Good Intentions

by Shaneman17

Paul was no stranger to evil, having spilled enough blood to flood cities. Still he had done it with good intentions, to protect the innocent and create a better tomorrow. However after falling into hell he realizes that just killing the bad guys may not have been enough, maybe redemption was the way to go. Maybe with the help of the princess of hell he could change everything.

8. There Will Come Soft Rains

Hello again! So Helluva Boss just revealed the final Sins and I've got to say I loved their designs. Love the choice of Patrick Page as the casting for Satan. Also there apparently really are laws in Hell and the Dragon himself is the enforcer. I wonder how he might react to a human like Paul being in hell? Yeah I think I can definitely save that idea for later. Anyways enjoy the chapter!

…-…

Chapter 8: There Will Come Soft Rains

Pride Ring, Carmine Villa

"What has become of thou Carmilla?"

Walking into the personal study of Carmilla Carmine, Zestial was quite shocked to see what had happened to his old friend.

Carmilla was unlike most Overlords of the last three centuries. Warlords were brutes by nature and most Overlords were hardly better. Crass, vulgar and completely disrespectful, they were an absolute pain to deal with. In centuries past sinners knew how to respect their betters but now they were all so irreverent. But not Carmilla.

She had been polite, respectful, and a wonderful conversationalist. She always made sure to be the best Overlord she could be. Her clothes were always spotless and wrinkle free. Her hair was pulled up into her unique twin horned style. Her posture was perfect and her expression was always regal and could put most queens to shame. Zestial truly respected the woman who had been his friend for the last few centuries. Which is why looking at her now he couldn't believe what he was seeing.

She sat at her black wood desk with empty tequila bottles scattered about. Her clothes wrinkled, her hair was down and an absolute mess. She also positively reeked of alcohol.

Carmilla forced herself to sit up straight in her chair as she rubbed the tiredness from her eyes. "Hello Zestial. As you can see I…I am not well."

"That much is obvious to a blind man. Thou art burdened, even more so than when you felled the angel. Does the destruction of the Vee's bloodsport truly trouble you so?"

Carmilla shook her head at him while running her fingers through her messy hair in an attempt to style it. "Those three could all go slit their throats with an angel blade for all I care. Its just…that explosion brought back horrible memories. It was by such a weapon that I died."

"That was two hundred hear ago." Zestial interjected.

"And yet the scars remain!" Carmilla snapped before taking a deep breath to calm herself. "I am sorry. You are ancient Zestial, you were an Overlord long before humanity discovered electricity, let alone split the atom. You do not know the fear that I experienced every day until the end."

"Then why not enlighten me?" Zestial asked as he sat on the edge of the desk.

Carmilla let out sigh before nodding.

"Very well. Have I ever told you of my life before Hell?"

Zestial shook his head. "Only the broad stroke. Thy story is yours to tell and I never wished to pry."

"I thank you for that." Camilla said, giving him an appreciative nod. She then took a long breath to settle her nerves and then let it out before recounting her tale.

"My family has always had a long history of weapon smithing, one that goes back generations. My father used to brag that when the conquistadors ventured into the new world, they did so wielding weapons made by my ancestors. And so it went, my family making blades, bombs and firearms for soldiers and kings all the way into the twenty first century. That is until the Resource Wars.

It seemed that every nation and country in the world was fighting and squabbling over resources, and mine was no different. While I was busy with my ballet career, my father was doing everything he could to keep the family business alive. Unfortunately, while we made the best firearms, our supply was limited compared to our competitors. The government valued quantity more than they did quality and we simply could not match their needs. We lost government contracts and at about that same time my career and my father's health were beginning to fade. The programs that paid for careers like mine were being cut in favor of the military budget and my father didn't have much time left, so it was decided that I would take over the business.

My father taught me everything he could about the company and I took to it like a fish takes too water. Before he passed, my father explained to me the truth that he had learned during his time supplying the government, that a nuclear war was not just likely, but almost a certainty. As a mother to two young girls, I was beyond terrified so I asked what could be done. He told me there was nothing we could do but to prepare, to use the business to build up the funds needed to build a facility or bunker that could survive the end of the world.

After he passed, I did as he asked and began to plan and build what would be our refuge, but I quickly realized that what contracts I could secure simply wouldn't be enough to support the company, our daily lives and the plans for the bunker. So, I did something my father would never have approved of. I found alternative clients."

"You sold to brigands and highwaymen." Zestial guessed. Carmilla gave an affirmative nod in reply.

"Yes. I became more than a weapons merchant, I became an arms dealer." She said as she glanced down at her abnormally large forearms and hands. Hell's own way of showing her the sins that had damned her.

"I sold to anyone who would buy, I didn't care if they were criminals or not, I simply did what I had to do to protect my family. As the years went by, that fear of annihilation never left me and was always hanging overhead like the sword of Damocles. Soon other people began to realize the doom that was coming but for most it was already too late to save themselves. I had long ago completed the bunker but I was not simply satisfied with surviving, I wished for my family to thrive. My daughters began to work alongside me and the business was flourishing, and every Euro went into improving the bunker until it resembled an underground mansion with everything we could need. But I still wanted more, so we all went together to complete one last delivery. That was the day that the world ended."

Carmilla began to shake and Zestial moved to comfort her before she held up a hand to stop him. She took in a deep breath before managing to calm herself down.

"We had just completed the delivery and we were about to get back in our vehicle when the sirens began to scream and there was a massive flash of light from behind us. Turning around we saw it, a mushroom cloud. I barely had time to grab my daughters before there was a wave of heat and then everything was on fire. I could feel my skin boiling and lungs burning, so I couldn't even scream. Worse, I could feel my daughters' flesh bubbling in my grasp. At that point, death was a mercy. Then I fell into hell, alone, with no idea where my daughters were. Once I realized I was in Hell I didn't know what was worse, the idea that my daughters were in heaven and I could never see them again, or that I had dragged my daughters down with me."

Carmilla was staring at her desk but looked up when she felt a hand on her shoulder and saw Zestial's sympathetic gaze looking down on her.

"I understand now. You thought that wound had long healed, but the destruction of Vox's arena hath reopened it."

"Yes." Carmilla said with a humorless chuckle. "I have found my sleep elusive these last few nights, constantly plagued with nightmares. Clara and Odette are much the same and I've found that we can only sleep soundly if it's in my bed, just like when they were young."

Despite the rather morbid reasons for their situation, Carmilla couldn't help but smile at the thought of waking up to Clara drooling on her pillows and Odette bundled up in the sheets that she had stolen from them in the night.

Though she didn't want to, she banished those memories from her mind and straightened her posture. She had asked Zestial to look into the events of that day as a favor, and the fact that he was here meant that he had brought her something.

"Have you discovered anything about this.…Abaddon?" She asked.

Zestial flashed her a rather amused smile. "Indeed. Though I am far from the only one searching for such answers. It seems that all of Hell is in a frenzy searching for answers to this enigma. It has been many a year since any single sinner has caused this much chaos when they stepped upon the stage."

"Almost half of the city's population are sinners from the Fall, and I am far better at controlling myself than most of them yet look at how I have reacted. I am not surprised that panic has them firmly in its grip." Carmilla said.

"True. Now as for Abaddon, I must question, what do you know of the name?" Zestial asked.

Carmilla thought about it, mulling over the name and letting the power of Hell translate the word. She knew that it was a Latin word that was borrowed from Greek that also been borrowed from ancient Hebrew. The original word was 'ăbhaddōn and its literal translation was Destruction. This demon had taken up the title of Destroyer, and as much as she wanted to, she couldn't fault him with his choice of name. It certainly fits.

"Other than the literal translation of what his name means I know little else other than him declaring war on the Vees." She answered, causing Zestial's smile to slightly widen.

"Yes, quite an entrance the man made, ruining Vox's bloody performance for all of hell to see. But I do not believe that it was an act of war as you and most of Hell think. As despite the three entertainers putting a bounty on his head, none have seen hide nor hair of our destructive friend. Hiding is not something one would expect from a man who holds so much power and was in conflict. I believe what others see as an act of war was in fact something else entirely."

Carmilla tilted her head in confusion. Surely Zestial was not implying that Abaddon did what he did not as an act of aggression, but as something done on a whim?

"Then what do you believe was his motive for destroying the arena and killing all those demons? In fact, how was he capable of such a thing?"

Carmilla didn't want to admit it, but she was deeply fearful of this new demon for more than just his atomic might, but because of the tens of thousands of sinners caught in its blast, none had regenerated or reappeared after the complete destruction of their bodies. Everyone who had perished at Abaddon's hands had stayed dead, as if they had been felled by an angel's blade.

Zestial gave her a small shrug. "I am unaware of how he has done it, but it has been discovered that over the course of the few days before the detonation, several corpses had been discovered throughout the city. Each one had met their final death through rather mundane means, with no sign of angelic steel having been used in any of their demises. It seems that the destroyer need not use all his might to match the wrath of the angels and is in fact capable of being subtle should he wish it. The only reason the bodies were discovered is because he revealed himself for all to see."

Carmilla stopped herself from nervously tapping her fingers, but just barely. It seemed that the threat of Abaddon was greater than she had expected if he did not need to unleash a nuclear blast to permanently kill a sinner. But the question was how did he do it and what was he planning?

"You said you did not believe his attack on the Vee's was not what it seems. What do believe it to have been?" Carmilla asked as she poured herself a glass of water and took a sip.

"I believe it to have been an act of heroism." Zestial answered with a smile.

Had Carmilla not had as much control over herself as she had, she would have spit up her water in shock. Instead, she simply gagged and lightly coughed as she set her glass down.

"Heroism? In Hell?" she asked unbelieving.

"Yes, quite the claim, but one I believe in. You see the name Abaddon is an ancient title, one that in the Old Testament refers to the bottomless pit of destruction where evil spirts dwell, the ancient name of Hell. However In the New, Abaddon is the name of one of the servants of Yahweh, for he is the destroyer, the angel of the abyss. Whether the angel truly exists is another matter but I have met many a fool who took the name for themselves in order to bolster their reputation. They never lasted long, but this one seems to have both the power to claim the title as well as the disposition to match it."

"What does the origin of the name have to do with heroics?" Carmilla asked.

"Everything my old friend. Thou'st see that the true Abaddon, no matter how cruel or destructive he be, was always on the side of the angels, and the one who has taken on the mantle seems to be much the same. A query for thou. Whatever became of the whores that were to be sacrificed to slake the masses lust and Vox's greed?"

Carmilla raised a questioning eyebrow. "I would assume that Abaddon killed them along with everyone else."

"Did he? I do not recall seeing their corpses when the pillar arose. In fact, the chains were loose and empty, as though they were freed from their intended fates."

Carmilla thought about it and her eyes widened. That was true, wasn't it? Abaddon had been the only one to emerge from the floor and there had been no reason to clean up the bodies. Which means…

"Abaddon wasn't there to ruin the V Bowl, he was there to rescue someone." She said.

"Yes. When the destroyer slaughtered the gladiators, he did so not with sadism alone, but also with a furious rage in his heart. He hated the participants, hated the audience, and hated the Vees. So, he made them suffer for their transgressions."

Carmilla could easily see it now. What others saw as a well-planned attack on the Vees and a way to show all of Hell Abaddon's power, was in actuality something spur of the moment and he simply did not care who knew about him.

"Thou seem concerned." Zestial said.

"I am." She responded. "I have always known how to deal with selfish, greedy, arrogant and sadistic demons. But what does one do to plan for someone who would charge into an arena full demons who would gladly cheer if they were torn limb from limb, and kill everyone there, all to save some sex workers?"

"I believe it's quite simple." Zestial answered as he picked one of the still full tequila bottles and poured himself a drink.

"Find him before he hath reason to find you."

…-…

Capital Wasteland, Megaton

"You want me to blow up the town?" I asked in shock.

I stared at the well dressed Mr. Burke as though he had grown a second head. I had taken a seat near the man after he had called me over, saying he had a proposition for me. The proposition had turned out to be a job to detonate the nuclear bomb at the center of Megaton.

"I don't want it destroyed, in fact I couldn't care less what happens to this miserable little crater. My client on the other hand would like to see this blemish on the landscape…removed." He practically hissed.

"And you want me to kill all these people for what? A few hundred caps?!" I snarled at the man.

Burke just calmly stared at me, not even phased at my fury.

"If you are that concerned about the payment, I assure you that the caps are merely the beginning. You see, my client is a wealthy individual and is quite generous to those who do as they ask. Good help is hard to find after all.

Fortunately for you, upon the completion of installing the pulse charge, you will be invited to join me at Tenpenny Tower. The safest and most luxurious place in the entire Capital Wasteland, and there is an empty suite just waiting for you. A soft bed, a roof over your head and hot food to fill your belly. What more could a man need other than someone to warm their bed? And trust me, the beautiful Ms. Lancaster would gladly fill the role for such a strapping young lad like you.

Doesn't that sound nice?"

I looked away from the man, I didn't dare look him in the eyes because goddamn it, it sounded like heaven. The last week had been hell for me. Being forced to run away from the only home I had ever known. Having nothing to eat or drink but irradiated two hundred year old food or dirty contaminated water. Forced to sleep either on the ground or on disgusting mattress that were more stains than cloth. Forced to fight and kill just to survive, and even then I had come away bloody with dozens of wounds that I was forced to patch up myself. And on top of all that, my father was missing and the only clue I had to find him was that he had gone to find that DJ in the D.C. ruins.

I was beyond miserable and the idea of actually being able to rest and relax sounded wonderful, and all it would cost was the lives of dozens of innocent people.

Turning away from the man, I decided to stare at the wall that the giant woman was leaning against. Despite being so tall, Roo somehow managed to fit comfortably inside the side room of the saloon. She was just staring at me, her face blank and unconcerned. She actually looked rather bored.

That's quite the deal he's offering. People have killed for far less and let's be honest, its only been a week and your already look like your about to keel over. You need this. Although, I must wonder why he is asking you of all people?

As I sat there looking at the wall, I couldn't help but try to make excuses about why I should take the job. However, a thought occurred to me. Why was he asking me of all people? I was a stranger and we had literally just met.

"Before I give you my answer," I said as I turned back to Mr. Burke. "Why are you specifically offering me the job? You don't even know me."

"That's where you are wrong Mr. Harbinger." The man said leaning forward with a knowing smirk. "I've watched you running around these last few days, practically reeking of desperation. This is a small town and gossip flows like irradiated water. You caused quite a stir walking into town wearing that vault-suit and it's no secret that you're searching for your father and that you did a job for Moriarity in exchange for information. Whatever happened to that poor girl that stole his money? The money that you retrieved?"

I narrowed my eyes at the man, and I realized that Mr. Burke was under the impression that I killed Sara Silver and took the caps off her corpse. In truth, I had let her go and given Moriarity money from my own pocket and told him I took it from her, allowing the woman to live her life without having to look over her shoulder. Of course I saw no reason to tell Burke that.

"On top of that, I know that the good sheriff has allowed you to tinker with the bomb in the off chance that you could disarm it. He is suspicious of me, but you? No one would bat an eye if they saw you rummaging around in there, and should you install a certain device, no one would be any the wiser.

Not only that, but you are also a stranger to these people. They don't care about you, they horde all the purified water for themselves, and if you were to drop dead in the middle of town, they wouldn't hesitate to loot your corpse of everything valuable. Ask yourself, do you actually care about anyone here?"

He makes a good point. Do honestly give a damn about these people? You remember what you read when you broke into Moriarty's terminal. Jericho is a former Raider that everyone just accepted without a second thought. The good Doctor Church once offered his services to Raiders and Slaver alike. Leo Stahl lets his chem addiction rule his life and will most likely ruin their family business. Moriarty himself is a scheming conniving blackmailer who abuses that weak willed idiot Gob, and didn't hesitate to send you out to kill his runaway whore. The rest of the town isn't any better because they let all this happen without a care.

I say you take his deal and let this whole place be swept away. No need to care about them, they would have all done the same thing if they were in your position. It's a cruel world and only the ones who blacken their hearts survive.

I thought about it for a moment, my mind conjuring up all the horrible things I had learned about the people of the town and I felt my heart sink. In this cruel world, why was everyone always fighting, killing and sinning against each other? Didn't they know that cooperation was the only way to survive or possibly even thrive? It seemed like all anyone understood was violence and selfishness.

For a moment, I could feel the light in my soul begin to flicker and for a moment I was actually considering the man's offer. That was until I thought of Dad.

My father had done everything he could in his power to raise me and if Moriarty was actually telling me the truth, then not only was I actually born out in the wastelands, then my dad had given up everything to keep me safe by getting us inside Vault 101. What would he say if he found out I was even considering the job?

Then after that I thought of all the other people of Megaton. The ever cheerful, optimistic and slightly erratic Moira Brown who was trying to make it easier for the people of the wasteland with her Survival Guide. Lucy West who came to Megaton to be independent but still sent letters home to her family. Billy Creel doing his best to raise his adopted daughter Maggie, and how he would visit Jenny Stahl at the Brass Lantern in their not so subtle attempt at a relationship.

Mr. Burke was wrong. I did care about these people.

I had half a mind to pullout my pistol and put a bullet in his head right here and now, but not only would I be the one in trouble since no one knew about his plans, what's to stop his client from trying to destroy Megaton again and in a different way. No, best to capture the man to be interrogated for information, but I was new to the wastelands and didn't think I could take him alive. I needed help.

Then I let a wicked smile appear on my face as I got an idea. Burke flashed me a smile of his own, no doubt thinking he had me hook, line and sinker.

"Well Mr. Burke, you make a good argument." I said as I held out my hand. "If you follow through on your end of the bargain, I promise you that Megaton will burn."

Mr. Burke shook my hand with a grin on his face while subtly passing me the device that would detonate the bomb.

Out of the corner of my eye, Roo pushed herself off the wall and leaned down to look me in the eyes. Her perfect eyebrow was raised in confusion as she gazed at my face. Her eyes widened as realization dawned and her bored face disappeared and was replaced by a small sinister grin.

You little liar. Taking advantage of the man's misconceptions about you and making promises that you have no intention of keeping. All the while planning to stab him in the back. I must say that is quite impressive for someone whose biggest concern not even a week ago was what you were going to have for breakfast.

Maybe you have some potential after all. I can't wait to see how this ends.

…-…

My eyes shot open and I was on my feet in an instant as the crack of thunder woke from my slumber. I was about to draw my gun before realizing I was not under attack.

With a sigh, I sat back down on the couch and glanced outside. I was in Hell, so it stood to reason that its weather was probably going to be something nasty like maybe it rained blood. Instead, it seemed that Hell's preferred form of precipitation was acid. Normally such a thing would probably scare the shit out of most newly fallen souls, but as someone who lived in an irradiated wasteland, radstorms weren't uncommon and were equally as caustic as this storm. Although from what I've read, the rain should be a greenish brown, but tonight it was a vile black.

It had been a week since my…blow up…at the V Bowl and the radioactive dust and ash had finally seeded the clouds, causing Black Rain. It came down like tar and I just knew it was going be an absolute pain to clean up.

I glanced around my hotel room and took in my surroundings. It was quite a mess with plates and cookware scattered about and various disassembled firearms lying on the table. Normally I wouldn't have let it get this bad, but considering I was effectively put on house arrest I was just aimlessly wandering about.

Of course, I could have left at any time but I had two very good reasons to stay put. The first was Charlie. When I had first woken up, she had practically strangled me to death with that steel vice hug of hers. After nearly killing me, she then slapped me for making her worry. I of course was quite confused about how I had gotten back to the hotel because the last thing I remember was the feeling of every cell in my body being incinerated just as the world went white. Apparently in a semi-conscious state, my body had managed to find its way back here on auto pilot. Oh, and apparently when I showed up, I was glowing brighter than a casino sign. After that, Charlie had practically grounded me for doing something so reckless as attacking the V Bowl as well as begging me to take it easy. I really couldn't say no to those puppy dog eyes of hers.

The second reason I had stayed in my room, other than to appease the Princess of Hell, was that I was genuinely concerned about my health. Based on Charlie's description before I went back to looking like my normal self, I had resembled a feral ghoul Glowing One, though without the mindless bloodlust or scrawny frame. Not only that, but my Nuclear Anomaly mutation had gone off, and on a scale I had never experienced before. That particular mutation was a particularly nasty one. My body would absorb ambient radiation and store it for later use, and once my body had taken enough abuse to the point where I was nearly dead, my body as a self-defense mechanism would release it all in one big explosion that was the equivalent to a mini nuke. Unfortunately, I had never had control over the ability and it wasn't like an explosion of that magnitude cared whether or not someone was friend or foe. The first time I had gone critical, I had been fighting a Super Mutant Overlord and while it killed the Overlord, I had also nearly killed Fawkes.

After a while, I discovered the only way to keep the mutation at bay was a large dose of Radaway. So, every time I was about to enter civilization, I would take a dose to ensure there wouldn't be any incidents should I get hurt. Of course, that had backfired somewhat when Benny had poisoned my drink while I was in Goodsprings, had his Great Kahn bodyguards dogpile me while I was half unconscious and then he hit me in the head with a shovel. After that he then proceeded to shoot me twice in the head and dumped me in a shallow grave. The look on his face if I had gone critical right then would have been priceless.

Still, after blowing up, I was usually horribly tired and worn out for days afterward. Yet not only was this explosion on the scale of an actual nuke, but I had also felt fine. Actually, I felt more than fine. I felt amazing, like I could take on all of Hell. My body felt lighter, stronger, and just plain better. I could still feel that heat in my chest but unlike before it didn't feel like it was some wild thing that tried to break loose because it wanted to destroy everything around me. Instead, it felt calm, refined, like it was just waiting to do my bidding.

I had examined my blood and body using my pipboy and some of the more portable medical equipment that I had on my person when I fell into hell. According to all those examinations, my body hadn't changed since my last medical exam a couple months ago and there were no physical signs as to why this explosion was so much more powerful. I couldn't think of any possible reasons as to how are why it was even possible. Well, I couldn't think of any reasons based on science at least.

There was one possible theory I had, and I hoped to God that I was wrong.

With nothing better to do, I turned on the TV and was promptly confronted by the very thing I was trying not to think about.

The channel that I had left it on was the News channel featuring that Katie Killjoy woman and despite it already being a week, they were still discussing the implications of what happened at the V Bowl. They even brought up an image of me wearing the Lucky Devil power armor tearing an unlucky demon in half. Underneath that image written in bold letters was not only the name I had given them, but also the title that the people of hell had apparently tacked on as well.

Overlord Abaddon, The Nuclear Demon.

I almost wanted to chuckle upon seeing that. What had Roo said about names and titles? I guess this was one more to add to the list.

I had found out what they were calling me a few days ago and at first, I been extremely confused. Sure I could see them calling me a dangerous threat, but to call me an Overlord? I mean I didn't control any territory, resources or offer any goods or services so I didn't see how I would qualify. That is until the news explained to new arrivals like me that making nuclear bombs was impossible in Hell.

According to the news anchor, fissionable materials such as uranium and plutonium simply did not exist in hell so the possibility of making anything atomic was out of the question. That is until I showed up. In a way, I had accidentally set myself up to look like the one and only source of nuclear power in all of hell.

Of course that wasn't the part that caught my attention. It was the fact that apparently of the tens of thousands of demons that were there in the arena when I exploded, not a single one of them had survived. Sinners couldn't die, not unless it was by angelic steel. Then again according to Vaggie, angels couldn't be hurt by anything other than an extremely powerful demon or another angel. Of course, the fact that I gave her a bloody nose proved that wasn't exactly true. I already knew that me being a living human in hell was throwing a massive wrench in the cosmic machine, I just didn't realize how big of a mess I was making.

Those sinners were dead, cast into oblivion and while I might have written it off as a result of the radiation of the nuclear blast affecting their souls, they weren't the only ones who were truly dead. The news had revealed that there had been about a dozen bodies found throughout the city that had been killed in ways other than an angel blade. I had half a mind to dismiss that information until they showed images of the bodies, and I realized that I recognized those corpses. I should, I was the one who made them. In the last few days, I had casually dispatched dozens of would-be muggers, believing that they would simply heal their wounds and be good as new, just like everyone had told me.

Now not only was I feared for my atomic power, but also because I was apparently capable of killing demons just as easily as I could a mortal. The worst part was that I didn't think I was just killing them.

With a click of the remote, I turned off the TV, got up with a sigh and made my way over to the balcony window. I stood there for a minute, listening to the sounds of the falling rain before I steeled my will and pulled up my pipboy.

For the last week while stuck in this room, I felt an urge that I hadn't felt for years now. I had resisted it all that time, believing it to be some sort of corrupting influence placed upon me by…whatever Roo was. But no, I finally realized it was nothing so sinister as that, my muse had simply returned and the spark that had long ago faded was simply reignited.

With a flash of light, I held in my hands a beautifully crafted instrument made of the finest wood. Despite being well over five hundred years old, it looked to be in absolutely mint condition. Its's fresh coating of polish made shine in the light of the room. The Soil Stradivarius was a precious thing, not just because it had been considered one of the greatest instruments ever to be made even in the Old World, but because of what it had meant to me. On cold lonely nights I would fall asleep listening to the beautiful melodies that were made by this small piece of wood and strings.

It had also been a parting gift from Agatha.

It was just after I had decided to leave the Capital Wasteland and was traveling from place to place saying my goodbyes when I walked in on Agatha collapsed to the floor. I had rushed to help her and asked what was wrong with her, what I could do to make things better. She had just smiled at me and told me that she was an old woman and there was nothing that could be done. The only thing that I could do was be there for her in her final days.

So, I stayed there in that shack for two days, listening to her life's story, making her some warm meals and doing whatever I could to ease her burdens. She had just smiled up at me and thanked me for being a kind boy. Then on the third day she had grown so weak it made my heart break just looking at her, but again all she did was smile. She had forced herself to sit up in her bed, reached over to the case containing her precious instrument and handed it over to me, saying that she would rather have it be in the hands of someone who knew its value rather than have it gather dust in her shack or buried with her. I accepted it with tears in my eyes and she gave me one last smile before all life left her.

Before I left, I had buried her alongside her husband.

As I journeyed through out the American Wasteland, I had slowly learned how to play the Stradivarius and I had gotten quite good. It was one of the few things I had for entertainment while I traveled the West working as a Courier. After getting shot in the head in Goodsprings, I hadn't had much time to play and after I crowned myself King, all thought of it had vanished from my mind.

But now, after hearing the beautiful but menacing melody that Roo had played for me, my heart was aching to make music of my own once more.

So with a small amount of trepidation, I placed the violin against my cheek, placed the bow upon the strings, and began to play.

At first it was nothing more than simple notes, working off the rust, so to speak. Then it became noodling. And then finally I began to truly play. So many songs had been lost to the nuclear fires of Armageddon, but I had managed to find quite a few pieces of sheet music in decrepit vaults and on dying servers so I had quite a few to choose from. So when I began to play, I chose Melodie by Christoph Willibald Gluck, a beautiful yet sad piece that I felt matched my mood perfectly.

As I played, I let my mind wander towards the woman who had inspired me, and who was currently haunting my dreams.

To call them dreams was somewhat inaccurate. Over the last week, every time I had fallen asleep, I had relived certain moments of my life and for the most part they all played out exactly the way they had happened in real life. Except for the fact that Roo was always there, whispering in my ear and telling me to do things. Terrible things. Telling me to accept Burke's deal, to work for the slavers of Paradise Falls, to join the Legion and become Ceasars right hand. Then after I had conquered North America, she was there telling me to use my power as I saw fit and do what so many had tried and failed to do before, conquering the world. Every time I had listened to what she had to say, only to then do almost the exact opposite of what she wanted.

Every time I spited her, she had always given me a proud smile.

It was horribly confusing for many reasons. The first thing I wanted to know was what exactly was she? From what I could see and remember, she had always been there trying to get me to give in to my darker thoughts like a literal devil on my shoulder. The other question was why could I see her now? She had told me herself that she had always been there, but I had never noticed her before. So what had changed?

The answer seemed fairly obvious at first, I was in hell. I was literally in the pit itself, surrounded by very real demons. Maybe I couldn't see her before because she was spiritual in nature and could only manifest properly in the afterlife. Except that during my fight with Cook-Cook she stood there in the middle of the arena and no one else had seen her other than me. Which left only one variable.

Me.

She had even come right out and told me that I was the one who was defective. The question was what had changed inside me? Well I had had a week to think about it and had come to a disturbing answer.

The first thing I had to ask was why could I kill demons? The answer there was that I was a living human and the same rules that applied to other beings down here did not apply to me. Next, I wondered what actually happened to a soul when it was truly killed? I had found that answer in one of the books I borrowed from the library. There were a few theories that there were other forms of afterlives that the souls went after their true death, but that had been disproven by a what appeared to be a scientific article. Apparently a morally bankrupt scientist had studied what happens to a demon upon being killed by angelic steel by using weapons left behind by exorcists and several unwilling participants. What they found was that upon death, the energy of the demon, or in other words their soul, flowed out of the freshly made corpse and was absorbed into the environment. They literally became a part of hell itself, proving that the law of conservation of mass and energy, the idea that matter and energy cannot be created ordestroyed but only change form, was still true even in hell.

But if that law held true, then what had been that feeling of energy flowing into me that I had mistaken for radiation? For that, I recalled what Vaggie had told me about how Overlords and Warlords gained their power. They made contracts with other demons and enslaved their souls, allowing them to gain power and rise through the ranks of Hell. The idea of enslaving a soul still made my blood boil, only this time I could feel the heat in my chest respond and I could see my eyes beginning to glow in the window's reflection.

I let the rage dissipate as I focused on playing my music and watched as the glow disappeared.

That right there was proof of what I feared. Taking into account all that I had seen and learned led me to only one conclusion. Not only was I able to break the rules by being able to kill sinners, I could also break the rules by not needing to make contracts to gain power.

In other words, I was stealing their souls.

That idea made me sick. If I was stealing their souls, what was that doing to me? Was I obliterating their personalities completely and just taking in the energy to boost myself? Or were they still conscious, forced to exist somewhere deep in the recess of my own soul? Could they somehow effect my personality and make me not act like myself to the point where I might start considering rape and other such evils as acceptable? Not only that, I was already iffy on whether or not I still counted as human, but now that line had blurred even further.

The fact that I could perceive Roo probably meant that I had become something more, or maybe even less than human.

I didn't want to think about it anymore, so instead I poured all my energy into my violin. I played and played until eventually the song came to an end.

I was quite surprised to immediately be given a round of applause.

Turning around, I found a smiling Charlie clapping away while Razzle and Dazzle clopped their hooves together on either side of her.

"How long have you been there?" I asked.

"A few minutes. I didn't know you could play violin!" she squealed.

"I haven't played for a long time, but I just felt like picking it back up." I said with a shrug before atomizing the instrument. "So what brings you to my humble abode?"

"We brought you breakfast." She stepped to the side and I watched as the two goat demons brought in hashbrowns, bacon and pancakes all on a literal silver platter. They set it down on the table in front of the couch and the smell already had my mouth watering.

"Damn that looks good." I said as I sat down and was about to dig in when a thought occurred to me.

"Hey, care to join me?" I asked.

"Oh, are you sure?"

"Yeah, it's fine. Besides I wanted to discuss something with you."

"Okay then." She said as she sat down beside me and I handed her a fork. I went after the hashbrowns and bacon while she started on the pancakes, though by the time she was done it was more maple syrup that flapjack.

"So what did you want to talk about?" She said before taking a bite.

"Well first I just want to let you know how grateful I am for you letting me stay here. I know other than the night Pentious got here I haven't exactly been participating in the whole redemption thing. So sorry for that."

"Don't apologize! Paul, you threw yourself into danger to rescue a bunch of sinners for no other reason than just because. That's one of the most selfless things I've ever seen!" Charlie said with a smile. "Honestly I really can't figure out why you're even in hell?"

"Because I'm a bloodthirsty bastard who enjoys killing far too much." I said with a shrug.

"Oh. Well we can try and work on that later." she said with a awkward smile.

"Anyway, I wanted you to know how much I appreciate you so I had an idea of how to help you and the hotel out."

She tilted her head in confusion. "With what?"

"The whole Extermination Day being moved up six months." I said as I took a bite of bacon. It was perfectly cooked and wonderfully delicious.

"Oh. That." Charlie suddenly looked far less cheery. "Wait, what do you mean you can help with that?"

"I mean I might be able to help get it canceled and get it to go back to just being an annual thing."

Charlie's eyes widened in shock as she dropped her fork.

"You can do that?!" She practically yelled.

"I don't know if I can succeed, but I can definitely give it a try."

"Really?! How?"

"By figuring out what caused them to react this way." I said as a finished off the bacon before moving on to the hashbrowns.

Charlie just stared at me with her head tilted in confusion as I munched away.

"I don't understand. Adam told me himself that he did it just because he wanted to slaughter sinners more because he thinks it's fun. And that was after he called me and my idea stupid. He's kind of a massive prick." She said with a scowl while crossing her arms. Charlie made her opinion of the first man pretty obvious and it was still strange to me that it was the Father of Humanity sounded like a massive asshole. Then again that probably explained humanity as a whole.

"Yeah, that's what he told you. But let me ask you something. What if he was lying?"

My question caused Charlie to shoot me another confused look along with a raised eyebrow.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, what if it was more than just because they got bored? They've been doing this whole extermination day thing for millennia right? Well, why would they suddenly change it up now? What if it's because something spooked them enough to crackdown even harder?" I said as I finished off the hashbrowns and set the plate aside.

Charlie sat there with her mouth hanging open, trying to figure out what to say. "No, that's not…no. No, Adam is a horrible person. You don't understand just what kind of guy he is, what he did to my dad or how he treated my mom. No, he's a bastard who's doing this for his own entertainment." She said with a scowl.

It was my turn to give her a questioning look. What had she meant by that? Actually now that Charlie mentioned it, I knew her father was the fallen angel himself, but I had no idea who her mother was.

"Okay lets back it up here. It's obvious there's some family drama going on here, but what do your parents have to do with the first man? Also, if it not too much to ask, who's your mom?"

Thankfully Charlie didn't look offended at all. "Oh, my mom is Lilith, the first woman."

I shot her raised eyebrow.

Lilith. The name sounded familiar and I knew that I had heard it somewhere but I had read the bible enough times to know that there was no one who went by that name. Although now that I was thinking about, I recalled seeing some old, faded posters around the city that advertised one of her concerts.

Now as for the first woman thing, that was just plain wrong. Eve was the first woman and was just as much the mother of humanity as Adam was the father. Unless…actually now that I thought about it, a long time ago I had stumbled onto a small collection of old medieval texts and their copies locked away in the basement of a destroyed university. Some of those books were of old Hebrew stories and folklore, and one such story was of Lilith, Adam's first wife. The tales spoke of how she and her husband had been created at the same time, though she refused to submit to her husband or heaven in any way and decided to run off with the angel who would become Lucifer and, in a way, became the first demon.

"Holy crap." I said as I stared at the girl in front of me. "You mom is that Lilith? Wow, this whole situation just got horribly complicated. Nothings more messy than betrayal, cheating and good old fashioned family drama."

"Hey my parents did not cheat on Adam! Besides he's a massive misogynist who didn't deserve mom or Eve!" She said sounding upset. Although I did send her a questioning glance at that last remark.

"Now what does Eve have to do with any of this?!"

"A lot. Hold on, I'll be right back." The Princess said as she got up from the couch and hurried out of the room.

I was left alone with Razzle and Dazzle who appeared to have gotten bored and started going through all the discarded weapon parts on the table. I mean while decided since Charlie was obviously not going to eat anymore, I wouldn't do to let the pancakes go to waste. I had just finished them off when Charlie came back in with a book in hand and sat back down next to me.

"Here you go, this ought to show you why I can't stand the guy." She said as she handed it me

The book was large but thin, somewhat reminding me of a children's story book. The cover was colored several shades of red with golden filigree and the title of the book itself was also written in gold. The title itself immediately caught my attention for multiple reasons. It read "The Story of Hell" written by Lucifer Morningstar.

I looked up at Charlie in shock while she just smiled at me. "Go ahead, you can read it."

I nervously swallowed as I opened up the book. I know I was literally in Hell, but I felt so nervous holding this little book because if this really was about the origins of Hell, then I was about to get a peek behind the cosmic curtains that some of the greatest minds of humanity would literally kill to know.

Opening up the book, I realized it really was a picture book, but unlike any normal volume, the pictures were moving by themselves.

"Once upon a time, there was a glowing city protected by golden gates known as Heaven. It was ruled by beings of Pure light, Angels that worshiped good and shielded all from evil." I read out loud.

The book showed the image of a beautiful city and the angels that lived within were beings clad in white robes, with white feathery wings and heads that resembled spinning fiery wheels. However off to the side was a red eyed being with hair like flames.

Flipping the page, the next image revealed the silhouette of a humanoid being with six wings and wearing what looked like a top hat.

"Lucifer was one of these angels. He was a dreamer with fantastical ideas for All of creation. But he was seen as a troublemaker by the elders of Heaven. For they felt his way of thinking was dangerous to the order of their world. So, he watched as the angels began to expand the universe in their ways."

The next image was of two black silhouetted people. The first was a man with tall and athletic build with short hair. The second was a curvaceous woman with hair that almost reached her feet.

"From the dust of Earth, they created Adam and Lilith, equals as the first of Mankind. But, despite this, Adam demanded control, and Lilith refused to submit to his will. She fled the Garden. Drawn in by her fierce independence, Lucifer found her, and the two rebellious dreamers fell deeply in love."

The images showed the man pointing to somewhere off screen, wanting to do something, but the woman refused and ran away. She was found crying alone by the sixed winged angel. They held each other's hands as they gazed at one another.

Turning the page, the next image showed another woman sitting by a large black and red tree with glowing red fruit. To the right stood the first woman, and from the tree slithered down a snake that changed back into the angel.

"Together, they wished to share the magic of free will with humanity, offering the Fruit of Knowledge to Adam's new bride, Eve, who gladly accepted."

The image showed the angel offering the new woman one of the glowing fruits, and though the rest of her face was hidden in shadow, her smiling lips could still be seen.

I turned the page again.

"But this gift came with a curse. For with this single act of disobedience, evil finally found its way into Earth. With it, a new realm of darkness and sin. And the order Heaven worked to maintain was shattered."

The image showed a creeping black mass making its way towards the earth, forming a skeletal like hand before grasping the world. Then it was all black before I almost gasped as dozens of red eyes opened in the darkness, very familiar looking eyes. Then it moved on to the image of the angels looking upon a model of the planet, only for it to crack in half.

I turned the page.

"As punishment for their reckless act, Heaven cast Lucifer and his love into the dark pit he had created, never allowing him to see the good that came from humanity, only the cruel and the wicked. Ashamed, Lucifer lost his will to dream."

The image showed the two fools falling into that eye filled void, lucifer seemingly losing his light.

"But Lilith thrived, empowering demonkind with her voice and songs. And as the numbers of Hell grew, so did its power. Threatened by this, Heaven made a truly heartless decision. That every year, they would send down an army, an Extermination, to ensure Hell and its sinners could never rise against them."

The image showed the first woman, now bathed in a red light and two large horns protruding from her head. From her flowed music and all around the woman, buildings of black and red were constructed. Then It showed another six winged angel, this time a woman, looking sad as she made a decision. next appeared another angel with golden wings, horns, and a vicious grin. At his command he unleashed a horde of female angels, each one wielding a spear as they descended upon Hell.

I turned to the final page, and at first all was black until the light of a red heart revealed the image of Charlie herself.

"But Lilith's hope remained. And her dream was passed down to their precious daughter, the Princess of Hell."

With those final words, I finished the book.

"See what I mean? Adam didn't treat my mom right. He didn't treat Eve right. And now he's leading the exorcists to slaughter sinners in six months. Trust me, Paul, he's doing this just because he can." Charlie said as she turned to me.

…

…

"Paul! Are you all right?" she asked with concern in her voice.

"No Charlie, I am not fucking alright." I growled as I snapped the book shut. "I'm fucking pissed."

"Oh. So you do get it!" she said with a smile, one that disappeared as I turned to stare at her. I could already feel the heat behind my eyes as they began to glow.

"Oh, I get it alright. I get that everything that is wrong with the world, that every evil piece of shit I had to deal with, and all the suffering I endured can be traced back to your parents. You know, in the story of Eden that I know, the serpent that tricked Eve into eating the apple was believed to be lucifer, but there was never any confirmation. Now here in his own words he is admitting that all of humanity's suffering is all his fault! And the worst part is he's trying to paint himself as the victim!" I yelled while slamming the book onto the table, causing the plates and platter to rattle.

"How could you blame my dad for all that?! He was trying to help!" Charlie yelled back. It was so strange hearing the cheery princess sounding angry and upset. It was so antithetical of what I had seen of her. I couldn't really blame her though, I was insulting and attacking her father. I would have been just as upset if someone badmouthed my dad in front of me. It's just too bad at this moment I didn't particularly care.

"It doesn't matter if he had good intentions! His "help" literally condemned humanity! And I call bullshit on that freewill excuse. Humans have literally always had freewill. That's why your mom could decide to run away from Adam, and why Adam wanted to be in charge to begin with!"

I was fuming and in response I let the heat in my chest respond to my will at the same time that that my pipboy's Geiger counter began to tick.

Much like before, I forced myself to calm down until the ticking stopped and the heat receded. I was going to have to figure out how to properly control that power. The last thing I needed was a flareup every time I got upset.

"But that doesn't matter right now. I know you don't like Adam, but here's the thing, I know violent guys like him and unwarranted escalation of this magnitude isn't in their nature, not without being given a reason. All I'm asking is if you'll let me look into this for you, see if I can't figure out what happened and possibly push the extermination back to its usual schedule. That way you have even more time to try and redeem some sinners without worrying about them getting killed before you can make any progress." I made sure to say in an even tone of voice, try to not let the simmering anger into my words

Charlie just stared at me, clearly still upset about what I said about her parents. But eventually she relaxed her glare as she let out a long sigh.

"I suppose it's alright. I still think Adam is doing this just to be a dick, but I guess it's worth a shot to see if you can figure out if there's a reason for all this. If you do, please tell me immediately so I can confront them on it, because I don't think being confronted by a sinner would work out well for you."

I smiled at the princess' concern, the anger in me finally dissipating. "Don't worry Charlie, the moment I find out anything, I'll tell you immediately." I said while crossing my mechanical heart.

"Good. Now before I head out, I wanted to ask you something extremely important." She said leaning in, her eyes narrowed and her gaze serious.

"What. Is. Your. Favorite. Food?"

I blinked several times in confusion. "What?"

"What's your favorite food?" She said, all seriousness gone. "I've decided to make everyone feel better after that crazy week, so I've decided to make a meal with everyone's favorite food. Vaggie wanted ham croquettes, Husk wanted some big steaks, Sir Pentious asked for some egg muffins, Nifty…just kind of giggled about the tears of orphaned bugs and Angel, well he made a sex joke about what he would love to have in his mouth before telling me he likes chicken fettuccine alfredo. Even Alastor mentioned wanting some jambalaya, although meat wise, he said he would prefer some long pig, whatever that is." Charlie said with a shrug.

My eye twitched in irritation at hearing that last part. It seems my suspicions about the man in red's diet were right. I fucking hated cannibals so much.

"Long pig isn't a real thing. Just use some regular sausages and you'll be fine." I said, trying to head off that particular situation. I had gone through a lot to make sure I never mistakenly ate any human flesh and like hell I was going to do it accidentally just because the radio fucker wanted to spice up his palette.

"As for my favorite food, well that's an easy one. I like apples." I said with a smile.

Charlie just blinked at me for a few seconds. "You like apples?"

I gave her an enthusiastic nod. "Yep. I love all things apple. Apple pie, apple sauce, apple cider, apple martini, and especially just a strait apple."

"Why? Most people pick meats or sweets for their favorite foods. Why do you like apples?" She asked, seemingly trying to hold back a smile.

"Oh that's actually pretty simple." I said with a shrug. "For the last twenty years, I lived in a scorched and mostly barren wasteland where food was scarce. Typically, your options were either two hundred year old food that was only good to eat because of the obscene amount of preservatives pumped into it, meat from some wasteland beast that was probably trying to eat you, or some sort of mutated fruit or vegetable that you were never sure wasn't going to poison you. If you ever found some true, unmodified or nonmutated food, you savored it for all it was worth."

I could still remember the first time I had ever bitten into a real apple. I had just finished questioning Dr. Li about my dad in her lab in Rivet City when I spied a table full of fresh nonmutated food like carrots and potatoes. And there, sitting at the edge of the table had been a beautiful red skinned apple. I had asked the scientist there about the food, and they had explained that they were attempting to purify various food strains so they could revert them back to their healthy original forms. I had asked if they were available for purchase but had been informed that no, they weren't for sale as each one had been several months' worth of work and meant to be used to cultivate a new crop of fresh food.

That night while I was trying to sleep in the weatherly Hotel, that apple wouldn't leave my mind. I tried to shove those thoughts to the side, but no matter how much I told myself that it was best to just let the scientists do their work and use it for the betterment of the people, I didn't care. I wanted it for myself.

So in the dead of the night, I had picked the lock too the science lab and took the apple. I devoured it all, core included. It had been so sweet and juicy, like nothing I had ever tasted before. It had been weeks since I had stepped out of the Vault and until then, I had never stolen anything before that. I didn't regret it one bit.

I was pulled from my musings when I felt arms wrap around me as Charlie let out a small squeal.

"Uh, what's going on?" I asked confused.

"Oh nothing much, just hugging my new apple buddy." The princess said as she pulled away.

"Apple buddy?" I asked, getting a nod from the demoness.

"Yep. I love apples too but I was always disappointed that I never found anyone else who really loved them save for my dad. Of course his favorite are caramel apples and as good as they are, they don't compare to cinnamon apples."

I actually let out a small laugh at that. "Haha, are you telling me that the devil himself has a sweet tooth?" I asked with a smile, finding the idea horribly amusing.

"Yeah. Mom basically always had to force him to eat anything that didn't have sugar in it."

As she said that, I glanced down at the empty plate that was still full of sugary syrup. "I'm guessing it runs in the family."

Charlie's already rosy cheeks flushed even redder in embarrassment. "I'm not that bad."

After managing to get her face to stop resembling a cherry, Charlie got up from the couch and smoothed out her clothes. "Anyways, I want to see you at dinner tonight and absolutely no running off to get into trouble. Come on guys, lets' go."

With that, Charlie, Razzle and Dazzle left my room, leaving me with a smile on my face as I watched her go. That girl was too good for this place, too good for these people.

I glanced around at the messy room and realized that I now had the entire day to clean it all up and get ready for dinner tonight. Glancing over at my discarded armor, I realized I would have to change things up because it didn't seem right to wear my usual ensemble for what was supposed to be a pleasant evening.

Getting up from the couch, I went over and grabbed the elite riot gear's yellow trench coat and examined the thing. Still in good condition and despite the radiation resistant material, it had almost been pretty comfortable to wear. The problem was that it just wouldn't do for a night in like this.

Not yet anyway.

As I gripped the article of clothing, I let the heat in my chest flow out and I could feel it flow through my body, into my eyes as well as my hand. Based off previous experiments over the last week, I knew my eyes were glowing again and I also wasn't surprised as I watched my hands glow a bright green as well. I ignored my Geiger counter, instead focusing all my attention on the feeling and the makeup of my coat.

Ever since the V Bowl, I started remembering things, things other than Roo. I remembered opening the book, reading about things that shouldn't be. I remembered feeling so small in front of that ancient obelisk down in those virulent underchambers. I remembered the great eye looking down on me as I destroyed the Krivbeknih. I remembered the words from unseen and unfathomable tongues whispered in the dark. Words that I spoke with a voice that both was and wasn't mine.

"G'yeth."

I felt the power flow through my fingertips and there was a small explosion of green light. Then before my eyes, my coat changed. Its length shortened, and its hardy texture softened until it felt more like cotton or some other fiber. In a few seconds, I was no longer holding an armored trench coat but was instead holding a yellow suit jacket with black buttons and collar. It was still my coat, it had simply changed its form and appearance and I knew from previous experimentation that all it would take was a small effort of will to have it change back to its original shape.

I set the coat down to examine it. It was just as I wanted it to be. I glanced down at my still glowing hands and still felt the power that rested there, ready to be used again.

You know, despite the possibility of my soul being forcibly changed beyond all recognition, the magic made for a nice consolation prize. Maybe I could get used to this?

Turning away from the coat, I moved on to my other articles of clothing and unleashed my newfound power upon them as well.

…-…

"Well if it isn't Abaddon himself come down to mingle with the common folk. Don't I feel positively honored?"

"Shove that microphone up your ass Bambi." I said I brushed past the radio demon who unfortunately managed to keep pace with me.

"What, can't I chat with my fellow Overlord? I see you've decided to celebrate your new title with a change of style. I must say it's better than that old armor of yours. As intimidating as it may have been, nothing beats a good suit, even one as garish as yours." He said with his ever present smile.

I glared at the man over the top of my green lensed sunglasses.

I had just come down after spending the entire day tidying up my room and getting myself cleaned up in preparation for the dinner. It had taken much longer than I thought it would, not realizing just how cluttered it had gotten during my week of isolation. After that I had showered and shaved, my face hairless for the first time in a long while. Then I just hung around my room watching TV for a couple hours until it was time to eat.

Before I had come down, I had gotten dressed in my "new" clothes. Black dress slacks with matching dress shoes. The yellow and black suit jacket sat on my frame with a black button up formal vest over a white collared dress shirt and a bright green necktie. On my head sat a black fedora with a yellow band, and on my face was a pair of grey steel framed glasses with bright green lenses.

It was strange wearing all these clothes knowing that it was actually my armor that had simply having changed its shape. From previous tests, I had learned that despite its new appearance, it was still just as armored as before, simply much more compact. Unfortunately, whatever power I had used to change its form did not change its mass, so it still felt like I was carrying around a set of medium armor. Thankfully if had plenty of experience walking around fully armored so its weight didn't bother me at all.

"I really don't think I need fashion advice from a man whose idea of style consists of only various shades of red." I said, eyeing the man's own ensemble.

"Please, you and I both know Red is my color. Plus it has the bonus of not showing any…stains." He said with his smile widening, making sure to emphasize his shark like teeth.

"Maybe you wouldn't have that problem if you weren't such a messy eater." I said without a hint of fear. Once you stared down an entire pack of deathclaws lead by a massive alpha and equally massive and even more pissed off mother, some cannibalistic serial killer really didn't compare.

Turning around, I began to walk away and was annoyed to hear the demon following me from behind.

"No need to be so prickly, I merely wished to congratulate you on your rise to becoming an Overlord, though I must wonder how you managed to gain so much power so quickly considering you fell not but a few days before. I can't help but think that maybe you knew you were Hell bound, and decided to shift the odds in your favor while you were alive?"

What? How would that even work? That sounded…like he knew something. "What are you getting at Alastor?" I said as I side eyed him.

"Oh nothing, just coming to realize how little I know about your time on earth. I wonder what I would find if I started asking about a certain Paul Harbinger?"

"You'll find a lot of people who's last living mistake was thinking they could mess with me." I not so subtly threatened. "Look, I know all about your little Overlord killing spree you went on when you first got here, and I know you feel threatened by me but you really shouldn't. I have no interest in your little Overlord rat race."

"Ha!" he made a sound that was supposed to be a laugh but ended up sounding offended instead. "For what reason would I feel threatened by you?" he said with a voice full of static and menace.

I turned my head and smiled right back at the demon.

"You mean other than the fact that I'm not some cowardly little serial killer and unlike your previous victims I can actually fight back?"

That seemed to piss the demon off even more as the static sound increased even further and his eyes began to glow red as his sclera turned black.

"Oh I am more than just a mere serial killer. In life, my killings had all of the Cresent City scared to go out at night, afraid of the man eating beast that stalked the darkness. I have carved my name into Hell itself and struck fear into the heart of every sinner in Pride for the last three centuries. I'm a bit more than a mere serial killer." He said as his form gained a foot in height, his antlers grew into a sharp, jagged mess and his teeth lengthened until they less resembled teeth and more like small knives.

I had to admit, he cut a rather terrifying image, but I didn't let any discomfort show on my face. Instead, I just continued to smile.

"No, you're really not. You might have been the stuff of nightmares a few centuries ago, but now? Now freaks like you are a cap a dozen. As for your time in hell? Sure its impressive, but for all the mayhem and murder you've committed since you fell, I can confidently say that my body count's bigger." I said as my smile turned vicious.

"Ooh, kinky!"

Alastor and I both blinked in shock before simultaneously turning our heads towards the source of the comment. Standing there with his hands on his hips and a sleazy smile on his face was Angel Dust.

I glanced around and realized that we had just made it to the dining room, the long table already filled with various foods and most of the other guests and staff. I noticed that there were actually a few more people than I was expecting, although I recognized them as some of the demons I had saved from the V Bowl, still hiding out at the Hotel until they were sure the coast was clear. I was somewhat disappointed to see that Ms. Mayberry wasn't one of them. I had hoped to say goodbye but I supposed she had friends who were worried about her and wanted to get back to them as soon as possible.

I sent one last glare at Alastor before moving towards the table and took a seat to the right of Vaggie and across from husk.

"Alright kid, who are you and what have you done with mister tall, armored and badass?" Husk said with a chuckle.

"Excuse me? What's that supposed to mean?" I said with a raised eyebrow.

"He means that now that your face is as smooth as a baby's ass, we can see you really put the 'boy' in soldier boy. Seriously, you look like you just stepped out of high school." Angel said as he took the seat to my left.

I let out a groan of frustration. This wasn't the first time people had made fun of my apparent age. Seriously, it wasn't my fault my aging had slowed to the point where I was still going to look like I was in my twenties a century from now. Half the reason I even grew a short beard was to hide the baby face.

"First, fuck you all I'm thirty nine. Second, I've never seen you giving Charlie any shit and she looks just as young as I do." I said.

"That's because they know that pointing out her youth won't upset her." Vaggie said as she sipped a glass of water. "That and they know she's actually two hundred years old."

My eyes widened at hearing that. "What?! Little miss sunshine, rainbows and glitter is two hundred? How?!"

Vaggie just shrugged at me. "What do you expect? She's the daughter of a fallen angel and the first demon. Age doesn't really work for her the way it does mortals. I mean look at me, I'm sixty." She said motioning towards herself.

"Huh. You know now that you mention it Alastor did say he's been down here for over three hundred years. What about you guys?" I asked the others.

"Eh, hard to say, most people don't really keep track of the dates down here. Me though, well I bought it a few years before everything up top burned down." Angel Dust said.

"I died about a decade before the dick sucker here." Husk said finishing off a bottle of what I assumed was booze. "Nifty's actually only a few decades younger than Al, been here since the 1950's or something. Snake boy's actually the oldest one here. Didn't you die in the 1800's?"

Husk turned to his right and I finally noticed Sir Pentious sitting there, completely quiet and seemingly trying to look as small as possible. I was wondering what was wrong with him when I noticed him flinch when I looked at him. It seemed that unlike the others he was actually nervous, possibly even fearful of me.

"U-Uh yessss. I've been down here for quite some time you see." He said with a gulp.

"And somehow still a fuck up like the rest of us." Angel said with a mocking but slightly sad smile.

I let out a small laugh at that. "Man, I really am the kid here, aren't I?"

"Yep. Just so you know I'm going to need to see some ID next time you want a drink." Husk said with a smile before opening up a new bottle.

"Yeah, fuck that." I said before reaching over and snatching the bottle from his hand. I took a long swig from the bottle and kept on drinking until it was empty. After the last drop passed my lips, I let out a satisfied sigh before giving the winged cat man a cheeky smile, one that he matched with an extremely grumpy glare.

"Everyone have a seat! The foods ready!" I heard Charlie shout as the doors to the kitchen opened.

…-…

The food wasn't anything luxurious, at least not compared to the kind of food served at the Gourmand. It was however still high quality and the variety as well as the exoticness of the food made for quite the treat. Things on earth were much better now that thanks to Big MT technology I had introduced various meats, fruits and vegetables to the average wastelander's diet, but the culinary arts were still a long way from matching the Old World's. It seems that wasn't a problem in Hell.

I devoured the steak and chicken fettuccine, thoroughly enjoying both meals separately, and enjoying it even more when I cut up the steak and mixed it in with the pasta. Angel seemed absolutely aghast when I did that but I honestly didn't care. After that I just enjoyed the various forms of cooked egg and it was quite a novelty eating eggs that came from an animal with feathers rather than anything with scales, chitin or exoskeletons. The croquettes were delicious, but the real star of the meal was the jambalaya. Say what you will about the red suited prick, he had excellent taste in dishes.

I had finished off my third helping of the food when I heard Angel let out a low whistle.

"You can really put it away can't you? Seriously, I've seen demons from gluttony eat less than you."

"I'm from an irradiated apocalyptic wasteland. If you wanted to survive you had to eat whatever you could get whenever you could get it. You never knew when your next meal was going to be." I said as I wiped my mouth with my napkin. "You know now that you mention demons from other rings, I was wondering if I could ask you something?"

"Normally I'd tell you no and to ask someone else, but after what you did to screw over Val? Sure, ask away." He said as he to a bite of his pasta.

"Well you see, when I was doing my research on Hell, I found out that not only are succibi real, they can also journey to earth. Considering your line of work, I was wandering if you knew of any such demons?" I asked.

"Let me stop you right there pal." Angel said as he held up a palm. "I know what you're thinking and you ain't the first. No, their portal shit doesn't work on sinners so don't go getting any funny ideas about getting out of here that way."

I wasn't surprised to hear that, the thought that others had tried my idea before me had crossed my mind. I wasn't discouraged however, because unlike the rest of Hell, I was still alive.

"Thanks for the warning but that's not why I was wanting to find one." I lied. "I left behind a big mess in Vegas when I fell and I was hoping to find someone who can travel to earth and pay them to find out what happened after I bit the bullet. You know, for closure, or at least an attempt at it."

Angel Dust looked thoughtful for a moment, even rubbing his fluffy chin with one of his hands.

"I think I may know just the gal. Normally the great and powerful Oz doesn't like his people working with sinners, too big of a risk running into someone like Valentino, but a few years back there was this one chick I worked with. We tag teamed this echidna guy and shit, just watching the bitch taught me a few things about fellatio that I never would have thought of. We went for drinks after the shoot and let me tell you, she could out drink any motherfucker I've ever met."

I smiled at that mental image, and for some reason my mind immediately conjured up my own foul mouthed drunkard of a friend. I had to wonder how she would react if she were in my position. Probably get drunk and start a fight that might or might not turn into a one night stand. That is if she didn't immediately try to take on all of demons of hell for being the evil pieces of shit that they are.

Cass may have been one the crankiest, most short tempered alcoholics ever to walk the earth, but her morals and sense of justice had never truly wavered. I missed her already. Just another reason to get out of here as soon as possible.

"Sounds like quite the lady. So what's the name of this dame and where can I find her?" I asked.

"Her name's Verosika Mayday. As for finding her, you're probably out of luck there. She has her company offices over in Imp City, but she's normally not there. She usually spends most of her time down in Lust, not that I can blame her. She a pretty big fucking deal there, practically a celebrity. So unless you can get a hellborn to contact her for you, you're not getting a face to face."

"Well damn. Thanks for telling me anyways, even if it was a lost cause." I said making sure to sound disappointed. Inwardly, I was practically dancing with joy. I finally had a way out of this pit, I just needed a way to get a way to get around more quickly and see if it was possible for me to travel the rings.

After that I turned back to the meal and was about to grab some more eggs when I heard someone let out a fake cough from behind me.

Turning around, I was somewhat surprised to find the nervous form of Sir Pentious.

"Oh heya Slithers. What's up?" I asked as I got up from my chair.

"Oh, well I know we haven't exactly talked sincccce I arrived, and I know I didn't actually make a great first impression. But I was hoping to asssk you for a favor Abaddon Sir."

"Let me stop you there." I said holding up my hand. "Before you ask me anything, first thing you need to know is that my name's Paul, not Abaddon. I just said that to throw off the Vees. Second, I'm not interested in making any contracts or deals. If you need anything, just ask and I'll either help you for free or just ask for some cash."

"Oh thank god!" he said, his frame slumping in relief as all the tension left his body. "You have no idea how worried I was about that."

"I think I do. So, what did want to ask about?"

"Oh, well you I am an inventor you see, and I've made many wonders and horrors beyond imagination! My name strikes fear into all the corners of pride as I unleashed devastation upon those who sought to ridicule me or stand in my way! For I was the Maker of Ruin!" he said striking a pose.

"I thought you were the Architect of Destruction?" I replied.

"Oh…you were there for…that?" I asked suddenly, seeming embarrassed.

"What? Watching you get your scaly ass kicked? Yes I was. So you're an inventor you say? You make that airship of yours?"

He nodded very enthusiastically. "Yesss. I made it all from ssscratch you see and I'm actually quite proud. I've also designed all its weaponry, even sold some of my designs to Overlady Carmine."

"She's the one who sells weapons right? I think I saw two of her delivery girls here just before I left." I replied.

"Her daughters, yes. I've made quite a few things in my time in hell, but a couple centuries ago I began hearing about technologies beyond my imagination, technology that used…nuclear energy." He said while twiddling his thumbs.

"Ah, so that's what you want." I said as I crossed my arms. "You heard they were calling me the Nuclear Demon and you thought that maybe I could give you some fissionable materials so you could do what? Make an atom bomb or a death ray?"

"Nononono, but also yes. I mean yes that I thought you could give me the materialsss I needed but no to making a bomb. I've also already got a death ray so no to that as well. I also promised missss Charlie that I wouldn't make any more weapons. I just had a few ideasss and past inventions that I could never get working and simply wished to see if with the proper materialsss I could finally get them working."

I rubbed my chin in thought. It wasn't exactly a bad idea. Even if I didn't currently have any energy weapons on hand, I still had plenty of energy cells, microfusion cells, electron charge packs and fusion cores to spare. It also wasn't a bad idea to befriend the guy who built his own weaponized dirigible. Who knows what else he could make?

"I'm not saying no, but I want to see what you plan on doing with it before I say yes. Is that acceptable?" I offered.

Before I could blink, Sir Pentious reached out, grabbed my hand and started shaking it so fast I briefly wondered if he was high on Jet.

"Yes yes yesss! That is more than acceptable! Thank you Aba-Paul. Thank you, Paul." Pentious said as he released my hand and took his seat with a newfound pep in his…slither.

I had just sat down myself when a new smell filled my nose, and my mouth immediately started to water.

From the kitchen emerged Charlie and the goats, all holding a couple of steaming pies, fresh from the even I was guessing. Razz and Dazz set the pies down on the table for the others while Charlie came over and set one down in front of me and cut out a piece, putting it on a plate and setting it in front of me, letting me see that was apple pie.

"Since it was your request, you get the first slice." She said with a smile, one that I returned.

"Charlie, you are an angel."

With that, I grabbed my fork and took a bite.

…-…

"Quite the workshop you have here Slithers." I said as I followed the snake man through his airships.

It was surprisingly spacious on the inside and well maintained. Sir Pentious had parked the thing behind the hotel and it was quite strange to see the little egg demons scurrying about.

"Thank you. I spent quite a few years getting the way I wanted it." He said as he slithered his way towards a large metal cabinet and pulled a large roll of papers. He then placed it down on a work bench and spread it out flat.

"Here are all my designs if you wish to look" he said as he moved to the side to allow me to see what he was planning on building.

As I went through the pile of papers, I saw that they were all highly detailed blueprints and schematics of all kinds. The first one I looked at appeared to be a rifle of some kind, made of steel, wood and brass. At first it seemed overly complicated with several gas tubes running from the barrel and especially with some sort of backpack based magazine feeder. Then I took a closer look and my eyes widened as I realized my first impressions of the weapon were wrong. It wasn't a ballistic rifle, it was a laser rifle. The backpack was the primary energy battery and the cylinder underneath the rifle powered the particle exciter, serving as the ammunition. I scanned the measurements, the materials it was made out of and the power supply and consumption, ran various calculations in my head and came to a startling conclusion.

It would work.

This old timey looking weapon that looked like it was ripped from one of H. G. Wells' novels if assembled would actually work. Hell, it was practically a scaled down and simplified gatling laser. Sure it wouldn't fire nearly as fast or work as efficiently, but it could still burn a hole through a man's chest.

The next schematic was similar to the first, but the obvious difference was the long capper barrel with three large forward facing fins near the tip. Looking over the specifics revealed that it would function like a plasma caster. The next was a device with a long pole wrapped in copper wires and a hand crank on the body of the weapon, allowing it to shoot out bolts of electricity like a tesla rifle. After that was a large bulky metallic exoskeleton covered in steel and brass plating that was an obvious attempt at designing power armor. It also wasn't just weapons and armor, it was also vehicles like cars, planes, helicopters and what looked like an attempt at designing a vertibird. Hell, there were even various designs of automata.

What was more was that the deeper into the stack I went, I started seeing the design repeat but improved upon and more streamlined as well as an aesthetic change. They went from looking like something from the Victorian era to design of the early nineteen hundreds, to the art deco of the twenties and thirties, to the more utilitarian era of the war ravaged forties. After that all the designs started to look like the style of the atomic age of the Old World.

See all these designs, it almost took my breath away because from what I could tell, if they were all given the proper energy source, they would all be able to function.

"Holy hell Slithers. You designed all these?!" I asked."

"Yes, though I've only managed to build a few of them due to never having the proper materials on hand." He said sheepishly.

"Pentious, if what you said is true then you managed to design functioning energy weaponry based only off of secondhand knowledge. Sure your laser rifles could probably benefit from some better focusing lenses and personally I would overcharge the capacitors on the plasma launchers, but all of this looks amazing! How are you considered a laughingstock?" I asked, genuinely confused.

Sir Pentious stood there for a moment, his mouth hanging open in shock. "You-you actually understand my designs?"

"Yep." I answered with a nod. "I know I might come off as a violent brute sometimes, but I'm much smarter than I look. I actually have plenty of knowledge and experience in various sciences and types of engineering. One of which obviously being energy weapons."

"Finally! Sssomeone who can appreciate my genius!" he shouted as he raised his arms into the air. "You have no idea how long I've been looking for someone who not only appreciates brain just as much as brawn, but also aren't a psssycho! Seriously, some of those so called scientists from a couple centuries took things way too far. I know we are in hell and all but at least try to have some standards."

I nodded along at his rant. My mind instantly conjured up images of brains inside floating mechanical bodies with electrons screens for mouths and eyes.

"Yeah I know the kinds of mad men your talking about. So," I said as I clapped my hands together. "What do you want to work on first?"

"Excuse me?"

"I said, what do you want to work on first?" I repeated. "I've decided that not only am I going to supply you with some atomic power, I'm also going to help you build it. I have plenty of experience turning even junk into weapons of mass destruction, imagine what I can do with a well-stocked workshop?"

Sir Pentious flashed me a fanged smile before rushing over and flipping through the schematics until he apparently found the one he wanted and held it up for me to see.

"It's one of my more recent designs, but its also something I've always wanted to build. It'sss also not a weapon so I wouldn't be breaking my promise to Charlie."

Looking over the blueprint, I felt my own mouth morph into a smile.

I had always wanted to build a jetpack.

…-…

Vox Arena Ruins

The stadium was a shadow of its former self. Its walls were cracked and crumbling, its floor had caved in upon itself and the lights had long gone dark. The air still burned with the invisible fires of radiation and all along the stands that had been blackened by heat of atomic flame were thousands of bare spots in the shapes of all manner of demons. The silhouettes being the last thing those souls would leave behind.

It had been a week and still no demon save the most heavily protected of scientists and researchers dared to approach wreckage. They all feared to delve into the place that had incurred the wrath of Abaddon.

All save one.

Stanger stood amongst the rubble, gazing out upon the devastation from what appeared to be the epicenter of the destruction.

He had been right in assuming that all he would need to do was wait for the human do to something destructive and foolish, but he had not expected something of this magnitude so quickly. Normally Paul tried to at least be more subtle in his violence, but to unleash his power like this either meant something had angered him beyond all reason or something had gone wrong with the human. Based upon the tales of he had heard about this 'Abaddon's' ability to delivery the damned souls to oblivion were quite concerning.

Though what also concerned the angel was that the damned souls had compared that ability to that of angelic steel, something that they should have no knowledge of. Then there had been the offhand comments about extermination day that had piqued his interest. Once he had found the human, he would have to investigate such matters as soon as possible. For now though, he had to keep his priorities straight.

He had to find Paul Harbinger.

Unfortunately, though he knew the wastelander had been here, he had left no evidence of where he had gone too afterwards. All unshielded electronic equipment in the area had been knocked out of commission by the blast so there was no camera footage to point him in any direction. There was one thing however that he had to go off of.

The tree.

Down here at ground zero of a nuclear blast stood something that shouldn't exist. A young tree that stood seven feet tall and already was beginning to bear fruit, which should not have been possible considering it was less than a week old. The bark of the trunk glowed a brilliant green and the leaves pulsed with an amber light, making look as if it was aflame. From the branches hung round fist sized fruit, their skin black as night. Plucking the fruit from the tree and cracking open the crisp fruit he saw that the flesh was a bright yellow that leaked an equally yellow juice. And there at the center of its core sat half a dozen seeds, ready fall and become trees themselves.

"From destruction and violence can new life and possibility grow. How very much like you Mr. Harbinger." Stranger said as he walked away from the flora.

With fruit in hand, it would make finding the human much easier. Like a bloodhound given an article of a clothing, he would follow the scent to its source. For what better way was there to find someone when you were already holding a piece of their soul?

As the angel left the ruins, the tree he had left behind continued to grow. Flourishing in a place where no life should have been found.

…-…

And there we go! Paul has recovered and now actually has a goal in mind, getting to Miss Mayday.

Now a few things. I know we don't actually know anything about Carmine other than she used to be an arms dealer and she's most likely Spanish. Just consider this part of the Au if we ever actually learn her backstory.

Moving on to Paul's little rant about Lucifer, well how would you react if you learned that ever hardship you had to endure, ever time you suffered from some act of violence or selfishness, that every tragedy from caused by extreme weather or disease can all be traced back to Eve eating the apple. All because Lucifer and Lilith either convinced or tricked her into eating it. And that's just in modern day first world countries. Paul is from a post-apocalyptic wasteland were a good chunk of the population are sadistic raiders. I loved Lucifer in the show and is one of my favorite characters, but no matter his intentions, he really screwed up. And that's if the story he told Charlie was true because you know the old saying, "there is your truth, my truth and the truth".

Well at least he has some new magical powers to play with, even if they came at the cost of other people's souls. Congrats Rook435, you figured it out ahead of time. Physically Paul is already nigh unstoppable but against the heavy hitters of hell and heaven that advantage only goes so far so think of this as his soul gaining XP.

Now I want to ask you all to please leave a review and wish you all a merry Christmas!