Lucifer, Chloe, Amenadiel and Linda were the first back in the Penthouse. Baby Charlie safely back in his mother's arms. The rebellious Demons driven back to Hell. Silently, everyone found a spot in the sitting area. With Lucifer as usual behind the bar busy with drinks. He tried to quiet his thoughts. It wasn't every day that the King of Hell struggled to control the trembling of his hands. Since his fall, since the day he had ascended the Throne in Hell, Lucifer had always been the one in control of everything. Who was in charge of events in Hell. Having had everything under his thumb for millions of years, according to the time table in Hell which ran much faster than that on Earth, this was a traumatic experience for him. Suddenly it had seemed like he had lost all control over his Demons only to have him watch people he cared deeply about being in danger. In the back of his mind something had been nagging at him for some time, telling him that something was seriously wrong, with him, but he couldn't put his finger on it, not yet. He felt that something was affecting his thinking, his actions, his emotions, and he had no idea what it might be, no control over it. The ping of the elevator announced the last two participants in the final, umpteenth act, in the seemingly endless Heavenly drama. Eve and Mazikeen sat down with the rest of the group. Silent and lost in thought while Lucifer handed out generously filled glasses.
He was just about to open his mouth when they were startled by very slow hand clapping. Seemingly very casually, a young man was leaning against the door frame of the double glass doors that gave access to the rooftop terrace. As he spoke, no one could doubt that this newcomer was anything but happy about what had happened.
"Has everyone gone fucking crazy now or are you guys just retarded?"
Suppressed anger almost seeped out of the young man's pores. Lucifer was just about to make one of his cutting remarks but the newcomer raised a single finger and said icily:
"I don't recommend it Lucifer, not now! I am so not in the mood for your adolescent sense of humor!"
Lucifer through the millennia facing Amenadiel had never lost his sarcasm and cool. Faced with this young man, he wisely decided on a different tactic.
"Still vodka, tomato juice and ice chips for you?"
Chloe, Linda, Eve and Amenadiel looked at the scene between the two not understanding. Never before had they seen anyone who could silence Lucifer with a single finger and a few words. The young man nodded to Lucifer and accepted his glass. He turned and looked at the rest of those present one by one with a steely gaze. Everyone could see in his extraordinarily bright green eyes that this whole situation and everyone present irritated him beyond measure. His whole personality pointedly radiated authority. The young man lowered himself onto one of the bar stools. The ice in his eyes was just about terrifying. Amenadiel recovered from his initial shock and responded. It wasn't every day that he was confronted by a supernatural being he didn't even suspect existed. He stood up and asked wary:
"Who and what the hell are you?"
Mazikeen contorted her face knowing very well what was coming. Lucifer sighed:
"And I just renovated and bought a new piano, Pfff..."
The newcomer looked deep into the Angel's eyes. Took a sip of his vodka mix, slowly lit a cigarette without losing eye contact. Clasping the cigarette between two fingers, he pointed to God's favorite Angel and spoke softly:
"I suggest you sit obediently and wait your turn Amenadiel. That you take a moment or two to reflect on your sins. At least those of the last few years because we really don't have time for all the sins you have committed. Of everyone present here, you are the main person responsible for this whole shit show!"
The Angel wanted to make a rebuttal but was brutally cut off.
"Sit down or I'll make you sit down!"
A smile appeared on Amenadiel's face. He took a few steps toward the young man and crossed his arms in front of his chest. The newcomer sighed deeply, shook his head in a weary gesture and muttered softly:
"Angels and Demons, most of them really aren't the brightest..."
What followed happened in an instant and its brutality shocked everyone. The young man put his cigarette between his lips and then it happened. In a flash he jumped off his barstool. A blow to Amenadiel's chest was all it took to send him flying across the room. Right through Lucifer's grand piano that shattered into countless pieces. The Angel came to a stop against the wall where he left a perfect imprint of his back and the back of his head. The young man had bridged the distance between him and Amenadiel in an instant. He grabbed the Angel by the throat and effortlessly lifted him off the ground. Removed the cigarette from his mouth that had not moved a millimeter during the brutal attack, blew the smoke in the Angel's face and said:
"Maybe I'm Dark fucking Father, Tinkerbell! When I say sit down you do so. Is better for your health."
Chloe jumped straight to say something but the stranger put a finger to his lips after which she could not utter a word.
"Detective Decker, your turn will come soon enough, so sit down!"
Lucifer saw how his detective was manipulated and he snapped at the young man:
"Don't do that!"
The red glow, the Hellfire had become visible in his eyes. Lucifer did not get more than a bored look from the newcomer:
"Or what? What are you going to do? Put those traffic lights away Lucifer or have you forgotten that I have my own light show and more than one?"
To add force to his words, his eyes changed from bright green to the same Hellfire of Lucifer, then to a golden glow and finally the deep darkness of space and in that darkness it seemed as if entire galaxies were visible with all possible colors.
"If everyone would just calmly sit back down and shut up for a little while longer? More than enough will be said and there will be more than enough time to ask questions. Trust me this will be a very thorough Heavenly family therapy."
Slowly the red glow disappeared from Lucifer's eyes. He grabbed his glass and two more bottles and set them down on the coffee table. He gently took Chloe by the hand and had her take a seat on the Italian leather. When Chloe was seated Lucifer wanted to slide closer to her but she kept somewhat of a distance from him. Not too much that it would be noticeable but the newcomer had picked up on it, nonetheless. Amenadiel with eyes squeezed together and jaws pressed hard together very reluctantly took his place next to Linda again. He had not yet recovered from the shock that there existed a being who had wiped the floor with him with such ease. Even during sparing matches in Heaven, Michael Heaven's most formidable warrior and God's general, needed more time to beat him down. The six looked at the newcomer and their thoughts stormed into their eyes. Linda, Eve, Chloe and Amenadiel did not understand anything at all because they had never seen this figure before. Lucifer and Mazikeen knew him but they had never seen him so utterly pissed off. The fact that he was in the same room as Lucifer predicted absolutely nothing good. Millennia ago, the ground rules had been laid. They would never dwell on Earth at the same time, and if nothing else, they would never meet on Earth. A rule that had stood for six thousand years was now being broken. What the others, who did not know him, saw absolutely did not match what they felt when they looked at him. The power and authority he emanated simply did not match the image. A young man between 20 and 30, more early twenties but he had one of those faces that made it difficult to estimate his age, blond wild curls down to his shoulders, a very short blond ring beard, the greenest eyes they had ever seen, sun tanned, about six feet tall, athletically built and therefore probably well-muscled, all together extremely attractive. But this image was disturbed by a feeling that this was not someone to be underestimated. That this could be a fatal mistake. He pointedly radiated something of a predator, an extremely dangerous predator. The newcomer sat back on his bar stool so that the others could look at him head-on.
"I don't like repeating myself so I am going to save the introduction for a while until we are complete. After all, I'm expecting some reinforcements and there are some more people on the way. Tonight is the moment of truth, full disclosure and no more fucking secrets!"
He knocked back the rest of his drink the moment the ping of the elevator resounded. Nonchalantly, Patrick the head bartender of Lux stepped into the penthouse. Ignoring the rest of those present, including his boss Lucifer, he turned to the newcomer:
"Behind the bar, making drinks, refilling them and acting like there is nothing wrong and this is a perfectly normal night?"
"Absolutely Patrick and thank you for your help."
"No problem boss"
With those three words Patrick disappeared behind the bar. His only reaction when he saw the destroyed piano was an eyebrow raised maybe an inch. This event left the six of them even more confused than they already were. The young man lit another cigarette and looked at Lucifer sternly:
"Before you have to ask Lucifer, yes miss Lopez, detective Espinoza and Beatrice are on their way."
Chloe wanted to jump to her feet and object but was stopped by Lucifer who asked:
"Do you think this is a good idea? People don't usually react very well when confronted with evidence of the supernatural."
A disdainful smile appeared on the newcomer's face:
"Oh, you mean the reaction of Detective Decker and Doctor Martin. Sometimes I absolutely don't know why Godfry ever christened you the Lightbringer because you really aren't the brightest bulb in the lamp store."
"Godfry?"
Asked Linda confused.
The young man smiled at her and said:
"That's what I call God, the father of those two jerks over there. I can't get it past my lips for ages to call him God. Why not? That will become clear tonight."
He shifted his attention back to Lucifer and, to a lesser extent, Chloe as if she were an unimportant afterthought:
"You hate it when people say that the Devil made them do something or that you are the cause of all evil on Earth. Then why do you make the same mistake by thinking that I am responsible for their coming? How many times over the millennia did I try to get it into that damn head of yours that assumption is the mother of all fuck ups? Let's see if we can't find another explanation, hmmm? The LAPD and FBI are pulling their hair out right now and are running in circles like headless chickens. They are sitting with dozens of corpses in an abandoned old nightclub. The corpses have so many different causes of death that it just can't be explained what they're doing there because they couldn't possibly all have been killed there at the same time. There are vague statements from sporadic witnesses who might have seen something. The person descriptions and the descriptions of the vehicles possibly involved are very much suspect to you. Mainly that of a woman dressed entirely in white walking around with a baby and a classic black sports car. Miss Lopez and Detective Espinoza both work for the LAPD although they are not on duty tonight they will have long since received a message to stand by for possible support as this is a literal truckload of bodies. The communications app on their cell phones will have just about exploded with messages about the bizarre case. And none of you have so far bothered to check the million messages on your mobiles. No Beatrice is with Daniel this night so everything will be okay and all this will be hidden under the rug. Are you guys really so stupid that you think Daniel and Ella wouldn't come here in such a situation? When they absolutely can't reach you?"
Both Chloe and Lucifer realized that the arrival of the three was entirely their own fault. In all the frenzy to save Baby Charlie from the Demons, they had completely lost sight of Ella, Daniel and Beatrice.
"And as far as cell phones are concerned idiot..."
Said the young man testily to Lucifer:
"What was the deal we made again when you supposedly retired as the King of Hell and moved to sunny LA?"
Lucifer knew he was in real trouble now looked down at his shoes.
"The deal was, Lucifer, that if there were problems with some Demons, especially those who opposed the reforms, and they manifested themselves on Earth that you would call our friends in London. Because they are the only ones on Earth who always know exactly where to find me. This whole shitshow could have been swept off the table shortly after that wretched mistake by Eve to summon Dromos into Kinley's dead body. But no, the King had everything under control, told Dromos that he wasn't coming back as king and that Dromos should just go back to hell and play nicely and if that didn't happen the King would take care of it. But instead of doing what you've done for millennia and wiping Dromos out of existence you thought Dromos would neatly go back to Hell. Result a fuck fest of a rebellion in the lower regions of Hell. But don't worry Your Majesty the rebellion has been stomped into the ground, sometimes literally. Restoring full peace will take some more time though but Belios and Bearus have the situation thoroughly under control again."
Before Lucifer could say anything to that, another person appeared out of nowhere in the penthouse. This figure completely ignored the six in the sitting area. As Lucifer looked at him with wide eyes and wide open mouth, the latter turned to the young man with wildly moving arms:
"What's up man. That burst of energy of yours rocked the whole Silver City, the old man almost had a stroke, not to mention a whole bunch of terrified Angels and Raffa running from one Angel to the other to patch them up a bit. Not cool boss to lose your cool like that."
With a broad smile, the young man said:
"Ladies and gentlemen the Archangel Gabriel. God's messenger and oh so elegant in his language."
He put a hand on Gabriel's shoulder and said:
"Sorry Gabe, this was not supposed to happen. It's the fault of Larry, Moe and Curly over there."
As he pointed at Lucifer, Amenadiel and Mazikeen. Gabriel closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose as if he felt a severe headache coming on.
"Oh, what a surprise. What have those three idiots done now?"
"Nothing much. Because of their idiotic behavior, an uprising has broken out in Hell and dozens of Demons have appeared on Earth. As a result, at best they have caused Los Angeles to be wiped off the map. At worst, Godfry has completely had it with Lucifer and will implode the entire universe to start over."
Gabriel threw his hands in the air as if giving up and sat down on a barstool:
"Tequila Patrick, and keep the bottles coming please."
"Of course Gabe, nothing but Mr. Morningstar's best bottles for you."