by Barry Smith
Covay, only a quarter of the way out, pulls himself in by holding on to the dial, and the hour hand of the clock. Ryan soon swings back inside after him, and just happens to catch a glimpse of Covay running up the stairs to the top of the bell tower.
***
After releasing victims from the Condemnation Chamber, Bryce and a few cops continue searching the warehouse. Without warning, the two cops, on either side of Bryce, collapse from poison darts to the neck. Bryce and the last cop took cover, but eventually face off against four rapidly approaching Missionary boys. Before the Missionaries can engage in close combat, both Bryce and the cop take out one Missioner each. The other two missionaries get close enough to unarm them both, and close fight combat ensues.
The remaining officer’s fight leads into the sapphire cutting room. Bryce’s fight takes him down the stairs into the production factory. When Bryce’s fight reaches the serpentine of the assembly line, they find themselves tussling on the conveyor belt, avoiding obstacle of dangerous moving mechanical equipment along the way. At one point, Bryce is being overpowered by the Brother, who sat on top of him, strangling him.
Quickly approaching on the conveyor belt, is the furnace with the door that intermittently opens and closes. Bryce struggles to loosen the boy's vice grip from around his neck; so he plays the only card he has left. He reaches underneath the boy, and grabs hold of his genitals, twisting them until the boy releases his grip. As the boy coils up, grabbing his genitals from the pain, Bryce gets himself from underneath the boy, by
raising his hips to knock the boy over and in front of him, pushing the boy headfirst into the furnace.
Seconds after, the intermittent door shuts down upon the back of the boy’s neck. The door jams in the process, holding the boy’s head in the furnace. While muffled and horrifying screams are echoed from behind the furnace door, a struggling, then quivering body comes to rest on the outside of the door.
***
At Two Pump Chump’s Gas Station, annoyed and frustrated from not being able to make contact with authorities, Dax and Phoenix hear sirens fill the night air.
“It sounds like cops are nearby, let’s go out and find them instead,” says Dax.
As they head toward the door, they see several missionary boys on bikes passing by. One did a front bike flip onto a parked car across the street, shot his gun at someone and then, rides down off the car.
Return fire happens, and the bikes disperse, some heading toward the gas station.
Dax and Phoenix immediately lock the door. Phoenix, seeing a circuit box, shuts off all the lights to the gas station. Outside, they can see down the street, the fluttering of cop car lights, but quickly approaching the store window, are lights from the Missionary Boys’ Bikes. They both take refuge in the back aisle of the store when suddenly, they hear the store window being shattered with the sound of metal clings and scrapes, followed by spark pops closing in on them.
Both huddle together behind an aisle, and out of nowhere, the noise stops. They look up at each other in confusion, then abruptly, Dax is pulled through the aisle display, to the other side. Soon, another Missionary Boy flips into the aisle, and stares down at Phoenix. She gets up and runs around the aisle, along the refrigerator lane, but is hit in the back by a ninja dagger. She cries in pain and crawls backward, as the Missionary Boy approaches her slowly.
By mid-approach, the Missionary Boy surprisingly receives a flying kick from the side into the refrigerator, clear to the back room of the fridge. The defender rises to its feet, and it’s Dovine.
“All right kids, we got to get you out of here. The city is under attack.”
A voice comes from another aisle, “I got Dax.” Damien Estrada walks around the corner holding up Dax, who is limping from his attack. Dovine and Damian help Dax and Phoenix through the broken store window, where a fully armed InfliXion gang stands guard. But soon, a swarm of Missionaries flow down from the roof of the station.
***
Outside, in front of the Grand Temple, it looks like an apocalyptic war zone. The citizens’ violence has escalated from fights to kills on the steps; a mob of people are still focused on Father Kraven. But miraculously, between the dog-pile of bodies, Kraven crawls and squeezes his way out between someone’s legs. Bloody, with no shirt, no shoes, and tattered pants, he is able to sneak out without anyone noticing during all the pandemonium.
***
Back inside the Grand Temple, there is still turmoil. Twist tries to pinpoint his next attack and sees Shadowlark emerge from the chaos, up at the altar. She is caught off guard when she is stabbed in the stomach, from behind, by the Numerical Slasher. The Slasher then looks at Twist over her shoulder, and creepily tilts his head, then begins to carve the knife up Shadowlark’s abdomen, and pushes her limp body off the steps of the altar.
Twist, in total rage, goes for his gun, but the Slasher is too quick and escapes amongst the pandemonium. But a few fights over, Twist sees Gallegher, and from the midway center aisle of the church, Twist lands a kill shot that turns Gallegher’s white archbishop garb red with blood.
As the battle rages on, Twist’s assassins lost numbers quickly, but in the nick of time, the military SWAT teams rappel in from the ceiling, and swing through the stained glass windows, leaving missionary boys riddled, full of bullets, in their wake.
***
After catching his breath from witnessing his assailant’s death, Bryce heads back upstairs and stumbles upon the sapphire cutting room, and finds the other Missionary boy standing over the last police officer, who he has killed.
The Missionary turns to see Bryce, and they immediately engage in combat. Once again, outmatched by the Ninja-like skills of the Missionary, Bryce finds himself overpowered and inches away from having his face pressed against the Sapphire cutting machine. In a moment’s notice, Bryce finds a partially cut sharp sapphire in reach, and stabs the boy in the eye.
***
Ryan & Father Covay’s fight has reached the top of the bell tower, which has 360 view of the city. Ryan, with excellent combat experience, finds himself almost outmatched by the mastery of Father Covay’s ninja skills. Everything that wasn’t nailed down is broken in the scuffle.
At one point, Ryan gets the upper hand by slamming Covay’s head into the bell, and knocking him out cold. Then from the bottom of the stairway, a voice cries, “Father!”
Tyler Covay has returned from a losing battle in the city. He sees his father laying on the ground and becomes intensely angry, and begins to engage Ryan in combat. In mid-fight, Father Covay regains consciousness and awakes to his son throwing Ryan nearly to his death from an open archway of the bell tower, but Ryan manages to grab onto a ledge of the bell tower.
Holding on for dear life and dangling from a high point of the bell tower, Ryan finds himself looking up at Tyler looking down on him, and then soon after, Father Covay walks up beside him. They both look down at Ryan, then Father Covay looks back up to the night sky, and begins to shout out to the world,
“Our Father, who art in heaven, give us this day to deliver those who trespass against the house of the Lord Savior. Judge them for the sins and atrocities that they have committed today. Does thou have faith that they can be saved? Do they laugh in the face of thy Lord? We ask you, God, to judge if they are worthy enough to…”
Father Covay abruptly stops speaking due to the claw-like dagger that has just penetrated the side of his abdomen. Grabbing his side in disbelief, they both look out to see Raven’s Claw on a warehouse rooftop. She takes a super-human flying leap up, towards the church bell tower, launching a second claw into Father Covay’s rib cage. Father Covay, finding the strength to endure, pulls the claws out of his wounds and throws them to the ground. He looks forward with gritted teeth and growled, taking a ready-to-fight stance.
Raven’s Claw then lands on the bell tower landing, and engages both Tyler and Father Covay. Their combat lasted for some time, until Raven’s Claw is able to kick Father Covay wit
h a round-house, knocking him hard to the ground. But then, she takes a brutal beating from Tyler, until she is able to grab one of his flying fists and crank his arm behind his back. She then applies a knee on his back, and puts all of her weight on him. Father Covay finds one of Raven’s Claws daggers, but before he could throw it, he is walloped to the chin by the butt of Falcon’s shotgun.
***
Back at Two Pump Chump Gas Station, InfliXion members are taking on heavy gun fire and unequal hand-to-hand combat from the Brothers of the Missionary.
Dovine, at one point, has five boys on her at once. Damien soon jumps in to help her. Dax and Phoenix have been given guns, but are told by Dovine to stay inside the station, and lay down an enemy line of fire.
Two boys grab Dovine’s arm, while one boy delivers multiple kicks to her face and stomach. Damien is trying to street brawl two agile like ninja boys, when they eventually get Damien up against the pumps. He returns a few blows, landing a KO to the side of the head of one of his assailants. The remaining Missionary boy takes the gas hose, and starts swinging it around like a nunchuck. Damien ducks and dodges like a boxer, and finds an opening to punch the assailant in the mouth. The boy falls, but immediately swings the pump around, wrapping Damien’s legs and bringing him to the ground.
Dovine, starting to tire from the blows, flips backwards, breaking the two boys’ grip. She takes a flight jump on to the top of the roof of the Pump Station, and comes crashing through another part of the roof. She lands directly on top of the one attacker, who dealt her all the blows, breaking his neck in the landing. She then, comes face to face with the other boys that held her, but they are both suddenly dropped by gun fire from the side. Dovine looks over to see Dax and Phoenix giving a thumbs up through the broken window, behind the cashier counter.
She hears Damien grunt, and looks over to see the Missionary Boy pouring gas on Damien. The boy then picks up a lighter he had found lying on the ground. He flips it open and ignites it, saying,
“Time to set the night on fire.”
Dovine flight jumps forward, ramming the Firestarter boy into the pump. The boy has the wind knock out of him, and tries to gasp for air; when he fully gained composure, he opens his eyes to see Damien coming at his face with gas pump.
“Suck on this.”
Damien rams the pump in the boy’s mouth, shattering some of his teeth upon entering with force. He begins to pump him full of fuel. The boy chokes, gags, and almost drowns, but manages to kick Damien off of him. He flips over to his knees, to hurl out all the gasoline he swallowed. He manages to get on his feet, and tries running, while still spewing out gasoline.
He starts heading across the street and once he reaches the sidewalk, he musters up the strength to yell,
“You will all die for this.”
He turns around, and meets face to face with Dovine. She stares at him for a little bit, then crouches down and took a flight leap that spirals her in the air, while pulling out her gun. Her flip lands her on the Gas Station side of the street. She stands up from her landing looking at the boy, then she takes her aim and says,
“Nighty Night.”
She takes the shot and the boy explodes into a giant fireball, knocking Dovine off her feet, and forcing everyone else to shield their eyes from the blinding light.
***
Rolling out of the position Raven’s Claw had him in, Tyler is able to land an elbow to her lip. Raven’s Claw checks her mouth for blood, and gives Tyler a snarl. She then runs up the side of the Church Bell, and then flips upside down and onto Tyler shoulders, and vice grips him with her thighs. Tyler, turning blue from Raven Claw’s thigh grip, slowly leans forward and then, quickly throws his body backward, slamming Raven’s Claw’s back hard into the floor. She loosens her thigh grip, grabbing her back in pain.
Falcon has Father Covay at gunpoint, but a flying foot kicks the shotgun from his hand. He is soon being pummeled by flying fists of fury from Tyler. Tyler is quick, agile, and keeps coming back for more, but with one cybionic punch to his chest, Falcon knocks Tyler clear to the other side of the bell tower.
“Enough of this!”
Falcon turns to see Father Covay holding his shotgun yelling, “Your defiance ends tonight. We are the chosen people, and your kind has infected our world with your existence. We worked hard to wipe this city clean of people like you. Our Lord Savior has judged you not fit to share this world, or be accepted into Zion; so for that, I condemn you for eternity.”
Tyler somehow, manages to get back on his feet.
Out of Falcon’s peripheral, he sees Raven’s Claw flying at him. She simultaneously kicks Falcon out of the way, and throws a claw dagger, hitting Father Covay in the neck; his jerk reaction accidentally pulls the trigger, shooting Tyler.
Tyler grabs his stomach, and begins stumbling slowly backward in shock. At the same time, Father Covay is grabbing his neck, trying to apply pressure from the blood spurting out.
He says to Falcon and Raven’s Claw while bearing the pain, “God will smite the wicked, and you will face eternal hell.”
A voice from nowhere says, “True, but not before you face eternal hell.”
Suddenly, a hand reaches over, grabbing Father Covay’s forehead, and just over his left shoulder, appears the face of Ryan Swett, who has just climbed back up the side of the tower.
Ryan takes Covay’s forehead, and pushes him backward, off the edge, while Tyler happens to fall backward onto the bell, making it swing out as he falls through, and down, the center of the windy stairwell.
Both of their bodies hit the pavement at the same time, but Father Covay’s body draws the most attention, as it falls in the full view of the public, and splats on the large landing of the Temple’s glorious steps.
Epilogue
The day after the aftermath, the city skyline is still set ablaze, and the authorities begin to regain control of the city, and the dead are all being accounted for. People begin to mourn their loved ones that died in the bloodshed. Cops are caution-taping off all the Disciple of Zion churches, while on the other side of town, Commissioner Luke Munson is making another powerful speech, at the top of the steps of City Hall, about the tragedy that has just struck the city.
“Today marks one of the darkest days in our city’s history. What we thought would be a breath of fresh air to the city, was truly a vile and disturbing plot of religious genocide. I stand before you to apologize on behalf of myself, and all of your elected officials, that we let you down by allowing such an extreme agenda hijack power, and manipulate a murderous underground organization. From this day forward, let no man dictate your choice of religion. May every man, woman, and child have the right to choose their own faith or no faith, without repercussion. And with a new day upon us, we will clean up the mess that has been made and restores freedom to our great city. Efforts to maintain order and keep crime to a minimum will remain with the power of our Justice System, truly separating Church from State. Bless you all for enduring the unimaginable. We will never let you down again. May your own God bless you, and may he watch over us all in Corbindale Bay.”
***
Back at the reopened police station, officers are relabeling the missing person cases, and filing them away as closed cases. In Ryan’s office, Ryan, Bryce, and Falcon are pouring themselves drinks for a celebratory toast.
“Oh, I’m just in time. Pour me a whiskey, straight,” says McCormack, as he walks in. Just before they share the toast, the Captain speaks up again,
“Good job men, we couldn’t have done this without you. Our exposing of this religion got worldwide coverage. And since the Disciples also had their tentacles in other major cities, the same crimes have been solved there as well. It looks like since we cut the head off the snake, that’s the death of Kraven I speak of, Disciples around the nation have all retreated and gone into hiding. Gentlemen, I can’t thank you enough. The nation couldn’t have done this without you. Cheers!”
They clink their glasses,
and take a big swig of their drinks.
Ryan, after emptying his glass, says, “I’m at peace knowing that we ended the reign of the Disciples of Zion, and ending the mystery of the hundreds of missing persons. But I still have one more open case. I never solved the Numerical Slasher, who gutted Sage and the others, and used , why was his m.o. different? I don’t get the connection.”
McCormack replies, “Oh, that’s right, I forgot what I had come in here for. Stand by.” He goes to the door and yells to someone in the lobby,
“Sir, you can come in now.”
Suddenly, an Asian Man, with a missing right hand, walks into the room and says, “I think I may be able to answer some of your questions you may have.”
“Doc!” shouts Falcon with excitement, before proceeding to give the man a big hug. Falcon then says, “Allow me to introduce you to Doctor Eto. He was our in-house Doctor at Quist before Doctor Whitfield came in, and weird shit started happening.”
Eto then replies, “So when I left for my leave of absence, I brought home with me my box of medical files. Just recently, I was looking through the box and made a horrifying correlation; I found an ID of a young girl that somehow, wound up in my files.” He looks at Falcon and says, “Do you remember that night you accidentally hit that young pregnant woman with your car, and we weren’t able to save her or her child?”
“Yes, I’ll never forget it” replies Falcon while brushing his hand over his eye patch.
Eto continues, “This ID belonged to that girl, and it then dawned on me that the girl’s name, Karen Alvarez, happened to be the name of the fiancé of Jayli, the nightclub janitor. He used to mention her all the time; how much he loved her, and how badly she wanted to be a dancer at Quist. But at auditions, Sage and the other judges mocked her, and never gave her a chance.”
“You would’ve never suspected Jayli to be the type though,” continues Doctor Eto, “He was such a soft-spoken person, trying to better his life for himself. He even became a Disciple of Zion member and was mentored by Patrick Gallegher. But from what we now know about the church, it was probably their influence that led him down a dark path. He must of found Karen’s ID in the basement, and thought I was to blame.
