This is my second attempt at posting a story here. I loved Hazbin Hotel and wanted to have a crack at this nuts, since I don't think I will be able to wait for season 2 if I don't! Anyway, enjoy!

CHAPTER 1

A reddish light started to filter through the tents, signalling the start of another day in hell. Charlie slowly opened her eyes, yawning heavily. She was usually a morning person, but that day she felt like staying in bed all day.

It was a feeling that was accompanying her since that fateful day of a month ago, when the status quo of Hell was suddenly and brutally shaken to the core.

Extermination day was cancelled.

She had been one of the key elements that made that change possible, or so was the propaganda saying. Charlie sure didn't feel like she actually was. All she did was make a stand against a much more powerful foe and almost losing her life hadn't her father come at the last second.

She had felt so helpless and useless that day, her pacifism and good nature preventing her to muster up the strength she needed to protect the people that she loved. And someone paid the price of her indulgence, poor Sir Pentious. He died because she hadn't been resolute enough, and Charlie was feeling like shiiit for that every day. Even so, she sucked it up so that the others didn't feel down as well. She couldn't bear to see her friends down.

Charlie turned around, only to meet the light golden eye of her precious girlfriend, looking at her with a loving smile.

"Hey, Gorgeous, good morning". It was incredible how Vaggie's voice could sound so lovely and soothing even when using her usual deadpanned tone that never abandoned her. It was one of the many things Charlie loved about her.

"Good Morning, Sexy" she said, trying to sound as happy (and aroused) as possible. But seeing Vaggie's smile wavering told her that her tactic failed spectacularly. The fallen angel knew her all too well. And the fact that thin black lines underlined her eyes more than usual didn't really help her case.

"You had trouble sleeping…again…" Vaggie correctly deduced. Charlie false smiled faded.

"Yes…sorry". The sadness and tiredness were starting to flow back but were blocked by the soft touch of Vaggie's hand on her cheek.

"Don't say that you are sorry, feeling under the weather is not something to feel sorry about" she said with a soft voice, lightly kissing her forehead. Charlie revelled in her girlfriend's affection for some time before detaching herself, trying at least to sit down on the bed.

"Will it pass? These feelings?" Charlie asked. At first, she relied on her usually energetic self to keep the spirit up, supported by Vaggie and her father. Lucifer didn't really take permanent residence at the newly restored Hazbin Hotel, but he was often present during meals, and his eccentric persona was usually a distraction that helped her maintain a high spirit. But the nights with little to no sleep were starting to pile up and taking a toll even on her and it started to show. She was less involved in finding new ways in which could be able to bring the best in people out and redeem the soul of Hell, something her friends were starting to take notice of, although she usually dismissed their suspects with one of her dashing smiles. But they weren't idiots and sooner or later they would find out about her real state of mind.

Her flow of thoughts was interrupted by the violent opening of the door and one tall and slim figure appearing with two trays held by a set of arms each.

"Wakey Wakey, ladies, breakfast here, by your one and only Angel Duuuuuust!"

"Angel!"

"What the fuck, Angel!"

"We are half-naked!"

Angel Dust waved one of his hands dismissively, still smiling.

"Relax, girls, I've seen and done things to completely naked women before, I am not embarrassed"

"WE ARE!" the two girls screamed, hiding under the cover. They were used to sleeping only in lingerie, partly because Hell was always too warm to even think about using warmer clothes. And they both knew that if there was a soul in hell who wouldn't be interested in the slightest in them being only partially clothed, that soul was Angel Dust. Still, it wasn't that nice of him just barging in without knocking.

Charlie did find sweet of him taking charge of the meals, something he took up after the reconstruction of the hotel. It was something that he clearly made him happy and was surprisingly good at. He couldn't cook every meal because of his busy schedule of work, but those he did were delicious and he was so giddy when he saw people appreciating his cooking.

Vaggie sighed. "Ok chef, what do we have today?"

"I am glad you asked" he answered, putting the trays on their knees. On it there was a curved-shape sweet that seemed like a brioche but it was probably freshly baked from the smell, and a cup with what looked like coffee and milk, although the milk was foamy on the top.

"Cornetto made on the spot and hot cappuccino, the best breakfast in all existence if you ask me. Be sure to savour them together, your tastebuds will implode from happiness!" Charlie took the brioche and immersed the tip in the liquid and let it soak for a couple of seconds before tasting it. Her eyes widened in surprise and delight.

"It's sooo fuckin' good! You weren't kidding, Angel! Try it, Vaggie!" Vaggie copied her girlfriend's actions, although with less enthusiasm. But after eating it, she had to agree with Charlie.

"Shit, that's actually delicious. Why didn't you do that sooner?"

Angel pouted a little. "Why, the other breakfasts weren't good enough?"

"Oh no no, Angel, those were really good. Vaggie just wanted to know why you are proposing the…what is called, cappuccino?... just now, that's all".

Angel relaxed a little. "Oh, it's a bit of a lengthy process when you aren't used to it, I don't usually have that kinda time. But for some sort of miracle, today I have a free day so I said 'Heh, what the hell?' and gave it a shot. If I'd had more time and practise, I'd have done pictures on it. I'll leave that for another time. I accept requests, even dirty ones'' he winked, before leaving the two girls with their breakfast, closing the door behind him.

"He is doing great, you know? He's like…changed. A lot" Charlie remarked. And that was true, he was a different demon. She knew that under his sarcastic behaviour lay a gentle and caring soul, but he was showing it now more than ever.

"Yeah…I wonder if Pentious rubbed him off some way…" Vaggie reflected, only to silencing herself. "Shit, I'm sorry Hon" she apologised, looking at the tears that were starting to well in Charlie's eyes. But Vaggie was surprised when her girlfriend managed to not break down and finish her breakfast. The angel smiled and gulped down the rest of the warm drink.

"That was really good, he should make it more often. So…do we change and go out?" Vaggie said while she was starting to stand up, only to feel Charlie gently grabbing her shoulder.

"You know, the cappuccino wasn't the only thing hot here" she heard Charlie saying in a surprisingly seducing voice. Vaggie smiled: she was now being very genuine. She lied down on the bed and let Charlie take charge.

"Shit, how are you that good?!" Angel Dust screamed. He was playing poker with Husk and Nifty (using chips) and he was losing badly and had only a 100-chip coin left. What was surprising was that Husk wasn't the one winning -that would have been the most obvious outcome. No, Nifty was the one that had the upper hand.

"All in, all in!" the small housekeeper howled, pushing all of her chips in the centre with her usual over-enthusiasm. Husk sighed. "Girl, I get the feeling that you really didn't understand the rules" the cat demon said, pushing his few remaining chips near Nifty's. Angel Dust groaned and threw his last chips in the group and started to reveal his cards, a Full. A good hand, but he didn't have that many hopes that he could win. And he was proven right when Husk revealed a Poker of Queen with a half smile plastered on his feline face, much to Angel Dust dismay.

"Cards, cards!" Nifty threw her cards down with a slam, revealing her hand. Immediately, Husk and Angel Dust's eyes widened in shock.

"What the actual fuck?!"

"A goddamn Royal Flush?!"

"How the fuck did you do that?!"

The two threw their hands in their air in utter defeat.

"Ugh, I need a drink, that runt destroyed my confidence. If she had been around in my gambling days, I would have lost my power way before of when I did" Husk sighed, pouring some blended scotch in a glass.

"Pour me one too. Even if I'd love for her to have my soul. Would be better than Val, at least" Angel Dust said, watching a half-full glass magically appear in front of him. He was starting to sip the alcohol when he saw Charlie and Vaggie descending the stairs from the first floor, the two of them looking positively happy.

"Oh, someone's cappuccino did wonders" Husk laughed when the two girls arrived near the bar stand. Angel Dust smiled in a knowing way.

"Suuuuuure, my cappuccino did that".

Charlie and Vaggie looked at each other, blushing a little. Angel Dust was way too much perceptive, sometimes. Charlie decided to shift the attention, pointing at the scotch the two were drinking.

"Rough morning?"

Angel Dust and Husk groaned.

"Whatever you do, do NOT challenge Nifty at poker. Girly has the worst luck in Hell. Or the best, I don't know. Point is, she destroyed us". Angel Dust sounded really sour about that and gulped down the rest of his drink.

"You know princess, you look better than usual. What sort of activity would you like to undergo today to redeem our soul?" Husk asked. He had a renewed interest in Charlie's activities, since he saw that she was willingly putting her life on the line for her endeavour and was actively taking part in them, much like Angel Dust was doing. Part of him was hoping that an eventual redemption would be able to take his soul from the hands of Alastor.

Who was still missing.

Husk was used to his master's long disappearances, sometimes for a week even, and he wasn't all that sad that he did, he still hated the asshole with a burning passion. But the fact that it was at least two weeks since the last time he had seen was suspicious at best. He knew that Charlie had made a deal with the Radio Demon, something that many did when not in the right state of mind, but her soul wasn't at stake, thankfully. But Husk couldn't shake the ominous feeling that sooner or later, that favour could cost dear to Charlie. And since he came to care and respect her and the others, he didn't like the possibility of Alastor ruining things for them.

"I'm glad you asked, Husk. You know, today is the one-month recurrence of the attack on the hotel. I thought that in honour of Sir Pentious we could…build something" Charlie explained, her expression shadowed by sadness but eyes still bright with enthusiasm.

"Like…what, exactly?" Angel Dust asked, unsure.

"Something creative, to commemorate his ingenuity! Bring up your A-game!". Charlie sure was excited, but she was met by confused gazes. Luckily, Vaggie was ahead of her energetic girlfriend.

"I thought that you didn't have any direction in this, Honey, so I asked Egg-boy to bring some of his project here to help you" she said, as said Egg-Boy entered the room, bringing a tower of blueprints, accurately labelled.

"There aren't any weapons in there, are there?" Charlie loved Pentious, but she knew that his genius was shown mainly in creating weapons, so she was a little concerned.

"No weapons, I was very clear with Omelette here" Vaggie answered, eyeing the egg construct, who shivered in reverential fear and let the blueprints and instruments go before retreating in the shadows.

"Well, there are a lot of blueprints here, and…is that my name?" Angel Dust took one of the carefully piled blueprints, one that had the letters 'Angel Dust' written on them. He opened the roll, finding a series of sketches of what it seemed to be a machine with multiple hands.

"Is that a massage machine?" Husk inquired. He wasn't that good with technology, but the sketches on the blueprint did look like hands that could be used to do a full-body massage. It was also articulated into multiple hands to reach every part of the body and give multiple massages.

"Why do such a thing?" a confused Angel Dust wondered, noting that the blueprint was accompanied by detailed yet easy to follow instructions. Charlie mused on it for a while, then a lightbulb lit up.

"Probably because you are so tired after the shootings! Pentious probably thought that you could use some relax time with this".

Tears grew in Angel Dust's eyes, who promptly swept them out. "You're an idiot, buddy".

In the meantime, Husk fished out of the pile a print with his name on it and started to scan it.

"An automated shaker? Well, I prefer more a hands-on approach at mixing, but it can be funny"

"A…weapon organiser? Did he never realise that I materialise my weaponry?" Vaggie looked at a project for her. Despite her comment, she looked quite happy.

"We can always repurpose it for your clothes. Oh, that's my name…oooh" Charlie said, opening another blueprint with her name in it. Inside, there were drawings of what looked like something similar to the Egg-boys but with what looked like a sign on them. On the sign, there was written 'Come to Hazbin Hotel for your redemption!' "

"Those look fun, he wanted to advertise you!" Angel Dust commented, stopping when he started to see tears welling in Charlie's eyes. He put a comforting hand on her shoulder. "He really believed in you. Like we all do".

Charlie looked up to her white friend and smiled. In doing this, she looked outside the window as well, where she saw a faint light coming towards them. Perceiving an ominous threat, she instinctively pushed Angel Dust out of the way.

"Get down!" she screamed as she shoved Angel Dust. The glass broke with a faint sound and Charlie felt a hiss in the air as she felt the skin on her shoulder burning as it was pierced by something very fast. She heard the bullet ending its course on the wall behind her, piercing the painting of Sir Pentious. She looked at her shoulder: blood was flowing from a hole right on it. It was deep and it hurt a lot, but at least the bullet was out.

She heard a second shot breaking another glass, but saw Vaggie materialise her spear and deflect the bullet with a precise swing. "You alright, Charlie?" she asked, able to maintain the calm even if her eye was burning with fury.

"Yeah, hurts like a bitch but I'll manage. Vaggie, those are…"

"Angelic steel bullets, yes. Be on your guard, everyone! Stay away from the windows!" the fallen angel ordered matter-of-factly. No one dared to disobey her and retreated near the stairs, where it was harder to be hit from the windows.

"What the fuck is going on? Why is there a sniper that wants to kill us?" Angel Dust screamed hysterically. It wasn't really different from the turf wars he fought into, but in those no one really was at risk of dying, as no angelic weaponry was involved.

"Not us, just me. They want me" Charlie answered, while Husk was administering first aid. In the meanwhile, Vaggie was still on alert, her eye darting from window to window, but no new shots were heard.

Angel Dust rustled in his bag and fished out a cellphone. "Cherri, bring your tits here fast, someone is attacking the hotel!" he shouted on the phone. Another shot, the bullet ricocheted on the wall and hit the phone, breaking it, much to Angel Dust horror.

"How the fuck…" But he was silenced as a second bullet was once again blocked by Vaggie's spear.

"Behind the barkeep!" shouted Husk, pulling Charlie and Angel, who in turn grabbed Nifty, while Vaggie covered them deflecting other bullets coming from different directions. Charlie had to admire her girlfriend's combat prowess, able to defend from hits from different sides with cold efficiency.

Vaggie was growing more and more frustrated by the minute: even with her heightened senses and training, deflecting bullets like that was hard, especially when she had to rely on her hearing and her reflexes to pull out such a stunt. And it wasn't something that she could do endlessly, sooner or later she would slip. She wanted to find the sniper fast, but was afraid of letting Charlie and the others without protection. "Shit" she hissed between her teeth.

BAKOOM

An explosion shook the outside of the hotel, followed by others in quick succession, clouds of smoke could be seen in the distance.

"Yuuu-huu, go Sugar Tits!" An enthusiastic Angel Dust cried.

"Vaggie, go help her, we will be fine, but…" Charlie started, but Vaggie nodded instantly and ran towards the main door. Suddenly, though, she had to stop, as it exploded violently and a big cloud of red smoke invaded the hall of the hotel.

When the cloud subsided, Vaggie was shocked to see the unconscious body of Cherri Bomb being held by her hair by a dark figure.

"You really sent this bitch to attack me?" The figure asked with a low, threatening voice, throwing Cherri at Vaggie's feet. She kneeled to feel Cherri's pulse, without losing sight of the stranger. Cherri's breath was faint but present, signalling that she was still alive.

The figure stepped in front, revealing itself. It was tall, with broad shoulders and a lean body, covered in an elegant black suit with a black shirt and a red tie. The face seemed human, although the skin was grey and the hair and beard that framed his face was black and jagged, resembling a wolf bane. Two pointy ears could be seen moving on his head while two yellow glowing eyes with a black sclera were looking at Vaggie with a cold look.

"Who the fuck are you and why the fuck are you here?!" Vaggie growled while raising the spear, pointing it at the demon. He smiled wickedly.

"Name's Wicken. Suffice to say that someone wants your princess dead. And I am here to deliver" he answered while a gun appeared in his right claw. And it wasn't like it was portaled there like Vaggie does usually, it was like it has always been there. This one was really dangerous, and Vaggie knew that in her bones.

"Aaaaargh!" A shrill voice suddenly erupted from behind the barkeep and Angel Dust jumped out, two tommy-guns in hands, shooting like a madman. Seeing his friends hurt sent the demon on a warpath, forgetting the danger of having an enemy armed with angelic weapons.

Angel Dust's shots were precise, but Wicken showed surprising agility and speed by avoiding the volley and closing in to the spider demon in seconds, shooting with the gun right in the abdomen.

"No, Angel!" Husk growled like a tiger and jumped on his four, trying to slash the assassin. However, the attack was sloppy, as Husk never really embraced his demonic form, and the killer had no problem avoiding the attack and retaliating with another shot. Husk's reflexes, however, were better than Angel's and he managed to avoid the shot and extract his combat cards, throwing them after having enhanced them with electrokinetic power.

Wicken dodged the attack and the cards hit the ground, exploding.

"Nice trick, you must be popular at parties!" Husk heard Wicken snarling as he saw one of his cards, still full of power, flying right towards him! The former overlord managed to jump to his right, but that left him unprotected and, sure enough, the assassin leaped forward and grabbed his tail and threw him like a sack of potatoes towards the coming Vaggie, who had to stop to grab Husk.

"Oh shit!" she shouted, as she saw Wicken pointing the gun towards them. She instantly opened her wings and used them as a shield, even if she knew that they wouldn't work like that against angelic bullets. The shot, however, didn't hit her.

Vaggie saw Nifty grabbed by her head as she was trying to giggly stab the intruder with the same knife she used to off Adam. Wicken raised an eyebrow, less than amused.

"Really, short stack?". She stopped Nifty from stabbing his arm by launching her in the air and shooting her right in the face.

"Nifty!" Vaggie couldn't take it anymore and charged forward, trying to stab him with her spear, but the assassin swiftly evaded that and other strikes aimed to vital parts: Vaggie was fighting to kill.

"Finally, someone with some spunk here!" Wicken shouted, his gaze looking galvanised at the ability of Vaggie. He took some distance and shot with the gun, but Vaggie managed to repel the bullets with a twirl of her spear and closed in, tried a stab directed to the heart. However, Wicken was once again fast enough to dodge her attacks and retaliated with a shot a close distance, which Vaggie narrowly avoided.

They exchanged blows to blows, mixing close and long range attacks, but the situation was a stalemate, as no one was managing to deal the decisive blow. It was the first time that a demon was being able to stand blow to blow with the fallen angel, as even most overlords wouldn't have been able to face Vaggie that openly.

Charlie was still hidden behind the barkeep, her breath laboured as she was seeing her friends in danger. For the second time the people she loved were in danger and she was doing nothing. That had to change! A well of unprecedented power surged inside of her, engulfing her in fire as horns grew on the head and red tinged her eyes. A tail sprouted as her red suit transformed into a red combat dress.

"Razzle, at me!"

The demon lamb appeared, changing in its draconic form and Charlie quickly jumped on him and together they charged forward.

"Charlie, no, wait!" Vaggie screamed, seeing her girlfriend going out of her shelter. But that was a mistake, a mistake Wicken was quick to take advantage of. He shot, hitting Vaggie right in the middle of the eyes. The girl fell, right in front of Charlie's eyes, who widened in fear and rage.

"You are fucking dead!" The princess of hell shouted with her demonic voice, shooting golden fire from her right hand. The attack was powerful but too direct, and the assassin easily manoeuvred around it.

"I wish" the coarse voice of the wolf assassin was heard, as the gun was pointing towards Charlie, silver shimmering in his hand as he shot a silver bullet. The trajectory was perfectly aligned toward her head, she could clearly see that.

It was as time was slowing down almost to stillness. Her hand moved, almost as slow as it was covered in glue, morphing in a more muscular and robust form, catching the bullet in mid air, with no consequences aside from a faint burning sensation that didn't hurt as much as she thought.

Wicken's eyes widened in surprise as he witnessed the event unfolding. He was so surprised that he didn't notice the gigantic tail of Razzle until it hit him right in his hip, launching him towards the wall with such speed that the impact of his body broke the wall, leaving him in a defeated heap.