Archive of Our Own

Chapter Text

Without further adu, let's get this started with underrated character.

Steve Burnside, age: 17 (during life), height: 5 feet and 8 inches, Blood type: AB, Weight: 149ibs. Cause of death: Impaled by Alexia-Pod.

Poor guy. The last thing saw during his time on earth was the most beautiful woman he'd ever seen. But then, next thing he knew was that he found himself on solid ground, in a place was that covered from top to bottom in red. If that wasn't the weirdest thing, the whole place had a rather demonic look to it all. Steve was rather scared and confused, unsure what was going on.

"What is this place? How'd I get here? What happened to-?"

Upon touching his face, Steve got a good look at his hand and saw that it was gross, mutated green color. He then crawled over to a puddle and looked to see that his face was hideously green like the rest of his skin, his eyes were black with red pupils and his mouth was full of fangs. His hair was still it's natural red color, albeit faded and his bangs now turned white, and he was still wearing the clothes that he wore when he was... imprisoned by Umbrella. Although, they were now town up, his feet were now monstrous looking and he had spikes coming from his left shoulder. It was all starting to come back to him now...

"Oh...I died...and this is Hell...isn't it?

He looked up to the sky and saw the giant pentagram looking to hover over the entire city, which un-ironically, was also shaped like a pentagram, but Steve didn't know that yet. Nor did he care, as he began to cry...

"Why am I here?...What did I do to...deserve this?...Was it because I tried to kill Claire?...Or was because I just...didn't believe?"

Wiping away his tears, he got back up on his feet, which were a little trouble, since he wasn't used to them being so...demonic. But it seemed to be coming to him naturally as he stood tall.

"Either way...I'm not gonna get answers here. This may as well be my existence...I gotta get used to it."

Suddenly, he felt lights behind him and turned to see a car coming. It was honking at him as he leaped out of the way and landed on the sidewalk.

"HONK, HONK, BITCH!", The Demon yelled out as it continues to drive by.

"That's a good way to kill somebody!", Steve yelled, but then sighed. "Whatever. I'll figure things out as I go."

Meanwhile, somewhere else in the city, were a few demons vandalizing stuff until their attention was brought over to someone moving by. The person was staggering, practically limping as they had a hand in their face and was calling out a name...

"Sherry...Sherry."

Pretty soon, the person was surrounded by other demons and they got a good look at him. Blonde hair, wearing a lab coat and jeans, although torn up and was not wearing a shirt. His skin was grey, but the weirdest thing was his right arm, which had the bone sticking out, along with some exposed tissue and...and eyeball?

"Who the fuck is this guy?", One of them said.

"Who cares? He can't just go walking into our territory and expect to come out in one piece.", Another said while bringing out a gun.

"Unless he's got any goods in him, we oughta teach him a lesson.", Said a third, who had a crowbar in it's hand.

"How about it, old man?", The first one said. "Got anything good on ya?"

The person said nothing.

Annoyed, the demon yelled out, "We're talking to you, dumbass!"

"...You should run.", The man finally spoke out.

"What?"

"I'm serious...it's gonna get ugly.", He warned the demons around him.

"It already is, now fork over the goods!", they yelled out.

"...Don't say...I didn't warn you."

The demons didn't know what hit them as the man's arm brought and slashed at their bodies, tearing them in half as he just continued to walk on, still grabbing hold of his face.

"Sherry...Annette...forgive me...I'll make up for this...I swear."

Back to Steve, he was lost as he was admiring a weapon that he had on him. A standard luger, like the ones he used back at the prison. Of course, he missed having the golden ones, since they were fun unloading into the Bandersnatch, but this was fine, since he also got himself a pair of Ingram submachine guns, and he wasn't even sure where he got them. Either way, he felt pretty confident, like there was no one that's as gonna mess with him.

"Hey, you! Where do you think you're going?!"

Spoke too soon...Steve groaned and turned around to face an angry looking demon.

"I asked you a question.", It said.

"Listen, I'm just trying to get around.", Steve tried to explain. "I don't where I'm going, but I'm hoping to find a place to stay."

"So you're a new blood. Well, let's get one thing straight. This territory is off limits to anyone newcomers we don't know about. So unless you wanna keep on walking in one piece-"

"You think what you're saying is gonna scare me?", Steve asked. "You don't know what I've been through. Nothing you say is gonna intimidate me."

"Heh, really? You got some balls, kid...what say I rip 'em off your crotch?

"Why? Just because you don't have a pair?"

The remark made the demon angry as he was about to attack Burnside. But the redhead brought out his luger and shot the demon straight in the face...

"Next time, step off and there won't be any trouble."

As Steve began to walk away, the demon he just shot slowly back up, which Burnside quickly noticed, seeing him pull out the bullet he just lodged in his head...

"You gotta be kidding me."

"We don't die so easily here, kid. You got a lot to learn."

"I guess I do.", Steve sighed. "This is gonna be worse than Rockfort.

A few minutes of shooting later, Steve finally managed to get away as he took a breather and wondered what he was going to do next. He's spent the last 11 years wandering and fighting through Hell. Was he doomed to fight his way through hell for all eternity, of was there another solution for him? It was then that a flier blowing in the wind caught his attention. And by that, it means he quickly caught it in his hand and read what it said. It was rather colorful and almost girly. But the message was as clear as daylight...

"'Hazbin Hotel. Where inside every demon is a rainbow. Have a chance at redemption today!' Redemption? Could it be possible? I definitely don't want to stick around here, but I never thought it would be possible for a demon to be redeemed. It's gotta be worth checking out, though. And I do need a place to stay."

Looking around, he could actually see the sign that said "Hazbin Hotel" at a distance. It did look like it was gonna take a while to get there.

"Well, let's go see if this is for real."

Little did anyone know that the nightmares that people like Steve suffered through in the living world were coming down to Hell, as not to far from the City, appeared an familiar place, along with many of the people who made the world suffer through a decades worth of Hell on Earth. It is gonna be one Helluva Biohazard...

Chapter Text

At the Hotel, business was slow...as usual. Charlie paced around the floor, impatiently waiting for someone to come give Redemption a chance. All the while, Husk was asleep at his bar, Niffty was busy cleaning and Vaggie was starting to lose hope they would ever get a client in here...

"It's only been days, yet I'm starting to think this whole thing was a bad idea.", The manager said to herself.

"I wouldn't say such things out loud, Miss Vaggie." Nifty told Vaggie. "Miss Charlie wouldn't like to hear that even her manager is losing faith."

"Well, at least you believe, Niffty."

"Uh...technically, I don't.", The maid admitted. "But, Mr. Alastor is paying me a fair wage to keep working for you two."

"Ugh! This is hopeless. We are never gonna get a client."

But, just as she said that, there was a knock at the door."

"I'll get it!", Nifty yelled out.

Rushing over to the door, Niffty opens it to see a male demon with green skin, red eyes and hair, monstrous feet and fangs. Despite he rather terrifying appearance, Niffty can't help but crazy the moment she sees him...

"Ooh! A man! And a handsome young one at that!"

Steve was caught off guard by how quickly the one-eyed demon moved around him, as she in one spent at a second, then in another spot in another second.

"Noble features, nice looking hair, questionable clothing but that can be overlooked."

"Uh...thanks?, Steve took as a compliment. "Look, I was just hoping to check in, if that's possible."

"Of course! Give me one second! MS. CHARLIE! WE HAVE A GUESS!"

Steve plugged his ears upon hearing how loud Niffty was screaming, but then straightened himself when he saw who could assume was Charlie.

"Hello! Welcome to the Happy-I mean Hazbin Hotel!", Charlie said happily. "Have you come to give Redemption a chance?"

"Yes, actually. I'm Steve. Steve Burnside."

"Well, Mr. Burnside, I'm sure you'll enjoy your stay here while we work on your rehabilitation!"

Never did Steve expect this from a demon. To him, Charlie seemed more like an angel...a beautiful one at that. Perhaps it would be best not to question, should he risk saying something offensive...

"...Are you sure you're a demon?", He asked. "Cuz, you...seem more like an angel."

He almost instantly regretted saying that, but fortunately, that remark made Charlie laugh a little...

"I guess I do, don't I? Maybe I get it from my dad."

"You dad is an angel?", Steve asked.

"...Fallen Angel, but I digress.", Charlie said, not comfortable with talking about it. "Anyway, why don't you sign in and we'll get you situated?"

"Sure."

With that, Charlie hands him a clipboard and pencil as Steve starts writing stuff down on blank areas. Vaggie looks at Steve, glaring a little when Charlie walks over to her girlfriend.

"Can you believe it, Vaggie? We finally got ourselves a client! Things will be looking up from here on out!"

"I don't like the look of him.", Vaggie immediately said.

"Oh, Vaggie. Don't be like that.", said Charlie. "He's already shown to be nice."

"Too nice! What if he's working for someone?"

"You're just being paranoid. What could possibly go wrong?"

The Moth Demon gave Charlie a "seriously?" look as Charlie tried not to remind herself about how the first time she tried to promote the hotel went down to shit. Luckily, Steve finished signed up and managed to take Charlie's mind off of it as he gave her back the clipboard.

"Here you go."

"Oh! Uh, thanks.", Charlie said, taking the clipboard as she then turns to Vaggie. "By the way, this is Vagatha, she's the manager of the Hotel and my girlfriend."

"Girlfriend?"

"Yep! We're a couple and damn proud of it!", Charlie exclaimed.

"I see.", Steve said as he puts out his hand for a shake. "Welp, nice to meet you, Vagatha."

Vaggie keeps her arms crossed in silent anger.

Steve retracts his arm, saying "Or...not."

"Don't take it personally.", Charlie told him. "She...doesn't trust men too much."

"I guess that's fair."

"Your shirt says 'Rockfort Prison' on it.", Vaggie said. "Care to explain?"

"Oh. That.", said Steve, rubbing his arm. "Well...it's a long story."

"Well, we got time.", Charlie then said.

Seeing that these girls were eager to here his story, Steve decided to do so. "Okay Well, it started when my dad roped got himself with the wrong kind of people..."

And with that, Steve started going off about how he and his father were imprisoned by a pharmaceutical company known as Umbrella. He talked about how he fought against zombies and monster, and doing it side by side next to one of the greatest women he would ever meet. While he didn't go into full detail about her, he did say that he owes her a lot, and that she was there for him...even at the time of his death...

"I don't know why, but...I just like I loved her. I wish I could've spent more time with her."

Charlie and Niffty were on the brink of tears while Vaggie was merely feeling bad for the guy. As unbelievable as his story sounded, she was willing to cut him some slack with how he felt about that woman.

"Anyway, that's my story.", Steve then said, not wanting this to be so emotional. "And there's no real point in crying over it."

"I disagree.", Charlie spoke out. "You were wrongly imprisoned and tortured! I'm so sorry you had to go through that."

"Well, right now...I'd like to focus on why is it that I'm here in Hell.", Steve said. "I did good in life! Was it just not enough? Or was it because of the way I was looking at the girl's nice, round-?"

He stopped himself when he realized they were still listening, and Vaggie was starting to lose sympathy for the guy, figuring out what he was gonna say.

"Uh...nevermind."

Charlie then said, "Well, if you really are as good as you say, we'll be sure to figure out a way to get you to redeemed."

"Sounds good.", said Steve before asking, "In the meantime, could I be shown to my room, please?"

"Wouldn't you want a drink first?" Vaggie asked sarcastically. "I'm sure you would want to relax yourself after all that you've been through."

Confused, Steve then asked, "Why would I drink? I'm only 17."

That caught Charlie and Vaggie off guard. They're used to seeing sinners in their early twenties, but for someone that young to be down here...

"Well, at least I know he won't be hard to deal with...unlike our other 'client'.", Vaggie said.

"You guys have other people here?"

"Just one, and...it's not going as well as we hoped.", Charlie admitted.

"Hey! Would you mind keeping it the fuck down?! How's anybody supposed to get some beauty sleep around here?"

"Speak of the devil.", Vaggie reluctantly said.

It was then that a tall, feminine-like, male spider demon came in nothing but a robe and a face mask. Angel Dust. Steve was a little weirded out by seeing this demon, but Charlie and Vaggie were there to calm him down...

"I don't know why you gals keep making such loud-"

Upon seeing Steve, Angel froze and was wide-eyed.

"Uh, Angel, we got a new client. This is Steve.", Charlie introduced Steve to the spider

Waving awkwardly, all Steve could say was, "...Hi."

But then, Angel runs back to his room, leaving everyone in awkward silence. About a minute later, Angel returns in his casual attire, soon getting awfully close with Steve as he has his hands on him...

"Hey there, handsome. I was wondering when we would get some new company around here. It's been so boring not having anyone to play around with."

"What?", Asked Steve. "What do you mean?!"

"Isn't it obvious?", Angel asked seductively. "What say you and I have a little fun in my room!"

"EW! NO! GET OFF!"

Just then, Steve kicks Angel in the groin and the spider demon falls to ground, holding his crotch in pain...

"Ugh...so that's how it feels like."

"Next time, learn a thing about personal space!", Steve said angrily

"I'm starting to like this guy more and more.", Vaggie admitted with a smirk on her face.

"While Angel had that coming, Steve could've been a little less violent.", Charlie said

"Oh, come on."

"I'm not saying you're the bad guy here, I'm just saying you could've handled that better."

"...I guess.", admitted Steve. "Let me just go over to my room to cool off."

"I'll show the way."

"Grr...it was just a simple fucking offer!", Angel Dust yelled out. "You didn't have to kick me in my prized jewels!"

"Yeah, well maybe next time, think twice before asking a 17 year old kid to have sex!"

Angel's eyes went wide-eyed again after hearing the kid's age.

"Or maybe, think twice before having sex at all.", Vaggie said.

"Shut...up."

Meanwhile, the man with the deformed arm was still roaming the streets with his normal hand still on his face. He was moaning and groaning and constantly getting the attention of those around him, who were confused about who this guy was and what is that he could do. That was until the man found himself accidentally turning to a dark alley, where he was then corned once again by demons...

"You walked down the wrong alley, old man."

"...I guess I did.", the man whimpered. "...I...I don't know where to go, really."

"Well, that's just too bad."

But before the could attack, the demons were then impaled by a number of black tentacles. The man stepped back as he saw someone else coming towards him. Though, he didn't recognize the demon at all, as all it looked like was just giant anthropomorphic leech wearing a business suit...

"Doctor Birkin, you'll come along with me quietly."

"Huh? What?", The man now known as Birkin said, confused.

Just then, Birkin was grabbed by the neck and lifted off his feet by the leech demon.

"Considering this payback for stealing my research. But Dr. Wesker requires your presence."

"...W-Wes...ker?"

That was all Birkin said before the leech snapped his neck with one 'hand', knowing that he would eventually recover. Just then, the leech heard some strange noise coming from underneath the road, like they were coming from the sewers. Hoisting Birkin's body over it's shoulder, the leech began to leave the area...

"The party's about to begin..."

Chapter Text

Steve got himself situated in his room, placing his guns down in a dresser while he decides to rest for a while, crashing onto a bed. Knowing that this place could his only way out of hell, he can't help but wonder what is bound to happen after this? However, Steve was knocked out of his train of thought when he heard a knock at his door. Heading over and opening it, he was greeted by Vaggie, who had a not-so-happy face on.

"Oh, it's you. Any you need, Vagatha?"

"You can just call me Vaggie.", She said with her arms crossed. "And I just came to check up on you, after that whole ordeal with Angel."

"What's that guy's problem anyway?" Steve asked.

"Heh. Where do I begin?", Vaggie jokingly said before explaining. "Guy's a drug addict, pornstar and employee to one of the Overlords down here. He was not exactly the ideal person I would think to be our first client, considering how much of a struggle he is."

"I see...wait, did you say Overlords?", Steve said, suddenly curious. "As...archdemons or something?"

"Not exactly.", Vaggie explained. "They're more or less just sinners who've been here long enough to rise to the ranks of running parts of hell. The overlord Angel works for runs the prostitution and porn films here."

"I would not wanna meet that guy."

"Good. Anyway, Charlie wants to let you know that your first part of your rehabilitation program will begin shortly.", Vaggie told.

"Alrighty. I'll be right down shortly."

Seeing how nice and loyal almost warmed Vaggie's heart a little. Aside from Charlie, people like Steve were something Vaggie was not used to.

"Uh...you okay?"

"Huh? Oh, I'm fine.", Vaggie said, avoiding eye contact.

It was then that Vaggie noticed the pair of Lugers and pair of submachine guns that belonged to Steve in the dresser and had a suspicious look on her face.

"Where'd you get those guns?", she asked.

"Those?", Steve pointed out. "I had them when I came down here."

"So...what? Did you...die with them or something?", Vaggie asked confusingly.

"I'm not sure that's how it works.", Steve said.

"Uh-huh."

"Listen, if I wanted to hurt you guys, I would've done so already."

Vaggie laughed a little after hearing that. "Heh. That's a little funny."

"What is?", Steve asked.

"...Our 'business partner' said the same thing when he showed up the first time.", She explained.

"Business partner?"

"Yeah, Alastor. The Radio Demon."

"Radio Demon?", Steve asked, even more confused. "...Is that supposed to sound scary?"

"Oh, you'd be surprised. Alastor is not someone to mess with." Vaggie admitted. "He has a reputation, one you'll soon find out about if you stick around. It was a shock to us when he came, wanting to help. But then, he said it was just so that he can keep himself entertained by watching others, including us, fail."

"Sounds kinda like a sadist.", Steve said, sickened by the sound of the guy.

"He's something like that.", Vaggie agreed.

"Is...he around here?"

"Thankfully not. He's off someplace else."

The Radio Demon was actually taking a walker through Pentagram city, wanting to find some entertainment.

"Hmm. I wouldn't say it in front of her, but Dear Charlie's little hotel is lacking the entertainment that I ever so seek. This city tends to be more a delight, if anything else."

To prove his point, a car drove by really quick before suddenly crashing and starting a fire. It put a smile on his face to see such mayhem, but this time however, Alastor couldn't help but feel as if something was different from this strain of chaos. It was then that he heard some gasping and moaning and saw a shadowy demon in an ally, looking to be limping towards him.

"Hmph. You there. Are approaching me? You do better than to no obey the five-foot rule. I have it set up for a reason."

Suddenly, the demon growled and lunged towards Alastor, who then quickly manifested claws on his left arm and slashed at the demon's throat, decapitating him. The disembodied headed flew up in the air before landing in Alastor's hands, and its body then fell into the ground. As he held it, Alastor got a good look at the demon head, seeing it in a surprising state of decay.

"Interesting. Never seen one such as this before. He looks to have been ripped apart."

Dropping the head onto the floor, the sound of moaning and groaning was then heard all around the Radio Demon, as he looked around to see a crowd of what appeared the decaying demons approaching him...

"Well, this is new."

Another zombie demon came lunging at him, but Alastor caught it by the neck...

"I suppose that if I am demand entertainment...I am to be part of it."

Just then, something wrapped around Alastor's neck and before he could react, he was hoisted up into the air and then felt a sharp pain at his head. Not that he reacted, as he brought himself up to a rooftop and freed himself from the slimly grasp of whatever got him. As his own blood began to run down his face, he got a good look at the creature that attacked him. It was a skinless, muscle exposed creature with a brain that takes up the majority of its head, leaving it with no eyes. It had fangs, claws on both hands and feet and a long retractable tongue.

Alastor tilted his head, as never before did he encounter such an abomination...

"Alright then...This is going to be fun."

It wasn't just one place, but the majority of Pentagram City was already being infested with what can best described as "Zombie Demons". They were crawling up from the sewers below, along with a few other abominations that just seem to have come out of nowhere. In the midst of the outbreak, a certain one-eyed demon anarchist, Cherri Bomb, was busy bombing her way through the horde. She was busy simply clearing her territory from any unwanted demons, when things took a turn for the worse...

"What the fuck is going on?!", she screamed out loud, but no one listened.

She continued throwing every bomb she could summon at the zombie demons, but most of them just didn't know how to die. Pretty soon, Cherri found herself surrounded and running out of options...

"Well, shit."

"HEY, GEY DOWN!", Someone yelled out to her.

Hearing a voice to her left, Cherri saw the silhouette of someone holding what appeared to be a anti-tank rocket launcher. She quickly ducked as the person fired one of the rockets and blew away some of the horde. This gave Cherri a chance to escape, but not without leaving a few more parting gifts, which were enough to blow away the rest of the undead.

"Glad that's taken care of.", She sighed in relief.

It was then that the person who helped Cherri came over to see if she was alright. Cherri didn't mind, seeing how this guy was willing to help in the best way possible, the explosive way. When he showed up, she got a good look at him: pale skin, greying hair, white eyes and wearing a blood-covered yellow vest along with camo-based cargo pants and combat boots. At his side was a gun in a holster and on his vest was what appeared to be a police badge...

"You okay?", The man asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine.*, Cherri said sounding smug. "But I could've handled it."

"Didn't look that way from where I was standing."

Cherri then scoffed, saying, "Look. Why don't you just go cover up your own ass? I can handle it from here."

Not appreciating her tone, the guy snapped at the bomber. "Look, lady, I just saved your life! A little gratitude would be nice!"

"Save my 'life'? You new around here or something?"

It was then the guy realized, "...Oh yeah, that's right. I'm dead, this is hell...but this shit is still happening."

"What do you mean by 'still happening'?", Cherri asked. "You've been through this before?"

"Yeah...look, I don't have time to explain. Just get somewhere safe!"

"And what gives you the right to boss me around?", Cherri said with her hands at her hips.

"Look, I'm just trying to help, alright?!" The man said angrily. "It's my job! I used to be a cop, you know. But if you want to go and get yourself killed, fine then! People like you don't last long anyway."

With that, the vest wearing sinner began to walk away. As irritated as that made Cherri, the guy did have a point. She's used to being close to annihilation, but this was something different. The zombies demons she saw were suffering a fate now worse than what they got here, and she would've joined him, had the guy not helped her out...

Sighing, she said. "I'm not so good at showing it, but I honestly can appreciate it when people are willing to help me out."

The got the guy's attention as he turned to her, seeing her walk towards him...

"I can also respect the kind of guy who brings this much firepower into the action.", she said, almost flirtingly.

"Uhh...thanks?", he said uncomfortably. "I guess that works as a 'thank you'."

"And if you're really worried about my well being, I might as well tag along with you.", The cyclops said to him. "I'm Cherri Bomb, by the way. And you are?"

"Name's Brad. Brad Vickers.", The man told.

"Alright. So, Brad. Care to explain what's going on?", Cherri asked, sounded like she demanded an answer.

"It's complicated, but-", before he could explain, Brad froze upon hearing the monstrous voice that haunted his nightmares.

"S.T.A.R.S"

Hearing that voice gave Brad terrible flashbacks as he turned his head to see a giant hulking figure coming his way.

"...Oh, no."

Cherri then yelled out, "What the fuck is that?!"

"Nothing good.", Brad answered, frightened. "Nothing good at all!"

The creature was about 10 feet tall, wearing heavy leather clothing all around it's body. But it's face lacked a right eye, showing stich marks where it should be, and even a lack of a mouth with exposed teeth and gums, and even what looked like tubes coming out of his shoulder blades. The thing was menacing, and while Cherri was left confused at what she was looking at, Brad was left terrified, knowing what it was.

"Not this time!"

Aiming the rocket launcher at the giant, Brad fired on it, but was shocked to see a tentacle appear at it's hand and catch the rocket mid-flight...

"That's new."

It then turned the rocket, pointing it at the two and then let fly towards the both of them. The two moved out of the way before thy were caught in the blast, then got back on their feet to see what the big guy was packing. Cherri's eye lit up when saw what looked to be the biggest rocket launcher she's ever seen.

"I gotta get that baby for myself!", She said cheeringly.

Brad then yelled out, "LATER! LET'S GET OUT OF HERE!"

Taking the cyclops by the hand, Brad began to run away as rockets flew by their head. He was hoping to out run the monster, but realized the damn thing was faster than it looked. But soon, he managed to hide in an ally while the beast looked for him...

"S.T.A.R.S."

"So...old friend of yours, I'm guessing?", Cherri asked

"He's the reason why I'm here in the first place!", Brad said. "I remember all of it."

"Wow. Now that's a way a to go." Cherri sounded surprised. "Killed by a...ugly motherfucker that looked like it came straight out of Hellraiser."

"Oh, you've watched that movie too?"

"Who hasn't?"

"Nevermind!", Brad said, not wanting to cause any more distraction. "We can't outrun that thing! We gotta find a way to bring it down."

"...I might have an idea.", Cherri said with a smile.

"Really? What's that?"

Suddenly, Brad was pushed out in the open, almost instantly spotted by the creature. With the rocket launcher quickly pointed at him, Brad gulped and waited his fate. But then, out of nowhere, Cherri between the two, and as time seem to slow down around them, the cyclops threw a bomb into the barrel of the rocket launcher and then quickly trapped Brad as the massive gun exploded in the monster's face. Engulfed in flames, it fell to the ground, defeated...for now...

"S.t.a.r.s..."

"Aw, man. And I really wanted that big baby too.", Cherri said, sadly.

"Not a big fan of the plan...but thank you, Cherri.", Brad sighed as he gave out a hand, which Cherri shook, respectively. "I guess this makes us even."

"Don't think too much of it.", She said. "If you know this thing, then why did this thing keep saying 'S.T.A.R.S.'?"

"If I were to take a guess, I'd say this thing was specifically programmed to go after guys like me.", Brad said.

"And what makes you so special, Brad?"

He then began to explain, "Well...'S.T.A.R.S.' stands for 'Special Tactics And Rescue Service', the unit I was a part of when I served as a pilot for the R.P.D."

"So you were part of some special police force. Big deal.", Cherri scoffed, as she was not a big fan of cops.

"It was actually more than that.", Brad said with a sense of pride.

"Oh?"

"Look, as much as I would like to explain, if my hunch is correct, that thing won't stay done for long." Brad said, pointing to the creature's body, he and Cherri could see that it was healing, and quickly too.

"We need to get out of here. Cherri, I don't know my way around the city. Can you think of someplace safe?"

"...I might.", She answered.

"BRAD!"

Hearing someone call out his name made Brad turn to see a car coming. Driving it was a hellhound with black fur, wearing a navy blue vest, as opposed to Brad's yellow one, along with some tactical gear and also some camo pants. What Brad found most distinguishing was the red bandana the hellhound, which made him recognize his old teammate.

"Joseph?!"

"You two know each other?", Cherri asked.

"He was part of my team in S.T.A.R.S.", answered Brad.

"Hey, let's get out of here, man!", Joseph yelled out.

"Wow. Never thought I've see a hellhound so frightened."

"You comin' with, or you gonna stand here 'til he wakes up?!", Brad asked as the creature was already beginning twitch...

Cherri then sighed, saying. "Make room, will ya?!"

"Alright. You said you knew someplace safe?"

"Yeah!", Cherri answered, but then felt discouraged. "Maybe, sorta...we'll see."

"Well, this is gonna be interesting." Joseph said as they drove away and the creature began to rise up again...

Chapter Text

At the moment, Steve was walking with Charlie and Vaggie as they moved around the hotel, oblivious to the chaos that was happening out in the city. Charlie was examining what Steve filled out on a clipboard, and was honestly quite shocked...

"Well, Steve...", She started off. "From what I've seen, you got yourself a pretty clean record."

"Thanks. I try.", Steve said.

"It surprised me too.", Vaggie spoke out. "You're just about at the age where you go down a dangerous path, and yet, you're are one of the nicest people I've seen down here."

"I appreciate it, Vaggie.", He then asked. "But, what are the chances that me being down here will cause me to go bad?"

"Well, as long as you stick around here, you should be fine." Charlie answered. "And I'm pretty no one here would take advantage of a kid like you!"

Vaggie and Steve knew Charlie was trying to sound positive, but they knew even that was a lie. There were hundreds of pedophiles and sex-offenders down in hell that would view Steve as "fresh meat". But hopefully, they would be all be eaten alive by now.

Speaking of which, back in Pentagram City, Brad, Joseph and Cherri were still driving through a horde of zombies demons. While Brad and Joseph about the whole thing, Cherri was actually having fun, considering the vehicle they were on had a turret she could play with...

As she was firing, she went "AH, HA, HA, HA! WHAT'D YOU GOT, BITCHES?! WHAT'D YOU GOT! HA, HA! YEAH!"

"She's the best you can find, Brad?!", Joseph yelled out."

"At least, I managed to get some help!", Brad protested. "What have you been doing? Beside running away from danger?!"

"Hey, for your information, I actually had to fight my way through a couple of jerks just to get this damn thing!", Joseph yelled back.

"Yeah? Well, you better make sure this thing lasts!", Brad said, firing his handgun out at the zombies.

Then Cherri yelled out, "HEY, SMART-ASSES! KEEP YOUR EYES IN THE ROAD!"

"Don't you think, I would if I could!?", Joseph yelled out, showing that the windshield wippers were wiping away as much blood as possible, and a few zombie heads here and there.

"How's the rest of the team, Joseph?", Brad then asked while reloading.

"We'll be meeting them soon enough!", Joseph said. "We just make it past this street!"

"Wait! There are more of you?!", asked Cherri.

To which, Brad answered, "Yep! Get ready, honey! You're about to meet the S.T.A.R.S!"

And they continued forward...

Back at the Hotel, Steve was busy eating while Charlie was looking at ideas for both improvements and publicity that won't blow up in her face and Vaggie was looking out a window to see what looked like pillars of smoke rising out of the city...

"Jesus Christ, another gang war? Why am I even surprised anymore."

Her attention was then drawn to the sound of silverware dropping as she saw Steve with his hands cupping his face...

"You alright, Steve?", She asked.

"...Y-Yeah. I'm fine.", Steve stuttered.

She then replied, "You don't sound fine. What's up?"

"I just...felt weird for a second.", He answered. "Like an...like an itch I couldn't scratch."

"Hmm...either you're suffering from PTSD, or...", She stopped mid-sentence when she continued to look outside and the sounds of explosions weren't too far away. It got Steve's attention to as they both walked over to the window and looked outside...

"You ever had a feeling that something bad is about to happen?", Vaggie asked.

"Definitely.", Steve said bluntly.

Then Charlie walked by and saw how the two were staring at a window, thinking that the two were bonding. She decides to join them, but wasn't prepared by what she saw...

"Oh my god.", She said, frightened. "What is going on?"

Steve then asked, "Does...this kind of stuff happen regularly?" To which Vaggie replied, "Well, sometimes but...not like this."

Just then, there was a knock at the front door...again. Niffty quickly headed over to open it, but when she did, she gasped in fear of what she saw...

"Hello, Niffty! My, my, you should've been with me in town today! I've had one Helluva time!", the Radio Demon, looking pretty beaten up. His coat was turn up, his face was covered in blood and scratches, same as the rest of his body, he had a black eye and his right arm and left leg looked mangled...

"Mr. Alastor!", Niffty yelled out loud. "...I just cleaned!"

"My bad.", He quickly said. "But to be fair, I do believe half of my chest was ripped off."

"Oh my God!", The voice of Charlie yelled out, as she, Vaggie and Steve came running over to see the Radio Demon in his rather bloodied state. "Alastor! What happened!?"

"Nothing to worry about to much, my dear.", he said.

"Nothing to worry about?!", Steve said. "You look like shit!", Then he sniffed. "And smell like it too."

"Thanks. I try.", said Alastor. "And who might you be, sir?"

Steve quickly replied, "Steve Burnside. Who are you?"

"Steve, this is Alastor. The Radio Demon I told you about!", Vaggie said, gritting her teeth.

Burnside looked at Alastor, then at Vaggie, saying "He doesn't look like much."

"Like I said, you'd be surprised.", Vaggie replied.

"You would do well in listening to her, Steven.", Alastor said, snapping his fingers and making himself look all better. "I'm no mere demon to trifle with."

"...Right.", Steve said. "And it's just Steve. Now, would you mind explaining what happened?"

"I was getting around to that.", Alastor said. "You see, I was off for a stroll when I began to notice something off about the people. Not only were they rather more...violent than usual, but the state they were in. Looking as if time was starting to catch up with them, as they're flesh was rotten and mouths all bloodied. They all wanted a piece of me, but I held my own while dealing with a few...unexpected surprises."

"Hold on. Back up.", Steve interrupted. "Did you say they were...rotting? And their mouths were covered in blood?"

"Indeed.", answered Alastor. "Reminded me of those old horror films I've enjoyed watching in my youth."

"...Oh no.", Steve said as he started heading towards the living room and found the remote to the TV. "Oh no, no, no, no, no..."

"Steve, what's wrong?", Charlie asked.

"It can't be...it can't be!", Steve sounded worried as he turned on the TV and 666 News was on. Steve was a little disturbed to see the creepy smile of Katie Killjoy, but that didn't matter right now. What mattered was the topic she brought up.

"Our top story tonight, what appears to be some heavy looking carnage in downtown Pentagram City.", The bitch of a reporter spoke out. "It seems that half the residents of the city have gone crazy and have started to...feed on those who are fighting back. Our News Chopper recently caught this footage an hour ago."

The camera of the newscopter was showing the chaos that was happening in what was Cherri's territory. Charlie, Vaggie and Niffty were shocked, Alastor's smile lightened to a smirk and Steve just looked downright terrified. No doubt was it because Steve was the only one here who went through shit like this. Angel then passed by and caught a glimpse of what was on the TV. He went wide-eyed when he recognized the area.

"IS THAT CHERRI'S TURF?!", the Spider Demon screamed as he brought out a handgun and Tommy Gun, then started to run out the door. "HANG ON, CHERRI! I'M COMING!"

"NO! WAIT!", Steve yelled out as he ran after Angel and dogpiled him. Charlie and Vaggie followed suit as they forced Angel to the ground. The three weren't enough to keep the guy down though...

"Get off!", He yelled out. "You can have me later! I have a bestie to help out!"

With the two ladies getting off of him, Steve, Charlie and Vaggie grabbed hold of Angel's legs as they pull him back in.

"You don't know what you're getting into!", Steve scream. "Slow down!"

"Angel, listen to fucking reason!", Vaggie screamed.

"It's for your own good!", Charlie yelled out.

The pulled the spider demon back into the living room while his nails dug into the ground. They continued to see what was going on in the news.

"We then go to our new rookie field reporter, live on the scene.", Tom Trench said.

The camera switches to a demon wearing a business shirt and tie, and skin looking to be made entirely out of black mold and his eyes were orange. Despite his creepy appearance, he looked pretty shaken up...

"Thanks, Tom! I'm Peter Walken, and right now, I'm in the middle of the chaos in Pentagram-", he was interrupted by a nearby explosion. "-city. And can I just say, it is messed up here! Barely anyone with gun is able to hold back the rising horde!", Another explosion causes him to flinch. "Whoa! I gotta tell ya, I haven't been this scared since I walked into that old hillbilly family's house! WHAAA-"

Peter was chased by something huge and gross. The camera fell over and Peter could still be seen running!

"S.T.A.R.S."

"COME ON! IT'S MY FIRST DAY!", he yelled out as the feed switched back to Katie and Tom...

"Welp, looks like we're gonna need a new field reporter after that.", Katie jokingly said. "Will the citizens of Pentagram City by able to turn back to tide? Probably not, but it's funny watching them try. Stay tuned!"

And with that, Steve turned off the TV and walked away. The others, minus Alastor, looked at him with concern while Charlie followed him up to his room. She saw him loading his Lugers and submachine guns and then soon realized what he was gonna do.

"You are not going out there!", She said in a demanding tone. "Did you not see what was on the News?"

"I did.", Steve said in a serious tone. "That is why I'm going."

"WHY?!", Charlie asked. "You just stopped Angel from going out there! Why do you need to go?!"

He then turned to him and said, "Charlie, I have a hunch at who's behind this. If I'm right, then there is barely anyone who can stop this. Except me.", He then puts his guns away and heads for the door. "I messed up in my pass life. I was too dead to do anything. But I won't make the same mistakes. I will put a stop to it this time!"

He was about to leave until Charlie got in his way. Her eye's changed from yellow to red and horns appearing from the sides of her head.

"Charlie...", Steve started before pulling out one of his lugers and pointing it towards the demon girl. "Get out...of my way."

Charlie growled as he felt the handle of the gun heat up. Steve could sense Charlie was the one doing it. Not that he was letting go of it any time soon. One thing he knew about the virus in his veins was that it was able to heat things up one way or another. But then, a spear was pointed in the back of his...

"Drop it, Steve!", Vaggie said. "Or I won't hesitate to kill you."

"Already dead, remember?", Steve remarked, which pissed Vaggie off a little, since he wasn't the only one to point that out.

"Steve...", Charlie began. "I know how you're feeling right now. I made this entire place just to help out my people in a chance to make them no longer suffer. I can't do that...if this continues. It's my duty...as Princess of Hell...to look after them."

Then Steve lowered his gun, only because he was confused. "Wait, you're the princess of hell?"

It was then that Charlie realized that since Steve was new around here, he didn't know a lot of things and definitely wouldn't know about her being royalty. She never brought it up before as her eyes turned back to normal.

"I guess I forgot to mention that, huh?", She said with a laugh.

Steve then began to ask, "If you're a Princess, then who's-?"

"Lucifer.", Charlie quickly answered. "And Lilith are my parents."

That made Steve go wide-eyed. "Lucifer? Well, I'll be damned."

"That you certainly are.", Alastor said jokingly, much to Steve and Vaggie's annoyance.

"The daughter of the devil himself...", Steve continued. "...Wanting to help people."

"Surprised?", Charlie asked.

"A little.", Steve answered, but not before pointing his gun again at her. "But I still can't let you get in my way, Charlie."

She then gently pushes the gun away with a smile, saying, "And I can't let you do this alone."

Once again, Steve was surprised. "You want to come with?", He asked, to which Charlie answered, "Yep. You said it yourself, Steve, that you don't want to repeat the same mistakes you've made in life. I'm betting one of those mistakes were ever going off on your own."

"Well, not all the time.", Steve protested.

Then Charlie said, "Sure. You were with that girl you talked about. But, from how you made it sound, you were kind of a hotshot who wasted his ammo. You need someone to look after you, and I'm not gonna let my first real client get lost in all that chaos!"

"Hey!", Angel Dust said. "What am I? Chop liver?"

"Yes.", Vaggie answered blankly, with a smirk, which made Angel annoyed. "And if Charlie's going, I'm going too.", She then said.

"Count me in!" Angel said. "I got friends who are in all that shit, and I'm not just gonna sit by and watch while they get fucking slaughtered."

Seeing how they were banning together, Steve had no choice but to accept. "Alright.", He said. "I guess we're doing this.", He then looks over at Alastor, asking, "You coming with?"

"Of course.", the Radio Demon answered. "I would never miss out on the opportunity to catch some entertainment."

"Just remember who's side your on.", Vaggie grunted.

"And at least try to help out!", Steve added. That smile on Alastor's face made want to slap him. But from what Vaggie told him, he thought it would not be the best idea. "Alright. Let's go.", He then said as they started to head out the door.

"So, how are were gonna get to the city?" He then asked.

Charlie then said, "Don't worry. We got a ride."

A few minutes later, Steve found himself in a limo along side his new partners.

"This would be fun if we weren't riding into a warzone.", He remarked.

"Weren't you the one who wanted to do this?", Angel asked.

Steve answered, "Well, I was planning on going alone. But, here we are."

"Just relax, Steve.", Charlie said in calming tone. "We'll make it through this."

"I would hope so.", He said as the limo rode into the city...

Chapter Text

At the moment, the limo was driving through the streets of Pentagram City as well as it could, considering there were a ton of abandoned/turned over cars. Inside, the main party sat, each of them having mixed emotions about this whole thing. Charlie sat nervous, rubbing her arms and feeling her eyes shake while they head into unknown danger. Vaggie clenched her spear as tightly as she could, having only the thought of protecting Charlie at the moment. Her eye's moved to Steve, who was looking down on the floor while having his dual Lugers in hand. He was rather expressionless, with his red/white hair slightly covering his glowing red eyes. Angel Dust sat with guns hand as well, looking out the window at the destroyed city that laid before them. Alastor looked rather okay with the whole thing, but that was normal. He simply had one leg over the other and wore a closed smile instead of his normal toothy smile. Vaggie and Charlie could tell that was to show that even Alastor was having mixed emotions about this whole thing...

"...I just realized that half of us aren't properly armed for this armed."

The sound of Steve's voice mad every head turned towards him, seeing how he still hung his head low.

"We might need to get you girls some guns when we can.", he said, talking to Charlie and Vaggie.

"...You don't have to worry about that.", Vaggie said. "We can manage with what we got."

But Steve shook his head and said, "It's not enough. In my line of 'work', what you have to do is make sure never to let them come close to touching you. Make every shot count by hitting them in their weak spot."

"What would they're weak spot be?", Angel Dust asked.

"The head, mostly.", Steve answered. "Just blow enough bullets in them to make sure their heads explode. It's how you make sure they stay down."

"Anything else that we need to know about, Steven?", Alastor then asked.

Steve sighed as he continue on with his advice, "Don't get yourself cornered by any of them. Don't waste any ammo. Put ALL of you weapons to work. And don't. Stop. Moving. And again...it's just Steve."

Alastor's smile brightened at Steve's irritation, but the seriousness in his voice could be felt by everyone, but it was then interrupted by the limo crashing. It felt like it hit something in the front, something hard...really hard, as it made the entire car flip and land upsidedown. The passengers inside landed onto the ceiling and struggled to recover from the impact.

"Ugh... Is everyone okay?", Charlie asked.

"I'll be alright.", Vaggie grunted.

"I'm fine.", Steve answered.

"Mmmm...", said Angel, who landed on his face.

Then Charlie looks around and realized they're missing a person.

"Where's Alastor?"

Then, the door opened from the outside and grabbed hold of Charlie. It was the Radio Demon himself who was pulling her out of the car while the others crawled out and Steve was surprised to see that Alastor was unscathed...

"How did he do that?!", He asked.

"What can I say?", Vaggie said. "The freak has power."

"I'll take that as a compliment.", Alastor said.

Then one Angel Dust's arm came out of car, with the spider demon saying, "A little help?"

"Why do you need our help?", Steve asked. "You're the one with four arms."

"Well, it wouldn't kill you to be considerate!", Angel growled.

Vaggie looked unamused, saying, "Just get out here, Angel."

Grunting, Angel pulled himself out of the limo and dusted himself while scowling at the others. Vaggie scowled back and Steve rolled his eyes, sensing the hostility between the two. But then, something else came to mind...

"Wait a minute, what about the-"

Before he could finish, the limo exploded...

"...driver?"

"Too late for him now, it seems.", Angel Dust says sarcastically.

"What could've even hit the limo?", Charlie then asked.

"If I were to take a guess...", Alastor began to say as he pointed to a giant hulking silhouette not too far away. "I'd say that fellow may be responsible for this."

Steve squinted his eyes, wanting to get a good look at the towering figure walking towards them. Meanwhile, Vaggie was glaring at the figure as she still had her spear in hand...

"Hey, asshole!", She screamed, "What the fuck is your problem, getting in our way!?"

"I don't think it's a good idea to tell at him like that, Vaggie.", Charlie said.

"So what? What is he gonna do?", She then said.

Steve's eyes then widened as he saw exactly WHAT the hulking figure was. It had a pure white eyes, greyish skin, visible white veins and a scowl. It wore and overcoat, gloves and boots and was stomping straight towards them.

"Guy's we gotta get outta here.", Steve then asked as he put up his guns and aimed at the being.

"Why? What's wrong, Steve?", Charlie asked.

"I know what that thing is.", He answered, sounding scared. "It's nothing good!"

"Why are you so worried?", Vaggie asked.

"Yeah, are you worried about that guy?", Angel added. "Come on. It's not like he's...coming...right...at us?"

That's exactly what it was doing. In fact, it was charging, leaving Steve but no choice but to push the girls and Angel out of the way as the giant slammed it's arm into the burning limo, throwing it at the gang. Steve ducked down as the flaming vehicle came flying at him. It smashed into a nearby building as Steve brought himself back up and pointed his guns at the monster...

"Here we go again!", Steve said, starting to fire.

The shots didn't seem to do anything to slow the giant down as then, Steve took a powerful punch to the gut, making him fall down. Charlie, Vaggie and Angel saw this shocked by things were starting to turn out.

"Steve!", Charlie yelled.

"So, this is what he meant.", Vaggie said, shocked.

"Hey!", Angel yelled, "Leave the kid alone, asshole!"

The spider started to fire his tommy gun at the big guy, who then turned its attention towards him. Angel backed away and pumped as much led into the giant as he could, but it didn't seem to be doing anything. Pretty soon, Angel got himself uppercutted and sent up high.

"Angel! No!", Charlie screamed.

It was enough to make the giant turn to the two girls and walk towards them...

"Okay...", Vaggie said. "I'm starting to see why he was so scared."

Speaking of whom, Steve held onto his stomach as he painfully got back up and pointed both guns at the giant.

"Let's try this again as he started to fire rapidly, causing the giant to shift his attention to Steve once more.

"Drop dead, you son of a bitch!"

Seeing another punch coming his way, Steve dodged as quickly as he could and continued to fire. But he knew, he couldn't keep circling around the guy forever. Thankfully, Angel finally came back down and landed on top of the big guy.

"You giant-ass, leather wearing, fuck-tart!", The spider demon screamed while blasting his guns through the head of the giant. "I'm blowing your head clean off!"

"Perfect timing.", Steve said as he saw the monster about to fall over. Moving away, Steve watched as Angel jumped off and let the big oaf fall to his knees and then onto his face...

"And stay down!", Said Angel as he walked away from the giant and towards Steve.

"Nice work, Angel.", Steve commented. "But the chances of that guy staying down are pretty slim."

Confused, Angel asked, "What do you mean?"

"That thing is called a Tyrant.", Steve explained. "I faced one worst than this one. They had a virus that allows them to recover from almost everything."

Vaggie and Charlie then joined them, with Vaggie asking, "Wait. You're saying that there are others WORSE than this guy?!"

"Yep.", Steve simply answered. "And like I said, they don't die easy."

"Oh, come on!", Angel shouted. "We just shot a thousands holes into this fucker. What are the chances that-"

He didn't finished back a giant hand held him by the neck and he was lifted up off the ground. The three others froze with Vaggie and Steve having their respectable weapons out. But then, something caught Charlie's attention...

"Wait a minute, where's Alastor?", She asked as she and Vaggie looked around.

"Who cares? The guy freaks me out!", Steve yelled. "Plus, we got bigger problems to deal with!"

"NOT ANYMORE!"

Hearing a voice that sounded like it came from a megaphone made the three, plus Angel and the Tyrant turn their heads to see what looked like a military vehicle coming their way. On top of it was a mounted on turret and who was manning it was a familiar looking cyclops demon...

"HANG ON, ANGEL! HELP HAS ARRIVED!"

"C-C-Cherri?", Angel struggled to say.

The explosion obsessed demon started to fire at the Tyrant. A ton of the bullets managed to hit the Tyrant's arm enough to making come clean off, dropping Angel, who was grabbed by the trio as the passenger of the trio came out with a rocket launcher. Firing almost instantly, the the missile was enough to blow up the entire upper body of the Tyrant, as its lower half fell down and started to gush blood.

"Well, that worked.", Steve said as the car came to stop right by them. Coming it out of it was Cherri and two other demons that the others didn't recognize, but was a humanoid demon in a yellow vest and the driver was a hellhound with a red bandana. Angel, who managed to recover from being strangled, rushed over to his friend and two hugged...

"Cherri! Perfect timing, girl! You saved my ass!"

"Like I always do!", Cherri said, happy to see Angel again, but then turning to see Charlie and Vaggie. Vaggie soon recognized and looked not so thrilled at seeing her.

"You again!", Vaggie growled. "Don't think that for a second that this makes up for-"

"Vaggie, please!", Charlie said, grabbing hold of Vaggie's hand. "She just saved our lives!"

"We were lucky to have not been caught in the blast!", Vaggie protested. "I mean, we were literally right next to that thing when they fired at us."

"Sheesh. It's like no one here has appreciation for help.", Brad said.

Angel and Cherri agreed, with Angel saying "Tell us about it."

Vaggie growled and was about to attack them but Steve got in between them all.

"Alright, that's enough!", He said. "We appreciate your help, Cherri. You came just in the nick of time."

Charlie then said, "Yeah. But, how did you know where we are?"

"We were given an anonymous tip by someone who talked over a phone.", Joseph said.

"Yeah. He sounded like he was talking out of a radio.", Brad added.

Charlie then began to ask, "You mean-?"

"That would be me!", Alastor said, coming out of nowhere while holding a phone on his hand, scaring everyone. "I figured that if we would needed a few extra arms, so I took the liberty of calling Angel's pyrotechnic friend on this little thing." He then throws the phone away.

"Oh, is that all that you were doing?", Vaggie said sarcastically. "That's fine. It's not like you're an overload who could've finished off that fucker easily!"

"But what would be the fun in that?", Alastor asked with a smile.

"Enough, Vaggie.", Steve said. "I hate to admit it, but Alastor's right. If we're going to survive, we need numbers and people we can count on."

Vaggie looked to the ground as she took in what Steve said.

"And, if Charlie's business is still standing when this is over...", Steve said, making Vaggie look at Brad and Joseph. "We might need...clients?"

"You really think these guys would make good clients for us?", She then asked.

"Do you doubt anything and anyone who shows up at your door?", Steve asked back and Vaggie glared at him.

"Whatever.", Vaggie said. "I can only agree that we'll need help."

"A lot more help than just these guys.", Steve added.

The demon in the yellow vest walked over to Steve and Vaggie, saying, "There's a lot more of us who'd be willing to help you guys if you're up for it. My name's Brad, by the way."

"And I'm Joseph.", The hellhound said.

It was then that that Steve got a good look at the badges Brad and Joseph wore and realized something. "Wait a minute. You guys were S.T.A.R.S."

"Well, it's nice to get some recognition around here.", Brad said.

"You now these guys, Steve?", asked Charlie.

"They were the, uh...the elite police unit of Raccoon City.", Steve explained. "They were the best."

"Raccoon City?", Angel laughed at the name. "We're you guys famous for-"

"Yes, we were famous for Raccoons.", Brad answered, irritated.

"Not anymore.", Steve then said. "I heard Raccoon got bombed."

"What?!", Joseph said.

"Doesn't surprise me.", Brad said. "After what I saw there, it'd make sense for them to do that. Bomb the city...sanitize the area...leave nothing behind."

Brad sighed as he took out his Samurai Edge pistol, and remembered a good friend of his.

"...Hope you're still alive, Jill."

The others were confused, but the moment was cut short by the sound of moaning and groaning coming from every angle. Zombies demons were coming the alley ways, the manholes, out of cars or buildings, leaving the gang surrounded.

"...So.", Cherri then said. "Does this mean we're all working together?"

"Looks that way.", Steve said.

"Get ready, everyone!", Brad yelled out. "And don't get eaten!"

"Good tip.", Angel said.

"Time for some more fun, it would seem!", Alastor said as shots started to get fired...

Meanwhile, in an unfamiliar city in Hell, there was someone monitoring everything that was going on in the other cities. That was until he got a call.

"Speak.", The person said in a really bad british accent.

"Dr. Birkin has been delivered and now under command."

"Good.", Said the person. "He will prove useful until we have all that we need from him." And then the person hung up and continue to watch the monitors...

"In the meantime...I think we should...dethrone a few so called 'Overlords'.", He says without any emotion on his face.

Chapter Text

The gang was still fighting back against the zombie-demon horde that surrounded them, with Steve, Brad and Joseph blowing their heads off, Angel and Cherri blasting them away, back-to-back, Vaggie slashing through them with her spear while protecting Charlie, who couldn't really fight at the moment, and Alastor who merely stood still where he was and slaughtered any walking corpse that came near him...

"Man, this brings back unsettling memories!", Steve screamed out.

"Agreed!", Brad said. And Joseph said, "Ditto!"

"Does this kind of stuff happen a lot around you guys?!", Angel yelled out.

To which Brad answered, while smacking a zombie with his gun, "You. Have. No. I. Dea!"

Then Joseph brought out a shotgun, saying, "At least there are no dogs!"

"Aren't you a dog?", Vaggie asked while pulling out her spear from a zombie's skull.

"Yeah, and I hate being a dog!", Joseph yelled.

"I don't blame him.", Brad said while reloading. "It's a long story. We'll tell you later."

"This would be going a whole lot faster if everybody pitched in and fought back!", Steve yelled, pointing out to Charlie.

"I'm sorry, but...I can't!", She yelled out. "These were my people! All I wanted was to help them!"

Brad then realized something, as he blew off another zombie's head, "Wait, weren't you laughed at on live TV?"

"Oh yeah! I should've recognized you!", Joseph said, reloading his shotgun. "That song was kinda weird, if I'm honest."

"Well, if you assholes don't like the idea, you can go fuck each other and throw yourselves to the zombies!", Vaggie yelled out, angry at the two S.T.A.R.S members.

"That's not what we're say at all!", Brad said, firing more bullets. "Like the kid said, you're gonna need more clients at your hotel when this is over. We'll be more than happy to check in!"

"Really?! You mean it?!", Charlie asked excitingly.

"Yeah.", Joseph said, suddenly aiming towards Charlie. "But for now, get down!"

Charlie quickly ducked as Joseph blasted a zombie that was right behind her. The horde was now entirely dead and the street they were on was caked in their bloody corpses.

"Well, looks like that was the last of them.", Steve said, before turning towards Charlie. "And you were some help, princess."

"Hey! Leave her alone!", Vaggie told Steve. "If she doesn't want to fight, don't force her! This is hard on her!"

"Sometimes, you gotta close your heart to this type of stuff.", Steve said. "Making the hard decisions, that's how we survive."

Then Angel was starting to say, "But you do know that-"

"We're already dead. I get it.", Steve said, irritated. "But you can keep on not fighting forever, Charlie. If this is gonna go how I think it is, then you WILL need to make the hard decision."

Vaggie glared at Burnside while Charlie had her head down, reluctantly. Eventually, she said, "...You're right, Steve." It caught the attention of Vaggie, who looked surprised at what she said. "We all need to fight.", She said. "And I'm willing to pitch in any way I can."

Steve gave her nod while Vaggie still held her glare at him. Then Brad broke the growing silence, saying, "It's...not safe to stay out here. We should head back to Enrico."

"Who's Enrico?", Angel asked.

"Our captain.", Joseph answered. "He's waiting for us at a Garage we made our basecamp."

"I'm guessing you want us to come with?", Cherri asked.

"If you want.", Brad answered. "We got all kinds of gear and weapons you can use."

"Even explosives?", She then asked, curious and excited.

"Well, we do have grenade launchers.", Joseph pointed out.

Cherri then immediately said, "I'm in."

"Count me in too!", Angel said afterwards.

"I guess we're all going then.", Steve then said.

"Hold up.", Vaggie started to say. "We didn't agree to-"

"Vaggie, please.", Charlie said in a pleading tone.

Reluctantly, Vaggie said, "Alright."

"But...just wait one moment.", Charlie said before turn to Alastor. "Al, can you go back to the hotel and make sure it's safe?"

"Of course.", Alastor agreed. "I do my best in taking great care of my investments."

"Thanks, Alastor.", Charlie said as the Radio Demon then vanished.

"You sure it's good idea letting him keep an eye on the place?", Steve then asked Charlie.

"I'll have to agree with Steve.", Vaggie said. "Charlie, we both know Alastor isn't the most trustworthy person."

"But he does have the power to keep the place safe.", Charlie said. "Besides, two of his people are back over there. I don't think even Alastor is shallow enough to leave them for dead."

Steve and Vaggie admitted Charlie had a point there. And with that, they all decided to follow Brad and Joseph as they continued down the street.

"Wait, why can't we just take the car?", Cherri asked.

Brad then points to a smoldering wreckage that was their vehicle. "Does that answer your question?"

"Oh yeah.", Cherri awkwardly said.

And with that, they moved forward.

Meanwhile, Alastor was right outside the hotel and saw the front entrance had zombies swarming. Not that it mattered to him as he knew they were nothing but walking corpses that were easily passable. But before he could take another step, the sound of a gun clicking was close to his head.

"Alastor...you will come with me quietly.", Said a deep voice in a terrible british accent. Alastor turned his head to see that a male humanoid demon, who's skin was plane with black spots around his face, blonde slicked back hair and glowing, venomous eyes staring at him through sunglasses. He wore a black, checkered trench coat over other black clothing that suited him very well.

"My friend...", Alastor began to say. "You'd be wise at putting that gun of yours down.", Then his eyes turned to radio nobs and his voice distorted even more. "Do you have any idea...what I could do to you?"

The man remained un-phased as he still had his gun pointed at the Radio Demon's head. "No...", He simply said. "Not that it's any concern. I simply wish to see what exactly you are."

"Oh, is that all?", Alastor said, now back to normal. "If you wanted, you could've just asked. I would be more than happy to-"

He didn't finish what he was gonna say when the man shot him in the head. "Nothing says that I need you in one piece.", The man then grabbed hold of Alastor and began to drag him away. But then he felt a hand grab hold of his shoulder and look back to the Radio Demon up and about, with blood streaming down his head.

"Bad move."

And with that, Alastor punches the man away from him, but was surprise to see him land flawlessly back on his feet.

"Now you've gotten me interested in who you are.", He said.

The man replied, "Who I am doesn't matter. What I plan to do does."

"And that would be?", the curious Radio Demon asked.

"You'll play a small part in it.", The man said. "But for now...it appears I'm going to have to soften you up."

That made Alastor chuckle, as he then asked, "And how do you plan on doing that?"

At a snap of his fingers, the man something heed his neck and call, something that made Alastor's eyes widen. Dogs. Zombie dogs. Hungry looking zombie dogs, who could smell deer meet. The man simply smirked as the dog went straight towards Alastor...

"Oh, shit."

Back to Steve, Charlie, Vaggie, Angel, Cherri, Brad and Joseph. They walked through the destroyed streets until the reached a garage with someone standing on top of the ceiling. Brad motions for everyone to stop, as he points out that the sinner has a gun in his hands, a grenade launcher to be exact. But the gun was lowered when the person seemed to recognize Brad, jumping down to meet him.

"Forest.", Brad greeted his partner. "Keeping watch, I see."

Forest was a crow demon, wearing a torn up vest, a winged sword tattoo on his left arm, slicked back 'hair' and along side his grenade launcher was a semi-auto rifle and his sidearm samurai edge...

"Where have you too been?", He said, not sounding to be in a good mood. "And who are the others? Survivors?"

"They're our new partners.", Joseph said. To which Brad added, "We met while fighting through hordes of zombies...and other things."

He didn't want to say it, but Forest still couldn't believe that all this was happening. Last thing he remembered from his mortal life was a bunch of freaky looking crows ganging up on him, then he shows up here as one, and the same shit he to go through in that mansion continues to happen here. But he didn't want to focus on that as his eyes moved to the others.

"They don't look all too useful.", He said bluntly, getting glares from Steve and Vaggie. Then he motions over to Charlie, soon asking, "Isn't she that girl who sang that weird song on TV months ago?"

"Old news. Let's move on already.", Charlie said, irritated.

"Agreed.", Brad said. "Let's just take them inside, and we'll talk about a plan of action."

Forest reluctantly agreed as he opens the garage door and they all head inside. When they all got in, they found that the garage had a few others, all with matching vests and weaponry...

"Guys...", Brad began. "Meet the S.T.A.R.S."

There was Richard Aiken, who was a sinner with snake like skin, teeth and eyes, having huge bite marks on his left arm, wearing an orange vest and had with him combat shotgun and ak-74. Kenneth J. Sullivan, wearing a green vest, who's skin was pale and his eyes white like Brad's, having a visible cut mark around his neck and looking like the flesh of his face was bitten off; he sported his own Samurai Edge and an FN Minimi. Edward Dewey, no different from Brad or Kenneth, only that his mouth was covered in blood and his vest was blue, having a Scoped Samurai Edge and a H&K PGS1. Kevin Dooley, a hellhound like Joseph, wearing a black vest and pilot's helmet, but he didn't have any weapons on him, just packet of cigarettes. And lastly, their captain, Enrico Marini, wearing a brown vest and looking much like Brad and Sullivan, having red blood stains on his forehead and side, armed with his own custom Samurai Edge and a Chemical Flamethrower.

The others were rather confused, except for Steve, who knew about these guys and considered this to be quite the privilege, had it been under different circumstances.

"I've...heard about you guys.", He started to say to them. "...Kinda wanted to be like you when I was kid."

"You wanted to be a cop?", Angel Dust said.

"We're not just cops." Richard hissed. "We're S.T.A.R.S. Special Tactics And Rescue Service. And we take our job...very seriously."

"Easy, Richard.", Enrico told his Communications Expert.

"The lot of good it did you.", Cherri said. "To wind up down here. I can only imagine what you did to earn your place here."

"We did nothing to deserve this.", Forest said to the cyclops. "Unlike you."

"I think I remember you from when I was like 35.", Kenneth said to Cherri. "I saw you blow yourself up outside my neighborhood."

Cherri began to glare at the S.T.A.R.S. members, who did the same to her. But eventually, Vaggie decided to butt in.

"Look, are we just gonna fucking stand here all day, or are we gonna figure out what to do next?"

"Hmph...", Enrico huffed. "Well, if you really must now, we've been trying to track down the source of the outbreak." He then shows everyone a table that had a map of Pentagram City's and the Neighboring Cities around it.

"Brad and Joseph were doing recon, gathering supplies for us.", Forest explained as the two joined in.

"But when I was out there, I saw him.", Brad said, sounding a little shaken up.

"Who?", Charlie asked.

Brad took a moment before answer, "...Wesker."

"Albert Wesker?!", Steve asked, not wanting to have heard that name.

"Oh great.", Angel said sarcastically. "Another guy I have no idea about."

"Hey, I don't know about him either.", Vaggie said which was a surprise to Angel. "Me neither.", Charlie also admitted, knowing that Steve and the S.T.A.R.S. would have to break the ice. "Would you guys care to explain?"

"Alright...", Enrico said. "Wesker...was part of S.T.A.R.S. once before, being the Leader of the Alpha Team while I was in command of Bravo."

Then Enrico began to reminisce about the times S.T.A.R.S was around and the relationship Wesker had with his so-called colleagues...

"He was a strange man who showed out of the blue, rather...emotionless, sometimes isolated from the rest of the team...but I would admit he was a good leader out in the field...but I should've known that he was playing with us the whole time."

He then remembers when Wesker shot him dead, ultimately betraying the team and revealing his true attentions...

"It turns out he worked for Umbrella.", Brad began to explain. "A corporation that practically ran Raccoon City."

"Well, we know that part.", Charlie interrupted.

"Steve told us.", Vaggie said, pointing out to Steve, who waved.

"Anyway, we thought he died at the mansion where most of us perished.", Brad continued.

"And...did he?", Angel asked.

"No.", Steve then said, angrily. "I saw him...when I died. He used my body, knowing that it still had the virus in it, and took what he needed and got rid of no longer needed."

He slammed his fists on the table and felt them start to grow burning hit for a second as everyone was startled by his outrage. Yet, Charlie couldn't help but feel bad for the guy, knowing that he was used for what Wesker had planned.

"I'm sorry, Steve.", She told him, placing her hand on his shoulder, only to retract, given that he was steaming hot.

"Anyway...", Enrico continued. "We found out that he died and arrived here about 6 years, but we've yet to apprehend him. He vanishes with the wind and leaves to track him with."

"And you're sure that he's the cause of this?", Vaggie asked.

"He's a primary suspect.", Brad answered. "But we doubt he's working alone."

"Who else could he be working with?"

"...I can think of someone.", Steve then said. "If he had connections with Umbrella, then I know someone who might just be aligned with him."

"Are you talking about Alexia Ashford?", Charlie said as Steve cringed at the name.

"And even her shithead of a brother.", He told her. "Wesker wanted the virus Alexia's family had developed. If she's here...then it's possible that she may find opportunity in working with him."

"Well that's just fucking great.", Vaggie said. "Two fucking virus-spreading assholes that MIGHT be the source of a this."

"There could be more.", Enrico then said.

"Seriously?"

"It's a possibility.", He replies. "I saw more than just Wesker when I was at the mansion and even before then."

"Yeah, me too.", Brad says. "There's more than just a few people. This is something else. Something big."

Feeling out of place and wanting to back into the action, Cherri decided to speak up.

"Well, this is been fun, but I'm kinda wanting to head back out and take back my turf."

"By yourself?", Richard asked.

"You're gonna get yourself killed.", Sullivan added.

"Yeah, well, wouldn't be the first time."

Before she left, she looked at the Grenade Launcher Forest had with him and smirked.

"Hey, you wouldn't mind if I borrow that baby of yours would you?"

"Yes, I would mind, actually.", Forest answered before pointing to his left.

"But you can have that one, over there."

Smiling, Cherri picked herself a Milkor Grenade Launcher and decided to take her leave.

"Don't die in us, Cherri.", Angel tells her.

"You know me better than that, Angel.", She tells him as she leaves. "I'd worry about my own hide if I were you."

"You think it's a good idea letting her leave with one of our weapons?", Edward asks, almost sounding mad.

"Hey, don't worry about it.", Angel says casually. "She knows what she's doing...I think."

"Alright.", Enrico said. "Let's just get back to planning."

Then Brad said, "Right. When's our next move, captain?"

Back at the Hotel, Niffty took it upon herself that the entire place was secure. As such, she boarded up the windows, blocked all entrances and exits, and barricaded the front door with everything she could find. All the while, Husk was at the bar, sleeping, but Niffty did leave a double barrel shotgun for him...

While wiping her brow, she said, "Whoo! All done! We are now secure!"

But then something blasted through the barricade and made Niffty fall on her face. She saw the silhouette of a familiar figured and feared the worst...

"AAAHH! A ZOMBIE!"

She then started throwing everything she could a high speed, but the dodged it all as everything she through went back to the front door, practically rebuilding the barricade. When she was out of things to throw, she took a breather and saw who the figure was.

"Mr. Alastor?"

Yep. But Alastor looked like he's seen better days. His suit was torn, he was covered bloody scratches and bite marks, he was even missing teeth and Niffty was pretty sure he could see his intestines sticking out. Husk then woke up from all the commotion and was surprised to see the state the Radio Demon was in.

"Jesus, Al. What the fuck happened to you?"

"I'm fine.", Alastor said, sounding out of breath himself, looking behind to show that there was a zombie corpse that was crushed under the barricade. "Well, he's not..."

And then, he falls to the ground, forcing Niffty and Husk to check up on him. Before he did, Husk looks out a window to see the shit storm that was going on outside and in the city.

"Alright, what'd I miss?", He asks.

"It's a long story.", Nifty replies.

Chapter Text

Meanwhile, at Imp City, Blitzø from I.M.P. was busy...being bored in his office.

"Man, I am fucking bored."

Business has been slow today, as no new clients have come bursting in. In fact, the whole town seems to have gone silent, which wasn't exactly normal for a city in Hell. I mean, there were the sounds of car crashes going on, but even that seemed to be out of the ordinary. It was then that Moxxie came rushing through the door, looking panicked.

"SIR! HOLY FUCK!"

"What the shit, Moxxie?! You scared me!", Blitzø So what crawled up your ass?"

"Have you not looked at the news today, sir!?"

"Who watches the news?", The boss said jokingly

"Would you just-?!", Moxxie said, sounding a little more irritated now as he grabs Blitzø's hand and pulls him out of his office. "Come see for yourself!"

Turning on the tv, Moxxie showed Blitzø what was going on down in Pentagram City, and it appears there's some of the shit was beginning to spread towards the neighboring towns, Imp City included.

"Huh.", Blitzø said, not giving much of a reaction. "Well, there's nothing to really worry about!"

"What do you mean?", Moxxie ask.

"That shit's obviously fake!", Blitzø explained. "The chances of an actual zombie invasion going on in hell seems kinda, oh I don't know...fucking ridiculous. Don't you think, Mox?"

"Maybe...", Moxxie answer. "But I can't help but think this is really happening! And I'm even more worried, because Millie's out there all alone! And if anything were to happen to her-"

"Mox, Mox! You're overreacting!", Blitzø told his employee, sound reassuring. "Trust me. There is no way in Hell, there is an actual zombie invasion going on."

Suddenly, the door was kicked opened, and the two demons looked to see Millie coming in a hurry. Moxxie was shocked to see she was scratched, bruised and her clothing half torn as she slammed the door shot and braced her back against it, panting...

"Millie, what happened!?", He asked panickingly, going over to comfort his wife.

"I don't know!", Millie answered. "First thing I knew was that I was coming back here, when I saw some strange looking demons. They were pale and their eyes were a different shade of red and orange! They were walking towards me, saying stuff in spanish!"

"Spanish?", Blitzø and Moxxie said, confused.

"And then, the next thing i know, they attacked!", She said, grabbing hold of Moxxie's shirt and pulling him close to her face! "I barely got out of there with my life! IT WAS FUCKING CRAZY!"

"Okay...", Blitzø said. "Mox...clearly, Millie is on some drugs right now. So, I'll just go get something to help out with that while you-"

"Sir! What if she's actually telling the truth?!", Moxxie said. "Something horribly wrong is going on today, and we can't just ignore it!"

"Well, of course we can!", Blitzø said. "We safe in here, having a place that's...not exactly up to code, but still! And we got a shit ton of weapons, so trust me! We're fine."

"Boss?", Millie started to say. "Didn't you send Loona to go get some stuff for you?"

It was then that Blitzø's face gave a ? expression, as he then scrambled to his office to get a whole lot of supplies. Soon, he was armed to the teeth as he ran to the door...

"HOLD ON LOONI! DADDY'S COMING!"

But then, he ran into the door and fell back down.

"Oh, boy.", Moxxie said.

Speaking of Loona, she was busy walking down the street with a bag full of stuff, being groceries, items...weapons, ammo...it was a really heavy bag. Not that she cared, she's used to getting stuff for Blitzø, plus lifting all this heavy stuff helps her get jacked. However, as she was walking down the street, a demon came out of nowhere and practically tackled her.

"Hey! What the fuck!?"

She could almost feel the demon's maw nearly reaching her throat before she pushed him away. She dropped the bag of stuff, which pissed her off a little...

"Shit! You got some nerve-!"

She stopped mid-sentence when she saw condition the other demon was in. It was an imp, that was however pale in it's red color and it's eyes were a mix of red and orange. It's body and clothes were dirty and what it said to Loona next caught her off next...

"¿Qué carajos estás haciendo aquí, forastero? ¡Debería matarte, perra estúpida!"

"What?!"

Then the demon pulled out a knife and tried to stab Loona. Rolling out of the way, Loona then got to the bag and pulled out a 9mm handgun. She quickly fired at the demon, managing to get a fire bullets and watched as the mysterious imp fall down the floor.

"Was the guy speaking spanish?", She said, before turning her head upon hearing noise; the sound of glass breaking and cars crashing into each other, more intensely than what she's heard before. "What the fuck is going on?"

Her attention then turned to the imp she just gunned down rising back up, almost is if it were a puppet on strings. Loona got scared to see the imp's face begin to shake and rumble, until it imploded and a blob of sharp tentacles came out as the demon's body still walked slowly towards Loona.

"Oh shit!"

Before any of the tentacles came slashing at her, a van came in, running over the demon. Loona was trying to catch her breath as she saw the driver was NOT someone she knew, but was a humanoid sinner, having pale grey skin and brown/grey hair. His eyes were a mixture orange with yellow scleras and visible black bags underneath them. He had a black goatee and was a wearing a brown leather vest over a dirty long sleeve shirt.

"Oh, thank God! I thought I was-"

Once again, before she could finish, she was caught off guard when the driver pulled out a Mauser C96 pistol with a red 9 engraved in the handle. At first, Loona was kinda grateful, now she's once again pissed...

"Okay, what the fuck?!"

"Are you infected? Did las plagas claim you?", The man asked, having a Spaniard accent.

"What?", Loona said, confused. "What are you talking about?"

Seeing that the hellhound was confused by what he was asking was enough for the man to lower his weapon, saying "So you're not one of them. It's not safe for you."

"Yeah, no shit.", Loona said, still a lot pissed. "Now, you mind answering my questions? What the fuck is going?!"

"I see you don't keep up with news.", The man said sarcastically. Soon, the two of them heard some commotion, coming close to where they were, more of those infected demons came walking towards the van, holding various types of weapons, like knives, axes, broken glass. The man sighed as he then unlocked to the door to his van. "Come with me of you want to live."

Not seeing much a choice in the matter at hand, Loona headed over to the passenger seat, and as soon as she was in, the sinner floored it and ran over as many demons as he could.

"My name is Luis.", the man introduced himself. "Luis Sera."

"Loona.", the hellhound replied. "And right now, I'd rather here a fucking explanation, than your name, Luis."

Sighing, Luis could see that Loona was a grateful person and decided to simply to say, "Those demons...they were infected by a parasite...that I helped weaponized during the time I was alive."

"A parasite, huh? I know the feeling.", Loona said.

"No, you don't.", Luis replied, sounding serious. "This parasite is an ancient one.", he explained. "Known only as 'Las Plagas'. Originating deep underground and infecting all who came in contact with it."

"Including you, I imagine.", Loona said. 'And you said you helped 'weaponize' this shit?"

"Yes, I am mostly to blame, but-"

"Save it.", she interrupted. "If you're really responsible, then you owe all of Hell a huge explanation."

"And what are you going to do about it?", Luis said, before hearing the clicking of a gun and saw that Loona was holding a gun to his head. He didn't looked so faced, and even surprised Loona a little when he then pressed his head against the barrel of the gun. "Shoot me, and we both die."

"I wouldn't worry about me right now.", Loona said. "Now here's what you're gonna do. Drive over to where I work so that I can go see if my friends are okay."

"And if I don't, you shoot me and this van still crashes.", Luis tried to retaliate.

The hellhound replied,"Like I said, I'm not worried." But then, the sound of a car screeching in front of them made Luis look to see they were about to crash anyway. Just as he hits the break, the two vehicles collide. Thankfully, they were still in one piece...

*VAN ENGINE BURSTS INTO FLAMES*

Mostly...

"Ugh...Nice driving, dumbass!", Loona growled.

Luis replied, "You're the one who distracted me! I'm starting to regret saving you."

"I didn't really ask for your help!", Loona said.

"But you still accepted it!", Luis argued.

The hellhound groaned as she looks over to the car they just crashed into, and realized it was another van, one she recognized.

"I know this van.", she said, getting out to get a better look. "Guys? You in there?"

The door to the driver seat was kicked opened and Blitzø came tumbling out. He soon recovered and was happy to see his adopted daughter in front of him. He ran to hug, but she held him back with her hand.

"Loonie! I'm so glad we found you!", He said with a muffled voice.

Loona, still holding him back, said, "Yeah, yeah. Glad to see you too, Blitzø."

Then Moxxie and Millie came out with guns, with Millie saying, "We were out looking for you when we saw the whole city got into some deep shit."

"The whole city?", Loona asked, still holding back Blitzø.

"Yeah, and spreading.", Moxxie said. "But it's not as bad as it could be."

"Yeah. It's not like it's a purge or something.", Mille added.

Moxxie shivered at the word 'purge', as he barely survived one before. "Don't remind me.", He said.

"Oh, honey. I know that must've been terrifying for you.", Millie said remorseful, wanting to comfort her husband. "It sure as hell was for me."

With Blitzø giving up on trying to hug Loona, he said, "We were all scared of losing you, Mox." His employee felt a little touched by that. "Then, there would've been no one to tease and spy on daily."

Then Moxxie frowned as things were back to normal.

"Well, it seems you all found each other.", Luis finally spoke up, getting everyone's attention. "I'll just get out of your way then."

"Hold on, who the fuck are you?", Blitzø said angrily.

"He's the shithead responsible for all this." Loona answered, and it was enough to get Blitzø to aim a gun at Luis.

"So all this is your fucking fault, huh?!", He yelled out at Luis, who was still walking away. "Hey, stop walking! You need to pay for all the shit you've pulled!"

Then Luis stopped and sighed, turning around the face the I.M.P., saying, "Perhaps I could try to make something clear to you...but you don't look like the type who would give me a chance to talk."

Then Blitzø lowered his gun, confused, saying "What?"

"Who even are you, anyway?", Moxxie then asked.

Luis huffed, then saying, "Do yourselves a favor...and get the hell out of this city." Then he began to walk away again. "I'm Luis, by the way. Luis Sera."

The gang just stood there confused as then, more of the infected imps started coming out of nowhere.

"¡Aquí están!"

"¡Te voy a hacer picadillo!"

"¡Mátalos! ¡Todos ellos!"

"Sííííí, ¡Quiero matar!"

"¡No dejes que se escapen!"

"Why are they all speaking spanish?", Moxxie asked, a little frightened by how monstrous they sounded.

"Who fucking cares?!", Blitzø said, bringing his gun back up! "Just fucking kill them!"

"If it's all the same to you guys, I'm gonna hide in the van!", Loona said, locking herself up in the vehicle.

"Not a problem at all, Loonie!", said Blitzø. "Stay out of trouble."

"We're seriously gonna let her sit this one out?", Millie asked.

"I'm gonna make one thing straight to all these fuckers.", Blitzø said while bringing out and cocking another gun.

"Nobody messes with my kid."

"I'm not your kid, Blitzø's!" Loona yelled out.

Meanwhile, somewhere in Imp City, was there a sinner watching over everything. A man dressed in robes and having no legs by tentacles underneath, and his body was held up by giant parasitic like arms that came at his shoulders. He had sharp fangs coming out of the side of his head and had a tentacle for a right arm, which held a staff that seemed to be made from living tissue. And at the moment, was he talking to someone on the radio...

"No, of course not, Mr. Wesker. We are on equal footing here.", He spoke into the radio, with a terrible spaniard accent. "Soon, I will have full control of the inhabitants of this small little town, while you have the share you had wished for."

"Just keep your end of the bargain and stay on my good side.", A voice spoke out through the radio. "I don't need a reason to obliterate you."

"Oh, Wesker. The way you talk is nothing but a cliche.", The man said.

"I can say the same about you. Now, continue with your work."

With that, the sinner dropped the radio and watched Imp City lay itself to waste from where he stood. Then, coming behind him was a short little man who looked to be no older than 10, but was actually in his early 20's. He wore a suit that looked much like Napoleon's uniform. His skin was pale, but have his face suit muscle tissue and his eyes were glowing red.

"So, my Lord.", He spoke out in a better spaniard accent. "Where do we go from here?"

"For now, all must run it's course, old friend." The man said to the short guy. "So let us simply enjoy the scenery."

And the two watched as Imp City was started to go up in smoke.

Chapter Text

Somewhere hidden from the rest of the city, the Three V's, Vox, Valentino and Velvet could see everything that was happening through monitors, outside the window and on their phones, as Velvet scrolled through hers to find anything that did not involve a zombie infestation. Even to them was it unbelievable that this was happening, a goddamn zombie outbreak in Hell of all realms. Not that it hardly mattered to them, as they believed themselves to be safe from where they stood. Val only hoped that his place of business and interest were still in one peace by the time this comes to an end. Otherwise, he would take his frustrations on one of his favorite employees...

"I'm so bored.", Velvet said to brake the silence. "When the hell is this shit gonna be done?"

"Shut it, Velvet.", The TV head, Vox said. "In case you haven't noticed, this shit has spread fast and thick. Cameras are even showing some other weird ass shit going down in Imp City. Chances are, it'll be spreading everywhere."

Velvet then childishly asked, "Then why don't we fucking do something about it? I mean, we have the money and resources, don't we? Plus, if we use that snake guy and whatever the fuck he can build, we can finished in no time."

"...Maybe.", Valentino finally spoke out, as he stared out a window, watching pillars of smoke rise out of Pentagram City, taking a whiff from his cigarette as well. "But chances are that Pentious is already zombie chow. We ain't gonna risk goin' out there and becomin' the same thing."

"It's not like staying here will make things any better for us, Val.", Vox replied. "In case you haven't noticed, our businesses are being crippled by this shit. This is worse than a fucking purge, because it's not gonna end."

The sound of seriousness and a hint of concern made the two other Overlords look at Vox, as if he was being out character.

"I know it. You two it. This shit ain't ending any time soon."

"Are you saying that we're not even safe here?", Growled Val. "That by some coincidence, those so-called zombies are gonna end up finding us here?"

"I'm not saying that at all.", Vox replied as the two got close into each other's faces. "But our position as Overlords are in jeopardy if we don't act now."

Just then, an alarm went off and the three had went over to look at the monitors. It seemed their security has been breached; and by breached, I mean what goons they had hired to protect them were ripped apart, bursting into flames, melting into white shit or are being injected with other shit coming from the several silhouettes that were making their way to the safe house of the Three V's. Vox, Val and Velvet couldn't believe it as soon, there was some very banging on the doors, and pretty soon, they buddy open to show about five shadowy figures standing there.

"What the hell?!", Val screams out.

"Who are you?", Vox asked. "And how the fuck did you find us here?"

The shadows said nothing as the one in front of them all stepped forward and the V's could see one of his eyes glowing red.

"This is what this dimension takes for Overlords?", it said in a male british voice. "You three clowns hardly look like threats to me."

"Do you know not who we are?", Val growled.

"Oh, I know very much who you are.", The shadows replied. "And I blame myself for expecting anymore other than this."

Val would not stand for being mocked as he decides to take out his cane when another one of the silhouettes suddenly shot a needle into the Moth Demon's neck with an injected in her hands. The overlord began to feel his body change from the inside out as Vox and Velvet could see the vanes rising onto his neck and Val falls to the floor.

"W-What shit did you hit me with, you fucker?", He said, holding his neck where the dart landed.

"Oh, just something that my lady in white here has worked on perfecting for a while.", The first silhouette said.

Then a woman's voice in a seductive tone had said, "At first, you'll feel afraid. But don't worry. You'll just become a mindless monster for us to dominate."

"...N-No.", Val struggled to say. "Not again...N-Never again..."

The first silhouette turned to the second, saying "Send him out into the city, and have him find Ms. Magne.", He then turns to Vox and Velvet, who try their best to hide their rising fear. "Now...what 'gift' should I waste on the two of you?"

Back with Charlie, Angel, Vaggie and Steve, along with the S.T.A.R.S, they were busy arming themselves up for battle and even decided that if they're all gonna stuck around each other, Charlie and Vaggie needed to be properly armed as well.

"Take this.", Enrico said, giving Vaggie a Beretta 92FS. "It's not as pretty as ours, but it'll get the job done."

"Got anything else you can spare?", Vaggie asked, reluctantly taking the pistol.

"Unfortunately, no.", The captain answered. "Truth is, we've been running low on equipment for a while. All we can spare now are handguns and that launcher your cyclops friend ran off with."

"Technically, she's not our friend. Just Angel's.", Charlie said, pointing to the spider demon, who was putting a white mafia hat on his hat while examining his Tommy Gun.

He then stopped to take a look at the two doberman Hellhounds and crow demon, who were doing a shell count on their own guns. And with a smug look on his face, he approaches them, moving seductively as he got their attention...

"We haven't been formerly introduced.", He started off saying. "Name's-"

"Ange Dust. We know.", Kevin rudely interrupted.

"What do you want?", Forest then asked, sounding mad.

Angel wasn't appreciating their tone, but was still giving it a shot. "I was just wondering that if any of you had some free time on their hands, maybe we could-"

"Not a chance.", Joseph interrupted.

"Hard pass.", Kevin added.

"Go make someone else puke in their mouth.", Forest then said, making Angel twitch in anger and humiliation after being rejected like that.

"Fine!", He said. "But it's your loss."

"More like our gain.", Kevin said with a smile.

"Do we have to bring him?", Brad asked. "I mean, he's safe enough here. Plus, he feels like dead weight."

"Wha-?"

"I might agree with you on that.", Vaggie said, loading her Beretta. "But in case we make it out of this alive, we need him...for what reason? I'm beginning to question."

"Okay. Anyone else wanna take a cheap shot?", Angel announced. "I've heard it all before.

But Enrico said, "We don't have time for this.", Then he hands a S&W 60 Revolver to Charlie, who was very hesitant at taking it. "I trust you know how to use a gun, you highness?", He asked her.

"I do, but...", Charlie started to say, staring at the gun.

"Don't take it personally.", Steve said. "She's just having mixed feeling about-"

"Forget it.", Charlie sighed, taking the gun. "I can do this." She looks to see 5 shots in the barrel, and she's even given a speed loader from Enrico.

"Don't pressure yourself, hun.", Vaggie said as she puts her gun away. "Are we done here? Are gonna go out now?"

"We're all set.", Enrico said, before turning to the pilot hellhound "Kevin, stay behind and ready the Helicopter incase we need you. The rest of us, let's roll."

Sullivan then opened the garage door and they walked out, heading back into the city. But then, something hit Charlie's mind.

"Hey, uh...", She begins to say, getting everyone's attention. "Do you mind if head back to the hotel right now?"

"Why?", Brad asked.

"Yeah, pretty sure now's not the best time for them to check in, Charlie.", Angel said.

"It's not that.", She replied. "I just wanna make sure it's okay. We do have friends there."

"Wouldn't call Al a friend.", Steve said.

"Agreed, but he...could be of use.", Vaggie hesitated to say, not fully trusting in the Radio Demon.

"What do you think, Captain?", Edward asked Enrico, who stroked his chin. He then began to ask Charlie, "You highness..."

"You can call me Charlie, Enrico.", She tells the captain.

"Charlie...", Enrico began again. "How much space do you have at this hotel of yours?"

"...Plenty.", Charlie curiously said.

"You think we can use it as a base of operations?"

"Hold up.", Vaggie said. "There is no way we're agreeing to letting you use our place of business as-"

"Deal."

"What?! Charlie?!"

"This could be our chance to help others, Vaggie.", Charlie told her girlfriend. "This...is worse than a simple purge. It's not gonna stop. We need to help who can survive."

Seeing the determination in her eyes was enough for Vaggie to side with Charlie on this one.

"You're right.", She said. "Let's do this."

"Enrico, consider the hotel now at your disposal."

"Good.", Forest said. "We've been needing a new place anyway. That old shack was falling apart."

Literally, as the building crumbled before them. And then, the sound of the undead began to rise once again...

"Yeah...we should probably move.", Steve said.

"Never a dull day in this hole.", Angel said as he started aiming his guns. They all took out their firearms and the sound shots fired and guns unloading filled the air.

Alastor wasn't one to accept being nurses back to health, but in this case, he allowed it since he faced one of the worst living things he ever faced.

"I would honestly consider them to be real Hellhounds. As they were feral, undying beasts who were fetching for my non-existent.", He told Niffty who was tending his wounds, and Husk who hung by his bed.

"Can't you just say that they fucking ripped you apart?", The cat demon asked before taking a sip from his bottle.

"I thought, it was implied.", Alastor replied. "And, as for the mysterious fellow who unleashed her vermin, I did managed to get some information that brought up my interest...he said he was looking for Charlie."

Both Niffty and Husk stopped what they were doing when them at came up.

"For what reason, I do not know. But I now believe it is urgent that we call Charlie and tell her about this."

"Ya think?!", Husk said. "Niffty, get on the phone an called the princess right now. I'd do it, but..."

"Not to worry! I'm on it!", Niffty said. "You take care of Mr. Alastor!"

She puts bandages in his hands as she flashes out of the room. Both Husk and Alastor look at each other awkwardly.

"Well, you heard the lady, Husker.", The Radio Demon said, putting his hands behind his head. "You'd best take care of me."

"Do it yourself.", The cat said, throwing at bandages at Alastor as he storms out of the room. The Radio Demon smirked as then, thunder can be heard outside and he looked to see that storm was beginning to brew...

"Well that's just great.", Richard complained in the pissing rain. "Just what we needed after we barely survived a other horde."

"Don't complain, Richard.", Brad said. "A little rain won't hurt us."

"Speak for yourself!", Angel shouted. "These suits don't cost cheap you know."

Then Enrico walked over to Charlie, who was busy trying to reload her gun with the speed loader. It looked a little funny, like someone trying to plug a cord for the first time. She looks at him and released how awkward she was acting.

"Oh, uh...", She began to say. "This might come as a shock, but...I'm not too familiar with revolvers."

"I can see that.", Enrico said with a smirk. "But forget for now. We need to head to your Hotel. You remember the way?"

"I think so.", She answered. "Follow me. It should be straightaways that way."

"She's getting better.", Steve said.

Vaggie retorted, "Give her credit. She's the devil's daughter after all. You don't wanna get her pissed."

"Noted.", replied Steve as they all began to walk down the road.

But their walk was interrupted when zombie cars then came from nowhere and surrounded them. Once more, were they forced to pull out their guns and wait for anyone to make a move on them. But it was then that Charlie lowered her to realize these were her father's loyalists, as one of them stepped out of one of the cars.

"Stand down, or get blown to pieces." It said. "We're here for Ms. Magne.

"For what purpose?", Enrico asked.

"...My father.", Charlie spoke up, stepping forward before Enrico.

"You're highness. You will come with us quietly."

"I can't.", She told the Loyalist. "And it's not because of the hotel, what's happening right now matters to me and these guys need my help as much as I need theirs!"

"That's none of your concern, Ms. Magne.", The Loyalist said. "Your father wishes to see that you brought into safety. The others can come along, but-"

"No! I'm not going, and you can tell my dad that he should deal with this situation too!"

She then steps back and the others form a circle around her.

"Step aside.", The Loyalist asked.

"If the lady doesn't wanna go, then she's not going.", Steve said.

"Agreed.", Said Vaggie, who looked ready to blow some heads off.

Then the Loyalist raised his own gun, saying, "I'll ask you...one more time."

But he didn't get the chance to ask, as suddenly, a car was dropped on top of him and the other cars had burst into flames, either killing or crippling the loyalists. Then a car came right to the gang, and they hit the deck, with Vaggie even tackling Charlie to make sure she stayed down. The car crashes behind them and they got back on their feet to see what the heck was going on. What they were expecting was to encounter someone Angel knew all too well...

"...V-Val?"

Yes, Valentino. Although, he wasn't looking too hot. His face was covering in vines, blood seemed to be dripping from his mouth and wrists and he was...smoking?

"So this is Valentino?", Enrico said.

Vaggie said, "I see you keep up with who's in charge."

"We figured it be a good idea, should we ever plan to overthrow him and his colleges.", Brad said.

"I wouldn't recommend it.", Angel said in fear. "You don't know what he's capable of."

"Oh please.", Steve said. "What's a wannabe pimp gonna-?"

But then Steve stopped when Val gasped and choked in pain. He gripped his neck and looked directly towards Angel, who was beginning to be paralyzed in fear...

"...A-Angel...", He said, his voice sounding distorted. "S-So this...is w-who you...s-surround yourself...with? ... I'm...d-dissapointed in you."

"You okay, Val?", Angel said, shuttering. "You're looking a whole lot shittier than before."

The overlord fell to his knees as he panted and felt what sounded like cracking coming from within him. "D-Don't think...I'm here for you...Angel...it's the devil's little whore that I want...!"

"Me?", Charlie asked in shock, right before Vaggie came by in order to protect her. "No one calls Charlie that!", She said wanting to gut the in pain pimp.

The smoke around Val's body intensified as he screamed in pain and fell to the ground, his claws sinking into the concrete.

"T-Those...bitchy...motherfuckers! H-How dare they do this to me!"

He then roared as suddenly, his entire body had been engulfed in flames and they a stepped back to see him rise back on his feet and reveal his new mutated form. Now naked, his body was now a pale aqua green with cracks exposing his muscle tissue, even on his face and not to mention that his private parts had seemingly vanished. His arms and legs, however, looked burnt and his eyes changed from red to yellow-orange.

He continued to scream in anguish as they raised their guns at him, Angel raising his shakingly as then, three long moth-like appendages sprouted from his back and he jumped high above before landing behind them and returning his ever devilish smile.

"Heh, heh, heh...this feels...nice.", He growled insanely as the others shot at him. He jumped around, using his appendages to backflip and dodge bullets. "Perhaps...I was wrong about them."

"The fuck is he talking about?!", Richard yelled.

"Who fucking cares?!", Angel screamed, blasting wildly. "Just fucking shoot him!"

His bullets didn't even come close to hitting Valentino as he was forced to reload. However, he froze when the moth demon came leaping at him. Thankfully, Steve finally got a shot off of the guy.

"Next time, try aiming, Angel!", He said with a smoking luger in his hand. But then, he was hit by one of the moth legs that sprouted from Val's back. "He couldn't aim even if he tried."

Then, the former pimp jumped into the air and landed on a lamp post as then let out ear piercing shriek. Literally, the entire group had to cover their ears.

"Aw! What attack was that?!", Edward said.

"It wasn't one.", Joseph said. "It was more like a signal!"

"A signal for what?!", Angel asked as suddenly, crawling out of sewers were more decaying zombies covered in sewage. "Nevermind!", He said as he fired at the undead.

"Should've figured this guy had back up!", Brad said as he turned his attention to the zombies. But that was mistake as Val caught him off guard, knocking him and Forest out. The zombies had tried to grab hold of Charlie, who was barely able to fire back when they surrounded her. Luckily, Vaggie went psycho on their asses, chopping them up with her spear.

"Come on, guys! We can take him!", Yelled Richard as he shot at Valentino, who jumped over him and sweeped the snake demon with one of his moth legs. "Like hell, you can!", The mutant overloaded, said as he was about to stab him when Kenneth came and stopped the leg from coming down in his comrade.

"Someone, get him!", He yelled out as Angel ran and saw a glowing point on the leg, realizing it might be a weak point. He shot at it, and Val screamed in pain. "Angel!"

The spider demon shot him repeatedly until his handgun ran out of bullets. Then he throws it at Val, striking him in the face, as he then goes in charge. The pimp tries blocking with one of his legs, but Angel Dust sees another weak spot, grabs hold of it and begins striking it with his fists...

"Ya like that, asshole?!", He cried out, rapidly striking Van without relent. "Am I giving you what you want? Whatever! Just take it! Take it all!"

He continued to punch it until the weakspot broke and Valentino roared in pain as the leg broke to pieces. He used one of his remaining legs to knock Angel away and get back on his own feet.

"If you think I've made things ruff for you before, you haven't felt nothing yet, Angel!"

"Take you best shot, you sad excuse for a pimp.", The spider yelled in rage as he brought out his Chicago Typewriter. All the while, Richard shot at the mutant overlord, only to be knocked down by one of his moth legs. His shotgun was knocked out of his hands as he switched to his handgun and blasted at upcoming zombies. Steve picked up the shotgun and fired at Val's weakspots, unloading until the spot bursts apart and Val groaned in pain.

"You're supposed to be an overlord?", He shouted at the pimp, cocking the shotgun. "You're not even worth a bullet!"

The overlord roared in anger as he leaps to Steve. But Angel said over and grabbed the guy, and the both fired and managed to hit Val's underbelly. As he rolled to the ground, Valentino struggled to get back up as he was holding onto his bloody abdomen. The rest of the S.T.A.R.S. had finished off the zombies as they turned their attention back to the moth demon. Blood dropped from the corner of his mouth as he stood up and painfully walked towards them.

"You...have no idea...what would happen if I DIIIIEEEEED!"

Brand new mutant moth legs sprouted from his back as his body looked to start ripping itself apart. They stood back as Val turned into an actual giant moth beast. Out of all of them, Angel was the only one who stayed where he was, scowling at his former boss.

"I think Hell would be a better place!", he said, as Val screeched at him and was about to bring his leg down on him when he shot in the head by Edward, who had brought out his sniper rifle.

"FINISH IT!", he screamed at Brad, who brought back his Rocket Launcher. Brad almost immediately blasted at the moth, who was engulfed in flames and roaring in pain. He fell to the ground and tried to stand up again, only for the floor beneath him to break apart and he falls inside.

"NNNOOOOOOOOO!"

The group stepped forward to see the giant hole that was made in the middle of the road. Angel was having mixed emotions about seeing his boss defeated.

"I WILL FIND YOU!", Val's voice echoed as Angel suddenly backed away and started to walk away from the rest of the group.

"Welp, what are we waiting for?!", He said. "Let's not waste anymore time here and make our way back!"

"Well, somebody here clearly needs therapy.", Steve said, giving the shotgun back to Richard.

"Don't we all?", The snake demon said. "But he's right. Let's not waste time here any longer."

"Agreed.", Steve replied as they started to walk away. However, Charlie continued to look down at the whole until Vaggie managed to get her attention.

"You okay, hun?", She asked, not getting an answer. "Charlie, it was either him or us. You know that."

"I do.", Charlie spoke. "But what he said before...saying that he was after me."

"Hmm...maybe he was just a pawn.", Vaggie said as she looked down at the hole. "Someone definitely wants you...so it's best if we keep an eye on you."

"And have each other's backs?", The Princess asked, to which Vaggie replied. "Always."

And with that, they headed over to catch up with the others. However, they were unaware of the decaying, almost skinless hands coming from the hole left by the Mother Demon...

Chapter Text

Back in Imp City, Luis Sera was fairing better than how he did in life. At least this time was there no one to impale him through the back...yet. He still looked for a way out while fighting though what he described as "Hell's Ganado's". In some did that sounded appropriate, as they acted and sounded exactly like the infected villagers from the time in Spain.

"¡Ahi esta! ¡Mátalo!"

Once more did he unload his Red 9 on those Plaga infected imps, as he then grabs hold of by the head and slam him onto a brick wall.

"I know you're listening through this, Saddler." He spoke to the imp. "Let this be a message. There's no way in hell I'm going back to you. Send as many pendejos as you want. I'll kill every last one."

Coming out of the mouth of the imp was the fully grown plaga parasite, that tried taking a bite of Luis. But not before he shot a bullet through its host's head and watched it explode. With that, he continued to move forward, until he heard a hissing sound coming from around the corner.

Looking to his right, he saw an Imp peeping out from behind a corner of a building, and he looked seemingly normal. No pale red skin, having white hair, wearing a black top hat that went through the long horns on its head and also having a long cartoon-ish mustache that a classic cartoon villain would have.

"Psss. Over here, stranger.", The demon said before going back around the corner, leaving Luis confused.

"I'm getting deja vu here." He said to himself. Heading around the corner, he found himself in an alley way that had what looked like a carnival booth which was displaying all sorts of fire arms. And the demon he saw was on the other side of the counter, wearing a (no pun intended) devilish smile on his face.

"Welcome, stranger!" He said with enthusiasm. "You just stumbled upon Wacky Wally Wackford's Black Market Sellout!"

With an unamused look on his face, Luis only replied, "Oh, have I now?"

"Indeed you have!", Wally said. "See, I've now decided to invest in selling various firearms to any survivors while during this mess we're in! And I say, you, my friend, look like you could lethal killing weapons yourself!"

"I'm doing just fine with this baby right here.", Luis said, holding out the Red 9. "Besides, what could you possibly offer that I would take an interest to?"

"Why, anything that catches it, of course!", The scandalous imp replied. "We have a selection of many guns that I salvaged from the homes, businesses and corpses of many other demons who didn't make it."

Luis can confirm, spotting blood, dirt and a severed hand holding onto a shotgun. He could easily tell Wally here was nothing more than a scam artist, not even hiding it from how he spoke. There was no way he buy any kind of gun from him...

"I don't have time for this." He said, surprising Wally. "I gotta get out of this city. And if you're any smart, you'd do the same!"

"Wait!" Wally yelled, jumping from behind the counter before falling on his face. He soon gets up and runs to Luis, saying "I know what you're thinking, but I'm not planning on scamming you! All of my guns are genuine and already loaded! ... I think. How about this? I sell one gun as of the moment, you test it out and we'll see if your interest gets peaked?"

Scowling, not really wanting to take the offer, but knowing this guy wouldn't take no for an answer, Luis said, "Fine."

"Excellent! And I just so happen to have a special gun in stock, just for you!"

Wally than ran back to his booth, jumped over the counter, started shuffling and throwing gun parts here and there, one being the stock to Luis' Mauser, which he takes for himself. After a minute, Wally pops back up and reveals to Luis what type of gun he had 'ready' for him.

"It is known as the Tactical Machine Pistol.", He began to explain. "Known for its very large magazine coverage and amazing firing speed, this gun can only be the gun of a professional, which is why I bestow it upon you."

Luis knew Wally was milking it with the details, but he wasn't half wrong. He decides to give it a try, as this gun reminds him of an old friend of his.

"How much is it?" He asked.

"$15,000." Wally said with a smile.

In Wally's defense, that was the same amount PTAS it was worth back in Spain. Not that Luis had that kind of money.

"Sorry." He says. "I'm a bit short on that kind of money."

"Well, you can also sell me whatever you come across to equal the value."

"Yep. This is just like Spain."

"So what's it gonna be?" Wally asked, sliding the TMP closer to Luis, who puts his fingers to his chin.

Back in Pentagram City, Charlie, Vaggie, Angel, Steve and the S.T.A.R.S were continuing on through the destroyed roads, dealing with only a handful of the infected. Hardly dealing with any real threats.

"Man! It feels like we've been walking for three weeks!" Angel screamed.

"It's only been four hours." Vaggie stated.

"We caught a lucky brake, Angel." Steve said. "Enjoy it. I know I am."

Richard then responded "It's never too easy though."

"We're bound to run into more monsters soon enough." Edward added.

"The Hotel shouldn't be too far from here." Charlie said. "It should be a little further."

"Oh joy." Angel said, while Vaggie bumped him. As they moved on, they soon found themselves surrounded by more wrecked cars than usual. Something caught Charlie's attention as she saw the silhouette of a man walking alongside the wreckage.

"Wait." She said to everyone. "I saw something."

"You're just being paranoid, Charlie." Angel said to her, to which Steve replied "I wouldn't bet on it. You can't rule anything out."

It was almost like the cars surrounded them as they stopped and heard something scurrying around them. Lifting up their guns, they aimed at all side.

"I don't like this, Captain." Kenneth said.

"...I don't like it either."

"This reminds me of when me and my team went out looking for you guys." Joseph said.

"What happened then?", Richard asked.

"I was mauled alive by zombie dogs."

Charlie, Vaggie, Angel and Steve look at Joseph with curiosity.

"Is that why you hate dogs?" Vaggie asked.

Joseph answered "Yep."

"Stay sharp, guys." Forest said as they continued aiming for whatever was moving around them. But before he could react, Kenneth felt something wrap around his leg and he was then pull off his feet. He screamed as they other turned to where he was being pulled and started firing.

"AAAAHHHHHH!"

Holding on for dear life, Kenneth's fingers ripped through the pavement, and even the metal of the cars as he tried to hold on. Everyone stopped firing when Kenneth disappeared behind some cars. After a moment of silence, something was thrown back to the group, which just so happened to be Kenneth's head.

Charlie screamed. "AAAAHHHHHH!"

"Ow." Kenneth's head said. "Aw man, not again."

And then Charlie screamed again. "AAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!"

"They killed Kenny!" Angel yelled out, but Brad calmed everyone down, saying "Don't worry. This has happened before."

Edward scoped Kenneth's head, looking at him with concern.

"Kenneth! Are you alright?"

"Oh, yeah!" their scout's disembodied head said with sarcasm. "Like it's not the first time I've been decapitated."

"S.T.A.R.S."

"Oh, no..." Brad said, knowing that voice anywhere. Hearing heavy footsteps coming their way, he warns everyone one to-

"TAKE COVER!"

They all dove out of the way as they saw that smashing through the cars was a charging colossus wrapped in leather and having a cenobites' face. Nemesis, and in his hands was Kenneth's body.

"How many times am I gonna have to deal with this shit head?!" Brad yelled out.

Then Angel asked "You know this mutated gimp?!"

"He did me in back on Earth!"

"S.T.A.R.S."

"Why does he keep saying that?!" Vaggie asked.

"Because, he was programed to go after S.T.A.R.S. members." Brad answered. "After he killed me, he went after our college, Jill."

"I'm gonna guess she did him in if he's here now." Steve said.

"Guys! We still have a monster to deal with!" Joseph yelled out as the Nemesis gave out a mighty roar and charged at them once again. They dodged as quickly as they could again before Nemesis turned around and threw Kenneth's body to them. He managed to hit Edward and Richard before turning on the others. Joseph started blasting him with his shotgun, but it barely phased the Nemesis as he gave him a huge right hook. This made Joseph spin in middle air before he fell back down.

Steve started firing with his dual Ingrams and Vaggie with her Beretta as Nemesis turned their attention towards them. First, he walked, but then, he broke into a run and charged at them, and they barely had enough time to dodge out of the way. As they did, they saw that Nemesis was still going, running back the way he came.

"Where's he going?", Vaggie asked.

"I guess he got the message that we're not to be messed with." said Angel.

Brad then said "It's never that simple." And just then, did the Nemesis return and revealed a brand new weapon.

"That's a damn Minigun!" Steve yelled out.

As the cylinder turned at high speed, the crew ran out of the way as Nemesis rained down on them a storm of bullets. Nowhere was safe to hide as the lead went through the cars and windows. As Charlie was running, a bullet grazed her shoulder and made her fall down when she saw the Nemesis towering over her. Though she couldn't see it, through Nemesis' perspective, it recognized Charlie as a primary target and was given it's orders to extract her.

But before he could lay a finger on her, a knife was thrown at his chest.

"Leave her alone!" Vaggie yelled out, bringing out her spear and started spinning it like a bo staff before doing an upper slash on Nemesis' torso, barrel rolling backwards before landing and stabbing the behemoth once again. Nemesis didn't even flinched as he grabbed Vaggie by the face and then threw her at street lamp.

"VAGGIE!" Charlie yelled out, as she turned her attention towards Nemesis. Her eyes were now red and horns grew from her head as fire surrounded her, but the creature was un-phased. Without warning, Charlie grabbed Vaggie's spear from Nemesis' chest, lights the blade on fire and started spinning it left and right, cutting Nemesis in progress. The others saw this and we're surprised.

"Charlie..." said Steve.

"Never a good idea to piss her off." Angel said.

"Good to know." said Enrico.

When that didn't seem to do anything, she then jumps back and throws the spear once more into the creature's chest, but this time, she takes out her revolver and shoots the spear 3 times before the weapons right through Nemesis.

This made the creature actually stumble back a little as he then roars once more before turning it's attention back towards Charlie. Raising it's hand, it shoots a tentacle at the princess. But Charlie dodges swiftly before the two start charging at each other.

"GET OUT OF THERE!" Brad's voice can be heard saying. Charlie looked to see that he was about to fire his rocket launcher and quickly stepped back as the rocket was fired. The explosion was enough to wake Vaggie back up as she felt blood run down her temple and she looks around to see what was going on. She was surprised to watch as Charlie battled the Nemesis, who's leather covering was blown off his chest, revealing its semi-skinless torso with tentacles coming from his right arm and going around his body. Even part of his face was ripped off, showing exposed, but keeping the angry look on it.

Things weren't letting up as the fight didn't seem to being going anywhere. Charlie was deflecting Nemesis' tentacle attacks here and there while the creature continued to walk slowly towards her. Struggling to get up, Vaggie spotted what appeared to be a supply case covered in some kind of black mold. A note was printed on top, spelling out two words.

"USE IT."

Wasting no time, Vaggie opened the case and saw what was inside. It was unlike any weapon she's seen before, a giant cybernetic weapon, no doubt meant to shoot some big laser or something. Holding it up like a rocket launcher, Vaggie couldn't wait to find out what it did.

Charlie was starting to get tired as she couldn't hold Nemesis back any longer. Pretty soon, the creature had her cornered and raised it giant tentacle covered hand.

"S.T.A.R.S."

"Hey! Fuckface!" Vaggie yelled out, pulling the trigger as the monster turned towards her. A ball of lightning came out of the weapon and gave a direct hit towards Nemesis, who was engulfed by its blinding light. It roared in immense pain and tried to walk forward towards Vaggie, but it fell to its knees and then it's whole body exploded into chucks and blood.

Now that it was over, Charlie and Vaggie managed to catch their breath as Vaggie then heard some buzzing and saw that the weapon she held was smoking. Apparently, it was just a one-off as she threw it to the ground and it completely fell apart. Vaggie wasn't prepared, as she then got hugged/tackled by her girlfriend.

"Vaggie!" Charlie yelled with glee. "I'm so glad you're okay!"

"Likewise!" Vaggie replied, returning the hug. "You had me worried for a second."

"Us too." Steve said, coming with the others and interrupting the moment those two had. "Now I know never to piss you off, Charlie."

"Heh, heh. Noted." Charlie giggled.

Then Angel asked "Say Vaggie, where the heck did you get the laser thingy?"

"Honestly, I don't know where it came from." Vaggie answered. "It was inside a case right in front of me."

"A case?" Steve asked. "I guess that's no surprise. My old friend once told that useful items came out of nowhere."

"...Yeah, but the case looked like it was placed in front of me. And the words "USE IT" were printed on top."

"Hmm...sounds like someone's looking out for us.", Enrico said. "In any case, we should keep moving."

Then Forest looked off to the distance with his head at his brow as he said "I think I can see the Hotel from here." And this caught everyone's attention as they could see the building not to far now.

"We're like a half-mile off." Charlie said. "Not too far away now."

"Then let's go." Steve said. "No time to waste."

"Agreed." Enrico said as they all moved forward.

"After what we've been through today, I just wanna crash by the time we make it back." Angel said while stretching out his arms.

"Only for a little while." Vaggie said seriously.

"She's right." Braid added. "We still got plenty to do."

Sighing, Angel replied "At this point, I got nothing else to say..."

Back to where we left Luis, he found himself knee deep in Ganados who were wanting to take his life more and more. He managed to buy the TMP, but he regretted doing so. It's not that the gun was faulty, it's because Wally didn't have any sufficient ammo to go along with it.

"I'm gonna kick that payaso's ass the next time I see him." He said while switching to his Mauser again. But unfortunately, he was running out of room as he found himself at the edge of a freeway and there seemed to hundreds of infected all around him, all with weapons at hand.

"¡Voy a matarte!"

"Lord Saddler quiere su vida."

"¡Lo cortaremos en pedacitos!"

Seeing no other choice, Luis decided to jump off the freeway and onto the road down below. What he wasn't expecting to land on was a moving truck. And guess who happens to be driving.

"Moxxie, something landed on the roof!" Blitzø yelled out while steering. The I.M.P crew managed to commandeer a vehicle so that they can escape the city.

Luis held on for dear life as he fingers grinded into the metal of the roof. "Go take care of it!" The I.M.P. manager order his underling, who reluctantly complied.

"Right." All Moxxie had to say as he opened the sun roof and headed up with a revolver to take care of the problem. He was surprised to be looking into Luis' eyes as the two met face-to-face.

"You!" He yelled out.

"I see you're still alive!" Luis said with an awkward smile on his face. "How about you be a dear and let me in?"

"Yeah, that's not happening." Moxxie said, looking annoyed. "You better hold on! It's gonna be a bumpy ride from here on out!"

As the imp closed the sunroof, Luis looked concern before scream as they managed to make it out of the city. From one town to another, the road they were taking was heading towards Pentagram City...

Chapter Text

The sinner in black and shades, Wesker, was continuing to monitor the situation of the Pride Circle through a top of the line surveillance monitor he got from a shady arms dealer he met a while back. But as he watched, a demon woman came from behind, who's skin was white and...melting, wearing a blue uniform that showed off some cleavage, along with a scarf, having no legs but a slugs tail, forcing her to slither her way towards him.

"Carla." Wesker had said to the woman.

"I'm afraid I have good news and bad news." The woman known as Carla had spoke out. "The pursuer was destroyed while fighting Lucifer's daughter...along with a few other faces you're familiar with."

"S.T.A.R.S." He replied. "They don't concern me though. And the good news?"

"Miraculously, the NE-a Parasite had survived the Nemesis' destruction, however we were unable to retrieve it. Chances are it fell into the sewers."

"Hardly a setback, compared to how smoothly things are going." Wesker said, staring at one of the monitors showing Charlie and the others closing in on the Happy Hotel.

"I think it's time we help dear Ms. Charlotte with her business, give her a few more...residents, if you know what I mean."

"Oh, I think I do, sir." Carla replied. "We have just the right batch for this kind of thing."

After a long day of walking, the gang had finally made it back to the Hotel, which Charlie was more than willing to present to her new allies/clients. Kenneth managed to get his head reattached to his body, the amount of zombies they've faced has gone down to a minimum and they haven't caught another glimpse at their mysterious guardian all day.

"Here we are!" She said cheerfully. "I'm sure you're gonna love it here. I have lots of things planned, you know."

"I don't think now's the best time to be talking about that, hun." Vaggie interrupted.

"But we will get to it, don't worry." Brad said with a smile.

"Hey." Angel Dust said to Richard. "Maybe once we're in, you could rethink about my offer."

But, this ended up making the snake demon shove his shotgun close to Angel's face. "You gonna shut up? Take a hint, you weirdo."

"Anyways..." Enrico had said after that scene. "You might as well consider us your new clients."

That made Charlie feel better, knowing that even in times of crisis, was there still a chance at hope. But that moment was interrupted by a car horn sounding in the distance.

"Anyone else hear that?" Steve asked.

"Pretty sure all of the city heard that, kid." Angel Dust remarks.

"Sounds like it's coming close." Edward added, as they all look to see that there was, in fact, a van heading directly their way, forcing them to move so that they don't get run over. The driver of the van was moving the wheel wildly, before the van crashed into the corner of a nearby building. The entire group pulled out their guns, ready for any surprises before they saw someone roll off the top of the vehicle and fall off onto the ground.

"Aye, maldito infierno." The man said. "That is the last time I ride with imps." Before he could get up though, he turned around to see about 10 guns pointed at his head by individual sinners and demons. They did not look like they trusted him, so he tried to keep it smooth.

"Uh...anybody got a smoke?"

This made them a tad bit confused as they almost lowered their guns, believing that he wasn't one of the infected. However, the door to the van was kicked open and coming out was a hotheaded imp holding an assault rifle in his hands. Two more imps and a hellhound came out the other side and they each had guns of their own.

"Alright, hold it!" The driver imp said. "That shit stain you have on the ground is our kill!"

"I don't know who you are or whether you're infected," Enrico began to say. "But you better drop that gun if you know what's good for you!"

"And what makes you think we'd do that?!" The female imp yelled out.

"You're outnumbered, ten-three." Richard stated. "The odds are in our favor, so you better stand down!"

The female hellhound was about to intervene, but Joseph stopped her when he pointed his shotgun straight at her face.

"I wouldn't." He said as she looks straight at him. She could see he had more scars than Vortex, and was pretty young compared to the rest of his vest wearing pals. But she wasn't gonna simp for him...yet.

"Look, why don't we just all calm down and talk about this?" Charlie said, wanting to lower the tension.

The leader imp looked at Charlie with his eyes widening as he lowered his gun.

"Mox, Millie, Loona, stand down! That's the King's daughter right there!"

This did make them lower their guns as they were as surprised as their boss to see the Princess of Hell standing before them.

"Well, at least your title's good for something." Steve remarked, making Charlie feel a tad bit about what he meant. Seeing the imps and hellhound stand down, Luis had thought that he was in the clear.

"Ah, muchas gracias, my friends." He said to the group. "Looks like you have things covered here, so I'll just-"

But then, Steve grabbed hold by the collar and slammed him again the imps' vehicle, saying "Don't even think about it." Luis groaned in annoyance after that. Blitzø wasn't sure what would happen next, as it was clear that these guys weren't gonna let them pass. But then Brad gazed at the imp with curiosity, before it hit him.

"Wait a minute." He said, pointing to Blitzø. "I've seen your face."

"Huh? You have?" The imp asked, getting his employees' attention.

Richard then added "You're those killers for hire. The I.M.P."

"I.M.P?" Steve asked before holding back a laugh of how that abbreviation sounded. But Brad explained to him "It stands for Immediate Murder Professionals. These punks go up to Earth to kill someone for a client with a Vendetta."

"So, you're the reason why Hell is get over populated?!" Vaggie yelled on anger, ready to fire.

"Barely." Blitzø answered. "There are plenty other reasons for that. We just kill for money."

"And that's supposed to be okay?" Brad asked sarcastically.

"Hey, everyone has someone they want dead!"

"You would know, sir." Moxxie said behind his boss's back.

"I heard that!"

Charlie then asked Brad "How do you know about these guys?"

"Saw their stupid late night commercial." He answered in a way that pissed off Blitzø.

"Hey! We worked hard on that commercial!"

"Wasted over a hundred bucks making it though." Loona muttered.

Meanwhile, Luis was still being held at gun point by Steve, who was now putting him in an arm-lock. "You know, I feel kinda out of place here. So, why don't you-" But Steve cut him by shoving him against the van. "Okay, okay. I get the point."

"Listen, we don't want any trouble." Millie said. "We just escaped from Imp City."

"Imp City's infected too?!" Charlie asked in horror."

"Yep." Loona answered, pointing to Luis. "Thanks to asshead."

"Is that right?" Steve said, pulling hard on Luis' arm, making the man grunt in pain and feel humiliated, knowing that he was being subdued by a kid.

"Of you could just let me explain..."

"At ease, Steve." Enrico ordered the kid, who decided to let go of Luis, who felt uneasy after that.

"Look, I know that I am responsible for what happened, but I'm not the only one." He said to the others. "I was forced into this and tried to make up for it by helping out back on Earth. Sadly, it lead to my death. And now, here I am."

"And who forced you into this?" Enrico then asked.

"His name was-"

But before he could finish, the sound of a trash cans falling over got the entire on-edge group pointing their guns to whatever made that noise. It was another demon who had black skin with white spots. He looked to injured, and was limping onto the road. And while they didn't know who to trust at this point, Charlie still could help walking over to the guy.

"Charlie, no!" Vaggie yelled.

"Get back here, kid." Kenneth added. "You don't know if-"

"He might need our help!" She said to them. "We can't be the only people in this city who are uninfected."

"Charlie..." Steve began to say.

"Just let me talk to him!"

She approached the demon, who was breathing heavily with his head down. "He doesn't look infected." Charlie thought to herself as she came close enough to talk to him.

"Hey, are you alright?"

The demon lifted his head up to show his blood red eyes, glaring daggers at Hell's princess as she stepped back in shock.

"Wewe ... unakuja na mimi!"

"What?" She said before having to suddenly dodge the demon swinging at her. What she didn't see coming next was a spear landing in the center of the demon's head, knocking him down. She turned around to see that Vaggie was the one who threw it. Everyone was caught off guard by this.

"...Good reflexes." Enrico commented.

"Thanks." She replied.

"Uh...guys?" Steve said, pointing to the demon Vaggie speared. They could see it rising up, now having blood coming out of it's mouth as it pulled the spear out of its head.

"Kukuua ... nitakuua!"

Then all of a sudden, coming out of the demon's mouth was another small, tentacle-like mouth that made Luis wide-eyed, having him pull out his Red 9 and shoot the freak. Charlie then took out her gun and fired, and the others did the same, riddling that single demon with bullets. As the demon fell to the ground, the watched it's body bubble up and melt into into nothingness, not believing what they just saw.

"Not like any zombie we've seen so far." said Edward.

"That's because it was not a zombie." Luis replied. "It was a demon infected by Las Plagas."

"Las Plagas?" Vaggie asked. "Isn't that Spanish for 'Plague'?"

"Yes, but it is a fitting name." Luisa answered. "You haven't seen the least of what those things can do."

Blitzø then butted in, saying "Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait! You're telling me that those fucking things we faced back in Imp City managed to follow us all the way here?! Are you fucking kidding me?!"

"I don't think that's it. It's more than likely that someone or something has allowed the parasite to now roam free here."

"Well that's just fucking great." Angel said. "More shit we now have to deal with. It was better when just we had to deal with zombies. But now, zombies with weapons?!"

"Not exactly zombies, Araña." Luis corrected. "More like mutants. Undead ones, but I digress. But this one seemed different."

"Looked just about the same to me." Blitzø commented.

"But this version seemed more...evolved. I don't know if it was just shooting it all together, but this one seemed harder to kill, like it's stronger than the other Plagas."

"You mind explaining, what exactly are these things?" Steve said.

But Luis didn't get a chance to talk as footsteps and the sound of things getting knocked down echoes around the streets. More of the infected were coming from our of the shadows, walking like the zombies the face, yet having the look of anger and insanity in their eyes. They hands filled with blunt weapons and blood leaking from their eyes and mouths as they soon surrounded the group.

"How about we talk about this inside?" Vaggie asked.

Steve replied "Agreed."

And then, Enrico ordered "Go, go, go!" As they all run up to the Hotel' entrance. But as they were about to open the door, they only a giant hole where it used to be, being blocked by barricade.

"What the-!" Vaggie went, as she, Charlie and Steve banged at the blockage. "Nifty! Open up!"

"I got the key to that! Move!" Brad said, bringing out his rocket launcher, again, he really likes that thing. Much to Steve, Charlie and Vaggie's dismay.

"No, no, no!"

"Brad, don't-!"

It was too late. All they could do was move out of the way as quickly as they could before Brad blasted the door wide open.

"Well, that's one way to do it." Joseph remarked.

Blitzø smiled, saying "I gotta get me one of those."

"Okay!" Vaggie growled angrily. "Before anything else blows up, everybody inside!"

And with that, they quickly ran inside. And in the lobby, Husk was woken up by the blast and Nifty came down to see what happened.

"Not again! I just rebuilt that!"

"Sorry about that, Nifty!" Charlie said.

"Some of us were just a little too impatient!" Steve said while push some furnisher into the big gaping hole where the door used to be.

"Well, at least it was effective." Brad said in his defense.

Vaggie then hit him in the back of the head with a wooden board. "And so was that."

"What the fuck is going on?!" Husk yelled out loud.

"Oh nothing!" Steve said. "We're all just a little focused on not being RIPPED APART!"

"Do you have any idea what we've been through?" Vaggie angrily asked.

"No, but I'm sure gonna tell me." Husk said rudely, before looking at the S.T.A.R.S. members. "And who are all these guys?!"

Angel answered "These are new friends of are, and they are packing some real heat! Seriously, these guys are pros with guns."

"So, this is the hotel we heard about on the news?" Moxxie asked, examining the place. "It actually doesn't look that bad."

"Yeah, I'd live here." Millie added. "You know, just for the scenery. Redemption's not really my thing."

"Don't get too comfortable, you two. We're not staying for long." Blitzø said. "We just gotta make sure we survive this shit long enough to keep moving forward. Again."

"We're doomed." Loona reluctantly said.

"Have a little faith, hun." Forest spoke out. "We're professionals at this."

"Really?." asked Blitzø. "You freaks are professionals at dealing with mutant shitheads?"

"You'd be surprised at what we've been through."

Edward walked by with some wooden boards in his arms. "Hey, Forest. You mind helping rebuild the barrier?"

"You're name is Forest?" Loona asked.

"Don't wear it out."

Steve, Edward, Brad, Vaggie and Enrico were doing their best and boarding up the entrance and securing it with whatever furniture they could spare. However, they didn't stop the plaga infected demons from trying to come in, as the sound of windows breaking and doors banging echoes throughout the halls. Even through the gaps of the barricade, did the demons try to break in.

"Wote mtakufa huko!"

But then, Enrico started knifing its arm, forcing the demon to retract. Still, the sound of doors breaking and windows shattering filled the air.

"The entire building's surrounded by that horde!" Steve yelled, holding a sofa against the entrance. "I'm not sure how we're gonna get out of this one."

Then Enrico stood as a captain should and shouted "Alright! Listen up! We need to split up to cover more ground as possible! Secure the entire building and leave no entrance blocked!"

"Hold on!" Vaggie said. "The Hotel's like seven stories up! Covering it all would be overdoing it!"

But then Angel looked outside a window while saying "Unless those asswipes outside have ladders the can use to scale the place."

"Which they do." reluctantly said Brad, causing Vaggie to run towards the window and see for herself that they were right as they mutants were bring in ladders, and the sound of glass shattering upstairs confirmed that they were coming in from all angles.

"Ah, this reminded me so much of what happened in Spain." said Luis.

"Welp, that's it! We're fucked!" Husk said. "Nice knowing you guys. Not really though."

"We can still make it through this!" Charlie said. "We have more than enough guns to make it through a zombie outbreak!"

"Yeah, but do we have enough ammo?" Angel asked. "I mean we kinda unloaded a lot on the way here."

"We'll just have to find out." Steve said, reloading one of his lugers. "Take out any you see. Find any window they're breaking in through and board it up."

"Leave that to me!" Nifty said enthusiastically. "I'll board up those window faster than those goons can get in!"

"By yourself?" Moxxie asked.

"Nifty does have the tendency to move at the speed of a second." Charlie explained. "But it's not safe to do it alone."

"We're all gonna do it." Kenneth said. "We all need to pitch in if we wanna make it out of this."

"And that includes even you four." Luis pointed to the I.M.P. group. "Don't think you'll get off easy on this one."

A booming sound could then be heard out of nowhere as some bits of wood fell from the ceiling.

"Should've figured as much." said Blitzø. "Alright. M&M, you two are with me. Loonie, you stay here."

"Well duh." Loona said. "You really think I'd help you out on this one?

"Wow, thanks for caring." Moxxie then said.

"Let's do this already!" Vaggie yelled out, holding her beretta. "Everybody, head to a floor and try not to die along the way!"

Meanwhile, back to a certain Radio Demon, who has now completely recovered from being mauled by zombie dogs, Alastor was still laying down upon a bed as he finds himself waking up in one of the Hotel's Guest Rooms.

"That was a killer nap." He yawned, sitting up and with a snap, fixes his attire. But before he could do anything else, the window of the room broke open and he saw an infected demon trying to climb in.

"Nitakuua!"

But before that could happen, Alastor pushes the latter back with just one hand, making it and the ladder falls back to the ground, smashing a few other demons in the process.

"I think I've had enough of these abominations coming out of nowhere." He protested, seeing the horde of plaga infected right outside the hotel, banging on every entrance they could find, trying to get it. "But this is turning to be quite the thrill." He then leaves the room and already out of nowhere did a demon coming, knife in hand, trying to kill Alastor. But with the flick of the wrist, did he had them getting smashed against the wall. And while he walks down the hall, he sees a weapon by a nearby dresser, being an m1911 pistol, which he picks up and examine, seeing that it's loaded.

"Okay then." Alastor says to himself. "Looks like I''ll have to do things the old fashion way."

As he moved forward, the Radio Demon encountered a few more injected roaming the halls, all of which came at him the moment he was spotted. With caution and insane speed, Alastor gunned them down in a second and butted any who got too close with the back end of the gun.

"Obey the five-foot rule, please."

And while he reloaded, he heard more commotion coming from other floors below the one he was under. It sounded like gunfire, a whole lot more gunfire as coming his direction was the sound of footsteps. He pointed his gun as someone came around the corner, and it just so happened to have been Vaggie and Brad. The pointed their guns the moment they saw him, but everyone stood down as Al could see that Brad, Angel and Vaggie were breathing heavily.

"Careful now. I nearly shot your heads off." He jokingly said, much to Vaggie's dismay.

"Likewise." Angel said "But you would've enjoyed that, wouldn't you?"

"And just where the fuck have you been?" Vaggie growled.

Alastor replied "I've been recovering from the horrid little incident I got into on my way here. Upon regaining consciousness, I was not expecting to being caught in something worse than some vermin. How have you all been?"

Angel replied "Oh, we've just all been peachy, Smiles. Nothing like runnin' through a zombie infested city to get things pumpin'."

"I hope that's not a sexual joke."

"Right now, this Hotel's being invaded." Brad said. "And we need to get rid of these guys before this place goes under."

"Well, it's nice to see people actually coming to this place for once."

"But these aren't the people we want!" Vaggie yelled. "Well, I mean technically, they are. But- Oh! You get the point!"

"And what of the others?" Alastor asked. "Did they not make it?"

Vaggie answered. "They're fine. They're down, fighting the horde like us as I speak."

Yeah, the others were doing as well as you can guess. Scattered throughout then hotel, they fought whatever infected popped out of nowhere and boarded up any entrances they came through. It would have been easier if these guys didn't fight in groups, or were armed with weapons...or if their heads didn't explode and out came disgusting worm-like tentacles with mouths. But at least they had enough firepower to put these freaks into the ground a second time.

Steve, Joseph and Charlie stumbled getting up the stairs before reaching another floor, Edward, Kenneth and Richard stayed on the main level to deal with any that were coming in their way. Enrico and Forest went with Blitzø to make sure his stubborn pride didn't wreck the place, since he was causing the most noise...and bullet holes through the walls and floorboards. At least, he was hitting enemies, even though...he was just wasting ammo.

"COME ON!" the imp yelled, firing all around the room at all the infected they faced. "You like that, assholes?!"

"That's enough!" Enrico said, grabbing Blitzø by the shoulder, but he shook him off and continued to fire until his clip was empty and all the infected were down.

"Freaks..." he said before they exited the room and he reloaded his rifle. However, the imp wasn't prepared for an infected demon to jump through the wall and pin him to the floor. It had a knife in it's hand, which Blitzø was trying to keep out of his eye as Enrico aimed and fired at its head, blasting it and making it explode. Also making blood and other goop spill on Blitzø's face as he push the corpse of his body.

"What the hell?! Do these things ever die?!" the imp yelled out in shock and frustration.

But then, Enrico grabbed him by the suit and pulled him up to his feet and then pushed him onto the wall.

"It's the same principle as zombies." He explained to him. "You either shoot them in the head to make sure to stay down, or you waste time and ammo."

The only ones who were fighting weren't fighting were Loona, Husk and Nifty. While Nifty helped out by boarding up the windows, Loona and Husk hid behind the bar with Husk holding a shotgun and Loona recording her 'last words' onto her phone. As for Moxxie, Millie and Luis, they were busy on one of the floors, boarding up the windows in some of the rooms where the infected were trying to come through. Millie was doing a good job at doing so, but Moxxie wasn't so lucky since they grabbed him from all sides and were trying pull him through the window.

"AAHH! MILLIE! MILLIE HELP! MILLIE!" He yelled in a high pitch voice. His wife and Luis came to his rescue just as the mutants almost completely pulled him through the window. They grabbed hold of his legs and pants as he screamed. "AAH! AHH! AAH! AHH, MILLIE! AAAHHHH! AAAAHHH! AAAHH! Unfortunately , they ended up yanking the pants right off his ass as he was pulled through the window.

"Poor guy." Luis said melancholically, holding Moxxie's trousers. "Lost is that mob without his pants."

"I'M COMING, MOXXIE!" Millie yelled out as she jumped through the window after him. Luis looked outside to see the massacre Millie was leaving in her wake. About a minute later, she chucked Moxxie through the same window, having him land face first into the ground with his underwear up in the air while she came through, shooting at the infected. And while she and Luis continued to fight back the horde, Moxxie struggled to recover as he began to cough. Coughing into his hand, he looked to see that he was coughing up blood, and that was something to be worried about.

But then, Luis chucked his pants back at him, saying "Welcome back! Now put your pants back on and start shooting!"

Moxxie looked at Luis with an unamused expression while he pulled his pants back on. Why he coughed up blood was something he to deal with later as he brought his gun back out and continued to fire.

"There! All done!" Edward said as he finished up the barricades. But then, coming straight through all their hard work was the sharp end of the chainsaw.

"Aw, you gotta be kidding me!" Richard said, readying his gun as one of the infected sawed a hole through the entrance. This caused even more of them to come in as the three S.T.A.R.S. did their best to hold them off. The one with the chainsaw, Edward took upon himself to deal with personal. One of the infected had a circular saw in its hands, which Edward quickly seized and kicked the demon away as he decided to fight fire with fire with the other infected. Meanwhile, Kenneth and Richard were having their hands full with ever other demon, and were running very low on ammo. One of them pushes Richard against the bar at the means of strangling him. The snake demon could see Husk and Loona cowering behind the counter.

"Hey! Why don't you give me a shot?" Richard remarked as Husk handed him a bottle of booze, which Richard then broke over the demon's head, then for good measure, jams the broken half he's holding into the infected's skull. When it died, Richard turn to see Husk holding a double barrel shotgun, asking "Is that thing loaded?"

"It's only got two shots." Husk answered, right before Richard snatched it from his hands, saying "I'll make them count."

Back to Edward, his wasn't doing as well as he hoped since it was like a knife versus sword fight, given how his saw was smaller. With the two blades grinding against each other, the infected managed to get the upper hand, slashing Edward across the chest and even sawing off one of his arms.

"AAAGGGHH!" Edward said, falling to the ground, holding his bleeding chest with his last good arm. The chainsaw demon was about to finish him off, when Kenneth saw what was happening.

"EDDY!" Kenneth yelled as he pushed a demon he was dealing out of the way as he takes an axe it was using against him. Before the chainsaw demon could react, Kenneth came at it and chopped his head clean off. Then Richard came over and grabbed hold of Edward.

"I got him! You take care of what's left of those freak!"

"You got it!"

Taking the chainsaw the infected demon had, Sullivan ran at the last of the infected while Richard pulled Edward away, still shooting at whoever was left to come at them. Once more does he turn to Husk and Loona, who were still behind the counter.

"Hey! Why don't you make yourselves useful and go fix up the door!?"

"There is fucking way I'm moving from this spot!" Loona said. "Why don't you go and-"

But then Richard pulled his gun on them, saying "Get off your lazy asses and do as I say, NOW!"

This was enough to make the two get off the floor and ran to the door with wood and hammers. The others were coming back to the main hall to see what was going on, only to see the place was a mess. Kenneth had dismembered what was left all the infected demons while Richard patched up Edward and Husk and Loona had rebuilt the barricade for the fourth time. Coming out of nowhere was another infected that Kenneth missed, and it was gunning for Loona. Before she could react, the only thing she saw coming was the demon's head exploding and falling to the ground as Blitzø was the one, holding a smoking gun.

"Not on my watch."

"My words!" Alastor said as he looked around at the melting corpses of infected demons. "I'm ashamed that I have so much excitement! Such action and drama would've cured my boredom instantly! I would have no need of this place!" Charlie and Vaggie look at him with 'Really?' looks. "Not that I wouldn't still help around here, under the princess' command of course."

Brad and Enrico walk over to Richard putting Edward's arm back on. This made Brad ask "What happened to him?"

"Got his arm saw off." Richard explained. "Should fully heal in a couple hours."

"Times like this makes me miss Rebecca's skills as a medic." Joseph said, rolling his shoulder around.

Charlie looked around and saw what was left in the wake of the infected. She spent so much time getting this place fixed, now it's in a worse state than when she first inherited it.

"This is not how I wanted things to go." she quietly said to herself, looking down to her gun. Vaggie could tell she was sad and went over to comfort her, not really proud of all this destruction and death they were forced to be part of. Steve saw the two and looked around, knowing what they're feeling right now.

"Okay." He started to say to the two. "Things may taken a turn for the worse, but it's not all that bad. This place is still standing and we're all still...existing. Can't exactly say we're all still in one piece, but still. Believe me...it actually could be worse."

"He's not wrong." Luis said, leaning against the wall. "At least we still got this place and we're all...okay...-ish."

He turned to see Millie carrying Moxxie to a chair, seeing the male imp holding his stomach as he was about to hurl.

"Easy, Moxxie." Millie said, comforting her husband. "You had it rough."

"What's wrong with him?" Forest asked.

"I don't know." Moxxie said. "I was pulled into the horde, hands all around me. I'm pretty sure they shoved something down my throat."

"I can take a guess at what that was." Angel said jokingly.

"No, you can't." Vaggie growled at him.

Luis walked over the two, saying "Let me have a look at him."

But Millie pulled her husband back, still not fulling trusting in the Spaniard, making Luis sigh.

"I'm a Medical Technician. I can be useful if you let me do my job!"

"Just humor him, Millie." Blitzø said, making the female imp reluctantly allow Luis to check out Moxxie. Meanwhile, Forest looked to see Blitzø examining from every angle.

"Uh...see something you like?" the crow demon asked.

"You wouldn't happen to be related to the Goetias, would you?"

"What's a Goetia?"

"Oh nothing." Blitzø said, while thinking to herself 'I like this guy already.'

Luis checked Moxxie's throat, wide-eyed at the sight of red veins rising up. He shook his head as he stepped back, delivering bad news.

"This is problem."

"What is it?" Moxxie asked.

"...You're infected with Las Plaga."

This made everyone turn to Moxxie, who now looked like he just pissed his pants...

Chapter Text

"Are you sure there's not a better to deal with this?"

"Well, there are some counter drugs, but...nevermind. The electricity will stop the plaga from growing. Now keep shocking him."

Luis was talking to Millie, who was holding a taser, right next to her out cold husband, who was strapped onto a bed, in one of the room of the Happy Hotel, that just went through what would be considerably more horrifying than the yearly purges this Hell goes through. And during that time, Moxxie was infected with the plaga from the demon Majini. At Luis' order to keep Moxxie from fully being taken over by the Plaga, Millie was forced to electrocute him hourly. Unfortunately, Moxxie was starting to smell like roasted barbecue.

(MOXXIE MOANING UNCOMFORTABLY)

The rest of the Hotel Gang and their new allies were busy recovering from the wave of infected demons they just went through, treating any inflicted wounds and fixing whatever they can make the place safe and secure again. The only one who was taking it the hardest was Charlie, who was in pain, seeing her business in shambles. On the bright side, she a bunch of new friends/clients were willing to repair the damages, along with the fastest maid in the world who knows how to get the job done.

"There!" Nifty said. "Every floor cleaned up in under 5 minutes!"

"Nifty, dear. I believe you missed a spot on the fifth floor." Alastor said, pointing upward.

"ON IT." She said, zooming upstairs.

"You really don't know that, do you?" Vaggie asked Alastor, to which he answered. "Nope!"

The co-manager of the hotel sighed as she knew there no real cooperation with that guy. Meanwhile, the S.T.A.R.S. members that were able to recover quickly, except for Edward, were getting better acquainted with the hotel as they finished looking around with Charlie's help.

"And that, just about wraps it up." she tells them. "I just wished I could've showed you guys before all...this happened."

"Well, at least the place is now safe and secure." Enrico told her, trying to be positive.

To which Forest added, "Yeah. This place would make a good base of operations for us."

"...And, when that's over and done with, you'll fully become our clients and try to seek redemption?" Charlie asked.

"Definitely."

"You guys must be kidding yourselves." Angel said, walking up to the team. "You don't really believe in that redemption crap, do you?"

"I don't know about you, freakshow, but I never planned on being here." Forest said angrily to the spider demon.

"Pretty sure no one else did, birdy." Angel replied. "But come on, being in Hell ain't so bad. It has its perks."

"It look having to work for an asshole of a boss and getting abused 24/7?"

The question made Angel stop dead in his tracks, as he then asked "H-How do you know about that?

"You're Angel Dust." Joseph then says. "Who doesn't know about you? Or that shit-stain, Valentino, you work for?"

"We just fought Valentino a day ago." Richard pointed out. "Did that slip your mind?"

After what happened, all Angel wanted was to forget about Valentino completely as he answered "Yeah, actually. I wanted to forget about that."

"You can do whatever you want." Joseph said. "But we've all done good in our lives, and we're still doing good now. I think we've rightfully earned a place in Heaven."

"Then why are still here?" Loona said, leaning against a wall.

"You tell me." Joseph told her. "And try to mind your own business."

That made Loona growl, but Joseph wasn't really intimidated as he's already seen jaws and teeth of zombie dogs in life. Loona didn't want to admit it, but to her, Joseph was cute. Sure, he was no Vortex, but the kid held his own against a horde of zombies on the way here and a mob of infected that recently invaded. She would at least try to get on his good side. Then, they hear sparks coming from the room Millie and Moxxie were from as the ball-n-chain of the couple came out with a smoking taser.

"Uh...I burnt out another one of these, and...my husband can't really take anymore. I think the skin on his chest is starting to peel off."

After hearing that, Blitzø decides to snap at Luis, grabbing hold of him by the vest as he slams against the wall.

"Alright, faggot. You better tell me where this counter drug you talked about is so that I can cure Moxxie, or I'm gonna-"

Then Luis slapped Blitzø across the face, surprising the imp as he shakes him off. Luis wasn't looking too happy with Blitzø or his crew either, fighting the urge to draw his Red 9 at them.

"You imbéciles left me hanging from the top of your car when we arrived here!" the Spaniard shouted at Blitzø, poking his chest as the imp backed up, realizing that Luis was one of the many people who towered over him. "All that tasing is just prolonging his fate. I give him a few hours before the plaga takes over."

"Well then, tell us where to find this drug so that we can save him!" Millie yelled at him.

"It's not that simple." Luis said. "The drug doesn't exist here in hell. He made sure of that."

"Who's he?"

"...Osmund Saddler."

Everyone just looked so confused as they had no idea who Luis was talking about.

"Uh...who now?" Blitzø asked.

Sighing, Luis explained. "He's the reason I'm here. Saddler was the founder and leader of a cult and paramilitary organization known as Los Illuminados."

"...The Enlightened?" Vaggie asked.

"Yes." Luis continued. "The cult revolved around the parasite the imp is infected with. And...I was part of it. That was until I managed to escape and tried to make things right by handing over a sample of a plaga egg to those who would end Saddler's plan...That's when I found myself dying by his hand and I end up waking up here 16 years ago."

"Damn, that's tough." Brad said.

Millie, now feeling discouraged, asked "So, there's no way of saving Moxxie?"

Luis thought about it before snapping his fingers and then answering "There might be one way. UV radiation therapy is also known for destroying the plaga. All we need is the proper equipment, and I'm going to assume Saddler might have it.

"Why would a guy who has control over the parasite also have the equipment that can destroy it?" Steve asked, peering his head out from another room.

"We used it as a failsafe, in case went awry on our end." Luis answered. "My friends back in the land of the living must've used it to cure themselves before going after Saddler, which explains how he got here."

"Alright. And where is this Saddler asshole?" Blitzø asked.

Luis was a little hesitant before answer "He's….back in the other city."

"Imp City?!" Blitzø asked before getting pissed off. "Are you fucking kidding me?! We were literally just there!"

"To be fair. We were escaping at the time, and I just found out that I was infected an hour ago."

They turned to see that Moxxie was up and out of bed, with his shirt open, revealing his burnt flesh from all the tasing he just went through. He was balancing himself against the doorframe as Millie went by his side.

"Moxxie, you shouldn't be out of bed."

"I'm fine." He said in a low voice. "Just a little dizzy."

Blitzø asked "Even after all that shock therapy Millie gave you, that's all?"

"Yeah. Can't explaining, but...I don't really feel that much in pain."

"Look at his wounds." Luis said as everyone looked to see Moxxie's burnt chest fading and returning back to normal. "They're healing themselves. A little benefit for plaga infected. The parasite won't let the host die without sustaining too much damage."

"I don't really have much time, do I?" Moxxie asked.

"If you want to be cured, you'll have to head back to the other city now."

"How?" asked Blitzø. "We don't have a car or any other way of heading back."

"I think I can help you out with that." Enrico said. "Our pilot, Kevin, has a chopper. He can get you close enough to Imp City and you guys can make the rest of the way there."

"That works."

While Enrico radioed in on Kevin to come to the Hotel, the rest of his team, along with Steve, pondered on their next course of action.

"So what are the rest of his gonna do?" Steve asked.

"While we can take the time to recover..." Richard began to say. "We still have no way of tracking down Wesker or anybody else he might possibly be working with."

Kenneth added "We've been down here for 20 years, and it still feels like we barely know our way around this place."

"It may not be much help, but while I was in Imp City, I discovered where the plaga originated from." Luis explained. "Saddler using the sewer system to spread the parasite through the city. Wesker must've been doing the same with the virus that spread over this one."

"...That would also explain what happened in Raccoon City." Brad said in monotone.

"Still, that doesn't narrow down to a specific location." said Kenneth. "People are always dumping shit into the sewers...literally."

"Well, it couldn't have been from Imp City either, since Saddler had no taste in zombies." Luis said.

Vaggie then impatiently asked. "So then, where is this shit coming from then?"

"What? Kevin where are you right now?" Enrico said as he tried to hear their pilot's voice over the radio. The signal was getting scrambled, and it was shifting from Kevin's voice to static.

"Chopper's been shot-*static*-barely holding her togeth-*static*-I-I-I see the hotel-*static*-flying there right now."

Enrico then turned to his crew and said "Forest! Get eyes on Kevin right now!"

Taking Edward's rifle, Forest rushed towards a window and looked through the scoop. He could see Kevin's helicopter, but the bad news was that it was on fire and looking like it was gonna crash.

"He's coming in hot!" Forest said. "Looks like he's gonna at the front door!"

"Oh come on!" Nifty yelled. "That's the fourth time today!"

Then, what sounded like the grinding of metal against ground can be heard as everyone rushed down to go look for themselves. Upon deconstructing the barricade around the entrance, for the third time, they look to see a flaming helicopter having landing in front of the entrance. At least the chopper had landed safely on its landing gear, although, it looked like it could explode at any second now. Just then, the door to the pilot seat was kicked open and the I.M.P group had pointed their guns at who was climbing out. But Enrico had stopped them from fire.

"No, wait! It's Kevin."

The second Doberman Hellhound had climbed out of the chopper with a Desert Eagle Magnum in one hand and SMG in the other. Putting his magnum in a holster, he walked over and greeted his fellow S.T.A.R.S members.

"Captain." He said plainly.

Enrico then asked "What happened, Kevin?"

"Demons had came to the garage." He explained. "They didn't look like zombies though, they were way uglier. I had to get out of there. But they shot at the chopper with with flaming crossbows."

"Yep, that sounds about right." Luis said under his breath.

"Think it can be repaired?" Enrico asked. "We need it for something."

Kevin answered "Might take a while." And then, the chopper blew up behind him. He looked back at the smoldering wreckage before awkwardly saying "Okay...a longer while."

"Well, so much for that." Loona said. "Nice knowing ya, Mox."

"We gotta find some way back to Imp City soon." The imp said. "I'm not letting this thing kill me."

"I saw some vehicles looking like they belonged in the military." Kevin said. "Not too far from here."

"That'll work." Blitzø had said in a serious tone. "M&M, get your stuff. We're leaving, ASAP."

"Let's do it." said Millie as she head back with Moxxie to get their equipment.

"Let me know how things turn out." Loona said as she headed back inside.

Blitzø could tell she didn't want to come along with, and normally, he'd be fine with leaving her behind. But given recent events, he had mixed feeling about leaving her here.

"She'll be safe here." Charlie told Blitzø.

"But I'm not signing up for that redemption bullshit!" Loona yelled from in the hotel.

That made Vaggie growl a little bit as she and Charlie walked back inside. Before they headed out, Blitzø grabbed hold of Luis in anger and pointed his flintlock at his face.

"You're coming with us! If there's anybody who knows this stuff better than anyone, it's you. Either you you help Moxxie or I blow your damn head off."

"...I've already been shot at, had axes thrown at my face, impaled and so on." Luis said, not looking threatened at all by Blitzø's threats. "There's nothing you can do to hurt me now."

With an evil smile growing on his face, Blitzø told him "...Try me."

"Sir, come on!" Moxxie told his boss as he and Millie walked out of the hotel. "Let's not kill each other on the way there."

Luis shook Blitzø off and the two glared at each other while walking off.

"Luis." Enrico said, getting Luis' attention as he holds up a radio and throws it towards him. Luis catches it as Enrico told him "Stay in radio contact. Just in case."

Luis nods as he catches up with the I.M.P.s. As everyone else heads back in, a car drives towards the hotel. A female sinner who ore the attire of a school teacher, having a dark pink shirt with noticeable stitches and an upside-down red teardrop jewel on her chest with yellow on the tip which use to be green when she is human. She also wears a black torn skirt, red earrings, and pink glasses. She was covered in blood and had a shotgun in her hands as she rushes towards the entrance with Enrico standing by it.

"Hi. Is this the Happy Hotel." She said in a calm yet panicky voice.

Enrico answers "Yes. You're in the right place, ma'am."

"Oh, thank god." She said, walking in. "I wanted to come sooner, but then, there were zombies and other psychotic demons I had fight my way through. You would not believe that day I had."

"Oh, I think I would." Enrico said. "You want I should go get the manager?"

"That'd be great, Mr..."

"Enrico Marini. You?"

"You can just call me Mayberry."

Chapter Text

In the Kingdom of Hell, Lucifer's Elite Guard had taken care of any threat that seem to have appeared. It would seem the outbreak that had occurred in Pentagram City and Imp City are moving on different regions of Hell, as the Guards have spent the majority of the day dealing with zombies, and now plaga infected demons. The King himself, was now walking down the halls of his own home, along side his wife, neither of them two happy about the situation their realm is in. Lucifer had sent search teams all across Pentagram City, in search of his daughter to confirm her safety. But barely few had returned with more than half of their men alive.

"Goddamn it, Charlotte. Where are you?" He mumbled to himself.

"Luci?" Lilith asked, making Lucifer snap out of his train of thought. "The others are waiting."

They found themselves at the doors of a meeting room, which Lucifer's minions had opened. Inside was a large circular table with a Pentagram on top, and around were six monitors that were facing Lucifer as he sat down on a large chair, with his wife standing next to him. The monitors started to turn on, one by one as the faces of Lucifer's comrades popped up. Mammon, Asmodeus, Leviathan, Beelzebub, Satan and Belphegor, and with Lucifer on board, the seven rulers of Hell began their little virtual meeting.

"A pity we could not have this meeting in the flesh." Lucifer began. "But as you can tell, we all have pressing matters to attend to."

"Not shit." The devil of wrath began to say. "First we have zombies, ZOMBIES showing up out of nowhere and infecting the population, but now demons that are seemlingly alive begin to kill each other out nowhere."

"With this kind of destruction, we wouldn't have any need for Exterminations." Mammon commented. "Why not let it continue to happen? Save Heaven the trouble of making sport out of our kind?"

"Because, as much as it pains me to admit it, it won't be long before this situation gets out of hand and we too will find ourselves dealing with personally."

"Surely, you can't be serious." Belphegor lazily said. "You, the Great Lucifer, find yourself in a situation in which you can't possibly handle yourself?"

Lucifer replied "Make no mistake, you worthless slug of a prince. This effects all our rings."

"How can you be so certain?" Belphegor asked.

"Do tell me if in the last 72 hours, have the overlords of you territory gone silent?" Lucifer argued back at his brethren. "Even I haven't heard much activity coming from the three V's. I can only assume that they've gone in hiding, are now permanently or are now in the thrall of whoever's responsible of this epidemic."

"And here, I thought that the residents of your ring are the most chaotic, territorial people in Hell." Leviathan said in monotone.

"From what my resources have gathered, this all had started outside my domain. As seen here."

At the snap of his fingers, a holo-display map of hell appeared on top of the table, showing each individual ring before zooming closely near the pride ring. A spot blinked on the map, indicating the origin of where this outbreak.

"Intel shows that new found territory had suddenly appeared just a few miles away from both Pentagram and Imp City." Lucifer continued. "I have recollection of this place, and my minions had said this place didn't even seen to exist until a few years back, where it was said to be completely deprived of any life, until a few months ago, where energy signatures seemed to have gone off the chart."

"How does that make any sense?" Mammon asked. "New places don't just appear out of nowhere...do they?"

"You truly are the Great Deceiver if you think that we would fall for such a pathetic assumption as this." Leviathan said, pointing to an agitated Lucifer.

"You think I'd make this up if it wasn't true?" He told them all. "I know you can see it all from you sit, and it would be long before you find yourselves up to your waists in all this gore and chaos."

"You underestimate us, brother." Satan had said. "We can easily take care of ourselves. But seeing as how this mess started in your territory, we oughta leave it to you to clean it up."

"Are you kidding me?" The King of Hell growled.

"With that in mind, we leave this catastrophe to you." Satan said as he signed off.

Mammon then added "He's got a problem. It started in your turf. Therefore, it's your problem."

"You are all going to be sorry for listening to me." Lucifer had told the remaining Rulers.

"I was sorry that I ever did listen to you in the first place." The Lord of Flies, Beelzebub said for the first and only time during this meaning as he signed off as well."

"I'd laugh at your face...but that'd be too much work." Belphegor said before he told turn of his monitor.

Leviathan, without a word, left the meeting and the only one left was the prince of lust, Asmodeus, who Lucifer stared, waiting for their smart remark.

"Well...what do you think of this, Azzy?" Lucifer said to them.

"I'm not one to agree with the rest of them." Asmodeus began to say. "But in this case, they have point. Considering that this has started in your territory, it is technically your responsibility to deal with the matter. Unless, of course you actually do lack the compacity to do so."

"Please. If I truly desired to do so, I would confront the one responsible for this personally and take care of the matter within minutes." Lucifer said while turning his chair away.

"You could hardly take care of your daughter, seeing as she doesn't which to follow in your footsteps." The demon of lust said, making Lucifer perk his head at his remark. Then, his eyes turned red and his horns started to show as Asmodeus continued on. "I can only imagine her poor, lifeless, bloodied body lying dead and brutally beaten because her dear ol' daddy wasn't to save her."

Lucifer turned back in anger, saying "One more word remark about my daughter, and I swear-"

"You'll what?" Asmodeus said with a smile. "Go ahead and make your move, you greasy fuck. But know very well that this whole situation, and the fate of your daughter are in your hands."

And with that, the last of the rulers signed off, calling this meeting to a close. Lucifer sat there, pissed off as his looked ready to crush the grips of his chair. If it weren't for his wife standing beside him to put her hand on his shoulder, would he had likely ripped the room apart.

"Charlotte will be fine." Lilith had told Lucifer. "Remember, she takes after you."

Lucifer sighed. He knew his daughter could take care of herself, but he still wished to know if she was alright.

"I just can't help but wonder as to how she is taking to this situation." Lucifer replied. "She must be pretty frightened."

"Charlie, we have someone else who would like to check in!"

The moment Charlie heard, it gave her a sense of joy and hope, as she as rushed down to great who was at the door with Enrico. Excitingly, she greeted Mrs. Mayberry with a handshake. The demonic teacher found the princess's behavior spontaneous and strange, as she felt like her body was shaking from the handshake.

"Hi! I'm Charlie. I'm so glad to see another face here!" Charlie said excitingly before toning it down. "It's nice to see anyone still alive really."

"Business isn't that good for you, dear?" Mayberry asked.

"It was a bit of a bust, at first. Now it's just been plain terrible ever since this nightmare started."

Mayberry replied "I agree. I wasn't prepared for this. I came here from Imp City after hearing about you giving sinners a chance to redeem themselves. Then zombies and monsters just came out of nowhere."

"You say you came from Imp City?" Enrico asked, before turning to Charlie. "Charlie, I think it might be a good idea if we have her checked out."

"What do you mean?"

"See, everyone's one edge right now." Charlie explained. "Even this place had just recently suffered from a wave of the infected. We don't know who's infected or not."

"So, for everyone's safety, we find it best to have anyone who comes in to get themselves checked out and make sure that they not infected." Enrico finished.

"Well, I can assure you that I have not been touched by any of those monster outside." Mayberry argued.

Enrico replied "Even so, we need to be sure. We'll have Sullivan take a look at you."

Mayberry wasn't sure about this until Charlie had put a hand on her shoulder. "It won't be so bad." She said. "Just think of it like a Doctor's check up."

"Okay then." Mayberry agreed as Charlie then had Vaggie take her.

"Let Sullivan have a look at her, okay Vaggie?"

"No problem." Vaggie said as she led Mayberry upstairs. Then Charlie and Enrico continued to talk as they walked around the lobby.

"I'm so glad to see another friendly face around here." Charlie said happily.

"Likewise." Enrico replied. "Just makes you think that there are others out there, still surviving."

And it was at that moment that Charlie's brain just hatched an idea.

"Enrico, you just gave me hope!" She tells the Captain excitingly. "What if there are more people out there? Who says we can't bring them here, give them sanctuary until this whole thing blows over? This might even be a chance to get some clients for the Hotel!"

The S.T.A.R.S Captain puts his hand to his chin as he thought about it for a second before saying "That's not a bad idea. The whole point of the S.T.A.R.S is...right there in the name. A rescue service."

Charlie smiled while Enrico pulled out his Samurai Edge, inspected the clip to see how many bullets are inside before reloading.

"I guess it's time we...live up to the name." He said. "Now, we can't send everyone. Some of us are gonna stay here and attend to the wounded."

Charlie replied "That's fine, but...who are you planning on sending?"

"I can do it."

They both looked see Steve, leaning his back against the wall, having listened in their conversation. Enrico knew the kid had a lot of heart, but he was a bit reckless and practically eats through all of his ammo.

"Ah, Steve. I appreciate you wanting to pitch in, but you're still too...green."

"Funny." Steve said sarcastically, taking it as a crack about the color of his skin. "But I can do this. I can't just stay here all day, not with all this shit happening."

"Aren't you at all exhausted from what we've just been through?" Charlie asked.

"Nope. Compared to what I've seen already, that was nothing." Steve said as headed out for the door. "Might as well head out now, save us the trouble."

"Wait."

Enrico stopped him and walked towards Steve, handing him another radio and a map of Pentagram City.

"Alright, Burnside. If you're serious, then this'll help you around the city." He told him, pointing to the map, and then the radio. "And be sure to stay in contact."

"And don't you at least wanna go with someone else?" Charlie asked.

Steve answered. "Nah. I'm better off on my own."

He didn't want to admit to them that working alone has never really turned out as well as he hoped. Considering he got himself locked in a heated room, waisted him ammo on both his guns, and then got infected, killed off and had his body used for experiments, Steve has not had the best of luck. But maybe now, would this make up for all those mistakes as he looks at the radio before pocketing it and heading out the door.

Driving through the dead silent streets of Imp City, in a military vehicle was the I.M.P. trio and their semi-captive escort, Luis, who was talking on the radio with Enrico. There was some interference in connection, but Luis could Enrico asking a favor of them.

"Okay. We'll do what we can." Luis said as he put away his radio. But his conversation with the S.T.A.R.S captain didn't go unnoticed with the rest of the team.

"What was that all about?" Moxxie asked.

"Enrico asked that we find any survivors, we should direct them to the Hotel." Luis explained. "They're using it as a safe haven."

"Not a chance." Blitzø said. "Why should we bother with that? It's not like that crappy hotel was safe by the time we got there."

"To be fair, sir, it was being overrun at the time." Moxxie argued.

"Blitzø, come on. There's no problem with given people a safe place to stay."

"But-"

"And...some of those people might be future clients."

"You're right!" Blitzø said happily. "We should help people out! But first, let's just focus on getting Moxxie cured."

"Yeah...where do we even go for that?" Millie asked, making everyone turn to Luis.

"Don't worry." Luis told them. "I know Saddler. He's bound to leave a trail that would lead directly to him."

"A trail of what exactly?" Blitzø asked.

"Followers." Luis pointed to show that infected demons were moving in the same direction that they were driving. Not even paying attention as Blitzø drove slowly and around them.

"Weird. It's like they don't even know we're here."

"That's because they're listening to Saddler's call." Luis explained. "They follow his will, and therefore are following him."

"So, we'll be fine for now?" Millie asked.

"As long as we don't disturb them."

The moment Luis said that was the moment Blitzø accidentally bumped into one of the infected, knocking it to the ground and gaining the attention of the others.

"Oh shit."

And it was then that they started to swarm their car like zombies, forcing Blitzø to step on it as he ran most of the ones up front down. A few gripped the car and were holding on as the car continued to head down the road. Blitzø managed to shake off the ones hold on and it seemed like they were all in the clear now. That was until another car crashed into their vehicle and made the whole thing flip over itself. The gang had all managed to get out, albeit in tremendous pain right now. Blitzø crawled out of the window as feminine shadow loomed over him and he found himself staring at some familiar looking thigh-length boots.

"Well, well, well." A seductive voice said. "This seems like my lucky day."

"Oh come on." Blitzø said. "Not you."

"Nice to see you too, Blitzo."

A pair of sunglasses with hearts in them looked down at them imp as he glared directly at his ex...

Chapter Text

Blitzø rose back on his feet while his eyes met with the wrong end of a gun. The one holding it just so happened to be the one person he wished had gotten infected, as then he would have the pleasure of blowing her brains out. Verosika Mayday and her crew were not looking very friendly today as Verosika was pointing a 44 Auto Mag pistol at her ex-boyfriend's face. Although, Moxxie did notice that...about three of them were missing; specifcally, Kat, Ace and Milky; the rest of them all had guns in their hands. The I.M.P. didn't have time for this, Moxxie wouldn't last that long without proper care. This was the last thing they needed right now, and he didn't care if Vortex would be there to rip him apart, Blitzø was close to shooting Verosika out of his way.

"Well, well, well...Look how I find in the middle of all this shitty mess." Verosika says. "Do you have something to say about all this?"

"Goddamn it, Verosika! We do not have time for this shit!" Blitzø yelled. "So either you get the fuck out of or I swear-"

And then, a familiar shadow loomed over him, along with a familiar growling. Blitzo wasn't gonna fall for the same trick twice, as he pulls out a handgun and turns around as fast as he could. Only for Vortex's huge claws to come and grab him by the wrist and neck, lift him off the ground.

"Just so you know, this ain't personal."

Blitzø struggled for breath as then, Vortex throw him onto the cars, making the poor imp tumble down while Verosika's crew laughed. Moxxie, Millie couldn't bare to see, but the one who had the intervene more was Luis, as he pulled out his Red 9 Mauser.

"Wow, Blitzo. I didn't think you'd be so stupid enough to pull a gun on Vortex." Verosika said as she towered over the imp. Blitzo only glared as Verosika looked ready to stomp on him with her boots. But then, she froze as she heard a gun click at the back of her head.

"Can't let you do that, señorita." Luis said as the crew, as Verosika slowly turned to glare at him. She then asks "And...who the fuck are you?"

"Luis Sera. And right now, I'm the escort to that imp right there."

Blitzø slowly started to get back up on his feet while Verosika was distracted.

"An escort?" Verosika asked. "That's cute. Whatever he's paying you isn't be worth shit though. So you might as well do yourself a favor and ditch him right now."

Luis replied "I can't do that." He then points to Moxxie. "That imp's life is on the line. I'm the only one who can help him."

The crew turn towards Moxxie, who looked ready to collapse as Millie held him in her arms. Verosika remembers him, as she and her crew had a little fun with him before. She squinted, seeing some dark red veins rising from Moxxie's neck...just like the demons they faced before coming here. And without a second thought, she points her gun at her, making Moxxie and Millie flinch and having Blitzø recover fully, with both him and Luis training their guns on her now.

"Woah, woah, wait!" Millie said as she and Moxxie backed up. Blitzø held his gun straight to Verosika's head as he said "Drop it, you bitch! I won't let you hurt Moxxie!"

"He's one of them." Verosika said in a low tone. "The ones who killed Kat, Ace and Milky."

"I thought you were missing a few people." Moxxie said, seeing the angry twitch in Verosika's eye.

"My crew will never be whole again..." Verosika growling, slowly squeezing the trigger. "Because you freaks."

Luis had put his hand behind his back, reaching for another gun he had stashed. But Vortex was now behind him, growling as Luis reached for what looked like a revolver.

"Drop it, amigo." He growled at Luis.

No can do, Perrito." Luis said as he then headbutted Vortex from behind and pulled out the gun, which had happened to be the Broken Butterfly. "Millie, catch!" He the throws the gun over to the female imp, who catches it with ease and aims it at Verosika. Shots were fired as they all took cover and began to have a shootout in the middle of the street. Though vastly outnumbered, the I.M.P. do consider themselves professional assassins and were good at knowing when and where to shoot. Plus, they even had Luis on their side, and the guy was doing pretty good with every bullet that flew out of his gun's chamber. He managed to shoot the gun out of Josh, Kiki and Coco's hands before reloading.

"We don't got time for this shit!" Blitzø says while ducking before shooting. "How much longer does Moxxie have?"

Luiz reloaded his Red 9 while saying "At this rate, you can kiss his ass goodbye, because if we can't get out of this soon, Moxxie will start to try and kill us."

That thought scared Moxxie, killing his close ones with his own hands, knowing that his actions were out of his control. But then, he saw their chance to escape as Luis just so happened to have a few grenades hanging off his belt. He must've gotten them from the military vehicle they commandeered, but what matter's now is that they can use them to clear a path.

"Luis, toss me a grenade!"

Seeing where he was going with this, Luis glad obliged and tossed the explosive over to the imp, who was ready to aim and pull the pin.

"Vortex, round them all up!" Verosika ordered her hellhound, who did as she commanded, running on all four to the other side before having the four in his sights. Luis decided to pull out his TMP, firing shots at Vortex, who managed to take a few hits, but was still going for it. Millie though, wouldn't have it as the moment Vortex got close, she dropped kick his ass and made him land on his face. Things were taking a turn for the worst, when Ganados started to show up, and the both individual teams found themselves surrounded.

"Just fucking great." Blitzø and Verosika said at the same time.

"Moxxie, now might be the time to use the grenade!" Millie said.

To which the husband replied "I already threw it at Verosika's crew."

The band looked to see the hand grenade on the ground as the Ganados closed in.

"Oh, shi-" Was all one of them got them to say as an explosions occurred with bits and pieces of Ganado, and a little bit of Verosika's crew, managed to fly everywhere. The I.M.P. took this opportunity to run as they shot their way through the crowd of remaining Ganado. Verosika stood there, bloodied, battered and semi-burned as she watched the gang run away.

"This isn't over, Blitzo." She growled. "Vortex! After them!"

The hellhound barely had enough time to recover before he got up, fought his way through Ganado and went after the I.M.P. The four managed to get away from the chaos as they stopped by an alley to catch their breath.

"So...you mind telling me what was her deal?" Luis asked.

"Uh, you know...she's just...an old accomplice, that's all." Blitzø said, trying to play it cool.

Millie just straight out said "That woman was Blitzø's ex."

"Ex? As in ex girlfriend?" Luis asked, looking at Blitzø in confusion. "...How does someone like you-?"

"Don't even bother asking! I'm not saying shit about her!" The I.M.P. Boss yelled out. "Let's just focus on getting to this Saddler guy, so that we cure Moxxie, and then kill the asshole."

"How much further?" Moxxie asked, to which Luis looked around the streets, moving his head from one place to another before pointing northeast.

"There." He said. "Won't be long now. Just need a new ride to get there quick enough."

Millie then walked in front of them saying "Well, let's get to it then."

"Wait."

Moxxie stopped them before pausing and looking around.

"Moxxie, what's the hold up?" Blitzø asked.

He replied "Just...call it a hunch." Before shooting above his head. Suddenly, coming down was a pile of dark fur and leather as the gang stared down at Vortex, who Moxxie shot in the foot. The hellhound, groaned in pain as the others stared at Moxxie in surprise.

"How did you know he was here?" Millie asked.

"Not really sure, actually." Moxxie answered. "I just...knew."

Luis then said "The plaga must be heightening your senses. I've never seen someone work so well with the infection, at least until..." He then stopped himself from saying anything as he began to reminisce about the only friend he made during his time in Spain, the friend who he managed to die in the arms of, giving him the counterdrug before passing on to judgement and hell. "We should keep going...and fast." They were about to continue, but Blitzø wasn't moving, still staring down at Vortex.

"Hold on." He said, making the others stop again.

"What now?" Luis said as he and the other two imps watched as Blitzø kneeled beside Vortex before taking out a bottle of "First Aid Med". The hellhound watched confusingly as Blitzø grabbed hold of his leg. "This is gonna sting a little." He said as he poured the liquid on Vortex's bullet wound. Vortex did feel a little burning sensation, but then the hole in his foot began to slowly close as Blitzø got back up.

"Like you said, nothing personal...but tell that bitch you call a boss to take a hint and leave us alone." The lead imp said before turning back and walking away, leaving everyone surprised by his actions. But then, he turned back and said to Vortex "Oh, and when you get the chance, get out of here. Head for Pentagram City, they're using a Hotel as a Safe Haven there...you'll be sorry if you don't go."

"Blitzø is never like that." Millie said. "Are we sure that he's not infected?"

"...Let's not rule anything out." Luis said as they followed suit. And while doing so, they watched Blitzø in confusion. He turns to them and says "What? Like I can't have a scene of being nice from time to time?" And with that, he continues to move forward, still leaving everyone in confusion. Vortex took a moment to get himself back up and look back at the four, who continued deeper into the city. He thought about what he was doing, what Verosika was making him do right now...and realized it's not worth it. He managed to lose touch with his girlfriend and feared the worst, now he had lost three members of the band he was assigned to guard over...he won't be losing anymore people as he shook his head and went back the way he came.

Meanwhile, at the Goetia Mansion, the Royal Family were safely locked inside, aware of the madness occurring in both Pentagram and Imp City. The Mansion itself has become heavily fortified and is as sealed as Lucifer's Kingdom. As a Prince, Stolas found it his responsibility to see what he could do in this situation, having been trying to in touch with Lucifer for an hour. Well, both Lucifer and...another special someone in his life.

"STOLAS! GET UP HERE RIGHT NOW!"

All the while, the first special someone in his life was giving him more hell than the entire dimension. Stella, his 'loving' wife, was fuming at the worst possible time. Even during a hell-wide crisis, does she not stop for a second to take out her frustrations on Stolas. In all honesty, she would love to see him get eaten alive by zombies, even planning on making it look like an accident. But for now, she's willing to only make him miserable as they're all stuck in the same house together. As for their daughter Octavia, because of how sealed up their house is at the moment, there was barely any phone service, so she couldn't even completely listen to her music to calm her nerves. At this point, she was wondering if she should just kill herself so that she wouldn't have to listen to her parents screaming at each other.

"So, this is what humans had to put up with for two years." She said to herself as she watched her parent's bicker loudly.

"Stella, can we not do this right now?" Stolas asked. "I am trying to get in contact with Lord Lucifer."

"Explain to me why I found a rotting corpse near the fireplace!" Stella said, pointing to where the fireplace would be. There was in fact a body there, belonging to a zombie that managed to get before the manor was locked down, since they had nowhere to dump it, Stolas thought it best to have it cremated in the fireplace.

"You know why it's there." Stolas said simply while walking away from Stella, having a phone up to his ear. "Now, if you excuse me, I'm trying to assess the situation we're in."

"How?! You made sure that this place have no kinds of communication in or out!" Stella yelled. "It would be impossible to contact Lord Lucifer now! Or are you just trying to get in touch with that lowly imp you've infatuated yourself with?!"

"Really? Even in a crisis like this, that's a concern for you?"

"Says the one who's been on the phone, calling for the best three hours." Stella retorted.

Stolas argued "I've been calling his majesty! Why don't you believe me?!"

Then, Stella swiped the phone from his hands and scrolled down to revealed that half the calls his made were for Blitzø.

"Well...I'm just trying to see if he's okay" Stolas said, trying to keep it cool. "Though I am fully aware he can take of himself, I just-"

He didn't have time to finish as Stella threw a pot at his head.

"I'D FUCKING LEAVE YOU RIGHT NOW IF I WASN'T TRAPPED HERE, WAITING THIS CATASTROPHE OUT!"

Stolas didn't want to deal with one of Stella's violent fits, so he does something that even surprises himself; grabs hold of Stella by the wrist and drags her out of the room and away from his daughter. That's not to say it didn't catch Octavia's attention for a mere moment, but she wasn't sure what to think of it. Next thing Stella knew, she was forced against a wall with her husband looking down at her with a glare that would make any lower demon to overlord crumble.

"We're not dealing with this." Stolas hissed. "Not now. Bad enough you send someone to kill me..."

"You are aware of that?" Stella asked

"You yelled it to my face. I don't need my daughter suffering more than how she already is. Like it or not, we are stuck here. So, you might as well uphold your responsibilities, as Royalty, as I do."

Without another word, Stolas had let go of his wife and stormed off in another room, leaving Stella surprised at his demanding, authoritative-like behavior. All this time, she thought he was just a cheating embarrassment, unfit to be a prince. But after seeing that side of him, she felt like she had seen more than needed, as it was looking into the eyes of a true demon...one she regretted hiring a hitman for.

"They do tend to assert their authority when the time feels appropriate, don't they?"

They unfamiliar made Stella turned to see someone hidden in the shadows, except for their feet, their right foot green and scaly and their left...covered in plant life. Stella could make out the tattered/burned ends of a dark purple dress and a single glowing yellow eye staring straight at her. It was a woman, but the rest of her appearance remained sullied in the shadows.

"Of course, it doesn't help that he outranks you in your family tree." The Lady said in a British accent.

"Who are you?!" Stella shouted. "How did you get in here?! I demand-"

"I am Alexia Ashford." The woman said plainly, interrupting Stella. "And I've come to make a proposition for you."

"...What?"

"I know what it's like...being embarrassed, humiliated by family." Alexia said. "They meant well, my father and brother. Even though it was he who brought me into this world, he was still such a miserable old man."

Stella wasn't sure what to say. There was something about this woman who she found...alluring.

"But, he did leave me with the greatest gift I could ever ask for. I gift well return in my favor, and one that I wish to share with the rest of hell."

Alexia stepped forward to revealed the rest of what she is. Stella cringed at the sight of her face, with sharp leaves blocking her right eye and her pale green skin being translucent with veins. But still, she couldn't bare to look away as she continued to listen to Alexia's words.

"I wish to share this gift with you." She continued on. "This way...you can gain the retribution you so rightfully deserve."

"Why me?" Stella asked.

After a little bit of silence, Alexia answered "...You just peaked my interest, is al." Then she extended her arm towards Stella. "Take my hand...embrace...my gift."

Stella felt like she was no longer in control of her own actions, as she rose her shaking hand and extended it towards Alexia's...and the last thing Stolas and Octavia heard was her bloodcurdling scream. They're used to her screaming, but this wasn't rage...it was fear.

"Was that Mom?" Octavia asked as she and her father went to go check on her. But all they found was the fortified wall burned and melted through, and Stella was gone. If that wasn't the least of their problems, the sounds of moaning and groaning filled the air, as the shadows of the undead were not too far away...

"...Oh, shit."

Verosika and her crew were walking down the road, barely having been able to get away from the Ganados with their lives. Verosika was still waiting on Vortex to contact her and pinpoint Blitzø's location. Much to her surprise, she looked to see her hellhound bodyguard coming up on the road, walking their direction.

"Why didn't you call? Is your phone broken?" She asked, but then Vortex just walked right past her. "...Did you find that asshole?"

"Yeah, I found him." Vortex said simply. "But I'm not going after him anymore."

This confused Verosika as she asked "What are you talking about?"

"I'm saying he's not worth it." Vortex answered. "We were barely able to fight our way here and we lost three members in the process."

"You think I forgot?" Verosika asked. "There deaths will be in vain if we don't do something about it!"

"And going after your selfish dickhead ex is 'doing something about it'?" Vortex said to her. "Now is not the time for your vendetta, boss. We need to get out of here."

"And where are we even supposed to go?" Kiki asked.

"Blitzø told me about some kind of safe haven over at Pentagram City. I don't know much about it, but-"

"Oh, come on!" Verosika said. "Why believe anything that little shithead has to say?!"

"It's the best we got right now!" Vortex yelled. "And I'm not planning on dying here! I already lost my girl, and I sure as hell don't wanna lost any of you assholes either."

The remainders of Verosika's Crew thought about it, they had little only small guns with little ammo left, and they didn't want to die here either. But Verosika's stubbornness was getting in the way.

"Nobody is going anywhere!" She said in a threatening tone. "I'm not losing that little golddigging, limp-dick shithead now! After he's dead, then you can go wherever the fuck you pussies want."

"You really want to risk all our lives, just so that you put a bullet in imp?" Vortex asked.

"I waited too long for this, Vortex!" Verosika growled, holding up her gun. "And you will do as I say! I'm your boss!"

Vortex only glared at crazed music star before pulling out something from pocket and tossing it to the ground. Turns out, it was Verosika's business card.

"I didn't sign up for this shit." He said in a low tone. "Let it go, Verosika. You're gonna get your ass killed if you don't."

Verosika glared her teeth at the hellhound and growled more like a dog than he did. "Fine!" She yelled. "Consider your ass fired then! Come on, guys! We can still catch up to Blitzo."

She began to walk, but the rest of her crew stayed put. Seeing this left a twitch in her eye, seeing that none of them were listening to her.

"What the fuck did I just say?! Let's GO!"

"I think..." Kiki started to say. "It's time to give it up, V."

The rest of the crew stood with Vortex, and realizing that her entire crew has turned against her didn't sit well with her. She instantly turned her gun towards then and shot Kiki in the arm. She fell in Vortex's arms as the rest of the crew looked to see if she was okay.

"Are you out of your goddamn mind?!" Josh yelled at her. Verosika was about to fire again, but a manhole behind her opened up and a large, black tale with a blade at the end of it came and wrapped itself around her leg. Before she could notice, it was too late as the tails began to pull her down to the sewers. Her former crew watched in horror as this happened.

"I'm not supposed to di-AAAAAAGGGGGHHHH...!" Is all she could say before being dragged down. The crew ran, believing their former boss to be dead. But she will be back...worse than ever.

Chapter Text

Walking through the semi-abandoned streets of Pentagram City, Steve has yet to find anything or anyone who he could convince can find sanctuary back at the hotel. Most demons here are ironically, too scarred, too angry or too trigger happy to comply. Seriously, a few tried to blast at Steve when he was trying to help.

"Assholes. The lot of them." He mumbled to himself as he continued to head through the streets while avoiding any other unnecessary surprises.

(BANG)

Like that. Steve got into cover when the sound of a sniper rifle went off from looks of where the bullet made contact, the sniper was aiming for him. Hiding behind a wrecked car, Steve made no sudden movements against the guy who once more fired and nearly landed on in the back of Steve's head. This situation was causing Steve to have flashbacks. This whole thing felt like back when he was with Claire, and they'd be fighting...

"Ashford..."

The thought of the name made Steve grow with rage as the moment the next shot was fired, Steve immediately turned went all out blitz on the sniper. His ingrams were enough to burst through the concrete of the rooftop to where the sniper was firing from. Steve could sense that the guy ran away, but it wouldn't be the last of him. He was sure of it. He looked back at where the bullets made their mark and it made Steve think.

"Guy's a better shot than Alfred...I'll have to be more careful." He said before looking around. "...God, maybe I should've brought backup."

"Understood, Steve. We'll send Brad after you." Enrico said through the Radio. "Keep doing what you're doing. Look for more survivors."

"You know, when you actually take a peak inside the place. It's not that bad."

That was Josh who said that. It was only a few hours ago when the remainder of Verosika's former crew came to the Hotel and were welcomed by Charlie and searched by the S.T.A.R.S. Not that half of them mind the former cops to be a little handsy.

"I don't know about you girls, but I'm think of having that snake boy or birdie all to myself." Kiki told Coco and Apple.

"Well, you can have them." Apple replied, putting her arm around Coco. "After what we've been through, I'm never letting go of my sweet Coco right here."

"That goes double for me." Coco said wrapping her arms around Apple, and pretty soon the two were making out.

"Get a room, you too." Edward came by with his own rifle, saying "Seriously, if you're gonna do that here, get a room. Husk has the keys."

Apple blew a raspberry at him while Coco dragged her over to the counter. Meanwhile, Vortex was leaning up against the wall next to Loona, who was busy looking through her phone on any information regarding the chaos that has been happening right now. It has been too quiet and even she can't hide her concern for Blitzø, Moxxie and Millie. When her phone didn't seem like enough, she decided to do a little small talk with Vortex. And that was already hard enough on its own.

"So...how are things?"

"Could be better." Vortex said bluntly. "My girl's dead, my boss' scum...and now, we're here. Cooped up in a hotel that looks like it's been through shit."

"Yeah, this place went a little bad right before you guys got here." Loona explained. "Luckily, we held our own, managed to clean up...to bad about Moxxie though. He got the worst of it."

"Yeah. I, uh...saw that when Verosika was gonna kill him...and when he shot me in the foot."'

This made Loona turn her head and face Vortex with a suspicious look in her eye.

"I didn't do anything. I swear." Vortex protested, putting up his hands, innocently. It made Loona laugh before she stared back down her phone, scrolling through pics and videos of what people could take during this outbreak. It was then that something else hit Vortex's mind.

"Say...if we don't make it through this, I hope there's no hard feelings between us. What with that stupid bet and the beef between our bosses."

"It's cool. I don't hold a grudge." Loona said. "And I don't mind you having a girlfriend anymore."

"...Had."

Loona perked her head up, wide-eyed as she realized she brought in a sore subject. "Oh...right...sorry."

"It's cool." Vortex said in a low voice. "So...you still looking for someone?"

"That's cute, Tex. But I got my eyes set on someone."

"Who?" He asked, to which Loona points to the young Doberman Hellhound that was sitting at a table, working on his guns. Joseph was also listening to a Walkman tape while he worked, as it helped calm his nerves. Vortex nodded in approve to Loona's choice.

"He does look like your type." He said. "Looks pretty young, though."

Loona replied "He's just small. He's actually 27." And that made Vortex do a double take at Joseph, who looked younger than both of them. Meanwhile, Brad was with Husk at the counter, talking to him about his time out on the field.

"And at that time, before I joined the Force, I was under the command of the 10 year vet. I think the boys called him HUNK."

Husk scoffed saying "How did he look to earn that name?"

"I wish I knew." Brad replied. "Guy kept his face concealed. But he was as skilled as our ol' boy, Chris, yet with no emotion. I never really did much out in the field, I was, uh...pretty timid back then. So, I compensated by becoming a pilot, along with other positions. I even volunteered to train this rookie who was coming in before the Raccoon City Outbreak. He name was Le-"

"Brad." Enrico called, coming in and getting the attention of the pilot. "You're up. Steve need some assistance."

And with that, Brad finished up his drink and told Husk "I'll finish later." Then took his Samurai Edge out and headed out the front door. Husk took the glass Brad drank out of and began to clean it while saying to the Captain "Dude just told me that he was timid, and you sent him out to help the kid?"

"We've been down here for ten years, pal." Enrico replied while grabbing a shot glass himself. "You really think anything scares us now?"

"Fair point."

"That's not to say I'm not worried. What with everything going on, I pray that he's coming back." He said while Husk poured him a shot. As Enrico took it, the bartender then noticed the trail of dry blood that was leading from the giant bullet hole in the middle of Enrico's forehead. And then he asked while pointing "Just out of curiosity, how the hell did you get that?"

Enrico paused a little before answering "...Doublecrosser."

Enough said. Husk could understand what he meant. He's been through some shit too, but he's never stabbed anyone in back. Enrico didn't say it, but he swore the next time he saw his old "teammate" he'd return the favor and make a bullet it go straight through his head.

Back with Luis and the I.M.P.s, they were busy making their way through Imp City on foot, and Moxxie wasn't looking too good. The veins around his body were continuing to grow and it almost felt like like his right arm was about to burst open. Millie was doing all she could to comfort him, but even she was begin to feel afraid of losing her husband. Blitzø was losing his patience with Luis, who kept lead, but Blitzø wasn't convinced that he was leading them anywhere.

"Any time of the day, Amigo!" He screamed at the Spaniard while pointing a gun at his head. "Moxxie's running out of time, and I'm losing my cool!"

Luis looked back at I.M.P. boss and said "Try to be a little more calm, my friend. I am taking you the right, but nothing is ever in a straight line."

"The hell is that supposed to mean?"

"See for yourself." Luis then pointed to show a makeshift trail marker at the side of the road. It was the shape of the "Los Illuminados" insignia, meaning that they were back on the right track. From where the trail marker lead, it showed that the I.M.P.s were heading straight for a tall building already that, even from a distance, had looked to be claimed by the Ganados, but wasn't too far off where the demons stood.

"Great, so where we now know where to look!" Blitzø said. "Let's book it!"

"Wait." Luis said, blocking the imps path. "We're not going directly there. The Ganados had caught off from the main path." And it was then that he opened up a manhole that lead down into the sewer. "This will lead us to where they headed off too."

"You gotta be shitting me." Blitzø said. "You expect us to believe that these Ga-na-dos, or whatever you call them, just suddenly dropped down into the sewers to where ever they needed to go?

"...H-H-He's right."

Everyone turn to Moxxie, who was still being held up in Millie's arms. "I can sense them." He said. "They went down...but they're not too far from where we are."

"Are they heading directly underneath the building?" Luis asked, to which Moxxie nodded and replied "And passing it too."

"Then it appears that it may not be our final stop." This made Blitzø swear under his breath.

Then Millie asked "How much farther do we need to go. Moxxie won't hold out for too long."

"They're all gathering somewhere..." Moxxie said in between breaths. "Just outside...of Imp City."

"It all feels like we're moving in circles." Blitzø growled.

"But you trust his word more than you do my own." Luis said as he was the first take a step down the manhole. "I would take his word for it."

Blitzø hated to admit it, but Luis has a point. And without any further hesitation, did he head in the sewers second and the couple going third. Little did they know of the horrors that would await them down there.

Steve found himself hiding behind another turned over car as he had a run in with the sniper yet again. He was low on ammo and is still waiting for backup, and that sniper was getting closer, inch by inch at hitting him.

"Well, it's not like today could get any worse."

He just had to say that. Pretty soon, the floor beneath began shake and both Steve and the sniper felt it. He wondered if it was Valentino coming back for more. But instead it was something else he was more familiar with. Bursting from the worth was a giant disgusting worm monster that Steve recognized as one of the Ashford's creations.

"The Gulp Worm..." He whispered in shock as he was forced to move from his hiding spot as the Gulp Worm had spotted him. As it tried to swallow him whole, he ran for it as the Worm dug itself back underneath the floor. He said the floor breaking apart heading straight for him, forcing him to run as the Gulp Worm was after him. But then, Steve fell the ground, feeling severe pain in his leg as the Sniper had managed to a got a shot of him this time. And it was then that Brad had shown up; Steve only wished that he could've come at a better time.

"Steve! Are you alright?" He asked, to which Steve replied "BRAD, GET OUT OF HERE NOW!"

But it was too late. The Gulp Worm had come up from beneath Brad's feet and Steve could seem him screaming as he was swallowed whole!

"BRAAAD!" He roared, managed to get back on his feet even after being shot, and then rushed at the Gulp Worm. Steve's eyes glowed red as then suddenly, a giant battle axe manifested itself in his hands as he charged and jumped at the Gulp Worm before it could head back down. Swinging the axe, Steve got it right down it's body as the Worm started to spew blood and other gross fluids from it's open cut. And for good measure, Steve took his axe and swung across the worm's body, cutting the monster in half. Crawling out from the opening was a blood covered and partially digested Brad, who desperately did all that he could to clean himself from what he just experienced. Steve came over and put his hand on his shoulder.

"Lighten up, guy. You look like you're afraid to get dirty." He told him, not to Brad's amusement, making Steve sigh. "You alright."

"...I'm fine." Brad said. "Getting swallowed by that thing kinda beats getting your head impaled by a tentacle."

Steve wasn't even sure how to respond to that. Not that he had time to as the sniper went straight back to firing at him as a bullet ends up hitting Steve's axe. In a fit of rage, Steve swings the axe and throws it, sending it flying towards the building where the sniper was perched, crashing into the roof and bringing the sniper down. After seeing that, there was a question on Brad's mind.

"Where'd you even get that axe?"

Steve paused before answering "...I don't even know."

The two rushed over to see the sniper, who had fallen to the ground. Getting a good look at him, it turns out to be a grey-furred spider demon wearing a black hat and tailcoat, yellowing pants and a web-themed bowtie, eight eyes and a mouth full of a fangs. If Steve didn't know any better, he thought that this guy almost looked like Angel Dust. Seeing him for a weapon made Steve bring back at the axe and pin the spider to the ground by having his head trapped between the two blades.

"Well, shit." The spider demon growled. "If you're gonna kill me, get it over with."

"Not until I get some answers out of you." Steve ordered. "Who are you? Why were you shooting at me?"

"The name's Arackniss, and I don't have to explain myself to you. I already lost my pops, I don't plan on dying here as well."

The Brad knelt down at Arackniss before saying "Well, we're more than welcome to let you go AFTER you answer us truthfully. Why were you shooting at Steve here?"

"...He just looks so much like the shithead who took my father's life." Arackniss ordered. That got Steve curious; if there was any other people who were colored the same shade of green as him, he knew exactly who it was. He just needed Arackniss to confirm it. "Who was it?" He asked. "Give me a name."

"I don't fucking know." Arackniss swore. "...But he wore red, spoke in an accent. Is that enough for you, boy?"

It was. Steve released Arackniss and had put his axe away as he said "Yeah...thanks."

"Whatever." said Arackniss. "Now, if you excuse me, I gotta get back to work."

"Oh yeah? And what work is that?" Brad asked.

"Nothing! None of your business!" Arackniss snapped. "Just...surviving...and shit. I don't know! Alright?! ...Maybe, if I'm lucky, I can find my brother and sister and we can be a family again."

"One of those siblings wouldn't happen to be named 'Angel Dust', would they?" Steve asked, getting the spider-demon's attention.

Arackniss turned back and asked "So you met my little brother, Anthony?"

"...His's real name is Anthony?" Brad asked

"Yeah." Arackniss said through a laugh. "Angel Dust is his show name, and the name for his brand of drugs."

"And what's your real name?" Steve asked.

"Does it matter?"

Steve shrugged as he then said "If you want, we can take you to your brother. He's at the hotel we're using as a haven for any demons."

The spider looked like he was thinking about it for a second before answering "Alright...I could already see Tony's face when he sees me."

"Right." Brad said, sensing some personal tensions between Arackniss and Angel Dust. But he thought nothing else of it as they decided to take Arackniss back to the hotel...

Chapter Text

Steve, Brad and Arackniss had managed to make it back to the hotel in one piece...or as much in pieces as they were, given the encounter with each other, and with one of the Ashford's mutations. They were talking with each other to lighten, and a topic that was brought up by the black-furred spider was his own brother.

"So Tony actually managed to put the hurt on his own boss?" Arackniss asked.

"Yeah. Seemed to have just about been aiming for every weak point the moth had on him." Brad answered. "Never seen such brutality."

Arackniss replied "Wouldn't surprise me. That lustful, dick-flashing, moth bitch has had a ass-kicking coming for a long time. It had been on my mind for a while, but I would've done him myself one day...for Anthony's sake."

"All so that you could've dragged him back into being a gangster, I'm guessing?" Steve asked

"It would've been a better for him than what that shithead had done to him." Arackniss complained. "I've seen my brother having a fake-ass smile whenever he's on screen, the shitty jobs he did for Valentino. I never fucking understood why my brother took the life he had before for granted. We were doing just fine before we came down here! If he wasn't such a dumbass, maybe he would've lived longer!"

But then, Steve asked "Didn't you guys live around the 1940s?"

"Yeah...not the best time to live." Brad added.

"Shut up. At least I didn't overdose to get here."

Steve and Brad looked at each other for a second before they headed inside.

"We're back!" Steve yelled out, but there was nobody in the lobby besides Husk. "Well, don't ask if we're okay all at once."

"Everyone else is busy." Husk said as he's slump at his bar. "Charlie had managed to get everyone a room and even managed to make them comply with some of the rules she has."

"Half of those guys were succubi." Brad mentioned. "How the hell did she pull that off?"

"She's the princess of hell. She can do...almost anything." Husk before taking a sip from a bottle. "Anyone, who's the guy?"

"This is Arackniss." Steve answered. "Apparently, he's Angel's brother."

"Angel never mentioned having a brother."

Arackniss replied "No surprise there. It's just like him to not talk about me or the rest of his family." He then sat down at the bar. "How about you give me a drink and I'll fill you in on Angel's dark past?"

"Now this, I gotta hear." Husk smirked as he tossed Arackniss a bottle. Steve and Brad settled down on the coach and Brad could see Steve glaring at Arackniss, who managed to make Husk laugh with what he was saying.

"You alright, Steve?"

"I'm just still not happy with that guy. He tried to kill us before, and now we let him into our safe place?" Steve asked

"That's understandable, but we all managed to explain ourselves, got on the right foot and now everything seems alright." Brad said. "Just give the guy a chance. I'm sure you'll warm up to each other."

"Yeah, right."

"Ah, I remember that when I showed up, I too was given the stinkeye."

The two immediately turn their heads to see the Radio Demon, Alastor, standing by them. Because he's been neglected in this story for several chapter already.

"Where the hell did you come from?!" Steve yelled.

"New Orleans. Such a nice place, don't ya know." Alastor joked. "I managed to catch a glimpse of your encounter with that giant maggot that managed to destroy another street downtown. As well as when you met up with the dear sibling of the effeminate fellow I have to constantly avoid."

"So...you were spying on us?" Brad asked.

Alastor replied "Think of it more as 'entertainment in the form of other's wildest adventures'. I have to get my entertainment from somewhere, since this place seemed to be drying up faster than a shriveled corpse."

"Don't pretend I didn't hear that, Alastor." Charlie said, coming down a flight of stairs, with her hands at her hips and looking all sassy. But then, she turns her attention over towards Steve and Brad, and smiled. "Glad to see that you two are okay."

"Yeah, it feels good to be back here." Steve said before pointing towards Arackniss. "Also, we...brought him along."

Charlie turned over to the black spider demon and smiled, happy to see another 'supposedly' new asset to her hotel as walks over to introduce herself.

"Hello." She said, greeting Arackniss.

"Ah, the princess of hell herself." The spider said. "It's a pleasure."

"Let me be the one to welcome you to the Happy Hotel. We're currently using it as a safe haven for survivors."

Arackniss replied "I heard. And as much as I could appreciate that, I can't stay for long. I gotta get back out there. I'm only here to see my brother."

"Your brother?" Charlie asked, confused. But then it hit her. "Wait, you're Angel Dust's brother?"

"Yep." Arackniss answered. "Is he here? I wanna say here."

And then, Charlie pulled out a radio and spoke into it, saying "Vaggie, can you bring Angel down here. There's someone who would like to see him." And with that, they wait. "...So, how did you meet Steve and Brad?"

"Oh, he took pot shots at us with a sniper rifle." Steve said, bluntly.

"What?!"

And then, Angel come down and he had a dramatic shocked look on his face.

"Are you freaking kidding me?" Angel said before turning toward Brad and Steve. "You guys managed to find my brother and bring him back here? Alive?!"

"Yeah, it's so fucking nice to see you too, Tony." Arackniss said, getting up from his seat to confront his sibling.

Angel took a sniff of air before 'phew'-ing it out "Damn, Niss. You oughta take a bath to clean up your smelly, chainsmoking ass."

"Tell that to the jizz leaking your ass, you two-dollar-back-alley-crack-whore!"

Everybody accounted for looked from left to right at the two spider siblings as they went at each other, with Angel saying "Keep talking like that and I'll send you back to Pops in used condom-turned-body-bag, since an actual one would be too big for ya!"

"Why don't you shut up and go wash the dick taste outta yer mouth before I go and fuck up your other eye!"

"Whatevah, Tiny. Run on home to daddy and tell 'im I said 'Fuck you'!"

And they went on like that for like 3 minutes. Some of their insults even transitioned over to Italian. And when it finally cooled down, Steve talked to Charlie about what else he encountered out there.

"I ran into another monster from my past." He explained. "A Gulp Worm. A mutant beast created by the Ashfords."

"The same family who are responsible for your death?" Charlie asked.

"Yep."

Arackniss added "That fancy-pants asshole was the one who destroyed the entire family. He's the one who took over our territory...and he's the one who killed Pops."

That caught Angel of course.

"W-Whoa, whoa, wait a minute. Pops is dead?! I don't believe it..."

"Sorry Angel." Steve said. "Alfred Ashford was the one who killed him."

"...And Molly?" Angel asked his brother.

"Couldn't find her when things went to shit." Arackniss answered. "I've been trying to find her ever since."

Then Angel stomped over to Arackniss, grabbed him by the shirt and said "How could you not protect her, you asshole?!"

"Angel, don't." Steve ordered. "Nobody could've saw this coming. But, now that I know that Ashford's here in the city, I can track his ass down and kill him."

Steve was about to head out there door, when Arackniss suddenly went after him.

"Hold on, kid. If you're going after him, than I'm coming with. I have every right to kill that sonofabitch as much as you!"

"That shithead put me through hell before I could get my hands on him. I'm not letting him go again, and I'm sure as hell not gonna let anybody get in my way!"

But then, Charlie intervened before they could kill each other, saying "Why don't...you both go working together instead of competing against each other?"

Both looked towards the Princess of Hell in confusingly before glaring back at each other.

"Just don't get in my way, kid." Arackniss said.

"Then, remember who's side you're on, Punk." Steve replied, as the two butted heads.

"Okay..." Charlie said, pulling them apart again. "Now, have you any idea where Alfred Ashford might be?"

"I believe I can help with that." Alastor said, getting their attention. "I've seen a rather wealthy looking fellow moving a few most peculiar objects across town. This 'Alfred Ashford', as you call him, he wouldn't happen to be dressed as an English Earl? Green skin? Holding a rifle?"

"Yep. That just about sums him up." Steve stated.

"Yes. Well, you may find him travel southeast from this establishment."

"...The Entertainment District?" Arackniss questioned. "What would be of use to him down there?"

"Knowing Ashford, he'd only be after something that was really worth a damn. Something for an uptight bastard like him."

Charlie thought about it for a second before it hit her on the head.

"Prince Stolas' Manor..." She said. "It's right next to the District!"

"Who's Prince Stolas?" Angel asked.

"Angel...you need a history lesson." Husk commented as he took another sip from his drink.

But then Steve said "Nevermind who he is. Just what makes him so important?"

"Aside from being one of my father's right hand men, he's also the keeper to the Ars Goetia Grimoire." Charlie explained. "A book which hold a collection of mystic arts. My father never told me too much about it, but I know enough to say that shouldn't fall into the hands of Ashford."

"All the more reason why we need to go Now." Steve said as he went towards the door, looking back at Arackniss "You coming, spider boy?"

But then Angel joked "Oh, I'd love too, Steve. But I can only take enough excitement in a week."

"He was talking to me, Anthony." And then Arackniss followed Steve out there door. Brad was about to follow them, but Charlie stopped him.

"You're gonna have to stay back for now, Brad." Charlie told him. "Enrico and Kevin on working on getting a helicopter, and they're gonna need your help as an emergency pilot."

"So, it looks like I'm back on skywatch duty then." Brad said before turning to Steve. "Good look out there."

And with that, Steve and Arackniss were out the door. Alastor held his smile as he saw the two leave.

"Can't wait to see what other entertaining adventures those two will get into."

Somewhere out on the road, the former 7th Earl, Alfred Ashford was in an armored vehicle driven by his loyalists. And by loyalists, he meant parasitic infected demons who are practically brain dead at this point, and will only follow the simplest of commands. So it was a miracle how he trusted one of them to drive to their destination. Alfred himself was dressed in the same uniform he wore in his final days on earth, but his skin was green and insect like, just as his sister's was, and his eyes were yellow as well. He was soon to meet up with Alexia herself as he recently heard that her part of their mission was completed.

He picked up a radio and talked into it, saying "Dear Sister, have you gotten hold of the target?" After some silence, he got a response.

"The Ars Goetia Manor now belongs to us." Alexia's voice can be heard from the radio. "I have taken hold of the Prince's Wife and the others will soon fall to our undead."

"And has the Grimoire been found yet?" Alfred asked.

Alexia replied "Sadly, no. I have yet to locate it anywhere around the manor. I may have to the birds to sing when I get the chance."

"I'm on my way there now. Do wait for me, Big sister."

"Don't keep me waiting, dear brother." Alexia said as they ended their call and Alfred ordered his minion to head straight to the target location. Little did they know that the Grimoire was back with a certain Hellhound at the Hazbin Hotel. Not that it mattered, since the hotel was soon to be one of their targets anyway...

Back in Imp City, or rather the sewers below it, the I.M.P and Luis were slowly navigating through the tunnels as they tried to find where all the Ganados went. And after only five minutes of being here, have the been attack by even more grotesque creatures which Luis recognized from his time on Salazar's Island. They were called Novistadors, which Luis explained the pros and cons of.

"The stronger ones are able to camouflage themselves by turning invisible while the weaker ones can merely fly." He said as they took out another swarm of them.

"Yeah, that would've been good to know five minutes ago when I felt something up my back." Blitzø said he shot another Novistador when he saw it twitch.

Before they could continue, Moxxie suddenly collapsed. Millie went to his husband's side as he looked down at his wrist...spikes were coming out of it.

"Moxxie?" Millie asked worringly. But then Moxxie suddenly shoved her off.

"I'm fine! Don't touch me!" And with that, he suddenly ran off, deeper into the tunnels.

"Moxxie, wait!" Millie said, running after him. They all chased after Moxxie, who looked like he wasn't gonna stop any time soon as he went left, right, left, right all around the tunnels. Little did they know that another creature was stalking them down in the sewers. Another poor soul who suffered from the plaga parasite? Or perhaps mutated demon with an axe to grind with a certain imp? Not that it mattered right now as they chased Moxxie across a bridge over a giant hole where a lot of sewer water was heading down into. They had failed to notice that there was a figure right behind them, holding a fireman's axe which they were aiming towards the supports of the bridge. By the time they caught up to Moxxie, they were already tearing apart that first side of the bridge. Do to his connection with the Plaga, Moxxie did notice of the creature as he suddenly stopped and turned around.

"Moxxie?"

"GET OFF THE BRIDGE NOW!"

But it was too late. The side of the bridge that they just crossed had fallen apart and they were barely able to make it across. Luis and Millie had made it with Moxxie, but Blitzø wasn't so lucky. He held onto the bridge that was hanging on from it's remaining supports, but would soon give in. His employees tried to reach down for him, But Blitzø wasn't close enough to reach them.

"Sir, take my hand!" Moxxie yelled out as he tried to reach for Blitzø. But the boss could see Moxxie's condition was worsening by the second, with the veins rising up his head and the spikes growing out of his arm. He did what any other good boss could do.

"Worry about yourself, Mox!" He told him. "You need to be cured as soon as possible!"

This caught them off guard as Millie yelled out "Blitzø, we're not leaving your here!"

Blitzø replied "Don't worry about me!" Then he looked down at the abyss below him before looking back at his teammates. "I'll...I'll catch up to you! I promise..."

"Sir, no!"

But they couldn't stop him from letting go and falling into the darkness below. They all watched as Blitzø disappeared, deeper into the sewers. The two imps were processing the fact that they made have just lost Blitzø for good. But Luis wasn't looking as distraught as the two, as he says to them...

"I'm not worried." Then the two look at him confusingly. "If he's able to handle his own against the Ganados, I'm sure we'll see him again. Until then...we must keep moving."

Moxxie and Millie looked down once more at the hole their boss just fell into before agreeing with Luis that they must press on. However, they creature that destroyed the bridge was going down into the abyss. It was bound to have its way with Blitzø in more ways than one...

Chapter Text

The Doberman Hellhound, Joseph, was still at his guns, on grand table, bored out of his mind. He had already gone through all the songs in his Walkman and fixed up both his guns, and there was not much to do now but practically wait for this nightmare to be over. But he kept thinking to himself that this could get done a whole lot easier if he was other there, fighting. All his time on the force, out on the army, he wanted to see some action.

"I guess...that kind of thinking is what got myself killed in the first place." He thought to himself as he looked at his paw like hands. Truth be told yet again, he hated his Hellhound form. To think that this was his punishment for the sins he committed in life, stuck, in the body of the very animal that tore him to shreds on his first mission with the Alpha Team of S.T.A.R.S. He wished that there would be something to cheer him up...or perhaps, someone.

"Hey."

His head perked up to see Loona staring down at him, with a sly smile on her face.

"Oh, hey." He said before brining his head back down into his crossed arms on the table. "Your name's...Loona, right?"

"That's right. I ain't never really got yours down." Loona replied.

"Joseph. Frost. Omni-Man of the S.T.A.R.S Alpha Team, specialized in equipment maintenance. And I can also handle some dangerous good, if you catch me drift."

Loona's smiled brightened and her eyes were all flirty as she replied "Wow. So you, uh...live for the danger, huh? I can relate...kinda. The business I'm in requires those imps I was with going up top and offing a specific target."

"So...you're an assassin?" Joseph asked.

"Well, not really. Blitzø doesn't even want me getting hurt. I'm an adult, dammit! I can handle myself just fine!"

Joseph replied with a smirk "You're whining says otherwise."

"Oh, fuck you." Loona couldn't help but hold in a laugh, but not her smile. Then, she sighs. "I know he means well, and...I gotta admit, he's a good dad, but...I just wish he'd loosen up a little when it comes to me."

"...Wait, he's you dad?"

"Adopted." She clarified. "Not even that long ago though. But with or without him, I'd be fine on my own."

Joseph then brought up "Hey, if I were in your shoes, I'd just be glad someone would be willing to take care of me. I mean, my dad was...a bit of an ass-wipe, always saying I'd get myself killed one day...I hate the fact that he was right, but the point is I still loved him."

"Well...I didn't come by to ask for a lecture. I actually wanted to know if you and I...can get to know each other better."

She was walking her fingers toward him, but he swiped away his arm and moved back.

"...Hard pass." then Joseph got up to his feet. "I don't know about you, but I've been waiting 10 year to find a way out of this hole. This hotel could be my chance."

"You actually believe in what the princess is saying?" Loona asked.

"Whatever it takes...I did good in my life, and I want God to see that I can still do good now." And he was about to walk away, he turned once more to Loona and said "You might wanna think about what I've told you. Your dad's out there, fighting, and there's a huge chance he might not be coming back."

She took that in slowly. Loona didn't want to admit it, but she was actually concerned about Blitzø, Moxxie and Millie. They barely survived tne trip coming here, the wave of infected hours ago, and now, they were forced to head back to Imp City to find a cure. That's not to say she wasn't confident they'll be fine. Knowing Blitzø, she was sure that he would be making progress as of now.

In reality, Blitzø was actually almost drowning in sewer water of as right now...and it was shallow. It was a quite a deep fall, into the depths of the sewers, which seemed to go on for an impossible number of miles. While Blitzø didn't break anything upon his fall, he was still unconscious and was gargling up dirty water. And while he was out cold, he was having a nightmare about some of the many cruel things he's heard in his life.

"Does anybody love you, Blitzo?"

"This guy's a total disgrace."

"Your love life is a pile of shit."

"A reckless, heart-breaking freak."

"You're thoughtless and cruel and you'll end up alone."

Almost instantly, did Blitzø wake up, not looking happy as pieces of sewage slid off his head.

"Now is not the time for that shit." He said as he got up and wiped off some of the gunk as he pulled out 9mm pistol. Looking back up up, he saw the giant hole that he fell down from, then looked front and back to see the sewer tunnels stretching on in darkness. He sighs at the hopeless of finding a way back up any time soon.

"...Fuck. Nowhere else to go but forward then."

Keeping his gun up at all times, the imp treads slowly through the tunnels as his makes sure to be prepared for any more surprises. Surprises that came sooner than he thought, as the sounds of hissing filled the sewers, making him shoot directly in front of him to reveal the Novistador. Though, these ones seemed a whole lot different than the others. While the appearances looked just about the same, when Blitzø shot at them, their blood was all too different, looking thicker and dirtier. And as they melted away, their bodies lost their color, becoming grey and almost chunky looking. Whatever these things were, it was obvious that this was not their natural mutation. Although, Blitzø wasn't smart enough to figure that out.

"And here I thought these things couldn't get any more nasty..." He said before looking to see that the tunnels were practically filled to see a lot of chunkiness. The smell of decay, waste and leftover mutagen was everywhere.

"I wonder if I can get infected by stepping into this..." Blitzø said, pondering on whether he should step into the disgusting sewer. There was nowhere else dry enough to walk, so it was not like he had much a choice. As he waded through it, something big came up...well, big enough on one side. A human sized abomination, barely having any skin around it's body, which had giant tumors on it's back and left arm, looking ready to burst and any second, and it's elongating face looking like it can split into for parts of itself. It's most distinctive feature was its blobs of a left and leg, which it was forcing it to limp. It slowly made it's way to the imp, who backed up and wasted no time firing.

"Oh, you gotta be kidding me!"

Firing at the giant tumors at where would be its shoulder blade, Blitzø seemed to only be making it angrier as its face opened up and reveal a more grotesque snake-like head, which was coughing up what looked like pieces of meat, which soon began to slither their way towards the imp who was forced to back up more as he could barely shoot them all.

"Come on! Drop, you fucking piece of sewer crap!" He said as then brought out his rifle. The giant tumor on its arm had finally burst and revealed a bulging eyeball that was staring right at Blitzø. The creature soon submerged itself into the water, and before Blitzø knew it, he was grabbed by its blobby as it opened up its head in order to gouge down on the imp.

"Alright, you slimy fuckwad!" He screamed while bringing out a hand grenade. "Suck on this!"

Shoving the grenade into the mutant's mouth, Blitzø pried himself off its hand as moved away as fast as he could as the creature exploded in front of him. Now, with that out of his way, the imp pressed on as the sewers seems to clear up of any more crap.

"Hope that's the last of those damn things." Blitzø growled as he walked on. Little does he know that it wasn't gonna be the last. As he continued down the tunnels, suddenly coming out of a nearby sewer pipe was a briefcase with a note attached and...covered in mold.

"YOU'RE GONNA NEED THIS."

Slowly opening up the case to make sure it wasn't a trap, was Blitzø now had in his hands was a unique gun. It appeared to be a submachine pistol, who's main body resembled a VZ61, but had the modifications of a tommy gun. Pulling the clip to see that it was loaded, the imp cocked the gun and aimed it.

"Not bad. Definitely come in hand."

Now with that settled, Blitzø continued through the sewers as he soon reached a steel door. But he was unaware of what had been eyeing him throughout his perils, something that made to wait before following after its pray. Walking through the tunnels, the imp saw the floor was grated, letting the water flow beneath his feet. To him, that was a relief as he was sick of having to wade through all that garbage. He saw how there was some near by room that had some control panels, generators, but most importantly right now, ammo, and he was gonna need a lot of it, what with his new gun and all. But as he was about to come out...it hit him. By 'it', I mean giant slimy tail with a metal pike at the end, stabbing him through the arm before wrapping him up and throwing him against a door. Next thing the poor imp new, the silhouette of a female demon came down and pinned him to the ground, and he barely process the barrage of razer sharp claws cutting away at his face before the creature gave out screeched and jumped off of him. Blitzø barely had time to process what just happened before the demon grabbed him and then threw him at a wall before slamming him against it, making them both go through the wall and into a drainage chamber where there was plenty of more room for a far fight.

Pulling himself together, Blitzø got up to see who exactly he was dealing with. And it left him wide-eyed.

"Oh, of all the goddamn luck."

Verosika, but she was heavily mutated by the plaga parasite, with her hands, feet and tail now black with raptor-like claws, her eyes glowing red and her mouth malformed into mandibles that could split open four different directions. She had been stalking and attacking Blitzø like a natural predator, but she still appeared to be very aware of what she was doing.

"Uuggghhh...Blitzo, be honest with me." She hissed through some heavy breathing. "Do you...ever have second thoughts...about us?"

Blitzø merely glared as he replied "I do sometimes...then, I remember how much a bitch you are!"

That set her off as she lunged at the imp, wanting to rip him to pieces as he ran away from her and fired while doing so. But it didn't seem like his gun was phasing her that much as she was closing in.

"Well...I'd be more than welcome to take you back." She growled. "I'd treat you better than anybody else would."

"That's laughable! Like you could ever satisfy me!"

He just making her madder as she crawled up the walls and leap towards him. He could barely dodge her attacks as he continued to unload his guns on her, but the bullets were practically going past her, it was like her body was half liquid.

She was merely walking towards him now as she yelled out. "I didn't here you complaining every time we were to together! Don't make me the bad guy here, Blitzo. It was you who broke my heart!" The imp was forced to back up some more, but there was no where to even go. That it, until he saw the a liquid nitrogen canister behind and got an idea as Verosika was now in front of it.

"Well...I guess that's just my NATURE!" He yelled, kicking the canister off its pipe as it spread all of the liquid nitrogen around the place, and mostly around Verosika, who then screeched and hissed as she felt her body's temperature lowering fast. Blitzø took this as his chance as pulled out his new gun and opened fired on the mutated Succubus, who could barely and was now starting to feel pain from all the shots she was taking. Then, for good measure, Blitzø had laid down a roundhouse kick at her, putting her on the ground, but not for long. Pretty soon, did she break out of her icy shell and let out a growl that was a bit too monstrous, even for a demon like herself.

"This fights going nowhere fast." Blitzø said to himself as he was forced to continuously avoid Verosika's attacks, almost like a video game. Strange isn't it? Unfortunately, he saw no other liquid nitrogen canasters around the drainage chamber. So his only chance of beating Verosika now was to either shoot her till she drops or sent her down the drain, and how hard could that be? Very, as she clearly had the advantage of using the area around her and with the ability to climb up the walls, sending her down would be prove to be a challenge.

"Must be tough being in your position!" She yelled crazily, chasing Blitzø like a tiger while even avoiding some shots he was firing. "You couldn't even save that infected simp of an employee you had!" Now she was making him mad, as her mentioning Moxxie, in his state, drew a whole lot of concern. He has to know if he made it out okay, and that's why he had to finish this fight quickly. And to do that, he saw a closed sewer pipe and this forced him to allow Verosika to get him. Pinning him once more, Verosika readied both her claws and her mutated mouth to rip Blitzø apart.

"Now...I hope you enjoy this, Blitzo...Because this is the last time I'll ever treat you right."

"Yeah...I'd hold my breath if I were you." He said simply as he shot at the closed pipe, which caused it suddenly burst. They were both blasted with sewer water, flinging them into the main drain, but Blitzo was quick to sink his natural claws into the solid concrete, landing on the other side...with Verosika still latching onto him.

"If I'm going down, I'm taking your limp dick with me!"

Pulling out his flintlock, Blitzø pointed to her head and shouted "Like hell, you will!" And with the pull of a trigger, did he shoot Verosika in the center of her head as she had let go of the imp was sent plummeting down the drain. Blitzø pull himself back to the platform and looked down at the drain once more, sighing.

"Not one of my better relationships..."

And with that, he pressed on through the sewers. They were getting insanely dark, and piles of garbage were once again piling up and making it harder for Blitzø to get anywhere. But it wasn't just garbage, it was like this kind of black mold...and it was moving. Pretty soon, Blitzø stopped in his tracks as all he saw in front of him was pitch darkness and mold blocking his path. He had the sense that he was being watched yet again. And it was then...that he heard a child laugh.

"Heheheheh..."I've been waiting for so long... I'd make a much better daughter than that dog. Please won't you stay with me...forever?"

Suddenly, the mold moved and wrapped around Blitzø's arms, stretching them out and making them unusable. Though he tried to struggle, it was all in vain as the mold kept wrapping around him from his feet and rising his body.

"Argh! What is this shit!"

Soon enough, coming out of the darkness...was a little girl with pale skin, black hair, a grey dress and boots. She was slowly waking up towards the pinned imp, who was scared and confused by what was going on.

"Hey, little girl! You think you can get me out of here?!"

"Oh, don't worry, it will all be over soon...daddy."

Blitzø was left confused and horrified as the mold engulfed and little girl smiled at her catch...

Chapter Text

Dr. William Birkin, Scientist, Virologist, Former Employee to the Umbrella Corporation, and one of the main causes to the Raccoon City Outbreak. Arriving in Hell at around 1998, Birkin had spent most of his time, wondering about Pentagram City, being an eyesore to anybody's path he crossed, as he arrived, appearing in his mutated form, with his giant, grotesque, monstrous arm and the remainder of his human body being as pale as chalk with red veins visible all around, the same color of his pupils from his now blackened eyes. Because of his mutations, he was a shell of a man, a vegetable, having only one thought in his mind as he practically limped through the streets.

"Sherry...Sherry..."

His beloved daughter. He had yet to see her here, so it was best to assumed that she still lived. He felt guilty, due to realizing that he was responsible for infecting her with the very same virus he injected into himself. He now exists in regret of all the things he's ever done, and his damnation was proof of that. Not long ago, before all of the Pride Ring went from Bad to Worse, Birkin caught the attention of someone he wished he'd never have to meet again. The same guy who's research he took over at the order of his old benefactor, Oswell E. Spencer. He may of realized that killing someone off in order to take over their research...may have been the wrong thing to do, as he was dragged off the streets that day from familiar looking, giant leech in a pantsuit. But, to be fair, Dr. Marcus deserved every right to be in Hell as Birkin. Just ask the many children he killed off in life.

Later on, did Birkin find himself working for another familiar face, one that he once considered in ally in their experiments, such as in assassination and the creation of virus and B. . In an unknown area, was the G-Scientist himself trapped within a lab, where was forced to work on advancing the currently existing viruses and parasites that have taken over the majority of Pentagram City, making them stronger...by order of Wesker.

"Ugh...Oh, Sherry...Sherry." Again, does he say his 'mantra'. Not here by choice, he saw no point in continuing his experiments in the afterlife. But he was dragged back into this nightmare, forced to work by his old college's command. It was clear to Birkin that Wesker was going to be making much use of him, until he's out-served his purpose. And just if he's so tempted to escape, Wesker placed a device on Birkin's second head. Oh...did I forget to mention that Birkin was also forced to mutate into his G-2 form, in order for the second head to pop and take control of his body? Any of his original intellect was trapped in his original head, in his semi-absorbed brain, and Wesker had managed to crack the code that allows him to have control over the mutate. All Birkin had to do was feed his knowledge to his other half, and let the body do the rest, even if it was against his will. And it was then, the shades-wearing sinner arrived to see how his old friend was doing.

"Ah, William...I've see you've been making quite the progress." Wesker said. "You've always been good with viruses you've yet to experience."

"Wesker..." Birkin growled. "I've done everything you asked, advanced every single virus, rounded up the exposed subjects...when will you free me?"

"You mean, kill you?" Wesker replied, making Birkin snarl, inhumanly. "Oh, I wouldn't do that to you, William. You're too good to throw away. You've always seem to exceed expectations, despite what those from Umbrella said."

"Well, from what I've heard, you tend to dispose of those who've outlived their usefulness to you."

Wesker kept a sly smile on his face as he said "You've met Excella, didn't you? Well, I don't recall you complaining when we allowed to witness Marcus' assassination, all so that you can take over his research."

"Speaking of which." Birkin snarled. "Why is that old bastard even here? And how did you make him your lapdog?"

"I've had a lot of time...years, actually, to prepare for this. I need only to...associate with some of Umbrella's greatest shadows, unite them under one cause...my own, and just in a few days, was the entire Ring of Pride under my control."

"I don't want to be a part of this, Wesker! I screwed up in life, I'm not making the same mistakes again. The same mistakes that made me lose everything!"

"And that kind of thinking is what leaves you in the same position you're currently in." Wesker replies as he walks around the lab. "I can give you what you want if you were willing to do things here by choice."

Birkin kept his mouth and merely glared at Wesker. He didn't believe what Wesker was promising. He knew the man for while now, and was already certain that he was mad with power. And then, coming into the lab was the giant leech that dragged Birkin here in the first place.

"Marcus. Report."

The leech's head slowly and disgusting reverted in size, before taking form of a human head, albeit liquified with tendrils acting as long hair and glowing red eyes looking at Wesker. Yet, there was no visible mouth as the leech spoke.

"Alfred Ashford has arrived at the Ars Goetia Mansion." Marcus said, emotionlessly in a dark, alien-like voice. "The Four Lords have agreed to your terms and await your orders. And we can confirm that Luis Sera has returned to Imp City, with some company. But Saddler guarantees they will not survive."

"Who is he talking about?" Birkin asks, confused. To which Wesker replies "Do not worry about it. Make sure Saddler keeps Mr. Sera alive; I'm not one to squander possible assets."

Marcus nods before saying "Another thing to report is that there two demons who had just left the Hotel you've been monitoring. Heading to what seems like Ashford's location. Possible assailants."

"...Make sure they do not reach the Mansion." Wesker orders, to which the Leech nods and walks out of the lab. As he does, Birkin took notice of the scarab shaped device on the back of the Leech's neck, and it made him look at Wesker as he mustered enough will-power to reach behind his own back.

"So that's how you do it."

Ripping the device from his back, Birkin felt free of his control as he forced his mutation to retreat back to phase one. Then, he charged Wesker with his huge claw and tries to attack. Unfortunately, he was caught off-guard by the man's supernatural strength, as he blocked the mutant arm like it was nothing.

"Tsk, tsk, tsk. I thought you smarter than that, William." Wesker said. "Or has G taken over too much of your intelligence?"

And then, with a palm strike, did he force Birkin and slammed him against a wall. The G-Scientist struggled to get back on his feet as he saw his former comrade standing above him.

"Since it's obvious that you need a lesson in discipline, allow me to introduce you to a friend of mine I met in Spain." He gestures to the door and says "Dr. Salvador."

Just then, a giant burly man in farmer's overalls, a burlap sack over his head and wielding a chainsaw showed up and rived it up, walking to Birkin as Wesker watched from a distance...and the splatter and screams came.

Meanwhile, on the road, Steve and Arachniss had managed to commandeer a truck and were currently driving across town to where they Alfred Ashford was right now.

"Once we get a hold of Ashford, he'll all mine." Steve said to the spider-gangster. "You stay out of it."

"You seem to have more of a vendetta against him than me? Arackniss replied. "What did he even do to you?"

"Oh, nothing...he's just one of the reason why I'm here, why I had to kill my dad, why I had turned into a fucking monster and almost made me kill my friends."

"Damn...I never would've guessed it'd been that bad." Arackness said.

Steve then said "Yeah, well...Once I get my hands on him, I'll pay him back for what he and that bitch of a sister has done to me."

Arackniss nodded in silence as he stared out the windshield. But then, something caught them off guard as suddenly, the CM radio began to function, and then a familiar voice came out of it..

"Ah, there we go. I was wondering when I could catch up with you two!"

"Alastor?" Steve asked. "Is that you?!"

"The one and only." The Radio Demon said. "It took me a while to find the right frequency. These satellite radios can be somewhat confusing."

"Well, that's a bit ironic." Arackniss said to himself.

"Don't think I can't hear or see the both of you!"

"Well, what do you want, Alastor?" Steve asked.

"I'm just keeping tabs on all my acquaintances. Charlotte had put it in my best interests to see that you survive."

Steve replied "Well, at least that's nice...of her."

"Indeed! And since you're the only ones on the road, and in my jurisdiction, I figured it'd be best to worn you."

"Warn us of what?" Arackniss asked.

"Let's just say...you might wanna serve that vehicle of yours to the right as quickly as possible."

Steve began to say "What does that mee-OH CRAP!" And then, he did exactly as Alastor warned, making immediately right turn as an explosion happened right in the middle of the road. Apparently, they were being tailed, as a giant armored assualt vehicle, practically a tank was firing at them from a distance.

(Isaac's tank from RE: The Final Chapter)

After that blast, did the tank now bring out duel Gatling guns, forcing Steve to punch it as the shots tore apart the road behind them.

"Move faster, damn it!" Arackniss yelled out, to which Steve said "I'm trying! We gotta get rid of that tank!"

"And how do you suggest we do that?"

"...Take the wheel!" Steve ordered as he then crawled out of the driver seat, then out the window as Arackniss rushed to resume driving. Outside the trunk, Steve saw the tank at a distance, and summoned his axe, holding it over his head before he chucks it and watches it fly into the air, spinning continuously before landing directly on the top of the tank. The whole assault vehicle had burst into flames soon after that.

"Bull's eye." He said before climbing back into the trunk, this time in the shotgun seat.

Arackniss, who saw everything from the window, turned to Steve and asked "How the hell did you do that?"

"Cuz I got skills." Steve said, confidently. Arackniss merely scoffed as they continued down the road. A few minutes later, did they arrive at their destination. The Ars Goetia Mansion was completely overrun with the infected as Steve and Arackniss were outside its walls, waiting for a course of action.

"What are we waiting for?" Arackniss asked. "The gate's wide open, and we can sure as hell take a couple of zombies."

The spider was about to head in, when Steven pulled him back.

"You're the one with the extra eyes, and you don't see the freaking snipers?!"

The peered by the gate to see that Steve was corrected. A few infected demons had taken sniping positions in order to quickly take car of introducers. This would make things much more difficult.

"Alright then, kid. What's your plan then? And you better have a plan, 'cause I'm not waiting around."

Steve thought about it before looking around, and saw in dead demon's arms a sniper rifle. Picking it up and checking the clip for ammo, he said "Okay, how's this for a plan? You find a place where you can shoot this while I go in and take out any zombies I see silently."

"How you gonna do that?" Arackniss asked. "Your guns aren't built to be silent."

"Who said anything about the guns?" And with that, Steve went in, forcing Arackniss to immediately try and find a sniping position while Steve did his best to remain stealth like. Armored cars littered the front of the house; no doubt, did the house the zombies before they were unleashed upon the residence. Nevertheless, they made great cover for when Steve took out any zombies before they could detect his presence. Despite how nearly un-killable they were from the front, taking them out from behind seemed to do more of a trick, as Steve went and attempted to snap a zombie's neck...only for it to come clean off when he began twisting it.

"Okay then." He said, before he found a knife from the body and figured he could use it to make work easier. All the while, Arackniss did his work and out-snipered the snipers from the position he was in, on top of a car, farthest from the mansion.

"Never thought I'd be sniping near a Royal's house." He said to himself, cocking the rifle.

Meanwhile, inside the Manor, Alfred Ashford was making himself at home while enjoying the misery the other two inhabitants were forced to deal with. Somehow, Stolas' powers were canceled and he easily became overwhelmed by zombies. Given that her life was most important to her, he tried to help Via escape without her...but that didn't work out, as they both found themselves tied to chairs while Alfred stood in front of them.

"I must compliment you for your taste in architect." The 7th Earl of the Ashford Family said while the Ars Goetia Prince glared at him. "It's...not as much great as where I used to live, but I could get used to place like this."

"You can do whatever you want to me, Ashford." Stolas said in a dark tone. "All I want is to ensure my daughter's safety. Hurt her, and you get nothing from, but a whole lot of what Hell truly means."

"A man who puts his family before his pride is someone I can respect." replied Alfred, walking around the room before stopping behind the chair Octavia was tied, putting his arms at her shoulders . "I have no interests in hurting you daughter...unless it's absolutely necessary." Then, he felt something prick his hand and looked to see that Via was pecking him in an attempt to stab him with her beak. Alfred, however, seemed unaffected.

"I'm sorry. Was that supposed to hurt?"

Suddenly, he had his hands at her throat, much to Stolas' dismay, who could only watch as the crazed Earl slowly strangles his daughter.

"Now...I'm going to make this easy for you, Prince." Alfred said in a threatening tone. "The Grimoire. I need it."

That caught Stolas off-guard as he said "How do you know about it?"

"That is not important. What should be important is your daughter's life. Which you can spare her life...if you hand over the book."

"B-But...but it's not even here!" the Owl Prince said. "Check the house, you'll never find it!" But there was still one thing on his mind. "Wait...What did you do with my wife?"

"Oh, we've already taken care of Princess Stella. Don't worry, we'll treat her better than you ever did. But that's not what should concern you now...the book, your highness. Now."

Stolas merely held a glare as he said "You'll get nothing from me."

Alfred said nothing, but nodded to an infected, who pulled out a pistol and pointed it at Octavia's head. Stolas went wide-eyed upon seeing it.

"Last chance." threatened Alfred. "You have 20 seconds to reveal the book to me...else, I downsize you family."

"Dad!" Octavia managed to say through choking "Don't...tell him...anything."

"Via..."

"We don't know...what he'll do-" Then, Alfred tightened his grip on her throat, shutting her up as he says "I commend your daughter's bravery, but it's not going to save her. Only you can."

Stolas didn't know what to do. If he didn't say anything, it could probably mean the end for his daughter; if he did...who know what kind of damage they'd do with that book? Fortunately, he didn't have to make a choice, since gunshots were being heard from outside the house. It gains the attention of the damned Earl, who calls off his infected servants and looks outside a window and sees that his undead minions were now fully dead. He even learned the demise of his snipers as one of them literally fell down from their post and onto the ground outside the window...

Outside, Steve was at the door and had finished off the last of the infected outside as he pulls out a radio to signal Arackniss.

"All clear. You're good to go, Arackniss." He spoke into the radio, getting a reply "I'll meet you there."

Taking in a useless breath, Alfred glared outside before staring back at his two hostages, then at his infected.

"Send for an extraction vehicle. We're moving out." He ordered his minions, to which they do as they're told, untying the two royals and dragging them away. Then, he pulls out radio himself and speaks into it, saying "Activate it."

Soon after, the two sinners barge into the Manor, guns pointing anywhere for threats.

"So, where do we even start? This place looks huge." Arackniss asked. What answered his questions where the screams of a young woman and the inhuman snarls of the infected.

"Just follow the screams, I guess." Steve replied as they advanced. The moment they continued to step foot in the house, the growls and moans of zombies filled the area as they looked everywhere and saw the shadows of the undead slowly coming towards them. Wasting no time, the moment the zombies came for them, gunshots echoed all around the house. Steve fired both his lugers at every zombie that tried to surround him, always going for headshots as it was the fastest way to kill these things. Arackniss had a machine gun in hand and was just blowing holes straight through the chest of every zombie he saw. Only seemed to make them back a few feet before they went back at him again. Running through his ammo, he took his rifle and swung it across a zombie's head like a baseball bat.

"Don't these fuckers ever die?!"

"Aim for the head!" Steve yelled, bludgeoning a zombie with one of his lugers. This gave Arackniss an idea as put his machine gun and readied several new ones.

"Get down, kid!" He yelled out, to which Steve complied, ducking as Arackniss sprouted six arms, all armed with guns and began opened fire, blowing the zombies' heads clean off. Pretty soon, the wave of undead they dealt were now all decomposing on the floor. Steve stared at awe at Arackniss' handiwork.

"No wonder some sinners become Overlords."

"Takes years of practice, kid."

Moving out, they ran through the halls and once again heard the screams of a certain Owl Princess before pressing on. More zombies still roamed the area and they fought through them as much as they can, fortunate enough to not be overwhelmed. They were soon in a hall full of giant fly traps, and when tried to attack them, Steve managed to push one into one of the plants and watched as it got chewed upon. All the while this is happening, Stolas and Octavia can hear the fighting coming closer and closer to where they're moving from.

"Keep...moving..." An undead soldier said to them, poking a gun into Octavia's back. She had just about enough of this, doing something unexpected, delivering a roundhouse kick to the infected demon behind her and then catching the gun that flew out of its hand before jump to get her tied hands in front of her so she could shoot at the other infected demons that were escorted them. Stolas was shocked to see how his daughter had managed the situation as Octavia pulled a knife from one of the dead minions, getting herself of her bonds before doing the same with her father.

"Uh...Via...when did you learn to do that?" He asked.

"From Loona." She answered. "She taught me how to fight when you refused that one time."

"Oh...Well, I never thought it would be necessary." Stolas replied nervously. "I just...never wanted to see you in a violent situation."

"Unfortunately, dad. That seems to be the case." Octavia then took a MAC-11 from one of the dead minions and took her father by the wrist as they went through the halls. There was something on her mind however.

"I was honestly waiting for you to do something." She said. "Why didn't you?"

"Something tempered with my powers." Stolas answered. "I was weakened the moment that fiend walked into this place. I can't explain it, I just...couldn't do anything."

Octavia didn't like hearing that. If someone was really able to mess with the powers that her father had, they could really be in a world of trouble. But she had to accept it for now an move on, and by move on, I mean 'move far away from this place', as both Owls were about to head for the exit, when they came to a stop and Octavia found herself pointing her gun at her other home invaders. Steve and Arackniss finally managed to find the two-out-of-three they were looking for, but they still wanted to hunt down Ashford.

"Um...Prince Stolas?" Steve asked, motioning to the taller one of the two owls.

"Yes?"

"We're here to rescue you." the green sinner replied rather casually, making a hesitant Via lower her gun at them. But just as things seemed to calm down, the house began to shake. Coming out of the wall was giant vine that swung at the four, nearly grabbing hold of Steve before they managed to back away and the V-Infected sinner sliced the root in half with his axe.

"What the f**k was that?!" Octavia asked in panic, to which Steve said "You don't think those plants we saw..."

"Oh shit." said Arackniss.

What Ashford activated was a virus that was injected into Stolas' massive fly-trap collection. And now, they were mutating into grotesque, mobile abominations, wishing to feed on whatever's filled with blood at this point.

"We should get out of here. Pronto!"

"Allow me to show you the fastest way out." Stolas said. "I never revealed this, but there are secret passages that lead in and out of this mansion!"

"Wait, what?!" said Octavia "You didn't think it necessary to have me and mum know about this?!"

"I never thought we'd have to use them. Besides, half of them are older than me, so the state they're in could be depressive."

Arackniss then said "It's better than nothing. We need to go right now!"

"Follow me." Stolas led through the manor, to the nearest secret passage he could find. Unfortunately, they didn't get far without seeing what Ashford has done to Stolas' plants. The fly-traps were now in humanoid shape, with two identifiable arms and two legs, as they pulled themselves from the bases of their pots. While they had no visible eyes, they could sense their pray as the three with guns aimed at the mutated plants.

"I knew keeping so many of these things was stupid." Octavia complained, then Steve took a deep breath and noticed something.

"Hey...is it me or is the air feeling a little...dry?"

Arackniss replied "It's hell, kid. Most of this world is on fire."

"No...he's right." Stolas said. "It smells strange too. Could it be the plants?"

They didn't have time to figure it out as one of the mutations snapped it limb-like-vine at them forcing them to move. Keeping their distance, Octavia, Steve and Arackniss fired at the plants, who screeched in pain as they fell to the ground soon after. But there was many of them as there were zombies before, and there wasn't much ammo left to spare, as they were soon surrounded.

"Wait! I have an idea!" Stolas then rushed to the fridge, and pulled out a piece of meat. This got the plants' attention as they smelled the meat, looking hungry for it as Stolas then threw it away from where the other three were.

"Whew. Still my plants on the inside."

"Okay, now that that's over with, let's jet!" Steve ordered as they moved away from the mutant plants. Stolas led them down another hall before stopping at a left wall.

"This is it." He said, pushing back at the wall, and revealing the secret passage way. Stolas wasn't wrong when he said that it was in a depressive state, looking to fall apart if they did not tread carefully. Soon enough, they made it outside and Steve managed to commandeer another vehicle, since Ashford was gracious enough to leave them an armored truck. And with that, they were out of there.

"The sooner we head back to the Hotel, the better." Steve said while in the driver seat. Octavia on the shotgun seat, and her father and Arackniss behind them.

"So, who are you guys?" The Owl Princess asked. "I recognize the spider as one of those mob gangsters, but you're new to me."

Steve looked at her before saying "Well, I'm Steve Burnside and this is Arackniss." He gestures to the Spider, reloading his pistol. "And I guess you can say we're part of a...growing resistance."

"Resistance?" Stolas asked, to which Arackniss replied "Against the shithead running this horror show."

"And where exactly are you taking us?" Octavia asked next.

"To a bit of a Haven. A Hotel we've been using to round up survivors."

"A Hotel?"

"Yep...you're Royalty, right? You familiar with Princess Charlie?"

Octavia was caught off guard, since she hadn't heard from Charlie in years. Steve continued to explain everything as they drove down the desolate road.

"So...Ashford has failed in gaining the Grimoire." Wesker said with Dr. Marcus behind him. "Search every part of the city and beyond. Spread our influence to all who think they're untouchable, to every. single. layer. Bring me the book, while I move on to next phase of my plan. Summon the Four Lords. Have the meet with the Princess..."

Chapter Text

At a distance, someone was watching the hotel. He's had his eye on it for a while, with the intention of checking in one day. He'd wish he'd done it sooner, what with the entire city now gone to shit. The dead litter the roads and barely few are still alive have only a little fight in them or are in hiding. Not his concern, though, as he only intended on making sure these the HH crew were safe. He seldom assisted in their survival, providing them with weapons and equipment that's helped them get this far. And now, he wonders if it would be the best time to introduce himself, since he's helped as best as he could up to this point. When several armored vehicles arrived on the scene, his choice was made as he quickly rushed to the hotel...

"Understood, Steve." Enrico said through a radio. "Head back to the hotel as soon as possible. I'll inform Charlie that we need to work out a plan."

And just as he said that, the Princess of Hell came into view and the Former S.T.A.R.S Bravo Team Captain decided to update her right away.

"Steve and Arackniss managed to retrieve Prince Stolas and his daughter. But there was no sign of that book you were talking about."

"Hmm...that's strange. Prince Stolas would know better than to let it slip from his fingers." Charlie replied. "But if they don't have it, that could also be a good thing..."

"Since our enemies don't have it either." Enrico finished her sentence. "Gotcha...So, how are things with the refugees going?"

"It's fine. Some people are only here until this...nightmare is over. Others have actually considered signing up for a rehabilitation program! So maybe, when all this is over, my business will be sure to catch on!"

Enrico then said "That's good to hear. Me and the boys have been waiting to get out of this...hole for a while. But you truly believe we might have a chance to go to Heaven after all this? We are...considered damned after all."

"Whatever it takes to lower the population, and risk of a few hundred demons/sinners getting purged every year, I say." Charlie argued. "I'm not giving up, and I shouldn't care what others think of it."

"Well...we've only been down here for a couple of decades, but you should, Charlie. Some people truly are...beyond redemption."

That made Charlie for a moment before there was a banging going on in the barricaded entrance. Something or someone was attempting to bust in as Enrico pulled out his radio to alert everyone.

"All fighters to the main hall! Possible break in! Be armed and ready!"

"I was really hoping this wouldn't happen again!" Charlie whined as she pulled out her revolver.

It only took a short moment before the S.T.A.R.S Team, Vaggie, Angel Dust, Loona, Vortex and anyone else who could handle a gun came down and aimed their weapons at the barricade, which kept on banging harder and harder, looking ready to burst, when...nothing. The banging stopped, and the entrance was slightly cracked open. But perhaps, that was all that was needed, since something started to slip through.

"What do we have here? A feast fit for Royalty!" Said a playful, yet crazed female voice as seeping through the crack of the entrance...came a swarm of blowflies. All the refugees tried swatting at them with their hands, but that only made things worse as flies seemed to have gone under skin.

"Oh, this is eight kinds of fucked up!" Angel Dust complained as tried to pull the flies that were invading his chest fluff. The others were doing what they could get keep the flies away, either swatting with their hands, knives or guns, but it was in vane. Soon, another girlish voice could be heard.

"Don't fret, my tasty morsel." The voices were similar to each other, yet with obvious differences. "We're merely playing with our pray."

Vaggie was swatting with her spear as she yelled out "Why don't you come out this bug cloud and fight us, perra loca!" But then, she felt this a force push her down and soon, she got what she asked for as a part of the swarm took the form of a woman, cloaked in a black, hooded dress. Her hair was a platinum blonde while the rest of her body was a filth with with black spots and horribly done makeup splattered across her face along with a trail of what looks like blood seeping down her mouth.

"Mmm...I like this one." She said. "You might just be worthy. But first..."

Next thing Vaggie knew, screams of her friends filled the room as she looked to see the very swarm now physically attack her friends. Two more women appeared in the swarm and were slashing at their legs with sharp looking sickles, sweeping them off the floor as then suddenly, for what I think is the sixth time, the front entrance bursts open as the silhouette of four figures could be seen. The girl on top of Vaggie smiled and giggled sinister before she felt as if she was being shot at.

"That your filth fucking hands of my girlfriend, now!" Charlie roared as she shot at the girl. But then, the firing ceased when Charlie felt something cut at her neck and Vaggie only watched in horror as one of the girls, a red head, at her sickle deep in Charlie's throat.

"Ah, her majesty, Princess Charlotte. We've been looking for you."

"That's quite Daniela. We need her alive." A much more mature female voice spoke out as the four figures walked through the entrance and were now into the hotel, coming into view. The one that stood out the most was a rather tall woman, with the same mold-like skin as the three girls, glowing yellow eyes, and she wearing a big black hat and a white corsage dress that was made of mold scales, and trendels appeared from her back in the form of wings. The next was another women, who's body that was concealed in dark mourning dress was that of porcelain doll, since her joints were visible and her face was unveiled, also looking to be made of porcelain and she only had one eye since where her right eye should be lied a a mutated abscess, and in her hands was an actual porcelain doll of a bride with a creepy, disfigured face. The third, well...best way to describe him that he was a giant fish. His skin was pale and scaly and his back was in a hunch do to a giant fin on top, hands and feet are webbed much like a toad, with his teeth being pointed fangs, alongside gills on his neck, the cloak he wore did nothing to hide his deformities. Last but not least was a man, or perhaps more like a machine, since the majority of his body was covered in metal, giving him the look of a cyborg. He wore long tattered coat with boots and a fedora hat, old-fashion sunglasses and huge makeshift hammer made from different pieces of scrap.

As they all walked in, the downed refugees could only catch a glimpse at them before falling into unconsciousness, either by weakening...or by force.

"Well now..." The metal man said, in a mechanical voice, as drops his hammer onto Edward, practically crushing him. "Nice hotel, Princess."

Charlie whimpered as she still had the sickle in her neck "W-W-Who are you? What are you d-"

"We came for only you, Princess." the Tall Women said. "Unfortunate that you allowed your own subordinates to get in the way. Let's not waste any more time here. My daughter can have at your guest."

"Come along...quietly...Princess." The fish guy said as the Tall Woman extends her fingers into long claws and simply impales Charlie on them.

"CHARLIE!" Vaggie yelled out, seeing her girlfriend limp in her the Women's hand. And that set Vaggie off the edge, getting up off the ground and charges at the four...only to be impaled by the three other girls with their sickles, against the wall.

"Mmm...A shame. We were thinking of having you as our new sister, but I guess you'll just have to do as another tasty treat." said the one with black hair.

"Have away at her and anyone else in this building, daughters." The Tall Lady said before she turned to the Doll Woman and Fish Man. "You two, stay here make sure everyone is dead as soon as you get back. And Heisenberg-"

"Way heard of you." The Metal Man said, as he was on a phone, calling for pickup. "We have the target...Well...Dimitrescu was stupid enough to impale her on her nails, but it's like you said. She's alive and was able to handle it...No, we haven't killed everyone yet, but we're about to...you son of a bitch! You can't just expect all of us to stay here, and...Damn you, Wesker!" And with that, Heisenberg crushed the phone in his hand before throwing it away from himself. "That fake British, shade wearing asshole wants us to stay and wait while we clean up the mess here! This is a load of bullshit!"

"Oh hush, brother. Patience is a virtue, one that we can afford. We will free ourselves from Wesker's leash and have our revenge. For now...we can make the best of our time here."

"It does beat doing nothing." Little did the two know that Richard was still conscious and had assessed the situation fast enough to quickly. Reaching for his belt, he pulls the pin on a Flash Grenade and...

(BANG)

The man who has been watching over the Hotel finds at the destroy barrier over the entrance. It seems he was too late, as the Four Lords have already breached the main lobby. But, one flash of light seeping through the windows later, he sees that the place is empty and everyone who was recently here were most likely scattered throughout the building right now. Still, he couldn't get rid of the feeling that he was being watched as some growling directly. Just as he was turning around, a gunshot was heard, and a Lycan that was about to attack from behind fell to the ground with a crater in its head. And now, he was facing the infamous Radio Demon he so much about, and walking along side him was a punk looking girl with one eye, pink hair and red clothing, Cherri Bomb.

"Well, it seems our adversaries are expanding their resources, bringing feral beasts into the midst of vermin we have to deal with."

"Fuck me. This play already looks like its gone to shit." Said the cyclops, who then pointed her grenade launcher at the man in front of the entrance. "Did you have something to do with this? 'Cuz if you did...then hold still. It won't hurt much."

Taking a good look at the guy, they saw that he would a brown jacket over a black hoodie and a grey pair of slacks. He left arm with more grotesque than his right, being completely made out of what seems like a moldy substance and his hand being a three fingered claw. Heck, his entire body seemed to be made out of mold with some opening that exposed living tissue underneath, and his head had short white hair on top. His mouth was surrounded by a pair of fangs on opposite sides, his teeth were sharp and pointy, and his eyes were covered in the shadows of his hair, but the two sinners could make out the streams of bloody tears running down his face. He stood there like a statue, unreadable until he finally spoke.

"I came here to help." He said. "Your allies are in danger, I know who they're fighting."

"Really now?" Alastor asked. "And how do we know this isn't some kind of trick?"

The man replied "You don't have to believe me, but your friends will die without help. They don't know what they're up against."

"Well then...lead the way, good sir." And with that, the man headed inside with the other two following behind.

"You think we can trust this guy, Alastor?" Cherri Bomb asked, to which the Radio Demon replied "That's up for YOU to decide. I'm here to protect my investment on this place."

"Glad to know you care." She said in a sarcastic tone.

Back inside the hotel, Richard was dragging a hurt Edward who desperately fired his gun at the swarm of flies that was chasing them. Kenneth went back to the refugees and has had them barricaded in their rooms, but something was banging on their doors and it wouldn't be long for them to get in. Joseph and Forest were lost in their own nightmares due to the Doll Lady dispensing a mist that was making them relive the time of their demise. Brad and Kevin were dealing with a horde of what can be described as werewolves, and Enrico was dealing with the metal man, Heisenberg, and that was a losing battle for the Captain as he launched onto the ground by the Heisenberg's hammer.

"Aw, this that all?" The metal man taunted. "I was hoping for a little more fight in you guys."

As for some of the other residents of the Hotel, Angel has his hands full with two of the Tall Lady's daughters. Cassandra and Bela, to be exact, as they had all of his hands impaled on hooks and spread out.

"Mmm...I wonder what spider blood tastes like." Bela giggles as she and her sister hover the bound spider, who was sweating bullets and wincing in pain because of the hooks.

"Ugh! Heh heh...Y-Y-You know...I'm a little on the kinky side myself, but...I don't usually go for girls...unless they pay up front."

"Oh, I think the time we spent together will be payment enough, my dear arachnid." Cassandra said "Now try to relax, this won't hurt a bit."

The two of them were about to bite into Angel's flesh...when something came crashing through the wall. It was a Lycan, and it looked to have been burned alive as the smoke and tiny flames came out of it, slamming into the two witches, who for a second, turned into a swarm before reverting into their humanoid forms. They snarled at the sight of the man in the gaping hole in the wall, along with Cherri Bomb holding a smoking grenade launcher.

"Evening, ladies." The man said.

"WINTERS!" Bela yelled out as both sisters flew out of the room in pursuit of the man they have an axe to grind with. The man now known as Winters swiftly dodged incoming sickles coming at his head and made both 'girls' give chase to him as he ran down the hall. Meanwhile, Cherri Bomb entered the room to see her hooked up friend, looking glad to see her.

"Really? Even in an zombie invasion, you still have time for this shit?"

"Wasn't my idea, Cherri! Now get me the fuck out of this!" Angel yelled as Cherri pulled out a pistol and blasted the chains of the hooks off. Working through the pain, Angel got back on his feet, pulling the hooks out as he got ready for some more fun.

"Try to keep up." Cherri said as they got out of room and started firing at any hairy freak the saw. Meanwhile, the refugees armed themselves as best as they could when the barricades to their rooms were about to give in. And just were the beasts were about to break through, a giant moldy claw ripped through their heads before throwing them away. Peaking through the hole that was made was Winters.

"Everybody okay in here?" He asked, much to the confusion of the Hotel Guest.

"Umm...Who the hell are you?" the Incubus, Josh asked.

"Just a friend. Stay in your rooms. There's still trouble out here." And that was the last thing Winters said before running off, leaving the refugees confused...but not before they saw that he was pursued by two of the witches. Speaking of witches, the last of the sisters, Cassandra was trying to have her way with Vaggie, who she had pinned against a wall while the moth sinner struggled to release herself from her grip.

"Mmm...I love the temper. Mother was always looking for new daughters, but could never find perfect candidates. There's still a chance...join us and we'll give you pleasure and power you've never known before." Said Cassandra. Given what their Mother did to Charlie, Vaggie replied "¡Muérete, perra fría, lujuriosa y de ojos saltones! ¡De ninguna manera sería tu hermana! ¡Debería destrozarte, hacerte pagar por lo que le hiciste a mi novia! ¡Maldita mierda! ¡Limpiate el culo! ¡TE MATARÉ!"

"Mmm...No hay necesidad de preocuparse, querida. Te encantará ser familia." Said the witch, surprising Vaggie that she's fluent in spanish. "Besides, I can already hear my sister screaming in delight for their prey."

"WINTERS! YOU'RE GONNA PAY FOR WHAT YOU DID TO US!" Screamed Bela. She was half right. Her sisters were screaming in rage as they chased against Winters. The moment Cassandra heard that name, her head turned to where her sisters were screaming, looking just as peeved as they were.

"Winters is here?!" She asked in a fit of rage, slamming Vaggie against the wall. "Don't you go anywhere. I'll be back later, Querida."

Sliding onto the floor, Vaggie this as her chance to recover, grabbing her gun as decides to find where it is that the giant woman took Charlie. Meanwhile, Winters stopped at his tracks when he found himself in the lobby of the hotel. There, the sisters re-manifested themselves, appearing in front of the man and having him surrounded...just as he wanted, as he readies his grenade launcher...

"Ethan Winters..." Daniela started saying "You may have destroyed us back in the living world..."

"But here, you can't do anything to break us..." Bela continued

Cassandra finished what they were saying "Now, we will have our revenge, and feast on our blood!"

But then, Winters pulled out his GM 79 Grenade Launcher, and without a word...fired a Freeze Round at the three. The last thing they saw as the grenade impacted with Bela in the middle of the three was the round bursting open and their vision going white. Now that they were frozen statues, Winters loaded an explosive round into his Grenade Launcher and pointed it at the three as he said "Chew on this." And with that, the three ice sculptures burst into pieces. Husk peaked his head from under bar, seeing the deed done by their newest mystery man, who turns to see the cat-demon.

"You alright?" He asked, to which Husk gave a simple nod. Then Winters head back into the halls of the hotel, in search of any other 'old friends'. The Doll Lady was just finishing up breaking the minds for Joseph and Forest when, she felt the end of a gun pointed at her head...and heard a voice that sounded like it would come out of a radio.

"My dear, I would appreciate it if you removed your grip on these boys' minds. Otherwise, I can assure you that you will suffer the same experience."

Donna Beneviento had been here long enough to become acknowledged of some rising powers in Hell's democracy, such as Royals and Overlords. Knowing the Radio Demon was someone you would rather not even both to cross, she reluctantly freed the two S.T.A.R.S members.

"Much obliged." Alastor said. "Now, you and I are gonna have a little talk."

Meanwhile, Winters was continuing to make his way up the hotel, when he was stopped by a familiar barrier, a wall made of enzymes.

"You're not...going anywhere...Winters!" the fish guy came out of the shadows and walked over to Winters. "You're the reason...Mother Miranda couldn't...see me as a son! But when I find her...and deliver her your corpse...she'll cherish me a Mother should! I'll make sure of-" But he didn't finish what he was saying when a shotgun was pointed at his face. His eyes filled with horror as Winters looked at him, straight in the eye.

"Deliver this." He said and then blasted the fish man away from him.

Back to where Vaggie was, she was limping down a hallway, hand at her abdomen as she looked around in search of the Tall Lady who impaled her girlfriend on her nails. Instead, she met one of her downed allies, Enrico, who was in crater in the wall, dripping blood as every part of seemed to be smashed in.

"Enrico..." she said in worry. Fortunately, he was still alive and had enough energy to pull out his arm and point behind her. Turning around, she threw a knife at the man responsible for what happened, Heisenberg. And much to her shock, the knife she threw hovered in mid air as all the metal man did was bring up his finger.

"Not your best call." He said as the knife suddenly turned away and stabbed into Vaggie's shoulder, pushing her back and pinning her against the wall. Then, metal face came up to her and got in real close, disgusting her by the way he looked. "If you're looking for the princess, well...I'm sure she's in another castle right now."

Vaggie spat in his face in anger...not that he was affected.

"...I think you'll make a fine addition to the army I'm building up." He said before pulling morphing his left hand into a drill "But first..." And then, he slowly brought the drill over to Vaggie's good eye.

Before he could even out the other side of her face, a powerful shot knocked him off his feet and away from Vaggie, who turned to see the newcomer coming to her rescue, holding one of the most heavily modified handguns she's seen, laser sight under the barrel and elongated mussel breaking system. Not to mention the round it just fired, able to blast Heisenberg a few feet away from her and even released something upon impact. Something that took its effect on the metal guy, when Heisenberg looked like he was struggling to get back on his feet. But he didn't bat an eye upon seeing Winters.

"You! Winters! I wasn't expecting to see you here!"

"Me neither." replied Winters, still holding his gun at a steady aim. "But since I am here, I came all this way to kill you...again."

"You got off easy last time, Ethan." Heisenberg growled before using his powers to levitate any and all metal around the area. "But here, my powers are unstoppable." Ethan didn't say anything, but decided to prove him wrong, as he pulled the trigger on the his gun and fired more of those powerful rounds. Whatever those things were made of, they were intoxicating and preventing him from regenerating. Winters fired several more rounds before he could see Heisenberg falling to the ground, with his infected blood seeping out of his metal parts. Heisenberg groaned in pain as Winters walked up to him, but not before Vaggie pulled his gun on him.

"Put it away, I'm helping you."

"You'll forgive me if I'm not too trusting of men." Vaggie said, glaring at him. Winters didn't reply but only walked forward to where Heisenberg was laying.

"Uggh...You've upped your game, Winters. I'm impressed." the metal guy said. Vaggie then pointed his spear at his throat in a threatening manor.

"I managed to get three of you, Heisenberg." Winter said to him. "I'm missing one. Where's Dimitrescu?"

"And where's Charlie?!" Vaggie added. Heisenberg did nothing but laugh painfully.

"You're too late. The dragon's already taking the princess to its tower. Wesker's got big plans for her and the rest of this damn realm. Don't worry though, know you...you'll land yourselves some front row seats!" He then laughed maniacally as Vaggie jabbed her spear into his throat, making him choke painfully. "It'll be...a cold day in hell...before you win...Winters!"

"And that's why I'm here, Karl." Winters said before pointing his gun at Heisenberg's head, and the metal man's world suddenly turned black.

The Tall Woman, now known as Dimitrescu, was walking up onto the roof of the Hotel, dragging the unconscious, bloodied princess in her hand as she waited for a chopper to take her away.

"Damn that Wesker for leaving us here while he takes his time, coming here. If this Princess is so important, he would've come after her himself. That fool is no doubt safe and sound back at his base, staring at monitors. I swear that one of these days...I will-" But then, she didn't finish when she heard a helicopter coming, finally. It was marked with a familiar looking Red Umbrella symbol, indicating its alliance as it flew close enough for Dimitrescu to practically toss Charlie inside. Before she could do, however, an explosion suddenly happened as the chopper spun out of control before crashing.

"NO!" She turns to see Brad Vickers, holding his Anti-Tank Rocket Launcher over his shoulder. "DAMN YOU!"

Vaggie and Winters also came up and wasted no time, pointing their guns at the tall lady.

"Hey, seven-foot bitch! Let go of Charlie, or I'll cut you down to size!" Vaggie screamed. Dimitrescu wasn't the least bit affected by her threat, but then turned her attention to the other mold-man beside them.

"Well, well...Ethan Winters. No doubt in my mind that you've taken out the others, right?"

"And you're the last one, Alcina!" Winter replied, keeping his gun trained on her. "Give up now or we can make you surrender!"

But instead of surrendering, Dimitrescu did something unexpected. They thought they had her corned, but then, they see her sprouting wings from her back as she then...jumped off the roof. The others ran over towards the edge to see where she went, only to back up at the sight full of fangs and multiple mouths. Apparently, Dimitrescu transformed into her full-demon form, as she was now a dragon flying over the hotel.

"Oh, why did I forget she could do that?" Winters said to himself, feeling sheepish.

Seeing that Charlie was still in the claws of that she-beast, Vaggie fired at her, but unfortunately, it wasn't enough. Dimitrescu flew away with Charlie, and Vaggie threw a fit, screaming sadly and slamming her fist onto the roof of the hotel. Brad was about to go over to her in an attempt to comfort her, but Ethan stopped him and shook his head as they just watched her breaking apart...

Meanwhile, everyone was trying to recover from what just happened. The hotel was supposed to be a safe haven, but four freaks just managed to come in with an army of what looked like werewolves. They were fortunate enough that no one was killed, but they didn't survive without a few injuries. Kenneth was checking out Enrico, who had a dozen broken bones and his chest and face caved in.

"...He'll live." Said Sullivan. "His healing factor will take care of the minor injuries, but we'll have to find a doctor to deal with those bones.

"Good luck trying to a serious one around here." Mayberry said to him. "I've heard demons don't even need doctors. They just wait for their injuries to repair themselves."

Edward and Richard then came by and Sullivan asked him "How's the rest of our wounded?"

"They've mostly suffered from a variety of cuts and bites." Edward explained. "Other than that, we're golden. That Radio guy is holding one of those freaks down in the lobby."

"You think she'll say anything?"

"She better." Richard said, holding up his shotgun. And it was then that Brad, Vaggie and Winters came down from the roof. They were all silent, and Vaggie's eye was hidden under her hair's shadow. The others were looking at them with concern.

"What happened up there?" Edward asked, but not before Vaggie shoved him away before walking away.

Brad answered the question, saying "They took Charlie. One of them managed to get away...in the weirdest way possible."

"And uh...who's that guy?" Richard asked, pointing to Winters.

"I saw him dealing with some of those creatures." Sullivan said before turning to the guy. "Can we trust you?"

"Of course. I've helped you guys out before." Winters said. "Who do you think gave you that fancy toy when you had to fight the Tyrant?"

"That was you?!" Brad asked.

"Unfortunately, I can't stay long. I have to track down Dimitrescu and end her."

But before he could walk away, Edward spoke to him "Hey, if you're on our side, we should work together. The more hands we have, the better."

"...I'd rather not." Winter replied "People tend to die around me to much. But maybe I'll see you around."

And with that, Winters decided to take his leave of the place, making his way to the lobby, where he saw Angel Dust, Cherri Bomb and Alastor hovering over Donna Beneviento, who's was sitting still on a stool, with her only good eye filled with static.

"Isn't that this shit you pulled on me that one time?" Angel Dust asked Alastor, to which the radio demon replied "It's only to ensure that she doesn't pull a fast one, if given the chance. Once I've abstracted any knowledge from her, well...I'll leave that up to anybody's imagination."

Sensing that there was someone behind them, the three turned to see Winters staring at Beneviento, still entranced. And then turned to the other three.

"Whatever you do...go easy on her. She was...the nicest one."

"How do you know that?" Cherri Bomb asked.

"Because...I met her." And then Ethan turned to leave.

Chapter Text

When Steve and Arachniss made it back to the Hotel, they were expecting everything to be just dandy. But instead, they find the place in shambles once more, as they stood in the aftermath of yet another battle that went down around her. Worst of all, they were given the new of Charlie's been taken by one of the moldy freaks who attacked the place.

"Well, that's just great." the young red-head said "Just when we start to gain more people, we start loosing others."

"Yeah, and Vaggie's taking it badly." Brad explain to Steve as he shows Vaggie sitting in her and Charlie's room, folded up into fetal position, mumbling to herself as she rocked back and forth. Steve got the idea that it was best to leave her by, but Octavia came by and it pitied the Moth in her depressed state.

"I only meet Charlie's girlfriend once." She says. "She seemed nice...and a bit territorial. But she doesn't deserve this."

"Yeah, and neither does Charlie for getting abducted by a giant dragon."

"Right now, we simply need to recover and figure out our next course of action for doing anything drastic." Brad said as he walked with them back into the main lobby. "If there is a way to find Charlie, and fast, we'll get it."

"Maybe this could help." Husk said, as he took out a phone that was turned on to reveal a map on the screen. It was pointing to a place somewhere outside of Pentagram city.

"Husk, where did you get that?" Steve asked.

"Oh, that Winters guy dropped it off before he split. I'm to assume it'll help in finding the princess."

Enrico was the one to take a look at the map and thought about it.

"If I may..." said a voice he didn't recognize and looked up to see the Owl Prince Stolas looking down at him, holding his hand out. Enrico hesitantly gave him the phone, and Stolas had an eyebrow raised when saw the location pointed on the map.

"The location seems to be out in the middle of nowhere." He said. "There a few cities outside of Pentagram, but other than that, just miles and miles of endless scorching deserts."

"That's actually pretty smart." said S.T.A.R.S B-Team Pilot, Kevin. "No one would ever suspect looking out in the middle of nowhere."

"Well, if we're planning to go out into the middle of a desert, we'll need to be prepared." Enrico said before turning to the two pilots. "Enrico, Brad. Get the chopper ready. We'll sent out a team as soon as we can."

"You guys had a chopper this whole time?" Arackniss asked.

"One that's still in need of repairs, but functional." Brad replied. "She's not gonna be stable if we keep her in the air for too long."

Steve then said "Then make it a quick drop-off, at the edge of the desert than the team can take care of the rest. I'll go. Charlie welcomed me in, and I need to return the favor."

"She welcomed us all in, Steve." Enrico said to the kid. "You don't have to do this."

"Well, definitely not alone. That's for sure."

"I'll go." Octavia said, surprising everyone. "Princess Charlotte is a good friend of mine. And she's stood by me before."

"Octavia?! You can't do this! It is too dangerous!"

"We just survived escape from our own home, dad! Not to mention getting here. I still have the sickle from that last infected demon." To prove her point, she pulls the said sickle from behind her back, which had blood at the tip."

Stolas did not like the idea of sending his daughter into any kind of danger, but he knew these were drastic time and with his powers somehow compromised, he couldn't protect her forever. Besides, she's already shown prowess. Whatever happens, he wants to believe she can handle it. And with that, the prince turns to Steve with a threatening glare.

"You will defend her with your life." He said to the sinner. "If any harm comes to her, I will put you through more hell than you'll ever experience. Understand?"

Steve came a nervous nod while Octavia facepalmed.

"I'm coming too." Everyone turned to see Vaggie, spear in hand and with a face of anger and determination. "Charlie is my girlfriend...and we will...save."

"Okay...that gives us three. Anyone else?" Steve asks, looking for a volunteer.

"I'll do it."

Turning to who said that, much to their surprise, it was Loona who volunteered.

"Blitzø and the others haven't been answer their calls, or the radio...and I haven't done anything else since I got here. So...I want to help."

"You sure about this, Loona?" Joseph asked. "You told me Blitzø never let you in on assassinations."

"I'm sure. I can hold me own just fine."

"Well, I guess that's everyone then." Steve said. "When do we head out?"

10 minutes later, the helicopter was getting ready by Brad and Kevin as the team now heads to depart. Loona and Octavia now had their own guns at their disposal, with Loona having a Browning Hp, an M79 Grenade Launcher and if worst comes to worst, she'll have to rip apart enemies with her bare hands. Octavia still have the MAC-11 from the infected she scavenged it from, along with a M92F as a sidearm. As they boarded onto the chopper, Octavia decided to make small talk with the Hellhound.

"Where is the rest of the company?"

"Probably dead by now." Loona said simply as she cocked her pistol.

Octavia replied "You don't sound that broken up about it."

"...Why would I be?" Loona asked, to which Octavia only shook her head as the ascended into the air. Loona didn't want to admit it, but she was getting worried about the rest of the I.M.P. It's been some time, and she was now anxious for her adoptive father to come and smother her. She never thought she'd miss that. Not to mention, Moxxie and Millie. She remembers that they're racing the clock to save Moxxie's life. Wondering how they were faring, Loona could only hope to see them again soon.

Back in Imp City, coming out of manhole cover was Luis and the imp couple, one of which wasn't looking so good. Getting out the sewers, they found themselves in a parking garage. Looking around, the coast seemed to be clear as Luis helped Millie bring Moxxie up. Moxxie was holding his arm, looking nauseous and in pain as the spikes that were coming out of his forearm grew at the progression of his infection. He was forced to support himself on his wife's shoulders, as he didn't how much longer he could take.

"Hang on, Moxxie. We'll get you your cure in no time." Millie says to him, trying to keep the hope up.

"...Blitzø...we left Blitzø..."

Millie that it was some time since they lost their boss in the depths of the sewers, but it seems like Moxxie couldn't take his mind off of it. Luis said that one of the symptoms of infection was the victim's mindset getting reduced to the simplest of thoughts before they're completely turned and changed into a mindless zombie. Speaking of whom the Spaniard saw a working elevator, but it was guarded by ganado demons. Hiding behinds some cars, the three peaked and saw one of the guards wearing a key around his neck.

"Okay..." Luis started "We're gonna take the elevator, go up to the top floor and find what we need to curb Luis' infection."

"You think we can find something like that here?" Millie asked "We don't even know where we are!"

"I believe we're right below the building the other ganados passed. This place is heavily guarded, so they must be protecting something."

"Protect...protecting the drugs..." Moxxie stuttered in saying, catching the two's attention. "They're here...15th floor."

"How do you know?" Luis replied.

"...I just do."

Millie turned to Luis and said "Let's do this quick and go through them."

"Whatever the lady once." was Luis' response as their pulled out their guns. In moments, the sinner and female imp open fired on the two guards, unloading and them both and filling them up with holes. But before they could move forward into the elevator, one of the bodies still moves.

"Ugh! Nothing dies here!" Millie shouted as something erupted from the corpse, which turned out to by another giant mutated insect, capable of flying. But Millie had enough of these parasitic bugs as she grabs it brings it down and stabs it repeatedly with a knife. Luis and Moxxie stood idly by as Millie practically rips the thing apart. Then, when she was finished, she turned to see the two staring at her in awe.

"What?" She asked.

"You're just...amazing." Luis said, with Moxxie nodded in agreement. Millie smiled at the compliment as Luis took the key from the guard and they all got into the elevator. There was a slot where the key was supposed to go, allowing for it to be operational. Inserting it and giving the key a turn, the elevator turned on as Luis pushed the button to the 15th floor. But as they headed up, Moxxie once again fell to his knees.

"Moxxie! Moxxie stay with me!" Millie said to her husband. "We're almost there."

"It's...too late." He said, facing his wife with eyes glowing red. "La plaga...me consume."

"Annnd...now he's speaking spanish and has glowing eyes...is that bad?"

"Extremely." Luis says as he holds his Mauser. "Worst comes to worst, we might need to off him."

"NO!" Millie shouted back. "I can't forgive myself if I kill Moxxie! We will save him! We have to..."

They wished the elevator could go fast, as about a minute later, they arrived on the 15th floor. They rushed through the hallway until they came across some double doors, and through them was a lab filled with everything they needed...possibly. There so many tins and canisters full of drugs and chemicals that they now had a new problem, finding the right one.

"Is the cure in here?!"

"No, but the drug needed could be here. Start looking!" Luis said as he and Millie started looking around the room. Looking through the canisters of pills, the Spaniard and the Imp were practically throwing them off the shelves looking for the right one. Meanwhile Moxxie looked across the room, slowly moving his head from left to right until he stopped at a shelf, that had a canister with a red cap on it, and then he pointed towards it.

"M-M-...Millie..." He said, getting his wife's attention as he saw him point to the canister on the shelf they haven't touched yet. Running towards, she picks it up and shows it to Luis.

"Is this it?!" She asks, to which Luis replies "Yes! This is it! Now, we can keep his infection from growing!"

"Yes! You hear that Moxxie?"

(thud)

"...Moxxie?"

They turn to see that the male Imp fell to the floor, but before Millie could move towards him, Luis stopped her as they saw him rising again, showing him angry, red glowing eyes and a knife in hand.

"Voy a matarte..."

"Moxxie..." Millie whimpered in fear as her husband's infection seemed to be completed. The imp opened his mouth and growled as a plaga mouth came out of it. And then suddenly, he leaped at the two, attempting to slash them both before going after his own wife.

"Moxxie, no!" She cried, shielding herself with a shelf she pried off the wall as Moxxie attempted to stab her. Luis knew that saving Moxxie now was near impossible without removal of the parasite, and the drug was useless now with the Plaga's mouth coming out of his own. But the equipment that the lab has, there might be something they could use to push back the infection, have Moxxie adapt to it with a new type of cure. All the while, Millie scurried away from her infected husband, not wanting to hurt him while he very much wanted to hurt her.

"If I can amplify the drug, add new components, have it injected, I might be able to save our friend here." Luis said as he started to get to work. "But it'll take time. Millie! You need to keep him alive long enough to make a cure for him!"

Pushing Moxxie away again "I'll try! But he really wants to kill me!"

"¡Te voy a hacer picadillo!"

"Okay. Give me about five minutes to work with." Luis said. "No pressure."

But Moxxie didn't seem to like what he was doing. The plaga sensed the sinner was making something harmful to it, as it suddenly changed targets from Moxxie's wife to the former scientist. Millie had to keep Moxxie away from Luis while he worked, she tried to get his attention...but throwing a book at him. That made the infected imp easily turn his attention to her again.

"Sorry, Moxxie, but I need your attention right now!" She said as she fired her gun near his feet. "Come on! Follow me!"

"¡Te voy a matar, puta!" And with that, Moxxie chased after her, heading back into the hall as it gave Luis space and time to work with.

"As long as I can work in peace, this will go a whole lot easier."

He just had to jinx it, as suddenly coming out of the elevators were more Ganado demons that were inside the building.

"Aquí están. ¡Mátalos!"

"Oh, for God's sake." Luis said as he was forced to pull out a TMP as he say the infected demons coming for him. "Millie! You're gonna have to do a lot more distracting than I thought!"

All the while, Millie dodged an incoming blade from her crazed husband. She groaned when she heard the commotion coming from the hall leading to the the lab Luis was in, and as she ran back their with Moxxie right at her tail, she decided to make it easy on herself by throwing a grenade at the horde of the infected. Pushing her husband back to avoid the blast, she braced herself as the blast blow them back a little and she lands on top of Moxxie. Picking herself back up, she looks into the widened-eyes of her husband, who looks to be in shock as she could no longer see the reddish-glow coming from his eyes.

"Moxxie?" She asks, only to be greeted by that disgusting plaga mouth that came out of Moxxie's mouth, Xenomorph style. She quickly gets back up, but so does Moxxie, who then suddenly grabs her by the neck with his left hand, and coming out of his right were spikes of bones turning black from his infection. Millie quickly grabbed his arm before he could stab through his face, but she couldn't stop his plaga mouth from coming any closer.

"Aah! Hurry up, Luis!"

"Okay, almost done." said Spaniard, working on the serum needed to treat Moxxie, as he was still mixing chemicals together. "Just need a drop of this, and...it's done!"

He then loaded up the stuff into a syringe and rushed over to were the feuding couple were.

"Just need to inject him with this, and it should reverse the effects! Hopefully..."

Moxxie's bone spike was inches away from tearing out Millie's brains. She was driven to tears to see of what has become of the imp she loves.

"Come on, Moxxie! I know you're in there!" She screamed to him. "I love you, dammit! You don't want to hurt me!" Only for Moxxie to respond by forcing him onto her, slicing her arm and then throwing her onto a desk, which broke on impact. "Or...maybe, you do." She groaned in pain. Then, coming down the hall was Luis, running with the syringe in hand.

"I got it!" He said, but before he could reach them, bursting out of a door in the hall was another infected demon, who tackles and brings down Luis, who accidentally lets go of the needle as it rolls across the floor. Millie sees it and grabs it as soon as it reaches her, and just as soon as Moxxie picks up off the ground in an attempt to finish her.

"¡Ahora te mueres, puta tonta!"

"Moxxie...time to take your medicine!"

Kicking her way out of his grasp, Millie quickly then leaps and tackles Moxxie, rolling across the floor until she ends up behind him with her arm against his throat and him roaring crazily with his plaga mouth. Without another word, Millie stabs him with the shot and injects the serum, which quickly works its way into his system and begins to attack the parasite, weakening it and forcing it to relieve its whole of the imp's mind. Moxxie starts to scream painfully as the plaga mouth begins to wither and retreat inside of him, same for the speaks that were now moving back into his arm. The male imp began to breath rapidly, wheezing until it seemed like he was no longer able to breathe. Millie quickly moved to his side as they looked into each other's eyes.

"Moxxie?"

"...M-Millie...I..." And then his passes out. Millie quickly puts her head at his chest and heard a faint heartbeat, but she was still afraid that what they've been through may have already taken its toll on the one she loves. Luis manages to kill the infected as quickly as he could, moving to where his companions are and sees the state Moxxie was in.

"...Let's get him out of here." He says, with Mille responding with a nod. Luis carries Moxxies as they head back to the elevator and push the button for the lobby. As they are heading down, Luis notices that Millie is still looking at Moxxie with great fear.

"...When we exit this building, I want you to head back to Pentagram City, and to the Hotel." He says to her. "I'll continue on my own."

"What?" Millie said.

"We've already lost one man." Luis explained. "And I was a victim to this nightmare in my lifetime. I'm taking it upon myself to cut down Saddler and lackeys, as a friend of mine did in the human world. I don't want anyone else to suffer for this."

"You sure about this, Luis? You don't know what you'll be up against."

Luis replied "On the contrary. I have a pretty good idea. Besides, your husband needs you."

Seeing Moxxie in a comatose state was enough to show that he was right. Millie didn't want to leave with business unfinished, but Moxxie's life was more important. She continued to think about this as the elevator continued to go down...

Chapter Text

Pain was the last thing Charlie remembered before everything went dark on her. Well, pain and...her girlfriend screaming her name.

"CHARLIE!"

The echoing sound of Vaggie's voice made Charlie jolt away and found it hard to move. She couldn't speak because of some kind mask hooked up to her face. In fact, dozens of things seemed hooked up to her, some of which were most invading. But as she did her best to keep her eyes opened, she looked around and found herself underwater, with dozens of tubes and cables seeming to wrap themselves around her. Clamps were around her arms, legs, waist, neck, hooked up to back of whatever she was in at the moment. But it couldn't hold her so easily, as she began to muster up enough demonic strength to break free. Her eyes went fully red and her horns appear as she began to struggle frantically before she could feel the clamps begin to give out, as she practically pried them off the back. Then, she focused on the glass in front of her and started to punch at it fast and hard, faster than anyone could punch underwater. Soon enough, she began to leave cracks until the whole glass cover broke apart and she was washed out of the thing she was held in.

Recovering as quickly as she could, the Princess of Hell, sits up and removes the oxygen mask around her face, along with any other tubes or wires wrapped around her. All except for one thing, directly attached to the center of her. It was in the same shape of some kind of insect, a scarab, with a red armored, yet transparent plate on the front of it, showing some kind of liquid and power core inside. Charlie tried to removed it, but the moment she pulled on it, she screamed in pain. Any attempt for her to rip it off caused her great pain, so she decided to leave it alone for now.

"Where...am I?" She pants, looking around to see that she was in a lab of some sort and what she just broke out of was a capsule. Standing up, Charlie gathers herself...and finally notices that she wasn't wearing anything, having been naked when she was in the capsule. "Eep! Clothes!" Looking around, there looked to be only one thing for her to wear. A red, one-piece jumpsuit with heels fitted at the legs, and it seemed to fit perfectly around her body, as she slips into it and zips it up.

"Not what I'm used to wearing, but it'll have to do for now." She also puts on a pair of foreleg holsters that were for some semi-automatic handguns that were alongside the suit. "Why would they leave these here? Forget it, I need to find a way out."

Automatic doors open for her to leave the lab as she finds herself in a some kind of dimly building, where her only source of light were those on the floor. As she slowly moved into a hallway at her right, she kept a gun in case she ran into anything that would keep her from leaving. Never in her life had Charlie experienced this much silence, and it was intensifying as the click of her heels echoed throughout the halls. As she continued, there were windows at both sides of the hall, showing glimpses of other laboratories within this place, one of which seeming to be overtaken by plant life that looked parasitic and mutated. Others simply showed labs with chemicals in them...along with stains of blood all over the walls and tables. Upon reaching the end of the hall, another door opened for Charlie, who then found herself walking on a bridge over an abyss.

"Whoa." She said. "Okay, don't look down." As she crossed the bridge, she could see power conduits running along the walls, going off for miles as she reaches the next door. Upon reaching the next area, it appeared to be a lobby of some sort, with the logo of who this place belonged to.

"...Umbrella? Isn't that the company that was behind the deaths of Steve and the S.T.A.R.S? Are they behind all this?"

It was then that she heard some screaming and turned to a door at the side and immediately thought "Welp, definitely not going down there. Time to leave." However, the door that seemed to be the exit wasn't opening for her. She tried to shooting at it, but that didn't work. "Oh, come on!" She was about to tap into her demonic powers...when the door just seemed to open on its own. It made her sigh at her waisted effort and ammunition. "This place is so unfair." Then, she decides to move on. Upon reaching the next room, what she saw next was...horrifying. Directly below her looked to have been large transparent cubes, each of them holding what appeared to be monsters that Charlie and the others have yet to face inside, and they were strapped down and were looking to be experimented on as machines with buzzsaws, probes and other medical equipment were hanging by the top of the cubes. Charlie slowly walked overhead on the bridge, continuing to see what was happening to each of these mutations. And that's when she began to see...familiar faces amongst those experiments.

"...Valentino?" She asked, seeing the former pornagraphic Overlord, now just another infected abomination, strapped to a table, acting like a wild animal as the overhead machine poked and prodded him.

"...Velvet..." Another one of the Three V's. She's yet to see Vox amongst them, but she would honestly be afraid of what they've done to him after seeing Velvet, who now has a horribly mutated arm of mangled flesh and bone...and she was pretty sure she saw an eye growing out of what was once her shoulder blade.

"...Rosie?" An associate of Alastor, as far as Charlie is aware of. Surprisingly, she wasn't strapped down like the rest of the lot, but instead, was on her feet...and puking. Her vomit was black, chunky and looked to have been moving on its own. It almost looked like the substance that covered the four intruders from the Hotel.

That's when Charlie took notice of another subject, one she did not recognized. And unlike the others, the one, who was male with a humanoid appeared, dressed in almost a soldier's garb, had skin with green hair, and what looked to be oozing cuts across his face, his right eye heavily mutated while the left was normal-ish. The most distinguishing feature, his horribly mutated right arm, if it could even called that, give how it's appearance was a wad of flesh and bone that appeared to be sparking with electricity. He was strapped up, hanging from the ceiling and he had the same device that Charlie also bares on her chest.

"Poor guy." Charlie said. "Wonder what happened to him." As she continued on, she saw more familiar faces, such as a mass-produced tyrant, similar to the first one she and her friends encountered when this incident happened. A creature that resembled the Nemesis that nearly killed her and Vaggie when they first the S.T.A.R.S team, albeit heavily mutated into more a bestial form in which it was on all fours, had no eyes and had fins and claws. It looked like it was looking for a way out of the container, "looking" around and slamming itself against the transparent walls, which made Charlie want to get away from it more.

The next thing Charlie made her more horrified, as inside one of the cubes, stuck in what appeared an mass of hardened mold...was Blitzø. She recognized the Imp as an alley she had made and was now beginning to fear what happened to the others as well. If they were trapped in this place, just as she had been.

"Hang on, Blitzø! I'll get you out! Somehow..." She said right before looking ready to jump off the bridge was on.

"I'm afraid you won't be able to anything, Princess Charlotte" A voice came from the end of the bridge, to which Charlie turns to face Wesker, in all his damned, matrix-looking glory. "...Besides my bidding."

Charlie immediately pointed her guns at the man in a defensive position, taking every step back as he took a step forward.

"I'm assuming you're one in charge around here?" Charlie asked with spite in her tone.

Wesker replied "You assume right. It was I who started this invasion over Hell itself, and I who had ordered you'd be brought to me, both have which have been accomplished with only a minor setbacks."

That is when the Princess decided to hold her ground and looked ready to squeeze the trigger on both of her guns.

"Well, you'r about add one more 'setback' to the list. I'm taking my friend and we're leaving!"

"I'm afraid I cannot allow that, my dear." Wesker said. "You are far too valuable for me to simply let go of now, especially since I have to schedule to keep."

Charlie held a scowl on her face, compelling herself so much to squeeze the trigger.

"Besides...you don't have much a choice in the matter anymore. The process has already been completed."

As much as she wanted to blast this guy right now, Charlie could feel herself being forced not too. The device on her chest was beginning to blink, and that is when she started to feel pain. Falling to the ground, she tried to reach for the device, but its like her body was fighting against her control. Unknown to her was that Wesker had brought out a hand held device to which, he typed away at as the device responded be injecting the liquid it held inside of Charlie. Her veins pulsed as her body was overtaken by the serum. The Princess of Hell, heir to Lucifer's Throne, was now being overtaken by something originally made by monsters in human skin...

"Honestly...I expected more from you, Dear Charlotte." Wesker said, melancholy. "I'm rather disappointed...but I'm sure you'll play your part as I hoped."

Only grunts of pain came out Charlotte's mouth as she was on her knees now, wishing for the pain to stop. Soon enough, it will overtake her and she would experience what hell really is.

The team of four was riding in a chopper that was currently heading towards the city limits. Wherever they were going, it was basically in the middle of nowhere, which shouldn't even be possible, yet here they are, flying towards the edge of a desert just outside of Pentagram City.

"This feels familiar." The pilot hellhound, Kevin said out loud."

"What do you mean, Kev?" Steve asked, to which the pilot had replied. "Sending a team of several men out into the middle of nowhere, right before shit breaks loose. That's literally how me and my guys die."

"Try to have faith, Kevin." Vaggie said. "You're just dropping us off. How we get back will be our problem."

"Right. But I can't guarantee that travelling through a desert will be any easier than through the woods."

"We'll manage." Steve said, readying one of his lugers. He looked over to Octavia, who had her own gun in hand, looking down at the floor in thought. "You gonna be okay, Octavia?"

The Owl Princess perked up her head and took a moment to reply "...I'll be fine. To be honest, never thought I've been doing something like this."

"Same." Loona said. "Blitzø never wanted me to be part of the human slaying part of the business. I know I can fight...just didn't think I'd be fighting virus infected weirdos."

"Welcome to me world." Steve said as they looked ready to land. The helicopter was close enough to the ground that the four passengers jumped and landed on hard dry ground. Looking back up, Steve gave Kevin a thumbs up and it was enough to have the pilot head back to the hotel, leaving the four of them in what was an outback of a desert.

"Okay...now what?" Octavia asked, looking around. "I'm not familiar with this part of Hell. As far as I know, this place shouldn't even be here."

"Agreed." Vaggie replied. "I've been here for a while now, and never even seen a desert beyond Pentagram City."

While they were looked around, they failed to see Loona sniffing around before deciding to crouch down and feel the ground. All while Steve was saying "First, we should pick up some kind of trail that will lead us to wherever we're supposed to go. Then, if we're lucky, find some mode of transportation somewhere in this waist land."

"What, do you expect us to find a taxi out here?" Vaggie said.

That's when Loona perked up and said "Got something. The smell of truck fumes heading northeast from here...goes on for miles."

"Great. But unless we kind something to ride like Steve says, we're gonna be walking all the way for God knows how long."

But then, Loona's ears perked up and she said "Something's coming!"

They all turned and quickly got of the way when they saw a dirty looking car come their way. Perched on top was a turret, and there was plaga infected demon manning it, wasting no time trying to unload on the four survivors before attempting to drive off. They would not have it though as each of the girls tried to fire back at them and Steve even tried to latch onto the bumper of the truck by extending tendrils from his hands. That didn't work out as well as he hoped, as he found himself being dragged from behind as the truck made a sudden 180 degree turn and drove back into the direction of Vaggie, Loona and Octavia.

"Okay, bad idea. Bad idea!" Steve said to himself as he tried to get back on his feet, ultimately failing as the truck continued to move at high speed. Vaggie rolled and Loona pulled Octavia out of the way as they saw it coming and the gunner continuing to fire at them. Vaggie quickly took out a knife and cut off Steve's tendrils from the bumper of the truck, freeing him but also leaving him bleeding profusely from his palms.

"Ow...Thanks, Vaggie." He said with his face to the ground.

"Don't mention it." She replied as they saw the truck ride back the path it was going on, giving up on its attempt to kill them as the four regrouped.

"Well that fucking sucked." Loona. "What's the plan now? Wait for another one to come and see if we can get that one?"

Steve turned around and said "I don't think another truck is coming."

All three of the girls turned around at the sound of multiple engines roaring. It was an entire platoon of infected on motorbikes, some with guns, others with sickles ad other sharp weapons. Their bikes were just what they might've needed though as the four of them broke into a run to where the truck was going off. They couldn't outrun the bikes, though, as they were coming in close. Loona dodged an upcoming sickle to the head before jumping and grabbing the infected, throwing him off as she was in control now. She revved it up before riding closer to Octavia.

"Hop on!" She told Octavia, who took hold of the hand she was offered and put behind Loona. Steve and Vaggie followed suit with Vaggie throwing a knife at an infected's head before kicking him off to get control. Steve summoned another tendril from his hand to latch onto the rider and pull him off before hopping onto the bike himself. Now that all of them had some wheels, they wasted no time going as fast as they could in pursuit of the truck.

"Keep the tracks in your sight! Stay close and don't crash!" Steve yelled before dodging a near bullet to his head. Octavia looked back and saw that there were more than just motorbikes to worry about now. It was another truck, more armored and well-armed with a turret on its roof. "We have more company!" She said as she decided to fire at the truck with her semi-auto gun. All the while, Steve and Vaggie were trying to get in close, but the turret gunner made nearly impossible as they were forced to move back if they didn't want to be filled with holes. Fortunately for them, the turret began to overheat and forced the infected to pause for a moment, leaving Steve open to get closer.

"Almost there!" He said, pulling out one of his own ingram in order to fire. But that is when another demon came on top of the back of the truck and pulled out a unique looking gun of some sort. Mostly had a rectangular, blocky design with a cylinder for ammo and two handles, one at the barrel, the other with a stock that the thumb feeds through for the grip.

(Mine Launcher from Resident Evil 3)

Forced to pull back so that he doesn't get shot at, Steve was caught off guard when the round fired at him, landed on the ground and exploded, nearly making him fly off his bike as he was sent up in midair before landing back on the ground hard. Another shot was fired and it was closer than the last one, staggering him and nearly causing him to go off balance. Third one hit the spot, land on his bike and he could see that it was a blinking mine shot.

"Oh come on!"

Quickly jumping from his bike just as it exploded, Steve sent his tendrils to attach to the truck again, once again dragging him against the ground before he managed to steady himself and roll back on his feet, which were now scrapping against the ground. "This is SO not fun!" Grabbing his tendrils, Steve began pulling himself towards the vehicle. The infected with the Mine Launcher attempted to shoot him in the face, only to wind up getting a spear in the face, curtesy of Vaggie.

"Get up there!" She told Steve, who quickly climbed up the truck, pulling the dead infected off and letting the Mine Launcher tumble off as well. See the weapon coming their way, Loona quickly leaned to her left. "Grab that thing!" She told Octavia, who did so as fast as she could just as Loona get back up. "Now shoot it!"

Octavia quickly turned the Mine Launcher over to the second truck behind them, firing round after round, doing some damage, but not enough to breach the armor as much. That is when Steve had taken care of that annoying turret gunner and decides to use the gun himself.

"Get clear, ladies!" He told his allies as they rode out of the way. Some of the infected attempted to do the same, only for Steve to maul them down with their own gun. He then turned it towards the second truck, which was quickly torn apart by the swarm of bullets. With that out of the way, he decided to turn to the driver, carefully making his way to the front seat, and climbing towards the door. The driver has spotted them, quickly pulling a gun in attempt shoot at him, only for Steve to grab his arm and forcefully pull him through the window and out of the driver seat. This forced Steve to open the door up and get inside himself to drive the truck.

"Alright. This is a little better." He said to himself as he took hold of the wheel. But, then he began to hear beeping and turned to his right to see the shotgun seat had explosives in place. Before he could get out, he noticed on the dashboard a portable GPS and quickly snatched it before getting out of the driver seat and leaping out of the truck just as it blew up. The blast made Steve fly a bit further before he rolled across the ground painfully. The Veronica Infected Sinner groaned as he struggled to pick himself up, just as Vaggie, Loona and Octavia rode by to see him.

"Steve, you okay?" Vaggie replied as she offered a hand to the guy. Gratefully taking it, Steve replied "Yeah, I'm fine. Bastards rigged the truck to blow if it was compromised. But I got this." He hands the GPS to Vaggie, who examines it, showing the designated path the truck was assigned was still on screen. Although the screen was a little damaged on impact, it was still readable.

"Looks like we have our heading." She said as suddenly, the sound of a chopper was coming close and above their heads. They looked towards where the truck was going to and saw a cargo helicopter flying back, carrying something, or rather someONE, big...

"Oh, you have got to be kidding me." Loona growled as they see the thing fly overhead and drop the huge thing. The girls managed to ride away while Steve was forced to run.

"Hop on!" Vaggie said to him as she gave him her hand and he got on the back of her bike. The saw the dust clear and looked to see that what the chopper dropped off...was Un Gigante.

"...Time to go." Steve whimpered out as they revved up their bikes. El Gigante roared at the sight of them and began to gave chase, surprisingly fast with how big it is, looked like it was charging like a bull.

Steve tried to look back, but they unfortunately hit a bump on the road and his hand slipped.

"Hey! Watch the hand, Steve!" Vaggie yelled at him, making him quickly put his hand back at her waist.

He quickly replied "My bad! Just keep her steady!" As he pulled out one of his Ingram in an attempt to fire back at the beast. All three bikes road off into the desert with junior on their tail, as this was only part of the dangerous journey ahead...

Chapter Text

Luis was making his way through the post-apocalyptic looking streets of Imp City yet again. After telling Millie to take care of her husband and get back to the Hotel, he was out on his own and he wasn't sure how far he was gonna go. Not that he doubts himself, but he's no stranger to being the victim of a cheap shot from behind. But as long as he keeps up the pace and follows to where the Ganado demons are heading, he should be fine. As long as he doesn't get side tracked again.

"Yoo-hoo! Good sir! I say I got something to show you!"

Luis sighed as he hoped not to run into the stupid, carny-looking, crazy scamming Imp again. But there he was, Wally Wackford and that stupid booth of his, filled with scavenged, almost worthless guns of his. Last time Luis went to him, he didn't get a good deal on the TMP that was moments from breaking apart. If he were still human, he would've just walked away. But...

"Good to see you again, my friend!" Wally started to say. "I trust the gun I gave has worked phenomenal-HACK!"

And Luis shoved the barrel of his Red 9 down into Wally's mouth, the Spaniard not looking so friendly with the Imp who sold his out.

"Give me one good reason as to why I shouldn't put you out of your misery."

"GWAACH-ACH-GAG!" Wally gagged. "GIM 'E A CHAG 'O ESPLAIN!" And with that, Luis pulled the gun out, give Wally a chance to breath while the sinner cleaned the barrel. "Ugh...I have a feeling you're not so fond of the weapon I gave you before."

"The firing mechanism was rusted, the barrel was clogged, the damn thing often jammed. What do you think, Payaso?" Luis asked as he held the gun in question and aimed in towards Wally.

"Wait, wait! I have just the thing to make up for all the problems." Said the scamming Imp as he went under the booth and pulled out a small plastic case. "A repair kit! Just for you. Not can you be able to repair the faults of that firearm, but improve upon it also! And I say, that sounds like a great deal to me!"

Luis still didn't look impressed as he decided to take a look inside the case and saw the tools were just barely enough to fix the malfunctions on his gun. And knowing the Imp, he's probably going to get ripped off of Wally brings out a huge price.

"It's not enough." He said. "You'll have to come up with something more substantial."

"W-W-Well, what do you have in mind?"

And it was then that he placed the TMP on the counter and aimed his Mauser at Wally's face.

"You fix it for me, free of charge."

Wally was taken aback by this a little. "Now, I say, hold on there. I'm not much of a repairman myself. I just sell whatever I can get, being a sales guy and all."

Luis wasn't having any of his crap as he pulled back the hammer on his gun. To which Wally responded by quickly getting to work on fixing the TMP, just as Luis asked.

Back in Pentagram City, Ethan Winters was walking down the desolate, seemingly abandoned roads of the damned town. There haven't been that many enemies to face, as if the whole city was now deader than dead...which most of it actually was at this point. He continued to move through a rather suburban looking area in the city, recognizing something that disgusted him to no end...mold. Loads of the stuff, clinging to cars, buildings, even mutilated bodies like a webbing that squirmed and moved around. The sight of it made his guts twist and turn, as he always took it as a bad sign that a whole lot of the mold was just in one place.

"My. This stuff is a bit too drool, even for me."

Hearing that rather static voice made Ethan turn and point his gun into the face of the Radio Demon, who was with his ever cheeky smile while looking around the place. Ethan knew about Alastor and what he was capable of, but he didn't care. Not after the nightmare he went through while he was alive, what he and his family had been put through. He was definitely not afraid to shoot him in the face as the Radio Demon turned to face him.

"But you, Mr. Winters, intrigue me with your expertise on this substance." Alastor said. "I believe we may be able to help each other during this time, just as I'm trying to do for her majesty."

Ethan replied "I'm not working with you, Alastor. I know how your kind operates."

"Ah, but you'd be fortunate enough to listen to what I have to say. See, I myself am concerned as you are with this...gunk. And I find myself in dire need of the knowledge around it."

"And why should this matter to you?" Ethan asked, to which Alastor points to a nearby Emporium. Rosie's Emporium with its main entrance covered in mold. It seems that the stuff can deeply affect Overlords as well, and that drew concern to Alastor, a powerful overlord, now seemingly as vulnerable as anyone else around.

"Personal reasons, my dear boy." He said. "Nothing that should deeply concern you. However, I can point you in a certain right direction for where you need to go."

"Oh yeah? And where's that?"

Alastor began to explain. "The invasion is worse than any of us could imagine. As we speak, this...gross, disgusting, fungal-like substance, along with a few other types of parasites, are making their way to the other Rings of Hell, since the space between them has been seemingly breached. And right now, I've sensed something similar to the stuff that you are tracing down in Wrath."

"Really? ...Well, shit." Ethan exclaimed.

"I can take you there. We need not trust each other, but survival is of the highest priority for everyone involved in this little game. I believe it ranks highly for the un-living as well."

Ethan didn't much like the sound of working with Hell's most feared Overload. But if Alastor knew something he needed to know, then he may not have much a choice but to listen to him and see where the Radio Demon takes him...

Moving back to Luis in Imp City, Ganado Demons were attempting to attack him with axes, sickles, crowbars, kitchen knives, lead pipes, the usual stuff. His now repaired and upgraded TMP made short work on them, as he unloaded on the five that tried to kill him before they fell.

"Debo admitir que ese payaso estúpido hizo un buen trabajo con esta arma. (I must admit that stupid clown did a good job with this weapon.)" He said as he reloaded the gun. His search for Saddler was slow going, he needed some kind of heading, and following the mindless zombies wasn't working as well as it was before since the entire city was like a maze. But, as luck would have it, something peaked out of the Ganados he just gunned down and it got his attention, as anything the infected dropped can sometimes prove useful. Taking it out of a dead imp, it turned out to be a map of the city which showed routes he needed to take.

"Ah, perfect." He said as he folded the map and pocketed it. He then saw a payphone at the end of the street and decided to make a call to some of his allies. The one to answer the phone back at the hotel was Enrico.

"Hello? Hazbin Hotel?" He said, to which Luis responded. "Oye, Enrico. I found out where I need to go. I'll be moving farther away from the Hotel, where I'm going."

"Good to know, Luis. Try and find a way to keep in contact with us."

"I'll think of something. Any word from the others?"

"Haven't heard back from them in a while. It's like they're off the grid." Enrico explained. "The rest of us are still held up inside the hotel."

In one of the rooms, Donna Beneviento was still under the trance Alastor left her in while Richard and Edward kept their guns trained on her at all times, given how extremely dangerous she was. All of the hotel's other residences were doing their best to hold themselves together, doing some small talk, keeping the place clean and secured, and making sure none of the infected nearby didn't reach the hotel with Forest and Joseph sniping them.

"That reminds me. Expect Moxxie and Millie to be back soon." Luis said. "Her poor marido has been through a lot."

"Gotcha. We'll be in touch." Enrico replied. And with that, Luis hung up the phone and decided to continue on his way.

Meanwhile, at an undisclosed location, Albert Wesker was continuing to see everything go on through Hell; the mutants invading, the infections spreading, even those stubborn enough to try and stop him, at which point found himself in need of installing a little eye in the sky to keep his sights on the four survivors who are currently walking through his outback.

"Mr. Burnside..." He began to say while looking at the monitors. "I find it remarkable that you've made it this far. You and those other mongrels. Perhaps you've had greater uses than just extracting a simple virus from times long past...Still, your efforts to defeat me, admirable as they are, are as futile as when we first met. I've already got what I needed from this realm, except. one. thing. Matters not, however, since my plans have been set in motion. And nothing you do can stop it. Not in this world...or the next."

Zooming in on the monitor that showed the four in the desert, Steve, Vaggie, Loona and Octavia were currently walking on foot, having lost their wheels a while back and are currently spending a couple of hours walking in what they don't know is in between dimensions...depicted as an endless desert. The only thing that's guiding them now is a semi-broken GPS. Still, they were starting to lose their minds.

"Ugh. We've been walking for a fucking eternity out here! I feel like my feet are ready to fall off!"

Steve frustratingly retorted, saying "Well, Loona, if someone didn't go and wreck out motorbikes while playing chicken with a goddamn giant, we wouldn't be walking, now would we?"

"Oh, so you're saying that this is fucking fault?!" Loona said, getting in on Steve's face.

"Yes! Because no one else in this forsaken wasteland is gonna say otherwise!"

"You better step the fuck off before your green, scaly face off your skull!"

"All you fucking know how to do is swear and get on people's nerves!" Steve yelled back. "All bark, no bite, like a fucking dog!"

Vaggie just practically shoved her eye at the GPS, having nothing to say at this point, and just sticking to silent fury. But fortunately, Octavia didn't hesitate to let up.

"ENOUGH!" She screamed, her voice echoing through the desert, getting everyone's attention as she looked at her best friend and the former prison escapee with an expression of anger.

"We...are in the middle of a fucking desert...that shouldn't even be here!" She growled. "I didn't volunteer...just to hear you two whine all day! Arguing's not gonna get us anywhere! So just...drop it!" She also mumbled to herself. "And give me a little peace and quiet."

Loona felt a little bad now, since she hated when Octavia gets emotional, and Steve is not one to piss anybody off. So soon enough, both of them were quiet and avoided eye-contact while Octavia took some deep breaths to calm down.

"...Vaggie, how are we looking at where we're going?" Steve eventually asked.

To which Vaggie replied "...We're still on the right path. But we're still gonna be walking for a while."

Sighing after hearing that, Steve shut up and they walked in silence for a little while until they heard the sound of a helicopter flying overhead. But nothing seemed to be coming out of it. But they were caught off-guard when suddenly, coming out of the ground were mutants, unlike the ones they've faced that were mindless and easy to deal with. These ones...were different, wearing some kind of tactical gear, ugly-looking masks with lenses that glowed red as they took the four by surprise. Before they could even pull out their weapons, each of them was bludgeoned by the mutant soldiers, slammed to the ground, and rendered unconscious in a split second before the freaks started to drag them as the helicopter lowered itself. The screen moved back to the monitor that Wesker was looking at with a satisfied smile on his face to see that his little capture idea was a success.

While he continued to look, Carla Radames shows up, revealing her full demonic form; showing that she still had the face of a certain Asian Woman who gets away with everything she does...but her skin and hair were all white and covered in a thin layer of slimy mucus, as her lower body looked to be that of a slug. She moved next to Wesker, evil smile on her face as well as Wesker acknowledged her.

"Speak."

"We've come in contact with your sister." She said. "She's ready to deliver her own projects."

"Excellent." Wesker replied. "Preparations must be made. When our new subjects arrive, keep them separated. As for that moth...put her through the simulator when she gets here. I want to see what she and Mr. Burnside can do before we finish them."

"It shall be done." Carla said as she pulls out her cube phone...

Meanwhile, the rest of Hell's Circles weren't doing so well during this crisis. The elevator, the only thing demons can use to transport themselves to other rings, had been breached and already were the Rings experiencing what Pride had gotten the worse out of. In Wrath, the mold had spread like a cancerous growth, surprisingly unafflicted by the intense heat of the Rings Volcanos as the inhabitants were forced to defend themselves against the feral fungal-rooted monsters. Just like Millie's family, who were stuck trapped on their own land while Lycans of all matters of beasts and monsters were the one's trying to kill them. Lycans and one Vârcolac, which was giving Joe the most trouble as it was unlike anything he's fought against.

"Come on, you fucking beast!" He said as he jabbed a knife into its neck, but that didn't seem to do squat. Lin, Sally May, and her younger brothers were huddled up together, the two adults having a shotgun and rifle in hand, respectively. They were fighting all the enemies at a distance, but it's like they were all bullet sponges, with their shots barely able to slow them down.

"This is bullshit!" Sallie May yelled as she reloaded her rifle in a hurried manner.

"I'm just hoping that Mildred is dealing with this better than we are." Lin said as she fired her shotgun.

"Really? That's the only thing you're hoping for?!"

"Not the time, Sallie May. Just keep firing before-"

Before she could finish, a truck came out of nowhere, smashing through their fence before drifting around their yard. In the driver seat was Ethan, and with two other familiar faces in the truck; Jack and Marguerite Baker. Jack resembled the way he looked as the swap man, his entire body looked to be made out of decaying mold, with his regular shirt and pants over that. Marguerite hardly resembles how she looked as a human; instead, she was an anthropomorphic bug with a partially humanoid face, but with bug mouthparts and antenna, having also an extra set of arms that were that of a fly, a bug's abdomen and wings on her back. Ethan met them while he was traversing through Wrath, and mentally, they seemed to be back to their normal selves. So he allied with them to help out other survivors.

Don't ask where they got the truck.

While Ethan was driving, doing donuts in the middle of the yard, Jack was in the shotgun seat, shooting an M1911 at any of the mold monsters he saw, while his wife was in the back of the truck, firing a mounted browning machine gun at any of the molded she saw. The imp was left in shock as Ethan managed to smash the truck into the Vârcolac, knocking it off Joe, who was speechless as his family. Jack kept firing until his gun ran out of ammo, so he decided to bring out something from a few years back. The chainsaw-shears combo weapon he used while he was under you-know-who's control.

"Hold 'er steady, Ethan!" He yelled out as the truck was going for the molded beast again. Revving up his weapon, he aimed it before swinging it and nailing the Vârcolac right in the face. Unfortunately, this caused Jack to go flying out of the truck as he used some supernatural strength to keep jamming the weapon into the creature's head before he managed to clean a chuck of it clean off, killing it. With that done, the rest of the mold started to retreat while the Imp family was still left in shock and Ethan stopped the car, got out and walked over to the down Joe, who flinched at the sight of the mold-made sinner, who offered a hand.

"Come with us if you want to live."

Instead of taking Ethan's hand, Joe hurriedly got up by himself and pointed his knife at Ethan while the rest of his family walked over to him.

"Hold your goddamn horses, pal!" He yelled. "We are not going anywhere until you tell us who the fuck you are and what the hell is going on?!"

But then, the horrid sound of inhuman roaring and a poor woman screaming in agony made the hardened imp shut up, as that yell could've been heard all throughout Wrath. And it was that Lin took his husband by the shoulder.

"How about we discuss this while we head inside the car?!" She said loudly, with a smile and a twitch in her left eye.

"Saddle up," Jack said, opening the back door for the family, who hurriedly headed in. Sallie May took a moment to express her gratitude.

"Thanks for the save, freaks." She said to Jack, who shook his head as he got back in.

"Where are we headin'?" Joe asked.

"Back to Pride," Ethan said, putting the car in gear. "We got a long path ahead of us."

"Right..." Sallie May said, clapping her hands together before pointing to the molded victims. "...Now who are you guys, and what the fuck is going on?"

"It's a long story." Jack said as the truck sped down the trail...

Chapter Text

It was official. Every virus, every parasite, every biological weapon created by the hands of the Umbrella Corporation and its successors that have plagued the human world since 1998 has now completely taken over the majority of hell. Every ring may have had a strain of the infection by now, and the demonic realm was on the brink of collapse, making it start to look a lot more like how Dante's Divine Comedy Picture.

It's true what they say. "Abandon all hope, ye who enter here..."

It was hard to tell if anyone was still alive at this point since the outbreak had had the most cumulative of effects on demon-kind. The cities themselves have seemingly gone quiet since anyone was either dead or in hiding. But even the infected were supposedly gone now, leaving areas looking abandoned...well, not entirely. Coming down one of the roads was a truck. In fact, it was the same truck that Ethan Winters managed to gain during his brief time in Wrath, where he picked up some survivors and a few familiar faces. To him, it felt bittersweet to reunite with the Bakers, but at least they were on his side now, clear of the influence that a certain little girl had put upon them all. Speaking of which, they had explained this whole story to the family of Imps they picked up, who were like children, interrupting every time they got to the good part.

"Wait a minute. Ethan here shot you up, tore you to pieces with a chainsaw, injected you with...whatever that shit was, and you still hadn't gone down?" Sallie May asked.

"Hard to believe, I know. But it is how it happened." Jack replied, with his wife Marguerite sitting next to him, just as shocked as the others were. This may have been the first time she heard him explain all this, but she couldn't blame them. After all, she was no better herself, having completely lost her mind and turned into a monster herself, and it was safe to say that it was not something either of them were proud of.

"Anyway, it took my own brother puttin' me down and savin' my little girl, Zoe."

"Oh Zoe, what I did to you..." The thought of her daughter being put through the hell that they inflicted on her for 3 years made Marguerite cry. They weren't the perfect family, but at least they were ordinary people who cared for each other until...she ruined their lives. The Imps could feel a little sympathetic for these people, since according to them, everything they knew was turned into a nightmare. Joe and Lin knew a thing or two about discipline, but couldn't think of ever abusing their children. They could only hope that now that they're in Pride, they could find Millie again and hope she's alright.

Jack continued on "The rest is history after that. Me and Marguerite were able to find each other and settled here until it all started to happen again."

"We heard about...zombies and...other types of monsters around the world, but...we never thought it would be true." Marguerite said.

"And nor, did we expect Ethan of all people to wind up down here." Jack pointed to the young, mold-covered sinner, who stayed silent all throughout storytime.

"He don't talk much, do he?" Joe asked, as all eyes were on Ethan now.

"Oh, I think it's safe to say that Ethan's had it worse than any of us." Jack replied. "God knows what else he's been through. He hasn't told us."

They were all caught off guard when Ethan put the truck into a sudden stop. Parking it and grabbing his gun, he jumped out before turning to face everyone again.

"Jack, take the truck and everyone to safety." He said in a firm voice, pulling a paper out of his coat and handing it over to the former serial killer. "This map should lead you to the Hotel, it's a safe haven. Head over there and explain everything to the one in charge.

"What about you, Ethan? Where're you going?"

He turned and started to walk away as he said "To get to the bottom of this..."

Meanwhile, at a hidden location, Vaggie was awakening after being knocked out by those creatures that she and the others encountered in the desert.

"Ugh...what happened-?" She muttered while rubbing her head and looked around to see that she was in some kind of white, octagonal chamber, and was laying on the smooth, cold floor that had the symbol of a red and white parasol. What unnerved her was the fact that she could feel the coldness all around her body as she looked down to discover that she was in a state of...undress. The only article of clothing she had left was her signature hairbow.

"OH GOD. WHAT THE FUCK HAPPENED TO MY CLOTHES?!" She exclaimed, quickly covering herself up. Even if she was alone, it was embarrassing, even for her. But fortunately, she would have to be that was for long, as a section of the wall opened up and she walked towards it to see that was a black spandex full body suit, and cut-off finger gloves, sealed with finger seams. And on top of that goes a tight, bustier-cut leather vest with buckles and the same symbol as that on the ground. There were also high-heeled boots and wedge heels.

"Well, it's better than nothing, I guess."

She wasted no time suiting herself up, but she was still without a weapon. However, that was the least of her worries as she hoped to find a way out of there. And that's when the exit quite literally revealed itself as the wall opened up to show a new passageway. As Vaggie walked through, she wasn't prepared for what she saw next. She was in a city, not one of hell, but of the living world. Specifically, she found herself in what looked to be Times Square in Manhattan, a place she hadn't seen in a long time.

"This...this is impossible." She said to herself, staring at how everything looked exactly as it did back in the human world. Every detail that was Times Square was here...except for one thing. The sky, as black as it can be for the night, did not exactly seem real; almost as if she was still inside. Walking and looking around until she reached the center of the plaza, the only other thing Ada found out of the ordinary was lack...of anyone for that matter. It was rather ghastly to find the city void of any people. Just what was this place?

"STAND BY. MANHATTEN SIMULATION INITIATED."

And there was the answer in a computer female voice echoing throughout the place. Vaggie was in some sort of simulation of New York, not the real place. But for what purpose? What was the point of this place and sticking her in it? Answers she wasn't gonna get as the simulation began with people starting to come in out of nowhere, filling the street, acting completely oblivious to Vaggie just standing there. But the thing that shocked her the most...

"They're...human?"

Indeed. They all looked alive and well, with fair skin and normal features, nobody looking like a beast or any other kind of demonic visage. They were all human, or so it seemed. But this should not be possible, though, for no human can simply exist in hell, alive of all things. And as if things could not get any more shocking, one of these "humans" walked drowsily by and nearly bumped into Vaggie and it got her attention. This person was a woman in a red sweater underneath a trench coat, and she had wavy blonde hair that reached her butt, and a bang that was combed to her left eye. She also wore dark magenta leggings with black-heeled shoes. But the most shocking thing was that when this woman turned to face Vaggie, she looked to much like...

"C-C-Charlie...?!"

Yes, this "person" looked a lot like Charlie, a human version of her to be exact with fair skin and normal eyes. She scowled at the shocked Vaggie before setting her sights on another person and walking to them. Vaggie was about to move over to them...but stopped herself when she saw the woman biting down on the other person's neck. The entire crowd of people within the area broke into a panic the moment they saw this woman show her now ravenous face, her blood-soaked mouth, and her paling skin, showing that she was one of the undead. All of this was a lot for Vaggie to take in, and she was terrified by the sight of this rather tormenting. But she snapped out of it...and broke into a run. The Simulation REALLY began as more zombies began to appear and feed on all the unfortunate people that were around. But Vaggie was gonna have herself be made into a meal yet as she looked for any place that she hoped was safe. A policeman who was trying to fight back against the rising horde was not so fortunate as the creatures overwhelmed and began to feed on him. There was nothing Vaggie could do for him, but at least she could help herself to the Glock 19 he dropped, and she wasted no time firing at any zombies in her way.

The closest place she sought shelter in was a tower that looked like the Paramount Building. It was her best bet since all of the zombies seemed to be turning their attention towards her. Vaggie shot at the zombies while she made a break for it, trying her best to hit the spots that would slow them down the most. But, as she rushed into the building, she found it to be anything but safe as the inside was just as infested as it was outside.

"Oh, come on!" She groaned as she fired at the zombies in front of her, blasting a path for her to move through as she went up to the next floor. The interior wasn't the same as the realm building back on earth, almost structured like a maze/slash obstacle course. This was proven when she reached the next floor and entered a seemingly empty hall...and then automated turret guns came out of the walls and on the ceiling.

"Aw, give me a fucking break!"

Acting fast, Vaggie had to use acrobatic moves, flipping around and dodging as much incoming fire. And while she expertly made it through, the zombies that tried to follow her weren't so lucky, torn to shred by the turrets' firepower. Vaggie was almost impressed with herself, haven't needed to move like that in a long time. Heading up to the next floor, she was hoping to find a way out of there soon. But it seemed as if this crazy place still had one last challenge for her. She entered a dining hall with plenty of space, and there were bodies of the undead littering the ground, and then she saw why. A gigantic, 8-foot humanoid creature with a mass of spiked bones and claws as its right hand, a giant left hand, an exposed heart and growing tumors all over its body. Vaggie recognized it as one of the beasts they've seen before. A Tyrant. More specifically, the prototype model.

"Just what I needed today." She groaned as she saw the monster impaling on a zombie on its giant bone spike before setting its twitching sights on her, snarling like an animal as it threw the corpse aside. Wasting no time, Vaggie emptied the gun she had of its remaining bullets and sent it straight into the exposed heart of the Tyrant. Unfortunately, though, it barely seemed to flinch as she shocked, staring awkwardly with a widened eye while still holding the empty gun in hand.

"Mierda..." She silently cussed in spanish before tossing the useless gun aside and getting into a fighting stance. The Proto-Tyrant roared and charged at the moth demoness, swinging its claw at her before she jumped and flipped over it, then ran across the hall, trying to put some distance between here and that thing. Vaggie could tell that it wasn't so bright, so she had hopes of ending this fight quickly as she practically moved around it with ease, being fast and agile as she continuously flipped around and managed to land a punch and a kick here and there around its person, while that walking failure just slashed its claw at random, barely getting a hit. At least until it finally got lucky and managed to slash across Vaggie's armored abdomen and at her shoulder.

"Okay, this is getting old!" She yelled as she managed wall run up and jump over the Tyrant as it came in for another attack, embedding its claw into the wall and now struggling to get it out. From behind, she could see what she was getting was it's weak point, an exposed spinal cord. Acting fast, she ran and leaped, aiming both her boots into the back of the Tyrant with a drop kick. And the impact was just enough too...

(SNAP)

Break its spine into two, causing the monster great pain before it succumbs to that wound, going limp, dead.

"And stay down." Vaggie yelled, looking at the broken Tyrant. And just then, the far wall of the room opened up to reveal a white corridor and a way out of this nightmare of a simulation room. All in good time too, as Vaggie could hear more creatures coming her way. Rushing down the corridor, she could see it splits at the end, right or left. But before she could decide on which way to go, the sound of zombies snarling and a gun blasting coming from one of the halls stopped her. The gunfire was coming from someone retreating from the left corridor, wearing a green army jacket with the sleeves cut off, a black shirt underneath, and camo pants with brown combat pants. And fired a Beretta93R at the infected. But the most distinguishing thing was the green skin and red hair that person had, allowing Vaggie to recognize him.

"Steve?!"

That made him turn his head towards her as she came down the hall. It was relieving for them both to see each other again, but now was not the time for relaxation as Steve continued to fire at the zombies coming down the hall.

"Do you have another gun?" Vaggie asked, to which Steve replied "No, but I found some knives." as he pulled out a bundle of blades.

Vaggie gratefully took the knives and said "Even better." as she spun one in her fingers before flinging several towards the infected, embedding them in their heads. Steve covered her with his gun while she went in and started to slice away at the infected, cutting their necks open and having them bleed out. But it wasn't enough as they kept coming.

"Come on, Vaggie! We gotta go!" Steve yelled as he and Vaggie ran to the right hall, Steve still shooting behind him. But still, were the zombies on their tails until Steve grabbed Vaggie and the two quickly dove into a room that was on the side, the door opening and quickly shutting behind them, with the Infected unable to get in.

Steve leaned against the door, hearing as the zombies banged against it, unable to get in.

"I think we're safe. For now."

"Better than safe." Vaggie said as she looked at the rest of the room. "Check it out."

Turns out that the room they stumbled upon was an armory, full all sorts of weapons. Large knives, machine guns, spears, all based on Umbrella's Personal design and collection from the looks of it. It was definitely something they both needed as Steve and Vaggie began looking around.

"Take only what you can carry. We might not be able to come back here." Steve said as he armed himself up with a CQBR Assault Rifle, a pair of Calico Model 100 Pistols.

"So what did they do to you?" He asked Vaggie as she was checkout some light artillery.

"Put me in some kind of simulation of New York." She answered, still a bit spooked by what she saw. "Saw...humans there."

"Most likely, they were clones." Steve replied as she loaded the weapons and grabbed as much spar ammo as possible.

"And you?" Vaggie asked, grabbing some melee blades. She heard Steve sigh.

"...Plenty. Live vivisection, trying to get samples of the virus that's in me."

Vaggie did not want to imagine that, getting cut open while you're still alive. "But I did manage to escape and get some new clothes. Speaking of which, do me a favor an lose the umbrella symbol you got there."

Vaggie looked down on the tactical vest she was wearing and saw the symbol Steve was talking about. Since this place was built by the same people who were the cause of all this, she figured she's humor her and ripped the symbol off before dropping it and crushing it below her feet. She was just about finished with her weapons of show, looking to see Steve finishing up himself as he grabbed everything he needed, and a modification for Beretta to give it a 3-round burst and folding stock.

The sight of it made Steve be reminded of someone who tried their best to help him, even with his dying breath.

"Claire..."

"You done over there?" He heard Vaggie say as he turned to see that she armed herself with a tactical sword, a retractable spear, and a Blacktail gun. Steve knew it wasn't enough for her as he pulled a KRISS Vector submachine gun.

"You're gonna need more than that." He said to her and she accepted the weapon with a smirk on her face.

"Where to now?" She asked and Steve answered "I managed to get a glimpse of this place's outline. Follow me."

Heading out of the armor, the two continued through the white corridors, which seemed to fill the entire place until they moved to another room, filled with machinery that some infected demons were working on while guarded by others with guns. The two were on a platform right above their heads, counting twelve of the infected and looking at what their next move might be.

"We'll have to take them out quietly" Steve whispered, cracking his knuckles. Vaggie flipped a knife in her hand, having a good feeling about this. They both jumped down and stayed quiet as Vaggie got in close to the ones on the machinery, slitting the first's throat before embedding the next's head with two knives. Steve got in from behind and snapped the third's neck, before quickly heading over to the fourth and doing a freaking suplex of all things, and it was enough to make its head crack open like a melon.

Unfortunately, the sound attracted the attention of the guards.

"Шта је то било?" they moved around to see that the four observers were dead. "Имамо друштво! Пљуните и пронађите их!"

But Steve and Vaggie were able to hide around some of the machinery as the demoness pulled out the spear she had and quickly threw it, having it impale one of the infected guards. One of the guards went and aimed their gun at her, but their attention was taken by Steve coming out and summoning his great axe. The T-Veronica infected sinner threw the weapon and it was able to cut the guard in half. The two survivors looked at each other and nodded. But they attracted the attention of eight remaining guards, looking to pump them full of lead. Acting quickly, the two caught the guards off-guard as Steve managed to get ahold of one that had an uzi in hand and forced them to shoot at the other three before breaking his face with the same gun, killing them all so fluidly. But not as much as Vaggie, as she threw a knife into the head of the first, running the second through with her sword before swinging it to decapitate the third and slice the fourth in half.

Now with that done, Steve turned to the computers that were in the room, throwing one of the dead demons off as he started typing on the computer, looking up something. This got Vaggie curious.

"What are you trying to find?" She asked.

"I'm seeing if I can find the others, Loona and Octavia." He said as he managed to find what he was looking for. "And there they are, in different sectors. But it looks like they're on the move, having trackers on them."

Vaggie walked over and saw the map of the facility, and that is when something else very important came into her mind.

"Does it say anything about Charlie?"

Steve looked into it and something came up...

"No tracker, but her cell is accessible a few levels up." He said.

"Then, that's where we're going." Vaggie declared and the two headed out...

Back in Imp City, Luis had managed to come across where the demon Ganados were gathering. A giant laboratory, from the looks of it, crudely built, but he recognized the work of Los Illuminados. And where there's that damn cult, there's one behind it all.

"This is it." He said as he armed his Red 9. "I'm coming for you, Saddler."

And with that, he headed inside, unaware that someone was watching him from a distance...

Chapter Text

"¡Es él! ¡El traidor!"

(BAM)

"¡Te atraparemos!"

"¡No lo dejes escapar!"

(BLAM)

"¡Te voy a hacer picadillo!"

(BEWM)

"Cerebros, cerebros, cerebros..."

(RAT-TAT-TAT)

Ganados, Zealots, a whole bunch of demons and sinners infected by the plaga. Luis had seen it all. The map he found had taken him to a fortress, something very similar to Salazar's castle. Albeit, a little smaller. And just like the original, the place was full of traps and the infected who recognized him...targeted him. Tried to kill him. He was no soldier, be at least he could fight worth a damn. He thought that being dead would rid him of feelings, such as exhaustion. But he was dead tired (no pun intended), and there were still no signs of the monsters who ruined his life.

"Ugh...Saddler..." He sighs as he leans against a wall, holding his TMP. "Te juro que te haré pagar por lo que hiciste. (I swear I will make you pay for what you did.)"

His search led him to something he hadn't expected to find. A monorail that was cruelly built, yet meant to hold dozens of passengers. Throughout his time here, Luis had his fill of dangers, but they weren't the greatest threat compared to what laid ahead. He knew that beyond the castle, just like on Earth, was the real fortress, the Island. That is where he would find Saddler, and if he's feeling lucky, he would be the one to run him through this time.

"I must admit, you've done tremendous work here..." That static-y voice made Luis quickly turn and pull his gun out at the Radio Demon, Alastor, who just seemed to keep appearing out of nowhere. "Though, I expect that this is not what you were hoping to find. No big welcome for your would-be killer, eh?"

"Why is it that you appear to be everywhere, ciervo?" Luis asked. "You're not...omnipresent, are you?"

"Oh, I wish. Then this place would be a little more better with me being everywhere, wouldn't it?" Alastor joked. "No, I'm just everywhere where I need to be at the utmost convenience. Take people like you, fighting the good fight and all that. And those you seek to kill, how they continuously evade you. Almost seems like they're preparing for something big."

Hearing that made Luis hesitant, pulling his gun away as he looked at the Radio Demon straight in the eye. There was something different about Alastor, his eyes were no longer dark red, but instead a rather sickened-looking yellow with orange irises. Luis could sense it, but he was hoping that he was wrong. For now, he would put that aside and focus on what he just said.

"What do you know about all this?"

"Only that I have a role to play, we all do, in this game made by that fake brit...He's the one behind all this and has had all the time he could ever have to unleash...a greater evil than any one of us could ever imagine possible."

"...Wesker." Luis figured it out.

"So...you know?"

"Of him. Never met him in person, but the man had connections in life. I never knew what I was signing up for, but it involved my research in genetics."

"Well, Luis. You and everyone else we have stashed back at the Hotel are pretty much on his list of loose ends. I'm sure he'll be expecting some resistance, but if we all want to make it through this alive, and barely in one piece...I suggest you hop aboard that train...do what you have to do when you reach the other side."

"You're not coming?"

"Like I said, I have a role to play in all this. But I will be overseeing you...just as not as Mr. Wesker is doing." Alastor said and Luis could see a tiny bit of blood dripping from his mouth. That feeling around the Radio Demon is never a pleasant one, knowing how dangerous he is. Luis could tell that it's worse now as he walks past Alastor and to the monorail.

"You have been truly helpful, señor alastor. But perhaps you should look after himself a little bit."

Alastor watched as the monorail took off, most likely heading to the same place where everyone else he sent was going. Before, at a split second, he was gone...

Vaggie and Steve continued to move throughout the facility, the whole place was starting to look like one big giant boiler room of a maze that just kept going on and on like a murderous nightmare. Delibated to the state of nearly falling apart, yet power can be heard flowing through the pipes that lines the walls. Where was it all going? What was exactly was this place? What were they powering? None of these questions, they really had in mind, for they were only searching for their friends. Loona, Octavia, Charlie. They were here somewhere and they two were moving up the levels to find them, getting closer with each floor they were forced to pass, and killing anything or anyone who got in their way. Vaggie only hoped that they didn't get lost, since Steve was the one leading them.

"Are we getting any closer?" Vaggie asked. "I'm getting sick of all the freaks we've been facing."

"Octavia was said to have been around this level." Steve said, looking around. He could see that not only pipes lined up the walls, but some sort of vegetation as well. Roots that were green and scaled, were definitely not natural to Hell, but Burnside couldn't shake off the feeling that he knew of this stuff. Not to mention the heat; don't get me wrong, they're in a boiler room, it's Hell, it's bound to be hot down there, but the heat was exceeding from the plant. Vines were hanging overhead and Vaggie herself was getting a bad feeling around them, that they were being watched by something connected to the vegetation.

It got worse when Steve suddenly raised and grasped the sides of his head in pain, biting back the urge to scream as he felt like something was trying to root its way into his mind as he growled, his nails sharpening, his mouth full of fangs and his eyes glowing red. Whatever it was nearly caused him to mutate into the hulking form of his that he despised dearly, but he resisted the change and fell to his knees, growling at the pain. Vaggie was still there for him, and grasped his shoulder, and though he tried to shake her off, she wouldn't leave him.

"Steve! Steve!" She said to him, as she watched him slowly revert to normal, breathing heavily. "...Are you okay?"

"...Not really...but I'll be fine." Steve said through raspy breathing. Though, after that horrid feeling, Steve had his life flashing before his eyes. And only one word came to mind. "...Veronica."

"Huh? Who's Veronica?"

"Not who...what." Steve explained as he got back on his feet, holding his pistol. He continued to lead the way but was now bracing himself against the wall, not looking too good. "Remember...when I told you...about my life?"

Vaggie recalled everything Steve told her. She could never forget a story like that, it's was one of the craziest things she's ever heard.

"Uh...you were imprisoned on an island by the Umbrella Corporation, dealt with the crazy siblings, zombies and monsters, got exposed to a virus that made you-ooooohhh. There it is."

"The virus was called T-Veronica." Steve explained. "After the Matriarch of the Ashford Family. Their bitch of a heiress, Alexia...she did this to me...she sent me here...and now..."

"You think she's here? And messing with your head?"

"If I see her and her twit of a brother." Fangs started to reappear in Steve's mouth again, but Vaggie once again put her hand on his shoulder again.

She said to him "We will get her, Steve. But we have to focus on saving our friends, just like you said."

"Yeah...yeah...right." Steve said, but Vaggie was still concerned. If they were getting closer to Alexia, then he might lose control of himself. "I'll take lead this time, okay?"

"Sure..." He then allowed Vaggie to get ahead of them. But then, Steve took a moment before saying something else. "Vaggie...Octavia...may have been exposed."

And that is never good to hear.

"Let's hope you're wrong. Come on."

They continued to move until something was heard, the sound of metal creaking and grinding, ready to snap. And it was getting closer as Vaggie and Steve, as the latter turned around and then widened his eyes before tackling Vaggie a set of vines came out of nowhere and tried to stab them, but Vaggie quickly took out her sword and cut them off. But then, they both looked to see all the vegetation, roots, vines, and all, were very active and...targeting them, which led to only one thing in mind.

"Run!" Steve yelled as they got back on their feet and ran away from all sources of Veronica-infected plant life, which were tearing apart the entire place while they were after them. Things got worse when sickle-shaped arms started bursting through the walls, slicing through them as if something was definitely targeting them. They were barely able to escape, running through a side door before the entire place became destroy and no longer accessible.

Their situation was being monitored from within, by Wesker as he sat by a familiar face he attended to use some time ago. Alexia Ashford had joined the man's cabal through an uneasy alliance, hearing his promises of grander and sharing a common interest for revenge against the world that destroyed them. The Veronica Virus was powerful, manipulative, moldable, and able to grow like the greatest of plants. But Wesker was barely impressed with the virus, taking what he needed from the small sample that was from Steve Burnside, who he wanted to see torn apart after his capture. Parts of his lair, he entrusted to those who joined him in his question, which is why the Veronica Plant overtook that section the two had escaped from. They were already halfway through Ashford's trap as Wesker looked over to the corrupt heiress beside him, not looking too pleased through his sunglasses.

"Your efforts are failing, Alexia. Even one of your continues to elude you easily."

"Mind your tongue, Wesker." said the crazed countess. "If our places were switched, I doubt you would fare any better. It is all a matter of patience and timing. I trust that it will not take long for my experiments to have their way with them."

But Wesker was not convinced as he stood up and looked at her straight in the eye. "You cannot leave anything to chance. We both learned the hard way that these nuisances never grow tired of ruining our plans."

The Bandersnatch and other mutations under my command will put a stop to them. I swear it."

"They better. Otherwise, you'd be damn sure that they're slown down long enough to see my objective is complete. Saddler and Salazar have already arrived, Miranda and Eveline have finished securing their side, Carlota and Alex finished containing their projects, as well as the Abyss monstrosities. And of course, we still have Birkin and Marcus working on every sample of the viruses we've retrieved."

"And the rest of the infected across this realm?" Alexia asked.

"As far as I know, 79% of Hell's Population have already been infected. The Remaining Overlords and Royal Families have held themselves up in their domains. But they won't matter for much longer, not went everything falls into places...and rises up."

That was good to hear for Alexia, as it was just about everything she would ever dream of happening. She may not be Queen of the world, but revenge will soon be in her grasp, and in the grasp of the Cabal. Just like Wesker said, a new Genesis is approaching, and it starts...at the end. However, those feelings of long-deserved achievements when Alfred Ashford arrived, not looking as happy as her sister was. Wesker continued to look stoic as he turned to meet Alfred in the eyes.

"Have you found it yet?" He asked Alfred, who sadly shook his head.

"We checked every section of that damn town, leveled buildings, and ripped through the manor in search of it. The book is not there."

"Unfortunate. We're running out of time." Wesker said through silent fury. "The day that the inhabitants of this realm fear the most draws near, and without the book, we will have to wait a little longer, providing we secure our dominion over this realm."

That is when Alexia butted in once more before Wesker could rip her brother apart. "Perhaps we're not looking in the right place. If the book was not with the Ars Goetia, than perhaps Prince Stolas had hidden it amongst other Royals, or with the vermin he familiarized himself with. We already have one of them and his beloved daughter in captivity."

"Of course..." That is when Wesker realizes something. "Once the bird realizes this, he may come flying over to retrieve them, using the book as his means of transportation."

"How will we arouse him to do so?" Alfred ask. Wesker merely smirked.

"I have an idea..."

Said idea happened to be a messenger bird...or in this case, a messenger Kipepeo, a flying plaga mutant beast that was massive and was sent the way of the hotel. Unfortunately, this led to the attention of the Hotel's Snipers, who wasted no time trying to shoot it down. Forest, Eddie, Angel Dust, Vortex, anyone who was close by a window wasted no time sending streams of shots over at the monster. Nobody at the hotel was taking chances the moment they saw a zombied, parasitic, mutant beast. They had the place sealed up tight and looked for any survivors who were lucky enough to make the trip. Receiving barely any people every other day, the Hazbin Hotel was one of the few strong safe havens in Pentagram City.

But as they managed to get a few shots off at the Kipepeo, they failed to realize that it was throwing something at them, something that was holding in its tail tendrils. And upon its death, that thing was flung from its grasp and was sent towards the wall of the building.

"Incoming!" Eddie called out as they braced themselves when it felt like the entire hotel was shaking. The thing went right through the wall and the people inside barely got out of the way when it started crashing between floors. It stopped somewhere in the middle of the building, as Enrico rounded up the fighters, calling them via radio.

"All units! That thing landed on the 10th floor! Southside! Get over there and surround it!"

It didn't take long before the S.T.A.R.S. Members and anyone else who could use a gun got over there and saw the thing that landed. It looked like some kind of capsule, a large cylinder that was entirely metal and heavily sealed. All guns were trained on it as Joseph slowly shuffled over to it.

"Joseph, I don't think you should get too close to that thing." Brad said, trying to reach out to his teammate, while also keeping his gun trained on the capsule.

"Don't worry, I'm being as careful as possible." The Alpha Team Doberman said, slowly reaching out towards the thing.

"Frost, I'm serious!"

"Don't get closer, man!" Kenneth yelled.

"Don't touch that thing!" said Richard.

"Well, what are we supposed to do?! That thing just dropped into here! We can't just leave it alone!"

"Uh, yes we can, man!" said Angel Dust. "In fact, why don't we all leave this place while that thing's in here and find somewhere else to hide?"

Then Jack Baker walked up to the spider "And you really think we're just gonna up and find a new place to hide on such short notice?"

"Well, I'd rather not be here if that thing hatches. You got that, slimeball?!"

"Enough!" Enrico yelled out, getting them to stop before anything could go down. "We can't afford to leave this place, but we have to do something about that too!" He points at the capsule. "We need to find a way to isolate this room and figure out what to do about that thing."

"How do you suggest we do that?" Edward asked.

A few minutes later, they boarded up all open areas around the room but had a barricade semi-open enough so that they could barely interact with the capsule...using a long wooden stick that was made of a broom and a mop...something that Niffty was gonna want back after this.

"This is one of the dumbest we've ever done in our lives." Forest Speyer said, helping to maneuver the pole with Edward.

"We literally went headfirst into a zombie apocalypse." Edward replied. "How worst could things get from here?"

"You really shouldn't ask things like that, Eddy." Brad said while his gun trained through a tiny gap.

When they finally got the pole close enough to touch it, that is when the capsule reacted, air could be heard seeping out of it as the top part started unscrewing itself like a can. The S.T.A.R.S members quickly closed the place back up and watched from outside as the capsule opened itself. But no poison gas, no viruses seemed to escape from within the capsule as soon as it was completely opened. Though, they couldn't make out what it was, the three of them could barely make out something shiny inside.

"What is that?" Brad asked.

"I don't know." Edward answered.

"So, what are we gonna do?" Forest asked then.

"Are we guys done?" Asked Niffty, who had shown up out of nowhere due to her speed, startling them. "I could really use my broom and mop back now."

"Nifty, the capsule just opened and we don't what that thing inside it is!"

Edward then began to assess what to do. "I'd we keep it under quarantine for a few more days, and if there's no reaction-"

"Okay, enough waiting." Niffty interrupted. "Either this kills me, or it doesn't. I'm going in." And that is when she zoomed past them and headed inside the room before they could stop her.

"No, wait! Niffty-!"

It was too late. Niffty already had her hands on the item. A device of some sort, square-shaped, stainless, looked very high-tech and futuristic. Though, she could make up something that was written on it. A name.

"It's says it's for Stolas."

The device was later placed at a table, where it was presented to Stolas, unsure what to think about it as everyone who was armed also surrounded him in case that thing turned out to be a trap.

"Why would someone send this for me?" He asked.

"We don't know." Enrico said. "But we doubt it's anything good if they had to crash it through the hotel."

"I say we just blow the thing up and leave it at that." Angel Dust said, pointing his own gun at it, but it was pushed away by Edward.

"That thing that threw it in here knew exactly what it was doing. Trashed part of the place, sent a message, and one specifically for someone who has some influence."

Considering that Stolas was a Royal, and had access to some very powerful magic, as well as the fact that they attacked his manor, it's safe to assume that whoever's behind this wasn't done terrorizing him yet. This deeply concerned him, for he already allowed his daughter to go off and try to assist the others, who hadn't reported back yet. A message for him, it was something he could not ignore. Reaching out, he touched the device at its side, where there seemed to be a button, and that is when it activated some sort of holo display. The footage it showed was the silhouette of a familiar figure whose voice could then be heard.

"Attention, Prince Stolas Ars Goetia. If you are watching this, then I will make this simple enough for you to understand..."

Angel Dust leaned forward to touch the hologram, but Brad slapped his hand away. He and the rest of his S.T.A.R.S. Teammates almost instantly recognize that voice.

"Is that...WESKER?!" Joseph said in surprise.

"I told you guys who stabbed us in the backs." Enrico said with great content towards former fellow captain.

"Looks like he's really gone up in the world since last time." Brad added, knowing that there was always something about him, but Chris and Jill only ever vented out what they saw that night to the begrudging police chief who didn't seem to listen.

"I guess we finally know who's behind this." said Richard, not liking one bit where this was going.

Wesker continued to talk through the device. "As of this moment, your daughter and her associates have been captured by my forces. If you wish to see her alive again, you will come to me. With. The Book."

"Book?" Angel Dust asked. "What is he talking about?"

"My Grimoire." Stolas simply stated before Enrico turned to explained. "It was something that Wesker's been sending people to find. Apparently, it's something very important if he wants his hands on it."

The Prince glared, for this was something he was not prepared for. Octavia was the joy of his life, and he's been putting her through more danger than he failed to admit throughout this entire catastrophe. Now this man, Wesker, wanted him to practically trade his life for her. Whoever he was did not matter to Stolas, for he willl make him pay, one way or another.

"I have traced the coordinates of my location onto this device, making sure that it will only correspond with you. So don't think of trying to bring anyone else with you. I'm sure you can figure out how to use it magically, as you prefer. Don't make me wait...and don't try anything yourself...that will be all."

And with that, the holographic display had shut itself before the device started showing a blinking down on a circular screen, pinpointing the location Wesker spoke about. It was off the grid, resonating somewhere far from the city. Stolas could feel a source of arcane energy coming from the device, which he believed could be used to transmit the coordinates to himself. Now all he needed was the Grimoire. At the snap of his fingers, the book appeared in his hands before flipping to the page where the portal spell could be found. With the most serious expression on his face, he readied himself to make the trip.

"He'll kill you. You can't do this." Enrico said as Stolas turned to see that everyone was looking at him with great concern.

"He has my daughter..." Stolas replied in a low tone. "I care little for what happens to me so much as she is safe."

"But for the Book? You'll be giving him exactly what he wants!" Brad yelled.

Husk then butted in with a bottle in hand and said "These guys are right. They know this Wesker bloke to be a double-crosser, the reason why they're all here."

"You need to rethink your strategy Stolas, or you'll be risking everyone's life."

"...You heard what he said. No one else can come. Otherwise, I'll be doing that regardless. Now, unless you'd rather pick a fight with me, you will stay out of my way..."

Every survivor in the Hotel has had their share of monsters and viral-infected demons by now. They'd rather not take their chances with a Royal Demon Prince who's suffering through heartache, so they backed off and watched as Stolas pulled the energies from the device, conjured a portal, and used said energy to show the location he was being sent to. They were darkness on the other end, but Stolas took his chances and began stepping inside, taking the book with him. The portal closed and everyone around the room was left in awe, frozen from what they had witnessed.

Cherri came from one of the halls, holding an ATM-4 Rocket Launcher over her shoulder, polishing it a little as she hummed a tune. But then, she stopped at the sight of everyone frozen in place.

"What did I miss?" She asked.

After having survived that nightmarish boiling room with the T-Veronica infected vegetation, Steve and Vaggie eventually encountered other mutations that were infected with that symbiotic T-strain. It was more horrific for Steve, as every so often now, he was suffering from flashbacks of how this virus turned him into a monster, with some of the abominations they were gunning down bearing a strong resemblance to his original hulking mutant form. Vaggie was deeply concerned for him, as he looked like he couldn't get his head on straight, surrounded by many things he had a symbiotic connection to.

"Steve...maybe you should rest for a bit." She said to him. "You're not looking too good."

Right now, Steve was hunched over, bracing against the way and breathing heavily as his eyes were flashing red. He looked like he was in pain, pain that they inflicted on their enemies, yet he felt it many times over. Shaking his head and giving himself a few whacks, Steve faced Vaggie, wanting to keep a strong.

"We can't stay here...nowhere is safe...if we stop moving." He told her.

"You look like you can barely stand on your feet, Steve. Just let me take the lead and-"

"I'm fine!" He said loudly through breaths. The two faced each other and Steve took deep breaths, not wanting to tumble.

"Steady yourself..." She told him, and Steve took a moment before taking the lead again.

"Octavia's this way...we're close to her now...come on."

They continued moving forward and fought through more monsters and infected until they came across a heavily sealed room. Gunning down the security guards that were either side of the door, the looked through a small window that showed within the room a capsule ahead, with someone in there, under cryo-stasis. But they weren't getting in there without some kind of code and Vaggie was baffled by the control panel in their way.

"I've never seen anything like this." She said before turning to the weary-looking Steve. "Maybe we can try and find something to blast it open. Another weapon, or..."

"No...stand aside." Taking the console, Steve typed in something he knew was bound to be the password, "V-1126". The door opened after that and Vaggie was bewildered.

"How did you...?"

"This place is built like the Antarctic Base that I died in. Everyone is of the Ashford's design...and two assholes as still predictable."

They stepped in and saw the capsule holding Octavia. Steve saw the panel and immediately worked on getting the Princess thawed out. After pressing a few buttons, they deactivated the chamber and stood back as air seeped out before the prisoner inside suddenly woke up and gasped for air. Octavia was awake and the two wasted no time opening her up and getting her out. The young Owl Princess collapsed in Vaggie's arms when they got her out, and she was wearing nothing but a medical gown and with bandages over her right arm.

"We got you, Octavia." Vaggie said, cradling the weary looking princess, who could barely keep her eyes open while also coughing. Steve twitched, not looking so good as he could sense something. His worst fears being realized as he looked at Octavia.

"You two...I never thought I'd get out of there." the Goetia Princess spoke through heavy breathing.

"We're gonna get you out of here, don't worry." Vaggie was starting to lift Octavia to carry her with surprising strength, but the Princess seemed better now, her breath steady and her looking less pale.

"I-I-It's okay. You can put me down." She said, much to Vaggie's surprise, but she complied and did so, allowing Octavia to stand on her feet, not looking ready to fall over.

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah...I actually feel pretty good. Though...I'm pretty warm."

God knows how long they've been stuck in this place. Chances are that Octavia's not been under the ice for a while. But considering Steve looked ready to throw up, he had to let it be known.

"Vaggie...she's infected." He said, but heads turning to him. "I can feel it...surging within her."

"You're saying she has the same virus that you're infected with?" she asked, both ladies looking very concerned.

"Alexia must've administered it herself...just like she did me...we gotta get out of here."

Octavia then said "You don't have to tell me twice." And they started to get out of there as fast as they could. But before they could leave the section they were in, their path was suddenly blocked.

"I don't think you will be going everywhere, my dear little guests."

Standing in their way was the lethal virologist herself, Alexia in her hideously beautiful flora and fauna-like glory.

"Now that you're all together, in one place...tonight's new game of oblivion can properly begin."

"ALEXIA!" Steve roared and charged at the woman who ruined his life, but Ms. Ashford merely raised her hand toward the boy, and he stopped dead in his tracks, feeling as if something was choking him. The virus within him left him symbiotically bound to Alexia, and as long as she is its progenitor, then Steve remains at the mercy of her power.

"Ah, Prisoner 267. I had almost forgotten about you." Alexia spoke in her taunting high-british tone. "A part of me always believed that you were a waste of Veronica's gift, so willing to resist us..." She slowly closes her hand and tightens her fist. "I see nothing can change my mind."

"You...bitch!" Steve struggled to get out. "You...did it to me...destroyed my family...and for what?!"

"You know...what." Alexia replied in a darkened tone. But then, she was shot at by Vaggie and Octavia, who Vaggie gave her Blacktail to.

"Stay the fuck away from him!" the one-eyed demoness roared as Steve gasped for air and made his way away from Alexia, but then Vaggie was caught off guard by a sudden stream of fire that had come out of nowhere. The sound of a fluid dripping could be heard right before the flames burst. And that's when she noticed Alexia's bleeding yet steaming arm.

"This is no concern of yours, Subject 5. You are most likely needed elsewhere. Dr. Wesker had told me that you'd be in a frenzy searching for Princess Morningstar."

"Charlie...where the hell is she, you root-covered bitch?!"

Alexia smiled "I'm sure you'll be given the privilege to see her soon. In the meantime, I have someone to show the 'other one' here." She looked over to Octavia before walking forward and presenting someone else that was with her. Much to Octavia's surprise...it was Stella, her mother. She looked saddened, her were behind her back, like she was trying to hide something.

"Mum?"

"I...I'm sorry, Octavia...she said she would protect you...from this."

"Come now, Madame Stella. We both know there is no point in lying to your own daughter." Alexia said. "After all, the moment you heard my proposition, you jumped on it like the insects I used to experiment with."

Hearing that left Octavia shocked "...What?"

"Oh, that's right. I pulled her away before she could explain. See, Dear Octavia, your mother never gave up her desire for revenge against her loathsome husband. And I, a woman who's always in need of subjects for experimentation, offered her the means to seek her rightfully earned retribution."

"That's a fancy way of saying she sold out to you." Steve said as he held his neck.

"Why don't you show them, Dear Stella?" Alexia then raised her hand towards her and Stella could feel herself forced to raise her left arm to show that it was turning green and rooted with open, bleeding pores, that were also igniting as the burning blood dripped from it. The three were horrified by this, now knowing that Stella did this willingly to herself. Alexia merely admired her handiwork.

"Mum...are you insane?" Octavia asked in a horrified state.

"I believe that question is already answered." Alexia said. "Now, I'm sure Mommy Dearest would be delighted to spend some time with her beloved little daughter here. Isn't that right, Stella?"

"Please...she doesn't deserve this!" Never did anyone thing they'd see Stella Ars Goetia beg for the life of her daughter. And she spends so much time, berating her husband about he's fallen from grace. Yet, here she is, holding her burning arm in pain as Alexia looked down on her...

"You no longer have a say in this, Stella. You're mine to do with as I wish." She then turns to the three. "I'm only told to slow you down before Wesker can finish his plans, and I will do so in any way I see fit."

Steve, despite all the pain the virus was making him feel, had enough strength to point his gun at Ashford.

"Alexia, I swear to God I'm gonna make you pay for everything you've done!" He growled.

"I will be long gone before you are ever given the chance, 267." Alexia said as the steaming and pain from Stella's arm grew worse, for she was biting back tears and looking ready to collapse. "And as far as I'm concerned, you will already be destroyed in but a moment."

Next thing they saw, Stella literally burst into flames as the virus fully took hold of her. She screamed in pain as the three, especially Octavia, stood in terror at the sight of it. She was becoming another at Alexia's disposal as the Ashford heiress made herself scarce.

"Goodbye, my dear little lab rats. None of you will ever be missed."

"ALEXIA!" Steve was about to go after her until a stream of vines blocked his path. Stella's screaming subsided as she then stood in a new mutated form; much like Alexia, her skin paled, and her left arm, pelvis, and right leg were covered with green leaf-like scales and vines while also leaving her, midriff, left leg, and right arm exposed. Her hair also became like leaves, overlapping her back while also covering part of her face, as she opened her eyes to reveal that they were now glowing bright, yet sickening yellow. Se looked at the three as nothing more targets, for she had become another weapon unleashed upon them.

"Mother..." Octavia whimpered before Steve tackled her out of the way when green, pointed tentacles came at them. With the Mutated Stella attacking them, they were forced to retaliate and Vaggie did not hesitate in unloading a mag from her KRISS Vector. The bullets did hit their mark, but Stella barely seemed phased as she threw her combustible blood at her, Vaggie barely getting out of the way and forced to put out the tips of her hair.

"Steve, get Via out of here!" She yelled, reloading her gun and continuing to fire. Steve complied and held onto the shaking Princess while also firing at Stella from a distance. But she may as well have been as strong as Alexia, taking all the firepower and just continuing to shoot whatever practically fell from her body. The next flames nearly hit Octavia by her feet.

"No! Mummy! Please!" Octavia cried as Steve held her close.

"Is this what it was like when I attacked Claire?" Steve thought to himself as he found a place far from the battle and rested Octavia against a wall. He had her grip the Blacktail in her hands firmly. "Just stay here and out of sight, okay? I'll be right back...I hope." He didn't like leaving her alone, but it was better than nothing as Steve got back in the fight, he and Vaggie circled the berserk Goetia Princess as she continued to either burn them or send tentacles at them. At some points, she would even charge at them and slash at them with newly grown claws at her hands, even sprouting dragonfly-like wings from her back or stinger-like appendages.

Vaggie wound up getting cuts on her arms while Steve got thrown into another wall.

"This isn't working! It's like fighting a goddamn Tyrant!"

"She's gotta have a weak spot!" Vaggie yelled, getting a shot of Stella at her back. "Try and make her lose some of her options!" And then, she dodged another ovipositor coming at her. Steve may have gotten the gist of what she was getting at, summoning his axe and waiting for another attack by the insane Mutant Bird. He watched and then struck as the stingers came for him, cutting off two of them as Stella yelled in pain and fury, sending an acidic substance their way.

"Guess she never runs out of tricks!" Steve said, getting out of the way and continuing to fire his guns.

"Just keep shooting her!" Vaggie replied as she deflected another stinger with her sword before slashing that off as well.

Stella seemed to be getting enraged, looking to be charging an attack before shooting a series of spikes from her body, forcing the two to try and get out of the way as the Veronica-infected vegetation continued to grow haywire around the place. All the while, Octavia was hiding and shaking, from fear, but also from the virus. She could feel it surging through her, and this area was making it worse, for she felt ready to burst into flames and wind up just like her mother. She didn't want it. Her life has been miserable thus far, but this was a nightmare she may never wake from.

"Make it stop...Please, just make it stop!" She whimpered before seeing Vaggie knocked off her feet. The demoness turned to Via and gave her a look of reassurance before getting back in the fight. But Octavia knew it was a losing battle, for her mother's rage fueled her power. She may as well be unstoppable...

"No...No! If she can do it...I can control it! I have to! I must stop her!" Raising her bandaged arm, Via concentrated and felt as the bandages burned away. Her arm was on fire, yet she felt more than just pain...she felt power, power she needed to unleash. Now. Running from her hiding spot, she saw that the mutant Stella was ready to finish Steve off before she went in.

"Via! No!" Vaggie called out, but she was ready for what she saw next. As Stella was about to bring down another stinger, Octavia got in front of Steve and attempted to block it with her flaming arm. Nobody was expecting the stinger to disintegrate in a fiery flash, a sign of Octavia unleashing her own form of Veronica's power.

"Octavia?" Steve was in shock when he saw the nightmarish green and flaming, bleeding pores coming from Octavia's infected arm. But that is when Stella let out a monstrous shriek that was more sickening than any more of her petty yelling before sprouting her dragonfly wings and flying through the ceiling. The fight was over...for now, and our heroes this moment to recover. But that is when Steve took Octavia by the arm, putting out the flames that sizzled in his grip.

"Don't ever do that again." He said in a low, almost growling down.

Octavia was a bit surprised by his reaction and took to it sarcastically "...You're welcome. And thanks for asking if I'm alright!"

Steve merely tightened his grip on her arm as he then said "The more you use that damn virus, the more you kill yourself! You're losing blood! Your body's burning! You don't have to worry about winding up like me, cause you'll be dust!"

"Steve! That's enough!" Vaggie then butted in, making him let go. "I know that this thing killed you, but there's no reason to-"

"Vaggie...look around you." Steve gestures to the destroyed section they're in. "This is the reality we're living in. The result of those damn things that did this to me and her." He points to Via, who was holding her arm. "And unless we stop it and kill that bitch, it's gonna happen to you, Charlie, and anyone else you care about! We have to go! Now!"

Vaggie could tell that the virus was no longer putting a strain on Steve at the moment; that was just all him, venting out. If he was serious about this, the girls figured it's be best not to question as they made their way out of there and continued moving...

Chapter Text

At an undisclosed location, within a silver-steel lobby-like area, two tyrant guards in green and purple protective coats, both with goggles and one with a gas mask, and both armed with giant rifles, stood by the main desk of the room as a portal opened right in front of them. They raised their weapons when Stolas came through with the most serious scowl on his face. He held his book to them, which they acknowledged before standing down, allowing Stolas to walk up to the front desk of the lobby. There seemed to be a place for the Grimoire to be inserted, and another one of those holo-display devices next to it. From this device, did Wesker's virtual presence once again made itself known, having a smirk on his face while Stolas glared heavily on his receiving end.

"You follow instructions well, Prince Stolas. Now, if you'd be so kind as to insert the relic into the transport area."

"My daughter first." Stolas demanded.

"No, you must hold your end of the bargain before I can honor mine." Wesker replied. "Rest assured that your daughter is perfectly safe and will continue to be so until you comply."

But then, Stolas slams his fist down on the metal table. "Listen to me and listen good, mortal! You've already overstepped your bounds with this little charade! Bring my daughter to me, or I shall destroy this book and you shall face my wrath!"

Wesker's reply...?

"Here's my counteroffer, 'Prince', you don't waste my time bluffing, and I won't waste yours pretending to negotiate."

And that's when the Tyrant guards raise their guns again. Only Wesker would have the last Umbrella's masterpieces as common soldiers. Stolas turned to face them as his eyes glowed with rising power, his true demon form begging to get out. But Wesker was not intimidated, let alone amused.

"You thought you were in control, bird? There was never any chance of sparing you. And now, you and your daughter...are both going to die down here."

And with that, Wesker signed off, leaving Stolas with no other moment now than to unleash the beast and attack. Both Tyrants fired on the demonic Owl Prince, and the lobby went up in flames...

Steve, Vaggie, and Octavia had seemed to have been moving and fighting for their lives for what felt like days...when in actuality, it was only hours. Still, it seemed like there was no end to the horde of undead and parasite-infected. At least the scenery had changed from the dilapidated and decrepit, industrial red rust and green mold-filled area to a silver-walled series of halls and corridors with sealed doors. It would've looked like a liminal space if it weren't a monster around every corner.

Regardless, they at least hadn't run into any huge threats...yet. The zombies and parasitic were getting more aggressive as they progressed, and they couldn't take them all on. They only had so much ammo in their guns before they'd be forced to switch to their blades. And even then, the odds were against them. They can only run and hope for the best that they lose the horde of foes in their way, as they continue to traverse the maze.

Oh, and they were also able to get Octavia new clothes. The most of what they could find for her was a black tactical jacket that was long enough to act as a dress, some gear that Octavia complained was a bit heavy, and boots that they were surprised fit her.

(Lady HUNK's gear, minus the mask)

"How many of these freaks are there?" Octavia whined.

"Well, from what I heard, the majority of Hell managed to get infected and were all heading to this place, according to Luis. So, I'm guessing a lot, Octavia." Steve remarked. "Can't do anything about that except keep moving. You talking, though, doesn't help as much."

Octavia glared at Steve and raised her re-bandaged hand, "Well, fuck you, asshole! Why don't I just make our lives easier and clear out all these-OW!"

But then, Steve grabbed and squeezed her arm tightly, making blood seep through the bandages as he looked at her with an expression that could kill.

"Don't. EVEN. Think about it." He said. "I know you're not much of a fighter, but you're at least a survivor. One misstep, and you might get us all killed. Just follow our lead...and take things seriously!"

Octavia had no rebuttal. All she could do was muster up another glare before walking over to another corner. It was then Vaggie's turn to speak.

"Why are you being so hard on her, Steve?" She said to him. "She's just a kid who's already been through more hell than this entire realm combined. And she's afraid! Can't you cut her a little slack?"

"Vaggie, I can tell that she's been spoiled rotten since the day she was born." He said back to her. "She complains about everything every few minutes, and can't shoot for shit. And I can definitely tell she's just itching to try that arm of hers, knowing damn well the more she uses it, it will kill her!"

Vaggie's expression softened a little bit when she saw that Steve had put it upon himself to look after them all.

"We can't afford to lose any more people, V. But she needs to grow up if she wants to get out of here alive."

"...Uh, guys?"

They turned their attention towards the girl in question, who was pointing to something around the corner of the hall they were in. They peeked around themselves and widened their eyes at the sight of a wriggling mass of flesh, full of eyes, teeth, and tentacles, and slowly seemed to be consuming the very hall it was coming from, as Steve, Vaggie, and Octavia turned and ran the other way. They continued to fight against any other enemies that were in their way, some were turning into more massive threats as hunters, regenerators, and even Bloodspots were beginning to appear. There was even a large, deformed creature with a huge mouth full of jagged teeth, large arms but small feet, and wearing tatters of clothing, and what looked like bars of steel stabbed into its body in some places. The three survivors only shot so many bullets into their overpowered foes before realizing that it just wasn't working. They continued to run until they found an opening into a darkened area. Ironically, it was the one place that they were able to escape from the monsters.

The opening closed before them, and the only source of light was coming from the center of the circular room.

"Alright, we're safe for now." Steve stated, but before anyone could call him Captain Obvious...Octavia tripped. The sound of metal clanging could be heard along with it.

"Ah!"

"Are you alright?" Vaggie asked.

"Yeah, I just tripped on something."

From what little light they had, they could see that the object was a piece of tin roofing...in fact, there was a bunch of metal, galvanized steel, nuts and bolts, just a whole lot of random pieces scattered across the floor like a junkyard.

Vaggie picked up a slab of metal with confusion, "Strange. What's all this metal doing here?"

She then gasped when the metal was suddenly pulled from her grasp.

"Woah!" Steve lost his grip on his gun, and Vaggie even felt the metal on her suit and their other weapons being pulled, all to the center of the room, towards the light. The three went over to check it out, pulling the guns off of...whatever it was that was pulling in all the metal like a magnet. What they saw was...crystal...a glowing blue crystal pillar that seemed to center the entire area they were in. If they had looked around, they would've seen that the room was, in fact, a spiral walkway, heading upwards, the crystal acted like a central support beam, and the metal that stuck to it, laid on the ground, also lined the reflective walls like a repel of the magnetism.

Steve placed a hand on the pillar. "It's smooth and...seamless...obviously crystal, but...what kind?" He looked around to see how wide it is. "Judging by how...wide it is, it's not likely to break. But there are still small tool marks."

"...It's Asmodean." Octavia said, making Steve and Vaggie turn to her. "They're used by demons to travel from Hell to Earth...but I've never seen one this big..."

She looks up to see that it goes up even through the ceiling. Steve once again looked around and then took notice of how the ground arched upward, like he was moving one level up to the next. Not only that, but there were doors on every floor, all sealed, but connecting specifically to where they're at right now.

"Okay, so...I'm guessing this room is supposed to be the center of...wherever the hell we are now, based on all the doors that are around here. This pillar's like the foundation."

"But if it's Asmodean Crystal, does that mean..." They didn't even want to think about what could've been possible with this, but their train of thought was interrupted when they all looked to see two doors opening up and leading to another area. The three slowly approach the new hall laid out before them, a corridor with transparent walls lined with lights and reflective materials. It seemed almost too welcoming, and the three could only guess one thing...it was bound to be a trap.

"...We're going in there, are we?" asked Octavia.

Steve replied, "We might not have much a choice." Before taking the lead, going in first. The first few steps, nothing seemed to have happened, as he gestured to the girls, who slowly stepped where he had stepped, as they all headed into the corridor. But the moment they did so, the entrance closed and sealed behind them.

"Aw, shi-" That was all Steve could say before he found himself dodging a laser beam coming from the ceiling to the floor. Vaggie and Octavia also moved out of the way when more lasers started to come out. But they couldn't hug the walls, as spinning blades also came out of them, threatening to cut them in half as they started to move quickly in order to reach the end of the hall.

"I FUCKING HATE THIS PLACE!" Octavia yelled as she dodged blades and even spikes coming up from the floor.

"Just keep going!" Steve said to them before stopping just in front of an array of lasers that appeared before him. There didn't seem to be a way across, but then he noticed that the beams were coming from array devices that were outside the wall. Taking out his M100Ps, he fired at the devices on the walls, destroying them, and caused the lasers to disappear. Before moving forward, however, he could see that the girls were having a similar situation.

"Vaggie! The lasers things at the walls! Shoot them!"

Seeing what he meant, Vaggie pulled out her KRISS VECTOR and shot circles around the walls, blasting away at the devices and making the lasers destabilize. Still, it was better than nothing as she grabbed Octavia and slipped through the glitch lasers.

"Huh, talk about serious design flaws. I wonder if anyone else could've gotten that idea." She said to herself.

That was a little joke at the original RE4 Laser Room, in case you missed it.

The exit to this hallway of death was right in front of them, and they were relieved to finally be getting out of there...but that is when a large array of lasers that were actually coming from the walls appeared before them, forming a checkered pattern that was impossible to cross and would most likely leave them cubed if they tried.

"Oh, you gotta be fucking kidding me!" Vaggie yelled. "Steve, now what?! If you have any other fancy ideas, now would be a good time-!"

Acting quickly, Steve stretched out his arms and, on instinct, did a large set of roots come growing out of them and spread through the walls. Steve roared in pain as the tendrils demolished the laser grid that generated from the walls from the inside out. Lights flickered, the entire hallway seemed to shake, and Vaggie and Octavia could only stay behind Steve as the lasers finally started to diminish. They were safe for now, and Steve took a moment to retract the smoking/burning extensions of his arm and take a breath as well.

"...We can go now." He said in a raspy voice, once more leading the way. Vaggie and Via broke out of their stunned reaction before following Steve out of the destroyed trap hall and on towards the next room. After a little moving forward to another hall, which thankfully wasn't booby-trapped, they found themselves heading into another wide-open room, full of machinery, but only one person seemed to be in the room, aside from the newcomers. The pale skin, slicked back blonde hair, black-checkered uniform, dark deformations around his face, and the sunglasses that hide glowing slitted eyes.

There's no denying who this was.

"...Wesker!" Steve called out as he aimed his pistol, Octavia following with the blacktail in her hands, and Vaggie with her submachine gun. The man behind all this merely turned his head to barely see them.

"So this is Wesker?" Vaggie asked. "Doesn't look like much."

"Looks like someone out of a movie." Via remarked.

"...Ah. Mr. Burnside. How nice to see you again after so long. Along with the Princess' lover and the heir to another worthless title. I've been expecting you."

The slight mention of the 'Princess' irked Vaggie a lot as she stepped forward and asked the question she had in mind.

"Where. Is. Charlie?!" She growled, pointing the gun in Wesker's face with a slightly steady grip, yet itchy trigger finger.

"She's right here," Wesker answered. "She's been wanting to see you again for quite some time. And personally, I'm one for reunions."

"What's up with that giant crystal why saw back there?" Via asked.

"What are you planning?" Steve added.

"All in due time. I'm simply completing unfinished business. Not that it's any of your concern, but soon, everyone will know. For...I leave you to your friends."

And that is when, suddenly, two figures came jumping from the higher level of the room they're in. While doing so, the two figures also brought out a pair of guns each and began to rain down bullets at the three. They were staggered and fell back, but recovered quickly to regain their footing as the figures landed. When they finally got a good look at who it was that attacked, who they saw was shocking.

"...Charlie?!"

"Loona?"

Yes, the Princess and the Hound, the former having her tail and horns out with eyes glowing red, wearing a zipped-up, tactical red and black battle suit with semi-auto handguns at her hips, and the latter wearing a black tactical jump suit with the leg sleeves shortened and a pair of TMPs at the belt. Both girls were looking angry at their own allies, staring at them with killing intentions as Charlie's gaze felt like it could pierce Vaggie's sole good eye, and Loona growled with a more feral and animalistic aura that she didn't usually care to let on.

Vaggie was relieved to see her girlfriend again. Now, the big question was...Why were they working for Wesker?

"Charlie! It's us! It's me, Vaggie!" The one-eyed sinner.

"What did you do to them?" Steve growled.

"I simply made them what they were always meant to be."

With a simple gesture of the hand, Wesker unleashed them both. Loona went on all fours and pounced, claws and fangs ready to tear her prey's throats out. Charlie leaped into the air before coming back down with a flying kick that went so fast into Steve's face, he got momentarily knocked out before he felt a second impact on his chest wake him up, albeit in pain. Octavia was barely able to dodge her own friend's claws, barely cutting the sleeve of her jacket, and Vaggie backed away, not wanting to fight her own girlfriend, but it didn't stop the Princess from kicking the gun out of her hand before she acrobatically flipped around Vaggie before landing on top of her and throwing her to the ground with another seoi-nage-like throw.

Steve tried to sneak up on Charlie, but this one wound up getting him in a bit of an arm lock. Via tried to get in behind Charlie, pointing her Blacktail at her...but she completely forgot about Loona, who then pounced onto her again.

"Loona! Please! You need to wake up!" Via's pleas turned to deaf ears as her own friend was biting at her bandaged arm, her teeth slowly sinking in. And this unfortunately did force Octavia to tap into Veronica's power, and ignite her arm. The flames and heat did cause Loona to back off and even whine like an actual dog as he steadied herself, but she was coughing from the taste of fiery blood in her mouth.

All the while, Charlie still had Steve pinned before managing to turn and kick him in the back of the head before nailing him in the chest again.

"Charlie! Don't do this! It's us!" Vaggie ran up to her girlfriend and took her arms behind her back, but Charlie actually managed to lift her legs all the way up and kick Vaggie in the face before breaking away from her grip, then throwing her back to the other two.

"This sure brings back memories, and while I would love to join in on the fun, I have a schedule to keep." said Wesker. He then turns his back on the survivors and starts walking over to the other side of the room, where the exit is.

"WESKER!" Steve roared before charging in, managing to push Charlie and Loona out of the way with mutant strength. Vaggie and Octavia followed after, and then all three had their guns pointed at the Matrix fan. Unfortunately, their playtime with Wesker's dolls wasn't over just yet, as they were blindsided by Charlie and Loona coming in. Loona managed to tackle both Steve and Via while Charlie had her girlfriend pinned to the ground while holding her arm and twisting it.

"Ugh! Ah! Charlie, please! Listen to me! You can fight this!" Vaggie grunted while looking at her girlfriend in the eye.

"She was hardly worth assimilating. A waste of flesh that couldn't bother to hurt a fly unless it was given a leash." Wesker remarked.

"Remember who you are, Charlie! You wanted to help people! And you helped me! The girl whose life you saved! The girl you love!"

That seemed to have been working, as Charlie's expression turned to one of fear and struggle for control over herself.

"...V-Vaggie..."

And that is when Wesker pulled out a device while continuing to talk, "It's amazing how just a little pep talk can cause one to slightly crack the hold of the compound..." And then, he taps a button on the device, making Charlie yell in pain as she lets go of Vaggie's arm, gripping her head. Whatever it was that Wesker activated, it also affected Loona, who was holding down Steve and Via at the moment. She gripped her own head, then started slamming it against machinery, getting herself right in the forehead, which then started to bleed.

"But despite all the resistance, one could never break the hold on their own," Wesker stated. "I'll leave you little nuisances to your little reunion, children. Have fun watching your friends suffer."

And with that, he made his leave through automatic doors. Vaggie tried to fire a pistol at him, but the bullets didn't reach their mark, merely hitting the doors before she turned back to Charlie, who was screaming in pain, gripping at her head and chest. It was then that both she and Loona took the top parts of their suits that were zipped up and ripped them open to reveal glowing red, cyber-organic devices. They looked like robotic scarabs, but with a mixture of flesh and an organic membrane on the back, injecting whatever it was that controlled the two as they regained their posture and looked at their targets with murder in their eyes.

"What the hell are those things?" Steve said to the girls as they pulled themselves back up.

"Who cares?! How much if you want to bet that those are what is controlling them?" Via said.

"Then we gotta take them off!" Vaggie growled. "Just try not to hurt them...much."

"You're kidding, right?" Via said. "I'm pretty sure Loona wants to gnaw at my arm like a bone."

"Can we please stop talking like this? It's starting to sound cheesy." Steve remarked.

The three of them silently agreed as Vaggie pulled out the sword she got back from the armory. She went on to take Charlie, who snapped her fingers and summoned a tactical trident. The two lovers then engaged in combat with each other and their respective weapons. This left Steve and Via to deal with Loona, who growled and gestured to them to come at her before she leaped backward and pulled out her machine pistols. The three survivors charged at their respective targets and engaged in combat. Steven summoned his axe and started spinning it to block bullets coming at him.

"Via! You're gonna have to shoot that thing!" He yelled to the teen, who aimed her gun with a shaky grip. Upon firing it, she managed to nail Loona in the shoulder. Steve then looked at Via with a shocked expression.

"Don't look at me like that! I'm still getting used to this!"

"Well, get used to it faster!" He then runs in, grabs Loona by the arm, and tosses her over his shoulder. The hellhound landed right at Via's feet, who looked towards Steve, who then gestured to the device, making Via quickly shoot at it, and actually hit it this time. Damaging did seem to do the trick, as the scarab started to short circuit and Loona writhed in pain, but quickly regained herself as she got back up and ran away from her opponents. The two gave chase after her.

All the while, Vaggie was having some trouble, being on the defensive as Charlie was fighting with such fury that she was not known for; every move she made would've severely injured Vaggie or even worse if she didn't counter or parry. But that was only barely, as some swings or stabs came a little close for Vaggie's comfort, leaving her stuck on defense and barely able to make a move herself. Any move she does make, however, is aimed specifically at the thing on Charlie's chest, but is almost deflected. She continues to try and talk some sense into her girlfriend as their weapons clash.

"Stop this! Charlie, please listen to me!" She yelled through the struggle, and for a moment, Charlie could hear her, shaking her head, and giving Vaggie enough time to break her off then swing at the scarab. It was so close, the tip of her blade barely managing to cut its glowing membrane, but not enough to get it to start bleeding. Charlie hopped back, checked the scarab before re-engaging in battle. Her trident was stabbed into the machinery behind Vaggie, who was able to dodge. Charlie spun the weapon behind her and then swung it across to Vaggie, but once again, only hit steel and computer as Vaggie got away.

Turning back to Steve and Via, dealing with Loona, the T-Veronica victim braced himself when Loona ran at him, using the handle of his axe to block her attack. She grabbed hold of it and ferally gnawed at the weapon with her sharp teeth. Octavia was behind her best friend, raising her infected arm, igniting the flames, but Steve raised his arm to her.

"No! Via, don't!"

Making sure she wouldn't make her condition worse, Steve acted quickly, turning the blunt end of the axe to smack Loona in the face with it. This left her dazed as Octavia, putting out her burning arm, decided to improvise and grab a keyboard from one of the panels, and broke it over Loona's head, knocking her down. She could only hope Loons forgives her when they break her free.

"Grab the device!" She yelled to Steve, who quickly got on top of Loona, grabbed onto the device on her chest, and started pulling. However, the legs of the scarab were embedded deep and tightly into her chest, and were refusing to let go as Steve continued to pull. He couldn't even get a good grip on it as the two struggled.

"Just rip it off!"

"I'm trying!"

Unfortunately, Loona recomposed herself and slipped between Steve's legs before giving him a kick to his back, knocking him away from her. Then, she turned her attention to fear-rising Octavia, who turned tail and ran, with the hound chasing after.

Charlie was getting the upper hand on Vaggie, who had yet to land another hit on her girlfriend, while the Princess, swinging around her trident, nearly managed to take out Vaggie's other eye. Thankfully, she blocked it, but not without leaving a bloody mark on her face. Vaggie had never believed that Charlie, the precious little cinnabun that she is, was known for such prowess and violence. Even if the Trident wasn't hitting its marks, she was fast enough to throw a punch that, when it landed, Vaggie could swear some things were cracking more than they should.

"GAH! AGH! Damn it, Charlie! You gotta fucking work with me here!" Vaggie growled in frustration, desperately trying to grab the scarab on Charlie's chest. She managed to do so and started pulling, only for it to short-circuit and zap her hand away. But this proved to be beneficial as Charlie backed away, grabbing her head in pain. This left her open for Steve to come in and do a roundhouse kick to the poor princess, knocking her down.

He'll apologize later.

"Be careful with her!" Vaggie yelled.

"JUST SHUT UP AND BREAK THE DAMN THING!" He yelled back as Vaggie ran up to her downed lover, took out a knife, and stabbed the scarab with just enough to not run all the way through to Charlie's chest. When it didn't seem to be enough, Vaggie stabbed and slashed it repeatedly, damaging it more. But it still wouldn't lose its hold on Charlie's chest as it seemed to be self-repairing itself.

Soon enough, Charlie regained herself, grabbed Vaggie's arm, and then her neck, making her scared girlfriend look her in forced-fury-filled eyes before throwing away from her. Vaggie struggled to get back up, but looked to see that Charlie was...twitching, the scarab on her chest was short-circuiting. Pretty soon, pain flew over Charlie so suddenly, making her want to slam her head into something. But the control over herself shook it off before she advanced on her girlfriend once more.

Back to Octavia, she was busy running for her life around the entire room as Loona was chasing her like a rabid animal while also firing her TMPs at her. Octavia delivered some panic fire, but none of her bullets were hitting their mark. If they did, though, she'd be doing more damage to her friend than to the device holding her. Loona then leaped from a high height off the second floor of the room and managed to get Octavia. The two girls found themselves rolling on the floor by the impact before Via acted quickly and kicked Loona in the gut with both feet off of her, where she then landed in front of a knife-holding Steve, who quickly got on top of her.

"OKAY-!" Steve then proceeded to jam the knife right underneath the scarab, hoping that he could scrape it off with enough force, and cut off its connection literally. Loona writhed and struggled on the floor, violently, as she could feel her brain was ready to explode from the interruption the scarab's neural interface was having with Steve trying to pry it off her chest.

But pretty soon...

"GYAAH-AH!"

(SLASH)

Steve managed to rip the scarab right off of Loona's chest and send it flying to the ground. However, it wasn't done yet as the cyber-organic device flipped itself back onto its legs and began scurrying back towards its former host.

"UGH!"

(STAB)

But not before Octavia leaped and stabbed the thing to the ground, pinning it with a knife, and then repeatedly firing the blacktail at its 'head' until it was completely destroyed. She took a sigh of relief while Loona inhaled deeply, the spot on her chest where the scarab starting to leak a little blood where its 'legs' were jabbed through as he regained her breath and struggled to stay awake.

That was one possessed friend down. Now, onto the last.

Vaggie was exhausted defending herself from Charlie's unnatural strength, as she was barely able to block any moves the Princess made now, as she struck hard and fast. Even if she did block it, Charlie managed to land a second strike on Vaggie that cracked something that may have already been broken. Pretty soon, Charlie managed to knock the sword out of Vaggie's hands, then grab her by the throat once more and pin her against a wall of computers. The injured Vaggie tried to make a grab for the scarab on Charlie's chest, but the Princess forced her back, her head and eyes twitching violently as she raised her trident, ready to run it through.

"C-Charlie...please."

It looked like it was it for the one-eyed sinner, as with a battle cry, the puppeted Charlie pulled back on the trident, ready to finish her own lover off.

"HOLD THAT THOUGHT, CHARLIE!" Steve quickly came to rescue, however, and grabbed the Princess from behind before doing a suplex on her. Charlie slammed onto the ground hard, stunning her as Steve and Via held her down by her arms.

"VAGGIE! GET THE FUCKING THING OFF HER!" Steve screamed to the barely recovering Vaggie, who quickly got on top of Charlie, and with every bit of strength she could muster at the moment, pulled at the scarab so much that its legs stretched like wires from its ports. Charlie screamed in pain as the device was pulled, then finally...

('WHIP' CRACK, SNAP)

Came off. Vaggie looked at the scarab writhing and wiggling in her hands before she threw it against a wall in an attempt to break it. But it was still intact, quickly scurrying back to its host...

(BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!)

Only to be shot to pieces by a glaring Vaggie. She then turns back to the gasping and wheezing Charlie, who also has bloody holes in her chest from where the scarab clung.

"Charlie! Charlie...!" Vaggie grabbed her girlfriend by the head and had her look her in the eye. "It's okay now! It's me! I'm here!"

Steve and Via had let go, giving the Princess and her lover space as Charlie regained herself.

"V-Vaggie...I'm so sorry."

Seeing that she finally had her back, Vaggie let out a laugh of joy and relief before kissing Charlie on the lips. The Princess was very much happy to kiss back, as it was something that she had been missing for a while, now that she's finally free.

"Ah-he-hem..." Steve cleared his throat to get their attention, ruining the moment. "It's, uh...good to have you back, Charlie."

"Steve, Via...good to see you both as well. And I'm sorry...I was in control of myself...But I was very much aware."

"It's okay." Via replied.

Loona, who had also recovered, limped her way over to the party, saying, "No, it's fucking fine! Don't ask if I'm alright!" She then got looks from the three that saved her. "...Well, you guys sure took your sweet-ass time."

"Good to have you back as well, Loona." Steve remarked. "Hope you're not too beat up."

"Well, save the sappy shit for later. You guys need to go, now."

Vaggie replied. "I don't know-"

"She's right, Vaggie." Charlie interrupted, "Wesker is planning on waging war against Heaven and Earth. This tower we're in is a huge transmitter of some kind that'll bridge the dimensions together, and he'll be able to send his army of the undead against them. If he succeeds...everyone everywhere will die."

"Holy shit..." said Steve.

"The crystal..." Octavia added, remembering the large crystal pillar they saw when they got here.

"You're not coming?" Vaggie asked. "We can't just leave you here!"

"I'm fine, Vaggie! Really!" Charlie insisted. "You need to go now!"

"We'll catch up. Don't worry." Loona added.

Vaggie looked towards Steve and Via, who nodded with determined looks on their faces. And with that, they headed through the doors that Wesker escaped through, leaving the once-controlled Princess and Hound to recover from the experience.

"You think we'll be able to stop that weird-ass fucker?" Loona asked.

"...We're out of options. They're the only hope we have left..."

Back to the Hazbin Hotel, every last one of the survivors there was held up inside was…bored. Some of the snipers were making sure that no zombie or infected demon/sinner gets too close to the hotel. Others were repairing damage that had been done to the place, while the rest were either checking their weapons, making sure they had enough food to eat, healing and treating injuries they all had...or just having drinks and playing cards.

But overall, they were bored out of their skulls and losing hope that they would hear from their friends again. After that message they got from Wesker, they were all at their lowest and feared that they wouldn't be able to step outside again.

Though, the streets of Pentagram City were relatively empty, due to the zombies and infected moving away to an undisclosed location beyond what is best to be considered a "rift in the form of a desert". At least, that's what Kevin reported when he came back.

Still, everyone was uneasy as they were born, as no other action had been taken since that message. A lot of the residents, Niffty, Cherri, Mrs. Mayberry, Vortex, Josh, Kiki, Coco, and the S.T.A.R.S. crew, were simply lounging around in the main lobby, waiting for something to happen.

"Man, forget this shit! I'm going out there and looking for them!" Angel Dust expressed what some of the residents were also thinking, but were too nervous to say.

"You're gonna get yourself killed if you do that." Husk said as he poured himself another one, with Arackniss and Jack Baker at the bar with him.

"Well, it sure as hell beats being bored to death in here! Look, someone has to do something! We've been sitting on ours for so long, they're starting to bleed. And we haven't heard jackshit from those morons who went looking for Charlie!"

Husk replied "There's gotta be a good reason for that!"

"There's never a good reason for why they'd be taking so long." said Enrico.

However, that's when the S.T.A.R.S. Pilot, Kevin, came down from the upper floors, looking a bit in a good mood. He had been using the chopper they had to scout around the city, in search of survivors or anything that could be proven useful at the moment.

"I'm back, and I got them!"

"What exactly did you get?" asked Brad.

"Vehicles. Good ones, still in good condition, full of fuel, and right outside the hotel."

Specifically, what he got were three well-worn Humvees and a Ducati Motorcycle. But it was better than nothing.

"Very nice, Kevin." said Enrico. "We use these to head to where the others are and give them some backup."

"Alright! Now we're talking!" Angel Dust seemed pretty excited to get in on the action. "Let's rev up those babies and save our pals!"

"Where exactly are you gonna go, though, Anthony?" asked his brother, Arackniss. "We don't even know where they headed off too."

Brad then replied, "Well, Kevin might. Where'd you drop them off?"

"I...took them to the edge of the city, and they were on their way to cross a desert out there. They could be anywhere by now."

"What we'll need is some kind of heading," suggested Enrico. "Something that could help pinpoint their location. Wherever they are, or whatever that may be."

And that's when their sniper, Forest, came down from the upper floors as well.

"There's some kind of giant light, pointing up into the sky! Miles away from the city!"

He was right, as far beyond Pentagram city and into the 'Rift', there was a large beacon-like light that was spanning high into the skies above Hell.

"Well then, I guess that's as good as any heading." Enrico said, looking at the rising beam through binoculars before turning to the rest of the team. "Kevin, lead the way. Anybody who's willing to fight, grab your gear and prepare to roll out! We're going for that light!"

Little did they know that it was a race against time, one they better hope they get second in...