Meanwhile, Cherri was patched up and brought back to the studio apartment. She stared out into the distance as she entered the apartment with Velvette as her escort.
Velvette rambled on about something or another. Cherri barely paid attention. Her mind was with Angel.
"Now just take your seat at the table and you'll get to enjoy our first family dinner," Velvette squealed happily.
"Can we save a plate for Angel?" Cherri asked.
"Not likely," Vox said, stepping in with his hand halfway in his pocket.
"Then I ain't fucking eating either," Cherri said angrily gripping her backpack straps. "I'll be in my room."
"Stop being such an ungrateful brat and sit down!" Vox demanded.
"Sorry, not Step-Dad," Cherri said, walking down the hall towards her new room. "Them's the brakes. If Angel doesn't eat, neither do I."
Vox zipped past Cherri as a stream of electricity before manifesting in front of her.
"I said, sit!" Vox demanded pointing back to the table.
Knowing she wouldn't win this fight, Cherri sat down at the dinner table and sulked.
Vox sat at the table across from her a moment later.
After a few minutes of awkward silence, Valentino joined in.
"Sorry I'm late, everyone," Valentino said, slamming the door shut behind him. "I had to collect some money."
Cherri sat there silently not looking at any of them.
"Have you two been getting to know each other?" Valentino asked.
Cherri pulled out her phone and absentmindedly started scrolling through it.
Vox huffed, before giving up and pulling out his phone.
"Something like that," he muttered.
Velvette shrugged and said, "Cherri said she wouldn't eat if we weren't giving a plate to Angel and tried to go to her room, but Voxxy wouldn't let her. So since then, they've been ignoring each other."
"I guess he can have some scraps," Valentino said, sitting at the head of the table next to Cherri. "If he can swallow…"
Cherri perked up immediately, shot Valentino a nasty glare, and snarled, "What have you done to him?!"
"I didn't do anything particularly," Valentino said with a shrug. "But right now, he's on display for others to enjoy."
"I'm gonna see him," Cherri said, rising from the table.
Valentino gripped his left arms on Cherri's shoulder and her wrist, forcing her back to her seat, and said, "Not until after we're done, sweetie. Besides, you probably want to try to escape while not on an empty stomach."
Cherri sat back in her chair and went back to sulking.
"God, you're an asshole," Vox said to Val.
"What did I do?" Valentino asked innocently.
"Dinner's ready!" Velvette called out from the kitchen.
Vox rolled his eyes and asked, "What are we having, Velvette?"
"One of Cherri's favorites, lasagna!" Velvette said cheerfully.
Cherri looked at the food with interest as Velvette placed it on the table. She then brought out the wine, passed the bottle around the table, and sat down.
Cherri was already drinking her glass when her father proposed a toast, "Now for the newest member of the Triple V Overlords! Er I guess we'll need a new name."
Vox and Velvet raised their glasses.
Cherri sat in place, served her plate, and left her glass where it was.
"C'mon, Cher," Valentino pleaded. "Join in."
"No, thank you," Cherri replied as she took a bite of salad.
"Can't you give it a shot?" asked Valentino.
Cherri pretended to think for a moment.
"Hmmmm...no," said Cherri.
"Hmmmmm," Valentino hummed, mimicking Cherri. "Hey, Velvette? Perhaps you don't need to give Angel some of that pain-relieving potion for the night."
Cherri glared daggers at Valentino before she reluctantly lifted her glass.
"Never mind, Velvie," Valentino said, much to the other two V's amusement.
"Cheers," Vox said, barely stifling a chuckle.
The group all then clinked their glasses and took a sip. with Cherri only taking the tiniest sip possible before returning to eating her food.
Unfortunately for her, however, the overlords felt like partaking in conversation.
"So, starting tomorrow, we'll milk this news to help Cherri get a higher reputation among the overlords," Valentino explained. "Then maybe we can start acting against the weaker demons in her territory. Show them we mean business…"
Valentino continued dominating the discussion like this for several minutes.
Cherri remained silent and kept eating, grateful that for the moment, none of them were talking to her. That was until Stepfather Vox had to open his big mouth.
"But what does she want with her ascension to power?" Vox asked.
Cherri kept eating and prayed that they wouldn't ask her questions.
But Vox turned his questions to her, "I mean, what exactly do you do in the little space you have?"
Cherri internally sighed, "Blow things up, keep others from encroaching. Start fights. Party. That sort of thing."
"So, not a lot," Vox replied with a judgmental eye roll.
"Yeah, well, that's the point of anarchy," Cherri said with a scoff.
"She's such a fucking child," complained Vox to Valentino.
"And you're a fucking snob," Cherri retorted.
Vox leaned in and snarled, "Wanna say that again, bitch?"
Cherri leaned with a wicked smile and said, "Gladly."
Vox slammed his fist on the table. His screen sparked before suddenly it cracked.
Valentino was halfway up with his fist out.
"Enough!" Valentino yelled.
Cherri went back to eating and ignored their spat as Vox and Valentino sat back in their chairs.
"We will let Cherri decide how she will run her things in a way that benefits her!" Valentino yelled at Vox. "Why do you care about how I run my shit anyways, Voxxy?!"
"Because I don't want to look bad because of some edgy Aussie girl!" Vox snapped back.
Cherri rolled her eyes and took another bite of her food.
Getting pissed off over this conversation, Valentino cleared his throat and rose from the table.
"I guess we better go see Angel," Valentino said to Cherri. "Let's get going, Cher."
Cherri quickly piled food on her plate for Angel, put on her backpack, and got up to follow him.
"You have the meds ready, Baby Doll?" asked Valentino.
Velvet nodded and handed over the meds.
Valentino looked the bottle over, held it tight in his grip, and stuffed it in his pocket before heading for the door.
"Right this way, Cherri," Valentino said, opening the door and holding it open for Cherri and Velvette to exit first. "Stay close."
Valentino and Velvette took Cherri to the club on the floor below.
The club lights were dim. The music was slow Lo-Fi beats. The sinners moved around in a daze, seemingly unaware of their surroundings or of the overlords and kingpin walking around them.
Cherri looked around anxiously for any sign of Angel.
Angel made muffled noises at the sight of Cherri from his stand.
Somehow, despite all the music, Cherri heard Angel's muffled cries and ran over to him.
Valentino and Velvette headed over to the bar to get some drinks and give Angel and Cherri time to themselves.
Cherri pulled off Angel's gag and said, "Angel, oh my God. Are you okay? What did they do to you?!"
"Cherri…Cherri, what did Valentino make you do?" Angel asked weakly with tears in his eyes. "Please tell me you didn't make a deal with him."
"Nothing especially big, sugar. Just something to keep you alive," Valentino said, wondering over with a drink in one hand and a bottle of medicine in the other. "Speaking of which…"
Valentino paused to wave the bottle of medication in Angel's face and said, "Time to drink up, dear."
"What is…?" Angel started to ask before Valentino forced the drink into Angel's mouth and made him swallow it down.
While Valentino was making Angel swallow the medicine, Cherri set the plate on a nearby table and attempted to untie one of Angel's arms from its restraints.
Valentino grabbed onto Cherri's arm, yanked her back, and said, "No."
"What?!" Cherri asked, struggling against Valentino's hold. "Why not?! Let go of me!"
Valentino pulled Cherri closer once he was done giving the potion to Angel and reiterated, "I said, 'no.'"
"Do what he says, Cherri," Angel said with a sad smile.
"No!" Cherri protested as she pulled out of his grip. "He can't treat you like this! I won't let him!"
"He ain't done paying through punishment," explained Valentino. "Until then, Angel ain't coming down."
"When will he be?!" Cherri snarled.
Valentino blew a puff of smoke into Angel's face slowly and said, "When I decide. Better than having him on snuff films, hmm?"
Cherri growled angrily at her father and turned back to Angel.
"Well, I'm your daughter and I have decided that he's been up there long enough!" Cherri cried, pulling out a knife and hopping onto the board he was on.
"Cherri, stop!" Angel pleaded as Cherri tried to cut off his restraints.
Cherri slipped her lock pick into Angel's shorts in the chaos while focusing on cutting Angel's restraints.
"Don't worry, buddy," Cherri cried. "I'll get you down!"
A line of smoke made its way to Cherri before pulling her down.
Cherri fell right into the arms of her father. She shot him a nasty glare and tried to move away, but he held her in place.
Valentino used one side of his arms to sip his drink while he held Cherri with the other side's and said, "Been nice visiting, Angel Cakes! We'll be back another time!"
Valentino then started to drag Cherri away.
"Angel! Angel! Angel, I'll be back! Please hang in there!" Cherri cried while struggling against her father's grip. "I'm sorry! I'm so sorry for everything!"
"Velvet, feed Angel and make sure his diaper is changed," Valentino said as he dragged Cherri out of the room. "He ain't coming down for a while."
At hearing that, Cherri struggled even harder against Valentino's grip. She struggled until they were alone in the elevator.
Val then let her go and turned to speak to her.
"Are you going to do a little stunt like that every time?" Valentino asked.
Cherri turned away and asked, "How long do you plan on leaving him like that?"
"Until I get bored of it, pretty much," Valentino answered.
"You're a fucking monster," Cherri said, refusing to look at him.
"We all are at the end of the day," replied Valentino with a shrug.
Cherri glanced up at Valentino and then looked away.
Valentino gently placed his hand on her shoulder before he spoke again, much to Cherri's chagrin.
"If you're ready, we can start talking business," the lust overlord said.
Cherri looked at Valentino incredulously in the expression he always found adorable as a child.
"Heh," Valentino grunted as he flashed a grin in response.
"What?" Cherri asked as the elevator opened to the studio apartment floor.
"Ah, nothin', baby girl," Valentino said, stepping out and humming a song.
Cherri followed Valentino to the apartment. Before he opened the door, he pointed at an alarm over the door that wasn't there before.
"I understand you're probably gonna try to skip out again," Valentino explained. "So, that's just a little note for you saying that it won't be so easy next time."
"You think of fucking everything, don't you?" Cherri retorted as Valentino opened the door and let her back into the apartment.
"You know it," Valentino agreed. "I'll have a lot to teach you."
"Bold of you to assume that I would care to learn jack shit from you, biological father," Cherri replied as she headed back down the hall toward her room.
"Oh, but I think you will," said Valentino, following behind her.
Cherri scoffed and said, "What gives you that idea? I don't care about looking presentable just to please your boyfriend."
"That is fair, baby," Valentino said. "But not what I meant."
Cherri stopped in front of her door, looked back, and asked, "What did you mean then, fucker of my mother?"
Valentino towered over her and asked, "Want to talk about it over a movie?"
"What?" Cherri asked confusedly.
"Business over a movie," her father explained. "Rather do that than at a stuffy setting right now after today's heavy work."
"Hmmm..." Cherri said in a snarky tone. "I'd much rather see a movie with Angel or by myself without you there."
"Well Angel's tied up at the moment," Valentino said with just as much sass. "So, that gives you a couple of options."
In a flash, Cherri turned around, threw a bomb at Valentino's head, opened the door to her room, and slammed it behind her as quickly as she could.
Val dashed and dove to the floor to escape the blast, causing his glasses to break again.
The bomb exploded in the hallway, leaving only a small explosion that left an indentation on the wall.
Val could hear his daughter snickering from the other side of the door.
"God damn, this girl'll be the death of me," he said in an exhausted tone, rubbing his face in frustration.
"If you don't like it, let us go!" Cherri yelled from the other side of the door.
"Not after I've gone through this much trouble!" Valentino retorted. "You're staying here whether you like it or not!"
"Fuck you!" Cherri yelled back.
"You're just like your mother," Valentino replied before leaving in a huff.
Cherri grunted back, dropped her backpack, and hopped on her new king-sized bed.
As soon as she was sure her father had left, Cherri sunk her face into a pillow and began to cry.