Post by Bene Elohim on Feb 8, 2024 14:01:43 GMT -8
The entire way back to the Linette Estate was a joyous occasion. The threat that Timothy Hunt presented to the reign of their Lord and God had been dealt with. Collectively, the group relaxed, enjoying the company of their respective small groups the evening of Unleashed before rising to leave early the next morning.
The flight back was simply more of the same as the group kept in their own little groups. Maiko Adachi, Ashley Kenyon, and Aerynn Maguire were huddled together, the Demons were all together, Sariel, the Twins, and Zachary Sears together, while Lucifer sat with Xaria on his lap, idly feeding her grapes.
When the plane landed, the group finds a small caravan of black SUV’s waiting for them with men and women wearing strange prison uniforms behind the wheel in silence waiting for them. They filed into the cars and were off.
That simple. As if it were a foreign dignitary arriving in the country with his wife and bodyguards.
The drive home was quiet as Lucifer stared out the window with Xaria toying her fingers across his leg. Truth be told, neither of them could wait to see the children. The three of them had grown on Lucifer in a way that he had never expected.
When they pulled up to the large driveway leading to the house, they found a large Hummer waiting for them nearest the house with the huge frame of the goliath Cronos leaning back on it. Ashley glanced over out the window at the large vehicle and rolled her eyes.
Ashley Kenyon: “How did I know that big fucker drove a Hummer?!”
Aerynn Maguire: “Ennithin smaller an’ he wouldnay fit.”
Maiko Adachi: “...Sounds like your kind of guy…”
Aerynn’s eyes shoot to Maiko as the cars slow to a stop. There was no anger in her eyes, only the mildest of amusements and surprise. Maiko had told a joke.
Maiko Adachi had told a joke.
There was a strange expression of happiness in Ashley’s eyes as she watched the pair smiling at one another. It was another hint that Maiko was getting better. That she was clawing her way out of the dark place those men had left her broken in.
That she was getting her Twoey back.
Zach, in his own SUV with the Twins, Sariel, and Ani, glanced at the clock on the dash which read 11:53 AM as he pushed the door open and slung his legs out. As he exited, he found his bag taken into the hands of a pair of black-robed Demons.
He glanced up at the big Cronos offering a smirk.
Zach: “Is about time you showed up, ja?”
Cronos: “I’m no longer welcome to venues hosting HYBRID Wrestling shows”
Ashley Kenyon: “Didn’t miss much, except Zach getting his ass beat by his baby sister.”
Zach gave Ashley the finger, and the black-haired tattooed woman actually blew him a kiss, much to the amusement of the Demon Knight. Maiko giggled and actually slapped Zach on the butt as she passed, and Zach smiled at the blue-haired woman.
Attitudes and morale had improved by a thousand-fold after getting a week to spend with loved ones and handling their business at Unleashed. Lucifer glanced around, watching the interaction of his Angels, Cronus, and the Demons and couldn’t help but smile.
Xaria flashed a warm smile and leaned up planting a kiss to the corner of his mouth.
Xaria: “You ready? I am sure they have missed us.”
Maiko Adachi: “...I promised Penny I would paint her face…”
Ashley slid her hand across the back of the blue-haired woman’s head, flashing her a warm smile of her own. Lucifer glanced up and saw Pénélope Linette, beaming a wide smile waving from the second-floor window. As Lucifer prepared to give some kind of answer, he glanced down at his phone and saw the name “WATCHER” and the time 11:57. He hit the answer button as he gave Penny a wave.
Lucifer: “Where in the nine hells are you?! You have been MIA for nearly a week.”
A voice from the other side, female and usually so gentle, answered back nearly out of breath.
Tamiel: “I CAN’T! THE CHILDREN! GET OUT, LUCIFER! RUN!”
Lucifer: “Calm down. Take a deep breath and talk, Tami, I can’t understand you.”
Tamiel: “RUN! THE HOUSE IS RIGGED!”
Lucifer: “The fuck do you mean the house is rigged?!”
Tamiel: “I’ve been working for Lord Apollyon and Sathanas! Lucifer, the house is going to blow at noon! GET OUT!”
A cold panic began to creep into the spine of the man called the Devil. His head came up in what felt like slow motion. Xaria’s own, wide and filled with fear, moved toward his own. The phone tumbled from his hand, showing the call and time of 11:58.
Lucifer: “CRONOS, THE DOOR!”
Everyone was completely alerted to the frightening situation. Lucifer and the angel nearest the door, Zachary Sears, took off at a sprint toward the house with the huge Cronos a half a step ahead of them. Before Xaria could move, Ashley wrapped her arms around her waist and lifted, yanking her back down the driveway away from the house.
Xaria Linette: “LET ME GO! MY KIDS! MY KIDS ARE IN THERE!”
Maiko Adachi: “Lucifer will get them! Go! GO NOW!”
Cronos never broke stride as he hit the door full force, throwing his shoulder into it. The doors didn’t open as much as they exploded, showering splinters across the doorway and hallway beyond but Lucifer and Zachary never broke stride.
Lucifer: “The boys are downstairs, second door on the left!”
Zachary Sears: “Vhere are you going!?”
Lucifer: “PENNY’S UPSTAIRS!”
There was genuine fear in Lucifer’s voice as he took the stairs two at a time, climbing out of view. Zachary ran through the house as Lucifer had told him, bursting through the door with a loud clatter. Within the game room, Jacques and Christian looked up, suddenly afraid until they saw Zach, but that fear came back when they saw the look on his face.
Zachary grabbed one of the kids in each arm and turned the way he had come. He never paused to even look for Lucifer as he passed the stairs and headed for the door. Outside of the door, he spotted the others gathered at the end of the driveway ducking behind the cars.
Running as if hell itself were on his heels, Zach made it to the cars and shoved the two boys into their mother’s arms.
Xaria Linette: “Christian! Jacques!”
Xaria cradled her twin sons to her... until she realized it was only the two of them and looked up with frantic eyes.
Xaria: “PENNY! Where is Pénélope!?”
Inside the house, as Zachary was grabbing the two boys, Lucifer slammed his shoulder into the door, throwing it open. It hit the wall with such force, the handle embedded itself into the wall, and Penny spun around, fear in her eyes suddenly at the panic on Michael’s face.
Penny: “...Mike…?”
Lucifer knew he didn’t have time. There was no time to grab her and head back the way he had come, so he took off full speed at her. When he reached her, he lifted her, holding her tight with both arms, shouting…
Lucifer: “Hold on tight and close your eyes, baby!”
The words no sooner left his mouth than she did as he asked and Lucifer hit the window at full speed, full force. The glass shattered, showering the air with shards that sliced into his arms, face, and neck as he shielded sweet little Penny with his own body.
The two fell hard, landing on the roof of the Hummer with a loud CRACK back-first with Lucifer holding Penny to his chest to protect her from the impact.
His back hurt and his ribs were bruised if not broken. He couldn’t breathe, but he rolled to the side, landing on his feet, and sprinted at the SUV’s parked near the street. He reached deeper than he imagined he could.
When he got halfway there, time seemed to slow down again as the air was sucked toward the house milliseconds before a massive concussion rocked the ground. The walls, doors, and windows of the house were the first things to go, blown outwards by the blast. The roof near the bedrooms on the right side of the house was torn upwards seconds before everything else exploded outwards as a fireball expanded with such force.
Car alarms began to go off on the street as debris rained down on the neighborhood. The two boys held their mom tightly, while Penny shouted for her mother and ran into her arms. Maiko, however, sucked in a deep breath as fear gripped her.
Maiko Adachi: “LUCIFER, NO!”
Their god was lying on his back, head turned to the side and wasn’t moving. The blast had thrown him into the side of the SUV at tremendous force, but he had used it to shield Penny, always protecting the innocent girl.
Sariel heard the woman she called Mother’s painful wail and her head shot over. Taking in the sight of him, she let out a strangled cry and began to crawl on all fours towards him full speed.
Sariel: “No, no, no, no, NO, NO, NO!!”
When the two women reached him and Sariel cradled his head in her lap, he let out a cough, his face covered in soot and the edges of his hair was burnt. It was a physical reflection of how close he was to the blast.
Sariel: “My Lord…”
Sariel cried with happiness, but Lucifer looked around, his voice weak as his tongue felt too thick in his mouth.
Lucifer: “...The children...?”
Maiko Adachi: “Safe, Lucifer. You and Zach got them out safely.”
Lucifer rolled his head to the side and let out a deep, happy breath before the darkness claimed him again. Ashley was there in an instant, standing over the pair and looking at the smoking ruin that had used to be Xaria’s home.
Ashley Kenyon: “Even with what he paid the cops, there is no way that this doesn’t bring the authorities here.”
She looked up sharply at the Demons and Cronus, motioning to them.
Ashley Kenyon: “All of you need to go. NOW. We all work together and can easily say we were coming here to plan the next steps for our TV show, but you? You cannot be here.”
Ani looked over at the gate of that once surrounded the property and saw the Hummer, now lying on its side leaning on it.
Ani: “They are going to run that plate, Ashley!”
Ashley Kenyon: “He works for the Pleasure Dome, an establishment that’s owned by good friends of mine. I needed to borrow it to haul camera equipment for the show. The big thing is fuckers dressed in cult robes and a giant aren’t here when the cops start asking fucking questions!”
Cronos gave a curt nod and took off with the Demons, heading down the street in the direction of more vehicles so they could escape. Aerynn crossed the asphalt to stand beside Ashley, her eyes upon on the smoldering ruin that had once been a house.
Aerynn Maguire: “Ye bae haerin’ Tami. This bae fuckin’ Anthony an’ Valdemar.”
Zachary Sears: “Zhey are trying to fucking kill us”
Ashley Kenyon: “This shit doesn’t go unanswered.”
Sariel: “They harmed my Lord. They. Will. All. DIE!”
Zachary Sears: “With extreme prejudice...”
With a little wiggle, Penny slipped away from her mom and her big brothers. She ran over to Lucifer’s unconscious form and fell on her knees. Leaning in, she gently placed her arms over him and rested her head against his chest.
Penny: “Mikey…?”
Christian and Jacques were quick to follow after their baby sister. Xaria didn’t hesitate, settling down behind Penny and wrapping her arms around her.
Xaria Linette: “Lu-- ...Michael is going to be okay, sweetie.”
With a sniffle, the little girl nodded and kept her head on Lucifer’s chest. Christian looked up to the destruction of their house, tears welling up in his chest.
Christian Linette: “...Mama…? What… how did this…”
Xaria didn’t have an answer for them. She didn’t know how to explain the reality that two horrible men wanted to kill them.
Jacques Linette: “...where are we going to go…?”
He took a step towards the fire, but a hand grabbed a hold of his left wrist. He looked back to see his mother, her eyes full of tears. She simply shook her head. The boy frowned, huddling together with his family in sadness and comfort.
The sirens began to wail in the distance, the flashing blue lights coming over the hill on the horizon as Police, Fire and paramedics responded to the explosion. The group fell silent, not willing to risk being overheard.
Faces, seconds before so covered in anger and blind hate turned to fear and terror as the masks of victims descended.
They would answer this horror.
Not the law.
The flight back was simply more of the same as the group kept in their own little groups. Maiko Adachi, Ashley Kenyon, and Aerynn Maguire were huddled together, the Demons were all together, Sariel, the Twins, and Zachary Sears together, while Lucifer sat with Xaria on his lap, idly feeding her grapes.
When the plane landed, the group finds a small caravan of black SUV’s waiting for them with men and women wearing strange prison uniforms behind the wheel in silence waiting for them. They filed into the cars and were off.
That simple. As if it were a foreign dignitary arriving in the country with his wife and bodyguards.
The drive home was quiet as Lucifer stared out the window with Xaria toying her fingers across his leg. Truth be told, neither of them could wait to see the children. The three of them had grown on Lucifer in a way that he had never expected.
When they pulled up to the large driveway leading to the house, they found a large Hummer waiting for them nearest the house with the huge frame of the goliath Cronos leaning back on it. Ashley glanced over out the window at the large vehicle and rolled her eyes.
Ashley Kenyon: “How did I know that big fucker drove a Hummer?!”
Aerynn Maguire: “Ennithin smaller an’ he wouldnay fit.”
Maiko Adachi: “...Sounds like your kind of guy…”
Aerynn’s eyes shoot to Maiko as the cars slow to a stop. There was no anger in her eyes, only the mildest of amusements and surprise. Maiko had told a joke.
Maiko Adachi had told a joke.
There was a strange expression of happiness in Ashley’s eyes as she watched the pair smiling at one another. It was another hint that Maiko was getting better. That she was clawing her way out of the dark place those men had left her broken in.
That she was getting her Twoey back.
Zach, in his own SUV with the Twins, Sariel, and Ani, glanced at the clock on the dash which read 11:53 AM as he pushed the door open and slung his legs out. As he exited, he found his bag taken into the hands of a pair of black-robed Demons.
He glanced up at the big Cronos offering a smirk.
Zach: “Is about time you showed up, ja?”
Cronos: “I’m no longer welcome to venues hosting HYBRID Wrestling shows”
Ashley Kenyon: “Didn’t miss much, except Zach getting his ass beat by his baby sister.”
Zach gave Ashley the finger, and the black-haired tattooed woman actually blew him a kiss, much to the amusement of the Demon Knight. Maiko giggled and actually slapped Zach on the butt as she passed, and Zach smiled at the blue-haired woman.
Attitudes and morale had improved by a thousand-fold after getting a week to spend with loved ones and handling their business at Unleashed. Lucifer glanced around, watching the interaction of his Angels, Cronus, and the Demons and couldn’t help but smile.
Xaria flashed a warm smile and leaned up planting a kiss to the corner of his mouth.
Xaria: “You ready? I am sure they have missed us.”
Maiko Adachi: “...I promised Penny I would paint her face…”
Ashley slid her hand across the back of the blue-haired woman’s head, flashing her a warm smile of her own. Lucifer glanced up and saw Pénélope Linette, beaming a wide smile waving from the second-floor window. As Lucifer prepared to give some kind of answer, he glanced down at his phone and saw the name “WATCHER” and the time 11:57. He hit the answer button as he gave Penny a wave.
Lucifer: “Where in the nine hells are you?! You have been MIA for nearly a week.”
A voice from the other side, female and usually so gentle, answered back nearly out of breath.
Tamiel: “I CAN’T! THE CHILDREN! GET OUT, LUCIFER! RUN!”
Lucifer: “Calm down. Take a deep breath and talk, Tami, I can’t understand you.”
Tamiel: “RUN! THE HOUSE IS RIGGED!”
Lucifer: “The fuck do you mean the house is rigged?!”
Tamiel: “I’ve been working for Lord Apollyon and Sathanas! Lucifer, the house is going to blow at noon! GET OUT!”
A cold panic began to creep into the spine of the man called the Devil. His head came up in what felt like slow motion. Xaria’s own, wide and filled with fear, moved toward his own. The phone tumbled from his hand, showing the call and time of 11:58.
Lucifer: “CRONOS, THE DOOR!”
Everyone was completely alerted to the frightening situation. Lucifer and the angel nearest the door, Zachary Sears, took off at a sprint toward the house with the huge Cronos a half a step ahead of them. Before Xaria could move, Ashley wrapped her arms around her waist and lifted, yanking her back down the driveway away from the house.
Xaria Linette: “LET ME GO! MY KIDS! MY KIDS ARE IN THERE!”
Maiko Adachi: “Lucifer will get them! Go! GO NOW!”
Cronos never broke stride as he hit the door full force, throwing his shoulder into it. The doors didn’t open as much as they exploded, showering splinters across the doorway and hallway beyond but Lucifer and Zachary never broke stride.
Lucifer: “The boys are downstairs, second door on the left!”
Zachary Sears: “Vhere are you going!?”
Lucifer: “PENNY’S UPSTAIRS!”
There was genuine fear in Lucifer’s voice as he took the stairs two at a time, climbing out of view. Zachary ran through the house as Lucifer had told him, bursting through the door with a loud clatter. Within the game room, Jacques and Christian looked up, suddenly afraid until they saw Zach, but that fear came back when they saw the look on his face.
Zachary grabbed one of the kids in each arm and turned the way he had come. He never paused to even look for Lucifer as he passed the stairs and headed for the door. Outside of the door, he spotted the others gathered at the end of the driveway ducking behind the cars.
Running as if hell itself were on his heels, Zach made it to the cars and shoved the two boys into their mother’s arms.
Xaria Linette: “Christian! Jacques!”
Xaria cradled her twin sons to her... until she realized it was only the two of them and looked up with frantic eyes.
Xaria: “PENNY! Where is Pénélope!?”
Inside the house, as Zachary was grabbing the two boys, Lucifer slammed his shoulder into the door, throwing it open. It hit the wall with such force, the handle embedded itself into the wall, and Penny spun around, fear in her eyes suddenly at the panic on Michael’s face.
Penny: “...Mike…?”
Lucifer knew he didn’t have time. There was no time to grab her and head back the way he had come, so he took off full speed at her. When he reached her, he lifted her, holding her tight with both arms, shouting…
Lucifer: “Hold on tight and close your eyes, baby!”
The words no sooner left his mouth than she did as he asked and Lucifer hit the window at full speed, full force. The glass shattered, showering the air with shards that sliced into his arms, face, and neck as he shielded sweet little Penny with his own body.
The two fell hard, landing on the roof of the Hummer with a loud CRACK back-first with Lucifer holding Penny to his chest to protect her from the impact.
His back hurt and his ribs were bruised if not broken. He couldn’t breathe, but he rolled to the side, landing on his feet, and sprinted at the SUV’s parked near the street. He reached deeper than he imagined he could.
When he got halfway there, time seemed to slow down again as the air was sucked toward the house milliseconds before a massive concussion rocked the ground. The walls, doors, and windows of the house were the first things to go, blown outwards by the blast. The roof near the bedrooms on the right side of the house was torn upwards seconds before everything else exploded outwards as a fireball expanded with such force.
Car alarms began to go off on the street as debris rained down on the neighborhood. The two boys held their mom tightly, while Penny shouted for her mother and ran into her arms. Maiko, however, sucked in a deep breath as fear gripped her.
Maiko Adachi: “LUCIFER, NO!”
Their god was lying on his back, head turned to the side and wasn’t moving. The blast had thrown him into the side of the SUV at tremendous force, but he had used it to shield Penny, always protecting the innocent girl.
Sariel heard the woman she called Mother’s painful wail and her head shot over. Taking in the sight of him, she let out a strangled cry and began to crawl on all fours towards him full speed.
Sariel: “No, no, no, no, NO, NO, NO!!”
When the two women reached him and Sariel cradled his head in her lap, he let out a cough, his face covered in soot and the edges of his hair was burnt. It was a physical reflection of how close he was to the blast.
Sariel: “My Lord…”
Sariel cried with happiness, but Lucifer looked around, his voice weak as his tongue felt too thick in his mouth.
Lucifer: “...The children...?”
Maiko Adachi: “Safe, Lucifer. You and Zach got them out safely.”
Lucifer rolled his head to the side and let out a deep, happy breath before the darkness claimed him again. Ashley was there in an instant, standing over the pair and looking at the smoking ruin that had used to be Xaria’s home.
Ashley Kenyon: “Even with what he paid the cops, there is no way that this doesn’t bring the authorities here.”
She looked up sharply at the Demons and Cronus, motioning to them.
Ashley Kenyon: “All of you need to go. NOW. We all work together and can easily say we were coming here to plan the next steps for our TV show, but you? You cannot be here.”
Ani looked over at the gate of that once surrounded the property and saw the Hummer, now lying on its side leaning on it.
Ani: “They are going to run that plate, Ashley!”
Ashley Kenyon: “He works for the Pleasure Dome, an establishment that’s owned by good friends of mine. I needed to borrow it to haul camera equipment for the show. The big thing is fuckers dressed in cult robes and a giant aren’t here when the cops start asking fucking questions!”
Cronos gave a curt nod and took off with the Demons, heading down the street in the direction of more vehicles so they could escape. Aerynn crossed the asphalt to stand beside Ashley, her eyes upon on the smoldering ruin that had once been a house.
Aerynn Maguire: “Ye bae haerin’ Tami. This bae fuckin’ Anthony an’ Valdemar.”
Zachary Sears: “Zhey are trying to fucking kill us”
Ashley Kenyon: “This shit doesn’t go unanswered.”
Sariel: “They harmed my Lord. They. Will. All. DIE!”
Zachary Sears: “With extreme prejudice...”
With a little wiggle, Penny slipped away from her mom and her big brothers. She ran over to Lucifer’s unconscious form and fell on her knees. Leaning in, she gently placed her arms over him and rested her head against his chest.
Penny: “Mikey…?”
Christian and Jacques were quick to follow after their baby sister. Xaria didn’t hesitate, settling down behind Penny and wrapping her arms around her.
Xaria Linette: “Lu-- ...Michael is going to be okay, sweetie.”
With a sniffle, the little girl nodded and kept her head on Lucifer’s chest. Christian looked up to the destruction of their house, tears welling up in his chest.
Christian Linette: “...Mama…? What… how did this…”
Xaria didn’t have an answer for them. She didn’t know how to explain the reality that two horrible men wanted to kill them.
Jacques Linette: “...where are we going to go…?”
He took a step towards the fire, but a hand grabbed a hold of his left wrist. He looked back to see his mother, her eyes full of tears. She simply shook her head. The boy frowned, huddling together with his family in sadness and comfort.
The sirens began to wail in the distance, the flashing blue lights coming over the hill on the horizon as Police, Fire and paramedics responded to the explosion. The group fell silent, not willing to risk being overheard.
Faces, seconds before so covered in anger and blind hate turned to fear and terror as the masks of victims descended.
They would answer this horror.
Not the law.
