A Cold Wind In Hell
Chapter Three: Meet The Others
Sam breathed heavily as he stared at the fallen body of his opponent, Senator Armstrong. After having carved the mercenaries of World Marshal a new one, he turned and made his way to the entrance to the roof, feeling his quest had come to an end…
…only to stop at the sound of chuckling behind him, before looking over his shoulder to see the pugilist politician raise to his feet, dusting himself off and adjusting his glasses. To say that Sam was genuinely surprised would be an understatement. Nobody who he went up against was able to stand, let alone get back up. But Armstrong was obviously not just an everyday politician.
"What the hell are you?" Sam demanded.
"We could use a man like you, Sam." Armstrong declared with a confident grin. "Organized violence… Waging wars as business…" He then gestured with a raised fist and a swipe of his hand. "We're going to put an end to all that bullshit."
Sam thought about his words, then said, "Maybe I misjudged you."
"Then how about it?" Armstrong asked, a smirk on his face. "Will you lend us a hand?"
"A hand, eh?" Sam said, before spinning around and drawing his sword. "How about I take yours?!"
With that, he charged in, swinging his sword, only for Armstrong to block with his arms, thanks to the nanomachines in his body, before Sam struck with an uppercut slash before bringing the blade down on the senator's head, shocked that he's still alive.
Pushing the blade back, Armstrong then struck Sam with a punch to the chest, pushing him back some. Not to be deterred, Sam readied his stance, as Armstrong approached, Sam swinging his sword as he backed up, Armstrong blocking every attack, but Sam took notice the hardening speed as he struck.
Sam struck two more times before Armstrong blocked, then followed up with a left hook to the face, then followed up with several more strikes, before punching him in the chest, then his shoulder, then his face again, then reared his right arm back for another punch.
Time seemed to slow, as Sam sheathed his sword, seeing Armstrong's arm beginning to harden, the nanomachines having reached his elbow, and with a look of determination, time seemed to revert to normal, as he then pulled the trigger of his scabbard, quick drawing and severing Armstrong's limb, blood spewing everywhere, and causing the politician to scream in pain.
At first, Sam smirked at this, believing he had finally crippled the politician, but his joy soon turned to shock, as Armstrong lunged forward with his stump, now hardened into a sharp spear, tackling Sam to the ground and impaling his shoulder, causing the samurai to scream in agony, his sword slipping from his dead hands grip.
Raising, Armstrong looked at the hardened stump before chuckling, "Not bad, son."
He then walked over to where his severed arm fell and picked it up, "But like Monsoon said…"
And he casually reattached it, "Losing a limb or two won't stop us."
Sam looked on in shock, as the senator now stood over him.
"The job's yours." Armstrong said, offering his right hand. "Welcome aboard!"
Sam only looked at the offered hand before looking away, before chuckling darkly.
Monsoon was right, in a way; losing a limb or two isn't enough.
Sam sat up awake with a start, cold sweat running down his face and breathing heavy as he looked about his surroundings. Seeing that he was still inside his room at the Hazbin Hotel, he let out a sigh before looking down at his right arm, as though feeling the arm he had lost during his fight with Armstrong.
Ever since falling to Hell, Sam had always had dreams like this; not the pleasant dreams of him training with his father or fishing by the lake, but that moment when he was beaten by Armstrong, lost his identity and became another Desperado.
Sighing, Sam clenched and unclenched his fist, reared his arm back then stretching it out, before getting out of bed and did a few stretches, then got in the shower, having remembered he hadn't even bothered to shower before going to bed. Turning on the water, he stood there as he was soaked, his fur drenched in the warm water, the samurai exhaling through his nose before he began washing himself with body wash, then shampoo and conditioner, then after several minutes, he turned off the water and stepped out. He then proceeded to dry himself off with a towel before wrapping a fresh one around his waist. Finishing up, he stepped out to finish getting ready…
"Sammy?"
Only to see a familiar face sitting at the bed, his eyes wide with surprise.
Charlie hummed happily to herself as she sorted through several sheets of paper. Dealing with paperwork to manage a hotel can be stress-inducing, but for someone like Charlie, it was more than worth it to keep hotel running. Especially if it allowed her to continue helping sinners reach Heaven and make the extermination days a distant memory.
Angel Dust and Samuel Rodrigues were fine starting points.
Having taken care of the paperwork, Charlie grabbed her clipboard and walked back to the lobby, spotting Husk and Vaggie standing near the reception desk.
Husk was an anthropomorphic avian cat demon, his fur being taupe-colored, overlayed with white on his face, torso, feet, and upper arms. The insides of his ears were white with pale pink stripes, and he had a darker shade of taupe encircling his ankles, mimicking spats. His tail was taupe and long, ending with a large spray of "plume-like" fur or feathers, which are red with black and white stripes. He also had yellow-orange hearts underneath the paws on his hands.
The sclera of his eyes were a dark taupe, with yellow-orange irises, and he had long red eyebrows with dark red vertical stripes near the tips, and a small black heart above each eyebrow. His wings were large and red, with black stripes and playing card suits markings. He also wore a black top hat with a red hatband and a golden button-like decoration, as well as a red bowtie.
"Found anything yet?" She asked her coworkers.
"A few things, yeah." Vaggie nodded. "He's been hanging around Cherri Bomb ever since he dropped in three years back, hacking and slashing any opposing gang member in their way. Been that way for a while before they split up and he was last seen being a bodyguard to some of the resident overlords."
"His life topside seemed a bit grey." Husk commented. "Grew up in Brazil, training in a dojo his pops owned before he was killed. Traveled around, whacking drug cartels left 'n right."
"The life of a mercenary must be rough." Charlie frowned.
"Get this." Husk said with a grin. "These files said that this bozo took out an entire cartel hit squad, all armed with automatic weapons…using only his sword!"
"You're kidding." Vaggie frowned. "How would one normal guy be able to do that?"
"This guy's obviously not normal." Husk replied. "'Specially if he was able to pull shit like that off in the living world."
"Add that to my list of things to ask him." Charlie noted. "Is there anything else I should be aware of?"
"Nothing at the moment." Vaggie said. "But be careful. This guy's obviously dangerous."
"Don't worry." Charlie waved it off. "I'm sure it won't be that hard!"
And with that, Charlie soon made her way up the stairs and towards Sam's room. She was confident that if she could help a hired killer turn over a new leaf, then she could do the same for many of the other sinners willing to give redemption a chance.
Determined, she finally arrived at the door to Sam's room, and made to knock…
Samuel stared in surprise at the sight of the bombshell standing before him. Cherri Bomb was a cyclops demon with long pink hair, with blonde and white accents contained in a large ponytail and had a large amount of mascara. Her eye had a bloodshot pink sclera and a pale-yellow X-shaped pupil.
Her skin was mostly white, with pink freckles on her face and right shoulder. She also had a tattoo along her right arm. She wore a gray, fingerless satin glove on her left arm and had a tattoo sleeve on her right arm. She also wore a red off-shoulder crop top, a black bra, a reddish, torn-up miniskirt with two buttons on the front with one loose suspender, and ripped black leggings underneath. She also wore a pair of red and white boots.
The two stared at each other in awkward silence, almost afraid to make the first move, before Cherri jumped at him with a hug, her lips crashing into his, the jaguar samurai reciprocating as he held her up, his hands planted firmly on her butt cheeks as to not let her fall, their tongues wrestling in each other's mouths for dominance, before the two crashed onto the bed, their hands wondering over their bodies before they parted lips for air, a string of saliva from their heated make out session, Cherri looked down at her lover with a lustful eye, Sam looking up at her with an equally lustful eye.
"I've. Missed. This." Cherri said in between pants. "So. Fucking. Much."
"Cherri, it's been five years since we last saw each other." Sam said, having regained his breathing. "What have you been up to?"
"Been managing my turf." Cherri shrugged before grinning. "Now shut up and fuck me!"
She moved back in to kiss him, but Sam moved back, much to her confusion and frustration.
"Cherri, how did you know where to find me?" Sam asked. "How did you get in?"
Figuring he'd want to talk first, Cherri sighed, "I've been keeping tabs; it's actually not that hard to track you down." She then rubbed the back of her head. "As for getting in…I had to sneak in due to being kinda banded from this dump."
"Banned?" Sam repeated with a raised brow.
"Had a turf war going on with Pentious." Cherri shrugged. "My bestie Angel Dust joined in, and Charlie didn't take too kindly to that."
"I see." Sam said. "I can somewhat understand, but still…"
"But enough of that." Cherri said. "Yeah, I've been keeping tabs on ya."
"You've always been good at finding people." Sam chuckled.
"Especially my boyfriend.~" Cherri said with a wiggle of her eyebrow.
Sighing, Sam moved in and kissed her, "I missed you, my bombastic rose; a lot."
"And I you, my cool Brazilian wind." Cherri chuckled, returning the kiss.
When they parted the kiss, Cherri frowned, "Never thought I'd see you at this dump."
"Well, I might as well try." Sam shrugged.
"You're seriously buying into this crap?" Cherri asked, skeptical.
"To be honest, not at first." Sam admitted. "But, after some thought, I found a motivation for reaching Heaven; to see my father and apologize for losing my way in my old life."
Cherri considered his words, but sighed, "I just don't think it's possible, no matter how much you want it."
"I'm willing to give it a chance." Sam shrugged. "Besides, perhaps you'll get to meet my father."
Cherri chuckled at this, but before they could continue…
*KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK*
"Sam, are you up?"
'Shit!' Sam internally thought in a panic, recognizing it to be Charlie's voice.
"You'd better go!" He whispered to his lover, as he threw off his towel and quickly put his ronin robes back on.
"Already ahead of ya." Cherri whispered back. "See you later?"
"Count on it."
With that, they quickly kissed before Cherri jumped out the window, Sam watching as she climbed down the side of the hotel, before he stepped back and closed the window.
"Sorry, just got dressed!" He called over his shoulder. "You may enter!"
With a click, the door to his room opened and Charlie entered.
"Morning, Sam!" She said with a friendly smile. "I hope I'm not intruding."
"Quite the opposite, actually." Sam grinned as he tied the belt of his robe in a knot. "In fact, I was waiting for you."
"Well, good to know!" Charlie said. "I just came to let you know that breakfast will be prepared in a few minutes. That way, you'll meet the rest of the staff!"
"Well, I certainly look forward to it." Sam said with a smile.
"Good to know!" Charlie beamed. "Now, if you'll follow me!"
Sam made to follow her, but stopped to look back at his sword, propped up in the corner of his room. He never went anywhere without his sword, feeling naked without it.
Deciding it'd be better to leave it, especially since he's not leaving the hotel, Sam followed Charlie unarmed down the halls before they came to a stop at another door.
"Angel Dust!" She called as she knocked on the door. "Breakfast will be ready in five minutes!"
"Yeah, I hear ya!" A flamboyant voice can be heard from the other side. "Just give me a minute!"
"Also, meet our second customer!" Charlie added.
After a few seconds, Sam thought he heard clattering sounds from the other side, before the door opened to reveal a tall, slender demon with white fur, a mop of fluffy white hair that extended from both the front and back of his head, with splotches of light-pink across it. He also had a distinctive and focal light-pink heart pattern on the back of his head. The light-pink outline of a heart also encircled his chest, the bottom point of which extended past his waistband and down to his crotch area.
His eyelids were light-pink and the color extended up to his eyebrows, giving the effect of eye-shadow, and his lashes were dark and thick. His irises were cerise-pink, and his left eye had a dark sclera and no pupil. He had a wide mouth full of sharp, pointed teeth and a single golden fang that sits slightly to his right of center. He had three cerise-pink dots under each of his eyes, which looked like freckles, although if one were to look close enough, they were actually another set of smaller eyes.
One of the most noticeable features that Sam found hard to not take note of was the demon's prominent chest, which was entirely composed of fluffy fur pushed up into a breast-like formation with his tightly pinned jacket. The spider-looking demon wore a long white suit-blazer with horizontal pink stripes down the length, a reddish-grey bowtie with a cerise-pink center, a reddish-grey choker, long cerise-pink gloves, a reddish-grey miniskirt, and long reddish-grey thigh-high heeled boots.
'This guy obviously looks like he likes pink.' Sam thought to himself. 'But he looks somewhat familiar…'
"Angel Dust, meet our newest addition!~" Charlie said in a singsong tone. "Samuel Rodrigues!"
"Greetings." Samuel said with a wave.
Angel's eyes went wide, and his fanged mouth hanged open before he promptly slammed the door shut.
"Was it something I said?" Sam asked, slightly concerned.
Before Charlie could answer, the door slowly opened, Angel Dust leaning against the door frame in a provocative manner, "Why, hello there.~"
"Hello again." Sam said again. "I'm-"
"Angel Dust, this is our newest customer." Charlie introduced. "Sam here just came in yesterday and-"
"How rude you to not introduce us, Charlie!" Angel Dust declared.
"As Charlie said, I'm also a recovering sinner, same as you." Sam said.
"You won't find a sinner like me, pussycat." Angel said with a sultry smile, getting up close and looking Sam in the eyes. "That I can promise you.~"
Sam remained silent for a moment, before calmly and gently pushing Angel back.
"Please refrain from getting in my personal space." He said. "Also, I don't swing that way, and I'm already taken."
Angel Dust blinked at this before shrugging with a sigh, "Eh, your loss."
The three walked down the halls, before they eventually reached the lobby, Vaggie and Husk waiting, along with a pair of floating goat demons.
"And here they are!" Charlie said. "Sam, you already met Vaggie, but this is Husk," She gestured to the cat demon. "The clerk of the front desk and the hotel's bartender!"
"Hey." Husk said flatly.
"And these two here," She then gestured to the light red furred goat demon, "Are Razzle," then to the goat demon with darker shade of red. "And Dazzle."
"Baaah!"
"Now I'm sure Alastor and Nifty are around here somewhere," Charlie mused. "But yeah, this is the staff!"
Looking over the characters before him, Sam brought a hand up to his chin and chuckled.
"My, quite the band of misfits." He remarked. "Still, it's impressive."
"We work hard with what we have." Charlie said. "Let's get everyone fed for the day!"
Sam only chuckled as he followed them into the dinning area of the hotel.
'This will certainly be interesting.' He thought to himself.
"Un-fucking-believable." Cherri Bomb sighed as she walked down the street. "After everything we went through, THIS is the thanks I get!"
Cherri felt so frustrated right now. Even though she allowed Sam to leave in the first place out of respect, she can't help but question his decision to go through with this redemption project.
"It's all horseshit anyways." Cherri said aloud. "We're down here in Hell for the shit we did in the living world. Where the fuck did he get this idea to be redeemed in the first place?!"
She sighed as she walked on, "Maybe there's some reason for it, but that don't mean I gotta like it. 'Sides, he'll be back by my side soon enough!"
She laughed a bit before that laugh turned into a nervous chuckle before a sigh again, before bumping into a cloaked figure.
"Aye, watch where you're goin'!" She snapped before walking on. "Muppet."
As Cherri walked on, the cloaked figure looked over their shoulder at the cyclops demoness before continuing their way, their destination unknown.
And there's the new chapter! I apologize if this took so long, work has been keeping me busy, as well as having to work on my other stories. I hope you guys understand.
Anyways, now Sam has met some of the hotel staff, had a short reunion with Cherri Bomb, and we see a mysterious figure. Hope you guys like the story so far, and hope you look forward to more!
And with that, I hope you stick around for more, and reviews are greatly appreciated!