The TV is turned on, showing the opening logo for 666 News as the music rolls in. The screen fades into a broadcast recording of Katie Killjoy and Tom Trench sitting in their seats.
"Good morning, Pentagram City!" Katie announced, wearing a fake smile. "Katie Killjoy here!"
"And Tom Trench!!" Tom chimed in.
"Nobody gives a fuck, Tom!" Katie then shoved Tom off the camera, continuing on. "It has been a month since Extermination Day was canceled, thanks to Hell's princess, Charlie Morningstar!!" A clip shows Charlie and the others fighting the exorcist angels with angelic weapons. "She and those fuckers living in that shitty hotel have pushed the angels back, and the results lead to the cancellation."
Tom gets back in his seat, dusting his suit. "Let me tell you, that battle was a doozy!" He nodded, facing the camera. "While the others have successfully recovered their hotel after the loss of their fellow sucker, Sir Pentious." An image of Pentious's picture appeared on the screen, but it was only a picture of him beaten up after a fight with Cherri Bomb. "The princess said they will be opening for newcomers next week," Tom added.
"Geez. I wonder who are the sorry fuckers to fall for it." Katie cackled cruelly. "But it seems that Heaven is not so happy with their killing spree, pausing as this early morning, our reporter, Catherine Canrel, has witnessed something very unusual," Katie revealed. "You're on, Cat."
The screen changed, and a pink and purple cat sinner was recorded standing on the street while holding a mic. "Thank you, Katie!" Catherine nodded, smiling a fake smile. "While the sinners and demons were just waking up, witnesses caught sight of a portal leading to Heaven opening, and something came out of it."
The screen changed to a recorded video of a figure falling from the portal and disappearing between the buildings. "It didn't look like an exorcist, nor did it have any features of a normal angel," Catherine revealed.
A sinner in the form of a lizard talked to the mic. "It's not like the angels I saw in film or series." He explained. "Way too fucking short."
A hellhound stands with his arms crossed. "The smell was like winter pine and peppermint Frappuccino?" He sounds questionable. He shook his head. "Too damn early for Sinsmas." He snarled.
"I want to give that angel a good fuck." A fish sinner snickered.
Then, the screen goes back to Catherine. "And now, since the fall of Hell's own fallen king, a fallen angel has arrived in Hell." She broadcasted, glaring at the camera. "Who are they? Friend or Foe? Who knows? But one thing is for sure: we are in for a blizzard." Then, the screen was on pause.
The hotel residents, Angel Dust, Husk, Niffty, and Vaggie, watched the news, Vaggie holding the remote in her hands. When Vaggie told everyone but Charlie about the portal she spotted this morning, they thought she had gone crazy. But seeing the news seemed to prove quite the opposite. Angel, Husk, and Niffty are all flabbergasted while Vaggie inhales through her closed lips.
"Oh shit…" Angel mumbled, eyes widening.
"I knew it!!" Vaggie shouted, pointing at the TV. "I knew I didn't imagine it!!"
Husk grunted, rolling his eyes. "Yeah. We all saw it." He grumbled. "Not fucking blind or anything." He huffed out. "But guess someday angels will fall out of Heaven."
Angel turned his body around, facing Vaggie as he leaned against the back of the couch, folding his arms together. "Hey. Do you think that Angel is like your friend or something? You know, on the count, you are an angel?" He questioned her with a wave of his upper hand.
Vaggie rolled her eyes and crossed her arms. "I don't have a lot of friends back in Heaven," she answered. "Due to the rules of being an exorcist, I wasn't allowed to reveal myself to regular angels." Then, her only eye softened as she stared at the TV. "But whoever landed here must have really pissed them off."
"Really pissed them off." Husk agreed. The other two nodded, agreeing with the two.
Just then, "Good morning!!" Charlie greeted them with a warm smile and open arms spread wide. "How are we going today?!" she asked them. She seemed to have been in a happier mood since last month and was not upset over the death of their fellow friend, Pentious.
Before Vaggie could reply to her girlfriend, Angel answered first. "Oh, just talking about the news. Something big is happening." He replied.
Charlie blinked, tilting her head to the right. "What sort of news?" She asked, curious.
Suddenly, the three went silent. They didn't want to tell Charlie about the new fallen angel after dealing with Heaven last month and still grieving over the loss of their friend. The last thing they needed was Charlie getting roped into another Heaven situation. Vaggie glared at Angel for mentioning what they saw, as Angel looked after, uncaring. Husk just rolled his eyes and looked away with his arms crossed.
But Niffty stepped in. "There is an angel here!" She spoke.
Charlie nodded with a smile. "Yes. I know, Vaggie is one." She acknowledged, motioning to Vaggie, who blinked in surprise.
"No, no!" Niffty shook her head. "Another angel!"
"Another angel?" Charlie repeated the last sentence. She became confused. Another angel? Since when did Hell have another angel, when the only angels in Hell are Vaggie and Lucifer?
Not wanting to prolong the confusing game, Husk snatches the remote from Vaggie's hand. "What the fuck!?" He ignored Vaggie's shout and used the remote to rewind the TV till he reached the part of Catherine.
"And now, since the fall of Hell's own fallen king, a fallen angel has arrived in Hell." Catherine broadcasted, glaring at the camera.
Hearing this, Charlie froze in her spot, and her breath was frozen. An angel from Heaven has fallen and is now in Hell, the worst place for a divine being to live. What did they do to get themselves banished? And most importantly, who were they? It could be another exorcist like Vaggie or an angel who just got caught. Or it could be a seraphim that decided to stand against the extermination. She didn't want to think about the last concern.
"What?" She whispered. Then she turned to Vaggie. "D-Do you think it might be Emily?" She asked. She started to get worried that the one who had fallen was Emily after seeing her standing up against her sister and questioning the extermination.
"Not sure," Vaggie answered. She faced the TV. "She couldn't have gone this far to put herself in danger. It must be someone that could have gotten really close." She added.
"Can you, you know, ask your dad about who it is?" Angel suggested to Charlie.
"Dad isn't very open to angels like he used to be," Charlie replied. She knows her father isn't very close to the angels in Heaven during his time there. "And I can't bother him now, not when he is on a business trip to Wrath Ring."
"Well." Vaggie huffed out. "Guess we must go out there and find our new arrival." Knowing Hell, the sinners and demons will tear that angel apart.
Angel groaned, flopping on the couch and lying down. Great, a hunt that will take days to find in a colossal city. He has his arms crossed, pouting. Then he looks around, noticing something that is missing. He pulls himself up. "Hey. Has anyone seen Smiles?" He asked.
"Alastor?" Charlie blinked. She shook her head. "Not since yesterday. He said he is going to get more venison." She answered. It has been a day since she last saw him, and she hasn't heard back since he returned from a long month's absence.
Husk groaned, rubbing his face. That's Alastor to them. "Why should I care where he is? He can do whatever he fucking wants." He grumbled. Then he gets up from the couch. "For now, we should focus more on finding that angel before any fuckers get to them first."
Shilo's eyes blinked, her vision blurry as it cleared up. Her sight focuses on the sky, red as blood, and she sees the pentagram symbol in the sky and the city of Heaven, far away from her. She let out a groan, raising her hand to rub her forehead. The last thing she remembered was falling into the portal and falling from the sky, then all went black.
She tried to get up, only to feel a shot of pain all over her body. She winced, and another shot of pain entered her body. She then felt a shiver around her as she let out a shiver and wrapped her arms around her; her body felt so cold and icy. It was so strange to her; she never got cold enough to let out a shiver. She is so comfortable when it's cold; now, she is uncomfortable. During this, she managed to sit straight, fighting back the pain. Her breath let out a soft fog as if the air around her was below twenty.
Her hands let go of her arms and pulled away. She looked at her hands, dark blue as if she had gotten frostbite. Her fingernails have a light blue color. The sleeves of her blouse have ice around them and are staining them. She turned her hands around, checking them. Her hands felt cold and icy as if a harsh blizzard were inside her.
"W-What is Heaven's name?" She whispered; another breath of fog left her lips as she spoke.
She looks around the area where she has landed—an empty alley between two buildings—but the color around her is different. It is deep red, unlike Heaven's soft blue and gold colors. Till she noticed something, the alley was covered in frost and ice. Looking down at where she is sitting, a massive patch of frost and ice is under her.
"Oh god…" She mumbled. Did she do that? She knew the landing was terrible, but to release a massive patch of frost and ice was new to her. She can only deal with snow and frost; ice was never part of her powers.
She then started to stand up, and her legs felt so wobbly. She let out a sheer gasp, and another shot of pain came from the stomach. She reaches out to her stomach as if it would stop the pain. Only to pull it away and check her hand, as it is covered in her golden blood. She gasped in horror; she was bleeding badly. She needs to find help before she starts bleeding to death.
She walked out of the alley, her legs wobbling with each step. She placed her hand against the building walls, supporting her so she wouldn't trip and fall. She held on to her bleeding stomach. Only to stop by a window, turn around, and let out a startling gasp.
Her reflection shows herself; she only looks far different from her angelic self. Her skin, which used to be soft and light, is now deadly pale like death. The freckles on her face and body gone pale like her skin. Her feet are dark blue, and her pants are covered in ice, like her hands. On her head are a pair of dark blue ram horns with ice tips on the ends; her head bleeds gold around the horns like they burst out and break her skin. Her once soft blue eyes changed. The sclera in her eyes is dark blue, while her pupils have two colors, icy blue and white. Around her eyes are ice crack marks. She looks inside her mouth; her teeth have grown fangs. Behind her is a long black tail with spikes on the base, and the end has a diamond-shaped tip with a blue diamond shape inside and two spikes on the end, making it look like a snowflake. Her blouse and vest is covered in golden blood, staining it and a large tear through it, ruining her blouse and vest.
She touched the window, and the glass formed frost upon her touch. She panted hard, and more fog left her mouth. Her hand reached up, barely touching her new horns. Her hands felt shaky, taking in her newly formed self. "W-W-What am I…?" She whispered. Then she remembered she had lost her home and her angelic rank. "No… No!!"
She backed away from the window, panting heavily, and her anxiety clouded her mind. She is in Hell, the one place she tried hard to never go to. She failed to notice a shark demon behind her and bumped into them.
"Hey!" The shark demon barked at her. "Watch it, you bitch!!"
Shilo gasped, backing away. "Oh my god! I am so sorry!" She apologized.
The shark demon approaches her, glaring at her. "What the fuck do you want?!" He questioned her.
"I-I-I.." Shilo stammered, not sure what to say. The demons here don't take kindly to gestures like hers.
"Spit it out!!" The demon shouted. Then grabbed her wrist.
But once his hand touched her bare skin, it slowly froze. As it froze, his arm and his torso froze. Then, his whole body was frozen in a thick layer of ice. He is frozen solid.
Shilo gasped in horror. Seeing what she had done, she backed away, her hands covering her mouth. "Oh god!! What is happening to me!?" She panicked. She never uses her powers to harm a soul; it is like her powers are turning against her.
Then she noticed the demons and sinners around her as they backed away. They whispered to each other, most likely judging her, as they had never seen anyone like her.
Shilo started to get scared. Sensing her fear, the road formed a massive patch of ice, frost, and ice spikes that emerged from the frozen ground. She gasped; it was so very new to her.
The demons and sinners all backed away in fright.
"Please... don't be afraid." Shilo tried to explain to them that she didn't want to harm them, not like the exorcist angels. "I'm not going to hurt you—" Then, from her hand, a blast of ice shot and hit a sinner, freezing them in ice.
That caused a panic in the street. Everyone screamed and ran away from her, not wanting to get frozen like the two souls.
"What the fuck is that?!!" A cat demon screamed.
"It's a monster!!" A hellhound shouted.
"Monster!!" A lizard sinner screamed.
Shilo backed away, frightened and panicking. She didn't understand what was happening to her or why her powers had changed. More ice and frost froze the streets till they froze the buildings. Out of instinct, she turned and ran away, leaving behind a trail of ice and frost. She would occasionally bump into demons and sinners, freezing them at first touch. Some managed to get away as they fled in fear of her.
Meanwhile, while the sinners and demons are in hiding, the ice stands firm, unmelting, letting out a soft fog of cold. A very familiar pair of feet stands against the ice, as does a cane. The cane is lifted up and tapped against the ice as if testing how solid it is. The figure followed the icy trail, sure it would lead them to the culprit.
The figure walked close to the ice, a smile formed in a large grin. "Rattle big black bones in the danger zone." Then, they started singing while following the trail. "There's a rumbling groan down below." The sinners all peek in from their hiding spot, only to return to hiding. "There's a big dark town. It's a place I've found. There's a world going on underground."
During, Shilo kept running away, unsure where to go. A few sinners and demons froze when she bumped into them by a mere touch of her skin. She stares in horror at her actions. She runs faster, wanting to escape them before she freezes more.
"They're alive; they're awake." The figure kept singing, continuing to follow the trail. "While the rest of the world is asleep." They chuckled, almost evil-like. "Below the mine shaft roads, it will all unfold. There's a world going on underground."
"Someone report this to the overlord!!" A goat demon shouted, running away to an empty shop.
"There is an ice monster in Hell!!" An imp with a black-and-white-striped horn yelled, hiding behind a car.
Shilo covered her ears as if she were a scared child. She then ran inside an empty alley. The alley became covered in ice and frost, and she backed away to a corner. She panted heavily, letting out more fog. She sat on the frozen ground, her eyes forming tears. She was scared and confused. Here she was, alone in a world she never knew, and changes were happening that she couldn't control.
As she cried, she spotted a figure at the end of the alley. Then, they begin to approach her. She can feel her panicked mind telling her to run away.
"All the roots hang down, swing from town to town." The figure resumes singing. "They are marching around down under your boots." The figure gets closer to her. "All the trucks unload beyond the gopher holes."
Then they stopped before her. Before Shilo stood Alastor, the radio demon and hotel manager. His smile was permanent as he stared at her. He held his mic cane in his hand, his head tilted to the right.
Shilo tried to back away from him, but she was firmly pressed against a frozen-covered wall. She is trapped.
"No need to be frightened," Alastor assured her; his static radio voice was heard. "I won't hurt an angel like you."
Shilo blinked, facing him in surprise. "You... you know I'm... or... was an angel?" She asked him.
"Of course. Everyone is talking about how an angel fell from heaven, and I never saw you before." He explained, not taking his eyes off her. "So you must be the angel the news was blabbing about." He tapped his cane against her head, making her flinch.
She rubbed her head, careful to not touch her ram horns. "W-W-What do you want?" She questioned him.
"Why to help you," Alastor answered. "I can't let an angel like you wander around this hellhole without proper help and guidance." He placed his cane down on the frozen ground. "And besides, Charlie would be delighted to meet you."
Shilo gasped softly. He must be friends with Charlie if he comes to find her and brings her to her hotel. "Charlie? Do you know her?" she asked him, her curiosity clouding her anxiety and fear.
"I do! Why, we both work together at her hotel!" He happily exclaimed, keeping his smile on. "I'd be happy to take you there. Be your guide." He approaches her. "How does that sound, my dear?" He reaches his hand out for her to take.
Shilo hesitated for a bit, unsure about him. He may say he is working with Charlie, but what if he lies? Just to throw her off guard and attack her. But seeing the sincerity in his eyes tells her everything. She reached her hand out, but then she pulled away.
"B-but I could freeze you, too," she added. What if she freezes him, too? She doesn't want to harm another soul with her dangerous powers.
Alastor pulls his hand back, seeing the anxiety in her eyes. "If you are still shaken by your minor trauma, you can always stay close to me." He suggested. "Sound much better?" Seeing her nodding, Alastor motioned her to follow him.
Shilo watched him turn around and head out of the alley. She stayed close to him, following him out and down the street leading to the hotel.
Alastor looked behind him, seeing her walking beside him. He grinned hugely. He could tell this would bring more entertainment to their dull hotel and cause a dramatic event. "There's a world going on underground." He sang, his eyes changing to black and red.
Husk and Angel walk together on the streets as they try to find the angel. They have checked every building and alley they thought the news could be showing. But all they found was nothing; nobody had seen the angel yet. Angel asked the sinners, so far, nothing. The two walked down the same road Shilo was in.
"How will we find an angel in a city like this?" Husk asked, getting grumpy and annoyed that their search had led them nowhere.
Suddenly, both men stopped, seeing the icy trail, which ran along the lines of frozen demons and sinners standing like frozen statues. Some tried to get them out, but the ice was so thick and complex that it was impossible to break it. Angel and Husk were flabbergasted by the sight they witnessed, eyes widened and mouths open, both silent.
They stayed like this for a while until Angel broke the silence. "Well, that's new."
'Underground' by Tom Waits