The studio was still echoing with cruel laughter. The 666 News cameras panned across Charlie’s crestfallen face as Katie Killjoy and Tom Trench chuckled at her dream. Her words of hope about redemption had been drowned by mockery. Charlie forced a nervous smile, her voice trembling. Charlie: “Y-You’ll see... I’ll prove it to you all... Hell can change.”

The crowd only roared louder. But then— The lights in the studio flickered. The neon signs dimmed, and the laughter choked into uneasy murmurs. A strange hum, like ripples in water, filled the air. The cameras distorted, showing static, and then—an orb of blue light blossomed in the center of the room. From the orb, a majestic, otherworldly being emerged: The Axolotl. Its glowing, pink-and-blue gills shimmered like a living aurora, its form stretching across dimensions as if it were both in the room and beyond it. The demons froze. Even Katie dropped her cigarette.

Axolotl (echoing voice): “Laughter at light, mockery of hope... predictable in a place so bound by cycles. Yet even in the depths, a spark may swim against the current.”

Charlie gasped, stepping forward with wide eyes. Charlie: “...Who—what are you?”