Chapter 7 Unfinished Business

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The New York City skyline glimmered in the twilight, but something was off. Lucifer Morningstar, once the ruler of Hell and now a reluctant visitor in the Marvel universe, stood on the rooftop of the Sanctum Sanctorum. His senses, though dulled in his mortal form, picked up on an eerie scent that didn't belong in the city air.

"Something stinks," Lucifer muttered, his eyes narrowing at a strange, glowing mist that coiled around a distant skyscraper. "And I don't mean the usual New York aroma of hot dogs and desperation."

Doctor Strange, the Sorcerer Supreme, joined him on the roof. His red Cloak of Levitation fluttered behind him like it had a mind of its own. "You sense it too," he said. "The magic in the city feels... wrong. Like someone's playing a bad note on a giant mystical piano."

"Oh, I sense it alright," Lucifer replied, his voice tight. "It's like someone's taken a big, nasty crowbar to the barrier between worlds. And trust me, Doc, I know a thing or two about barriers and the ugly surprises hiding behind them."

Strange's forehead wrinkled with worry. He waved his hand, and a glowing, see-through map of New York appeared in the air. Red dots pulsed on the map like angry fireflies. "These spots," Strange explained, "they're where the weird energy is strongest. It's like they're sucking up the city's natural magic."

Lucifer leaned in, his eyes tracing the patterns. "Hold on," he said, "these dots aren't random. They're making a star shape - a pentagram. That's Occult 101. Someone's not just taking the energy; they're shaping it, funneling it."

"But why?" Strange wondered out loud.

"Two guesses," Lucifer said grimly. "Power or money. Usually both. When humans mess with big, scary forces they don't understand, it's never because they want world peace and puppies."

Suddenly, the building shook like it was caught in an earthquake. In the distance, the glowing mist around the skyscraper turned into a twisting column, and a howl that sounded like it came straight from a nightmare echoed through the city.

"Well," Lucifer said, straightening his designer jacket, trying to look calm, "looks like our mystery magic user is done hiding. Ready to crash their party, Doc?"

Strange was already creating a portal, his hands moving in complex patterns. "We need to stop whatever they've summoned before it wrecks the city," he said. "But Lucifer, your powers are still wonky. Maybe you should..."

"Stay behind?" Lucifer cut in, his eyes flashing dangerously. "Not a chance. Whatever's going down out there, it's connected to why I'm stuck here. I can feel it in my bones - or what's left of my angel bones."

Strange looked like he wanted to argue, but another shake of the building made the decision for him. "Fine," he agreed reluctantly. "But stay close. You might be the Devil, but right now, you're a mortal Devil."

"Don't remind me," Lucifer grumbled as he stepped through the portal.

They came out on a street now covered in that weird, glowing mist. Cars were left with doors open, their headlights making spooky beams in the fog. In the middle of the street stood a figure in front of a circle drawn with glowing symbols. It was a man, or what used to be a man - his skin was gray, his veins glowed with an unnatural light, and his eyes... his eyes were like looking into bottomless pits.

"Behold!" the figure shouted, his voice booming unnaturally. "I, Maleficus, have torn open the veil between worlds! The powers of a thousand realms will be mine!"

"Maleficus?" Lucifer laughed. "Seriously? I've met demons with less ridiculous names. What's next, calling yourself the 'Supreme Overlord of Badness'?"

The sorcerer spun around, his face twisting with rage. "Who dares? Ah, the Sorcerer Supreme. How fitting that you watch my rise to power. And you..." His gaze locked onto Lucifer, and for a moment, he looked confused. "You... you don't belong here. Your presence, it's like a puzzle piece in the wrong box!"

"I prefer 'dimension-hopping tourist,'" Lucifer quipped, but inside, his mind was racing. This Maleficus could sense he didn't belong. Which meant...

"The artifacts!" Strange yelled, his hands already weaving a counter-spell. "He's not just taking power from our world. He's grabbing magic items from all over the multiverse!"

Right on cue, the circle flared brighter, and objects began appearing out of thin air: a dagger with a snake-like handle, a crystal skull that seemed to whisper secrets, a old book bound in what looked horribly like human skin.

"Party tricks," Lucifer sneered, but his confidence wavered as he recognized some items. "Wait, that's the Dagger of Dagon. And that book... it's the Codex Umbrarum. I thought my old pal Agares torched that thing ages ago."

"You know these things?" Strange asked, blocking a blast of wicked energy with a shield of glowing symbols.

"Let's just say I've had run-ins with their previous owners," Lucifer replied. He tried to use his new power, to reach into Maleficus's mind and unravel his desires. But the sorcerer's mind was a mess of greed and craziness, impossible to penetrate.

"Your little mind games won't work on me, fallen angel!" Maleficus cackled. He grabbed the dagger and, with a vicious slash, tore a hole in the very air. "I'll rob every world, every dimension. I'll be a god among gods!"

Through the rip, Lucifer saw a familiar sight - the bleak plains of Hell, the black towers of his old palace. "You idiot!" he roared, a flash of his old power burning in his eyes. "You've opened a door straight to my kingdom!"

But even as he spoke, a tendril of hellish energy shot out, wrapping around Lucifer. He felt it then, the connection between his own displacement and the hole Maleficus had ripped in reality. It was like the multiverse itself was trying to fix a mistake, to pull him back where he belonged.

"Lucifer!" Strange called out, fighting a horde of shadowy creatures pouring from the rift. "Hang on!"

But the pull was too strong. Lucifer felt himself being dragged towards the portal, back to Hell, back to his throne. For a moment, he felt relief - he was going home, he would be whole again.

Then he saw Strange, outnumbered by shadow monsters. He saw the city around them, innocent people in danger. And in that moment, Lucifer Morningstar made a choice that would have shocked even his angel brothers.

With a roar of defiance, he dug in his heels, fighting against the pull of his own realm. "Not yet!" he snarled. "I'm not done here!" And with a burst of willpower, he broke free, the tendril of hellish energy snapping like a rubber band.

Maleficus stumbled back, eyes wide with disbelief. "Impossible! No one could resist the call of their own world!"

"Haven't you been paying attention?" Lucifer said, his voice low and dangerous. "I'm not just anyone. I'm the Devil. And right now, you've really ticked me off."

With that, he charged, ducking under a swing of the dagger. He grabbed Maleficus's wrist, and this time, his power worked. He drilled into the sorcerer's mind, past the craziness, to the core of his being.

"You want power?" Lucifer hissed. "You want to be a god? Let me show you what that really means."

And he opened the floodgates of his mind, pouring in eons of memories - the agonizing fall from Heaven, the bitter rule over Hell, the weight of countless damned souls. Maleficus screamed, his mind overloaded by the sheer cosmic scale of Lucifer's existence itself.

"You're not ready for godhood," Lucifer said, almost gently. "No mortal is."

Maleficus collapsed, the magic items clattering around him. The rift began to close, the shadow creatures melting into mist. Strange, battered but victorious, gathered the items with tendrils of mystic energy.

"That was... unexpected," Strange said, looking at Lucifer with new respect. "You could have gone back. Why didn't you?"

Lucifer looked around at the city, at the people now cautiously coming out of hiding. He thought of the thugs he'd faced, of the innocents he'd helped. "Let's just say I'm not quite ready to take back my throne," he said. "There's still... unfinished business here."