Trinity

The tale of Belial and St. Michael. 4:15-27

The head of St. Michael created the avatar Belial at the behest of the Lord. He looked like Rick Dubois. He had the memories of Fink. The Lord chose this body and mind to house His taskmaster, Belial.

Belial believed he was equal to the Lord and the enemy of the Lord and all His creations. St. Michael knew different. Both he and Belial had no free will. They were automatons who did their Master's bidding. Belial was God's test for the human race.

Seeing himself as God's equal, Belial claimed all of creation for himself and shaped it to his will. God allowed this to test the human race. Now, with a human body, Belial decided he would prove his Equality to the Lord by converting humanity to a new form of worship, with him as their living god. He planned to enter the Garden and prove his power. Humans would no longer need faith.

He had many tricks. He could perform miracles. With the Fruit, he could grant eternal life. As he sat, waiting for the Son of Man to arrive at the Garden, a thought occurred to him. He'd made a terrible mistake! He made humans suffer and despise him. Ah! He decided he would eliminate all suffering, over-rule God's original punishment and restore humans to paradise. Yes, that was it! He and the human race would reclaim the Garden and eat the fruit of life.

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Chicago

Seven days of pure hell. Woke to compound under assault. People flung themselves on and over the wall. I'm not sure what the riot was about. Hex and Kosmos will get back to us. The Harmless went with them. Recon the entire Southside, they said.

Not what I signed up for. There's nothing keeping me here, and trust me, I want to just leave. I'll think about it. If so, I'll send word. It will be soon, before they get back.

Just in case I stay, send socks and anything baked or fried that won't go bad on the trip. Guise is telling me that Chicago is greatly improved since before Meggido. Yeah. Me and him tossing bodies back over the wall. Other guys are dragging them to a building about a mile away.

Maybe it's seeing the two of them fight. I dunno. Something about the old guys and how they can tell you how it's going down without any powers. Speaking of which, God's joke about making too few healers is true. And they break easy. And no one can make food just appear.

Send the stuff anyways. I have to stick around to see them detonate all these buildings at least. Maybe stay on a year and run a farm. I'd definitely see you out here once it's cleaned up. You'd get a kick out of the photos once we get all cleaned up. Yup.

Chicago was a laugh. Write back.

Gil

Archival Letters from the Reconstruction

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The Harmless

He and his father found a curious coven of natives that didn’t try to eat them on sight. The spoke of Lord Cancer. Intrigued, the duo questioned them at length about Lord Cancer and discovered that this tribe was not suffering from radiation sickness. The were not talking in metaphors. They lead The Harmless to a buckled up piece of concrete near a row of toppled buildings, and then ran.

It was a clever idea. A crab the size of a small sedan had been feasting on the local population. That crab was Lord Cancer. That crab had been given too more sacrifices. The natives’ stories made sense now.

“Now, there’s something,” the Son said to his father. The crab was curious, like the natives. It shuffled its bloated orange body over to them slowly. The smell alone should have driven them made, but instead the Son said, “Okay, now you’ve had a look at us. Go back in your hole before we’re forced to kill you.”

“I am Lord of this land and all who enter are my servants,” the crab responded.

“I know the rules,” the Father said, “But to hell with this.” His Son motioned to wait as his father readied to attack.

“I ask you again,” the Son continued, “Please return to your hole and we will pass through without harm. You may have your land and you servants, but you may not have us.”

Lord Cancer was appetite and greed. He launched himself at them. Father and Son split and countered from each side. Father pierced the hard exoskeleton with his fist and tore at the goo inside. The Son flashed the Sword of David and Lord Cancer’s left limbs fell to the ground. Father climbed on back and pounded holed with his fists, like a double hammered pile driver. The Son removed the beast’s eye stalks and claws. Lord Cancer shook them both off and scurried for shelter.

They returned to the tribe and told them this tale. The tribe would not believe them, even when the Father showed his hands and the Son showed the Sword of David. The Harmless then laid a curse on the natives and left them with their blind, lame God.

Issue Two: Part 2 | Issue Two: Part 4