Double or Nothing: One in a Million

A Friendly Face In Distress

The Visier approached the startled trio of Sinners, their wavering golden eyes resting on the tallest of the group, Shrap. Their form was hunched, shrouded by a large, dusty cloak, while old, weathered limbs extended from the wraps, greeting the trio and Lucifer with trembling fingertips. "Ah. I see your guests have arrived, Lucifer. Are they well mannered folk?" Lucifer cleared his throat, introducing the trio to the robed shroud of a Demon.

"Ahem. Gentlemen, forgive my ignorance to this fellow. This is my visier, uh..." he paused, tapping his chin for a moment. The King of Hell remained lost in thought, struggling to find the name of the robed one, but the ancient ruler chuckled, a wheezing laugh like pipe organs blowing dust into the air as they exhaled. "You may refer to myself as The Visier, if it suits you fine dressed men." While Crow and Wrench hesitated to shake hands, Shrap, being the ever eager head of their operation, extended his arm to shake with the wrinkled flesh of the hunched shroud.

"A pleasure to meet you, Visier. My associates and I are here on official business, assisting an enemy turned ally of the King." The Visier removed his palm from the salesman's, straightening as far as his curved form would allow. "An enemy? You refer to the Sin Hunter, am I correct?" Now Crow stepped forward, and although his hands had dug through the rotting corpses of patients and deceased victims, he felt unnaturally eerie shaking hands with the Visier. This was not a handshake of pleasant surprise: it bore a lingering, guilty implication.

"A pleasure to meet you, Visier. Lucifer was due for one after all." The Visier exploded with a hoarse but hearty laughter, patting the Plague Infector on his shoulder while Lucifer sighed, rubbing the side of his head. "Ah, what a wonderful joke! I am thoroughly amused, Doctor Richmond." Crow chuckled sheepishly, his goggles twisted into strained enthusiasm as he struggled to release the pale and wrinkled hand from his suit. But as the Visier finished his laughter, a voice like the ringing of satanic bells filled the dining room. "Doctor Richmond?"

Crow spun away from the red cloaked advisor, his goggles beaming with light. The doors into the dining hall were opened, and standing on the floor at the opposite end of the table was the only face Crow had ever known. His heart dropped and leapt in circles as the Plague Infector surged forward, pushing away from the group at the dining table. The golden armored warrior across the hall sprinted toward Doctor Richmond, their arms outstretched and a silver smile piercing their golden plating. Crow leapt forward, planting his feet as his arms swung forward.

And as the Golden Knight slammed into Crow at full speed, the two laughed and laughed, swinging and spinning around as the deep maroon scarf draped across golden armor swirled around in the air in a flurry of golds, silvers and reds. Neither the Sinner nor Demoness wanted to let go first as they stood in the center of the dining hall, keeping one another in their arms. Lucifer, seated at the opposite end of the table, raised his eyebrows in surprise while Shrap and Wrench both began laughing, playing as if it were a wedding they had attended.

"Oh, they grow up so fast!" Shrap stifled through fake tears and a very enthusiastic Wrench, who had thrown himself against the tall Sinner's leg with agonizing wails. Crow finally turned his beak away from his lovely Lady of Envy, his goggles narrowing. An irritated flicker struck his lenses as Crow broke away from the Golden Knight, laughing with his partners. "Oh, ha ha ha, very funny, guys." After breaking down their act, Crow took his seat beside an unveiled Satan, who explained her regards for visiting Lucifer on such short notice.

"Envy is facing some unlikely troubles at the moment. It appears that the sandstorms are growing stronger out in the South, and my Silver Knights have reported sightings of large, jutting stone structures piling in the sand beyond our walls." Lucifer tapped his chin, his eyes closed in thought. "Hmm. Whoever or whatever is doing this, we need to figure out how they're bringing these structures and fossils back from the grave." Wrench sprawled himself back on his chair, reaching for a toothpick from a tray in the center of the table.

"Is zhere not a way to further analyze zhe members of such powerful necromancy in Hell?" Lucifer's eyes opened, swiping toward the Nazi Engineer. The Visier, seated opposite Shrap and Wrench, raised one of his wrinkled, weathered arms to speak. "I believe there is such a way, Sinner. Buried within the codexes of our deepest libraries, there exist catalogs. Catalogs that not only document Sinners of extraordinary psychic power," The Visier nodded, his bright gold pupils flickering beneath his scarlet hood, "but also powerful relics that enhance the psyche of their user."

Lucifer scratched his chin, his eyes torn by an absence of truth. "There are hundreds of billions of Sinners and Demons in Hell. And millions alone in Pride. However, Sinners are adhered to Pride in most legal ways." The King of Hell turned his attention to Shrap, Crow and Wrench with narrowed eyes and palms planted on the table. "You three, and the rest of your company, are exceptions to this rule. And I dare not question what sick and twisted methods you use to hop around."

Shrap raised his hand to speak. "Well actually, Lucifer, we just use-" "Dinner is served, Lady and Gentlemen!" Everyone turned to the kitchen doors as platters of food and glistening dishes were carried through and set on the table to further entice the group. Crow collapsed into his chair, goggle lenses wide with disbelief. "Do you eat like this on a daily basis?" He muttered, though Satan chuckled, removing her helmet with a clicking, hissing sound. Gears unfolded around her horns, letting beautiful black hair flow down around her burnt red skin and pale white scars.

"Oh, of course! What, you thought the most extremely powerful in Hell ate on the same level as their peoples? What a silly notion!" Crow chuckled sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head as if looking for something else to do. Shrap, however, had already begun pulling food from his plate, watching as The Visier quickly began drawing food onto large plates and shoveling them into his hooded face. The plate, full of cheese, grapes, meat and fresh vegetables, came crawling out picked clean of crumbs.

Wrench's jaw hit the table in shock, but Shrap laughed even harder, sliding a tray of cherry tomatoes onto his spot at the table. "Whew! You packed all that away in a second and a half! How do you go around like that with those wrinkled hands and muscles, big man?" The Visier lifted his gold ovals surrounded by abyss to face Shrap. The ovals curled upward in a smiling fashion. "Oh, I get around, salesman. The Lord of Gluttony is a hunger inducing job, after all." While the Visier loaded another plate full of cakes and prepared a goblet of wine, Shrap shrugged, grabbing some ribs from a passing plate. "Works for me," he muttered through a mouthful of food.