- Cthulhu and Devil -
(Before Lucifer woke up)
Devil looked at the water that hovered around him, the eyes inside observing him with deep intention.
"Your world?" Cthulhu's distorted voice echoed.
"WHAT ARE YOU?" Devil screamed at Cthulhu. "Of all the gods, the creatures I've known, you were not one of them! You were just some false legend passed around by humans! YOU WERE NOTHING MORE THAN A CHARACTER IN A BOOK!"
"Fascinating," Cthulhu's voice echoed inside and out of Devil's mind.
The water that had been hovering around the darkness suddenly grew in size, swallowing Devil.
"Now then," Cthulhu's voice rippled through the water.
Devil's flesh started to rip off slowly, turning the water red.
"Wait," The eyes in the water narrowed. "Blood? A physical existence in the mental plane?"
Despite being submerged, Devil's words were clear. "YOU CAN'T KILL ME! I KNEW IT! I KNEW THAT PATHETIC IMITATION WAS BLUFFING!"
Devil started laughing but not for long. His body was still slowly deteriorating.
"Make no mistake," Cthulhu's voice informed. "Though you are PARTIALLY physical, most of you is still mental. Enough so that it appears I can still remove you. You are not immune to what I'm doing, you are simply resistant."
Devil started to desperately swim, hoping to escape the water. As Devil swam with a hasty panic that made him look as if he was drowning, his body wore down more and more, until he was reduced to nothing but a red streak. The red streak slowly faded away and the eyes in the water closed.
- Cthulhu and Lucifer -
(Same time as Devil's destruction)
Lucifer was doubled over in pain in the darkness of Cthulhu's world. A clone of Cthulhu was explaining the process to Lucifer.
"I enter the part of the mind that the problem is in and essentially overload it with my frenzy, destroying it. That's why the process is so painful. Frenzy is a poison to the mental plane and has to be applied carefully. Think of it like--what was it called? Chemotherapy?"
"O-okay," Lucifer could barely respond.
"Still," The clone of Cthulhu looked worried. "This is taking longer than expected. Whatever this thing is, it's deeply rooted in your mind. There are similarities between it and an eldritch contract but even the eldritch don't physically exist in the mental plane."
Lucifer tried to explain what he was feeling, "I-it feels...feels like someone..." he grunted, "is pulling hot me-metal...shavings out of my sku-AAHHH" He screamed.
Cthulhu worried, "You're approaching complete frenzy! I need to-"
"NO!" Lucifer warned as his body distorted and warped. "I WANT THIS GONE!"
The ring in Lucifer's irises left shortly before he lost consciousness and disappeared from Cthulhu's world.
- Cthulhu, Lucifer, Death -
"MEDICINE, NOW!" Cthulhu ordered his guards. "EVERYTHING WE HAVE!"
Death had Lucifer in a tight chokehold. Lucifer started thrashing, throwing himself and Death around the room of the villa. Guards brought in medicine but were stunned by the scene of Death being smashed into walls by Lucifer. Cthulhu took the vials out of the guard's hands.
"HOLD HIM!" Cthulhu shouted at Death.
"HE'S STRONGER THAN HE LOOKS"! Death responded as he was smashed through the wall into another room. "THE MEDICINE WON'T WORK ANYWAYS!"
"IT'S WORTH TRYING! OPEN HIS MOUTH!" Cthulhu shouted.
Before Death could move his fingers toward Lucifer's mouth, Lucifer started breathing fire, coating the inside of the villa in flames.
"THAT'S IT!" Death threw Lucifer through a wall to an outside courtyard.
"He's completely frenzied," Cthulhu feared. "I didn't think an archangel would..."
"MAKE IT STOP!" Lucifer screamed in pain.
"WATER MAGIC!" Cthulhu ordered his guards.
Lucifer's flames flickered on and off preventing him from screaming as he burned his throat black. Guards arrived and proceeded to blast Lucifer with water to keep him from destroying himself. Death turned to Cthulhu.
"GATHER EVERY NEARBY HEALER!"
Before Cthulhu could ask what Death was doing, Death turned into his hunter form and blinked over to Lucifer. Death slammed Lucifer's head into the ground.
["This would be so much easier,"] Death dug his knee into Lucifer's wrist, shattering the bone, ["if you weren't an archangel!"]
Death was crippling every part of Lucifer's body he could, hoping it would be enough to stop Lucifer. Unfortunately, even with shattered bones, Lucifer was still struggling with enough strength and mobility to occasionally knock Death away. Every time Lucifer knocked Death away, Death would blink back on top of Lucifer.
- Death, Lucifer, Cthulhu, Peter, Shiri, Yvere -
Shiri, Peter, and Yvere arrived at a horrific scene of Death brutalizing Lucifer. The three had been informed of what was going on but couldn't help staring in shock. Shiri's body iced over and his skin tinted blue as he ran to assist.
"He's completely frenzied..." Yvere mumbled. "He won't stop until he's unconscious or dead..."
"HOLD HIM!" Shiri ordered as he ran over.
Death pinned Lucifer to the ground. Shiri stood over the two and inhaled deeply. Shiri stomped his foot, creating walls of ice around the three of them. Shiri exhaled with great force, creating massive plumes of icy mist that flooded the ice box.
"How do we stop him?" Yvere fretted.
Yvere and Peter looked around the courtyard, noting the scorch marks and splatterings of what could only be Lucifer's blood. Peter looked over at Cthulhu, his hand firmly grasping his sword's hilt until he realized just how terrified Cthulhu appeared to be.
"I warned him," Cthulhu mumbled. "Why didn't I just refuse?"
Inside the ice box, Lucifer's body was slowing from the cold. Death was shaking as he tried to keep his fingers tight around Lucifer's arms despite the numbness he was feeling. Eventually, Lucifer stopped moving. Shiri and Death waited a minute before stopping. After it seemed clear, Death nodded to Shiri.
Death carried Lucifer's limp, broken body over to Yvere. Yvere looked down at the horror that was Lucifer's body. Burns so deep and severe that multiple bones were visible. More than half of the bones that could be seen were fractured or shattered. Deep tears around the mouth caused by Lucifer's screaming.
All the healers that had gathered looked hesitant to help. The damage to Lucifer's body and the surrounding area was so severe that it made most of the healers question their own safety should Lucifer start to attack again. Yvere didn't wait for help.
"L-Lucifer," Yvere steeled herself as she placed her hands on his chest. "Please, please work, please Kos, or Chaos, please."
No one felt relief at the sight of Lucifer's body regenerating. All of them were worried that Lucifer might wake up and start screaming again. Yvere closed her eyes as she felt herself near depletion.
"Mana..." Yvere said through her teeth.
Cthulhu placed his arm out.
"NOT YOURS!" Yvere snapped as she opened her eyes.
Yvere's eyes were filled with pure hatred as she stared at Cthulhu. Before Death could offer his neck, Peter put his arm out in front of her.
"It's not his fault that Luce made a shit choice."
Yvere conjured her fangs and bit down on Peter's arm. Lucifer's body was eventually restored to a serviceable point, leaving the rest of the group and Cthulhu waiting to see what would happen next.
- Lucifer, Death, Shiri -
Lucifer opened his eyes, revealing that they no longer looked like Devil's. Lucifer looked around and realized he was in an open plain, surrounded by Cthulhu's guards. All the guards shuddered when they saw Lucifer awake. Death, in his hunter form, and Shiri, were standing alongside the guards.
"How are you feeling?" Death asked.
"I'm okay," Lucifer confirmed. "How long have I been out?"
"Three days," Death revealed.
Lucifer mumbled, "What happened? I remember screaming, pain, and the smell of burning flesh but nothing else. It's hazy to think about."
Death explained what it took to stop Lucifer. Lucifer thanked Shiri profusely before standing up. As Lucifer stood up, the guards tensed. A voice from the back alerted the guards to stand down.
- Lucifer, Death, Cthulhu -
"Your eyes have changed," Cthulhu mentioned as he approached.
"They have?" Lucifer tried to hide his excitement. "I wonder," he conjured his wings, revealing that they were still black.
After seeing that his wings were still black a grave look of disappointment filled Lucifer's expression. Lucifer looked around, expecting to see Devil smiling.
Cthulhu walked up to Lucifer and whispered, "I swear on my name that he's gone."
- Lucifer, Death, Shiri, Peter, Yvere -
Lucifer was bombarded with questions by the group. Lucifer lied and told the group that his original goal was to stop the demonization that he believed was being caused by a memory. He continued on to explain Satan's theory on how memories and Hell's magic appear to be linked in some way.
"I've heard Lord Satan talk about that before," Shiri said.
"Me too, unfortunately," Death affirmed.
Lucifer sighed, "I'm sorry for not being completely honest. Having Cthulhu erase a memory wasn't certain enough as is, but the addition of it potentially helping me prevent my demonization was such a stretch that I lied about my initial reasons, I'm sorry."
"Next time-," Peter walked up to Lucifer and punched him in the face.
Lucifer stumbled back, his nose now dripping with blood
"-be honest," Peter shook the pain from his hand.
Yvere walked over and put her hand up to Lucifer's face. "Here, let me heal it."
As Lucifer dropped his hand from his face, Yvere punched him hard enough to knock him down. Lucifer stayed on the ground for a moment, accepting the two's anger. Death offered a hand up.
Lucifer shook his head. "If you're going to punch me when I grab your hand then just leave me here."
Death left his hunter form and grabbed Lucifer's arm, "Come on." He pulled Lucifer up. "I've hit you enough for now."
Lucifer grinned until he noticed something in the corner of his eye. His eyes widened with fear as he saw a figure that no one else seemed to notice. It wasn't Devil, but it was someone or something that had taken his place.
"Are you okay?" Death asked.
"Fine," Lucifer closed his eyes for a few seconds and forced the figure to disappear. "Fine enough, at least." He opened his eyes.