"I'm starting to think that when you want my attention, you turn up the music. I just felt it was fair to tell you that until you're soundproofed, this is the last time I will come." He had to set rules and boundaries. Daddy had enough. Aleister spread his arms out playfully. "Cherish it, it's our final conversation."
And he was hoping that was a forever sort of deal. He wanted to have Lucifer buried, his mother enslaved onto a good path and Bobby to slowly get used to the situation while he looked for a solution. There had to be one, after all.
Things were slowly starting to come together, he was just on the edge of achieving so much. So why not do a victory lap and say goodbye. "What do you want?"
"Oh, you're exactly right. All I want is your attention." Lucifer looked at Aleister, really looked at him. Beyond that vessel he was wearing, looked at what he was made of. At what he'd achieved in spite of it all. He had balls, he had vision. He could give him all that.
It wouldn't keep him from making him grovel at his feet, but still. He'd achieved miraculously much. It was impressive. "I want to offer you a deal. You are never going to rule Hell. Not the way I did. Not without being hated by everyone. Not with them all just plotting your demise. Together, though. You and me, we could achieve so much. Your cunning and my, how do you call it? Brutish strength? Brawn? Pure essence of power? What a combo. If you strike now and take that deal, I may even go ahead and supersize it for you."
"Oh, golly. What a deal!" Aleister mocked with his most upbeat tone, unable to believe Lucifer was even trying this on him. Why did he think he was that stupid? Or did he know he'd reject it and he was just playing a game. "Here's the thing, the only one who could possibly benefit from this deal is you. You just want to have power, to get back on top and restart your stupid apocalypse. And once you've done that, you do away with the humans, the angels... the demons. Especially my kind."
Once human, now demon - they were just the lowest of the low to an archangel like Lucifer. "You think I'm dirt beneath your shoe. And I have a rule to never do business with people who can't wrap their head around mutual respect and keeping their word."
He shrugged his shoulders. "Sorry, father of lies, I'm not buying."
"What, hasn't Sammy been catching you up? I've moved past the whole apocalypse idea. Big yawn, am I right? I've changed my mind on it. Now, really, I just want Heaven. You can keep Hell. You're right, you're better at all that boring shit." He waved his hand vaguely, rolling his eyes. "Counting souls and making contracts, whatever. I don't wanna lose my golden fiddle to Johnny any more, you know? I'll go back upstairs. You can run the show down here, but with my blessing."
Wasn't that a good offer? Lucifer smiled and shrugged. "One time offer, expires soon. What do you say?"
And no, he was not going for it. He'd have to be a total idiot to believe Lucifer would ever be okay with him on the throne. Hell, with anyone but himself in total control. Heaven, Earth and hell. And not even control - chaos. "Did Sam buy it? He didn't, did he? Or he would have given you the vessel. What do it say about you that you can't convince any of us of your lies? Because I think it means you've lost your touch."
Aleister inhaled slowly and then smiled at Lucifer, amused by his pathetic attempts to play games. "You have nothing to offer me right now, you have nothing to bargain with and you're unreliable. No one wants to do a deal with a washed-out hasbeen."
"True, true." Lucifer sighed heavily, then reached up to cover his face with his hands. It was a good way of hiding the smile that he could not compress. He lowered his hands again and his head as well, clearly having lost all hope. "Seems like you're too cunning for me. I guess the only option I have left is begging for your mercy."
He got onto his knees in the cage, looking up at Aleister and trying to look as subservient as he possibly could. He had not been made for that. "Pretty please?"
What the fuck was he playing at? He walked closer to the cage and then kicked the bar in front of Lucifer, listening to it ring. "What game are you playing?" This wasn't real. Right? No, it couldn't be. Not that he didn't like the sight, it was beautiful to behold but since when would Lucifer ever kneel to him?
"Surely you're not this pathetic, are you?" Hmm. Well. There's an opportunity to play. "Tell you what - I'll consider your offer, if you... bark like a dog for me."
Lucifer raised an eyebrow, then decided to go with it. Some sweet irony sprinkles on his revenge ice cream would only make it all the more delicious. "Woof."
Perhaps not the most enthusiastic bark ever, yet here he was. Lucifer Morningstar, the Adversary, on his knees and heeling for his Master. Kinda.
"Oh come on, do it like you mean it or what's the point?" Aleister insisted cruelly as he couldn't deny his own enjoyment at the sight of Lucifer, the stupid angel everyone bitched about missing, on his knees and barking for him. All for a desperate attempt to keep some power. Some leverage. Pathetic.
"Give me some enthusiasm and I think we might be close to a deal." As if. "Show me you've changed. I want to see how humble you can be."
Lucifer closed his eyes, mostly to figure out how he felt. Then he looked down, checking himself. No, not hard. "Damn. I guess humiliation really doesn't do it for me after all. Maybe if you dressed for the occasion?" He could dip his toes in it again some other time.
"Turns out, I can't be very humble. Deadly Sins, you understand." He got to his feet and raised his arms. "This is gonna hurt you so much more than me, little one."
Suddenly the silhouette of his wings showed, bright as anything. As the Morningstar. Hallelujah.
All sides of the cage burst at once and it fell down around him. Lucifer stood there, looking at Aleister with a smile. "Down, boy."
Aleister froze for a second, still in shock at the sight of those gigantic wings. God, he fucking hated angels. They were slippery, strong and honestly - they were the worst.
There was no way to recover from this, no good route to go and no real options. So he did what was the smartest move - he hauled ass in the other direction.
Lucifer moved his hand and the force of his power threw Aleister against the wall. He watched him slide to the floor and then kept him there, while slowly approaching. There was something to be said for that fear he was failing to mask so miserably. "Wow. Stunning show of bravery there."
He crouched down by Aleister's side, reaching down to ruffle his hair. "Don't worry. I'll make sure you won't have to make any big and scary decisions again."
Lowering his voice, he continued. "You'll bark for me, puppy. Won't you?"
Someone would come soon. The other demons would notice and raise the alarm. They'd come for their king and -- if he'd planted his seeds properly, they might actually choose him over Lucifer. Odds were 20/80 but still. 20 was something. "How did you -- this makes no sense. You can't leave the cage! You don't have the vessel, you don't have ... how did you do this?!"
"I think the phrase to use here is: None of your beeswax." Lucifer grinned, grabbing Aleister by the throat and lifting him up. Oh, he was far from being at full strength. But he was more than strong enough for this moment. He'd thank Raphael for his indirect help later. "So much pride in you. I'm not saying I don't like it, but it's not the best look on you. Let's burn it out, shall we?"
With that, he sent it in. His fire, hellfire, burning within Aleister and making his eyes shine, bringing him to the edge of madness with pain. He kept it up for a good minute before he threw him down to the ground and proceeded to beat the hell out of him. His anger had a target at long last.
It was indescribable pain. A burning agony through his entire insides. He honestly thought he'd have to leave his vessel but he couldn't get the energy together to smoke out. His best bet was to find the first chance and leave the vessel or he'd never get away from Lucifer.
He wasn't an idiot, he let Lucifer beat him around and he stayed down. He tried yelling out at first but that seemed to piss him off more. And when in danger - play dead. It seemed to cause people to lose some interest. When he paused, he could make another escape attempt. He just needed a moment to gather himself.
"I like you better like this, you know? A little ragdoll-esque, shall we say?" Lucifer pulled him up by the back of the neck and dragged him along, marching toward the doors. Which he opened with a gust of his power.
Now there were demons and they were staring at them both with wide eyes, clearly at a loss.
"Oh, damn. So many of you little buggers, aren't there? I'm getting stage fright." He shook Aleister a little, making sure there was some life in him yet. "Why don't you tell them about the change in regime? They can spread the word. And someone can fetch me a nice collar for my new puppy."
"Don't just stand there. Do something." Aleister hissed at the demons, hoping they'd apply some common sense and come to his aide. They mostly stood there staring. One or two were smirking. Disloyal bastards. Aleister struggled against Lucifer but it was hard to get out from the grip of an Archangel, even at half capacity. "Well?!"
"Uhhh... I'll go get the collar, boss." One of the demons called out, shrugging at Crowley before taking off.
"Oh, I like you. Remind me to ask you for my list of names later, I miss some of my old homies." Lucifer turned to the side, so he could pin Aleister against the wall with one outstretched arm. He looked up at the once King of Hell, his face showing sign of the beating. Good.
"I'm going to break you. I'm going to break you until you know your place around me. It won't even take me all that long, will it?"
And then, for good measure, and because there were demons all around them that might still be making up their minds, he did it again. Sending the worst pain imaginable into the vessel Aleister was still bound to.
"No, don't! Don't!" It was a nightmare. An actual nightmare. It still didn't make any sense but he had no time to think about it, he just braced himself and clenched up as that burning feeling ripped through him again. He had no idea if he screamed or not, he couldn't even think or control himself. It was agonising. It was like the vessel's organs liquidised. And then, somehow, regrew just to do it all over again.
When Lucifer stopped, his eyes rolled back into his head and he twitched violently, unable to regain proper control of his body. What the fuck was he going to do?
While Aleister was out of it, a collar had been brought. It closed around his neck, spikes on the outside. A fitting look for his temperamental little puppy. Lucifer carried Aleister all the way to the throne room, where he tossed him onto the ground and gestured to the throne.
"Ugh. Clean that a bit, will you? Needs some shine." While some eager demons were working away on this, Lucifer rolled his shoulders and looked down at Aleister, finally kicking him lightly with the tip of his boot. "I'm not loving your outfit, puppy. We'll have to change that."
When his senses came back to him, he was stumbling after Lucifer into his throne room. Yes, his, not Lucifer's. He was a hack, he didn't even earn the damn position. Stupid nepo baby. He dropped to the floor and then tried to guard himself from the oncoming kicks. He rolled onto his side and tried to stagger up to his feet. Bracing himself on a nearby pillar, he glared at Lucifer.
He couldn't just take all of this lying down. He was the king. "What are you all waiting for? He's attacking your king? Do something!"
He expected they wouldn't but they could have at least pretended a little. Instead, people either looked away or paused to watch as Aleister struggled to catch his own breathe. "Stay away from me."
"You seem confused. Really, really confused about what language to use when talking to me." Lucifer shook his head in disapproval, tsking.
"I've cleaned your throne, my lord," an eager demon informed him before bowing and backing away. Lucifer barely acknowledged him. His eyes were on the only other player in the room. Time to break him.
He moved forward suddenly and pushed him back against the pillar he was leaning against. His hand outstretched, he made some chains he had spotted in the corner come over. In no time he had Aleister chained with his back against the pillar. As he looked around the place, he tried to think of what sparked joy. "Do you have a crop somewhere? Oh, and a knife."
He wasn't up for pulling out his own blade just yet. An unnecessary risk at this juncture. He had demons giving him the tools he asked for readily enough and no one intervening when he used that blade to cut off the majority of Aleister's clothes, until he was down to his underwear. Well.
"Someone take off his shoes and socks." He wasn't doing that himself.
He did genuinely think that some demons might not want to do Lucifer's dirty work but he supposed it wasn't shocking that they did. It didn't mean he didn't kick a few arsehole demons in the face before they managed to rob his shoes and socks. He yanked against the chains and realised just how fucked he actually was.
Bollocks.
"What you -- you were talking about before, back in the cage, it's not a bad idea. Don't you see that? Do you really want to waste your time down here? Soul statistics, bargain quotas, regulations and rules! It's not very ... you, is it?" He couldn't imagine Lucifer would be that interested in doing the boring, tedious stuff. Given he had been an absent ruler even when he had been in charge of hell. "Why don't you let me handle the boring stuff while you go up to heaven and make a mess?"
"Ah, now you see. I gave you a chance, my boy. I really did. I wanted to believe in our partnership." Lucifer whipped the crop through the air, where it made a nice whistling sound before it hit Aleister's chest. It left a beautiful red mark. He added another immediately, so there'd be a cross. Much more aesthetically pleasing.
His next hit was to Aleister's face, actually breaking skin. Lucifer stepped up to him, running his index finger along his lower lip and then grabbing it, pulling at it playfully to make Aleister talk. "Blah, blah, blah, statistics, blah, blah, blah. Who really gives a fuck, am I right?!"
He winced in pain and tried to jerk himself away from Lucifer. An immature spoilt brat with no vision - that was exactly what eh expected from Lucifer and exactly what he got. He just wished he was doing this in private, for fuck sake. He hardly needed a bunch of brainless demons gawking at him. "You should." Those things mattered. Without them, hell was aimless and pointless. It lost more souls than it gained. "Truth is - most people aren't that bad. We have to manipulate the situation to get enough souls to get enough power. Otherwise, we're all fucked."
It made sense, didn't it? He winced as Lucifer got close again, trying to tilt his head away. "You should give a fuck."
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And he was hoping that was a forever sort of deal. He wanted to have Lucifer buried, his mother enslaved onto a good path and Bobby to slowly get used to the situation while he looked for a solution. There had to be one, after all.
Things were slowly starting to come together, he was just on the edge of achieving so much. So why not do a victory lap and say goodbye. "What do you want?"
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It wouldn't keep him from making him grovel at his feet, but still. He'd achieved miraculously much. It was impressive. "I want to offer you a deal. You are never going to rule Hell. Not the way I did. Not without being hated by everyone. Not with them all just plotting your demise. Together, though. You and me, we could achieve so much. Your cunning and my, how do you call it? Brutish strength? Brawn? Pure essence of power? What a combo. If you strike now and take that deal, I may even go ahead and supersize it for you."
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Once human, now demon - they were just the lowest of the low to an archangel like Lucifer. "You think I'm dirt beneath your shoe. And I have a rule to never do business with people who can't wrap their head around mutual respect and keeping their word."
He shrugged his shoulders. "Sorry, father of lies, I'm not buying."
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Wasn't that a good offer? Lucifer smiled and shrugged. "One time offer, expires soon. What do you say?"
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And no, he was not going for it. He'd have to be a total idiot to believe Lucifer would ever be okay with him on the throne. Hell, with anyone but himself in total control. Heaven, Earth and hell. And not even control - chaos. "Did Sam buy it? He didn't, did he? Or he would have given you the vessel. What do it say about you that you can't convince any of us of your lies? Because I think it means you've lost your touch."
Aleister inhaled slowly and then smiled at Lucifer, amused by his pathetic attempts to play games. "You have nothing to offer me right now, you have nothing to bargain with and you're unreliable. No one wants to do a deal with a washed-out hasbeen."
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He got onto his knees in the cage, looking up at Aleister and trying to look as subservient as he possibly could. He had not been made for that. "Pretty please?"
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"Surely you're not this pathetic, are you?" Hmm. Well. There's an opportunity to play. "Tell you what - I'll consider your offer, if you... bark like a dog for me."
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Perhaps not the most enthusiastic bark ever, yet here he was. Lucifer Morningstar, the Adversary, on his knees and heeling for his Master. Kinda.
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"Give me some enthusiasm and I think we might be close to a deal." As if. "Show me you've changed. I want to see how humble you can be."
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"Turns out, I can't be very humble. Deadly Sins, you understand." He got to his feet and raised his arms. "This is gonna hurt you so much more than me, little one."
Suddenly the silhouette of his wings showed, bright as anything. As the Morningstar. Hallelujah.
All sides of the cage burst at once and it fell down around him. Lucifer stood there, looking at Aleister with a smile. "Down, boy."
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Aleister froze for a second, still in shock at the sight of those gigantic wings. God, he fucking hated angels. They were slippery, strong and honestly - they were the worst.
There was no way to recover from this, no good route to go and no real options. So he did what was the smartest move - he hauled ass in the other direction.
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He crouched down by Aleister's side, reaching down to ruffle his hair. "Don't worry. I'll make sure you won't have to make any big and scary decisions again."
Lowering his voice, he continued. "You'll bark for me, puppy. Won't you?"
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Someone would come soon. The other demons would notice and raise the alarm. They'd come for their king and -- if he'd planted his seeds properly, they might actually choose him over Lucifer. Odds were 20/80 but still. 20 was something. "How did you -- this makes no sense. You can't leave the cage! You don't have the vessel, you don't have ... how did you do this?!"
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With that, he sent it in. His fire, hellfire, burning within Aleister and making his eyes shine, bringing him to the edge of madness with pain. He kept it up for a good minute before he threw him down to the ground and proceeded to beat the hell out of him. His anger had a target at long last.
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He wasn't an idiot, he let Lucifer beat him around and he stayed down. He tried yelling out at first but that seemed to piss him off more. And when in danger - play dead. It seemed to cause people to lose some interest. When he paused, he could make another escape attempt. He just needed a moment to gather himself.
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Now there were demons and they were staring at them both with wide eyes, clearly at a loss.
"Oh, damn. So many of you little buggers, aren't there? I'm getting stage fright." He shook Aleister a little, making sure there was some life in him yet. "Why don't you tell them about the change in regime? They can spread the word. And someone can fetch me a nice collar for my new puppy."
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"Uhhh... I'll go get the collar, boss." One of the demons called out, shrugging at Crowley before taking off.
Well, fuck. "Traitors!"
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"I'm going to break you. I'm going to break you until you know your place around me. It won't even take me all that long, will it?"
And then, for good measure, and because there were demons all around them that might still be making up their minds, he did it again. Sending the worst pain imaginable into the vessel Aleister was still bound to.
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When Lucifer stopped, his eyes rolled back into his head and he twitched violently, unable to regain proper control of his body. What the fuck was he going to do?
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"Ugh. Clean that a bit, will you? Needs some shine." While some eager demons were working away on this, Lucifer rolled his shoulders and looked down at Aleister, finally kicking him lightly with the tip of his boot. "I'm not loving your outfit, puppy. We'll have to change that."
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He couldn't just take all of this lying down. He was the king. "What are you all waiting for? He's attacking your king? Do something!"
He expected they wouldn't but they could have at least pretended a little. Instead, people either looked away or paused to watch as Aleister struggled to catch his own breathe. "Stay away from me."
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"I've cleaned your throne, my lord," an eager demon informed him before bowing and backing away. Lucifer barely acknowledged him. His eyes were on the only other player in the room. Time to break him.
He moved forward suddenly and pushed him back against the pillar he was leaning against. His hand outstretched, he made some chains he had spotted in the corner come over. In no time he had Aleister chained with his back against the pillar. As he looked around the place, he tried to think of what sparked joy. "Do you have a crop somewhere? Oh, and a knife."
He wasn't up for pulling out his own blade just yet. An unnecessary risk at this juncture. He had demons giving him the tools he asked for readily enough and no one intervening when he used that blade to cut off the majority of Aleister's clothes, until he was down to his underwear. Well.
"Someone take off his shoes and socks." He wasn't doing that himself.
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Bollocks.
"What you -- you were talking about before, back in the cage, it's not a bad idea. Don't you see that? Do you really want to waste your time down here? Soul statistics, bargain quotas, regulations and rules! It's not very ... you, is it?" He couldn't imagine Lucifer would be that interested in doing the boring, tedious stuff. Given he had been an absent ruler even when he had been in charge of hell. "Why don't you let me handle the boring stuff while you go up to heaven and make a mess?"
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His next hit was to Aleister's face, actually breaking skin. Lucifer stepped up to him, running his index finger along his lower lip and then grabbing it, pulling at it playfully to make Aleister talk. "Blah, blah, blah, statistics, blah, blah, blah. Who really gives a fuck, am I right?!"
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It made sense, didn't it? He winced as Lucifer got close again, trying to tilt his head away. "You should give a fuck."
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