"I don't... get it." Vox sat on the couch, screen in hand, elbow resting on the arm of his seat as he finished watching a rather long and high-energy musical number from the Princess about a snake in Heaven. "Is it... a metaphor?"
"What?" Charlie stared at him blankly. Everyone else in the Hotel looked thrilled by the display. Cherri seemed almost brought to tears. "No... it's..." The Princess blinked, glancing around her at the others. "Were you not listening? Sir Pentious got into Heaven! Redemption works." She looked so ecstatic that Vox really felt as if he should be feeling a lot more from this revelation, aside from skeptical, of course.
"And... who is that?" Vox really felt there should have been more buildup to this particular song. He was missing some valuable backstory.
"Are you fucking kidding me right now?" Vaggie was thoroughly unimpressed with Vox's response, which was just fine as Vox was thoroughly unimpressed with everything he had just seen. So, no one was happy. Vox shrugged.
"Pretend I'm not."
"He might not be, he is on the stupid side." That stupid, echoing voice was just as annoying as the wide, smiling face from whence it came. Alastor was eyeing him, grinning ear to ear like he was a part of some sort of inside joke to which Vox wasn't privy. (But that was impossible due to the simple fact that Alastor had no sense of humor, and thus jokes were an absolutely wasted art on him. It was a sad, pathetic truth, and was truly only one of the many reasons the Radio Demon was less than his television counterpart.) "But can you blame him? Spending all his time connected to that brain rot he puts on the television?"
"I wasn't here for whatever the fuck we're talking about. Remember? I've only been here like... three days and one of those was spent cleaning up your dad's fucking mess." He glanced over at Charlie, taking a sip from his coffee. He could lower himself to Alastor's level by clapping back, but he was above such behavior in the presence of royalty. "But I understand you being forgetful in your old age. It must be difficult learning new information when you can't even figure out how to work a basic television." On second thought, Vox wasn't above such behavior.
"Yeah, but you hired Pentious to spy on the Hotel. That..." Charlie was giving him a weird look, "that is how we ended up with him."
"Did I?" Vox put a hand to his chest in disbelief.
"Yeah, you fucking did." Vaggie didn't like him, she had made that painfully clear despite the fact that Vox had actively saved all of their respective asses during the Shoggoth attack. That they were willing to forget, but some one-off attempt on the Hotel they were apparently holding to like some treasured memory.
"Do you have any evidence?" Vox met her gaze. "Because that doesn't sound like anything I would do and I would hate to be slandered while I'm trying to redeem myself."
"We caught him red handed!" Vaggie was clearly getting frustrated. Charlie put a hand on her arm, gently pulling her back.
"Pentious was an inventor. He had a big hat and a bunch of eggs in tiny business suits that were just adorable."
"Not ringing any bells." Vox gave a shrug.
"Are you fucking serious?" Even Angel was mad at him, which wasn't surprising, given his history with Val. He was just projecting onto Vox. Vox was always cleaning up one PR nightmare after another thanks to his fellow Vees. Sometimes an alliance seemed to be more trouble than it was worth. "You hired him to pretend he wanted to get redeemed so he could feed you info on this hotel and when he got caught, ya bailed on him!"
"Alternatively," Vox sipped his coffee again, "I saw the potential in Pontious-"
"Pentious." Cherri corrected; her eye narrowed.
"That's what I said," Vox corrected, "and tricked him into bettering himself as a sort of... sponsor. And since it worked, you're welcome. I knew he could do it."
"If I showed you three pictures of Sinners, could you even tell me which one Pentious was?" Angel was still glaring daggers into him.
"Is." Vox corrected. "He's not dead, Angel. He's in Heaven as the Princess explained in her wonderful and not at all tacky song number." Vox could not, in fact, pick Pentious out of a lineup, but he could assume from context he was the snake guy in the portrait in the Hotel lobby.
"Listen here you sack of dick-" Angel's other arms appeared for a moment and Vox felt someone climb onto the couch beside him, grabbing the arm that wasn't holding the coffee.
"Leave Vox alone! He's an Overlord." Mimzy was practically cuddling up to his arm. Vox tried to shake her off.
"If we kill him, we can take his power." Niffty popped up from behind him, resting her arms on the back of the couch, and caressing the back of his screen with her hand. Vox jumped to his feet before moving to a completely different chair. Niffty scrambled over the back of the couch and flopped into Vox's prior seat grinning up at him.
"No one is killing anyone!" Charlie clapped her hands together laughing nervously. "Vox, I know you're new here, and that you only wanted to come to the Hotel so you could get an invitation to my dad's mansion. But surely, as a businessman, you have to see the ramifications of Pentious actually ascending. That means it's possible!" Redemption, Ascension- it was all the same thing. The ability to get into Heaven. The final paradise. Vox was doing quite well for himself in Hell, so the idea of moving up seemed like a waste to him. But to the weak, and suffering lower rungs of the ladder, this could mean a lot. And the marketing potential was unmatched.
"You really should get the word out. You know, I could do a few commercials for you. Spencer and Avery could sell ice to a polar bear. You could have this place crawling with Sinners." Vox knew good business when he saw it, and he wasn't about to let fucking Alastor be the only one with his hand in this goldmine. Assuming, of course, this wasn't just a massive fucking con from Heaven, which was incredibly likely.
"We actually had a commercial, and you interrupted it when it aired." Charlie replied, her hands clasped together. Vox looked up from his coffee, relaxing once again.
"The news is important, Princess."
"So, do you think we can talk to him? To Pentious?" Cherri interrupted Vox's pitch for that stupid Sinner who had somehow weaseled his way past the Pearly Gates.
"Maybe? I have the Archangels' phone numbers. I might be able to ask one of them to put him on the phone." Charlie seemed fine to move on from the topic of advertising.
"You have the Archangels' phone numbers." Vox was a little incredulous at the idea of being able to phone up an Archangel at whim. He wasn't sure what to do with that information at the moment, but seemed worth storing away for later use. "Were those the angels who bailed your dad out with the Shoggoth attack?"
"Um... yes." Charlie seemed a little uncomfortable with the line of questioning. "But they are super nice! I think they would be supportive of the Hotel! I mean, Michael seemed to really like the idea when I mentioned it..."
"Ah yes, they seem very open minded what with all the slaughtering." Vox kept his tone even, though his curiosity was peaked.
"That's a bit more of a complicated situation." Charlie looked even more uncomfortable. "But the point is that we finally have proof that Redemption works! Straight from Heaven itself!"
"Absolutely! And it's not like Heaven would lie to us! Isn't that right?" Alastor wasn't looking at Charlie, he was looking at Vaggie. Vox assumed it was because she used to be an Exorcist. If the Radio Demon was trying to be coy with this information, he would be woefully disappointed to learn it was a point of discussion at one of the Overlord Meetings that he had missed. They had ongoing bets on how long it would take the Princess to be murdered in her sleep. So far Missi Zilla, Zestial, and Val were out of the running. Vaggie was tellingly silent.
"N... no they wouldn't. Pentious is up there! Michael told me himself." Charlie was somehow willing to believe what was so obviously bullshit, that Vox almost felt bad for her.
"And the leader of the Exterminations would have no reason to lie about anything!"
"He didn't know!" Charlie's argument was... lackluster at best. Unless Heaven was incredibly out of touch with its own employees and excuses like: he didn't know was more bullshit than Vox's explanation about his desire for Redemption.
"Apologies, Princess! You're right." Alastor relaxed backward, kicking his leg up as he took a long, purposeful drink from his stupid, pun-ny mug. "It is far more believable that Heaven was completely unaware of a massive genocide than it is that they would lie to our faces. I am sure that targeted attack on your father after he pissed them off was purely coincidental."
"I know it sounds crazy but-" Charlie looked from face to face, Alastor's words were clearly worming their way into every ear. He... actually had a valid point. But since it was Alastor, Vox was obligated to disagree. He cleared his throat.
"I think they're telling the truth. I'm sure that Pendleton-"
"Presterghast." Mimzy corrected.
"Pentious." Husk practically growled from the back.
"Whatever." Vox waved off the correction. "Is living his best afterlife up in Heaven, playing the harp and fucking all the angels he could want. I mean, you could actually prove it, right? Call. Ask to talk to him."
"I have to use the phone in the Church." Charlie looked less sure of herself. "Maybe later." It was likely that she was being lied to, but Vox had to assume that he was not going to live in a world where Alastor was right. Sure, he had done some bad things in life, but nothing deserving of having to exist in a reality where the Radio Demon had a valid point. "Actually, Vox," Charlie cleared her throat, "while I have you. Yesterday, when I came home-" Vox quickly cut her off.
"If this is about what happened with Mimzy, I was simply demonstrating cut throat sales tactics. Angel Dust will back me up here."
"Yeah, we were just showin' her the ropes of show business." Angel wasn't Vox's usual source of support, but they had both gotten fed up with Mimzy in Charlie and Vaggie's absence and things had gotten a little out of hand.
"You had her tied up and were trying to shove her in the trashcan." Charlie sounded unconvinced of their explanations.
"Because her pitch was garbage. Please try to follow along." Vox was hoping to have the lid taped shut and the can rolling out into whatever danger it could find before the Princess had opened the door, but alas, time had not been on his side.
"I learned a lot about how to climb the ranks in DamnWay!" Mimzy was too desperate to realize she should be upset.
"They do have great knives." Niffty reached behind her and pulled out a large kitchen knife and stabbed it into the couch far too close to Mimzy for comfort. Mimzy didn't even flinch. She pulled the knife from the cushion, holding it up for the others to see.
"And look! No residue or fuzz! No indication of how many bugs, things, or people Niffty has killed with the knife at all!"
"A lot." Niffty snatched the knife back from her hand, giggling excitedly. That was actually a decent pitch, not that Vox would ever admit that DamnWay produced anything other than garbage. But at the same time, Mimzy had somehow picked up legitimate sales techniques when Vox and Angel had been attempting to kill her. (Though, really, most of the credit should have gone to Niffty, for stabbing the couch.)
"Let's not murder anyone, please!" Charlie tried to reign in the chaos of her patrons. "Or stab the furniture. People sit on that." The Princess was in so woefully over her own head that if by some miracle that snake guy was in Heaven, it was probably sheer dumb luck that redeemed him.
"Stabbing is for later." Niffty nodded understandingly.
"No. No, no, no." Charlie shook her head. "Well, maybe. Hopefully not."
"The monsters will come back. And I didn't even get a chance to clean them up before." Niffty flopped down on the couch beside Mimzy, almost cuddling the knife in her arms.
"Shoggoths." Vox made a face. "Even uglier in person, and nothing prepared me for the smell." Vox vaguely wished his screen-like face didn't function as an actual human head because the putrid smell that emanated from the Shoggoths was enough to permanently churn his stomach. All the vomiting he had done prior thanks to that old hag Lucifer and his poison fucking apple did little to help.
"R... right." Charlie was giving him a weird look. Did she not think they reeked? Maybe she was just immune to the smell because she had to hang around Alastor's putrid personality. "But as I was saying, when I was coming home after Vaggie and my vacation, before I stopped you from putting Mimzy in the trash, I got... accosted by reporters about how I murdered my dad."
"You murdered your dad?" Vox raised an eyebrow. "Damn, that is stone cold. I had no idea you had it in you, Princess."
"Uh, no." Charlie looked a little irritated. "I did not murder my dad. You should know that." Vox briefly looked up from his coffee.
"I don't know how you spend your time, Princess, that's none of my business. But I will be a little pissed off if I spent all these resources trying to cover up the attack on your dad, just for you to murder him anyway."
"I didn't murder my dad! He's fine!" Charlie insisted. (Not that it really meant anything one way or the other. Of course, the primary suspect would insist everything was fine.) "But you were supposed to be helping cover this shit up! Not sending your reporters out to make up bullshit accusations about my dad being dead."
"What are you talking about?" Vox sent his reporters to make shit up all the time, mostly for ratings. But he hadn't sent them out to fabricate a murder, especially not a murder of the King. He was supposed to be fabricating a story of how fucking great the king was doing. A murder would definitely undo his late-night from the night after the incident.
"When Vaggie and I got back from our vacation, Katie Killjoy fucking cornered us, with this whole fabricated murder plot. I thought you were handling this." Charlie's explanation did little to elaborate. Katie was Vox's employee and while she did make a few juicy suggestions for stories, all major bullshit was run by him. He checked his phone for any missed texts, but Katie's last message to him was about how Tom snored and she was about to splatter his brains out all over their bedroom wall. (They were married for the ratings only.) To which Vox had responded with a simple thumbs-up emoji. (If Katie HAD killed Tom, he was better now.)
"I didn't tell her to run that story." Vox began scrolling through the 666 News app, seeing rather laughable photoshop attempts on what looked to be a Muppet in an attempt to make it look like Lucifer's corpse.
"Losing control of your employees?" Alastor was suddenly standing right behind him and Vox nearly flew out of his chair.
"No!" Vox's voice crackled with electricity. He cleared his throat, trying to calm himself, he wouldn't let Alastor get under his skin, he didn't want him to have the satisfaction. "This was probably just a miscommunication."
"You know, if you need new reporters," Mimzy fluffed her hair, "this face was made for the screen." Vox cringed a bit.
"I think we're fine."
"Miscommunication? Say it isn't so, Vox my good man! And here I thought your new-fangled gizmos were supposed to make things easier. We don't have these kinds of mistakes with the good, old-fashioned radio!"
"Look, I need to go into work tomorrow, anyway." Vox had to struggle to actively ignore Alastor. He was contracted to the Princess and he couldn't cause a scene without real fucking consequences. "I'll bury this shitty story and we can all move on with our fucking lives."
"Thank you, Vox." Charlie seemed to accept his explanation.
"Oh, come now! Is that the best you can do my Flat-headed compatriot?" Alastor's voice was like a drill to the brain. Nothing could make a migraine manifest more quickly than hearing that stupid, echoic, staticky voice. Vox's jaw clenched, his teeth grit, his hands balled into fists as he had to restrain himself from lashing out the way the Radio Demon wanted. Vox wasn't stupid. He knew he was being provoked.
"Whatever do you mean?"
"Why, you've caused poor Charlie so many frustrating and tedious problems due to your negligence, and all you're going to do is bury the story and move on!? What kind of apology is that! What about the pain! The suffering! The crippling inconvenience of it all! You're supposed to be on the path to redemption, my good man! You should not just be trying to fix the problem! You need to make up for causing it in the first place!"
"Alastor, I appreciate you looking out for me," Charlie gave an awkward smile, "but so long as Vox fixes the problem, I'm happy."
"Ah, you're absolutely correct, Princess. I doubt anyone like Vox would actually be able to offer you anything worth your while that a better, more powerful, and overall, more delightful Overlord hasn't already gotten for you."
"Really," Charlie tried to speak, "it's fi-" but Vox was getting fed up with Alastor's fucking speech. If he wanted the Television Demon to completely show him the fuck up then Vox would welcome the opportunity.
"And, a commercial, made in my studio, with my crew, ten times better than that garbage you submitted last time. AND, a prime-time TV spot to air it."
"O-oh!" Charlie looked a little surprised by the addition. "Um... yeah! If you're willing to do all of that I won't say no."
"Good. Then it's settled." Vox got quickly to his feet, solely because that was what he was going to be doing anyway, and it had nothing to do with the fact that Alastor was hovering directly behind his chair. "Now, unlike the rest of you losers, I actually have a successful career to get to in the morning, so I am going upstairs."
"I work for your fucking ex." Angel retorted bitterly. While Angel wasn't exactly Vox's favorite Sinner, neither was Val at this fucking moment, and he had a point.
"Okay, fine, all of you except Angel Dust, who does inadvertently work for one of my sister companies."
"My job is more just wanton destruction." Cherri examined her nails.
"I'm a DamnWay boss babe!" Mimzy added.
"My job is to kill." Niffty held up her knife again, her eyes glistening with anticipation. Charlie quickly reached over grabbing the knife delicately between her thumb and index finger, letting out a nervous laugh.
"Okay, maybe we don't do that, Niffty."
"This has been fun." It hadn't been. Not one bit. Vox hadn't intended to start a fucking conversation about everyone's fucking career paths, but here they were. "But like I said, I have an actual fucking job and I feel like if I stay any longer someone else is going to start singing and I have had more than enough of that for one day."
"Is sitting behind a desk barking commands at your more qualified underlings really considered a job? Color me shocked."
"Shut the fuck up." Vox didn't have the energy to argue. Ever since he had started feeling sick and few months ago, he had been struggling with fatigue. He would currently place blame on the Shoggoth, on the Angels that had butted in, on the Devil and his stupid fucking apple- though after eating the apple was the first time Vox had felt any sort of relief since this stupid cold had started- on anything other than his own actions. So, he left the group to head back up the stairs to get any kind of rest in that cheap, pitiful excuse for a bed in this run-down motel. How anyone could sleep in here was a fucking miracle bigger than the one that sent Penguin- or whatever his name was- up to Heaven.
Though, that was probably a lie.
Still, it would be interesting if it was true.
Night was such an uncomfortable time at the Hotel. Vox wasn't sure if it was always the case, or if people were still recovering from seeing a Shoggoth in person. (How anyone was able to sleep in the same building as Alastor was a fucking mystery. The asshole radiated an aura of raw unease. If Vox had a choice, he'd rather be sharing a building with the Shoggoth. At least that knew it was a horrible abomination. And it seemed to be a better conversationalist. Sure, Vox didn't speak the language, and every time it spoke made his head sear and his non-existent ears bleed. But conversations with Alastor were basically identical with the added misfortune that Vox could understand him.) But it seemed as if no one in the Hotel had an easy time sleeping. Vox could sometimes hear them crying out in the dead of night.
It wasn't like nightmares were uncommon in Hell. But recently the dreams had felt more... intense, realistic. Not that Vox really remembered them. But he always seemed to wake up with the feeling that he wasn't alone in the room. And he felt... nostalgic? It was the strangest feeling. He hadn't thought too much about his life, about his home since he had died and began to climb the ranks of Hell. But over the past few months, Vox awoke thinking of restless nights back in Arkham. For such a small town in Massachusetts, Vox's home had an almost constant state of mystery about it. Someone always seemed to be missing or acting strangely. The crazy noises of Hell were nothing new compared to the odd scratching or squelching sounds in the walls a night when he was alive.
Vox wasn't sure what exactly felt so reminiscent of home, but it was probably nothing important. The people in Arkham were a paranoid lot, probably all in the Doomsday District. (Not that Vox had ever seen anyone from home. Which was odd, because he knew a lot of his old friends had done some shitty fucking things in life.) Maybe it was just that he had actually seen a Shoggoth. He had heard about them, seen very basic sketches (that did no justice to the real thing), but never thought they were real.
Maybe it was that sense of overwhelming... homesickness that caused Vox to oversleep. And from that point on the day went downhill. He was late to work; his employees were scarce and the ones he did come across only piled more work on him. There was news that Lucifer was hiring a handyman so he had to try and send his own people there. Long story short, a bunch of his employees got burned on a fucking lawn and some random asshole got the job. So that took up a large part of his morning.
Then it turned out that tomorrow was Halloween and Val hadn't helped Velvette do shit all to plan the Halloween Party. So, Velvette was drowning. The VoxTek Halloween party was legendary AND incredibly important to the company image. So that took up the rest of Vox's day and worked him well into the evening.
By the time he made it back to that lowly hotel, no one was awake except that grinning bastard for whom Vox held nothing but the deepest resentment. (Though it was good for him that Charlie was already asleep as he had done shit-all about her problem.)
"Good day?"
"Fuck off and die."
"I am taking that as a no, then." Alastor's smile peaked out over the rim of his teacup as he took a sip, sitting casually in a chair in the lobby. Vox ignored him, heading up the stairs to his room. He could hear the sounds of cowering from the other rooms as he walked past. This was becoming typical, but Vox heaved a sigh and slapped his hand against the doors as he went by to rouse the residents from their waking nightmares. Fuck it. He didn't want to listen to them scream when he was trying to sleep. Hopefully this wasn't long term, and even if it was, it wouldn't be his problem for too much longer. Just a few weeks. Then he was free.
Who would have thought seeing a Shoggoth could cause all of this bullshit? They lived with Alastor who was far uglier. But maybe they were just dealing with the fact that Shoggoths were real. Vox was still reeling from the fact. He had a... Friend... once when he was alive who had told him stories about monstrous creatures, the Shoggoth included, that he insisted were real. Vox always thought he was either full of shit or simply off his fucking rocker, but if he ever saw Danny again, he felt as if he owed him an apology.
There are gods watching over us Vic, and they can do both great and terrible things if you know how to worship them.
Vox hadn't even remembered laying down in bed until he was awoken by the sound of that old friend's voice ringing in his head. He felt a little nauseous, but that wasn't unusual. He went to the bathroom, wiping his screen with a cleaning cloth as he looked in the mirror. Ugh. He still looked like shit. But the good news was that it was fucking Halloween, so looking as undead as you actually were, was a definite plus. He was too tired and too fucking busy to but effort into a costume, so he put on his business suit, and then climbed into a comfortable, one-piece shark outfit. It was easy, it was soft, and Vox was putting forth minimal effort on his costume because he had more important shit on his plate today. Just because he was trapped in a stupid deal and all of Hell was going to shit, didn't mean the VoxTek parties could be any less phenomenal.
He headed down the stairs to find Charlie in all white with a make-shift halo over her head and a pair of white wings.
"An angel?" Vox hadn't had his coffee yet and therefore he couldn't be held responsible for what came out of his mouth. "A little tasteless, don't you think?"
"Actually, I'm a Winner!" Charlie pointed to the halo. "No eyes. I just thought it made sense because that is basically the end-goal of this hotel! To get everyone up to Heaven! Where... I am sure we will find Pentious waiting for us." She was definitely trying to convince herself of that fact, so Vox let it go. It wasn't his place to crush her dreams. "I like your shark costume!"
"Thank you." He got the coffeemaker started. He saw Vaggie in a black dress with black wings hanging off her back. "Oh, I see, it was a whole couple's thing. Cute."
"You're a shark?" Vaggie looked him up and down. Vox looked at the coffeemaker, willing it to move more quickly. Thankfully, he was the Overlord of Technology, Master of all things new- that, and the coffeemaker was a VoxTek product. So, it went into overdrive, and Vox was able to pour a nice, piping hot coffee into his Fuck Alastor mug, before having to respond.
"Sharks are cool."
"You are wearing way too much." Angel was up early. He was in a pair of tight grey shorts, a grey midriff tube top, fishnets and thigh high black boots.
"What are you supposed to be?" Vox raised an eyebrow. Angel let out a huge sigh, before pointing to his head where there was a pair of round, fluffy, gray ears and turning to show his ass, where there was a long, thin gray tail.
"I'm a fucking mouse."
"Aw! That's cute, Angel!" Charlie applauded cheerfully.
"Oh, Cherri and I forced Husk into a group costume! We're all gonna be mice. The Three Fine Mice. Get it?" Angel was far too upbeat for this early in the fucking morning. It was obvious he hadn't been dealing with Val as of late, because if he had there would be no way Angel would be in this good of a mood.
"It's three blind mice." Vox remarked dryly.
"Not with an ass like this it ain't." Angel snorted as he made his way to the coffee maker, helping himself to what Vox had just brewed.
"Angie! You look fucking great!" Cherri jumped from the top step and landed on the lobby floor with a little flip. She was in an identical outfit to Angel's, complete with the cheesy ears and tail. Vox tried not to roll his eyes. He needed to get out of the house on time today. Starting a fight would just slow him down. "Where's Husk?"
"Still getting ready, I guess. All the good shit doesn't start till night, so he has time, but I wanted to get some pics before Hell gets fucking wrecked with the partying tonight." Angel grabbed a pink mug with a pig on the front and filled it up.
"You're really excited for the Hotel Halloween party, I see!" Charlie was in a great mood she looked toward Vox. "You are coming tonight, right?"
"I have prior commitments at VoxTek." Vox replied flatly. He had to be sure nothing went awry with the party since he and Velvette had been left scrambling to put it all together.
"Oh yes, your shitty Halloween shindig! How could anyone forget? The god-awful noise leaves the entire district with migraines." Alastor's commentary was as unwelcome as his face, which currently had a small amount of red paint on the tip.
"Oh... right..." Charlie looked a little saddened by his response, which was weird because Vox knew that most, if not all the patrons hated his guts, so his presence would probably be more of a mood dampener.
"Nonsense! You are under contract, my flat-headed companion! Is your party more important than your deal with the Princess!?"
"I highly doubt that the Halloween party counts as a redemption activity." Vox's obligation was to give Charlie's batshit plan the old college try, it had nothing to do with socializing with the pathetic losers she had gathered off the streets.
"Nonsense! Of course it is! Bonding with your fellow Sinner is instrumental in the Redemption process, probably! Right, Charlie?"
"I mean..." Charlie seemed put on the spot. "It worked for Pentious... I think."
"Sure it did." Alastor's sarcastic little comment was either missed or ignored by the others as the Princess's guard dog stepped in.
"It's an official hotel activity. You have to fucking show." Vaggie had her arm around her girlfriend trying to look intimidating.
"Seriously?" Vox looked over at Charlie for confirmation.
"Well..." Charlie looked a little sheepish (Velvette was right about her needing to remember she was fucking royalty). "This is a bit of a Redemption activity. I feel like you should at least... make an appearance."
"Goddamnit." Vox rubbed his screen with his hand, hopefully not smudging it as he had just cleaned it off. "Fine, I'll find a break in the VoxTek activities to stop by and do..." he waved a hand at all the spooky little decorations Charlie must have put up in the dead of night after he had come home because they certainly weren't here earlier. "Whatever the fuck this is."
"Why, it's nothing but costumes, comradery, and of course candy! What is the Spirit of Halloween if not that!"
"The fuck are you even supposed to be?" Vox scowled over his coffee wondering if he could grab any vodka from the bar to add in to make this interaction more tolerable. He had already been practically bullied into attending some lame fucking hotel party. Alastor grinned at him gesturing to the bit of red on his nose.
"I'm Rudolph, my dear boy!"
"That's Christmas." Vox took an angry sip of his drink.
"It's still a costume."
"It completely misses the spirit of Halloween." Vox countered. The fact that it was minimal effort was just icing on the cake. Angel piped up.
"I'm pretty sure none of yous is slutty enough for the real spirit of Halloween. Not like me, Cherri, an' Husk- HEY!"
"What?" At that moment, Husk had opened the door and was wearing something more akin to Vox's shark onesie, but it was a mouse.
"You're not in uniform!" Angel pouted as he saw what Husk had chosen to wear. "We were all supposed to match!"
"I'm not wearing that." Husk's reply was flat.
"Cheer up, Angie! He's still on theme!" Cherri put an arm around Angel's shoulders. "And that's just one less great ass to distract from yours!"
"Ey, you're right." Angel seemed to accept the answer, which was for the best as Vox knew Husk from his Overlord days, and Angel was not getting him in booty shorts no matter how much he begged. "We'll just have to be extra slutty to make up for him."
"Bitch, we look fan-fucking-tastic." Cherri assured him.
"You guys do look great!" Mimzy came out in a soft purple dress with flowers in her hair. "Niffty and I are doing a group costume as well!" She gestured to Niffty who had about ten knives strapped to her body and a look on her face that was somewhere between excitement and complete euphoria. She was almost vibrating where she stood. "Mary-Lu made a challenge to dress up as your favorite DamnWay product. I'm Lavender scented essential oil and-"
"I'M THE KNIVES!" Niffty couldn't let her finish.
"Yep! The DamnWay Slice'N'Dice Set!" Mimzy gestured to Niffty. "Which, if you are interested, you can buy directly from me!"
"On that note," Vox threw back his head, downing the rest of his coffee before getting to his feet, "I'm leaving." The idea of having your underlings dress up as their favorite product was actually clever, and he hated that fucking Mary-Lu had beaten him to the punch. It was all the more reason to squash DamnWay once he was back in his office full-time and he could stop doing these idiotic activities. The only reason he was even humoring these tasks is because of his stupid contract with the Princess, all so he could see a gaudy, overhyped mansion from the inside. It was, honestly, a waste.
"Why the rush?"
"I'll see you tonight, Vox! Don't forget, okay!" Charlie sounded far too excited about what was looking to be a lame-ass party. "If you do, I'll just have to come get you!" She was clearly trying to be lighthearted, but Vox wasn't really in the mood.
"Right." Vox didn't feel the need to say goodbye, so he simply headed out the door. He walked down the path until he was far enough away from the Hotel to be able to teleport back to the tower. He couldn't leave quick enough. Dealing with Alastor left him feeling shittier than he did already. He appeared in his office, a stack of work waiting, despite everything he had done yesterday. He pressed a button in his phone to page one of his underlings. "Janie, my dear, I could go for one of your wonderful lattes." Sure, he had just had coffee, but that bitter, cheap mud from the Hotel was nothing compared to his high-end coffee prepared by his staff.
"Mewow look who it is!" The doors to his office swept open to see Velvette in a black leather mini-dress and massive heels. "Two days in a row! Did the princess finally let you off your little leash so you could play?"
"You're... a cat?" Vox looked her up and down. He finally noticed the kitty ears sitting in her perfectly styled hair.
"Um, duh." She gestured at herself. "I'm a slutty cat. Val was supposed to be a slutty butterfly, and I thought you were going to be a slutty shark."
"Val's really stretching his limits with that one, huh." Vox shuffled the papers with the flippers of his shark suit.
"Between you and me, I don't think he's really trying. He's been such a fucking dick recently, I mean... more so than usual." Velvette was clearly still upset with being left with the brunt of the Halloween party on her shoulders.
"I've been gone for less than a week, I'm sure things haven't escalated that much in my absence." Vox replied flatly. Velvette was a fantastic Overlord, and she did good work; but she had a flair for the dramatic. So little things bothered her, a lot.
"You'll be surprised." Velvette took a seat on the edge of his desk.
"Oh, I have been meaning to talk to you, but yesterday we got thrown into last-minute panic, so I didn't have the chance: Did you give Katie a story about the King being murdered? Because the royal family has paid me to keep them out of the limelight."
"Really, are you talking about the fucking Muppet thing? That was so bloody stupid I literally thought you had just flipped your shit. Look, I don't fucking talk to Katie. She's such a two-faced, backstabbing, little bitch"
"What about Tom?"
"Tom follows my Sinstagram and literally thirsts after my every photo. Outside of his desperate comments, we don't really associate."
"So, it must have been Val then." Vox wasn't exactly surprised so much as he was just frustrated with everything. "And where is Janie with my fucking latte!" Vox hit the button to call her again. "Latte?" Now? Please?"
"Janie?" Velvette blinked. "You leant her to Val, didn't you?"
"Why the fuck would I lend her to Val!? She was a barista before she died and she makes the best goddamn miso caramel lattes in this entire conglomerate!"
"I don't bloody know! That's just what Val said!"
"God fucking damnit," Vox put a flipper to the side of his screen. He could just force Janie to his side with the chain, but his powers hadn't been as reliable as he was hoping, as of late. And he wasn't ready to fuck up in front of Velvette. As much as they were allies, no one in Hell could truly be trusted. "I'll just have Stevens make it." He hit another button on the phone on his desk. "Stevens, Janie's on break and I would love my latte. Please and thanks."
"And a soy milk pumpkin spice latte for me too, Stevens! Thanks, luv!" Velvette had to just jump into his coffee order. Fuck. She knew Stevens was the next best thing if Janie was MIA. "So, you are going to the party tonight, right?"
"Of course."
"I'm serious, Vox. There's talk around the office, people are saying you got killed at Lucifer's mansion by Angels. You need to show tonight."
"Velvette my dear, there is nowhere else I would rather be." Vox still needed to cameo at the Princess's lame little soiree, but if he waited till later in the night, a majority of the VoxTek staff would be far too wasted to care about his whereabouts. Velvette certainly would be too busy posting videos of herself to care if he left.
"You had better." She got up from his desk, pointing her index and middle fingers toward her own eyes before pointing them at Vox's. "I'm sick of covering up for you."
"Are you serious? It was your stupid fucking idea for me to go to the goddamn hotel in the first place!"
"I didn't expect everything to come unraveled once you left!"
"It's been less than a week-"
"Lattes?" The door opened and one of the aquatic-looking Sinners appeared holding a drink in each hand. Vox and Velvette instantly returned to neutral stances, fighting in front of the employees suggested weakness, and the Vees were doing just fine.
"Oh yes, thank you." Vox took the cup.
"You're a doll, Stevens." Velvette blew him a playful little kiss as she took her cup. She headed toward the door, looking behind her at Vox. "Be there."
"I will, I will." He waved Velvette and Stevens both away so he could get to his work. Surely there had to be some sort of digital trail to figure out why Katie was acting without orders. Vox had a feeling it was Val. But the question was why the fuck was trying to undo everything he had done to cover up the Shoggoths. He had no desire to show those things on 666 News. He wanted people to want to watch the news and throwing that nightmarish image on every TV in Hell seemed like a recipe for disaster, especially seeing how it affected just the Hotel. Vox was a bad man, he had done terrible things to climb to power, but even he didn't want Hell to go any further to shit. There was nothing marketable about raw chaos.
"Mister Vox?" There was a page from Stevens as Vox was going through old company emails about some barbeque that one of his employees had hosted, that apparently, one of the other employees hadn't been invited to, resulting in some incredibly juicy back-and-forth. (He had gotten a little side-tracked from his research, but he couldn't resist good gossip.)
"What is it, Stevens?"
"You have a guest here to see you."
"I'm busy."
"He... was sent by the king."
"Sunnovabitch." Vox's finger tapped on the table, a nervous tick, as he tried to think of how to handle the situation. He didn't really want to talk to the King after everything that went down at the dinner party, and he certainly didn't want to talk to the king while wearing his oversized shark costume. At the same time, Vox knew ignoring him directly wouldn't work. He needed to ignore him on a more... subtle level. "Let him in, thank you Stevens."
"Yes sir." The line went dead and Vox waited for the inevitable whoosh of the door sliding open. A part of him was ready to make the door malfunction to spare him from the conversation, but it was unlikely that the Devil would believe such a dumb fucking excuse like: the door was stuck. Before he could fabricate anything better, the door opened and a Hellborn strolled into his office. He was remarkably tall, about Val's size, even without the horns.
"Vox?"
"Yes, how can I help you this fine, hellish afternoon?" Vox straightened his posture, folding his hands on his desk.
"I am from the estate of Lucifer Morningstar, King of Hell, sent here on his behalf to bring you in for an interview."
"An... interview?" Vox had not seen this Hellborn before with his dark red skin, yellow and crimson eyes, braided white hair. The only Hellborn Vox knew to be on Lucifer's staff, was that fucking blue asshole with the sniper rifle who kept taking out Vox's very expensive spy drones.
"Yes, he has things that he needs to discuss with you."
"If this is about that whole murder story, I'm fixing it."
"No, but good to know it's being handled."
"It would be easier if your boss made more public appearances." Vox was truly hoping this was about the Princess's alleged fratricide because all the other options pointed to the Overlord having to admit to some... less than savory behavior in the past. The King of Hell was not someone you wanted to be pissed at you.
"I will let him know; but if you are available, Mister Vox, I have been told this is a matter of great urgency and he would like you to come to the mansion at once."
"No." Vox sat back in his chair. The Hellborn courier looked a little taken aback by the suddenness of his response.
"I beg your pardon?"
"No, I am not available." He used his fin to gesture to the stack of papers beside him, then to his multiple computer screens, as well as the monitors that overlooked the rest of Hell that sat behind him. "I am actually quite busy. Today is the company Halloween Party, as I am sure you were aware." This Hellborn wasn't invited, but it was who you didn't invite that really made a party.
"This shouldn't take long."
"I don't have time. I will come see him later when things have calmed down at work." Typically, one did not tell the King no but Vox wasn't in a place to tell him yes either. If this was so goddamn important, the King could get him himself. He seemed to be feeling better in order to go on that trip with Charlie and Vaggie.
"I see." The Hellborn nodded. He was too polite; it was a little unsettling. Vox had the distinct feeling he was about to thrown under some metaphorical bus. "Then I will schedule you for later."
"You do that."
"Your costume is fun."
"Thank you." Maybe Vox was wrong about the Hellborn as it seemed he could at least appreciate a good shark outfit. "You may leave." He waved his fin toward the door.
"Of course." The Hellborn may not have been satisfied with the response, but he was at least obedient. This gave Vox time to fabricate a convincing lie. Hopefully it was convincing enough so that he wouldn't be forced to eat another one of those god-awful apples. He watched the Hellborn leave before paging Avery's office.
"Avery, to my office, please." Vox would make sure this whole murder fiasco was handled before his inevitable confrontation with the Devil. It was best to make sure everything was settled and there would be no loose threads for Lucifer to grill him about.
"You called?" At least Avery was still here- though if Val had touched one of Vox's top dogs, there would be blood. The Vees shared employees, but it was always mutually agreed upon. Vox was still fucking pissed about Janie. (Not that Val could entice Vox's highest-ranking employees. He treated his high earners very well.)
"Avery, very good, have a seat." Vox gestured to the chair before him, and Avery obediently sat down. She was dressed in a glittering skeleton dress, the bones seemingly carved from gems. Vox cleared his throat. "Did you authorize Katie to run a story about the Princess murdering her dad?"
"No sir. I was updating the CGI on the... "firework" that damaged the King's mansion." That was the official cover story for the giant hole.
"What about Spencer?"
"Spencer was putting together found footage for the "exciting and exclusive mansion party that Lucifer threw for Hell's Elite" that we gathered from various phones' memory banks."
"And you made sure to cut Alastor out of every shot?" Vox's official story for the disaster at the mansion was that it was a wild and exclusive party for Hell's finest leaders. Sure, it gave Carmilla a little credit, but she literally had her head ripped off, so she deserved a little break. (And after Velvette's actions at the Overlord Meeting, he owed Carmilla something.) If anyone saw the Shoggoths, they were told that those were simply very ugly strippers. It wasn't a great alibi, but weirdly enough, no one seemed to be asking about them. Either they had somehow avoided being witnessed by any bystanders during the fight, or anyone who saw them just... didn't follow up. Whichever it was, it was working in Vox's favor. The story made Vox look good, and kept those angels out of the spotlight. Vox had no more desire to admit his ass was saved by angels than Lucifer did. Avery nodded.
"Of course, he wasn't impressive enough for an invitation."
"Did you happen to find out who authorized Katie to run that story? I highly doubt she thought of it herself, and even if she did, there's no fucking way a kiss-ass like her would air it without someone very high up backing her." There were too many lawyers in Hell for Vox not to be watching his ass with his bullshit. (At least when it came to high powered Hellions who would fight back.)
"It was Val, from what I heard."
"Of course it was." Vox's voice crackled with electricity. That moth was flying too close to the flame for Vox's liking.
"I will admit, I thought it was counterproductive."
"And you didn't say anything!?" Vox immediately sighed, it wasn't like Avery had the power to stop Val, even if she had tried. "Never mind. Did you at least see Janie?"
"I wish. I need a fucking cappuccino. I heard you moved her contract to Val, and I was pretty fucking shocked because she's one of the good ones. As good as they come in Hell." Her testimony just confirmed all of Vox's suspicions. Sure, Janie wasn't exactly a CEO, but she was a damn good assistant. Vox would need to start keeping a closer eye on his employees.
"I'll get her back; the transfer was only supposed to be temporary." Vox didn't want Avery to concern herself with the Vees' relationship. That would only demonstrate weakness in the hierarchy, and he couldn't allow himself to be questioned. (Especially now, with rumors of his own death circulating.) "Until then, we need to undo Katie's fuckup."
"Of course, sir."
"Let's run a story, saying that whole murder plot was a publicity stunt. It was advertisement for our new project: Muppet Murders. Also, we need to create a project called Muppet Murders."
"Muppet Murders?"
"Yes. All our actors are puppets due to the... issues with live actors recently." Anyone who worked on Love After Death didn't really appear in any additional projects.
"We'll still need puppeteers."
"Yes, but people have magic it can't be that fucking hard to find someone who can manipulate puppets. It doesn't have to be good it just has to exist." Chances were that no one would watch it and they could cancel it after the pilot.
"Of course. We'll throw together a trailer to air with the story."
"You're the best."
"I know I am." Confidence was key in show business. Avery got up, looking down at her tablet, Vox didn't need to see the screen to know she was drawing up concepts for their new show. It was almost funny how much of Vox's media come from desperation and cover ups. One of his most popular reality shows came from his attempt to cover up a spy drone flying over Zestial's territory. Now Vox had to record The Extreme as Fuck Drone Flying Race every few months.
"I will see you at the party tonight."
"Of course." Avery wouldn't miss it. Every employee would very chomping at the bit to attend, to rub elbows with the upper echelon of Hell. This was their chance to schmooze, to make an impact on Sinners who fucking mattered. Or, alternatively, to fuck up and humiliate themselves, dooming their afterlife to one of misery and shame. It was a fifty-fifty shot. But regardless, they would be attending.
Vox spend the rest of his day catching up on paperwork, taking extra-long to complete it due to his insistence on keeping his shark outfit on and doing everything with his hands snugly in the fins. He could take it off, sure, but that was like admitting defeat. It was Halloween, Goddamnit. Now was the time to fucking celebrate.
He finished what needed to be done, and finally headed toward the VoxTex conference rooms all of which had been completely gutted, leaving the entire first floor as one, giant ballroom filled with lights, food, speakers, a live band, and Vox Tek employees already starting to enjoy the festivities. At least, he assumed it was filled with people, the CEO of VoxTek was stopped outside the elevator, the moment he stepped off by a rather irate looking Missi Zilla and Zestial who must have been ready to ambush him. Of course, this confrontation would have been much more intimidating if Missi hadn't been wearing an inflatable unicorn suit (how the fuck did they get one in her size?) and Zestial had a little button that simply said: This is my Halloween costume. (How could someone have a lazier outfit than fucking Alastor? That seemed wrong somehow.)
"Where, the fuck, is Valentino?" Missi bared her teeth as she slammed her hand against the elevator door, the inflatable unicorn head swishing back forth with the abrasive movements. Her tail must have been inside the inflatable.
"Good question." Vox pressed his fins together. A unicorn interrogating a shark wasn't exactly on his Halloween bingo card, but it might as well happen. "I am looking for him too. If you have a message that you want me to deliver, I would be happy to do so, however, I'm afraid I can't do much else at the moment as I have more pressing obligations at hand."
"Thy party 'tis not an obligation." Zestial's eyes all narrowed.
"It is I'm afraid. My employees work hard and deserve their rewards. So, if you have a message, please, just tell me." He ducked underneath Missi's arm.
"We got people in there, our people!" Missi snarled and the unicorn inflatable squeaked as she whipped around to glare at him.
"That gent is stealing from us." Zestial was suddenly behind Vox and the Technology Overlord found himself literally trapped in a PR disaster. (Wasn't Halloween supposed to be fun? Why was he not able to catch a single, goddamn break today?)
"I mean... if he's sniping your prospects, then you should probably start offering better shit." Vox looked between the two. It wasn't uncommon for Overlords to steal future contracts from one another, Sinners were a commodity, and growth was instrumental to success in Hell. "Look, I have several classes on the art of seduction when it comes to fresh souls in Hell. Not like the romantic seduction, if you need help with that, talk to Val." Vox took a deep breath and started to cough, shit, he had actually been feeling better since the dinner-disaster. Zestial reeled back, as if he had been struck. Missi simply made a face, barely visible in the small eye-window in the neck of the pink unicorn suit. "Oh, that's right, none of you can get in touch with him. That's on me." Vox gestured to himself. "Oh well." Then, in a burst of electricity, he teleported out of that situation and into the party in question. Thank fucking God the teleportation worked because Vox needed an escape. (His teleport ability had failed him once before, during the Shoggoth fight, so he was relieved that it hadn't crapped out on him once again.)
"Oh thank fuck." Velvette must have seen the burst of electricity because she honed in on him the moment he appeared.
"I told you I would come." Vox was pleased to see a rather large crowd, already dancing and celebrating the holiday. The costumes were wild and elaborate, which wasn't surprising given the costume contest that had a rather hefty cash prize.
"I was worried." Velvette admitted, taking a sip of the drink in her hand. "Val's here too. Somewhere." The room was massive, the crowd thick, Vox wouldn't exactly have an easy time finding Val if the moth Sinner didn't want to be found.
"Missi and Zestial are outside, they want to talk to him. They are pissed." Vox snapped and a drone with glasses on the top appeared and he took one of the drinks. Velvette made a face of annoyance at the new information.
"At me? Fuck those pompous little bitches."
"At Val."
"Oh, then join the fucking club." She tapped her glass against the glass in Vox's hand. "At least the party had a good turnout. Better than I was expecting." It was better than what Vox had been expecting as well, it seemed almost more crowded than usual. "You gonna announce yourself? It's not like you to just slip in unnoticed."
"I am." Vox downed the drink he was holding in his fin and vanished in a burst of electricity, reappearing on the stage right as the band finished their song. "Hello VoxTek and VoxTek subsidiaries!" He had a huge smile plastered on his screen, his voice projecting over the speakers. "I hope you are having a Hellish Halloween!" He paused, allowing the crowd to cheer. "I know there have been some... concerns as of late but I assure you that news regarding my death has been greatly exaggerated." He paused for laughter. There it was. "Look around you, look at the celebration, the festivities, the best of the best that surround you here tonight. We spared no expense. So, you can put those wandering minds at ease! We at VoxTek, are like a family. And we have your best interests at heart. I have just been away, rubbing elbows with the King of Hell himself. He has trusted me with a lot, but we're a family, and I trust you." Vox didn't trust anyone of these assholes, but that was irrelevant. "So, I will let you in on a little secret: The Exterminations are over." The room was suddenly dead silent. "I talked to Lucifer, told him what I had planned for the Angelic Security System, showed him our prototypes, and he took that shit right to Heaven. When the angels saw what we could do- what VoxTek could do- they knew coming down here would be a death sentence. We'll still be releasing the system- so good it could scare angels- for when Heaven inevitably changes their minds, but for now, relax, celebrate harder, and know that if you don't see me around quite as much, it's because Lucifer himself has begged for my advice- which I am happy to give! For a price. And that price will trickle down to benefit each and every one of you! Now let's PARTY!" He dropped the microphone and the crowd went wild they roared in response. Vox's screen glowed at the praise as he lifted both fins in the air, urging them to cheer louder, and they did. With a bow, he vanished from the stage, reappearing in the VIP lounge set up above the party so that the highest-ranking employees could observe their underlings from a distance. It wasn't two minutes before the door flew open and Velvette was in front of him, her eyes narrowed.
"WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT!?"
"A speech." Vox finished his drink.
"The Exterminations are over!? Are you bullshitting right now!?"
"No." Vox relaxed into a blue, plush chair, "well, maybe a little. Just about the 'Angelic Security` bit. We don't have a prototype- at least not a fully functional one. Spenser is working out the deal with Carmilla's goons for more Angelic steel."
"How the fuck do you know they stopped the Exterminations!?"
"That was an announcement at Lucifer's stupid party before things got out of hand." Vox hadn't told Velvette the actual story. He hadn't told anyone. Even Spenser and Avery who were doing the footage touch-ups didn't know why. (Though apparently a good bit of the footage was unusable anyway. The Shoggoths didn't agree with the camera, which was fine because Vox didn't want images of those fuckers saved on to any of his servers.)
"And you didn't tell me!?"
"I just did."
"You don't make a big announcement like that and not tell me first."
"Apologies Velvette, it was-" Vox started coughing again- "it was a spur of the moment decision. But you're right, we should have discussed it. Also, we're doing a new show called Muppet Murders, if you have any puppet-based Sinners, or Sinners with puppeteering experience, send them my way. And, I'll need you to make puppets."
"Puppets!?" Velvette was mad, rightfully so, Vox had jumped the gun a bit on the announcement, but the limelight was an intoxicating force. "Why don't you ask your new best friends the Morningstars to help out!?"
"I could. I mean, I am fairly certain that Charlie made the original puppet. So, I could probably just ask her if this is too complicated."
"Fuck you." Velvette would calm down in due time. The shock was still fresh, Vox just needed to back off and let her stew. That was easy to do because Vox felt a hand on his shoulder and nearly came up out of his seat as he saw Val behind him, his wings decorated, wearing just tight shorts, fishnets, and leather heeled boots.
"Vox, it's been a while." Val was grinning ear to ear, his heart shaped glasses hiding his eyes. "I heard you got broken over at the mansion."
"I'm fine, thank you for all your concern." Vox cleared his throat, flipping the hood of his shark costume back on, as it had flown off when he jumped. Val slid out from behind Vox's chair, drawing close to him again. Velvette rolled her eyes, choosing to take her leave rather than deal with the other two Vees. There was a party to attend after all.
"I was concerned! I hadn't seen you in a few days."
"I'm taking a brief leave, helping the Morningstars with some important, official business. It's classified, unfortunately."
"You can tell me, mi amor."
"Don't mi amore me. You've been a fucking dick." Vox wasn't in the mood for Val's flirtations. "You wanna tell me why there are two Overlords in our lobby pissed as fuck at you?"
"I'm surprised it's only two." Val looked amused by the interrogation. "But why do you get to ask all the questions. I'm not the one who ran away." Vox tensed as Val put a long finger under the bottom of his screen tilting his head up.
"I didn't run away-"
"Hmm... you're looking a little... less... sickly."
"You sound disappointed." Vox narrowed his eyes.
"Disappointed only by how you went about it." Val's answer didn't really make a lot of sense. Vox could only assume his improvements were because of the medicines finally taking affect. Sure, the improvement aligned with his visit to the King, but those results were purely coincidental.
"What? Was I supposed to use fucking essential oils? Don't tell me you buy in to all of Mary-Lu's, DamnWay bullshit."
"Oh, fuck no." At least Val hadn't completely lost touch with reality. At least not yet. "I just mean that you have a lot of potential. And you're wasting it." Val let his hand drop from Vox's face and the Technology Overlord felt relief wash over him.
"I'm keeping this company going."
"The company can only do so much." Val walked over to the banister, looking over the celebration with a look of wistfulness that Vox hadn't seen from him before. "Look at all those souls, all that potential. Many of them already understand..." he trailed off and Vox found himself walking to his side, staring over the crowd, trying to see whatever Val was staring at. Even from behind the glasses, Vox could see Val's eyes were wide. He looked... enthralled, almost... hypnotized by the scene below. "But one day, all of Hell will know what we have accomplished." Vox looked below him, there were many faces he knew in the crowd below, and many more he couldn't recognize. Perhaps it was simply due to the fact that they were all dressed up for Halloween, but Vox couldn't help but wonder how many newcomers he had missed in his few days of absence. "Vox," Val still wasn't looking at him, "my prince," his gaze was steadfast on the crowd, "what happened at the mansion?"
"A party, I was blatantly clear on that." Vox tore his gaze off of Val and, instead, tried to see how many underlings he could recognize in the mob below.
"Don't lie to me."
"I'm not." Vox wasn't lying so much as he was omitting information. There had been a party, it had just been rudely interrupted.
"I heard you were attacked." Val snapped and a magazine appeared in a puff of pink smoke. Vox felt his blood sizzle in his circuits. Demonic Deets. The title wasn't much, but the little picture of the author on the cover was the blonde DamnWay rep that Vox had tried to put in the trash. (He clearly should have tried harder.)
"You believe a trashy gossip magazine? Wow." Vox kept his expression as stoic and unimpressed as possible.
"She's one of the Hotel Residents, isn't she?" Val gestured to the woman on the cover. Vox looked at her, then back up at Val.
"I mean, yeah. But she's not really a reliable source. Unless you think we're missing something with her: Fifty Fun and Flirty Ways To Secure an Overlord."
"She seduced Cain, didn't she?" He flipped open the magazine to prove his point. There was a photo of Mimzy in her best outfit drinking wine with...
"That's a rock."
"It could be Cain, we don't know. But fine, be coy with me, I can always just talk to Angel Dust, unlike you he'll have to talk."
"Angel wasn't there." Vox had to think on his feet. Val was absolutely right; Angel would crumble under interrogation. He didn't have a fucking choice. And Vox didn't want Val to know the full story. He didn't even know why he wanted to keep it so secret. But something about Val realizing the Devil had been attacked, maybe even hurt filled Vox with a strangely potent dread.
"Wasn't there? Bullshit." Finally, Val was looking directly at him. "He's so far up the Princess's ass he should be giving her free colon screenings." Vox snorted at the comment. He reached up, putting his soft, fabric shark fin against the side of Val's cheek, caressing it gently.
"He didn't want to go because I was there. Can you believe it?"
"No. I can't."
"Yeah, he threw a fucking fit about it too. He was a total pussy." Vox had his most charming smile; he kept that eye contact strong. He had one chance; he couldn't fuck this up. "Said he couldn't stand to be in the room with: trash like me." Vox, lowered Val's sunglasses, his hypnotic eye starting to swirl as he upped the brightness on his screen. Val had a weakness for light.
"You're lying, mi amor." Val was struggling, resisting. He was such a hard mind to control already, but he felt even harder for Vox to push. He didn't need much, just for Val to believe. His eyes swirled faster, his screen lighting the whole room.
"I would never lie to you." Vox lowered the glasses more. Val gave him a look. "At least, not about something like this." He could feel the strain from pushing Val's thoughts to align with what he was saying. His head was starting to hurt. "Angel... wasn't... there. Believe me." Vox's head was pounding, his legs felt like gelatin, but he stood firm even rising up onto his toes to lean closer to Val's face. Vox's own vision was getting blurry- he would blame the brightness of his screen. He could feel Val's will starting to give way under the weight of Vox's mental abilities. His eyes felt like they were burning, boring holes into Val. He just had to keep pushing. "Believe me." Vox felt dampness in the corner of his eyes., his mouth. He ignored it, feeling Val's mind at its breaking point. Vox pulled the glasses off, leaning so close that their lips nearly touched "Believe me."
"Ugh, that's a damn shame." Val's mind finally gave way under Vox's power. The relief was palpable as Vox struggled not to show it in his demeanor. He tried his best not to tremble, not to gasp for breath. "Awe, you got something on your face." Val's hand slid into the mouth of Vox's shark costume, tracing down his chest to his handkerchief in the pocket of the suit he wore underneath, pulling it out, and wiping Vox's screen.
"It's makeup, this shark outfit is hot as fuck and I've been sweating it all off." Vox kept his voice as steady as possible as he took the handkerchief from him. He didn't wear makeup, typically, since his facial features moved around more than most. He could but it was unusual. Though if he did wear it, it was on Halloween. So, Val believed him without any pushing. (Which was for the best as Vox was mentally and physically exhausted.) "We should get back to the party, right?" He gestured behind him at the crowd below.
"You're right~ They have been far too long without me." Val's wings spread out as he straightened his posture, his hands gripping the banister as he looked at the crowd. "Look how boring it is." His body turned to smoke and he spilled into the crowd, reforming in the center of the room, immediately getting an excited mob around him. Vox collapsed to the ground; he couldn't even make it back to his chair. He was panting hard; he could still feel the wetness dripping down his face. He assumed it was sweat, though he didn't often sweat on his face. He took his handkerchief out again, wiping his screen once more. He looked at the cloth before tucking it away again. The fabric was stained an almost pink shade of red... blood? Vox didn't have the time to dwell on it because the panting slowly devolved into coughing and the Technology Overlord found himself curled up on the floor, coughing hard. Damn. If he had known he was going to feel this shitty he could have left Angel Dust to rot. Vox struggled to catch his breath; his body ached all over.
"Vox, are you all right?" The voice of Lucifer came as a shock. Vox struggled to sit up. He hadn't heard anyone enter the VIP lounge over his own coughing fit. He saw the Devil standing over him, his typical white suit shed for one of black with orange accents. There was a spiderweb over his orange top hat. The cheesy apple was replaced with a Jack-o-Lantern on both the hat and cane. The snake coiled along the top looked skeletal.
"Your majesty!" Vox gave a winning smile as he scrambled to wipe his screen one last time before facing the King of Hell. "I am doing just splendid!" He wasn't. "Thanks for asking! You are looking rather well, yourself!"
"Indeed."
"No offense, your majesty, but... um... how did you get up here?"
"I'm the King of Hell. They let me in."
"No... that... that makes sense." He could probably have forced his way in if he really wanted. No one on Vox's staff was stupid enough to stop the fucking King.
"I am glad I found you." Lucifer offered him a hand to get to his feet and Vox, hesitantly put his fin in it. Lucifer pulled him effortlessly up. "I summoned you, did I not?"
"No... you did." Vox wasn't winning. This was turning out to be a particularly shitty day for him. "I just have a lot on my plate today."
"This is important, more important than anything else-"
"Vox! There y- dad?" The door opened again and this time the Princess came running in. (Vox was beginning to question the exclusivity of his VIP lounge.) Charlie looked her dad up and down in surprise. "Wow! You are looking better!"
"Hey apple-pie! Raphael's healing was surprisingly potent." Lucifer smiled. Vox wasn't really sure what was going on, but the princess nodded.
"Oh, well, I was just hoping to grab Vox! He's late to my Halloween party at the hotel! He has to come! It's..." She looked as taken aback to see Lucifer as Vox felt. "It's our first big party since the Grand Reopening!"
"Oh." Lucifer looked between the two. "I see."
"D..." Charlie looked a little hesitant. "Do you want to come, too?"
"Yes!" Lucifer's reply was so quick it took everyone off guard, even the Devil himself. He cleared his throat, straightening the lapels of his holiday-themed coat. "I mean, if you have the room for me." Vox kept quiet, letting the Morningstars talk. He would MUCH rather go to the princess's stupid fucking party than deal with the questions the King had in store. That would mean admitting to what had happened with Adam.
"O-oh! That's great! Of course we have room!" She seemed excited by the idea. "I know parties aren't always your thing at least, not small ones BUT!" She clapped her hands together, "we have a pumpkin decorating station!"
"Are you kidding!? That sounds great!" Lucifer almost seemed to forget about Vox entirely, thanks to Charlie's interruption.
"Aw! Yay! Vox, are you ready to decorate a pumpkin!?" Charlie gestured toward the door.
"Yes! Sorry, princess, I was just getting everything going at the VoxTek party." Vox brushed himself off. Now was NOT the time to look weak. Charlie headed out of the door, back down the stairs. Vox went to follow but Lucifer grabbed him by his fin, pulling him back.
"I was wrong. Charlie's party is more important. But tomorrow, you will come to my office." He was smiling, but Vox could feel the intensity in his gaze. Vox was forced to lean down to look the Devil in the eyes. "Does that sound good to you?"
"I..." Vox wanted to argue, wanted to protest. He looked down at the hand gripping him. "Yes, of course." He smiled, despite falling apart on the inside. This was... going to be fine. He had till tomorrow. Surely, he could think of a good lie by then.
A/N: Our first holiday chapter! HAPPY HALLOWEEN FRIENDS! (For those of you who have not read my first story, I enjoy looping in holidays when I can :P) I was super inspired by the official holiday merch for Hazbin. The Vox costume KILLED me. I know I didn't use everyone's official outfits. But I used a lot!