It was unusually quiet at the hotel. Earlier in the day, there had been the very… off sounds of a guitar, as Mad Dawg began trying to learn some different chords and strumming patterns, which hadn't ended well. As Husk had threatened to burn his guitar due to the massive hangover he was dealing with, and the music not really helping. So, naturally, Dawg had threatened to destroy Husk's bar in retaliation, and the both of them had been in a Mexican stand-off for a good hour, both sides just daring the other to take the first swing. This had actually been a stroke of genius from the winged bartender, as Dawg hadn't played his guitar for about an hour. This had only been resolved when Dust had used this stand-off as an excuse to steal some of Husk's booze.
Well, while it was quiet in the hotel. That was NOT the case across the city, where Dust and Cherri had dragged Dawg into one of their turf wars, and were currently blowing everything in eyesight up. Something Mad Dawg was rather okay with doing, as he loved blowing stuff up!
"Hey, it's great seein' you again! I thought you got offed or somethin'!" Cherri laughed as another string of explosions went off.
"Nah, I was layin' low, figurin' some stuff out, then decided, screw it. Let's blow stuff up!" Mad Dawg laughed, firing several grenades at the oncoming crowd. One of the few things he actually liked about hell, was that he could cut loose with explosives, and demons wouldn't die. So really, there was no worries about killing people…
"Aw, great! He's here boys!" Cherri called, racking a massive gun. Dawg was about to ask who Cherri was talking about, until he looked up and saw a familiar air ship.
"Oh, crap…" Mad Dawg muttered, his ears flattening as he had a really bad feeling about this. Needless to say, about ten seconds later, that bad feeling was justified when his former Boss spotted him with Dust and Cherri.
"MAD DAWG! HOW COULD YOU!?" Sir Pentious screamed over the fighting, and to his credit, he seemed genuinely hurt. "I THOUGHT WE HAD SOMETHING SPECIAL!"
"Phrasing." Mad Dawg muttered, and was then thrown back by an explosion, skidding across the ground and cutting his face. Perhaps due to the betrayal, or perhaps because his weapons were surprisingly effective, even if he wasn't. The trio of demons found themselves being cornered by Sir Pentious' onslaught of attacks.
"SSSSAY SOMETHING! DO YOU TRULY HAVE NOTHING TO SAY FOR YOURSELF, YOU TRAITORUS CUR?!"
To Dust and Cherri's surprise, Dawg slugged himself in the face, then grabbed his hand as if he was fighting for control over some sort of spell. "Agh!" He shouted in pain. "I'm sorry, sir! They… they're using some sort of mind control spell on me!" Dawg shouted over the fighting. "I can't fight it much more!"
"Dawg, he's never gonna-" Cherri began, deflating somewhat.
"HOW DARE YOU USE MIND CONTROL ON HIM! RELEASSSSE HIM THIS INSATNT!" Sir Pentious roared in undulated fury, cutting the bomber off. The trio of demons blinked, then looked to one another.
"I can't believe that worked." Cherri remarked.
"If it works, it works!" Dust smirked, grabbing his guns as the trio ran back out to the fray. Mad Dawg was running on all fours, teeth shining with drool as he began punching the Egg Bois away with his fists, trying not to destroy them. He wouldn't lie, he felt kinda bad about this… the Egg Bois (while essentially invincible) were still his friends! He had worked with them! Ugh… this felt so weird…
"EGG PILE!" One of the Egg Bois shouted, and the next thing Dawg knew, he was being swarmed on all sides by the Egg-monsters. They began piling on top of him, weighing him down as the eggs kept swarming. At first, it was honestly kinda funny, almost pathetic, but then as the pressure began to grow, Dawg felt his breathing speed up, as if he was losing something. Then he realized why. Those memories he had just witnessed…
"COMIN' THROUGH!"
With no warning or fanfare, Cherri smashed through the egg bois and grabbed Dawg, pulling him free. The large mutant grabbed her arm and spun, throwing her like a javelin towards another hoard of attackers… which promptly exploded.
"I'M SORRY!" Mad Dawg called out in sincere, heart-broken pain as he fired his weapons at Sir Pentious. He meant it maybe… a little, as the Naga was actually a kinda nice dude when you got to know him. But this was a turf war, so… that wasn't really an option.
"I UNDERSSSTAND, MY FRIEND! I SSSSSSHALL DO ALL I CAN TO LIBERATE YOU FROM THEIR VILE CLUTCHES!" Sir Pentious shouted back, Cherri and Dust watching with a 'What-is-happening?' look on their faces.
"This is better than wrestling." Cherri remarked, watching the fight.
To everyone's surprise, after about five minutes, Sir Pentious could no longer fight, not wishing to harm Mad Dawg, and had ordered a full-scale retreat, vowing swift retribution on those who had captured his ally. It was anti-climactic to say the least, but Cherri couldn't stop laughing once he was out of sight.
"Didja see the look on his face-!?"
"I know, right!?" Mad Dawg laughed.
"He was so concerned! It's like you're his son or something!"
"I know! I worked for him for like, a week, at most!" Mad Dawg continued laughing. "The dude isn't that bad, but I don't know where he gets this delusional grandeur visions of himself from!"
The trio decided to get some iced coffee after a successful fight, and had returned to the small coffee house Mad Dawg and Molly had frequented. As they sat and drank, Dawg felt content, relaxed, and had a feeling this was all about to go to crap in three… two… one…
"Hello, and welcome t 666 news! I am your host, Katie Killjoy."
"And I'm Tom Tren-"
"The first story today, is the recurring sights of the infamous 'Nekro-Lycan around the Pride Ring!" Katie continued as an image of the Nekro-Lycan was shown. "The infamous pit fighter disappeared from his fights one day, and has since been seen-"
There was a bright white light, and from the ceiling, a figure descended, her wings extending and halo shining. Dawg recognized her immediately, as did everyone else, even if they didn't know her name. But they knew who and what she was. An angel.
Typically, Dust, Dawg and Bomb couldn't give a dang about Katie Killjoy and those idiots at Fox News- er, whatever they were called. But the two demons were shocked to see Dawg's shocked reaction, as well as Dust knowing this Angel had been looking for Dawg, they decided to take a minute and watch what was happening. As had everyone else in the house.
As the news room went into an absolute panic, Delilah stood tall, brushing some of the roof from her hair before she looked around herself. To her amusement (and pleasure) none of the demons brandished weapons at her. In fact, many of them seemed to be turning and fleeing in fear from here mere presence.
"Hey… Dawg. You know her, right?" Angel Dust muttered, looking to Dawg.
"I've met her…" Dawg frowned. "She's an Angel, what the heck is she doing here?"
"Wait, she's what?!" Cherri choked on her frappe at that little detail. "What's an Angel doing down here?! It's not time for the Extermination… also, sorry. You KNOW her?!"
"Long story." Mad Dawg said dismissively, not wanting to explain the deal with Delilah right now.
"Hello, denizens of Hell. My name, is Delilah." The Angel spoke in a calm, gentle tone. "I understand those of you who are reacting fearfully, or with visceral hatred, and while I do not understand those reactions, I do pity you. Instead of paradise, you followed the fleeting fancies of a fallen angel, someone stupid enough to think they were so powerful, that they outshone God himself… and look at how that's turned out. They're nothing more than a pretender, attempting to live a life of grandeur, all while knowing how far they've fallen, and that if they could simply look past their own ego, they may be forgiven. But enough about lucifer. I'm here for another reason, one that actually matters."
She looked around and frowned at the disgusting site before her. "You were given a choice, but you made a different choice. Sexual vices, drugs, adultery, greed, sloth… you all lived in excess of these, rather than see the truth. But that isn't why I am here today…"
"Are… are you here because of another Extermination?" Tom spoke up, but recoiled when Delilah looked back at the small news anchor.
"No, demon." She shook her head. "I am here, for a much more important reason. I am here, to provide that chance for salvation that none of you took."
"Where the heck is this going?" Mad Dawg muttered with a frown.
"The Lord works in mysterious ways, and I wish to bring that mystery to light." Delilah continued, before all the screens in hell changed, revealing an image of Mad Dawg. Well, an image of Mad Dawg somehow eating an entire pizza at once.
"Uh-oh." Mad Dawg blinked.
"There is one known down here by the name 'Mad Dawg'." Delilah explained. "Why I need to find him is not your concern, but… To the demon who provides safe passage or accompanies him to the cathedral, they shall be henceforth exempt from ALL annual Exterminations. However; should Mad Dawg be delivered in chains or bloodied, you will face God's WRATH." Delilah spoke with her soft, gentle tone, which suddenly became much, much more vicious with her final declaration. But that declaration seemed to make all of hell freeze. Meanwhile, Angel, Cherri and Dawg could only stare in disbelief at what was just said.
"Holy…"
"Did they just…"
"You…"
"Ho… boy…" Mad Dawg muttered, looking away, feeling all demons slowly turn and look at him. It was clear that the entire coffee house – no, all of hell itself, was about to go insane… and unfortunately, Mad Dawg was stuck at the center of it all.
"Ggggaaaaahhhhhhhh…!" Mad Dawg shouted in a panic, running out of the coffee house, only to run back in, shotgun the rest of his drink, then run back out.
"C'mon! What are you sittin' there for?!" Cherri demanded. "Let's get him!"
"Why?!"
"Why?! Exemption, you idiot!" Cherri laughed, but blinked in confusion when Dust just looked at her, seeming almost angry. "Hey, D. We can discuss who gets the exemption later, but right now he's gotten a head-start and-"
"Right. Right. Let's go." Dust nodded, and the two set off after Dawg.
To say lucifer was sitting in silent anger would be a gross understatement. The glass full of alcohol shattered as he closed his fist around it, breathing silently, but aggressively. He hated that his Father protruded into his domain every year, he hated that there really wasn't anything he could do about it, but more than anything, he hated being made a fool.
"…sir?" A servant slowly approached him, fearing for the remains of their soul.
"What… is he doing…?"
What was he supposed to do?
Whomever he went with would become public enemy number one forever! And then if he had to choose… who deserved to be exempt?!
Charlie? She had to be exempt, regardless! She was the Princess of this place!
Vaggie? That'd make sense… but… she wouldn't want to go with him to the Cathedral, she'd wanna protect Charlie. And if Dawg went near Charlie, they'd all be in danger.
Angel Dust? He didn't know if that would make things better or worse between him and Val, and that thought alone gave Dawg hesitation.
Alastor? No. Just… no. Despite inadvertently helping Dawg recently, the Radio Demon was the last demon Mad Dawg wanted to give exemption to.
Molly? Actually, that wasn't a bad idea… but he didn't want to put her in danger!
"Rrrghhh… Delilah, what the heck are you doing?!" Mad Dawg snarled as he kept running, hearing shouts, cries and gunfire coming from behind him. All of hell had seen that broadcast, and now all of hell wanted Dawg. "Why can't you see what I'm trying to do?! I WANT to leave! But I can't just abandon Charlie! Isn't this what you want?! CHANGE!?"
There was no answer, all he heard was Virus laughing
"yOU'rE realLy sCrEWED, Now, bEta!" Virus laughed. "ALL Of HEll is cOmIng afRer yOu! THerE'S NowhERe tO RuN, NowheRE TO hIDe! YOUr acTIONs hAVe FINalLY CAught uP WiTH yOU..."
"SHUT UP, THOMAS!" Mad Dawg mentally roared. "This has nothing to do with you!"
"oH, bUt thAT'S wherE yoUr so VERy, VeRy WRong..." Virus laughed again.
"What?" Mad Dawg blinked, shaking his head to clear it. This was Virus, the psycho who tortured him and tried to kill him time and time again. He'd say or do anything to hurt Dawg, so all Mad Dawg had to do was ignore him. Virus had been a thorn in his side for ages, and probably always would be. Right now, he had to escape! But… where was he supposed to go?
Mad Dawg began ducking and weaving around hooks, chains, harpoons, rubber chickens, arrows, needles, garbage and even a kitchen sink that was being thrown at him in an attempt to stop him so the demons could claim exemption,
"The hotel? No. I don't wanna put Charlie in danger… but… where else do I ha-"
Mad Dawg was cut off by a limo roaring into view, and screeching to a halt in front of him. Narrowing his eyes, Mad Dawg extended his claws and bared his teeth, ready to fight. The door was thrown open and Mad Dawg was surprised to see Charlie in the limo.
"Get in!" She ordered. Mad Dawg looked back behind himself, seeing the approaching crowd and hesitated. "It's now or never!" Growling, Mad Dawg jumped into the limo, and the car drove off. The next thing Dawg knew, Charlie was hugging him.
"Areyouokay?!Isawthenewsreportandtheneverythignwentnutswhatsgoingone?!" She asked in a panic, and unsure what to do, Dawg began fighting, trying to pry Charlie off of him.
"LET… ME GO!" He growled, and Charlie respectfully did, sitting next to him.
"Mad Dawg, are you okay?" Charlie asked after a minute of silence, the concern genuine and clear in her voice.
"Yeah… No, actually. No, I'm not okay." Mad Dawg sighed deeply, before looking to Charlie seeming lost and confused. "Charlie, what's happening?! Why is Delilah doing this?! CAN she do this?!"
"I-" Charlie began, but stopped, biting her lip before looking away, seeming ashamed. "I'm sorry, I wish I had an answer for you. But I don't know what's happening."
"Great." Mad Dawg growled, running a hand through his hair. "Okay… cool… So. Are you taking me to her?"
"No! Of course not!" Charlie exclaimed. "I don't know what she's after, and I don't trust her not to try and kill you! Angel or not!"
"Okay. Good. I trust you." Mad Dawg nodded, not noticing Charlie's eyes light up at his remark. "I ain't just gonna run, that'll only get me so far. I need to think of a plan." He paused for a moment, then looked to Charlie. "What weapons can kill an Angel?"
"MAD DAWG!"
"What?! I'm not saying I'm gonna kill her! I'm just looking to defend myself." Mad Dawg rolled his eyes.
"Mad Dawg, listen to me." Charlie said, getting his attention. "You can't fight her. If you fight an angel, you're gonna lose! You'd need to bring all the armies of hell with you to try and take her on. I can't, and I won't, let you throw your afterlife away!"
"Rggh… fine." Mad Dawg sighed, looking away, almost embarrassed. "What are we gonna do?"
"I don't like this idea." Charlie admitted, deflating somewhat. "But maybe I could try and talk to Delilah-"
"ARE YOU NUTS!?" Mad Dawg shouted, refusing to believe what he heard. "Charlie, SHE'S AN ARC ANGEL! SHE'LL WIPE THE FLOOR WITH YOU!"
"Yes, but as someone who also believes in helping and change, I might be able to get through and talk to her. We both want to help you, and we both want to help others." Charlie reasoned. "She may not fully believe in my cause, but if you're truly an Unjudged, I might be able to get through to her to help."
"Why? Why are you doing this?" Mad Dawg asked, almost sounding hurt. "This isn't your problem, Charlie. You should be taking care of the hotel, of Vaggie! Not some mutant freak show who-" He was stopped when Charlie took his hand and smiled sadly up at him.
"No, this is my problem." Charlie smiled. "You came to my hotel, I agreed to help redeem you. Therefore, you're my problem, like it or not." Reaching up, she turned Dawg's face to look at her and smiled. "I'm doing this because I want to. Because I see the hero you told me you used to be, the one you want to be."
Mad Dawg looked to her, then sighed.
"All right, so what are we doin'?" He asked, raising a brow.
"I have no idea!"
"Well, I hate saying this, but maybe your Dad isn't the worst guy to talk to right now." Mad Dawg admitted, thinking things over. "I mean, the dude has to be exempt from Exterminations, already, right? Maybe he can help."
"I see where you're going with that thought, but I have to stop you there." Charlie shook her head. "He'd probably throw you to someone, or demand something insane for protection. I can't see that ending well."
"Damn it." Dawg scowled, thinking. "Ugh, fine! We need… I need weapons! Get me to an armoury or a black market, and I'll take care of myself!"
"That's an even worse idea!" Charlie protested, flopping back in the seat.
"Well, we need to think of something, otherwise we're fu-CHARLIELOOKOUT!"
Without any warning, like a semi-truck striking the side of a limo, a semi-truck crashed into the side of the limo. Mad Dawg lurched forward, trying to grab Charlie to protect her with his bulk, but he was too slow, and the pair were sent flying as the limo crashed and went spinning off the road. Dawg felt his body slamming into ever side of the car, multiple times. Glass and metal slicing through his body as he spun like he was trapped on a demented carnival ride. He hated this feeling, he hated knowing there was nothing he could do… and all that he could do was wait for it to be over.
There was an audible ringing in Dawgs' ears as he peeled himself off the roof, realizing the limo was now up-side down. Growling in pain, Dawg looked at the glass shards that were being forced from his body, and quickly pulled a few more out to speed things along. He could faintly hear voices, but he couldn't hear what was being said.
"…n't…at!"
"W…ares…I…don'…eed…tion!"
"Th…k…yo…n….out!?"
"…just…kill…im!"
"That angel said if he was bloodied, we'd be screwed!"
"Well screw the exemption! What makes this freak so special!? If heaven wants him so badly, then I wanna mount his head on my wall!"
"GREAT." Mad Dawg mentally groaned, looking around the dark limo. He couldn't see Charlie, and that was bad. Like, really, really bad. Punching out one of the windows, Mad Dawg growled as he dragged himself free, looking sound at the wreckage, and seeing the swarm of demons approaching.
"THERE HE IS!" Someone shouted. "GET HIM!"
The approaching crowds had all sorts of tools, weapons, and other miscellaneous things to try and subdue Dawg. The mutant knew whomever did subdue him would be enemy number one for everyone else, so maybe he could work with that… Unfortunately, his careless caution nearly cost him a lot more than a few shards of glass in his body, as one crazed demon lurched forward with a machete.
There was a sound like cracking thunder, and Dawg's shotgun went off in a demon's chest, sending them flying cartoonishly through the air, before landing in a bloody heap on the ground, several feet away. Quickly reloading, Mad Dawg began firing both weapons off as fast as he could, shells and arrows flying around the wreckage site. Standing on top of the limo, Dawg made a claw-like gesture with one hand, and fired his gun with the other as the demons swarmed around him. Charlie had awoken and was running towards him. He figured this was how it was gonna go, hell didn't care about exemption. They knew Dawg was special, and heaven wanted him for some reason. So that was more than enough reason to try and rip him to shreds. As much as Dawg wanted to believe he was some ubër-badass, the truth was… he as just a kid. He fought terrorists, but that was always on an even playing field in some regard. He had more weapons, he was smaller, and he had his team at his back.
This? This was survival. And once more, Dawg felt something he hadn't felt that much since he got to hell.
Fear.
Still, he couldn't let that fear control him. He wouldn't! He was Mad Dawg, damn it! How many shoot-outs had he been in!? How many death traps had he survived!? How many times had he stared terrorists in the face, and flipped them off?! How many times had he faced insane odds and somehow pushed through?! He wasn't a coward, and he wasn't gonna run. If hell wanted him-
"LET THEM COME!" Mad Dawg roared fighting off the hoard of invaders. "SEND THEM ALL!"
"MAD DAWG!" Charlie screamed, having become her demonic self and beginning to force her way towards the mutant. Mad Dawg noticed her, but so did the others…
"Shut up, bitch! He's mine!" A demon screeched, and smashed her in the face with the but of his gun. Normally, that'd only phase Charlie, at best. But after being in a car wreck, hit in the face with a gun, and then hitting her head off the concrete ground… she didn't get up.
"Charlie…" Mad Dawg whispered, but the Princess didn't move. "CHARLIE!" He screamed, anger overtaking him.
"tHeY. HuRT. HeR." Virus whispered sounding angry. "MAKE THEM SCREAM!"
Roaring in agony, Mad Dawg felt the spikes punch from his back. He leapt down into the crowd of demons, and began ripping them apart as he changed. The already large Mad Dawg just got bigger as he became something worse.
"I'M GONNA EAT YOUR GUTS LIKE GUMMY WORMS!" The Nekro-Lycan roared, lunging forward and lashing out with its tail. The hooks impaled the unfortunate attacked and yanked him close, resulting in Nekro biting down on the top half of his head with its glowing teeth, ending the demon's existence, forever. Throwing the remains away, the Nekro-Lycan grabbed the next attacker, tearing them in two in mere seconds, before slamming another one into a wall, following this up by driving its back into him, impaling the third attacker on its spikes.
To say it was a bloodbath would be an understatement. By the time he was done, more than a dozen demons were eviscerated, and the others realized they had no hope and turned to flee, only for a wall of thorns to burst from the ground.
"Who DARES enter my home, uninvited?" A voice demanded, and the vines seemed to seek out and wrap the demons up, before dragging them under the ground as they screamed and fought. The Nekro-Lycan looked around, trying to find the newcomer, or Charlie, and yelped when thorns dug into his leg. Without wasting time, he slashed them apart with his claws, seeming almost annoyed more than anything, before another string of vines wrapped around his hand.
"Ah-ah-ah. I'll have none of that, darling." The voice spoke again.
The thorns grew, and eventually wrapped around Nekro's body, making it roar in frustration as Nekro began the painful shift back to Mad Dawg. The vines only tightened, and Mad Dawg yelled as he struggled against them, trying to find a weak spot, or anything that could help him break free. Without warning, the vines began pulling Dawg across the ground, and despite his best efforts, there was little he could do to fight it. Deciding on a strategy of least resistance, Mad Dawg allowed himself to be taken to the new location, silently hoping that Charlie was all right. After a minute, he was restrained to the ground, and a woman in a long red dress appeared.
"My, my… what interesting prey…" She said in a silky voice, looking into Mad Dawg's face with eyes that seemed to be hollow sockets.
"Rgh… where…"
"Oh my! You can speak! I wasn't expecting that."
"C..char…"
"Hm? Darling, I'm afraid I can't quite make out what you're saying. Could you be a dear and speak up?"
"Charl…"
"I'm sorry, I can't quite hear you." The woman shook her head, mockingly. "That didn't sound like you apologizing for bring those ruffians into my home."
"CHARLIE." Mad Dawg forced out. "WHERE."
Coughing caught both demon's attention as Mad Dawg saw Charlie lying on a couch, injured, but alive.
"Thank you, God!" Mad Dawg mentally cried. "Thank you!"
"Hey, Rosie? Could you please let him go?" Charlie coughed, sitting up. The demoness raised a brow, a bit surprised by the fact that Charlie seemed to know her newest victim, but decided against angering the Princess, and loosened the vines and thorns around his body.
"Urgh… thanks." Mad Dawg coughed, before turning his attention to the Princess. "Charlie, you okay?"
"I'll live." Charlie winced, her neck cracking as she looked to Dawg. "Ow."
"There we are, sweetie. Could I interest you in a cup of tea?" Rosie smiled warmly, pulling the last vines off of Dawg as if she hadn't just wrapped him up in thorns and was slowly choking the life out of him. But, Dawg was willing to look past that due to the fact that she hadn't outright tried to kill him. Yet.
"No thank you, but thank you for the offer, Ms. Rosie." Mad Dawg said, cracking his back as he stretched out, rising to his full height. This was both a way to straighten his back out, and subtly send a warning to Rosie not to try anything against Charlie.
"Well, it certainly seems like you've made quite a name for yourself." Rosie remarked. "Now… I think it's time we had a discussion, my sweet. There's a very interesting price on your head, and I think you need help figuring out what the heck you're going to do about it…"
The end game, approaches!
What's Mad Dawg gonna do?!
Will Universe Seven be able to defeat Jirren and save their Universe!?
Find out next time, on Dragon Ball: Su- wait. Wrong story. Sorry.
Bonus points if you catch the DOOM reference hidden in this chapter! ;)
