Charlie surveys the damaged city, her large eyes filled with worry. Everyone had just exited the limo to take a better look at the destruction, staring back in awe at the wreckage. The city appeared to be completely destroyed and only ruins remained. It was utterly silent as well, upping the creep factor by a million.

"Guys…" Charlie started,"Do you guys think Vox is here? This city seems pretty deserted…"

"Looks can be deceiving," Alastor said, narrowing his eyes at the destruction,"He has to be sound here somewhere."

"Alastor is right," Lucifer replied,"This city is heavily damaged and I doubt it was always like this. This is likely the place Vox teleported to in order to engage Valentino and judging by the damage, it must've gotten really bad…"

Velvet's gaze shifted,"Do you think he's alright?"

"Who knows," Lilith shrugged,"Though he doesn't seem to be around here…"

Vol huffed, arms folded across his chest,"We'll need to go deeper. There are only so many places a person could be, Vox has to be around here somewhere…"

"How can you be so sure?" Lucifer asked,"You don't even know where he is. This place is completely abandoned. He could be anywhere by now…"

"Only one way to find out," Alastor replied,"Volastor is right, we cannot give up just yet, it's only the beginning. Come on now, everyone, let's get to looking…"

Everyone began searching the premises for any signs of life. Velvet began calling out Ex's name, hoping for a response while the others began searching under structures in hopes they could find any sign of their comrade.

As they were searching, Lucifer walked up to Volastor and asked,"So...Volastor, huh?"

Volastor narrowed his eyes at Lucifer before coldly responding,"Yes. That's my name. What's it to you?"

"Oh nothing, I was just going to comment how...unique that name was…"

"It's literally Vox and Alastor's names combined together," Vol said,"Hardly original…"

"Well it's not everyday you encounter someone whose names are two well known individuals combined, especially since you are their fusion if I recall correctly." Lucifer then noticed the glare Vol was giving him,"Is something wrong? You look rather upset when you look at me. I don't remember doing anything to upset you. Is my presence bothering you?"

Vol dryly chuckled,"You could say that…"

"How so? This is our first interaction, how could you already have such a negative opinion of me?"

Volastor narrowed his eyes. He wondered if Lucifer was messing with him, but for once, the King seemed genuinely puzzled at why he was so harsh towards him. Sighing, he merely said,"Your other self gave me a terrible impression."

"It wasn't that bad, was it?"

"He literally tried to kill me out of paranoia when I did absolutely nothing wrong," Vol replied flatly,"He's the reason the Vox and Alastor I knew had to kill themselves for me to exist. Had the other Charlie not saved him, I would've ended him when I had the chance…"

"You wouldn't have ended my other self," Lucifer said,"Holy weapons won't kill me but they will hurt…"

"Even if it didn't kill him, I would've still done my best to maim him to the best of my ability. The point still stands, it wouldn't have been pretty if Charlie didn't save him…"

"Fair point. Though I can't say I blame you for not being fond of me given my other self's actions, I would prefer you not being so hostile towards me. Despite our similar appearance, we are not really the same Lucifer at this point, especially with this timeline mishap. I doubt we could ever be friends, but I'd appreciate some civility…"

Vol huffed,"Fine. Just don't expect me to be buddy-buddy with you. We are not and never will be friends and I prefer to keep it that way."

Lucifer chuckled,"Can't say I expected anything else out of you. Though I must say, I'm impressed there aren't demons crawling all over you with the way you look."

"Excuse me?"

"I mean, you are on the handsome side of the coin. For someone whose fusee has a TV for a head, I believe you lucked out on the combination by inheriting Alastor's more human facial structure."

Volastor's eye twitched. It wasn't like he wasn't aware of his looks or anything, he just didn't care most of the time. But Lucifer being the one to compliment him by saying he found him attractive definitely struck him the wrong way, even if the King was well-meaning.

"What's with the face? I gave you a compliment, I expected you'd look a bit less...disturbed."

"No offense, Lucifer, but I just can't help but feel uncomfortable being complimented by you. I understand you are trying to...lower tensions but I'd prefer if you didn't comment on my appearance."

"There's nothing wrong with complimenting someone's looks, Vol. You are a head turner…"

Vol sent him a look,"Don't you have a wife and child, Lucifer? They aren't even that far from us, don't you think it's a bit rude to try and advance on a younger male in their presence?"

"My wife isn't against open relationships…"

"I have a girlfriend," Vol said flatly.

"What? Velvet? Isn't she a bit...young for you?"

"She's older than me actually. I may not look my age, but I'm not even a year old, I just have the body and mind of a middle aged man. Though age doesn't mean much maturity wise since Velvet still acts like an eighteen year old girl…"

"Still, are you certain you two wouldn't be up for it? It does get rather lonely between us, I doubt Velvet would mind and-"

"Not interested, Lucifer. Now are we going to focus on finding Vox or what?" Vol asked, trying to ignore the fact Lucifer just tried to propose a relationship between the four of them. Ignoring his gripes with the King in general, that was not something Vol was prepared to walk into. Velvet was already a handful, he didn't need two people intruding in on his love-life.

"Fine, suit yourself," Lucifer shrugged. It wasn't every day Lucifer was rejected, in fact, he was the one doing the rejecting so he was somewhat intrigued by Volastor's refusal. Still, he respected his choice and didn't want to press on, knowing that angering the fusion wasn't wise given what he heard about him.

'At least this Lucifer knows when to back off….' Vol thought before noticing something in the distance that he couldn't make out through his glasses,"Hey. What is that?"

Lucifer blanked,"What is what?"

"That thing off in the distance."

Lucifer squinted,"I can't tell...perhaps we should get closer…"

The two men stepped forward. As they did, an overwhelming stench ended up hitting them full-force.

Vol covered nose while Lucifer waved his hand over his face, his eyes narrowed at this overpowered smell.

"Ugh! What is that awful smell!?"

"An unmistakable one," Lucifer said,"The smell of death. While it always smells bad, I don't recall it ever being this putrid. And it appears to be coming from...that thing over there. Do you want to get a closer look?"

Vol tensed,"As much as I'd rather not get closer, I am curious to know what is causing that odor…"

Lucifer took charge with Vol reluctantly following after. When they got close enough to see what it was, there was a moment of silence.

"Is that-"

The King cut him off,"Most definitely. It certainly explains the awful smell. Looks like Valentino has met his end well before we got here. Can't say I'm going to miss him…"

Vol stared at the moth's body before kicking his corpse, causing Val's head to pop off his shoulders.

"Uh...Vol, you know he's already dead, right? There's no need to kick his body, we already know he's expired."

"I'm aware..I just...couldn't help myself…" Vol replied, the darkness in his voice growing,"I had a bad experience with Val in the other timeline and I never got to see the aftermath of his death so seeing his body...satisfies me…"

"Eh, I won't judge…" Lucifer replied, shrugging his shoulders.

Suddenly, Alastor, Velvet, Lilith and Charlie appeared, likely to see what the commotion was. They all noticeably flinched at the smell of Val's corpse, the Queen herself wrinkling her nose before saying,"Oh...that smell...it's…"

"Disgusting?" Charlie answered, gagging slightly as she resisted the urge to puke. She always had a sensitive stomach and even compared to the aftermath of the purges, the stench Val gave off was somehow worse...

"Yes. I was just going to say that…"

Alastor then looked at Velvet and asked,"Are you alright? You seem...tense…"

"I'm fine," The Doll Demon replied,"Ain't the first time Val died. Just never saw his corpse myself. He ain't even my Val but it still...kind of hurts seeing this..."

"Just know he brought it on himself," Vol stated,"There's no reason to mourn for that bastard."

"Still…Where is Vox?" Charlie asked,"We found Val but Vox is nowhere to be found. We've searched the other areas and there wasn't a trace of him..."

"Well since Val's body is here, Vox should be in this direction…" Lilith then narrowed her eyes,"Speaking of which, I believe that blood-trail will lead us right to him."

"Blood-trail?"

Lilith pointed at the blood on the ground. The air became tense as the amount on the floor was alarming. The group sent each other weary glances before Alastor suggested they follow the path.

Eventually, they entered a local park, one of the few places that seemed undamaged from the chaos, most of the area was lush and appealing. The only exception was the lone dying tree that was separated from the rest.

Worst part was that the blood-trail was leading them right to it…

When they approached the tree, their worst suspicions had been confirmed. They found Vox alright. Found his dead body propped up against a dying wood, the bloodied spear that once belonged to Vaggie held in his arms neatly. His screen was completely black with small cracks at the right side of his face. The WiFi signal on his hat had faded completely as his head was tilted to the side.

It would've looked like Vox was resting, had it not been for the bloody wounds in several parts of his body, as well as the horribly way his leg looked, likely because it was broken and horribly so. His tuxedo was stained with blood with several bullet holes in his body…

"Looks like we found him…" Lucifer said, breaking the silence.

"No...we're too late…" Charlie sobbed,"He...He's already gone…"

Alastor examined Vox's body for a moment,"He didn't die too long ago, he's still warm."

"How did this even happen?" Velvet asked.

The Radio Demon sighed,"From the looks of it, Vox got shot with holy bullets in the chest multiple times. I don't know how, but Val probably got his guard down long enough to shoot him. But given what happened to Val, Vox somehow managed to kill him before he succumbed to his injuries." He said this while motioning to the bloody spear in Vox's hands, indicating he had finished the job with the time he had left.

"Honestly, that's rather impressive," Lilith admitted,"Most demons when they get hit with holy weapons usually die, it's a one-hit kill for them. Even Goetic and the other Deadly Sins would only need one-bullet to be killed. How Vox survived as long as he did is questionable."

"Probably because he's a sinner," Lucifer said,"They are known for their ability to bounce back from things. It's the only logical explanation unless other powers were involved. The point is that Vox managed to finish what he started, albeit at the cost of his life…"

Velvet looked down, feeling somewhat wet in her eyes,"I had a feeling that was the case...I just was hoping that he'd pull through. I already had one Vox die on me, to see another go really...really hurts…" She then hugged Vox, not caring about the blood she got on her dress,"I'm sorry, Vox...We couldn't rescue you in time…"

Velvet hugged Vox's body. It may not have been her Vox...but it didn't make seeing him like this any better…

Charlie patted her on the back, trying to comfort the smaller woman.

Lucifer and Lilith stood back, uncertain what to do from here. The whole reason they came was to help Vox with his timeline problem at Charlie's behest, though the revelation of Vox's demise threw that idea out the window, leaving them to merely stand back and watch the spectacle.

"So what now?" Lilith asked,"Now that Vox is dead, what do you plan on doing from here?"

"I...I...don't know," Charlie mumbled,"I was hoping that we could help but now that he's...gone, I suppose that the least I could do is arrange some type of funeral for him. It's not much but it's the only thing I can do for him at this point. We should bury him right under this tree…"

"Why?" Lucifer asked,"It's a dying tree. The cemeteries have plenty of room, I don't understand putting him here when you could just bury him somewhere else. Hell, the other trees are actually alive and would be better spots for this."

"Because this is the spot where Vox chose to die," Charlie said,"He forced himself to go on despite all the pain he was in for a proper resting place. I don't know why Vox chose this spot, but I'm going to honor his decision and let him rest here."

"Your choice, Charlotte. Though you should organize the funeral while you can...that is, if you're capable."

"I know how…" Charlie mumbled,"Just because I was managing the Hotel doesn't mean I can't handle funeral arrangements, Dad…"

"Speaking of your Hotel, where do you plan on going from here?" Lilith asked,"I do remember seeing it burned down from the car. "

Charlie paused, she wasn't too certain what to do now. Valentino had burned down her hotel and it would take some time to rebuild it. She and her residents had to stay somewhere. Reluctantly, Charlie asked,"Can me and my hotel residents stay in your Mansion?"

"Charlie, you know I don't like strangers staying in my Mansion, especially long-term-"

"Dad, please...Just this once. Everyone needs a place to stay and I don't want anyone getting hurt. Just let them stay here until the Hotel can be rebuilt…"

Lucifer seemed ready to object, but Lilith sent him a look,"What? Are you hiding, Lilith? This stupid! She wants to bring her band of friends into our home for an unknown period of time! These people are almost all strangers! You can't seriously be OK with this!"

"She's still our daughter, Honey. You can make an exception just this once. Besides, if anyone causes any trouble, you can put them in their place with ease…"

"I know but-"

"No buts."

"Ugh. Fine," Lucifer groaned,"If they're coming to the palace, they better be on good behavior."

"I promise, everyone will be on their best behavior!" Charlie assured before saying,"Thanks Mom…

"Don't mention it. Just don't count on me to bail you out next time."

Alastor then coughed,"So..shouldn't we get going?"

"Gladly," Lucifer said,"Though shouldn't someone bring the body? It could easily become displaced if left here for much longer."

Velvet seemed ready to volunteer, but before she could, Vol suddenly picked up Vox's body in his arms, turning his back against them. Vol then said in a completely emotionless and cold voice,"Are you done staring or are we going to leave?"

With that said, they all came to their conclusion, deciding to leave. Velvet grabbed the spear before leaving, hoping they could bury Vox with it once they had the funeral arranged.

As the group left, the cloud of unease and sadness never left, even when they exited the city back to the car.

When they got back to the ruins of the Hotel, it appeared the situation had settled down. The fire was currently being extinguished by the Fire Department while the other hotel residents watched from afar, sitting on the side-walk.

Arackniss had his amputated arm bandaged and while it would regenerate, it was going to take a while. Angel was holding abandoned Fat Nuggets who had been treated for his burns. Husk had several bandages over his arm and one on his wing. The others had bruises and injuries(with the exception of Vaggie) but otherwise seemed relatively fine.

What remained of Val's army had retreated, leaving the Hazbins to sit back in their victory and tend to their wounds.

Still, not all was well, as the Hotel was nothing but ashes and cinder by now.

"Those fuckers took their sweet time getting here," Vaggie grumbled, arms folded over her chest.

The Fire Department in Hell usually only came when things escalated and they chose to be extra slow this time around. The entire City could be on fire and they'd probably only come out when it hit their district, that's how bad it was.

When Lucifer's limo pulled up, everyone's heads turned.

"Holy fuck, they're back!" Angel heaved.

"About time," Arackniss hissed,"Took them long enough."

Charlie exited the vehicle first, Vaggie rushing up to her,"Hon! You're alright! I was so weird about you! Are you ok!?"

"I'm fine, Vaggie. I just went in the car with my Dad, nothing happened...At least not to me…"

"Hon, what do you mean by that-Oh my god…"

The others came out of the vehicle and Vaggie caught sight of Vol, who was carrying Vox in his arms.

"We didn't make it in time…" The Princess teared up,"We came too late…"

"It's not your fault, Charlie. There was nothing you could've done…" Vaggie said, hugging her girlfriend.

The other Hazbins approached and saw the body. Everyone became tense, as even Arackniss muttered,"Shit...Is he…"

"Yes…" Vol said flatly,"He's dead. Val killed him."

Angel cursed,"Fuck! Does that mean Val's still alive!? We're all in danger and-"

"No," Velvet cut him off,"Val's dead as well. Vox managed to kill Val before he succumbed to his wounds. When we found him, he had this bloody spear in hand."

Angel looked down,"Oh..I...I'm sorry. I wish we could've done something…"

"He was already dead when we found him," Alastor stated,"It's a pity we couldn't have arrived there sooner. Perhaps we could've saved him if we did. We could've turned him into a cyborg but we didn't even get the chance to get to him while he was breathing…"

"It was probably better that way honestly," Velvet admitted,"I doubt Vox would've wanted that. He liked technological advances but Vox was always fond of his form. He wouldn't like having most of his body replaced without his consent."

"Damn…" Husk said,"I...I never really liked the guy, but I didn't think I'd see the day he'd die, especially by Val's hand…"

"So that's it huh?" Niffty asked,"He's just gone…"

Cherri sighed,"That's how it usually goes when you get hit with holy bullets. At least he died for the cause. But now that the battle's over, what should we do? Especially since I think the other Velvet is still out there."

"I wouldn't worry about her," Charlie said,"She's not really a threat by herself. Now that Val and Vox are dead, Velvet probably went into hiding while the chaos was unfolding. She probably won't try confronting anyone now that Vox and Val are dead. Even if she wanted to, she's vastly out-numbered and even if she could take you guys on, she doesn't stand much of a chance against me, Vol, Velvet and Alastor. "

"That's good, the last thing we need is more enemies showing up. But now that the hotel is destroyed, where do we go from here?" Vaggie asked.

"Oh don't worry, I managed to convince my parents to let us stay in their Mansion until the Hotel can be fully rebuilt. Once we settle in, I'm planning on getting Vox a proper burial. How does that sound?"

The other Hazbins seemed satisfied at this idea, as they voiced their agreement, as they all decided to head off to Lucifer's Mansion.

Before they left, Alastor looked at Vol, noticing his expression hadn't changed. There were no tears, no vocal complaints, nothing. He just…carried Vox's body without any signs of emotion in his eyes.

Vol then snapped,"Rude to stare, isn't it?"

"Sorry I-"

"Don't bother. Let's just leave. There's no time for this nonsense…"

And so they left.

Thanks for 8,857 views everyone! Tell me what you think of this chapter below!

Mitsuru6: That was also a reference to the Batman vs Superman Movie line but 'Insane' still works. And yeah, Vox basically died alone, fulfilling his promise to the others.

Enigmus-288: Yeah again lol. Not the first time Vox died, this time it's the original version who died.