“new hell”: setting/timeline

The setting hasn’t been developed a whole lot yet, so for now infer what you will from here.

• Some (most?) people are normal Homo sapiens, but there are also very much not-normal ??demons, or something, somewhere, and maybe not even in this world. Might be a cartoon-type deal where this difference is never really questioned, might be relevant.
• Base of the “normal” world is my forever default Modern American City™, or somewhere in that territory. But maybe an altered version with less modern technology? Not sure yet.

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Anyway, behold, an utter dearth of names! Part separations are tentative, as are their titles.

part 1: Hell on Earth

no exposition speedrun

• A wise old guy, the previous (and long-time) holder of the $powers, is on his deathbed. He tells his apprentice, “the protégé,” that the inheritor will be… uh, this random unremarkable person, over there. Protégé is like “????? sir what the fuck, after everything I’ve done for you” but reluctantly concedes.
• The rando, Holly, reaches her workplace and finds 1) all the lights are out and 2) the building’s vacant. Enter the protégé, who formally— no, they did not kill her coworkers, everyone just got an email they had the day off; no, that doesn’t include you, get back here—ahem, who formally does an exposition dump.
• Holly is totally down for this demonic deal, sure. No sarcasm. Seriously, about time something interesting happened around here. Lethal blood curse [or whatever it is] get!
• And now she can turn evil and shit, hell yeah. Society is very boned. But first, unfortunately, there’s a shift to finish.

the rest of the part

• “Protégé” sticks around as something of a second-in-command. Unsure whose idea this is.
• “You have all these grandiose powers and your evil alter ego is just like, a taller but otherwise regular human??? Coward. Coward.” The “full demon” version still doesn’t impress protégé much, smh. (If it was their turn they’d be like, full quadruped or something. But alas, they can’t transform so dramatically. Cue talk of long-term goals and dreams and such, or something.)
• Protégé’s not the only one who had an eye on the curse/powers/what-have-you. At one point they warn Holly/Lucien that there is bureaucracy to deal with, to help mitigate such troubles before they start. Lucien doesn’t want to get involved and ignores all this.
• So naturally, someone tries to assassinate her. It (almost?) works! But Lucien gets back up anyway and, upon recognizing the would-be assailant as a childhood friend-turned-tormentor, essentially beats them to a pulp. Y’know, like playing with a ragdoll. Fun!
  • Protégé walks in on ↑this and suddenly realizes they have morals after all. Lucien doesn’t seem guilty whatsoever. Great! Fantastic! Excellent! Thanks for your contribution!!!
• At some point after that (probably not too long? but not necessarily on the spot, either), protégé is like “I cannot do this anymore… you have failed to repent… I must go….” (They’re very dramatic about it.) Lucien’s kinda just like “K” and that’s that.

• At some point either before or shortly after the protégé walks out, their younger sibling gets involved—as Lucien’s new advisor. Protégé’s not happy about it.

part 2: Hell is Others

in which Holly/Lucien is relegated to a side plot

• The sibling stays with Holly/Lucien as she continues trying to navigate the world of Hell Bureaucracy, all the while keeping up the same old job at the same old place. There aren’t nearly as many opportunities to show off the Cool New Powers as she would’ve liked. If she’s not gonna be fending off assassination attempts every other day What Is The Point?!

in which this becomes a buddy-comedy

• Meanwhile, in an effort to “redeem”/learn more about Holly/Lucien, protégé tracks down the attempted-assassin’s family. The closest lead is Seth Thatcher, an identical twin—but he’s locked himself in his house (which should’ve been knocked down ages ago) and rejects protégé’s “demonic energies” at the door. He responds pretty badly to everything, really.
• Turns out both brothers were estranged from their family—including each other, in adulthood. The protégé eventually determines that Seth is the one who actually beat on Holly as a kid, and that the brothers fractured when Damion (the would-be assassin) got more involved in “otherworldly” nonsense. They’re both deeply paranoid people, but went in entirely different directions with it.
• Oh, also, Seth is the one who beat up Holly when they were kids. Whoops!
• Eventually, protégé convinces Seth to team up; Seth, of course, swears vengeance, which isn’t protégé’s ideal outcome but they can roll with it if it secures Seth’s partnership.

in which shit inevitably goes down again

• All the while, Holly’s workplace frustrations build. It’s a whole parallel thing, with protégé slowly trying to pry at Seth’s shell (for both empathetic and, finding dead ends elsewhere in the family, strategic purposes) while Holly reinforces some walls (and, in a public-facing customer service job, this ends about as well as anyone might expect). Protégé’s sibling probably enables this.
• At the end of this part, Lucien goes full demon and burns down the whole establishment. Protégé and Seth are finally ready to team up and work together—and meanwhle, Holly and Lucien disappear, because no way in hell (har har) is this escaping anyone’s attention in either world.

part 3: Hell Sweet Hell

• Holly/Lucien takes up yet another persona here, now fully immersed in the $otherWorld; protégé’s sibling serves happily as tour guide. Not-Hollucien, though impressed and all by how things go around here, doesn’t find much reason to stick around long-term. She’d like to harness her powers and become a real force to be reckoned with, help and identity be damned.
  • Protégé and sibling’s family is met during this part. They’re dogs, or something like it. Sibling’s been away from home for a while, and finds themself not wanting to leave.
• Meanwhile, protégé and Seth can’t find Holly herself for shit, and the sibling’s not helping. So they turn to Holly’s boss—but she’s said more than enough to the authorities already, and sees no reason to disclose anything to these two randos. Hey, can you watch the kids while you’re here?
• There’s a bit of a timeskip before this part begins, and the (ex-)boss, Jan, has decided to take the arson as an opportunity to start over, try something new. She recruits protégé and Seth on various mundane exploits, possibly including a DnD game; it’s more parallels, this time to the exploits of New Hell. Family themes running amok and such and whatnot.
• In the end, Jan doesn’t actually have much for the duo, but she mentions seeing some guy around the place ages ago and he was the only person Jan ever saw Holly talking to outside work. New lead get! (And Jan, of course, offers her number, in case you kids need help getting around again. Do protégé or Seth have a cell phone? Probably not! But they appreciate the gesture.)
• Flipside plot is quiet/lowkey, I think; the sibling, who possibly starts off being like “ugh, and now you have to meet our family,” now thinks sticking around and living quietly down here indefinitely would be a wonderful idea, and wants Holly to stay with. …Actually on further thought, this couuuuld be combined with the “part 4” below? Eh we’ll see. But for now let’s just leave them in limbo.

part 4: Road to Hell

• Vaguely-defined all over. All I know is that this is a “bridge” of sorts, from wherever the last part leaves everyone to where I want them to be at the ~end.
• The spotlight of the week is on aforementioned guy who Holly used to talk to—her only discernible adulthood friend, at least at one time. They did not part on good terms. And this one, too, has some personal life problem he’s preoccupied with; unlike Seth and Jan, however, he’s entirely unreceptive to protégé’s usual empathy-waxing. Seth is the one who gets through; it’s the difference between “that’s so terrible, here’s something to make it better” and “that sucks, man. Wanna sit with it and shoot the shit?”
• Sibling and Jan continue to be relevant in some way, if not in the spotlight. Protégé is kinda disheartened by the whole “suddenly can’t get through to someone” ordeal, probably digs up some unresolved conflict over the guy who died (remember him?). Seth’s rethinking his own motives, maybe considering reaching out to some old relatives. And Holly/Lucien leaves $theHell, if she hasn’t already, flying solo. She’s convinced this makes her powerful.

part 5: Raise Hell

• Last but certainly not least, protégé and Seth’s tracking has led them to the source: Holly’s mother. She wasn’t the best, raising her kid, but isn’t too fussed about that; hey, are you two friends of Holly’s? Can you tell her to get off her lazy ass and call some time??
• Protégé is convinced a reunion is a wonderful idea and arranges the meeting asap. Hell, it could be a surprise to Holly, even should be? Probably takes multiple tries. Because the second she catches wind she flips the fuck out.
• In the climax, Holly raises hell in the most direct way possible: more fire, more destruction, 500% unleashing everything she’s learned. It ain’t pretty. And she’s aiming to kill.
• Ultimately protégé has to step in to save the mother’s life, killing Holly in the process. The $power-curse-thing is then… frankly I’m not sure yet but something happens to it, and not long after, close curtain.

If that last part sounds anticlimactic it’s because it is, for now ¯\_( ᐛ )_/¯ That said, love me a good classical tragedy!!

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