Normally, around the hotel, it wasn't uncommon to see Charlie happy and Vaggie frustrated or concerned. Usually, that frustration came from Angel Dust, Alastor, Baxter, or (as of late) Mad Dawg. She had found what he had done to his room, and that would be a pain to deal with!
But today, that was different. Very, VERY different. Vagatha wasn't the one who was frustrated, Charlotte was. More than that, she was furious. Her anger couldn't be contained, and Vaggie had to fight her at every turn to try and get her to stop what she was doing! But at every turn, she failed. The problem was, just as Charlie seemed to be calming down enough to be reasoned with, or even present a theory as to what could've happened, Delilah had appeared again, spouting the same garbage she had last time, that the denizens of hell were 'illegally harbouring one of God's innocent children, and that in one week's time, if they did not surrender him to her, she would bring the wrath of the exterminators down upon hell!'
So… now they had thirty minutes until that timner expired, and Charlie had exhausted everything she could think of to look for Mad Dawg, and was going for the ultimate ploy. Going right to Delilah to try and talk to her. This was a very bad idea. But Vaggie couldn't talk her out of it! She also couldn't really talk to her about Mad Dawg, as Charlie had gone from concerned about his well-being, to outright furious with him over the past week.
Mad Dawg had disappeared. Fine. Let the bastarda run away like the coward he was. It seemed like it was the only thing he was good at! Fine! Sure! She didn't care!
…is what she would say if she believed that for a second.
Yes, the hotel was gone. Yes, it seemed like Mad Dawg was responsible for it. Yes, it seemed like he did it because an Angel told him to. Yes, Mad Dawg did seem capable - and more upsettingly – willing to do so. Yes, Mad Dawg had been at the hotel when it exploded. Yes, he had ran away after all that had happened. No, Vaggie didn't believe these pieces lined up to form a complete picture. In fact, she didn't believe they were even part of the same puzzle.
"Mad Dawg… where ever you are… please get back soon…" She muttered, sighing. She looked around at the members of the hotel, who all seemed pretty nervous (but were trying to hide it) about the potential Angel invasion. Finally, she realized something. "Hey, where's the Radio Demon?" She asked.
Mad Dawg didn't want to go back, he wanted to bail, to get out of the city and disappear into the Badlands. It wouldn't be hard! All he had to do was gun it in the opposite direction! He could disappear and live out there with no problems whatsoever! Sure, the devil may come looking for him, and then there would be the potential nomadic demon tribes that most likely wandered the lands, but Mad Dawg could probably join them! What did he have to be concerned over!? If worst came to worst, he could just overpower a few of them to steal their supplies and keep going. Then, he could set up a new identity, a new legacy for himself…
So WHY was he heading back towards Pentagram City!?
"Do I go back because I owe them something? Or is this because I want to die?" Mad Dawg couldn't help but wonder. It wasn't a nice thing to wonder, but he had to in this current predicament. Truth be told, he was going back for his own sake. Delilah had screwed him over in more ways than she probably realized, and he wasn't about to let that go. Sure, it wasn't a GREAT reason to go back, but it was still a reason!
For some reason, he remembered… a conversation he had one had with Winston of all people. It had been while he was still relatively new to Overwatch. He and the scientist had been sitting in his lab, Dawg watching him work, when he had off-handedly asked something.
"Hey, Winston? What makes someone a hero?" Winston had stopped, turned around, and adjusted his glasses.
"I'm not sure I follow. Do you mean hero in the sense of joining Overwatch, the sense of being adored by the public, or the sense of being remembered in the pages of history?"
"…uh… all of em?"
"Hm… that is a curious inquiry…" The Gorilla scientist had mused, scratching his chin. As he dipped a banana in peanut butter, he had begun his hypothesis. "Well, being a hero isn't just about doing the right thing, it's about doing the right thing even when everything else may be easier. When you've played every card you have, and yet you still take a stand for no reason other than what you know to be true and right. To protect those who have less than you, even when you yourself have nothing."
"I guess that makes sense." Mad Dawg mumbled, thinking it over. "But, when you have nothing, why do you defend those who have less than you?"
"Well, look at it this way. Why would we have rescued you from Talon's base? We didn't know you had the potential to join us, we thought you were just a child. But that didn't matter. Regardless of the situation or place, we stove to do the right thing, regardless of the outcome. We could've left you there, but to us, what true heroes do, is try and help, regardless."
"…but what if you were wrong? And… and by saving me, you've made things a lot worse?"
"What? For us?" Winston had chuckled, dipping another banana in peanut butter and handing this one to Mad Dawg. "Mad Dog- er, Dawg, my boy. I sincerely doubt that could be anything other than a lie."
Mad Dawg gripped the throttle a bit harder… It was also then that he saw a massive pit ahead, and the only way to get back to Pentagram City was by getting across it! Sure, there were probably other ways to get around it, and maybe he could find a winged demon and hitch a ride, but- oh, he had already driven off the edge.
He flew… and then, like Icarus, he fell.
"Dang it…" Was all that Mad Dawg could force himself to say before gravity took over and he began to fall once again. It was like in Rakdos' carnival, the wind was refreshing, but terrifying as it reminded him of the horrible fate that awaited him. So this would be his final resting place, in a crevasse somewhere, never discovered and eventually forgotten. "Maybe… maybe this was for the best…" He quietly said, watching the stolen bike plummet down into the darkness.
Something grabbed him, and the next thing he knew, he was in the air. Growling, Dawg reached for his crossbow, only for a bottle of water to be given to him.
"Drink." A female voice said sternly. "You need it."
"..L..Lady Stella?" Mad Dawg weakly moaned.
"Drink, child." The woman's voice softly repeated herself, and Dawg did. The water felt like it was sent from God himself, as his body no longer felt like it was eating itself alive from the inside out.
Mad Dawg tried to stumble forward after drinking, but only fell to the ground. Growling, it came out more… defeated than he wanted, but he kept trying to push himself forward.
"Boy… Boy!" Stella yelled, before groaning. "Mad Dawg!"
That did get the mutant to pause and look back to her. Unsure as to what she wanted.
"If you go there, you will not leave." Stella said in absolute seriousness. No questions, no snark, just an honest, terrifying statement. "Why?" She finally asked, seeming so confused as to why anyone in their right or wrong mind would ever consider going back to Pentagram City after EVERYTHING that had happened to them! It was idiotic! It was suicidal! …it was Mad Dawg.
"I don't… care…" Mad Dawg groaned, forcing himself to eat. "Delilah's pissed off… at me. Other's shouldn't suffer… because of me…"
"You've been beaten, tortured! Why do you care so much about them!? They left you to suffer!" Stella demanded. She couldn't imagine in a billion lifetimes why someone would willingly risk their existence for those who didn't even bother trying to come find him after all he had been through! She had been at the citadel only briefly, but she had noted that no one seemed to bother looking for the young mutt. He was left there to be hurt, tortured, to be nothing more than another toy for those… savages.
"I don't." Mad Dawg seethed, feeling his body finally beginning to pull itself together. "But Delilah hurt Dust… she blew up the hotel… she's taking the chance of redemption from those that need it… As much as I wanna run away… I can't. Not again. If I die, she'll leave the others be… I hope…"
Stella stared in utter astonishment. "You're truly brain dead, aren't you?" She finally said.
"No. I'm Mad." He shrugged. Then knew he had no other choice right now… "Listen, about what I said to your husband-"
"Shut up and listen to me boy." Stella ordered pushing Dawg over and glaring down at him. "I couldn't give less of a flying shit about what you said to my husband, or what business you have with that imp he slept with. The only reason I helped you – AND MAKE NO MISTAKE, THERE IS NO OTHER REASON – is because Octavia considers you her friend." She paused, and the anger seemed to fade. "And… When I heard what you did… in a position that no one would ever think twice about exploiting, you put her happiness before yours." She spoke as if that made no sense, but Dawg chalked it up to a case of 'Royalty' and 'Reality' clashing. The mutant mutt was willing and ready to try and explain himself, but Stella seemed busier trying to come to terms with why Dawg had done what he'd done, and didn't feel like or want to consult the one who was there who was also right in front of her.
"You care for Octavia?"
"She is- or was, my friend. I hope we still are, but I won't be shocked if we aren't." Dawg said quietly.
"Then that is good enough for why I did this." She said, turning on her heel and beginning to walk away. As she began to summon a portal, Mad Dawg knew it couldn't end like this.
"Lady Stella!" Mad Dawg called, getting the Goetia demoness' attention. "I… I'm sorry. I'm sorry about how I addressed you, that night. And how I spoke to your husband, and-and-and I'm so, so sorry for what I did to Octavia…"
"No child, I'm sorry." Stella shook her head, speaking with a shockingly calm tone. "I see why Octavia considered you a good friend. I wish that whatever happens, you find happiness."
"Thank you." Mad Dawg said, knowing that technically he didn't have to apologize for ANYTHING. But hey, there was a good chance this could be his last ooh-rah, so he didn't want to leave any bad blood where he could. Besides, Stolas and Octavia had it hard enough as it was, he didn't want Stella to blame them for what he did. "Please, tell Octavia I'm sorry."
Stella didn't say anything for a minute, before she gave him a small smile. "You can tell her yourself." Stella remarked. "Now go kill that monster."
Mad Dawg smiled. He planned to…
Delilah, despite what some may think. Was happy. She had finally done it. By day's end, this blasted idea of 'redemption' the Overlords of Hell, and the Unjudged would be removed from existence. The Princess had tried to talk her out of it, but she didn't care… the poor blonde would be the first to die! These sinners deserved nothing better than that!
"I ask you, one final time. WHERE. IS. HE." Delilah demanded, angrily.
"I don't know! Please, you have to understand-" Charlie tried to explain, but Delilah cut her off.
"It matters not what you say or think, you have been found guilty, and for that, this sinners paradise shall be cleansed!" The Exterminator declared, her voice dripping with contempt. "You have failed your people and you are a disgrace to the creations of the Father!" She snarled, the clock winding down. "Now, do yourself a favour, and let your death be swift…"
Without warning, a choir began to vocalize, and then a rap beat began to play.
BEEN SPENDIN' MOST THEIR LIVES LIVIN' IN THE GANGSTA'S PARADISE
BEEN SPENDIN' MOST THEIR LIVES LIVIN' IN THE GANGSTA'S PARADISE
With no warning, but absolute, maximum swag, Mad Dawg appeared, walking with the dumbest but also most powerful walk anyone had ever seen. His whole body swayed with every movement, and he seemed to command the respect of every hustler, gangster, and OG in the room… which weren't present.
"…what the hell is he doing?" Delilah asked. Dumbfounded to see Mad Dawg.
"I have no idea." Charlie blinked, equally dumbfounded.
"WHAT UP, G!?" Mad Dawg declared, stopping before the small group. "I heard you were lookin' for me…" He snarled, narrowing his eyes. "Good, because I was lookin' for you."
"It is too late to take my off-" Delilah began.
"Take that offer, and mask, and weapons, and everything else you have, and shove up right up your pathetic, ugly ass." Mad Dawg ordred, his tone dripping with anger and hatred. "I know what you did, Delilah, you aren't gonna get away with this."
Delilah seemed like she had been slapped in the face. Which was apt, as Mad Dawg then slapped her in the face. Because he could.
"How dare…"
"Kace, where have you been?!" Charlie exclaimed, overjoyed and ready to beat him within an inch of his life.
"Pride, Gluttony, Wrath, Greed, Sloth, Envy and Lust." Mad Dawg said seeming tired. He paused, then added: "Charlie, I've been tortured for over ten thousand years, can you just gimme a sec? I need to deal with the Angel…"
"Why did you come back? Do you think yourself a hero!?" Delilah sneered.
"More than you, yeah." Dawg shot back. "I'm not backing down, not now, not ever. Not when the lives of those I care for and tolerate are on the line!"
"You don't see it? Do you?" Delilah asked, her usual ice-cold voice seeming to grow in volume, and seeming to grow in anger. "Under all the bravado, under all the devil-may-care attitude, you're just a little boy with no one to care for you, so you spend your days running around playing the hero, playing the friend, playing all the roles you can never, and never will, live. No matter where you go, no matter who you meet, you always will truly be alone. You'll isolate yourself, push others away when they want to help, and you'll continue to build the cell in which you'll spend eternity a broken, irreparable mess."
"That isn't true." Charlie snapped, walking in front of Mad Dawg. "He's changing, he can change. You're right, he's alone in the most basic sense of the word, and that's because your kind failed to help him."
"…you're both right." Mad Dawg growled, and the two women turned to him in surprise. "I've made mistakes and done terrible things… but I never died. I WANT to be better, but you don't care about that… do you?" He asked, looking to Delilah. "You just want to cover your sorry ass…"
"What are you talking about?" Charlie muttered. Trying to figure out what Dawg was getting at.
"Charlie, the hotel being destroyed, it was-"
"ENOUGH!" Delilah snapped. "I've had it with you, Beta!" She snarled, seeming more demonic than angelic. Snapping her fingers, Mad Dawg felt his heart skip a beat when Molly appeared in chains before Delilah.
"Hang on, D. Don't do something stupid!" Mad Dawg said nervously.
"Kace… what the hell…" Molly whispered. "I thought you were gone!"
"Molly, I'm sorry, I- I didn't-"
"Don't bother explaining, I'm happy to see you!" The spider smiled, somehow happy even with EVERYTHING happening right now… Charlie noticed that as well, and felt like something wasn't right. Delilah was hiding something. Or, Mad Dawg was.
"If I go with you now, will you leave her alone?" Mad Dawg asked cautiously, his ears pulling back in a sign of submission.
"She's a demon. She had her chance." Delilah remarked pushing the blade closer to Molly's throat.
"Hold up, how is ANY of this according to your boss' plan!?" Mad Dawg exclaimed, anger taking over as he felt powerless to do anything to help his friend.
"You're not even human! God's plan doesn't apply to you! Do you think he would actually care about a freak of nature like you!" Delilah shouted anger now controlling her. "If you leave this place, you'll continue an endless cycle of death and murder! And if you stay here, you'll be the monster you were meant to be! You're going to learn something Beta." Through narrowed eyes, Delilah scowled one last thing: "You had your chance, and your actions have consequences."
"Kace?"
Molly's voice was so soft, so quiet… it didn't seem like a woman's voice at this point. It seemed like a little girl's, and Mad Dawg felt fear grip his body as he realized what he as just done. Once again, the ones he tried to save…
In one swift move, Delilah drove the blade into Molly's chest.
"NO!" Charlie shouted, lunging forward and grabbing Molly as she hit the ground. Her eyes widened in terror as she felt the demon go limp in her arms, her form now… lifeless. The one demon down here Mad Dawg had done his best to protect… Dead.
…and Mad Dawg didn't seem to care.
"…"
"What?"
"Why- why are you so calm?" Delilah demanded, looking from Molly's body back to Mad Dawg. "She- She's DEAD!"
"Ehhhhh…." Mad Dawg waved a hand. Without warning, Molly gasped audibly as she shot upwards, looking around in shock at the fact that she wasn't exterminated.
"I..I..I'm…I'm…I'm alive!?" She exclaimed.
"I..impossible!" Delilah shouted, looking on in slack-jawed disbelief. "The weapons! They-"
"Kill those not exempt." Mad Dawg grinned, and everything seemed to come together. "Remember the deal? 'Total exemption for the one who turns Mad Dawg in'. Except… I can't exempt myself so I got to choose, whether you like it or not."
"Okay, I was not expecting that…" A figure muttered, watching the scene unfold through a scope.
"…wow, that's actually kinda brilliant." Another demon blinked.
He picked up Molly and put her behind him protectively. "At first I thought 'Angel'! After what Valentino and I put him through, he deserved it.' Then I realized, yeah. But by that logic, Charlie, Vaggie, Nifty, Husker, Blitzo, Moxxie, Millie, Loona… Even Octavia! They all deserved it for those same reasons. I hurt all of them, one way or another."
"And they all turned their backs on you." Delilah hissed, angered with the way things had turned out.
"Yeah." Mad Dawg said quietly. "Kinda… They did… But she didn't! If any demon I've met has had it worse than me, it's Molly. She did some questionable things that ended with her being condemned down here, with no one to try and give her a second chance! YOU refused to help her! Yet she showed kindness and compassion to the monster! She saw the better side of a freak and helped nurture it! She didn't do it for forgiveness, or for a second chance, or for some gift, or for a chance at redemption! She did it out of kindness. Something you don't know the first thing about. Something I let get mixed together with pride and greed, and something all of hell could use a crash course in. She deserves this gift more than anyone I've ever met, and if you wanna hurt her, tell your boss to get down here himself and face me. Because not even God himself is gonna hurt this woman, DO YOU UNDERSTAND ME!?"
Delilah was somewhat frightened. How could this have happened!? She had planned everything! Why wouldn't Mad Dawg just admit defeat!?
"If that's how you want to play it, then so be it." She finally spoke. "You will die today Kace, and you will be trapped in the bottom rings of this infernal nightmare, screaming in pain and agony until the end of time."
"But Molly will be safe." Mad Dawg countered. "So, no matter how many people I've hurt, I still managed to save at least one. And that's a helluva lot more than youever did."
"You think a single demon spared is a victory, brat!? All the others shall perish! And you shall watch!"
"Actually, proving that you're coocoo for coco puffs and turned against God is the real victory!" Mad Dawg laughed, while Delilah looked she'd been punched in the gut and shot at the same time.
"EXPLAIN!"
"You think I haven't put it together yet?!" Mad Dawg laughed, exacerbated. "Think, Delilah, THINK!" He snapped. "I had a LONG time in the Citadel to think about everyone down here I've met, their motives, reasonings and everything in-between, and… I couldn't think of anything. Honestly, I couldn't. But thankfully, my new Angelic Amigo decided to step up to bat…" Mad Dawg smirked, crossing his arms over his chest while a small, purple figure fluttered down to his side.
"YOU!" Delilah snapped, furious.
"Y-yes." Collin nodded, timidly. "I-I'm sorry, but what you're doing is wrong! I won't let you take this any further!" He snapped, trying his best to remain confident, despite… everything else happening around him. The sheep Cherub clearly didn't like being out in the spotlight like this, but also knew there was no turning back now. Thankfully, Mad Dawg stood behind him, making it clear he'd fight anyone who stepped to him. "Mad Dawg doesn't deserve what you've put him through! No one does! Everyone deserved that second chance, and- and you're taking it from them!" He sputtered. "I-I-I get letting him suffer for his actions, but you left him to be tortured! To have the mos-most inhumane things done to him! I can't let you go any further! I WON'T!"
By now, Charlie's expression softened, turning to confusion and a dash of betrayal. She- but he- so Mad Dawg HADN'T been the one who set off the bombs? But- who did?!
"She put you up to this." Vaggie put it all together, looking from the Angel, to Mad Dawg. "But you didn't want to go through with it." She blinked, feeling like an idiot for not picking up on this sooner… Mad Dawg had been trying to tell them that, but when the bombs went off, and Dawg panicked, Delilah had been using that to frame him… Charlie's anger had been more than Dawg expected, so he ran away, just like he did from his own family.
"His… family…" She slowly realized the mistake they all had made… And like that, the puzzle pieces fell into place.
"You set all this up! When you realized I wasn't gonna leave, you made a deal with the devil!" Dawg snapped, calling out Delilah on… everything. "You both wanted me gone, and you both wanted the hotel gone! Once I left, you showed up and tried to get me to leave! But I wouldn't! So, you turned to THEM-" Dawg spat, pointing at Cletus and Keenie. "And used them to plant the bombs at the hotel so it'd look like I did it! Then, you sent me to the devil, and made up the story of them catching me, so you could come down, and kill Charlie and keep anyone from ever being redeemed!" Mad Dawg snarled, his eyes glowing. "Sure, you'd TRY and save me, but if a few… dozen demons died, then 'Thy will be done!'" He said in a mocking tone. "This was never about me! This was never about what GOD wanted! It was about your selfish desire to kill those who wanted to repent!"
To Delilah's horror, the other Exterminators were now looking to her, as if asking her if this was true. No… no! nononono! This wasn't how this was supposed to go! This was supposed to be easy! She had one last chance…
"I know you won't fight me." Delilah remarked, seeming a mixture of confused and bored. In actuality, she was playing her last card, she had to call his bluff on him being willing to fight someone who could destroy his soul in one attack. "You can't even touch me. So… what's your plan here?"
"Eh. I won't fight you." Mad Dawg shrugged, kicking the boombox and cutting the music off. The deep rhythmic base was replaced by a brittle, audible beat made of heavy impacts, mixed with yelling, motors and other sounds. "But they will."
Throwing Molly over his shoulder, Mad Dawg dove head-first through a nearby store's window, shattering it as he rolled to a stop and dropped, hiding out of sight. Delilah looked around, finally seeing what Dawg had been doing. She saw two masses of demons swarming towards her like a tidal wave. At first, she thought somehow Dawg had rallied the forced of hell against her, but then she realized something else.
THEY DIDN'T SEE HER.
"No!" She screamed in anger moving to jump after Dawg but the two waves of demons of different gangs, affiliations and rivalries crashed into one another, all violently ripping and tearing at one another with whatever weapons they had, not noticing the exterminator caught in the center of it all. A whiteish-blue explosion went off, sending demons flying into nearby buildings, and Delilah was at the core of it, her wings now on fire. The fighting screeched to a halt as everyone looked up.
"YOU WILL ALL DIE SCREAMING!"
A good chunk of the gangs backed up when they saw the Exterminators, but others stared in confusion at what was happening between Mad Dawg and Delilah. The mutant was standing his ground, claws unsheathed, but not wanting to fight as the angel of death floated down towards him. Mad Dawg, however, stood his ground. Before him? Delilah and the Angels of Heaven. Behind him? A few demons he wasn't sure if they hated him or not, and- oh, the Overlords were here too. GREAT. However, Mad Dawg knew that now wasn't the time to back down, he had refused to cower due to his stupidity while in the Citadel, he wouldn't start now!
"Let it go Delilah." He finally said. As if he wasn't surrounded by those who wanted him gone. "Just walk away."
"You choose hell over heaven!? Or a second life!? WHY!?" The Angel shrieked, seemingly past her breaking point and trying to understand WHY Dawg was doing this.
"Because… I dunno." Mad Dawg finally admitted. "If I'm gonna leave, I'm doing it because I changed. Not because I was forced to." The ground melted, and Mad Dawg was stuck where he was standing. He was getting annoyed of this crap, could they not find any other way to try and kill him!?
"If you want to stay here so badly… THEN SO BE IT!" Delilah scowled, then screamed as she threw her spear towards the restrained Dawg. At the last second, someone dove forward and shoved him out of the way. Mad Dawg hit the ground, and blood splattered onto his face, and he looked up in horror to see Angel Dust with a spear through his lower torso.
"That… was a mistake…" Angel weakly muttered, then fell to the ground. Charlie and a few others felt horrified at what they had seen, but most of the others felt indifferent.
"ANTHONY!" Dawg shouted running forward and skidding to a stop at his side. "Why!? You, dumb cross-dressing fluff-chester! I HAD A PLAN!" He shouted, sounding like a 1910's Outlaw.
"You… needed someone watching your ass… Do me a favor buddy… Take care of Fat Nuggets." Angel coughed. "And not by eating him."
"I can't promise that." Mad Dawg whispered, tears in his eyes. "Angel… Please, I need you to stay with me, stay with me man! I-I-I'm sorry! I'm so, so sorry for everything! I never meant to yell at you, I never me-meant to hit you like I did! I know you wouldn't have sent me to the studio to get me hurt… t-that's not what friends do…" Mad Dawg couldn't fight back the tears now as Angel seemed to be growing weaker and weaker in his arms.
"You are… such an asshole… Ah, man… I love ya kid." Angel said with a weak smile, then his head tilted backwards and his eyes closed. Slowly, Mad Dawg lowered the porn star's body to the ground, and breathed a stuttered breath.
"…you've broken your own rules…" Mad Dawg quietly said, standing up from where Dust's body lay.
"I'm sorry, what do you know of our laws?!" Delilah snapped, frustrated beyond all words as to why this wasn't over yet. She was also angry the others hadn't joined her in wiping out these
"Well, first there's Luke 17:2. Read it, know it, live by it." Mad Dawg said. "You lied to her. You tried to lead Charlie away from what your Boss wants by preaching your own version of his word, right? I mean, you certainly did that in my case."
Delilah felt like she had been stabbed. The other exterminators looked to her, silently asking if this accusation was true. "You told her I was something to give up on, that God didn't care. Then, you told me to follow you instead of your Boss, trying to lead me by YOUR words, not his. Then, you set up the destruction of the hotel, you attacked innocents outside of the designated time, and you tempted me into sinning with the false promise of leaving this place. And above all, you tried to kill Annie, and killed Dust. As a THREAT. And, correct me if I'm wrong, but like I said, you're not allowed to do that outside of the yearly cleanse, right?"
Delilah was shaking now as she realized what Mad Dawg was getting at.
"Even before you came down here, you've been breaking your own rules. And something tells me your Boss ain't gonna like that."
"You're not even human! Your entire existence is a mistake!" It was the best thing the Angel could think of, and Mad Dawg wasn't having it.
"Wow, third grade insults. I'm impressed." Mad Dawg muttered.
"You're an unholy abomination that spits in the face of everything the Father has created! I broke our rules to try and HELP you! But you refused to listen!" Delilah screamed, fury taking complete control now.
"God. You've got the wheel." Mad Dawg relented, now willing to roll the dice and risk it all.
"I don't care anymore." Mad Dawg shook his head, walking towards Delilah, arms outstretched in a sign of surrender. "The people I killed, willingly killed, would've done tenfold worse to innocents. I'm through running away, and I'm through blaming myself for defending those who can't help themselves. I was built to be a weapon, well maybe it's time I do what I was built to do…"
"JUST… DIE!" Delilah screamed, jumping forward brandishing her spear. This time, there were no demons to take the hit, no one to push Dawg out of the way. But regardless of the circumstances, the attack failed.
"Whoa!" Mad Dawg exclaimed, feeling a heavy light shine down on him. A small shockwave sent Delilah flying back to the hard hell-floor. Mad Dawg looked at his arms, seeing golden straps wrap around them, the wounds that were literally bone-deep disappeared in a flash, and then armour plating was pulled up over them. His whole body was encased, piece by piece, in a powerful, Heaven-forged armour. Mad Dawg felt his body become protected, surrounded by light, and for the first time in ages, he felt…
Determination.
"Oh yeah. One other thing." Mad Dawg added. "You've pissed me off, and I'm the only one here the author gives a crap about."
"You think that this changes anything?!" The head exterminator shrieked motioning to the exterminators and the Overlords. The words got through to Dawg, but he was fighting to not show that. Mostly just to try and spite her at this point. "You still stand alone, surrounded by angels who will erase you, and demons who will enslave you! You have no allies! You have no friends! You have NO ONE!"
Bang!
"But he has co-workers bitch!"
Delilah screamed as a bullet snapped part of her horn off. Recoiling in pain, she looked up and saw an imp wielding a sniper rifle, reloading and aiming at her once again.
"And he has ex-friends who he's sort-of friends with again!"
Delilah and Mad Dawg looked in shock as Angel Dust stood up, dusting himself off, and undid something on his back, pulling off a hoodie which was made to look exactly like his chest. There was a hole, and blood… but the hole was in the hoodie, and the blood was ketchup.
"Hold on. What?" Mad Dawg asked, bewildered.
"Figured you were gonna need a hand, or eight." Angel laughed. "Besides, if I let you die, Molly's never gonna let me hear the end of it."
"Just sayin' that performance was a seven out of ten." Vaggie remarked. "You were a bit overdramatic, but believable."
"Oh, piss off. Ya have any idea how hard it was to breathe in that thing!?"
"Fair."
"Wait a sec… she never KILLED a demon!" Mad Dawg said, realizing something. "I didn't get this stuff when you died because you didn't die! When she hit me, that was the last straw." It was convoluted, and made more sense in his head, but it was starting to come to terms now!
Hearing a familiar horn, Mad Dawg looked over and saw one of the Angels get steamrolled like they were CallMeKevin by a familiar van. Spinning to a stop, the door opened and a face Dawg wasn't sure how to react to leaned out.
"Hey, Dawg."
"Blitzo!?" Mad Dawg exclaimed, a mixture of surprised and angered. Mostly angered.
"Hey! Hey! Hey! I just saved your ass, okay?!" The horned imp exclaimed. "Besides! This was all part of my plan!"
"What plan!?"
"Ho boy… so… you're not gonna believe this, but the Radio Demon called us a while ago, and told us that he was going to break you out of the Citadel, all he asked was that we don't try and break you out, so I had to keep Mox and Mills from trying to, which – believe me – was WAAAAY harder than you'd think!" He sighed, exasperated.
"Okay…"
"So, I needed to get them down here, and then piss off a bunch of gangs to get THEM here as well to provide back up!" Blitzo continued. Mad Dawg staring in utter astonishment. All this… this had been his. Boss' plan!? He recognized Cherri's gang…
"Wait a second-" He muttered.
"Hi sweetie!" Millie cooed, jumping out of the van and hugging Dawg's leg. "Ooooh, I'm so glad you're okay!"
"Millie?" Mad Dawg said, seeming genuinely shocked. "What- why are you-"
"There ain't no way in the nine rings I'd leave you alone in the middle'a this!" Millie protested. "Moxxie's got your back too!" It was then, that Mad Dawg realized who had taken the shot at Delilah.
"Oh, finally! That guy's here." Blitzo sighed, annoyed.
The next thing anyone knew, was the whistling of incoming bombs, and the whole block went up in flames. Delilah screamed in anger and shock, shielding herself from the incoming barrage of explosions and weapon munitions raining down from above. Mad Dawg stood there, shielding his eyes from the shrapnel and debris, watching the explosions rock the ground in amazement and astonishment. Turning around, he saw where the attacks were coming from.
"ALL RIGHT YOU ANGELLIC ASSSSSSHOLESSSSS!" A voice screamed over a megaphone suspended form an airship. "IF ANYONE ISSSS GOING TO KILL THAT MUTANT MOTHER FUCKER, IT'S GOING TO BE ME! AND FRANKLY… I DON'T REALLY WANT TO KILL HIM, SO THERE AIN'T A CHANCE IN HELL ANY OF YOU ARE GOING TO!"
"Pentious…" Mad Dawg said quietly, realizing who else had arrived.
"Wait, you're friends with that idiot?" Dust blinked. He thought Dawg had just been lying to him about all that!
"He's got a freakin' war ship. Right now, I don't care who he is!"
"Eh. Fair."
"And… screw it. He's got us!" A female voice shouted.
From the woodwork surrounding them, demons, Imps and entities all appeared, brandishing weapons of all sorts. Delilah looked on in shock as she saw… everyone. Everyone who had betrayed Mad Dawg… Husker, Nifty, Molly!? Alastor!? What…?! How was this possible?!
"Y'know." Blitzo remarked, leaning on Dawg's chainsaw like a cane and giving a grin that even Alastor had to admit; it had style. "I gotta give it up to these guys. They're AMAZING actors. When I went to them and said: 'Hey, I have a really stupid and convoluted plan that requires all of you to act like you hate me'. They jumped right in! Because, well, as dumb as it sounds. That's what friends do."
"And yer dumb ass never suspected a thing!" Husker laughed, clearly drunk enough to believe going up against EXTERMINAITORS was a good idea.
"Okay, sure. Was me being kidnapped and tortured wasn't part of your plan?" Mad Dawg conceded, looking to Vox, Valentino and the others, and flipping them off. However, now that he was wearing angelic armour, none of them reacted, if anything, a few stepped back in fear.
"No. Neither was you blowing up the hotel, or kidnapping and threatening Spider-Woman over there...But hey, I'mma good improviser. And that just added more nails to your coffin."
"No… that's not possible!" Delilah muttered, feeling her plan unraveling right in front of her.
"SO!" Mad Dawg shouted, making his booming voice be heard by all. "This ends one of two ways! If you wanna fight me, come at me bros! But if you think about hurting my friends, then I can't guarantee you won't face a bloody, violent end…" He turned to the gathered Overlords, and jerked his neck towards Delilah. "Just like she was going to give you once I was dealt with. Like I said, you're all idiots."
Pulling his Walkman out Mad Dawg took out the tape and put a second one in.
"…that's it? I just… go home?" Mad Dawg's voice was played from the small box.
"Yes, my sweet. You can have your family, your home, anything."
"But… what about the Demon Lords? They're working for you, how does any of THAT make sense!?"
"If you honestly believe I wasn't going to exterminate those freaks the second your safe and sound, you clearly don't know how this works…"
Valentino, Vox, Rosie and the others all looked to one another in disbelief, then in anger. Sure, all of them would've betrayed one another for fun, or literally any other reason, but for an Angel to pull something like that? Okay, it was kinda respectable, but also… No.
"This is your last chance, D." Mad Dawg growled, baring his teeth. "Walk away, or you might not see the pearly gates again."
"You dare threaten me, brat?!"
"…I tired." Dawg shrugged. Whistling, Loona realized what he was calling for and smirked, she threw something through the air, and Dawg caught his guitar-axe out of the sky… shredding a few chords he snapped his attention back to Delilah.
"Okay, let's rock." Mad Dawg growled. Feeling himself… floating? Yeah, somehow, he was floating, as if his guitar was granting him magical powers… "DUDE THAT IS SO FREAKIN' AWESOME!" Mad Dawg mentally squealed.
With a primal roar of animalistic drive, the two clashed in the sky, sword and guitar interlocking in combat. Mad Dawg grinned and kicked Delilah in the chest, sending her flying into a nearby building and crashing through several walls. He seemed excited, as if he was now being driven by some sort of new force… no, wait, he knew what it was! He knew what he was fighting for, and he wasn't gonna let anyone take that from him.
"C'MON!" Mad Dawg shouted, flying towards her, and then suddenly having to dive out of the way as an angelic blast was fired from the small hole where she was sent into. However, the blast arced around and began following Mad Dawg. He swooped down and flew along the ground, trying to get the blast off of his back, and a black and red tentacle sprouted up from the ground, grabbing the blast and destroying it.
"Now… where were we?" Alastor asked, looking to the Exterminators. Their fear… their panic… Oh, how he longed for this! THIS! This was the chaos he wanted! This is the insanity he seeked! And best of all, he got to participate in it!
The Exterminators seemed hesitant, almost unwilling to brandish their weapons, but a few of them engaged nonetheless. Fighting with their fists, they ducked and weaved around the attacking demon. One of them clashed spears with Vaggie, keeping it's weapon up in a defensive stance, not wanting to kill unless absolutely necessary. They had no qualms killing demons, it was their job. But there were rules, and they weren't gonna break them… unfortunately, they were against hordes of demons who had no rules, and if they did, they'd have no problems breaking them.
Back above, Delilah had encased herself in some sort of angelic light, and bashed into Mad Dawg, knocking the guitar axe from his hands and sending it plummeting down to the ground below. Dawg snarled, and decided to go with plan 'B'. That plan, being bite Delilah really, really hard. His teeth punctured the armour and clothing, and even the skin, and he tapped into his anger, his… honestly, he didn't know what made the Nekro-Lycan appear, but he REEEEALLLYYY wanted it right now… Thankfully, from the scream of shock, pain and anger he heard ringing in his ear, he knew he had at least partially succeeded in what he was after. So that was a nice bonus. "Gah!" Dawg felt a knife enter his side, and he was thrown off by Delilah, sending him back towards the ground.
Without warning, Dawg felt someone grab him, and he was flying again? Looking up, he was surprised to see Charlie carrying him over to the ground, setting him down with concern and fear clear on her face.
"Charlie-" Mad Dawg began.
"No." The Princess shook her head, then smiled, tears running down her face. "Kace, you have no idea how proud I am of you."
Okay… that wasn't what Mad Dawg had been expecting. But, he was stabbed, so maybe he was hearing things and delusional while suffering from blood loss. Charlie couldn't help but laugh slightly at his bewildered expression.
"You're fighting for those you care for, you're defending those who need it. You were right, Mad Dawg. You were a hero." She said, softly, trying to be concise as, well, there was still a battle going on around them.
"Charlie, I-"
"Go help the others, she's mine." Charlie growled, her eyes glowing a demonic red, and Mad Dawg dared not disobey. Running into the firefight, Mad Dawg felt blasts from Overlords and Exterminators raining down towards him, only for a metallic wall to appear, as Egg Boi after Egg Boi perched on another's shoulders, (or whatever they had that substituted) and held shields up to reflect the attacks.
"PROTECT THE FURRY ONE!" Sir Pentious roared as the Egg Bois spilled out into the carnage, brandishing everything you could imagine, including the kitchen sink.
"Which one?!" #23 shouted.
"THE BIG… BIG TEEN WOLF LOOKING ONE! MAD DAWG YOU IDIOTS!"
"I didn't know you were so compassionate!" Cherri shouted over the fighting. Normally, she'd want to punch him in the face, but today? Like it or not, they had a common enemy that needed punched in the face.
"Look, I don't really care too much about my minions' pastssss… but COME ON!" Sir Pentious exclaimed. "I know there are otherssss who have probably been through much worse… but I don't really care about them."
"Fair." Cherri shrugged, throwing another bomb out which sent several Exterminators flying. "Just know, he was on my side first!"
"Hah! But he left to join the winning team not long after!"
"Girls! Please! You're both beautiful!" Mad Dawg groaned, looking over to them. "Can we do this later, please?!"
"…you think I'm beautiful?" Pentious blinked, seemingly never having been told that before.
"If I say yes, will you focus on the battle?"
"Yes."
"You're breathtaking!" Dawg yelled as he tackled an exterminator. Wrestling their weapon out of their hands and snapping it in two. He grabbed the lethal spear part and ran off with it, leaving the dazed and confused Angel watching. Why… why hadn't he killed him? Mad Dawg had the perfect chance, but he chose to spare him…
Laughing and whooping to hide his fear, Angel Dust let a bullet storm rip from his tommy guns as he pushed the Exterminators back with his bullets. They wouldn't kill the angels, but they'd slow them down. After hearing what Mad Dawg had said to him when he thought he was dying, and giving his sister immunity, Anthony decided then and there he was gonna protect Kace, no matter the cost!
He then regretted that as Delilah had knocked Charlie away and was coming right for him.,
"Aw, crap…" He muttered, aiming his gun for one last hurrah.
Angel froze as nine shots were fired off, looking over to see Molly firing guns off with near-perfect accuracy, as seven of the bullets hit Delilah's armour, knocking her off course and causing her to crash into the ground.
"When did you learn to shoot!?" Angel Dust exclaimed.
"Long story." She coughed, awkwardly.
"…NICE!" Mad Dawg (who appeared from somewhere) and Angel said at once. Just then, another Exterminator came at the trio, and Mad Dawg got ready to fight with Angel Dust.
"COMIN' THROUGH!"
Until Mad Dawg saw the Exterminator jumping at him get side-longed by a giant black blur, and then realized who, and what, it was.
"Vortex!" He exclaimed, shocked.
"Hey, sorry I'm late, little man!" Vortex remarked, ripping the weapon from the Exterminator and kicking him in the chest, sending him flying.
"What the hell are you doing here?!"
"Hellhounds gotta watch each other's back, right?" Vortex laughed.
"Hell yeah!" Dawg laughed as he and Vortex worked in tandem, blocking, striking and chucking the would-be attackers around them, Mad Dawg falling back into his tactics from cage fighting, and despite being shorter than Vortex, Dawg seemed to be able to keep up with him.
"VORTEX, YEET MY ASS!" Mad Dawg ordered, coming up with a plan.
"KID, TIME AND PLACE!"
"'YEET' NOT EAT!"
"Oh…" Vortex coughed, grabbing Dawg by his tail. "Never tell Veroskia I said that." Mad Dawg nodded. This secret would go to their graves.
Some of the Overlords reveled in the carnage. Most, wanted to run from it. But, since they were Overlords, that meant they were pretty big targets to the Exterminators, hence why they hid during the annual exterminations. But, since they had been led on a wild chase by the Radio Demon, hiding wasn't really an option now. Valentino had avoided – narrowly – a few shots that would've ended his afterlife, cursing that teenaged brat, he was trying to flee when an Angel caught sight of him and summoned a powerful blast to rid the afterlife of his corruption.
"Crap! VAL!" Velvet shouted, realizing there was nothing she could do. Vox tried to think of something, but was powerless to help and the moth pimp saw the blast coming directly towards him. Without warning, Mad Dawg landed and held his shield up, taking the blast that would've exterminated the moth pimp and reflecting it into a nearby building. Mad Dawg stood and turned around, anger clear on his face.
"Wh..y..you saved me?!" Valentino sputtered, bewildered beyond words.
"I saved you, because no one else is going to die because of me." Mad Dawg scowled, pointing with his chainsaw. "This isn't anything but that. This ain't forgiveness, this ain't us making amends. You want forgiveness? Ask Annie."
As he took off to confront Delilah once more, the Exterminator who had attacked the Moth Pimp seemed to consider something, before scoffing, seemingly disgusted by someone's actions, but it wasn't clear if they were referring to Val, or themselves.
"ENOUGH!" The Exterminator shouted, slamming his spear into the ground. "Warriors! Stand down!" Even among the chaos, the Exterminators that could took a step back, weapons raised, but clearly apprehensive about continuing the fight.
"This is wrong." The Exterminator who had shouted continued, matter-of-factly. "Their kind deserves to be purged, but we must follow the All Father's rules! Delilah has lied to us. Like she has lied to the one she claimed she wanted to help!" He shouted.
"YOU HEARTLESS MONSTER!"
To Dawg (and honestly, everyone's shock) Charlie launched herself at Delilah again, giving into her demonic side as she furiously attacked the exterminator, forcing her back with a rapid succession of attacks that seemed to be keeping her from doing just about anything. "YOU'LL PAY FOR THIS!"
Mad Dawg could only watch, feeling helpless as he watched. He felt like without Tempest, he couldn't keep up with Delilah, but there was Charlie, fighting for everyone! And here was him, this was his fault… and he couldn't stop it! However, he was ripped from his thoughts when a hand was put on his shoulder. Of all things, he wasn't expecting an unmasked Exterminator, who only seemed a few years older than him, to be standing there.
"Fight for your friends. God is with you." The Angel nodded, and Mad Dawg felt something click inside him. Jumping onto a wall, he raced his way up like a wild animal scaling the building. The rumbling of the clouds above got louder, and a few seemed to realize what was happening.
"Wait, is a storm coming in?" Someone muttered.
"That isn't a storm from hell…" Rakdos muttered, eyes widening. What they were witnessing was only ever spoken of in legends, but it seemed like those legends would be given voice today. It was said that should God ever decide to simply wipe out hell, he would unleash a holy lighting storm which would eradicate all demonic and sinful beings. The only things that could stand up to it were those truly pure of heart.
Reaching the top of the building, Mad Dawg looked up, directly at the brewing storm, and closed his eyes. He held one hand up, as if trying to reach out and command the storm. He needed to! He needed to help Charlie!
"God, please. I need a miracle." Mad Dawg thought.
Suddenly, Tempest was kicked to him… looking up, Dawg blinked in utter shock to see Striker nod to him, before turning and taking his leave. Picking up Tempest, the storm was brewing more aggressively, and some of the demons seemed to be trying to run for cover, while Mad Dawg slung the guitar over his shoulder and took a stance. Slamming his claws across the strings in a chord, he felt power welling up in him, and finally, he spoke:
"Heroes never die…" He said, softly.
Mad Dawg exhaled, and then began to let his claws speak for him, they moved so fast that he was almost certain he'd be tearing through the strings on Tempest… but he wasn't. He let the music flow through him, and he unleashed a powerful guitar solo that seemed to silence all the fighting around them, as well as summon a powerful blast of lighting that was sent down from Heaven itself, the spark of Armageddon being ripped from the sky and striking the head of his instrument and coursing through the frets and strings. The power surged through Dawg, but he didn't let up… he kept playing, feeling the energy surging through him, as it electrified his bones. Kace didn't feel like a demon anymore, he felt like… himself. The lightning arced off of his guitar, surrounding the night sky, demanding all who saw it look to its core, seeing Mad Dawg commanding it all. Dawg began playing the one song he had been trying to learn for so long, the classic, the original song about a mere mortal kicking the devil's demonic butt all across Georgia.
From where she was in the air, Delilah could only stare in utter disbelief, this- this couldn't be happening! She wouldn't let it! Yelling, she grabbed her spear and flew at Mad Dawg, who looked to her, and then fired a bolt of the Angelic lightning at her as if it was nothing, sending her slamming into another building as he continued to play his music. Dawg looked at her, clearly telling her to stay down, but she refused. She had risked so much, she wasn't going to let some BOY beat her!
However, the storm had surrounded Mad Dawg fully, and it seemed to meld with him, making him more powerful, more… human? It was hard to say, but the lightning and weather, infused with the power and drive of the Holy Father was no longer listening to her, but was aligning itself with the imposter. This was further proven when Mad Dawg tackled Delilah and began flying through the city, smashing her into buildings and billboards. Grabbing Delilah, Mad Dawg ran straight through several walls, trashing everything that he ran into. Desks, chairs, tables, cacti, tv's, a shower, a demon's prized wooden crate collection, and those were the only ones he noticed. Delilah yelled as she smacked into a wall, then realized Dawg was still running towards her, and proceeded to kick her through the wall.
"Our main story, allegedly a second cleanse had begun…" Kathy reported, not noticing the demon holding a 'Somethings Wrong!' sign. "While we do not now the reasoning behind the appearance of Exterminators, it's believed that all of this has to do with that bastard freak of nature called Ma-"
With a shattering THOOM! Two beings crashed into the news room. Delilah yelled and slashed Mad Dawg across the face, grabbing his arm and trying to snap the bone in it. Mad Dawg yelled and grabbed her whole head with one hand, and proceeded to bash her face into the news table.
"YEET!" Mad Dawg yelled, throwing her through the wall. He paused, and looked to the news anchors, then to the hole in the wall. "…Hi."
As she flew like a rag doll into the air, Delilah would see the others had stopped fighting, they were all, demon and angel alike, watching her. More importantly, they were watching her fail. She tried to scream, but Charlie unleashed the blast she had been charging while Dawg took over the fight. The hellfire tearing across the sky and grabbing onto Delilah's clothes. Spitting in disgust, the Angel quickly extinguished the flames and turned to Charlie, her eyes blazing in anger.
"Why do you care for him!?" She demanded. "He's a freak of nature! You're the daughter of the devil! His life! Means! Nothing!"
"He deserves a second chance. You don't get to take that from him! From any of them!" Charlie shouted back, then grinned. "You also are really easy to distract."
Delilah screamed as she felt the blade of Mad Dawg's running chainsaw sever her left wing, only to see Vaggie holding said chainsaw, and Vaggie's spear went through her right wing, courtesy of Mad Dawg.
"NICE!" Mad Dawg called, grabbing Vaggie out of the sky and tossing her so she rolled onto a rooftop, saluting the mutant who gave her a thumbs-up in response.
"That one's for your family, perro." She smiled.
Without control, she began spiraling towards the ground, with Mad Dawg flying after her. She was still desperately swinging her sword at Mad Dawg, trying to pierce his armour and kill him. But nothing seemed to work as they crashed into one another, Dawg's large talon-like feet grabbing her. When they were about fifteen feet from the ground, she felt Mad Dawg's arms grab her and restrain her. She assumed this was where he would kill her, and simply closed her eyes. Knowing if this is what God had planned for her, then so be it. Besides, it'd be better than facing his fury…
KRAcKa-ThRA-BOoOOmM!
When the dust died down, everyone looked in amazement to see Mad Dawg had positioned himself to hit the ground spikes-first, with Delilah held close to his chest, saving her from any further injury. He tossed her into the air and let her fall to the asphalt on the ground. Standing up, Mad Dawg took the helmet off and shook his head, cracking his neck to each side. Delilah didn't get up, she simply groaned and struggled to pull herself away. The other exterminators looked to one another, then shook their heads. They had seen enough, they knew what she had done, and knew what Mad Dawg had done. Sheathing their weapons, they began helping the demons back to their feet, no longer willing to kill any of the attackers as they glared in disgust at their 'leader'.
Chik
"It only takes one shot, to change the world." Mad Dawg said, aiming his crossbow at the disgraced angel. She recognized the spear tip of an Exterminator weapon aimed between her eyes.
"Do it." Delilah coughed, looking up at Mad Dawg, seeing the extermination bolt aimed directly between her eyes. "You proved your point. Kill me, and be done with it."
There were a few moments of tense silence, as it seemed like the entire afterlife was waiting to see what would happen.
The bolt fired…
And dug into the ground in front of her.
"No." Mad Dawg frowned, lowering his crossbow. "I'm not gonna kill you. Even after all you've done, change is still possible."
"NO!" Delilah screamed, grabbing Dawg's discarded gun and firing. It was too close for anyone to do anything, and Dawg felt his heart shatter as he saw Charlie directly in the line of fire. In that moment, everything felt like it had all been for naught.
"Enough!" A deep voice bellowed, and hell metaphorically froze. The dark red sky above split in two, and a bright white light poured down into the darkened underworld. lucifer, Valentino, Delilah and the other lords all seemed mortified of what was happening, and horrified of who was coming. Charlie found herself wrapped up in a warm, bright, white light. The blast which should've killed her distorted into nothing, leaving her unharmed, but shocked.
"Aw, Gawd… Now what!?" Mad Dawg groaned, feeling extremely tired at this point, having literally just fought through hell, and nearly having three people he cared for die… he was tired.
"Exactly." lucifer whispered, seemingly close to soiling himself.
Descending from the sky, an old man in white robes landed gracefully on the ground. He was taller than everyone in hell, and he was glowing with radiant energy. Mad Dawg felt his blood run cold as he realized who was standing in front of him. In fact, everyone did, as a number of demons took a knee out of respect. Even some of Valentino's followers bowed in fear of the Father who stood before them.
"You disappointed me Delilah." God spoke sternly. "I believed you could learn, that you could change. Yet, you routinely act against me."
"God! I-" Deliah sputtered, but God raised a hand cutting her off.
"Mad Dawg is correct, you haven't given him a fair chance to prove he can be better. You've set demons after him to make his life unfairly cruel when he hadn't been sentenced to this place. Furthermore, you broke the law we have concerning killing demons, and then tried to cover it up by blaming the spirit you said you would help! You and lucifer have that in common… you both are headstrong and prideful, yet you let your own self-worth stand in front of the needs of the innocent."
Delilah looked down like a child caught by her parent, and no one said anything about it, frankly everyone was too terrified to say anything, as GOD HIMSELF was now standing in front of them. Most present averted their gaze, afraid that by looking directly at him, death would be assured. Again.
"Then when faced with your mistakes, you blame others and attempt to silence those we've sworn to protect. WHY?" God continued, asking the last part with much more force to his voice. There was no answer from Delilah.
Mad Dawg could only stare in utter astonishment. God. Was. Here.
"And YOU." God said, rounding on lucifer, who seemed like he was seconds away from pissing himself as God walked towards him, gradually getting smaller until he was roughly sixteen feet tall. "…you disappoint me, again and again. Even with a daughter, you still care for your own pride more than anything. Then when an unjudged arrives, you withhold this information in an attempt to corrupt him and escape hell, am I correct in stating such?" There was an awkward silence as lucifer seemed to be struggling for a response. "Don't respond. This is a conversation for another day. For now, your transgressions against an unjudged soul will be atoned for."
All eyes looked to the devil, and he couldn't look at any of them. He had been humiliated. Again. This time, in his own realm. But, like it or not, he would never be better than God…
"Where is Charlotte?" God asked, looking around. Angel Dust blinked, then in a moment of self-preservation, pushed Charlie forward. This was the first time Charlie had seen God, and she felt more relaxed than she should. Probably. Like there was some sort of kinship between them. Regardless she was still shaking as she slowly approached the man who was now much smaller than his entrance, but still a good foot or two over Alastor and Dust.
"You surprised me." He stated, his voice much gentler and respectful than with anyone else had had talked to in the past five minutes. "I agreed to your idea of rehabilitation because I do believe even demons can change. But I had my concerns that this would be some sort of trick, and yet, time and time again, you proved my worries wrong. The ones you've saved still remain in Heaven, and you even helped an unjudged without any want for personal gain. Keep up the good work."
"Th-thank you!" Charlie's eyes watered, but her smile was sincere. God returned it and nodded, his eyes finally landing on the one behind this whole debacle.
"Kace." God spoke. "Or, Mad Dawg, which do you prefer?"
"…I…I don't wanna tell you how to do you, God…" Mad Dawg stumbled for words, pulling on his fir anxiously.
"Hm, either way, whatever you call yourself. Thank you." God nodded.
"What?!"
"You are an interesting case. A being created not by passion, but by science. Technically speaking, you aren't one of my creations." God said, and Dawg felt like he was royally screwed. That was it. The literal word of God. He wasn't human, he wasn't a person, he was… nothing. "The question of you having a soul is one that may never truly be answered, but for today, I see clearly what your heart contains."
"But-but-but I don't have a soul! I'm not even human!"
"True." God shrugged. "You're not human, but your heart is human, and that's good enough to me." He nodded as if this was the last word on the matter.
"What?" Mad Dawg couldn't help but sputter out.
"Perhaps this conversation will be easier to understand on different terms." God remarked. "I think you should be able to be, well, 'you', during this conversation." God snapped his fingers and Dawg was surrounded by a warm golden light. The light covered Mad Dawg, and there was an audible 'Shwaaa!' and the light flashed, then dissipated. Mad Dawg blinked, looking down at his hands. And they were his hands! He felt the wind blowing across him, and he didn't feel like he was sweating fifty pounds off every day!
"M..Mad…Mad Dawg?" Charlie managed to get out.
"Yeah… Yeah!" He laughed. "I'm… I'm human!"
"OHMYGOSHIVENEVERSEENAREALHUMAN!" Charlie squealed, suddenly rushing forward and getting in Mad Dawg's face before hugging him, then returning to grabbing his cheeks and looking him over with the energy of a meth-addicted cheetah. Mad Dawg couldn't fight against the excited hold of Charlie, or the mocking but caring hold of Angel Dust, who swiped him from Charlie.
"Kid, you're skinnier than my arms! Eat a freakin' sandwich or something!" Angel laughed, holding Mad Dawg up like one would hold a puppy. Mad Dawg gave an annoyed pout, which didn't help matters…
"You're so widdle!" Molly laughed, suddenly snatching up Mad Dawg in two of her arms.
"Uh, this is weird." Mad Dawg commented.
"You're the size of a toddler!"
"Please put me down."
"No."
"God is watching!"
"I'm not doing anything bad. I'm taking care of my widdle friend!"
"I will SLAP YOU!"
"Shhh… it's okay widdle guy…"
"MOLLY, I AIN'T MESSIN' WITH YA! I WILL SLAP YOU!"
"My, the baby is cranky." Molly smiled, but Mad Dawg managed to get out of her arms, landing on the ground. He took a few deep breaths, then looked abck to God, then down at the ground.
"God, almight, majesty, er, sir." He mumbled. "I don't get what you're saying. I'm NOT human! I never was, and I never will be…" He said, downtrodden. His tone was eerily broken for someone who was normally so happy.
"My son, you were willing to risk your life, again and again for those who wronged you, those who hurt you." God spoke, softly. "You never did this because you wanted a reward, but because you knew it was right. You fight with temptation and don't always succeed, but you did all you could to keep yourself on the right path, and when the time came, you were willing to accept your death if it meant protecting the ones you cared for. There is no greater good then laying down one's life for those they love." He paused, then added: "You are more human than you give yourself credit for."
Mad Dawg nodded. "But-" He paused, then mumbled. "Perhaps it is time to put the past to rest." He walked over to the injured Delilah, but said nothing.
"You… pathetic… worthless… mutated freak!" Delilah spat. Mad Dawg however, blinked and then spoke three words softly, and those three words sealed her fate.
"I forgive you."
"nO! THaT's nOt PoSsIblE!" Delilah screamed, but to Mad Dawg, her soft, smooth voice became distorted and metallic. Her mask seemed to melt somewhat, melting into a horrific mixture of burnt flesh and twisted metal. He knew he wasn't talking to Delilah, but right now… it was time to close this chapter on his life.
"I'm sorry." Mad Dawg spoke, looking at Virus. He slowly approached the ex-Dj and stood face-to-face, refusing to look away from him. Everyone else was watching, now seeing Virus in the flesh for the first time. Those who saw his memories were either disgusted or angered, and everyone else was confused. Delilah was there too, but Dawg was ignoring her. "I never meant to hurt Jessica. I was trying to do the right thing, and… It went wrong." Slowly, he reached forward and lifted Virus' mask off, looking at the face underneath. "…but you already know, that. Don't you?"
"…I'm sorry, what the hell?" Husk muttered, looking back-and-forth. "I…I think I drank too much…"
"No, I'm seeing it too." Vaggie shook her head.
"You and I…" He began, but trailed off, shaking his head as he saw Virus' face. Or, to be more precise, his face. "I forgot why this even started. This isn't about being forgiven for killing Virus, this is about forgiving us for the blackout, and for everything else… and yet, I hide behind someone else."
"No…nO…NoOo!" The Dawg-Virus hybrid screeched, seeming to grow weaker, glitching in and out of reality, it was cowering back now as Dawg walked towards it. "YoUR pAiN, yOUr sUFfErINg!"
"Is behind us." Mad Dawg quietly said. "Like it or not, you'll always be a part of my life, Bad Dawg, and maybe… maybe I'll never be forgiven… That's…" Mad Dawg sighed rubbing his arm, looking down for a brief moment before snapping his head back up. "If I don't forgive myself, then I'm just asking for more problems. And I can't keep using you as a scapegoat to wallow in my pain."
"That's… not what I…" Bad Dawg muttered. Virus was gone, but now another Mad Dawg stood where he was.
"No, it's not." Mad Dawg nodded. "It's what I did. And it's time to let go."
"This isn't how it ends!"
"Maybe, maybe not." Mad Dawg sighed, looking down. "But it's where this chapter ends."
Virus looked away, growling something inaudible, and speaking in absolute gibberish as Virus seemed to be twitching back and forth, then began glitching in and out of existence, before disintegrating and disappearing.
"BE…TA…!" Virus shrieked before disappearing into an eternal void of nonexistence, like a memory fading away.
Mad Dawg looked down at the mask he was now holding, and let it drop to the ground. It clattered against the ground and rattled to a stop, then Mad Dawg smiled, feeling a weight disappearing for real this time. Mad Dawg bit down on his tongue, and hissed as his arm began to change, bones snapped, fur grew, and a few demons took a step back as he picked up the mask once more.
"Good-bye, Bad Dawg." Mad Dawg said quietly, and crushed the metal mask in his demonic hand, before throwing it with all the force he could. The small metal ball sailed away, over buildings, billboards, heck, it escaped the city itself. It flew for a good long while, before colliding with a sign that read 'Welcome To Hell, You Were Always Told To Go Here, Now You're Here!' and fell to the ground, being covered by some passing sand.
The clock chimed, signaling a new day, and Charlie felt her heart sink. They were getting closer to this year's Extermination… she had saved Mad Dawg, but she wanted to have saved more!
"Oh, that reminds me." God mused, snapping his fingers, and the countdown reverted to 365 Days. "I figured that for each soul you redeem, I could push the extermination back a year." God remarked. "I'm sorry I hadn't done this sooner, but after everything that happened with Dawg, I believe this is as good a place as any to start."
"But…but what about the overpopulation!?"
"Charlotte, the truth is, there never was an overpopulation issue." God said matter-of-factly. "I never said there was, I sanctioned the Exterminations to try and convince those in hell to change their ways, to seek redemption. But you all believed that you were too far gone, or simply didn't care. Eventually, someone claimed it was due to overpopulation, and you all ran with that."
There was silence, shocked and mortified, then, there was cheering. Mad Dawg found himself being thrown in the air in celebration, even some of the Overlords were getting in on the celebration… but Dawg couldn't be mad.
When the cheering died down, God spoke up again. "What about them?" God asked, motioning to the Demon Lords.
"What about them?" Mad Dawg asked, confused.
"What do you want to have happen to them?"
"...I ain't pickin' up what your putting down, sir."
"Do you want them let go? Exterminated? Whatever you want will be their fate." God stated, and hell metaphorically froze.
"Really?" Dawg asked, his eyes widening, his tone more hopeful and childishly sociopathic than he intended, only for him to suddenly snap to attention over something. "Hold on. Is this some test?"
"No."
"So… I can kill them, and this won't blow back on me?"
"Essentially, yes."
"There are no repercussions to any twisted or sadistic choices I make, nothing I do will result in me not going to heaven?"
"Essentially, yes."
"Give us hell kiddo!" Alastor called, seeming excited about this.
Mad Dawg thought it over, thinking about the pain he could inflict, the torture he could bring down on them, the revenge he could thrive on, the pain and bloodshed he could feed off of the-
"Let them go." Mad Dawg shrugged, his tone as casual as if he was ordering coffee. "I don't want you to exterminate them."
"WHY?!" Was shouted by a few of the demons who had been hurt by the Lords. Even a few of the Overlords shouted it in shock, but quickly regretted it. Mad Dawg shrugged again, tilting his head slightly as he spoke.
"I exterminate them, that's that. There's nothing more for them. They never got a chance to change like I did. As much as I want to see them suffer, to let them beg and cry for a release of death or mercy at the hands of someone who holds their existence in their claws and rips away any hope they have left… I can't…" Just when it seemed like that was that, Dawg grinned a grin so wide even Alastor was impressed.
"What I CAN take is their power!" He declared. "All of them. Strip them of their powers, rank, EVERYTHING. Let them live as residents of hell, and see and feel the pain they've caused. Only when they've proven to you they can change, and would use their powers for the betterment of themselves and others can they have it back."
"Very well." God nodded, understanding where Dawg was coming from. To the Overlords, this was literally worse than extermination… and they knew there was nothing they could do about it. No 'good times' to call upon to sway Dawg's decision, they had hit the king, but didn't kill him.
"Hold up." Mad Dawg suddenly added: "Leave Lord Stolas and his family out of this. They don't deserve to suffer like the rest, they did right by me, even when they didn't have to... even when I gave them reasons not to. The VonEldritch's and Charlie as well."
"That was assumed." God nodded.
After a few moments, Mad Dawg wanted to say something, but he paused as if he was debating something, then added: "As well as Asmodeus and Fizzoroli. And I can't believe I'm saying this… but leave Alastor out of it too."
"That is a terrible idea my boy!" Alastor remarked. "I respect it!"
"Any reason in particular?"
"The show must go on." Mad Dawg sighed. "Also, Ozzie and Fizz were nice to me while everyone else was torturing me. And while Alastor did what he did for self-serving reasons, he did save me from Lou and the others torturing and skinning me alive."
"WHAT!?" Charlie roared, her demonic side taking control.
"Oh, yeah! Your dad chained me up with barbed wire and meat hooks and started gutting me! They did all sorts of unspeakable things to me for over ten thousand years. I'm more than happy to tell you about all of it!" Mad Dawg nodded, essentially killing the devil's relationship with his daughter.
And the devil knew this.
In that moment, that one comment, he realized… He lost.
He had done it. The Mad bastard had done it.
"Oh, and give Valentino the body of a micro hell slug." Mad Dawg added, his eyes narrowing dangerously.
"Very well then. As for you, while I already know the answer, please, indulge me. Tell me what you desire most." God said in a caring tone. "Speak your wish, and it shall be so."
Mad Dawg's jaw hit the ground. This was it! He was gonna go home! He was gonna leave all this twisted, wasteland of a literal hellhole behind and… go… He turned and looked around him, seeing the destruction he had caused, and frowned, feeling like it would be selfish to go home. But at the same time, after literally going through hell, and everything he had experienced while he was down here, he kinda deserved the right to make a selfish choice.
"But… haven't I been making a lot of those recently?" Mad Dawg thought, frowning as he thought over the past few years' adventures. Fighting with heroes, taming the beast, but then there was his reaction to Virus, shutting everyone out and refusing their help. There was when he put his desperation to control himself over the safety of Luna and her band. Then how he put the entire town at risk due to his ego, and all the fear and pain that had caused… Still, when he looked around, he was way, way, WAY better than the demons who surrounded him, right? I mean, think realistically, who were they?
A serial killer, a junkie, a prostitute, and satan's spawn.
"Who has done nothing but be kind to you. Let you screw up over and over, and never gave up on you."
The words were spoken calmly inside his mind, but it was like a gun had fired them inside his head. He felt his body grow heavy, he felt… little. Like when he was young, living with Dedsec and trying to understand what he was, those feelings of confusion and uncertainty. Why did he have to be such a good person!? Why couldn't he be more self-serving!?
"Wait. What am I saying?"
Charlie seemed to notice his inner turmoil, and stepped forward. "Kace…" Mad Dawg bristled at his name when Charlie spoke it, gently placing a hand on his cheek. "It's okay. Go to your family, they need you, and you need them. We can fix this in time, it'll be fine."
Mad Dawg looked up, his sorrowful teary eyes meeting her happy and hopeful teary eyes. She was so honest, so pure… and Mad Dawg had burned it all to the ground. Still, this was his chance to go home, to fix things! To do the right thing!
He knew this was what he needed to do. "Right." Mad Dawg nodded, looking up to God. "Fix the hotel."
"WHAT!?" Was collectively shouted in disbelief by all the demons present.
"Kid, this is literally GOD telling you that he can send you home. What are you doing!?" Husker said in absolute seriousness, all the liquor he had drank seemingly evaporating out from his mind.
"Look, I made. A promise when I first arrived, if I broke stuff, I'd fix it." Mad Dawg shrugged. "And that… yeah… that was my fault."
"I meant if you broke stuff like a plate or a door! Not the whole hotel!" Vaggie exclaimed, absolute astonishment coating her words. She may not have been best friends with the mutant, but he was younger than most of the lost souls she had met down here, and he knew why Charlie cared so much for him… and she kinda did too… "Dawg, why are you doing this?!"
"Because… I believe in this place." Mad Dawg said honestly. "Jokes aside, apprehension and tension disregarded, this is gonna help people. I know I've said 'We're in hell and we're all bad' a lot-"
"Like every freakin' conversation!" Dust yelled.
"-…right." Mad Dawg blinked. "But… that doesn't mean people can't change." Turning to the princess he added: "You never game up on me, even after I dragged you through the dirt and treated you like crap. Even after my dark side literally told you in front of everyone how worthless this idea was, you kept trying to help me. I don't think I can change because… well, I don't know why." He turned and looked to Vaggie and Angel Dust. "She kept trying to help me, even when I refused it, and despite the fact that me and him tried to kill one another, more than once, and we even were ready to slit each other's throats over petty reasons… he put his soul on the line to save my life."
His words were quiet, but they made sense. He looked back to Charlie, and smiled warmly.
"Charlie… you were RIGHT. Demons CAN change. Dust… Dust proves that! He risked his SOUL for me! The honest truth of it all is that you can help others, and my eternal damnation is worth it if innocents get a second chance. It isn't fair for me to make them wait the time it would take to re-build what I destroyed. I can go through the hotel later, but I don't want others to wait."
"And yet you still believe you can't change." God spoke up.
Mad Dawg seemed hesitant, before turning around and looking somewhat off to the side, not wanting to look at God.
"What?"
"These past days you've been acting selflessly, acting to try and help those who can't help themselves. You didn't act out of self-indulgence, you acted because you knew it was right." He stated, his voice calm. "Your spirit is pure, yet you still fill your mind with feelings of self-loathing and hatred."
"Well, yeah. But…"
"But what?"
"…I dunno…I don't have a soul… Ever since I got here, there's been… this weird feeling inside me, a feeling that's been telling me it's okay to accept the truth. The truth that I was a terrible person… but whenever I did accept it, that same voice kept telling me… never mind…"
"Do you believe you need a soul to be human? Do you require a soul to live?" God asked with a raised brow. It was a mostly rhetorical question, but Mad Dawg didn't answer. He didn't know…
"I was going to fix the hotel regardless." God said. "You think I'd leave those who wish to be better unable to do so? What kind of God do you think I am?"
"Wait. You mean that wasn't some sort of character test to see how I'd react when given the power to make a selfish choice or a right choice and I could've left and gone back home if I said yes?" Mad Dawg said in one long breath, his head snapping up towards God.
"Yes."
"DAMN IT!" Dawg cursed, earning a few laughs. Grumbling something Mad Dawg walked off for a moment, then stopped when he passed the devil.
"Hey, lucy." Mad Dawg said, looking to the devil. "VIBE CHECK!"
Crunch!
Leaving the devil on his knees, Mad Dawg delivered one of the great kicks to a man (or demon's) balls that had ever happened. The sheer, raw anger that went into the kick emanated throughout all of hell, and anyone with a particular body type doubled forward, wincing in pain as their nerves picked up on the agony of another man's broken pride.
"BOW TO YOUR NEW RULER, MORTALS!" Mad Dawg roared like a tribal chief, throwing his fists up into the air, his voice and following laughter echoing throughout the city as thunder and lightning cracked through the sky, striking the ground around him. "Yo, whoever did that, thank you!" He called off to the side.
"You're welcome." Jesus nodded with a thumbs-up. "Just seemed appropriate."
Feeling better, Mad Dawg remembered something and looked up almost pleadingly to God.
"Um, God? I do have one request…"
"Yes?"
"Can I finish, with Charlie?"
"Phrasing!" Sir Pentious yelled from the crowd before dabbing. "HA! Got em'!"
"I meant at the hotel!" Mad Dawg quickly added. "Wow, that still sounds bad, I meant-"
"You want to finish your redemption with her, to further cement the hotel's effectiveness." God stated matter-of-factly. "I see no issue with this." Clapping his hands, the hotel began to reform, stretching into the sky, but it looked different now! The outside seemed a bit livelier, and there were odd additions, like a radio tower and ship, but honestly, Mad Dawg liked them! "I shall return in two weeks' time, and then, I shall take you back to the land of the living. Be well, my son." He smiled.
"Thank you, God." Mad Dawg smiled. The demons watched as the angels (minus Delilah) ascended back to heaven, leaving everyone in silence, until Alastor broke it.
"Well! I'd say this calls for a celebratory meal! How about I make my Mother's famous Jambalaya?"
"What the heck is Jambalaya?" Mad Dawg asked, only to be slapped on the back and nearly knocked to the ground.
"Well, Mad Dawg my boy! You're in for a hell of a treat!" The radio demon laughed. Leading him (and the others) back to the new hotel. I.M.P. following along and all of them with a renewed sense of hope.
Well… the story ain't quite over folks! After all he's been through, I figured Mad Dawg needs some R&R, so next chapter, he'll be hanging with his friends, and even traveling all the way to Wrath! See you then!
