The Underworld—a land deeper than the earth's seas and darker than a moonless night. Here is where the demons and devils reside, the creatures of the night in a constant struggle for power over the others. One would be tempted to say it is a lawless land, but the demons all united under one being—the Overlord.
The Overlord was always the strongest demon in all the Underworld and only he or she could keep the demons in line—at least as much as one could keep demons straight. For quite some time the Underworld had been under the rule of the demon Alexei; however, Alexei met a rather unfortunate end.
"Alexei Dead in Fiery Explosion: Good Riddance!" was the headline on every newspaper in the Underworld. Papers flew across the sky; various demons spreading the word like a disease. It became the talk of every town.
The Overlord passed and that meant only one very important thing: A new Overlord had to step up. The demons collectively only kept one rule about ordaining a new lord of their lands and that was the a new demon simply had to take the Overlord's old throne. By any means necessary of course.
This one and only rule was on many a demons' mind. Why, how hard could it be to take a seat? The thought alone was harmless, but try multiplying it by a good ten thousand minds thinking the same then the difficulty would be clear.
Precisely this was the questioning a pair of demons in a tavern were having that afternoon the newspapers were tossed out. A grimy place this tavern was, but there was no bar in the Underworld that wasn't seedy. The two had a table in the corner, a drink in either's hand, their conversation heated.
"Here's your chance, Flynn. I'm sure you could just ask anyone around at the old castle to politely move aside and they'll let you right on in," the first demon said with a bit of a bite. For such a handsome demon, he certainly had an attitude and was quite famous for it really. When all demons were troublemakers, it took something special to stand out like Yuri did.
Flynn, the second demon, gave Yuri a steely eyed glare. Most demons fled from the sight, but Yuri grinned right through it. "You know what I meant. The only way to take the throne is to actually go over there. I'm not saying it'll be easy."
"Oh yeah? I think it'll be a piece of cake. No other demon's can really put up a fight so even if there's a welcoming committee...well, I'll take the welcome," Yuri replied with a broad grin still set on his lips. He knocked back the rest of his drink and set his glass down with a clear clink against the table.
"You know I intend to fight too. I won't let just any demon take that throne. We'll have another Alexei," Flynn countered, raising an eyebrow.
Where Yuri stood at the edge of demonic excellence, Flynn stood at the other end of the very same line. That wasn't to say he was weaker, but rather he stopped the fights instead of instigating them like Yuri did. Often times it did come down to the both of them stopping the scuffle, usually with violence. Both of them had seen plenty of fights and it wasn't as though the appeal of the Overlord position didn't occasionally come up between them.
"That guy was kind of an asshole. I'd hate if the next guy was another jerk," Yuri answered a bit dryly.
"Well that puts you out of the running then doesn't it?" Flynn said back with a very slight smile sneaking onto his face.
Yuri pouted hard. He knew it always got under Flynn's skin when he did, even better than actually beating his face in. He got his face beat back when he did; it wasn't the best way to do things with Flynn. Years of hanging around together made the other's mannerisms and pet peeves open between them. Even if it drove them crazy sometimes.
Flynn held firm through the huffy look he was getting. He knew better than to relent just yet.
Yuri spoke up after a few seconds of his plan failing. "I'd be a great Overlord. We both know it."
While he wanted to immediately deny that, Flynn couldn't do so. Yuri had a way of causing trouble, but at the same time, he was a lot more benevolent than many of the demons Flynn had met. A little loosening of the reins would probably help the Underworld quite a bit. Still, just agreeing was not Flynn's way. "Not bad, but I'm a bit more confident in what I could do in that seat than whatever trouble you'd cause between your better decisions."
Yuri leaned in closer over the table, narrowing his eyes as he looked right at Flynn's. "I think you're starting to sound like maybe you want to challenge me on that," he almost whispered.
The blond smiled with just an edge of amusement in his tone. "That might be the only way to settle this. We both think we're qualified. Maybe we should have a match to see who is better qualified."
"I'm the better qualified one. Where are we in matches?—I'm pretty sure it's 10,095 to 10,092 right now," Yuri quipped back, idly brushing some of his long hair back behind one of the lengthy horns at either side of his head.
"That's my 10,095 to your 10,092," Flynn corrected in a heartbeat. At that Yuri's smile turned far less amused and they both jumped out of their chairs at the same time, drawing their blades just the same.
The woman running the tavern caught sight of the pair, as did some of the other customers, but she shouted first. "If you two start another fight in here, I swear I'll have you both paying in full for the repairs this time!"
Their stand-off lasted another few seconds before both backed down, sheathing their blades. They remained standing however, each walking the few paces to face the other closely. Tense glances met the other as they stared each other down. They couldn't have their fight here; they had to get this at least out of the way.
"We'll both compete then, just like everyone else," Flynn decided for them, looking quite stern.
Yuri's more serious expression turned to his usual easy-going grin. "Alright then. We're both heading for the Overlord's castle...and once we get there..."
"That's when we'll really fight," Flynn finished for him.
"No holding back?"
"No holding back."
That affirmed between them they both relaxed in front of each other. The other customers settled down as well like the whole room let out a collective sigh of relief.
Flynn held his hand out for Yuri and Yuri grasped it, the pair shaking on the deal. Someone had to be Overlord, it might as well be one of the two of them.
"I'll see you at the castle then," Yuri settled it simply. The two let the other's hand go after a long pause with them held, stepping apart then as well.
"Don't keep me waiting," was the blond's answer, his smile a bit wider at that.
"Oh I'll be there. Don't you worry."
At those exchanges a pact was made. Plenty of other demons made similar ones on that day too, but only choice number would reach the Overlord's marred manor. As demons clashed that number lessened by the hour. Only one could be left to take the seat after all.
Yuri and Flynn parted ways at the tavern; each headed for the castle on their own path. It was not often the two ever split up, but they knew they would see each other before long.