Part 13

The loud rumbling of the table being dragged across the floor of the main hall drowned out the noises of Husker shaking up a drink for himself as Alex really put his back into it. Vaggie moved the couch out of the way while Alex moved the chairs. They moved the side tables, and then when the space was cleared, Vaggie stood across from Alex, spear in hand.

"Listen to me, Alex, I'm not going to go easy on you or hold your hand. This is hell. The very fact you made it to the door of this Hotel without a scratch on you is a miracle in itself. But there will be no coddling. You're going to get hurt. Come to terms with that."

Alex blinked. He knew there was little hope in beating someone like Vaggie, and a thousand other people in the city, but at least he was starting now. Who knew what the hell would happen?

"That being said, as squishy as you are, you have an advantage; however the hell you got those wrappings." Alex removed his vest and rolled up the sleeves on his shirt before removing his gloves and tossing them both aside.

Charlie, Husker, Nifty, and even Alastor sat and stood around the bar, watching the two. Husker pulled the cork on a bottle and took a drink from it. "Ten says she puts him to the ground in less than ten seconds." Alastor, Nifty and Charlie all seemed to respond in unison, "Twenty."

"And how can I put them to work?" Alex asked.

"In combat you mean? You are fighting something that has seen and experienced more things that the majority of humanity ever has. You're fighting an overlord of hell. Valentino is not to be underestimated." She glanced to Alastor, "none of them are."

Alastor chuckled and waved his fingers at her, the room seeming to shudder. He seemed…overjoyed, with Alex's arrival. And Alex did not feel comfortable around him. At all.

"Now, if I'm right, and I usually am, those wrappings will be an advantage but they are meant for defense, not assault. So it's your responsibility to defend and not lash out." Vaggie moved so quickly he had barely seen her move at all and she struck him in the chest with a kick and knocked him to the ground. Husker couldn't help but laugh.

Charlie called out from the bar, "But don't rely on defense forever."

Alex groaned as he was suddenly prodded with the butt of her spear as it pushed against his chest, "he's going to be faster. Get up."

Alex blinked a few times, groaning as he slowly raised his wrist, looking at the bands. "I don't know what makes them go. They just seem to work when they feel like it." The wrappings began to glow with soft white light and began to shimmer with a gold and silver color, "see? I didn't do anything." Alastor felt his eye twitch.

Alex got off the floor and tried again, Vaggie returning to position. Again, in a blink, she was on top of him and he brought his arms up to defend himself like a boxer. The spear panged loudly off them like steel on steel, an arch of sparks and light igniting but she threw her knee into his chest and again he was knocked to the ground.

Alex groaned and covered his eyes. "What the fuck!?" Vaggie picked him off the floor and shoved him into the wall, "Not holding hands. Haven't you ever been in a fight before?"

Alex rubbed his chest, "took two summers of karate." Vaggie made a 'that's so stupid' face and grunted, "That's all?"

Alex growled, "You gonna' talk shit all day? Or fight?"

Vaggie did a spin, swinging her spear wide and, although Alex blocked the attack with his forearm, a second round came swinging in and hit him in the ribs. He dropped to his knees. "Ah...fuck!" He coughed. She'd knocked the wind right out of him.

"I'm not holding back!" She swung again, not to hit him but to distract him with her spear, sweeping her leg up underneath and flipping him backward. Both worked and he landed on his back, coughing.

He shook his head and began to crawl towards her, making her eyes widen. She lashed her spear out towards his shoulder, the tip cracking his scales a little and drawing a little bit of blood, "you don't stand a chance."

Alastor chuckled a little and stood up from his stool at the bar. "As much fun as it is to watch the little boy with absolutely no experience go up against an expertly trained demon killer like you, my dear, if I may? As an overlord myself, perhaps I can offer some assistance?"

Vaggie was a little taken aback. "You? Why the hell would you want to help?"

Alastor hooked his cane under his arm and crossed his fingers, cracking his knuckles. "Because regardless of my status, Valentino is still competition. And all is fair in love and war, as the old proverb goes." He smiled.

Alex lifted himself from the ground again, clenching his fists. "Well, come the fuck on then. The longer you drag this out the more I want to put it the fuck to sleep." He was angry. Alastor swapped places with Vaggie, standing in front of Alex, hands folded behind his back. "I'll give you...eight percent." For a moment, the face of the Radio demon distorted and the wooden floor beneath Alex broke open, a large and sharp black tentacle lashing out at him. Alex screamed and crossed both his arms in front of his face to defend himself.

When nothing happened he lowered his arms and opened his eyes, staring at the bandage wrapped tightly around the end of the tentacle which prevented it from striking him. Alastor smiled and began to laugh. "Splendid. Watch out for the second one though."

Another tentacle broke from the floor and wrapped around his left ankle and he was pulled backward to the ground. "AH! You said...eight fucking percent!" It began dragging him.

"I did. This is still eight percent, my boy." One of the tentacles struck him in the stomach, "actually it's six but who's counting? Ha-ha!"

Alex tried to pull his way free, struggling and kicking, scratching and screaming. But no matter what he did the bindings refused to move. And the tentacle strikes from Alastor kept getting him in places like his shoulder, or his back. "This can stop whenever you're ready to defend yourself, Alex. Tisk tisk." The tentacle around his ankle lifted him up into the air, dangling him upside down.

Alex panted as he was whipped, flailing like he was swimming. This wasn't really a fight. What the hell was this? Alastor still stood on the ground, his hands folded behind his back, looking up at Alex.

"Alastor, that's enough!" Charlie stood up from her seat. "Let him down."

Alastor kept his eyes on Alex. "I don't know, boy. Charlie says this is enough. What do you think?" A tentacle whipped Alex on the back, the lizard screaming. "You know, there is a good possibility Angel is feeling this right now." He whipped him again.

"Alastor!"

"He's probably being slapped across the face right now. You're going to have a whole bunch of marks to kiss when he gets home. I wonder if he will even let you touch him?"

"ALASTOR!"

"Or if he will just cry like when he came home the other day? I wonder if he would let you suck the last person he was with out of him..."

"You shut your mouth!" Alex struggled against the tentacle again, the wrappings glowing like white fire. Alastor's tentacle struck him across the face, making blood come to his lip and he hissed, glaring down at Alastor.

Alex outstretched his fingers and the glowing wrappings unraveled from his arms to extend and stretch out, coiling around the tentacles and squeezing them tightly.

Alastor couldn't help the large smile. The wrappings slowly made their way up the tentacles, their progress slowing down as Alex began to pant and sweat from exertion. The one wrapped around his leg and hanging him upside down twitched, the bindings tightly twining around it and folding it in on itself. Alastor somehow smiled wider, a grin forming on his thin lips "Good. Good. You're getting it."

Charlie and everyone else stopped what they were doing to watch, Nifty bouncing in her seat, "Break them! Hehehe. Break their big ole' bones!"

The binding started working its way down the tentacles, crushing them under the force of the squeeze like dozens of strings. Alex was almost entirely covered in sweat, running down his muzzle. Alastor let out a chuckle in excitement, "Yes! Come, my boy."

Alastor slowly backed away, giving him the entire field of the lobby to work with. Alex saw his chance and flung his hand down and the wrappings moved at an even greater speed than before, coiling tightly and easily through Alastor's tentacles and snapping and whipping them wildly, pulling them all together in multiple sections as they passed through and around them, drawing them together like a disgusting bouquet.

Vaggie stepped forward, "Squeeze, Alex!" Alex grit his teeth, almost roaring as he clenched his fists tightly, pulling his arms together, the tentacles breaking and folding in on themselves from the force of the squeeze. The bandages became sharp, stiff like blades and sitting into the tentacles with black and grey ichor dripping from them onto the floor beneath him before they passed through the tentacles, dicing them. Alex fell to the ground, the tentacles burning away, their black flesh bubbling from the heat of the wrappings.

Alex was panting and trying to catch his breath as the tentacles dissolved.

Shaking out his fingers, Alastor laughed a little. It sounded quite genuine. "I am surprised. Not nearly what you are capable of, my boy, but not bad for eight percent."

Alastor turned his eyes to Charlie, clapping his hands and snapping his fingers and the tables, chairs, and couches were put back where they went. Nifty watched, pouting, but came to clean up the broken flooring.

Charlie offered her hand to help Alex up, but he batted her hand away and got up, making his way upstairs.

"How the fuck did you do that!?" Vaggie asked him as he passed.

Alex had a lot of questions running in his head, a lot of confusion and frustration, but he walked down the hall and out of sight. They heard a door slam and assumed he was in his room.

Vaggie walked up beside Alastor as he wiped some dust off his sleeves. She nudged him with her elbow. "Not bad, Alastor."

The Demon bowed his head a little to her. "It is an honor to finally receive a compliment from you, my dear. The boy will be back. He's had a taste for it now. Just make sure to get him back to it when he returns. Can't have him slacking, now can we?"

Vaggie nodded once.

Charlie sighed and fell down onto the couch, frustrated. This wasn't exactly how it was supposed to go down. This is all happening far too fast and there was little she could do about any of it.

Alastor approached her, light in his steps, as if he didn't have a care in the world. "Cheer up, my dear. Progress of a kind is still progress. He did well for his first day; certainly better than our dear Miss Vaggie knocking him around all evening, yes?" He smirked back at her.

Vaggie huffed and crossed her arms. Alastor chuckled, "This boy is in danger, is he not? From someone very...unfriendly? So put him in danger. This is hell. We can't throw him in the shallow end of the pool if it's all a deep end." He laughed lightly and held his cane with two hands, tilting his head. "As they say, 'practice makes perfect'."

"Where is your place in all this, Alastor? Why are you helping us?" Vaggie crossed her arms and watched the demon.

Alastor gasped, playfully and put a hand in his chest. "Little ole' me? Having ulterior motives? Heavens forbid. Is it not enough I wish to see a fellow demon triumph?"

He paused a moment and placed his hands back down on his cane, looking out the front door of the Hotel. "The day will come that he will stand toe-to-toe with Valentino, my dear. My interests' only lie in assuring that day is entertaining and the day after is profitable."

Vaggie huffed and Charlie rested a hand on her shoulder. "Thank you, Alastor."

"Please, my dear. It is, in a way, selfish, as this new endeavor and focus will hinder my business affairs somewhat. Still, competition is fierce and refreshing, and, I'm told, good for business."

Charlie nodded, smiling warmly at the Radio Demon.

Alastor simply nodded once, beginning to exit the lobby before glancing back to her and grinning as his monocle caught the light, "I suggest we all stay tuned. For the performance has yet to reach even the end of the first act. I hold my breath for the crescendo."