Derrick, The Demon Prince

Derrick woke up to a bolt of pain. It felt as if something was digging into his heart and he couldn't tell what. The pain didn't stop. He tried to move but could feel the thing piercing his flesh, tearing him open from the inside. His vision went blurry and his head began spinning. What had happened? How did this even happen? Where am I? Why can't I move?

He tried moving, his mind screaming for him to get out and escape whatever this was, but it all seemed like in slow motion. There was no movement at first until it suddenly changed to a sudden jolt and Derrick screamed. He felt the thing dig in deeper through his body. It felt so heavy and so intense, and yet somehow so cold. The world around him seemed to fade away, his thoughts becoming hazy, the only sound his panicked breathing.

His vision began swimming into focus as his eyes met another set of glowing red ones . He struggled against his restraints, wanting nothing more than for this pain to be over. The other creature spoke, the voice low and gravelly and Derrick found himself unable to understand anything that came out of it's mouth.

"What have we here? looks like Derrick Taylor is finally awake." Lucifer said as he pulled out the knife from Derrick's chest. Derrick winced as more blood gushed from the wound and pooled on his shirt beneath his hands.

"Lucifer," Derrick whispered, his words sounding hoarse. The demon laughed derisively as he played with the blade. "One and only bro, in the flesh." He leaned down and brought the knife close to Derrick's face.

"You know, you're always such a piece of work when it comes to death demon prince. You should be glad I'm not going to make a mess out of your soul." Lucilfer sneered as Derrick continued to struggle under the restraints. "Wh... Where am I?" Derrick grunted. Lucifer raised an eyebrow. "I thought it was pretty clear, boy." Lucifer said. "Anyways, this is..." He made a dramatic pause. "This is hell. Nah I'm just playing, it's some factory workshop." "Why are you doing this?!" Derrick demanded. "I haven't done anything!" Lucifer laughed at the statement before he pressed the blade closer to Derrick's face. "Oh, you've done plenty." He said darkly. He leaned back and looked Derrick in the eye with a wicked smile. "From locking the gates, delaying my apocalypse, To taking my top seven champions and making them your play things. I mean... did you ever think of the kinda power you had before you?" Lucifer asked pointing the blade at Derrick 's abdomen. Derrick shook his head. "No... I just wanted... I never wanted any of this." He replied meekly. "That's the problem, you see, because now you've become an absolute nuisance, and that isn't okay. Not at all." Lucifer spat, shaking his head at Derrick. "We'll fix that when you're dead." He said menacingly before standing and walking out of the room. He shut the door and left Derrick alone in the dark basement with his pain.

The basement was damp and smelled strongly of blood. A thick fog filled the room, making everything seem darker than normal.

Derrick coughed, his throat dry and raw. He struggled once again trying to break free from the restraints that held him in place. He let out a pained grunt and collapsed back against the ground. He stared at his blood covered arms; each hand covered by bloody cuts where the restraints had rubbed against his wrists. He looked behind him at the walls and ceiling and saw they were covered in drawings of different symbols.

"Fuck!" Derrick cursed and threw up as another wave of excruciating pain surged through his body.

Derrick heard footsteps approaching him slowly, each step sounding like thunder. Derrick braced himself as he closed his eyes. Lucifer appeared at the entrance of the room, holding a syringe filled with a murky blue substance. He smiled sinisterly and sat next to Derrick.

"Are you ready to talk?" Lucifer asked as he pressed the needle into Derrick's arm.

"Fuck off…" Derrick rasped as he fought back his cries of agony. Lucifer chuckled and pushed the needle further into Derrick's arm. The room suddenly began to quake as Lucifer turned around, looking for who dared interrupt him. Suddenly a bright light burst through the dimness of the room. Lucifer stood with a growl. He took a deep breath and glared into the blinding light. Derrick could barely see what was happening but there were six figures silhouetted against the glare. Two were malevolent looking creatures with sharp pointed teeth, black wings sprouting out of their backs. One looked exactly like Lucifer; black feathers protruding from their backs with a black suit on. "No! You can't! He's Mine!" Lucifer screamed as the light became bright and hot, blinding Derrick. He could hear the sound of screams of agony but could still see Lucifer's silhouette, his face contorted in anger as he took one last look at Derrick. "I'll be back for you boy." He said before dissappearing into thin air. Finally, the light ceased, leaving Derrick in darkness as his restraints disappeared as well. He lay panting on the dirty floor. After a moment he forced himself to his feet, groaning in pain as his whole body hurt. He managed to reach the chair Lucifer had been sitting in before collapsing on the seat. He placed his hands in his hair and sighed heavily. This was definitely one hell of a nightmare…

Derrick woke up to the voice of people in hushed whispers. The pain was still very much present but he could feel something else besides the physical pain. His skin felt as though it was crawling all over with an uncomfortable prickling sensation. He opened his eyes to find that everything was a bit distorted but his surroundings were starting to come back into focus. His gaze fell upon a tall boy standing with five others in front of him. They were all dressed the same, leather pants and jackets, one of them had no eyes with a scar on his left cheek. "L... Lust?" Derrick said with a hoarse voice.

The boys all turned to face him. The biggest of the five stepped forward.

"Yeah, he's awake." Greed said as he looked for a bottle of water. "Here, take this." He tossed a bottle at him and waited for the boy to catch it. Derrick grabbed the bottle and uncapped it.

"What happened to you guys? Last I remember Lucifer boomed you guys out of the room before I fell unconscious. " "Yup, he sent us straight to the edge of the world. Took some time and energy to get out but we managed to escape... and in good time." Pride said as he pointed towards Derrick's chest as the wound rapidly closed up, leaving a darker patch of skin where the injury was. "Do you remember anything he said to you? Anything that might be of interest. " Envy said as he tossed Derrick a cleaner set of clothes. "Not really, just something about me closing the gates and delaying the apocalypse." Derrick said as he slipped on the new clothes. "Anything else asides the obvious?" Sloth asked from where he laid on the couch. "Yeah, he called me a demon prince for some reason. You guys know what he meant?" He asked as he started putting on his shoes. The demons froze and looked at Derrick in shock .

"How do you know he said that?" Lust asked cautiously. Derrick paused for a moment before he said. "I don't... I heard him say it." They all looked at each other before turning their attention back to Derrick. "It can't be! We've been with the long foretold Demon prince left this time! Sloth said with visible shock. Lust looked thoughtful. "That would explain his ability to hold us all in his body at once, no normal human could ever do such. I mean Wrath's force alone would've been enough to blow him up. And his healing factor, let's not ignore the fact that he had a hole in his chest that's covered fully in the span of 30 minutes." Gluttony said as he emerged from the corner of the room. Pride nodded in agreement as Lust continued. "Well then that leaves one question, how didn't we know this the moment we saw him?"

"Maybe because we were too busy being scared shitless after our fall out with Lucifer." Greed suggested as Lust scoffed and rolled his eyes.

"Uhh guys, I'm still not following. What the hell is a demon prince?" Derrick asked confused. Lust smiled softly and walked toward Derrick, pulling him into a tight embrace. Derrick tensed before he relaxed in the embrace and slowly reciprocated. Lust broke away and looked Derrick in the eyes. "Don't you understand yet?" Lust asked as he touched Derrick's forehead. "The demon prince is said to be a demon of immense power born out of purebred evil. He is the second thing that can hurt Lucifer, asides from the Heavenly host." Pride explained. "And it is my honor to have come across you in our lifetime." The six demons chorused as they paid their respects by bowing before Derrick. Then they all gathered close together.

"There is much you must learn." Lust told him as he held Derrick's shoulder. "But right now we can't risk you getting caught. We need to go to somewhere more secure, more... protected." Greed said as he nodded towards the door signaling that it was time they left.

As they exited the building Lucifer watched the scene from above, smiling triumphantly as he stood in the shadows with his wings tucked firmly away. "You guve some souls little taste of powers and suddenly they think they can get rid of you so easily." He said as he stared at Derrick, a smirk escaping his lips. "They won't know what hit em." He said as he spread out his wings and took to the skies.