(Meanwhile, while the events of the last chapter took place, this was happening back with Volastor…)

The moment Volastor earned his freedom, he quickly rushed outside of the underground moment he busted the door open, he was met with several guards on the other side of the walls.

How typical.

The fusion rolled his eyes,'Oh look, company...Just what I needed… He then sighed,"I suggest all of you put those toys down before you hurt yourselves. You don't want me to hurt you, trust me…"

Of course, these words seemed to fall on deaf ears, as one of the guards shouted,"Dammit! Everyone, subdue that fusion! We can't have Lucifer finding out he escaped!"

Volastor rolled his eyes,"I'd figured you'd say that. Guess that means I'll have to put you all in your place..."

To describe the following event as a fight would imply that the soldiers actually stood a chance against Volastor. To put it bluntly, Volastor ended up man-handling them without batting an eye, subduing the guards and placing them in a state of unconsciousness before they could even raise a weapon towards him.

For a man who had spent over a week in confinement with no access to his full strength, he acted just as he had before, defeating lesser opponents with the snap of his fingers before tossing them into a portal of his own making, figuring wherever the guards landed, they'd be out of the picture and no danger to him at the 'fight' was over in a matter of seconds and the fusion wasn't any worse for wear.

He then scoffed,"I did warn them, did I not? It's such a shame they refused to listen to me. I suppose adamant stubbornness and the refusal to give up runs in most of Lucifer's goons. Can't say I'm surprised by that one. This conflict could've been avoided if they knew when to quit. Oh well, I shouldn't dwell on it. Those people aren't my concern any longer…."

Volastor then moved forward. He knew he could have easily killed those guards, but he considered that beneath him.

They were weak and something in him had a personal conviction against attacking those who weren't able to fight back, so he settled for placing them somewhere they couldn't harm anyone.

Call it a cruel act of 'mercy' on Vol's part, but considering what he could've done to them...it was preferable to the alternative. Sparing their lives and placing them somewhere they couldn't hurt anyone was better than him wasting energy to kill people who couldn't harm him in the first place.

Still, as he walked through the mansion, Volastor found himself becoming rather frustrated. His biggest problem at the moment didn't have to do with enemies(who he could literally annihilate at the snap of his fingers), but rather finding a way out of the mansion.

Lucifer's palace was a lot larger than he had anticipated and trying to make your way through when you had no clue where you were was about as tedious as you could imagine. Volastor didn't want to attract any more unwanted attention and given the place had no specific set of directions, he was finding himself more lost the longer he moved.

He groaned,"Dammit. I'm starting to wish I asked Cherri for directions before we went our separate ways. I'll never be able to find a way out at this rate. It's like a never-ending maze…"

As Volastor traversed the area, he just so happened to notice a large door that looked familiar to him. His memory was a bit hazy, but he was certain that perhaps it would lead him somewhere. He was honestly desperate at this point and figured any place that looked familiar could be his ticket out of here.

Needless to say, when Volastor pushed open the double-doors, he became dismayed upon realizing he was in Lucifer's throne room, a place he had only negative memories of for rather obvious wasn't the room he wanted to be in and his instincts were telling him to flee…

However, there was something holding him back from doing so immediately. It was the fact that...Lucifer wasn't there. He wasn't sitting in his throne, nor did he appear to even be in the room.

'Lucifer isn't here...Perhaps he's gone out to run errands. Not that I'm complaining, but I do wonder why he left the front doors unguarded…' Volastor decided to put this thought to the back of his mind and prepared to leave, only for his eyes to catch something shiny sitting on the throne."Huh? What's that?"

Volastor decided to approach the chair despite his better judgement, his curiosity getting the better of him. He reluctantly went up the steps to the throne to get a better look at the shiny object that caught his eye, only for his eyes to widen when he locked eyes with it, picking it up and stepping off of the throne.

It was a jewel. But not just any jewel. It was the one that had caused his creation, the one currently implanted into his chest, or at least, this world's version of it. The Vox and Alastor of this timeline had never fused, meaning Lucifer still had it marked as his property.

But one question remained in his mind...what was it doing out here? It seemed too conveniently placed to have always been there….

Vol's eyes snapped open when he heard the sound of the double doors slamming behind him, the loud sound echoing across the area. His hair stood on end when he heard a familiar cackle ask,"And just where do you think you're going with that, Volastor?"

The fusion cursed, neck snapping behind him to see Lucifer had manifested himself in the room,"How did you get here? You weren't there earlier…"

"Actually you're wrong," Lucifer said nonchalantly, as if he were discussing the weather,"I was here the entire time, Volastor. I merely turned invisible so you wouldn't see me and try to flee…"

Vol scowled,"Of course you did...Well, you caught me. Still, I don't understand what you were trying to do. Was this just some elaborate plot to lure me out?"

"Indeed it was, and just as expected, you took the bait. Honestly, I'm kind of disappointed, I'd think you were a bit smarter than that…"

"Don't insult my intelligence,Lucifer," He hissed,"Even then, what the hell is your plan now? Congrats, you caught me, now what? Are you going to make due on your words of killing me or what? Is that what you want?"

"Well, I was figuring we could talk face to face."

"What? I thought you wanted me dead…"

"I do, but I'm willing to give you one last chance, Volastor. You are one of a kind and I'd hate to have to kill you without giving you a chance to prove yourself."

Vol's mind went blank, eyes wide in disbelief,"A-Are you serious right now? Have you lost your mind!? You imprisoned me your stupid chamber for no reason other than paranoia and now you think I'm going to turn around and kneel to you just because? You've got some nerve to think I'd ever serve you after what you put me through…"

"There's no need to be like that, Volastor. I understand you're a bit upset, but you have to understand that you aren't supposed to exist. The hierarchy of Hell is already fragile, your presence could endanger everything if you're not put on a leash."

"But I didn't do anything…"

"It's not about what you haven't done, but what you can do under certain circumstances. You have proven yourself to be stubborn and resistant to any attempts to be controlled, no matter what propositions are offered. You refuse to be bargained or reasoned with, even despite the fact your life is at risk. That is a very dangerous mindset, as you will do anything to preserve your freedom and your own goals, and with the power you possess, it needs to be hampered in some way in order to reduce the risk of chaos spreading in your wake…"

Vol scoffed,"Ridiculous. I've done nothing other than defend myself from your band of psychopaths and yet you're initiating that I'm the dangerous one. Do you not realize how pathetic l you sound? You're the most powerful person in this realm and yet you fear someone who hasn't even done anything to you…"

"Hardly pathetic, just pragmatic. I rule this realm under a dint of fear, Volastor, and your existence can pose a problem to my rule. If the ability to fuse became universal, demons would be jumping at the chance to overthrow me and put my lineage in danger," Lucifer then approached Volastor, the fusion flinching when Lucifer plucked the gemstone from his grasp,"I've studied this gemstone and I've learned of its properties over time."

"Why?"

Because I wondered how it was possible for Vox and Alastor to fuse, as I think it is obvious that they'd never do that of their own accord and after some searching, I finally figured out that the crystal is sentient and has a mind of its own. Now that I think about it, that was the only explanation that made any sense. The crystal most likely didn't consider Alastor and Vox suitable hosts on their own due to being weaker than it would've liked and decided the best way to solve the problem was to merge both demons together to create the ultimate host, an all-powerful demon that could potentially take over Hell itself, maybe even overthrow everything in the pursuit of vengeance for being locked in a treasury for centuries on end…"

"Well clearly that didn't happen," Vol scoffed,"That may have been what the crystal had in mind with my creation,but what the crystal wants and what I want are two very different things. The crystal has a host, but it doesn't have a parasite that it can control at will. I believe I'm far too powerful for it to do such a thing. I have full control over myself and there's no reason to believe otherwise.."

"You say that, but what happens when you aren't in control? If a being such as yourself lost control, you could harm not only yourself, but those around you. You're a ticking time bomb waiting to explode, Volastor, if you are allowed to live as you are, you could prove to be a danger to all of Hell if you're not put on a leash…"

Volastor clenched his fist,"I will not be put on a leash just because you say so. I frankly don't care what you say, I refuse to be anyone's lackey. You have enough lap-dogs as it is, I am not degrading myself to lick your boots and if you believe you can convince me otherwise, then you have another thing coming…"

"Oh really now, Vol? Is that how you want to play? Because I really doubt you want to see me when I get angry. It's one of the last things any demon wants to see.." Lucifer said, a growing smirk on his face,"You're not really deluded enough to think you can face me one on one are you? Because you're a special kind of crazy if you think even for a second you can beat me…"

Vol chuckled,taking off his glasses and throwing them to the floor,"I know I can't beat you, Lucifer. But…" His fist suddenly smashed into Lucifer's cheek, the king's eyes widening at the sudden attack and landing on the ground, a visible trail of blood coming from his mouth.

"Grak!"

"That doesn't mean I won't give you a helluva fight before I go. You want to see my full power so badly, huh? Then you're going to get it. But don't worry, Lucifer, I'm only going to TEAR YOU APART LIMB FROM LIMB!" Volastor cackled darkly, his antlers growing as his form became glitchier and larger as he towered over him, purple lighting becoming visible, radio dials and TV static blaring.

Lucifer narrowed his eyes, wiping his cheek,"Hmph. Lucky shot, Volastor. But I believe I should even the odds…" Lucifer's horns soon protruded out of his skull, eyes turned red,"Alright then, Volastor, you've made your choice. I see no reason to hold back any longer. I guess that means I can finally show someone my true form after all these years. You should consider yourself lucky Vol, only Micheal has seen me like this. Too bad it'll be the last thing you'll ever see…"

Lucifer and Vol charged at each other with rage burning in each other's eyes, the fight between giants breaking out, both aiming for fatal intent, blood-lust burning in their eyes..

Vox and Alastor had taken to the back of the mansion. They were weary of going through the front and feared that someone might be on the other side. Given Lucifer had plenty of men with him, they didn't want to take the risk of running into more demons who could cause them problems across the perimeter.

So Vox suggested they go around the back, wielding Vaggie's spear on the off-chance they encountered anyone unfriendly on the way there….

"Remember, Alastor, there's probably some of Lucifer's bastards over here so we have to be careful and-"

"Vox, I don't mean to be rude by interrupting you but…"

"But what? Spit it out!"

"I don't think we have to worry about Lucifer's men…"

"Huh? What do you mean by-Holy shit…" Vox's jaw dropped when he saw the scene before them.

Before them was an utter blood-bath. It seemed someone had been there first and they had taken this opportunity to...handle Lucifer's men in a ruthless fashion. It was a total massacre, a blood bath even, bodies flayed over the steps and ground, the scent of blood soaking the area.

Vox and Alastor's eyes widened as they stared at the bloody battlefield before them.

"Fucking hell…" Vox heaved,"Looks like someone took care of Lucifer's dick-riders for us. Even slaughtered them without a second thought…"

"And judging by the scent of blood...it seems fairly fresh. This must've taken place not too long ago. It's honestly impressive, someone managed to slice their way through an entire army of armed soldiers and were victorious throughout it all…"

"What makes you think they won? I don't see them anywhere…"

"These bloody footsteps lead me to think they did survive. Looks like they made their way inside after they beat all the guards." Alastor said, pointing to the bloody footsteps that lead inside the mansion. The double doors had seemingly been hacked open with a sharp weapon several times with sheer brute force, leaving pieces of the door scattered across the floor. "And I highly doubt that blood belongs to them…"

Vox narrowed his eyes,"Still, do you trust this?"

"They haven't let us down yet, so I don't see why not…."

When they got inside, they were VERY confused when they saw that footsteps had seemingly ended there. The bloody prints ended a few steps in yet the person who made them was nowhere in sight…

"What the? They just vanished!" Vox exclaimed,"How did that happen?"

"I'm not certain. If I had to guess, this person must've realized their prints were leaving blood-stains and wanted to cover their tracks by getting rid of their shoes somehow. I wonder if we should search for this person, they might be of help to us…"

Vox shook his head,"We have nothing to work with. Remember who we're here for, Al. We need to rescue Volastor. We've come too far just to get distracted by some random person's footprints…"

"Fair enough," Alastor sighed,"We should get going. I'm certain he has to be around here somewhere. We just have to hope we don't run into Lucifer on the way to him…."

Vox nodded before motioning him to move forward. They had a rough idea of what Lucifer's mansion looked like and while they weren't certain where Volastor was, they decided to search the main areas first…

However, as they were walking, Vox and Alastor heard the sounds of crashes and screams not too far away. They became on edge, now realizing that the sounds were coming from the throne room.

Vox tensed,"Shit...Looks like something going down over there…I say we go check it out…"

Reluctantly, the two overlords made their way to the double-doors, Vox and Alastor pausing when they felt a magical barrier over the entrance. It seemed like someone was trying to prevent anyone from leaving…

"Hey Alastor? Mind giving me a hand?" Vox asked as he prepared an attack to disable the barrier.

"I don't see why not…"

Together, the two broke the seal, allowing them access to the door. Vox and Alastor shoved the double-doors open with their strength. What they saw caused them to pause…

They saw Volastor and Lucifer...or more accurately, a heavily injured Volastor choking an equally injured and unconscious Lucifer, both of whom were still in their demonic forms. It seemed like the two had been fighting for some time and Volastor managed to get the upper-hand, albeit just barley…

And judging by the fact he was still strangling Lucifer, it didn't appear Volastor was aware of their presence.

Alastor gathered his voice and called out weakly,"Volastor? I-Is that really you?"

A moment of stillness passed as Volastor's head slowly turned in their direction, the two overlords shaking in fear at the sight of Vol. He looked less like a man and more like a demonic hell spawn that would send most demons running for the hills, the blood-lust burning in his eyes sending shivers down their spines.

Vox tensed, fearing he didn't recognize them,"Vol? It's us, Vox and Alastor! Don't you recognize us!?"

He cocked his head to the side before saying in a distorted and monstrous voice that sounded oddly childlike at the same time,"Vox? Alastor? W-What are you two doing here?"

"We came to save you…" Alastor replied,"Baxter told us about what happened and we came to rescue you…"

Volastor stared at them momentarily before...rolling his eyes? It was hard to tell honestly given the nature of his demon form didn't have visible pupils, but it still seemed like he had."Hmph. Typical. I should've known Baxter wouldn't have forgotten about me. Its as sweet as it was STUPID to get you involved…" The way he said 'stupid' was filled to the brim with static and distortion, as if there was genuine anger behind it.

"Stupid?" Vox exclaimed,"How is coming to save someone stupid!?"

"Don't you realize how much danger you put yourselves in? All for one person? That's just foolish. There was a reason I told Baxter to run and forget about me, but apparently he didn't take the hint. Now he's gotten you two dragged into this mess…"

"Vol, there's no need to think like that!" Alastor urged,"Come on now, Vol. It's time for us to go home!"

"But I'm not finished yet," He whined,"I just want to PLAY with my toy a little more…"

"Vol, that's not what we're here for. We need to back to the hotel!" Vox pleaded,"Come on, just drop that asshole and revert back to your normal form so we can leave!"

Volastor dropped Lucifer but he didn't revert back to his base form. He then started to look around, as if he was expecting someone.

"Vol, what are you doing?" Alastor inquired.

"Where is she?"

"Who is she?" Vox asked, trying to avoid the question, already knowing deep down who Vol was referring to.

"Don't play dumb with me, Vox," The fusion hissed,"I want to see Velvet. I've waited so long to see her and...I just want to hold her again...to feel another person's warmth again...All those cold nights I spent...they were so lonely, Vox...Please tell me she's here…"

The TV Demon felt a lump pile up in his throat. Even while Vol looked like a nightmarish freak of nature, he still acted like himself, albeit a bit more irritable than usual…

"Well?" Vol asked,"Where is she, Vox? Quit staring at me and give me a proper answer!"

"Vol...I'm sorry…" Vox choked up.

The fusion blanked,"What are you apologizing for, Vox? What is there to be sorry over? What are are you even talking about? Is she alright? Is she hurt?" The urgency in his voice became more apparent, the fusion now staring at his components with visible worry."What's going on? Please...tell me..."

Alastor cringed, Vol sounded more like a confused child than a grown man. He reluctantly gathered himself and said,"Vol...I'm sorry to say this but….Velvet's dead…"

The stillness was suffocating, Volastor twitched before shouting,"What? No...No...That can't be right! H-How is that even possible!? S-She can't be dead! She just can't be! You're making this up! Quit lying and tell the truth!"

His glitchy voice was shaking and his normally balanced voice became unstable, heavily laced in childish denial. When Vox and Alastor's voices were in sync, you could barely hear them themselves, but now Vol's voice sounded more out of control and deranged, you could actually hear the two of them more clearly.

The TV Demon looked down,"Vol, Alastor isn't lying, we both saw it happen with our own eyes. Val killed her with a holy bullet, she's gone…."

Vol's eyes flashed with burning rage,"Valentino? He did this? He took her away from me? I-I...I'LL KILL HIM!" Vol let a screech before cackling madly,"THAT FUCKER CROSSED THE LINE! I'LL TEAR APART AND DEVOUR HIS SOUL!"

"Vol, you can't!" Vox shouted.

"AND WHY NOT!?" He asked sadistically, a pained smile growing on his face, tears rolling down his face,"DON'T TELL ME YOU STILL CARE ABOUT THAT BASTARD, NOW DO YOU VOX? HE FUCKING KILLED OUR SWEET VELVET! HOW CAN YOU STILL HARBOR FEELINGS FOR THAT SON OF A BITCH!? TELL ME HOW!? HE DOESN'T LOVE YOU AND HE NEVER WILL!"

"No, It's not that!" He shot back,"Val's already dead, Vol! You can't kill someone who's already double-dead!"

"W-What?" His voice went quiet for a moment,"H-How?"

Vox then pulled out his angelic spear,"I...I...killed him, Vol. I snuck up on him and ended his life before it was too late. Unfortunately, by the time I did this, Velvet was already long gone. We don't have her body, I think it got swept away in the chaos, that or it got destroyed. I'm sorry Vol, we couldn't save her…There was nothing we could do..."

Vol was shaking as his world started to come crashing down. He had come all this way here, he had fought Lucifer and through decisive and under-handed tactics, managed to knock him out to gain his freedom…

Only to be told that the person he cared about most had died trying to save him. Volastor slumped over, falling to his knees, the light in his eyes dying at his components' words…

He remembered when he first met her..from the moment she snuck into his bed and took a photo of him while slept was the moment he knew she wasn't exactly normal. At first, he found himself annoyed by her wanting to be his girlfriend and only put up with it to please her fans. But over time...those feelings became genuine and after some prodding, he finally managed to win her over…albeit with his components joining in for the ride.

Regardless, he felt genuinely happy when he was with her...Only for it all to be taken away the moment he got captured. All those nights he spent by himself in that damned cell, how he clutched the pillow in hopes it would transform into Velvet so he could hold her in his arms again, only to be forced back into the grim reality of a prisoner on death row again, his dreams dashed in an instant.

After all that pain and misery, he had finally gotten some slack when Cherri decided to free him.

At that moment, he thought it was a blessing, realizing he may finally see his friends again. Even when he fought Lucifer himself, he still thought of her when he fought, knowing he'd get to see her smile at him again…

Only for it all to be ruined by Valentino, someone who he despised more than Lucifer himself. He'd never be able to hear laughter ever again thanks to Val.

And the worst part was that there was nothing he could do about it. Any thoughts of revenge had been put to a screeching halt upon hearing that Val had already gotten his just deserts and even then, it hardly sounded like a victory when Val already took Velvet with him. In the end, Val got the last laugh from beyond the grave and Vol could only sit back helpless at the situation. He was a failure, he couldn't even save his girlfriend and Vox of all people managed to kill Val, leaving him with nothing. He couldn't avenge her and the matter was ultimately unresolved, leaving him bitter and cold.

Suddenly, a burst of energy came up inside of him, all of these intense emotions bubbling up inside him had come to a head and Volastor's teary eyes soon burned with uncontrollable fury. It was like something else had taken control of him, as all his patience had evaporated, his sanity now shoved into the back seat in favor of unlocking his true unbridled power, his grief driving him to another height. His eyes glazed over with a great passion as the urge to kill had risen in his grief-stricken rage.

And if he couldn't take his anger out on Val...that means he'd have to move to the next best thing…

"Heh….Ha...HAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHA!" What started at a childish giggle turned into the roar of a deranged mad-man, startling the two overlords.

"Vol..are you alright?" Alastor asked, attempting to reach out to him,"Is something wrong?"

"He he….Oh I'm just fine...Alastor," The fusion replied quietly, voice barley above a whisper,"It's just that...I can't contain myself anymore...All these emotions have riled me up. The urge to kill has never been more apparent and I'm afraid I can't contain this calling any longer.." He then laughed in a pained voice, but it was quickly overtaken by madness and sadism,"But don't worry, I promise that you'll feel EVERYTHING before you DIE!"

Vox and Alastor immediately paled when they saw Vol charging at them at full-speed like a wild animal, screaming in terror when he lunged at them….

Thanks for 6,017 views! Tell me what you all think in this chapter below! Also before you ask, Vol is able to stay in his demon form longer because not only is he a fusion, but the crystal grants him the ability to stay in that form longer.

Mitsuru6: You know I had to do it to em. Things can't go too smoothly.

Enigmus-288: He basically froze her and then shrunk her down to size so he could carry her/not have to worry about her with his gun. The man is a scientist so I imagine making freeze/shrink rays isn't too hard. Just imagine Baxter having a glass bottle and her being frozen inside for reference.