[Scene: Baxter...]
The I.M.P. van rolled through the ruined streets of Pentagram City, its engine growling beneath the eerie silence.
Loona sat behind the wheel, her eyes fixed on the road ahead.
Nobody said much at all.
Even Blitzø had gone unusually quiet.
Charlie sat in the passenger seat, staring through the window.
Her reflection stared back at her.
But she wasn't really seeing the ruined streets.
She was seeing Vaggie.
Her lifeless body.
The weight of her in Charlie's arms.
The awful stillness.
Charlie slowly lowered her gaze.
She couldn't bring herself to think about anything else.
The van finally turned onto the street where the Hazbin Hotel stood.
Or what had remained of it.....
Loona's ears flattened.
She slowly pressed the brakes.
The van came to a stop.
For several seconds, nobody moved.
Loona stared through the windshield.
"...Well."
She swallowed.
"This hotel looks like it's been through a war."
The others looked out.
The Hazbin Hotel was barely recognizable.
Sections of the building had been blown apart. Windows were shattered. Portions of the exterior walls had collapsed into piles of brick and debris. Smoke drifted lazily through the streets around it.
Charlie stared.
Her expression remained empty.
She said nothing.
Blitzø glanced toward her.
He could see it.
She wasn't looking at the hotel.
She was somewhere else entirely.
"Charlie?" he asked quietly.
Nothing.
Millie looked at Blitzø and shook her head. ''Give her a minute, Blitz...'''
Loona turned off the engine.
The four I.M.P. members and Charlie stepped out of the van.
Their shoes crunched against broken glass and rubble.
Loona shut the driver's door.
"Stay close...'' she muttered.
Blitzø looked around. "Yeah. Because apparently Hell wasn't dangerous enough already."
Moxxie adjusted his weapon. "Keep your voice down, sir...''
"Why?" Blitz said.
"Because we don't know who might be listening." Mox answered.
Blitzø frowned. "...Good point."
They moved through the ruins.
Charlie walked silently behind them.
Every few steps, she glanced toward what remained of the hotel.
Her hands curled into fists.
She wanted Vaggie back.
She wanted this nightmare to end.
They turned around the rear of the hotel.
Moxxie stopped. "There."
Behind a partially collapsed section of the building was a narrow metal door.
Unlike everything else around it, the door was almost completely intact.
A small set of stairs disappeared beneath it.
Moxxie pulled out his phone.
He checked the coordinates.
Then looked at the door. "This is the place...."
Millie smiled faintly."So, this is where your scientist friend is?"
"According to the coordinates." Mox said.
Blitzø walked toward the door. "Well, fucking knock already....."
Moxxie stepped forward.
He raised his hand.
KNOCK. KNOCK. KNOCK.
Nothing.
Moxxie waited. "Perhaps he's not—"
The door suddenly flew open.
"GAH!" Mox said.
A pair of wide eyes stared at him from the darkness. Baxter stood in the doorway.
He looked disheveled, exhausted, and thoroughly paranoid. He immediately looked past Moxxie.
Then toward the street. Then the opposite direction. His eyes darted around the ruins.
Finally, he looked back at the group. "You actually made it...."
Moxxie caught his breath. "Yes."
Baxter leaned forward. "Did any of Doom's Sentinels follow you?"
Everyone exchanged glances.
Moxxie shook his head. "No. It's just us."
Baxter's shoulders immediately dropped. He released a long breath. "Thank goodness for that...''
He stepped aside. "Come inside. Quickly!"
Charlie entered first.
Millie followed.
Moxxie and Loona came next.
Blitzø paused at the doorway.
He looked back toward the street.
Blitzø slowly stepped inside.
He grabbed the door. "Everybody down."
He pulled it shut.
CLANG.
The metal door sealed behind them.
Blitzø looked at the others. "Okay."
He locked it. "Now we can panic!"
"Blitzø," Moxxie whispered. ''Shoosh...''
Baxter was already walking down the narrow staircase. "Come on."
They followed him underground.
The farther they descended, the quieter the ruined hotel became.
Soon, the sounds of the outside world disappeared completely.
Only the faint hum of machinery remained.
Charlie looked around.
The walls were covered in wires, monitors, scientific equipment, strange glowing containers, and half-assembled machines.
Baxter reached the bottom. He turned toward them. "Welcome to my laboratory, please don't touch anything!"
For the first time since leaving the van, Charlie finally spoke. Her voice barely above a whisper. "Can you help us?"
Baxter looked at her and smiled. "I certainly hope so, Charlie....."
....
....
[Scene: I knew Victor.....]
The laboratory fell silent.
The hum of Baxter's machinery seemed louder now.
Moxxie stared at him. "Wait...."
Baxter stopped.
Moxxie's eyes widened."You said Victor."
Baxter slowly turned around.
Moxxie stepped forward.
"You know Doctor Doom personally?"
Baxter didn't answer.
Moxxie looked completely flabbergasted. "You mean Victor Von Doom? That Victor Von Doom?"
"Yes." Baxter said gravely.
Moxxie's jaw dropped. "You actually knew him?!"
Millie immediately stepped forward.
Her axe came out with a metallic SHING!
She planted the blade inches from Baxter's face. "Then you better start explaining, Mr!"
Baxter's eyes crossed slightly as he stared at the blade. "Perhaps you could move that."
"Millie!" Moxxie shouted. "He knew Doom!"
"I understand that!" Millie said.
Millie tightened her grip. "Then he knows how to stop him!"
Charlie immediately stepped between them. "Stop!"
Millie lowered the axe slightly.
Charlie looked from Millie to Baxter.
"I don't want anyone fighting in here."
Her voice was calm, but there was anger underneath it.
She turned toward Baxter. "And you."
Baxter looked at her.
"You knew who Doctor Doom was." Charlie said.
"You knew what he was capable of."
"And you never told me....."
Baxter remained silent.
Charlie's expression hardened. "My father is missing."
Her voice cracked slightly. "He's been taken by Doom. Heaven has been attacked. Vaggie is..."
Charlie stopped herself.
Her eyes lowered.
Blitzø stepped forward. His expression was unusually serious. "Yeah."
He pointed toward the laboratory. "So, here's how this is going to work, fish man."
Baxter blinked.
"If you don't start explaining yourself right now..." Blitz said.
Blitzø gestured around the room. "...this entire laboratory is becoming a very fucking expensive bonfire."
Loona raised an eyebrow. "He's serious...."
Baxter stared at them.
Then he sighed.
A long, exhausted sigh.
He slowly turned away from them.
For several moments, he simply stood there.
Then Baxter's shoulders sank.
When he turned back around, the nervousness was gone. There was only solemnity.
"...Victor and I were..." Baxter searched for the right words. "Uh... past acquaintances."
Moxxie frowned. "Past acquaintances?"
Baxter gave him a tired look. "That is the polite way of putting it."
He walked toward one of his larger monitors.
The screen activated.
Images appeared.
Equations.
Dimensional models.
Strange diagrams depicting multiple universes intersecting with one another. "Before I was a sinner, back as a human, I knew Victor was always the smartest man in every room."
"He knew almost everything." He stared at the equations. "Simply more than me."
"And you worked together?" Mox said.
"For a time, yes.'' Baxter said.
A model of multiple realities appeared. "One day, we began testing the boundaries between reality and different dimensions."
Charlie stepped closer. "Why?"
Baxter looked at her. "Because Victor believed something was coming."
"He believed that the walls separating realities were not permanent."
Another image appeared.
Two universes approaching each other.
Then another.
Then another.
"Every world exists within its own boundaries. Different laws. Different histories. Different possibilities."
Baxter pointed toward the overlapping models. "But when those boundaries begin to weaken..."
The images collided. "...the realities begin to interfere with one another."
Moxxie's eyes widened. "An incursion....."
Baxter nodded. "Exactly."
Charlie stared at the hologram. "So, Doom knew about this?"
He pulled up an old recording.
Two younger scientists stood in a laboratory.
One was Baxter.
The other was Victor.
They stood before a massive machine covered in cables and glowing rings.
"We were supposed to build a mechanism."
Baxter's voice trembled slightly. "A mechanism capable of preventing the collapse."
Millie lowered her axe completely. "What happened?"
"There was an accident." The screen went black.
Baxter's reflection appeared across it. "It cost him everything."
Baxter continued. "And ever since that day, Victor vowed that he would create a perfect world."
"A world built entirely in his image....''
"But why my father?" Charlie asked.
Baxter hesitated. "Because Victor needed something."
"What?" Charlie said.
"A source of absolute power." Baxter looked directly at her. "And creation...."
Charlie's eyes widened.
"He needed your father." Baxter said, facing the i.m.p gang and charlie now.
"Lucifer possesses something Victor could never manufacture.
"Power capable of shaping reality itself."
Charlie took a step backward. "No..."
"Victor believes Lucifer's power can provide the energy necessary to construct his new world.''
"A reality where Victor knows what is best....''
Charlie looked down.
Then slowly raised her eyes.
"And Heaven?"
Baxter hesitated. "That's the part that frightens me."
Charlie stared at him. "What?"
Baxter looked toward the ceiling. "If Heaven is already moving toward Hell..."
He turned back to the group. "Then the incursion has progressed much further than Victor and I ever anticipated."
Charlie clenched her fists.
Her eyes narrowed. "Then we get him back."'
Blitzø grinned faintly. "Now that's a plan...."
His eyes widened.
"Wait..."
Everyone looked at Bax.
"You all don't understand." Bax said.
Baxter hurried toward the central console and brought the holographic projection of Heaven and Hell back onto the screen. Two enormous realms were shown drifting toward one another. "A collision between Heaven and Hell would be catastrophic."
He pointed toward the projection. "Millions, perhaps, would perish from such an impact."
Moxxie's expression tightened. "What exactly are you suggesting?"
Baxter turned toward them. "We must aid Victor. It's the only way....''
Blitzø blinked. "...I'm sorry?"
"We have to help him finish the mechanism."
Millie's grip tightened around her axe. "You want us, to help Doctor Doom?"
"Yes!" Baxter's voice rose. "Because whether you like it or not, Victor may be the only person capable of preventing this!"
Charlie stared at him. "You can't be serious....''
Baxter looked directly at her. "Charlie, your hotel was built upon the idea of salvation.''
His voice echoed through the laboratory. "Helping people. Giving souls another chance. Saving those who have nowhere else to go!"
Charlie flinched.
"And now you're standing here telling me that we should simply abandon millions of souls because you don't like Victor's methods?" Baxter said.
"That's not what I'm saying!" Charlie said angrily.
"It sounds exactly like what you're saying!" Baxter slammed his hand against the console.
"Victor is finishing the mechanism on his planet.''
"If we want any chance of preventing the collision, we must go there."
He looked around the room. "Now!"
Blitzø stared at him. Then laughed. Not because it was funny. Because the entire idea sounded completely fucking insane.
"Oh, absolutely not." Blitz said. He turned toward the exit. "We are not going to Doctor Doom's evil super-science planet to help him build his stupid reality machine....''
Millie followed him. "Agreed."
Moxxie gathered his things. "Completely."
Loona was already heading toward the stairs. "Yeah. No."
Baxter watched them go. "Wait! You don't understand!"
Blitzø stopped briefly at the doorway. He glanced over his shoulder. "No, Baxter."
His voice became serious."That guy kidnapped Lucifer. He attacked Heaven. He's trying to build a universe where he's the king of fucking everything."
Blitzø shook his head. "And now you want us to help him?"
He turned away. "You're crazy....''
Millie, Moxxie, and Loona followed him out.
Their footsteps echoed through the stairwell.
Baxter stood motionless.
Charlie remained.
She hadn't followed them.
Baxter looked toward her. "Charlie. Please understand..."
She stared at the floor.
For a moment, she said nothing.
Then she slowly looked up. "I know what you're trying to tell me.''
Baxter's expression softened. "Then you understand?"
Charlie shook her head. "No."
She walked toward the stairs. "I understand that millions of people could die."
Baxter watched her carefully.
"But Lucifer matters to me." Charlie said. "And Vaggie mattered to me too."
Her voice trembled. "I can't just stand by while someone takes my father and destroys everything....''
Baxter remained silent.
Charlie turned toward him. "If there's another way..."
She swallowed. "...I'm going to find it."
Then she walked away.
Her footsteps followed the others into the distance.
Baxter watched until she disappeared.
The laboratory became quiet again.
Heaven.
Hell.
Earth.
Countless realities.
All drifting toward one another.
Baxter slowly lowered his head. "They don't understand....''
He turned toward the console.
His hands began moving rapidly across the controls.
If Charlie and the others refused to help Victor willingly...
Then Baxter would have to find another way to reach Latver.....
WHOOOOOM.
A circular tear of emerald light suddenly opened behind him.
Baxter froze.
The temperature in the room seemed to drop. He slowly turned away from the console.
A figure stepped through the portal. White cloak. Metallic armor. The unmistakable mask.
Victor Von Doom's boots struck the laboratory floor with a heavy CLANG as the portal remained open behind him, bathing the room in green light.
Baxter's eyes widened.
Doom's gaze moved across the laboratory before settling upon him. "Mr. Baxter...''
"I have come to collect you."
Baxter then swallowed.
Doom approached, his white cape trailing behind him. "You and I know what must be done.....''
Baxter said nothing.
His eyes slowly shifted toward the wall behind Doom.
Pinned against it was the blueprint.
The anchor mechanism.
The machine that Victor intended to use to stabilize the collapsing boundaries between realities and ultimately construct his new world.
Battleworld.
Baxter stared at the intricate diagrams.
The dimensional anchors.
The energy conduits.
Baxter slowly stepped toward the blueprint.
His fingers brushed against its edge. "You finished it?"
Doom's masked face remained expressionless. "Not yet....."
Victor extended a gauntleted hand toward the portal. "That is why I require your assistance."
Baxter finally pulled the blueprint from the wall. He folded it carefully beneath his arm.
He looked toward the portal. "...I know...."
Doom turned without another word.
Baxter followed.
As they approached the swirling green gateway, Baxter glanced back at the laboratory one final time.
Somewhere beyond the walls, the fabric between Heaven, Hell, Earth, and countless other realities continued to strain.
The portal collapsed behind them with a thunderous crack.
Silence returned.
Only a collection of glowing green Latverian runes remained etched across the floor. For several seconds, they pulsed softly.
Then, they vanished.