Why was the afterlife different from one person to the next? Why did people have so many different possible fates? There were many reasons why, but one of the most basic was that there were many afterlives, many hells and heavens. Which one you were sent to depending on numerous things, chief among them being your personal religion and culture. But you didn't always get to 'choose' your fate this way. The afterlives sometimes mingled with each other, the different godly and demonic beings in charge not always isolated. And especially sinful people could get in real trouble down here.
So it was that Hell, Incorporated came to be. Once just another offshoot of your standard fire-and-brimstone underworld, Lucifer had come up with grandiose plans long ago to make it all run just the way she liked it. A less chaotic hell. A less rambunctious hell. An organized realm with everything in its' proper place... and herself at the top, naturally. And as no one really subscribed to a land like this as part of their belief system, over time Hell, Inc became a sort of dumping ground for souls that other realms couldn't deal with or had no room for. Lucifer took pride in dealing with these especially troublesome beings, but not all the demons under her felt the same way.
Verosika Mayday was the perfect demon for Hell, Inc, because she was ambitious. Always a desirable quality for a high-ranking demon to have, it meant she worked hard and got results. The paradox was, though, that it was also an undesirable quality. Get too ambitious and you might start thinking you ought to be the one in charge. Lucifer had known to keep a close watch on Verosika. The woman was a little too ambitious for her own good. Over time, she had used her charms to win over other demons throughout Hell, Inc. Lucifer wasn't intimidated. Hell, Inc had a seven-member Board of Directors, herself and six others, and while Verosika was among their number and had been actively wooing the other five, Lucifer had plenty of pull herself and was working to keep her own subordinates pleased.
Too late, Lucifer realized her mistake. By the time Verosika's little movement had begun to pick up speed, the chance to be rid of her had passed. In the Hell, Inc rulebook, it was deemed possible for the Board to vote out any of its' own members, but this required a two-thirds or more supermajority - with the current roster of seven, that meant five demons voting in agreement. The rule was designed to cast out bad actors without making it too easy, but Lucifer hadn't wanted to pull the trigger the moment Verosika started showing signs of discontent, because she was a popular demon and voting her out at the first sign of ambition might have just made things worse. But now, things were a little more serious. Verosika had picked up two allies on the Board: Black Doom and the Vanterviper. With their help, she had a bulwark against being kicked off. Now it couldn't happen, and Lucifer was stuck with her, forced into a battle of personalities as her Board began to devolve into a standoff between two opposing parties.
It was a pain, but what Lucifer didn't know was that things were about to get far worse.
