Hazbin Hotel: Hellish Misfits
Chapter 1: The Meaning of Life, and the Beginning of Anew
Year: 2023
Location: Earth
New Jersey
This story, much like it all starts… on Earth. A boring place, in painfully boring blissful ignorance that there were existences beyond Death. But that all came to a crashing dose of reality for me and my friend. Who am I? Well, I'm coming up right now.
On a college campus located in New Jersey, in one of the nicer areas, a dorm was in place for the college students living on campus, for both male and female students. In one of them, one of the occupants was asleep in his room, which had a nice laptop, desk, lamp, and barely anything of the sense of decoration. Though the occupant, who was sound asleep in his bed with two blankets, was still asleep.
He was a young man of twenty this year, with a small muscle build, Caucasian skin, shaggy brown hair that spiked at the ends, combed to the right. He looked rather cute as his eyes opened, to reveal them to be brown eyes. This was James Danyiel, a sophomore in college majoring in Hotel Management. Though one thing he had was his cellphone, as it rang off an alarm while still on a charger. He reached over for it, as he hit the Off button, and sat up from his bed. He was dressed in black boxer briefs with a white T-shirt, as he stretched out and yawned.
Yep, that's me. James Danyiel. Yeah, the name is spelled weird, but hey, I'm used to it as well as constantly correcting those that didn't get it right the first time. Though it does get annoying. I'm also what you call a Do-Gooder Designated Driver Doormate. Never drank, never smoked, mostly because I like clean living. Heck, I never had a girlfriend in highschool and am still a virgin.
Yep. That's me. Loser with a Capital T.
Moments later he had cleaned up and was now dressed in a black turtleneck long sleeved shirt, with a white hoodie atop of it with blue sleeves rolled up to his elbows. Blue jeans with a pouch belt with the right pouch attached to the waist, while he had another one dangling off the side of his left thigh, with the jeans rolled up a bit to show a bit of the calves and reveal the white socks he had on, blue and gray sneakers and black fingerless gloves on. He slipped on his backpack and had on his phone slip into his front blue pouch on his hoodie. Just as he was about to leave for breakfast, he spotted a photograph of him when he was only seven. A happy child with a beautiful woman in white, blonde hair and blue eyes, hugging him lovingly, while on his left was a man with short brown hair and eyes, handsome and medium build, dressed similarly in his style. These were his parents, Beatrice and Dan Danyel.
Sadly, his mother had died last year, while his father went missing. He would have hated him, if not trying to get over it, and just wished he was here. He sighed heavily, as he sadly looked to it, as he kissed his right hand's index and middle finger, and gently tapped them on the picture on both his parents.
"Wish me a good day, Mom and Dad," he said, sadly, as he walked out of the room, awaiting for someone nearby.
Ladies Dorm Rm 1409
Sleeping in her room, decorated by Goth fashion and designs, was a female occupant. She was of twenty herself, pale skin, lovely petite figure with B cup breasts, thin waist, sexy hips and legs, and dainty hands and feet. Her face was also pretty despite being pale, with black crop bob cut hair, and had green eyes, as they slowly began to bat awake. She was Lydia Dawnswell, a friend of James's who had a massive crush on him and wanted to be more than friends, who was in business management and architecture.
"Damn mornings," Lydia thought outload as she reached for her phone to see the time, "They'd be a lot better if they started in the afternoon." She began to force herself up as she knew she had to get up for the day. She rubbed her face trying to get the feeling of wanting to go back to sleep out of her.
She stumbled, as she undressed and wobbled to the bathroom. Moments later, she was wide awake, refreshed, and dressed. She was wearing a gothic Lolita dress with puffy shoulders and black straps around her elbows, with fingerless black sleeve gloves, as she had a silver bracelet on her left wrist, with a V-shaped skirt that pointed in the middle, wearing black sexy stockings and knee high boots with straps on the sides, and had a purple kitty backpack on, with the dress having a corset, showing off her cleavage with a black stocking top and a leather collar around her neck.
Yep, this is Lydia Dawnswell. My oldest and only friend since I was six. She moved in next door with her architect dad and stepmom who was something of an artist. She had talent with photography from her birth mother who died before she ever knew her. The Goth statement, some say is her still mourning for her. But we all know she loves it.
'I'd say I'm ready for another day,' Lydia thought as she opened the blind only to cover her eyes from the bright sunlight, 'I just wish the day was ready for me.'
Though she stopped as she saw James walking towards the café on campus. Approximately 3 yards from her.
Her cheeks glowed red as her heart raced just from seeing him. 'Okay, the day is ready for me,' she thought with joy as she grabbed her things and headed out her bedroom. Just the sight of her childhood friend and crush was enough to make her heart flutter.
Yeah, I should mention that she's always had a crush on me. I was kinda oblivious to the very end on it.
At the moment, James was making his way to the campus while trying to not stand out as much as he could.
'Another day, another class, another set of people looking for an excuse to look down on people,' James thought as he walked across the campus, 'One would think people would grow out of feeling superior to others by now.'
It was true. People on campus with special privileges such as being the kids of the principals, rich people who could buy their grades, or some students with scholarships tended to look down on those they say as beneath them. Whether it was a sense of superiority, wanting to stand out in their own way, to avoid being the victim themselves, or all of those reasons. Regardless, it was something at the time, I thought most people would grow out of at some point after getting a dose of real life. If I could talk to my past self, I would've told him how wrong he was.
He finally reached the campus café, as he walked over to the door, until Lydia called out, "James!" He turned to see her racing to him.
He smiled at seeing at least one light of sunshine in his life, as he greeted her, "Lydia. Good to see you." She stopped to him, as he asked, "I take it the morning was unkind for you?"
"What makes you say that," Lydia asked him, "I'd say I'm having a pretty good morning right now."
"Really? Why's that," James asked, as he arched an eyebrow.
"Well, we're in good health," Lydia began to list why she was in a good mood, "And it's a beautiful day. Just the right temperature to enjoy the outside."
"Right, so you don't simmer," James said as Lydia nudged his shoulder as she always told him that goths simmer rather than sweat.
"Hehehe, yeah... simmer," Lydia chuckled awkwardly, as he opened the door, and went inside.
Yeah,, I was totally clueless to her advances. And it would take longer for me to notice as well when another would enter the picture. But that's for later
Once they were inside, a line was forming, which would take a while, as the two sighed, and stood next to one another. Though Lydia leaned on him, with James not noticing the hint, but he asked, "So how's your family, Lyd?"
"Same as always. Stepmother wants me to wear all kinds of clothing," Lydia began not wanting to talk about her parents, "And father just wants me to get on with my and be what he believes happiness should look like."
"If he saw school life now, I bet he'd be rethinking his definition of happiness every day," James joked a little.
The line moved some more as the two moved with it.
"About as well as you think. My parents love their perfect little daughter because she's everything they want her to be," Lydia said hiding how much she didn't want to talk about it.
Another bad move by me. I seem to make a lot of those. But yeah, ever since Lydia's little sister came along, her parents showered their prized daughter with most of their love. While they still loved Lydia, they would show signs of preferring the little sister over the depressing goth they saw Lydia to be. If you ask me, I think they need to get their eyes checked. But in the end, their spoiling their daughter came back to haunt them horrible. But we'll get to that later.
Though I do feel sorry for Cathy for getting that much attention. But like I said, we get to that much later.
The line moved while Lydia stole glances at James, not even noticing her, but blushed fiercely. They'd known each other for most of their lives, and neither one had dated. And James was there to help her deal with the shit her family put her through. If anything, she couldn't go on without him, just as the last person before them began to order. It was either now or never that she would start.
'Come on, Lydia. If you don't tell me now, someone else will,' Lydia thought as she steeled herself, 'But what if says no? What if it doesn't work, we break up, and drift apart!? What if we're destined to only be friends?!'
Those kinds of thoughts were what kept her from telling him her feelings, but not today!
'Even if I'm rejected, I can't hide my feelings anymore,' Lydia thought to herself as she took a deep breath to calm herself down and prepared to tell James how she felt about him.
She looked to him, her face blushing as it gave a bit of color to her, as she thought, 'Though... if I do get hurt... I want it to be James...'
James looked a bit, as he saw her blush, "Lydia? You okay?"
"I just want to say thank you, James," Lydia said while trying to hide her blushing face from the confused James, "You've always been there for me ever since my mom passed away and did everything to help fill the void. But you never asked me to change. How you always listened when I needed someone to talk to and when I needed help. I don't think I can ever thank you enough for all that you've done for me."
James was a bit astonished and surprised to hear all that coming from her. So surprised that the two were unaware of the commotion from outside. "Wow," James blinked, as he blushed, "Um... where is all this coming from exactly?"
"Well, you only live once," Lydia answered, "And I don't want to live without regrets... So I just want to say that I-"
However.. a black van suddenly crashed through the two glass way, as time seemed to slow down, as the two looked to see it. Inside the vehicle, a crazy but freaked out trio were inside, and realizing they had lost control of the van.
The driver was a lanky tan 20-year-old male with orange blonde hair grown long enough to be tied into a lower ponytail that reached his upper mid back, green eyes, slim but not lanky. He was wearing a white hoodie with a black vest atop, a black pair of jeans with a gray sweater wrapped around his waist and black and white sneakers and black wristbands, while he wore a black beanie cap that allowed his bangs to stick out.
This is Danyl Mewes. The resident loiterer and peddler of drugs. He thinks he's a self-proclaimed ladies' man, but lately... he has zero game with them.
Behind him was a 20-year-old Asian boy with a small muscle frame, black military cut style hair with buzz cut sides and back, and brown eyes. He was wearing a black turtleneck with a blue sweater jacket hoodie with the left sleeve missing at the bottom of the shoulder and the other sleeve rolled up to his elbow, black fingerless gloves, and black and gray ninja-style parkour pants with blue and black sneakers.
This fellow is Clint Wu. A martial Arts student wanting to compete but hangs around Danyl to get practice... mostly because all the guys and gay girls are always trying to beat him up. Danyl, I mean, not Clint. He's cool.
And the third party was sitting in the driver/passenger seat, 20 years old, Caucasian with a corpulent body and a slightly chubby face with brown hair, wearing a baseball cap backwards, and wore gray and green sneakers while he wore green military jean shorts that reached down under his knees, a white t-shirt, a black trench overcoat that hid most of his body, and had a pair of headphones around his neck.
And this is Bruce Bluntowisk, or Silent Bruce to everyone. He's the quiet smart one of the group with common sense.
And they're also the ones who do this to us
The truck plowed through the line-up of people running them over as body parts, organs, and bloodstains fill the room like show out of a horror movie. Among the victims were Lydia and James as their bodies were mangled beyond recovery. James could feel the pain of his destroyed body as he looked over at Lydia who laid their with half her face and lower half smashed to bits as blood and organs oozed out of the dying body.
Weakly, James reached out to her, with his only good arm. Trying to at least to get close to her, but it was too much, as his body was finally giving in.
And with that... he died. The bodies all left in their mangled mess as survivors started to call 911, while others wept and panicked. But some times the Meaning of Life is that it's precious because it is so fleeting, much like today.
Yeah, that's right. Me and those in this massacre had died. That much was clear before any astute observer.
But... little did I or anyone of us would soon discover... that Death, was not the end. It was a beginning
And we would soon discover that there was life after death... but it was far from what one would normally expect from all the legends and religions.
James slowly started to get up, as he suddenly shot up, gasping. He looked around to see the destruction before him. He looked at himself and patted down, blinking, "What the...?" He stood up, blinking, as he looked around, at himself, "Did it miss? Was it all a dream?" But he looked down and saw his legs broken, and turned around, and saw himself... lying down dead looking at Lydia. He gulped, "Oh, it's not a dream."
"James," Lydia's voice spoke to him, as he turned to her, as she was standing, looking normal, but rightfully frightened, as she was looking at her dead body, and looked to him, terrified, "What's going on?"
"Lydia, I need you to stay calm," James told her, "But I... I think we're dead."
"It... It would seem that way based on what we're seeing," Lydia admitted as she continued to stare at her corpse, "But why is it just us here? Shouldn't there be others as well due to all the people here?"
As if on cue, the other students who had their bodies destroyed by the rampaging car started to appear in front of Lydia and James as well. They were looking just as scared or confused as the two of them were.
However...
"Yo, youse guys, this is nutzo," the blonde, Dan, stumbled out of the broken windshield, as he fell out, while Clint and Bruce calmly walked out of the slide door side, as Dan wrighted himself up, "Youse ain't gonna believe this. But there are doppelgangers in our van. And they're dead! It's like Travolta's clone body in Swordfish or Schartzenager in the 6th Day."
Clint looked back, as he looked to Dan like an idiot, and said, "That's because those are us! We're dead!" Bruce calmly nodded in agreement. Dan looked back and then back to them, as he calmly blinked, "Oh. I thought my bod looked jacked up compared to what I am now. Schnoiz!"
"Bruce told you doin' acid and Heroin at the wheel was a bad idea," Clint grumbled.
"Well, I figured it was better than drivin' drunk, man," Dan argued calmly, like it was no big deal.
"You were driving like a lunatic," Clint stated.
"I thought the barrels were comin' at us and the gorillas throwin' TNT at me were real," Dan argued again, explaining his hallucination to his friends.
And also ignoring the angry stares of the students who had died... including Lydia and James in particular. But mostly James.
"I can't believe we were killed because of drugs," one student yelled in anger.
"This is why I didn't do drugs!"
"This isn't fair! I wasn't doing anything! Why me?!"
"This can't be real! It just can't be real!" The students reacted from mostly anger while others tried to deny the situation. As Lydia and James just glared at drugged driver who was the cause of their untimely death.
James stomped forward as he growled, "YOU!"
The trio looked, as Dan asked, "Whose you talkin' bout, man?"
James grabbed him by the scuff of his hoodie, as he shouted, "You caused all this because you wanted to get high?!"
"Yeah man," Dan replied as though it wasn't a big deal, "You know how hard it is to get drugs of that quality first thing in the morning? I wasn't going to waste them."
"And now thanks to your impatience, everyone you see before you is dead," James declared in anger, "You've robbed us of our future!"
"Ah you were probably wasting it here with this college bull! I never went to college and look at me," Dan defended himself with a very poor argument.
"I'm looking at you alright," James growled as his grip tightened on Dan's hoodies, "I'm looking at the guy who couldn't stand not being high long enough to be a responsible adult and got himself killed along with so many others!"
"Says the guy who probably never lived at all," Dan said, as he looked to him, "I mean look at ya. No buttons, no fun stuff on your lapel. You probably never fucked a girl."
"He has a point, Dan," Clint replied, with Bruce nodding.
"Oh now you're going to side with the boring virgin as well," Dan asked his friends, "You're supposed to have my back!"
"We're your friends, not your yes men," Clint argued back while Bruce nodded in agreement.
"Oh great! So much for the saying 'friends for life'," Dan said bitterly as he broke free of James grip.
As the trio, well four if one counted the silent party, arguing with each other, Lydia felt a chill in the air. And it wasn't coming from the fact that they were already dead. Even if she didn't know it, a figure rose from behind from the shadows on the floor, as the light seemed to dim, and the room becoming ice and cold with shadow lurking about.
There before all of them was a black robed figure. The figure's face was shrouded by his hood preventing anyone from seeing the face. But the most noticeable thing was what the figure was holding. In his hands was a large scythe with moaning skulls imbedded in the steel of the scythe. The blade was half the size of the cloaked stranger. Just the sight of the figure made everyone stop in horrified silence. No one had to ask who this figure was making the atmosphere so cold. This... was Death.
"Newly departed souls," Death said, as he lifted his hand, which was covered by his cloak, as he bellowed, "Your time in the Living Realm has ended. It is time to depart to the New Existence."
"N-New existence? As in life after death," Lydia asked in alarm as it sounded like there truly was life after death like a number of religions said.
"Wait! Now, let's not be hasty! I can pay you a lot of money if you revive me," one of the richer students said, a black haired blue eyed fellow with his hair slicked back and wearing a hooded tail coat, trying his best to look stylish, as he tried to bargain his way out of this, "A million dollars to bring me back, how does that sound?"
Death looked to one of the Richer Students as he looked at him, almost judging him to make another response.
"Two million?! I can pay you anything! Just please, let me live again," the student declared as he got on his knees begging for his life.
The scythe came down, as he screamed, but nothing happened as it did. The student blinked, seeing that he wasn't slain or sliced in half. But saw that Death only embedded the scythe in front of him, and didn't attack.
"So does that mean yes," the student asked hopefully. 'No... I don't think it does,' James thought as he was too scared to try and tick off the Grim Reaper himself.
He pulled back the scythe, as it made a rip. As it did, there was a red glow coming from it, as it widened to reveal a crimson power within it. The sounds of screams and fiery explosions were heard, as this was a bit unholy. The hole widened as the student gulped, and fell down screaming, as they faded.
Death turned to the others and asked, "Anyone else wish to bribe a primordial force of nature?"
Everyone shook their heads in a negative in response. "Very good," Death said as a scroll appeared out of flames in Death's boney hand while looking over the list, "Now let's see. Who's next?"
"SNOOTCH TO THE NOOOTCH!" Dan screamed as he managed to tackle Death from behind his head, pulling his hood down, as he blinded the Reaper himself, as he struggled to try and move around, "Nobody decides the fate of me an my boys! I'm a smooth Pimp who luvs the pussy! Wat!"
Clint managed to grab the arm that had the scythe, as he said, "We'll fight you, Hellspawn!"
Bruce shrugged... and then took his jacket off as he used it as a lasso to wrap up Death's ankles, as he struggled to try and break free. With only his scythe wielding arm, he managed to flay around, as it almost nicked some of the students.
"I don't know whether to think those guys are brave or just stupid," Lydia said out loud as she watched the three people who caused all of this fight Death himself.
"I can't believe how easy they're making it look," James said in shock, "But I have a feeling that won't last long either."
However, he got whacked in the stomach by the blunt end of the scythe, and instinctively grabbed onto it, as he was swung around, while everyone was freaking out on what was going on.
"What the," James exclaimed as he suddenly found himself hanging out of fear to Death's scythe as he was swung around like the spike ball of a flail.
Death kept swinging his Scythe with James still holding on, as he cried out, "Somebody help!"
"Yeah, man! Ride that Scythe, dude," Dan cried out, as he looked at his two friends, "Yo, I like this guy already."
But Lydia ran to James to try and grab his ankles to anchor him, only for her to get thrown about, until they were both dangling at the pit leading to Hell.
Lydia looked below her as she could see the fiery pit below, the glowing red and yellow area surrounding the massive black rock, as she looked to James, "James, I don't think I can hold on!"
"Then let go! Don't worry about me," James told Lydia, "Save yourself!"
"Hell NO! I don't abandon you," Lydia exclaimed, "I'll never abandon you in this or any other life!"
James smiled at her, but then felt a bit of lack of tugging, as the two looked up, seeing Death losing his grip on his scythe. James looked up as he shouted, "Hey, you guys! Don't let him drop the scythe!"
"Let'im drop the scythe? Got it," Dan shouted.
"NO! I SAID DON'T! DON'T LET HIM DROP THE SCYTHE," James shouted back, "DON'T!"
"You heard him, guys," Dan shouted, "Make this robed freak drop it!"
They managed to do so, as Death let go of the scythe, as James went deadpanned, "I hate you."
With that, James and Lydia were sent flying as the scythe landed on the ground and the two teens ended up falling down into the fiery depths below. James hugged Lydia close as the two continued to fall deeper and deeper with what looked like there was no end.
They broke through the flames, as they fell through now in a sky of crimson and darkness, with oddly a moon with a glowing red upside-down pentagram. But as they fell, their bodies caught on fire, as they screamed aloud for what felt like an eternity. But once they reached clouds, their bodies were put out as their bodies now looked like black charcoal, as they continued to fall towards a wasteland below them, with a pentagram-made pattern the size of Texas. With lights and explosions, as to the two, they fell far apart... and... everything went black.
Elsewhere
A figure looked out to the red skies, as explosions and screams were heard outside. What seemed like fireworks shot out, were actually battle still in progress. But as this happened, the figure stepped up, as the voice of an angel spoke... or sung out... At the end of the rainbow there's happiness
And to find it, how often I've tried
But my life is a race, Just a wild goose chase
And my dreams have all been denied
And walking out to the outside to a balcony came the owner of the voice.
The being was a tall, slender female humanoid, twenty years old in appearance, and rather beautiful. She had long, blonde hair with lighter blonde and pink highlights, which was tied into a twice-banded low ponytail that reached to her butt. Her blonde bangs flipped to her left with a curl. While appearing humanoid, she featured animal-like traits such as fangs. Her lips were black and she had rosy red cheeks, which made her seem like a doll or a marionette. Her eyes had red irises with light yellow sclera and she had thick black eyelashes.
She wore a small black bowtie and black suspenders, with an untucked white, long-sleeved dress-shirt. Over this she wore a fitted red tuxedo jacket with dark-red lapels and a pair of red fitted pants. She even wore black and white saddle shoes.
She looked outside as she saw white lights smashing into the street and in the skies, attacking those unfortunate outside, as she sadly looked to them.
Why have I always been a failure? What can the reason be?
She looked around, as she saw beings wearing light and dark gray armor suits with horned helmets and black masks with highlight features showing evil facial expressions, attacking demons and creatures with silver spears, while also having white wings to fly, I wonder if the world's to blame, I wonder if it could be me
More screams of terror filled the streets as the masked horned beings continued to kill more and more of the denizens on the street with twisted smiles of joy on the faces of the helmets. It was a massacre for anyone who was watching or even hearing the scene.
She looked saddened at the sights, and powerless to be unable to do anything, I'm always chasing rainbows, Watching clouds drifting by She leaned on the railing with her head hanging low as she felt saddened, My schemes are just like all my dreams, Ending in the sky
Popping up to try and comfort her, a small creature showed up to nuzzle up to her. It was a small black and white cyclopean cat. It had white spots on the tip of its ears and tail, the spots on the ears forming a heart when close together. The creature had scruffy fur, one eye with a red pupil, and a red collar on.
Some fellows look and find the sunshine. I always look and find the rain She saw her kitten companion and gently petted them, the kitten creature purring as its tail gently tickled the girl's cheek. Some fellows make a winning sometime, I never even make a gain. Believe me"
She then scooped up the little creature in her arms, as she looked to see a golden clock tower centered in the city, as she looked saddened, I'm always chasing rainbows, Waiting to find a little bluebird And looked upward, as she and her pet saw two bright red stars falling, and then going out, as she shed a tear, In vain
He groaned, as James suddenly came to. The area around him seemed like a battlefield, as he struggled to get back onto his feet. Though if he had a mirror or something on him, he would have seen how greatly he changed. He still had his humanoid appearance, but much changed on him. He now had blush red skin, his ears grew to elvish long points, while his fingers had gone to sharp points now, and he had a single red horn growing from the left side of his head, with blood red his hair color now. His sclera now black with red irises and black pupils in his eyes. He was now sporting a long red thin tail with a harpoon tip with two points on the side, and in the center of it a single yellow eye with a black slit to it.
Even his wardrobe had changed. His hoodie was now red, with the hoodie having three sharp tooth-like shapes in the back, and having two black eye patterns as well, with two black line slashmarks in the front going down to the back, with two armor-like shoulders on them with the sleeves black and having red straps on the elbows, still having black fingerless gloves. His jeans were now black, with the two belt pouches now dangling on the thighs, with yellow flame patterns in front of the thighs, knee pads, still white socks, but now had red and black sneakers.
Still though, he was a bit disoriented, as he stumbled, as he looked around, seeing the scythe embedded in front of him, as he gently grabbed the handle. But as he did, the scythe began to shift and change, oddly. Once it was done, the back of the blade now looked like a profile shot of a horn headed demon with sharp teeth, with the blade bigger and jaggier, the handle a bit bend on top looking like a rib design, and the handle to hold was a steel gray spine design, as the end of the staff was a sharp point with a lone red eye present.
James groaned, as he leaned on the scythe like a walking stick, as his vision cleared up, "Ugh... where... am I?" But then slowly began to sober up, as he looked around.
He saw his new surroundings along with the sounds of battle. All the red, blood stains, and damages around him.
'Am I... Am I in HELL.' James thought in alarm as he looked around in horror. Then he realized he was currently alone.
"Lydia!? Lydia, where are you," James called out in a panic, but he didn't see any signs of her.
There were bodies in some areas, torn apart and skewered by spears or lances. They glowed brightly, impaling the corpses of unidentified beings; some looking just as inhuman, while some looked like animals. As he stumbled about to look around, trying to figure out what was going on. But the more he looked, the more he spotted more bodies mutilated by the same holy spears/lances. This wasn't some graveyard. It was a battlefield. But it appeared one-sided, so it was all a massacre.
James stared in horror at the sight before him.
'What is this,' James thought in horror at the sight before him. He wasn't sure what to expect from Hell as he simply assumed it was a place of torment, but he didn't imagine what looked like a massacre like this. Regardless of whether they were demons or humans, no one deserved this to happen to anyone.
However, he heard metallic footsteps approaching. Though more like... running. He turned around as he saw three figures running his way.
The figure running in the rear was a tall and slender, light gray-skinned demon. She sported white ankle-length hair that had been formed in the shape of large horns with several black streaks - most of them on top of the horn shape that resembled thin ribbons, while one was located on her bangs. She has a darker area that appeared similar to a mask on her face, while her eyes having white irises and red sclera. The rest of her arms and hands were colored white, with her hands being rather large in proportion to her body with black nails protruding from them.
She wore attire similar to a ballerina, which was a kind of black suit with white bands on her arms and around her neck. She also wore black waist-length stockings which were covered by white ballerina shoelaces, and her shoes were that of metallic ballet slippers which she walked on the tips of her toes.
In front of her were two demon humanoids like her. One was a female demon with puce skin, short and curly cream hair tied up in a ponytail, dark lips, eyes with red sclera and white irises, and small black horns atop her head. The other was a female demon with white skin, blonde hair tied up in a ponytail, eyes with red sclera and white irises, and small black horns atop her head with circular red glasses. They wore the same black outfits and ballerina shoes, as they raced to James.
"Out of the way, Shit Head," the Ballerina Demon shouted as she pushed James to the side against the wall of the alley as she and the other two girls ran past him without giving him another thought.
James stared in shock at the three demons as they ran through the alleyway. 'They can talk... They're real demons... Then I'm really in Hell,' James thought in horror as he slid against the wall, 'Lydia and I are dead and I'm in Hell...'
A part of him wanted to scream in horror at his situation, but he barely held himself back as he knew the attackers causing the massacre were still close by.
However, what happened surprised him deeply. Landing in front of the three were five individuals. The five were fairly uniform appearance, each being black, white, and gray humanoids with a black halo that had a downward crystal at the front and point a small black ball and upward crystal floating above it. Their uniforms consisted of a gray colored short dress with a white sash belt, black leggings, alongside long white colored gloves and thigh-high heeled boots, underneath which they wore an additional pair of long dark gray gloves and thigh-length stockings. They also had a pair of large gray wings on their backs, allowing them flight.
They wore full-head masks with LED screens on their faces that were capable of various expressions. The masks possessed two large goat-like horns on their head. And they were armed with angelic weapons styled in spears but they each had a cross strapped to their left side the size of a thick book.
One of them spoke, with a stitched mouth expression mimicking what they said, "Well, well, well. More sinner demons waltzing out. They must wish to be purified."
"Purified? Wha-what are you talking about," James asked as he backed himself more against the wall. He didn't know how these were, but every part of him was telling him that despite looking like angels, they were a major threat to him and weren't in the mood to listen to him.
One of them looked to James, as they smiled, "Well, well, a new Sinner Demon. And he's not aware of the Purification of Hell."
"Doesn't matter, we'll still kill them all," one other said.
However, the lead demon leaned to the two, as she whispered, "Daughters. When you see your chance, run."
The two daughters looked conflicted at their mother's command, but nodded.
"Purification of Hell? Kill me," James asked as his mind raced with everything that was happening, "But aren't I already dead? You can't die twice!"
"You're about to find out, sinner," one of the Purifiers said as he prepared his weapon.
"Truth is, Heaven finds sinners spending eternity here in hell to be vastly absurd," one Exorcist said, as she pointed at him, "And you, don't deserve eternity." She then said, "So we might as well just end you now."
Hearing that, James' view of Heaven was shocked beyond belief. He thought that Heaven was a peaceful place. He never imagine that Heaven of all places would approve of genocide. Even if it was Hell of all places. But despite that, here were angel like beings saying this.
'Heaven allows this,' James thought to himself as his view of the world took a major blow, 'Heaven would approve genocide of all things... What kind of Heaven would let this sort of thing happen?'
"Enough talk, Kill the Sinners, make more room for the next lot for next year," One Exorcist said, as she shot up in the air, and readied her spear.
The female demon then shouted, "Girls, run! Now!"
With that, the two girls ran as the female demon steeled herself and ran towards the exorcists.
The Exorcist charged right at the woman, but she leapt above the exorcist before the spear could strike her. And allowing gravity to fall, she charged back down, her sharp ballerina shoes aiming for the exorcist as they glowed. And before the exorcist could strike again, the woman flipped in the air, and with one kick... she decapitated the Exorcist, killing her as their headless body crashed on the ground.
James was snapped out of his mental trauma to see what had just happened as the other two exorcists looked in shock at what had just happened to their comrade. They were supposed to be invincible, but this sinner just decapitated one of their own with one strike. It was against everything they had been taught by their leader.
The exorcists noticed it, and all remaining four charged right at the woman, who turnd to be in shock of this. Though the white-haired demon girl turned around and saw her being attacked, as she cried out, her red-tinted glasses doing little to hide her fear in her eyes, as she cried out, "MOM!"
James blinked, as he realized this revelation, "Mom?" And flashes of his mother and him in memories flooded his mind.
One of the exorcists cried out, "DIE DEMON!"
SHKNIT!
Time slowed down, as the woman's face looked in shock, her daughters looking in fear for their mother. And the exorcist smiling in the pleasure of carnage against the Demon... only to look in shock, as they coughed up yellow blood. Their chest was sporting the tip of a very familiar blade, as somehow... James had leapt up, and oddly enough, the scythe changed to a spear form, and stretched out to harpoon the Exorcist through the chest. James's eyes glowed bright red, as if something awoke inside him. And with a roar, as he exposed sharpened canines, spun around with the spear in hand, cleaving the exorcist in two down its middle.
The remaining exorcist stared in horror at what he had just witnessed. Another sinner had just killed his other comrade with ease. But what shook his care was the glare he was getting from James. It was the kind of glare that stayed with you forever, like the look of a War Veteran. The Exorcist wanted to fight back, but the fear of death and James kept him frozen in place.
'I have to warn Adam,' the Exorcist thought as he tried to rationalize his reason to escape, 'He must know that Sinners can kills us now!'
The Exorcist flew away quickly before anyone could react to him escaping.
James just stood there as the anger he felt began to fade as reality came back to him as he stared at the weapon in his hand.
'I just killed an angel... And yet I don't feel anything about it,' James thought to himself as he felt his entire core tremble at this revelation, 'Why was it so easy?'
However, the two remaining Exorcist shot out, "Kill that thing!" And charged right at him.
Snapping him out of it, he managed to see them, and quickly dodged them, as they struck the ground. Oddly enough, he leapt away with ease, showcasing an odd physical enhancement in the process. Though too pumped with adrenaline, he stumbled a bit, as he fell near the corpse of the exorcist the she-demon had slain. His left hand searching for another weapon or stone to hit them with, but grabbed onto the silver and blue crucifix on its side. Though as he did, a seething pain shot in his arm, as the sound of sizzling flesh was heard, burning the flesh on his hand despite the glove, and holy flames shot up his left arm, burning at spots, even scorching the sleeve of his hoodie, as he cried out in pain, but still held onto the crucifix, as the exorcist readied another blow.
But what they didn't notice was that the Crucifix seemed ot acknowledge the boy, as it transformed, the top turning into a gun butt while the end split open to create a magnetic barrel, as the center of the cross revealed a two-fingered trigger. This was the form of the Crucifix's offensive form, a Holy Gun.
"What now," James asked as he stared at the gun as it automatically fired a blast that incinerated one of the Exorcists in holy flames.
The Exorcist cried out in pain as the blue and red flames burned him alive and he turned to dust leaving only one Exorcists left.
The remaining Exorcist turned away as she told herself, "Have to report this to Adam or Lute! We need to end this!" But then suddenly, she heard a whooshing sound, and suddenly was sliced in half as the scythe was thrown at her, as she fell back down, and returned to Dante.
The crucifix then returned to normal, as it reformed now into a miniatured version, turning into a wrist chain. But it seemed the pain and exhaustion of what he had done finally overtook him, as he collapsed on the ground, drifting from consciousness to unconsciousness.
The mother demon and her daughters stared in shock at what they had just witnessed. It was one thing to have been able to kill an exorcist with that strange scythe, but to take a Crucifix, survive it's burns, and turn it into a weapon against the angels? There was no way this sinner was your run of the mill sinner.
The mother approached James as she stared at him. "Alright newbie," she said in a commanding sounding tone, "There's no way a normal sinner could survive touching a Crucifix! Who and what the hell are you?!"
In some moments, he heard talking, and the metallic footsteps from the three ladies. But then he heard new voices.
*"Charlie! I found a survivor!"*
His vision was blacking out but returning from waking up or falling asleep as he saw someone standing over him.
It was a slim-figured girl his age, who sported a moth-themed design with gray-lavender skin. Her knee-length grayish-white hair with long bangs was jagged-styled, with stripes at the ends that were the same color as her skin tone. On the back of her head, she sported an accessorized red-pink bow with a small torn. Her right eye had a light pink sclera and an ivory-white iris, while her left eye was replaced by a slate-gray eyepatch that sported a red-pink "X" shape. Her mouth had small fangs and black lips. She wore a blouse that was the same color as her bow and the "X" shape on her eyepatch, with a dark slate-gray peter-pan collar, dark slate-gray scalloped-trimming on the sleeves, and two dark slate-gray buttons located down the front. She also sported a choker necklace and a miniskirt with a thick pale pink waistband hugging her waist, both colored in the same dark slate-gray, a set of fingerless slate-gray opera gloves with matching thigh-high stockings, which included white scallops at the top and at the tip of the toes.
But she had in hand a spear with a silver tip on it, glaring right at him, as she aimed it at his throat.
'What a rotten a day,' James thought to himself as he finally gave out to the exhaustion and passed out.
The Moth Girl looked at the bodies of the dead Exorcists in the area and back at James.
'Did this Sinner kill them,' the girl thought to herself as she kept her spear pointed at the unconscious sinner, "How the hell did he do that when no one has been able to?"
She looked to him seeing him half out and in as she demanded, "Alright, you. How did this happen? Talk! I know you can."
But James passed out again as she angrily shit out, "What happened here?!"
"Vaggie!" Someone called out to find them.
Vaggie looked towards the voice as she quickly returned her spear away and hung James' shoulder over hers.
'I can't let Charlie see this,' Vaggie thought to herself as she began to carry James out of the alley, 'If she saw this, Charlie will feel her dream is out of reach of sinners are killing angels. I won't let that happen!'
"Vaggie," Charlie called out, "Are there any survivors?" She walked looking around at the carnage, worried that more souls were lost this year. But then she saw her dragging an unknown Demon out, with damage to his left arm, evident of the holy burn scars on the still healing arm. She gasped as she ran to them, "Vaggie!" She looked to the unconscious James, as she asked, in worry, "What happened?"
"I think he was caught up in the Purge, but he managed to escape, but not without injuries," Vaggie answered while omitting some details, "He's lucky to be alive at least."
"Here, let me help you," Charlie said as she took James' other arm in order to help him to safety, "Let's get him back to the hotel to recover."
James weakly looked to Charlie, who was amazingly pretty despite being a demon, as she looked to him, falling in and out of consciousness, as she smiled to him sympathetically and assuring him greatly, "Don't worry. You'll be okay." He started to fall out of consciousness, as her voice soothed him to sleep.
You'll be okay
And then he was out of it.
Some Unknown Time Later
James groaned, as he slowly came to again, but fell heavy again as he groaned. It was dark in the room as it was, but then he saw a shadow, barely visible to him, as they reached out to him. A gentle cold compress was applied to his forehead, as he groaned a bit. But the figure assured him with a soft and gentle voice, "Hey, there. You've been out of it for a week." She smiled, "It's kind of a good thing since it's almost over."
James graoned, "I had the weirdest dream. I thought I was dead, and I... almost got killed by these evil-looking angels. It was nuts."
The figure then sat up, as she assured him, "Well, the nightmare is over. You're safe in the Happy Hotel." she then reached for a light switch as she said, "A safe haven in Hell."
Dante then went wide awake, as he blinked, "Hell?" And then the lights came on, as he was face-to-face with Charlie. Though he shot up as he screamed, "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH," Charlie screamed, being severely startled by this.
Even the strange catlike creature that snuggled with Charlie also shot up, hair up and tail, as it screeched like a freaked out cat. Which all alerted Vaggie as she burst into the room with her spear in hand.
"What happened!? Are the Exorcists here," Vaggie asked ready for a fight only to see Charlie, the cat, and James looked scared after waking up. This caused Vaggie to lower her guard, "Oh, he's awake. And here I thought it was something important," she said in an uninterested tone.
"Holy crap... It did happen... I'm dead," James said as he remembered everything that happened as from when he and Lydia died and he woke up in Hell.
"Ahh. A new arrival," Vaggie said as she put her spear away, "That explains a lot."
"Oh, you just died recently," Charlie said as she now understood why James was so scared, "I know, it's a lot to take in, but it's something everyone has to get used to when they die."
Vaggie then pulled out a letter, written by Charlie, as she read it aloud, "Now that you are dead and in Hell, you may feel confused, disoriented, and in complete denial." She looked to James, annoyed, as she said, "This is normal."
James then frowned, as he scrunched his face up as he said, "Yeah, but I doubt I'm supposed to be here. I never sinned in my life."
Vaggie half-smirked at the usual situation she witnessed since being in Hell, "Yep, this idiot's confused and in denial alright."
"No seriously, I didn't! I was just a normal college student! I only died because an idiot decided to drive while on drugs, crashed into the diner I was at, got himself and everyone else there killed, and then picked a fight with Death," James explained himself, "Heck! I never even looked at porn before!"
Charlie and Vaggie stared at him for a moment before Vaggie burst out laughing while Charlie held back her own laughter.
"HAHAHA! That's a new one! They picked a fight with Death," Vaggie said in between bursts of laughter, "This one really has an imagination, doesn't he!? Hahahahaha!"
Charlie was still holding back on her laughter, but she looked at James's face, showing no hint of a lie or garbled memory. She swallowed her laughing and went wide eye, as she gasped, "Oh my goodness. He's telling the truth, Vaggie."
"Oh, come on, Charlie," Vaggie said while still laughing as she looked at her and then at James, "Don't tell you that you actually-" The moment she saw James face, she saw the same thing that Charlie saw. Vaggie's eyes widened and her jaw dropped, "Holy shit... He is telling the truth."
"A good soul being sent here by accident. I didn't even think it was possible," Charlie said as she looked at James closely.
"Hang on. If the ones who attacked Death were the ones that caused your death, how did you end up down here," Vaggie asked him growing suspicious of him.
"When Death was being attacked, I got hit by the end of Death's scythe by mistake," James explained, "I grabbed the end of Death's Scythe out of instinct, was thrown around, and ended up falling down the pit Death opened early for this jerk that tried to buy his way back to being alive."
Charlie sighed while Vaggie looked unsurprised at the last part. "That last part sounds about right," Charlie said, "Death never liked it when people tried to worm their way out of dying."
"Let me guess. A rich student who relied on his parents' money," Vaggie asked as James nodded, "There are a lot of people like that in Hell."
"I don't even know what Death was planning to do when," James started to say when he's eyes shot wide open as he jumped up and looked around, "Wait! Where's Lydia!?"
Charlie and Vaggie looked at each in confusion. "I'm sorry, but you were the only one that Vaggie found," Charlie answered sounding apologetic.
"That's right. I found you in an alleyway alone," Vaggie explained, "There was no one else there."
"She wasn't with me when I woke up," James said as he saw the door, "Look, thanks for helping me, but I have to go find her." Just as he was heading for the door, Charlie immediately jumped and blocked James' way. "Whoa, whoa! You don't want to be out there right now," Charlie said in a panicked tone and while looking scared.
"She's right," Vaggie said while grabbing James' shoulder, "Not while the purge is still going on."
James looked at them in confusion, as he asked, "Purge?"
Charlie looked sad while Vaggie looked away while glaring out the window.
"Due to overpopulation in Hell, Heaven sends their Exorcists, the angels with masks on to kill as many Sinners, the denizens of Hell as they can once a year," Charlie said in sorrowful tone, "They do this out of fear that Hell will rise up and overthrow Heaven."
James became horrified from hearing this as he recalled the Angels he met saying something like that too. "What kind of Heaven sends exorcists to kill others and approves of genocide of all things," James asked flabbergasted that Heaven would do something like that.
"Who did you think they would send to kill others," Vaggie asked him, "A carpenter wearing sandals?"
"Um, isn't Hell supposed to be infinite? I would have thought this place would have been able to house infinite fallen souls," James asked, trying to find the logic or reason in all this. "And seriously, whatever happened to the Angel of Death? Isn't that his job?"
"Angel of Genocide, and well... he's been dismissed since the War in Heaven. And yes, you're right: Hell's bigger than it looks," Vaggie explained. But also soured as she said, "But if there's one thing I know is that Angels can be... difficult and unable to change the grand scheme of things."
"But we're aiming to fix that with the help of the Happy Hotel," Charlie smiled to him, as she explained, "The Hotel offers an alternative to the Purge."
"Sanctuary," James asked.
"That and also the chance at Redemption," Charlie explained as she went into detail. "Okay, Sinners are sent down here as punishment, right? But what if through the punishment, we can actually find a chance at rehabilitation and redemption? Through that, they can be sent to Heaven and avoid the whole Purging yearly." She whipped around as she showcased like a ringmaster in a circus, as she charmingly smiled at James, "Which is why I, Charlie Morningstar, have opened this Hotel in the chance to do so."
James though, went wide eye at this, as he looked at Charlie, "Wait. Your last name is Morningstar?"
Charlie shrugged, looking away, smiling in embarrassment, "Yeah, I know. Lucifer's daughter. Everyone gets awestruck or in shock like you do."
But then he freaked out as he asked, "Lucifer's daughter?!"
"Is there an echo in here," Vaggie asked him, "Yes, she's Lucifer's daughter."
"I'm-I'm-I'm sorry, this is a lot to take in," James said as processed all of this, "So much has happened today. I'm James, by the way. James Danyel."
"Danyel? That almost sounds like the archangel," Charlie arched an eyebrow.
"And you're still clinging to your old life, doofus," Vaggie said, "Maybe change it up?"
James thought on it, as he looked at the corner to where the scythe was neatly tucked. He thought on something he remembered back when he was alive, and smirked. He turned to them both and said, "Dante. James Dante."
"The guy from the Divine Comedy? Really," Vaggie asked, arching an eyebrow.
"I like the story," James confessed.
"Well, it's nice to meet you, James Dante," Charlie said with a bright smile as she reached out hand out offering a handshake.
James looked at her hand for a moment before accepting the handshake as well. "Same here," James said while smiling nervously at shaking the hand of the daughter of Lucifer himself, "I'm sorry to bring the mood down, but what are the chances of there being survivors of this purge."
"Not very good unless you find a good hiding place," Charlie answered solemnly, "If this Lydia is lucky, she'll have found some place to hide until this is over."
"And even if she did find a place to hide, she won't last long if she ends up crossing paths with the Overlords of Hell," Vaggie answered, "As long as she's smart enough not to make a deal down here that is."
"Overlords," James asked growing even more concerned, "And when you say 'deals,' as in deals where the price is your soul?"
"Yeah, and trust me, in desperation in times like this, they'll..." Vaggie started but then slouched, as she groaned, "He ran out."
Charlie looked around, and saw the scythe was gone as well, as she panicked, "RED ALERT!" She looked to her cat, "Keekee! Initiate full lock down!"
With that, the cat's eye glowed as the hotel began to shake and glow.
Meanwhile
James rushed down the hallway of the hotel, as he heard a clanging sound. He turned around and saw the doors beginning to lock up and seal tight with steel doors. He knew that they were gonna force lock him out, as he ran harder to bolt to the front door. He managed to find it from a stairway, and slid down the railing, as fast as he could, reaching to the door... until it was beginning to lock down. But he wasn't going to wait until Lydia got killed or sold her soul at this point. He pulled out the scythe, running to it as fast as he can, as it unlocked in blade mode, and slashed the steel doors before they reached down. He then busted through the doors, as he rolled out, as the two ladies saw the scene before they could stop him, as he was running to the city.
Charlie gasped as she panicked, "Oh no! He's gone! Vaggie, he's gone! And he's still recovering, what are we going to do?!"
She grabbed Vaggie, as she shook her, "VAggie, what do we do?!"
"First off, you can stop shaking me, please," Vaggie asked Charlie who stopped.
"Oh... Sorry," Charlie said sheepishly.
"Second, I'm going after him," Vaggie said as she grabbed her spear, "I'll bring him back before he causes any trouble."
"But how? He's determined to find his friend no matter what," Charlie asked the spear-wielding girl headed for the door.
"In his condition, he's not going to get very far. I just have to hurry," Vaggie answered. 'And at the same time, keep him from killing more Exorcists,' Vaggie thought to herself, 'If the Overlords see him do that, it will be chaos!'
Vaggie could only imagine how far the Overlords of Hell would go to capture James and use him as a weapon to fight the Exorcists. Not only would it lead to Heaven sending more Exorcists into Hell, but it would destroy Charlie's dream for sure and Charlie along with it.
Next Chapter: The Three Stoog-ateers and the Maiden
Also on a sidenote, I intend for Charlie and Vaggie to fall for James, along with Lydia, so the two haven't started dating it. But they do at times show signs of caring for one another. They just now show interest in James. Enjoy the next update.