-Earlier-

In a room separate from the rest of the hangar, Pentious was bent over his workshop table; on it were an assortment of tools ranging from screwdrivers to welding equipment and buckets of assorted parts. Schematics hung on the wall in front of him for various past inventions, in no particular order. After fleeing from his recon ship back to his hideout he immediately set to work on completing the final pieces of his project. He didn't care about the wounds that were still slowly healing all over his body, he had spent weeks working on this; and now with the data he stole from Vox Tower, he could finally complete it. With the obtained building data on his right, he looked between that and the object he was building on his left. The project, as it looked now, was a black metallic cube about the size of a toaster. It was split in half on the x-axis, with the top part split into fours and each quarter was opened up revealing the middle of the cube, which was empty for now. With the information he took he could finalize the machine, his Vox-killing weapon.

Through his exploits in trying to claim territory in the Pride Ring he had crossed paths with Vox multiple times, mainly due to the fact some of the territory he wanted infringed on his. From these encounters he learned a great deal about him. The biggest piece of information he learned was how Vox's electronic body worked. Pentious was always one to prepare beforehand with the best weaponry and technology he could create to combat his enemies. In his first encounter with Vox he created a simple EMP, hoping to knock him out easily. Of course, he learned the hard way this wouldn't be enough. While the EMP fried everything within a five mile radius, Vox was still standing.

But why? Pentious asked himself after recovering from that fight. Vox is made of electronic parts, and from the research he did into technologies ahead of his time the device should have worked. It wasn't until he saw Vox traveling through televisions while slithering around Hell that a thought occurred to him. It was this thought that spurred him to infiltrate Vox Tower when he saw Vox was out, and the data he obtained confirmed his suspicions.

There were two sets of currents running alongside each other throughout the Pride Ring leading to and from Vox Tower. There was a current highlighted in yellow which Pentious assumed to be normal electrical current, as it flowed from the tower. The other current, however, was a bright blue and only went to the tower. This blue shone with the same intensity as Vox's television screen face, and that's when it hit him. Whatever Vox was made of, it wasn't normal electricity. While Vox rode the normal current flowing out of the tower, providing everyone with electricity, he always took his own current back. Pentious surmised this had to be a sort of defensive measure, in case the grid ever went down he would be ejected into this stream and sent safely back to his abode.

This realization, of course, made him understand not only why EMPs wouldn't work, but hacking wouldn't work either. The current that flowed back into the tower ran itself throughout the building, making it an internal system only accessible by Vox. The external systems, however, were made up of normal current, which would explain why his miniature EMP worked when dismantling Vox's perimeter defenses. He was lucky that the port he found to dock into was also an external system and he managed to get the files while he did. An easily accessible flaw in his otherwise perfect system. However, Pentious doubted that flaw was still present now after being spotted while accessing the files. So that still left the issue of taking Vox off the grid permanently; if he established a unique current accessible only to him, Pentious would have to find a way to shut it down. To that end, he crafted what he termed the "EVP".

This Electro-Voxnetic Pulse would be crafted based on the information he learned about Vox's current, and would target it exclusively. The cube would also be completely compatible with the wirings found in Vox Tower. This would not only allow Pentious to hack his way into the tower, going further than he did last night, but it would allow him to fry Vox's entire network once he connected the cube. Then it would only be a matter of waiting. The next time Vox attempts to reconnect to his grid, the cube will automatically send out a pulse that will not only fry the current, but Vox as well. This would shut down everything, kill Vox, and allow him to easily swoop in and take over.

Pentious began to rummage through the buckets on the table, searching for parts that were compatible with the building schematics he was looking at. As he pulled out wires and scraps of metal, he muttered to himself, "All they ever do is underestimate me, but soon it will be the last misssssstake one of them will make."

Just then, he heard the door to the workshop open and the sound of small feet pattering up to him. He didn't want to be distracted from his work, so he continued to configure the box while addressing the new presence in the room.

"What is it?" he asked, slightly annoyed.

"I know you told me not to disturb you," one of Pentious's egg minions said, "but I was checking the ummm, the picture…? The… flashy television…." The Egg-boi's voice drifted off as he tried to figure out the word for the object he wanted to tell his boss about.

Pentious groaned, realizing what he was trying to say, shook his head and asked, "The camera feed?"

"Yeah!" He exclaimed with excessive cheer. "The camera feed showed Vox leaving his tower, and really fast!"

Pentious's eyes widened and he dropped his tools. If what he said was true that could only mean one thing, Vox knew he escaped and he knew where he was. He thought he had been careful choosing this location for his base, making sure the electricity was on its own grid so Vox couldn't find him.

No, Pentious thought, shaking his head, I was careful. There's no technology he can access here. I made sure of that, everything here was created by me and runs on generators I also created. I need to see this for myself.

Turning away from his work, he faced the Egg-boi and told him, "Follow me."

He immediately slithered out of the room, not paying attention to if his minion followed him out. He needed to be quick, if Vox was coming here he needed to prepare. The box wasn't complete yet and would be useless if they were to fight now. But he wanted to check the cameras first to see if he even was coming here. He placed a number of them around Vox Tower so he would be able to get an idea what he was doing.

He passed through the empty hallway on his way to the camera room. Normally the Egg-bois would be running around these halls doing various appointed tasks, but now all his minions were in the main hangar touching up on his newly-designed airship. After his unexpected encounter with Alastor he designed a new craft, one that was tougher and faster so it could escape situations like the one that destroyed his previous ship. It also came with a few surprises of its own, and like the box he'd been working on he hoped it would assure him victory against Vox.

After passing a few more doors, he turned to his left into a slightly open door that led into his camera room. He immediately began scanning the screens that covered the one wall, until he found the feed that showed Vox's car. However, contrary to what his minion told him, he found it was stopped right in front of the tower. In front of it stood Vox, and he was speaking with Valentino. Pentious grimaced. If Vox was planning with Valentino to come after him, he wouldn't be able to fend both of them off. But then something peculiar happened. He saw Vox snap his fingers, and his car rolled back inside his tower; a second car then showed up, a limo, and the two of them walked over to it. They both got in, and the limo began to drive off in the opposite direction of where Pentious was located, back into the city.

Pentious breathed a sigh of relief. He didn't know what was going on but, for now, it seemed like Vox wasn't going to attack him just yet. Then a new realization hit him. The tower was unoccupied once again. He smiled deviously. Although his project wasn't finished, he wouldn't get a better opportunity. He needed to strike now. As for the box, he'll put the rest of it together in the airship. It was going to be a long flight to the tower anyways.

"W- what's going on... boss-man?" The question broke Pentious out of his fiendish thoughts and he faced the Egg-boi who alerted him to the cameras earlier. He was out of breath from running down the hall trying to catch up with him. After another deep inhale, he asked, "Are we in trouble?"

Pentious's smile grew. "Hardly. Go tell the Egg-bois to prepare the ship for take-off. We're going back to Vox Tower."

-Now-

"I'm so glad the food has been to your tastes Mr. Valentino, I would offer you nothing less. I'll be right back with the check for Mr. Vox," Flamegan said proudly, bowing his head, then he turned to leave.

Valentino watched him go, satisfied that everything had been going smoothly so far. Although he broke up with him often, Vox was always great at reeling him back in. A restaurant date that he clearly didn't plan ahead for, just for the two of them, was one of his better decisions. Now he was curious what else Vox would pull out of thin air and he faced him inquisitively. He had been staring off into space for quite a while, but Valentino assumed it was just because he couldn't eat and had nothing better to do at the moment. So in a rare act of kindness he decided to give Vox some attention while they waited for Flamegan to come back.

"Now that was some great food, I should come here more often, outside of when you take me that is," Valentino chuckled lightly. Reaching over, he placed his hand on top of Vox's, stroking it gently. "So, what's next for us, Voxy?"

Vox continued to stare into space, not really looking at him. Valentino raised an eyebrow in confusion and looked at his boyfriend's face. Was there a switch flipped or something? Valentino asked himself. He turned towards the band playing next to them, thinking that he must have not heard him over the noise. Snapping his fingers at them, he shooed the band away, and they immediately ceased their song and retreated around the fountain at his gesture. Turning back to Vox, Valentino once again posed his question.

"Voxy, babe, did you hear me? What are we doing today?"

Vox wasn't paying attention to him, he was deep in his systems, watching everything go to hell in his studios. At first, he believed everything to be taken care of when he had his security bots summoned to stop the Smile Killer. Then, as Valentino's order was being brought out, he received five separate alerts all at once. Knowing that Valentino would be too engrossed in his meal to conversate, he froze his screen again to check said alerts. Five robots, destroyed. All at once. The messages angered him beyond measure, and that anger only worsened when four more alerts appeared ten minutes later as four additional robots were put out of commission. How the hell was one man doing all of this?

He planned to find out, and so he had pulled up multiple camera feeds around the location where the robots were dispatched. While all street cameras worked, he couldn't connect to the cameras inside the building they were sent to. He realized why upon looking at the external views, seeing the studio turned into a flaming wreck. And outside, still conscious, was the homeless clown he saw earlier. The Smile Killer himself. If he could move his body without causing suspicion from Valentino, he would be digging his claws into the underside of the table. How is he still alive, after an entire group of his robots were sent to take him down? The question kept banging around Vox's head, torturing him. He could do nothing but watch as he got off the ground and began to go back on his merry way, off to cause even more destruction to his district. He was about to make several calls to anyone still alive in the area to dispatch more of the security robots, until he saw another form emerge from the flaming building.

An exoskeleton of one of his robots, still alive. It charged at the killer and threw him to the ground. Immediately, relief coursed through Vox upon seeing this display. Looks like he wasn't going to get away after all. Zooming in on the two figures, he took great pleasure in seeing the killer getting choked by his robot.

Soon enough, Vox thought, he'll be knocked out and dragged back to the tower for holding until I get back, assuming that idiotic imp did his part of the job before he croaked. It would be a shame if he died like this. I want to have fun pulling him apart and putting him back together.

But then, just as he was about to take his last breath, Vox lost all access to the camera feeds. Sitting inside his electronic body in near darkness, he was left confused. Now what was going on? As soon as he asked himself that question, a new notification appeared for him, and he opened it.

'New register has entered rooftop exit'

Vox could barely process what he was reading. A new register? This couldn't have been the Smile Killer, he just saw him dying on the ground a couple minutes ago. And there's no way in hell he would be capable of spoofing his systems. Vox began to think about what was going on, but his thoughts were interrupted by another notification, different from the other two. This time it was an external feed, showing Valentino poking at Vox's screen. As much as he wanted to return to Valentino to explain his absence and continue keeping him happy, he had far bigger concerns at the moment. He minimized the pop-up, and a new notification took its place. Frustrated now, he opened it to read what it said.

'New register in elevator, descending to control room'

Who was this new register?! And how are they accessing my fucking tower?! Vox screamed these questions internally, not having an answer. If the killer is still on the ground, he couldn't be in the tower, there's no way in from the ground. And the notification said access came from the roof. The roof…

It immediately dawned on him what was going on, and the realization infuriated him even more.

That snake, Vox thought, he's inside my tower! I knew it couldn't have been a fault in my external security last night, he broke the loop himself! Now he's gone even further and broke into my tower, and I think I know how.

Vox began to remember, as well, his encounters with Pentious, and how he tried to shut down the electrical grid that powered his body. With every fight he would bring a stronger and stronger EMP to try and shut him down, yet he would remain standing. This was solely due to the different properties that made up his body versus the electricity that ran through Hell. Now, it seems like he managed to build one that affected his systems, if not his entire sector. Vox couldn't say for sure if the Smile Killer got away again due to this electronic disturbance, but that was the least of his worries. That snake accomplished what he set out to do, he broke in. He had to get back home immediately, he couldn't say for sure what kind of damage Pentious might do.

Vox became more stressed as things in his territory got worse and worse. While he stressed, outside his body Valentino was getting more frustrated being ignored by Vox.

"Voxy," Valentino said, his pleasant voice morphing into a growl at the end. "I asked you a question. Twice now in fact. You know how much I hate repeating myself. You've been doing so good, please don't fuck this up." He spoke threateningly, his smile wavering.

Vox could hear him, but still he didn't answer. He was too focused on trying to figure out how to deal with this situation. He no longer had time to entertain Valentino, these two needed to be dealt with. Yet Valentino's voice kept pestering him, his hand was gripped onto his, keeping him there. Always he demanded his time, and he always gave. But it was never enough, the whole world had to stop for Valentino. Vox began to realize how much of a negative quality this was now that it was affecting him.

"Alright, I'll be nice and ask once more. There won't be a fourth time. Vox, light of my life, what the fuck are you planning?" The question was posed aggressively, whatever progress Vox made in pleasing him was pretty much gone at this point.

The question caused something to snap inside Vox. What was I planning? He asked himself. Oh I'll tell you Valentino, I'll tell you what I'm fucking planning.

"You want to know what I'm planning, babe?" Vox asked in response, finally resurfacing from inside.

He retracted his hand from Valentino forcefully and stood up, causing his chair to scrape back against the floor. Valentino noticed the antagonistic motion and he glared up at Vox, daring him to continue with what he planned to say next. Other patrons took notice as well, as the demons closest to them grew quiet, and a few even moved out of the way of the coming confrontation. Flamegan was on his way to their table when he saw the looks on their faces, and he slowly turned around to hide back inside the kitchen.

Vox accepted Valentino's challenging stare and he pressed on. "I'm planning on going back to my fucking tower. Because some assholes have been causing a disturbance in my district that my employees can't handle. So I'll have to go and fix it myself. As for you, do whatever the fuck you want, as you always do. But I have bigger things to deal with right now."

Vox turned away and stepped towards the exit, but stopped when he heard the drumming of fingers on the table behind him.

"Vox," Valentino said curtly, "there's only one thing you should be 'dealing' with right now, and that's where you're taking me next. I don't care what's happening in your district, or whatever excuse you've made up to cover the fact you didn't plan for this at all. Despite the fact that you asked me out in the first place-"

This statement caused Vox to turn around, incredulous at the accusation. "Do you have brain damage?" He asked, interrupting Valentino. "Last I checked, you called me, and YOU wanted us to meet today. Could've been any other fucking day, but no, it had to be today. Because all of Hell revolves around you!"

Vox walked back to the table, slamming his hands down on it in front of Valentino, and he leaned into his face. "And excuses? Did you even stop to think why I was ignoring you? Of course not, you rarely think. I was doing it because I had more important things to deal with. My tower has been infiltrated, and my studio lots are turning to fucking ash! So as for things a 'should' be dealing with, you are the lowest on my list of priorities, you egotistical, arrogant, over-priced ass!"

This final insult forced Valentino out of his seat, and he stood up to his full height, completely dwarfing the fuming Vox. He scowled down at the Overlord, and the fierce look caused Vox to waver slightly as he realized that he might have made a mistake. The two stared at each other and thoughts started to rush to the front of Vox's mind. He wanted to explain his verbal outlash, to make Valentino understand how stressed he had become during their date seeing his territory get destroyed, and that he inadvertently threw that stress onto him. He knew he shouldn't have ignored him, but this was his business and livelihood, and he would've understood had Valentino done the same to him, and he had in the past. Maybe, in doing so, he could salvage what minute traces of goodwill they had left between them, and he could be allowed to return in one piece.

Unfortunately for him, that didn't seem like that would be happening. As Vox opened his mouth to try and take back most of the words he said, Valentino's fist slammed dead center into his face, shattering the screen completely. This elicited a few gasps from the other restaurant patrons; Flamegan as well put a fiery hand up to his flame-head as if to mimic shock from his spot looking out the kitchen doors. Vox flew back and hit the ground hard. With his monitor shattered, random pixels fuzzed in and out of damaged areas and he could barely see his surroundings.

He could still hear perfectly, however, as he heard the sound of black boots clacking on the ground closer to him. Dazed, he sat himself up on his elbows to look towards the noise, only to see a black object flying into his face. Valentino's heeled boot connected into Vox's damaged face, sending shards of glass flying off onto the floor. Vox's head slammed back into the floor. He could do nothing but lay still and groan, fearing any more movement would entice Valentino to assault him again.

Seeing he wasn't planning on getting up again, Valentino said, in a hostile tone, "We're through Vox, for good. If I ever see your face outside your territory, I'm smashing it again, understood?"

Vox didn't respond, he had lost pretty much all vision on one side of his face, and was staying silent so he could keep eyesight on the other side. Valentino glowered at him for a couple seconds, then his boots clacked away from him, the noise fading away with every step. Vox lay there for a few moments as everyone awkwardly returned to their meals, leaving the broken Overlord on the floor to himself.

Everything was going so fucking smoothly, Vox thought. Then that killer showed up, and started trashing my place, of all the places in Hell he could've gone to. On top of that, Pentious came back because he can't stop being a consistent pain in the ass. I should've just chased after him when I had the chance, Valentino would have forgiven me if I didn't stop for him before. Now? It's all over. Because of them.

Vox's hands curled into fists, the parts of his screen that still displayed his face showed it was now a furious scowl.

I'm going to kill both of them, but I'm going to make it last, until both of them beg to die. No movie or show premiers. Just me and them, until they're reduced to nothing. This last angry thought was a promise he intended to keep, and he began to sit back up again. Then he felt someone grab under his shoulders from behind, pulling him back up.

"My goodness sir, are you alright?" Flamegan asked. "I saw the whole display from afar, I'm sorry if I did anything to offend Mr. Valentino and he took it out on you. Don't worry about the bill, I can cover it."

Vox huffed out a fake weak laugh as he allowed himself to be pulled back up to his feet. Once upright, he roped an arm around Flamegan's neck, pulling him in in a seemingly friendly manner. Now in his grasp, he slowly walked him over to the fountain, saying, "Thanks for that Flame. And don't worry, you didn't say anything dumb this time; that one is all on me."

"There's no need to thank me sir," Flamegan chuckled nervously, not expecting this closeness from Vox after what he saw.

Vox nodded his head, "You're right, there's no need, but I was raised to have manners and I practice them every day. So please, take the gratitude." He stopped them right at the edge of the fountain, the flowing waters lightly spraying them.

Flamegan looked at Vox, and he nodded his head in return, "Well, you're most wel-"

He didn't even get to finish his sentence, as in one motion Vox kicked his legs out from underneath him and dunked the poor fire demon's head into the water, causing steam to immediately erupt upon contact.

"On the other hand," Vox grunted, struggling to keep the resisting man under the pool, "I was also raised to release my anger and frustrations. It's bad to let these things bottle up inside you, you know. Of course, my parents never quite taught me how to do it properly. But over time, and through a lot of people, I managed to figure it out. Now, quit struggling and let me work it all out."

He pushed down on Flamegan's body, feeling more and more of it turn into steam as the water doused his flames. He knew doing this wouldn't kill him, but it was making him feel a lot better. Eventually, there was nothing left of the restaurateur to push down on, and so Vox released his grip and allowed the slightly soaked clothing to fall in a pile against the side of the fountain. Vox inhaled deeply, and slowly exhaled out, feeling at least some of his frustrations melt away. Now calmer, he turned and marched towards the back of the restaurant to the kitchen. Several demons and imps were looking through the door and they appeared startled by his approaching presence. Opening the door, he looked at all of them and asked one question.

"Where's your nearest outlet?"

-Vox Tower-

I let out an impressed whistle, admiring the line of cars that were stored inside Vox's garage. Although the blackout seemed to have affected everything outside, the lights inside the building still worked perfectly fine. It almost made me wonder how the opening to this garage unlocked in the first place, if everything still ran smoothly, but I decided not to think too long on it. What mattered is I was finally in, and these cars look a bit too drab. Black and blue? Such a boring color palette. Green and purple on the other hand, now that's an eye-popping color scheme. Before I deal with Vox, I think these cars need a serious paint job.

Pulling out green and purple spray cans from underneath my coat, I set to work tagging all the cars in the room. Some green here, some purple there, plenty of J's, and I made sure to give each car a beautiful smile. I'll admit the work is amateurish, I never was the artistic type. But it wasn't like I was storming in with a boombox, a crew, and a full array of paints and brushes. Considering my lack of appropriate supplies, this is one of my better works that didn't involve mass murder.

Satisfied with my meager artworks, I threw the empty cans onto the floor and made my way to the elevator on the other side of the room, laughing as I did so. Pressing the button beside it, the doors smoothly glided open, and I got in and looked at the panel of buttons inside. They were all neatly labeled with the names of different floors rather than a typical number, and looked like they've never been touched. Scanning them up and down, I searched for the floor Vox would most likely be in.

"Control room?" I asked, scratching my chin. Shrugging, I said, "Seems like the most logical place he'd be," and I pressed it. The doors closed and immediately I felt myself going swiftly up the tower. After a few seconds of ascension I arrived at what looked like the top floor, and the doors finally opened. The room was dark, a contrast to the brightness of the garage I was in earlier, but even in this low light I could see a figure shifting around ahead of me. A slim figure, wearing a top hat. Hello Vox. It didn't seem like he had noticed my presence, so I pulled out my revolver and snuck closer to him. Once I felt I had got close enough to him, I pointed my gun directly at his back and thumbed back the hammer audibly. He stopped shifting.

Smiling, I addressed him, "You're a hard man to find you know. Believe me, I've been trying all day! But now that I finally have your attention Vox, let me say, firstly, I really didn't appreciate you flinging me across Hell like a baseball. And, secondly, I especially didn't appreciate the robot death squad. Do you know how much those bullets of yours hurt? Here, let me show you-"

"Wait! I'm not Vox!" The figure exclaimed, throwing their hands up and turning around to face me. Upon hearing their voice and seeing their face, I could see they weren't lying, they looked nothing like Vox. Instead of a television for a head, they had a snake-like head, and a body to match. Eyes lined the entirety of it, and there was even an eye on their hat. Just when I think I've seen it all down here, I encounter something else even more baffling than that last thing. There was also something in his hand that I noticed, it looked like some sort of cube? Whatever it was it didn't look like a weapon, so it didn't concern me at the moment.

My hand pointing the gun dropped, and I looked at him perplexed. So it really wasn't Vox that came here by airship, it was whoever this new guy was. Did he cause the blackout as well? Was he also here to kill Vox? Maybe, instead of asking myself these questions, I should ask him.

Shaking my head, I trained the gun back on the snake-man, causing him to flinch and he kept his hands in the air. "Who the hell are you?" I asked.

The snake looked around for a moment, as if he was confused by the question, then he returned his attention and threw the question back at me, "Who the hell are you?"

"I asked first," I responded, stepping closer.

The man backed down, and he replied, "Pentious! S-sir Pentious!"

That's one mystery solved, time for the others. Taking another step closer to him I said, "Well, pleased to meet you Pentious, you can call me Joker. Or Uncle J, or just J, I'm not really picky with names. Now that the forced formalities are out of the way, why are you here? Are you planning on killing Vox as well?"

Pentious hesitated for a moment, not sure if he should answer. Seeing me approach with the gun, however, he figured it was best to indulge me. "Y-yes, I was actually in the middle of doing that."

"Oh! Well, that's too bad," I responded, "because I'm also here to kill Vox. A television told me to do it you see, and I really don't want to miss the irony of killing a television on the orders of a television. So unless we can kill Vox twice, I'm afraid you'll have to be going."

I waved the gun towards the elevator to allow him to leave. In usual circumstances I would just kill him, and then Vox whenever he decides to show up, but I wanted to save the energy I had left for Vox. I still don't completely know how my suit jacket works, and the last thing I wanted was to run out of toys in the middle of my fight with him.

Pentious, however, didn't move after my gesture for him to leave. Instead, his confused and scared face changed instantly into an almost sinister grin. "Actually, I won't be doing that," he said, and at the same time I could feel something crawl up my leg. I immediately realized his fearful projection was just a ruse to draw me closer. Before I could even react, Pentious's tail was wrapped around my entire body. His tail constricted, pinching my arm and forcing my hand to open up and drop the revolver. Slowly, he bent over and picked it off the ground; now armed with my gun, he pointed it at me.

"Right," I said, my voice struggling to come out, "you're a snake… I honestly should've seen this coming."

Pentious ignored my comments, saying, "I don't know who you are, Joker, and I don't care. I've worked for too long, and have suffered too much of that prick's insolence, just for some nobody like you to kill him. He, and his title of Overlord, are mine. And nobody is getting in the way of that!"

He wrapped his finger around the trigger, and I was sure I was going to die then and there. After everything I've been through so far, to be stopped just short of my goal, killed by someone who planned to kill the man I've been searching for. Now that's ironic. But then, a third voice emanated from all around us, as if God himself decided to step in on my impending death.

"Are you sure about that, Pretentious?" The voice asked mockingly.

Then the two of us fell, as the floor opened beneath us, into the dark space waiting underneath.