Angel soared into Heaven's central city, moving at speeds he had never attempted before, startling other inhabitants who fluttered about without a care in their afterlives. As he flew toward his intended destination, memories continued flooding his mind, and along with those memories, so did all the skills and training he'd acquired as a special forces Army Ranger.
He also remembered why he had gone by the moniker Angel, why he'd embraced it all this time. It was his call sign, his 'proverbial mask and armor' that he wore as a soldier, a fighter. And for now, for what he needed to do? That mask would stay in place for the time being.
And for reasons he didn't understand, he became aware of intricate knowledge of the events that had happened months ago, including the death of one of the exorcists. Whatever magic had returned his living memories to him also seemed to be arming him with the information he would need to infiltrate Adam's army.
Scanning the various structures, he zeroed in on his target and, diving down, landed on the roof of a luxurious apartment complex with a thud. Ripping the roof door open more forcefully than intended, he rushed through and, with quick steps, made his way down to the suite level. Even though he had never been here, he knew that most of Heaven's magnificent buildings shared the same design. He curled his lip slightly, thinking how ironic it seemed that when observed with clear eyes, Heaven appeared vastly bland.
Upon reaching the floor of the First Man's apartment, he nearly ran until he arrived at the door he instinctively recognized as Adam's, then paused in front of it. Closing his eyes, he took a moment to meditate and soothe his flustered emotions.
Don't screw this up. Charlie needs you! After a moment, he took a deep breath, lifted his fist, and pounded—hard—on the golden-painted rich oak door.
Immediately, he heard an angry response from inside. "Go Away!"
Ha! Never gonna happen. He pounded on the wood again.
He heard a rustle of movement inside and footsteps stomping to the door before it was yanked open. Looming over him, Adam, with a drink in hand and his masked face glitching angrily, grumbled, "Who the fuck are you?"
"Angel." This was a mission, and no way he was sharing his personal name with this misogynistic prick.
Adam rolled his eyes excessively, obviously annoyed. "No shit, you're an angel! I asked who you are, dumbass!"
In his mind, he rolled his eyes as well. Biting his tongue and quelling the various smart-ass remarks he wanted to dish out, he deadpanned, "Angel is my name, Adam. That's all you need to know."
"Yeah?" Adam sounded skeptical, then laughed mockingly. "Fucking lazy!"
Angel folded his arms, looking unimpressed and unperturbed.
When his attempt to annoy and anger the stranger didn't work, Adam sneered instead. "What the fuck do you want?"
It was time to find out just how rusty he was at strategy and deception. His eyes drifted past Adam to Lute sitting in a chair, giving him a dirty look.
He set his gaze back on Adam. "I attended the court hearing today," he reminded the First Man. "You plan to go to Hell in a month, intending to put an end to the Princess of Hell's intentions, correct?"
Adam narrowed his eyes suspiciously. "You were there. You know it. What's it to you?"
"I want in," he deadpanned again.
Adam stuttered and almost spilled the rest of the drink he'd been sipping on. "Excuse me? Wh—no! We don't need you."
Exactly as expected. Now, it was time to find out if the intel he'd been granted about the death of the Exorcist during the last mission, along with the return of his memories, was accurate. He didn't understand how he knew, but he had no time to question it right now. "Yes, you do. You know your exorcist army can be harmed. You've gone into all previous executions with reckless abandon."
"How the fuck do you know that?"
"I'm a High Angel, Adam." He started with the truth and then added a necessary lie. "I spoke to Sera. I understand why these executions take place, and I want to be a part of it."
Rising from her chair, Lute moved to join Adam, her cold eyes assessing him, and she spat, "Fuck off, prick! We got this!"
He gazed directly at Lute, who held the rank of lieutenant, positioning her as the primary connection to Adam. She had his ear and his trust. If Adam couldn't be swayed, she represented the alternative route. Angel aimed to exploit a presumption about her character: that she valued strategy far more than the First Man did.
"No." He remained resolute. "You don't. Morningstar and her motley crew will train with the understanding that you possess weaknesses. They have a fighting chance. You want them all eliminated, correct? You require a strategy for this situation, and that's my specialty. I can ensure that the plan unfolds seamlessly."
Adam scoffed dismissively, but Lute had a thoughtful look on her face. "And what do you have to offer?"
I knew it! He thought while fighting to maintain a straight face. Military rank in Heaven appeared to be no different than on Earth.
"What? Are you seriously considering this asshole?" Adam looked at Lute with shock.
Lute shrugged back at him. "Angel is right about one thing. One of our numbers was killed in the last execution, and it's not going to harm us to have more weapons and a strategy next time."
He knew there was a complication involved in appealing to Lute's warrior nature, which meant she'd be more likely to question his motives. In a moment, he was proven correct.
Lute turned her eyes back to him, which were now more appraising than cold. "You claim to be a strategist, huh? Prove it." She stepped back to give him room to enter. "What do you have in mind?"
Rolling his eyes in exasperation, Adam tossed the rest of his drink back in one swallow. "This better be fucking good!"
"I suggest you check your attitude at the door, Adam," Angel snapped before he could stop himself.
"Excuse me?" Adam glared back, unable to believe anyone would dare give him an order.
Ease off. Angel silently chastised himself. He had to calm down for his plan to work, and antagonizing Adam was not going to help. "Look. Adam. I'm here to help. I get that you feel you're too powerful to be challenged, but you sped up the execution by six months as retaliation for what happened last time. Did you not?"
"Fuckin' right, I did!" Adam swore with malice. "They dared to kill one of my girls, so we're going to repay them back tenfold."
"And that's why I am here." Angel tried placating the First Man with a compliment. "You are the greatest warrior Heaven has ever seen, and that has never been questioned."
Adam puffed out his chest. "Damn right, I am!"
Adam's pride was irritating, but for this to work, he was glad it existed. Playing on his ego, he continued, "But you're also smart enough to know this will be different from all your other executions. Let me show you what I can do."
"Fine." Adam waved his hand dismissively, seemingly bored already.
He was in! He turned to Lute. "What is your current plan?"
Lute shrugged, pursing her lips as if the answer was obvious. "We open a portal in one month and dive bomb the hotel."
Angel shook his head. "That's it?"
Lute scowled. "We have the high ground, the numbers. What else do we need?"
"For one, you announced your attack, which was foolish." He saw Adam's face contort at the insult, but Lute kept her face neutral, suggesting she was keeping an open mind. Perfect. "Since you're sticking to your plan to attack in a month, you're giving the princess time to organize."
"I wanted to attack five months ago," Lute sneered, giving Adam the stink eye.
"Hey, bitch." Adam shrugged. "You know why we couldn't just go back in and crush them all. Sera wouldn't allow it."
"Why not?" Angel was thankful they hadn't acted immediately, but there was missing information that could clarify why these executions were occurring in the first place.
Lute regarded him closely. "You just said you're a High Angel, that you spoke to Sera, and that you understand the reasons behind our attacks?"
Lute was good. Frighteningly good. And he was still getting his proverbial chess-playing skills lined up. Keeping his expression neutral, he carefully constructed his answer. "Yes. To quell Hell's population. But Sera also informed me that some aspects of these missions were above even my station."
"Then you don't need to know anything else." Her words left no room for debate.
"Understood." There was no safe way to pry the information out of them, so he had to play with the pieces he had. "But what I do know is that if you fail in your endeavor, Heaven is at risk, and that is my sole reason for offering my services: to protect Heaven."
The fire in Lute's eyes calmed, which eased his tensions.
She prodded, "As you said. So, what do you suggest?"
"They've time to prepare, so we should do the same."
"I agree. So, show us what you got." Lute challenged.
With an internal sigh of relief, he nodded. This is what he was good at. "I'm guessing you have no blueprints for the hotel? What about intel on its inhabitants? Who among them are fighters?"
The silence that greeted him both annoyed and pleased him. Despite Lute being the more military-minded of the two, their combined overconfidence meant they hadn't considered this as thoroughly as he feared.
"I see." With a little bit of flair, Angel rubbed his chin and gazed up toward the ceiling. "Hmm. Okay, then. I will take care of collecting the intel on the hotel and those defending it." He dropped his eyes onto Lute. "How large is your army currently?"
"Sixty strong. We can pull more if required." Lute smirked.
"Do you at least know how many defend the hotel?" he inquired.
Lute noted, "Seven that we've counted, not including the little egg minions."
"Egg minions?" He laughed, finding the concept absurd, even in the tenseness of the moment.
"I know, right!" Adam slapped his knee. "One of those idiots has actual egg creatures. It's so fucking stupid."
"Are they dangerous?" His tone turned serious.
"Only if you're afraid of salmonella." Adam joked.
Angel held his temper and shared a tight smile instead. Let's bond a little, he thought. Aloud, he said, "Noted. I was never fond of eggs to begin with." That earned him the smiles he'd been fishing for. "I'll include them in my plan. When is the next training session for your warriors?"
"In two days," Lute answered.
"Alright. I will design an outline of attack patterns that consider the hotel's structure, surrounding land, and the inhabitants who will likely defend it, including sentient eggs."
Lute was impressed. "You really do take everything into account, even the outlandish."
"A winning strategy can't afford to ignore any given detail, Lute. That's how you play 4D Chess."
"What?" Adam's tone was serious and curious.
"It's a type of strategy. The more you know about your opponent and understand their mindset, the more you can deduce what they'll do and be prepared to counter any move they make. By the time we reach Hell, I'll have your army positioned like perfect chess pieces. My goal is to minimize the number of casualties possible."
"For us." Lute glowered. "I want that cunt Vaggie slain!"
"Vaggie?"
"She was once one of mine." Adam sounded pissed. "But she got soft, so we dismissed her." He gave an air quote with his free hand to emphasize his point.
"Should have killed her." Lute sounded even angrier. "But we left her to rot in Hell. Now she stands with the princess, and I plan to rip out her other eye next time."
So, it was personal to Lute. He would have to look into this Vaggie character closely. If he could use Lute's rage to his advantage, all the better. He was determined to do everything in his power to protect the woman he loved. For a moment, he was lost in all the memories that had returned to him and was startled by Adam's voice.
"Hello? Are you listening?"
"Sorry. I was going over ideas." He lied. "You were saying?"
"I said." Lute shook her head. "We're meeting in two days at the Colosseum at dawn. Do you want me to call up the reserves?"
"Sixty exorcists against seven, plus a variety of minions?" He mused. "No, sixty will suffice. Be advised that, as your strategist, I will not be participating in the actual battle."
"What?" Adam gloated. "Not a fighter?"
"Oh." His voice turned icy. "I can fight with the best of them." He was an ex-Special Forces Ranger, after all. "But I can't fight if I'm directing the troops." Additionally, he would not risk being placed in a position where he had to feign attacking anyone in the hotel.
"Meh." Adam scoffed. "Still sounds like a pussy move."
"Adam." Lute cut in. "You trust me, and I'm impressed with Angel. Let's cut him some slack."
"Fine, bitch." Adam shrugged and walked back over to his chair. "You all have fun making up D&D campaigns. Call me when it's time to kill!"
Gritting his teeth, he had to exert all his self-control to keep from retorting. Instead, he calmed himself by taking a deep breath and silently letting the air pass between his lips. With an even tone, he saw Adam off. "We will do just that, sir."
Lute waited for him to go back to his chair, then turned back to Angel. Her demeanor softened unexpectedly. "Sorry about him. Before the last execution, we had no idea we could be killed. He acts this way, but he does care about the girls as much as I do. I still don't know what killed my sister. I hope you will find that out during your research."
In his quest to align himself with Adam, he had all but forgotten the consequences that came with it. He'd be fighting alongside an army that faced the possibility of death, and he'd secretly be in line with the princess to facilitate those deaths. It sickened him, but the alternatives were far graver. And he couldn't risk trying to convince Adam to end the executions outright. He seemed to have a personal grudge with Charlie, and that made him enemy number one. Keeping in character, he responded, "Get me all the intel you have on the last attack, and I'll look into it."
"Done. I will have it for you at the training session." Lute nodded with a look of gratitude that bothered him even more.
"Then until then." He turned toward the entrance. He needed to get out of there. "I shall leave you two and start my investigation."
With haste, he exited the apartment, and as soon as the door closed, he leaned against the nearby wall and wiped away misty eyes. He had fought to control his emotions in the room and came close to losing his temper more than once. While he planned an attack to give Charlie and her friends as much of an advantage as possible, he hoped to do it without too much loss of life and, more importantly, without revealing himself to her. He didn't need her distracted by him when her world was in shambles around her.
A sudden thought occurred to him: Would Charlie have recognized me if I had been able to meet with her before the hearing?
So many questions burned in his head that he had to force them down to focus on the task ahead. Pushing off the wall, he headed to the roof. He needed to see Emily. Initially, he had planned to ask her for permission to investigate the executions, but now that he knew more than he wanted, perhaps she could help him find the materials he needed to learn more about the princess, her friends, and the home she called the Hazbin Hotel.