Lucifer was hunched over his packed bags in his broken apartment, checking the job board on his phone for any final, easy deliveries he could grab on his way out of Gotham—a habit hard to break.
The smell of ozone was still faintly present, a phantom reminder of the night before.
Suddenly, the scent intensified, mixing with a subtle, palpable wave of Acute Embarrassment and Reluctant Necessity that flooded his Basic Empathy skill.
Lucifer didn't need the system to tell him who it was.
He quickly dropped his phone and snapped into a ready stance.
"Shield Up!"
The Tier 4 Force Field shimmered around him just as a silent flash of dark violet light coalesced in the middle of the room.
Raven appeared.
She was standing still, clutching her purple cloak tightly around her. Her eyes, usually shadowed and impassive, were directed at the floor.
The familiar aura of world-ending power was completely absent, replaced by a low thrum of Self-Consciousness.
"Raven?"
Lucifer lowered his shield slightly, allowing it to dissipate.
"What the hell? I thought you were gone for good. Did your dad send another squad? Because I have a new job, and I'm not looking for a third house destruction bonus."
Raven winced, confirming the spike of embarrassment.
She finally lifted her head, and her expression was painfully awkward, a look Lucifer had genuinely never expected to see on a nigh-omnipotent entity's face.
"Lucifer, I… I require assistance,"
She stated, her voice tight and utterly devoid of its usual echoing confidence.
"Assistance?"
Lucifer raised an eyebrow, gesturing to the multi-million-dollar view of the Gotham skyline visible through his massive, door-shaped hole in the wall.
"You leveled three highly trained paramilitary agents with shadows, then vanished in a flash of light, and you need my assistance? Did you forget your favorite thermodynamics textbook?"
Raven sighed, the sound impossibly small.
"I need money,"
She admitted flatly, the admission clearly costing her a great deal of dignity.
"And a place to stay."
Lucifer stared, then slowly crumpled back into his hard chair, disbelief warring with weary resignation.
"You are the daughter of an interdimensional demon, and you are broke?"
"My powers are intrinsically linked to emotional and spiritual energy,"
Raven explained, finally meeting his gaze, a hint of desperation in her eyes.
"My monetary needs are usually met by passive absorption or… influence. However, to stabilize my new containment, I had to place a hard limit on my active power usage. I can't generate or materialize resources. I am, functionally, cut off from my usual methods of sustenance."
She gestured weakly at her cloak.
"And this apartment, despite the damage, was the last place I felt... secure."
Lucifer rubbed his temples.
He had just secured a Platinum-Tier gig with Tony Stark and now had a world-ending roommate again.
"Okay, look, Raven,"
He began, trying to process the sheer absurdity of the situation.
"I appreciate the honesty, but your presence attracts the kind of trouble that can shatter my Tier 4 shield like glass. If your father, Trigon, is still looking for you—"
Raven cut him off, a sharp, authoritative tone returning to her voice.
"Trigon is not a threat to this galaxy right now."
Lucifer paused.
"What?"
"Someone is engaging him. A force far more powerful than my father. They are currently distracting him, causing him immense, debilitating damage. He is currently focused entirely on survival and cannot pierce the wards guarding this part of the cosmos."
Lucifer processed the implication: his apocalyptic threat had a babysitter.
A powerful, angry babysitter.
He leaned forward, intrigued.
"Someone else is strong enough to seriously injure a world-ending demon? Who?"
Raven shook her head, shadows flickering faintly in her eyes as if the thought of the entity was painful.
"I don't know the name, but I can feel the residual energy: Pure, Concentrated Authority. It's not human magic, nor is it demonic or angelic. It feels like... a primordial, unmoving law. But the important thing is, for now, we are safe from him here. Completely."
She took a hesitant step closer, her voice softening slightly.
"I just need a roof over my head for a few days, Lucifer. I will even assist you in your training again. I can guarantee flawless focus."
Lucifer looked at the $232,855 in his bank account, his Delivery Rank, and his imminent move to Stark Tower.
He had the money and the means.
And having a guaranteed training boost from a psychic powerhouse was a colossal advantage for his new, dangerous career.
He sighed, shaking his head.
"You are going to owe me one, world-ender,"
He stated, pulling out his spare key to the newly rented, furnished service apartment in Manhattan, paid for by Stark.
"I'm moving to Manhattan for a new job with Tony Stark. You're coming with me. But you have to earn your keep. No exploding the new place, and you have to help me with my Focus Training every night until my shield hits Tier 10."
A flicker of genuine relief, mixed with that powerful Gratitude he had sensed before, washed over his Basic Empathy.
"Accepted,"
Raven replied, the hint of a tiny, grateful smile just touching the corner of her lips.
"Thank you, Lucifer. You won't regret this partnership."
[Side-Quest Alert: Shared Sanctuary]
[Objective: Maintain Raven (Rachel Roth) as a roommate/associate in Manhattan. (Requires Basic Empathy LVL 5 to detect subtle emotional shifts.)]
[Reward: Continued access to Focus Training Assistance (Guaranteed Perfect Focus/Fatigue Suppression) and potential future high-tier emotional manipulation abilities.]
Lucifer picked up his packed messenger bag.
"Great. Get ready, Raven. Manhattan's waiting, and I don't want to be late for my Platinum-Tier gig."
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