Charlie appreciated that Alastor had gone to the trouble of advertising the Hotel... but it wasn't really a solid message for what they were trying to do.

In her opinion, the Hotel was being treated too much like a joke. She wanted sinners to see the Hotel as a place of hope, not a joke.

"Bad? I wanted it to be hilarious!" Alastor confessed after Vaggie had clearly told him it was bad, and it was clear she didn't appreciate that.

"You didn't explain that we want to save the demons from Extermination, that's supposed to be the whole fucking point of the ad." Said Vaggie in an angry tone, picking at her head in frustration as she looked at Alastor.

"Vaggie's right, Alastor." Said Charlie in turn, lightly chastising the radio demon, offering him a smile as she agreed with her girlfriend. "The ad was meant to let sinners know that we're trying to help them."

"My dear, it's been a long time since I've been active in Hell. And everyone remembers my radio broadcasts." Alastor retorted, his eternal smile never fading as he spoke. "The right channel to express oneself. But since you demanded that noisy picture box for the commercial, I had a bit of fun."

He tossed his cane into his hands as his grin turned into a cheeky grimace.

"Did you have a bit of fun?" It was clear that Vaggie wasn't at all pleased with Alastor's game, for she leapt to her feet and placed herself on the sofa. "That's not the image we want to give. A week ago, you arrived to help us at the hotel. But you don't care about us. No one will want..."

She was interrupted by the sound of footsteps and Andrew joining the discussion.

"What's going on here?" he asked in a confused tone.

"Well, Alastor was kind enough to do an advert for us, but it's..." Charlie paused, trying to find a pleasant way to say it. But Vaggie beat her to it.

"It makes us look like buffoons and shows absolutely no interest in the hotel." Vaggie explained, glancing toward Chevalier Makai.

Andrew looked at them both, before turning to Alastor to ask his opinion.

"Radio is the only suitable medium, but they insisted on the picture box. I had a bit of fun." Alastor explained very simply, the smile never leaving his face.

"This isn't the 1930s, Alastor." Andrew retorted, raising an eyebrow and moving closer, until he was right behind the sofa. "Whether you like it or not, radio is out of date as far as advertising is concerned. It's still used, but more for entertainment than as a promotional tool. So if you were going to do this commercial, you should have done it right."

Charlie appreciated the intervention and grinned at the Makai Knight, while Vaggie flashed a smug grin as he turned to Alastor.

"Oh, not you, Andrew?" Alastor asked, feigning sorrow. "Why, I thought my friend would be on my side."

It... still troubled Charlie. Since they'd met, he'd seemed to get along with everyone. However, he seemed to have got on well with Angel and Alastor.

Given the difference in their morals and beliefs, Alastor was a shock.

"Being a friend means being honest." Andrew replied with a chuckle, shaking his head in amusement. "Sorry, Al."

"Well, okay." Alastor muttered with feigned disappointment, hardly noticeable because of his ever-present smile. "At least you'll tell me the truth."

A hand suddenly rose in the air, bringing all eyes to the source, where Angel Dust was lounging on the sofa, a smile on her face.

"If you're doing a commercial, in my opinion you should take better advantage of the talent of the celebrity right here." Angel suggested in a sort of suggestive display, picking up a bottle of booze in the process.

"No." replied Andrew and Vaggie simultaneously, both giving Angel an amused look. To which the spider-demon responded with a pout.

"Killjoy."

Charlie couldn't help smiling. Despite his lack of interest in being a guest, Andrew genuinely seemed to want the hotel to succeed in spite of everything. He gave his honest opinion when he could, and despite some obvious distrust, he and Vaggie were always on the same page when it came to the hotel's well-being.

"Angel, I appreciate that you want to use your special skills to attract people to the hotel, but I really don't want to exploit you! That way." Said Charlie once she'd found the right words, not wanting to appear mean to Angel. Although she appreciated that he'd put forward an idea...

But she wasn't comfortable with the idea at all.

"Yeah, it's his way of saying no to porn." Said Andrew, translating her words with a smile. "I'm trying to figure out if this is supposed to be a real idea or a joke."

"Ah, fuck you, golden knight." Said Angel with a good-natured smile despite his words, and gave a middle finger to the Makai Knight, who promptly returned it with his own. "Besides, I've got it all! Arms, stamina, legs, I've got the lung capacity... I've got the legs... ! "

"Yeah, yeah, I've got skills in bed too and you don't see me bragging about it." Said Andrew, interrupting Angel's rather inappropriate tirade with a smile, eliciting a chuckle from Alastor in response.

"Indeed. You've got to feel pretty inferior to brag so much about something so trivial!" The radio demon joked at Angel's expense, once again provoking a pout from the spider.

"Bastards!"

Andrew was heard to chuckle in reply, but Charlie's attention vanished at that moment when she felt the vibrations of her phone starting to ring, as well as the sound of it ringing.

The person calling was the last one she'd expected: her father.

"Uh, stop thinking about that." Said Charlie, interrupting any ongoing conversation as all eyes turned to her. "I'll be right back." She assured as she stood up, leaving the rest of them alone as she headed down the hall. Once she was sure she had some privacy, she answered the phone.

"Hello? Dad?"

"I have a question."

Vaggie honestly wasn't sure she wanted to listen to the question, but she would anyway.

"If that weird face over there is so powerful, why can't he just make people stay here?" Angel asked, gesturing toward Alastor.

"Oh, trust me. I CAN." Said Alastor as his expression became more sinister as he assured the spider-demon that he could if he wanted to, the small pair of antlers even growing considerably to emphasize his point.

"If they're under contract, of course." Andrew corrected, a smile on his face as he glanced at Alastor. "Otherwise, he won't be able to as long as I'm here."

"Why do you think I'm here?" Husk's voice rose, causing all eyes to turn to the cat-demon standing at the bar, bottle in hand and glaring at them. "Do you really think I'd be here cleaning bottles and listening to you bitch if I didn't have to?"

"Free place to sleep, free booze?" Andrew replied, raising his eyebrows. Husk looked at him for a moment, before nodding.

"That's true."

"I like being forced." Said Niffty, suddenly poking his head over the counter next to Husk, saying this in such a surprisingly casual tone that it unnerved Vaggie.

Since Niffty was... Niffty, no one else batted an eye at his antics. Except Husk.

"Keep it to yourself, Nif..." He told her, glancing disgustedly at the little Cyclops as he took a small step away from her.

"What, you don't like it here with me, Whiskers?" Angel asked with a suggestive smile, much to Husk's annoyance.

"Call me 'Whiskers' again and I'll shove this bottle down your throat." Husk menaced, glancing at the spider-demon, who smiled in response.

"That's perverse." Angel retorted, holding up a finger and wriggling suggestively. "Come on, keep talking dirty."

"Ugh." Vaggie made his irritation known with a look at the spider demon. "Angel, let Husk do his job. And no, we can't force the sinners to stay here. They have to choose too." She explained to the porn star, who responded with a scoff.

"I chose to be here, and I think that's stupid." He admitted bluntly. "We're in Hell, baby. The only person helping you willingly and without a second thought is the knight in his 14-karat armor." He said, pointing to Andrew with one of his arms.

"That doesn't mean it's not possible. Just that there are too many people who have lost hope. And the purpose of this hotel is to give it to them." replied the latter.

Vaggie wasn't quite sure whether he was sincere, and she still had her reasons for not trusting him. But all that aside, she really appreciated the support he was giving her at the moment.

"Hell's supposed to be the end of the road, isn't it?" Angel retorted, raising his eyebrows and taking a sip of his drink.

"Nobody said they did." Andrew replied, shaking his head.

"That's true." Vaggie agreed with the Golden Knight. "Then maybe it's not necessary. Just because no one's managed to get through it before doesn't mean it's not possible."

"Eh..." Angel leaned over and put a hand on the moth demon's shoulders, giving him an amused look. "As long as I can sleep here for free it's fine with me." His expression was tinged with slight frustration. "Crack is expensive."

"Well, that's on you." Andrew commented, his expression turning to one of annoyance as he raised an eyebrow at Angel. "Drop the habit, you'll have money."

"Yeah, I don't think so." Angel replied, shaking his head, making it clear that the habit would remain for the foreseeable future.

Andrew let out a frustrated sigh and shook his head, before his heavy footsteps could be heard making their way out of the conversation.

"Never mind." was the last thing the Makai Knight had to say.

Everyone followed him with their eyes. It was clear that anything to do with drugs was something that touched a nerve with him.

Angel's face seemed to darken, an expression of guilt appearing on his face. But this lasted only a moment, before the usual sarcasm returned.

"What's his problem?"

Charlie couldn't have held back her joy, even if she'd tried. The phone call with her father was going much better than she could have imagined.

She was finally going to be able to present her idea to Heaven! She couldn't wait any longer!

"Yes, I can! Absolutely!" Charlie nodded, the biggest smile she could imagine on her face as she assured her father that she could meet Paradise. "Yes, I'll go right away!"

"Okay."

"All right!" With that, Charlie ended the call, before jumping up and down with joy, for her dream seemed to be coming true at last. "Hah! Yes! Yes!" The princess laughed with joy. Things were finally going well!

She turned on her heels, intending to inform Vaggie...

And found herself face to face with a wall.

Unsurprisingly, the princess was caught off guard and fell on her bottom as she tried to recover from her clumsiness.

"Ow..." Charlie groaned as she raised a hand to rub her skull, hoping to soothe the painful headache caused by the unexpected incident.

She didn't remember there being a wall there.

A deep, familiar chuckle suddenly echoed down the hall, before Charlie felt a hand grab her arm and gently hoist her to her feet.

"Are you okay?" That familiar voice rang out, and Charlie's gaze fell on Andrew Ozawa's amused expression.

Ah, that explains it. The wall wasn't a wall.

"I'm sorry." Charlie apologized with a sheepish smile, rubbing his head. "I should have been careful."

"It's all right, Charlie." Andrew assured her, removing his hand from her arm. "What are you so excited about? If you'd come across anything else, you'd probably have hit a wall or something.

Charlie chose not to comment on how many times she'd done exactly that.

"I just got a call from my dad." Charlie admitted, regaining her usual sparkling smile as she looked at the Makai Knight with stars in her eyes. "He wants me to meet Paradise at the embassy instead of him!"

Andrew let out an amused chuckle at this.

"Let me guess: you're going to introduce the hotel?"

When she nodded, he laughed and patted her reassuringly on the back.

Charlie was frankly surprised that it didn't send her sprawling to the floor.

"This is my chance! I can finally stop the exterminations!" She hopped on her toes as she spoke, looking up at him with glee. "Isn't it incredible?"

"Yes, it is." Andrew nodded with a small smile, before giving Charlie another pat on the back. "Why don't you go and tell Vaggie? I'll go and keep busy for a bit."

When it came to Andrew, "take care" usually translated into "someone's touched a sore spot and I don't feel like taking it out on him".

Of course, Charlie being the sensitive heart that she was...

"Did something happen?" She asked, her excitement disappearing for a moment to be replaced by concern as his hand caught her wrist before he could pull away. "You know you can talk to me, don't you?"

"I know." Andrew assured her with a grateful smile. "It's just... Angel talking about crack. I don't need to tell you I don't have much tolerance for that shit."

Ah. Yeah, that makes sense. Although they'd become good friends over the past few days, Andrew and Angel had enough differences to provoke an argument.

"Well... if you'd rather talk, I only have a phone call to make." Charlie insisted, but Andrew merely shook his head.

"I appreciate the thought, but you need to get to that meeting." Andrew replied, cutting short his concerns. "Better let Vaggie know before you go. I wouldn't want to worry her."

At that moment, Charlie's eyes widened and she remembered why she'd bumped into Andrew in the first place.

"You're right!"

And just like that, Charlie's excitement and eagerness to inform Vaggie returned in full force.

Andrew was left in the dust as Charlie returned to the lobby, her eagerness getting her words out quickly.

"Vaggie! Holy shit!" Charlie could have materialized around the corner of the hallway, screaming at Vaggie as she nearly jumped to the ceiling in fright.

"Ahh! What's wrong?" Vaggie replied, looking at Charlie with eyes wide with concern as the princess beckoned her over.

"Come over here!" Charlie at least hoped Vaggie understood, but babbling through a closed mouth can lead to communication difficulties.

Fortunately, Charlie trusted Vaggie, for she disappeared behind the corner of the room a second later.

Vaggie let out a small sigh and smiled as she set off after Charlie. She glanced around to make sure no one was following or eavesdropping before crossing her arms and turning to Charlie with a suspicious look.

"What's going on?" Vaggie asked, raising her eyebrows.

At this point, Charlie was hyperventilating.

"My dad just called. The head of the Angel Army wants to meet with us!" Charlie was bouncing down the corridors as his voice came out almost breathless, before walking over to Vaggie and clutching his shoulders. "He asked me if I could go in his place!" She finished, literally touching Vaggie's nose.

After a few moments' thought, Vaggie looked at Charlie confusedly.

"But... But the extermination just took place." Vaggie muttered, bringing a hand to his head, trying to understand why they wanted to meet. "What could they possibly want so soon after..."

"I can do it. I know it somehow."

Vaggie had lost Charlie, that was obvious.

"I'm going to make Heaven support my plan." Charlie sang in a hopeful tone as she lifted her hand, letting it run into the light that penetrated the hotel.

Vaggie knew what was coming next, and she wasn't exactly looking forward to it. She liked Charlie... but his songs could be a bit excessive. She clutched her head to contain her frustration as she followed Charlie.

"Charlie, wait..."

"There's no way I'm missing this..." Charlie immediately disengaged herself from Vaggie's grasp without realizing it, too caught up in her song.

All eyes still in the hall turned to the princess as she began to dance throughout the hall, mostly amused by Charlie's antics.

"Not this once-in-a-lifetime chance!"

"It's only a meeting." Said Vaggie. She hoped to calm Charlie down, even if part of her knew it was in vain.

Vaggie couldn't believe she was thinking this, but she really wished Angel hadn't upset Andrew.

Given how often Charlie started singing, Andrew had seen two. He would have had five, but he'd managed to keep Charlie from singing by explaining why it was best not to sing.

Or by politely asking him not to, which Vaggie didn't have the heart to do.

As usual, Vaggie found herself ignored as Charlie continued to dance in the hall under everyone's gaze. At least Husk didn't look amused, but he probably didn't care at all.

"To change their minds, and touch their hearts, or whatever angels have."

"That could be bad." Couldn't help muttering Vaggie aloud, feeling a migraine coming on at Charlie's antics. Charlie heard her, though.

"Cheer up, Vaggie!" Charlie sang as he turned back to his girlfriend with a reassuring smile, moving closer to her and taking Vaggie's hands in his own. "This could be great." The next thing Vaggie knew, Charlie was spinning them both around as she began the next verse of her sudden song. "Something tells me today will be a happy day in hell! " She let go of the dingy demon, who hit the bridge of his nose in frustration.

"Okay, but don't... sing to them." Vaggie tried to advise, but as usual, by the time she turned around, everyone was already outside the wide-open doors of the hotel entrance, and Vaggie could guess why.

"Too late, she's already outside." Angel informed her with a smile, turning to Vaggie.

Vaggie immediately felt her heart drop. Of course Charlie was going to cross such a distance so quickly.

"Is she... ? "

"Oh, she's dancing." Angel nodded, taking a sip from his bottle.

"Ugh, noo..." Groaned Vaggie in frustration, knowing she could only hope Charlie didn't sing at the reunion.

As Charlie's song drew to a close, she arrived at the Paradise embrace. She entered shyly.

"Hello?" She said, opening the door to find the embassy completely empty. She stepped inside and asked if anyone was there, but received no answer. "This is creepy."

"To say the least."

This sudden statement made Charlie cry out and turn around to see Andrew with his sword in hand, ready to draw.

"Andrew! How did you get here?" she asked, shocked.

"I followed you while you were doing your musical number. He explained, while she looked at him with some embarrassment.

"And... uh... why did you follow me?" she asked.

"I don't trust The Paradise."

"But why? I mean, you seem to trust Hell a lot more than Heaven, despite our reputation in the human world." Charlie asked with some embarrassment.

"It's simple, here we know what to expect." Andrew replied. " Heaven, even if human souls are normally good and haven't done anything bad enough to end up in hell, angels are far less trusting. Especially when you consider that every year they organize a genocide in Hell."

Charlie wasn't sure what to say to that. He was right, but there was nothing to say that the Paradise authorities were that bad.

Charlie pressed the doorbell and a parchment bearing the words "Embassy of Paradise Sign" and a gold feather floated in front of them.

"Creepy." Charlie said as he signed the parchment, Andrew doing the same immediately after.

"Oh, and Charlie. Don't sing when you go to explain your project. The feedback during your interview is more than enough to let you know that this method of presenting something serious is a bad idea." Andrew warned.

"Okay, I'll do my best not to. But if I'm about to crack, don't let me."

"As you wish, Princess." Andrew jokingly nodded, which made Charlie smile.

The parchment disappeared and a door leading to a dark room opened.

They stepped inside and the door closed, plunging them both into darkness.

"Hello? Anybody here?" Charlie asked, trying to see into the room.

"Are you all right?" Suddenly said a voice as the lights came on, startling Charlie who fell to the ground while Andrew was about to draw his sword to attack the owner of the voice until he saw him.

It was an angel with a pair of large golden wings on its back and a golden halo. It had a head similar to the masks of exorcist angels, with golden facial expressions. His horns were longer and smoother than those he'd seen when he witnessed the extermination on his arrival in hell, and with an ornamental golden clip at the tips.

The rest of the diaper outfit consisted of a smooth white and gold cape that appeared to have a large "A" symbol on the front. His visible hands were black in appearance, with golden spikes on the back of his collar.

He was also accompanied by an exorcist angel.

"Fuck!" Charlie shouted as she fell to the floor.

"Wow, wow, wow. Easy, boy. No need to get so worked up over a joke." Said the angel, seeming more intimidated than he should by Andrew's action, as Charlie stood up and lightly combed his hair again.

"Hi, I'm Charlie." She introduced herself. "My father sent me to meet you."

"Yes, I know." Retorted the angel.

"Good to see you. Nice to see you." Said Charlie politely, extending his hand to the angel.

"Absolutely. Nice to see you too." He said, extending his hand in turn.

Charlie was about to shake his hand, but it went through the angel's, who turned out to be there via a hologram.

"Ah, I've got you fucking good." Laughed the angel. "Did you see how I got her?" He asked the exorcist angel assisting him, who merely nodded with a firm expression displayed on his mask.

"Wait a minute. You're not there?" Charlie observed.

"Me, come down? Not a chance. I love your vibe and your music. Fucking serious, good shit. Not against it, it's a pain in the ass. Down there, everything's so... You know what I'm saying?"

"Good. I'm glad we could meet. I've got a project on the go that I'd love to talk to you about." Charlie says before the angel interrupts.

"Hey there, take it easy. We've got time. Why don't we get to know each other a little? How about some lunch? Are you hungry? I've got just the thing. It's my favorite. You'll love it." He said, handing Charlie a plate with meat.

"Thanks." She said, reaching for the meat, which of course was also a hologram.

"I've screwed you again! Buffoon! I'm so fucking good!" Laughed the angel m, as Andrew began to lose patience with her antics.

Time passed, and a bored Charlie and Andrew forced themselves to pay attention to what Adam was saying.

"I was playing in a show and, who knows why, this chick was hitting on the drummer, and me, well, do you know me? Adam, fuck! The original dick! Every cock comes from me! You want the drummer's cock? No way! I'm the king of fucking." Narrated the angel.

"He's a real jerk." Zaruba commented via the mental link with her partner.

"You read my mind, buddy. And the worst part is, he doesn't break the myth." Andrew replied mentally.

"What did you do this weekend?" The angel asked them, while the princess of hell had just understood a detail in her interlocutor's story.

"Is your name Adam? Like the first man? That means you..." she realized.

"That explains it." Said Andrew, also in shock.

"Yeah. That's cool not true my man." Adam replied, turning his attention back to Andrew." Chevalier Makai is one of my many descendants. I must admit I'm surprised to see one of them alive and well in Hell."

"Long story short, I want to make sure there's no Horror here. And when I heard about Charlie's project, I decided to help." Andrew quickly explained, waving a hand toward his friend.

"Oh, really. And what is this project?" Adam asked.

"Well, Adam, sir... Adam..." Charlie said hesitantly.

"Call me Master Dick."

"And he succeeded in getting into Heaven with that attitude and not being sent to Hell once the selection criteria was more demanding... holy cow, that's favoritism." Zaruba remarked mentally.

"Adam..." Charlie growled, a little annoyed by Adam's behavior. "You look intelligent and respectable. I know that as Chief Angel, you're a thinker, a revolutionary, a genius.

"You said it, darling." Said Adam, pleased with the compliments he was receiving.

"Who really likes to claim something..." Charlie added.

"Claiming shit! I fucking love it!" He said gleefully as Andrew inwardly congratulated Charlie on finding the right words to bait the angel chief.

"That solves our biggest problem." Charlie said.

"Herpes. Yes, that's annoying." Adam deduces.

"No! Our other biggest problem!"

"The ugly ones? Math! Climate? Ah no, that's Earth's problem." Adam tried to guess, while Charlie and Andrew seemed to consider him even more of an idiot.

This went on for a good twenty minutes. Andrew was much more upset than Charlie because he couldn't even attack him because he was a hologram.

"Yes, it's your fifth date and she's still waiting for you to pay, and you say, 'I thought you were for equality?'" Adam offered.

"So... even if I agree that's a problem, but no." Said Andrew trying to find something positive to put up with Adam's stupidity. "But she's talking about a problem common to both Hell and Heaven."

"Oh... and what's that, then?" Asked the angel leader.

"Our common problem, overpopulation in Hell." Said Charlie, regaining his composure thanks to Andrew's intervention.

"That's not a problem anymore. We've already solved it. Lute, how many demons have you killed this year?" Adam asked the angel accompanying him.

"275 this year, sir." Lute replied.

"Two hundred and seventy-five? Damn! Good job, public danger! High five!" He said before his assistant gave him a check.

"No, that's not good work. These are my people. You know that?" Charlie retorted.

"Yes. Too bad for you!" Said Adam, restraining himself from mocking her.

"But they're souls. Human souls. The same ones you have up there, in Paradise." Andrew retorted, indignant at the first human's attitude.

"Not the same. They've earned damnation." Lute retorted.

"Damnation is obtained by sinning, but that's a very vague criterion. For example, someone who commits suicide because their life is a living hell, or because they're too psychologically weak to deal with trauma. These souls don't deserve damnation, but a better life for the hell they've lived on Earth. Andrew replied, "Just as it's true that there are bad people in hell. But some, if guided, have a chance to redeem the evil they've done before and after death. It just takes time and effort."

Charlie smiled at his comment. It reinforced her idea that he really believed in her project.

"So what? They've made mistakes in their lives, and that's that." Said Lute before looking at Charlie. "You're here for no other reason than Dad spared you and yours the blade of an exorcist. How does it feel, to see that we count for so little?"

His statement made Charlie bow her head, now feeling ashamed.

"Shut up, you psycho bitch. It's your boss we're talking to." Said Andrew deciding to be less friendly. "If you've got a problem with Charlie I'd be happy to have a chat with you, blade to blade outside."

This threat surprised Charlie, who hadn't expected him to take defending her to heart.

"All right, everyone, calm down." Adam said, gesturing to Lute, who seemed to be getting annoyed at the word of the Makai Knight. "I like you, kid. You've got a lot to say and you don't hesitate to show your teeth. I like that kind of attitude, but let's stay calm for now. So what's your project, Charlie?"

This disturbed both the human and the princess of Hell. It only took a threat from Andrew for the angel leader to finally get serious.

"So, uh... we've got a lot to talk about and not a lot of time. So... can you present the project please Andrew. I have a feeling I won't be able to stop myself otherwise." Says Charlie, remembering their exchange before entering the room.

"All right." Andrew nodded. "As we mentioned, extermination is nothing more than a bloodbath to reduce overpopulation in Hell. So the princess's plan for this weekly killing spree is some sort of rehabilitation center for sinners."

Charlie then showed Adam one of the drawings she'd made to represent the hotel, to give him a better idea of what his friend was talking about.

"A hotel where they would reside, and work on themselves to become better people. And so ascend to Paradise." Andrew said, facing Adam. "That way there's no need to kill as many sinners as possible every year. And you and your exorcist angels can take it easy."

"Hmm, that sounds tempting. Adam said, rubbing his chin.

"So you accept?" Charlie asked, hoping he'd like the project.

"But we might as well get on with the extermination. Said the chief angel, shrugging his shoulders, which shocked everyone except Lute. "I'm sorry, but their fate is fixed as soon as they arrive in Hell. Once you're in, it's for eternity. It's non-negotiable. They should have behaved better when they were alive. The rules are binary. There's nothing you can do about it. They're all going to rot there, regardless of the seriousness of their crime. Until we kill them."

"So let me get this straight. You're refusing the project because you love your job and you're hiding behind rules that are over 2,000 years old." Andrew summarized.

"That's basically it. Adam agreed.

Charlie was shocked by this answer, but it was what was to come from his friend that upset her the most.

"In that case, be informed that at the next extermination I'll be fighting you."

This surprised not only the princess of Hell, but also the two angels.

"What? You're going to fight for these sinners." Adam said in a baffled tone. As if one could see a spark of fear in it. "Come on, boy. You're still alive. Don't waste your life dying for so little."

"I'm still alive, you're right. But I'm a Makai Knight. And as such my mission, my duty, is to protect. And if I have to die in battle to protect the possibility that sinners might repent. Then I will die with dignity." Andrew retorted firmly.

His answer disappointed Adam.

"Very well." Adam sighed. "So that brings us to the real reason for this meeting."

"And... what is that?" Charlie asked, now more worried than ever.

"The next extermination will take place in six months." Adam revealed, shocking his interlocutors.

"What, but you're not allowed to do that." Said Charlie.

"You said it yourself. I'm the leader of the angels, I decide." Says Adam. "See you in six months. I hope for your sake you don't keep your word, kid."

And with a snap of Adam's finger, Charlie and Andrew were ejected from the room, back into the embassy reception area.

Charlie tried to step through the door again, but it slammed shut before she could.

"Shit!" She said, pounding on the door with her fist before turning to Andrew." Why did you defy them after he refused the project."

Andrew was about to reply, but seeing Charlie's eyes, he couldn't really answer. Tears threatened to fall from the princess's eyes, probably because of all the horrible things she must have been expecting.

All they could do was take her in his arms to reassure her, then finally answer.

"Because I don't want your project to disappear without even proving its effectiveness." Andrew replied as he pulled away from the embrace to look into her eyes. "Adam gets off on extermination. He feels powerful, so even if it's the last thing I need to do. I'm going to make sure I protect as many people as possible during the exterminations to come, until they stop or I die. They may not be Horrors, but they've been my destiny since I became a Makai Knight, Charlie. I'll die in battle, then my armor will be entrusted to someone else who will carry out his duty until his death, when the cycle will begin again."

But this answer didn't reassure Charlie; on the contrary, she could only hug her friend and weep on his shoulder.

Once Charlie's grief had passed, they returned to the hotel, where they were greeted by Vaggie who, although surprised that Andrew was with Charlie, paid no attention to the human and took her little friend in her arms.

"Charlie! How did it go? Did they listen to you?" she asked.

"They listened, but..." Charlie replied before being interrupted by Vaggie.

"Come on! We've got something great to show you." She said as she pulled Charlie towards the sofas followed by Andrew who was curious to see what they had prepared while they were away. "Alastor pulled the strings and it's coming out."

"I ripped off a few limbs too." Laughed the Radio demon.

"The commercial? You made another one?" Understood Charlie.

"Yes. To tell you the truth, I outdid myself." Se venta Angel Dust.

"That's... That's great." Said Charlie as tears of joy formed in his eyes.

"It's starting." Said Angel as all eyes turned to the TV.

"Welcome to the Hazbin Hotel..." Said Vaggie into the commercial before the image blurred to display a news bulletin from 666 News.

"News from Hell. The Paradise Embassy has informed us that the next Extermination will take place earlier than planned. Do you know what that means, Tom?" Says Katie Killjoy.

"No, what's that, Katie?" Asked Tom, forced to play along so as not to be hurt by the presenter again.

"That we're totally fucked." Katie replied before the TV showed the Paradise embassy and, above all, what was at the top of the hourglass-like building to reveal the countdown from 358 to 176 days.

"Huh? Why?" Said Angel Dust, indignant, while the other residents of the Hotel were shocked except for Alastor and Nifty, who were still smiling, and Andrew, who was clenching his fist in anger.