Haven end run preplay part 2: the bloodening

[seaoftroubles]

• Duke gets his trouble triggered by Octavia in a kitchen accident and our crew discover that post-trouble bomb, it is EVEN MORE DIRE as he goes black-eyed and can't stop himself from trying to stalk whoever set him off
• Lucifer and Octavia stop Duke from doing anything bad (has Octavia make him bleed maybe so he can use his massive power supply to knock Duke tf out?). Duke recovers and says "fuck this, we need to end it" and suggests they go back to Haven one final time to figure out how to end the troubles forever.
• They arrive in Haven and Duke IMMEDIATELY goes into convulsions and vanishes in a burst of green smoke. OOPS.
• Lucifer and Octavia find Gloria (and Dwight maybe? And/or Nathan?), find out about the "no marks killer" who has been going around killing troubled folks -- and all the troubles that are going off like crazy without Audrey around to talk them down. I imagine there's some "okay, that sucks but WHERE THE FUCK IS OUR BOYFRIEND????"
• Duke is spotted around town murking folks, but they can't quite catch him
  I may or may not write a scene of Duke and Croatoan while Duke is under his control
• Trap set for Duke? Not at the police station. Gloria's house or the hospital/morgue, maybe, since she's coronering. Duke takes the bait, Lucifer pounces again to keep him from, getting away. After a false start or two during which Croat!Duke is DEEPLY UPSETTINGLY CREEPY AT THEM, Lucifer and Octavia manage to talk him around. (Possibly using Duke's new joy at being the subbiest sub who ever subbed!)
• Duke starts leaking troubles when Croatoan realizes he's broken his hold. He panics, and Octavia or Lucifer cover his eyes to keep the troubles in. Gloria goes "I'll get some drugs!" and scoots to find something to drug Duke with if need be (and gets out of harms way ;D). Duke takes over the eye-covering -- and goes into muscle contractions as Croat tries pull aether out by another route. This doesn't last long before Croatoan APPEARS DRAMATICALLY IN THE DOOR looking like a gremlin cosplaying as a noir detective. Duke can't even see him -- he's covering his eyes -- but goes "FUCK THIS SHIT" and starts launching the troubles he still has control over at the guy. I really like the idea that at least one of them is radioactive. Maybe Croat!Duke killed the lady from the nonsense trouble episode and got her "shooting microwaves" power. Lucifer and Octavia also fight. Eventually Croat EXPLODES (or . . . dissolves . . . or otherwise dies grotesquely) and our three spend a moment just panting for breath and looking at each other, all "omg, is that it? did we win?"
• Duke collapses dead. Weeping and gnashing of teeth. Lucifer gods the fuck out, wiping out the troubles in a giant aether-nado, and resurrects Duke, who's spent maybe 30 seconds dead -- but that's [mumble mumble] amount of time in Hell so he's still a littttttle bit fucked.
• They go home and have more angsty h/c times yay!
• (Also probably Octavia checks on Gloria first and maybe convinces her to retire to Baltimore XP)

Comments

Re: Trap! Confrontation! Battle! Deeeeath!

[betterthanaplan]

Duke was making a mess of Lucifer's sleeve with one hand, and trying his best to squeeze Octavia's back with the other.

"It's me," he said. "It's me. I'm trying."

To stay. To not drown in the buzz of troubles again.

"There's a man," he said quickly, in case he didn't have long. "Total creep, he's -- he's in charge of the troubles. He's making me collect them, but I don't -- I want to stay."

Re: Trap! Confrontation! Battle! Deeeeath!

[my_own_advocate]

There's a man. He's making me.

"... Well, let's go find him and rough him up," Lucifer snapped, though he didn't stop hanging on to Duke even remotely. "Cut his balls off and bury him in the ocean."

Something shifted in his tone, again. Something inhuman.

Re: Trap! Confrontation! Battle! Deeeeath!

[okteiviakom]

Octavia didn't disagree with the sentiment (or the weird feeling in her spine when she heard the tone), but like Duke, she was concerned they wouldn't have long to talk.

"Do we know where?"

Not 'do you'. They were an item, a unit, one thing.

Re: Trap! Confrontation! Battle! Deeeeath!

[betterthanaplan]

Duke nodded quickly, still hanging onto them both like lifelines. (They were, they were, they'd brought him back to himself, he'd never be able to thank them enough.)

"A farm house, by the sea. He possessed Dave in the lighthouse, he used him to get troubles but they're better through me, whatever Mara did made them better." He was babbling. He could feel the troubles bubbling under his skin, the pressure of what felt like a marble trying to force its way out his tear ducts, and terror welled at what that might mean --

A blob of black, like living ink, slipped from his eyelid and darted away through the air.

"No!"

Re: Trap! Confrontation! Battle! Deeeeath!

[my_own_advocate]

Lucifer's hand shot up immediately. Reflex? Muscle memory, from that time Duke had exploded?

Whatever it was, he was reaching for that blob without a thought.

Re: Trap! Confrontation! Battle! Deeeeath!

[okteiviakom]

The way Octavia's hand moved, reaching up, was pure reflex.

The way she yanked her hand back before it got too far? Maybe that was self-preservation.

Or faith in Lucifer.

Re: Trap! Confrontation! Battle! Deeeeath!

[betterthanaplan]

Duke could barely breathe. That was a trouble. He could feel the gremlin man tugging on the others, trying to pull them free too.

It was never going to end. This was going to go on forever. The gremlin man would drain him dry and torture Haven with more troubles and send Duke after them again and again and again. Until Duke was as dead as the rest of the Crockers.

For a moment, just a moment, Duke knew that was the answer. When Crocker’s died their troubles went too. The gremlin man couldn’t pull them from a corpse. All Duke had to do was die. As bloodlessly as possible.

No.

He let go of Lucifer and Octavia to clamp his hands over his eyes. As the next trouble slipped out, he felt it slip right back in, absorbed through his skin. The gremlin man pulled harder, the troubles trying to squirm free around Duke’s fingers, and he pressed his hands harder against his face, curling in against Lucifer and hissing through his teeth as he held himself together, troubles and all.

Re: Trap! Confrontation! Battle! Deeeeath!

[my_own_advocate]

"Duke," Lucifer managed, strained, desperation in his voice. As they had once before, his wings unfurled almost by instinct, attempting somehow to encase not just them but also Octavia.

Why couldn't he protect them from all of this? Why did he always feel so bloody useless?

Re: Trap! Confrontation! Battle! Deeeeath!

[okteiviakom]

At least he had something. Octavia had felt more capable facing angels, or raising her voice at God, than she did right here. The best she could do was hastily duck inside the circle of Lucifer's wings.

Best she could do was grab onto Duke, and cling to him, as if her presence would help.

"Jaka, you're stronger than it." A whisper, and just as desperate. "Ai swega klin."

Re: Trap! Confrontation! Battle! Deeeeath!

[betterthanaplan]

Duke nodded, though his whole body was shaking as he fought to keep his fingers locked together over his eyes. The troubles would find any possible crack to slip through.

“He can’t have them. He can’t.”

“Well!” A new voice said, booming cheerfully through the warehouse. “That’s disappointing.”

The gremlin man stood in the doorway, shaking his head. His fingertips glimmered as he rubbed them together, pulling at the aether in Duke.

“Though I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised. Everything about this Crocker is a disappointment.”

Re: Trap! Confrontation! Battle! Deeeeath!

[my_own_advocate]

"I would call that a ringing endorsement," Lucifer growled, looking up to catch any sight of the interloper at all. "So you're the grand puppet master, are you? I'm not impressed."

His eyes flashed red.

Re: Trap! Confrontation! Battle! Deeeeath!

[okteiviakom]

Octavia had let go of Duke the second she'd heard he voice, whipping around to face the door, driven by instinct, the expression on her face hardening instantly.

Rage had always been easy. And nothing brought it forth like a target.

She grabbed something heavy off the nearest display, and unceremoniously threw it at the man's head. (Reckless, yes. But also an attempt to distract, to maybe steal Duke a second or two without whatever was being done to him.)

Re: Trap! Confrontation! Battle! Deeeeath!

[betterthanaplan]

The gremlin man scoffed, tilting his head to dodge the thrown object -- an old, unplugged banker's lamp. The green glass shade shattered on the floor behind him.

He did stop rubbing his fingers together though. Duke sucked in a soft, relieved breath as his troubles stopped forcing their way out his tear ducts.

"Now that's interesting," the gremlin man said, taking a few steps closer and peering at Lucifer's eyes. "Is that one of my daughter's? She was always so creative with her troubles."

Duke swallowed, daring to pull one hand away from his eyes, the other shifting to cover them both, just in case. Which troubles did he still have? And what would happen if he used them on the gremlin man? That was why he wanted them, after all. Because they could actually affect people like him.

Jody shot microwaves. Focused enough to kill. Octavia was naturally resistant to radiation, and Lucifer was a celestial. So they'd be okay, even if he couldn't control them well enough.

"Keep him talking," he said, low enough hopefully only his partners would hear. "I have an idea."

Re: Trap! Confrontation! Battle! Deeeeath!

[my_own_advocate]

Lucifer's eyes narrowed. "Hardly," he said. "I am something far beyond your daughter's purview. Let alone yours."

He'd heard Duke, yes. And so he took a few steps backwards.

"In fact, it's an insult to hear you even insinuate she has anything to do with me."

Re: Trap! Confrontation! Battle! Deeeeath!

[okteiviakom]

Octavia, for her part, grabbed something else off a shelf, as if she was planning another throw.

Making sure the man had no reason to believe there was any other plan at play.

Re: Trap! Confrontation! Battle! Deeeeath!

[betterthanaplan]

"You're a worm," the gremlin man said flatly. "You're all worms. You should be honored to be graced with the presence of one so far above you."

Duke bit into the meat at the base of his thumb, lacking another way to bleed. He focused on Jody's trouble as he tipped his hand down and let a drop of blood fall to the floor.

The gremlin man looked at Octavia readying another throw and scoffed. "Persistent worms, I'll give you that." He focused one of the troubles he'd gathered himself on her, heating the object -- the bust of some old Havenite -- to white hot in less than a second.

Re: Trap! Confrontation! Battle! Deeeeath!

[my_own_advocate]

When Lucifer spoke again, there was something unearthly in his tone - a growl, as if it came down from the very bowels of the Hell he had once governed. "I am Lucifer Morningstar," he snarled, starting towards the man, "And if you get anywhere near Octavia or Duke again I will rend you limb from limb and cast you into boiling lava one piece at a time!"

Plan? Duke had a plan?

He'd forgotten, with rage coursing through his veins.

Re: Trap! Confrontation! Battle! Deeeeath!

[okteiviakom]

Octavia could feel the tone in her spine, but she didn't hear it in any way that actually counted. Because suddenly, her hand burned like it was on fire.

The bust fell from her grip with a muted, strangled yelp, and thunked onto the floor.

Re: Trap! Confrontation! Battle! Deeeeath!

[betterthanaplan]

"You think you're the Devil! Oh, that's precious," the gremlin man said. His own tone took on a bottomless note, the same that could be heard occasionally under Duke's voice when he was being controlled by the aether. "I've also been known by that name. And Satan, Beezlebub, 'evil incarnate'. I rather like the name the white settlers gave me when they reached this land." He spread his hands like a showman. "Croatoan."

"Fuck you," Duke hissed. He spun on his heel, still keeping low, and thrust out his bitten hand in the direction of this 'Croatoan's' voice, his other hand still pressed over his eyes. "You racist, pretentious piece of shit." And fired Jody's trouble at him, as focused and hot a beam of microwaves as he could produce, right at the man's head.

If they ended up hurting Lucifer a bit because he was in between Duke and Croatoan, and they were coming from Duke. . . . Well, hopefully Lucifer would notice and step out of the way.

Re: Trap! Confrontation! Battle! Deeeeath!

[my_own_advocate]

"I don't think--"

Somehow, Duke's salvo still caught him by surprise. He moved aside with celestial speed, but it was a smidgen too late-- burning past his side, tearing his suit, and the skin besides.

"--ngh--"

Re: Trap! Confrontation! Battle! Deeeeath!

[okteiviakom]

Octavia made more of a pained noise seeing Lucifer get burned than she had for herself.

And neither was actually as distressing as seeing what Duke was doing, and fearing what it might do to him.

Re: Trap! Confrontation! Battle! Deeeeath!

[betterthanaplan]

Lucifer and Octavia cried out in pain. But so did Croatoan. Duke grit his teeth, tried not to wonder if the feeling behind his closed eyes was tears or troubles, and pressed forward, one hand over his face, the other outstretched, pressing more and more microwaves into the gremlin man.

"You -- insolent --" Croatoan growled, his skin smoking and blackening under the onslaught. He pinched his fingers together and pulled harder at the aether in Duke.

But Duke, eyes closed, focusing so hard on his control of Jody's trouble, was noticing something. He recognized the feeling of the aether inside him -- and recognized its double in Croatoan. It buzzed just as hard in the gremlin man, trying to get out, trying to --

To be unmade.

The aether was entropy. Forced into order by Mara and Croatoan and their kind. It wanted to break down, and they held it together by making it break everything else. But it wanted to dissolve.

And, Duke was realizing, he could let it.

He took his hand from his face, eyes still closed, and stood up straighter. He could feel it everywhere now. In Croatoan, in himself. In so many objects around them. In Octavia.

"I can end this," he said, soft and full of wonder.

Croatoan roared and lunged, determined to stop Duke with his bare hands if he had to. Duke didn't seem to notice.

"I can make all of it stop."

Re: Trap! Confrontation! Battle! Deeeeath!

[my_own_advocate]

"... Duke?"

Lucifer was still hurting. He ignored it. He twisted and turned and saw Croatoan go and-- lunged to grab him when the world stopped slowing down and events actually registered.

"Duke!"

Re: Trap! Confrontation! Battle! Deeeeath!

[okteiviakom]

Octavia wasn't even feeling the pain in her hand anymore. Otherwise, she might not have used the hand to pick something else up: a knife, probably meant more for ceremonial purposes, but still sharp enough.

Or maybe she would have.

Either way, she threw it at Croatoan. Felt like she was already looking for the next thing while it was still in the air.

(She hadn't heard Duke, this time, blood rushing in her ears.)

Re: Trap! Confrontation! Battle! Deeeeath!

[betterthanaplan]

That was fair. Duke wasn't hearing any of them anymore, so focused on what he was doing, what he was sensing as he focused all his attention and energy on the aether.

Croatoan howled, brought up short by Lucifer's grabbing and struck in the shoulder by the thrown knife. It was a wound he wouldn't blink at normally -- and a grip he felt he should have been able to shrug off. But for all his ego, he actually had nothing on a real celestial, and the knife, imbued with its own aether from a troubled family of yore, had him bleeding black gore.

Which started to dissolve into black mist. And then scattered further into nothingness.

"You can't!" he shouted at Duke. "You're a slug, a filthy, reeking parasite, you cannot --" He broke off with a choking noise, more black goop pouring from his mouth, his nose, his ears, and vaporizing.

Duke himself was leaking, too. Thinner strands of black oozing from his closed eyes, his ears, from under his fingernails. He noticed, but didn't care; it was the aether, the stuff of troubles now undone, allowed to finally unwind and dissipate into something less than matter.

The small chunk of aether that was Octavia's trouble crumbled away inside her, to be exhaled as little more than a wisp of smoke. And the effect echoed out from here, spreading out over Haven. Some would feel it happen, more would never notice until their particular trouble didn't activate when they expected it to. Until it never activated again.

And if it meant Croatoan melted, Duke was fine with that. If it meant he melted -- that wasn't fine, no, but it was a price Duke was willing to pay.