Chapter 16:

The final straw

Sitting around a table in the dining hall of the hazbin hotel, Lute was joined by Angel Dust and Husk on either side of her as she had told them the events of 2 night before, while the 3 of them were enjoying breakfast.

"….so yea….i'm going to have to work hard to re-earn her trust…..but after what I did to her, I can hardly blame her…." Lute spoke, to which she received a pat on the shoulder as Angel spoke "You did the right thing, Horns" as Husk added "Yea, what you did takes guts. Work hard and prove to her that you've changed and she'll open up, you'll see"

Swinging an arm around each of the demons beside her, Lute pulled Angel and Husk into a tight hug "Thanks….guys….you have no fucking idea how much you guys have helped me…" to which Angel just chuckled "Any time, sis"

Lute periodically let go "You….keep calling me that….but…we're not even related" she spoke, confused.

"Hey, doesn't mean I can't see ya as a sister" Angel just piped up "Chosen family is still family, and fuck it, if you haven't earned that spot for me"

As the 3 of them continued their breakfast and banter, Lute couldn't help but notice the way Angel and Husk had been interacting with each other as of late, and as the ladder had gotten up to start on his bar shift, she couldn't resist bugging her chosen "big brother" about it.

"So….Angel…..you and husk….what's the angle here?" she said with a knowing smirk" The tall spider demon just chuckled "Fucking Christ, Horns, nothing goes by you. Doesn't it?" As he playfully flicked a piece of bread her way.

"But….yea….if your suspicions are that we started dating….then yes….you're right" Angel spoke, causing Lute to do a victory fist pump "HA, I KNEW it!" causing the ex-pornstar to roll his eyes playfully "Yea yea, keep your shirt on"

The 2 of them continued this banter into the lobby as the both of them were greeted by some of the fellow guests of the hotel.

Just as they would be approached by Charlie, who wanted to invite Lute to join one of her newest exercises, the fallen angel's phone began to buzz, causing her to tense up.

Taking a single glance to the screen confirmed her fears….Vallentino…

"S-sorry Charlie….i got to take this one" as she picked up the phone and the princess and Angel were once again met with the verbal onslaught of Vallentino.

Hanging her shoulders, Lute grumbled "I…..i'm afraid….i have to skip on this one, Charlie" as Angel gently put a hand on her back "Just….keep in touch when you can, ok? You're gonna get through this"

Giving him a weak smile, Lute once again recomposed herself as she strutted out through the front doors, leaving behind a concerned Charlie and Angel Dust.

Sighing in defeat, Angel would approach the bar, not for a drink, but for a chat with this newly revealed boyfriend as he waved him down "Hey Husky" to which the bartender gave him a smile "Hey Legs, isn't it a little early for booze? Or ya here for the coffee?" to which Angel spoke up "Ya know what? A coffee doesn't sound like a bad idea right now"

Husk gave him a smile "Say no more" as he went to work, but once he set the cup down in front of his boyfriend, Angel smiled as he spoke up "Lute figured it out"

"Hu, Sharp as a whip that one" the demon cat chuckled as the 2 of them quickly got to talking.

"Came up with any ideas yet?" the spider demon spoke, as Husk responded "Afraid not, been breaking my brain over it for a while now but so far, nothing"

"Come on Husky" Angel pleaded "You were an overlord before, right? There must be SOMETHING you can do. No old favors you can cash in? no contacts you can make, no string you can pull?" to which the cat demon solemnly shook his head "I'm afraid not, Legs, I tried everything"

Angel would rub his temples "What were you the overlord of anyway?" He asked, to which Husk just looked at him with a deadpan expression "Really?" as he spread his wings, revealing the many playing card symbols on them as he also pulled out a few dice and cards "Make a wild guess" to which Angel bonked his own head "Oh of course, DUH" When he suddenly perked up "HEY, can't you trick him into a game or something?"

Sighing, Husk spoke "I'm afraid that ain't an option, Legs. Last time I gambled with souls…well…." He would glance into Alastor's direction before returning his gaze back to Angel "Well…..you know how that turned out…" as he took a gulp from an unidentifiable bottle "Plus, Vallentino wouldn't be stupid enough accept that. Lute is his golden goose, we're gonna need one HELL of a counter offer for him to give up "the former lieutenant of the exorcist angels" as his property"

Grumbling under his breath, Angel begrudgingly took a sip from his coffee "Uhg, I love ya Husky, but sometimes I REALLY hate it when you're right" to which Husk shrugged as he cleaned a couple glasses "Yea, I tend to have that effect on folks"

Over the course of the day, Angel had gone over several ideas with Husk, as well as brainstorming with Charlie, any chance to getting closer to get Lute out of her deal, but for far, no dice as they kept hitting a dead end.

At a certain point, he even rang up his new boss and Charlie's uncle, Asmodeus, but even the king of lust himself had his hands tied as he too ran into a wall as eventually, a tired Angel Dust had resorted to just wander through the hotel in deep thought "There HAS to be a way….a loophole…like with me back then….come on, Angel, THINK"

As he was wracking his brain over this, he suddenly heard a yelp that sounded like it came from Charlie emerge from the lobby which send him on high alert as he bolted downstairs.

Once he arrived in the lobby however, his heart almost stopped.

There, on one of the sofas, lied Lute, bruised and broken, a deep black eye as golden blood dripped from the corner of her mouth, all the while Charlie sat next to her, holding an icepack to her head as the fallen angel was wheezing through gritted teeth.

Quickly darting to his "adopted sister"s side, Angel squeaked out "LUTE, what happened?!"

"I….didn't want…to take the pills anymore…" she wheezed out "He….did not….like that…."

Shaking in his boots, Angel wanted to scoop his arms under her "Come sis….let's get you back to your room" as lute slowly sat up "Don't….worry about me…I can still walk….just….in allot of pain right now" as she gave him a pained grimace, once again putting that all too familiar mask up.

Seeing this, in a split second, everything Val had ever done to him flashed through Angel's head as slowly, his blood started to boil, his eyes slowly widening as all he could hear was ringing in his ears, completely fixated on the fallen angel's injuries.

Suddenly, something within the tall spider demon snapped as he got up, threw his head back and screamed through the lobby, on the top of his lungs "THAT….FUCKING….DOES IT" as his second set of arms popped out, wielding the angelic tommy guns he obtained during the fight with Adam and he began to storm his way towards the door.

Seeing this unfold before him, Husk jumped over the bar, quickly chasing after Angel "LEGS, where the FUCK do you think you're going?!"

"I'm going to FUCKING KILL HIM!" was the only response he got as Lute made an attempt to get up "We should go after him before he does something reckless!" as Charlie helped her up and not long after, Charlie, Lute, Vaggie, Alastor and Husk would all be hot on the now furious spider demon's trail as he stormed his way towards the Vee tower.

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Vee tower, pride ring, hell:

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"AAAAND ACTION" Vallentino barked through a megaphone as the next scene he was about to record took off, tho he would suddenly be interrupted by the doors of the studio forcefully being kicked open.

"Ok and WHO the FUCK is interrupting me in my-" he was cut off by the sudden barrel of a tommy gun almost being shoved down his throat as an enraged Angel Dust had forced his way into the studio "YOU FUCKING ASSHOOOOOLE!"

Tho the tall ex-pornstar would quickly be peeled off of the tall moth by the tentacles of the radio demon as Charlie, Vaggie, Husk, Alastor and Lute quickly followed suit.

"LEGS, GET YOUR FUCKING SHIT TOGETHER, YOU WANA START A TURFWAR WITH THE VEES?!" Husk barked out as they had managed to get the raging spider off of Vallentino, who just gave them a smug smirk "Ahhh, Angel baby, I knew you'd come crawling back one day" as he tried to stroke his face, tho was quickly met with a fist to the jaw, knocking him off his director's chair "Don't you FUCKING touch me, asshole" before aiming his guns at him again "And don't you ever dare lay a finger on HER ever again.

Squinting his eyes in annoyance, the pimp demon just manifested Lute's chain and pulled her into the line of fire of the angelic firearm, using her as a shield "I wouldn't fucking try that, bitch! She's MINE, you want her so bad? Then you can have her FUCKING corpse!"

Angel's eyes widened as he yielded "Don't fucking hurt her!"

Seeing the scene, Husk made a split second decision as he stepped forward "Gentlemen…..how about….we instead solve this like civilized demons?" To which Val let go of Lute's chain "And what the FUCK did you have in mind, gato?" he spat out.

Husk smirked as he pulled out a deck of cards, exchanging a glance with Angel….

"How about a game of poker?"