"Are you sure I can't convince you to stay longer?" Charlie had stopped Vox in the Hotel lobby right when he was about to head out of this cheap little passion project and get back to his Overlord life of luxury. He sighed; his hand pressed to the front of the screen.
"Deal is over, Princess. I have done my time."
"You know... calling it your time kind of makes this sound like a prison sentence, which it's not." Charlie tried to correct him. Vox raised an eyebrow.
"I was forced to be here."
"You agreed to be here. You got to go to my dad's party."
"And you should be grateful that I did. At least you had one Overlord trying to hold off the Shoggoths." His eyes glanced up the stairs to where the Radio Demon was most likely sulking around in his room up to something nefarious.
"Alastor did his part in the fight. We all did." Charlie countered. "Well... maybe not Mimzy or Niffty, but they got trapped inside." The Princess of Hell seemed blind to anything in regards to the bowl-cut bastard that haunted her hallways. Vox wasn't sure if she was just blinded by the chaos of the fight, or willfully ignorant. It might have been funny if it was at the expense of literally anyone else.
"You and I must have been in two completely different battles, then."
"I do appreciate you helping back then. In fact, you have been such a big help, I think you deserve to be rewarded with three more months at our illustrious Hazbin Hotel! Absolutely free!" Charlie made a rainbow appear between her hands. Vox stared at her blankly.
"It's already free."
"It was worth a shot." Charlie sighed as the rainbow vanished in a puff of smoke. She reeked of desperation. It was a little sad. The Hotel hadn't been the worst experience, outside of being forced to be around Alastor. And allegedly there was proof that it worked. What's-his-name who they had a whole meeting about him maybe being in Heaven. Paroxetine? Prednisone? It was something along those lines.
"Look, a bit of advice before I head out, because Lucifer knows you need it," Vox put a hand on Charlie's shoulder. It wouldn't hurt to maintain good standing with the royal family, especially with that weird illness going around. Sure, he was doing much better, but the only one who seemed to know the cure for it was Lucifer's weird doctor. "If you want more Sinners to come here, you should start charging an exorbitant amount of money."
"I don't want to charge. Redemption should be available to all Sinners, regardless of social status." Charlie protested. Vox had a feeling that would be her argument. The Princess had a big heart and an empty head. She didn't belong in a place like Hell, but unlike the Sinners she championed, she didn't have a choice. Vox figured she might need a little help in the publicity department. (With only Smiles McDumbass as her window into the media, she was obviously desperate.) Not because he believed in her cause, but rather, because if Redemption WAS a choice, he wanted in on monetizing that at the ground floor. (Also, if some Sinners got redeemed, it might help make Hell less crowded. It wouldn't drain their resources as quickly.)
"Right, I get the vision. But here me out," He leaned against the door frame, "making something expensive, especially down here makes it intriguing, desirable to the modern man. If you make it seem exclusive, people will want it more. Then you can fall for any tricks they try to get in. Accept the counterfeit money, let them trade their bullshit heirlooms, make them think they fooled you for the right to be here and I promise you that you will see more success."
"That..." Charlie trailed off; she seemed to be considering his advice. "That's an interesting perspective, Vox, thank you."
"If you do get confirmation on that one Sinner's fate, like if he really got redeemed or if he just got obliterated into dust," Vox shrugged his shoulders. "Let me know. Like I've said before, if you can prove it works, you'll need better investors than the fuck-wit trying to actively screw you over for his own entertainment." Charlie cringed a bit at Vox's vivid description of the (more probable) fate of her former friend who was "allegedly" in Heaven.
"Alastor is a huge help. And he has been a supporter of this Hotel since the very beginning. I know you and Alastor have your differences, but, when push comes to shove, he always acts in the best interest of the Hotel."
"I wouldn't be so sure of that, Princess." Vox had the definitive memory of a toothy grin waiting for him when he dragged the rabid, two-toned maniac in through the Hotel window that night nearly six months back. He knew the Princess wouldn't believe him. She had shrugged him off even when he had just hinted at that asshole's involvement in all of this. That is what happened when the Prince of Television had decided to test the waters during his interview. It wasn't worth the fight. They were only screwing themselves at this point.
"Are you sure there's nothing I can do to convince you to stay?" Charlie ignored his second attempt at helping.
"You got me the contact information for the angel to whom I owe a life debt, I think we are squared away. For now." The media mastermind wasn't quite ready to cleanly cut all ties with royalty, especially in the middle of what seemed to be a crisis of some kind. Vox was well aware that the King was a rather hands off sort of ruler. If things got done, it was usually through the actions of the Queen. But recently Lucifer had been popping up more and more. Meetings with the Overlords were becoming almost mandatory. A Shoggoth had come out of the very ground beneath the royal mansion and tore the strongest in Hell apart. And while Alastor's contributions to the fight were questionable (from Vox's, always right, perspective) the strength of the beast couldn't be ignored. The Morningstar Family seemed to have some knowledge of what was going on, and, since Charlie had left the Hotel Sinsmas party early, Vox had it on fairly good authority that this was nowhere near finished.
"Do you have your medicine?" Charlie looked him up and down. Vox would admit, he wasn't the biggest fan of the remedy the Devil's private doctor has recommended. It tasted just fine, but it felt like acid on his tongue and down his throat and it always triggered him to vomit in response. That being said, Vox was feeling better.
"I have what's left."
"You might need another checkup from my dad's personal doctor when that medicine runs out. So, don't be surprised if you get a call back."
"Well, he did a better job than any of my other doctors. Even Pete, so, I suppose I can give him at least some time out of my day."
"Pete Peterson the very real Sinner doctor?" Charlie specified in a way that strongly suggested that she didn't believe him.
"That is his name, yes."
"Are you sure you have to go?" The princess changed the subject, looking up at him with what appeared to be genuine concern. "You only just started feeling better. I don't want you to get sick again."
"I don't plan on it. Believe it or not, I don't enjoy feeling like shit warmed over." Vox waved off her comment, as having someone care made him weirdly uncomfortable. "I don't suppose you'll let me know what you and your dad discussed the other night when you bolted out of our party like the house pet had set the room on fire."
"Niffty isn't a pet. We've been over this."
"What did your dad want?"
"Nothing."
"What's wrong, Princess," Vox put on his most endearing smile as he looked her up and down, "don't you trust me?"
"No." Charlie didn't even hesitate. "Why would I?"
"Well, it is kind of our whole brand." Vox leaned against the door frame. Charlie's stoic expression didn't change. He sighed. "Fair enough."
"I do appreciate you helping cover things up in the media for my dad." Her expression softened. "And the puppets you asked me about back during Halloween... was that for Muppet Murders? Because Niffty and Mimzy have been talking about it non-stop."
"Yeah, it's got a weird amount of traction, not gonna lie. Reminds me of that stupid drone show that took off. The public is easy to please- but so long as it gets them off of 'Love After Death' I don't give a fuck."
"Well," Charlie smiled up at him, taking his hand and giving it a firm shake. "I know you were only here because of our deal, but I hope you learned something. Goodbye Vox, we are going to miss having you around!"
"I mean, obviously." Vox straightened his bowtie. "I'm the best thing here." He wouldn't say he had really learned anything from the Princess's weird little attempts at teaching the scum of the earth how to be better people. But he HAD learned a great deal about the inner workings of Heaven and Hell. Staying close to the royal family would keep that window open for him, so he had to be sure to leave on the best of terms. (Especially if- somehow- Redemption was a genuinely achievable.) "Uh," he cleared his throat, "goodbye." The Princess's farewell seemed oddly enthusiastic, given he knew he was not her personal favorite of the patrons (due solely to his connections with Val, his personality was flawless.) He opened the door, walking down the path toward the edge of the property. Charlie stood in the doorway, waving to him as he headed out. He stopped once he reached the property line and he was far enough away from that cursed looking radio tower to be able to feel the electrical signals from his cameras and stations positioned all around the Pride Ring. He turned to see Charlie still waving. Vox gave a small wave of his own, and, in a burst of electricity, he was gone.
He reappeared in the comfort of his own penthouse apartment. Ah, how he had missed the multiple screens, his eyes all over Hell, the security of technology around him, the hum of wires in the walls. It was invigorating. Not that he hadn't been back to the office several times during his three-month stent in his own personal Hell, but he hadn't really had the opportunity to be back in his room his private space. He held out his hands and the cameras all crackled to life, the screens flickered on and Vox found himself bathed in the warm glow of technology. He turned off the automatic transfer on his work calls. In his absence, he had to send his important calls to either Vel or Val, whoever was available. The vacation had been nice, for what it was. He did feel better. But he was glad to be home. He took a deep breath letting the whirring of electricity sing its calming lullaby. Finally, he was at peace.
Only...
No.
Something was wrong.
Someone had interfered with his surveillance. Several of the cameras were angled differently, others seemed to have been seemingly disabled.
Whomst the fuck had touched Vox's very expensive security system!? Even if he wasn't actively using it everyone should have known it was off limits.
Vox threw his things down on his bed before heading back out into the central living space. Val was lounging out on the couch flipping through the channels on the television practically upside-down, his glasses sliding up his face. Vox could see him glance over when he opened the door. "Look who finally came home~"
"Did you touch my shit?"
"I missed you too, mi amor." Val shifted so he was right-side up and stretched across the couch. Vox scoffed at the greeting.
"I doubt you even knew I was gone; your head's been shoved so far up your own ass you missed our company Sinsmas party." Vox had been glad not to see Val, if he was being honest. Of course, he hadn't stayed as long as he usually would because he had to be back for one of the Princess's mandatory activities, wherein she tried to convince him that the nice thing to do would be give his employees the holiday off so they could spend time with their families. Vox, of course, agreed solely so that she would shut up (and also because they were going to be paid if they did as VoxTek offered holiday pay, and there was no way Vox was actually going to shell out the extra money for some hourly pion to push papers.)
"Why not just call it a Christmas party?"
"PR, not everyone celebrates Christmas."
"Well, Sinsmas is a Hellborn holiday, isn't it?"
"Honestly? Don't know the origin, don't really care. It sells a lot of shit and makes us a lot of money. Also, we have Hellborn employees, so it works."
"I suppose." Val took a long drag of his cigarette, leaning his head back. "Sorry I missed it; I thought you would be cutting out too and parties can be so boring without you there to liven things up." The pink smoke wafted through the air, forming a hand to caress the side of Vox's screen. The media demon, scoffed, turning away.
"I know I've been gone. But I've still made time for the company-"
"Barely."
"I'm back now." He waved the smoke away. "I regret this whole fucking endeavor because the party ended up being a drunken waste of my goddamn time." The smoke shifted behind Vox, solidifying slightly and pushing against his back, more floated toward him, wrapping around his wrist and pulling him forward toward the couch.
"That's what you get for abandoning me here with Velvette." Val put on his biggest pout as he continued to use the smoke to pull Vox away from the wall and toward him. "She has been acting really bitchy, lately."
"That's not new." Vox resisted the pull at first. "That's just the way she acts. Her Sinstagram profile literally lists 'bitch' as her only personality trait."
"I know, but she's worse than usual." Val rolled over so he was on his stomach, reaching his arm out toward Vox. "Why are you so far away, baby? I haven't seen you in what feels like months and now you're acting all cold and distant." The smoke pulled harder and Vox found himself stumbling a bit in Val's direction.
"Yeah, well, I'm pissed at you, you know." Vox teleported so he was out of the smoke and on the opposite side of the room. "You took Janie."
"Who?" Val exhaled slowly and more smoke started to waft toward Vox. Snaking its way around him once again. He shifted so he was on his back once more. Though his crimson eyes were somewhat obscured by the gaudy heart glasses, Vox could tell Val was watching him like a hawk. "Is that name supposed to mean something to me?"
"She was one of my assistants. When I was doing everything for the Halloween party because you decided to slack- which I am also still upset about, I found out that you had stolen her out from under me!"
"We share assistants all the time. She obviously wasn't that important if I was able to borrow her without you noticing."
"She made great lattes and you are a bastard."
"She can still make you a latte, darling. I'm not going to deny you a necessity."
"Deny me- she's my fucking assistant!"
"She was." Val's lips curled into a smirk and the smoke tightened around Vox, dragging him a little closer. "Don't tell me your mad about some petty coffee making bimbo. My handsome flat-faced prince is better than that."
"What about the Halloween party?"
"What about it?"
"You did nothing."
"Nothing!?" Val gasped, hand over his forehead, arching his back dramatically. The smoke tightened on Vox, causing him to cough and step forward again. "Excuse you. I showed up and put life into that fucking pitiful excuse for a party."
"You literally left everything to Velvette and I!"
"I've been busy." Val forced Vox closer, he reached out, taking the other Overlord's wrist, caressing the back of his hand gently. "Sorry I wasn't putting enough attention into parties, but there's been a lot of extra work with you at that pitiful motel."
"It's actually a Hotel-"
"I don't care." Val's eyes narrowed. "I've been having to pick up extra work with you away and with Velvette acting like a fucking crazy bitch. So, if a few events got tossed to the wayside, that's really more on you for leaving."
"Fine." Vox didn't have the desire, nor the energy, to fight with Valentino about his lack of commitment to events he used to love. At least Val seemed a little less... cryptic than he had at the party when he had been ranting about understanding, accomplishment, critiquing Vox's recovery. Though... "You should talk to the King, if you get a chance. His doctor was able to cure that cold I had." Val's grip on his hand tightened.
"I don't have a cold."
"I know, but you were still exposed to me all that time-"
"If I haven't gotten it by now, I'm probably fine." He waved off the comment with ease. "But I appreciate your concern." He kissed the back of Vox's hand.
"VOX!" Vox nearly jumped as he heard a shout from behind one of the closed doors in the penthouse. Val heaved a heavy sigh, making a grand gesture of rolling his eyes. "GET YOUR FLAT ASS IN HERE THIS FUCKING INSTANT!"
"That sounds important." Vox was able to pull his hand free as Val seemed to have been distracted by the shouting. "The Wi-Fi must be down or something." Val's eyes slowly traveled down to Vox's chest where the Wi-Fi signal was clearly displayed on his shirt. "I said: or something." Vox reiterated as he headed toward Velvette's door.
"Hmm, yes. Good luck dealing with crazy. I have more important things to do." Val checked his phone. "The knew artist I just hired has some sketches to show me. His work is actually transcendent, life changing."
"New artist? Is he marketable?"
"Richard Pickman isn't for everyone, but everyone should see him."
"Richard... Pickman...?" Vox hesitated for a moment. The name sounded familiar. It definitely wasn't the name of anyone he knew, but he felt as if he had heard it in passing a few times. "Wait... is this guy just named Dick Pic?"
"What?" Val blinked at him.
"Dick, it's short for Richard. And you know... Pickman... He's literally Dick Pic Man. Like some sort of fucked up superhero from one of your pornos."
"No... but that was shockingly a funny joke from someone who's been so uptight recently." He sat up, reaching to put a hand beneath the bottom of Vox's screen, and tilting his head down so Vox was looking at him. "Are you drunk, mi amor?"
"Not to my immediate knowledge, but I did party pretty hard at the Hotel last night." He had partied a perfectly average amount. "I might still be a little buzzed." He certainly was not because anything he still had in his system from the night before was in the trashcan in his old bedroom thanks to that horrible medication he had been given. "But I have a crisis to fix. You and Dick Pic Man have all sorts of fun." He started to pull back, but Val still had him by the face, the moth demon leaned forward, as if leaning in for a kiss, but Vox could see the glint of his teeth.
"VOX I FUCKING SWEAR-"
"I'm COMING Velvette! Jesus Christ!" Vox tore his head away to look back at the closed door. Electricity crackled and Vox reappeared in front of Velvette's room. "Sorry, this must be PRETTY DAMN IMPORTANT!" He raised his voice looking behind him at where Velvette was out of view behind the solid and secure steel. Val gave a bit of an annoyed look as Vox reappeared away from him.
"OF COURSE IT IS!"
"You have fun with that." Val got to his feet, tossing his coat so it flowed dramatically out behind him. He headed to the exit of the penthouse, his body turning to smoke and flowing out through the hairline cracks under the door. Vox made a mental note to make every room air-tight from this point on. The last thing he needed was to wake up with Val hovering over him in the dead of night with one of Dick Pic Man's weird drawings.
"What do you need, Vel?" Vox knocked on the closed door behind him, leaning against the wall beside it as he heard the sound of multiple locks clicking open one by one. (Was that new? Vox hadn't remembered Velvette rivaling him for the number of locks on a door.) Eventually the door cracked open, Velvette's eye was visible in the crack, scanning the room behind him. Vox stepped to take up her entire field of vision and Velvette grabbed him by the collar, opening the door just wide enough to yank Vox inside.
"Look who finally came back!" She slammed the door behind him and started furiously locking about seven different locks one at a time. (Okay, so she didn't quite have Vox beat. He had nine.) Vox folded his arms over his chest.
"Excuse me? You're the one who suggested I go to the fucking Hotel!"
"I didn't expect you to be there FOREVER!"
"It was three months Vel, and I came back to do work."
"You were not here nearly enough."
"Calm your shit." Vox sighed, walking down the hall, deeper into Velvette's apartment. "Whatever broke, I'll fix it. But for the love of Lucifer, we have I.T. for a reason. They can fix almost anything you need."
"Are you kidding!?" Velvette followed him down the hall into her living room. "I'm not going to let anyone in here- other than you. Because I know Val hasn't gotten to you." The room was more disorganized than Vox was accustomed to seeing. Vel's room was never exactly spotless- save for the one corner she had dedicated to taking pictures of herself casually having a nice time, to post to social media. But there were trash-bags gathered in one corner, and some of her clothing had been shoved under cracks in the doors. She had covered her television screen with multiple bags and tied them shut as if she had found a particularly gross spider crawling on the screen.
"What's uh... what's that about?" Vox squinted at the ball of bags and fabric that used to be Velvette's rather expensive television.
"It comes on sometimes on its own. It's making weird noises in the dead of night, and I think it might be watching me."
"Why not just break it?"
"I did break it!" Velvette gestured to bits of glass that were still on the floor. Well, it was a good thing this was her personal apartment because that didn't seem very OSHA compliant in Vox's always correct opinion.
"Wow," Vox surveyed everything, his hands on his hips. "I thought I was supposed to be the paranoid one here- is that one of my cameras?" Vox saw Velvette's computer displaying an image of their mutually shared living area. She must have installed one of his spares in the area- it wasn't his because the three cameras he kept in the area were at different angles. "Are you the one who's been fucking with my shit?"
"Your room is about the only place where I can keep an eye on him." Velvette replied as-a-matter-of-factly. "But I can't always get there... Though, he's been figuring out ways to screw with more and more of the footage."
"Who, Val?"
"Of course Val; who the fuck else would I be talking about!?"
"Look, I don't think Val can fuck with my signals. He's great with film, but as far as the behind-the-scenes technology component he's not exactly Einstein."
"I don't know how he's doing it and frankly I don't give a shit. But he is doing something and I swear, Vox, he is trying to kill me."
"He's not trying to kill you, Vel. He's been a little intense lately, but we are a team. He knows that. He's nothing without us."
"He tried to bite me!"
"... what?" Vox blinked. He squinted at Velvette uncertainly. "Are you two...?" He wasn't sure how to ask. He never got the impression Velvette was all that interested in Valentino, but he had been gone for three months.
"Oh fuck no!" Velvette looked horrified by the accusation. "I was in the middle of a photoshoot and I saw him in the lens of my camera, he slithered in all smokey, materialized under my couch, and tried to bite my fucking hand when I was posing!"
"Yeah, that's weird, but that's also something he would do to me when he was horny, so I'm not really sure what to tell you."
"How are you not freaking out right now!?" Velvette let out a noise of frustration as she stomped past Vox to the computer, checking the screen. "You were changing passcodes and locking doors for way less than Val trying to actively bite someone outside of sex." Vox did have to admit, Vel had a point. If this conversation had been happening three months ago, he would have been barricading himself right alongside her. And this did seem weird. Val's behavior had been... off for a while. But Vox didn't feel quite as... on the brink of a mental breakdown as he had been before he went to the Hotel. (Admittedly, he had actually had a small mental breakdown at the dinner before the Shoggoth attacked, but he was really feeling much better now.)
"He has been kind of... a lot lately."
"A lot? Only a lot?"
Vox's watch buzzed and he frowned. He tapped the side of his head. "You've reached Vox, what can I do for you this delightful, hellish morning?" He kept his most charming, public speaking voice as he answered the incoming call.
"You have a visitor, requesting to see you." At least Stevens still seemed to have his job- though he was no Janie.
"Well, that's great, but I did just get back into the office." Vox sighed heavily. It wasn't shocking that it didn't take a full hour before he was needed but it was a little irritating.
"Right, of course. My apologies, sir. Valentino is on his way, I'm sure he can handle things. Mr. Cain just asked for you by name."
"Cain?" Vox glanced over at Velvette who looked rather interested after hearing his side of the conversation. "Cain who?"
"Cain, the CEO of Cain Organics."
"Why the fuck does he want to talk to me?" Vox was almost positive he had never even met Cain face-to-face. The farming CEO was notoriously elusive he didn't make any public appearances unless it was absolutely urgent.
"I think it's something about a tower? He didn't give much detail- Ah, I see Mr. Valentino, I can let him know."
"No, no." Vox immediately backtracked on his initial rejection. He didn't know the visitor was actually someone important. "I can see him, don't bother Val, he's busy."
"Do not let Val near Cain!" Velvette hissed grabbing tightly to Vox's arm. He tapped the side of his head to mute himself from the call.
"Yeah, I figured that. Shh." He tapped his head once more. "Give me just a second, Stevens, I'm on my way! Are you in the lobby?"
"Yes sir." The moment Stevens confirmed where Cain was, Vox ended the call. He looked Velvette dead in the eyes.
"Meet me downstairs." And with that Vox teleported away in a crackle of electricity. He reappeared in the lobby where he could see Cain looking up at one of the many televisions that lined the room. Vox hadn't seen him in person before, but it was easy to tell who he was, the cracked stone skin, the shaggy brown hair that looked like it hadn't seen a good stylist since the dawn of time, the single glowing green eye floating in a sea of black. He had both his hands shoved in the pockets of his spiked leather jacket. So, this was Cain, the first murderer...
Vox had expected him to be taller.
"Vox, what are you doing down here?" Val was, indeed entering the lobby. Vox put on his biggest, most charming smile.
"Work. Are you still on your way to meet the Dick Pic Man?" He braced himself in the doorway to block Val's path.
"Si, we have some sketches to look over. Why? You want to come along?" Val smirked, leaning down towards Vox.
"Alas, I would but I already have meetings scheduled, you know how it is. I've been gone forever and no one knows how to do shit so the company is going up in flames and it's up to yours truly to put out all of these metaphorical fires- mostly metaphorical- a few literal."
"Sad." Val didn't sound upset, so much as he just sounded amused by Vox's antics. "Well, enjoy your meeting." He went to push past Vox.
"Let me walk you to the door, at least."
"Why?"
Because Vox needed to keep Val from noticing Cain. Vox wasn't sure why the idea of the tall, elegant Sinner seeing the other Overlord was filling him with dread, but Vel had said Val was acting strangely and Vox had seen him getting glassy looks in his eyes. Heard him talking in these vague, ominous sorts of speeches. (And there was the matter of that sickness Vox had contracted from the cook that might be going around Hell...) "Because I missed you."
"Aren't you sweet?" Val cupped Vox's square face in both of his hands. "I missed you too, darling, but you are standing in my way." The hands on his face lost their solidity as Val turned to pink smoke and wafted around Vox, reforming on the other side.
"I was just going to walk you out, Jesus." Vox turned and followed him into the Lobby. Val glanced over looking immediately at the Overlord staring up at the TV above him.
"Is that Cain?"
"Who's to say?" Vox put a hand on his shoulder steering him toward the door. "But you have a meeting to attend."
"What does Cain want?"
"Me."
"Why?"
"Does it matter? You're busy, aren't you?"
"I can be a little late." Val shrugged Vox's hand off of him, turning to walk toward Cain. Vox chased after him.
"For commercial reasons, obviously, the man has no social presence and he needs to get his name out there."
"Cain literally owns a monopoly on food production. You don't need commercials for groceries." Val looked at him, eyes narrowed.
"Oh, I'm sorry Val, you're right. I should just turn down the boatload of money he offered me because he doesn't need us."
"Cain! Darling!" Velvette had made her way down at this point and made a B-Line toward the Overlord who had somehow missed the entire conversation about him taking place directly behind his head. "So glad you could finally make it! I have missed you so much!"
"Velvette, hey. Um..." Cain turned around at last and seemed to notice the Vees had more or less surrounded him. "Mothman," he nodded to Val, "Radio guy."
"Radio-" Vox shoved Val back, the current situation tossed to the side. "Do I look like the fucking Radio Demon!? That out dated hunk of fuckery is-"
"Must have wanted a radio commercial." Val cut him off, arms folded, "or maybe something on social media since Velvette seems to have been expecting him too."
"Velvette's trying to fuck him." Vox replied flatly before turning back to face Cain. "You know I am the TV guy, partner because I literally have a TV for a head."
"Oh yeah, I forgot." Cain gave a shrug and Vox, Velvette, and Val all slowly looked at the cardboard cutout of Vox giving a thumbs up and saying the VoxTek slogan that was standing about a foot to Cain's right.
"You're always so funny!" Vox stepped away from Val toward Cain. "But don't you worry your pretty little head about that commercial. We have some great ideas drawn up that I am dying to show you up in my office."
"We are just glad you came here at all!" Velvette came to Cain's other side. "Quick selfie." She leaned on his shoulder snapping a picture in which Vox was certain Cain was looking the wrong way. "I know how much you hate meetings, my little gargoyle."
"You guys are really fucking weird, do you know that?" Cain tried to take a step back, but Vox grabbed one hand and Velvette grabbed the other and they pulled him back. "Look I just came here to tell you-" Velvette cut him off.
"Upstairs, darling, we have a meeting room for a reason!"
"Plus, that's where all the plans are for your commercial!" Vox added trying to get Cain to look him in his hypnotic eye. Cain looked for a second but instantly looked away as Val spoke.
"I should go to this meeting too."
"Val, you already have a meeting, remember?" Vox kept the smile on his face, as he turned back to Val before trying to hypnotize Cain again. "And Cain has a meeting with us."
"I do..." Val looked down at his phone, frowning for a moment. "I suppose I can just stop in when I'm done." Vox felt relief wash over him.
"We'll keep you in the loop."
"Oh, I'll be back." Val gave a smile as he turned sharply, pushing the doors to the office building open and vanishing into the crowded streets.
"As you were." Vox waved to all of the confused employees who had stopped to watch the exchange. There was the sound of movement as everyone immediately tried to look busy as if Vox hadn't just caught them all staring. "Right this way," he put a hand behind Cain as he and Velvette guided him into the elevators behind the lobby front desk.
"Look, I think there has been a misunderstanding-" Cain started to speak. Vox pushed him as the elevator surged to life at his silent command. He brought Cain, not to the meeting room, but rather to the penthouse. All Velvette's talk of being watched was making him distrustful. (That, and there was the matter of tampering with his cameras.) The elevator doors slid open and Vox guided him to his own, locked room. Cain looked at the door, then back at the two Vees. "I really think there's been some kind of miscommunication."
"Relax Cain, we just wanted to talk privately." Vox gestured for Cain to have a seat on the couch as his eyes watched the screens overhead that displayed VoxTek employees hard at work. Cain also looked at the screens.
"Look, this really wasn't that big of a deal. I feel like it got blown way out of proportion. If I had known you were going to freak out on me, I would have just sent an assistant."
"You don't make public appearances." Vox had missed his brainwashing opportunity back with Val because Cain was more interested in watching the argument than looking Vox directly in his eyes. "So, excuse us for being cautious."
"I don't make public appearances because I hate people, and the public is made up of mostly people. I'm a plant guy." Cain looked between Velvette and Vox before finally taking a seat. "Oh, I get it, you're mad about the tower. See? This is why I came in person."
"Tower?" Vox raised an eyebrow.
"We just wanted to treat a fellow Overlord well," Velvette was doing her damnedest to cover up for the disaster downstairs. "It's not like we get a visit from such an elusive celebrity every day. Can I get you some tea? Coffee? Vodka?"
"Uh, no. I really wasn't planning on staying. I was assuming this whole ordeal could be handled in the lobby if I'm being perfectly honest." Cain replied dryly.
"We don't do public meetings with Overlords. It's too risky. We can't afford the media going into some kind of frenzy." Vox lied. Cain looked a little confused.
"Aren't you the media?"
"So, you do know who I am." Vox narrowed his eyes. At least he had conformation that the radio comment was more likely a snarky comment from the Farming Overlord than a genuine mistake. "Yes, but there are independent news sources."
"Oh, you mean like that weird magazine that keeps reporting on me dating different Overlords? Demon Destiny or something?" Cain's question drew a heavy, exhausted sigh from Vox. The media Overlord hated being reminded of the existence of that little open end that had almost screwed him over back during Halloween.
"Yes, so we just thought we would do you the service of giving you privacy so we can have our meeting away from prying eyes."
"The public does love me." Cain smirked, "but I'm glad you explained what you were doing because I'll be honest, I thought this was some kind of ambush and I was getting ready to kill you both." He put a hand over his chest looking relieved.
"You couldn't take both of us at once, don't flatter yourself." Velvette put her hands on her hips, looking Cain over.
"I mean, I could but if I don't have to that saves me time and effort." Cain seemed to relax once Vox explained a bit more of the situation. "I just figured you were really pissed about the tower, and like, I get it, but I wasn't involved."
"What tower? Why do you think we'd be mad at you in particular?" Vox didn't really think a lot about Cain as an individual.
"The television tower that's covered in flowers. I didn't want you to think I was responsible. You know, because it's flowers and I'm the plant guy..." Cain trailed off looking between Vox and Velvette. "You... have no idea what I'm talking about..."
"Not a bloody clue." Velvette replied quickly. Vox had only just gotten back to the office. He hadn't had the time to go over any maintenance matters.
"Which tower is it?"
"I mean, I'm not really sure what you use to identify them? It's kinda toward the middle of Pride, in the Morningstar District." Cain probably wouldn't be the best at understanding the intricate labeling system of Vox's array of towers. Vox paused for a moment, deep in thought before meeting the one-eyed gaze of his fellow Overlord.
"Can you show me?"
"Do I have to?" Cain didn't look thrilled with the idea of a field trip.
"It would make you look a lot less guilty." Vox replied flatly. His towers should have been fairly resistant to overgrowth, it's not like they were particularly environmentally friendly.
"Ugh, all this so as not to start a turf war." Cain made a face. "The things I do for my underlings." He got to his feet. "Fucking fine, I'll take you to it."
"Perfect." Vox grabbed Velvette by the arm with one hand and took Cain's shoulder with the other. In an instant, electricity sparked around them and they were transported into the Morningstar District. Cain immediately jumped back, the ground around him morphed into solid spikes, pointing in Vox's direction, steadily growing toward him.
"What the fuck was that!?"
"Calm down, I simply shortened the commute is all." Vox put his index finger against one of the spikes coming toward him.
"He does that sometimes. It fucking ruins my hair." Velvette took out a hand mirror trying to tame the frizz from the burst of electricity.
"You are bordering on kidnapping more and more with each move you make. I want you to know that." Cain did lower the wall of spikes, but he didn't look pleased.
"Do most kidnappings you're a part of involve taking you to an outdoor location where you are more powerful and have an infinite number of escape routes?" Vox raised an eyebrow as he held his hands behind his back.
"I didn't say it was a good kidnapping." Cain blew some of the dusty brown hair out of his face as he turned to look around him. "It's this way." He started to walk further into the Morningstar Territory. The buildings became more circus-like, more colorful and grander. It was a far cry from the rigid, tight architecture of Vox's own home turf.
"You came all the way out here... for flowers?" Velvette followed along as Cain started guiding them toward the tower in question.
"Again, I didn't want you guys to think it was something kind of attack on you and start a fight over it. I am having enough trouble with the food as it is, I don't need that kind of stress." For a man known to have lost his temper and murdered his own brother out of raw jealousy, Cain wasn't the type to pick fights with the other Overlords. Vox had always been under the impression that he was too reclusive to seek out more territory; as more territory meant more underlings to watch it, and rumor had it that Cain barely interacted with the staff he did have.
"I appreciate the sentiment." Vox walked behind Cain, looking up to see if he could spot the tower in question once it came into view overtop the buildings.
He saw them drawing close to one if his broadcast towers, but everything seemed relatively normal. That was... until he got closer.
"Here we are." Cain came to a stop in front of the high barbwire fence that blocked the tower off from the rest of Hell. Part of the fence was torn down, which wasn't a shock as it often suffered the consequences of riots. But it was easier to replace a fence than a tower. The bottom of the tower was covered in flowers. Cain wasn't kidding. The vines seemed to almost snake their way up the tower, as if trying to climb higher. It did look a bit like an attack.
"Do we have a gardener on staff for shit like this?" Velvette glanced over at Vox before looking up at the tower in question.
"We haven't really had this problem before." Vox frowned. There were plants in Hell, but typically they were in Cain's district, outside of the occasional tree or grassy lot, a good bit of Hell was paved thanks to modern expansion. "But this is probably great news for you I assume." He looked back at Cain, knowing the Sinner struggled with making sure the plant life in Hell had a snowballs chance to survive. Vox headed toward the hole in the fence to take a closer look at the offending blooms. He could tell they were brightly colored from where he stood, but it was difficult to describe the exact color, it might have just been from the way the crimson sun was hitting the flower. It had, five, no... six? Seven? It was difficult to count the petals, this lighting must have been utter shit because Vox was starting to get a headache from trying to count. He took another step forward and his leg sunk into ground all the way up to his knee.
"I am going to have to stop you right there, my guy." Cain patted Vox on the shoulder and the television Overlord realized why he couldn't free his leg.
"What the fuck, Cain!?"
"Don't touch those flowers. I did once and the King poisoned me and poured acid on my hands like a fucking dick."
"Are you sure he didn't just do that to you because you were bothering him?" Vox tried to pull his leg free of the ground. Cain snorted.
"No, the flowers are diseased they put all the flora in Hell at risk. I thought you should see it for yourself before I burn this all down and salt the ground underneath."
"Wait, what now?" Vox did a double take.
"Won't that destroy the tower?" Velvette also seemed to have questions about Cain's rather extreme sounding plan.
"I mean... probably, but I'm no expert when it comes to big gaudy, technological eyesores." Cain shrugged. "These orders come from the King, so I just wanted to be clear on that so if you have beef, you take it up with the proper party."
"Why would the King tell you to burn my perfectly good TV tower!?" Vox was a little exasperated. "Why not just use some weedkiller!?"
"I mean, first of all because that's barbaric." Cain looked absolutely appalled by the suggestion. Velvette put her hand to her forehead in exasperation.
"And fire isn't!?"
"Look, the weedkiller doesn't work these things are resilient." Cain replied as-a-matter-of-factly as the ground beside him lifted up and revealed what looked to be a flame-thrower.
"I don't want you to burn a whole fucking tower! Those are expensive! And you'll probably knock-out the cable for an undisclosed number of Sinners!" Vox tried again to pull his leg free, he tried to teleport away, but he couldn't move with his leg trapped in the ground. The solid rock was acting as an insulator for his electricity.
"Yeah, but bad flowers take priority." Cain picked up the flame-thrower and the mound of rock flattened back to normal ground.
"Velvette! Do something!" Vox looked desperately to his cohort. Velvette looked at Cain, then back at the flowers.
"No, I'm with Rocky, over there. Those things give me super bad vibes."
"Then destroy the flowers not the entire tower." Vox argued. Cain pulled some goggles from his jacket and snapped them on.
"Look, I figure if they're growing on the tower, the tower must also be toxic. I don't have the insider knowledge of how these towers work to prove it's not sending evil brain waves to people, so I'll just have to act on instinct."
"I DO!" Vox couldn't even hypnotize Cain because he was facing the other way and now, he had his eye covered. There was a WHOOSH as Cain fired up his flamethrower and before long, the entire tower was up in flames. Vox felt very much like he was watching a large stack of money burning before his eyes. Why the fuck did this keep happening to him? The riot that tried to destroy his tower in the Doomsday District, the break-in at VoxTek stores across Hell, and now this. He noticed Cain kept quite a distance from the blooms themselves.
Velvette took out her phone from her pocket, pulling up the image of a lavish lawn chair. She pressed her finger to the screen, and the exact chair materialized beside Vox who was still trying to pull his leg free. She pulled out the chair and took a seat, crossing her legs and reclining backward, looking over at the trapped partner she had just refused to help. "I know it's going to sound like a bad joke, but Cain is kinda hot."
"Shut the fuck up."
The fire eventually died down. The metal parts of the tower were all charred and warped beyond repair, bits of it were crumbling. Vox's leg was released and he stood up completely as he looked at the ruins of the tower and...
"Well, that didn't go as planned, did it?" Cain pulled the goggles off as he too saw what drew Vox's focus.
"The flowers are still there." Vox spoke flatly.
"No shit." Cain frowned, surveying the ruined tower and seeing the blossoms in question looked relatively untouched by the flames. (Admittedly, this did offer some credence to Cain's claims that the flowers were resilient.) "I know Lu said the Holy Water was the only way to destroy them, but I thought fire would still be a viable option."
"Lu?" Velvette lowered her sunglasses to look at Cain.
"Lucifer. The Devil."
"You're on a first name basis with the king?" Velvette sounded impressed. Vox would have also been wowed, except he was far too mad at Cain for him to be given any sort of redeeming qualities in the current moment. "Very nice."
"Yeah, I'm kind of his only friend." Cain nodded.
"If the King told you that the only way to destroy the flowers was holy water then WHY DID YOU THINK THE FIRE WOULD WORK!" Electricity crackled in the air as Vox's anger grew. The tower behind him tried to spark but that only made the charred remains start to deteriorate faster from the effort. Vox took a calming breath.
"Why wouldn't fire work?" Cain protested.
"Because the King told you- ugh forget it." Vox had to accept that the damage was done, and as much as he wanted to shove Cain's face in the flowers, that sort of attitude wasn't going to get him anywhere. "You know you're paying for that, right?"
"Ehhh..." Cain looked thoughtful for a second, "yeah, I guess I can do that. If you're so desperate for money."
"It's not a matter of money; it's a matter of you destroying my property." Vox snapped back quickly. Cain huffed.
"But I told you it wasn't my fault."
"The flowers weren't your fault." Vox tented his fingers. "The ineffective incineration is entirely on you."
"I still feel like that should have worked." Cain folded his arms.
"But it didn't." Vox took a moment to dust off the pant leg that Cain had covered in dirt when Vox was unwillingly imprisoned. When he looked up, he noticed some Sinners starting to gather around to look at the commotion. "Great, now you made a scene." Vox sighed heavily. Once again it was up to him to avoid disaster. "Apologies friends, Cain was testing a non-VoxTek gardening product on some overgrowth and the results were... as expected." He gestured behind him as he gave the crowd a bow and a wink. "That's why you always buy VoxTek."
"Don't destroy the flowers!" A few Sinners were looking less curious and more... irate. "They are BEAUTIFUL!"
"Don't touch the flowers!"
"They whisper to me at night.
"DON'T HURT THE FLOWERS!"
"Hey, it wasn't me," Vox held up his hands as the surrounding Sinners began to look more agitated. "Cain's the one who did it."
"Go AWAY!" The mood of the crowd shifted and Cain took a step back. Vox had been in enough riots in his rise to power to know when a crowd was going to turn.
"This is a quarantine area." Cain moved his arm and Vox's fence shook, before it was swallowed up by high, thick walls of stone and dirt that formed around what had once been a perfectly functional broadcast tower. "It's for the good of the flora-"
"FUCK YOU!" Cain had to create a shield for himself as the crowd started to open fire. Vox wasn't one to waste a perfectly good rock shield, so he stepped behind it, along with Velvette. Best not to get shot and killed on his first day back. The respawning process was a nightmare.
"Well, it seems to me like you have this all handled." Vox patted Cain on the shoulder as a bullet whizzed past the agricultural Overlord's right cheek. "I'm going to head back to work and figure out which households you'll be apologizing to for their cable loss. I'll also send you an invoice." He offered his hand to Velvette. "Come along."
"Yeah, this went bad real fast. I'm out." Velvette took Vox's hand before looking back at Cain. "You really should work on your PR skills. We have an online course for that." Vox nodded solemnly as he started to turn into electricity once again.
"Don't you fucking leave me!" Cain protested as Vox suddenly felt a heavy weight on his back right as the teleportation started. There was an all too familiar crackle of electricity before Vox found himself... not where he was aiming to go. The goal had been the penthouse, of course, but Cain latching onto him like a thousand-pound parasite made of raw, uncut stone, might have thrown him off. Vox hunched over, starting to cough, his head was aching from trying to interpret what he was seeing with the flowers. He rubbed his eyes. Wasn't it time for his medicine?
Fuck.
He could do it later.
"Where the fuck are we?" Velvette pulled her coat around herself more tightly as she took a look at their surroundings. The room was dark, only lit by dim blue lights pulsing from the many machines that seemed to be spread throughout the area.
"Must be one of the old server rooms." Vox wasn't often down here. These were more the domain of the maintenance workers and Vox paid them enough to not have to bother him. But the small area he could see looked rather dusty.
"Why did you take us here?" Cain looked at the towering boxes of blinking lights that surrounded them with a look of curiosity. Vox turned to face him, his ears still ringing from the chaos that Cain had caused outside.
"Because you jumped on me last second and I fucked up my teleport."
"Well let's get out of here." Velvette ran her finger along one of the old servers, looking at the dust that collected on her glove. "This place is fucking gross."
"Yeah, come on." Vox went to open the door.
"Is it supposed to have like... goo on it?" Cain's comment grabbed Vox's attention. He looked over to see Cain was staring at one of the further towers. Vox's eyes zoomed in and he saw something thick, stringy, and viscous dripping down from the ceiling.
"Um... yes. It's coolant."
"Oh, okay." Cain really didn't know enough about the inner workings of technology to correct him. That was nice. While he didn't particularly want to be with Cain any longer than he had to, Vox knew he needed to figure out the real reason for the unwanted leak. He opened the door to the hallway. Looking up he could see more of that black goop dripping down from cracks in the ceiling and lights like some sort of pitch-black rain. The color of the liquid was so dark that it almost seemed to absorb any of the light around it, making it look almost two-dimensional.
"Double gross." Velvette suddenly had an umbrella over herself to protect her from the dripping above them.
"Must be a coolant leak." Vox lied, holding his hand toward Velvette. "Give me one of those, will you?" Velvette sighed before pulling her phone out and making a plain, blue umbrella materialize in Vox's hand. "You couldn't at least give me a company logo or something?"
"Do you want to make it yourself?" She looked annoyed. She held the phone toward Cain and another, identical, plain umbrella materialized in the air and smacked him on the top of his head. Cain scrambled to pick it up.
"Thanks."
"See, he just said thank you." Velvette hurried past them to be in the front as they headed toward the elevators. The door opened as they arrived. (Vox always had perfect timing since he actively controlled the elevators. He went up one floor and the elevator door shuttered. Vox snapped his fingers to open it again and it simply shook the whole elevator. Vox focused harder, and he managed to get the doors to part just a crack.
"Huh..."
"I've got this." Cain put his fingers in the small crack and started to pull the doors apart. Velvette glanced at Vox, lowering her voice.
"The fuck is going on?"
"I don't... know..." Vox kept his voice hushed as the door started to part. He could see strings of that same sticky substance must have fused the door together. Cain got the door open enough that Vox could see that unknown substance was everywhere buried into the walls, into the lights, like a blight on trees.
"You had a bad coolant leak, huh?" Cain looked back over at Vox.
"Uh... yeah." Vox could see employees walking across the viscous liquid as if it were nothing, walking through the hall, carrying papers and things as if this were simply another day at the office. In fact, this floor seemed to be quite busy, despite the infestation. A certain employee caught Vox's eye as she hurried past. "Janie!?"
"Will Mister Vox be upset?" Janie came to a dead stop.
"Um... I'm not mad. Not at you." Vox was a little unnerved by the strange phrasing of her comment. Janie was facing away from him.
"We missed you Janie." Velvette added. "I need a good latte."
"Will Mister Vox be upset?" Janie repeated, her posture rigid.
"I told you, I'm not mad." Vox reiterated.
"Will Mister Vox be upset?"
"...Janie?" Vox hesitated, he stayed away from the goo, but he reached out with his umbrella to slowly try and touch her shoulder. Janie's head split in two as what could only be descried as a black, dripping tongue like tentacle burst from her neck to take its spot.
"CLOSE THE FUCKING DOORS!" Velvette jumped behind Cain and Vox, holding her umbrella in front of her.
"WHAT KIND OF COOLANT ARE YOU USING!?" Cain was desperately trying to slam the doors back shut but the sticky web like substance was making it difficult for him to do so. Somehow, despite no longer having a head, Vox could still hear Janie screaming. More of the employees began convulsing. The tentacle exploding out of various locations on each one. An arm, a leg, the chest, the sound of their shrieking were making the elevator lights flicker.
"FORGET THE DOOR!" Vox braced himself against the metal elevator. He tried to make it obey his command and rise. He tried to teleport but his body would flicker and immediately snap back in place. The elevator was the only way out. "Fuck! It's not responding!"
"FUCK THAT!" Velvette took a gun from her purse and fired holes into the ceiling above them. "Cain, make us a bloody exit!" Before she turned the gun onto the employees (or what used to be the employees) and firing. The bullets made them stagger back. But they were still trying to enter the elevator with the Overlords.
"Gotchya!" Cain used his fingers to dig into the metal ceiling and ripped through the solid steel as if it were paper. He scrambled up onto the elevator roof. Vox helped Velvette up before climbing through the hole himself. He looked at the shaft that stretched above him. They were pretty far under the building.
"Cain, pick up Velvette." Vox ordered. Cain, fortunately, didn't argue as he scooped Velvette up, less like a romantic lead in a romcom, and more like she was a sack of particularly bulky luggage. Cain was made of stone; therefore, he should keep Velvette insulated...
Vox put his hands on the elevator before sending volts of electricity through it as the former employees tried to clamber in. He could hear them shrieking and screaming as he kept the electricity going until they stopped screaming all together. His heart was racing, he could feel blood dripping from his face. He looked to see Velvette and Cain both had blood dripping from their eyes, nose, and mouth. Delightful. Maybe Vox could secure another appointment with Lucifer's weird standoffish doctor. Velvette was going to owe him.
He raised his hand and wires came from the walls and lifted the three Overlords up until Vox could feel his electricity at full force again. He was confident he could teleport. He took Cain and Velvette by the arms and teleported them outside, onto the street in the Doomsday District, far away from VoxTek. They were all panting and bloody, not a great look. But Vox wanted out.
"Well, that was fun." Cain dropped Velvette who immediately brushed herself off as she struggled to sit up. "Is that... normal for you?"
"Oh, yeah, no, it's Explode into an Eldritch Abomination at Work Day." Vox replied sarcastically as he wiped his screen with his sleeve.
"Eldritch?" Cain looked confused by the word.
"The BLOODY HELL WAS ALL THAT!?" Velvette grabbed Vox by the collar, shaking him violently, as a few passersby screamed and attempted to light themselves on fire.
"HOW SHOULD I KNOW!?" Vox hoped that Velvette could have figured out he was kidding about the Explode into an Eldritch Abomination at Work Day thing, but apparently, he was just that good of a liar. Velvette scoffed.
"I am NEVER stepping foot in that building again. We should burn the damn place down."
"As we know, historically, fire is very effective." Cain piped in.
"You stay out of this you-" Vox cut off as he heard that horrible screech again. Glass shattered, and he could hear a scream from a nearby building as Janie and a few of the others came scrambling out onto the ground. How THE FUCK had they gotten so far!? Where had they even come from? It looked like some kind of apartment buildings where the monsters had burst through the windows. There was no way they had traveled that fast!
"Oh fuck no." Cain put his hands to the earth. He waited until the employees hit the ground as he started to trap them the way he did Vox. He caught Jaine's leg. She let out another horrid scream before rushing forward, her leg tearing off in the process. The blood pouring out of her was made of that same, viscous fluid, and Vox watched in horror as the liquid coalesced together to form a new leg as she ran. Cain watched the others do the same, tearing off and growing new limbs as fast as he could trap them. He stood.
"How are they ALIVE!?" Vox demanded as he sent more bolts of electricity toward them. They would seize and convulse for a moment, but they kept their rampage at full force toward them. Velvette fired with increasingly powerful guns, but the bullets didn't even seem to tickle the monstrosities in question- it only made them scream more.
"What are we going to do now!?"
"I have an idea." Cain pulled out his phone, breathing deeply.
"Who the fuck are you call-" Vox cut off as Cain spoke.
"Dad, I'm in real trouble. I- no- like... dad- Monsters are chasing us outside of The Doomsday District. Yeah. I need you to send help. Please? Dad... I need you."
"You called your dad?" Vox had to take a moment to stop and question the logic of a guy who knew the Devil on a first-name basis and had instead chosen to call his daddy. "Why not call Lucifer or someone helpful!?"
"Lucifer isn't great at responding. My dad will get shit done." Cain hung up the phone and in an instant the ground where the monsters stood went up in a burst of white flames as an Angel with six white wings appeared behind them.
"Run to safety my children. I will take care of this." The Angel had a helmet on like the last time Vox had seen him. Tall, handsome, flowing white hair, a gentle voice. It was obviously the same fucking guy. Great. Now he owed him TWO life debts.
"Come on." Vox grabbed Cain and Velvette as he decided to teleport to the safest place he knew. Cain blinked looking around.
"Why are we here?"
"Because I am not going back to VoxTek until we get that coolant leak fixed. It's just unsanitary." Vox replied flatly.
"Oh, well if that's all. I'm heading out. This was a lot. Peace." Cain didn't really wait for a reply as he crumbled into dust, melting into the ground. Vox watched him for a moment, before straightening his bowtie and heading down the path before him. Velvette's eyes widened as she understood the plan. She stood up, bolting after him.
"Wait for me!" She grabbed to his arm as Vox knocked politely on the door. There was the sound of movement on the other side before Vox found himself face-to-face with the same princess he had left earlier in the morning.
"Vox?"
"Princess! How are you! I thought about what you said and I decided you're right. You do need more of my help."
"Oh, Vox that's-"
"AND," Vox cut Charlie off, "I brought Velvette."