Cerberus Pike, 12:40 pm

Among a veritable sea of demons, every being within it had its own story. For hell-born demons, they frequently struggled to survive in a naturally harsh world, and in a world of vice and cruelty, murder was a common means of bolstering income or settling old scores for pragmatic as well as petty reasons.

For most sinners, the afterlife was a slow, often monotonous humdrum of doing everything in their power to satisfy an addiction. For some, it was sex, for others, it was drugs, and a few in between settled for violence, thrills, the stroking of their egos, or the simple building of wealth by hook or by crook. Whatever the vice, satisfying it at whatever cost was the paramount drive which made Pentagram City turn, and it continued until the day a sinner was exterminated and cast into the unfeeling abyss of oblivion.

One such sinner had a very different way of maintaining an immoral homeostasis in Pentagram City. Unfortunately, she was distracted by recent events. That particular person was named Crymini, and she was currently dealing with a laundry list of inconveniences and bad luck. The two luggage cases in her hands held what items she had in her possession after the loss of her place of residence.

"Stupid fuckin' piece of shit landlord."

Stomping down the sidewalk on Cerberus Pike, just east of the heart of Pentagram City, she looked surly and irritated. Her entire attire screamed of a rebellious, punk lifestyle. The top layer of her clothing consisted of a black leather jacket, and the dress she wore was hot pink, with a simplified punisher skull logo on the bodice. Crymini had a pair of black heels that complemented her jacket and a spiky collar that was three inches loose, to ensure she could breathe and eat properly.

She outwardly looked like a Fennec Fox, and had sporadic splotches of tart red spots like a crimson variant of a Dalmatian. However, if she were a proper animal, her closest analogue would be that of a maned hyena. Crymini's fur was largely the color of an egg shell, but there were hot pink highlights in her prominent ponytail, mohawk, and thick, bushy tail.

Her large, pointy ears, much like a German Shepard, were black and had a number of dark ring piercings on them. On her face were freckles that dusted the underside of her eyes. Meanwhile, her eyelashes were decorated with heavy mascara. Crymini's gaze looked harsh, with yellow irises and red pupils.

Given her perpetually sour attitude, this was hardly an abnormal day, but her recent eviction was still a bitter blow. Crymini was admittedly not the easiest sinner to have as a tenant, a factor that was listed as the primary justification for her sudden loss of housing. This indisputable fact was not going to convince her to be more cordial or accommodating towards others.

Instead, Crymini decided to turn to the closest sinners she could call friends: The Paupers of Paimon.

Despite the name, the biker gang had no affiliation with King Paimon of the Ars Goetia. Furthermore, if Paimon had his way, he would have sued the club for using his name and the visage of his loyal mount for all that they were worth. Instead, they were one of multiple, small gangs whose close ties were built on their expressed appreciation for motorcycles.

Their clubhouse, a generous designation for the dusty and shabby looking former tavern turned headquarters, was tucked down a small street that branched off of Cerberus Pike: Baskerville Way. There, between a dilapidated barber shop and a butchery that had been out of use for decades, was the Paupers' clubhouse.

Pushing through the glass doorway, Crymini found the Paupers lounging about on two sofas. All of them wore typical biker gear, with their symbol being a dromedary camel with burning eyes and royal purple dressing upon its saddle and reins.

The leader, Desoto, a hellhound with black fur and a sleek head, was fixing his fingerless gloves over his paws. His small, erect ears twitched at the creak of the door to the club, and he looked up with a small glare. The frown melted into a cocky grin when he saw it was Crymini.

"Cry-baby, how ya doing?" Desoto welcomed, rising to his feet with a lopsided smirk. He was one and a half feet taller than Crymini.

"Ugh, how many goddamn times do I have to tell you not to call me that?" Crymini growled. She kicked at a stray beer can on the floor.

Desoto was not fooled. He had known her for nearly twenty years, and could read her caustic attitude like a book. "C'mon Cry, you're coming here on a weekday. What's gotcha so worked up, huh?"

Crymini deflated. "I got evicted." She dropped her luggage with a thud, drawing attention from the rest of the gang members.

Fitz, a pig demon with short tusks and the road captain of the gang, sat up, looking at Crymini with concern in his eyes, which were nearly hidden by heavy wrinkles. "Aww, sorry to hear that, Crymini."

"Don't need pity," Crymini sighed, "I need a roof over my head, and preferably a bed to sleep on."

"We've got no room at our apartment." On the far side, Mickey, a caribou demon with rusty fur and a ten point set of antlers, was referring to himself and Nia, a doe demon who was snuggling against him. The two had been dating for over two years, and were living together at Mickey's apartment.

Desoto shrugged. "I like you, Cry. That doesn't mean that you're, shall we say, roommate material. Besides, the old broad that asks me for rent at the end of every month ain't too keen on co ed housing."

Fitz gave a smile, but his words were hardly of any comfort. "I practically live here, at the club. My standards of living aren't exactly high." He gestured to some of the garbage lying about. The place was not a biohazard, but Fitz was the most indifferent to the cleanliness of his surroundings.

"This is no place for a young lady like yourself." Fitz continued, his tone becoming grandfatherly. "You deserve a good place to lie your pretty little head down."

"Sure, I'll just pull an entire house out of my ass, no mortgage included." Crymini sassed lightly.

Fitz ignored her incorrigible attitude, inferring something from her words. "Don't you have a job down at the Hoarder General on Monasseh Street?"

"Used to." Crymini corrected. "You know how it is: 'you're such a fucking bitch, Crymini, and not in the tolerable way.'"

She continued to recall words that countless employers said to her, making a mocking tone.

"'Why don't you give a real smile to the customers? Who pissed in your cereal this morning? We need someone who's approachable.' Fuck those limp dick hypocritical dipshits. This is who the fuck I am."

Fitz sighed loudly through his swinish nostrils. "Well, unless you find a homeless shelter, you're gonna find yourself out on the street. I don't care how tough and independent you think you are, Crymini, that's a dangerous prospect."

Mickey nodded gravely in agreement. "I've seen homeless son of bitches get shanked and even eaten alive. You need a place that couldn't care less about your income, Cry."

"Not a landlord in town that gives two shits about charity." Desoto shrugged.

Fitz furrowed his brow. He recalled a radio advert from the Radio Demon's channel about a hotel that provided protection. As his memory fleshed out, he grumbled, for he knew that to sell the idea to Crymini, he would have to bank on desperation, because she was not the type of young woman to believe in anything as pie in the sky as redemption.

"You know, I think there may be one place that might have everything you're looking for, Crymini."

The hyena demoness perked her ears. She stopped crossing her arms and gave her full attention. "You do? What is it, Fitz?"

Fitz cleared his throat. "It's a relatively recent place that just got up and running."

Crymini quirked an eyebrow up. Normally the pig demon was much more direct with his suggestions. "Okay..."

Once more, Fitz sighed. He was never good at subtle, gentle coaxing towards a decision that he assumed Crymini would outright loathe. "It's the Hazbin Hotel."

"...huh?" The name did not ring a bell with Crymini.

Desoto broke out into raucous laughter. "Really, Fitz?! Ha ha ha! You're gonna suggest that our Crymini go down to the princess' place to what, hold hands and talk about her feelings?! Ha, that's rich."

"Wait a minute, are you talking about that lame ass hotel that Princess Charlie is running?" Crymini asked again, her eyes narrowing in suspicion.

"Its got every requirement you want in a place to live, honey." Fitz continued, ignoring the joined laughter of Desoto and Mickey. "Unless you wanna rough it up here or in the streets, that's your best bet."

"Are you fucking kidding me?!" Crymini yelled. "Unlike some sinners, I know I belong down here in this hole. If that spoiled bitch thinks she has a hope of redeeming anyone, then she's fucking demented."

"Crymini..."

"Forget it Fitz." Crymini grumbled, turning her heel and walking towards the entrance to the club. "I'll figure something out on my own."

Desoto calmed down enough from his laughter to bid the hyena demon farewell. "Don't be a stranger, Cry-baby. Now, who wants to smoke something funny?"

"Hell yeah!" Mickey exclaimed.

As Desoto walked towards the back of the clubhouse to grab some marijuana, Fitz shook his head, looking on in the direction of Crymini. "I hope you know what you're doing, kid."

"Going to some pansy ass hotel like that..." Crymini grumbled, her glare practically burning a hole in the sidewalk before her. "Fitz's gone soft. I'm not the gentle kinda bitch."

Despite her claim about trying to figure it out a new living situation, Crymini was simply drifting about Cerberus Pike. She was not usually one to make a plan before acting, which explained her near constant problem with staying employed. As with life in Hell, she dove headfirst when it came to confronting problems, taking risks, and resorting to her usual foul mouthed behavior. This had helped her to survive, but this modus operandi was likewise a stopgap, preventing her from maintaining a stable life.

Moving down Cerberus Pike was a route she had taken multiple times, to the point where she could safely neglect to maintain attention of her surroundings when going to work. The rhythm of Pentagram City was one she had adapted to more readily than most sinners, so her laxness was justified. Over the course of some twenty years, she had developed a kind of reputation, which was reinforced by her association with the Paupers of Paimon motorcycle gang. Furthermore, she knew how to handle herself in a scrap, a secondary line of defense behind her usually confident and mean spirited attitude. Outside of a rare few occurrences, Crymini did not typically have to worry about being abused or harassed by any common sinner.

Passing one of several alleyways, she did not notice three sinners who were equally as homeless as her. These three were nomads, roaming around Pentagram City, and walking on proverbial eggshells to steal and pilfer for money, food, and alcohol to sustain themselves. Shady, and with badly beaten up trench coats, the three men were short on the usual opioids they abused to ease the pain of simply living in Hell. One of them saw an outlet towards easing that pain.

"Hey..." Medium in height, the shaggy haired demon who spoke up pointed towards the lonely form of Crymini moving away from the alley.

Silently, the other two sinners nodded, agreeing in their minds that they had a suitable target in mind. The three sinners left the alley, their body language carefully modeled to be as non threatening as possible.

Crymini knew that she was heading in the general direction of Monasseh Street, one of several streets that she called "home" for lack of a better phrase. She had taken up over a dozen different jobs at various businesses and shops that had been in service at one time or another. Exterminations and the occasional ruthless takeover meant a decent number of the buildings on Monasseh had changed hands, which further explained Crymini's unique history with the area.

For all of the tumultuousness that Crymini had experienced on Monasseh Street, it was a place that gave her a singular feeling of familiarity. For one thing, when she first arrived in Hell, she had landed there. For weeks, she roughed it out on the streets until she managed to acquire money without having to brutalize someone for it. Just as a mortal might have a rosy tinted perspective on their place of birth, Crymini had the tiniest inkling of nostalgia.

As she began to walk past another alley, she was suddenly grabbed from behind. Before she could yell out a crude insult towards the person attacking her, she was dragged into the alley, her luggage stripped from her grasp. Now Crymini could tell that there were three working in concert to rob her.

"Quick, look for somethin' valuable!" The smallest of the thieves, a fox man with red eyes whispered harshly as he struggled to open the suitcase he grabbed.

"Gimme time..." Grumbled the larger of the two; he was a bear demon, with ghostly blue eyes and a slate gray coloration. He managed to get the latch undone and was sitfting through a few clothes.

A sense of vicious indignity erupted within Crymini. It had been some while since she had gotten in a proper scrap, but she noticed a critical error that the demon behind her was making: he had a hand within biting range of her jaws. Violently squirming, she managed to muscle her way out of her captor's muzzle hold. When he blindly reached around to return his grip, Crymini opened her mouth and crunched down with full force.

"Gyaaaah!!!" The spine chilling scream of agony that ripped through the air muffled the sickening crunch of metacarpal bones being turned to mush. The sinner that Crymini bit staggered back, bawling his eyes as he cradled his hand near his chest.

Crymini spat out the warm, coppery taste of blood, her eyes glaring at the two cowering sinners who were trying to loot her belongings. Lunging forward, she tackled the bear demon, forcing him onto his back. Not wasting her momentum she chomped into his left shoulder with full force, her teeth and jaws causing great damage to his collarbone.

The bear demon roared in pain, swiping his right arm and knocking Crymini off of him. In too much pain to bother retaliating, he rolled onto his feet, gingerly stemming the bleeding of his shoulder. He ran off, likely looking for his vulpine companion, who had made himself scarce when Crymini revealed the extent of her capacity for violence.

Upon leaping back to her feet, Crymini snarled as she looked at the retreating form of one of her attackers. After barely controlling her lust for violence, she decided to gather her things and leave while the getting was good. This did not stop her from growling at the wounded sinner who was still lucky to have his right hand after what he did to her. The hyena demoness left the alley with a hastened walk, not wanting to stick around in case anything else happened.

Gaining a degree of tunnel vision, Crymini focused on getting as far away from Monasseh Street. It had now suddenly lost its nostalgic air, replaced by the realization of what threatened to be a harsh reality. Just as Fitz said, homelessness was a terrible living situation, even more so in Pentagram City. Crymini was not going to tempt fate, especially when she had to sleep like everyone else.

It did not take long for sinners to hear of horror stories of people being maimed and worse besides in the unforgiving metropolis. They ranged from mundane acts of criminality, namely in the form of muggings, to spine chilling accounts of sinners being eaten alive by cannibals that did not care to confine themselves to Cannibal Colony. Even assuming the worst tales were just urban legends intended to scare the piss out of newer, more impressionable demons, Crymini needed a roof over her head.

Unfortunately, her options were limited because of her increasingly desperate financial situation. With only a few dollars in pocket, and an increasingly unlikely scenario of being employed long term, this left Crymini with only one option. It made her feel sick to her stomach, particularly as she set down one of her suitcases to look up where the Hazbin Hotel was located.

"I swear, Princess Candy Ass better have a hotel that isn't a complete shithole..." Crymini grumbled.

Hazbin Hotel, 2:03 pm

"I'm telling you, I could do something about that missing eye of yours."

"I am not participating in some freakish experiment, Baxter. I've been living with only one good eye for over seven years. Whatever it is you're suggesting, it's not necessary."

Baxter had kept his word about not using the hotel as an at home chemical lab, but it did not stop him from occasionally asking for 'volunteers' for various experiments and inventions that he had been doing while he was not at the hotel. The latest of these ventures was ironically inspired by Vaggie, and Baxter, in a roundabout way, hoped she would be eager to try out something to aid her limited depth perception.

"Oh come on," Baxter insisted, "I assure you it is not some eyeball that I plucked out of some poor sinner's orbit. It is a bionic eye with the ability to grant its users standard, color vision, as well as ultraviolet and infrared spectrums of light!"

"Why would anyone even use those last two settings?" Vaggie pointed out.

"What settings?" Asked Charlie as she happened upon the conversation.

"Ah Princess, I was just offering Vagatha the chance to try out my patented bionic eye!" The anglerfish demon presented a cobalt blue sphere with one half of its surface covered with an artificial black and orange pupil and the other half showing metallic components and a thin series of electrical nodes.

It disturbed the Princess of Hell, but she gave a sheepish grin of encouragement. "How... thoughtful of you, Baxter! Wait, patented?"

Baxter realized that his proclamation was not entirely true. "Okay, the patented part is little more than an ambition further down the road, but I assure you, this brilliant device is completely functional!"

"For God's sales..." Vaggie mumbled. "I don't need a new eye, Baxter."

"Please?" Baxter whined. "I just wanted to test it out, and you seemed like the ideal candidate for-"

"Wait, why do you need it tested if it's already functional?" Vaggie asked suspiciously.

Baxter's expression was suddenly painted with visible nervousness. Sometimes he had a terrible habit of saying more than what he intended whilst becoming excited about a new scientific undertaking. "U-umm, well, what I meant to say was..."

Vaggie intensified her stare just inches away from Baxter; Charlie simply looked confused.

Suddenly, Baxter parted the hands that were holding the bionic eye. The object fell with a series of clinks as it bounced on the floor. It rolled for a moment, until the electrodes and wiring acted as an anchor and stopped its movement. Awkward silence filled the air until Baxter made a dramatic show of picking the artificial eyeball up.

"Oh no!" He cried melodramatically. "The eye is damaged! Oh my sincerest apologies Vagatha, I'm such a klutz! I'll have to make repairs when I return to my cybernetics lab." Baxter hastily raced down towards the nearest elevator, leaving Vagatha and Charlie to look on in bafflement.

Vaggie pinched her nose in exasperation. "I worry about our guests sometimes, Charlie."

Charlie resorted to a 'half glass full' perspective. "Look, it was just a little invention. If Baxter is genuinely focused on making things to expressly help people, then that's surely making progress, right?"

Before Vaggie could answer, a slow series of hard thuds echoed from the front door. The one eyed demoness was eager to move past the subject of Vaggie's continued distrust of Baxter. "I'll get it."

Needless to say, Vaggie did not expect the torrent of foul tempered words that came her way.

"Ugh, it took you long enough you slow bitch." Crymini complained as she was struggling to maintain her grip on her luggage. Running to the Hazbin Hotel with weights in one's hands was a rather vigorous workout.

Vaggie's one good eye narrowed dangerously. She mentally reeled in her instinct to answer with an equal amount of venom. "Can I help you?"

"Please tell me you got a fucking vacancy here." Crymini asked in a peevish tone, gesturing with her two suitcases. "My tight ass is broke and I got no where else to go. Now can ya let me in? My arms are about to break in fucking two!"

Though Vaggie did not appreciate the attitude, she would be remiss not to at least provide the stranger before her with a chance to rest. This sinner, while hardly graceful in her first impression, did bother to come to the Hazbin Hotel. She stepped aside, allowing Crymini to stagger inside and let her luggage rest on the floor of the lobby.

The new arrival took in several, much needed breaths of air as she shook her hands to get rid of their soreness. While she relaxed, Crymini gave a quick glance over the lobby. "What's with all of the pictures of Princess Pansy?" Indeed, the presence of numerous family photos in the front half of the lobby appeared to be an unusual decor choice for a hotel of redemption.

Vaggie's glare of indignation became more intense. Bad memories of the 666 news interview began to recall themselves in her head as her hands clenched in fury.

Crymini went on edge as she heard a dramatic, feminine gasp. "Oh my gosh! Welcome to the Hazbin Hotel!" Charlie rushed up to give a greeting, doubtless hoping that the addition would bolster the chances of at least one sinner becoming redeemed. "I'm-"

"Yeah, yeah you're her Royal bleeding heartness. I saw your stupid selling pitch on the news months back." Crymini dismissed, not entirely pleased with the overly positive attitude of the Princess of Hell.

Charlie's beaming smile fell as she registered the words being spoken to her. "Oh..."

Vaggie was quick to defend her girlfriend. "Hey! Who gives you the right to insult her like that?!"

"Isn't it a free country or something?" Crymini drawled with a shrug. "What's she gonna do, wag her finger at me and tell me I'm a bad girl? Cuz if she is, she's putting it lightly."

Charlie, to her credit, let the harsh words wash over her. "If you thought my, *ahem* pitch was so bad, then why are you here, may I ask?"

"I got nowhere to go. Plus this place is free. So, why not?"

"So you don't even believe in redemption?" Vaggie asked in modest disbelief. "You do realize this isn't a glorified boarding house or homeless shelter. We have a program to try to get sinners on a moral path that will bring them to Heaven."

Crymini raised an eyebrow. "Does this whole redemption shit even work?"

Vaggie sighed, running through her head the same thing she told Angel Dust when they first met. "The goal of the Hazbin Hotel is to prove to Hell that a sinner can go to Heaven. If even one demon can be redeemed, then there is a viable alternative to the purges that happen every year at the hands of the Exterminators."

Crymini did not look convinced. "Well, even if that redemption shit does work, you two dumbasses are gonna have to work overtime to send me up to those so-called pearly white gates."

While Vaggie continued to seethe with anger, Charlie stepped forward with a calming grin, placing a supportive hand on Crymini's shoulder. "All we ask is that you give redemption a chance..."

The hyena demon flinched under the compassionate touch. It was a largely unfamiliar feeling to her, especially in Pentagram City. She huffed, trying to seem more annoyed than surprised at Charlie's empathy. "So, how do I sign up in this fucking place?"

"Front desk behind us..." Vaggie directed in a tense voice. As a Crymini departed to get started on the application process, Vaggie whispered about her obvious concerns regarding the newest prospective guest. "Are we really going to let her join the hotel?"

"I'm not going to give up on someone just because they're a bit rough around the edges." Charlie replied. "Why would we bother inviting Angel Dust, or allow Alastor to be a partner in all of this?"

Vaggie hated how easily Charlie could pull examples from other sinners to prove a point. "Well, don't be too surprised if she doesn't know improve in the slightest..."

"Rome wasn't made in one day." Charlie remarked. "Minds and souls aren't changed that quickly either."

Vaggie glanced back, seeing an argument breaking out between Husker and Crymini over the numerous regulations she had to adhere to. "I just hope souls can moderate themselves. Especially with an attitude like that."

2:25 pm

Angel Dust had managed to go through an intensive work schedule early on in the morning and through the early afternoon. It had costed him a well cooked breakfast by Niffty, but it was a worthwhile trade off. Now he had caught up on a number of photo shoots that had been backlogged over the last week. Now he could do a much more predictable schedule, though this meant fewer full days off in the long run.

"Jeez, my ass and feet hurt like hell." He groaned as he slunk up to the front of the Hazbin Hotel. "But at least I got the rest of this day to fuck around and not worry about a damn thing."

Upon entering the lobby, he was confronted by a heated argument. Vaggie was engaged in a shouting match with what looked like a new sinner. Said newcomer had a smirk on her face that screamed provocateur, and she was leaning against the front desk, casually matching Vaggie in terms of insulting language and volume.

Behind the war of words, Husker was desperately covering his ears with his paws, his own voice adding the chaos in the lobby by complaining about the noise. Off to the side on one of the sofas, Alastor, who was quite unperturbed by the entire fiasco, was sipping some tea courtesy of Niffty, who was standing nearby.

Angel cringed as he stepped deeper into the room, approaching Alastor to understand what was going on. Once he had moved to within five feet of the Radio Demon, he yelled to gain the Overlord's attention.

"Hey Smiles!"

Alastor turned his head with a quirk of his eyebrow. Upon recognizing Angel, the Radio Demon swirled his hand, and a strange, light crimson aura surrounded the area immediately around them. In an instant, the sound of the raging argument was reduced to background noise, and a soft, jazzy tune played seemingly out of nowhere. Niffty, noticing the aura, reached up to her ears and pulled out a pair of earplugs.

"You were saying, Angel?" Alastor asked.

Angel glanced around, confused at the power being demonstrated around him, but he shook his head to refocus his curiosity. "Okay, who's the new broad? Also, why is Vags doing gettin' into a bitchin' match with her?"

"That rugged young lady is Crymini!" Alastor proclaimed with a toast of his tea cup. "She arrived not even half an hour ago, and might I say, she's a perfect fit! Nothing like a verbal fencing match for the honor of our dear princess to highlight the disunity in this old place!"

"What?"

"Vagatha is doing her best impression of a bold knight in shining armor, defending the honor of our dear Princess Charlie." Alastor explained theatrically. "Crymini spoke a few unkind words about her when she first arrived. Needless to say, this has happened! Isn't this a swell time?"

Angel gave a scrutinizing look at Alastor. "Yeah, nothin' like two broads screamin' at each other..." Not looking forward to the prospect of having to walk into a debate on the merits of insulting Charlie, he wondered why no one was doing anything to put a stop to it. "Ain'tcha gonna get Charlie to break this crap up?"

"And miss out on this hilarity? Perish the thought! Especially since dear Husker is in on the action! Although, you're welcome to do your best to intervene. I'm sure it won't end in miserable failure!"

Angel Dust gave an unsure look as he glanced at the argument once again. He supposed he was going to have to get Charlie to mediate the problem.

"By the way, how the fuck are you able ta... you know?"

"Suppress the noise?" Alastor chuckled amusedly. "I'm the Radio Demon my promiscuous compatriot! Sound itself can bend to my whim! Speaking of which, my dear Niffty, you might want to get your ear plugs back on."

"Sure thing, Mr. Alastor!"

Once Niffty had donned her protective gear again, Alastor gave another, quaint wave of his hand, dispelling the sound dampening aura. The pain inducing cacophony of the argument returned, and Angel, briefly covering his ears, ran off towards Charlie's office.

'Please don't be out on some fuckin' errand...' Angel thought despondently as he rushed headlong down the left hallway.

By this time, Jersey had become quite accustomed to the parallels between the human world and Hell. Having gotten the VoxTube app on his Hellphone, he was taking the time to listen to some of his favorite songs. It was a free bypass to purchasing tunes on Hell's equivalent to a music store app.

However, letting himself relax for over an hour on end had left him somewhat parched. Pausing the Miles Davis song being played, his sharp ears began to pick up to other sounds throughout the hotel. Notably, there was some kind of heated argument on the floor below his room.

'Well, I guess either Alastor or Angel Dust has gotten Vaggie all riled up.' Either demon was a good guess, given how unsettling the former was and how provocative the latter could be. Taking his time as he left his room and moved towards the stairwell, he noted that the argument appeared to be settling down. Now the loudest voice, belonging to Charlie, tried to ease the anger of Vaggie.

"Vaggie, please calm down."

"Not until this perra grosera apologizes for what she said about you!" Now coming into view, Charlie was holding back Vaggie, the latter fiercely clenching one hand into a fist whilst the other one pointed accusingly at another person whom Jersey had never seen. Behind the front desk, Husk was cupping his prominent ears and growling in obvious discomfort.

"Yeah, that's not gonna happen." Replied the hyena demon.

"Maldita sea-" Vaggie's rant was cut short as Charlie forcefully removed her from the situation.

With Charlie and Vaggie on the other side of the room, Jersey tentatively stepped into the lobby. Off to his right, he could see Alastor looking on with a grin that was especially cheeky. Niffty swooned upon Jersey's arrival, and rushed up to greet him as he moved to size up the newest arrival to the hotel.

"Hi, Jersey!"

"Hello. Care to explain what the hell just happened?"

"Well... this new lady came to be a hotel guest, and then she said some mean stuff to Charlie. So after she got checked in, Charlie had to take a call, and that was when Vaggie and the new lady got into a shouting match, and I think Husky got pulled into it-"

"For fuck's sakes, I hate being called that retarded nickname!" Roared Husky, who almost shattered a beer bottle as he rebuked Niffty's commentary.

"Aaand then Charlie came back thanks to Angel, and now we're here!" Niffty concluded with a beaming smile.

"Your recollection is stellar as always..." Jersey replied with mild amusement. Then he turned to address the surly looking demoness before him. "So, you're the newest tenant, eh?"

"Yeah? What of it?" She growled with mild hostility.

Jersey absorbed the sour response and carefully chose his words. "I am the hotel's plumber, electrician, and part time carpenter all in one. Name's Jersey." He extended a hand to shake, though he was unsurprised when the hyena demon resorted to drinking a shot of tequila.

"Crymini." She replied bluntly. "Don't fucking forget it."

The continued venom came across as unwarranted to Jersey as he withdrew his hand. "Have a rough sleep last night?"

"No. I got my furry ass evicted. Was left with only an hour to pack my shit up and hit the road."

"I'm sorry to hear that." Jersey assumed some empathy would ease her unpleasant behavior.

"No you're not." Crymini replied. "I don't need your fucking pity."

Jersey raised an eyebrow. "He must have been such an unreasonable landlord to have evicted such a kind and pleasant soul like you..."

Crymini scoffed at the sarcasm. "At least I'm an honest asshole. I'm a bitch. That's all you need to know, that's all you're gonna get. In fact, I'm going up to my room. Where's the fucking key?"

Husker grabbed the nearest available key and tossed it onto the bar top, eager to send the girl on her way. Crymini promptly took the key, abandoned her empty glass, and grabbed her luggage. She walked away to the nearest elevator, not even bothering to check her key number.

Meanwhile, Vaggie appeared to have been placated. Her hair was no longer flared up like the hackles of an angry animal. "It still doesn't make it right, hun..."

"I've dealt with worse. You get used to it when you're receiving mean words for months on end in high school." Charlie said.

The two exchanged a hug, before Jersey approached the two and asked the obvious. "Should I be worried about another guest causing turmoil around here?"

"Aside from the fact that she's an unremitting jerkass, I should hope not." Vaggie replied with a frown.

"Well I thought that was a great show! Nothing like some conflict to stir the place up!"

Vaggie glared at the Radio Demon. "Of course you would love nothing more than for this place to turn into a war zone."

"Yeah yeah, she's a bitch." Husk grumbled, hastily grabbing a stronger brand of beer to drink his auditory pain away. "Can you assholes just leave me the fuck alone? I can still hear the ringing in my fuckin' ears."

Vaggie realized her role in Husk's discomfort, and stepped forward placatingly. "I'm... sorry about adding to the noise, I just-"

"Whatever, just back the fuck up and shut your goddamn mouth." Husk dismissed with a frantic wave of his paw.

Vaggie sighed once more. "I really hope we don't repeat our mistakes."

"Well, let's see if she fully agreed to the terms and followed through on our admittance procedures." Charlie remarked. "Did she sign everything, Husk?"

"I'm gonna be honest, I forgot due to all of the goddamn bitching that took place just a minute ago." The gryphon demon replied unapologetically.

"Husk!" Vaggie cried out.

"Hey, fuck you! My ears are fucking sensitive. I can't do any of the shit you expect me to do when I'm too busy trying to preserve my fucking hearing!" Husk contended.

Charlie mediated once again. "Okay, that's enough yelling. Husk, would you please hand me the papers she needs to go through and sign?"

Husk groaned, but acquiesced, roughly grabbing a collection of papers and a clip board and placing it on the bar top. The wrinkling of the papers aside, Charlie thanked Husk and immediately set about finding Crymini.

Alastor watched on, still thoroughly entertained by the small collapse in hotel procedure. "You know, I think this hotel business is going swimmingly! Don't you?"

Vaggie simply glared Alastor's way. "Fuck you."

Charlie had the fortune of finding Crymini about to enter her room, which was located in the middle of the second floor. As the hyena demoness was fumbling with her room key and beginning to curse under her breath, Charlie hurried down the hall, the papers in her hand held high like a flag of surrender.

"Crymini! Wait!"

Crymini glanced in the direction of the approaching Princess of Hell. She rolled her eyes, and was about to enter her room without another word, only for Charlie to put extra hurry into her steps, closing the distance before she could hole herself away.

"You, *huff* forgot to do this paperwork." Charlie said as she presented the slightly crinkled documents.

Crymini snorted. "Why the fuck do I need to do it?"

"Because you need to follow the rules." Charlie explained evenly. "It will also document you in the hotel's records."

A groan answered her. Crymini let the arm holding her room key to go limp as she let out a petulant whine. "Do I really have to?"

Charlie held firm. "Yes, unless you wish for me to kick you out. I won't like it, but if you refuse, I won't deprive another guest from using this room because a major rule breaker is occupying it."

"Oh yeah?" Crymini challenged, baring her teeth. "You and what army?"

Charlie felt a small amount of self doubt. Despite the lessons that her father taught her, she struggled to have it in her to resort to force in any context with regards to redemption. 'But you don't take shit from other demons.' She thought, knowing that a weak response would lead to further trouble.

"Only one man: the Radio Demon."

The answer had the desired effect. Crymini almost seemed to pale, a stark contrast to her bold confrontation against Vaggie. The knowledge that the Radio Demon was a close associate of Charlie was, if nothing else, more than enough incentive for the rank and file demon to not trifle with the hotel.

Even Crymini had her limits.

"Fine. I'll sign your stupid fucking papers..."

"Not without reading them first." Charlie insisted.

"Grrrr..."

A few minutes later...

"There! Are you fucking happy!?" Crymini, after hastily signing all of the documents given to her, shoved them into the awaiting arms of Charlie.

"Thank you." Charlie replied calmly. She straightened out the agreement forms and returned a warm smile. "I'm glad to have you here. I look forward to helping you redeem yourself."

Freed from the strain of doing the tedious activity of paperwork, Crymini allowed her scowl to relax. 'Why the fuck is this chick so damn calm about all this? She's almost like Fitz...' The frown returned, though her voice lost its normally abrasive tone.

"Sure, whatever."

As Crymini shut the door to her room and began to unpack, Charlie let out a sigh. It was clear her latest guest would take some warming up to, but the addition of Crymini was an accomplishment nonetheless. She made the trip back to her office, ready to organize her guest's forms while humming a happy tune to herself.

So, a bit of a short chapter with less of a focus on Jersey, but I felt it necessary to set up more of the characters that Hazbin Hotel is expected to have.

I received a question from one guest regarding the categorization of this story. "Why is it not a crossover with High School DxD, given that your OC originates from that universe?"

Well, to be frank, outside of the backstory of Jersey and the unique mechanisms by which he has magic powers, the vast majority of the story's focus will be Hazbin Hotel/Helluva Boss. As such, making it a crossover would only be by technicality, and would have no bearing on the direction of this story.

I confess that I have been slowing down with regards to this story. Not that I have no ideas, but I find myself beginning i burn out. The continued support by people following and favoriting this story is very much appreciated, but I plan on a break for this story after the next chapter. I won't stop writing during that break. In fact, I plan on catching up on a different story that I've been holding off on for moths because of Hazbin Devil. I figured that you, the reader, would appreciate having a heads up prior to me taking a recess.

I have not decided on how long the break from publishing chapters of this story will be, but rest assured, it won't be longer than a few months. As always, thank you very much for your patience and support.