Chapter 25: Godfrey
Conner had to stop himself from bursting out of the van when they saw the Vice President walk out of the church.
"What the fuck is he doing here?" Tim asked sounding shocked and horrified.
"Clearly he's a fan of Godfrey." Victor said, though his voice sounded crackly. He'd been acting strangely recently, as to why, Conner wasn't sure but he didn't like it.
"So, we've seen the Vice President and various Senators and other Congressmen and actors and actresses walk out of this place. Do we need anymore evidence that something sinister is going on?" Conner asked, addressing the question more to Kori than anyone else.
"No, I think you're right. Tim, you know what to do." Kori said.
"Aye aye, Captain." Tim replied, he zipped up his jacket, opened the doors and then walked out. The doors closed behind him and then there was silence for a moment before Tim asked. "Can you hear me?"
"Yes." Conner said. They'd fixed a mic to Tim's jacket, hidden behind several layers of cloth so that nobody else would be able to know they were being listened to.
Conner turned back to the screens before them and watched as Tim walked down the alleyway, turned right and then entered the church. He could hear Tim whispering to himself, but decided to ignore that, who was he to judge his friend for saying something that could soothe him. Eventually, the man they were looking for came into view. Gordon Godfrey, with his pale hair and pale reflection stepped in front of Tim.
"I'm sorry, lad, but the service is over for today." Something about the voice made the hair on the back of Conner's arm stand on end.
"I know, Sir," Tim said. "But I was wondering if you could explain something to me."
Godfrey smiled. "Certainly, what would you like explained?"
Conner waited with baited breath, Tim had had trouble remembering all of the sermon, and the ones he had memorised were days old, if he said the wrong one, Godfrey would know he wasn't genuine. He breathed a deep sigh of relief when Tim said. "Today you talked about how we were lacking a shepherd to guide us out of the darkness but into the light, but then you mentioned Superman and the fact that he had stopped the tyrant in Syria from gassing his own people. Is Superman not leading us out of the darkness?"
Godfrey grinned again, and this time Conner got the feeling that something was terribly wrong. "Superman has not done anything. He has merely allowed chaos to take the place of the monster in Syria. He killed Assad, and now terrorists are waging havoc on the people of Syria."
"And yet Superman and the Justice League are fixing that." Tim countered.
"Are they?" Godfrey asked. "What solution does Superman have for the problem? He is not willing to exercise the full might of his power to bring peace."
"So, what's the solution?" Tim asked.
Conner also wanted to know, he wanted to demand that this Godfrey fellow answer for his crimes, the rapes, the murders, they were all coming from Godfrey's words. Politicians remained silent, cops did nothing, and the world burned around them, and Godfrey had the temerity to suggest Superman wasn't doing enough?!
"We welcome the one true God into our lives, for he will destroy any who resist his attempts to bring peace to this world." Godfrey said his eyes gleaming.
"That sounds like tyranny to me." Tim responded. "People are not sheep."
"Oh, but they are. We all are. Moving wherever the herd leads us." Godfrey said. The man then came right up to Tim and whispered. "Isn't that right Superboy?"
Conner gasped, and looked at Kori and Victor, both of them shook their heads, unaware of how Godfrey could know. He heard Tim try and pull away from Godfrey but the man's grip was clearly strong. Conner moved, he got up and whooshed into the church and pushed Godfrey away from Tim.
"Are you okay?" He asked his friend.
"I'm fine." Tim said. "Do you want me to stay?"
"No, go, I'll handle this." Conner said.
Tim nodded and walked out. Godfrey was laughing. "What's the matter, Superboy, didn't want them hearing this? They'll hear it anyway."
"How did you know I was listening?" Conner asked.
Godfrey laughed and pointed to a camera on the wall. "That might look like it's not on, but I know it is and I know it goes back to your tower. I also know that Cyborg is with you, and I know that he's not been working properly. He's been having a fair few problems hasn't he? Missing bits of information, saying things that don't make sense?"
Conner stepped forward anger blazing within him. "What did you do?"
"Nothing more than what my God wanted me to do." Godfrey replied grinning.
Conner grabbed Godfrey then. "And who is your God?!"
"The one who will kill Superman and make this Earth exactly what it needs to be. Filled with obedient sheep where only the one true faith resides. The Unity will come and you will never be able to stop it." Godfrey said, breathing heavily.
"WHO IS YOUR GOD?!" Conner roared.
Godfrey laughed. "Who do you think? Who do you think is the one who allowed the Joker to do what he did? Who do you think sent the Shining Knight into Arkham? Who do you think caused the world to burn once before, who made Adam and Eve eat the apple? The all mighty, the one known as Darkseid."
The words hit Conner hard, he had vague memories from his creation, whether they were real or not he did not know, whether they came from Clark or whoever his other father was he did not know. But there were memories of burning red eyes and a terrifying sense of destruction. He let go of Godfrey and stumbled back. "No, that's not possible. Darkseid is dead." As he said the words he knew they were a lie.
Godfrey cackled. "Oh my poor Superboy, Darkseid cannot die. And he is coming. Indeed, soon you will lose your friend, and he will be what brings Darkseid into this world."
"NO!" Conner snapped and before he knew what was happening he had grabbed Godfrey and thrown him against the wall, picked him up and thrown him again. He was leaning over him when he heard a snap. He turned around and saw a small child with a phone staring at him. "What?!" Conner snapped, the boy snapped a picture of him and then ran off. Conner looked down and saw that Godfrey was bleeding and swore. "Fuck." How was he going to explain this now?
