Avenger's true name is
Elisha Ben Abuyah, a rabbi in Judaic legends. He's most infamous for turning to evil and committing many vile heresies, including murder. But Abuyah wasn't always that way. Once, he was a simple rabbi respected in his community. He strove to live in a righteous way by praising God and extending generosity to the poor.
That was the Elisha Ben Abuyah known by the world. However, there was "another one" inside him. A malevolent voice breathing at the back of his mind, urging him to indulge in his darkest impulses. Kill. Take. Ravage. Destroy. The voice whispered all those things to Abuyah ceaselessly.
Unbeknownst even to Abuyah himself this split-personality actually came from his unborn twin who he'd absorbed while still in the womb. Having been robbed even the chance to be born, that child's soul was nothing but a bundle of seething curses and hatred against the very world it'd been deprived of.
Abuyah did his best to repress the voice. Using rigorous prayers and secret Kabbalistic rituals he sealed the wicked presence inside him to the farthest recesses of his unconscious. Letting no one know his terrible secret, Abuyah did his best to live an upright life. He continued studying Kabbalah and eventually became a genius at it. People from far and wide would flock to Abuyah imploring him to heal them with his holy powers. He cured many people, without even asking for payment as he said "The people's grateful smiles are the only reward I need." Over time Abuyah came to be hailed as a true miracle-worker, a saint.
As he looked at the world, seeing so much sickness and pain, Abuyah sometimes pondered why God created it this way. Why allow the weak to suffer wracked by toil and disease, while the rich and nobles dine opulently on gluttonous feasts? It was unfair. It was cruel. It was meaningless. So why would God abide by such evils?
Those questions gnawed at Abuyah's mind, but he brushed them away. It wasn't a mortal's place to question the divine plan. Besides, he figured those like himself blessed with arcane power were sent to the world for the sake of mending its deficencies and helping others. Abuyah convinced himself that, and for a while it was enough to assuage his doubts.
He even took on a disciple, a boy named Meir. Meir was a gifted student and quickly took to immersing himself in Kabbalah, until his mastery possibly eclipsed even Abuyah himself. Beyond his esoteric skills the youth also had a kind personality, humble and considerate of the weak. More than just student and teacher, he and Abuyah grew to be very close friends. Seeing Meir grow up and flower in his talents as a Kabbalist, Abuyah could only sigh blissfully. For him, the time he spent with Meir was truly the most blessed days of his life.
---Then. A tragedy occured, and that innocent happiness he'd managed to obtain was mercilessly shattered. One day when Abuyah was going for a stroll out in the fields he glimpsed his beloved niece fetching wren's eggs from a tree. She was careful not to hurt the mother bird, as the Torah commanded. However, the girl slipped and fell, breaking her neck instantly. Abuyah ran to her side but it was too late. She was already dead.
Abuyah broke down sobbing clutching the girl's broken body to his chest. But he consoled himself that God sends all souls to their final rest when it's time. There's a great justice in this world that all humans merely play a part in, and everything turns according to God's benevolent design. Even partings are nothing to be sad about, for one will someday be reunited forever in paradise.
But just a day later, Abuyah witnessed something that crushed his former convictions. Another child, a boy, was climbing the same tree to pick eggs. This time he cruelly smashed the mother bird with his fist before making off with the eggs. Much to Abuyah's horror, the boy met no reprecussions for his callous acts, while his own niece had paid the deadly price.
Something snapped inside Abuyah, and the doubts from before flashed back to his mind. The innocent suffer. The villainous prosper. Over and over, ceaselessly. Without change, without salvation. Young, old, robust, frail, rich, poor... everywhere those who strove to follow God's law faced hardships and death, while the wicked escaped unscathed. Even his own niece succumbed to such an end. Was this God's will? Was this Destiny? Then...
The voice that had tormented Abuyah so long ago spoke to him once more. But this time, it wasn't a malevolent hissing. It was a soft, scared voice of a young child. "Why? Why wasn't I allowed to be born? I wanted to live, to feel the sunshine and touch flowers. But I was denied that wish. I was absorbed into you, so I never got the chance to be born as a proper human. It wasn't anyone's fault. No one wished for such a thing. The only one responsible for it is... God."
'God'. That's right. If all things turn according to God's design, then that means God Himself is culpable for all the evils in the world. It was so obvious, Abuyah cursed himself for not seeing it sooner. It took the last plea of a child who'd been stripped of everything to realize that truth.
God was... a tyrant, a schemer, an egotist who arranges everything for his own glory while expecting humans to grovel meekly at his feet.
In that case, the only answer was...
"Haha... hahahahaahahaahha!!" Insane laughter bubbled up from Abuyah's throat. "I curse fate! I curse God! If the power meting out judgment in this universe abides by such atrocities, then I intend to rebel against it with every fiber of my being!!" Tempestuous winds swirled around Abuyah as his Kabbalistic powers went out of control in rage.
"God! Do you hear me?!" Abuyah shouted up at the heavens, lips twisted into a maniacal sneer. "Just watch! The holy man you poured out your blessings on, will now break every last one of them! I'll pile up a mountain of corpses tall enough to reach heaven, and then drag you from your throne myself!!"
Having declared war against the God he formerly served, Abuyah vowed to dye his hands in countless sins. He believed that if God was "all the good in the world" then to defeat him it was necessary to master human evil. Following that twisted precept, Abuyah went back to his village and wrought havoc. He used his awakened Reality Marble
Pardes Ayim to drive the villagers insane by amplifying the contradictions in good and evil within them, eventually spurring them to kill each other.
To stop the madness, his best friend and former disciple Meir was forced to sorrowfully kill Abuyah. They had an epic battle, each wielding their Kabbalistic powers to the fullest to destroy the other. Winds raged, earth split, rivers boiled, flames danced through the skies. It was a sight like the very gates of Hell were being rent asunder.
But finally, Meir prevailed. A swirling spear of water pierced through Abuyah's gut, dealing a mortal blow to the rabbi turned villain. "W-why...?" Meir sobbed, cradling Abuyah in his arms as the last gasp of his life-force ebbed away. "You were my teacher, my friend! I loved you! So why... why did things have to be this way?!"
"Don't cry boy," Abuyah said, gently reaching to brush a tear from his student's trembling cheek. Despite the situation his mouth curved into a faint, sad smile. The youth had come so far since Abuyah trained him. He truly was a master now, even surpassing Abuyah himself. Abuyah felt a deep sense of fatherly pride well up inside him.
Even after renouncing God, Abuyah still felt a lingering familial affection for the boy he'd once called a disciple. As a final act of compassion he sought to assuage Meir's grief for having to kill him. "I am not Elisha Ben Abuyah," he said finally.
"...You're not?" Meir murmured, eyes wide and uncomprehending.
Abuyah nodded, even that slight motion bringing pain to his wounded body. "That man was a great rabbi who devoted himself to God until the very end. He would never abandon God and walk on the path of destruction like this. No, I..." His voice trailed off weakly but he forced himself to continue. "I am merely an imposter, 'another one' bearing his skin. You need not feel any guilt over killing me. You were merely vanquishing a terrible demon that threatened this world."
Having uttered his last words to his student, Abuyah's soul slipped away to its final rest. Whether Heaven, or Hell, or even simply nothingness awaited him, no one but the Almighty could know for sure. After all, as a rabbi he was more saintly and noble than anyone, while as a heretic he'd sunken into the worst depths of depravity. Too virtuous to be condemned to Hell, too wicked to enter Heaven... perhaps his fate was to wander the world lost and listless throughout the confines of infinity.
"Abuyah..." Meir whispered his friend's name, fighting back tears. "No," he corrected himself, shaking his head. "You were the
."
After the battle, Meir attempted to have Abuyah's name following his fall blotted from all official records, so he'd only be known as "
". This was done to spare his friend's memory, so Abuyah's later fall wouldn't taint his earlier good actions. This effort wasn't fully successful however, so Elisha Ben Abuyah is still remembered by name to this day.
An important cultural legacy to the Jewish people, whose struggle with his faith and inner dark side still draws the fascination of millions of people today.