"You know, Devil, I'm getting real tired of your visits."

Oh, but we're connected! Isn't it fun?

It might as well have been a growl, the way you snarled it. You sat up in the darkness of the bunker, package glowing an obvious blue, and basically coughed out the words with hate.

You were so sick of this ruined life.

It would be bloody nice if peace would just decide to visit every once in a few decades instead of said villain trying to destroy your soul.

When was the last time you had a proper laugh?
When was the last time everything wasn't messed up?
When was it you could sit down and be calm and relaxed without jumping to your feet to protect yourself?

Sad part was, you couldn't remember.

It's been years ago, all the peaceful things. When you had loving parents, a peaceful life and a good - no, great - friend who didn't give a damn.

Sometimes you really needed a long break before you accidentally killed someone and today was just one of those days.

"Well," you muttered, "as long as I'm semi-alone I might as well see what's so important inside this shit of a package."

Spearing open one corner with ice from your hand like a knife, you tore open the rest away with a sort of renewed vigor because heck; it was high time you opened the dang thing.

And inside was a...
Was a...

Piece of...
What in the actual world?
Or should you say, what in the actual not world?

It was a piece of the Tesseract.

The Tesseract.

Somehow, sometime during the famed battle of New York small pieces had just gotten chipped off. Really small pieces mind you, but still strong if mixed with a concoction nonetheless.

And here it was, packaged by the hand of Hydra to be given to evil mastermind of Demons Run.

You would love to think that you could figure this out faster, come to a conclusion and such, outsmart the baddie with hours to spare. But you had questions and answers that made no sense.

What would they use it for? Or more specifically, what would Converse use it for?

He had some sort of powers, obviously, so your only guess was that was either a stabilizer or just something to make him stronger. Faster or mentally devastating.

Whichever way, he wasn't getting his hands on it. He...he couldn't. For some reason you paused.

What would it be like, to be that powerful? What if...you joined him for power?

No.

No, can't think like this.

Had to destroy the dang thing. Explode it with ice. It was a small shard; you shouldn't have any trouble:

You stuffed it in your pocket and in your mind did you best to ignore the other thoughts racing in your mind while you walked out of the bunker and remained almost invisible as the fight raged on around the Hydra base, disappearing into the massive forest ahead.
But they kept coming back.

What other toys did they own?

And for god sakes, what the hell for?

***

"No! Jesus, one break! That's all I need! C'mon, you jerk!"

You lashed out in agony, dropping to your knees; an action that was happening far to often for your taste.

He was at it again.

Messing with your brain. The Devil was trying to turn you. Take what he thought was his.

"GET OUT OF MY HEAD!"

Come now! Don't you want a speech or something to inspire you? He mocked, laughing. If only you could wipe the smug grin he probably had off his face.

"All right, go ahead," -you waved your hands in the air, sarcastically- "inspire me."

Don't die, so I can kill you instead.

Of course, you thought. Out loud you growled. "Great. We're all bloody inspired."

Continuing on through the lush forest, and shutting him out you were struck with how strange this all was.

The Avengers, after you?
Loki, though a pawn, after you?
Hydra, after you?
Shield, after you?

The Devil in Converse connected them all somehow, but this wasn't just a 'I want you on my side' thing. This wasn't a 'You almost took the Crown Jewels and are dangerous' thing. This wasn't a, 'we can't translate this' or a, 'you have something we want,' because you had nothing, you weren't going to join their side and the translation was practically done.

It was something bigger.

A revenge story, maybe?
But no. Nope.

This was a deeper setting of fate.

And you were right smack in the middle. Wonderful, isn't it?

Suddenly a pain flashed in your head like before, like the Devil was going to spirit your mind away again. But it was different. Not a quick flashing pain, but a sharp dull stab. It wouldn't stop. It was immense pressure against your skull, and you gasped for air, feeling choked.

Then without any reason whatsoever, your eyes were forced shut.

You couldn't open them.

The pressure wouldn't stop.

And you were falling...

Falling....

Falling.....

***

[In the Vision]

A crowd.

Tons of people.

Screaming for mercy.

They had no hope.

They had no strength left.

No one to save them.

He was the demon.

The devil.

The soul taker and rule maker.

Some had dropped to the ground, their hearts no longer beating, by the look of it. Others had died of shock, and still more stood frozen, burn marks scourging their foreheads. The rest stood crowed into a small clearing, huddled round one another for protection although it would do nothing.

It was gruesome. Inhuman, almost.

And yet he laughed. His demonic, demented, psychotic, 'just imagine how much fun it'll be to kill you' laugh.

His laughter and voice rang through the rooftops of this small city, crashing the delightful sounds of parties and crushing the dreams of the few who still believed in miracles.

Because this gentleman performed miracles alright. Not the good ones, mind you. It was the good ones everyone in the crowd hoped for and the bad ones that actually happened.

You stood, watching it all unfold from a rather narrow vantage point, otherwise known as a back-alley.

Finally the mysterious, laughing, murderous and grinning gentleman appeared, words leaving his lips. Sarcastic, sinister words.

"One, two, three, four. Did you miss me, people dead on the floor?" He laughed again, and you recognized it with mute horror; Converse.

"I've always wanted to say that, go figure!" He said with a snigger and then continued. "But, regardless, everyone. You'd best be careful. The time has come to rise or fall. To break the chain or," he made eye contact with you. "Not."

This whole monster of a scene didn't fit him at all, honestly, and you hardly held back a choking gasp that resembled a laugh. But he got credit for trying.

Silence drifted in from the last pause, and one old man decided to speak up. "Well never join your side." He said. "You kill our friends, explode our dreams. There are always men like you-"

The man was cut off, Converse wagging his finger. "Five, six, seven, eight. No one can escape their fate!" No one could react fast enough as a blue electricity of light shot from the Devil's hand and straight for the older man. He collapsed, shot through the heart, lying dead. You watched, mouth agape.

You wanted to help. You wanted to take charge. You wanted to take him down, here and now. But this was only a vision! Only the Devil with his strange powers could infiltrate dreams and alter pasts.

And yet.

Yet.

There was a time when he mentioned that you and him had a link.
Maybe, just maybe, that meant you could step in.

You decided yes: it wasn't fun unless there was a risk involved, of course. Had to try.

Even if it was all worthless it was better than watching.

Except before you could take even a step forward, Converse faced you again, his eyes gleaming.

He grinned and spoke in a rasping and gravely voice, and you knew the words were meant for you.

"Peace of our time, hmm?"

Those words stopped you in your tracks. You froze and contemplated this.

Did you want to go further? Maybe he had a point.

Did you really wish, and indeed want to find out his motives? You were dragged into this...somehow and somewhere there must be a way out of the chaos.

It was time to rise. Time to fight back, harder, smarter, faster. And in this seemingly final hour all there was to do was collapse and let darkness win unless you made a move.

And that was it. Exactly it.

You weren't on darkness' side. You didn't agree with Shield or the Avengers, sure. And you sure as hell didn't enjoy Hydra, sure. Which meant that it was every man for himself.

You were your own team.

It was time to rise.

So thinking you stepped from the shadows, unfrozen and confidence restored and into the crowd, walking forward.

Converse kept his eyes in you, the smile on his face remaining fixed. Other eyes were drawn to your sudden appearance, and you flashed them what you hoped was an encouraging smile.

To pretend to play the good might not be so bad after all. With shouted words you knew he could somehow hear you started your own revolution.

"Signal the sirens!" No movement.

"Rally the troops." You cried, raising your arms high. "Ladies and gentlemen, it's the moment of truth!"

Then you continued, addressing him. "You can always bury truth but you'll never bury spirit. I'll find a way to outwit you, so don't wait up, yeah?"

The Devil smirked even harder, if that was possible, following your small lead into a baited conversation. "Wait is boring; sounds good to me. Don't fall too far behind."

"Me? Fall behind? Bullshit."

In a single second he jumped from the edge of the building, doing fantastic flips and spins and landing on dark blue light to break his fall. He took a breath. "Indeed."

"You ready?" You asked. "It's going to be one hell of a ride and I don't think you can handle what I'll bring."

"Then think again," he seethed, his teeth clenching at the build up of any and all emotions, also clenching his fists and readying himself.

"Sure thing, Devil," came your roar and you shot the ice at his form while running at him. "How's the weather, now?"

Laughter echoed as he dodged the ice blast and retaliated with black smog spewing from his mouth. The crowd backed away, cowering as your fight, which was only just began, raged on.

"Icy."

Smog was everywhere, filling your sight and providing cover for you assailant. You tried a light blue ice-like glow from you fingers but it was too thick. You couldn't see anything and so you'd have to wait.

That is, until a pale fist lashed out and struck your neck, sending you staggering.

Your hand flashed to your neck, grabbing the side and groaning with pain. "That hurt." You grunted.

Laughter echoed in reply.

Converse was out for blood. This wasn't any dream battle to change course of events...this was a scale of life or death. You were testing each other's limits.

And then you know when you get a song stuck in your head? Bad timing but that's exactly what happened.

It's just cherries, cherries
Everything is cherries on top
It's just cherries, cherries
Everything is cherries on top
One more, one more

We've been falling, falling
It's like we fell to the top
I was born to cut a million
Cut my teeth and made a killing
Now I'm dodging, dodging
Everything you think that I'm not
Archetype of television
Was lost in thought but held my vision, hey

When you gonna say my name?
When you gonna say my name?
Quick charade, Beyoncé, Lemonade
When you gonna say my name?
When you gonna say my name?
No delay, no halfway, let me hear you say
One more, one more, one more

And in that moment you knew one thing. It hit you in a shocking realization at the same time the breath was knocked out of your lungs.

Two went in, you thought. And one was coming out.

***

[Through the Eyes of ???]

Even his lighter voice was terrifying.

"Traitors."

"Why are there so many goddamn traitors?!" He screamed in my face and all I could do was tremble.

He was might.
He was power.

He was a demon.
He was evil incarnate.

You don't stand before him and defend your honor. You don't scream back.

You kneel.
You bow.

You look away.
You flinch.

If that's what he likes to see, if that's what he wishes you to do? You do it.

Do you know what it's like to be brought to you knees? Do you know the feeling of death looming over you like a cloud that waits to devour?

I should hope not.
It's dark.
It's a very dark thing.

I was warned, though. Can't deny it.

"Some go in," they said.
"Some come out," they said.
"Some never leave," they said.

So here I am, black suit and no tie, kneeling before the young man in charge of the greatest and most feared organization in years and hardly anyone knows about it. Or him. But you know what? I wouldn't be remotely surprised if our world isn't the only one who fears him.

No one knows his motives.
No one knows from whence he came.

His powers are lethal.
His words are poison.

Stand before him and your soul will be lost forever.
Stand before him and feel the pressure of pain and loss.

And yet, after all these descriptions and all these said horrors, somehow, somewhere, he is still ordinary.

I feel it. Deep down.

Would I ever share this?
Absolutely not.
Problem is-

I gritted my teeth as his hand flashed towards the neck, grabbing my suit collar and yanking me against the wall.

"Ordinary?" He said, calmly.
That's the worst. The deadly calm. You know he's going to rage. You know he's going to crack the whip. But it's just so calm..."I am anything but ordinary."

"I-"

"Oh no. You've been through your thoughts. I've let you had your time. You're a traitor. Just like the others; how sweet." He snarled, his left hand opening to show a blue light dancing in his fingertips. Sparking, glowing. "How sweet that I have another to dispose of."

"That's it then?" I hacked, blinking and choking. "You read my mind and now I'm done?"

He laughed.

It was distorted.
It was eerie.

When he stopped his dark eyes locked with me own, gleaming with hate and passion. "OH YES."

His left hand shot out at my chest, the blue light piercing my skin and striking my heart.

I could've screamed in agony.

Actually, I probably did. But there wasn't much time to remember. All I know is I collapsed, and it was suddenly very very black.

Until there was a light. A blue light, pulling me back. Without warning my eyes opened and I gasped in shock. "What the-"

He interrupted me, staring into my being.

He grinned and let me drop to the floor, cracking his knuckles.

And last of all, his voice instilled the final words that although might have been accepted as good, in my case it most definitely was not.

"Welcome to the bonus round."

________
A/N:

Damn you, writers block.

I had so much trouble with this chapter I apologize if it seems off I'll probably rewrite it

So real quick I saw this thing where someone asked
What's so funny about Homestuck, seriously?
And so
have you ever kicked your BFF so hard so flew like 4 feet in the air, upsidedown, in such a brute punt that all her limbs lost their bone density and she became a confused cross-eyed noodle person
all the while you are on a burning purple moon just chilling with the body of your best friend that probably won't even stay dead for that long because gosh darn it she is just oozing with lifey powers
And here you are, purple pajamad anime-eyed and punting your best friend into the air because she wasn't kissing dead people fast enough
But that's just how life is sometimes

I read that at 3 AM and I cried real tears of laughter who am I

Okay, seriously, how was the chapter? Good? Bad?
I HAVE SO MUCH PLANNED OH MY GOD YOU'RE ALL GOING TO HATE ME

HI WELCOME TO CHILLI'S AND SUFFERING

and a black car that matches your blackest soul,
Styx