And then gave me a kick to the chest, making me fall in…
---
"What's it been? A hundred years?!"
A man chained to the ground asked no one.
"A hundred years of this torture! A HUNDRED YEARS!"
"All for what? My purpose was a sham and I no longer have a reason…"
Silence was all that answered him.
"I'm supposed to be the 'Archangel of Freedom, Benevolence, and Mercy'."
"Haha! But here I am, with none of them!"
"I've lost my freedom... I never was free, to begin with. I'm certainly not benevolent, at least not anymore. As for mercy… I ran out of that a long time ago."
He continued talking to himself.
"At least my wings grew back… but they aren't white anymore, aren't black either. Their red… no... crimson."
'Crimson… the color of rage, anger, and wrath…'
"Just like my own wrath, haha."
'Wait… there's more than just that.'
"It not just wrath… it's also… revenge… vengeance?"
As if receiving a signal, fire started to burn from his eyes.
"Vengeance." He muttered.
Now it looked as if the fire was just underneath his skin, flowing through his veins.
"My want for vengeance is all I have left..."
The fire started to burn around him, hot enough to make the chains red.
"If that is all I have left, then that's what I shall be."
The flames grew so hot that the chains started to melt away.
"Vengeance is me."
All that's left was a raging inferno of Hellfire and a winged silhouette floating inside.
"And I am vengeance!"
In the corner of the room were two red orbs.
"Finally, some progress."
A smooth voice came from them.
"He still needs to break more though."
'Just another century or two of torture and he will be perfect.'
"But I'll need to make better chains. I wonder if they would be strong enough if I make them out of his old armor…"
'If not, I'll just weaken him a bit… maybe splitting his soul would be enough...'
--- [A/N: Ah the cringiness. Did you like it? No? Too bad, too sad. - Also, that is probably the last memory to be shown. I want to get this show on the road!] ---
"Ugh. Where am I?"
"This place is so… oh…"
*Sigh*
"How could I forget."
---
"I'm not Zadkiel… or am I?"
'It's said memories are what make us and I've got over a million years worth as an angel.'
"But only a couple decades worth as a human."
I have the memories of Zadkiel but he was already "dead" before I got here.
As for when he was the Spirit of Vengeance, most of those memories are insane garbage.
'The only reason I don't think I'm Zadkiel is that I was able to see most of his memories in the third person.'
"And even when that broke, it doesn't change the fact that his will was destroyed during the absorption process, and in the end, they don't have a huge impact after I've calmed down."
*Sigh.*
"My first life feels like it was a million years ago… in a way it kinda was."
'After such a long time I'm not even that person anymore…'
"But on the bright side, I have the opportunity to remake myself!"
'This isn't nearly as depressing as I am making it sound. I really need to get out of here, or I'm going to end up depressed.'
"I have the opportunity to start a new life with SUPERPOWERS no weaker than Thor and a hell of a lot stronger depending on who I'm fighting, AND I have a million years' worth of experience from a pretty badass dude!"
"Fuck yeaahh! I can finally start getting ready to leave this shitty place."
---
I think it's been like five or ten years but it doesn't matter since I'm not fighting constantly anymore, and I can actually do shit like, fifty times faster than before.
In this time I have gone through ALL of my closet and no longer need it anymore because I have fully understood it.
"I'm surprised it didn't take longer, but I guess all that real-world experience sped up the process."
I also went through all the memories, and with the help of my newly acquired skills, I was able to remove the ones that held no value, like torture, and strip the rest of their emotional influence while leaving anything useful, like skills and information.
"I am confident that I won't have to deal with some hidden issue as a result of taking over Zadkiel's body and life, UNLESS it has to do with something outside of myself, like Mephisto or God if I somehow run into him."
'Come to think of it Lucifer probably wouldn't like me very much either since "I" was one of the leading angels who stopped his rebellion.
I also decided that while I'm going to start a new life, I will also be taking over Zadkiel's name and I will live as him too.
There are a couple of reasons, and wanting to take on the baggage of a million-year-old angel isn't one of them.
The first, and most important reason, is that "Zadkiel the Spirit of Vengeance" is a hell of a lot cooler name than my previous one, even if it is chuuni...
Second, I have Zadkiels body. So anyone who knows what he looks like will think that I'm Zadkiel. That includes the likes of Mephisto, Lucifer, Odin, and any angels still around. On top of that, the big guys would still be able to tell I was Zadkiel even if I change my appearance.
This brings me to the third reason, I'm an angel and a strong one at that. A person with sufficient knowledge would be able to tell that I am one of the archangels and it wouldn't take long to figure out which one after I use Hellfire.
"So if I want to live in this universe, with some level of peace, I either have to escape Mephisto, change my race, and hide my power, OR come out hitting REALLY hard and show the big guys I'm not a pushover."
'And I've got the perfect way to do it…'
"As long as I leave a big enough warning and let people know to leave me alone I'll be fine."
However, I do plan to live on Earth, so I'll still have to deal with the "Ancient One".
"Ancient my ass."
She/he wasn't around when "I" has sent to Mephisto so I don't know exactly how powerful this one is.
'But it doesn't matter.'
I've learned that this au is about halfway between the MCU and comics in terms of strength and even if this AO is at the comic level she/he still can't stop me.
"I am superior to the AO in nearly every way."
Strength, speed, durability, energy projection, fighting skills, AND I can pull the morality card since I've been fighting extradimensional demons and safeguarding the Earth since before Agamotto.
"The only advantage she/he has is the time stone, but I can nullify most attacks, loops, or barriers with my escape tool."
'Messing with the time laws of a single universe is child's play compared to breaking multiversal boundaries that run on much higher laws themselves.'
"The only thing that irks me is the prediction ability of the stone."
I don't know if my involvement in the future can be seen, and since it isn't directed at me, but the universe, my tool probably can't prevent it.
"I guess I'll find out soon enough."
---
"I should take not of my abilities and focus on improving them or making new ones for now."
Starting with the physical, I have the body of an archangel.
One might think archangels are to angels what Thor and the Warriors Three are to Asgardians.
That's not entirely true. Angels actually have a few different generations. As far as I know, the first angels were little better than automatons.
They were immortal and fearsome warriors on par with Asgardians but they lacked… "life".
Eventually, God started "playing" with the idea of humans and let them evolve naturally, with a few tweaks here and there, for a couple million years.
Once he had learned enough, he made "Angels 2.0" which combined the strength of the original angels and the… development or "life" that humans had.
'This also lead to the ability to "fall", when the human desires overpowered the loyalty of the automaton side.'
Archangels on the other hand are like "Angels 3.0". God considered them his magnum opus. Everything about them is improved, perfected, and superior. EVERYTHING.
Smarter, faster, stronger, more durable, and extreme talent for fighting and energy usage.
They are free from the automaton-like nature, but can still fall, and also have a heightened emotional quality and spectrum… that last bit would explain a lot.
'God may have been a nut job but he was just as much a genius with life as Odin is with the arcane.'
"Now, onto the skills and abilities, I have."
//Note//
I'm ready to get this show on the road!
We have been in this soul/memory battle for too long!
It's already chapter 9!
Like, WTF Author!!!!!!!