Nothing to say this time. Except we may be uploading chapters slowly due to personal lives getting in the way. For that, we're gonna make a two-week schedule update.

A Hunter's Guide for Running a Hotel

XVI

Trust is Earned

Eighty-Five Days until the Next Extermination

Charlie patiently waited outside of the Hunter's room for today's activity. Everyone was waiting for the both of them, but that wasn't the reason she was here. She wanted to check up on him to be sure if he was alright from yesterday. He had let out a lot of tears after she had given him her promise of helping him, and she comforted him by hugging him tightly (While Vaggie was jealous about this, the Princess informed her that it was alright by giving her a bit more than a hug that same night). After he had stopped, he thanked her, then went to his room for the night. She hoped that it had helped, even a little. Charlie was a girl of her word after all, and she'd be damned (could you damn a demon further? Better not find out) if she went back on it.

Clearing her throat, she announced her presence with a gentle wakeup of lightly tapping on his door, then stepped back.

A couple of minutes had passed before she heard noises in the Hunter's room. Straightening up, she heard the doorknob twisting and it soon opened. The Hunter exited the room, but she noticed that his eyes were red, and his hair was messy. "Hunter, are you…okay?"

The Hunter drew in a deep breath, one that seemed to rattle his very soul. It seems last night had shaken him further than he'd want to admit. Then he let it out, a bit more controlled and forceful.

"I…I am fine Miss Morningstar. Thank you for…being there for me. It means a great deal more than you could ever know." The Hunter had a slight wobble to his voice, but he seemed to sober up slightly as he finished. Drawing himself higher, he adjusted his hat, patted his cheeks, then turned and nodded to her. "Shall we be off then?"

Charlie nodded back, then walked to the stairwell with him, trying to spark up idle chat on the way. It was evident the Hunter was at least trying to converse back, but he was so woefully out of date it was surreal. He didn't have a Sinstagram account, and he didn't have one because he didn't have a phone, he didn't have a phone because he didn't know what it was, and the most modern piece of tech he owned was a telegraph! Where had he even found one in Hell!?

While it was an odd conversation, it soon ended when the pair reached the lobby, where the others were (impatiently) waiting. Pentious was nowhere to be seen, Niffty was juggling knives, and Angel was busy flirting with Husk (which pissed him off and drank a cup of ethanol-laced coffee). Vaggie, who was watching over the guests and staff, turned to the two. Seeing them caused her to cross her arms. "Well, you two took your time." She shifted her gaze at the Hunter. "You better participate, Hunter. Don't forget, you're one of us, now."

"Aye," He responded. His ears caught someone hiding under the couch. He caught the top of Pentious's head peeking out and was akin to a scared cat, hiding under the first thing it could. "Hey, come on now. There's no need to be afraid."

"A-Asssssss-ssss if, Mister Hunter," The snake demon hissed at the Hunter. "I am not going to invoke your wrath!"

"You won't," He tried to assure the Snake Sinner. He had had a hard time resisting the urge to rip those extra eyes off -he still did-, but Charlie won't like it. He refused to act out of instinct. Seeing the fruits of his unintentional labor caused him to look at the Princess. "It will take a while to get him to trust me, but I will do it nonetheless." Charlie nodded, happy that he had already made progress in mending his relationship with Pentious.

-Scene Change-

After getting the Snake Sinner out from underneath the couch, he stood with the others in front of a stage (that was set up earlier before Charlie checked if the Hunter had died in his sleep.) Speaking of the devil, he was a fair distance detached, for the sake of Pentious. Right now, he was watching the Princess in front of the stage. "Hi, guys. Thanks for coming! It's been brought to our attention that there may be some tension in the hotel."

While this was happening, there was blatant hatred among the group. Angel Dusk attempted to kiss Husk, who shoved a rather foul-smelling sock in his place. While Angel was gagging his guts up, Sir Pentious' paranoia snapped, and he grabbed Niffty with his tail with his ray gun leveled at her head. He was about to shoot her but froze once he realized he was doing this in front of the Hunter, who was glaring (attempting a placid stare) directly at him. This made him feel like a deer in headlights, which Vaggie used to confiscate his weapon. "Tension that can be counterproductive to what we're trying to do here."

"We think that this group could really benefit from…" Charlie announced as she and Vaggie jumped off the stage. "Trust exercises."

"Trust exercises." Her girlfriend spoke with heavy sarcasm before realizing she was about to fall. "Ah, shit!" She slammed face first onto the ground while Charlie landed on both of her feet.

"Vaggie," Charlie called out to her, pulling her up before facing her. "We rehearsed this." She let out a sigh before looking back at everyone. "We're doing trust exercises!"

"So, what's with the whole, uhh, this?" Husk asked as he gestured to the stage behind the two girls, Angel having recovered from his attempted gassing. "I'm not about to put on some show for these fucking chumps."

"Oh, I will!" Angel spoke as he put his feet on Husk's legs. "But it's cash up front, and I know that one can't afford me."

He gestured his fingers towards Pentious, causing him to retort in disgust. "Gross! I'd never think of it, spider!" At the same time, the Hunter disapprovingly shook his head at this statement. While not caring of one's own desires, the Hunter had a different reason. Whatever form the Spider chose, he could not see, so he felt nothing when looking down at that thing.

"Right… Well, let's get started." Vaggie spoke with a fair amount of strain in her voice before looking at her girlfriend. "Charlie?"

"I thought maybe you could take the lead on this one." Her girlfriend spoke to her. "I trust everyone, so maybe you know better how to build it properly!" She then walks over to Angel, Husk, Niffty, Pentious, and the Hunter before standing next to them.

Vaggie needed clarification on that. "What? Uhh, I don't know if I'm qualified, uh..."

"Oh, come on. It'll be easy! I'm sure you can handle this." Charlie said to her girlfriend with assurance.

"Yeah, um…" She looked to the others, who looked back with bland indifference. "Sure, I can handle this. No problem."

She took in a deep breath before walking down to the stage and spoke in a drill sergeant tone. "All right, look at me!", she said, stamping her foot down. Even having never been in any form of military, sans the Hunter, all of the present Sinners immediately snapped to attention, standing in a perfect line formation. "We are starting with trust falls! Each of you will share something vulnerable about yourself with the group, then fall backwards while the rest of the group catches you." As Vaggie explained this, she was pacing in front of the assembled people, causing each to tense up when she was in front of them, as if fearful of being singled out. Even the Hunter wasn't spared, his body language screaming in fear as sweat broke out on his face. When she reached the end, she turned and stepped towards the center, then faced the group. "Got it? Who wants to go first?" This broke the spell that she seemed to hold on them, as each member slumped or stretched out, wary of the hold she had on them.

In truth, it had been the Hunter's fault for this. His uncle used to be a sergeant in the army, and was particularly harsh when it came to discipline. When she had given that command, it was like he was fifteen again, hoping against hope that uncle wouldn't find even a hair out of place, or he'd have to run laps against the dogs. That memory had bled to the other Sinners, infecting their thoughts with the same fear and tension that he had felt, all those summers ago.

In the real world, Charlie raised her hand up in the air and placed her hands on her girlfriend. "Ooh, ooh, me me me! Me! Me! Me!"

Vaggie had a deep, internal sigh, completely expecting this. "All right, get on up here." She immediately spoke to her, making the Princess of Hell walk past her onto the stage.

Once on the platform, she looked at everyone else with a cheerful expression. "I, I love you guys. Like, really, really love you." She proceeds to fall backwards in hopes that she will be caught by a particular person.

As she did, someone else had caught her instead. Charlie looked up to see what should have been her girlfriend, but was surprised by who had caught her in a hold that seemed practiced beyond measure (and it was, due to the many times he had had to catch a fellow Hunter that was unfortunate enough to have flung by the claws or jaws of a Beast. They were always bleeding badly, so it was best not to jostle them). "Hunter?"

"Are you alright, Miss Morningstar?" He asked.

"I-I'm fine, thank you." The Princess spoke, flustered at the fact she felt the Hunter's muscled hands under his leather gloves on her back. He was strong for some(thing?)one of his size, not even straining to carry her.

"Hunter…" Vaggie spoke in a stern tone upon seeing him carry her girlfriend. 'It should have been me! I was supposed to be there, I was supposed to be under her, damn you for being so fast!' While Vaggie internally seethed, the Hunter gently placed Charlie onto the ground.

The mentioned individual looked at her. "Yeah. You said something about everyone doing the catching after revealing something vulnerable."

Charlie thought it was sweet that he had actually attempted, unlike the others (Angel was on his phone again, Husk was wistfully glancing at his bar, and Niffty was staring into thin air and giggling at something no one else heard.)

Seeing this (admittedly gushy) sight caused Vaggie to get unnerved by it and separated the two. "Alright, I think that's enough."

"But Vaggie, that felt good!" Her girlfriend cheered in excitement before turning to look at another person. "Angel, why don't you go next?"

"Fiiiiiiinnnnneeeee…" He groaned as he walked onto the stage.

"This time, everyone needs to catch him, okay? Unless you want me to hurt you." Vaggie warned as she took out her spear as a means of discipline for the others to come closer to the stage, which they eventually did.

Once the porn star got on set, he was pondering what to say. "Somethin' about myself, huh?" An idea popped into his mind. "How about this? I LOVE to suck—"

"I swear to fuck if you say dicks!" Husk said as he threateningly pointed at Angel.

"Popsicles, ya sicko! Get your mind outta the gutter!" Angel assured before falling down from the stage and got caught by the bartender. He looked up at him once he was in the other man's arms. "But, you know, dicks too!" And that made Husk drop him. As his turn was over, he looked at the snake-like demon. While rubbing his back. "All right, new guy, you're up."

The room suddenly became dark, and everyone turned to the stage. They saw a spotlight shone over Sir Pentious as he put a hand over his shoulder. "I... don't want to live without my minions. Nobody will catch me!" He proceeds to fall backwards, where he is eventually caught by Charlie, and Vaggie. The Hunter had decided not to, because he didn't know how the Snake would react if he was suddenly grabbed by him. This caused him to cuss out. "Damnit!"

"That's great," Vaggie said in appreciation until she felt his skin. "Wow, you are slimy." She then dropped him, which he used to slither back to safety, away from the Hunter. Now that most of them have done their part, only three remain. Vaggie then turned to look at the smallest of the bunch. "Okay, good job. Uh, Niffty?"

Said the girl, immediately running to the stage while manically giggling before putting her hands behind her back and revealing something about her. "Sometimes, I kill mother-bugs in front of their children as a warning to others!"

Just hearing this caused the others to get unsettled by this sadistic comment she made. Niffty then flung herself off of the stage. However, the others actively moved out of the way to let her hit the ground. Well, nearly everyone.

The Hunter, while mildly wary of Niffty's tendencies, was not heartless, so he attempted to catch her. Attempted, because instead of landing safely in his arms, she slammed into his chest hard enough for the whole room to hear her bones creak. She then slid down his front like a bug on a windshield, then splattered against the ground. This managed to disturb even the Hunter, who took a step back to assess her well-being.

Niffty seemed to take great pleasure in this and raised her arms up in the air while cheering. "YAY, PAIN!"

"Alright uhh, Hunter! Your turn!" Charlie played a rapid-fire game of Eenie Meenie Mynie Moe between Husk and the Hunter to decide who would go next.

The room seemed to drop a few degrees. All noise seemed to be muffled. Each person could only hear their own heartbeat, as the Hunter slowly ascended to the stage. Each Sinner could not lie to themselves, they were scared. The kind of vulnerability you'd find with someone- no something like him is the kind of secret that could make them disappear. Even if it wasn't some dark, terrible secret, it could instead be a confession to some heinous number of sins, the kind that get an Archangel sicced on you just for knowing it exists.

Whatever he would say, could be the end of them.

As he reached the top, he faced them, staring each of them in the eyes as he seemed to decide what dark deed to divulge.

'My beetle collection, or my addiction to the smell of fresh wax? My prized racing Pennyfarthing, or my knowledge of book-making? Oh, I have too many secrets for my own good!' Contrary to their beliefs, the Hunter was more vulnerable when it came to his personal hobbies and guilty pleasures rather than his time as a Hunter. A part of him that had survived Yharnam surprisingly intact, all things considered.

'Ah, that one shall do. Not too revealing, while also not too common.'

The Hunter cleared his throat.

The room froze, tension building and building until-

"I…I enjoy birdwatching."

Silence, shock, then confusion. That was it? That's what it was? Each of them began to breathe again, forgetting one crucial detail about this exercise. Each of them stiffened again as they heard a sound similar to creaking wood, and a whistling of displaced air. They all snapped their heads up, to see the Hunter coming down on them at a speed they wouldn't be able to react to.

An interesting thing about the Hunter is his weight. He has a lot of it. Muscle, his gear, and his status as something other than human made him weigh several hundred pounds, or roughly half a car. The same weight that was coming down at a non-negligible speed, onto the unprepared members of the Hazbin Hotel.

They could do nothing but prepare for the end. For Husk, he quickly made his last rites in his head, before wishing he had cracked into his secret stash beforehand. He recalled his damned bet with Alastor, and wondered if he preferred it end like this.

Niffty had, for a brief instant, regained enough sanity to realize that she was going to die. In all of her time here, she had never feared death, but it was here nonetheless. She made peace with this, then closed her eye to not see the end.

Angel almost swore off drugs in an attempt to get raptured, just to avoid dying in this way. This would be it for him. He wouldn't get to have sex again. No more drugs. He had enough time to shed a single tear, before the end came.

Pentious had never felt such fear before. It was like he was staring at his own ship, full of his Egg Bois, crashing down upon him in a final blaze of glory. He was dead, and it would be the monster's fault. In his final moments, he cursed the Hunter's very existence.

Charlie and Vaggie had stepped to the side beforehand, each knowing just how heavy he really was. The others could handle it, right?

They could not.

*THOOM*

The entire building shook from the force, and a few demons outside wondered what the fuck had happened, before going on with their day.

The Sinners were crushed underneath the Hunter. He was simply too heavy for them to carry, much less catch at the speed he was going at. Each one was almost flattened from the impact, but Pentious had been the farthest outside, and suffered the least amount of damage. That meant that only the lower half of his body was crushed, instead of fully. He was better off than the others, however.

The Hunter lied there for a moment or two, feeling the others weakly moving beneath him, as he felt the embarrassment of spilling his guts paint his cheeks.

'Oh the shame! I shan't tell another soul as long as I live!'

As he wallowed in his embarrassment, the Sinners regenerated enough to try and push the Hunter off of them, with varying results. Pentious successfully slithered out from under him, then went to a corner to ponder his mortality again. Angel Dust managed to get his upper half free and was now scrolling through his (somehow not cracked) phone. Husk had given up after the first few attempts and was just waiting for his lungs to unflatten so he could yell at the Hunter to get his fat ass off! Niffty, poor thing, was at the very epicenter, and was still crushed underneath him. She was, however, enjoying the pain she was feeling, her previous lucidity dust on the wind.

"Well uh, I think that was successful?" Charlie wasn't sure how to consider this, since yes, the Hunter had been caught, but not by choice. She'll just say it was good and move on. "Well then, onto the next exercise!" A chorus of groans answered her response.

Ten minutes later, they all got the Hunter off from them and were on their feet. During this time, Vaggie and Charlie had walked off to the side while the others were busy regaining feeling in their limbs. Charlie was doubtful now, because nothing had changed between the guests. "I don't know if this is working the way we hoped. Maybe we should—"

Her girlfriend stopped her from continuing as she had a different thought. "Honey, you have to trust me here. I got this, okay? I'll figure something out."

Then, a particular person wrapped his arms around their shoulders as he had something to say. "If you're in the market for some ideas, I've got just the thing for some 'trust buildin'," Angel spoke while adding air quotes at the end before looking at Vaggie.

The one eye-girl sighed as she had a bad feeling about this. "What do you have in mind?"

-Scene Change-

"Angel! What the actual FUCK?!" That comment couldn't convey the proper disgust Vaggie felt as she, her lover, and Angel stood in the main entrance in an 'interesting' room. A dungeon, where people were dressed up as torturers and were doing some things deemed uncomfortable for the sane.

"No activity requires more trust than BDSM, baby." The porn star informed her, as she made a disapproving expression before he made kinky moves with a pink fluffy handcuff with his other pair of arms, making Vaggie curl her lips in disgust. "No bond stronger than those formed through bondage!" Angel gestured a hand towards himself. "That's their motto!" He pointed at a poster, which actually did read that.

Charlie showed some excitement at her guest's suggestion. "Angel, love the enthusiasm. But…" She looked around to see a demon pulling on the leash on another demon, making her very uncomfortable, as displayed on her face. "Umm…uh…hmmm…"

Vaggie voiced her concern before she began to scold Angel for such an indecent recommendation. "What makes you think anyone would be into this?" They turned to where Husk was, where he received a message from a girl dressed in a Dominatrix outfit who purred in relaxation.

"You know, I, I don't hate this. "Husk admitted before letting out a chuckle.

Moments later, Niffty walked in donned in a black Dominatrix outfit, with red heels while carrying a cane with a heart as its handle. "I'm ready to punish some bad boys!" She lets out a giggle.

And this caused the bartender to regret what he said. "...Never mind, I-I'm out!" As he runs out, the maid lets out a sadistic grin.

Hunter, who stood near the door, buried his eyes underneath his gloved hand to prevent himself from seeing everything that was in the room full of depravity. The Pornstar looked at him and couldn't help but notice his reaction. "You okay, Hunter?"

"I'm…I am not comfortable being here." He admitted.

Angel just let out a laugh. "C'mon, Hunsty. Just because you're full of trauma doesn't mean you get to enjoy yourself." He was speaking from experiences with his Boss.

The Hunter uncovered one of his eyes and looked back at him. He wasn't particularly fond of that nickname he was given. He was about to open his mouth when Vaggie came into view while pushing Charlie. "I can't fucking believe I let you drag us here, Angel. This is disgusting." Once she got close, she crossed her arms over her chest.

"It's no big deal, Vaggie," Charlie assured as she looked at her girlfriend's face. "You know, maybe I can just help, uh—"

"No. I told you you could trust me, and I won't let you down." Vaggie told the Princess of Hell as she walked away from her. "I just need to teach them how I was taught..." The Hunter caught wind of the glint in her eye, and suspected what kind of "teaching" she would enact. It was a good thing none saw the Messengers handing him a weapon that wasn't made from Angelic Steel, which was slung onto his back. If he was correct, she would take them to a place where brawling occurs, to familiarize themselves with their fellow guest's fighting capabilities. He hoped she wouldn't drop them into a warzone, that would probably be bad for him.

-Scene Change-

Smoke.

Powder.

Ash.

Metal.

Blood.

The scents were familiar, as was the scene. A burning, bloody battlefield. Screams, fire, and gunfire so loud it was impossible to hear spoken words. So Vaggie shouted instead. "All right maggots! This is how I learned trust!" While Vaggie was yelling at the trembling Sinners, the Hunter was planning the next course of action as he looked over the perpetual twilight of Yharnam. He and a few others were on a roof, overlooking their hunting grounds. A large number of particularly vicious Beasts had taken to the streets of Yharnam, and he and a few others were tasked with slaughtering them. An Executioner, a Crow, and a Powder Keg were his compatriots for this Hunt. All greenhorns. A Church Hunter was briefing them on the Beasts present, but it was merely background noise to him. He had experience with these sorts of tasks, and was the most senior member of this Hunt. This would be the mission that these three would cut their teeth on, or die trying. Many died trying, but few under him. He heard a distant howl, and knew it was time. The Hunt was on.

Vaggie had chucked the Sinners in, and was going for the Hunter, when he suddenly burst forth, planting his foot on the edge of the roof to gain more distance, and flung himself to the next roof. Then the next, then the next. Until he jumped from the roof, directly onto a Huntsman of the mob, not noticing his assailant until his boots were crushing him into the pavement. A swipe to his right and a precise shot to his left cut down two more of the mob that stalked Yharnam. Even now, more were drawing closer, carrying more rifles than spears or torches. He could work with this however, seeing as he wasn't alone.

Angel, Husk and Pentious were ducking behind what meager cover they could find, when they heard one of the Sinners shooting at them suddenly cry out before being crushed under a lot of weight. Then a gurgle as another's front was cut open, then a scream as another was shot. The bullets weren't flying their way for now, so they poked their heads from behind cover, to see the Hunter cutting down another infected Yharnamite, this one afflicted with bulging muscles and many horns. A slash across the leg, a bullet in the wound, and a swipe aimed at the neck cut it down for good. Stepping back to assess the current fight, the greenhorns were keeping their distance from the rifles and pistols of the mob. Smart, if all they were doing was taking down this mob, which they weren't. They were here to slay Beasts, not butcher the townsfolk. "Come along! The Hunt is far from over!", the Hunter shouted, as he readied his pistol for another shot.

"That fucker's crazy! No way we can survive that meat grinder!" Husk, unfortunately, had to agree with Angel. While he had some power back in his day, it was always at a poker table, and with a marked deck of cards. Not in a battlefield with these two jokers.

"At leassssst he's clearing the way!" Pentious was correct, in that the Hunter was indeed clearing out another clump of Beasts. It seems they had finally found the main group of the scourge. With how much they screamed as they were being slaughtered, it was hard to disprove that these were once human. Not human enough, however, to warrant mercy. Behind the pleas for help and screams of agony, there were teeth and claws and ruined flesh and twisted skin and minds and souls. This was mercy.

Following the Hunter's trail of destruction was doing them better than hiding, so while Husk and Angel had each picked up a rifle and were carefully popping heads from a distance, Pentious was watching the Hunter. Something was wrong. He was reacting to things that weren't there, he was ignoring things that were real. He only reacted to the first bullet the Sinners fired, either dodging it entirely or blocking it with the blade of the weapon. Every other bullet he seemed content to let sail past him, or sink into him with no reaction. It's like he expected each Sinner to only fire once, and ignored the rest of the bullets that followed.

As the gears were turning in Pentious' head, the Hunter was glad that the greenhorns had finally stepped in properly. It seemed it took a little blood to flow before they had the confidence to join in themselves, and were each ripping a bounty of slaughter. The Executioner and the Crow were each tearing into their enemies, using their own rifles against them. While not a doctrine of Hunter combat, it was effective nonetheless, turning the tides of what could have been a hopeless battle. The Powder Keg, however, was just…staring at him. Watching. Waiting. 'Learning. He's learning what to do by watching me. Very well, I shall make it easier for him to follow.' He must have been stung by a few unseen rifles at some point, because he could feel the holes all across his body. Slamming a Blood Vial into his leg, he felt the holes close up, before turning to the next Beast in his path. A smaller one, with large teeth and bulging eyes. Blood ran down its face as it uttered noises in no tongue of man, as a mockery of human sorrow. "Pl̷̨̡̘̫̀̈̔͒̕͜͠ě̷͚͖̓̈̌͐͋aṣ̶̣̞͍͙͛̒̓̋͛̇ȩ̶̢͍̏ ̡̗̩̊͊d̶͓̝̆̈́̄͠͝ó̴̙̹̀͜n̷͙̱͍̭͋́̏̎'̶̨̥͕̯͔̓t̵̡̖͒̓̕͜͝ ̴̦͚̜̾̃f̵̮̈͂u̴̡̟̍̈̏̇̎͜͠ͅck̴̮̠͙͈̜̱̆̑̇į̷͕̓̂̀͋̋̕n̷̢̄̽͛g̶̛͎̳̣̓̇̐̇̌ ̵̩̈k̷̯̥͕̯̱͎̀̓̇͝î͕͓̠̱̣̒̿̑̓̏ḷ̵̱̊l̷̩̝̔̋̓͛̈͗ ̡̡̩̮̌̈́m̷̥͕̫͎̖͇̀̔̾́̐̍e̴̯̜̹͙͌͒̋͋̍̿!̷̻̘̜͔̓̋" It would be mercy indeed to end its tortured breath, a mimicry of sobbing. As he ended its fetid breath with a single sideways chop, he turned to the remaining Beasts that thought they had cornered him. The work was never done.

A while later

From one of the building's rooftops, a shark Sinner finally got a good angle on whatever monster had been tearing through them. He lined the sights up right to the head, only to realize something was wrong after a hole appeared in his. As he slumped forward off of the building, hitting the ground with a thud, a panting Spider crawled up from behind where he had been.

"*huff* *huff* Fucking…damnit! Why *huff* is he still *huff* going!?"

They (being the three fuckers tossed into the jaws of Hell) had been tailing him for the past half hour, and he hadn't slowed his pace once. He'd kept killing at the same speed, uncaring of the many wounds he had taken then seemingly shrugged off, chopping apart Sinner after Sinner. Somehow, none were dead, just in a lot of bloody bits, or in few bits but traumatized by whatever the fuck he had done. They had nearly lost his path, but they just followed the screams here. A courtyard of what used to be a fancy building, now smoking debris all around them.

There was blood. A lot of it. It painted every surface in sight. Floors, the chunks of concrete that were everywhere, the countless moaning bodies it had spurted from, and the Hunter himself. He was soaked in the shit, completely red when he used to wear black and brown. He wasn't responding to anything either. After tearing apart the last guy, a really big Bear Sinner, he had just stopped reacting to the world around him. His eyes were unfocused, staring straight ahead at some unseen target in the distance. Angel had even given his best strip show right in front of him, and he didn't even twitch.

So now he was waiting for the insensate fucker to boot up again before they could leave this dump. Husk and Pentious were a bit further back, one complaining of his age, the other about having to slither up some of the steeper debris. They'd catch up eventually so…he plopped on his ass and waited. Five seconds later, he was bored. Then five more seconds passed, and he decided he was too bored, and left to go take a shower.

Husk had already bailed on him, so Pentious was alone when he approached the Hunter. He had recognized the signs presented by the Hunter, having felt them himself during life, and for a while after death. Death by cannonball to the face was hard to forget after all, so it haunted him for a long time. Whatever the Hunter was facing, it was unfortunately familiar.

"Hunter! Are you well? The others are returning soon, will you join us?" This was a small probe, to see if he recognized him.

By the way the Hunter slowly turned his head to look at him, he guessed that he was halfway here, halfway there. The Powder Keg had finally arrived, meaning that all members of the Hunt were alive and accounted for. No new scars, no new wounds. Success by every margin. Yet, something was off. The Snake Powder Keg had called to him, asking him something, but it was muffled. As he turned to ask him to repeat, something else was wrong. The Snake Powder Keg suddenly had many more eyes than he should have. They seemed to exist in his very shadow, spilling out into the blood soaked concrete cobblestones of the ruined plaza wide road. As he stumbled back, fearful of the comrade in arms Beast he faced alone, it placated, begged hissed in a fearful slithery tone. "The Nightmare is over Hunter, you don't have to do thisss! fight it anymore. It'sss not real! Jussst give in. You led them to their deathsss, don't you remember?"

Oh how he did. He remembered how the Hunt had really gone that day. The Executioner, eager as all other members of their Covenant, forged ahead, plowing a bloody path through the horde with his wheel. The same horde that turned inwards, spearing him on a dozen different blades. The Crow, vengeful as the others of her kind, sought to reap her pounds of flesh from the mob that had slain her friend. She succeeded, but was unprepared for the Beast that had fallen from above, biting her upper torso off in one swift chomp. The Powder Keg had sacrificed himself, seeing death so close at hand. He had known that both of them would not survive, so he chose to save him. He had been the greenhorn then. His first ever task. And he had been the only survivor. From then on, there was not a single mission he had been on that had more than two Hunters survive.

And it was always his fault. He could have been better. He could have saved them. Even now, he could see them, taunting him with the faces of those he failed to save. Eileen. Arianna. Gilbert. Alfred. He would never know peace, so long as his sins weighed heavier than his heart.

Hunter! Charlie wouldn't want this!

Charlie

Charlie cared for him. Charlie forgave him. Charlie had promised that she would help him. She had hope in him.

There isss no hope

"I know there'sss a better tomorrow!"

You will never be forgiven

"But firssst, you have to forgive yourssself!"

It won't undo what you have done…

"You can't take back your sscarss, but you can heal from the pain!"

"Trussst me Hunter! I trussst in you!"

And then the Hunter awoke.

He was surrounded by the groaning, broken bodies of what must have been dozens of Sinners. They were all still alive, wishing they weren't. He was soaked in blood, and there were a lot of bullets under his skin. At some point in his delirious state, he had fallen backwards, away from the Snake. The same Snake that was standing before him, holding himself low enough that he could touch the Hunter, which he was. His left hand was on his shoulder, a grounding weight. His right was over his heart, a comforting pressure. His racing heart slowed, then steadied into a rhythmic bump-bump, drawing him back to the real world entirely.

Seeing he had returned from the dark place, Pentious raised himself to his full height. "Well, I ssuppossse that should do it. I know the painsss that come with shellshock, and I know the kind of thingsss needed to be cursssed with it. While I sssee your painsss true now, I'm not quite ready to look you in the eye jussst yet. Ssso until then," The Snake held out his hand. "Truccce?"

The Hunter eyed the hand, then the body it was attached to. He was staring into uncountable eyes on a long body, each eye darting around wildly, filled with paranoia. However, unlike the last time he had seen the eyes, they seemed to rest a few moments on him, before flitting about again. He truly had earned some trust then, even if it was not how he intended to receive it. Small steps peak the mountain it seems.

And so, the Hunter took the offered hand, almost dragging the Snake down due to his insane weight, but neither one letting go of their potential new friend.

NIGHTMARE SLAIN

Back to where Charlie, Vaggie, and Niffty stood, the Princess smiled at the sight she saw from below. Despite the absolute carnage the Hunter had displayed, he had somehow partially mended the bond between him and Pentious. While quite…unorthodox, Charlie had to admit that it had worked, and while it wasn't the most stable relationship, it was a start.

She wasn't alone in her observations. While Vaggie was proud that they had bonded (and was embarrassed that this didn't work the way she thought it would), she was also concerned with the fact that two of their guests were suffering from PTSD. Redemption's a lot fucking harder when you blamed yourself for your comrade's deaths, and who the fuck knows what the Hunter had gone through. A new piece of the puzzle that was their new guests.

Nifty's observations were in just how much blood had been spilled, and the beautiful poses the Hunter had left them in. Truly, he was an artist! She giggled, then wiped away the bit of drool that was running down her face. She'd have to work hard to one-up this, but mama didn't raise no quitter!

And from higher above, all present were being watched themselves. Perched on the ruins of a taller building, a hawk peered down. A dark body, with a pure white breast spackled with red, it gazed below with uncannily human eyes. Watching, dissecting, piercing. Its eyes sparkled with recognition, upon seeing both the amount of blood, as well as the one who spilled it. It had been a long time indeed. But it had seen enough. Snapping its wings out, it fell from its perch, then soared on ghostly silent wings. As it passed over the Hunter, it looked down on him, as if to confirm his identity. Then, it flew away, disappearing into mist.

-Scene Change-

Heaven, Adam's office

Adam was not having fun. First his ribs were cold, then his bitch ex-wife had called him again to yell at him, now he has to fudge the books to hide the disappearances of almost a thousand angels! Could this day get any worse!?

*knock knock*

Looks like it could. "Fuck you want?! I'm busy!"

As the door opened, and he readied his throwing arm, he noticed it wasn't some flunky cherub, but instead his prize fighter. "Lute! I wondered where you were! Come help me with this!" He tossed the book he was about to throw behind him, beckoning her forth to take the load off of him.

"We've got trouble Adam. There's been reports of an Eldritch energy spike in Pride, and someone killed one of our spies." Lute was, unfortunately for him, all business, and had got straight into it instead of helping hi- Wait a second.

"ELDRITCH?! Tell me you're just fucking around, there shouldn't be anything like that above Heresy!" Adam's fears were not about the level of danger it could be to Hell, or the threat it could be to Heaven. Whenever anything Eldritch was involved, so too was a very thorough investigation.

An investigation that he himself might be forced to be a part of, and damned be his complaints. If it was just some Cthulhu cultist that had started their shit again, they'd just send one of the Exorcists and be on their way. Maybe a couple pages, but still too much work. If it was anything else? The last time this had happened, some long-dead false deity had escaped Blasphemy without anyone noticing, and had nearly made it to Greed before the Archangels caught wind of it. It took fifteen fucking years to hunt the thing down, and the paperwork alone took him seven months and an entire vineyard's worth of alcohol.

He had sworn himself that if this ever happened again, he'd disappear whatever madman started frothing at the mouth before it reached the ears of heaven. From then on, he had always hoped against hope that the Exorcists would do their job, and erase these problems before they popped up. But from Lute's grim expression, that was not to be.

Grinding the palms of his hands into his eyes, he could only dread how much work he'd have to do. "FUUUUUUCK!"

His roar shook the surrounding area, and made several of his workers fearful of his wrath. His secretary, however, planned to order more painkillers, as she knew whatever migraine they would all suffer would be horrendous.

Adam wasn't finished however, realizing the last part of Lute's statement. "One of our spies died? How?! Who?! They're indistinguishable from those worthless fucks down below!" Adam was referring to the small task force Lute had come up with, whose job was to sniff out sources of potential resistance, and either report back to her, or snuff it out. They were some of the most elite angels , consisting of some of the most skilled spies that had somehow made it to Heaven. For one to die, something had to have gone very wrong.

"We don't know who, we only know how and where. He hadn't reported back in a while, so we used the tracker installed in his spine to find him, only to discover that he'd been found out and torn apart. Someone had dissected him, and used the parts to spell out 'spy' strung from a wire. And he wasn't the first, just the most recent. Of all of our spies in Hell, every three out of four gets caught and killed the same way. Someone is hunting them down. The most evidence we have is this." She then held out some kind of badge consisting of a crested shield. "The most we can tell, it's some kind of calling card. The crest itself doesn't exist, either lost to history or made up."

She then handed Adam the badge. As he inspected it, he didn't really care what it was, only that this stopped happening. "Doesn't matter! We've now got to get two problems taken care of before anyone else gets wise, and you're the best for the job. Take whoever you need, and kill this abomination before Sera finds out!" Dismissing Lute and tossing the badge back to her, he turned to the window, pondering (or trying to at least trying to). The paperwork was going to suck if she didn't get this done.

As she left, Lute could almost feel her anger curling off of her. She had known them. Every one of her own, personal fighters that she has knowingly sent down into that fetid pit. James, Fritz, Aldrich. Each had been some of the best spies in their life, and each of them had told their stories to her. Their tricks, secrets, skills. Each one was completely unique, and yet they died all the same. The badge she had found, the one that marked James' death, was screeching as she crushed it in her grip. She had promised them. They would have come home heroes. Instead, they were disposed of like trash.

That, coupled with the 600 of her sisters going missing from the previous three Exterminations, were making each and every one of their lives weigh on her soul. All because she disowned and mutilated that Sinful Filth who spared a child. It seemed like Karma has really hit back at her really hard.

In rage, she threw the badge into the wall, so hard it stuck. As she stomped off, tears of rage pricking her eyes, the badge glinted in the light, highlighting the gold and red lions on the dented crest. Unknown to her, the badge was taken by the Messengers who were able to quickly grab it before she sensed them.

What a chapter. Seems like the Hunter is starting to make amends with Sir Pentious. And Heaven seems to make a move on the strange activities. I wonder who could have killed the spies? It can't be the Hunter, correct?

Maybe it has to do with that unique-looking Hawk. Who is it? I guess you are about to find out on your own terms.

Now then, onto the authors' notes…

Crimson Soldat: October is right around the corner, meaning that there may be more chapters coming out soon. And also the Helluva Boss episode "Ghostfuckers" is coming out in that month. Man, we are getting fed. But, for now, we need to focus on here. We got big plans for this story. Perhaps it already has been teased in my most popular (yet rough) Fanfiction Story.

HalfWitHillbilly: We're both going to schools in different timezones, so our schedules aren't as free as they used to be. We'll do our best regardless, but now we have to take a bit more time.

CS: In case you haven't noticed by now, I use most parts from my other Hazbin Hotel story, Caboose's Guide to make Friends in Hell, to help write this chapter. Yes, it's controversial, but it did help us get through.

HH: A few bits and pieces, then heavily edited and modified so that it's not a word-for-word copy. I do my best.

Comment down below what you want to see in future chapters! Right now, we have to go through the first Extermination first before anything else. For now, we will be looking at mostly original content.

With that said, we'll see you in the next update!