Chapter 16
Psalms 111:9
He sent redemption unto his people: he hath commanded his covenant forever: holy and reverend is his name.
I stepped into a wooded area on the edge of a massive clearing. There was a huge pond of what I knew to be oddly colored water from the research photos. It was too dark to see much color at the moment, the sky was still unnaturally darkened. On the edge of the steaming pond was The Dark Pope. The shoggoth was holding the bomb up while The Dark Pope was working on something under an access panel. The Dark Pope stood up and turned to face me. “Hello Tobias, I figured you would show up eventually. It seems God has taken an interest in some of this”. He said, spreading his palms flat and casting around. “I know I did not transport you or The Order here, and I saw how you traveled around one step here and the next over there, taking out my army. None of this matters now, the lots have been cast and you cannot stop me. I am too powerful, I even stopped the plague when I was helping the pope. I stopped God's punishment. Now I AM HIS PUNISHMENT!” I started to laugh, “Rattus Rattus” I said, shaking my head. “What!” The Dark Pope was confused and clearly upset. “The plague wasn’t God's punishment, your predecessor Gregory the 9th killed off all the cats. NO CATS means MORE RATS. Rattus rattus, the roof rat… Rats carrying plague infested fleas... It was all a matter of simple cause and effect”. I couldn't believe this. It was like talking to two different people. One a “good man” with a God complex from the Djinns power. The other was the Djinn itself that he merged with to save both of them, who is insane and pure evil. The shoggoth set down the bomb and charged me, leaving his boss to finish his work. I wasn't sure why he didn't just blink the bomb wherever he needed it but he seemed worn out. Almost as if the atmospheric disturbance and transporting his army from Chad Africa to Wyoming America had severely drained him. The massive ball of tar, teeth and eyeballs came towards me, melting the snow in his path. A tentacle of tar shot out like a whip, splitting the tree behind me. I only had the one shot with the satchel charge, so I had to get it right. Focusing on the shoggoth I was grabbed from behind. My ankles wrapped up in a thick scaly knot, I was hoisted into the air. Hanging upside down I quickly saw that I had been grabbed up by a Naga. The snake man-hybrid was massive. It had the torso of a bodybuilder with a humanoid face and the hooded head of a cobra. The lower half of his body, starting at the waist, went into a large muscular snake body about 38 inches around at the hips and tapering from there to another 8 to 10 feet. “I captured the intruder Massssster” the Naga hissed. It was a deep and commanding voice but the hiss was really annoying. I reached up to my right ankle and pulled the push dagger from my boot. I stabbed it into the tail that was holding my ankles. The Naga dropped me as the silver and ruins hit his blood, surely burning unlike anything he had known before. I hit the ground on my back, my legs still elevated hitting hard as my head bounced off the ground. The breath was knocked out of me but that didn't matter at the moment, quickly I drew my pistol and started shooting the Naga while kicking my feet backwards to get some distance. I shot him 3 times center mass then another 3 to the face, the Nagas body began to go limp. Man I love these custom 9x25 dillon rounds, they REALLY made a mess. As the Naga hit the ground I could see through his skull, most of it was emptied out around his oddly hooded neck. The Shoggoth had charged and was bearing down on me quickly as I was still on my back. Thankfully I still had the satchel charge on me like a messenger bag, in a rush I reached in and pulled the pin watching the spoon come off before closing the pouch. Tossing the bag right into the path of the oily beast I got to my feet and turned to 'fight'. The Shoggoth stopped, almost taken back by my stupidity, but he had stopped right on the claymore bag and that was all I had really wanted. There was a puff and a wooooommmmmppppppffff followed by the Shoggoth being engulfed in flames. It let out a deep booming bellow that shook the nearby tree branches, howling in anguish as it burnt to ash, crumpling like a charcoal briquette. In theory, that left just me and The Dark Pope alive in this area. “Give it up Tobias, I know you don't want to keep doing this. I can see how tired you are, like me you have watched this world crumble. You must be just as sick of THEM as I am. The time of man is over, surely a move like this would force God's hand again, and you could finally be free”. The Dark Pope tried to reason with me. I wasn't exactly sure how but I knew I needed to end this quickly. “Humanity has declined, but again you take the macro view. The good in man's heart is still present, if atrophied. You can't *force God's hand* no matter what you try, it just doesn't work like that. A man's heart deviseth his way, but the LORD directeth his steps”. I was walking a bit closer now as we talked. He still stood next to the bomb, the access panel was now closed. He was still wearing the dirty and tattered remnants of his once fine robes. The triple crown was still on his head, once resplendent now tarnished and rotten. Not to mention the massive ruby on a thick gold chain around his neck... The ruby!!! Philip had done a deep dive into the archives once we realized who The Dark Pope was originally, that ruby was where all this started. The ruby must be the vessel that held the Djinn. “Join me Tobias. Once finished here you could be my right hand. You can not die, so Heaven will never be yours, but you can rule at my side here on earth. Surely you could do a better job of things, and once humanity bends its knee you can impose whatever order you see fit. Think of it like God's reward for so many years of hard work”. I shook my head “That's not how any of this works, and you know it. Rejoice, and be exceedingly glad for great is your reward *in heaven* for so persecuted, they the prophets which were before you”. I couldn't believe I was disputing a Pope by quoting The Holy Bible.
The insanity of the situation was completely lost on him but I was almost holding back laughter. Albeit hysterical laughter from exhaustion, not just from this battle but from all of it. I was slipping, and really, if I didn't have Angiola in my life I'm not sure I would even be fighting him at this point. It's amazing how quickly your perspective on things can change. I still had my pistol in my hand but I knew the mag was empty, I always count my rounds by instinct. I had fired off a lot of rounds and was down to one partial mag. I had ejected it, then put it back in the pouch after swapping for a full one just before The Dark Pope had transported us here. I ejected the empty mag from the gun and reloaded it with the partial. I had witness holes drilled at 5, 10, 15 and 20 round marks on the MBX 170mm mags. I couldn't see any brass through the holes but it felt like more than 2. The rifle I picked up was lost somewhere along the battle. Probably somewhere by the dead Naga and the ashen remains of the Shoggoth. So pistol reloaded, I had 3 to 5 rounds to try to end things, I had a sinking feeling in my stomach. The Dark Pope just watched me reload and raise my pistol, aiming at his face. Firing a quick double tap to his face I heard and saw the bullets impact and snap his head back slightly. “I am a God here, I am the new dark messiah. I am here to unite all of the rejects from The God Of Light and untie them under one banner. Why would you think I could be defeated by something so simple? Surely you didn't believe it would be that easy?” He said mockingly. “No not really, but it was worth trying”. I said pulling the trigger to shoot him in the face again. This time he vanished for an instant, the red dot jiggling in the glass obscured him momentarily and then he was just gone. Then he was right there in front of me, grabbing my throat and easily lifting me into the air with one hand around my neck. I went limp and tried to relax, the feeling in my body when he touched me was electric. It felt like I had piranhas swimming around all of my bones and organs, taking bites from my insides as they swam along. “The thing is, just because you haven't been killed yet... Doesn't mean you can't DIE”. The Dark Pope said while raising his other hand and hovering his fingertips just above my sternum. I have no idea what he did but he started to slightly move his hand and I could feel the silver cross embedded in my sternum pulling and tugging. It felt like all of the wounds that had ever inflicted to me were coming back, suddenly and all at once. I felt like I was being shot thousands of times, while the majority of my bones were breaking and skin was burning off of me. The cross in my chest felt like it was melting and I was on the brink of madness and collapse. I vomited down my chest, choking as much of it caught in my throat, The Dark Pope cutting off much of it. I heaved and squirmed as I tried in vain to clear my throat. His hand was gripping so tight, I felt like I was dying but I genuinely didn't think I would come back this time... and that was okay, Right? I had fought, sacrificed and lived so, so very long. All while putting my life on hold and doing everything in my power to help others. I was fading fast, and my body was spasming violently. I couldn't give up, not now. I finally had someone in my life. I felt complete for the first time in my long life and I wouldn't stop while I still had breath in my body. I lifted my right hand, slowly and shakily. Pressing the pistol to his chest I could hear the compensator hit metal or stone with a faint tink.. tink...tink. It was the stone. The ruby from his necklace, it meant something important but my pain addled brain couldn't remember what. My hand waivered and I pushed the barrel hard against his chest again with a tink... The ruby... I pulled the trigger and the world shook. I landed on the ground and looked up to see The Dark Pope, a cloud of red mist swirled around his chest quicker and quicker. The mist went in and around his body faster and faster, then the world went white and I was thrown back several feet. The Dark Pope was struck by bolt after bolt of lightning, the concussion was overwhelming. He must have been struck more than ten times in a fraction of a second. The concussion from the thunder was tremendous, unlike anything I've ever felt. I rolled onto my side and heaved and hacked for a moment finally clearing my lungs. I managed to get to my feet shakily, and groped blindly before grabbing onto a nearby tree. I blinked rapidly and my eyes finally began to heal enough for me to see a bit. I stood there catching my breath, I don't think I had ever been so close to a final and permanent death before, and even as quickly as I can heal it was taking a bit to feel like I wasn't going to vomit again from the pain. I stood there, vision blurring and the ground still felt like it was spinning. Finally after several seconds, minutes, I don't honestly know how long, the blinding pain and nausea faded so I could stand on my own and see again. The Dark Pope was laying on the ground, charred all over. His triple crown was melted as was all of the metal on his body. He was dead for good this time. Walking through the clearing and towards the bomb I saw a crater where the bomb once was. I got to the edge of the shallow crater and saw a large melted pile of metal, it was unrecognizable as anything more than a molten slag heap. It was finally over, I thought to myself as I collapsed to my knees. I put my forehead to the ground and wept, convulsing and shaking as everything hit me at once. The relief flooded through my body like a physical force. I cried out my thanks and praise to the heavens, overwhelmed with grief, anguish and relief.