I.M.P. was doing something of great value and importance. Something which would help all of hell, something which would change the history of the afterlife as we knew it.

…okay, no they weren't.

It had been a few hours since Dawg left, and I.M.P. were pissing about. Really, it wasn't anything worth mentioning here, so let's just move on. Loona was lounging about in the front office with her feet up on the reception desk, listening to Blitzo and Moxxie fight. As usual. She realized how quiet it had gotten now that Mad Dawg was gone, namely because there wasn't someone voicing their support for one side or the other, or sometimes both. While he may have been weird, Mad Dawg was surprisingly rational at times, able to see the good and bad in plans.

"Uh, hello? Is this the Immediate Murder Patrol?" A voice asked as she entered the office.

"Yeah." Loona drawled. "It ain't 'Patrol' it's 'Professionals'-" Loona's bored tone trailed off to genuine shock at the sight of Princess Charlotte standing in their office. Well, Princess Charlotte, the demon Dawg beat up, some cat, the demon she was pretty sure a porn star and- "Oh, shit…"

Quietly getting to her feet, Loona walked over and banged on the meeting room door, waited a few moments then kicked it open. However, none of the Imps were paying attention to her.

"Guys?" She spoke up.

"Look, all I'm saying is if we got a horse as a company mascot, things would be a lot better!"

"Guys?"

"Sir, I'm telling you for the eleventh time, if we do this, we will go out of business."

"Guys?"

"Well I didn't ask for your damn opinion Mox."

"Guys!?"

"Yes! You did, sir!"

"Guys?!"

"What happened to all the money we had, anyway!?"

"You mean the money you blew on a horse figurine?"

"That was only part of it!"

"We bought something for Dawg, remember?!"

"No!"

"GUYS!" Loona shouted.

"WHAT!?"

"Uh, Princess Charlotte is here… and so is that demon Dawg kicked the shit out of, and… uh… the Radio Demon."

"Loony, how much did you drink last night?" Blitzo asked, seeming greatly concerned for his adopted daughters' health. However, when Loona opened the door further, the imps scrambled in a panic.

"…uh, hi." Blitzo coughed awkwardly, his eyes darting around the office, suddenly feeling like they were seriously under-decorated to host Royalty, and, y'know, the Radio Demon. "So… your majesty! Ah-ha… who uh, do you need to hire us?"

"Sorry, but I'm not here because I need someone dead. I'm looking for someone." Charlie awkwardly said. "Apparently, he works here, and you all seem to know him, his name's Mad Dawg."

The whole room seemed to freeze, as Blitzo realized the stuff that happened between Dawg, the devil and the Princess was legit, and Dawg had just bailed on them…

"Well, listen your Majesty… if this is because we bet on Dawg to beat her in a cage match, that- well, we- look, we had no idea who that was…"

"No, no. I'm not here about that." Charlie shook her head. "If I wanna talk to anyone about that, it'd be Dawg himself. That's kinda why I'm here…"

"Right… uh, listen. You missed him by about an hour." Blitzo explained. "He uh, he's been having this existential crisis as of late, and then your Father told him not to go back, and he decided to go back because of that, and he left an hour ago."

"Hold on, back up. My… my father!?"

"Yeah, it's not something we're supposed to talk about though…" Blitzo coughed awkwardly. "Your Father showed up, he and Dawg went for a drive, Dawg came back, and then he left."

"Why?" Was collectively asked.

"…" Blitzo went silent, debating a number of things before he responded. Did he throw Mad Dawg under a bus? Or did he lie to try and cover his ass? If he lied, what would happen to him if the dark lord found out? Heck, what would happen if he found out Dawg went back!? He knew where they were now! Then, on top of all of that, the freakin' Radio Demon was chilling in their office looking dapper A.F., but that didn't take away from the fact that he's the freakin' Radio Demon.

"It wasn't clear." Millie spoke up. "But Dawg was adamant that he needed to go back."

"Yeah, and he left like, three hours ago." Moxxie added, stumbling to explain what was happening. "The kid has been having this back-and-forth with himself, and he seemed really ton up over something that happened, and he decided he was going back to the hotel so he could talk to you."

"Hm, can't say I expected THAT." Alastor remarked. "Still, seems rather in-character for him."

"What exactly did you expect?" Loona asked.

"I can't say, considering how he's been reacting to everything that- er, well, everything thrown his way, I'm intrigued to see how this concludes."

"Sorry, but what do you mean by that?"

"Oh, you should know exactly what I mean…" Alastor replied, his voice losing the radio filter and sounding a lot creepier because of it. "Well! If that's the case, then we best make tracks back to the hotel!"

"Wait, are you sure he said he was going back?" Vaggie asked, recognizing the Imps from the cage fight. "I mean, he says a lot, but…"

"He left, I saw him get on a bus heading for Pentagram City." Loona said matter-of-factly. "Before you ask; why would I lie to you?"

"…fair." Vaggie frowned. She wasn't sure how she felt about all this, but she at least wanted to know Dawg wasn't in s self-destructive spiral. If he returned or not… she wasn't leaning one way or the other too much… but, at least due to his age and what may have happened, she wanted to make sure he was okay.

"Okay… uh, thanks." Charlie smiled awkwardly as her group began to leave, Angel Dust having gotten bored and was now found in the room across the hall.

"Yo, Charlie! You gotta try this stuff!" Angel Dust called over the loud club music as he leaned out the door. At first, Charlie was going to groan in annoyance at him doing drugs… again, but he seemed to be holding bread. "Apparently, Dawg makes amazing Banana Bread! You gotta try this stuff!"

"I swear, if there wasn't liquor in the limo, I would be so pissed over being dragged out here for nothing…" Husk muttered, following Al.

"Al, you coming-"

"Ahahahaha- NO." Alastor laughed then cut himself off with the dead most seriousness. "You think I wish to expose myself to such… balderdash?!"

"Sometimes I forget how old you are…" Vaggie muttered, begrudgingly understanding Alastor's reasoning. This time.

"Princess Charlotte? I never expected to see you here…" Veroskia blinked in genuine surprise.

"Oh, hi. Uh, Veroskia, right?"

"Yup."

"Right, uh… sorry to walk in like this, I'm just here to get Angel Dust… and uh… Imareallybigfanofyourmusicsorry!" Veroskia raised a brow in confusion, then smirked.

"Never really pictured you as someone who'd like my music… Guess I was wrong." She smirked. "Still, something tells me you're here for another reason… please tell me it wasn't to hire those idiots across the hall…"

"No, we were looking for someone."

"Hellhound-jackal-bear thing? Calls himself Mad Dawg?" The demoness asked.

"Y..yeah… you met him?"

"Yeah, he makes us banana bread in exchange for us leaving him alone." Veroskia shrugged, then took a look at Charlie's face and added: "Look, I know he's technically younger than we normally would go for, but it was just teasing him! Nothing more than that. Besides, it didn't work…"

"I'm just gonna ignore that last remark…" Charlie muttered. "Do you know where he went?"

"No. He left for somewhere a few hours ago."

"Did… did he seem okay?" Charlie asked, trying to get a grasp on what condition Mad Dawg would be in, and therefore, what she'd need to do to best help him.

"I'll be real, princess. The kid was all kinda screwed up." Veroskia frowned. "I don't fully know, and I don't really care what happened before he got here, but one minute my powers had the little guy questioning if anyone was watching, the next… none of our powers did anything. And that was just when he was right in front of us, from a distance he seemed totally indifferent. Honestly, he seemed pretty relaxed and happy with those reject hitmen..." Charlie smiled at that, thankful Dawg hadn't fallen into some despair event horizon and was gone for good. "But that's not to mention the screaming…"

"The what." Vaggie blinked.

"I don't know if he's into some torture porn or mutilation fetish… but a lotta the time the mornings would begin with him screaming to Heaven." The succubus pop star commented. "Milky tried to talk to him once or twice, but it just seemed to anger him…"

"He… he didn't hurt any of you-"

"Nah, he punched Justin in the dick, but it was pretty funny, so I don't really care." Veroskia laughed. Charlie nodded, deciding she needed to get back to the hotel. She had to get Vaggie to drag Dust away from the male Succubi he as flirting with, but she whispered something to him that got him to fall in line. Charlie didn't know, and didn't want to know. She got back into the limo, and they headed back to the hotel.

When they got back to the hotel… Mad Dawg wasn't there.

"He… where is he?" Charlie asked, looking around the main floor.

"Was he going to walk back? That could be taking a while." Vaggie shrugged. "I mean, maybe he got caught up in some turf wars, or he tried hitchhiking and got picked up by the wrong driver."

"Yeah, yeah." Charlie nodded, taking a few deep breaths. "I uh, I'm gonna get something to drink."

"Same." Husk muttered, heading to the bar he worked/drank/slept at. Vaggie watched Charlie leave and bit her lip. If Dawg showed up, awesome. But if he didn't? It'd probably hurt Charlie a hell of a lot more than anyone realized it would… but truth be told, she didn't know what Mad Dawg was gonna do, but (she couldn't explain why) she had a feeling he would show up. Sooner or later.


'Well… here goes nothing.' Mad Dawg sighed as he pushed the doors opened, hearing the familiar arguing and screaming. He walked into the main room and looked around, sighing as he took in the familiar location, before finding who he was looking for.

"Mad Dawg?! What are you doing here?!" Loona exclaimed. "Did… did it really take that long for you to screw everything up?"

"Uh, who the heck is that?"

"Who are they and should I care?" Mad Dawg asked, looking to three floating… kids?

"Pathetic has-beens and no." Blitzo answered. "When you were away cage-fighting, we had a job and these three rejects showed up to try and stop us and ended up doing our job for us."

"That's not what happened!"

"Then what did?"

"WE tried to save the man THEY were hired to kill!"

"Okay."

"And their actions directly led to his death." Moxxie spoke up.

"So, it was your fault." Mad Dawg said flatly, looking to the three.

"No! I wasn't, it- it couldn't! It-"

"If it wasn't your fault, you wouldn't be stumbling to prove to me it wasn't." Mad Dawg spoke flatly.

"Look mister, I don't know what your deal is, but you aren't involved in this!" The purple goat remarked, seeming oddly calm.

"I know, so can you shut up and let me talk to my boss for a minute?" Mad Dawg said in annoyance, then looked to Blitzo. "Uh, hey Boss."

"Dawg, what are you doing here?!" Millie asked.

"Well. When I got back, no one was there, and I wasn't sure what to do." Mad Dawg admitted. "So, I figured I'd come back and try again tomorrow."

"You… you went back, but then no one was there, so you came back?"

"Pretty much, yeah."

"And you didn't stay and wait because…"

"I did, for about two hours."

"Did you call them?"

"I don't have a phone."

"There are still pay phones everywhere!"

"I didn't have the money."

"Dawg, you idiot! They were here a few hours ago looking for you!" Blitzo exclaimed, cutting into Millie and Dawg's repour.

"…oh." Mad Dawg blinked. "Really?"

"We told them you were going back!"

"Oh."

"So, who's he?" The yellow sheep asked.

"Huh? Oh, Mad Dawg. We kept him around to do stuff…" Blitzo muttered. "Dawg, these are C.H.E.R.U.B.. They were a bunch of wanna-be angels who screwed up and got kicked outta Heaven due to their idiocy."

"THAT'S NOT WHAT HAPPENED!" Cletus shouted in irritation.

"Great… more 'Angels'…" Dawg groaned in annoyance. "First that Delilah woman. Now you three…" However, the mention of the word 'Angel' and 'Delilah' didn't have the effect Dawg expected. As the (Ex?) workers of C.H.E.R.U.B. stared at Dawg in utter disbelief, as if he just revealed the KFC secret formula or something as if it was common knowledge. "…what?"

"D..D…DELILAH'S DOWN HERE!?"

"Yeah, she's shown up like, three times now." Mad Dawg remarked off-handedly, getting the loaf of banana bread out of the oven. "She claims she's an angel, but I don't buy it. Sure, she had the halo and stuff, but her "powers" were just light tricks."

"SHE'S AN ARC ANGEL!" Collin shouted.

"WHAT?!" The Imps (and Loona) shouted in disbelief.

"What? Sorry. I don't really know the Scientologist stuff that well aside from exploit the desperate and touch children. Or is that the Catholic Church…?"

"NO, YOU FURRY FANGED DIMWIT! SHE'S ONE OF GOD'S MOST POWERFUL ANGELS!" Keenie screamed. "Why is she down here?!"

"…she uh, she was looking to help me. And- never mind. It doesn't concern you." Mad Dawg shook his head. Mad Dawg blinked, realizing something, then muttered under his breath. "Maybe she actually wanted get me out of here… but then why didn't it work?"

"So, what's the plan, Fang?" Loona asked, looking up from her phone.

"Eh, I'll try again tomorrow." To the surprise of those there, Moxxie and Blitzo face-palmed and seemed to be thinking the same thing. Neither of them liked that answer... surprisingly, for the same reason.

"Kid, listen to me." Moxxie said flatly. "This is hell, things suck down here. Everyone gets treated like crap, and nothing can change that. The best thing you can do is find things that make you happy one way or another, and hold onto them. That Hazbin crew? They came all the way out here looking for you after you beat the shit out of the Princesses' friend AND THEY WEREN'T ANGRY. They're concerned for you! Do you have ANY idea what some demons down here would do for a relationship even a SIXTEENTH as good as that?!"

"Well, yeah. I guess… but hey, I'll try again tomorr-"

"Damn it, Mad Dawg! Stop making excuses and go home! You're better than this! You can be better than US!" Blitzo snapped.

The following silence was one of surprise, really. Blitzo didn't seem to be faking anything he was saying, he seemed more genuine than Dawg had seen/heard him be, maybe ever. Blitzo really didn't seem to care too much for anyone aside from himself and Loona, but this? This was new… He felt like there was so much more to his Boss than he knew, or maybe he was just the outsider and always would be… still, Blitzo had a point.

"He's got a point, Dawg." Millie spoke up, seeming as genuine as ever. "The Princess seemed really torn up over somethin', but was doin' her best not to show it. I don't know if th'two'ya had somethin', but the Boss-Man's right. This is a chance you don't want to give up."

"Mad Dawg, for the sake of your sanity, what little is left, GO. BACK." Blitzo ordered. "If you don't now, you won't tomorrow." Mad Dawg didn't say anything, so Blitzo added: "You know I'm right."

The room was silent for a few moments, then Dawg nodded.

"Yeah." He said quietly, looking to the banana bread. "I'mma drop this off, then I'm going back."

"Good on ya, Dawg. Hopefully you get to heaven… or whatever it is your after."

"Okay, bye again." Dawg shrugged, not liking awkward good-byes. He walked across the hall, set the loaf down to the mostly eaten one, and left. Admittedly, he didn't want to leave hell without saying good-bye to Blitzo and Co., but Veroskia and those idiots? Meh, he gave them what they wanted, he couldn't care less anymore…

"Hey big fella."

"Son of a-" Mad Dawg muttered, turning around and seeing the short succubus, Milk? Milky? Mad Dawg forgot her name… the short one that Dawg would admit was kinda cute- what!? "Hi."

"So… you're leaving…" She remarked, clearly trying to act casual.

"Yeah."

"Huh… that's too bad…"

"I'm not interested in-"

"Neither am I." Milky cut Dawg off, shaking her head. "No, look. I just really like your banana bread, and wanted to thank you for making it."

"Oh. Uh. You're welcome." Mad Dawg muttered, looking away awkwardly, his mind unsure of what it was feeling. Milky smiled at him, and her smile felt genuine. He looked away, embarrassed slightly at how he had been acting. He had reason not to like V and her crew, but that wasn't an excuse to be an asshole.

"Hey, listen… so, we heard you and the Imp's fighting yesterday, and…" She trailed off, not sure if saying what she wanted to say would be helpful to Dawg or not. From the low growl Dawg let out, she figured it wouldn't. "Never mind." She muttered. "Um, about what we talked about… are you… gonna be all right?"

"I really don't get you guys." Mad Dawg frowned. "After this chapter, I don't know if we're gonna meet again or not, so I'll be real with you; I really, REALLY don't get you. One minute you wanna suck me, the next you wanna kill me, the next you wanna friend me."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. I never tried to kill you! Neither did Veroskia!"

"Justin and that other prick did." Mad Dawg grumbled. "It was off-screen, but still…"

"Oh. Uh. Yeah, he's kind of an asshole." Milky shrugged. "Still, he's not the one who started the bet…" She muttered under her breath, genuinely intending for Dawg not to hear that.

"What bet?" Dawg heard it anyways with his enhanced hearing.

"Oh, uh… Veroskia made a challenge for whoever could get a positive emotional reaction out of you first. They'd get to make someone do whatever they told them, and-" Milky was cut off when Dawg suddenly kissed her to the shock of… EVERYONE present.

"YEAH, DAWG!" Vortex called victoriously from the side. Verosika choking on her bread, and he others staring slack-jawed. Dawg didn't feel anything romantic, but Milky had been the nicest to him (even if it was for perverse reasons) and he wanted to make Justin's afterlife worse.

"Tell Justin to piss up his own ass." Mad Dawg smirked as Milky blinked in surprise, then turned and walked off, tossing a note over his shoulder. Milky stood there in shock, unsure of what had just happened, but then… she grinned. Picking up the note, her grin only widened when she saw it was his recipe for Banana Bread.

"HEY JUSTIN! I WON THE BET, YA DUMB BASTA-!" Then the doors closed. Dawg didn't say anything as he began leaving the… studio? Club? He really had no idea what this place was… and frankly? He didn't much care…

"Hey! Dawg, wait a sec!" Millie called, catching up with him. She was carrying… something, and Dawg couldn't tell what it was. All he could tell was that it was much bigger than she was… "Here, we meant to give you this the other day, but we got side tracked." She held out what she was carrying, and Dawg blinked in surprise. It looked like an electric guitar, that was also a battle axe. The guitar was also pretty big, probably designed for his new 'Beast' form to hold it. Mad Dawg didn't notice the others watching from the doorway.

"…This…this is for me?" He slowly asked, seemingly in disbelief.

"Yeah, it was your birthday, and Loona thought it was… you." Millie shrugged, a bit surprised to see how genuinely amazed Mad Dawg seemed to be with the gift. "We got paid in advance for this Loopy guy, and Blitzo used most of it on some horse thing, and… well, we kinda sorta stole a good chunk of it. We uh, we weren't sure how you'd react to it, and then when you admitted what happened earlier, we felt awkward about giving it to you then, and then you just bailed. So, we were gonna wait a week and call the hotel to see if you actually went back or not."

"…I love it. Thank you. Thank you, so much!" Mad Dawg said, his voice cracking somewhat. He had very, very limited experiences with birthdays with other people... and this was probably the best thing he had been given.

"Take care, hon." Millie smiled. "I'll be honest, if anyone deserves to get out of here, it's you."

"You too, and thank you. Thank you for everything, Millie." Mad dawg said, his tone soft and genuine.

Mad Dawg slung his new guitar onto his back, feeling it hit his messenger bag and exhaled deeply, setting off once again. When he got to the smashed gate for the building, he turned back and waved, not knowing if anyone was watching, but not much caring. Really, he was just trying his best to not let see his Ex-Co-workers at I.M.P. see he was silently crying.

TIME PASSES!

Mad Dawg landed on the roof of the hotel, looking around and taking a few deep breaths. Okay, new plan… he'd… he'd wait here until they returned! He didn't know if Charlie and the others were back, and frankly, he was too nervous to try the front door, so he'd chill up here until he saw someone leave the hotel.

"Should've brought a magazine or somethin'…" Mad Dawg blinked, bored after about a minute. He dug through his bag, finding a scrunched-up card, and sighed deeply when he remembered what it was… Deciding to pass the time, Dawg sat against what he assumed to be an air conditioner and opened his sketch book, returning to some drawings he had started of those he had met in hell. To his frustration, he didn't know where his journal went, and that… really hurt, actually. That had some things from all the worlds he had been too, and he didn't want to lose that… About thirty minutes passed, and Dawg's mind began to wander.

"Ah, great. Here we go again."

Was he doing the right thing?

"Saw that one coming."

How would they react?

"Good, bad, I owe them a conversation at least."

What about his conversation with Delilah?

"That- uh… huh… I need to think on that one."

The mutant teen growled in frustration. If hell wasn't going to torture him physically, then dang were they doing a good job torturing him mentally… No! He couldn't think like that! However, as he began to wander the roof, he heard a voice, a voice that he still didn't know the true intentions behind. But a voice that he wanted to respond to. Looking down, Mad Dawg saw the terrace at the top of the hotel, the doors open, and Charlie slowly walking out. She seemed… hurt, maybe tired? Dawg wasn't sure. Surprisingly, or perhaps unsurprisingly, considering what he knew about her, she was singing a soft tune.

"…Some fellows make a winning sometime… I never even make a gain, believe me…I'm always chasing rainbows… Waiting to find a little bluebird in… hell…"

Mad Dawg listened, captivated by every word. Holy crap… Charlie's voice was incredible! Why didn't she- But she could- Mad Dawg couldn't even form a full thought. Her song wasn't like her mother's, or Verosika's, it was one that was purely from the heart, and it amazed Dawg. He slowly climbed down to the terrace, not wanting to disturb Charlie if she was going to continue singing.

"Mad Dawg… wherever you are…" Charlie spoke, looking out over hell. "I hope your safe…"

"…Wow…that…that was beautiful." Mad Dawg whispered. Charlie full on jumped, nearly launching herself off of the roof. Mad Dawg dashed forward in case she needed help, but the princess managed to catch herself and merely stumbled back a foot or two. Her face was angered at first, then disbelief, then shock, then joy.

"Mad Dawg?!" She exclaimed, surprised. "Uh… what the hell are you doing here? Also, how long were you watching me? Cause that's some really sketchy shit."

"Like, one minute." Mad Dawg admitted, pausing for a second, then adding: "Your voice is amazing!"

"Heh, thanks…" Charlie admitted, somewhat embarrassed. "Vaggie says I have a habit of singing when I shouldn't, I… can't say she's wrong."

"I think you should sing more." Mad Dawg admitted, giving the Princess a small smile. Charlie blinked, then blushed somewhat embarrassed. "Oh, sorry… sorry…"

"No! No, it's fine, I just…" Charlie began but trailed off. "So… you're back!"

"Yeah, I guess I am." Mad Dawg nodded, looking away, awkwardly. "Uh, I heard you were in Imp City recently."

"Yeah! We heard you were there, I wanted to find you." Charlie nodded. "But, when we got there, they said you had left."

"I had." Mad Dawg admitted. "I went back to the hotel."

"But when we got back, you weren't here!"

"Yeah, when I go here, no one was here. So, I went back to Imp City." Mad Dawg admitted. "Then I was told you guys had been there, so I figured you were going back, so I came back…" when he finished, Charlie stifled a laugh, then giggled, then began laughing. It wasn't condescending, it wasn't mocking, it was genuine, and happy. Mad Dawg grinned as Charlie hugged him.

"That… is the most you thing I've heard you do… Y'know, from everything you've told me about yourself."

"Yeah, I'm an idiot…"

"Hey, no. None of that!" Charlie ordered.

"What? Telling the truth?"

"None of that either! Stop using my own words against me!" Charlie insisted.

"Why? Because you secretly want me to continue into a downward spiral to a point where you can take control of me and escape to the living world?"

"What? No! It's just really annoying!"

"You only find it annoying because you are trying to understand how your own-"

"Stop!" Charlie laughed.

"Fine, fine…"

"So… why are you here?" Charlie asked, and Mad Dawg coughed awkwardly.

"Uh, I'm here…"

"Yes?" Charlie asked, smiling slightly. She knew why Dawg was here, she could see it on his face, but she wanted him to say it.

"I'm here… to…" He tried again, trialling off and looking away.

"Here for what?" Charlie asked, tilting her head slightly. The look Mad Dawg gave her was probably the angriest she had ever seen him give, but his mouth twitched into a smile, and her's never faded.

"I'm here on a bounty hunt. Dust has a three million price on his head dead or alive." Mad Dawg blurted out, and immediately Charlie's face seemed bewildered.

"What?"

"YOU WON'T TAKE ME ALIVE BOUNTY PRICKS!" Angel Dust screamed several floors down, seemingly having somehow heard them.

"Mad Dawg. Why are you here?" Charlie asked flatly. "Really?"

"I wanna apologize!" Mad Dawg blurted out, almost like a child, balling his fists and shutting his eyes in apprehensive fear. Charlie blinked, then stepped forward and hugged him. Mad Dawg didn't realize it until now… but he needed that. "IwasaterribleguestIdisrespectedyouIattackedVaggieImsorry!"

"Okay." Charlie nodded. "Let's talk."

For the next hour, the pair sat on the roof, talking about… well, almost everything. Mad Dawg explained that he had left to clear his head, but then got 'recruited' and then saw no real reason to come back. Maybe it was naivety, maybe it was a want to have someone in the hotel, or maybe it was her better nature, but Charlie seemed to fully understand. She was upset it took him so long to come back and talk, but still, he HAD come back, and now he was trying to change. She took some notes, but didn't try to teach or be a therapist to him, right now she wanted him to open up and tell her what happened. He (to Charlie's frustration) didn't say anything about what happened that caused him to leave… but still. One step at a time.

"And… I'm so sorry about what I said to you in particular. That was really mean…" Mad Dawg concluded.

"That's what's been hitting you the most?" Charlie asked, a bit surprised. "The whole 'brothel' thing? Not beating the crap out of Dust… or Vaggie?"

"I…I…I don't have a family." Mad Dawg shook his head, and Charlie had NO idea where he was going. "When I was in my first world, I lived with people, they were my family. And in the second one, I had friends. They were great people. But I never had a mom. I never had a dad. Or at least, one who gave a crap about me. So, I've used that as an excuse for being a terrible person. Honestly, I don't think that's going to change. But since getting here, and meeting you… I thought you did. I thought you had a good relationship with your folks."

Charlie desperately tried to withhold a laugh.

"Sorry. Sorry." She laughed. "I love them, I really do…"

"And they love you. When I met your parents, the love they had was so clear, so pure… It was weird if I'm being honest…" Mad Dawg muttered, thinking back to the brief introductions he had with the rulers of heck. Or rather… what they wanted him to believe… He thought about mentioning them saying to not come back, but… that probably wouldn't help things right now. "But it was almost violently clear that they also didn't believe in you. Or this place…"

"…yeah…" Charlie quietly nodded. "Daddy wasn't exactly thrilled with this idea. He doesn't think demons can change."

"And…I…I'm sorry. I didn't realize how much this mattered to you." Mad Dawg replied, despite how big he was, and the experience he had. He seemed like a little boy talking to his mother- No. Sister? He didn't know… "I keep talking about being better, and wanting to leave… but whenever I'm given a chance to change, I'd dive back into the darkness. I'm sorry for how I acted, and even if you want me gone after this, I feel you're owed an explanation. I'm sorry I treated you like crap. I'm sorry I beat up Dust, I'm sorry I've done nothing but be an asshole, and I'm sorry I nearly killed Vaggie. If you're willing, I wanna try again, I wanna prove this can work."

Charlie smiled, and wrapped her arms around Mad Dawg, pulling the younger demon-mutant into a hug. He really seemed to be blaming himself for more things than he should...

"It's okay. Everyone makes mistakes." She said softly, smiling at him. "But you're admitting to them, you're allowing yourself to get up after you fall. That's the first step."

"It's just… Charlie, I want to get out of here." Mad Dawg said matter-of-factly. "I wanna go to heaven, or earth, or wherever! And I don't care what it takes, I want you to help me!"

"All right." Charlie smiled. "Let's get you to Heaven!"

Mad Dawg didn't know if Charlie knew about the whole 'Un-judged' thing, but he wanted to take this one thing at a time. The two rose to their feet, and headed back to the hotel. Heading down the stairs, Mad Dawg laughed awkwardly as he passed by his 'room' and descended further into the hotel. The room they entered was pretty calm, Vaggie was cleaning her spear, Dust was trying to flirt with Husk, Husk was drinking and ignoring him, Nifty was cleaning and Alastor was listening to his music. When the door opened, everyone looked up, and the blinked in surprise when they saw Mad Dawg standing next to Charlie.

"…holy shit. Dawg?" Husk finally broke the silence.

"Everyone, Mad Dawg's back." Charlie smiled, motioning to Mad Dawg. "He's here to give redemption another shot!"

"Hey everyone." Mad Dawg said with an awkward half-smile.

"Heh… hey Mad Dawg." Vaggie smiled, looking up and then laughing slightly when she heard Dawg inhale sharply when he saw the bruises on her arms and face. Mad Dawg looked away, not sure what to say or do, so he looked to the next person he was feeling awkward about meeting.

"Hey, Dus-" Mad Dawg began, but was suddenly hugged by the porn star. Dawg struggled against it, feeling awkward, and Angel let him go. "Hey, man."

"It's good to have you back, kid." Angel Dust smiled, then, to Charlie's surprise, stopped talking. No sex jokes, no advances, just… a simple statement.

"Yeah…" Mad Dawg said quietly. "It's good to be back…"


A.N. Bit of a shorter, jankier chapter. But I needed to get us here so we could keep moving on towards the finale. But hey! Mad Dawg's back at the hotel! Now, he gets to face his sins, seek redemption and… oh… this isn't gonna end well, is it? Furthermore, Mad Dawg's gotta face everyone in the hotel again…How do you think everyone will react? Heck, how's the dark idiot gonna react to this?


Mad Dawg's Banana Bread

Note: This recipe contains nuts, milk, wheat, gluten, eggs, and a few other things which may conflict with certain dietary/allergic issues.

Ingredients:

Cooking Spray

3 Medium Bananas (Fresh or somewhat browned, either works.)

1/2 Cup Butter or Margarine

2 eggs

1 1/2 cups sugar

1/2 cup buttermilk

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

1/5 cup peanut butter (optional)

1/4 cup chocolate chips (optional)

1/4 cup almonds (optional)

1.) Heat the oven to 350 F (or whatever the C one is) spray the bottom of the cooking pan with cooking spray, set this aside.

2.) Peel bananas and crush them. With a sledgehammer. Okay, maybe not. But still, crush them.

3.) Melt the butter (and peanut butter, in a separate bowl, and like, liquify it.)

4.) Mix eggs, butter, bananas, sugar, buttermilk (or milk), vanilla, choco chips, nuts until well blended.

5.) Mix with flour, baking soda and salt, pour into pan

6.) Bake for 1 hour 15 Minutes.