I opened my groggy eyes slowly, revealing my apartment in all its dim, messy glory. I was lying on the couch, clutching the veins on my head like prevent my brain from sensing the pain if I pressed hard enough. Honestly, I wished I could just roll over and die instead.
The blinds were half-cracked, leaking thin strips of red daylight across the floor. Even that was too bright. My mouth was dry, my tongue heavy, and everything I remembered from last night was fuzzy around the edges.
I dragged my phone toward me. Sunday. 10:03 a.m.
Movement caught my eye, Loona shuffling past the back of the couch, hair wild, wearing an oversized hoodie. She was eating something straight from a pot, steam curling upward. The smell of instant noodles drifted into the air.
She glanced over her shoulder. "You doing alright?"
I managed a smirk, about to crack a joke about her worrying, but the spike of pain behind my eyes shut that down.
"Ahhhh… shit. At least tell me I didn't do anything crazy."
She slurped a mouthful before answering. "Besides drinking ten times your body weight? Nope." Her mouth quirked into a smirk. "Shocking, I know."
"Ha, ha. Grab me my pills before I actually die."
Keeling over, I covered my face from the light. The headache throbbed like it had its own heartbeat.
Weekend or not, I still had things to keep in check. Should've handled them yesterday, but instead, I thought about handling them. Big difference.
I attempted sitting up to get my barrings, but the room swayed, and I flopped right back down.
Loona disappeared into the kitchen and returned with my half full bottle of pills. I was tempted to swallow the whole thing but settled for two.
She sat down at the other end of the couch, shoving my legs aside so she could stretch out. The TV flicked through channels as she clicked lazily with the remote, still eating.
I thumbed open my phone again and sent out a slow paced message trying to guide my finger to the proper letters.
*I'll offer you guys a salary for weekends.*
If someone else could monitor the humans, it would save me the effort so I wont have to babysit while I handled the bigger projects.
Scrolling back through the screenshots they'd sent, things were still moving smoothly. The humans were tinkering with the "mind" of my little project. Only one department was keeping it all to themselves unfortunately, so they were passing it around like a precious toy, but they were making solid progress. Faster than I'd expected.
I was still mid scroll when Loona stopped on a channel.
Through the headaches constant spasms A cheerful voice.
Turning my head I saw her.
"Charlie Morningstar," the anchor announced.
My eyes grew serveral times bigger, and despite the pain I slightly rose and focused on the screen.
There she was, all smiles, waving next to the png image of her new pristine, freshly opened building. *Hazbin Hotel* in big, clean letters above the doors.
The broadcast cut to footage of the lobby—polished floors, warm lighting, staff in uniforms. Charlie spoke about offering redemption, opening their doors to sinners in hopes of giving them a second chance.
Loona scoffed. "The hell is this?"
But my smirk had faded completely. I knew exactly what this was.
I'd seen how it played out.
The smiling press coverage. The awkward optimism. The first guests checking in.
And then angels descending like a swarm of blades, doing the usual cleansing.
They wouldn't be dropping in for tea and biscuits. They'd be here to wipe the slate clean soon.
I leaned forward slowly, head still aching but my mind sharpening. It completely slipped my mind.
If that hotel was already open, the clock had started ticking. The extermination wasn't tomorrow, maybe not next week—but it was coming. And if they were willing to slaughter an entire city block just to make a point, they wouldn't think twice about torching any "hell business" caught in the crossfire.
Shit I had to do something, at least protect my own business from the guarenteed destruction.
I set my phone down and rubbed my temples, forcing my thoughts into order. The humans' progress, my contracts, our weapons, all of it needed tightening. The network needed to be secure, supply lines locked down, and contingencies in place before the first winged freak touched down.
Blitzo the hungover wreck had to wait.
The businessman was back.
——
I know Iknow the timelines do exactly batch but yeah im adding HazbinHotel combinding the two!