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Chapter Text

With fresh tears running down his pale face, Adam, the first man, undraped the curtains and slowly stepped up on the balcony, his yellow eyes scanning all over pentagram city after the recent extermination and walked up to the fence of the balcony, leaning against it as he watched in despair over the the dead, bloody bodies upon bodies laying all over Hell,with the clock hitting midnight and ringing, it was announced that the extermination was offically over and the exorcists had finally returned to Heaven, leaving this burning underworlds in carnage and molding bloodshed. 

Now that the extermination was over, Sinners started to walk out of their hiding spots to either smoke, collect the corpses or to just continue their daily errands in their eternal, suffering afterlives. The Overlords were of course just hiding in their covers of their mansions or penthouses.

Upon seeing all of this, a sob cracked in Adam's sore throat as he covered his mouth with his clawed hand, feeling guilt and misery filled his chest as more tears streamed down his sore, red cheeks from crying for hours during the extermination day. He had this breakdown after every extermination each year, he just couldn’t help it. It broke his heart seeing human souls, his children get brutally killed like this. He knew it was to control overpopulation in Hell, but throughout all these years of living in Hell, he had seen millions of souls fall, both some who could be redeemed and the in an out evil that didn’t deserve second chances. 

It was his fault after all, if he just hadn’t given into temptation and taken a bite of that stupid apple, then none of this would’ve happened.

His grip on the fence tightened, creating small cracks under his grip because of the impact.

No, he couldn’t mourn on the past now, he had to focus on the present.

This hotel, the hotel he’d built up with his beloved Lute.

It would work, he’d make sure of it.

He raised his head to look up at the crimson, red sky with the glowing pentagram sun and millions of stars and spotted the entrance to Heaven, the place he was banished from all those years ago.

He knew he could never get up there after the horrible mistake he took, but he swore on his immortal life to save the few souls in Hell that deserved a second chance to a better afterlife in the paradise up there.

And it will all start today.

He just had to have hope.

Chapter Text

Only a few hours after the extermination was over, a certain,  fancy, shiny black car drove directly through Hell’s dusty roads, dashing through the streets until it eventually stopped at a rusty, old gas station, stopping so suddenly that the wheels left an imprint on the ground. Right after it stopped, the passenger seat door was flung open with a tall, moth demon stepping out of the car, stretching himself as he let out an exhausted grunt from the intense long car ride.

Just as the moth demon made sure to stretch his neck and fluff up his antennas, the short, spider demon sitting by the driver's seat suddenly spoke up in a mocking tone. “Heh, thanks for the sweet time, sugar.” 

The moth demon merely rolled his eyes at that before he turned back to him, bending down to the car window to make eye contact with him.“Yeah, yeah Arackniss, now listen here amorcito. Don’t tell this to anyone, fine?” He snaps his fingers sharply. “I’m a professional afterall, I can't let folks here think I give out my services for free, it was only because your brother needed to pay you back. Get me?” The moth demon makes a gesture with his fingers then blinks seductively at Arackniss, grinning.

Arackniss just scoffed in response.“Whatever you say, you dirty little harlot.” He then chuckled, obviously mocking the moth demon.

Valentino though didn’t let him get to him, as he feigh a gasp, pretending to be offended as he placed his hand at his chest in a dramatic manner. “Oi, wow, as if I've never heard that before.” Valentino pouted condescendingly as he squished his cheeks together.

Arackniss growled, but before he got to say anything, Valentino cut him off, regaining his posture and in a more serious tone. “Carino, please call me when you find a more creative title to call me, you dirty, disfigured, depressed sewer rat!” Valentino taunted him before he pulled Arackniss by his bowtie so their faces were inches apart.

“Tell your dear old pop I said ‘Hola’.” Valentino giggled mischievously as he gave Arackniss a quick peck on the cheeks.

Stunned and embarrassed, Arackniss said no more as he quickly drove off with an enraged look in his eyes.

Once the car was out of sight; Valentino sighed as he was finally alone and could breath before he had to start his job early tomorrow morning. The moth demon glanced over his shoulder, only to grin as he noticed a pack of cigarettes was lying on the ground. He quickly took it and made sure to dust them off before reaching to grab one for a smoking break, but just then a random demon runs past him and in the blink of an eye, sneaks them out of his grip.

“Ei, you asshole!” Valentino screamed after him, shaking his fist into the air in frustration. How dare he steal his precious, free cigarettes?!

“Up yours, cumwaste!” The random demon yelled to Valentino as he tried to run off, only for a huge, spiky boulder to randomly fall out of the sky, crushing the demon alongside with the forgotten pack of cigarettes with a loud crack and thud.

Valentino gasped in despair at the sight before him. “No!” He ran towards the boulder and leaned down to pick up what was left of the pack of cigarettes with a completely devastated look on his face. “My cigarettes!” 

He fell to his knees dramatically, clenching the remains of the cigarette pack in his fist as he screamed up to the sky like a diva, but he stopped midway as he noticed a 80s punk war ship passing by, shooting and destroying buildings.

Valentino grinned, knowing what this meant.’

In the warship, the one and only Cherri Smoke was the one who controlled the warship, with her Cherri girls as assistance, pulling leathers and pushing buttons. The mad lady with ruffled, pinkish hair sat at her machine desk to control the ship, holding a stern grip onto the pilot-looking steering wheel.

“Those lousy hoes will never manage to prevent my territorial takeover!” Cherri smoke laughed like an unresonable maniac as her eyes widened, her pupil shaking. “The power of my machines is unmatched!” She stated proudly to herself as he pushed to leathers to activate two ray guns, to aggressively shoot at buildings who stood in her path.

And her loyal, gullible Cherri girls nodded, agreeing with their creator.

“Exactly ma’am.” One Cherri girl said with a childish smile.

“You tell them ma’am.” Another said

“No one can compare to the likes of you ma’am!” 

“You get them, ma’am!”

However, those praises made Cherri scold them in the manner of a disappointed mother. “I’ve told you stupid fruitcunts to stop calling me ‘ma’an’, it makes me feel old!” She screamed at them, her single eye glowing red.

“Sorry…” They all said in sync, lowering their faces in shame, standing below their creator.

Seeing their apologetic faces, Cherri's face softened for a brief moment but snapped back into her current task as she justy scoffed at them and turned her full attention back to the control desk, pushing some buttons to increase the power and spinning some small, iron wheels to move faster. “Anyways, at this rate i’ll seize control over the entire west side of the pentagram at the end of the day!”

She pushed a huge, red leather towards her forcefully. “And no sinner in this burning shithole will be able to reclaim this turf from me!” She cackled like a mad man. “Everyone will fear me, worship me, everyone will remember the name of Cher-”

“Missy wissy!” 

Before she could even finish that sentence of her monologue, she was rudely interrupted by a random scream, which made her stop in her tracks, stunned before she snapped out of her shocked state, narrowing her cyclop eye in annoyance while she smacked the button for auto-pilot.  

“Ey, which fucker dares to call me that!” She yelled in offence, hissing through gritted teeth.

She looked around angrily, before her eye fell on two of her Cherri Girls, behind her glaring daggers at them. “Was it you?! Answer me!” She shouted at them threathingly as she stomped towards them.

In response, the Cerri Girl backed in fear, scurried into a corner, holding onto each other as they shoverd, both petrified.

Still, one of them had to answer, all through stuttering. “No, ma’am, it was-”

Just then, without warning, something small and round breaked through the war ships view glass, it jumped a few times, before it rolled, landing right beside Cherri Smoke and her two Cherri Girls, all of them too stunned in place to even react, until they all noticed that the little round thing was actually an egg bomb, and they all gasped in terror before it proceeded to blow up, leaving yellow smoke that smelled like rotten eggs in the warship, much to Cherri’s dismay as she coughed aggressively into her fist.

But seconds later, the smoke had settled and the owner of the scream that had insulted Cherri jumped in the warship through the crack on the view window, landing on his long tail.

Cherri Smoke gasped and growled as the figure revealed itself to bev her nemesis, Mr Pentious cracker who grinned wickedly at her as he juggled with another egg bomb in his clawed hand, ready to light it up and throw it at his enemy at any moment.

“You dare to step inside my turf, young lady?” He asked jokingly as he laughed dryly.

Cherri Smoke just growled, not pleased at all over him destroying her warship she worked so hard on.

Mr pentious however didn’t let her answer as his grin grew even wider and more sadistically.“Listen, since I'm such a gentleman and in a good mood today. I’ll give you a choice; Leave my territory now or I'll have to smush your little berry-smelling toy!” He mocked as his hood flared open instinctively.

 “So you’re looking for a fight, old man?” Cherri just scoffed, tilting her head in pitying amusement.“Well if that’s what you want, then i will give you a fight, edgelord!” She cackled as she straightened up from the recent explosion, placing her hand on her hip as she took out a rocket launcher and aimed it at him as her Cherri Girls all collected their weapons, ready to defend and fight for their creator.

Chapter Text

Some time later, the first 666 news report of the year was now airing live through each TV screen in Hell. As nearly all the sinners had their eyes hooked on the TV screens, the log for 666 News was shown on a black background, with a rhythmic music jiggle to announce that it was time for the News, and then the newcast was shown on screen, both sitting behind their desk and smiling at the camera.

“Good afternoon Hell, I’m Tom Trench!” The blond man with a gas mask over his face introduced himself first with his hands clasped together, his posture straight and proud and his demeanor clearly cocky.

“And I’m Katie Killjoy!” The bold, skinny woman sitting right beside Tom followed after him, her fake smile stretched out to her chin bones, anyone could see the misery drawn in her eyes. ”Chaos out at Pentagram City today as a turf war is raging on the west side!” She informed the audience with a loud, clear voice, as an image of Cherri Smoke suddenly appeared in the green background. The picture showed us Cherri Bomb wearing a punk 80’s dress decorated with glitter and different colored, ripped up garments. Followed by another image showing Mister Pentious cracker wearing a victorian steampunk attire, blowing a raspberry to the camera as he aimed to throw one of his eggbois at it. “-between self-proclaimed, punky syrup-bitch Cherri Berry and notable, punk-bomb, kingpin Pentious cracker!”

“Exactly Katie.” Tom noted with a nod. “After the recent extermination, many areas are now up for grabs with demons from all over Hell's corners are now fighting to gain new territories!”

As he was talking, a LIVE clip was shown of Cherri Smoke and Mr Pentious cracker turf war ast the west side of Pentagram city.

“Those two are really getting it on the battlefield, huh?” Katie commented with a giggle emitting from her, before she took out a tooth and a nail, weirdly enough from her mug of coffee. ”Looks like they're fighting tooth and nail for that hot spot!”

She then proceeded to shove them into her mouth to swallow them whole with little to no problem, disturbing nearly everyone on set, not that she cared through as she swallowed she looked back to the LIVE recording, her full attention set on Mr Pentious and how he moved as she licked her lips seductively. “And I sure wouldn’t mind him nailing my hot spot!”

However, Tom Trench was visibly twitching, disgusted and enraged by his coworkers' inappropriate comment, still he tried to remain as calm as he possibly could despite smoke coming out of his gas mask air holes.

In an echoing, upbeat tone Tom spoke up yet again, this time directed towards Katie. “You really are a tight pussy bitch, aren’t you Katie! Or should i say-” Without any warning, he suddenly took his own coffee mug filled with scalding, hot coffee and bluntly poured the beverage onto her crotch, making her yelp in pain both pain and shock as she immediately curled down in pain, clutching tightly onto her crotch

“No pussy?” Tom finished off smugly, 

“C’mon man….!” Katie whimpered, her voice drained.

Just before another image was shown on screen. It was a picture of Adam himself, sitting straight up in an armchair, leaning his chin in his hand as he smiled at the camera, as Katie Killjoy was still in unbearable pain, whimpering loudly. 

"Coming up next,” Tom Trench spoke, ignoring Katies suffering.”-we have an exclusive interview with the original father of humanity himself, the first man Adam! He’s coming here to show and discuss his new passion project! All that and more after the commercial break!” 

And with that, he effortlessly crushed his coffee mug in hisd iron grip, sending broken mug pieces flying everywhere just before he broke the fake nice guy facade and snapped his neck back to Katie, who was still whimpering in pain, smoke of anger once again streamed out of his gas mask. 

He raised his finger to scold her but he was cut off by the commercial break.

*************************************************************

At the same time, in the back scene of 666 News production beside the snack table, stood Adam himself with his girlfriend Lute. The duo was exchanging papers before Lute tilted her head, noticing that Adams' ties were slightly crooked, put the papers aside to fix it immediatly. 

“Ok Adam,” Lute exhaled heavily with her eyebrows furrowed as she straightened the tie properly “You remember what to say? Everything memorized? Nothing needs more practice?” She asked as she looked up at her partner in concern.

Adam just grinned proudly as she placed his hand on his hips. “I got it, babe! No worries!”

Lute just furrowed her eyebrows even more, clearly not convinced.

Noticing his partners worry, Adam instantly dropped his haughty attitude and leaned in to cup his partner’s face gently with his giant, soft hands as he now spoke in s serious tone. “Lute, I swear on my missing rib, I know what to say.” 

He smiled at her with assurance, which made Lute soften but she still didn’t look fully convinced as she felt it wasn’t just that.“But…?” She asked him in an encouraging tone as she crossed her arms.

At that, Adam sighed defeatedly as he went to the snack table to grab a doghnut. “.....But I just think we need to make this whole interview thing more exciting for everyone.” He stated as he took a bite of the strawberry-glazed pastry.

“Like how?” Lute asked as she raised an eyebrow.

Adam shrugged at first, as he shoved the rest of the doughnut in his mouth, chewing it loudly, ticking his chin with his hand as he seemed to think of it for a brief moment before his eyes suddenly widened as if he just had an idea and he slightly gasped, turning to Lute in excitment. “AH! i could always-”

Before he could even finish that sentence, Lute knew what he was going to suggest and cut him off sternly.“No, you’re NOT going to play a musical number on LIVE TV. End of story.” 

“Ah, you know me so well, babe.” Adam just grounded in response but smiled mockingly as he went over to her to give her a peck on the cheek.

Despite blushing by the sudden affection, Lute remained her strict manner with her arms crossed.“Adam, this is serious. If we want more residents, everything has to be perfect.”

“Ugh fine.” Adam rolled his eyes, a bit annoyed by the fact that he couldn’t show off his music skills.

“Love, Just please follow the talking points we went over and everything we’ll be ok.” Lute said as she pinched the bridge of her nose.

Adam squinted his eyes before he sighed in defeat. “Okay, okay.” He said as he then attempted to walk up to Tom Trench and Katie Killjoy, only to stop right in his tracks to turn around to his partner again, a mischievous grin now spread on his face.

“What?” Lute asked as she ticked her foot impatiently, knowing that there wasn’t much time left until the interview.

Adam’s grin grew even wider and he leaned closer to his partner. “Since I'm not allowed to sing, maybe a good luck kiss will do?”

Lute blinked, confused as she studied Adam’s face, but in response she eventually  just sighed as she put her left hand on his face, stroking his soft cheeks with her long, metallic fingers. “Fine, but just one, honey. The News reporters are waiting for you.”

Adam just nodded with a giggle.“Ok.

And just like that, Adam’s big hands immediately went to grab lute by the sides of her waist, pulled her close to him and pressed his lips against her, sharing a long, romantic kiss with her as he grinned like an idiot. When Adam finally broke the kiss, Lute was panting for air, her black eyes wide as she blushed so hard that she looked like a tomato.

“Adam!” Lute yelped, completely stunned by Adam’s bold gesture.

“Thanks Lute, love you.” Adam chuckled in a merry tone, kissing her lightly on the cheek before he saluted her as he went over to Tom Trench who stood beside the few camera men.

When Adam was in the distance, Lute’s face was still as red as it could get but soon it, a goofy smile tugged on her ink-black lips as she whispered. “Love you too, you dork.”

Adam felt confident as he walked up to Tom Trench who was leaning against the wall with a bottle of whisky in his hand with a straw so he could drink it through his gas mask. When he caught sight of the first man walking in his direction, he suddenly looked more frustrated as he took another sip of the bitter liqour.

“Nice to meet you, I'm Adam.” He smiled as he reached his hand out to shake hands with Tom.

The masked man scanned Adam from head to toe in disgust before he merely introduced himself bitterly.“Tom Trench.” And so he took one long, last sip of the whiskey before throwing it aside, letting it splatter to the ground into thousands of sharp glass peices. 

“Normally, I'd say it’s a pleasure but that would be a lie.” Tom said in a mocking tone, placing his hands on his hips and then gestures to Adam's hand in a dismissive manner. “And please, put that away sir, i don’t touch your kind.”

“Right……” Adam simply responded as he put his hand away, suddenly feeling uncomfortable in the presence of this new guy.

“Look, my time is money so I'll keep this short!” Tom said as he snapped his fingers sharply at Adam. “You’re not here because we wanted to hear about your little project! you’re here because Henry and his gang couldn’t make it for their cannibal cooking segment!  So listen here, i don’t fucking care if you’re the first man or not, if you have demonic powers or not! I’m too important to give a damn about what some plus-sized horn-man wants to advertise.” Tom Trench boosted as he dusted off his fancy suit.

Adam could see that Tom’s coworker, Katie Killjoy was sitting by the desk, waiting for the interview, shaking her head in her hands in embarrassment over how arrogantly Tom was talking to the first man.

“So if you make me look like a fool on TV, I'll sell your organs!” Tom Trench finished off in a threatening tone, as he harshly poked Adam’s belly.

“Ok…?” Adam said, holding onto his stomach defensively, tilting his head, unsure of how to behave around this sinner.

“And we're LIVE!” a camera man suddenly announced as on cue, Tom Trench dashed back to the desk informant of the cameras, holding onto a few papers in his gloved hands. 

In the process he also roughly pushed Katie so he’d sit in the center, making her neck crack back and showing off that she was almost headless, the wound that was a constant reminder of how she died. Luckily she quickly readjusted her head back up, covering the wound with her pearl necklace.

“Welcome back!” Tom said in an obnoxious, cherry tone before turning to Adam who was just getting settled beside him. “So, Adam!”

Adam just smiled at the camera, not feeling anxious at all having the spotlight flashed at him since he was used to standing in front of crowds. “Greetings sinners!” He greeted as he waved in the camera's direction to make a good first apperance.

“Enough with the fancy etiquette.” Tom said demandingly, remaining in his fake joyful manner as he slammed his fist on the desk, startling both Katie and Adam. “Instead, please do tell us about this new passion project you've been insistently pestering our news station about…..!” He said, clearly trying to hold in his outburst by clenching a stress toy under the desk.

Adam took a deep breath, looking out in the crowd of sinners and caught the glance of Lute who motioned him to speak with a gentle smile, blowing him a kiss afterwards.

Seering his partners unconditional support, Adam smiled as he cleared his throat and started to speak. “Well, for start, as most of you know i was the first human man and because of my sins got sent to Hell…” He stopped for a brief moment at the bare thought of his past mistakes before snapping out of it, continung.

“And through all these thousands of years I've tried to look on the bright side of this burning underworld. Because Hell is my home and you’re my children…” Adam said as he studied the crowd of sinners with troubled eyes. “.....We just went through another Extermination. Every year I have to see thousands of souls die in a flood of blood and it breaks my heart. I’ve seen millions of souls fall, both who can be redeemed and pure evil but it bothers me that no one is given a chance to be better!” He stated as he slammed his fist on the desk.

He then placed his hands on his chest. “I can't stand idly by like this anymore.”

“So, I've been thinking:” He paused, clicking his pierced tounge, “ Isn't there a more humane way to hinder overpopulation here in Hell? Perhaps we can create an alternative way to change souls through... redemption?” 

“Well, I think yes! So, that's what this project aims to achieve!” Adam then smiled as he exclaimed in glee. “Ladies, gentlemen and everything in between, I'm opening the first of its kind, a rehab hotel for sinners, The Hope Hotel, baby yeah!” He finished off as if he had just performed a rock performance, masking a rock music gesture with his hand. 

Silence, everyone in the studio was completely silent. No one spoke, nearly everyone was stunned by Adam’s discussion.

Adam looked around, expecting at least someone to stand up and agree that this could be a decent idea. Observing the either stunned, disgusted sinners who seemingly showed no interest in this, he started to lose confidence, slowly becoming emberassed.

“Anyone intrested?” Adam asked the crowd, looking around frantically, sweating as he smiled nervously. I think it'll serve a purpose, a place to work toward redemption…..!

Tom Trench just raised an eyebrow, looking at Adam in shock and glaring daggers at him while Katie Killjoy just looked confused.

In the crowd, Lute bit her lip in anxiety, her eyebrows furrowed. 

The camera man beside her just snickers at Adams' interview. “Stupid dick.” He laughed as he looked up from the camera, which made Lute punch him square in the face, making him fall to the ground with almost  no one paying much attention to it. Everyone in the news station just continued to look at Adam with disgust and disbelief

“Well…?” Adam said, a bit saddened. 

Finally, someone peeled out from the ground pointing at Adam. “Wow! ...That was shit!” He laughed mockingly, making the whole studio burst into dry laughter. 

The whole audience, except Lute, laughed and laughed at Adam who stopped smiling, looking absolutely crushed, devastated as he slumped back into his seat, fiddling his hands together, looking down in shame.

It didn’t take long before Lute stomped angrigly up to the desk with her sword in her grip, into the spotlight in front of everyone, standing in front of Adam, shielding him from the crowd. Lute’s eyes were filled with pure anger as she scowled at the audience with a disappointed expression.

“You all better shut up or I'll start cutting all of your tongues out!” She yelled at the audience as she threateningly aimed her sword towards it, who immediately fell silent seeing that the sword was made out of angelic steel.

“That’s what I thought, bitch.” She hissed, still glaring at the crowd while Adam gently grabbed onto her arm, stopping her midway, she glanced over her shoulder and Adam shook his head at her, clearly asking her to not make a scene. 

“Babe, calm down, I'll handle this.” Adam said reassuringly with a smile.

Only for Tom Trench to cut in, still laughing mockingly at Adam. “What in the nine circles makes you think a single sinner would even consider living at your hotel?!” He wheezed, pointing at him. “You two don’t even have proof that this experiment even works!”

“Well,” Adam started, putting one of his hands on his hip while the other was holding onto Lute’s shoulder. “For your information sir, we already have patreon who has stayed with us for a while and has shown extraordinary process for being first!”

At that, Tom feigned to be shocked and asked. “Oh yeah, who?”

“Just a certain someone called Valentino!” Lute grinned, looking confident.

“The porn star?” Katie Killjoy cut in, suddenly looking interested in this subject as she grinned.

Turning to her menacingly, Tom glared at his coworker, slamming his fust at the desk once more. “You fucking would, Katie!”

Katie simply hugged herself, face red in shame.

Tom just shook her head, turning back to Lute and Adam, still smug.“Man, that’s not even an accomplishment! You can get that little whore to do anything if you pay him enough!”

Well, he’s been behaving, clean and out of trouble for two whole weeks now.” Lute laughed at Tom, as she began to count her fingers. “If that’s not an accomplishment then I don't know what it is, sir!”

Lute felt proud, joy rising in her chest as she saw something crossing in Tom Trench’s eyes that wasn’t anger, mockery or bitterness, perhaps...defeated!

Until-

“Breaking News!” Someone announced, as Tom Trench pressed his finger at the small headphone in his ear, before his eyes widened, looking straight into the camera again. “We are now receiving word that a new player has entered the ongoing turf war! Let’s see how it is, shall we?”

And so, a LIVe feed was shown on TV and the studio. It was none other than Valentino himself who was currently in the middle of the turf war, shooting the cherri girls with his two, shiny guns, laughing like a mad man, clearly enjoying the chaos he found himself in. 

Adam stared at the screen in defeat, wiler Lute was fuming in anger, her grip onto her sword tightened.

“The fuck!” Adam exclaimed over what he was witnessing. 

“ ‘The fuck’ indeed!” Tom Trench added, chuckling wickedly. “The reckless bastard who joined the fight is no other than the porn actor Valentino!” He yet again, feigned a gasp, slamming his fist against the desk, dry cackling even more.

“What a juicy coincidence!” Katie shrieked with glee, turning her head towards Adam and Lute, shaking her fist in eagerness, loving this drama. 

Tom and Katie smirked , looking at each other before they proceeded to once again laugh loudly at the Radio demon as they did jazz hands together, “Ratings!”

“Well, it sure looks like your little project is dead on arrival.” Tom stated, as he poked Adam on the nose as he loomed over him. “Do tell us, deadbeat, how does it feel to be such a total failure?!”

And so everyone in the studio began to burst into laughter yet again, this time more out of control than before.

“Will you two just shut your fucking traps!” Lute snapped at Tom and Katie, “Adam here is actually trying to help your sorry asses and you laugh at him!”

“And who are you to speak up?” Tom just shrugged her off, looking at her in a judgmental way. “Shouldn’t the first man’s whore be in the kitchen?”

To everyone’s shock, Adam suddenly raged up to Tom Trench,, glaring at Tom Trench in pure rage, “Don’t you dare speak to her like that!” He screamed in his face, his voice echoing in the studio, making everyone cower in fear or stood still in fright.

However, Tom didn’t think Adam would actually bring harm upon him and condescendingly asked, completely unbothered. “Finally hit a nerve huh? What are you going to do about it?”

Tom Trench however quickly regretted the decision of mocking the first man and his girlfriend, as Adam revealed his true form, his demeanor had drastically been changed to be more sinister, revealing just how thousands years in Hell had corrupted his body. Horns appeared out of his head, his eyes glowing demonic red, fangs sharpened. While Lute’s eyes become fully shiny black and raise her sword towards him.

“Oh….” Tom Trench subconsciously said, staring in disbelief of the sight in front of him, chuckling nervously, knowing he was officially fucked.

Knowing what was to come, Katie Killjoy dashed off set.

Everybody instantly stops laughing as they see Adam and Lute giving Tom Trench death stares, looming over him.

Yeah, this definitely didn’t go as planned!

*******************************************************************

At the same time at the west side of Pentagram city, where the turf war was taking place, reddish, cherry-smelling smoke blew up nearly every other second, bombs were blasted from left and right, the ear-splitting shooting sound of guns echoed through the city. Laughs were heard and more explosions appeared. 

And in the middle of the absolute chaos, Valentino himself stood in the battlefield, shooting at the Cherry Girls with his guns as he inhaled the red smoke, feeling roused by it, while beside him stood his buddy, Sir Pentious cracker who threw egg bomb after egg bomb, laughing like a maniac at each explosion and destruction that the bombs provided. The two were hiding behind the ruins of a crumbled up apartment building, taking enjoyment of the chaos in front of them.

“Thanks for the backup by the way!” Pentious loudly said to Valentino, as he threw yet another bomb.

“Amore, this is the most fun I've had in days!” Valentino just laughed, his smile reaching up to his chin bones, as he put his lower pair of hands on his hips.

“The pleasure is all mine!” Pentious cackled, but then his tone changed drastically to a more serious one, “But I do wonder; where have you been? For a moment I thought you were dead, kidnapped or worse!” 

“Ugh, I wish that was the case!” Valentino rolled his eyes, lighting a full-packed, powerful dynamite and handed it to Sir Pentious. “But no, I've been staying at this crappy hotel on the other side of town!”

As he received the dynamite, Pentious immediately threw it to the distance with strong force before he cowered beside Valentino, both preparing for the big explosion that was to come. 

“The first daddy and his bitch let me stay there for free if I behave like a good boy!” Valentino explained and just after, the two friends covered their ears, covered their heads as the big, effective, powerful explosion set off behind their cover.

Afterwards, the duo grinned mischievously at each other before jumping onto the battlefield, armed with more bombs and guns.

“And their term for behaving is…..?” Sir Pentious asked, masking a gesture with his hand as he casually threw three egg bombs at another army of Cherry Girls

Valentino sighed, unbothered as he continued to shoot restlessly at the Cherry Girls. “Like, no smoking, no stealing, no fighting, no bad language…” He spit at the side, at the bare mention of the rules he had to follow for weeks. “His words not mine, amore.”

The moth demon then stepped on a broken tile, launching five Cherri girls up in the air as he took the opportunity to shoot them casually. “Those uptight shits are no fun! Because of them I haven't smoked anything for two weeks!” He huffed in annoyance, as the Cherry Girls gooey remains splattered on him. 

“Really?” Sir pentious asked in disbelief as he fought off more Cherri Girls, 

“Well sort of…” Valentino grinned, shrugging as he shook off the smudge off him. “I just haven’t been able to get my hands on the good type of weed!”

Just as he said that, a chain suddenly launched at Valentino, wrapping around his body, trapping him in a clasped grip, before he was thrown in the air and then slammed to the destroyed road. The one holding the chain revealed themselves to be none other than Cherri, walking up to Valentino who was recovering from the fall, groaning in pain.

But as he saw that Cherri was standing above him, his demeanor suddenly changed, licking his lips seductively and moaning out loud. “¡Oh! ¡Más fuerte! Daddy likes it”

Cherri scrowled, understandebly taken back in disgust over valentino’s reaction.

Pentious however gasped in the distance, his eyes wide “Is she your daughter!?”

Cherri and Valentino were both confused, a bit stunned before Cherri quickly took action, using the chain to throw Valentino again, this time slamming him into Sir Pentious with a thud. 

As the dust instantly settled, Valentino stumbled as he stood up again, removing the chain off him as he whined, holding onto his side.

Cherri merely giggled spitefully, dragging the chain back to her, wrapping it around her hand as she watched her two rivals in pain.

Pentious was absolutely outraged, his hood flared open, flashing all his eyes.“You whore has no class!” He yelled at Cherri, hissing at the end of the sentence. “In war, the side remembered is the side with the most style!” He stated as he adjusted how tie.

“Or the side that ain't dead, old man!” Cherri said as she hung the chain behind her back and took out her activated rocket launcher.

Valentino then spoke up again, his cocky grin returned.“While we’re on the subject: Which berry-sinner knocked up so badly for you to make these cherri freaks?”

Cherri blinked at that in incredulity over that, wondering if she really had heard right, standing still and stunned for seconds before sputtering out. “T-t-t-the fuck?!”

“Yeah,” Valentino nodded. “I’m seriously surprised that you’re able to remain in shape after giving birth to so many cherri cunts!”

“I DIDN’T give birth to them, you uneducated bitch!” Cherri yelled, utterly offended.

“Oh, you're the one to talk!” Pentious snapped.

“Calm down scales.” Valentino patted his friend's shoulder, as he gestured to Cherri.”She’s just being pissy. She’s probably on her period or something. That explains why her skirt is red!”

“You sexist little bitch!” Cherri gawked before she growled, downright infuriated as she aimed at Valentino and Pentious, ready to shoot. “I'm going to blow you to bits!”

“Bring it!” Pentious replied, yelling louder as he took out more bombs from his belt.

Valentino, though, eyed the tension between his friend and Cherri, smirking. “Mh, kinky!”

“Just quit it, pervert!” Pentious lightly scolded his friend. “Aren’t you going to get in deep trouble for this?”

Valentino just blew a raspberry.“Eh, what's one little brawl gonna cause?”

Back at the studio, Adam and Lute were having a violent fist fight, as the fire alarm went off, sinners panicking as Katie Killjoy was running in a panic, her hair was set on fire.

“WHY WON'T ANYONE HELP ME?!” She screamed in utmost agony.

In the battlefield, Cherri and Sir Pentious accompanied by Valentino stood on opposite sides of the road, prepared to fight, to go for each other's necks, to finish this off. 

“Despite everything, I'm glad you haven’t changed.” Sir Pentious said with glee as he patted Valentino on the back encouragingly.”

“Yeah, I'm unredeemable, amor.” Valentino chuckled as he loaded his guns. 

“Are you ready to finish this?” Pentious asked as he took out one last egg bomb that was comparable bigger than the last ones. 

“Born ready!” Valentino exclaimed, emitting one last battle cry as he and Pentious pounced at Cherri who did the same with her last Cherry Girls, prepared to clash, as Lute, Adam and Tom were at each other's throats, screaming, Katie was still on fire, everyone yelling in the middle of all the chaos they all caused.

Chapter Text

Shame.

Shame was everything Adam could feel as he had his hand in his hand, his finger pinching the bridge of his nose in an attempt to calm down as he looked out the car window, his eyes drawn with dread and sorrow for the major incident that happened on LIVE TV. He wanted to cry but he kept in the tears. He’d learn how to mask his inner pain and feelings are towards of years of humiliation, torture and grief afterall. He felt utterly disappointed in himself, ashamed and ridiculous. Why did he actually think that the sponsor would actually attract more residents at his doorsteps?

He let out a heavy sigh, his eyes still glued to the outside, counting each street lamp the self-driving limousine passed by.

Meanwhile, sitting right beside him, Lute’s eye was twitching, glaring daggers at their singular hotel resident sitting in front of the duo, who were seemingly unbothered by the obvious tension in the car as he applied a new layer of red lipstick on him with the reflection of his small compact mirror.

Lute could feel her blood boil as she growled at Valentino, which caught the moth sinner's attention, finally taking notice and shifting his eyes off his mirror and onto a visibly furious Lute.

“Huh?” Valentino simply said, raising an eyebrow as if he wasn’t aware of the situation he so carelessly  caused.

”Huh? What do you mean HUH?!” Lute finally snapped, snarling as she pointed at Valentino.”What the fuck did you even think?!”

Val just rolled his eyes, checking his polished nails/claws. ”I owed my guy buddy a favor. Isn’t that a redeeming quality?” He mocked as he did air quotes, cocking his head. ”You know, that lame rant of ‘Helping friends with stuff’?”

”Not with turf wars that results in property damage and territorial genocide!” Lute roared with a thundering voice. 

”Eh, a guy can’t blow off some steam?” Val cackled, grinning as he proceeded to puff his small neck fur. ”It wasn’t that bad anyway.”

Lute did not like that reply as she once again glared at Val, looking ready to pounce on him at any moment if Adam would allow her.

”It was just forced on me, my credibility was on the line!” Valentino just started to whine ”What kind of reputation would I have if people, my fans included, would assume that I'm trying to go clean? That just ruins my persona as a sexy bastard.” He glamored as he seductively trailed his long finger from his chest to his crotch, showing off his perfect dancer body.

”Excuse me? Your credibility?!” Lute stammered, disbelief over what she was hearing, her voice dripping with pure rage. 

”What about the Hotel?! May I remind you that YOUR trainwreck made us the laughing stock of the decade! You completely humiliated us and worse, you don’t even show remorse for it!”

“Ah, no amoricita, I made you guys look pathetic!” Val scoffed as he motions all of his four hands to a still-defeated looking Adam.“I’m quite impressed that you guys had the nerve to fist fight Tom Trench, if it was me, I would've died of shame, never showing my face to the public eye ever again!”

Adam took another deep breath, this time through his nose as he readjusted his sitting position, now sitting up with straight back and proud shoulders, his gaze on his feet.

Valentino just scanned around the limo, licking himself in the mouth.“By the way; I’m feeling a bit burned out. Does this car have any liquor?”

“Can you do us all a favor and shut up for once!?” Lute barked, slamming her fist on her seat, looking absolutely livid.

“Don’t sweat it baby, you’ll get wrinkles if you keep wasting your energy on your anger.”

“Don’t test me!”

"Why not?”

“Valentino, enough!”

As Adam’s sudden, stern demonic voice cut through the conversation, everything suddenly went silent once again.

Both Lute and Valentino stopped midway to snap their heads towards Adam who had his horns appearing out of his brown locks, glaring at the moth sinner with those rare eyes written in calm anger.

Yet, Val still didn’t look threatened as he just folded his arms confidently, laughing dryly. “Aw, don’t get your dick in a twist, yalla, yalla. ”

“Are you trying to be sexist or racist towards him?!” Lute yelled while gritting her teeth, her eyes flared in rage and protectiveness over her lover. 

“Whatever pisses him off more.” Val grinned mischievously, amused by her reaction.

Lute was about to rise up from her seat to attack Val, only for Adam to stop her by taking a gentle hold on her. “Lute, I'll handle this.” He whispered to her reassuringly in a soft tone while he settled her back down.

Lute merely groaned. “It’s times like this where I wish Sinners couldn’t be killed with just angelic steel.” She said out loud, wishing she had her angelic steel sword right now. Adam sometimes hides it to prevent her from making any brutal actions without second thoughts. And he certainly wouldn’t like her to physically attack their only resident as Adam for most of the time liked to solve conflict with words.

“Yeah, you’re stuck with me, bitches.” Valentino commented, cackling afterwards.

”Valentino, son,” Adam interrupted the argument again, his voice back to normal but remained a strict tone as he stared at Valentino in the manner of a disappointed father. 

That made Valentino blink in confusion, finally biting his tongue and letting the first man speak.

”That was a really immature thing you did back there, i asked you kindly this morning to stay collected and yet you disrespected my orders.” Adam reminded his resident harshly. “I’m extremely disappointed in your behavior. Once we get back to the hotel, I’ll have to make a call but until I find a suitable punishment for you, I think a timeout would do you some good.”

That statement left Valentino starting to sputter in anger and complete disbelief, processing what he just heard before he shook his head, looking pissed.”Are you tripping balls or some shit?! I ain’t some toddler! I’ll NOT sit in a damn corner!”

”I think you have no say in this.” Adam declared, narrowing his eyes, looking dead serious before he shifted his gaze at his lover.

”Lute?” He simply asked,

And as on cue, Lute grinned as she cracked her knuckles, chuckling smugly at Valentino who now looked very frightened, especially now that the trio were almost at the hotel.

But (un)surprisingly, Valentino just chuckled ”Are we doing some kinky sh-” 

”This is ridiculous!” 

Val whined for the tenth time as he grunted, struggling against the ropes tied around his body that kept him restrained to the chair he was sitting on, facing a corner of the hotel lobby. He hated this! This was absolutely humiliating, stupid! He had just committed a turf war and now he was getting punished like a small child. He was stuck, defeated by a stupid hellborn woman to Adam’s bitch!

Watching his struggle with amusement, Lute smirked, placing her hand on her hips. ”Stay there until we come back to get you.” 

”You can’t just leave me here!” Val called out but couldn’t free himself of the ropes keeping him in place as Adam and Lute went to talk in private.

Adam threw himself on one of their leather couches, exhausted after today’s events before Lute sat right beside him rubbing her temples as she mumbled curses under her breath. Noticing his partner’s distress, Adam placed a comforting hand on Lute’s back, drawing circles on it in order to provide solace, which seemingly made Lute’s shoulder to lower as she sighed afterwards as she leaned her head to place on Adam’s shoulder.

”What are we going to do now?” She asked, her voice drained as she nuzzled into Adam’s body warmth.

”I don’t know, but it’s ok….” Adam admitted, biting his lip, still holding onto Lute gently.”We’ll figure it out, eventually…”

There was a moment of silence between the couple. Adam was looking in dismay around the hotel lobby, the old and dirty establishment he had so much hope for, while Lute was checking her mechanic and prosthetic arm, making sure that it could still work properly after the fight with Tom Trench.

That’s when her ink-black eyes fell onto the snack table with her freshly baked sweets she worked so hard on.

”I baked scones for nothing!” Lute exclaimed, gesturing her hands to the snack table. ”Nothing!”

Seeing this, Adam quickly thought of a way to lighten the mood as he threw an arm around her shoulder in a dramatic and loud manner. ”Well, that’s good, with no people, I get to eat them all!”

That made Lute snort, almost cracking a small smirk but she quickly returned to being serious as she smacked Adam’s arm. ”Oh, be serious!” 

Adam chuckled, but it died down when he acknowledged just how upset Lute was and he immediately shuffled even closer to her, cupping her face and stared lovingly into her eyes.

”Love, it’s going to be ok, I promise.” He soothed, pressing his nose against her, his hot breath on her cold skin.

Lute softened at the physical touch, melting against his hands and a tired smile curving at the corner of her mouth.

The two sat there for a moment, embracing each other until Adam pulled away, deciding to go out to get some fresh air, pressing a small kiss on Lute’s cheek. 

”I’ll be back soon, ” he assured her as he took out his phone to call Sera. 

Lute nodded in response and Adam walked outside the hotel. As soon as Adam stepped out the hotel doors and was out of sight, Lute’s smile slowly faltered, huffing in worry of what they should do now after the humiliation. She walked over to Valentino to see how he was handling his punishment.

Not well. Not well at all. As expected.

The moth demon was growling, screaming, cursing mindlessly, kicking his legs like a distressed child. But he immediately switched up when he noticed Lute’s presence and smirked as she sat down at an armchair near him.

”Ay Amor,” Valentino began in a patronizing voice, deciding to tease her. ”You should probably get some actual food to feed all the hungry souls in here!” He tilted his head to the side, to the snack table before he dryly laughed. 

He expected her to scream or hit him for insulting her, as she always did

But he got none, surprisingly.

Instead Lute just sighed, looking utterly tired and dowated with her head hanging, not even having the energy to reply to Valentino’s comment. That made Val stop laughing, furrowing his eyebrows at Lute. Actually taken back by this as a small sense of regret started to seep in him, for once feeling a bit apologetic but didn’t say furthermore and just returned to stare into the corner, remaining silent. 

Right outside the hotel, Adam was leaning against a window frame, trying to contact Sera with his phone, waiting impatiently for her to pick up, unsure if she’d even bother after all this time.

 For the last couple of years, the two haven't spoken much, let alone contacting each other through text and calls. Sera hasn’t really been herself since her younger sister, Emily mysteriously disappeared seven years ago. Both Adam and Sera searched everywhere but with no luck. Losing her sister like that, caused dear Sera to fall into a deep state of depression, shutting out everyone, even Adam….

When the call eventually went to voicemail, Adam felt dread filling his chest, yet he spoke anyway, trying to sound a little merry after today.

”Hiya there Sera,.” He began weakly. ”I’m sorry if I’m interrupting you in the middle of your work. Being the guardian and gatekeeper of Hell can’t be easy, right?” He joked, yet his lip wobbled. ”But the interview didn’t go well, like at all, I made a fool of myself and….” 

His voice cracked, feeling ashamed of himself. “I just ... .I don’t know if I'll ever manage to make a difference, to help my children, I just feel so lost, I could really use some advice….”

He just wanted to hear her voice again, her telling him what to do, her nagging orders. He missed them so much. He just wants to make sure he hasn’t failed her…again.

He held in his tears, chuckling to hide his sorrow.“Anyways, call me when you can. M’kay….. ?”

Nothing…

He ended the voicemail before he headed inside the hotel again, closing the door behind him and leaning in in defeat, his back pressed against the floor as he scratched his beard stubble. 

But just then, a sudden knock was heard from the other side of the door, lightly startling the first man. 

He turned around to face the front door, wondering who it could be. He bit his lip, contemplating on whether or not to open it before he gulped, reaching out the handle with a slight shaking hand, deciding to open it. 

He dragged the door, revealing a curvy, feminine solutte standing in the doorway with a victorian dress, hat and an umbrella in her claws as she smiled widely at Adam, flashing her sharp teeth.

Recognizing who she was, Adam’s eyes widened in shock, taking a step back in fear.

“Well-” 

the demoness tried to say something, only for Adam to slam the door in her face.

Adam blinked, processing for a brief moment before opening it again, and she was still standing there, looking unaffected by Adam’s action and remained her stretched smile.

“-Hello-”

She tried to speak yet again, but Adam once again slammed the door in her face but then opened it again and she was still standing there as if he hadn’t cut her off two times before.

“-there!”

Adam slammed the door closed again, this time not opening it again as he backed in fear from the door, shaking in fear.

“Ey Lute..?” He called out, still stunned by the specific demoness standing outside his hotel.

“What?” Lute yelled from the lobby, clearly annoyed.

“The Cannibal Duchess is at the door!” Adam admitted, going straight to the point as he pointed to the front door, looking terror-stricken.

“What?!” Lute shrieked, sitting up straight, her eyes widened in fear.

“The what?” Valentino cut in, looking confused.

“I don’t know what to do?!” Adam bit his nails, panicking and conflicted on what he should do in this situation.“I can’t just ignore her.”

Lute walked up to Adam,“But we can’t let her in! Under ANY circumstances!” She reminded him sternly, but she was clearly just as fretful as her partner. 

The couple started to exchange suggestions, talking in panic to each other, discussing what to do.

However, they were so caught up in talking that they didn’t even notice that Val had managed to free himself from the ropes thanks to his sharp teeth. Once released, he spit out the rope remains out of his mouth, frowning at the taste while he merely strolled to the front doors, awfully curious of who this demon was and why they frightened Adam and Lute so badly.

Without a second thought, he opened the door, and the cannibalistic duchess was still standing there with the same grin, playing with her frilly umbrella without a care in the world, her hollow, black eyes perked as the door was once again open.

”Hello there!” She politely greeted the moth demon, reaching her gloved hand out for him to shake. 

“Rosie Spike-teeth! It’s a pleasure to meet you, good sir!”

The haunting sound of the demoness' echoing voice finally caught Adam and Lute’s attention, snapping their head in the doors direction.

“Val!” 

The two screamed at the moth demon who paid no mind in getting caught, as he was busy eyeing the strange demoness from top to toe, licking his lips and grinned. “Not bad.”

“May I come in?” Rosie simply asked, ignoring Val’s clear attraction to her physical appearance.

Valentino shrugged ”Ah, ofcourse-”

Before he could even finish that sentence, Rosie had already walked past him, getting inside with a jump in her step and smiled even wider when she caught the sight of the first man standing in front of her. 

”Ah, Adam! The first man!” She exclaimed with glee as she started to walk towards him. “Do forgive me sir if I showed up at an inconvenient time but I saw your fiasco on TV and I just HAD to come here!”

Adam was shaking like a leaf, unable to move as if his feet were glued to the carpet.

“It was extraordinary, I've never felt such a thrill since I ate my first husband!” She twirled, giggling like a schoolgirl, picking her teeth afterwards.“His flesh was a bit tangy though…and he was hard to digest.”

Before she could even come closer to Adam, Lute stood in between them, shielding Adam as she pulled out her angelic steel sword, finding it in Adam’s bag and now holding it threateningly towards Rosie’s chest, making the carnival demon stop midway but keep her smile.

“Don’t you dare take another step.” Lute hissed, her eyes cold as she was visibly unafraid of Rosie. “Whatever scheme you have for showing your face here, I won't let you harm anyone here!”

 She stated, not backing down as she leaned closer to Rosie, locking eyes with her.“You snobby, smooth-talking, gut-chomping hag!”

Rosie just giggled yet again, she seemed more amused than threatened as she calmly turned away the blade to another direction with her sharp fingers.

“Please darling, if I really wanted to hurt anyone here..” She said, her voice sounding more demonic as white pupils appeared in her eyes, making her look maniatic as her teeth sharpened. “I would've done so already…”

Valentino simply blinked, emitted a moth-like squeak sound, unmindful of the danger in front of him, while Lute and Adam stared at Rosie perturbed, not daring to say another word until Rosie returned to her casual form, the white pupils disappeared. 

“But no, I'm here to help you two!” She said cheerfully, her voice high pitched.

“I beg your pardon?” Lute asked, stunned.

“Help,” She repeated herself as she adjusted her hat. ”Did  you hear it or did your ears fall off on the way here?”

“With what exactly?” Adam asked, distinctly asking Rosie to be a little more specific.

“This absurd thing you’re trying to achieve!” She explained as she put her arms out, gesturing to the entirety of the hotel. ”This poor, put-together establishment! I want to help you run it.”

”Uh, why….?” Adam asked, squinting his eyes.

”It’s simple really sir.” Rosie beamed, her hands behind her back.”I was created out of the ashes and dust of Hell for over a century ago, and ever since then I’ve fulfilled my desires of eating my own kind, collecting souls and torturing demons.”

”It's fun and all but it gets boring after a while.” She clicked her tongue, pouting as she fiddled with her umbrella. ”It’s just the same tired old routine with no spice or excitement.”

”So that’s why I’ve come here!” She confessed happily.

”I don’t get it? How is this hotel a new form of excitement?” Adam questioned, raising a finger.

”I saw how you two plastered the hotel on TV! It was true passion!” Rosie explained, smiling at the memory as she placed her hand on her chest in pride. ”As an old friend once told me: The world's a stage and the stage is a world of entertainment.”

”And what makes you think we’ll let you stay with us?” Lute fumed, stomping her foot as she pointed accusingly at Rosie. ”You probably don’t even believe in redemption.”

”You’re right!” Rosie admitted, applauding to Lute.

”Huh?” Lute said, raising an eyebrow.

”I have no hope of this thing ever happening. It’s just a silly dream, I don't think that anything can save these pitiful sinners.” She illuminated as she motioned to Valentino now sitting on a couch, looking unbothered by Rosie’s insult.

”What’s done is done, the sin is yours. Nothing can save you now.” She smiled.

”But what is your purpose for coming here then?” Lute scoffed.

”I simply want to watch you two fail miserably. It’s always so comedic seeing the forgotten souls of this underworld trying to achieve the impossible, only to crumble into the fiery pit of non-fullilment!” Rosie shrugged, as if it was a casual thing to say.

Adam opened his mouth in an attempt to say something, only for Rosie to drag him by the sleeve to talk more about the props of her helping them in this, trailing off from Lute who settled herself on the couch next to Valentino. 

Lute wasn’t buying anything that came out of the demoness' mouth. She didn’t trust her at all and how touchy she was with both her and Adam as she glared at Rosie standing next to Adam at the other side of the room, talking to one another. 

”Uh, so what’s the deal with miss hottie hips over there?” Val suddenly asked, laughing on the couch and had much too fun observing Rosie.

Lute snapped her head towards Val, once again confused. ”Seriously? You’ve never even heard a word about her? Ever?”

Valentino solely shrugged cluelessly.

”The Cannibal Duchess? The only Hellborn Overlord. Cannibal town’s founder and ruler? The most powerful hellborn being in Hell’s history?”

”Eeeeeeeeh…..” Valentino squinted his eyes, but nothing rang a bell in his little bald head. ”No.”

Lute groaned in annoyance but gave in and leaned in to tell Valentino the whole story about Rosie.

”As she recently said, over a century ago she was created. You see, hellborns are created when Hell's ashes, blood remains and enough heat are combined and after a few days at least one Hellborn is made with no soul. It doesn't even matter if a hellborn is a good person or not, they’re doomed to witter away in Hell for all eternity.”

”and you’re one of them, right?” Val interrupted.

”…..Yes….” Lute replied, a bit quiet before she continued.

”She manifested in Hell, seemingly overnight. Although she appeared to be just a simple Hellborn with no unique abilities, she began to defeat and slaughter Overlords that have been ruling Hell for entire centuries. That kind of dominant power had never been harnessed by someone of her kind before. She started to make deals, taking ownership of multiple souls and got other Hellborns under her command, creating her own town of minions that soon got named Cannibal town because of her unsatisfied hunger for flesh. She became the first ever Hellborn to become such an Overlord, no one knew when or how she got her powers but one thing is for sure; She’s an unpredictable source of danger, a wicked creature with no mercy, and a violent monster of mystery, the likes of which we can't risk getting involved with unless we want to end up eradicated from this realm!”

”Uh huh,” Val laughed. ”Well, she looks like a thick Mary poppins.”

Lute rolled her eyes at Valentino’s description, shortly after she got up and walked up to Adam. 

The first man was still talking to Rosie, clearly uneasy by her presence and Lute could see it clearly and pulled Adam from her by the shoulder to have a private conversation with him about this.

”Adam please.” Lute pleaded with her lover, placing her palm over his chest. ”We can’t just let her join us like that. You were the first one in Hell, you know that she’s not just a pretty face but also a dangerous gameplayer and has no goodness in her. She just wants to ruin this for us!”

Knitting his eyebrows, Adam thought about it, feeling weary about this before he spoke up.

”Lute,” He paused, biting the inside of his cheek. ”I’m not an idiot, I know how this cruel underworld works, I’ve seen every kind of evil humanity has had to offer and I’ve seen Rosie’s doings that have even frightened me. But I’ve also seen her influence and how easy she can  convince demons of any kind.”

He took Lute’s hand softly,”We’re desperate Lute, we can’t deny it and she might be our best and last chance to make this work..”

 Staring deep into Lute’s eyes, Adam nodded in assurance. ”But I won't lower my guard with her working with us.”

”Me neither.” Lute added, seriously.

”Just trust me love, I can handle this.” Adam soothed, placing a light kiss on Lute’s ink black lips.

”Fine,” Lute gave in, yet worry was still written in her facial expression. ”Just promise me that you won’t make a deal with her.”

”I promise.” Adam smiled affectionately.

Turning his heel, Adam slowly walked up to Rosie who kept her preoccupied by studying multiple  portraits over the hotel lobby, but perked up as soon as Adam was just beside her.

”Ok Rosie..” Adam began, taking a deep breath.”Don’t try to butter me up, I know that you’re upto no good and you clearly just see what I’m doing here as a joke but I don't!”

He then took advantage of his imitate  demonic appearance to remind Rosie that she was below him on the power hierarchy in Hell. ”I still have faith in some of the sinners, in second chances so I’m  taking your offer and you’ll help me on the condition of no deals, tricks or strings attached!”

Rosie hummed, thinking about the suggestion.

Adam looked over his shoulder to Lute, and she nodded, approving of this.

”Sounds fair?” Adam asked, turning back to the Cannibal Duchess.

”Fair enough.” Rosie finally answered as she twirled her umbrella, looking satisfied enough as she then continued to look around her new work environment for indefinite time, humming a tune she heard on the radio, ticking her chin.

”So where’s the hotel staff then?” She asked, curiously.

”Well for the moment it’s just me and Lute.” Adam clarified as he stood beside his partner who continued to look at Rosie with loathing.

”Mmmh.” Rosie hummed, eyeing the couple with judgmental, empty eyes.

She then proceeded to walk towards Valentino who was still sitting on the couch, unbothered.

”And what can you do my fabolous, flamboyant fella?” Rosie asked the moth demon echourangly.

”I can eat you out!” Val immediately answered with a charming tone, 

For a brief moment, Rosie was nearly confound, her smile remained, trying to process what she was just offered.

”No,” She merely said, forcing a giggle. ”Thank you very much.”

”Your loss, Amorita.” Val scoffed, smirking as he brought up two of his fingers to his lips, licking between them seductively.

“Well this just won’t do!” Rosie announced. 

“It’s clear that this place is long overdue for a lady’s touch! Allow me!” She stated much happily as she once again twirled her umbrella unfurling it, spinning it around and suddenly, the lobby got a glow up with much better tapestry, new, fancier fireplace and better, cleaner furniture.

Valentino, Lute and Adam looked in awe over this improvement just before Rosie snapped her fingers and in a blink of an eye, a figure appeared in front of the group from a cloud of purplish smoke. Once the smoke had settled, the figure revealed itself to be a doll-looking female sinner with long, silky, red hair and the newest, trendiest attire.

The doll demoness coughed due to the smoke, swatting it away.“Ugh, I really wish you’d warn me before doing that, Rosie….” She complained as she squinted her eyes, noticing the three other demons beside her. 

“Everyone, this petite lady is Velvette!” Rosie introduced the new sinner before anyone could question.

Velvette did not look pleased being here at all as she crossed her arms, rolling her eyes.

retracting her umbrella into thin air, Rosie went behind Velvette, placing her hands on the younger demoness's shoulders. “Oh, don’t be rude now dear, say hello!” 

“Hi…” she said bitterly, not even bothering to wave at them, then looked around her surroundings.

“Why am I here again…?” She slurred, clearly having been teleported all out of a sudden.

“You’re going to work here for some time.” Rosie simply explained with a nod. “This hotel desperately needs your assistance! I’m sure you’ll enjoy yourself here!”

Velvvette scowled at the idea of being here but Rose just gave her shoulders a hard squeeze, a painful reminder of who was in control over her and that Velvette in the end had no choice.

“Fine..!” She sighed as she released herself from Rosie’s iron grip.

The doll demoness walked up to the trio, observing them intensely, looking repulsed.

“What is this?” She asked, gesturing to Adam and Lute’s hotel suits

“Our uniforms?” Lute said.

“What is this? is it 1570?!” Velvette berated in dismissal, ticking her tongue as she stared at them in utter judgement. “No, this is terrible, distasteful, awful!” she shook her head rapidly.

And so, she took out her phone, scrolled through it, wrote something in it and took some pictures around the lobby.“Ok, sticking to the same theme as this building…” She mumbled! 

“I’m thinking of golden leather suits, shiny shoes and straightened acessories! I'll get started right now, no requests, I know what i’m doing!” She waved her hand towards the group in speed, her eyes now glued to her screen as she began designing and writing clothes idea’s on it. “Nope! Nope! Nope! Nope!”

And just then, another unfamiliar voice was heard right beside the old bar, revealing another cloud of purplish smoke which faded in a matter of seconds, revealing a man with a TV for a head sitting by a table, with a bottle in his face, drinking violently, unaware that he’d just been teleported to another place.

But as soon as he put down the bottle, wiping his mouth with his sleeve, he immediately noticed that he was somewhere else, turning his head around, revealing that a part of his screen face was cracked over where his other eye would be. 

“The fuck..?” He stammered his speech

His red eye widened as he spotted Rosie standing in front of him, electric sparks of fury eliciting him as he glared at her.

“Oh, it’s you….” He muttered, gritting his teeth, throwing the now empty beer bottle aside, already over this. “Can you warn us before you do that…?”

“Exactly.” Velvette shouted, overhearing Vox.

“Oh Voxander!” Rosie giggled, walking up to him with her signature grin. “To see your barely functioning face warms my black heart!”

“Don’t you start with me, withered hag!” Vox shouted at her, jerking away as she attempted to place a hand on him.

“Now, now, is that how a gentleman should behave?”Rosie lightly scolded, tutting him like he was a disobedient child.

“I’m not even a-” Vox tried to argue back, but stopped mid sentence as he facepalmed angrily. “Whatever, what do you need this time?”

“Well, I'm doing some charity work and your services are needed!” Rosie said, leaning closer to Vox, ignoring his personal space.

“You're playing me or some shit?!” Vox face dropped.

“No darling, I don't think I am!”

“You thought it would be entertaining to summon me here!?” Vox slammed his fist onto the table, the impact was so hard that it left a little crack. “You think I'm your personal jester!?”

“Perhaps! So what do you say?” Rosie snickers, covering her mouth, to prevent herself from laughing out loud.

“I’d rather die again….” Vox barked, anger flashing in his eye. 

“Is that so?” Rosie lightly murmured. 

“I’m not doing any charity work!” Fumed, Vox dusted off himself from the newly teleportation

“Well darling, I thought you’d be the perfect soul to man the front desk!” She bellowed as she gestured towards the bar which she had just freshened up with her renovation magic.“Just act happy and turn up your charm and this job is made for you!”

Vox huffed, clearly not interested in this as Rosie walked towards the bar, trailing her fingers over the counter, strolling beside it gracefully.“But i’ve always loved to reward my friends-”

“We’re not friends.” Vox cut in.

“So I can make this feel more at home for you.” Rosie ignored him as she waved her hand, making a coffee cup and multiple bags of fancy, tasty coffee grinds appear out of nowhere.

Vox’s eyes widened at that, examining the coffee with goo goo eyes. 

“So what’ll it be?” Rosie asked, uplifting, ticking her chin.

Vox eyed the Coffee for one more moment before snapping out of it, growling.”You think that I'm so easily persuaded that you can just win me over with some free, limitless coffee?”

“Yes.” Rosie nodded

“Well you’re absolutely right.” Vox bluntly said as he immediately went behind the bar counter to take out a coffee machine to brew his first cup. 

“Splendid!” Rosie cheered with a bright smile plastered on her pale face.

Meanwhile, Valentino’s attention was now set on Vox and the bar with all the free alcohol, biting his lip seductively.

“Oh, we’re keeping this. “ He whispered to himself as he sauntered towards the bar, swaying his hips and had his pink eyes fully focused on Vox who were just noticing the moth demon walking in his direction. 

“What?” Vox simply asked, annoyed as he was interrupted in the middle of his coffee brewing.

In response, Val leaned closer to Vox, sticking his long tongue out, with a flirtatious look. “Hello there, papi~” He murnerd alluringly, reaching out to hold Vox’s flat face.

“Go fuck yourself.” Vox hissed, jerking away.

“If you want to..” Valenttino shrugged suggestively,

Just before Adam stepped in, pushing the moth demon out of the way to properly welcome the new addiction to the hotel staff, adjusting his tie and straightened suit before he reached out his hand for Vox to shake.

“Hey there sunny, welcome to the Hope Hotel, make yourself at home.” Adam greeted the TV demon with a merry tone.

Voc just huffed in dismissal. “Sure, sure.”

“You’ll love it here!” Adam added, sounding extremely confident.

“I lost the ability to love years ago, sir.” Vox declared, choosing to ignore Adam as he just now saw that the coffee was finished brewing, steaming hot.

“So what do you think?” Rosie asked, sounding proud over her work.

“I have to admit, this is pretty hardcore!” Adam said, sounding very happy this far by this agreement.

“It’s fine, I guess.” Lute added, reluctantly with her hand on her hips.

“This is going to be very entertaining!” Rosie giggled, twirling around the lobby. “So how about-”

Just as she was about to say yet more, unexpectedly the hotel door exploded, sending the doors flying across the lobby, startling everyone inside, before they all went outside to examine the cause of it, only to see Ms Cherri Berri’s punk rock warship appearing outside the hotel.

“Show yourself Valentino, you dirty little cumsack and fight like a man!” Cherri’s ear-scrolling voice echoed out of it and in the warship's huge, pink-tinted front window, you could see the silhouette of Cherri, sitting by the control panel, pulling a leather.

“Hey Miss Cherry Cunt!” Valentino waved at the warship, mockingly which earned him a smack in the back of the head by Lute who already had her sword out, ready to protect.

Preparing to shoot yet another, Cherri grinned in pitying amusement

That is until she spotted a peculiar demoness in the crowd.

Rosie.

By the bare sight of her; cherri immediately freaked out, scrambling to reach for her steering wheel to get out of there as quickly as possible.

“Shit, shit, shit, shit!” She shrieked in a state of panic 

But before she could even get pull the right leather to take her leave, an overly, echoing sound of the snap of a finger could be heard and just above the warship, hundreds if not thousands of demonic creatures appeared with angelic weapons in their claws, crawling out an otherworldly portal, emerging onto the warship and started to destroy it, piece by piece, chewing their way through the metal all while Cherri was still inside, trying to escape but unfortunately the demons blocked the entres. The gremlin-looking demon was evidently trying to squeeze together the warship like an empty soda can with Cherri and her Cherri Girls still inside. 

As the warship started to crumble and shake like crazy with no seemingly exit, Cherri  rushed to collect the few of her Cherri Girls that she had left, and gathered them in a pile then shielding them protectively as she closed her eye, embracing herself for the painful impact, 

but it never came, instead seconds later the shaking and crumbling of her warship suddenly stopped.

Hesitantly, Cherri slowly opened her eye, seeing that her warship had been completely destroyed at the surface and the windows was cracked, and the smoke inside was so thick that it made her cough, desperate for oxygen, she ran with her Cherri Girls on her tail, towards the exit and thankfully it opened this time.

Once she was out Cherri was gasping for air, signing in exhaustion with the few surviving Cherri Girls she had left, holding onto her and tugging on her jeans

She then heard voices beside her and saw that the group was still standing outside the hotel, except that Adam, the first man was seemingly scolding Rosie who had just stopped with her attempt to murder and destroy Cherri’s warship.

“Oh look, she’s alive!” Velvette shouted as she was the first one to see her, pointing at her., catching the others' attention.

Adam smiled in relief, holding onto his chest. “Thank God that you’re ok!”

“Ok?!” Cherri snapped, gesturing to the destroyed warship.” My warship is fucking wrecked!” 

“We need to go home Ma’am,” One of her Cherri girls exclaimed, tugging on her pant leg

 “It’s not safe for us out here without it.” Another noted.

"Yeah, no shit!” Cherri spit, as she dusted herself off frantically. She despised looking vulnerable like this infront of other demons.

Adam felt his heart clench, feeling sympathy for the berry.smelling sinner as he approached her calmly. “Look, i’m terribly sorry for Rosie’s actions,” He said softly. “If you want you can stay here if you’re hurt-”

“I don’t need your pity!” Cherri snapped, sounding offended as she hugged herself to provide herself some comfort.

“Well, just so you know,” Adam stated, not affected by her words. “If you’re interested, the hotel is always open for you.”

Cherri scoffed sarcastically “Sure, let’s go girls.” She told her Cherry Girls as they all wandered away with Ms Cherri still trying to regain her balance as her minions followed after her while one of them looked over to Adam and 

“Bye nice man.” she waved over to him in a kind manner and Adam returned the wave, smiling.

He then turned back to Rosie, his facial expression drastically changed into a more bitter one. 

“Look Rosie, if you’re going to stay here you can’t kill sinners!” unbraided, his eyes glowing demonically. “Killing sinners goes against this hotel's purpose, understood!?” 

Everyone but Lute & Rosie looked frightened by Adam’s demonic appearance, wrath and demand.

“Very well then.” Rosie merely said, still holding her smile as if nothing had happened before she turned to walk towards the hotel.

“This is certainly  the start of some real changes down here…..”

“Now stay tuned….”

Chapter Text

Faint, soft whimpers could be heard as Sera silently walked through the seemingly endless, big glamorous halls of her unallocated palace in the underworld. Each cleaking step was filled with despondentness as the fallen Seraphim looked utterly miserable judging by her facial expression with her weary eyes who were red as she had spent yet another night crying nonstop, as she has done that for the past seven years over the tragic disappearance of her younger sister.

Her head was hanging, staring mindlessly at the empty halls, where it was pin drop silent, just as she preferred it to be, with no one present there except the seraphim herself.

She was finally getting out of her living wing of this massive palace in what felt like forever, let alone stepping outside her palace at all to even get some fresh hell air. There had been many recent nights of mental debate and she was actually still a bit reluctant festering in her if she even should return to fulfill her duties as this burning underworld guardian after so much time of being absent.

During these painful, dark years, she had been fully aware that she’d been drowning herself in her grief, floods of salty tears that had now created three whole rivers streaming from her palace and then underneath Hell. She has actually lost count of how many nights she’d been stuck grieving Emily, isolating her from the outside world and barely talking to any creature either. For all these years nothing has managed to break her free from her deep state of depression, this pain of losing her sister torturing her for so long that she felt numb and hollow inside.

Until now she hasn’t really comprehended that she was so blinded crying over her missing sister that she neglected Adam all this time.

She hasn’t even talked to him in….she didn’t even know how much time had passed since she had her last real conversation with him. 

…..But surely he’d been just fine without her guidance? Yes, he’s existed for thousands of years, he’s a strong, smart man with a soft heart, he knows how to stand on his own feet and fight for what he believes in. He has always been that way ever since he was created in Eden.

A weak smile tugged on Sera’s black lips at the memory of creating Adam by just using the dust on the ground, soaking it with river water so she could then sculpt him and then giving him a soul that finished the process, creating the first ever man.

…………………………………………………

”Like this?” Emily asked as she just finished granting the first woman, Lilith her very own soul so she could live.

”Exactly.” Sera smiled, admiring her younger sister's handiwork of sculpting Lilith as she also placed a soul in Adam.

As the older one of the seraphim sisters stared at the very first, soon-to-be humans, she couldn’t help but feel pride rising in her chest. The angels had finally acknowledged her idea, approving of her suggestion to create this new species ’humans’ to this garden of Eden. Living creatures that resembled the angels but also had their own features that separated them from the angelic beings. Her master, her Heavenly Father has already chosen what their names, Adam and Lilith, the first man and the first woman, created to populate humanity, follow his commands and fulfill their eternal life.

And on top of that, she had her beloved little sister with her to assist her in making the physical form of these human beings.

”Sera, I have an idea!”

Upon hearing her sister's squeaky voice, Sera was dragged out of her deep thoughts, slightly perking up, turning her attention to Emily whose eyes were shimmering with excitement.

”What?” Sera chuckled.

”What if I could grant these uh, humans some free will?” Emily suggested, bouncing where she sat.

Sera’s eyes widened at that, a slight bit of dread drawn in them, wondering if she really heard right. ”No Emily, that will not do.”

”Why not?” Emily immediately asked, pouting, crossing her arms.

The older seraphim sighed, ”Because these humans aren’t supposed to have free will, they’re supposed to follow what the Lord has planned for them without any hesitation or refusal.”

”But-”

”No, Emily.” Sera cut her sister off, her voice as stern as it could be as she raised her hand, ”End of story, just follow our lord's words.”

And with that, Sera stood up, floating away from the now, breathing and living humans who were sleeping peacefully on the soft, green grass, Sera spread her multiple wings out, ready to fly up to Heaven again.”Come now, it’s time for us to return back to Heaven, let Adam and Lilith wake up by themselves.”

”Ok….” Emily finally gave in, letting Sera fly away.

The younger seraphim was about to fly away from Eden herself, only to stop midway, staring into nothingness as she hummed, tapping her chin.

What if…

She didn’t want to upset her sister or her creator and ruler of Heaven itself…But on the other hand…Maybe this would be for the better! And then maybe everyone would finally take her seriously! Yes!

And so without a second thought, Emily quickly went back to the sleeping humans, kneeling before them before she made a few hand gestures and so her hands glowed like gold. It was free will and she was going to give it to those humans. She placed her glowing hand delicately on Lilith’s chest, giving her the power of thinking  and deciding for herself.

Surely one day she’d thank Emily!

Emily was then about to place her hand on Adam before-

”Emily! Come now!”

The thundering, echoing voice of her sister could be heard all the way  from Heaven, Sera didn’t witness what Emily just had done. Emily whined as she was not finished but reluctantly flew away, knowing that if she didn’t Sera would get suspicious,

Leaving the two humans to continue their deep slumber, both unaware of what the restless, younger seraphim sister just had done to one of them.

Giving Lilith free will but for Adam he was yet left without any, with just a blank mind with no free thoughts himself.

This was a decision that would later on cause more problems than intended.

…………………………………………………

Finally, Sera reached the end of the hall, facing two golden gates.

She stared at them for a few moments, her hand on the handle before she let out a heavy sigh and then pushed the handle, opening the gates, and entered her dimmed office that had been untouched for years now.

Her sharp, clear eyes observed the room, it was still as neat as she left it all those years ago, except for the dust rats, placing a light blanket of dust over her entire office. However, Sera didn’t bat an eye before she clapped her hands twice and so in a second the office was completely clean with no dust in sight.

Now with that out of the way, she settled herself in her puffy armchair in front of her working desk, sitting there for the first time in years.

She was fully aware that she had a lot of overdue paperwork to fill in and reconnecting with the outside world but she was willing to go through with this no matter how much struggle it would take.

So with a final huff, she attempted to reach out for one of her fancy feather pens, only for her noisy eyes to catch the sight of something peculiar lying in the middle of her working desk. Oh, it was that peculiar ”phone” that Adam had gifted her so they could keep in contact. Sera really needed to catch up on all of these modern terms and technology. 

The phone has been locked in here for all these years.

Biting her lip, Sera lifted it up, opening it with her fingerprint and clicking into the only app she had on her device, the contact app.

What scheme saw next made her mouth drop in shoc, there were hundreds of notifications from Adam, text messages and missed phone calls that she’s ignored all this time. The seraphim could feel a twinge of guilt twisting in her gut as she scrolled through the notifications with slight horror drawn in her look. He had been trying to contact her all this time, so many times and she’s just been repeatedly ignoring them all over her own grieving.

She felt horrible, what kind of mentor and creator was she considering that she’s been repeatedly neglecting him?

The seraphim then saw that there was a call notification from just yesterday, she clicked on it immediately, listening intensely to it.

”Hiya there Sera,.” 

Sera already felt tears prick her eyes, just hearing the delightful sound of Adam’s voice after so long was enough for her to get emotional.

”I’m sorry if I’m interrupting you in the middle of your work. Being the guardian and gatekeeper of Hell can’t be easy, righ ? But the interview didn’t go well, like at all, I made a fool of myself and ....” 

She could take into consideration at once that his voice cracked, he was obviously close to tears just listening to how he talked.

“I just ... .I don’t know if I'll ever manage to make a difference, to help my children, I just feel so lost, I could really use some advice….”

The seraphim felt her chest twist, advice? How can she ever give him advice on taking care of things when she has barely been able to take care of herself for these past couple of years that felt like centuries? Just hearing him calling for her, pleading for her to talk to him again made Sera want to punch herself for being so foolishly ignorant to Adam’s well being and feelings. He was attached to Emily too and yet she never asked how he was after Emily disappeared. And now after reading the countless text messages, finding out about his new project of redeeming souls, he had done it all on his own….

“Anyways, call me when you can. M’kay….. ?”

And so the call ended with a loud peep, the screen then switching to black from haven’t been charged for years, Sera could see her crying reflection in the black screen, feeling disappointed in herself as she leaned on her desk, her face in her hands, curling into herself, slinking into her chair.

She had failed Adam… Her most prized and beautiful creation.

And what could she even possibly do to help him in this?

And just as if on cue, something bright suddenly appeared in front of her, just floating over her desk, Sera hissed as the light temporarily blinded her, with her being so used to darkness in her dimmed palace.Blinking for a few seconds to get used to the painful bright light, her eyes were finally to register what it was.

It was one of Heaven’s message scrolls, with Lucifer’s handwriting.

This must be urgent if Lucifer himself sended her one of his scrolls.

Reaching out, Sera carefully took the scroll into her hands, reading it, her eyes scanning the sentences, moments passed and as she was done reading whatever stood on the golden coil, her eyes widened in perhaps hopefulness.

”I can help him!” She exclaimed, almost smiling as she was a bit stunned.

Chapter Text

Sniffling, Adam wiped the few tears that was running down his face, his vision slightly blurred as he stared mindlessly at the golden batch in his gloved hands, his thumbs trailing delically over it the beautiful, smithen, detailed sculpted pattern and the smithen symbol in the middle, the symbol that somewhat resembles Heaven’s, but it was his very own symbol that would represent his hotel, his passion and second chances.

Just staring at this made Adam a bit tearful since it reminded him of the paradise up there, a paradise he’s forbidden from ever entering after he and Eve bit into the fruit of knowledge, gaining free will and cursing both to an eternal damnation. To this day, he hasn’t seen his family in thousands of years.

Abel was in Heaven, a place Adam could never reach…..Cain……he had been missing since he…killed Abel. No one knew where he was now…And at last Eve, his ex wife, was also absent and Adam hasn’t heard a word from her since they both died. Adam may never see his family again but right now, maybe he can make up for his mistakes by helping the few souls in Hell that could deserve a place in Heaven someday if they improve themselves.

“Adam?”

The first man jumped at the sudden voice of his beloved partner, immediately feeling a bit ashamed that she had caught him crying in their shared bedroom, scrambling to swiftly attaching the batch back on his suit and wiping his tear-dribbling cheeks again, not wanting to look weak infront of Lute.

“Fuck, Lute…” He mumbled, blinking away the tears in his eyelids, sniffling.

“You’re crying.” Lute simply pointed out as she sat beside Adam, sinking into the soft mattress of their king sized bed.

“Nah, i’m fine,” Adam attempted to shrug it off, letting out a forced chuckle." I'm just still a bit down from the recent extermination ....” He declared, not making eye contact with Lute as he soberly looked out the huge bedroom window with a full view of Pentagram city with chaos, smoke and explosions at every corner.

Lute frowned, reaching out to cup Adam’s cheek and turn his face so their eyes could meet.“It’s ok, I also feel a bit down after each cleanse.” Lute comforted, giving her partner a gentle smile.

Smiling weakly, Adam leaned in, melting into the soft touch of Lute, bringing him some solace..

“And what about Sera?” Lute asked curiously, cooking her head to the side.

“Nothing. Not even a text message.” Adam said, shaking his head in dismay at the thought of his mentor.

“But I'm fine, really.” Adam quickly reassured as he kissed Lute’s hand,.“I’m not alone, I have you, my love.”

Lute smiled, her eyes drawn with pure love. “And I'm never going to leave you, ever.”

“I just hope that this hotel will work.” Adam said as the couple were now holding hands, twirling their fingers together.

“It’ll, I have faith in you.” Lute reassured, looking determined. ”In us, in our dream.”

The couple stayed like that for a few more moments, enjoying the peaceful silence and each other's presence until Lute eventually pulled away, still holding onto Adam’s hand, standing up and pulling Adam with her, motioning him to follow her downstairs.

“We should probably go down to the others.” Lute reminded Adam, stroking his hand with her thumb.

“Yeah, we have much to do.” The first man chuckled as he realized just now that he had fallen so deeply into his self pity that he had lost track of time and now it was already noon and Rosie was probably waiting downstairs for him.

As the two left their bedroom, Lute could overhear the thundering ringing of the bells at the Heaven Embassy’s clock tower, reminding everyone in Hell that it was less than a year before the next Extermination. That blasted sound made Lute’s face falter down in sadness at the bare thought of the exterminators flying down here once more as she subconsciously tightened her grip around Adam’s hand, making the first man aware of her crystal clear discomfort.

“Are you sure you’re going to survive as a therapist?” Adam asked, his pierced eyebrows furrowed, trying trying to get her mind of other things, 

“Yes I-” Lute tried to respond before he cut her off again by the first man.

“Because you can get a bit overly aggressive when things dosen’t go your way.”

Lute rolled her eyes at that statement, but knew deep down that it was true.“Yeah, yeah, but please trust me, I can handle this.” 

“Do you even have any experience with mental and physical health?” He asked her, with skepticism being evident in his voice.

“Yes,” She insisted, hissing. ”Where I grew up, I had to be the friend that everyone could vent to, and I want to do more for this hotel than just being the protector, I want to help the sinners, to lead them down the right path. And you’ve seen me, I’m good at basically anything.” She said with pride being evident in her voice.

“Ok, we’ll see how it goes, just please be patient with them.” Adam sighed.

And so without further ado, the duo hurried downstairs to discuss the hotel plans. After the news fiasco two days ago, they needed all the assistance they could possibly get.

………………………………………………………………………..

On a cracked TV-screen, the image was static before it fixed itself, revealing Rosie herself smiling into the camera with her ink-black, hollow, emotionless eyes, dressed in fancier, torn-up clothes.

”Hello there. Attention all sinners.” She greeted the camera, giving a small wave before she fiddled with her umbrella, using it to point at random sinners on the streets who were unaware that they were being recorded, with some slowly moving out of sight in awkwardness.

 ”Are you a thief or worse? Well, most likely. Let's be honest with ourselves. That's how you ended up in Hell after all.But what if I told you that there was hope? Or, more specifically,-”

The scene suddenly shifted, showing the outside of Hope hotel with Rosie gesturing to it like she had just performed a musical performance.”The Hope Hotel? Adam's seen the worst and still has the heart to try for the best.”

”And we are looking for those that are bad enough to end up in Hell, but NOT so bad as to be entirely irredeemable.” Rosie spoke in a more sinister voice, her tine echoing in a creepily manner as her sharp teeth grew larger, her demonic features becoming more visible.”……After all, ANY chance is better than no chance at all when it comes to the Exorcists..”

At that, Rosie stared into the camera, just standing there for a brief moment before she returned to her bubbly masquerade, giggling sweetly.

”So go ahead and take a gamble if you don't want to take your chances with the Exorcists anymore. Redemption is extremely difficult, but not impossible!”

And so the commercial ended with yet another static blur before the screen returned to displaying Vox's tired face, looking bored as he rolled his eyes, crossing his arms. He twitched as his screen glitched and crashed slightly afterwards with blue sparks as it was clear that his tv head was not a very functional one for this kind of commercial work.

“Thank you for your services, Voxander.” Rosie said condescendingly, patting Vox’s head, which earned her a slight growl from the TV demon as he swiftly swatted her hand away from him.

“Vox.” He coldly corrected Rosie for pronouncing his name wrong.

“You are dismissed.” Rosie simply said, remaining gleeful.

And with her permission, Vox returned to the bar, dragging his feet, and in desperate need for a steamy cup of bitter black coffee after he had to do this commercial shit for his enslaver.

“So, what do you think?” Rosie asked, hands folded behind her back, grinning at Adam and Lute who were both sitting on one of the couches, both stunned by the poorly made commercial Rosie had put together, with Lute being the first one to give the overlord her honest reviews.

”Good dialogue, bad recording and disgraceful setting.” Lute merely spoke up, shaking her head.

Adam scratched the back of his neck awkwardly. “Yeah, I don't want to be that guy, but Lute is right.” He admitted. “We gave you the responsibility to manage the commercial because we trusted you to make it look presentable but the tone is just not fitting enough, sorry.”

“Well if you’re going to be such critics,” Rosie began, her face unreadable. ”May I remind you that I'm not updated on modern technology. I did suggest that we could invite my good old friend to sponsor your project with his radio show but no, you wanted to use an overrated screen advertisement.”

“It's the most effective way to get the sinner's attention.” Lute declared in her stern voice, tapping her foot impatiently as she leaned back against the couch.“Get with the times, no one listens to the damn radio anymore.”

Before this argument could go further, the sound of clicking heels echoed from the stairs, making everyone snaps their head in the sound direction to see that Valentino was sluggishly walking down the stairs slowly, yawning as it looked like he had just woken up from one of his precious beauty sleeps, judging by the bags under his eyes and puffed up antena.

“What’s all the bickering about, I was taking a nap.” The moth demon groused, his tone whiny as he reached the end of the stairs, straightening his overly revealing attire.

”Ah, sorry Val, we were just discussing our little commercial issue.” Adam illuminated the situation as Valentino rubbed his eye.

“I can see that.” Val commented as he eyed the trio, figuring out that they must’ve had yet another disagreement. Lute and Rosie had been on bad terms and picking up petty fights ever since Rosie started to live here two days ago, it had been amusing at first seeing how pent up they could be only for Adam to step in, but now it was just getting really stale and overdone.

Observing the moth demon, Rosie’s eyes widened, looking as if she just had an brilliant idea popping as she pointed at Valentino, grinning all the way up to her cheekbones.“I have an idea, how about we put Valentino dearest in front of the camera? He's quite a popular face here in Hell, yes?”

Vals eyes crossed at that suggestion, his eyebrows furrowed but he just shrugged it off, covering up his visibly unease in his facial expression with his signature cackle.“Nah, I'm not putting on a steamy show in my free time.Especially after I've just finished another photoshoot at the studio.” He waved his hands in front of him.

“That was last week.” Lute noted, raising an eyebrow.

Val just nodded, looking smug as usual.“Yeah, it ain't easy being such an honorable actor like me.”

“Are you sure you’re not even a little intruiged?” Rosie tried to coax the moth demon, making him take a step back.

”Rosie, don’t force him.” Lute lightly scolded defensively at Rosie as she noticed just how uncomfortable this suggestion made the moth demon.

“Yes,” He said in a sudden serious manner, gulping. ”…This tacky hotel is supposed to discourage me from sin after all.”

And so, he quickly turned his heel and then walked up to the bar with his back turned,“Besides, I'm not in the mood to be exploited.” He called back.

Just then, Adam felt his phone buzzing in his pocket, and picked it up, wondering who it could be, only for his eyes to flash open when he saw that it was Sera’s number. He was left just momentarily stunned before he rushed to answer the call at one of the halls, so he could talk to his mentor in private.

“One moment, I'll be right back.” He simply said to Lute as he disappeared behind one of the corners.

As he was alone, he took a deep breath as he looked at the phone, a bit nervous to answer the call since this would be their first conversation in years. Finally, he pushed the button, bringing the phone up to his ear, crooking a weak smile, trying to sound overly confident.

”Sup Sera!”

At the hotel’s bar counter, Valentino was continually flirting with Vox as the TV demon was taking Val’s order, making him a fruity margarita while he grumbled curses through gritted teeth, trying to ignore Valentinos behavior. Once finished, Vox nearly slammed the drink in front of Val who slightly flinched at the action but accepted the drink regardless, giving Vox a seductive wink afterwards.

Valentino took one sip of his margarita, licking his lips before he spoke to lute who were still seated at the opposite end of the hotel lobby.

“Hey, if things are really that bad, just make people stay here if you all are with your powers and shit. Problem solved.” Valentino said cockingly, leaning against the bar counter before taking yet another sip of his drink, as Vox himself had returned to his other task as the bartender which included scrubbing and cleaning the glasses.

Lute just sighed in response, pinching the bridge of her nose, “No, the sinners have to choose to stay here.”

”I choose to stay here and I think it’s boring.” Val voiced casually,. ”There’s nothing fun to do here. Especially after the interview, I don't get to do anything. I don’t get to watch TV, play games on my phone. I mean, what am I supposed to do all day?”

”If you want to keep yourself occupied, clean your damn room….!” Lute almost inaudible growled, rubbing her temples as she was already getting annoyed by the moth demon’s constant complaints, but remembered Adam’s advice earlier, be patient with them.

”Sure thing mom.” Val groaned, rolling his eyes at her.

Lute slammed her fist at the coffee-table, the impact so strong that it left a little crack under her fist. ”I’m not your mother, something I'm very grateful for!”

”As much as I hate to side with Val, he’s got a point, this place is a real snooze party.” Vox spoke up, not taking his eye off the glass he was currently cleaning, sounding a bit exhausted. ”The only thing that keeps me at least a little occupied is cleaning the dishes, serving drinks, which are tasks that are forced upon me.”

”I’m just glad that I brought some class and style to this old school dumpster.” Velvette added as she slumped on one of the couches to sit somewhere more comfortably as she was still designing new hotel uniforms on her old iPad.

”I felt too much pity for you to leave you all in those rags, especially that ugly, purple shirt you had on.” The mannequin demon shrugged, looking bored as she pointed at Lute in a judgmental manner.”Purple is simply not your color.”

”I love purple, mind you-.” Lute snapped, distorted but stopped mid sentence, taking a deep breath to calm herself down, again, remembering Adam’s words earlier.

”Whatever, we’re not here to have fun, we're here for redemption.” She reminded everyone in the room as she readjusted her short-cut hair as she just now remembered that she had forgotten to brush it this morning, adding more to her dismay.

”Never going to happen.” Valentino cut in, taking one last chug of his drink, wiping his chin drowsy with his sleeve, letting out a small, bubbly burp afterwards.

”We’re in Hell, ” Velvette added, looking bored as she continued to tap on her technical device. ”We’re all shitty people, the shittiest of mankind, so no hope of ever seeing the pearly gates.”

”Agree, if i wasn’t paid to be here then i would’ve already left.” Vox nodded along, now finished with his dishing duty, throwing the towel over his shoulder and swiftly took a hold on a cup of hot coffee.

Valentino grinned smugly, looking over his shoulder so he could face Vox.”Aw, you don’t like being here with me, baby?” He asked seductively, blinking multiple times as he leaned at the bar counter.

”No, scram.” Vox merely barked, his eyes twitching.

”Listen, just because no sinner has ever changed for the better doesn't mean it’s impossible.” Lute called out behind Valentino, walking up to the bar so she could take a hold on the back of his shirt to pull him away from Vox to prevent any possible fights

”Yeah, whatever means I can stay here without paying.” Val pouted with a deadpan expression, seemingly unbothered by Lute grabbing him by the clothes.

As Sera rambled over the phone, Adam had tears in his eyes. He was so overjoyed and stunned by his mentor's words that he could barely react, but felt extremely thankful towards her for finally reaching out to him, to talk to him and actually finding something that would help his hotel. He bit his lips to prevent several happy squeals from escaping his mouth which partially failed.

”Fuck yes-” Adam stopped himself, clearing his throath and registerd himself to sound more professional. ”I mean, of course Sera, I'll be there shortly, and by the way, is everything-”

Before Adam could even finish that sentence, Sera ended the call with a loud peep. Adam lowered his shoulder in sadness for a brief moment but quickly brushed it off as he had to announce the good news and he couldn’t afford getting emotional about his personal feelings now.

So taking a deep breath, Adam scuffled back to the lobby with excitement, nearly stumbling over his shoes.

”Lute! Good news!” He shouted as he approached his partner and everyone’s eyes fell on him, everyone equally confused by Adam’s sudden good mood.

”What is it?” Lute asked, slightly startled as Adam was now right infront of her.

”Sera finally called.” Adam went straight to the point, placing his hands on Lute’s shoulders as her eyes got wide.

”What was it about?” She asked, a bit baffled by the fact that Sera was contacting him back just now.

”She said that she had an urgent meeting with the leader of the exorcist arme and asked if I could go in her favor.” He explained muc to happily.

”The leader?” She asked her voice faint, her pupils shrunk as her eyebrows knitted in perturbation that Adam noticed.

”Yes,” He declared, shaking her a bit to take her out of her trance. ”I thought that I could present Hope Hotel to them.”

”Are you sure about this?” Lute asked, visibly concerned.”It’s just that the extermination just happened and i don’t think that the leader of a brutal genocide arme is going to be friendly.”

Adam bit the inside of his cheek, but responded anyway ”I’ll be fine, I promise.” He assured his partner.

”But if you want you can come with me.” Adam shrugged, smiling.

”No.” Lute said sharply, looking a bit freaked out by Adam’s proposal.

Adam furrowed his eyebrows, a bit taken back by Lute’s reaction as it was not often she got like this.

Lute just sighed, calming herself down and returning a smile to Adam, mumbling“…..I need to take care of the unfinished commercial. I promise I’ll take care of the issue.”

”Ok,” The first man nodded, attentively kissing Lute’s cheek before he pointed his thumb towards the direction of his office. ”I’ll just fetch the files and be on my way, love you babe.”

”Love you too.” Lute beamed.

Adam looked at the Heaven embassy in anxious anticipation, taking a deep breath before he marched up the clean, white stairs, passing right through the magical, invisible barrier that protected the embassy from getting attacked or invaded by sinners given by the fact that he was the first man which automatically gave him an obvious pass through it. Once he reached the gate doors he placed his hands over it, allowing the building to recognize his hand and who he was before the door creaked open, allowing him to step inside the holy building.

The doors slamming behind him the moment he was inside.

As the first man walked through the building, he was a bit surprised to see that the whole embassy was deserted, it was cold in here. It wasn’t often that he’d spend his time here but he did admit that the inside was very pretty, it almost resembled how a church would look like with an altar, cross and paintings on the stone ceilings that displayed how heaven looks like with cherubs and all.

”Hello? Anyone here?” Adam called out, his voice echoed through the hall while he clutched the paper files in his gloved hands.

As of on que, a sudden door opened to a certain meeting room and Adam took it as a sign to hurriedly go in there.

”Hi there!”

”Fuck!” Adam shrieked at the sudden high pitched voice as he then laid eyes on a blond-haired angel woman sitting at the opposite of the meeting table with an excited expression, and a seemingly exorcist soldier standing beside her with a serious look in her eyes.

”Sup..” Adam simply greeted, sitting down by the table in disbelief. ”Sorry, but i was informed that I’d met the leader of the exorcist and-”

”You’re looking at her right now.” The blonde angel simply said in confidence, blinking her blue, sparkling eyes at him.

”You?” Adam pointed at her, utterly confused 

”Yes!” She said, nodding rapidly.

”But you look so young.”

”And your point is?” The exorcist soldier at her side snapped defensively, taking out her angelic Speer and pointed it threateningly towards the first man, ready to attack.

”Calm down, Vagatha,” The blond angel assured the exorcist softly, using her hand to lower her spear. ”He surely didn’t mean any harm.” 

”But yes,” The blond angel declared, turning her attention back to Adam. ”I’m Charlotte Morningstar, my dad asked me to meet you.”

Adam was stunned as he heard that name, stuttering in his speech. ”Wait, Morningstar? So you’re…” 

Charlotte nodded, oblivious to Adam’s reaction.”Yes, Lucifer’s daughter, pleasure to meet you first man.”

”…Same here and you can just address me as Adam.” The first man addressed himself, suddenly feeling a bit awkward about this.

He felt awkward now knowing that he was going to have a fateful meeting with his first ex wife’s child. Don’t get him wrong, he had moved on from Lilith thousands of years ago, but still, he hasn’t talked to her since that day. That day when both she and Lucifer tempted Eve to eat the forbidden fruit, along with Adam and shattered the perfect world the seraphim had worked so hard to create. 

To this day, Adam still thinks it was extremely unfair for  Lucifer and Lilith to just get a smack on their wrist and then were just allowed to live peacefully in Heaven like nothing happened, like the two hadn’t just shattered the world.

While the manipulated victims of the situation, him and Eve, were the ones who were blamed that day, got banished out of Eden forever and then suffered from sickness, hunger, thirst, misery and death.

A part of him were still bitter, still feeling betrayed at Lilith for cheating on him with Lucifer

And angry at Lucifer for stealing his first wife and giving Eve and him the fruit. Lucifer WAS his best friend afterall, friends don’t do that.

And then years later, they got a kid.

Adam should’ve figured it out at first glance, Charlotte looked so much like her parents. She had her mother’s beautiful blue eyes and silken, golden hair and Lucifer’s goofy smile and red dot cheeks.

She reminded him so much about them but he knew he couldn’t take out all his bottled up years of pain out on her, he knew better than that. No child should suffer by the actions of their parents.

”And you?” Adam motioned to the exorcist soldier who was practically glaring at him with her sharp, orange eyes.

”Vagatha sharp-blade, the exorcist army’s lieutenant." She merely replied, straightening her posture.

”So, with that out of the way,” Adam started as he prepared his papers. ”I’m happy we got this opportunity to meet because there’s this project me and my partner have been working on for the past decade. A plan that would benefit both of us!”

”Really, I’m all ears.” Charotte gasped, clapping her hands in a childish manner.

”Are you ready to hear it?” Adam edged, trying to hype her on.

”Yeah!” She nodded.

”Are you ready princess!”

”Yeah!”

”I can’t hear you!”

”Say it!” Vagatha cut in, annoyed.

”A rehabilitation hotel for sinners and then for them to earn a place in Heaven, Yeah!” Adam screamed as if he was performing a rock musical number as he took out the front paper, showing off a photo of his hotel.

Silence.

”Boo!” Vagatha rolled her eyes.

”Mmmh, I don't know….” Charlotte responded, avoiding eye contact with Adam, feeling genuinely conflicted about this subject.

Chapter Text

The tension in the room was thick and weary with a painful silence. No one in the shining, golden meeting room said furthermore. The two military angels looked at each other with concern, unsure of how to continue.

Adam himself who was sitting on the opposite side of the meeting table clutched the paperwork in his hands, biting his lip before he broke the silence.

”Charlotte-” he began, only to be interrupted by Vagatha who glared daggers at him, shaking her head in dismissal.

”We said no, we do not want to associate with this ridiculous idea of yours, end of story.” She started sternly, ”I do not wish to continue talking about this subject, so can we please return to the reason of why we arranged this meeting in the first place?”

Adam hummed, feeling a little annoyed.

Charlotte put a gentle hand on Vagatha’s shoulder, ”Vags,” She simply said with a soft plea, furrowing her eyebrows to which Vagatha sighed before taking a step back to let the Seraphim discuss this with Adam.

Returning her attention to the first man, Charlotte put her chin in her hands, her eyes drawn with empathy.

”I understand that you may view this hotel as something foolish or-” Adam said before he once again got shut down, only making him furthermore annoyed..

”No, no, it’s not like that.” Charlotte said, raising her hand, trying her best to be as reasonable as possible. ”Actually, the idea of redeeming human souls sounds swell.”

”But…?” Adam asked, gesturing to her to go on.

”My dad wouldn’t like it if I’d pick your side.” 

”I’m not asking you to pick a side, kiddo,” Adam stated, looking at the angels. ”Not any of you.”

”Sure you do, sinner.” Vagatha cut in, sneering at Adam as she invited herself into the conversation again, much to Charlotte’s concern.”We don’t even know if this would even work if we gave it a try, I’m not getting my hopes up for a doomed to fail passion project. I’ve seen and observed sinners for hundreds of years and they’re all the same, just traitors and assholes in all shapes.”

”Those are my kids you’re talking about.” Adam declared sternly, lightly banging his fist at the table, feeling slightly insulted and infuriated by Vagatha’s words.

”Look, Adam…” Charlotte snapped, getting his attention as she quickly called herself down to talk more civilly with him in order not to cause an unnecessary conflict."I do sympathize somewhat. But Dad is of the mind that all of those people had their chances, and he makes good points on that.I swear, If I were in charge, there would be year-long background checks to make sure my crew only went after genuinely, irredeemably evil targets, but Dad kind of takes that stuff out of my hands.”

Adam sat back in his chair, nodding at this, understanding what they were coming from.

”You're just lucky that Dad has agreed with Sera, to keep both you and the Hellborns on the forbidden list. While I agree that some of the targets were nowhere near as bad as others, the majority of the others on the team are - less discriminating - sad to say. ” 

Charlotte said, looking uneasy as she was telling Adam all of this as she fidgeted with her fingers, her gaze training to the floor, looking a bit ashamed.”And I can't say much about it because they are technically doing their jobs and I'm not directly there to supervise them when it happens. Rapists and murderers? Sure. But those that are down there for non-violent crimes? I agree it is beyond excessive. Unfortunately, I don't make the rules.”

Vagatha nodded with a hum, as she had the same look of unease in her eyes as her grip into her spear tightened,

While Adam was left puzzled and unsure what to say next to defend what he and Lute had been working on, perhaps this redemption hotel would face more obstacles than what he originally assumed and intended to. 

Chapter Text

Ok Lute, you can do it!

Those words repeated in Lute’s mind like a broken record as she strided through the hotel's dimmed halls, her cl consecutive heels echoing through the building as she soon entered the hotel lobby where nearly everyone was seated at the couch like she ordered them to do while she got the hand video camera and the folded scripts for the remake of the commercial. 

She clutched the papers in her metallic left hand, feeling determined to do this to get more sinners interested in redemption. She just had to make this commercial appealing, there was no room for mistakes or hiccups, Adam counted on her afterall and she couldn’t let him down.

On the large and comfortable couch, the residents were seated. Velvette was picking her pointy teeth, already looking bored of this as she was swiping on her iPad. Valentino was loudly chewing gum, laying lazily on the couch with a context facial expression while Vox had his chin in his hand, mumbling to himself and occasionally looking at Val with annoyance.

”Attention everyone!” Lute vocally spoke up, as she approached the trio, getting their attention. ”As you know, Adam is having a meeting with the exorcist captain, and while he’s gone we’re going to make a proper commercial.” 

She informed them, waving the camera so everyone could see it, ”One that has passion, represents our goal and looks presentable enough.”

”Any questions?” She asked, raising an eyebrow as she stroked her fingers over the scripts.

Valentino immediately raised his hand as he was blowing a gum bubble.

”Oh right, ” Lute said. ”Val, do you feel comfortable enough to be in the commercial or do you want me to cut you out of this completely?” She gently asked the moth demon to ensure if he was comfortable enough to do this, especially after she witnessed just how weary he got by the idea of doing this earlier today when Rosie was pushing him to it.

”Nah, don’t be like that, ” Val scoffed, his signature grin plastered on his face, ”I will gladly take part in this, as long as I get a silly costume so no one who watches the commercial will recognise me.”

”Why?” Lute asked, confused.

”I-it’s..” Val stuttered a bit, his prideful demeanor shifted for a brief second before he returned to his cocky attitude.”B-because, like I don't want to embarrass myself like you idiots, I have a name to uphold and this whole redemption idea would just destroy it for me.”

”Aha…” Lute said, furrowing her eyebrows.”Then why do you even want to participate?”

”I have nothing better to do today, but it wouldn’t surprise me if this whole commercial shit would fail before Adam returns. Especially since we’re relying on your directing skills” Val merely shrugged with a laugh.

”Whatever, just please be more supportive” Lute pinched the bridge of her nose to calm herself down before she turned to Velvette, who didn’t even  bother to look up from her screen to make eye contact with Lute.”Thank you Velvette for finishing sewing my uniform just in time for filming.”

”Eh, it was nothing.” Velvette said as she extended a hand.”Where is my payment?”

”Payment?” Lute repeated,

”Yeah? I didn’t see this just because, you better pay up or I'm going to take it back.”

”You already get free rent and food.” Lute argued, 

”I’m not a charity worker, I'm a business woman,”

Lute was baffled at this but simply but her cheek. She was in no mood for argument right now so without saying anything, she reached her hand into her pocket and pulled out a couple of dollars and handed them to the mannequin sinner who took one look at the money before she scoffed.

”Good enough.”

”Let’s just go back to filming….” Lute mumbled, rubbing her temples.

Now, Lute wasn’t the best one to control her temper but today she couldn’t afford to snap at someone just because of their behavior.

She just had to suck it up and do her part.

…………………………………………………………………………

”Ok Velvette, your lines are; ’We have the cleanest hotel rooms and 24 hour attentive staff’,Ok?” Lute elucidated to the mannequin sinner who leaned against the doorframe to an open and neatly cleaned hotel room. 

Lute had the camera on a monopod and a lavalier microphone attached to Velvette’s shirt, everything was set up and was ready for recording.

”Sure.” Velvette merely said, crossing her arms

As Lute made the last adjustments on the camera, the camera view whirred as it brought into focus, Lute glanced at Velvette, and frowned upon seeing the mannequins' clear disinterest in this.

”Just smile for the camera,”Lute encouraged her, snapping her fingers to get Velvette’s attention before she demonstrated this by smiling widely herself.

However, upon hearing those words, Velvette’s eyes suddenly widened, looking like Lute had just insulted her before the mannequin sinner sneered at Lute,

”Oh fuck you.” She hissed, her voice drilling with venom.

Furrowing her eyebrows, Lute was understandably taken back and confused by Velvette’s reaction. She didn’t say anything rude, why did Velvette seem so offended?

Seeing Lute’s bewildered expression, Velvette just sighed.”Just get this over with…” she said as she gestured for Lute to start the camera.

Shrugging, Lute simply turned her attention to the camera”Ok, and action!”

”We have the cleanest rooms and 24 hour attentive staff…” Velvette said her lines, but was obviously not taking this seriously as she just frowned, and her voice was almost inaudible.

”Cut!” Lute’s sharp voice immediately cut in as she paused the recording, ”Velvette, please…Just pretend like you care about this…!” She groaned in slight disappointment

”You’re doing great, master director, this scene is really a ten star! My boss would definitely hire you!” The mocking voice of Valentino was heard behind her.

”Shut it!” Lute scolded, not even bothering to look over her shoulder to meet Val’s eyes.

”What? You told me to be more supportive about this.” The moth demon just patronized her furthermore, cackling afterwards.

In response to this, Lute rubbed her temple to sooth her nerves, feeling a bit stressed and irritated.

Seeing Lute’s small distress, Velvette’s eyes softened, feeling a somewhat sympathy for her.

”Ok, listen here,” Velvette sighed, looking at Lute sternly. ”I’ll do this and in exchange I can relax for the rest of the afternoon.”

Lute perked, feeling a small sense of relief. ”Of course, I didn't write you to be in any more scenes since your job here is not so noticeable for the hotel’s purpose. No offense.”

”Some taken.” Velvette shrugged as she puffed her hair to look more presentable in front of the camera.”Ok, let’s do this.”

And so, Velvette surprisingly delivered her lines more decently this time, a small smile on her ink black lips as she even gestured to the hotel room beside her for the camera.

Lute couldn’t help but crack a small smile herself as she ended the recording. ”Thank you so much, you did a very good job.” She praised the mannequin sinner, who just nodded in pride.

”By the way, if I may ask, where’s Rosie? I haven’t seen her since noon. Just curious” Lute suddenly asked as she started packing the camera set so that they could move on to the lobby to film the rest of the commercial.

”I don’t know.” Velvette solely replied. ”She does this all the time, she’s probably just out on some business errands or visiting friends. She’ll be back soon enough.”

”I see.” Lute clicked her tongue as she adjusted the camera, deciding that it was probably for the best not to go further on this as she was fully aware that almost all Overlords tend to be mysterious and unpredictable.

…………………………………………………………………………

”Cut!!” Lute sharply said, as she stopped recording, the camera view still directed towards the bar.

 Vox, in a brand new coat, stood behind the counter, his screen face that had just been displaying an award winning grin vanished in one second as he put down one of the many boxes he had presented to the camera, that had the few of the many hotel room keys neatly organized.

She would’ve finished filming over an hour ago if it wasn’t for that minor problem. Unfortunately, Val just wouldn’t stop interrupting and patronizing both the filming and Lute every five minutes, much to Lute’s irritation. Of course, Val had been a pain in the neck all day but now he was really getting on Lute’s nerves as she was just trying to edit and pitch together a proper commercial. She tried multiple times to shoo away him from the set but he wouldn’t budge and considering that Adam would be home soon, it made Lute all more stressed.

Lute took a long, deep breath through her nose, tinging her fist before she turned around to lock eyes with a smug-looking Val who didn’t look intimidated at all with Lute’s obvious exasperation.

”Val, can you just be quiet for one minute?” Lute snarled at the moth demon, trying her best to bottle up her anger as her eye twitched.

”What?” Val held in a laugh, acting as if he had said absolutely nothing during filming ”I’m not even doing anything, I’m just giving you and Vox some valid criticism.”

”Valid criticism!?” Lute blurted out, even more enraged but was quick to calm herself down once again. She clasped her hands and looked at the moth demon in seriousness. ”Val, you’ve just been mocking and interrupting us for the last hour! If we’re going to finish this before Adam comes home, you need to take this seriously or I’ll have to write you out of the script completely!” She threatened him as she poked him harshly in the chest.

”And what? That would just be one less actor for you to film.” Valentino remarked, smiling in a taunting manner.

Lute grit her teeth, feeling at the edge to explode to which Valentino noticed, much to his amusement, enjoying just how easily it was to tick Lute off and her reactions were just priceless.

Vox, who had been witnessing this whole argument behind the bar, furrowed his eyebrow, knowing what was to come next.

”Val, no.” The TV demon rebuked Val, but to no avail, as the moth demon decided to go for gold.

”Ey, no need to frown like that, baby, ” Valentino said amusingly, towering over Lute.”I’m just stating facts.”

”Shut up!” Lute barked, her face growing red with pure rage as her blood boiled.

”Is that really a way to talk to your guest? And you, who have been giving me polite lessons for the past weeks?” Val teased, giggling.

Lute breathed through her nose, feeling close to snap.

 ”Lute, here’s just my advice; just forget this commercial shit completely. The result won’t even be good considering we have you writing and editing it. Even Adam wouldn’t like it.”

”Enough!”

As Lute’s strong and ragefilled voice rang through the room, everything went silent, the lobby felt deprived of life, cold and still as Valentino and Vox were freezed in place, both stunned and a bit frightened by Lute’s sudden outburst as she turned around to look up the moth demon, her eyes drawn with pure rage. Despite being a few feet shorter than him, she looked so surprisingly scary to the moth demon who was just now comprehending just how infuriated Lute was.

She didn’t even let the stunned Val recover before she screamed at him, practically spitting in his face. ”Val! Do all of us a favor and swallow your shitty tongue!”

Backing a step, Valentino actually looked a bit taken back, not expecting this.

”Now you listen…” Lute began as she didn’t even realize that tears of stress began to form in her eyelids.” I’ve been putting up with you and your bullshit ever since you checked in! I’ve TRIED to have patience with you but now I've just had it with you!”

While feeling frightened at the moment, the moth demon quickly took notice of the tears that were now rolling down Lute’s face and he let out an inaudible gasp. He didn’t mean to make her this upset.

”It’s clear you don’t respect me, Adam or what we’re trying to do so just go to your room and stroke yourself in front of a livestream for dozens of creeps to see! That’s all you’ll ever be good for afterall!” Lute said with a taunting laugh before she let out a sob before she pointed at Valentino ”Maybe you should also just pack your stuff and leave if you want to ridicule us so much! If you want to mock me and put me down so much!”

After she said that, everything fell silent again, 

Gripping the counter, Vox didn’t dare to utter a word, not sure if he even should say something but felt a little bad for Lute, sure she was a bit strict with everything but still,

While Valentino’s face was written in a mix of guilt and shock over lute’s outburst,

Finally, Lute noticed the tears running down her cheek and immediately she felt embarrassed that she was crying in front of two demons that were supposed to respect her and follow her orders. She wiped her face quickly before deciding that this was just too much for her as she turned around to hustle to the hotels kitchen,

Leaving Vox and Valentino alone in the lobby,

The moment Lute was out of sight, Vox turned his head to a still-apalled Valentino. ”Real mature, Val..” Vox merely said, disappointment being evident in his voice.

Slowly turning around to face Vox, Valentino stuttered out ”I-i didn’t mean to..” 

”Well, you just did,” Vox bluntly commented, not feeling an ounce of pity for the moth demon.

”..What should I do?” Valentino asked, subconsciously biting his lip as shame started to fester in his chest.

Vox simply eyed him as he took out a rug to clean the counter.”If you want my honest advice; Just talk to her, tell her you're sorry, and no jokes, just a serious conversation between coworkers.”

”I’m not sure I can.” Valentino admitted, rubbing his arm as he took a set by the bar.

”Why?”

”I, I don’t know..”

Scoffing, Vox slapped the rug over his shoulder.”Man, just do it or else you’ll have to live with the guilt that you hurt her. Trust me, you don’t want that on your conscience.” Vox looked down at the end of the sentence, suddenly looking slightly regretful.

”Do you think she’ll forgive me?” Val asked, looking a bit hopeful.

”After everything you said to her?” Vox shrugged.”Probably not, but it’s better to let her know that you’re actually sorry for your actions.”

With that, Valentino looked down at his lip, considering what Vox had just said to him for a few moments before he took a deep breath and then stood up from his seat. 

”Well, wish me luck, I'm not good at this..”

Was all the moth demon said to Vox before he slowly wandered to the kitchen, feeling remorseful and anxious at each step he took until he reached the door, slowly peeking inside to catch sight of Lute leaning over the sink, turning on the tap to fill a glass. Once the glass was full and the tap was turned off, she downed the whole glass in one, big chug, letting out a loud sigh afterwards as she put it down.

It was only when she wiped her mouth with her sleeve when she noticed Valentino’s presence right outside the kitchen. Lute narrowed her eyes at him but had no energy left to yell at him and just looked away. 

”Just leave me alone, Val…” she ordered, her voice weak.

Valentino didn't leave, he just stood there for seconds but what felt like hours as his breath hitched, feeling incredibly nervous and repentant. Where should he start? Should he take a step closer or would that just worsen the situation? Shit, he hasn’t sincerely apologized to anyone for decades now..

Lute could sense that Va hadn’t left, irritation filled her chest but she just stood still, still leaning over the sink.

Valentino bit his lip, taking a heavy breath 

”I’m sorry” He blurted out, his tone genuine.

Lute’s eyes widened, unsure if she really had heard right as she turned around, completely confused.”What did you say?”

”I’m sorry…..” Valentino repeated, looking contrite as he rubbed his arm. ”…..I just wanted to tease you, I didn't mean for you to get this upset.”

Bewildered, Lute’s eyebrows knitted together, but still felt hurt and was not really convinced if Valentino was really sorry for his actions and words. ”You should've thought about that before you teased and talked down on me.” She muttered out, her voice bitter as her mannerism still showing resentment.

”But I thought it was our thing…?” Valentino said, fidgeting his hands together.

Lute looked at him dumbfounded.

”Like I tease you and you get mad? That’s what workmates do to each other all the time, that’s what everyone does at my work.” Valentino explained, still looking apologetic though.

”You could’ve still taken the hint that I’m under a lot of stress right now.” Lute sniffed, her gaze on the floor.

”I guess you’re right…” Valentino admitted.

”It’s just- ,” Lute murmured.”Adam counts with me and I just wanted this to work and what you said really affected me. I know that you’re a sinner and all, and I know that you’re just staying here for free rent and food but sometimes I really get the feeling that you don’t respect us or what we do, like when you embarrassed us on LIVE TV a few days ago.”

”I get what you mean, but yet again, sorry for calling you all that, I don't really think that about you, I swear. I was just being a stupid asshole, sorry.” Valentino said, his head hanging in front of Lute, emphasising on the sorry’s as he wanted to ensure that Lute would pick up that he was honest with his words.

”You’re right about that…” Lute snorted, cracking a small smile but was quick to hide it.

The two stood there for a few seconds before Lute broke the silence.”And I guess I'm sorry too, for saying that all you were good for was-”

”You’re not wrong.” Valentino cut her off bluntly. ”I’m a slut, people remind me of that everyday.”

”Still, I shouldn't have said that to you or said that you should leave…” Lute said, scratching the back of her neck, still not meeting Val’s eyes.

”I don’t blame you for saying that.” Valentino said while he fidgeted his hands.

”……I do care about this place.” The moth demon quietly confessed ”This hotel is the first place in Hell where I can just feel…safe. Sorry if I’ve been acting like an ungrateful asswipe.”

”Excuse me, but safe from what?” Lute asked, looking concerned at Val’s choice of words.

”M-my boss…” Valentino revealed as he absentmindedly hugged himself as the  bare thought of him send the moth demon shivers down his spine.

”AngelDust?” Lute asked. She had heard of the porn overlord that Val was working for, and had heard all kinds of rumors of just how awful the working environment was at that porn studio and just how violent and cruel AngelDust could be.

Val nodded slowly.

Lute hummed in response.”Is that why you wanted to wear that costume in front-”

”Yeah, I don't want him to think I actually believe in this idea of redemption…” Valentino said, his voice weary.

”Why didn’t you just say this before?”

”I don’t know ... .I don't want you to see me as…weak or scared…” The moth demon admitted, his head low in shame.

”I don’t think you’re weak.” Lute just blurted out, making Valentino perk up. ” Like, I gotta hand it to you; admitting all of this and apologizing to me takes a lot of courage and now I have a newfound respect for you.”

Valentino turned his head to Lute so that their eyes could meet, and slowly a smile crept on his face, a genuine one. ”Thanks Lute, and again sorry…..”

The two sat there in silence for yet again a few moments, processing what they had just said to each other, looking away from one another. Both felt a bit more relieved after their talk, like a weight had been lifted off their shoulders. This was without any doubt the calmest and productive conversation the two have had since Val checked in.

Eventually, Valentino stood up straight, placing his hands on his hips.”Ok, enough of this-” and then turned to Lute, raising an eyebrow. ”So what do you say we do now?”

Lute smiled, her eyes filled with determination. ”Let’s make a fucking commercial.”

***************************************************

Sure, the first man had expected obstacles but not like this, but he was not ready to back down or miss this opportunity of having Heaven involved in this.

Trying to remain calm and collected, Adam sighed ”Listen, Charlotte, I admit I’ve made a lot of mistakes. For example, if I were a more attentive father, I wouldn’t have lost both of my sons but I won't stand idly by any longer while you keep pursuing this mistake.”

”As we said; We’re not in charge of this, Lucifer is.” Vagatha explained sternly.”And besides, if you want us to assist you in this little project of yours, we need proof that this can work and that some sinners are willing to change for the better.”

”Can you give us some time then?” Adam questioned in a challenging voice, putting both of his hands on the table, looking dead serious on this.”Just tell your father and the other seraphim angels about this hotel, give us some time and then we can arrange a meeting in the future to further discuss this and see if we made progress.”

”This would cause a huge controversy in the Heavenly court.” Vagatha argued, looking conflicted about this.

”What’s  a little controversy isn’t going to harm anyone?”

”But do you even know what kind of situation you’re getting yourself into?” Charlotte asked, looking at Adam

”Yes.” Adam immediately replied with no hesitation, his eyes cold.”If we managed to redeem a sinner, would heaven let them in?”

Pausing for a second to think about this, Charlotte answered a bit hesitantly. ”I suppose, if it was possible.”

”So what do you say?” Adam asked, raising an eyebrow.

Upon hearing this, the two high-ranking angels looked at each other, both looking equally conflicted if they should or shouldn’t agree on taking part in this as this would obviously cause a bit of disturbance and massive conflicts in the heavenly court and amongst the highest ranking angels, including Lucifer and Lilith as they were in charge of Heaven and responsible for every soul up there.

Placing a hand on Charlotte’s shoulder, Vagatha looked down at Charlotte in worry. In response to this, Charlotte took Vagatha’s shoulder to her lips and kissed it for comfort as she looked up at her for reassurance. 

Sighing, Vagatha thought about it for a moment before she gave a timid nod to her lover.

Charlotte gave her a gentle smile to which Vagatha returned.

”Alright Adam,” Charlotte cut the silence, turning back to Adam.”I’ll give you a chance, I’ll inform dad as soon as I get back.”

”But we still don’t know if this will or will not affect Heaven negatively, our home…” Vagatha paused, looking worried at the bare thought of Heaven at any harm.”So I’ll keep my eye on the activities down here from Heaven's eyes.” She stated, her tone firm.

”I promise that’ll not happen, you don’t have to worry” Adam said, noticing the young woman’s fret.

Vagatha only threw daggers at the first man, letting out a bitter laugh as she shook her head.”Easy for you to say, you don’t have thousands of angels relying on you to lead them and protect them!”

Adam flinched slightly at her words but quickly recovered. ”Vagatha, I know this project seems bold and nearly impossible but I promise at the bottom of my heart that nothing bad will happen to your home or the souls that live up there.”

Vagatha only sighed, still looking unsure yet still responded. ”Remember; one  year. We can only give you one year and then we’ll have to have a court meeting in heaven about this.”

”Deal.” Adam said, nodding.

”Before we shake on that though, we need you to sign this, Lucifer's orders.” Vagatha explained as she took out a golden scroll and feather ink pen, placing them in front of Adam.

Just as he was about to take the pen and scroll, Charlotte cut in, ”Wait, I would suggest carefully looking over the fine print before signing, Adam, as well as the even finer print. You know how Dad is about that sort of stuff.”

”Yes, I do, Miss Morningstar, but thanks for the reminder.”Adam said softly as he started to read it, being very careful to read it in order to not miss out on anything.

As he read it, his demonic eyes suddenly widened at one sentence that almost made him drop the pen in his hand.…

….How was this possible? Lucifer had extended the deadline to extermination day from one year to two. Something must have happened for him to make this decision.

”Rescedueld extermination?” Adam questioned, glancing up from the scroll.

”I know.” Charlotte hummed. ”Dad must have spotted something that made him think we need the extra research and training time.”

”I wonder what that could be.” Adam said before he finished reading through it and signed his name on it. ”Alright, signed.” He declared before he rolled it and gave it back to Vagatha who nodded in gratitude.

”So now that we have everything discussed, thanks for this meeting.” Adam bowed his head at the two angels.

”Don’t disappoint me.” Vagatha told him as Adam raider from his chair, collecting his papers.

”Farewell, first man.” Charlotte bid him goodbye as Adam took his leave and left the meeting room.

As soon as the doors closed behind him, the first man couldn’t contain his squeals of glee anymore as he smiled widely, leaving the heaven embassy in victory, feeling proud of himself.

He couldn’t wait to reveal this good news to Lute! 

***************************************************

As soon as Adam reached the hotel, he slammed the door open, screaming in joy. ”Lute, I'm home and I have some good news aswell!”

”Adam!” Lute called as she ran towards Adam, wrapping her arms around him and pulling him into a hug, which he returned.

When the two pulled away, Adam opened his mouth in an attempt to tell her what happened at the meeting, only for Lute to interrupt him, still smiling.

”Before you say anything, come here! We have something to show you.” She said as she took him by the hand, leading him to the lobby where Velvette, Vox and Valentino were sitting on one of the couches in front of the TV.

”Vox pulled a few strings and it's about to air.” Lute explained as both she and Adam settled down in the middle of the couch, still holding hands.

”It was nothing.” Vox shrugged, leaning back.

”I did the most important scene.” Velvette bragged a little, checking her nails.

”You did the commercial?” Adam asked, smiling, a bit taken back of how well everyone seemed to get along.

”Yes, credit to Lute for directing everything.” Valentino added.

”I couldn’t have pulled this off without you, though.” Lute replied to Valentino.

Adam,’s eyes widened slightly at how responsible the two seemed to be with each other,”Are you guys getting along?”

”Somewhat.” Valentino said

”Well I'm proud of you all.” Adam said, smiling fondly over them all as he gently squeezed Lute’s hand.

”Sh! It’s starting now!” Velvette announced to the group as she pointed to the TV, and so everyone’s eyes were glued to the screen.

As Velvette said, n the TV screen now displayed the commercial and it began with Lute standing outside of the hotel building in the suit Velvette had sewn for her.”Welcome to the Hope Hotel-”

Unfortunately, the commercial got cut off due to an urgent 666 news report.

Seeing this, the group started to angrily complain out loud to the tv, screaming or just staring dumfounded at the screen before Tom Trench and Katie KIlljoy appeared on the screen,

”Breaking News in Hell today!” Tom Trench announced in his signature fake nice voice.”We have just received word from the Heaven Embassy that the next Extermination is happening in two years! Yeah, you heard me right! Two whole years!”

”I do wonder why though!” Katie Killjoy added, smiling.

”Shut up Katie!” Tom Trench scolded at his TV partner, slapping her face, making her whimper in response,

”Suck it up, you little bitch!” Tom merely barked at her, showing no sympathy to her state of pain.

And so the announcement was cut off by commercial break.

Seconds later you could hear sinners cheer and shout in glee outside of the hotel building, obviously happy over the unexpected news

”What?” Lute exclaimed outloud. ”Why!?”

***************************************************

In a dimmed room where the only source of light came from a couple of lit wax candles, a soothing yet unsettling melody of humming filled the quiet air. The figure in the room was sitting on a stool next to a desk, working on something and was being very careful with whatever it was crafting.

Once finished, the figure blew onto the figure, revealing to have been carving small figurines out of delicate porcelain with their bare hands somehow having the ability to mold and form porcelain however it wanted to look like.

Now finished on the last one, the figure leaned closer into the candle light, revealing itself to be none other than Rosie who placed the last finished figurine next to the others, showing that they were mini figures of Adam, Lute, and Valentino. She then took out two other figurines from a box, which looked like Vox and Velvette.

Smiling in admiration over the figurines she worked so passionately on, Rosie let out a laugh, a disturbing laughter that gave you shivers

”Now..” Rosie said in a confident voice as a creepy smile crept onto her face as she carefully stroked her thin fingers over her small set of figurines of the hotel residents.

”Let the game begin….”