Part 31

Walking into the reception area of the Vees tower, Alastor approached the woman behind the desk, who could not back up any further. Her chair bumped into the wall, and his long shadow was cast on her. His smile grew, relishing in her expression. "Do you know who I am?"

The woman was stiff, pale, and motionless except for the tears that began trailing down her face. She nodded vigorously. Her throat was closed, and she tried to form the words, nodding, swallowing hard, and trembling under the gaze. "Then you know what I am capable of. Call Vox; tell him I wish to speak with him. No hostility, no games, just a simple chat between overlords, gentlemen." He smiled more comprehensively, "Please."

"Y-yes, sir...!" The woman scrambled to dial a number from the keyboard, shaking badly as the overlord grinned at her before stepping away and sitting in one of the chairs against the wall. "This room could use an update. Maybe a few paintings, fresh floor."

The girl fumbled a few more buttons and looked up, eyes wet with panic as she lifted the phone, waiting for it to connect. After a moment, she cleared her throat, her voice shaking. "Hello, s-sir. Um...the...Radio Demon is...h-here to...see you." She took a shaky breath and wiped her tears as the line went silent. "H-he says he wishes to speak with you." There was an intake of air. She wasn't prepared for whatever was said to her, so she quickly covered the phone with her free hand and turned towards the man in the red suit who waved at her a little with his claws.

She nodded and turned back to the phone. "Y-y-yes...of course, sir. R-right away, sir." She reached up and pressed the button. Her hands trembled as she tried to lower the phone. She missed hanging it up once, but her second attempt worked. "He...is ready for you, sir..."

"Well, of course, he is." He walked to the elevators, stopped, turned, and looked at her. The poor girl looked at him like prey would stare at a predator, shaking and uncertain. "My thanks, my dear, for your hasty assistance. Good help is hard to find nowadays, wouldn't you agree?" He stepped into the open elevator.

As the elevator dinged, its assent complete, the doors parted, and the Overlord emerged onto the top floor and stepped out into an elegantly decorated lounge area. Plush red velvet seats, marble walls, tall ceilings with crystal chandeliers, and a large mosaic floor that was polished to shine. Alastor sneered at it a little, but his smile remained bright as he stepped from the elevator and his shoes clacked against the tile, his hands folded behind his back, servants staying against the walls and out of his way.

Handsome, sure, tall and broad and lithe as well, Alastor had to give Vox that, even if he wanted to melt him down into something useful. Vox was looking over some paperwork at a table; his screen reflected a pair of beautiful red eyes and a smile as wide as his rival's when Alastor knocked on the door to the office.

He didn't wait to be granted permission, merely turning the handle and pushing through, leaning in as he did, his grin still spreading wide. He had nothing to fear, and he certainly wasn't looking for trouble; he merely wanted a friendly little chat with the Television demon. "Oh, Vox~"

It wasn't hard to get a reaction from the Television demon, and Vox smiled, putting down the pen, stacking his papers, and moving them to his right side. "You certainly have a lot of fucking nerve walking in here like this, you know. Welcome back, Ladies and gentlemen, to tonight's program. I'm sitting here with the famed Has-been Radio Demon Alastor, who just had to make an appearance tonight. Warm welcomes all around." His voice was dripping with sarcasm, but an audience clapping echoed through the room as if they were in front of a live studio audience."

The Radio Demon sneered a little. The warmth left his face, his expression freezing in place; a smile to rival any Vox could conjure spread across his thin lips. "Your program ratings must be increasing if you can get that many to watch," he approached Vox's desk, "can't imagine how often you must cut to commercials just to appease your owners."

"Fuck you too, asshole."

The red and black TV snarled and watched as Alastor pulled back a chair at his table and casually sat down at the end, taking out a small handkerchief to dust the seat off before he dared let his coat come into contact with any furniture Vox deemed acceptable. "Charming establishment you've got here, Vox, old boy. I was commenting on the state of your reception area as I made my way up. At the very least, get a new carpet." He rested his elbows on the wood and clasped his fingers together.

The chant that echoed was catty with many an 'oooOOOOooo...', and Vox snapped a finger, which seemed to silence the audience. It didn't faze the demon, "this is a little above your station. What are you doing here?"

"I know." Alastor clasped his fingers together, placing them under his chin as his eyes were on his screen. "A shame, but one I needed to take. But if it helps, I'd prefer this stay off the record. I don't want to be here any more than you do. But whether by fate, mistakes, karma, or bad luck, here I am. So for now, I would consider it a favor from you to me to have a conversation and pretend we like one another for just a few minutes."

Vox eyed him. "Fuck are you doing here? Why have you shown your ugly mug?" His grin fell, and he leaned back, arms crossed, as he adjusted and looked at the red-suited man.

There was a pause, the static humming a steady buzz that slowly rose until Alastor finally spoke, his hands lifting in a shrug, "I come, my dear Vox, with an opportunity. The winds of change are upon us, my flat-faced friend. There is violence in the streets, and a silly little spider has cuddled up to a stupid little lizard in hopes of killing a friend of yours." He leaned forward in his seat, "Tell me, have you dealt with good Valentino as of late? He seems a little on edge, doesn't he? Ha-ha!"

Vox felt his irritation spike and clenched his fist. "You have five minutes." He slammed his fist into the desk. "Start talking." He pressed a few buttons on a keypad, and the walls around them flashed with screens. A timer was running on them, and the timer seemed to run faster than it should have been. Alastor guessed he had three. "Heard anything about a lizard from the ole' bug, Vox?"

"Heard all about it. The little shit tried to stick, Val. Heard Val stuck the boy instead." He let out a laugh, his voice distorted through his screen. Alastor's claws gripped his staff a little tighter, "quite. Anyhow! Valentino let the boy go, believing him not to be a threat. It turns out that isn't the case, and there has been word that he will return for him." He scratched his head, "which I believe will be your problem and not my own, ha-ha. Now...what...what did he say again? Oh darn. I completely forgot." He lifted his staff, and with a twist of his wrist, Alex's voice boomed from the red of it, "I'M GOING TO KILL THAT MONSTER!"

Alastor watched the television over the top of his knuckles as the screen flickered with blue light. The body in front of him began to lean back a little. Two of the screens on the walls blew out, glass flying out and tinkering across Vox's desk and floor.

The radio demon laughed a little louder and leaned back a bit. "Sorry about that, my fine fellow. Add it to my bill."

"-Where do ya start-" Vox's laugh was choked, the gears in his head moving. "This isn't the talking part, Vox; this is the listening part. As a man who prides himself on," Alastor cleared his throat and made quotations in the air, "'entertainment', tell me, how believable was that little scream of his? Do you believe in what he said?"

"Of course, he won't make it close; he doesn't stand a chance. His voice doesn't scare me, neither does he. If he shows up on my turf, we can take him."

"And what if, hypothetically, he was to have Angelic weaponry at his disposal?" Vox stiffened, and Alastor put a finger in the air as if the point was his. "Didn't Valentino say something along those lines?" Vox went utterly still, and the overlord tapped the wood, starting the audience's laugh track. Alastor joined in.

"Of course, he didn't. And why would he? Why feel the need to worry his allies of a threat against their immortal souls?" he chuckled as the audience began to calm down. "This is the part in the script, Vox, that you ask me what I had in mind..."

"Yeah?"

"Why, this, my friend, is an olive branch. A simple alliance, or perhaps a beneficial partnership, because what better way to stick it to that peacocking moth than to ally ourselves to his greatest enemy." Alastor leaned back in his seat. "Let's say, for the sake of argument, you would want something done about Valentino, but you don't want to do anything? Then...don't."

Again, the demon turned away from the overlord, speaking to the wall as if he wasn't even there. "If I was a man who had to deal with the childish and frankly embarrassing antics of a fellow Overlord who cost me time, money...a new screen perhaps...?" He side-eyed Vox before looking at the wall, "why I would simply allow a holy weapon wielding lizard with a grudge to walk past me and deal with such an impudent child. Good idea, Alastor. You certainly are smart and funny." He returned his chair to Vox, "Why, Vox, I didn't see you there..."

Vox sighed, rubbing his head, unsure what to say.

"How many temper tantrums, Vox? How many childish fits involving a stupid little spider? How...many...screens of yours has he broken for fun?" Vox was quiet.

"Wouldn't that, my dearest colleague, just make so much sense?"

Alastor's expression didn't waver, not as Vox looked away as the laughter stopped playing, the timer's hand ticking forward rapidly. Vox's one sizeable red eye blinked, and the timer moved to a crawl. "I'm listening. What did you have in mind? And what's in it for you?"

Leaning back in his seat, Alastor put a hand to his chest, "Why Vox, you wound me. Have I ever come across as a man with ulterior motives?" Alastor kept his smirk as the TV turned back to him. He clasped his hands and folded them under his chin.

He knew he had struck a nerve when the screens in the room lit up. "All I am saying is to give the boy his chance. There will come a time soon when he walks through those doors in the lobby, and there will be all sorts of colorful creatures there to stop him. If he even kills ten, you need to replace and train ten. Think of the damage to your business. To the Vees. Even if he fails."

There was a moment's hesitation, and then the Television demon took his finger, pushing down on the keypad. All the screens in the room shut down, his mouth set into a line. His single red eye fixed Alastor with an almost predatory look. Alastor just kept smiling, "If he fails, then he fails. Everything moves on exactly as before I even walked into this building. But!"

"But-?"

"If he succeeds and Valentino ends up gone from the Vees'...think of all those viewers who would have lost a medium and are now desperate to fill the space previously occupied. Think of the empire he would leave behind, the foundation already set." He waved a hand dismissively, "Then after all the fanfare is done, you can keep it all. That power, the foundation he has laid, the viewers."

His lip curled slightly. "And all you had to do...was look the other way."

"And if this backfires on me?"

Alastor wagged a finger at Vox, chuckling softly. "Who is to say you were involved?"

He saw the television's screen crack a bit, his glowing eye narrowing. "Keep this a secret." Alastor stood from his seat, turning his back on Vox as he began to leave. "Keep what a secret? I didn't even leave the Hotel today." He turned towards him, and the Overlord continued walking backward, bowing his head a little. "Vox."

His red coat flowed out behind him, his arms out. He leaned forward, grinning with bright and gleaming fangs and wild eyes. "Pleasure to talk business with you. Hahaha! Hahaha!"

Vox was left sitting in his office, brushing small handfuls of glass off his table onto the floor and reflecting on the Radio demon's words.