"Hmmm…ah. You can just feel the sense of change just filling the air. There's a bit of beauty after a…very brutal defense of this dream."
"Hardly what I'd call beautiful, Hun."
Vaggie woke up, despite Charlie's attempts to be quiet. God, that face was so cute. How she wanted to rub those wings and grip into them and…nope. Can't do that. Not now. There's so much to do in order for the hotel to thrive. There was so much to do that has been put off for long enough.
"There's potential here that's just WAITING to be discovered, Vaggie! We just need to give these people a chance. And now, with protection from the angels, it's the perfect chase to capitalize on this! "
"Ugh. Charlie, we can rest a little bit longer, just to see how the new renovations are doing. Please honey…just take a moment to look at what you've done."
Charlie was ready to defend her position so fervently, and then took a moment to consider the proposal. If she reels herself back before the confrontation with several people, she would act all emotional about it. But if she takes a moment to take in how much work she's put in for the hotel already, she won't have enough details to fix what is necessary.
Vaggie raised an eyebrow with a smirk, awaiting and knowing as if she knew how Charlie would respond. Gritting her pearly white teeth, the princess grumbled a rough "Fine." Vaffie then dressed herself with a blue T-shirt before rushing down the stairs Seeing brand new walls holding many new pictures containing memories of their adventures, with Sir Pentous being a short yet excellent addition. How he changed from periodically blowing up walls in the hotel to forgoing his explosive ways and seeking change for the better. Looking at these moments immortalized made Charlie shed a tear, as she knew they would never see him again.
Vaggies sees this and puts her hand on Charlie's shoulder. It was fortunate to spend time with him while they could, but the past won't come back. "I guess I was right to trust you, Charlie. He was a good guy under the ego and need to prove himself. But he's not the only one. And it's going to take a clear mind to get to these streets-."
"Clean! Clean! CLEAN!" Nifty's obsession with cleaning has been stunted, since the new place doesn't have any bugs. Dust bunnies and loose splinters are her only prey now. Charlie and Vaggie were shocked to see her dashing through the halls, as if she's trying very hard to keep herself busy. Charlie giggles, as the maid's passion was infectious. Vaggie sighed as she pulled her partner,trying her best to ensure she's not focused on the hotel.
"Ow! Okay, okay! Vaggie, I'm fine!" Though with a single stare, the angel broke the veil. Charlie had only so much time to herself, the stress was beginning to pile up on her. She needed to get her away from the hotel.
"Charlie! Such a delight to see you! Say, now that you're awake, I wanted to- ""It can wait." Vaggie spoke firmly but softly. Alastor felt challenged, as if his concerns for his investment of ongoing entertainment. "It can wait." Then she said it again, and assured him it would simply be postponed. The radio demon sighed, as he stepped away to allow the middle-aslied maidens to have their fun. "Ta ta, Charlie."
"Charlie, I promise you're going to enjoy our date plan! I'm going to take you somewhere so great you'll scream in excitement!" Charlie after hearing this drops her concerns for the project, and begins bouncing like a rabbit in anticipation. "That's right. We're going to the greed ring, all the way to Lucifer's Lu Lu World!" As if on cue, Lucifer's room explodes in screams, surprising the duo. "Wow, you weren't kidding. He wasn't in the same room." Yet somehow, Vaggie doubted the two events correlating.
The two move up to Lucifer's room where he's pulling out books off a bookshelf as if looking for something. Charlie walks in, seeing rubber duckies and instruments everywhere. And her dad raking through his collection of knowledge told her this event was…unique. "Charlie, something happened with the clock! There's something wrong, it can't be-oh no. No! No! NO!"
"Dad, slow down Whatever it is, I'm sure it's going to be okay."!
"No, Charlie! It's not okay! Hell's population is just QUADRUPULED!"
Lucifer pulls out the personal dial from his pocket that allows him to observe the progress of dying souls and shows it to Charlie. As the daughter of Hell's ruler, she was not oblivious to its meaning. Usually, the population would slowly rise as the humans develop better technology making it more sustainable for them to populate, and thus die. So far, the numbers of all dead souls were in the billions so far, reaching into the tens of billions recently. But now it is at 80 billion. HOLD ON A SECOND! 80 BILLION!? What was causing this jump in souls?! Charlie began to share her father's outburst, only for both of them to be snapped out temporarily by Vaggie.
"WHAT'S GOING ON?! I DON'T KNOW! IS THERE A WAR OR SOMETHING?! NO! THAT WOULDN'T EXPLAIN THE JUMP! THERE'S NOT ENOUGH PEOPLE ALIVE NOW! WAIT, THEY'RE STILL ALIVE?! MAYBE?! IDUNNOMAYBEPLEASESTOPYELLINGIMTRYINGTHISISSOINTENSEIMGONNA-"
"Guys, come on! You need to calm down." Vaggie was trying very hard to keep up with the chaos, but they needed to just stop. She was unable to piece out who was talking about who. A simple break will do wonders for clarity. For Charlie.
"But what's going on?! Earth doesn't even have this many humans!" Charlie and Lucifer's face were covered in fear. This was not normal. How can this even be allowed! Their population was barely at 20 billion with all their natives and sinners combined. There was no logic to it spontaneously multiplying.
"Why are there so many souls down here?! Is there a war going on? D-did they perf-perfect cloning!?"
"No, there's no cloning. And if you can't take a second to calm down, there's NO WAY you guys will find the answer!"
Words of wisdom much needed here. The two stop to take a breath, and look at each other, giggles abundant as their behavior was quite ridiculous. Lucifer pulls up the news network on Earth, seeing the War between Gaza and Israeli continued, but nothing major beyond that.
"Well, Earth seems intact, so where-?"
The sight of a gateway to heaven being opened to deal with the mess was mortifying to Charlie, the necessity to deal with such an emergence of souls, with sheer brutality. She didn't care how little her voice would matter to the angels, she didn't pay heed to the need to call upon reinforcements to defend her people. All that mattered was ensuring as many people aren't eradicated as possible. She bolted down from the hotel, hoping her urgency will be rewarded. One by one, her allies follow suit, with only Husker standing by after the dusk settles. "Fuck this shit" was mumbled before he chugged down another scrumpy.
So many hellborn running away from something…strange, even down here. Charlie took a look at her friends, who were also standing still in fear. The sight of a white-ish creature with purple and magenta armor, wielding four blade-like pincers raised as if to carve out fresh meat. On the creature's head was a horn of similar structure to its blades, directly above a maw with several layers of teeth stained with demon blood already. A grotesque form, only best described as "alien".
The beast looked around, as if lost and separated from its home. And it wasn't alone. There were several smaller creatures like it. Tiny creatures that looked like miniature velociraptors. Larger beings that seemed like medieval knights with thick carapaces. And bipedal creatures with large appendages on their backs that appeared to be cannons. Alastor was pulling out some incantations, but Charlie gave her a look that made him second guess his actions. He then twirled his cane and widened his smile, silently waiting for the princess's next move.
Charlie tried to see something where the soul of this creature was, to look for some semblance of sapience beyond that of an animal. She extended her hand, hoping these creatures understood the concept of peace. She could see the biggest one approaching her slowly, giving her hope she would reach it somehow. The apertures within this creature's skull stared into Charlie, examining every twitch from her body.
The sight of Vaggie mid leap caused Charlie's heart to sink. And the splattering of blood as a spear's head was embedded in the giant's side of its neck was chilling. The creature's swords swung at the angel until she inevitably was hit from the beast's attack. Its impact sent her onto the floor, covered in her own blood. The spear breaks, as the creature's armor regenerates, assimilating the weapon head.
The swarm followed their actions, causing the demons to defend themselves. As the blood shed began, Charlie closed her eyes with tears running down, knowing how royally fucked they were in the presence of an enormous threat, with abilities unknown to them. This was their first encounter, and they already took out Vaggie. Rage filled her mind as her fist turned red, and punched the nearest dinosaur. After her punch, a bite was felt on her leg, as the sight of a beast raising a claw to tear her apart.
To her surprise, an exorcist swoops down and embeds a spear into the creature's head. Fear washes over Charlie, before gratitude that her life was saved. No time was allowed to thank the angel before a smaller velociraptor pounced toward it. Instinct guided the spear toward the beast, piercing the inside of its mouth, coating it in its green blood. Just as swiftly, the fiend bites into the exorcist's arm, unimpeded by the wound. The celestial shrieks in pain as she attempts to wrestle the creature away from its body. IT only separates from her body with her arm still in its maw. She rolls into a ball, shocked to see what's underneath the golden blood. For so long, she held the belief that only angelic weapons could hurt someone like her. And now with her ulna exposed, the exorcist was faced with a reality that she just survived an encounter with a monster.
She looked around for her spear, only to see it right next to the beast, or at least the head. The handle was snapped like a twig, and the creature that broke it was still devouring her hand. So small, she could most likely kick it and then grab the head, and stab it like a pig. As she was contemplating which foot to use, a splitting pain echoed through her body on the left leg. Another beast just like the one that dismembered her hand. Speaking of the devil, she turned her head to witness the source of the charging shrill, only to see the first animal burying its teeth into her neck. Her body undergoes a great stupor as it collapses to the ground of the abyss. An eye could move around so much, as her body was now food for fiends with insatiable stomachs. She then took one look at her former home, the portal still opened for more angels pouring out to deal with this outbreak.
Charlie stares, completely confounded as to how this new threat was able to defeat even angels. She turned to the carnage that was happening before her, pinned to her corner with awe. Spear after spear clashed against claw and fang, pincer and unguis. The angels were cleaving through the horde, but it was as if their numbers were endless. The smaller monsters swarmed the angels as soon as they reached the ground. The medium ones had access to ranged firepower when angels tried to keep their the larger ones were seemingly unkillable while able to crush any foolish to not keep their distance. The exterminators were outmatched for the second time in hell. Charlie hid in the corner of an alleyway, afraid to interfer, afraid to do anything against this infestation feasting apon angel and demon alike. Her eyes widened, as Charlie's idea of the fight- no, this entire experience was spoken in two words.
"Oh shit."