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The Wrath ring was no stranger to powerful storms; from flaming tornadoes with neck breaking wind speeds, to rain that can either boil you alive or freeze you over. It's these weather conditions that many wonder how the farmers and ranchers in the area can live in the Wrath ring, let alone have a good harvest, but to Wrath imps it was a normal Tuesday night for them. This night, however, the storm brought about a guest to Wrath.

Up in the skies a bright yellow light was flickering, going on and off when it was hit with the scolding water. The light zoomed off to seek shelter from the rain, having their prayers answered with a barn with the doors wide open. Swooping into the barn, the light settled into a pile of hay and waited for the storm to die out. Unbeknownst to them, this was the start of their path intertwining with someone else.

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The angel could feel every inch of her skin burn with the scolding rain coming down on her. Of all times to travel to the Wrath ring, she just had to come during a scolding rain storm!

"This isn't good!" she whimpered as she tried to avoid the droplets, but to no avail, "Gotta find shelter fast." Just as she felt like she was going to be a cooked angel, a building appeared in her line of sight. Without hesitation, she glided down to find the barn wide open, gladly running in to avoid the rain.

Inside the barn, the angel found the typical things you'd find in a barn: hay, stalls and food for the animals, and a few farming supplies to help in either grooming the animals or plowing the fields. The building itself had a few holes in the ceiling and a few splintered areas, but it will do.

Despite the lack of proper lighting in the barn, the angel was able to find a dry stall with an adequate haystack to sleep in. It may not be much, but it's better than sleeping out in the rain and risk her dying out there. Kneeling to her knees, she placed one wing on the hay stack while using the other wing to keep her warm for the night. Hopefully the storm will be over and she could get to a town tomorrow morning, she's heard a lot of stories on how Wrath was more rural than most places which brought joy to the angel, thinking she would enjoy it more than the city.

There was no point in thinking about all that now when you have to sleep. Planting her head on the hay, the angel slowly drifted off to sleep with the sound of the rain hitting the roof of the barn.

"Hey! Wake up!" a voice yelled.

The angel groaned as she snuggled herself back into her wings, wanting at least one more minute of rest before she flew from the barn.

"I said wake up damn it!"

She felt a nudge in her wing with what she could only assume was a boot, but she refused to get up.

"Five more minutes please," she grumbled as she tucked herself further into her wings to keep whatever light there was from getting into her eyes. Her wings, however, did not block out the sound of what she assumed was weapon, a revolver to be specific. She folded her wing away to see she was face to face with said weapon to her forehead.

The owner of the weapon was an imp with a paler complexion to most imps with the most hypnotic pair of yellow eyes she'd ever laid eyes on. Never did she think she'd see ringed beauties hidden behind a mustached man wearing a wide brim hat and an array of cowboy attire. If she didn't think she was in Wrath, the imp in front of her was living proof that she was.

"The fuck are you staring at?!" the imp hissed, his long tail rattling to grab the angel's attention towards him. "Never seen a 'disgusting' imp before?!"

"You misunderstand," the angel finally spoke, lifting herself from the haystack slowly with her hands in the air to avoid provoking the imp into shooting, "I've never seen someone like you." When the angel stood at full height, she easily towered over the imp cowboy before her. "I've seen a lot of interesting looking people down here, but I don't think I've ever met anyone, sinner or imp, like you before."

"Don't get too comfortable Angel, if you so much as raise you're weapon I'll-"

"Why would I raise my weapon?"

The imp fell silent, is this angel fucking serious?

"You mean to tell me you don't have a weapon with you?" the imp questioned, watching the angel nod her head, "I call bullshit."

"It's true, why would I have any reason to lie?"

"To save your hide from getting murdered," he answered bluntly.

The angel stared down at the imp with a blank expression that swiftly shifted into a giggle.

"Ain't it the truth?!" he hissed, his guard slowly lowering seeing how this angel wasn't taking anything seriously.

"Sorry, I just wasn't expecting that answer, then again I should've expected it since this is Hell," she answered as she wiped the tears out of her eyes, "You'd think after being here for three months I would have grasped my surroundings much faster."

"Hold on, you're a fallen angel?"

"Not sure, I was just looking over the edge of Heaven, felt a strong force behind me and spiraled down to Hell."

"You're a fallen angel, yet you have no idea why you fell?"

"Yep, but I'm not too disheartened by it though," she started while patting herself down of the hay that had gathered on her dress and her hair, "Now I roam the seven rings of Hell, visiting place after place." She then started patting down the sides of her dress but the angel's calm face turned into despair! The imp was expecting to hear a curse to (finally) come out of the angel, but instead she kept looking in her pockets that were obviously empty. "No, no, no, no! Where is it? I knew I put it somewhere!"

"Exactly what are ya lookin' for?"

"I'm looking for my bag. I had money in it so I can pay you for letting me stay in your barn, but without it- Oh what am I gonna do now?" the angel whined, she could go out and try to find the bag, but she couldn't just leave and not pay the man.

Watching the angel panic was a little humorous to the imp; for someone considered 'perfect' she was a bit of a scatterbrain with no sense of danger. How she hasn't been found dead in this fiery pit is beyond him, but whatever she's doing, it's clearly working. He usually hates helping those beneath him, but he might as well give her a hand. After all, how many imps can outright say they had an angel work for them? "How 'bout you work it off?"

"Excuse me?"

"Could use some help 'round the ranch. If you can manage that we can consider it a debt paid. Sound fair?"

The angel stared at him as if he spoke the most holiest mantra she's ever heard, leaving her standing in place.

"Look if you're not gonna accept the offer just outright say-" The cowboy imp was suddenly lifted from the ground and into the angel's arms, picking him up as if he were some puppy off the streets!

"Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you so much sir!" the angel yelled with joy.

"P-Put me down, damn it! I ain't some cuddly rabbit y'hear!"

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Once he was back on the ground, the cowboy imp patted himself down. Just who the hell did this angel think she was picking him up like that?! He's a deadly assassin damn it, not some... cute animal! In his flustered anger, he stormed out of the stall to look over his horse.

"And you didn't alert me of her trespassing at night because...?" the cowboy scolded the stallion as if to expect to hear more than a snort.

"I didn't know there was a horse in here! What's his name?" the angel asked, stars beaming from her eyes with curiosity.

"Bombproof," the cowboy uttered in annoyance as he watch her extend her hand to pet the stallion, only for her to pull it back in terror when Bombproof attempted to bite it off. "Careful, he bites."

"A little late on the warning sir!" she pouted.

Seeing her suffer brought a chuckle to the imp, serves her right for trespassing. Despite Bombproof's little stunt, the angel still wanted to make friends with the hell horse by offering him food.

It took Bombproof a moment to accept the angel's offer, but the Hellhorse's hunger outweighed his wariness of the creature before him and accepted the offer. The angel sighed in relief, it may not be much of in means of building a bond, but it'll do for the angel.

"Persistent little angel aren't we?" the cowboy thought to himself as he watched her every action. At first, he thought the mere mention of farm work would make the angel's smile turn upside down, but she seems interested in doing this type of work. No matter; he's sure the actual dirty part of the job will break the angel down, but if it doesn't... "This is gonna be a long day."

"So what do they call you?" asked the angel as she followed the cowboy imp out of the stables.

"Beg your pardon?"

"Everyone has a name. I want to know what your name is, sir."

"For now you can just call me 'sir'," he answered without so much as giving her a glance, like Hell he was gonna give her his name. Fallen or not, she's a good for nothing angel living in the harshest ring in Hell. Thank Satan he has to see her sorry mug for just today, and hopefully not as much with the chores that have to be done.

Disheartened, the angel simply nodded, "Very well sir, you may call me Solrina."

"Not like I'm going to need to remember that," the cowboy thought to himself, clearly annoyed by the angel's kindness. It has to be an act right? Angels would never be this friendly towards demon folk, let alone lowly imps like himself. She must've hit her head when she fell from Heaven if she's acting this nice. Turning around, the cowboy looked up at the angel who was stopped in her happy tracks when he looked up at her.

"Listen here Angel, if you're going to be working for me today, we've gotta set some ground rules for ya. One: I'm your employer not your friend, so drop the nice act. Two: Don't go pickin' me up so suddenly; I ain't some damn cute animal you can just cuddle. Three: No matter how hard the task, I expect you to finish it. Got it?"

While she didn't understand why being nice was such a bad thing to him, Solrina nodded in agreement to the other rules.

"Right then why don't ya gather some eggs from the coop. Hellkins shouldn't give ya too much trouble." He was lying.

"Yes sir!" the angel nodded as she ran off to the coop, thinking it was going to be a piece of cake getting those eggs from the Hellkins.

Solrina nearly broke the door off it's handles when she barged into the house, gasping as she was fighting for her life in the Hellkin coop. Her hair was out of place with both strands of her hair and feathers of many colors peeking in every direction. If the feathers and the messy hair weren't a sign of her struggle, the scratches on her body and the torn dress of hers could tell anyone otherwise. Despite her disheveled appearance, she had the basket neatly tucked in the antecubital fossa of her arm filled with eggs.

"That was NOT easy," she finally spoke, "But I did it! I got your eggs sir."

"Oh? The Hellkins didn't eat ya' alive? That's a little disappointing," the cowboy chuckled.

"I'm not fragile sir," the angel protested, stepping into the house with a pout on her face at her employer's cruel joke. Not like she has any room to be upset since she just completed her first task on the ranch, and that was enough to make her happy.

"You can leave the eggs on the counter for the time being," he instructed.

Solrina walked further into the house to where she could only assume was the kitchen to the house where she found the imp messing with the stove. Placing the basket on the counter, the angel walked closer to her employer to see what was going on. "Something wrong with the stove sir?"

"Damn thing is running out of steam and I can't find the reason why," he grumbled, "If I don't fix it now we won't be having food for a while."

"If I may sir, can I take a look?"

The imp moved from underneath the stove and looked at the angel with a perplex look, "You sure you wanna do that Angel?"

"Positive," she replied without a lick of hesitance.

The Cowboy shrugged, knowing the angel's persistent nature she would start arguing with him if he told her no. Moving away from the spot, he allowed the angel to look over the stove. Not even a minute into her investigating did a yelp escape from the angel. Solrina creeped out from under the stove, ash and soot painted the angel's face and wings from yellow to black.

The cowboy imp failed to hold back a chuckle, "Whatta know, the angel knows her way around stoves."

Solrina remained silent, but her silence was replaced by soft laughter joining in on the imp's chuckle.

"Restroom's down the hall to your right," the cowboy informed, knowing the angel's probably gonna want to have no feathers falling in to her breakfast.

"Thanks sir," she responded, getting up from the floor and walking off to where restroom was.

"This is gonna be one helluva day."

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After plucking the feathers out of her hair and tossing them into a nearby bin, the angel started splashing her face with the water.

"Not the best way to start your day," Solrina thought to herself as she scrubbed her hands into her face to get every last bit of soot out of her face. First Bombproof tried to bite her hand off, then the Hellkins nearly pecked the daylights out of her, and now the stove decided to cough up its contents on to her. Doesn't really tell the cowboy she can be a reliable worker now does it? In fact it might as well tell him that she's nothing more than a burden; someone who doesn't know what she's doing. No matter, she was an angel and angels always keep their word! "If I have to tough it out for today to pay off my debt then so be it! Nothing will stop me from paying that man back!"

After drying herself off and psyching herself up, she was ready for round 2... or so she thought.

The angel peeked her head from behind the wall to see the cowboy cooking on the stove. As much as she didn't want to be a bother than what she already was, she had to see if there was something she could do about her clothes.

"Uh, sir?" Solrina started, grabbing the Cowboy's attention, "Do you by any chance have clothes to spare?"

The Cowboy looked over at the angel, who was looking away from him for whatever reason, but it wasn't until he saw her dress that he realized why she was acting rather odd. While the Cowboy was no stranger to seeing bare bodies, dead or alive, it's very clear that the angel can not stand the idea of her body being exposed like the way it was.

"Hellkins did that big a number on ya huh?" he chuckled. From afar, the damage didn't look like much but upon further examination the tears done by the Hellkin's claws was enough to reveal the angel's body, much to her dismay.

"With all due respect sir, I'd rather dress appropriately," she huffed, covering herself the best she could with her arms and wings.

"Easy there angel; no need to ruffle those feathers of yours," the cowboy hummed as he turned off the stove and walked past her to the stairs, "I'll see if I have anything for ya to wear."

Watching him disappear up the stairs, Solrina herself disappeared into the living room, sitting herself on the couch in hopes that she will have something to wear besides her rags. She grabbed a nearby pillow and groaned into it; frustrated with herself. Sure, she felt like it was a necessary change, especially because the work is going to be more labor inducing, but she can't help but feel like she's coming off as snooty. It frustrated the angel to no end! To make matters worse he was likely going to prepare food for the both of them, and now breakfast is going to have to wait!

The angel looked up from the pillow and to the opening of the kitchen, a spark of hope gleaming from her eyes, "Maybe breakfast doesn't have to wait!"

"Alright Angel, it ain't nothing fancy but I'm sure these will fit ya just..." the cowboy's words fell silent when he heard soft humming coming from the kitchen. In the kitchen he caught eye of the angel in the kitchen singing and dancing while wearing her torn dress and an apron tied with a disgustingly cute little bow in the back. The angel had crafted a fluffy egg like dish with sautéed onions and red peppers in one pan, while the other was cooking what the cowboy could only assume was bacon from the angle he was looking at. A bit fancy for his liking, but who could complain when you had someone cooking for you?

He leaned against the wall with the clothes folded into his arms watching the angel with fascination in his eyes and his iconic smug smile; if her klutzy personality hadn't reared it silly head earlier, he would have thought she would have fallen and burned the kitchen to the ground, but she was proving to be very skilled with pans. "Well I'll be damned," he thought to himself, chuckling under his breath as he slowly approached from behind, "So you ain't as klutzy as I thought."

Solrina nearly jumped from hearing her employer's voice from behind her, but she held herself firm and took a deep breath. "You've done a lot for me already sir, it's time I start pulling my own weight around here." She stated as she turned off the stove and started plating the food.

"We've only met two hours ago; you can't possibly stack up a debt that fast." 'Course, this is Hell; it ain't uncommon for sinners and demons to rack up unbelievably large debts within minutes due to greed and pride.

"But it's true," she turned to look him in the eyes and held his hands in hers, "You spared my life despite being a hated enemy of demons, gave me an opportunity to pay off my debt when I had no money, and even now you've found it in your heart to find some spare clothes for me. I promise you sir, you won't regret this decision."

The cowboy could feel the diabetes forming in his system from how sweet the angel was. For her to say that she was indebted to him was a bit empowering, but he's got to make sure she knows her place in this temporary partnership. "You ain't trying to butter me up are ya?"

"What? No, no sir!" The angel immediately let go of his hands and frantically waved them in front of her in a panicked state. A bit of silence lingered between them for a while until she finally broke the silence with, "I mean... is it working?"

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Once breakfast was over, Solrina gathered the clothes from the Cowboy and scurried off into a room to change. The Cowboy had found Solrina a simple pair of faded overalls and a red button-up shirt with yellow lines on it. It's true the clothes weren't much, but to the angel they were enough for her. Not only did she feel comfortable in her temporary clothes but she didn't have to be embarrassed about the thought of wondering around half naked in that torn dress! Hopefully she'll get the chance to fix it as soon as possible; she would feel awful taking something from her employer after he's done so much for her!

Knock! Knock! Knock!

"Everything alright in there, Canary?" the Cowboy asked from the other side of the door, startling the angel from her thoughts.

"Y-Yes sir!" the angel hollered nervously, "I'll be out in just a moment." With one more adjustment to the overalls, Solrina marched towards the door and opened it to be face to face with her employer.

"Everything fit okay Canary?"

"Y-Yes sir," she answered while dusting off the overalls once more before realizing something, "Canary?"

"Oh? So you weren't singing like a canary in my kitchen earlier?" the Cowboy teased, "Figured it be a fitting nickname for you is all so don't worry about hearing it too much."

"Oh, I'm not taking any offense to it, in fact I think it's a cute nickname sir," she hummed, giving the cowboy a grateful smile.

Any more of the angel's sweetness the cowboy swore he was gonna regurgitate his breakfast. "Whatever floats your boat Canary, now let's gets a move on; we're burning daylight."

"Yes sir!"

Despite the danty way the angel was carrying herself this morning and the absurdity of her employer's demands, Solrina was proving to be a big help around the ranch. She managed to clean the barn stalls with a singular toothbrush, round up the hogs and bovine without riding a hellhorse or using her wings, even got her revenge on the hellkins for destroying her dress by sanding down their talons.

The Cowboy was colored impressed the angel lasted as long as she did with the tasks he assigned. By this time of the day, most ranch hands couldn't wait for a break, but not the angel. As soon as she was done with one task she'd come racing towards him and ask for her next task. As a matter of fact, instead of taking a lunch break, she asked him if she could give Bombproof a good grooming. 'Course he obliged, so long as she didn't turn Bombproof into some frilly show horse. She would nod then happily make a beeline towards Bombproof.

"Just where does she keep all that damn energy?" the Cowboy thought as he watched her wash Bombproof from the window. To his surprise, Bombproof wasn't giving her much of a hard time as he did this morning. Instead of watching the stallion go into a frenzy against the angel, Bombproof stood still, allowing the angel to not only clean his coat with ease, but also clean the bottom of his hooves, clearing them of mud and gravel.

"Traitor," the Cowboy huffed, watching as the angel and stallion were getting along.

After grooming Bombproof, Solrina was tasked with fixing a portion of the fence that had gotten damaged from a hog earlier, only the twist to her task was fixing it while upside down without the use of her wings. It took a few trials and errors, but the angel had managed to fix the fence while standing on one arm. "Phew," Solrina huffed, only for her arm to give out from underneath her and collapse on to the dusty ground. After a minute or two, she got back onto her feet and dusted herself off. "The fence is already done sir!"

The cowboy, who was fixing his portion of the fence, looked up from his spot at the angel. "You don't waste a second do ya Canary?" he huffed as he got up to inspect her handy work. From afar it looked like decent work, but upon closer inspection the angel's technique had proven to be more complex than the Cowboy thought. "Not bad Canary, this might just survive more than one collision from dem hogs."

The angel was beaming with glee, ecstatic to hear her employer's praises on her work.

"Only one more task and you'll be done for the day," the Cowboy commented, bringing the angel down from her high, "Think ya could whip up a batch of beef stew?"

"Sure can sir!" the angel answered, already taking off her gloves but was stopped with the Cowboy shook his head.

"You're gonna need the beef before you can start Canary," he chuckled while pointing towards the bull minding his own business. "Now, this task is a little difficult so I'll make it easier on ya by giving you the tools ya ne- Canary?" Before the Cowboy could even finish his sentence, the angel had snuck away from him. Good news was that she was found right away, the bad news was she was in the bull's pen.

"Canary, what the fuck are you doing, get out of there before ya hurt yourself," he harshly whispered, but his command fell on deaf, determined ears. The one time he decides to make one of her tasks easy and she decides to do this to him! This angel was going to be the death of him if she doesn't die first!

Solrina then sent a signal to the Cowboy that she was going to be okay; that he didn't have to worry about her and that she knows what she she was doing. Even though she's never rounded up a bull before, she was determined to try it out without the tools. With the pondering out of the way, she slowly approached her prey before lunging towards the bovine!

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Solrina landed on the Bull's back, provoking the bovine to buck around wildly, desperately trying to get the angel off of its back but no matter how hard the bull tried the angel latched herself on to him for dear life with her eyes shut tight.

The cowboy knew a moment like this was considered a right of passage in Wrath, but whether the angel knew that or not, for someone to take on a Bull without a rope and knife was practically suicide. "Hang in there Canary, I'm coming-"

Before the cowboy could climb the fence and finish his sentence, he saw the angel inch closer to the bull's head, once she was close enough, she side swept herself off the bull and planted her feet into the ground with the bull held in a chokehold. This stopped the bovine dead in his tracks, but that didn't stop its thrashing about in the angel's grasp. When she had enough of the thrashing, Solrina jerked the bull forward causing it to lose it's footing on one hoof. Using her own strength to keep it down.

Now the bull was pissed; it started to mooing and exhaled mighty flames from it's mouth to tell the angel she needs to back off, but even the scorching flames weren't enough to falter the angel from her task. While the bull kept spewing flames, she kept reaching out for one of it's horns on it's head. Why she was doing this even the cowboy didn't know.

"Hold on Canary, I've got the knife!"

"No need!"

No need? No need?! The fuck was the angel on about; of course she needs the knife, how else was she to kill the damn thing?! Before he could make haste with the knife, he looked up and saw the angel had grabbed the bull by one of it's horns and with all her strength, snapped it's neck far into her bosom with the rest of it's body falling limp behind her.

The cowboy stood there in shock, sure he's heard stories of angels and what they're capable of but to see them in action? It's no wonder both the living and the damned were scared of them. "Well I'll be damned..." he muttered, watching the angel pick up the bull and hung it over her shoulders as if it weighed nothing to her.

"Where do you want me to leave the body sir?" she asked making her way towards him.

"Canary, what you did was by far the craziest shit I've seen anyone do," he hissed, his tail rattling in irritation, "Any person in their right mind down here would have assumed you had a death wish."

The angel looked hurt by the Cowboy's comment; sure what she did was a bit brash but he didn't have to go so far as to say that. Her sorrow filled eyes were soon picked up by the sound of her employer laughing again.

"But I'll be damned if I didn't say that was impressive," he chuckled.

"You- You really think so sir?" Solrina asked, beaming up at his praise.

"'Course, saves me the trouble of finding the bullet in the fuckin' thing," he commented, walking on to another part of the ranch, "C'mon, that bull ain't gonna skin itself."

The angel followed soon after the cowboy with the bull in tow.

"Oh, and Canary."

The angel stopped in her tracks behind her employer who turned to see her face to face. "Yes sir?"

"Call me Striker."

"You're lucky I have ice boxes Canary," Striker chuckled, entering the house with packages of meat both him and the angel packed for him to store away.

"Look at it this way, you and Bombproof will have enough food to last you all for a month... maybe longer?" Solrina hummed, carrying the other half of the packages into the house, following him down to the basement.

"You ain't taking any?" he asked.

"Nah, I don't have a means of storing it, let alone being able to cook it," she answered, "Besides, I think you need more meat on your bones than I do."

As Striker placed the meat down on the table, he looked at the angel as if he was offended. "Oh so that's how you're playing, eh Canary?" he huffed, opening the ice box and placing the meat inside.

"Tell me I'm wrong Cowboy?" she teased, giving him a playful smile as she passed the other packages of meat for the cowboy to pack, leaving all but one package for tonight's dinner. The angel grabbed the package and started climbing up the stairs. "I'm going to go start working on dinner."

"Alright, I might be a little late so don't wait for me," he responded, closing the ice box behind him.

"You're not going to be able to help me?"

"Nah, Bombproof and I got one more task before we can eat."

"Aww, okay," Solrina sighed, knowing Bombproof would have loved to see his portion of food that was ready for him. "Oh! I almost forgot I needed to ask you-"

"Upstairs in the attic," quick to the drawl the cowboy left the angel in a stupor, "Figured you were going to need some fabric to fix that dress of yours. You should be able to find everything you need up there."

"A-Ah. Thank you Striker," was all the angel could mutter before watching Striker walk out of the house and hop right on top of Bombproof, riding him towards the porch of the house to see Solrina watching him.

"Oh, and Canary."

"Hm?"

"Don't burn the house down."

"What?!" she hollered in offense.

Before Striker could get an earful from the angel, Bombproof was already riding off with his owner in tow into the barren lands.

Chapter Text

With Striker gone, Solrina was left to her own devices until he came back. While it's true that he said not to wait for him in terms of making dinner, but the angel had a few things she wanted to do before getting dinner ready, like fixing her dress before she leaves.

The angel made her way to the attic, some doubt lingering in her body. While it's possible folks in the Wrath ring have sowing materials should clothes get scuffed and tattered, Solrina wasn't so sure if Striker would have white fabric lying around in his house.

Entering the attic, the first thing she noticed was the dust. You can't have an attic without dust scattered all over the windows, furniture, even the boxes and picture frames weren't safe from the dust's assault. Walking in the angel wondered how the cowboy didn't break out into a sneezing fit when he was up here and if he did, she wondered how she didn't hear it. If she had to guess she could bet it was an adorable sounding sneeze. 'Focus Solrina!'

The next thing she saw was a multitude of boxes that laid out on the floor, potentially holding old clothes, photographs, and even toys from the cowboy's childhood. Oh, the temptation to look through the boxes to see pictures of Striker as a baby lingered in the angel's brain, but Solrina was there for one thing and one thing alone! 'Those pictures might be the last thing you see when you die, Solrina,' the angel thought to herself, knowing confidential stuff like this could land her in hot water in Hell, especially in the Wrath ring. Then again, she wasn't sure if Striker could kill her; fallen or not she's still likely more powerful than he is.

The last thing she noticed was a big box that laid wide open with it's contents spilling out of it. The contents being fabric and loose cloth of various colors. Upon closer inspection, the inside of the box had pins and needles needed for sowing tucked into a little tumbler in the shape of a tomato. The angel beamed with glee but then scoffed; Striker knew he had these things the whole time!

'Cheeky devil,' she thought as she gathered the fabric and needles. Once she has all that she needed, she walked out of the attic and into the living room where her dress lied on the couch. Looking at her dress, the angel realized she had more work than she thought. Not only did the hellkins tear through the fabric, but they also got it a lot dirtier than she thought. Thinking on it now, she thought she saw a washboard up in the attic. 'Maybe I should check again."

Before she knew it, Solrina had started doing tasks around the house just to get her dress ready. First she patched the tears in her dress with the fabric and needles from the attic. Once the dress was patched up, she proceeded to scrub the dirt and grime from it with the washboard she found. Since she had the washboard out, she decided to wash a few of Striker's garments before hanging the clothes out to dry. It was here that she discovered that living in Hell had it's perks; your clothes get so much drier faster than on Earth or in Heaven! Though it'd be wise to keep an eye on the clothes otherwise they might catch on fire. The angel learned that the hard way when her dress nearly combusted, thankful that she wouldn't need to wash it again.

With her dress fixed and cleaned, the angel thought it was high time she got cleaned up herself; no point in wearing something clean if you're covered in mud and manure. Before she could made her way to the bathroom, she opened the linen closet in search of soap and a towel. Grabbing a towel was the easy part, grabbing a bar of soap on the other hand... She would have preferred a scent that was more feminine but the soap Striker had would have to do. Hopefully the cowboy wouldn't mind if she used his soap this once.

Now that she was equipped with everything she needs for a bath, it was time to prepare it. A quick turn to her left and she was back in the bathroom she hyped herself in. She placed her dress and the towel on the shower rack before going to the bathtub, no point in them getting wet. Once they were hanged, she sauntered over to the bathtub and turned the water on, steaming hot of course. Since it would take a while for the water to rise, she figured she'd check the damage done this day. Looking at her reflection she noticed her hair was out of place, her entire body (clothes included) had bits of mud and slump, and her skin was slightly burned by the Wrath ring's scorching suns! Despite looking like the day kicked her behind, a soft laugh escaped the angel; all in all today was a good day and now she was going to be refreshed with a nice bath.

At least that's what she thought; as soon as the tub was filled with water, she was greeted with the sight of water that looked more like acid than water. As if that wasn't unsightly enough, the smell was by far the worst thing the angel has smelled. She couldn't believe Striker was living under these conditions! Oh, but she didn't have time to fix the pipes at the moment; she'll just have to use it for now.

With a soft prayer, her hands started to glow and extended to the pipe and the water. While the pipe remained unaffected by the angel's power externally, the abilities have changed; now whenever the tub was going to be used clean water will come out. As for the water that was already dispensed, it started to change from it's acid like appearance to a much cleaner version of itself, the smell even vanishing from the room.

Now that that's out of the way, she can finally get herself cleaned up and after that, preparing dinner for her and Striker. The sound of her clothes hitting the ground and her body splashing the water echoing in the bathroom.

Chapter Text

Solrina didn't want to admit it to Striker, but she didn't know how to make beef stew... At least from memory. Thankfully she found a book tucked away in a shelf in the living room with an array of recipes anybody would enjoy; beef stew included. Despite having a rocky start with the ingredients, the angel had adequately cut portions of beef simmering with the bay leaves in a pot containing the red wine and broth mixture. After chopping the onions and carrots, the angel put them into the pot then sealed it off with the lid, but not before setting up the timer for ten minutes to give the stew time to simmer before putting in the potatoes. Speaking of which, she better get to cutting those before time runs out. The angel made a bee line to the sink where a strainer full of freshly washed potatoes was sitting there waiting to be picked up. Taking the strainer out of the sink and shaking off the excess water, the angel placed the strainer on the counter and started peeling them before cutting them into an adequate size on the cutting board.

Just as soon as she was done cutting the potatoes, the timer had gone off. With the cutting board in hand, the angel opened the pot and dumped the potatoes in. Looking down in the pot, the liquids have all but almost evaporated, so the angel added more broth to prevent the stew from drying. After sealing it once again, Solrina started the timer for thirty minutes then started gathering the appropriate utensils for the dinner table. With the table set up, all the angel had to do was watch the stew until it was ready. While standing in the kitchen she noticed the leftover wine she made earlier. There wasn't much left, but it was enough for maybe a glass or two for two people. "Would Striker like wine with the beef stew?" the angel thought to herself. Maybe she'll ask him when he comes back.

Speaking of getting back, it's been nearly four hours and still there was no sign of the cowboy or his horse. Just what exactly was Striker doing that was taking him and Bombproof so long? At this point, Solrina wouldn't be surprised if Bombproof decided he wanted to turn tail and come running back just to eat his portion of meat. Speaking of the devil, the angel heard the hellhorse whinnying outside, followed by the sound of the front door opening.

In her excitement, she greeted, "Welcome back Striker!" Not giving the cowboy a chance to announce his arrival or hang his hat up.

Even though he knew the angel was here, Striker was still taken aback from being greeted back into his old home. Working as an assassin for as long as he has, he's all but forgotten what it was like to be genuinely greeted back. It felt... nice. 'Course, he knew better than to get used to it. "Aww, was Canary feeling lonely without me?" he teased the angel for her readiness to greet him home.

Solrina blanked at his remark, and then scoffed, "W-Well... I-It was boring without you here!" She then proceeded to pout, not like he could see her face in that moment, but she could hear him chuckling from behind. "Anyway, dinner should be ready in a few minutes so I suggest you go wash up. Don't worry; I left you some clean clothes in the bathroom in case you want to take a bath too."

"Fine by me," he strained while stretching at the doorway before making his way to the bathroom. While he passed the entry way of the kitchen, he felt the angel staring at him as he unbuttoned his vest. He chuckled, "Like what you see Canary?"

"Wait what?" she blanked, staring at the cowboy in confusion before she realized what he was talking about. A soft orange sprung on her face before finally responding with, "I-It's not that! I-I mean, don't get me wrong, you're a very attractive man, it's just... I'm not sure if you're a wine type of guy or not."

'Very attractive man' huh? The cowboy has had many admirers of many genders, but none were as resilient as the angel before him. Least she's being honest with herself. "Wine is hard to come by for me, so unless you can make some we won't be having wine with the beef stew." the cowboy sighed, never really thinking the angel had expensive taste.

"As a matter of fact, I did make wine."

The cowboy raised an eyebrow at her, but was shocked to see the angel holding a jar of what looked like wine. "How?" he asked, knowing damn well he doesn't have any of the ingredients to make red wine.

"Michael isn't the only one who can turn water into wine you know," she answered, putting the jar aside.

"Well now I know," he chuckled in defeat as he watch her check the stew, which was his cue he should get himself cleaned before she gets after him.

Once she had another good look at the stew, Solrina turned the stove off and grabbed a spoon for a quick taste test. One sip and she knew it was perfect, she just hoped she followed the recipe to a T. Now that the food was ready, she felt like there was one more thing she had to tell Striker, but she couldn't remember what that was.

"CANARY!"

Oh shoot, she forgot to tell him about the pipes. She timidly walked to the bathroom door where she was greeted by the cowboy who was standing there in nothing but the towel wrapped around his waist. She giggled, averting her eyes from him as she teased, "Sorry, did I forget to mention that I fixed the pipes?"

Chapter Text

After a brief explanation on how the pipes were fixed, both the angel and the cowboy were now sitting at the table enjoying their dinner, more so than others.

Striker may have tried to keep a stern face regarding dinner, but the angel could tell by the swaying of his tail that he was in utter bliss with the food. Poor cowboy probably hasn't had a proper meal in who knows how long.

It's too bad she couldn't stay, but a deal's a deal. "There's more stew if you'd like more," she hummed, breaking the cowboy out of his thoughts.

"I'm fine," clearing his throat, "So, you'll be leaving after dinner?"

"Yep, I'll be heading into town and see if maybe I can find another job to earn enough to jump to the next town. Hopefully it won't take me long but who's to say," she sighed.

"Yeah, pretty sure it won't take you long with this in hand," the cowboy lifted his tail and placed a familiar looking bag to the angel.

Solrina's eyes glowed with glee, "My money bag! You found it!"

Striker chuckled, "Took me too damn long to find it." When he least expected it, the cowboy was lifted out of his seat and engulfed in Solrina's embrace.

"Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you so much!" she squealed, squeezing the poor cowboy, only for her to quickly let him go, "Sorry! Forgot you don't like hugs."

"At this point Canary, I don't see any reason to stop you," he huffed as he got back into his seat to finish the rest of his beef stew.

Solrina sat herself back and checked the contents of her bag, but before she could put the bag away she noticed a slip of paper inside.

"Striker?" the angel asked, "Did you leave this paper in here?"

"That's my personal phone number, if you're ever in deep shit just give me a call ya'hear?"

The angel smiled, he really did care about her. "Thank you Striker."

And the diabetes was forming again, all the cowboy could do was avert his eyes away from her as he drank his serving of wine.

With the dishes washed, the table cleared, and the leftovers packed away, the cowboy watched as the angel flew away to the nearest town. With it being dark, he wouldn't have to worry about her being found out by any of the other imps when she gets there. For now though, all he wanted was to get some shut eye, never did he think spending an entire day with an angel could be this exhausting.

Going back inside, he noticed a neatly piled stack of hell bucks on the table. Even when she's already paid her debt, she still pays her 'rent'.

"Fucking angels," thought Striker as he lazily took the money from the table put the bills in his pocket as he moved upstairs and face planted into bed.

The next morning, the cowboy heard his personal phone going off! Already?! Not even a day and the angel was already in trouble?! Striker quickly grabbed his phone and answered it right away. "Canary?! Are you alright?!"

"I miss you!" she whined through the phone, "I missed hearing your voice."

The cowboy groaned, rubbing his temples, "When I said you can call me for an emergency, this is not what I meant."

"Please Striker, I want to hear you talk," she whimpered, more than likely pouting on the other end of the phone.

The cowboy sighed in annoyance, having a feeling this was going to be a repeating occurrence with the angel.

At first, it was all but annoying to receive a phone call from the angel three times a day, especially if he was on a job, but the cowboy imp had started to find himself looking forward to her calls. She would call him from a new city or town in a different ring always asking him if he was okay and if he was taking care of himself. After being 'scolded' at for missing a meal or pulling an all-nighter, the angel would go on and tell him all about her adventures in the different rings. Least he was getting an update about her well being with these phone calls.

At the moment, Striker had just finished a job when his phone went off. With a smile on his face, he picked up the phone to hear, "Howdy Cowboy, how you doing?" from the other end of the line.

"Howdy Canary, I'm doing just fine. Just finished a job actually."

"So you pulled an all-nighter?" she teased.

He chuckled, even miles away she's able to read him like a book.

"You're laughing! So that means yes!"

"You've caught me red handed Canary."

"I knew it. You really need to make sure you're getting rest Striker!" she pouted.

"Alright, alright as soon as I get home me and Bombproof are gonna get some shut eye, I promise." Even though he's not so sure she should take an imp's promise, "So how are you Canary? Ain't getting into too much trouble I hope?"

"I'm alright. I'm currently in Pentagram City! I might have to stay here for a while though."

"Why's that? Something wrong?"

"I'm running a little low on money, but don't worry! I have a friend here and she'll be able to help me with my situation."

"Another demon willing to help an angel? You seem to have a knack for bringing the good out of the worst of us."

"More like making the worst of messes into better situations." She giggled, "Oh! I got to go, running out of minutes on this payphone. Talk to you later Striker."

"Talk to you later too Canary."

Three weeks... It's been three weeks since Canary's last phone call.

Striker knew the angel wouldn't miss the opportunity to call him, and he was damn sure Pentagram City had plenty of payphones so she wouldn't have trouble finding one to use. If money was an issue, she would have asked her friend to borrow their phone right? It was so fucking frustrating she hasn't called him. Not that he cared, but the lack of a phone call from her felt like a sting to his pride. He's had many people fall for his charms, wishing to get a call from him, but to have the tables turn on you was infuriating.

"Why should I care? She's her own damn person and I'm not babying her anytime soon," he thought to himself.

Suddenly, the phone rang and in a heartbeat the cowboy answered, "Canary! You got a lot of explaining to do angel!" Great, he was scolding her. Was this how she felt when he wasn't taking care of himself? That wasn't important right now! The important thing right now is that this angel answer for her absence.

"I-It's good to hear from you too Striker," she responded, but something was wrong; she didn't sound as cheerful as she usually does when she calls him. She even sounded like she was crying.

"Canary? Is something wrong?" a thousand questions were racing through the cowboy's head. What's gotten the angel so shaken up that she's crying?

"I'm fine, but..." she's hesitating, what's wrong?

"Damn it Canary, spit it out already!" he thought, preparing himself for the worst.

"I-I'm locked in a cage... and people are staring at me..."

Chapter Text

Striker felt his heart sank; how did the angel get herself trapped in a cage?!

"Where are you? Who has you in a cage?" the cowboy asked while grabbing the blessed pistol off the coffee table and arming it with holy rounds.

"I've been seeing a lot of sinners, so I should still be in the Pride ring, but I don't know which club I'm at."

Striker sighed in relief; thank Satan she knew which ring she was in. Bad news was there was a fuck ton of clubs in that ring, both for sinners and for imps. "Anything that stands out to you about this club?" Thankfully he's been to a few clubs in Pride, if she can give him a specific detail about the place maybe he can figure out which club she was in.

"Not sure if this will help, but the club owner is Valentino," Solrina whispered.

"Shit," the cowboy imp thought, of fucking course it had to be Valentino! If Valentino has her, chances are the other two of the three V's are tormenting her too. If that's true, this was going to be a lot tougher than he thought. "Tell me, is he alone in this club? And I'm not talking about his sluts."

"Sometimes a man with a TV for a head comes, as well as a girl with duel colored hair."

Well shit; that confirmed his theory.

"Please Striker, I don't think I can-"

Before the angel could finish her plea, she was cut off by the sound of a door slamming open and yelling from a man, likely Valentino.

"Canary! Canary?!"

The only response Striker got back was Solrina screaming in pain then the sound of the phone being cut off, beeping ringing in Striker's ear.

Three weeks before the phone call...

Hanging up the phone, Solrina took one last check of her disguise. It might give her a few looks, but it would explain why she knows so much about the different rings of Hell. Stepping out, the citizens of Hell would see a succubus in a red overall dress with puffy pink sleeves and white boots. Her fluffy hair just as white with a single light pink strip running down the right side of her head.

While there were a few people who recognized her, majority of them didn't know who she was, which was perfect for the angel. Now that she blended in with the crowd, it was time to go job hunting. Seemed simple enough, how hard is it to find a job?

Turns out it WAS hard to find a job in Hell; while it's true that they lose people everyday due to violence, the employers refused to hire Solrina. Was it something she said? Was something off about her? She made sure to disguise her angelic attributes, were they showing? Or is she acting too nice? Does that set people off? Maybe she should be a little more aggressive during her interviews, but what good would that do; she would be lying to her employer if she did that.

The angel was all but about to give up until she saw a poster on the wall promoting a hotel. "The Happy Hotel?" the angel read, looking over the filer. The rainbows, bright colors, and the smiles all over the paper made her think that the hotel would be a ideal environment for her, and if she was lucky, maybe they'd let her stay there too! Ripping the poster from the wall, the angel followed the directions written on the paper to get to the hotel. However, in her excitement, Solrina had taken a wrong turn somewhere in between Apple Road and 666th street.

Now she was in a destroyed part of town that was in the middle of being reconstructed. Her attention was soon taken away from the poster to the person who whistled at her. A crew of construction workers were whistling at her and shouted lewd comments of what she could do to them. Of course, all of their sexual comments went over Solrina's head. One would think that after spending three months done here would make her be well educated in Hell's tongue. Since she had their attention, she tried asking the construction workers for directions to the hotel, but all they did was laugh when she said the name. Were they laughing at her or the hotel? At this point, she couldn't tell and frankly she was likely not going to get an answer from the cackling crew.

With their attention gone, the angel walked away from the construction site and deeper into the city. All afternoon she would ask anyone who was willing to listen to her for directions to the hotel, but all they did was laugh or scoffed at her decision for going. After being brushed off for the millionth time, the angel sat down at a bench and sighed; if this keeps up she'll have to sleep outside and judging by the sky it's going to start raining soon. What's an angel to do?

"Sudsy?" a voice asked, bringing the angel out of her despair.

"Who? Someone recognized me?" Solrina thought as she looked around for the voice.

"Look up Doll face," the voice called again, bringing Solrina's attention to a pink limousine in front of her with golden accented mirrors, spikes in the front and a moth-like hood ornament. The back window wide open to reveal a purple face with a rather large red hat hidden behind large pink heart shaped glasses, carrying a cigarette holder with a lit cigarette in one of his four limbs. "So this is where you've been eh Sudsy?"

Solrina frantically waved her in front of the man, "Please...! I'm trying to lay low at the moment...!" she whispered, "I'm taking a break from music actually."

"I see, that's why you left huh," the man hummed as he inhaled the cigarette while looking up at the sky. "S'gonna start rainin' in a bit Doll face; why don't we talk somewhere a little more convenient?"

"Alright, any particular place we should meet? I'll meet you there in a few minutes."

"Why don't you rest your legs in my ride Doll?"

"You sure? I'd hate to intrude."

The man opened the door then slides himself deeper into the car to allow her in, "Not at all Doll face, you'd be doing me a favor."

Moved by his generosity, Solrina stepped in and took her seat before closing the door shut. "Thank you so much, Mr...?"

"Please... call me Valentino."

Chapter Text

Once the limousine came to a stop, both Solrina and Valentino stepped out and stood in front of a luxurious looking club with neon lights flashing bright in the evening sky.

"V-Valentino!" the angel yelped, a hint of horror in her voice grabbing the moth demon's attention, "I-I hate to say this but I don't have much money."

"Think nothing of it Chikita; I own this place so whatever you order today will be on the house," he answered, flashing his signature wide grin.

"Really? Thank you so much!" she cheered as they both entered the building. Once inside, the angel noticed the employees decorating the tables with white satin sheets, and chairs with red cushions that seemed to look a bit tattered. Despite looking like they've seen better days, the chairs look sturdy enough to hold a person up, drunk or sober. The tables surrounded a stage with a runaway and a single pole stationed elevated by platforms in the middle of the stage. To the far left was a bar with all sort of poisons for the damned's consumption; beer, wine, cocktails you name it. It was at this bar that she and Valentino sat, the bartender handing a menu to Solrina as soon as she took her seat. She was quick to refuse the menu politely.

"Oh I don't drink," she responded.

The moth raised an eyebrow at her, "Not ever Chikita?"

"Oh I have drank once," she answered, "It just wasn't my thing."

"Sometimes those who quit drinking after one drop are those who haven't found their preferred drink. Tell me Chikita, what did you drink that time?"

"Wine. Red specifically."

"Now that's a rookie mistake Chikita; wine is fifty percent stronger than most alcohols," Valentino explained, grabbing the menu from the bartender then passing it over to the disguised angel, "You should start off with something weaker."

Solrina delicately took the menu out of Valentino's hands and looked the drinks over, some ranging from a variety of colors while others were simply translucent. Her lack of knowledge of alcohol left her in a predicament, but she can't refuse the offer (then again she FELT like she couldn't refuse the offer). She looked up from the menu and back at the moth-looking sinner. "What would you recommend?" she asked, closing the menu and placing it down on the counter.

The moth sinner hummed, observing the succubus in front of him from head to toe. "You seem like the type to like sweet things," he pondered, trying to figure out the type of poison she would like, "I feel like you would enjoy a good Tequila Sunrise Chikita."

"Then, I'd like that please," the angel answered while sliding the menu back to the bartender, who looked over at Valentino before receiving a nod from the overlord.

"Now, let's discuss your employment," he uttered, causing the angel to flinch.

Looking at the stage, Solrina started to get nervous, "N-No offense Valentino, but I have no plans on going back to performing," she quickly retaliated.

"Oh no no my dear, I understand you don't want to get back on stage," he answered nonchalantly, "Rather, I plan to recruit you for something else."

"Y-You are?" The angel was taken aback, she didn't like making assumptions, but with the way Valentino was dressed she could have sworn he was going to ask her to perform here.

"You were out job hunting weren't you?" he presumed, getting a nod from the angel. "Figured we can strike a deal with one another."

"What did you have in mind?" Solrina questioned.

As soon as that question was thrown into the air, the bartender returned with their drinks. While the glasses were simple, the liquids inside of them were vibrant to the eyes.

"You seem like a simple... succubus Chikita," Valentino commented, grabbing the neck of his drink's glass and swirled it around before taking a drink, "I just need you for a simple task."

"How simple we talking?" she raised an eyebrow while keeping her eyes on the overlord. While keeping her eyes on him, she tried to grab the neck of her drink to seem serious in this conversation but failed after swiping her hand in air before finally grabbing the glass. "For the record, I may be a succubus but I don't want any funny business."

The overlord chuckled, "Guess the rumors are true that you still act as the pretty little angel off stage huh?"

"I have a reputation of acting 'prudish', yes, but it's simply my life style," Solrina retorted, keeping her defenses up as she brought the straw to her mouth to sip the drink. The 'anger' in her eyes was soon replaced with delight as soon as the orange drink hit her tastebuds. The overlord was right, despite having alcohol in it, you can't taste it in a Tequila Sunrise.

Valentino simply smiled at the disguised angel's reaction, "Oh I wouldn't worry Chikita; you won't be giving that type of service to my customers."

"Oh? So you need another server?" Solrina looked up from her drink, "Like a waitress?"

"Sure, let's go with that. I'll also be providing housing and food for your services here at the club. That is, if you accept my offer of course."

The angel nearly choked on her drink, what kind of fool declines that kind of generosity?! "Y-Yes! Yes, of course I'll accept your offer Valentino!" As soon as those words escaped her mouth, Solrina suddenly experienced a wave of vertigo. Normally her body would have been able to fight off the effects of alcohol or drugs sleaze bags would try to hide in drinks, but this was different. The effects felt... stronger somehow? Stronger than her first time? First time... No! Not again! Did he-?!

Suddenly Valentino let out a sinister chuckle as he watched the succubus disguised angel suffer, "As if you had a choice Chikita. Or should I say... Ángel?"

As if on cue, Solrina's succubus disguise erupted in a burst of yellow light, revealing her true angelic form. "How did he know?" the angel's thoughts were soon getting clouded by a surrounding darkness. She can't stay here, she needed to get away, but how could she? Her legs and wings had betrayed her when she felt the impact of the carpet to her knees and her face.

"Don't struggle too much Ángelita; wouldn't want any rug burns on my finest attraction," was the last thing she heard before blacking out.

Chapter Text

Solrina stirred with a groan, her mind still groggily from the drug Valentino hid in her drink. She tried opening her eyes, only to instantly regret it with how bright the surrounding lights were. Giving her eyes some time to adjust, the angel opened her eyes again and saw she was behind bars. Did Valentino put her in a cage? Despite her pulsating headache, the angel planted her elbows on the cold flooring of the cage to lift herself up to get a better look at her location. Slightly elevated, the angel found her cage to be lifted from the ground, which wouldn't have bothered her much if it weren't for the drugs still in her system.

The angel pushed herself back further into the cage while planting a hand over her mouth to prevent her from losing the contents of her stomach. Her actions soon led to the discovery of a simple looking ball and chain attached to her right ankle. "Overkill much?" the angel thought as she tried to break the shackle off of her ankle but to no avail; her strength had all but left her. "How strong is this drug?!" the angel thought, slightly starting to panic now.

"Sounds like the angel's awake," commented an unfamiliar voice from below, the sound of footsteps soon echoing in the club after the comment was made.

Just as quick as the angel's curiosity peeked, her cage had dropped down to the floor below at an alarming rate. The drop caused the angel to lose her balance on her elbows and feel the contact of the cold flooring on her face and shoulders, didn't help her stomach either. She wrapped an arm around her stomach while her hand covered her mouth again.

"'Bout damn time you woke up; I thought I damaged the goods a little too much," a familiar voice chuckled.

Looking up, Solrina saw Valentino with a cigarette holder in hand and devilish smile on his face. Walking towards the moth sinner's side was another man who's body was dressed in a striped tuxedo, he looked human except for having a television for a head. The angel couldn't tell if they were work associates or something else, all she knew is that Valentino wasn't as nice as she thought he was.

"Had a nice nap Ángelita?" Valentino teased. The angel remained silent, her ill-stricken face turning into a glare towards the sinners before her. "Left a pretty bad burn on Warren over there." He pointed back at the bartender who was wrapping his hands with makeshift wrappings to covering the holy burns Solrina left on him.

While it's true that Solrina was a kind person, she wasn't that ignorant of her surroundings; her body would produce holy heat should someone think about touching her without her consent. This was a defense mechanism she would use in her sleep when she would sleep out in the streets of Hell. Bartender must have been told to move her and was suffering for it. Which was a shame since Solrina wanted Valentino to learn about her defense mechanism the hard way.

"'Course we can't have ya burning our costumers when you start working," he hummed, inhaling the smoke from his cigarette holder and later exhaling it, "So we'll be getting rid of that power in due time."

"What?" the angel thought, her glare changing into an expression of fear. How could he drain her powers? He wasn't that powerful was he?

"That ball and chain ain't no ordinary accessory Ángel," Valentino laughed, the change on her face was simply delicious to witness, "Had that pretty little thing commissioned 'specially for you. It should keep your powers nullified until I could get something even better for you. Think of it as a 'welcoming gift' from Daddy."

Solrina looked at the moth with a face of confusion, she understood the gravity of the situation what with her powers being null and void because of this odd ball and chain but... "Why would I call you that? You didn't create me."

The moth pimp's smile faded at the angel's retort, was she trying to be sassy with him? Doesn't matter, she'll get her just desserts soon enough. "For now, you'll be working as a display; a little teaser of what the guests will get to play with in due time so to speak."

Display?! The angel quickly folded her wings forward, covering her body up from Valentino and the TV man, her cheeks puffed up in offense with a small blush dusted on her face. Both of them looked at each other and laughed; like her wings were going to protect her.

"Even as a prude you're a fuckin' tease," Valentino commented, "Vox why don't we show the angel what happens when she disobeys."

The TV man known as Vox brought out a small box from his coat pocket, then pressed a button in front of Solrina. At first, nothing happened but then she felt a shock go across her spine, up to her wings. As if they had a mind of their own her wings spread open, exposing her body against her will. Once the shock subsided, Solrina was down on her hands shuddering. What in God's name was that?

"We attached a little something in between your wings in case you don't do as your told. Every time you don't listen, you'll get a 'little' shock," Vox explained, passing the box to Valentino who was now wearing the biggest grin Solrina's ever seen him wear.

"Or in case I ever get bored," Valentino hummed as he pressed the button once more only this time the shock was much stronger than before. So strong that it was making Solrina's wings glow as bright as beacon.

When he was finished pressing the button the angel toppled over to her back, her wings laying flat on the floor of the cage. Was it normal to feel yourself fading in and out after being electrocuted? The angel wasn't too sure, all she knew is that she could hear Valentino and Vox laughing at her suffering and that she needed to get out of this predicament somehow, otherwise she might be forced into doing who knows what these men want her to do!

Chapter Text

Valentino was certainly a man of his word when it came to his own plans. For the past three days he's had Solrina on display as a pre-showing, and simply seeing an angel in a weakened state was enough for his patrons to fork over their money. He had received so much money that his performers were paling in comparison, and that alone was impressive considering the angel was just sitting there in her cage. The little angel had even earned herself a long list of clients who would love to be pleased by her once she was available to the public, much to her dismay.

Solrina had been gawked at, laughed at, shocked and nearly touched by many demons who couldn't keep their hands to themselves. She had even overheard many lewd comments Valentino's customers plan on doing to her once Valentino 'breaks' her. To make matters worse she was already feeling that her holy heat was slowly losing it's burning effect. Thankfully, much to Valentino's dismay, the ball and chain can only do so much to stop an angel's power. This, however, doesn't change the fact that she needed to find a way to escape! The question was 'How could she?'

She didn't have the strength to break the bars nor the ball and chain attached to her ankle, and even if she did manage to break them the cameras surrounding the club would alert Vox, who would then alert Valentino, who would then shock her out of the air and more than likely lead her back to square one or worse. Until she could figure out how to get rid of Valentino's eyes, she was stuck in place.

Two weeks before the phone call...

The changes were subtle; the colors in Solrina's hair, skin and eyes were slowly desaturating from her normally bright colors. The only part of her body that remained in color were her wings, which she knew were more important to Valentino than her health. Just the other day, a patron accidentally splashed alcohol on her wings and when Valentino saw the spot, he had one of his bigger employees take her cage to the back and simply hosed her down with water! Solrina didn't know what was worse; the fact that she didn't get a proper bath, or the fact she was simply left there to dry off in the alley way after getting splashed with cold water.

The club had just closed for the night with the last patron stumbling out of the club. The only people left in the building were Solrina, Warren the bartender and Valentino. Solrina laid in her cage watching said moth overlord counting the money he received for the angel's 'presence' for the day while the bartender cleaned up his station from any free standing glasses.

A dark chuckle escaped from Valentino's throat, "Damn Ángelita, you've broken your record again."

Silence...

"Keep this up and you just might put my hoes out of the job," he continued, waving a wad of cash in Solrina's direction with one hand while the other brought his cigarette holder to his mouth.

Soon after that comment, Vox and a girl with big puffy pig tails, Velvette was her name, entered the building with bags containing a logo of a fast food restaurant from somewhere within the area. The TV man turned his head towards the angel and watched as she slowly prompted herself up and glared back at him before she concealed herself in her wings. "You still haven't broken her?" Vox complained, shrugging off her silent insult.

"Smoke ain't too effective on her..." he answered, exhaling a trail of smoke in the angel's direction, the smoke entering through an opening in her wings. This caused the angel's wings to fold back into place, revealing herself once more to the three overlords. Rather than having a good grip on the angel, the smoke would be repelled away from her and vanish without a trace. While it didn't give her a high like most of Valentino's victims, it would cause her to enter into a coughing fit. "... Yet."

"Well damn! Who knew the bitch's power was that strong!" Velvette whined as she placed the bags on the table in front of Valentino. "I was really hoping to get a new model this time around! It's not everyday you get a beauty like this." She hummed while looking over the caged angel. "I'd get rid of the anklet though."

"That anklet is the only thing that's keeping her from burning us down to the ground Velvette, and you know it," Vox hissed, "Besides, until I can figure out how to contain that power, the anklet stays on."

"Not to mention you don't want a model that's as chubby as her," Valentino chuckled, unwrapping the food he got and picked out the lettuce out of his burger, "Why don't you eat this Angel Face; it'll help you lose the weight." With a flick of his wrist, the sad, soggy piece of lettuce landed right in front of the angel, causing the three overlords to laugh as they grabbed their bags of food and headed for the door. Before they left, Valentino looked over at Warren and snapped his fingers, causing the bartender to march over to the overlord, "Be sure to lock up tight before you leave will ya Warren? We don't want our precious little money maker to get into the wrong hands now do we?"

"Yes sir," Warren answered, watching the Overlord give off his signature flashing grin then walked off with Vox and Velvette, leaving Warren to lock the door behind him. Once the door was locked, he started his way back to the bar but not before he felt a twinge in his hands. His sharp inhale grabbed Solrina's attention as she watched him undo his wrappings.

"Excuse me," she spoke out, startling the imp, "Warren was it? Mind if I have a look?" With her hand, she coursed him to come closer to her.

Warren raised an eyebrow towards her, did she think he was an idiot? Chances are she'll burn him alive or use him as a means of escaping if she got the opportunity.

"Please?" she pleaded, breaking Warren out of his thoughts, "The burns are going to get worse if you don't treat them right."

The imp bartender sighed, marching towards her cage and exposing his bandaged hands towards her. "What makes you think you have the equipment to heal these burns when you're stuck in that cage?"

Without so much as saying a word, the angel gently enveloped his hands into her own and closed her eyes. A soft light emitting from her hands as Warren felt the pain all but disappeared from his hands. When the angel was done, the glow from her hands had dimmed and Warren's hands were now released from her grasp, leaving the imp to take off his wrappings to find that his burns were indeed gone.

"I hope I didn't take too much of your time," she yawned from her act of healing.

Was she tired because of the draining magic, or was healing always this exhausting for angels? Warren couldn't say; all he could do was watch as the angel before him tuck herself away in her wings, slumber enveloping her away from the Hell she's living through.

Chapter Text

Later that afternoon, Solrina woke up to the sound of the backdoors opening. She started raising her wings in defense, thinking it was Valentino and his friends, but quickly lowered them when the only person who came in was Warren. The imp bartender would come in to check the inventory from time to time, but today he came in with a grocery bag. Normally he would come empty handed, but the thought of something new intrigued the angel. He put it down near the counter before he looked over the items at his section of the bar. Was he going to experiment with the bar's supplies? Did he even have permission to do that here? Knowing Valentino, he would hate it if anything of his was wasted on something he deemed 'useless'. It wasn't until he was done counting the inventory did he grabbed the bag again, watching him approach her cage with the bag.

"Here," he huffed, placing the bag within reach of the angel.

Solrina looked at him in confusion before bringing the bag closer to her. Looking inside, she found a container of strawberries, blueberries, and raspberries along with two water bottles. She looked up at him in confusion.

"They're not drugged if that's what you're thinking," he huffed, grabbing a chair from one of the tables and scooting it towards the stage in front of her cage to take a seat, "Think of it as my way of thanking you for fixing my hands."

At first, the angel wasn't sure about the gift the bartender was giving her, but seeing the lack of ill intent in his eyes left her assured he means no harm. Opening the container, Solrina grabbed berries one by one into her mouth, savoring the flavor of each berry.

Warren thought she would have devoured the berries in one full swoop seeing how the angel hadn't had proper food in over a week, but here she was; eating them with poise and dignity despite her situation. Then again, she hadn't really shown much resentment towards him despite being a demon, let alone an imp. "Is she in denial or something?" he wondered. His thoughts were soon disturbed when the angel carefully passed the container out of her cage with a few remaining berries and the second water bottle.

"Do you want some?" she asked, "Food tastes better when you share it with others."

Warren looked skeptical at the angel; on one hand this could just be the angel being herself, whoever she may be, but on the other hand she could just be baiting him into getting close and using him as an opportunity to escape.

"It's not a trap if that's what you're thinking," she commented, planting her hands on the floor of her cage to show she had no ill intentions toward the imp's decision.

Warren huffed, a look of amusement painted on his face as he got up from his seat. Stopping in front of the stage, he picked up a strawberry from the container and grabbed the water bottle while looking up at the angel, who did nothing but smile at him. Whoever this angel was, she was certainly a weird one.

Warren thought nothing much of his interaction with the angel, after all it was merely a transactional discussion. She healed his hands, he gives her something in return as payment, nothing more. Albeit, she wasn't the first person he's grabbed food for because of Valentino's negligence, so perhaps the fruit shouldn't count in this transaction. Which meant the imp was still indebted to the damn angel.

"Hey bartender!" a patron shouted, breaking the imp's thoughts, "Hit me with a hard one!"

No matter, he had a job to do tonight and that was preparing drinks for Valentino's customers while they drool over the dancers and the side attraction of the club. After a week, he's gotten used to seeing the angel being on display, but seeing her get electrocuted was hitting a little differently tonight.

It would seem as though Valentino was purposely shocking her at a higher frequency than he normally would, causing her wings to be paralyzed in place without giving so much as five minutes of rest. The electromagnetic pulses coursing through the angel had not only caused her wings to become temporarily paralyzed, but they had also caused the angel to regurgitate the berries she ate earlier all over the stage. Much to the patrons and Valentino's dismay.

When it looked like she was done, she slumped to the floor of the cage, barely missing her regurgitated fruit and seemed to have passed out. Her wings still splayed out in the air.

With a disgruntled groan, Valentino snapped his fingers and two larger demons dragged the angel's cage off the stage while a janitor came quick to clean the vomit left by the angel.

Thankfully, the patrons returned to their drinks happily when the dancers returned to the stage, but Warren... he was disgusted. While he was no stranger to seeing his boss treat his best workers, or in this case' worker', like garbage and it's true that he shouldn't care since she's an angel, but something about all of this... even a demon knows it's not right.

"Who gave you the right to throw up your shit on my stage?!" Valentino scolded at Solrina, not like she was going to answer him since she was feeling weaker than before and knows he's the one responsible for her sudden stomach pump. Whether he liked it or not, Valentino will have the darkest blue eyes glaring at him in silent anger.

"Val, I told you to keep the remote to a regular frequency," Vox complained as he fiddled with the remote for the angel's device, turning it back to the frequency it SHOULD be on, "We both know the angel is much more valuable alive. And what exactly have you been feeding her if her bile looked this purple?!"

"Oh don't give me that, you know she's strictly on lettuce!"

"A measly piece of lettuce, that came from McMammons. No wonder she got sick; it wasn't fresh! I hate to say it Val, but you need to get her better lettuce."

"Since when was she declared high maintenance?!"

"The moment she made you all those big bucks you dipshit!"

While the two Overlords were arguing, said angel slumped down to the floor once more, fading in and out of consciousness while rubbing her stomach to ease the pain. She passed out soon after hearing the TV demon say something about some project. Whatever it was, the angel could feel it was bad.

Chapter Text

Solrina awoke to the sound of people talking amongst themselves and the clopping of shoes and hooves passing by her cage. Upon opening her eyes, she found her cage to be slightly darker than normal with small rays of light peering through the lower regions of the bars. Occasionally, the people outside would pass by causing the shadows to expand from time to time. It wasn't until her vision had fully focused did the angel came to discover that her cage was now covered with a cloth, which explained the darkness. At least with this cloth she was out of the public eye, but for how long was the question. It'll only be a matter of time before Valentino instructs his goons to move her cage to the front of the stage again, but for now she was in a new location and covered from the seeing eye. If she had to guess, she would have to say that she was backstage judging from all the sounds of moving around she heard from outside. It wasn't until she crawled towards the bars of her cage and raising the cloth did her theory prove to be correct.

The angel watched as performers walked to and fro the brightly lit stage without their usual get ups, instead they were in tights and loose fitting shirts that weren't too loose but loose enough to be able to move around in. Not only were the performers out of make up and costumes, the angel could see that there wasn't anybody at the tables in the far corner of the club. If she had to make an assumption with the lack of customers and the performers' lack of make up and costumes, they were likely rehearsing. Solrina must've burned a hole into one of the performers because one of them looked her way!

Solrina immediately dropped the fabric and scrambled to the back of her cage in hopes that maybe they didn't notice her looking, but was quickly greeted with their smirking faces when the fabric was lifted once more, startling her!

"Well if it isn't Ms. Purple Guts," started one of them, "You put on quite a show last night and you didn't even take off your clothes. Not like you should; nobody wants to see a fat bitch anyway."

Solrina frantically covered herself with her wings and arms at that comment! The fat comments she had no issue with it since she knows her fat was necessary but the stripping comments were too far for her! She would never-! The sound of her cage getting hit on top startled her out of her thoughts.

"Quit being such a fucking prude!" one of them yelled, banging on the cage once more, "Those high and mighty clothes of yours won't mean shit when your first client tears them off! I bet your screams will be music to everyone's ears when that day comes."

Solrina could feel her stomach churn at hearing those words; why would anyone wish that fate upon anyone? Especially someone they don't even know? The angel could feel herself shaking and tears forming in the corners of her eyes.

"Aww is the baby gonna cry?" they mocked with a grin on their face, "Should we get you your comfort blankey?"

"Alright, that's enough fucking around," huffed a familiar voice.

"Warren?" Solrina thought while watching the fabric fall over her cage once more. In her moment of curiosity, she quickly scrabbled back to the front of the cage to lift up the fabric to see the dancers directing their attention to Warren who was holding a plastic container.

"Oh c'mon, we were just having a little fun," giggled one of the dancers.

"Speak for yourself..."

"No offense Natasha, but don't you remember what happened last time you took too much leisure time?" Warren retorted.

While it was faint, Solrina saw the dancer known as Natasha suddenly quiver, quickly stopping herself by crossing her arms.

"Your performance was sloppy and Valentino punished you for it because you didn't practice enough," reminded Warren, likely warning the other dancers as well.

This made Solrina wondered how exactly did Valentino punish them. If it's something similar to what he does to her she'd understand why Natasha shuddered at the very thought.

"Always looking out for us, aren't you Warren?" sighed Natasha, "Someday that's gonna get you killed Warren. Alright, you heard the bartender bitches. Back to practice."

As soon as they started turning, Solrina quickly ducked back in her cage with the drapes covering her and watched as the shadows of their feet walked across the stage.

Warren then raised the fabric from Solrina's cage and looked over at her. "They didn't hurt you much did they?"

"Sticks and stones," Solrina sighed while scooting herself towards him, "I still don't understand why that Natasha lady would think I'd put myself on that high of a pedestal though."

"The few angels we do see aren't exactly... saintly. They're only ever down here if they're a fallen or here for the Extermination."

"Excuse me, the what?"

"You don't know? Once a year, angels come to Hell and kill sinners. For what reason? Honestly, don't remember. I think they do it because they're bored of sitting on a cloud and playing the harp," Warren chuckled to himself, but was met with a shocked and disgusted angel.

"They do WHAT?!" Solrina yelled, "I thought they came down here to help souls to reconcile, but THIS?!" She did recognize the angelic weapons that were often scattered in the Pride ring, but she thought they were from an ancient war that took place in Hell! Were there really angels who were coming down and killing human souls?! The poor angel looked like she was on the verge of throwing up again.

"Whoa, hey hey! Don't go throwing up again," Warren tried to ease her from her dry heaving by given her a bottle of water, which she quickly accepted and chugged it. Seeing her react like this was telling Warren that Heaven wasn't as nice as it sounds if they were keeping the Exterminations a secret.

At last Solrina had finished the bottle of water with a deep exhale, trying to take deep breaths and staring up at the ceiling of her cage. Once she could feel her stomach ease up, she looked down at her now empty bottle, the cogs in her head spinning so loud she was surprised Warren or the dancers didn't tell her she was thinking too loud. "I need to get back to Heaven."

"Sorry what?"

"I have to get back and talk to the council about this," she exclaimed, her voice not as soft as it normally is, "I have to know if they know about this or not. Whether Valentino likes it or not I'm going to ask him to let me go!"

Hearing that, panic washed over Warren's face and so did some of the dancers. Even causing one of the dancers to fall off the pole mid-practice.

"Is she for real?!" asked one of the dancers, laughing nervously at the angel's words.

"Warren, sweetie, we know you have a soft spot for all of us, but don't go feeding her fantasies," huffed Natasha, this time there was a huff of sadness in her voice that the dancers and even Solrina noticed.

"I know it's impossible seeing how," she paused for a moment to find the right words to describe Valentino, "Impossible Valentino is, but what other choice do I have?"

Some of the dancers were on the verge of laughing while a few of them seemed sorry for the naïve angel, Warren included. Normally, when someone has been in Valentino's grasp they'd be broken by the end of the week, but not this angel. She's lasted nearly a whole two weeks and she was determined to get out, it that determination that make many wonder if she was just that stubborn or stupid to think she could really have a chance to defy Valentino.

"Listen," Warren commanded, grabbing Solrina's attention, "Just- Be sure to have a plan B in case he says 'no'." With that, Warren left Solrina a box of berries and stepped away from her cage and towards the bar area to check the drinks. He knows he shouldn't be getting involved with the angel anymore than he has been, but he'd be more damned if he didn't get someone who didn't belong here out of here.

Night time was fast approaching and there was no sign of Warren, which bewildered the angel since she knew today was his shift at the bar. Plus, he was always the first one to enter the building so seeing the backstage crew, the wait staff, and the dancers first wasn't sitting well with the angel. The moment a different demon entered the bar area and started organizing the drinks did Solrina feel less at ease.

"Calm down Sol, he's probably running late," she thought to herself, trying to calm herself down, "Besides, Valentino is the last person to come to the club. The moment Valentino steps in, that's every person on staff."

BANG! The doors swung open as the moth sinner came in with his usual scowl.

Now Solrina was starting to panic. "Valentino!" she yelled while frantically reaching to the bars of her cage to sit herself up and look at the man, "Where's Warren?! Is he sick?! Stuck in traffic?! Where-?!" She felt a jolt of electricity shot up her spine as he pressed the button on the remote.

"Shut the FUCK up, you Ángelita Idiota! Because of you I lost the only bartender who knows how to make a damn good cocktail!" he growled in annoyance while glaring at the freshly electrocuted angel, "Caught the Little Fucker trying to rig your waiting list."

"The Wait List...?" Solrina exasperated while looking up at the moth demon, "What does that have to do-?" She paused, realization hitting her like a train as it all clicked in her brain. If Warren was aiming for the list he was likely going to make it seem like he was first on that list. Had he been successful in the change he could have been alone with her and given her a chance to escape.

"He was getting on my nerves anyway," Valentino chuckled darkly while throwing a large chunk of Warren's horn at Solrina's cage, "Seemed a little too nice for a hellborn."

The angel took Warren's horn and stared at it; not able to believe Warren was gone and it was all her fault. True, she didn't tell him to do any of what he did, but she couldn't help but feel like she dragged him down a path that led to his death. Solrina held on to that horn piece all night until the club closed, when everyone was gone did she finally allowed herself to cry while holding the only thing left of her friend.

Chapter Text

Warren's death had left Solrina a husk of her former self; her once bright skin had dimmed into desaturated tones from the top of her hair to the tips of her feet. The only part of her that remained colorful were her feathered wings, which were now back to being displayed for Valentino's patrons after two days of being hidden. Not like she fought back anymore; Solrina wouldn't shrug him off, or glare at him like she used to. Now any time Valentino asked her to display her wings she would do so without hesitation, not like that mattered to the overlord since he would electrocute her regardless.

Valentino knew that whatever fight was left in Solrina was killed along with that stupid little bartender and he relished in it. Breaking people was always a fun game to the overlord, but breaking an angel? Something about it was beyond euphoric, but something told the overlord that he could break her even further. Perhaps now was a good time for Vox's little project to make it's debut.

48 Hours before the phone call...

The club was closed for the day, leaving Solrina alone in the vast room with no freedom to roam. The loneliness was soon diminished when Valentino and Vox came into the building. Both overlords walking up to her cage with Vox holding a particular looking box in his hands.

"Aww, cheer up Angelita," Valentino mocked while swinging the keys around in one of his arms the moment he was close to her cage, "You've been such a good girl this week that Daddy's got you a gift."

The moment the cage was opened, Vox entered and pulled out a silver metallic choker from the box.

"Pretty nice, isn't it?" The moth demon chuckled as he watched Vox adjust the choker on to Solrina's neck, "Silver looks good on you Ángelita. With this you won't have to worry about burning any of your clients or have to lug that big chain around. That must be such a convenience for you."

A silent panic washed over Solrina upon hearing what this choker will do; the production of heat is what has kept her in this cage, but with a choker that'll nullify her ability was dangerous! The moment Solrina heard the choker click into place the heat she had been producing for weeks diminish like a candle on a windy day.

In a flash Valentino grabbed her hair and dragged her out of the cage with one set of his arms, while the other set shoved a bottle of pink fluid into her mouth, forcing Solrina to swallow the contents. "Good girl, don't leave a single drop..."

The moment the bottle was empty Solrina could feel her mind getting fuzzy and her motor skills were slowed thanks to the drug. Valentino tossed the bottle aside and started shoving Solrina off the stage. "Move your ass Ángelita, it's time for your debut," he chuckled darkly.

The moment Valentino burst through the doors of his set, he tossed Solrina down to the floor, who was picked up by one of the crew members. "Get those cameras rolling! We're rawdoggin' this bitch until she's beggin' for more! Get our best impromptu guy!"

As Valentino barked orders, his cast and crew got everything ready for 'The Angel's Fall' as Valentino called Solrina's debut porno. Setting the bed for the actors, getting the lighting just right, even tried to wipe away the love potion that remained on Solrina's lips but were stopped by Valentino. "Leave it. Let it be a symbol that even angels can't withstand temptation."

With the preparations ready, Solrina was positioned on the bed and the cameras were rolling at the director's command. The lucky co-star, a sinner with pterodactyl like features, started climbing in to bed and tore at the fabric of Solrina's dress with his claws, leaving her bare for all to see. The destruction of her dress led to the reveal of a large scar hanging over her left shoulder down to her abdomen. That was something Valentino and the director didn't expect Solrina to have. Guess there was more to this little angel than they thought.

"We can edit that out of the video," Valentino shrugged towards the director as though he knew what they were thinking about the big eyesore that was the angel's scar.

Seeing the angel struggle against her co-star was a pathetic display that gave Valentino the tingles, but the cherry on top was Solrina's face of horror becoming evident, the dawning realization she was going to be ripped of her innocence was absolute cinema, perhaps Valentino will have that face printed for his office. What they didn't expect was for the co-star and everything surrounding the angel to be engulfed in flames!

"Can't edit THAT out of the video."

Despite the fog in her brain, Solrina could tell where all of this was going. Lying in bed with little to no motor function while someone took advantage of her has got to be the darkest joke she's ever been a part of. "C'mon...!" Solrina thought to herself while making an attempt to move, but to no avail. All she could do was watch as the man in front of her tore off her clothes like they were nothing more than a wrapper to a piece of candy. "Move dang it!" she thought once more while looking at the man on top of her with uncertainty. That's when something wasn't right.

Instead of the villa looking studio, Solrina saw a darkened sky with clouds as red as blood and instead of the pterodactyl sinner was a towering wyvern, glaring down at her as if she were a snack! She was downright terrified, so much so that her body started entering into an adrenaline filled state. The adrenaline coursing through her caused the collar around her neck to glow, likely a means of trying to absorb her power from hurting others, but Solrina's adrenaline driven power was too much for the collar, melting off of her skin.

Once the collar was gone, Solrina's skin burned the pterodactyl sinner to the point he was forced to let go of her, but in her drugged state her burning skin had burned him to the point of engulfing his skin in fire! In an attempt to douse the flames, he ended up spreading the fire across the studio.

In that panic Solrina grabbed the blanket from the bed to cover herself up and started to flap her wings, spreading the fire across the studio and gaining altitude in the process, but having a hard time seeing anything she would crash into the set, walls, and planters, making mess of the studio. It wasn't until the fourth attempt that failed was when Solrina kept herself planted on the ground and looked for a way to escape, her eyes wondering around like a cornered animal.

Before she could even make another move, she felt electricity coursing through her entire body. Much harsher than all the time Valentino used the remote on her.

It wasn't until she collapsed did the cast, crew and Valentino see that it was Vox who was pressing down on a remote similar to Valentino's. Looking down at the now collapsed angel, he could see that not only did the collar fail, but the metallic skeleton he attached to her wings and her back had also melted under the heat of her body. "Damn Bitch destroyed the puppeteer too..." he muttered to himself.

"Why the fuck did it not work?!" Valentino growled with agitation while storming towards the TV man.

"How should I know?! I made all the calculations; that collar should have had her power under control!" Vox yelled back, "Doesn't matter, just get the ball and chain back on her before she wakes up then put her back in the cage until we can figure out a stronger solution. And have someone send a blood sample to Velvette; she might need it."

This was clearly a night that Valentino was not expecting; his studio was burned and closed for repairs, they lost a lot of equipment and lost their best impromptu guy all because of the stupid angel!

Chapter Text

Three hours later, Solrina was back in her cage with the ball and chain back on her ankle. Her innocence still intact, but the same couldn't be said about her dress or her underwear. With nothing to cover herself, her grip on the blanket had become iron clad the moment the workers had got her into the cage. Not like anyone was brave enough to try to pry the blanket away from her since they just witnessed her burn the studio and a single sinner with just her body alone. If that was a fraction of what she was capable of, it would be best to proceed with caution around the angel. It was all this that made many of them wonder if the Vees even knew what they were doing when they decided to keep an angel against her will.

10 Minutes Before the Call...

Solrina hadn't slept in two days after Valentino's attempt, well partially because of that. The other part of her was wondering why her brain thought of seeing a red sky as cloudy as it was in the hallucination, especially when the clouds looked so similar to Heaven's. Not to mention how close she was to the wyvern. Yes, she has seen them over at the Greed District at Loo Loo Land but nowhere near as close as it was in the hallucination. Did all those details have anything to do with the gaps in her memory or has she just been down in Hell for too long?

"Holy shit! Val wasn't kidding when he said he got a real angel!" shouted a voice, breaking Solrina's thoughts. Before her cage stood a pink and white spider sinner wearing a pink suit jacket and miniskirt hidden by said jacket, two different pairs of gloves covering his four arms, and boots that reached his thighs. Needless to say, Solrina thought he looked pretty. "No offense but, you look like shit for an angelic being."

Solrina couldn't help but chuckle; with bags under her eyes, her hair a mess and her body covered by the blanket she probably did look unsightly for an angel.

"I'm not here to tease you for it, just came to find my wig. I knew I left that fuckin' thing somewhere around here," he huffed in frustrations as he walked closer to the props to find it, "I'll tell you one thing, I am SO glad it wasn't around when you burned the studio."

Solrina flinched when he mentioned the incident. "Sorry," Solrina muttered, a little ashamed of her little 'outburst'. While it was true that she was under the influence, that was no excuse for destroying someone's livelihood.

"Sorry?! Ha! I should be thanking you; because of your little tantrum you gave me and the rest of the crew a mini-vacation 'till the studio's fixed. Granted, I'm kinda pissed we won't get paid, but hey it's better than dealing with Val for weeks on end," he laughed, a sharp 'A-ha!' escaping from him when he finally found the wig. A smile plastered across his face, but was slowly pulled away when he saw the angel wrapped in the blanket. He may not know who she is or what her story is, but he knew what Valentino was capable of. If what he heard was true, chances are she was going to get an even worse shoot than what happened the moment Vox fixes that device he made. "Say, you like pizza? Let me order ya a pizza."

Solrina looked at him in confusion at seeing him walk to a phone that was on the wall and started dialing numbers on the phone. Ringing could be heard until it was finally picked up by another person. "Hello? Yeah I'd like to order a pizza." the spider sinner chimed while looking at Solrina with a smile on his face and gave her a wink, continuing the conversation by making a rather long order.

At first she didn't understand what he was getting at until it clicked; in the three weeks she's been here she always thought that phone was just a fake prop for performances, but seeing the spider demon having a full on conversation with that phone made her realize that that phone could be her ticket out of here! When the spider sinner noticed the realization dawn on her face, the spider sinner questioned, "What? You can't deliver here? We're blacklisted?! How- Ugh Valentino told you to blacklist this address huh? Whatever." He ended the call, "Sorry Angel Cakes, looks like we're gonna have to raincheck that pizza," he sighed while tossing the phone to the floor close to her cage and walking off the stage with his wig.

To the unsuspecting eye someone would have thought the spider sinner was being reckless with such a device, but to Solrina he gave her the key to her escape. The moment the spider demon was gone, Solrina scooted over to the phone, quickly grabbed it, and started dialing the only number she could remember in that moment! "Please... Please pick up..." she muttered under her breath as she heard the phone dialing up.

"Canary!" she could hear Striker shouting on the other end, "You got a lot of explaining to do angel!"

Hearing his voice after so long caused a lump to swell in her throat as tears welled up in her eyes and small chokes of cries escaped her, "I-It's good to hear from you too Striker." Gosh she was so happy to talk to him again!

"Canary? Is something wrong?"

"I'm fine, but..." she started to choke again, "I-I'm locked in a cage... and people are staring at me..."

Velvette, Vox and Valentino were in Vox's lab where they were looking over what happened with both camera footage and a sample of blood from Solrina. It took Velvette two days but she was able to found the discrepancy, "Well shit, no wonder that angel went bananas. We were banking on her DNA to be similar to a human soul, Hellborn even, but her reaction to Love Potion tells us otherwise. Instead of sedating her, her DNA took it as a hallucinogen which made her start seeing things and panicked."

"Meaning?" Vox asked with a bit of command.

"Meaning we're going to need to come up with a whole new formula of Love Potion for her. Gonna be a pain in the ass seeing how unstable her DNA is. Just look at this shit!" she barked while motioning towards her microscope, "It's like a fuckin' microscopic rave of sorts down there!"

Vox rolled his eyes in annoyance, had he known that studying an angel was going to be this hard he would have just left her to the hellborn to figure it out. In his annoyance, he looked over the monitors where he had to do a double take when he noticed Solrina talking on the phone. "Shit! The angel found a phone!"

"Please Striker, I don't think I can-" Before she could even finish her sentence the door slammed opened! The sound nearly making Solrina drop the phone and jump out of her skin. The moment she saw Valentino and Vox with the remote she knew... "Crud...!"

A jolt of electricity much stronger than Valentino's usual torment shot through the angel's body, causing her to collapse on the ground and lose her grip on the phone. Now paralyzed, she watched in horror as Vox destroyed the phone right in front of her.

"Who the fuck was that on the phone?!" Valentino yelled while storming over to her, "Answer me you-!"

"VAL!" Vox yelled, but was quick to calm down, "Val, calm down, let me handle this." Without hesitation, Vox grabbed Solrina by her chin and stared into her eyes, "Whoever you called," he chuckled, while his left eye started illuminating, "Isn't likely gonna come."

Those words sunk low into Solrina's subconscious, yes Striker was cold towards her at the beginning, but he always sounded like he was warming up to her. Was it... all a lie? This whole time?

The TV demon could see the doubt building in the angel's mind, her foundation in this person she called slowly fading away. "I bet they don't give a shit about you and are nothing more than a pathetic loser who-"

THWACK!

Valentino watched in shock to see the angel kick Vox's face so hard that he fell off the stage with the fatal error screen appearing on his face! Even having a crack form in the corner of his face where she kicked him!

The once submissive, timid angel before them was beyond pissed at Vox for calling Striker a 'pathetic loser'. "Don't you DARE say another word about them!" she growled, practically barring her teeth at the two overlords. Were it not for the chain and ball keeping her down she would have torn into them! ... In a bad way.

Vox was able to recover and huffed at the angel! Whoever she called she clearly had A LOT of faith in. "Just you wait Little Angel," he growled, "Whoever you called, we'll be ready for them."

She watched them leave the club, leaving her alone with the broken phone staring back at her. "Please... I know prayers don't work on demons, but please," she prayed, "Please keep him safe..."

Meanwhile, Velvette was making her way back to her studio to get ready for her next fashion line. While she would have wanted the angel to advertise the outfits, she had to make due with the models she did have. Upon arriving to the studio, she noticed the place was a mess! "Ugh! Does nobody know how to keep my things in check?!" she yelled, "Kitty! Diane!"

Despite yelling for their Fizzbot and Velvette's many assistance, no one answered her yelling. "Ugh! Where the fuck is everybody?! This mess isn't going to clean itself-!" Before Velvette could have finished that sentence, she felt a hand cover her mouth then-

STAB!

The last thing she saw was a holy knife coming out of her chest before falling to the ground, bright yellow eyes staring back at her before feeling her life slip away.