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Dying isn't new to Adam.
Of course, he died on Earth when he went to Heaven. Old age is what did him in, after hundreds of years raising generations of children and working the fields. But even before that—being thrown from Eden felt like dying.
He was made from Eden's soul, so he felt like they were ripping another piece of him out when he was forced to leave. It's another scar, just not a physical one.
Something tells him the stab wounds will leave scars, though.
He's not really awake for his reformation. He's aware, but he can't see or hear or feel. It brings him back to before Eden, when he was just a soul, his body still being constructed around him.
What's that saying humans came up with? I think therefore I am. No mouth, no eyes, no body, and yet...he was alive. He was breathing with no lungs, thinking with no brain. Just...aware.
Slowly, he regains feeling in his limbs, as the soil of Hell comes together to create his new form. To be fair, he's only reverting to his default form. The color returns to his skin after millennia under a mask, and along with it comes an explosion of freckles. He's dirt, after all.
Unfortunately, not all the changes are good ones. His wings, once beautiful and golden, are now an oily black. His hands are now clawed, and a faded black at his fingertips. Reaching up to his head, he feels two large horns protruding from his hairline. Below than, most of his teeth are now sharp enough to draw blood when his finger grazes them.
As his nerves fully reform and he settles into this body, the pain from his head, back, and chest come back full force. The phantom feeling of being stabbed still ringing through his body.
He stretches his wings and gives them an experiemental flap. Still the same, if a bit weaker. He definitely won't be able to reach his usual speeds, but it's better than nothing.
He needs to get out of here. The last thing he wants is to run into—
"Adam?" The princess's voice asks suddenly.
He fumbles his take-off, and makes the mistake of turning to look at her. Her stupid big princess eyes are wide with shock. Adam shakes his head, he can't afford to get caught up with this stupid hotel.
He launches into flight the moment Vagatha and the rest of her sinner friends appear in the doorway. For a moment, he can sense Vagatha trying to follow him, but she's too out of practice and way too slow to ever hope to keep up.
Adam leaves a trail of dust behind him as he disappears into the horizon.
The hellborn are rioting.
In his attempts to get back into actually ruling Hell, Lucifer suddenly has to deal with all the issues he's been willfully ignoring. He was depressed! What else can he say? The sins have been blowing up his phone for millennia, how was he supposed to know it was serious this time?!
He has to face the music eventually, no matter how much he wants to curl back in his bed. He's the King of Hell, and it's time to start acting like it!
Lucifer shoves open the doors to the meeting room, and is met with chaos. All the sins are in attendance—for once—and they are all screaming at each other. Save for Belphagor, who is passed out in her chair. Mammon and Ozzie are getting in each other's faces, with Leviathan and Beezlebub, respectively, backing either sin up.
Satan has taken on a much smaller form, although he still towers over the rest of them—Lucifer especially. He's talking quietly with...an imp? Lucifer was under the impression imps were the lowest class of Hell's citizens, but things do change, he supposes.
Lucifer clears his throat after he takes his place at the end of the table. The sins continue to yell over each other and fail to notice him. He clears his throat louder, but is still ignored.
Satan snorts beside him, and then stands.
"Enough!" He calls, his voice echoing off the walls. Immediately, all the sins fall silent and return to their seats. Lucifer tries not to pout.
"Now, why don't we get started?" Lucifer asks, although it's not really a question. "What's all this about an uprising?"
Once again, the room erupts, with everyone talking over each other. Lucifer has to fight to be heard and, again, Satan has to calm the room.
"One at a time, please. Belphagor, you start." Lucifer gestures to his left, if just so Satan doesn't get to go first. Childish, he knows, but he can't bring himself to care when his ego is bruised.
"H-Huh?" Belphagor snorts as she wakes up suddenly. "Oh, hello...my hospitals are closed...everyone is...upset over...The First Man."
"What are you talking about?" Lucifer asks.
"The First gettin' offed was broadcasted all over, Luci! Everyone's pissed about it!" Mammon yells.
"The imps, the succubi, my hellhounds—everyone is rioting and fucking everything up!" Beezlebub says.
Lucifer blinks, then facepalms. Of-fucking-course, Adam has to come back to haunt him. Why did he assume he'd finally be rid of him? Why did he assume there wouldn't be consequences?
His stupid pride is coming to bite him in the ass again...
"Nothing you've tried could calm them down?" Lucifer asks.
"Even if we tried, it wouldn't work. We're pretty pissed about this, too," Levi says.
"I can't fucking believe you killed The First! How stupid are you!? Are you trying to start a war with Heaven and a damn civil war at the same time!?" Athan shouts.
Lucifer shrinks under the verbal beating. "I-I wasn't thinking about that! He tried to hurt my daughter!"
"Lucifer. You, of all people, know exactly what the exterminations were and why they happened. Trying to stop them was foolish and selfish," Satan says.
His ego bristles at the lower sins berating him. He's the king of Hell for crying out loud! He doesn't deserve to be yelled at like a child!
"Sorry, Luci, but this is your mess. You need to find a way to fix it," Ozzie says.
He huffs, but slowly nods. It's six against one, after all, and deep down, he knows this problem isn't just going to go away.
He does a press release the following week, promising that negotiations with Heaven are ongoing, and the problem of Adam's death with be solved before long. At least, that's what he hopes.
"Alright everyone, we need to come up with a plan!" Charlie announces. She already has her whiteboard set up with Adam's name written in all caps at the top. She figures they can come up with a better name for their plan soon.
"What is there to discuss? Are we not hunting the first man down like the prey he is?" Alastor asks.
"We need a better idea than that, Smiles. We got smoked by him last time. The Big D had to come in and save us," Angel says.
Alastor's eye twitches. Charlie interrupts them before any fights can start. The last thing the hotel needs is to get destroyed again because of an overlord tantrum.
"Angel is right, we can't go after him without a proper plan," She says.
"I hate to say it, but Alastor might be right," Vaggie says. "We can't just let him get away like that. Who knows what he'll do?"
"But we can't beat him!" Angel argues.
"You saw him! He looks just like a typical sinner now! That means we're finally on a level playing field," Vaggie insists.
"But we don't know that for sure!"
"Well, we can't just wait around for him to hurt more people!"
"Enough! Both of you can quit arguin' already! We ain't just gonna go after him if we don't know if we'll survive it. Can't you just call yer dad again?" Husk interrupts.
Charlie's face heats. "Oh. Oh, right."
She pulls out her phone to dial her dad's number, but she hesitates. There's no way he's going to pick up. Instead, she opens up their, admitedly very sparse, text conversation.
"I'm going to message him the situation, and, hopefully, he comes through," Charlie mumbles that last bit.
"The king is unreliable at best. We cannot hedge our hopes on him, especially when he came so late the last time we faced Adam," Alastor points out.
No one can argue that point.
"Still...I agree with Husk. It's too dangerous to attack when we don't have any information. I can't lose anyone else to Adam," Charlie says finally.
Vaggie places a hand on her shoulder. Everyone falls silent, and many eyes dart towards where Sir Pentious's memorial painting is. They can't risk another loss like that.
Alastor huffs. "Fine. We can wait. But, I will be keeping an eye out for our feathered friend."
"No offense, but who knows when your dad is gonna respond?" Angel asks.
"Hopefully soon?" Charlie says, although she isn't very confident.
Across the Pride Ring, Lucifer is checking his many texts, calls, and emails from the sins. If only they could stop harassing him for once! His phone buzzes again, and he's this close to smashing it when he realizes it's from his beloved Char-Char, telling him about...Adam.
He looks out of the window, as if he could see the First Man flying by. If he's really out there? Well, he can't hide forever.
Adam hits the rooftop with a thud, he barely even has the energy to moan in pain, let alone move. He's been flying for hours, before finding an appropriately tall building to crash-land on.
"Fuck me...guess my stamina ain't what it used to be," He says to himself while stretching his sore joints and wings.
He knows he can't rest for long. Princess Rainbows already told her dad about seeing him, he's sure of that. All he needs is a moment to clear his mind and come up with a plan.
The embassy was a total bust. With his new sinner form, he can't access it at all. Even if he could, he doubts that Sera would be too happy to see him. She isn't keen to accept anything new or unexpected that could disrupt her balance, and him becoming a demon definitely wasn't on her planner.
Unfortunately, the only person who can help him now...is Lucifer.
He shudders at the very thought. As if he'd ask that duck-fucker for help getting a meeting! Hell, it might not even work! He needs an audience with the Speaker, not just any lower-rank, and calling on the Speaker is no small task.
He yells out into the void, gripping his hair.
"What the hell am I gonna do!?"
Adam tries to take deep breaths. Calm down and weigh your options. Stay stuck here in Hell until you find a different way out, or...ask Lucifer for help.
The decision is made scarily fast. He'll fly to another ring, escape Lucifer's jurisdiction. Then, he can try to pool together the support of the other sins. Although not as powerful or respected as the king, multiple of them petitioning for him should have the same effect.
"Okay, let's go. Wrath, here I come," He mumbles. Then, he stretches out his wings and takes off, leaving only a few feathers behind him.
Slowly, the scene zooms out, and a soft chuckling can be heard.
"Isn't this interesting?" Vox says to himself from his control room. Multiple screens around him show the First Man crashing and then flying off.
"Oh, this is going to be fun."