this is an art blog! i post my oc stuff, and fanart and sometimes even fanfics! most of my works go up through my queue, so if i post even when i say im busy, thats why!
start (here) | next (chapter 2 :link coming soon:)
Chapter summary:
Amidst the finalized Hotel Renovations, Vox broadcasts an announcement to all of Pentagram City that he's killed Alastor following the failed extermination. The residents and staff of The Hazbin Hotel don't take the news well.
Vox is revealed to be telling lies. He has Alastor in his possession, and the man is in critical condition from the wounds he's sustained. Vox claims he has no real reason for keeping him alive, but promises he'll figure it out.
---
Charlie dropped down onto the couch with a big sigh, lounging back with a happy smile on her face. The others all took their own seats around the room, grumbling and muttering 'finally!' and 'thank god that's done!' They'd only just finished renovating the hotel- rather, completely rebuilding it. Most of the hard work could be claimed by her father, magically conjuring most of the building's bones and furniture into existence whenever he could, but the rest of them had all pulled their weight to help, even Cherri Bomb, who wasn't even a resident.
Charlie quickly sprung back to her feet, her gratitude giving her another burst of energy. "I just wanted to thank you all, for everything," she told the room at large. "None of this could have been possible without any of you: the rebuilding or coming out victorious against the exorcists." She caught the eye of each of them, hoping her sincerity hit the mark. Her dad, Vaggie, Angel Dust, Husk, Niffty, and Cherri all had varying positive and reassuring expressions.
Her heart sank at the evident empty seats of their gathering; Sir Pentious, who they lost mid-battle; and Alastor, who's gone missing and none have heard from since. Charlie hoped beyond hope he was alive, hiding out somewhere safe, but with each passing day that hope died a little more.
It's been just a week since the Extermination was repelled, and Alastor's absence has been a stark brand on her soul. Vaggie and most of the others seemed relieved by his absence, taking it on like it was typical behaviour of his and saying he would pop up again like daisies in the spring after a long winter. They assumed he'd be unruffled, and thus, his return was inevitable.
Charlie agreed that Alastor had a tendency to go off on his own, preferring not to participate in any of the hotel's redemption activities. She also understood that he had duties of his own to attend to, even though she wasn't privy to any of them. Alastor was a private individual, preferring to come off difficult or downright suspicious. He was only ever gone for a full day at most though, and at least let someone know that he was leaving, so the absence of the notice beforehand bothered her.
Surely after six months of working together, she deserved to be told to her face that he was abandoning the project? She doesn’t know which she'd hate more, the guilt of knowing he'd been killed for her or the cruel truth that he left them when they needed him most.
Just as she was trying to continue her thoughts out loud this time, the television turned on without anyone's say so. The screen displayed the VoxTek logo and a banner announcing an emergency broadcast starting soon.
Angel flung his head back with a groan, "Ugh, what now?"
The announcement screen was quick to be replaced with a scene of Vox, the Media Overlord, sitting proudly at a reporting desk. In his claws were a stack of papers, most likely a thrown-together report of whatever he had to say.
"Good evening, Pentagram City!" Vox had a perfect smile displayed across the TV he had for a head, dressed as formally as ever. "As you all might know, the princess and her associates were recently involved in a battle against heaven. They foolishly fought the exorcists off, making it the shortest Extermination to date! Deaths were at an all-time low, reserved mostly to the Cannibal Army that Overlord Rosie had donated to the cause-"
"Where the fuck did he get that information?" Vaggie asked, talking over the program. She was quickly shushed.
"- got to ask; why would she help the princess in the first place? I think we can all agree that the shortened Extermination schedule is probably the princess' fault somehow. We know that six months ago, Charlotte Morningstar was spotted entering the Heaven Embassy and leaving shortly thereafter."
A clip of a bird's-eye-view of the embassy was shown in the corner of the screen, hovering over Vox's shoulder. He gestured to it as if he could see it himself, and the footage rolled where Charlie was shown dancing into the building.
"How the fuck did he get that footage?" Vaggie jumped to her feet, her fists clenched in anger. "How long has he been watching you?" she turned to demand Charlie.
She was just as shocked to see herself on screen, grabbing at Vaggie's arm. It was meant to try and calm her from acting before thinking, but maybe it was equally her reaching out for support. The idea that they'd all been under surveillance for the last six months was staggering. "There's- there's gotta be a good reason for this-" she tried to reason.
Lucifer was on his feet next, horns appearing and fire flaring from his mouth, "No, Varley's right. Who the fuck is this guy and why has he been stalking my daughter?!"
"Wait, dad-" Charlie grabbed his sleeve too, torn between two defensive family members.
Vox continued, uninterrupted because he was on the other side of the city, "-our princess is known to get her nose in business that's not hers to get in-"
With his smile exchanged for a smirk, the footage turned into a slideshow of Charlie's attempted intervention at Valentino's studio months ago. The event had caused a fire, and Charlie's distressed face was the centerpiece of multiple photos.
"-which usually has catastrophic outcomes! Really, what else could we expect from her than death and destruction?"
Charlie slumped into her seat, attempting to shrink into it with the still lingering guilt of her past mistakes.
Vox let the silence sit for only a moment, "But far more interesting, we here at 666 News have exclusive footage from the Extermination for all of those losers who didn't brave stepping out to see the event take place! Turns out, an angel can be killed with their very own angelic weaponry, and we have Carmilla Carmine to thank for that. The Overlord of Arms Dealing had also deemed to collaborate with the princess, providing Miss Morningstar and Rosie's army with weapons during the attack."
More footage rolled with Vaggie silently shouting at the Carmine gates, and then flicking to when she left with boxes of stock being escorted behind her.
"We here at VoxTek, using our very own voyeurscopes: available for purchase at a VoxTek location near you," an ad appeared, a picture of a flying drone with a camera attached to it, "-are here to give you the reality check that you deserve! Trust us with your news!" Vox gestured to the camera, then brought his open palm into his chest in what was probably meant to be a gesture of sincerity, one of his eyes swirling as he did so.
In the next moment, Vox and his desk was replaced by a gruesome battlefield. It was the hotel grounds the day of the Extermination.
Charlie had to resist covering her face with her hands, "I don’t want to see this again…"
She watched, along with everyone else, as the horrible event happened all over again. The cannibal army and her friends were all fiercely locked in battle with the exorcists, striking gold blood covering the fighters and fields around the hotel.
The first clip included Husk and Angel fighting back to back, an angel dropping in front of the lens and splattering it with blood. The video quickly switched, following a small blurry form skittering around the bloodshed, stabbing fallen angels. Niffty was visibly ecstatic, cackling as she used the angelic knife repeatedly.
It only briefly glanced to Charlie and Vaggie, clearly discussing something mid-battle, before the camera slid away towards the hotel itself. The footage zoomed in on the roof, unfocused for a second before the distant glitching influence of Alastor's magic interfered with the video quality. Adam, the general of the exorcist army was visible for a moment, shaking off small shadow minions before he flew forward and the two distant combatants were hidden behind the 'Hazbin Hotel' sign.
The next handful of clips were rapid-fire, a compilation of angels dying. It showcased every swing of a weapon, every downing of a winged foe, and every bite of sharp teeth through fine armour. It was gruesome, a fact that Charlie had been denying for days.
The video painted it all so horribly. It wasn’t a last ditch effort to save her people, it was a massacre.
By the time Sir Pentious' airship was shown on screen, Charlie was breaking down into tears.
The scene changed completely next, a blinding outside perspective of the hotel being torn in two by a bright beam of angelic power. The feed shook, and the figures caught in the shot were fumbling, balance lost by the sheer force of the power. Charlie was forced to watch her hotel, her project, and her second home, start to crumble a second time.
Vaggie's arms snuck around her in a comforting hug, whispered apologies doing nothing to help her broken heart.
Past her sobs, Charlie could hear the angry whisperings of her family, asking what could be done and if they had a way to stop the broadcast.
"Alastor would know, but he ain't here," Husk said.
"Who needs that loudmouth?" Lucifer argued, "He's the one who decided to run off."
"Charlie-" Vaggie's voice was measured in a way she didn’t often use. There was an underlying tone of horror in it, which made her look up at the TV apprehensively.
It wasn't displaying the battle she knew anymore. On screen was a view inside a broken room, dark and small. The video was sharp, clear with a better camera than those of the voyeurscopes. The only light in there coming off slightly blue from the perspective of the camera. It illuminated shattered glass, intact in their panes but impossible to see through. The whole room was disheveled, like a robber had gone through it mercilessly, a desk and books and records all thrown around and damaged.
In the centre of view was Alastor, glitching the feed occasionally. He was hunched over and panting, pointing a wild look towards the camera. Blood dripped from him freely, all down his torso until it pooled on the floor beneath him.
"Oh, god…" Charlie covered her mouth in horror. Alastor had been hurt during the battle, and none of them went to look for him.
"And here we have my favourite part-" Vox's voice spoke through the speakers, vicious and obviously pleased.
The video continued silently. Alastor's mouth moved, his ears flicking back in displeasure as he snarled at the camera, rather, at the person behind it.
Cyan clawed hands flashed from off screen, revealing the video as a direct POV from Vox himself. More words seemed to be exchanged between the two overlords, before shadow started to creep up Alastor's form and Vox charged forward.
A fight had broken out, but the video clipped rapidly through a slideshow of stills instead, a grand majority of them indecipherable due to distortion. The room is explored in flashes and glimpses, and Charlie assumed it was the old hotel's radio tower. It seemed like Alastor was only trying to get away from Vox, rather than fight him head on, his posture sunken and his usual attacks nowhere to be seen. Vox had clearly had the upper-hand the whole time.
Meanwhile, Vox spoke over the reel, "I encountered Alastor after the angels retreated, injured and trying to run away like the coward he is. Now, as you can see, capturing The Radio Demon on film has always been a bit of a hassle, so I tried to pick out the clearest stills I could from the whole thing. It's a shame, really; he looked so good under my claws, broken and bleeding."
The footage stopped on a final still, a picture of Alastor limp on the floor. Vox's hand was in frame, lifting Alastor's head by an ear. It revealed naught but a broken, bleeding nose and a smile so strained it was hardly there. He was so drenched in blood; it was hard to tell where he wasn't injured.
What was most horrifying was that it was a clear image, not a single pixel out of place. The first of its kind, as far as Charlie was aware of. Alastor hated being caught on film or camera; his powers a natural deterrent leaving every attempt glitched-out or completely corrupted.
If Alastor was unconscious, maybe the effect was inactive; Charlie tried to bargain with herself.
"And here we have it, Pentagram City," Vox was back on screen, appearing overtop of the image like he'd hung it on the wall behind him. "One Radio Demon, defeated by me," he closed his eyes in clear pride, letting his papers drop to the desk as he held his arms out as if to bask in glory.
The silence was deafening.
"I did it!" Vox stood, slamming his hands down on the desk with a crazed look on his face, "I killed Alastor!"
Something shattered. It was probably Charlie's heart.
"This was a long time coming, folks! Hell knows I'll be celebrating it all week! No, all month! You all doubted me, but I did it! I'm the strongest sinner in all of hell!" he leaned back, cackling uncontrollably.
Angel's phone started pinging rapidly with notifications.
Vox's laughter was slow to peter off. He wiped at his eye, as though a tear had fallen, and took a deep breath. "Now, to all the old fogeys who liked his show, don't you worry, VoxTek now has full access to all radio frequencies!" Another ad appeared, of a sleek VoxTek radio this time, "VoxWave is coming soon to a radio near you, trust us with your entertainment!" he repeated the same posturing as earlier, but this time didn't continue. It was a clear end to his announcement.
Several things happened at once.
The broadcast ended with the visage of Vox's contented face imprinted on the screen before it flicked back to black, turned off like it had been before.
Niffty started screaming, so incomprehensible it sounded like another language. Maybe it was.
Charlie started bawling uncontrollably, guilt tearing her soul apart.
Most oddly of all, however, is Rosie appearing in a cloud of pale pink smoke, her face frantic and searching. She scanned the room, quickly finding the distressed girls and smothering them both in a fierce hug. Her voice is drowned out by their combined noise, but everyone can recognize the ministrations of a mother consoling her children. A tear of her own slid down her face.
Husk gripped at his neck, a confused look on his face.
"That- that ain't possible, ain't it?" Angel asked to the room at large, his voice disbelieving and small. "Smiles, he- he wouldn't just die, right?"
There was no reply.
---
As the broadcast finished, Vox didn't feel the need to drop his smile like he usually did. Today was a good day, and he felt full to bursting, like when pawns fell into place and plans came to fruition.
Announcing his victory was giving a huge boost to his ratings, and it was still rising rapidly at this very moment. It was almost intoxicating; the way Vox felt so powerful and infinite. Had he not things to be doing and a company to run, he'd find a way to flaunt this newfound power all over The Pentagram and really show the people who their leader was.
While having a successful empire was gratifying on its own, perhaps he could give rampaging like Alastor used to do back in the day a try.
He stood from his command console, stretching with a groan. He'd spent the last two days here, meticulously editing and cutting down hours of Extermination footage for today. It was a bold decision to include the encounter he had with Alastor after the battle had concluded, but it was imperative that the people believed he was dead.
Indeed, Vox had lied today on air.
It wasn't a foreign concept, the different Medias in hell full of fear mongering and manipulation, tactics he himself employed often.
It had been a while since he blatantly lied to the media at large, however. News worked best if there was a grain of truth to it, after all, and he had a brand to protect.
Alastor was a unique opportunity, he reminded himself. It was not every day you got to take out your strongest opponent, even if he had not completed the job. He'd thought about it, but something got in the way of the final blow.
Vox convinced himself it was not sentimentality.
The pros of keeping Alastor alive would far outweigh the cons. Vox could find a use for sparing him; using his power for himself, taking claim of his soul, or convincing him finally to join the Vees: the possibilities were endless!
Alastor was far too weak to fight his way free this time. It wouldn't be the same as 70 years ago, it wouldn't.
So yes, Alastor was alive. Vox had him in his grasp, right here in Vee Tower, with only a handful of sinners aware that the broadcast was just a touch untruthful.
Vox, thoughts stuck on his prize, disappeared into the electric wires of Vee Tower. He dared think the teleportation magic worked faster than normal, surging through power lines and connections until he reappeared in his penthouse at the top of the building. He adjusted his coat as he stopped just outside an open doorway in his apartment, watching the bustling inside with greed.
The spare room of his home had become an infirmary, medical supplies taking up half of the room and two nurses posted on either side of the bed. Seeing him, they quickly ducked their heads and escaped the room without a word. They learned days ago not to cross him, both of their souls soundly in his grasp and death nipping at their heels if they didn't heed his every word.
Once they retreated to the other side of the apartment, not allowed to leave, Vox stepped inside the room. Alastor, his trophy, laid unmoving and unresponsive in the bed hooked up to various lines. He looked deliciously weak like this, fighting off death for the seventh day now.
Vox sat on the edge of the bed, running a hand through Alastor's hair. He relished every opportunity he now had to touch the man, who was unable to protest. Alastor, the touch-averse god he looked up to for so long was now below him, and the premise was more tantalizing than the steady rise of power that his new approval ratings was granting him.
He was careful not to jostle anything that was keeping Alastor alive, the ventilator helping ravaged lungs breathe or the IV sedation that kept him from thrashing in agony. Vox's hands trailed down carefully to the other's wounded chest, bandaged thoroughly and stained with blood. The nurses' morning report had told him he was still bleeding sluggishly and that he'd received another blood transfusion a few hours ago, and was due for yet another this evening.
The wound was pesky.
Sinners had little practice with healing angelic wounds, because exorcists struck to kill. How Alastor had gotten away with such a drastic hit and lived was extraordinary, and Vox could tell the nurses were intrigued despite their grumblings of servitude.
In the old broken tower, it had scared Vox, seeing his oldest rival pale and cold on the floor. The fight had drained out of him so swiftly he only just barely stopped himself from calling out Alastor's name gently in concern.
"I'll figure out what to do with you yet," Vox promised, taking Alastor's hand gently in his own. He admired his sharp claws, and how they caught the light. The nurses were doing a good job of cleaning Alastor day-in and day-out, meticulous against the threat of infection. "But in the meantime, you're offering me a once-in-a-lifetime show, old friend, and I don’t intend to miss a moment of it."
meet elodie, a human sacrifice that was sent to hell and turned demon!
rosie rescues her and tasks alastor with raising her. alastor is reluctant at first, but gets hella attached and is the one to name her. They feed her their blood, turning her into a demon with their traits so she'll blend in. she's very clingy towards alastor, crying the second he sets her down.
drew a scene from chap 10 "do you love me? (do i love you?)" my radiostatic -> radiosilence endgame amnesia fic
As Alastor wiped the lingering sleep out of his eyes, he took in the gorgeous suit Vox was now wearing and the fact that he was kneeling in front of his recliner, presenting a velvet ring box. Vox went the whole nine yards, apparently a showman to the core.
"Al!" he smiled as they made eye contact. It was huge, taking up nearly his whole screen. The bright flush across his screen an evident blush, and the set of his shoulders screamed pride.
It was adorable.
"I have your ring, here-" he indicated the box eagerly. "I hope you like it! Uhm! Still! Like- like you did before?"
drew a scene from chapter 9 of my fic "do you love me? (do i love you?)", my radiostatic -> radiosilence endgame amnesia fic
"Where's my ring?" Alastor asked.
Vox snapped his eyes over, making a swiping motion with his hand to dismiss all his holograms. "Your ring?" he echoed.
Alastor lolled his head to the side, to better let him watch his husband. He raised the hand in question, trying to ignore the trembling of it, "My wedding ring, did I lose it?"
drew a scene from chapter 8 of my fic "do you love me? (do i love you?)", my radiostatic -> radiosilence endgame amnesia fic
Vox was eventually snapped back to present by Alastor coughing. Immediately, he could tell it wasn't that bad, the episode already ending moments after it started.
The towel and bottles of product had all disappeared, and Velvette was now just armed with a comb. Alastor's hair was curly, the coils bouncy and healthy looking. It made his hair appear shorter than it was, but it still framed his features perfectly.
"Wow," Vox admired how handsome he looked like this.
drew a scene from chapter 7 of my fic "do you love me? (do i love you?)", my radiostatic -> radiosilence endgame amnesia fic
"I don’t know! Not this- I- He-" he choked, thinking about Alastor's soft fur under his hands. How thin his waist was, and how the water ran down his back. "…I gave him a bath."
There was a long pause, in which Vox tried to keep his focus in the room and not several floors up.
"Vox, what the fuck?" Velvette almost sounded disgusted.
"What was I supposed to do? He asked for me specifically and-"
"You sick fuck-"
"He asked!"
"You told him you were partners, who do you think he's gonna ask!" She grabbed her head, scrubbing at her face, "Oh my god… I knew you were obsessed with him, but I didn't know you were that much of a creep!"
drew a scene from chap 6 of my fic, "do you love me? (do i love you?)", my radiostatic -> radiosilence endgame amnesia fic
Vox must be making a sour face, because Alastor's smile gained a scheming curve. He flicked a hand in the tub, splashing Vox.
"Really, Al?" he grabbed his personal towel hanging on the rail on the wall, and wiped his face down. Immediately, there are streaks across his vision, not enough to impede it, but certainly enough to be annoying and eye-catching.
Alastor just grinned wider, "I'd kill for a laugh right now."
