Marvel: Raising — Chapter 148 - Mephisto — The Conversation
When Ashley, Doom, and the company's career-transitioned Hydra operatives arrived on scene, they signed Johnny.
"Come on, Johnny — give us a 'completely lost it' maniacal laugh face for the meme."
The scene went full absurd immediately.
Very quickly.
The Marvel meme dropped: Johnny Laughing JPG, side by side with the newspaper boss's grin. It went viral on the spot.
Wildly popular.
"..."
Rising-star streamer Gabriel showed up too.
The rampaging Spirit of Vengeance had been handled just like that. She marveled at The Homie's power and was even more floored by the company's extra... creative thinking.
Then she walked up to Johnny, put on her sternest little face, and said, "A Spirit of Vengeance fused with a demon has already slipped beyond God's control. I, Archangel Gabriel, will reclaim it."
Apparently for added persuasiveness.
Gabriel boosted her divine power and temporarily sprouted a pair of tiny angel chicken wings. They fluttered as she spoke.
"Haha. Dumbass."
Johnny laughed.
Angels, demons, in his eyes, they were all the same breed.
Johnny looked at Doom, clad in iron armor and wreathed in swirling vortices of magical energy, radiating the kind of power that came with a full special-effects budget, and said, "I accept the company's modification and training."
"Correct." Doom nodded.
"Someone throw Gabriel out. She wandered onto the wrong set," Ashley said.
So Gabriel went back to her livestream to sell merch. Chicken wings, as it turned out.
Battleworld. Battle Emperor Doom.
He surveyed the wreckage of Stark Industries, and Pepper, who couldn't seem to decide whether Tony or Doom was her husband.
And that adorable little daughter.
The corner of his mouth curled up for no particular reason. "Heh. Tony. Doesn't look like you're doing so great yourself."
"A mere Ghost Rider took you down."
"Pathetic."
Tony: "..."
His face went progressively darker.
Especially when his daughter started babbling and nearly called Doom "Daddy." Tony set his jaw and said, "Can't you at least cover your face?"
"I'm this handsome. Why would I cover it?"
"Stop complimenting me."
"I was complimenting myself."
The two bickered back and forth. Then Doom, with the energy of someone who'd come not to break up the family but to wedge himself into it, presented Tony's daughter with a few gifts.
Only then did he approach Johnny.
BZZT!
Magic and technology combined into a strange machine, assembled quickly.
Johnny sat inside.
The Spirit of Vengeance and the elemental demon power coursing through him were drawn out along the conduits.
This was the most troublesome thing about magic-type characters.
If it were a mutant, or a mutate like Peter Parker, one round of purification from Godzilla's Phoenix Force would settle things permanently.
But magic, sorcery, these things carry source contamination.
The condition relapses.
The Spirit of Vengeance was manageable. The bird-man-in-chief God, same as that old fart Odin, had been beaten into submission and didn't dare meddle in Blue Star's affairs anymore.
The shard of Zarathos was even simpler. When it was alive, it was just a standard Skyfather. And now it had long since kicked the bucket.
The trouble was Old Meph.
As the machine ran.
A force like ink, pitch-black, dark, twisted, bled slowly into the air and coiled into a vortex overhead.
The vortex was made of human souls. At its core, it was a door.
A door to Hell.
A wrinkled old man in a black suit and top hat stepped through. He planted a blackwood cane on the ground, his gaze shadowed and cold.
"Well, well. If it isn't Archangel, Water Element Gabriel. Few days without seeing you and you've already fallen this far?"
Mephisto appeared in humanoid form and opened with a taunt.
Gabriel: "..."
"Looks like you've been keeping up with the short videos down in Hell too."
"You son of a bitch."
Doom walked over and slapped him.
Old Meph was a Skyfather-level devil.
But was Doom any less?
And this was the mortal realm.
He hadn't come here to talk.
After a thorough session of punches and kicks, a detailed physics lecture delivered hands-on, Ashley walked up to Mephisto and said:
"A while back, quite a few aliens died on Blue Star."
"Did you take their souls?"
"Soul tax. Pay up. Thank you."
Mephisto: "?"
Old Meph was so furious his devil horns erupted. "Do you know who I am? I am a Skyfather-level devil, King of Hell, Dimensional Demon God, Lord of Curses—"
"There's not enough room in here for that many titles."
Ashley said, "And I work for President Zuzong. And, by extension, Mr. Guan."
"How do I pay the soul tax?"
Old Meph went quiet instantly.
If he were really that untouchable, he would've shown up earlier instead of waiting until Azu left to make his entrance.
And honestly, Old Meph had his logic. His ancient rival Heaven had bowed to the company. Why should he be any different?
Doom, this powerful, still came when called.
His cowardice was entirely reasonable.
"Hell's soul currency has no value to us."
"Convert it into territory and population instead."
"The company plans to open operations in Hell — shoot some films, make some skits, set up tourist attractions, that sort of thing."
Ashley said, "Also: company employees do not fight each other. No causing major incidents. Hand over Doom's mother's soul. Everyone sits down, calmly stabs each other twice, and we call it settled."
"One more thing. Do you have any special talents, Mr. Mephisto?"
"..."
...
The news about the American White Bone Spirit Ghost Rider hadn't even fallen off the trending list.
[SHOCKING: Company Discovers Devil and Hell, Will Expand Into Underworld Business!]
[Mephisto Sings, Dances, Raps.]
[Demon Lord Joins Short Video Platform, Flooded With Negative Reviews, Posts Statement Saying Audience Taste Is Currently Insufficient, Taste Must Be Cultivated, He Is Willing to Wait for Audiences to Come to Him in Hell.]
[Then Continues Getting Negative Reviews.]
...headlines that once again shook the world.
Also around this time, Mister Fantastic and S.H.I.E.L.D. had all kicked the bucket. Otherwise, Reed and the Egg would have probably been the first to suspect they'd somehow screwed something up again.
With the devil's appearance.
Doomsday theories and prophecies poured in from every direction. America, already running at high religious purity, saw cults spring up across the country. Environmentalists and animal rights activists took to the streets with signs, protesting Hell directly.
The most absurd was the American government.
The same government that had lost a thousand people to a hurricane disaster and only managed to save one manatee rolled out a "disaster relief loan" plan and pinned the entire blame on the devil.
Which sent Old Meph's already dismal reputation into freefall.
"Wait. Seriously? Bro?"
Old Meph was so furious he took them to court. He'd originally wanted to flip the table, but the company told him that wouldn't make good content.
The result?
After losing the first case, Old Meph swapped his loadout entirely. He re-filed under a new set of identities: special creature, devil, anomalous-skinned Inhuman, Hell's stay-at-home elderly father...
And won.
The entire saga was livestreamed and captured by the production crew, start to finish.
Viewers called it pure, uncut satisfaction.
Content value: maxed out.
Watching Guan Fuyun's barrage of "6"s flood the comment stream, Old Meph hollered his thanks for Mr. Guan's generous tips, while silently, furiously committing every name to memory. When these lunatics finally died, he was going to make absolutely sure they got a front-row seat for the deep-fry special down in Hell.
➤ Next: The Helplessness of Apocalypse