The Great Fall of Hell

Sooner or later, we all die — so brooding is, at the very least, impractical. — Anton Chekhov

 

Wars pass, revolutions pass. We fight, we perish, we suffer — but the tree blossoms again just like it did last spring, and countless springs before it. — Alexei Tolstoy

 

______________________

 

We trusted Charlie. We fought for her. We all stood together to stop Vox and his pack of idiots. I thought I truly believed her. I thought we’d make it. Even Carmilla stepped in to help — hell, even that felt like a sign. We destroyed the weapon. I felt relieved. We all did.But we relaxed too early. A bastard like Vox never loses that easily. He had a plan — a very clear one, judging by the leaked files from his company, now taken over by Valentino and Velvette.   And Alastor… vanished. The following month we spent patching ourselves back together. Heaven helped too — as strange as that still sounds. The gates were now open, allowing us to actually help each other. New gangs appeared, new demons crawled out, and there was even a young assassination agency — I.M.P. Their office was far from our Hotel, but I told Charlie we should inspect that new district anyway — new buildings, new infrastructure, we needed to understand the area. But Charlie… wasn’t in the right state to go anywhere.   Husk was a mess. Just pouring drinks on autopilot. Cherri Bomb sat beside him as usual, drinking in silence. To be fair, the number of guests had grown drastically after the news broke out that Charlie had been right all along. I took the elevator to the roof, stepped to the edge, filled my lungs with cold air and stared out over the city. Everything lay in ruins — broken streets, dirt, debris — but we tried to rebuild.  Only one question gnawed at me..

 

Where is Alastor?

 

 

POV Vaggie ends.

 

***

 

POV: Alastor

  “Don’t forget… who I am…” -I hummed quietly under my breath. Ah, Vox. We’ve known each other for so many years — fought, clashed, tangled — and he just gave up like that? No. Not that easily. While the city was busy rebuilding itself, I had to remain absent. No sightings. No traces. Not. A. Single. Mention.   The rooftops became my permanent home. Ever since I freed myself from Rosie’s influence, I finally had complete control — true power at my disposal. And I knew exactly what I could do with it. All I needed was to find Vox. The rest was only a matter of time. Roof after roof… step after step… Eventually, I reached the VoxTek tower. It looked… delightful. Completely torn apart. “Closed for renovation,” how charming. No matter. EVERY DOOR in this rotten city is open to me now.   One push — and I slipped inside, stepping over piles of shattered screens. Ha! A whole month had passed since his staged defeat. Demons believed it — unsurprising, considering how easily they trust television. Radio is far superior to televised garbage. You can’t shut off radio waves that easily. And how could I forget my cane? Without it, I wouldn’t have accomplished anything — naturally.

 

“Well then… old friend… shall we reunite?”

 

POV Alastor ends.

 

***

 

POV: Sir Pentious

 

I… don’t fully understand what exactly happened down there, in Hell — where my friends, acquaintances… everyone who meant anything to me…lived. We really did stop him. I don’t believe it — truly don’t. Even though I saw it with my own eyes. Even though Emily insisted we succeeded. Even though Lute agreed with the outcome — which was odd enough.   I stayed in Heaven for only a short while. It really is peaceful here… but I wanted to return. To my friends, my rivals, my city. Down there, I had purpose. I mattered. Here… who am I? Just an empty shell, transferred into Heaven. A replica wearing my face. I think… I’m starting to understand how “ascension” works. And honestly? I would prefer not to experience it again.   My theory is simple: when you die in Hell, you truly die — and a copy of you, reconstructed from particles, is replicated here in Heaven. With all your memories, flaws, mistakes — everything. How did I come to that conclusion? My body… it resembled mine, tried to imitate mine — too closely. I will never ask Sera about it. I don’t want my suspicions confirmed.   At least here, in Heaven, I can actually rest. That is — probably — the only true benefit. A private room, perfect sound isolation, silence, peace…many kinds of “-lation,” really — half of which I can’t remember right now. After everything that happened, my memory should be scrambled anyway.   I was lying on my bed, thinking about absolutely everything, when Emily burst in — crying, stumbling over her own words.   “Emily — calm down. Quiet. What h-happened?” I tried to stay composed, but with someone running in like that, calmness goes out the window.   “H-Hell… oh God… how— we—we stopped him—” Her words were fragments — nonsense. What happened to Hell!?   “Emily! Focus! Get a hold of yourself! What happened to Hell!?”   “Vox… he destroyed half of Pentagram City! The Hazbin Hotel— it’s gone, leveled to the ground— so many dead— oh my God—” She sobbed even harder. My heart… skipped a beat. Hazbin Hotel.. The city.. Destroyed? What? How!? My hands trembled uncontrollably. Cherri… oh no…   “H-How!? We stopped that bastard!”   “Lucifer is… dead! Charlie is severely injured — so many casualties — Sera sent her forces to clear the devastation— I don’t know how or when everything went to shit!” Swearing from her… I hadn’t expected that… but clearly—  

Everything really was in the shitter.

 

POV Pentious ends.

 

***

 

POV: Husk

  Fuck. Fucking piece of shit. Fucking TV-headed bastard. I was buried under rubble, unable to move a damn inch. All I could do was shout for help — though honestly, who the hell would hear me? And what I did hear… was the worst thing I have ever heard in my miserable life.   “Lucifer is dead! What’s the next order!?” That voice… sounded like Angel — who somehow came back to help. Or maybe he ran from something — I don’t fucking know how he even ended up here. Lucky for me, he found me — like he somehow knew exactly where I was.   “H-hey… you piss-soaked ferret… over here…” That’s all I managed to choke out, coughing concrete dust. The shit was everywhere — dust, debris, and blood. Enough blood to make a whole colony of cannibals drunk. “Husk!? Oh, holy fucking teddy bears— where the fuck are you!?” Is he stupid? He’s literally standing right above me. I can smell his damn perfume through the concrete.   “Right here, dumbass… under your mom…” I forced out, barely having the strength even for sarcasm. Shitty situations require shitty jokes.   “Oh thank fuck— you’re alive!” His voice trembled — not from laughter this time, but from sheer terror.   “Give me your hand!” He dug through the rubble, finally saw my face, I reached for him and… nothing.   “Just pull me the fuck out already…” He yelled for help, and with four of them working together, they removed enough concrete to drag me out. That’s when I understood the scale of what happened. This wasn’t a single explosion. The Hotel blew up first — and then the entire city went off like a chain reaction. Chaos. Screaming. Explosions. Smoke. Rivers of bodies. Lakes of blood. Jesus Christ, I almost puked right there.   At first, I didn’t even hear Vaggie screaming. But when I turned and saw what was left of Charlie.. Oh God. I swear, I nearly turned myself inside out from the sight. I tried to run to her, but my leg refused to move, and I would’ve collapsed if Angel hadn’t grabbed me.   “Whoop— caught ya!” He shouted something, but all I could focus on was Vaggie… and Charlie…   “How the hell is she even alive— that’s… that’s fucking impossible…” No one survives injuries like that. No one. Her body was practically fused with concrete — half gone, half crushed, barely recognizable… But she was still alive. And yet…  

Where the FUCK was Alastor!?

 

POV Husk ends.

 

POV: Alastor (20 minutes before the explosion)

  The elevator shafts… how familiar they were to me. I always enjoyed descending through them back in the Hotel. And finally, I was no longer obligated to visit that miserable place with its pathetic manager. All deals fulfilled — I was completely free. As I moved downward, floor by floor, I found Vox. Or at least… what was left of him. His body — gone. Only the TV remained. The important part. But I hadn’t expected him to survive Valentino’s attack. Persistent little cockroach.   “You again…well, I expected you to show up.” I didn’t think he’d cling to life like that. Annoying bastard.   “Ohoho… listen to that voice. Television hasn’t taken its final breath after all? I must admit, I’m impressed your little ‘followers’ kept you alive. Even if… without a body.”   “Alastor… Al… Ally…you still don’t get it, do you? You can’t kill me. It’s impossible. I am television. You can’t destroy me by smashing one screen. I have… a deal for you.”   A deal?   Ah, music to my ears.   “Well— tell me the terms of this deal.”      

The Hazbin Hotel exploded.

 

Half of Pentagram City vanished in fire.

 

Buildings collapsed.

 

The skyline shattered.

 

And the one behind it all wasn’t Vox.

 

It was Alastor.

 

This disaster was…

 

entirely HIS doing.

 

Blood on HIS hands.

 

POV Alastor ends.

     

A deep, dead silence fell