I awoke with a searing pain and a major headache as I looked around at my surroundings.

I was still in the Goddamned Vigil Homeworld. There had to be a reason for all of this shit. But what was the reason? I remember Zemo and Anthony dragging me to the Cavern. That was it.

They attempted to kill me, and somehow I survived the ordeal. They would not. Once I got my hands on them both, they would regret ever crossing my path. The problem was, how do I get out of this place without drawing any unwarranted attention? God, this would be so much easier if I had contact with the Rebellion, and X, for that matter...

X and Zero were on edge, even more so today because the Circle were mobilizing their forces as the Rebellion lowered their shields and prepared to fight.

This was the day I died. I remember now.

But, damn, did we give them hell.

The Circle fought with furious and ferocious anger against us. X and Zero led the charge as they dwindled and replenished their forces in a battle that was even rougher than our last few battles. I don't know what I was thinking, but I jumped down into the battle and turned violent again, sparing no member of the Circle until they got the upper hand. I felt myself die. I saw nothing but white everywhere... this death was... different from the last... like sleeping and waking up again...

I held my head tightly. X probably thinks I'm never coming back, and even if I do manage to escape... my chances of being back in the Rebellion is next to nothing now. All because I'm stuck here in this hellhole of a place fighting a conflict I wanted nothing to do with.

"You're confused, aren't you?"

I raised a fist and started swinging wildly at the voice, but I didn't connect with any part of his body. It was Zemo, of course.

"You bastard! You dragged me down here all because you want to kill X and Zero! I heard everything! And by the way, Anthony Masters is working against you, but I swear I'm going to kill you all!"

Zemo merely shifted.

"Let me tell you a story, Marc. The Vigil Council, for all it's glamour and posture, is weak and flawed. Taskmaster is a prime example of such. Anthony wishes to bring about an end to the Vigil, and to a greater extent, Lord Malekith. You were brought here to stop an internal conflict. Until it is over, you cannot leave."

"Cannot, or will not. Those are two very different things. And you can't stop me. You said the Vigil can be entered and exited, and I've died twice. It would have been three times, if Masters wasn't so Goddamned sloppy and missed the Cavern when he failed to throw me inside of it."

Zemo suddenly bolted upright. Ah, he didn't know about Anthony's little attempt to have me killed.

"What did you just say?!"

I smirked.

"Oh, yeah. He didn't tell you? Little bastard tried to kill me yesterday by throwing me into the Cavern of Fire. I guess he's pissed at you for even bringing me into this little girlfight you're having with each other. It's funny - I had a friend long ago, and we didn't see eye to eye, but at least I knew the shit he was trying to pull. Asshole even tried to put a bullet in my chest if I wasn't fast enough, but damn... are you dropping the ball on this one, or is Masters gripping so tightly on your nuts that you're blind to what's going on here?"

Zemo placed a hand on his sword as if to attack. I analyzed his movements, his motions. Then he relaxed.

"Did I strike a nerve?"

He lunged and I dodged his attack as he quickly pulled out his sword. I used the table to block his sword parries before I jumped up, sweeping his leg out from under him. I took his sword, and for a split second, I wanted to stab him over and over and over, but I stopped.I threw his sword across the room, punching him in the face and incapacitating him temporarily. Masters was my target.

I searched every inch of the Vigil, and no sign of Anthony. The little bastard was persistent, but not smart. He left tracks everywhere and I nearly laughed out loud at how stupid he could be.

I studied the markings on the wall, and they were all graphs of Malekith. He seemed to be like a god down here. The people worshiped him as if he saved them from some injustice... they couldn't have been more wrong...

My mind snapped to the day James and I had our final falling out. After he tried to kill me, the police force ran him out of the city, out of the town. But I met up with him three months later, and he was still up to his old shit. He never changed. I tried to keep my distance, but he caught me and fired a shot off, stinging my arm in the process.

"What the hell, James?!"

James was absolutely crazy, chasing me down with a pistol, trying to kill me. I had enough of his shit. I threw my knife at him, injuring his gun hand as I tackled him to the ground, breaking his entire arm. I wanted to rip it off, but I was showing restraint.

"What the hell is wrong with you!"

James laughed to himself.

"You... you you you you you you you you ruined my life... I'll k-k-k-k-k-k-k-k-k-k-k-k-k-k-kill y-y-you! Kill, kill, KILL!"

I don't know what happened to him after that day. I just remember throwing him into an insane asylum and never bothering with my former friend ever again.

But something seemed... off. The other guy that dragged me to the Cavern sounded... so familiar, it was killing me.

It couldn't have been James, could it? No, that's impossible... Right?

I kept going, exploring the nooks and crannies of the Vigil until I reached an area unexplored. I head Anthony's voice as I opened the door.

"Our plan is near completion. With the girl in our possession and Zemo walking into a trap, we will retake the Vigil from Malekith himself."

Girl? What girl? I never saw any girl walk into the Vigil...

"And what about Marc?"

"You will have your chance to kill him, James. After he escapes the Vigil. If he dies here, it would make no difference, he would simply come back to life. That is why the Cavern failed."

James... So I wasn't hearing things. Which means that they have Stephanie. It all made sense now.

Masters and James were behind all of this. James probably captured Steph when he found out I was inside the Vigil, and waited all this time to get his revenge, and because they both know me so well, they're probably expecting me to go in there with violent tendencies, which would put Steph in danger.

I would have to handle this calmly, and get Steph back.

"He is here."

Damn it. Well, it was now or never.

"Marc Spector. You're either bold or stupid, but it doesn't matter now, our plans have finally aligned."

"I don't give a shit about your plans. Where's Steph?"

I clenched my fists tightly, trying to steel myself from tearing both of them apart for hurting Steph.

"The girl is safe. For now. But any attempt to stop us will result in her death. I have to admit, Spector - you're showing a lot of restraint. Usually you would try to tear my heart out. I wonder what would happen if she was in mortal danger?"

Steph's scream nearly made me lose myself in my own rage... If I didn't handle this correctly, I would lose Steph to the Vigil, and I couldn't lose her again.

"What do you want with her? Why are you hurting her?!"

James unsheathed his blades, lunging towards me. I side-stepped him and followed with a kick to his back as Steph screamed again. I grabbed one of James's blades and relieved him of his hand permanently. I had to get to Steph and fast.

"Not so fast!"

Anthony blocked the way to Steph, and I had enough of his shit. I lunged towards him with my sword and he parried with his own, cutting my clothes and my skin. Every hit he gave me stung and burned, but my rage was building. I was going to kill him today.

"You fight sloppily, Marc!"

He was right, normally I would be able to hold my own against anyone, but Steph's scream were clouding my fighting. The longer I drew this out, the worse it would get for Steph. So I distracted him just long enough and drove my blade deep in his chest and out the back of him before curb-stomping his face.

"Eat shit, motherfucker."

I ran to the center of the area where Steph was and cut her down as she collapsed in my arms. She was really here...

"M-Marc...?"

I smiled at her. Everything that I ever went through.. all of the shit that's happened to me... was worth it to hear her say my name in that soft voice of hers...

"Steph... are you okay...?"

She nodded slightly.

"My ribs hurt like hell, but I'll manage... you look like shit.."

I chuckled briefly.

"You should see the other guys. Come on, let's get you home.."

What happened next, I wish I could say was a bad dream. I wish I could tell you that Steph and I finally escaped that wretched hive and started a new life.

But I can't. Because it didn't happen.

After I found Stephanie and tried to escape with her, I looked at my hands and saw blood. But it wasn't my own...

It was Steph's. That bastard Anthony caught up to us and stabbed Steph.

"St-Steph...? No, no no no no no no come on, speak to me... please..."

I saw red as I lunged after Anthony, I was going to send him to Malekith in pieces. Unfortunately, he was ready for it, because all of a sudden, James stepped from behind him and got me in the neck with his other sword.

I coughed up blood and collapsed to the ground. My fourth death.

"Send him... to the Ryback. Burn his body and send his ashes to Lord Malekith as a warning. Summon the beasts. It's time for us to continue on with our plan to retake the Vigil, even if I have to rip out Malekith's heart myself. He has stained this sacred place long enough."

The last few words faded out as I laid there in my own blood. Even though I knew I would come back, Steph wouldn't. She hadn't died before. I had every hope she would come back... She needed to, I couldn't continue without her...

My mind flashed through scenarios of a future with her. I had a kid, a little girl. She was my pride and joy, and then it was gone just as quickly as it had appeared as I was being dragged once again.

I failed. And the sad part about all of this was, the only person that continued to give a shit about me was gone forever, all because of my actions.

I was still stuck here in this Goddamned Vigil, forced to fight a battle I wanted no part of, only now it was personal.

When I come back to life, it would be war within the Vigil Homeworld. I would find some way of contacting the Rebellion, even if it meant exposing myself as a potential traitor, and I would have my revenge on Taskmaster, on Baron Zemo, on Malekith, and on anyone in this place and burn it to the ground so that nobody will ever be a slave to this place ever again.

I was brought here for a reason, I don't know why, but with Steph now gone forever from my life, and James back in my life, albeit to kill me over and over again, that reason is clear to me.

I was never here to stop a conflict - I was here to destroy the Vigil. To stop Malekith from escaping this world.

They wanted a war?

They picked the wrong person to start it with by killing the love of my life.

And I swear to God, I will not rest until every last one of them is dead...

Starting with Anthony Masters.

To Be Continued...