Duality

by Searchsnake00103

Years after the events of Vento Aureo, Doppio Vinegar finds himself living day to day in Hell, trying desperately to get by. But when he hears of a certain hotel, things begin to get a little bizarre. Does he have what it takes for redemption? Or will he forever be trapped in Hell?

1. A day in the afterlife of Vinegar Doppio

Hi guys, Searchsnake00103 here to bring you another story. Now, I know that the author, Writeranon, beat me to this already, but during the time of first writing this story, I was inspired to do this after reading Peaceful Afterlife and Helluva Job. That guy is a really good writer and his works are always enjoyable to read, so I suggest checking him out.

Now, while this story may, big may there, contain some elements from Only The Results, this story will be its own thing, and I hope you guys really enjoy it.

I wanna give thanks to Writeranon, who not only inspired me to write this fic but also beta read it and DoppioDiavolo, who also beta read it as well. You two guys are awesome for helping me out with this. Thanks so much.

Now, without further adieu, I present you with Duality.

JoJo is owned by Hirohiko Araki.

Hazbin Hotel/Helluva Boss is owned by Vizipop.

I own nothing.

---

Thud.

The corpse of a holy man bleeds out on the floor as a young man looks down at his hands which were soaked in the crimson liquid. His face held panic and his eyes were frantic. Not because of what he had done, but for the consequences he might receive for his actions. Glancing down to his feet, his eyes landed on a woman who was part way beneath the ground, her mouth completely sewn shut and her eyes dead and lifeless, like a fish washed up on shore. He needed to get rid of her, and the holy man as well, less he face the consequences and have his horrible secrets revealed, and he knew exactly how to cover them both up.

Thud.

A small village, one that had been standing strong for god knows how long is lit a blaze. The town glows brightly as thick smoke and panicked screams of the inhabitants fill the night sky as they tried desperately to put out the raging inferno, but failed miserably as the flames were too powerful to simply douse. As the town burned, nobody noticed the retreating form of a small boy head off in the distance, trying to flee from the chaos as quickly as he could.

Thud.

As the arid heat of the desert scorched against his skin, he could only gawk and stare at what he had found. Resting in his hands was a box that contained six, beautifully crafted gold arrows that looked just as polished as the day they were made. No speck of rust at all. Five of the arrows had the same design, but the sixth one was different, as it had the carving of a small beetle on the side of the tip of the arrow. They were gorgeous to look at, certainly, but that's not what had his attention, no, the reason he was so fixated on these simple weapons was due to a strong, almost pulsating power he could feel coming from them. It almost felt like they were pulling some type of dormant…. feeling in his soul. He knew he should tell the others about them, but something compelled him not to, so he closed the box up and hid it on himself. These arrows contained some type of hidden potential, and he was going to find out if it was the last thing he did.

Thud.

Tch, good riddance. He had told him to leave him alone, but did he listen. No, he just kept pestering him about wanting to see his damn palm, and now look where it got him. A messy death in the back alley of Sardina, and all because he wanted to find out the secret behind him. What a fool, but oh well. He was dead, as well as the secret he had, so it didn't really matter to him now. Besides, he didn't come back home for this. No, he had much bigger fish to fry, and he wasn't going to let this setback get in the way.

Thud

The traitor assassin. He had to admit, he almost had him on the ropes for a minute, but thankfully fate was on his side, and the traitor was ripped to pieces by the bullets before he could land the killing blow. As he stared down the fallen assassin, he had to admit he was quite the tenacious one. Even when he offered to give him an honorable death, the traitor still had enough fight in him to make one last ditch attempt to finish him off. Such an admirable trait, too bad he had to poke his nose in business that didn't concern him whatsoever. No time to think about it now though, right now he needs to leave before they get here, and to replenish himself as quickly as possible. He was so close to achieving his goal, he could feel it.

Thud.

Everything that has happened to him has led up to this moment. Every decision, every fight, every challenge in his life has been nothing but obstacles for him to overcome, and every time he had succeeded in overcoming those obstacles, he had become stronger, and a piece of his wretched past died out with each victory. After all.

This was a test, and he's accepted this test to stand victorious against his past. A person grows once they are able to defeat their weaker self.

Wouldn't you agree?

Thud. Thud. THUD. THUD. THUD!

---

A pair of emerald eyes shot wide open as lean, somewhat muscular body jolted up from his old spring bed. Panting deeply, the being looked around his surroundings only to see he was in his small run down apartment. Seeing that he was in the comfort of his own home, his breathing began to steady as he raised his hands to his head.

A dream. It was just a dream. The same one that plagued his nights everyday and the same one he can't even remember when he wakes up, well besides a few bits and pieces of it anyway.

As he tried to calm himself, he could hear the sounds of light banging coming from the apartment next door, as well as the faint sounds of screaming which could either mean his neighbor had come home drunk from another one of his late night escapades, or he's gotten his hands on whatever dope he could get his hands on. Because whenever he wasn't drunk or high he was usually passed out by now. Oh well.

Exhaling deeply, the figure dropped his hands away from his face and let them fall to the bed as he glanced over to the alarm clock sitting on a drawer next to his bed. On the digital screen it read 6:32 in the morning as the soft red glow flickered from time to time.

With a sigh, he figured he wouldn't be able to get back to sleep. What with the dream he just had literally shocking the tiredness out of him and his neighbors constant screaming and banging, he might as well get up and just get by with another day in this shithole.

Throwing the sheets off him, he got off the bed and made his way over to the dresser in his room. Pulling out a pair of jeans, socks, and a sweater, he began to get dressed for his daily commute. Once he was done, he gave the mirror that was attached to the top of the drawer a look as he looked himself over. He didn't want to look bad when he left for work, now did he? The mirror itself wasn't anything special, in fact it was…. pretty shitty to be honest. The mirror didn't have a square or circular shape, but instead it was just a giant jagged piece of a mirror. It had thick cracks everywhere, making it look like it was ready to fall apart any minute. But despite the appearance, it was intact enough for him to at least see his reflection, so it still has its uses, even if it wasn't the nicest looking thing.

That also applied to him as well. Don't get him wrong, sure he didn't have the same attractiveness as a supermodel, but it's just that he prefers his, well let's just say 'younger' form.

In the past he used to look just like your average young man. He had a slim, yet fit frame, a decent height, had somewhat pale but smooth skin, and his face held a certain boyish look to it. If you were to take a quick look at his face back then, and if you were to judge him by said look, you'd probably think he'd be incapable of hurting a fly. That he was just another innocent soul, one that beamed with child-like innocence and pure positivity. And although he no longer resembled what he once was, his new appearance did carry some traits of his old one, which was quite a unique rarity considering he was in Hell.

And no, I'm not referring to the run down apartment complex he lives in. He was literally in Hell.

And there's quite the odd trend for those who do wind up down here. Whenever a person is removed from their mortal coil and passes on to the afterlife, their appearance changes to look differently from their human selves, making themselves appear to look like monsters and beasts. Nobody knows why this happens though. Some believe that the reason they look like fairy-tale monstrosities is because their new looks are supposed to be a twisted reflection of the sins they committed on Earth, while others believe that their new forms are simply their true selves. Either way it didn't matter though, everyone in this place was stuck the way they were, and nobody seemed to care. So why bother thinking about something such as that?

But anyway though, like I said everyone gets a new appearance in Hell and he was no exception. As he stood in the mirror, he couldn't help but look at his new form for the millionth time since arriving down here. His once smooth, pale skin was gone. In its place was a rubbery red and white substance that acted as his new skin. His hands were completely white and missing their nails, as well as his feet, making it look like he wore rubber gloves and socks that we're fused to his body. His arms and legs, which were concealed beneath his sweater and pants, were completely red with white stripes that were in a raised diagonal grid pattern while around his grey neck was a white collar like protrusion that made it impossible to see his throat from the sides or backside. Everywhere on his head, except for the ears and face, were completely red while the rest of it was purely white. His ears were simply white, round disks that we're no bigger than a person's fist. His once brown eyes were now a piercing emerald green as he looked at himself in the mirror while his body structure was completely changed. His slim frame had gained a slight bit of muscle since arriving down here while his height had been increased by three inches. The only things that had stayed the same was the boyish look on his face, his pink hair that was done in a neck-length ponytail in a weave-like braid with the bangs being left loose and sweeping over one side lock, and his sense of clothing which consists of a pink sweater with a gash-like opening on the chest and missing the stomach area showing off his white midsection and a pair of loose jeans with studs around the waist and ankles. If he had to be honest, he'd say he looked like something from a bizarre anime or something?

After he finished making sure he looked decent, or at least decent in Hell standards, he turned away from the mirror and made his way out of the bedroom and into the kitchen/living room area, and just like the rest of the apartment, it looked terrible. In the kitchen area the fridge was completely dented and had something oozing out from under it, the glass door on the stove was shattered and the metal around the burners was completely black and burnt, the counter had stains from the previous owner which was a combination of blood, sweat, and other bodily fluids he doesn't wanna know, and cabinets and drawers were busted up and looked ready to fall apart any minute now. As for the living room area, the couch that was in there was torn and old, looking like it was pulled straight from the dump, which might've been honestly, and the TV opposite of it was beaten up and looked like it came from the seventies. The only thing the two areas had in common was the fact that the wall paper was peeling off and there were small holes on the ceiling. Walking up to the kitchen counter, he decided to have something quick for breakfast as he didn't exactly feel like cooking, so he simply grabbed a paper bowl from the counter and made his way over to the fridge to grab a box of cereal and some milk. After grabbing the cereal from the top of the fridge, he opened the door to get the milk, but as soon as he opened it a small amount of cockroaches came crawling out of the fridge, causing him to flinch back in shock slightly before it was replaced with pure annoyance.

"Stupid bugs." He sighed tiredly as he reached into the almost empty fridge for the milk before slamming it shut. Once back towards the counter, he proceeded to pour his milk and cereal into the bowl and put the two down. With his "breakfast" complete, he simply grabbed the bowl and a nearby clean spoon from the dish rack, and made his way over to the couch in the living room area of the apartment.

Plopping down on the old, wore and torn furniture he placed his spoon into the cereal and before he decided to take a spoonful of the sugary meal before him, he decided to reach for the remote that was sitting right beside him and turn on the TV in front of him, causing the slightly cracked screen to flash to life showing the grainy feed of a blond pure white skinned demon in a red dress with a smile that would make a certain clown villain feel shame and sitting next to her was yet another blond haired demon, expect this one was male and his face was a gas mask, with the eyes and mouth piece moving every time he blinked and talked.

Having spent nearly eighteen years in hell, he could already tell who these two were from a single glance. The…let's just say unique news duo Katie Killjoy, and her partner and victim of both her physical and verbal abuse, Tom Trench.

And yes. That is their real names.

Cause here's another thing about Hell which he found weird. Apparently when you wind up down in Hell, you don't go by your name, your alive name, anymore. Now you could chalk that up to the fact that since nobody looked like their human selves down here, they figured they'd give their new forms a new identity. Now that kinda made sense, but for some odd reason, nobody gives themselves regular names like, I don't know, Johnathan or Johnny or something like that. Instead everyone down here calls themselves whatever name they can cook up in their heads. Some demons just name themselves after their favorite drugs or weapons or some shit.

But not all demons gave themselves ridiculous sounding names. There were some demons that gave themselves names that didn't sound too far fetched in the living, names that could work for both humans and demons, such as one of the most notorious and feared Lords of Hell, Alastor the Radio Demon. Now that was a name he could see someone having back on Earth. Well, maybe not the Radio Demon part.

However, despite the fact that every demon he has ever met in Hell went by a new name, there was a small population of people who actually refused to change their identities and actually went by their original names, and he just happened to be one of those people. Nobody knew the reason why these handful of demons went by their living names, except for the demons themselves, and each of them had their own reason. In the case of our protagonist, he refused to change his name because he was waiting for someone, someone that even to this day he still held with high regard. The only person that gave him company in the lonely existence in his ex-life. This person was his companion, and the only person who he could fully trust, and he needed to keep his name, so that when his friend eventually ended up down here, he would be able to find him in an endless sea of demons with ease. And as for his name, well, his name is Vinegar Doppio.

As Doppio lazily ate from the bowl of cereal on his lap he watched the news duo on TV with an uninterested gaze as the two talked about trivial things that didn't interest him in the slightest, such as the ongoing turf wars on the west side of Hell. He lived on the opposite side of the pentagram, so it really didn't matter to him to know what was going down there. But sadly, since all of Hells TV channels were either about sex, drugs, violence, or all three at once he really didn't have a whole lot of options for entertainment, so the news would have to do. Even if it was spouting pointless crap he had no interest in knowing.

The basic gist of what Tom and Katie we're talking about was this ongoing battle between two well known figures in the criminal underworld, Cherri Bomb, a punk rock chick from the eighties or nineties who uses way too many explosives for a simple turf war, and Sir Pentious, a snake man from the industrial revolution who uses his inventions to try to conquer Hell like a cartoon mad scientist and surrounds himself with sentient egg demons that act as his lackeys. For weeks now they've been fighting over control over the west side of Hell, yet neither of them have shown any signs of gaining or losing any territory due to the fact that they seemed evenly matched. Doppio could only roll his eyes at the sheer ridiculousness of the situation. He thinks that those two should just, in the words of Tom, 'bang and get it over with.'

After finishing up the last of his cereal, Doppio got up from the couch and made his way back into the kitchen and threw away the paper bowl while he tossed the spoon he used into the sink. Looking at the microwave clock it read 6:54, meaning that he had 36 minutes to make his way to work. Sighing tiredly, Doppio made his way out of the kitchen and towards the apartment door. On his way he grabbed the remote off the couch and turned off the TV before he lightly tossed it back on to the beaten up furniture. Once he had gotten to the front door, Doppio looked down to see his shoes and a slightly torn brown satchel work bag sitting right next to the door frame. Slipping on his shoes and picking up his bag, Doppio made sure he had the key to his apartment and after finding out he did, he grabbed the knob tightly and swing the door upon, allowing himself to walk out into the apartment complexes hallway and closed the door behind him before pulling out the key to lock it up.

Once he was sure that his "home" wasn't going to be broken into by thieves and druggies looking for anything valuable to sell, Doppio placed his key back into his pocket and made his way down the hall, tiptoeing past several pieces of discarded trash and used needles that littered the entire building. As he passed through, he could see several of the tenants in the halls talking to one another as they got ready for their days as well. As he walked he couldn't help but sneer in disgust at the sight of a hideous eagle-looking prostitute was giving head to a rat-like demon right in the middle of the fucking hall. Seriously, he knew this Hell and all, but couldn't these people at least show a small amount of fucking decency?!

Rushing by the disgusting display and hurrying quickly to the main doors of the apartment complex as quickly as possible, stepping over various pieces of trash in the process. Doppio had reached the main lobby of the building and grabbed the handle of the door. The sooner he was away from this place the better he thought. Pulling the door open, Doppio's eyes and ears were met with the sights and sounds of Demons going about their business in the hustle and bustle of the city. After stepping out of the apartment complex, Doppio looked out at the city before him and sighed tiredly, feeling dread for the day that laid ahead of him.

"Another day, another lire I suppose." He said under his breath as he began to walk down the street, lugging his bag behind him. As he walked down the street though, he had no idea about the series of events that were about to unfold.

---

"I'm not so sure about this?"

"Oh come on Vaggie, what's the harm in trying to advertise ourselves a bit?"

Several blocks away from where Doppio is, two female demons walked down the sidewalk with bundles of papers in their hands. The first demon looked human, save for her dark grey skin and pure white hair. Her clothing consisted of a black tank top underneath a white dress shirt, with the left of it slightly dropping from her left shoulder, and the chest having black X's where the nipples would be. She had a white skirt with frills on the bottom and a black belt around the waist. On her legs she wore a pair of mismatched stockings, the left one having pink and grey stripes on it while the right one was simply grey. She had simple black dress shoes, and her head was adorned with a pink bow on the back, which was almost as long as her hair. The most noticeable feature was her eyes though. Her right eye was a pinkish red, and the pupil inside it was pure white, but her left eye was just a pink X, no pupil, no eyelids, just a big X. This was Vaggie. No last name unfortunately.

As for the other demon beside her, her looks were relatively humanoid as well. Like her, this demon had unusually colored skin as well, only instead of her skin being a dark grey like her friends, hers was a pure snow white and her long hair was a platinum blonde. Unlike her friend, her clothing was more formal and classical looking, as she wore a white button up shirt underneath a bright pink tuxedo that tap dancers would be seen wearing and had a black bowtie around her neck. Her legs were adorned with obsidian black pants with suspenders that were hidden by her tuxedo while her feet wore white tap dancing shoes with black tips. All in all, she looked like she could be one of those old timey tap dancers. Besides her clothing, her face wasn't very noticeable like her friends. She had black lips, pink circles on her cheeks like a clown, and had make-up around her slightly yellow eyes. This was Vaggies best friend (and girlfriend), Charlie Magne. The daughter of Lucifer himself and the princess of Hell itself.

However, despite being the Daughter of literal evil incarnate, Charlie wasn't exactly what you would say was a chip off the old block. Because you see, unlike her father, Charlie didn't take pleasure out of the tournament of those trapped down here in Hell, Instead she was the complete opposite. Where Lucifer saw the spirits of the damned as nothing but scum that you shouldn't even think of twice, Charlie saw them as lost souls who had fallen of the path of virtue long ago, and instead of wanting them to suffer, she wants to help them redeem themselves so that they may move on to a better afterlife. That is why she opened up the 'Happy Hotel', a place where demons can rehabilitate themselves and repent for the sins they have committed that made them end up down here. It was truly a noble goal of hers, and she was determined to see her dream come to fruition!

Although, achieving her dream might be a little easier said than done though, because well….it was a little bit impossible to actually achieve this task considering Hell was, well, Hell. In a place where anyone can do what they want, when they want, to who they want, nobody was exactly lining up to redeem themselves so far. In fact, most of, if not all the demons who have heard of Charlie's hotel had either laughed it off or said that she was a complete retard if she thought she could actually get something to redeem themselves or usually both. But despite what others say, no amount of insults or mockery will make the young heiress give up her goal to help redeem those in Hell to make her kingdom a (somewhat slightly) better place, and she'll do anything to achieve it.

That's why her and Vaggie were currently wandering the streets carrying around a bundle of flyers that advertised her Happy Hotel. Why, you ask? Well you see a few days ago, one the day she announced the opening of her hotel she was approached by the Radio Demon Alastor himself after she had been, well, mocked and humiliated on live television by that bitch Kaite Killjoy. True, the Demon didn't exactly believe in Charlie's ability to redeem someone and was really only helping her out because of his own amusement, and Charlie was still completely untrusting about him, Alastor has been a great help with the hotel what with him giving her some extra staff, such as the hotel's bartender Husk and maid Nifty, and helping her find ways to advertise her hotel. That is why her and Vaggie are stapling flyers everywhere to help get some potential clients, and while Charlie saw no harm in that, Vaggie on the other hand wasn't that quite as enthusiastic about the whole thing.

"Couldn't there be a much more, I don't know, easier way to do this? I don't wanna have to deal with some random asshole who comes looking for trouble is all." Vaggie said, keeping an eye out for her surroundings as she didn't trust any of the random demon passerby who just strolled their way past them.

"I know you don't, but Al said that if we want to get some clients then we need to promote ourselves a bit. And, considering we don't have the cash for a billboard or commercial, what better way to spread the word than by sticking out some good old flyers?" Charlie replied to her friend, giving Vaggie a cheerful smile at the end.

"I'm just not so sure that this is the right way to go about it though. I mean, who do you think is gonna take the time of day to read any of these and not just tear them up or use them as, I dunno, homeless people toilet paper?" Vaggie asked her friend as her face grimaced in disgust at the end.

"Okay Vaggie, first off gross. Second, I know you have your doubts about this, but I promise you that these little fellas will get their job done." As Charlie spoke she decided to stop at a nearby brick wall with other flyers and posters taped to it and proceeded to add one of hers to the group with a smile. "I mean, there's gotta be like what? Billions of people trapped down here, and surely out of those billions there is at least one demon out there who's looking to redeem himself, and with these little beauties spread out across the city, the chances of us finding this one single demon will be increased greatly. I think?"

"I dunno Charlie. I mean, it's been days since you announced the hotel, and yet even with our new 'help', nobody's even shown up. Do you really think these flyers are really gonna help us find this 'one special demon'?" Vaggie asked, not really believing in her friends claim.

Charlie's smile slightly dropped as she finished putting her flyer on the brick wall before turning to her friend. "Vaggie look, I know you have some doubts about this, heck even I do, but in order for this to work we need to keep trying our best to make this thing work. If we just keep mulling over our doubts, then we'll never even get close to halfway through with the hotel. That's why we should stop fretting over the little negative things and focus on the important positive things."

"I dunno Charlie." Vaggie said as she looked away from the heiress, still not sure if what her friend is saying.

Charlie just simply giggled at the response as she wrapped her arms around Vaggies neck, making the grey skin on her turn slightly pink. "Trust me Vaggie. While even I have my fair share of doubts I am certain that someone, besides Angel Dust that is, will come to seek redemption. It might not be today, or tomorrow, or heck even in ten years maybe, but I know someone will come. And as long as I have your one hundred percent support, then I can wait as long as I need to."

"U-um, well yeah of course. Y-you know I'll always have your back through thick and thin Charles." Vaggie said slightly flustered with a smile, causing Charlie to giggle at how cute her girlfriend was being.

"That's the spirit." Charlie unwrapped her arm off Vaggie and gave her a quick peck on the cheek, causing her slightly pink grey skin to turn bright red. "Now come on Vaggie, we've only got a few flyers left to go, and after that I'll treat us to something tasty once we get back to the hotel. So let's go!" She said cheerfully as she turned and made her way down the street.

"U-um, w-wait for m-me." Vaggie said quietly with a smile as she followed her friend not too far from behind, completely flustered by the kiss she received from the heiress.

As the two continued down the street, stopping every once and a while to stamp a flyer to a wall or telephone pole neither of them realized that their destiny's, as well as their friends, were about to change forever.

---

Doppio walked down the street as he passed by the several demon and imp inhabitants of Hell, his right hand was inside his pants pocket while the other held his work bag, which swayed back and forth with each step he took causing the various objects inside to clank against each other as he made his way. Occasionally from time to time he would step to the side to avoid bumping into another demon while politely saying 'pardon me' to avoid being rude. He might've been in Hell sure, but that doesn't mean he couldn't be respectful to others, even if they weren't as polite as he was.

Sighing deeply, Doppio looked up at the large pentagram that hung in the forever unchanging deep red sky before his gaze slowly landed back on the buildings that adorned the area around him. Despite being in Hell for over eighteen years, Doppio still couldn't get over the fact that Hell was just a city of all things. When he was alive, he'd always expected Hell to either be this horrific place to be filled to the brim with the souls of the damned being tortured by the Devil's demonic legions for eternity as pits of fire and lakes of lava burned the wicked alive, or just simply a pitch black void where you couldn't do anything but go insane from the pure nothingness inside it, but a city of all things? It made him question where the Bible got the idea of Hell being a giant fire pit from.

Not that he was complaining though. Even though he was constantly surrounded by vile thugs, vicious pimps, shady prostitutes, sleezy drug dealers, and worst of all SJWs, as well as all the other degenerates of Hell, Doppio would rather put up with them for all eternity rather than enduring the worst torture imaginable, even if they did drive him up the wall. Thankfully though, he doesn't have to put up with that much. He doesn't participate in drugs, alcohol, women, gambling, or any other self destructive activities that most denizens of Hell enjoy, so he doesn't have to worry about drawing the unwanted attention of pimps and drug dealers, and he's learned that as long as he keeps to himself he won't have to worry about any other type of attention getting thrown his way. So all in all, Doppios life was pretty much worry free for the most part….well, at least in Hell standards that is.

However, despite the fact that he didn't have to worry about some pissed off demon knocking down his door at night, that didn't mean life in Hell wasn't full of downsides. Some of them being that he lived in a crappy apartment, his neighbors made it difficult for him to sleep with all the constant noise, and when he did sleep though his dreams were always filled with nightmares he couldn't remember when he wakes up. The sky was always a deep red making it almost impossible for him to tell the difference between day and night without aid from a clock, and that his walk to and from work was always filled with the possibility of being mugged. However, despite all those issues he had to deal with practically 24/7, there were two major ones that made all of his other problems seem like blessing's than anything.

The first issue he had was one he was most definitely sure that the other demons of Hell had as well. You see, even though Hell was a big place it wasn't infinite, and since every year more and more Demons wind up down here, it becomes harder and harder to accommodate every single person. So, to make sure that Hell never became too crowded God, Jesus, or somebody up in Heaven came up with a solution for the overpopulation problem, and that solution was the yearly 'Exterminations'. What is that you might be asking? Well basically every year for one whole night, Angels would descend from Heaven and well….. basically kill any unfortunate Demon and Imp that they would stumble upon with sharp bladed weapons made from metals blessed with holy properties. Once they were done soaking their blades in the blood of God knows how many Demons and Imps, they would then return to Heaven, and the total population of Hell would be brought back down to a manageable number. In a way, think of it like it was Christmas, only instead of Santa Claus bringing gifts to children it was an army of murderous Angels who brought the promise of a second death and the fear of God to Demons. At least, they brought fear to Doppio at least, because well, he found those things to be terrifying as Hell (no pun intended) when looking at them. When Doppio was alive he had always pictured Angels to be these beautiful, gentle, and elegant beings that would fill those who looked at them with a sense of wonder, awe, and warmth. However, during the first ever Extermination he had ever gone through, the Angels Doppio had seen on that fateful night are now forever burned into his memory. Instead of being beautiful beings that had large snow white wings that looked as soft as they clouds they lived in and brought a sort of warmth and comfort to whoever looked at them, the Angels that come down every year to cull Hells population were tall, lanky creatures that had dark grey, almost black skin and feathers on their bodies. Their wings were adorned with ratted grey feathers that looked ready to fall off at any given time, and the top of their heads had long curved horns that were similar to a rams. If it weren't for the thin little white halos that rested upon their horns, Doppio wouldn't have been able to tell they were Angels at all. However the one feature that the pink haired boy couldn't handle was their faces. Instead of having regular facial features such as moving eyes and a mouth, the Angels wore these masks that gave them a pair of digital glow in the dark eyes and a creepy crescent smile that gave Doppio chills down his spine. Every year during the Exterminations, when he was hiding out in his boarded up apartment he would often look out from the boarded window through the small gaps between the wooden planks and would see the illuminated faces of the Angels flying around in the sky, looking for someone to sink their holy weapons into. It made the pink haired boy wonder if all Angels in Heaven looked as freakishly horrific as those things.

Then there was the other issue he had with Hell. It wasn't as bad as the Exterminations, actually it could never in a million years even be close to as bad as the Exterminations, but it was still a issue that just got on Doppios case, and sadly unlike the first issue, this one wasn't a one night a year thing, it was one that was always present down here. You see, the second thing he hated down here was-

"Where's the cash you little red bitch?!" Doppio stopped in his tracks as he heard a deep, gravelly voice yelling down an alleyway right besides him. Turning his head the pink haired lad saw a group of burley looking Demons standing over a scrawny little Imp who was on his hands and knees over a small puddle of blood.

"Well, where is it?!" The owner of the voice yelled out as he raised his leg before kicking it into the side of the Imps ribcage, causing him to fall to his side and cough out liquid crimson.

"Please, Santiago! I don't have it yet, just give me some more time! I beg of you!" The little Imp clutched his chest as he tried to beg the bigger Demon into showing him some mercy.

"You've had your time you little shit stain!" The Demon bent down and grabbed the Imp by the college of his shirt, bringing him up to the Demons snarling face. "We've been nothing but generous. We've given you three weeks to pay off your debts to us, yet on the day of the deadline you have nothing to show for it! Why's that?!"

"P-Please, you have to understand. I-I barely make Jack at my current job, and with things like rent and food I had to spend some of what I made just to get by. Bu-But I'm real close to getting all the money. I just need another week and then we'll be good to go, what do ya say?"

The Demon's answer to the Imps question was just him throwing the tiny creature to the ground as before cracking his knuckles loudly. "I say that I'm done wasting my damn time with you. If you're not pay back what you owe in money-" the Demon signaled two of his friends over, both of which had sinister looking smiles as they walked over to their leader. "-then you're gonna pay it back in blood."

The Imp's eyes widened with fear as he felt his body being violated by the predatory looks of the three muscular Demons looming over his small diminutive stature. His spindly arms and legs shook uncontrollably as he raised his left arm up in a defensive manner.

"Santiago wa-!" The Imp tried to beg with the bigger Demon once more, but sadly for him his pleas were cut short as the leader Demon reared his right foot back and sent his ironclad boot into the Imps mouth, both shattering almost all his teeth and smashing his head into the ground with so much force it caused a sickening snap so loud it echoed of the walls of the alley. The Imp clutched his mouth tightly as pained, gurgled screams escaped his lips while blood oozed from the spaces between his fingers. A pool of the crimson liquid slowly formed around the Imps head as it poured out of the newly formed crack in the back of his head.

"This is what happens when you don't pay up on time!" The Demon raised his boot up again before slamming down onto the screaming Imp's covered mouth, breaking all the bones in both his hands and smashing any remaining teeth he had left. "When I'm through with you, you'll be shitting out nothing but blood and bones!"

What proceeded next was that the Demon and his two lackeys began to viscously and mercilessly beat the poor little Imp into the ground while the rest of the Demons in the group just watched with twisted glee. The sounds of fists striking flesh and snapping bones, accompanied by pain gurgled screams echoed off the walls of the alley way, giving Doppio the full "pleasure" to hear it clearly. Everytime he heard a fist come in contact with the Imp's body the pink haired boy couldn't help but wince in displeasure at the sounds. Deciding he had enough of witnessing this poor little Imp get brutalized by Demons who were ten times bigger than him, Doppio turned away from the violent scene and continued on his way as quickly as possible. The sounds from the alley grew fainter and fainter until eventually all Doppio could hear was the sounds of the cityscape around him.

That was the second thing he hated about Hell besides the Exterminations. The senseless violence over things that didn't need bloodshed to resolve it.

Now don't get him wrong he wasn't saying he was a pacifist, in fact he could confirm that he had committed acts of violence himself, like the time some cheapskate taxi driver decided to hustle him for his cash when he was alive. However, that was different as that man was trying to interfere with his mission from the boss by taking a look at an important envelope, so when he stuck his finger into that man's eye socket and threatened his life, he had good reason. However, unlike him, almost everybody down here Hell didn't need an excuse to use pointless fighting for things that could easily be resolved without it. Every day he would see examples of random brutality everywhere. From the random beatings or muggings on his way to work, to the shouts of domestic disputes he would hear through the walls of his apartment late at night, to even on television when he would watch Katie Killjoy harm her co-worker Tom for seemingly no reason other than to satisfy her own twisted enjoyment. Granted the gas mask Demon did say some rather…. colorful things, but Doppio doubted that it would deserve having scalding hot coffee poured into his crotch. A punch to the face was certainly justifiable, but having your tender areas being drenched in burning liquid was most definitely taking it too far.

The worst part about it all though was that nobody seemed to care in the slightest, not even Lucifer himself cared if his kingdom tore itself apart. Sure, he gets that it was Hell and all, but surely there should be someone else other than him who is also sick and tired of the constant violence and wanton destruction. After all, wouldn't the victims who couldn't defend themselves finally say enough was enough, or wouldn't the abusers just get bored of repeating the same violent acts over and over?

He wishes there was someone out there who was just sick of the chaos as him. Someone he can sit down with and feel comfortable talking with, without the fear of being attacked by that someone. Someone whose thought process didn't revolve around sex, drugs, and violence 24/7, someone Doppio could trust as much as he did with the boss back when he was alive. Sadly though, Doppio doubted that such a person could even exist down here in Hell. No, the pink haired lad was afraid that he'd have to spend the rest of his unlife here in Hell completely alone surrounded by a sea of bloodthirsty, drug ridden, power hungry jackassho-.

Thud!

Doppio's train of thought broke as he felt something collide into his body and caused him to lose his footing, making him fall to the ground and land on his back, his work bag had fallen out of his grip and landed on the ground next to its master with a dull thud. Thankfully for him though, the contents of the bag didn't spill out, so there was that. However despite that little positive though, that did nothing to stop the pink hair lad's mood from souring greatly. As he laid on the ground he, for some odd reason, didn't seem to notice several sheets of paper flying in the wind.

"Oh for the love of-." Just as quickly as he had fallen down, Doppio began to slowly lift himself off the ground as he rubbed the back of his head as several random Demon pedestrians simply walked by without a care or interest for him at all. He couldn't help but blame himself as he wasn't quite paying attention to what was ahead of him, this is what he got for having his head in the clouds he supposed. But what the hell did he just bump into? Whatever it was, it didn't feel like a random Street lamp that's for sure, and if it was just a simple trash bin he would've heard the sounds of metal clanging against the concrete and trash spilling out of it. As Doppio lifted his upper back off the ground and propped himself on his elbows, a sheet of paper suddenly flew right towards him and perfectly landed on his lap, catching his attention.

"Huh? What's-?" Doppio eyed the piece of paper curiously before he noticed several other sheets lying on the ground near him. He quickly realized that these papers must've come from the thing he knocked himself into, but that still didn't answer that question though. Deciding to finally see what it exactly was that he slammed into by accident, Doppio looked up to see what the source of his little mishap was. However, the second he turned his head to look forward he was immediately grabbed by the collar of his sweater by a grey, slender feminine hand which pulled him off the ground and raised him up high. Dumbfounded by the suddenness of the situation, Doppio moved his gaze downward towards the perpetrator of his very hapless situation and saw that the person holding onto him was a young, grey skinned woman with long white hair and had an X where her left eye would be. The expression she held was one of hostility and ire which made the pink haired man she was holding feel like her gaze was cutting into him. As Doppio stared down at his captor with worry and fear, he couldn't help but curse his luck. Why did the bad things always happen to him for crying out loud?!

---

Earlier

---

Charlie hummed softly to herself as she applied yet another flyer onto the brick wall of one of Hell's many, many 24 hour opened bars while a stack of her papers sat right next to her. Behind her, Vaggie did the same as she applied one onto a simple wooden telephone post. Brushing a few small strands of hair out of her face, Vaggie turned over to Charlie and asked, "How many more do we have left now Charles?"

"Well, when we started off this morning we had three hundred of these little guys with us. And so far with the amount of papers we've placed, including these two just now, I'd say we only have," Charlie trailed off for a bit as she mentally recounted all the flyers they had hung all over town. Once she had figured it out, she smiled and turned to Vaggie, saying. "two hundred and sixteen left to go. And with how fast we've been going we should be done by the time lunch rolls around."

"Two hundred and six-?! Aw jesus, we've really got our work cut out for us today huh?" Vaggie asked the princess, who couldn't help it chuckle at one eyed girls question.

"Aw don't be like that. Trust me, with the two of us together, I'm sure that well get this whole thing done in no time." Charlie said as she moved right up to Vaggie and wrapped her arms around the Demoness's neck. "And besides, would you rather be doing this for the next few hours with me, or would you rather be back at the hotel alone with Angel Dust and 'you-know-who'?" Charlie used her other hand to make air quotes for that last part.

Vaggie couldn't help but shutter uncomfortably as she grimaced at the thought of being trapped in the hotel for an hour with the two people she despised the most. The hotels first, (and only) client that is mostly, well actually only well known for his work in the adult entertainment industry, Angel Dust and the hotels new "business" partner, Alastor. Ugh, just saying the red clad freaks name left a bad taste in her mouth. When it came to those two the young Salvadorian woman couldn't stand being around them for too long as their certain characteristics often grinded away at her temper. When it came to Angel, she found the porn star's sarcastic and sassy persona to be infuriating as it often brought nothing but trouble for her and Charlie, with that whole fiasco he demonstrated on the day of the hotel opening up being living proof of that. She also found his sense of humor to be coarse and exasperating as well. Honestly, every time he told some type of sexual joke or gave her that wide smug smile she wanted to punch that hijo de puta in the teeth. As for Alastor though, her thoughts on him were entirely different. Where could she even start with him? Everything about him was just….wrong, extremely wrong. Before ever meeting him Vaggie knew of the atrocities he committed down in Hell, how he would brutally slaughter and torture those unfortunate enough to cross paths with him as well as broadcasting his victims pained and horrific screams across every single radio wave in Hell. Vaggie already knew of the dangers the Radio Demon brought along with him, however when she actually got to meet him in person, she could see why he was such a dangerous being. The red clad Demon just gave off this….aura whenever she was around him. It was like his entire body just pulsated with this sinister and foreboding energy that radiated with so much power that she could feel it even when she wasn't in the same room as him. She might've been able to put up with the likes of Angel for a long period of time, but now that one of the most fearsome beings in all of Hell had decided to stick around the hotel, she wasn't sure if she could handle the irritable antics from both of them.

"Oh God no. I'd rather be doing this all day by myself then have to put up with those two all alone." Vaggie stated truthfully, which made the princess at her side smile as she snickered.

"Hehe, I thought so. Now come on, I was thinking that if we hurry this up a bit we might have some time to have a little bit of fun before we have to head on back to the hotel." Charlie said as she unwrapped her arm off Vaggie and went to go pick up the flyers she left on the ground.

"A little bit of fun you say? My, my, my princess I didn't know you could be so risque~." Vaggie said in a mocking seductive tone, making the older Demon blush as she tried to stifle a laugh.

"Not that kind of fun Vaggie. Hehehe, oh, I see that Angels sense of humor has been rubbing off on you." Charlie said as she grabbed her stack of flyers off the concrete and headed off down the street with her girlfriend following.

"Oh? So does this mean we won't be indulging ourselves in a passionate morning of pleasure between the two of us. Oh Charlie, why must you tease me so~?" Vaggie said in an fake, overly dramatic tone. Enjoying the look on Charlie's face as she blushed violently while trying to hold back a laugh.

"Pfth! Vaggie, stop it! You're getting me all flustered!" Charlie said.

"Hehehe, sorry Charlie but I can't help it. I love it when you're face gets all pink like that. Makes you look way cuter than usual in my opinion." Vaggie said as she gave the princess a small friendly smile.

Charlie turned her head back to look at her friend and spoke with a cheerful tone. "Hehe, aww thanks Vaggie that means a lot coming from you."

Vaggie merely blushed as she said. "Ah, you don't gotta thank me. It's just something I felt like saying. It's nothing really."

"Well, whether it was nothing or not, I still appreciate it. It's things like that, that help me get through the day you know, and it's giving me the positivity to believe that these little flyers here might just work out. So thank you Vaggie." Charlie said happily, her positive emotions having grown slightly from her girlfriend's compliment.

"You're welcome Charlie, I guess. But really, don't mention it." Vaggie replied in a flustered tone, swearing that her heart had just skipped a beat at what she just heard. Her mouth forming into a small smile as her grey skin became a tad bit pinker.

Picking up on Vaggie's tone, Charlie simply giggled as she spoke. "Well, alright then, if you insist. But just remember this Vaggie, no matter if what you say is nothing to you or not, I just want you to know that I will always cherish what you have to sa-!"

Thud!

Before the princess could finish what she was saying, her sentence was cut short when she suddenly felt something bump into her body, causing her to accidentally let the flyers she had in her hands go flying and make her slam into Vaggie. Fortunately for the white haired Salvadorian, instead of falling to the ground with her girlfriend, Charlie instead somewhat bounced off Vaggie and fell to ground, landing on her chest and stomach with a pained grunt while her girlfriend simply staggered back a few feet while accidentally dropping her papers to the ground. All the while as this went down, other random demon pedestrians simply walked around the mess before then, not wanting to get caught up in whatever the Hell was happening around them.

"Que demonios?!" Vaggie exclaimed as she steadied her footing. After getting over the initial surprise and shock she looked down towards the ground at Charlie and went to help her. "Charlie! Are you okay?!"

As Vaggie helped the princess get off the ground, Charlie hissed in pain as she looked as she slowly got to her knees. "Thanks. I'm okay, just a little chest pain is all. Nothing that should last for too long I think." Looking around, she noticed the many flyers that were slowly falling towards the ground and felt frowned sadly at how much she and Vaggie would have to pick up. Hopefully they could both get them all before something were to damage any of them.

"Oh for the love of-." Charlie and Vaggie's attention was suddenly caught by the sound of a sudden voice only a few inches away. Looking at the source, both women saw a pink haired, red and alabaster skinned Demon wearing a pink sweater and jeans was currently lying on the ground and rubbing the back of his head, seemingly not noticing the duo of Demoness's in front of him. It didn't take long for Charlie and Vaggie to realize that he was the person responsible for slamming into the young princess, (Well maybe not young, after all she was over 146 years old.) and while Charlie wasn't angered the Demon for slamming into her, because she saw that it had been an accidental, the same couldn't be said for Vaggie, as she stared down at the Demon with a hateful gaze before leaving her girlfriends side and went up to the Demon.

"Vaggie?" Charlie asked as she watched her partner storm over to the downed pinkette, clearly worried about what's about to happen.

"Huh? What's-?" The Demon looked around for a bit before looking upwards, just in time to see an angry Vaggie grab the Crimson Demon by the collar of his sweater and hoist him up into the air.

"Oh no." Charlie said, realizing what her friend was about to do to the pinkette. Getting to her feet, she hoped her Salvadorian friend didn't do anything too….violent, before she could stop her.

---

If you were to ask Doppio what he thought of his own luck, you'd most likely expect him to say that it was….well, as his neighbor down the hall from his apartment would put it, "really, really shitty." and despite his neighbors crude way of saying it, Doppio couldn't help but fully agree. Because right now, as he's staring down at this grey skinned woman who looked ready to use her hands to completely maul him apart, he couldn't help but damn his cruddy luck to the deepest most foulest pits Hell had to offer. Why couldn't he just have a normal commute to work just like every other day?! Why did he have to have his head in the clouds?! Why was he about to get beaten into a pulp over a simple accident?! Why did he always get stuck with all the bad luck?! As the woman used her other hand to raise a fist up, ready to strike him, Doppio closed his eyes tightly as he prepared for the impending blow.

"Vaggie wait!" A female voice spoke, coming from behind the woman. After feeling the arm that held him jerk a bit, Doppio slowly opened on of his eyes to see what was happening. The sight he was met with was one of confusion and slight relief, as directly behind the grey skinned woman was another one with bright alabaster skin and shining golden hair holding back the enraged woman's fist, trying desperately to calm her down.

"Vaggie, it was an accident! I'm sure he meant no harm! Please, just let him go and think rationally about this!" The alabaster woman said as she struggled to hold back the grey skinned woman's, now known to Doppio as Vaggie, fist.

"Grrrh! Let….go Charlie! I need to teach this son of bitch what he gets for messing with you! Besides, I bet he just did it on purpose and made look like it was an accident!" Vaggie said to the alabaster woman, now known to Doppio as Charlie, as she tried to pull her fist away from Charlie's iron grip and land a solid punch on the pinkettes face.

"Vaggie please! Stop this, people are starting to look for crying out loud!" Charlie pleaded with her friend, causing the one eyed woman to look around and see that there was indeed random Demon pedestrians looking on at the scene with mild interest, with some even recording the whole thing on their Hellphones. Seeing how this might negatively impact the image of the Hotel, Vaggie sneered before releasing her grip on Doppios sweater, making him to fall on the ground and land hardly on his posterior with a grunt and causing Charlie to let go of her girlfriends fist, who just let it fall back down to her side. Seeing as how the whole thing had quickly died out, the Demons watching the whole thing quickly began to continue on their way, with some of them groaning in disappointment, saying that they wouldn't get to see a good show now.

"Oh my goodness, I am so sorry!" Charlie said as she walked up to Doppio and knelt down beside him, placing her hands on her chest in an apologetic manner. "I'm sorry about Vaggies behavior, she's actually a very nice person, she just has a habit of being overly protective at times! Please forgive us for this whole misunderstanding!"

Doppio did not immediately respond to the woman's words. Instead, after almost getting socked in the face for a simple little mistake and then being saved by said punch, Doppio tried to calm himself from the shock and fear from the sudden dilemma. Once he felt that he was calm enough, the pinkette responded to Charlie in a timid, and slightly shaken, tone. "I-It's quite alright. If anything, I feel like I should be the one apologizing since I wasn't paying attention to my surroundings. I'm deeply sorry for that ma'am."

Charlie was somewhat taken aback by surprise, as she expected the crimson Demon to lash out or yell obscenities at her face for almost getting punched in the face by her girlfriend. But thankfully for her it seems that she doesn't have to worry about that as the Demon before her seemed to be a somewhat understandable and polite one rather than most of Hell's violent and quick tempered Demons. With a small smile she said. "Why thank you. But please, don't feel like that this was your fault. After all, I wasn't paying attention to where I was going too, so this is partially my fault as well." Getting to her feet, Charlie offered a helping hand towards Doppio. "Would you like some help?"

"U-Um, yes, I would." With some slight hesitation, Doppio took the hand offered to him as was helped back up to his feet. He couldn't help but notice that her hand felt incredibly smooth and soft to the touch, almost like his body, except her skin didn't have the same rubber consistency as his. He also couldn't help but blush slightly as he was holding a girl's hand, and a pretty cute one at that. Thankfully though this seemed to go unnoticed by the blonde. Once he was back up on his feet, he let go of Charlie's hand and patted off any dirt on his clothing. "Thank you. Once again though I am completely sorry for being such a burden, and I want you to know that I have no ill will towards you nor your friend." He said before noticing the several flyers that were scattered all over the ground, with some floating off from the breeze or being trampled on by random pedestrians. "L-Let me make it up to you. Here I'll help you out with picking up this mess." Doppio bent down and began to grab as many papers as he could before they could be blown away or destroyed by the carelessness of the other Demons. This suddenly caused Charlie to remember the sheets of paper that had been knocked from her hands moments prior.

"O-Oh crap, I forgot!" The princess exclaimed as she did what the pinkette was doing by frantically picking up as many flyers in her hands. Seeing that her girlfriend was frantically picking up the sheets of paper and also realizing that their advertising was at risk of being destroyed or blown away, Vaggie also mimicked what the two Demons were doing and also helped out in the clean up effort, albeit much more calmly then the frantic princess. Two minutes shortly after, the three of them were able to gather most of the flyers off the ground, with Doppio and Vaggie having small, but neatly stacked flyers in their hands while Charlie simply had a messy bundle that she hugged tightly to her chest. While the three of them had successfully gathered a decent portion of the papers, it wasn't all of them unfortunately as some were either trampled on by the Demon pedestrians on the street, blown away by the wind or the gust of a speeding car on the street, or a combination of both where after being blown away, the papers either landed in a puddle of filth water or in the street.

"Um h-here you go. I know this isn't all of them, and I deeply apologize for not being able to get the others, but I hope that the ones you have here will be more than enough." Doppio said as he handed over the neatly stacked bundle of papers in his hands while bowing slightly in an apologetic manner.

"Thanks. But don't beat yourself up over it. Accidents happen, ya know." Charlie said as she tried to reassure the Crimson Demon that it wasn't his fault. Despite only meeting the poor guy, the fact that he was so polite and apologetic to both her and Vaggie made the princess feel bad for him as she could tell that his regret and self shame was genuine. While using one of her hands to take the flyers out of the Crimson Demons hands, Charlie spoke in a cheerful demeanor. "And besides, we didn't lose a lot of flyers. We've still got a decent amount as it is. Heck, maybe we should thank you in fact! After all you've made both of our jobs both quicker and easier now Mr.-." Charlie's cheerful attitude quickly subsided as an embarrassed realization struck her. "Wait a minute, ahehehe. I just realized that I never got your name."

Doppios cheeks flushed slightly at what the blonde Demoness had pointed out. She had been right, as during this whole little mix-up, the pinkette had never formally introduced himself in the slightest. "O-Oh! You're right! Where are my manners?" Lifting up one of his hands, he continued. "My name is Vinegar, Vinegar Doppio. Although, most people usually just call me Doppio for short."

Charlie couldn't help but giggle at the way Doppio introduced himself. She didn't know why but it just seemed cute for some reason. After placing the neatly stacked flyers she had received under her arm, Charlie lifted up a free hand and used it to shake Doppios. "Well Mr. Doppio, it's a pleasure to meet you, even if it's during circumstances such as this. My name is Charlie Magne."

'Magne? Why does that sound familiar? Have I heard it somewhere before?' Doppio thought as he shook Charlie's hand with an earnest smile 'Eh, it's probably nothing I suppose. After all, I hear people shout different names in the streets everyday, so I probably heard it from something like that from some random raging lunatic.'

While Doppio and Charlie continued to shake hands with one another Vaggie, who couldn't help but feel like she was forgotten about by her girlfriend at the moment, let out a loud deliberate cough, catching the attention of the princess.

"Oh, shoot! Sorry Val." Charlie said as she let go of Doppios hand and used her arms to motion over to the Salvadorian. "Doppio, I'd like to introduce you to my best friend/ girlfriend/ one of my three bodyguards/ assistant manager, Vaggie!"

"A pleasure to meet you." Doppio said as he held out his hand to the white haired woman. "I know that we had a…. intense meeting at first, but I'd like you to know that I hold no 'll will against you. After all, I'm sure accidents like this must be a common thing here in Hell."

"Gee, thanks. Now I can rest easy knowing I didn't smash your teeth in." Vaggie replied in a venomously sarcastic tone as she simply glared at the pinkette with contempt. Despite her girlfriends forgiveness and his friendly nature, Vaggie still didn't like nor forgive Doppio over what had just happened. She also believed Doppios kind personality to be some kind of act, one that she wouldn't fall for.

"Vaggie!" Charlie said, appalled by the tone her girlfriend was using. Turning over back towards Doppio, she gave him a nervous chuckle and said. "I'm sorry about her. She's usually not like this most of the time. She's just very overprotective at times such as this. You'd actually find her to be a fun gal to hang around with once you get to know her!"

"No, it's alright." Doppio said as he lowered his hand and, despite having been talked rudely to and nearly beaten up by Vaggie, still didn't harbor any resentment towards her. "I can understand why she would be like this. After all we are in Hell, so people would be kinda cautious and…. ferocious towards one another."

"Ahehe, I suppose so." Charlie said with a nervous smile. Despite how the pinkette was being understanding with the two of them, the princess couldn't help but be embarrassed by her girlfriends rude comment from just now.

"Um, yes. Well, anyway there's something I would like to ask you two, if that's alright."

Doppio's question caused Vaggie to raise an eyebrow up slightly in curiosity, and was about to ask the pinkette what kind of question he was about to ask, thinking it could possibly be some type of strange sexual question. If that was the case, (which you all know isn't), then Vaggie wouldn't hesitate to bash the man's head into a bloody puddle on the sidewalk. However, before the question could leave the Salvadorian womans lips though Charlie, who was still embarrassed by Vaggie's harsh and sarcastic "apology" from a minute ago and wanted to change the subject as quickly as possible, replied to the crimson Demon.

"Sure! After everything you've been through these past view minutes and helping us clean these papers up, I see no problem with answering a few questions. Heck, it's the least we can do." Vaggie had to fight the urge to facepalm right then and there. Even though she loved Charlie with her entire soul and found her golden heart to be way too pure for Hell and Earth, (and maybe even Heaven) she was way too much of a pushover when it came to the minor things. She didn't like to think these thoughts, but she feared that if her girlfriend continued to let go of the small stuff, someone might use that take advantage of her, and she'd be damned to let that happen.

"Thank you, though I only just have one to ask. I'm just curious about what you two are doing out here. I can tell you're trying to advertise something because of the flyers, but I'm just curious as to what though."

"Oh?" Charlie said, somewhat surprised that he doesn't know what it was she was trying to get across here in Hell. "You mean you don't know? I thought everyone here would know due to me already advertising this on Channel 666 just a few days ago?"

Now it was Doppio's turn to be surprised. She had tried to advertise this thing she was selling or offering on the most popular, (and only), news network in all of Hell? Why is he just now learning about this, I mean sure, he doesn't watch TV that much, if ever rarely, but surely he would've heard something about this from the people around him, right? After all, he has heard from others that getting a chance to even be on the show, as in being directly in the studio, was already a difficult task in of it's self. But to actually get the chance to talk about something someone wanted to discuss was by itself a miracle on its own.

"I don't watch the news that much. After all, I can only watch for so long before I feel…. repulsed by Katies smile. Ugh." A shiver of disgust crawled down the pinkettes spine as the image of the news anchors unnerving smile flashed across his mind.

"You and me both buddy." Charlie said under her breath before saying. "I see. Well in that case, allow me to tell you what it is me and my good friend Vaggie here are trying to get across."

Vaggies face paled slightly as her eye somewhat widened. She remembered what happened during the hotel debut fiasco after Charlie had finished singing, and she wasn't going to let that happen again. "Uh, Charlie? I'm not sure that's such a great idea. Why don't we just give him a flyer or something and just finish putting the rest up?"

Charlie turned to her girlfriend with a slightly puzzled look. "Huh? Why, we've got plenty of time to just answer this one question." Turning back to Doppio, her look of confusion turned into a pleasant and, somewhat, excited smile. "Besides, I think hearing about would be way better than just reading about it, and I've been dying to try out my new pitch!"

"Charlie I really don't think you should-." Despite her protests however, Vaggie was abruptly cut off by the princess.

"Ahem! Well Mr. Doppio, since you haven't heard of our fine business, I'll be more than happy to explain what it is me and my beautiful partner here are trying to get out here!" Vaggie couldn't help but blush at that. Thankfully though, it seemed that Charlie didn't notice as she continued on. "As I'm sure you know, once every year Hell goes through the annual Exterminations, which help in dealing with the population problem we currently face down here by culling off a small, but decent amount of Demons, usually with most of those slayed being either homeless or having no idea about the Extermination. And while the Exterminations do indeed help keep Hells population a large, but manageable size, I find the fact that they have to use controlled genocide to keep the population at such a size is not only cruel and inhuman, but also somewhat unecessary. After all, don't you think that there are better ways to help deal with the overpopulation problem?"

"Better ways?" Doppio asked as he put a hand to his chin and thought over what Charlie had just said. Now, the subject of alternative ways to deal with Hell's overpopulation problem wasn't something that hadn't crossed his mind before, however he wasn't so sure about what the young woman had meant by better ways. When she meant better ways, did she mean better ways to put down Demons? Because after surviving his first few Exterminations and learning about the nature of them, Doppio had to wonder why God, Jesus, or the person up in Heaven responsible for the Exterminations thought unleashing a hoard of terrifying murder Angels was a good way to help control the population of Hell. Why couldn't they just kill off the Demons in a painless way like, he doesn't know, euthanize them or instantly wipe them out with a blink of an eye. Seriously, those things sounded way better than getting impaled by holy weapons made out of a material that literally made it feel like your body was being ripped from the inside out by hot claws of steel to be honest. However, Doppio could tell by Charlie's demeanor that she wouldn't exactly call that a 'better way' to deal with the overpopulation, so he decided to hear her out. Maybe she has better ideas than him, who knows? "Better ways like what?"

Charlie's smile of excitement only grew larger as stars began to sparkle in her eyes. "I'm glad you asked!"

'Oh no.' Vaggie thought, knowing what her friend was about to do and fearing the reaction from the pink haired stranger.

Unaware of her girlfriend's worried thoughts, Charlie continued on. "You see Mr. Doppio, ever since I was just a little girl I always believed every Demon here in Hell deserves a chance at redemption! And before you say anything, while I know it might sound completely absurd, I truly think that if given the chance and opportunity even the most vile and sinful Demons could redeem themselves and turn their lives around for not only the betterment of themselves but others around them! I believe that inside every Demon, no matter how wicked their personality, there's a bright and colorful rainbow just waiting to burst out of them and turn them into the good people that I know they can be, and once that Demon does become redeemed they can finally she'd themselves of their Demonic coil and move on upwards towards Heaven, where their burdens are gone for good and their Joy is everlasting! Not only would this be a humane way to remove some of the populace, but it would also give people the chance to show the good side of themselves towards others! But you might be asking yourself, 'Charlie, how would one go about redeeming themselves here in Hell? It's not like there are exactly any places they can go to, what with all the drugs, violence, and prostitutes around the place.', well that's where me and my staff come in. You see, recently I have opened up a new, one of a kind establishment created to help out any and all Demons seeking to atone for their crimes against everything holy. It's called the-! Drum roll please." Charlie paused her sentence as she moved her fingers up and down as if playing a pair of miniature drums before bursting out in pure, almost child-like enthusiasm.

"The Happy Hotel! A place where the wicked check in, and the redeemed check out! A true, one of a kind place where everyone gets the happy ending they deserve!" Charlie finished her little outburst by doing a little twirl and throwing her hands up, almost accidentally causing the flyers she had previously collected almost fly right out from underneath her arm, thankfully though her grip kept them firmly in place. While the other Demonic pedestrians could only stare at the princess with pure dumbstruck expressions as they continued with their business, and while Vaggie hand her face buried in her hands from sheer embarrassment, Charlie could only keep up her pose as she continuously smiled at Doppio, albeit her smile was somewhat tinged with embarrassment after she released what she had just done. "Hehe, sorry about that. I've sorta got a flare for the theatrics. B-But um, yeah, that's my idea. What do you think?"

Instead of getting an immediate reply from the pinkette, Doppio instead prompted to hum thoughtfully as he placed a hand to his chin and chewed on what the blonde had said. After carefully examining everything he had just heard, Doppio decided to speak up. "Hmm, redemption huh? Well, if I were to be completely honest with you Mrs. Charlie, I think that idea of yours-."

As Doppio spoke, both the faces of Charlie and Vaggie facial expressions began to shift into different emotions. Charlie, whose nervous smile was slowly contorting into that of a worried frown, and Vaggie, whose expression was slowly melting away into sheer rage, both began to brace themselves for what Doppio had to say. Even though his tone was calm and thoughtful, Charlie couldn't help but fear that this kind and well mannered person who she had just met was just about to mock and ridicule both her and her dream, and if that were to happen, she had no doubt that Vaggie would attack him on the spot, and by taking a quick glimpse at the expression or her girlfriends face, the Salvadorian was no doubt counting on that to happen. Preparing to flinch back at whatever harsh words he might say, what Charlie and Vaggie were about to hear next was something that neither of them would have ever expected.

"-is actually a plausible idea. I suppose that it could work."

Charlie and Vaggie could only stare blankly at the crimson pinkette in confusion at what he had just said and the way he said it. Usually, whenever the Demon princess had brought up the notion of her idea to other Demons, besides Vaggie, they would resort to openly mock both her and her dreams and say how impossible they were. Even her business partner Alastor and the hotel's only client Angel Dust didn't think her idea of redemption was possible as well. But to see that this random stranger didn't insult or ridicule Charlie or her idea was something else, and the tone of his voice made her know that he was actually genuine with what he said, as his voice held no hint of sarcasm or mocking nature, just thoughtfulness and curiosity. While both women were glad that they weren't made fun of by the pinkette, they couldn't help but think two different things. Charlie wanted to know why Doppio just thought her idea was just plausible, while Vaggie couldn't help but worry that Doppio was going to say something to upset her girlfriend.

"Umm, sorry to ask this Mr. Doppio, but when you say 'plausible' what do you mean by that?"

"Well, I don't think your idea is impossible, per say. I'm certainly open to the idea of Demons wanting to redeem themselves and I'm sure that there are a decent amount of them here that do genuinely feel somewhat remorseful for their actions on Earth and want to change for the better. But…." Doppio trailed off.

"But?" Charlie asked, somewhat fearfully.

"But, well, I'm just not quite convinced to be honest with you. While I do believe that there are few Demons who do truly regret the things that they did, and that redemption is possible, I don't think it's quite as easy as you make it sound. I mean, what exactly is it that you plan to do to help these Demons achieve redemption?"

While Doppio's tone didn't hold any sort of cruelty or mockery, it didn't stop the princess of Hell from feeling the joy and excitement she had earlier slowly fade away from Doppios criticism. 'Well, I suppose constructive criticism is better than just being mocked at, I guess.' she thought to herself before answering the pinkettes question. "Well, when clients check in at the Happy Hotel our main priority is to help rehabilitate them from any sinful practices. For example one of our, (and I mean our only), clients has a somewhat small….okay scratch that, a complete addiction with drugs and alcohol, as well divulging into destructive acts violence as well as….um, well let's just say he enjoys partaking in some carnal pleasures to say the least."

Doppios snow white cheeks blushed in embarrassment. "Oh, um, I see."

"Yeah, well…." Charlie couldn't help but feel uncomfortable from what she had said. Even though she was trying to help him, Charlie never did like talking about Angel Dusts lorful exploits. Clearing her throat she decided to continue on. "Anyway, we are currently trying to help get him off any drugs and alcohol while at the same time help him with controlling his violent temperament as well as help him get a grip with his…. desires. I believe that once we're able to help him gain better control over his addictions and desires, we can then work on helping him strive towards being a better person which will hopefully lead to his inevitable redemption. Now my explanation isn't as simple as that, there are other complicated factors that are in the process (such as Angels uncooperativeness and child like rebellious attitude), but that is the basic summary of what I'm trying to do."

"I see." Doppio said before humming in thought as he mulled over the information Charlie had given him about how exactly she was going to go about with redemption while his blush and embarrassment from seconds ago faded away into his mind. While he wouldn't deny that rehabilitating others and helping them with their attitudes was a good idea, that small, nagging, criticism in him made him doubt that Charlies wouldn't be enough. "Well Mrs. Charlie, while I think that your methods sound like the first step in the right direction, I don't think getting into Heaven would be as easy as taking rehab and adopting a much more positive attitude. I mean this is Hell after all and most of those who weren't naturally born here clearly must've done something bad enough to wind up down here. Now, I'm sure you'd be able to rehabilitate some of the Demons who committed minor sins, such as petty theft or maybe drug addicts and such, but for the other Demons who have committed worse acts against God such as remorseless killing or the destruction of lives though, I'm afraid that it isn't that simple. Like with that client of yours for example, you said he had some addictions to narcotics and loved to, well, take part in some intimate activities right? Well, I'm sure he'd be able to redeem himself if it was just those two things. But you also said he also had a violent temperament and took part in some destructive acts of violence as well, right?"

"U-Uh, y-yeah I did say that." Charlie confirmed as she couldn't help but shrink into herself, not liking where the conversation was going.

"And may I ask what kind of violent acts he's taken part in?" Doppio asked, not aware of how uncomfortable Charlie seemed to be.

"W-W-Well, h-he has destroyed some property of ours during his withdrawals as well as, others properties as well. And sometimes he has taken part in some….turf wars too."

"Has he ever killed someone when he was alive? More specifically, has he ever killed someone without remorse?" Doppio asked, wanting to know if this Angel Dust character has committed such a sin. While destruction of property and harming others in petty gang fights is a horrible thing to do, murder on the other had was far, far worse in Doppios opinion. (Though, he was one to talk.)

"Y-Yes." Charlie reluctantly replied as she looked away from Doppio, waiting to hear what he had to say next, and doubted that it would be anything but good.

"Then there's your problem. Murder is something you can't rehabilitate out of someone, nor is it something you can atone for by simply adopting a smile and turning over a new leaf. Taking a life is by far one of the greatest crimes against God himself, especially when someone does it with no remorse for the person they do it to. If your client had simply been a drug addict who just slept around with other people, like those who work for pimps, then it would be possible for him to redeem himself. Sadly though, considering the fact that he has blood on his hands, I'm afraid that his chances of that are slim to none."

Charlie winched at the harsh words Doppio spewed from his mouth. While a part of her knew that his words had some truth to them, she wanted to deny them greatly as she didn't want to believe that what he was saying was true. Yes, Angel Dust's morality was anything less than stellar, but that was why she made the Happy Hotel, to help people like Angel become the best versions of themselves that she knows they can be! Surely redemption for someone like him could be possible, right?

"H-Hey wait a minute, just because he's killed others when he was alive doesn't mean he's beyond saving! I'll admit, he probably doesn't feel any remorse for those that he's killed, and while that's something that I can't stand for, nor defend, that doesn't make him some type of heartless monster who takes some kind of sick pleasure in the death of others. While he's not the type to admit it, I know for a fact that there are people that he truly cares about with all his heart and it's because of that, that I believe he isn't beyond saving, as well as others too. Because I believe that as long as someone has compassion in their hearts, whether they be Demon or Imp, then anyone is worth redemption. That's why I'm going to help those that can be saved, because I, Charlie Magne, have a dream, and that dream is to give others the second chance that I know they need, and while I might be mocked for it, come what may. I refuse to give up on my dream." Charlie said confidently as she finished by placing her hand onto her chest.

"Yeah, she's right." Vaggie said as she stepped up to support her friend. "While Angel Dust might be an insufferable prick that's done us more harm to our credibility then good, I believe that if anyone can help turn even the biggest douchebag into the kindest saint it's her." Vaggie placed a hand on Charlie's shoulder as the blonde gave her comrade a small thankful smile. "A lot of the things you said we're right. Yeah, remorseless killers gaining redemption might be impossible, and yeah, I can't argue with a lot of what you said, in fact as much as I hate to admit it I can't help but agree. However, that doesn't mean I don't believe in her. Charlie here is one of the most kindest, compassionate people down here that it amazes me she isn't an angel, and it's because of her kind heart and compassionate attitude that I think she can pull it off. Yeah it might be hard down the way, but I know that if anyone could pull it off it's her, and I'll be with her every step off the way, because I believe in her with all my trust that I'd follow her to the ends of Hell itself." Vaggie said as she looked over at Charlie and gave her a warm smile during that last part, which was entirely true by the way. Ever since she had met the blonde all those years ago and had became her girlfriend soon after, Vaggie was confident in placing her trust and loyalty to Charlie, as she knew the princess would never do anything to hurt her.

And speaking of the princess of Hell, Charlie couldn't help but feel touched at her girlfriend's kind words. While she knew that Vaggie did support her goal, Charlie sometimes felt that her girlfriend wasn't exactly one hundred percent with her. But after hearing the Salvadorian confirm her support, Charlie knew it was something that she shouldn't dwell on. Because unlike her parents, Angel, Alastor and everyone else down here, she knew that Vaggie would always have her back especially when the times were tough, and because of that she couldn't have asked for a much more wonderful partner and friend. Sometimes she wondered how someone as wonderful as her ended up down here to be honest, not that she was complaining.

However, Charlie wasn't the only one affected by Vaggie's declaration as well. Doppio's face held an expression of slight shock and realization. As he heard the white haired women speak, Doppio was able to pick up on how she spoke. The way she talked about believing in her friend's goal, there was something about it that almost seemed somewhat familiar to him. It almost reminded him of his time on Earth, when he himself had shown loyalty to the one person he deemed worthy of his trust.

"I see…" Doppio said in a thoughtful, quiet voice as he turned his gaze away from the two and just stood there, still quite surprised to see a similarity between him and this Vaggie character, even if it was small. "Well, I suppose you two are dead set on this goal of yours. While I don't think it's impossible, I know that redeeming a killer will not be as easy as you make it out to be."

"Sir?" Charlie asked as she noticed that Doppio's tone had become distant. She also noticed how his eyes seemed to be somewhat wide and looked like they were empty while his already pale white face seemed to become a tad paler. It didn't look like he was frightened though, instead he held an expression that she couldn't quite make out. She was about to ask if he was alright, however before she could do so Doppio turned his gaze back forward towards Charlie.

"I'm sorry but, I'm afraid we might have to cut this conversation short. You and your friend here have given me something to think over. Besides, I'm probably already late to work as is." Doppio began to move his way forward and slipped between Charlie and Vaggie, making sure not to bump into them. As both women simply watched him begin to leave with some slight confusion, Doppio decided to turn his head back and give the princess one last piece of advice. "Please consider what I said though. Your dream may be possible, but it will never work if you continue to have such a simple view about redemption."

And with that, the pinkette turned away and continued his trek towards work, leaving both the Princess of Hell and her companion to simply stand by and watch as the man made his way down the sidewalk as Demonic bystanders brushed by them. Both women shared a glance with one another as they were rather confused by the young man's….odd change in behavior. Just a minute ago he was debating on whether or not sinners who committed horrific sins such as murder were able to be redeemed and the next he just started acting as though he had seen a ghost or something. Charlie looked back at the direction where the crimson young man went with a confused and somewhat worried look before turning over to look at Vaggie, asking her what all that was about.

"Beats me." Vaggie answered nonchalantly as she shrugged her shoulders. While she might've been curious about how Doppio had suddenly behaved strangely all of the sudden, she wasn't as curious as her alabaster skinned companion. After all she barely even knew the guy, so she didn't really she any reason to worry over someone like him, even if he did seem nice. Heck, he was probably some junkie or something.

"Do you think we should ask if he's alright?" Charlie asked her friend with a worried tone as she looked back in the direction of where Doppio had gone. While it might've been nothing, the Princess couldn't help but to make sure the polite stranger was feeling well. Something about his sudden shift just seemed rather worrisome for some reason.

"Phft, nah. Let him deal with his own problems, it's got nothing to do with us. Besides we've still got these flyers to put up anyway, and he's probably got somewhere to be too. Bugging him would just slow us all down." That, and the fact that the young Salvadorian woman would rather just avoid talking the pinkette more than she'd like to.

"I don't know? You sure we shouldn't just run up to him real quick and ask?"

Vaggie had to resist the urge to sigh in frustration. As much as she loved Charlie's compassionate heart, it also sometimes drove her crazy to be honest. Grabbing the princess by the wrist, Vaggie began dragging Charlie off in the opposite direction of where Doppio had headed. "He'll be fine Charlie. You don't need to worry over someone you barely know anyway."

"Well, alright I guess." Charlie said with a submissive, but still somewhat concerned tone. "But still, don't you find it the least bit odd how he acted like that?"

As they continued to walk, Vaggie decided to release the grip she had on the princesses wrist before answering. "Not really to be honest. This is Hell after all, so it isn't uncommon to run into some pretty strange characters. Maybe that guy had something wrong in the head and decided to have an episode or whatever."

"I guess that makes sense?" Charlie said with an uncertain tone. She won't deny that a certain majority of Hells occupants weren't exactly the most…. mentally stable people out there. She knew that there were some individuals in Hell with some psychopathic tendencies, some were subtle while others were obvious, but she wasn't quite so sure about Doppio. Something about the way he looked just didn't feel like it was a psycho having an episode. To her it looked more as…. remembrance.

"Charlie look, just try not to think about it too much. Let's just try to focus on this and get it done quickly, okay?"

With an exhausted sigh as she rubbed her eyes with her hand, Charlie replied. "You're right Vaggie. Maybe I'm just overthinking this and should drop it." Lowering her arm, she decided to lighten up the mood up by saying with a smirk. "Besides, we should probably get the rest of these flyers out quickly. Knowing Angel Dust, I'd rather not leave him alone in the Hotel even if the others are there."

Although her attempt to lighten up the mood was a little...weak per say, Vaggie couldn't help but smile as she turned to the blonde and wrapped an arm around her. "There's joking Charlie that I know, and it's good to see that trademark smile of yours back on your face." Pulling away from the princess, the Salvadorian woman continued. "Now what do you say we finish this up and head on back to the hotel before Al nags our heads off or something."

"Yeah, that sounds good. Maybe we can get something to drink on the way back too?"

"Sounds like a plan." Vaggie said as she patted Charlie's back before giving her a quick peck on the cheek, making the princesses alabaster skin flare pink slightly. "Lead the way Charles."

"H-Hehe sure." Charlie said with a slightly flustered tone before slightly father in front of Vaggie and started leading them to their next destination. As they walked though, Charlies mind still lingered on how Doppio had behaved oddly back there, but more importantly on what he had said earlier. While her face didn't show it, doubt began to fester in the princesses mind as she began to wondering if he was right about redemption not being as easy to achieve for those who had committed some very serious sins. She wonders if she should look over her plan and try to see if it's as perfect as she once thought it was.

---

(Later, in a different location.)

---

"Well Stolas darling, as much as it's been fun, I really must get going. After all, I'm sure everyone back at the office has probably been worrying over little old me, so I'd hate to keep them waiting. You know how it is." Said a lanky, jester-like imp with curved horns and a red, black, and white color scheme as he hastily walked towards the front door of an elegant manor in hopes of leaving as soon as possible. The quicker he was out of there the better. However before he could even grab on to the doorknob, he flinched as he heard a somewhat perverted regal voice come from the top of a staircase that led to the manor's second floor.

"Leaving so soon though? But Blitzy darling, can't you stay for just a little bit longer? We haven't even broken in those new toy's I had gotten just for us."

The imp called Blitzy, who's real name was actually Blitzo, had to suppress the urge to shutter in disgust as he turned around and looked up the marble staircase at the one responsible for the voice. Standing atop all high and mighty was a tall, humanoid owl Demon who had small black owlish beak that stuck out from his alabaster face, tar colored taloned arms and legs, and narrow pure red eyes that seemed to glow even in the the well lit manor, and while most of his body was covered up in clothing, one could still see the bluish grey feathers around his head and neck while his tail feathers stuck out from his pants. Just like his voice and body tone, the demon wore very regal clothing that consisted of a vibrant red tunic with six gold buttons while his waist and upper legs were covered with grey trousers. Draped around his neck was a burgundy surcoat with a fluffy white, leopard printed collar and puffed up sleeves, though the bottom was torn up slightly. Though the most eye-catching thing about his attire was the feathery top hat with regal yellow feather decal that was reminiscent of a crown and also shared the same thin red eyes as it's wearer. Blitzo, as well as most of the denizens of Hell knew this Demon as one of the high elite members of the Goetial Demons hierarchy, Prince Stolas.

Or as Blitzo liked to call him in private, that one creepy mouthed, privileged asshole.

Swallowing up his disgust and putting on his most convincing, forced cheerful attitude he could muster, Blitzo said with a fake smile. "Sorry Stolly, as much as I'd love to stay and, aheh, play with you some more, I'm afraid I just don't have the time. I've got a business to run after all, and I'm sure my darling adopted daughter and the others must be needing me back any second now to help out ahehe."

Those were clearly lies of course, Blitzo would rather be anywhere else in the nine circles then spend another second here swallowing up Stolas's…. ugh…. bird seed. As for being needed back to help his colleagues, well that too was also a lie. His employees/co-workers don't actually need him to be there to help run the business as they…. well don't really have that much to begin with. But creepshow here didn't need to know that.

"Hmph." Stolas said as he crossed his arms and gained a somewhat displeased expression, worrying the imp slightly. "Very well then. I suppose it would be rather unmannerly of me to keep you from your business associates. But please come back soon, I get so lonely when you're not here, and you know what happens when I'm lonely, don't you Blitzy~?"

If Blitzo could sweat out disgust his entire body would be oozing at this point. He really wished he could tell this noble prick to go bite it, but considering that he was allowing the imp to use his a book to grant him and his team access to the mortal world, it'd be best to stay on the owls good side. So for now, the imp simply swallowed down his disdain and put on the best smile he could muster. "Ahehe, well, I'll see what I can do Stolas old pal." Quickly grabbing the doorknob and flinging the door open, Blitzo began making his way out the door without taking his eyes off Stolas. "I'll be sure to call and text and stuff, but for now all I can say is adieeeeEEEERK!"

As the imp tried leaving the house, his sentence was interrupted when he felt something collide with the front of his body, causing him to fall ass first onto the polished marble ground. While he was fortunate that the back of his head and his…. well, back, didn't hit the hard ground, that didn't stop him from quietly cursing under his breath as he rubbed his posterior slightly. As he stared down at his behind and tried to soothe the pain, he mentally wondered what it was that knocked him on his ass.

"Oww." And it looks like Blitzo was about to get his his answer, as when he looked up and out the door the imp saw that the thing, or rather person, responsible for bumping into him was a young looking pink haired, crimson and alabaster skinned Demon wearing a equally pink sweater and jeans lying on the concrete porch outside the door with his eyes shut tightly. Watching the Demon lift his head off the ground and rubbed his head, Blitzo heard the stranger speak to himself. "Aww man, not again. Why does stuff like this keep happening to me?"

As he watched the mysterious figure rub his head and slowly lift his upper body from the ground, Blitzo couldn't help but cock an eyebrow as he eyed this stranger and wondered who the Hell this guy was and what he's doing here. Even though he wasn't the brightest of minds, the imp could tell that the young man certainly wasn't a Goetial Demon, nor was he someone of high class given the person's rather strange clothing. Was he perhaps a boy toy of Stolas's, or a side piece just like him? It wouldn't surprise the imp if that were the case, after all the owl Demon was such a sexual deviant that Blitzo doubted that the nobleman would be satisfied with just him and his wife.

Blitzo was about to ask, in his own "unique", charming way, 'Who the fuck are you supposed to be?', but before he could ask the pinkette the question, he heard the sound of Stolas speak. However as the nobleman spoke, Blitzo noticed that instead of having the same sultry, regal tone he had before, the Goetial Demon spoke with a tone the imp had rarely heard before.

Anger.

"Well, well, well. If it isn't the good for nothing deadbeat himself, finally showing up to work an hour behind schedule." Turning his head around and looking up the stairs, Blitzo saw that Stolas had piercing glare on his face as he stood with his arms crossed. This sorta surprised the imp to be honest, after all every time he was around the owl the nobleman always had a smug smile of some kind of smug, arrogant smile plastered on his face, so to see this look of disdain was certainly new to the imp. And for a second, he swore he thought it was for him until he heard the man he bumped into speak.

"M-Mr. Stolas, I'm so sorry I had no idea how late I was! Please excuse my tardiness!" Turning back towards the pinkette, Blitzo saw that the man he bumped into had already quickly picked himself up off the ground and was now dusting himself off. As he stepped into the mansion the crimson Demon gave Stolas a nervous bow as he tried to apologise profusely. "I swear sir, I didn't mean to be this late! I promise I'll try to do better next time!"

Stolas's glare narrowed down as he eyed his employee, clearly disdaining the pinkettes nervous attitude and apologies. Without saying anything he shifted his gaze towards Blitzo, who had turned his attention back up the stairs, and spoke with a low calm tone. "Blitzo darling, would you be so kind as to remove yourself from the premises immediately? Me and this lowlife have some…. business to exchange. Oh, and don't forget the door on your way out."

While the alabaster Demon paled, Blitzo silently gulp when the owl said "business". The way he said it in such a low and dangerous tone almost made it sound like a threat, and it honestly sent a slight chill down the imps spine. Feeling like he would be on the receiving end of Stolas's never before seen wrath if he stayed any longer, Blitzo silently and and quickly picked himself up off the floor. "Uh, sure?" Blitzo said uncomfortably as he walked over to the door before grabbing the the front door knob and slowly closed the door as he stepped out.

"Uh, alright then. I guess I'll see you later?" The imp asked with a slight, fake smile before shutting the door all the way. However he didn't get an answer from the Goetial Demon as the owl simply continued to glare down at the pinkette, who was standing there with a worried expression as he shook in place and sweated up a storm. Deciding to not stick around any longer, the imp simply closed the door with a quiet 'whatever' and began making his way towards the front gate of the mansion. With him gone, it was now only Stolas and the pinkette with the tension in the air being so thick that one could slice it with a knife.

For a long period, the two Demons just stood in silence, staring at one another while the only sound that could be heard was the sound of a grandfather clock ticking somewhere else in the mansion. Stolas never let up on his harsh, piercing glare and the Demon under his gaze couldn't stop shaking or sweating up a storm in fear of what his employer would say or do because of his lateness. After what seemed like minutes, the silence between the two was finally broken when the owl spoke up. "One hour. That's how long I had to wait for you to get here. You know how I hate it when people can't keep up with schedule and yet you dare to show up an hour behind. You were lucky that my esteemed guest was here to help me pass the time, otherwise I would've hacked you into a million different pieces myself here and now out of rage fueled boredom and be done with you, Doppio."

Doppio gulped when he heard the Goetial Demon say his name in such a harsh, sharp tone. He really did it this time. "I-I'm so sorry Mr. Stolas. I swear to you that I didn't mean to arrive this late. It's just that on my way to work I ran into a slight problem and I-."

"Silence!" Stolas cut off the young man's explanation as his red eyes flared while his feathers slightly became ruffled. "You've already wasted enough of my time by dilly-dallying on your commute, don't waste anymore of it trying to explain your way out of it! You'll hold your tongue and do as I say, otherwise I'll cut it out! Understand, boy?"

"Y-Yes sir. Crystal." Doppio said in a low, timid voice as he flinched back slightly from Stolas's outburst.

"Good. At least your not a complete, incompetent moron." Turning away and walking further into the second floor of the mansion, Stolas continued. "Go wait in the parlor and get your supplies ready while I fetch my daughter. We'll continue this conversation once you're done for the day."

"Y-Yes sir." Doppio squeaked out as he watched his employer retreat further into the mansion before beginning to make his way over to the manor's large living room. On the way he let out a breath he didn't realize he was holding as he wiped away a thick sheet of sweat on his brow. Because of his helpful deed earlier he now has to deal with the wrath of Prince freaking Stolas of people, just his crumby luck! Guess the saying, "no good deed goes unpunished", has more truth behind it after all.

Brushing those thoughts off as he entered the main living room Doppio decided he'd worry about the consequences later, right now he needed to get prepared. Walking up to table with a very comfortable looking chair sitting next to it, the pinkette placed his work bag down onto the table and sipped it open, revealing a stack of blank papers, some pencils, a pencil sharpener, and a small algebra book as well as various other supplies on might find in a school. As he took the items and started setting them the table in a nearly manner, the sounds of sharp nails clacking against the floor caught his attention, and once he was finished setting everything up, he turned around to see that standing in the entrance of the living room was Stolas, and to his side was his daughter, Octavia.

Much like her father, she too was an owl-like Demon with the same type of face and feathers, albeit hers were more unkempt. Around her neck was a pink stripe with a white one in the center, almost looking like a choker if viewed from far away. Unlike her father's eyes, which were just two blood red orbs, hers were a reddish pink with bright white dots for pupils. Underneath her eyes she had three short tear-like streaks while her eyelids had a thin layer of light purple eye makeup. Her clothing was nothing like her fathers, where instead of dressing in a very regal way, her clothing was considered to be pedestrian in the eyes of her father. She wore a pink glittery dress with stars, a dark feather shawl around her shoulders, arm warmers that matched her dress, and a pale tiara along with a black beanie.

"Well, my little princess, I hope you enjoy yet another day of tutoring. Don't forget that I'll be upstairs in case you need anything." Stolas said to his daughter in a sickly sweet tone as he planted a small peck on Octavia's cheek, much to her annoyance.

"For Christs sakes dad, will you cut that out? I'm not a little girl anymore, so you can stop treating me like one."

"Oh sweetie, you know you'll always be my darling little princess." Stolas replied in the same tone, eliciting an disgruntled eye roll from the teen as she began making her way over to her teacher.

As soon as she was out of his eyesight though, Stolas's loving smile quickly turned into a menacing scowl as he stared at the pinkette in charge of his daughters education, causing the young man to instinctively gulp. Moving his beak without saying anything, Stolas silently mouthed 'you and I are going to have a little chat after your work here is done.' and with that, the Demonic nobleman swiftly turned around and walked out of the room, leaving behind a nervous Doppio, and his, well, only student.

'Great.' Doppio thought bitterly. 'Just what I need. To get chewed out by my boss. Why do I always get stuck with all the bad luck?'

With a sigh, Doppio decided to push all the worrisome, bad thoughts to the back of his mind for now as he needed to get started with teaching. He's already in trouble for being late, no need to get yelled out for a sloppy job too. Turning towards Octavia, who was already sitting on the chair in front of all the school supplies laid out before her, Doppio greeted her the same way he always did. With a polite smile and a simple question. "Good morning Octavia, how has your day been treating you so far?"

"Same as any other day in Hell I suppose? Having to deal with my father's constant coddling when he's not busy getting his brains fucked out by that Imp he's always seen with." Octavia said with a nasty tone when she mentioned her father and his…. activities.

"Oh. Um…. sorry to hear that. Again. I suppose I shouldn't have brought it up then, and just should've kept my mouth shut then?" Doppio said in a semi-awkward, semi-apologetic tone.

"It's fine, Mr. Doppio. You don't need to be sorry for something that happens once every month." The young teen said before flashing him a small smile. "I'm just glad I'm here right now rather than having to awkwardly be around dear old dad or mom. Plus, you're definitely one of the people outside my family I like talking with."

"Oh. Well, um, thank you Octavia. I like talking to you too." Doppio replied back, giving the girl a smile of his own, albeit a slightly awkward one. And the pinkette truly meant it too. Unlike her parents, who often looked down upon him for his low status among society, the young princess of the Goetia family was the only person in this God forsaken place that treated him with any actual kindness. Heck, he might go as (As, not has) far as to call her a friend of his.

"Hehe, glad to hear teach." Octavia said, slightly amused by the pinkettes awkward smile before resting a hand on one of the chairs arms. "So, what's on the agenda for today?"

"I'm glad you asked." Doppio said as he picked up his algebra book and opened it up to a certain page. "We'll be picking up right where we last left off, which was us finishing up our lesson on how to solve equations and inequalities."

(A/N: I don't know alot about Algebra, so if this isn't something that is hard or complicated cut me some slack. All Algebra is hard damnit!) (A SK AnD TheeE ShEll RECIVEe. I CanN TeacHH uuu in the FOrBIDDEN texts and NUmbers. BuT! It iS a tReacHours path foR the STRONG hearted. (wtf was this….. I look back at after a day and scroll down to see this and I am to tired and laughing to remove it)

(A/N: I decided to keep what DoppioDiavolo wrote here. That was pretty funny.)

Octavia let out a long, disgruntled groan upon hearing this information. "Again?! Can't we just skip through this already and go back to learning about Earthen history or something else?!"

"Now, now Octavia, I know you don't like this, heck, even I don't enjoy this subject whatsoever. But you need to learn this stuff if you ever want to become a respectable member of Hell's hierarchy. Even the likes of Valentino know this stuff." Doppio pointed out. "I know it's boring, but try to bear with it a little longer. It'll be over in no time, I promise."

Octavia sighed as she reluctantly agreed. "Fiiiinnnee. But you better be right about it being over in no time. I don't think I can take another week of this."

Doppio merely chuckled at the girls over dramatic tone. "We're almost done. I give it two or three days, and then after that we can go back to your favorite subject. I promise."

"Alright." Octavia gave her teacher a small smirk. "But I'm gonna hold you to that."

"Hehe, I'd be surprised if you didn't." Doppio said with a smile before turning towards the textbook to finally begin their lesson. "Alright, let's pick up where we left off."

---

On the other side of town, inside the lobby of Charlie Magne's Happy Hotel, a humanoid black cat demon with large bird-like wings on his back and a top hat on his head named Husk, sat at the counter of the hotel's bar with his face lying smack dab in the center. In one hand he held a tall bottle of vodka while his other hand rested atop his head as he tried to ease the painful hangover he had gotten the night prior.

So far, he had been successful in soothing the splitting pain he felt in his head as the hotel had been pretty quiet for today. Angel Dust had passed out in his room, Nifty was all the way on the top floor doing some cleaning or shit, and that creepy fuck Alastor was off torturing some poor schmuck or something equally horrific. All in all, Husk was having a pretty easy time dealing with his hangover. All he needed was a few more hours of silence, and that damn pain in his head will finally go awa-.

BANG!

"We're bbbaaaaaccccckkkkkk!" Charlie exclaimed loudly as both her and Vaggie walked into the hotel.

With the sound of the door being kicked open, combined with Charlie's loud yelling, Husk crushed the vodka bottle he held in his hand as the pain in his head intensified tenfold. So much for getting rid of that hangover.

"Hey there Husk." Charlie said as she walked up to the bar. "How've things been going while we were gone?"

The feline demon said nothing. Rather, he just gave off a low, pained, disgruntled groan. A clear indication that he was suffering the consequences from his alcoholic binge last night.

"I'll take that as 'same as always'." Charlie answered with a raised brow before looking around the room. "Where's Angel and the rest?"

Husk let out yet another groan, before deciding to lift his head from the counter, revealing his bloodshot eyes and the dark bags that sagged underneath. "Bug's are upstairs. Al's fucked off. Now leave me alone." And with that, he slammed his head back onto the counter.

"Hmph, well someone's certainly a grumpy puss." Charlie said somewhat sourly as she slid her jacket off and placed it on one of the chairs near the counter. "Vaggie, If you need me I'll be in my room going over our rehab routine. If Angel comes down here, please make sure he doesn't wreck up the place or anything like that."

Vaggie gave her girlfriend a small smile and little salute. "You got it Charlie."

Giving the moth demon a thanks, the princess of Hell made her way towards her personal chambers, leaving both Vaggie and Husk alone in the hotel lobby. Once the sounds of Charlie's footfalls became silent, the Salvadorian demoness turned to the feline and quickly adopted a frown.

"You know, it's already bad enough that we have a bar here in the first place. You being hungover here everyday isn't exactly doing us favours for are reputation. So I'd appreciate it if you could at least get drunk somewhere that isn't the main lobby." Vaggie finished by swiping the vodka bottle out of Husk's claws, much to his irritation.

"Get off my ass lady." Husk growled out as he lifted his head off the counter. "I'm a grown damn man. I can choose where I want to drink my ass off whenever I want, so why don't you just mind your own damn business on what I do."

"My business, is making sure the hotels reputation doesn't go down any lower than it already has. It's already hard enough thanks to Angel Dust and his antics, I don't need you adding to the problem by being passed out drunk in the main lobby and scaring off any potential clients." Vaggie threw the bottle away into a nearby bin before continuing. "So I don't care if your a 'grown damn man'. If you're doing something that I think negatively affects us, you can bet that I'll be on your ass about it. Got it?"

"Jesus Christ, fine, whatever! God you're such a bitch." Husk rubbed the sides of his head to tone down the pain from his hangover. "What the Hell happened out there while you two were gone to make you more of a pain in the ass then usual? Did some poor schmuck mistake you for an escort or something?"

"I'm more of a pain in the ass because if anyone walked through the front door, they'd see some freeloading drunk hungover in the lobby!" Vaggie loudly snapped back. "And don't you dare ever suggest something like that again, otherwise I'll personally see to it that you wished you had gone to a lower level of Hell!"

Normally, Husk would just roll his eyes when receiving such an empty threat. However, because of the volume of Vaggie's voice, the feline had to clench his head tightly to try and ease his pounding headache. "Alright, alright already! God, just lower your damn voice, it's killing my head for God's sake."

Reaching underneath the counter the feline pulled out a shot glass and opened up a half full whiskey bottle, before proceeding to pour the contents of said bottle into the glass. Once that was done, the Demon picked up the drink and chugged it down with one gulp.

"Ahh, that hits the spot." Husk said with a small smile, before his frown returned as he asked Vaggie. "Alright little miss temper, since you're clearly in one of your moods I'll just ask how you and the princesses little outing went. That shouldn't piss you off more, right?"

Vaggie's anger flared up as the urge to punch her fist through the sphinx's skull continued to grow. She opened her mouth to tell something back, but before she could say what was on her mind she decided it wasn't even worth the effort. No matter how much she screamed her head off, Husk would always reply to it with the same indifferent he always had. So instead, she decided to just let it go and answer the damn felines question.

"I don't know why you would care to know, but to answer your question it went exactly how one would imagine. We walked around, hung up the flyers, and came back. Simple as that."

"Really?" Husk asked as he poured himself another drink. "Nothing interesting happened? You guys didn't see, like, a car wreck happen or something along those lines?"

Vaggie was about to say no to the question, but stopped herself when she recalled the little mishap from earlier. "Well…. There was one thing that happened, though I wouldn't call it interesting in the slightest."

"Oh?" Husk said before downing another glass of whiskey. "What is it?"

"Charlie accidentally bumped into some random guy on the street and dropped her flyers. I was going to deck him right in the face, but luckily for him Charlie stopped me before I could."

"What'd the guy look like?"

"He was kinda tall, had a red and white body, a bit of muscle to him, pink hair, wore a pink sweater that looked like something Angel Dust would wear, looked like he was completely made of rubber, and had a pretty young face." Vaggie explained.

"Alright. Then what happened?"

"Well after Charlie stopped me from curb stomping the guy, instead of getting all pissed and yelling at us, he actually offered to help us pick up the flyers Charlie dropped, which she of course agreed to. The guy was all polite and shit, but I knew better than to keep my eye off him. Cause after all, this is Hell. How many people down here would help random strangers without any ulterior motive?"

"Not that many." Husk said as yet again poured another drink for himself. Down in Hell, kindness was as rare as the metal Exterminators used to slay Demons with. Most Demons were typically cruel and cared only for themselves, and the ones that were capable of caring for others only showed off their kindness to either close friends or family. A Demon wanting to help others out of the kindness of their heart though was practically a myth down in this cruel, cruel underworld. "What happened next?"

"Well after we finished getting the flyers picked up he asked us what we were doing, and after Charlie told him that we were hanging out flyers for the hotel, he then asked about that. Apparently he didn't see the news broadcast so he had no idea about this place, and of course Charlie couldn't help herself and so told the guy about the hotel and what it's purpose is."

"Heh, and let me guess. Once he heard about the idea of sinner's being redeemed, he laughed his ass off or something, right?" Husk asked, already expecting an answer.

"Well actually, that's the thing. Instead of mocking the idea or laughing it off, he actually said it was a quote 'plausible idea'."

Now, this caught the feline off guard. A Demon other than Charlie and (to an extent) Vaggie agreeing to the whole redemption thing? The thought was crazy, though Husk supposed that there was bound to be someone other than the princess who agreed with such a ridiculous notion. "Wait, what do you mean by plausible?"

"Well, he and Charlie had a whole conversation about the process of turning sinners into saints through rehabilitation. The guy said that rehab could work for people like drug addicts or prostitute's. However for people who are down here for murder or any other worst sin, he doesn't think they could be redeemed so easily. And while I hate to admit it, I do kinda agree with him on that. After all, if you killed someone for no good reason, you think the big guy above would forgive you so easily?" Vaggie asked as she pointed up at the ceiling.

Instead of answering right away, Husk instead decided to chew on the Salvadorians words as he slowly poured himself another drink. Even though he didn't have much hope for Charlie's redemption thing, he couldn't deny that logic. If anyone had a chance of getting out of this place, it'd be the Demon's who committed the very minor sins. Demon's like him and Angel though? Maybe, but most unlikely.

And guys like Alastor. Ha! As if.

After a moment of silence, the sphinx Demon finally responded. "Well, I can't argue with that. I myself have whacked a few schmucks back when I was amongst the living. And while I might've not taken any sick pleasure from it, I doubt I could be redeemed so easily given all the things I've done when I was alive."

"Probably." Vaggie said nonchalantly. "Though, if Charlie were here right now, she'd most likely disagree and say redemption would totally be possible for you. Even if you are a miserable alcoholic."

"Gee, thanks Vag, that really means a lot." Husk said sarcastically as he made himself another drink. After quickly chugging it down he then asked. "So what happened after that?"

"Well, that's the really weird part. If you know Charlie by now, she quickly jumped in saying that while redemption would be nearly impossible for sinners like Angel Dust she wouldn't give up on anyone and believes that no matter the sin, any Demon was capable of redemption. And I of course happily backed her up."

"Of course you did." Husk said under his breath.

Vaggie got slightly irritated by the Demon's remark, but just decided to continue on. "Anyway, after all that, the guy just acted strange. He looked like he saw a ghost or something and just walked off. Charlie wondered if we should've gone after the guy, but I convinced her that we should just set up the rest of the flyers. She agreed and well, that was that. Nothing else really happened."

"Really?" Husk asked with a raised brow. "Huh, well I gotta admit, your story wasn't a complete bore, so congrats I guess."

"Gee thanks, that means a lot coming from you." Vaggie said with a roll of her eye.

"Ehhh, don't mention it." Husk said disinterestedly. "So who was the guy anyway? Did he say anything about himself?"

"Not really. All I know about the guy is that he's got a job and apparently he still goes by his human name."

"Which is?" Husk asked.

"Well, it's kind of a dumb name, but he called himself Vinegar Doppio." Vaggie answered.

"What? Vinegar, as in the cooking ingredient? You're bullshitting me aren't you?" Husk asked with an incredulous look on his face.

"I'm not kidding. That's literally the name that guy gave. And it's gotta be the name he had when he was alive because, well, what kinda Demon would give themselves a name like that?"

"I dunno. Maybe a moron?" Husk replied back as he poured the last of his whiskey into his shot glass before tossing the bottle aside. "Though then again, given the names most Demons down here go by, I suppose it ain't the most outlandish thing a person would go by."

"I guess not." Vaggie said as she shrugged her shoulders and began walking away from the bar.

"Where are you off to?"

"I'm gonna check on the hotel and see if Nifty hasn't wrecked the upstairs area while we were gone." Vaggie said as she walked further into the building. "Last time we were gone, she almost set fire to the place because there was a stain on the carpet."

"Ugh, don't remind me." Husk said as bitterly as he recalled the memory. Even though it happened some time ago, he can still smell the scent of burning carpet and fermented bleach. Scents that made him curse his cat like sense of smell. "You have fun doing that than princess."

Vaggie gave the sphinx Demon an annoyed glare before leaving the room to do her own business. Now all by himself, Husk mulled over the conversation he had with Vaggie as he went to grab another bottle of alcohol.

'Vinegar Doppio huh?' Husk thought to himself. He's not gonna lie, he's somewhat intrigued about the guy, if Vaggie's description was anything to go by. Maybe if he's lucky, he might cross paths with the guy in the future.

….

Pft, as if. What are the chances right?

---

Later in the day

---

"...and that wraps up our lesson for today." Back at the mansion of Prince Stolas, Doppio was finishing wrapping up all his teaching supplies back into his bag.

"Finally." Doppio's favorite (and only) student yawned as she stretched in her seat. "Glad to be free of that torture for day. I don't know how people put up with the stuff."

"Aw come on Octavia, don't be like that." Doppio said with a slight chuckle. "Today's lesson wasn't all that bad. Plus, you did better than expected today."

"That's easy for you to say." The heiress said in a playful manner as she got up from her chair. "Mr. 'I have the answers in my little book'. Though if you think I did better today, then I suppose I can take your word for that at least."

The rubber Demon simply chuckled at the young woman's words in amusement. "Aw come on Octavia, don't be like that. Every teacher needs their little cheat sheet of answers. After all, I'm not as smart as my star pupil here."

"Really?" Octavia asked with a raised brow and coy smile. "I thought I was your only pupil."

"Oh, you are." Doppio said, now with his own smile. "That's why I call you my STAR pupil. Because like the sun, you're the biggest and brightest star in the solar system. And the best part is, there's only one of you." The pinkette said in a joking tone, giving the owl Demon an exaggerated wink to help sell his terrible joke.

The two Demons stared at one another briefly before slowly breaking into joyous laughter. Not because either of them found it to be funny (in fact it was probably the most cheesy thing either of them heard), but because of the little dynamic they both had going on with one another. This, this is what the two of them look forward to every morning they wake up. They enjoyed this time of day because there, they can both finally talk to someone they like, granted it's always after class and for a short period of time, but they still enjoyed it nonetheless. They can share anything with one another, whether it be something going on in their lives, or what's troubling them, and they just talk about whatever's on their mind without fear of ridicule or annoyance, but rather with trust and a genuinely friendly demeanor.

Unfortunately, their happy attitudes wouldn't last that much longer, as a third voice joined in on their little laughing fit. This caused both Demons to stop in their tracks and turn to face the source of the new laughter which, to her annoyance and his worry, was none other than the man of the house, Prince Stolas.

"Ohohohoho, I couldn't agree more with you Doppio! My little starfire certainly is quite the little egghead!" The prince said in an affectionate tone as he strutted his way into the room, his taloned feet scraping across the floor as he went.

"Really dad, egghead?" Octavia said in an annoyed (and slightly embarrassed) tone. "And I thought I told you to stop calling me by that nickname. Especially in front of company?!"

"Ohohoho I'm sorry sweetie, but I couldn't help resist making the joke." Stolas said as he now stood in front of his daughter and pinched her cheeks a little, as if she were still a little girl, much to her irritation. "And I don't think you have to worry about our dear Doppio hearing my little nickname for you. After all, he's not one to judge considering his last name is a cooking ingredient of all things."

Much like the princess, Doppio too became somewhat flustered at the mention of his family name. Though unlike Octavia, he felt slightly down rather than irritated.

"Speaking of…." Stolas's tone lost its peppy demeanor as let go of his daughter's cheeks and turned to face the rubber teacher, his gaze causing the pinkette to freeze up slightly. "There's actually something I would like to discuss with your teacher as soon as he has finished with your lessons for today. And I believe now is a good time as any."

If Doppio's rubbery skin had pores, he would most certainly be sweating bullets at this very moment. He was hoping that Stolas would've forgotten about their little 'conversation' once work was over, or that some form of divine intervention would pop out of nowhere. But, sadly, Fate seems to take great enjoyment out of his misfortune, even when he was already in Hell.

Though, Doppio wasn't the only one worried for his safety. As Octavia's irritated scowl quickly melted into that of concern for her favorite teacher. She might not have been around whenever he and her father have these after school "chats", but the young heiress knew how her father treated his staff when he was in a foul mood with any of them.

"Daaaad." Octavia said slowly, trying not to provoke her father and make Doppio's situation any worse. "I know that tone of yours. Whatever Mr. Doppio did, I'm sure it wasn't that big of a deal. So I doubt there's any reason to be pissed over something he's probably not even responsible for anyway."

Instead of backing off from the frightened teacher like she had hoped, Stolas simply turned back towards his child and said in a sweet tone. "Ohohoho, sweetheart! No, no you misunderstand. I simply just wish to have a nice, quant conversation regarding your education. I would never even entertain the idea of harming a single, elastic hair on his head. Right Mr. Doppio?"

Gulping loudly, the pinkette responded in a shaky voice. "U-Um, y-yeah. E-Everything's a- alright Octavia. M-Me and your dad are just g-gonna chat a bit. Y-You've got nothing to w-worry about."

While the Goetia prince was pleased with the answer, Octavia knew her teacher was anything but alright. The fear in the rubber Demons eyes was so evident that even a blind man could see. See wanted to call bullshit on that claim, but stopped herself when she noticed the expression he wore on his face. It was a weak smile with wide, frantic eyes that practically screamed 'Please, leave! Don't make things any worse!'

The young raptor Demon has seen this look a hundred times prior and while it didn't sit right with her to just abandon the only person outside her family she likes to her father's wrath, she knew staying and arguing with her father would just be more of a hassle for Doppio. Even though he would never tell his sweet little starfire (gag), she knew that no matter what she did, Stolas wouldn't grant the cowering teacher any leniency. In fact, Stolas would just be more upset because the pinkette 'made his daughter upset'. And there was no way she was going to add more problems.

So, very reluctantly, Octavia slowly started to make her way out of the room. "Well…. alright then. Just…. Please don't be too hard on the guy dad. He's a really cool guy and I'm sure whatever he did wasn't too bad."

Stoals simply chuckled. "Sweetie, relax. Like I said, nothing awful will befall your dear teacher here. Him and I are simply going to discuss your education. That's all, I assure you."

Bullshit. That was the biggest steaming pile of bullshit she had ever heard. But what could she do? Arguing won't get here anywhere, and it's not like she could attack him or something. For starters he was her dad who, despite being a piece of shit, she loved deeply and secondly it would only make things worse for Doppio. All she could do was just walk away and do nothing, and she despised that deeply.

Glancing over at the cowering Demon and giving him an apologetic look, Octavia turned and made her way out of the room. When the sounds of her taloned feet clacking on the floor were out of earshot, Stolas's previously cheerful demeanor instantly soured as his eyes began to glow ominously.

And this didn't go unnoticed by Doppio either. If it weren't for the fact that he no longer had a bladder, there was no doubt he'd have wet himself by now. Clearing his throat, the pinkette thought if he'd explain himself, his employer wouldn't be as mad. "M-Mr. S-S-Stolas sir. I-I-I kn-know y-you're ups-set with m-m-my t-tardiness, b-but I wa-want you to-to know th-that it wasn't m-my f-f-fault this t-time. I-."

"An hour." Stolas interrupted in a low, menacing tone, shutting Doppio up. "You were late by an hour." Gazing down at the young adult, the lesser Demon felt his heart leap into his throat at the sight of Stolas's eyes. His usual blood red eyes now had a pair of small, glowing pupils that seemed to pierce themselves into Doppio's very being. Almost akin to how a predator would look at prey. "You know how much I value my daughter's education, and you know that I like to stick to a very strict schedule. And yet, you couldn't be bothered to show up at the right time." With a sickly smile, the Goetia prince raised his hand and placed it gingerly on the terrified Demon's face. "Explain yourself, my dear Doppio."

Mustering all his courage, Doppio tried to explain himself as best he could. "W-W-Well you s-s-see s-sir, um, o-on my way he-ere I s-sorta b-b-bumped into s-someone, a-and th-they ha-had flyers on them, s-s-so w-w-when I hit them t-t-t-those went fl-flying o-out of her h-hand. S-S-So I he-helped them p-p-pick up, and t-then I asked w-what s-s-s-she was ad-adver-vertising a-a-and before I k-knew it h-h-her and I-I began tal-talking a-and-."

Before the Demon made of rubber could finish his poor explanation, the prince simply chuckled ominously. "So, let me get this straight then. The reason why you were late, for making me and my daughter waste our time waiting for you, was because you were not only helping some random, two-bit peasant clean up but you also thought it would be a good idea to waste even more time talking about whatever it was she was doing with her? Is that correct?" Stolas's voice dropped slightly towards the end, clearly not pleased with the teachers excuse.

Doppio tried to say something, but he found that he couldn't. The sheer rage and bloodlust his employer was emitting was so palpable that it was getting hard to breathe. He knew he should say something, anything, to try and appease the prince but he couldn't. He feared that whatever he would say next would only fuel Stolas's anger even further, and that was the last thing he wanted.

After a long period of silence had passed Stolas spoke in his regular, "kind" tone. "Doppio, my sweet, sweet little Doppio. Do you know why I hired you to educate my precious little girl?" Doppio said nothing, but Stolas continued. "It's because unlike all the other private tutors you're one of, if not the most reliable one I can trust to be in my home and alone with my daughter. Because unlike them you're not interested in my fortune or have any ideas of stealing from me, and you don't see my daughter as some piece of meat like some slobbering horn dog. In fact she enjoys your company and looks forward to learning from you. That's what I like about you Doppio, you're trustworthy. Your kind and honest personality is something I treasure, for someone like you is a rarity in all of Hell."

Doppio might've smiled at his employer's praise had the owl not continued. "But despite that however, if there is one thing I absolutely loathe about you, it's that you never show up when I need you." Stolas's taloned fingers lightly dug into the pinkettes soft, rubbery flesh. Making him winch a little. "It's not hard Doppio, all you have to do is show up in the morning at the right time. That's all I ever ask of you, and yet, you never do! You always show up later in the day and frankly I'm starting to get sick of it!" The prince's voice dropped once more as his body began to grow in size slightly. "I mean how hard is it to show up on time?! I know you live very far from here, but you should still be able to make it here on time at least! For Lucifer's sake this is, what, the twentieth time you've been late this month now?! You know how much I hate it when someone's not on time, and yet you keep doing this anyway?! Why?! Do you find it humorous to waste my time?! Do you think that just because my daughter enjoys your company you think you can come here at your own pace?! Is that what you think?!"

By the time Stolas finished his rant the prince was now a good twenty feet tall, his previously skinny physique was replaced with a far more muscular build, his feathers were far larger making it look like he was wearing a cloak, and his eyes burned with raw fury.

And all the while, Doppio could only look up at the monstrosity before him with nothing but pure terror. If it weren't for the fact that Stolas's hand was still on his cheek, Doppio would've collapsed on the ground due to sheer fear. Working for Stolas for fifteen years and the poor lad still couldn't handle the owl Demon's secondary form.

After noticing the pinkettes terrified expression, Stolas quickly reigned in his anger and after a few seconds, reverted back into his regular form. "Apologies, Doppio. I didn't mean for my temper to get out of control like that." The prince said, still a tad bit upset. "But still, I cannot tolerate this constant tardiness any longer. It's clear that the distance between here and your home is a large reason why this keeps happening, so I will give you an ultimatum. If you do not find a place to live closer to here, or at the very least find some means of transport, then I'm afraid I'm going to have to punish you. I don't know how exactly, but I guarantee you it won't be pleasant. Am I clear?"

With a heavy gulp, Doppio answered almost immediately. "Y-Y-Y-Yes sir!"

Pleased with his answer, the prince removed his claw from the young man's face. "Good. I'm glad we came to an understanding then. You may be dismissed now."

"T-Thank you sir!" Not needing to be told twice, Doppio quickly grabs his things and heads for the door. Once outside, he lets out a shaky breath he's been holding in as tears of fear begin to leak out of him. He thanked whatever higher power there was for getting him out of there in one piece as he walked out of the estate. Right now, he just wants to go home and pass out.

---

Later in the day, on the other side of the city, Doppio walked down the street with his head casted down as he rubbed the small, shallow cut marks on his cheek caused by Stolas earlier. And, while he has calmed down slightly after his…. conversation with the Demon noble, he was still shaken up by the whole ordeal. Which is why as he trudged home, his mind lingered on his employer's words.

'Damnit, why does this type of stuff keep happening to me? There's no way I can find a new place close enough to the estate that fits my tight budget on such a short notice. Yet if I keep showing up late to work, Mr. Stolas is gonna turn me into rubber mulch. Oh, what am I supposed to do?!' Doppio ran a hand through his rubbery hair as he tried thinking of a solution to his problem.

Thankfully tomorrow was the weekend, meaning he had two whole days to come up with something. So hopefully, if luck is one his side (or at the very least generous enough) he can find a place both affordable and not as far away. Though, with how much of a hassle it is to get a place in Hell, he highly doubted that would be the case.

Now you might be asking, why doesn't he just take public transport? Well he already did try that once, but unfortunately during the ride a rather handsy minotaur Demon tried getting to know him on a little too personal level. After that experience, the rubber Demon decided it was best to travel on foot rather than being cramped with others in a moving, metal box. Waking up earlier was also out of the question as he already got up at the crack of dawn.

And don't even ask him why he couldn't get a car. He barely had enough cash to pay for his apartment, and it was a cheap, rat infested heap.

'Dammit all!' Doppio thought bitterly. 'Even in death it seems I can never catch a break! Seriously, is it too much to ask for something to go right for once?!' Turning his head up, he glared at the ruby-red sky with contempt. Or rather, he glared at the heavenly, glowing orb that hanged in Hell's sky like a moon. 'Does my misfortune bring you enjoyment or something?! Even in life, you've always dealt me the short end of the stick! But why?! What have I done to deserve this constant stream of bad luck?! I might not have been the most religious person, but does that really justify all the crap that's ever happened in my life?! Would it really kill you to give me some slack every once in a while God?!'

As Doppio was busy having his little, internal rant he failed to notice that up ahead that a flyer, which had been poorly stapled to a wooden post, had been torn off its spot by an immediate strong gust of wind and was swiftly floating towards him. By the time he noticed the sound of it rustling in the air, the front of the small piece of paper smacked him right dab in the face with an audible slap.

"Gah! The hell?!" Doppio stumbled back and almost fell down, but was fortunately able to regain his footing at the last second. Grabbing the flyer, the rubber Demon tore the piece of paper from his face. Surprised and shocked by this sudden occurrence he breathed out a few deep breaths of air in order to calm himself. After a few brief seconds the young man was able to collect himself, and his surprise turned to irritation as he glanced down at the paper in his hand before looking back up at the orb in the sky.

"Really?! I ask for a needed break for once in my life and in return you do this to me?!" As Doppio yelled at the heavens above, several Demon passerbys gave him perplexed looks before shrugging it off and continuing their business. "Why do I always have to be the one getting the short end of the stick?! There's Demon's down here far worse than me, yet I'm always the one getting treated like crap by you! Is it too much to ask for a day where something doesn't go wrong for me?! One where I'm not having a nightmare, dealing with my loud and disgusting neighbors, fearing for my safety when I go to and fro work, or getting chewed out by Mr. Stolas?! Hell, I'd even take a day where I don't trip over something! But no, instead you gotta pull out the old 'let's pick on Doppio' card every freaking day with this bull-" Doppio looked down at the flyer in his hand, and upon getting a better look at it, felt his temper die down into confusion. "-crap?"

Decorated all over the flyer were several cheerful images such as smiley faces and cutesy looking animals while a large smiling rainbow adorned the top of the paper. Though, what really caught his attention was what the ad was offering in the bright, colorful words writing on it.

"Tired of all the misfortune that Hell has to offer? Wish you had a better afterlife? Feel any guilt for any sin you might've committed in your past life? If you've answered yes to all three of these, then look no further than the Happy Hotel! (Or more commonly known as Hazbin Hotel due to recent business transactions.) A place where you can shed yourself of your past sins and redeem yourself for a better afterlife!"

After he finished reading the paper, Doppio felt a little surprised as he recalled his earlier encounter with the Demoness's from this morning. Remembering the conversation he had with Charlie regarding redemption, as well as the name of her business, he quickly realized that this had to be one of the flyers he helped pick up. Funny, here he was walking home after getting threatened by his boss, and he gets smacked in the face by the very thing responsible for that. He doesn't know if he should laugh, or tear the damn thing up.

Before he could dwell any further on that thought however, he noticed that there was still some more text on the bottom.

"If you're interested in partaking in the program, we're located on 666th street near the center of Pentagram city. Look out for the large neon, "Hazbin Hotel" sign. You can't miss it."

Doppio's eyes widened when he saw the address. He knew where that street was, just an hour long walk from the Stolas estate!

C-Could this be a sign? Was this the lucky break he was looking for?! It had to be! After all, an advertisement for living space smacking into his face as he's looking for a new place to stay can't be just mere coincidence! Doppio felt himself smile. This was fantastic! Now not only would he be dealing with the distance problem, but if Ms. Charlie's hotel was as nice as she was, he wouldn't have to be living in a roach infested dump and deal with his rude, disgusting neighbors either! That was definitely a massive bonus.

However, before he could get too excited, he began to calm himself as the more jaded, dubious part of himself he got during time down here began to nag in the back of his head. Perhaps he was getting ahead of himself, after all this was Hell and usual things that seem way too good aren't what they seem. He should know, he's been screwed over a lot in the past, and he's not looking forward to being screwed over once more.

Not to mention, from the way Ms. Charlie explained it, it wasn't really a hotel but more of a rehab clinic for sinners. Meaning that if he were to take up residence there, he'd probably have to go with the program if he wanted to stay. Now, he had no issue with participating in redeeming himself, far from it. He just wasn't sure if there'd be anytime for it. Since he works five days a week from early morning to late afternoon, not to mention how long it takes to grade Octavia's work, he hardly had any time for himself before bed. Because of this, he was afraid he might be kicked out for taking part in the rehab process. So perhaps he should overlook his other options before jumping at the first place he sees.

'Though then again, what other options are there?' Doppio thought as he stared down at the flyer. His apartment was already the cheapest place in all the city, and yet he still had trouble paying off the rent. Everywhere else was just too damn expensive. Really, his only other options were either checking into this "hotel", or continue living in that dump on the other side of town.

"Hmmmm." Doppio hummed in thought as he weighed his options, unsure of what to do. After a minute or two of thinking, the pink haired Demon gave the piece of paper one last look before quickly folding up and placing it within his pocket. "Well, I guess it wouldn't hurt if I at least checked the place out."

With his mind made up, Doppio began making his way down the road towards the Happy Hotel. Little did he know however, fate would be involving some rather bizarre plans for him in the soon to be future.

---

And there you have it. What do you guys think? I know it's nowhere near as good as Writeranons stuff, but I hope it was good enough as its own thing. Let me know what you guys think.

DoppioDiavolo: Tch Tch Tch. Don't be so hard on yourself Mi Amor. You are your own worst critc. But I think you are very good, so theres that.

Aw, well thanks. I know I need to be more confident in my writing, but sometimes I worry too much.

Once again I wanna thank WriteAnon and DoppioDiavolo for taking a read at this and help out with the writing errors. Those two are some really cool dudes.

Until next time, stay safe out there. Peace.