Lord Joyde The Madman: Heylo, everybody! How are you all doing?

What a wonderfully rainy day we're having here!

I love rain.

Do you love rain?

I SURE DO.

Don't mind me guys and girls! I'm just a line break...

One hour later... - Croatian Coast (Rijeka) - Audrey's Point Of View...

"So this is the place where poor little Millicia lives, eh?" Muttering mostly to myself as I gazed at the mansion from a nearby rooftop.

What kind of city allows people to just build seventh century mansions in the middle of it all? Hn, come to think of it, just about all the buildings I've seen so far were kinda old looking.

The whole city appeared to be the unholy child of modern technology and prehistoric building styles.

Eh, might make for a good vacation spot, to be perfectly honest. Oh well.

Leaping down from a nearby rooftop and leaning against a corner, I decide to take my time and observe the situation before blindly charging in. The ancient mansion of the Kovach family, that is to say Millicia's family, was a decently defensible compound. Granted, it was nowhere near our family mansion but all things considered, they probably didn't have mandatory paranoia for several generations in their family.

I swear, that mansion is probably capable of coming alive and just killing everyone at any given moment considering how many different AI weapon systems we've invested in over the years.

That all aside, Millicia's mansion proved to be a mayor roadblock for the esper army as there was more than a few squadrons of soldiers blasting it with laser weaponry, with someone throwing a grenade or two in the meantime. Y'know, for an army of superpowered espers, they seem to make war much the same way we normal people do.

Well, not that I can really say that but... oh fuck it, you get the point.

Although.. by taking a closer look now that I can finally use and sense psionic energy... most of the esper soldiers dont seem to be espers at all. In fact, only their commanding officers have a modicum of the aforementioned energy coursing through their skulls. So maybe the espers are so limited in number that they have to rely on normal people for shock troops?

But if thats the case, why oh why would said normal people be willing to exterminate other normal people instead of the espers?

Must be some kind of mass mind control. Which means I must be careful when fighting them.

Hmm, perhaps the best way to get rid of the espers is to either stun and kill them or outright remove them from the playing field, much like I did to both sides a while ago. Sure hope no stray camera caught me in the act...

Oh well, a thought for later. Imagery can easily be wiped away should push come to shove. I am part of a mafia family, after all."FOCUS FIRE!" One of the esper commanders shouted suddenly as he pointed towards a weakened steel wall and threw a grenade towards it. I blinked.

His allies blinked.

The granade hit the wall, fell back towards his soldiers and exploded, killing a dozen men in the process. Yet, all he received was a slap from one of his female companions and the other human soldiers just continued firing like nothing ever happened.

Okay.

There is no questioning it: this army is mind controlled.

Which means that I only really need to kill the espers. Kill them quickly enough that their forces wont be able to react.

Shrugging to myself, I left my cover and began walking towards them in my human form."H-huh?! A woman? KILL HER!" The same guy as before shouted the instant he saw me.

His mind-slaves turned their weapons on me and shot, yet their bullets found themselves stopped in mid-flight. Then, I promptly dropped them down onto the floor. The espers went wide eyed and the guy received a promptly well-deserved kick to the nuts this time. As he bent over, another male esper came running towards me."You! Who are you?! You arent wearing our uniforms but you are clearly an esper."

I took one look at my tattered clothing and sighed."Really, thats the first thing you ask me?"

To my surprise, the young man took a step back and swallowed down hard, forcing his eyes away from my exposed body."I-our girls may have brought extra clothes, I-I, w-we can g-give them to you if you'd l-like." How incredibly adorable. Maybe I can use this to my advantage?

"There is a clothing store over there which I'm going to raid in a moment but thats not why I'm here. I want to know what the fuck is going on." My stern gaze, combined with my half naked body, was enough to drag the truth out of him."Y-you don't k-know?"

"I assume that you people are from America and have come here to make Europe kneel. I'm a European esper and, as such, I have no idea what is going on." I answered his question with a sly smile as I turned around, a hand of shadow raising behind him and taking a grenade from his belt without him even noticing."I'll be expecting an answer by the time I'm back. Oh and, this is how you throw a grenade, boy."

My shadowy hand popped the thing and rose into the sky, cooking for a few seconds before flinging it into a window. A myriad of screams and flying, bloody limbs could be heard and seen from the now devastated area of the mansion. Sheesh, hope I didn't annihilate Millicia in that blast.. I kinda want to take my time and play with her.

As I walked into the clothing shop to dress myself properly, I couldn't help but overhear what the guy said as his friends approached him from the back."Holy fuck.. I think I'm in love."

Smiling to myself as the shadows coiled around me and the shop, I felt somewhat sorry for the boy.

After all, I'm already taken, right?

Don't mind me guys and girls! I'm just a line break...

Present time... - The Skies Above Berlin - Leonardo's Point Of View...

Having decided that I've spent enough time conducting fascinating science, I once again found myself back on earth. I was... flying in the skies above the battlefield, a mere seventeen meters above my currently soul-less body.

Flying is really just a decent enough term to use here though, as I'm not entirely sure that my current ghost-like self can fly or float. Its more like... standing, in mid-air?

Anyways, thats not important right now. What is important is the fact that there appears to be an immense black cloud of darkness sourrounding my body and preventing anything from coming even remotely close to it.

Is it... protecting me?

Or preventing me from coming back into my body?

Well, only one way to find out!

Perhaps foolishly so, I placed a finger into the blackened mass of smoke and was subsequently consumed by it. Yet, I didn't really sense that anything dangerous was going to happen so I just kinda let things escalate. Within moments, my vision cleared as the shadows split and I found myself inside of...

A bar?

Some kind of wierd, eighties-types that you can often see in old movies. Except, it wasn't full of badly-dressed hookers and bearded gunmen. It was, in fact, full up on people in tuxedos and rich, silken dresses.

W-well, when I say people..."Ey? The fuck is a human doing here? I though you said you wouldn't serve any more o' them, boss." A pale-faced.. imp.

Goat.

DEMON, thing.. no wait thats racist...

Demon, person.

A pale-faced and tiny demon person with goat horns suddenly pointed towards me in utter bewilderment."I'm just as confused as you are." I replied on instinct, causing the imp to do a double take before blinking."Ah, fuck it. I'm too old for this shit. A normal human would be shitting themselves right now so I guess yer here for a reason."

"Even if I was here for a reason, I still have absolutely no idea what the hell is going on." The Imp shrugged, took a vintage ciggarette and lit it as he turned around."Welp, thats not my problem, boy. If ya didn't come here on yer own then someone had'ta summon ya. My advice? Go take a seat an' wait."

A nod was his answer as I walked deeper into the bar, passing by a myriad of strange demon people on my way there. Incredibly enough, nobody here seemed to pay me any mind as I walked.

Then I arrived at the counter. A giant red-skinned demon wearing a butler-like suit and glasses was washing a glass as he turned to look at me."Oh? A new face? Not something that happens very often 'round here. So: what'll it be boy?"

I think hes asking me what I'm going to drink, but thankfully someone else answered for me before I could open my mouth."Give the boy some of that Balkan moonshine, Korix. I hear he likes the heavy drinks."

"Just like you then, eh boss?" The newly named Korix replied with a snort as I turned my head towards the person who answered in my stead. A richly dressed man in a royal purple and black tuxedo.. who had pure-white angel wings on his back. I nearly faceplamed right then and there."Great. This is just what I needed right now."

"Heh. You'd think so, wouldn't you? And I dont even get a thank you for protecting you." I bit my lip at that, he was right."I.. I'm sorry, and thank you, Lucifer."

The man turned towards me to reveal a rather deceptively youthful appearance, one which was almost too beautiful to be true."Apology accepted, but really little brother, how did you manage to just dump your physical body like it was a random street ornament that you no longer need?"

"I-.. I didn't even think th-" He interrupted me."Thats right. You didn't think, because you never really think about anything at all. You just DO." The man rose from his seat, his face twisted in anger and frustration."After all, you said it yourself; why think when you have someone like God to protect you at all times?"

"I didn't say that-" Lucifer sent his arms to his sides in a dramatic fashion before continuing."Oh, is that right? Sorry, you must've THOUGHT it then- WHO CARES!?" He sat back down and promptly beckoned me to do the same by pointing towards the chair next to him."Cmon, lets be civil."

Deciding that defying the real devil may not be the best of ideas, I did as I was told."Ahh, see, if everyone just did that then the world would be perfect." Okay, suddenly I'm feeling just a tad bit pissed off."Oh for fucks sake, does everyone I know have to be a mind-reader?"

Lucifer slapped me on the back lightly."Don't take it to heart, little brother. I'm Satan, reading minds is what I do."

"And corrupting them." A dark, twisted smile was my answer."Ahh, but thats where you are wrong. I don't corrupt people, I just tell them the truth. Truths which they've hidden deep within themselves-"

"Enough. Cut the bullshit, someone like you wouldn't summon me here for shits and giggles." Was my reply as I had seemingly regained my balls. Lucifer seemed to be taken aback."Immunity? So quickly gained?.. impressive. Annoying, too."

He drank whatever alcohol he was drinking in one go before continuing."Too bad for you, I did indeed summon you here for shits and giggles, little brother. I firmly believed that it was high time we met, after all."

"High time? Don't we have like, eternity? Time literally played no part in this, you summoned me here bec-..." I took one look at Lucifers suddenly saddened face and blinked, a flash of white thread forming in my mind as I stopped talking for a moment."He told you the same thing."

"And now I'm the Devil." He let out a snort before pouring himself another drink."Y'know, the resemblance is uncanny. In fact, you are almost TOO alike."

He waved the liquid inside of the glass around."The way you let those espers, my mortal incarnation especially, do all your work for you. You pretend to be good, to be amazing, to be perfection. In the end, what you really are is monsters, the worst kind of monsters. The type that enjoys its dirty work. I think you've managed to perfectly describe it earlier today when you said: God never made itself out to be a hero. No, that is all just human misinterpretation."

"So the viper of Eden really wasn't you, was it?" He shook uncomfortably and turned to face me."Did he tell you that? Or did you somehow deduce this from a random line of thought that had and still has absolutely nothing to do with the actual realization?"

I err..

I didn't really have a reply for this. Lucifer beamed me a smile and turned his head back around."You really are too alike... I don't know how she handles it."

She?

Who is this... she?

"No matter. Thats not what we are here for. Today, you came very close to killing an avatar of mine upon your world, little brother. No, you killed him multiple times, but thanks to that woman, his death was averted." I blinked."Is he.. someone important to you?"

Lucifer coughed into his fist."He is one of my halfbreed children. Really adorable, that boy. Thinks he's me for some reason."

Then he turned back to face me, a grim smile etched to his frame.."Needless to say, I find him interesting enough to keep him alive."

A threat given.."Right. I'll do my best not to kill him next time."

Lucifer blinked in utter confusion."What? Just like that?.. No speech about how fate is the only one who will decide the boys fate or how you'll let him live so long as he does not get in your way?"

Now it was my turn to be completely confused."I-is.. is God going to give me one of those speeches whenever I decide to go against Gods will?"

The devil continued to stare at me for a good two long minutes after that question until I finally cracked."What?!"

That seemed to wake him from his trance as he rose his glass and toasted towards me, my own glass of moonshine floating in front of me and causing me to take it."Y'know, this first meeting of ours may be a horrendous insult to any and all family values, but perhaps I'm wrong about you. Leonardo, was it? Maybe there's a chance we can get along after all."

Shrugging after another moment of utter confusion, I decide to make a toast with the devil."Sure, why the hell not?"

Don't mind me guys and girls! I'm just a line break...

Yes, yes, its fucking 7 AM and I was awake all night, again.

Meh.

Tell me how do you guys love the new Summary? THANK GOD, I FINALLY MANAGED TO GET SOME HELP!

My dashboard is all fixed now. ">

Anyways, read and review! And Good Morning/Day/Night to you all! ADIOS FOR NOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!