Disclaimer – I don't own Devil Take the Hindmost or Love Never Dies. They belong to the wonderful and talented Andrew Lloyd Webber. I own the plot. 'Nuff said.
Italics are song lyrics and thoughts.
A/N: I was watching Love Never Dies and listening to this song on my laptop when this idea crept into my head. MY FIRST LND STORY, SO BE NICE, PLEASE
Summary: AU: MY FIRST LND STORY, SO BE NICE PLEASE. Raoul's thoughts during the song Devil Take the Hindmost. Rated T because I'm paranoid. One-Shot.
Genre: General/None
Rating: T
"Miss Giry, I'm not afraid of him. I've bested him before and if he ever had the courage to meet me face to face, man to man!" I called to Meg as she left the bar. Just then, the bartender turned around and I gasped. "No, no it can't be!"
The Phantom grinned at me. I had thought this monster dead, and yet, here he is in front of me, alive as I am.
"Not afraid of me, you say?" the Phantom sneered, moving away from the bar and took a few steps toward me.
"Stay back or I'll kill you! I promise you!" I warned, backing against a bar chair – I had nowhere else to go.
"Of course." He responded, a small smile spreading across his face. "As you say, you've beaten me before, but that was a long time ago, Vicomte. And we were playing a different game."
The phantom circled me as he talked to me. He reminded me of a big, black vulture.
"Look at you, deep in debt
Stinking drunk – pitiful
Shall we two make a bet?
Devil take the hindmost." He sang.
"Look at you, foul as sin
Hideous – horrible
Call the stakes, deal me in
Devil take the hindmost." I told the phantom, surprised to see him pull out a deck of cards from his pocket.
"Our Christine shall choose tonight." The phantom told me.
"Let her choose."
"Is she yours or mine?"
"Draw the line."
"If she sings, you lose tonight."
"I won't lose." I told the Phantom, staring into his dark eyes.
"You leave from here." The Phantom told me.
"Fine!"
"Disappear."
"Fine!" I repeated. "And if she won't, if I win?"
"All your debts wiped away." The Phantom told me, a sly smile spreading across his face.
"Very well, let's begin." I told him, not wanting to wait much longer.
"Devil take the hindmost." We sang, shaking hands.
"You think you have the odds
You think you're in control
You think you've fixed the dice
Well I will gladly roll
I'll bet against the house
I'll even double down
Fortune's on my side
I won her long ago, I won her from you then
I beat you even now, I'll win her back again." I sang, overpowering the Phantom's voice.
"Our game, its been changed
Every throw risking her
All the rules rearranged
Fate has redesigned those
Cut the deck, let us play
Roll your die once again." The Phantom sang, overpowering me. The two of us circled each other like angry dogs.
"And when the game is done!" I said.
"Either way!" The phantom responded.
"Devil take the hindmost
Now Christine shall choose at last
Is she yours or mine?" we continued to sing and circle each other. My thoughts then went to Gustave, who was with Christine at the moment.
"We've a son – our bond's secure." I told the phantom. I saw a small smile creep onto his face. I didn't like that look.
"Are you sure?" The phantom asked.
"What?"
"Are you so sure?" The phantom repeated his former statement.
"What do you mean?" I asked.
"Such a child, strange to see
Different, musical." The phantom sang.
"Huh?" I was trying to grasp this situation, but my brain wouldn't cooperate.
"Is he more you or me?
Which one do you find most?" the Phantom questioned, toying with me, like a cat would do with a mouse.
"You lie!" I exclaimed.
"Deal the cards, let them fall
Choose you hand, try your best
He who winds, wins it all." The Phantom told me.
"I call your bluff – the game is on
And we will see who wins
Once and for all wins it all." I told the Phantom.
"Devil take the hindmost." Both of us sang in unison.
"Deal the cards, let them fall
Choose your hand, try your best
He who wins, wins it all." The Phantom sang.
"I call your bluff – the game is on
And we will see who wins
Once and for all wins it all." I sang, my voice rising above the Phantom's.
"Devil take the hindmost." The two of us sang in each other's faces, noses inches apart. The Phantom backed up and gazed at me.
"She walks, you leave together. Pockets full. Debts paid. She sings – you leave alone. Devil take the hindmost." The Phantom told me as I reached for my jacket. With that, he left the room.
I sank into a chair, heart pounding loudly in my chest. I had no idea what had happened, but it reminded me of ten years ago, when we were battling for Christine.
I put my head in my hands, my mind running at a thousand miles an hour.
"Oh, God. What have I done? Look at me – the concert's only hours away!" I thought out loud. I got up from the chair I was sitting in and dashed to Christine's dressing room, praying that she would still be there when I returned.