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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)
Re: Duke and the Croat
Date: 2024-12-31 07:14 pm (UTC)Duke sat on an antique settee, listening to the buzzing in his head. (His heart. His soul. . . .) The gremlin man snapped his fingers and Duke idly looked at him.
"Hmmph." The gremlin man peered into his face. "I sank you too deep." He pinched his fingers together and the buzz receded a little. "Now. Idiot. Who has a list of all the troubles?"
"The Teagues," Duke said. Still off-key. Sparse as the branches of a tree in winter. "Vince and Dave."
"The mewling half-breed and his oaf of a 'brother'?" the gremlin man scoffed. "I should have noticed. I already dispatched of them."
Duke let himself drift into the buzz again, admiring his fingers as he set them on fire. That'd been a good trouble to pull. He hadn't known the man well, and the flames were pretty.
The gremlin man snapped his fingers again. Duke let the flames go out and looked at him.
"Focus, please," the gremlin man said. "I've given you just what you always wanted, Duke. A little gratitude wouldn't hurt you."
Duke tilted his head, curious. "What I've always wanted."
"Purpose," the gremlin man said. "Submission. The pure, perfect freedom of surrender to the Void." He pressed his fingers into the soft space under Duke's jaw, pressing his face upwards. "You belong to me, Duke Crocker. I've brought you home."
Warmth and pressure and soft words. Water and wind in dark hair. Lucifer's laugh. Octavia's tiny smiles. The smell of Thai food and ripe fruit freshly opened.
Duke twitched. The gremlin man tightened his hand. The buzz roared.
Cold. Absence. The bright zing of pain in an otherwise empty space. Hunger.
"Home," Duke said.
The gremlin man let him go with an angry huff. "Go get the list, boy. Before I have to put you down."
Duke slipped away between one blink and the next. Following his master's will.