Alastor folded his hands behind his back, pacing around the recording studio with his chin held haughtily in the air.
"I'll need my old hunting knife," he began to explain, "and my old microphone. Along with that, we have to travel to the lovely state of Massachusetts to retrieve a special little... book. That's all."
"That's it?" you raised a brow. "Where are we even gonna find these things?"
"My house," he answered, glancing over to you. "Then, my old recording studio, if it's still standing. Then Harvard College."
Great. A very long-sounding road trip with the most insufferable person in existence.
Your dreadful expression must have been visible on your face, for Alastor smirked and took a step towards you.
"Oh, what ever is the matter, [Y/N]?" he said teasingly. "Dread it?"
"You have no idea," you murmured, sinking into the back wall. You wanted to off yourself right here and right now.
"So, what are we waiting for?" Alastor exclaimed, clasping his hands together. "Let's travel to the Overworld!"
"What?" you said in shock. "We can't just go right now! Are you out of your mind?"
"Why would I be..." said Alastor, his eyes turning into radio dials as the air picked up around him, "...out of my mind?"
"Eghhh..." you said, cringing back. You shook it off. "Because, we can't just tell nobody where we're going. What if we get stuck over there? Charlie and the rest are going to wonder where we went. Who knows how long we'll be there—"
Alastor slid over to you, pulling you into his arm and grinning cheerfully. He poked your nose, causing you to growl lowly. "Don't you worry your pretty little head about it, Miss Kitty!" He said it so tauntingly. It pissed you off in ways you could not fathom. "We'll be back before you know it. Now concentrate."
"Concentrate? On what?"
The air picked up around you once more, the air pressure so dense that you lost your breath for a moment. Alastor's antlers grew extremely large and so did his smile and ears. The radio station picked up with electrifying neon green sparks, black dust and wind storming around like a vortex around the two of you in the center. You're certain that this commotion was definitely visible from the lower floors of the hotel. What would Charlie think about you just up and leaving with no word or explanation?
"Ripping open a portal," said Alastor.
"I- What do I even do, Alastor?!" you exclaimed in exasperation. Before you, a glowing green and white light like a slice in the sheer air in front of your began to form. The portal. But it wasn't expanding in size.
You looked over to the tall, handsome red-haired demon beside you. A bead of sweat began to form on his forehead. His eyes were squinted and his grin was strained.
"A little help here, dear..." he said, strained.
You perked up, embarrassed. "Oh. Right."
"You have... more power than you give yourself credit for, my love," said Alastor reassuringly, still holding you with one arm and lifting the other in the air which held his microphone to conjure what little of the portal he could manage on his own. "Focus it. Use... it. Concentrate on the result... you want to... exhibit, and then it shall... occur..."
You nodded, internally sighed. I can't believe I'm doing this.
You squeezed your eyes shut, focusing as instructed by Alastor on ripping the portal open. Truthfully, you had no idea what you were doing, but you could only hope it was working. You clenched your fists, a pressure forming in your head and body like staticky pins and needles. Focus, [Y/N].
It hurt, to do it. Your body felt like it was going to implode from the pressure of exhibiting that much power — and you were pretty damn powerful. No wonder Alastor needed your help. There's no possible way you or him could do this on your own. A normal portal? Fine, you're sure. Easy. But a portal to an entirely different dimension you didn't even belong in? Extremely difficult.
But then, you opened your eyes. A portal. The air around still swirled with that neon green electricity, but winding around it in perfect, elegant coils was a gorgeous baby pink. When the coils connected, they let off beautiful, mixed-color sparks.
"Good girl," Alastor cooed in admiration. His eyes slowly latched onto you in awe and achievement. "I knew you had it in you, my dear."
You flushed, hand reaching up to scratch the ears atop your head, which were lengthened from your exertion of power. Your teeth were also sharper, your eyes felt brighter and hotter, and your long hair floated around you, wrapping even around Alastor and tickling his face.
"Yeah, yeah, whatever," you said under your breath. The two of you then made eye contact.
In that short moment, it felt like your electrifying, electrocuting surroundings were intensified, and for a moment it was as if you had been shocked by it yourself. His gaze was low and prideful and devious, and it struck fear and awe alike into your heart. As much as you hated him, you could not deny your curiosity about this man. Who exactly was he?
"After you," said Alastor, gentlemanly stepping away from you and bowing, his opposite hand gestured to the portal.
You gulped. You did not wanna go in there alone.
"Uhm, yeah, I-..." you trailed off, looking at the large portal and then back at Alastor. He smirked, relishing in your momentary weakness. I mean, come on, you've never when through a fucking portal before, especially not one that leads to the fucking Overworld.
Charmingly, he grabbed your hand and interlaced your fingers, sending shocks up and down your arm and making your heart pound viciously behind your sternum. He grinned.
"Together then, my lady."
You scoffed and shook your head, looking at the wall to hide your brief, short-lived smile.
Then, side-by-side with the Radio Demon, you stepped into the portal.
Then you were falling.
୨୧
When Charlie had seen the tendrils of neon green crawling throughout the building, she lost her breath.
Had you made a deal with Alastor? Where were you? What was even going on? Charlie gulped and looked in dread at Vaggie beside her in bed. They then scrambled up, running out into the hall and throwing on their clothes at the same time.
Charlie was breathing heavily. No no no no! You were smarter than that. If you had already made one deal with him, what are the chances that the second wasn't with the price of your soul? She cared too much for you, the newest resident of her Hazbin Hotel, for you too just give your soul away like that.
She passed by Angel and Husk in the hallway, who were laughing and cutting up and holding drinks in their hands. They noticed Charlie and Vaggie's disheveled state and froze in their tracks.
"Charlie?" said Angel, looking at the blonde Demoness and then at the winding hallways behind him, as if she had seen something he hadn't. "What's goin' on? Why do you look like..."
Her long blonde hair was wild and messy, falling over her face and repetitively getting in her eyes; she had to keep flicking it away. Her blazer fell off her shoulder on once side, and her bow tie was crooked. What little makeup she had on was smeared. Vaggie pretty much looked the same.
Angel smirked, "...Oh. I see." He wiggled his brows.
"Angel," Charlie panted, putting her hands on her knees for a moment. "Now's not the time. I think Miss just sold her soul to fucking Alastor!"
"Shit," said Angel, squeezing his drink so tightly in his grasp the glass shattered and fell onto the floor, along with the liquid that was inside it. Niffty materialized out of thin air at his feat with a black garbage bag, picking it up eagerly, disappearing soon after the mess was cleaned. They all ignored her. "That... bastard!"
"It may not be too late," said Vaggie abruptly. "Let's go."
Charlie, Vaggie, Angel, and Husk (excluding Niffty and Sir Pentious, who were God-knows-where at the moment) ran to the elevator, scrambling inside and heading to the eleventh floor where Charlie knew the source of the neon green electricity was.
As the elevator went up, a baby pink-colored electricity began to coil around the green.
"Fuck," Charlie cursed under her breath. The elevator dinged. They were on the eleventh floor.
When the crew passed the threshold, they were immediately hit with the immense amount of power and pressure radiating from the recording studio at the end of the hall. The door had pretty much blown off the hinges, waving around in the air like a loose balloon. Dust and dirt and debris floated around in the air. One hit Husker in the eye, who grumbled a loud "Fuck! Ow!"
The group sprinted to the end of the hall, taking longer than it typically would from the harsh winds and the air pressure. When Charlie finally made it to the door first, she gripped onto the frame to keep herself locked in place.
She met eyes with Alastor, who grinned at her evilly. He was holding your hand, and you hadn't seen the group at all. In front of you was a portal of sorts, bordered by green and pink sparks. Charlie could see Alastor towering over it, but she could not see you.
Then Alastor pulled you into the portal, and everything stopped. The place went dead silent, and all of the wind halted. The dust and debris that had been floating around fell to the ground.
Charlie struggled to catch her breath. What? she thought, confused.
"Well, it didn't look like she was making a deal," observed Vaggie.
"Well then what the fuck were they doing that took so much power?" grumbled Husk.
"Probably going somewhere to fuck," said Angel, who stared at his nails mindlessly.
Everyone stared at him. He shrugged and said, "Whaaaat? You guys can't tell me you haven't noticed their sexual tension too."
"Ugh, Angel!" scolded Charlie, holding her face in one hand.
"Regardless," said Angel, throwing his hands up. "I think Miss can handle herself. I mean, we can all agree that she's more powerful than Alastor, right? I mean, seriously, they probably did just go somewhere to fuck through that portal thingy."
"But what if they didn't?" panicked Charlie, almost ripping her hair out of her skull. "What if he's manipulated her? What if he's got her captive? What if he's forcing her to do something that she doesn't actually wanna—"
"Babe," said Vaggie, resting a hand on her girlfriend's shoulder. Charlie perked up and looked over her shoulder at Vaggie. "It's fine. She'll be fine."
"I agree with Vags here," said Angel, leaning back casually on the door frame, his spidery legs crossing over one another. "[Y/N]'s a badass, and I doubt she's the one being manipulated." Angel smirked in confidence. "I believe that that old motherfucker Alastor has finally met his match.."
Charlie could only hope he was right.