Valentino's Penthouse
It turned out to be a rather productive day for the Vees. They all sat on Valentino's luxurious couch as they shared their accomplishments with each other.
"And it went off without a hitch" Vox chuckled. "The upgrades are proven to increase engagement and retention by over 50%. Oh, I wonder how dear ol' Al will be able to handle this."
"Careful you don't get ahead of yourself," Velvette said.
Vox's smile disappeared from his screen.
"Do you doubt that it'll work!?" Vox scolded.
"Just stating an obvious factor that shouldn't be overlooked," she said not looking away from her phone. "He did humiliate you after his grand return after all."
"Well, this time will be different," Vox stated. "You'll see. Everyone will see."
"I look forward to seeing it," Velvet said. Once she finished the post she made, she turned her head to look at Valentino. "What about you Val? Heard your latest work experienced some hitches."
Val exhaled a large puff of smoke before returning Velvette's gaze.
"Oh, it's nothing to worry about."
"Really? From what I've heard, Angel Dust's been dropping the ball as of late."
Val's brow twitched.
"I got it handled," Val said. Traces of irritation seeped free from the masquerade he put on. "Gave the ungrateful little whore a small discipline session when we were finished with the shoot. He surely got the memo."
"Hopefully," Velvette said.
Val's eye twitched again.
"Well, if he didn't, I'll make sure he gets it next ti-"
*Click*
Valentino's sentence was cut short when the lights of the penthouse suddenly shut down leaving only the red of the pentagram sky to light the room.
"Wha-!?" Vox looked up. The lights turned on again but started to flicker sporadically.
"God fucking damn it! I thought I told those useless technicians to keep those blasted fuse boxes maintained."
"Guess it shows you have poor hiring standards," Velvette snidely remarked.
"HEY! YOUR-"
Vox never got to finish his sentence as the flicking of the lights was accompanied by something else.
A rumbling.
It was soft at first, barely noticeable. But as the flicking of the lights grew more sporadic, so too did the rumbling.
"What is this? A hell-shake?" Velvette exclaimed.
"Hell-shakes aren't real," Valentino said.
"Then how do you expla-"
*POP POP POP*
Now Velvet's words were cut off as several of the lights started to pop and spark above them. All three of them stood up from the couch as jolts of electricity jumped from the broken sockets and converged onto a single point on the floor on the other side of the room. The electricity surged harder and harder, forming into a floating ball of blue energy. Then the rumbling reached a crescendo with a small but sudden shockwave that caused the Vees to stumble. When they regained their balance, they saw the ball had morphed into a portal. The Vees only stared at the portal in silence before the person who opened it emerged.
It was a human. Not a sinner. A living, breathing human man. And he was huge. Very tall, with bulking muscles on his arms and chest. All of which were covered with green metallic armor. It covered all of his body except for his exposed biceps between his shoulders and elbows.
Attached to his left wrist was what looked to be a retractable blade the size of a short sword. On his left shoulder, there was a small cannon-like gadget. And his face was concealed behind the translucent visor of a helmet. But even from where they stood, the Vees could make out the eyes of the human. They were eyes that sheered with a piercing anger. Whoever he looked at seemed to be marked for death. And when his eyes landed on the Vees, they all felt threatened.
"WHO ARE YOU?!" Valentino was the one to break the silence. The intruder didn't respond. In response, Val's eyes narrowed as he reached into his coat and pulled out a Carmine pistol.
"I don't know who you are or where you came from, but you'd better explain what you are doing here before we teach you a lesson to not trespass on the property of the Vees."
He held his gun by his side, ready to use it in case the intruder made any sudden moves. But he didn't move. Instead, Valentino saw someone else emerge from the portal. But he couldn't see who it was with the human in the way. The portal then collapsed leaving the Vees and the two new arrivals in the room. The human then took a step to his left to reveal who accompanied him. This one caught the Vees by larger surprise.
"Ms. Morningstar?!" Valentino exclaimed.
Charlie crossed her arms and locked her gaze with Valentino with a small smirk on her lips.
"Valentino," she replied.
From that reply alone, something wasn't right. The last time Val encountered Ms. Morningstar, she had the demeanor of a naïve and delusional schoolgirl with a fragile heart that could be easily broken. But now, she looked composed, cool, levelheaded and confident. It felt… wrong. This couldn't be the clumsy little bitch who made a mess of his studio a few weeks ago.
"What the fuck are you doing in my personal quarters?!" He exclaimed. "Moreover, who is this cosplaying body builder reject you brought with you?!"
Charlie made a small glance towards the human.
"Oh, don't mind him. He's just a friend of mine who wanted to accompany me to ensure my visit proceeded without… too many complications."
Once again, Charlie's tone was radically different than her usual out-of-touch demeanor. It bamboozled and even made Val uncomfortable. Not helped by the death glare the human had on him. But he did his best to hide that uncertainty behind his mask of anger.
"As for why I'm here," Charlie continued. "I believe the terms we left on in our last encounter were… unsatisfactory."
Val's eye twitched.
"You're here because of Angel Dust?!"
Charlie nodded. Val's body tensed and his hand gripped tighter on his gun.
"Have I not made it clear that I have ownership of his soul?!" Val said, doing his best to keep himself from shouting. "It is my right to do whatever I want with him, even if it means pulling him away from your pathetic little games for three-year-olds."
Charlie merely shifted her stance and placed her hands on her hips.
"That is true," Charlie said. "But he is also a guest of the Hazbin Hotel. And as the owner of the hotel, it is my duty to ensure the safety and wellbeing of my guests."
She narrowed her eyes at Val.
"And I've noticed my guest has not had the best sense of wellbeing as of late."
A sense of hostility seeped into her voice. Faintly, but noticeable.
"To that end, I've come to the conclusion that it's in everyone's best interest for us to… renegotiate Angel Dust's contract."
Her words left Valentino in disbelief. And that disbelief bubbled into a burning rage. Burning so hot that his impulses wanted him to raise his gun and put a bullet in the little bitch's head right now. But that impulse was interrupted by a cracking sound. Val looked over at the human who casually popped his knuckles. His menacing gaze told Val to not do anything rash.
"So, here's my proposal," Charlie continued. "Either you give me permission to add a clause into Angel Dust's contract to ensure no physical harm can be enacted on him by the owning party."
Her smirk disappeared.
"Or…"
Her eyes burned red right into Valentino's own gaze.
"You release him of his contract, we forgive all previous transgressions and move forward without any further complications between either party."
She crossed her arms again.
"I await your answer."
A defining silence fell the room. Valentino was speechless.
The audacity! The absolute audacity!
How dare this little bitch come into his home and threaten him to surrender his property! He never took his gaze off Charlie but from the corner of his eye, he could feel the danger emanating from whoever this human was. But he couldn't show his fear. Not now. Not ever. What would hell think of him if word got out that he bowed to the whims of a pathetic little girl and her lapdog?
No.
"Vox," Val said without taking his gaze off Charlie. "Set up the cameras."
"Wha-"
"SET! UP! THE CAMERAS!" Val finally turned his head to look at his compatriot. "I want every lowlife scum in hell to see what happens right here, right now!"
Vox got the memo. With a snap of his fingers, sparks flowed from the broken sockets and several cameras materialized in all corners of the room.
The Hazbin Hotel
Angel Dust scrolled through his Voxtigram feed. It was all he could do with what little energy he had left after what happened today. The tears smoldered his mascara, smudging it across his bruised face and stained the bed sheets he lay on. But he couldn't bring himself to get up and go to the sink to wash it away. His body felt paralyzed. He hoped in the days after Charlie's careless interruption that Val had vented all his aggression and things would go back to normal. But it didn't. In fact, it got worse. Angel tried to commit to Val's requests, but no matter how hard he tried, his head was never fully in the game. And when he wasn't being the cream of Valentino's Crop… well, one surely could imagine what happened next. And not even the comforting cuddling of Fat Nuggets could help him through the trauma this time. All he could do was scroll until his body gave way and allowed him to escape the pain of consciousness. But that wouldn't happen tonight.
A notification popped up on his feed. He pressed it and the screen transitioned to a livestream that was happening directly within Voxtech headquarters.
*Gasp*
Angel's eyes widened. In an instant, his pseudo paralysis disappeared. He shot up from laying on the bed.
What?
"ANGEL!"
He heard Vaggie from behind the door.
"ANGEL YOU BETTER COME SEE THIS!"
Angel rushed to the door and opened it.
"Come on!" Vaggie grabbed Angel by the hand and pulled him down the hall to the lobby.
Everyone else was there; Pentious, Niffy, Husk and even Alastor all huddled around the hotel's television. Vaggie took her seat on the end of the couch and put Angel in the middle with Husk on the other end. On the screen, it was showing the same thing that was on Angel's phone.
The three Vees stood in their penthouse in a standoff against Charlie Morningstar, who was accompanied by a beefcake of a human clad in metallic armor.
"What the fuck is she doing there?!" Angel exclaimed. "And… who's that hunk with her?"
"I cannot answer for who her compatriot is," Alastor said sitting in his chair. "But as for what Miss Morningstar is doing, I would educate a guess that she is putting her authority as the Princess of Hell to good use. This will surely be exciting."
Exciting for Al. But terrifying for Angel. If this was what Angel thought it was, then there were going to be some major consequences if this turned out poorly.
On the screen, Val took a step forward. The screen changed to a closeup of his face as he leered hard at Charlie's fiery gaze. He then brought up his hand and pointed it directly at the princess.
"Charlotte Morningstar," Val started. "You think you can just barge into my humble home and make threats to take away what is rightfully mine?"
He paused and looked at the camera. Almost as if he was looking directly at Angel through the screen. Angel felt a chill run down his spine. Val then looked back at Charlie.
"Well, I'm sorry to say but my answer is no. I will not make any alterations or relinquish my ownership of Angel Dust's soul."
He waved his hand and the contract materialized in his palm to show her and the cameras.
"He is my property, and I will do what I please with him along with all the other souls in my control."
He dissipated the contract away then brought up the Carmine pistol for the camera to see.
"Furthermore, as punishment for your threats, once the three of us are finished with whoever this lapdog of yours is, we will personally march to your pitiful little hotel, slaughter every resident that resides there, and I will reclaim my property and bring him back where he belongs. All of that before we burn that pitiful building into a smoldering pile of ash to be forgotten as a footnote in hell's history. Anyone who fucks with the Vees will know they're fucking with the best."
Panic started to surge in Angel Dust's chest. He felt the painful memories of Val's past assaults surge into his head. Only made worse by the thoughts of what would happen next if Val kept his word and endangered not only him but everyone who sat around him. His hands started to tremble, and his heart started to race. But before he started to hyperventilate, he felt Husk's hand gently grasp one of his left hands. His expression told him he was concerned as well, but he was going to see this through. He then felt Vaggie take one of his right hands. She too wore a concerned but determined look on her face. Their support managed to allow Angel to take several deep breaths and stop his trembling. The only thing he could do now was to see what would happen next.
Charlie stared at Valentino with her still burning eyes. But then she closed them and bent her head down. She let out a sigh and opened her regular yellow eyes. Her face no longer showed signs of anger. Instead, it only showed… disappointment.
"Then, I am truly sorry," Charlie said. "I had hoped that we could reach an agreement that would not result in further conflict. Alas, my duty to ensure the safety and wellbeing of my guests is my priority and I will carry it out, no matter the circumstances."
She looked up at the human.
"Mr. Doom Slayer."
He turned his head to look at her. She turned around and inhaled.
"You have my permission… to rip and tear… until it is done."
She proceeded to a corner of the room and sat down on a nearby chair.
The Slayer turned his gaze to the Vees. He reached behind him and, from seemingly nowhere, a large shotgun appeared in his hand. Valentino didn't care how he was able to do what he did. All that mattered was eradicating this punk and showing that little bitch who was really in charge. He looked over at Vox and Velvette with a face that told them they were to join him in this fight. Whether out of mutual agreement, fear of him or fear of losing their reputation if they fled while all of hell watched, they both nodded.
Val put the rest of his arms within his coat and pulled out three more guns to have all his hands holding a firearm. To his right, Vox's body surged with electricity, ready to discharge it at a moment's notice. Meanwhile, Velvet stepped in front of Val to his left.
"Shame we didn't meet under better circumstances, love," she said to the Slayer. "You could have had the opportunity to be one of my models with that kind of body. But alas, we find ourselves on opposite sides of the room."
Her eyes emanated with a red glow before she raised her arms up. Around her, beams of energy emerged from the floor. They then vanished, leaving six humanoid figures in their place. They turned out to be mannequins. Mannequins who were the same shape and size as Velvet, only they were wearing different outfits. Outfits that were rejects of her fashion line. The mannequins then stood upright before taking a crouching stance and held two long daggers in their hands.
The Vees were ready.
The Slayer brought his shotgun up, hand ready on the pump.
He took a breath.
*CHIK-CHIK*