Necessary Evil and the Greater Good - A novel

Necessary Evil and the Greater Good - Chapter 20

Chapter 20

The End of the Beginning of The End

God walked toward them, his long flowing white robe billowing in an unseen wind as he looked around in wonder.

"Now that is how you do an end of the world," he said.

Satan, dressed in a deep black suit with a stark white dress shirt and solid black tie, was not impressed.

"A little melodramatic don't you think? Considering it's not The End?" said Satan.

God shot Satan a disapproving look and waved him off.

"Don't be a spoil sport. As far as the Norse were concerned, it was the only ending that mattered. And boy did they go out with style. Dramatic deaths, epic battles, explosions, and even a little bit of rebirth for good measure," said God, pointing to Marcus and Stephanie.

St. Peter glanced around, confused, and then looked at the shaggy, ginger-haired man and took a quick sidestep, rubbing at his throat. The shaggy man turned and gave him a toothy grin, making a dramatic chomping motion at St. Peter.

"Boys, I didn't bring you back to have you start misbehaving," said God in a fatherly tone.

Although neither had met God or Satan before, Marcus and Stephanie both knew who they were seeing and were amazed. Leviticus smiled at Mestoph, who nodded toward God and raised his brows. He knew it was judgment time.

God walked over to Marcus and Stephanie and smiled down at them. He was several feet taller than either of them, but the warm look on his face kept it from being imposing. At that moment He had bushy, curly white hair and a thick but neatly trimmed beard, a lot like Kenny Rogers from The Gambler. He put a hand each on Marcus and Stephanie's shoulders and they both felt a warmth and power flow through them. It was similar to the feeling Stephanie had when Heimdall had touched her, but infinitely stronger and warmer. Stephanie felt it in her belly and knew the tiny little seed that grew inside her could feel it as well.

"You two are going to be fine, and your son will live a full life," said God. "I've always been fond of the name Daniel."

Mestoph and Leviticus looked at each other in surprise, wondering when the two of them had even had time to have sex in the last two weeks. God then walked over to Mestoph and Leviticus. Satan had stood back while God was talking to the two humans, but he now came forward to stand next to God. He turned to smile at Stephanie as he passed, giving her a cold and creepy feeling.

"Alright, let's get this over with," said God as he snapped his fingers.

Appearing on the other side of Mestoph and Leviticus were three drastically differing people. One was an ancient woman in a nun's habit who was looking at the Angel and Demon and clicking her tongue as she shook her head in disapproval. Next to her was a short, bald, almost perfectly round, Asian man with a permanent smile on his face. Then there was another man who was almost as old as the nun and wore thick glasses and a red pair of suspenders over a golf shirt and plaid pants.

"Can we get this over with? I've got a game to finish," said the suspendered man in a voice that sounded remarkably like Larry King's.

"Fine," said Satan, and he snapped his fingers.

The ground shook and the recently cooled lava began to crack, sending whirls of heat and steam into the air. The lava and bedrock below began to rise slowly into the air, creating a tall, crescent-shaped wall of porous rock around them. God joined in the interior decorating; he pointed and a black, glass-smooth dais rose up from the ground, followed by two wings of tables on each side that mimicked the crescent shape of the wall. God and Satan began waving around like mad orchestra conductors, and a grim, ultramodern courtroom began to materialize. Seating of black and white, with legs and arms of polished chrome rose out of the ground. A gallery of slate-colored benches formed out of chunks of lava, and as each row formed various people popped into the seats with the rhythmic cadence of champagne corks popping. Some of those people were vaguely familiar to Mestoph and Leviticus, but a few they recognized instantly.