C5 Handsome Pack-Man

Though I can tell that by doing so my mind is becoming a little less stable, I can only do my best to at least keep myself from falling off the edge.

--- An indeterminable amount of time later ---

In a realm where the only light came from a mountain-sized ruby and the innumerable fragments that orbit it was a large golden… Pack-Man… with arms… and a jetpack...

Currently, this rocket-propelled Pack-Man was flying around picking up rubies and eating them, while leaving behind any sapphires it came across.

When finished, it would move along to another location and repeat the process.

Of course, while doing so it wasn't quiet. It would sing, terribly, any song or tune that came to its mind.

Most of which were… disturbing… to say the least.

As it sang the aura it gave off would synchronize with it, allowing listeners, there were none, to feel what it felt and the emotions it experienced.

Which were anything but good.

---

"~Oh, yo, yo, there's a demon inside~

~Oh, yo, yo, just like Jekyll and Hyde~

~Oh, yo, yo, all this anger inside~

~Oh, yo, yo, I feel like Jekyll and Hyde~"

[Jekyll and Hyde by Five Finger Death Punch]

"Psshhtt."

"Changgging recccord."

"Vrriit."

"~Hold still, my sweet~

~I'm trying to measure the space between your molar and your jaw~

~This caliper– no cause for fear~

~No, it... it doesn't hurt~

~It only helps me measure how much skin you have~"

[The Dismemberment Song By Blue Kid]

"Tst tst tst tssst BANG!"

"Fuck! Why do I always break when I get to a good part?!"

"Oooh, I know. It's because I don't remember the rest of the songs…"

"Strange, I would think my insane side would just come up with something to fill in the blank but guess not…"

"Ha! Who am I kidding?!"

"Definitely not this handsome Pack-A-Man, that for sure!"

"There is no "insane part" of me. There is just me."

"I may be cracking up but I'll be damn sure there is only one personality up in this bitch!"

"Now let me see what other songs I can remember..."

"Oooh, shit… here comes another one."

"Batten down the hatches boys! A storms a comin!"

---

In a pitch-black room, all that can be seen are two glowing red orb-like eyes. It looked as though red energy swirled within.

Coming from the same direction was a voice, as soft and smooth as a snake's hiss.

"What a poor creator you are. To be betrayed and cast from Heaven by God himself! Just for knowing too much. Tsk. Tsk. Tsk."

The person that voice was addressing is chained down to a chair, only able to speak.

"What is the meaning of this Mephisto?! I'll have nothing to do with hellspawn like you!"

The voice behind the eyes, now known as Mephisto, replied just as smooth as before.

"Why so unfriendly? I've merely invited you to my home for a nice chat."

Appalled the man replied with enmity.

"You call chained to chair friendly?! What do you want hellspawn?"

The eyes squinted slightly and said with enthusiasm.

"What do I want? What a wonderful question with a wonderfully simple answer."

The eyes then moved closer to the man revealing a red-skinned face with pointed ears, a sharp set of canines, and shoulder-length black hair.

"What I want is you, my dear Zadkiel. I want you to work for me. Seeing that you were "available" I decided to bring you down here and "hash" out the details."

Zadkiel was at first taken aback and then disgusted.

"I may no longer belong to Heaven but I have not fallen and I will not stoop so low as to work for a demon. I decline Mephisto, now send me back."

Mephisto's eyes change to white and he revealed a smile that showed off his canines even more.

"Oh, that is a shame… Too bad for you I wasn't asking. I was just letting you know what was going to happen."

Mephisto then turned and started walking away through the only door, but halfway through he stopped and turned to look a Zadkiel.

"After all, you were sold to me. I OWN YOU! But I thought I would be nice and ask if you were willing, and I must say I am truly thrilled that you aren't. It's always so much fun to break someone, let alone an Archangel at that. Toodles!"

With a wave, he left the room. Leaving the still white-winged archangel to his thoughts.

'I was even sold. To a demon no less!'

'He couldn't have just let me live in peace?'

'I suppose it would be too naive to think he would.'

Zadkiel let out a heavy sigh, now preparing himself for whatever may lie ahead.

He did not have to wait long as the heat started to climb, along with the flames…

---

"Well, that was different."

Normally it's just torture or occasionally some Rider memories, but this time was a memory from when Zadkiel had just arrived in Mephisto's dimension.

Granted it was followed by several days worth of torture but what's that.

*sigh*

I really would have gone insane by now if I hadn't figured out a way to view the memories from a third-person perspective.

Though, I am still forced to empathize with whatever Zadkiel felt, physically and mentally, when absorbing his memories.

One thing I have found strange though was the surprising lack of memories.

Zadkiel should have lived for at least a few hundred thousand years.

Yet even after absorbing half of the orbiting ruby pieces, I have barely gotten a thousand years' worth of torture-filled memories and only a scant few "normal" ones.

I can only guess that the majority of his memories are either housed in the sapphire chunks or the centerpiece.

"I suppose I only have about a week, maybe ten days, before he "wakes up"."

I have been constantly consuming ruby pieces while leaving the sapphire since I suspected them to be helping me.

I was right.

While I haven't been able to communicate with them, I was able to "feel" what they were doing after focusing hard enough.

And even though their number doesn't amount to much their sway over what happens in this soulscape is disproportionate to their size.

I also know that with their help it will be slightly easier to absorb the centerpiece if they run interference.

As for how I am going to do that.

I'm going to get "physical". Or at least as physical as souls can be.

I've been practicing how to control the energy I get from when I burn my soul by manipulating it into different shapes and interacting with the environment.

I am almost like Green Lantern but with soul energy, and this only works in soulscapes, not physical planes.

At this point, I can make tools or even crush smaller rubies if I put enough power in my "hands".

At first, I was going to fight him using Hellfire/Soulfire but I realized that would defeat the purpose of being here in the first place.

Soulfire, like the name suggests, burns souls.

It's not the same as when someone "burns" their soul for energy, as that is technically not fire, and more of a self-destruction mechanism.

So if I use it I will just end up burning Zadkiel away leaving nothing to consume, and that is assuming I can even trump him in the use of Hellfire.

He may be insane but he's still an expert on using it since it's been the only thing at his disposal for the last few thousand years.

Yes. Even though Zadkiel can manipulate many types of energy both magical and mystical, he is limited to mainly using Hellfire due to both his insanity and Mephisto.

"I'm pretty sure Mephisto didn't want him to be able to wield Holy Fire."

And since Zadkiel can only use Hellfire it means that as long as I can neutralize them ill be able to do whatever I want… hopefully.

However, I am sadly unable to put much time into learning how to use them because I have to focus on "eating" and dealing with memories.

I was able to come up with a solution though, and it came in the form of a Hellfire "engine".

I had originally wanted to make a converter or engine so I could further multiply my battle power by making a more powerful Hellfire using my soul as the direct fuel.

I succeeded.

The "crust" of my soul is that engine. It directly uses my soul as fuel and even though it is inefficient, due to my lack of understanding, it will still boost my power to about 14-15x instead of 10x.

I didn't stop there however since I knew that I couldn't devote much time to learn, and I would need borderline mastery to protect myself from Zadkiels flames.

"Too bad I didn't wish for mind arts as well because parallel processing would have solved my problems."

"Hell. The only reason I know how to protect my mind is because it's centered in my soul and not a body."

To do what parallel processing would have achieved without making a clone of myself, I had to upgrade the "engine" by giving it its own rudimentary intelligence.

If before it was fully mechanical then now it is computer-controlled with fuel injection.

It's now able to learn by itself and I just have to give it the memories of using hellfire I get from Zadkiel, preferably without the torture since I don't want my new engine to go insane.

And since it is part of my soul whatever It does and learns gets automatically fed back to me.

I also don't have to worry about it ever going rogue if it ever develops the ability to "think" for itself since it is built out of my soul and every single IOTA of my soul carries my will.

If it is a puzzle piece then I am the puzzle, without me, it would just be a colorful piece of cardboard.

//Note//

I am still not too good at ending chapters, I just don't know what it is supposed to look like…

Oh, and don't you just love it when you have to stop reading so you can go and listen to a song? You don't!? Neither do I but I still do it anyway…

P.S.

I do want to make something clear.

The MC will NOT be insane however, he will definitely not be normal.

You don't absorb thousands of years of torture and act as if nothing happened.

P.S.S

Also, Zadkiel has slightly different lore in this au.

Here he wasn't a traitor nor did he fall so his wings never turned black or turn into a devil, like Lucifer.

He was cast from Heaven unjustly so God had to do "something" to make sure there wasn't an innocent white-winged angel flying around telling people God is a… oooh… almost gave it away.

Tsk. Tsk. Tsk. Shame on you, shame.