Underworldly!

In the quiet town of Castletown, Ohio, just outside of Akron, lived a boy named Zero LeVon.

Zero was no ordinary boy. From the way he looked to the way he behaved, everyone thought he was strange. Too out of place in the happy, normal town. He had a total of two friends, Reeve Larson and Katie Luroe, both far better adjusted than himself.

It was a mostly normal December day, though slightly busier, as today was the last day of school before Christmas.

It had snowed the day before, but Castle Public High School rarely cancelled for weather. Which was why the car accident that was about to happen was completely their fault and not at all the fault of Zero, who has been neglecting getting his tires replaced for weeks now.

When Zero awoke, he felt as if his head was on fire. His entire body ached, feeling as if he’d been hit by 10 cars at once. And while that isn’t technically what happened, it was damn close.

The last thing he remembers was driving home from school. The roads could’ve passed for an ice rink; it was stupid that they didn’t call off today. And as he was about to get off the highway, he lost control and spun out before he could even realize it.

And now, he was here, in the middle of some dingy ass alleyway.

The first thing he asked himself was if he was dead. And, upon checking his pulse, he got his answer. Fucking great.

He finally managed to sit up, though his head didn’t feel that much better. Scanning his surroundings, Zero quickly concluded that he was in Hell. And while that should have surprised him, he was more confused about what part of his life got him wound up here than him actually being here at all.

Maybe that priest who lives next door to Grandma back in Illinois was right, and being gay really was a sin. Wouldn’t that be something?

No, that felt too easy. It was probably the smoking, or the stealing, or whatever other bad teenager shit Reeve got him up to.

Zero sighs, supposing it doesn’t matter now. He’s dead, no changing that.

Zero was suddenly pulled from his thoughts by the sound of rushed footsteps coming down the alleyway. He’d just gotten here, and he was already about to get robbed of the Hell currency he didn’t have, great.

The man who came running down the alleyway, however, did not look at all capable of robbing someone. Plus, he looked far too busy. He had a black pull-string bag clutched in his clawed hands, and despite having wings, he seemed to be moving on foot quite fast.

Before Zero could speak, the stranger grabbed him by the sleeve and dragged him down the alleyway until they got to a set of doors at the side of one of the buildings.

The stranger slammed the doors closed behind him, shushing Zero any time he tried to speak. They sat there in the dimly lit room until the footsteps on the other side of the door faded into silence.

Finally, Zero was able to speak. “What the hell was that?” Maybe not the best first choice of words, but it got his thoughts across pretty efficiently.

The stranger, still standing with his ear against the door, responded in a hushed voice. “Listen, man, I just saved your ass from becoming Lucifer's next wallpiece, show some respect.”

The stranger moved away from the door, turning on a light and pulling open the bag in his hands. And for the first time since Zero met this guy five minutes ago, he could get a good look at him.

His skin is dark grey, fading to black at his wrists. His hair is black, a mess of uneven spikes. His eyes are wide as those druggies who used to live down the road back in Akron, but they’re bright yellow, emitting a slight glow in the still dim room.

He had tiny fangs and big bat ears, both looking out of place in his otherwise human-ish appearance. He was wearing what looked like rags, a baggy grey tank top, torn, tattered, and dirty, along with ripped up brown shorts.

As the man peered into the bag, the black bat-like wings that Zero had previously noticed fluttered behind him.

Curious, Zero tried to lean forward to see whatever was in the bag, but the bat-like man snatched it back before he could actually see.

The two locked eyes for a moment, assessing one another, then the stranger spoke. “You just dropped in, didn’t you?”

Not knowing what to say, Zero just nodded, feeling a bit offended that it was that obvious.

The man laughed, running a clawed hand through his spiked hair. “Man, I feel like such a dick. Sorry, dude. I’m Kyron, hellborn.” He reached his hand out, offering a handshake that Zero cautiously took.

“I’m Zero, not hellborn.” Kyron pulled his hand back, looping the bag over his shoulder as he began walking towards the other side of the room. “That much was obvious. I’ve never seen someone look so not-afraid of one of Lucifer's boytoys.”

Zero followed Kyron, unsure of what else he should do. Kyron, upon getting to an empty bookshelf on the wall across from the door they came in from, shoved the bookshelf to the ground, revealing a second door with a peephole.

As Kyron peered through the peephole, he spoke again. “Hey, you think you could help me get these guards off my ass?”

Zero knew a bad idea when he heard it; he’d known Reeve long enough to recognize that.

“Depends, why are they chasing you all around… Wherever we are, like that?” Kyron leaned back, rubbing the back of his neck and squinting as if debating if he should tell the truth or make some shit up.

He looked back at Zero, holding up the bag. “If you help me, I’ll show you why when we get them out of our hair.”

Zero paused for a moment. “Our hair?” What the hell did he mean by our hair? Zero had nothing to do with this.

Kyron stretched his wings, pressing his ear against the window again. “Well, since they knew you were with me, they’re going to assume you’re helping me in my little escapade. So if they catch us, I’ll be dead, and you’ll be Lilith's footstool for the rest of eternity. So, your choice.”

Zero groaned; he’d been dead for not ten minutes, and he’d already gotten dragged into trouble, just his luck.

“Fine,” Zero sighed, stepping towards the door, “what should I do?” Kyron clapped, floating over to a desk and grabbing two black cloaks off the top of it, tossing one at Zero.

“Put that on, they’ll think we’re city people, won’t suspect a thing.” They both pulled on the cloaks, and Zero wrinkled his nose at the smell of iron and something else he dared not name.

Once they were both in their subpar disguises, Kyron pulled open the door and snuck out of the building, Zero following his lead.

They both kept their heads down, trying not to look suspicious. Just as Zero was beginning to think it would be easy, Kyron tensed up and pulled Zero behind one of the food stands along the streets as two large dog-spider-hybrid things in knights' uniforms passed them. Those must be Lucifer's soldiers.

Zero couldn’t look too long; they’re terrifying. Dog heads with a million eyes, sharp fangs, and an extra set of arms.

Once the soldiers turned the corner, Kyron pulled Zero down the street until they got to a shitty looking hotel. They walked in, and Kyron pulled down his hood, sighing with relief.

The place looked empty, except for the tired-looking man with uneven horns behind the front desk. Kyron held up finger guns to the man, his voice sounding brighter now. “Mori! What's up, man? How's the hotel running?”

Mori, the man with the uneven horns, brownish-red hair, and grey skin, groaned, leaning against the desk. “Shut the hell up, did you get it? And who’s this guy?” Zero brought his hood down, scanning the interior of the hotel before his eyes landed on Mori. "I’m Zero. I got a little mixed up in… Whatever this is.”

Mori scoffed, pressing a button behind the desk. A door to Zero's left made a clicking sound. Kyron waved to Mori, giving a cheery goodbye before grabbing Zero's wrist and pulling him into the now unlocked door.

As Kyron closed the door behind the strange sinner and himself, Mori leaned against the front desk, rubbing his temple. “Running around, bringing strangers into my hotel—” He’s cut off by the front door slamming open again, this time Kitti comes through, and, thankfully, she’s alone.

Kittis's teal skin is covered in dirt and blood that definitely wasn’t hers; her one silver prosthetic arm looked mangled, probably damaged while in another dumb fight somewhere in the Envy ring. Lucky Mori, he’ll need to get that fixed again.

The asymmetrical pink and purple minidress she wore seemed intact, but somehow her dark grey leggings weren’t as fortunate, having multiple rips and cuts in them.

Her mint green hair was in its usual spikey, messy pigtails, though some pieces had fallen out and stuck to her skin with sweat. Her green cat-like eyes scanned the room, pupils blown wide from endorphins.

She slams the door behind her, giggling like a psycho as she waved around a sword that was clearly not hers.

“And what is that?” As far as Mori knows, and he knows everything that happens within these walls, nobody has come in asking about a sword in months.

As Kitti held the sword in the air, the blade split open like a mouth, revealing small, razor-sharp teeth in uneven quantities and a long, snake-like tongue. Kitti’s grin was triumphant as she patted the flat side of the blade. “Its name is Bubbles! It called to me.” She said the words as if she were talking about a dog and not a sentient blade.

Mori groaned, pinching the bridge of his nose. “Dammit, Kitti, don’t go bringing some angry psycho into the hotel! Are you trying to get priceless artifacts blown up?”

Kitti pushed off the door, swinging the sword through the air. “Sorry, Mori! It needed me to free it! Plus, I lost the guy like three blocks ago, we’ll be fine!” Mori wished he could trust her, but dammit, not being an idiot has its disadvantages.

Kitti popped off her prosthetic and set it on the front desk as Mori got out his toolbox. “Why was the emo kid running around with Kyron? You guys never said anything about a new hire.”

Kitti still sounded out of breath; she must’ve run from clear over in the Envy ring to the Hotel for her to actually be out of breath, which did not at all soothe Mori’s worries.

He picked up the prosthetic, examining the damage. "He’s not a new hire. That dick just brings anyone in here nowadays, absolute Crackpot, I tell ya.”

Mori supposed, however, that he was surrounded by crazy people. Kitti included. She was a cannibal after all, it takes a certain kind of crazy to get so addicted to human flesh that you die trying to self-cannibalize to avoid starvation.

It makes Mori wonder how she didn’t end up in whatever low-budget loony bin was closest to her spawn. Knowing Kitti herself, though? She’d be outta there in a month. Not because she’s well-behaved, but because she’d probably eat someone and get kicked out.

Right on cue, Levi's familiar voice came through the opening elevator doors. When he chirped the now routine “Hey, Mori! What’s up, babe?”

Mori hardly registered it. He found that yelling at, threatening, acting on threats, and ignoring Levi never did anything to stop the sheeplike sinner.

Levi paused halfway to the door, noticing the mangled prosthetic on the counter and the bare nub where Kittis' arm once was. “What the hell happened?”

Kitti perked up, her sharp-toothed grin regaining its rightful place. “Did some shopping!” She waved the sword in the air, its mouth-like blade opening and snapping shut. Levi looked about ready to jump out of his skin as he walked to the door at a rushed pace, shouting a quick “Bye, hot stuff!” At Mori on the way out.

Inside the storage room, Zero saw shelves full of strange-looking artifacts. Something about this deeply bothered him.

“So, what, I just risked my ass to help you with your little collection?” Kyron laughed, shaking his head. “Oh, you poor, sweet sinner. Of course not!” His tone was condescending as he set the black bag on a table in the middle of the room and opened it. “This is much different. Some guy wanted me to pick this up from Lucifer for him, and promised me quite the pay for it.”

As Kyron spoke, Zero thought back to when he thought that the scrawny bat demon didn't look capable of being a theif. This almost made him laugh.

Zero stepped forward as Kyron pulled the object out of the bag. A human skull, covered in cracks repaired with golden seams, and some sort of green jewel in the left eyesocket.

Creepy, but pretty fucking cool, too.

Kyron held the skull up to the light, then tapped the jewel with his finger. Zero was still confused about what it was supposed to be. Upon asking, Kyron shrugged. “I have no clue. I just know that I’m getting paid.” He handed the Skull off to Zero, who was hesitant to take it, as he ha the feeling of something being wrong with it.

As Zero held the skull, he felt a chill go down his back, followed by the feeling of a shock shooting up his arm. He dropped the skull onto the ground, and the jewel pulled out of the eyesocket and rolled to Zero's feet.

Within seconds, before Zero or Kyron could process what had happened, the pigment drained from Kyron's face as he lost consciousness, and the same happened to Zero as the floor upended beneath him.

When Zero awoke, he felt as if his head was on fire. His entire body ached, feeling as if he’d been hit by 10 bolts of lightning at once. And while that isn’t technically what happened, it was damn close. The last thing he remembers was holding a weird skull and being dead.

As his eyes opened, he could see a white ceiling and doctors crowding around him, all sounding shocked. “He’s stabilizing!" Was the last thing he heard as the strange shadows on the walls swarmed him and he lost consciousness again.

Meanwhile, in hell, two very scared guards walk into Lucifer's throne room, feeling very sorry for themselves. “I’m sorry, sir. We couldn’t retrieve Lilith's skull.”

Lucifer's cold, annoyed eyes scanned the two guards. “You'd better figure out a way to get that done then, gentlemen. Unless you want something very bad to happen.” The second guard flinched at Lucifer's tone. “To Hell or us, sir?” Lucifer stood up from his chair, adjusting his collar. “Both if you don’t stop asking dumb questions—”

He felt a pulse go through him as he got to his feet, sending him back down into his seat. He saw a flash of golden light, then the vision of a human boy in a hospital bed with something unnamed and sharp around him. Lucifer felt his blood go cold. “Okay… Gentlemen, pass a message on to the other Overlords, there seems to be a matter to be discussed at their earliest convenience.”

As the guards walked out of the room, Lucifer leaned forward in his throne, hands over his face. He wondered how horribly things were about to play out.

Within the hour, the other 6 Overlords sat at the long meeting table in Lucifer's castle.

The first to show was Mammon, a toad-like creature, who was dressed in the best riches hell had to offer.

Next to arrive and sitting next to him was his brother, Beezlebub, a large bug-like creature who looked like an amalgamation of many different kinds of insects. He was poking at the food he’d brought with him.

Third to arrive was Satan, who was halfway through her second cigarette; the lioness’ mane was just as long and eye-catching as ever. Across the table sat a half-asleep sloth-woman, Belphegor. Nobody knew when or hoe she showed up, they had long ago learned not to ask.

Asmodeus sat beside her sloth peer upon arrival; the serpent wasn’t as glamorous as she usually appeared, as she had little time to prepare. She had walked in fussing over her sharp scales and clothes.

Next to her, with considerable space between them, was Leviathan, the most unfortunate of the seven. Bound to their shark-like form, unable to speak, and often, unfamiliar with faces they’d known for centuries. Lucky for the other Overlords, Leviathan remembered them all well and hadn’t tried to attack any of them in a couple of decades or so.

At the head of the table, Lucifer spoke in as even a tone as he could manage. “Gentlemen and women,” he paused, scanning the faces of his allies, “And Leviathan.” This earned a chuckle from Satan and Beezlebub. “I have gathered you all here today to share troubling news. As of earlier today, the whereabouts of Lilith's skull have been unknown.”

Satan sat up straighter in her chair, eyebrows knit together in both confusion and annoyance. Mammon spoke up, “And what does that have to do with us? That’s between you and your wife.”

Lucifer sighed, “It appears that her skull possessed powers that we were previously unaware of. I have discovered that, somehow, the skull has caused the transfer of power between a hellborn and a human.” The room was thick with silence. This was, in fact, everyone's problem. If the Cheribum found out about this, the blame would be in their hands.

“This is your fucking fault, Lucifer! Do you know how much trouble we're in?” Satan rose from her seat, tips of her mane catching embers as she bore her teeth.

“Count me out of this mess, this shits on your hands! You’ve been nothing but irresponsible with your belongings for the past decade. Those little underground weasels haven’t gotten a fraction of all of our belongings combined compared to you!”