by Greg Ballan
Michael lowered his weapon. "He will hear your petition."
Lucifer smiled a wicked grin, adjusted the bow tie on his white shirt, and paced back and forth through the filth and rubble. "Molec is mine. He's mine to torture and needle through all eternity."
Michael nodded. "I'd rather not have to deal with his filth. So be it."
"And…" Lucifer turned toward Erik. "You must pay for your insolence. You and your hairless baboon counterpart." Lucifer turned toward Michael. "Summon his partner."
Martin Denton materialized out of thin air. The agent was holding a radio and an assault rifle. He spoke into a headset. The old man paused, glanced around confused and nearly fell over with shock.
"What the Hell…." Denton studied the legion of ethereal soldiers. Michael and the large archdemon chained against a heavy white wall, under heavy guard. His jaw dropped and his radio fell from his grip. "Oh shit. Now what did I do?"
"Stand with your accomplice." Lucifer pointed towards Erik.
Martin raised his weapon. The glowing clip of ethereal rounds was visible. "You don't zap me somewhere unannounced and expect to just comply meekly." Denton's finger fell on the weapon's trigger. "Nice tux, but who the hell are you?"
"Stand by the hybrid, Agent Denton. Do as Lucifer requests."
The color drained from Martin's face and he slowly lowered his weapon. His head tilted as he regarded the human-looking male, then Michael, and back toward Erik.
"Welcome to the party, Counselor. It appears the devil's pissed off at us."
"Ya think? Who isn't pissed off at us right now?" Denton cautiously walked over to his friend. He studied Erik's battered and broken body. "Jesus Christ!" he gasped, "Ooops, sorry!" He glanced over at the archangel blushing, then back toward his friend. "What happened to you?"
Erik tilted his head, gesturing toward the onyx colored prisoner. "That's Molec. We exchanged pleasantries."
Denton looked over at the battered archdemon. "He's responsible for William's death and all the abject misery we've endured?"
Erik nodded slightly.
Denton took two steps forward, shocking everyone. "You bastard!" Thirty rounds of blessed trinuim bullets tore through Molec's weakened hide. He roared in agony as the alien holy metal burned through his tissue. The old man's hand still pulled the trigger as he wept openly and emptied the magazine.
Erik reached up and took the weapon. "It's okay, Counselor. Things aren't going to end well for our archdemon friend."
Martin turned, defiant, to face Michael, Lucifer, and the rest of the Ethereal forces.
Lucifer regarded the old man, rubbing his chin. "You are impudent, just like your half breed partner."
"Get on with it." Michael commanded.
"Armageddon's Son must return to the Ethereal Realm. Molec's interference caused his premature creation. Now that the nuisance is disposed of, there is no need for him." The devil pointed directly toward Erik. Fire danced around his fingertips. "And the hybrid shall be alone and walk this world alone as long as he lives. He shall never know happiness or fulfillment. When God erases all this from the memories of man, I want him to remember. I want him to feel the pain of loss, alone. I want him to suffer with an endless black hole in his heart, forever unfulfilled and unquenched. I want him to remember his wife and his son and his prior life and know all that he's lost and will never have again." Lucifer looked over at Michael, his eyes burning and face vindictive. "I want to drink of his misery, like a fine wine, and enjoy the taste of his agony as it slides down my gullet. I want him to dread and loathe each day so I can savor his torment." He pointed again toward Erik. "You've caused me undue pain, Esper warrior, and it's my intention to make you live a Hell on Earth. To show you I'm not completely without heart, your accomplice can share in your misery. He too will know the truth and carry the burden of the truth of his son's death. There will be no peace for you, Martin Denton. You will carry the burden of your lost child and never know a light heart as long as you live." Lucifer turned toward Michel. "That's the price for avoiding the Ethereal War and getting your precious trinket back."
Lucifer waved his hand and a massive portal opened several hundred yards distant. Michael responded and a white vortex split the sky and bathed the ground in a blinding white light. Forces on both sides were gathering. Erik clenched his staff, readying himself for combat, though deep inside he knew there was little he could do in his current physical state. Staff, when I fall, protect EJ and Shanda … do not let them come to harm.
Michael pointed his blade toward Lucifer. "I will run you through before your army can get here and this time I'll see you're caged in Hell forever!"
Lucifer opened his hands and a flaming trident materialized. "Can you back up your words, brother? Let the battle for Earth commence. This time I will win."
NO!
The voice echoed from every surface louder than a thousand blaring trumpets. Young EJ Knight leapt from his mother's arms and bravely approached Lucifer. The child was bathed in an intense aura of white energy, his voice and demeanor not belonging to a child but to a young adult. "Put down your weapons! Call off your armies! I will leave freely, dark one. This vessel can be returned to the Father. The bonding of two souls can be undone. The pain caused by an unwilling break is torment enough for them to carry. You need not pleasure yourself in his misery, nor will you condemn him to solitude. He will, in all probability, walk the Earth alone going forward because his heart will be empty—not because you decree it but because he knew and lost his true love. The Father above agrees to these terms and will reset the conditions of this planet to a state prior to Molec's intrusion."
Lucifer nodded. "I was winning here. I will have my advantage back?"
Michael shook his head, angrily sheathing his blade. "It will be done as the Father decrees."
EJ made a slight hand gesture and the burning sphere broke from Lucifer's grasp and floated above his tiny hands. With a simple touch, the ectoplasmic barrier melted. The child held the Ruby Crucifix. He pointed toward Lucifer. "Go back to Hell and take your prize with you." Armageddon's Son looked up at the captured archdemon. "You have much to pay for, Molec. Eternal punishment is no less than you deserve. I would punish you myself for harming my mother and father, but I sense you will have enough pain and misery to last you all eternity. The world is well rid of you."
Molec glanced over at Erik. He laughed the laugh of one gone insane. "I go to my punishment, hybrid, but I'll laugh knowing you were sold out by your own allies. You followed all the rules, did all the right things, and you still got burned in the end. In my darkest hours as I'm filled with unbearable agony, that one thought will give me comfort—knowing you got screwed by your own forces." Molec laughed. "Your own son, the child you fought with your life to protect, just sold you out! I am redeemed. Light is just as corrupt as Dark and just as disloyal." Molec laughed as he was drawn toward a glowing red vortex and to the first hours of his eternal torment.
Shanda fell to her knees weeping. "EJ, my son, why? What are you doing?"
The young boy walked over and gently hugged her. "Please don't cry, Mommy. I had to say it. I didn't have a choice. If I didn't, you and Daddy would have died in the war. Everyone would have died. God told me so." EJ's voice was his own again. Shanda held her son, weeping uncontrollably.
"I can't let you go. You can't leave me and your father. We're a family." She stared over at Erik, desperate. "Erik! Do something. Please, stop this! Don't let them rip us apart!"
Erik stumbled forward, leaning against his staff. He focused his internal power, forcing his body to change. The staff fed him energy but it wasn't enough. His internal cellular structure was too weak from the prior battles and the leeching sword's wounds. His body couldn't withstand the strain of a genetic transformation. Erik willed the staff to expand and he stood guard over his bride and son. He swung the weapon, shaking as he fought to keep his balance. "Stay back, don't touch her!" Erik looked down at his son. "EJ, don't do this. Yo
u're our child, please don't go back. We're your parents! You can stay here, son. I won't let them take you. I'll fight till my last breath."
Seven warriors approached, weapons raised. Erik lifted his staff, his body trembling with weakness. The staff crackled angrily. Arcs of power danced up and down the weapon's surface. "Don't make me attack you!" Erik leveled the weapon, struggling to hold it steady. "I will unload everything I have left. I'm not done yet! Don't come any closer! I'll kill to keep my son!"
Michael approached, his hands were raised. "You cannot stop what must be, hybrid."
"You wanna place money on that?"
Erik felt a gentle touch on his leg. "I have to leave, Daddy, and we have to honor our bargain. You can't fight this. I don't want to see you hurt anyone or get hurt. You can't fight God." EJ hugged his father, "I have to go now." The child's voice echoed everywhere, again the voice of a young adult.
Erik looked down at his son. The child's eyes were wet with tears. He lay down his weapon, knelt down, and hugged his son. "You're my son. How can I just let you go?"
EJ wiped away a tear. "Because you have to. In order to save everything and everybody, you have to let me go home."
Erik knew he couldn't fight. The deal was struck and he was too weak to do anything about it. Even in full warrior mode, he wasn't a match for the ethereal army. He lost. There was no working through it or finding a way around it. He was going to lose his wife and his son. "I'm going to miss you, son. You brought me nothing but happiness." He pointed toward Shanda. She was weeping uncontrollably. "Your mom, too."
EJ touched Erik's cheek. His eyes glowed and the aura of white surrounded him. "Always be a superhero, father. It's not just your bravery and strength that make you special. It's your compassion. Never let that go. No matter how hard the road may get, never lose your compassion."
Shanda knelt down, struggling to control her tears. She wrapped her arms around them. "My special men, how am I supposed to go on? How can I just forget my life and my loves?" She looked at Erik. "I love you. I can't believe this is happening. I don't want a life without you. I don't want to forget us." She touched her chest. "My heart's breaking, hun. Why us?"
Erik wept. "I don't know. I'm so sorry. It wasn't supposed to end like this. I swear to you it wasn't. I started this to protect our family, not destroy it." Erik held her tight and she clung to him, desperate. "I love you so much, angel. I don't know how I'm going to go on."
"I'm sorry. But it's time for Mom to go home now."
EJ touched her head. "You won't remember any of this, mother. You'll be spared the pain. You were the best, and I will never forget you." Shanda's eyes fluttered and she fell into Erik unconscious. EJ touched her again and she vanished.
Erik screamed her name. He fell over on his knees, mourning the loss of his wife and the life they'd struggled to build.
EJ walked toward Michael. "I'm ready to go now." The child grew taller. Gossamer wings erupted from his back. A blinding white light radiated out from his body and he held the Ruby Crucifix close to his chest. The child transformed into an angel. "Goodbye father. I do love you. You will always be with me." EJ Knight disappeared inside a blinding flash of light.
Erik buckled over, weeping as his heart tore open. He looked over at Michael, eyes filled with anger and hurt. "You betrayed me!" Heaven's army stood around him, silent, as he began to pay the price for Earth avoiding an Ethereal War.
Martin walked to his friend's side, placing a comforting arm on his shoulder helping him to his feet. "Oh Erik, I don't know what to say. I'm so sorry. If I didn't push you to investigate William's murder…"
Erik's wounds had reopened. Blood flowed from the gashes in his chest and back. The hybrid placed a hand on his old friend's shoulder. "It's not your fault." His voice was a soft longing whisper. "I picked this fight and I was out of my league. Now I have to pay the price. I knew there'd be a cost, Martin. But I never imagined this … I can't go on without them. I have nothing now. The pain … it hurts so much."
Denton turned toward the Ethereals. "Is this God's justice?" He looked up to Heaven. "Is this your idea of rewarding someone for taking up your cause?" Tears flowed down the old man's face. "Take my life. Punish me if you need blood to balance the ledger, but not him." He pointed toward his friend. "I'm begging you, he's had enough hurt, enough loss already." Denton broke down. "His father, his mother; gone. He grew up in orphanages, passed off like some bad luggage. Don't take away the only source of love in his life. Don't take away his happiness!" Denton fell to his knees. "I'm begging you, God, don't hurt my friend like this. I love him like a father loves a son. Please don't do this."
"God is not without compassion, Martin Denton. He feels the pain of the hybrid's loss and he knows of your love for him. But there had to be a price to pay. Every soul on Earth or one man suffering for a lifetime. It wasn't a difficult choice to make. Even you must see that."
Denton frowned. "Not so easy if you're the one paying the price."
Michael looked over Denton's shoulder. Erik stared out into space, lost and desolate. A whimper escaped him. His staff seemed to be wailing a song of loss, reflecting his master's empty melancholy. "Sadly it is the strong that are chosen to carry the heaviest cross." Michael studied the powerfully muscled human. "And the hybrid is indeed strong. He has survived multiple demonic attacks, unholy weapons of all types, and still he lives. He stood up to the sentinels in the Soul Market and that is no small feat."
Martin nodded. "Yes, he's strong. But every man, no matter how strong, has a breaking point. You're pushing him to that end." Denton sighed, uneasy with the conversation, doing his best to keep his temper in check. A philosophical debate with an archangel required one to tread cautiously. "With all due respect to your kind, it seems like you made a bargain with the devil and someone else is paying the price. I don't see the justice. I don't see the goodness or the righteousness nor dare I say, holiness in this bargain." Denton shook his head sadly. "I know I'm just a mere human, but I'm calling a foul here. I am allowed to do that right? Free will and all?"
Michael glanced back at Erik. "Some men are born to suffer, old man, just as some are born to greatness. The hybrid was born and allowed to acquire great power to help keep order in this world and play his role in this crisis." Michael turned back to Denton. "Some men don't have free will." Michael's voice turned melancholy. "Molec changed the rules and upset the balance. Balance is now restored. Armageddon's Son is home and need not be born for several more centuries. Order is established and Molec has been abolished. The feelings of one human, even a hybrid human, are of no consequence in such cosmic affairs. Earth continues and humanity is allowed to go on." The powerful entity crossed his arms and it was clear he wearied of the conversation.
Denton read the tell but kept pushing, hoping to change the outcome. "You heard Molec's final words. You don't think he'll be hearing those same words for the rest of his life, that he won't be haunted by it. You sentenced him to a lifetime of torment. My life is almost over, but his isn't. He'll be carrying these scars for decades. His own son betrayed him, Michael. A father doesn't ever get over that hurt. You betrayed him!" Denton raised his voice and Michael's powerful back stiffened. He knew he'd finally struck a nerve.
The angel pointed, his face lined with fury and his eyes slits of anger. "Out of respect for the hybrid, I've tolerated your nuisance. I grieve that your son has passed but know he is in a better place." Michael took a step forward. "You use puny human standards to judge events of titanic consequence. You know little of the universe, so don't presume to judge what you cannot even begin to fathom with your limited knowledge." Michael waved his hand in a shooing gesture. "Go home human, your part in this is done!"
◆◆◆
Martin saw a flash of light and he found himself standing in his living room. His military gear had vanished and he wore a robe and slippers. Next to him was a large cup of coffee and a bagel. Denton sat down and took a sip from the mug. He sighed heavily. "M
y God, what have we done? What folly did we bring for that young man to deserve such a fate? At least I'm home and don't have to endure another transatlantic flight. My backside's already screaming in agony." Denton shook his head. "Erik, I hope you can pull off a miracle because I don't see a win here for either one of us." Denton looked up. "Have mercy on him, please. I know I have no right to ask it but I am. I'm begging you, have mercy on him."
◆◆◆
Erik sat on the rubble of a destroyed building. The scope of the damage to Rome was incredible. Michael claimed his initial blast against the demonic dome leveled dozens of city blocks. Erik was thankful that the people fled prior to his attack. His lightning strikes had caused craters the size of football fields and the road where he had battled Molec was now a solidified puddle of molten goo fifty feet across.
The damage caused by the skirmish between ethereal forces had decimated even more of the great city. Rome was a post-apocalyptic wasteland. Michael approached. The battered detective looked up. "May I approach? I understand your anger and your hurt, hybrid. I do not wish to fight with you or fence words as I did with your partner earlier."
Erik nodded. "My anger, my hurt, and my pain are all one numb mess. I can barely hold my staff let alone pick a fight right now." Erik looked around at the ruined cityscape. "Speaking of messes, we made a big one here. How are you ever going to fix all this?"
Michael smiled. "He created the universe and all the matter therein, so fixing Rome won't be much of a challenge." The archangel turned serious. "Adjusting the timeline is a delicate task only done three times in the annals of cosmic history."
"I'm sure God will get it right." Erik sighed. "I just said that like it was mundane, God's going to fix it." Erik looked over at the angel. He placed his hands on his head. "I don't want this. I don't want these memories. I don't want this knowledge. I just want Shanda and my son." A tear rolled down his face. "Tell me, truthfully. Was he ever really my son?"
They watched in silence as ethereal troops were busy exorcizing Molec's demon army back to the underworld. Hisses, shrieks and unholy sounds filled the air as each hell soldier was consumed in a sea of purple flame. The archangel turned to face the human he'd betrayed. "I owe you the truth, Erik. It will hurt you more, but I owe you the truth." The archangel paused. "Or I can tell you a lie which will make you feel somewhat better and give you some false illusion of comfort. The punishment decrees you must remember what happened here and your role in it, even after we repair the timeline. I feel you deserve to know the total truth. But are you prepared to carry that awful burden?"