Chapter Text
The moment the shield broke he knew that things were going to get rough and that things were going to be easy. He caught sight of his daughter, slaughtering her way through the Exerocists, her weapon gleamed as she moved through the battlefield like a whirlwind. But he knew that it wouldn't be enough. They were far too much going on, he spotted Charlie and Vaggie standing side by side, he knew that Vaggiue would never let anything happen to her other half.
His battle with the first man went as he expected it to.
He knew that he wasn't enough to take on the first man, but he had done his job. He had bought them time. Hopefully, the King would arrive soon and do something useful. Although at this point Alastor very much doubted it, he did not have high hopes at all.
“Papa, catch!” A new cane was tossed his way and he defended himself from an Exorcist that was trying to sneak up on him. Golden blood splattered against the remains of his red suit.
“You should be somewhere else!” Foolish fawn of his, he had told her to stay away while he kept the first man busy. Yet he knew that she wouldn't leave him for long. An Exorcist fell to the ground, her wings missing and her throat slit, Alastor whirled around and spotted his daughter landing gracefully on the ground.
“The King should be here soon, the angels have killed one of Charlie’s guardians, who by definition are classed as hellborn and not Sinner. They broke the contract.” Alastor knew that Sarah was right, she had been the one to prove that the King was bound by a contract and he wasn't able to interfere.
Alastor hadn't liked the plan that they had come up with but there hadn't been any other choice, still, they had been protecting Charlie as much as they could. But there was only so much they could do, Dazzle had been killed and Charlie had far too many close calls. Alastor watched as Sarah disappeared and reappeared on the other side, a gunshot echoed in the air and Alastor watched as a sniper glinted from the roof. Alastor’s smile turned malicious as he watched as angel after angel fell.
He felt as if he was watching snow fall from the sky.
Many assumed that because of her young age when she had died, Sarah had no fighting experience, Alastor called them idiots. Sarah had cut her teeth in an underground fighting ring at fifteen, a time when most were still living at home, still being teenagers. She hadn't. But the time period that they had lived in hadn't helped.
The Great Depression.
He had fought in the Great War or as it was now known as World War One.
He had made sure that he had taught Sarah how to defend herself, he had even taught her how to use a gun, perhaps it hadn't been his best move teaching her how to kill others. But it had kept her alive in Hell and her skills hadn't dulled in the slightest. Neither of them was under the illusion that they were going to make it out of this fight alive.
Every second they remained here, the quicker their clocks ticked down.
He could feel it.
Alastor knew that death should terrify him and in a way it did, but not the way that most assumed, he was scared of leaving his daughter alone. That was what he was scared of, he knew that so long as she was alive, then he couldn't truly die. However, she was here, with him. Alastor knew that he couldn't force her to leave, that she would refuse to do so and trying to force her?
Would only make things worse.
It would be the same as trying to move a mountain.
Having her on the battlefield with him would make sure that he could see her and that he could keep track of her. There was a scream and he watched as Sarah fell. One of her arms was missing and the first man was sneering and laughing. Then there was a gunshot and half of the first man’s face was blown off. A smirk pulled at his lips but it did very little to kill the worry that had built in his chest. He couldn't allow himself to get distracted. Alastor watched as the hotel was cleaved in two and Charlie fell from the hotel, his heart felt as if it stuck in his throat as he watched as a munch smaller body wrapped around Charlie’s.
The crunch as Sarah’s body hit the ground was not something that would be forgotten any time soon.
He didn't need to examine her body to know that she was dead, he could feel her soul wrapped around his and a warmth filled his chest as she slept.
Tick
The wound that he had received from the first man throbbed painfully, Alastor was aware that the title of first man had a capital F and M, but he wasn't going to use the title correctly. The sorry excuse of a human being didn't deserve it.
Tock
Alastor wondered if the citizens of Hell were ready for the consequences of their deaths, his name Radio Demon wasn't just for show and yet while radio was his medium, it didn't mean that was all he controlled. He knew the Vees and the rest of the Pride Ring were watching this, all eagerly awaiting his downfall. But were they prepared?
He very much doubted it, still, it was a shame that he wasn't going to be around to watch the fall of the Vees and everything that they had built. But it brought him satisfaction that it would be his death that had done so. He knew that the Vees would deny it at first, no doubt they would laugh it off but as they slowly lost everything that they built?
They would be unable to deny it.
Once he would have mourned Vox. But Vox wasn't the person who he had made friends with. As soon as he had gotten with Valentino he had turned into a monster and that was saying something given that they lived in Hell of all places.
Tick
Perhaps there were better uses of his time, he was dying after all, he could feel it and the only comfort he had was his daughter’s soul pressed against his. Soon they would be reunited. Alastor wondered if the King would step up and actually do his job. Unlikely. But given that he had been bound in such a monstrous contract?
Perhaps there was more to the King than what he knew.
It would be a shame that neither of them was going to be around to witness it.
Tock
He could feel his heart begin to slow, it wouldn't be long now and strangely enough, he was at peace. While he wished that he and Sarah could have lived longer, he knew that they all had a time and this was simply their time.
Red eyes slipped close.
A heartily slowly began to stop.
Tick
Tock
Tick
Tock
Alastor DeCoux, Terror of the Pride Ring and the Radio Demon had breathed his last breath.
----
The celebration that the Vees had been throwing had come to an abrupt stop, all over Hell anything that used radio waves?
Died.
Vox had scrambled to fix whatever had gone wrong but nothing he did worked, he denied that it had anything to do with Alastor’s death, the old-timey prick was outdated and had lost any and all relevance. Vox and the rest of the Vees were the future of Hell. Vox refused to admit that he would be beaten by Alastor yet again.
Yet, after weeks he had no success and he and the rest of the Vees were suffering, Vox cursed Alastor. However, it wasn't just the Vees that were suffering, hellborns were also suffering but it didn't bring Vox any pleasure. He had tried to use his own powers to take control of the airwaves, but it didn't work, they were too wild to be controlled. He had ended up with electrical burns had had needed to replace his head three times before he had learned that he couldn't control them.
The airwaves had only answered to one being.
Despite being dead, Alastor had the last laugh.
And Vox?
Vox hated it.
-----
For all of his power, there were some things that he couldn't do. Bring back the dead was one such thing. Lucifer watched the funerals taking place and part of him regretted not being able to help sooner, Charlie didn't know why he hadn't been able to interfere and he was going to keep it that way. She didn't need that burden on her shoulders. She didn't need the guilt that came with it. The funerals for the two deer demons were nothing like he had seen before, a group of Overlords had been tossed out and the Cannibal Overlord had eaten the face of one Overlords that had been tossed out. It had taken eight demons to pull her off the moth Overlord and even then, she had taken half of his face with her when she had been removed. He had been shocked to see Prince Stolas and his daughter, he had no idea how the deer demons had known the Prince and nor was he going to ask. Not now. Charlie hadn't stopped crying and nothing any of them did would get her to stop, Lucifer knew that Charlie was grieving and he didn't blame her.
The blame lay with Heaven, there was a small slither of good news, the former snake demon, Sir Pitious or Pentintious?
Whatever, he was called, had been redeemed and Charlie had been hopeful that perhaps the deer demons had been redeemed as well. She had waited and waited for the news until her hope had been crushed. Neither of the deers had been redeemed.
Lucifer hadn't told Charlie that he doubted that either of the deers would ever be redeemed.
He had been shocked by how many had turned up at the deers' funerals, he had been expecting no one to turn up, not the entire hotel to be filled and even then?
There weren't enough rooms, some had taken to camping outside and they were refusing to move until the funerals had been completed. Even then there had been a fight over how the funerals were to be held. Charlie had been adamant that there would be songs, flowers and the like, but she had been pushed to one side and firmly told that the funeral plans had already been arranged and that all she needed to do was turn up. It had hurt Charlie. She had then spent a few days locked in her room and not even Vaggie had been able to get her to come out. Lucifer had been angry, how dare they?
But part of him was grateful that Charlie didn't need to do such things, that it was something that had been taken off her shoulders.
Part of Lucifer hated the deer demons, they had died and now Charlie was suffering, after that big song and dance about being family, about being there for Charlie and her dreams.
However, there was a much larger part of him that knew that they were always going to die, that was what Sinners did, they picked fights and then they died. Only this time?
It was his daughter’s fight that they had gotten themselves involved in, they had died defending Charlie’s dream and for that?
He was grateful and jealous.
Jealous that he hadn't anyone like that on his side, even Lilith had left him, Charlie was a fully grown demon and didn't need him, the Sins were able to rule their rings without any help from him. He was alone. But Charlie had been able to build something, with a very unlikely group and dispite his jealousy, he was happy for her.
“I’ll look after her. Don't you worry.” His gold eyes looked at the stained cloths, he knew that underneath the cloths would be the mangled remains of two deer demons that had given so much for his daughter.
It was a debt that he would never be able to repay.
-----
They both crashed into Hell with a boom, many of the older citizens stopped and looked, it was rare that new souls made such an entrance. It meant that they were powerful, although how powerful they were?
Remained to be seen.
Before anyone could get close to seeing the new souls, they had disappeared, there was a scream that shattered the nearby windows and shadows lengthened all around them. When the smoke and shadows cleared, all that was left was a crater. It left many of them wondering just who or what the new souls were.
Alastor clutched Sarah to his chest as they disappeared from view, there was a bunker that they could retreat to, he had no idea if it was still being used but he had no issue with evicting the current occupants if it was. Alastor’s mind was a whirlwind, how were they alive? They should be dead, he had died and Sarah had died. So how was this possible?
It shouldn't be possible.
Still, as much as it was concerning being alive after they had been killed, he had other things to worry about. Sarah had yet to wake up. Alastor wasn't ashamed to admit that. She was his daughter of course he was going to be worried about her. When they arrived at the bunker, he wasted no time in making sure that it was secure, he blocked and locked any unneeded exits and he was taking no risks, thankfully the bunker had plenty of food. There was also plenty of clean drinking water and despite the thick layer of dust, the beds were still in good condition. Once he had secured the bunker he had placed Sarah on one of the beds and checked her over.
The injuries that she had gotten from the first man were faded lines. Alastor knew that they were lucky, so very lucky and while he wanted to know what the fuck was going on, he wasn't going to question it too much. His daughter was alive and that was all that mattered.
He didn't care about the rest.
Aasltor knew that he needed to get some food and water, he had no idea how long it had been since they had last eaten but he was willing to bet that it was at least a day or two since they had eaten. He knew that they would both need the food, his body ached but he pushed it to one side. He would check his wounds once he was sure that Sarah was going to awaken. Otherwise, he was going to go on a rampage, the likes of which Hell had never seen before.
Alastor climbed on the bed and wrapped himself around Sarah and drifted off into an uneasy sleep.
When he awoke he had no idea how long it had been, how long he had slept or what the time was, his mouth was dry and he was sweating, Sarah was wrapped around him like an octopus trying to strangle its prey, despite the overwhelming heat Alastor was happy. Sarah had moved. There was a groan and red eyes snapped down.
What hit me?” Her voice was raspy and her eyes slowly opened, Alastor watched as she blinked several times, her eyes adjusting to the dim light.
“How are you feeling?” Perhaps it seemed like a silly question, but it was a genuine one, he wanted to know how she was feeling.
“I ache and hurt.” He hummed in response, he hadn't seen any painkillers and they didn't have any money for him to go out and buy any. He was many things, but he wasn't going to cause trouble for those who were trying to make an honest living for themselves.
“Unfortunately, we don't have any painkillers.” They had been in far worse situations, that much was true, it had been a very long time since they had no allies.
Alastor knew that they were in Hell, that much was true, but was it their universe? Another universe?
Was it even the same time that they had lived in?
Alastor had no desire to live in a Hell where Vox and the rest of the moronic Vees ruled. He would sooner kill himself a third time and be done with it.
“We are in Hell, but version? I cannot say, when you are feeling better we shall have a look around and find our bearings.” It was the best course of action and the only one that they had at the moment and as much as he didn't like it, they needed to gather information first before they made their next move.
“Time travel of some kind?” Alastor helped her to sit up, knowing that if he didn't help, then she would do so herself and would most likely make her injuries worse.
“Most likely.” They both knew that they couldnt hide in the bunker forever, they would have to make a plan and quickly.
“First order of business, find out when we have landed in Hell. From there we can make our next move.” Alastor didn't like the idea of leaving her by herself, she had died and he had seen it, however, he knew that they needed information and quickly.
“I will be right back.” He disappeared into the shadows, making sure to leave his shadow with her, should anything happen he would be informed.
----
A century and a half in the past.
They had arrived in Hell shortly before they had arrived the first time, a few years or decades wasn't going to make much of a difference.
"We need to decide what we are going to do." Sarah paused for a few minutes and he waited for her to say something. When she didn't say something he knew not to take it personally. There was a lot that had gone on in a few short days. They were still processing everything that had happened so Sarah taking her time to choose her words?
Was probably the least concerning thing right now. He doubted that anyone had been in their situation before. It was one thing to make an educated guess, it was another thing to have confirmation of what they had suspected. Alastor was still reeling from what he had seen, he wasn't sure that he would have believed it if he hadn't seen a younger Rosie.
"Doing what we did last time isn't going to work, we already know that so changing what we are going to do is the best way forward. The only question is what are we going to change?" Alastor pondered over her words, she was telling the truth and they already knew how things were going to play out. So the only option that they did have was to change.
Alastor had no desire to become friends with Vox again, he already knew how it was going to play out and he most certainly didn't want the Vees to rise to power again. Once was more than enough thank you very much.
"Not letting the Vees get any power would be a good place to start." Sarah's words had him blinking, it was as if she had known what he had been thinking, while it was true that he was so used to ignoring their existence until Vox did something stupid and ended up back on his radar.
However, the Vees were a problem and a very big one, Hell had been fine if slightly messy before they had risen to power. But the Vees?
They took everyone’s bad traits and made them far worse. The only reason that Valentino was stopped from promoting certain types of porn was because if he had done so?
The whole of the Pride Ring would have turned against the Vees in a split second, Valentino was arrogant but he wasn't that foolish. There was no way that the Vees would have been able to survive. Although it would have been funny to see, Vox apparently had a singular brain cell left in the thing he called a brain.
"They could form the Vees again, but so long as they don't rise to power? Then they won't be much of a threat. Vox was a white man who destroyed anything creative in regards to media, Velvette was a monster and Valentino was the worst of them all." He wasn't going to disagree with her, she was speaking the truth but it begged the question. What could they do about it?
"What if we took over the entertainment industry?" An idea was forming inside of his mind, Vox's real power had been television and as Sarah had just pointed out. Vox had destroyed anything that resembled creativity, it was the same recycled trash again and again, there was nothing new. Nothing original.
It was one of the reasons why he hated Vox in the end.
A powerful white man once again destroyed something, he had seen enough of it during his human life.
"Are you serious?" Sarah was staring at him, her eyes wide almost as if she couldn't believe what he had just said. It was a rare thing for something like this to happen.
Normally she came up with some devious plan and he went along with it for the chaos. Not that he couldn't come up with plans, he could, but Sarah was far better at it than he was. It wasn't a simple case of she was the brains had he was the brute strength, it was much more complicated than that. He would often get fixated on the little details, he would obsess over it until it was perfect. Which wasn't possible as there was no such thing as perfection. He wasn't afraid or ashamed to admit it, they both had their strengths and weaknesses. Alastor knew that he was better as a frontman, standing in the limelight and making sure that no one noticed the weapons that were being aimed at their backs.
It did get boring after some time, but so long as it got the job done?
Well, he wasn't going to complain too much.
Sarah wasn't one for the limelight and she didn't like it when others recognised her for the work that she had done, spending a century hidden in the shadows, running an information network and putting down rebellions was tiresome and thankless work. The upper classes had no idea how close they had come to being overthrown and killed in the streets. He wouldn't have shed a tear if it had been aimed at Vox and the Vees, if anything he would have joined in. Regardless of the rules that would have prevented him from doing so.
He was of the firm belief that some rules were made to be broken.
"My fawn, I have just had the most devious idea." It truly was, Sarah was looking at him as if he had lost his mind, there was no denying that he wasn't fully sane, neither of them was. But this?
This was a whole new level.
“Alright, I am listening.” She leaned forward and her eyes gleamed, his eyes turned into dials and shadows lengthened all around the room, static began to fill the air as he thought about the possibilities that were laid out in front of them.
It wasn't going to be easy that much was for certain.
But where was the fun in taking the easy path?
Where was the thrill of the chase?
The satisfaction of a successful hunt?
He had hunted down Overlords for sport and had broadcasted their screams for the rest of the pride Ring to listen to, of course, he had only targeted certain ones, but the citizens of the pride Ring didn't need to know that now did they?
Still, the plan forming in his mind was going to shake the Pride Ring to its core.