Double or Nothing: One in a Million

Eldritch Deity #2: Evicted

With robes that draped below its feet and tentacles curled into veiny forearms and hands below its sleeves, Leviathan leveled its ghastly, fanged mouth and glassy blind eyes with Eleanor, Cynthia, the injured children and the Sin Hunter. Crossing its arms behind its frilled collar of bones and translucent teal energy, Leviathan sighed, its eyes sliding vacantly across the tower interior. "There was a time when I was the most powerful deity in all of Hell. Even for a few moments, I understood the power which so many other Demons struggled to comprehend."

The Sin Hunter stepped forward, raising his revolvers toward the floating specter. "Better watch your tone, chief. Turning Sinners into batteries isn't power, it's madness." Leviathan turned to face the Sin Hunter, still heavily breathing from battle. Its glassy eyes narrowed while the misshapen fangs in its sickly smile soured. "And you assume you've been doing otherwise? You're not saving these people from eternal damnation, you're just prolonging their suffering. That's hardly freedom, that's just torture. Free will is not a privilege, it is a curse.

"I realized this and sought to contain that chaos in the form of pure psychic power. Unable to be molded into anything beyond pure energy, souls became my feed. No free will, no chaos, only energy. Energy without thought is passive, tame, reasonable." Elanor floated toward Leviathan, and as the two Demons stared each other down, Eleanor took a deep breath, puffing up her chest before untying her hair, letting the sniper shot expose itself to the psychic Demon. "Leviathan, not all Sinners and Demons are as bad as they were when you roamed Hell. We've changed. And I think you'd realize that if you just stopped consuming and took a breath for a moment."

Leviathan's shimmering form began to fizzle, flaking into the air in pale green particles. It raised its hands to watch them shimmer before fading. "Hmmph. Perhaps, young specter, perhaps. But I will never abandon my pursuit of psychic might. Let it be known," Leviathan warned, waving a sleeve to the Sin Hunter and Cynthia, "that I am not the only psychic deity in Hell. And there will certainly be those who share my lust for power on a superiorly less reasonable scale. You must bring yourself to slay these Demons if you wish to continue this quest of yours. Whatever that may be. You have been warned."

As Leviathan began to fade, its eyes lingered on Eleanor, extending what little of a sleeve it had left to the young Demon. "You have...brought new evidence to light, Eleanor. I am at least able to acknowledge your work, if that brings peace of mind to you." Leviathan turned its eyes to the solar lights lining the tower, sliding back and forth. "Ah. And as quickly as it was offered, my servitude has reached its resolution." Without a flash or a sparkle, only pale jade particles floating in disorganized wisps, Leviathan was nowhere to be seen. Eleanor verified the case later that evening by inspecting the minds of every reverted scientist, engineer and medical personnel in the building. Leviathan's influence was gone, inexplicably and unpredictably.

Jack and Cynthia had no idea of what had happened, or even how the case had concluded itself so unexpectedly. But as debris was cleared from the wreckage of the central tower, and esteemed inhabitants of Caiaphas Industries returned to their lives as if nothing strange had ever happened, their answer became clear when Morpheus rose from the floor. His armor had been gravely damaged by the Sin Hunter, torn apart by a blind, savage rage that rivaled Corex's devastating wounds. His tentacled beard gasped for air once his right gauntlet ripped his black breathing apparatus off of his face, tossing the dented mask to the floor.

Sitting upright while clutching his face, Morpheus staggered before righting himself, groaning. "Ungh...my cerebral enhancements feel as though they've been flattened under a press..." he grumbled. Upon hearing the recovered Lord of Sloth's voice, Jack, Cynthia and a spectral Eleanor all turned to face the standing Tyrant of Technology. Cynthia and Eleanor rushed to embrace Morpheus while Jack grinned, crossing his arms before his cell phone buzzed. Pulling the phone out of his belt pouch, Jack slid open the device. His eyes narrowed and his throat tightened when he saw the messages from Jules pop up.

"Need help. Somebody wants to speak with you. Look really spooky." Jack's teeth gritted before he tucked the phone away, exhaling to calm himself down. 'No use in getting riled up now. Take it slow, Jack. Don't get crazy before we leave here.' While the detective strolled around the lobby, jogging over to a group of scientists and robots to help the group lift a workbench by the fountain over onto its legs, Cynthia and Eleanor both stepped away, letting Morpheus take a breath before asking some questions. "What happened to me? Was I...possessed? And where are my sons?"

Cynthia exchanged a glance with Eleanor, whose shimmering spirit gestured to the three pairs of mechanical feet that made their way slowly toward the battle-damaged Lord of Sloth. Morpheus' eyes glittered with salty tears as he lowered his creaking, shuddering suit of armor to his left knee, extending his arms out to the tall, short and bulky cephalopod children before him. "It's alright, children. I'm not the Demon you fought with such courage and steeled focus." The children stopped a few inches away from their father, hesitant.

The hesitation brought Morpheus visible anguish in his worn and creased eyelids, his eyes shaking with pain. "I...I understand. You are uncertain of what or whom to trust." But before the Lord of Sloth could wipe away his tears or rise from his kneeling position, the three Demon Princes charged forward, tackling their father with laughter and cheering. The four cephalopods collapsed to the floor in bursts of joy with Cynthia and Eleanor watching from the foreground, Eleanor sliding her intangible fingers through Cynthia's hand. And Doctor Florence did not recoil or release her grip from her old partner.

Unfortunately for the joyous reunion, the Sin Hunter charged forward, shaking Cynthia back and forth. "Doc, I got a message from Jules." Cynthia snapped away from the group, her eyes wide with shock and her chest heaving. "Jules? Is she alright? Where is she, what's wrong?" Jack's eyes narrowed as he handed his cell phone to Cynthia. Eleanor floated beside Jack, wringing her hands. "It's bad, real bad. Looks like we have an appointment to make." Cynthia handed the phone back to Jack, her eyes twitching with rage.

Turning to Morpheus in a swirl of mechanical decor, Cynthia fixed the goggles on her face with one of her mechanical gloves. "Murph, we've gotta jet. My daughter's in trouble." Morpheus sat upright, lifting Verne and Franklin off of his shoulders. "Of course, Doctor. I regret that I am in no condition to fight. However," Morpheus declared, wiping smoke away from his right shoulder plate, "I will sound the alarms and bring you a war party worthy of my brother in Wrath. I presume you are headed for Lust next by process of logical elimination?"

Jack nodded, his eyes snapping from the Lord of Sloth's hunched, damaged form to his magazines as he reloaded his revolvers. "That's the plan. Zaze is guarding your front door, might be worth saying hi and thanking him for clearing a path." Morpheus nodded, reaching for his gauntlets. "Of course. Oh, Doctor! You'll need these more than I!" Cynthia turned and jumped as she caught the Tyrant of Technology's powerful silver gauntlets, pulsing with neon blue ribbons of plasma circulating through tubes and cables connecting across the slick black and silver frame. "What are you giving these to me for?" she asked. Morpheus reached a clammy, barnacled hand to his admiral's hat, tipping it to Cynthia.

"You'll need those far more than I. And perhaps someday you can finally forgive me for all my sins." Cynthia grinned, strapping the bulky gauntlets closed over her forearms. As the steel and wire frame technology clicked into place, Jack stuffed his revolvers into their holsters at his sides, dusting off his gloves. "Okay, we gotta go. Jules needs us." As Cynthia nodded, sprinting toward the exit of Caiaphas Industries, the Sin Hunter faced Eleanor, extending his corporeal hand. "You should come too, El. We're gonna need you where we're headed."

Eleanor beamed with a radiant light, winking. "Thanks Jack, but I'm needed here. Cleanup protocols are in order, and I'm sure Leviathan's temporary damage has set Sloth back by a far range." Verne, Franklin and Thoreau stepped forward, tugging on their father's bare hands. "Dad, can we go with the Sin Hunter?" Franklin asked. But Morpheus shook his head, brushing his hands along his children's eager faces. "Preposterous! I've just found myself in your presence again, I would never release my grip on what I hold so dearly in you three." The kids all sighed, patting each other on their shoulders and chuckling.

Morpheus straightened himself upright, gesturing to Eleanor. "Eleanor, you are free to travel with the Sin Hunter. I will manage the barricades here and hold them upright as my father and his father have done prior." The specter swirled around in stunned silence, clutching her trembling ghostly chest. "You're serious?" she quivered. The Lord of Sloth's tentacled beard curled upward with a smile. "Get going before Cynthia runs off without you!" he called after the detective and the ghost. "I'll meet you at the Terminal with an older suit of my power armor!"