to write! Hope the wait was worth it.

Anyways, thanks for 5,450 views! Tell me what you all think below!

Enigmus-288: Meh, I felt that was Val's time to die, letting him past that point would've been a bad move on my part, I felt he was overstaying his welcome honestly. Besides, Vox was the one who was given the spear, he was gonna use it eventually, he just didn't think/hope it would be Val.

Mitsuru6: Aw thanks, glad to know that worked. Val was sick enough to try and use Vol's form Alastor saw through it in the end despite being drugged.