There haven't been any views for the most part, but maybe another chapter will make it more lively. If anyone's following, thank you.
It took a while until Alastor realized the fact that Angel Dust was still there, looking with both concern and fright. He was clearly scared, still stunned by what looked like imminent death. As if trying to forget the situation right away, he immediately stood up, and as he did, the black appendages gripping Angel disappeared. "I... think you've overstayed your welcome."
"...what? You did all that crazy shit and you're just going to tell me to leave? You looked like you were going to KILL me!" Once again, static filled the air, but no action was taken. There was an awkward silence, and Angel stared intently for an explanation for whatever just happened. No such thing was given, the radio demon simply staring back, feeling uncharacteristically hesitant in what he was doing. Even he himself didn't know what he wanted to do. Defensively, he deflected. "Get. Out."
Fear was replaced with fury, Angel's eyes narrowing. "You know what? Screw you." Turning heel, not even looking to see how the other reacted, he slammed the door. Had this been a random stranger acting so rudely, he wouldn't have cared. But this was no ordinary stranger. Or was he? He flopped back onto his bed, frustrated, unable to get a handle on his emotions, nor even read them. What was usually a calm, collected, suave demon was now crumbling inside. For the longest time, he never needed these feelings or felt them. He was in hell, and everything was beneath him. There were no doubts and anxiousness like this. Resisting the urge to tear even more, he dragged himself to the room's bathroom, splashing his face with water. Looking into the mirror, he shook his head at himself, feeling pathetic. He had to think rationally. "No. He is NOT him. No matter how much he looks like him, or sound like him." Even then, deep in his heart, he knew these words were in vain, his feelings remaining.
"So, I'm guessing it didn't go well." Angel was slouching and plopped down on a seat, the corner of his lip giving a twitch. He had changed back to his original outfit, and his expression matched the very definition of 'annoyed.'
"What, does my face make it obvious?"
"Well, it hasn't even been 10 minutes." A drink was immediately set down as if he knew what would be asked for. It was immediately downed, as Angel gave a sigh. "I just don't get it. If it was flat out disinterest he wouldn't... act that way. He was just sad. Maybe he's just crazier than I thought." Husk seemed to be deep in thought for a few seconds, eyeing a particular dent on the table, then nodded. "...well, I've got an idea."
"What? Let me guess... he's got a certain kink that he's really into? WAIT. Did you two date before?!"
"I don't know, and HELL NO. It's... well, you didn't hear this from me, alright?" Angel's interest was piqued, and he gave a nod. "It's not because of you. I mean, the man has class, and I don't see him going for... well, someone like you who's sorta been around..."
"Gee, thanks, killer."
"No offense. Although, aside from that fact, there's something more important." There was curious silence, more nodding to show he was listening, waiting for the bartender to finish. "Back when I was working with him, he had this picture. He's got this office and there's a ton of paintings. He's a collector of many things, one of which is art. But there was one painting that was different from the rest. One he kept in a picture frame on his desk. I got a glimpse of it just once. There's two figures, and one of them is him. The other, I didn't recognize. Tried asking him about it, but he'd just ignore me. Would pass it off as some art he had commissioned." Husk arranged some bottles while looking around, making sure no one was around. The hotel hadn't garnered much attention as expected, but he didn't need any rumors floating around. Alastor would probably have his head for revealing private information like this. It revealed a different side unknown to everyone. A side that could be interpreted as weakness and damage his reputation. "I did some digging around, found out from a few sources that he actually once had a lover. But... a miracle happened."
"Really? Who's the lucky lady?" Husk shook his head a few times. "Nono, it was a guy, but that's besides the-"
"Nice! So I wasn't hitting on a straight dude this whole time. Was really thinking that could be it."
"Heeeeello!" Immediately, he turned to the different voice that was not Angel's. The face was recognizable. A notable figure in the recent turf wars, constantly mentioned in the news as one of the main players. "What's up?" Not another word came out of Husk as he turned around, deciding to focus on cleaning up the rest of the bar which still needed a ton of dusting and repairing. "Oh come on, don't be like that." Playfully, Cherri Bomb twisted a lock around a finger, then faced the spider demon. "Anywho, I was meaning to contact you!" Angel's reaction to her appearance was the opposite of Husk's. "You know what? Now is the perfect time for a distraction."
"Well, I've got another gig I need some help with. Are you down?"
"Babe, you know it." The two giggled and exited promptly, with Husk sighing, his story forgotten pretty easily. "He'll find out sooner or later anyways."
"What happened to your tactical planning? Thought you said you'd be more careful since there's been a lot of new powers rising."
"Uhh... last time was sooo much fun. I couldn't help but invite you again!" Cherri danced with a mock air guitar, seemingly excited, yet also... a little different. Not an eyebrow was raised as Angel just wanted to forget about earlier, even temporarily, by doing anything else. "Mmm, I'm feeling the need for a little bloodletting anyways..." The two quickly disappeared in Cherri's convertible, not knowing they were been observed from afar. Two deep, red eyes could be faintly seen in the shadows.
Alastor wanted to say he wasn't sure why he was following the two. Part of him wanted to say he was intrigued by what would happen, or that he was simply bored. But these two excuses were far from the truth. He wanted to see him more. Moving in shadows, he went from rooftop to rooftop of the ruined metropolis, the hot, bright pink of Cherri's transporation with distinct symbols of her trademark making them easy to follow. Bound to be easily spotted by whatever they were planning to ambush. Eventually, it became clear where exactly they were heading, arriving to a wasteland of sorts. Strange, considering that this wasn't a known territory of anyone. There was nothing to rule over, the area abandoned of life and having nothing of value. But this made no sense in the context Cherri was talking about. "Perhaps this is..."
"So where are we going anyways? Are we hitting Vergil's? Maybe the Oni's?" Angel mused through some local gang names, cheek resting on a fist. He had been itching for some violence, having held back for quite a while on everything he stood for. Of course, the vacation away from all of it was kind of nice. Yet, it only served to remind him that it was far too late to turn back. The only reason he had accepted the hotel's offer was to have a stable place to rest rather than going from house to house and using sexual favors to get a place to stay for a night. And bonus, he could just stop thinking about Alastor for one damn second. Cherri had not answered, but he went to his next thought, instead moving onto a pressing thought he had been trying to ignore. "Hey... what do you think of that, uh. Radio Demon?"
"Huh? Oh... I believe his real name's Alastor. He's been around for a long time. Definitely not someone you wanna mess with. Guy is known to kill anyone who pisses him off on the spot. Guns, magic... nothing works on him. Somehow." Angel's eyebrows raised. How was that even possible? As far as he knew, all demons had some weak point. Shortly, they pulled up to their destination. This place was familiar. But, it was definitely not gang territory. "This is the place."
"This is the place?" Angel repeated after her, who simply nodded. "Hey. Where's the excitement? Let's start this party!" Cherri smiled at this, but couldn't hide the immense regret on her face. "What's up, hun? You've been kind of off." Cherri couldn't look straight at him, her eyes glued to the steering wheel. Her hands were still on it, and she began to tremble. "Cherri." She didn't answer. His instincts finally rushed as he heard tires screech. The path they had taken was now blocked by a row of black cars, effectively sealing the route, leaving only the open wasteland. "...shit." With a soft sob, Cherri choked whatever she was going to say. Finally, it all made sense. "HAHA! God... DAMN IT! You set me up!"
"Nothing will save you now, Angel Dust! Meheheheh!" Only one demon sounded that damn annoying. "You fucking asshole..." Angel couldn't help but grin though. He got got good. He should have known from the start, knowing Cherri's tendencies. He didn't expect this guy again though. "Bet you didn't count on seeing me again, didn't you?" Emerging from a vantage point was Sir Pentious. "Gotcha, bitch!" A quick laser pistol shot reached its mark, yet, it only phased through him. A hologram. "Oho, my! That won't work this time, Angel. Your days in hell... are over." Cherri started crying more audibly, still unable to let go of the steering wheel. "I'm sorry... they were going to kill me. It's like you s-said, right? You either kill or be killed?"
Angel ignored Cherri. "Oh yeah? You and what army?" Dozens of lasers pointed at him at a snap of the fake figure's. Minions were at every corner, all armed with rifles. It was the perfect death trap, the whole area surrounding one target. Small mounds in the hills indicated another grunt aiming their gun, and boy, were those hills looking extra bumpy at the top. The flashes of red lasers making him wince were another pretty good indicator of how many there were. "...well don't that beat all."
This was the last way Angel thought he'd go down. Arms tied, lasers all pointed at the back of his head, defenseless. All because he had been setup. This was the very reason he preferred to work alone. Cherri Bomb was an exception, but this is what happened when you left holes in your rules. Those holes were weaknesses. She was one of the few he could call a friend. At the very least, hopefully, she'd be released with his death. "What's the matter? No sexual comebacks? Are you finally realizing how fucked you are?"
"Just... shut up. I'm trying to think of something. Kill me now if you can't wait." Angel rolled his eyes as he knelt down, staring at the vastness of the Hell Wasteland. Nothing but sand, hills, and orange-red. A really boring place to die. At this point, he was more annoyed at the way he was dying and the terrible location rather than the fact he was about to die. "Ok. I've got it now. As shitty as a place this is, I can at least take solace in the fact that you're deciding to use about 100 bullets on my head just to kill me."
"Indeed. Be honored that you'll be killed by a higher power such as me. After this, the rest of hell awaits me. It is just too sad you won't be able to see-"
Silence. "...what's that noise?"
"Are you asking me? 'Cause I don't hear anything."
"Well, something's interrupting my evil speech. Ugh, is my programming off? I swear, living as a piece of brain matter translated by a computer isn't easy." In the distance, however, Angel could see a commotion. Faint shadows falling, the annoying light show becoming disrupted one by one, and screams of pain. Training his eyes even harder, he could see a red figure...
NSFW will come eventually. I enjoy romance a lot.
