seaoftroubles | 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)

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

From:

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.

From:

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--"

From:

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.

From:

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."

From:

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!"

From:

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.)

From:

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.

Edited Date: 2025-02-20 07:50 pm (UTC)

From:

my_own_advocate

"Duke, what are you doing?!"

If Lucifer sounded somewhere near hysterical, it was-- it was because things were happening, and Duke was-- losing fluids, bleeding black, and then the man in his hands--

"Duke," he said, frantic. "Duke, this isn't right, Duke--"

From:

okteiviakom

Octavia's eyes were too wide. Something had left her.

Something was leaving --

"Duke, stop, stop!"

From:

betterthanaplan

People were yelling. His people were yelling.

"I can fix it," he said, soft and certain. Eyes still shut. (Still leaking.)

"Stop it," Croatoan said, pleading now, as he sank to his knees. "You can't. . . ."

Duke frowned, fingers twitching as he pulled harder. Croatoan doubled over, retching -- then collapsed into a boneless heap.

Duke lowered his hands, feeling the last of the aether in the world dissipate. A few items on the shelves around them, items made from troubles, by troubles, had crumbled or shattered. Duke opened his eyes and smiled.

"It's over," he said. (He stopped leaking. The black goop finished fading away.) "The troubles. All of them. I ended them."

He swayed, dizzy. One side of his face went slack.

(He was a thing -- a person -- made of troubles. And things inside him were crumbling and shattering.)

Edited Date: 2025-02-21 07:52 pm (UTC)

From:

my_own_advocate

Lucifer had called Duke's name so many times, it sounded like nonsense in his mouth. He said it again anyway, as he grappled for the man. Duke. Duke.

He felt nothing but panic.

Hands on Duke's arm, and they found just panic, panic.

Edited Date: 2025-02-23 10:49 am (UTC)

From:

okteiviakom

There was an impulse in Octavia, to guard, to keep her attention on Croatoan's crumpled form on the floor.

But there was just too much panic in Lucifer, drawing her in. And it turned her towards them - and filled her right up, too. "Beja," fell from her lips, again.

Now we get to the pleading.

Edited Date: 2025-02-23 06:30 pm (UTC)

From:

betterthanaplan

“It’s okay,” Duke said. “It’s over.”

That’s what he thought he said, rather. It came out more than slurred, just a mess of breathy vowels and the occasional cracked consonant.

He slumped against Lucifer, the last of his breath slipping out in a sigh.

He didn’t take another one.

From:

my_own_advocate

Duke. Duke. Duke. "Duke. Duke! Duke!"

He wasn't breathing. He wasn't breathing. He wasn't breathing.

"He's not breathing. He's not breathing. He's not breathing."

From:

okteiviakom

Something washed over Octavia. It felt like calm, but maybe it was just a kind of numbness. Panic got swept aside, replaced by old instinct.

(Blodreina never had room to feel things.)

"Lay him down!" she barked. "We have to do CPR."

(Her eyes were too wild.)

From:

my_own_advocate

"I don't think--" He wasn't breathing. He wasn't breathing. He wasn't going to breathe ever again--

Lucifer let Duke slide out of his arms.

Octavia seemed to know what to do. He didn't.

From:

okteiviakom

Octavia had no choice. Zero. She had to fight because otherwise she would die, that was what her instincts were screaming at her. So she did everything on autopilot, in accordance with what she'd learned a long, long time ago. Pulse (wasn't there), position, compressions --

It wasn't doing anything.

It wasn't doing anything.

From:

my_own_advocate

It wasn't doing anything. And Lucifer knew-- he knew it wouldn't do anything, he realized. He could feel-- nothing.

Not a hint of a human soul.

He could feel something else. Elsewhere, further, pricking at the back of his consciousness.

"Octavia," he said. "Octavia."

To heaven? No. Something twisted in his stomach.

From:

okteiviakom

"Do something!" Octavia screamed.

And there she was, returning to her body from whatever safe, numb place she'd slipped to.

(The way Duke wasn't returning.)

Her hands faltered. Beginning to shake.

From:

my_own_advocate

Lucifer startled at the sound of that scream. Why hadn't he expected it? No idea, but his body jerked with it, as if a thought had just violently slotted into place.

"I'm going to find him," he said. Something had just injected ice into his veins and he needed to move. "Stay here."

As if she would be anywhere else.

He unfolded his wings, and turned. And within a moment, a beat, he was gone, leaving a sole white feather drifting to the ground.