Chapter 7: Celestial Hijinks 2 – Electric Boogaloo

2004 A.D.

Gotham

It was barely a week after the incident that led the fallen angel to adopt the girl as his own. Batman did a good job securing him and his crew an identification. Somehow, no one even noticed how half a dozen people pop up out of nowhere at the same time.

Or in this case demon lords from hell. Handpicked by Apollyon himself for there obedience and common sense or lack thereof. One needed to be said that power is not a topic to be questioned. One does not hold a position in hell by being weak.

Also, Batman really did a good job.

Well, that, or Delirium had called in a favor from her eldest brother to shift "Destiny" in their favor. Nobody would know.

Using his mortal identity, Apollyon rent out one of the most expensive space Gotham had to offer. Owned by none other than Bruce Wayne, of course. Currently, the place was in the decorating process and it was expected to be finished in months. Well, it would be much sooner if the fallen angel and his crew didn't go for a twisted version of high gothic style furniture. Apollyon was tempted to conjure one from hell, but after a little thought, he decided it would be a terrible disaster if one went missing.

He intended to spend quite some time on earth among mortals. He didn't want to bring forth the end times by accident or give his Dad an extra opportunity to screw him over.

By this point, the relationship between his Dad and him was no longer build on trust.

Supernatural problems aside, one might think he was crazy to open a new legit business in one of the worst locations ever. To many, Gotham might be a crime capital. Yet, to the people who work at Mazak Mavdil it's an all you can eat buffet.

Well, sort of. At least. Eat too much and those pricks from heaven will come knocking. Not that it would be a big problem, but it would make one lost an appetite.

7.00 AM

Morningstar Manor, Gotham

The house they are currently living in is much simpler. The entire manor was sparingly decorated. A Persian rug in the living room with a set of sofas and a long coffee table. Desks, chairs, and lamps in the library. The interior was painted white, while the small number of their furniture gave a color in the room. As in the fallen angel own's word "Keep it simple and serene. The place for having a wild party and calm rest should not mix."

Apollyon is not a kind of angel that could party all the time. That was Lucifer's thing. His manor reflects this virtue as such. Well, except for a special bedroom that he and Delirium did a certain "Thing". The room was enchanted with more magic and divine power than one could imagine. If the entire universe collapse, this room would still leave standing. Let's just say that things tended to escalate really fast when both of them are involved.

Even he knew his Dad was the one that set everything up, for shit and giggles, it's not that bad as he once thought.

But that's was not the main point of this story, is it?

…

It was the morning that he promised to take little Artemis to see her mother in jail. There was no rush, however, as the visiting period will not commence in another few hours. So, right not they are having a cereal breakfast together as any dysfunctional family of 2 primordial beings and a little mortal girl could be.

Coco Pops and milk. Full cream. Because both Apollyon and Delirium didn't have even the slightest idea what a good human breakfast looks like.

"Sooooooo." The little girl broke the silence with her mouth full. "I have a dream last night."

"Oh. Do tell. Is it about boys?" Delirium replied with a wide smile on her face.

Apollyon still didn't know why she was still here. Didn't she had a realm to rule? At this point, he was too lazy to ask.

"Nooooooo." giggled the little girl. "Well. There was a man. Pale, pale man. Black long messy hair. His eyes were weird though. The entire thing is pitch black, the middle is a small star. Weird, huh."

The two elder entities stopped smiling. Apollyon looked at Delirium. She gave him 'it's not me' shrug.

"So. Did he says anything?"

"He said hi."

"Is that so?"

"Yes. That's all I did to her." A cold voice cut him off. A shadowy figure formed behind the fallen angel. He was Dream of the endless. The third eldest. Master of dream and reality both.

"Sub. Brother."

"Sister. You look tired. I don't believe that is even possible."

"Yeah. All thanks to this big boy over here." She pointed at the fallen angel. "Polly here wore me out …"

Her sentence was stopped by the angel finger on her lips. He pushed hard because he needed her to stop talking immediately. There was a child at the table after all.

By this point, Dream slightly shook his head. No one wants to hear how their family behave in a sheet.

Unless your name starts with L and end with Ucifer.

"What's are you talking about?" Innocently asked Artemis.

"Errrrrrrr…" Apollyon suddenly panicked. He looked at the other two who had a big grind on their face. Seeing that they were enjoying this, he gave the most cliché answer ever. "I will explain it to you when you grow up. In about ten years. Or maybe seven."

"Oh. You mean naked sleepover stuff? Mom told me a long time ago."

"OH!" Three omnipotent beings bellowed loudly in surprise and amazement. "Welcome to the weird side of your new family then."

"So. Dear Dream. Care to elaborate?" The fallen angel asked as he finished his cereal bowl.

Yes, that was a threat. Apollyon didn't want any supernatural being to interfere with his life. Having Dad put Delirium here with him was more than enough.

"I need to make sure that her dream is guarded against Desire's and Despair's scheme. Or failing that, to let you know that I was not involved."

A strong wind blew inside the dining room, interrupting the conversation. The air sparkled as another two supernatural beings emerged from the void.

"Come on bother. We might be reckless, but we are not that stupid!" A new voice was heard. "Nor do we have a death wish."

Out of emptiness came two entity. One was tall, beautiful, alluring, and gender ambiguous. Another was a hunchback, short, pale, chubby, dreadful looking woman. Both had black hair and wore a full business suit. They were none other than Desire and Despair, the trouble twins from the Endless siblings.

This morning turned out to be a special occasion for a partial-family reunion. Very special indeed, considering that Despair decided to wear cloth.

His eyebrows twitched, Apollyon was annoyed. One Endless was more than enough to cause a headache. Four of them, that's a calamity.

"First, I'm impressed you're wearing cloth, Despair. Second, we are having breakfast here. So, would you three kindly SOD OFF and go back to rule your realm or something. Today going to be very busy. A lot of deal to be made. Intimidation to be done. Etcetera. Etcetera."

"But … But … you promise to take me to see mom today!" Cried an 8 years old girl. Her arms were crossed, and her lips were pouted.

Shit. He forgot that little Arty was still in the room.

Some plan didn't need to be announced. Especially to an eight-years-old girl.

"BAMESA (forget)." / Yes. I put the word in an online translator because why not?

As soon as Apollyon commanded in Enochian, the girl stopped her adorable pout and remained still. One advantage of divinity at his level. The entire universe obeyed his command. He could change anything he wants. The catch is, changing too much and his Dad will intervene, correct the change, and probably dispensing a celestial ass kicking. The last part is nothing Apollyon would want anytime soon.

Still, he couldn't be bothered arguing with an 8 years-old girl.

"…. Whoa. What happened." Little Artemis innocently asked right after regaining consciousness.

"Well." He childishly replied. "You met Deli's siblings and you space out for a bit. Are you okay?"

She nodded. An obvious lie that no one bothered to correct. Or in this case, no one dared to correct.

"Good. Let's finish up your breakfast, we are going to be last for the visitation. Don't worry about doing the dishwashing. Uncle Dream had volunteered to do it for us. What a great guy."

As soon as he finished his sentence, he noticed an eyebrow raised by the second oldest of the Endless siblings. He winked back. A payback for interrupting their breakfast paid in full.

Breakfast was finished soon after. He took Artemis hand and led her out of the mansion. They were followed by Delirium, his partner in crime who also registered as the little girl's parents.

"Wait. How did three uncles get here?"

"They want to surprise you. Don't think much about it?"

…

One week ago

Blackgate Penitentiary

Paula Crook didn't expect any visitor, not after she heard that her husband was beaten half to death by Batman. She had to admit, that was un-batman-like. The work done on her husband body was described as one-sided as if he was psychotically torture without any chance of fighting back.

Sportsmaster would be bedridden for years. It would be a miracle if he would be able to walk again.

At least it would them from the life of crime. A life that she was ready to walk away from.

Her visitor was a young man, no older than 24, but she knew that look could be deceiving in her line of work. In the world where there are alien, meta-human, wizard, immortal being, and demon, only an ignorant take anything for granted. Most human belongs to that group.

"Mrs. Crock. How your life in a new gated community? Quite an upgrade from your criminal hideout isn't it?" The man mocked. "Apollyon Morningstar. We have heard a lot about you."

This is absurd. What kind of parent would name their child after an obscure demon? A mad man, at least not the Joker kind.

"We don't know each other. What do you want?"

"Oh. I know about you. Your daughter. …"

He paused as he sensed the tension from the crippled criminal.

"Who is technically my adoptive daughter now. …"

He paused again just to torture her a bit more. His eyes gleamed with joy when he was sure she internally screamed WHAT!

"Told me everything. Little Arty is a good girl. Tigress. Quite a fierce name isn't it? Rwarrr."

To add an insult to injury, he pretended to be a cat as he did the last part.

Had she not been crippled. She would stand up and punch him in the face right now. Prison or no.

"So … right … get to the point. I'm here to make the offer you could not refuse."

She gave him a silent treatment. This man was clearly mad. She paid no intention to an annoyance like him.

"After done serving your time here, I will arrange for you to be with your daughter. You will work as my housekeeper and, in turn, I will grant you a chance for redeeming yourselves. Even though I could not guarantee that your sins would be resolved, I could make sure that you would not end up in hell after you bite the dust."

Yep. Mad. Man. Who did he think he is? Jesus?

"No. That would be my brother." He answered it out loud. "Did I told you I could hear your thought?"

What. The. Fuck.

"Hey. Hey. Hey. No need to use that kind of language here. I know that you would be confused. An expected reaction from a mortal, in fact. Oh no. Not confuse is it? You are terrified." He joyously spoke. "Well then. Just a gesture of goodwill. Try standing up now."

What?

"Humor me."

She felt a vigor she didn't experience since she was out of a commission had returned. Finally, she could feel her leg again.

"Better than curing Leprosy or turning water into wine, isn't it?"

"How?" She broke her silence out of her curiosity.

"Well. Take a wild fucking guess."

An image flashed in her mind. The same man had a halo on his head. On his back was a pair of gigantic purple wings.

"Dad set your daughter in my path. He wants something. And, before you ask, I don't know what that is either. I decided to be a part of a new mundane family, but I feel like it would not be fair to take one away just to have mine."

It's a lie from Apollyon, of course. The truth was, he couldn't give a shit about what mortal thinks. He wasn't Lucifer so he didn't have to always tell the truth. Sometimes a lie is more convenient. People will believe what they want to believe.

Just as her hope was rekindled, her strength faded away again. She collapsed on her wheelchair.

"Now. Now. Don't get too excited. Being crippled for now will earn you more sympathy from your ridiculous justice system. You will be out of here faster if I'm not mistaken. About 6 years, in fact. Quite short, considering the life of those people you hurt and killed. What do they say again? You did the crime, you serve the time. Yes? No? Close enough? Whatever."

As soon as he stopped his speech, the guard came in. The visit time was up.

"Oh. One more thing. I don't believe in a third change. Whatever I could give, I could take it back much, much more. I will bring Arty here next week. You can thank me later."

…

At present

Blackgate Penitentiary

"Mom!" A little girl cried in excitement. She thought she would never see her birth mother again.

"Artemis!"

"I miss you so much!" The girl hugged her mother.

"Are you well? Where did you stay? Did anyone bully you?"

Questions after questions were asked with tears leaking from Paula's eyes. A touching moment to be sure. Too bad, Apollyon wasn't interested in that kind of thing. His goal lies elsewhere.

"Deli. Make sure that no one messes this up." The fallen angel leaned in on his supposed girlfriend.

"Mess up what?"

"ACOCASAHE (Time)"

Another Enochian word was uttered. With it, the time stops moving. The fallen angel winked as he went on his merry way, walking through walls into a hidden room to meet his objective.

"Sure, my dear. But it will cost you tonight." The Endless jokingly replied.

"Yeah. Yeah." He brushed it off. It's not like she would stop if he refuses anyway.

…

On the other side of the wall lied a hidden observation chamber. According to their lead, one of the highest priority threats to this world was to meet with a cripple criminal here today. Her target did a poor job covering his track to the point that it worried her. Why? Because it could mean two things.

One was that he is stupid. Very powerful but stupid and ignorant. That made him hard to be dealt with.

The other was that he was so powerful that no precaution need to be taken. It also meant that nothing they could to would hinder this monster.

Whatever it was, Amanda Waller didn't like it.

And then everything stopped. The pen that one of her subordinates spun was frozen in midair. Everyone retained their position and remained still. She didn't need to analyze the situation to know that she had fucked up.

Suddenly, her target phased through the wall and stared directly at her. In the surveillance camera, he looks like a normal human being, but that was not what she saw with her eyes. His skin was marbled white, his eyes pitch black with blood seeping down his cheek. On top of his head, there was a barbed halo. Just by the sight alone make her spine shaken. She wanted to scream in terror but his unholy aura prevented her from even moving an inch.

From her intelligence, he is a hellish demon-lord with great power. Technically, it's not wrong. Demon or angel, there is not that much difference in Apollyon's perspective.

Most beings in this lower realm of existence are equally insignificant as far as he is concerned.

"Amanda Waller. You are quite a legend from what I heard. Those little imps always use you to scare the little ones. No wonder that your name is already on my list even though you still have quite a few years to live."

With her quick reflex, she drew her pistol and attempted to shoot the intruder. Alas, it didn't work.

"I didn't expect that the warden of Belle Reve would have any jurisdiction here in Blackgate. Unless you are tied to some secret organization that is so paranoid it makes Batman look senile."

He didn't even care about her gun. The bullet would not even scratch his skin even it hit him head-on.

"What do you want? Demon."

"Straight to the point. I like your style." He continued. "I gonna make you an offer. Leave me, my crew, and my new dysfunctional family alone. You will also make sure that none of your merry crew or your friend would interfere with our lives. If you couldn't do it, I will find someone else who can. In return, will make sure that none of them would fuck this planet up. I will cross out your name from the list that I have. That's mean you are unwelcomed in my domain after you die. Do we have a deal?"

"There are more of your kind here?" She was alarmed. Her intelligence unit didn't warn her about any of this. The threat level was even larger than she imagined.

"Yes. All of them work for me. I will keep them in line if you mortals keep your end of this deal. Few sinners might disappear from time to time, …. Your welcome."

He snapped his fingers and his hand burnt up. Out of the flame, a business card came out. It clearly said Masak Mavdil, Gotham.

"I will take that as a yes then. Well, I'm expected to see you soon. In the club or in hell, whichever you prefer. I couldn't care less."

…

Amanda Waller stood in silent. Her strong exterior look was unmoving and unfazed even in the face of absolute destruction itself. Inside her mind, however, she was pissing herself. Time passed by after the conversation she had with the demon, but the fear that she felt didn't even decrease even a bit.

Fear was not the only thing that she felt. There was also an unspoken promise of utter annihilation of mankind if she didn't comply with his wishes. It was not a deal, it was an ultimatum. Any form of resistance was futile.

In front of her was a computer screen. The computer was a terminal to the highest security access to the best databank this world had to offer. It was given to her, as a position of her job. To protect humanity from all possible threat. A warden of Belle Reve was only a front to make her real job easier after all.

On the screen, one command was keyed. "Delete all files linked to subject: Apollyon Morningstar. All further access is restricted."

…

That's the 7th Chapter, everybody. Quite a bit late to upload this one. I need to rewrite this chapter over and over as the new idea keep popping up. Moreover, I don't have that much free time anymore. Enjoy.