Downloading: 50%…

It was almost done. His life's, or rather, "afterlife's" work was almost completed. Soon, they would all know the truth. They wouldn't waste their time in pointless wars and endless debates anymore. They would finally be able to agree on 'that question'. The one that had haunted him and all other humans for centuries.

Downloading: 65%…

Lens leaned back in his chair as he stared into the monitor in front of him. He was surrounded by monitors on all sides, all displaying various scenes that he had painstakingly put together into something that would be at least pleasurable to view… for the most part… honestly, he may have gone overboard in some ways, but hey, he had been a theater kid and a film student in life, and he was a perfectionists, sue him.

Downloading: 73%…

Getting this footage wasn't easy. It often required him to be in multiple places at once, and that hadn't been easy to figure out how to achieve. Nor was it easy to ensure he wasn't noticed.

Downloading: 86%…

It had all come down to this. There was no going back. They had to know. Things were changing, both down here… and up there. For better and for worse. Earth needed to know…

Downloading: 99%…

He took a deep breath… somehow, despite the fact that he didn't have a mouth.

This was it.

Download Complete!

Showtime.

—

"Can't you fix that thing any faster?"

Dave hated his job. Being a bartender sucked ass, and if he had the time to find another job he would. It was pure misery. If there really was a Hell, he doubted it compared to this.

During the day he dealt with rowdy college students, the most annoying Karen's this side of California, and drunk asshats. During the night he'd deal with EVEN MORE drunk asshats, who either got into brawls, sobbed inconsolably, passed out, or told him things he REALLY didn't want to know. Like, seriously, keep your love life to yourself.

He hated California. He hated this city. He hated this bar. He hated his customers. He hated his boss. He… tolerated his coworkers. And right now, he especially hated how all the FUCKING TV'S in the damn place decided to stop working!

"C'mon, we're trying to watch the game!", some random college jock shouted from behind him, a roar of agreement coming from the surrounding crowd. Dave grumbled as he fiddled with the closest television. He was a bartender, not a fucking technician or whatever the fuck was the term.

"C'mon you piece of shit", he thought angrily as he smacked the rectangular box on its side. The static flickered slightly, as though mocking him. 'So close, yet so far!' it seemed to say.

"Ha, yeah, smack it around pal, that'll fix it for sure!", some random drunk slurred sarcastically. Dave felt his blood pressure rise as he heard the crowd chuckle at the man's words, and at Dave's misfortune.

"I'm trying my best here…" Dave growled. Honestly, had patience not been something taught to any of these degenerates?

"Yeah, well… your best fucking sucks." the drunk slurred once more… then again, patience wasn't exactly a virtue of Dave's either.

Finally losing his temper, he rounded on the drunk man and got up in his face, "Go to Hell pal!", he yelled, causing the drunk and some of the customers surrounding him to lean back in surprise… yeah, he was probably fired, but damn was that satisfying.

And then an image appeared on the television.

"Hello Earth!"

—-

"Mommy, what's wrong with the TV?"

Macy loved movies. She has ever since she was a baby, and she's continued to love them even into her childhood. She loved the art, the music, and the characters. Movies were her happy place, where she could experience any adventure she could find, anytime she wanted… at least while she was home.

And her favorite movies were about Princesses.

Macy loved Princesses. She loved how pretty they were. She loved how kind they were. She loved how they never backed down in the face of cruelty from others, and always strived to do what was right. It always made her feel… inspired.

Her favorite movie was "Beauty and The Beast". She watched it whenever she could, sometimes multiple times a day. It was something she simply couldn't get enough of. It had everything she wanted in a movie: a beautiful princess, fantastic art, wonderful music, and her favorite part was the relationship between The Beast and Belle, how she managed to help someone who was so mean and cruel become so… kind and selfless. It was her favorite part of her favorite movie.

And now the TV was acting weird.

Her mother was pressing all the buttons on the TV and remote she could, but it didn't change anything. It was still all… "static-y".

Her father found that something similar was happening with his phone, and her brother, Joseph, had come downstairs complaining about how his computer was acting funny. All the devices in the house with a screen weren't working.

Macy's mother sat down on the couch and sighed deeply, "I just don't understand. I've tried everything, what's wrong with our things?"

Macy's father slumped down farther into the couch, with her brother mirroring him exactly, "Who knows. All that can be done now is let it sort itself out." Her father could be lazy like that. It drove mommy crazy sometimes.

Suddenly, there was a knock at the door, startling them all as they wondered who could be on the other side.

Macy's mother quickly rushed to answer it. As the door opened, Macy saw old Mrs. Hillary at the door. She liked Mrs. Hillary, she was nice and baked really good cookies.

"Hello Martha, how are you?" Mrs. Hillary asked. Martha was what other people called mommy.

Mommy sighed tiredly, "Not well. All the screens in our house are acting up. We aren't sure what happened."

Mrs. Hillary clasped her hands together, looking positively befuddled, "That's what I came to talk about actually. It's not just you. Everybody on the street has completely lost all signal. Young Alexander went to Baker Street to see if they were having the same problem, and they were. Everyone's screens are showing nothing but static!"

Everyone's screens weren't working? Why? What was happening? Was it bad? Were they in trouble? Macy hugged her stuffed toy of The Beast tighter to her chest. She was scared.

Mommy gasped, "Everyone? But if that's true… what could have caused this?"

Overhearing this bizarre change of events, Macy's brother sighed, "Oh for the love of… what the Hell is going on?!"

"Joseph, watch your language!" Mommy said sternly.

And then an image appeared on the TV

"Hello Earth!"

—-

"Father Williams, what should we do?"

Father Williams was a devout servant of God. His complete faith in the divinity of his lord and their son had helped him become the pastor of his hometowns church. He preached his lord's word faithfully, and with the conviction that his lord's plan would lead all those with faith in him to salvation. He and the staff of his church had complete faith in that plan, whatever it may be.

Sometimes, however, he truly wondered if his lord got a kick out of inconveniencing people.

Screens had never been his specialty. He had nothing against them, or any technology for that matter. He willingly accepted all changes in technology that came into being, as well as the cultural changes of the world. He accepted all people, whether they be gay, Trans, or whatever else the newer generations were discovering or rediscovering. After all, if they were doing so, then it was the lord's plan.

However, sometimes he understood his generation's hatred for these accursed technologies. They were impressive, certainly, but they were so fickle. Even the slightest problem could cause the entire thing to stop working entirely.

He sighed, disappointed with the turn this meeting had taken, "I don't know. These screens have never been my specialty."

He and the rest of the staff had gathered in the main staff room to discuss plans for this weekend's sermon, when the screen in the room had gone completely wild. Static flew across the screen in a discordant symphony, and there was nothing anyone could do to fix it.

Abigail, one of his closest coworkers sighed while looking down at a tablet that was connected to the TV. The tablet itself had briefly been covered in static before she had hooked it to the TV. Now the tablet screen displayed various images that Williams didn't even want to begin to decipher. He was no technician, after all.

Abigail fiddled with her cross necklace, as she often did when bored or stressed, "Well, they're my specialty, and even I can't figure out what's wrong. It's as though the lord himself reached down and scrambled the entire system. There's a signal coming through, but I can't tell where it's coming from."

"Knowing our luck, Hell itself," one of the younger employees joked. Some of the fellow youngsters chuckled, while the other older members gave disapproving looks. Williams merely rolled his eyes and sighed. Hell itself? As if.

And then an image appeared on the TV.

"Hello Earth!"

—-

Pure shock. That's all that anyone could feel as all screens across the world suddenly displayed the same image: Someone sitting on a chair with a camera for a head. Their large grey camera had a lens that closely resembled an eye, and they were wearing a simple black coat, a grey T-shirt, and a pair of jeans.

The two simple words spoken by this strange figure blasted out of every sound system imaginable, in various languages. English, Spanish, French, German, Chinese, Japanese, Russian, every language, along with perfect subtitles. The figure simply sat and stared, allowing the people of Earth to adjust to the sudden shock.

In a military base off the east coast of the U.S.A. a room of high ranking military personnel looked at the screen in confusion, wondering what kind of prank was being displayed on their screen, and who had hacked into their systems.

In schools across the world students wondered what this strange broadcast could be. Was it some kind of prank? Was it going to be some odd threat? Or, and this was the most common belief, was it just some web series that their teachers were showing for some odd reason?

Across the world, people crowded around their televisions in their homes, the televisions in the glass windows of stores, or into bars (Dave was certainly not happy about the sudden uptick in customers). Their natural curiosity and insatiable need for more knowledge begged them to find out as much as they could about this strange broadcast.

"You don't know me, but my name is Lens. As in a 'camera lens'. While it's not my birth name, it's the name I've taken on, but you aren't watching to learn about me. I doubt you know why you're seeing this at all, so let me get to the point. What is the one question that all humans have asked or will ask in their life?"

Everyone was completely confused. The question? What question? Who was this man? Why was he on their screens? Why did he have a camera for a head?! What was he talking about?!

"It's a question I'm sure many of you are familiar with. It's one I asked many times in my life. Religions have begun and been ended over it. Wars have been fought over it. People have completely made up answers in order to fool themselves and others into feeling like they knew the truth. And yet, no one has been able to find the actual answer to the most important question someone could ask: 'Where do I go when I go?'"

The silence persisted on Earth, but now it felt loud, in a sense. 'Where did they go'? What did that have to do with this?

"I wondered that too. And then I discovered the answer. How? Because I died. And shot right down to what many call 'Hell'… MEXICO!" There was a beat of silence, "Just kidding, I'm talking about actual Hell."

Many humans started muttering and talking amongst themselves, others too shocked to speak. Hell? Actual Hell? This man was from Hell? There was an afterlife after all? What version of Hell was it? The Christian Hell? Were the Christians right all along?

"If you don't believe me, don't worry, I brought proof." Images started playing across the screen, of the true Hell of their universe. The streets, and the buildings, and most disturbing of all, the demons.

Shock gripped humanity even tighter. While some began to slowly accept the reality of what they were seeing, others were vehemently denying what they were seeing. Many out of respect for their own religions, others out of fear of the images. Each image contained disturbing demons, corpses, or actions performed by demons that left a feeling of revulsion in their stomachs. Religious folk gripped their various trinkets and accessories close to themselves, children clung to their parents, and the average civilian simply stared in shock.

Dave stared at these images, in just as much shock as his customers, "Huh, not the fire and brimstone torture I was expecting." He stated numbly.

"Not the fire and brimstone torture you were expecting I'm sure ('I just said that!') but it's a literal Hellscape. Once you're down there, you're trapped, with all the Epsteins and Dahmer's of existence. It sucks. A LOT. If you don't get into Heaven, that's it. It's over for you. And you know what makes it more insulting? Even the angels of Heaven itself don't know how you get into their pearly gates!"

Silence gripped humanity once more. The angels didn't know how to get into Heaven? How? Why? What was happening?!

"However, recently, so to speak, things have been… changing. I could just tell you, but I'd rather show you. Show you what awaits on the other side. What's been happening as you've lived your lives up here. So, I've spent years piecing together everything happening of note down here to give you all this broadcast."

Humanity's shock continued to grow. They were going to see Hell? To see what's been happening down there? Why? How? What exactly were they going to see?

"The time has come! You need to know! To know the truth! I warn you, you will see many… graphic images. Swearing, sexual deviancy, graphic violence, blood and gore and rampant demon horniness… so yes this is intended for adults, but if your kids end up seeing it or want to find a way to watch it then I can't stop them," Lens stood and clasped his hands together before spreading them wide dramatically, "Ladies and gentlemen, gals and bros and nonbinary hoes! Sit back, relax, and enjoy the story of The Hazbin Hotel!"