Barnaby Milestone decided to leave the Hazbin Hotel for a job, but first decided to greet Shamu and his crew. He peeked at the giant aquarium. He saw Shamu, Dolly Dolphin, and Seymore playing cards. Seymore tried to look at Dolly's cards. "Excuse you!" she kept the cards from his view.
"Shamu, sir!" Barnaby saluted.
"Barnaby, this isn't the military. Have the ruckus yesterday made you paranoid?" he asked. Seymore tried to peak at Shamu's cards but the orca held them from his line of sight.
"Just checking on you guys. Where's Captain Kid?"
"I think he is in the kitchen with O.P. Otter making clam chowder." Shamu said. "Sir Winston is taking a nap in one of the rooms. Charlie gave him a room of his choice. The Pete and Penny are sliding down the hallways playing tag. Vigil Pelican is recreating the hotel menus to make it more 'sea worthy'.
"What game are you playing? Poker?" Barnaby asked.
"Go fish." Shamu replied. "Come sit with us, human. You can do with a little game yourself."
"Sorry, got to make sure everything's alright outside." Barnaby left the room and found Husk asleep. He decided not to wake him and leave that to Vaggie. Barnaby stepped outside and walked down the path until he walked into something. "Oof!" He saw that he walked into glass. "How did this get here?" Barnaby felt the glass with his hand and looked around him. The entire hotel was encased inside of a dome. "Uh, oh!" Barnaby said. Just then, Barnaby noticed raindrops thumping on his black overcoat. There were storm clouds above the hotel raining on everything. It picked up and got heavier. "Someone from Earth is trying to get us killed again!" Barnaby muttered.
The heavy thumping of the rain on the glass dome was soon joined by the rhythmic slap-slap-slap of flat feet hitting the wet pavement. Pete and Penny skidded out of the hotel entrance, their wings out for balance, sliding across the slick ground like it was a fresh sheet of ice.
"Barnaby! Look!" Penny chirped, spinning in a circle as the rain drenched her feathers. "The sky is finally sharing! It’s a giant shower for everybody!"
"It’s better than tag," Pete added, tilting his head back to catch raindrops in his beak. "The floor is getting all slippery. It’s perfect for a belly-slide!"
Barnaby gestured frantically at the shimmering barrier above them. "Guys, look up! We’re under a bowl! This isn't normal Hell-weather—someone is trapping us in here!"
Penny didn't seem worried; she grabbed Pete’s wings and started a clumsy, happy waltz in the downpour. "Trapped? Barnaby, you’re so gloomy. If we’re in a bowl, that just means we’re the soup! Don't you like soup?"
"I like not getting trapped!" Barnaby shouted over the increasing roar of the storm.
"You're just stiff," Pete joked, splashing a puddle toward Barnaby’s black overcoat. "Come on, jump in! If the world is ending, you might as well have good footwork!"
Barnaby hauled Pete and Penny through the heavy doors, their wet flippers squeaking against the lobby floor. He spotted Charlie Morningstar near the front desk, hunched over a stack of colorful "Team Building" brochures with an expression of intense focus.
"Charlie! We have a problem!" Barnaby shouted, releasing the penguins, who immediately started trying to belly-slide on the lobby's marble floor.
Charlie looked up, her eyes wide and brimming with her usual nervous energy. "Barnaby! Oh, thank goodness you're—wait, why are Pete and Penny soaked? Is the 'Tropical Rain Forest' exercise starting early? I haven't even finished the itinerary!"
"It’s not an exercise," Barnaby panted, pointing a thumb back toward the door. "There’s a giant glass dome over the whole hotel. And it’s raining. Hard. Someone is trying to drown us like rats in a tank!"
"It rains scream rain in Hell. A little water isn't going to hurt us." Charlie said.
"Go see for yourself." Barnaby said.
Charlie gave a small, reassuring smile. "Barnaby, I promise, it’s okay. We get some pretty weird weather down here! Sometimes it’s acid, sometimes it’s actual teeth—a little water is basically a spa day."
She strolled toward the main entrance with her usual bouncy stride, Pete and Penny trailing behind her like wet, waddling shadows. "See? It’s just a little—"
She stepped outside and the smile instantly vanished.
The rain wasn't falling in droplets; it was coming down in thick, heavy sheets that turned the air gray. She looked up, squinting as the water lashed at her face, and saw it: the faint, iridescent shimmer of a massive curve stretching across the sky. It wasn't just a dome—it was a seal. The water was already pooling around the foundation of the hotel, unable to drain away into the Hellscape beyond.
"Oh," Charlie whispered, her hair flattening against her head as she went from Princess of Hell to drowned rat in seconds. "Oh, that’s... that’s a lot of water."
She reached out and touched the barrier. It didn't feel like magical energy; it felt like cold, hard, industrial-grade glass.
"Barnaby," she said, her voice cracking as she turned back toward him. "This isn't 'scream rain.' This is... this is a fishbowl. And we’re the goldfish."
Barnaby ran to the glass and slammed his fist into it. It didn't break. He knocked and shouted, "Hey, were trapped! Help us!" to the other demons. None of them noticed. "They either can't here me or completely ignoring us!" Barnaby said.
Barnaby hammered on the glass until his knuckles throbbed, but the demons outside just kept strolling by. One demon even stopped right in front of them to adjust his hat, using the shimmering surface of the dome as a mirror, completely oblivious to the frantic, soaking-wet human screaming just inches away.
"It’s soundproof," Barnaby groaned, leaning his forehead against the cold surface. "To them, we're just a silent movie. A very wet, very panicked silent movie."
Charlie watched as the water began to swirl around the legs of the lobby furniture. "If they can see us but can't hear us, we need to make a sign! Or... or a giant flare! But first..." She looked back toward the interior of the hotel, her eyes widening. "The kitchen! Captain Kid and O.P. Otter are down there making chowder! If the water keeps rising, the basement and the kitchen will be the first to go!"
Barnaby saw the water level was slowing rising making a pond over the grass. "Shoot! We need to get inside and close the doors before the hotel is flooded!" They ran into the hotel dripping wet. Vaggie was having a conversation with Angel Dust when she noticed Charlie soaking wet.
"Charlie! What happened? Did Alastor move the swimming pool again?" Vaggie rushed over, her hand instinctively going to the spear strapped to her back.
Angel Dust leaned against a pillar, smirking as he looked at the trail of water Barnaby and the penguins were leaving on the rug. "Pussycat, I know we’re all about 'cleansing the soul' here, but usually that involves less... literal soaking."
"Vaggie, it’s not a joke!" Charlie gasped, shaking her head like a wet golden retriever and spraying water everywhere. "There’s a giant dome over the property! It’s raining inside, and the water is already filling up the yard!"
Barnaby slammed the heavy front doors shut and threw the deadbolt, though he knew it wouldn't stay watertight for long. "It’s a fishbowl," he panted, pointing toward the windows. "Someone’s trapping us. The demons outside can see us, but they can't hear us, and the water is rising fast."
Vaggie’s expression shifted from confusion to combat-ready in a heartbeat. She marched to the window, seeing the water already lapping against the bottom of the glass panes. "If that water reaches the electrical systems in the basement, we’re in serious trouble."
"And Husk is still out cold at the bar!" Angel added, his smirk vanishing as he realized his favorite bartender was about to become an accidental scuba diver.
Barnaby decided to get help from Alastor. He already made a deal with him to deliver those responsible for the barnacle infection on Earth. At least he could help them with this. He banged his fist on Alastor's room. "Alastor, we are all going to be sleeping with the fishes if you don't help us!"
The door didn't just open; it dissolved into a swirl of shadows and static. Alastor stood there, looking impeccably dry and holding a cup of steaming rye, his grin wide and terrifyingly sharp. The sound of a 1920s jazz record skipped and hissed in the air around him.
"Sleeping with the fishes, you say?" Alastor tilted his head, his eyes flickering like radio dials. "My, Barnaby! I knew you were a man of dramatic flair, but I didn't realize you’d scheduled a synchronized swimming event for the afternoon!"
He stepped past Barnaby, his shoes clicking on the floor despite the dampness, and looked down the hallway at the water beginning to seep under the hotel's floorboards.
"The Radio Demon doesn't usually care for getting his tail wet," he hummed, his voice layered with the sound of a crackling broadcast. "But since we do have our little arrangement regarding those barnacle-infested pests on Earth... it would be a shame if my best delivery man ended up waterlogged before the job was done."
He walked toward the lobby, the shadows beneath him stretching and clawing at the rising water as if disgusted by it. He looked through the glass at the shimmering dome and the oblivious demons outside.
"Ah, industrial-grade containment. How... unimaginative," Alastor chuckled. "Someone is playing a very large, very expensive prank on us. Or perhaps, they’ve mistaken our lovely establishment for a terrarium."
Barnaby and Alastor then noticed something written on the glass dome in a glowing green color. "Now the earth was corrupt in God’s sight and was full of violence. God saw how corrupt the earth had become, for all the people on earth had corrupted their ways. “I am going to put an end to all people, for the earth is filled with violence because of them. I am surely going to destroy both them and the earth." Barnaby felt something wrong deep in his soul. The glowing green paint was not from Hell or Earth. Pete and Penny were cuddled shaking next to each other. Pete muttered, "The Void Currents. It wants to destroy us. Because of you Barnaby and the demons here, they will make you all suffer for sheltering us till we get back to Earth."
"It's alright, we will get this sorted out." Barnaby hugged the penguins. The hugged back and looked more comforted. "The Void Currents is not taking anyone." Barnaby comforted.
Alastor’s eyes flickered, the radio dials in his pupils spinning rapidly as he processed the name. "Ah, the Void Currents," he mused, his voice layering with heavy static. "The Abyss itself. A bottomless pit of misery trying to snuff out the little light we have left. How... melodramatic." Barnaby felt the chill of the water deepening. It wasn't just cold; it felt heavy, like it was pulling the very hope out of his chest. The green glow of the scripture pulsed, feeding on the fear radiating from the shivering penguins in his arms. The Void wasn't just trying to drown them; it was trying to consume them.
"It’s eating the light," Barnaby whispered, noticing the hotel’s chandeliers flickering and dimming. "Alastor, if the light goes out, the Void wins. We’ll just be part of the darkness."
Alastor gripped his microphone cane, the shadow beneath him bristling with jagged, defensive teeth. "Then we shall have to be exceptionally bright, won't we? The Abyss wants a meal, but it’s forgotten that some shadows have a very nasty bite."
Barnaby looked through the windows. The sky inside the dome got even darker He heard a KA-KOOM! of the thunder and lightning. The thunder was glowing an eerie green. He ran down to Charlie. "Charlie, we are in big trouble!"
Charlie looked up, her face pale. The usual warm, reddish glow of her eyes was struggling against the oppressive green tint filling the room. "I feel it, Barnaby," she whispered, her voice trembling. "It feels like... like every sad thought I've ever had is being turned into lead inside my chest."
Vaggie gripped her spear, the heavenly metal tip glowing faintly, providing the only clean light left in the room. "The water is turning black, Charlie! We can't stay on the ground floor!"
"We can't just run!" Barnaby argued, gesturing to the windows where the green thunder struck again, closer this time. "If that lightning hits the hotel directly, the Void will be inside with us. We have to find a way to push back!"
Just then, a massive surge of black water burst through the kitchen doors. Captain Kid and O.P. Otter came paddling out frantically, their whiskers twitching in terror. "The stove is out!" the Captain barked. "The water in the basement—it’s breathing, Barnaby! It’s breathing!"
Baxter came out of the basement. He was looking furious.
Baxter stomped into the lobby, dripping with that oily black water, his goggles pushed up and his fins trembling with pure, unadulterated rage. He was clutching a glowing beaker in one hand and a wrench in the other.
"Which one of you idiots left the giant, soul-crushing faucet on?!" he shrieked, his voice cracking with frustration. "My laboratory is officially a saltwater tomb! I was this close to stabilizing the bioluminescent sludge, and now it’s all mixed with... whatever this depressing Void-garbage is!"
He glared at the green lightning striking outside. "And the interference! Do you have any idea what green, extra-dimensional lightning does to sensitive sonar equipment? It’s a mess! A scientific catastrophe!"
Charlie stepped forward, hands held out in a peace offering. "Baxter, we’re so sorry! It's the Void Currents—they're trying to drown the hotel and feed on our light!"
"Well, they’re interrupting my work!" Baxter snapped, pointing his wrench at the ceiling. "I don't care if it's the Abyss or the literal end of days. I have specimens that require a specific pH balance, and this 'misery water' is way too basic!"
He turned his gaze to Barnaby, his eyes narrowing behind his thick lenses. "You! Human! You’ve been dealing with these 'currents,' haven't you? Tell me—is this glass dome conductive? Because if it is, I might have a way to turn that green lightning into a very large, very satisfying exit sign."
Barnaby felt his phone ringing. He looked at it. "Come to the aquarium, asap!" Barnaby ran downstairs and saw Shamu, Dolly, and Seymore inside the tank. "You guys know what's happening?"
"Yes, someone let some of the Void Currents in here." Shamu said.
Dolly was holding a phone in her flippers. "Barnaby, have you checked outside?"
"Yeah, it's pouring cats and dogs!" Barnaby said.
"I mean did you take a look at the glass?" Dolly specified.
Barnaby scratched his head. "Uh, no."
"In Sea World, a specific kind of glass is used for the sea mammals or in aquariums. What is the glass that is used on the dome keeping us in? Did you knock on it?"
"Yes, I did!" Barnaby said.
"Then, what is the strongest material that can keep the gloom away?" Dolly asked. "This is a pop quiz." she laughed.
"This is no time for games!" Barnaby growled. Dolly only gave him the sassiest smile a dolphin could. "What can possibly contain demons? I don't know because I haven't been down here long? I'm a living dolphin here as a temporary guest."
"Fine! Fine!" Barnaby threw his hands up in frustration. "Acrylic! It’s thick, flexible, and way stronger than glass. That’s what we used for the tanks back home!"
Dolly’s blowhole let out a sharp, amused whistle. "Bingo, human! But look closer at the grain. This isn't just heavy-duty plastic."
Barnaby then asked Charlie, "What kind of acrylic can contain a demon?"
"It's Angelic Acrylic, Barnaby!" Charlie cried out, her voice straining over the roar of the green thunder. She was standing by the large lobby window, pointing at the faint, shimmering gold filigree etched deep into the clear material. "It’s the same stuff they use in the Embassies up in Heaven! It’s reinforced with holy light to keep 'unruly' souls exactly where they are."
She pressed her hand against it, and a small spark of white light zapped her fingertips, making her hiss and pull back. "A demon’s magic just slides right off it—or worse, it reflects back at us. It’s designed to be impenetrable to Sinners."
Vaggie walked up, her brow furrowed as she inspected the 'grain' Dolly had mentioned. "She's right. If Alastor or I try to blast our way out, the holy properties in the acrylic will just absorb the hit and get stronger. It’s a divine cage."
"It's Angelic Acrylic, Barnaby!" Charlie cried out, her voice straining over the roar of the green thunder. She was standing by the large lobby window, pointing at the faint, shimmering gold filigree etched deep into the clear material. "It’s the same stuff they use in the Embassies up in Heaven! It’s reinforced with holy light to keep 'unruly' souls exactly where they are."
She pressed her hand against it, and a small spark of white light zapped her fingertips, making her hiss and pull back. "A demon’s magic just slides right off it—or worse, it reflects back at us. It’s designed to be impenetrable to Sinners."
Vaggie walked up, her brow furrowed as she inspected the 'grain' Dolly had mentioned. "She's right. If Alastor or I try to blast our way out, the holy properties in the acrylic will just absorb the hit and get stronger. It’s a divine cage."
Barnaby said, "Of course, I remember from my childhood about verses in the Bible about Hell and the Abyss being two separate places and angels used to send souls down there besides Hell. Who would want to attempt bringing fragments of the Abyss here?"
"That’s the million-dollar question, isn't it?" Vaggie said, her grip tightening on her spear. "The Abyss is supposed to be the ultimate solitary confinement. Even the Exorcists don't usually mess with it. It’s where things go when they're too broken or too dangerous even for the Pride Ring."
Alastor materialized beside them, his grin looking a bit more strained than usual as the green lightning outside flickered. "To bring a piece of the Void here, one would need a very specific 'key'—something that bridges the gap between the living, the dead, and the forgotten. And they’ve wrapped it in Angelic Acrylic just to make sure those of us with... infernal backgrounds... can't interfere."
Charlie looked at Barnaby, her eyes wide with realization. "Barnaby, if someone is using fragments of the Abyss and Holy materials, they aren't just trying to kill us. They're trying to erase us. Hell is a place of punishment, but the Void is a place of nothingness."
Barnaby then thought, "Do you suppose someone from ancient times would want to try a stunt like this?" Barnaby then thought, "Did Noah decide to do this? I thought he was the good guy who saved humanity." Barnaby said.
"He was just the messenger, Barnaby." Vaggie said. "He received the messages from angels in Heaven to build the ark."
Barnaby’s eyes widened as the pieces of his Sunday school lessons and the madness of Hell started to click together. "Wait a minute... Enoch! He was the one who walked with the Divine and then just—disappeared. The texts say he became Metatron, the Scribe of Heaven. The one who literally writes the decrees! He is said to have gone to Heaven without dying. That’s it!" Barnaby snapped his fingers, his eyes widening. "He’s the mirror image of the souls down here. Lilith was the first woman who became a demon, and Enoch was the man who became an angel without ever tasting death. They’re both transcendents!"
Charlie’s expression shifted from fear to a deep, scholarly realization. "He’s the Ultimate Precedent, Barnaby! If a human can climb all the way to the right hand of the Divine and become Metatron, then his very existence proves that souls can change their nature. He’s the living proof that my father’s rebellion—and my hotel—actually have a point!"
Barnaby said, "Yeah, but I don't think he's after your hotel, but those marine mammals we have sheltered here. We need to break that glass doom before we all drown in the Abyss.
"You're right," Charlie gasped, looking at Shamu and the others in the tank. "If he’s the Scribe, he sees them as 'strays' from the natural order—creatures that don't belong in Hell or the Abyss. He's trying to 'collect' them by force!"
Vaggie gripped her spear, the heavenly steel humming in protest against the Angelic Acrylic. "Barnaby, the water is already at our waists! If we don't shatter this 'holy' goldfish bowl, the Void water is going to pull the mammals—and us—into the nothingness below!"
Dolly nodded. "Good job! Now find something strong enough to break the glass and that might do the trick to saving us all."
Barnaby then looked at Charlie. "Does angelic materials break under other angelic materials?"
"It does!" Charlie shouted over the roar of the green thunder, her eyes widening with a spark of hope. "Angelic steel is one of the only things in all the rings that can actually damage other heavenly materials. It’s built to withstand and cut through divine energy!"
Vaggie didn't need to be told twice. She unsheathed her Angelic Spear, the blade glowing with a fierce, steady white light that cut right through the sickly green gloom of the Void. She flew out the window and rammed the spear into the glass wall. It cracked and the damage spread. She thrusted the spear into the bowl and it the glass shattered. Vaggie flew into the hotel before getting cut up by the glass. The black water evaporated and the clouds disappeared.
The sudden silence was deafening. One moment, the lobby was a roaring vortex of black Void-water and green lightning; the next, the air was still and smelled of ozone. Vaggie landed hard on the wet marble, her wings tucking back as she panted, her Angelic Spear still humming from the impact.
Outside, the dry, red haze of the Pride Ring rushed back in to fill the vacuum. The shards of Angelic Acrylic didn't hit the ground; they evaporated into shimmering white dust before they could touch the "unclean" soil of Hell.
"Hurray!" Pete and Penny cheered.
Dolly laughed. Shamu nodded in approval. O.P. Otter came in clutching a note. "I found this note on the doorstep of the hotel when the clouds disappeared. Barnaby looked at it. "@#$% you all! Next time I won't be so nice! You can stop a flood but you can't stop the coming storm. --Metatron & Co."
Barnaby stared at the note, his fingers trembling slightly as the ink—a shimmering, crystalline gold—seemed to hum with a faint, judgmental vibration. "Nice? He calls that being nice?"
"Metatron and Company," Alastor purred, leaning over Barnaby’s shoulder to read the script with a sharp, static-filled chuckle. "How very corporate of the Heavens! It seems our dear Scribe has found himself some collaborators for the next chapter."
Charlie took the note, her expression a mix of heartbreak and fierce determination. "A 'coming storm'... he’s not just talking about weather, is he? He’s talking about a full-scale Revision."
"Let him come," Vaggie spat, slamming the butt of her spear against the damp floor. "We broke his 'perfect' cage once. We can break whatever else he throws at the hotel."
Dolly let out a defiant whistle from the tank corner she was lounging in. "He’s just mad he lost the pop quiz! He didn't account for a human and a sea crew messing up his margins."
Shamu nudged Barnaby with his massive snout, the orca’s eyes steady and calm. "The tide always turns, Barnaby. He can send a storm, but he’s forgotten that we are creatures of the deep. We don't capsize easily."
Barnaby looked out at the red horizon of Hell, the "Holy" dust still sparkling in the air like mocking stars. "He thinks we're a mistake that needs fixing," Barnaby whispered. "But as long as I'm here, I'm going to make sure this 'typo' stays exactly where it is."

End of Chapter