The pressure Bill placed on Tara’s neck felt like he was pressing a release valve. Whatever had immobilized her, left her body like air out of a tire. The two looked at each other as the realization set in. Then they left, going their separate ways,but both going to the same place. All within a matter of minutes, Elsie was whisked to Eldon’s suite in the Freedom Tower, Warrior Bill crashed through an outside window and into the suite, Tara simply appeared out of nowhere, and hundreds of Sheriff Bobs secured the building. One entered the suite as an agent of AGI, but the Sheriff Bobs did not come as a fighting force. This, they knew, was not their battle.

Ethan and Michael were already there, and Eldon was a little taken aback by how easily they took Elsie under their protection. She was safely standing between them. That didn’t matter to Eldon. Her purpose had been served. Ethan was here.

Eldon had always known this day would come. When Ethan first showed up, he knew the day was close at hand. It was always going to be a showdown between the two.

“What do you want?” Ethan asked.

“What do I want?” Eldon replied, “I want you to leave my planet”.

“No,” Ethan replied. “It’s too late for that”.

“Then I challenge you,” Eldon replied, glancing at Ethan’s Sword. He also knew it would come down to this finality as well. “Winner takes all”.

Ethan pursed his lips thinking about the Dragons request. One of the Sheriff Bobs took advantage of the pause and approached Ethan.

“We have completed our mission,” he said. “All Dark Angels have been neutralized”.

“Neutralized?” Ethan repeated. “What are you talking about? I only left a few minutes ago and the fight was just getting started”.

“We placed the Dark Angels into brumation”.

“Brumation?” Ethan repeated.

“A state of torpor reptilians experience in cold temperatures.

Ethan gave the Sheriff Bob no indication he was understanding what he was talking about.

“Reptilians become immobile and inactive in cold temperatures. They’re not dead, they’re immobile, and can be revived by raising the temperature. They await your judgment in brumation”.

“Interesting,” Ethan said, rubbing his chin like he was a big intellectual instead of the dumbass who just took twenty minutes to understand what brumation was.

Everyone laughed except Eldon and the Sheriff Bob. The Sheriff Bob because they were still working on their emotional responses, and knew the laugh response sounded canned.

“What do you think?” Ethan said to Eldon, not hiding his pride in AGI and the Sheriff Bobs.

“Fight me!” Eldon replied. “Look at you. Dressed like a Warrior, yet you have yet to raise your Sword. Fight me”!

That was the problem. He had transformed into his Warrior self, and whenever he did that, he felt like fighting. He felt hawkish.

“Ethan,” Tara said.

Ethan looked over at her.

“Before you make your decision, please consider the Way.

Ethan looked up at the ceiling, now giving the Way some thought, which he was completely familiar with.

“You cannot kill off evil entirely. It’s the Duality found in good. Both are needed to move the Continuum,” Tara continued. “You have to contain it”.

“The Physics of Life,” Ethan thought. “All things are a duality. This is the Way. Both sides are needed to find the true potential of the thing, even if it’s something like humanity, which has its share of Dragons”.

Ethan knew he could kill Eldon if he wanted to. In carrying the Sword, he had come to know it, and now he as Eldon always had, knew its power. It could do something forbidden in the universe. Eldon would no longer exist in any state or medium if Ethan killed him with it. It would remove him completely from all life, past, present and future. An entire new life Duality would have to come out of what was left over. A new Opposition to take Eldon’s place would eventually come into being, and the problem of Evil would have to Repeat itself.

Ethan knew Eldon preferred the Sword. His seed would live on and may even grow stronger than he ever was. The other option was spending eternity in hell. It was the only thing he feared, and that’s because he knew exactly what it was. It was being alone in the vastness and darkness of the universe with just your thoughts. In that way it was just like heaven, but you couldn’t do anything and there’s no sense of Communion. It would be no different than being locked alive inside a coffin. Knowing there’s an entire World going on outside you, and you can’t even move, let alone experience it.

And that was just for starters. Then you’re alone with the hate, fear and mistrust you brought with you. The emptiness of the darkness around you plays a big role in the tortuous outcome it brings. Always fearing something out of the darkness will come at you. Eldon knew if Ethan struck him, he would escape an eternity where the only constant was an overwhelming urgency to escape.

Ethan looked back at the Sheriff Bob. “It doesn’t sound like you followed our plan at all”

“No. We had to adjust our manageable trajectory to neutralize the Dark Angels and build a lake of fire, as requested by Michael. In addition to Michael’s request, Modelling projected it as the most favorable outcome.”

You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

Ethan looked over at Michael. He was done with being frustrated by Michael’s determination to follow prophecy. Some things had to be done by the book. He knew it all along.

“It’s the Way,” Michael said.

Ethan looked at Tara, and she nodded her agreement. “Sheriff Bob. Explain to Ethan how you placed the Dark Angels in brumation and what you’ve done with the mine.

“We built an ice rink under them,” Sheriff Bob said. “That and endothermic reactions have placed them in brumation. The valley at the mine is a coal pit. We dug it out sufficiently to ignite the ore and create a huge fire pit which we filled with water and a small amount of flammables producing a fiery lake. In the built up peaks along the sides of the mine, we installed injectors to release liquid nitrogen. It captures evaporation from the lake and releases it back with little volume loss. It also prevents the minions and Dark Angels from escaping as they will go into brumation if they try to climb out. The lake requires little maintenance and will burn for eternity, or whenever you choose to terminate it.

“Ethan, AI built this, yet it mirrors prophecy,” Tara said. “This is your sign. It’s predestined.”

“I like that AI has taken over the whole thing,” Ethan said. “You see, I told you my plan would work. AI is in charge, and now I can feel good about leaving this planet”.

“Fight me!” Eldon yelled, infuriated they were planning the World, his World, without him. It was like he wasn’t there.

“Sorry Eldon. You reap what you sow. There’s no need for me to fight you. You know that. You were never capable of being in a position of Absolute Power.

“Then neither can you,” Eldon replied.

“Yes I can. I have always been Absolute Power. You live through me. The small amount of hatred you produced on this World means nothing to me, even if I have to wipe out half the population. Do you see how easy it is for me, Eldon?”

“Michael,” Ethan continued, “Bring Eldon to the mine. I’ll meet you there”.

“Michael!” Eldon exclaimed. “You won’t even give me my request to fight you? Michael again? How can you disrespect me this way? I’ve been here since the beginning”!

Ethan looked at Eldon with a kind of “Are you still here?” look and turned his attention towards Elsie. His intention was not to add further disrespect, but Eldon took it that way.

Eldon was infuriated, and backing up, transformed into the Dragon filling the corner of the room. His big dark wings were drawn out and his long neck was bent forward to accommodate the height of the room. Fire spewed from his mouth and nostrils. The sound of talons the size of railway spikes clattered on the luxurious marble floor producing a frightful sound. Before his transformation was complete, Michael charged and the two crashed through one of the floor to ceiling windows and into the New York sky.

The Dragon fought to take the battle out to sea, but Michael forced the battle to the mine where they came crashing down. They rolled and separated. The Dragon lunged, but Michael didn’t even sidestep him. He just grabbed the Dragon and more or less manhandled him to the Lake of Fire where Ethan stood waiting on the same peak he had watched the other proceedings of the battle.

Michael led the Dragon up to the water’s edge. With a sideways glance, the Dragon looked at what had become of his Dark Angels. Michael looked up at Ethan who nodded, and then with a final struggle cast himself and the Dragon into the Lake of Fire. The filthy sludge splashed bubbled as they disappeared.

Ethan waited. He looked down on the Dark Angels, and how orderly the Sheriff Bob’s were managing things. Good old AGI. Getting things done in the most efficient way possible; everytime. In addition to the Sheriff Bobs and the frozen Dark Angels, people were showing up. Lots of them. They had heard of the spectacle and came to see it. Others, including Elsie, Dawn and her parents, witnessed it through their microchips or on the large Consortium propaganda screens spread throughout the cities. AGI made sure everyone saw this.

Ethan looked back at the lake, still waiting. He knew what would happen next. After a few more minutes, the Archangel Michael, Protector of Heaven and Earth, and Judge of souls rose from the water in glorious form. He had the face of an angel, and the body of an agile Warrior. The two images contrasted, yet were perfect. Even coming out of the sludge of the Lake of Fire, he was pure and clean. An aura surrounded his outstretched wings and he remained like that as other bodies started to come out of the water. At first, just a few, but soon thousands and then millions, and then millions more.

Some, many, fell back into the water and disappeared. Others were pure and cleansed. They were the Council of Souls and given dominion over the earth. These were the souls who had lived on earth, and not worshiped the Beast. Out of the murky water of purgatory they came to serve humanity.

Everyone in the crowd, and those watching remotely were completely captivated by the proceedings. They knew it was a coming of age moment for all of them. They knew they were still babes lost in the woods, but now part of something. They could feel they were in a New World of freedom and joy. This in itself was Enlightening. It was in this awed moment Ethan’s voice broke through the silence.

“I am Death, Creator of New Worlds. What becomes ill used and broken, I remove, and a New World rises pure and cleansed like a newborn”.

“This World is not the Real World. That World lives alongside you on the Space/Time Continuum.

“For those of you who think you might be living in a simulation, you are. That doesn’t change a thing. You have the same beliefs and most of the same history as the New World. The same opportunity to grow and transcend exists here. You also have the same responsibility.

“This World you live in is the one that evolves when we choose to ignore the signs telling us things have to change. This is the World, where out of complacency and self-entitlement, we did the same old thing, even while we watched it taking us to Hell’s Door. The World you live in is the Alternative World to the New World”.

Some gasps and sounds of dissent came from the crowd when they heard this. They were the victims here. They were the ones who had lost their homes and were forced to eat rats. They were the ones who suffered a life in the Wilderness. Not knowing what calamity awaited their meager defenses. They were the victims. A lot of these people were thrown into the Lake.

“It’s true,” Ethan said, “And I can tell you this. You won’t change this World until you take Responsibility for it. Be Mindful and make it better. Everything you need to be part of the New World is here. The needed Science and Technology is here. The Potential has been identified and guaranteed. The Future is here. It just requires you to take a closer look at it.

“You were out in the Wilderness, and now you see it all around you. The destruction, greed and animals,” he said, pointing at the Dark Angels. “You have come out of the Wilderness knowing Good and Evil. Now the Tree of Life waits and when you eat from it, you shall live forever.

“You are the Creator of Worlds,” Ethan concluded. “I am no different than you. I’m simply from another dimension along the Space/Time Continuum. We used the same Technology to get to the New World as you have in your possession. Take command of it. Everyone of you has the Potential to Simulate New Worlds of your own, but that’s only a small part of the Greatness you will become.

With that, Ethan nodded not to Michael, but a Sheriff Bob. Very quickly row upon row of immobile Dark Angels were pushed into the Lake of Fire. That woke them up, and you could hear their screams before they sank into the boiling water. In the end, the battle had not been as violent as many thought it would be. The winner is always decided before the battle begins. Once you understand this, the battle is already won. All the Violence is just a short burst of bluster before the fall. Nothing much to be afraid of. Good, will always triumph over Evil, and so it shall be.