Ch. 0: Remnants Beyond Time

Destruction.

It was the only word that could describe the situation. The once empty white void with no end was now filled with it.

Flames were everywhere, dancing to the song of chaos. The white void now has an orange hue as the flames grew bigger, towering into the sky. Two winged figures were seen standing on the white ground, both fatally wounded and starting to lose consciousness.

"Tell me why you did it." one of the figures spoke. The one who spoke lost one of its wings because of the battle they just had. The tone of the voice filled with anger, hatred, and full of grief.

"Did what dear brother?" The other spat.

Hearing this, the one-winged figure growled and dashed towards the other figure, grabbing him by the neck and screamed.

"YOU KNOW DAMN WELL WHAT YOU DID!!"

The other figure just laughed and laughed until he coughed blood. Grinning psychotically at his brother with his bloody mouth.

"Oh yeah, well...I just wanted to be the strongest y'know." Said the other figure like it was a normal thing to say in that situation.

"Seeing your power like that makes me inspired. I want the world to bow down before me...after the world is created of course-I mean, who would want to rule an empty void like this?" He continued. The figure was shocked, disgusted, angered. A whole clusterfuck of emotions swirling inside of him as he puts on more force to the choke.

"You...you killed our father and absorbed his power...made my brother-YOUR BROTHER as your fucking puppet...wounded your own mother...FOR FUCKING POWER?!! What is wrong with you Lucifer?!"

The other figure laughed. Psychotic laughter echoed through the white void, accompanied by the sounds of raging flames like it was hell itself.

"Oh Akuma, you really are selfless...always putting others before yourself. Isn't it strange though? I mean, your role is to Destroy right? So...why do you care so much for others?" Said the figure now known as Lucifer.

"When the world is complete, Humans are just pawns that I can manipulate and you can destroy...You're weird you know that?" Lucifer added. This caused Akuma to put more force in the choke, causing Lucifer to cough violently.

"Your purpose is to test the humans their faith Lucifer. Not manipulating them to do your own bidding!!! And MY purpose is to bring those that are evil to their inevitable end. We don't use our powers for personal gain." growled Akuma.

Lucifer's psychotic grin never wavered. He used his only intact arm to pat his brother's shoulder. He knew that if the battle continues, his brother would not only take away his arm but his life as well. His brother's 'Flames of Destruction' and 'Raging god' were too powerful for his 'Hell's Blessing' and 'mastermind' powers to handle. Even after he absorbed his father's power 'Doom', his brother still gave him a very gruesome beatdown. He only managed to wound Akuma with the combined efforts of him and Apollyon, who was already dead. So he tries another tactic, Persuasion.

"Oh, come on...I know you want to rule the world. You're just like me, we're celestials for fuck's sake. We are above others. We are the pinnacle of all beings. Stop it with the 'tHiS Is OuR pURpoSe' thingy. With that power of yours and this mind of mine, we'll be unstoppable."

Akuma just stared up at him, his hand still squeezing Lucifer's neck, and began to laugh. He laughed for a good minute and wiped a tear from his seemingly non-existent face.

"Oh mother, you're still trying to be funny in the last moments of our lives? Our wounds are too fatal to be regenerated and you're still trying to rule the fuckin' world? My left-wing got destroyed, and I lost 5 of my 10 hearts-Not to Mention your wounds. Did you forget that you lost an arm, 5 out of your 7 brains, and 8 out of your 10 hearts?! Did I make the rest of your functional brains 'retarded'?!" Akuma said, taking Lucifer aback a little.

"Once we get reincarnated, I'll wipe the floor with your ugly ass so bad, death is considered mercy. And I'm gonna be all out of mercy. I'll erase you out of existence you hear me?" Akuma continued, gritting his teeth.

Hearing this, Lucifer grew irritated and his psychotic grin turned into a scowl. His tactic failed hard.

Akuma's expression softened. They will die in a couple of minutes, so what's the point of continuing fighting right now? He let go of Lucifer and sat down on the cold white ground, looking at the destruction they just caused.

Lucifer looked down at his brother and followed his gaze. 'Damn' was all he could think of after seeing the results of their mortal kombat. He then chuckled under his breath and sat down next to his brother, genuinely smiling. The smile contained emotions that he had never felt before. And it felt somewhat nice.

"Jeez, we destroyed a lot didn't we?" Lucifer asked. His gaze still focused on the now-orange-tinted sky.

"Yep."

"So...You're not going to be reincarnated in Hell?" Lucifer asked again.

"Nope. I'm going to be reincarnated as a human." Akuma replied, still gazing his eyes at the flames flickering across the void.

"Wait, what? Are you sure you're not the 'retarded' one?" Lucifer replied shocked by what his brother just said.

Akuma chuckled. This was nice. Finally being real siblings for the first and last time. Even though they will have another life-or they will be reincarnated to be exact, this will be the only wholesome moment that they will have. Because they will be settling this once and for all, once they meet each other post-reincarnation. He'll most definitely miss this moment for sure.

"Humans will be just like us Lucifer. They will be able to feel and express their emotions, and also they're sentient beings-Not just some mindless...what does mother call it in her list of creatures? Apes? Oh yeah, Apes. And as mother said, in the future, humans will evolve and gain extraordinary powers. In that age of confusion and chaos, the human heart will be tested. There are those who will use their powers for evil and those who use them to bring justice and peace." Stated Akuma.

"I want to be reincarnated as a human because I want to help them bring that into fruition. I want to be there so that they can rely on me. I want to be there to send a message that everything is alright. Why? Because I am there to protect them." He continued. To say those words were wise was an understatement. Lucifer was completely baffled at his brother's statement.

Lucifer chuckled and let out a sigh. His brother's wisdom is something else. He looked at his brother, still gazing at the orange inferno with a sincere smile on his face.

"You are so goddamn wise, I hate it." Lucifer said.

"You really deserved to be the strongest. Hell, you're even stronger than me and dad combined. But that doesn't mean I give up. I will be the strongest and I will make MY plans into fruition." He continued. Akuma chuckled and patted his brother's shoulder. He finally looked at Lucifer and gave him a kind smile that took him aback,

"I'll be there to stop you then." Akuma then replied.

"We'll see about that." Lucifer said.

They both lay their heads on the cold white ground, staring into the sunset-colored sky. Finally closing their eyes. But before accepting death, Akuma asked for one more favor,

"Say Hello to Apollyon for me ok?"

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Lucifer replied, "I will."

Their bodies faded, as their souls waited for the time to be reincarnated.

To be continued.