Double or Nothing: One in a Million

Put That Cross Away

Free from his chains and roaming the hallway of the apartment complex, Deck adjusted the strap on his shield again, muttering to himself in a strange Demon tongue. "Now if I recall, we were dragged a few steps up, then to a right, around some corner," he paused, stopping in front of a wooden door with the brass letters 152 engraved above a knocker. Deck grinned, tapping his hoof and shaking his aquatic tail. "Uh huh. This looks as good a place as any to root m'self and figure this thing out."

The Demon reached upward, rapping his knuckles on the door thrice before stepping back. As soon as he moved away, the door exploded with gunfire, bullets shattering the frame of the door. Had Deck not been wearing his platinum armor, his life would have met a truly untimely end. Instead, the Demon was sent crashing into the wall with the full force of a bat to the chest. The bullets ricocheted away from his pristine silver shell, sending Deck crashing into a table in the hallway. Wiping off the splinters and broken glass, the Demon sat forward in a daze, blinking rapidly.

"Well, you could've told me not to bring the turkey, Jeremy." Deck wiped the bits of debris off of his armor, combing his matted hair back into a bun around his pale green horn. Rolling back the sleeves above his elbow-length gauntlets, Deck stormed forward, kicking through the door with his hood and breaking whatever was left. The whole door exploded off of its weary hinges, flying into the dark room with a crack as Deck stepped through, furiously loading a pistol from his pocket. "Alright!" He shouted, "hope y'all brought the STUFFING!!"

But when the Demon stepped into the room, he was amazed to see Jules, clutching rope and a flask of some strange liquid, forcing a succubus into the corner behind him. "Uh, whoa. Okay, my bad." Jules turned her attention away for a flash of a moment, her eyes brightened with life. "Deck! There you are!" As Deck walked toward the injured succubus in the corner of the room, he crossed his silver gauntlets, grinning with vertically amused eyes. "Well look what we have here. Looks like you caught yourself one tough succubus to tie up."

As Jules turned to face the shorter Demon, the succubus in the corner coughed, spitting back a chunk of plaster and dusting off her eyepatch. "Pfft! You gotta be kidding me! Deck? Seriously, dude?" Jules paused, dusting off her sleeve. "Wait, you two know each other??" Deck coughed, his eyes glaring right through the wounded Carlyle. Deck's thumb pointed and addressed the talking for him. "Please. Try living with this brat for thirteen years. It'll drive you nuts." Jules felt something in her mind click, and then she switched views, drawing more parallels between the Demons than she could remember.

"Oh. You're siblings?" Carlyle laughed, her sharpened canines flashing in the lamplight. "Ha! Not by choice, little girl." Deck drove the tip of his spiked armor plate across Carlyle's wound, to which her laughter became replaced with screaming. Deck returned to standing height, wiping off the blood from his armor. "This 'little girl', Carlie, kicked your ass and stole your precious little back biter. Tell me who's the little girl in this situation." Carlyle spat toward Deck's direction, gritting her teeth through the pain.

"Up yours, Decklyn," she grumbled, to which the pale purple Demon laughed, leaning forward and holding out his glove. "Alright, get up. You look stupid sitting there gushing blood outta your arm." Carlyle begrudgingly seized her brother's arm, standing up with her right arm hanging limp by her side. She huffed and puffed while Deck turned to face Jules. "This is Carlie. She's my second oldest sis, only younger than Kris. We have a crazy family where I'm from." Jules nodded, her expression unsure of what to pick. "Uh huh. Does being a succubus have anything to do with family?"

Deck turned, pursing his lips. Carlyle eyed him carefully, with the only good eye she had. "Uh...yeah. Wish I had better news," Deck grumbled, kicking a lonely brick from the wreckage across the floor, "but my folks come from Lust. It's kind of a tradition to take up the job. Call it genetics." Jules crossed her arms, turning to face Carlyle. Her hunched, wounded expression paired well with her well formed physique. "Uh huh. Explains a lot and doesn't make my head any better." Deck shrugged, turning back to face his sister. "What happened? And more importantly, why are you in Pride?"

Carlyle scoffed, brushing debris off of her good shoulder. "Pssh. What's it to you?" Deck dropped his shoulders and raised his hands, gesturing to the carnage and chaos around the hideout. Carlyle turned to face the former apartment, then groaned, bending over before returning to Deck's gaze. Her single eye reflected pain, and recognizable grief. "Jaqie's dead." Deck's whole form seemed to drop, slumping ever so slightly, although his face said more than his body ever could. Jules took a step away, inspecting the situation while she slid the cross back into her utility belt.

"Who's Jackie?" She asked, low and quiet. Carlyle turned, crossing her arms and extending a long, acidic tongue to her wound. Licking along her pale almond skin removed most of the blood and stabilized the wound, but her face still shone with pain and swelling. "It's Jaqie, with a q. And she is-" she caught herself then. "Was our fourth youngest sister." Deck stepped forward, scratching the back of his head. "I should have been there. If I hadn't left Greed, I-" "You would have died too, Deck!" Both siblings stopped, frozen facing opposite one another.

Jules stepped forward, her boots crunching on the broken remnants of a pot when she slowly advanced. "What happened?" She asked. Carlyle turned away from her brother, locking eyes for a moment before breaking away to speak to the Sin Hunter. "Mammon, the new Lord of Greed, recently began taxing the casino businesses and ownerships to try and over inflate himself. Funny that. The guy who has infinite cash needs more cash." Jules felt the corners of her eyes and mouth narrowing into slits, vengeful thoughts infiltrating her mind.

"Jaqie used to work for Beelzebub when he was the Lord of Greed. She was in charge of shipments and dealing with whoever was in charge." But when Carlyle readied herself to continue, Deck brought his gauntlet to her face, shushing his older sister. "Don't finish that. I can see the grief it's causing you." Carlyle dropped her shoulders, extending her right arm to her brother. "Do you have my sword?" Deck stiffened, crossing his arms. "Your sword? No, not me. What about you, Jules?" The Sin Hunter sighed, bringing the bronze saber out from behind her back.

"I couldn't determine whether I could trust you or not. But I think we've got enough to make a conclusion." Carlyle gently scooped the cutlass out of Jules' hands, sheathing it on her belt before turning back toward Deck with crossed arms. "Thank you," she whispered, brushing her deep blue hair back into a bun. Deck chuckled, waving his left hand and patting his sister's bare shoulder with his right. "Hey, one more thing," he grinned, gesturing to the Sin Hunter beside them. Carlyle adjusted her eyepatch, nodding. "Could you put a shirt on over that sports bra? I think we're starting to overheat her."