Glad to be back at it folks! Thanks for the views. Always happy to hear your thoughts 3
The moment Katherina had vanished, Lucifer clapped his hands together, the sound ringing painfully through the white void. Michael winced and leaned forward in his seat, rubbing his eyes. His wings seemed to wrap around him like a blanket.
"Now," the Devil began, rubbing his hands together and pacing. "We can really chat."
"She's quite the firecracker that one," Michael muttered, not raising his head from his hands. "It was a good show, Lucifer...But rules are rules and I'm still not sure…"
"I don't want this silly little plan to work any more than you," Lucifer confided with a sigh. Now Michael's head shot up. He eyed the devil suspiciously.
"No?" he retorted warily.
"No," Lucifer returned with a conspiratorial smile. "But I have an idea for how this might benefit us both…"
Michael sighed and sat back in his chair. "I'd rather clean our hands of it all."
Lucifer made a mock pout. "Don't you at LEAST want to HEAR my plan?"
Michael rolled his eyes, but waved a hand as if to say, go on.
Lucifer smiled. "So we both want this silly little project to end. But I promise one of the few things my daughter did take after me was her persistence. So we CAN shut this down but I'll never hear the end of it, she may never stop trying, and it will not only make a headache for you for the rest of eternity, who knows….maybe someone else tries, maybe some of your lot find the kindness in their hearts to actually also want to give it a try," Lucifer wagged a finger at Michael as he paced. "You my friend are pretty smart for an angel but some of those feather brained, bleeding hearts-"
"Get to the point Lucifer."
Lucifer stopped pacing and his eyes flashed. "I've already made it so Alastor won't be a problem. I've been giving him just enough rope to hang himself with for quite some time and he's finally slipped up. We've made a deal that if I promote this little excursion, he can never leave Hell."
Michael straightened up. "That is good news," he seemed contemplative for a moment and then, "But what about the rest. The indiscrete spider, the good for nothing gambler, you can't possibly think they'd be able to make proper progress even with-"
"Exactly," Lucifer cut in again, excitedly. "We let a new angel come in. Let them give it their best shot. They fail. Simple as that. Maybe one gets out but even that will only enforce how ridiculous it was in the first place. How much of a lost cause most of them are. We let them destroy their own morale and Charlie will finally give up on her own seeing how disappointing the whole thing ends up being."
Michael was now leaned forward and Lucifer could have pumped his fist in excitement at how easily it was all going.
"One gets out…" Michael mused, tapping his chin.
"My daughtersssss little lover," Lucifer hissed. His pupils began to narrow, but quickly snapped back as he continued with a manic enthusiasm. It felt as though it had been ages since he was last able to play a game to this scale. Not since the garden of Eden perhaps. "But that's the thing. She was on the line to begin with. I won that battle but she easily could have gone with you anyways. She gets to ascend, everyone else loses hope because the only one who succeeds was practically a clerical error anyways, you get the feather in your cap for your kindness in even letting them try and allowing her back into the fold, Charlie will be crushed and finally come back home and stop chasing these silly things maybe even start acting like a true Princess, Alastor will be much more complacent with his sad little broken family." Lucifer paused and saw he had Michael on the hook. "We all win darling. All of us."
Michael sat quietly for a moment. He had to admit, it was a good plan. Everything worked out as they wanted and he didn't have to play the bad guy on top of it. He had to admit that Lucifer's distaste for his own daughters girlfriend intrigued him but he knew better than to delve into the devil's affairs. As far as he could see it was a lot of nonsense except for his own benefits. "I'm for it," he said conclusively.
Lucifer rubbed his hands together and hissed, "Excellent. I already have plenty of ideas for who you can send down next-"
Michael raised his hand and Lucifer's eyes narrowed. "Actually...I think I'll choose this time." Michael gave Lucifer a smirk to rival his own. "It's who I would have sent in the first place. They're tough, they're clever, and as much as your pick stirred things up for the cannibalistic monster, my pick would have had three of them squirming."
"The detective?" Lucifer's eyes danced.
Michael nodded smugly. "The detective."
