C27 Chicken Dinner

'It won't be much longer until I can start using external energies to strengthen my body.'

"What should I do then?"

'Maybe… nothing.'

I nod to myself while grabbing some milk out of the fridge.

'At least that's what it will look like from Earth's perspective. In reality, I'll be—'

"We bring you this breaking news: At 9:35 this evening within the Stark Industries Headquarters, two robotic individuals started what seems to be a fight. It's still going on now, as we speak."

'This guy's an idiot.'

"If you look behind me, you can see—"

"Welp—that reporter just died."

'Why would you stand so close to them?'

I put back the milk and open a portal to Los Angeles, 'Better make sure Mr. Metalpants doesn't die. It would ruin a lot of what makes this world fun if he does.'

---

Hovering invisibly above the fight, I observe.

'Huh. Obadiah's suit looks better this time. I guess the extra time he had let him polish it.'

I watch as the two fight in the street, throwing cars and firing missiles at each other.

'It doesn't look like Tony has the old cave reactor for this fight. The armor he has is better than in the movie too.'

They continue for a while before Tony leads them into the air. But this time, Obadiah doesn't freeze over and continues to rip apart Tony.

'Don't tell me the guy who invented Badassium can't pull this off.'

Eventually, Tony gets thrown into the factory with one arm crushed and a hole in his stomach. The only catch.

He went headfirst into the reactor that powers the factory. Then he let the suit channel all the energy into his Unibeam(chest repulsor) and melted a hole all the way through Obadiah's chest.

Unfortunately—

"You fried yourself till well done!" I say, walking around Tony, who's laying rubble. "I don't know if you're the winner, but you're definitely the chicken dinner."

There's still a little while before anyone shows up in the factory.

"W-who?"

I realize the mask is blocking his view, so I crouch down and open it carefully. That way, no one will be able to tell it was torn off by a hand.

"Remember now?" I give him a peace sign to help him along.

His eyes widen in recognition after a second. "Motorcycle a-angel."

I give him a very solemn nod and say, "Yes, and I've come to take your soul to Heaven, my child."

"I c-can't yet. T-there's still too—"

"Yes. Because of your weapons, many have died, and not just the 'bad guys' either."

Before Tony can answer, I continue, "And you haven't done near enough to redeem yourself, but someone up in Heaven likes you, so—up you go." I give a point upwards.

"There has t-to be a way!" He starts coughing up blood.

"Come now. Aren't you tired of all this?" I near his still encased ear, "Now you have a chance to go someplace where you never have to worry about anything ever again."

Tony is certainly tempted.

"Someplace you can enjoy yourself for the rest of eternity."

He closes his eyes, "No. I still have too much to do. And—I don't take handouts."

"Good. You weren't going anywhere anyway."

Tony looks dazed for a second. "I'm not dying?"

"You have so little faith in your own safety mechanisms?" I give him a sly smirk.

I can tell he wants to get angry at me, but he's more upset with himself for being fooled.

"Haha, alright, for compensation, I'll give you a tip," I whisper a few things to him, then stand up after tapping his chest piece, powering it up again, and bringing him to his feet.

I start walking away, but he asks me, "Who, or what, are you? The way you were coming off was more like the Devil."

"Didn't you already say? I'm an angel." I look back at him, "But the angel of what? Is the question you should've asked."

Then I disappeared.

---

'Seminars suck ass.'

I'm leaving the ESU campus, where I've been going for two months now.

'I'm starting to understand Doom's sentiment when he said: 'My greatest flaw, I surround myself with idiots.''

Once I caught up with modern research, I found that everyone I'm associated with is rather—lacking.

'None of my peers are anything close to a genius.'

At first, I thought it was SHIELD or someone else messing with me, but I soon found that not to be the case.

'There just isn't anyone noteworthy here right now, and I got stuck with people below the average by pure chance.'

Most of the 'genius' students either graduated already or have yet to come here. And the professors aren't much better.

"Oh well." 'It's not like it matters all that much. It's actually kinda peaceful since I don't have to worry about anything weird happening.'

The hardest part about coming here is that I stick out like a sore thumb. I have to use a bit of magic just to go about my day with some level of peace.

On an up note, I have gotten much closer to being able to 'devour' the energies of Hell. In a couple more months, I'll be able to start.

'I could start now, but it would be super inefficient. Even if all the energy in my realm was absorbed, I would only gain a permanent power gain of one or two percent.'

'I'll be happy if the efficiency reaches half of when absorbing souls.'

---

Summer vacation starts today, and so too does the end of my realm begin.

'I wonder how the other Lords will react.'

I could have started earlier, but it will take my whole attention and presence for at least a month. So I only kept refining the process in the meantime.

Before going to my realm, I flew back to Latveria, so no one will question where my two 'sisters' come from.

I also let Doom know that if he has anything he wants to do in Hell, the next month will be a good chance since there will be a good distraction going on.

Finally arriving in my Hell, I have the tree bring up my throne to its topmost branch, then I sit down and start the process.

'Luckily, the 'Rehab' finished its job a week ago, and Latveria now has a few new citizens.'

Massive golden chains, made from soul energy, started to wrap around the entire realm.

They tore through the realm's surface as they circled it, drawing in the energy released by its destruction.

'At this rate, my peak strength will be about the same after I'm done, as long as I convert my soul power into Nether Energy or Soulfire.'

I close my eyes and focus on the process. It may look like I'm vulnerable, but the opposite is the case. Although, any disruptions will slow down the process.

---

Two weeks in, and I have been left undisturbed. But now that the 'weakening' of my realm is more apparent, a couple demon lords have decided to show up and see what's happening.

Floating outside my realm are two Hell Lords. One has a face on his stomach, and the other has giant horns.

'Satannish and probably—Lucifer.'

They talk to each other for a moment before leaving.

'Probably waiting until I 'weaken' some more.'

---

Another week later, they showed up again with an army of demons numbering into the millions.

And they can't do anything.

From the outside, it looks like the realm is at about half-strength. It doesn't even matter that I didn't actually lose any strength because they can't even get past the chains, which have grown much denser.

Eventually, the two Lords get impatient and attack the chains to make an opening. It works.

A hole big enough for the army to get through is made. But instead of demons going in, Holy Hellfire comes out, removing a third of the army along with one of Satannish's arms.

Then the chains repair themselves like they were never damaged.

Needless to say, they didn't stick around.

---

It's finished.

All that's left is the throne. If I leave it, the realm can repair itself after many millions of years, but I'm not going to.

This dimension isn't necessary for the operation of Hell. If anything, it's just a parasite at this point.

I promptly destroy the thing and absorb it.

"You fool!"

I turn to see Lucifer, who appeared beside me.

"You destroyed an entire realm of Hell! Do you any idea what that means? What will happen!"

I put a finger on my chin, "Hmm, let's see. The destabilization of the power balance within Hell. A massive war between all the Splinter Realms."

Then I exclaim in joy, "OR, even the entire destabilization of Hell and the Afterlife!"

"You-you're a madman! I may be a devil, but I at least know what boundaries to leave alone. You're the true demon, the true devil!!"

I turn fully in his direction, letting him get a good look at me.

He blinks, "—Zadkiel?"

I approach him, "A madman, a demon, a devil? Perhaps I was at one time. But now—" I reveal all my features while grabbing his neck.

"I'm much more than just an angel or devil!" Then I blew fire on him, not even ash left behind.

I didn't kill him permanently; he'll reform in his realm.

After putting on the little play, I let out a breath, "What's next?"

---

//Note//

Gotta love time skips, right?

There's not much going on at this point anyway.

--

I don't intend for the sisters to be pure comedic relief or the standard 'cute sister' character that's only used as a plot device.

Well, technically, everything is a plot device… you get what I mean.

I actually saw them as an opportunity to make much deeper characters, not just as something to easily whip up a side story.

--

Oh, and Death has 'died' before. The Beyonder just removed the concept of death.

--

I wonder if I should stop writing these notes and just let the comments fester?

It actually sounds kinda fun to just let the frustration grow and never give anyone answers.