AN: Welcome back readers! I can't believe it took me this long to get back to the main series. I suppose I was having too much fun with the high-level dealmaker jobs. Well, no time like the present, right? Thanks to my fantastic followers and favorites, I'll give another call out soon enough! Enjoy the read!
Chapter 34: Visit to the porn studio
"Show-and-Tell Day" started off well enough. Charlie showed off her book that told the story of her parents and Hell's creation and how it helped give her hope that Exterminations would soon be a thing of the past. She then gave the group a rendition of the tale, with the beautiful projections and all. Niffty was next with an assemblage of dead mice she had caught, pinned up, and mounted like a butterfly board. Everyone sat in disturbed silence as she spoke passionately of her favorite specimens and how she amassed her collection. After she finished her speech with a fit of crazed giggles, Angel got up proudly and put a tape into the television for the crowd to watch before returning to the couch and laid his legs on Taylor's lap.
The movie started off with the scenario of Angel tied to a chair being threatened with a knife by his captor. When Angel refused to comply with his aggressor's demands, the kidnapper ripped off his clothes and started going at it with Angel in what turned out to be an amateur porn film. Almost everyone shrank back in disgust at the brutality shown on screen, with the exception of Niffty, who was laying on her stomach enjoying the show. Taylor felt like they were witnessing a highway crash; they were horrified at what they were seeing, but couldn't look away.
It wasn't like Taylor hadn't seen Angel's work before; while Angel largely kept his flirtations centered on Husk, on occasion he would trick Taylor into watching his videos to try to get them "hot and bothered" enough to cash in their freebie, to no success. But this was a whole other level of savagery on display.
Angel chimed in smugly.
"You know, this performance won me a 'Sex-x-xi' award!"
Charlie, despite being thoroughly creeped out, replied in a shaky voice to give positive feedback.
"It's, uh… very… honest? … Oh." She turned away from the screen, looking green behind the gills as she shielded her eyes with her hand.
On screen, Angel started moaning in the background as the film continued. Vaggie, arms crossed and looking annoyed, offered her two cents flatly.
"Ew."
Charlie tried to watch through her fingers, only to turn away again and cover her mouth to stifle the urge to vomit. Vaggie saw her girlfriend's distress and got up to block Charlie's view with her arm. She turned to Angel with a hostile look.
"Angel, what the fuck?"
Angel shrugged innocently.
"What? You said it was 'Show-and-Tell' day. I'm showin' you my best film, and I'm telling' you that it scored me a win over that bitch, Tiffany Titfucker." He scowled and grabbed his chest fluff at the mention of actress. He glanced over at Taylor, gaze still stuck on the screen in muted shock and grinned lewdly.
"Like what ya see Fuoco? Did I just find out what ya kink is?"
The spell was broken with that comment, with Taylor blushing and turning to look at Angel in horror.
"Fuck no!"
Angel sniggered at their lively response as Husk commented boredly from the bar space while cleaning a wine glass.
"Ya know, not a very convincing interrogation screen."
Angel bolted up angrily and forced a laugh.
"Alright dickhead. What makes you think you have any right to insult my work to my fuckin' face?"
Husk rolled his eyes and he replied plainly to Angel.
"You really gonna sit there and act like these scripts aren't hot garbage?"
Angel gasped in shock as he indicated to the screen with two arms.
"Fuck you. This is classy art!"
Taylor put a hand in the direction of the screen to keep their focus off the content as they heard on screen Angel yell, followed by a slap and what sounded like a bite. They glanced over to see Sir Pentious covering his eyes while Niffty kicked her feet back and forth as she smiled intently.
Husk walked over to the parlor with a bottle and gave a sardonic scoff before he retorted.
"That's bullshit. You get drunk and bitch about them all the time. Everyone likes to bitch to the bartender. I know we there is about you and these motherfuckers at this point."
Husk pointed to Sir Pentious.
"That one. That one is an insecure buffoon whose lonely ass watches you idiots sleep!"
'So much for keeping that under wraps.' Taylor
thought with dread as the cobra demon shrank back in his chair in shame.
Husk pointed to Charlie before putting a hand over his heart.
"Princess, is a bleeding heart who wants to solve everybody else's problems 'cept her own."
Charlie startled at the accuracy, but tried to save face as Vaggie stared at her silently.
"What? No, I—what? Pffff, no, no."
Husk indicated to Vaggie, who turned her attention from Charlie to growl at Husk under her breath.
"This one judges everyone and everything because she hates herself."
Vaggie frowned and groaned in irritation. Husk pointed to Taylor, who braced for a lashing.
"That one plays up being calm and normal, but I can tell they got some serious skeletons in their closet that would suggest otherwise."
Taylor hadn't expected the winged cat demon to be so astute, which made them uneasy.
'Nothing gets past that one.' they mused worriedly. They quickly recouped and shot back.
"Hey! I am calm and normal, as far as normal is down here."
Husk quirked an eyebrow before shrugging. He indicated to Niffty, who smiled mischievously at their mention, followed by shivering slightly as he spoke distastefully.
"And Niffty? Heh… You don't even want to know what her deal is."
Husk took a swig of his liquor bottle as Angel laughed hysterically and kicked his legs. Taylor shoved the swinging appendages away before they could hit them in the face.
"You weren't kidding! Oh ho, wow!"
He got up and stared amusedly at Vaggie and Taylor's frowning and uncomfortable faces, respectively, before clambering over the fire demon and perching himself on the couch's arm. Taylor moved to the other side of the couch to get some space. He turned to Husk and gestured claws with his hands while smiling flirtatiously.
"Kitten's got claws!"
Husk's eyes widened and his eyebrows raised at the comment, spurring Angel on. The spider demon placed his hand under Husk's chin and turned his head to face him as he moved in close and purred sexily.
"Meow!"
Husk suddenly shoved Angel away angrily, nearly knocking the spider to the floor before he caught himself as his eyes widened and his eyebrows raised in surprise. Husk pointed angrily at Angel.
"And you!" He scoffed. "Don't get me started. I see right through you and all this bullshit and how fake you are."
Angel laughed sarcastically as he stood up and leaned over to be eye level with Husk.
"Oh ho ho, me? Fake? Wow, I had no idea. Guess that's why I'm an actor dumbass. And-"
Angel's phone vibrated and rang, interrupting him. "Hold that thought." He moved out of the parlor as he answered the call.
"Hello? Uh, yeah, I'm-I'm…" Taylor's ears caught the fearful tone and they turned their head. "No, no, I just, I…" Angel looked back at the group nervously. "No, I-I'm not…But, uh… yeah. I'll be right there." He hung up the phone and started edgily making his way to the front door.
"Well, uh…looks like Val needs me for an…uh—emergency shoot."
Husk rolled his eyes.
"Uh-huh, sure."
Angel turned around and spoke angrily.
"You know what? Fuck you. I don't give a shit what some drunk ass bartender thinks a' me." He pulled some pink shades from his chest fluff. "So why don't you just crawl back to whatever cave you came from, porn critic."
He flipped the cat demon off as he continued heading to the doors as Husk growled and glared daggers. Charlie sprinted after Angel worriedly and grabbed his hands to lead him back to the lobby.
"Angel, you can't leave yet. We haven't finished our exercises for the day."
Angel disengaged and continued their march to the door before he grabbed the handle and opened the door.
"I'm sure you'll manage without me."
Charlie sprinted to the door and closed it with her back to block him from leaving. Hearing the commotion, Taylor got up and hastily joined them at the door.
"Charlie, it'll be fine. We can postpone the activities until Angel gets back." Taylor said gently as they tried to soothe the agitated demoness.
"There isn't much time left for the hotel to prove itself!" Charlie said pleadingly to Angel.
The spider demon facepalmed as he tried to keep calm. He removed his shades and put a hand on Charlie's shoulder as he spoke truthfully.
"Dollface, it's my job. I know you want to fix everything, but unless you can fix my boss, there's nothing you can do."
He moved Charlie out of the way as he opened the door. He nodded to Taylor quickly before he put his shades back on and slammed the door shut and left. Charlie frowned and slumped to the ground in exasperation. Taylor knelt down to console her.
"Uuugh, why is this so hard? What am I doing wrong?" Charlie bemoaned.
"Nothing Charlie. It's just as he said, work just got in the way. We can continue without him and when he gets back, I'll sit in on a make-up class with you and him." Taylor offered with a smile.
Charlie gave another frustrated sigh as Vaggie wandered over.
"Well, I mean…you are theprincess of Hell."
Charlie looked up at Vaggie confusedly.
"So?"
"So… you don't really use the power that comes with that. Which I love about you, but maybe you can… I don't know, command a little more…authority?" Vaggie encouraged.
Charlie whined.
"But that's so meeean!"
Vaggie chuckled as she tried to spin the idea around.
"It's not mean, exactly. It's… uh, aggressive kindness."
Charlie perked up to the rephrasing, but Taylor didn't like where this was headed. Charlie stood up energetically.
"Okay…I could be so aggressively kind to Angel's boss…That I can convince him to let Angel spend more time at the hotel!"
Vaggie smiled as she walked away, satisfied.
"Sure, whatever gets you there, babe."
Taylor knew this was an awful plan. Charlie had no idea of Valentino's cruelty and how it would affect Angel. Charlie started to call out for Razzle and Dazzle, but they grabbed the blonde demoness by the shoulders and spoke seriously.
"Charlie, this is a really bad idea. You don't know Valentino, if you meddle in his affairs, he will take it out on Angel. He isn't someone to take lightly."
Charlie tilted her head confusedly.
"How would you know? Have you met Angel's boss?"
Taylor flinched back and let go of Charlie as they rubbed their neck to cover their slip of the tongue.
"Well, no, I've never had the displeasure." They lied.
"Then we won't know until we try! Vaggie's right, I need to assert myself more and it'll help Angel in the long run." She proclaimed proudly.
Taylor groaned in defeat.
'Sorry Angel, I tried.' they apologized to their friend in their head. They took a breath before they answered.
"Then I'm going with you."
"Really? That's great! Let's get going then! Razzle, Dazzle, the limo please!"
Taylor clenched their jaw as they headed out with Charlie. They really didn't want another encounter with the moth Overlord so soon, but their hands were tied.
Taylor and Charlie sat in the limo as they made their way to the Vees porn studio. Taylor watched the lights go by as they gazed out the window and contemplated how to go about damage control with Charlie for Angel's sake. They heard Charlie clear their throat and they looked over to the worried looking demoness.
"Taylor?"
"Yeah?"
"About what Husk said earlier, about you having skeletons in your closet. Is that true?" She asked carefully.
They looked back out the window quickly and spoke in a casual tone as their heart rate began climbing.
"Everyone has secrets, Charlie."
She scoffed.
"Nonsense! I don't have any secrets. Neither does Vaggie, we tell each other everything!"
"Then you two are better off than the rest of us." They said dispassionately.
She took a deep breath before continuing.
"If you were in trouble, you'd tell me, wouldn't you?"
Taylor looked over in surprise.
"Where is this coming from?" They asked confusedly.
Her eyes darted around as she hesitated.
"Are you under contract with someone? Like Husk and Niffty are?" She blurted out.
Taylor stared at her for a moment to process the outburst before they felt their mark burn. Their patron's tuneful voice rang out in their head.
"I forbid you from telling anyone about our arrangement. If asked, deflect or lie."
'I know! I know! Relax!' they told the mark in their mind.
They winced slightly as the burning subsided before they replied firmly.
"No, I'm not under contract. Vaggie told me on my first night not to get tangled up with deals, and I haven't."
Charlie gave a disappointed look and seemed ready to say something more before she saw the studio come into view. She perked up as she pumped herself up for the task at hand.
"There it is! Now to talk to Angel's boss and get him back in time to finish up the day's activities!"
Despite the guilt they felt for lying to Charlie, they were relieved that she didn't press the issue further. Taylor gazed at the pink towering studio with trepidation. As they stepped out of the limo, Taylor put on a pair of blue-tinted shades they were gifted to obscure their yellow eyes.
'Let's get this over with.' they said pessimistically.
The two demons traveled up the elevator with Charlie oohing and awing at the gaudiness of the building decor. As it turned out, being the princess of Hell saved you from having to have an appointment to see anyone, so they just went right in without issue. They reached their floor and heard muffled raunchy music playing in the hallway as they made their way to the door specified by the receptionist. Charlie creaked the door open as the two entered the room and looked around.
The round room had a soft pink light cast over it with several white arches along the walls with purple and white stylized doors under each arch with plant vines draped down in between the tastefully. In the center back of the room was a stage with purple and pink shag carpet and a king-sized bed with the same color scheme. There were several cameras pointed at the stage, with demons either sitting in chairs or manning the equipment. Taylor spied the back of the moth Overlord they tangled with two nights ago, making them shiver a bit. They noticed Charlie wander away in awe before they spotted an undressed and panic-stricken Angel staring at them from around one of the beastly looking dog demons that surrounded him.
Shifting their focus back to Charlie, Taylor tried to grab her to keep her away from obstacles, only for the blonde demoness to just slip out of their reach. Charlie blushed as she nearly ran into a female Hellhound that just removed her bra and turned crimson as another actor got slathered in mud. When Taylor finally caught up to Charlie, a frightened looking Angel in a robe had arrived and grabbed Charlie's hands to move her out of the studio.
"What in the ever-loving fuck are you two doing here?" He said distressingly.
Charlie spoke in an exaggerated low voice that sounded pretentious.
"I am the Princess of Hell, Angel. And I go where I please!" She giggled at the theatrics and whispered in her usual voice. "I'm here to get you some time off for the hotel." Her eyes darted around as she scanned the surroundings. "Now, where's your boss?"
Taylor interjected worriedly as she started to walk away.
"Charlie, can't you see how you're making Angel uncomfortable? We need to forget the plan and go!"
Angel gently but firmly grabbed her hand and pulled her away again as Taylor blocked her from going forward.
"Oh no, no, no, no, no, no. You are going nowhere near Val— "
They all heard the accented voice of Valentino pipe up from behind them.
"Angel! What is the fucking hold up?"
"I'm coming!" Angel responded, panicking.
"Not off-camera, you're not!" Valentino replied.
The two continued pushing a protesting Charlie out toward the door and opened it as they both stood there. Angel spoke quickly and voice full of terror.
"Please, please, just wait, wait until I'm done working and we'll talk about this, I promise. But first you gotta go!"
Before Taylor could drag Charlie away, they heard Valentino come up behind Angel, who flinched when he realized it was too late.
"Aaaah, your Majesty!" Valentino greeted warmly.
"Oh, shit." said Angel and Taylor at once.
The moth Overlord walked over to the trio.
"Welcome to my humble sex dungeon." He pushed Angel behind him as he bent down to get closer to Charlie. Taylor snarled protectively and made to stand in front to block the taller demon only to be pushed aside by another set of arms. Valentino took Charlie's arm and pulled up the sleeve.
"What can I do for such a— " he lustfully licked Charlie's arm and slurped, leaving behind a trail of red saliva.
Charlie looked revolted as she responded quietly before Valentino stood up.
"Ah, uh, no, thank you."
Both Angel and Taylor looked disgusted as the Overlord smacked his lips and continued.
"Mm! Lovely specimen! You don't want a role, do you? Because I can make you a star, make us both richer than, well, your papito—"
Charlie flinched and backed away in shock and disgust.
"Fuck noooo!" She quickly collected herself when she noticed Valentino looked offended. "Uh, I-I'm sorry, I have come to aggressively, kindly speak with you about Angel."
Valentino flinched at the information before he narrowed his eyes and raised an eyebrow in suspicion. They both saw Angel gesture to Charlie to stop from behind Valentino. She smiled and tried to be diplomatic.
"Later of course! I wouldn't want to stand in the way of your work."
Valentino snapped his head to the side to peer over his shoulder at Angel angrily, making the spider demon blanch. He swung back to Charlie and answered with a forced jovial tone.
"Well then, make yourself comfortable, Your Majesty, and enjoy the show."
He stood up stiffly and noticed the fire demon glaring at him beside the princess. Taylor had donned a button up shirt with a tight-fitted waistcoat and slacks, along with their blue-tinted shades. Valentino smiled and greeted them curiously.
"And who are you? A bodyguard or something?" He looked them up and down appreciatively. "With that face and those muscles, you'd be quite popular among the female demographic. Heck, even the men might be into it, under the right circumstances!" He smiled lecherously as he lifted his cigarette to his lips. "What do you say, would you like a job?"
Taylor growled as they willed the fire in the cigarette to go out. Valentino inhaled, but glanced in confusion at his holder when nothing happened. Taylor responded curtly.
"No, thank you. I'm happy where I am."
Valentino narrowed his eyes as he looked insulted at the refusal. He scoffed before he turned back to the film crew and moved to his chair.
"Well, let's take this shit from the top!"
Taylor sighed as they and Charlie moved over to observe the filming. Another demon laughed nervously before he called out to the crew.
"Action!"
As Angel began speaking his lines, Charlie started loudly whispering about trust exercises to a nearby cameraman. Taylor tried to shush her, but she ended up distracting Angel and the actors on set. Valentino shouted back, exasperated at the delay.
"Cut! What the fuck is going on with this?"
Charlie realized her mistake and answered apologetically.
"Ooh! I'm sorry. Were we too loud? I was just telling him about the Hazbin Hotel."
Valentino snapped on an overly wide smile to hide his irritation and spoke in a clipped happy tone of voice.
"Not at all, Princess!" He glared angrily at Angel, causing the spider to shrink back. "It doesn't bother me one bit."
'This is getting serious. I need to be more forceful with her.' Taylor decided.
Charlie made to move forward, but Taylor gripped her shoulder and shook their head in warning for her to stop. Charlie shrugged their hand off in irritation and took some steps as she cut in.
"You know, this scene feels awfully violent. If you want help with the script, maybe I can pitch some scenarios that are more whole— woah!"
Charlie cried out as she tripped over a cable, causing electricity to crackle. She scrambled as she picked herself up. "Okay. Okay, Ah, ah, okay." She said nervously. She tried to crouch down to fix it, but Taylor pulled her back as the cables and wires start throwing sparks and catching fire. "That's on fire. That-that, that's on fire." She replied in a panic.
Taylor grimaced as they started putting the fires out with a wave of the hand, but more sparks kept coming and started new fires as quickly as they put them out. Charlie panicked as she tried to help. Soon the room was covered in fire with the crew screaming and running around. Taylor and Charlie worked together to put out the flames. "Oh, god. Okay uh do you have any-" Charlie called out anxiously. The two were too busy to notice Valentino glaring menacingly at a trembling Angel on the bed.
Charlie took off her suit jacket as she tried to put out another fire, to no avail as more screaming ensued around them. Taylor grabbed at Charlie's arm to stop her.
"Don't fan the flames, Charlie. Just let me take care of it!" They said forcefully as they continued putting out the fires as quickly as they could. Charlie shrank back as she started to spiral and apologize.
"I am so sorry. I ruined your movie. I ruined your movie. Oh, my God. I'm sorry, I'm sorry. I'm s-s-s-s-s-sorry! Noooooo!"
Taylor glanced over and saw a mortified Angel shaking on the bed staring at a murderous looking Valentino. They took a deep breath and put both arms out and focused. All the flames separated from their fuel sources and sputtered out at once as they smothered the sparking wire that started it all with their foot. Taylor wiped their brow of sweat before they glanced at a livid looking Valentino staring back at them.
Angel put on his robe ran up to them hastily. Charlie looked around and the destruction and continued apologizing.
"Oh, my gosh, I am so, so, so, so sorry. I- I can clean this up. I- I can-"
Valentino slapped on the forced smile again as he walked up to Charlie. He regarded Taylor stiffly for a moment before he bent over to be at eye level to the demoness. He spoke cheerfully through gritted teeth.
"Don't you worry your pretty blonde head about it. Your bodyguard did a good job with the fires and we have people to handle clean up." He stood up stiffly and addressed Angel with an edge to his voice. "Angel... can I see you in your dressing room for a moment?"
Charlie reached out with concern to Angel, but he ran off to join Valentino in the dressing room just as Taylor gripped her arm and turned her around. They shook her gently to emphasize the point.
"Charlie, enough. Please stop." They pleaded.
Charlie pulled away worriedly as she looked toward the dressing room. They both jumped as they heard crashes and sounds of things falling behind the door, making both demons uneasy. Taylor then heard the clinking of chains nearby, making them gnash their teeth as they knew it was Angel's. They grabbed Charlie's jacket from the floor and held it out for Charlie to put on. She complied while staring at the dressing room door with concern.
Suddenly Valentino walked out of the room holding Angel by the collar of his robe and threw him forward against the bed. Taylor leveled a death glare at Valentino, who just smiled wickedly at them. Angel just managed to catch himself as Charlie's jaw dropped and her eyes turned red in outrage at Angel's black eye. She turned to Valentino as he was redirecting the staff back to their posts.
"Get your asses back on set! We are taking this from the top!" He shouted as he ignored Charlie.
Charlie furiously walked toward Valentino as her horns appeared and her hair began to float in rage.
"What makes you think you can treat him like that?!" She seethed in her deep demonic voice.
Valentino stared back smugly as Charlie approached. Angel then rushed to stand between them and she stopped confusedly.
"Charlie! Just stop!" He said forcefully.
"Angel, what are you talking ab—"
"Charlie, leave!"
"But—"
"I didn't want you to come here." He huffed in exasperation. "I already asked you to leave and you didn't listen. You made things worse!" He explained angrily.
Charlie began to tear up as she reverted back to her normal form.
"I just wanted to help you." She said quietly.
"Well, you ain't! You actually want to help me? Get the fuck out of here! Right now, and let me finish my work." He spat furiously. He looked to Taylor angrily. "Fuoco, get her out of here, now! Drag her out if you have to, I don't care!"
Taylor ignored the anger in his voice and nodded. They grabbed Charlie by the shoulders, leading her away as she started to sob and continued to apologize.
"I... I didn't… mean to! I... I'm... I'm so sorry."
Taylor got her to the door and glowered at a self-satisfied Valentino staring back at them. In their fury, Taylor focused their gaze and forced the heat of the entire room into him in an instant. The last thing they saw as they closed the door was Valentino turn around, stumble over a chair, and fall flat on his face. They grinned as they made their way down the hallway with a heart-broken Charlie beside them.
.