Chapter 47: Mine Railway To Hell
A lot of people don't understand kids. Some really have a hard time understanding kids with mental disabilities, peculiar interests, allergies, or immense powers.
Amar Blight-Noceda was all these things and people either understood or misunderstood him. Most of the people who fell in Category #2 were morons to him.
Everyone tried to sleep in, hoping to get as much energy as they could before going to Hell. However, unless it was for school or his birthday, Amar never respected alarm clocks, so when his ears picked up the sounds of someone, possibly the Grinch, taking the dogs out for their morning walk, Amar woke up at 6:30am. Despite being surrounded by mostly women in his family, Amar was a voucher for quick showers, washing his hair with Herbal Essence shampoo and scrubbing his body with pharmacy-brand vanilla body lotion faster than it takes a barista to brew an order of coffee. Amar did, however, ensured to properly dry and brush his hair and coat his skin with sunscreen and aloe vera. His mommy warned him against wigs and intense sunburns.
Even though he was nowhere near his elementary school at the time being, he'd brought his school uniform with him. Back before the Great Destruction, nearly all his relatives, his parents included, had attended Hexside School of Magic and Demonics, but nowadays, Witchachusetts had a school system combining magic AND humanistic studies going from elementary to high school, which quite suited his family when they enrolled Amar in the Witchachusetts Elementary School for Magic and Humanistics. WESMH had borrowed some pages from the Hexside books, especially in the uniforms consisting of grey hoods and sleeveless tunics and color-themed sleeves and leggings. As Amar put his grey uniform over his sleeves and leggings, he could see the colors of all the tracks he studied in rainbow order: red Bard, orange Beastkeeping, yellow Potions, green Plants, light blue Illusions, dark blue Healing, pink Abominations, purple Oracle, and brown Construction. Optional to the dress code, he wore white boots.
He and his mamá really had a thing for white-colored footwear.
After dressing up, he packed his things in his otter-themed backpack. Amar grabbed a yellow flashcard and a crayon and started making a list.
Survive Hell
#1 Stick with Audrey and the others
#2 No deals with demons
#3 No candy from strangers
#4 Use picture to get on devil's good side
#5 Buddy system
#6 Don't trust people with fancy cars
#7 Avoid overlords (except Radio Demon)
#8 Avoid Cannibal Colony
#9 Cook my own food
#10 If captured, play psycho
#11 Complete workbooks
#12 Use Oracle magic for defense
#13 Call Demo for backup (if necessary)
Yep. The typical things an 8-year-old picks up by watching zombie videos on the Internet in the library computers.
Amar's list was the last thing he put in his backpack when Audrey finally woke up around 7:05am. He finally understood why Gothy and Crystal were so weirded out by the way Audrey slept. Even Amar had to check Audrey's pulse when for a moment, he was worried that Audrey might actually be a zombie or something.
"Buenos días," he said. (Good morning).
"Uh… buenos días?" Audrey rubbed her eyes. Amar nodded at her attempt to speak Spanish back at him. "Did you sleep OK?"
"Yep. What about you? You looked like a zombie before resurrection," he bluntly said.
"I get that a lot." Audrey didn't seem fazed by his reaction. She got up, stretched, and searched through her bag full of clothes. "Damn! I should have thought of putting some clothes aside last night! Or pack up some fireproof armor!"
"It's Hell, Audrey. It's like any other town you go to." Amar walked up, nudged Audrey aside, and started rummaging through Audrey's bag to find clothes. Thank Titan that he and his friends constantly played Fashion Dress Up on Friday nights. The first thing he successfully found was a German-like vest with flowers and feathers. "That's pretty. You should wear that. I heard the Radio Demon is old-fashioned like crazy."
"The Candy Witch and her daughter Ingwer gave me that when Gothy and I first crossed the wall into these lands," Audrey said with a fond tone.
"Definitely wear it if you associated with cannibals." Amar put it on the bed, creating a separate pile, and saw the surprised look on the teenager's face. "What? Cannibal witches are frequent in Witchachusetts. My mommy just killed so many customers when they tried giving me candy. I think she was more annoyed that the candy had lactose."
Obviously, Audrey looked like she was confused about the detail about Amar's mother, but what could Amar say? When Amity Blight-Noceda was his mommy, she handled being his mommy like a pro.
He searched through her bag again. A dark pink long-sleeved shirt, and some black pants. He also searched through her jewelry and put them on the pile.
"Is that necessary?" Audrey asked. "We're going to Hell, not a party."
"You're meeting the guy you made a deal with, not some high school jock at a New Year's Eve party." Amar put out a cuff bracelet, bird wing earrings, the phoenix hairclips and silver finger rings bracelets Audrey had gotten from Jessie and Noir back in Villainapolis, and finally, her cloak. "The Radio Demon is an overlord. It's like meeting someone super-famous who can ruin your life if you don't make good impressions. ¡Date una ducha, ahora!" He pushed her in the shower. (Take a shower, now!) "Medium warm water, Audrey!" He shouted from the room.
"Why?" Audrey shouted through the steam.
"Makes the hair stand out! Why do you think I look cute?"
Audrey groaned as she stepped out of the shower. Amar blindfolded himself and created a circle with his hand, summoning a hot wind that blew Audrey completely dried. Amar took off his blindfold and rapidly applied conditioner in her hair, braiding it before holding it up with her hairpin. He created another summoning circle, causing the clothes and accessories to materialize on Audrey, surprising her as she found herself fully dressed rather than covered by a towel. Amar rapidly applied natural-colored blush, lipstick, and eye shadow on her face. He licked his index fingers and brushed them against Audrey's eyebrows, straightening them in the process.
"Check it out." He pointed at the mirror. Considering how pleasantly surprised Audrey looked, Amar could tell he nailed it. He crossed his arms and smirked, satisfied.
"You know how to put on make like a pro," Audrey smiled at him.
"Eh. Dress up games with my friends." Amar shrugged. "Besides, it's handy when I don't want my mommies to find out at breakfast that I've been reading all night rather than sleeping."
"You shouldn't do all-nighters at your age," Audrey pointed out.
"But The Lady's Guide to Petticoats and Piracy is awesome! It's not my fault Mackenzi Lee is a cool author!" He protested. "I wouldn't have been able to sleep if I didn't finish the book!"
They proceeded to breakfast. Mrs. Whovier had already prepared a massive breakfast: plates of green eggs and ham, stacked pancakes coated with maple syrup and powdered sugar, snowflake-shaped waves, and coffee mugs. She didn't fill the mugs, figuring that the group would prefer to make their own beverages with the Ultimate Beverage Confectioner 3000.
Their friends finally came in. Beatrice was fine as ever, making herself a mug of hot chocolate with whipped cream coated with absinthe.
"You guys slept well?" She asked.
"Like a rock." Amar put three pancakes on his plate.
"I slept fine, but still annoyed that your godfather has been giving me the silent treatment for almost a month," Audrey grumbled.
"That's his way of giving space… He's usually not good with other people's personal space, but when it's his, he has NO problem placing the five-foot rule." Beatrice snapped her fingers, a scroll appearing in her palm. "I wrote a list of things for you to know about his quirks."
"Thanks." Audrey took the list and put it in her bag. Amar kept eating his breakfast peacefully, stacking up on food as much as he could, while the others came in. Crystal and Gothy had bags under their eyes, probably from nightmares. To Amar, they looked like they had nightmares of what awaited them. He drank his coffee while he observed them filling their mugs with earl grey. Ozzy and Charles looked a bit suspicious to him. Ozzy looked too serene, and Charles was limping and wincing as he walked. Both made warm milk coated with cinnamon. These two weirdly reminded Amar of the way his Tios Edric and Hunter behaved first thing in the morning whenever Amar stayed at their casa on springtime weekends.
"Aren't Grinchelda and her dad going to miss out on breakfast?" Beatrice asked when they were done with their meal ten minutes later.
"They find alternatives for the first meal of the day." Mrs. Whovier shrugged as she cleaned the dishes. "Besides, they had to prepare the mine wagon slingshot for your way to Hell."
Now that confused Amar. "Mine wagon slingshot? Wait, you're going to slingshot us in a mine wagon? To go to Hell?"
An hour later
Three words: Mine. Wagon. Slingshot.
Just seeing the machinery sent goosebumps down Amar's spine.
Said machinery was in a cavern bigger than the town plaza in Witchachusetts. Polished metal tracks went in a one-way direction within the mouth of a cavern. Said cavern entrance looked like the mouth of a giant wall carving of the Grinch's face. The black mine wagon itself was bigger than the minivan his mothers drove on camping trips, only it had six wheels, three rows of plastic-coated green seats, and the basic safety precautions you'd find on roller coasters. The wagon was on the tracks and placed at the heart of the biggest red rubber band. Said rubber band was stretched out to two-spread out metal posts, each bearing a thick handle.
"Mr. Grinch, please tell me you're joking…" Gothy gulped.
"We're going to Hell in THAT?" Audrey asked, nervous as well.
"Indeed." The Grinch patted her head. He pointed to the metal posts where the rubber band's ends were rolled up, making that aspect of the machine look like rolled up candy. "Grinchelda and I will use the handles to compress the strength of the release band so that way, once we bring down the handles for the last time in perfect synch, the release band will catapult you at full speed towards Hell. Tip of advice. You might want to use your bags to shield your stomachs and those who sit in the backseat fall first into Hell."
Amar immediately panicked. He ran for the middle front seat, pulled out his pink go-kart wagon from his backpack and put it on his head, tightening the straps under his chin. Amar placed his backpack on his stomach and strapped the seatbelts, summoning three extra seatbelts in the process.
"Amar, are you OK?" Audrey looked at him in worry. "You look like you're waiting to be murdered."
"Last time I was on a rollercoaster, Demo had their kitten sneezes turned on mayhem," Amar admitted.
"Wasn't that the year they sneezed so many kittens out of their nose, one black one accidentally unlocked the cage to the zombie pelting zoo?" Beatrice chuckled as she and Audrey strapped themselves next to him. Crystal and Gothy placed themselves in the middle row while Charles and Ozzy bravely took the back row. "My dad and I had a blast throwing zombie-eating plushies at the zombies. How could you not have fun?"
"No, the zombie fight WAS fun. I just don't like how whenever I go on a theme park ride, something dangerous happens."
"You threw a tantrum that nearly destroyed the world," Ozzy pointed out.
"Before that, I went in a neon glow-in-the-dark maze and Mick accidentally caused a blackout with his guitar. His mommies had to pick us up when tourists formed an angry mob."
"You beat the shit out of Striker," Charles added.
"And before that, I was on a slingshot ride when we had Supernova's birthday party in a county fair, but Rosie got all panicky and stuff, she screamed so loud that she short-circuited the ride and she and I got stuck in a bubble that shot into the sky. She had such a breakdown and it DID NOT help when her grandma caught the bubble before it reached outer space. Do you have ANY idea what it was like to watch a giant lady with a diamond on her forehead go on Rosie like 'Why didn't you use your powers', 'You're being irresponsible, Rosie', or worse, 'Rosie, why are you being so careless, your dad wasn't this careless'? I felt HORRIBLE for Rosie, OK?"
"Amar, are you SURE you want to do this?" Audrey touched him. "You're hyperventilating."
"I don't mind Hell. I just mind that I'm in a SLINGSHOT MINE WAGON ROLLERCOASTER and bad things tend to happen when I'm in a theme park ride!" Amar had a panic attack. "Why can't we go to Hell in some kind of portal, an elevator, a rabbit hole, or heck, an owl-themed demonic doorknob that regurgitates you in Hell? Any of these would be safer than a rollercoaster!"
"Well, it's more fun for me. Have a great time surviving in Hell!"
Through Amar's panicked reactions, the teenagers failed to notice that the two hairy green holiday opportunists had been strengthening the release band with their handles. The group didn't have a chance to protest after the Grinch spoke his last sentence, he and Grinchelda simultaneously brought down the handles, catapulting the wagon into the cavern.
The mine wagon moved at rapid speeds, turning in semi-circles, bending downward, and moving in spiral tracks that seemed to get further down the earth. The once smooth walls of the cavern become more jagged, stalagmites and stalactites pointing at the tracks as if in the hopes to impale it. Red neon lights glowing on the tracks were the only thing illuminating their way as they screamed.
The wagon reached an abrupt stop. There were no more tracks to follow. Just… what looked like a bottomless pit underneath the end of the track. A glowing red neon sign could be seen across the chasm.
A LAST CONFESSION BEFORE DESCENSION?
Amar was beginning to hope that if he did die, he'd torment the Grinch for life and be a ghostly demon far worse than La Llorona.
"Last confessions, anyone?" Audrey dared to ask. No one volunteered. "Fine. I'll go first… I don't know if it's much of a confession, but I'm a bit nervous about meeting Alastor."
"Believe me, you'll get over it soon." Beatrice clutched onto her seatbelt. "OK, I'll go next. I lost track of my age in Hell. Technically speaking, in Hell years, I'm older, but since I'm half-ghost… I haven't exactly paid attention to my dead maturity."
"So, you're undead?" Ozzy whistled. "Dang, girl. Charles?"
"OK…" Charles gulped. "The doll I told you my best friend Gill made me… It was an Azura doll."
Amar let out a horrified gasp. "You MONSTER! You're a closeted Azura geek! WE COULD HAVE BONDED!"
"Do you have any idea the flaying my father would have given me for reading girl-oriented witchcraft fiction?" Charles protested.
"YOU ARE UNWORTHY!" Amar's shouts echoed over the abyss.
"Well, what's your confession, Mr. Almighty-Fan?" Charles questioned.
"I turned the last person who called me that into a shuttle bus!" The teenagers looked at Amar blankly. "What? I did."
"Just a shuttle bus?" Crystal frowned. "Did you stuff the shuttle bus with octopus ink? Or voodoo dolls?"
"No… I just turned him into a shuttle bus… It made sense at the time." Amar shook his head calmly. "It's a long story."
"OK…" Crystal groaned. "I got too many confessions, my best ones are usually when I'm drunk… Gothy, you're the best thing that ever happened to me… and I'm rather scared about you choosing your sister over me and being abandoned…" Amar had to admit, it was kind of a sweet statement. At least all the others were letting out some form of sigh or touched tear show. Gothy went ahead and leaned into kiss Crystal. Due to discomfort, Amar looked away.
"As sweet as that was, I don't plan on abandoning you. Any of you," Gothy emphasized. "Sure, most of you annoy me, but I see you as family, you know?"
"Aww…" They all said.
"Ozzy?" Gothy turned her head to the back row.
"Not telling you my confession," Ozzy said flatly.
"We all gave ours, it's only fair!" Audrey called out.
"Not doing it." Ozzy shook her head.
"JUST GIVE OUT YOUR GUTS ALREADY, I'M UNCOMFORTABLE IN THIS STUPID RIDE!" Amar's scream was followed by the darkness giving out threatening shakes.
"Just give it out already!" Gothy told Ozzy. "We won't judge."
"Fine!" Ozzy exclaimed. "I fucked your brother last night!"
The dead silence stayed for minutes. Amar wanted to curl in a ball and bleach his brains out. It didn't help that Beatrice let out a disgusted sound next to him, Crystal chuckled, Audrey chuckled, and Charles blushed in an embarrassed red blush while Gothy was on the verge of exploding. "You WHAT? Charles, tell me she's joking!"
"I… consented to such an endeavor… thinking this as my sole experiment before potential death…" Charles stammered. "And thanks to the Grand High Witch, I… no longer have my lung problem…"
"AND YOUR IDEA WAS TO HAVE YOUR FIRST EXPERIENCE WITH A TOTAL STRANGER! OSBOURNE VON ROCKENBURG, HOW FUCKING DARE YOU?"
"OH, CAN IT, BITCH! YOU ALREADY DID THE THING WITH CRYSTAL BACK ON THE TRAIN!" Ozzy shouted.
"IT DOESN'T COUNT!"
A loud creak interrupted them from their argument beyond Amar's level of maturity. "What was that?" Audrey asked.
The wagon suddenly titled.
"Like we're gonna die," Amar gulped.
The wagon bounced them out of their seats. Amar saw lights of red and black flashing past him and some flames glowing deep in the darkness before he passed out.
And crashed onto some wood.
Who knows how much later?
"I hope they're OK."
"Are they human?"
"Toots, this one looks like a kid. Not old enough to be here!"
"FUCK! One of them's still buried! Alastor better fix up the bar! Bastard ain't even here!"
"Angel Dust, look! The tiny one is waking up!"
Amar squinted his eyes. A fire's warmth filled whatever place he was in. The fragrance of burned cinnamon reached his nose, causing him to perk up and gag. Cinnamon was good for cookies and drinks, but he found it DOWNRIGHT awful as a home refresher.
"Heya, kid. You OK?" Amar looked up to see some tall white-and-pink spider kneeling down and holding Amar in his four arms. A dark red and dulled out yellow palette surrounded the furnished setting that seemed like some kind of lobby. A trail of ash went from the circular fireplace to what looked like a destroyed bar with a large pile of broken wood. A winged cat with a top hat was trying to salvage any bottle he could find from the remains.
"OH MY GOSH, you're so cute!" A cyclops as small as Amar got too close and started pinching his cheeks.
"Nifty, give 'im space!" The spider pushed Nifty aside. Amar cautiously noticed that Charles, Gothy, Crystal, and Ozzy were spread out on the floor, trying to regain their consciousness. Two creatures, a blonde in a red-and-black tuxedo and a grey humanoid both with a bow, were trying to shake them awake. Where Audrey and Beatrice were, Amar had no idea, but he had to get the others awake. So, he did what he did best.
He let out an ear-breaking scream, causing the spider to let go of him to cover his ears. The building shook as Amar screamed.
"What the…" The moth creature pulled out a spear.
"CANNIBALS! I'M SURROUNDED BY CANNIBALS! THEY'RE GONNA EAT ME!" Amar screamed, running behind the nearest red couch.
"Cannibals?" Nifty looked confused. "Silly, Alastor's not in the building…"
"THEY'RE GONNA FEED ME TO THE RADIO DEMON! SOMEBODY HELP ME, THEY'RE MAKING A MEAL FOR THE RADIO DEMON! THE RADIO DEMON IS HAVING AN ALL-YOU-CAN-EAT CANNIBAL BUFFET! WOMEN AND CHILDREN ARE THE APPETIZERS!"
A lot happened in a matter of seconds. Charles was the first to immediately jump to his feet. He tossed his throwing blades at Nifty, who managed to dodge them before their glowing blades could pierce the cushions.
"We don't mean any violence!" The blonde demoness held her arms out.
"Get away from us, Hellborn!" Charles pointed his dagger at her, its blade also glowing. When the moth demon pointed her spear at him, Ozzy's hair wrapped itself around the demoness's waist and tossed her against the wall.
"Back off from my man, prick!" Ozzy growled.
"How dare you raise a hand on Vaggie…" The blonde demoness started to grow horns until both Gothy and Charles gave her synchronized punches on the face, knocking her to the ground.
"You need to take a chill pill, there's a misunderstanding!" The spider grabbed the two siblings by their collars and lifted them up in the air. Crystal blasted him across the hallway with a blast of magic. At the same time, a horde of demons were running down a flight of stairs in panic, screaming that they didn't want the Radio Demon to make a feast of them. When they saw the sight of Charles' glowing weapons, they freaked out even more.
"THE EXTERMINATORS! THEY'RE BACK!"
"WE GOT TO RUN!"
"THIS WAS A SHITTY TRICK!"
In a matter of minutes, what looked like a hundred demons were running for dear life out of the building. The blonde demoness, having regained her senses, tried running after them with a begging tone. "Wait! Come back! Don't give up on redemption! This is a huge misunderstanding!"
After the last demon ran out, everyone stopped fighting. Amar stepped out of his hiding place. A slow, dry clap came from the ceiling's support beams, revealing that Beatrice was well awake and sitting all the time.
"Well done, Amar," Beatrice said mockingly. "You single-handedly caused the Princess of Hell to lose three-quarters of her hotel's patrons."
Charles was the first to nervously chuckle. "Oh yeah, the… hotel for redeeming sinners…"
"My bad?" Amar offered.
"Your bad? YOUR BAD?" Vaggie pushed herself off the wall. "We were about to reach the all-time record for demons redeemed by Charlie!" Amar started taking steps back when Vaggie got too close to his space. Gothy quickly picked him up while the spider demon held back Vaggie.
"Easy on the kid, Vags!"
"How are ya, Angel?" Beatrice casually asked.
"Usual shit." Angel pushed Vaggie aside so he could fist-bump Beatrice. "How've you been, Beetle Booger? Last time I checked, Alastor said your folks grounded you for messing up a chocolate factory and now you're playing tourists? Did you bring back any souvenirs?"
"Wait…" Beatrice choked and puked out a snow globe from her mouth. "I did swallow this snow globe from Jack Skellington's holiday shop by accident."
"How do you swallow a snow globe BY ACCIDENT?" Gothy exclaimed while Beatrice gave the slimy snow globe to a somewhat disgusted Angel.
"Try not to ask, my Abuela Eda did the same thing with a shovel," Amar suggested. Then it hit and he jumped out of Gothy's arms. "Oh my gosh! Audrey! She crashed into the bar!"
Amar's words actually struck the top hatted winged cat enough to ditch the bottles and spit out whatever he was drinking. "You dragged Alastor's human client in here? Are you FUCKING insane, Deetz?" He spat at Beatrice.
"No!" Beatrice snapped. Amar ran to the damaged bar and tried lifting off a wooden board.
A hand bearing talons emerged from the rubble and grabbed his wrist. Amar cried when the talons pierced his skin. Angel pulled Amar away, but the taloned hand held on well. The figure forced itself up the rubble, burning the wood into pink flames. She revealed her tall height, shocking her friends with the discovery that she had gained an extra foot in height.
Amar looked at his injured wrist and then at the same friend whom he had bonded with. To think that almost an hour ago, he had chosen an outfit for her to go to Hell and now he saw how it contributed to the distortions. Black pants and boots had merged into a darkness that went from her hip to her toes, her boots transformed into high heels with silver tips like talons. The dark pink shirt was now a knee-long flapper dress with pink sequin, red rubies, and blue diamonds sewn into flame patterns that constantly moved on the fabric. The tips of the skirt had triangular trimmings with feathery beadings. The vest and cloak had merged into a dark feathery opera cloak that was attached to her dress's bodice with silver feather clasps. The silver rings had now become fingerless gauntlets. Her hair had the same style Amar fashioned it, only the roots were now pink and the phoenix hairclip seemed alive, moving every time its wearer moved her neck. The wearer herself had now mostly thinner limbs… and turned her head at 360 degrees to open her eyes, revealing pink eagle eyes.
"Audrey…" Amar gasped.
Audrey yanked Amar off Angel's hold… and started trying to strangle the spider demon.
"Audrey, wait!" Beatrice tried pulling Audrey's arm away from Angel, who managed to wiggle out a third pair of arms and push himself away from Audrey.
"Damn it, Bea! Your friend's crazy!" Angel choked.
"DID YOU KNOW THAT THIS WOULD HAPPEN TO ME?" Audrey screeched at Beatrice. "DID YOU LIE TO ME AGAIN?" Her hair suddenly turned into a flaming inferno that spread onto her cloak. The winged cat responded first by pulling Audrey away from Beatrice.
"You're even more fucked up than Al himself! He made it clear that he DOESN'T like it when bitches hurt his kid!"
"OUT OF MY SIGHT!" Audrey turned, her cape flapping up like wings. A trail of fiery feathers appeared behind her and batted the cat demon away from her, sending him crashing through three walls.
"Husk!" Nifty exclaimed, tears pouring out of her one eye.
"That's enough!" Charlie walked up to Audrey and addressed her as calmly as possible. "Listen, you need to calm down… You're a mortal with a lot of magical powers, and since you aren't dead, it's causing your premature demon form to come out… Just calm down, we can help you…"
The Princess of Hell didn't finish her positive speech. Audrey interrupted her by screeching at her face, spitting out a spear of fire that both scratched and burned Charlie's cheek. And judging by how she screamed, it did have a number on her.
"HOW DARE YOU PRETEND TO HELP ME IN A PLACE OF REDEMPTION? HOW DARE YOU MOCK ME! AS IF AURADON WASN'T ENOUGH!" Audrey's screech worsened.
"Auradon… Oh no," Gothy realized. "If this place redeems demons and Audrey just hit the Princess of Hell, that means that Audrey connected this place to Auradon Prep!"
"What does that even…" Charles figured it out. "No, wait. Ben makes redemption program for VKs, Mal botched Audrey's family's plans thus causing Audrey to break up with Ben, and the whole series of unfortunate events that followed the Queen of Mean."
"I thought she got over that!" Ozzy snapped. "Dude, it's been like two months!"
"I guess she really bottled in her wrath?" Charles shrugged.
Amar wasn't having it. He groaned in frustration and drew out an ice glyph in the hope of restraining her. The moment he tapped the glyph, however, instead of handcuffing her wrists, the glyph created a pillar of ice that broke through nearly five hotel floors, trapping Audrey within the base. Amar looked confusingly at the ice pillar until steam sprouted out of it and the ice melted, flooding the lobby floor. Audrey just stood there, wet, no longer a raging fury, and bearing a blank expression on her face.
"I must fetch a mop! The carpets will get soggy!" Nifty scurried away. Meanwhile, Audrey let out a huff, spontaneously drying herself up. Amar rolled up his sleeve and grabbed a bandage from his backpack. He quickly covered his wound. Demo did warn him that demons reacted weirdly to mortal blood in Hell.
"Audrey?" Crystal cautiously asked. "Are you feeling OK?"
"I feel like a wet chicken," Audrey growled. "What do you think?"
"She's good!" Crystal told everyone.
Vaggie checked Charlie's wound. "Your dad is going to kill us…" She gulped.
"It's not THAT bad, Vaggie. It was an accident…" Charlie began.
"You're the Hell version of my ex-boyfriend. I doubt that was an accident." Audrey wrinkled her nose. "Where are we anyway?"
"Charlie's hotel." Beatrice helped Angel pull Husk back on his feet. "Mortals who go through the whole 'voyage the moon and have to stop in Hell' thing stay here for the 5 years. You know, for safety reasons."
"A hotel full of demons is your idea of safety reasons?" Charles snarked, grabbing his blades off the furniture. "A bunch of them stampeded out of here!"
"Well, it's been a long time since we've had mortals here. Vaggie, when was the last time we had mortals stop by in Hell just to make the stop before going to the moon?" Charlie asked Vaggie.
"Five human years?" The moth demoness shrugged. "That was like 300 years ago."
Amar grimaced. He used his ice glyph to create an ice pack that he offered to Charlie. "I'm sorry I made you lose your patrons…"
"That's OK." Charlie ruffled her hair. She took the ice pack and put it on her cheek. "I suppose we had to de-clutter the hotel a bit, with mortals staying here…"
"Yeah, not staying here." Audrey immediately walked her way to the door.
"Audrey, are you nuts?" Gothy yanked her away from the door. "It's Hell, not Macabretown!"
"I'd rather risk my hide than be quarantined in the Hell-ripoff of Auradon Prep!"
"The Hazbin Hotel isn't that bad," Charlie said. "Like I always say…"
She took a deep breath, obviously about to start singing…
"If you even start to sing an upbeat song about how there's good in everyone, I will slap you in the same spot I hit you a few seconds ago!" Audrey pointed a warning finger at Charlie.
"Oh, I actually say that inside of every demon is a rainbow…" Charlie pointed out.
"I DON'T want to hear your fucking musical, alright? I just want to deal with the contract I owe to the moron who hasn't even borrowed to show up here!"
"Sorry to break the news to ya, toots, but Al left two hours ago." Angel helped Husk sit on the couch.
"What, is he still upset that I hit Beatrice on the train?" Audrey snapped.
"What? Toots, he got over that like years ago! Nah, he came first thing in the morning like he always does to discuss radio promos with Charlie, but then Charlie's dad calls in saying that Al must meet with him at the palace. Wouldn't be surprised if the head honcho wanted to tell Al the news before you actually showed up."
And just like that, a loud honk resembling a beast growling came from outside. The demons and Beatrice gasped.
"My dad's limousine!" Charlie gasped. "He's here!"
"Hun, what are we gonna do about your face? He'll kill them if he sees that you got hurt!" Vaggie exclaimed. "And the water!"
"Can't be any worse than the plumbing problem I accidentally caused when I was six," Beatrice said.
"I don't even want to know what you did," Gothy said dismissively.
"Just stand by the fireplace!" Charlie quickly pushed the group to stand by the fireplace. Audrey grunted and sat on the couch, ignoring Husk hissing at her. Thinking quickly, Amar dashed and put himself between them. Charlie went for the doors until somebody opened them from the outside, unleashing the cold water.
A figure, tall by 7 feet, stepped inside the hotel. Said figure was a humanoid wolf-creature, completed with clawed hands and back paws, a furry tail, pointed ears, and fangs sticking out of his mouth. He wore a sleeveless knight armor of red iron with a black chain belt bearing white cross-bone pendants. Despite having the autonomy of a humanoid wolf, his coat was white with black spots. The fur on his head was parted in half in a humane fashion, and even that hairstyle had black and white spots. Black spots were placed on his face's white fur in the position that human freckles would have. His canine eyes had a dark natural brown color in them.
"Oh, hi…" Charlie chuckled. "What brings you here?"
"Charlie, I could smell your blood from across town. You think I wasn't going to tell Lucifer you were hurt? You know I get repercussions for not doing my job as the Royal Hellhound Captain."
A choke came out of Gothy. The hellhound looked over Charlie's shoulder. His eyes widened when he saw Charles struggling to breathe, Gothy clamping her hands over her mouth, and Audrey shedding tears that burned down her cheek. The hellhound gasped and choked out: "Gothy Gothel? Charles Frollo? AUDREY? What are you guys doing… Tell me you didn't… Why aren't you in… Does Jane still remember me?"
The teenagers from Auradon and the Isle of the Lost just lost it. Amar watched as Audrey was the first to run at him, arms held out, and crying hysterically, the other two following.
"CAAAAARRRRLOOOOOOOOOSSSSS!"
