Chapter Text
On this particular afternoon, the Hazbin Hotel was quieter than it had been in a long time. Charlie had gone out to put up fliers (hand drawn with crayons) all around Pentagram City, and had dragged along a begrudging Vaggie with her. Angel was at work and Lucifer was off doing whatever it was that he did during the day. Honestly, Alastor couldn't care less what that silly fallen angel did. As he looked up from his book and took in the quiet and peaceful atmosphere, his smile fell into something more genuine. His gaze drifted over to the bar, where Husk was dutifully organizing bottles. A blur of movement caught his eye, and Alastor watched as Niffty bounded into the room, her feather duster seeming to move a million miles an hour. Alastor closed his eyes and listened to the soft sound of jazz emanating from the radio perched on the mantle.
Though he would deny it to anyone who asked, deep in his soul, Alastor was tired. His master–the word felt wrong even in his head–had been in a particularly foul mood as of late, and had made sure that Alastor was aware of every bit of it. Luckily he had managed to hide most of his injuries from the other residents of the hotel. He did have appearances to keep up, after all. He couldn’t allow them for a second to believe that he was useless or not in control. His master had intelligently woven a non-disclosure clause into their deal, and Alastor had quickly learned just how strict his master was about her rules. He could still smell the scent of burnt flesh as she drove the red hot fire poker between two of the vertebrae in his back. Unconsciously, he shivered and shifted in his seat as he forced those memories away. The past seven years were a nightmare that Alastor wished he could forget, but seemed doomed to remember in excruciating detail.
Though he told himself that his deal was the only reason why he was failing to inform the other residents of the hotel about his predicament, there was a small part of him which had started to care for the other people who occupied his space and which was worried that if they saw his injuries, they would cast him aside in favor of another Overlord. His position had already become precarious thanks to Lucifer having moved into the hotel, and Alastor was not about to let anything else threaten the small bit of power he currently had. Besides, if he was thrown out of the hotel, his master would be furious.
Alastor was broken out of his reflections by a knock at the door. He opened his eyes and slowly turned his head to the large entryway. Husk was also staring at the door with suspicion in his eyes, but Niffty was still caught up in her cleaning frenzy. Sighing, Alastor put his book down and stood up, running a hand over his suit to smooth it out. Allowing his shadows to envelop him, he appeared in front of the door and grabbed the handle. Ensuring that his smile was still in place, he pulled the door open with a flourish, gesturing behind him.
“Hello sinner! Welcome to the Hazbin Hotel! Are you perhaps interested in joining Miss Morningstar’s program?” He turned his head back to the door and froze. Standing in front of him were at least twenty armed exorcist angels. He couldn’t help the small crackle of static which escaped him. At the head of them was an angel with short silver hair who was missing her left arm. Her smile was cruel and filled with malice.
“Not exactly, you vile thing,” she said, brandishing her sword. Without hesitation, Alastor slammed the door closed and quickly drew a rune on it. He knew it wouldn’t last long, but it would hopefully buy them enough time to prepare. Spinning on his heels, he quickly made his way over to the two other occupants of the hotel.
“Who was–” Husk began grumpily.
“No time Husker. Niffty, gather up as many angelic weapons as you can and bring them here.” With a salute, the small cyclops took off at a quick pace, feather duster discarded. Husk looked as though he were going to say something, but just then the entire building rattled as loud thuds echoed from all around them.
“What the Hell is going on?” Husk shouted over the banging.
“Exorcists,” Alastor said and he knelt down in front of the small pile of weapons that Niffty had gathered.
“What? That’s not possible. We haven’t seen any exorcist angels since we stopped the last extermination several months ago. Even if they went back to their old ways, the Extermination isn’t for another month or so.” Husk made his way around the counter and over to the growing pile of weapons. Alastor picked up a long halberd and held it out to Husk.
“I don’t know old pal, but regardless, there are about twenty of those winged furies trying to get in as we speak.” Tentacles erupted from his back and began seizing various weapons from battle axes to swords. Niffty dropped the last of her armfuls of the weapons and looked up at Alastor.
“What do we–” her question was interrupted by the horrifying sound of wood splintering. The front door slammed open, and in poured the exorcists, in all their terrible glory. Alastor immediately sprang into action, his tentacles stretching outward to engage three of the airborne angels. As Alastor moved towards the entrance, Husk noticed four angels approaching him from behind and swung the halberd, sending them peeling off in all directions to avoid getting him. As Alastor threw one of the angels to the ground, Niffty scurried over and began to repeatedly stab the angel in the chest, giggling the entire time. Watching Niffty, Husk didn’t see the angel approaching from his left until he felt the slice of an angelic blade against his arm. He shouted in frustration and swung his weapon around, catching the angel off guard and sending her flying. Niffty gave a shriek, and both Husk and Alastor turned to watch as she flew through the air and struck the far wall. Alastor roared in rage and swung his ax, effectively beheading two of the angels closest to him.
Husk rushed over and scooped up the small figure, who was still a bit dazed from her hit. Just as he turned to try and find a safe place to put her for the moment, he saw the one armed angel raising her blade over her head and arcing it down towards them. Husk curled himself over Niffty, hoping to shield her from the worst of the blow. The angel shrieked, and Husk turned his head to see a black transparent shield covered in runes surrounding them. The exorcist struck at the barrier again, but the blade ricocheted back at her and she shrieked in frustration. Husk locked eyes with Alastor, who was holding his own against three other exorcists while simultaneously attempting to keep the shield up around Husk and Niffty.
“Go!” Alastor shouted as a black tentacle batted one of the angels out of the air. “Warn Charlie and the others!” The shield expanded outward, giving Husk a path out the front door. Scooping Niffty up into his arms, the cat spread his wings and flew out the door. As soon as Husk crossed the threshold, Alastor used his shadows to slam the door shut, effectively trapping himself and the angels inside.
As he dropped the shield and turned back to his foes, he felt hot, blazing pain as something struck his abdomen. Glancing down, he saw a golden arrow jutting from his lower stomach. Unconsciously, one of his shadows lashed out, catching two more angels and making quick work of them. As he reached down to pluck the wretched thing out, a second arrow burrowed its way into him. This hit was higher up, and jutted out of the left side of his chest. His shadows began to recede back into him as the angel haughtily lowered her bow. Alastor staggered backward and collapsed onto the floor gasping.
This can’t be happening , he thought to himself. Not again. I can’t have lost again! He attempted to get back on his feet, but was quickly shoved down. The weight on top of him forced the arrows deeper into his body, and he barely bit back a groan. The head exorcist chuckled above him as she ground her foot harder into his back.
“Pathetic,” she spat, removing her foot. She glanced at her remaining angels. “You three, after them. They can’t have gotten far.” The three angels she had gestured towards took off without a word, bursting through the front doors and out into the atmosphere of Hell. Reaching down, the exorcist grabbed one of Alastor’s antlers and forced his head back so they were eye to eye. “I could kill you right now,” the angel said almost playfully, “but I think I’ll keep you for leverage when the princess arrives home. That is, if you survive until then.” Tightening her grasp on his antler, she dragged Alastor over to the parlor area and threw him to the ground. Alastor pulled himself up into a sitting position and leaned against the back of the couch. His hands absently wandered to the arrow jutting from his stomach as the angel bent down in front of him.
“Now you’re going to play nice and behave yourself little demon, or,” she reached over, grasping the arrow in his stomach and twisting it slowly, “I’m going to make you wish you were dead. Understood?” Alastor simply glared back at her. Apparently bored with their interaction, the angel released the arrow and walked over to the rest of her troops, giving commands. As several angels circled around him, Alastor let his head fall back and rest against the couch. He reached for his shadows but found them pinned to the ground by angelic holy light.
I hope that Husk and Niffty got away , he thought to himself subconsciously. Angrily, he reprimanded himself for his weakness. He was growing sentimental in his old age, that was all. It wasn’t that he cared about the people of the hotel. No, he simply did not want to have to get new servants. There was no way he was going soft. Yet, even while he repeated the phrase, deep in his soul, he knew it was at least partially a lie.