Vox looked down at the bloody spear in his hands. To say the least, The TV Demon had a lot on his mind...

To think he just killed his ex mere minutes ago was a shocking revelation. There weren't any dramatic speeches, no show-downs of ultimate proportion, no, it was none of that. It wasn't anything like how he saw in those movies, where the hero stood triumphantly over the villain before ending them with some speech of how their reign of terror was over.

Granted, this didn't apply mainly because Vox wasn't a hero in the first place, but also because he hadn't even gotten the chance to have some last laugh. To have triumphant last words that would bring impact.

In his fit of rage, Vox had stabbed Val, killing the moth for good but ultimately, it felt like a Pyrrhic victory, leaving him and the others empty and unable to get closure.

Val had technically got away with shooting Velvet and while Vox prevented him from doing anything to Alastor, the matter of Velvet's sudden demise would ultimately be left unresolved, as his hasty intervention pretty much ruined any chance of Val facing justice in a meaningful way.

In a way, Vox did fault himself for killing Val immediately, as there was no way for Val to be confronted by those he had wronged. All those people Val had hurt, had killed even, wouldn't be able to get the proper solace in his demise.

That didn't even get to the last laugh...

But he did feel fear. Fear at the notion of telling Vol what became of Velvet. It wasn't like they didn't know the risks coming here, but given how close they were, he knew telling Volastor what became of her would be painful.

Worst part was that Velvet's body was nowhere to be found, meaning they couldn't even bury her properly in the event they succeeded in rescuing Vol in the first place.

They weren't sure what exactly happened to her body, but Vox merely assumed it had become displaced during the fight. It was the only logical explanation he could think of, other than the preposterous idea she got up on her own two feet and just left the area while the chaos was happening.

In the end, Vox believed this was more or less a Pyrrhic victory, as Val managed to take another person with him to the grave. He may have killed Val, but the moth got away with a lot in the long-run.

Still, as they were walking, Vox noticed a trail of foot-prints becoming visible in the dirt,"Hey guys, you see that in the dirt?"

"Yeah," Angel nodded,"Strange, I don't remember seeing foot-prints before. Looks like someone was here before us. Though I don't get who, considering the size of this print doesn't look like it belongs to anyone currently present."

Indeed, when compared to any of their feet, it was pretty clear I don't belong to them. Not only did it lack a visible heel, but it seemed far more dainty in comparison, lacking a heel unlike the bottom of their shoes/boots respectively.

Alastor knelt down a bit, feeling the dirt before saying,"They're fresh as well. I doubt they're even an hour old. Whoever was here had a bit of a head-start…"

"Wanna see where they lead?" Angel asked,"I mean, we're clearly not getting anywhere at this point. I swear, I'm getting more lost by the minute. Every turn looks the same to me."

"I don't think we have much of a choice," Vox retorted,"Though we should be careful. On the off-chance we run into another one of Lucifer's cronies we should be on guard…"

"Considering you're the one who has a spear, I believe we're more than prepared for a fight…"

Vox fell silent, merely nodding as they followed the trail with raised guards. For once, however, it seemed their luck had turned around, as the footsteps seemed to end at a ladder. It seemed like it hadn't been used and covered in dust and grime.

"Well boys, looks like this our way out. Let's climb…"

And so they did.

When they got on the other side of the hatch, Vox and Alastor quickly realized they were in the forest area that they had seen whenever they went to Lucifer's mansion, it was located just outside of the gates. That meant they had to be close-by.

Still, Vox noticed the footprints were still there and decided to follow them to see where they would lead. They hadn't failed them now, may as well go see what awaited them.

As they were walking, the three men became on guard when they heard footsteps approaching them, Vox hissed,"Everyone, weapons ready…" The last thing they wanted was a repeat of last time, so they were prepared to strike first."Not this time asshole! We're not falling for this trick twice!"

"Woah, what the fuck are you three doing!?" Baxter shouted as he put his hands in the air,"Put those weapons down you crazy psychos! You can't just wave those weapons around, especially you, Vox! That's a holy weapon, you know how dangerous that is!"

"Hey, what's going on?" Niffty asked,"Al, why are you attacking Baxter?"

Alastor looked away sheepishly,"Sorry darling, we believed Baxter was another enemy. We had an encounter previously and we didn't want to take any chances…"

"Another enemy?" Sir Pentious asked,"You met someone?"

"What? You didn't?" Angel inquired.

"No. Outside of the ceiling nearly collapsing on us, we managed to get out with little issue. The only difficulty was traversing the passageway, but we eventually found our way out.."

"Lucky," Angel muttered,"We ran into Val down there. I'm not sure how the hell he knew we were there, but Val lured Velvet away. I think he was trying to convince her to join him but she cut his arms off and we managed to find her standing over him."

Husk paused,"Speaking of Velvet, where is she anyway? I swore she was with you guys..."

"Val shot her…" Vox mumbled,"With a holy bullet to be precise. Val must've had a holy revolver in his pocket because he used it to shoot her before she could cut his other set of arms off. It would've been a complete loss on our part had I not managed to sneak up on Val and kill him, but even then, the damage had already been done. We couldn't even salvage her body, we lost her completely."

Everyone looked down, even those who didn't know Velvet very well seemed somewhat saddened by her apparent demise.

"Dammit," Sir Pentious cursed,"I can't believe this. I can't believe she's gone…"

"There's no use dwelling on it. All of us were aware of the risks coming here, we knew there was a chance we wouldn't make it out alive. Velvet made her choice, we cannot let her demise get in the way of the mission, no matter the cost."

"He's right," Baxter said,"I'm sorry for your losses, but we cannot help Velvet anymore. However, we can help Volastor, assuming Lucifer hasn't killed him yet, we can still save him. And the only way we're going to do that is if we get into that mansion…"

"But how?" Husk asked,"There are too many guards. We'll never get in."

From the forest clearing, they could see the entrance to Lucifer's mansion. Husk motioned to the guards that were surrounding the area. If they had to guess how many there were, there had to be at least thirty, all of them armed with guns. While they didn't appear to be forged with holy metal, they could still easily be over-run by these people if they rushed in.

"Hmm…" Alastor mused,"There's got to be a way to get rid of these people…"

After a brief moment of silence, Baxter snapped his fingers,"I got an idea! Hey Sir Pentious, mind if we use your egg army as a distraction?"

"I don't see why not, it's not like they're doing anything. But what type of distraction do you have in mind?"

"Just a bit of a...colorful one.." Baxter said this as he pulled out his bag of equipment,"I spent an entire week on this batch of bombs. I figured they'd come in handy. Given you have several hundred minions, I figured you'd let them be hooked up with these bombs to serve as a distraction."

"Are you sure about this?" He inquired,"This might not work…"

"That's all we've got. The only way we're getting in is with a suitable distraction. And trust me, the moment anyone shoots one of them, the bomb is gonna blow up in their face, so it'll be worth it in the long run. Besides, it's not like you haven't used them to fight before, why not use them again so that Vol can be saved? He's your friend too, you know…"

Sir Pentious sighed,"Fine. If this ends up saving Vol, I'll let them do it."

With that said, the egg bois were suited up with bombs on their chests. After strapping them all up, Sir Pentious gave them the signal to charge at the gates of the mansion.

The guards at the front were blissfully unaware of this plot, one even asking,"Jim, this job is so boring…"

"Trust me, Brad. I know. But we still gotta do it. The pay is decent and it's not like anyone really comes to attack. No one would dare mess with Lucifer…" The guard then paused,"Hey wait a second, what the fuck is that?"

"What is what?"

"Those egg creatures? What the fuck are they doing? And why are they coming towards us?"

"Hell if I know," Jim muttered,"All I know is that I'm going to shoot them because they're invading Lucifer's territory. Remember what Doom and Ada said, don't let any intruders inside at all costs…"

"Agreed."

And thus they fired at several egg bois, only to be surprised the bomb detonated and blew up.

"What the fuck!? Why'd it blow up!?"

"I don't know!"

They tried to shoot more of them, however there were so many and the two soldiers guarding the front were quickly over-run.

"Ack! Fuck, get these little buggers off of me! There's too many of them!"

"I can't!"

They were so over-run that Jim attempted to shoot the ones on his body, however this caused a chain reaction that ended up blowing up a good portion of the front area, the gate had been totally busted as a result. The remaining egg bois used their numbers to charge in, carrying guns blazing.

The hazbins immediately came out from their hiding spot and aided in the fight as reinforcements were called in, several hordes of Lucifer's men coming out of hiding. To say the least, it was a blood-bath. Guns were drawn, curses shouted, people were fighting like mad-men as deafening explosions were heard all across the battle-field.

Still, as the fight went on, slowly Sir Pentious's egg army began to dwindle during the battle and eventually were all used up. Lucifer had a lot of people on his force and even with the explosions, they still seemed to be able to survive the onslaught of chaos.

However, all good things had to end, as while the fighting took place, the chaos seemed to draw the attention of the bigger fish. Baxter was firing his gun at several guards; he suddenly felt someone slash his cheek with razor sharp claws, causing him to flop onto the ground,"Grah!"

The angler fish struggled, coughing and wheezing, feeling the side of his cheek as navy blue blood gushed from the side of cheek. He looked up to see Ada standing above him, her claws stained with blood, eyes cold and calculating.

"We meet again, fish. I must say, you came a lot farther than I thought you would. However, you and your friend's journey ends here. I know you're here to find that fusion friend of yours. To think you managed to convince an entire team of people to go on this reckless mission is quite impressive. Though I'm afraid I cannot let you pass, your presence hinders Lord Lucifer's plans and all threats must be disposed of."

Baxter scowled,"I don't give a shit about Lucifer's plans! He kidnapped my friend and we're gonna get him back!"

Ada chuckled, choking the smaller demon, claws digging into his flesh,"That's where you're wrong, the fusion needs to be eliminated."

"Why!?" Baxter shouted, struggling to breath,voice becoming raspy,"What the fuck has Vol done that would make Lucifer want to kill him!?"

"Nothing really, though he did cause Cherri a few problems. Regardless, anomalies in the hierarchy either serve under Lucifer or they perish, and your fusion friend refused to be Lord Lucifer's servant. I don't understand why though, most demons would kill for such an opportunity.."

"Probably because unlike some people, he doesn't like being Lucifer's bitch," Baxter spat,"But then again, you might actually be into that shit. Probably want to fuck that prick, don't you? After all, you seem like Lucifer's professional dick-sucker when his wife isn't around. Must suck knowing he'll never love a cold-hearted bitch like you, huh?"

Truthfully, Baxter didn't know if what he was saying was right, but whatever twisted the knife was fine in his eyes, smirk widening.

Ada looked enraged by this accusation,"You talk too much. I believe gutting you and letting you bleed out would shut you up once and for all…" She raised her left claw and stabbed Baxter right in the chest, blood staining her hands.

"D-Dammit…"

"Hmph, that stupidly easy. Didn't even pose much of a fight…" Ada murmured to herself,"Oh well. That's one down, now to get rid of the others…" She directed her sights on Sir Pentious and smirked,"Perfect. Target locked, time to eliminate…"

Meanwhile, Vox and Alastor were fighting back to back, Vox using his spear to hold off the shoulders while Alastor smacked them with his staff. This seemed to work at first, however they quickly found themselves becoming over-run.

"Fucking hell!" Vox hissed,"There's so many assholes over here! Lucifer has way too many henchmen and we have too little people for this mission!"

"We can't give up!" Alastor huffed, refusing to stand down despite being tired,"We came this far, we can't fall to Lucifer's soldiers…"

"There's too many of them!" Vox growled. Despite their strategy, it appeared that Lucifer had loads of demons under his command and more just kept coming no matter how many they took out. Take one down and five rose up in their place, a never-ending cycle and a sign of a losing battle.

The other hazbins didn't have much of a better time, as they were having the same predicament. No matter how many they shot, it was like more kept coming in their place. It seemed Lucifer had a near endless supply of loyal drones willing to throw themselves at intruders who dared to bust into the palace.

"Give it up, you two," Doom called,"You're merely delaying the inevitable. You know you cannot win this fight. I suggest you two surrender and stand down before you end up hurting yourselves."

"Like hell!" Alastor shouted,"I'll die fighting before I stand down!"

"That's a shame, you both know that all you'd have to do is swear allegiance to Lucifer for the rest of your afterlife and this incident could be made up for in due time. Otherwise, I'll have to end your lives…"

Vox scoffed,"We're not becoming Lucifer's lap-dogs if that's what you're asking. I'd rather let God himself smite me with lighting before I kneel to Lucifer and his bullshit rules. I know you're Lucifer's ultimate dick-sucker, Doom, but unlike some people, we have enough self-respect for our own image to not want to be Lucifer's slaves."

Doom seemed offended,"For a man on the losing side, you sure know how to run your mouth, Vox. Especially considering you're the one who let Valentino boss you around for years…"

"At least I never let Val own my fucking soul," Vox hissed, spear aimed in his direction,"I even managed to kill that bastard, something that you'd never be able to do. I'm free from Val's influence, you'll never be free and you'll just live your life sucking the dick of a man who only views you as a tool in the end. That's just pathetic…"

"But I'm the one who is ultimately going to leave this encounter alive and that's what matters," He sneered,"Tell me Vox, what do you and Alastor plan on doing? We outnumbered your army by a land-slide. What do you truly plan on doing? Even if you did manage to somehow beat us, Lucifer will kill you the moment he locks eyes with you, so your mission is ultimately for nothing. You lose either way…"

Vox didn't respond, refusing to give Doom an answer to his question. Still, the fact neither he or Alastor stood down was a sign they were going to be defiant until the very end.

"Hmph. So you two are going to play that way. So be it, your stubbornness will be your undoing, just like how it'll be your fusion's undoing once Lucifer is done with him…" Doom then pulled out a holy gun and prepared to fire at the two, only for Husk to swoop in and grab him at the last second, causing his shots to miss-fire and hit several armed guards instead, killing them instantly,"ARGH! Let go of me you crazy cat!"

"Like Hell I will!" Husk snarled,"You're coming with me, dick-head! Enjoy the ride, cuz it's gonna be a hellish one!" Husk then lifted him into the air,dragging him around like a rag-doll.

"Husker!? What are you doing!?"

"Saving you asses? I'm taking this asshole out of the picture! You two better go help the others, they need it more than I do!" Husk said this as he flew off, carrying the spider overlord with him, who violently protested being dragged off into the air.

Vox and Alastor made quick work of the other soldiers before running in to assist the others. They were fighting the other soldiers, however when they noticed Sir Pentious's disappearance, Vox shouted,"FUCK! That crazy bitch with the claws has him!"

"Aw, what's such a rude thing to say, Vox…" Ada chuckled,"You know, your group of miss-fits are proving to be quite troublesome. Though I think it's time I put all of you down like the rapid dogs you are, after all, you're all just pests. You cannot get in the way of Lucifer's ideals. And really, what do you all plan on doing? You're all exhausted, that much is clear. You're low on your hopes and you know you cannot win, no matter how hard you try. You may as well give up…"

Vox scowled, he hated to admit it, but Ada was right. All of them were tired from fighting, even he and Alastor were mentally and physically fatigued. They could barely fight and they were surrounded by several guards, guns pointed in all directions.

"There's nowhere to run, nowhere to hide either. Either surrender now and face the judgment of Lucifer or be killed, those are your options. Make a choice, because I'll kill this worthless snake if you refuse to come quietly…" She said this while having Sir Pentious's neck just in her grasp, preparing to slice him at any moment.

Before anyone could give a proper response, everyone noticed a small blur of land near Ada's foot. It took them all a moment to realize what it was, but by the time Ada did, it had already exploded in her face, causing her to scream out in pain.

Sir Penitous was dropped to the floor,rubbing his head in agony. He then looked up and to everyone's shock, saw Cherri Bomb standing on a ledge with a bomb at her side,"Hey Edgelord, recognize me? It's been a while since we've seen each other!"

"Cherri Bomb...What are you doing here?"

"Saving your tail," She replied flatly, rolling her singular eye.

Ada then snarled,"You traitor! How dare you attack me! I let you in when you were on your last legs and this is how you repay me!? By throwing a bomb at my feet?"

"Eh, sorry lady, but I ain't working for you anymore. We're done," Cherri shrugged,"Nothing personal, but this is where we part ways."

"Why you little arrogant brat! You'll pay for this!" Ada screamed, now breaking her composure as she expressed pure virtuality towards Cherri Bomb, preparing to kill her."Know that you made a great mistake, Cherri. Even if you join this band of mis-fits, you will face judgment for your betrayal. You cannot face our entire army and will die a traitor. Who will you call for help? No one can save you now…"

"Actually, you're wrong…" Cherri said,"I may not be able to take your entire army, but I know someone else who can…"

"Oh yeah? Who?"

"ME!" A strong shout cried out, everyone's attention turning to see Charlie in her full-demon, horns protruding out of her skull and red eyes. She stepped forward, fist clenching and eyes narrowed at the bloody battle-filed before her before charging forward.``I've stood by for far too long, I've let people weaker than me fight against even my Father. I realize now that I've been a coward, but I won't repeat the same mistake. Vaggie told me I should stay at the hotel, where it's safe, but I can't do it anymore. Which is why...I have to fight you all…"

To say the least, Charlie was making quick work of those before her. The other hazbins didn't even have to do anything as Charlie decimated those who fought her, using her powers and hand-to-hand combat to her advantage. The scariest part was that Charlie hadn't said a word the entire time, merely dispatching them without batting an eye, a frown present on her face.

By the time Charlie was done, Ada was the only one still standing, who seemed to shrink when Charlie's eyes locked onto her. Charlie prepared to approach her, likely to deliver a final blow.

However when she was about to head over there to finish the job, she and everyone else present were stunned to see her body crystallized into an icy form, as if she were a statue. The next thing everyone knew, she was suddenly shrunk to the size of a glass bottle and where she once stood was Baxter, who seemed to be clutching his still bleeding side with a visible limp, glasses dangling off his face.

"G-Gotcha bitch…" He chuckled weakly before placing her body in a glass bottle for safe-keeping,"That should hold you for a while…"

"How did you-"

Baxter showed his gun, which seemed to have multiple settings. The one it happened to be one was 'shrink'. Apparently Baxter had a gun with multiple functions and combined a freeze ray and a shrink ray together."Made this in my spare time…"

"Damn, cool!" Cherri chuckled. She was tempted to touch it, but Baxter responded by aiming the gun at her instead,"Woah, what the hell mate?"

"Don't act all coy, I know you're the reason this happened. Give me one reason why I shouldn't fucking add you to my collection…"

"Because I ain't working with those guys anymore. I swear…"

"This sounds like a trick," Vox muttered,"Who knows if she's telling the truth. I don't trust this. I say we shrink her and put her in a bottle just to be on the safe side. Who knows what type of bullshit she'll pull if we let her stay."

"I agree," Alastor said,"She could be a liability. It's not worth the trouble, especially since she's the reason we're in this mess…"

Angel put his hands up,"Woah woah, now hold your horses. Cherri is telling the truth, Vox. She basically saved Pentious's tail back there. That bitch would've killed him had it not been for her."

"So?" Vox retorted,"Do you just expect me to ignore the fact she kidnapped Vol? This is basically her fault! We can't just sweep this under the rug!"

"I ain't asking you to sweep it under the rug, I'm asking you to put up with Cherri cuz she's clearly switched loyalties. We need all the allies we can get to rescue your fusion friend, that's the whole reason we came here!"

The TV scowled,"I still don't trust her. This could be a trick.."

Charlie then examined Cherri before saying,"Vox, Baxter, Alastor, I get it. However, I can tell when people are being genuine and Cherri is. I'm not saying you have to trust her, but can you three agree to put your grudges with her aside for now? At least until we have this situation dealt with…"

The three demons gave each other uneasy glances before sighing, Baxter reluctantly putting the gun away and Vox withdrawing his spear.

"So what now?" Vox asked flatly,"It's only a matter of time before more of Lucifer's dick suckers show up to stop us. Unless we all want to get swarmed, I suggest we hurry up and get to Vol before more soldiers come to ruin our day because let's face it, without Charlie growing a spine we'd probably all be fucked sooner or later."

"That's why I'm here," Charlie said,"I'll handle my Father's army with the others. You and Alastor should go and rescue Volastor…"

"Sounds like a plan," Alastor replied,"Come on, Vox. We need to get going and-"

There was a massive pause when a gun-shot rang out, deafening their ears. They all looked up in the sky in horror to see that Husk had been shot at by Doom in mid-flight, the cat sent falling downwards to the ground with a pained screech, landing somewhere in the deep forest while the spider overlord had got away.

"AAAAAAAAAAHHHH!"

"HUSKER!" Alastor shouted in concern, preparing to go after him, however Vox grabbed him by the arm, pulling him back.

"Alastor!" Vox hissed,"There's no point in going after him! It's too late, he's been shot with a holy bullet, there's nothing we can do! We need to focus on who we CAN save! Volastor is still alive, we can't let this mission be a total failure!"

The Radio Demon's voice faltered, eyes filled with sadness,"But what about Husker? He's my friend, Vox...I need to save-"

"You CAN'T save him, Alastor! He's gone! And don't think I don't know what you're feeling, Velvet was my friend too! I fucking loved her dammit!" He screeched, voice pained,"And yet she's gone as well, killed by my own fucking ex! We can't let this mission be in vain, Alastor! We've come too far, we've lost too much. The least we can do is save Volastor, because we've failed to save our other loved ones when it mattered! It's too late for them, but Volastor is still breathing! Are you listening to me or are you not!?"

"I am…" Alastor mumbled, looking down wearily,"Which is why you're right. We couldn't save the others, but we can save him.."

Alastor and Vox soon took off towards the mansion while the others turned ahead, now seeing more armed men coming towards them.

"Looks like we have company…" Charlie said, taking a sigh,"Starting to wish Vaggie was willing to come. I had to sneak out here just to help out. Feels different without her around."

"Don't worry, we're standing right here with you," Pentious stated,"Even if we can't fight your father ourselves, we can at least take care of his army…"

"Hey guys?" Baxter asked,"Where'd Niffty go? I swore she was there earlier."

"Who knows," Pentious replied,"Regardless, we should focus on the army in front of us and not the girl. I'm certain she can handle herself wherever she runs off to…"

Thanks for 5,806 views! Tell me what you all think below and what your thoughts on this chapter below!

Mitsuru6: Yeah, not gonna be pretty...

Enigmus-288: Yeah, not exactly a pretty love thing. Kind of sad when you think about it honestly. Also yeah, I think Val is the only person he hates more than Lucifer at this point, so you're right on that note.