1 A Deal With The Devil Can't Go Wrong, Right?

I, Wakatoshi Ushijima, am a delinquent. A no-good, leech on society. I fight, I bully, I steal and I usually end up fighting some more while I'm doing the latter half of that.

I'm not a good person. I know that. Nor will I make excuses.

I did what I did because of one simple rule my father taught me - if you want something and you can take it...take it. Don't mess about. Just take it. So, I did. And I took and I took and I took. Whatever I wanted and from whomever I wanted.

I was lucky I was born with such good genetics otherwise I'd have no doubt gotten my ass kicked quite a lot by now. I was tall, naturally athletic and muscular and put to training through a nearby Kickboxing Gym, I was a real force to be reckoned with. Not to mention my natural talent for fighting was through the roof as well.

I can honestly say there wasn't a guy in the county where I lived that could go up against me.

I'd kicked most of the so-called gang leaders asses back and forth so many times most of them nearly pissed themselves whenever they saw me. Though these were kids my age, so highschool wannabe gangsters. Nothing really to brag about, honestly.

And the ones that didn't? Well, how could they piss themselves by simply seeing me when they'd moved away to different counties? Use that noggin of yours, man.

Anyway, what's with all this retrospection and all that? Yeah, well...I died.

The good ol' classic Truck-kun. I was crossing the street, at a proper crossing point of course, and opposite me, some kind of rift opened up. I heard a high-pitched beep and then I saw a pair of headlights peering through the rift and then I saw a truck barreling out of the rift in space, followed by some, quite frankly, demonic laughter.

Then everything went black.

I always laughed when Truck-kun got people in Isekai novels and fanfics but karma seemed to be real because that shit really did hurt. Even if I only experienced it for a second or two it was genuine hell.

Where am I now? In some fancy-looking room that looks like a rich guys study/personal office.

"Hey, hey, don't go speaking about something being Hell...I'm sure you have no idea what that place is like~" a voice instantly appeared behind me before two hands slapped down on my shoulders, "You might make me send you down there for a while so you understand what type of comparison you're making~" the voice continued, sounding deep and rough yet also somewhat relaxed.

It was obvious whoever was speaking was speaking casually with me and wasn't being serious but if there's something you need to know about me, it's that I have a temper. To an annoying degree.

I tried to stand up and turn around to face off against this asshole who was speaking so buddy-buddy with me but as I took my butt off the chair, the two hands on my shoulders instantly clamped down like iron vices and pushed me back into the chair.

I was stunned, for a few seconds at least.

I was strong. I knew that. My height, natural muscle mass and a genetic disorder called Myostatin-related Muscle Hypertrophy meant that I was not only naturally strong, I'd go as far as saying that I was inhumanly strong. There was a solid chance I could excel in any sport I chose, especially a fighting-type sport, purely because of my natural endowments.

Lifting a 50lbs bag of dog food with a single hand and waving it around like it didn't weigh anything? Easy. Bench pressing 400+lbs without breaking a sweat? Easy. Doing that human flag pole stance? Don't make me laugh. I could do that when I was like 12.

But right now, I couldn't even budge under this bastards strength. Not even a little. My instincts, honed over so many years of fighting, told me that I was screwed if this guy wanted to kill me.

An instinctive fear flooded me as I remembered certain memories of a darker time.

Yet that fear only lasted so long as anger came from deep within and flooded it all away, "Oi, don't you think it's fucking rude to hold someone down like this?" I asked, turning my head to look up at the person behind me.

It was a guy, as I suspected, but he was oddly...good-looking. In a nontraditional way for a guy to be good-looking, as well. Instead of being handsome, the guy was somewhat androgynous meaning he looked both handsome and beautiful.

...It was kinda weird to look at, honestly.

The guy's eyes widened, shining blue under the ambient light in the room before he broke out laughing, "Really, I did pick a good seed, didn't I? You remind me of a younger me. Now, let me give you a lesson I wish someone had given me..." he ominously said before taking his hands off my shoulders.

But I didn't take a breath of relief. My instincts wouldn't let me. I just tensed, waiting for whatever my instincts thought was about to happen.

And then it came. The pressure.

The very air in front of me seemed to be shaking in fear and so did the surroundings in the office. Then I noticed that I was shaking in fear. Then to add to this intimidation pressure, an insurmountable weight pressed down on my shoulders, instantly sending me to my knees.

"There's always someone stronger. Rein in your emotions and keep them controlled. If you don't, bad stuff happens. Capiche?" the guy, no, thing said to me in a serious voice and I quickly nodded my head understanding that I was obviously dealing with some supernatural shit.

I'd died, of course, so that wasn't such an odd thought to have. This guy was probably the--

"Devil? Yeah, I'm one of 'em," he said before walking around and sitting opposite me and behind his fancy desk before he put his hand out and introduced himself, "Satan. It's nice to meet you, Wakatoshi--I can call you your first name, right? I know how Japanese people usually like to be called their surname on the first meeting between them and another person but we don't really have the time for that stuff or for honorifics. As such, please just call me Satan, okay?" he bombarded me with words and I just dumbly nodded.

But that soon passed and I unconsciously narrowed my eyes, "Uhh, I know I was a bad guy in my life but to have your attention, Satan--" he cut me off again but not in an overly rude way. He had a patient smile on his face as he spoke up.

"It's a bit much, ain't it? Yeah, it kinda would be if you were just a normal soul going to my part of Hell but you ain't a normal soul, Wakatoshi!" he said with a wide smile, seeming somewhat excited.

"Eh?" I asked, a confused tone very clear in my voice.

Without missing a beat, Satan replied, "Well, of course you'd be special if you're meeting me, Wakatoshi. Keep up, man," he joked but I didn't feel like laughing and he seemed to realize that as his face went a bit more serious, "Right. Time and a place. Oh and don't worry about me being your tormentor for eternity or something. You're not going to hell, Wakatoshi. I pulled you here so I could use you. Sorry about doing this though, Wakatoshi. I may be the Embodiment of Wrath but I try to be reasonable when I can...sadly, this isn't one of those times. I needed to live up to my moniker as one of the Seven Demon Princes and be selfish."

Satan shrugged after his, what seemed like a shit apology, before he began to ruffle about in a draw in his desk.

Meanwhile, I was left just as confused as I was before he 'apologized'. Working up the courage to speak in front of a literal Demon, I kept up a brave face and spoke in a somewhat respectful yet casual tone, "...And what exactly is 'this', Satan?" my question caused Satan to stop what he was doing and to turn to me, leveling his piercing blue eyes at me.

For a second I forgot to breathe but I soon resumed the vital action when Satan smiled at me, "Well, I'm glad you're slowly stopping your tip-toe act around me, Wakatoshi. I'm being serious - I won't kill ya. Not unless you do some incredibly stupid," he smiled like this was supposed to put me at ease but the fact he could smile while saying that...well, it unnerved me even more.

I was a strong delinquent back on Earth. I could glare at people and make them pale in the face and weak in the knees. But this was different. I was outmatched. So outmatched that I couldn't do anything if this guy decided to kill me.

While those thoughts were going around in circles inside my head, Satan continued speaking but as he spoke, his smile kept getting wider and wider, "What's this? War, of course, and you're my newest recruit and my main soldier. Or Avatar, if you will. The Avatar of Wrath--Has a nice ring to it, right?" his smile was truly manic right now but it didn't last for long as he realized what he was doing. He coughed and cleared his face of that twisted and mad smile before speaking again, "Ah~ Sorry about that, man. I get so goddamn excited when I think about this newest war."

His apology and consideration for not scaring the shit out of me was something that actually made me feel somewhat grateful but when I remembered that he'd gotten me killed and pulled me from my normal life, I kept myself neutral.

I couldn't afford to piss him off or kiss his ass. The former because it'd get me killed and the latter because I didn't want to lose too much of my pride.

It was all I had left, really.

As soon as that thought entered my head, Satan laughed before slapping his knee, "I see why Lucifer gave me such a hard time allowing me get you. You're a real prideful guy, huh?" Satan asked, a smirk pulling at his lips. I chided myself mentally, realizing that I'd briefly forgotten that Satan could read my mind. He'd done it when he first came up behind me and he'd just done it again. I needed to be more careful. Satan, obviously understanding what I was thinking just smiled, "Don't try and hide it, Wakatoshi. I know you're pissed off with me. Pissed off with how you're being treated. Pissed off at dying, mainly. You're just pissed off generally. Trust me, I, of all people, get it," he laughed before standing up and walking to the front of the desk before sitting on it and looking at me, "That's why I chose you. You've got such a well of anger inside of you. A real palpable amount. So much so that even if you did all sorts of positive things in life that when you died you'd be dragged down to my level of Hell just on the principle that so much Wrath couldn't possibly be held in Heaven."

I heard everything Satan said but none of it made sense. War? New recruit? Soldier? I was practically bound to Hell because of...of that bastards actions?!

I felt a bout of anger well up from within me when I thought about that man.

He'd killed any chance at me being a normal person after what he did to mom. The abuse he'd put me through. The anger born from that--

"Trust me, I know how you feel. I have some daddy issues myself--" Satan said and I instantly stood up, my anger clouding my rationale as I glared down at the demonic being in front of me.

"He...is not my father."

One sentence. Five words. But the hatred and anger inside of them was enough to burn a hole through steel. Yet even seeing such intensity from me, Satan just smiled before standing up and meeting my height - he was about an inch taller than me but more more slender - before he put his hands on my arms and squeezed them, his manic smile returning.

"See?" he said, "This is why I picked you, Wakatoshi. You're branded in many Sins but the one that shines--no, burns through the others is always Wrath. Right now, it's rolling off of you like an aura that wants to destroy everything in it's path. Like everything of creation is an affront to it. Anger that wants to destroy is the purest anger, you know?" he said before letting go of me and sitting back down, "You know what I think you should do with your anger?" he asked an obviously rhetorical question and quickly continued, "Control it. Like serious, you just squared up to a Demon Prince. I could wipe you from existence with a sneeze. You need control of your anger. But don't misunderstand me, I don't mean let the anger go or suppress it. No, I mean you need to secure it in a dam to hold it back. Let it fester and flood and corrode whole portions of your mind," Satan began to beginning to get excited as the temperature of the whole room began to rise, "And just as the whole structure seems like it's about to collapse you open a tiny pipeline at the base and let the iron-hard stream of wrath power the turbines of your everything."

Satan began to cackle maniacally as magma-like cracks spread all over his skin and his eyes went a bright hot red. The very air around him seemed to crackle and steam yet none of it affected me. I, however, had realized how much of an idiot I'd been with my outburst about halfway through Satan's monologue and had sat back down.

I wasn't scared that he'd kill me for being out of line or whatever. He'd shown me all the evidence I needed to know that anger and wrath would never annoy him. In fact, it seemed to have the opposite effect on him.

Slowly, Satan's laughter came to an end and I could finally ask him a question I suddenly needed to ask, "Why me exactly? I can't be the only angry person on Earth."

"Haah~ Yeah, you're right. There are many, MANY, angry people on Earth, Wakatoshi. The shame is, is that none of them fill the requirements for this war between the Sins," Satan gave a shrug before answering my next question without me needing to ask it verbally, "1) The person needs to have a very good connection to the Sin the Prince embodies. As mentioned, many people fit that requirement. 2) They need to be useful and not some piece of dead weight. There are plenty of angry fat people and angry people who have no combat ability. You fit this requirement because you're truly a physical specimen to behold, Wakatoshi. Good at fighting as well," he commented before sighing and pinching the bridge of his nose, "The main bitch comes in with the third requirement. 3) The chosen Avatar can only be between the ages 18 and 20. Wakatoshi, tell me, how hard do you think it is to find someone who's between the ages of 18 and 20 who's full of rage and good at fighting? Don't answer that: The answer is, that it's surprisingly hard."

Satan spat on the floor to the side of his desk, his spit instantly igniting and becoming a small flame that just stayed on the floor while Satan grumbled about how unfair it all is before he spoke up again, "Do you know how easy that bitch Asmodeus has it? There are so many horny bastards between the ages 18 and 20! Even you were a candidate of hers! Beelzebub - quite a lot of people who can fight and like training also eat a fucking load so he gets his pick quite easily as well! Don't even get me started on Mammon! That greedy little bastard has the easiest pick out of all of us...! Goddammit, now I'm angry!" he gave a shout and flames began to spark into existence around Satan and on his desk.

Though again, none of them or the heat even touched me. Guess he's not really angry and he's just messing around.

But my question had been answered and I somewhat understood why I'd been picked.

Coincidence, was the main reason. If I were born a year after when I'd originally been born, I wouldn't have been picked. 3 years earlier and I wouldn't have been picked either.

"Good. You seem to understand. I didn't hand pick you or nurture you for this. Nor did I make sure you were as angry as possible by messing with your life. Human's have free will which we can't change. Not even dear ol' dad could forcibly change someone's mind because of the rules he himself had set up in this Universe," he mused before shrugging, "Ah, whatever. Even if you want to blame me, you can't do anything about your position right now, so I'd suggest you keep baseless accusations to the minimum, yeah?"

Giving a nod, I just sat there, digesting all the knowledge I'd been given. Satan went back to his seat behind his desk, the magma-like cracks on his skin and the flames around him disappeared and sat down again.

He gave me a minute to digest what he'd told me before he spoke, "So, let's get this show on the road, yeah? I'm gonna imbue you with my power and make you an Avatar of Wrath. What powers you get is entirely up to you, so, uh, good luck, I guess?"

Without giving me a chance to reply, I was suddenly knocked out.

But the next second I woke up with four ethereal screens floating in front of me. The screens were black with bold red lettering.

[Berserker Physiology]

[Martial Arts Intuition]

[Accelerated Bodily Development]

[Tranquil Fury]

(A/N - You can search all of these up on the superpower wiki. I used the correct names and everything, so knock yourselves out.)

"Oh ho?! What good abilities...though the third one is a bit troublesome for the world you're about to go to," Satan spoke from across from me, his hand on his chin as he looked at something in front of him - he seemed to have a copy of the screens in front of me.

Cocking an eyebrow up, I asked, "Why? If that's what I think it is, it means I'll have a healing factor--Wait up, where am I actually going anyway?" I asked with a somewhat surprised feeling inside of me.

How come I hadn't asked that question first? Though, it had been one of 'those' days so a lapse in judgement is pretty expected in my opinion.

"Hm?" Satan came out of his thoughts and looked to me before smiling, "Oh, where are you going? An amalgam world of three different worlds. 'Highschool of the Dead', 'Moshi Fanren' and 'Resident Evil'. Should be pretty fun, right? Anyway, yeah, you'd have a healing factor but if you get bit by one of those Zombies you'll turn real quick due to the replication speed of your cells. Don't hit me with that 'But what about my immune system? Why would it be able to fight it off?'. Infected cells are like cancer cells. The body doesn't exactly know how to tell the difference between a healthy cell and an infected one. Just like with Deadpool's cancer - his healing factor was just as effective on his cancerous cells as it was his healthy ones," he said with yet another shrug before quickly continuing, "But don't worry about getting cancer. You won't get any diseases from now on. It's a perk of being an Avatar~"

Despite the last bit which was frankly good news, I could react as I was just feeling some pretty high amounts of terror due to the news on what worlds I'd be going to.

Highschool of the Dead or HOTD was...well, for the lack of a better word, absolutely horrifying. Zombie movies/games/TV series usually are. Moshi Fanren was like HOTD except the zombies in it got stronger over time and as they ate more humans. And I don't think I need to tell you how fucking terrifying the B.O.Ws from Resident Evil are.

...I was getting stuck in a world like that, fighting some war between Avatars who represented the 7 Princes of Hell??

Jesus fucking Christ.

"Oh, yeah, uh, there there?" Satan tried his best at comforting me but failed horribly and he knew it as he quickly continued, "Well, these powers will come into effect as soon as you enter the amalgam world and I'll give you a little guide on what they do. You'll have two months before it really starts kicking off, so train well, yeah? Your position in the world will be randomized but I've rigged the game so you'll definitely get put near the main cast--I've made an identity for you as well, so make sure to get to school on time and make some friends, okay? Oh and don't forget to murder every Demon and Avatar you come across, okay? Okay, bye~!"

And with that I was off. Everything went black...until it wasn't all black anymore.

My eyes shot open to see an unfamiliar ceiling and I instantly felt power welling up inside me and throughout my body.

...Goddammit, it really wasn't a dream.