As the others left the throne room, it was deadly quiet between the group. Vol refused to make eye-contact with Vox and Alastor, who were just about as uncomfortable as you could imagine. This situation was still tense and though the threat of Lucifer faded into the background, they still had to regroup.

Sill, everyone was on edge, Vol carrying the enhanced spear in his hands for protection on the off-chance they encountered any unfriendly faces on their way out of the palace. Charlie said that she knew a short-cut out of the mansion and said that they just had to pass a few corridors to get out.

While they were walking, they were about to pass a large wooden , when Charlie was about to move by, a blur jumped out and ended up trying to attack her out of nowhere with a bloodied axe, letting out a battle-cry as they did so.

"RRAAAAHHH!"

"Eeeek!" Charlie screeched, narrowly dodging the attack, jumping backwards to avoid getting her head chopped off/.

Everyone panicked for a moment at the sudden attack, not knowing what to say. Before anything else could happen, Vol quickly acted on instinct by using his newly acquired spear to hold the person at gun-point, not bothering to get a good look at their features in his haste to attack,"Back off! We're not going to let ourselves go down without a fight and if you think you can take all of us, you have another thing coming!"

Vox then clenched his fist,"Volastor, what the fuck are you doing!?"

"What do you think I am doing, Vox?" He hissed, giving the TV Demon a harsh glance in response,"I'm preventing us from being attacked by Lucifer's cronies!"

"Perhaps you should LOOK at the person attacking before you shove your weapon at them!" Vox retorted.

Vol scoffed, ready to dismiss Vox's statement until he heard a familiar voice reach his ears.

"Vol? What the hell are you doing pointing that spear at me!? Don't ya recognize your girlfriend?"

He froze for a moment, now directing his gaze back at the person he was threatening only to nearly drop his weapon in response."It..it can't be...You're supposed to be dead.."

Before he stood Velvet, the shorter demoness wielding her bloodied axe in hand. Her hair was out of control, her hair ties were barely intact. The folds of her dress were tattered and ruined and what remained of her outfit was covered in blood and her clothes seemed to have holes and tears in them. She wasn't wearing any shoes either and the left portion of her arm sleeve was torn off completely.

"I'm already dead, silly! I died years ago, you can't kill a dead woman!" She laughed, the doll demon finding his comment absolutely hilarious. She then noticed Vol wasn't laughing at her joke, merely giving her a wide eyed stare in response."Uh..Vol? Are you alright? You're just staring at me and it's kind of weird and-Woah!"

The next thing Velvet knew, Vol was hugging her close to his chest and spinning her around. He didn't even give her the chance to respond properly, he just straight up pulled her into his arms and refused to let go. Surprisingly, he was fairly delicate with her unlike the last few people he hugged, apparently learning his lesson on not choking people to double-death with his iron grip.

And given Velvet was a 5'5 woman being hugged by a 6'0 tall man, it was probably in her best interest that her fusion boyfriend that could crush almost anyone in his way was being gentle with her and not cracking her ribs by mistake.

Velvet felt her head spinning as her boyfriend just kept whirling her around, head buried into his chest. As he was spinning, she couldn't help but notice parts of her pigtail felt wet and asked,"Uh...Vol? Why is my hair getting wet?"

"Oh sorry.." He mumbled weakly,"That's probably just from my tears…"

"Wait..are you crying? What for?"

"Velvet...I….we all thought you were dead...Vox and Alastor told me you were shot with a holy bullet. They couldn't find your body and they assumed it had been destroyed in the fight…"

"Well they were wrong, I survived!" Velvet exclaimed,"So dry those tears, there ain't nothing to cry over now!"

"Velvet…" He growled, grabbed her shoulders and forced her to look him in the eyes,"This isn't a joke. You need to stop acting so light-hearted about this. We thought you were dead! I thought you were dead! All of us did! You need to explain yourself!"

Velvet shrunk a bit,"What do you mean?"

"You know what I mean! How could you survive being hit with a holy bullet and walk it off? Whenever demons get hit with holy weapons, it's usually game over…"

"Well it probably would've been...But I did have something handy on me that ensured my survival! Hold on, I just gotta take this off real quick," Velvet began pulling down the bosom of her dress only for Vol to stop her, his face burning red.

"Velvet! What the hell do you think you're doing!? You can't strip here! There are people present!"

"I wasn't stripping!" Velvet replied.

"Then what are you doing!?"

"Showing you how I survived? Look!" Velvet then lowered the bosom of her dress, revealing a bullet proof sports bra underneath her outfit,"Tada! Bullet proof bra to the rescue!"

Vol blanked,"What? Where did you get that from?"

"Eh, I always had it on me," She shrugged,"It was super expensive, but considering it saved my life, I can see why the market charged a lot for something like this. Probably the only reason Val's bullet didn't kill me!"

Vol narrowed his eyes,"Wait...did you EVER tell anyone you were wearing that?"

"Nope!"

"WHAT!? Are you kidding me!?" Vol started shaking her around,"VELVET! YOU FUCKING MADE US ALL THINK YOU WERE DEAD FOR NO REASON! WHY DIDN'T YOU SAY ANYTHING ABOUT THIS!? YOU COULD'VE TOLD VOX AND ALASTOR YOU WEARING THAT SO THEY DIDN'T ASSUME YOU DIED! DO YOU REALIZE HOW MUCH PAIN YOU CAUSED BY WITHHOLDING THIS INFORMATION!? WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU!?"

"I didn't think I'd have to use it!" She whined,"It was more or less a last resort! I figured if I got in a tight bind that I could fake my death and go look for you on my own!"
"Do you realize how stupid that sounds!?" Vol hissed,"You're one woman against an army and you thought you could handle those people!? Are you insane!?"

"Probably. But I did!" Velvet said, motioning to her axe,"It took a while to find my way out of that underground maze, especially since Val's drugs were affected me. But when I got onto the other side, I snuck around the back and managed to hack my way through his guards! Apparently they all underestimated me cuz I was one person, but I really showed them what for!"

'Well that certainly explains the blood. Knew it wasn't hers…' Vol groaned,"Of course you did. Well that certainly doesn't explain why you didn't reveal yourself earlier. And I still don't get why you were hiding in here, waiting for a chance to strike…"

"Well I was walking around the mansion and I almost ran into Lucifer and had to hide. He almost caught me, but he walked away afterwards. I was scared he'd come back again and didn't want to risk him or his asshole soldiers coming around the bend so I waited here on the off-chance he'd come back."

"And the reason you attacked Charlie?" Baxter asked.

"Well I kind of thought she was Lucifer for a moment. I didn't really have a good view there and it was super hard to see through such a small crevice. All I saw was blonde hair and white skin so I assumed he was back and wanted to get revenge by cutting him open with my axe. Too bad it wasn't Lucifer and just so happened to be his daughter instead…" She then looked at Charlie and sheepishly rubbed the back of her head,"Sorry about that, princess. Didn't realize that was you when you guys came around…"

"Don't mention it," Charlie replied,"It wasn't your fault. My Father and I do look similar so I can see why you mistook me for him. I'm just glad you missed your attacks else this could've gone a lot worse for all of us…"

"So…" Velvet then looked at Vox and Alastor and raised her eyebrow at their pristine condition,"Woah. You guys look way better than the rest of us do. What's with that? I'd think you'd at least have some bruises on you yet you look better than ever!"

Everyone looked at each other, Vol's eyes shifting to the floor, fist clenching,"Velvet, these two aren't Vox and Alastor.."

"What? Vol, what are you talking about? Of course it's them! Who else could they be?"

"Not the ones we know," He replied somberly,"The ones you see before you had been trapped inside the crystal that created me…."

"So...how are they here? Don't you need them to exist?"

"Not exactly," He said,"You see, Lucifer managed to stab me with this spear while my guard was down and shattered it beyond repair, freeing them as a result. Due to the damage...I was dying and I fell unconscious. I don't remember what happened during those events, but from what the others told me, they managed to find a replacement crystal but it wasn't enough to revive me. They realized they needed Vox and Alastor in the gem in order to save me, but these two refused to follow through with it. My life was hanging by a thread and time was running out for me. I probably would've died then and there had Baxter not suggested they merge with me and after some debate, they agreed and sacrificed themselves for my sake."

Velvet stood there in disbelief,"W-What? Vox and Alastor are gone...for real?"

"There's no coming back from erasure…" Baxter stated,"But in the very least, those two chose to go on their own terms. I don't know what came over them to make the call, but if Vox and Alastor were willing to put their rivalry aside to save someone else, they must've really cared about Vol, even if they'd never get to see him live again…"

Vol didn't say anything, his teeth gritting against each other, body twitching. He looked on the verge of tears but seemed to be forcing himself to refrain from crying in front of them.

"H-Hey...There's no need to cry."

He scoffed,"I'm not crying...You're just seeing things…"

"Vol' there's no need to lie. I know you miss em, but there's nothing we can do. While I ain't a fan of their decision, it was ultimately theirs to make. Vox and Al knew what they were doing and despite the costs, valued your existence enough to trade their's for it. They went through all this trouble to save you despite going against Lucifer himself, knowing they wouldn't come back if they messed up. If that isn't a sign of love, I don't know what is…"

Vol scowled,"Easy for you to say, Velvet. You're not the one who tried killing them previously…"

"Why would you do that, Vol? That sounds...out of character for you…"

"I...I was so angry. I thought you were dead and I wasn't thinking...I attacked them in a fit of rage mercilessly. I probably would've killed them had Vox not managed to snap me out of it. The worst part was….I actually enjoyed hurting them. And despite all of this...they still thought I was worth saving. I'm not certain whether to call them delusional or stupid for what they did, but I'd go with both…."

Velvet grabbed him and forced him to look into her eyes,"Vol. Shut up. Don't talk like that. Vox and Al killed themselves for you. They wanted you to live your life to the fullest, even if they aren't able to see it happen. I cared about them too, but Vox and Al knew what they were getting into. They made their call and what's done is done. There's nothing we can do for them, but we can at least try and get our lives back together, even if it is just the two of us…"

Volastor looked away before gently brushing her off, arms folded over his chest,"Hmph…" He then turned his back and said,"I...I say we should get going. The others are probably out there…"

The others gave each other looks before following Vol, Velvet grabbing onto his hand. He didn't push her away, but he didn't seem to return the affection much to her dismay.

When they all got outside, they saw that Cherri, Pentious and Angel were waiting for them outside, blood covering their clothes(though most it probably wasn't theirs). When Volastor walked out, he was quickly forced into a hug by Sir Pentious.

"Gah!"

"Vol! You're alive! I can't believe it! It worked! I'm so happy! I'm so happy that I could just kiss you!"

Vol tensed,"Uh...Please don't...As much as I appreciate seeing you, I'd really prefer you to avoid kissing me."

"Yeah!" Velvet shouted,"He's mine anyway! Go find your own boyfriend!"

Angel blanked,"Wait, Velvet? You're alive? I thought you died. I swore I saw Val shoot ya…"

Velvet then revealed her vest.

"Oh...That explains a lot. Well, good to have you back. And smiles? Why are you and Vox so injured? I swore you guys looked like a train-wreck when I saw you last…"

"We aren't the Vox and Alastor you know, Angel," Alastor said,"We're from another timeline. The ones you know are gone, they merged with Volastor in order to keep him from dying.'

"Wait for real? They're gone?"

"We saw it happen," Vox said,"They pretty much faded away from existence. Looked painful as fuck but they took it better than I thought a person could. I don't know what my other self was thinking, but I guess he thought that fusion was worth it if he was willing to die for him…"

"Shit.." Cherri muttered,"Guess things aren't gonna be the same after this…"

"No thanks to you," Baxter muttered.

"Hey, I'm on your side, asshole!"

"Doesn't mean I have to like you…"

Alastor then narrowed his eyes,"Say...where's Husker and Niffty? Shouldn't they be here?"

Sir Penitous tensed,"About that..The cat kind of got shot."

"Husker...got shot..." Alastor clenched his fist,"N-No...That can't be possible."

"We all saw it happen," Cherri said,"He got shot like multiple times, probably landed in the forest somewhere. Don't remember where but I doubt the end result was pretty."

"But what about Niffty?"

"She ran away," Angel said,"We don't know where she went. She probably went after him if I had to guess."

"I say we all go look for her," Charlie said,"Niffty couldn't have gotten too far. She has to be somewhere around the area…Let's all split up into groups and search. She's gotta be in there..."

Everyone headed inside of the forest, Alastor and Charlie were calling out Niffty's name repeatedly in the forest. Everyone was searching to try and find where she would have run off to. Alastor, Vox and Charlie were walking in one direction only for Alastor to notice blood splatters on the ground.

"I believe we're getting closer…"

"This better not be a dead-end," Vox muttered as they moved forward.

When they walked forward, they heard the sound of leaves rustling before them. Moments later, they walked in on a horrifying sight.

They saw Niffty covered in a large amount of blood, her bloody knife in hand. Husk was lying on the ground, his right wing and left arm had been removed and covered in a bandage while his eye appeared to have been gouged out.

"Oh my god!" Alastor shouted,"Husker!"

"Holy shit!" Vox shouted,"Is he fucking dead?"

"No…" Niffty said lowly,"I managed to remove the holy bullets but I wasn't able to heal him. He's in critical condition and I'm not certain what I can do from here. He's gonna die without assistance and I've done all I can…" She then started to cry.

"Hey hey! Don't cry! We're gonna have to save him then!" Charlie called out, trying to queue the tension,"We're gonna figure out...Hopefully…"

"Princess, you're delusional if you think you can help him," Vox retorted,"He's barely alive. Even if you found a way to save him, the wounds are permanent. He'll basically be a cripple for the rest of his afterlife and I doubt he'd want to live like that. It's probably better if we let him die because he's clearly not going to make it in his condition."

"No!" Alastor shouted,"I won't let Husker die!"

"Why? He's not even your Husk!"

"I don't give a damn!" Alastor replied,"Regardless of the version, Husker is still my friend and I won't give up on him while he's still breathing!" Alastor then grabbed Husk into his arms,"Don't worry, we're going to save you. Come on everyone, let's get out of he-"

"Not so fast!"

Everyone tensed at the sudden intrusion.

Niffty gasping when she saw Doom with his holy guns,"Ack! It's him! He's the one who did this and he's gonna kill us!"

"Not on my watch," Charlie said,"Doom, put your gun down. You wouldn't dare hurt your princess, now would you? You're outnumbered and out-gunned. I suggest you surrender before you get hurt…"

"Surrender? I don't surrender, Charlie. Especially not after I've been made out for a fool by a fucking cat with wings. You've come far, but even if you got what you came for, I ain't letting you out of this alive, even if you, Charlie. I've got six arms and all of them have guns trained on you people. Any wrong moves and you're all dead where you stand."

"If you kill me, Lucifer will kill you," Charlie replied coldly,"Do you really want that?"

"Frankly, I don't care at this point. I've worked under that fucker for too long and I refuse to be overpowered by his prissy daughter and her team of losers. I've got nothing left to lose and if I die, then so be it. At least I'll be able to take all of you people with me. So smile for the camera, Charlie. This will only hurt a lot…"

Charlie tensed, preparing to bite the holy bullet….

Only for the attack to never come. When she opened her eyes, she noticed that Doom was getting...strangled? It was only when she saw that Vaggie had jumped on him and began shouting,"HEY! NO ONE TRIES TO SHOOTS MY GIRLFRIEND AND GETS AWAY WITH IT!"

"GET OFF OF ME!"

"NOT A CHANCE YOU MOTHERFUCKING ASSHOLE!" Vaggie then pulled out her knife and began stabbing him over and over again like a mad-woman, screaming and cursing in her native language. Eventually, she managed to knock him down, leaving him in a pool of his blood. She then stabbed him for good measure before sighing,"Fucking bastard is dead at last…"

"Vaggie! You saved us!" Charlie shouted, embracing her in a hug,"I'm so happy!"

"It was nothing Hun."

"Wait, how did you get here?"

"Easy, the smell of blood and the bastard's loud mouth gave you guys away." She replied,"Seriously, if he wasn't so busy ranting, I wouldn't have been able to sneak up on him. I'm just glad I made it in time to save you, I was worried you got hurt…"

"Aw, thanks Vaggie. Sorry I snuck out, but I had to…"

"I get it, just don't do it without bringing me along for the ride. I was really worried about you.." Vaggie replied before looking at Husk,"Uh...is he dead or what? Because he looks like shit..."

"He's barely alive," Niffty said,"He needs help asp."

"We all need to head back to the hotel," Charlie replied,"That way we can all re-group from there…"

Everyone nodded before Alastor teleported everyone out of the forest, leaving Doom to bleed out on the ground.

Thanks for 6,677 views! Tell me what you think below!

Enigmus-288: Glad someone's been paying attention. Sometimes people don't pick up on it so good job on your part.

Mitsuru6: Eh, it was originally gonna be shorter but I wanted to ensure they got everything out first. And yeah, Husk is alive...barley...

Chronosign: Ha lol. I'm pretty sure Lucifer would just regenerate his limbs if he lost any(it would take a while) but given he's the Devil, he'd probably manage his own wounds(He's too much of a prideful dick to go to the hospital cuz that'd mean he'd have to admit he needs help). He'd rather lick his own wounds himself than limb his way to the hospital ward.