Chapter 10: That little problem

"Come on man…" Roy was soon left frustrated as he was unable to break more than a hundred and seven pushups. For some reason his body refused to tolerant discomfort by the time he went past a hundred reps. "I know I can do more...I am not out of shape am I…?"

Roy was in the hotel's gym trying his best to improve his physical state, having acknowledged that getting lazy despite his new life down here could cost him dearly. Better he was consistently in decent shape ready for any occurrence…rather than getting a cramp after running for merely a minute or even unable to support himself when needing to move something heavy like a troublesome demon. Yes, he was gifted with abilities unique even to Hell but something about that one encounter never sat well with Roy…

"Okay let's try deadlifts…" Being careful, he was thankful that Charlie's assistants were kind enough to provide him to with the proper attire and gear; he was wearing a proper lifting belt to cover for this workout. Taking his time, he thought about the times he took advice from sailors and marines who were essentially body builders compared to his lean ass. All those years and guidance was going to finally help him as lifting was not always his preferred approach towards staying in shape.

(Cardio-only won't help me in Hell…got to…be ready for anything…) At the very least the physical work he did when he was alive was making this easier than a newbie's first time. (Why didn't it come out when that cocksucker tried to mug me? I feel like Alastor was playing coy when I asked him about that…)

When he approached Alastor about that strange occurrence, he did not exactly get the answer that he was looking for. Of course, Alastor at the very least advised Roy to invest more time into improving himself when it came down to using his abilities to the fullest, which was something that he couldn't argue against. In fact, in the two weeks since that strange encounter Roy had decided to use his abilities more frequently to see if he could replicate the issue. Yet things worked as normally as he wanted to without any clear indications as to what went wrong beforehand.

"Ooh…" Now done with that work out, he sat down and reached for a towel in order to help dry his face and neck. "Fuck why is this so hard…I have to get better…" Standing up, he looked around and considered what to do next in order to get his proper workout for the day. It was strange that this was seemingly more difficult for him in Hell compared to when he was alive; at least from what he recalled, improving oneself especially with someone like him was never that difficult. At worst he would adapt within less than a week to surpass whatever physical limit he was at. Even by only slightly or significantly. Was this an effect when living in Hell? If so then there had to be something that demons did to overcome this alleged handicap. Especially if he was struggling with pushups alone.

(Maybe it's actually normal to struggle at a certain point…everyone is different right? Or something like that…fuck I wished I took the gym more seriously…) Roy decided to try some exercises involving the triceps as he wanted to be as thorough as he could be…then again, was he supposed to do this in a particular order even when focusing on one area of the human- demon body? He could not even remember that much. At least leg day was straight forward to him…

It would be another twenty minutes before Roy was finally done for the day. Stretching and wiping himself dry, he made his way towards a door that offered the best part of a workout. Thankfully, Charlie's family had the right mindset to put in a lovely sauna here in the gym where one could gain a lot of benefits from it. Sitting down, the temperature was once again on point as he was greeted with a lovely wave of dry heat.

"Fuck yeah..." Roy smiled as he closed his eyes after setting up the timer on his phone. Soon he was in complete bliss as he could feel himself detoxifying and the muscle tensions loosening already. "I should do this for an hour…"

"An hour sounds good actually."

"…" Roy opened his eyes and realized that Angel had joined him…as well as Cherri who he did not expect at all to show up. "What are you guys doing here?"

"Enjoying the sauna duh. Ahhh…." Cherri sighed loudly as she leaned back in her spot. "This place has everything!"

"Right? One of the perks being a resident here~" Angel Dust did the same as he closed his eyes while enjoying himself.

"Please tell me you two are wearing something under those towels."

"Why would we?"

Roy turned somewhat red when Cherri confirmed his suspicions about why they were completely wrapped in towels. "What the hell guys?!"

"What? It's the best way to enjoy a sauna! I do it all the time!" Angel insisted. Of course he was wearing around his waist whereas Cherri covered her entire figure. "Besides why are you wearing clothes?"

"I was working out Angel!"

"'Working out'?" Cherri looked over at Roy.

"Yeah, you know, with the equipment that is right outside?"

"Huh so that's why they're next to the sauna…" The cyclops glanced at the doorway. "Oh well~"

"…" Roy decided to simply ignore them as he closed his eyes and attempted to relax. At least they were also focused on just relaxing without saying anything.

"…"

"…"

"…"

"…So what are we doing today?"

"Ask Roy."

"Me?"

Cherri glanced at Roy and said, "We never really hang out. Not since you first came to this hotel place."

"I mean…" She wasn't wrong; Roy did not do much on his time off and simply relaxed in his room with his phone. "…what did you want to do exactly? I know you want me to suggest something but I can't think of anything since I am still settling in here. What is there to even do?"

Cherri did not need much time to consider. "We could go drinking, fuck with whoever we feel like, and…blow shit up?"

"I am sorry?" Something about Cherri's tone made him very uncomfortable. Yet he was soon reminded who he was talking to as Cherri went on and on about destroying shit. It was his fault for requesting elaboration as she wasn't shy about explaining the thrill of making shit get worse. "Don't you ever have consequences? Like pissing off an Overlord or something?"

"That depends; as far as I've seen only demons of lower status try to challenge me. While the Overlords run Hell for the most part, there are pockets of territory that is up for grabs." Cherri gave it another second thought. "Of course some of them are annoying like this snake demon Sir….whatever his fucking name is…"

"Oh god I forgot about him."

Noticing that Angel was looking disgusted at the mention of this snake demon, Roy's curiosity grew. "Snake demon huh?"

"Oh yeah the guy doesn't understand humor like he's fuckin' ten or some shit…" Angel did find some amusement during that funny encounter but not enough to where he wants to see that guy again. "But let me tell ya seeing Alastor deal with him did throw me off. At least I wasn't the one being sucked through some crazy dimension..."

"…What?" Roy was now confused. Alastor could open dimensions?

"Yeah… But I did like his henchmen; those egg fellas were pretty funny tho!" snickered Cherri.

"'Egg fellas'?"

"Yeah the guy had egg demon henchmen! Don't normally see those types of demons that often so it was pretty funny~"

"Now I am kinda envious; this guy sounds like a character."

"Trust me he ain't in a good way…" Angel grumbled about something as he leaned back and closed his eyes.

Cherri laughed as Roy was naturally confused due to his lack of understanding. "He's just mad because that guy we're talking about never understood his sexual innuendos."

Well that made sense in Roy's mind as he then asked, "So is he just completely oblivious or does he not understand? I mean what era is he from?"

"Hell if I know," said Cherri. "I stopped questioning that stuff…"

While he did want to know more, Roy felt that it was just better to relax while he could before the conversation escalated to something that he didn't like. This mostly because Angel was still here and had seemingly lost interest with the conversation. For now, Roy just relaxed and closed his eyes as well until the alarm on his phone went off some time later. When that happened Roy stood up and made his way out of the sauna where Cherri followed suit.

"You coming Angel?"

Angel did not bother opening his eyes. "Nah I think imma relax in this here sauna for the rest of the day."

Naturally that was an exaggeration, but Roy had no reason to protest otherwise. "Ciao then." Drying his face and grabbing his water bottle, he felt rejuvenated as his body temperature quickly stabilized. But now his attention shifted to Cherri who he was seemingly going to socialize with today…that wouldn't so bad right? It was not as if he had any reason to believe that Cherri would be any worse than Angel.

"Hey I am going to go shower so-" Roy then realized that Cherri was drying her face with the towel that she had covering her body. As one would expect, Roy's face grew completely red that would give her color scheme a run for its money. "H-HEY!"

"Yes?" Cherri continued to clean off the sweat that was on her body. "What, did you think that I was seriously naked under here?" A toothy grin appeared on her face as well as that devious eyebrow of hers taking shape. "Disappointed?"

"Honestly…just confused why you were wear a swim suit…"

"Why not? I am not into everything by how Angel likes to go about things."

"Well then that means that Angel also-"

"Oh no he's naked one-hundred percent."

Cherri snickered deviously as Roy looked away from her in disgust. A nice moment to stroke her ego as she then asked, "So where can I get a shower around here…?"

*Sometime later*

"I am pretty sure blowing up things is gonna come back to bite you Cherri…"

BOOM

"Eh not like they can see us from up here…"

BOOM

"You sure about that? I mean, how many floors-"

BOOM

"-are we from the ground level? Those buttons didn't exactly give us a clear-"

BOOM

"-indication. Seriously I couldn't tell what number was what."

BOOM

"Look I promise you that I come to this spot-"

BOOM

"-all the time. Never had anyone come after me."

Roy watched as another dynamite fell upon some poor demon bastard down below. While not a particular fan of heights, he had his fair share of spotting things from far above when he was alive. Not only that but his curiosity was getting the better of him as the next dynamite suddenly broke into various bits before exploding.

"How many kinds of dynamite do you even have…? I always thought that there was just the one?"

Cherri hummed as she looked to her bag and suddenly held up a finger. "…" Suddenly, a loud cry of pain and discomfort followed the next explosion. It should be noted that there was dialog of unbearable itching? "Okay looks like that one worked properly…"

Roy glanced down to see a small figure grinding against the ground and running their limbs across their body. "What was in that?"

"Some special ingredient of my own recipe; sometimes you just need your opponent to be occupied entirely. Like when making a getaway or to just buy yourself some time in general," explained Cherri as she was pulling out more dynamite. From a first glance they all looked quite similar with no unique traits whatsoever.

"So you get to use these that often- Holy shit he just set himself on fire!"

Blinking with her single eye, Cherri looked over at him for a moment before turning to her bag yet again. "Yeah seems like it's a generic demon; you know, those horned red skinned ones? They tend to be fireproof; putting yourself on fire is supposedly, in fact, relaxing to them because of it?"

"Wait, does that mean that-"

"Well you're lacking horns and you don't look generic; hell you're not a native demon to Hell so I doubt you're fireproof."

Holding his tongue, Roy did remember seeing those generic red skinned demons around so often. Imagine his surprise when he learned of actual demon families living in Hell and being the backbone of this society that he found himself in. "…Unless you're a flame demon? I mean those aren't exactly native are they?" he suggested for obvious reasons.

"You might be right…buuuuuut I can't confirm." Cherri smirked as she found what she was looking for and walked over to Roy. "This one is a favorite of mine…wanna toss it?"

Before Roy could respond, Cherri had immediately set the line on fire and tossed it to him. Naturally, Roy immediately responded by dropping it to the streets below them. This time both he and Cherri peeked over to see the dynamite land on the sidewalk before a group of demons. However, rather than it exploding like the others did, it only scared the demons away for a bit with no other occurrence following. Was it a dud?

"Is it-"

"Give it a second…" Cherri insisted as the demons who initially ran away came back out of curiosity. Like Roy they too were confused as to why it did not go off. After a little over ten seconds later however, a loud pop and bright flash occurred without warning.

Roy flinched in response to the sudden explosion that occurred. And if it was bright from where he was, he could only imagine what those poor demon bastards were going through. Especially when the cries of horror and suffering were soon heard not two seconds after the explosion.

"That did not as long as I thought it would…" Cherri held her chin as she continued to look at the scene below, seemingly unfazed by what occurred.

"And just how long was it suppose to last exactly?" asked Roy. He continued to rub his eyes and blink as his vision took a while to stabilize. "Jesus fuck that was bright…how'd you…?"

"Well it was suppose to last twenty-thirty seconds. The reason why I delay them for so long was to see if I can have more options with my explosives. Part of my passion is quality assurance after all."

"What, a detonator never crossed your mind? I mean surely you're tech savvy?"

Cherri laughed at the idea. "Yes I am well aware but I prefer being on a budget if I can afford that luxury~ Who fucking wants to waste their time wiring things together?"

Roy blinked as his vision was finally restored to the proper levels. "Hey I just figure someone as passionate as you would look in all areas," he said. "Besides how often do you get in fights with other demons that you have to use such variety?"

"Oh man don't get me fucking started on that…" Cherri seemed annoyed as she faced him with a look of displeasure. "Everyday it's always something: I bump into someone and they're just asking for it. I look at someone funny and they want to fuck with me. I flip them off and call them as they are and they want to die!"

"…"

"Someone like me needs to be able to defend herself when push comes to shove. And let me tell you that happens waaaay too much." Cherri lazily tossed another dynamite over the edge before crossing her arms. Soon, another explosion followed as well as a outcry from the victim(s).

"MY LEG!"

"Anyway my shit is working pretty well enough…wanna grab lunch?"

*Sometime later*

"Were you also thrown off by how well these places can be handled by the locals? I mean finding good pizza in a place like Hell is still fucking weird."

"Tell me about it: Niffty's cooking at the hotel still throws me off everyday. And I had amazing tea when Alastor invited me to a café."

"That strawberry pimp?"

"Yup."

"Well for the first couple of days I kept thinking that every food was somehow gonna poison me; I didn't even use any of the toilets for a good while…" Cherri sipped on her soda before letting out a loud sigh, all while leaning back on her chair with perfect balance. "Hell sleeping on a mattress seemed sketchy as fuck at first as well."

Roy also enjoyed his soda for a bit before following up with what she said. "You know I never thought of that stuff; honestly I guess meeting you and Angel made me come to terms a lot faster than most…"

Cherri glanced at Roy as she continued to lean back. "You're lucky; I didn't exactly had someone to look out for me for a good while…"

"Well then I guess I am lucky to have met you and Angel~" said Roy, even giving a modest smile. "Hell sucked a lot less when I met some pretty cool locals like you two looking out for me."

A grin was soon shown on Cherri's face as she corrected him on that last part. "I was actually gonna suggest to Angel that we mugged you the moment you left the bar until Mimzy convinced us to take you to that hotel that Angel was staying at."

"…" Roy stopped himself from taking another sip. "…What?"

"Well I didn't like how you looked at me and-"

"You called me a fucking ginger!"

"Because you looked like one! Don't get mad me because you are one!"

"But still- I was new and-"

"Easy prey! Survival of the fittest buddy."

"You fucking cunt!"

"Oh yeah like I haven't heard that before…"

"Order 147!"

"Alright food's here!"

Cherri ignored Roy's obvious anger as she waved at the demon who pulled out their order. Soon another demon came with the large pie and placed it on a stand. "God I am fucking starving…" Licking her lips, she immediately helped herself to a few slices onto her plate and happily took a bite.

Meanwhile Roy had no choice but to let it go as Cherri was no longer paying attention to him and was solely focused on eating. That being said, the pizza did look quite appealing and it had been ages since he enjoyed a good slice. (Probably ain't as good as back home…) Being a New Yorker, he naturally had his biased preference but the look and thinness did remind him of a solid pizzeria-style craft. In fact he soon made sure to apply red pepper, oregano, and the all so important parmesan onto his slices before folding his first and taking his first bite.

"…"

"…"

"…"

"…?"

"…"

"…Why are you crying?"

Cherri paused as Roy was dripping tears down his cheeks without having chewed for more than a few seconds. While Cherri soon went back to eating, her eye never left Roy who was seemingly unable to continue.

"…Holy fuck."

Cherri soon smiled as Roy was now destroying his slice and eating it with such passion that caused her to laughed. "What, did you think I would pick a shitty place? Ha forget it!"

"Hmmmhmmm!" Roy nodded in agreement as he soon finished the first slice and got to work on the second. Everything was amazing…the cheese, the meats, the vegetables, the crust! His mouth was screaming with joy as the vibrations he felt never settled down as he continued to eat. Occasionally he did drink more of his soda only to then jump onto the next slice and make short work of it. After a solid five minutes the rest was gone leaving the both of them with satisfaction. There was silence as they then took the time to finish their drinks and simply enjoy the moment before Roy broke the silence. "I am coming back here…"

"Of course we are," corrected Cherri as she licked her fingers for a bit. "I introduced you to this place so you better not come here without me; I need the excuse."

Roy raised an eyebrow as Cherri reached for a napkin to clean herself. "You don't need to watch your weight; you're in good shape."

"That's not what I mean; I am just lazy when it comes to doing stuff outside of my hobby." Clarifying with that, Cherri was soon clean before adding, "Do you care if Angel comes with us or not next time?"

Naturally, his response was, "As long as he doesn't ruin the mood; he at times ruins breakfast when he doesn't keep his mouth focused on his plate."

"Eh he's not so bad whenever we get food. The worse he ever was when we ate Puerto Rican food and he kept on hitting on the food truck's cook."

"I believe that."

"As you should. I know Angel loves to bullshit around but-"

"For real. The guy doesn't know how to be mature when it matters...going through his 'life' here in Hell without consequences." Roy had a displeased look on his face as he continued to criticize the spider demon.

"…" Cherri closed her eye before stating, "Cut him some slack Roy."

Roy looked at Cherri. "Why? He's too fucking-"

"Look just trust me okay? He…goes through a lot more shit than you think…"

"I-… Fine."

"…" Cherri knew that Roy still held the same opinion over Angel but hoped that he would eventually understand him one day.

*Sometime later*

Both Roy and Cherri continued to argue over what they considered to be the best horror film of all time, having both mutual respect for a shared favorite genre. It was not as simple as one would expect; both had gone into great detail in regard to how each respective direction and overall production over their respective favorite succeeded. Unsurprisingly Cherri had been on top of new films even during her time in Hell. Even going as far as to agree with Roy on how modern cinema wasn't as consistently entertaining as more classic/retro films. And of course, she did question him about the culture of a particular website/community on the internet…

"…Like that Jeff the Killer character…like I TRIED to get into that lore that they made for him but jesus he's a fucking disappointment…all he has going for him really is the way how his appearance is…"

"Eh a buddy of mine told me that he has a terrible fandom who takes away the fascination around him. Honestly I would randomly browse on YouTube to listen to stories and lore around whatever was popular from that community."

"Kinda wish we could communicate on Earth. Would be fun to spread my opinion on their crappy imagination."

"Knowing you, you would likely be canceled at a certain point…" Then again, would Cherri even care? As outspoken as she was, one had to wonder if she would change her approach towards how she expressed herself. Then again…

"Eh I don't give a fuck about those cucks…"

"Heh you make a good Sailor…actually you make a good Marine." (She even speaks like one…)

"Would I? I am sure I would get kicked out for running my mouth nonstop~" A smirk was on her face as she looked at him. "Of course, I could keep my mouth shut if I get to blow shit up~"

Roy rolled his eyes as he said, "If they allow you; aside from meeting the requirements not everyone automatically gets the job that they want in the military. So a bit of luck might be needed."

Cherri was unfazed by his words as she said, "I am a pretty lucky gal after all~"

"You died and ended up in Hell; I seriously doubt that."

Cherri's smirk finally vanished as her eye widened at his insult. "You dick!"

"OW!"

Cherri grinned as she landed a solid punch against Roy's vulnerable shoulder. Satisfied with his reaction, she said, "I am guessing you sailors have gotten softer compared to the last generation~"

"Heh, while you're not wrong, you punch harder than most…" Roy continued to rub his shoulder hoping that the pain would disappear sooner. "You had a lot of fights prior to coming here?"

"I've had my share…" Cherri looked across the street thinking back to when she was alive. "But my bread and butter is still making things go 'boom'. Speaking of…" Looking at Roy, she always forgot to ask him this one important question. "…did you ever get to blow things up?"

Smirking, he looked forward and said, "Sadly no. All I did was arm stuff on the jets just as I said when we first met. It would be cool to see something that I armed actually being used, but when they came back without said explosives all I could do was imagine the results."

"I mean…that's still pretty fun to think about." Cherri moved a bit closer to Roy before asking, "Did you…ever keep count of whatever was gone whenever they came back from their mission?"

"At first I did; I saw one squadron with a jet that had count lines on it but my squadron was never into doing that. I would hear rumors around the exact number from my squadron or others."

"What of confirmed kills? Did they-"

"I honestly never heard a consistent number…because I never tried to look that much into it."

This confused Cherri who had to ask, "How come?"

Stopping at a corner, Roy looked to the side while rubbing his neck. "…" Closing his eyes for a moment, he finally looked at Cherri to explain himself. "Well, I kinda want to imagine my own number of confirmed kills and that said kills were always our targets and no one else."

Cherri was confused by that last statement and so she allowed Roy to elaborate.

"It's not a pleasant thought but there's always a chance of a casualty from either one of our own or innocent civilians. Now I never heard anything so much as a rumor of said casualties caused by our aircraft but that lingering thought in the back of my mind is always there…I just want to trust that nothing of the sort has happened in recent memory nor has any squadron that I've been in- or ship- been responsible for such a thing."

Cherri looked at Roy for a moment as she took in his words. "…Okay I get it. But you would like to know the truth regardless, right? I mean I get that you don't want to think about it and live in pure ignorant bliss…but that lingering thought wants you to accept the truth right?"

It was not had for Roy to answer that question. "Well yes? I know that I'll have to live with whether or not what I've done has actually contributed to taking the life of another. I really don't know how effective any of the ordnance my squadron has contributed in taking out terrorists. Just as I don't know if any of it has accidently taken the wrong targets. But if I ever learned the truth, I would come to terms with it."

Cherri gave a slight nod but was a bit critical of Roy's view on the matter. "I mean if you're in doubt why even join the military?"

This time, Roy felt partially salty with her obvious perspective. "Not everyone joins the military as a main interest to contribute in taking the life of others Cherri."

"But it's part of the job right?"

"YES but that doesn't mean that it's on everyone's mindset; everyone joins for different reasons. Are there those who joined just to shoot others? Yeah. Are those those who want to somehow contribute to killing others? Yeah. But there are those who don't care whether or not if they're somehow involved. There are people who could simply repair things, give medical assistance, work in admin or even just serve food. The military is very diverse with the people in it; what we did and what we currently do is just part of the job and we don't necessarily have that as motivation to why we enlisted. We're human beings with various mindsets and we're not automatically evil…or good. I mean people called me a 'hero' and thanked me for my service the moment I stepped out of basic training or even before I went onto a ship for the first time in my life. I've known pieces of shit who worked as fire-fighters and great kind-hearted people who worked the guns on ships."

"Meaning?"

This time, Roy leaned in and said, "Meaning we're no different than civilians; I can be either a terrible human being or a wonderful human being, regardless if I was in the military or not. Because in the end I am still my own person."

"Is that so?" Cherri laughed a bit at his logic…especially since she still considered one thing. "And what of those affected by such working environments? Surely they change right? PTSD for example?"

Roy's expression softened a bit when that was brought up. But once again he knew how to answer that. "Stressful work environments change people; the military may be known for that but it exists everywhere…still, I never blamed those who are severely affected mentally in an unhealthy matter. I could only blame…myself or others for not having done anything to help when we could have…" Roy looked up at the sky as he thought about an incident that occurred a few years ago. He then realized how much he just spoked in this conversation of theirs. "Sorry, didn't mean to go deep or even give a lecture on this stuff… I guess I am just-"

"Eh you're good; I really don't give a fuck as to what your reasons are." Cherri grinned as Roy was naturally unamused by her remark. "But I am glad you and I are cool enough to share stuff like that with one another." A gentle smile formed on her face as Roy's expression took a turn yet again. She then nudged him to follow her so that they could continue walking. "I get what you're saying overall: military or not they're human beings like you and me- well you and me are currently demons but I guess human or demon, we can be shitty or decent regardless right?"

Thankful for her statement, Roy gave a slight nod of approval as they crossed the street without issue. "Thanks for listening…I actually like talking to you; I am glad we're hanging out today… Just you and me you know? I think you're cooler to hang out with than Angel…but don't tell him that hahaha."

A slight red blush formed on Cherri's face for the first time today. Actually appreciating that compliment, she said, "Right back at ya. It's cool just hanging out you know?" A pleasant smile formed on her face once again as they continued to walk. Compared to most demons, this guy was actually not as shitty as most demons became when they stayed in Hell long enough. Sure it was not even a month but Roy never seemed to be a terrible induvial at heart. "So why did you join?"

At first Roy did not understand what she asking until she reminded him what they were just talking about. "Oh, well I actually wanted to be a pilot."

"Really?"

"Yeah I saw the film Top Gun with my dad when I was a kid and wanted to be one so badly. My dad was randomly watching off his DVD collection and he happened to be playing it. Ever since then, the music, the atmosphere, and seeing Tom Cruise and Val Kilmer go at it made me want to fly a jet so badly." Roy looked up to the sky again with a smile that indicated his nostalgic rush. "I knew the first step was getting in the Navy."

"No way? Top Gun got you into wanting to fly jets?" Finding it somewhat corny yet charming, she asked, "So what happened? Were you on your way to become one?"

This time, Roy's smile had softened when he remembered reality. "…Not exactly. I couldn't really get into one of the programs that would set me on the path to become a pilot. My scores weren't exactly high and I was lacking in certain areas that would make me qualified. I figured that getting involved in aviation within the Navy would open doors and set me on the path. But during the first ten years I kinda settled with what I had. Really rough at first but I lived a pretty fun life regardless so what was there to complain?"

"Opf that has to suck. But hey you were seemingly content…" Cherri stopped as a wave of traffic impacted a few pedestrians before it was clear for them to go. "By the way, what's it's like being at sea for a fucking long time? How do you pass the time?"

"Well when we're not working…movies, books, video games, and just eating a lot of snacks."

"Must have gotten fat huh?"

"Ha, some people would lose their fitness. The 'gym' was always limited with space and so people had to improvise." Roy stepped aside as two demons were going at it on the sidewalk and continued on. "In the hanger you would see people doing group sessions of martial arts or anything to get them physically moving. Of course, people like me would do pushups in the berthing or just pullups- if you could- anywhere you can."

Cherri looked at Roy for a moment before stating the obvious. "You don't look like you're in particular good shape; you were struggling before we used the sauna."

"Hey now I try- Wait, you guys were watching me?"

"Duh; we waited until you went into the sauna so that we could hang in there together. We couldn't tell if you knew what you were doing or not."

Roy felt himself going red when he realizes that they were being coy during their time in the sauna. "I tried alright?"

"Try harder next time hahaha!"

"Hey that's my line-"

Cherri looked at him. "Since when?"

"Since always!"

"Eh it's not that original; I've heard it from others before."

"Still-" Roy however let it go as he admittedly picked that line up from the old neighborhood growing up. "…Anyway, what do you wanna do now?"

Cherri tapped her chin. "…Wanna catch a flick?"

*Sometime later*

"Kinda cliché that the guy didn't speak English for the sake of the plot…"

"Yeah but considering his age, was a standard to learn English in Norway during his time? I mean it's set in the '80s so for him growing up-"

"Opf nice shot!"

Roy paused as the Norwegian was shot directly in the face by one of the American characters. Feeling retro and having this film on their minds, both he and Cherri decided to watch and enjoy some classic films at her place. With snacks and drinks well-stocked in her fridge, binging movies was a most certain thing to do at her place.

"Kinda want a dog of my own…but you know, without the responsibility."

"I think they're worth it." Roy finished his soda before going back to the popcorn. "Lots of lovely dogs in a big home to play and wrestle with…that's my Heaven."

"Animal lover eh?"

"Yeah I actually had a boxer back home-…" Roy paused for a moment as he once again felt homesick but powered through. "You like animals in general?"

Cherri watched as the alien moved into the dog pen in disguise. "When I was a kid I always wanted to interact with whatever looked cute; like pandas, squirrels, and even large orangutans."

"Orangutans?"

Cherri nodded as she ate more popcorn and grinned when the 1980s practical effects were displayed in the movie. She then said, "One time I saw one talking via sign language on TV and thought: 'holy shit we can actually talk with them?'. Ever since I wanted to learn sign language and have a full-blown conversation with one that knew it. But I got lazy the older I got."

"I know the feeling…" Roy smirked as they continued to enjoy the flick, opening another can of soda and handing it to Cherri before helping himself to his own. "Things change when you age…"

"Ahem to that…" Cherri gently pressed her can against his before they both shared a moment to drink. "Aww he's sad!"

"Shit living in Antarctica with nothing to do, I would be sad that I lost some of what brought me joy too."

Both smirked as they continued to watch the film, getting more and more into it as things escalated. Soon they finished and moved onto the next film: Alien. But before that, Roy stood up to relieve himself.

"So where's the bathroom?"

"Bucket's in the corner."

Roy looked at her. "Wha-"

"I am just fucking with you haha! But in all seriousness down the hall on your left."

Soon they felt another wave of retro bliss as things escalated to what you would expect. Grinning was a must as some iconic moments were hitting in the way that one would expect.

"God I love Sigourney Weaver…"

"How come she doesn't do more cool roles like this?" Cherri's brow narrowed as the thought seemingly pissed her off. "I wanna see her in big mainstream films again…"

"Hey she's coming back in the Avatar sequels; media will be all over her again."

"Eh that movie sucked."

"What?" Roy looked at her in disbelief; he was biased but it was a pleasant memory for him when he was a high schooler. "That film broke records-"

"Why because James Cameron directed it? 'Guy sides with the natives against the evil foreigners that he was once part of'. REALLY fucking original…" Cherri crushed a can of soda before reaching for another and opened it. People wouldn't give two fucks about it if it was any other director and the marketing behind it needed little effort…did like the effects tho…"

Before Roy could protest, the title character began to burst out of a human character where Cherri cheered for obvious reasons. Even Roy had to pause and grin at the iconic scene before shifting back to his previous emotion. "Anyway- Avatar was a fun movie to watch! Don't be close-minded!"

"You're just high on nostalgia; aside from the special effects it does not hold up as impactful as other films that are still considered really good even to today." Cherri glanced at him with her one good eye. "And no we're not watching it after this…"

"Whatever…" Roy sat down but immediately became distracted as things escalated once again in the film, causing the two of them to cheer and comment on it.

*Sometime later*

"Sure you wanna go? It's technically late enough for breakfast now." Cherri leaned against her doorframe with arms crossed. "Maybe you wanna get some food at a diner or something?"

"I am on a sleep schedule that I want to keep consistent, and I want some time to myself before I get into that sleep schedule." Roy rubbed his eyes before letting out a yawn.

"Whatever. I had fun."

"Same. We gotta do this again sometime."

Smirking, Cherri gave a thumbs up before leaning back and closing the door. "Later~"

"Good night~" said a pleased Roy as he walked away before yawning a second time. (Man I ate too much junk food…) Rubbing his stomach, their binge-watching activity saw them consume so much popcorn…and nachos at one point. And was there also chocolate? (I can't even remember how many films we watched…like five or six? Wait was there more?) Regardless it was really fun and perhaps the most fun he had in recent memory.

Walking down the sidewalk, he soon found himself in the more active part of the city yet again. At least during this time it was consistently active regardless as he held his hand out and soon had a ride to the hotel. Entering the taxi, he stated his destination and looked at his phone in order to pass the time.

"About time I found someone; it's been a boring night."

"What, don't people need to get around?"

"You would think that but hey everyone tends to drive home drunk instead."

"Are people that stupid in Hell?"

"Ha you must be new! But honestly it's because there are sketchy folks down here since…well since it is Hell."

"I get it. But still convenience is…"

Roy paused as he realized that the driver was pointing a gun at him. Without realizing it, the cab driver had pulled into an alley and parked where the two of them could have some alone time. As expected, Roy looked at the barrel before looking at the driver for a few moments.

"So you're not a taxi driver…"

"Oh no I am; there's just a policy that I have when I am not meeting my desired quota; sometimes I need to make up for the amount of money that I didn't get hehehe…" A loud click was heard as he leaned the gun closer to Roy's direction.

A slight nod was responded by Roy. "Understandable. But I think you want to reconsider when you think about who you're aiming that gun at…"

"Oh I know who I am aiming this at: a wealthy looking moron who thought that they could lower their guard with a taxi driver this late at night."

"Okay I admit I deserved that." Holding up his hands, he nodded again while looking to the side for a moments. "But seriously: you're gonna regret it."

"I'll take my chances buddy."

"Okay."

RNNNHHHHHHH

Roy watched as the demon struggled and muffed against the black chains that compressed his arm against his face. It was obvious that Roy was still not as well-known as he assumed he would be by this point. Struggling with all his effort, the demon could not break free and had trouble coming to terms with what just happened, allowing Roy to simply open the door and step out. Despite his best efforts, the demon could only shoot upwards into the roof of his car until he ran out of bullets. At the very least, Roy slightly flinched due to the loud sound but was used to greater audio hazards.

"Should've taken an Uber…do they have Uber in Hell? Yeah wait, Angel did tell me about that…" Roy soon found himself on the sidewalk again as he looked at his phone. There had to be an app somewhere as he continued to walk down the block, even considering to call Niffty who offered to be of assistance at any time he needed. Of course, he did not want to rely on her each time he needed to get around.

(Huh four stars aren't bad…wait is this demon wearing a gas mask?) thought Roy as he looked at his options. Turning at the corner, he weighed his options before deciding on an apparent Hell Hound driver where he then stood still and waited his ride. Five minutes was not so bad, and he had no issue waiting slightly longer to get home.

"…"

As leaned against the bricked wall, he took a moment to glance across the street. Like on the sidewalk he was on, there were various demons walking by dealing with their own business this early in the morning. Hell society was fascinating to an extent as he saw some businesses just now closing shop and retiring for the time being. It made him wonder if he could get anything he wanted for a majority of a 24-hour period should ever the need. While it at least made sense for food, a tailor shop was still opened around this time?

(It's never boring here at least…) Removing his hat, he looked to the side before looking at his phone again, seeing that his ride was only a couple blocks away. Keeping an eye out for the red vehicle, he placed his phone away for a moment and then noticed something:

Across the street at the corner, a somewhat short demon was making direct eye-contact with Roy. From what he could tell, this demon was a typical generic "red" demon wearing a black wool cap, red sweater, and black cargo shorts with black sneakers. Not particularly threatening but clearly someone who thought that Roy was an object of interest.

(What's that kid's deal? If he is a kid…) Roy couldn't be one-hundred percent sure as he continued to make unyielding eye-contact with the demon. Eventually, the demon seemingly lost interest and walked away in the other direction. "…" Roy looked at his phone one more time before realizing that his ride was about to make an appearance. With that, he spotted his Uber ride and held up a hand once to be spotted easier.

"So you're going to this 'Happy Hotel'?"

"Yes sir…" Roy entered the car as the Hell Hound was verifying where they were going, soon leaning against his seat with his eyes closed. He was really looking forward to getting home so that he could get some sleep.

"Sounds like a gay bar."

"It's not."

"If you say so." Soon, the car began to move and travel to Roy's desired destination. "Never heard of it before. Actually wait, I think I saw something about it on TV-"

BOOOOOOOOM

What happened next naturally took Roy by surprise, as the car began to flip over causing him to immediately open his eyes just as he made eye-contract with the road that they were driving on. Bracing himself against the seat in front of him, the driver cried out in horror as their mutual view then shifted to what was behind them not two seconds ago. The grind that followed naturally caused Roy to instinctively hunch down- (or up in this case)- as the car traveled a good distance before stopping to a halt. The sound of metal shifting thanks to the now unbalanced weight of the car stunned Roy quite a bit. Especially since the lack of a seat belt caused him to gently drop down with a disapproving grunt.

"What the actual fuck…" Roy saw that his driver was knocked out with a poorly patched airbag pressing against him. (Why the fuck are there stiches on it…) However that was pointless to question since he had more important things to worry about. Such as making his way out through the now empty window frame on the now broken door. Carefully, he avoided resting too much pressure on the broken glass…only to realize that it was plastic. "Why the fuck is this car so cheap?" Again, he asked a pointless question as he stood up and rubbed his shoulder, before spotting his hat on the ground and reached for it.

"…" Roy paused as he made eye contact with another demon. This one, actually made him mad when he saw what the demon was holding in his hands and was clearly the one responsible for his ride tipping over. Slowly, he stood up straight while glaring at the demon with utter anger before gently placing his hat on his head again.