Chapter Text
The last thing Danny remembered was the bright fluorescent lights glaring down at him. The pinch of the metal restraints around his wrists and ankles. The seemingly never ending pain as the agents sliced open his chest again and again. The faint murmurs of the ones causing his suffering. The last thing he remembered was them smashing his core. Everything went black after that, then white, and then blood red.
Eventually he regained his senses, one by one. He became aware of the hard ground he was lying on. It wasn’t quite flat, it had a slight curve, like a poorly paved road. The first thing he heard was a crash and a scream. It nearly pushed him to move, but he was too drained to do anything but revel in the relief from mind numbing pain. The screaming and yelling continued around him as he became aware of the faint glow of light from the other side of his eyelids. He took a deep breath, despite knowing that he didn’t need to. Then he smelled it. The unmistakable stench of blood, human blood.
It was only then that he forced himself to move. He twitched his fingers before pushing himself up into a sitting position. When he opened his eyes he froze. What lay before him was a sight unlike anything he had seen before. There was chaos. Everything was bathed in red light. He looked up at the sky, which was the color of blood.
He sat there for a moment, taking in his surroundings. He appeared to be in an alleyway in some crime-ridden city. All of his limbs were intact, and the gaping hole in his chest had been closed. He stood up on shaky legs. He was still in his Phantom suit. He tried to change back to his human form and failed. He tried again. He was unsuccessful. His hands began to tremble.
“Come on, Danny,” his voice was hoarse from disuse. “Now is not the time for a panic attack.”
He sat back down on the ground before his legs would give out. He glanced down at his gloved hands and did a double take. His fingers were pointed. He yanked off his gloves and stared at his hands in shock. They were blue, bright sky blue. His nails were no longer nails, but small, pointed, black claws. The ring of rage was on his right thumb, as usual. At the moment it was small and silver, instead of large and glowing green. Small blessings. He already knew it wouldn’t come off. He’d tried before. His left hand was what truly puzzled him. His hand was covered in ectoplasm green, faintly glowing scars, zigzagging starting from his palm. He recognized them as Lichtenburg figures. He rolled up his sleeve. The figures continued all the way up his arm. He pushed his sleeve back down and pulled on his gloves. He ran his hands through his hair before slowly rising to his feet.
This time, he managed to stay upright. He took a few steps forward and peeked out of the alleyway. Strange creatures walked the streets. Not ghosts, but most certainly not human. He let his invisibility slip over him before wandering down the streets. He thought back to what had happened before he woke up here wherever it was. His core had been shattered. He shuddered at the memory. It struck him suddenly that he was most likely dead, fully this time. The realization caused him to stop in his tracks.
He was dead. He died. And he was probably in Hell. Those GIW agents he slaughtered in a blind rage before getting captured would agree. Tears welled up in his eyes. He started running, not sure where he was going. At some point his invisibility fell away. He couldn’t bring himself to care. Danny ran for who knows how long before he slammed into something.
“Aw, what the fuck!”
Or someone, it seemed.
He looked up at the source of the voice. She had one large eye and big voluminous hair, partially pulled into a ponytail. He stared up at them, unsure of what to do.
“Watch where you’re going, you di- holy shit, you’re a kid.”
It was all Danny could do to nod dumbly. He wanted to say that he wasn’t a kid. He wanted to scream at her to go away. But he didn’t have the will. She bent down to get a better look at him. They stared at each other in silence before she scoffed and turned away.
“Watch where you’re going next time.”
She started to walk away. Danny was prepared to let her, but she stopped. She turned back to look at him, a questioning look in her eye. She groaned and stomped back over to him.
“Fucking fine. Come on, you little shit.”
She grabbed his arm and dragged him along with her as they wandered the streets. Danny was in shock. So much had happened in the last few minutes. He didn’t know what to think. They walked in near silence. The only sound between them was the woman’s faint humming. She led him down various streets, taking intentional turns. Eventually, she stopped and looked over to her right. Danny followed her gaze, and his eyes widened. He was staring at an enormous building, the words “Hazbin Hotel” written across the edge of the roof. She looked down at him, her one eye flicked up and down, thoroughly examining him. Curiosity and confusion written on her face. Danny stared blankly up at her. She sighed and began to lead him up the hill towards the building.
“Come on, kid.”
Once they had almost reached the double doors, they stopped. The one-eyed woman let go of his arm and gestured for him to get back. She held up a pink sphere that looked suspiciously like a bomb. His suspicions were only confirmed when she chucked it at the door. Danny stood unflinching as the wall exploded into a plume of pink smoke. Faint yelling could be heard from inside. She walked back towards Danny and grabbed his shoulder, pushing him gently into the smoke.
“Sup, bitches!” she yelled.
“Goddammit, Cherri! Use the fucking door! Esta puta madre…”
“Sugar tits!”
The cyclops woman, Cherri he supposed, waved her hand in front of her face, trying to clear the smoke.
“I’ve got a little something for ya, Charlie!” she exclaimed “Someone, actually.”
They stepped out of the smoke and into a lobby of sorts. A few people stood around the large room. Danny deliberately avoided eye contact with any of them, but he could feel their stares boring into his skull. For what felt like an eternity, there was only silence. Eventually, someone spoke up.
“Cherri, ya know I adore ya, but why the shit do ya have a kid?”
Danny hunched in on himself and crossed his arms across his chest. Cherri nudged him softly, prompting him to step forward. He stared intently at the floor, refusing to look anywhere else. It was carpeted and deep red. It didn’t look particularly soft, maybe even a little rough. The carpet tufts were looped and short. Some of the loops were torn. There was an odd brown stain a little to his front right. It looked vaguely like a doughnut.
“Little shit ran right right into me while I was minding my own fucking business. I brought ‘im here out of the minimal amount of goodness in my heart.”
Once again, there was that painfully uncomfortable silence. Danny heard the faint sound of footsteps approaching him. He fidgeted with the edges of his gloves, incredibly uncomfortable. He focused on keeping his breathing even and the tears out of his eyes. Someone cleared their throat.
“Hello, I’m Charlie. Do you- do you have a name?”
Danny nodded, but said nothing. He didn’t know these people, he didn’t trust them. Clockwork taught him not to give his name away too easily. Names have power. The awkward silence returned once again.
“Well,” said Cherri after a while. “My job here is done. Good luck with the kid.”
“Cherri Bomb, get your ass back here,” demanded a deep but unmistakably feminine voice. Danny thought he heard a trace of a Spanish accent. She was probably the one who had been cursing in Spanish when he first arrived.
Cherri groaned.
“Come on! I brought you the kid, probably saving his afterlife, I’ve done my good deed for this week.”
“Cherri, ya can’t just bring us a kid and not explain.”
“I don’t know any more than I’ve already told you.”
A hand was placed on his shoulder. He flinched away violently and the hand was quickly removed. He slowly looked up. The woman in front of him was blonde, with rosy cheeks and snow white skin. She wore a soft, concerned smile. Danny glanced over at her goat-like ears with mild surprise, but he had already accepted that people looked strange here. Even so, he had seen things stranger than this. She crouched down, apparently trying to seem less intimidating.
“I know that this is strange, and confusing, and probably pretty scary,” she said softly. “But I’m here to help. But I can’t help you if I don’t know what you need. May I know your name?”
Danny hesitated, looking down at her feet. She wore no shoes, and apparently had hooves. The two toes were bright red. He took a deep breath.
“Danny,” he whispered. “My name is Danny.”
Charlie’s eyes sparkled. Danny took a moment to observe them. They were a pale yellow with rectangular red centres.
“Welcome to the Hazbin Hotel, Danny.”
She stood up and turned to the others in the lobby, her ears twitching excitedly.
“Everyone, this is Danny. Danny, they all stay here at the hotel. Could everyone please introduce themselves?”
“Hi Danny!” a shrill voice cried. A small cyclops ran up to him, and he immediately shifted into a defensive stance. Thankfully Charlie scooped up the creature before she could reach him.
“Niffty! No!” Charlie reprimanded sternly. “We don’t touch people without their permission!”
Niffty slumped in the goat-woman’s arms. Danny wondered if her size was any indication of her age. She acted impulsively, much like a child, but her figure suggested that she was older.
“Aw, but I like touch.”
“I know, but Danny might not like it. How about you try introducing yourself again, and this time don’t touch him.”
Charlie’s eyes widened suddenly. She looked over at him.
“Oh my goodness! I’m so sorry I forgot to ask for your pronouns. Are they he/him? I’m so sorry if I misgendered you!”
Danny smiled a bit at her concern. He nodded.
“They are he/him,” he confirmed with a bit more confidence. “Thanks for asking.”
She nodded and then set down the little woman in her arms. Niffty brightened at her returned freedom and then waved at Danny excitedly.
“Hi Danny! My name’s Niffty! I clean!”
Danny bent over just slightly to meet her gaze. He tried his best to seem casual, but his nervousness was betrayed in the stiffness of his posture. He held out his hand for Niffty to shake, who did so enthusiastically.
“It’s nice to meet you, Niffty.”
Charlie clapped once, clearly delighted by the interaction.
“Great job, Niffty! Now who’s next?”
She turned to the rest of the group expectantly. After a moment’s hesitation, a woman with long, light grey hair stepped forward.
“I’m Vaggie. Welcome to the hotel, Danny.”
Danny recognized her voice as the angry woman who spoke Spanish earlier. She had an X over her left eye, so Danny assumed that she had lost her eye somehow. Her posture clearly expressed her awkwardness. The next person to speak up was a long legged, spider-like demon with multiple arms. They waved two of their gloved arms in greeting. Danny couldn’t be sure of their gender. They appeared very feminine, but their more masculine voice suggested otherwise. In his mind Danny settled for neutral pronouns until he got the chance to ask.
“The name’s Angel Dust, but ya can call me Angel.”
Everyone in the room looked over to what looked like a bar. Danny noticed for the first time a winged cat demon who was polishing a bottle. The demon froze and scowled down at his bottle.
“Come on, Whiskers, introduce yaself.”
“Angel… don’t call me that,” grumbled the man. He set down the bottle he was polishing gently on the counter. He turned to Danny, the slightest bit of sympathy in his eyes beneath the grouchy exterior.
“Call me Husk, kid. Or don’t call me at all. As long as ‘Whiskers’ don't stick, I don’t really care.”
Danny smiled in spite of himself. He turned back to Charlie questioningly and saw she was glancing around the room, clearly searching for something.
“Has anyone seen Alastor?” she asked, her worry evident in her tone.
“Hell if I know, fucker’s probably off doin’ whatever,” the bartender huffed, tensing suddenly. Danny frowned. He’d have to learn more about that later.
“He’s probably in his radio tower!” exclaimed Niffty.
“Oh, then we’d better not disturb him,” Charlie said.
“Can I go now?” asked Cherri.
Danny did not jump, no sir, absolutely not. He did not forget that she was there.
“Well…” said Charlie languidly. “You’re always welcome to stay…” She batted her eyelashes and leaned in.
“Yea nah,” laughed Cherri. “Nice try. See you fucks later!”
She ran off through the hole in the wall. Charlie’s smile turned to a grimace.
“We’re gonna have to fix that wall.”