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There was an almighty smack as a body was thrown from the hotel foyer and landed on the hard ground outside.
"You vile, outdated, pompous-" Vox spit venomously at Alastor before a sharp scream of static rang out and covered his cracked screen in snow for a moment. He laid on his back on the dusty ground a few yards from Alastor, who was stationed steadfastly at the entrance of the hotel.
Vox's face returned to the screen, but his mouth was twisted in a grimace and eyes narrowed in anger and vengeance. His clothes were torn, and dark navy blood pooled around him. He painstakingly propped up his torso on his elbows and eyed the red deer demon grinning down at him from afar.
Alastor hadn't faired much better, but he was upright, back straight as ever. He stood nine feet tall, clothes tattered, antlers stretched wide, and the elongated claws clenched behind his back dripped with gore. Black blood trickled from his body in a multitude of places, but the wide smile plastered on his face belied any discomfort he might've been feeling.
"My glass-faced friend," Alastor drawled in his heavily filtered voice, arrogance clear in his tone, "how did this pan out for you, hm? Was this all you hoped it would be? I can imagine you might be disappointed. In yourself."
Vox growled violently and tried to stand but collapsed back down with an embarrassing "ompf." Alastor snickered loudly, eyes dancing with red light and mirth. Another scream of static peirced the air, and Vox panted with exertion and blood loss. With a final glare at Alastor and the hotel behind him, Vox's form disappeared with a flash of static and the sound of a tube television being powered off, leaving a puddle of his strange blood behind.
The Radio Demon chuckled in triumph and coughed, surveying the courtyard to ensure it was empty. With that verified, the adrenaline was quickly leaving his system. His spine creaked with the effort of holding his body upright.
That battle had cost him...everything. His magic and his energy - gone. His brain slogged forward, trying to figure out what his next steps should be, or if he could even take a literal step on legs made of jelly. He touched his abdomen, where Vox had landed a particularly brutal blow. It ached abominably and his breathing started to come in short bursts. This...was not good.
From inside the destroyed hotel foyer, Charlie, Vaggie, Angel, Husk, and Niffty peered out on the scene with a mix of fear, apprehension, and awe. The few patrons of the hotel had evacuated at the start of the battle.
They were surrounded by the devastation of Alastor and Vox's clash. The foyer looked like a bomb had been detonated inside; walls crumbled, floorboards were pulled up, and chandeliers lay shattered on the ground. Black and blue blood accented the devastation in spots and splatters.
The tiny part of Charlie that wasn't terrified for the Radio Demon or enthralled in the fight that just ended was bitterly disappointed that the newly repaired and renovated first chamber of the hotel had been reduced to a state even worse than when it started.
But even that tiny thought was thrust from her mind when Alastor's knees suddenly gave way, thudding to the floor.
Before she gave her limbs permission, she was running out to him. Vaggie hissed after her, alarmed, "Charlie, no! Look at him! He's still in his demon form!" Vaggie's voice barely registered in Charlie's panicked thoughts, and soon she was skidding to a stop on her knees next to an already back-to-normal-size Alastor.
He abruptly lurched forward onto all fours and retched. An alarming amount of black fluid splattered to the floor under him. Charlie's stomach flipped at the sight. If that was blood, that was way too much. She felt a cold sweat cover her body and her hand and feet tingled with chill. A ragged gasp passed her lips.
The Radio Demon tilted his head so he could look up at her with one eye.
"...terribly sorry, my dear..." he muttered through the very small crooked smile he managed to force his face into. His body heaved forcefully again, and more blood pooled on the ground. He coughed and weakly wiped his mouth with the back of his hand, still looking down from his hands and knees.
"Damn cultish bastard..." Alastor mumbled. She'd never heard him curse before.
Charlie knew her face would be white as a sheet, but she willed her shaking body to listen to her. Alastor needed her help!
She reached out to touch the trembling red shoulder in front of her, hesitating only the barest moment before grasping his upper shoulder and under his armpit to support him, and slowly drew him up. Alastor didn't resist, and that sent a lance of fear through her already twisting stomach. The red demon hated others touching him. If he'd been in top form, he would've teleported away, cracked his joints the wrong way away from the offending touch, or at the very least flinched at the contact.
He did none of these things. He silently accepted her help and slowly tried to get his legs under him. When his torso was upright enough for her to see his face, his eyes were dim and cloudy, and his smile was nearly non-existent. Black still dripped from the corner of his mouth. Shifting next to him to place his arm over her shoulders, Charlie steadfastly lifted him until they were both standing, thankful he wasn't still the towering spector he'd been just a moment ago.
"Come on, Al. There you go... there you go," she encouraged softly, reached her arm around his waist, and gently pulled to get him to move his feet. His head was dipped low, and he leaned on her heavily, but he obediently shuffled one foot in front of the other. His breathing was ragged and shallow, rasping through his body in a clearly painful way.
Charlie got them turned toward the interior of the hotel and beckoned to her friends frantically to come help, "Guys, come on! He's hurt really badly!"
They hesitated, eyeing his elongated antlers and wickedly curved claws, but Vaggie was the first to break from their cover at the back of the room and run to her. Angel, Husk, and Niffty followed right behind her. They arrived not a moment too soon, as Alastor's eyelids fluttered and he collapsed forward into their hurriedly outstretched arms.
"ARGH! Son of a bitch!" Angel swore, as he'd recieved the worst of Alastor's antlers and they'd scraped up both sets of arms painfully.
"Sorry, sorry!" Charlie squeaked, as if she could've done something to prevent it, knocked to the ground as she'd been by the force of Alastor's fall.
Husk took charge. He hefted one of the Radio Demon's arms to keep him from flopping on his face and grunted in a brusque tone, "We gotta get him to his tower."
"Can you heal him, Husk?" Vaggie asked, holding Alastor's other arm and looking rather disgusted by the contact. They were all getting spots of blood all over them from the various wounds.
"No," Husk said, "but HE can," pointing down to the back of Alastor's head.
He waved away the beginnings of their confused questions and growled, "We gotta move fast, or we're gonna have one big, red, dead bastard on our hands." He pointed to Nifty and Charlie, neither of whom were holding a peice of the Radio Demon, and ordered, "Go get a sheet or a blanket or somethin'. We'll make a stretcher and get him up there."
Charlie and an uncharacteristicly quiet Niffty ran off to the nearest guest room or linen closet, whichever was closer. Husk watched their rapidly retreating forms before looking back down at the deer demon. His head still hung limply from his shoulders and his legs dragged on the ground. What he could see of his skin was ghastly grey and pale. Husk bit his lip and drew blood, muttering, "...least his antlers and claws are still out-"
"Yeah, easy for YOU to say! You're not the one gettin' skewered!" Angel interjected loudly, still smarting from the tears the antlers made in his flesh, but supporting them as best he could. Before Husk could respond irritably, Niffty and Charlie swiftly returned with a few different linens to choose from, clearly taken from someone's bed.
Husk quickly instructed them on how to make a stretcher with some of the pulled up floor planks and the linens while Vaggie cringed at the steady stream of tears flowing silently down Charlie's face.
As a team with Husk at the helm, they gently flipped Alastor onto his back and laid him on the stretcher. With no time to lose, they all (except too-small Niffty, who hopped up and rode at his feet) grabbed a corner of the stretcher and hauled their load down the long hallway to the elevator.
"Jesus fuckin' Christ, how much does this guy weigh?" Angel puffed through his clenched teeth, "He's fuckin' skin and bone!"
Huffing with the exertion, Vaggie asked, "So how's he gonna heal himself? How does that work?"
"Ugh," groaned Husk, weary. "Listen, let's just say...the Radio Demon likes to be prepared. He's got something up there just in case," he glanced down at Alastor's immobile form, "...this happens."
"What?! Why don't you just bring whatever it is down here, instead of us having to lug his heavy as fuck ass all the way up there?!" Angel whined
Husk scoffed, "You want the the Radio Demon's last resort to activate in the already destroyed hotel? What the f- how stupid are you?" Angel made a wheezing, outraged noise. "We're talkin' about powerful stuff here. His tower has got these, uh, fortification things. Magic stuff, I don't know."
They all fell silent, having no response to that.
Once in the ancient elevator, squeezed in to make sure Alastor's whole outstretched form fit, Vaggie punched the button to the upper level on which the aptly named Radio Tower was attached.
The elevator doors closed and it started to move, but it felt sluggish to Charlie. She was biting her tongue to keep from sobbing out loud in the enclosed space, her tears still flowing. He needed help, fast! If only they could shadow-hop like...
She felt a very gentle touch on her hand gripping the stretcher, nails digging into the wood. She started slightly, her eyes whipping down to meet Alastor's barely open ones. One claw was weakly lifted to touch her hand with the back of it. He opened his mouth to say something, but no sound came out. He tried again, but no luck.
"Shh, shh-" Charlie hushed softly, startling the other occupants of the elevator, who had all been deep in their own thoughts. "Don't try to talk. Husk knows what to do. We'll get you all fixed up in no time." She tried to smile, but her wet face wouldn't listen to her.
Husk snorted softly and Alastor quirked his eyebrow at him, seemingly gathering energy for a witty retort when Charlie reached over and covered his mouth with her hand, slightly nicking one of her fingers on a sharp tooth. She winced.
His eyes widened slightly at the touch, then fluttered and dimmed in such a way that Charlie quickly snatched her hand back, stupidly worried she was cutting off his air supply somehow. But even when his mouth was freed, Alastor didn't try to speak. Whether it was obedience or lack of strength, Charlie didn't know. Alastor's eyes stayed on hers until they slowly slid shut again.
Vaggie looked at Charlie, then down at Alastor, then back to Charlie. Her scowl set harder into her mouth.
The elevator dinged and the doors opened. The team lost no time in rushing toward Radio Tower. When they found the door locked, Alastor, who was apparently still conscious, held up a hand and veve filled the air around the knob. The door clicked open and they were through in a flash.
Angel hadn't seen the Radio Demon's room before. Sure, he'd offered to come back here with him plenty of times, but all his half-joking advances were rebuffed immediately. His eager, multicolored eyes took in the stately but comfortable furnishings, the many bookshelves, the full kitchen (how'd he manage that?!) and finally the large bed with black and red linens as they whisked through the space. Angel assumed in passing that the radio station was upstairs somewhere, as he'd seen a spiral staircase when they entered.
Husk grunted with exertion and said, "Let's put him on the bed." They laid Alastor and the stretcher all together on the bed and stepped back while Husk hurried up the spiral staircase.
Niffty sniffed loudly, causing Angel, Charlie, and Vaggie to look around at her, still at the red demon's feet. They'd kind of forgotten she was there. They watched as she scooted around his left side and laid a very tiny hand very lightly on his upper chest, away from any obvious injuries. Even though it seemed impossible that Alastor could've felt such a slight touch in comparison to the rest of the pains surely bombarding his body, his eyes eased open to look at her.
Charlie hadn't seen such an expression on his face very often. It was soft and almost...kind? Niffty smiled back at him before big wobbly tears started running down her face.
Alastor glanced at Charlie, then back to Niffty and shakily raised the back of his hand to wipe her tears. "No no no, Mr. Al!" Niffty squeaked, her voice breaking as she gently pushed his hand away, "Husk is getting the scroll now, he'll be back in a jiffy. Once you're right as rain, you can wipe up my tears all you want." He let his hand fall back down to the bed, but his face still held that soft expression
"Alright, alright, back up!" Husk growled as he swung back down the staircase. He clutched a scroll in his claws and hustled to the bedside. Everyone, including Nifty, took several steps back.
Husk crushed the scroll into Alastor's claw and stepped back as well.
They all waited, and Charlie worried he'd fallen unconscious again. But in a moment, Alastor held up the hand with the scroll. The ends of the scroll smoldered into flame, and from the smoke, dozens of his shadows emerged. They burst forth and flew around the room at dizzying speed, whipping up the air into gusts. Vaggie, Charlie, and Angel all ducked for cover, while Husk grabbed up Niffty and hunkered down.
Green light flickered around the shadows, slowly getting brighter, as more and more of the scroll burned and released more and more shadows. The room felt like being in a tornadoes path, the funnel getting closer and closer. They all shut their eyes against the now harsh green light, but Charlie peered through her fingers to try to see what was happening to Alastor.
Some of the shadows broke away from the flight and slammed into the Radio Demon's body. His back arched off the bed as the shadows were absorbed, his mouth a harsh grimace. Whatever was happening looked incredibly painful. Charlie gasped and started to try to move closer, but Husk grabbed her arm and shook his head at her. His eyes were closed but his ears were perked up tall.
Charlie turned her squinted eyes back to the bed and saw shadow after shadow flying headlong into Alastor's chest. His eyes were screwed shut and his grimace showed every one of his teeth.
Over and over, Alastor's body shuddered with pain as the shadows hit his body. Wildly, Charlie thought the process must be going terribly wrong somehow. They were supposed to be healing him, not hurting him more!
Just as Charlie decided to shake off Husk's hold, the storm abruptly stopped. The shadows were gone, the light in the room went back to normal, and the howling gusts were still.
They all carefully stood up in the sudden stillness, and slowly approached the bed. For a moment, Charlie's heart constricted in her chest at the sight of him. Still, silent, grey, with eyes closed and no smile anywhere to be seen. Her hands fluttered in a panic, not knowing what to do. Now she felt certain that whatever that magic was, it'd killed him.
A sob was building in her chest at just the sheer stress of it all, when Alastors eyes flicked open wide with the sound of an old light bulb being powered on. The red light bathed the ceiling and a scratchy, distorted, slowed peice of 20s swing music started softly playing. They all stepped back, unnerved.
As he slowly sat up, the music sped slightly and became clearer until he was sitting fully upright and the music was pleasant. It crackled like it was being played on an old gramophone, but in a comforting way. Other radio sounds joined in, and soon he was sounding like his old self.
"Husker! My friend!" The Radio Demon shouted with his usual exuberance, turning to them suddenly and holding up his arms enthusiastically, "That went off without a hitch! Bravo, my good man! What a performance!"
Husk, clutching his chest from the fright of his name being yelled suddenly and from the abundance of stress said, "Yeah, yeah, you smarmy son of a bitch. Didn't have much choice, did I?" If the red demon had died, those same shadows would've come for Husker and eaten his soul alive. Not to mention the tiny, ankle-biting ass whopping he would've gotten from Nifty.
"Not at all, my good fellow! What speed, what grace! Pulling this merry band all together to whisk me away to safety! Why, you've earned my gratitude, my feline friend." Alastor exuded sardonic enthusiasm while he turned and placed his dress shoe clad feet on the floor. His tone turned dark.
"Or, perhaps, you would have...if you had not stayed in your safe shelter, watching me bleed to death.
"Charming Charlie was the one to rush to my aid! Many thanks, darling," he gestured to the deeply blushing princess, giving her a wide smile, then turning back to a slowly shrinking Husk. Alastor stood, towering over him, clearly back to his original strength. His smile strained wider and his eyes narrowed as he surveyed the winged cat demon. Husk's eyes were wide and unable to hide his fear. Alastor bent slightly at the waist over him. "Perhaps a review of our agreement is in order, hmm? A little reminder of-"
"Quit it Al," Charlie said, stepping between the Radio Demon and Husk. Alastor's eyes flashed in surprise as he took a big step back, and everyone heard Vaggie groan, "Charlie!" into the hands covering her face.
Charlie didn't back down and stood determined between the two. Her face still burned with blush. Alastor's eyebrow raised again and seemed to be giving Charlie a chance to explain. More than anyone could say of him in the past.
"I-" She started, faltering, then gained confidence as she spoke, "I-I rushed out before anyone could react. I'm sure if he wasn't so surprised at my...admittedly stupid actions," Angel snorted behind her, but she pressed on, "he would've been right by your side instead of me. I'm sorry, Husk," she said over her shoulder, "I didn't think I was messing up your plan." She put her arms down and looked at the ground, embarrassed. "I, um...I didn't think about it. You were hurt, so I went to help. That's all I meant."
There was a beat of silence where she didn't have the courage to look up. Then she saw Alastor's shoes step up to her.
"Hmm," he said, drawing out the 'm' sound while he considered. Charlie still looked at the ground, but didn't move away. "Fair enough! It seems Charlie has saved more than one hide today!"
Charlie looked up as Alastor clapped his hands and said to the room, "Well! I feel just splendid! What good a bit of dark magic can do, eh?" He chuckled to himself, then seemed to notice they were all smeared with dirt, debris, and at least two kinds of blood.
"Ah, look at us! Covered in the absolutely disgusting, slimy, wretched life-force of an irredeemable sinner! And Vox's blood too, HA HA HA!" He snapped and they, including himself, were suddenly clean, with perfectly pressed and starched clothes. He snapped again and they all, except for him, gained heavy-duty aprons and gloves.
"It seems we quite a mess to clean up, don't we? Alright everyone, hup to! Back to the foyer before we're burgled by some back alley sinner scum!"
Charlie watched Angel gripe and whine as he left, rubbing the fresh badages that'd appeared in his arm ("I just got done hauling your sorry, HEAVY, ass up here, I don't want to clean!"). Vaggie gave a tiny scoff and stormed out the door. Husk silently turned on his heel to slouch out. Niffty scuttled nearly out the door, then back in to hug a surprised Alastor's leg, then sped out again.
Charlie was about to make the same exit (the foyer wouldn't clean itself), but she was stopped by a soft voice behind her.
"Charlie."
She turned to see Alastor with a similar smile to the one he'd just given Niffty before his healing. She felt her eyes get wider and her throat dry up as he stepped closer to her. Her heart pounded so loud in her ears that she was sure he could hear it. He approached until he was close enough to touch her.
He reached out slowly and hesitantly touched her cheek, gently wiping away a tear that still clung there. Her face warmed under his touch. He looked her in the eyes and, with the same soft and gentle tone, said,
"Thank you."
Charlie licked her lips, swallowed, and said in a raspy voice, "You're...you're welcome, Al."
His smile widened a bit, then he swiftly stepped around her and seemed to be out the door in a flash. "Do lock up when you leave, dear!" And he was gone.
Charlie stood there, holding her cheek and the heat it still held, for just as long as her scrambled thoughts took to order themselves. Slowly, she turned and walked out the door. She closed it, absently wondering how to lock it again, when the veve sprung to life, answering her question.
Without another thought, she ran down the hall to catch up with her friends.