"Where's this bastard?!"
There were many things which angered the ruler of hell. Ranging from the minute, like someone putting the roll of toilet paper on backwards, to the unforgivable, which would earn him the ire, scorn, and almost respect of the fallen one, such as doing ANYTHING which put his daughter into harm's way.
"Through there, chained up, like you asked sir."
Right now? He was more pissed off than he had been possible since he was unceremoniously cast away from the Father's Side. That insult had stung, and the scars still ran deep. But he had picked himself up, become so much more than God could ever HOPE to be! …yet all he felt right now, was the unending bloodlust to peel the skin off of the nearest damned soul, shatter their ribs and impale them on their own broken bones…
The teenaged mutant had no idea how long he had been knocked out, or sleeping, or both. The last thing he remembered, he was being dragged behind a flaming demon-horse that looked really cool. Then… nothing. He twitched, and hissed in pain, seeing he was currently suspended upside-down by a mixture of hooks, barbed wire, chains, electrical wires and what looked like spiked vines. It hurt like heck, but Dawg wasn't giving the devil the satisfaction of knowing that. His vision had been on-and-off, annoyingly, which had resulted in him unable to fully figure out where he was, or who was here…
"Ah, it's been too long… good to see you again, baby…" A scratchy voice spoke up, and Dawg felt a mixture of anger, disgust, and fear creeping through his veins as he weakly looked up and saw who was before him.
"…oh, hey Neo." Mad Dawg muttered, his tired, somewhat glazed and bored eyes meeting the twisted face of the infamous moth pimp. "…I got nothing else." He admitted, dismissively. He didn't want to talk to Val, ever. But hey, he didn't really have a choice here, did he?
"Yer better at improvising fights than you are conversations… If you could change the fight to another 'f' word, you'd be a star baby…" Valentino spoke, his tone sickly-sweet. Mad Dawg… felt nothing from it. Just annoyance. To his great satisfaction, Valentino seemed annoyed his words weren't doing anything.
"Oh, I'm sorry that you met someone with standards who doesn't wallow in his own feces and fluids all day." Dawg retorted coldly.
"Oh really? You were wallowin' and swallowin' a helluva lot when we had you." The Moth Pimp remarked, and despite his best attempt to hide it, Mad Dawgs' eyes widened in terror. Is that… what had happened when he was drugged?! He couldn't hide it, and it was clear his terror amused, and most likely aroused Valentino. Swallowing thickly, Dawg scoffed, and began to pull against the chains holding him… well, wherever he was. Mad Dawg also remembered some of the tactical training 76 had given to him, and the same training he had slept through… casting his gaze weakly around the room, Mad Dawg saw demons of all kinds, some which had animalistic features, and others which were literally the stuff of nightmares. But, there were two he recognized immediately, and who were, unfortunately, coming towards him.
"Whee." Mad Dawg said quietly as he swung back and forth, suspended by the chain. "Whee."
"Huh. I expected something more…" Vox blinked, seeing disappointed by what he saw. "THIS is what trashed the studio and dragged half our crew across the city?"
"Whee."
"Nah, it's what he turns into. Some werewolf crap…" Valentino said with a dismissive wave. Only having caught a glimpse of the thing that attacked them before it bounded head-first out a window, and went plummeting to the ground below. Vox had been reeling in pain from having his face slashed, and hadn't gotten a good look at what Mad Dawg had taken to calling the 'Nekro-Lycan', but had heard rumors of some sort of wild beast in the underground fighting pits who could kill demons like an exterminator with its teeth. THAT, story or fact, had gotten his attention. That kind of beast could easily be… 'persuaded' to follow orders, he figured. Even if that thing wasn't Mad Dawg, the screen-faced Overlord still wanted his pounds of flesh for the slight Dawg had caused him.
"Whee."
"I'd say hurt him and find out, but we need to keep him sedated. His teeth become exterminator weapons, so…" CRACK! Mad Dawg cried out in pain as one of his teeth was ripped from his mouth, the glowing blue tooth was held in blood-soaked pliers as Valentino inspected it. "Damn. These are heavier than I thought." Val commented while Mad Dawg spat a spray of bright purple blood flying across the floor, making everyone pause in confusion. "That ain't normal…" He looked to Mad Dawg, and hit his snout. "Hey, freakshow! What's with the teeth!?"
"Oh, YOU." Mad Dawg snarled, pretending he had only now seen Vox, a mixture of anger indifference coating every letter in each word he spoke. "Y'know, I'm glad you're here… I didn't finish clawing your face off last time." His words had the desired effect, as the TV-Faced demon snarled at him, getting closer. His screen seemed to be playing a string of images that hurt Dawg's eyes, just by looking at them! "Urgh… this is just another reason why I don't subscribe to streaming services…" He grumbled. Either buy physical media or pirate it, streaming services are garbage… then again, considering your slave over there, I guess you know a thing or two about sticking your face in garbage."
"y'know, you might be throwin' the word slave around now, but pretty soon you're gonna find out what happens to someone who's seen as lower than-"
"Huh? Oh, sorry. I was talking to the actual Overlord, can you shut the hell up?" Mad Dawg said flatly, looking to Val. His remark just pissing the Moth Pimp off. "Great, thanks. So, as I was saying Vox, go fuck yourself, or I'll make the other eye match." Dawg snarled dismissively. The Overlords who hadn't met Dawg before blinking and looking to one another in amused surprise. He was one of those demons! He'd be fun to break… Valentino, for his part, was understandably pissed off. The only issue was, he couldn't do much more than what he had already done. So, he merely stabbed Dawg's tooth into Mad Dawg's chest, and stormed off. Mad Dawg looked around, and his eyes fell to the four-horned demon. "So… what's your deal? You from the Wrath Ring?" He asked, trying to seem casual about everything.
"What gave it away?" The demon chuckled.
"Well, I was guessing Wrath, or Gluttony, looking at those thick thighs." Dawg commented, and the demon snorted, amused.
"Sure, yeah, you're chained up, most likely gonna be tortured, and your first impulse is to hit on the first attractive demon you see? Smart."
"When did I ever say you were attractive?"
"Y'know, I won't lie." The draconic demon muttered. "I kinda like the kid. He's got guts."
Mad Dawg looked around, he recognized… some of the demon's present. The Three V's, lou-lou, Lilly, was that… Robo-Fizz? But… he looked normal… weird. Uh, who else? A big blue feathered demon, a dragon demon with four horns, chains on his belt, wings and a sickle. "Can't lie, that looks awesome." Oh, Rosie, and- wait a second, where was Alastor? To Dawg's surprise, the Radio Demon wasn't present! This seemed like the exact kinda thing he'd be here for! Hm. Maybe he was getting snacks or something. Honestly, Dawg could picture Alastor kicking open the doors to a 7-11 and grabbing as much food as he could so he could watch this crap-storm go down. The mutant felt his lip curl in anger at the thought. He- no, he hadn't trusted Alastor! He never had! "Yes, you did." A voice spoke in his head, silencing him. "You trusted him enough to show him your past, to gamble that away. But of course, he'd be here, wanting to watch you bleed. He never cared about you." To that, Mad Dawg had no rebuttal. Maybe there was once a decent person in Alastor, but now? There was only the Radio Demon. Mad Dawg had no one to blame but himself if Alastor had sold him out- wait, no, he could blame Alastor. And he was going to! Screw Alastor! And the devil! And… a lot of people actually!
"Hey… so, you wanna tell me why I'm here?" Dawg spoke up, looking to the devil. Normally, he'd try and antagonize him, but this time, he decided to act calm for a minute. His words reached the devil who looked to Mad Dawg as the whole room seemed to grow quiet.
"Do you wanna take a guess as to why you're here?" The fallen one finally asked.
"No, not really." Dawg's response came quickly, and led to another awkward silence.
"Mad Dawg, this has nothing to do with you lying to me and going back to the hotel. If anything, I commend you for having the spine to not only lie to my face, multiple times, but to actually go through with it, as if nothing happened." The devil conceded with a nod, and he was being genuine! Mad Dawg was… well, mad enough to think he could outsmart HIM! That kind of insanity was what the devil could get behind, not because he liked Mad Dawg, but because he wanted to see how far he could before he fell apart. "I brought you here, because this needs to end."
"I agree." Mad Dawg nodded.
"So, you accept what you've done? And the fate that awaits you?"
"No." Mad Dawg shook his head. "I agree this needs to end, but you're going about it the wrong way. I had something that was working, and then someone decided to screw it up."
"Not 'someone', 'YOU'." The devil countered, matter-of-factly. "Kid, you seem to think you're some sort of infallible hero, but really stop and think about it, how many people are dead because of you?! Good, and bad?"
"Ah, so we're playing the blame game, I see how it is." Mad Dawg sighed, rolling his eyes. "Wel, if that's the case how many people are dead because of you? How many lives have you destroyed?"
"Trillions! And I love it!" The devil laughed. "And that's just it! I admit to what I do, heck, I revel in it! Kid, you could be one of us! One of the best Overlords hell has ever seen! You're so freakin' crazy and unpredictable, I love it!"
"Ugh… I'm just tired dude." Mad Dawg finally got out. "Tired of the lies, tired of the violence… and tired of you. You're an idiot, satan." He saw lucifer's eyes flash with anger, and he grinned. "You think I CARE about you or your stupid posse of pussy wannabe fanboys you call the Lords of hell? None of you are a threat. None of you are worth the piss I shoot all over your wife after drinking all night. You're all NOTHING. You're a terrible leader, just like how you were a terrible angel, a terrible warrior, and above all. A really SHITTY father." Mad Dawg felt the claws rack across his face, but he simply grinned as blood dripped into his eye. THIS was getting the reaction he wanted. This was probably the stupidest thing he was ever going to do, but Dawg decided to dig his teeth in. If this was hell, then he was gonna prove that hell was other people!
"And you're a shitty director, I'd say pornos have better production quality than your films, but that's an insult to porn!" He laughed looking to Val, who both seemed offended and amused.
"Stop talking." The fallen angel ordered.
"I mean. Is Lilith only with you 'cause she's the one in control? Or did you cry like a blubbering simp when she decided to leave? Or wa-" Mad Dawg was cut off once again by a knife digging into his shoulder. He yelled in pain, blood flying freely to the floor, but he refused to let that slow him down. "Ooh… THAT hit a nerve! Must've hurt more than when God told you to get your ego in check and fall in line… Heh… that must've stung. Realizing that you really weren't what you thought you were… I mean. Charlie figured that out ages ago! She did what you never could, and matured! Now, she's only in emotional distress twenty-three-six because of you and your inability to figure that out."
The devil was clearly unamused, mostly because Mad Dawg wasn't saying anything he hadn't heard a thousand times already. For someone who was so… eccentric, he really expected more out of the mutant. Maybe he had been wrong in his assumptions.
"So, go ahead. Torture me, kill me, I don't care." Mad Dawg admitted with a sigh. "The truth is… Charlie was right, and because of that, you lose." Mad Dawg finished with a defiant grin, having said what he wanted to.
"What are you going on about now?" lucifer finally asked, flatly. "It sounds like you're saying you've won, but you don't even know what game we're playing."
"I thought we were playing Uno."
"Demons can change. They can get better. Even with all your lies, all your tricks and temptations, you'll always lose. And what kind of sad, pathetic, worthless afterlife is that? One where you can't control your own fate, your daughter, or even some mutant science fair reject… A false kingdom, led by a false king. That's what it is. Just… like… YOU."
"What are you going on about?" The devil asked again, still unsure if Mad Dawg was so delusional, that he was believing what he was saying, or was just trying to get a rise out of him. Either way, he was failing on both fronts.
"Hang on." Mad Dawg said, jerking at the chain as he tried to turn himself back around to look at the Overlords. "Just a- hang on- friggin' chains… okay!"
"I'm. Not. Dead." Mad Dawg gave a toothy grin as the Lords seemed to realize what was happening. "God himself never gave the A-Okay on me bein' down here… that's why the less likeable Angel Cakes was after me. She wanted me gone." After a few moments of silence, he added: "So. What's it gonna be Satine? My life for your ego? Or are you willing to keep your mouth shut for once if it means saving your daughter's soul." The devil was going to reply, but Mad Dawg beat him to it. "Actually, scratch that. You don't care enough about her to do that. Do you? I mean, her home just got fire-bombed, but you're standing here, playing kingpin of the edge-lord club." All of Dawg's words seemed to be spoken with a painful energy to them, the ones which would cut through an enemy to their core, with each conjunction, a cut to the very soul of the one he struck… Dawg wasn't always the best at delivering a verbal beatdown, but right now? He was giving everything he had. However… the devil just blinked, raising a brow.
"…you're retarded, aren't you, Dawg?" The devil asked flatly. Noting Dawg blink in confusion. Groaning, the devil rubbed his face and sighed as he began to, as the kids would call it, 'perform an epic clap back using facts and logic': "WHY in the NINE RINGS OF HELL would I EVER sanction something that might put my daughter's life at risk!?" Dawg was going to answer, but was cut off by the devil's powers holding his mouth shut. "Don't interrupt me. I couldn't give less of a damn about that stupid hotel, but Charlie put EVERYTHING into it, so I wasn't going to intentionally sabotage it! It would fail on its own! Even if a few demons succeeded in being 'redeemed' there was no way out for them! Sooner or later, she'd realize that, and she'd walk away from her fantasies and see the world for what it really was!"
"What…?" Mad Dawg blinked, confused. "But, why-"
"Because what would hurt more?" lucifer asked, getting in Dawg's face. "The pain of knowing now that her own father doesn't believe in her, or the realization of what she's done being worse than what I do to lost souls down here?"
Mad Dawg went quiet, his face going through multiple different emotions. First, disbelief, then concern, then skepticism, then realization, then fear. "You snake-humping fecker…" He muttered, putting together what the devil was doing. "You never really cared for her, did you?"
Mad Dawg's response was a punch to the face.
"Don't you dare accuse me of not caring for my own daughter!"
"Well you don't."
Mad Dawg was hit once more.
"Seriously, you don't."
Mad Dawg gasped as he was stabbed in the chest, the issue with being both dead and not-dead was he could die from such wounds, apparently, but he also couldn't. So really, it just hurt. A lot.
"I don't get it…" Mad Dawg muttered. "But… what about Delilah? She's brining the Exterminators down in like, two days, and then-"
"She's bringing them down for SHOW." lucifer cut Dawg off, again. Seemingly having realized he was going to have to explain this point-by-point. "She may threaten us, and she may bring them down here, but she can't do anything! If it isn't the time sanctioned for an Extermination, then the Angels can't kill a demon without risking breaking their own rules!"
"Unless I'm not given to them." Dawg tried to reason, everything he thought he knew was being torn down around him. It made no sense! Why would- but then- she had been-
"She'll come down, flex her false power, then leave. She can't hurt any of us, and she won't bother looking for you." The devil said, dismissively. In his mind, Dawg had a feeling even lucifer was being tricked by her. But, he also had to consider the option that maybe he wasn't. He was the father of all lies, after all. Mad Dawg refused to believe him! It was a lie! It had to be! It made… too… much… sense…
"Ugh, do I need to spell this out? YES! She and I have been working together to get you OUT." The devil confessed, seeming tired, almost, when he saw Dawg trying to think of another explanation. "You've been a thorn in my side ever since you got here, and as much as I loathe those winged pompous blowhards, we both agreed you need to go!"
"So why didn't you let me go through Charlie's plan!?"
"What, the plan that ends with you being a battery in the depths of hell, forever being drained and kept alive to fuel the upper rings?! THAT'S what you want your fate to be?!"
"That's not what happens!"
"How do you know that?!" lucifer demanded, and Mad Dawg was left quiet. "Please, please don't tell me 'because you now it to be true'. Delilah and I showed you the lower depths, we showed you what's really down there!" The devil seemed tired, like he was a parent repeating the same warning to a child about to do something insurmountably stupid, like complaining that a real-life tragedy wasn't mentioned in an animated movie because auti- er, potatoes.
"The hotel just got blown up, and I'M the one you're after?! If you know this much about me, you should know I wouldn't do that!"
"Sure, and when I find out who is responsible for that attack, I will spend the rest of my eternal rule making them scream for mercy, you have my word." lucifer countered, seeming genuinely angry that someone would do something so brazenly stupid, such as attack his daughter in such a way. "When Delilah comes back, she'll demand you're brought to her. When you don't show up, then that's THAT. Your soul will be considered 'Judged' for ignoring God's chance at redemption, and then you'll just be another one of the billions of souls down here. You'll be a reminder of what happens to those who try and best me, you'll be a reminder to the Angels that their idiotic rules are more problematic than helpful, and you'll be the wake-up call Charlie needs."
"So, all this… ever since I got here… you, and Delilah… I've just- I've just been your pawn?"
"More or less kid."
"SHIT!"
"Besides, you very well could've been the one who destroyed the hotel. It wouldn't be the first time you've destroyed your home, or the homes of others."
"What." Mad Dawg growled, his voice lowering to a threatening whisper.
"Really? All the people you killed? You blowing up your own home? Running from the ones you cared for? Does that not seem like what you've been doing recently?" lucifer pressed.
"Sir?" Vox spoke up, realizing something.
"Look at yourself kid, you're not a hero, you never were! You're the worst kind of person, the one who thinks they're doing good, when all they're doing is hurting others!"
"Sir?"
"And really! What was the point of all of it? To prove that you weren't what you were made to be or something? Kace, you proved to all of hell what you were when you held Annie and-" Before the next words could be spoken, the chains holding back Mad Dawg exploded. Roaring in fury, the Nekro-Lycan dashed forward, making a bee-line for the devil, only to turn in a different direction. Confusion turned to realization and dismay as lucifer saw the serrated spikes coming towards him.
"Aw, fuc-" He was impaled on one of the hooks, then viciously dragged along the ground, being slammed into the walls and ceiling before being launched like a rag-doll through the ancient stone walls of his castle. Roaring with fury, the Nekro-Lycan prepared for another attack, but the chains and hooks which had been restraining him re-appeared, going thorugh his arms and chest, making him scream in pain as they ripped themselves free, leaving a disgusting mess of blood all over the floor. The other overlords were left in stunned silence, all of them felt the need to fight (lest satan blame them for doing nothing) but at the same time, this wasn't what they were expecting. "LEARN YOUR PLACE, CUR! KNOW WHEN YOU ARE BEATEN!"
Shrinking back in terror, Mad Dawg saw the devil, the real devil, floating above him, having appeared from thin air. The very air around him seemed to burn, and the energy which exhumed off o him was akin to a plague. Mad Dawg realized he had pissed off the devil something fierce, and dang it, it felt GOOD! Molten lava seemed to swirl from the floor he stood on, piercing his body once more, and entering his bloodstream, burning his blood and bones from the inside. Wailing in pain, Mad Dawg fought back, trying to do something, ANYTHING that could make this stop, but it was useless. Coughing and hacking up blood and whatever the devil had hit him with, Mad Dawg fell to the ground, weakly moaning as he felt his body be granted the briefest moment of solace. As he weakly dragged himself away, Mad Dawg felt the blood loss, and the stab wounds, and the voice of Virus screaming in his brain, telling him to give up, give in. Stop fighting the truth and let yourself fall to the sweet release of darkness. It was hopeless, so he did the only thing he could think of.
He started laughing.
It was more of a weak cough at first, and his whole body ached as he did so, but something clicked in Mad Dawg's brain. Not break, not this time. Not ever again. He fell to the floor, lying on his back, left in an uncontrollable fit of complete and total hysteria. "YOU THINK… AHAHA! YOU…you…you think you BEAT me?!" Mad Dawg wheezed out, tears forming as he laughed uncontrollably. The pure demented insanity in his voice made most of the Demon Lords take a step back, nervous that maybe this was all part of some plan. "No, no, no… You've barely even hurt me… and you can try! Spend all eternity trying to break me! Make me bend over and scream for the release of death! But it ain't gonna happen…" He croaked, which only seemed to anger the devil more.
"I will find those you care for, harm them in ways God himself would be terrified of and I will make you watch and bathe in their blood." lucifer scowled, grabbing Mad Dawg and holding him up to eye level. If Dawg wouldn't react to causal conversation and pain, maybe a direct threat… and pain.
"You'd really do that to your own daughter?" Mad Dawg asked with a twisted smile, looking into the burning eyes of the true form of the devil. "Yo! Val! Is daddy-daughter something people are into down here!? Cause if not, then I've got a half-mast I can't expla-" Yelling in anger, lucifer threw Mad Dawg across the table and through a wall. He was still too weak to walk, so Mad Dawg kept dragging himself away, leaving a long trail of blood behind him as he went.
"Yeah. You were right." Mad Dawg admitted. "I deserve to be here, those innocents I killed deserved to have their lives back… but I've been saying that shit for nine years now! And it changes nothing!" Feeling a boot connect with him ribs, Mad Dawg flew through the air and landed by… Rosie? Whoever she was… the one with the black eyes and mouth. "All that matters now, is that we atone for our mistakes, help those that need it… Charlotte knows that better than all of you! Take away your fuckin' titles, and what are you!? A buncha pansies who can't do anything on their own! You don't wanna change because that means accepting you were wrong! But here's the tea. Even if that means accepting your fate of being satan's bitch for a few millennia-"
"DON'T CALL ME THAT!"
There was a sickening slashing squelch as Mad Dawg's chest seemed to be torn open by the devil's now demonic fingers. Blood flew across the room as the lords watched with interest as to where this was going.
"I ain't givin' up. And YOU can't change that! Face it, lucy, you lost!" Mad Dawg concluded, pulling himself to his feet and looking back to the others. lucifer was shifting between his normal persona, to his full-fledged demonic one, to… Virus… "Yer never gonna break me! And you're gonna live with that for an eternity! The devil himself, outdone by a kid!" Mad Dawg laughed his insane laugh, and continued, almost drunk with power. "Oh… and the whole 'apple' thing…" Mad Dawg continued, seeming almost drunk at this point. "…really!? A trillion ideas based on sin, and your marketing team rolled up in here and said 'Hey Saltine! Y'know what'd be a kickass image? Apples!' Ya should've gone with an eggplant considering how often you get screwed!" He fell onto his back, laughing hysterically until he gasped as several shadowy spiked chains with meat hooks shot up from the ground, wrapping around his arms and legs and dangling him in the air. Annoyingly, Mad Dawg didn't seem to care. "I can't believe I'm saying this… but friggin' Valentino has a better idea for selling your brand than you do! Sure, he looks like someone got high on pixie sticks and drew Jack Skellington with nothing but glitter, but hey! It at least makes sense!"
"Then so be it." lucifer shrugged. The hooks and chains piercing Dawg's body once more, pulling him up off his feet, to be seen by all. They acted like twisted strings of a sadistic puppet master, draining the blood from his body, and making him nothing but a puppet on a string. "If you'll laugh until your extermination, then we'll keep you here, and make you laugh, and laugh and LAUGH… Then when the next cleanse comes, I'll nail you to the floor and let the freaks come and kill you."
The hooks ripped themselves out of Mad Dawg's body, and this time, there wasn't laughter, but screams. It seemed to satisfy the Overlords as Mad Dawg's mutilated boy fell to the ground with a wet squelch. The flesh was so far gone that patches of bone could be seen around Mad Dawg's body. This actually seemed to do a fair amount of damage, as Mad Dawg groaned in pain before weakly pushing himself over, lying back to the floor and looking up at the ceiling, the colour of his fur dulling as the blood escaped his body. His breathing was just a pained wheeze at this point, and his body was struggling to repair itself.
"Even though I should probably be terrified for my life, this seems like a set up to a good sitcom…" Mad Dawg remarked, looking to the Overlord on his left. "A bunch of demons trying to make the world worse while following that idiot's orders, but everything goes horribly wrong? That'd be fun. It'd be like DOOM meets The Office…"
"…you're not wrong." The Bat-Overlord shrugged. "But what's DOOM?"
"Aw, man… your missin' out!" Mad Dawg laughed. He paused, collecting his breath, then weakly held up a bloody paw. "Just… do me… one solid…" Mad Dawg weakly got out. The fury in his eyes died down, and lucifer smirked.
"Oh. So, NOW you want to talk?" He asked sarcastically.
"No… well… yeah. When… I'm gone… send a letter to my girlfriend… she had an amazing ass…and she rocked HARD. Heh…she wanted to ditch her husband and hit the road with me…" Mad Dawg laughed, weakly waving his hands as he spoke, blood still pouring out from his wounds. "It's the least you can do…"
"Ah, what the hell." lucifer shrugged, laughing somewhat after a moment of silence. "What's her name and address?" He hated Mad Dawg, but he could respect someone who would make a woman leave her husband. Even if it was for petty reasons.
"You don't know your own wife's name and address?" Mad Dawg weakly asked, before flipping lucifer off.
Valentino and a few of the Overlords desperately tried to hold back a laugh, genuinely impressed with Mad Dawg's insult, and received death glares from the devil as a result. The fallen one stomped on Dawg's wound, making him cry out in pain, driving his boot into an open wound, hitting raw bone.
"Why?! Why are you doing this?!" He demanded. "The hotel was one thing, the stuff with Vox was another! But now, I just don't get it! Why are you doing this?! Do you WANT to suffer?! Is that it? Is this all some sick sexual fetish to you?!" If he wasn't in so much pain, Mad Dawg would've tried to think of another witty comeback, but he was fighting just to remain together, his eyes were flashing white spots, he couldn't focus… he could barely breathe…
"BeCAuSe hE wANtS tHIs…" A new voice spoke up, and the doors were thrown open. From the darkness, a figure shuffled in, a sickening squelching sound made with each step. His skin was burned and bloody, and his head was… wrong. There was a chunk of metal melted onto his face, revealing one eye, but the rest was covered… The demons, and even the devil himself seemed confused as to who this amalgamation of flesh and metal was, but Mad Dawg recognized him immediately.
"Virus? The hell?" Mad Dawg muttered, as the Overlords looked to him in confusion. "You… you were in… my head… I was free from you…"
"YoU weRE nEVeR fREe frOm mE, fREaK." Virus spoke, crouching down in front of Mad Dawg. "I'Ve AlWAys beEN wITh YoU…" It was now that Mad Dawg noted several differences… Virus didn't have dirty-blonde hair when he was alive, he had black hair, and his body had wounds were different… "ExCePT yOU wOUlDn'T oPEn YoUr eYes…"
"…what…?"
"It dOEsn'T maTTeR…" Virus shambled forward like a zombified, broken animatronic and looked to the devil before laughing sadistically. Even the devil himself seemed both disgusted and confused by what Virus was, and where he came from. "YoU wAnT tO kNOw HoW To HUrT hIM?" Virus asked, his neck cracking as he tilted his head. "It'S rIGhT iN fROnT oF YoU…"
"Vox, find what he's hiding." The devil ordered, seemingly understanding what Virus implied. He had planned to do this later, but frankly, if it'd break Mad Dawg sooner, he didn't care.
The thorny vines sprouted upwards once again, and Dawg realized that Rosie somehow had plant powers… cool. Now that he was restrained, a pair of what looked like mechanical tapeworms crawled across his face, one going into his ear, and the other under his eye. Mad Dawg groaned in pain as they scuttled about, entering his brain. A few moments later, Vox's face disappeared, showing a little girl standing on the edge of a building.
"No…" Mad Dawg said quietly, and that was all the Overlord's needed to hear.
"Mama!"
snap…! *Kzzt!* snap…! *Kzzt!* snap…! *Kzzt!* snap…!
The footage kept playing, repeating one image, and this time… it showed the aftermath. Mad Dawg leaning against a tree, looking down at a small funeral procession… Then, multiple gravestones flashed by, each with different names on them. If the Overlords were laughing, Mad Dawg didn't hear them… Mad Dawg didn't feel the hooks or blades in his skin, he didn't feel the open wounds, he felt… cold. Numb almost. But this time, there was no one to talk to…
"So that's what hurts you. This random girl you murdered?" Valentino asked. "Damn kid. I thought there'd be something-"
"I don't deserve forgiveness… but you all deserve the truth." He continued. "I never meant to hurt anyone! I know you want to see justice done, but if you do this, you'll be suffering from the same damn guilt that's been tearing me apart for the past decade!" He continued, while some would say confessing their sins would make them feel better after, it was only making Mad Dawg feel worse and worse with each passing word. "I'm not saying you're wrong to be angry! You have every right! But this retard wants you to sink to his level! Killing me won't bring them back! I know I'm the last person you want to hear that from, and I'm sorry for what I did! And I'm sorry that this child-molesting fuck-nut dragged you back into this!" Mad Dawg shouted, pointing to Virus. "Please! Don't become what I am! Don't become… a… don't become a monster…"
The surge of anger that went through Mad Dawg quite honestly made no sense. He knew what he meant with what he was saying, so why did it feel like he was saying what he was? Why was THIS… Why did this hurt the most? Vox seemed to pick up on this, and began focusing on a single line.
"Don't become… a… don't become a monster…"
"Become… a… don't become a monster…"
"A… don't become a monster…"
*Kzzt!*
"Don't become a monster…"
*Kzzt!*
"Become a monster…"
*Kzzt!*
"A monster…"
*Kzzt!*
"Monster…"
*Kzzt!*
"Monster."
*Kzzt!*
"Monster."
"I think I get it." Rosie remarked, walking forward and lifting Mad Dawg's chin up to look into her demented eyes. "He doesn't care about pain that we can inflict physically, or even mentally. The worst pain he can feel is what he's done to himself." Mad Dawg's eyes narrowed, and his teeth began to glow, only for a mess of thorns to swirl around his mouth and keep it shut. "The poor thing knows the truth… there is no forgiveness for a monster like him." Rosie continued, noticing Mad Dawg twitch and lurch forward at the word 'monster'. "Sure, maybe the families of the ones he mercilessly slaughtered, burned alive and otherwise mutilated may find it in their hearts to forgive him. But he can't do that to himself." She grinned wickedly, looking up to lucifer. "You wanna know why hell isn't working on him? Physical pain hurts him, but he'll survive… He's been slowly building his own hell in his mind, and now, we have all eternity to play with that."
The devil nodded, it all made sense… he wasn't some defiant white knight, he was just a scared little brat, and now, they knew what he was scared of!
"For someone who's trying to avoid violence, you sure do have a long history of it." lucifer remarked as Mad Dawg snapping Virus' neck over and over was played.
"So, what WAS your end goal with all this?" Val asked, piling on the conversation and looking to Mad Dawg. "Get out of hell, go back to wherever you came from, and then act like none of this happened? Just move on, day by day or some crap like that?"
"He's got a point. Even if you got out of hell, do you think these people would accept you knowing what you've done?" Another overlord asked.
Despite the thorns being gone, Mad Dawg didn't say anything. He had fallen to his knees, his head remained upwards, watching the footage of Virus' execution in front of him. He was fighting with himself again, this was a battle he had won just as many times as he had lost it. Virus was insane, he was a sociopath! Killing him wasn't 'revenge' or 'pleasure' it was survival. Plain and simple!
"Poor thing… probably thinks that this was some sort of survival tactic… but if that's the case, why'd you drag it out for so long? You could've killed him and been done with it." The true tragedy of it all, is this can end quite easily. All you have to do darling, is look inside yourself."
"Nah, he's tried that. He tried to do it at the studio." Valentino shrugged. "If he was the hero he claimed he was, he'd've broken free by now. But that's the true pain for him. He knows he deserves this, and he won't do anything to stop it."
Mad Dawg looked to the only demon present who he didn't want to rip several new ones. Velvet. His face was a mixture of pleading, and 'Anything you want to add?' Her face was indifferent, almost disgusted by a notion Mad Dawg was implying.
"What?" Velvet finally asked, annoyed.
"I know the truth about you…" Mad Dawg finally forced himself to speak.
"Okay, seriously?! Freak, we got piss drunk once and you beat the shit out of some skin flayers while I was black out drunk. That was ONE. NIGHT. Now you think I'm gonna turn my back on what I've known for so long out of the kindness of my heart that you showed me I still had? Grow up."
"No…" Mad Dawg wheezed, then grinned and looked down at a part of her. "The truth is… I know those are fake. Hell, you're more plastic than flesh… and I know he paid for-"
A long piece of metal rebar appeared out of nowhere, running Mad Dawg through along the side, only it wasn't ripped out. So, this time, there was no healing. It hurt like hell, but Mad Dawg forced a weak laugh, refusing to give them… anything.
"If there's one thing I have to commend him on, he's a fighter." Vox admitted. "Most of the others break by now, especially after everything we've thrown at him."
"He was built that way; this thing isn't even human." lucifer shrugged. "It's a science fair project that they forgot to flush down the crapper."
"I'm sorry Charlie." Mad Dawg thought, feeling closer to death then he ever had been before. "If I hadn't pissed about for so long, I might be home right now… If I hadn't gone to that studio… and… met Annie, and Pentious, and Blitzo, and Loona, and Millie, and Moxxie, and…"
"I've been trying to get you to answer this since we got here… do you regret this? Any of it?" Virus asked, his voice… normal.
"…I regret the families I killed in the blackout, more than anything… but if your sister or parents saw you… what you became… they'd thank me for what I did." Mad Dawg grinned, then screamed in pain as the hooks were suddenly ripped from his body, sending blood in flesh flying. His body hit the floor, and he weakly looked up at Virus, who seemed like he wanted to remove his mask, but couldn't, because it was melted onto his face.
"BlOoD, fOr bLoOD." Virus croaked as Mad Dawg weakly reached towards him, then fell to the ground, and didn't move. "YoU tOoK mY lIFe. NoW, I TaKE yOUrS."
"He's all yours, Rakdos." The devil remarked dismissively. "I'll send one of the others for him in a few hundred years."
"W..wh..what!?" Mad Dawg weakly got out in shock, being dragged away by the winged, four-horned monstrosity. The demon laughed, feeling Dawg try (and fail) to grab onto something, anything that might help him escape the horrific fate which awaited him at the hands, and more likely, weapons, of the demonic deity.
"Aw, lighten up, pup!" Rakdos laughed, hoisting Dawg up by one of his feet, laughing at his dangling form. "Give it a few months, maybe you'll grow to enjoy it! Apparently, you're great at putting on shows for others…" He grinned, maliciously as a portal opened and he threw Dawg into it. "Welcome, to the Carnival of Carnage!"
So… this is bad. Like, really bad. Do you guys think it couldn't possibly get worse? Ha, well, it can! And it's going to. The next chapter or two are going to be… vicious. And I mean that in a terrifying way. Also, if you haven't figured out what happened to the hotel, don't worry! That'll be revealed very soon!
Also, I know in Helluva Boss they say 'Oh, thank satan!' in place of 'Oh, thank God!' but when I began this story, that hadn't been a thing, so I had the idea that 'satan' was like a grade-school nickname made to insult him. Just incase anyone was wondering why he seems angered over that. Plus, well, Dawg's saying it to anger him.
