Hello, everyone! I know these updates have been slow coming lately, and I apologize for that. I had trouble getting inspiration for this particular chapter, so writing it and getting it the way I wanted it was a tad difficult. But it's here now! As always, I do not own Welcome to Hell and its characters/concepts. That honor belongs to the gifted Erica Wester. All the original concepts, ideas, and characters from this story are mine. Now that the disclaimer is out of the way, I really do hope you all enjoy this chappie!

Mephistopheles's eyes widened, and Caius couldn't help but snicker. He'd managed to catch the great Mephistopheles off guard.

"What are you doing here, Caius?" Mephistopheles asked once he'd gotten over his initial shock.

"I was attracted by the sounds of agony. As a lowly demon, causing suffering and filthy pleasure are my only two purposes." Caius crossed his arms over his chest and gazed down at the suffering spirit with contempt.

It took a moment for Caius's words to sink in. When they did, Mephistopheles groaned. Caius had been nearby when he had been thinking about his feelings regarding the marriage. He knew how Mephistopheles felt, and he was here to wreak havoc. Following Caius's line of sight, Mephistopheles knew exactly what Caius's plan was.

He was going to attempt to ruin the exorcism.

Bas cleared his throat, attempting to get his younger brother to focus on the task at hand. "Brother, you will have to put aside your personal life for now. We have a much more important matter to contend with."

Mephistopheles looked at his brother and nodded. Caius growled. Even though he was furious with Mephistopheles, even though a part of him now despised his so-called fiancée, he hated not having the demon Lord's attention on him even more.

"How dare you place more importance on this petty poltergeist?" He screeched, trying to break through the circle and get to Sock. In his rage and sadness, however, he had forgotten one key component of these exorcisms.

The soul experiencing the exorcism could create a shield to keep out unwanted energies, and apparently that unwanted energy was Caius. The small demon howled in fury and, forgetting that he had more than one target, began to throw himself up against the invisible barrier. Saol, growing tired of this minor and inferior entity's antics, roughly shoved Caius aside and growled, baring small, sharp fangs.

"How dare you think your petty romance with my sibling is more important than the fate of every known universe? Are you really that childish?"

The small demon looked up in shock and then screeched in anger. Caius leaped at the older and much more powerful entity, fangs bared and wings unfurled. Saol swatted the tiny demon aside as if he were nothing more than a fly. Caius was thrown across the room; he hit the wall on the opposite side of the room without a sound, having gotten the breath knocked out of his lungs. Wheezing, he struggled into a sitting position, crying silently.

Strangely enough, Mephistopheles felt bad for Caius. It wasn't Caius's fault that he was in a loveless engagement or that every plane of existence was in danger of imploding. It was the fault of Mephistopheles. He had agreed to the engagement, knowing full well that he would not take the time to get to know Caius, to learn to love the young demon. The Cataclysm was the fault of Mephistopheles as well. Despite the nature of the Cataclysm, it can only be created under a certain set of circumstances. Mephistopheles had known what Sock needed to pass on, to not have to reside in Hell for eternity. All the demon Lord had to do was help Sock regain his memories and then Sock would've been able to pass onto the final plane of existence that hell-bound souls found themselves in.

It had been an agreement between Mephistopheles and his Father. Though Mephistopheles understood the need to punish souls, he had come to realize that not every soul deserved to be punished in Hell for all eternity for their sins. In fact, ninety percent of the unfortunate souls that found themselves in Hell deserved an eternity of grotesque punishment. Though some of those souls had certainly done some dastardly deeds, Mephistopheles had thought the point of Hell would be to serve as a sort of rehabilitation for troubled souls. After a certain amount of punishment, those who truly felt guilt for their sins and asked for forgiveness should be able to receive it. After this finding, he noticed that were a select few souls who would never feel guilt for what they'd done, but he could easily keep them in Hell. After all, he was running a business. So, he had come up with a proposal to bring to his heavenly Father. Let us provide a place for those souls who do repent for their sins. Let us give them a final and peaceful resting place. His Father had seen reason, not that Mephistopheles had expected he wouldn't. It was a good idea for everyone involved. Along with helping troubled souls find rehabilitation, it also helped with the overcrowding in Hell. This past century had been ripe with sinners. Mephistopheles's proposal would prove to be a true nirvana for all.

Mephistopheles hadn't given Sock the chance to go to this final resting place, however. He had seen the future for that poor soul. He would suffer thirty years of punishment, forty at the maximum. Then he would be able to repent for his sins and regain all of his memories before finding his final resting place in the newly formed nirvana. But instead Mephistopheles had given Sock a job, effectively putting a block on the young spirit's memories and preventing him from moving on. It was his fault that a Catalyst had formed in Sock, and now he wasn't sure if there was a way to stop the destruction that was so very near. Mephistopheles shook himself and returned his attention to the matter at hand. He could berate himself properly lately.

"All right, let's try to get rid of this beast before we're all sent somewhere much worse than Hell." Mephistopheles said. His brothers nodded in agreement, and all three entities stood around Sock and joined hands before beginning to chant.

As the chanting progressed, Sock squirmed, clearly uncomfortable. As the brunette squirmed, his appearance shifted, becoming like so much smoke. In one moment, he was Sock, a small spirit with a mop of brown hair and frightened green eyes. In the next, Sock's form looked more like a DNA helix with streaks of purple and red twisting around the coils of the helix. When he was in this form, white-hot lightening shot out from the center of the helix and hit the three older entities. Bas, Saol, and Mephistopheles all flinched as they were gifted with second and third-degree burns.

After a few moments more, the three eldest entities stopped chanting. Each of them were covered in burns and were panting from the exertion.

"I was not expecting the Catalyst to release the soul willingly, but I was not prepared for the two to be so intertwined." Bas murmured, wincing as he examined one of his larger burns.

"An exorcism alone isn't going to get rid of this thing." Mephistopheles replied with a groan. "What are we going to do?"

Saol considered the question. "If what I am sensing from the young spirit is accurate, he does not want to be helped. He does not see the purpose of being without the Catalyst. Was there anything that brought him happiness prior to his new line of employment here in Hell?"

Mephistopheles wasn't stupid. He knew his older brother had figured out that this situation was mostly, if not entirely Mephistopheles' fault. Saol's suspicions were confirmed when Mephistopheles looked down and gave a tiny nod.

"Yes. To my knowledge, there are two things that brought Sock a certain amount of joy."

"Well? Get on with it!" Bas demanded. "We do not have time for you to have a dramatic monologue, Mephistopheles."

Mephistopheles sighed, resisting the urge to hold his hands up in defense. It would be truly unwise to break the circle now. "Murder and Jonathan Combs."

Saol and Bas blinked in surprise. Neither of them had expected to hear that a mortal had been bringing the young spirit joy. Murder would have been obvious to the two entities, given Sock's past. Learning that Sock had truly cared for a mortal following his death was quite a shock. Despite the shock, this was a blessing.

"Well, obviously we cannot set him loose in the mortal realm to murder as he pleases." Saol murmured, turning his full attention to his youngest brother.

"So, what are you saying?" Mephistopheles asked softly, already knowing the answer before he even asked the question.

"We need to bring Jonathan Combs here. If he truly did bring this young spirit happiness, there is a chance that sensing Jonathan Combs's presence will calm young Sock down enough to relinquish his negative feelings and his attachment to the Catalyst." Saol replied.

"I agree, brother, but how are we going to get Jonathan Combs here?" Bas asked. "We cannot leave or break the circle lest the Catalyst leaves Sock to wreak havoc or destroys the poor spirit."

Mephistopheles sighed, feeling that he was performing that particular action all too much lately. "I know what to do." He turned his head to look at Caius. "Caius? I need a favor."

I hope you all enjoyed the chappie! The end of this little story is reaching its end slowly and surely, and I hope you've all enjoyed reading this story as much as I've enjoyed writing it. There will be two to three more chapters before this little fic reaches its conclusion. As always, constructive criticism is always appreciated along with reviews and all that good stuff. Pure negativity is not appreciated, however. See you all soon!

XOXOXOXO