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Characters:

Vageeni: Not the Vaggie you all know. A former prostitute, she died in the 1980s and turned into a moth demon in Hell. After being killed on Earth, she doesn’t trust men except her boyfriend. She wears tall black leggings, a wide black skirt, black fingerless gloves, puffly sleeves and red and black stripes on her top, resembling a black widow. Her hair is long and gray and she has large moth wings with purple designs inside. She has a bowtiw in her hair with purple and black stripes. She can attack rivals with darts. She loves reading and has a boyfriend named Angel.

Angel: A former mafia member who died in New York in the 1940s from an overdose of angel dust. He has a stern brother, Arackniss, a sister Molly and Henroin, his father. He is a white spider demon with magenta spots on his head, and a magenta skull on his chest. He wears a black bowtie, a white hat with a black stripe, magenta gloves, and a shirt with white and magenta stripes. He’s an expert with guns and weapons and his bite can paralyze opponents. Unlike Angel Dust/Anthony, his human name was Martin Aldente and he is not a porn star under Valentino.

Arackniss: Angel’s brother in the mafia. His name was Jonathan Aldente and he turned into a black spider demon in Hell. He was more loyal to Henroin than Angel was.

Charlie: This Charlie has fiery red hair, a monstrous lava hand, steampunk attire and is a combination of Cherri Bomb and Sir Pentious. An innovator, she is a host of the Hazbin Hotel in the Oceania Forest, a safe place for Sinners to hide from angels and other evil demons. She hopes to help Sinners redeem so they can be noticed by the unjudgmental Speaker of God. She was a Sinner who died in the 1830s.

Mimzy: a diva Sinner from the Roaring 20s who arrives at the Hazbin Hotel.

Hatchet: a dragon and brother of Fitch, Marx and Malcom. Hatchet, Marx and Malcom join together to protect fellow Sinners much to Fitch’s dislike.

Niffty: Her human form was a woman named Susan Mayfield who died in 1958 at 22 and experienced abusive relationships with her husband. She likes to write love songs, sewing etc. Husk, Alastor, Baxter etc. appear as side characters.

Crymini: a Sinner hyena demon who loves to party, drink, play loud rock music and cause trouble. Sometimes she is festive and other times she is grumpy and gothic, becoming her Crymini Hazbin counterpart.

Antagonists:

Adina: Adina is an angel who wears a frilly white dress and teal scarves with white Christian crosses on them. She has a white face, wide white feathery wings and hypnotic teal glowing eyes. Don’t be fooled by her pretty looks: this genocidal angel tortures demons with their worst sins and memories using her scarf. Her demon hunting dragon Fitch also shows no mercy to beings she deems inferior. She claims that eliminating or controlling all demons will “serve the greater good.”

Fitch: Adina’s calculating dragon lackey. He wears black pants, a green vest, white sleeves and glasses. He has a white face, green glowing eyes and dark green hair with pointed upward ends resembling ears. Fitch is sent by Adina to hunt down demons and find their safe haven: Charlie’s Hazbin Hotel. His weapon of choice is a spinning double-bladed ax made of angelic steel.

Isabella/Cherry Bomb: Angel’s late daughter who died early on from the mafia. Becoming an angel, she discovers her father’s crimes and is manipulated by Adina into joining her ranks of angels to capture demons. Unlike Hazbin Hotel’s Cherry Bomb, Isabella dresses in white, with a similar white wide hat that Angel wears.

Chainsaw: an angel who carries a giant chainsaw with a Christian cross on it as a weapon against demons.

Quiver: a snotty mermaid film star demon and rival of Mimzy.

Vagatha was running for her life…racing down dark endless alleys as a full moon shone overhead. She caught sight of her face in a broken window: medium brown skin, brown eyes, long black curtain-like hair, black leggings and a short black dress. Ominous footsteps grew louder…she was being followed.

The people around her cast disinterested glances before returning to their Walkmans.

“¡Alto ahí, perra!” (“Stop right there, bitch!”)

Vagatha glanced back…three men were catching up, their grubby hands outstretched. Malice and lust flashed in their eyes.

Vagatha screamed as a hand yanked her back by grabbing her hair. Rough hands shoved her to the ground and held her down.

“¡Quítense de encima, cabrones!” (“Get off me you bastards!”) Vagatha screamed.

She felt one of the men twist her wrist hard…and another man grab hold of her crotch.

“Si eres una buena putita, tal vez perdonemos tu linda vida.” (“If you’re a good little slut, we might just spare your pretty life,”) sneered the leader. The men roared with laughter as her clothes were ripped off. Searing pain burned her insides.

She then saw herself naked, bruised and bleeding all over. She trembled on shaking legs as she reached the entrance of the underground strip club.

A shadowy figure blocked her way…a man with a hood over his face. Rope was wrapped tightly around her neck as he chuckled darkly. Choking…gasping, struggling to get free…she couldn’t breathe. A flash of a knife…a sharp pain in her chest. The neon sign lights faded and her world turned black…

Vaggy sat up straight with a panicked yelp. Her eyes were wide and her whole body shook. The Salvadorian city was gone. There was nothing around her but tall trees with dry bark. The same damn forest she’d been lost in for days.

“Another fucking nightmare,” she thought.

Vaggy groaned and stood up. She stared down at her Sinner demon form: long gray hair, a pale face, a black wide dress with glowing red markings on the top like a black widow spider. Stripped bowtie in her hair. Black leggings, long black gloves…wide black moth wings with glowing purple light designs…a natural arsenal of poisoned darts glowing with purple moth symbols, capable of killing a man in minutes…

She was safe…from the humans at least.

A vison had flashed in her mind just before she had spawned into her afterlife form: “Go to the Hazbin Hotel, the Safe Haven. Beware. Angelic weapons will be your permanent demise.” She had been shown her current location: the Oceana Forest, a place undetectable to humans but home to many monsters and demons. Understandably so, as the Hazbin Hotel was on the other side of an open portal to Hell in the deeper part of the forest. The forest was seen as a parallel to Hell where demons and mythical creatures like dragons, vampires, and shapeshifting animals could roam without humans seeing them. And strangely enough, the other Safe Haven, the Zoo Phoenix Academy was a campus of buildings further out where creatures of all shapes and sizes could learn and thrive.

“Why couldn’t I have spawned in front of the hotel?” she grumbled to herself.

Starvation and thirst weren’t real threats but rather big annoyances due to the respawning process taking a long time. Vaggy certainly did not want to endure any more night terrors nor any delays.

“Gotta keep moving.”

Vaggy wandered through the forest as the sun’s rays peered through the gaps between the overhead leaves. She could hear birds tweeting in the trees and a distant roar of a dragon.

“Stuck in Hell for eternity,” she grumbled. “All because of what? Having sex with men in order to make enough money to feed my family? Sure, I may have killed one of the men one time, but it was in self-defense…”

She pushed her thoughts away and continued.

…

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…

“I wonder where my family is now?” Vaggy wondered. “Are they in Heaven? Still on Earth? Did they make it to the Safe Haven? I have to make it quickly just in case they did…this god-forsaken forest with monsters and creatures and…”

Gunshots rang out not too far away, bringing her back to reality.

“No…not humans!” Vaggy thought with worry. “They can’t have followed me deep in the woods, could they?”

The bangs were closer now.

Vaggy instinctively froze and pressed herself against a tree to hide. One of her hands hovered near her sheathed darts as she slowly peered around the tree.

“Hey snake-face! ‘Niss and I need some extra food so move your black pussy-men outta the way!”

Vaggy gasped. A white spider demon hoisted up his tommy gun in two of his six arms. He had magenta spots dotting his head, a magenta skull on his chest and magenta gloves covering his hands. He wore a suit of magenta and white stripes and a white hat on his head with a black stripe. One of his eyes was black and the other was white.

“You heard him, move it!” snapped a similar spider demon next to him. He was slightly shorter than the white spider demon with black fur, a yellow bowtie with spider web designs and a black suit.

“Angel and Arackniss,” hissed the shadow figure blocking their path. “Strange how we keep crossing paths. You little pessssts should know that the E! District is strictly Castello’s territory!” He pointed at himself. He had gray skin, snake fangs, black and yellow hair in bangs and a pointed black hat with a yellow stripe across it. Standing on either side of him was Salem, a bipedal black cat holding a black rifle and Castello’s younger brother, Ribbon, who looked similar to him except for the grimy bloodstained suit and a yellow ribbon extending from his mouth. They all wore clothing colored black and gold. Ribbon wore a large yellow bowtie stained with blood and matching yellow pants with black stripes.

Angel laughed. “Ya really think a bunch of thespian snakes would intimidate me? If so, then your mind is bullshit.”

Salem hissed.

Castello put a hand over his chest dramatically. “I’ve made my career owning my own theater. I’ve entertained my patrons and students from the Academy! All you two blokes have done is wallow in drugs and childish pranks!”

Arackniss growled. “Our father Henroin wants us back with full bellies and money. Orders to maim or kill any adversaries.”

Ribbon snickered. “But those spiders don’t got any money, right Castello? Hahahaha!”

Angel and Arackniss gave each other a sideways glance.

“Shut it, Ribbon,” Castello spat. He turned back to the spiders. “Unless you want to end up in my brother’s body bag, I’d suggest you bozos clear off.”

Angel swayed and smirked. “Oh…why don’t you make me…snake daddy?”

Castello flinched. “Enough with your filthy sex puns!” He clocked his gun in warning.

Angel shrugged. “Just giving ya inspiration for your next rehearsal!”

Salem the cat sniffed the air. “Someone else here. You tryin’ to smuggle in a fugitive?”

Angel raised his eyebrows. “The fuck are you talking…”

A gunshot blasted a hole through the tree…Vaggy managed to duck just in time. She moved from behind the tree and in a swift movement, threw one of her poisoned darts. It whizzed past Ribbon’s head and embedded itself in the rock behind him.

“Uh…SHE’S NOT WITH US!” Angel cried as he leaned back and fired wildly from his weapon. The mafia members exchanged gun fire and yells as the forest filled with powder and smoke.

Vaggy stood by Angel, aiding in the fight.

Angel glanced at her. “Who are you, moth girl? A Sinner, too?”

“Yes,” Vaggy scowled. “Just trying to get to the Safe Haven in Hell.”

Angel brightened. “Oh, ya mean Charlie’s joint? Yeah, I’ve heard about it. Considered crashing there but with Henroin wondering about us…”

Angel dodged more bullet blasts and Vaggy used her wings to shield herself.

“Unfortunately, the quickest way is through the Entertainment District near the Academy. And these snakes ain’t lettin’ up!”

“Maybe if you weren’t such an idiot and went around them instead!” Vaggy snapped.

Angel shrugged. “Who doesn’t love a good brawl…” Angel cried out as a bullet grazed one of his long legs. “…wounds and all,” he squeaked.

Castello folded his arms. “Perhaps you’d like more? Remember last week? You deserve it after you decided to vandalize my theater windows with pink spray-painted dicks!”

Angel snickered. “It’s one of my trademarks. From one gang to another. I mean, who’s ever heard of a mafia gang who revamps “Guys and Dolls” on stage while singing “Annie Get Your Gun” songs with booze?” He mimicked Castello and leaped into the air with his legs in jumping motions spread out.

Castello fumed. “You filthy little spies! I’ll pummel you into the ground!”

Angel winked. “Be sure to step on me just right, babe!”

BANG, BANG, BANG!

More gunshots. Arackniss swiped at Salem and managed to knock him back. The gun fell from his paws. Ribbon grabbed one of Arackniss’ arms, trying to pull him down.

“What’s the matter? Cat got your tongue?” mocked Arackniss.

“My tongue got cut out by my boss,” Ribbon’s yellow eyes bulged all over his face. “Said I talked too much.” He paused and pointed with a smile. “Nice bowtie.”

“Oh. Thanks.” Arackniss slapped him in the face. Ribbon grunted.

Vaggy tossed a dart in their direction. Ribbon gasped and ducked, letting go of Arackniss. Several hard kicks sent Ribbon on his back.

“Enough of thissss!” Castello hissed, his eyes glowing yellow.

Castello morphed into a large black snake with yellow stripes, hissing at Angel and snapping his jaws. Angel barely dodged the snake. “Oh fuck!” he yelped. Arackniss held his own against Salem and Ribbon, ducking as they swung their fists and weapons at him. Vaggy tossed another dart, but Salem caught it and tossed it back toward her at full speed. She yelped and rolled to the ground.

Castello was about to strike at Vaggy as she was down…

Angel rushed in front of Vaggy…and managed to hold open Castello’s mouth with his hands.

“Leave the girl outta this!” Angel snapped. “I’ll…”

He glanced over at a brown sack he and his brother had hidden behind a bush. “I’ll give ya the money, just let us pass.”

Castello paused…then slowly moved back. He morphed back into his humanoid self.

“You’re bluffing.”

Arackniss glared at Angel. “Our boss is counting on that money to buy extra supplies,” he hissed in a low voice. “Supplies” hinted at weapons and drugs.

Angel ignored him.

“Don’t,” grumbled Arackniss.

Angel raced over and tossed the sack of money to Castello, who caught it. He looked briefly puzzled but nodded. “Salem, Ribbon, let him go.”

The two men moved away from Arackniss.

“This better not be another prank, Angel,” Castello scowled.

“No point in us killin’ each other, we’ll just respawn and make all our bosses mad,” Angel said, holding up his hands. “Now will you let us pass or not?”

Castello glared and then sighed, lowering his gun. He peered into the bag and looked back up with approval. “Get out of our sight, spiders. And I don’t want to see your faces around my theater again! Capice?”

“Fine,” Angel nodded.

After Castello and his gang left, (with Salem giving them a warning glare) Arackniss face-palmed and gave his brother a shove.

“Well done, Angel! You lost us our resources! We may as well be mortadella meat when Father sees us again!”

Angel put his gun away and brushed his hands and sleeves. “Relax, bro. We’ll just steal it back from them later!”

“We nearly lost our hides after stealing that money and retreating into the woods!” Arackniss snapped.

“He’s right, Angel,” Vaggy folded her arms. “That’s your name, right? Sounds like you never think things through!”

“Oh, she talks,” Angel grinned, holding out his hand. “Hi, I’m Angel. My brother Arackniss, here. Your name?”

“Vaggy.” She reluctantly shook it.

Angel snickered. “Well pleasure to be meeting you, vagina! Shall we continue on before those fuckers come back?”

“Call me that again, you freak…” Vaggy seethed at Angel, holding up a poison dart.

Angel held up his hands. “Hey, just smooth-talkin’ my way through so all of us can reach the Safe Haven in one piece! I believe the words to say are, ‘thank you, Angel!’”

“Excuse me?” Vaggy put her hands on her hips.

“You’re excused, babe,” Angel smirked. “Now let’s head off.”

Arackniss led the way down a steep path covered by fog. Vaggy could see a faint outline of a city ahead.

“Um…Thank you for saving my life…” Vaggy muttered.

“What? What was that?” Angel asked, leaning closer with a smirk.

“I’m not repeating it!” Vaggy replied. “Why don’t you go back to your mother to teach you manners!”

Angel paused.

“My mother Lucia and my sister Molly are in Heaven,” Angel deadpanned, looking back at her. “Shut it or get lost.”

He didn’t speak with malice…only a low bitter tone. He and Arackniss talked in low whispers…

“Do we need to bring her along, Angel? She’ll slow us down.”

“She looks cute, Niss, give her a chance. She’s a lost Sinner just like us. ‘Sides, we need more recruits…ya know, to fight off…my namesake…”

Vaggy went quiet at the somber realization and followed behind him.

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“CASTELLO’S” glowed in golden round theater lights on an elegant brick building in the Entertainment District. The “S” letters were shaped like snakes in the sign. The front of the building had theater posters and casting lists. “’City Noir,’ ‘Damsels and Dragons’ and ‘Snakes on a Train’ - Audition here!”

The sun had set by the time the crew came back. Salem curled up in a corner in a booth, lapping up a drink from his beer bottle. Ribbon disposed the last of the trash bags and carefully hoisted the weapons back into place against a wall in the shadows.

Castello proudly held the small bag of money in his lap. He looked over his notes in his seat as he watched several anthropomorphic animals try out for parts on stage. He had changed into a “Don” suit of yellow with vertical black stripes, well-tailored.

He sighed. “Lizzy, I hate to say this, but ‘Snakes on a Train,’ requires actual serpians. You’re just a lizard. You may go.”

A parrot sang and squawked in song.

“Uh, hello? Your vocals are quite pitchy,” Castello grimaced. “Try again next year after some singing lessons.”

Two foxes performed a dance but made several mistakes and sidesteps.

He shook his head, scribbling on his clipboard. “THAT was really the best you could show me? I’ve seen better performances from handicapped children! NEXT!”

Before long, the auditions were over. Castello waved a dismissive hand as the students and performers left.

“I’ll let you all know who got in tomorrow,” Castello called. The door closed and he muttered, “Only two were above average in my book.”

“Judging like Simon, huh, mate?”

Salem yawned and wandered over to his associate.

Castello sighed. “What can I say? Mediocre acts at best, cringeworthy slop at worst.”

“You know doing digital films and AI makes things cheaper these days…” Salem mentioned.

Castello’s eye twitched. “You know that computer-free traditional films are the only ones I’ll accept! Morphing images, fake roleplays, autotune…it’s all a disgrace to centuries-old art! Besides…”

He held up the bag slightly. “This will come in handy in case Xanathos needs extra payment for who knows what.”

Castello sighed. “After that ambush from those spiders, it’s not easy trustin’ anyone these days.”

Salem morphed into an animal black cat and curled up on Castello’s desk in front of him.

“Castello,” sighed Salem, “You’re the only person I will ever trust.”

Castello pet him on the head. “Yeah. Lucky that I took you in all those years ago. Being abandoned on the streets like that…it truly was crime or die.”

“I’ll be loyal until the end of my nine lives, sir,” Salem muttered. He purred softly as Castello stroked his black head.

Footsteps sounded as someone entered the room.

“Castello…long time no see.”

Salem morphed back into his humanoid dressed form and scurried off as the visitor approached.

Castello stood up and smiled. “Well, if it isn’t the ex-king of Broadway himself, Marx! Boy, do I have a tale to tell you!”

Marx was a slender white-faced dragon with black hair with yellow tips on top. His eyes were purple with yellow irises. He wore a small black hat like Castello. He had long black pants, yellow heeled shoes and a fancy black tuxedo with a yellow undershirt, yellow buttons and a black bowtie. His tail had three black bowties on it and he could stretch out his leathery dragon wings.

“I still am, Castello!” Marx announced with a scowl. A cigarette curled with smoke between his fingers. “Even if the world doesn’t see it anymore!” He snapped his fingers. “I need a booze asap!”

Ribbon raced back toward a small bar and got his drink ready.

Marx glanced at the audition posters. “So…orchestrating new projects, huh?”

Castello nodded. “’City Noir’ is a theater production, ‘Damsels and Dragons’ is an in-progress film, ‘Snakes on a Train,’ a live comedy. Results so far…mediocre.”

“You know how picky the Director is…” Marx mentioned. “More than you. Kind of unlikely she’ll approve them right away. Can’t wait to help make the soundtracks though.”

“Indeed,” mentioned Castello. “But I’m sure she’ll find something pleasing in at least one of them.”

Marx led Castello toward a table, and they sat together under a makeshift small stage light made into an overhead light.

Ribbon arrived with Marx’s booze. He took the bottle and gulped down the drink with satisfaction. The two theater-loving individuals sat and discussed their day.

“So me, Ribbon and Salem were scouting around our boundaries and Angel came over and wanted to just strut on in like he owned the streets. What a drugged freak!”

“Yikes. Glad I wasn’t there in that fight!” Marx exclaimed. “And where are they now?”

“Probably strolling around the city. Hopefully far away from us.”

“And…you let them through?” Marx asked.

Castello shrugged. “I got money from him, didn’t I? That counts for something. As long as Angel doesn’t cause any trouble to my business or Xanathos finds out…”

“My lips are sealed,” Marx nodded. “Hmm. They seemed to be desperate to cross over to give up stolen money like that.”

“They said they stole the cash for their boss, got chased into the forest, then needed a way back. They also said they needed to go to their ‘Safe Haven.’”

Marx grimaced. “’Safe Haven?’ You don’t mean the Zoo Phoenix Academy?”

Castello’s brows furrowed. “No. I think they wanted to go to another Safe Haven…in Hell. As to the location, it’s unknown.”

A pair of glowing teal eyes watched from the shadows.

“A refuge for demons and Sinners,” Marx pondered. “I’m not surprised. I sometimes hear my brother Hatchet talk about going there, but he’s never told me where it is.”

“Only the demons themselves know. By the way, how’s Malcom?” asked Castello.

“Still teaches at the Academy,” Marx replied. “Almost as rambunctious as the teens at times.”

“And…Fitch?”

Marx paused and sighed. “Haven’t heard from him in a while. I can only hope he doesn’t get any ideas to stir up trouble.”

Marx stretched his arms. “Man, I’m beat. I suggest we rest before tomorrow.”

“Agreed,” Castello replied. “Keep night watch, Salem.”

The cat nodded.

 They stood up and headed over to the stage.

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Nothing was seen in the shadows except the glowing teal eyes…and a glowing white Christian cross in a clenched hand. The figure tapped the device three times and the cross glowed gold.

“My Lady, I think we have a lead.”

A serene angelic voice spoke from the cross. “You know what to do, then. Remember, it’s for the greater good…”

In a flash of light, a many-bladed weapon glowed with a green eye in the center, stained with black and red blood.

The woman spoke again, “There is no mercy for the dammed…such is the will of the Lord…”