Beelzebub will be released, with a few conditions

Lucifer switched between scowling, grimacing, clenching her teeth, biting her lip, and every other expression of frustration that came to her. She couldn't admit out loud how much it meant to her to get the Helltaker out of the trap he himself had willingly walked into, but her face was making the way she felt painfully obvious.

"Oh, look at you squirm, my dear. How long have you known this man? I never would have pictured you to be the type to fall horns-over-heels for a man you basically just met, hm hm hm!" Beelzebub taunted her, flicking her tail back and forth happily through the gap in her card-table chair.

"You're the one who's hogging him all to yourself!" Lucifer snapped back, then bit her thumbnail to stop herself from lashing out further and ruining her dignity. "Alright, Fly. You and I both know that you can't be allowed to walk around freely, either in hell or the world above."

"Please. We're both demons! You don't have to act like a moralist around me," Beezelbub sighed, recrossing her legs beneath the table and leaning her chin on the back of one hand. "It's not like I want to exterminate humanity or anything. If anything, I'm glad to keep enjoying retirement."

"Ha! The day you're not scheming something is the day hell freezes over." Lucifer tilted her chin up and glared into the portal with a cold frown. "You'll be released, but there is a condition. You'll be under twenty-four hour surveillance."

Beelzebub smirked, her grin widening as she began to plot all of the devious ways she could slip out from under the eyes of any would-be warden.

"Wipe that smile off of your face. It's not that simple. I've got something from Zdrada... You'll be wearing that as well."

This caused Beelzebub to raise her eyebrows inquisitively. "Hmm? That woman's fashion and mine don't exactly mesh. I prefer my clothing tailored and she prefers hers strained, as I recall," the former ruler of hell sighed into her wine. "Also, I believe the shirt would be tight. Why are you trying to police my wardrobe, anyway? That's rather petty of you."

"Are you done with your quips? I obviously didn't mean her clothing," Lucifer grumbled, rolling her eyes derisively. "I meant a shock collar. I'm not sure why that deviant holds on to one of these, but essentially, it will allow the one watching you to administer an electric shock. It also goes off automatically if you get a certain distance away from them."

Beelzebub scoffed, nearly blowing a raspberry, then placed her gloved hands upon her freckled cheeks. "Oh, my dear! That's a bit pedestrian, isn't it? I'm not exactly your ordinary convict! You're counting on that little thing to keep me on parole?" she questioned.

"Zdrada ensures me that this contraption is made to be completely impossible to remove unless the one who's holding the shocker takes it off. And... what?!" Lucifer suddenly exclaimed, looking off-screen. "She says that if I ask the Helltaker, he will confirm that it's impossible to remove by anyone but the one holding the device! What does she mean, Taker? Just what were you and Zdrada doing?!"

The big man seemed to shrink back in his seat, trying to duck out of the conversation, as Beelzebub composed herself and straightened her broach upon her neck. "So... an irremovable shock collar. I see, I see." She wanted to scoff at the whole proposal and imagined she could easily break free from whatever they might try to hold her under. But... what if she couldn't? What if she really had to hand over the reigns to somebody with no means to slip out from under their thumb? At least here in the pocket dimension, she was free to walk or fly around freely. "Oh please, tell me you're not going to have Justice hold the buzzer. There's too much bad blood there."

It was Lucifer's turn to grin now. "I was actually thinking we'd hand it over to the one who's taken over her position in recent years, a fresh face named Judgment. She's very effective. Oh, and she does so love to punish the sinful," the CEO of hell cooed, spinning her wine in her glass with a satisfied expression.

Surprising all of them, the Helltaker suddenly stood to his feet. "Actually, I've got another idea. Let me do it," he suggested, causing both Lucifer and Beelzebub to stare, wide-eyed.

Each woman spat their wine comedically in unison, before Lucifer spoke up. "W-What do you mean? Why you?!"

"This sweetens the deal on both sides. Judgment can't be occupied twenty-four hours watching Beelzebub, can she? I assume her routine wasn't a one-time only for me-- the worst souls in hell probably need punishing and it seems like she's the only one who can operate that machine."

"Well, no. No! We're actually all sort of on vacation at the moment."

"... I'm sure she has things she needs to do all the same," Helltaker shrugged. "I'm free. Plus, on the other side of it, I'm sure Beelzebub would be more eager to agree to all of this if it was me, not Judgment."

Beelzebub continued to stare dumbly for a moment, then suddenly, magically, replaced her expression with her usual smugness. "Ho ho! I couldn't have said it better myself. Those are our terms. I'll wear your little shock-collar, but Taker here keeps his thumb on the button. Deal?"

"... Hrrrgh... Zdrada, that thing really doesn't come off?" Lucifer questioned to someone off-screen. The answer that came back was in a laugh. "And... and the shocking is not something of a... sexual thing, is it? It's more to injure the other person? So, if, hypothetically, the Helltaker were to administer a shock, she would not feel sexually gratified, would she, creating some sort of co-dependent master and servant relationship between the Taker and the disgraced Lord of Flies?" The answer this time came in the form of an even bigger laugh. "What do you mean 'she might learn to like it?!'"

"It's the perfect deal! I'm sure all the rest of the girls in that lovely house want him back, too. I haven't been to the upper world in so long... ah, this will be a wonderful redebut for yours truly!" Beelzebub celebrated, standing up from the chess board and posing with one hand at her breast, nearly knocking over the chessboard in her excitement. "No more chess for a while, my dear! You and I are starting our honeymoon!" Beelzebub dismissed the view through her portal with a wave of her hand, then extended one hand to the Helltaker to help him out of his seat. "Hm hm hm... Another fine deal with the devil you've made."

The Helltaker returned her expression with a smirk. "Heh. You've got the face of somebody who thinks you're about to rule the world again, Beelzebub."

"Ha ha ha! Am I that transparent?"

"I'm not going to make it that easy for you," he reassured her, cracking his neck and then standing up to his full height, towering over her.

Beelzebub barely appeared to be phased, returning a gentle shrug and a laugh. After all: when had underestimating the Helltaker ever resulted in a drastically shifted power dynamic for any demon such as herself?