(A/N Hello everyone, I am finally back from my hiatus with chapter 33, I hope you all enjoy. I also have more stuff at the end of this chapter that I will be talking about as to explain why I had been gone for so long.)
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Sentinel Prime, Sometime in the Past
Constant blood, constant torment, constant fighting. Nothing but fighting every day. Nothing but seeing the baron wasteland of Hell where demon after demon comes after you.
The marine looked around at the room where he was currently present. He was having an adamant time figuring out if he was actually in a new room or if his mind was still playing tricks on him and he was back in Hell once again. "No, no, no. This is not real...this is fake, FAKE! The demons...they are coming...the demons are near...this is a trick...a trick the demons are playing to get me to lower my guard. They will come...come for me...like always... their numbers will not stop. They...never...stop," the marine mumbled to himself. His mind was in a very bad place these days. He had sealed himself away in Hell to make sure the demons never got out again. He had nothing left to lose so he would be fighting the demons until he died...but death never arrived. He had gone completely insane. All he could see was the fiery landscapes of Hell, the demons roaring and screeching as they came to slaughter him. The blood and guts that the marine ended up tearing from their insides, the constant pain he felt. The marine looked all around and he was in fact, in a room. The room had a grey color to it and there were several tables on each corner of the room. There was a window near the cot that the marine found himself on. He looked at his hands and found them shaking with rage, rage he could barely control. He then noticed his body to see that it was heavily wrapped. His wounds had been attended to. There were bandages and patches practically on his entire body. They covered both arms, both legs, his torso, his chest, shoulders, and even a patch that went around his forehead.
After being found by the Night Sentinels and defeating every opponent in the arena, he gained a lot of attention and interest from the Order of the Deag and the Khan Maykr. The Sentinels brought him back and dressed all his wounds and seemed to give him his own quarters for the time being. The marine must have figured that he passed out sometime after the arena, but couldn't remember when it happened. He looked at a nearby table and saw his helmet, gloves, green armored chest piece, utility belt, pants, and boots. He currently was in nothing but underwear as his clothes needed to be removed in order for his wounds to be treated.
Doomguy got to his feet and looked out the window to try and find a grasp of where he even was. At first, his mind was playing tricks on him again as he saw nothing but ruins filled with demons climbing walls, screeching at one another, or flying from place to place. But he then saw the world as it was. Over many paths and walkways, he spotted other people. He saw more of those who found him in the valley, chained him up walked him through the paths of the city, and brought him before several members of the Order of the Deag. Along with spotting more of the Sentinels, he spotted others who called this place home.
"This world will fall...the demons will come...they...will...come. They will kill every one of them, everyone. Just like Earth, every person will be torn limb from limb, darkness will take over, and DARKNESS will devour all of their souls. They think they will live, they think they will survive, they think...they think they won't be slaughtered too," Doomguy spoke once again as he once again muttered to himself. He found himself balling up his fists as he now pictured the demons attacking and murdering every person in sight of this newfound land that he had never seen before. He was drawn out of thought as the door to this room opened. He believed it would be a demon breaking down the door, but it was a pair of Night Sentinels who both carried a spear.
"You're awake. Your wounds have been dressed as the order of the Khan Maykr. She wishes to speak with you about the information you seem to hold," said one of the Night Sentinels.
Doomguy stared at both of them with a hard glare on his face. He turned his back to them before responding. He was in no mood to go speak to anyone."Speak...why? You need NOTHING from me!"
"That remains to be seen...outsider. You have been constantly muttering things about an unknown...species and the darkness that shall come. We do not know if you are just some crazed man filled with lies or if you are speaking true," the Night Sentinel replied.
Doomguy's head shot up at that. His fists began to tighten. "Lies?...You think I speak lies? The demons are not lies! HELL is not a lie. Do you think I was mauled, scratched, gutted on my own? You think I spent every moment fighting a species that did not exist?" He exclaimed as someone trying to act like he was making the demons up pissed him off even more.
"Why don't you explain it to her then? Prove you are not a man driven to insanity and explain it. We will give you 5 minutes to prepare yourself...and no, this is not negotiable. Either you will walk with us or we will drag you there just like we dragged you out of the valley. You may have shown great will in the arena despite your condition but we are not like the other prisoners you fought. We can easily kill you should you choose to be unwise. 5 minutes...I wonder what choice you will make," the Night Sentinel explained as he and the other Sentinel exited the room and closed the door behind them.
Once again the lone marine found himself left in a room with his own thoughts. He took another look down at himself and the bandages and cloth wrap that went over them. He then walked over to the table where his clothes had been. He began to put his clothes back on with his pants, boots, belt, gloves, and then his chest piece. After looking himself over, all he could see was blood and guts covering his body. Some of the blood is his while some of it is what the demons left behind. He was envisioning his wounds all over again and the pain that came with even a single one. He became so lost in thought, that he never realized how quick the 5 minutes actually was. He was pulled back once the Sentinel reentered the room.
"I see you made the wise choice," he spoke. He then moved to the side and out of the doorway. "Proceed out into the hallway. We will escort you to see her."
Doomguy clenched his fists before slowly proceeding forwards. As he got closer to the hallway, he noticed that there were more Sentinels standing outside. Typically it would only take two Sentinels to escort someone. He had six of them. After seeing him fight in the arena, they didn't want to take any chances.
"Let's move," The leader Sentinel said as he became surrounded by the others to make sure he didn't run off. The walk consisted of walking down a spiral staircase out to the opening into the outside world. They proceeded down a high pathway where you could see a large view of a part of Sentinel Prime and Argent D'Nur. You could see the some of the people of the city who lived their going about their daily activities. Some threw a few glances up to where the saw the Sentinels escorting the mystery stranger who was seen bloodied, chained, and escorted through the heart of the city hours beforehand.
Doomguy tried his best to observe the surrounding areas, but looking through the sky, he kept seeing flashes of Gargoyles and Cacodemons flying from above, roaring at him and ready to slice, or bite him in half.
Once again his mind was practically on cruise control as he couldn't process or focus on what was going on around him as all the dark and terrible things going on in his head were causing a major distraction. If you asked him questions such as "what landmarks did you see?" "can you recall any conversations that went on?" he wouldn't be able to answer a single one. He noticed that they all passed through a steel gate that led into a large, circular room. Torches with blue flames lit could be found throughout the outer parts of the room. There were sets of large chairs present upon a large platform that you would need to take the stairs upwards to reach. That is if you did not have the ability to fly like some beings in the room.
Doomguy turned off cruise control as the group he was following stopped walking entirely. The Night Sentinels began to disperse from around him. Two stayed at the sides of the marine, should he choose to run, fight, or do anything else that could be considered aggressive behavior. The rest of the Sentinels made their way in front of the openings, so if he tried to run, they could block his path.
The marine was now present in front of many high-arching figures of this realm. the Order of the Deag, the Khan Maykr, and the king and supreme leader of the Night Sentinels, King Novik. The Sentinels moved to the sides of Doomguy to let the high figures gaze freely upon them should they wish to do so. The one who wanted to gaze upon him the most, was the one who requested his presence, the Khan Maykr. =The Khan floated over to the stranger to get another look at him. She had seen him briefly in the arena, but now, he wasn't covered in blood, gashes, and open wounds. The man stared up at her with an incredibly angry face and took slow, deep breaths. His appearance and mannerisms were quite unique and peculiar. After doing her observation, she was ready to speak to him. "You...outsider...are a peculiar case. I do not know how you got here in the first place. You came here, practically out of nowhere, near death, but showed incredible will in the arena despite this." She paused her speech to observe the stranger some more to see if he would speak on anything she said. But it seemed as if he still wanted to remain silent. So, she would continue. "Something that I have noticed, as well as others have noticed is the unusual language you speak. Your words seem to be filled with nothing but an incoherent speech about...demons and your want to kill them."
Doomguy decided to speak up again after she mentioned the demons. "No, no, no. Not want, not a want. It's a MUST! I MUST KILL THEM ALL."
"So you have said," the Khan Maykr replied. "These demons you speak of...what are they? That is something of unknown origin to me and I want to know more about those who you speak of." She directed. She figured she would be able to get her answers as this man seemed to talk about one thing and one thing only. Demons.
"Demons, the demons, they are awful. Terrible...powerful creatures who seek to do nothing but destroy every single thing in their path, kill, tear, rip apart any that they can find. They leave nothing and no one left. There numbers, numbers, numbers don't end. They keep...they keep coming. Every day they hunt, hunt for me. They come one after another. No time to rest, no time to sleep, they want me to do that, they want me to stop, want me to rest, they want to rip out of guts and feed upon them. They try, they try over and over, but they die. They all will die, I will not stop until I bring Hell to its knees," Doomguy replied, although there was certainly a lot more said there than needed to be said.
"And what is this Hell you speak of?" Deag Nilok questioned as that was also something of unknown origin.
"Dark place...with nothing...nothing but fire...lava...creatures...demons born of fire...born of darkness...demons everywhere," Doomguy replied slowly.
Deag Nilok didn't reply back as he quietly spoke with Deag Grav. "Hm. An unknown place of darkness."
"The place he describes is unfamiliar to me," Deag Grav responded.
"As it is to me. It almost seems like it's not real at all. But, his injuries did speak otherwise," Deag Nilok added as the stranger being found bloodied, clawed, scratched, and near death could indicate he was in some place where creatures tried to kill him.
"Is this Hell your place of origin?" The Khan Maykr asked this time trying to find more about the stranger and also more about Hell.
"Hell...demons...attacked my home world...killed...killed...so many...killed...ripped...destroyed...nothing...demons they killed...destroyed...all they could find. No one stood a chance...they never stood...never ever stood a chance. The demons will die for what they did. I'll kill them all, they come for me, they'll come. They'll come here. They'll find this place...they find every place. They'll kill every one of you. Death...blood...guts across the walls...everywhere. Nothing will be left...nothing," Doomguy once again muttered. He couldn't talk clearly for long as his mind couldn't focus on anything else but the horrible experiences he had gone through in Hell.
"Clearly you have former transgressions against this realm of Hell. But that also begins to beg the question of how you got here. Surely you couldn't have found this place on your own as a mere mortal," Deag Grav questioned.
"One second in Hell, one second not. The demons probably drove me away. They knew, they knew, they KNEW they couldn't kill me, they knew I wouldn't go away. They sent me away. I'm here, every moment I'm here, they get to roam freely. They get to live," Doomguy replied.
The Khan's interest had grown quite high after hearing about this new realm. She wanted to hear everything this stranger had to say. But, she would stop the conversation for now and return to it at a later time. After speaking with him for the first time, it wasn't easy to get the right information as he could not talk clearly without going insane. Perhaps his mind would calm later and they could return to this subject. She flew back over to the priests to converse with the three of them in a more private manner. "While the tongue he speaks is ugly, it holds vital information. I will need some of my Maykrs to spend some time with him to learn more of it. It is also clear that this...Hell, has taken its toll on this outsider in various ways. It has taken a toll on his body, and on his mind." She began as she took another look over her shoulder at the outsider. "But...I know there is much more information that he holds, information that can become useful to know. This place of Hell he refers to sounds like a realm that could be of utmost importance to learn about. A place that could be saved. It may see darkness for now...but the Maykrs can save it too. I want him kept here until I know more."
"What should we do with him, your grace?" Deag Grav questioned.
The Khan took another look at the outsider and then gazed over at King Novik and some of the Sentinels. "Bestow him upon Novik and his Night Sentinels. It is clear from what we've seen in the arena and the stories he tells that he could be a powerful warrior in the Sentinels. And perhaps...they could help cure him of the insanity that attacks his mind like a parasite."
"What if the outsider should refuse to join the ranks?" Deag Ranak now questioned.
"Then he will be forced to stay here under constant watch. Like I said, I want him kept here until I know more. No matter the cost," The Khan Maykr announced.
The Order of the Deag gave her a nod as she flew away and teleported out of the room. The three priests began to walk down the steps and off the platform that they were present on. Deag Ranak and Deag Nilok walked toward the exit of the room while Deag Grav walked toward King Novik to converse with him. "The Khan wishes for the stranger to remain here in Sentinel Prime until she deems otherwise. She sees that the stranger is not of sound mind and wants him bestowed upon you as a warrior to your ranks. I'm sure we can both agree that he'll make a fine addition to the front lines. She also believes that you and your Sentinels could find a way to...calm his mind."
Novik stroked his beard as he listened to his words. "Very well. The outsider does show some signs of being a capable fighter on the field of battle." Novik rose from the seat and walked over to the stranger while Deag Grav followed behind. As he got closer to the stranger he noticed that he was looking left, right, down, and up frantically like he was seeing things that weren't actually there.
"Well stranger," Deag Grav spoke first as he walked into view. "You have clearly sparked an interest in the Khan Maykr herself. So much so, she wants you to remain here. Due to what you have proven in the arena, we are offering you the high honor of joining the ranks of the Night Sentinels."
That got a collection of reactions from the other Night Sentinels. They didn't say anything verbal at the time as a sign of respect, but if you could see their faces through their helmets, you'd be able to know exactly what they were thinking.
Doomguy processed the offer that was just given to him. "Fight...fight...fight for you? Why would I fight...for you? WHATEVER war, whatever battle, whatever conflict you may face here, has NOTHING to do with me. Nothing. I only have one fight in this world, one goal, to kill the demons, to RIP and TEAR their guts until there is nothing left. No. More. Demons."
Deag Grav looked a little puzzled by that reaction as typically most agreed to that honor. But not the outsider. "Are you trying to say that you would rather be in that realm known as Hell, which clearly has taken its toll on your body and your mind than join our ranks?"
"It...doesn't matter WHAT I want! I would never want to spend another minute in that wasteland. But the DEMONS, the demons are there. They are THERE. If they are there, it doesn't matter what realm it is. I. Have. To. Kill. Them. All." Doomguy replied with tightened fists.
King Novik realized that Deag Grav was not doing a good job convincing him to join. He thought it was best if he chimed in. "Joining the Night Sentinels is an incredible honor in these lands. The men you fought against in the arena were prisoners, thieves, murderers. Those who lost all honor. The ones who survive the arena, are given a chance to reclaim it. From what I have heard, a man, near death, who had been exhausted fighting these...demons you speak of, and was able to fight through the entire arena and win. Is a man that no doubt, is an incredible warrior."
Deag Grav wanted to add onto this point by Novik to make it seem more appealing. "You also mentioned that you came to this place from Hell. Is that correct?"
Doomguy slowly moved his attention from Novik to Deag Grav. He took a few breaths and said. "Yes."
"If you claim it was not of your own doing, then these demons must of found a way to send you here like you suggested. You claim the destruction of these lands may come, who's to say that they won't find this place in the future?" Deag Grav hypothesized. "The Sentinels are the most elite-ranking warriors in these lands. They possess great skills in battle. If you were to join the ranks, you'd be able to improve the skills you already obtain to become a stronger warrior. You would also be able to protect these lands from the...demons, should they wage war on these lands."
Doomguy started to think about this. He had nothing left in his life, only one goal to kill all demons. He didn't want to be stuck in a land where the demons could run freely, run where they didn't have to deal with him. But then again, being stuck in Hell day in and day out is literal...well...Hell. But this priest did make a good point. He didn't know how he ended up here. If the demons did send him here, they would definitely try to take over this world too. And these beings did not possess any logic on how powerful these demons were and how to effectively kill them. He could become used to them. His home world of Earth was gone, but perhaps he could still save this one. "Fine. But know this. If the demons never come, I will leave this place and find them myself!"
"A wise choice," Deag Grav said with a soothing smile. He then looked towards the Sentinels near the stranger. "When you are done with him, take him back to his quarters and provide him with something to eat and drink."
Some of the Sentinels walked away from the outsider and towards their king. One of them had things to say. "Your Highness, you cannot possibly allow him to join our legion. He's not of native origins to these lands. He is, and always will be an outsider."
"That does not matter. The Khan as well as the Priests have given the order for him to be trained as a Sentinel so he shall be given the training," King Novik quickly replied.
"You think he can thrive as one of us? Sir, the outsider has done nothing but mutter incoherent phrases and talk about demons and Hell. He is practically insane. I do not think that can be trained," Another one of the Sentinels said.
King Novik took another glance back over at the crazed outsider with pure interest. Just the presence he was given off was something he had never seen from a living being before, and while he had many fierce warriors that were a part of the Night Sentinels, there was just something different about this man that he hadn't seen before. He then turned back toward the group he was speaking to with one more question. "Did...any of you...happen to gaze upon the man as he fought his way through the arena?"
All the Night Sentinels looked at one another wondering if anyone was going to speak. Four of the Sentinels truly did not see the man fight, but that wasn't the same for the other two.
"Yes sir, we did," One of the two Night Sentinels announced as he motioned towards the other who witnessed it.
King Novik turned to face both of them and placed his hands behind his back. "I have one last question for you two. And I expect you both to answer it with the utmost honesty. With no bias, no personal opinion about the man being an outsider to these lands, and nothing to do with the man not being of sound mind. Is that understood?"
Both of the Sentinels glanced at one another before both responding with a "Yes sir."
"Good." Novik then prepared his final question. "Going off what I have heard about what occurred in the arena...after seeing that man in action, seeing him fight through every man and prove victorious despite being near death...wouldn't you both agree that he could become an incredible warrior on the battlefield given proper training and being completely healed of his wounds?"
Both of the Sentinels took a moment to think of their answers. The silence also raised the interest of the other four standing behind them as they were quite interested in what they would say. They were hoping they would say no as they did not want to waste time on an outsider. But, for the two Sentinels, they did swear they would be truthful to their King.
"Yes sir...I think...he would," One of the Sentinels said first.
Novik gave a slight nod to that answer before looking to the other one. "And what about you? Do you feel the same?"
"I...do as well sir," the other Sentinel agreed.
Hazbin Hotel, Present Day
Doomguy stood staring at the mirror in his room. He stared at his reflection and looked down at his upper body and his arms. He looked at all the scars on his body, most of them from the wounds that he had when he was found by the Night Sentinels. While his body was incredibly powerful and durable, it still didn't seem like his scars had fully faded away. He had done enough looking in the mirror and decided to start putting his armor pieces back on his body. After he had put every piece back on, he was left with just his helmet sitting on the table. Typically he would place it back on his head, but for now, he felt like keeping it off. He had been at this hotel for months now and didn't feel the need to always wear it inside anymore.
In the lobby, Bricella had started to become situated in her new room at the hotel. It didn't take her very long to really "move in" as she had nothing to actually move in for now. All she really did was look at all the room had to offer like test out the bed and to see if everything in the bathroom worked.
"So, how was the room? Was it to your liking? If you do not like it you can easily switch rooms...we do have a lot of them still open," Charlie offered to her. Although she wished she didn't have to keep saying that most rooms were open.
"No, no. The room is fine. It's nice," Bricella replied as she was someone who wasn't too picky about things.
"Do you have any more stuff to move in?" Charlie asked. She figured that she did as she didn't come to the hotel with anything.
"Yes, I do. But I can do that later. It's not a big deal," Bricella replied as she rubbed her left arm with her right hand.
"Glad to hear it. So, now that we have some time hereeeeee. I think this is a good time for us to do some icebreakers with you!" Charlie said with much joy in her voice.
"Icebreakers?" Bricella questioned wondering what that would include.
"Icebreakers indeed! So Bricella, would you be willing to share anything about yourself as none of us here at the hotel know anything about you? One of the first things I love to do when meeting a brand new resident of the hotel is learn about them. Gives me a starting point for your path to redemption," Charlie questioned and clearly showed Bricella that she had her full attention.
"Oh um...sure I can," Bricella replied as she began to think about how to describe herself. "Well, there isn't anything that exciting about me. I used to be a sex worker for a while."
"Oh? Well welcome to club sister," Angel replied. He mainly did it to try and make her feel better about herself.
"I certainly know about you, Angel Dust. We all did. But I was certainly nowhere as big as you," Bricella replied as she and other sex workers saw Angel as a massive celebrity in the business.
"Aw dear you flatter me," Angel said as he certainly didn't mind the compliment.
"Did you also work for Valentino or the Three V's?" Vaggie asked thinking she was a much smaller sex worker for Valentino than Angel was.
"No, I was mainly with a smaller group run by a piece of shit named Frankie for a club called Sin. I never should have stayed as long as I did," Bricella responded, while not trying to flood her mind of old memories during her time there.
"Oh, I think I've heard of that place. I think Val, my boss, had done some exchanges from that place," Angel added. What he didn't add was the fact he had been to that club a couple of times in the past.
"And he let you go? Typically most guys like that are very controlling of their workers," Husk questioned as he had seen stuff like that before and Angel was a big indicator of that.
"Well...not necessarily...that's where it gets kind of odd. There was one bad night when I had just reached a breaking point. I made a very...stupid decision to punch my boss...Frankie. I knew I fucked up so I had to bolt out of the building or he was definitely going to kill me," Bricella replied as she was trying to remember that night.
"Was there something prior to cause you to...attack your boss? Were you being mistreated?" Charlie questioned.
"Completely. That night it just got so bad that I snapped. I had bruises all over my body and my clothes were ripped...I knew I couldn't get far without them finding me. I figured I was screwed. Until I ran into him. The human. He...he saved me. Frankie tried to scare him off but he wouldn't go away. They tried to kill him but he ended up killing Frankie and all of his associates right in front of me. I never expected a stranger to actually help me as I don't find that in Hell very often," Bricella explained. A small smile came to her face as she was starting to remember that night. "But that's when something odd happened. I waited and waited for Frankie to try and call me, to find me, since he was a sinner after all. But that never happened. It went from days to weeks, to months, up until now. I thought it was strange and then I found out that the club I worked at shut down because Frankie never came back. It was like he just disappeared."
"Ah." Lucifer spoke up as it felt like a good time for him to do so. "I may have a possible answer for that."
"Y-You do?" Bricella questioned. But she did remember he was the King of Hell so it may make sense for him to have an answer.
Lucifer stood where all could see and all eyes definitely turned to him. "You see, I actually had a demon come up to me months ago while proposing a similar question. He said he was in some gang and they crossed paths with him and what do ya know? They are all dead. He told me that he waited for days but they never came back. He suspected that Mr. Doom Slayer here could completely kill a sinner demon. What you said seems to be more evidence that leads to that assumption."
"D-Doom Slayer?" Bricella questioned as she had never heard that name before and actually wondered if that is what the human goes by.
"Yes, that is apparently a name the human goes by. That and also Doomguy," Lucifer responded to clear any confusion.
"He goes by the name of Doomguy? Well, ain't that a unique name," Husk muttered as he didn't know what to think of that kind of name.
"Okay well going away from the fact that he also goes by Doomguy; Lucifer, your highness, did you just say that the hum- D-Doomguy...can fully kill a sinner? Like an Exorcist could?" Vaggie asked as she felt like that question just couldn't be overlooked.
"Well, I didn't fully believe it when I heard it. But don't quote me on this, but...I was told that he does have the ability to...I guess absorb the souls of those he kills and possibly get stronger from it?" Lucifer tried to explain the best he could.
"WHAT? And you didn't feel like sharing that information?" Vaggie exclaimed as she found that to be quite a big revelation.
"Did you just expect me to bring it up out of nowhere? I mean that isn't really a conversation starter," Lucifer said in his defense.
"I...okay I suppose that is fair. But now we learned that he...as a human...can fully kill off demons of Hell?" Vaggie spoke as she reasked the question.
"I didn't have concrete proof of that being true. But with what she is saying about her experience, I am starting to lean more towards that being a true statement," Lucifer replied while referencing Bricella's experience in it.
"Well...shit. I guess that would make sense why I haven't seen Frankie in a long time. I thought maybe he got scared shitless of him and didn't want to show his face. Almost like he thought he was my bodyguard," Bricella added. The "he" she was referring to was Doomguy.
"So what I'm hearing is muscles got you off the hook?" Angel said, and the Slayer pretty much did.
"Yeah. I guess so," Bricella said now feeling really grateful that the Slayer did that.
"I don't mean to interrupt this recollection of old stories...but I cannot help to ignore the point our old gracious king made before," Alastor chimed in while being sarcastic about Lucifer. "If our large hotel resident here can fully kill the demons of Hell and possess more and more power from it...what is there to say that he doesn't go on a massive killing spree to try and increase his power or his status?"
"Kind of like you did?" Vaggie replied with a tired look.
"Precisely! There are quite a large amounts of demons in this realm. I mean, what is really stopping him?" Alastor practically questioned the entire room.
"You don't think I haven't had the same idea? Why do you think I've been so suspicious about him lately?" Lucifer questioned. But he then brought himself back to square one as he thought about the talk he and his daughter had. "But...according to Charlie, that doesn't seem like a likely outcome."
"Exactly right dad. I fully trust him as a valued member of this hotel," Charlie replied to back up her father's claim.
"I heard he was staying at this hotel," Bricella spoke. A rumor about the man being at the hotel was another selling point for her to seek a room here, especially if Frankie someone appeared again. She knew he would stay far away from this place knowing HE was here. But her words sparked a new question. "So, what is his role at the hotel? Does he like...work here? Or is he like a resident like myself, Angel Dust, and Sir Pentious?"
"His actual role here is...a bit undefined," Vaggie answered first. "Charlie offered him a room as she figured he had nowhere to stay being a human and all. I don't think he could even be redeemed if he even wanted to try as he is not a sinner. I don't think he has died yet but it's a really grey area at this point."
"We can pretty much call em like a bodyguard. He's big, he's strong, and he's intimidating," Angel said listing traits about the Slayer while using three fingers. "That sounds like a perfect bodyguard to me."
"A big, bad bodyguard!" Niffty sinisterly chuckled.
"Like I said, it's really a grey area for now," Vaggie reinstated as she didn't want Angel and Niffty's comment to sway any opinions.
"Ah." Bricella replied as there really wasn't much for her to say now. She then started to look around and really started to notice that everyone in the hotel was there except for the Slayer. "Is he here right now or is he out?"
"Sure. He's walking near the stairs right now," Husk responded as he pointed a claw at Doomguy.
Everyone else turned to see that at the top of the staircase stood the lone Doom Slayer. He stared down into the lobby to see the group having conversations like always. To everyone's surprise, he wasn't wearing his helmet. While some of them had seen what he looked like once before, this was the first time they saw his face when he voluntarily took his helmet off. The Slayer stayed at the very top of the stairs near the railing and looked down into the lobby. He could see that everyone was staring at him but he had a pretty good idea of why they were.
"Holy shit, seeing muscles without his helmet on all the time feels weird. Guess he's becoming more comfortable around us," Angel spoke to the others.
"I think you may be right. And I HOPE you are right because if he is becoming more comfortable around all of us, that is great news," Charlie replied. To her, this seemed like a small amount of progress in helping Doomguy.
"Wow...that's what he looks like?" Bricella questioned as she had never seen his face before.
"I'll tell you one thing toots, he ain't wearing a mask," Angel replied so as to not harp on her for asking a stupid question.
"Do you think he's ugly?" Niffty questioned by Bricella's question.
"N-No! Not at all," Bricella quickly replied. She then lowered her tone a bit before speaking again. "He's actually quite attractive."
"You don't have to tell us," Angel said. He then turned his body to where he was looking right at Doomguy before shouting something in his direction. "Heyyyyyy sexy!" He held up one of his arms and did a finger wave towards him. Doomguy did look at him for a moment, but he then moved his eyesight back towards the lobby. "Ya, as you can see, he's totally into me~."
"That's the vibe you get from him? You clearly need to get better at reading people," Husk replied which was a diss at Angel, but also to remind them how good he was at reading others.
"Oh that's right, you are really good at exposing fellas truest ambitions," Angel smirked back. "So kitty, why don't you tell us what his deal is?"
Husk simply scoffed at that request. "No, I am not touching that. The only thing I get from him is that he hates everything and everyone and likes being pissed off all the time. Just like me," Husk grinned before taking a swig out of a booze bottle.
"SSSSounds like a perfect drinking partner," Pentious added as he had not contributed much to this conversation so far.
"Sure, if he actually drank," Husk replied as no one had yet to see the Slayer drink.
Up at the top of the staircase stood the lone Doom Slayer. He stared down into the lobby to see the group having conversations like always. But as he looked around he noticed a new female demon that was not among the typical group. He didn't know what her business was here. He started to rule out the fact that it was another demon of this realm coming to talk with him or wanting to see him as she didn't try to speak with him, run up the stairs, or do anything towards him. He then started to guess if she was a new resident at this place and that was a good guess with the little information he had.
Bricella kept on staring at him from the bottom and started to question his still and serious stance. "Um. What is he doing?" She questioned with a raised eyebrow.
"We don't really know. He tends to do that a lot," Angel shrugged his shoulders as he looked up at him too.
"Perhaps he is trying to concentrate on something. Or perhapssss he is standing...guard?" Pentious suggested but was starting to question his own comment.
"Who really knows? For a man who never speaks, anyone could wonder the thoughts that go on in that head," Alastor pointed his cane towards the Slayer's head.
"Would probably have to guess a lot," Vaggie couldn't help but agree with that point.
Doomguy was practically standing like a statue up by the railing until a rather powerful demon interrupted him. "Soooo," Lucifer said as he causally approached the Slayer. Doomguy turned to his left to see that Lucifer suddenly appeared next to him out of nowhere. This was the person he was expecting to see here. He had rarely seen him lately and would never have expected his arrival. He figured Lucifer would try to start some type of conflict again like he had done before. At that moment, he could tell that Lucifer was examining the features of his face. It seemed to be what everyone was doing as they finally could get a good glimpse at his face now that he willingly took his helmet off. "So THAT'S what you look like. I must say I was a bit curious as I have only seen you in that helmet of yours," he said as he motioned towards the helmet on the table. Lucifer then looked back at Doomguy's face. For once, it seemed like he wasn't extremely pissed off...but it didn't mean his face didn't still have a serious look. "You always have a serious face on your...well face. But that's not why I came over to you...uh Doomguy." Doomguy started to raise an eyebrow as he did not know how Lucifer knew of that nickname. But then again, he did know the Father was present in this realm and wondered if he revealed information about him to others. It's not like that was a bad thing as the Father didn't know a lot about him outside of his journey slaying the demons of Hell. "I know that we have not had...the best encounters with one another. I must admit that I did not know what to expect from you, you are quite the unusual case in Hell if you know what I mean. And then I heard you were staying in the same place as my daughter so that did not help me either. But Charlie really seems to trust you and even care for you in some way. So, perhaps...maybe you are not here too...I don't know...you are not here to destroy this realm or kill Charlie or anything of that nature."
Well to the Slayer, this seemed like a sudden change of heart in Lucifer's position. It seemed like Lucifer did nothing but hate him or distrust him every second he was in view of him. But now he's trying to make amends all of a sudden. It wouldn't be in the Slayer's position to not seem a bit skeptical about this.
"So. How about we try and...move on from this? We could turn a new page, turn over a new leaf, and start from scratch. Does that sound ideal to you?" Lucifer questioned. He knew Doomguy wasn't going to say yes or no to him, so he was just seeing if he could get any kinda confirmation. While he didn't get any response, like he assumed, he did notice that Doomguy's face went from really serious, to a more calm look. That right there was good enough for Lucifer. "Well, I will take that silence as a yes. And if we don't try to kill one another, I can also think of that as a yes." Lucifer picked up his cane that he left leaning on the railing and proceeded to walk back down the stairs. While he could have just used his powers to practically teleport back down, he did feel like walking this time.
Doomguy watched Lucifer go fully down the stairs before looking away again. He went back into thought again about what he should do for today. He needed something new, something different to try and accomplish. He had spent so many days going through the Pride Ring that he practically knew where everything was. Nothing in the Pride Ring seemed to be of much use, so what could he really do?
Then, it hit him. That elevator, the one he went to many months ago. That elevator where he went down to the Lust Ring. Now he wouldn't be wanting to make another trip down there as he didn't feel like having hundreds of demons slobbering all over him wanting to fuck him or get fucked by him. But he knew that there were seven rings in Hell so there were 5 others he had not seen. Going back to that elevator was going to be his plan for today. Now as for what ring he would go to, well that would pretty much be random as they all were unknown to him.
Doomguy began to walk towards the top of the stairs before slowly proceeding down. Everyone's attention turned to him as his loud steps were something that could not be ignored. He was down in the lobby and planned on just walking through this conversation until Charlie stopped him.
"Hey...um...Doomguy," Charlie announced also showing that she also knew that nickname. This was the first time that she had seen him since she and her father had talked. She now knew more about him, knew what made him the way he was. A part of her wanted to run up and hug him or allow some type of comfort to the pain he carried. But she wouldn't, at least not yet. She would wait for a better time to discuss that. Although, she did motion towards Bricella to show Doomguy, "We have a new guest staying at the hotel! Her name is Bricella, and she was telling us that you two had a run-in before. She claimed that you saved her."
Bricella looked at the Slayer's face, who she could see as clear as day with his helmet off and him standing so close. She was intrigued by his face. All the scars, and his eyes. Those brown eyes. She could tell that those eyes were filled with so much hate and anger like they had seen things that she couldn't even imagine. He definitely looked like he had a lot of stories stored in that head of his.
For Doomguy, he looked down at the demon. According to Charlie, he had run into this demon before. He stared hard at her to see if her face brought up any previous memories. He then started to think about demons he had helped out, and that seemed to help him a lot. The others in the room could tell he remembered her when his eyes and face showed it. He did remember that she was that demon who ran from those men who he ended up killing. It was some of the first demons he ended up killing in this realm.
"Well, I ain't no translator for the big guy, but I feel like he remembers ya," Angel said as he pretty much acted like a translator for the Slayer.
"W-Well I wouldn't blame you if you did. I...well...I looked like a fucking mess then," Bricella said with an awkward smile.
In the Slayer's case, she definitely looked much better than that night he found her. There was no longer blood on her pink, white, and black fur, and no signs of bruising, or any type of wounds. Also, her clothes, which consisted of jeans, black shoes, and a black top were not ripped and in a mess.
"Eh don't be too hard on yaself. From what you described, hard to not look like a mess with a shitty night like that," Angel said coming in support of his fellow sex worker.
"That is certainly true," Bricella replied as she felt better with Angel's comment. She then got up from her seat and took a few steps towards Doomguy. "I know I said this before but, I really did want to thank you for what you did for me. You really did save my life and...well get me out of that whole shitty job." She explained. Standing a few feet away from the large human, she found herself not being as scared of him as many were. In all honestly, a part of her wanted to give him a hug for what he did. But she thought it was best to hold off on something like that. "I owe you one big time. Anything you need." She just ended up saying with a smile.
In Doomguy's case, that favor would most likely be something that would never be cashed in. It's not like he needed anyone to do anything for him. Unless she somehow could conjure up a portal to his dimension, but that was highly unlikely.
"So yeah! Bricella will be a new member of the hotel. Our little group here is growing more and more by the day!" Charlie spoke bringing the conversation back to that point.
"By the day?" Husk said with a smug tone as that wasn't really true. These days it felt like it was growing by the month.
"Okayyyyyy, probably not the best way to describe it. BUT! There is hope that it will change for the better," Charlie said being as optimistic as ever.
"Of course it will change for the better. I mean what lost souls would not want to find themselves here at this little establishment," Alastor added as he appeared in right next to Charlie.
"That is exactly the attitude I am looking for Al!" Charlie exclaimed as she appreciated Alastor's comment.
"I'm SURE he was being completely genuine and not speaking a bunch of bull," Lucifer added as he didn't believe Alastor's commitment to his daughter's hotel.
"Not at all Your Majesty! I completely backing your daughter's dream and I tend to see it through!" Alastor replied. He did actually make it hard to tell if he was still bullshitting or was being sincere.
"Uh-huh. Sure," Lucifer said more quietly as he was still skeptical.
The Slayer had enough of this conversation and went towards the doors. The conversation didn't have much to do with him and didn't really interest him either. Nobody really questioned him or bothered him as they let him go about his way. He placed his helmet back on his head and went right back out into Hell to the elevator.
"Where is he going?" Bricella questioned as he just seemed to leave out of nowhere.
"Another thing nobody knows. Kinda hard to know things about a guy who doesn't talk to ya," Husk answered, which was about the best answer to give.
"O-Oh. Right," Bricella spoke. She realized that should have been obvious and she shouldn't have either bothered to ask that question.
"I also kinda wonder where he tends to go in Hell," Angel pondered as it was an interesting question for them.
"Maybe he has some secret arrangements," Niffty suggested as she rubbed her hands together.
"Yeah I highly doubt that Nift," Husk replied as he felt a little creeped out by the tone of her voice.
Lucifer decided to somewhat follow Doomguy's actions of leaving the hotel himself. He conjured up his apple cane and adjusted his clothing some. "Well Charlie, it certainly has been an interesting day. But I have some other things to attend to for today. So I will have to bid you farewell for now."
"Oh, of course. Well, thank you for today. Didn't quite go like I hoped...but it was a fair effort I suppose," Charlie replied back to her dad.
"A fair one indeed. Goodbye sweetie," Lucifer spoke as he teleported out of the lobby and back to his home.
Charlie started to notice that the others were beginning to disband and go about their own ways. She wanted to use this opportunity since her dad had left and Doomguy was currently out of the hotel to speak to everyone. "Um, e-excuse me! Everyone!" She saw that everyone looked back at her and stopped walking. "Before you all go, I wanted to talk to all of you about...something that I think we should all be aware of."
"What is thissss about?" Pentious questioned as it seemed like this came out of nowhere.
"About the hu-...Doomguy. About Doomguy," Charlie answered while she caught herself of calling him just "human" again.
"Charlie, you better not be trying to give him the boot or something?" Angel asked as he did not want him to go.
"No! No! I am not going to remove him from the hotel," Charlie quickly explained. She then took a breath and put her hands together, "when my dad and I were coming back to the hotel, he spoke to me about Doomguy. Apparently, he had been in contact with someone from HIS world."
"HIS world?" Vaggie questioned on why she put emphasis on that word.
Alastor had an idea of why she said that. "His world? Charlie my dear, are you suggesting a possibility that he comes from a...different world?"
"That is exactly what I am saying. I know when we heard those logs a while ago we thought he came from the future or something such as that. But apparently, it's not quite like that. According to my dad, he comes from a whole different dimension altogether," Charlie answered as he answered both Vaggie and Alastor's questions.
"A different fucking dimension? Charlie, ya ain't making sense," Angel questioned as that seemed fake.
"No, I am not. It actually explains a lot," Charlie replied. She took another breath before speaking again. "Look, if you all could find a seat, I'll tell you all what I know."
Pride Ring, Thirty Minutes Later
After thirty minutes of walking through the Pride Ring, the Slayer's memory of the elevator's location did not fail him as he stood about thirty meters away from the elevator's entrance. Just like before, it was packed with demons going in and out of the elevator. It was certainly a hot spot in the Pride Ring, that's for sure. As per usual, there was quite a line of demons waiting to get in, but for the Unchained Predator, he didn't do lines.
Near the actual entrance were of course the guards that had to stay present to deal with any trouble demons would cause trying to get in when they weren't allowed. It also happened to be the same ones when the Slayer came the first time.
"That girl has still been texting you?" One of the guards said. They currently were getting bored as nothing eventful was currently happening so they filled the time with conversation.
"Yes! At this point she can't take a fucking hint. Yeah, we fucked or what not last week, but she thinks that I wanna get serious. You get me? I do not want to get serious with her," the other replied back.
"I mean...you could give it a shot. Who knows? Maybe you'd be down with it?" The first guard suggested.
"Yeahhhhh I don't know about that one. The fact she keeps texting me gives out a crazy vibe. I feel like she gonna stalk whatever I'm doing every single fucking day. I don't wanna deal with that shit. But...she is pretty hot though," the guard replied as he was beginning to weigh his options between dating and remaining single.
"Quite the dilemma isn't it bud," the other guard said with a big grin on his face."I just wish I could have some hot ass chick being obsessed over me like you."
"Sure I, holy shit! Dude, dude, dude, dude," one of the guards frantically said as he tapped the other on his shoulder with a concerned look on his face.
"What? What? What? Why the fuck you look so freaked out?" The other questioned this sudden random reaction.
"T-The guy! He's fucking back!" He answered as he pointed a finger at the approaching man.
The other guard heard all the commotion of demon reactions behind him and began to follow their gazes and quickly discovered what guy he was referring to. "Holy shit! It is that guy. Fuck, I thought he wouldn't be back here again."
"Well clearly you thought wrong," the first guard responded. Every demon in line stopped moving and only looked right at the approaching Doom Slayer who was not about to wait in any line to get where he wanted to go. Plus, no demon had a problem with him cutting the line so as to not get their limbs detached from their bodies.
"What the hell should we do? Should we even try to stop him?" The second guard questioned. Some of the other guards that were present in other areas stared at the man, but no one tried to stop him as he was almost to the entrance by this point.
"Fuck no. I am not going near that freak of nature. But...maybe...maybe he won't get through this time. Perhaps it was just a lucky event the first time. R-Right?" He suggested. Although, he didn't quite believe that himself.
The Slayer once again reached the barrier in front of the entrance. And once again, using his extreme strength, he was able to push through the barrier's wall and proceed inside the elevator.
"Well clearly it wasn't a stroke of good luck jackass," the other guard replied. They both began to overhear a lot of the conversations of the other demons waiting in line. They all were confused about how he was able to do that. Some assumed he was granted special access or something of that nature due to the status he had gained in this realm. But then again, that wouldn't make sense why he had to force his way through the barrier.
"Should we report this? I mean he just managed to force his way through what I THOUGHT was an impenetrable barrier," the first guard questioned.
"Perhaps. Look let's just focus on calming down this fucking line before we think more about that," the other guard replied.
Once again the Slayer had made his way in the elevator's lobby. Immediately the attention began to shift towards him. Demons stared in awe at his presence, some stared in fear, and others pulled out their phones to record or take pictures. Doomguy ignored all the attention he was getting and looked toward the large elevator doors. They were currently closed as the elevator was busy going down to a ring at the moment, so that gave him some time to himself. He didn't quite know what ring to go to this time. He had already been to one, which unfortunately had to be the Lust Ring. Perhaps he would go back one day, but today is not that day. He was quite aware that going to that realm would be nothing but having tons of demons wanting to get fucked by him. That was not on his bingo card for today. But he had 5 other rings that he could go to as technically he had been to the Pride Ring. Obviously. He would leave this one up to fate as well to see what ring he would go to.
As he stood by himself looking just toward the elevator, he felt something light bump against his right foot. He slowly looked down to see a red, circular object next to his foot. Knowing this realm, he thought the worst possible option. He figured someone threw a bomb at his feet. It would be a very useless attempt as a bomb wouldn't kill him or really hurt him. But as nothing appeared to be happening, he reached down to grab the object. He then realized it wasn't a bomb as his fingers were able to press into the object. It wasn't a bomb at all, it was a red, inflatable ball. Nothing more than a toy. He looked around to pinpoint the source of where the ball came from. Nothing appeared to stick out to him until he spotted a small demon and a bigger demon with him. It was an Imp mother and her child. The child clearly looked upset as he wanted to try and retrieve the ball he dropped, but the mother wouldn't let him go near the large human as fear for her child's life. The child then appeared to be sad thinking his ball was long gone into the man's possession. Doomguy realized what was going on but their facial expressions. This would be the first time he had seen a child in any capacity in a very long time. He took one more look at the ball. He had no reason to keep it, and the child clearly wanted it back but wouldn't be able to come get it himself. He wouldn't try and walk over to them to hand it to the child as they both would mostly become terrified that he would do something to them. So, Doomguy simply placed it on the ground and rolled it back over to where they were sitting. He could see a happy look on the child's face as he grabbed the ball when it rolled over to him and a surprised look on the mother's face as she had never expected him to give the ball back. She, like many other demons in the realm who had never seen the Slayer in person, had heard all kinds of rumors that he was nothing more than an extremely mean and powerful killer who wouldn't hesitate to snap your neck if you even looked at him the wrong way. But she started to think that perhaps those rumors were wrong. Maybe he wasn't all bad.
Doomguy looked away from the two Imps and back towards the elevator as he continued to wait for its arrival. He could still see out of the corners of his eyes that the demons in the lobby were still focusing on him. Demons were still taking pictures, recording videos, and just talking about him and the act they saw him do. Nobody expected him to give the ball back, most thought he would just pop it or toss it out of sight. Doomguy was not opposed to helping others, but they certainly needed to earn his help as he still didn't fully trust anyone.
The waiting had come to an end as the elevator had finally arrived and demons who were returning to the Pride Ring began pouring out of the elevator while those who meant to board the elevator began to head that way, including Doomguy. Everyone that was boarding the elevator either got on the elevator first or made sure to keep their distance from the large man so as to not stumble into his path.
The mighty Slayer found his way into the elevator and decided to take a seat down in an open section of seating which could typically fit up to six demons at a time, but for now, it would only fit one very large human. As he waited for the elevator doors to close and for the descent to begin, he began to massage his wrists and began to rotate his right hand to loosen it up.
After about five total minutes, the elevator doors began to close as it was time to descend down to one of the rings. The Slayer sat with his own thoughts as the elevator was moving. He honestly had no idea what ring it was going down to this time, he just hoped it wasn't Lust again. But even if it was, he was not going to get off the elevator that time. But with luck, he was not going to end up in Lust again as this elevator was going to a ring he had not visited so far.
The ride came to an end and the large doors opened up. A bright and colorful realm appeared in front of his eyes. He wondered what ring this was supposed to be, but his question would soon be answered as a voice came over the speaker.
"THANK YOU FOR RIDING, WELCOME TO THE GLUTTONY RING."
(For those who follow my twitter, or my X account, I said some things about why this took so long to get out. But for those who don't, I wanted to explain why this chapter took as long as it did and why it seems like some of the chapters recently have been taking a while to get out. There are certainly a few factors that have caused this.
One being that I am busy with things such as college and work and other things as well. It felt like I had more time when I first started writing this story compared to some of the time I have now.
The other reason, and this one is kind of a big one, is that my want to write lately has been pretty bad. When I first wrote my first story, Extermination, I felt like writing every day. It felt like I could come up with ideas for chapters really quick and get chapters out at a pretty good rate compared to this story. Now granted, I have moved to writing longer chapters in this story than I did in Extermination, so they do take longer to write. But still, it feels like it's gotten harder for me to want to sit down and write for hours like I use to, and to be completely honest, if it wasn't for the support and all the messages you all have been sending me about wanting to see more, and really wanting this story to continue, I probably would have just disbanded the story and left it where it was.
But I know as someone who use to read fanfics that I always thought it sucked when a story I really liked and wanted to see end never got an ending and was discontinued. I don't want that to happen with this story and I want it to be a personal goal of mine to see this story to it's completion.
Now, do I think that my will to write will be really low for the rest of this story? No, I don't think so. A good thing is I do officially have the ending to this story planned out, and there are exciting moments that will come down the road in this story that I can't wait for you all to read. I think just for now, I'm kind of at a "filler" part of this story where I'm just trying to fill gaps to lead up to those moments, and because of that, makes it harder for me to come up with new ideas of what to write about. So I am sorry for the wait between these chapters lately, and I really hope I can fix that. Please bear with me for now.
That is all I have for now. I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and I will see you all in chapter 34)