A Bridge Between Worlds Ch. 11

"What the fuck?!" Edward screamed in rage and confusion.

"If you thought that was bad, then you're really gonna hate this," Mike replied, his voice raspy from the cut on his throat.

NOW!

Suddenly, the Armor of God pulsed with a surge of power, the cross on the Breastplate of Righteousness shining as brilliantly as the sun. Despite the incredible amount of energy, Mike felt completely in control of it all; it was as if he held the power of God Himself in the palm of his hands. Wasting no time, Mike faced Edward, ready to unleash the full power of God upon Lucifer's champion.

"AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!" Edward screamed in fury, charging for Mike with his katana raised overhead.

Mike gave no reply, not even in his facial expressions. Drawing the armor's full power into the cross on the breastplate, he fired off a beam of white light directly into Edward's chest. The holy power stopped Edward dead in his tracks, coursing through his body and purifying his spirit. When it was all said and done, the Armor of God finally fell silent, its power level returning to normal as Mike and Edward stared each other down.

"Well? That the best you got? Come on then!" Edward jeered.

Mike said nothing, merely sheathing his sword on his back in reply.

"I said COME ON!!!"

"It's over," Mike said quietly, ignoring the pain in his throat.

"Over?! The bloody hell are you talking about?!"

Shaking his head at Edward's boasting, Mike replied, "I've just severed the connection between Lucifer and yourself. You will never become the Antichrist now."

At first staring in disbelief, Edward soon cracked his signature grin, saying, "You're fucking bluffing, mate."

"Am I? Your power is decreasing with every breath you take, Baldwin. By now... you aren't even a challenge to me anymore."

"We'll see about that," Edward sneered, charging to impale Mike on his sword. Mike, however, merely grabbed the blade with his hand, twisting it in just the right way to loosen it from Edward's grip and toss it aside. Now barehanded, Edward swung a haymaker at Mike, who merely caught Edward's fist in his hand, causing Edward's eyes to widen in shock. Try as he might, Edward could no longer draw strength from his master. Having had enough, Mike kept a firm grip on Edward with his left hand while punching him twice in the gut with his right and finally finishing him with a hook across the jaw. Edward landed hard on the ground, his face bloodied and bruised. He coughed and hacked, spewing up a few spurts of blood, along with a couple of teeth.

"Mike!"

Looking up, Mike saw his wife flying towards him, the barrier around the island having dissipated following Edward's defeat. "Melody!"

The couple immediately embraced in a tight hug. They said nothing, but simply enjoyed the warmth of each other's touch once more. After a few minutes, they finally parted, allowing Melody to see Mike's injuries.

"Holy shit, you're hurt!"

"Ah, it was worth it," Mike replied.

"Here, let me fix that for you."

Cupping his face in her hands, Melody drew her husband close and kissed his lips lovingly, pouring her magic into him in the process. Mike had never felt more powerful in his entire life, and that included the incredible surge of power he had felt from the Armor of God a moment before. As they finally separated, Mike could tell that his injuries had completely healed.

"How's that feel?" Melody asked with a wink.

"Which one? My body or the kiss?"

Laughing, she playfully slapped his chest in reply.

"MURDERER!"

Mike and Melody turned sharply at the voice and found Selena straddling Edward, her scimitar at his throat.

"Selena, don't!" Mike shouted, rushing forward.

"This is for Farzan!" Selena screamed, tears streaming down her cheeks. As she raised her sword overhead to strike, her wrist was suddenly caught by Mike's hand.

"Selena, please don't do this," Mike pleaded.

"Stay out of this, Mike," Selena seethed in anger. "This piece of garbage must face justice."

"And he will, Selena. I can promise you that. But this isn't justice, and you know it."

Selena said nothing, but still struggled against his grip, trying to break free. Mike knelt down before her and stared her straight in the eyes.

"Selena... do you remember the day we met?"

Stunned by his question, Selena's arm fell loose by her side, remembering that afternoon so many years ago. "How... how could I forget?"

"Do you remember what I told you? The story about my ex?"

Nodding, she replied, "You held such power over her. She would have done anything to be with you again, and you could have made her. You controlled her fate... yet chose to do the right thing, acting in the interest of the greatest good possible."

"Exactly," Mike said. "Selena, you called me that day a person of 'outstanding moral fiber.' I didn't really know then what you meant by that, but in my years together with Melody, I found the answer. It doesn't mean being perfect; that's impossible. It does, however, mean that we have to always act and decide as best we can with the information we have available. We have to try to do the greatest amount of good possible, based on what we know. Selena, you know, just as well as I do, that this isn't justice, it's revenge. You know just as well as I do that if you go through with this, you'll be starting down a path of self-destruction. Above all, you know that this is not what Farzan would want."

Selena said nothing in reply, merely shaking her head in trying to reconcile everything Mike was saying to her.

"Selena," Mike continued, "There are so many things you know for sure in this situation. Now, you have to make a choice. It's your turn to prove that you also are an individual of outstanding moral fiber. You know the decision you have to make, and you know what will result in the greatest amount of good." Standing, Mike finally said, "If you're hell-bent on taking your revenge... I won't stop you. But deep down, you know that taking revenge won't change anything. It won't bring Farzan back, and it won't ease your pain."

Looking down at the pathetic shell of a man that was Edward Baldwin, Selena saw what he had been reduced to. He was beaten, bloodied, crying, and helpless, now completely at her mercy. As much as she despised him for all the pain and suffering he had caused, this was not the man that had killed Farzan. That man had already been destroyed at Mike's hand, reduced to this state, his true nature, that of a sniveling coward. Still, she felt the irresistible urge to strike him down once and for all. A part of her believed that she would be doing the world a great service in doing so.

Do it, she heard a strange voice say. He deserves it. He deserves this and so much more. You have the power... you are justified... do it. End it now...

"You are a monster," she spat at Edward, seething with righteous anger. "You deserve to suffer for your crimes, not only against me, but against all Mankind. Nothing would please me more than to choke the life out of you in this very moment."

Raising her scimitar overhead, Selena's hand trembled as she gripped her weapon tightly. As she was about to plunge the blade into Edward's throat, she took a deep breath... closed her eyes... and threw her sword across the battlefield.

"But I won't. I hate what you are. I despise what you stand for. For all of the evil you have done, I refuse to become... a monster like you."

Putting on as brave a face as she could, Selena stood and walked towards Mike and Melody, now joined by the remainder of the Council of Four. Finally unleashing her anguish, she wept again and again as her friends gathered around her to console her. At the end of the day, she knew she had done the right thing.

"Oh, Selena... I had such high hopes for you..." came a deep British voice.

The group turned to see a man standing between them and Edward. He was tall, slender, and would have been considered handsome by any standard, with his medium-length blonde hair and clean-shaven face, were it not for the look of depravity in his eyes. He wore nothing but black, and was dressed in a Mao suit, giving him a powerful, commanding presence despite his slender frame. Melody and the Council of Four had no clue as to whom this man was or where he had come from, but Mike and Edward knew all too well.

"M-master..." Edward croaked from the ground. "You... are here! I knew you would come! The time... is now! We can do it... we can... fulfill our vision!"

"My vision, Baldwin," the man corrected him. "You have had ample opportunity for it to be our vision, and you have failed me at every turn. It is true that I needed you. After all, I had invested far too much time and effort into you to start again from scratch. Still, one must always know when the battle is lost. It is basic risk management; salvage what one can, and melt down what one cannot."

"Master?" Edward said, his voice a mixture of confusion and fear.

"We had a contract, Baldwin. I upheld my end, gave you nearly unlimited power, even allowed you to command my forces. Still, your own incompetence did you in, and as such, our agreement is null and void."

"No... no, no, no Master, we can still do it! I just need... more time!"

"I'm afraid the time is up."

With a snap of his fingers, the black portal within the crater began to emit a number of tentacles made smoking black energy. Slowly, they crept out of the hole in the ground, making their way towards Edward's broken body. His eyes grew wide with sheer terror as they approached; in those final moments, he truly wished that Selena had killed him after all.

"No... no, no it cannot end this way! No! NO! MAAAAAAASTERRRRRR!!!"

His cries were silenced as the tentacles finally drug him kicking and screaming into the portal, a thick sheet of rock covering the area where the crater once was. To all who saw it, it appeared that nothing had ever happened on Alcatraz Island that day.

"What a waste..." the man sighed as he turned his attention to Mike. "Mr. Braxton."

"Lucifer," Mike replied.

"I suppose congratulations are in order," Lucifer said politely.

"Yeah, right," Mike replied, drawing his sword.

"Oh, relax. I'm not here to start a full-scale war, boy," Lucifer replied with a chuckle. "I must admit that you have caused me a significant amount of grief and annoyance. Yet oddly enough, I find your efforts to be... quite impressive. It is truly a tragedy that you and I could never see eye-to-eye."

"That didn't stop you from trying to flip me there in the end."

"Oh that? Yes, that's standard operating procedure, just as it was for you to offer Edward a chance at redemption. Really, I had no expectation that you would accept, but no harm in trying," Lucifer replied casually.

"You can't scare us," Melody said, moving to stand beside her husband. "We know all about you. You have no true power here."

"I'm quite sure you do, young lady," Lucifer said. "Yes, Jesus does quite the job of educating His citizens as to my true nature. This body, powerful as it may be, is merely the shell within which I can interact with the mortal world. My soul, as it were, remains trapped in Hell, bound in the Ninth Circle to suffer for eternity. Still, as endless as the torture my soul endures is, my mind cannot be beaten. Ah, but I digress, I believe I am beginning to ramble."

Lucifer began to circle around the Braxtons, prowling the area to get a better look at the rest of the group that dared to oppose his will.

"Now, as for you, I must say I am exceedingly disappointed," Lucifer said, pointing at the Council of Four. "You are not God's chosen people, so why side with Him? He has always forsaken you and your kind. His children have grown to shun you as demons, creatures that are never to be trusted or spoken of. Why defend them? What have they done to deserve such kindness?"

"Nothing," Salim said quietly. "However, that is not the point. Humans may fear our kind, or they may think of us merely as myths, but that did not change the pain and suffering they were faced with. Humans are vastly imperfect beings, but they do not deserve the fate they would experience under your rule."

"Ah, compassion... such a useless emotion," Lucifer mused. "As for you, my girl," he continued, standing face-to-face with Selena, "I had truly hoped for more from you. After Edward killed your husband, I saw in your heart the potential for ultimate power. I saw in you a potential Antichrist the likes of which Edward could never dream of becoming. You came so close. I only wish you could comprehend the magnitude of power you very nearly attained."

"Be silent, foul creature. I have no regrets," Selena said defiantly.

"Of that I am certain. Which is why I now have no other choice," Lucifer said, walking to place distance between him and the Council. "These humans, pathetic as they may be, are still under God's protection from my direct power. You, however, are under no such protection. You were given an opportunity to pledge your loyalty to the Kingdom of Hell, and you refused. Such refusal and defiance can be met with only one reply: extinction."

Lucifer's body began to glow bright red as he burst into flames, summoning up an enormous amount of power. Taking a deep breath, his eyes ignited, scorching the entire area with the fires of Hell itself. Finally, Lucifer took aim at the Council of Four, opening his mouth to unleash a stream of intense fire, enough to completely engulf all four of them.

"NO!" Melody cried.

Mike attempted to leap between his friends and the stream of fire, but the sheer force of the blast knocked him backwards, landing him on his ass. As he opened his eyes, the heat had dissipated, leaving nothing but a smoldering cloud before him. However, as the smoke cleared, he was stunned to see not four figures, but five figures still standing. In front of the Council of Four, a man stood tall, shielding the group with a pair of enormous wings. Once the flames had completely stopped, the wings parted to reveal their owner.

"Michael," Lucifer marveled. "It is truly pleasant to see you again, my old friend."

"Verily, the feeling is not mutual, Lucifer," Michael replied.

"Of course, of course. That whole Fall From Grace thing, right? I assume your presence here means that God has altered the terms of our agreement?"

"Indeed," Michael replied. "These magical creatures have chosen of their own accord to assist God's children in their most desperate hour of need. They were under no compulsion to do so, yet aided them all the same. Truly, some of their members even gave up their very existences in the name of protecting Mankind. Such an act of selflessness has not gone unnoticed by the Father."

"Oh, posh," Lucifer scoffed. "These creatures have no loyalty to God."

"In His eyes, it matters not," Michael answered. "You shall do them no harm, for if you do, you will surely face my full and complete wrath. These words are direct from the lips of God the Almighty Himself. As mighty as thou were once, thou knowest precisely the outcome of any quarrel that may be between us."

"Yes... you always were stronger," Lucifer conceded. Turning to Mike, he said, "You and your friends are exceedingly lucky. You do realize that, yes?"

"You call it luck. We call it determined," Mike replied.

"Be that as it may, celebrate your little victory. You and I both know the truth, of course, Mr. Braxton. You have only bought Mankind a temporary respite. The End of Days will come, sooner or later. It is simply a matter of when. I am patient. And on that glorious day, my patience will finally be rewarded. I shall rule over God's Creation, and all God's people will know me... as their savior."

Shaking his head, Mike said, "You're right... the End of Days will come, sooner or later. It's only a matter of time. Your mistake, though, is thinking that the End of Days means victory for you. If Melody and I had failed to stop Edward, I know exactly what would have happened next. Sure, you would have had control over Earth for a little while, many people would die, but in the end... you would still have failed. God never gives up on His children, and if it comes down to it, He will fight for them. And I think we both know who would win that fight. Lucifer, the End of Days doesn't mean the end of Mankind's days. It means the end of yours. As you said, it's only a matter of time."

Snorting at his words, Lucifer turned on his heel and walked away from the group, disappearing in a burst of flame as he went. Finally, Mike relaxed and knew that it was finally over. He collapsed to his knees, thanking God to be alive, and happy to feel his wife's soft fingers stroking his hair. Kissing her hand sweetly, he gazed up into her beautiful emerald eyes.

"You ready to go?" she asked.

"More than ever."

*****

"Chloe... Chloe, are you alright?"

"I... think so..."

Sam and Chloe Bradley embraced each other tightly, unsure of what they had just witnessed. San Francisco had been crumbling around them, being attacked by a trio of monstrous creatures. Additionally, Sam could have sworn he had seen two different armies battling it out in the city streets below him. To top it all off, he and his wife had just been threatened and nearly killed by a mysterious man in black armor, claiming he was destined to rule the world. Still, Sam couldn't be sure that any of this was real at all.

"Hello, Mr. President."

Sam spun around, his adrenaline pumping, and attempted to shield his wife from the unknown person speaking to him. Opening his eyes, he was stunned to see a pair of men standing before him, one a young man clad in silver armor, the other an exceedingly handsome man in a dark suit.

"Who... who are you?"

"My name is Mike. This is Michael, my friend and associate," the man in silver armor said. "Mr. President, everything you've seen today has been completely real, though I doubt you know what any of it means."

Sighing, he replied, "At this point, all I care about is my wife's safety."

"And she is safe now; you both are," Mike said. "Mr. President, I have a story to tell you. You will find it incredibly fantastic, maybe unbelievable, but I want you to hear me out all the way to the end. Can you do that for me?"

"Of course."

Mike began to relate to Sam the recent events and actions of Edward Baldwin and his attempts to become the Antichrist. He told Sam of the existence of magical creatures, the efforts of the Council of Four, and their struggle to resist Edward's power and influence, throwing everything they had against him. Through it all, Sam sat quietly, simply taking in everything Mike was telling him.

"Wow... that's pretty incredible if true," Sam finally replied.

"And it is true, sir. That I promise you."

"So, why are you telling me all of this?"

"You see," Mike continued, "the Council of Four was merely one player in the battle to stop the Antichrist. Michael and I represent the other player involved in all of this. You know what that means, don't you?"

"Well, I know what the logical answer is... but wouldn't that mean..."

Nodding, Mike said, "We are representative of God's Kingdom in Heaven."

Sam sat back in the desk chair in shock, working to comprehend everything he had learned in the last few minutes. A part of him doubted that this was real, but he knew what he had experienced earlier that day; in his heart, Sam knew that these events were all too real.

"Mr. President, we have a specific reason for telling you these things," Mike said. "Obviously, the world has been through an exceedingly difficult time. Thousands of innocents have died, and their families are in mourning. To make matters worse, many believe that the world is coming to an end, having seen the monsters attacking San Francisco. God has informed me that He does have it within His power to erase or alter the memories of the world in regards to these events, sparing them from the painful memories of this battle today. If their memories are altered, the world will only remember this tragedy as the worst earthquake San Francisco has ever seen, rather than an event that nearly ended the world. However, I personally have enormous reservations about altering memories and messing with free will, which is why I want to ask your opinion. At least in regards to the American public, you know the people better than anyone. What do you think they would want, Mr. President?"