ENTER

THUD.

Who can truly say what malice lurks in the hearts of man?
What manner of depravity stalks the long shadow cast by the human soul?
What is it that truly goes bump in the night?

Certainly not:

LUCIFER VLADIMIR TEPES DEATHUS DRAKUL DARKNESS, LORD OF LIGHT AND SHADOW,

who was banging vigorously on the Demon Hunter's Club door at four in the afternoon. Today, its unfortunate occupants came in threes. A clear mystical portent. The first, Aki Hitoyoshi, sat in the corner fiddling with cards, doing his best to pretend like none of this was happening. The second, Makoto Nagai, snored gently away in the late day's warmth as his drool pooled across the room's only table. And the third... Forced to approach the door, Haruhi Oohara, the only one with obligations that lay outside of this room.

This man was a trial that she would need to overcome, and her face once more slipped into the mask of the perfect student as she jerked the door open a safe few inches.

"Oh, it's Yam... Lucifer-san! How lovely to see you again," she chirped. As though we couldn't immediately tell it was you. "Did you get permission to enter the school this time?"

"Permission? PERMISSION?!" Immediately Lucifer spat, scorn dripping from his words. "Foolishness! Does the lion beg the antelope for passage? I tread where it pleases me, conveyed on feathers of the blackest pitch, and no authority shall supersede my dark might. B-but, speaking of..."

His neck craned, clearly trying to get a better look at the club room behind Haruhi through the crack in the door.

"I'm sorry to say, but if you're looking for Mari-senpai, she isn't here," she said politely. Though he said nothing, Haruhi could see Lucifer's shoulders immediately lose an invisible burden. "However, the other club members can help you out with whatever it is you need this time!"

An unspoken out: 'but not me.' As though she was only now coming to that realization, a shade of consternation washed over her honor-student face while Lucifer's steel-tipped toes tapped an impatient rhythm into the floor.

"Help? Ufufu. You are utterly mistaken, maiden of the stars, bereft of the slightest scrap of truth or comprehension! My dark—"

"Sorry, Aki-kun, but I just remembered I have someplace else to be! Club stuff." Hands clasped together with insincere apology. Haruhi turned, bowed her head to the student, and started to slide the door further open. "Can you take over from here?"

She didn't wait to hear a no. Before Aki could even think of replying at all, Haruhi had vanished, leaving him alone...

Or wishing he was.

Though he'd returned from his house arrest, the aftermath of his battle with the Betrayer could still be felt.

Notably in flashes of pain.

Notably in headaches.

Notably when Lucifer opened his mouth.

The strongest looked the weakest in the eyes. He failed to see a single thought rattling around in there.

Lucifer had dropped by the club several times before. Aki humored him at first, but... when someone was at once powerless and infuriatingly self-aggrandizing, eventually Aki's self consciousness at not speaking like a proper chuuni had to fade in Lucifer's presence.

Plus, Aki had definitely seen a deck of cards in Lucifer's pocket before, but no matter how often he asked he'd never play with him.

He stood, sighing. "Okay. If you're here about joining again, I've already—"

"Incorrect!" Aki winced. Would it kill him to lower the volume a little? "Your mortal mind fails to grasp the truth of my immutable purpose. This dark pact was formed from the rivulets of my blood-oath of centuries past. It would be akin to asking Beelzebub to 'join' one of the many legions already under his dark command! My eyes seek greater heights."

Ah... He's getting even further lost in his delusions. And can't you come up with an adjective other than "dark"?

"No," Lucifer grimaced, forming a trembling fist with one hand. "No, today, I bring a grim portent. Take heed, child of man. The fate of this pact... Nay, perhaps the fate of world lies at stake."

He posed.

"The waters of time churn and roil, turgid with potential at the approaching confluence! Chaos! Opportunity! They are one and the same, twin faces of Janus that smile upon the bold. Fear not the coming storm, but embrace it wholeheartedly and allow it to carry you to even more dizzying heights!

One hand shot up, extending an index finger to the sky above; the other pointed down at the lowest of hells.

"Far away, in a room dimmer than hell's blackest flames, the unheard cries of a wretched girl abandoned by all wash themselves in despair. Pitiful. Open thy ears! Become the instrument of my dark will, and feel the hands of a master player upon your strings. Were my soul still capable of it, I would weep for her, but I shan't, for my final, bloody tears are saved for this world's crescendo!"

Lucifer gesticulated wildly. Aren't you like twenty, man? Come on...

"Yet if this sin is allowed to take root, if not blessed with freedom or the final freedom of death, that crescendo may unfold at the very beginning of the performance... Before my unholy reign spreads across this fetid world, before even doom holds you in her tender grasp! Vengeance will be had! Revenge must be meted out and blood repaid with blood, for the law is the law and all must kneel before it!"

Aki could feel his gaze going fuzzy, finding a pleasant spot on the wall to drift on while Lucifer played out the performance of the century in front of him.

"Not even the lowliest worm laments its lot in life. Man alone has been blessed and cursed with its gift of reflection. Lash yourself to your mortal birthright, for it will be all that shall guide you! But if ever your body fails you, your mind turns upon itself, then you need only call my true name. Only when you have painted your path with every last drop of your blood will I repay it tenfold, and become mankind's savior!"

"Snzz..." Makoto's cheek squished further into the table.

God, Aki wished he was him right now.

"Cool. Listen, Yamada-san, I'm—"

No response. As though distracted by one of his fantasies, suddenly Lucifer was staring blankly at the ceiling like Aki wasn't even there.

"Yamada. Yamada-san?"

Still nothing.

Aki could feel something twinge in him. If this is just because...

"... Lu. Ci. Fer."

Slowly, Lucifer's hand started to roll along its wrist, the message plain. Keep it coming.

Aki grit his teeth.

"... Lucifer Vladimir..."

"... TEPES DEATHUS DRAKUL DARKNESS, LORD OF LIGHT AND SHADOW, BRINGER OF RUIN,"

he boomed, finishing for Aki.

Had he done something wrong in a past life? Surely the current Aki Hitoyoshi had done nothing to deserve this.

"... cool. Is that all? I wanted to do some playtesting at home."

Nope, nothing. No reaction. The same chuuni stare. Had to try something different.

"And you're not really allowed to be here, so... Think I'm supposed to call one of the teachers at a time like this."

Something flashed in Lucifer's crimson eyes. Comprehension? Self-awareness? Maybe this was—

"I SEE! CONCESSION ACCEPTED."

With a flourish and a whirl on his heel, the lanky chuuni suddenly took off down the hallway like a bat out of hell! With a long sigh, Aki slid the door shut, slumping back into his chair. Out of the corner of his eye he could see a black splotch streak across the school courtyard through the clubroom's window, pausing near the gate.

Not his problem any more. He'd... probably be fine.

Just then, Makoto stirred, smacking his lips as he peered through bleary eyes out the window.

"Just in time...? Ehe. This is always the best part..."

Two figures approached Lucifer's lanky silhouette. There was a brief exchange, many wild gestures on Lucifer's part, until...

---

THUD.

For some reason, Lucifer felt an inexplicable sense of deja-vu as the foot sank into his stomach like a leaden weight.

One of the high-school boys let out a high-pitched laugh, almost a giggle, as Lucifer doubled over in pain. His foot snapped out again, this time sidelining Lucifer's head. He fell.

Warmth.

He was bleeding.

The other boy finally spoke up. "Kinda feel bad about mugging a retard..."

"I don't. Take his wallet!"

Lucifer let out a low groan as he was pushed over, hands roughly digging through his pockets. Foolish children! All he had to do was summon an infinitesimal fraction of his infinite power, and they'd... They'd...!

"Shit, it's the cops! Go-go-go!"

The shadow looming over Lucifer retreated as two sets of footsteps faded into the distance. Head still spinning, Lucifer wobbled upwards one foot at a time, swaying in the afternoon breeze as maniacal laughter echoed across the courtyard.

"H... Ha-ha! That's right...! Flee before my awesome might! For I am..."

Ow. He posed, hand forming a claw over his eye, but his body regretted it immediately.

"LUCIFER VLADIMIR TEPES DEATHUS DRAKUL DARKNESS, LORD OF LIGHT AND SHADOW, BRINGER OF RUIN, SUBJUGATOR OF THE NINE HELLS. AND I SHALL TAKE YOU ALL ON...!"

clink

The sound of handcuffs rustling against a belt.

The man behind him was a police officer. Experience told Lucifer this, even before he spoke up, squinting at him through shades... and tapping the radio strapped to his chest.

"Sir, I'm going to have to ask you to come with me."

---