Haha, hope I didn't leave you hanging for long. This may be a short update, but vital.
Title Song: "Heart of Stone" from "Six" (I realize this is sung from the POV of a woman, but in the context of this story, it fits Alastor's perspective more)
When the shot fired, Tina shut her eyes. She couldn't run. She couldn't dodge. All she could do was brace for impact.
This was it. This was how her existence would end. At least dying of a bullet would be faster than dying of cancer. Just like it had been for Alastor.
Alastor. There was so much she wanted to say to him. But she supposed it was better this way. He would no longer be tortured by her. He'd be free.
Her ears picked up a whiz, then a crack, then a splat. The bullet had stopped. But she didn't feel anything. So, she opened her eyes and gasped.
There, standing in front of her with his arms spread, was Alastor. He looked down at the hole in his jacket. Right over his heart. Any blood seeping through blended in with the red material.
"Oh," he muttered.
Then his knees gave way.
"Al!" Tina shouted.
"Boss!" cried Niffty and Husk.
From across the room, Carrie stared with her mouth agape, the holy revolver still smoking in her hand. "Well. Guess that works too."
"Finally." Vox laughed as he rose from the floor. "The Radio Demon has fallen."
Velvet raised her phone. "Our subscribers will certainly get a kick outta this!"
Valentino chuckled. "This is even better than what I was about to do."
Snapping from the shock, Vaggie wrestled the gun from Carrie and pointed it around the room. "Neither of you move another muscle!"
Tina hadn't taken her gaze off Alastor. He lay crumpled on the floor, but he was still breathing, clutching his chest.
Had he really just taken a bullet for her? A holy bullet?
"Al," Tina whispered. "Why…why would ya go and do a thing like that?"
"You…really have to ask?" Chuckling weakly, Alastor reached for the cross and hoisted himself into a sitting position, leaning his head against her shackled leg. "Nothing…will stop me…from…" He winced. "By golly, that stings."
"No." She shook her head. "That should've been me, Al! I'm not important!"
"Oh, but you are, darling. Don't you see?" He craned his head back to look at her, his smile not wavering. "There are over a hundred demons who depend on you. How many would mourn my death? Not many did last time, after all."
"That's not true!" Niffty ran up and knelt to his side. "We'd mourn for you, Al! Husk, Mimzy, Rosie!"
"Oh," he said with a shrug, "you lot will get over me in a few years or so. You'll be free to do as you please now. None of your souls will be tethered to…" He coughed. "It…hurts to…breathe."
"We can get you help!" Niffty peeled back his jacket. "Just let me find the—"
"Niffty, stop." Husk covered her hand. "Nothing can heal a wound from a holy bullet. Once you're hit, it's over."
"Aw, man." Angel stepped up behind Husk. "Ya really did it this time, Bambi."
Vaggie backed against the group, waving the gun to prevent their adversaries from coming closer. "I…I'm sorry, Al. If there was something I could do—"
"There is…one thing." Alastor pushed against the floor. "Help me…stand."
Angel and Husk each swung one of Alastor's arms around their shoulders and hoisted him up. He tilted his head towards Tina, indicating that they turn him to face her.
"My l-l-love…"
"Don't." Tears welled up in her eyes. "You…you fucking idiot!"
"Don't c-cry, darling." The corners of his lips trembled. "S-Smile."
"Smile? How can I…? No, how can you smile when you're about to die?!"
"I can die h-happy…" His eyes glowed softly. "Knowing I s-saved you. B-Besides, you…don't have to w-worry about me a-anymore."
"Ya think I wanted this?!" The tears came like waterfalls. "Al, we were supposed to get outta this together! We were supposed to start again! Just like before!"
"C-Could we though?" He tried to shake his head, but only managed to move it an inch. "You…were right. We ch-changed too much. We w-want different th-things."
"All I want is you, ya dumbass! How…how am I supposed to live with myself now?!"
"Find s-someone new."
"No." She shook her head. "No, no, no! I don't want someone new! I love you, Al! Only you! Ya think I sang that song to ya for nothing?!"
He closed his eyes with a sigh. "I'm g-glad to hear that."
He stumbled forward. Angel and Husk lifted him back up.
"I…don't have much time." Alastor's fingers twitched. "Angel, p-please b-bring my hand to my mouth."
Angel raised an eyebrow at this, but he couldn't deny a dying man's last wishes. He didn't know what to expect when he lifted the limp hand, but it wasn't for the Radio Demon to chomp down on it.
"Geez, Bambi," Angel said. "Ain't ya bruised enough?"
Alastor's hand shook as he attempted to move it forward. "T-Tina."
Tina's eyes widened, as did Husk's and Niffty's.
"Uh-uh," Tina said. "No way I can do that, Al."
"You need…" Alastor winced as he stretched his bleeding hand towards her. "To get…out. There's no…key."
His hand fell. Husk caught it and raised it to Tina's mouth.
"This might be the only way, kid," Husk said.
"But it's so…" Tina's breath hitched. "Al, I don't want your—"
"T-Take it," Alastor said between his teeth. "Let me d-do this…for you. Before it's…too late."
Angel and Vaggie were still confused. But Tina understood all too well.
She'd helped her husband once by giving him her blood. Now he was returning the favor. And the Radio Demon rarely shed blood for another.
So, despite her disgust, Tina leaned forward, stuck out her tongue, and licked the blood off his hand.
"The fuck?" Angel said. "This is how ya wanna spend your last dyin' breath? Satisfyin' a blood kink?"
Vaggie's jaw dropped. "I…don't think that's what this is, Angel."
Alastor's blood was sticky and warm. And really, really gross. Tina tried not to gag as she swallowed. Alastor released a labored sigh as he brushed his fingertips against her cheek.
"S-Scream, mon ange."
With that, he closed his eyes, and every part of him sagged. Husk and Angel, no longer able to hold him up, slowly lowered him to the floor.
The Songbat went deaf. She stared at her husband's lifeless form. Niffty shook him, shouting something. The others also spoke, but Tina couldn't hear them. The only sound that occupied her ears was the rapid beating of her own heart.
This couldn't be it. He couldn't be gone. For good. Could he?
No. They'd just started to reconcile. She never got the chance to apologize for leaving him again. Or to really talk about that baby he'd claimed to want.
Was it truly over? Was the only man who had cared for her, treasured her, sacrificed for her, out of her afterlife forever?
Something inside the Songbat snapped. Her tears flowed. Her breath quickened. Her blood boiled. Her brow furrowed. And her heart thumped even faster.
The shackles around her wrist buzzed in warning. She knew the consequences of what she was about to do. But with the body of the man she loved laying at her feet, she had no reason to hold back anymore. No reason to survive.
Vox, Valentino, Velvet, Ethan, Carrie. They all had to pay.
Closing her eyes, Tina allowed her emotions to overtake her. Her claws grew. Her fur stood on end. The shackles zapped her, but she ignored them. Electric waves danced around her body. As the voltage increased, so did her size.
"What the hell?" Vox said. "Why is she still changing? Those shackles are supposed to stop her!"
Electricity bolted from the cross, hitting the walls and floor. Angel and Husk dropped Alastor and backed away, as did Vaggie and Niffty. Everyone watched as the Songbat continued to transform, the electricity having seemingly no effect on her. The Hazbin crew couldn't hear it, because of their earplugs, but low, distorted music filled the room.
Then the Songbat raised her head, revealing blank, glowing, purple eyes. They glared at the Vs and their lackeys across the room, focusing particularly on Carrie.
This was for Alastor.
The Songbat opened her mouth. And screamed.
The basement shook. The walls and furniture cracked. The Vs, Carrie and Camille covered their earholes. As did the Hazbin crew, although the screech wasn't as loud for them. For those ears without plugs, it was enough to make them bleed.
Now that she'd unleashed her biggest power, the cuffs unleashed more of their power on Tina. The pain was unbearable. She could feel her skin sizzling and her bones rattling and her muscles jolting. Her wrists and ankles had the worst of it. Still, she did not cease her sonic screech. If she was going down, she was taking these bastards down with her.
The ceiling caved in. Vaggie hustled her comrades to the doorway. Their enemies fought for refuge under the bed. This proved to be pointless, as that crumbled on top of them.
Finally, the cross shattered. Then the shackles.
From the moment she was free, the Songbat breathed. The screech stopped, and the room was still.
Then Tina fell. The last thing she remembered was landing on her husband's chest. And hearing a faint beat.
Soft hands ran over Alastor's body. For a moment, he thought they were Tina's, as she was the only one who would ever dare to do that. He sighed in contentment.
He didn't remember dreaming the first time he died. Was this the Lord's last cruel punishment to sinners who were erased? To remind them of the pleasures they'd never experience again?
Then he realized these weren't Tina's hands. Hers were covered in fur. These were nothing but skin.
Survival mode kicked in as Alastor opened his eyes and sat up. A yelp caused him to ignore the stinging in his side and chest. His gaze snapped to a female imp wearing a white lab coat and stethoscope.
"And just what," static spiked in his voice as he spoke, "do you think you're doing?"
Instead of answering, the imp bolted out of the room, screeching, "Your Highness!"
Now that he was alone, Alastor took in his surroundings. He was in an unfamiliar bedroom, though the wallpaper suggested he was back at the Hazbin Hotel. He looked down to find that he was shirtless, almost his entire torso wrapped in bandages. Except for a spot on the left side of his chest, which was covered by a white patch. Right over his heart.
Where the holy bullet had struck.
"You're awake!"
At Charlie's voice, Alastor looked to the door. Rushing behind the Princess were Vaggie, Angel, and the imp in the lab coat.
The Radio Demon blinked at the group of familiar faces that should not be here. "What happened? Didn't I get shot with a holy bullet?" He poked at the bandage on his chest. "Did I die? Did we all die? Is this the Hell within Hell? Why does it look like the hotel?"
"You ain't dead," Angel said. "Well, no more dead than ya already are."
"But how can that be? The bullet—"
"You weren't shot," Vaggie said. "The bullet didn't hit you."
"What?" Alastor cocked his head. "But I passed out."
"That was the toxins from Carrie's feathers."
That explained some of it, but not all. "I felt pain in my chest. I had trouble breathing."
"Yeah, ahem." The imp cleared her throat as she approached the bed. "Funny thing about that." She forced a chuckle. "This really is a one-in-a-million occurrence, but…"
The imp gestured to a surgical tray beside the bed. On it were several medical tools, but most notably, a bloody pile of red fragments. The imp used a pair of tongs to pick up the biggest piece and show it to the Radio Demon. Wedged deep in its center was a crushed, white bullet.
Alastor gazed at the red lump in wonder. "Tina's engagement ring…"
"It stopped the bullet." The imp turned the destroyed ruby over. "But some pieces broke off and drove into your chest. One shard even pierced your lung." She set the tongs onto the tray. "Once I got them all out, you were able to heal on your own. You were lucky the blessing from the bullet didn't affect the shards, or you wouldn't be here right now."
"Isn't that romantic?" Charlie beamed. "You were saved by true love!"
Angel scoffed. "Or that is one hard-ass ruby."
"And who is this?" Alastor squinted at the imp. "I am not fond of strangers meddling with my body without my permission."
The imp hunched her shoulders and stepped back. Vaggie stood at her side with crossed arms. "Way to talk to the one who saved your life."
"This is Dr. Whitetail," Charlie explained. "She's worked for my family in the past and we needed someone to treat you and Tina after—"
"Tina?" The events leading up to his brush with erasure came rushing back. "Tina! Where is Tina?"
Everyone cast nervous glances. Angel nudged Charlie, urging her to be the one to tell him.
"She's…in her room, but—"
Before she could finish, Alastor sprang out of bed and out the door.
"Sir!" Dr. Whitetail called. "Your injuries! You shouldn't be up right now!"
Indeed, Alastor's body was screaming for him to get back in bed, but he didn't care about that right now. Out in the hall, he discovered he was on the first floor. All the rooms here had been occupied when the souls from the Reckoning had arrived, which meant he had been placed in Carrie's room. His associates must not have had the strength to carry him up to the penthouse. Especially if they'd carried him from all the way across town. It must be exhausting not to be able to teleport whenever you want.
The upside to being on the first floor was that it was where Tina's room was. He jumped to her door and threw it open.
What he saw pained him more than all his injuries combined.
Husk woke from an armchair in the corner. Niffty looked up from the bedside and gasped. "Al! You're up!"
But Alastor barely noticed them. His focus was on the figure laying in the bed.
Tina, or what he assumed to be Tina, was wrapped in even more bandages than himself. Her wings, her face, her body, all bandaged in place of clothing. Like an Egyptian princess prepared for burial. The parts of her skin he could see were smoky black, only a few patches of fur remaining. Her once fluffy head of hair was now bald.
If Charlie hadn't told him his wife was in here, he wouldn't have recognized her at all.
"Tina?" Alastor knelt at the bed and tentatively took her hand. It felt so foreign with its raw, hairless skin. "Darling, is that really you? Tina?"
The others came in and, upon seeing the Radio Demon's worried state, kept their distance from him.
"She's alright," Dr. Whitetail said. "I mean she's stable, but she hasn't woken up yet."
"What happened?" Alastor snapped his head around. "She wasn't like this when I passed out! The Vs." He snarled. "What did they do to her?"
"The Vs did nothing," Husk said.
"She screamed," Vaggie said. "Really loudly." She picked at her earhole. "Now I know why you had us put in those earplugs."
"It was incredible!" Angel exclaimed. "Everything, like, exploded! The ceiling, the furniture, even the handcuffs!" His excitement quickly died. "But…"
Vaggie sighed. "Not before they electrocuted her. Badly."
"The electric shock was strong," the doctor explained. "Burned off most of her fur and hair." She gestured to Tina's mummy-like form. "Fortunately, all that will grow back. And the burns should heal within a week. Her wrists and ankles got the worst of it, so they might take longer."
The imp got quiet a moment. "Her vocal cords, however…"
"What?" Alastor looked at Tina's throat, seeing that the bandaging was much thicker there. "What's wrong with her vocal cords?"
"They're," Dr. Whitetail paused a moment to fiddle with her stethoscope, "fried. It might be a while before she can speak again."
This news hit the Radio Demon the hardest. Tina's voice was her most valuable asset. She used it to sing, to make wisecracks, to negotiate, to bring demons to their knees. It had been the first thing to catch his attention. Without her voice, she was practically powerless.
He touched his forehead to her poor, charred hand. "This is all my fault."
"It ain't your fault, boss," Husk said.
"No." Alastor shook his head. "I gave her my blood, hoping it would amplify her powers. I told her to scream. I could think of no other way to free her."
"There was no other way to free her."
"I mean," Angel said, rolling his wrist, "we could've always cut her outta there."
Husk elbowed him in the ribs.
"What? Niffty could've sewed her hands and feet back on, right?"
"What I think Angel's trying to say is," Vaggie said, "that given the situation, there was no way we could've gotten her out of there unscathed. And I think Tina knew that too."
"I don't think that's why she screamed," Niffty said, laying a hand on Alastor's shoulder. "She thought she had lost you."
He shrugged her off. "Then it's even more my fault." He stroked Tina's hand. "Oh, mon amour. If I hadn't scared you away… No, if I had never let you go in the first place, you wouldn't be like this now."
"Oh, Al." Charlie put a hand over her heart. "You couldn't've predicted this. It's not your fault. Remember, you almost died to protect her. And you're both here now."
"She might never sing again." Alastor touched his fingertips to Tina's throat. "She loves to sing."
"That might not be the case," Dr. Whitetail said. "As I'm sure you're aware, given how long you've been down here, Mr. Radio Demon, sir, demon healing is different from human healing. Although, internal injuries tend to take longer to heal than external injuries, especially when vital organs are involved. We'll just have to wait and see. For now, we'll just have to observe her and regularly change her bandages and clean her with a cool cloth, avoiding full bathing until the burns—"
"Is she safe to be moved?" Alastor asked.
The doctor hesitated at this interruption. "No bones are broken, though her skin may be tender to the t—what are you doing?"
The Radio Demon was sliding an arm beneath Tina's shoulders. "I'm taking her home."
Charlie stepped up. "Al, we can look after her right—"
"No!" Alastor slipped his other arm under Tina's knees. "I will look after her."
Dr. Whitetail raised her palms. "You're still recovering from your own—"
"I," Alastor said, snapping his glowing gaze on the imp, "will look after her."
Static filled the room. Everyone took a step back as the Radio Demon lifted his wife into his arms, cradling her burnt, bandaged head to his chest. Nobody made any more protests as he conjured a portal and stepped through.
"Should we have told him the Vs got away?" Angel asked.
Husk shook his head. "Don't think he cares about that right now."
Tina was awoken by something cool and damp on her forehead. She tried to move, but it felt like she'd been sunburnt all over. Somehow, she found the strength to lift her eyelids. And was surprised to see the face smiling down at her.
How was he here? Had the Princess been right? Had Tina redeemed herself enough to be sent to Heaven? But if that was the case, why would he be here too? Was it because he'd sacrificed himself for her?
She wanted to say his name, but it was like someone had lodged an egg in her throat.
"It won't do you any good to speak, my dear," Alastor said, dabbing her face with a damp cloth. "The doctor says your vocal cords will take some time to heal. Try not to move, either. Your electrical burns are still fresh."
She stared at him, hoping he'd catch the question in her eyes.
"Yes, I'm still here too. The bullet hit your engagement ring. It was in my breast pocket." He chuckled. "I'm sure you'd say something along the lines of, 'That sounds like something out of a fucking fairy tale. What are the chances of a miracle like that happening?'"
Tina would say something like that. She almost laughed, but even that hurt.
"As unbelievable as it is, I am not one to look a gift horse in the mouth." Alastor held gaze with her as he ran a gentle finger over her hand. "You needn't worry about me now, chère. You rest, and let me nurse you back to health."
AW MAN! I was SO gearing up for that self-sacrifice to not feel like a Deus ex-machina! I hope I had properly foreshadowed everything from Tina's sonic screech to the purpose of demons giving each other blood to the ring in Alastor's pocket that the ring saving him from the bullet was believable!
I also realized, even if Tina's powers were amplified, breaking out of those shock cuffs via mega-transformation were bound to have consequences.
