Hazbin Foundation
Disclaimer: I don't own Hazbin Hotel or SCP. All SCP are used under fair use.
Chapter 02: Check In
To those of you with families, or God forbid, children - I'm deeply, deeply sorry, you must push on. Do not let their deaths be in vain. We do still have time.
Humanity may still have a future. Come to Site-19. We need all the hands we can get.
Learn to embrace the darkness, friends. Fear the light.
-The Administrator.
0000
"God, I wish I could get drunk," Eve mumbled to herself as she sat on her chair at Site-01.
"Yet another curse," Sofia tried to joke. Her forced smile was tired.
They had known each other for a long time, and both women had never seen each other this exhausted.
Eve looked at her screen again, and the message from the Administrator showed on the screen; it was the overriding message; if any Foundation staff survived and got to a computer, they would see this. Then, follow the new 001 file. Eve still felt so bewildered that someone in this chaos had written a coherent article. She didn't argue the need for one; it efficiently got everyone on the same page. What surprised her was that someone managed to write it, sticking to the clinical format while people melted.
The Foundation had lost, the veil had broken, and most of the population was in a state she could generously call worse than death. Everything the Foundation worked for, everything she had spent her entire life trying to do, was gone in a day.
"Fear not, we will persist." The artificial voice of O5-3, Program ETZ-02, rang out next to Sofia. ETZ-02 was also sometimes called Al because of a typo; someone misread ai as the name Al. Sofia worked on a program to help manage various things; Eve helped by providing some of her brain scans, and the AI evolved into actual intelligence and eventually proved to be O5 material. The Foundation logo flashed on his screen.
"You know something I don't," Eve asked.
"No, but if you lose hope, we have already lost."
"He gets that from you," Sofia smirked.
Eve looked around. The rest of the O5 council was in similar states; all looked exhausted. It was a short miracle that none of them had been turned. They tended to stay hidden, but how many of their guards had sacrificed themselves so they could get away? If even one of them had been turned, who knows what the melted oceans of flesh could do?
Eve looked at her screen. Several sites had fallen; many were swarmed. The Site that held SCP-579 was surrounded, so there was no chance of getting that reset button to work.
SCP-2000 was on lockdown; when it all started, whoever was on stand-by put the lockdown code so no one could get in.
The entire Temporal Site-01 was—well, at the best of times, that place was out of contact. They had protocols to ensure that, above all else, any anomalies they had were not missed or used. She hated the thought of one of those flesh monsters going back in time and trying to put the Foundation in a worse state for the date.
"It could be worse," Eve mumbled.
"That's the spirit," O5-8, Sir Kay smirked. "We have our lives. Thus, we still have a chance."
"God, how bad does it have to be where Kay is the optimist."
"I always thought the world would end before it happened," the doors to the room opened, and I walked into the Administrator.
"Fritz," Eve let out, less than pleased.
While they weren't enemies, they weren't quite friends. Fritz had a habit of annoying her by trying to experiment on her. They had known each other for a very long time. Eve was unsure, but he might be near her old age, not that he'd ever give her that information.
"Are we dropping formalities, O1?" The Administrator said with a wry smile.
"We failed in every way except complete extinction." Eve said, "So, I say yes."
He sighed, "Very well, it's not like everyone here doesn't know everyone's names anyway."
It wasn't good. He was trying to be nice. It was bad enough that he was being active, but it was much worse when he showed up in person. Now he was being a person; these were truly the end days.
The Administrator asked, "What do we have?"
One by one, they went over all the assets they lost.
"Moonbase has fallen; we've lost contact with all our Solar colonies."
"We have not been able to contact any MTF off in other dimensions."
"We have lost many of our sites, and SCPs' numbers have not been confirmed. We are working on trying to account for everything, but everyone is struggling to survive. Some sites might be safe but unable to contact us, or some anomaly could have escaped containment during this mess."
"The Council of 108 has fallen, and communication between all parties is sparse at best. Pentagram, the GOC, and The Church of the Broken God are some of the few who've survived mostly intact. Somehow, Gamer's Against Weed made it out mostly intact."
There was a collective groan. Gamer's Against Weed wasn't much of an actual threat. They were rarely serious threats, primarily annoyances.
"Of course, those shut-in stoners would survive; they probably hadn't seen the sun in months."
The Administrator rubbed his temples, "Eve, is your tree standing?"
Eve sighed, "I checked; it's fine. The forest dimension must filter the anomalous effects of the Sun. The Yeren and Fairfolk representatives escaped into it in time and are protecting it. Their people don't seem to be doing any better. The animals there do seem more agitated. I'm not sure how long it can last."
"Sofia, escape plans?"
"Site-19 is tasked with off-world colonization. We have not confirmed if this is just our local star or every star or how far-reaching the lights' effects are. It's still our best bet at the moment. We are also looking for other ways to leave the planet. Director Moose is trying to contact members of Serpent Hand. We are hoping they could help survivors escape into the Wander's library. Maybe even help Foundation members escape, too."
Fritz turned to Eve, "You think you could talk to your old friend about that?"
"The Serpent? There's no need. They won't let us into the library for past actions, but I doubt they'd hold a grudge when it means death. The Serpent will let us in if we get to a Way."
Sofia continued, "We are still looking into other methods. We are trying to find individuals like SCP-507 and Alison Chao, The Black Queen, to see if we can use them to jump dimensions. I'm putting out feelers for any extradimensional anomalies that might be useful, though from what I hear, many aren't working right."
Al continued, "At the moment, we are attempting to broadcast on a frequency a warning for all civilians, mostly information survivors would already know, such as not exposing themselves to sunlight or they can use -A instance for food if they are forced to. Also, to get to any nearby sites for protection."
Neo O5-7, a creature that looked like a black cat, spoke, "We need all the hands we can; if they can make it to sites, they will be welcomed when they can. Most sites are fairly isolated, so there weren't many flesh creatures nearby."
"For the moment, that's all we can do."
"Keep it up," the Administrator spoke solemnly to them, "You've all done excellent work under the worst of circumstances. I'm afraid I will have to keep asking more from you, return to your duties, and keep in touch with your sites. Site-19 will likely be a meeting point for the exit. I'll update the 01 article so staff can devise ways to reach it. Reach out to any organizations that want to work together. Protect any civilians. Until our next meeting, stay safe."
The Administrator got up and walked away.
"Need a ride." Sofia motioned opening the portal.
"Sure," Eve sighed.
There was a rule that O5 members weren't allowed near anomalies; they tended to ignore it. The Truth was that most members were anomalous to some extent, used them, and had methods of quick transport if needed.
0000
Dr. Elias Shaw sighed in office, the necklace around his neck dangled. He dreaded the idea that he'd become one of those melted freaks. It could be possible that with his soul held in SCP-0963, even if his body were melted, he wouldn't be controlled like the others. So, not only did he have to worry about immortality, he might also be the only sane human in a world of melted monsters. The Sun would negate the necklace's power if he were lucky, though he doubted it. The Sun negated organic anomalies but did not affect nonorganic anomalies.
They had taken all civilians they could. The Foundation was cold but never cruel, well tried, and if they could, they would protect. They had the guards on constant lookout. Since they couldn't waste resources, they let out all SCPs willing to help, and the same for the D-class. Shaw pointed out that if anyone tried anything- he might have implied they would toss them into the sunlight. Since then, the D-class had been helpful.
One nice piece of luck was that they had SCP-458, the Infinite Pizza box, so at least they had an endless supply of food, though some people might get sick of pizza. The Site's water filtration system would ensure they didn't die of thirst, though he disliked the idea of drinking recycled pee.
SCP-1867 told stories about its adventures to the civilians, and the children especially liked them. Say what you will about that psychic slug; it knew how to tell a story. Blackwood knew how bad it had gotten and insisted on doing at least this much, saying, "If people lose hope and give into despair, then we have already lost to that god-forsaken Sun."
SCP-662 was a godsend; Mr. Deeds could avoid sunlight, get supplies, check on the higher-risk SCP, and show up where he needed. He couldn't do everything, but just being around tending to things was a big help.
"So, how long can this last?"
Shaw looked at the camera feed on his computer; his Site had to be lucky to have SCP-682 during this mess. The only good thing about that was that I hadn't done anything since this started. SCP-682 hated humanity, but it found the melted version even worse. The lizard was smart enough to know if it escaped, it would have to deal with them, and it wasn't even sure it could survive the Sun. Shaw was surprised if that thing wanted them to suffer, scared trapped here; it certainly didn't like the idea of the humans getting killed and taking the easy way.
"God dammit," He whispered.
"Now, that seems very impolite, Shaw."
He looked over his computer screen, "343."
Shaw never really thought that he was God; he was a scientist first and foremost and tended towards atheism until some solid proof could be provided.
"You know, it's usually polite to knock."
"I brought you dinner."
A steak meal, a side salad, mashed potatoes, and a glass of wine were on his desk.
"After all your hard work, you deserved a nice meal."
Shaw picked up the accompanying cutlery; he wouldn't look a gift meal in the face. "Wow, if you could do this, maybe you could—I don't know—FIX THE SUN!"
"As I told you, it doesn't work that way."
"Yes, free will and all that. Just let billions of people get turned into sludge trying to drag people out. I LOST FRIENDS! I lost family!" He didn't talk about his family, but he lost contact with them, the sites they were in, he had- they were family, better or worse, and they didn't deserve that. "Good people are gone. If the Horizon Initiative is believed, the freaking Vatican is slime central. Now answer me, All Mighty, what kind of god would allow that?!"
The room went dark, and 343 seemed to loom for miles above him. The room shook at his booming voice: "Elias Shaw! Do not speak to me like that!"
"What?! You'll kill me!? You'd be doing me a favor!"
With a sigh, the room returned to normal, "I'm afraid you are right. Something is happening, Shaw. Since I took on this form, I've given up a significant amount of my power, and this Sun… it's weakened me even more. There is something else happening: a shift. I don't know what happened, but before I could investigate, this all happened."
"So, no dues ex machina this time? Great." Shaw decided to start with the wine.
0000
All the Sins gathered in Hell in the Pride Ring at the Morningstar home. It had been a while; Lucifer hadn't called many meetings in the last seven years; today, he called them to come in immediately.
Bee, or Beelzebub, the Sin of Gluttony, sat beside Asmodeus, the Sin of Lust.
"Hey, Ozzie." She greeted him.
He looked tired but tried to give her a polite smile, "Hello, Bee."
"Man, you look tired. Has your boyfriend been keeping you up?"
"Hm?" Ozzie glanced at her.
"No judgment here. I'm not exactly dating any high-ranking demon either."
Ozzie glanced at Mammon, who was talking to Leviathan. " That's Good to hear; some other people have not been so open."
Ozzie was usually pretty easygoing, but his voice showed apparent anger.
"I think it's sweet. You found someone you gel with, man. More power to you, though maybe try sleeping more. You look worn out."
"It's not him," Ozzie waved her off. "My succubus and incubi have been in a mood. For some reason, they haven't been able to jump to Earth. All my crystals just fizzled out; none are working. They can't tempt humans, while they can still get off with demons; it's not as potent."
"That explains it; my boyfriend mentioned his boss was being a bigger bitch than usual. Well, he used nicer words, but you get the gist. He doesn't like bad-talking his boss Mayday."
"Verosika? Yeah, she's had a stick up her ass for a while, and not in a good way. I'll see if I can get her to lay off."
"I appreciate it, man-"
A swirling portal opened, and Lucifer stepped out; the man did love making an entrance.
The King of Hell sat down before them,
"I got to start by saying nothing I say here leaves here. Not one of you can tell anyone outside this room a thing." He paused for effect, "No soul has entered hell in a week."
"The Devil say what?" Ozzie asked.
"I shouldn't say no soul. I've picked up on a few more souls showing up in the Pride Circle, but they vanish almost as fast. No one is coming to Hell, and I doubt that every single person on Earth has found religion."
Mammon said, "You think Heaven has something to do with it?"
"No, it's not their style. Something else is afoot. I thought it was a lucky day at first; no one died. It's rare, but it happens when all the stars align. I'm going to check some things. For now, I need you guys to keep your rings in check. If you notice anything unusual, let me know as soon as possible. I got enough on my hands to keep the Overlords in check. It's only a matter of time before they notice the lack of new souls; most of them make it a habit of tricking new souls fresh off the boat into a deal as soon as they show up. I don't need them to be causing a stir. Get your stuff in order; if this gets out, it won't just hit the Pride Ring; all demons will freak out. Like you guys thought, they'll think it's Heaven. Considering recent events, they'll think Heaven is trying to wipe us all out."
None of them wanted to admit it, but they all thought it might have been the case.
"You have your order; get to them. I think we will be busy for the next few days."
An order from Lucifer wasn't one they could ignore, so they got up to move.
"Ozzie," Bee asked. "I'm going to need you to ask to talk with Mayday to give my boyfriend some time off immediately."
"I'll make a call."
Both of them suddenly wanted to keep their loved ones close by, in case.
0000
Cleft looked out the window at the cafeteria below. He watched as the techs set up light as SCP-166 prayed. Around her, plants grew, and people trimmed them and picked fruit that flourished. SCP-166 did her best to make the plants that grew fruits and vegetables.
"Cleft," Dr. Gears walked up to him.
Gears had been made the Director of the Site, since the last one was off Site when everything happened.
"Are you going to talk me out of being here?"
"No."
Cleft was surprised, "You do know-?"
"You're her father? Yes, I am aware. Most level four staff members know."
"Are we going to have issues?"
"No, if you can be professional, I don't see why this needs to be an issue."
"It doesn't matter she doesn't know."
"Cleft, I am a father, too." Gear's tone didn't change, but Cleft felt an emotion in his voice for a moment. "I don't know where she is, if she's okay, or if she has been transformed. I might never know, but you are fortunate enough to know she is doing well. I will not tell you what to say to her, just to think before you act."
Gears just walked away.
Clef fixed his hat, "And people think you're a robot."
0000
"Shit!" Vox let out; he sat in his chair in his office. "How are you on this channel?!"
TV was his domain. Sure, every once in a while, a new demon would show up with similar abilities. If he was in a good mood, he might hire them. Some helped him produce shows and were way better than teaching someone to do everything. He ensured they could never become competitors if he weren't in a good mood.
Some upstart had taken over one of his channels.
"Who the hell is this clown?"
He was watching a clown do a step-by-step instruction on how to skin a demon aimed at kids. Vox was messed up; he'd fess up to it, but he wasn't going to show kids how to peel a guy. And from what he could tell, it wasn't faked; he knew faked footage, and this wasn't it.
The clown seemed to be taking his time using an executioner blade to peel the skin of some random guy. "Now, just a steady hand. Take your time, and don't rush it. The skin has so many uses. You can make it into clothes or save it for a late-night snack. And remember, kids, it's okay to use a gag. The screaming can hurt your ear something fierce. Your pal Bobble doesn't mind, but you'd never hear me if I let Jerry keep screaming. He ha he."
"I hate clowns."
"Well, too bad, upstairs has gotten too bright. So Bobbles is here to stay."
"Wait, you can hear me?"
"Yes, I do, Mister Vox." He wiped the knife clean on his clothes.
Vox couldn't track him, "Well, the airwaves of my things, you half-wit bozo."
"I would love nothing more to work with you, Vox. We could do so much together. "He took two steps, the camera moving with him until the background showed Vox's office with his back turned as he sat in his chair.
"I'll be seeing you real soon."
Vox turned around, but no one was there.
He turned back to the TV to see Bobbles smiling and waving to him right before the TV turned off.
"What the hell?"
0000
"Valentino!" Vee yelled
"What?" The moth man came over to type on his phone.
"You just had to rip apart the janitor, didn't you?"
"He was taking too long to clean all the stains from my party last night.'"
"First, ew. Second, you picked the worst damn time! A pipe burst or some shit."
Valentino looked up and saw a black stain on the ceiling, leaking some nasty black shit. He moved just as a drop missed him and hit the floor; it hissed on contact.
"What has Vox been eating?"
Vee snarled, "Your dick, if your screaming last night was anything."
He smiled, "Sorry, he kept choking. Fine, don't be such a bitch; I'll call a repair man; ooh, maybe I can use it for my next movie."
"Oh, now you are just being cliche."
They failed to see an old, pale-looking hand slip from the black puddle as they walked away.
0000
Mammon was going to his office, annoyed. He was going to have to do so much more work. That's when he found a mask on the doorstep.
"Huh? Did someone leave me a gift?"
He picked up the stone white comedy mask. It was a bit more classical than he was used to, but it had some class.
"What are you?"
He heard a voice in his head, "Your a new best friend."
0000
Charlie was still busy working at the hotel. There were not many guests, but she was sure another wayward soul would show up at any moment. It wasn't just about her; it was about her friends, and Sir Pentious gave his life for her dream. She couldn't give up.
She stopped mid-stepped as she watched Nifty drag a ladder.
"Nifty, need some help?"
"Yes!"
Charlie helped outside, where she wasted no time setting up the ladder and climbing it with buckets and mops.
"No! I still can't reach!"
"Nifty, how?"
Someone had graffitied some owl demon on the wall on the third floor.
"Uh, that is something- not my art, but it shows talent and skill."
"I couldn't get it from the window; the ladder is too short!" Nifty yelled, her eye bulging. It's moving, too! Every time I think I'm getting closer, it moves!" Nifty didn't say anything; they just ran to get something else.
"Huh?" Charlie asked, "How did it get up there?"
Sure, some demons could fly, but getting up there without being noticed, especially to do a piece that complicated, would take time. Someone would have noticed.
"Excuse me, I was told this was a hotel."
Charlie turned around, "Right you-"She paused as she saw who was talking to her.
It was a woman with fox life traits, which wasn't too much of an issue. She'd seen tons of demons with animal traits, and the attention was at her state. Her clothes were torn, and she looked beaten, with bruises forming on her body, and every ear seemed bent oddly.
"Oh gosh, let me help you. Vaggie! Get the first aid kit! Let's get you somewhere to sit. What's your name?"
As Charlie helped her inside the hotel, the fox woman hid her smile, "Ji-Hu,"
With that, SCP-953 made it into the Hazbin Hotel.
0000
Lucifer didn't fear much, but he was weary. He was going somewhere he had been trying to avoid for a while. He told the Overlords to avoid the area since he heard that the Overlord had gone missing. The area wasn't exactly sought after; it was barren, rocky, and underdeveloped because of the anomaly. Something that scared off most people with magic. Rumors were that some ultra-demon rested there, and only the strongest overlords could fight it off and claim the domain. Most of the sinners that showed up there were from a specific area, and generally, only those who went there were because they wanted to become Overlords.
Lucifer opened a portal and walked out to this location; he stood in front of a large building that looked more like a prison than anything else.
Besides the gate, there was a plaque that read Site-667 and had a badge logo with a circle and three arrows pointing inwards.
Several men in black uniforms rushed out and pointed their guns at him. There were some demons with them, who, when they saw him, threw themselves to the ground. At least they recognized their king. Still, humans held their ground; he could almost respect that. Still, actual humans in Hell, living, breathing humans, that was something.
"Before you waste your bullets, let me introduce myself; I'm Lucifer Morningstar, King of Hell."
They glanced at their demon companions, who nodded and whispered to them not to anger him.
"Look, I don't want trouble. I need to talk to the Overlord of this place; I think you call them the Director."
A dark-skinned woman walked out, confident, "King Morningstar?"
"Ah, you must be Ndeye Bocoume, the so-called director of Hell."
"What do I owe the pleasure, sire? I was under the impression that our work here was beneath your notice."
"Experimenting on the sinners? Go for it. It's too late for me to curb humanity's curiosity. And the demons you got rid of had it coming; if you're dumb enough to get your ass handed to you, then you deserve it. No, I need you to send a message to your boss."
"My boss?"
"An old friend of mine," The Fallen Angel smiled, "I think you call her 05-1."
Author's Notes: Okay so things are going. People seemed to like the story so I will keep at it.
Anyway, my 8k SCP article is still not deleted so thats good. I've gotten some feed back so that's good generally people seem to like the idea just went too exposition. If it doesn't get deleted I do intend to fix that, but no altering the text while the contest is going. i'm still hoping to get +10 votes on it by the end. If it doesn't get deleted my scp might be showing up. If you're interested check out the entry "Awan"
Anyway, the thing about Eve and the tree is an SCP I wrote but that one got deleted. I am working on re-writing it and hoping to post it later this year. It's not going to play a big part here just my own internal consistency.
As the broken day continues we will see how everyone deals with it, and the aftermath. Next chapter someone dies. Review and such.