Time Skip: A Month Later...
Location: Hell.
Cherri Bomb narrowed her eyes as she peered up at the billboard for Val's products. Lately she had been seeing more and more billboards with that damned moth's face plastered on it. Normally she'd just toss a bomb at Val's billboards but not only was she still shaken up from their last encounter but she doubted it'd do any good.
Realistically, even if she destroyed all the billboards in Val's district, he'd just pay someone else to rebuild them. Not like he couldn't afford it, the bastard was an overlord and a rich one. He always replaced the things she destroyed no matter how often it happened.
Besides, she already had enough on her plate as it was, with Angel gone she was tasked with taking care of Fat Nuggets. She had babysat for Fat Nuggets before when Angel was doing shows and performances but taking care of the pig full-time was an entirely different ball-game.
It wasn't like she didn't have an idea of how it worked but actually having to physically walk Fat Nuggets and play with him to ensure he got his exercise was a lot different from what she was used to. She had to buy pet-food, get him toys and clean up after Nuggets as well.
It was basically a full-time job and one Cherri didn't intend on signing up for. Fat Nuggets was quite the handful and while he was cute as a button, he sure was capable of making a mess if you left him alone for too long.
She normally would've just given him away since she wasn't exactly the ideal pet owner but doubted anyone would be willing to take Fat Nuggets, the other denizens of Hell were more likely to turn him into meat and Fat Nuggets wouldn't be able to survive on his own. Angel was basically the only person who ever took care of him so leaving him on the streets was suicide….
Besides, she owned him that much. Angel was her friend...her only friend to be exact and at this point, Fat Nuggets was the only thing she had left of him…
The cyclops looked down at the leash. Fat Nuggets always walked at a slow and steady pace and were easy to keep up with.'At least he's well-behaved during walks…'
As he was walking, she noticed that Fat Nuggets had stopped abruptly. The pig wasn't heavy or anything but it was noticeable when he had stopped moving and she wondered why he had come to a halt.
"Nuggets? What are you doing?" She asked before looking up at where his eyes were fixated. Her expression became sombre when she saw a bunch of TVs hooked up with advertisements of Angel Dust, selling the products that Val specialized in.
Most of them were sex related products(no surprise there) or drugs, sometimes both depending on what he was doing in particular.
She cringed the images,disgusted beyond belief. Val was using Angel's name to advertise despite the man himself no longer being there and Val had no shame, using a dead-man's name to advertise himself with the denizens of Hell knowing no better.
It was offensive. Even with Angel being gone, Val continued to profit off of him from beyond the grave and the worst part was that Cherri couldn't do much about it. She could destroy as much property as she wanted, what good would it achieve? He'd just rebuild it again and be pissed at her.
Helpless...that was how Angel described his life under Valentino, being nothing more than a sex-slave, apiece of entertainment that Val used for his own benefit, making money off his body and abusing him whenever Angel disobeyed.
She had been with Angel through the worst of it, being his comfort on the side of his hellish life and she spied Val with all her being...and yet she couldn't do anything to him. She could destroy his property all she wanted but the man himself was damn near untouchable. Even her bombs which were capable of knocking ordinary demons down were a minor inconvenience for Val, irritated his eyes but ultimately being just a mere distraction…
Hell, Cherri had barely managed to scrape on by from her last encounter with Val, if he hadn't given up pursuing she likely would've ended up with a bullet in her skull. She hating admitting it but deep down...Cherri knew she was weak to Val, the fucker could easily manhandle her in a 1v1.
Without backup she stood no chance of seriously hurting Val and the fucker wasn't even the strongest overlord physically, that title belonged to his on-off again boyfriend and technically Alastor, though he was rather irrelevant and usually kept to himself and his cannibal friends nowadays.
She always wanted to kill that bastard...what she would've killed for if she got her hands on a holy spear and stabbed Val with it until he was nothing but a bloody paste. She had dreamed of doing it before and she'd no doubt dream of it again once she hit the sheets later. To be covered in his blood as she made him feel just a fraction of what she put her friend through would be the ultimate retribution...yet it was nothing more than a pipe-dream given how the odds were stacked against her. Her, a mere sinner, up against an all powerful overlord of Hell…those stories never ended well, especially for the 'underdog' of the tale…
Then again, did things ever end well in Hell? There were no happy endings, there were no moments of peace or solidarity. There was only suffering, chaos and inhumanity at every turn.
"Damn bastard…" She growled.
Just then she heard all too familiar laughter as the screen began to change. To her horror, the images of Angel had been replaced with the face of Valentino, who peered through the screens at her. He was WATCHING her and Cherri felt all the color on her face drain at the sight of his menacing grin. Fat Nuggets cowered at the sight of him, hiding behind Cherri's leg in an effort to
"Hello Cherri...long time no see, huh baby?" He chuckled,"Have to say, I've been keeping my eye on you for quite some time. Looking rather sexy today…"
She cringed,"You're a sick creep, you know that?"
"Ain't ashamed of myself, babe. It's just who I am. Though I gotta say, from here, you're a lot smaller and pathetic than usual. Starting to see why Voxy liked taunting Alastor with this technique," He sneered smugly.
"How...how are you doing this?" She asked, having no clue how Val was currently occupying the screens.
"Let's just say that Vox and Velvet have...left and they've left ALL their property to me with their departure. Know what that means sweetheart?" He chuckled,"If not then, I'll tell you. As of now,I have FULL control over all the media in Hell. Everything the three of us owned now belongs to me. Know what that means sugar? I can track your every move, I own everything and I know where you are, where you've been and what you're doing. I can see through everything from my office and I just wanted to tell you that I've been keeping watch where you've been. So don't think you're slick, Cherri, you can't hide from me and if I catch you getting in the way...let's just say you won't be getting off so easily. I'll be sure to get you and that little pig of yours too. So watch yourself, Cherri, because the gloves are coming off and Big V is the one in charge."
Cherri gasped in horror before picking up Fat Nuggets and running for it, but not before tossing one of her bombs at the screen. Despite this, she could still hear Val's laughter echoing even after she had made her distance from the screen.
By the time Cherri stopped to catch her breath, she was struggling to keep herself standing. It was like her entire world collapsed as the fear that Val was stalking her every move for who knows how long had finally set in and left her petrified.
She then felt her phone buzzing and gasped when she saw that Val had managed to get her number and was bombarding her photos, graphic photos of him hitting and choking Angel in the past. In most of the photos, Angel had bruises and marks on him.
And that wasn't all, he even sent a video of him...forcing himself on Angel, her phone automatically playing the clip and the pause button had been removed. She tried to mute or shut off her phone yet nothing worked, as if Val was somehow able to corrupt her phone all the way from his office.
It was the most graphic and disturbing thing she had ever seen. Angel was tied down, gagged and blindfolded, helpless as Val assaulted him until he bled, his whimpers and moans were audible as his body ached with pain. Val was ruthlessly thrusting into him, caring not one bit for Angel's complaints and only for his own sick disease, smiling cockily with every wince and movement Angel made, sadism burning within his eyes.
It was far worse than she imagined, far worse than how Angel described it happening. She knew it happened, remembering all the times Angel recollected events, the trauma still shaking him to his core. Often he'd be crying in his bed, screaming curses or had overdosed on drugs in a desperate attempt to make the pain he felt go away.
It never did go away...and it was so much worse.
The most damning part was the taunting text Val sent: They're always prettier when they're broken messes. Hearing the pleas for it all to stop is music to my ears, I can't wait to hear yours…Been needing a new toy now that all the other two are gone...you'll do nicely I'm sure...
In a split second Cherri threw her phone into the ground at that sentence. That sentence was the breaking point and she stomped all over her phone until it was nothing but pieces of plastic against her heel.
"Sick fuck!" She shouted,"Fucking piece of shit rapist! Been watching me the whole time!" She was enraged, no, livid. That fucker had all her personal information to his fingertips and even with her phone destroyed, Val no doubt had several tabs on her by now.
She wasn't safe…
Cherri then looked around, her eyes darting around. There were cameras around and Cherri had no doubts that Val was spying on her through them. Fucker was stalking her every move and if she didn't do something...who knows what would happen.
Terrified, Cherri's mind raced. She had the ire of Hell's most depraved overlord on her and if she made one wrong move, Val would come after her and be sure to finish the job. She had to hide, now. There were no if's or but's, she had to do it now…
So Cherri rushed to her apartment and began packing her didn't have much to call her own, but never before had she been more thankful she kept all her money on hand not virtual as Val would no doubt have access to her account.
Cherri grabbed a large black hoodie and pants that she had kept in her closet. It was from her ex and she hadn't gotten rid of it until now and while it was a bit large, she figured it'd hide her well in public places. Val no doubt had his eye out for her and she didn't trust going outside without concealing her identity.
'This should do…''
Cherri pulled her backpack over her back and sighed as she placed Fat Nuggets in the back of her bag, allowing his head to stick out,"Come on boy...we're not safe here anymore...Let's go…"
Cherri left her apartment and began going on the run, placing her hood over her head as she headed out the window, jumping over the rooftops as she fled the area.
Lucifer sighed, so far the investigation into Charlie's disappearance had garnered little progress. Despite advertising their daughter's absence to the media, there hadn't been any sightings of Charlie or any hints of her whereabouts, much to Magne's dismay. He swore he was about to start digging his hair out of his scalp with how infuriating the lack of results were…
Not that he hadn't already, his hair was already slightly messy and he swore he was growing bags under his eyes with every passing day.
The missing person investigation was going nowhere and Lucifer couldn't understand how. Charlie was one of the most important figureheads in Hell, being the Princess of the entire realm for god's sake and she just...vanished into thin air.
'I..I don't understand...An entire month has passed and despite our best efforts, we've found nothing. Not even a reported sighting of her. Where could she be!? What are we doing wrong?'Lucifer's mind raced for an explanation, trying to comprehend how none of their hired help were able to find anything about Charlie.
The Devil cursed at their luck. It felt futile, he and Lilith had the greatest amount of resources imaginable and yet even with all their power, they still couldn't even find their own spawn, their own flesh and blood.
This was even more baffling considering they had advertised Charlie's disappearance and had volunteer offers to help find her in exchange for money. The price for Charlie to be returned safe and sound was high so when hundreds of demons joined in on the search, he would've figured it'd be easier. Demons were willing to do anything for money and while it was rare for it to be a 'good' thing, it'd be hard to find a demon not willingly to help the Head Honcho for the right price.
And yet...Charlie still remained missing. Even with the high rewards for her return being plastered all over Hell, even with the Sectors being put under lock-down and travel being HEAVILY surveyed...nothing came up.
Charlie had done something that was considered impossible for someone of her status, pulling a Houdini and not leaving a speck of evidence behind. None of the other sectors reported any sightings of Charlie either and it appeared that the case was only growing colder and colder with each passing day.
As Lucifer was busy with his thoughts, Lilith stormed inside the room, the once graceful Queen of Hell appearing less than herself appearance-wise. Her hair was slightly unkempt and her eyes were heavy and tired, stress ever-present in her snake-like eyes.
Guess he wasn't the only one losing rest over this. She looked like she hadn't gotten a good night's sleep in over a month, not like he'd know if she was sleeping or not given she refused to sleep in the same bed as him.
Judging from her appearance, Lilith had spent a lot of time maintaining the intensive search for Charlie, having gone through making an entire foundation dedicated to Charlie being found and putting up all sorts of advertisements and even offering money for someone to return Charlie to the Magne residence in one piece.
The past month had been exhausting her and Lilith had no time to keep up on her appearance, all of her efforts dedicated to finding her lost daughter, spending every waking second in pursuit of Charlie, whether that be on the phone, speaking to the public or otherwise.
"Hey, Lilith. How are you doing?" He asked, attempting to lighten the mood.
"Doing fantastic," She remarked sarcastically,"Other than the fact my daughter is missing and nobody knows where she is, I'm great. Couldn't be any better."
"Lilith," He started,"I understand your frustration but I'm certain we'll find her eventually…"
"You sound far too optimistic," She growled dismissively,"Not everyone is as hopeful as you are. There's been no reported sightings of Charlie and Vaggie, it's as if the two girls have disappeared from under our noses. We'll never find them at this rate."
"Not if we give up," He said,"Charlie is still out there, Lilith. She has to be…"
"And if she isn't?" The Queen pressed on,"What if she isn't out there? What if something has happened to her?" What if...if..she…"
"She's alive…" He growled,eyes snapping open at her,"She can't be dead, Lilith. She can't be."
"How can you be so certain?"
"It's only been a month," He hissed,"Give it time, Lilith. We need to be patient, if we wait a while longer we'll find something, something that'll prove she's still here."
"And how long will that take?" She demanded,"How long will it take Lucifer?"
"I...I don't know…" He admitted,"All I know is that I'm not giving up on her, not now, not ever…"
"Bold words given it's your fault she's runaway in the first place," She scoffed,"If you truly believe so then I won't change your mind. But I still have my doubts about this, the missing don't tend to be found,especially not in Hell. You of all people should know that 'happy endings' are nothing more than a fantasy."
"So you're just giving up? You're going to give up on our daughter that easily? Isn't it a tad too soon to give up on our own flesh and blood, Lilith?"
"Of course not, however, I can't say that hopes are high of her being found in one piece. Hell isn't exactly a pleasant place and without our protection, anything could've happened to she isn't just deliberately hiding from us that is. If she's doing that, she might just be waiting for us to give up so she can live her life undercover without the consequences of her past coming back to bite her. That's more or less the most ideal scenario we can hope for at this point, if Charlie is truly playing hide and seek then she's doing quite a good job.."
Lucifer made a face, as much as he wanted to believe Charlie was just playing a challenging game of 'Hide and Seek' something told him otherwise, that something far darker than a mere act of rebellion was behind Charlie's disappearance…
Otherwise, something far more sinister occurred and took advantage of Charlie's plans of running away to their advantage and decided to manipulate things for their own purposes.
What they were was something Lucifer couldn't even begin to comprehend but he wasn't exactly intent on finding out. He was hoping it didn't go that far yet something told him that this was only just the beginning and that they weren't even done scratching the surface of twists and turns this investigation would bring.
"We will find her," He assured,"Trust me, Lilith. Charlie will be found…"
"Only time will tell how true your words are, Lucifer...You better hope that you are right and that Charlie is returned to us, because otherwise...who knows what will happen…" Lilith said as she rubbed her eyes.
"My love, perhaps you should get some rest? You look like you've had a long day and-"
"Save it, I don't have time for your sweet-talk," She murmured,"If you really want to be of use, find our daughter and I might actually be able to tolerate your presence."
"Yes Lilith…" He mumbled as she left the office, sitting back in his chair in silence, his head tipped downward to the floor.
The investigation was far from over yet the pit in his stomach only continued to grow deeper as a sense of guilt crawled down his back.
He looked at the picture of him, Lilith and Charlie together. Back when they were happy, when they were at peace. He could still hear her voice even now, how happy and full of light she was when she saw him..
Those eyes were now peering at him with disappointment and contempt. He wasn't certain if his imagination was playing tricks on him, but he swore he saw the picture change to where Charlie was scowling and visibly glaring at him with hate and disdain. Lilith was giving him a glare of disappointment as well and couldn't bear to look him in the eyes, her smile wiped from her features.
His hands shook before he hissed,"We'll get you back Charlie...No matter how long it takes...you'll be brought home…"
He wasn't certain how he was going to do that, but he was determined to do so nevertheless, because if he didn't...he wasn't quite certain what he'd do with himself….
Frederick sat in his office, sorting through the paperwork on his desk. Lucifer's strict lock-downs meant he wasn't able to visit the other Sectors unless it was an ABSOLUTE emergency, much to his dismay. Originally he and Bethesda were going to go on vacation but that went on the window with Lucifer's mandates and the Lord of Envy knew better than to draw Lucifer's ire.
So of course, he began doing the one thing he could do...his duties. Wasn't exactly the most fun thing in the world but it was a distraction from his less than stellar predicament.
As he was doing this, he felt his wife's arms wrap around him from behind. He raised an eyebrow,"Bethesda, what do you want? Can't you see I'm busy right now?"
"But I'm bored," She said as she traced her fingers under his collar bone,"And it's been so long since we've had fun together. We hadn't had the time to indulge in ourselves in years, why not play a little before we go back to the mundane workload, hm?"
"Bethesda, I'm supposed to be working…"
"And? You're always working, learn to loosen up a bit dear. You've been rather stressed lately and it wouldn't hurt to have some fun while we can…"
"I'm not stressed…" He retorted,"I'm just...focused…"
"Focused is a strange way of saying stressed dear. There's no need to hide it from me, I'm not a stranger. I'm your wife…"
"I know, I'm just irritated about how Lucifer is making us do all this work to find his daughter. Nobody even knows where she is and he's turning this entire realm upside down for her. It's ridiculous he cares this much about his own spawn that he's willing to inconvenience the rest of us for it…"
"Oh that...Don't worry, it'll come to pass eventually," She said gently, placing her hand under her chin,"Trust me, this will come to pass and we'll be able to forget it ever happened eventually…"
"If only it'd pass sooner…"
"Patience is a virtue, dear…"
"Bethesda, we're the embodiment of Envy, virtue is against everything we stand for…"
"It's just a saying," She remarked, rolling her eyes at her husband's attitude,"Come on now, don't be so down. I know you've been wanting to do this for a while, why don't we indulge while we have time?"
He scoffed,"Alright fine, since you insist…"
He then directed his attention at his wife and began kissing her passionately, holding her body against his. Bethesda's legs wrapped around his waist, her hands entangled into his hair while he began exploring her body.
Frederick had his wife pinned against the table and began kissing her collarbone before leaving several bite-marks on her neck. Their hands were constantly groping at each other's bodies and mewls and groans escaped their mouths.
As this happened, Bethesda's mind suddenly slipped as if she had just remembered something, something important. It had been nagging in the back of her mind from time to time but she never got around to actually thinking about it long enough to ponder what exactly it was.
At first, she couldn't recall what exactly she had remembered but Fredrick had noticed her lack of reaction and looked up at his wife with slight concern,"Bethesda? Is something wrong, dear? You're staring into space. Did I do something wrong?"
"No. I just so happened to remember something right now. I couldn't quite place my finger on it before but now it hit me. Can I ask you a question, love?"
"Sure, what is it?"
"Do you recall seeing our spawn earlier?"
"What about them?" He asked apathetically,"How are those two important to this conversation whatsoever?"
"I was just wondering, they've been awfully quiet. Have they come back yet?"
"Not that I'm aware," He admitted,"Why? Are you worried about them?"
"Of course not, those two are adults. I was just wondering why they were so quiet.."
"Can't say I'm complaining, I wouldn't worry too much about it, dear. If there was truly something concerning happening with them we would've heard about it by now. I'm certain our spawn is fine."
She paused before smiling,"Hmmm...you're right. I can't even understand why my mind was even concerned over such a silly thing. Perhaps my mind hasn't had something to truly captivate on."
"In that case, I'll give you something to ponder over for a while…" He chuckled before continuing to engage with his wife, kissing her on the mouth,"Let us continue our fun shall we?"
"Lets~" She giggled as she wrapped her arms around his neck,"Take me for a whirl will you?"
"Your wish is my command dear..."
Rosie sighed as she sat at her desk. It had been over a month since she reported Al and Niffty missing and yet the investigation yielded no results.
There was no evidence of where they had gone and even though the subway stations were searched, there was no sign that Al and Niffty been there and nobody had seen them go in. When asked if there was any footage of Al and Niffty entering the subway, the camera had been sabotaged and wasn't able to give anything of value towards the investigation.
The female overlord felt as if she were running in circles. No matter how hard she pushed for answers, she got nothing but tiny fragments of the puzzle at best or dead-ends at worst. The only thing she could really go off of was the note Al left prior to his departure but none of the subways reported any sighting of Al and nobody had seen him on the streets after he had gone on the train.
As of now, Rosie wasn't certain if she was going to get any results. Missing person's investigations rarely ended well, usually the victim was either sold for ransom or killed. If she had to pick one she believed happened, she chose the latter simply because if he was being held for ransom surely someone would've posted a reward by now.
In the meantime, Rosie took it upon herself to calm all the properties Al had claimed during his time as Overlord. With Al no longer being there to take care of his property, it would've likely gone up for grabs had Rosie not seized it when she could…
While she was weaker than Alastor, Rosie certainly refused to surrender the properties without a fight. It was the last thing she had left of him so she was at least going to try and keep his property in her grip for as long as she could.
She sipped on her tea quietly, trying to ease her mind of the situation. The absence of her dear friend had taken a toll on her and she wasn't as enthusiastic as she usually was when doing her job. She don't let the common sinners see it of course(she was still a lady and had to keep up her reputation, couldn't let it be known she was getting soft) but her maids had noticed the shift and mood and offered their assistance.
Their help was appreciated, though Rosie knew there wasn't really much her servants could do in this regard. It simply wasn't their field of expertise and it was doubtful anything meaningful would be gained by letting them tag along.
"It's just not the same without him…" She mumbled wistfully before perking up at the sound of the phone. She put on her professional voice and cleared her throat,"Hello, Rosie is this and how may I help you?"
Rosie's expression immediately fell when she heard a voice she received a bit too well to answer,"Rosie, my girl, it's me, Val. Long time no talk, huh?"
She blanked, utterly gobsmacked at hearing Val over the phone with her, she hadn't even given her his own number and she wasn't certain how he got ahold of her personal cell. "How...How did you get this number?"
"The bucket of wires and metal that I called my ex boyfriend...has 'unfortunately' vanished and he and Velvet left all their things to me in the process. It's how I got ahold of your number, it was in the files so I decided to give it a whirl so to speak…"
She narrowed her eyes"Why...why are you talking to me? I don't recall ever talking to you about an exchange…What is your reason for speaking to me, Valentino? Because it better be for business…"
"Oh it is for business babe. And you're right, we haven't...Not yet anyway," He admitted,"You see, I was just calling to offer you some money in exchange for a few properties I wanted…"
"Properties? Val, I'm not handing my properties to you without reason. I do not bargain away my territory."
"Relax, Rosie, I'm just looking to claim the territory the deer left behind. Heard that the Radio deer ain't here anymore a while back and I was wondering if you were interested in a trade? I give you a load of money and I get the territories."
"No. No deal, they aren't for sale."
"And why not?" Val asked,"It's not like you're even using them. Why not hand it over to me? I'll make it worth your buck."
"The territory belongs to Alastor."
"Who cares, Rosie? That man is dead, no point in trying to hold onto something a dead man owns. Ain't like Alastor is here to complain about the territory he lost."
"No means no, Valentino. I am not interested in bargaining."
"So that's how you're gonna be huh? Playing hard to get?" Val chuckled,"Well then, have it your way babe. Since you wanna play the hard way, I'll do just that. I have my ways of getting you to hand over those properties and since you've decided to be stubborn, I guess I'll have to play the long-game. Slowly breaking you piece by piece before you ultimately crack...and then, I'll have what I want and you...well, you'll just be a fraction of the person you once were. But don't worry, I'll be sure to drag out your suffering before doing so, wouldn't want to throw away my new toy now would I?" He laughed,"So you better get used to me, Rosie. Because you're gonna be hearing from me soon..."
Rosie hung up the phone at the threat, scowling deeply. She wanted to be certain what Value was going to do exactly, but she had the feeling that it was anything but good. The bastard sounded like he was playing the long-game and now was intent on watching her every move…
The scary part was that...he was more than capable of taking them. He was stronger than her….yet he was deciding to play the long-game, likely to satisfy his desire to see others suffer. He was toying with her and she was stuck along for the ride with no other choice but to wait and see what Val would have in store for her.
And something told her that this nightmare wasn't going to end anytime soon...
Thanks for 2,650 views, tell me what you think below!
Enigmus-288: It's fine dude. And to be fair, Charlie's just kind of doing her research and trying to see if anything fits since she's still pretty clueless. She's pretty much going off a hunch and hoping for the damn best because otherwise...uh...what else is she gonna do again?