SmackDown: Back to Our Roots

Round 4: Bigger than Jesus - @painebook

Bigger than Jesus

by painebook

Early December 1970. The Fab Four gather one last time before dissolution of the group.

Ringo entered the room, followed by a female figure in a long, flowing peasant dress. "John, the girl with googley eyes is back."

Looking up, John Lennon saw the strange woman he'd first met in 1961.

"Welcome back, Lucy. Can you take your spectacles off so I can gaze at you once more?" She kept her glasses on. John remembered how they'd looked the first time he'd seen them. They were strange, multi-colored eyes that sparkled; he'd fallen into them, mesmerized. "They are like elixir from the gods."

"I think you've had enough." She looked at the drug paraphernalia littering the room. "I'm very disappointed in you all. I gave you access to music so you could change the world, end the fighting that continues to ravage this planet. Can't you imagine what could happen?"

"I like that." John stared off into nothingness for a few seconds. "Imagine all the people of the world living in peace."

"Exactly. We've given you the tools to change things. You've already done so much, but it hasn't had the desired effect."

"Just what do you mean, the desired effect?" Paul McCartney looked up from his notes for his next song.

"You succumbed to success. You have only been thinking about your personal desires, abusing drugs and fighting with each other instead of working toward our agreed-upon goal."

"I bought into your story, about how we could use music to change everyone's hearts." George Harrison paced the room. "My sweet Lord Jesus knows I've tried to make things better. I for one will continue to after all this is over."

"You won't be able to do it by yourself. That's why I picked the four of you. You're a good band." Lucy sighed loudly. "You know, if you'd only worked a little harder, you could have been greater than Jesus. You've thrown it all away."

"Like I told the press in 1966, Jesus was all right, but his disciples were thick and ordinary, like these three." John indicated his companions, then smiled. "That caused quite a shit storm. If I'd said television was more popular than Jesus, I might have got away with it."

"Besides, we're bigger than Jesus, baby." Paul smiled at the visitor. "We are the greatest of all time."

"Jesus was one man, the best. Which one of you thinks he's better?" Lucy watched as four fabulous hands went up in the air. "

"With this beard, I look the most like Jesus." Paul grinned.

"This is why you haven't lived up to my expectations. You helped start a counter-culture movement. We had hope for a short while. It's supposed to be about love and living in harmony. But it isn't enough. There are still wars, people still hate and kill each other." Lucy sighed once more. "You hate each other, too. There's no point to you being together anymore."

"Look, baby, we'd already decided that two years ago. We've been going through the motions but were making too much money to stop, that's all." Paul went back to his lyrics, ignoring her.

"Speak for yourself, you greedy bastard." George stormed out of the room, yelling, "I'll keep trying to save the world!"

"As will I." John picked up his notebook, jotting down the word 'Imagine' then snapping it shut. "I will make a difference. I will be considered greater than Jesus."

Looking at the drummer, Lucy saw him tapping his fingers to an unheard song. "What about you, Ringo?"

"I'm happy with the way things are. I've got plenty of cash and really don't care what happens." He walked over, putting his hand on Lennon's shoulder. "Don't forget about my offer to buy Tittenhurst Park from you. Yoko hates it, and it would be great for my family."

"Bugger off." John shrugged the hand away. "Touch me again and you'll regret it forever."

"We'll see. Yoko always gets her way." Ringo departed the room, singing Octopus's Garden slightly off-key.

"All right. This experiment has been a colossal failure!" Lucy stomped her foot and shook her head, sending her glasses flying. Kaleidoscopic eyes flashed as she retrieved her spectacles. "There's no way you can ever become part of the universe with attitudes like this."

"What do you mean?" John hoped to stare into her eyes again, hoping for more inspiration in writing his songs.

"It matters not. I'm leaving and won't be back." Lucy left through the same door George used.

"She's an odd bird, I must say. Kind of out-of-this-world like." Paul stood up, gathering his notes. "Well, we had a good ride, but it's time to say goodbye."

John simply fired up his hookah and lapsed into a dream world of his own.

*****

May 2016. In orbit around Earth.

"We need to try again. It's been almost forty-five years."

Commander Severens of the Intergalactic Diplomatic Corps looked up from her monitor. Her eyes changed colors as she stared at her second in command. "We did everything we could to prepare the earthlings for inclusion in our Community of Worlds. We couldn't get them to find peace in their hearts. Music obviously wasn't the answer."

"It worked on Hanuish Six, but their culture was different. Just because it failed once before doesn't mean it won't work this time. We can try music again. If it doesn't succeed, then we need another way to make them peaceful." Sub-commander Garvolic scratched his beard. "You know if you fail this time, you'll lose your position in the Corps."

"Politics. It must be politics. The old ways don't work, they're full of corruption. And as you well know, politicians don't change. We need to bring in someone new, who will change the way things are done." Lucy Severens rubbed her hands together. "I've got my eye on a non-political real-estate mogul in New York City who just might be able to save this planet. Donald Trump."