A/N: And here we are with the second chapter of this story. Kinda crazy cause I've never put out a chapter this fast during the last one. Also holy shit, only two chapters in and already this story had surpassed a quarter of the last one in terms of the amount of words. Anyways, this chapter covers the reintroductions of Alice, her friends, Constantine, Lucifer, and Gibb, and a nice composite of the second chapter of the original story (AKA the poker scene from the Justice League Dark film) and a portion of the second episode of The Sandman show, as well as introducing a few new characters, including a new OC of mine who's going to become important later on in this series. So with that said, enjoy.
Now Playing: "Something's Gotta Give" by All Time Low
Chicago
An alarm was heard buzzing for about 2 minutes, until the person in bed finally shut it off. The person was then revealed to be a young teenage girl, looking no older than 17 years old, with blonde hair and colorful yellow pajamas. This was none other than Alice Pierce, the niece of Andy Barclay and Nica Pierce. She looked over to her clock and saw that it was four in the afternoon.
Just perfect, Alice thought. With that, Pierce let out a big yawn and got out of her bed to get ready for her Saturday, while putting on one of her favorite songs, "Something's Gotta Give" by All Time Low, in the background.
It had been four years since Damien Darhk had threatened to unleash Hell on Earth, and Alice's life had been… well… something to say the least. You see, after the killer doll known as Chucky had possessed her body nine years ago, she had died at the age of 8 when Andy killed her to save her from the possession and then four years later, came back to life at that same age after Andy and Nica went to Hell to save her from a demon known as Anuboll. So then, sometime after her "9th" birthday, Alice began to have massive growth spurts over the course of four months until she was finally the physical age she was supposed to be, which happened to be 13. So I guess for better or worse, that was the benefits of coming back to life after four years being dead.
But that was the least crazy part of it. After the world was saved, Pierce started living in Star City alongside her newly made friends, those being Oliver Queen's son William Clayton, Trixie Espinoza, and even Darhk's own daughter Nora. And together, they picked up the pieces where Andy and Nica left off after retiring from being heroes to fight crime within Star City or occasionally across the world. Whether it was supernatural threats, like one time when they were at a desert fighting a creature known as The Creeper, or even just ordinary criminals like when they had helped the Green Arrow finally defeat Ricardo Diaz.
But then after the end of that summer, Alice had quite the adventure of her life when she and her friends started going to Star City Middle School, and then she… let's just say made possibly the worst decision of her life and went back in time to kill Charles Lee Ray and created a fractured timeline that she called "Alice-point" which then led to her and her friends being abducted by the alien race known as the Dominators after changing the timeline back. Finally, Pierce then faced off against an evil doppelganger of her uncle from Earth-2 with the help of the hacker known as Aiden Pearce as well as the remnants of Lucky Quinn's forces.
After that point, Alice started staying at Andy and Nica's house during the weekends, or at least when there wasn't too much crime and supernatural threats going about, until a year later, when she permanently moved back to Chicago after the birth of Andy and Nica's daughter, Cindy Barclay. But once in a while, she would still get her team together and fight crime, like on Halloween that year, when they had to stop a corrupted company called Silver Shamrock that were selling masks to children that wound up killing them. Hell, it was even just last year during Independence Day when they were called into a town in New Jersey to help Detective Zeke Banks stop a copycat of the infamous Jigsaw Killer.
But recently, after turning 16, alongside going to high school, Pierce started early training as a rookie working for the Chicago PD, after looking up the late chief and Andy's old friend and step-father, Mike Norris. And after a year of training, she was finally tackling her first big mission as a detective with trying to track the evil organization known as the Ninth Circle, one which the Green Arrow had faced three years ago. But unfortunately, after he had defeated their old leader, Dante, they branched off into different parts of the country, including Chicago. So after being contacted yesterday by Aiden that the highest ranking members were meeting at a specific building tonight, and tonight only, Alice immediately called William, Nora, and Trixie to see if they could help out, and they were more than on-board.
While Alice thought this in her head, she took a quick hot and steamy shower, which was always her preferred way to shower. After she got cleaned up, she started to get dressed as she decided to put on a white polo shirt, some khaki pants, and a blue jean jacket. Pierce then tied the back of her hair up in a ponytail, though she did leave in the bangs over her forehead as it reminded her of her early childhood. Before, well… you know who came to her life. Ah, the good ol' days.
With that, after a quick makeup session and brushing her teeth, Alice quickly ran downstairs and made her way to the kitchen, where she was greeted by Andy, Nica, and little Cindy.
"Afternoon, sport." Nica said.
"Good afternoon, Aunt Nica." Alice replied.
"Did you get some good rest?" Andy asked.
"Yeah." Alice said as Cindy then got up out of her chair and hugged her big cousin tightly, with Pierce returning the hug. "Awe… and how are you doing, chipmunk?"
"Good." Cindy said.
"That's good." Alice said before breaking the hug. But then, she quickly noticed what her cousin made for a snack… a humongous bowl of cereal.
"Jeez, you really need that much cereal in your system?"
"I mean, in a way, she's just continuing the family tradition." Andy commented, chuckling as he remembered when he used to eat that much cereal when he was twice his daughter's age, which made both Alice and Nica roll their eyes in amusement.
"William, Nora, and Trixie are on their way." Alice informed.
"Great." Andy said. "You know, we are very proud of you for the strong young woman you've become over the years. I think you deserve a little fun time after this mission."
"Yeah, especially since Barry and Patty's baby shower is next week." Nica added.
Both Alice and Andy smiled when she said that. Back when Damien Darhk unleashed Hell upon the world, Andy, Nica, Alice, alongside many other heroes fought their hardest against a swarm of demons, Deadites, and even old foes of theirs. But unfortunately, not all of them survived, because one of the demons flew its way into the Green Arrow's Arrowcave and killed Barry Allen's wife, Iris West, and The Flash was not able to save her in time. So after the battle, Iris' death put a big scar on Barry for a good while, until one day he was reunited with an old friend and partner of his, Patty Spivot. And they were easily able to rekindle their old love, and Barry was finally able to forgive himself. And with that, after a year of dating, they had gotten married and were now expecting a baby boy together, who they were planning on naming Henry, after Barry's late father.
"Gotta say, kudos to Barry for actually being able to find that bit of happiness in his life." Alice said. "Didn't think he would after Iris died."
Just then, a knock was heard. Alice then walked up to the door, having an idea of who it was. But just to be sure, she decided to sing a song, one that reminds her so much of the good ol' days…
"Oh, what a beautiful morning… Oh, what a beautiful day… I've got a beautiful feeling…"
"Everything's going my way!" A voice finished the lyrics.
Pierce smiled as she then opened the door to reveal two individuals, one being a girl, looking to be no older than 16, with brown hair wearing a black t-shirt and a black leather jacket, and the other being a boy, around the same age as the girl, with slick dark brown hair wearing a zipped up red and yellow jacket, similar to the colors of The Flash, and carrying a long black case. Beside them was a little girl, around the same age as Cindy, with blonde hair and a green t-shirt. The two teens also appeared to be holding each other's hands. They were none other than Nora Darhk and William Clayton, as well as William's little sister, Mia Queen.
"I knew you'd remember that one." Alice said as Nora and William stepped inside of the Barclay house.
"It's hard to forget." Nora said, smiling, thinking back to when she and Alice first met. After she, Ray Palmer, and Zari Tomaz had busted Nora out of Sumner Asylum, they took her to a Jitters cafe, where they quickly formed a friendship with each other. Singing that song reminds her so much of Ray and Zari… It was such a shame that her father killed them shortly after that moment.
"Good to see you both." Alice said as she and Nora hugged it out and then hugged William after that.
"How was you guys' trip?"
"Eh, boring. But what else would you expect from a 4 hour flight?" William shrugged. Alice giggled at his comment.
"Good see to you, Andy, Nica." Nora said, as she and Clayton shook the couple's hands.
"Cindy!" Mia yelled in excitement.
"Mia!" Cindy also yelled as the two children hugged each other. "I've missed you so much."
"I missed you too."
This was a sight that made the older kids smile. Because in a way, the little Barclay and Queen's bond reminded them so much of their friendship. Andy and Nica were also very endeared by their daughter's friendship with Mia.
"I'm glad you brought her with you." Alice commented.
"Yeah, she's been wanting to see Cindy for a while now. So we figured why not?" Will said. Alice smiled, until she realized something.
"Hey, where's Trixie?"
"Oh, she should be here right about…" Nora started while looking at her watch. And then another knock on the door was heard. "Now."
Pierce then walked up to the door and opened it again, this time revealing a young teenage girl who appeared to be Latina of some kind, and was wearing a purple jacket.
"Hey, I hope I'm not late to the party." Trixie Espinoza greeted as she stepped into the house.
"It's only like by… 2 minutes, but it should be no biggie." Nora said. Trixie scoffed at her joke.
"Not my fault LA is only five minutes further from Chicago than Star City." Trixie shrugged.
"Anyways, thank you all so much for agreeing to come here." Alice told her team.
"Hey, we're a family, Al." William told her. "It's what we do."
Alice got very teary eyed after he said that. But then Trixie cleared her throat before asking the one question on their mind.
"So… what are we going to do?"
"Well, same thing we always do… Party like it's 1999!" Alice declared.
"What does that mean?" Nora asked, raising her hand.
"We're gonna fuck 'em up. What else would it mean?"
"Alright, I'm down with that." William said, with Nora and Trixie nodding in agreement.
"Great." Pierce said "Now, let's see if we have everything we need." She then walked to a cabinet and grabbed a pistol.
"Of course, I have my lucky pistol, and…" she reached for her pocket and grabbed a pocket knife. "This bad motherfucker right here."
This pocket knife was special to her as it was given to her by Andy when he formally retired as a hero after the defeat of Damien Darhk.
"Now, as for you guys…" Alice said to her team. "Will, did you bring your bow and arrow?"
"Yup." William nodded as he unzipped his case and took out a large bow.
"You got your suit?"
Clayton unzipped his hoodie to reveal his Blue Arrow suit underneath.
"Nice." Alice said before turning to Trixie. "Trix, did you bring your demon dagger?"
"You bet I did." Espinoza replied, before she reached for her pocket and took out a peculiar looking dagger. "I always have this with me as a way to remember Maze."
Pierce smiled when she said that, remembering the demon known as Mazikeen, who was Lucifer's partner-in-crime for years, way before he came down to Earth and met Chloe Decker. One day after Lucifer and Trixie met and formed a bit of friendship, she was feeling a bit gloomy and ran away from home to find Lucifer as a way to cheer up, but bumped into Maze instead, and they became close friends ever since, even going as far as the demon girl moving in with the Deckers. As for Alice, she met Maze when she, Andy, and Nica went to Los Angeles during their mission to find out information about the demon, Mallus. That was also the same day she and Trixie met. So when it was revealed that after she went back to Hell and was killed by Damien Darhk, it saddened both Alice and Trixie. But that was enough looking back for now.
"And Nor, do you have your time stone?" Alice asked Nora. "We might need it in case things get hairy."
"Yeah." Darhk nodded, as she pulled a black stone out of her pocket. One that used to belong to her father.
"Perfect." Alice said, smiling, before turning to her aunt and uncle. "Uncle Andy, Aunt Nica, I love you guys. Cindy, you and Mia be good while we're gone."
"Come back soon." Cindy said, hugging her big cousin.
"Don't worry, I'll be home before you can say 'blueberry'" Pierce assured her. "In the meantime, you two are free to play in my room. Just don't make too much of a mess."
That made the children smile very mischievously at each other.
"Alright, team. Let's head on out."
With that, Alice and her friends walked out of the Barclay household and to Andy's car which Alice asked her uncle if she could borrow, and Andy said it was fine, ready to face the Ninth Circle…
As Dream and Lucienne made their way inside of the throne room, The Sandman continued to be shocked at how utterly destroyed the palace was. Had it really gotten this bad while he was gone?
"I kept a journal for a while..." Lucienne stated. "A chronicle of everything that happened in your absence… But slowly, the words began to fade… Sometime after you've left, all the books in the library became bound volumes of blank paper… The next day, the whole library was gone… I never found it."
"And yet you remained while others fled… The royal librarian of an abandoned kingdom." Morpheus commented.
"I never felt abandoned. I knew you'd return."
Dream stared at her for a good five seconds before looking toward the ground and observing all of the shattered pieces. And then after picking up one piece of glass, he formed a determined face. He knew he most likely would not be able to do what he was about to do, but the least he could do was try.
For what seemed like an eternity, Morpheus used what he assumed was left of his power to slowly lift the debris off of the ground. And just when it looked like he was going to fix the palace, he struggled to hold on… And then finally gave out and collapsed to the ground.
"You need rest, My Lord." Lucienne said. "And food and perhaps a bit more rest, and then you'll be back at full strength."
"No." Dream said, getting himself back up. "Not without my tools."
"Your tools?" Lucienne inquired.
"My sand, my helm, my ruby."
"Why? What happened to them?"
"They were taken from me… by my captors…" Dream explained, catching his breath. "And then taken from them. I know not where… Nor what I am without them."
With that, Dream then sat on the steps of his former throne, assessing the whole situation. Clearly without his tools, he felt he was… nothing. And without them, he was not able to restore the Kingdom back to its former glory. So now… what exactly could he do?
Well, an idea did pop in his head. The only thing he could possibly even think of. It may not be the best option, but it felt like the only way now.
"There is only one sure way to find my tools… I must summon the Three-In-One."
"Surely it hasn't come to that." Lucienne gasped.
"The Fates see past, present, and future, and they know all." Dream said.
"Yes, but they speak in riddles." Lucienne reminded him. "They never tell you what you want to know. Only things you should never know."
At that moment, a possible different option popped into the librarian's head.
"Perhaps just this once you could ask one of your siblings for help?" Lucienne suggested. "Destiny would certainly know where your tools are, or Desire."
"My siblings have their own realms to attend to, I have mine." Dream retorted. "We do not interfere in each other's affairs."
"You may not, but they've certainly been known to." Lucienne said. "Perhaps just this once, you could tell them what happened to you."
"I am quite sure they know what happened to me. And not one of them came to my aid."
Lucienne thought about that statement for a second. Her master did have a good point there. If his siblings did happen to know about his capture, then why exactly didn't they come to rescue? Very hard to argue that point. But still though… The Fates?
"The Fates aren't cheap, you know." she muttered. "They cost a bloody fortune."
"And at present, I cannot muster power enough to summon them, let alone pay that cost." Dream said sadly. But then… something popped in his head. "Unless… Is there anything of mine that remains in the Dreaming, or at least from The Dreaming? Something that I created?"
"You created all of this." Lucienne stated.
"No. Something that remains intact." Dream made himself more clear. "That might retain some fragment of my power within it. Something I can absorb."
"There is one thing…"
Now Playing: Constantine Main Theme
Los Angeles
"Bollocks!" John Constantine groaned, throwing his cards down.
One year ago, Rip Hunter had disbanded the Legends of Tomorrow, and as a way to celebrate the one year anniversary, Constantine decided to play poker with his friends Gibb Smith, Lucifer Morningstar, and three demons that they recently bumped into from Hell. Although it wasn't a casino, Morningstar made it so that they could play at his penthouse at his nightclub Lux.
"In what bloody timeline, or even parallel Earth, does a full house lose?"
"Too too bad, Constantine." One of the demons jeered. This one had red hair.
"You're getting old, Johnny!" Another demon taunted, this one was fat. And yes, four years after Damien Darhk's defeat, Constantine started gaining grays in his blonde hair.
"I mean, at least he's still pretty damn good looking for his age." Gibb said. "Can't really say the same about you."
"Shut up, you slut!" The fat demon shouted. "Why'd you even agree to play this game anyway?"
"Hey, I was hesitant at the idea myself at first, but Springwood's been kinda boring lately, so I figured I'd have a little bit of fun for a change."
"And where's your old buddy, Chandler?" The red haired demon asked John. "Did you kill him again?"
John glared daggers at him. A few months ago, Constantine had heard that his longtime friend Chas Chandler had spent his final soul saving his pregnant 16 year old daughter, Geraldine, from a drunk driver. Whenever someone mentioned that to him, it still felt like a stab in the heart. Because of that, John made sure to visit poor Geraldine every once in a blue moon, even looking after her infant daughter, who she named Trish, either whenever she was at school or her mother at work, just to remind himself that part of his old friend was still with us.
"Boys, boys, ya boring me!" The third demon, one with long hair and longer horns, chastised, while telekinetically dealing with cards. "Let's play, shall we?"
Constantine and Gibb then took a closer look at the demon. But little did they know, while Constantine betted all his chips in, he used magic to switch the cards around. Jackpot!
"Seems my luck's running as hot as me naughty bits!" The long haired demon wholeheartedly laughed. "But we're due to have some business with other friends of ours, so it's time to bust you out!"
"Copperfield is coming!" The red haired demon exclaimed. "Presto changeo! Woman in a box! In. a. box!"
"I take offense to that." Gibb retorted.
"He's classy, unlike you!" The fat demon added.
"What, are they seriously saying David Copperfield has real magic?" John muttered, surprised.
"He owns multiple islands and has even more money than me. What else do you think?" Lucifer asked with sarcasm, as the long haired demon betted all of his chips and money into the pot.
"No calls for me." The long haired demon announced. "And.. Awe, looks like you can't call my bet, Constantine. By my rules, you lose!"
John then placed his hand on the chips.
"I raise."
"Ha, with what? Your ratty soul ain't worth two bits!" The long haired demon laughed.
"Not two bits." The red haired demon repeated.
"I mean, he's got a point there." Lucifer agreed.
"Oh stuff it, I'm not betting my soul." Constantine told everyone. "I am betting the millhouse. And since I'm including everything inside, it looks like you're the one who can't call, Abnegazar."
The demons then huddled up.
"Well, whaddya say, boys?" Abnegazar asked.
"I like the action!" The fat demon beamed.
The Demons Three then linked their arms together and chanted to create a portal, pulling out a small chest.
"Here's my raise." Abnegazar declared. Constantine looked closely in the box and pulled out a large ruby. Looking even closer, he noticed the stone had a rather large crack down the middle, with a large silver… gone! What the Hell was this?
"Really? A tainted and cracked dreamstone?" John inquired. "Broken knick knacks? Are you mad?"
"The stone still works, even when it got corrupted by that crazy old man!" Abnegazar insisted. "Besides, you've got plenty of useless shite in that house. What's a few more gonna matter?"
"Oh, I'd be a poor sport if I were to say no to that fair wager." John gloated, dealing a hand and revealing he had three of a kind. The Demons Three then all laughed.
"Hell! Now that's gonna be a losing hand for the ages!" Abnegazar gloated before checking his own cards. "Now… Read them and-"
And then at that moment, the hands they had were changed back to normal.
Now Playing: "Constantine and Etrigan Battle the Demons Three" from Justice League Dark OST
"Do they have an eye doctor in Hell? I'd make an appointment if I was you." Constantine said smugly.
"Hmm. Classic Constantine." Gibb commented, also smirking. This made Abnegazar pissed.
"Oh, you cheated!"
Abnegazar then smashed the table, pushing everyone in the room back.
"Technically, we both cheated, mate." Constantine muttered. "I just did it better."
"Don't ruin the merchandise!" Lucifer yelled.
"I'll rip your bloody heart out!" Abnegazar yelled.
"Sorry, but I'm using it." Constantine said, grabbing an ice gun, hid behind Lucifer's counter and started shooting the demons, blinding them temporarily. But unfortunately, the gun was too much for John, causing him to freeze up.
"Oi, Gibbie! we've gots a situation here, luv!" Constantine called as the fat demon then cut the counter in half.
Smith nodded and quickly ran up towards the fat demon while John tried his best to run away from the other two, albeit while they were still tearing down Lucifer's place. She then proceeded to cup her hands and pull them to her side as a fire orb appeared on them. As she then threw her hands forward with the fire orb rushing at the demon… to her shock, he tanked it like it was nothing! The fat demon grinned and then slapped Gibb across from where Constantine was currently hiding.
"You do know this was not the time to do a bloody anime move, right?" Constantine asked.
"Shut up." Gibb said. Just then, Abnegazar sliced their hiding place in half, causing them to run further. While this was happening, Lucifer then noticed that among all of the damage was a framed picture of him and his late friend Mazikeen. The very last picture they took together before she went back to Hell and… died. Seeing this made the Devil fume in anger as eyes started glowing red.
"Oi, I'm gonna roast your nuts and feed 'em to you, Constantine!" Abnegazar declared, walking over to John and Gibb before he suddenly felt his arm being grabbed. He turned around to see Lucifer… except with his Devil face and burning red eyes.
"You are not welcomed here anymore!" Lucifer shouted, taking out one of Maze's old demon daggers and stabbed Abnegazar in the chest, proceeding to then cut his brothers' heads clean off.
"You will pay, Constantine!" The Demons Three declared. "Your soul will be ours!"
"Run along and fuck off back to Hell, ya prats." Constantine scoffed, checking the contents of the box. Glad that everything was still in place, he heaved it under his arm and began to walk away.
"Enfidite Infernum Atrini. Aparte Abnegazar y Rath y Ghast Inferme Et Meto!" Gibb chanted. A portal to Hell opened up, dragging the demons.
"Your ass is grass, Constantine!"
"And we're the lawnmower!"
With that, the portal closed. John smirked as he and Gibb fist bump it out before he created his own portal back to the millhouse, and tossed the box in, preparing for he and Gibb to walk in themselves.
"CONSTANTINE!" Lucifer shouted. The demonologist and his friend turned around, surprised to see the Devil with his eyes still burning and him holding a crying infant. "You two bring demons here, cheat at a game of cards, and wreck my house?! And on top of all of that, you've done woke up my daughter!"
"Hey, don't drag me into that sentence. It was all his idea." Gibb retorted.
"Oh, Thanks Gibb." Constantine said, giving her an annoyed glare.
"You were still in on the game!" Lucifer shot back.
"Okay firstly, they cheated first." Constantine pointed out. "Secondly, they did the wrecking."
"But you still provoked them!" Lucifer yelled. "You forced me to go Devil face and kill them! Did you ever even think of the consequences?!"
"Oh, I did. Weighed it against me being defiled and devoured, and thought 'Yeah, totally worth it.'"
"Sometimes you can be such a world class asshole." Lucifer growled. "GET THE FUCK OUT!"
Constantine shrugged, as he and Gibb walked through the portal before vanishing.
Lucifer calmed down a little bit, with his red eyes changing back to his normal brown eye color, as he looked at his baby daughter.
"There, there, Rory. Everything will be fine. It's just a…" Lucifer couldn't finish his sentence, as he choked up, almost ready to cry with Rory, but then held back his tears. A minute later, his fiancée, Chloe Decker, came up through the penthouse elevator.
"Lucifer, I just dropped Trixie off at the air-" Chloe said, before looking around the room. "Jesus, what happened here?"
"Oh, Chloe, please don't bring up Father's other son." Lucifer said, drained. "And what happened here was John. He and Gibb decided to play poker here, and the other players were sore losers."
Chloe sat next to him, as he handed her Rory.
"You're The Devil." Chloe stated bluntly. "Can't you just fix it?"
"Yes, but this picture has sentimental value for me." Lucifer explained, looking sadly towards the ground. "It was the last picture me and Maze took together, before she went back to Hell."
Suddenly, the elevator doors were heard dinging, which just made Lucifer annoyed at this point.
"Oh my Dad, who the bloody Hell is it now?"
Now Playing: "The Throne Room of the King of Dreams" from The Sandman Season 1 OST
Morningstar then stopped his complaining when he saw a man with pale skin, messy short hair, and a black robe. Beside him was a bald dark skinned woman with glasses and a librarian outfit of sorts. Lucifer knew these two, but it had been so long.
"Dream? Lucienne?" Lucifer asked. They both nodded.
"Greetings to you, Lucifer Morningstar." Lucienne said.
"Greetings indeed." Lucifer said as he and Decker walked up toward the two.
"You know these guys?" Chloe asked.
"Oh right. Detective, this is Dream of the Endless, also called The Sandman in folktales, or simply Morpheus, as well as his servant, Lucienne." Lucifer explained. "Dream, Lucienne, this is my partner-in-crime Chloe and our daughter Aurora."
Morpheus and Lucienne took a small peak at the little Nephilim baby Rory, who noticeably had stopped crying and was actually smiling at the very sight of Dream, which made Lucienne chuckle in amusement. Who knew the ruler of Hell could ever settle down with a mortal, let alone start a family with one? Who knew Angels could even sire children in the first place?
"Anyways, you don't… look well, Dream." Lucifer said. "Are you well? How about those siblings of yours? Destiny, Death, Despair, especially Desire, who's always been my favorite. No offen-"
"Lucifer, I'm afraid this is not a social call." Lucienne interrupted.
"Why, what happened?" Lucifer asked.
"Morningstar, the effects of my imprisonment on the waking world have gotten even worse. Humanity has been experiencing demonic visions and are now ending each other's lives." Dream informed, which shocked Lucifer as he knew about the Endless' past imprisonment and the effects it had on the Earth. But to hear that it had now come to this left the Devil speechless.
"Actually, I did see some reports earlier today of a massive spike in crime… committed by regular citizens who claim to all have seen demonic visions beforehand…" Decker realized. "This had something to do with your imprisonment?"
"That is what we believe." Lucienne said.
"So, why are you here then? What exactly do you need me for?" Lucifer asked. Morpheus then stepped a bit forward.
"For the sake of the Dreaming and for humanity, I must take back a gift I gave you long ago."
"Why, yes. Of course, Morpheus." Lucifer agreed, seeing how dire the situation truly was. He then turned his attention toward his precious piano that he was lucky did not get damaged during Constantine and Gibb's shenanigans with the Demons Three. This piano was very special to him as it was given to him by Dream long ago after he did Morpheus a favor, which made Morningstar have much more respect for The Sandman than initially. So then, when he retired from his throne and moved to Earth, he made sure to bring this piano with him as a way to remember his old friend. But alas, now that Dream was free and in need of help, all good things must come to an end.
With that, Lucifer then motioned Dream to do what he needed to do, and The Endless then stepped forward and stared at the piano for a good ten seconds. And with a heavy heart, Dream raised his right palm toward the piano, and everybody watched as the piano slowly faded into dust. And then at that moment, Dream stood tall, as if a miracle just happened.
"Come, Lucienne, Morningstar." Dream said, walking back towards the elevator with Lucienne following her master. "We have work to do."
"Chloe, watch over the place while I'm gone in case trouble occurs here." Lucifer instructed his partner, in which Decker nodded. "Rory, be a good girl for Mummy."
He then proceeded to give his daughter a kiss on the forehead, before leaving with Dream and Lucienne. And with that, the three were about to begin their mission.