{ Previous Timeline: Approximately three months before Apophis'' victory and Yesh''s subsequent reset.}

- Hell, Avernus.

Michael didn''t know if he would ever get used to spending time in the underworld.

Even though he had no intentions of being here for long, it was still uncomfortable.

The air made his skin crawl. The natural stench of demonkind and sulfur nearly burned the hairs in his nostrils as soon as he stepped outside.

He was thrilled that he would never have to see this place again soon.

He pushed open the door to a dark library sprawling with tomes. Michael always felt odd whenever he stepped into this place.

Demons are rarely creative- almost never in fact. So as a form of entertainment, Lucifer started to have them bring him stories from the happenings on earth.

Ironic that the man who hated humanity above all was a large fan of their creations.

"Brother." Michael called here.

"Here!" He heard Lucifer yell within the library.

Michael wandered through the library until he found an obscure passageway.

There, Lucifer was leisurely tossing tones into a brown bag.

"What are you doing..?"

"Packing. You need something?"

"Do I need- Yes!" Michael nodded, aghast. "You should be done packing so that we can leave already, not still sitting here pontificating on whatever dollar store novels your demons bring!"

"I''m only doing this while I wait for something else."@@@@

"We shouldn''t be waiting for anything else!"

Lucifer paused from book picking and smirked at his brother.

"Such timidity. Are you afraid he will come after sensing the nature of your act just now?" Lucifer gestured down.

The faintest bit of blood could be seen on the cuff of Michael''s sleeve.

Ashamed, and perhaps annoyed, Michael hid his sleeve behind his back. "I did what needed to be done. A necessary evil."

"I didn''t know you believed in those. Your time in hell mayhaps has changed you."

Michael would be sick if he heard his brother say that a second time.

"Do not dare sling such vile accusations against me. I only do what needs to be done. The only reason I am even standing here right now is because I need to save mother and father from what you created."

"Ta-ta-ta!" Lucifer clicked his teeth and raised a finger. "Technically from what you''ve told me, father made him first. I just fiddled with the design if anything."

"You made a bad situation even worse by turning it into something just like you. Albeit infuriatingly more adept at camouflaging himself."

Lucifer leaned back on his hands. "In hindsight, maybe that was too powerful of a name. The next time one of my descendants comes to me asking for power, I''ll be sure to name them Snuffle-Bottoms Mcfee. Then he''ll either evolve into a stuffed animal or a twink."

Michael''s face became as red as hell''s sky at his brother''s lack of urgency. "Would you stop joking and come on?!?"

"I told you that I''m waiting for something, be patient or I''ll-"

The door to the library creaked open a second time and both men came to a halt. Lucifer stood up and emerged from behind the book stack to find Igrat standing in the middle of the room.

"You will not touch her again."

Lucifer seemed to find this all terribly amusing. "Well this is a hoot... The White City''s favorite soldier, famous for carving up demons by the thousands now wishes to save the life of a lowly succubus. Have you been charmed by her, brother?"

"Do not sling such foul accusations at me."

"It''s the only thing that makes since." Lucifer shrugged. "I wonder if you would feel this upsurge of chivalry for a male demon."

"It depends on the demon." Michael narrowed his eyes.

Lucifer rolled his eyes. "No it doesn''t. If it did, you wouldn''t be here in the first place."

Michael didn''t know what he meant by that, but he became distracted when in the next moment, the head of a two-pronged spear was pointed at his neck.

"Now will you get out of my way, or are we both just going to keep showing off our toys?" Lucifer seemed irrevocably bored.

Michael set his jaw in place. "You won''t touch her."

"Then we''ll die before we begin. My child is the best hope of victory and you know that. If we don''t have it, then we''re dead before we begin."

"We can scatter the multiverse looking for alternatives. Perhaps she can help us as well."

"We don''t have eternity to scour the multiverse for a weapon that might not even exist.

And by the time we even find it, it may no longer even be a viable option. Dragons only get stronger as they get older. And last I checked, our aunt was just as unreliable."

"Oh, well. We find another alternative or we submit ourselves to his jaws now, but I won''t go down this path with you. We''re not raising one monster to kill another. We''re not torturing women."

''Even if they are filthy demons..'' He thought.

Lucifer shook his head pitifully. "Poor brother.. That is exactly what we''re doing the only difference is, this monster will be a vessel for me to inhabit."

Michael almost fell onto his back, cursing his stupidity.

How could he have forgotten?

Igrat used to be human.

His brow furrowed. "As if I would allow-"

*Squelch.*

Both men paused when they suddenly heard the sound of something wet moving.

An ominous feeling filled Michael''s chest as he turned around in time with his brother.

The gash in Igrat''s stomach only grew wider as she was pulled apart from the inside.

Underneath Michael''s horrified gaze and Lucifer''s amused one, a child arose form the demon queen''s stomach.

Dyed red with blood from head to toe, his very appearance was almost akin to a premonition.

His eyes were goat-like and petrifying. Not from the oddity, but rather the stillness. The creature was born with a corrupted sense of tranquility.

In that moment, Michael felt a fear greater than any he had ever known.

And he became certain that somewhere along the line, he had made a grave error in his quest to do the right thing.

But he lost the opportunity to do anything about it when the child lifted up his hands, and both Lucifer and Michael were lifted into the air by a power that they couldn''t fight against.

Their fear was only compounded when the power that had been etched into their very bones from birth started to leave them.