"Excellent! I'm preparing to go to the surface," Rapha said.
"Rapha, Jay has defeated Britton," Enoch said.
"I knew he would. I'm going down there to assist him with Pat."
"What about the other one, in Washington, Rapha. He is still trying to stir up a revolt. He's using the statues again to communicate with the people, at least the ones that are operational," Enoch added.
"Allow the angels to pour out their wrath. Maybe then he will understand what a true prophet can do."
Enoch smiled.
Rapha left the room to go on his final journey.
"All angels, you may commence attack with extreme prejudice."
The screen showed millions of angels converging on Washington in the United States of Columbia. This destruction would be fast and complete.
***********************************************************************************
"People of the world, hear me now. We must rise up against the powers of the air. The stars in the sky have fallen to our planet to conquer us. We must not withdraw!"
These words came from Rob through statues set up around the world, as well as on television and mobile device screens, so they could be heard by all.
"Nearly two billion lives have been lost by the storms they created. They destroyed our envoy, your representatives that were meant to rendezvous with them in orbit. The shattered our world, leaving us in a pit of darkness as volcanoes and quakes plunge us into chaos. If we are to survive, we must band together to stop this assault and bring peace once again to our world."
People had stopped in shelters and other locations to avoid the lightning, if possible, and listened to what Rob was saying. The ash cloud from the volcanic eruption was growing thicker and degrading air quality. It was only a matter of time before someone died from a lightning strike or suffocation. The world was dying, and the people on the ground knew it. For this reason, Rob's words through the statue seemed hollow.
One child ran out from a shelter in plain sight of a statue located in one of the major cities. The child had seen and heard enough. He was only twelve, but he knew the nonsense had to end.
"YOU'RE A LIAR!"
The child yelled at the statue in front of him. This yelling got the statue's attention. The engraved image of Jay's face looked down at the child, eyes glowing red.
"YOU HAVE DESTROYED OUR WORLD!"
The child yelled again as his family ran out to join him. They were all scared of being struck by lightning at any moment, but the child went on.
"You brought all of this on us, with your lies, your horrible ways. You killed us all, just because you could. All I've ever seen is you causing us all harm. You steal and cheat us all the time. You take us away from our families. You make us all like slaves! WE ARE NOT YOUR SLAVES!"
As the child said all of this, others in the area came outside to join in. They believed the child and did not care for Rob's words through the statue.
"You will be destroyed if you continue this course," Rob spoke through the statue again.
"WHAT IF WE DESTROY YOU?!" a woman yelled, standing beside the child now.
"We must have order here," the statue said.
With that, Cals began mobilizing within the city to re-establish order.
"You will do as your Supreme Imperial Chancellor decrees..." the statue uttered, but was interrupted.
"The Supreme Imperial Chancellor is dead!" another voice chimed in.
The people gasped, looking toward the voice.
In the sky was a statue-like creation, crafted by thousands of angels. It was in the form of Enoch.
"It died, and the Fleece has collapsed to the ground. Your rule is over. Surrender or be destroyed."
The statue looked up at the figure in the sky, the eyes glowing redder. Then the statue ordered the Cals to attack the figure in the sky. But before the first shot could be fired, the angels disbanded and charged at the Cals and the statue. The force with which the angels attacked tore through the Cals like they were made of paper, and ripped the statue to pieces in an instant. At the same time, light engulfed the people in the crowd that had amassed, and they all vanished.
The angels continued toward Washington, where they planned to attack Rob.
***********************************************************************************
Rob looked on in astonishment as he saw similar circumstances unfold in other major cities across the country. The people revolted against him. The angels destroyed the military and infrastructure, then moved on in a pattern heading directly toward Washington.
The swarm of angels could be seen on the screen, growing exponentially. Rob was in awe of what he was seeing.
"Supreme Imperial Prophet, sir, we must evacuate the city immediately," one of Rob's servant robots spoke to him.
"Can you believe how elegant this looks?" Rob said, smiling at what he saw on screen.
"Your majesty? What do you mean?"
"It's like they work as one mind, but still individuals. That's unreal."
"Your majesty, please. We must go now!"
"I'm staying. See yourself out."
"But you'll die if you stay here."
Rob looked back at the robot, "If that is meant to be, then I'll stand and fight to the end."
The robot saluted Rob and then fled.
Rob was all alone in the control room of the Capitol building. He currently saw five million angels moving in on his position. There was nothing in this world that could save him now.
***********************************************************************************
Along the way, as the angels approached Washington, they continued picking up survivors of the storm on the ground below. The angels had to dodge and swerve through lightning bolts themselves to avoid being damaged. The angels had concentric rings rotating around a central hub, powered by a radiant energy source. Lenses were on every part of the rings and at the six corners of the central hub, providing visibility in all directions. The energy radiating outward was a power source of unbelievable strength. The rings spinning kept them airborne, with a buzz like a thousand locusts flying.
The swarm of angels was using the energy inside of them to send a beam of energy down to teleport survivors to the ships in orbit. One was taken, another was left. Soon after one survivor was removed, a lightning bolt would dissolve their essence. Some that were left fled to shelters to protect themselves from the storm still raging. The ones left did not understand what was happening, but they quickly realized when they looked at their own bodies. The marks, the things that cost them their souls, prevented their salvation. They had accepted the J18 mark that allowed them to feel prosperous, joy-filled, and amazed. But it was all unsatisfying. Nothing ever quenched their thirst. Now the thirst would grow stronger with no salvation in sight. The person, realizing this as they lay there waiting for the inevitable, began to weep. They cried and raised up their hands, hoping for a redeemer that would never come. As they stood holding their hands toward the heavens, a lightning bolt shot down and disintegrated them in an instant. This same situation played out with others all along the path to Washington as the final judgment against Rob grew closer.
***********************************************************************************
Pat had worked his way down to the Artifact Chamber, but the door to enter had shifted positions. The Artifact Chamber is not static. It moves as the Fleece's position changes, so it always stays right-side up. That meant the door to the chamber was one hundred fifty feet lower since the Fleece was lying on its side. To adjust the orientation, Pat needed to be in the chamber. He would have to get the Fleece back up in the air, too. He climbed a ladder up, however, because bulkheads blocked entry to the door. Pat's only way in would be through the top of the chamber.
While Pat was trying to enter the chamber through the top, Linda, Dana, Allie, and Chad were entering the chamber through the bottom, unbeknownst to them. They entered the doorway that opened, but had no clue where the passageway led, aside from the very long ladders they had to climb.
Jay was making his way down to the chamber, too, but Pat had disabled the elevator systems upon his descent. Therefore, Jay had to climb down corridors very precariously.
All three were converging on the same place, the orb still glowing in the center of the chamber. The only question was, who would get there first.
***********************************************************************************
Rob watched as the angels massed outside the Capitol Building. The swarm had grown by tens of millions, surrounding the building as they hovered above the ground. Rob looked away from the view screen and saw that he was alone. Most of the inhabitants of Washington were either taken by the angels, desentigrated by the lightning, had gone into hiding, or fled the city entirely. There was no turning back for Rob now.
Rob looked back at the view screen, watching the angels circling, and began talking to it.
"What are you waiting for? Make your move!"
Part of the swarm of angels converged together at one point, swirling more tightly and plummeting at incredible speed toward the ground. Thousands of them impacted the ground at once, digging through concrete, dirt, and anything else in their path. The angels were burrowing underground to emerge beneath the building. Another part of the swarm shot off with incredible speed into the building itself, ripping through the stone walls and destroying offices and other spaces in an instant. The final part of the swarm rose straight up above the building and took a position directly over the domed top. With blinding speed, the swarm dove down and impacted the dome, obliterating it instantly and burrowing into the building's structure.
Rob was in the midst of this chaos as the swarms unified and began ripping the building to pieces. Rob was screaming as the area he was in began to collapse. But the angels were making sure the structure did not collapse on him. They were saving a greater torment for him.
As the once great Capitol Building collapsed all around Rob, he put his hands on his head scream in agony at the place he loved being destroyed. But now that the walls were gone to one side, he could see the skyline of the city. From his vantage point, he witnessed the utter destruction of Washington at the hands of the angels.
The museums were collapsing into the ground. The monuments fell. The ground buckled, opening up craters in the streets. Explosions rocked the area as gas lines erupted, and fuel exploded. The once great home of the Chancellor of the United States burst into flames and sank into the ground as the angels ripped the substructure out from underneath. The city on seven hills was vanquished in less than an hour. Only a charred remnant of its former glory remained.
In the now-demolished Capitol Building, Rob stood, with millions of angels hovering over his head. He looked up at them. He admired the simplicity of their design. He smiled at them, slightly. He knew his demise was imminent.
"This was one of my favorite places to visit throughout all of human history. At least I got to rule over it for a short time."
With that, Rob held his arms out and bowed to the angels as if finishing a performance. When he stood back up, the angels let loose.
The angels attacked Rob with a fervor unimaginable. The angels ripped the clothing and flesh off his body, revealing the robotic creature he was beneath. As the flesh vanished and he was now exposed for what he was, the angels lined up laser pointers at him, millions hitting him at once. Rob's robotic eyes looked back up at them, a scowl now on his face. He screamed at them, a roar of unbridled passion in his belief of what his life had been. Utter defiance to any order of man. After letting this roar out, the angels all fired at once, and Rob was eviscerated into nothingness. No traces of fluid, limbs, or anything. Only the faint echo of his scream reverberated around the remains of the Capitol until they were no more.
Rob was now gone, and with him the great city of Washington was too. No more lights, no more life would ever dwell within it again.
*********************************************************************************
Linda pushed up the hatch to enter the chamber and peered out into the room. As she looked around, she rolled her eyes and looked back down at Dana and her children.
"Well, we're back in that room again."
Dana smiled and said sarcastically, "Yay! That's so great."
Linda climbed up the ladder into the room as the others followed behind her. Ironically enough, they arose in the same section where "the beast" tank once sat. The very same tank they nearly all died in.
"Let's head over to the Orb," Linda said, as they made their way down the walking path.
As they walked by, the remains of the soldiers that fought Pat years ago remained, now decaying and bones. They had never been removed from their final resting place. Linda didn't know if that was a good thing or bad; she just knew it was disgusting.
"What happened to these people, Mom?" Chad asked.
"These were the soldiers who tried to keep us safe. They died trying."
"And they just left them here?" Allie asked.
"Apparently so," Dana replied.
They continued walking, rounding the corner, approaching the Orb that was glowing in the distance. But as they came into view of the Orb, something startled Linda, and she lunged backward, pushing her son against the wall. Dana and Allie ducked back down and kneeled.
Linda motioned for Chad to be quiet, holding up her index finger to her lips.
She squatted down and moved slowly to the corner they had just ducked behind. At the Orb, she saw Pat standing there, working on the machine that controlled the device. She leaned back from the edge to quietly talk to the others.
"It's Pat," Linda whispered.
"Pat!" Dana said in a startled whisper. "How are we supposed to stop him?"
"I can stop him," Chad said confidently as he whispered.
"You'll do no such thing," Linda said, pushing her son backward.
"Well, what are we going to do then, Mom?"
"That's a very good question!" Pat replied out loud for all of them to hear.
Linda, Dana, Allie, and Chad froze and stayed silent.
"I guess you've forgotten that I can hear thoughts, haven't you, Mom?" Pat said, smiling and looking in the direction they were hiding.
Linda closed her eyes, feeling defeated.
"And I know you're thinking, where is Jay? Well, I'm sure he's on his way as we speak. He got his revenge against Britton. She'll never bother anyone again. And that young little boy, Rob, you befriended back in Anderson, Linda. He's gone too. Along with the rest of the United States of Columbia. They were wiped out by the volcano and Rapha's angels. So, all you have left..." Pat turned in their direction. "...is me."
Linda was petrified for the moment. She didn't know what to do. Dana was equally uncertain. None of them expected to face Pat alone. None of them expected to face Pat at all.
"You don't have to worry about confronting me, though. I'm not here for you. Only the Orb and the artifacts Jay brought back from his time travel escapades. Now that I have them, I'll be on my way. Good luck to you, though. You're going to need it. Even with the Fleece, you can't stop what happens next. Auf Wiedersehen."
With that final word from Pat, the light from the Orb went out, and darkness filled the room, except for the lights along the pathways. The hum of the Orb was also gone.
Linda stood up and saw that the Orb was no longer in its place. The rest followed suit as Dana pulled out a flashlight to help see better.
"Where did he go?" Allie asked.
Linda walked forward toward the device, "He left and took the Orb with him."
"What does that mean then?" Dana asked.
"It means he's preparing for battle."
Another voice said those words from the device's adjacent side. Linda recognized the voice immediately.
From the shadows, Jay emerged.
Linda looked at him, and tears began to fill her eyes, but she still asked a pertinent question.
"Jay?"
"It's me. I'm back."
Linda ran into Jay's arms as they embraced for the first time in over a decade. Chad and Allie joined in, hugging their long-lost father. Dana began to cry; seeing this pure joy, she walked closer to the family. The image was a beautiful one to witness.
Jay let go of one of his kids and motioned for Dana to come over, "Come on, Dana. You're family too."
Dana rushed over and hugged them all, crying the whole time.
It was a reunion like no other, in the same place they had last been together.
"I knew you would come, Jay. I just knew it."
"I wouldn't miss it."
"But what about Pat, Jay?"
"He's going to come at us with everything he's got. He doesn't need the Fleece now. He has his legion."
"Legion? You mean all those Cals out there?" Chad asked.
"Yes. And with the Orb, they'll be unstoppable."
Linda looked down.
Jay lifted her chin and looked into her eyes, "Unstoppable for all of us anyway. Not Rapha."
"Is Rapha going to destroy the world?"
"I think that has already been set into motion, thanks to Pat. Rapha is going to end him, once and for all, in only a way Rapha could do."
"How will he do that?" Dana asked.
"Very simply."
Another voice came from behind them. They turned to face a man walking up to them in a flowing blue robe and white tunic underneath. His hair was long and fine. He approached softly, but powerfully. He looked on at them with a peaceful warmth.
"Welcome back to the Fleece, Rapha."
Rapha looked around the chamber, "It's been a while."
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