Later that night...
Lucifer's peaceful slumber was rudely interrupted by the blaring of his phone. He fumbled for it, squinting at the too-bright screen. 3:17 AM. Ezra's name flashed insistently.
"This better be good," he grumbled, answering the call. "Some of us need our beauty sleep, you know."
"Get up," Ezra's voice crackled through the speaker, tense and urgent. "There's been an incident. I'm outside your apartment."
Lucifer was instantly alert, sleep forgotten. "What kind of incident?"
"The kind with teeth and claws. Move it."
Five minutes later, Lucifer was stumbling out of his building, hastily dressed and still rubbing sleep from his eyes. Ezra stood waiting, her ever-present bladeless hilt slung over her shoulder. Her face was set in grim determination.
"What's going on?" Lucifer asked as they set off at a brisk pace.
"Demon attack in the warehouse district," Ezra replied, her eyes constantly scanning their surroundings. "But something's off. The Organization's readings are... weird."
Lucifer raised an eyebrow. "Weird how?"
"Like someone's deliberately stirring up trouble. The energy signatures are all over the place."
As they hurried through the darkened streets, Lucifer felt a familiar prickling at the back of his neck. They were being watched. He caught glimpses of movement in the shadows, heard whispers just at the edge of hearing.
"Uh, Ezra?" he said quietly. "I think we've got company."
Ezra nodded, her hand moving to her hilt. "I know. Keep moving. We're almost there."
They rounded a corner and came face to face with chaos. The warehouse district was a war zone. Fires blazed, casting eerie shadows. The air was thick with acrid smoke and the metallic tang of blood. And in the center of it all...
"Well, well," a familiar voice rang out. "Look who decided to join the party."
Xavier Hawthorne stood amidst the carnage, his hair gleaming in the firelight. His priestly outfit was splattered with what Lucifer really hoped was just mud. In one hand he held his high-tech taser, in the other, a wicked-looking sword that crackled with energy.
"Divine Templar," Ezra spat, her voice dripping with disdain. "What are you doing here? This isn't your jurisdiction."
Xavier's smile was all teeth. "Oh, but it is. You see, when demons run amok, it becomes everyone's jurisdiction. Especially when they start summoning things that should stay unsummoned."
As if on cue, a bone-chilling howl split the air. From behind a burning warehouse lumbered... something. It was vaguely canine in shape, but twisted and wrong in a way that hurt to look at directly. Its eyes glowed with an unearthly light, and each step left smoldering footprints in the concrete.
"Aw, hell," Lucifer muttered. "Not another one of these things."
"Rebis," Ezra confirmed, already reaching for her sword. "But this one's different. More powerful."
Xavier laughed, a harsh, grating sound. "You have no idea, little girl. This is just the beginning. Soon, Paradise City will be cleansed of its demonic taint. Starting with that abomination beside you."
He pointed his sword directly at Lucifer, who felt a jolt of... recognition? Fear? Whatever it was, it set every nerve in his body on edge.
"Okay, timeout," Lucifer said, holding up his hands. "I think there's been a misunderstanding. I'm just a normal, red-blooded American teenager. Well, okay, maybe not American. Or technically a teenager. But definitely normal. Ish."
Xavier's eyes narrowed. "You can't fool me, demon. I can sense the taint of Hell on you. You may have everyone else fooled with this schoolboy act, but I know what you really are."
Before Lucifer could respond, the Rebis charged. It moved with impossible speed for something its size, covering the distance between them in seconds. Ezra shoved Lucifer aside, bringing up her sword, which took a solid blue shape just in time to deflect a swipe from massive, flaming claws.
The clash of steel-like pressurized water on demonic flesh rang out, sparks flying as Ezra's enchanted blade met the Rebis's supernatural hide. She was a blur of motion, her sword singing through the air as she danced around the creature's attacks.
Then with a large diagonal slash, she sent it tumbling into one of the warehouses. But in an instant, the rebis was already on its feet and Ezra met its charge head-on, ducking under its swinging claws and driving her sword into its gut.
The demon doubled over, and Ezra launched herself in a graceful backflip, her foot connecting with the demon's chin in a textbook flying foot strike.
The demon's head snapped back at an impossible angle, its body stumbling backwards, but it caught itself, and launched forward again, this time, delivering a flash of punches. Ezra was holding her own pretty well, but even Lucifer could see she was outmatched.
The Rebis was too strong, too fast. Each blow she blocked sent her skidding back, and her counterattacks seemed to barely scratch its hide.
"A valiant effort," Xavier called out, watching the fight with obvious amusement. "But futile. That creature is beyond your abilities, little Sword Saint. Stand aside and let a true warrior of God handle this."
Lucifer felt something snap inside him. Anger, hot and familiar, surged through his veins. Who did this pompous, holier-than-thou jackass think he was?
Without thinking, Lucifer stepped forward. He felt power building within him, a pressure behind his eyes and at his fingertips. It was terrifying and exhilarating all at once. Perhaps triggered by the split moments anger
"Hey, Fido!" he shouted. The Rebis turned, its glowing eyes fixing on him. "Yeah, you. You want a piece of Hell? Come and get it."
Lucifer thrust out his hand, and a jet of flame erupted from his palm. It wasn't the feeble spark he'd managed in his previous attempts at accessing his powers. This was a torrent of hellfire, white-hot and all-consuming.
The Rebis howled in agony as the flames engulfed it. For a moment, gripping his slightly burnt hand from the attack he had just performed, Lucifer thought it would be enough. But then, with a sound like tearing reality, the creature began to grow. Its form shifted and twisted, becoming even more monstrous.
"What the...?" Lucifer gasped, stumbling back.
"You idiot!" Xavier snarled. "You're feeding it! Demonic energy only makes it stronger!"
The newly empowered Rebis roared, a sound that shook the very ground beneath their feet. It lunged at Lucifer, jaws gaping wide enough to swallow him whole.
Time seemed to slow. Lucifer saw Ezra running towards him, her face a mask of determination and fear. He saw Xavier raising his sword, crackling with holy energy. And he saw the Rebis, a nightmare given flesh, bearing down on him with unstoppable force.
In that moment, suspended between heartbeats, Lucifer made a choice. He reached deep inside himself, past the fear and confusion, past his bodily limitations and half-formed identity. He touched something ancient and terrible and undeniably his.
Power exploded outward from him in a wave of darkness and flame. The Rebis was thrown back, howling in genuine fear now. Xavier and Ezra were knocked off their feet, shielding their eyes from the intensity of Lucifer's aura.
When the dust settled, Lucifer stood transformed. Great wings of shadow and fire spread from his back. His eyes blazed with infernal light, and when he spoke, his voice echoed with the weight of eons.
"Enough," he said, and reality itself seemed to tremble at his command.
The Rebis whimpered, crouching low in submission. Xavier stared in a mix of awe and terror, his sword hanging limply at his side. And Ezra... Ezra looked at Lucifer with an expression he couldn't quite decipher. Fear? Admiration? Something else entirely?
As quickly as it had come, the power faded. Lucifer felt suddenly, achingly human again. He swayed on his feet, exhaustion threatening to overwhelm him.
"Well," he managed weakly, "that was new."
Then darkness claimed him, and he knew no more.
***