Living life out in the forest was certainly a different environment than the girls were used to. Charlie wasn't quite used to the great outdoors and living out in the open was quite a new experience for her.
For the past few days, Charlie had spent most of her time examining what Angel had done to survive out in the wilderness.
Lucifer and Lilith had sheltered Charlie from the outside world for the most part so Charlie's experience with the outdoors was fairly limited. Up until now, the most 'outdoors Charlie saw was the parks she walked by so being placed in a fully fledged forest was an entirely different ballpark.
To be blunt, the first few days were a bit overwhelming. Charlie had never seen so many wild animals before and to be frank…she actually screamed when one of the larger ones approached her. It was a tad bit embarrassing given she basically ended up latching onto Angel and hid behind him.
Course Angel only then decided to inform her the animals were friendly towards him. Apparently the animals viewed Angel as an ally and since they were with him, they were viewed as allies in turn…
Once this was made clear, Charlie was more than eager to pet the docile animals, especially the ones that were cute looking. Vaggie on the other hand, wasn't quite as fond of animals and merely stood back and watched, becoming apprehensive whenever one tried to approach her.
At the moment, Charlie watched as Vaggie and Angel were taking a bath in the lake.
She was waiting her turn to take a bath since she didn't want Angel to see her naked body as it would reveal her true gender so she opted to wait until they left before bathing, doing her best to not make eye-contact with the two of them for the sake of respecting their privacy.
"You sure you don't wanna come to Charlie?" Angel asked from behind,"The water is fine and it's a beautiful day outside. Why don't you come and take a dip with us? It's pretty nice here…"
"I don't like taking off my clothes in front of people," She was technically the truth and it allowed her to keep out of the water without appearing suspicious.
"Your loss," Angel said before abruptly turning around, Charlie quickly covering her eyes in response,
"EEEEK! Angel! What are you doing!?"
"Turning around? What's wrong Charlie? You seem flustered, something bothering you handsome?"
"You're naked!"
"And? What's wrong with being naked? There ain't nothing to be ashamed of, it's only natural to admire a living work of art," He proclaimed with pride,"I mean, look at this sexy piece of work! I'm the embodiment of perfection in every way possible."
Vaggie scoffed,"Good god, stop stroking your oversized ego and have some bloody decency."
"Who needs decency with a body like this? There's no shame in showing off the pinnacle of sexiness known to man."
"If you're the pinnacle of 'sexiness' then I guess the word 'sexy' has lost it's meaning," Vaggie retorted.
"You're only saying that because you're jealous I'm hotter than you."
"As if," She scoffed,"I'd never be jealous of a junkie whore with a small dick…"
"Excuse me bitch? I have a bigger dick than you do, bitch!"
"No shit? I'm a fucking cisgender woman, idiot. Why would I have a dick?"
"The fuck does cisgender mean? Is that some type of fruit? You calling yourself fruity toots?"
Vaggie facepalmed, she forgot how old Angel really was and that certain modern terms weren't known to him. The man was a prostitute and from the forties so the only sexuality terms back then were gay or straight and Angel placed himself rather firmly in the gay end of the spectrum.
"Ugh…men…"She rolled her eyes at his ignorant response.
"Hey, don't hate me because I'm beautiful."
"I don't hate you because you're 'beautiful'. I hate you because you won't SHUT THE FUCK UP!"
"Why would I shut up? I can make most demons swoon over me at the drop of a hat. This voice and this body has earned millions of toots so I suggest paying some respect…"
"Well I'm clearly the exception, I don't see what everyone's so obsessed over. Your voice is irritating and you're not any better than any other man I've seen…"
She was being honest with that statement, even ignoring she was lesbian,Angel didn't simply didn't look all that stunning to her. She didn't see the appeal and found him average. He wasn't ugly but she certainly didn't understand how he had a legion of fans who'd probably lose their heads at the chance to be near him.
"Are you saying that because you don't like men? Because I know my fans will disagree with that statement since your opinion clearly ain't universal. I'm practically a sex symbol in Hell babe and I've got the reputation to prove it. You may think otherwise but the rest of Hell clearly thinks your opinion is bullshit because I'm Hell's number one porn star. Until you get up on my level I suggest keeping your mouth shut."
"Grrrr! I swear when I get the chance I'll castrate you!"
"Like to see you try bitch…"
"Why I oughta-"
Before things could get out of hand, Charlie quickly piped up,"Guys, guys, no fighting! We're all allies here, let's not tear each other apart so soon. Can we all just get along here?"
"Tell him to quit being a dick then!"
"Only if she stops acting like she has a dildo up her ass," He remarked flatly, Vaggie's eye twitching as she spat out an insult.
"Perverted freak show!"
"Hot-tempered cunt!"
"Fucking dickhead!"
"Tit-less wonder-bitch!"
"GUYS!" Charlie shouted,"Could you two stop fighting!? This isn't necessary!"
"Yeah…but it's fun," Angel said,"Seriously, she's the easiest person to trigger. It's honestly too easy and it'd be a shame to pass up a chance of suitable entertainment…"
Vaggie's scowl deepened,"I'm not your entertainment asshole…"
"Guys, come on. You two are better than this-"
"I'm really not," Angel interjected with a cocky smirk.
Charlie groaned,"Regardless, this isn't the time to fight. We're all in this together so why don't we just try and get along for once?"
"I can try but it all depends on Angel keeping himself in life…" She growled, sending a glare in the man's direction.
"Can't make any promises, babe," Angel teased before stepping out of the water and drying himself off. Vaggie did the same, only doing so on her side of the water and putting her clothes on once she had dried herself off.
The trio then began to walk back to the tree-house, Vaggie and Angel sending each other looks and making mocking comments to each other along the way. Charlie merely sighed in response, it was as if she had been stuck with a married couple who couldn't stop arguing, only difference was that they were married and were gay and could hardly stand each other.
'Ugh…I'm surrounded by children…' She thought to herself as they continued forward.
Just then, the trio froze in their tracks when they heard the abrupt sound of lightning striking the ground, the thunder cracking so loud that it shook the ground they were standing on, the skies suddenly growing dark.
"Woah" Charlie screeched, Angel acting quick to catch her before she fell."T-Thanks Angel…"
"No problem handsome," He replied cheekily.
"Oh my god, will it kill you to stop flirting? We've got bigger problems you know.."
"Oh yeah? Like what?"
"Oh I don't know, the fact there's lighting out here? I sure as hell don't want to stand out here on the ground while lightning strikes. We need to find shelter before we get shaken around again…"
"Aw, is someone scared of a little lighting?" Angel teased.
"Scared of literal strikes of lighting capable of shaking the ground is more like it," She remarked flatly.
"Angel, I think Vaggie is right. We probably shouldn't be out here while the weather is getting bad. We should try and get home before anything happens. We're not as durable as we were back in Hell so we shouldn't take our chances…"
"Eh…fair enough, let's get going…" Angel motioned for the girls to following him and they made their way to back to the tree-house As they were walking, Angel couldn't help but smell smoke in the air and coughed,"Ugh, what the fuck is that awful smell?"
"Smells like…burning wood," Vaggie muttered.
"You sure?" Charlie asked,"I can't tell…"
"Yeah, I recognize the smell of burning wood anywhere," Vaggie admitted,"And like every other time I smelled it, it stems from nothing good. Let's hurry it up, I've got a bad feeling about this…"
They followed Vaggie's advice and checked for the source of the smoke. Their jaws dropped when they saw the tree-house Angel had been staying in burning in flames while three figures watched in the distance.
Angel's breath hitched when he saw a familiar red smoke around another man who he encouraged all too well even without the demon form.
"Val…" He tensed, his usual laid-back demeanor faltering at the sight of his abusive boss,"It's him…"
"Your boss?"
"Yeah…just not the one I know..." He said, noting the purple hair he could see. It wasn't his Val, the moth that had tortured him for decades to come but the mere sight of him was enough to put him on edge.
"What about those two?" Vaggie asked,"Do you recognize them?"
"The one with the pigtails if Velvet…I think. Not sure about the one with the hood though. Can't even tell their gender from here and their back is towards me so it's a fifty-fifty shot of what gender they are, He admitted, eyes squinting at the latter two.
"I saw them at the restaurant," Charlie mentioned,"I was their waiter and something tells me they aren't here for a friendly chat…"
"Fucker's are burning my house…Wiggles! They're gonna kill my pig!" He scowled, blind fury taking over his mind,"HEY! WHAT THE FUCK DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING TO MY HOUSE FUCKFACES!?"
"Ah look, my idea of burning down the house actually caught their attention. My genius plan worked juas I said it would,"Val snickered,"And look, they even brought another pretty face with them. He's quite the looker…"
Angel cringed at the lecherous comments directed at him, it wasn't like he hadn't heard Val do such perverted things before but it was an entirely different level of creepy when another version of Val was saying it.
"Fuck off," He growled,"You ain't getting none of it, Val…"
"Aw look, he knows my name. Guess even forest hobo's know my name," He chuckled, amused by Angel's hostile attitude towards him
"We found them!" Velvet exclaimed,"Now what do we do?"
"Bring them in just as Asmodeus ordered. He wants them alive and it'd be in our best interest to follow his orders. Come on, let's get them…"
Angel tensed as the three began to approach and whispered,"Guys! I need to go get Wiggles! We need a distraction!"
"Like what?"
"I don't know, just do something to buy me some cover!"
"On it!" Vaggie suddenly began throwing fireballs in the direction of the three V's, the trio quickly avoiding the attacks at the last second. Angel took advantage of this and began to climb the trees in order to hide from the chaos.
"Val, one of them fled!" Velvet exclaimed,"What do we do?"
"We'll deal with him later," Val said,"Just focus on those two, only the girl has powers from what I can recall so it won't take much to overwhelm them…"
"You underestimate me," Vaggie scowled,"It won't be that easy. If you want us you better come and get us!" She then began firing flames at them.
"Vincent! Vanessa! Do your thing!"
Vox and Velvet nodded their heads, Vox doing so in a much more robotic fashion and began throwing lightning bolts at them while Velvet summoned spirits with her powers to attack them.
Given they looked like stuffed animals, Vaggie at first wasn't too worried. At least until when she blew one up, the true form of the ghoulish construct revealed itself, looking like some sort of terrifying abomination. Destroying their physical form didn't stop them, it only reveals what truly was inside and it wasn't anything pretty.
"HOLY SHIT!" Vaggie shouted.
"OMG!" Charlie screeched,"It's so creepy! GET RID OF IT!"
Vaggie attempted to get rid of the spirits but was horrified to see her attacks had no real effect on them. The spirits themselves seemed to be immune to fire and were able to waltz around through it. If anything, she had done them a favor by getting rid of their fluffy suits as it was easier to actually move around.
"VAGGIE! THEY'RE GETTING CLOSER!"
"I KNOW! THEY WON'T GO AWAY! THEY'RE IMMUNE TO FIRE!" She hissed, her mind scrambling for an idea to get the ghosts to back off. She then Velvet and made a move to attack her, summoning a fireball and aiming it right at her.
This appeared to do the trick as the ghosts noticeably became hurt when Velvet had been hit.
"It worked…she must be connected to them in someway," Vaggie heaven, relieved that there was some apparent weakness to the ghosts. She wasn't sure how but if she had to guess, the ghosts were constructs of Velvet's energy and if she got hurt, they would feel it so logically if she was weakened enough, she'd be unable to produce/create strong ghosts and would be defeated.
It was just a theory but it was what she was running off until further notice. And what better way to test that theory than to put it to the test again?
Vaggie attempted to hurl another fireball at Velvet but was shocked when a bolt of lighting got in the way of her attack. The collision was enough to cause a mini explosion that shook the ground itself.
"W-What? What was that?"
"It was him!" Charlie shouted, pointing at Vox,"He did it!"
"Dammit, he has powers too? That's bad…that's very bad…" Vaggie tensed, the realization that there were more people with powers than she had realized and they weren't all allies.
And without Angel, it was a three on two fight and given Charlie was powerless she wasn't really much of a useful asset. If anything, she'd just be another target given she wouldn't be able to fight back against them and Vaggie knew Charlie wouldn't fare too well in hand to hand combat. Vaggie was likely the only person standing between Charlie and certain death given how fragile she was and Vaggie wasn't exactly liking the responsibility of having her best friend's life in her hands.
The pressure was unreal and Vaggie's mind was racing for a way that would get them out of this situation in one piece. Her thoughts were interrupted by Valentino who was firing bullets in their direction. He wasn't aiming for vital areas(likely because he wanted them alive) though it was certainly not going to be pleasant if they got it.
"Oh god, run for it!" Vaggie shouted as she ran through the woods, Charlie quickly following close behind.
"Vaggie, they'll catch us! We need to split!"
"But Charlie, they could-"
"Trust me, it's the only way!"
"Fine…"
The two girls sprinted in two opposite directions, forcing the three v's into a conflict over who to go after.
"Who do we go after, Val? They split up!"
"Vincent and I will go after the girl with fire. You track down the boy. He's got no powers so you should have this in the bag."
"Fair enough.."
Velvet pursued after Charlie through the forest, mocking and jeering at him through the forest,"Come on out! You know I can't hide from my little old me forever! It'll be easier if you just give up else I'll have to hurt ya and we both know you wouldn't want that! Daddy will get mad if I don't bring you back so spare me trouble and show yourself already!"
Velvet's pleas fell on deaf ears. She pouted before sighing,"Alright ghosts, trying to find him. He has to be around here somewhere. He couldn't have gotten that far…"
The ghosts began to search for Charlie and Velvet began calling out for the poor Princess. Meanwhile, Charlie hid behind a bush, holding her breath to avoid making a sound. She could feel her heart nearly pounding out of her chest with each step or the occasional moan's the ghosts made that got louder and louder over time.
'I can't hide forever…' Even Charlie wasn't gullible enough to believe so. She was in a forest that was likely going to catch on fire and if Velvet didn't find her the ghosts would. She had to do something before Velvet caught her…
Just then,out of the corner of her eye, she saw a large rock on the ground nearby. Her eyes darted to the object before hearing Velvet's voice becoming louder, the overlord shouting,"I know you're nearby…I can smell your fear from here…"
Charlie tensed before reaching for the stone and gripping it in her dominant hand. She wasn't quite sure if her plan would work but ideally it would buy her some time at the very least to make a quick-getaway and catch up with her allies…
As she felt Velvet becoming closer, her grip tightened on the rock before rising from her hiding spot and attacking, knowing it was now or never….
Velvet was looking in an entirely different bush and mumbling,"Could've sworn I heard something here…"
Only for Charlie to come up behind her and hit her right in the noggin with a stone, letting out a blood curdling scream in response, blood pouring from her head. Charlie tensed as the pigtailed woman fell to the ground, a large gash on the side of her leg.
The Princess's heart nearly skipped a beat as she stood over the unconscious woman, uncertain what to do. In all her years of life this was the first time she had actually physically laid her hands on another person. Even if it was technically a case of self defense she had never foreseen the day she'd use a rock to bash someone's head in.
Charlie tensed as she saw fresh blood on her hands, the stone having a large blood splatter on it. She focused her gaze on Velvet before leaning on her chest for a moment…
Thump. Thump. Thump…
'She's still breathing…Phew…' A sense of relief washed over her, the idea of killing someone would've definitely weighed on her so she was relieved that she was alive…
Still,this act hadn't gone unnoticed as Velvet's ghost constructs had taken notice of her state of unconsciousness and began to storm towards Charlie. Apparently the constructs were more than capable of moving on their own without their owner being awake and were intent on seeking vengeance,much to Charlie's dismay.
"EEEEP!" Charlie quickly hightailed it out of there, running in zig-zag motions in an effort to lose them.
Thankfully for her, the ghosts seemed to care more about their creator than they did for her and eventually gave up once she had strayed too far…
"Huff…puff…I…I think I lost them…" She wiped a bead of sweat from her brow,"Thank god..Though where's Vaggie?"
Just then, she heard an all too familiar scream in the distance. Charlie quickly ran in the direction of the scream and was horrified to see Valentino and Vox had Vaggie corned at the edge of a large ravine with flowing water at bottom rushing down. Val was holding Vaggie at gun-point with a sadistic grin etched across his face.
"VAGGIE!" She shouted as she tried to approach but was quickly stopped by Vox, who shot a bolt of lighting at her. She flinched, looking up and seeing Vox welding lighting itself in his hands, his eyes glowing red with hostility towards her.
Something about his eyes screamed that something was very wrong with him. It was like she was looking into a mindless puppet and not an actual person. She don't know what it was but she knew it wasn't anything good…
"Well well well,"Val started,"Look who finally decided to show up. The little waiter who couldn't even get us our dinner before the place went up in flames. You know it was rather rude to run off without even serving us, right? Made quite bad first impression on me, Conner-"
"Charlie!" She snapped.
"Conner, Charlie, same difference," he admitted nonchalantly.
"So is that? You're literally tearing this place down because we burned down a restaurant that you don't even own?"
"Of course not, getting payback is just a plus. But Asmodeus is paying us loads of money to bring you two back to him and I'm not one to say no to bags of money. Course he insisted on bringing you two in alive and your friend is being…a little uncooperative. Why don't you both save us the trouble and come with us willingly?"
"I already beat your pigtailed friend, what makes you think I'd surrender myself to you?"
"Beating Vanessa ain't something to brag about. The girl's got a few screws loose and I won't deny that her wacky nature comes to bite her in the ass at times. But I'm a lot more…pragmatic and while Asmodeus did say to bring you in alive, he don't say anything about putting a few bullets into you two. Shooting the kneecaps isn't fatal so long as you get help for it and it's not like you'll be able to run anyhow…"
"You…you sick bastard! Stay away from Vaggie!"
"Aw, but this little tease is worth loads of money and it'd be a waste to throw it all away, like it or not, you two are coming with us. If you want to make it easy for yourselves your best decision is to put your hands up so Vincent and I don't have to hurt ya. Are you gonna do this the easy way or the hard way?"
Charlie scowled, without her powers she was in no position to help Vaggie and one wrong move meant her friend potentially getting severely injured.
Desperate for a solution she looked at Vox before looking at his eyes again. She wasn't certain what drew her attention towards that part of him but the longer she looked, the more she realized just how disturbing it really was.
It was like looking at a mindless slave, someone who couldn't even control their own body and was just operating off of someone else's commands. It didn't even seem like the lights were on upstairs and that someone else had taken control from the inside…
She had seen demons with those eyes before, those hazy and empty eyes that could stare into the void without flinching. Those unnerving eyes were a side effect after someone was put under hypnosis.
Powerful demons sometimes make others who weren't as susceptible to other methods forcefully put under a spell in order to make them behave and have full control over the person and make them do whatever they want without question. The ultimate way to break someone's mind was to get inside their head and force them to abide by your commands, a method that any power-hungry demon in Hell would do if those under them got too unruly for their liking…
And it seemed like Val had done the same with Vincent as when she saw him at the restaurant, his eyes were a normal pale blue, not a magenta red color that matched Val's eyes.
An idea then popped into her mind, she wasn't certain if it was possible to break the mind-control but she figured it was worth a shot.
'Time to roll up the charm…' She sighed before saying,"Hey! Vincent! Are you still in there or what?"
"Charlie, what are you doing!?" Vaggie shouted,"Why are you talking to him?"
"Because, I know he's not in control of himself! I'm trying to snap him out of it because it's obvious Valentino is just using him as a tool for his own ends!"
Val laughed,"You're such a naive child, Charles. You think you can 'save' him don't you? That's not how it works, babe. Not at all…"
"Oh yeah? Then how DOES it work, Valentino!?" She snapped.
"It's quite simple really. You may view it as 'abusive' or 'cruel' but really, this is just how it works. If you misbehave, you're gonna get punished for it and Vincent is well aware that I don't tolerate back-talk and as you can see, he's learned what happens to those who get too cocky, don't you babe?" Val asked as he touched Vincent''s body.
Vincent showed no reaction, his expression blank before he replied in a detached tone,"Yes Val…"
"See? He understands and you should too, Charles. This is simply how it works. He knows what's best for him and that obeying my commands is the only way…"
"More like you're brainwashed into thinking your way was best," She remarked,"You are sick, Valentino. Treating your own ally like that when they don't kneel to your commands. Some partner you are…"
"You have no right to judge me, you're just some ignorant vapid child. This is how the world works, the weak get dominated by the strong, it's just a way of life. This situation is no different because you know what? Vincent may be tough on the outside but internally, he's weak. Just a caring, loving, weak pushover," He sneered, mockingly making hand motions to signify how pathetic the other man was,"And do you want to know why? Because for all his bravado, he's really got a lot of exploitable flaws and once you know those, he's easy to control, to manipulate to your own will. He'll do practically anything if you show him even the tiniest sliver of affection and he knows that deep down…he can't function without me. Because without me, he wouldn't be who he is today. I made him whole and I can take him apart whenever I want because in the end…he's just a puppet and like any other puppet it cannot function without it's string. He'll always need me because I am his Master and he belongs to me, body, heart and mind…"
Vaggie and Charlie had disgusted looks on their faces. Listening to Val was downright disturbing and both girls were mortified by his behavior.
Neither were certain what to do next and it seemed Val believed he had won,"Aw, what's wrong you two? Realizing that the situation is hopeless? Don't be, I'm certain Asmodeus will make you nice and comfortable once you pay off your debts to him. A few years of servitude would do you well I'm sure."
"Fuck off you piece of shit!" Vaggie hissed,"I won't be anyone's slave! I'd rather die than do that!"
"Feisty bitch aren't you?" He sneered as he fixated his aim at her,"I'm certain the boss will beat that attitude out of you eventually. Attitudes like that get annoying after a while and the amusement ends once little whores think they can stand up to you. You'll learn that soon enough and I honestly can't wait to see it, because I couldn't stand that Lenore woman for having such a headstrong mood. Made me want to knock her jaw out."
Vox's eyes flashed for a moment, his eyes turning blue for just a second at the mention of his wife. Charlie caught sight of this and an idea soon came to mind, connecting the dots.
Not all hope was lost and it seemed that Vox was still fighting there…he just needed a bit more…motivation to fully break free.
"Hey Val,if you're so confident about your opinion on women, why don't you tell us more about how you feel about that woman then before you turn us in?" If there was one thing Charlie knew about guys with pride, it was that they couldn't miss a chance to stroke their ego and she was gonna milk this opportunity for all it was worth.
"Well since you insist, I suppose I can't grant one final request before I take you downtown to Lord Asmodeus for payment. I despised that woman, I had no idea what Vincent was thinking of getting involved with such a sickly and frail woman who couldn't even take care of herself. Didn't help that she was unattractive and wasn't even well off. I've seen street whores look better than that ugly bitch."
Vox's eye's began to flicker more and he appeared unstable, clutching his head in agony and gritting his teeth. Val didn't seem to care and growled,"Shut up, Vincent, I"m trying to talk here. Quit whining…"
Vox didn't respond and merely growled as Val continued his speech.
"Anyhow, the only positive thing I can think about when it comes to her…was when she died. Because when she kicked the bucket, it felt like a great inconvenience was riddance that she had passed since the best thing she did for everyone was die. Would've paid to shoot her in the head and if I didn't need to turn you in, I'd do the same to that pretty face of yours…Though I suppose I can settle for your leg…Hold still, it'll only hurt a lot…"
As Val was about to fire, Vox's eyes snapped open, turning blue for the final time and barring his teeth. Faster than a bolt of lighting, the former TV Demon suddenly grabbed the gun and began trying to wrangle it out of his hands in an ongoing struggle for control.
"Vincent! What are you doing!? Stop that! I don't say you could do that!"
"So what!?" Vox asked,"I'm not your goddamn slave, Val. You can't control me anymore. I'm not obligated to follow your orders,Valentino and I'm done being your mindless drone. Now hand over the gun you son of a bitch!"
"Not a chance Vincent! You will not take back what is mine!"
The two men began to fight and Vaggie took her chance to get away from the edge while they were combating each other, now watching with anticipation to see how the fight would end, Charlie's eyes filling with worry as they got closer to the edge.
"Should we warn them?"
"This is a fight between two giants, Charlie. This battle is personal and we have no stake in their relationship. It's not our place to intervene…"
The two men began to fight over the gun and Vox eventually managed to wrangle the gun away from Val and tossed it over the side of the water. Angered, Val punched Vox in the face though this didn't slow him down by much, merely pushing Val aside near the ledge of the waterfall with his eye burning with rage.
Val tensed as he saw how close he was to the edge and nervously looked up at Vox,"N-Now now, Vincent. There's no need to be so rash. Let's talk about this babe, there's no need to do something you might regret. You wouldn't dare push me off now would you?"
"Don't tempt me, Val," He growled,"After the bullshit you pulled on me, you should consider yourself lucky I don't just shove you off the edge right now."
"I did nothing-"
"Yes you did! You destroyed my wife's legacy, insulted her name, controlled my mind to do your bidding and you have the nerve to say you didn't do anything!? How could you, Val!?" He asked, his voice cracking," I..I loved you…and still…do…"
"Then come back to me, babe. Help me finish this so we can return home and be a family again. There's no need to do this Vincent…"
He clenched his fist,"No…"
"No? What do you mean no? You can't say no to me-"
"I just did…And if you had any sense, you'd shut your mouth and stop fighting because you won't like what happens next…"
"No, that's not how this works. You cannot refuse me, I won't let you do that-"
"You have no control over me, Val. You have no power over me."
"We both know that's a lie, Vincent. I've been the influence of your mind for years and you know it. You can't live without me. I made you who you are, Vincent, you can't just turn your back on me now. Not after everything I've done to make you successful. And yet even after everything I've done, you dare show yourself to be ungrateful in favor of that whore you dare call a wife-"
"SILENCE!" Vox shouted, his eyes glowing white rage,"DO NOT MY SPEAK OF MY WIFE THAT WAY YOU FUCKING BASTARD! I'VE HAD ENOUGH OF YOU AND YOUR INSOLENCE VALENTINO! MEETING YOU HAS GOT TO BE THE WORST DECISION OF MY LIFE AND I'M DONE BEING YOUR PERSONAL PUNCHING BAG AND I SURE AS HELL WON'T STAND HERE AND LET YOU INSULT MY WIFE'S MEMORY ONCE MORE!"
As he said this, lightning struck the platform of rock they were standing on, causing the ground to shake tremulously like an earthquake. Valentino gasped as he felt himself losing his balance and screamed,"Vincent help me!"
Vox stared at him, almost appearing ready to make a move towards him but chose to stand in place.
Valentino scowled before using the last of his strength to grab Vox by the hood and grab onto him,"If I go down, I'm taking another one of you bitches with me to the grave. So long bitches, enjoy your freedom while it lasts…"
Charlie gasped,"Vincent!" She tried to reach out for him by the ledge but was unable to make it in time, watching in horror as Val took Vox with him, eventually disappearing into the current below and being swept away.
"I…I couldn't save him…"
"It's not your fault, Hon. You did what you could…" Vaggie admitted,"Besides, at least Valentino is out of the picture. That's one good thing about the situation…"
"Yeah, but Vincent…he fell…We could've saved him…"
"There's nothing we can do for him now. It's too late, he's already gone. There's no use dwelling on it…"
Just then, the two girls spotted Angel Dust rushing to them with Wiggles in his arms,"Hey, Charlie, Vaggie, what happened to you two? Did something go on while I was away?"
"Yeah, it's a long story but what I can say is that Valentino is out of the picture…"
"Thank god…though where's that cloaked guy?"
"He…fell. Val was controlling him and he broke free, though he didn't get to relish his freedom before Val threw him over the ledge," Charlie mentioned.
"Oh…" He cringed,"Poor guy. Maybe he'll find some peace once he drowns…and hopefully Val does too in a less peaceful manner…"
"Agreed," Charlie said,"Though how are Wiggles? Is he alright?"
"Despite being in a mostly burned down house, he's actually in good condition. Few bruises and ash but it's nothing that can't be fixed. He found a good hiding spot so he managed to avoid getting any severe burns. He'll recover though I can't say the same about our house. Place is burned to a crisp and the forest is getting set on fire as we speak," He said as he motioned to the smoke,"We have to get out of here unless we want to burn too."
"Let's…" Charlie said before rushing out of the forest with her allies, doing their best to avoid any debris or flames in the ongoing chaos. When they finally got out, Vaggie was the only one who was unaffected by the flames/smoke and merely shrugged it off.
"So…I take it that Velvet isn't a problem either?"
"She's dealt with," Charlie assured,"She's still alive but I don't think she'll be much of a threat on her own. Especially without her friends. She should still be knocked unconscious given her two allies are probably dead."
"And good riddance, glad we don't have to deal with Valentino anymore. Though Asmodeus is still an issue and we should avoid him as much as possible."
"Don't need to tell me twice. I've had enough problems with pimps in my life, I don't need another," Angel stated simply.
As they walked away, Velvet watched from the forest with a devastated facial expression,"Vox is dead? That…that can't be right…he was the only person I had in this timeline and now he's gone…" Velvet cried silently as some of her ghost constructs began to comfort her to the best of their ability…
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Enigmus-288: Vox fears/loves Val. If he didn't, he would've beat his ass by now. Vox, even when hes' mad at Val, doesn't WANT to hurt him. He loves him since in all honesty, Val is probably the only person who has expressed any sort of 'love' towards Vox in years despite him being a toxic asshole.
Vox is 'pathetic' because he can't get over his love for Val. I feel like Val has sort of manipulated Vox into thinking he's the only one for him and just gets him to submit whenever he gets too 'sassy' for Val. If Val can't get Vox to submit with his fists, he'll use his words and those words have fucked with Vox's head over the years.