I

UNDERDOG

"ATONE FOR YOUR SINS"

DISCLAIMER

NOTE: I am aware that the entire series is not finished yet. With the potential number of changes in the canon, this story will be an AU (Alternate Universe) that combines both elements and characters from Hazbin Hotel and Helluva Boss, while adopting some actual new elements from the canon. This story is also not too "Lore-Friendly" (aka not being too accurate to the world of the Canon.) So, be warned if some inaccurate information in this AU may make you cringe.

Both shows along with their characters DOESN'T belong to me. The series respectively belongs to SpindleHorse and its creator, Vivienne Medrano (aka "VivziePop".) The plot in this Fan Fiction and some characters you'll know who are OCs (Original Characters) are original from me. If any ideas or characters sound similar to another story written by somebody else, it is purely coincidental. I refuse to blatantly steal somebody's idea and claim that it was mine. If you have any concerns, you are always welcome to message me.

If there is anybody outside of this site posting this Fan Fiction without giving proper credit or impersonating me, please let me know.

Chapter 10: Trust.

Getting to know and learning from each other has its benefits.

-(Morningstar Family Palace; Pentagram City, Pride Ring)-

(Morgan's POV)

"Do you like music, Colonel?" Lilith asked.

"I do. Not much of a singer though." I answered before letting out a chuckle for the last part. Just in case she would've asked the same thing as her daughter.

"Any favorite artists?"

"Doug Adkins and Brad Paisley is one of them."

"Country music fan, are you?" She giggled while pouring me a cup of wine.

I nodded and smiled sheepishly. "Mainly because of my dad and my time in the USMC."

"And how would you describe your time with them?" She asked while sliding the filled cup towards me.

"Pretty painful. But worth it in the end." I answered while successfully grabbing it, not questioning how early it was to drink.

Suddenly, Charlie cleared her throat loudly as she was trying to get her attention before asking another question. "Mom? Didn't you call him here for something…important?" She reminded her.

"Ohh~! Of course! My apologies, Colonel. I was just trying to get to knowing more about our security advisor." Lilith apologized while bowing her head.

"Yeah, Lilith. It was starting to sound like a job interview than anything." Melodie snickered.

"Or getting to know your date." Octavia mumbled.

"They're both the same thing nowadays." Melodie whispered back to her.

Lilith rolled her eyes and chuckled at her Hellhound friend. "Always with your snarky comments, hmm?"

"You know I love you, Lilith~!" She laughed and gave a small hug from her side.

Octavia turned over to the both of them and stared blankly. "Are you two…"

"…"

"Melodie, say no." Lilith glared.

Melodie just busted out laughing as she was unable to stay quiet any longer. "No, we're not. I'm straight."

"You are? They're pretty rare down here." I joked.

Charlie sighed and let out a small chortle. "Okay, that's enough. Mom?"

"Right. Why I requested his presence." Lilith cleared her throat and looked at me directly with all seriousness. "What did you see in the attack fifteen minutes ago?"

She was talking about the two cars that breached the security line. I fixed my bandage on my forehead before sipping some of the wine, starting off with the cars themselves. "When we opened fire on the vehicles, it only took a few seconds for a barrage of bullets to neutralize them. That basically means this attack wasn't intended to happen towards us. Usually, direct attacks like this would have to make the glass bulletproof, and an upgraded frame with additional armor plating to protect its components."

"Hmmm…" Lilith leaned forward towards the table. "Go on…"

"Weapons inside the vehicles were bad in quality. Black market firearms with no serial numbers. Untraceable and illegal, obviously."

"Definitely not from the Carmine or Decker Families then…" She said to herself.

"And I doubt those two would make improvised explosive devices when they could just make better grade explosives." I added. "The wiring was a mess, and the welding for all the parts were just…bad."

"Well, what about the demons inside?"

"Civilian attire. Gangsters? Amateur mercenaries in disguise? They were firing at each other earlier."

Lilith shrugged and shook her head. "Gang wars, most likely. And here I was thinking Ioudas was trying to disrupt everything."

"Respectfully, ma'am. I don't think Ioudas would even bother using his resources to cause trouble here after all that's happened."

"Ioudas?" Octavia tilted her head, puzzled.

"Oh, right. Octavia. Since you're mostly new to all of this political talk, you've never heard about him and his Kingdom. Have you?" Lilith asked.

"I…haven't, ma'am." She shook her head.

"Where to begin…" I sighed and began to pace around the table. "To put it short, he's one of the most dangerous Fallen Angels that isn't affiliated to either Heaven or Hell. This man has a massive kill count reaching to one million deaths. A majority of it coming from "The Day of the Ashes" years ago."

"Day of the Ashes…?"

"A catastrophe over the sea north of Pentagram City. That's…all you need to know." I told her without spilling too many details. Wasn't sure if she was able to take it.

"If you've done something so bad that it broke down Sera in tears for hours, it's pretty atrocious." Lilith said while she shook her head.

Charlie nodded as she looked down at the map, where the northern section of the Pride Ring was bordered to separate the kingdom to another. "I've read the reports about that day. It's horrible. So many demons and angels died because of him."

"Could…maybe all this be from him then?" Octavia asked, but trying not to easily assume it was. "The ambush Major General Damiens talked about on TV earlier did take place north of Pentagram City, nearest to the water. Across the ocean is where he lives, right?" She said while pointing at the map.

"Our kingdom along with the Kingdom of Heaven had no choice but to sign a treaty with the Principality of Ioudas after the Day of the Ashes. Basically, if we leave his land alone, he won't do anything towards both of us." I explained. "I wasn't present during any of these events. Hell, I was still alive on Earth. But what I'm saying is the chances of Ioudas being responsible is pretty slim."

"And…what if some secret…classified…black operation…tactical…secretive…thing was going on by either him or even our side?"

"Doubt it. The old man just wants to be left alone." I folded my arms uncomfortably. "But if it's the other way around…"

"Don't worry. The last thing we would want to do is cause another war with this much going on." Lilith assured everyone. "The only tension we have going on is just some territorial disputes near the area where THAT event happened."

"Guess that's out the window then." Octavia shrugged, slightly relieved. But at the same time, uneasy after realizing the attacks are still committed by an unknown group that is capable of taking down WarDogs.

Lilith finished her glass and set it down gently before saying, "For now, Colonel, I want you to hold up an investigation on the two cars that breached through. If possible, relay any information or findings to me or Lucifer. There might be some clues we could recognize to assist in finding who's behind it."

I finished my sweet and clearly expensive wine she offered and nodded. "Yes, your majesty. For now, I need to get back to inspecting our military personnel to make sure things are still going smoothly after what happened. The front should be stable now."

"Very well. You're all excused. I have to contact the US Ambassador in the American Embassy soon." She said while raising her phone. "And Charlie?"

"Yes, mom?" Charlie looked up at her.

"I know it's been a while. Well, a LONG while." She heavily emphasized the last bit. "But we can continue our talk later on tonight. It's the least I can do while having a very tough schedule."

The Princess nodded and embraced her mom lovingly. "Thank you. And that's okay."

"Octavia," Lilith turned to the Ars Goetia royal heir, "it was good to finally meet you. Thank you for taking care of my daughter too."

"A-Actually, she's the one that helped take care of me in this position. I'm grateful for her assistance!" Octavia bowed deeply to show respect to a greater demon.

"And Melodie? Take good care of your family. Especially your sister."

Melodie pounded her chest and nodded. "It's my job."

I turned over to the exit and took a few steps with the other girls following me. However, I was halted as soon as I heard the Queen call me once again. Turning myself back to her, she was already on the opposite side of the table, where I used to stand.

"Onje more question, Colonel Adler. And be honest with me, and my daughter" Lilith said while looking at me straight, "Do you believe in redemption?"

Charlie stopped at the door and turned over to me, curious to hear my answer due to her beliefs.

My answer, I nodded. "There are some that deserve another chance. Not all. But those who are willing to change."

"Even those sent down here in Hell?" Lilith asked.

"It's still a yes. Personally, I made a lot of mistakes when I was still alive. Some of which I completely regret." I said while hiding my pain with a smile. "I can't change the past, and fate's decision to sending me down here. For now, I'll just atone for my sins."

Hearing my answer was enough to make Charlie smile as she finally met another person who believes in redemption.

"I see. I ask because as you've seen with my daughter's hotel, she intends to rehabilitate sinners instead of relying on Heaven's yearly extermination as a substitute for the overpopulation crisis." She exhaled through her nose and sat on the table. "I have some doubts, but that doesn't mean it's impossible. To be honest, I just wanted some outside perspective to see if there are those who think this method might work."

"Well, just to remind you, I always thought it was an interesting idea that might work." Melodie rooted for her. "I just think some demons are too hardheaded or are very doubtful of themselves to improve themselves. Like my dad always said, openly admitting you have a problem isn't the only step to improvement. Action. Not words."

Charlie smiled even more widely as she excitedly jumped. "See, mom? There are others that believe in my cause!"

Lilith chuckled and patted her head. "As long as you do what you love and believe in it, I'm more than a happy mother."

"We'll be sure to help her out too." Melodie added.

"Thank you, Mel."

With that out of the way, I opened the door to let Octavia, Melodie, and Charlie out as we made our way to the back interior of the palace to check up on the rest of the personnel stationed here. So far, Hell's military servicemembers, Heaven Exorcists, and US DSS agents were going back to doing their usual of keeping the area secured while finishing up with breakfast and coffee. Still, we had to watch out for any fights due to some differences while we obeyed the rules to behave to make things run smoothly for the political members. We were confident that everything was clean.

So, we decided to northeastern side of the palace where it was mostly quiet with a few patrols. But outside the window when passing near one of the exits to the backyard, we saw some Exorcists clearing up from a set of booths while US DSS agents were next into using them. Pulling out their standard issue pistols and rifles, me and Melodie already knew what it was.

"Oh! The firing range!" Melodie grinned excitedly while cracking her knuckles. "Who's up for some shooting?"

I raised my hand immediately. But when I turned over at the two Princesses, they were a little bit hesitant while nervously staring outside the window. "Ladies?"

"Here. Let's head outside first." Melodie said while dragging Charlie and Octavia outside.

Following them, the sound and smell of gunfire was overwhelming due to the Exorcists practicing Angelic, Hellborn, and modern Earth firearms that were racked up for use. During meetings like this, we all had to practice using different world weaponries. For now, it was the DSS guy's turn.

Luckily, there were two booths available.

Already wearing ear and eye protection, Charlie and Octavia seemed to be standing around nervously while Melodie was cleaning up the bullet casings on the floor.

I chuckled. "Hey, relax. Now would be a good time to practice."

"I-I wasn't ready though…!" Charlie bit her lip.

"A-Are you sure this is okay…? And safe…?" Octavia asked while shivering a bit as there was no punk music blasting in her ears to "soothe her."

"As long as you're the ones behind the barrel, then sure." Melodie joked to lighten the mood. But it didn't seem to work out for them.

"I don't know…" Charlie nervously said while jolting from every gunshot popping.

"Charlie, it'll be fine. I can even teach you how to throw a live grenade." I joked.

"NO!" She exclaimed. "You cannot pay me to do something like that!"

"Not even $50,000 will do it?"

"Sir. You serious?" Melodie snickered.

"That's actually not a lot in my case, you know." She said while shaking her head.

Reluctantly, Octavia nervously backed away from the station and frowned. "I-I don't know if I can do this too…"

"Come on, Octavia. There are guys out there that LOVE ladies with guns." Melodie winked while teasingly pumping her shotgun repeatedly AND seductively.

Octavia blushed wildly at how she was doing that and looked away. "H-Hey! Knock that off!"

I snickered while Charlie gave me a questioning expression. "Alright, Melodie. That's enough. Try not to turn on the guys here in the middle of work." I reminded her about the American DSS guys in the range.

"Huh? What human would bang a Hellhound?" She laughed.

…

"There are some furries out there that would." I told her straight up.

"Oh…fair point. My dad was a sinner from Earth and yet he and my mom, a Hellhound, made me and my sister."

"Thanks for sharing…" Octavia cringed a bit at the mental image.

Melodie chortled and casually put her shotgun on her shoulders. Unloaded, of course. "Anyway, come on, ladies! Learning how to shoot is like learning how to drive a car."

"That's not really a good comparison. Considering we don't know how to drive…" Octavia said.

Charlie bit her lip. "Yeah, and guns have the capability to kill others."

"So do cars, actually. Believe me. I know." I joked about what happened earlier.

"He makes a sound argument, Charlie…" Octavia whispered.

"How about this? Melodie and I will show you how it's done. Maybe just by watching us, you'll both start to see how easy it is." I recommended while Melodie had no objections as she stood closer to the station while prepping some mags.

"And how fun it is." Melodie added.

"Colonel!" A DSS Agent called. "Looking to have a challenge with First Sergeant?" He asked while unloading his gun and placing it down.

"Yup. Both of us are going to show the Princesses here how it's done." I said while loading my extra M4 mags with 5.56mm bullets.

The agent nodded and looked back at his men. "Got it. My men have just about finished for today. Maybe you can give us a good show too, yeah?"

"Sounds good. Switch to pop up targets by three seconds."

"Range is all yours, sir." The agent said while altering the course settings I requested and turned over to his fellow agents. "Alright, fellas! Range is hot for the two WarDogs! Watch and learn!"

Melodie grabbed a hold of another M4 off the rack and examined its beauty. "I'm more used to Hell's weaponry. But this is still a good looker."

"You ever fired human firearms? Like the M4A1?"

"Not the M4. But the FAMAS. All because my dad was a former French Maritime Gendarmerie." Melodie answered.

"Really?! Do you speak French too?"

"Je le sais depuis que je suis petit. (Known it since I was little.)"

"Anyway, I can see the downside of it being too small for your size." I chuckled as a Hellhound holding a human sized M4 looked kind of off.

"Size isn't everything."

"Melodie, please. We don't need another "Angel Dust" in the group with those jokes." Charlie groaned.

"To be fair, it wasn't really a joke." She shrugged before loading a mag and slapping the bolt catch.

I zeroed my sights and looked over at the DSS agent after finishing. "All set, boss!"

Charlie and Octavia corrected their ear protection briefly and made sure to observe our stances as if they were willing to learn closely.

"Thirty rounds! Shooters, standby!" The agent shouted as both Melodie and I switched safeties off our rifles. "Cleared hot!"

With the range green, ten targets (five for each of us) popped up at the same time to begin. Both of us swiftly raised our rifles and double tapped each target from closest to furthest. As soon as all five were taken down, it was all popping one at a time from there. I could tell Charlie and Octavia were just watching in awe as they were just standing there, frozen with their mouths agape in the corner of my eye while reloading my rifle tactically fast.

"Pistol!" The agent called out next as soon as we finished our second mag.

As soon as I fired the last one in the chamber, I removed the empty mag and flipped the M4 to my back, hanging from the sling. Then I lifted the pistol from my right hip, switched safety off, and did the same double tapping technique on the other targets like Melodie was doing. Empty mag, switch, cock the slide back, the usual drill. Every 19+1 shots were direct hits on the targets due to the metal clangs heard after every shot.

"Rifle!"

That was when we switched to safety on the sidearms and switched back to our M4s.

"Auto!"

"Auto?" Charlie asked confusingly, but had her question answered the moment we held down the trigger for a second or two. "Oh my God!"

"Bonus round!" The agent went over to both of us as soon as we finished one auto set, with two sixty round drum mags for each.

"Are they…?" Charlie watched in shock.

"Oh boy…" Octavia gulped.

"Hot damn!" I smirked.

"Fuck yeah!" Melodie grinned and loaded hers in.

"Hold down the trigger, WarDogs. Let's see who hits their targets the most." The agent proposed. "Sixty rounds! Stand by!"

Melodie and I nodded and corrected our stances.

"Cleared hot!"

The moment we switched off safety and to full auto was when chaos happened down range. A hailstorm of bullets just started hitting the targets repeatedly as we kept our fingers on the trigger. As for the brass casings coming out of the ejection port, let's just say it was a good thing each booth was walled.

As soon as it was all over, our gun barrels were smoking. It was a bit of an unhealthy habit of mine, but I just loved sniffing the smoke.

"Cease fire! Cleared!" The agent said as all the targets went down.

"Results are in. First Sergeant Elise: Five shots missed. Colonel Adler: Three shots missed." Another DSS agent said while looking at the shooting range's terminal.

Melodie smiled dryly. "Alright, maybe size does matter."

"Oh, shut up. Just admit I'm a better shot than you." I chuckled while putting the carbine down.

"Fine~! How about a rematch later on in the future then?"

"Deal."

When I looked back to face the others, it turns out that the King and Queen themselves were present while they were covering their ears due to the gunfire earlier. For why they didn't pick up proper ear protection, who knows? As for Charlie and Octavia, both of them seemed more than amazed at the results.

"That. Was. FUCKING AMAZING!" Lucifer cheered as he attempted to rehearse what we did earlier with an invisible gun. "You know, maybe I should practice down the range too sometimes."

Lilith smiled dryly and patted his shoulder. "Riiight…. For now, just leave everything to the professionals."

"You ever used firearms before, Your Majesty?" I asked.

"Goodness no!" Lilith sheepishly looked away. "It doesn't seem ladylike of me to use such a dangerous tool."

"I don't know, mom." Charlie chuckled lightly. "It looks kind of fun. Plus…that's why me and Octavia are here. You know…just in case we need to defend ourselves using those."

"My little girl is going to learn how to shoot?!" Lucifer said in surprise and smiled proudly. "Can I join?!"

Lilith shook his shoulder and sighed. "May I remind you that we have to meet up with Sera and the Lord himself down here in ten minutes?" She mentioned. But she was clearly trying not to get her husband too excited into getting in the range. Sometimes excitement from someone who never had experience with guns can be dangerous.

"Politics. Always gets in the way with everything." He sighed and looked over at Octavia, who was still listening in. "Enjoy your youth while it lasts, little lady. Trust me."

"Noted…?" Octavia tilted her head with a nod.

"We'll teach you another time, sire." Melodie said. "For now, the first thing I would do is just study about firearm safety along with trigger and muzzle discipline."

"Well, alright." He chuckled and looked away sheepishly. But then his glance went over to me. "That aside, I'm impressed."

"Been doing this since I was seventeen years old back when I was still human. Fifteen years, to be exact."

"Definitely a seasoned veteran. However, there was one thing I forgot to talk to you about before you left the briefing room." Lilith said.

"What was it?"

She cleared her throat and took out her phone to scroll down on her screen. "After I've read all of your reports from your past to the present,"

"That's not creepy at all." Melodie joked.

"Hush!" Lilith rolled her eyes. "Anyway, you seem to have a lot more in the past you haven't mentioned. Former MARSOC, foreign mercenary during the Russo-Ukraine War, and PMC pilot during the Siberian Rebellion. A lot of things that can prove how useful you can be with my proposal."

I bit my lip as soon as she mentioned the time I was a mercenary, both freelancing and a pilot for an official private mercenary company. These were a part of my life I wasn't comfortable talking about. Especially in front of Charlie. To put it short, this was at a time where I wasn't too proud of what I was doing. Some call me warmonger, but I had my reasons. And it wasn't in pursuit of wealth.

Before I could let anybody ask more about it, I jumped up to ask, "What is the proposal you're talking about, Your Majesty?"

"During the meeting, maybe you can serve as my daughter's WarDog bodyguard." Lilith proposed.

"Bodyguard? Are you sure? Our little girl is more than capable of defending herself." Lucifer said. "Not to mention, Razzle and Dazzle has already got her covered." He added.

"You can never be too careful, Luci. Especially with what's happening right now."

Lucifer furrowed his eyebrows and shrugged. "True. Listen, I love Charlie and would do anything to have her protected. But sometimes I feel like I shouldn't be babying her too much, since she's all grown up now."

"Awww, dad~…" Charlie smiled happily.

"I'm sure your daughter can handle herself. I'll just be there with her as additional protection. Plus, I'll be teaching her some tactical experience which she can use in the future." I mentioned while stepping next to her on the booth she was at.

"That sound good with you, Char-Char?" Lucifer asked.

"Sounds good to me, dad." She nodded.

"Just be careful and pay attention to Colonel Adler. Alright?" Lilith said while gently stroking her daughter's head.

Charlie chortled from the head patting and nodded. "I will, mom."

"Anyway, that was all I wanted to relay back to our Advisor. Carry on." Lilith nodded her head at me as I bowed back formally.

"By the way, Colonel. Go easy on her." Lucifer gave a teasing smirk to Charlie. "My little girl may be able to fight. But firearms scare her due to the noise."

"Like this?" Melodie pulled the trigger down range with her pistol.

*BANG!*

"EEEP~!" All three of the Morningstar family members jolted in surprise. Surprisingly, Octavia didn't react to it as her mouth curved a smile at their reactions a bit.

Lilith sighed and placed her hand on her chest due to her heartbeat and releasing some stress. "For God's sake, Melodie!"

"Sorry. You three sounded so cute with that yelp~!" She snickered.

"Well then, shall we go now, Lilith?" Lucifer said while blushing a bit and leading the way out of the range.

With the King and Queen heading back inside of the palace, I looked over at Charlie, who was pouting up at Melodie while she was still grinning teasingly.

"Alright, I'm sorry." Melodie chuckled. "To make it up to you, you can go first."

Charlie froze briefly before shifting her gaze over to Octavia. "Hmm….Maybe Octavia could go first…?"

Octavia only responded in silence as she hid herself behind me, leaving Charlie hanging.

"Oh boy…" Charlie sighed nervously as she looked down range.

"Relax~! It's not that bad. The more you'll get used to it, you'll just laugh back at yourself for being afraid of something so minor." I said, trying to reassure her again. "Here. You can use my pistol." I said while raising my sidearm, which still had its slide cocked back.

She reluctantly took it and handled it poorly down range, which was understandable.

"Unlock the slide first." I told her, seeing her thumb pull down the slide release.

Charlie flinched as soon as the slide moved forward to shroud the barrel, which I did find cute because she wasn't used to firearms.

Melodie snickered quietly as she knew where this was going. "Switch safety off, Charlie."

Doing just that, she nervously looked back at me. "Any advice…?"

"Don't hold it with your left palm below the mag. The Teacup Grip is only good for the movies. Like this." I said while using Melodie's pistol as an example; holding it with my shooting hand being gripped by my supporting hand with my thumbs pointing forward. "Remember trigger discipline. Only put your finger on it when you're ready to shoot. Not while unholstering or in the middle of aiming."

Charlie nodded and corrected her grip with my example. "And what about firing…?"

"Pull the trigger with the center of your fingertip. If you fire further near the tip or the joint, it'll redirect the barrel left or right while pulling it and you'll miss your target."

Having her game face ready, she kept her finger on the side of the trigger guard.

"You're loaded. Standby."

She nodded and carefully aimed the pistol down range.

"Cleared hot."

As soon as she VERY GENTLY pulled the trigger…

*Click*

"BOOM!" I surprised her as she let out a small yelp while shutting her eyes tightly. That was when I was unable to hold my laughter as Melodie did the same as well.

Charlie opened one eye and looked at me, puzzled. "Wh-What happened? Why didn't it fire?"

"It wasn't loaded this whole time." Melodie said before going back to laughing.

Octavia sighed as she too was trying not to laugh. "You guys are so mean…"

With that, Charlie blushed heavily and glared at me sharply before setting down the pistol to send a barrage of punches on me.

"Ow! Ow! Ow! Okay! I'm sorry!" I apologized while trying to block her attacks.

"You kind of deserved that one, Colonel." Melodie laughed.

Universe Trivia

Although Sinners are unable to procreate, those who have proven themselves worthy of a privilege (usually by providing in the governmental services of Hell or having some positive political power and influence with the Royal Families) are able to regain reproductive abilities. Like in the Royal Armed Forces of Hell, the individual is able to have his/her spouse (if a sinner) and children under protection from getting killed in the yearly extermination like Hellborns.

One example is (Retired) Brigadier General Ian Elise; a French sinner father of (First Sergeant) Melodie Elise and (Specialist) Melonie Elise, who was conceived by their Hellhound mother Melissa Harper Elise.

Another is Major General Timothy Damiens, American sinner and Commander of the WarDogs. Having a sinner wife and three Hellborn mistresses; bearing twelve children all together, most of whom are already in military service. Mei Damiens, a pinup girl for the WarDogs, is the second youngest one overall from Damiens and his third mistress.

(Excited to make the next chapter. Time to get back to some action!)

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