I'm The Devil

Michael stepped out into the alley, the rotten door creaking shut behind him. The city air felt damp against his skin, carrying hints of coming rain and exhaust fumes. He looked up at the cloudy sky, eyes narrowing slightly. Then, with a quiet flex of his shoulders, black wings unfurled from his back. Feathers rippled into existence like dark smoke solidifying, each one tipped in faint silver.

He crouched once, then pushed off the cracked pavement.

The alley blurred beneath him. Neon lights smeared across his vision as he shot upward, the air whipping past his face. Within seconds, he cleared the rooftops and soared above the sleeping city, his wings cutting silently through the humid night.

He banked left and landed softly on the roof of a tall office tower. The glass panels below reflected the pale glow of distant lightning, flickers of white-blue crawling through the clouds like veins under skin. He walked to the edge and looked down.

The city pulsed under him. Cars crawled along distant roads, headlights glowing like wandering souls. Tower cranes stood frozen in skeletal silence. Streets twisted away into darkness, splitting neighbourhoods of broken apartments, closed shops, and neon-lit clubs that still pulsed with muffled bass.

Michael's black eyes scanned it all, but saw none of it. His thoughts drifted back to the rotting building. To his brother's tired eyes. To his words that stung more than any blade ever could.

He clenched his jaw, feeling the wind push against his wings, rustling the feathers softly.

"You're brooding again."

Michael didn't turn. He didn't need to.

Gabriel walked up behind him, boots crunching against the rooftop gravel. He was slightly shorter, but just as broad-shouldered. His black hair was neater, slicked back with precision, and his eyes glowed faint gold under the overcast sky.

He carried no weapons tonight. Only a silver ring on his left hand, pulsing dimly with protective sigils.

"How'd it go with Lucifer?" Gabriel asked, stopping beside him at the edge.

Michael didn't answer right away. He watched as a police siren flashed far below, casting red and blue against rain-slick streets.

"He refused," Michael said finally, his voice quiet against the breeze.

Gabriel sighed and rubbed the back of his neck. "Figured."

Michael turned his head slightly, studying his brother's profile. "Why figured?"

Gabriel shrugged. "Because he's tired. Because he's angry. Because… he's him."

Michael's jaw tightened. "He's selfish."

Gabriel chuckled softly, but there was no humour in it. "Yeah. But aren't we all?"

Michael said nothing. Lightning flickered again across the sky, painting both their faces in harsh white for a heartbeat before fading back into darkness.

"He's not going to help us," Michael said. It wasn't a question.

Gabriel shook his head. "No."

Michael clenched his fists against the wind. "He should."

"Maybe." Gabriel leaned forward slightly, elbows resting on the rusted railing. "But you know what he is. What he's always been."

Michael didn't reply. He felt the ache deep in his chest, an old pain buried under duty and obedience.

"Do you hate him?" Gabriel asked suddenly.

Michael blinked. "What?"

"Do you hate him?" Gabriel repeated. His golden eyes glowed faintly in the dark. "Lucifer."

Michael was quiet for a long time. Rain began to fall, light at first. Tiny cold drops splashing against his cheeks and hair. His wings twitched under the growing damp.

"I don't know," he said softly.

Gabriel hummed. "I don't hate him. Never did."

Michael turned to look at him, brows furrowed. "Even after everything he did?"

Gabriel shrugged. "He never did anything to me. He just… did what he thought was right. Even if it was wrong."

Michael clenched his jaw again, feeling his teeth grind together. "He abandoned us. Abandoned Father."

Gabriel smiled faintly, rain sliding down his sharp jawline. "Yeah. But maybe… Father abandoned him first."

Michael turned away, staring out at the city again. The rain fell harder now, washing neon colours into blurred rivers across the glass panels beneath their feet. His wings drooped slightly, feathers soaked and heavy.

"What do we do now?" Gabriel asked quietly.

Michael closed his eyes, letting the rain patter against his eyelids. For a moment, he imagined it was holy water. Cleansing. Burning away the exhaustion eating into his bones.

"We seal it," he said finally. His voice was steady, flat. "With or without him."

Gabriel nodded once. "Raphael's coming at dawn."

"I know."

Silence fell between them again. The only sounds were the rain and the distant hum of traffic below. Michael opened his eyes and watched as lightning split the sky once more. Thunder followed after, deep and rolling like the growl of something vast waking in the dark.

"Do you think we can stop it?" Gabriel asked softly.

Michael didn't answer immediately. His eyes followed the veins of lightning as they crawled across the clouds.

"I don't know," he said honestly.

Gabriel smiled faintly. "That's a first."

Michael ignored the jab. He felt his chest tighten again with memories he wished he could bury forever. His brother's laughter. His brother's rage. His brother's tears. They were all the same boy once. Twins. Born together in light and shadow.

He closed his eyes. "Do you think he'll interfere?"

Gabriel thought about it for a moment, then shook his head. "No. Not unless he has to."

Michael sighed softly, the sound barely audible under the rain. "Let's hope it doesn't come to that."

Gabriel turned and walked away, his boots splashing softly against puddles forming on the rooftop. He paused by the rooftop door, glancing back.

"Get some rest, Michael. We fight at dawn."

Michael didn't reply. He just watched as his brother disappeared down the stairwell, leaving him alone with the falling rain and the pulsing city below.

He folded his wings back into his skin, feeling them dissolve like smoke into the darkness. Cold rain soaked through his shirt, clinging to his muscles, chilling his bones.

But he didn't move.

He stood there until dawn, watching lightning dance across the sky. Watching the city glow under storm clouds. Watching a world that didn't even know it was about to be devoured.

And somewhere far away, he felt it.

The thing from the outerverse.

Breathing.

Learning.

Hungry.

He clenched his fists again.

"Let it come," he whispered to the storm.

And lightning answered him with silent, blinding fury.