Chapter Text
Vox liked parties.
Vox really liked parties. Making connections with fellow demons, making offers- not to mention, stylishly promoting some select latest designs Velette had released. Chatting up rich partygoers for business deals, future affiliates and anything that stuck his attention- it was like working away from work under the guise of getting out of his office.
Where he was going instead? Well…
Currently, instead of working, Vox was sandwiched between Velvette and some fashion model he couldn’t care less to remember the name of in the back of some stuffy limo. There were more than just models in the back of the limo. But that didn’t matter. He knew they were all, in some way, somewhere in Velvette’s social circles.
Velvette lifts her phone up with a giggle, lifting up her phone to take a selfie with Vox, not giving him much time to react. The TV demon flashed a somewhat tight but beaming smile. When Velette lowered her arm, his expression went back to boredom as he leaned over the woman's shoulder to make sure he looked okay before she posted it.
“Get your flat head out of my face!” Velvette yelled at him as she pushed him away, against one of the models. “You look fine, see?” She huffed, stretching her arm to shove her phone in his face.
“Alright, alright-” Vox rolls his eyes as he slumps in his seat a little, stretching his legs out a little to the open space in front of him. He watched quietly as she posted it on her Voxtagram story. He helped her think up a good caption as their limo stopped- Velvette immediately perked up, typing something quick and posting it before running out with Vox, dragging him behind her.
He didn’t get a chance to even see the name of the club before Velvette had dragged him inside. Sudden buzzing emitted from his head for a moment as the intense electrical energy washed over him. Flashing lights lit the ceiling ablaze full of color, illuminating the fog that mildly filled the air of the club. Vox took in the atmosphere of the club with a blue smile, even if it was such a drastic change compared to the outside.
Vox recalibrated his internal sensitivities to adjust to the club- getting in the way of some demon as he stood in their way, apparently. Vox looked back at the demon after they ran into him with a grin and forced some cables on the floor to electrocute the demon, who screamed as Vox walked off to find his way back to Velvette.
Fuck, he didn’t want to be here. But, oh! Valentino was busy, and she didn’t have anyone to go with!
Bullshit. He was busy too!
Well, he might as well relax while he was out. Vox made his way to the bar, and grinned at the bartender while he ordered one of their special’s. He leaned over the counter as he waited, scrolling through his phone instead of trying to talk with anyone nearby.
“Huh-?” Vox looked down as he felt one of his pants legs being tugged at. Looking down, his mouth gaped open as he stared at the small one-eyed demon- who had just ripped out of a chunk of his pants with her teeth.
Holy shit. The bitch that stabbed Adam.
The hotel janitor bitch!
His pants!
She just fucking bit a chunk out of his pants.
Vox’s screen flashed an error screen quickly before going back to an expression of bewilderment as he watched her run off, giggling with a chunk of his pants in her mouth and disappeared into the crowd. Vox blinked, absolutely shocked, and went to check she didn’t take a bite out of his shin just to make sure, before he was pulled out of his shock from the slam of a drink suddenly in front of him.
He pulled out some cash and threw it towards the bartender, grabbing his drink and starting his search for Velvette.
If that little… thing was here, did that mean..?
Vox took a sip from his drink, making a conflicting face at the taste before shrugging. Eh, not terrible. Definitely a club drink, though.
As he slowly made his way throughout the space, he kept his eyes out for anyone else from that mess of a hotel. It’d been a few months now, since the fight with Adam and his exorcists. He kept tabs on the hotel casually. It got absolutely fucked from that fight- but they rebuilt it, and as far as he was aware, they were still doing repairs.
Alastor, though? That’s what he’s been paying attention to. Any sign of the Radio Demon’s presence ever since his retreat. Fuck, he spent a generous amount of time after the fight to air his opinions out online and on air.
Ever since his celebration has died down though, he’s kept his eyes out for even just a shadow flicker- which Vox swears is a sign of his rival’s presence. He refused to let that demon avoid him another seven years.
Vox took a sip of his drink with an annoyed twitch to his eyes. He could feel his internal fans whirring faster in an attempt to keep up with how much he was overheating himself from thinking about Alastor.
Vox’s eyes darted to a nearby shadow he swore he saw flicker. He squinted as he downed the rest of his drink and tossed the glass behind him, hitting some poor, unsuspecting sinner behind him.
The club was crowded- so crowded. It felt suffocating, but the drink helped alleviate some of the stress. He grabbed another one from a nearby waitress in an irritably sparkly dress. He drank from it as he walked, spotting Velvette finally in a booth with the company of mostly her models- but not before spotting Angel Dust, who seemed to be working or something, based on the flashy outfit the spider demon was wearing.
First Niffty, now Angel Dust? Well- Okay.
He wasn’t surprised to see Angel Dust in a club, but the little gremlin was a weird one.
Vox turned on his heel towards Velvette’s booth as quickly as he noticed porn star, not feeling the want to make his presence known to him. It was no offense to Angel Dust, but he always felt if not a little awkward to be around him. Vox was always the one Val went to complain about him, which happened a lot. It wasn’t often he went down to the studios section of the V tower, that was Val’s territory that Vox didn’t care to visit unless he needed the pimp during hours.
“Finally! Where’ve you been, you took forever! I was starting to think you got lost,” Velvette laughed with her models as Vox slumped into the booth, across from the other Vee.
Vox just shrugged with a neon smile, raising the drink he snagged on the way. “What? Not allowed to get something first?” He asked before gulping down most of the drink, which was immediately replaced by a new one by a waitress passing by the booth.
Velvette grinned, picking up her drink and gesturing it towards Vox. “Bottoms up, bitch!” She challenged, racing to get her drink down.
Vox snatched his own off the table and started gulping, despite how much he was already beginning to feel in his system. How much had he had already? Two? Was this the third?
He couldn’t remember, but he didn’t care. He kept guzzling down the rest, losing to Velvette who totally had a head start.
“HA!” She shouted, banging her drink down on the table with a loud clunk.
“You cheated!” Vox yelled, blinking down at the glasses before slapping them out of their way, towards some of the others at the booth, “Can we get some more drinks over here?” He asked towards a waitress, cheering when their new drinks came.
Vox grabbed his and immediately began chugging, determined to win this time.
.
.
.
Alastor’s shadow form hopped between demon shadow to demon shadow, taking in everything for Alastor’s viewing- who refused to step a physical foot into that damn nightclub and was instead taking a stroll around the block. The overcrowded flood of people constantly going in and out of the place- tracking in their own issues and filth into the dirty club. No thank you! He was glad that Niffty and Angel Dust were having their fun, but that sort of thing just wasn’t for him.
The shadow had spent most of his time near Angel Dust, who had wanted company more than ever after the failed Extermination. Valentino was considerably happier afterwards, but apparently grew colder the more time passed. It wasn’t often he begrudgingly agreed to keep an eye on the demon, but it happened to be one of those nights.
Niffty invited herself. Alastor assumed it unknowing to Charlie.
He wouldn’t say anything, why would he? She was having fun! It was entertaining to watch the little thing torment the club patrons from the shadows.
Alastor’s shadow continued to stay near Angel Dust until it spotted the screen of a particular TV demon walking towards him- and immediately took a hard right. The preemptive readiness of shadowy tendrils paused their lurch towards Vox as he took a seat near his fellow Vee.
Alastor stopped in his tracks as his shadow watched the TV-headed demon, able to see what it did.
Interesting, Alastor thought to himself as he slipped into a nearby alley.
He was more than willing to attack the blasted TV head, let his shadows rip him to shreds while he was on the way there. But the damned overlord was doing nothing but… sitting down. Challenging everyone at his booth to drink faster than he could and betting on it.
Childish. But harmless, so far.
Alastor watched through his shadow as Vox stood up and shouted at someone sitting nearby, only to lose his balance and knock a few glasses off the table and sent them and himself to the floor, falling on them.
“MOTHER..FF- FUCKER!” Vox shouted, voice glitching as he stood and stumbled back into his chair and growling something at Velvette.
Mostly harmless.
Ever the ‘charming’ Vox. Vox, who he’d been ignoring to focus on regenerating his power and using his time to instead help around the hotel more than ever before thanks to the semi-frequent handful of hotel guests. Vox, the demon who he knew was looking for him, looking for any sign of him. Alastor refused him any true satisfaction of seeing him. It was fun, hearing about the latest embarrassment the Overlord had gotten into in attempts to search for him.
Alastor made his way to the club through the shadows, not planning on truly showing his face there.
Vox gluggled down his current drink and shouted loudly towards Velvette’s mobile device, which seemed to be recording.
“Get the FUCK outta here, twenty bucks? In HELL? Hey, Chelsea? Shove that donation up your A-ASS!” Vox yelled at the phone with obnoxious, mechanical laughter, getting up from his seat to lean in closer to the device. “We’re fuckin’ keeping it though, thanks!”
Vox stumbles back into his seat in a clumsy fashion, and gets sudden help from a demon sitting next to him to help him not fall out of his seat. The stranger’s hand, however, moves to the back of Vox’s head before moving back.
Vox doesn’t seem to react to the stranger at all, going back to pick up a drink Alastor was sure was someone else’s but there was a sudden shake to the TV overlord’s arm.
Alastor squinted at the back of Vox’s head as he arrived into the club, still hiding in his shadowed form. He wasn’t too far away from the overlord- just a few feet. It was hard to decipher exactly what was out of place for the tech overlord who was constantly upgrading himself with the latest updates and trends. He’d seen the back of Vox’s head plenty of times during their little battles, and Alastor swore it always looked a little different.
He wasn’t sure, so he could be wrong…but there was a strange metal injection in back of Vox’s head, softly glowing red. Alastor tilted his head at it curiously.
.
.
.
“Fuckin’ HELL, Vox!” Velvette yelled at him as his arm gave out suddenly, spilling the drink he had been lifting up to drink all over the booth table. “Ugh, seriously?!” She complained as she got up, shirt soaking. Velvette left with a huff to change, dragging a model with her and shoving Vox’s shoulder a little on the way out, yelling at the livestream she was currently hosting on her phone.
Vox stared up at Velvette as she left, blinking slowly as his screen stuttered.
“Hey, can WE- we get a cleanup over- over here?” Vox stuttered out to the nearest employee after staring off at Velvette’s direction. He shakily started to get up from the booth too, but then his arm was tugged at.
The demon next to him let out a yelp as he pulled back from trying to drag him back into sitting back down. If it weren’t for the awful headache he was suddenly experiencing, he’d blast the sucker across the club.
The idea of doing that left his mind as a wave of unsteadiness hit him hard, and he grabbed the back of the booth seats to steady himself.
Fuck. fuck FUCK.
What the FUCK was happening?
Vox spun around- keeping hold on the seats, he scanned the room for the nearest electronic inbetween the flicking of his screen seemingly malfunctioning. He was malfunctioning. Fuck.
Vox shook his head and tried to focus, spying a security camera in the back of the club. He teleported into it and popped out- instantly slamming into the back door and falling on his ass.
Groaning, he put a hand to his screen and cursed, feeling a crack in one of the corners.
“GR- Great,” Vox mumbled as he stumbled to his feet, hoping nobody saw that as he shoved the door open and staggered out.
He grabbed the sides of his head and let out a frustrated, electronic scream as waves of pain continued to hit him. hit him to his core and he tumbled back, hitting a nearby dumpster.
He fell to the ground and tightened the grip on the sides of his head, wondering if he heard the sound of glass shattering again before the thought left him, thanks to the sudden buzzing drowning out any thought he could have been having.
More than the sudden frequency and malfunctioning that had been plaguing his senses the last few minutes, no.
That oh-so familiar static. The Radio Demon.
“My, my, what’s this?” A voice echoes through the empty alley, “I must say, quite the fall from grace from the last time I’ve seen you, friend.”
Vox looked around quickly, screen head stuttering and slamming into the side of the dumpster with an electrical screech from his microphone.
His software raced to find the source of his unexpected dysfunction. Meanwhile, he stared down the figure that stood across the alley, leaning on his cane.
“AAA- Alaaaa- stor?!” Vox stuttered mechanically, immediately scowling at him. “FUCK- Fuck- are you dddd- doing here?” He growled, using one of his hands to steady himself on the side of the wall, while the other clawed deeper into his screen still.
He flashed a bright, albeit glitchy, smile towards Alastor the match said demons.
“Wwwww- Would love to play with youuuuu…” Vox buffered, staying leant against the wall for support as he drudged himself forward. “...What are you dddd- dooooing here, Al- Alastor?”
Alastor took in the sight of the overlord at such a low state with an apparent cathartic smile. It was so long ago the last time he saw Vox in such a low state.
He would relish the view if he wasn’t so… concerned.
Concerned wasn’t the right word. That would imply he cared about the wellbeing of his rival! But he couldn’t quite shake the inklings of uneasiness that tugged at him.
“The show inside was rather entertaining- watching you stumble around,” Alastor all but purred as he made his way closer towards Vox.
Vox’s screen glitched in waves as he pressed himself against the brick wall into a steady enough position for himself and raised his hand, sparks emitting both involuntarily and on purpose as he shot a bolt of electricity towards Alastor.
Alastor barely needed to dodge the attack, merely moving his shoulder a few inches. He assumed Vox’s current cognition was poor at best. Vox’s loses his balance, falling to the ground and cursing as cracks of electricity continued to spark around him. He fell to his knees, shaking.
Alastor glanced around quick before slowly making his way over towards the other Overlord with a tight grin. He’d think it was such a deceptively dramatic show if he didn’t watch it all unfold for himself. No, it was far more than that.
Vox’s microphone let a piercing shriek before his screen went dark, and the overlord collapsed to the ground, quieting without another sound.
Alastor blinked, smile faltering for just a moment before he made his way over to the Overlord. The Radio Demon tilted his head with a somewhat-strained look and tapped the side of Vox’s head with the end of his cane.
“Old pal, I’m afraid you're going to have to put on a better show than that to impress me,” Alastor’s voice echoed through the alleyway. Eyes darting when the TV overlord remained still, Alastor let a grimace grace his expression. “The show’s over, Vox. Get up.”
No response.
Alastor prodded the other with his cane again before he finally huffed and knelt down to Vox’s level.
“Vox,” Alastor repeated, using his index finger he tapped on the TV overlord’s head. “Hellooo..?” Alastor frowned before turning around and materializing a round barrier around them and the rest of hell.
It wasn’t often that an issue had Alastor scratching his head, but it seemed to be one of those times. An issue he felt he had to resolve, unfortunately. He sighed. Moving his hand to the back of Vox’s head, his hand hovered over the device in the back of Vox’s head. With a tentative tug, Alastor unplugged the rectangular device from the back of Vox’s head, that had continued to blink red since he noticed it, and pocketed it. Grunting, Alastor pulled the device out of Vox in hopes it’d immediately remedy the current situation, with no luck.
Huffing, Alastor wrapped an arm around the Overlord’s shoulder and housed him up. He grunted as he helped him up and lifted him into a sudden hold and opened a teleporter into his personal room at the Hazbin Hotel.
Alastor almost rolled his eyes as he laid Vox on his bed, and tucked him into his own usual place on the crimson sheets.