All A Part of the Job (Satan and/ or Lucifer)

[Judas]

Judas flashed himself down to hell, holding onto one arm of the soul and wishing, not for the first time, that human souls really looked like the wisps in the Hollywood movies. The fact of the matter was that they looked exactly like the body they had come from which meant that this soul looked like a scared, teenage girl. He kept his head turned to avoid seeing the face that went with the broken voice that was babbling questions at him.

Being in hell was worse than being on earth, hearing the screams of the damned souls that echoed off the walls, feeling the unbearable heat against his skin. It all reminded him that his own soul was burning somewhere in this place, not that he could ever really forget, but it was impossible to deny that he was well and truly damned here. Not to mention he felt like a traitor dragging other souls down to the same eternal agony that he suffered.

He let the soul tug its arm out of his grasp, it wasn’t like she was going anywhere since they were already in hell. “I wouldn’t wander if I was you, you’ll end up falling into something nasty.” He called after her, his voice empty. “Someone should be here soon enough to direct you to wherever you’re supposed to be.” He leaned back against one of the stone walls and waited for either Lucifer or Satan to come and collect his burden so that he could get the hell out of here, no pun intended.

[Lucifer]

Hell was no longer home to the fallen angel, the prince had lost his throne, but he had no intention of giving up without a fight. He knew, deep down, the only way to send Satan back, and that was something he was not even willing to comprehend. He wondered how long until the Angels came to beg his assistance, beg....that was something he would want to see. Dressed top to tail in black, the fabric unknown, almost like a second skin of oil that seemed to move in tendrils around his body, his wings trailing behind him like black ripped rags.

“Judy...Judy....Judy....” Lucifer smirked when he turned round a distorted corner to find Judas with a prize soul, “How is my favourite sinner?” Lucifer looked at the female soul, his eyes turning obsidian black, “Now..what sweet delicacy so we have here?”

[Judas]

He hated that voice almost more than he hated Lucifer’s nickname for him. Didn’t Satan call him Lucy? Well, maybe it came with being an arrogant ass. It was a good thing Judas wasn’t arrogant or he’d start calling Jonas, Jody. Though there really wasn’t any way to deny that he was an ass, he knew that, he did that on purpose. It kept people away.

Judas hated Lucifer, he really did. It had been him who had come down and offered what had sounded like a reprieve from all the pain and had turned out to be a job doing his dirty work. Of course, it had been a choice so he couldn’t blame Lucifer completely for his current situation but he could damn well blame him for ‘forgetting’ to mention that the pain wouldn’t dull even if he got out of hell. Though no matter how much he hated Lucifer, he knew that the fallen was better for the world then the other, cherry red choice.

He shook his head when Lucifer called him a favorite sinner. “Don’t gloat Lue, it’s not becoming of a young lady your age.” Well, might as well hop on the girl insults while they were hot.

Judas watched the girl shrink back as Lucifer’s eyes changed color. He rolled his eyes and looked away. It was cruel to mess with the girl before she got tossed into the pit. “And didn’t your mother ever tell you not to play with your food?”

[Lucifer]

Lucifer ignored the insults by flashing Judas a amused smile before moving over to the soul of the young woman and trailing his delicate fingers down her face. Hmmm, he would have his fun. He stepped back, wiggling his brow and snapped his fingers, his shadows traveling in the blink of an eye over the soul of the young woman, moans and murmurs and chattering coming from the shadows as they wrapped around the woman and dragged her through the floor. She did not have time to scream. When the shadows had ebbed away Lucifer looked up to Judas, a smaller smirk across his face.

"I am envious of you Judas, for everyone, eternally will hate you, distrust you, and you don't even have to work at keeping it that way...." Lucifer paused them and laughed a little, "I see you have been keeping busy with The Fifth, how is the lovely Autumn Walker?" As he spoke her name he almost purred, lacing some hidden intention over her name, "Radiant isn't she....what a prize it would be to have her soul...."

[Judas]

Judas watched the girl being drug down by the moaning shadows. It was like a car wreck, you couldn’t look away even though you knew there was nothing you could possibly do to help. He was bound by his duty as a soul collector to deliver the souls of the damned to hell. He could take a human soul from a body faster than the blink of an eye, but he couldn’t save those souls from eternal pain and suffering. He was powerless and it wasn’t a feeling he enjoyed much.

He snorted. “And you have to work at it?” His voice said that he clearly didn’t believe that. Lucifer was one of the only beings that the humans hated more than they hated Judas. Most thought he and Satan were the same person. They feared, distrusted and hated Lucifer far more than they ever would him. That knowledge had been a comfort for him over the centuries.

The mention of Autumn’s name didn’t really surprise him. After all, Lucifer had been the one who had given the fifth his gospel? Diary? It didn’t surprise him, but it worried him, especially the way the fallen purred her name. The thought of Autumn’s soul being pulled down by those moaning beasts of his was sickening. Judas didn’t want to hear her voice screaming in chorus with the other damned souls. He’d had to deliver the souls of those he’d known in the past and it wasn’t an experience he wanted to repeat. “No dice Lue, not that one.” If he had to bargain for the woman’s soul, he would. There were few that he would stick his neck out for, but Autumn’s quiet acceptance had earned her a place as one of those few.

He didn’t say that he doubted Lucifer could corrupt the girl. The fallen would take that as a challenge and work twice as hard at it. If Judas had learned anything about the prince of hell over the centuries, it was that he didn’t take ‘no’ very well.

[Lucifer]

Lucifer cocked his head to one side and that all too smug and familiar smirk moved across his Ice white pale skin. His black orbs of eyes seemed to flare alive then as he found himself enjoying the situation a little too much. Oh how he would enjoy this. He took great comfort in the fact he held Judas's soul in eternal damnation and anything he could do to cause added suffering was like icing on the cake.

"You care for the woman? Is she a friend? A lover?" Lucifer clasped his hands behind his back and began t pace around Judas, "Either way you would suffer greatly if something were to happen to her...if some one were to take her...ravage her.....enjoy her in ways you could only dream of...." Lucifer stepped in front of Judas then, and like someone poured over a new coat of pain Lucifer's form changed slowly, his hair shortened, his height taller, his eyes and face slowly morphing until Judas now looked upon a perfect copy of himself, as if looking into a mirror.

"Icing on the cake Judy my dear boy..."

[Satan]

Those ever dark eyes opened yet it was blood rising and forming into Satan standing behind the Form of Judas and before the real one. “Lucy, Lucy... Lucy still picking on people who did something horrendously perfect in life. Those that collect the evil souls of the sinners. Which we like. If you didn’t have such perfect subjects then you would have to do the dirty work yourself. Lets not and say that you did.”

Now his attention and eyes were on Judas. His lip tugged into a grin. “Ju-” he began with a drawn out ‘u’ “das.” It ended abruptly with the end of his name. There was not a pet name. There was hover a glossy streak of near black blood upon his shoulder that oozed still. “Judas, I had asked the blood sucking immortal about you. Beautiful creation he is.”

He paused. “Lucy-boy” he barked “back in your own skin or I will rip your wings off inch by inch.The gifted human woman is not your play toy. Not that she would go for you anyway. She will see through your guise, see right into that black soul. Your Light-less form and know you are false. You give yourself far too much credit. Or you give her far too little.”

[Judas]

He recognized that smirk and as soon as he saw it, Judas began mentally kicking himself for showing any interest in the woman at all. He had to have gone temporarily insane to think that by standing up for Autumn, he was protecting her. He watched Lucifer prowling around him like a cat, though didn't turn, instead following the fallen with his eyes until he was out of sight and then waiting until he came into view again on the other side.

Judas knew better than to answer the question of what the leader of the fifth was to him, maybe his sanity wasn't completely gone. He fought to keep his face blank as the dethroned prince of hell taunted him, and failed when suddenly he wasn't looking at Lucifer but a perfect copy of himself. The usual anguish in his eyes turning slowly into anger.

"You really think this is the time for games with our red friend running about? What, you go have fun while the rest of us clean up your mess? And here I thought you had some sense of honor, even if it was twisted." He shrugged. He knew Lucifer was probably to smart to take the bait but anything was worth a try at this point, anything to keep him in hell awhile longer.

A bubbling red mass caught Judas' attention and he turned to watch, with a mixture of anger and disgust, as Satan formed out of the blood. "Of course, why not? More the merrier right?" He mumbled dryly to himself. He snorted when Satan referred to him as the perfect subject, though he couldn't argue that he was doing Lucifer's dirty work.

Judas tried to ignore the way the god of chaos sing-songed his name. It wasn't an encouraging sign that Satan seemed pleased to see him. He noted the streak of black near the god's shoulder. What had Satan been doing? "You know, I'd agree with you if it weren't for the fact that then I'd have agreed with you on something." He said, voice bland, when Satan said Vlad was a beautiful creation. Judas wouldn't go that far, but the vampire made a good friend. He'd known Satan had visited Vlad, he hadn't known the god had asked about him.

He didn't know why the god of chaos was helping him defend Autumn but he wasn't sure it was a good thing. He was siding with Lucifer when the real fighting broke out, all of the council was, so if Satan was looking to gain good favor, he was up shit creek without a paddle. Judas stood silently, hoping this little party didn't turn violent. If it did then he'd do what he could to aid Lucifer, though he wasn't sure exactly how much help he'd be. He hated the fallen with every fiber of his being but he wasn't about to sit back and let humanity's last hope be torn to shreds while he watched either. It was a sad day in the neighborhood when Lucifer was what was good for humanity.