Author note: hello again readers, so glad to have you back! Things are gonna start getting more chaotic as the six-month countdown starts! I hope you enjoy the ride.
Chapter 14: Betting 20 on Black out
Taylor sat on the couch, Angel beside them using their shoulder as a pillow, as they fielded questions about the meeting at the Heaven Embassy. Charlie paced anxiously around the room while Vaggie stood in the corner, looking particularly disturbed by the events. Many were surprised that that Adam was the leader of the feared Exorcists, and incredulous that the meeting was seemingly just to announce the moving up of Extermination Day. Taylor skipped over the part about attacking the angels and the silver fire, deciding to keep it to themselves. After the recounting was done, Charlie spoke out anxiously.
"Okay. So, the Extermination is coming in six months instead of a year. No big deal. Just a little set back. Nothing we can't handle. Just angels cutting our timetable in half. But who needs a whole year to save souls? Am I right?"
The anxiety got to be too much as she became hysterical, "and next time when they cut the time in half again, and again, we'll just handle it, right?"
Vaggie moved from the corner and grabbed Charlie, forced her to look over at Vaggie.
"Yes. We will."
Charlie smiled tensely at the touch. From the couch, Taylor added,
"Vaggie's right, Charlie. We can handle whatever comes our way. We have more than a solid chance."
Angel was busy checking messages as he interjected in a skeptical tone.
"Oh, please, ya had less than half a chance when you started this salvation bullshit. And now…" Angel's phone vibrated as Taylor glanced over, quickly scanning some worryingly violent and threatening messages from their vantage point. Angel didn't notice as they continued, "ain't no silver lining this time, toots."
"Sure there is! We just…got to look a little harder for it!" Charlie countered.
"Well, while you're lookin', the rest'a Hell's goin' nuts." He shoved the phone in Charlie's face. "People are already freakin' out about the news. Look at what's going on in the Doomsday District."
Taylor heard screaming from the phone as Charlie peered in closer to read a message.
"Err… what's a Donkey Show?"
Angel retracted the phone in a panic and laughed awkwardly.
"Aah, heh, nothin'. My boss, Val, is just freaking out about the news too. Like I said, everyone's losin' their shit."
Vaggie's eye widened as an idea hit her. She looked at Charlie with a leading expression.
"Yeah, that's true. Sinners are desperate. Maybe desperate enough to try anything to escape the Extermination?"
Charlie gasped as they got excited.
"This is the perfect time to recruit more Sinners to the hotel!"
Angel sat up and waved the phone over at the demonesses again. Taylor could hear more sounds of screaming and fire burning from the phone.
"Cute idea and all, but you really gonna go out in all of this?"
Charlie shrugged. "Well, it's not like people are just gonna show up on our doorstep- "
A sudden explosion abruptly interrupted Charlie as she screamed in fright and everyone looked to see a heart-shaped hole in the wall. They heard what sounded like a freight train and a voice call out.
"Show yourself Alassstor! Come and face- "
The group quickly moved outside and stared up at a war zeppelin being manned by a gray cobra demon with pink eyes running down their whole body and sharp yellow fangs. They wore a yellow and gray pinstripe jacket with a bow tie and yellow undershirt. Their gray top hat had a pink eye that seemed to blink whenever the demon did.
'Who is this kook? What's his business with Alastor?' Taylor wondered.
The cobra demon paused for a moment and looked toward the second-floor balcony.
"Oh, there you are. Face my wrath!"
From above, the group heard Alastor call out in a inquisitive voice. "Who are you?"
The cobra's eye twitched in annoyance.
"Who am I? Who am I? I am the great Ssssir Pentioussss! Inventor, architect of dessstruction, villain extraordinaire!"
Taylor saw a fog cloud descend from the balcony and materialized near them as Alastor joined the group in front of the hotel.
Nifty jumped onto Alastor's shoulder and called out in a captivated tone.
"Ooooh, he's a bad boy~!"
Alastor gently moved Nifty to the ground as he replied in an unimpressed voice.
"Ha, well if that's all true, you'd think I'd have heard of you."
Incredulous, Sir Pentious responded, "I attacked you literally last week." Alastor cocked his head to the side as static could be heard. Sir Pentious explained in a bewildered tone, "we've done battle, like…20 times."
Alastor leaned back as he jeered. "Well, you must have been really bad at this."
Thoroughly offended, Sir Pentious bellowed that he would destroy Alastor, and finally get recognition from the Vees. Taylor recognized the name from their contract annulment clients, and knew they were bad news.
Nifty asked who the Vees were, to which Alastor shrugged and replied that they were nobodies.
Sir Pentious called out to someone in the Zeppelin as cannons appeared and started to power up. Taylor startled and began summoning their flames to defend the group and hotel, but Alastor just looked back at them, chuckled with an amused expression, and snapped their fingers.
Suddenly a dark portal opened up from the ground and black tendrils appeared, lashing and constricting the zeppelin, crumpling it. Taylor heard panicked screaming from Sir Pentious and others as machine parts and yellow egg looking creatures started to splatter on the ground. Taylor watched in awe at Alastor's display of strength; they had experienced a fleeting minute or two of that power on their first meeting, but seeing it in full was intimidating. Alastor started to laugh maniacally as the screaming continued.
Charlie approached Alastor warily as she suggested that Sir Pentious had had enough. Angel replied cheekily that they thought he could handle a little bit more as the cobra demon fell from the zeppelin, face first, in front of Alastor. The deer demon twirled his staff, leaned over, and thanked the cobra demon for a forgettable experience.
Sir Pentious shakily raised his claw and thanked Alastor before quickly proclaiming that they let their guard down and tore off a small piece of Alastor's suit. He looked self-satisfied for a moment before looking back terrified at an enraged Alastor. The group heard an elk bugle as Alastor's antlers grew and a powerful green explosion sent Sir Pentious flying into the city scape. The black tendrils engulfed the zeppelin into the black portal as the group watched, disturbed.
There was a moment of quiet before Alastor turned and declared that he needed to go to the tailor. Vaggie and Angel stopped him as they said it was his job to fix the wall. Agreeing, Alastor summoned several black ink demons with construction tools to do the repairs as he walked off into town. Angel took an interest in one of the demons and started to flirt with the creature.
Taylor felt the buzz of their phone as they received a message from Antonio.
"Hey kid. Sorry for the last-minute request, but since the Extermination announcement, I have quite a few people who can't wait to receive consultations. Would you be able to come by this address asap?"
Taylor was not surprised at the request; everyone was in a state of panic with the news. Making the decision, they responded that they'd head over immediately and called out to the group.
"Hey guys, I just got called into work. With the moved-up timeline, people are getting desperate. I'll be back as soon as I can." They turned to Charlie and Vaggie. "When I get back, I'll help with the redemption game plan. Plus, I'll try to promote the hotel to whomever will listen out there." Vaggie warned Taylor to keep their guard up and Taylor went inside to swap out their blazer for a hooded jacket. They glanced idly at the wall being repaired by the ink demons before heading out to their destination.
Pentagram City was in a state of pandemonium. They passed by an electronic store that was promoting voyeur scopes and a mob rushed in to cleaned the stock out in moments. They saw more drug dealers and prostitutes out than normal, peddling their wares to the troubled masses. 'Sheesh, things sure are bleak, even more than normal,' Taylor thought grimly.
Taylor checked their phone to confirm their directions as they heard a wall of televisions mention the Radio Demon, which got their attention. They saw a blue flat screen TV demon with red sclera-blue pupil eyes, sharp looking teal teeth wearing a top hat with a radio wave symbol on it and two TV antennas on top. The demon wore a navy tuxedo and jacket with coattails combination with a red bow tie. Seeing the VoxTech logo at the bottom of the screen, they presumed this was the infamous Vox. Taylor gritted their teeth, as a few of their clients came from that corporation, and the environment was unethical to its core. Vox sang about how the Alastor was a has-been that nobody noticed even left and as such had become irrelevant. Taylor shook their head as they cringed. 'Looks like someone cares quite a bit that Alastor is back. What's the phrase? "Methinks the lady protests too much?" Who is he fooling?' Taylor moved on from the television screens with a shrug.
Taylor was so preoccupied with getting to the meet up point that they nearly missed the clinking of chains nearby. They honed in on the noise and saw a bulldog demon walking out of a gambling parlor, fanning what looked like playing cards greedily.
"Lady luck is on my side today! Ten new souls for my collection! Hell yeah!" they proudly boasted to themselves. Taylor was appalled by the discovery.
'You can gamble other people's souls down here too?' they thought disgusted. Taylor squinted as they saw the bulldog demon's wrist faintly glow orange. Focusing, they saw an orange cuff around their wrist that had one large chain link on one end that split into multiple smaller orange chains, with some extending out into space and others toward the cards in the demon's hands. Taylor guessed that each chain represented one soul under their command, and counted around 15-20 chains in total. Not sure what to do yet, Taylor put up their hood and followed the bulldog.
Taylor heard Alastor's voice come from loudspeakers placed around the vicinity as they celebrated their return to the airwaves. Still following the bulldog demon, they listened to Alastor quip back at Vox's insults and turned the tables, making Vox look desperate and impotent. Alastor gleefully spilled that Vox was pissy that Alastor turned down his offer to work together, as Taylor heard Vox's audio glitch out. The glitching and signal breaks up continued as Vox yelled and suddenly the whole city went dark. Taylor looked around in the pitch darkness as they heard everyone scramble and looting began in the citywide blackout. Taylor grinned as they saw their chance.
Using the glow of the orange cuff as their guide, Taylor sprinted and threw themselves onto the bulldog demon, knocking him to the ground as Taylor landed on top. The bulldog yelped in surprise as they tried to flip over to fight back. Quickly, Taylor sat on their back and stomped their feet on one arm and their head, pinning them to the floor. The bulldog demon screamed obscenities and threats as they struggled to get free. Excited that their makeshift plan was working, Taylor reached down and grasped all the chains in both hands as they yanked back and squeezed. The bulldog began screaming as his arm was pulled backwards awkwardly, but Taylor ignored it as they focused.
They grew dizzy as they saw flashes of a multitude of images, too quick to register the meaning. They gritted their teeth and pressed harder, making the chains rattle violently, but the chains weren't showing signs of breaking. Taylor started to panic as things weren't working and they were losing steam. 'Did I bite off more than I can chew this time?' they worried. In an instant, Taylor felt their hands get scorching hot as silver flames started to ignite at their palms. They panicked at the sight for a moment, but noticed that the orange chains started melting. Taylor smiled wide, hope restored, and with newfound strength, they crushed their palms against the chains and jerked back hard for a moment more before the chains splintered with a thunderous clang.
Taylor was thrown backwards as they lost their grip, and watched the chain links clatter to the ground and dissolved into an orange miasma. As the smoke started to gather into a sphere, the bulldog roared as they pulled themselves up, holding one arm painfully. They bared their fangs and yelled threateningly.
"You son of a bitch, you fucking dislocated my arm! Since you like stomping on people's faces, I'm gonna smash your arms and legs and send you to the cannibals to finish you off!"
Despite their terror, Taylor stayed put as they waited for the miasma to finish gathering.
The bulldog stalked over as the orb finished forming and hovered slightly. Taylor's eyes darted up as they saw the bulldog raise their leg. Taylor reached out and grasped the orb just as the bulldog stomped down on Taylor's arm, breaking it instantly. Taylor screamed in pain as the bulldog demon laughed. The pain dissipated as the now familiar wave of energy washed over them, but amplified ten-fold. As the tidal wave of vigor pumped through their veins, they felt their arm snap back into place, fully healed and aching chest was gone, and Taylor sighed in relief. They started to laugh giddily as they felt full of strength and on top of the world.
"Don't tell me you're getting off to this, you fucking masochist." They heard a disgusted voice overhead mutter. Unable to stop giggling, Taylor grabbed the foot that stood on their arm with their other hand and threw the bulldog demon off so forcefully it knocked them on their back with a painful gasp and another string of obscenities. 'Too much energy, too much strength! Focus! Gotta get out of here!' they repeated in their as their thoughts were running wild. Standing up, they turned and ran through the darkened streets. They barely heard the bulldog yelling as they fled.
"What the shit? Where are my winnings? Get back here, you fucking coward!"
Taylor ran a few blocks before they found a quiet corner, removed their hood, and crouched down to settle their nerves. 'That was too close! Calm down, you got away and they didn't see your face. Now focus on getting to Antonio before the lights come back on.' they coached themselves. They looked at their shaking hands as they summoned the tickling blue flames. Once done, they jogged to the meeting point as the power came back on. Taylor jumped as they saw their reflection in the window; a red salamander with black greasy-looking hair stood before them. 'Huh, I thought I felt a little slimy.'
They heard a door in front of them open as the familiar German Shepard demon peeked through warily.
"T? That you?" Antonio asked suspiciously. Taylor smirked.
"Hi, V. Yeah, it's me."
"Get in here! It's a fucking madhouse out there!" Antonio beckoned hastily. Taylor bounded in as the two demons made their way to the back of the building.
"I suspected you'd be late 'cause of the blackout, so I already got the clients to shake on the secrecy deal and write down their known contacts within their dealmaker's network. We've got another five people and you can start when you're ready."
"I'm ready, they've waited long enough."
A few hours later, Taylor left the building overflowing with energy and optimism. They annulled two sex worker contracts for an unaffiliated dealmaker, a VoxTech employee that was being forced to work for two weeks nonstop with no pay or breaks, a cage fighter who fought for the Overlord Zeezi and wanted to pursue less-violent employment, and a former cannibal-turned-vegan who needed to escape the Cannibal Colony before they were next on the menu. Antonio thanked Taylor again for coming on short notice as they parted ways. Before getting to the hotel, they ducking into an alley to change back to their normal form.
Back at the hotel, Angel complained to Taylor about the blackout knocking out their phone reception.
"At least you weren't out there when it happened." Taylor shrugged.
"That why ya look like shit?"
Glancing down in realization, they suddenly felt grody as they were covered in grime, had a footprint on their arm, plus the slime from their disguise.
"Oh, uh, when the blackout happened, looters began stampeding, and I got swept up in the wave." They lied. "I should head up and wash up before Nifty sees me. She's liable to have kittens looking at me." Angel laughed at the idea and waved them off.
As Taylor washed the day's muck off, they marveled at their recently broken-but-now-healed arm. 'Good thing the timing worked out; I won't have to wait for it to heal on its own or explain how I got it.' they thought gratefully. After drying off and changing into new clothes, they made their way downstairs.
Taylor was reading a book on pyromancy in Hell's circles. And while they confirmed that each colored fire represented a ring of Hell and they could have different properties, there was no mention of silver fire. 'Maybe it's just super-hot Hell fire? It can melt soul chains, so it can sever the thing that binds souls, like my ability. But I don't know how that works exactly either.' they pondered. Their thoughts were interrupted as Charlie and Vaggie returned, looking exhausted and downtrodden. Both slumped onto the sofa.
"No luck?" Taylor questioned.
"Not a single new recruit." Charlie said.
"Yeah, well, who wouldn't wanna use their last days not fucking and fighting?" Angel said dismissively.
A knock at the door made everyone pause, and Angel piped up,
"It's about time! I ordered food ages ago! Taylor, get the door and I'll pay ya back, hot stuff!" Angel winked as Taylor rolled their eyes and moved to the front.
Taylor opened the door and saw a nervous looking Sir Pentious, who then smiled brightly. Taylor stared back, bewildered.
"Why hello- "the cobra was cut off as Taylor slammed the door in his face. Rubbing their eyes in disbelief, they opened the door again.
"-my dear!" Sir Pentious continued. Taylor slammed the door shut again as they called out to Vaggie and Charlie.
"Guys?"
"Who is it, Taylor?" Charlie asked.
Looking unsure, Taylor answered,
"Sir Pentious is at the door. What should I do?"
"What? Don't let him in!" Vaggie exclaims.
Taylor looked back at the door and wondered.
'What's the worst that could happen?'