"This is going to end badly." Mad Dawg thought as he walked alongside Alastor down the streets of hell. It was quiet, aside from the city sounds, but Dawg was noticing now more than ever that pretty much anyone who saw them would immediately turn and run in the opposite direction. It was the usual indifference or apprehension demons had shown him earlier, this was fear. Genuine, pants-wetting fear. "What the heck did Alastor do?"

"So… are we going anywhere specific?" Mad Dawg finally worked up the courage to ask.

"Honestly? I don't know." Alastor shrugged. "This is your 'redemption' after all."

"All right. That way." Dawg said weakly, aimless wandering down the street, realizing now more than ever that Charlie's instructions were kinda vague and unhelpful. Still, the last thing he wanted was to let Alastor guide him and most likely screw with him as he tried to better himself.

"If you think this is the right direction, which I can tell you, it's not… then lead the way!"

Mad Dawg sighed and kept walking, not saying anything as he tried to find someone who needed help, occasionally hearing 'Oof, I wouldn't have gone this way' or 'Nope, wrong way once more'. From Alastor as he walked beside Mad Dawg.

"Okay. Why are you here?" Mad Dawg asked before he could stop himself. "It's clear you don't believe in Charlie's plan, and it's clear you don't give a crap about anyone or anything, so what's your plan with all this?"

"Because I'm interested in seeing how you handle things." The Radio Demon answered honestly. "Mad Dawg my boy, you clearly don't know where you are… you're in hell! But you're acting as if this is some sort of fairy tale hell, where's there good in people and whatnot. I can tell you, there isn't."

"Okay, cool. No shit." Mad Dawg replied flatly. "I don't look around me and think I'm in the kingdom of friendship or some crap like that. Do you really think I'm that naive?"

"Honestly? I can't say." Alastor remarked, his tone more genuine than Dawg had expected. "And that is what interests me most. I don't have a clear idea of what you are, or how you'll do down here, and that uncertainty is the best kind of entertainment!"

"Great." Mad Dawg bit his lip. He was feeling pressure on multiple levels now. One, there was the pressure to be a good person in general. Then, there was the pressure to be a good person in God's eyes… however that worked. Then there was the pressure to be a good enough person to be redeemed… however THAT worked… THEN there was the pressure to not let himself get caught up in the storm of insanity that hell was becoming quickly, and that wasn't helped by being accompanied by (supposedly) one of the most dangerous demons down here. But, there was something about Alastor that reminded Mad Dawg of Virus… for worse and for worse. It was clear he was someone who thrived off of reactions, chaos, that kind of energy. So, did all he need to do was to be indifferent? Or would that just piss him off even more?

"So why should I trust anything you say, in any capacity?" Mad Dawg asked another question, trying to outthink the Radio Demon in his own game. Alastor just seemed amused, but it was hard to say if he could see through Dawg's attempt, or if he was just being Alastor.

"Honestly? You'd be an idiot if you did." Alastor answered, turning to look at Dawg as he leaned on his cane. "But at the end of the day, I'm your first last choice. So, call me if you need a helping hand with anything down here."

"…cool." Dawg rolled his eyes, trying not to give Alastor what he wanted in this conversation, and unsure what kind of game Alastor was playing. Unfortunately, he couldn't tell if he was succeeding or not.

As they kept walking, Mad Dawg kept looking for someone to help, but… nothing. Demons were either running in fear from Alastor, or were indifferent to Mad Dawg. More than a few times, Mad Dawg walked up to ask if a demon needed help, but was yelled at, told to piss off, or nearly stabbed for his troubles. Usually more than one of those options occurred…

"This appears to be going smoothly." Alastor remarked as another demon shoved Mad Dawg to the side and stormed off.

"Shut up…" Mad Dawg scowled, continuing down the street. He recognized it as where he had first wandered through a few days ago when he arrived. Remembering the odd sights and sounds, as well as the idiots who attacked him. Dawg was so deep in his thoughts, that he didn't hear the sound of a blade scraping against the wall of a building, he didn't realize what was happening (and Alastor said nothing) until he suddenly felt something jump onto his back.

"Remember me you son of a bitch!?" A demon yelled, stabbing Mad Dawg several times in the shoulder. "You made me look like a pussy in front of my whole crew! Now, I want retribution, and that comes from your blood!"

Mad Dawg yelled and thrashed about, trying to throw the demon off of his back. He slammed into several walls, before finally catching the smaller demon against a wall and crashing into a dumpster. The demon gasped in pain and suddenly realized something as Dawg managed to grab him, holding the demon in both of his massive hands.

"…I don't want to hurt you." Mad Dawg growled, holding the smaller demon up to his face. He was then stabbed in the chest by a dull blade. His eyes widened in pain, then narrowed in anger. "…But now I'm going to."

Those walking down the street winced as the sickening sound of something tearing was heard, as well as the muffled screams of a demon. Alastor stood by the alley entrance, curious as to what Mad Dawg was up to, and wondering if his assumptions about the mutant were correct.

"Let's go." Was all Mad Dawg said. At first, Alastor was disappointed, then his eyes widened in surprise as he saw the trails of blood dripping from Mad Dawg's hands.

"I take it your problem has been… handled?" He remarked slyly.

"Enough." Was all Dawg said. "I can't kill him, so I figured I'd just hurt him."

"Oh, really? You believe you can't kill a demon?" Alastor asked quizzically.

"Uh, not really. I know the deal; Exterminators and their weapons can kill a demon for good. Other than that, we'll live through whatever gets thrown at us." Mad Dawg shook his head, then groaned when Alastor started laughing. "What now?"

"Well, my dear young demon, there is so much that you don't understand." Alastor said, the upbeat tone in his voice replaced with a twisted, malicious one. "There are so many more forces down here, forces and powers you couldn't even begin to comprehend…"

That was an ominous warning if he had ever heard one… Mad Dawg raised a brown, but nodded, wanting to say something clever or sharp in response. Normally, if this was someone like Hawk or Reaper, he'd kick them in the nuts, laugh, then run away. But against a demon, let alone someone like Alastor, Mad Dawg felt like this was a very bad idea.

"But if I get the chance, I am SO kicking Satan in the balls! I don't care what kind of eternal torture results from it!" He mentally swore.

"Yeah, yeah…" Mad Dawg nodded. "Weird question; how do you get those powers?"

"If you're asking for the sake of conversation, this conversation will be different compared to if you're asking out of a genuine want for powers." Alastor replied, and Mad Dawg got the message: 'Do you want to make a deal?'

"Let's say for the sake of the conversation, I am interested in getting powers." Mad Dawg replied. "If the stories are true, the devil loves making deals. But what would I have to offer? My soul's gone."

"Services." Alastor replied, and Mad Dawg stopped, disgusted.

"Dude! I ain't suckin' Satan's dick!" He spat.

"What? No!" Alastor laughed, probably the most genuine laugh Dawg had heard since he had met the radio demon. "See… if you go to our dear ruler, there's a few ways this can go down. You can make your case as to why you should be given powers, or you can offer services you could supply with those powers. Let's say you're asking for the ability to control minds, if you could make a good enough argument for why you want them, or can show what you'd do with that power to help him, then our boss might be willing to cut a deal with you. Or… he'll make a deal because he knows it'll end horribly for you."

"Surprising no one." Mad Dawg muttered, rolling his eyes.

"And then there are more… unorthodox ways." Alastor remarked, his voice losing the radio filter for a few moments and growing deeper. Mad Dawg was curious, but also didn't want to ask what he meant by that.

"Meaning?" He asked regardless.

"Here's some free advice Mad Dawg, there are some things you're better off not questioning, or trying to discover…"

"You don't like challengers?" Mad Dawg remarked. This got some sort of reaction out of Alastor, but he couldn't tell what reaction he got… still, he felt pretty good right now. The two were approaching what seemed like an old school jazz club of some sort when Alastor looked to Mad Dawg.

"Ah, here we are." Alastor said, looking up at the neon sign.

"Where's here?" Mad Dawg blinked. "And… is this supposed to help me with helping someone?"

"We're visiting a friend of mine, and no."

"…Alastor?" Mad Dawg said after a few moments of silence.

"Yes?"

"I appreciate the honesty, let's meet whoever this demon is." Mad Dawg nodded, and the two entered the building.

Back at the Hotel, Charlie shuffled through a stack of papers, going over the general information she had gathered, and now trying to think of the best plan to help Dawg's redemption move forward. Mad Dawg was most definitely the weirdest case she had ever seen, but that just made her more determined than ever to figure this out.

"Charlie!"

"Ah!" Charlie gasped, jumping and looking up to see she was in the back room of the bar, with Husk sitting on the old couch he slept on. "Oh, Husk? Uh, hey. What's up?"

"You walked in here two minutes ago, and I've called your name six times. Why the hell are you here?"

"Uh, sorry… I was just lost in my thoughts." She admitted sheepishly. As she turned to leave, something occurred to her, and she looked back to the winged bartender. "Hey… Husk? The new guy, Mad Dawg. What do you think about him?"

"I think either he's a pathological liar, so caught up in his stories he doesn't realize it. One of the greatest actors who has ever or will ever live. Or his life is one of the most impressive shit-shows hell has ever seen." Husk bluntly answered. "I don't really care too much for whichever it is. He's not as much of an asshole as Dust, or as much of a total bastard as Alastor… he's okay."

"You think he's lying?" Charlie asked, then remembered Dawg had only shown her the pictures from his past life. "Never mind."

"Lying or not, I can tell he likes you." Husk shrugged. "There's a level of respect when he talks to you. Maybe he seems calmer when he's around me because… well, I'm an alcoholic asshole who couldn't give two craps about how he acts, but you… you're his therapist."

"That's not good enough." Charlie mentally frowned. "If all I am is his therapist, he's not making REAL change!"

"Which reminds me, how are you holding up?" Husk then asked. "According to Vaggie, you always end up in a real funk after each Cleanse… you need to talk about it?"

"Wow, uh, thank you." Charlie said, surprised by Husk's offer. "No, I'm fine though. But… thank you for offering! That's not like you…"

"Yeah… I tried this new drink Angel made… this thing has been kickin' my ASS for the past few hours!" Husk drawled, and only now did Charlie realize Husk was drunker than usual.

"Oh." Charlie said, flattening slightly. "Cool. Have fun."

"Wait- holy crap! Charlie! There's a friggin' rainbow sheep in the corner!" Husk called as Charlie left the bar room. Walking back through the front hall, Charlie's phone buzzed, and she was somewhat surprised at what she saw as the incoming message.

Hi Charlie! Your Father and I are attending the upcoming festival in a few days. If you and Vaggie and one other would like to attend, you're more than welcome. Love, Mom

"Huh. Oh right… the annual Harvest Festival." Charlie blinked remembering something. She and Vaggie had gone the years prior, in fact, it's where she had asked Vaggie to help her with this project two years ago. "I know Vaggie would enjoy it. But who else… Angel Dust? Ugh. No. Last thing I need is him trying to seduce daddy… Alastor? No, he'll probably be there regardless. Baxter? That could work, but I don't know if he'd want to be taken away from his work… Husk? No. He'd want nothing to do with them. Who else is- Mad Dawg?"

That was an odd idea… Mad Dawg, one of the youngest, devil-may-care demons she had ever met, surrounded by hell's most twisted, darkest, and oldest rulers? That probably would end well. But, it could also be a good opportunity for him! Allow him to have interactions with others that… were known for tempting and seducing people.

"Ugh… that might not be a good idea." The princess conceded. "How would they react to Mad Dawg? And vice versa?"

Deciding she needed to stop working and take a break, Charlie went back down the halls of the hotel, casting sidelong glances over her shoulder to make sure there weren't any unseen eyes following her as she traversed her home. Yes… the hotel had like, three actual occupants, but that wasn't an excuse for not being paranoid about being followed. Deeper into the building she went, passing by paintings and pictures of her and her family, friends of her family, and what she believed heaven was like. Many laughed at the idea, but Charlie never gave up hope that she'd be able to help those down here! And maybe, just maybe, they'd be able to get rid of the Exterminators! That… she couldn't even describe how that would make her feel! She believed with all her heart that everyone in hell deserved a second chance, and the threat of literally being erased from existence should've been enough incentive to get demons to want to change, but… it wasn't. It broke her heart every year, seeing demons choose their sinful temptations over a chance at being free. But… she also understood it, somewhat. On the one hand, redemption meant change, and change meant work, and work usually included admitting you were wrong. While one's temptations were an immediate source of pleasure, and didn't require you to try and better yourself.

"And demons really don't like doing that…" She mentally sighed, shaking her head.

Her thoughts drifted to Angel Dust (no, not in that way), and how he seemed to have been holding up in the hotel. It was clear he didn't want to be here initially, but now? She wouldn't say he liked it here per say, but he had stuck around for one reason or another. Despite Angel Dust being… Angel Dust, she saw good in him. She saw a side that he didn't like to show. Actually, she saw two of them. One was someone who deep, deep, deep, deep, deep down was a good person, but was so far gone into the world of… well, his profession, that he didn't know how to show it. The other side… everything got a little colder all of a sudden.

Despite what some might say, and some might believe, and others may point to, Charlie was possibly too optimistic, but she wasn't an idiot. A few days after he had first arrived, Charlie could tell that Dust was hiding something. And not some sort of secret passion for Vaggie or something like that, he was hiding pain. She had wanted to ask him in the most discreet 'hey-I'm-just-casually-talking-here-but-do-you-wanna-talk-about-your-worst-pain-and-emotional-and-possibly-physical-abuse?' way she could, but then she had decided against it. The last thing she wanted was to make Angel Dust feel pressured, like he had to change because she decreed it or something like that. Then, everything had been all but confirmed when he had returned one night, seeming extremely broken and downcast, refusing any conversation and simply leaving to his room. It was so out of character everyone in the hotel noticed it. Even Alastor had remained uncharacteristically quiet, not commenting on it and simply watching. Perhaps it was because he was enjoying Angel's clear suffering, or maybe he felt bad for him.

Walking into a small room, Charlie looked around then silently locked the door behind her. She took a deep breath and smiled. Moving a picture off of the wall, she opened a hidden spot in the wall and opened a small freezer. She found some Toblerone Ice Cream and decided she needed to enjoy some time to herself. As she went to close the freezer, she blinked when she saw something in there she didn't recognize. Reaching towards the back, she saw a silvery reflection of a can of some sort. At first, she groaned, hoping Husk hadn't found her hidden freezer and was stashing booze here, but when she saw what the can was, her tone was now one of confusion.

"Phoenix Energy?" She blinked. "The heck is that?"

MEANWHILE…

Back out on the town, Mad Dawg followed Alastor into what looked like a 1930's nightclub. But it was during the day, so it wasn't a night club. Either way, it had a nice design, and several large potted plants were placed at intervals around the seating area to the left of the large dance floor.

"This where you work or something?" Mad Dawg asked.

"No, no… the world is a stage! And I take my work everywhere I go!" Alastor replied, Mad Dawg still unsure of how he should feel about the demon he was currently traveling with. But he understood what Alastor meant by the world being a stage. Looking around at the interior design, it gave him a vibe of sophistication, seeming like a place where Satya or Ana would come to relax at night. It felt… wrong, for Mad Dawg to be here.

"Alastor!" A female voice spoke. "I was wonderin' when you'd stop by again!"

A female demon walked over from the shadows-

"Are conveniently placed shadows for dramatic reveals just something that's common in hell? If so, I wanna try that…" Mad Dawg wondered.

-from a first glance, she was probably the most 'human'-looking demon Mad Dawg had met (aside from Charlie) so far. What immediately jumped out to him though were her eyes. They were entirely black, but not like a doll's eyes, they were black like a beautiful night. Two friendly pink pupils seemed to widen when she saw Alastor, and she adjusted her short blonde hair.

"Is she related to Charlie? …nah. Blonde hair is just a colour."

"Oh! Who's your friend?" The demoness blinked, looking to Mad Dawg.

"Hey, I'm…" Mad Dawg began, unsure if he should use his real name, or Kace, or Toby, or-

"This, Mimzy. Is Mad Dawg." Alastor said, making the call for him.

"Aw, he new around here?" Mimzy smiled at Mad Dawg. "Hiya, cutie!"

"She's like Tracer and Mei fused…"

"Hi." Mad Dawg said awkwardly, unsure of what he was supposed to say and or do.

"Aw, no need to be shy, hon!" Mimzy smiled at Dawg, who returned it, still feeling awkward that his smiles now essentially included rows of shark teeth. She stepped forward and put a hand on his arm, and her eyes seemed to widen.

"Yup, here we go." Mad Dawg laughed.

"This is so soft…" She whispered, seemingly lost in his fur. "Er, uh- I'm- I'm sorry, that was…. I mean…"

"Yeah, yeah..." Mad Dawg smiled with a slight laugh. "Before you ask, I've tried cutting it to see if I could make a scarf or something… but unless I skin myself, it ain't that easy…"

"Oh, I wouldn't say that." Alastor smiled. The Mutant raised a brow before talking once more.

"If you're thinking what I'm thinking, I'm down." Mad Dawg nodded. "I need a lot of anesthetic, but… sure."

"We'll talk later."

"So, Alastor." Mimzy remarked, looking between the two demons. "I didn't really expect you to be making friends with newcomers. What's the occasion with him?"

"Well, Princess Charlotte's trying to redeem this one." Alastor remarked, leaning on his cane. "She sent him out here to find someone to help, so I thought I'd assist in any way I could!"

"Mmhmm. And how's that going?" Mimzy smirked, looking to Mad Dawg.

"Better than expected, actually." Mad Dawg shrugged. "Admittedly, I've maimed a few demons… but…" He trailed off, rubbing his arm as he realized he had been screwing up. "Probably shouldn't've said that."

"Heh, don't worry. I won't tell anyone." Mimzy smiled.

Alastor and Mimzy got to talking, and Mad Dawg was left awkwardly hanging out on the side near the bar. After a few minutes, he got his tape deck out and started listening to some metal. Jamming to the thrashing sounds of wailing guitars, Mad Dawg got bored again, and decided to keep on moving.

"Hey, Alastor? I'm gonna keep on going." Mad Dawg called, taking his headphones off, the staticky, blown-out sound of metal playing through the club. Mimzy seemed to have an almost violent reaction to the rock music, and Mad Dawg rolled his eyes. "Boomer." He muttered as he left.

Exiting into hell, Mad Dawg sighed, frowning as he kept walking. Well, that could've ended worse… but he wasn't sure if he had made a friend or foe with Mimzy. Still, he needed to keep moving, find someone who-

"HEY!"

"Son of a bitch." Mad Dawg growled, turning around and seeing the demon who had been following and attacking him. Except now, he wasn't alone. Next to him was a reptilian-like demon and a short, gray spider demon who kinda looked like Angel Dust. "Are you really so desperate to die again? Go home."

"Like I said. You owe me blood." The demon stated, pulling his blades out once more as the other two got into a fighting stance. Mad Dawg didn't notice a shadow figure (or to be more precise, a literal shadow) slink around him, then latch onto his fur, before seeming into his mind.

"Now, now… we can't have this, can we? You've shown these fellows every courtesy, but they won't leave you alone! Perhaps a more… effective approach is needed."

"Why am I thinking like that?" Mad Dawg blinked as the demons approached.

"Really? You'll just roll over like that? They've attacked you time and time again! This is what you were MADE for!"

"Damn it. That's… that's not my thoughts!" Mad Dawg snarled, his eye twitching and shifting colour slightly.

"Kill him." The demon Mad Dawg had been dealing with ordered.

"Look, I'm not saying you need to give into being a monster and all that, but at least defend yourself!"

"Hey, is this guy retarded or something?" The reptilian demon asked as Mad Dawg didn't move. "The hell's with this freak?"

"Who knows. Who cares. Either he was an autie in life, or he's some sort of failed experiment from down here." The heavily bandaged demon remarked.

"You're nothing but an experiment, and a failed one at that." A female voice suddenly spoke in his mind.

"Shut… up…" Mad Dawg mentally growled.

"You brought this on yourself! Your actions lead to this! What human would do what you've done?! You're a monster!"

"Shut… up…" Mad Dawg growled, speaking this time.

"…oh, so he can talk." The spider drawled, clearly bored as he flipped open two switchblades. Meanwhile, Mad Dawg's breathing wasn't normal. Instead of the quiet, deep breaths or oud heavy breaths he would take when running or fighting, his breath was coming out in a mixture of angered and terrified stutters. The three voices in his head still talking over one another.

"You mean nothing to me, you were-"

"Don't let go. That goes against everything we're here for!"

"Here for?! We're in hell! If you were attacking someone you were trying to help, then this would be different. But these scoundrels have attacked you, more than once!"

"…that's not a bad point."

The reptilian demon brought the board with nails he was carrying towards the side of Dawg's head, only for his arm to stop mid-air as it was stopped by an immovable force. Slowly, and menacingly, Mad Dawg's head turned to look at the reptilian demon. His eyes narrowed and his teeth bore, drool dripping off of them like a Xenomorph.

"You should've left." Mad Dawg said, then wrenched the arm backwards, snapping the arm at the bone and twisting the arm a full three-hundred-and-sixty-degrees. The snapped bone tore through skin, and Mad Dawg then forced the bone into the demon's chest. Looking on in terror, the other two froze, uncertain of what to do.

"Just… let go." A voice spoke soothingly.

"Who… are… you…?"

"YoU dOn'T remember?"

"Virus?" Mad Dawg whispered, and everything went black as Mad Dawg saw purple and black cloud his vision.

Mad Dawg had no idea how long he had been out, but it felt like half a second. He blinked, and then he was back in the central city of hell. He spun around a few times, confused beyond words, racking his brain to figure out what just happened… but he kept pulling blanks. Even the voices were gone, he was alone again… and his hands were covered in blood.

"Great…" He muttered with a sigh.

Deciding he needed a break, Mad Dawg slipped into a coffee house and slipped into the bathroom before thoroughly cleaning his fur, washing the blood and… whatever else there was off of them. Leaving, Mad Dawg looked around, the resturaunt reminding him of Tyger King, and the coffees he had downed while hanging out with Leni and Bobby. Now that he had calmed down, Dawg decided it was time to go home, er, back to the hotel. He could do good deeds tomorrow, and if he got violent, then that wasn't very 'good' of him, was it? As he left, Mad Dawg kept walking calmly, his body language one of 'I got no issues with ya, don't give me any' until he his thoughts were interrupted by a female demon yelling at… someone.

"…idiots! Val needed this crap up there ten minutes ago! What's wrong with you?! Why do we pay you!?"

"You don't pay us at all." Someone replied.

"Exactly! If you're this incompetent, why should we!?"

"Uh, y'know what? Blow me. You gon'talk to us like that, you can carry this up there yer'self!"

Rounding a corner, Mad Dawg saw a woman in what kind of looked like a steampunk-Victorian dress with comically large pigtails fuming as a small pack of demons left, flipping her off and leaving her standing amongst several boxes. She began shouting and cursing at them as they left, and Mad Dawg waited. He debated leaving and going back to the hotel, but this seemed to be exactly what he set out to do! So, he took a breath to keep himself cool, then approached.

"Hi." He said with a slight wave.

"Piss off." The woman scowled, not even looking back at Mad Dawg. "I'm working, and not in that way."

"Uh, I was gonna ask if you needed help…" Mad Dawg said awkwardly, and the woman spun around, blinking and looking him up and down.

"Yes." She said immediately. "I need this crap up to the twelfth floor, like, an hour ago."

"How far up is that?" Mad Dawg asked, looking up the building, not able to make out the neon sign at the top.

"Twelve floors." The woman said flatly.

"No, I mean… can the window open on that floor?" Mad Dawg rubbed his face in annoyance at his inability to speak clearly.

"…yes…" The demon slowly answered.

"Open 'em."

The women blinked, raising a brow slightly at Mad Dawg, then shrugged and took out her phone. She texted someone and waited, frowning when she didn't get an immediate response, but eventually a window opened a figured leaned out, Mad Dawg couldn't tell who it was, but he didn't care.

"Okay, stand back." Mad Dawg remarked, picking up one of the boxes. He took a deep breath, and heaved the box into the air. The carboard package soared upwards, and made it to the twelfth floor, where it landed on the edge of the window, and was quickly grabbed by someone.

"Wow." The woman blinked, then smiled at Mad Dawg. "Not bad."

"Wait a sec… I've seen her before!" Mad Dawg blinked, realizing something. He had run into her when he first got here! How did he not recognize her?! Whatever. For the next two minutes, Mad Dawg tossed the boxes up to the twelfth floor, and only on the last box did he see 'Adult Toys' written on the side. He grimaced, but said nothing. After all, this was hell… (Not that the fact of the matter made him feel better mind you.)

"That's the last of 'em." Mad Dawg nodded.

"Hey, have we met before?" The woman asked, tilting her head. "I swear we've met at some point, but for the afterlife of me, I can't remember where…"

"I think we ran into each other a few days ago when we were heading to wherever you were going." Mad Dawg answered, deciding against saying 'I'm new', or anything like that.

"Ahh… I'm Velvet!" Velvet said with a friendly smile which Mad Dawg could clearly tell was hiding crazy.

"I'm T-Bone." Mad Dawg lied. Thankfully, Velvet seemed to believe it.

"You drink? I owe you for helpin' us." She asked with another friendly-mask grin.

"Nah, I'm good." Mad Dawg shook his head, turning to leave, and then suddenly feeling his arm grabbed.

"C'mooonnn! Just a drink!" Velvet Insisted. Mad Dawg bit his lip, then nodded. He needed to be careful, but it might be smarter to not refuse the woman who clearly looked like she could snap at a moment's notice. Besides, if she played nice, so could he.

"All right, all right." He conceded. Following the older demon into the tall building. As he followed behind the demoness, Mad Dawg tensed up, feeling like something was wrong. He was already aware of his surroundings, and knew to be careful, but now he was on extra-guard.

"Relax, it's just a drink." A voice spoke calmly in his head. It was the same one from earlier, and it was one he had never heard before.

"It could be drugged."

"You're far too paranoid. You never questioned it when you were with Don Kim."

"…how do you know about that?" Mad Dawg asked, and the voice immediately went silent.

"So, what's your poison?" Velvet asked.

"Sinful Sider?" Mad Dawg asked, and Velvet looked to him, seeming genuinely surprised by something.

"Really?" She asked.

"Yeah, I-"

"I thought I was the only one who liked that stuff!" She laughed, grabbing two bottles and snapping the caps off. "Some people say it's a bitch drink…"

"Which I will say is bullshit." Mad Dawg grumbled, taking a drink. Feeling the crisp somewhat sour drink flow down his throat. It tasted normal. So, there weren't any drugs in it, that he could tell immediately. Good.

"True." Velvet nodded, drinking her own cider.

"If we're bringing toxic masculinity and gender roles into alcohol, then people need to calm the hell down. I mean, sure, margaritas… but… I dunno man. Alcohol is alcohol. The whole point of it is to get away from the problems of being sober, like responsibility, or social norms, or being a parent…"

"You're funny!" Velvet laughed, as Dawg finished his drink. He blinked, realizing how powerful this stuff was compared to the alcohol above. He groaned slightly and set the bottle down. "You want another?"

"No." Dawg shook his head defiantly, finishing his third cider. He blinked, realizing he had drunk three so far. How?! He had blinked, and then… it was time to go. "But thanks Velvet, it was nice meeting you."

"Vel, where were you baby?" A new voice spoke up. It sounded like a man who smoked ciggs a lot, but also seemed… intoxicating… a tall demon in the most ridiculous coat Mad Dawg had ever seen made himself known, entering the room. His heart-shaped glasses looked down at Velvet, then over to Mad Dawg. He blinked, then smirked in a way that made Dawg uncomfortable for some inexplicable reason. "Aw, Vel. Who's your friend?"

"T-Bone? This is Valentineo." Velvet smiled. Mad Dawg blinked, then nodded, deciding to show respect and simply get out of here.

"Hey." Dawg waved.

"T-Bone? Like the steak, or the position?" Valentineo asked. Mad Dawg's confused look told Val what he needed to know.

"Neither." Mad Dawg shook his head. "I got the name on earth from an old friend, he called me that for some reason. He just didn't like my name, apparently."

"What was your name?" Valentineo asked, curious.

"Does it matter?" Mad Dawg asked, a bit more edge than he intended. "Whoever that name belonged to is dead. As far as I'm concerned, T-Bone's all that's left."

"Heh, fair." Valentino nodded. Mad Dawg felt like he was backed into a corner, and he was growing anxious, and struggled not to show it. He couldn't say what, but there was something about Val that frightened him, and something about him that made him seem trustable. Which in turn, fed said fear.

"Thanks for the drink." Dawg nodded to Velvet, walking past Valentineo who suddenly stopped him, making Mad Dawg's spine freeze.

"Hey, you ever lookin' for work, I'm sure we could find somethin' for you to do." Val said in a soft, almost sickly-silky tone. Mad Dawg just nodded wordlessly and kept walking. "Remind Vox to call me when Angel shows up for his shoot, I need to talk to…" The voice faded out as he left.

Once he was outside, he started running, deciding to put some distance between himself and… whatever that was! Rounding a corner, he jumped onto a garbage dumpster and climbed up onto the roof of a store, then climbed up onto the next roof, then jumped onto a fire escape across the street. He finished his climb and sat down, breathing heavily and shaking his head.

"Geez…" He grumbled, following by another grumble. "I need to find some chow…" He then realized something. The clock said One-O'-Clock when he began throwing the boxes up, it was now Five-O'-Clock… "How was I in there for four hours!?"

As he walked off, he blinked and looked around as he heard a siren. At first, he was afraid the cleanse had begun early for some reason… then he saw what the commotion was over.

"Huh." He blinked, looking across the town square. "Maybe this is the chance I need to do some good!"

With newfound determination, Mad Dawg jumped off of the rooftop, heading towards the commotion to try and do the right thing!

Later…

"What. Happened?" Vaggie asked sternly.

"Okay, so I was minding my own business." Mad Dawg began, covered in soot, blood and rubble.

"Bullshit!" Vaggie snapped.

"I was!" Mad Dawg protested.

"Okay, and what happened when you were minding your own business?" Charlie asked, putting a hand on Vaggie's shoulder.

"So… I was walking around."

"Okay."

"And… I saw there was a chicken place."

"Okay,"

"And… I got some of those fried chicken sandwiches."

"Okay."

"And… I decided to look for a place to get something to read."

"Okay."

"And… I saw these demons robbing a bank."

"Okay."

"So, I decided to stop them. Y'know, do a good deed."

"Okay."

"And… I burned the bank down."

"What?"

"With the robbers inside."

"What!?"

"…by accident."

"How?!"

"So, I walked in there and told them I didn't want to fight. One of them attacked me, and I hit him into the wall. That knocked a torch off the wall, which in turn set the drapes on fire. From there, they attacked again, and I accidentally punched one of them through a column, which was holding the ceiling up."

Charlie and Vaggie blinked, then looked to one another. Whether he did it intentionally or not, the Kovach Bank was robbed, and subsequently destroyed earlier this afternoon. Now, Mad Dawg was apparently claiming it had been a mistake. His heart was in the right place, but his actions told another story.

"Well… you were trying to do the right thing…" Charlie said, trying to reason this out. Off to the side, Angel Dust was laughing his ass off, and Alastor was laughing too, clearly amused by Dawg's continuing misadventures.

"Did you kill anyone?" Vaggie asked, her anger lowered to more stern concern.

"Intentionally? No." Mad Dawg shook his head. "Unintentionally? Eh, probably. But hey, you can't rob a bank if there's no bank left to rob!"

"He's right you know." Alastor nodded in affirmation.

"Okay…" Vaggie sighed deeply. "I think we need to try something different, to rehabilitate you. It's clear you want to change, but maybe releasing you into hell was the wrong plan."

"But, he tried though!" Charlie insisted. "That… that's something! Y'know?" She turned and smiled with an 'I'm sorry' look in her eyes.

"No, it… it's my fault…" Mad Dawg said quietly.

"Hang on, what exactly happened today? Aside from the bank incident, I thought Alastor was with you the whole day." Charlie then realized something, and inquired about what happened earlier.

"Nah, we met this demon named Mimzy, and-"

"YoumetMimzy?!Ohmygoshshesmybestfriend!" Nifty exclaimed, appearing from… somewhere. "Ihaventseenherinages!ooohishouldinvitehertothehotelsowecancatchup!"

Charlie picked up the hyperactive cyclops, and turned her around. She shot off like a rocket, continuing with her hyper speech.

"…right…anyhow, Alastor hung back, I kept going. Things were uneventful." He lied. "Ended up helping a demon move some stuff, she seemed nice but kinda psychotic. Her name was Velvet, I think."

Upon hearing the name 'Velvet', Angel Dust froze in shock, his head snapping towards Mad Dawg.

"There was also this really weird dude, Valentine-Neo or something… I dunno, he creeped me out so I got the heck outta there." Mad Dawg continued.

"Valentineo." Angel Dust spoke quietly.

"Yeah, weird guy." Mad Dawg nodded.

"You… you met him?" Angel Dust slowly asked. Everyone present (aside form Mad Dawg) seemed genuinely unnerved by this revelation (aside from Alastor)

"Yeah, Velvet dragged me inside so I could drink with her for a bit… we talked, he was really sketch tho, so-"

"Mad Dawg. I need you to listen to me." Angel Dust said in a serious tone as he approached Mad Dawg. "You were in a porn studio. What happened? Did they… do anything to you?"

"What? No!" Mad Dawg scoffed. "We talked for like, ten seconds and I left… wait. He said to call when Angel arrived… huh. Dude, are you worried I'm gonna take your job or something? He offered me one, but I'm not-"

"DAWG! LISTEN TO ME!" Angel Dust shouted, startling Charlie and Vaggie as he grabbed Mad Dawg and shook him. "You don't know what that place is! I do! Do NOT. Under ANY circumstance accept a job from him! Okay!?"

"Chill Dust, I'm-"

"Kace. I need you to promise me you'll stay away from there, okay?!"

Mad Dawg's eyes widened, then narrowed in anger. He hated being called that name by anyone except a small number of people. Angel Dust was most definitely not one of those people.

"I need you to promise me! Okay!?" Angel Dust repeated himself. Dawg was going to snap down and bite Angel's shoulder in agitation. But then he saw the look in his eyes. There was terror, genuine, honest-to-God terror. The kind of broken fear Mad Dawg expected more demons down here to have. Something had happened to him, but Dawg couldn't put together what.

"Okay… okay… I promise I'll steer clear of that place, okay?" Mad Dawg finally said. "But do not ever call me that again, you got me?!"

"Yeah, I got you." Dust nodded, before suddenly turning and leaving. Mad Dawg blinked, and looked to Charlie, whose face was now one that was clearly hurt.

"Great. I screwed something up…" He thought as he left, heading to his room and using the shower this time, making sure to lock the door. Twenty minutes later, he was sitting on his bed, going through his bag to see what he had brought with him. However, a few quick knocks on the door got his attention.

"Hey, niño. You free to talk for a minute?" A voice came from the other side.

"Yeah, c'mon in and crash." Dawg nodded. The door opened, and Vaggie entered slowly and somewhat awkwardly.

"It's okay, I'm not bringing my spear with me." She said calmly as she entered, leaning against the wall.

"Look, if you're pissed over what happened, I'm sorry, okay?" Mad Dawg sighed having a feeling he knew where this was going.

"Kid… whatever you choose to do is your choice." Vaggie said calmly. "Charlie and I are here to try and give you the best chance you have to make the right choices, but no one's perfect. I mean, I'm a great example of that."

"So, you're not here to get pissed off over what happened today?"

"Never tell Charlie this, but I honestly found it kinda funny." Vaggie remarked with a half-smirk. "But seriously. DO NOT EVER tell Charlie I said that."

"No worries." Mad Dawg nodded in agreement, laughing somewhat himself. "Hey, at least the bank went out in a blaze of glory." Vaggie blinked her one eye, then sighed deeply.

"I really should've seen that one coming." She muttered.

"So… what do you wanna talk about? Gossip in general? Who you think is cutest in the hotel? Cause I'll be honest, I think it's a tie between Charlie and Nifty for the female side, and no contest for me on the male side." Mad Dawg remarked, looking at his paw. But when he looked up, Vaggie had a somewhat sad smile on her face, and Dawg couldn't read her.

"I just… I mean you… there's… okay, look. Angel Dust and I, are not good friends." She seemed to fumble to try and find the right words, and finally said it as bluntly as possible.

"I figured." Dawg nodded, not feeling the tired animosity he had a few moments before during her lecture. Also, he saw the brief glares she shot the Drag Queen, and assumed they weren't BFF's into the afterlife.

"Dawg." Vaggie said calmly, and it seemed like she needed to say something important. "I've never seen Angel Dust act like that, aside from maybe with his sister. He wasn't saying that because he was trying to make a joke. He was scared, Mad Dawg. Genuinely scared."

"Oh." Mad Dawg said, looking away embarrassed and somewhat ashamed. Again, Vaggie was surprised to see someone react like this. Either he was a pheromonal actor, or he was sincere. She genuinely hoped it was the latter, not just for Charlie's sake, but for his own soul's sake.

"Just… promise me you'll take care of yourself, all right?" Vaggie finally asked. "Charlie's here to help you, and so am I. But we can't do that if you won't help yourself."

Mad Dawg just nodded.

In an unknown location, there was a soft chiming, akin to crystals lightly being tapped in a melodic way. A figure, no, a woman looked up when a voice called to her.

"What?" She asked, surprised. "But that…" She listened once more. "Yes, I understand." The woman nodded. "I'm on my way."