Meanwhile

A man approached. "Is it He?" asked Belial. St. Michael said nothing. Belial expected it. The Son of Man. Ha! Certainly, he was not divine in nature, just a Son of a Harmless Man.

Belial set up this meeting. The Son had forgiven Rick Dubois for his mistakes. He did not know that Dubois no longer existed. They shook hands.

"Here it is," Dubois exclaimed.

"I was shot here the day you went into the head with my Father. I watched you crawl out years later. My father was chasing you. The only thing that saved you was that he lived," the Son said. "Why bring me here? I lost a lot here."

"I know how to reach the Garden beyond," Dubois said, "But I need your help."

"I see it too," the Son said. "Why not go yourself?"

"There could be great danger," he replied, "And there's a chance we can save your Father as well."

"My Father is fine." the Son said.

"Let's not mince words," Dubois said.

"Agreed," he said. "But before we talk, I want to know who I'm talking to."

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Ebard

He missed his comic shop. The dark green walls and role playing tables. The customers that made him feel normal. The internet.

The customers died. The internet was a ruin. The shop caught fire. Some careless looter, displease with the selection, used an old tire to light things up. Tires can burn for days.

Before Meggido, he was an online gaming icon. The shop was ideal. The customers liked to browse. Very low mainenance. Yes, he missed the shop, but...

Sometime after the fire, he wondered how he knew not to go into work that day. He knew it for certain. This wasn't the first time either. He eluded danger on instinct. He survived Global Event 1 because he had an urge to go camping up north. He shocked himself when he saw how much food and water he'd packed. That's what got him through.

Then, he returned to Bristol and fell in with a couple of drug addicts running a private grocery store. Their specialty was a laced punch. Neither of the two men, nor the hundred or so guests knew anything concrete about Global 1.

He stayed on until Global 2 wa well underway. When he read a news pamphlet, he understood what he was. He was a superhero. At the Grocery, he honed his mental acuity. He gained more information when he concentrated. Sometimes he read thoughts. Something happened. He could no longer turn his mind off.

He thanked God when Kosmos showed up. The Kid Kosmos. Seven years and many scars later, The 'Kid' part was thrown away.

Kosmos and his men hearded the people out and took everything out of the store to be redistributed. Ebard got along with Kosmos. After a day of helping out, Ebard asked Kosmos to go for a walk to catch some sun.

"I have ESP," Ebard blurted. The guys in his old role playing group would have laughed like hell. Kosmos stoped as if hit by a sign from God.

"Dou you?" Kosmos put his hand to his chin.

"You were thinking about Kronos as we were walking," Ebard said. "And you think I look a lot like him and you miss having him next to you, because you're afraid to be alone. How many other people know you're gay?"

"Just a few," Kosmos said. He laughed for quite a while. "Damn, I apologiese for any of my thought about your courage."

"Naw," Ebard said, "Your head is pretty clean compared to most. It's tough to like people when you know what they really thin. And, I like you."

"I like you as well," Kosmos said. He kicked at a rock. "Yeah. Mmm. But what I like best is what you could do for us, my team I mean."

"Cool, seious?" Ebard aked.

"Yup," Kosmos replied. "We need to get into someone's head without a drill"

Issue Two: Part 5 | Issue Two: Part 7