Double Or Nothing: A Coin Flip Away

Wrench Has An Idea

The hum of a cardiac monitor beeping every fifteen seconds occupied the third bedroom above the staircase of Lucifer's mansion. It was a pulse, a heartbeat in the candlelit interior, flickering and shifting with the wind. The beat lulled everyone to sleep and helped the uneasy inhabitants of Lucifer's home to rest and recover. Most had taken either fierce physical or psychological trauma in the past weeks of the Crimson Stripe's merciless onslaught. The inhabitants, wounded and resting, all spoke very little. There wasn't a being in the entire mansion who didn't understand the dangerous times ahead.

Lucifer and Lilith sat with Jules for days into nights, when the acidic rain outside would lull Jules into a calm state of sleep. Lucifer, with dark rings and a sorrowful appearance, continued to watch over Jules for as long as he could without food or sleep. Lilith would keep her husband company, but Lucifer took the Sin Hunter's student's life into his arms like a bled, worrying father figure. Alone with cardiac beeps and the faint pulse of Jules' rising and falling chest, Lucifer closed his eyes, kneading his fingers against his forehead.

"This poor girl was dragged from the Living World into a world that nearly killed her. And I am to blame for being so careless. I'm a terrible ruler of Hell." Lucifer lifted his worn, weary eyes from the dark. Jules had been sleeping for close to three days now, and neither her parents nor her teammates had returned to check on her case. Lucifer removed his top hat, setting the crown of flowers and pink peacock feathers on the chair beside Jules' bed. His head tilted to the stained glass windows on his ceiling, an Angel descending from Heaven, a sacrifice to make.

"I'm unworthy of your love and respect, God. I screwed up, I get that." Lucifer rose from his chair beside Jules' bed, placing his hand in hers. The fragile, red stained glove trembled from sensory deprivation, the fingers curling slowly around his hand. Lucifer clenched his eyes shut for fear tears would begin flowing. His throat locked tight as he choked out his words. "But if you're any kind of God, no matter how kind you think you are, you'll watch over this girl and make sure she lives." Lucifer withdrew his hand from Jules' as the cardiac monitor beeped in the distance. Lucifer placed his trembling hand on the door, turning to the stained glass skylight with sunken eyes.

"Because if you don't, I'll raise Hell itself to ensure she does."

"You're utterly incompetent, Wrench." "Alvays vill be, Morpheus. Zhere is no ozher vay to solve zhis problem." "Right, but are you prepared to risk that, Wrench? Your Electro Scourge hasn't shown any signs of improving." The mechanical masterminds gathered in the dining hall, the large wooden tapestries and carvings of an ancient war towering on the far wall as Morpheus shook the table with his hand, coughing to clear his throat.

"Wrench, what you're suggesting is suicidal in most of my departments. Replacing every inch of your skeleton, veins and internal organs would kill you slowly and painfully." Winfrey recoiled, setting the radio in the center of the table and scratching the back of his head. His forehead beaded with sweat, but Morpheus took notice of the unease. In a flash, Morpheus cut Wrench short with a groan. "You've already done this surgery on yourself, haven't you?"

Wrench's voice clicked on the radio, as clearly as if he were in the room. "I replaced my heart veeks ago. It vas a painless process. Enough stimulants to keep blood flowing through my body vhile I extracted zhe bleeding pile of scrap metal and organic mass and placed a fusion core in its socket." Morpheus' lenses crackled with blue light as he turned to the radio. His mechanical fingers began to scrape at the table's polished wood surface. "What kind of fusion core? Nuclear, hydroelectric, solar, god damn it Nazi, answer me!" the Lord of Sloth boomed.

Winfrey jumped at the ferocity of Morpheus' words, but Wrench's radio remained clear and calm. Inhaling, Wrench replied, "Nuclear energy for preservation of less desirable-" and Morpheus bashed the Nazi Engineer right back. "YOU INCOMPETENT WASTE OF INVENTING POTENTIAL! No wonder your Electro Scourge has gotten worse, it's because you're letting that decaying pile of radiation rip away at your intestines without a care in the world for your safety!" Wrench's voice spurted back in full force, shocking Morpheus and Winfrey.

"Vhat I do vith my mechanical enhancements is none of your concern. Besides, my future plans vill make up for zhe lost time." The radio crackled before continuing. "I suggest you both listen vell, for I shall not repeat myself. I haf begun plans for a failsafe against zhe Crimson Stripe, if either of you are interested in discussing." Winfrey turned to Morpheus, tucking his spectacles into his coat pocket. "We should hear him out, Lord Morpheus. He's not been wrong about a lot of things up to this point."

Morpheus rubbed the edges of his titanium-grooved gauntlets, exhaling deeply. Setting his admiral's hat and cloak on a nearby chair, the Lord of Sloth seated himself in his throne of wires and cables. "Fine. Tell us your plan, Wrench." The radio hummed before the Nazi Engineer's voice returned. "Good, very good. Now zhen, zhere are several pieces I need you to bring me. Take zhem from vherever you can, and bring zhem to zhis mansion. I vill assemble them myself when zhey arrive."

"So you want us to find these pieces for you, bring them to the mansion to assemble, and never tell us what you're making?" The radio hummed a response. "Zhat is correct, Morpheus. I cannot risk zhe Crimson Stripe's ears tapping into my genius, hence my persistence on removing organics from my body. A vorthy sacrifice in zhe long run." Morpheus sat back, his eyes wandering to Winfrey. "Is he an idiot?" he coughed. Winfrey shrugged and smiled, reaching for the radio. "You tell us what you need, Wrench, and we'll get them for you." The radio clicked silent, ending the conversation.

As soon as Winfrey sat back, dabbing at his forehead, Morpheus rose from his throne, grabbing his cloak and hat. While his cloak draped over the powerful water tanks on his back, Winfrey hopped out of his seat. "Where are you going?" the imp butler beckoned. The titan of technology groaned, rubbing his breathing apparatus' screen. "Wrench might be either the village idiot of this continent, or he's God's unholy gift to Hell. And for the life of my brilliance I cannot figure out which that is."

Winfrey threw a towel over his sleeve as he followed Morpheus to the Southern Wing of the mansion. "Wrench is a kind Sinner, Morpheus. He just doesn't show his affection in the same ways others do." Morpheus fashioned his left gauntlet into a glowing blue fish hook. The blade shone blue against the dark red furniture in the hall. "That I'm already aware of. Preparing for the Crimson Stripe when we're all occupied is tactical genius, but then he replaces his heart with a nuclear bomb. He's either intelligent or stupid, no in-between."

The imp butler smiled, hopping into the kitchen to set himself on a row of dishes in need of washing. "Let's not forget how cocksure and foolish you were a few millennia ago, Morpheus. I still have scars from scrubbing oil stains and plasma marks out of your experiments." The Lord of Sloth chuckled, his eyes wandering upward toward the new kitchen appliances he had installed as a wedding gift for Lucifer and Lilith. "Yes, perhaps you're right, Winfrey. Perhaps we'd best start on collecting those parts. Besides," Morpheus smiled, picking out an apple, "maybe this device could be the turning factor in our victory or our defeat."