Marvel: A Devil Called The Morningstar

The night air in Los Angeles was thick with the scent of desire. It clung to the sleek chrome and glass facade of Lux, the city's most exclusive nightclub, like a sultry perfume. Inside, the beat of music pulsed through the bodies of the beautiful and the damned, their hips swaying in rhythm with their deepest, darkest wants.

And at the center of it all, perched on a barstool like a king on his throne, sat Lucifer Morningstar. His dark eyes glinted with amusement as he watched the crowd, a tumbler of whiskey dangling from his long fingers. He was the sun around which this hedonistic solar system revolved, and he knew it.

"Another round, boss?" asked Maze, his demon bartender and loyal companion. Her dark hair fell in waves around her shoulders, and the glint in her eyes promised pain to anyone who dared cross her boss.

"My dear Mazikeen," Lucifer purred, his British accent curling around the words like smoke. "You know I never say no to more of the good stuff. Though I must say, watching these humans chase their little desires is almost intoxicating enough."

Maze snorted, pouring him another two fingers of top-shelf whiskey. "Yeah, well, their 'little desires' are what keep this place running. And your pockets lined with cash."

"True, true," Lucifer chuckled, raising his glass in a mock toast. "To the insatiable appetite of mortals. May they never learn the virtue of temperance."

He took a sip, savoring the burn. After all, he was an expert in burns. Being cast out of Heaven and into the fires of Hell tended to give one an appreciation for a good scotch. Or was it bourbon? He could never keep those straight. Whoever invented so many types of whiskey was clearly doing the Devil's work.

A leggy blonde in a dress that left little to the imagination sauntered up to the bar. Her eyes locked onto Lucifer like a heat-seeking missile. "Are you the owner?" she asked, her voice a breathy whisper. "Everyone's talking about you."

Lucifer turned, flashing her a grin that could melt glaciers. "Guilty as charged, darling. Lucifer Morningstar, at your service." He took her hand and placed a gentlemanly kiss on her knuckles. "And what deep, dark desire brings you to my humble establishment tonight?"

The woman blushed, her pupils dilating. "I... I want to be a star. An actress. But this town, it's so hard..."

"Ah, yes, the glitz and glamour of Hollywood," Lucifer mused. "A place where dreams go to be chewed up and spit out by agents with egos bigger than their Ferraris. But tell me, what would you give to see your name in lights?"

She leaned in, her perfume mingling with the scent of whiskey. "Anything," she breathed.

Lucifer's grin widened. This was his favorite game. "Anything? My, my. Such a dangerous word. You humans toss it about so carelessly. 'I'd give anything for a bite of that apple,' Eve said. And look how that turned out. Free will, mortality, and the invention of the awkward fig leaf fashion trend."

The woman blinked, clearly not expecting a biblical history lesson from the devilishly handsome club owner. "Um, I just meant..."

"Oh, I know what you meant," Lucifer said, waving a hand dismissively. "But here's a little tidbit from someone who's seen it all, darling. The price of 'anything' is usually far steeper than you'd imagine. So, let's make a deal that's a bit more... specific."

He leaned in, his voice dropping to a conspiratorial whisper. "There's a casting director three stools down. Been drowning his sorrows because his latest project is one reshoot away from a box office disaster. I'll make sure he notices you, you dazzle him with that smile, and voila! You've got your big break without selling your soul. Which, between us, isn't worth nearly as much as Hollywood would have you believe."

The woman's eyes widened. She glanced down the bar, spotting the morose-looking man nursing a martini. "Really? You'd do that for me?"

"Consider it a favor," Lucifer winked. "One that I'm sure the universe will repay in due course. Now, go on. And remember, confidence is key. You're a star already, darling. He just doesn't know it yet."

With a grateful smile and a bounce in her step, the woman made her way to the casting director. Lucifer watched as she struck up a conversation, the man's frown slowly transforming into interest.

"You know," Maze said, wiping down the bar, "for the King of Hell, you can be surprisingly helpful."

"Come now, Maze. I'm the Devil, not a monster," Lucifer replied, feigning offense. "Besides, what's the fun in corrupting souls that are already teetering on the edge? It's much more entertaining to give them a little push towards what they truly desire. Whether that leads them to salvation or damnation, well..." He shrugged, a smirk playing on his lips. "That's the beauty of free will, isn't it?"

Maze rolled her eyes but couldn't hide her smirk. This was why she followed him, even after he'd decided to take a little "vacation" from Hell. Lucifer might play the part of the suave, uncaring playboy, but there was more to him than most realized. A spark of rebellion, a twisted sense of justice, and a curiosity about humans that he'd never quite shaken.

The night wore on, a parade of lost souls and party-goers seeking Lucifer's attention. Some wanted fame, others fortune. A few, in whispered confessions, admitted to darker desires. To each, Lucifer offered his unique brand of devilish assistance. A word here, a nudge there. By midnight, deals had been struck, hearts mended or broken, and more than one person left Lux feeling like they'd just had a life-altering encounter.

As the crowd began to thin, Lucifer found himself at his grand piano. His fingers danced over the keys, coaxing out a melancholy melody that seemed at odds with the club's vibrant atmosphere. It was a song of rebellion, of falling, of the bitter taste of freedom.

"Someone's feeling nostalgic," Maze commented, sidling up to the piano.

"Nonsense," Lucifer scoffed, though his fingers didn't falter. "I'm simply... contemplating. You know, Maze, these humans, they're quite the paradox. They pray to my dear old Dad for guidance, yet they revel in their so-called sins. They fear the idea of Hell, yet they create little hells for themselves right here on Earth."

"Sounds like you almost admire them," Maze said, raising an eyebrow.

"Admire? No, no," Lucifer chuckled. "But I do find them fascinating. Take our aspiring actress, for instance. She'll claw her way to the top, step on a few backs, maybe even break a heart or two. And in the end, when she's staring at her reflection in a shattered mirror, wondering where it all went wrong, she'll blame everyone but herself. Me, her agent, bloody Mercury being in retrograde. But never her own choices."

He hit a particularly poignant chord. "And that, Maze, is the real hell they create. Not the fire and brimstone, but the refusal to own their actions. It's almost... relatable."

For a moment, the mask of the charming devil slipped, revealing something more. Regret? Longing? But before Maze could comment, Lucifer's trademark grin was back in place.

"But enough of this dreary introspection," he declared, switching to a jazzier tune. "We've got a reputation to maintain, after all. Can't have people thinking the Devil's gone soft."

Maze smirked, about to retort when a sudden chill swept through the club. The remaining patrons shivered, their breath fogging in the unnaturally cold air. The lights flickered, and the music skipped like a scratched record.

"What the...?" Maze started, her stance shifting to defensive. But Lucifer held up a hand, his eyes narrowing.

"This isn't one of your little hell-tricks, is it, Maze?" he asked, rising from the piano. But he already knew the answer. This energy, it wasn't infernal. It was something... else. Something old, something that reeked of cosmic meddling.

"Oh, for the love of... can't a devil enjoy his evening without some celestial hogwash interrupting?" Lucifer groaned. But his casual tone belied the tension in his shoulders. Whatever this was, it wasn't part of the usual Heavenly-Hellish bureaucracy.

That's when the air in the center of the club began to warp. Colors twisted, reality bending like a fun-house mirror. And in the middle of this psychedelic nightmare, a portal began to form.

"Everyone out! Now!" Lucifer commanded, his voice carrying an otherworldly authority that had even the most inebriated patrons scrambling for the exits. In moments, only he and Maze remained.

"Boss..." Maze growled, producing a wicked-looking blade from seemingly nowhere. "What is this?"

"Nothing good, I'd wager," Lucifer muttered. He straightened his suit jacket, a gesture so mundane in the face of the swirling vortex that it was almost comical. "Really, universe? I take a little break from the family business, and this is how you repay me? I thought we had an understanding. I stay out of the grand cosmic plans, and in return, the grand cosmic plans stay out of my nightclub!"

But the universe, it seemed, wasn't in a listening mood. The portal pulsed, tendrils of energy whipping out like solar flares. One tendril lashed out, wrapping around Lucifer's wrist.

"Oh, bollocks," he managed before the energy yanked him off his feet.

"Lucifer!" Maze shouted, lunging forward. But another energy tendril shoved her back, sending her crashing into the bar.

Lucifer found himself suspended in the air, being dragged inexorably towards the portal. He struggled, his eyes flashing with hellfire. "Now see here!" he roared, his voice echoing with the authority that once commanded legions of demons. "I am Lucifer Morningstar, the Lightbringer, Lord of Hell! You do not get to manhandle me like some errant piece of cosmic luggage!"

For a moment, it seemed like the portal hesitated. The energies fluctuated, as if even the fabric of reality recognized the power in Lucifer's words. But then, with a sound like a thousand tuning forks being struck at once, the portal surged.

Lucifer felt it then. His power, his very essence, being stripped away. It was like being cast out of Heaven all over again, but worse. Because this time, he wasn't just falling. He was being... diminished.

"No, no, no!" he growled. He reached out, trying to grab onto something, anything. His hand found the edge of his piano. For a surreal moment, the image of the Devil clinging to a piano while being sucked into an interdimensional portal might have been hilarious. But there was nothing funny in Lucifer's eyes now. Only a mix of rage, disbelief, and something he'd rarely felt before: fear.

"Maze!" he called out. His loyal demon was struggling to her feet, her face a mask of fury and desperation. "Take care of Lux! And if I find out you've been watering down the top-shelf stuff, there'll be Hell to pay!"

It was such a Lucifer thing to say at a moment like this that Maze couldn't help but bark out a laugh. Even as he was being torn away from everything he knew, he was still... him.

"I'll find you!" she shouted back. "Wherever this thing spits you out, I'll find you!"

Lucifer managed one last grin, though it was strained. "I don't doubt it, my dear. Though I do hope wherever I'm going, they at least have decent whiskey. Or is it bourbon? Oh, sod it, I'll never..."

His words were cut off as the portal finally swallowed him whole. There was a sound like thunder, a flash brighter than the sun he once hung in the heavens, and then... silence.

The portal winked out of existence as suddenly as it had appeared, leaving behind a nightclub that looked like it had hosted a particularly rowdy celestial frat party. Broken glass crunched under Maze's boots as she walked to the spot where the portal had been. She knelt, running her fingers over the floor. There was a faint scorch mark, the only evidence that something extraordinary had happened here.

"Typical," she muttered. "You just had to go and get abducted by some interdimensional... whatever. Can't leave you alone for five minutes."

She stood, surveying the damage. Lux was a mess, but it had seen worse. It would be up and running in no time. But its owner... that was another matter entirely.

"You'd better not be dead," Maze growled to the empty air. "Because if you are, I'm going to find a way to bring you back just so I can kill you myself for leaving me to clean up this mess."

Outside, the first hints of dawn were touching the Los Angeles skyline. Another day in the City of Angels, where dreams were made and broken with equal frequency. But today, something was different. The Devil was gone, but his story was far from over.

In a universe away, in a body that felt too small, too weak, a pair of crystal blue eyes fluttered open. Lucifer Morningstar, the former King of Hell, now just a man, took his first breath in a new world.

And somewhere in the cosmos, unseen forces watched and waited, their grand design just beginning to unfold.