Charlie's eyes wandered the halls as Alastor led herself and Vaggie through them.

Admittedly, watching the deer casually make his way through the halls, humming despite his arm having halfway regenerated and the pain more than likely having returned.

Perhaps Alastor was more used to pain than the Princess originally believed.

Nonetheless, arriving to him standing in the room without a care in the world had both startled and concerned Charlie, and at first, she'd refused to let him leave until he healed.

But both he and Vaggie insisted that they go to the roof. Apparently, the angel was curious as to what Alastor had to say.

She didn't like it… but with reassurances from both demon and angel, the hellborn eventually gave in and followed with her girlfriend as the Overlord led them to the roof.

Still… the apparent topic of the upcoming discussion made her a little iffy, to say the least.

"Al, like I told the Wraith, I know what Hell's like."

"No, you don't." He replied as if it were a fact, twisting his head over his shoulder. His red eyes met her gaze for a moment. "You believe you do, but I'm afraid I do agree with the rapscallion on that one."

Considering she'd literally just tossed him back into the city, she refused to comment on that.

Nonetheless, she didn't try to hide her frown, and she was thankful for Vaggie's hand coming to her shoulder as the former Exorcist's brow furrowed.

"Al, Charlie's been in Hell longer than you." An amount of time that wasn't inconsiderable considering the red-dressed cannibal was gradually nearing the end of his first century in the infernal realm. "How could you know Hell better than her?"

"Because she was born to Hell's royalty!" That alone wasn't much of an explanation, if anything it was only hurtful. "Most sinners wouldn't be able to put on a musical in the streets without something happening."

"But I'm not a sinner."

"Yet you wish to redeem them, yes?" Alastor asked, turning his red-eyed gaze to her as he came to a stop next to the roof's entrance. "I'm still interested in seeing them fail… but I still find myself curious how your project could be successful if you don't know what you're trying to fix?"

"It shouldn't be too hard to figure out what to fix." Vaggie pointed out, her hand sliding away from the Princess's shoulder as she crossed her arms. "Most sinners' issues are right there for everyone to see."

"Hardly." A small snort of amusement actually escaped the deer at that. Despite a missing arm, the unsettling dread of his smile returned. "Tell me, do you truly believe Angel's substance abuse even breaks the ice, so to speak?"

Neither woman had an answer to that.

Alastor took that for an answer.

"That's what I thought." He said as he turned and opened the door, before holding it open as he glanced back at the two. "Ladies first."

Charlie chose to ignore how genuinely frightening that sounded coming from Alastor's lips. Considering the egomaniac's obsession with manners of all things, it really shouldn't have been.

But… it was also Alastor. Friend or foe, the guy was creepy.

Nonetheless, the royal's nerves were calmed when she felt a reassuring hand on her back, and her gaze met Vaggie's eye as the angel offered a smile.

"Once we get it out of the way, we can unwind."

Charlie returned the smile with one of her own.

They stepped out onto the roof, and admittedly, the Princess frowned when she came face to face with the sight of the city once again.

The Wraith's words continued to ring in the back of her mind.

The Princess hated to admit that he'd made her seriously rethink a few things she'd done in the past.

When she'd sang through the streets of hell, the very same song the monster had thrown in her face… was everything he'd talked about happening while she was ignorant?

Charlie really didn't want to have to take any advice from the Wraith of all people… but if Alastor agreed with him on the subject despite their altercation earlier…

The Princess hated to think his words actually had substance behind them.

Luckily, Alastor threw her out of her thoughts.

"Tell me, Charlie, how did your talk with our brutish enemy go?" He asked as he stepped past her, the royal's own red orbs following the back of his head as he stopped next to the guard rail.

After a few moments… she stepped forward.

"Vaggie's not restricted to the Hotel anymore." She shot a small, comforting smile to the angel when she said it, and a thankful look returned it.

"But he still refused to relinquish her soul, correct?"

…

"... yeah."

"My dear, you can't expect simple kindness and generosity to start a change in someone." Alastor informed her with a small, amused smile as he circled her, coming to stand on the other side of her as Vaggie opted to take his former spot.

"But cruelty would just be the same cycle of violence."

"No one said anything about cruelty!" He tried to sound offended, but the playful smirk betrayed his true feelings. "At least, I didn't anyway. But as I told Miss Vaggie, the encounter at the Hotel's entrance is not the first time, nor will it be the last that I am dismembered."

"Well, I wouldn't say that…" Charlie mumbled as her gaze instead favored the city.

"That merely proves my point, Charlie." Alastor retorted as he glanced down at the ground over the railing, and he chuckled. "Well, at least repairs are finished."

When the Overlord let those words slip free, Charlie shared a wide-eyed look of pure disbelief with Vaggie, before both women leaned over the railing to see for themselves.

The carnage the Wraith had left was now a memory, as spotless dirt greeted her vision. The doors had been repaired in the time since she'd walked inside, and the Princess didn't have a single clue as to who was responsible for it.

However, if she had to guess, either her father had fixed it before he left or Alastor had men working on it while everyone else was occupied.

Somehow.

"He invited us to Community City." Charlie revealed as she stood back upright, a sigh escaping her as she looked between the demon and angel accompanying her.

Both Vaggie and Alastor went wide-eyed, and the hotel guardian turned to the Princess with a raised eyebrow.

"You're not thinking of going… are you?"

"I want to see if what everyone said about him is true," Charlie admitted, offering an apologetic smile. "I'm not trying to write off everything he did to you, there's a reason I threw him back into the city instead of letting him walk away."

The gleeful grin she got from the usually composed woman made Charlie's heart swell.

"But… I don't think everything we've been told about him lately is bullshit."

"Do you truly believe this… Wraith, as he's called, is a genuine soul as Angel makes him out to be?"

"Well, for better or worse, he doesn't lie." At least, Charlie didn't think so. Despite how much she hated him, she'd hadn't a single interaction with the behemoth where he spoke a single falsehood so far.

Well, false facts anyway. Opinions were an entirely different story.

"Did he say anything else?"

"I can't go into the actual factory unless I can ignore his screaming victims." Charlie frowned as she recounted that part and the one-eyed woman sighed as the deer to her right let a hum of acknowledgment escape him.

"And for the time being, it's best I stay away from his domain."

"Well, Pentious is the only one here with access to the factory."

That did cause both of them to turn to her with looks of pure bafflement.

"Pentious?"

"That forgetful worm?"

Charlie could share in their confusion. She hadn't thought about it at the moment… but now, without any frustrations truly clouding her mind, she too questioned why a bumbling goofball like Sir Pentious had access to the Slaughter Factory.

Nonetheless, Charlie nodded her head in confirmation.

"He said that the chance of seeing that for ourselves depends on if Pentious is even willing." The hellborn elaborated further as an exhausted sigh escaped her. "I don't know what to do. I can't just show up to his home and demand whatever I want."

She didn't miss the way Alastor and Vaggie glanced at each other with raised eyebrows.

"My dear?"

"You're the Princess."

That sounded oddly similar, at least in tone, to what Charlie had tried to tell the Wraith earlier. Well, without the anger, anyway.

Still, that didn't soothe the Princess' nerves.

"I told him the same thing. He doesn't care."

She figured that one out after the first visit. And, unlike other sinners, he remained the only one who had been willing to put his hands on her.

Even if had just been to push her or tap her shoulder.

"He told me I wasn't to set a single foot inside the factory if I couldn't restrain myself." She recalled his exact words as her eyes met that of her current company. "I think what gets me is that… well, I don't think he was bluffing."

"Charlie, do you really think he could beat you?"

In a heartbeat. It wouldn't even be a fight, even Charlie herself would struggle until she fell under the Wraith's admittedly formidable strength.

At this point, the best Charlie could manage was just tossing him somewhere and hoping she could get away before he returned because that was the extent of what she could do. Because with the control she had, it was either that…

Or obliterate the entire Ring trying to attack one guy.

At minimum.

That wasn't an option for Charlie.

She didn't want to share the truth right now, least of all with Alastor. It was still the Radio Demon, and despite missing an arm, he was clearly no worse for wear.

"I don't know." She left it open-ended so she didn't have to lie, but even though neither the angel nor the sinner addressed it, it was clear they already knew her answer.

Vaggie's face fell slightly, and Alastor turned back out to the city without a word.

Nonetheless, the former Exorcist offered her partner a small smile as she brought a reassuring hand to her back.

Charlie's own fingers came to hang upon her gray wrist, offering a thankful smile of her own as she met the other woman's gaze.

"We'll figure it out."

"My advice would be to steer clear of this… factory, for now." Alastor piped up, returning once again to his usual demeanor without missing a beat as he turned his red eyes to Charlie. "You're curious? Satisfy that curiosity, for now, and focus on other matters later."

Well, that sounded like something Alastor would do, but it wasn't bad advice for the current situation.

"If the city is what Pentious said, I doubt we have too much to worry about, even with the Wraith overhead." Vaggie didn't sound eager, not in the slightest. But it was a sensible conclusion, she supposed.

Charlie never thought she'd see the day Vaggie and Alastor found themselves in agreement on something.

"So, in short, he's invited you to his city and refused to relinquish a soul he didn't earn." Alastor summarized what he found to be the most important aspect of their conversation.

His smile grew wider.

"Clearly, I've been gone too long. Someone needs to teach the brute some manners, after all.

"Yeah, well, it won't be in a straight fight." Vaggie's dry tone showcased her humor as she cracked a small grin at the deer. "You just got slaughtered without a struggle."

"As I said, there's more ways to suffer than just pain." He even wiggled his stump just to prove his point. "And when I'm done, he'll wish for death again."

Charlie offered a small smile, but like Vaggie, she honestly thought Alastor might be a little too overeager. The Radio Demon had been back for only a little while, and he'd already gotten himself thoroughly hurt trying to provoke the Wraith.

Even assuming both sinners were correct about the royal's viewpoint, that didn't make Charlie ignorant. The Wraith had earned his reputation.

Despite how elusive the man himself seemed to be, the monster had climbed his way to power with an active motivation, and every Ring knew who the sinner was.

To this day, he remained the only sinner to ever travel between the Rings.

It wasn't his elusiveness that made him so dangerous… it was the Wraith's willingness to engage in battle. He wasn't like Alastor or any of the other Overlords, who saw direct combat as an annoyance or something to be avoided.

The gray-skinned beast relished in a fight, as he'd demonstrated quite clearly earlier.

When you were an audience to his work, his laughter could overshadow the screams of the damned.

Nonetheless, neither the angel nor the Princess opted to question the deer's words. If he got himself hurt again after what had just happened, Charlie didn't know what to tell him. Especially since he hadn't screamed once, and the hellborn knew the numbing agent had long since worn off.

It was still hard for both women to realize this was the same man who'd lost all his composure when he got the injury.

"But, I brought you up here for a reason, and it's my turn to fulfill my end of the bargain." He had a cheeky grin on his face as he glanced at them, before turning his gaze out to the city. "Tell me, Charlie, how bad do you think it gets in Hell?"

Charlie wasn't looking for another lecture on how bad her home is, but if Alastor was doing this to return a favor…

Well, it was Alastor. Favors and Overlords went together about as well as water and oil.

The Princess could at least indulge him for the moment.

The Wraith's words rang through her head.

"Hundreds of different murders happening at once…"

To any other demon, the angry mutterings coming from nine feet off the ground would make anyone think twice.

To John, it was the only reason he hadn't gone back to the Hotel and flattened it just to be petty.

Well… that, and the fact that Angel and Pentious were permanent residents there.

In hindsight, tearing the red bastard's arm off in front of those two may not have been the best idea. At the time, the behemoth simply hadn't given a shit, as it wasn't like neither of them had ever seen violence.

Especially considering he'd literally just torn through around… well, if John had to guess, he'd say somewhere around forty guys?

There had been a lot of people outside that place.

His mutterings went silent as he habitually rotated his neck, a sigh of relief escaping him when a visceral pop echoed through the halls.

At this point, everyone who regularly worked in the building didn't even acknowledge the echo itself.

He'd hid it well because he wanted to try and get through to Charlie before she got someone hurt. But the looks of fear that Angel and Pentious gave him had hurt far more than he'd expected, and he expected that look anyway.

He slaughtered a bunch of guys in broad daylight and proceeded to rip their sponsor's arm off for something none of them knew about.

If Angel had still looked at him with lust in his eyes after that, John wasn't sure if he'd be relieved or disappointed.

He was careless, not stupid.

Still, when he ran the entire series of events through his mind, he felt no regret for any of his actions. There wasn't a single one he'd made without all the variables taken into account.

Decisions like that came to John like the back of his head. Admittedly, his minimum patience with the princess wasn't entirely of her own fault, as the behemoth had been raised from a young age to value common sense above all else.

He wouldn't say it was at the top of the list, but it was high enough to mean something.

The deceased Juggernaut still didn't deal with stupidity very well.

Still, he wasn't as irritated at that as he was about another development.

As much as it had sucked to get flung twenty miles into the city, it had at least assured John that the Princess wasn't as defenseless as he'd believed. And begrudgingly, he admired her courage too.

For the first time in four years, John had met someone who didn't look at him with terror hidden somewhere inside them. If he was wrong, he still credited the Princess for making it invisible to the sinner's own senses.

That hadn't made it any better when he'd had to strip himself of his intestines.

When he bounced on the second roof, a piece of rebar stuck in the ground caught his stomach and tore it out. And since his organs didn't want to stay inside long enough for his healing to kick in…

Well, it hurt like hell, but what he'd ripped into a larger opening had closed far more considerably, and it had stopped bleeding since.

Now, the only evidence the injury even happened was the bloodstain on his shirt.

Hell, the behemoth was carrying his own organs in his hand, and they didn't even turn a blind eye. Most demons he passed in the halls probably thought the entrails belonged to another of his unfortunate victims.

Few things had pierced the behemoth's skin since he'd died, least of all anything made in Hell. To be quite frank, it wasn't even a question that it was the fact Charlie had thrown him that he even had the injury in the first place.

Still, it wasn't like he couldn't walk it off.

Pain was an old friend, and the behemoth had stood up straight and spoken loud and clear plenty of times in the past with a hole in his stomach.

Agony had surged through his very nerves when his own hand had viciously ripped his organs free.

All anyone else saw was a grunt.

The biometric scanners Vox had been nice enough to install immediately recognized his massive bulk as he approached the door to his home, and the door slid open as the behemoth turned to step inside…

Only to pause in surprise.

A surprisingly fluffy and equally massive tail waved against his ceiling as one of the best asses he'd ever seen stared back at him, a puffy pink pussy exposed out in the open as the equally massive form of a certain lizard raised up out of the fridge she'd been rooting through.

A familiar pink and purple snout curled up into a smile as the green-haired Overlord turned to the behemoth, shutting the fridge as she retrieved a drink and allowing John a very generous view of her naked body.

"I was wondering when you'd get back." Zeezi commented with a chuckle as her hips swayed with every step, striding past the still slack-jawed behemoth and taking a seat on the couch.

Her eyes flicked over to the gore sitting in John's hand.

"Who'd you get that from?" The Overlord asked, pointing a finger towards the organs and jolting the black-haired man out of his stupor as his eyes shot to his hand.

"Oh, uh…" He took a moment to regain his bearings.

A chuckle of amusement escaped him as his hand dropped back to his side while the other raised his shirt.

"Me."

He answered with a small grin as Zeezi's eyes widened at the still-healing wound that was at least a foot in diameter.

"Holy shit!" The lizard was right back up off the couch with an awed grin, as the site of John with any sort of wound was a rare one for a reason. "Who managed that?"

"The Princess." The Overlord answered with a chuckle, allowing his shirt to drop back down as he turned away from her and made his way to the kitchen he'd just vacated.

He had two garbage shoots, for two separate purposes. After the first time an angel had managed to drive a blade into his gut, he'd had the second one built solely for disposing of his own remains.

The flames weren't hot enough to hurt the chunks of skin, those would have to rot away. But anyone who tried getting in would explode into itty pieces at best and experience the lengthy process of cremation at worst.

So, hey, another backside covered.

"So I take it you aren't in the mood?" Zeezi asked, her tail falling slightly despite her grin as she gave a faux look of disappointment.

John chuckled, but shook his head in response.

"When this heels up, I'll fuck you all damn night." He offered, enjoying the gasp that escaped the lizard's lips when he offered a quick smack to her bare rear as he walked by. "But I don't think people really want to listen when I say this shit hurts like a bitch."

"You walk around cracking jokes like you're fine." Zeezi pointed out, her expression shifting to an amused grin of her own as she tailed the behemoth. "Can you blame us when we say it's hard to always believe that?"

"Fair enough." John could see her logic. But easily it came to him, simply being able to shrug off injuries.

He'd been doing it since he was fifteen, and death certainly hadn't stopped that habit.

"So… how'd you get the Lucifer's daughter to do this to you?" The Overlord asked as the behemoth turned around, popping the lid off the drink and tossing it into the trash can on the other side of the room. "The bitch couldn't hurt a housefly."

"I took her girlfriend's soul." John answered bluntly, his smile widening when he saw the way Zeezi's face went to an absolutely baffled expression.

He strolled past, freeing himself of another soiled shirt and tossing it on the ground as he made his way toward his couch.

His company remained rooted to her spot, her eyes wide as she processed the behemoth's words, before turning to him, her brow furrowed in confusion.

"Okay, spill, because you don't take souls." The lizard's feet thumped as loudly as John's did, her brow furrowing as she turned and walked over to the couch to join him.

As she took a seat, John let a chuckle escape him.

"Well, her girlfriend just so happens to be an Exorcist, so she doesn't get the same considerations others do."

The response caused Zeezi to bark out a laugh, guffawing up into the air at his response.

"Wo-ho-how…" She chuckled past her lips, before relaxing into the couch as she turned to John. "The hell is a fucking Exorcist doing down here?"

"Damned if I know." His own sizable shoulders shrugged in nonchalance.

That didn't matter anyway. He wasn't interested in her story.

"I could give two shits about that. If an Exorcist is running around in Hell, I'm gonna have a leash on her till I know I can trust her."

"Fair enough." Zeezi mirrored his own words with a small shake of her head, her predominantly green hair swaying every time she moved as she offered him a small grin. "If I were in your shoes, I'd have killed the pompous slut already."

"The fact the Princess trusts her is the only reason I haven't." The Wraith admittedly bluntly, turning his gaze out into an unusually empty stare as he sighed. "Besides, I put the fear of god in her. She ain't gonna be causing any trouble."

"Well, better not cause any trouble with Lucifer, I suppose." Zeezi offered a knowing grin as John let a chuckle escape him.

"Seriously?" He asked, turning back to the lizard with one side of his mouth tugged up. "I can handle that tiny dipshit, the bastard hasn't been in fighting shape for centuries, at least."

"Yeah, yeah." Zeezi waved his words off nonchalantly, shooting him a playful grin. "I'm just giving you shit."

"Duh." He shot back with a small grin as he leaned forward, reaching a hand toward his stash cabinet. "You want some?" He asked as he pulled it open.

"Not if it's just a little joint!" Zeezi didn't even try to sound outraged, giggling gleefully as she shook her head at her friend. "I need just as much as you do, so don't be stingy."

"Woman," His head actually snapped up with the word. "The fuck do you think a joint is?"

His comedic timing paid off, a small grin slipping out as the lizard struggled to contain her laughter.

A few small baritone chuckles of his own escaped his throat as he retrieved a baggie filled with sizable blunts and tossed it on the table.

"Here," He freely offered the fellow Overlord the entirety of one for herself, and the behemoth allowed Zeezi to guide lit finger as he put another in his own mouth and lit it.

The stench of marijuana filled John's nose. And in turn, heavily dulled it.

A satisfied sigh from next to him was accompanied by a plume of smoke mixing with his own.

"You know Vanessa thinks I'm the ultimate hotboxing?" John couldn't help but note when he saw it, earning a strangled cough from the lizard that immediately turned into a laugh.

"I'd love to see how she'd react to both of us, then."

"Girl can't stop staring at your tits, Zee," John replied with a chuckle as he turned his gaze back to the woman and found his own eyes falling on her sizable bust. "Not that I have any room to talk…"

"Nope, you lost fuck privileges for the next hour." Zeezi teased, offering a teasing shake of her beasts as John's eyes watched them wiggle. "So keep a few loads saved up, okay?"

"With pleasure." John offered a small grin of his own before taking an inhale of a blunt, chuckling as he breathed it all out. "Just don't be mad when I mess up your hair. I want that ass too."

The lizard let a small chuckle escape her as she took another inhale of her own, obscuring the entire penthouse in a smokey haze when she exhaled.

Her green, reptilian eyes flicked to the behemoth.

"You can have that first."

That caused John to perk up.

He suddenly wished the regen process was faster, regardless of whether it was the usual sinner's or his own personal healing.

On the bright side, he'd definitely be more than sensitive to it when the time came around for sex.

"Hey, wanna invite Vel?" Zeezi suddenly proposed, catching the behemoth by surprise as he turned to the lizard with a wide-eyed stare. "What? She knows how to eat my pussy, and I like a girl's touch every now and then."

"Call her up if you want." John was fine either way. If Velvette joined, the more the merrier, he liked the woman. If not, he and Zeezi were going to annihilate the penthouse on their own anyway.

The Overlord grinned, before standing to her feet and making her way towards John's room.

She made sure to leave her tail elevated, and the behemoth didn't miss the smirk she offered over her shoulder as her hips swayed.

He gladly admired the view of her plump rear up until she disappeared into the bedroom.

When he'd met Zeezi, John had never imagined that they'd be as close as they were now. Hell, now he trusted the lizard to watch his own child should the need arise.

It hadn't been anything notable in the slightest. The two of them had decided to spend a night partying at a club without any idea the other was there.

If they were being technical, neither even remembered meeting the other until they woke up in the behemoth's bed the next morning.

Zeezi's specialty as an Overlord was… unusual, to say the least. Every Overlord had their preference, something they specialized in. For example, Vox had his tech, Carmilla was a weapons dealer, Valvette was a social media sensation… hell, Val had porn and John himself had his museums.

But Zeezi didn't have some kind of massive monument or home. The lizard preferred to let her actions speak for themselves, she didn't need something to really keep a stranglehold on her.

And like John, she didn't attack unless provoked.

Like John, she reveled in the bloodshed.

But her own wants and needs were surprisingly docile. Give the rocker some loud music and a good time, she was as happy as a clam.

Of course, she was a freak in the sheets, and the behemoth simply couldn't get enough of the lizard. She was more his size, his hands didn't run the chance of covering half her body, and he got actual handfuls of ass and tits rather than a pinch.

Still, that didn't mean any of the others meant any less. They each had their strengths and weaknesses, but in the end, they left the penthouse with smiles on their faces all the same.

Zeezi was no different.

"Hey, Vel!" Zeezi's voice picked back up as she strolled back into the living room, phone to her ear as she spoke to the fellow Overlord. "Yeah, I'm at John's place."

After a moment of silence, the lizard snickered and brought her phone down before she began tapping away at it.

When she flipped the screen around to the face of the Strength Demon, a small smile overtook his face as he spotted the doll on the other side of the screen.

"Hey, Vel."

"Holy shit, she was serious." Both demons laughed at that one. "Anyway, good to see you, Johnny! I don't have anything to do today, so are you still okay if I join you?"

"Sure." The behemoth answered with a shrug, sharing a quick glance with his company before turning back down to Velvette on the phone with a cheeky grin. "Can I get a sneak peek though?"

He wasn't stupid, he knew Velvette was in her own studio. People walking around in the background and the familiar peach-colored walls told him as much.

Didn't mean he could joke around.

Of course, this was Velvette they were talking about.

And she didn't give a shit in her house.

"Of course, anything for you, love!" And without an ounce of shame, the social media Overlord pulled the neckline of her shirt down, freeing each breast one by one before offering the behemoth a show as she bounced them.

"They aren't wrapping around your cock, but at least you like them enough to see them." The pink-haired doll knew exactly what she was doing when she openly squeezed her breast and offered a playful moan.

"Fair enough." John answered with a chuckle as Zeezi took the phone back, and her head nodded in admiration when she caught a glimpse for herself.

"Nice tits, Vel."

"Thanks! See you when I get there!"

Velvette was always down for a good time, especially when it meant a break from the other Vees.

Valentino was no contest, everyone at least had an idea of why Vel didn't want to be around him, but Vox was a mixed bag.

John had known the doll long enough to figure out that she did care for TV demon, but the two still ended up annoying each other enough that there had even been times when the behemoth had allowed Vox to spend the night just for some time away from Velvette.

He didn't like Vox, but when it came down to it, the Overlord was surprisingly trustworthy. If John had to repay that trust by offering a place to sleep on occasion, that was fine by him.

Plus, the demon was a surprisingly good drinking buddy to boot.

That said, he was also one of the biggest narcissists you've ever seen, and John preferred when he didn't have to interact with the voyeur.

"See you in a bit, Vel." Zeezi bid farewell to the doll over the phone, before tossing her phone onto the sofa and sitting her nude butt back down, her tail trailing off to the side of the armrest.

"Well, looks like the rest of my day is spoken for." The blue-eyed demon chuckled as he flicked the orbs towards his companion. "But there are worse ways to spend it."

"You say that like you don't want to be neck-deep in women."

"Right now, all I wanna do is watch Spongebob and let this wound heal." The weed had numbed the pain, but it was still more than palpable to John as he felt the flesh slowly reforming within.

He was unaware of the chuckle that escaped him when the thought of people's faces crossed his mind. If he told people that he'd experienced the agonizing process of regeneration while he was alive, many of them would probably look at him like he'd grown a second head.

"What's so funny?" Zeezi asked as she swiped the remote.

"Wonder what people would think if I told them I had this regen when I was alive," John admitted with a chuckle. The fellow Overlord cackled a laugh of her own, shaking her head at the idea.

"Well, they'd probably be even more scared." The woman pointed out bluntly as she glanced at the behemoth. "It's hard enough to injure you, let alone wind you. Imagine finding out you'd be just as outmatched while you were human."

"I wouldn't go that far." John disagreed with a small shake of his head, leaning back into the couch and enjoying the comfy cushions against his backside. "I still had limits. Hell, I could drown quicker than anyone."

"I get the feeling that isn't a problem anymore." Zeezi grinned and offered the behemoth a playful punch to the arm as he turned back to her with a smile of his own. "Now come on, stop thinking about sad shit and enjoy some fucking Spongebob."

That was probably the best aspect of Zeezi's personality. She didn't mince words, she simply spoke her mind.

It was a coin toss as to whether she was more blunt than the behemoth himself, and that said something.

Still, when it came down to it, Zeezi had his back. She knew how to pull him out of a funk if he found his mind wandering.

He appreciated the lizard for that.

"Mm, while it's on my mind," The Overlord spoke up once more after swallowing a gulp of her lemonade, sitting it back on the table as she turned to John with a small grin. "Did you hear what happened up top?"

"On Earth?" The behemoth asked, raising a questioning brow, and receiving a nod from the lizard.

"Yep," Zeezi answered as she propped her arms up on the back of the couch and crossed her legs. "You'll love this. You know those assassins working for you?"

"What, Immediate Murder Professionals?" Admittedly, not many knew John said the entire reason out loud to be nothing more than an asshole. Blitz really didn't like it when you refused to say the acronym.

Still, the Wraith had to keep the little bastard grounded somehow. The guy's mind seemed to be falling apart at the seams, and John was the only thing really keeping Blitz from ruining what relationships he did have entirely.

"They made some bet with Verosika Mayday."

John froze.

"Say again?"

"Yeah!" Zeezi nodded her head with a small grin. "Nobody really knows what it was, but there's a rumor that some kaiju popped up and I.M.P. killed it."

"I wouldn't be shocked if Millie killed it herself." John's eyes widened and he found himself giving off the thousand-yard stare.

For an absolute sweetheart, Millie was a god of death. Put anything in front of her and give her a time limit, you could be sure the imp would find a way to achieve the death of Lucifer himself in the span of a second.

He may be exaggerating a bit, but still…

"Well, it didn't exactly end too well for Verosika and her sluts." Zeezi explained with a small chuckle. "Last anyone heard, they were still stuck up in the living world. Apparently, they got arrested."

Once again, John froze. He wasn't even watching the TV, he was staring into the abyss with a blank expression on his face as a budding sense of annoyance began to build.

Odds are, that meant Verosika had also gotten Vortex into trouble again.

A heavy sigh of annoyance escaped the behemoth as his facial muscles twitched in frustration, his head snapping from side to side as he mumbled frantically to himself.

"Oh, great, just wonderful, now I gotta go up to Earth myself, thanks Verosika, you wonder why we fucking broke up."

Zeezi blinked.

"Huh?"

"You really shouldn't have told me that, Zeezi." His wound was just gonna have to ache a bit. Depending on how this went, he might end up slaughtering a police station.

Wonderful.

This was why demons and humans shouldn't mix, he'll give Lucifer that one.

He'd just have to hope everyone would be too gobsmacked to argue with him as he strolled into the station and dragged them all back out.

Still, it wasn't like there wouldn't be an easy excuse. He was going to fucking Florida.

A grunt of frustration escaped him regardless as he grabbed a roll of bandages.

"What are the bandages for?"

"Wound's gonna reopen when I go into human form," John muttered with a sigh as he finished as quickly as he started. "And I thought this was a cockblock." He managed to joke, offering the lizard standing at his door with a frown and a small smile. "Sorry, I'll be a little late to the party."

"I didn't think you were gonna go up after her," Zeezi admitted, grimacing as if she'd made a mistake.

John chuckled and raised a reassuring hand even as he grabbed a vastly different set of clothing from his closet.

Anyone on Earth paying attention would recognize the white tee and red flannel combo in no time.

Hopefully, that would work in his favor right now.

Though, on the inside, the behemoth could admit he felt bad. Every appearance he made on Earth always got home somehow.

Regardless of how it played out, Peter and Rachel would be on the hunt for a dead man for the next month while Maddie would once again have a renewed sense of hope slowly deteriorating.

He hated it when he caused them pain. One thing he always managed to be good at, he supposed.

The behemoth shrugged off his thoughts as he quickly adorned the now iconic get-up among the living, before turning to Zeezi

"If it makes you feel better, Verosika has nothing to do with it, don't worry." At least, John wanted to believe that. "It's her bodyguard. He's a friend, and chances are she's gonna have him sucking some guy's dick while he's dating the Sin of Gluttony herself."

Zeezi's eyes widened, and her mouth opened as she nodded her head in understanding.

"Alright, that makes sense…"

He laughed as he turned to leave the bedroom.

"Anyway, you and Vel get warmed up while I'm gone." John did offer the lizard an eager grin as he stopped for a moment next to her. "By then, this hole will be gone, and I love making women cum."

Zeezi offered an eager grin of her own, and her fingers walked their way up his chest as the lizard leaned in closer.

"Just make sure to give Velvette a break when she needs one."

"Well duh." He accepted the teaser of what was to come in the form of her lips upon his own before she pulled away as quickly as she came, and turned around towards his couch.

"Go on, hurry up." Zeezi joked with a grin, once again raising her tail and offering a very generous view of that glorious backside.

John didn't care what anyone said, Zeezi knew what she had and she knew how to use it.

"Yes ma'am." John nodded, before turning with a chuckle and making his exit.

Only to immediately sigh as he found himself feeling like an idiot.

He turned right back around.

The door slid open.

"Forget something?"

"Kinda need to grab an Oz Crystal."

The high was already wearing off.

The wound in his stomach was beginning to burn.

Dammit.