How many times were people going to hug him while crying, was truly a question the Slayer never thought would enter his mind. Yet as the documentary for the second time that day came to an end in the lobby, he could both hear and feel Nifty who still sat atop his shoulders begin to cry.
"That's...that's just so sad..." She whimpered as fairly large tears leaked out of her eye, falling onto his helmet then trailing down his armor's back.
"That was fucking messed up is what it was..." Husk said with widened eyes as he offered a bottle to him, "You need a drink or something? Helps me forget." He asked.
"I'm afraid the Slayer doesn't drink." Vega told him, who he was having been clarified before the documentary began.
"Really? Then how the fuck does he deal with...all that?" Husk asked in amazement as he pointed to the projection device.
"Violence." He answered simply.
"Precisely! And that's exactly why he's even here in our Hell! To lend us a helping hand in cleaning up the riff raff of our wonderful society!" Alastor explained.
"So what, he's just gonna go around shooting people that piss him off? If so then everyone in this city is going to die." Husk replied.
"Not EVERYONE, just the most...annoying." Alastor clarified with a sneer, yet managed to keep his smile.
"Now is that YOUR definition of annoying or his?" Husk asked.
"Why I believe it's one in the same! After all great minds think alike right?" He responded, turning to the Slayer to ask his question.
Even with a still sniffling Nifty slumped against his head in combination with the radio demon's attention, the Slayer as usual didn't respond in any way. Not even Vega spoke which further proved the Slayer, though clearly hearing him, had no thoughts or feelings about that statement.
"Just as I thought..." Husk muttered to himself as he took a sip from the bottle he'd offered him.
"It doesn't matter, my tolerance or your tolerance really isn't important, what IS important is we get to work cleaning up Hell of the worst souls there are! So we should probably get a move on." Alastor said as he turned to face the door.
"Hold it." Katie spoke up, as she with crossed arms approached them from the door that led out of the dining area.
"Ah miss Killjoy, planning to join us on our hunt?" He asked.
"Do you have like, short term memory loss or something?" She asked in return as she reached him.
"Hm, some say I do have a few screws loose, but I don't think they're referring to my memory when they say it." He jested.
"I need him to help me convince the studio, and especially my former co-anchor, to not only give him some good press and the hotel coverage, but to maybe consider giving me my job back." She told him.
"That's peculiar, I don't think at any point in time I heard Lucifer describe that as being a part of your work, are you perhaps trying to use the Slayer for your own personal benefit miss Killjoy?" He asked.
"Oh don't you even fucking try that shit with me asshole." She responded coldly as she poked his chest with her finger, "You mean to tell me, that the infamous radio demon, one of the single most enigmatic and mysteriously powerful people in all of Hell, has absolutely no plans to somehow use an unstoppable killer to his gain? You ACTUALLY gonna try to sell me on that shit?" She questioned.
"She's got ya there." Husk said from the sidelines before taking another sip of his brew.
"My dear, do you ACTUALLY think that I would be so foolish as to try and manipulate the Slayer of all people? Especially after that riveting narration of his life? It even had pictures for crying out loud!" He argued defensively.
"I'm not saying you'd be obvious about it, but don't sit there and try to act all saintly just because of present company, you've got one of the most notorious reputations in all of Hell despite not being here for all too long, anyone who thinks you're here out of the kindness of your heart is a fucking moron, dear." She replied.
The next few seconds were filled with intense silence, as Katie and Alastor stared at each other trying to assert their dominance. And if it had gone on any longer perhaps the Slayer would have intervened, but that was not needed as someone else came from the dining area.
"Ahem." The voice of Lucifer would sound as he walked in, "Is there a problem here?" He asked.
"Of course not Luci, I was just admiring how wonderful miss Killjoy looks despite her recent splattering~" Alastor mused.
"I thought I saw a pile of shit, turned out to just be him." She answered for herself as they both backed off.
"Look, I understand both of you have egos big enough to fill every room in this hotel on your own, but could you at least manage to not break out into a fist fight before we even begin working together?" Lucifer asked.
"...Maybe." Both answered together causing him to sigh.
"Perhaps it would be best if we were to take our leave right now, right miss Killjoy?" Vega suggested finally stepping in as the voice of reason.
"Yeah, I need some fresh air after inhaling so much crap." She agreed as both she and the Slayer headed towards the door.
"Feel free to use the limousine for the purpose of discretion." Lucifer offered.
As the Slayer walked passed, Alastor would make sure to grab onto Nifty to pull her off of him as they left.
"Afraid you can't join them, too much work to be done around here." He told her.
"Aww, really?" She asked with a saddened look.
"Yes, now chop chop! No reason to just stand around here!" He said as he set her down on the ground.
Letting out a disappointed sigh that she could not follow after him, this would not keep Nifty down for too long. For just a quick glance at the hotel's lobby already made her eye go wide and her smile grow long, for just as he said there was cleaning to be done.
"Alastor." Lucifer spoke as he walked over, the small demon woman zipping around them as he drew near.
"Yes?" He inquired with a slight tilt of his head.
"I know I shouldn't have to ask this, because despite how I've reacted to your presence and overall involvement I know you're not stupid, but just so I don't have any creeping fears in the back of my mind, please tell me you aren't up to anything conniving, or if you are that it in no way will involve trying to make the Slayer dance like a puppet." Lucifer requested.
"...Lucifer." Alastor said in a sudden serious way, which while surprising on its own, the fact he also used his actual name caused the entire tone of the conversation to shift, "When I first arrived here in Hell I was quick to slaughter countless lords and nobles, why in the very first night alone I spilled enough blood to paint this city ten times over, but did you ever wonder why I suddenly stopped?" He asked.
"Because you realized killing anymore would probably be a really bad idea, especially if you killed anymore of my staff?" Lucifer suggested.
"Heh, no I'm afraid, but good guess." He replied as with half lidded eyes he looked to the floor, "The reason I stopped is because I realized, there was no more fun to be had with it, there was nothing special about what I was doing, just ripping bones out of still screaming bodies, stretching tendons like rubber bands till they snapped from the flesh that housed them, while I tried to be creative with how I killed each one, to give every single demon their own unique death, I eventually reached the end of my fairly varied arsenal." He explained, before slowly and surely returning his gaze to the devil, "And while I know this sounds incriminating, like I'm flat out saying what I want is for the Slayer to KILL, the fact is that will happen either way, the only thing I want from said killings Lucifer, the one thing I CRAVE more than any, is. a good. show." He said to him, speaking that last part slowly.
It was here in this moment when Lucifer remembered what made Alastor so unsettling, it wasn't his always present smile, or that static voice of his, or how sometimes his eyes seemed to turn into old radio needles. What made the radio demon one of the most feared and respected souls in all of his circle, was the fact that while he did enjoy killing people, oh he relished it, it wasn't the act that made it so satisfying and pleasurable to him, it was how many different ways he could do it.
Which is exactly why for the longest time now he'd been rather dormant, apart from a few isolated incidents he never sought to replicate his grand initial slaughter. But now that the Slayer was here he might never need to do it again period, for it was clear to anyone with a functioning brain that he was the unrivaled maestro of murder.
This left Lucifer at a loss for words, he wasn't really sure how to respond to him, for even though he certainly could be cruel and he did enjoy those moments quite a bit, it was NOTHING like this.
"Lucifer?" The voice of his wife called as she poked her head out of the dining area, "Are you coming back in? We still need to go over some things with the others." She told him.
"Er, yes, sorry sweetie, I was just...having a conversation with Alastor, I'm coming." He responded before turning his back to the other.
Feeling the deer demon's gaze follow him all the way until he went into the next room, once he was out of sight Alastor went back to his usual peppy self.
"Well, that was a rather refreshing exchange, I feel right as rain after that!" He exclaimed as he looked to Husk, "I believe I'll head out now, tell the others I'll be back later!" He instructed.
"Mhm, yeah, sure." Husk lazily replied, as he had stopped paying attention to anything that was going on after the Slayer left.
Even though this was a trip she had made on a daily basis for most of her life here in Hell, as Katie Killjoy sat in a limousine waiting to be delivered to the channel 666 studio, this was the only time she had ever felt nervous. But to her frustration she didn't know WHY she was nervous, it wasn't because she was scared to face Tom or the other workers, and surprisingly it wasn't because the Slayer rode with her, whatever was causing this uneasiness escaped her completely.
"Miss Killjoy." Vega spoke snapping her out of her light daze, "Are you alright? You appear to be unsettled by something." He noticed.
"Oh, well, kinda actually, problem is I don't know why and it's pissing me off..." She admitted, figuring there was no point trying to hide it as he was also in the collar around her neck.
"Is it perhaps having to face your coworkers now that you're trying to better yourself?" He suggested.
"Nah, I could give two shits what they all think, especially Tom, like I KNOW I gave him the most shit out of anyone, but don't let that nice suit he wears fool you, he deserves to be here just like everyone else, if for...less obvious reasons..." She said with a shiver down her spine, seemingly out of disgust.
"What about being put in front of a camera again? After all your death was put across public television, it would make sense for you to be unsure about going on the air again after such a thing." He suggested.
"...Vega, this is Hell, believe me when I say that my death being viewed as a public spectacle is like...probably the millionth most interesting thing to ever happen, and I'm saying that in the context of a ranking list." She explained.
"I see, the only other possibility for your current emotional distress would be the presence of the Slayer, but you're not showing any signs of fear or hesitation even in this close proximity, so I don't believe that is the cause either." He reasoned.
"Yeah, no offense but you don't really scare me anymore, and I don't say that just because of the documentary." She admitted addressing the Slayer directly.
"Oh? Due tell." Vega inquired mostly voicing his own surprise and curiosity.
"Don't get me wrong, you are still hands down the most intense bastard that's ever been down here, and you certainly are the only one who can back it all up without flinching or failing, but after you killed me, had me in that cell, and now that I've had some time to recuperate from all of it, I can see that what makes you really scary is when someone gets on your bad side, which I now know to NEVER do again." She explained.
"That does make sense, you are actually the first person the Slayer has ever killed who he has allowed to return, though you are also the only entity that could be considered a person to begin with, where as the bulk of his body count is of course those hailing from Doom." He replied.
"But he has killed some humans before right? Ones that weren't possessed or turned into zombies or something." She questioned.
"Yes, but keep in mind these people sought to kill others for no better reason than they felt it was in their right, and it's because of this that the Slayer regards them as being no different than the demons." He clarified.
Finding that she agreed with that view given her own interaction with those monsters, silence would come between them as she had nothing more to say. But it would not last very long, as without warning the limo suddenly came to a screeching stop, nearly throwing her against the seat where as the Slayer barely budged.
"What the fuck just happened?!" She shouted out as she readjusted herself.
"Sorry for that mam." The driver would apologize as the window that separated them lowered, "Was turning a corner just now and had to hit the brakes, seems there's been a wreck, pretty bad one too." He revealed.
"...How bad exactly are we talking here? Two...maybe three cars?..." She questioned trying to gauge how bad the situation was.
"Honestly mam the entire street's clogged up, seems like when the first two hit each other the rest just kind of piled on, either going too fast to stop in time or their drivers were under the influence." He surmised.
"Knowing where we are it was probably both and then some..." She muttered.
"Yeah, unfortunately I don't have enough room to back up, especially now that there's a couple of cars behind us, I COULD try to ram them out of the way so I can maybe get us out of here, but if I did that then mister Magne would reskin the seats with me." He explained.
"How long do you think we'll be here then? Like is anyone even here yet to try and get this shit sorted out?" She asked.
"Nope, and from the looks of it the drivers are already beating the shit out of each other, so it's definitely gonna be a while before anything starts happening." He answered.
Letting out a long groan followed by her sliding down the seat, seeing that as the end of their conversation the driver raised the window back up to give them their privacy.
"We could get out and head to the studio on foot." Vega suggested.
"No fucking way are we doing that." She replied though not in a disrespectful tone, "The moment anyone sees him, even if it's just for a split second, we'll be swarmed by a horde of nut jobs all trying to do something with him..." She explained.
"True, that did happen when we were in the city previously with miss Lilith." He recalled.
"Besides, even though damn near everyone in Hell hated me most people do think I'm dead, like ACTUALLY dead, so seeing me walk around will also not be good for avoiding attention." She said.
"Then I suppose the only thing we can do is wait for progress to be made with the accident." He determined.
"Yup, and it fucking sucks..." She agreed with a sigh.
Once again succumbing to silence though this time due to far less pleasant circumstances, only muffled noises and voices could be heard now, all coming from outside the vehicle. Yet as they sat there hoping that something would happen soon, the gears of Katie's mind slowly turned with each other, an idea came to be that was crazy, possibly borderline insane, but given everything else that had happened it could just work.
"...So...quick question." She spoke while looking towards the Slayer, "How strong are you exactly? Like I know the documentary showed you ripping and tearing those things apart, but they were still just flesh and blood, so even if some were tougher than others you'd be able to deal with them all the same, but what exactly IS your cap?" She asked.
"The Slayer's strength is limitless, I understand that might seem hard to believe, but after receiving power from the Maykrs he became what most might call a superhero, bullets and blades cannot pierce his flesh, wound him lightly yes but are incapable of dealing significant harm, in fact the only thing that can truly harm him is those of equal or greater strength such as the demons of Doom, as for speed and strength specifically as said they appear to be limitless, any time he has been faced with a new obstacle that would push any other to their upmost limit, he has handled with next to no strain whatsoever." Vega answered.
"So, pushing cars out of the way to clear a street for example, wouldn't be an issue at all for you then?" She asked.
"Not at all, the Slayer would be able to even lift them much like a crate or box and place them carefully, as to avoid creating more problems by simply shoving them out of the way." Vega answered.
"Then this whole shit show might actually work to our advantage..." She said with a sly smirk appearing on her face, "To be honest I wasn't sure how we could begin giving you good press, at least not without having you shoot some dick in the face or something, but if you resolve this issue single handedly then that will definitely help with it." She explained.
Apparently agreeing with that idea, or maybe because he didn't feel like sitting there for an unknown amount of time, the Slayer would respond himself to that suggestion by opening one of the doors and stepping out. A bit surprised by how quickly he took to that idea though also feeling a bit proud, Katie opted to watch from the limo as she didn't want to draw more attention. Closing the door behind him once he was standing on the street, the Slayer looked ahead of the limo to find that the driver's description of the situation, had actually been pretty spot on. Several cars were nearly all clumped together in a heap towards the center of the street, making both Vega and him question if the cars here even had proper breaks, with a few more surrounding the main incident.
As for the drivers themselves, again theirs had been correct in his assessment of the situation, they were either shouting angrily or trying to viciously pound one another into the pavement.
"It would be best to deal with the civilians first, as to avoid any unwanted deaths or further injury." Vega advised as the Slayer began his approach.
In typical fashion the moment he started to walk and his heavy footsteps went out into the air, those that weren't currently shouting or fighting immediately took notice and saw him coming.
"Holy fuck!"
"It's him! The guy from the news!"
"Oh man I wonder what he's gonna do?" Were some of the things that nearby onlookers said once they laid eyes on him.
"LISTEN HERE YOU MOTHER FUCKER YOU REAR ENDED ME AND I-" One of the
immensely pissed off drivers began shouting, only to be interrupted as a shadow cast over them.
"Oh great, another fucking asshole, let me guess you-" The demon he had been shouting at began to say as both looked to the shadow's owner, only to feel their blood run cold as they saw who it was.
"Excuse me, but might you and the others currently shouting please vacate the street? It would make helping you far easier." Vega requested as the Slayer simply stared them down.
"Uh...y-yeah, s-sorry for sh-shouting..." The first one apologized.
"Y-Yeah, me too, or I mean uh, s-sorry for g-going off on ya..." The second one copied. "Thank you." Vega replied simply.
Stepping aside to allow the Slayer to walk passed them without hinderance, thankfully anyone else who was simply arguing and not fighting followed their example, and just shut their mouths before running to the sidewalks. This left only those currently beating each other with their fists, which admittedly was a fair amount, and even with his thunderous footsteps being heard, they either didn't care or didn't realize who they belonged to. So in his usual efficient manner the Slayer did away with all pleasantries, simply summoning his pump action in order to fire off several rounds into the street below him.
"If I may have your attention." Vega requested which he already had, seeing as how NO ONE could possibly ignore three loud shotgun blasts going off near their person, "I am going to assume that all of you know who this is, in addition to having seen the incident on the news and what happened during the turf war, so I am going to ask you a simple question, do you feel as though you are either brave or lucky enough to try and handle what comes next?" He asked as the Slayer pumped his weapon, readying a fourth potential shot.
Even though the demons present were all different from each other, some bulky while others lanky, some resembling animals while others just looked like typical Hellspawn, for a brief moment they all acted as though they were frozen. But then they looked to each other, then down at themselves, then at the Slayer as if fully assessing what their chances were. And finally as they came to the conclusion that there was absolutely no fucking goddamn way they had any chance at all, they separated from each other with their hands raised. Even those who didn't seem like they should be moving due to their injuries knew they had to get away, some resorting to even crawling just to not be in his path.
Waiting until every demon was off to the sides and he was sure none would actually try something stupid, the Slayer would store his shotgun away before refocusing on the small hill of vehicles. Of course no one really knew what to expect, all they knew about this guy was that he was strong, he was fast, and he could shoot a mother fucker from a hundred yards off. So you can imagine how many jaws dropped that day as the Slayer began grabbing cars, trucks, and whatever vehicles there were, and moving them out of the way like they were as light as couch cushions. Now it wasn't as comical as it might seem, the heaps of metal still had their weight to them which was made clear as
they hit the ground when he grabbed them, but it was the near complete lack of effort he displayed while doing this that made it so shocking.
After about two or three minutes the once clogged street was now clear, at least to the point where traffic could resume and he could be on his way. This is the part where Katie and everyone else expected him to leave, as the problem that even caused him to show up was now resolved. But to her and everyone else's surprise, though for them specifically also their horror, the Slayer before returning to the limo would approach the more injured of this ordeal. Feeling all of their hearts begin beating a million miles an hour, they all dreaded that because they had been the ones fighting, and had also added to the amount of wrecked vehicles there were, that they were about to be punished with further abuse or even death.
Yet as they all shut their eyes tight, tensing up their bodies, and gritted their teeth expecting to feel immeasurable pain, they soon instead felt indescribable relief wash over them. Reopening their eyes and looking to see just what he could be doing, they saw him with some strange new blue bottle in hand, pouring a mysterious liquid onto their wounds, which somehow despite all logic that they knew of was healing them. Within literal seconds all of them were back to normal, even those who had bones jutting out of their limbs or pieces broken/ripped away, were completely restored as if nothing had even happened. This caused the entire situation to shift in perspective, for while they were still wary as they should be, this one action showed that he wasn't just some psychotic lunatic who wanted to hurt people, but that he actually wanted to help.
Sadly though for the confused yet amazed demons they'd get no clarity as to what just transpired, once all of the injured were taken care of he just like his shotgun would make the bottle disappear, then return to the limo without so much as a single word being spoken. Stepping inside and closing the door once he was seated, the first thing the Slayer saw were more looks of astoundment from Katie and the driver.
"Sir...that was...that was incredible!" He praised.
"The Slayer appreciates your compliment, however he would like to resume heading to our destination, before more people show up or the ones currently present try to swarm the limousine." Vega stated.
"Oh right of course, forgive me!" He apologized before turning around and starting up the engine.
Deciding to also roll up the separating window again before he set the limo in motion, Katie would wait until they began driving before speaking herself.
"That was incredible, like ACTUALLY incredible." She complimented.
"Was it? The Slayer simply responded to the situation accordingly." Vega said.
"I mean it's just, normally someone would have to be handed a script to give a single shit about anyone, like moving the cars out of the way was obvious, but the fact you even bothered to help the morons who got themselves fucked up was something even I didn't consider." She explained.
"Again, the Slayer reacted to the situation with what was needed, a display of force to gain control and aid to those who needed it most, regardless of the fact that they are now demons they are still people, and unless they give him no other options his first choice won't be just to shoot them on sight." Vega elaborated.
"But that's just the thing, you're the first person down here, except for Charlie I guess, who actually gives a crap about anyone, it really is something that you don't see everyday, or at all."
She said.
"Well, hopefully this one display of compassion and mercy will be enough to spark some change, which will help us in achieving our goal." Vega replied.
"Yeah...hopefully." She agreed.
With that conversation over both would fall silent and wait to arrive at the studio, though Katie as stealthily as she could looked at the Slayer from the side of her eye. And as she looked at him sitting there, she unaware of it had a small smile come to her face, though much like her still lingering feeling of nervousness, she wouldn't know why.
"Hey boys, care for a little action~" Angel Dust teased seductively, as he moved his hands down his body while addressing two random men.
To their word, once given an exact list of things they could and could not say or do while working the street, as well as some admittedly nice flyers made by Moxxie and Millie, Angel and Cherri went to work on the slums. And where as the Magnes were famous for obvious reasons, Katie for her career as a news anchor and her recent death, and Alastor for just well...him, so too was Angel Dust famous even if it was thanks to his countless pornos. Though for the first time in his life he would have to restrain himself, even if somehow someone genuinely attractive came along, who he of course would want to ride like a stallion, because otherwise in Lucifer's own words it would be "bad for business". Yet even as he swindled another couple of schmucks who were willing to head to the hotel, after the promise of having their worlds rocked of course, this was also the first time where as he worked the street, he felt good about it.
Sure having sex on a near daily basis was INCREDIBLE, especially when the customers were actually good at it, but there was something different about how this felt, something that made him feel proud of what he was doing. Though that isn't to say he wasn't proud to be regarded as one of the best lays in all of Hell of course.
"See you guys there~" He called after them as they walked away, "Man, what people will agree to if you offer to suck their dicks, it's incredible." He admitted with a chuckle, "Wonder how Cherri's doing?" He wondered aloud.
As if on cue a body, still alive, would come crashing through a window in the building next to him and hit the pavement, said body groaning in complete and total agony as it lay there.
"F-Fine...we'll fucking check out the hotel..." The person barely grunted before passing out due to their pain.
"Glad we saw eye to eye!" Cherri exclaimed from the now broken window, before jumping through it to land next to Angel.
"Taking things didn't go too well in there?" He asked as they began walking.
"Oh no it was great, first they flashed their guns at me, then they started shooting, then I kicked their asses, then I threw that guy out a window, and by the end they came to see things my way." She answered with a laugh, "Honestly the hardest part was not killing any of them, because fuck it would've been so easy." She said.
"Yeah, it is weird showing off my body without getting cash or a good time after, but hey least it's for a good cause eh?" He said.
"True, speaking of a good cause, let's try and figure out how we're going to actually get the Slayer into bed, since we've got a ways to walk before we get to the next place." She suggested.
"Good idea, especially since it seems like that pint sized neat freak has got the hots fer'em, do you think she's got a shot?" He asked.
"Pfft, you kidding? She might not be an actual child but she sure as shit looks like one, no way the Slayer's into that gross shit." She answered.
"Yeah true, probably would rip out someone's tongue if they told him too...so uh, let's avoid bringing that up around him." He suggested.
"Really I don't think we've got much competition, Charlie and Vaggie are clearly head over heels for each other, almost to the point it makes me wanna gag, Alastor's about as sexually active as roadkill so he's no problem either, Lucifer, Lilith, Moxxie, and Millie are two happy married couples, and I don't think the Slayer's a furry, so that knocks Loona out too." She listed.
"Mhm, then you have Blitzo who is practically a sentient dick, which sadly isn't as great as I thought it'd be, and Husk is...well...I don't know what his deal is, but it's definitely WAY too buried under all that alcohol to try digging up and working through." He replied.
"That just leaves Katie...oh fuck." She said. "What?" He asked.
"I already told ya I think she's got the hots for him, but I mean looking past how much of a bitch she used to be, she's honestly not that bad to look at, nice figure, good complexion, and to top it all off I'm pretty sure she's slept with a LOT of guys, like almost as many as you have." She answered.
"Whoa...that's not good..." He said.
"Plus she's getting to spend all kinds of free time with him, I mean fuck she's in a limo with him right now probably trying to sit in his lap!" She exclaimed.
"Aw fucking damn it, do you know how much it would suck if SHE beats us? We would never hear the end of it..." He groaned.
"Exactly, so when we get back to the hotel and the Slayer's there we HAVE to step up our game, I'll try getting friendly with him like she is, and you put on those irresistible charms of yours, he'll be putty in our hands in no time." She explained.
"Sounds good to me, I could even walk around in one of the hotel's bathrobes to really turn up the heat." He suggested.
"Ooo! That's perfect!" She replied as they came to a stop, "Whelp, time to go chat with some more folks, be out in a minute." She said.
"Don't be too quick, I gotta try and find someone to give these to while you're in there." He told her as he held up the flyers.
Nodding in response to that Cherri would then head inside the fairly rundown apartment building they arrived at, leaving Angel to stand there and wait for some unsuspecting horn dog to come along. Thankfully he wouldn't need to wait too long as the sound of an approaching car reached his ears, coming from behind him down the street. Taking a moment to fluff up his chest and put on his best seductive smile, he turned around to see who was coming only to have his stomach tighten
up. A limo, one he knew all too well slowly came to a stop next to him, and as the window rolled down the feeling in his gut worsened.
"Angel baby~" The pimp known as Valentino spoke with a wide toothy smile, as he took a long drag from a cigarette.
"H-Hey Val..." Angel replied hesitantly while avoiding eye contact.
"Been a bit since I've heard from you, in fact it's been a full day since I even got a text from you...or any money." He told him as he lightly played with the cigarette between his fingers.
"W-Well uh, thing is when I was walking around yesterday some lunatic, ya know the guy from the news? He suddenly showed up and started shooting everything in sight, s-so I figured it'd be best to lay low till I knew it was safe before getting back to work is all..." Angel lied.
"Right, that makes sense, wouldn't want that beautiful face of yours to catch a bullet or two, would be bad for business." He agreed as his grin went away, "Tell me something though, did you forget how a fucking phone works? Cause you could have still sent me a message." He said as he finally blew out the smoke he'd been keeping in.
"I-I dropped it Val, I mean the shooting just happened, I panicked and ran for cover..." Angel told him.
A few seconds went by with the only sound being the running engine of the limo, as Angel Dust had no idea how this was gonna turn out. Flinching unintentionally as Valentino opened his door, instead of stepping out he gestured to the inside inviting him in.
"Well, we can't have my best worker on the job without a phone, I mean what if something happened or I needed to reach you, so why don't we head back and get you a new one?" He suggested.
"I appreciate that Val really, but I'm kinda waiting for someone a-and it wouldn't be good for reputation if I stood them up so-"
Before Angel Dust could finish that excuse Valentino would interrupt him, not by speaking or even getting physical in some way, but by simply taking another hit of his cigarette.
"Aww, that's real nice of you, wanting to make sure our rep isn't ruined in some way." He said as his grin returned, "But I'm sure one angry john ain't gonna do us any harm, especially since everyone in this part of town has already had a sample once or twice, so you can come with me, right Angel baby?" He asked as he blew out the smoke more quickly this time, though instead of being normal smoke it was pink for some reason.
"I...I...I guess you're right." He agreed while looking down at the ground sadly.
"Course I am, now come on in here and sit next to me, I'll make sure we have a nice time while we get there~" He promised.
Taking one quick glance back at the building hoping desperately for Cherri to come out right now, he knew he couldn't stand there for too long less he wanted to make his "daddy" angry. So reluctantly he did as he was told and got into the vehicle, making sure to dump the flyers on the ground behind his back as he did. Once inside he would close the door for his boss so he wouldn't have to, which allowed him to signal his driver that they were ready to leave. Giving one last glance back at all the flyers that were spread out across the ground, he winced slightly as an arm wrapped around him and a hand fell onto his shoulder.
.
.
.
"Woo man, now THAT was fun, let's do it again sometime!" Cherri shouted behind her as she walked through the halls towards the entrance.
Just as before the gentlemen, and even a few ladies this time, who she sought to speak with needed a little "convincing", though unlike before this lot could actually hold their own quite well. Of course it was still nothing for Cherri, there was a reason she was such a well known gang leader, though admittedly it was near entirely because she was a walking clusterfuck of explosives.
"Man Angel, you should've come in with me for that one, I know you can't shoot anyone but there was a pretty decent selection of shit to beat'em with, all provided by them of course, would've been more fun than standing around here." She said as she pushed the door open, fully expecting to see him standing there.
Yet he wasn't, for some reason Angel Dust wasn't in front of the building when she came out, and as she noticed all of the flyers he had been carrying laid on the ground, every bit of adrenaline and excitement from her "meeting" drained away completely.
"...Angel?" She asked only to herself, as a terrible sickly feeling quickly came over her.
It's funny how things work out sometimes, one moment you're having a standoff akin to that of a western movie, the next you're sitting quietly with the people you had the standoff with drinking tea. This was the current situation containing Samur and the exterminators, as he and the group that had escorted him all sat around a table at a local café. As for why they were having tea at a café' instead of at their headquarters, the truth was that well...they actually didn't have one. You see the exterminators had their positions given to them by the higher ups, and since it was a job that happened only once a year, there was never a genuinely good reason to spend a bunch of time and effort giving them a base or something, when they could just live their lives until the work needed to be done.
"I'll admit, out of everything I assumed would happen, this is something I actually hadn't foreseen." Samur admitted as he took his cup into his hands.
"What, you think that we'd have some kind of military fortress or castle to laze about in? I wish." The current "head" exterminator replied.
"So when it comes time for the yearly cleansing of Lucifer's Hell, how exactly does it all come together?" He asked honestly very curious.
"Well, you know how when kids are going to school they all go to the bus stop and wait for the bus?" They asked in return, earning a nod from him, "It's pretty much like that, we just go about our daily lives here doing whatever we want, within the laws and rules of Heaven of course, then when the day comes we put on our uniforms which you're seeing right now, put on these masks to hide our identity from the people of Lucifer's circle, then we just kinda all group together and go down there once we get the green light." They explained.
"Hm, far simpler than I expected, though very organized it seems." He replied. "Yeah it is." They agreed before then taking off their mask.
Following suit as they wouldn't be able to drink their tea with them on, all of the exterminators revealed their faces, and what Samur saw was honestly what he assumed they'd look like. Similar to Lucifer's circle where the populace was one half some kind of animal or combination of a human with an animal, and the other half just a random Hellspawn looking appearance, the same applied to the angels who governed his circle. In total there were seven exterminators present, three of them resembled Heavenborn with pure white skin, while their eyes though varied in color were all light in tone, giving them a very comforting and welcoming aura. Then there were three who just resembled animals, one looked like a sheep with fluffy pink wool and chocolate brown horns, the second looked like a feline of some kind as to be the opposite of the Hellhounds, and the third looked like a pure snow white dove.
But that left the seventh member of their group, the one who had been speaking on their behalf, and they seemed to be one of the in between variants. Though their face resembled that of a human's, they had horns coming from their head on the sides and had ears that looked like a bovine's, topped all off with short well kept dark blue hair, and Samur's best guess was they were meant to be a bull or cow even. Still the Seraphim didn't say anything even as their faces were revealed, he kept silent as they all took sips of their beverages and he chose to do the same.
"Ah, made with just a touch of honey, always tastes so sweet~" Their leader said, once they all had finished taking a sip.
"Mhm, nothing beats a cup of Heavenly tea, say do you have something like this in uh, what was it?...Urdek?" The sheep asked, their voice telling him they were female.
"We do have beverages, though they aren't of mortal conception, and very few have ever tried them outside of our kind." He answered, choosing not to correct the mistake in case it made her feel bad.
"Ooo sounds exotic, I'd love to try some now that we're working together!" The dove exclaimed their voice also sounding feminine.
"Speaking of, if we're going to make this work at all it's probably best if we introduce ourselves, we know your name but you don't know ours." Their leader suggested.
"That would be appreciated." He replied.
"I'll go first then, my name's Gretta, and if you couldn't tell I'm sort of the leader of our group here specifically." They stated revealing that they too were female.
"I'm Malak." "I'm Manic." "And I'm Mark." The three more angel looking exterminators all said in sequence, their voices not only showing that they were men, but also that they were clearly triplets.
"I'm Sonia." The sheep introduced with a smile and slight wave.
"Felicia." The feline said while avoiding eye contact, though due to the somewhat lackluster tone of her voice, he assumed it was due to a lack of interest rather than shyness.
"And I'm Elizabeth, though if you want you can just call me Lizzie, or Beth, or Eliza, whichever sounds the best to you!" The dove said with an abundance of pep.
"Hm, I must admit, given your occupation I hadn't expected you all to be so normal, forgive if that comes across as rude." He told them.
"Oh no not at all, everyone always expects the exterminators to be these really creepy and off putting people, but the truth is apart from our love of murder we're honestly quite normal!" Elizabeth assured.
"Yup, we mostly just do what everyone else does when we're not on the clock." "You know things like going to the movies, playing games, or just hanging out at the park." "Yeah, we're no different from anyone else." The Triplets all said again in sequence.
"If anything we're pretty surprised by how normal you seem, which I hope you aren't offended by." Sonia admitted.
"No that's quite understandable, we Maykrs are well aware of how different we are from the rest of the Heavenborn, both in appearance as well as conduct, which has only been made worse due to our recent actions, but that was to be expected." He replied.
"Speaking of those actions, before we go any further with the pleasantries it would probably be best if you told us everything, after all if we're going to work together, and bring the rest of the exterminators up to speed, we need to know the full story." Gretta requested.
"Now when you say that, do you actually mean you want the FULL story, or just a summarized version of it?" He asked.
"Why? Is it really that long?" Felicia questioned now bothering to look at him.
"If you want every detail regarding why we've done what we have, and why we plan to do what we are set to, then yes we will be here for quite some time, a few hours even, but if you want the short of it that can be explained in but a few minutes." He clarified.
Taking a second to see what they all wanted, as the exterminators looked to each other to silently assess what their decision was, they all then looked back to him and let their leader give their answer.
"We need to know everything, even if a lot of it is just painting us the picture or giving as much context as possible, we need to understand what you guys are really up to." She said.
"Very well, then I suggest we all order something to eat and ask for a pitcher of tea to be brought to the table, this is going to be one story you will want to pay close attention to." He assured as he took another sip from his cup.