The sugar shaker incident marked the start of Lucifer's accelerated training regime. Over the next three weeks, the quiet, minimalist apartment became a covert training ground.
Under Raven's precise guidance, Lucifer drilled the integration of his two primary powers.
The key was minimizing the cost while maximizing the offensive window.
Drill One: The Kinetic Interruption.
Lucifer would sprint toward a target (a drone Raven controlled), simulate impact, and deploy the Tier 8 Force Field for less than one second, leveraging the Adaptive Upgrade perk.
He would then instantly disengage the Force Field and follow up with a precisely targeted Void Severance (Tier 5) to crush the drone's internal components.
He mastered deploying the Force Field for a mere 0.5 seconds, using it only for the kinetic buffer, ensuring his cooldown timer (3 minutes) was efficiently leveraged, and the Void Severance was used precisely on the 10 second mark.
Drill Two: The Emotional Counter.
Raven used sensory input and projected frustration (which Lucifer's Basic Empath picked up clearly) to simulate the chaos of a Joker encounter.
Lucifer's task was to maintain absolute focus using his Fundamental Insight while deploying his powers.
He was becoming a master of controlled, absolute force—the antithesis of his family's methods.
Meanwhile, Harley Quinn's presence was bizarrely quiet. She spent her days entirely within the confines of her "lair," the small room that now smelled faintly of vanilla and cheap spray paint.
She watched endless loops of classic sitcoms and slapstick cartoons.
Her main food groups were various flavors of pudding and ice cream, consumed straight from the carton.
She would only leave her room to shower or to give Lucifer an intense, quiet look of familial pride before retreating again.
She was the picture of unsettling, forced domesticity.
Raven continued to feel the underlying "Annoyance" whenever Harley was near, an emotional glitch she couldn't rationalize.
The training regime continued for four weeks, a deliberate, taxing routine designed to integrate the powerful Void Severance into Lucifer's physical and mental core.
Now for the job.
Lucifer found that even Gold Rank missions were rarely yielding the massive payouts he desperately needed.
The market for high-risk logistics was highly competitive, and his cancelled contract temporarily put him on the less desirable list of clients.
He had to take multiple, smaller-paying jobs, lengthening the timeline.
[Week 1 Small-Scale Data Delivery (x4) $350,000]
[Week 2 Local Artifact Retrieval (x5) $250,000 ]
[Week 3 High-Value Escort & Security (x3) $250,000]
[Week 4 Covert Smuggling Operations (x4) $300,000]
[Current Funds: $1,150,000 / $3,500,000] (System)
[Current Funds: $2,150,000] (Bank)
He was close, but the remaining was proving the most difficult to acquire, pushing him toward operations with genuinely extreme risk.
Midway through the fourth week, a peculiar package arrived via encrypted courier drone.
Tony told him to open it.
He already opened it and told him he should know about it.
Lucifer opened the package.
Inside was a single, purple-tinted, perfumed piece of stationary, penned in the Joker's unmistakable scrawl, accompanied by a small, perfectly preserved, antique rubber chicken.
========
Dear Mr. Stark,
Please accept this sincerest apology from a man who has clearly been playing with the wrong toys.
My little brother (Luce!) told me you're his employer! If I had known that such a distinguished, well-meaning, and absolutely essential pillar of society was holding his leash, I never would have dreamed of causing such delightful mayhem near your properties.
I'm terribly sorry for the ruckus.
Consider the local chaos production shut down for a while. Family matters, you understand. I've gone underground to plan the next 'reunion.'
A genuine word of warning, though: BE WARY OF SHIELD. They are full of shit. Dirty, eight-headed snake. They aren't trying to protect anyone; they are trying to corner the market on chaos. Don't trust the suits.
Stay safe, and thank you for employing our Luce!
With affection,
Your Friend, J.
========
Lucifer handed the letter to Raven.
"The Joker is in full retreat,"
Lucifer observed, his Fundamental Insight confirming the strange pause.
"He is trying to buy time, and he's confirming he knows everything—including my connection to Tony Stark."
"And he's providing genuine, destabilizing intelligence,"
Raven added, her eyes narrowed.
"The Joker may be mad, but he is intimately familiar with the criminal underbelly. His warning that S.H.I.E.L.D. is compromised and a 'dirty eight head snake' is extremely valuable. It validates the high-level security clearance needed for a base."